WorldWideScience

Sample records for plastic quad flat

  1. Properties of flat-pressed wood plastic composites containing fire retardants

    Science.gov (United States)

    Nadir Ayrilmis; Jan. T. Benthien; Heiko Thoemen; Robert H. White

    2011-01-01

    This study investigated physical, mechanical, and fire properties of the flat-pressed wood plastic composites (WPCs) incorporated with various fire retardants (FRs) [5 or 15% by weight (wt)] at 50 wt % of the wood flour (WF). The WPC panels were made from dry-blended WF, polypropylene (PP) with maleic anhydride grafted PP (2 wt %), and FR powder formulations using a...

  2. Closed Loop Recycling of Plastic Housing for Flat Screen TVs

    OpenAIRE

    Peeters, Jef; Vanegas, Paul; Devoldere, Tom; Dewulf, Wim; Duflou, Joost

    2012-01-01

    The treatment of the rapidly increasing number of End-of-Life (EoL) Flat screen Televisions (FTVs) presents major challenges and opportunities. Closing loops in plastic housing material flows remains a particular technical challenge because of the presence of additives, such as Flame Retardants (FR) in recovered housings. In the framework of a collaborative project PRIME with TP Vision the TV development site for Philips TVs and a Van Gansewinkel first level recycling plant, series of experim...

  3. Skew quad compensation at PEP

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Murray, J.J.

    1977-10-01

    Rotational and focal effects of solenoids used in PEP detectors will cause severe perturbations of machine beam optics and must be corrected. Ordinarily this would be accomplished by the addition of compensating solenoids and adjustment of insertion quadrupole strengths. It has been found that an arbitrary cross plane coupling representing the effects of solenoids and/or skew quads in any combination can be synthesized (or compensated) exactly using a quartet of skew quads combined with other erect transport elements in a wide variety of configurations. Specific skew quad compensating systems for PEP have been designed and are under study by PEP staff. So far no fundamental flaws have been discovered. In view of that, PEP management has tentatively authorized the use of such a system in the PEP-4, PEP-9 experiments and proposes to leave the question open ''without prejudice'' for other experiments. Use of skew quad compensation involves an imponderable risk, of course, simply because the method is new and untested. But in addition to providing the only known method for dealing with skew quad perturbations, skew quad compensation, as an alternate to compensating solenoids, promises to be much cheaper, to require much less power and to occupy much less space in the IR's. The purpose of this note is to inform potential users of the foregoing situation and to explain skew quad compensation more fully. 2 refs., 1 fig., 1 tab

  4. USGS Digital Orthophoto Quad (DOQ) Metadata

    Data.gov (United States)

    Minnesota Department of Natural Resources — Metadata for the USGS DOQ Orthophoto Layer. Each orthophoto is represented by a Quarter 24k Quad tile polygon. The polygon attributes contain the quarter-quad tile...

  5. Connectivity editing for quad-dominant meshes

    KAUST Repository

    Peng, Chihan

    2013-08-01

    We propose a connectivity editing framework for quad-dominant meshes. In our framework, the user can edit the mesh connectivity to control the location, type, and number of irregular vertices (with more or fewer than four neighbors) and irregular faces (non-quads). We provide a theoretical analysis of the problem, discuss what edits are possible and impossible, and describe how to implement an editing framework that realizes all possible editing operations. In the results, we show example edits and illustrate the advantages and disadvantages of different strategies for quad-dominant mesh design. © 2013 The Author(s) Computer Graphics Forum © 2013 The Eurographics Association and John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

  6. USGS Digital Orthophoto Quad (DOQ) - 3 meter

    Data.gov (United States)

    Minnesota Department of Natural Resources — These data files are a collection of the USGS standard DOQs that have been resampled to a 3-meter cell resolution and mosaiced into quad format vs quarter quad...

  7. Flocking of quad-rotor UAVs with fuzzy control.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Mao, Xiang; Zhang, Hongbin; Wang, Yanhui

    2018-03-01

    This paper investigates the flocking problem of quad-rotor UAVs. Considering the actual situations, we derived a new simplified quad-rotor UAV model which is more reasonable. Based on the model, the T-S fuzzy model of attitude dynamic equation and the corresponding T-S fuzzy feedback controller are discussed. By introducing a double-loop control construction, we adjust its attitude to realize the position control. Then a flocking algorithm is proposed to achieve the flocking of the quad-rotor UAVs. Compared with the flocking algorithm of the mass point model, we dealt with the collision problem of the quad-rotor UAVs. In order to improve the airspace utilization, a more compact configuration called quasi e-lattice is constructed to guarantee the compact flight of the quad-rotor UAVs. Finally, numerical simulations are provided to illustrate the effectiveness of the obtained theoretical results. Copyright © 2018 ISA. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  8. Quad Rotorcraft Control Vision-Based Hovering and Navigation

    CERN Document Server

    García Carrillo, Luis Rodolfo; Lozano, Rogelio; Pégard, Claude

    2013-01-01

    Quad-Rotor Control develops original control methods for the navigation and hovering flight of an autonomous mini-quad-rotor robotic helicopter. These methods use an imaging system and a combination of inertial and altitude sensors to localize and guide the movement of the unmanned aerial vehicle relative to its immediate environment. The history, classification and applications of UAVs are introduced, followed by a description of modelling techniques for quad-rotors and the experimental platform itself. A control strategy for the improvement of attitude stabilization in quad-rotors is then proposed and tested in real-time experiments. The strategy, based on the use of low-cost components and with experimentally-established robustness, avoids drift in the UAV’s angular position by the addition of an internal control loop to each electronic speed controller ensuring that, during hovering flight, all four motors turn at almost the same speed. The quad-rotor’s Euler angles being very close to the origin, oth...

  9. Converting skeletal structures to quad dominant meshes

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Bærentzen, Jakob Andreas; Misztal, Marek Krzysztof; Welnicka, Katarzyna

    2012-01-01

    We propose the Skeleton to Quad-dominant polygonal Mesh algorithm (SQM), which converts skeletal structures to meshes composed entirely of polar and annular regions. Both types of regions have a regular structure where all faces are quads except for a single ring of triangles at the center of each...

  10. Quad-Rotor Helicopter Autonomous Navigation Based on Vanishing Point Algorithm

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Jialiang Wang

    2014-01-01

    Full Text Available Quad-rotor helicopter is becoming popular increasingly as they can well implement many flight missions in more challenging environments, with lower risk of damaging itself and its surroundings. They are employed in many applications, from military operations to civilian tasks. Quad-rotor helicopter autonomous navigation based on the vanishing point fast estimation (VPFE algorithm using clustering principle is implemented in this paper. For images collected by the camera of quad-rotor helicopter, the system executes the process of preprocessing of image, deleting noise interference, edge extracting using Canny operator, and extracting straight lines by randomized hough transformation (RHT method. Then system obtains the position of vanishing point and regards it as destination point and finally controls the autonomous navigation of the quad-rotor helicopter by continuous modification according to the calculated navigation error. The experimental results show that the quad-rotor helicopter can implement the destination navigation well in the indoor environment.

  11. Constructing C1 Continuous Surface on Irregular Quad Meshes

    Institute of Scientific and Technical Information of China (English)

    HE Jun; GUO Qiang

    2013-01-01

    A new method is proposed for surface construction on irregular quad meshes as extensions to uniform B-spline surfaces. Given a number of control points, which form a regular or irregular quad mesh, a weight function is constructed for each control point. The weight function is defined on a local domain and is C1 continuous. Then the whole surface is constructed by the weighted combination of all the control points. The property of the new method is that the surface is defined by piecewise C1 bi-cubic rational parametric polynomial with each quad face. It is an extension to uniform B-spline surfaces in the sense that its definition is an analogy of the B-spline surface, and it produces a uniform bi-cubic B-spline surface if the control mesh is a regular quad mesh. Examples produced by the new method are also included.

  12. Unique Two-Way Field Probe Concept Utilizing a Geodesic Sphere and Quad-Rotor

    Science.gov (United States)

    2015-03-26

    encompass the quad-rotor. This cage will behave like a faraday cage of sorts, shielding the quad-rotor’s RCS phenomenology from the radar’s antenna...test volume. Second, because the quad-rotor’s structural geometry is a cause for concern, a geodesic cage , in the shape of a sphere, will be built to...be the development of the geodesic cage that will encompass the quad-rotor along with an analysis of its scattering statistics as function of the

  13. FY17 NIF Performance Quad Campaign: laser performance results and conclusions

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Di Nicola, J. M. [Lawrence Livermore National Lab. (LLNL), Livermore, CA (United States); Mennerat, G. [Lawrence Livermore National Lab. (LLNL), Livermore, CA (United States); Widmayer, G. [Lawrence Livermore National Lab. (LLNL), Livermore, CA (United States)

    2017-10-09

    The FY17 NIF Performance Quad Campaign exercised a single quad of NIF (Q45T) at elevated energy to assess the impact of recent improvements to the infrared (1ω) and ultraviolet (3ω) section of the laser on integrated performance.

  14. A Novel Quad Harmony Search Algorithm for Grid-Based Path Finding

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Saso Koceski

    2014-09-01

    Full Text Available A novel approach to the problem of grid-based path finding has been introduced. The method is a block-based search algorithm, founded on the bases of two algorithms, namely the quad-tree algorithm, which offered a great opportunity for decreasing the time needed to compute the solution, and the harmony search (HS algorithm, a meta-heuristic algorithm used to obtain the optimal solution. This quad HS algorithm uses the quad-tree decomposition of free space in the grid to mark the free areas and treat them as a single node, which greatly improves the execution. The results of the quad HS algorithm have been compared to other meta-heuristic algorithms, i.e., ant colony, genetic algorithm, particle swarm optimization and simulated annealing, and it was proved to obtain the best results in terms of time and giving the optimal path.

  15. Connectivity editing for quad-dominant meshes

    KAUST Repository

    Peng, Chihan; Wonka, Peter

    2013-01-01

    and illustrate the advantages and disadvantages of different strategies for quad-dominant mesh design. © 2013 The Author(s) Computer Graphics Forum © 2013 The Eurographics Association and John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

  16. QuadBase2: web server for multiplexed guanine quadruplex mining and visualization

    Science.gov (United States)

    Dhapola, Parashar; Chowdhury, Shantanu

    2016-01-01

    DNA guanine quadruplexes or G4s are non-canonical DNA secondary structures which affect genomic processes like replication, transcription and recombination. G4s are computationally identified by specific nucleotide motifs which are also called putative G4 (PG4) motifs. Despite the general relevance of these structures, there is currently no tool available that can allow batch queries and genome-wide analysis of these motifs in a user-friendly interface. QuadBase2 (quadbase.igib.res.in) presents a completely reinvented web server version of previously published QuadBase database. QuadBase2 enables users to mine PG4 motifs in up to 178 eukaryotes through the EuQuad module. This module interfaces with Ensembl Compara database, to allow users mine PG4 motifs in the orthologues of genes of interest across eukaryotes. PG4 motifs can be mined across genes and their promoter sequences in 1719 prokaryotes through ProQuad module. This module includes a feature that allows genome-wide mining of PG4 motifs and their visualization as circular histograms. TetraplexFinder, the module for mining PG4 motifs in user-provided sequences is now capable of handling up to 20 MB of data. QuadBase2 is a comprehensive PG4 motif mining tool that further expands the configurations and algorithms for mining PG4 motifs in a user-friendly way. PMID:27185890

  17. Escaping Depressions in LRTS Based on Incremental Refinement of Encoded Quad-Trees

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Yue Hu

    2017-01-01

    Full Text Available In the context of robot navigation, game AI, and so on, real-time search is extensively used to undertake motion planning. Though it satisfies the requirement of quick response to users’ commands and environmental changes, learning real-time search (LRTS suffers from the heuristic depressions where agents behave irrationally. There have introduced several effective solutions, such as state abstractions. This paper combines LRTS and encoded quad-tree abstraction which represent the search space in multiresolutions. When exploring the environments, agents are enabled to locally repair the quad-tree models and incrementally refine the spatial cognition. By virtue of the idea of state aggregation and heuristic generalization, our EQ LRTS (encoded quad-tree based LRTS possesses the ability of quickly escaping from heuristic depressions with less state revisitations. Experiments and analysis show that (a our encoding principle for quad-trees is a much more memory-efficient method than other data structures expressing quad-trees, (b EQ LRTS differs a lot in several characteristics from classical PR LRTS which represent the space and refine the paths hierarchically, and (c EQ LRTS substantially reduces the planning amount and curtails heuristic updates compared with LRTS on uniform cells.

  18. Quad precision delay generator

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Krishnan, Shanti; Gopalakrishnan, K.R.; Marballi, K.R.

    1997-01-01

    A Quad Precision Delay Generator delays a digital edge by a programmed amount of time, varying from nanoseconds to microseconds. The output of this generator has an amplitude of the order of tens of volts and rise time of the order of nanoseconds. This was specifically designed and developed to meet the stringent requirements of the plasma focus experiments. Plasma focus is a laboratory device for producing and studying nuclear fusion reactions in hot deuterium plasma. 3 figs

  19. Practical solution of plastic deformation problems in elastic-plastic range

    Science.gov (United States)

    Mendelson, A; Manson, S

    1957-01-01

    A practical method for solving plastic deformation problems in the elastic-plastic range is presented. The method is one of successive approximations and is illustrated by four examples which include a flat plate with temperature distribution across the width, a thin shell with axial temperature distribution, a solid cylinder with radial temperature distribution, and a rotating disk with radial temperature distribution.

  20. Quad-copter UAV BLDC Motor Control: Linear v/s non-linear control maps

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Deep Parikh

    2015-08-01

    Full Text Available This paper presents some investigations and comparison of using linear versus non-linear static motor-control maps for the speed control of a BLDC (Brush Less Direct Current motors used in quad-copter UAV (Unmanned Aerial Vehicles. The motor-control map considered here is the inverse of the static map relating motor-speed output to motor-voltage input for a typical out-runner type Brushless DC Motors (BLDCM.  Traditionally, quad-copter BLDC motor speed control uses simple linear motor-control map defined by the motor-constant specification. However, practical BLDC motors show non-linear characteristic, particularly when operated across wide operating speed-range as is commonly required in quad-copter UAV flight operations. In this paper, our investigations to compare performance of linear versus non-linear motor-control maps are presented. The investigations cover simulation-based and experimental study of BLDC motor speed control systems for  quad-copter vehicle available. First the non-linear map relating rotor RPM to motor voltage for quad-copter BLDC motor is obtained experimentally using an optical speed encoder. The performance of the linear versus non-linear motor-control-maps for the speed control are studied. The investigations also cover study of time-responses for various standard test input-signals e.g. step, ramp and pulse inputs, applied as the reference speed-commands. Also, simple 2-degree of freedom test-bed is developed in our laboratory to help test the open-loop and closed-loop experimental investigations. The non-linear motor-control map is found to perform better in BLDC motor speed tracking control performance and thereby helping achieve better quad-copter roll-angle attitude control.

  1. Mixed-integrator-based bi-quad cell for designing a continuous time filter

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Chen Yong; Zhou Yumei

    2010-01-01

    A new mixed-integrator-based bi-quad cell is proposed. An alternative synthesis mechanism of complex poles is proposed compared with source-follower-based bi-quad cells which is designed applying the positive feedback technique. Using the negative feedback technique to combine different integrators, the proposed bi-quad cell synthesizes complex poles for designing a continuous time filter. It exhibits various advantages including compact topology, high gain, no parasitic pole, no CMFB circuit, and high capability. The fourth-order Butterworth lowpass filter using the proposed cells has been fabricated in 0.18 μm CMOS technology. The active area occupied by the filter with test buffer is only 200 x 170 μm 2 . The proposed filter consumes a low power of 201 μW and achieves a 68.5 dB dynamic range. (semiconductor integrated circuits)

  2. The structure of near polygons with quads

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Brouwer, A.E.; Wilbrink, H.A.

    1983-01-01

    We develop a structure theory for near polygons with quads. Main results are the existence of sub 2j-gons for 2jd and the nonexistence of regular sporadic 2d-gons for d4 with s>1 and t 2>1 and t 3t 2(t 2+1).

  3. Flat-pressed wood plastic composites from sawdust and recycled polyethylene terephthalate (PET): physical and mechanical properties.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Rahman, Khandkar-Siddikur; Islam, Md Nazrul; Rahman, Md Mushfiqur; Hannan, Md Obaidullah; Dungani, Rudi; Khalil, Hps Abdul

    2013-01-01

    This study deals with the fabrication of composite matrix from saw dust (SD) and recycled polyethylene terephthalate (PET) at different ratio (w/w) by flat-pressed method. The wood plastic composites (WPCs) were made with a thickness of 6 mm after mixing the saw dust and PET in a rotary type blender followed by flat press process. Physical i.e., density, moisture content (MC), water absorption (WA) and thickness swelling (TS), and mechanical properties i.e., Modulus of Elasticity (MOE) and Modulus of Rupture (MOR) were assessed as a function of mixing ratios according to the ASTM D-1037 standard. WA and TS were measured after 24 hours of immersion in water at 25, 50 and 75°C temperature. It was found that density decreased 18.3% when SD content increased from 40% to 70% into the matix. WA and TS increased when the PET content decreased in the matrix and the testing water temperature increased. MOE and MOR were reached to maximum for the fabricated composites (2008.34 and 27.08 N/mm(2), respectively) when the SD content were only 40%. The results indicated that the fabrication of WPCs from sawdust and PET would technically feasible; however, the use of additives like coupling agents could further enhance the properties of WPCs.

  4. The impact of ΛCDM substructure and baryon-dark matter transition on the image positions of quad galaxy lenses

    Science.gov (United States)

    Gomer, Matthew R.; Williams, Liliya L. R.

    2018-04-01

    The positions of multiple images in galaxy lenses are related to the galaxy mass distribution. Smooth elliptical mass profiles were previously shown to be inadequate in reproducing the quad population. In this paper, we explore the deviations from such smooth elliptical mass distributions. Unlike most other work, we use a model-free approach based on the relative polar image angles of quads, and their position in 3D space with respect to the fundamental surface of quads (FSQ). The FSQ is defined by quads produced by elliptical lenses. We have generated thousands of quads from synthetic populations of lenses with substructure consistent with Lambda cold dark matter (ΛCDM) simulations, and found that such perturbations are not sufficient to match the observed distribution of quads relative to the FSQ. The result is unchanged even when subhalo masses are increased by a factor of 10, and the most optimistic lensing selection bias is applied. We then produce quads from galaxies created using two components, representing baryons and dark matter. The transition from the mass being dominated by baryons in inner radii to being dominated by dark matter in outer radii can carry with it asymmetries, which would affect relative image angles. We run preliminary experiments using lenses with two elliptical mass components with non-identical axial ratios and position angles, perturbations from ellipticity in the form of non-zero Fourier coefficients a4 and a6, and artificially offset ellipse centres as a proxy for asymmetry at image radii. We show that combination of these effects is a promising way of accounting for quad population properties. We conclude that the quad population provides a unique and sensitive tool for constraining detailed mass distribution in the centres of galaxies.

  5. Quad-rotor flight path energy optimization

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kemper, Edward

    Quad-Rotor unmanned areal vehicles (UAVs) have been a popular area of research and development in the last decade, especially with the advent of affordable microcontrollers like the MSP 430 and the Raspberry Pi. Path-Energy Optimization is an area that is well developed for linear systems. In this thesis, this idea of path-energy optimization is extended to the nonlinear model of the Quad-rotor UAV. The classical optimization technique is adapted to the nonlinear model that is derived for the problem at hand, coming up with a set of partial differential equations and boundary value conditions to solve these equations. Then, different techniques to implement energy optimization algorithms are tested using simulations in Python. First, a purely nonlinear approach is used. This method is shown to be computationally intensive, with no practical solution available in a reasonable amount of time. Second, heuristic techniques to minimize the energy of the flight path are tested, using Ziegler-Nichols' proportional integral derivative (PID) controller tuning technique. Finally, a brute force look-up table based PID controller is used. Simulation results of the heuristic method show that both reliable control of the system and path-energy optimization are achieved in a reasonable amount of time.

  6. Stabilization and control of quad-rotor helicopter using a smartphone device

    Science.gov (United States)

    Desai, Alok; Lee, Dah-Jye; Moore, Jason; Chang, Yung-Ping

    2013-01-01

    In recent years, autonomous, micro-unmanned aerial vehicles (micro-UAVs), or more specifically hovering micro- UAVs, have proven suitable for many promising applications such as unknown environment exploration and search and rescue operations. The early versions of UAVs had no on-board control capabilities, and were difficult for manual control from a ground station. Many UAVs now are equipped with on-board control systems that reduce the amount of control required from the ground-station operator. However, the limitations on payload, power consumption and control without human interference remain the biggest challenges. This paper proposes to use a smartphone as the sole computational device to stabilize and control a quad-rotor. The goal is to use the readily available sensors in a smartphone such as the GPS, the accelerometer, the rate-gyros, and the camera to support vision-related tasks such as flight stabilization, estimation of the height above ground, target tracking, obstacle detection, and surveillance. We use a quad-rotor platform that has been built in the Robotic Vision Lab at Brigham Young University for our development and experiments. An Android smartphone is connected through the USB port to an external hardware that has a microprocessor and circuitries to generate pulse-width modulation signals to control the brushless servomotors on the quad-rotor. The high-resolution camera on the smartphone is used to detect and track features to maintain a desired altitude level. The vision algorithms implemented include template matching, Harris feature detector, RANSAC similarity-constrained homography, and color segmentation. Other sensors are used to control yaw, pitch, and roll of the quad-rotor. This smartphone-based system is able to stabilize and control micro-UAVs and is ideal for micro-UAVs that have size, weight, and power limitations.

  7. Development of an Effective System Identification and Control Capability for Quad-copter UAVs

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wei, Wei

    In recent years, with the promise of extensive commercial applications, the popularity of Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) has dramatically increased as witnessed by publications and mushrooming research and educational programs. Over the years, multi-copter aircraft have been chosen as a viable configuration for small-scale VTOL UAVs in the form of quad-copters, hexa-copters and octo-copters. Compared to the single main rotor configuration such as the conventional helicopter, multi-copter airframes require a simpler feedback control system and fewer mechanical parts. These characteristics make these UAV platforms, such as quad-copter which is the main emphasis in this dissertation, a rugged and competitive candidate for many applications in both military and civil areas. Because of its configuration and relative size, the small-scale quad-copter UAV system is inherently very unstable. In order to develop an effective control system through simulation techniques, obtaining an accurate dynamic model of a given quad-copter is imperative. Moreover, given the anticipated stringent safety requirements, fault tolerance will be a crucial component of UAV certification. Accurate dynamic modeling and control of this class of UAV is an enabling technology and is imperative for future commercial applications. In this work, the dynamic model of a quad-copter system in hover flight was identified using frequency-domain system identification techniques. A new and unique experimental system, data acquisition and processing procedure was developed catering specifically to the class of electric powered multi-copter UAV systems. The Comprehensive Identification from FrEquency Responses (CIFER RTM) software package, developed by US Army Aviation Development Directorate -- AFDD, was utilized along with flight tests to develop dynamic models of the quad-copter system. A new set of flight tests were conducted and the predictive capability of the dynamic models were successfully validated

  8. Quad nanosecond delay module

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    McDonald, R.J.; Hunter, J.B.; Wozniak, G.J.

    1986-04-01

    Four nanosecond (ns) delay units have been designed to fit in a single-width NIM module. This module is particularly suited for use in conjunction with quad constant fraction timing discriminators (CFTDs) since it has four delay units that can be placed adjacent to the four units of the CFTD. A series of different length cables connected via DIP toggle switches provide delays of 0.60 ns in 4 ns increments. Thus, the CFTD delay can be optimized for pulses of different rise times from approx.10-100 ns. Design work for the PC board and silkscreening of the front panel were done with the MacDraw program on the Apple Mackintosh computer and printed with the Lasewriter printer. 6 refs

  9. Effect of soy addition on microwavable pocket-type flat doughs.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Serventi, Luca; Sachleben, Joseph; Vodovotz, Yael

    2011-01-01

    Microwavable frozen baked goods are widely used by the food industry. However, the altered heat and mass transfer patterns associated with microwave radiation result in tough and rubbery baked products due to reduced plasticization of the polymers. Ingredients with high water-holding capacity and high content of polar lipids have been shown to enhance gluten plasticization and to improve water retention. Therefore, this study explored the physicochemical changes imparted by microwave baking of pocket-type flat doughs with and without soy added at 10%, 20%, and 26% and compared these to their conventionally baked counterparts. Microwave baking resulted in a soft, rubbery, and tough wheat product with increased "freezable" water. Soy was added to the formulation as a means to improve polymer plasticization. Conventional baking of soy doughs resulted in rubbery and tough products due to changes in water state and mobility (freezable water approximately 15 compared with 7.09 of the control). However, soy reduced the cohesiveness of the microwave baked products reaching the lowest value at 20% soy addition (cohesiveness 0.33 ± 1, comparable to that of the conventionally baked control). These data suggest that reduction of water mobility induced by soy proteins and polar lipids (confirmed by thermogravimetric analysis [TGA] and ¹H nuclear magnetic resonance [¹H NMR]) possibly plasticized the starch-gluten network of microwave baked soy doughs. Thus, soy was shown to improve the texture of microwave baked pocket-type flat doughs although further formula optimization is warranted. Microwavable pocket-type flat doughs are used frequently by the food industry to enrobe meat, vegetable, and sweet items for convenient meal delivery. Microwave heating of such doughs induces the development of crustless products compared to conventionally baked products, resulting in a tough and rubbery texture. Partial substitution of wheat flour with soy, in the form of soy flour and soy

  10. Usefulness of a Rugby-shaped hohlraum in a Laser M'egaJoule (LMJ) 40-quad configuration

    Science.gov (United States)

    Malinie, G.; Vandenboomgaerde, M.; Bastian, J.; Galmiche, D.; Laffite, S.; Liberatore, S.

    2007-11-01

    The LMJ setup will consist of 60 quads in a 3-cone configuration, at angles 33.2^o, 49^o and 59.5^o. First ignition attempts in indirect drive are planned to be made on the way to the completion of the full facility, with only 40 quads in a 2-cone configuration, at angles 33.2^o and 49^o. By analytic considerations, we show that in a 40-quad configuration, the angular location of the hohlraum outer irradiating ring, as seen from the capsule, must be closer to the laser entrance hole than with the full LMJ. The use of a Rugby-shaped hohlraum instead of a cylinder therefore allows to keep a correct symmetry while reducing the wall surface, which improves the global energetic efficiency of the target. Simplified 2D numerical simulations of Rugby hohlraums are presented, achieving a yield of about 30 MJ with our 1.215 mm-radius, CH-uniform-ablator capsule. These results suggests this kind of hohlraum might be an interesting candidate for 40-quad ignition experiments. Work on optimizing the present design and refining the numerical simulations is currently pursued.

  11. The Vacuum-Compacted Regolith Gripping Mechanism and Unmanned Flights via Quad-Rotors

    Science.gov (United States)

    Scott, Rollin L.

    2014-01-01

    During the course of the Kennedy Space Center Summer Internship, two main experiments were performed: The Vacuum-Compacted Regolith Gripping Mechanism and Unmanned Flights via Quad-copters. The objectives of the Vacuum-Compacted Regolith Gripping Mechanism, often abbreviated as the Granular Gripper, are to exhibit Space Technology, such as a soft robotic hand, lift different apparatuses used to excavate regolith, and conserve energy while executing its intended task. The project is being conducted to test how much weight the Granular Gripper can hold. With the use of an Animatronic Robotic Hand, Arduino Uno, and other components, the system was calibrated before actually conducting the intended weight test. The maximum weight each finger could hold with the servos running, in the order of pinky, ring, middle, and index fingers, are as follows: 1.340N, 1.456 N, 0.9579 N, and 1.358 N. Using the small vacuum pump system, the maximum weight each finger could hold, in the same order, was: 4.076 N, 6.159 N, 5.454 N, and 4.052 N. The maximum torques on each of the fingers when the servos were running, in the same respective order, was: 0.0777 Nm, 0.0533 Nm, 0.0648 Nm, and 0.0532 Nm. The maximum torques on the individual fingers, when the small vacuum pump was in effect, in the same order as above, was: 0.2318 Nm, 0.3032 Nm, 0.2741 Nm, and 0.1618 Nm. In testing all the fingers with the servos running, the total weight was 5.112 N and the maximum torque on the all the fingers was 0.2515 Nm. However, when the small vacuum pump system was used, the total weight was 19.741 N and the maximum torque on the all the fingers was 0.9713 Nm. The conclusion that was drawn stated that using the small vacuum pump system proved nearly 4 times more effective when testing how much weigh the hand could hold. The resistance provided by the compacted sand in the glove allowed more weight to be held by the hand and glove. Also, when the servos turned off and the hand still retaining its

  12. A micro-force sensor with slotted-quad-beam structure for measuring the friction in MEMS bearings.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Liu, Huan; Yang, Shuming; Zhao, Yulong; Jiang, Zhuangde; Liu, Yan; Tian, Bian

    2013-09-30

    Presented here is a slotted-quad-beam structure sensor for the measurement of friction in micro bearings. Stress concentration slots are incorporated into a conventional quad-beam structure to improve the sensitivity of force measurements. The performance comparison between the quad-beam structure sensor and the slotted-quad-beam structure sensor are performed by theoretical modeling and finite element (FE) analysis. A hollow stainless steel probe is attached to the mesa of the sensor chip by a tailor-made organic glass fixture. Concerning the overload protection of the fragile beams, a glass wafer is bonded onto the bottom of sensor chip to limit the displacement of the mesa. The calibration of the packaged device is experimentally performed by a tri-dimensional positioning stage, a precision piezoelectric ceramic and an electronic analytical balance, which indicates its favorable sensitivity and overload protection. To verify the potential of the proposed sensor being applied in micro friction measurement, a measurement platform is established. The output of the sensor reflects the friction of bearing resulting from dry friction and solid lubrication. The results accord with the theoretical modeling and demonstrate that the sensor has the potential application in measuring the micro friction force under stable stage in MEMS machines.

  13. A Micro-Force Sensor with Slotted-Quad-Beam Structure for Measuring the Friction in MEMS Bearings

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Yan Liu

    2013-09-01

    Full Text Available Presented here is a slotted-quad-beam structure sensor for the measurement of friction in micro bearings. Stress concentration slots are incorporated into a conventional quad-beam structure to improve the sensitivity of force measurements. The performance comparison between the quad-beam structure sensor and the slotted-quad-beam structure sensor are performed by theoretical modeling and finite element (FE analysis. A hollow stainless steel probe is attached to the mesa of the sensor chip by a tailor-made organic glass fixture. Concerning the overload protection of the fragile beams, a glass wafer is bonded onto the bottom of sensor chip to limit the displacement of the mesa. The calibration of the packaged device is experimentally performed by a tri-dimensional positioning stage, a precision piezoelectric ceramic and an electronic analytical balance, which indicates its favorable sensitivity and overload protection. To verify the potential of the proposed sensor being applied in micro friction measurement, a measurement platform is established. The output of the sensor reflects the friction of bearing resulting from dry friction and solid lubrication. The results accord with the theoretical modeling and demonstrate that the sensor has the potential application in measuring the micro friction force under stable stage in MEMS machines.

  14. Transient cooling of electronics using phase change material (PCM)-based heat sinks

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Kandasamy, Ravi; Wang Xiangqi; Mujumdar, Arun S.

    2008-01-01

    Use of a phase change material (PCM)-based heat sink in transient thermal management of plastic quad flat package (QFP) electronic devices was investigated experimentally and numerically. Results show that increased power inputs enhance the melting rate as well as the thermal performance of the PCM-based heat sinks until the PCM is fully melted. A three-dimensional computational fluid dynamics model was proposed to simulate the problem and demonstrated good agreement with experimental data. Results indicate the potential for PCM-based heat sinks for use in intermittent-use devices

  15. Rilievi in sella a un quad

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Fulvio Bernardini

    2013-12-01

    Full Text Available Renewable energy—including biomass, geo- thermal, hydroelectric,wind and solar—is big business in Italy. Solar farms able toproduce 1 MW or more of nominal power are considered “large.”Before installing such a PV plant, an acc urate topographical surveyof the ground is required. Giuseppe Greco is known in Italyas an expert in surv eying areas that are extensive and difficult toacc ess. This is because he works with the help of a quad all-terr ainvehicle (AT V, a Segway personal transporter and a personal electricrobotic cart for moving his equipment.

  16. Laser illuminated flat panel display

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Veligdan, J.T.

    1995-12-31

    A 10 inch laser illuminated flat panel Planar Optic Display (POD) screen has been constructed and tested. This POD screen technology is an entirely new concept in display technology. Although the initial display is flat and made of glass, this technology lends itself to applications where a plastic display might be wrapped around the viewer. The display screen is comprised of hundreds of planar optical waveguides where each glass waveguide represents a vertical line of resolution. A black cladding layer, having a lower index of refraction, is placed between each waveguide layer. Since the cladding makes the screen surface black, the contrast is high. The prototype display is 9 inches wide by 5 inches high and approximately I inch thick. A 3 milliwatt HeNe laser is used as the illumination source and a vector scanning technique is employed.

  17. Magnification relations of quad lenses and applications on Einstein crosses

    Science.gov (United States)

    Chu, Zhe; Li, G. L.; Lin, W. P.; Pan, H. X.

    2016-10-01

    In this work, we mainly study the magnification relations of quad lens models for cusp, fold and cross configurations. By dividing and ray-tracing in different image regions, we numerically derive the positions and magnifications of the four images for a point source lying inside of the astroid caustic. Then, based on the magnifications, we calculate the signed cusp and fold relations for the singular isothermal elliptical lenses. The signed fold relation map has positive and negative regions, and the positive region is usually larger than the negative region as has been confirmed before. It can also explain that for many observed fold image pairs, the fluxes of the Fermat minimum images are apt to be larger than those of the saddle images. We define a new quantity cross relation Rcross which describes the magnification discrepancy between two minimum images and two saddle images. Distance ratio dsadd/dmini is also defined as the ratio of the distance of two saddle images to that of two minimum images. We calculate the cross relations and distance ratios for nine observed Einstein crosses. In theory, for most of the quad lens models, the cross relations decrease as the distance ratios increase. In observation, the cross relations of the nine samples do not agree with the quad lens models very well, nevertheless, the cross relations of the nine samples do not give obvious evidence for anomalous flux ratio as the cusp and fold types do. Then, we discuss several reasons for the disagreement, and expect good consistencies for more precise observations and better lens models in the future.

  18. Skew quad compensation for SPEAR minibeta optics

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Wille, K.

    1984-06-01

    With the new minibeta insertion for SPEAR the betatron coupling and the perturbations of beam optics caused by the solenoid field of the MARK III detector can't be compensated by the simple coils used so far. Therefore another scheme with four skew quads arranged in two families has been chosen. Even though this scheme doesn't compensate the effect of the solenoid on the beam completely, the residual emittance coupling is much less than 1% which should be sufficient under all running conditions. The major advantage of this concept is its simplicity

  19. Outdoor altitude stabilization of QuadRotor based on type-2 fuzzy and fuzzy PID

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wicaksono, H.; Yusuf, Y. G.; Kristanto, C.; Haryanto, L.

    2017-11-01

    This paper presents a design of altitude stabilization of QuadRotor based on type-2 fuzzy and fuzzy PID. This practical design is implemented outdoor. Barometric and sonar sensor were used in this experiment as an input for the controller YoHe. The throttle signal as a control input was provided by the controller to leveling QuadRotor in particular altitude and known well as altitude stabilization. The parameter of type-2 fuzzy and fuzzy PID was tuned in several heights to get the best control parameter for any height. Type-2 fuzzy produced better result than fuzzy PID but had a slow response in the beginning.

  20. An Approach to Quad Meshing Based On Cross Valued Maps and the Ginzburg-Landau Theory

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Viertel, Ryan [Univ. of Utah, Salt Lake City, UT (United States). Dept. of Mathematics; Sandia National Lab. (SNL-NM), Albuquerque, NM (United States); Osting, Braxton [Univ. of Utah, Salt Lake City, UT (United States). Dept. of Mathematics

    2017-08-01

    A generalization of vector fields, referred to as N-direction fields or cross fields when N=4, has been recently introduced and studied for geometry processing, with applications in quadrilateral (quad) meshing, texture mapping, and parameterization. We make the observation that cross field design for two-dimensional quad meshing is related to the well-known Ginzburg-Landau problem from mathematical physics. This identification yields a variety of theoretical tools for efficiently computing boundary-aligned quad meshes, with provable guarantees on the resulting mesh, for example, the number of mesh defects and bounds on the defect locations. The procedure for generating the quad mesh is to (i) find a complex-valued "representation" field that minimizes the Dirichlet energy subject to a boundary constraint, (ii) convert the representation field into a boundary-aligned, smooth cross field, (iii) use separatrices of the cross field to partition the domain into four sided regions, and (iv) mesh each of these four-sided regions using standard techniques. Under certain assumptions on the geometry of the domain, we prove that this procedure can be used to produce a cross field whose separatrices partition the domain into four sided regions. To solve the energy minimization problem for the representation field, we use an extension of the Merriman-Bence-Osher (MBO) threshold dynamics method, originally conceived as an algorithm to simulate motion by mean curvature, to minimize the Ginzburg-Landau energy for the optimal representation field. Lastly, we demonstrate the method on a variety of test domains.

  1. Further study on the wheel-rail impact response induced by a single wheel flat: the coupling effect of strain rate and thermal stress

    Science.gov (United States)

    Jing, Lin; Han, Liangliang

    2017-12-01

    A comprehensive dynamic finite-element simulation method was proposed to study the wheel-rail impact response induced by a single wheel flat based on a 3-D rolling contact model, where the influences of the structural inertia, strain rate effect of wheel-rail materials and thermal stress due to the wheel-rail sliding friction were considered. Four different initial conditions (i.e. pure mechanical loading plus rate-independent, pure mechanical loading plus rate-dependent, thermo-mechanical loading plus rate-independent, and thermo-mechanical loading plus rate-dependent) were involved into explore the corresponding impact responses in term of the vertical impact force, von-Mises equivalent stress, equivalent plastic strain and shear stress. Influences of train speed, flat length and axle load on the flat-induced wheel-rail impact response were discussed, respectively. The results indicate that the maximum thermal stresses are occurred on the tread of the wheel and on the top surface of the middle rail; the strain rate hardening effect contributes to elevate the von-Mises equivalent stress and restrain the plastic deformation; and the initial thermal stress due to the sliding friction will aggravate the plastic deformation of wheel and rail. Besides, the wheel-rail impact responses (i.e. impact force, von-Mises equivalent stress, equivalent plastic strain, and XY shear stress) induced by a flat are sensitive to the train speed, flat length and axle load.

  2. Innovative Ballasted Flat Roof Solar PV Racking System

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Peek, Richard T. [Cascade Engineering, Grand Rapids, MI (United States)

    2014-12-15

    The objective of this project was to reduce the cost of racking for PV solar on flat commercial rooftops. Cost reductions would come from both labor savings and material savings related to the installation process. The rack would need to accommodate the majority of modules available on the market. Cascade Engineering has a long history of converting traditional metal type applications over to plastic. Injection molding of plastics have numerous advantages including selection of resin for the application, placing the material exactly where it is needed, designing in features that will speed up the installation process, and weight reduction of the array. A plastic rack would need to meet the requirements of UL2703, Mounting systems, mounting devices, clamping/retention devices, and ground lugs for use with flat-plate photovoltaic modules and panels. Comparing original data to the end of project racking design, racking material costs were reduced 50% and labor costs reduced 64%. The racking product accommodates all 60 and 72 cell panels on the market, meets UL2703 requirements, contributes only 1.3 pounds per square foot of weight to the array, requires little ballast to secure the array, automatically grounds the module when the module is secured, stacks/nests well for shipping/fewer lifts to the roof, provides integrated wire routing, allows water to drain on the roof, and accommodates various seismic roof connections. Project goals were achieved as noted in the original funding application.

  3. a Novel Two-Component Decomposition for Co-Polar Channels of GF-3 Quad-Pol Data

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kwok, E.; Li, C. H.; Zhao, Q. H.; Li, Y.

    2018-04-01

    Polarimetric target decomposition theory is the most dynamic and exploratory research area in the field of PolSAR. But most methods of target decomposition are based on fully polarized data (quad pol) and seldom utilize dual-polar data for target decomposition. Given this, we proposed a novel two-component decomposition method for co-polar channels of GF-3 quad-pol data. This method decomposes the data into two scattering contributions: surface, double bounce in dual co-polar channels. To save this underdetermined problem, a criterion for determining the model is proposed. The criterion can be named as second-order averaged scattering angle, which originates from the H/α decomposition. and we also put forward an alternative parameter of it. To validate the effectiveness of proposed decomposition, Liaodong Bay is selected as research area. The area is located in northeastern China, where it grows various wetland resources and appears sea ice phenomenon in winter. and we use the GF-3 quad-pol data as study data, which which is China's first C-band polarimetric synthetic aperture radar (PolSAR) satellite. The dependencies between the features of proposed algorithm and comparison decompositions (Pauli decomposition, An&Yang decomposition, Yamaguchi S4R decomposition) were investigated in the study. Though several aspects of the experimental discussion, we can draw the conclusion: the proposed algorithm may be suitable for special scenes with low vegetation coverage or low vegetation in the non-growing season; proposed decomposition features only using co-polar data are highly correlated with the corresponding comparison decomposition features under quad-polarization data. Moreover, it would be become input of the subsequent classification or parameter inversion.

  4. Mechanical evaluation of quad-helix appliance made of low-nickel stainless steel wire.

    Science.gov (United States)

    dos Santos, Rogério Lacerda; Pithon, Matheus Melo

    2013-01-01

    The objective of this study was to test the hypothesis that there is no difference between stainless steel and low-nickel stainless steel wires as regards mechanical behavior. Force, resilience, and elastic modulus produced by Quad-helix appliances made of 0.032-inch and 0.036-inch wires were evaluated. Sixty Quad-helix appliances were made, thirty for each type of alloy, being fifteen for each wire thickness, 0.032-in and 0.036-in. All the archwires were submitted to mechanical compression test using an EMIC DL-10000 machine simulating activations of 4, 6, 9, and 12 mm. Analysis of variance (ANOVA) with multiple comparisons and Tukey's test were used (p nickel stainless steel alloy had force, resilience, and elastic modulus similar to those made of stainless steel alloy.

  5. Electromagnetic cold-test characterization of the quad-driven stripline kicker

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Dunlap, J E; Nelson, S D.

    1998-01-01

    The first kicker concept design for beam deflection was constructed to allow stripline plates to be driven; thus directing, or kicking, the electron beam into two subsequent beam lines. This quad-driven stripline kicker is an eight port electromagnetic network and consists of two actively driven plates and two terminated plates. Electromagnetic measurements performed on the bi-kicker and quad-kicker were designed to determine: (1) the quality of the fabrication of the kicker, including component alignments; (2) quantification of the input feed transition regions from the input coax to the driven kicker plates; (3) identification of properties of the kicker itself without involving the effects of the electron beam; (4) coupling between a line current source and the plates of the kicker; and (5) the effects on the driven current to simulate an electron beam through the body of the kicker. Included in this are the angular variations inside the kicker to examine modal distributions. The goal of the simulated beam was to allow curved path and changing radius studies to be performed electromagnetically. The cold test results produced were then incorporated into beam models

  6. MCP detector read out with a bare quad Timepix at kilohertz frame rates

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Vallerga, J; Tremsin, A; McPhate, J; Siegmund, O; Raffanti, R

    2011-01-01

    The existing Berkeley neutron sensitive MCP/Timepix hybrid detector has been very successful at demonstrating energy resolved spatial imaging with a single Timepix ASIC read out at a ∼ 30 Hz frame rate where each neutron's position and time (energy) is determined (X,Y,E). By increasing the detector format using a quad arrangement of Timepix readouts and increasing the frame rate to 1 kHz, we can increase our total event throughput by a factor of 120, thereby taking full advantage of the high fluxes of modern pulsed neutron sources (10 6 n cm -2 s -1 ). The key to this conversion is a new design for the ASIC readout, called the Berkeley Quad Timepix detector, consisting of 3 major subsystems. The first is a quad (2 x 2) bare Timepix ASIC board mounted directly behind the neutron sensitive MCPs in a hermetic vacuum enclosure with a sapphire window. The data from the Timepix ASICs flow to the second subsystem called the Interface board whose field programmable gate array (FPGA) rearranges and converts the digital bit stream to LVDS logic levels before sending downstream to the third subsystem, the Roach board. The Roach board is also FPGA based, and takes the data from all the ASICs and analyses the frames to extract information on the input events to pass on to the host PC. This paper describes in detail the hardware and firmware designs to accomplish this task.

  7. Non-uniform plastic deformation of micron scale objects

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Niordson, Christian Frithiof; Hutchinson, J. W.

    2003-01-01

    Significant increases in apparent flow strength are observed when non-uniform plastic deformation of metals occurs at the scale ranging from roughly one to ten microns. Several basic plane strain problems are analyzed numerically in this paper based on a new formulation of strain gradient...... plasticity. The problems are the tangential and normal loading of a finite rectangular block of material bonded to rigid platens and having traction-free ends, and the normal loading of a half-space by a flat, rigid punch. The solutions illustrate fundamental features of plasticity at the micron scale...... that are not captured by conventional plasticity theory. These include the role of material length parameters in establishing the size dependence of strength and the elevation of resistance to plastic flow resulting from constraint on plastic flow at boundaries. Details of the finite element method employed...

  8. A compact O-plus C-band switchable quad-wavelength fiber laser using arrayed waveguide grating

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Latif, A A; Zulkifli, M Z; Hassan, N A; Ahmad, H; Harun, S W; Ghani, Z A

    2010-01-01

    In this paper, a design of a quad-wavelength fiber laser (QWFL) operating in two different regions namely the O-band covering from 1302 nm to1317.4 nm and C-band from 1530.5 nm to 1548.0 nm is presented. Two different ASE sources from semiconductor optical amplifiers (SOAs) are used, one at 1310 nm and the other at1550 nm. By using a 1×24 channels arrayed waveguide grating (AWG) with 100 GHz interchannel spacing, the system is capable of generating 24 different wavelengths in more than 24 ways of quad-wavelength fiber laser with 0.6 nm and 0.8 nm of interval channel for O-band and C-band regions, respectively

  9. A novel five-level optimized carrier multilevel PWM quad-inverter six-phase AC drive

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Sanjeevikumar, P.; Blaabjerg, F.; Wheeler, Pat

    2016-01-01

    A novel single carrier pulse-width modulation (PWM) for a new quad-inverter configuration for multilevel six-phase asymmetrical open-winding ac converter is proposed in this article. Modularity of the circuit consist of four standard two-level voltage source inverters (VSIs) with slight modificat......A novel single carrier pulse-width modulation (PWM) for a new quad-inverter configuration for multilevel six-phase asymmetrical open-winding ac converter is proposed in this article. Modularity of the circuit consist of four standard two-level voltage source inverters (VSIs) with slight...... modifications, i.e. one additional bi-direction switch (MOSFET/IGBT) in each phase and a link to neutral with two capacitors to generate increased output levels. Furthermore, original optimal single carrier zero-shifted five-level modulation (SCZSFM) algorithm is developed for each VSI to behave as equivalent...

  10. 100 Gbps IM/DD links using quad-polarization: Performance, complexity, and power dissipation

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Saldaña Cercos, Silvia; Piels, Molly; Estaran Tolosa, Jose Manuel

    2015-01-01

    A computational complexity, power consumption, and receiver sensitivity analysis for three different scenarios for short-range direct detection links is presented: 1) quad-polarization, 2) wavelength division multiplexing (WDM), and 3) parallel optics. Results show that the power consumption pena...... sensitivity of 4.4 dBm...

  11. Determinants of recycling common types of plastic product waste in environmental horticulture industry: The case of Georgia.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Meng, Ting; Klepacka, Anna M; Florkowski, Wojciech J; Braman, Kristine

    2016-02-01

    Environmental horticulture firms provide a variety of commercial/residential landscape products and services encompassing ornamental plant production, design, installation, and maintenance. The companies generate tons of waste including plastic containers, trays, and greenhouse/field covers, creating the need to reduce and utilize plastic waste. Based on survey data collected in Georgia in 2013, this paper investigates determinants of the environmental horticulture firms' recycling decision (plastic containers, flats, and greenhouse poly). Our findings indicate that the decision to discard vs. recycle plastic containers, flats, and greenhouse poly is significantly influenced by firm scope, size, location, and partnership with recycling providers, as well as whether recycling providers offer additional waste pickup services. Insights from this study are of use to local governments and environmental organizations interested in increasing horticultural firm participation in recycling programs and lowering the volume of plastic destined for landfills. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  12. A Waterline Extraction Method from Remote Sensing Image Based on Quad-tree and Multiple Active Contour Model

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    YU Jintao

    2016-09-01

    Full Text Available After the characteristics of geodesic active contour model (GAC, Chan-Vese model(CV and local binary fitting model(LBF are analyzed, and the active contour model based on regions and edges is combined with image segmentation method based on quad-tree, a waterline extraction method based on quad-tree and multiple active contour model is proposed in this paper. Firstly, the method provides an initial contour according to quad-tree segmentation. Secondly, a new signed pressure force(SPF function based on global image statistics information of CV model and local image statistics information of LBF model has been defined, and then ,the edge stopping function(ESF is replaced by the proposed SPF function, which solves the problem such as evolution stopped in advance and excessive evolution. Finally, the selective binary and Gaussian filtering level set method is used to avoid reinitializing and regularization to improve the evolution efficiency. The experimental results show that this method can effectively extract the weak edges and serious concave edges, and owns some properties such as sub-pixel accuracy, high efficiency and reliability for waterline extraction.

  13. Experimental investigation of slamming impact acted on flat bottom bodies and cumulative damage

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Hyunkyoung Shin

    2018-05-01

    Full Text Available Most offshore structures including offshore wind turbines, ships, etc. suffer from the impulsive pressure loads due to slamming phenomena in rough waves. The effects of elasticity & plasticity on such slamming loads are investigated through wet free drop test results of several steel unstiffened flat bottom bodies in the rectangular water tank. Also, their cumulative deformations by consecutively repetitive free drops from 1000 mm to 2000 mm in height are measured. Keywords: Slamming phenomena, Impulsive pressure load, Wet free drop test, Flat bottom body, Cumulative damage

  14. Plastic-Film Mulching for Enhanced Water-Use Efficiency and Economic Returns from Maize Fields in Semiarid China.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Zhang, Peng; Wei, Ting; Cai, Tie; Ali, Shahzad; Han, Qingfang; Ren, Xiaolong; Jia, Zhikuan

    2017-01-01

    Film mulch has gradually been popularized to increase water availability to crops for improving and stabilizing agricultural production in the semiarid areas of Northwest China. To find more sustainable and economic film mulch methods for alleviating drought stress in semiarid region, it is necessary to test optimum planting methods in same cultivation conditions. A field experiment was conducted during 2013 and 2014 to evaluate the effects of different plastic film mulch methods on soil water, soil temperature, water use efficiency (WUE), yield and revenue. The treatments included: (i) the control, conventional flat planting without plastic film mulch (CK); (ii) flat planting with maize rows (60 cm spacing) on plastic film mulch (70 cm wide); (iii) furrow planting of maize (60 cm spacing), separated by consecutive plastic film-mulched ridges (each 50 cm wide and 15 cm tall); (iv) furrow planting of maize (60 cm spacing), separated by alternating large and small plastic film-mulched ridges (large ridges: 70 cm wide and 15 cm tall, small ridges 50 cm wide and 10 cm tall); and (v) furrow-flat planting of maize (60 cm spacing) with a large plastic film-mulched ridge (60 cm wide and 15 cm tall) alternating with a flat without plastic film-mulched space (60 cm wide). Topsoil temperature (5-25 cm) was significantly ( p plastic film mulch than the control (CK), and resulted in greater soil water storage (0-200 cm) up to 40 days after planting. Maize grain yield and WUE were significantly ( p < 0.05) higher with the furrow planting methods (consecutive film-mulched ridges and alternating film-mulched ridges) than the check in both years. Maize yield was, on average, 29% ( p < 0.05) greater and 28% ( p < 0.05) greater with these furrow planting methods, while the average WUE increased by 22.8% ( p < 0.05) with consecutive film-mulched ridges and 21.1% ( p < 0.05) with alternating film-mulched ridges. The 2-year average net income increased by 1559, 528, and 350 Chinese Yuan

  15. Low-cost solar collectors using thin-film plastics absorbers and glazings

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Wilhelm, W.G.

    1980-01-01

    The design, fabrication, performance, cost, and marketing of flat plate solar collectors using plastic absorbers and glazings are described. Manufacturing cost breakdowns are given for single-glazed and double-glazed collectors. (WHK)

  16. High-precision real-time 3D shape measurement based on a quad-camera system

    Science.gov (United States)

    Tao, Tianyang; Chen, Qian; Feng, Shijie; Hu, Yan; Zhang, Minliang; Zuo, Chao

    2018-01-01

    Phase-shifting profilometry (PSP) based 3D shape measurement is well established in various applications due to its high accuracy, simple implementation, and robustness to environmental illumination and surface texture. In PSP, higher depth resolution generally requires higher fringe density of projected patterns which, in turn, lead to severe phase ambiguities that must be solved with additional information from phase coding and/or geometric constraints. However, in order to guarantee the reliability of phase unwrapping, available techniques are usually accompanied by increased number of patterns, reduced amplitude of fringe, and complicated post-processing algorithms. In this work, we demonstrate that by using a quad-camera multi-view fringe projection system and carefully arranging the relative spatial positions between the cameras and the projector, it becomes possible to completely eliminate the phase ambiguities in conventional three-step PSP patterns with high-fringe-density without projecting any additional patterns or embedding any auxiliary signals. Benefiting from the position-optimized quad-camera system, stereo phase unwrapping can be efficiently and reliably performed by flexible phase consistency checks. Besides, redundant information of multiple phase consistency checks is fully used through a weighted phase difference scheme to further enhance the reliability of phase unwrapping. This paper explains the 3D measurement principle and the basic design of quad-camera system, and finally demonstrates that in a large measurement volume of 200 mm × 200 mm × 400 mm, the resultant dynamic 3D sensing system can realize real-time 3D reconstruction at 60 frames per second with a depth precision of 50 μm.

  17. Ultra-Low Noise Quad Photoreceiver for Space Based Laser Interferometric Gravity Wave Detection, Phase II

    Data.gov (United States)

    National Aeronautics and Space Administration — We propose to design and develop 2x2 quad p-i-n InGaAs Photoreceivers having the following characteristics: (a) Active area diameter 0.75 mm; (b) Wavelength coverage...

  18. 1:12,000 Grid of Louisiana, Geographic NAD83, LGS (2007) [quad12k_losco_2007

    Data.gov (United States)

    Louisiana Geographic Information Center — This "QUAD12K_LOSCO_2007" ploygon shapefile is a reference index to the polygon footprints of Digital Orthographic Quarter Quadrangles (DOQQs) for Louisiana and a...

  19. 1:6,000 Grid of Louisiana, Geographic NAD83, LGS (2007) [quad6k_losco_2007

    Data.gov (United States)

    Louisiana Geographic Information Center — This "QUAD6K_LOSCO_2007" ploygon shapefile is a reference index to the polygon footprints of quarters of the Digital Orthographic Quarter Quadrangles (DOQQs), or...

  20. Size dependence of energy storage and dissipation in a discrete dislocation plasticity analysis of static friction

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Deshpande, VS; Needleman, A; Van der Giessen, E; Deshpande, V.S.

    2005-01-01

    The initiation of frictional sliding between a flat-bottomed indenter and a planar single crystal substrate is analyzed using discrete dislocation plasticity. Plastic deformation is modeled through the motion of edge dislocations in an elastic solid with the lattice resistance to dislocation motion,

  1. The 'QUAD SHOT'-a phase II study of palliative radiotherapy for incurable head and neck cancer

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Corry, June; Peters, Lester J.; D'Costa, Ieta; Milner, Alvin D.; Fawns, Helen; Rischin, Danny; Porceddu, Sandro

    2005-01-01

    Background and purpose: The primary objective of this study was to estimate the rate of tumour response to a cyclical hypofractionated palliative radiotherapy regimen (QUAD SHOT) in previously untreated patients with incurable squamous cell carcinoma of the head and neck. Secondary objectives were to prospectively evaluate toxicity, quality of life (QoL) and survival in these patients. Patients and methods: The QUAD SHOT consisted of 14 Gy in four fractions, given twice a day and at least 6 h apart, for 2 consecutive days. This regimen was repeated at 4 weekly intervals for a further two courses if there was no tumour progression. The QoL tool used was an abbreviation of the EORTC QLQ-C30. Results: Thirty eligible patients (29 Stage IV, 20 performance status 2-3) had at least one treatment and 16 patients completed all three cycles. Sixteen patients (53%) had an objective response (2CR, 14PR) and a further seven had stable disease. Median overall survival was 5.7 months, median progression free survival was 3.1 months. The treatment was very well tolerated, with improved QoL in 11 of 25 evaluable patients (44%). Conclusion: The QUAD SHOT regimen is an effective palliative treatment with minimal toxicity and a good response rate, which impacts positively on patients' QoL

  2. 1:24,000 Grid of Louisiana, Geographic NAD83, LGS (2007) [quad6k_losco_2007

    Data.gov (United States)

    Louisiana Geographic Information Center — This "QUAD24K_LOSCO_2007" ploygon shapefile is a reference index to the polygon footprints of 1:24,000 scale quadrangles for Louisiana and a selected surrounding...

  3. 76 FR 19746 - Expansion of Foreign-Trade Zone 133; Quad-Cities, IL/IA

    Science.gov (United States)

    2011-04-08

    ... DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE Foreign-Trade Zones Board [Order No. 1749] Expansion of Foreign-Trade Zone 133; Quad-Cities, IL/IA Pursuant to its authority under the Foreign-Trade Zones Act of June 18, 1934, as amended (19 U.S.C. 81a-81u), the Foreign-Trade Zones Board (the Board) adopts the following Order...

  4. Quad-Band U-Slot Antenna for Mobile Applications

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    R. L. Ruiz

    2006-06-01

    Full Text Available In this paper, two different planar quad-band antennas are designed, modeled, fabricated and measured. Subsequently, the antennas are redesigned using an electromagnetic band gap substrate (EBG. Those new planar antennas operate in four frequency bands: 900 MHz, 1 800 MHz (both GSM, 1 900 MHz (USA and 2 400 to 2 500 MHz (Bluetooth The antenna has four narrow U-shaped slots etched to the patch. Using software, CST Microwave Studio [1], Zeland IE3D [2], and FEMLAB [3], simulations have been carried out to investigate the antenna's performance and characteristics. The antennas designed have been also built and measured to compare the real results with those obtained from the simulations.

  5. Thin film transistors on plastic substrates with reflective coatings for radiation protection

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wolfe, Jesse D [Fairfield, CA; Theiss, Steven D [Woodbury, MN; Carey, Paul G [Mountain View, CA; Smith, Patrick M [San Ramon, CA; Wickbold, Paul [Walnut Creek, CA

    2006-09-26

    Fabrication of silicon thin film transistors (TFT) on low-temperature plastic substrates using a reflective coating so that inexpensive plastic substrates may be used in place of standard glass, quartz, and silicon wafer-based substrates. The TFT can be used in large area low cost electronics, such as flat panel displays and portable electronics such as video cameras, personal digital assistants, and cell phones.

  6. 0.4-1.2 GHz hybrid Al-CFRP open-boundary quad-ridge horn

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Kim, Oleksiy S.; Pivnenko, Sergey; Breinbjerg, Olav

    2011-01-01

    We present a 0.4-1.2 GHz open-boundary quad-ridge horn to be used as a wide-band probe at the DTU-ESA Spherical Near-Field Antenna Test Facility at the Technical University of Denmark (DTU). Due to adopted hybrid Al-CFRP fabrication technology, the weight of the probe is reduced by a factor of 2...

  7. Experimental investigation of a quad-rotor biplane micro air vehicle

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bogdanowicz, Christopher Michael

    Micro air vehicles are expected to perform demanding missions requiring efficient operation in both hover and forward flight. This thesis discusses the development of a hybrid air vehicle which seamlessly combines both flight capabilities: hover and high-speed forward flight. It is the quad-rotor biplane, which weighs 240 grams and consists of four propellers with wings arranged in a biplane configuration. The performance of the vehicle system was investigated in conditions representative of flight through a series of wind tunnel experiments. These studies provided an understanding of propeller-wing interaction effects and system trim analysis. This showed that the maximum speed of 11 m/s and a cruise speed of 4 m/s were achievable and that the cruise power is approximately one-third of the hover power. Free flight testing of the vehicle successfully highlighted its ability to achieve equilibrium transition flight. Key design parameters were experimentally investigated to understand their effect on overall performance. It was found that a trade-off between efficiency and compactness affects the final choice of the design. Design improvements have allowed for decreases in vehicle weight and ground footprint, while increasing structural soundness. Numerous vehicle designs, models, and flight tests have proven system scalability as well as versatility, including an upscaled model to be utilized in an extensive commercial package delivery system. Overall, the quad-rotor biplane is proven to be an efficient and effective multi-role vehicle.

  8. Crow Flats 1:100000 Quad Hydrography DLGs

    Data.gov (United States)

    Earth Data Analysis Center, University of New Mexico — Digital line graph (DLG) data are digital representations of cartographic information. DLG's of map features are converted to digital form from maps and related...

  9. Crow Flats 1:100000 Quad Transportation DLGs

    Data.gov (United States)

    Earth Data Analysis Center, University of New Mexico — Digital line graph (DLG) data are digital representations of cartographic information. DLG's of map features are converted to digital form from maps and related...

  10. Flow-induced plastic collapse of stacked fuel plates

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Davis, D C; Scarton, H A

    1985-03-01

    Flow-induced plastic collapse of stacked fuel plate assemblies was first noted in experimental reactors such as the ORNL High Flux Reactor Assembly and the Engineering Test Reactor (ETR). The ETR assembly is a stack of 19 thin flat rectangular fuel plates separated by narrow channels through which a coolant flows to remove the heat generated by fission of the fuel within the plates. The uranium alloyed plates have been noted to buckle laterally and plastically collapse at the system design coolant flow rate of 10.7 m/s, thus restricting the coolant flow through adjacent channels. A methodology and criterion are developed for predicting the plastic collapse of ETR fuel plates. The criterion is compared to some experimental results and the Miller critical velocity theory.

  11. New progressive technology of flat gears processing development

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Михайло Володимирович Маргуліс

    2015-11-01

    Full Text Available Relevant scientific and technical problems in relation to mechanical engineering is development of new technological processes that make it possible to achieve high accuracy and durability of machine parts that meet the requirements imposed on them. So it is important to develop a new method to make a flat gear teeth by plastic deformation of the ingot. The article deals with the actual problem of improving productivity and quality of plane wheels teeth that are widely used in advanced wave, planetary and other transmissions. A progressive method to produce flat gear teeth gear by plastic deformation of the ingot with two knurl rollers alternately moving reciprocally in the direction not intersecting the axis of the ingot mounting surface has been described in the article. The working surface of the rollers corresponds to the resulting shape of the teeth. The schemes of the teeth installing and knurling have been shown. The necessary material and the heat treatment of the knurling tools have been described. Its use will significantly increase the wear resistance of the working surfaces of the teeth and their durability as well as to increase productivity and its manufacturing costs. The material of the rollers is BC15steel. The surface layer of the knurling tools was subjected to nitration, surface hardness being up to 65 HRC. Knurling is made in the5236P shaper suited for this purpose

  12. Polymer solidification of mixed wastes at the Rocky Flats Plant

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Faucette, A.M.; Logsdon, B.W.; Lucerna, J.J.; Yudnich, R.J.

    1994-01-01

    The Rocky Flats Plant is pursuing polymer solidification as a viable treatment option for several mixed waste streams that are subject to land disposal restrictions within the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act provisions. Tests completed to date using both surrogate and actual wastes indicate that polyethylene microencapsulation is a viable treatment option for several mixed wastes at the Rocky Flats Plant, including nitrate salts, sludges, and secondary wastes such as ash. Treatability studies conducted on actual salt waste demonstrated that the process is capable of producing waste forms that comply with all applicable regulatory criteria, including the Toxicity Characteristic Leaching Procedure. Tests have also been conducted to evaluate the feasibility of macroencapsulating certain debris wastes in polymers. Several methods and plastics have been tested for macroencapsulation, including post-consumer recycle and regrind polyethylene

  13. Experimental and theoretical investigation of column - flat slab joint ductility

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Iskhakov, I.; Ribakov, Y.; Shah, A.

    2009-01-01

    Most modern seismic codes use ductility as one of the basic design parameters. Actually, ductility defines the ability of a structure or its elements to absorb energy by plastic deformations. Until the end of the previous century ductility was defined qualitatively. Most research works related to ductility are focused on structural elements' sections. This study was aimed at complex experimental and theoretical investigation of flat slab-column joints ductility. It is one of the first attempts to obtain quantitative values of joint's ductility for the case of high strength concrete columns and normal strength concrete slabs. It was shown that the flat slab-column joint is a three-dimension (3D) element and its ductility in horizontal and vertical directions are different. This is the main difference between ductility of elements and joint ductility. In case of flat slab-column joints, essential contribution to joint's ductility can be obtained due to the slab's confining effect. Based on experimental data, the authors demonstrate that flat slab-column joint's ductility depends on the joint's confining effect in two horizontal and vertical directions. Furthermore, the influence of slab load intensity and slab reinforcement ratio on the joint's ductility is performed in this study. It is also demonstrated that the effect of the ratio between the slab thickness and the column's section dimension on the ductility parameter is significant. Equations for obtaining a quantitative value of a flat slab-column joint's ductility parameter were developed.

  14. Open fibre reinforced plastic (FRP) flat plate collector (FPC) and spray network systems for augmenting the evaporation rate of tannery effluent (soak liquor)

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Srithar, K.; Mani, A.

    2007-01-01

    Presently, tanneries in Tamilnadu, India are required to segregate the effluent of soaking and pickling sections from other wastewater streams and send it to shallow solar pans for evaporation to avoid land pollution. A large area of solar pans is required for evaporating the water in the effluent at salt concentration in the range of 4-5%. An experimental study has been made by using fibre reinforced plastic flat plate collector (FRP-FPC) and spray system in a pilot plant with a capacity to handle 5000 l per day, which increases the evaporation rate. After increasing the salt concentration level to near saturation limit, the concentrated liquid was sent to conventional solar pans for its continued evaporation and recovery of salt. In this improved system, the rate of evaporation was found to be 30-40% more than that in the conventional solar pans. The performance is compared with the theoretically simulated performance. (author)

  15. Gated listmode acquisition with the QuadHIDAC animal PET to image mouse hearts

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Schaefers, K.P.; Lang, N.; Stegger, L.; Schober, O.; Schaefers, M.

    2006-01-01

    Purpose: the aim of this study was to develop ECG and respiratory gating in combination with listmode acquisition for the quadHIDAC small-animal PET scanner. Methods: ECG and respiratory gating was realized with the help of an external trigger device (BioVET) synchronized with the listmode acquisition. Listmode data of a mouse acquisition (injected with 6.5 MBq of 18 F-FDG) were sorted according to three different gating definitions: 12 cardiac gates, 8 respiratory gates and a combination of 8 cardiac and 8 respiratory gates. Images were reconstructed with filtered back-projection (ramp filter), and parameters like left ventricular wall thickness (WT), wall-to-wall separation (WS) and blood to myocardium activity ratios (BMR) were calculated. Results: cardiac gated images show improvement of all parameters (WT 2.6 mm, WS 4.1 mm, BRM 2.3) in diastole compared to ungated images (WT 3.0 mm, WS 3.4 mm, BMR 1.3). Respiratory gating had little effect on calculated parameters. Conclusion: ECG gating with the quadHIDAC can improve myocardial image quality in mice. This could have a major impact on the calculation of an image-derived input function for kinetic modelling. (orig.)

  16. Expanding Comparative Literature into Comparative Sciences Clusters with Neutrosophy and Quad-stage Method

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Fu Yuhua

    2016-08-01

    Full Text Available By using Neutrosophy and Quad-stage Method, the expansions of comparative literature include: comparative social sciences clusters, comparative natural sciences clusters, comparative interdisciplinary sciences clusters, and so on. Among them, comparative social sciences clusters include: comparative literature, comparative history, comparative philosophy, and so on; comparative natural sciences clusters include: comparative mathematics, comparative physics, comparative chemistry, comparative medicine, comparative biology, and so on.

  17. Ways of Viewing Pictorial Plasticity

    OpenAIRE

    Maarten W. A. Wijntjes

    2017-01-01

    The plastic effect is historically used to denote various forms of stereopsis. The vivid impression of depth often associated with binocular stereopsis can also be achieved in other ways, for example, using a synopter. Accounts of this go back over a hundred years. These ways of viewing all aim to diminish sensorial evidence that the picture is physically flat. Although various viewing modes have been proposed in the literature, their effects have never been compared. In the current study, we...

  18. Effects of fire retardants on physical, mechanical, and fire properties of flat-pressed WPCs

    Science.gov (United States)

    Nadir Ayrilmis; Jan T. Benthien; Heiko Thoemen; Robert H. White

    2012-01-01

    Physical, mechanical, and fire properties of the flat-pressed wood plastic composites (WPCs) incorporated with various fire retardants (10% by weight) at different levels of wood flour (WF) content, 40, 50, or 60 wt%, were investigated. The WPC panels were made from dry-blended WF, polypropylene (PP), and fire retardant (FR) powders with maleic anhydride-grafted PP (2...

  19. A facile route for irreversible bonding of plastic-PDMS hybrid microdevices at room temperature.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Tang, Linzhi; Lee, Nae Yoon

    2010-05-21

    Plastic materials do not generally form irreversible bonds with poly(dimethylsiloxane) (PDMS) regardless of oxygen plasma treatment and a subsequent thermal process. In this paper, we perform plastic-PDMS bonding at room temperature, mediated by the formation of a chemically robust amine-epoxy bond at the interfaces. Various plastic materials, such as poly(methylmethacrylate) (PMMA), polycarbonate (PC), polyimide (PI), and poly(ethylene terephthalate) (PET) were adopted as choices for plastic materials. Irrespective of the plastic materials used, the surfaces were successfully modified with amine and epoxy functionalities, confirmed by the surface characterizations such as water contact angle measurements and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), and chemically robust and irreversible bonding was successfully achieved within 1 h at room temperature. The bonding strengths of PDMS with PMMA and PC sheets were measured to be 180 and 178 kPa, respectively, and their assemblies containing microchannel structures endured up to 74 and 84 psi (510 and 579 kPa) of introduced compressed air, respectively, without destroying the microdevices, representing a robust and highly stable interfacial bonding. In addition to microchannel-molded PDMS bonded with flat plastic substrates, microchannel-embossed plastics were also bonded with a flat PDMS sheet, and both types of bonded assemblies displayed sufficiently robust bonding, tolerating an intense influx of liquid whose per-minute injection volume was nearly 1000 to 2000 times higher than the total internal volume of the microchannel used. In addition to observing the bonding performance, we also investigated the potential of surface amine and epoxy functionalities as durable chemical adhesives by observing their storage-time-dependent bonding performances.

  20. Owhership of flats

    OpenAIRE

    Přibil, Jan

    2012-01-01

    Ownership of Flats Summary In his diploma thesis "Ownership of Flats", the author focuses on applicable law of flat ownership in the Czech Republic, especially the Flat Ownership Act 72/1994 Sb. The author puts the contemporary regulation in historical context; he describes the theoretical principles underlining the current applicable law and defines in detail the basic legal terms used by the Flat Ownership Act. Original and derivative forms of flat ownership acquisition are explained, namel...

  1. Fine pitch thermosonic wire bonding: analysis of state-of-the-art manufacturing capability

    Science.gov (United States)

    Cavasin, Daniel

    1995-09-01

    A comprehensive process characterization was performed at the Motorola plastic package assembly site in Selangor, Malaysia, to document the current fine pitch wire bond process capability, using state-of-the-art equipment, in an actual manufacturing environment. Two machines, representing the latest technology from two separate manufacturers, were operated one shift per day for five days, bonding a 132 lead Plastic Quad Flat Pack. Using a test device specifically designed for fine pitch wire bonding, the bonding programs were alternated between 107 micrometers and 92 micrometers pad pitch, running each pitch for a total of 1600 units per machine. Wire, capillary type, and related materials were standardized and commercially available. A video metrology measurement system, with a demonstrated six sigma repeatability band width of 0.51 micrometers , was utilized to measure the bonded units for bond dimensions and placement. Standard Quality Assurance (QA) metrics were also performed. Results indicate that state-of-the-art thermosonic wire bonding can achieve acceptable assembly yields at these fine pad pitches.

  2. Parity violation constraints using cosmic microwave background polarization spectra from 2006 and 2007 observations by the QUaD polarimeter.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wu, E Y S; Ade, P; Bock, J; Bowden, M; Brown, M L; Cahill, G; Castro, P G; Church, S; Culverhouse, T; Friedman, R B; Ganga, K; Gear, W K; Gupta, S; Hinderks, J; Kovac, J; Lange, A E; Leitch, E; Melhuish, S J; Memari, Y; Murphy, J A; Orlando, A; Piccirillo, L; Pryke, C; Rajguru, N; Rusholme, B; Schwarz, R; O'Sullivan, C; Taylor, A N; Thompson, K L; Turner, A H; Zemcov, M

    2009-04-24

    We constrain parity-violating interactions to the surface of last scattering using spectra from the QUaD experiment's second and third seasons of observations by searching for a possible systematic rotation of the polarization directions of cosmic microwave background photons. We measure the rotation angle due to such a possible "cosmological birefringence" to be 0.55 degrees +/-0.82 degrees (random) +/-0.5 degrees (systematic) using QUaD's 100 and 150 GHz temperature-curl and gradient-curl spectra over the spectra over the multipole range 200

  3. Quad Cities Unit 2 Main Steam Line Acoustic Source Identification and Load Reduction

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    DeBoo, Guy; Ramsden, Kevin; Gesior, Roman

    2006-01-01

    The Quad Cities Units 1 and 2 have a history of steam line vibration issues. The implementation of an Extended Power Up-rate resulted in significant increases in steam line vibration as well as acoustic loading of the steam dryers, which led to equipment failures and fatigue cracking of the dryers. This paper discusses the results of extensive data collection on the Quad Cities Unit 2 replacement dryer and the Main Steam Lines. This data was taken with the intent of identifying acoustic sources in the steam system. Review of the data confirmed that vortex shedding coupled column resonance in the relief and safety valve stub pipes were the principal sources of large magnitude acoustic loads in the main steam system. Modifications were developed in sub-scale testing to alter the acoustic properties of the valve standpipes and add acoustic damping to the system. The modifications developed and installed consisted of acoustic side branches that were attached to the Electromatic Relief Valve (ERV) and Main Steam Safety Valve (MSSV) attachment pipes. Subsequent post-modification testing was performed in plant to confirm the effectiveness of the modifications. The modifications have been demonstrated to reduce vibration loads at full Extended Power Up-rate (EPU) conditions to levels below those at Original Licensed Thermal Power (OLTP). (authors)

  4. Positive Peer-Pressured Productivity (P-QUAD): Novel Use of Increased Transparency and a Weighted Lottery to Increase a Division's Academic Output.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Pitt, Michael B; Furnival, Ronald A; Zhang, Lei; Weber-Main, Anne M; Raymond, Nancy C; Jacob, Abraham K

    2017-03-01

    Evaluate a dual incentive model combining positive peer pressure through increased transparency of peers' academic work with a weighted lottery where entries are earned based on degree of productivity. We developed a dual-incentive peer mentoring model, Positive Peer-Pressured Productivity (P-QUAD), for faculty in the Pediatric Hospital Medicine Division at the University of Minnesota Masonic Children's Hospital. This model provided relative value-based incentives, with points assigned to different scholarly activities (eg. 1 point for abstract submission, 2 points for poster presentation, 3 points for oral presentation, etc.). These points translated into to lottery tickets for a semi-annual drawing for monetary prizes. Productivity was compared among faculty for P-QUAD year to the preintervention year. Fifteen (83%) of 18 eligible faculty members participated. Overall annual productivity per faculty member as measured by total P-QUAD score increased from a median of 3 (interquartile range [IQR] 0-14) in the preintervention year to 4 (IQR 0-27) in the P-QUAD year (P = .051). Submissions and acceptances increased in all categories except posters which were unchanged. Annual abstract submissions per faculty member significantly increased from a median of 1 (IQR 0-2) to 2 (IQR 0-2; P = .047). Seventy-three percent (8 of 11) of post-survey respondents indicated that the financial incentive motivated them to submit academic work; 100% indicated that increased awareness of their peers' work was a motivator. The combination of increased awareness of peers' academic productivity and a weighted lottery financial incentive appears to be a useful model for stimulating academic productivity in early-career faculty. Copyright © 2016 Academic Pediatric Association. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  5. Effect of the cut off frequency on rough point and flat surface contacts

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Meng, Fan Ming

    2012-01-01

    In the past years, contact between two bodies has been studied from various ways that do not consider the cut off frequency effect on the contact mechanism. This paper reports the correlation between rough point contact and flat surface contact at different cut off frequencies of filter. The similarity and difference between the two types of contact mechanisms are presented for materials with linear or elastic perfectly plastic deformation. The conjugate gradient method (CGM) is used for analysing the rough point contact, while the rough flat surface contact is studied with an improved CGM in which the influence coefficient for the elastic deformation of the rough flat surface is obtained with finite element method. Numerical results show that for the above two types of contacts, their von Mises stress and maximum shear stress are greatly affected by the cut-off frequency of a high pass filter. Moreover, a decrease in the cut-off frequency leads to an increase in the contact area and a decrease in the approach for the rough flat surface contact, while the opposite variations is for the point contact between rough bodies with the small radii

  6. Investigation of Shear Stud Performance in Flat Plate Using Finite Element Analysis

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    T.S. Viswanathan

    2014-09-01

    Full Text Available Three types of shear stud arrangement, respectively featuring an orthogonal, a radial and a critical perimeter pattern, were evaluated numerically. A numerical investigation was conducted using the finite element software ABAQUS to evaluate their ability to resist punching shear in a flat plate. The finite element analysis here is an application of the nonlinear analysis of reinforced concrete structures using three-dimensional solid finite elements. The nonlinear characteristics of concrete were achieved by employing the concrete damaged plasticity model in the finite element program. Transverse shear stress was evaluated using finite element analysis in terms of shear stress distribution for flat plate with and without shear stud reinforcement. The model predicted that shear studs placed along the critical perimeter are more effective compared to orthogonal and radial patterns.

  7. Modified Quad Helix for Correction of Severely Rotated Incisors in Cleft Cases

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Aneesha Ashok Shetty

    2014-01-01

    Full Text Available Clefts of the lip, alveolus and/or palate are often associated with several dental anomalies, the most common of which are severely rotated maxillary incisors. Patients with such congenital deformities seek orthodontic treatment as early as possible, for an esthetic as well as psychosocial benefit. Here, a new clinical technique is demonstrated for correction of a severely rotated maxillary central incisor which can be carried out in the mixed dentition phase itself, by modifying a commonly used palatal expansion appliance: the quad helix.

  8. A radarsat-2 quad-polarized time series for monitoring crop and soil conditions in Barrax, Spain

    Science.gov (United States)

    The European Space Agency (ESA) along with multiple university and agency investigators joined to conduct the AgriSAR Campaign in 2009. The main objective was to analyze a dense time series of RADARSAT-2 quad-pol data to define and quantify the performance of Sentinel-1 and other future ESA C-Band ...

  9. Preliminary Analysis of Chinese GF-3 SAR Quad-Polarization Measurements to Extract Winds in Each Polarization

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Lin Ren

    2017-11-01

    Full Text Available This study analyzed the noise equivalent sigma zero (NESZ and ocean wind sensitivity for Chinese C-band Gaofen-3 (GF-3 quad-polarization synthetic aperture radar (SAR measurements to facilitate further operational wind extraction from GF-3 data. Data from the GF-3 quad-polarization SAR and collocated winds from both NOAA/NCEP Global Forecast System (GFS atmospheric model and National Data Buoy Center (NDBC buoys were used in the analysis. For NESZ, the co-polarization was slightly higher compared to the cross-polarization. Regarding co-polarization and cross-polarization, NESZ was close to RadarSAT-2 and Sentinel-1 A. Wind sensitivity was analyzed by evaluating the dependence on winds in terms of normalized radar cross-sections (NRCS and polarization combinations. The closest geophysical model function (GMF and the polarization ratio (PR model to GF-3 data were determined by comparing data and the model results. The dependence of co-polarized NRCS on wind speed and azimuth angle was consistent with the proposed GMF models. The combination of CMOD5 and CMOD5.N was considered to be the closest GMF in co-polarization. The cross-polarized NRCS exhibited a strong linear relationship with moderate wind speeds higher than 4 m·s−1, but a weak correlation with the azimuth angle. The proposed model was considered as the closest GMF in cross-polarization. For polarization combinations, PR and polarization difference (PD were considered. PR increased only with the incidence angle, whereas PD increased with wind speed and varied with azimuth angle. There were three very close PR models and each can be considered as the closest. Preliminary results indicate that GF-3 quad-polarization data are valid and have the ability to extract winds in each polarization.

  10. Development of net energy ratio and emission factor for quad-generation pathways

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Rudra, Souman; Rosendahl, Lasse; Kumar, Amit

    2014-01-01

    of this study was to evaluate the energy performance, reduce GHG and acid rain precursor emission, and use of biomass for different outputs based on demand. Finally, a sensitivity analysis and a comparative study ar conducted for expected technological improvements and factors that could increase the energy......, methanol and methane. Circulating fluidized bed gasifier and the gas technology institute (GTI) gasifier technologies are used for this quad-generation process. Two different biomass feedstocks are considered in this study. The net energy ratio for six different pathways having the range of between 1...

  11. Process characteristics and design methods for a 300 deg quad OP amp

    Science.gov (United States)

    Beasom, J. D.; Patterson, R. B., III

    1981-01-01

    The results of process characterization, circuit design, and reliability studies for the development of a quad OP amplifier intended for use up to 300 C are presented. A dielectrically isolated complementary vertical bipolar process was chosen to fabricate the amplifier in order to eliminate isolation leakage and the possibility of latch up. Characterization of NPN and PNP junctions showed them to be suitable for use up to 300 C. Interconnect reliability was predicted to be greater than four years mean time between failure. Parasitic MOS formation was eliminated by isolation of each device.

  12. Impact and Penetration of Thin Aluminum 2024 Flat Panels at Oblique Angles of Incidence

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ruggeri, Charles R.; Revilock, Duane M.; Pereira, J. Michael; Emmerling, William; Queitzsch, Gilbert K., Jr.

    2015-01-01

    The U.S. Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) and the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) are actively involved in improving the predictive capabilities of transient finite element computational methods for application to safety issues involving unintended impacts on aircraft and aircraft engine structures. One aspect of this work involves the development of an improved deformation and failure model for metallic materials, known as the Tabulated Johnson-Cook model, or MAT224, which has been implemented in the LS-DYNA commercial transient finite element analysis code (LSTC Corp., Livermore, CA) (Ref. 1). In this model the yield stress is a function of strain, strain rate and temperature and the plastic failure strain is a function of the state of stress, temperature and strain rate. The failure criterion is based on the accumulation of plastic strain in an element. The model also incorporates a regularization scheme to account for the dependency of plastic failure strain on mesh size. For a given material the model requires a significant amount of testing to determine the yield stress and failure strain as a function of the three-dimensional state of stress, strain rate and temperature. In addition, experiments are required to validate the model. Currently the model has been developed for Aluminum 2024 and validated against a series of ballistic impact tests on flat plates of various thicknesses (Refs. 1 to 3). Full development of the model for Titanium 6Al-4V is being completed, and mechanical testing for Inconel 718 has begun. The validation testing for the models involves ballistic impact tests using cylindrical projectiles impacting flat plates at a normal incidence (Ref. 2). By varying the thickness of the plates, different stress states and resulting failure modes are induced, providing a range of conditions over which the model can be validated. The objective of the study reported here was to provide experimental data to evaluate the model

  13. Design of a Symmetrical Quad-rotor Biplane Tail-Sitter Aircraft without Control Surfaces and Experimental Verification

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Wang Hongyu

    2018-01-01

    Full Text Available This paper presents the design of a symmetrical quad-rotor biplane tail-sitter VTOL UAV (Vertical Take-off and Landing Unmanned Aerial Vehicle which is composed of four rotors and two symmetrically mounted fixed wings. This aircraft achieves high accuracy in the attitude control and smooth flight mode transition with four rotors rather than the conventional VTOL UAVs using control surfaces. The proposal of angled rotor mounting is adopted to address the issue of insufficient yaw control authority. The layout of symmetrically mounted fixed wings makes the aircraft have capability of rapid bidirectional flight mode transition to improve maneuverability. To validate the performance of the aircraft, simulation and flight experiments are both implemented. These results show that the aircraft has a rapid yaw response under condition of the stable attitude control. In comparative experiment, it is shown that the aircraft is more flexible than other similar configuration of aircrafts. This symmetrical quad-rotor biplane tail-sitter VTOL UAV will have a wide range of potential applications in the military and civilian areas due to its superior performance..

  14. Planar n-in-n quad module prototypes for the ATLAS ITk upgrade at HL-LHC

    Science.gov (United States)

    Gisen, A.; Altenheiner, S.; Burmeister, I.; Gößling, C.; Klingenberg, R.; Kröninger, K.; Lönker, J.; Weers, M.; Wizemann, F.

    2017-12-01

    In order to meet the requirements of the High Luminosity LHC (HL-LHC), it will be necessary to replace the current tracker of the ATLAS experiment. Therefore, a new all-silicon tracking detector is being developed, the so-called Inner Tracker (ITk). The use of quad chip modules is intended in its pixel region. These modules consist of a silicon sensor that forms a unit along with four read-out chips. The current ATLAS pixel detector consists of planar n-in-n silicon pixel sensors. Similar sensors and four FE-I4 read-out chips were assembled to first prototypes of planar n-in-n quad modules. The main focus of the investigation of these modules was the region between the read-out chips, especially the central area between all four read-out chips. There are special pixel cells placed on the sensor which cover the gap between the read-out chips. This contribution focuses on the characterization of a non-irradiated device, including important sensor characteristics, charge collection determined with radioactive sources as well as hit efficiency measurements, performed in the laboratory and at testbeams. In addition, first laboratory results of an irradiated device are presented.

  15. Unrealistic optimism, fatalism, and risk-taking in New Zealand farmers' descriptions of quad-bike incidents: a directed qualitative content analysis.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Clay, Lynne; Hay-Smith, E Jean C; Treharne, Gareth J; Milosavljevic, Stephan

    2015-01-01

    Quad-bike incidents are a major cause of occupational injury and fatality on farms warranting health and safety attention. As part of a larger study, we carried out a face-to-face survey with 216 farmers in New Zealand. We quantitatively identified farmers' propensity for risk-taking, unrealistic optimism, and fatalism as risk factors in quad-bike loss-of-control events (LCEs). The purpose of the analysis presented in this article was to use these same farmers' recollections of LCEs to explore the a priori constructs in more detail using qualitative methods. Participants reporting one or more LCEs described their first LCE and any experienced in the previous 12 months. Participants provided open-text responses about what occurred at each LCE, their reflections, and general thoughts on LCE risk factors. Directed qualitative content analysis (QCA) was used to "unpack" risk-taking, unrealistic optimism, and fatalism whilst also delineating any additional concepts that farmers associate with LCEs. Risk-taking elements were more evident than unrealistic optimism or fatalism and more suggestive of farmers finding themselves in risky situations rather than engaging in risk-seeking behavior per se. Additional inductively derived categories of fatigue/stress, multitasking, inexperience, and quad-bike faults highlight the complex nature of LCEs and the importance of risk assessment covering these concepts as well as risky situations.

  16. A novel double quad-inverter configuration for multilevel twelve-phase open-winding converter

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Padmanaban, Sanjeevi Kumar; Blaabjerg, Frede; Wheeler, Patrick William

    2016-01-01

    This paper describes a novel proposal of double quad-inverter configuration for multilevel twelve-phase open-winding ac converter. Modular power units are developed from reconfigured eight classical three-phase voltage source inverters (VSIs). Each VSI has one additional bi-directional switching...... numerical simulation software's (Matlab/PLECS) developments. Further, the results confirm the good agreement to the developed theoretical background. Proposed converter suits the need of low-voltage/high-current applications such as ac tractions and `More-Electric Aircraft' propulsion systems....

  17. Flat-Cladding Fiber Bragg Grating Sensors for Large Strain Amplitude Fatigue Tests

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Xijia Gu

    2010-08-01

    Full Text Available We have successfully developed a flat-cladding fiber Bragg grating sensor for large cyclic strain amplitude tests of up to ±8,000 με. The increased contact area between the flat-cladding fiber and substrate, together with the application of a new bonding process, has significantly increased the bonding strength. In the push-pull fatigue tests of an aluminum alloy, the plastic strain amplitudes measured by three optical fiber sensors differ only by 0.43% at a cyclic strain amplitude of ±7,000 με and 1.9% at a cyclic strain amplitude of ±8,000 με. We also applied the sensor on an extruded magnesium alloy for evaluating the peculiar asymmetric hysteresis loops. The results obtained were in good agreement with those measured from the extensometer, a further validation of the sensor.

  18. The effect on cross sections for Quad Cities by introducing control rod history in the assembly program LEWARD

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Nonboel, E.

    1989-08-01

    This paper shows the effect on the 2-group neutron cross sections for the BWR reactor Quad Cities by introducing control rod ''history'' in the assembly program LEWARD. Control rod ''history'' is a concept which accounts for the movement of control rods during operation. (author)

  19. Plastic packaging and burn-in effects on ionizing dose response in CMOS microcircuits

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Clark, S.D.; Bings, J.P.; Maher, M.C.; Williams, M.K.; Alexander, D.R.; Pease, R.L.

    1995-01-01

    Results are reported from an investigation of the effects of packaging and burn-in on the post-irradiation performance of National Semiconductor 54AC02 Quad 2-input NOR gates. The test population was drawn from a single wafer fabricated in the National process qualified under Mil-Prf-38535 to an ionizing radiation hardness of 100 krads(Si). The test sample was divided between plastic and ceramic packages. Additionally, half of the plastic samples and half of the two ceramic samples received a 168 hour/125 C burn-in. Two irradiation schemes were used. The first followed Mil-Std-883 Method 1019.4 (dose rate = 50 rads(Si)/s). The second used a low dose rate (0.1 rads(Si)/s). AC, DC, transfer function and functional behavior were monitored throughout the tests. Significant differences among the package types and burn-in variations were noted with the plastic, burned-in components demonstrating enhanced degradation. They show the worst post-irradiation parameter values as well as very broad post-irradiation parameter distributions. Degradation is highly dependent upon dose rate and anneal conditions. Two different radiation induced leakage paths have been identified, and their characteristics have been correlated to variations in high dose rate and low dose rate circuit performance. Caution is recommended for system developers to ensure that radiation hardness characterization is performed for the same package/burn-in configuration to be used in the system

  20. Ways of Viewing Pictorial Plasticity

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Maarten W. A. Wijntjes

    2017-03-01

    Full Text Available The plastic effect is historically used to denote various forms of stereopsis. The vivid impression of depth often associated with binocular stereopsis can also be achieved in other ways, for example, using a synopter. Accounts of this go back over a hundred years. These ways of viewing all aim to diminish sensorial evidence that the picture is physically flat. Although various viewing modes have been proposed in the literature, their effects have never been compared. In the current study, we compared three viewing modes: monocular blur, synoptic viewing, and free viewing (using a placebo synopter. By designing a physical embodiment that was indistinguishable for the three experimental conditions, we kept observers naïve with respect to the differences between them; 197 observers participated in an experiment where the three viewing modes were compared by performing a rating task. Results indicate that synoptic viewing causes the largest plastic effect. Monocular blur scores lower than synoptic viewing but is still rated significantly higher than the baseline conditions. The results strengthen the idea that synoptic viewing is not due to a placebo effect. Furthermore, monocular blur has been verified for the first time as a way of experiencing the plastic effect, although the effect is smaller than synoptic viewing. We discuss the results with respect to the theoretical basis for the plastic effect. We show that current theories are not described with sufficient details to explain the differences we found.

  1. Ways of Viewing Pictorial Plasticity.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wijntjes, Maarten W A

    2017-01-01

    The plastic effect is historically used to denote various forms of stereopsis. The vivid impression of depth often associated with binocular stereopsis can also be achieved in other ways, for example, using a synopter. Accounts of this go back over a hundred years. These ways of viewing all aim to diminish sensorial evidence that the picture is physically flat. Although various viewing modes have been proposed in the literature, their effects have never been compared. In the current study, we compared three viewing modes: monocular blur, synoptic viewing, and free viewing (using a placebo synopter). By designing a physical embodiment that was indistinguishable for the three experimental conditions, we kept observers naïve with respect to the differences between them; 197 observers participated in an experiment where the three viewing modes were compared by performing a rating task. Results indicate that synoptic viewing causes the largest plastic effect. Monocular blur scores lower than synoptic viewing but is still rated significantly higher than the baseline conditions. The results strengthen the idea that synoptic viewing is not due to a placebo effect. Furthermore, monocular blur has been verified for the first time as a way of experiencing the plastic effect, although the effect is smaller than synoptic viewing. We discuss the results with respect to the theoretical basis for the plastic effect. We show that current theories are not described with sufficient details to explain the differences we found.

  2. Development of net energy ratio for quad-generation pathways

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Rudra, Souman; Rosendahl, Lasse; Kumar, Amit

    2012-01-01

    The conversion of biomass to four different outputs via gasification and catalytic methanation is a renewable technology that could reduce the use of fossil fuels and GHG emissions. This study investigates the energy aspects of producing electricity, heat, methanol and methane. The Gas Technology...... Institute (GTI) gasifier and Circulating Fluidized Bed (CFB) technologies are used for this quad generation process. Three different biomass feedstocks are considered in this study. The net energy ratio for six different pathways having the range of between 1.3–9.3. The lowest limit corresponds to the straw......-based power, heat, methanol and methane production pathway using GTI technology. Since more efficient alternatives exist for the generation of heat and electricity from biomass, it is argued that syngas is best used for methanol production. The aim of this study was to evaluate the energy performance...

  3. 45-110 GHz Quad-Ridge Horn With Stable Gain and Symmetric Beam

    Science.gov (United States)

    Manafi, Sara; Al-Tarifi, Muhannad; Filipovic, Dejan S.

    2017-09-01

    A quad-ridge horn antenna with stabilized gain and minimum difference between Eand H-plane half-power beamwidths (HPBWs) is demonstrated for operation over 45-110 GHz bandwidth. Multistep flaring and corrugations on a finite ground plane are applied to obtain stable radiation patterns with 16-dBi minimum gain over the entire range. The computational studies are validated through measurements of a 3-D printed prototype using the direct metal laser sintering (DMLS) process. Accurate fabrication with achieved surface roughness of DMLS is a viable fabrication process for wideband horn antennas at millimeter-wave frequencies.

  4. arXiv Planar n-in-n quad module prototypes for the ATLAS ITk upgrade at HL-LHC

    CERN Document Server

    Gisen, A.; Burmeister, I.; Gößling, C.; Klingenberg, R.; Kröninger, K.; Lönker, J.; Weers, M.; Wizemann, F.

    2017-12-15

    In order to meet the requirements of the High Luminosity LHC (HL-LHC), it will be necessary to replace the current tracker of the ATLAS experiment. Therefore, a new all-silicon tracking detector is being developed, the so-called Inner Tracker (ITk). The use of quad chip modules is intended in its pixel region. These modules consist of a silicon sensor that forms a unit along with four read-out chips. The current ATLAS pixel detector consists of planar n-in-n silicon pixel sensors. Similar sensors and four FE-I4 read-out chips were assembled to first prototypes of planar n-in-n quad modules. The main focus of the investigation of these modules was the region between the read-out chips, especially the central area between all four read-out chips. There are special pixel cells placed on the sensor which cover the gap between the read-out chips. This contribution focuses on the characterization of a non-irradiated device, including important sensor characteristics, charge collection determined with radioactive so...

  5. 75 FR 70691 - World Color Mt. Morris, IL LLC, Premedia Chicago Division, Currently Known as Quad/Graphics, Inc...

    Science.gov (United States)

    2010-11-18

    ... DEPARTMENT OF LABOR Employment and Training Administration [TA-W-74,142] World Color Mt. Morris... to Apply for Worker Adjustment Assistance on May 24, 2010, applicable to workers of World Color Mt... that on July 2, 2010, World Color Mt. Morris, IL LLC was purchased by Quad/Graphics, Inc. and is...

  6. Is workplace satisfaction associated with self-reported quad bike loss of control events among farm workers in New Zealand?

    Science.gov (United States)

    Clay, Lynne; Treharne, Gareth J; Hay-Smith, E Jean C; Milosavljevic, Stephan

    2014-05-01

    This study investigated whether rural workers who have higher workplace satisfaction are less likely to report quad bike loss of control events (LCEs). Two independent samples of farmers completed a survey regarding LCEs and workplace satisfaction. In the first sample (n = 130) analysis revealed no relationship (p = 0.74) between workplace satisfaction and LCEs but lower rates of LCEs were reported by employees (IRR 0.52, 95%CI 0.31-0.86) compared to self-employed participants. In the second sample (n = 112), workplace satisfaction was weakly related to LCEs (IRR 1.04, 95%CI 1.00, to 1.09) with participants who found their job more psychologically demanding more likely to have had an LCE (IRR 1.14, 95%CI 1.05-1.23). Exploring the role of psychological demands on safety behaviour with respect to quad bike use, may help to address this important safety issue. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Ltd and The Ergonomics Society. All rights reserved.

  7. Plastic waste disposal apparatus

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Kito, S

    1972-05-01

    A test plant plastic incinerator was constructed by the Takuma Boiler Manufacturing Co. for Sekisui Chemical Industries, and the use of a continuous feed spreader was found to be most effective for prevention of black smoke, and the use of a venturi scrubber proved to be effective for elimination of hydrogen chloride gas. The incinerator was designed for combustion of polyvinyl chloride exclusively, but it is also applicable for combustion of other plastics. When burning polyethylene, polypropylene, or polystyrene, (those plastics which do not produce toxic gases), the incinerator requires no scrubber for the combustion gas. The system may or may not have a pretreatment apparatus. For an incinerator with a pretreatment system, the flow chart comprises a pit, a supply crane, a vibration feeder, a metal eliminator, a rotation shredder, a continuous screw feeder with a quantitative supply hopper, a pretreatment chamber (300 C dry distillation), a quantitative supply hopper, and the incinerator. The incinerator is a flat non-grid type combustion chamber with an oil burner and many air nozzles. From the incinerator, ashes are sent by an ash conveyor to an ash bunker. The combustion gas goes to the boiler, and the water supplied the boiler water pump creates steam. The heat from the gas is sent back to the pretreatment system through a heat exchanger. The gas then goes to a venturi scrubber and goes out from a stack.

  8. Quad shot - hypofractionated radiotherapy for palliation in advanced squamous cell carcinoma of head and neck

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Maqsood, T.; Ali, U.; Arif, S.

    2017-01-01

    The objective of this study was to determine the efficacy of quad-shot radiation therapy for palliation in locally advanced and metastatic inoperable squamous cell carcinomas of head and neck. Study Design: A quasi-experimental study. Place and Duration of Study: Oncology department, Combined Military Hospital Rawalpindi, from Sep 2012 to Sep 2013. Material and Methods: Thirty five patients were included with histologically confirmed advanced inoperable squamous cell carcinoma in head and neck region, performance status 2 or 3 and survival =3 months. Patients were treated with radiation therapy 14 Gy in four fractions, megavoltage beam, twice daily fractions (at least 6 hours apart), for 2 consecutive days. Symptoms due to cancer (pain and dysphagia) were assessed as per common toxicity criteria adverse event version 4.0 on day 0 before treatment and day 21 after start of treatment. Results: Grades of pain and dysphagia showed significant improvement after treatment with a p-value <0.001. A total of 91.4% patients showed an improvement in grade of pain (32 out of 35 patients) and 45.7% of patients showed improvement in grade of dysphagia (16 out of 35 patients). There was a statistically significant decrease in grades of pain and dysphagia after treatment. Conclusion: The short duration of hypofractionated radiotherapy with Quad Shot was effective with respect to symptom palliation in locally advanced and metastatic inoperable head and neck cancers.

  9. A Quad-Cantilevered Plate micro-sensor for intracranial pressure measurement.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lalkov, Vasko; Qasaimeh, Mohammad A

    2017-07-01

    This paper proposes a new design for pressure-sensing micro-plate platform to bring higher sensitivity to a pressure sensor based on piezoresistive MEMS sensing mechanism. The proposed design is composed of a suspended plate having four stepped cantilever beams connected to its corners, and thus defined as Quad-Cantilevered Plate (QCP). Finite element analysis was performed to determine the optimal design for sensitivity and structural stability under a range of applied forces. Furthermore, a piezoresistive analysis was performed to calculate sensor sensitivity. Both the maximum stress and the change in resistance of the piezoresistor associated with the QCP were found to be higher compared to previously published designs, and linearly related to the applied pressure as desired. Therefore, the QCP demonstrates greater sensitivity, and could be potentially used as an efficient pressure sensor for intracranial pressure measurement.

  10. A Numerical Framework for Self-Similar Problems in Plasticity: Indentation in Single Crystals

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Juul, Kristian Jørgensen; Niordson, Christian Frithiof; Nielsen, Kim Lau

    A new numerical framework specialized for analyzing self-similar problems in plasticity is developed. Self-similarity in plasticity is encountered in a number of different problems such as stationary cracks, void growth, indentation etc. To date, such problems are handled by traditional Lagrangian...... procedures that may be associated with severe numerical difficulties relating to sufficient discretization, moving contact points, etc. In the present work, self-similarity is exploited to construct the numerical framework that offers a simple and efficient method to handle self-similar problems in history...... numerical simulations [3] when possible. To mimic the condition for the analytical predictions, the wedge indenter is considered nearly flat and the material is perfectly plastic with a very low yield strain. Under these conditions, [1][2] proved analytically the existence of discontinuities in the slip...

  11. Wheelchair users' experience of non-adapted and adapted clothes during sailing, quad rugby or wheel-walking.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kratz, G; Söderback, I; Guidetti, S; Hultling, C; Rykatkin, T; Söderström, M

    1997-01-01

    The purpose of the present quasi-experimental post-test-design study was to compare 32 wheelchair users' (mostly para/tetraplegics) experience of wearing specially adapted clothes and non-adapted clothes for sailing, quad rugby or wheel-walking. Four existing assessment instruments were used: the Klein-Bell Activities of Daily Living Scale; a two-part Basic Information Questionnaire eliciting experience of effort, comfort and feeling of physical condition; the Experience Sampling Form for investigating the individuals' attitudes in terms of involvement and affective and activity mood states, and the Occupational Therapy Assessment of Leisure Time interview framework for collecting data about experience of leisure time. The wheelchair users all associated significantly greater comfort with use of the adapted clothes and, particularly the 'sailors', better physical condition. Overall, significantly greater involvement and more positive affect states were associated with the adapted clothes than with conventional garments, and mood state changed for the better. The wheelchair users set a higher priority upon work or leisure activities than upon independence in activities of daily living, and for this reason the Klein-Bell ratings showed great variation between the 'sailors' and the 'quad rugby players' (range 57%-93%), though these groups demonstrated more independence than the 'wheel-walkers'. The results of the study confirm the value of adapting sportswear for handicapped people. Such adaptations should also be of benefit for other activities than those studied.

  12. Creating flat design websites

    CERN Document Server

    Pratas, Antonio

    2014-01-01

    This book contains practical, step-by-step tutorials along with plenty of explanation about designing your flat website. Each section is introduced sequentially, building up your web design skills and completing your website.Creating Flat Design Websites is ideal for you if you are starting on your web development journey, but this book will also benefit seasoned developers wanting to start developing in flat.

  13. 40 CFR 230.42 - Mud flats.

    Science.gov (United States)

    2010-07-01

    ... 40 Protection of Environment 24 2010-07-01 2010-07-01 false Mud flats. 230.42 Section 230.42... Aquatic Sites § 230.42 Mud flats. (a) Mud flats are broad flat areas along the sea coast and in coastal rivers to the head of tidal influence and in inland lakes, ponds, and riverine systems. When mud flats...

  14. Flat-port connectors

    KAUST Repository

    Alrashed, Mohammed

    2017-05-26

    Disclosed are various embodiments for connectors used with electronic devices, such as input and/or output ports to connect peripheral equipment or accessories. More specifically, various flat-port are provided that can be used in place of standard connectors including, but not limited to, audio jacks and Universal Serial Bus (USB) ports. The flat-port connectors are an alternate connection design to replace the traditional receptacle port (female-port), making the device more sealed creation more dust and water resistant. It is unique in the way of using the outer surfaces of the device for the electrical connection between the ports. Flat-port design can allow the manufacture of extremely thin devices by eliminating the side ports slots that take a lot of space and contribute to the increase thickness of the device. The flat-port receptacle improves the overall appearance of the device and makes it more resistant to dust and water.

  15. Flat-space singletons

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Fronsdal, C.

    1987-01-01

    Singletons exist, as particles and as local fields, only in 3+2 de Sitter space. Their kinematical properties make them natural candidates for constituents of massless fields, and perhaps for quarks. It is interesting to find out how to describe this type of compositeness in flat space. A theory of interacting singleton fields in de Sitter space is now available, and in this paper we study the flat-space limit of the Green's functions of that theory. The flat-space limit is an autonomous theory of Green's functions, but is not an operator field theory. The three-point function is calculated and its flat-space limit is found to reveal glimpses of a physical interpretation. Causal and spectral properties are in accord with the tenets of axiomatic field theory. The theory is a generalization of local field theory, in which photons appear as composite objects although the physical S matrix is the same as in conventional QED

  16. High spectral resolution lidar based on quad mach zehnder interferometer for aerosols and wind measurements on board space missions

    Science.gov (United States)

    Mariscal, Jean-François; Bruneau, Didier; Pelon, Jacques; Van Haecke, Mathilde; Blouzon, Frédéric; Montmessin, Franck; Chepfer, Hélène

    2018-04-01

    We present the measurement principle and the optical design of a Quad Mach Zehnder (QMZ) interferometer as HSRL technique, allowing simultaneous measurements of particle backscattering and wind velocity. Key features of this concept is to operate with a multimodal laser and do not require any frequency stabilization. These features are relevant especially for space applications for which high technical readiness level is required.

  17. On the classification of mixed floating pollutants on the Yellow Sea of China by using a quad-polarized SAR image

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wang, Xiaochen; Shao, Yun; Tian, Wei; Li, Kun

    2018-06-01

    This study explored different methodologies using a C-band RADARSAT-2 quad-polarized Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) image located over China's Yellow Sea to investigate polarization decomposition parameters for identifying mixed floating pollutants from a complex ocean background. It was found that solitary polarization decomposition did not meet the demand for detecting and classifying multiple floating pollutants, even after applying a polarized SAR image. Furthermore, considering that Yamaguchi decomposition is sensitive to vegetation and the algal variety Enteromorpha prolifera, while H/A/alpha decomposition is sensitive to oil spills, a combination of parameters which was deduced from these two decompositions was proposed for marine environmental monitoring of mixed floating sea surface pollutants. A combination of volume scattering, surface scattering, and scattering entropy was the best indicator for classifying mixed floating pollutants from a complex ocean background. The Kappa coefficients for Enteromorpha prolifera and oil spills were 0.7514 and 0.8470, respectively, evidence that the composite polarized parameters based on quad-polarized SAR imagery proposed in this research is an effective monitoring method for complex marine pollution.

  18. Quad delay gate generator (LBL No. 21X6691 P-2)

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    McDonald, R.J.; Maier, M.R.; Landis, D.A.; Wozniak, G.J.

    1986-08-01

    A quad delay gate generator has been designed and packaged in a single-width NIM module. Both delay times and gate widths may be set continuously from 25 ns to 120 μsec. In normal operation, the gate follows the delay time unless a ''stop'' pulse cuts it short. Alternatively, the module may be operated in a bipolar mode, where the delay time is set by the input ''start'' pulse and reset by the input ''stop'' pulse. Modes and coarse time ranges are set via an octal DIP switch on the front panel. Fine adjustments of the delay and gate width are made via two twenty-turn potentiometers. Stability over a several day period was measured at ∼ 250 ps on the 120 ns full scale range. LEDs gives a visual indication of both the input rate and the dead time

  19. Quad Band Handset Antenna for LTE MIMO and WLAN Application

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    H. S. Wong

    2014-01-01

    Full Text Available A compact quad band antenna for long-term evolution (LTE MIMO and WLAN application in the handset is presented in this paper. The proposed antenna comprises two symmetrical quarter wavelength radiating strips and a slotted ground plane. On the ground plane, a T-shaped slot is cut from the bottom. Two symmetrical P-shaped slots are etched at both sides of the ground plane. The radiating strips and slots generate a lower resonant at 780 MHz and an upper resonant at 2.350 GHz to cover LTE 700 Band 14, LTE 2300, 2.4 GHz WLAN, and LTE 2500. A novel isolation technique by placing a rectangular patch between the radiating strips is presented. The rectangular patch creates a dedicated current path for each radiating strip. The proposed antenna has high isolation of less than −18 dBi at LTE 2300, 2.4 GHz WLAN, and LTE 2500 band.

  20. High spectral resolution lidar based on quad mach zehnder interferometer for aerosols and wind measurements on board space missions

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Mariscal Jean-François

    2018-01-01

    Full Text Available We present the measurement principle and the optical design of a Quad Mach Zehnder (QMZ interferometer as HSRL technique, allowing simultaneous measurements of particle backscattering and wind velocity. Key features of this concept is to operate with a multimodal laser and do not require any frequency stabilization. These features are relevant especially for space applications for which high technical readiness level is required.

  1. Coded excitation for infrared non-destructive testing of carbon fiber reinforced plastics.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Mulaveesala, Ravibabu; Venkata Ghali, Subbarao

    2011-05-01

    This paper proposes a Barker coded excitation for defect detection using infrared non-destructive testing. Capability of the proposed excitation scheme is highlighted with recently introduced correlation based post processing approach and compared with the existing phase based analysis by taking the signal to noise ratio into consideration. Applicability of the proposed scheme has been experimentally validated on a carbon fiber reinforced plastic specimen containing flat bottom holes located at different depths.

  2. RoHS regulated substances in mixed plastics from waste electrical and electronic equipment.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wäger, Patrick A; Schluep, Mathias; Müller, Esther; Gloor, Rolf

    2012-01-17

    The disposal and recovery of plastics from waste electrical and electronic equipment (WEEE) are of considerable importance, both from an environmental and an economic perspective. This paper presents the results of a study investigating current concentrations of hazardous substances in mixed plastics from WEEE and their implications for an environmentally sound recovery. The study included 53 sampling campaigns for mixed plastics from WEEE. The samples were analyzed with regard to heavy metals (cadmium, chromium, mercury, and lead) and flame retardants (PentaBDE, OctaBDE, DecaBDE, DecaBB) regulated in the RoHS Directive. Besides these substances, other brominated flame retardants known to occur in electronics (HBCD, TBBPA) as well as the total bromine and phosphorus contents were considered. Results show that no mixed plastics fraction from WEEE is completely free from substances regulated in the RoHS Directive. The lowest number and average concentrations were found in flat screen monitors. The highest concentrations were found in mixed plastics from CRT monitors and TVs. Mixed plastics fractions with high average concentrations of heavy metals originate from the treatment of small household appliances (cadmium), ICT equipment (lead), and consumer equipment (lead). Mixed plastics fractions with high average concentrations of brominated flame retardants mainly originate from the treatment of small household appliances for high temperature applications (DecaBDE), CRT monitors (OctaBDE and DecaBDE) and consumer equipment (DecaBDE), in particular CRT TVs (DecaBDE). To avoid a dissipation of hazardous substances into plastics and the environment, it is recommended that mixed plastics from WEEE are subject to a strict quality management.

  3. Flat slices in Minkowski space

    Science.gov (United States)

    Murchadha, Niall Ó.; Xie, Naqing

    2015-03-01

    Minkowski space, flat spacetime, with a distance measure in natural units of d{{s}2}=-d{{t}2}+d{{x}2}+d{{y}2}+d{{z}2}, or equivalently, with spacetime metric diag(-1, +1, +1, +1), is recognized as a fundamental arena for physics. The Poincaré group, the set of all rigid spacetime rotations and translations, is the symmetry group of Minkowski space. The action of this group preserves the form of the spacetime metric. Each t = constant slice of each preferred coordinate system is flat. We show that there are also nontrivial non-singular representations of Minkowski space with complete flat slices. If the embedding of the flat slices decays appropriately at infinity, the only flat slices are the standard ones. However, if we remove the decay condition, we find non-trivial flat slices with non-vanishing extrinsic curvature. We write out explicitly the coordinate transformation to a frame with such slices.

  4. Interaction between plasticized polyvinyl chloride waterproofing membrane and extruded polystyrene board, in the inverted flat roof

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Pedrosa, A.

    2014-12-01

    Full Text Available The inverted flat roof is a constructive system widely used in flat roof construction. In this constructive solution, the insulation is placed over the waterproofing material as a protection. It is believed that this solution provides a longer life cycle; given the fact that it limits the thermal variation the waterproofing material bears up to the end of its life cycle. Consequently, the result will be providing a longer life to the waterproofing membrane. This constructive solution always incorporates polymers or other materials with a thermoplastic addition in their composition. Some polymers show interactions between them that can affect their integrity, and, at the same time, the bulk of the polymeric materials are incompatible. The extruded polystyrene board is always present in the inverted flat roof, and although it is an unbeatable product for this use, it presents incompatibilities and interactions with other materials, and these can affect their properties and therefore the durability of them.La cubierta plana invertida es un sistema constructivo muy utilizado en las cubiertas planas. En esta solución constructiva, el aislamiento se coloca sobre el material impermeabilizante a modo de protección. Se cree que esta solución proporciona un ciclo de vida más largo; dado que se limita la variación térmica de la impermeabilización hasta el final de su ciclo de vida. En consecuencia, el resultado proporciona una vida más larga a la membrana impermeable. Esta solución constructiva siempre incorpora polímeros u otros materiales con adición termoplástica en su composición. Algunos polímeros muestran interacciones entre ellos que pueden afectar a su integridad, además, la mayor parte de los materiales poliméricos son incompatibles. La plancha de poliestireno extrusionado está siempre presente en la cubierta plana invertida, y aunque es un producto inmejorable para este uso, presenta incompatibilidades e interacciones con otros

  5. Plutonium solution storage in plastic bottles: Operational experience and safety issues

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Conner, W.V.

    1995-01-01

    Computer spread sheet models were developed to gain a better understanding of the factors that lead to pressurization and failure of plastic bottles containing plutonium solutions. These models were developed using data obtained from the literature on gas generation rates for plutonium solutions. Leak rates from sealed plastic bottles were obtained from bottle leak tests conducted at Rocky Flats. Results from these bottle leak tests showed that narrow mouth four liter bottles will seal much better than wide mouth four liter bottles. The gas generation rate and leak rate data were used to develop models for predicting the rate of pressurization and maximum pressures expected in sealed bottles of plutonium solution containing various plutonium and acid concentrations. The computer models were used to develop proposed time limits for storing or transporting plutonium solutions in sealed plastic bottles. For plutonium solutions containing 1.5 g/l plutonium, storage in sealed bottles should not be allowed. However, transportation of higher concentration plutonium solution in sealed bottles is required, and safe transportation times of 1 shift to 6 days are proposed

  6. Plastic

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Jeong Gi Hyeon

    1987-04-01

    This book deals with plastic, which includes introduction for plastic, chemistry of high polymers, polymerization, speciality and structure of a high molecule property of plastic, molding, thermosetting plastic, such as polyethylene, polyether, polyamide and polyvinyl acetyl, thermal plastic like phenolic resins, xylene resins, melamine resin, epoxy resin, alkyd resin and poly urethan resin, new plastic like ionomer and PPS resin, synthetic laminated tape and synthetic wood, mixed materials in plastic, reprocessing of waste plastic, polymer blend, test method for plastic materials and auxiliary materials of plastic.

  7. A Novel Multilevel Quad-Inverter Configuration for Quasi Six-Phase Open-Winding Converter

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Padmanaban, Sanjeevi Kumar; Blaabjerg, Frede; Wheeler, Patrick

    2016-01-01

    This paper developed a novel quad-inverter configuration for multilevel six-phase asymmetrical open-winding AC converter. Proposal found to be suited for (low-voltage/high-current) applications such as AC tractions and `More-Electric Aircraft' propulsion systems. Modular power circuit comprises...... of standard four three-phase voltage source inverter (VSI) and each connected to the open-end windings. Each VSIs are incorporated with one bi-directional switching device (MOSFET/IGBT) per phase and two capacitors with neutral point connected. Further, an original modified single carrier five...... and quadruples the capabilities of VSIs. A set of observed results is presented with numerical software analysis (Matlab/PLECS) in balanced working conditions. Always the results shown good agreement in the developed theoretical background....

  8. The use of COD and plastic instability in crack propagation and arrest in shells

    Science.gov (United States)

    Erdogan, F.; Ratwani, M.

    1974-01-01

    The initiation, growth, and possible arrest of fracture in cylindrical shells containing initial defects are dealt with. For those defects which may be approximated by a part-through semi-elliptic surface crack which is sufficiently shallow so that part of the net ligament in the plane of the crack is still elastic, the existing flat plate solution is modified to take into account the shell curvature effect as well as the effect of the thickness and the small scale plastic deformations. The problem of large defects is then considered under the assumptions that the defect may be approximated by a relatively deep meridional part-through surface crack and the net ligament through the shell wall is fully yielded. The results given are based on an 8th order bending theory of shallow shells using a conventional plastic strip model to account for the plastic deformations around the crack border.

  9. Near-field flat focusing mirrors

    Science.gov (United States)

    Cheng, Yu-Chieh; Staliunas, Kestutis

    2018-03-01

    This article reviews recent progress towards the design of near-field flat focusing mirrors, focusing/imaging light patterns in reflection. An important feature of such flat focusing mirrors is their transverse invariance, as they do not possess any optical axis. We start with a review of the physical background to the different focusing mechanisms of near- and far-field focusing. These near-field focusing devices like flat lenses and the reviewed near-field focusing mirrors can implement planar focusing devices without any optical axis. In contrast, various types of far-field planar focusing devices, such as high-contrast gratings and metasurfaces, unavoidably break the transverse invariance due to their radially symmetrical structures. The particular realizations of near-field flat focusing mirrors including Bragg-like dielectric mirrors and dielectric subwavelength gratings are the main subjects of the review. The first flat focusing mirror was demonstrated with a chirped mirror and was shown to manage an angular dispersion for beam focusing, similar to the management of chromatic dispersion for pulse compression. Furthermore, the reviewed optimized chirped mirror demonstrated a long near-field focal length, hardly achieved by a flat lens or a planar hyperlens. Two more different configurations of dielectric subwavelength gratings that focus a light beam at normal or oblique incidence are also reviewed. We also summarize and compare focusing performance, limitations, and future perspectives between the reviewed flat focusing mirrors and other planar focusing devices including a flat lens with a negative-index material, a planar hyperlens, a high-contrast grating, and a metasurface.

  10. GREEN PLASTIC: A NEW PLASTIC FOR PACKAGING

    OpenAIRE

    Mr. Pankaj Kumar*, Sonia

    2016-01-01

    This paper gives a brief idea about a new type of plastic called as bio-plastic or green plastic. Plastic is used as a packaging material for various products, but this plastic is made up of non renewable raw materials. There are various disadvantages of using conventional plastic like littering, CO2 production, non-degradable in nature etc. To overcome these problems a new type of plastic is discovered called bio-plastic or green plastic. Bio-plastic is made from renewable resources and also...

  11. Modeling Surface Roughness to Estimate Surface Moisture Using Radarsat-2 Quad Polarimetric SAR Data

    Science.gov (United States)

    Nurtyawan, R.; Saepuloh, A.; Budiharto, A.; Wikantika, K.

    2016-08-01

    Microwave backscattering from the earth's surface depends on several parameters such as surface roughness and dielectric constant of surface materials. The two parameters related to water content and porosity are crucial for estimating soil moisture. The soil moisture is an important parameter for ecological study and also a factor to maintain energy balance of land surface and atmosphere. Direct roughness measurements to a large area require extra time and cost. Heterogeneity roughness scale for some applications such as hydrology, climate, and ecology is a problem which could lead to inaccuracies of modeling. In this study, we modeled surface roughness using Radasat-2 quad Polarimetric Synthetic Aperture Radar (PolSAR) data. The statistical approaches to field roughness measurements were used to generate an appropriate roughness model. This modeling uses a physical SAR approach to predicts radar backscattering coefficient in the parameter of radar configuration (wavelength, polarization, and incidence angle) and soil parameters (surface roughness and dielectric constant). Surface roughness value is calculated using a modified Campbell and Shepard model in 1996. The modification was applied by incorporating the backscattering coefficient (σ°) of quad polarization HH, HV and VV. To obtain empirical surface roughness model from SAR backscattering intensity, we used forty-five sample points from field roughness measurements. We selected paddy field in Indramayu district, West Java, Indonesia as the study area. This area was selected due to intensive decreasing of rice productivity in the Northern Coast region of West Java. Third degree polynomial is the most suitable data fitting with coefficient of determination R2 and RMSE are about 0.82 and 1.18 cm, respectively. Therefore, this model is used as basis to generate the map of surface roughness.

  12. Plastic substrates for active matrix liquid crystal display incapable of withstanding processing temperature of over 200 C and method of fabrication

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Carey, P.G.; Smith, P.M.; Havens, J.H.; Jones, P.

    1999-01-05

    Bright-polarizer-free, active-matrix liquid crystal displays (AMLCDs) are formed on plastic substrates. The primary components of the display are a pixel circuit fabricated on one plastic substrate, an intervening liquid-crystal material, and a counter electrode on a second plastic substrate. The-pixel circuit contains one or more thin-film transistors (TFTs) and either a transparent or reflective pixel electrode manufactured at sufficiently low temperatures to avoid damage to the plastic substrate. Fabrication of the TFTs can be carried out at temperatures less than 100 C. The liquid crystal material is a commercially made nematic curvilinear aligned phase (NCAP) film. The counter electrode is comprised of a plastic substrate coated with a transparent conductor, such as indium-doped tin oxide (ITO). By coupling the active matrix with NCAP, a high-information content can be provided in a bright, fully plastic package. Applications include any low cost portable electronics containing flat displays where ruggedization of the display is desired. 12 figs.

  13. Offspring reaction norms shaped by parental environment: interaction between within- and trans-generational plasticity of inducible defenses.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Luquet, Emilien; Tariel, Juliette

    2016-10-12

    Within-generational plasticity (WGP) and transgenerational plasticity (TGP) are mechanisms allowing rapid adaptive responses to fluctuating environments without genetic change. These forms of plasticity have often been viewed as independent processes. Recent evidence suggests that WGP is altered by the environmental conditions experienced by previous generations (i.e., TGP). In the context of inducible defenses, one of the most studied cases of plasticity, the WGP x TGP interaction has been poorly investigated. We provide evidence that TGP can alter the reaction norms of inducible defenses in a freshwater snail. The WGP x TGP interaction patterns are trait-specific and lead to decreased slope of reaction norms (behaviour and shell thickness). Offspring from induced parents showed a higher predator avoidance behaviour and a thicker shell than snails from non-induced parents in no predator-cue environment while they reached similar defenses in predator-cue environment. The WGP x TGP interaction further lead to a switch from a plastic towards a constitutive expression of defenses for shell dimensions (flat reaction norm). WGP-alteration by TGP may shape the adaptive responses to environmental change and then has a substantial importance to understand the evolution of plasticity.

  14. Isolated/Non-Isolated Quad-Inverter Configuration for Multilevel Symmetrical/Asymmetrical Dual Six-Phase Star-Winding Converter

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Padmanaban, Sanjeevi Kumar; Hontz, Michael R.; Khanna, Raghav

    2016-01-01

    This article presents the developments of a novel isolated/non-isolated quad inverter configuration for multilevel dual six-phase (twelve-phase) star-winding converter. The modular circuit consists of four standard voltage source inverters (VSIs). Each VSI is incorporated with one bi-directional ...... systems, electrical vehicles, AC tractions, and `More-Electric Aircraft' propulsion systems....... converter is numerically modeled using Matlab/PLECS simulation software and the predicted behavior of the system is analyzed and presented. Good agreement is obtained between these results and the theoretical analysis. Suitable applications for the converter include (low-voltage/high-current) medium power...

  15. Plastic substrates for active matrix liquid crystal display incapable of withstanding processing temperature of over 200.degree. C and method of fabrication

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Carey, Paul G. (Mountain View, CA); Smith, Patrick M. (San Ramon, CA); Havens, John (San Diego, CA); Jones, Phil (Marlborough, GB)

    1999-01-01

    Bright-polarizer-free, active-matrix liquid crystal displays (AMLCDs) are formed on plastic substrates. The primary components of the display are a pixel circuit fabricated on one plastic substrate, an intervening liquid-crystal material, and a counter electrode on a second plastic substrate. The-pixel circuit contains one or more thin-film transistors (TFTs) and either a transparent or reflective pixel electrode manufactured at sufficiently low temperatures to avoid damage to the plastic substrate. Fabrication of the TFTs can be carried out at temperatures less than 100.degree. C. The liquid crystal material is a commercially made nematic curvilinear aligned phase (NCAP) film. The counter electrode is comprised of a plastic substrate coated with a transparent conductor, such as indium-doped tin oxide (ITO). By coupling the active matrix with NCAP, a high-information content can be provided in a bright, fully plastic package. Applications include any low cost portable electronics containing flat displays where ruggedization of the display is desired.

  16. Non-Contact Acousto-Thermal Signatures of Plastic Deformation in TI-6AL-4V

    Science.gov (United States)

    Welter, J. T.; Malott, G.; Schehl, N.; Sathish, S.; Jata, K. V.; Blodgett, M. P.

    2010-02-01

    Plastic deformation introduces changes in a material which include increases in: dislocations, strains, residual stress, and yield stress. However, these changes have a very small impact on the material properties such as elastic modulus, conductivity and ultrasonic wave speed. This is due to the fact that interatomic forces govern these properties, and they are not affected by plastic deformation to any large degree. This is evident from the fact that the changes in electrical resistance and ultrasonic velocity in plastically deformed and virgin samples are very small and can only be determined by highly controlled experiments. Except for X-ray diffraction, there are no direct nondestructive methods for measuring strain and the residual stress. This paper presents an application of the non-contact acousto-thermal signature (NCATS) NDE methodology to detect plastic deformation in flat dog bone Ti-6Al-4V samples. Results of the NCATS measurements on samples subjected to incremental amounts of plastic deformation are presented. The maximum temperature attained by the sample due to acoustic excitation is found to be sensitive to the amount of plastic strain. It is observed that the temperature induced by acoustic excitation increases to a peak followed by a decrease to failure. The maximum temperature peak occurs at plastic strains of 12-14%. It is observed that there is a correlation between the peak in maximum temperature rise and the strain at the experimentally determined ultimate tensile strength. A microstructural based explanation for this will be presented. The results are discussed in reference to utilizing this technique for detection and evaluation of plastic deformation.

  17. Long-range Rocky Flats utilization study

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    1983-02-01

    The purpose of this Study was to provide information concerning the Rocky Flats Plant and its operations that will be useful to the Nation's decision-makers in determining the long-range future of the Plant. This Study was conducted under the premise that national defense policy must be supported and, accordingly, the capabilities at Rocky Flats must be maintained there or at some other location(s). The Study, therefore, makes no attempt to speculate on how possible future changes in national defense policy might affect decisions regarding the utilization of Rocky Flats. Factors pertinent to decisions regarding Rocky Flats, which are included in the Study, are: physical condition of the Plant and its vulnerabilities to natural phenomena; risks associated with plutonium to Plant workers and the public posed by postulated natural phenomena and operational accidents; identification of alternative actions regarding the future use of the Rocky Flats Plant with associated costs and time scales; local socioeconomic impacts if Rocky Flats operations were relocated; and potential for other uses if Rocky Flats facilities were vacated. The results of the tasks performed in support of this Study are summarized in the context of these five factors

  18. Study on elastic-plastic deformation analysis using a cyclic stress-strain curve

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Igari, Toshihide; Setoguchi, Katsuya; Yamauchi, Masafumi

    1983-01-01

    This paper presents the results of the elastic-plastic deformation analysis using a cyclic stress-strain curve with an intention to apply this method for predicting the low-cycle fatigue life. Uniaxial plastic cycling tests were performed on 2 1/4Cr-1Mo steel to investigate the correspondence between the cyclic stress-strain curve and the hysteresis loop, and also to determine what mathematical model should be used for analysis of deformation at stress reversal. Furthermore, a cyclic in-plane bending test was performed on a flat plate to clarify the validity of the cyclic stress-strain curve-based theoretical analysis. The results obtained are as follows: (1) The cyclic stress-strain curve corresponds nearly to the ascending curve of hysteresis loop scaled by a factor of 1/2 for both stress and strain. Therefore, the cyclic stress-strain curve can be determined from the shape of hysteresis loop, for simplicity. (2) To perform the elastic-plastic deformation analysis using the cyclic stress-strain curve is both practical and effective for predicting the cyclic elastic-plastic deformation of structures at the stage of advanced cycles. And Masing model can serve as a suitable mathematical model for such a deformation analysis. (author)

  19. Mechanical characteristics of plastic base Ports and impact on flushing efficacy.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Guiffant, Gérard; Flaud, Patrice; Royon, Laurent; Burnet, Espérie; Merckx, Jacques

    2017-01-01

    Three types of totally implantable venous access devices, Ports, are currently in use: titanium, plastic (polyoxymethylene, POM), and mixed (titanium base with a POM shell). Physics theory suggests that the interaction between a non-coring needle (NCN, made of stainless steel) and a plastic base would lead to the stronger material (steel) altering the more malleable material (plastic). To investigate whether needle impacts can alter a plastic base's surface, thus potentially reducing flushing efficacy. A Port made of POM was punctured 200 times with a 19-gauge NCN. Following the existing guidelines, the needle tip pricked the base with each puncture. The Port's base was then examined using a two-dimensional optical instrument, and a bi-dimensional numerical simulation using COMSOL ® was performed to investigate potential surface irregularities and their impact on fluid flow. Each needle impact created a hole (mean depth, 0.12 mm) with a small bump beside it (mean height, 0.02 mm) the Reynolds number Re k ≈10. A numerical simulation of the one hole/bump set showed that the flushing efficacy was 60% that of flushing along a flat surface. In clinical practice, the number of times a Port is punctured depends on patient and treatment characteristics, but each needle impact on the plastic base may increase the risk of decreased flushing effectiveness. Therefore, the more a plastic Port is accessed, the greater the risk of microorganisms, blood products, and medication accumulation. Multiple needle impacts created an irregular surface on the Port's base, which decreased flushing efficacy. Clinical investigation is needed to determine whether plastic base Ports are associated with an increased risk of Port infection and occlusion compared to titanium base Ports.

  20. Adaptive compensation control for attitude adjustment of quad-rotor unmanned aerial vehicle.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Song, Zhankui; Sun, Kaibiao

    2017-07-01

    A compensation control strategy based on adaptive back-stepping technique is presented to address the problem of attitude adjustment for a quad-rotor unmanned aerial vehicle (QR- UAV) with inertia parameter uncertainties, the limited airflow disturbance and the partial loss of rotation speed effectiveness. In the design process of control system, adaptive estimation technique is introduced into the closed loop system in order to compensate the lumped disturbance term. More specifically, the designed controller utilizes "prescribed performance bounds" method, and therefore guarantees the transient performance of tracking errors, even in the presence of the lumped disturbance. Adaptive compensation algorithms under the proposed closed loop system structure are derived in the sense of Lyapunov stability analysis such that the attitude tracking error converge to a small neighborhood of equilibrium point. Finally, the simulation results demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed controller. Copyright © 2017 ISA. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  1. Trajectory Optimization for Differential Flat Systems

    OpenAIRE

    Kahina Louadj; Benjamas Panomruttanarug; Alexandre Carlos Brandao Ramos; Felix Mora-Camino

    2016-01-01

    International audience; The purpose of this communication is to investigate the applicability of Variational Calculus to the optimization of the operation of differentially flat systems. After introducingcharacteristic properties of differentially flat systems, the applicability of variational calculus to the optimization of flat output trajectories is displayed. Two illustrative examples are also presented.

  2. Rocky Flats Compliance Program

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    1994-02-01

    The Department of Energy (DOE) established the Office of Technology Development (EM-50) (OTD) as an element of Environmental Restoration and Waste Management (EM) in November 1989. The primary objective of the Office of Technology Development, Rocky Flats Compliance Program (RFCP), is to develop altemative treatment technologies for mixed low-level waste (wastes containing both hazardous and radioactive components) to use in bringing the Rocky Flats Plant (RFP) into compliance with Federal and state regulations and agreements. Approximately 48,000 cubic feet of untreated low-level mixed waste, for which treatment has not been specified, are stored at the RFP. The cleanup of the Rocky Flats site is driven by agreements between DOE, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), and the Colorado Department of Health (CDH). Under these agreements, a Comprehensive Treatment and Management Plan (CTMP) was drafted to outline the mechanisms by which RFP will achieve compliance with the regulations and agreements. This document describes DOE's strategy to treat low-level mixed waste to meet Land Disposal Restrictions and sets specific milestones related to the regulatory aspects of technology development. These milestones detail schedules for the development of technologies to treat all of the mixed wastes at the RFP. Under the Federal Facilities Compliance Act (FFCA), the CTMP has been incorporated into Rocky Flats Plant Conceptual Site Treatment Plan (CSTP). The CSTP will become the Rocky Flats Plant site Treatment Plan in 1995 and will supersede the CTMP

  3. 49 CFR 231.6 - Flat cars.

    Science.gov (United States)

    2010-10-01

    ... 49 Transportation 4 2010-10-01 2010-10-01 false Flat cars. 231.6 Section 231.6 Transportation... TRANSPORTATION RAILROAD SAFETY APPLIANCE STANDARDS § 231.6 Flat cars. (Cars with sides 12 inches or less above the floor may be equipped the same as flat cars.) (a) Hand brakes—(1) Number. Same as specified for...

  4. Exact Riemann solutions of the Ripa model for flat and non-flat bottom topographies

    Science.gov (United States)

    Rehman, Asad; Ali, Ishtiaq; Qamar, Shamsul

    2018-03-01

    This article is concerned with the derivation of exact Riemann solutions for Ripa model considering flat and non-flat bottom topographies. The Ripa model is a system of shallow water equations accounting for horizontal temperature gradients. In the case of non-flat bottom topography, the mass, momentum and energy conservation principles are utilized to relate the left and right states across the step-type bottom topography. The resulting system of algebraic equations is solved iteratively. Different numerical case studies of physical interest are considered. The solutions obtained from developed exact Riemann solvers are compared with the approximate solutions of central upwind scheme.

  5. DYNAMICS OF HUMIDITY DISTRIBUTION IN CROSS-SECTION OF FLAT MOULDING MASS SAMPLES IN INITIAL DRYING STAGE

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    S. N. Оsipov

    2005-01-01

    Full Text Available It is proposed to use an exponential dependence for description of humidity distribution in cross-section of flat clay mass samples of plastic formation in an initial drying stage. Dependences of exponential curve indices on time from drying start-up and size of an «active» zone of clay mass dehydration have been determined. Analytical-experimental methodology for calculation of maximum permissible humidity differential of moulding mass under crack formation conditions has been developed on the basis of thermo-elasticity model. Some regularities for an estimation of thinning agent usage while making-up mixture.

  6. Retrofit of existing Dow solidification system at quad cities nuclear station

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Dekitis, L.; Jarvis, N.; Petri, R.; Testa, J.

    1983-01-01

    Over the past year ATCOR has been involved in the design, testing and supply of an In-container Mixing System Retrofit for Commonwealth Edison's Quad Cities Nuclear Station Solidification System. The system supplied by DOW, itself a retrofit of a urea formaldehyde system, was based upon use of 50 cubic foot containers (liners). ATCOR's retrofit increased liner capacity to 170 cubic feet and allowed in-cask solidification of highly radioactive material. This paper discusses the reasons for the decision to replace equipment within the originally furnished system and the development of the ATCOR plan to proof-test this equipment prior to delivery at the site. Results of this pre-testing, and a comparison between pre-tested conditions and the actual in-plan start-up tests are presented. Development of improved instrumentation and mechanical modifications which enhance the reliability of the ATCOR/DOW process In-container Mixing System was provided as a part of this project. Test results are presented on instruments, controls and the unique method of mechanical attachment of the Mixing Head to the solidification container

  7. Exact piecewise flat gravitational waves

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    van de Meent, M.

    2011-01-01

    We generalize our previous linear result (van de Meent 2011 Class. Quantum Grav 28 075005) in obtaining gravitational waves from our piecewise flat model for gravity in 3+1 dimensions to exact piecewise flat configurations describing exact planar gravitational waves. We show explicitly how to

  8. An Approximate Solution to the Plastic Indentation of Circular Sandwich Panels

    Science.gov (United States)

    Xie, Z.

    2018-05-01

    The plastic indentation response of circular sandwich panels loaded by the flat end of a cylinder is investigated employing a velocity field model. Using the principles of virtual velocities and minimum work, an expression for the indenter load in relation to the indenter displacement and displacement field of the deformed face sheet is derived. The analytical solutions obtained are in good agreement with those found by simulations using the ABAQUS code. The radial tensile strain of the deformed face sheet and the ratio of energy absorption rate of the core to that of the face sheet are discussed.

  9. Rigidity of generalized Bach-flat vacuum static spaces

    Science.gov (United States)

    Yun, Gabjin; Hwang, Seungsu

    2017-11-01

    In this paper, we study the structure of generalized Bach-flat vacuum static spaces. Generalized Bach-flat metrics are considered as extensions of both Einstein and Bach-flat metrics. First, we prove that a compact Riemannian n-manifold with n ≥ 4 which is a generalized Bach-flat vacuum static space is Einstein. A generalized Bach-flat vacuum static space with the potential function f having compact level sets is either Ricci-flat or a warped product with zero scalar curvature when n ≥ 5, and when n = 4, it is Einstein if f has its minimum. Secondly, we consider critical metrics for another quadratic curvature functional involving the Ricci tensor, and prove similar results. Lastly, by applying the technique developed above, we prove Besse conjecture when the manifold is generalized Bach-flat.

  10. Feasibility study of flexible flat-panel X-ray detectors for digital radiography

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Joe, Ok La; Yun, Seung Man; Kim, Ho Kyung

    2010-01-01

    Flexible flat-panel detectors (FPDs), which utilize both organic photodiode (OPD) and organic thin-film transistor (OTFT) technologies, are recently concerned in digital radiography. The flexible FPD has several potential advantages, such as high accessibility to patient, avoidance of geometrical burr due to the oblique angle incidence of X-ray, great reduction in manufacturing cost due to jet-printing. At once, The OPD/OTFT arrays were fabricated by jet-printing techniques, mechanical robustness due to plastic substrates, and so on. In this study, we have investigated the feasibility of flexible FPD by comparing theoretical detective quantum efficiency (DQE) with that of the conventional amorphous silicon-based FPD. We chose copper phthalocyanine-fullerene (CuPc-C60) organic materials for the construction of the flexible FPD. DQE was calculated by the linear-systems transfer theory

  11. Fatigue life of fibre reinforced plastics at 295 K after thermal cycling between 295 K and 77 K

    Science.gov (United States)

    Belisario, G.; Caproni, F.; Marchetti, E.

    Results of low cycle three-point end fatigue tests at 295 K are reported. These were obtained from fibre reinforced plastics (FRP) flat specimens made of epoxy matrix reinforced with glass rovings only or glass rovings and Kevlar cloth. It is shown that previous thermal cycles between 295 K and 77 K exert an influence on the fatigue life as well on the acoustic emission results.

  12. Individual energy savings for individual flats in blocks of flats

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Nielsen, Anker; Rose, Jørgen

    2014-01-01

    and 1980. Normally, we expect the reduction in energy consumption to be around 20% for a 2 °C lower temperature, but for an inner flat the reduction can be up to 71%. The owners of the adjoining flats get an increase in energy demand of 10 to 20% each. They will not be able to figure out whether...... this is because the neighbour maintains a low temperature or the fact that they maintain a higher temperature. The best solution is to keep your own indoor temperature low. We can also turn the problem around: if you maintain a higher temperature than your neighbours, then you will pay part of their heating bill....

  13. Effect of a viscoelastic target on the impact response of a flat-nosed projectile

    Science.gov (United States)

    Liu, Hu; Yang, Jialing; Liu, Hua

    2018-02-01

    Taylor impact is a widely used strategy in which a flat-nosed projectile is fired onto a rigid anvil directly to determine the dynamic strength of rod specimens. Nowadays, the rigid anvil is often replaced by an output target bar to ensure the accuracy of measurement via recording strain signals in the output bar. For testing the dynamic strength of low-density materials, a low-impedance target bar, which exhibits viscoelastic characteristics is often employed. In this paper, an extended Taylor model is proposed to improve the idealization of treating the target bar as perfectly rigid material in the classic Taylor model, and the viscoelastic effect of the target bar is incorporated. The viscoelastic target bar is depicted by two elastic springs and one dashpot. Based on the plastic shock wave theory in the flat-nosed projectile associated with the viscoelastic wave analysis in the target bar, the viscoelastic effect of the target bar on the impact response of the flat-nosed projectile is investigated. The finite element simulation is also carried out to verify the theoretical model, and good agreement is found. The present theoretical model is also called the Taylor-cylinder Hopkinson impact, which provides a more accurate way to identify the dynamic material parameters. The dynamic responses of the present model are further compared with previous elastic and rigid target bar models. It is found that the viscoelastic effect of the target bar should be taken into consideration in the Taylor-cylinder Hopkinson impact test for low-impedance materials.

  14. Harmonic manifolds with minimal horospheres are flat

    Indian Academy of Sciences (India)

    Abstract. In this note we reprove the known theorem: Harmonic manifolds with minimal horospheres are flat. It turns out that our proof is simpler and more direct than the original one. We also reprove the theorem: Ricci flat harmonic manifolds are flat, which is generally affirmed by appealing to Cheeger–Gromov splitting ...

  15. Harmonic Manifolds with Minimal Horospheres are Flat

    Indian Academy of Sciences (India)

    In this note we reprove the known theorem: Harmonic manifolds with minimal horospheres are flat. It turns out that our proof is simpler and more direct than the original one. We also reprove the theorem: Ricci flat harmonic manifolds are flat, which is generally affirmed by appealing to Cheeger–Gromov splitting theorem.

  16. Plasticity theory

    CERN Document Server

    Lubliner, Jacob

    2008-01-01

    The aim of Plasticity Theory is to provide a comprehensive introduction to the contemporary state of knowledge in basic plasticity theory and to its applications. It treats several areas not commonly found between the covers of a single book: the physics of plasticity, constitutive theory, dynamic plasticity, large-deformation plasticity, and numerical methods, in addition to a representative survey of problems treated by classical methods, such as elastic-plastic problems, plane plastic flow, and limit analysis; the problem discussed come from areas of interest to mechanical, structural, and

  17. Adaptive Neural Network Sliding Mode Control for Quad Tilt Rotor Aircraft

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Yanchao Yin

    2017-01-01

    Full Text Available A novel neural network sliding mode control based on multicommunity bidirectional drive collaborative search algorithm (M-CBDCS is proposed to design a flight controller for performing the attitude tracking control of a quad tilt rotors aircraft (QTRA. Firstly, the attitude dynamic model of the QTRA concerning propeller tension, channel arm, and moment of inertia is formulated, and the equivalent sliding mode control law is stated. Secondly, an adaptive control algorithm is presented to eliminate the approximation error, where a radial basis function (RBF neural network is used to online regulate the equivalent sliding mode control law, and the novel M-CBDCS algorithm is developed to uniformly update the unknown neural network weights and essential model parameters adaptively. The nonlinear approximation error is obtained and serves as a novel leakage term in the adaptations to guarantee the sliding surface convergence and eliminate the chattering phenomenon, which benefit the overall attitude control performance for QTRA. Finally, the appropriate comparisons among the novel adaptive neural network sliding mode control, the classical neural network sliding mode control, and the dynamic inverse PID control are examined, and comparative simulations are included to verify the efficacy of the proposed control method.

  18. A study on plastic strain accumulation caused by traveling of temperature distribution synchronizing with temperature rise

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Okajima, Satoshi

    2016-01-01

    The prevention of excessive deformation by thermal ratcheting is important in the design of high-temperature components of fast breeder reactors (FBR). This includes evaluation methods for a new type of thermal ratcheting caused by an axial traveling of temperature distribution, which corresponds to moving-up of liquid sodium surface in startup phase. Long range traveling of the axial temperature distribution brings flat plastic deformation profile in wide range. Therefore, at the center of this range, residual stress that brings shakedown behavior does not accumulate. As a result, repeating of this temperature traveling brings continuous accumulation of the plastic strain, even if there is no primary stress. In contrast, in the case with short range traveling, residual stress is caused by constraint against elastic part, and finally it results in shakedown. Because of this mechanism, we supposed that limit for the shakedown behavior depends on distance from the elastic part (i.e. half length of region with plastic deformation). In this paper, we examined characteristics of the accumulation of the plastic strain caused by realistic heat transients, namely, traveling of temperature distribution synchronizing with temperature rise. This examination was based on finite element analyses using elastic-perfectly plastic material. As a result, we confirmed that the shakedown limit depends not on the traveling range of the temperature distribution but the plastic deformation range, which was predicted by the elastic analysis. In the actual application, we can control the plastic deformation range by changing rate of the moving-up of liquid sodium surface. (author)

  19. Mechanical characteristics of plastic base Ports and impact on flushing efficacy

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Guiffant G

    2017-01-01

    Full Text Available Gérard Guiffant,1 Patrice Flaud,1 Laurent Royon,1 Espérie Burnet,2 Jacques Merckx1–3 1University Paris Diderot, Biofluidic Group, UMR CNRS, 2Pulmonary Department and Adult Cystic Fibrosis Centre, Cochin Hospital, 3University Teaching Hospital, Necker-Enfants Malades, Paris, France Background: Three types of totally implantable venous access devices, Ports, are currently in use: titanium, plastic (polyoxymethylene, POM, and mixed (titanium base with a POM shell. Physics theory suggests that the interaction between a non-coring needle (NCN, made of stainless steel and a plastic base would lead to the stronger material (steel altering the more malleable material (plastic. Objectives: To investigate whether needle impacts can alter a plastic base’s surface, thus potentially reducing flushing efficacy. Study design and methods: A Port made of POM was punctured 200 times with a 19-gauge NCN. Following the existing guidelines, the needle tip pricked the base with each puncture. The Port’s base was then examined using a two-dimensional optical instrument, and a bi-dimensional numerical simulation using COMSOL® was performed to investigate potential surface irregularities and their impact on fluid flow. Results: Each needle impact created a hole (mean depth, 0.12 mm with a small bump beside it (mean height, 0.02 mm the Reynolds number Rek≈10. A numerical simulation of the one hole/bump set showed that the flushing efficacy was 60% that of flushing along a flat surface. Discussion: In clinical practice, the number of times a Port is punctured depends on patient and treatment characteristics, but each needle impact on the plastic base may increase the risk of decreased flushing effectiveness. Therefore, the more a plastic Port is accessed, the greater the risk of microorganisms, blood products, and medication accumulation. Conclusions: Multiple needle impacts created an irregular surface on the Port’s base, which decreased flushing efficacy

  20. Development of a plastic fracture methodology for nuclear systems

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Marston, T.U.; Jones, R.L.; Kanninen, M.F.; Mowbray, D.F.

    1981-01-01

    This paper describes research conducted to develop a fundamental basis for flaw tolerance assessment procedures suitable for components exhibiting ductile behavior. The research was composed of an integrated combination of stable crack growth experiments and elastic-plastic analyses. A number of candidate fracture criteria were assembled and investigated to determine the proper basis for plastic fracture mechanics assessments. The results demonstrate that many different fracture criteria can be used as the basis of a resistance curve approach to predicting stable crack growth and fracture instability. While all have some disadvantages, none is completely unacceptable. On balance, the best criteria were found to be the J-integral for initiation and limited amounts of stable crack growth and the local crack-tip opening angle for extended amounts of stable growth. A combination of the two, which may preserve the advantages of each while reducing their disadvantages, also was suggested by these results. The influence of biaxial and mixed flat/shear fracture behavior was investigated and found to not alter the basic results. Further work in the development of simplified ductile fracture analyses for routine engineering assessments of nuclear pressure vessels and piping evolving from this research is also described

  1. Transport processes in intertidal sand flats

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wu, Christy

    2010-05-01

    Methane rich sulfate depleted seeps are observed along the low water line of the intertidal sand flat Janssand in the Wadden Sea. It is unclear where in the flat the methane is formed, and how it is transported to the edge of the sand flat where the sulfidic water seeps out. Methane and sulfate distributions in pore water were determined along transects from low water line toward the central area of the sand flat. The resulting profiles showed a zone of methane-rich and sulfate-depleted pore water below 2 m sediment depth. Methane production and sulfate reduction are monitored over time for surface sediments collected from the upper flat and seeping area. Both activities were at 22 C twice as high as at 15 C. The rates in sediments from the central area were higher than in sediments from the methane seeps. Methanogenesis occurred in the presence of sulfate, and was not significantly accelerated when sulfate was depleted. The observations show a rapid anaerobic degradation of organic matter in the Janssand. The methane rich pore water is obviously transported with a unidirectional flow from the central area of the intertidal sand flat toward the low water line. This pore water flow is driven by the pressure head caused by elevation of the pore water relative to the sea surface at low tide (Billerbeck et al. 2006a). The high methane concentration at the low water line accumulates due to a continuous outflow of pore water at the seepage site that prevents penetration of electron acceptors such as oxygen and sulfate to reoxidize the reduced products of anaerobic degradation (de Beer et al. 2006). It is, however, not clear why no methane accumulates or sulfate is depleted in the upper 2 m of the flats.

  2. Magical Engineering Plastic

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Kim, Gwang Ung

    1988-01-15

    This book introduces engineering plastic about advantage of engineering plastic, plastic material from processing method, plastic shock, plastic until now, background of making of engineering plastic, wonderful engineering plastic science such as a high molecule and molecule, classification of high molecule, difference between metal and high molecule, heat and high molecule materials, and property of surface, engineering plastic of dream like from linseed oil to aramid, small dictionary of engineering plastic.

  3. Magical Engineering Plastic

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Kim, Gwang Ung

    1988-01-01

    This book introduces engineering plastic about advantage of engineering plastic, plastic material from processing method, plastic shock, plastic until now, background of making of engineering plastic, wonderful engineering plastic science such as a high molecule and molecule, classification of high molecule, difference between metal and high molecule, heat and high molecule materials, and property of surface, engineering plastic of dream like from linseed oil to aramid, small dictionary of engineering plastic.

  4. HYBRID COMMUNICATION NETWORK OF MOBILE ROBOT AND QUAD-COPTER

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Moustafa M. Kurdi

    2017-01-01

    Full Text Available This paper introduces the design and development of QMRS (Quadcopter Mobile Robotic System. QMRS is a real-time obstacle avoidance capability in Belarus-132N mobile robot with the cooperation of quadcopter Phantom-4. The function of QMRS consists of GPS used by Mobile Robot and image vision and image processing system from both robot and quad-copter and by using effective searching algorithm embedded inside the robot. Having the capacity to navigate accurately is one of the major abilities of a mobile robot to effectively execute a variety of jobs including manipulation, docking, and transportation. To achieve the desired navigation accuracy, mobile robots are typically equipped with on-board sensors to observe persistent features in the environment, to estimate their pose from these observations, and to adjust their motion accordingly. Quadcopter takes off from Mobile Robot, surveys the terrain and transmits the processed Image terrestrial robot. The main objective of research paper is to focus on the full coordination between robot and quadcopter by designing an efficient wireless communication using WIFI. In addition, it identify the method involving the use of vision and image processing system from both robot and quadcopter; analyzing path in real-time and avoiding obstacles based-on the computational algorithm embedded inside the robot. QMRS increases the efficiency and reliability of the whole system especially in robot navigation, image processing and obstacle avoidance due to the help and connection among the different parts of the system.

  5. Flat synchronizations in spherically symmetric space-times

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Herrero, Alicia; Morales-Lladosa, Juan Antonio

    2010-01-01

    It is well known that the Schwarzschild space-time admits a spacelike slicing by flat instants and that the metric is regular at the horizon in the associated adapted coordinates (Painleve-Gullstrand metric form). We consider this type of flat slicings in an arbitrary spherically symmetric space-time. The condition ensuring its existence is analyzed, and then, we prove that, for any spherically symmetric flat slicing, the densities of the Weinberg momenta vanish. Finally, we deduce the Schwarzschild solution in the extended Painleve-Gullstrand-LemaItre metric form by considering the coordinate decomposition of the vacuum Einstein equations with respect to a flat spacelike slicing.

  6. International policies to reduce plastic marine pollution from single-use plastics (plastic bags and microbeads): A review.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Xanthos, Dirk; Walker, Tony R

    2017-05-15

    Marine plastic pollution has been a growing concern for decades. Single-use plastics (plastic bags and microbeads) are a significant source of this pollution. Although research outlining environmental, social, and economic impacts of marine plastic pollution is growing, few studies have examined policy and legislative tools to reduce plastic pollution, particularly single-use plastics (plastic bags and microbeads). This paper reviews current international market-based strategies and policies to reduce plastic bags and microbeads. While policies to reduce microbeads began in 2014, interventions for plastic bags began much earlier in 1991. However, few studies have documented or measured the effectiveness of these reduction strategies. Recommendations to further reduce single-use plastic marine pollution include: (i) research to evaluate effectiveness of bans and levies to ensure policies are having positive impacts on marine environments; and (ii) education and outreach to reduce consumption of plastic bags and microbeads at source. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  7. TRANSVERSE MODES FOR FLAT INTER-BUNCH WAKES*

    CERN Document Server

    Burov, A

    2013-01-01

    If inter-bunch wake fields are flat, i.e. their variations over a bunch length can be neglected, all coherent modes have the same coupled-bunch structure, provided the bunches can be treated as identical by their inner qualities (train theorem). If a flat feedback is strong enough, the transverse modes are single-bunch, provided the inter-bunch wakes are also flat (damper theorem).

  8. Wetting of flat gradient surfaces.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bormashenko, Edward

    2018-04-01

    Gradient, chemically modified, flat surfaces enable directed transport of droplets. Calculation of apparent contact angles inherent for gradient surfaces is challenging even for atomically flat ones. Wetting of gradient, flat solid surfaces is treated within the variational approach, under which the contact line is free to move along the substrate. Transversality conditions of the variational problem give rise to the generalized Young equation valid for gradient solid surfaces. The apparent (equilibrium) contact angle of a droplet, placed on a gradient surface depends on the radius of the contact line and the values of derivatives of interfacial tensions. The linear approximation of the problem is considered. It is demonstrated that the contact angle hysteresis is inevitable on gradient surfaces. Electrowetting of gradient surfaces is discussed. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  9. Flat detectors and their clinical applications

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Spahn, Martin

    2005-01-01

    Diagnostic and interventional flat detector X-ray systems are penetrating the market in all application segments. First introduced in radiography and mammography, they have conquered cardiac and general angiography and are getting increasing attention in fluoroscopy. Two flat detector technologies prevail. The dominating method is based on an indirect X-ray conversion process, using cesium iodide scintillators. It offers considerable advantages in radiography, angiography and fluoroscopy. The other method employs a direct converter such as selenium which is particularly suitable for mammography. Both flat detector technologies are based on amorphous silicon active pixel matrices. Flat detectors facilitate the clinical workflow in radiographic rooms, foster improved image quality and provide the potential to reduce dose. This added value is based on their large dynamic range, their high sensitivity to X-rays and the instant availability of the image. Advanced image processing is instrumental in these improvements and expand the range of conventional diagnostic methods. In angiography and fluoroscopy the transition from image intensifiers to flat detectors is facilitated by ample advantages they offer, such as distortion-free images, excellent coarse contrast, large dynamic range and high X-ray sensitivity. These characteristics and their compatibility with strong magnetic fields are the basis for improved diagnostic methods and innovative interventional applications. (orig.)

  10. Laser Doppler thermometry in flat flames

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Maaren, van A.; Goey, de L.P.H.

    1994-01-01

    Laser Doppler Velocimetry measurements are performed in flat flames, stabilized on a newly developed flat-flame burner. It is shown that the velocity component perpendicular to the main flow direction, induced by expansion in the reaction zone and buoyancy in the burnt gas, is significant. A method

  11. Study of elastoplastic deformations self-fretting of flat cylinders by mandrelling

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Caron, Roger

    1974-04-01

    An application of the theory of thick tubes to the special case of flat cylinders which have been self-fretted by mandrelling, is presented. The following materials were used: 1 - a soft steel, XC 18 F, considered to be perfectly elastoplastic; 2 - an alloyed steel, 35 NCD 16, designated consolidable. In the first case, the slip trajectories observed on the polished cylinder surface enabled the plastic deformation region to be defined. It was found, in particular, that the average value of the mean boundary radius at the maximum pressure differs very little from that determined using basic formulas. In the second case, the plastic deformations uniformly affect the internal layers, and privileged trajectories do not exist in this region. On the other hand, the ε θ and ε r expansion curves (from deformation measurements), are continuous from the inner radius to the outer radius; the boundary radius was thus localized from considerations of its correspondence with the ε θ -ε r (shearing deformation) at the elastic limit of the material. This characteristic was determined from measurements made using a test piece provided for this purpose. The radii obtained with this method agree with the theoretical radii over only 4/5 of the total deformation, the uncertainty region being taken into consideration. The maximum value of this parameter was determined in such a way as to obtain a return to a completely elastic rest position. (author) [fr

  12. Elastic-plastic-creep analysis of brazed carbon-carbon/OFHC divertor tile concepts for TPX

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Chin, E.; Reis, E.E.

    1995-01-01

    The 7.5 MW/m 2 heat flux requirements for the TPX divertor necessitate the use of high conductivity carbon-carbon (C-C) tiles that are brazed to annealed copper (OFHC) coolant tubes. Significant residual stresses are developed in the C-C tiles during the braze process due to large differences in the thermal expansion coefficients between these materials. Analyses which account for only the elastic-plastic strains developed in the OFHC tube may not accurately characterize the behavior of the tube during brazing. The elevated temperature creep behavior of the copper coolant tubes intuitively should reduce the calculated residual stresses in the C-C tiles. Two divertor tile concepts, the monoblock and the archblock, were analyzed for residual stress using 2-D finite element analysis for elastic-plastic-creep behavior of the OFHC tube during an assumed braze cooldown cycle. The results show that the inclusion of elevated temperature creep effects decrease the calculated residual stresses by only about 10% when compared to those analyses in which only elastic-plastic behavior of the OFHC is accounted for. The primary reason that creep effects at higher temperatures are not more significant is due to the low yield stress and nearly flat-top stress-strain curve of annealed OFHC. Since high temperature creep plays less of a role in the residual stress levels than previously thought, future scoping studies can be done in an elastic-plastic analysis with confidence that the stresses will be within approximately 10% of an elastic-plastic-creep analysis

  13. An epidemiologic study of flat foot in Iran

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Alamy B

    1997-07-01

    Full Text Available Among 880 studied feet of 7-14 years old children 6.9% suffered mild and severe flat foot. 53.8% of the affected children were symptomatic. As 40.1% of the general population experiences symptoms, in a small proportion of affected persons, symptoms are due to flat foot. The prevalence of symptoms rises with increasing severity of the disorder. In this article, reviewing general aspects of flat food, prevalence and other epidemiological aspects of flat foot for the first time in Iran have been presented

  14. Evaluation of the deformation value of an optical flat under gravity

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Kondo, Yohan; Bitou, Youichi

    2014-01-01

    The flatness of an optical surface can be evaluated using a Fizeau interferometer. There is strong demand for ensuring that the measurement uncertainty of flatness is of nanometer order over a measurement range of 300 mm or more; however, the measurement range and measurement uncertainty of flatness at the National Metrology Institute of Japan (NMIJ) are 300 mm and 10 nm, respectively. In a Fizeau flatness interferometer, the gap distance between the reference flat and the specimen is measured. To obtain the absolute profile of the specimen, the absolute profile of the reference flat should be measured in advance. The three-flat test is one of the methods used to measure the absolute profile of a reference flat. The reference flat, however, deforms under the force of gravity, and its absolute deformation value cannot be determined by the three-flat test. The deformation value of the reference flat can be corrected by the finite element method (FEM) analysis; however, it is difficult to ensure the validity of the analysis and there is a large uncertainty component of the Fizeau flatness interferometer. To verify the FEM analysis, we developed a scanning deflectometric profiler (SDP) that does not require a reference flat and can directly measure a profile. We calibrated an optical flat using a Fizeau flatness interferometer and the SDP. Finally, the deformation value of the reference flat under the force of gravity was evaluated by comparing the measurement results. (paper)

  15. Instability of flat space at finite temperature

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Gross, D.J.; Perry, M.J.; Yaffe, L.G.

    1982-01-01

    The instabilities of quantum gravity are investigated using the path-integral formulation of Einstein's theory. A brief review is given of the classical gravitational instabilities, as well as the stability of flat space. The Euclidean path-integral representation of the partition function is employed to discuss the instability of flat space at finite temperature. Semiclassical, or saddle-point, approximations are utilized. We show how the Jeans instability arises as a tachyon in the graviton propagator when small perturbations about hot flat space are considered. The effect due to the Schwarzschild instanton is studied. The small fluctuations about this instanton are analyzed and a negative mode is discovered. This produces, in the semiclassical approximation, an imaginary part of the free energy. This is interpreted as being due to the metastability of hot flat space to nucleate black holes. These then evolve by evaporation or by accretion of thermal gravitons, leading to the instability of hot flat space. The nucleation rate of black holes is calculated as a function of temperature

  16. Supersonic Panel Flutter Test Results for Flat Fiber-Glass Sandwich Panels with Foamed Cores

    Science.gov (United States)

    Tuovila, W. J.; Presnell, John G., Jr.

    1961-01-01

    Flutter tests have been made on flat panels having a 1/4 inch-thick plastic-foam core covered with thin fiber-glass laminates. The testing was done in the Langley Unitary Plan wind tunnel at Mach numbers from 1.76 t o 2.87. The flutter boundary for these panels was found to be near the flutter boundary of thin metal panels when compared on the basis of an equivalent panel stiffness. The results also demonstrated that the depth of the cavity behind the panel has a pronounced influence on flutter. Changing the cavity depth from 1 1/2 inches to 1/2 inch reduced the dynamic pressure at start of flutter by 40 percent. No flutter was obtained when the spacers on the back of the panel were against the bottom of the cavity.

  17. Flat-panel detectors in x-ray diagnosis

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Spahn, M.; Heer, V.; Freytag, R.

    2003-01-01

    For all application segments X-ray systems with flat-panel detectors increasingly enter the market. In digital radiography, mammography and cardiologic angiography flat-panel detectors are already well established while they are made ready for market introduction in general angiography and fluoroscopy. Two flat-panel detector technologies are available. One technology is based on an indirect conversion process of X-rays while the other one uses a direct conversion method.For radiography and dynamic applications the indirect method provides substantial advantages, while the direct method has some benefits for mammography. In radiography and mammography flat-panel detectors lead to clear improvements with respect to workflow, image quality and dose reduction potentials. These improvements are fostered by the immediate availability of the image, the large dynamic range and the high sensitivity to X-rays. New applications and the use of complex image processing algorithms have the potential to enlarge the present diagnostic range of applications.Up to now, image intensifiers are still the well-established technology for angiography and fluoroscopy. Nevertheless flat-panel detectors begin to enter this field, especially in cardiologic angiography.Characteristics of flat-panel detectors such as the availability of distortion-free images, the excellent contrast resolution, the large dynamic range, the high sensitivity to X-rays and the usability in magnetic fields provide the basis for improved and new diagnostic and interventional methods. (orig.) [de

  18. General classification of a normally flat Ric- semi symmetric submanifolds

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Mirzoyan, V.A.

    2012-01-01

    It has been proved that a normally flat submanifold M in Euclidean space En satisfies the condition R(X,Y)Ricci =0 if and only if it is the open part of one of the following submanifolds: (1) normally flat two-dimensional submanifold, (2) normally flat Einstein submanifold (in particular Ricci-flat or locally Euclidean), (3) normally flat semi- Einstein submanifold, (4) normally flat interlacing product of semi-Einstein submanifolds and locally Euclidean submanifold (may be of zero dimension), (5) direct product of the above enumerated classes of submanifolds

  19. 3D flat holography: entropy and logarithmic corrections

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Bagchi, Arjun; Basu, Rudranil

    2014-01-01

    We compute the leading corrections to the Bekenstein-Hawking entropy of the Flat Space Cosmological (FSC) solutions in 3D flat spacetimes, which are the flat analogues of the BTZ black holes in AdS 3 . The analysis is done by a computation of density of states in the dual 2D Galilean Conformal Field Theory and the answer obtained by this matches with the limiting value of the expected result for the BTZ inner horizon entropy as well as what is expected for a generic thermodynamic system. Along the way, we also develop other aspects of holography of 3D flat spacetimes

  20. Computational Design of Flat-Band Material

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hase, I.; Yanagisawa, T.; Kawashima, K.

    2018-02-01

    Quantum mechanics states that hopping integral between local orbitals makes the energy band dispersive. However, in some special cases, there are bands with no dispersion due to quantum interference. These bands are called as flat band. Many models having flat band have been proposed, and many interesting physical properties are predicted. However, no real compound having flat band has been found yet despite the 25 years of vigorous researches. We have found that some pyrochlore oxides have quasi-flat band just below the Fermi level by first principles calculation. Moreover, their valence bands are well described by a tight-binding model of pyrochlore lattice with isotropic nearest neighbor hopping integral. This model belongs to a class of Mielke model, whose ground state is known to be ferromagnetic with appropriate carrier doping and on-site repulsive Coulomb interaction. We have also performed a spin-polarized band calculation for the hole-doped system from first principles and found that the ground state is ferromagnetic for some doping region. Interestingly, these compounds do not include magnetic element, such as transition metal and rare-earth elements.

  1. Phenology of pea crop (Pisum sativum L. var. Santa Isabel) in the Bogotá plateau at open field and under plastic cover

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Galindo Pacheco, J.R.; Clavijo Porras, J.

    2009-01-01

    The assessment of environment effects on plant development is important to identify suitable zones and schedule crop production. In this research, plant development of pea (Pisum sativum L. var. Santa Isabel) was evaluated under Bogotá flat highland, Colombia, environmental conditions (2640 m over sea level, 14°C, 80% R.H., rainfall of 800 mm/year). Two experiments were done under plastic cover [es

  2. Plastic Surgery

    Science.gov (United States)

    ... Staying Safe Videos for Educators Search English Español Plastic Surgery KidsHealth / For Teens / Plastic Surgery What's in ... her forehead lightened with a laser? What Is Plastic Surgery? Just because the name includes the word " ...

  3. Plastic dosimeter

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Nagai, Shiro; Matsuda, Kohji.

    1988-01-01

    The report outlines major features and applications of plastic dosimeters. Some plastic dosimeters, including the CTA and PVC types, detect the response of the plastic material itself to radiations while others, such as pigment-added plastic dosimeters, contain additives as radiation detecting material. Most of these dosimeters make use of color centers produced in the dosimeter by radiations. The PMMA dosimeter is widely used in the field of radiation sterilization of food, feed and medical apparatus. The blue cellophane dosimeter is easy to handle if calibrated appropriately. The rad-color dosimeter serves to determine whether products have been irradiated appropriately. The CTA dosimeter has better damp proofing properties than the blue cellophane type. The pigment-added plastic dosimeter consists of a resin such as nylon, CTA or PVC that contains a dye. Some other plastic dosimeters are also described briefly. Though having many advantages, these plastic dosimeter have disadvantages as well. Some of their major disadvantages, including fading as well as large dependence on dose, temperature, humidity and anviroment, are discussed. (Nogami, K.)

  4. Flat epithelial atypia and atypical ductal hyperplasia: carcinoma underestimation rate.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ingegnoli, Anna; d'Aloia, Cecilia; Frattaruolo, Antonia; Pallavera, Lara; Martella, Eugenia; Crisi, Girolamo; Zompatori, Maurizio

    2010-01-01

    This study was carried out to determine the underestimation rate of carcinoma upon surgical biopsy after a diagnosis of flat epithelial atypia and atypical ductal hyperplasia and 11-gauge vacuum-assisted breast biopsy. A retrospective review was conducted of 476 vacuum-assisted breast biopsy performed from May 2005 to January 2007 and a total of 70 cases of atypia were identified. Fifty cases (71%) were categorized as pure atypical ductal hyperplasia, 18 (26%) as pure flat epithelial atypia and two (3%) as concomitant flat epithelial atypia and atypical ductal hyperplasia. Each group were compared with the subsequent open surgical specimens. Surgical biopsy was performed in 44 patients with atypical ductal hyperplasia, 15 patients with flat epithelial atypia, and two patients with flat epithelial atypia and atypical ductal hyperplasia. Five cases of atypical ductal hyperplasia were upgraded to ductal carcinoma in situ, three cases of flat epithelial atypia yielded one ductal carcinoma in situ and two cases of invasive ductal carcinoma, and one case of flat epithelial atypia/atypical ductal hyperplasia had invasive ductal carcinoma. The overall rate of malignancy was 16% for atypical ductal hyperplasia (including flat epithelial atypia/atypical ductal hyperplasia patients) and 20% for flat epithelial atypia. The presence of flat epithelial atypia and atypical ductal hyperplasia at biopsy requires careful consideration, and surgical excision should be suggested.

  5. On-Line Flatness Measurement in the Steelmaking Industry

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Rubén Usamentiaga

    2013-08-01

    Full Text Available Shape is a key characteristic to determine the quality of outgoing flat-rolled products in the steel industry. It is greatly influenced by flatness, a feature to describe how the surface of a rolled product approaches a plane. Flatness is of the utmost importance in steelmaking, since it is used by most downstream processes and customers for the acceptance or rejection of rolled products. Flatness sensors compute flatness measurements based on comparing the length of several longitudinal fibers of the surface of the product under inspection. Two main different approaches are commonly used. On the one hand, most mechanical sensors measure the tensile stress across the width of the rolled product, while manufacturing and estimating the fiber lengths from this stress. On the other hand, optical sensors measure the length of the fibers by means of light patterns projected onto the product surface. In this paper, we review the techniques and the main sensors used in the steelmaking industry to measure and quantify flatness defects in steel plates, sheets and strips. Most of these techniques and sensors can be used in other industries involving rolling mills or continuous production lines, such as aluminum, copper and paper, to name a few. Encompassed in the special issue, State-of-the-Art Sensors Technology in Spain 2013, this paper also reviews the most important flatness sensors designed and developed for the steelmaking industry in Spain.

  6. On-Line Flatness Measurement in the Steelmaking Industry

    Science.gov (United States)

    Molleda, Julio; Usamentiaga, Rubén; Garcίa, Daniel F.

    2013-01-01

    Shape is a key characteristic to determine the quality of outgoing flat-rolled products in the steel industry. It is greatly influenced by flatness, a feature to describe how the surface of a rolled product approaches a plane. Flatness is of the utmost importance in steelmaking, since it is used by most downstream processes and customers for the acceptance or rejection of rolled products. Flatness sensors compute flatness measurements based on comparing the length of several longitudinal fibers of the surface of the product under inspection. Two main different approaches are commonly used. On the one hand, most mechanical sensors measure the tensile stress across the width of the rolled product, while manufacturing and estimating the fiber lengths from this stress. On the other hand, optical sensors measure the length of the fibers by means of light patterns projected onto the product surface. In this paper, we review the techniques and the main sensors used in the steelmaking industry to measure and quantify flatness defects in steel plates, sheets and strips. Most of these techniques and sensors can be used in other industries involving rolling mills or continuous production lines, such as aluminum, copper and paper, to name a few. Encompassed in the special issue, State-of-the-Art Sensors Technology in Spain 2013, this paper also reviews the most important flatness sensors designed and developed for the steelmaking industry in Spain. PMID:23939583

  7. Study on buckling and plastic collapse behavior of a continuous stiffened plate subjected to in-plane compression loads; Mennai asshuku kaju wo ukeru renzoku bodo panel no zakutsu sosei hokai kyodo ni kansuru kenkyu

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Yao, T; Fujikubo, M; Yanagihara, D [Hiroshima University, Hiroshima (Japan). Faculty of Engineering

    1996-04-10

    A hull structure is constituted by thin panels, and reinforced longitudinally and laterally by stiffened members to increase the effectiveness of the structure. In order to attain findings on buckling and plastic collapse behavior of stiffened plates, this paper describes analysis of elasto-plastic large deflection by using the finite element method on thin stiffened plates having flat-bars and angle-bars. The analysis includes the case of an aspect ratio being 5.0 and the case to consider welding residual stress. Considerations were given on cross sectional shape, panel aspect ratio and effects of initial welding imperfections against the buckling and plastic collapse behavior of the stiffened plates. The angle-bars tend to cause secondary buckling more easily because it has greater bending and twisting rigidity, and stronger constraint against deflection than the flat-bars. When the aspect ratio is larger and the span is longer, the ultimate strength declines, and the withstand power after the ultimate strength decreases rapidly. Existence of the residual stress tends to make the secondary buckling occur more easily. The secondary buckling affects little the withstand power after the ultimate strength. 3 refs., 7 figs., 1 tab.

  8. Higher-spin algebras, holography and flat space

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Sleight, C. [Max-Planck-Institut für Physik (Werner-Heisenberg-Institut),Föhringer Ring 6, D-80805 Munich (Germany); Université Libre de Bruxelles and International Solvay Institutes,ULB-Campus Plaine CP231, 1050 Brussels (Belgium); Taronna, M. [Université Libre de Bruxelles and International Solvay Institutes,ULB-Campus Plaine CP231, 1050 Brussels (Belgium)

    2017-02-20

    In this article we study the higher-spin algebra behind the type-A cubic couplings recently extracted from the free O(N) model in generic dimensions, demonstrating that they coincide with the known structure constants for the unique higher-spin algebra in generic dimensions. This provides an explicit check of the holographic reconstruction and of the duality between higher-spin theories and the free O(N) model in generic dimensions, generalising the result of Giombi and Yin in AdS{sub 4}. For completeness, we also address the same problem in the flat space for the cubic couplings derived by Metsaev in 1991, which are recovered from the flat limit of the AdS type-A cubic couplings. We observe that both flat and AdS{sub 4} higher-spin Lorentz subalgebras coincide, hinting towards the existence of a full higher-spin symmetry behind the flat-space cubic couplings of Metsaev.

  9. Flat-port connectors

    KAUST Repository

    Alrashed, Mohammed

    2017-01-01

    and water resistant. It is unique in the way of using the outer surfaces of the device for the electrical connection between the ports. Flat-port design can allow the manufacture of extremely thin devices by eliminating the side ports slots that take a lot

  10. Radiation monitor training program at Rocky Flats

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Medina, L.C.; Kittinger, W.D.; Vogel, R.M.

    The Rocky Flats Radiation Monitor Training Program is tailored to train new health physics personnel in the field of radiation monitoring. The purpose of the prescribed materials and media is to be consistent in training in all areas of Rocky Flats radiation monitoring job involvement

  11. plastic waste recycling

    African Journals Online (AJOL)

    Dr Ahmed

    incinerators is increasing around the world. Discarded plastic products ... Agency (EPA) estimated that the amount of plastics throw away is. 50 % greater in the ... The waste plastics were identified using the Society of the Plastic. Industry (SPI) ...

  12. Flat connection, conformal field theory and quantum group

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Kato, Mitsuhiro.

    1989-07-01

    General framework of linear first order differential equation for four-point conformal block is studied by using flat connection. Integrability and SL 2 invariance restrict possible form of flat connection. Under a special ansatz classical Yang-Baxter equation appears as an integrability condition and the WZW model turns to be unique conformal field theory in that case. Monodromy property of conformal block can be easily determined by the flat connection. 11 refs

  13. Direct liquefaction of plastics and coprocessing of coal with plastics

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Huffman, G.P.; Feng, Z.; Mahajan, V. [Univ. of Kentucky, Lexington, KY (United States)

    1995-12-31

    The objectives of this work were to optimize reaction conditions for the direct liquefaction of waste plastics and the coprocessing of coal with waste plastics. In previous work, the direct liquefaction of medium and high density polyethylene (PE), polypropylene (PPE), poly(ethylene terephthalate) (PET), and a mixed plastic waste, and the coliquefaction of these plastics with coals of three different ranks was studied. The results established that a solid acid catalyst (HZSM-5 zeolite) was highly active for the liquefaction of the plastics alone, typically giving oil yields of 80-95% and total conversions of 90-100% at temperatures of 430-450 {degrees}C. In the coliquefaction experiments, 50:50 mixtures of plastic and coal were used with a tetralin solvent (tetralin:solid = 3:2). Using approximately 1% of the HZSM-5 catalyst and a nanoscale iron catalyst, oil yields of 50-70% and total conversion of 80-90% were typical. In the current year, further investigations were conducted of the liquefaction of PE, PPE, and a commingled waste plastic obtained from the American Plastics Council (APC), and the coprocessing of PE, PPE and the APC plastic with Black Thunder subbituminous coal. Several different catalysts were used in these studies.

  14. Trajectory optimization of multiple quad-rotor UAVs in collaborative assembling task

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Chen Yongbo

    2016-02-01

    Full Text Available A hierarchic optimization strategy based on the offline path planning process and online trajectory planning process is presented to solve the trajectory optimization problem of multiple quad-rotor unmanned aerial vehicles in the collaborative assembling task. Firstly, the path planning process is solved by a novel parallel intelligent optimization algorithm, the central force optimization-genetic algorithm (CFO-GA, which combines the central force optimization (CFO algorithm with the genetic algorithm (GA. Because of the immaturity of the CFO, the convergence analysis of the CFO is completed by the stability theory of the linear time-variant discrete-time systems. The results show that the parallel CFO-GA algorithm converges faster than the parallel CFO and the central force optimization-sequential quadratic programming (CFO-SQP algorithm. Then, the trajectory planning problem is established based on the path planning results. In order to limit the range of the attitude angle and guarantee the flight stability, the optimized object is changed from the ordinary six-degree-of-freedom rigid-body dynamic model to the dynamic model with an inner-loop attitude controller. The results show that the trajectory planning process can be solved by the mature SQP algorithm easily. Finally, the discussion and analysis of the real-time performance of the hierarchic optimization strategy are presented around the group number of the waypoints and the equal interval time.

  15. Elastic-Plastic Nonlinear Response of a Space Shuttle External Tank Stringer. Part 1; Stringer-Feet Imperfections and Assembly

    Science.gov (United States)

    Knight, Norman F., Jr.; Song, Kyongchan; Elliott, Kenny B.; Raju, Ivatury S.; Warren, Jerry E.

    2012-01-01

    Elastic-plastic, large-deflection nonlinear stress analyses are performed for the external hat-shaped stringers (or stiffeners) on the intertank portion of the Space Shuttle s external tank. These stringers are subjected to assembly strains when the stringers are initially installed on an intertank panel. Four different stringer-feet configurations including the baseline flat-feet, the heels-up, the diving-board, and the toes-up configurations are considered. The assembly procedure is analytically simulated for each of these stringer configurations. The location, size, and amplitude of the strain field associated with the stringer assembly are sensitive to the assumed geometry and assembly procedure. The von Mises stress distributions from these simulations indicate that localized plasticity will develop around the first eight fasteners for each stringer-feet configuration examined. However, only the toes-up configuration resulted in high assembly hoop strains.

  16. Recycling of Plastic

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Christensen, Thomas Højlund; Fruergaard, Thilde

    2011-01-01

    Plastic is produced from fossil oil. Plastic is used for many different products. Some plastic products like, for example, wrapping foil, bags and disposable containers for food and beverage have very short lifetimes and thus constitute a major fraction of most waste. Other plastic products like...

  17. Chaotic inflation in models with flat directions

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Graziani, F.; Olive, K.

    1989-01-01

    We consider the chaotic inflationary scenario in models with flat directions. We find that unless the scalars along the flat directions have vacuum expectation values p or 10 14 M p 15 M p depending on the expectation values of the chaotic inflator, Ψ, one or two or more periods of inflation occur but with a resulting energy density perturbation δρ/ρ ≅ 10 -16 , far too small to be of any consequence for galaxy formation. Even with p only limited initial values of ≅ (3-200) M p result in inflation with reasonable density perturbations. Thus chaotic inflation in models with flat directions require rather special initial conditions. (orig.)

  18. Magnetized and Flat Beam Experiment at FAST

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Halavanau, A. [Fermilab; Hyun, J. [Sokendai, Tsukuba; Mihalcea, D. [NIU, DeKalb; Piot, P. [NICADD, DeKalb; Sen, T. [Fermilab; Thangaraj, C. [Fermilab

    2017-05-22

    A photocathode, immersed in solenoidal magnetic field, can produce canonical-angular-momentum (CAM) dominated or “magnetized” electron beams. Such beams have an application in electron cooling of hadron beams and can also be uncoupled to yield asymmetric-emittance (“flat”) beams. In the present paper we explore the possibilities of the flat beam generation at Fermilab’s Accelerator Science and Technology (FAST) facility. We present optimization of the beam flatness and four-dimensional transverse emittance and investigate the mapping and its limitations of the produced eigen-emittances to conventional emittances using a skew-quadrupole channel. Possible application of flat beams at the FAST facility are also discussed.

  19. Performance analysis of different PSF shapes for the quad-HIDAC PET submillimetre resolution recovery

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Ortega Maynez, Leticia, E-mail: lortega@uacj.mx [Departamento de Ingenieria Eectrica y Computacion , Universidad Autonoma de Ciudad Juarez, Avenida del Charro 450 Norte, C.P. 32310 Ciudad Juarez, Chihuahua (Mexico); Dominguez de Jesus Ochoa, Humberto; Villegas Osiris Vergara, Osslan; Gordillo, Nelly; Guadalupe Cruz Sanchez, Vianey; Gutierrez Casas, Efren David [Departamento de Ingenieria Eectrica y Computacion, Universidad Autonoma de Ciudad Juarez, Avenida del Charro 450 Norte, C.P. 32310 Ciudad Juarez, Chihuahua (Mexico)

    2011-10-01

    In pre-clinical applications, it is quite important to preserve the image resolution because it is necessary to show the details of structures of small animals. Therefore, small animal PET scanners require high spatial resolution and good sensitivity. For the quad-HIDAC PET scanner, which has virtually continuous spatial sampling; improvements in resolution, noise and contrast are obtained as a result of avoiding artifacts introduced by binning the data into sampled projections used during the reconstruction process. In order to reconstruct high-resolution images in 3D-PET, background correction and resolution recovery are included within the Maximum Likelihood list-mode Expectation Maximization reconstruction model. This paper, introduces the performance analysis of the Gaussian, Laplacian and Triangular kernels. The Full-Width Half-Maximum used for each kernel was varied from 0.8 to 1.6 mm. For each quality compartment within the phantom, transaxial middle slices from the 3D reconstructed images are shown. Results show that, according to the quantitative measures, the triangular kernel has the best performance.

  20. Error analysis for creating 3D face templates based on cylindrical quad-tree structure

    Science.gov (United States)

    Gutfeter, Weronika

    2015-09-01

    Development of new biometric algorithms is parallel to advances in technology of sensing devices. Some of the limitations of the current face recognition systems may be eliminated by integrating 3D sensors into these systems. Depth sensing devices can capture a spatial structure of the face in addition to the texture and color. This kind of data is yet usually very voluminous and requires large amount of computer resources for being processed (face scans obtained with typical depth cameras contain more than 150 000 points per face). That is why defining efficient data structures for processing spatial images is crucial for further development of 3D face recognition methods. The concept described in this work fulfills the aforementioned demands. Modification of the quad-tree structure was chosen because it can be easily transformed into less dimensional data structures and maintains spatial relations between data points. We are able to interpret data stored in the tree as a pyramid of features which allow us to analyze face images using coarse-to-fine strategy, often exploited in biometric recognition systems.

  1. On maximal surfaces in asymptotically flat space-times

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Bartnik, R.; Chrusciel, P.T.; O Murchadha, N.

    1990-01-01

    Existence of maximal and 'almost maximal' hypersurfaces in asymptotically flat space-times is established under boundary conditions weaker than those considered previously. We show in particular that every vacuum evolution of asymptotically flat data for Einstein equations can be foliated by slices maximal outside a spatially compact set and that every (strictly) stationary asymptotically flat space-time can be foliated by maximal hypersurfaces. Amongst other uniqueness results, we show that maximal hypersurface can be used to 'partially fix' an asymptotic Poincare group. (orig.)

  2. Nanosecond multi-pulse laser milling for certain area removal of metal coating on plastics surface

    Science.gov (United States)

    Zhao, Kai; Jia, Zhenyuan; Ma, Jianwei; Liu, Wei; Wang, Ling

    2014-12-01

    Metal coating with functional pattern on engineering plastics surface plays an important role in industry applications; it can be obtained by adding or removing certain area of metal coating on engineering plastics surface. However, the manufacturing requirements are improved continuously and the plastic substrate presents three-dimensional (3D) structure-many of these parts cannot be fabricated by conventional processing methods, and a new manufacturing method is urgently needed. As the laser-processing technology has many advantages like high machining accuracy and constraints free substrate structure, the machining of the parts is studied through removing certain area of metal coating based on the nanosecond multi-pulse laser milling. To improve the edge quality of the functional pattern, generation mechanism and corresponding avoidance strategy of the processing defects are studied. Additionally, a prediction model for the laser ablation depth is proposed, which can effectively avoid the existence of residual metal coating and reduces the damage of substrate. With the optimal machining parameters, an equiangular spiral pattern on copper-clad polyimide (CCPI) is machined based on the laser milling at last. The experimental results indicate that the edge of the pattern is smooth and consistent, the substrate is flat and without damage. The achievements in this study could be applied in industrial production.

  3. Array elements for a DBS flat-plate antenna

    Science.gov (United States)

    Maddocks, M. C. D.

    1988-07-01

    The introduction of a direct broadcast by satellite (DBS) television service requires suitable receiving antennas to be available. An alternative to the parabolic dish antenna is a flat-plate antenna. The overall design of a circularly-polarized flat-plate antenna which can be mounted flat on the wall of a building has been considered in a companion Report. In this Report various types of elements are investigated and their advantages and disadvantages discussed. The most suitable element for use in a flat-plate array is identified as a linearly-polarized folded-dipole element; its performance is reported here. Linearly-polarized elements are found to perform better than circularly-polarized elements and could be used with a polarization converter to receive the circularly-polarized radiation that would be transmitted by DBS.

  4. Flat-screen detector systems in skeletal radiology

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Grampp, S.; Czerny, C.; Krestan, C.; Henk, C.; Heiner, L.; Imhof, H.

    2003-01-01

    Implementation of flat-panel detectors and digital integration of the technique instead of the use of conventional radiographs leads to a shortening of the work process. With flat-panel technology the image production process is shortened by more than 30%. Major advantages in the implementation of integrated RIS, PACS and flat-panel detector system are increases in quality because most mistakes in picture labeling can be avoided, easier handling without the need for cassettes, and the possibility of image post-processing. The diagnostic quality of the images in the field of musculoskeletal radiology is, in comparison to conventional radiographs, at least adequate and in most cases markedly improved with a marked reduction in radiation exposure of around 30-50%. With respect to the numerous advantages of the digital techniques and especially flat-panel technology there is a very high likelihood that conventional radiographs will be substituted in the coming years, even though the cost of the new technology is currently significantly higher compared to conventional systems. (orig.) [de

  5. Flat deformation theorem and symmetries in spacetime

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Llosa, Josep; Carot, Jaume

    2009-01-01

    The flat deformation theorem states that given a semi-Riemannian analytic metric g on a manifold, locally there always exists a two-form F, a scalar function c, and an arbitrarily prescribed scalar constraint depending on the point x of the manifold and on F and c, say Ψ(c, F, x) = 0, such that the deformed metric η = cg - εF 2 is semi-Riemannian and flat. In this paper we first show that the above result implies that every (Lorentzian analytic) metric g may be written in the extended Kerr-Schild form, namely η ab := ag ab - 2bk (a l b) where η is flat and k a , l a are two null covectors such that k a l a = -1; next we show how the symmetries of g are connected to those of η, more precisely; we show that if the original metric g admits a conformal Killing vector (including Killing vectors and homotheties), then the deformation may be carried out in a way such that the flat deformed metric η 'inherits' that symmetry.

  6. New edge-centered photonic square lattices with flat bands

    Science.gov (United States)

    Zhang, Da; Zhang, Yiqi; Zhong, Hua; Li, Changbiao; Zhang, Zhaoyang; Zhang, Yanpeng; Belić, Milivoj R.

    2017-07-01

    We report a new class of edge-centered photonic square lattices with multiple flat bands, and consider in detail two examples: the Lieb-5 and Lieb-7 lattices. In these lattices, there are 5 and 7 sites in the unit cell and in general, the number is restricted to odd integers. The number of flat bands m in the new Lieb lattices is related to the number of sites N in the unit cell by a simple formula m =(N - 1) / 2. The flat bands reported here are independent of the pseudomagnetic field. The properties of lattices with even and odd number of flat bands are different. We consider the localization of light in such Lieb lattices. If the input beam excites the flat-band mode, it will not diffract during propagation, owing to the strong mode localization. In the Lieb-7 lattice, the beam will also oscillate during propagation and still not diffract. The period of oscillation is determined by the energy difference between the two flat bands. This study provides a new platform for investigating light trapping, photonic topological insulators, and pseudospin-mediated vortex generation.

  7. Flexible flat feet in children: a real problem?

    Science.gov (United States)

    García-Rodríguez, A; Martín-Jiménez, F; Carnero-Varo, M; Gómez-Gracia, E; Gómez-Aracena, J; Fernández-Crehuet, J

    1999-06-01

    To estimate the prevalence of flexible flat feet in the provincial population of 4- to 13-year-old schoolchildren and the incidence of treatments considered unnecessary. Province of Málaga, Spain. We examined and graded by severity a sample of 1181 pupils taken from a total population of 198 858 primary schoolchildren (CI: 95%; margin of error: 5%). The sample group was separated into three 2-year age groups: 4 and 5 years, 8 and 9 years, and 12 and 13 years. The plantar footprint was classified according to Denis1 into three grades of flat feet: grade 1 in which support of the lateral edge of the foot is half that of the metatarsal support; grade 2 in which the support of the central zone and forefoot are equal; and grade 3 in which the support in the central zone of the foot is greater than the width of the metatarsal support. The statistical analysis for the evaluation of the differences between the groups was performed with Student's t and chi2 tests as appropriate. The prevalence of flat feet was 2.7%. Of the 1181 children sampled, 168 children (14.2%) were receiving orthopedic treatment, but only 2.7% had diagnostic criteria of flat feet. When we inspected the sample, we found that a number of children were being treated for flat feet with boots and arch supports. Most of them did not have a flat plantar footprint according to the criteria that we used for this work. Furthermore, in the group of children that we diagnosed as having flat feet, only 28.1% were being treated. We found no significant differences between the number of children receiving orthopedic treatments and the presence or absence of a flat plantar footprint. Children who were overweight in the 4- and 5-year-old group showed an increased prevalence for flat feet as diagnosed by us. The data suggest that an excessive number of orthopedic treatments had been prescribed in the province. When extrapolated to the 1997 population of schoolchildren within the age groups studied the figures

  8. Thermal-hydraulic characteristics of double flat core HCLWR

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Sugimoto, Jun; Iwamura, Takamichi; Okubo, Tsutomu; Murao, Yoshio

    1989-02-01

    A thermal-hydraulic characteristics of double flat core high conversion light water reactor (HCLWR) is described. The concept of flat core proposed by Ishiguro et al. is to achieve negative void reactivity coefficient in tight lattice core, and at the same time, high conversion ratio and high burnup can be obtainable. The proposed double flat core HCLWR, based on these physical advantages and the consideration of safety assurance, aims at efficient use of the pressure vessel space to produce comparable thermal output as current 3-loop PWRs. The present work revealed the following items concerning the thermalhydraulic feasibility of the double flat core HCLWR: (1) Main thermal-hydraulic parameters of the plant can be almost the same as current PWRs, showing the use of PWR standard components without major modifications except in core region. (2) Heat removal from the fuel rod in a steady operational condition has enough margin to the critical heat flux (CHF) limit, which is evaluated with the existing CHF correlations. (3) The calculation by REFLA code shows that the maximum cladding temperature in LOCA-reflood is estimated to be far lower than the licensing criteria. It is therefore considered that the proposed double flat core HCLWR is feasible from the point of thermal-hydraulics. Since the available data base has certain applicational limit to the very short core as the present double flat core HCLWR, further detailed assessment is required. (author)

  9. Reconstruction of Spectra Using X-ray Flat Panel Detector; Reconstruccion de Espectros de Rayos X Utilizando un Detector Flat Panel

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Gallardo, S.; Querol, A.; Pozuelo, F.; Juste, B.; Rodenas, J.; Verdu, G.

    2013-07-01

    In this work, we used a flat panel detector with a wedge of PMMA for absorbed dose curve for given working conditions of X-ray tube The relationship between absorbed dose curve recorded by the flat panel and primary X-ray spectrum is defined by a response function that can be obtained using the Monte Carlo method, namely the MCNP5 code. However there are some problems that affect the applicability of this method such as: flat panel characteristics and the characteristics of the physical process (ill-conditioned problem). Both aspects are discussed in this paper.

  10. ACS/WFC Sky Flats from Frontier Fields Imaging

    Science.gov (United States)

    Mack, J.; Lucas, R. A.; Grogin, N. A.; Bohlin, R. C.; Koekemoer, A. M.

    2018-04-01

    Parallel imaging data from the HST Frontier Fields campaign (Lotz et al. 2017) have been used to compute sky flats for the ACS/WFC detector in order to verify the accuracy of the current set of flat field reference files. By masking sources and then co-adding many deep frames, the F606W and F814W filters have enough combined background signal that from Poisson statistics are efficiency tracks the thickness of the two WFC chips. Observations of blue and red calibration standards measured at various positions on the detector (Bohlin et al. 2017) confirm the fidelity of the F814W flat, with aperture photometry consistent to 1% across the FOV, regardless of spectral type. At bluer wavelengths, the total sky background is substantially lower, and the F435W sky flat shows a combination of both flat errors and detector artifacts. Aperture photometry of the red standard star shows a maximum deviation of 1.4% across the array in this filter. Larger residuals up to 2.5% are found for the blue standard, suggesting that the spatial sensitivity in F435W depends on spectral type.

  11. Plastic value chains

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Baxter, John; Wahlstrom, Margareta; Zu Castell-Rüdenhausen, Malin

    2014-01-01

    Optimizing plastic value chains is regarded as an important measure in order to increase recycling of plastics in an efficient way. This can also lead to improved awareness of the hazardous substances contained in plastic waste, and how to avoid that these substances are recycled. As an example......, plastics from WEEE is chosen as a Nordic case study. The project aims to propose a number of improvements for this value chain together with representatives from Nordic stakeholders. Based on the experiences made, a guide for other plastic value chains shall be developed....

  12. Extracting flat-field images from scene-based image sequences using phase correlation

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Caron, James N., E-mail: Caron@RSImd.com [Research Support Instruments, 4325-B Forbes Boulevard, Lanham, Maryland 20706 (United States); Montes, Marcos J. [Naval Research Laboratory, Code 7231, 4555 Overlook Avenue, SW, Washington, DC 20375 (United States); Obermark, Jerome L. [Naval Research Laboratory, Code 8231, 4555 Overlook Avenue, SW, Washington, DC 20375 (United States)

    2016-06-15

    Flat-field image processing is an essential step in producing high-quality and radiometrically calibrated images. Flat-fielding corrects for variations in the gain of focal plane array electronics and unequal illumination from the system optics. Typically, a flat-field image is captured by imaging a radiometrically uniform surface. The flat-field image is normalized and removed from the images. There are circumstances, such as with remote sensing, where a flat-field image cannot be acquired in this manner. For these cases, we developed a phase-correlation method that allows the extraction of an effective flat-field image from a sequence of scene-based displaced images. The method uses sub-pixel phase correlation image registration to align the sequence to estimate the static scene. The scene is removed from sequence producing a sequence of misaligned flat-field images. An average flat-field image is derived from the realigned flat-field sequence.

  13. Our plastic age.

    Science.gov (United States)

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

    2009-07-27

    Within the last few decades, plastics have revolutionized our daily lives. Globally we use in excess of 260 million tonnes of plastic per annum, accounting for approximately 8 per cent of world oil production. In this Theme Issue of Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society, we describe current and future trends in usage, together with the many benefits that plastics bring to society. At the same time, we examine the environmental consequences resulting from the accumulation of waste plastic, the effects of plastic debris on wildlife and concerns for human health that arise from the production, usage and disposal of plastics. Finally, we consider some possible solutions to these problems together with the research and policy priorities necessary for their implementation.

  14. Our plastic age

    Science.gov (United States)

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

    2009-01-01

    Within the last few decades, plastics have revolutionized our daily lives. Globally we use in excess of 260 million tonnes of plastic per annum, accounting for approximately 8 per cent of world oil production. In this Theme Issue of Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society, we describe current and future trends in usage, together with the many benefits that plastics bring to society. At the same time, we examine the environmental consequences resulting from the accumulation of waste plastic, the effects of plastic debris on wildlife and concerns for human health that arise from the production, usage and disposal of plastics. Finally, we consider some possible solutions to these problems together with the research and policy priorities necessary for their implementation. PMID:19528049

  15. Effect of freezing and thawing rates on the post-thaw viability of boar spermatozoa frozen in FlatPacks and Maxi-straws.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Eriksson, B M; Rodriguez-Martinez, H

    2000-11-01

    The effects of different freezing and thawing rates on the post-thaw motility and membrane integrity of boar spermatozoa, processed as split samples in Maxi-straws or flat PET-plastic packages (FlatPack) were studied. A programmable freezing device was used to obtain freezing rates of either 20, 50 or 80 degrees C/min. Thawing of the samples was performed in a bath of circulating water; for 40s at 50 degrees C or 27s at 70 degrees C for Maxi-straws and 23s at 35 degrees C, 13s at 50 degrees C or 8s at 70 degrees C for the FlatPacks. Sperm motility was assessed both visually and with a computer assisted semen analysis (CASA) apparatus, while plasma membrane integrity was assessed using the fluorescent probes Calcein AM and ethidium homodimer-1. Temperature changes during freezing and thawing were monitored in both forms of packaging. Values for motile spermatozoa, sperm velocity and lateral head displacement variables were significantly (pstraws, with superior results at higher thawing rates. Freezing at 50 degrees C/min yielded better motility than 20 or 80 degrees C/min, although the effect was rather small. Neither freezing rate nor thawing rate had any effect on membrane integrity (p>0.05). A significant boar effect was seen for several parameters. The most striking difference in temperature courses between containers was a 4-5-fold lowering of the thawing rate, between -20 and 0 degrees C, in the center of the Maxi-straw, compared with the FlatPack. This is apparently due to the insulating effect of the thawed water in the periphery of the Maxi-straw. The improvement in sperm motility seen when using the FlatPack appears to be related to the rapid thawing throughout the sample, which decreases the risk of cell damage due to recrystallization during thawing. Since sperm motility patterns have been reported to be correlated with fertility both in vitro and in vivo it is speculated that the use of the FlatPack might improve the results when using frozen

  16. Impact of Bio-Based Plastics on Current Recycling of Plastics

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Luc Alaerts

    2018-05-01

    Full Text Available Bio-based plastics are increasingly appearing in a range of consumption products, and after use they often end up in technical recycling chains. Bio-based plastics are different from fossil-based ones and could disturb the current recycling of plastics and hence inhibit the closure of plastic cycles, which is undesirable given the current focus on a transition towards a circular economy. In this paper, this risk has been assessed via three elaborated case studies using data and information retrieved through an extended literature search. No overall risks were revealed for bio-based plastics as a group; rather, every bio-based plastic is to be considered as a potential separate source of contamination in current recycling practices. For PLA (polylactic acid, a severe incompatibility with PET (polyethylene terephthalate recycling is known; hence, future risks are assessed by measuring amounts of PLA ending up in PET waste streams. For PHA (polyhydroxy alkanoate there is no risk currently, but it will be crucial to monitor future application development. For PEF (polyethylene furanoate, a particular approach for contamination-related issues has been included in the upcoming market introduction. With respect to developing policy, it is important that any introduction of novel plastics is well guided from a system perspective and with a particular eye on incompatibilities with current and upcoming practices in the recycling of plastics.

  17. Finite Difference Solution of Elastic-Plastic Thin Rotating Annular Disk with Exponentially Variable Thickness and Exponentially Variable Density

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Sanjeev Sharma

    2013-01-01

    Full Text Available Elastic-plastic stresses, strains, and displacements have been obtained for a thin rotating annular disk with exponentially variable thickness and exponentially variable density with nonlinear strain hardening material by finite difference method using Von-Mises' yield criterion. Results have been computed numerically and depicted graphically. From the numerical results, it can be concluded that disk whose thickness decreases radially and density increases radially is on the safer side of design as compared to the disk with exponentially varying thickness and exponentially varying density as well as to flat disk.

  18. Elastic-Plastic J-Integral Solutions or Surface Cracks in Tension Using an Interpolation Methodology

    Science.gov (United States)

    Allen, P. A.; Wells, D. N.

    2013-01-01

    No closed form solutions exist for the elastic-plastic J-integral for surface cracks due to the nonlinear, three-dimensional nature of the problem. Traditionally, each surface crack must be analyzed with a unique and time-consuming nonlinear finite element analysis. To overcome this shortcoming, the authors have developed and analyzed an array of 600 3D nonlinear finite element models for surface cracks in flat plates under tension loading. The solution space covers a wide range of crack shapes and depths (shape: 0.2 less than or equal to a/c less than or equal to 1, depth: 0.2 less than or equal to a/B less than or equal to 0.8) and material flow properties (elastic modulus-to-yield ratio: 100 less than or equal to E/ys less than or equal to 1,000, and hardening: 3 less than or equal to n less than or equal to 20). The authors have developed a methodology for interpolating between the goemetric and material property variables that allows the user to reliably evaluate the full elastic-plastic J-integral and force versus crack mouth opening displacement solution; thus, a solution can be obtained very rapidly by users without elastic-plastic fracture mechanics modeling experience. Complete solutions for the 600 models and 25 additional benchmark models are provided in tabular format.

  19. Plastic condoms.

    Science.gov (United States)

    1968-01-01

    Only simple equipment, simple technology and low initial capital investment are needed in their manufacture. The condoms can be made by people who were previously unskilled or only semi-skilled workers. Plastic condoms differ from those made of latex rubber in that the nature of the plastic film allows unlimited shelf-life. Also, the plastic has a higher degree of lubricity than latex rubber; if there is a demand for extra lubrication in a particular market, this can be provided. Because the plastic is inert, these condoms need not be packaged in hermetically sealed containers. All these attributes make it possible to put these condoms on the distributors' shelves in developing countries competitively with rubber condoms. The shape of the plastic condom is based on that of the lamb caecum, which has long been used as luxury-type condom. The plastic condom is made from plastic film (ethylene ethyl acrilate) of 0.001 inch (0.0254 mm.) thickness. In addition, a rubber ring is provided and sealed into the base of the condom for retention during coitus. The advantage of the plastic condom design and the equipment on which it is made is that production can be carried out either in labour-intensive economy or with varying degrees of mechanization and automation. The uniform, finished condom if made using previously untrained workers. Training of workers can be done in a matter of hours on the two machines which are needed to produce and test the condoms. The plastic film is provided on a double wound roll, and condom blanks are prepared by means of a heat-sealing die on the stamping machine. The rubber rings are united to the condom blanks on an assembly machine, which consists of a mandrel and heat-sealing equipment to seal the rubber ring to the base of the condom. Built into the assembly machine is a simple air-testing apparatus that can detect the smallest pinhole flaw in a condom. The manufacturing process is completed by unravelling the condom from the assembly

  20. THE FLAT TAX - A COMPARATIVE STUDY OF THE EXISTING MODELS

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Schiau (Macavei Laura - Liana

    2011-07-01

    Full Text Available In the two last decades the flat tax systems have spread all around the globe from East and Central Europe to Asia and Central America. Many specialists consider this phenomenon a real fiscal revolution, but others see it as a mistake as long as the new systems are just a feint of the true flat tax designed by the famous Stanford University professors Robert Hall and Alvin Rabushka. In this context this paper tries to determine which of the existing flat tax systems resemble the true flat tax model by comparing and contrasting their main characteristics with the features of the model proposed by Hall and Rabushka. The research also underlines the common features and the differences between the existing models. The idea of this kind of study is not really new, others have done it but the comparison was limited to one country. For example Emil Kalchev from New Bulgarian University has asses the Bulgarian income system, by comparing it with the flat tax and concluding that taxation in Bulgaria is not simple, neutral and non-distortive. Our research is based on several case studies and on compare and contrast qualitative and quantitative methods. The study starts form the fiscal design drawn by the two American professors in the book The Flat Tax. Four main characteristics of the flat tax system were chosen in order to build the comparison: fiscal design, simplicity, avoidance of double taxation and uniformity of the tax rates. The jurisdictions chosen for the case study are countries all around the globe with fiscal systems which are considered flat tax systems. The results obtained show that the fiscal design of Hong Kong is the only flat tax model which is built following an economic logic and not a legal sense, being in the same time a simple and transparent system. Others countries as Slovakia, Albania, Macedonia in Central and Eastern Europe fulfill the requirement regarding the uniformity of taxation. Other jurisdictions avoid the double

  1. Development of Partial Tubular Flat Knitting Fabric Composite Preform

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Jiang Wei Qing

    2016-01-01

    Full Text Available After building some structures of partial tubular flat knitting fabric composite preform, the influencing factor on tubular section was analyzed and the fabric was knitted selectively. The partial tubular flat knitting fabric composite preform were Knitted by changing different yarn, row number and two-sided partial tubular flat knitting fabric. Multilayer sheet would be got after hot pressing and it has big market prospects and good application value.

  2. Biodegradability of plastics.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Tokiwa, Yutaka; Calabia, Buenaventurada P; Ugwu, Charles U; Aiba, Seiichi

    2009-08-26

    Plastic is a broad name given to different polymers with high molecular weight, which can be degraded by various processes. However, considering their abundance in the environment and their specificity in attacking plastics, biodegradation of plastics by microorganisms and enzymes seems to be the most effective process. When plastics are used as substrates for microorganisms, evaluation of their biodegradability should not only be based on their chemical structure, but also on their physical properties (melting point, glass transition temperature, crystallinity, storage modulus etc.). In this review, microbial and enzymatic biodegradation of plastics and some factors that affect their biodegradability are discussed.

  3. Stationary solutions and asymptotic flatness I

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Reiris, Martin

    2014-01-01

    In general relativity, a stationary isolated system is defined as an asymptotically flat (AF) stationary spacetime with compact material sources. Other definitions that are less restrictive on the type of asymptotic could in principle be possible. Between this article and its sequel, we show that under basic assumptions, asymptotic flatness indeed follows as a consequence of Einstein's theory. In particular, it is proved that any vacuum stationary spacetime-end whose (quotient) manifold is diffeomorphic to R 3 minus a ball and whose Killing field has its norm bounded away from zero, is necessarily AF with Schwarzschildian fall off. The ‘excised’ ball would contain (if any) the actual material body, but this information is unnecessary to reach the conclusion. In this first article, we work with weakly asymptotically flat (WAF) stationary ends, a notion that generalizes as much as possible that of the AF end, and prove that WAF ends are AF with Schwarzschildian fall off. Physical and mathematical implications are also discussed. (paper)

  4. Characterization of plastic blends made from mixed plastics waste of different sources.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Turku, Irina; Kärki, Timo; Rinne, Kimmo; Puurtinen, Ari

    2017-02-01

    This paper studies the recyclability of construction and household plastic waste collected from local landfills. Samples were processed from mixed plastic waste by injection moulding. In addition, blends of pure plastics, polypropylene and polyethylene were processed as a reference set. Reference samples with known plastic ratio were used as the calibration set for quantitative analysis of plastic fractions in recycled blends. The samples were tested for the tensile properties; scanning electron microscope-energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy was used for elemental analysis of the blend surfaces and Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) analysis was used for the quantification of plastics contents.

  5. Observations of ebb flows on tidal flats: Evidence of dewatering?

    Science.gov (United States)

    Rinehimer, J. P.; Thomson, J. M.; Chickadel, C.

    2010-12-01

    Incised channels are a common morphological feature of tidal flats. When the flats are inundated, flows are generally forced by the tidally varying sea surface height. During low tide, however, these channels continue to drain throughout flat exposure even without an upstream source of water. While the role of porewater is generally overlooked due to the low permeability of marine muds, it remains the only potential source of flows through the channels during low tide. In situ and remotely sensed observations (Figure 1) at an incised channel on a tidal flat in Willapa Bay from Spring 2010 indicate that dewatering of the flats may be driving these low tide flows. High resolution Aquadopp ADCP velocity profiles are combined with observations from tower-based infrared (IR) video to produce a complete time series of surface velocity measurements throughout low tide. The IR video observations provide a measurement of surface currents even when the channel depth is below the blanking distance of the ADCP (10 cm). As the depth within the channel drops from 50 cm to 10 cm surface velocities increase from 10 cm/s to 60 cm/s even as the tide level drops below the channel flanks and the flats are dry. As the drainage continues, the temperature of the flow rises throughout low tide, mirroring temperatures within the sediment bed on the tidal flat. Drainage salinity falls despite the lack of any freshwater input to the flat indicating that less saline porewater may be the source. The likely source of the drainage water is from the channel flanks where time-lapse video shows slumping and compaction of channel sediments. Velocity profiles, in situ temperatures, and IR observations also are consistent with the presence of fluid muds and a hyperpycnal, density driven outflow at the channel mouth highlighting a possible pathway for sediment delivery from the flats to the main distributary channels of the bay. Figure 1: Time series of tidal flat channel velocities and temperatures

  6. Numerical simulation and experimental verification of a flat two-phase thermosyphon

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Zhang Ming; Liu Zhongliang; Ma Guoyuan; Cheng Shuiyuan

    2009-01-01

    The flat two-phase thermosyphon is placed between the heat source and the heat sink, which can achieve the uniform heat flux distribution and improve the performance of heat sink. In this paper, a two-dimensional heat and mass transfer model for a disk-shaped flat two-phase thermosyphon is developed. By solving the equations of continuity, momentum and energy numerically, the vapor velocity and temperature distributions of the flat two-phase thermosyphon are obtained. An analysis is also carried out on the ability of flat two-phase thermosyphon to spread heat and remove hot spots. In order to observe boiling and condensation phenomena, a transparent flat two-phase thermosyphon is manufactured and studied experimentally. The experimental results are compared with numerical results, which verify the physical and mathematical model of the flat two-phase thermosyphon. In order to study the main factors affecting the axial thermal resistance of two-phase thermosyphon, the temperatures inside the flat two-phase thermosyphon are measured and analyzed

  7. The Prevalence of Cosmetic Facial Plastic Procedures among Facial Plastic Surgeons.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Moayer, Roxana; Sand, Jordan P; Han, Albert; Nabili, Vishad; Keller, Gregory S

    2018-04-01

    This is the first study to report on the prevalence of cosmetic facial plastic surgery use among facial plastic surgeons. The aim of this study is to determine the frequency with which facial plastic surgeons have cosmetic procedures themselves. A secondary aim is to determine whether trends in usage of cosmetic facial procedures among facial plastic surgeons are similar to that of nonsurgeons. The study design was an anonymous, five-question, Internet survey distributed via email set in a single academic institution. Board-certified members of the American Academy of Facial Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery (AAFPRS) were included in this study. Self-reported history of cosmetic facial plastic surgery or minimally invasive procedures were recorded. The survey also queried participants for demographic data. A total of 216 members of the AAFPRS responded to the questionnaire. Ninety percent of respondents were male ( n  = 192) and 10.3% were female ( n  = 22). Thirty-three percent of respondents were aged 31 to 40 years ( n  = 70), 25% were aged 41 to 50 years ( n  = 53), 21.4% were aged 51 to 60 years ( n  = 46), and 20.5% were older than 60 years ( n  = 44). Thirty-six percent of respondents had a surgical cosmetic facial procedure and 75% has at least one minimally invasive cosmetic facial procedure. Facial plastic surgeons are frequent users of cosmetic facial plastic surgery. This finding may be due to access, knowledge base, values, or attitudes. By better understanding surgeon attitudes toward facial plastic surgery, we can improve communication with patients and delivery of care. This study is a first step in understanding use of facial plastic procedures among facial plastic surgeons. Thieme Medical Publishers 333 Seventh Avenue, New York, NY 10001, USA.

  8. Recycling of plastic waste: Presence of phthalates in plastics from households and industry.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Pivnenko, K; Eriksen, M K; Martín-Fernández, J A; Eriksson, E; Astrup, T F

    2016-08-01

    Plastics recycling has the potential to substitute virgin plastics partially as a source of raw materials in plastic product manufacturing. Plastic as a material may contain a variety of chemicals, some potentially hazardous. Phthalates, for instance, are a group of chemicals produced in large volumes and are commonly used as plasticisers in plastics manufacturing. Potential impacts on human health require restricted use in selected applications and a need for the closer monitoring of potential sources of human exposure. Although the presence of phthalates in a variety of plastics has been recognised, the influence of plastic recycling on phthalate content has been hypothesised but not well documented. In the present work we analysed selected phthalates (DMP, DEP, DPP, DiBP, DBP, BBzP, DEHP, DCHP and DnOP) in samples of waste plastics as well as recycled and virgin plastics. DBP, DiBP and DEHP had the highest frequency of detection in the samples analysed, with 360μg/g, 460μg/g and 2700μg/g as the maximum measured concentrations, respectively. Among other, statistical analysis of the analytical results suggested that phthalates were potentially added in the later stages of plastic product manufacturing (labelling, gluing, etc.) and were not removed following recycling of household waste plastics. Furthermore, DEHP was identified as a potential indicator for phthalate contamination of plastics. Close monitoring of plastics intended for phthalates-sensitive applications is recommended if recycled plastics are to be used as raw material in production. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  9. Recycling of plastic waste: Presence of phthalates in plastics from households and industry

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Pivnenko, Kostyantyn; Eriksen, Marie Kampmann; Martín-Fernández, J. A.

    2016-01-01

    Plastics recycling has the potential to substitute virgin plastics partially as a source of raw materials in plastic product manufacturing. Plastic as a material may contain a variety of chemicals, some potentially hazardous. Phthalates, for instance, are a group of chemicals produced in large...... recognised, the influence of plastic recycling on phthalate content has been hypothesised but not well documented. In the present work we analysed selected phthalates (DMP, DEP, DPP, DiBP, DBP, BBzP, DEHP, DCHP and DnOP) in samples of waste plastics as well as recycled and virgin plastics. DBP, DiBP and DEHP...

  10. Biodegradability of Plastics

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Yutaka Tokiwa

    2009-08-01

    Full Text Available Plastic is a broad name given to different polymers with high molecular weight, which can be degraded by various processes. However, considering their abundance in the environment and their specificity in attacking plastics, biodegradation of plastics by microorganisms and enzymes seems to be the most effective process. When plastics are used as substrates for microorganisms, evaluation of their biodegradability should not only be based on their chemical structure, but also on their physical properties (melting point, glass transition temperature, crystallinity, storage modulus etc.. In this review, microbial and enzymatic biodegradation of plastics and some factors that affect their biodegradability are discussed.

  11. Accessibility of low-income family flats in North Jakarta city

    Science.gov (United States)

    Feminin, T. A.; Wiranegara, H. W.; Supriatna, Y.

    2018-01-01

    The majority of relocated, low-income families in North Jakarta city who residing the flats, complained at decreasing their accessibility to the workplaces and to the social facilities. The aim of this research was to identify the changing of their accessibility before and after relocated, viewed from three dimensions: distance, travel time, and travel cost to the workplaces, educational facilities, and shopping areas. The research design was questionnaire survey containing the degree of accessibility before and after resided the flats. Five flats were chosen as cases. Their inhabitants were chosen as respondents which used simple random sampling. The result showed that their flats accessibility to the workplaces in all three dimensions was lower than when they resided in the slum area. Also, in distance and travel time accessibility to shopping areas was lower. Only accessibility to educational facilities measured in those three dimensions was higher after they moved. Supply for affordable public transport from their flats to reach their workplaces is needed to raise their accessibility. Also, they need subsidizeto rent of their flats so the burden to their income lesser.Using the ground space of their flats for retail activities was to make more accessible for their shopping activities.

  12. Elastic-plastic behaviour of thick-walled containers considering plastic compressibility

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Betten, J.; Frosch, H.G.

    1983-01-01

    In this paper the elastic-plastic behaviour of thick-walled pressure vessels with internal and external pressure is studied. To describe the mechanical behaviour of isotropic, plastic compressible materials we use a plastic potential which is a single-valued function of the principle stresses. For cylinders and spheres an analytic expression for the computation of stresses and residual stresses is specified. Afterwards the strains are calculated by using the finite difference method. Some examples will high-light the influence of the plastic compressibility on the behaviour of pressure vessels. (orig.) [de

  13. Converting nested algebra expressions into flat algebra expressions

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Paredaens, J.; Van Gucht, D.

    1992-01-01

    Nested relations generalize ordinary flat relations by allowing tuple values to be either atomic or set valued. The nested algebra is a generalization of the flat relational algebra to manipulate nested relations. In this paper we study the expressive power of the nested algebra relative to its

  14. Forecasting waste compositions: A case study on plastic waste of electronic display housings.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Peeters, Jef R; Vanegas, Paul; Kellens, Karel; Wang, Feng; Huisman, Jaco; Dewulf, Wim; Duflou, Joost R

    2015-12-01

    Because of the rapid succession of technological developments, the architecture and material composition of many products used in daily life have drastically changed over the last decades. As a result, well-adjusted recycling technologies need to be developed and installed to cope with these evolutions. This is essential to guarantee continued access to materials and to reduce the ecological impact of our material consumption. However, limited information is currently available on the material composition of arising waste streams and even less on how these waste streams will evolve. Therefore, this paper presents a methodology to forecast trends in the material composition of waste streams. To demonstrate the applicability and value of the proposed methodology, it is applied to forecast the evolution of plastic housing waste from flat panel display (FPD) TVs, FPD monitors, cathode ray tube (CRT) TVs and CRT monitors. The results of the presented forecasts indicate that a wide variety of plastic types and additives, such as flame retardants, are found in housings of similar products. The presented case study demonstrates that the proposed methodology allows the identification of trends in the evolution of the material composition of waste streams. In addition, it is demonstrated that the recycling sector will need to adapt its processes to deal with the increasing complexity of plastics of end-of-life electronic displays while respecting relevant directives. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  15. Public involvement in cleanup - the Rocky Flats experience

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Paukert, J.; Pennock, S.; Schassburger, R.

    1992-01-01

    The U.S. Department of Energy's Rocky Flats Plant recently completed and implemented the Rocky Flats Plant Community Relations Plan for public involvement in environmental restoration of the site. The plan was developed in cooperation with the plant's regulators, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the Colorado Department of Health. In addition, citizens near the plant played a significant role in shaping the document through extensive community interviews and public comment. The result of these cooperative efforts is a plan that meets and exceeds the applicable federal and state community relations requirements for a cleanup program. In fact, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has used the Rocky Flats Plant Community Relations Plants a model for similar plans at other federal facilities. Plan development, however, is only the starting point for an effective community relations effort. The Rocky Flats Plant and the public will face many challenges together as we implement the plan and build a partnership for addressing environmental cleanup issues. (author)

  16. Mechanically equivalent elastic-plastic deformations and the problem of plastic spin

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Steigmann David J.

    2011-01-01

    Full Text Available The problem of plastic spin is phrased in terms of a notion of mechanical equivalence among local intermediate configurations of an elastic/ plastic crystalline solid. This idea is used to show that, without further qualification, the plastic spin may be suppressed at the constitutive level. However, the spin is closely tied to an underlying undistorted crystal lattice which, once specified, eliminates the freedom afforded by mechanical equivalence. As a practical matter a constitutive specification of plastic spin is therefore required. Suppression of plastic spin thus emerges as merely one such specification among many. Restrictions on these are derived in the case of rate-independent response.

  17. Flat beams in the SLC

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Adolphsen, C.; Barklow, T.; Burke, D.; Decker, F.J.; Emma, P.; Hildreth, M.; Himel, T.; Krejcik, P.; Limberg, T.; Minty, M.

    1993-01-01

    The Stanford Linear Collider was designed to operate with round beams; horizontal and vertical emittance made equal in the damping rings. The main motivation was to facilitate the optical matching through beam lines with strong coupling elements like the solenoid spin rotator magnets and the SLC arcs. Tests in 1992 showed that open-quote flat close-quote beams with a vertical to horizontal emittance ratio of around 1/10 can be successfully delivered to the end of the linac. Techniques developed to measure and control the coupling of the SLC arcs allow These beams to be transported to the Interaction Point (IP). Before flat beams could be used for collisions with polarized electrons, a new method of rotating the electron spin orientation with vertical arc orbit bumps had to be developed. Early in the 1993 run, the SLC was switched to open-quote flat close-quote beam operation. Within a short time the peak luminosity of the previous running cycle was reached and then surpassed. The average daily luminosity is now a factor of about two higher than the best achieved last year. In the following the authors present an overview of the problems encountered and their solutions for different parts of the SLC

  18. Flat oysters in the Eierlandse Gat, Wadden Sea

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Have, van der T.M.; Kamermans, P.; Zee, van der E.M.

    2018-01-01

    This report presents the results of a short survey of flat oysters (Ostrea edulis) in the Western Wadden Sea. Ten sites were visited and flat oysters were found on nine locations in the Eijerlandse gat. Empty cockleshells and live and dead Pacific oysters provided the main settlement substrate. The

  19. Programming the shape-shifting of flat soft matter

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    van Manen, T.; Janbaz, S.; Zadpoor, A.A.

    2018-01-01

    Shape-shifting of flat materials into the desired 3D configuration is an alternative design route for fabrication of complex 3D shapes, which provides many benefits such as access to the flat material surface and the ability to produce well-described motions. The advanced production techniques

  20. A numerical study on the behavior of the water meniscus formed between a flat surface and a flat or circular tip

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Son, Sung Wan; Ha, Man Yeong; Yoon, Hyun Sik; Kim, Chang Min [Pusan National University, Busan (Korea, Republic of); Kim, Sang Sun [Korea Aerospace Industries, Sacheon (Korea, Republic of)

    2014-04-15

    We numerically investigated the behavior of the water meniscus formed between a flat surface and a tip surface, which is flat or circular in shape, using the lattice Boltzmann method (LBM). The shape of the water meniscus formed between the flat bottom surface and the tip surface depends on the tip shape and the interaction between the water meniscus and the bottom or tip surface. The interaction is determined by the contact angles of the bottom and tip surfaces, resulting in different contact lengths between the water meniscus and the bottom or tip surface. The difference in these contact lengths depends on the effects of both the tip curvature and the interaction between the water meniscus and the bottom or tip surface. We classified the shapes of the water meniscus into seven different patterns as a function of the contact angles of the flat bottom and tip surfaces: concave, semi-concave, inverse semi-concave, column, convex, semiconvex, and inverse semi-convex.

  1. A numerical study on the behavior of the water meniscus formed between a flat surface and a flat or circular tip

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Son, Sung Wan; Ha, Man Yeong; Yoon, Hyun Sik; Kim, Chang Min; Kim, Sang Sun

    2014-01-01

    We numerically investigated the behavior of the water meniscus formed between a flat surface and a tip surface, which is flat or circular in shape, using the lattice Boltzmann method (LBM). The shape of the water meniscus formed between the flat bottom surface and the tip surface depends on the tip shape and the interaction between the water meniscus and the bottom or tip surface. The interaction is determined by the contact angles of the bottom and tip surfaces, resulting in different contact lengths between the water meniscus and the bottom or tip surface. The difference in these contact lengths depends on the effects of both the tip curvature and the interaction between the water meniscus and the bottom or tip surface. We classified the shapes of the water meniscus into seven different patterns as a function of the contact angles of the flat bottom and tip surfaces: concave, semi-concave, inverse semi-concave, column, convex, semiconvex, and inverse semi-convex

  2. Criteria impacting shipments of Rocky Flats Plant radioactive mixed wastes

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Clawson, R.L.; Eide, J.H.

    1992-05-01

    Westinghouse Hanford Company, Transportation and Packaging Division, under contract for the Los Alamos Technology Office-Rocky Flats Plant, has developed this synopsis report to be used as a reference in the development of the Rocky Flats Plant Comprehensive Treatment and Management Plan and the Rocky Flats Plant Residue Elimination Plan. This report represents the criteria for packaging, shipping, and transporting Rocky Flats Plant radioactive mixed wastes. It is a compilation of state and federal regulations, US Department of Energy orders, and acceptance criteria specific to US Department of Energy radioactive mixed waste treatment, storage and disposal facilities

  3. Plastics and health risks.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Halden, Rolf U

    2010-01-01

    By 2010, the worldwide annual production of plastics will surpass 300 million tons. Plastics are indispensable materials in modern society, and many products manufactured from plastics are a boon to public health (e.g., disposable syringes, intravenous bags). However, plastics also pose health risks. Of principal concern are endocrine-disrupting properties, as triggered for example by bisphenol A and di-(2-ethylhexyl) phthalate (DEHP). Opinions on the safety of plastics vary widely, and despite more than five decades of research, scientific consensus on product safety is still elusive. This literature review summarizes information from more than 120 peer-reviewed publications on health effects of plastics and plasticizers in lab animals and humans. It examines problematic exposures of susceptible populations and also briefly summarizes adverse environmental impacts from plastic pollution. Ongoing efforts to steer human society toward resource conservation and sustainable consumption are discussed, including the concept of the 5 Rs--i.e., reduce, reuse, recycle, rethink, restrain--for minimizing pre- and postnatal exposures to potentially harmful components of plastics.

  4. Generation of shape-invariant flat-top laser beams

    CSIR Research Space (South Africa)

    Ait-Ameur, K

    2015-02-01

    Full Text Available A great number of laser applications need in place of the usual Gaussian beam a flat-top intensity profile in the focal plane of a focusing lens. In general the transformation of the laser beam from the Gaussian to the flat-top shape is made by a...

  5. Recycling of plastic waste: Presence of phthalates in plastics from households and industry

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Pivnenko, Kostyantyn; Eriksen, Marie Kampmann; Martín-Fernández, J. A.

    2016-01-01

    recognised, the influence of plastic recycling on phthalate content has been hypothesised but not well documented. In the present work we analysed selected phthalates (DMP, DEP, DPP, DiBP, DBP, BBzP, DEHP, DCHP and DnOP) in samples of waste plastics as well as recycled and virgin plastics. DBP, DiBP and DEHP...... product manufacturing (labelling, gluing, etc.) and were not removed following recycling of household waste plastics. Furthermore, DEHP was identified as a potential indicator for phthalate contamination of plastics. Close monitoring of plastics intended for phthalates-sensitive applications...

  6. The rocky flats controversy on radionuclide soil action levels

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Earle, T.C.

    2004-01-01

    This report describes how stakeholder involvement processes led to the successful resolution of a dispute over radionuclide soil action levels at the Rocky Flats Site near Denver, Colorado. During the Cold War Era, Rocky Flats, a plutonium fabrication plant, was part of the American government's multi-site nuclear weapons production facilities. Although the Rocky Flats plant had significant positive effects on the local economy, it became a target of public protest due to concerns over both public safety in the area surrounding the site and global nuclear proliferation. In the late 1980's, local safety concerns led to investigations by state and federal agencies. In 1992, with the Cold War ended, the Department of Energy decided to decommission the Rocky Flats site and to begin the long process of decontamination. (author)

  7. Unitarity in three-dimensional flat space higher spin theories

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Grumiller, D.; Riegler, M.; Rosseel, J.

    2014-01-01

    We investigate generic flat-space higher spin theories in three dimensions and find a no-go result, given certain assumptions that we spell out. Namely, it is only possible to have at most two out of the following three properties: unitarity, flat space, non-trivial higher spin states. Interestingly, unitarity provides an (algebra-dependent) upper bound on the central charge, like c=42 for the Galilean W_4"("2"−"1"−"1") algebra. We extend this no-go result to rule out unitary “multi-graviton” theories in flat space. We also provide an example circumventing the no-go result: Vasiliev-type flat space higher spin theory based on hs(1) can be unitary and simultaneously allow for non-trivial higher-spin states in the dual field theory.

  8. Dynamics of intertidal flats in the Loire estuary

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kervella, Stephane; Sottolichio, Aldo; Bertier, Christine

    2014-05-01

    Tidal flats form at the edges of many tidal estuaries, and are found in broad climatic regions. Their evolution plays a fundamental role in maintaining the morphodynamic equilibrium of an estuary. The Loire estuary is one of the largest macrotidal systems of the french atlantic coast. Since 200 years, its geometry has been drastically modified through channeling, deepening, embanking, infilling of secondary channels, etc. These works altered many intertidal areas. In the recent years, efforts for the rectification of the morphology have been made in order to restore the ecology of the estuary. In this context, it is crucial to better understand the dynamics of intertidal flats, still poorly understood in this estuary. The aim of this work is to analyse a series of original observations conducted for the first time in two intertidal flats of the central Lore estuary between 2008 and 2010. The tidal flats are situated in the northern bank, at 12 and 17 km upstream from the mouth respectively. Six Altus altimeters were deployed at two cross shore transects, measuring continuously and at a high-frequency bed altimetry and water level, providing information on tide and waves. At the semi-diurnal tidal scale, the surficial sediment of intertidal flats is permanently mobilized. Altimetry variations are low, and their amplitude varies as a function of tides and river flow. At the scale of several months, the sedimentation is controlled by the position of the turbidity maximum (and therefore by the river flow) and also by the tidal amplitude. During low river flow periods, altimetry variations are only due to tidal cycles. During decaying tides, suspended sediment settle mainly on the lower part of the tidal flats, forming fluid mud layers of several cm thick, which can consolidate rapidly; under rising tides, the increasing of tidal currents promotes erosion. During periods of high river flow, the turbidity maximum shifts to the lower estuary. The higher suspended sediment

  9. Challenges in plastics recycling

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Pivnenko, Kostyantyn; Jakobsen, L. G.; Eriksen, Marie Kampmann

    2015-01-01

    Recycling of waste plastics still remains a challenging area in the waste management sector. The current and potential goals proposed on EU or regional levels are difficult to achieve, and even to partially fullfil them the improvements in collection and sorting should be considerable. A study...... was undertaken to investigate the factors affecting quality in plastics recycling. The preliminary results showed factors primarily influencing quality of plastics recycling to be polymer cross contamination, presence of additives, non-polymer impurities, and polymer degradation. Deprivation of plastics quality......, with respect to recycling, has been shown to happen throughout the plastics value chain, but steps where improvements may happen have been preliminary identified. Example of Cr in plastic samples analysed showed potential spreading and accumulation of chemicals ending up in the waste plastics. In order...

  10. Individual differences in behavioural plasticities.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Stamps, Judy A

    2016-05-01

    Interest in individual differences in animal behavioural plasticities has surged in recent years, but research in this area has been hampered by semantic confusion as different investigators use the same terms (e.g. plasticity, flexibility, responsiveness) to refer to different phenomena. The first goal of this review is to suggest a framework for categorizing the many different types of behavioural plasticities, describe examples of each, and indicate why using reversibility as a criterion for categorizing behavioural plasticities is problematic. This framework is then used to address a number of timely questions about individual differences in behavioural plasticities. One set of questions concerns the experimental designs that can be used to study individual differences in various types of behavioural plasticities. Although within-individual designs are the default option for empirical studies of many types of behavioural plasticities, in some situations (e.g. when experience at an early age affects the behaviour expressed at subsequent ages), 'replicate individual' designs can provide useful insights into individual differences in behavioural plasticities. To date, researchers using within-individual and replicate individual designs have documented individual differences in all of the major categories of behavioural plasticities described herein. Another important question is whether and how different types of behavioural plasticities are related to one another. Currently there is empirical evidence that many behavioural plasticities [e.g. contextual plasticity, learning rates, IIV (intra-individual variability), endogenous plasticities, ontogenetic plasticities) can themselves vary as a function of experiences earlier in life, that is, many types of behavioural plasticity are themselves developmentally plastic. These findings support the assumption that differences among individuals in prior experiences may contribute to individual differences in behavioural

  11. Flat Engineered Multichannel Reflectors

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    V. S. Asadchy

    2017-09-01

    Full Text Available Recent advances in engineered gradient metasurfaces have enabled unprecedented opportunities for light manipulation using optically thin sheets, such as anomalous refraction, reflection, or focusing of an incident beam. Here, we introduce a concept of multichannel functional metasurfaces, which are able to control incoming and outgoing waves in a number of propagation directions simultaneously. In particular, we reveal a possibility to engineer multichannel reflectors. Under the assumption of reciprocity and energy conservation, we find that there exist three basic functionalities of such reflectors: specular, anomalous, and retroreflections. Multichannel response of a general flat reflector can be described by a combination of these functionalities. To demonstrate the potential of the introduced concept, we design and experimentally test three different multichannel reflectors: three- and five-channel retroreflectors and a three-channel power splitter. Furthermore, by extending the concept to reflectors supporting higher-order Floquet harmonics, we forecast the emergence of other multichannel flat devices, such as isolating mirrors, complex splitters, and multi-functional gratings.

  12. Flat Engineered Multichannel Reflectors

    Science.gov (United States)

    Asadchy, V. S.; Díaz-Rubio, A.; Tcvetkova, S. N.; Kwon, D.-H.; Elsakka, A.; Albooyeh, M.; Tretyakov, S. A.

    2017-07-01

    Recent advances in engineered gradient metasurfaces have enabled unprecedented opportunities for light manipulation using optically thin sheets, such as anomalous refraction, reflection, or focusing of an incident beam. Here, we introduce a concept of multichannel functional metasurfaces, which are able to control incoming and outgoing waves in a number of propagation directions simultaneously. In particular, we reveal a possibility to engineer multichannel reflectors. Under the assumption of reciprocity and energy conservation, we find that there exist three basic functionalities of such reflectors: specular, anomalous, and retroreflections. Multichannel response of a general flat reflector can be described by a combination of these functionalities. To demonstrate the potential of the introduced concept, we design and experimentally test three different multichannel reflectors: three- and five-channel retroreflectors and a three-channel power splitter. Furthermore, by extending the concept to reflectors supporting higher-order Floquet harmonics, we forecast the emergence of other multichannel flat devices, such as isolating mirrors, complex splitters, and multi-functional gratings.

  13. Movement Features Which Describe the Flat Bench Press

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Król Henryk

    2017-06-01

    Full Text Available Introduction. In sport technique studies, motion features can be useful as they have a certain defined measure [1]. In this work, we examined the following three features: the structure of the movement (all the characteristics of the movement, the fluency of the movement, and the rhythm of the movement. The aim of the study was to determine the usefulness of the selected movement features in the evaluation of the flat bench press. The protocol of the study included a flat bench press with free weights and a “touch-and-go” technique. Material and methods. The study involved twenty healthy men; however, only two were selected for analysis. The first subject was a 25-year-old powerlifter (body mass = 95 kg; body height = 182 cm; 1-RM in flat bench press = 145 kg. The second one was a 25-year-old bodybuilder (body mass = 77 kg; body height = 175 cm; 1-RM in flat bench press = 100 kg. The subjects performed consecutive sets of a single repetition of flat bench pressing with an increasing load (70, 80, 90, and 100% 1-RM, with the anticipated maximum weight, until the completion of one repetition maximum. Multidimensional movement analysis was made with the measuring system Smart-E (BTS, Italy, which consisted of six infrared cameras (120 Hz and a wireless module to measure muscle bioelectric activity (Pocket EMG. Results. It was demonstrated that the internal structure of the bench press performed by the bodybuilder and the powerlifter was different. As the time-history of barbell kinematics (the acceleration-time curve showed, with increased loading of the barbell, the rhythm of the flat bench press changed, and the fluidity of the movement worsened.

  14. Sub-crop geologic map of pre-Tertiary rocks in the Yucca Flat and northern Frenchman Flat areas, Nevada Test Site, southern Nevada

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Cole, J.C.; Harris, A.G.; Wahl, R.R.

    1997-10-02

    This map displays interpreted structural and stratigraphic relations among the Paleozoic and older rocks of the Nevada Test Site region beneath the Miocene volcanic rocks and younger alluvium in the Yucca Flat and northern Frenchman Flat basins. These interpretations are based on a comprehensive examination and review of data for more than 77 drillholes that penetrated part of the pre-Tertiary basement beneath these post-middle Miocene structural basins. Biostratigraphic data from conodont fossils were newly obtained for 31 of these holes, and a thorough review of all prior microfossil paleontologic data is incorporated in the analysis. Subsurface relationships are interpreted in light of a revised regional geologic framework synthesized from detailed geologic mapping in the ranges surrounding Yucca Flat, from comprehensive stratigraphic studies in the region, and from additional detailed field studies on and around the Nevada Test Site. All available data indicate the subsurface geology of Yucca Flat is considerably more complicated than previous interpretations have suggested. The western part of the basin, in particular, is underlain by relics of the eastward-vergent Belted Range thrust system that are folded back toward the west and thrust by local, west-vergent contractional structures of the CP thrust system. Field evidence from the ranges surrounding the north end of Yucca Flat indicate that two significant strike-slip faults track southward beneath the post-middle Miocene basin fill, but their subsurface traces cannot be closely defined from the available evidence. In contrast, the eastern part of the Yucca Flat basin is interpreted to be underlain by a fairly simple north-trending, broad syncline in the pre-Tertiary units. Far fewer data are available for the northern Frenchman Flat basin, but regional analysis indicates the pre-Tertiary structure there should also be relatively simple and not affected by thrusting. This new interpretation has implications

  15. Sub-crop geologic map of pre-Tertiary rocks in the Yucca Flat and northern Frenchman Flat areas, Nevada Test Site, southern Nevada

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Cole, J.C.; Harris, A.G.; Wahl, R.R.

    1997-01-01

    This map displays interpreted structural and stratigraphic relations among the Paleozoic and older rocks of the Nevada Test Site region beneath the Miocene volcanic rocks and younger alluvium in the Yucca Flat and northern Frenchman Flat basins. These interpretations are based on a comprehensive examination and review of data for more than 77 drillholes that penetrated part of the pre-Tertiary basement beneath these post-middle Miocene structural basins. Biostratigraphic data from conodont fossils were newly obtained for 31 of these holes, and a thorough review of all prior microfossil paleontologic data is incorporated in the analysis. Subsurface relationships are interpreted in light of a revised regional geologic framework synthesized from detailed geologic mapping in the ranges surrounding Yucca Flat, from comprehensive stratigraphic studies in the region, and from additional detailed field studies on and around the Nevada Test Site. All available data indicate the subsurface geology of Yucca Flat is considerably more complicated than previous interpretations have suggested. The western part of the basin, in particular, is underlain by relics of the eastward-vergent Belted Range thrust system that are folded back toward the west and thrust by local, west-vergent contractional structures of the CP thrust system. Field evidence from the ranges surrounding the north end of Yucca Flat indicate that two significant strike-slip faults track southward beneath the post-middle Miocene basin fill, but their subsurface traces cannot be closely defined from the available evidence. In contrast, the eastern part of the Yucca Flat basin is interpreted to be underlain by a fairly simple north-trending, broad syncline in the pre-Tertiary units. Far fewer data are available for the northern Frenchman Flat basin, but regional analysis indicates the pre-Tertiary structure there should also be relatively simple and not affected by thrusting. This new interpretation has implications

  16. Durability of wood plastic composites manufactured from recycled plastic

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Irina Turku

    2018-03-01

    Full Text Available The influence of accelerated weathering, xenon-arc light and freeze-thaw cycling on wood plastic composites extruded from a recycled plastic was studied. The results showed that, in general, weathering had a stronger impact on samples made from plastic waste compared to a sample made from virgin material. After weathering, the mechanical properties, tensile and flexural, were reduced by 2–30%, depending on the plastic source. Wettability of the samples was shown to play a significant role in their stability. Chemical analysis with infrared spectroscopy and surface observation with a scan electron microscope confirmed the mechanical test results. Incorporation of carbon black retained the properties during weathering, reducing the wettability of the sample, diminishing the change of mechanical properties, and improving color stability. Keywords: Environmental science, Mechanical engineering, Materials science

  17. Phenotypic plasticity, costs of phenotypes, and costs of plasticity

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Callahan, Hilary S; Maughan, Heather; Steiner, Uli

    2008-01-01

    Why are some traits constitutive and others inducible? The term costs often appears in work addressing this issue but may be ambiguously defined. This review distinguishes two conceptually distinct types of costs: phenotypic costs and plasticity costs. Phenotypic costs are assessed from patterns...... of covariation, typically between a focal trait and a separate trait relevant to fitness. Plasticity costs, separable from phenotypic costs, are gauged by comparing the fitness of genotypes with equivalent phenotypes within two environments but differing in plasticity and fitness. Subtleties associated with both...... types of costs are illustrated by a body of work addressing predator-induced plasticity. Such subtleties, and potential interplay between the two types of costs, have also been addressed, often in studies involving genetic model organisms. In some instances, investigators have pinpointed the mechanistic...

  18. Plastic waste as a resource. Strategies for reduction and utilization of plastic waste

    OpenAIRE

    Pasqual i Camprubí, Gemma

    2010-01-01

    Plastic materials have experienced a spectacular rate of growth in recent decades, consequently, production of plastics, and likewise their consumption, has increased markedly since 1950. Moreover, they are lightweight and durable, as well as can be moulded into a variety of products that can be manufactured in many different types of plastic and in a wide range of applications. Inevitably, continually increasing amounts of used plastic are originating daily, resulting in a plastic waste prob...

  19. Rocky Flats Cleanup Agreement implementation successes and challenges

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Shelton, D.C.

    1997-01-01

    On July 19, 1996 the US Department of Energy (DOE), State of Colorado (CDPHE), and US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) entered into an agreement called the Rocky Flats Cleanup Agreement (RFCA) for the cleanup and closure of the Rocky Flats Environmental Technology Site (RFETS or Rocky Flats). Major elements of the agreement include: an Integrated Site-Wide Baseline; up to twelve significant enforceable milestones per year; agreed upon soil and water action levels and standards for cleanup; open space as the likely foreseeable land use; the plutonium and TRU waste removed by 2015; streamlined regulatory process; agreement with the Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board (DNFSB) to coordinate activities; and a risk reduction focus. Successful implementation of RFCA requires a substantial effort by the parties to change their way of thinking about RFETS and meet the deliverables and commitments. Substantial progress toward Site closure through the implementation of RFCA has been accomplished in the short time since the signing, yet much remains to be done. Much can be learned from the Rocky Flats experience by other facilities in similar situations

  20. Cosmic microwave background anisotropies in multiconnected flat spaces

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Riazuelo, Alain; Weeks, Jeffrey; Uzan, Jean-Philippe; Lehoucq, Roland; Luminet, Jean-Pierre

    2004-01-01

    This article investigates the signature of the seventeen multiconnected flat spaces in cosmic microwave background (CMB) maps. For each such space it recalls a fundamental domain and a set of generating matrices, and then goes on to find an orthonormal basis for the set of eigenmodes of the Laplace operator on that space. The basis eigenmodes are expressed as linear combinations of eigenmodes of the simply connected Euclidean space. A preceding work, which provides a general method for implementing multiconnected topologies in standard CMB codes, is then applied to simulate CMB maps and angular power spectra for each space. Unlike in the 3-torus, the results in most multiconnected flat spaces depend on the location of the observer. This effect is discussed in detail. In particular, it is shown that the correlated circles on a CMB map are generically not back to back, so that negative search of back-to-back circles in the Wilkinson Microwave Anisotropy Probe data does not exclude a vast majority of flat or nearly flat topologies

  1. Role of tidal flat in material cycling in the coastal sea

    OpenAIRE

    Yara, Yumiko; Yanagi, Tetsuo; Montani, Shigeru; Kuninao, Tada

    2007-01-01

    A simple tidal flat model with pelagic and benthic ecosystems was developed in order to analyze the nitrogen cycling in an inter-tidal flat of the Seto Inland Sea, Japan. After the verification of calculation results with the observed results in water quality and benthic biomasses, the role of this tidal flat in nitrogen cycling was evaluated from the viewpoint of water quality purification capability. When there is no suspension feeder in the tidal flat, the water quality purification capab...

  2. Holography and Entanglement in Flat Spacetime

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Li Wei; Takayanagi, Tadashi

    2011-01-01

    We propose a holographic correspondence of the flat spacetime based on the behavior of the entanglement entropy and the correlation functions. The holographic dual theory turns out to be highly nonlocal. We argue that after most part of the space is traced out, the reduced density matrix gives the maximal entropy and the correlation functions become trivial. We present a toy model for this holographic dual using a nonlocal scalar field theory that reproduces the same property of the entanglement entropy. Our conjecture is consistent with the entropy of Schwarzschild black holes in asymptotically flat spacetimes.

  3. Mussel beds are biological power stations on intertidal flats

    Science.gov (United States)

    Engel, Friederike G.; Alegria, Javier; Andriana, Rosyta; Donadi, Serena; Gusmao, Joao B.; van Leeuwe, Maria A.; Matthiessen, Birte; Eriksson, Britas Klemens

    2017-05-01

    Intertidal flats are highly productive areas that support large numbers of invertebrates, fish, and birds. Benthic diatoms are essential for the function of tidal flats. They fuel the benthic food web by forming a thin photosynthesizing compartment in the top-layer of the sediment that stretches over the vast sediment flats during low tide. However, the abundance and function of the diatom film is not homogenously distributed. Recently, we have realized the importance of bivalve reefs for structuring intertidal ecosystems; by creating structures on the intertidal flats they provide habitat, reduce hydrodynamic stress and modify the surrounding sediment conditions, which promote the abundance of associated organisms. Accordingly, field studies show that high chlorophyll a concentration in the sediment co-vary with the presence of mussel beds. Here we present conclusive evidence by a manipulative experiment that mussels increase the local biomass of benthic microalgae; and relate this to increasing biomass of microalgae as well as productivity of the biofilm across a nearby mussel bed. Our results show that the ecosystem engineering properties of mussel beds transform them into hot spots for primary production on tidal flats, highlighting the importance of biological control of sedimentary systems.

  4. Thermal degradation and plasticizing mechanism of poly(vinyl chloride) plasticized with a novel cardanol derived plasticizer

    Science.gov (United States)

    Chen, J.; Nie, X. A.; Jiang, J. C.; Zhou, Y. H.

    2018-01-01

    A natural plasticizer cardanol derivatives glycidyl ether (CGE) was synthesized and employed as a plasticizer for the poly(vinyl chloride). The effect of CGE on thermal degradation of PVC films and its plasticizing mechanism were firstly reported. The molecular structure of CGE was characterized with Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR). Thermal properties, degradation properties and compatibility of the PVC films were investigated by Differential scanning calorimeter analysis (DSC), Thermogravimetric analysis (TGA) and FTIR, respectively. Compared with the commercial plasticizers dioctylphthalate (DOP), CGE can endow PVC film with a decrease of 4.31 °C in glass transition temperature (Tg), an increase of 24.01 °C and 25.53 °C in 10% weight loss (T 10) and 50% weight loss (T 50) respectively, and a higher activetion energy of thermal degradation (Ea ).

  5. Thermodynamics and stability of flat anti-de Sitter black strings

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Chen Si; Schleich, Kristin; Witt, Donald M.

    2008-01-01

    We examine the thermodynamics and stability of 5-dimensional flat anti-de Sitter (AdS) black strings, locally asymptotically anti-de Sitter spacetimes whose spatial sections are AdS black holes with Ricci flat horizons. We find that there is a phase transition for the flat AdS black string when the AdS soliton string is chosen as the thermal background. We find that this bulk phase transition corresponds to a 4-dimensional flat AdS black hole to AdS soliton phase transition on the boundary Karch-Randall branes. We compute the possibility of a phase transition from a flat AdS black string to a 5-dimensional AdS soliton and show that, though possible for certain thin black strings, the transition to the AdS soliton string is preferred. In contrast to the case of the Schwarzschild-AdS black string, we find that the specific heat of the flat AdS black string is always positive; hence it is thermodynamically stable. We show numerically that both the flat AdS black string and AdS soliton string are free of a Gregory-Laflamme instability for all values of the mass parameter. Therefore thermodynamic stability implies perturbative stability for this spacetime. This may indicate that a generalization of the Gubser-Mitra conjecture, in which the assumption of a translational killing vector is weakened to that of a conformal killing vector of translational form, holds under certain conditions.

  6. A New Triangular Flat Shell Element With Drilling Rotations

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Damkilde, Lars

    2008-01-01

    A new flat triangular shell element has been developed based on a newly developed triangular plate bending element by the author and a new triangular membrane element with drilling degrees of freedom. The advantage of the drilling degree of freedom is that no special precautions have to be made...... in connecting with assembly of elements. Due to the drilling rotations all nodal degrees of freedom have stiffness, and therefore no artificial suppression of degrees of freedom are needed for flat or almost flat parts of the shell structure....

  7. Piecewise flat gravitational waves

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    van de Meent, M.

    2011-01-01

    We examine the continuum limit of the piecewise flat locally finite gravity model introduced by ’t Hooft. In the linear weak field limit, we find the energy–momentum tensor and metric perturbation of an arbitrary configuration of defects. The energy–momentum turns out to be restricted to satisfy

  8. Mixed plastics recycling technology

    CERN Document Server

    Hegberg, Bruce

    1995-01-01

    Presents an overview of mixed plastics recycling technology. In addition, it characterizes mixed plastics wastes and describes collection methods, costs, and markets for reprocessed plastics products.

  9. Sub-nanosecond plastic scintillators

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Lyons, P.B.; Caldwell, S.E.; Hocker, L.P.; Crandall, D.G.; Zagarino, P.A.; Cheng, J.; Tirsell, G.; Hurlbut, C.R.

    1977-01-01

    Quenched plastic scintillators have been developed that yield much faster short decay components and greatly reduced long decay components compared to conventional plastic scintillators. The plastics are produced through the addition of selected quench agents to NE111 plastic scintillator that result in reduced total light output. Eight different agents have been studied. Benzophenone and piperidine are two of the most effective quench agents. Data are presented both for short and long decay components. The plastics are expected to make significant contributions in areas of plasma diagnostics

  10. Sub-nanosecond plastic scintillators

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Lyons, P.B.; Caldwell, S.E.; Hocker, L.P.; Crandall, D.G.; Zagarino, P.A.; Cheng, J.; Tirsell, G.; Hurlbut, C.R.

    1976-01-01

    Quenched plastic scintillators have been developed that yield much faster short decay components and greatly reduced long decay components compared to conventional plastic scintillators. The plastics are produced through the addition of selected quench agents to NE111 plastic scintillator that result in reduced total light output. Eight different agents have been studied. Benzophenone and piperidine are two of the most effective quench agents. Data are presented both for short and long decay components. The plastics are expected to make significant contributions in areas of plasma diagnostics

  11. Measuring and modeling exposure from environmental radiation on tidal flats

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Gould, T.J.; Hess, C.T.

    2005-01-01

    To examine the shielding effects of the tide cycle, a high pressure ion chamber was used to measure the exposure rate from environmental radiation on tidal flats. A theoretical model is derived to predict the behavior of exposure rate as a function of time for a detector placed one meter above ground on a tidal flat. The numerical integration involved in this derivation results in an empirical formula which implies exposure rate ∝tan-1(sint). We propose that calculating the total exposure incurred on a tidal flat requires measurements of only the slope of the tidal flat and the exposure rate when no shielding occurs. Experimental results are consistent with the model

  12. Repetitive forging (RF) using inclined punches as a new bulk severe plastic deformation method

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Babaei, A. [Department of Mechanical Engineering, University College of Engineering, University of Tehran, Tehran 11155-4563 (Iran, Islamic Republic of); Faraji, G., E-mail: ghfaraji@ut.ac.ir [Department of Mechanical Engineering, University College of Engineering, University of Tehran, Tehran 11155-4563 (Iran, Islamic Republic of); Department of Engineering Design and Manufacture, University of Malaya, 50603 Kuala Lumpur (Malaysia); Mashhadi, M.M. [Department of Mechanical Engineering, University College of Engineering, University of Tehran, Tehran 11155-4563 (Iran, Islamic Republic of); Hamdi, M. [Department of Engineering Design and Manufacture, University of Malaya, 50603 Kuala Lumpur (Malaysia)

    2012-12-15

    A new bulk severe plastic deformation method based on repetitive forging (RF) using inclined punches is proposed. This process consists of two half cycles. In the first half cycle, a square cross section deforms to parallelogram by forging with two inclined punches, and the parallelogram cross section is forged back to square using two flat punches in the second half cycle. This method was applied to commercially pure copper and significant grain refinement was achieved after four passes of RF. The results showed that significant improvement in the mechanical properties was obtained. Notable increase of yield and ultimate strengths corresponding to 358 MPa and 381 MPa after four passes of RF from the initial values of 121 MPa and 230.5 MPa is detectable. Microhardness increases to about 100 Hv after four passes of RF from the initial value of 53 Hv. Finite element (FE) results illustrate that RF is able to impose extremely high plastic strains to the materials. In the RF process, the processed samples have the same dimensions and geometry as those of the initial sample without any waste material and there is no need for back pressure.

  13. Angular-momentum-dominated electron beams and flat-beam generation

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Sun, Yin-e

    2005-01-01

    In the absence of external forces, if the dynamics within an electron beam is dominated by its angular momentum rather than other effects such as random thermal motion or self Coulomb-repulsive force (i.e., space-charge force), the beam is said to be angular-momentum-dominated. Such a beam can be directly applied to the field of electron-cooling of heavy ions; or it can be manipulated into an electron beam with large transverse emittance ratio, i.e., a flat beam. A flat beam is of interest for high-energy electron-positron colliders or accelerator-based light sources. An angular-momentum-dominated beam is generated at the Fermilab/NICADD photoinjector Laboratory (FNPL) and is accelerated to an energy of 16 MeV. The properties of such a beam is investigated systematically in experiment. The experimental results are in very good agreement with analytical expectations and simulation results. This lays a good foundation for the transformation of an angular-momentum-dominated beam into a flat beam. The round-to-flat beam transformer is composed of three skew quadrupoles. Based on a good knowledge of the angular-momentum-dominated beam, the quadrupoles are set to the proper strengths in order to apply a total torque which removes the angular momentum, resulting in a flat beam. For bunch charge around 0.5 nC, an emittance ratio of 100 ± 5 was measured, with the smaller normalized root-mean-square emittance around 0.4 mm-mrad. Effects limiting the flat-beam emittance ratio are investigated, such as the chromatic effects in the round-to-flat beam transformer, asymmetry in the initial angular-momentum-dominated beam, and space-charge effects. The most important limiting factor turns out to be the uncorrelated emittance growth caused by space charge when the beam energy is low, for example, in the rf gun area. As a result of such emittance growth prior to the round-to-flat beam transformer, the emittance ratio achievable in simulation decreases from orders of thousands to

  14. Angular-momentum-dominated electron beams and flat-beam generation

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Sun, Yin-e [Univ. of Chicago, IL (United States)

    2005-06-01

    In the absence of external forces, if the dynamics within an electron beam is dominated by its angular momentum rather than other effects such as random thermal motion or self Coulomb-repulsive force (i.e., space-charge force), the beam is said to be angular-momentum-dominated. Such a beam can be directly applied to the field of electron-cooling of heavy ions; or it can be manipulated into an electron beam with large transverse emittance ratio, i.e., a flat beam. A flat beam is of interest for high-energy electron-positron colliders or accelerator-based light sources. An angular-momentum-dominated beam is generated at the Fermilab/NICADD photoinjector Laboratory (FNPL) and is accelerated to an energy of 16 MeV. The properties of such a beam is investigated systematically in experiment. The experimental results are in very good agreement with analytical expectations and simulation results. This lays a good foundation for the transformation of an angular-momentum-dominated beam into a flat beam. The round-to-flat beam transformer is composed of three skew quadrupoles. Based on a good knowledge of the angular-momentum-dominated beam, the quadrupoles are set to the proper strengths in order to apply a total torque which removes the angular momentum, resulting in a flat beam. For bunch charge around 0.5 nC, an emittance ratio of 100 ± 5 was measured, with the smaller normalized root-mean-square emittance around 0.4 mm-mrad. Effects limiting the flat-beam emittance ratio are investigated, such as the chromatic effects in the round-to-flat beam transformer, asymmetry in the initial angular-momentum-dominated beam, and space-charge effects. The most important limiting factor turns out to be the uncorrelated emittance growth caused by space charge when the beam energy is low, for example, in the rf gun area. As a result of such emittance growth prior to the round-to-flat beam transformer, the emittance ratio achievable in simulation decreases from orders of thousands to

  15. Nonflat equilibrium liquid shapes on flat surfaces.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Starov, Victor M

    2004-01-15

    The hydrostatic pressure in thin liquid layers differs from the pressure in the ambient air. This difference is caused by the actions of surface forces and capillary pressure. The manifestation of the surface force action is the disjoining pressure, which has a very special S-shaped form in the case of partial wetting (aqueous thin films and thin films of aqueous electrolyte and surfactant solutions, both free films and films on solid substrates). In thin flat liquid films the disjoining pressure acts alone and determines their thickness. However, if the film surface is curved then both the disjoining and the capillary pressures act simultaneously. In the case of partial wetting their simultaneous action results in the existence of nonflat equilibrium liquid shapes. It is shown that in the case of S-shaped disjoining pressure isotherm microdrops, microdepressions, and equilibrium periodic films exist on flat solid substrates. Criteria are found for both the existence and the stability of these nonflat equilibrium liquid shapes. It is shown that a transition from thick films to thinner films can go via intermediate nonflat states, microdepressions and periodic films, which both can be more stable than flat films within some range of hydrostatic pressure. Experimental investigations of shapes of the predicted nonflat layers can open new possibilities of determination of disjoining pressure in the range of thickness in which flat films are unstable.

  16. FLAT FEET OF DHE CHILDREN IN PRE-SCHOOL AGE

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Admira Koničanin

    2011-03-01

    Full Text Available Subjekt : Of this research are flat feet of the children of both sexes in pre-school age children Aim : Of the research is confirm wheter is exists or flat feel of the children of both sexes in pre-school age.

  17. Time between plastic displacements of elasto-plastic oscillators subject to Gaussian white noise

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Tarp-Johansen, Niels Jacob; Ditlevsen, Ove Dalager

    2001-01-01

    A one degree of freedom elasto-plastic oscillator subject to stationary Gaussian white noise has a plastic displacement response process of intermittent character. During shorter or longer time intervals the oscillator vibrates within the elastic domain without undergoing any plastic displacements...... between the clumps of plastic displacements. This is needed for a complete description of the plastic displacement process. A quite accurate fast simulation procedure is presented based on an amplitude model to determine the short waiting times in the transient regime of the elastic vibrations existing...

  18. Ricci-flat branes

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Brecher, D.; Perry, M.J.

    2000-01-01

    Up to overall harmonic factors, the D8-brane solution of the massive type IIA supergravity theory is the product of nine-dimensional Minkowski space (the world-volume) with the real line (the transverse space). We show that the equations of motion allow for the world-volume metric to be generalised to an arbitrary Ricci-flat one. If this nine-dimensional Ricci-flat manifold admits Killing spinors, then the resulting solutions are supersymmetric and satisfy the usual Bogomol'nyi bound, although they preserve fewer than the usual one half of the supersymmetries. We describe the possible choices of such manifolds, elaborating on the connection between the existence of Killing spinors and the self-duality condition on the curvature two-form. Since the D8-brane is a domain wall in ten dimensions, we are led to consider the general case: domain walls in any supergravity theory. Similar considerations hold here also. Moreover, it is shown that the world-volume of any magnetic brane - of which the domain walls are a specific example - can be generalised in precisely the same way. The general class of supersymmetric solutions have gravitational instantons as their spatial sections. Some mention is made of the world-volume solitons of such branes

  19. Land claim and loss of tidal flats in the Yangtze Estuary.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Chen, Ying; Dong, Jinwei; Xiao, Xiangming; Zhang, Min; Tian, Bo; Zhou, Yunxuan; Li, Bo; Ma, Zhijun

    2016-04-01

    Tidal flats play a critical role in supporting biodiversity and in providing ecosystem services but are rapidly disappearing because of human activities. The Yangtze Estuary is one of the world's largest alluvial estuaries and is adjacent to the most developed economic zone in China. Using the Yangtze Estuary as a study region, we developed an automatic algorithm to estimate tidal flat areas based on the Land Surface Water Index and the Normalized Difference Vegetation Index. The total area of tidal flats in the Yangtze Estuary has decreased by 36% over the past three decades, including a 38% reduction in saltmarshes and a 31% reduction in barren mudflats. Meanwhile, land claim has accumulated to 1077 km(2), a value that exceeds the area of the remaining tidal flats. We divided the Yangtze Estuary into Shanghai and Jiangsu areas, which differ in riverine sediment supply and tidal flat management patterns. Although land claim has accelerated in both areas, the decline in tidal flat area has been much greater in Jiangsu than in Shanghai because of abundant supplies of sediment and artificial siltation in the latter area. The results highlight the need for better coastal planning and management based on tidal flat dynamics.

  20. Flat directions in flipped SU(5). I: All-order analysis

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Cleaver, G.B. E-mail: gcleaver@rainbow.physics.tamu.edu; Ellis, J. E-mail: john.ellis@cern.ch; Nanopoulos, D.V. E-mail: dimitri@soda.physics.tamu.edu

    2001-04-23

    We present a systematic classification of field directions for the string-derived flipped SU(5) model that are D- and F-flat to all orders. Properties of the flipped SU(5) model with field values in these directions are compared to those associated with other flat directions that have been shown to be F-flat to specific finite orders in the superpotential. We discuss the phenomenological Higgs spectrum, and quark and charged-lepton mass textures.

  1. Flat Directions in Flipped SU(5); 1, All-Order Analysis

    CERN Document Server

    Cleaver, G B; Nanopoulos, Dimitri V

    2001-01-01

    We present a systematic classification of field directions for the string-derived flipped SU(5) model that are D- and F-flat to all orders. Properties of the flipped SU(5) model with field values in these directions are compared to those associated with other flat directions that have been shown to be F-flat to specific finite orders in the superpotential. We discuss the phenomenological Higgs spectrum, and quark and charged-lepton mass textures.

  2. Rigidity of complete noncompact bach-flat n-manifolds

    Science.gov (United States)

    Chu, Yawei; Feng, Pinghua

    2012-11-01

    Let (Mn,g) be a complete noncompact Bach-flat n-manifold with the positive Yamabe constant and constant scalar curvature. Assume that the L2-norm of the trace-free Riemannian curvature tensor R∘m is finite. In this paper, we prove that (Mn,g) is a constant curvature space if the L-norm of R∘m is sufficiently small. Moreover, we get a gap theorem for (Mn,g) with positive scalar curvature. This can be viewed as a generalization of our earlier results of 4-dimensional Bach-flat manifolds with constant scalar curvature R≥0 [Y.W. Chu, A rigidity theorem for complete noncompact Bach-flat manifolds, J. Geom. Phys. 61 (2011) 516-521]. Furthermore, when n>9, we derive a rigidity result for R<0.

  3. Design scenarios for flat panel photobioreactors

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Slegers, P.M.; Wijffels, R.H.; Straten, G. van; Boxtel, A.J.B. van

    2011-01-01

    Evaluation of the potential of algae production for biofuel and other products at various locations throughout the world requires assessment of algae productivity under varying light conditions and different reactor layouts. A model was developed to predict algae biomass production in flat panel photobioreactors using the interaction between light and algae growth for the algae species Phaeodactylum tricornutum and Thalassiosira pseudonana. The effect of location, variable sunlight and reactor layout on biomass production in single standing and parallel positioned flat panels was considered. Three latitudes were studied representing the Netherlands, France and Algeria. In single standing reactors the highest yearly biomass production is achieved in Algeria. During the year biomass production fluctuates the most in the Netherlands, while it is almost constant in Algeria. Several combinations of path lengths and biomass concentrations can result in the same optimal biomass production. The productivity in parallel place flat panels is strongly influenced by shading and diffuse light penetration between the panels. Panel orientation has a large effect on productivity and at higher latitudes the difference between north-south and east-west orientation may go up to 50%.

  4. Maxey Flats low-level waste disposal site closure activities

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Haight, C.P.; Mills, D.; Razor, J.E.

    1987-01-01

    The Maxey Flats Radioactive Waste Disposal Facility in Fleming County, Kentucky is in the process of being closed. The facility opened for commercial business in the spring of 1963 and received approximately 4.75 million cubic feet of radioactive waste by the time it was closed in December of 1977. During fourteen years of operation approximately 2.5 million curies of by-product material, 240,000 kilograms of source material, and 430 kilograms of special nuclear material were disposed. The Commonwealth purchased the lease hold estate and rights in May 1978 from the operating company. This action was taken to stabilize the facility and prepare it for closure consisting of passive care and monitoring. To prepare the site for closure, a number of remedial activities had to be performed. The remediation activities implemented have included erosion control, surface drainage modifications, installation of a temporary plastic surface cover, leachate removal, analysis, treatment and evaporation, US DOE funded evaporator concentrates solidification project and their on-site disposal in an improved disposal trench with enhanced cover for use in a humid environment situated in a fractured geology, performance evaluation of a grout injection demonstration, USGS subsurface geologic investigation, development of conceptual closure designs, and finally being added to the US EPA National Priority List for remediation and closure under Superfund. 13 references, 3 figures

  5. [Application of biodegradable plastic film to reduce plastic film residual pollution in Chinese agriculture].

    Science.gov (United States)

    Yan, Changrong; He, Wenqing; Xue, Yinghao; Liu, Enke; Liu, Qin

    2016-06-25

    Plastic film has become an important agriculture production material in recent years. Over the past three decades, the amount and application area of plastic film have increased steadily, and in 2014, which are 1.4 million tons and more than 180 million hm² respectively. It plays a key role for ensuring the supply of agricultural goods in China. Meanwhile, plastic film residual pollution becomes more and more serious, and in some regions, the amount of plastic film residues has reached over 250 kg/hm². In part of the Northwest region, soil structure of farmland has been destroyed by plastic film residues and then crop growth and farming operations were suppressed. It is recognized as a good choice to replace plastic film with biodegradable plastic film, an effective measure to solve the plastic film residue pollution. Now, it is in a critical stage of study and assessment of biodegradable plastic film in China and fortunately some biodegradable plastic films show effects in the production of potatoes, peanuts and tobacco. Overall, a series of challenges has still been faced by the biodegradable plastic film, mainly including improving the quality of biodegradable plastic products, such as tensile strength, flexibility, improving the controllability of rupture and degradation, enhancing the ability of increasing soil temperature and preserving soil moisture, and to satisfy the demand of crops production with mulching. In addition, it is essential to reduce the cost of the biodegradable film and promote the application of biodegradable film on large-scale. With the development of biodegradable plastic technology and agricultural production environment, the application of the biodegradable film will have a good future.

  6. Graphene nanoribbons production from flat carbon nanotubes

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Melo, W. S.; Guerini, S.; Diniz, E. M., E-mail: eduardo.diniz@ufma.br [Departamento de Física, Universidade Federal do Maranhão, São Luís - MA 65080-805 (Brazil)

    2015-11-14

    Graphene nanoribbons are of great interest for pure and applied sciences due to their unique properties which depend on the nanoribbon edges, as, for example, energy gap and antiferromagnetic coupling. Nevertheless, the synthesis of nanoribbons with well-defined edges remains a challenge. To collaborate with this subject, here we propose a new route for the production of graphene nanoribbons from flat carbon nanotubes filled with a one-dimensional chain of Fe atoms by first principles calculations based on density functional theory. Our results show that Fe-filled flat carbon nanotubes are energetically more stable than non flattened geometries. Also we find that by hydrogenation or oxygenation of the most curved region of the Fe-filled flat armchair carbon nanotube, it occurred a spontaneous production of zigzag graphene nanoribbons which have metallic or semiconducting behavior depending on the edge and size of the graphene nanoribbon. Such findings can be used to create a new method of synthesis of regular-edge carbon nanoribbons.

  7. Graphene nanoribbons production from flat carbon nanotubes

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Melo, W. S.; Guerini, S.; Diniz, E. M.

    2015-01-01

    Graphene nanoribbons are of great interest for pure and applied sciences due to their unique properties which depend on the nanoribbon edges, as, for example, energy gap and antiferromagnetic coupling. Nevertheless, the synthesis of nanoribbons with well-defined edges remains a challenge. To collaborate with this subject, here we propose a new route for the production of graphene nanoribbons from flat carbon nanotubes filled with a one-dimensional chain of Fe atoms by first principles calculations based on density functional theory. Our results show that Fe-filled flat carbon nanotubes are energetically more stable than non flattened geometries. Also we find that by hydrogenation or oxygenation of the most curved region of the Fe-filled flat armchair carbon nanotube, it occurred a spontaneous production of zigzag graphene nanoribbons which have metallic or semiconducting behavior depending on the edge and size of the graphene nanoribbon. Such findings can be used to create a new method of synthesis of regular-edge carbon nanoribbons

  8. Flat-response x-ray-diode-detector development

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Tirsell, G.

    1982-10-01

    In this report we discuss the design of an improved sub-nanosecond flat response x-ray diode detector needed for ICF diagnostics. This device consists of a high Z cathode and a complex filter tailored to flatten the response so that the total x-ray energy below 1.5 keV can be measured using a single detector. Three major problems have become evident as a result of our work with the original LLNL design including deviation from flatness due to a peak in the response below 200 eV, saturation at relatively low x-ray fluences, and long term gold cathode instability. We are investigating grazing incidence reflection to reduce the response below 200 eV, new high Z cathode materials for long term stability, and a new complex filter for improved flatness. Better saturation performance will require a modified XRD detector under development with reduced anode to cathode spacing and increased anode bias voltage

  9. Resilience of Key Biological Parameters of the Senegalese Flat Sardinella to Overfishing and Climate Change.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ba, Kamarel; Thiaw, Modou; Lazar, Najih; Sarr, Alassane; Brochier, Timothée; Ndiaye, Ismaïla; Faye, Alioune; Sadio, Oumar; Panfili, Jacques; Thiaw, Omar Thiom; Brehmer, Patrice

    2016-01-01

    The stock of the Senegalese flat sardinella, Sardinella maderensis, is highly exploited in Senegal, West Africa. Its growth and reproduction parameters are key biological indicators for improving fisheries management. This study reviewed these parameters using landing data from small-scale fisheries in Senegal and literature information dated back more than 25 years. Age was estimated using length-frequency data to calculate growth parameters and assess the growth performance index. With global climate change there has been an increase in the average sea surface temperature along the Senegalese coast but the length-weight parameters, sex ratio, size at first sexual maturity, period of reproduction and condition factor of S. maderensis have not changed significantly. The above parameters of S. maderensis have hardly changed, despite high exploitation and fluctuations in environmental conditions that affect the early development phases of small pelagic fish in West Africa. This lack of plasticity of the species regarding of the biological parameters studied should be considered when planning relevant fishery management plans.

  10. Plastic fish

    CERN Multimedia

    Antonella Del Rosso

    2015-01-01

    In terms of weight, the plastic pollution in the world’s oceans is estimated to be around 300,000 tonnes. This plastic comes from both land-based and ocean-based sources. A lecture at CERN by chemist Wolfgang Trettnak addressed this issue and highlighted the role of art in raising people’s awareness.   Artwork by Wolfgang Trettnak. Packaging materials, consumer goods (shoes, kids’ toys, etc.), leftovers from fishing and aquaculture activities… our oceans and beaches are full of plastic litter. Most of the debris from beaches is plastic bottles. “PET bottles have high durability and stability,” explains Wolfgang Trettnak, a chemist by education and artist from Austria, who gave a lecture on this topic organised by the Staff Association at CERN on 26 May. “PET degrades very slowly and the estimated lifetime of a bottle is 450 years.” In addition to the beach litter accumulated from human use, rivers bring several ki...

  11. Plastics in the Marine Environment.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Law, Kara Lavender

    2017-01-03

    Plastics contamination in the marine environment was first reported nearly 50 years ago, less than two decades after the rise of commercial plastics production, when less than 50 million metric tons were produced per year. In 2014, global plastics production surpassed 300 million metric tons per year. Plastic debris has been detected worldwide in all major marine habitats, in sizes from microns to meters. In response, concerns about risks to marine wildlife upon exposure to the varied forms of plastic debris have increased, stimulating new research into the extent and consequences of plastics contamination in the marine environment. Here, I present a framework to evaluate the current understanding of the sources, distribution, fate, and impacts of marine plastics. Despite remaining knowledge gaps in mass budgeting and challenges in investigating ecological impacts, the increasing evidence of the ubiquity of plastics contamination in the marine environment, the continued rapid growth in plastics production, and the evidence-albeit limited-of demonstrated impacts to marine wildlife support immediate implementation of source-reducing measures to decrease the potential risks of plastics in the marine ecosystem.

  12. Plastics in the Marine Environment

    Science.gov (United States)

    Law, Kara Lavender

    2017-01-01

    Plastics contamination in the marine environment was first reported nearly 50 years ago, less than two decades after the rise of commercial plastics production, when less than 50 million metric tons were produced per year. In 2014, global plastics production surpassed 300 million metric tons per year. Plastic debris has been detected worldwide in all major marine habitats, in sizes from microns to meters. In response, concerns about risks to marine wildlife upon exposure to the varied forms of plastic debris have increased, stimulating new research into the extent and consequences of plastics contamination in the marine environment. Here, I present a framework to evaluate the current understanding of the sources, distribution, fate, and impacts of marine plastics. Despite remaining knowledge gaps in mass budgeting and challenges in investigating ecological impacts, the increasing evidence of the ubiquity of plastics contamination in the marine environment, the continued rapid growth in plastics production, and the evidence—albeit limited—of demonstrated impacts to marine wildlife support immediate implementation of source-reducing measures to decrease the potential risks of plastics in the marine ecosystem.

  13. Target tracking control and semi-physical simulation of Qball-X4 quad-rotor unmanned aerial vehicle

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Lu Liu

    2017-01-01

    Full Text Available In this article, a set of integrated ground target tracking flight system has been proposed based on the Qball-X4 quad-rotor unmanned aerial vehicle hardware platform and the QuaRC software platform. Both of the hardware and software platforms are developed by Quanser Company, Canada. The proposed tracking and positioning algorithm could be divided into several stages. First, a tracker is developed based on an optical flow method to track the target; and then, in order to improve the reliability of tracking algorithm and also help in retrieving the lost target, a cascade target detector is developed; meanwhile, a model updated scheme aiming at some possible errors in tracking and detecting process is presented based on Positive-Negative (P-N learning system; at last, a monocular visual positioning system is designed based on the corresponding navigation message. In addition, the effectiveness of the proposed flight control system is verified by both simulation and hardware-in-loop system results in several tracking flight tests.

  14. Selection of polychlorinated plastics in plastic waste by X-ray fluorescence method

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Kumasaki, H.; Shinozaki, Y.

    1979-01-01

    The X-ray fluorescence method using a small source of 55 Fe was examined and found to be applicable for the selection of polychlorinated plastics from plastic waste in model areas in Tokyo designated for investigating their content in the waste. The weight ratios of soft and hard polychlorinated plastics to the total plastic waste estimated by this method were found to be 15.6% and 0.29% respectively. These values agree well with the results obtained with the Beilstein method. (author)

  15. Mussel beds are biological power stations on intertidal flats

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Engel, Friederike G.; Alegria, Javier; Andriana, Rosyta; Donadi, Serena; Gusmao, Joao B.; van Leeuwe, Maria A.; Matthiessen, Birte; Eriksson, Britas Klemens

    2017-01-01

    Intertidal flats are highly productive areas that support large numbers of invertebrates, fish, and birds. Benthic diatoms are essential for the function of tidal flats. They fuel the benthic food web by forming a thin photosynthesizing compartment in the top-layer of the sediment that stretches

  16. Toxicological Threats of Plastic

    Science.gov (United States)

    Plastics pose both physical (e.g., entanglement, gastrointestinal blockage, reef destruction) and chemical threats (e.g., bioaccumulation of the chemical ingredients of plastic or toxic chemicals sorbed to plastics) to wildlife and the marine ecosystem.

  17. Plastic damage induced fracture behaviors of dental ceramic layer structures subjected to monotonic load.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wang, Raorao; Lu, Chenglin; Arola, Dwayne; Zhang, Dongsheng

    2013-08-01

    The aim of this study was to compare failure modes and fracture strength of ceramic structures using a combination of experimental and numerical methods. Twelve specimens with flat layer structures were fabricated from two types of ceramic systems (IPS e.max ceram/e.max press-CP and Vita VM9/Lava zirconia-VZ) and subjected to monotonic load to fracture with a tungsten carbide sphere. Digital image correlation (DIC) and fractography technology were used to analyze fracture behaviors of specimens. Numerical simulation was also applied to analyze the stress distribution in these two types of dental ceramics. Quasi-plastic damage occurred beneath the indenter in porcelain in all cases. In general, the fracture strength of VZ specimens was greater than that of CP specimens. The crack initiation loads of VZ and CP were determined as 958 ± 50 N and 724 ± 36 N, respectively. Cracks were induced by plastic damage and were subsequently driven by tensile stress at the elastic/plastic boundary and extended downward toward to the veneer/core interface from the observation of DIC at the specimen surface. Cracks penetrated into e.max press core, which led to a serious bulk fracture in CP crowns, while in VZ specimens, cracks were deflected and extended along the porcelain/zirconia core interface without penetration into the zirconia core. The rupture loads for VZ and CP ceramics were determined as 1150 ± 170 N and 857 ± 66 N, respectively. Quasi-plastic deformation (damage) is responsible for crack initiation within porcelain in both types of crowns. Due to the intrinsic mechanical properties, the fracture behaviors of these two types of ceramics are different. The zirconia core with high strength and high elastic modulus has better resistance to fracture than the e.max core. © 2013 by the American College of Prosthodontists.

  18. Plasticity and beyond microstructures, crystal-plasticity and phase transitions

    CERN Document Server

    Hackl, Klaus

    2014-01-01

    The book presents the latest findings in experimental plasticity, crystal plasticity, phase transitions, advanced mathematical modeling of finite plasticity and multi-scale modeling. The associated algorithmic treatment is mainly based on finite element formulations for standard (local approach) as well as for non-standard (non-local approach) continua and for pure macroscopic as well as for directly coupled two-scale boundary value problems. Applications in the area of material design/processing are covered, ranging from grain boundary effects in polycrystals and phase transitions to deep-drawing of multiphase steels by directly taking into account random microstructures.

  19. Nonconformally flat initial data for binary compact objects

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Uryu, Koji; Limousin, Francois; Gourgoulhon, Eric; Friedman, John L.; Shibata, Masaru

    2009-01-01

    A new method is described for constructing initial data for a binary neutron-star system in quasiequilibrium circular orbit. Two formulations for nonconformally flat data, waveless and near-zone helically symmetric, are introduced; in each formulation, the Einstein-Euler system, written in 3+1 form on an asymptotically flat spacelike hypersurface, is exactly solved for all metric components, including the spatially nonconformally flat potentials, and for irrotational flow. A numerical method applicable to both formulations is explained with an emphasis on the imposition of a spatial gauge condition. Results are shown for solution sequences of irrotational binary neutron-stars with matter approximated by parametrized equations of state that use a few segments of polytropic equations of state. The binding energy and total angular momentum of solution sequences computed within the conformally flat--Isenberg-Wilson-Mathews--formulation are closer to those of the third post-Newtonian (3PN) two point particles up to the closest orbits, for the more compact stars, whereas sequences resulting from the waveless/near-zone helically symmetric formulations deviate from the 3PN curve even more for the sequences with larger compactness. We think it likely that this correction reflects an overestimation in the Isenberg-Wilson-Mathews formulation as well as in the 3PN formula, by ∼1 cycle in the gravitational-wave phase during the last several orbits. The work suggests that imposing spatial conformal flatness results in an underestimate of the quadrupole deformation of the components of binary neutron-star systems in the last few orbits prior to merger.

  20. Vegetative and reproductive evaluation of hot peppers under different plastic mulches in poly/plastic tunnel

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Iqbal, Q.; Amjad, M.; Ahmad, R.

    2009-01-01

    Since the beginning of civilization, the man has developed technologies to increase the efficiency of food production. The use of plastic mulch in commercial vegetable production is one of these traditional techniques that have been used for centuries. Studies were conducted to assess the efficacy of plastic mulch on growth and yield of two hot pepper hybrids, viz. Sky Red and Maha in poly/plastic tunnel. The treatments were black plastic mulch, clear plastic mulch and bare soil as control. Both hot pepper hybrids mulched with black plastic showed significantly better vegetative growth (plant height, leaf area etc) and fruit yield. Clear plastic mulch significantly increased soil temperature and reduced the number of days to first flower than black plastic mulch and bare soil. However, fruit yield was higher by 39.56 and 36.49% respectively in both hybrids when they were grown on black and clear plastic mulch as compared to bare soil. Overall results indicated that the use of plastic mulch is an ideal option to maximize hot pepper productivity as well as to extend their production season in poly/plastic tunnels. (author)

  1. "Flat-Fish" vacuum chamber for the ISR

    CERN Multimedia

    CERN PhotoLab

    1983-01-01

    The "Flat-Fish" vacuum chamber was a very special one for the ISR beam intersection I-4, inside the Split-Field Magnet. Technical descriptions are given with pictures 7802042 and 7712182. There were several generations of this chamber. This picture was taken during the last year of ISR operation. See also 7510230X, 7511123X, 7802039, 7802041. A flat-fish type vacuum chamber was also used at I-8, inside the Open Axial Field Magnet (OAFM, experiment 807 on large transverse momentum collision products), see 7901358.

  2. Interaction between vegetable oil based plasticizer molecules and polyvinyl chloride, and their plasticization effect

    Science.gov (United States)

    Haryono, Agus; Triwulandari, Evi; Jiang, Pingping

    2017-01-01

    Plasticizer molecules are low molecular weight compounds that are widely used in polymer industries especially in polyvinyl chloride (PVC) resin. As an additive in PVC resin, the important role of plasticizer molecules is to improve the flexibility and processability of PVC by lowering the glass transition temperature (Tg). However, the commercial plasticizer like di(2-ethylhexyl)phthalate (DEHP) is known to cause liver cancer, at least in laboratory rats. DEHP can leach out from PVC into blood, certain drug solutions and fatty foods, which has been detected in the bloodstream of patients undergoing transfusion. Vegetable oil based plasticizers have some attractive properties such as non-toxic, bio-degradable, good heat and light stability, renewable resources, and environmentally friendly. Here we discussed the main results and development of vegetable oil based plasticizer, and especially palm oil based plasticizer. The interaction between plasticizer and polymer was discussed from the properties of the plasticized polymeric material.

  3. Non-Abelian bosonization as a nonholonomic transformation from a flat to a curved field space

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Kleinert, H.

    1997-01-01

    There exists a simple rule by which path integrals for the motion of a point particle in a flat space can be transformed correctly into those in a curved space. This rule arose from well-established methods in the theory of plastic deformations, where crystals with defects are described mathematically by applying active nonholonomic coordinate transformations to ideal crystals. In the context of time-sliced path integrals, this has given rise to a quantum equivalence principle which determines the short-time action and functional integration measure of fluctuating orbits in spaces with curvature and torsion. The nonholonomic transformations have a nontrivial Jacobian which in curved spaces produces an additional energy proportional to the curvature scalar, thereby canceling an equal term found earlier by DeWitt in his formulation of Feynman close-quote s time-sliced path integral in curved space. The importance of this cancelation has been documented in various systems (H-atom, particle on the surface of a sphere, spinning top). Here we point out its relevance to the bosonization of a non-Abelian one-dimensional quantum field theory, whose fields live in a flat field space. The bosonized version is a quantum-mechanical path integral of a point particle moving in a space with constant curvature. The additional term introduced by the Jacobian is crucial for the identity between original and bosonized theory. A useful bosonization tool is the so-called Hubbard endash Stratonovich formula for which we find a nonabelian version. copyright 1997 Academic Press, Inc

  4. Handbook of Plastic Welding

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Islam, Aminul

    The purpose of this document is to summarize the information about the laser welding of plastic. Laser welding is a matured process nevertheless laser welding of micro dimensional plastic parts is still a big challenge. This report collects the latest information about the laser welding of plastic...... materials and provides an extensive knowhow on the industrial plastic welding process. The objectives of the report include: - Provide the general knowhow of laser welding for the beginners - Summarize the state-of-the-art information on the laser welding of plastics - Find the technological limits in terms...... of design, materials and process - Find the best technology, process and machines adaptive to Sonion’s components - Provide the skills to Sonion’s Design Engineers for successful design of the of the plastic components suitable for the laser welding The ultimate goal of this report is to serve...

  5. Flat-rate tax systems and their effect on labor markets

    OpenAIRE

    Peichl, Andreas

    2014-01-01

    The potential economic outcomes resulting from a flat rate of income tax have been the subject of an ongoing academic and political debate. Many observers have suggested that the introduction of a flat tax would be beneficial for a country’s economy, having a positive influence on the labor market and the gross domestic product by enhancing incentives to work, save, invest, and take risks. A flat tax also significantly simplifies income taxation which increases tax compliance and reduces ta...

  6. Optimised intake stroke analysis for flat and dome head pistons ...

    African Journals Online (AJOL)

    Optimised intake stroke analysis for flat and dome head pistons. ... in understanding the performance characteristics optioned between flat head and dome head pistons in engine design. ... EMAIL FREE FULL TEXT EMAIL FREE FULL TEXT

  7. Abiotic degradation of plastic films

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ángeles-López, Y. G.; Gutiérrez-Mayen, A. M.; Velasco-Pérez, M.; Beltrán-Villavicencio, M.; Vázquez-Morillas, A.; Cano-Blanco, M.

    2017-01-01

    Degradable plastics have been promoted as an option to mitigate the environmental impacts of plastic waste. However, there is no certainty about its degradability under different environmental conditions. The effect of accelerated weathering (AW), natural weathering (NW) and thermal oxidation (TO) on different plastics (high density polyethylene, HDPE; oxodegradable high density polyethylene, HDPE-oxo; compostable plastic, Ecovio ® metalized polypropylene, PP; and oxodegradable metalized polypropylene, PP-oxo) was studied. Plastics films were exposed to AW per 110 hours; to NW per 90 days; and to TO per 30 days. Plastic films exposed to AW and NW showed a general loss on mechanical properties. The highest reduction in elongation at break on AW occurred to HDPE-oxo (from 400.4% to 20.9%) and was higher than 90% for HDPE, HDPE-oxo, Ecovio ® and PP-oxo in NW. No substantial evidence of degradation was found on plastics exposed to TO. Oxo-plastics showed higher degradation rates than their conventional counterparts, and the compostable plastic was resistant to degradation in the studied abiotic conditions. This study shows that degradation of plastics in real life conditions will vary depending in both, their composition and the environment.

  8. Plasticity characteristic obtained by indentation

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Mil'man, Yu.V.; Chugunova, S.I.; Goncharova, I.V.

    2011-01-01

    Methods for determination plasticity characteristic δH in the measurement of hardness and nanohardness are considered. Parameter δH characterizes the plasticity of a material by the part of plastic deformation in the total elastic-plastic deformation. The value of δH is defined for metals with different types of crystal lattice, covalent and partially covalent crystals, intermetallics, metallic glasses and quasicrystals. It is discussed the dependence of the plasticity characteristic δH on structural factors and temperature. Parameter δH allows to analyze and compare the plasticity of materials which are brittle at standard mechanical tests. The combination of hardness H, as the strength characteristic, and the plasticity characteristic δH makes possible the better characterization of mechanical behavior of materials than only the hardness H. The examples of plasticity characteristic δH application are represented.

  9. Flat directions in left-right symmetric string derived models

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Cleaver, Gerald B.; Clements, David J.; Faraggi, Alon E.

    2002-01-01

    The only string models known to reproduce the minimal supersymmetric standard model in the low energy effective field theory are those constructed in the free fermionic formulation. We demonstrate the existence of quasirealistic free fermionic heterotic string models in which supersymmetric singlet flat directions do not exist. This raises the possibility that supersymmetry is broken perturbatively in such models by the one-loop Fayet-Iliopoulos term. We show, however, that supersymmetric flat directions that utilize vacuum expectation values of some non-Abelian fields in the massless string spectrum do exist in the model. We argue that hidden sector condensates lift the flat directions and break supersymmetry hierarchically

  10. Flat rotation curves using scalar-tensor theories

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Cervantes-Cota, Jorge L [Depto de Fisica, Instituto Nacional de Investigaciones Nucleares, A.P. 18-1027, 11801 D.F. (Mexico); RodrIguez-Meza, M A [Depto de Fisica, Instituto Nacional de Investigaciones Nucleares, A.P. 18-1027, 11801 D.F. (Mexico); Nunez, Dario [Instituto de Ciencias Nucleares, Universidad Nacional Autonoma de Mexico, A.P. 70-543, 04510 D.F. (Mexico)

    2007-11-15

    We computed flat rotation curves from scalar-tensor theories in their weak field limit. Our model, by construction, fits a flat rotation profile for velocities of stars. As a result, the form of the scalar field potential and DM distribution in a galaxy are determined. By taking into account the constraints for the fundamental parameters of the theory ({lambda}, {alpha}), it is possible to obtain analytical results for the density profiles. For positive and negative values of {alpha}, the DM matter profile is as cuspy as NFW's.

  11. Stress analyses of flat plates with attached nozzles. Vol. 2: Experimental stress analyses of a flat plate with one nozzle attached

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Battiste, R.L.; Peters, W.H.; Ranson, W.F.; Swinson, W.F.

    1975-07-01

    Vol. 1 of this report compares experimental results with theoretical stress distributions for a flat plate with one nozzle configuration and for a flat plate with two closely spaced nozzles attached. This volume contains the complete test results for a flat plate with one nozzle attached that was subjected to 1:1 and 1:2 biaxial planar loadings on the plate, to a thrust loading on the nozzle, and to a moment loading on the nozzle. The plate tested was 36 x 36 x 0.375 in., and the attached nozzle had an outer dia of 2.625 in. and a 0.250-in.-thick wall. The nozzle was located in the center of the plate and was considered to be free of weld distortions and irregularities in the junction area. (U.S.)

  12. Experiments with elasto-plastic oscillator

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Randrup-thomsen, Søren; Ditlevsen, Ove Dalager

    1996-01-01

    Plastic displacements of a Gaussian white noise excited three degrees of freedom non-ideal elasto-plastic oscillator are measured in laboratory experiments and the plastic displacements are compared to computer simulated results for the corresponding ideal elasto-plastic oscillator. The comparative...

  13. Experiments with elasto-plastic oscillator

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Randrup-Thomsen, S.; Ditlevsen, Ove Dalager

    1999-01-01

    Plastic displacements of a Gaussian white noise excited three degrees of freedom non-ideal elasto-plastic oscillator are measured in laboratory experiments and the plastic displacements are compared to computer simulated results for the corresponding ideal elasto-plastic oscillator. The comparative...

  14. ENVIRONMENTAL ISSUE-PLASTIC

    OpenAIRE

    Sunita Shakle

    2017-01-01

    Polythene is the most common plastic, the annual global production is approximately 60 million tones, and its primary use is in packing. Plastic bags pollute soil and waters and kill thousands of marine generalize plastic bags are not biodegradable they clog water ways, spoil the land scape and end up in landfills. Where they may take 1000 year or more to break down into ever smaller particals that continue to pollution the soil and water.

  15. Relationship between flexible flat foot and developmental hip dysplasia.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ponce de León Samper, M C; Herrera Ortiz, G; Castellanos Mendoza, C

    2015-01-01

    To evaluate the possible relationship between flexible flat foot and developmental hip dysplasia in children between six and 15 years of age. Cross-sectional study including 65 patients that had undergone surgery due to residual hip dysplasia or hip dislocation and compared against 75 healthy patients. Flexible flat foot prevalence was measured in each group, with the results showing that 61% of the group with residual hip dysplasia or hip dislocation had this condition, vs. 12% in the healthy group. The statistical analysis shows that the chances of suffering from flexible flat foot, are five times greater in the hip dysplasia or hip dislocation group, than in the healthy group. There is no evidence in the literature showing a relationship between these two conditions, even though they have a common etiology. This study shows a potential measurable relation between this two conditions. Patients with hip dysplasia or dislocation may have a higher chance of presenting flexible flat foot during late childhood, adolescence and adulthood, a fact that suggests a relationship between these two pathologies. Also, patients who seek assistance for the first time because of a flexible flat foot condition without having been evaluated during the first year of life for hip dysplasia, would be better off if evaluated for residual hip dysplasia. Copyright © 2014 SECOT. Published by Elsevier Espana. All rights reserved.

  16. Nano-Ceramic Coated Plastics

    Science.gov (United States)

    Cho, Junghyun

    2013-01-01

    Plastic products, due to their durability, safety, and low manufacturing cost, are now rapidly replacing cookware items traditionally made of glass and ceramics. Despite this trend, some still prefer relatively expensive and more fragile ceramic/glassware because plastics can deteriorate over time after exposure to foods, which can generate odors, bad appearance, and/or color change. Nano-ceramic coatings can eliminate these drawbacks while still retaining the advantages of the plastic, since the coating only alters the surface of the plastic. The surface coating adds functionality to the plastics such as self-cleaning and disinfectant capabilities that result from a photocatalytic effect of certain ceramic systems. These ceramic coatings can also provide non-stick surfaces and higher temperature capabilities for the base plastics without resorting to ceramic or glass materials. Titanium dioxide (TiO2) and zinc oxide (ZnO) are the candidates for a nano-ceramic coating to deposit on the plastics or plastic films used in cookware and kitchenware. Both are wide-bandgap semiconductors (3.0 to 3.2 eV for TiO2 and 3.2 to 3.3 eV for ZnO), so they exhibit a photocatalytic property under ultraviolet (UV) light. This will lead to decomposition of organic compounds. Decomposed products can be easily washed off by water, so the use of detergents will be minimal. High-crystalline film with large surface area for the reaction is essential to guarantee good photocatalytic performance of these oxides. Low-temperature processing (nano-ceramic coatings (TiO2, ZnO) on plastic materials (silicone, Teflon, PET, etc.) that can possess both photocatalytic oxide properties and flexible plastic properties. Processing cost is low and it does not require any expensive equipment investment. Processing can be scalable to current manufacturing infrastructure.

  17. 75 FR 12981 - Eligibility for Commercial Flats Failing Deflection

    Science.gov (United States)

    2010-03-18

    ... applicable only to automation flats, for all commercial flat-size mail except saturation and high-density...[supreg] pricing. If automation prices are denied, pieces that are prepared to be part of full-service IMb... compliance, but at additional cost; and quarter-folding would not work well with any inserts. Also, there was...

  18. Elastic-plastic analysis of AS4/PEEK composite laminate using a one-parameter plasticity model

    Science.gov (United States)

    Sun, C. T.; Yoon, K. J.

    1992-01-01

    A one-parameter plasticity model was shown to adequately describe the plastic deformation of AS4/PEEK (APC-2) unidirectional thermoplastic composite. This model was verified further for unidirectional and laminated composite panels with and without a hole. The elastic-plastic stress-strain relations of coupon specimens were measured and compared with those predicted by the finite element analysis using the one-parameter plasticity model. The results show that the one-parameter plasticity model is suitable for the analysis of elastic-plastic deformation of AS4/PEEK composite laminates.

  19. Performance of molded plastic scintillators

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Gen, N.S.; Leman, V.E.; Solomonov, V.M.

    1989-01-01

    The performance of molded plastic scintillators is studied. The plastic scintillators studied were formed by transfer molding and intrusion from a scintillation composition consisting of polystyrene and a standard system of luminescent additives: 2 mass % of paraterphenyl + 0.06 mass % 1,4-di-/2-[5-phenyloxazoyly]/benzene and a plasticizer. The combined effect of mechanical load and temperature was studied. The effect of radiation on molded plastic scintillators was studied using gamma radiation from a 60 Co source. The studies show that the main operating characteristics of molded plastic scintillators are on a par with those of polymerized plastic scintillators. At the same time, molded plastic scintillators are superior in thermal stability at temperatures below the glass transition temperature and with respect to their working temperature range

  20. Plastic food packaging and health

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Raika Durusoy

    2011-02-01

    Full Text Available Plastics have a wide usage in our daily lives. One of their uses is for food packaging and food containers. The aim of this review is to introduce different types of chemicals that can leach from food packaging plastics into foods and cause human exposure and to mention their effects on health. The types of plastics were reviewed under the 13 headings in Turkish Codex Alimentarius and plastics recycling symbols were provided to enable the recognition of the type of plastic when applicable. Chemicals used during the production and that can cause health risks are investigated under the heading of the relevant type of plastic. The most important chemicals from plastic food packaging that can cause toxicity are styrene, 1,3-butadiene, melamine, formaldehyde, acrylamide, di-2-ethylhexyl phthalate, di-2-ethylhexyl adipate, vinyl chloride and bisphenol A. These chemicals have endocrine disrupting, carcinogenic and/or development disrupting effects. These chemicals may leach into foods depending on the chemical properties of the plastic or food, temperature during packaging, processing and storage, exposure to UV and duration of storage. Contact with fatty/oily or acidic foods, heating of the food inside the container, or drinking hot drinks from plastic cups, use of old and scratched plastics and some detergents increase the risk of leaching. The use of plastic containers and packaging for food and beveradges should be avoided whenever possible and when necessary, less harmful types of plastic should be preferred. [TAF Prev Med Bull 2011; 10(1.000: 87-96

  1. Prevalence of Flat Foot: Comparison between Male and Female Primary School Students

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Reihaneh Askary Kachoosangy

    2013-10-01

    Full Text Available Objectives: The aim of this study was to determine the prevalence of flat foot in a population of 7-12 year old students and to investigate the relationship between flat foot and age and sex. Methods: In this cross-sectional study, a total of 945 students (460 girls and 485 boys were examined. The presence of flatfoot and the degree of its severity according to Tachdjian's system of grading for flatfoot was assessed. Results: The data showed that the overall prevalence of flat foot was 74% out of which 23% were mild, 34% were moderate and 17% were severe. The prevalence of flat foot in girl and boy students were 75.2% and 72.6% respectively, but this difference was not significant. Moreover, no significant relationship was observed between the prevalence of flat foot and age. Discussion: This study showed that flat foot is a common problem among primary school students and should be addressed by responsible organizations.

  2. Higher-spin flat space cosmologies with soft hair

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Ammon, Martin [Theoretisch-Physikalisches Institut, Friedrich-Schiller University of Jena, Max-Wien-Platz 1, D-07743 Jena (Germany); Grumiller, Daniel [Institute for Theoretical Physics, TU Wien, Wiedner Hauptstrasse 8-10/136, A-1040 Vienna (Austria); CMCC-Universidade Federal do ABC,Santo André, S.P. (Brazil); Prohazka, Stefan [Institute for Theoretical Physics, TU Wien, Wiedner Hauptstrasse 8-10/136, A-1040 Vienna (Austria); Riegler, Max [Université libre de Bruxelles, Boulevard du Triomphe, Campus de la Plaine,1050 Bruxelles (Belgium); Wutte, Raphaela [Institute for Theoretical Physics, TU Wien, Wiedner Hauptstrasse 8-10/136, A-1040 Vienna (Austria)

    2017-05-08

    We present and discuss near horizon boundary conditions for flat space higher-spin gravity in three dimensions. As in related work our boundary conditions ensure regularity of the solutions independently of the charges. The asymptotic symmetry algebra is given by a set of û(1) current algebras. The associated charges generate higher-spin soft hair. We derive the entropy for solutions that are continuously connected to flat space cosmologies and find the same result as in the spin-2 case: the entropy is linear in the spin-2 zero-mode charges and independent from the spin-3 charges. Using twisted Sugawara-like constructions of higher-spin currents we show that our simple result for entropy of higher-spin flat space cosmologies coincides precisely with the complicated earlier results expressed in terms of higher-spin zero mode charges.

  3. Our plastic age

    OpenAIRE

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

    2009-01-01

    Within the last few decades, plastics have revolutionized our daily lives. Globally we use in excess of 260 million tonnes of plastic per annum, accounting for approximately 8 per cent of world oil production. In this Theme Issue of Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society, we describe current and future trends in usage, together with the many benefits that plastics bring to society. At the same time, we examine the environmental consequences resulting from the accumulation of waste pl...

  4. A Conservative Formulation for Plasticity

    Science.gov (United States)

    1992-01-01

    concepts that apply to a broad class of macroscopic models: plastic deformation and plastic flow rule. CONSERVATIVE PLASTICITY 469 3a. Plastic Defrrnation...temperature. We illustrate these concepts with a model that has been used to describe high strain-rate plastic flow in metals [11, 31, 32]. In the case...JOURDREN, AND P. VEYSSEYRE. Un Modele ttyperelastique- Plastique Euldrien Applicable aux Grandes Dtformations: Que/ques R~sultats 1-D. preprint, 1991. 2. P

  5. Half-flat structures on S3×S3

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Madsen, Thomas Bruun; Salamon, Simon

    We classify left-invariant half-flat SU(3)-structures on S3 × S3, using the representation theory of SO(4) and matrix algebra. This leads to a systematic study of the associated cohomogeneity one Ricci-flat metrics with holonomy G2 obtained on 7-manifolds with equidistant S3 × S3 hypersurfaces...

  6. Design study of flat belt CVT for electric vehicles

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kumm, E. L.

    1980-01-01

    A continuously variable transmission (CVT) was studied, using a novel flat belt pulley arrangement which couples the high speed output shaft of an energy storage flywheel to the drive train of an electric vehicle. A specific CVT arrangement was recommended and its components were selected and sized, based on the design requirements of a 1700 KG vehicle. A design layout was prepared and engineering calculations made of component efficiencies and operating life. The transmission efficiency was calculated to be significantly over 90% with the expected vehicle operation. A design consistent with automotive practice for low future production costs was considered, together with maintainability. The technology advancements required to develop the flat belt CVT were identified and an estimate was made of how the size of the flat belt CVT scales to larger and smaller design output torques. The suitability of the flat belt CVT for alternate application to an electric vehicle powered by an electric motor without flywheel and to a hybrid electric vehicle powered by an electric motor with an internal combustion engine was studied.

  7. Wood-plastic combination

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Schaudy, R.

    1978-02-01

    A review on wood-plastic combinations is given including the production (wood and plastic component, radiation hardening, curing), the obtained properties, present applications and prospects for the future of these materials. (author)

  8. Flat out and bluesome

    OpenAIRE

    Wilson, Mark; Snaebjornsdottir, Bryndis; Byatt, Lucy

    2008-01-01

    ‘Nanoq: flat out and bluesome’ is the story of polar bears, the largest land predators on earth, and their journey from the arctic wilderness to the museums and stately homes of the UK. The work documents the histories of each of these bears, the legacies of the hunters who shot them and the skills and expertise of the taxidermists who stuffed them.

  9. The Development of the Flat-Knitted Shaped Uppers based on Ergonomics

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Lu Zhiwen

    2016-06-01

    Full Text Available To achieve the efficiency and specification of the flat-knitted uppers design, the basic patterns of uppers are made from shoe lasts based on the research on the characteristics of human’s feet and wearability requirements on uppers. The knitting technology for half-shaped and fully shaped uppers was formed after the shear deformation of basic pattern and combination with flat knitting technology. As regards to the functional requirements on key parts of uppers, the structures of flat-knitted shaped uppers were intensively analysed and studied, dividing them into two categories (functional structure and decorative structure, discussing the knitting methods and advantages of different structure, and finally experimentally proving that the planar pattern of flat knitted uppers can apply to the design of flat-knitted uppers and achieve the combination of functionality and artistry of sneakers after combining with structural changes, with a great significance on the achievement of the efficient production of uppers and the enhancement of its commercial value.

  10. The rocky flats controversy on radionuclide soil action levels

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Earle, T.C.

    2004-01-01

    This report describes the Rocky Flats radionuclide soil action level controversy as a case study for the purpose of understanding the nature and value of stakeholder involvement in the management of radiological hazards. The report consists of three main sections. The first section outlines the Rocky Flats story, including the Cold War era, the post-Cold War era, and the transition between the two. This provides the context necessary to understand the radionuclide soil action level controversy, the main events of which are described in the second section. In the final section, the Rocky Flats case is briefly discussed within the framework of a general model of stakeholder involvement and the lessons learned from the case are identified. (author)

  11. STRENGTHENING THE ROLE OF GOVERNMENT IN RESOLVING FRAUD AND DISPUTES OF THE FLAT MANAGEMENT

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Situmorang P.

    2018-03-01

    Full Text Available The public concern with the housing issues and conditions including flat management becomes current phenomenon in developing countries such as Indonesia. However, less attention has been paid by researchers to discuss the role of government in the flat management. The fact is that fraud and disputes often occur as a result of the management of flats such as management fees and monthly billing invoice becoming the main issue at the court. Through case law approach method with four different cases, this paper therefore captures several issues related to the management of flats. For instance, this paper discusses a case where flat management companies tend to increase maintenance fees without having a consent or agreement, both from owners and tenants. Disputes are also related to transparency of collected management fees by flat management companies, causing dissatisfaction from the owners and tenants. Hence, this paper suggests that there is the need of government’s role in the flat management issues. This suggestion is relevant to the idea of exercising government’s power through monitoring flat management companies in order to comply with flat legislation. This paper argues that the use of government’s authority could be practised through monitoring system and setting up administrative procedure on the management of flats.

  12. Plastic deformation and contact area of an elastic-plastic contact of ellipsoid bodies after unloading

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Jamari, Jamari; Schipper, Dirk J.

    2007-01-01

    This paper presents theoretical and experimental results of the residual or plastic deformation and the plastic contact area of an elastic–plastic contact of ellipsoid bodies after unloading. There are three regime responses of the deformation and contact area: elastic, elastic–plastic and fully

  13. Morphodynamic Modeling of Tidal Mud Flats

    National Research Council Canada - National Science Library

    Winterwerp, Johan C

    2008-01-01

    The objective of the current research proposal is to develop and test a numerical model to simulate and predict the seasonal morphodynamic evolution of intertidal mud flats in macrotidal environments...

  14. Synaptic Plasticity and Nociception

    Institute of Scientific and Technical Information of China (English)

    ChenJianguo

    2004-01-01

    Synaptic plasticity is one of the fields that progresses rapidly and has a lot of success in neuroscience. The two major types of synaptie plasticity: long-term potentiation ( LTP and long-term depression (LTD are thought to be the cellular mochanisms of learning and memory. Recently, accumulating evidence suggests that, besides serving as a cellular model for learning and memory, the synaptic plasticity involves in other physiological or pathophysiological processes, such as the perception of pain and the regulation of cardiovascular system. This minireview will focus on the relationship between synaptic plasticity and nociception.

  15. A flat spectral Faraday filter for sodium lidar.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Yang, Yong; Cheng, Xuewu; Li, Faquan; Hu, Xiong; Lin, Xin; Gong, Shunsheng

    2011-04-01

    We report a flat spectral Faraday anomalous dispersion optical filter (FS-FADOF) for sodium lidar. The physical and technical considerations for obtaining a FS-FADOF with a 3.5 GHz flat spectral transmission function are presented. It was found that the effective transmission of this filter was much higher (>94%) and more uniform than that of the ultranarrowband FADOF, and therefore were less sensitive to laser-frequency drift. Thus, the FS-FADOF can improve lidar efficiency and precision.

  16. An Automated Processing Algorithm for Flat Areas Resulting from DEM Filling and Interpolation

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Xingwei Liu

    2017-11-01

    Full Text Available Correction of digital elevation models (DEMs for flat areas is a critical process for hydrological analyses and modeling, such as the determination of flow directions and accumulations, and the delineation of drainage networks and sub-basins. In this study, a new algorithm is proposed for flat correction/removal. It uses the puddle delineation (PD program to identify depressions (including their centers and overflow/spilling thresholds, compute topographic characteristics, and further fill the depressions. Three different levels of elevation increments are used for flat correction. The first and second level of increments create flows toward the thresholds and centers of the filled depressions or flats, while the third level of small random increments is introduced to cope with multiple threshold conditions. A set of artificial surfaces and two real-world landscapes were selected to test the new algorithm. The results showed that the proposed method was not limited by the shapes, the number of thresholds, and the surrounding topographic conditions of flat areas. Compared with the traditional methods, the new algorithm simplified the flat correction procedure and reduced the final elevation increments by 5.71–33.33%. This can be used to effectively remove/correct topographic flats and create flat-free DEMs.

  17. Flat Coalgebraic Fixed Point Logics

    Science.gov (United States)

    Schröder, Lutz; Venema, Yde

    Fixed point logics are widely used in computer science, in particular in artificial intelligence and concurrency. The most expressive logics of this type are the μ-calculus and its relatives. However, popular fixed point logics tend to trade expressivity for simplicity and readability, and in fact often live within the single variable fragment of the μ-calculus. The family of such flat fixed point logics includes, e.g., CTL, the *-nesting-free fragment of PDL, and the logic of common knowledge. Here, we extend this notion to the generic semantic framework of coalgebraic logic, thus covering a wide range of logics beyond the standard μ-calculus including, e.g., flat fragments of the graded μ-calculus and the alternating-time μ-calculus (such as ATL), as well as probabilistic and monotone fixed point logics. Our main results are completeness of the Kozen-Park axiomatization and a timed-out tableaux method that matches ExpTime upper bounds inherited from the coalgebraic μ-calculus but avoids using automata.

  18. Closing Rocky Flats by 2006

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Tuor, N. R.; Schubert, A. L.

    2002-01-01

    Safely accelerating the closure of Rocky Flats to 2006 is a goal shared by many: the State of Colorado, the communities surrounding the site, the U.S. Congress, the Department of Energy, Kaiser-Hill and its team of subcontractors, the site's employees, and taxpayers across the country. On June 30, 2000, Kaiser-Hill (KH) submitted to the Department of Energy (DOE), KH's plan to achieve closure of Rocky Flats by December 15, 2006, for a remaining cost of $3.96 billion (February 1, 2000, to December 15, 2006). The Closure Project Baseline (CPB) is the detailed project plan for accomplishing this ambitious closure goal. This paper will provide a status report on the progress being made toward the closure goal. This paper will: provide a summary of the closure contract completion criteria; give the current cost and schedule variance of the project and the status of key activities; detail important accomplishments of the past year; and discuss the challenges ahead

  19. Uniqueness of flat spherically symmetric spacelike hypersurfaces admitted by spherically symmetric static spacetimes

    Science.gov (United States)

    Beig, Robert; Siddiqui, Azad A.

    2007-11-01

    It is known that spherically symmetric static spacetimes admit a foliation by flat hypersurfaces. Such foliations have explicitly been constructed for some spacetimes, using different approaches, but none of them have proved or even discussed the uniqueness of these foliations. The issue of uniqueness becomes more important due to suitability of flat foliations for studying black hole physics. Here, flat spherically symmetric spacelike hypersurfaces are obtained by a direct method. It is found that spherically symmetric static spacetimes admit flat spherically symmetric hypersurfaces, and that these hypersurfaces are unique up to translation under the timelike Killing vector. This result guarantees the uniqueness of flat spherically symmetric foliations for such spacetimes.

  20. Homological properties of modules with finite weak injective and weak flat dimensions

    OpenAIRE

    Zhao, Tiwei

    2017-01-01

    In this paper, we define a class of relative derived functors in terms of left or right weak flat resolutions to compute the weak flat dimension of modules. Moreover, we investigate two classes of modules larger than that of weak injective and weak flat modules, study the existence of covers and preenvelopes, and give some applications.

  1. Synthesis of biodegradable plastic from tapioca with N-Isopropylacrylamid and chitosan using glycerol as plasticizer

    Science.gov (United States)

    Syaubari; Safwani, S.; Riza, M.

    2018-04-01

    One of natural polymers that can be used as raw material in the manufacture of biodegradable plastic is tapioca and chitosan. The addition of other compounds such as glycerol as plasticizer is to improve the characteristics of the plastic that already produced. N- Isopropylacrylamid (NIPAm) is an organic compound that can be synthesized into a polymer or polymer grafting which also biodegradable too. This research aims tostudy the synthesis of biodegradable plastics from tapioca with the addition of chitosan, NIPAm, poly(NIPAm) and analyze the characteristics of biodegradable plastics that already produced. This research was done in three stages, there are (1) polymerization NIPAm, (2) the grafting of chitosan-poly NIPAm and (3) the synthesis of biodegradable plastics from starch mixture with variation of addition chitosan, NIPAm, poly(NIPAm), chitosan-graft-poly(NIPAm) and also variations of glycerol as plasticizer. The results of this research is a thin sheet of plastic which is will get analyzed for the characteristics of functional groups, mechanical, morphological and its biodegradability. FTIR spectra showed the grafting process with the new group formation of CO single-bond at 850 cm-1. Plastic with the addition of NIPAm and 1 ml glycerol has the highest tensile strength value about 31.1 MPa. Plastic with poly(NIPAm) and 4 ml glycerol produces the highest elongation value about 153.72%. Plastic with Chitosan-graft-poly(NIPAm) with 1 ml glycerol has the longest biodegradation because of the small mass-loss for six weeks which is about 6.6%.

  2. Weyl-Euler-Lagrange Equations of Motion on Flat Manifold

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Zeki Kasap

    2015-01-01

    Full Text Available This paper deals with Weyl-Euler-Lagrange equations of motion on flat manifold. It is well known that a Riemannian manifold is said to be flat if its curvature is everywhere zero. Furthermore, a flat manifold is one Euclidean space in terms of distances. Weyl introduced a metric with a conformal transformation for unified theory in 1918. Classical mechanics is one of the major subfields of mechanics. Also, one way of solving problems in classical mechanics occurs with the help of the Euler-Lagrange equations. In this study, partial differential equations have been obtained for movement of objects in space and solutions of these equations have been generated by using the symbolic Algebra software. Additionally, the improvements, obtained in this study, will be presented.

  3. New perspectives in plastic biodegradation.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Sivan, Alex

    2011-06-01

    During the past 50 years new plastic materials, in various applications, have gradually replaced the traditional metal, wood, leather materials. Ironically, the most preferred property of plastics--durability--exerts also the major environmental threat. Recycling has practically failed to provide a safe solution for disposal of plastic waste (only 5% out of 1 trillion plastic bags, annually produced in the US alone, are being recycled). Since the most utilized plastic is polyethylene (PE; ca. 140 million tons/year), any reduction in the accumulation of PE waste alone would have a major impact on the overall reduction of the plastic waste in the environment. Since PE is considered to be practically inert, efforts were made to isolate unique microorganisms capable of utilizing synthetic polymers. Recent data showed that biodegradation of plastic waste with selected microbial strains became a viable solution. Copyright © 2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  4. How flat is our Universe really?

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Okouma, P.M.; Fantaye, Y.; Bassett, B.A.

    2013-01-01

    Distance measurement provides no constraints on curvature independent of assumptions about the dark energy, raising the question, how flat is our Universe if we make no such assumptions? Allowing for general evolution of the dark energy equation of state with 20 free parameters that are allowed to cross the phantom divide, w(z)=−1, we show that while it is indeed possible to match the first peak in the Cosmic Microwave Background with non-flat models and arbitrary Hubble constant, H 0 , the full WMAP7 and supernova data alone imply −0.12 k 0 prior, this tightens significantly to Ω k =0.002±0.009. These constitute the most conservative and model-independent constraints on curvature available today, and illustrate that the curvature-dynamics degeneracy is broken by current data, with a key role played by the Integrated Sachs Wolfe effect rather than the distance to the surface of last scattering. If one imposes a quintessence prior on the dark energy (−1⩽w(z)⩽1) then just the WMAP7 and supernova data alone force the Universe to near flatness: Ω k =0.013±0.012. Finally, allowing for curvature, we find that all datasets are consistent with a Harrison–Zel'dovich spectral index, n s =1, at 2σ, illustrating the interplay between early and late Universe constraints

  5. Avalanches and plastic flow in crystal plasticity: an overview

    Science.gov (United States)

    Papanikolaou, Stefanos; Cui, Yinan; Ghoniem, Nasr

    2018-01-01

    Crystal plasticity is mediated through dislocations, which form knotted configurations in a complex energy landscape. Once they disentangle and move, they may also be impeded by permanent obstacles with finite energy barriers or frustrating long-range interactions. The outcome of such complexity is the emergence of dislocation avalanches as the basic mechanism of plastic flow in solids at the nanoscale. While the deformation behavior of bulk materials appears smooth, a predictive model should clearly be based upon the character of these dislocation avalanches and their associated strain bursts. We provide here a comprehensive overview of experimental observations, theoretical models and computational approaches that have been developed to unravel the multiple aspects of dislocation avalanche physics and the phenomena leading to strain bursts in crystal plasticity.

  6. Melting the Plastic Ceiling: Overcoming Obstacles to Foster Leadership in Women Plastic Surgeons.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Silva, Amanda K; Preminger, Aviva; Slezak, Sheri; Phillips, Linda G; Johnson, Debra J

    2016-09-01

    The underrepresentation of women leaders in plastic surgery echoes a phenomenon throughout society. The importance of female leadership is presented, and barriers to gender equality in plastic surgery, both intrinsic and extrinsic, are discussed. Strategies for fostering women in leadership on an individual level and for the specialty of plastic surgery are presented.

  7. Expanding Uncertainty Principle to Certainty-Uncertainty Principles with Neutrosophy and Quad-stage Method

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Fu Yuhua

    2015-03-01

    Full Text Available The most famous contribution of Heisenberg is uncertainty principle. But the original uncertainty principle is improper. Considering all the possible situations (including the case that people can create laws and applying Neutrosophy and Quad-stage Method, this paper presents "certainty-uncertainty principles" with general form and variable dimension fractal form. According to the classification of Neutrosophy, "certainty-uncertainty principles" can be divided into three principles in different conditions: "certainty principle", namely a particle’s position and momentum can be known simultaneously; "uncertainty principle", namely a particle’s position and momentum cannot be known simultaneously; and neutral (fuzzy "indeterminacy principle", namely whether or not a particle’s position and momentum can be known simultaneously is undetermined. The special cases of "certain ty-uncertainty principles" include the original uncertainty principle and Ozawa inequality. In addition, in accordance with the original uncertainty principle, discussing high-speed particle’s speed and track with Newton mechanics is unreasonable; but according to "certaintyuncertainty principles", Newton mechanics can be used to discuss the problem of gravitational defection of a photon orbit around the Sun (it gives the same result of deflection angle as given by general relativity. Finally, for the reason that in physics the principles, laws and the like that are regardless of the principle (law of conservation of energy may be invalid; therefore "certaintyuncertainty principles" should be restricted (or constrained by principle (law of conservation of energy, and thus it can satisfy the principle (law of conservation of energy.

  8. Communication: Two types of flat-planes conditions in density functional theory.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Yang, Xiaotian Derrick; Patel, Anand H G; Miranda-Quintana, Ramón Alain; Heidar-Zadeh, Farnaz; González-Espinoza, Cristina E; Ayers, Paul W

    2016-07-21

    Using results from atomic spectroscopy, we show that there are two types of flat-planes conditions. The first type of flat-planes condition occurs when the energy as a function of the number of electrons of each spin, Nα and Nβ, has a derivative discontinuity on a line segment where the number of electrons, Nα + Nβ, is an integer. The second type of flat-planes condition occurs when the energy has a derivative discontinuity on a line segment where the spin polarization, Nα - Nβ, is an integer, but does not have a discontinuity associated with an integer number of electrons. Type 2 flat planes are rare-we observed just 15 type 2 flat-planes conditions out of the 4884 cases we tested-but their mere existence has implications for the design of exchange-correlation energy density functionals. To facilitate the development of functionals that have the correct behavior with respect to both fractional number of electrons and fractional spin polarization, we present a dataset for the chromium atom and its ions that can be used to test new functionals.

  9. Some Limitations in the Use of Plastic and Dyed Plastic Dosimeters

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Miller, Arne; Bjergbakke, Erling; McLaughlin, W. L.

    1975-01-01

    Several practical plastic and dyed plastic dosimeters were examined under irradiation conditions similar to those used for radiation processing of materials. Cellulose triacetate, polymethyl methacrylate, polyvinyl chloride, dyed polymethyl methacrylate, dyed Cellophane and dyed Nylon were given...

  10. Developments of quad channel pulse height analyzer for radon/thoron measurement

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Ashokkumar, P.; Raman, Anand; Babu, D.A.R.; Sharma, D.N.; Topkar, Anita; Mayya, Y.S.

    2011-01-01

    Radon and thoron are naturally occurring noble radioactive gases, the exposure to which has a linear relationship to lung cancer risk. This paper describes development of an automated Radon/Thoron measurement system using an indigenously developed silicon PIN diode. This system employs the 8051 core architecture based Si-lab microcontroller (C-8051F340) integrated with LCD display, hex key pad, non volatile flash memory besides I/O ports interfaced with humidity-temperature sensors and air sampling pump. Air is sampled through a dehumidifier by using a software controlled dc pump. The positively charged progeny atoms are electro statically collected over the detector surface and the deposited radioactivity is assessed by alpha pulse height discrimination technique. The ionization charges produced due to the interaction of alpha particles in the charge depletion region of the diode which is reverse biased at 40V are collected and measured. The measurement circuit uses a charge sensitive preamplifier developed around a low noise opamp IC. The pulses are further processed through a spectroscopy amplifier to obtain distinct pulse height levels for four of the alpha emitting progenies of Rn and Tn namely 210 Po, 214 Po, 216 Po and 212 Po. These signals are input to the quad channel analyzer which provides four individual TTL pulses corresponding to four nuclides mentioned above. The analyzer outputs are processed by the microcontroller module to obtain the Rn/Tn concentration in Bq/M 3 . This portable system stores one week hourly individual channel data along with the corresponding Rn/Tn concentrations, temperature, humidity and can be transferred to pc. Preliminary studies have indicated that sensitivity as low as 0.50 cph/Bq.m -3 can be achieved by this system. (author)

  11. Rocky Flats cleanup receives new deadline

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Anon.

    1993-01-01

    The Rocky Flats nuclear weapon plant near Denver narrowly missed a court-ordered shutdown of virtually all cleanup activities when it failed to meet an Aug. 22 deadline for a state permit to store mixed radioactive and hazardous wastes on site. US District Court Judge Lewis Babcock granted a 90-day stay of contempt charges against the US Dept. of Energy, but left open the possibility of civil penalties under the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act. DOE's problems stem from a lawsuit the Sierra Club won two years ago in which Babcock gave Rocky Flats until Aug. 22 to obtain a RCRA permit or interim status from Colorado to store 600 cu yd of mixed wastes. If DOE failed to do so, the court said it could not generate further hazardous wastes at the site

  12. Issues evaluation process at Rocky Flats Plant

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Smith, L.C.

    1992-01-01

    This report describes the issues evaluation process for Rocky Flats Plant as established in July 1990. The issues evaluation process was initiated February 27, 1990 with a Charter and Process Overview for short-term implementation. The purpose of the process was to determine the projects required for completion before the Phased Resumption of Plutonium Operations. To determine which projects were required, the issues evaluation process and emphasized risk mitigation, based on a ranking system. The purpose of this report is to document the early design of the issues evaluation process to record the methodologies used that continue as the basis for the ongoing Issues Management Program at Rocky Flats Plant

  13. Optical identifications of flat-spectrum radio sources

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Condon, J.J.; Condon, M.A.; Broderick, J.J.; Davis, M.M.

    1983-01-01

    A complete sample of radio sources with S> or =0.3 Jy at 1400 MHz, +24 0 0 , and low-frequency spectral indices α(408, 1400) or =+0.5 are usually in empty fields. The lower limits that can be assigned to the radio-optical spectral indices α/sub RO/ of these sources are significantly higher than the median α/sub RO/ of the sources with flat high-frequency spectra, so the optical characteristics of the two classes of radio source are intrinsically different. The radio and optical fluxes of flat-spectrum QSO's appear to be correlated, at least when averaged over 10 2 --10 3 yr

  14. Flat Files - JSNP | LSDB Archive [Life Science Database Archive metadata

    Lifescience Database Archive (English)

    Full Text Available switchLanguage; BLAST Search Image Search Home About Archive Update History Data ... Data file File name: jsnp_flat_files File URL: ftp://ftp.biosciencedbc.jp/archiv...his Database Database Description Download License Update History of This Database Site Policy | Contact Us Flat Files - JSNP | LSDB Archive ...

  15. 75 FR 29582 - Yukon Flats National Wildlife Refuge, Fairbanks, AK

    Science.gov (United States)

    2010-05-26

    ... from climate change. Fourth, infrastructure associated with access corridors from the proposed exchange... statement (EIS) for a Proposed Land Exchange in the Yukon Flats National Wildlife Refuge (NWR, Refuge). We... this notice, we finalize the EIS process for a Proposed Land Exchange in the Yukon Flats NWR. In...

  16. Plastic Fishes

    CERN Multimedia

    Trettnak, Wolfgang

    2015-01-01

    In terms of weight, the plastic pollution in the world’s oceans is estimated to be around 300,000 tonnes. This plastic comes from both land-based and ocean-based sources. A lecture at CERN by chemist Wolfgang Trettnak addressed this issue and highlighted the role of art in raising people’s awareness. The slideshow below gives you a taste of the artworks by Wolfgang Trettnak and Margarita Cimadevila.

  17. Plasticity resembling spike-timing dependent synaptic plasticity: the evidence in human cortex

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Florian Müller-Dahlhaus

    2010-07-01

    Full Text Available Spike-timing dependent plasticity (STDP has been studied extensively in a variety of animal models during the past decade but whether it can be studied at the systems level of the human cortex has been a matter of debate. Only recently newly developed non-invasive brain stimulation techniques such as transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS have made it possible to induce and assess timing dependent plasticity in conscious human subjects. This review will present a critical synopsis of these experiments, which suggest that several of the principal characteristics and molecular mechanisms of TMS-induced plasticity correspond to those of STDP as studied at a cellular level. TMS combined with a second phasic stimulation modality can induce bidirectional long-lasting changes in the excitability of the stimulated cortex, whose polarity depends on the order of the associated stimulus-evoked events within a critical time window of tens of milliseconds. Pharmacological evidence suggests an NMDA receptor mediated form of synaptic plasticity. Studies in human motor cortex demonstrated that motor learning significantly modulates TMS-induced timing dependent plasticity, and, conversely, may be modulated bidirectionally by prior TMS-induced plasticity, providing circumstantial evidence that long-term potentiation-like mechanisms may be involved in motor learning. In summary, convergent evidence is being accumulated for the contention that it is now possible to induce STDP-like changes in the intact human central nervous system by means of TMS to study and interfere with synaptic plasticity in neural circuits in the context of behaviour such as learning and memory.

  18. Effects of a flat prosthetic foot rocker section on balance and mobility.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hansen, Andrew; Nickel, Eric; Medvec, Joseph; Brielmaier, Steven; Pike, Alvin; Weber, Marilyn

    2014-01-01

    Previous studies have shown that the effective rocker shape of the physiologic ankle-foot system during standing and fore-aft swaying is much flatter than that used during walking, which indicates a more stable base of support for the standing/swaying activity. Previous work suggests that flat regions within the effective rocker shapes of prosthetic ankle-foot systems could provide enhanced stability for standing balance tasks. An experimental prosthetic foot was altered to provide three different flat region lengths within its effective rocker shape. It was hypothesized that longer flat regions of the effective rocker shape would lead to improved standing balance outcomes and reduced walking performance for unilateral transtibial prosthesis users. However, no significant changes were seen in the balance and mobility outcomes of 12 unilateral transtibial prosthesis users when using the three prosthetic foot conditions. Subjects in the study significantly preferred prosthetic feet with relatively low to moderate flat regions over those with long flat regions. All the subjects without loss of light touch or vibratory sensation selected the prosthetic foot with the shortest flat region. More work is needed to investigate the effects of prosthetic foot properties on balance and mobility of prosthesis users.

  19. Vacuum energy in asymptotically flat 2 + 1 gravity

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Miskovic, Olivera, E-mail: olivera.miskovic@pucv.cl [Instituto de Física, Pontificia Universidad Católica de Valparaíso, Casilla 4059, Valparaíso (Chile); Olea, Rodrigo, E-mail: rodrigo.olea@unab.cl [Departamento de Ciencias Físicas, Universidad Andres Bello, Sazié 2212, Piso 7, Santiago (Chile); Roy, Debraj, E-mail: roy.debraj@pucv.cl [Instituto de Física, Pontificia Universidad Católica de Valparaíso, Casilla 4059, Valparaíso (Chile)

    2017-04-10

    We compute the vacuum energy of three-dimensional asymptotically flat space based on a Chern–Simons formulation for the Poincaré group. The equivalent action is nothing but the Einstein–Hilbert term in the bulk plus half of the Gibbons–Hawking term at the boundary. The derivation is based on the evaluation of the Noether charges in the vacuum. We obtain that the vacuum energy of this space has the same value as the one of the asymptotically flat limit of three-dimensional anti-de Sitter space.

  20. Vacuum energy in asymptotically flat 2 + 1 gravity

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Miskovic, Olivera; Olea, Rodrigo; Roy, Debraj

    2017-01-01

    We compute the vacuum energy of three-dimensional asymptotically flat space based on a Chern–Simons formulation for the Poincaré group. The equivalent action is nothing but the Einstein–Hilbert term in the bulk plus half of the Gibbons–Hawking term at the boundary. The derivation is based on the evaluation of the Noether charges in the vacuum. We obtain that the vacuum energy of this space has the same value as the one of the asymptotically flat limit of three-dimensional anti-de Sitter space.

  1. Disruption effects from the collision of quasi-flat beams

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Chen, Pisin.

    1993-04-01

    The disruption effects from the collision of round beams and flat beams in linear colliders have been studied in the past, and has by now been well understood. In practice, however, in the current SLC running condition and in several designs of the next generation linear colliders, the quasi-flat beam geometries are expected. Namely, the beam aspect ratio R ≡ σ x /σ y > 1, but not infinitely large. In this regime the disruption effects in both x and y dimensions should be carefully included in order to properly describe the beam-beam interaction phenomena. In this paper we investigate two major disruption effects for the quasi-flat beam regime: The luminosity enhancement factor and the effective beamstrahlung. Computer simulations are employed and simple scaling laws are deduced

  2. Performance evaluation of flat panel detector in x-ray fluoroscopy

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Grewal, R.K.; Mclean, I.D.

    2004-01-01

    Full text: Flat panel detectors are currently replacing the conventional image intensifiers in R-F imaging. We evaluated the performance of a biplane cardiac imaging system (Siemens Axiom Artis dBC), the image acquisition was based on a 25 cm diagonal digital fiat panel detector. Performance characteristics included image quality, typical patient entrance dose and measurement of input to the surface of flat detector. The results were compared with conventional image intensifier systems (Siemens Hicor Unit and Toshiba DPF 2000 A Biplane Unit) used in cardiac imaging at Westmead. Image quality and dose measurements were performed following standard protocols using Westmead test object and 20 cm solid water as absorber in the beam. For measurement of input to the surface of flat detector, 2 mm copper was placed on the collimator. Radcal 3cc and 180 cc ion chambers were used for dose measurements. Image quality: Our measurements on flat panel system indicate that high contrast resolution and threshold contrast is not affected by changing field size. This is expected due to minimum loss of signal in the imaging chain of digital systems and the independence of detector pixel size with change in field of view. While low contrast resolution was found to be similar to conventional systems, high contrast resolution was significantly superior using flat detector system for large and intermediate field of view (25-28 1p/cm against 18-20). Typical patient dose as measured using flat detector system was similar to the conventional Toshiba pulsed fluoroscopy system( ∼ 3 - 8 mGy/min depending on the field size). This was 40-50 % lower than our old Siemens hicore unit. Input to the surface of flat detector was found to vary with field size as is the case with a conventional II system. As described elsewhere, although there is no necessity to increase exposure or video gain in a digital magnification, digital data interpolation process introduces noise. As a result system

  3. Flat bunch creation and acceleration: a possible path for the LHC luminosity upgrade

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Bhat, C.M.

    2009-01-01

    Increasing the collider luminosity by replacing bunches having Gaussian line-charge distribution with flat bunches, but with same beam-beam tune shift at collision, has been studied widely in recent years. But, creation of 'stable' flat bunches (and their acceleration) using a multiple harmonic RF system has not been fully explored. Here, we review our experience with long flat bunches in the barrier RF buckets at Fermilab.We presentsome preliminary results from beam dynamics simulations and recent beam studies in the LHC injectors to create stable flat bunches using double harmonic RF systems. The results deduced from these studies will be used to model the necessary scheme for luminosity upgrade in the LHC. We have also described a viable (and economical) way for creation and acceleration of flat bunches in the LHC. The flat bunch scheme may have many advantages over the LHC baseline scenario, particularly because of the reduced momentum spread of the bunch for increased intensities.

  4. Plastic and Non-plastic Debris Ingestion in Three Gull Species Feeding in an Urban Landfill Environment.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Seif, S; Provencher, J F; Avery-Gomm, S; Daoust, P-Y; Mallory, M L; Smith, P A

    2018-04-01

    Plastic debris is recognized as a widespread, common and problematic environmental pollutant. An important consequence of this pollution is the ingestion of plastic debris by wildlife. Assessing the degree to which different species ingest plastics, and the potential effects of these plastics on their health are important research needs for understanding the impacts of plastic pollution. We examined debris (plastic and other types) ingestion in three sympatric overwintering gull species (Herring gulls Larus smithsonianus, Great Black-backed Gulls Larus marinus, and Iceland Gulls Larus glaucoides) to understand how debris ingestion differs among species, age classes and sexes in gulls. We also assessed how plastic burdens were associated with body condition to investigate how gulls may be affected by debris ingestion. There were no differences among the species, age classes or sexes in the incidence of debris ingestion (plastic or otherwise), the mass or number of debris pieces ingested. We found no correlation between ingested plastics burdens and individual condition. Gulls ingested plastic debris, but also showed high levels of other debris types as well, including metal, glass and building materials, including a metal piece of debris found within an abscess in the stomach. Thus, when the health effects of debris ingestion on gulls, and other species that ingest debris, is of interest, either from a physical or chemical perspective, it may be necessary to consider all debris types and not just plastic burdens as is often currently done for seabirds.

  5. Flat radio-spectrum galaxies and BL Lacs I. Core properties

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Dennett-Thorpe, J; Marcha, MJ

    This paper concerns the relationship of BL Lacs and flat-spectrum weak emission-line galaxies. We compare the weak emission-line galaxies and the BL Lacs in a sample of 57 flat-spectrum objects (Marcha et al. 1996), using high-frequency radio and non-thermal optical flux densities, spectral indices

  6. Education on the Business of Plastic Surgery During Training: A Survey of Plastic Surgery Residents.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ovadia, Steven A; Gishen, Kriya; Desai, Urmen; Garcia, Alejandro M; Thaller, Seth R

    2018-06-01

    Entrepreneurial skills are important for physicians, especially plastic surgeons. Nevertheless, these skills are not typically emphasized during residency training. Evaluate the extent of business training at plastic surgery residency programs as well as means of enhancing business training. A 6-question online survey was sent to plastic surgery program directors for distribution to plastic surgery residents. Responses from residents at the PGY2 level and above were included for analysis. Tables were prepared to present survey results. Hundred and sixty-six residents including 147 PGY2 and above residents responded to our survey. Only 43.5% reported inclusion of business training in their plastic surgery residency. A majority of residents reported they do not expect on graduation to be prepared for the business aspects of plastic surgery. Additionally, a majority of residents feel establishment of a formal lecture series on the business of plastic surgery would be beneficial. Results from our survey indicate limited training at plastic surgery programs in necessary business skills. Plastic surgery residency programs should consider incorporating or enhancing elements of business training in their curriculum. This journal requires that authors assign a level of evidence to each article. For a full description of these Evidence-Based Medicine ratings, please refer to the Table of Contents or the online Instructions to Authors www.springer.com/00266 .

  7. The effects of plastic waves on the numerical convergence of the viscous-plastic and elastic-viscous-plastic sea-ice models

    Science.gov (United States)

    Williams, James; Tremblay, L. Bruno; Lemieux, Jean-François

    2017-07-01

    The plastic wave speed is derived from the linearized 1-D version of the widely used viscous-plastic (VP) and elastic-viscous-plastic (EVP) sea-ice models. Courant-Friedrichs-Lewy (CFL) conditions are derived using the propagation speed of the wave. 1-D numerical experiments of the VP, EVP and EVP* models successfully recreate a reference solution when the CFL conditions are satisfied, in agreement with the theory presented. The IMplicit-EXplicit (IMEX) method is shown to effectively alleviate the plastic wave CFL constraint on the timestep in the implicitly solved VP model in both 1-D and 2-D. In 2-D, the EVP and EVP* models show first order error in the simulated velocity field when the plastic wave is not resolved. EVP simulations are performed with various advective timestep, number of subcycles, and elastic-wave damping timescales. It is found that increasing the number of subcycles beyond that needed to resolve the elastic wave does not improve the quality of the solution. It is found that reducing the elastic wave damping timescale reduces the spatial extent of first order errors cause by the unresolved plastic wave. Reducing the advective timestep so that the plastic wave is resolved also reduces the velocity error in terms of magnitude and spatial extent. However, the parameter set required for convergence to within the error bars of satellite (RGPS) deformation fields is impractical for use in climate model simulations. The behavior of the EVP* method is analogous to that of the EVP method except that it is not possible to reduce the damping timescale with α = β.

  8. Coliquefaction of coal, tar sand bitumen and plastic (interaction among coal, bitumen and plastic); Sekitan/tar sand bitumen/plastic no kyoekika ni okeru kyozon busshitsu no eikyo

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Yamaguchi, H.; Okuyama, Y.; Matsubara, K. [NKK Corp., Tokyo (Japan); Kamo, T.; Sato, Y. [National Institute for Resources and Environment, Tsukuba (Japan)

    1996-10-28

    For the improvement of economy, coliquefaction of coal, tar sand bitumen and plastic was performed under low hydrogen pressure, to investigate the influence of interaction among these on the liquefaction characteristics. For comparison, coliquefaction was also performed under the hydrogen pressure same as the NEDOL process. In addition, for clarifying its reaction mechanism, coliquefaction of dibenzyl and plastic was performed as a model experiment, to illustrate the distribution of products and composition of oil, and to discuss the interaction between dibenzyl and various plastics, and between various plastics. Under direct coal liquefaction conditions, coprocessing of Tanito Harum coal, Athabasca tar sand and plastic was carried out under low hydrogen pressure with an autoclave. The observed value of oil yield was higher than the calculated value based on the values from separate liquefaction of coal and plastic, which suggested the interaction between coal and the mixed plastic. The results of coliquefaction of coal, tar sand bitumen and plastic could be explained from the obtained oil yield and its composition by the coliquefaction of dibenzyl and plastic. 2 refs., 3 tabs.

  9. Soil decontamination at Rocky Flats

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Olsen, R.L.; Hayden, J.A.; Alford, C.E.; Kochen, R.L.; Stevens, J.R.

    1979-01-01

    A soils decontamination project was initiated, to remove actinides from soils at Rocky Flats. Wet screening, attrition scrubbing with Calgon at high pH, attrition scrubbing at low pH, and cationic flotation were investigated. Pilot plant studies were carried out. Conceptual designs have been generated for mounting the process in semi-trailers

  10. Designing Flat-Plate Photovoltaic Arrays

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ross, R. G., Jr.

    1984-01-01

    Report presents overview of state of art in design techniques for flat-plate solar photovoltaic modules and arrays. Paper discusses design requirements, design analyses, and test methods identified and developed for this technology over past several years in effort to reduce cost and improve utility and reliability for broad spectrum of terrestrial applications.

  11. A review of plastic waste biodegradation.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Zheng, Ying; Yanful, Ernest K; Bassi, Amarjeet S

    2005-01-01

    With more and more plastics being employed in human lives and increasing pressure being placed on capacities available for plastic waste disposal, the need for biodegradable plastics and biodegradation of plastic wastes has assumed increasing importance in the last few years. This review looks at the technological advancement made in the development of more easily biodegradable plastics and the biodegradation of conventional plastics by microorganisms. Additives, such as pro-oxidants and starch, are applied in synthetic materials to modify and make plastics biodegradable. Recent research has shown that thermoplastics derived from polyolefins, traditionally considered resistant to biodegradation in ambient environment, are biodegraded following photo-degradation and chemical degradation. Thermoset plastics, such as aliphatic polyester and polyester polyurethane, are easily attacked by microorganisms directly because of the potential hydrolytic cleavage of ester or urethane bonds in their structures. Some microorganisms have been isolated to utilize polyurethane as a sole source of carbon and nitrogen source. Aliphatic-aromatic copolyesters have active commercial applications because of their good mechanical properties and biodegradability. Reviewing published and ongoing studies on plastic biodegradation, this paper attempts to make conclusions on potentially viable methods to reduce impacts of plastic waste on the environment.

  12. Flat beams in a 50 TeV hadron collider

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Peggs, S.; Harrison, M.; Pilat, F.; Syphers, M.

    1997-01-01

    The basic beam dynamics of a next generation 50 x 50 TeV hadron collider based on a high field magnet approach have been outlined over the past several years. Radiation damping not only produces small emittances, but also flat beams, just as in electron machines. Based on open-quotes Snowmass 96close quotes parameters, we investigate the issues associated with flat beams in very high energy hadron colliders

  13. Temporal bed level variations in the Yangtze tidal flats (abstract)

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Yan, H.; Van Prooijen, B.C.

    2013-01-01

    The Yangtze River is one of the largest rivers in the world and the longest one in Asia. Its estuary forms an important entrance for shipping, but is also a key ecological system. Especially the inter-tidal flats are valuable habitats. The health and integrity of the estuarine tidal flat are however

  14. Forest Landscape Assessment Tool (FLAT): rapid assessment for land management

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lisa Ciecko; David Kimmett; Jesse Saunders; Rachael Katz; Kathleen L. Wolf; Oliver Bazinet; Jeffrey Richardson; Weston Brinkley; Dale J. Blahna

    2016-01-01

    The Forest Landscape Assessment Tool (FLAT) is a set of procedures and tools used to rapidly determine forest ecological conditions and potential threats. FLAT enables planners and managers to understand baseline conditions, determine and prioritize restoration needs across a landscape system, and conduct ongoing monitoring to achieve land management goals. The rapid...

  15. Recycling of plastics

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Kaminsky, W; Menzel, J; Sinn, H

    1976-01-01

    Considering the shortage of raw materials and environmental pollution, the recycling of plastic waste is a very important topic. Pilot plants for research in Funabashi Japan, Franklin (Ohio) U.S.A., and the R 80-process of Krauss Maffei, W. Germany, have demonstrated the possibility of reclaiming plastics from refuse. Old tires and waste from the plastic producing and manufacturing industries are readily available. The pyrolysis of plastic yields gaseous and liquid products, and the exploitation of this cracking reaction has been demonstrated by pilot plants in Japan and Great Britain. Further laboratory scale experiments are taking place in W. Germany. In continuous fluidized beds and in molten salts, polyethylene, polypropylene, polyvinylchloride, polystyrene and rubber are pyrolysed and better than 98 percent conversion is obtained. Up to 40 percent of the feed can be obtained as aromatic compounds, and a pilot plant is under construction. As a first step PVC-containing material can be almost quantitatively dehydrochlorinated.

  16. Plastics and environment

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Avenas, P.

    1996-01-01

    Synthetic organic polymers, such as plastics, PVC, polyamides etc are considered less ecological than natural materials such as wood. Other artificial materials such as metals, glass or biodegradable plastics have also a better image than petroleum products. This short paper demonstrates that the manufacturing or the transport of every material uses energy and that the complete energy balance sheet of a plastic bottle, for instance, is more favourable than the one of a glass bottle. Plastic materials are also easily valorized and recycled and part of the energy spent during manufacturing can be recovered during incineration for district heating. During the life-cycle of such a synthetic material, the same petroleum quantity can be used twice which leads to less negative effects on the environment. Finally, the paper focusses on the problem of biodegradable materials which are not degradable when buried under several meters of wastes and which are a nuisance to recycling. (J.S.)

  17. Stem cell plasticity.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lakshmipathy, Uma; Verfaillie, Catherine

    2005-01-01

    The central dogma in stem cell biology has been that cells isolated from a particular tissue can renew and differentiate into lineages of the tissue it resides in. Several studies have challenged this idea by demonstrating that tissue specific cell have considerable plasticity and can cross-lineage restriction boundary and give rise to cell types of other lineages. However, the lack of a clear definition for plasticity has led to confusion with several reports failing to demonstrate that a single cell can indeed differentiate into multiple lineages at significant levels. Further, differences between results obtained in different labs has cast doubt on some results and several studies still await independent confirmation. In this review, we critically evaluate studies that report stem cell plasticity using three rigid criteria to define stem cell plasticity; differentiation of a single cell into multiple cell lineages, functionality of differentiated cells in vitro and in vivo, robust and persistent engraft of transplanted cells.

  18. How flat is our Universe really?

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Okouma, P.M., E-mail: okouma@saao.ac.za [Department of Maths and Applied Maths, University of Cape Town, Rondebosch 7701, Cape Town (South Africa); South African Astronomical Observatory, Observatory, Cape Town (South Africa); African Institute for Mathematical Sciences, 6-8 Melrose Road, Muizenberg, Cape Town (South Africa); Centre for High Performance Computing, 15 Lower Hope St., Rosebank, Cape Town (South Africa); Fantaye, Y. [Astrophysics Sector, International School for Advanced Studies, SISSA, 34136 Trieste (Italy); Institute of Theoretical Astrophysics, University of Oslo, P.O. Box 1029 Blindern, N-0315, Oslo (Norway); Bassett, B.A. [Department of Maths and Applied Maths, University of Cape Town, Rondebosch 7701, Cape Town (South Africa); South African Astronomical Observatory, Observatory, Cape Town (South Africa); African Institute for Mathematical Sciences, 6-8 Melrose Road, Muizenberg, Cape Town (South Africa); Centre for High Performance Computing, 15 Lower Hope St., Rosebank, Cape Town (South Africa)

    2013-02-12

    Distance measurement provides no constraints on curvature independent of assumptions about the dark energy, raising the question, how flat is our Universe if we make no such assumptions? Allowing for general evolution of the dark energy equation of state with 20 free parameters that are allowed to cross the phantom divide, w(z)=−1, we show that while it is indeed possible to match the first peak in the Cosmic Microwave Background with non-flat models and arbitrary Hubble constant, H{sub 0}, the full WMAP7 and supernova data alone imply −0.12<Ω{sub k}<0.01 (2σ). If we add an H{sub 0} prior, this tightens significantly to Ω{sub k}=0.002±0.009. These constitute the most conservative and model-independent constraints on curvature available today, and illustrate that the curvature-dynamics degeneracy is broken by current data, with a key role played by the Integrated Sachs Wolfe effect rather than the distance to the surface of last scattering. If one imposes a quintessence prior on the dark energy (−1⩽w(z)⩽1) then just the WMAP7 and supernova data alone force the Universe to near flatness: Ω{sub k}=0.013±0.012. Finally, allowing for curvature, we find that all datasets are consistent with a Harrison–Zel'dovich spectral index, n{sub s}=1, at 2σ, illustrating the interplay between early and late Universe constraints.

  19. Communication: Two types of flat-planes conditions in density functional theory

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Yang, Xiaotian Derrick; Patel, Anand H. G.; González-Espinoza, Cristina E.; Ayers, Paul W. [Department of Chemistry and Chemical Biology, McMaster University, Hamilton, Ontario LBS 4M1 (Canada); Miranda-Quintana, Ramón Alain [Department of Chemistry and Chemical Biology, McMaster University, Hamilton, Ontario LBS 4M1 (Canada); Laboratory of Computational and Theoretical Chemistry, Faculty of Chemistry, University of Havana, Havana (Cuba); Heidar-Zadeh, Farnaz [Department of Chemistry and Chemical Biology, McMaster University, Hamilton, Ontario LBS 4M1 (Canada); Department of Inorganic and Physical Chemistry, Ghent University, Krijgslaan 281 (S3), 9000 Gent (Belgium); Center for Molecular Modeling, Ghent University, Technologiepark 903, 9052 Zwijnaarde (Belgium)

    2016-07-21

    Using results from atomic spectroscopy, we show that there are two types of flat-planes conditions. The first type of flat-planes condition occurs when the energy as a function of the number of electrons of each spin, N{sub α} and N{sub β}, has a derivative discontinuity on a line segment where the number of electrons, N{sub α} + N{sub β}, is an integer. The second type of flat-planes condition occurs when the energy has a derivative discontinuity on a line segment where the spin polarization, N{sub α} – N{sub β}, is an integer, but does not have a discontinuity associated with an integer number of electrons. Type 2 flat planes are rare—we observed just 15 type 2 flat-planes conditions out of the 4884 cases we tested—but their mere existence has implications for the design of exchange-correlation energy density functionals. To facilitate the development of functionals that have the correct behavior with respect to both fractional number of electrons and fractional spin polarization, we present a dataset for the chromium atom and its ions that can be used to test new functionals.

  20. A flat triangular shell element with Loof nodes

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Poulsen, Peter Noe; Damkilde, Lars

    1996-01-01

    In the formulation of flat shell elements it is difficult to achieve inter-element compatibility between membrane and transverse displacements for non-coplanar elements. Many elements lack proper nodal degrees of freedom to model intersections making the assembly of elements troublesome. A flat...... triangular shell element is established by a combination of a new plate bending element DKTL and the well-known linear membrane strain element LST, and for this element the above-mentioned deficiences are avoided. The plate bending element DKTL is based on Discrete Kirchhoff Theory and Loof nodes. The nodal...

  1. Study of conformally flat polytropes with tilted congruence

    Science.gov (United States)

    Sharif, M.; Sadiq, Sobia

    This paper is aimed to study the modeling of spherically symmetric spacetime in the presence of anisotropic dissipative fluid configuration. This is accomplished for an observer moving relative to matter content using two cases of polytropic equation-of-state under conformally flat condition. We formulate the corresponding generalized Tolman-Oppenheimer-Volkoff equation, mass equation, as well as energy conditions for both cases. The conformally flat condition is imposed to find an expression for anisotropy which helps to study spherically symmetric polytropes. Finally, Tolman mass is used to analyze stability of the resulting models.

  2. Friendly vertical housing: case of walk-up flat housing development in Yogyakarta

    Science.gov (United States)

    Fosterharoldas Swasto, Deva

    2018-03-01

    In Yogyakarta Province, the local government have developed walk-up flats housing for more than ten years since the mid of the 2000s. Yogyakarta City and Sleman Regency was pioneering the construction with some blocks of flats in several locations. However, after this period, there is limited evaluation about the effectiveness of the occupancy. One of the issues is related to the sustainable housing development. Concerning this situation, it is proposed to examine how the development of walk-up flats housing in Yogyakarta City and Sleman Regency can be evaluated based on specific housing indicator, as a part of sustainable housing development concept. This paper would like to explore the phenomenon on how ‘friendly’ the flats is. The researcher will qualitatively asses variables from the walk-up flat cases in Yogyakarta City and Sleman Regency. The results suggested that the physical quality of the vertical housing situation could be enhanced to meet residents’ satisfaction.

  3. Directing Spinal Cord Plasticity: The Impact of Stretch Therapy on Functional Recovery After SCI

    Science.gov (United States)

    2017-03-01

    Grand Rounds, University of Louisville. October 8, 2015 Of Mice and Men: The bench to bedside efforts to improve the quality of life of people with...Charts: Please see attached QUAD chart. Appendices: Please see links above to published journal articles . Appendices 1-4 to follow. Directing Spinal...represents the mean peak extension and flexion, respectively, of the joint angles – standard deviation, and thus bar length represents the mean angular

  4. Modelling Flat Spring performance using FEA

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Fatola, B O; Keogh, P; Hicks, B

    2009-01-01

    This paper reports how the stiffness of a Flat Spring can be predicted using nonlinear Finite Element Analysis (FEA). The analysis of a Flat Spring is a nonlinear problem involving contact mechanics, geometric nonlinearity and material property nonlinearity. Research has been focused on improving the accuracy of the model by identifying and exploring the significant assumptions contributing to errors. This paper presents results from some of the models developed using FEA software. The validation process is shown to identify where improvements can be made to the model assumptions to increase the accuracy of prediction. The goal is to achieve an accuracy level of ±10 % as the intention is to replace practical testing with FEA modelling, thereby reducing the product development time and cost. Results from the FEA models are compared with experimental results to validate the accuracy.

  5. Cross-Linked Amylose Bio-Plastic: A Transgenic-Based Compostable Plastic Alternative

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Domenico Sagnelli

    2017-09-01

    Full Text Available Bio-plastics and bio-materials are composed of natural or biomass derived polymers, offering solutions to solve immediate environmental issues. Polysaccharide-based bio-plastics represent important alternatives to conventional plastic because of their intrinsic biodegradable nature. Amylose-only (AO, an engineered barley starch with 99% amylose, was tested to produce cross-linked all-natural bioplastic using normal barley starch as a control. Glycerol was used as plasticizer and citrate cross-linking was used to improve the mechanical properties of cross-linked AO starch extrudates. Extrusion converted the control starch from A-type to Vh- and B-type crystals, showing a complete melting of the starch crystals in the raw starch granules. The cross-linked AO and control starch specimens displayed an additional wide-angle diffraction reflection. Phospholipids complexed with Vh-type single helices constituted an integrated part of the AO starch specimens. Gas permeability tests of selected starch-based prototypes demonstrated properties comparable to that of commercial Mater-Bi© plastic. The cross-linked AO prototypes had composting characteristics not different from the control, indicating that the modified starch behaves the same as normal starch. The data shows the feasibility of producing all-natural bioplastic using designer starch as raw material.

  6. Cross-Linked Amylose Bio-Plastic: A Transgenic-Based Compostable Plastic Alternative

    Science.gov (United States)

    Sagnelli, Domenico; Kemmer, Gerdi Christine; Holse, Mette; Hebelstrup, Kim H.; Bao, Jinsong; Stelte, Wolfgang; Bjerre, Anne-Belinda; Blennow, Andreas

    2017-01-01

    Bio-plastics and bio-materials are composed of natural or biomass derived polymers, offering solutions to solve immediate environmental issues. Polysaccharide-based bio-plastics represent important alternatives to conventional plastic because of their intrinsic biodegradable nature. Amylose-only (AO), an engineered barley starch with 99% amylose, was tested to produce cross-linked all-natural bioplastic using normal barley starch as a control. Glycerol was used as plasticizer and citrate cross-linking was used to improve the mechanical properties of cross-linked AO starch extrudates. Extrusion converted the control starch from A-type to Vh- and B-type crystals, showing a complete melting of the starch crystals in the raw starch granules. The cross-linked AO and control starch specimens displayed an additional wide-angle diffraction reflection. Phospholipids complexed with Vh-type single helices constituted an integrated part of the AO starch specimens. Gas permeability tests of selected starch-based prototypes demonstrated properties comparable to that of commercial Mater-Bi© plastic. The cross-linked AO prototypes had composting characteristics not different from the control, indicating that the modified starch behaves the same as normal starch. The data shows the feasibility of producing all-natural bioplastic using designer starch as raw material. PMID:28973963

  7. Cross-Linked Amylose Bio-Plastic: A Transgenic-Based Compostable Plastic Alternative.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Sagnelli, Domenico; Hooshmand, Kourosh; Kemmer, Gerdi Christine; Kirkensgaard, Jacob J K; Mortensen, Kell; Giosafatto, Concetta Valeria L; Holse, Mette; Hebelstrup, Kim H; Bao, Jinsong; Stelte, Wolfgang; Bjerre, Anne-Belinda; Blennow, Andreas

    2017-09-30

    Bio-plastics and bio-materials are composed of natural or biomass derived polymers, offering solutions to solve immediate environmental issues. Polysaccharide-based bio-plastics represent important alternatives to conventional plastic because of their intrinsic biodegradable nature. Amylose-only (AO), an engineered barley starch with 99% amylose, was tested to produce cross-linked all-natural bioplastic using normal barley starch as a control. Glycerol was used as plasticizer and citrate cross-linking was used to improve the mechanical properties of cross-linked AO starch extrudates. Extrusion converted the control starch from A-type to Vh- and B-type crystals, showing a complete melting of the starch crystals in the raw starch granules. The cross-linked AO and control starch specimens displayed an additional wide-angle diffraction reflection. Phospholipids complexed with Vh-type single helices constituted an integrated part of the AO starch specimens. Gas permeability tests of selected starch-based prototypes demonstrated properties comparable to that of commercial Mater-Bi © plastic. The cross-linked AO prototypes had composting characteristics not different from the control, indicating that the modified starch behaves the same as normal starch. The data shows the feasibility of producing all-natural bioplastic using designer starch as raw material.

  8. Flat panel display - Impurity doping technology for flat panel displays

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Suzuki, Toshiharu [Advanced Technology Planning, Sumitomo Eaton Nova Corporation, SBS Tower 9F, 10-1, Yoga 4-chome, Setagaya-ku, 158-0097 Tokyo (Japan)]. E-mail: suzuki_tsh@senova.co.jp

    2005-08-01

    Features of the flat panel displays (FPDs) such as liquid crystal display (LCD) and organic light emitting diode (OLED) display, etc. using low temperature poly-Si (LTPS) thin film transistors (TFTs) are briefly reviewed comparing with other FPDs. The requirements for fabricating TFTs used for high performance FPDs and system on glass (SoG) are addressed. This paper focuses on the impurity doping technology, which is one of the key technologies together with crystallization by laser annealing, formation of high quality gate insulator and gate-insulator/poly-Si interface. The issues to be solved in impurity doping technology for state of the art and future TFTs are clarified.

  9. Flat panel display - Impurity doping technology for flat panel displays

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Suzuki, Toshiharu

    2005-01-01

    Features of the flat panel displays (FPDs) such as liquid crystal display (LCD) and organic light emitting diode (OLED) display, etc. using low temperature poly-Si (LTPS) thin film transistors (TFTs) are briefly reviewed comparing with other FPDs. The requirements for fabricating TFTs used for high performance FPDs and system on glass (SoG) are addressed. This paper focuses on the impurity doping technology, which is one of the key technologies together with crystallization by laser annealing, formation of high quality gate insulator and gate-insulator/poly-Si interface. The issues to be solved in impurity doping technology for state of the art and future TFTs are clarified

  10. Flat tori in three-dimensional space and convex integration.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Borrelli, Vincent; Jabrane, Saïd; Lazarus, Francis; Thibert, Boris

    2012-05-08

    It is well-known that the curvature tensor is an isometric invariant of C(2) Riemannian manifolds. This invariant is at the origin of the rigidity observed in Riemannian geometry. In the mid 1950s, Nash amazed the world mathematical community by showing that this rigidity breaks down in regularity C(1). This unexpected flexibility has many paradoxical consequences, one of them is the existence of C(1) isometric embeddings of flat tori into Euclidean three-dimensional space. In the 1970s and 1980s, M. Gromov, revisiting Nash's results introduced convex integration theory offering a general framework to solve this type of geometric problems. In this research, we convert convex integration theory into an algorithm that produces isometric maps of flat tori. We provide an implementation of a convex integration process leading to images of an embedding of a flat torus. The resulting surface reveals a C(1) fractal structure: Although the tangent plane is defined everywhere, the normal vector exhibits a fractal behavior. Isometric embeddings of flat tori may thus appear as a geometric occurrence of a structure that is simultaneously C(1) and fractal. Beyond these results, our implementation demonstrates that convex integration, a theory still confined to specialists, can produce computationally tractable solutions of partial differential relations.

  11. On beam quality and flatness of radiotherapy megavoltage photon beams

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Hossain, Murshed; Rhoades, Jeffrey

    2016-01-01

    Ratio of percentage depth dose (PDD) at two depths, PDD at a depth of 10 cm (PDD 10 ), and beam flatness are monitored regularly for radiotherapy beams for quality assurance. The purpose of this study is to understand the effects of changes in one of these parameters on the other. Is it possible to monitor only the beam flatness and not PDD? The investigation has two components. Naturally occurring i.e., unintended changes in PDD ratio and in-plane flatness for 6 and 10 MV photon beams for one particular Siemens Artiste Linac are monitored for a period of about 4 years. Secondly, deliberate changes in the beam parameters are induced by changing the bending magnet current (BMI). Relationships between various beam parameters for unintended changes as well as deliberate changes are characterized. Long term unintentional changes of PDD ratio are found to have no systematic trend. The flatness in the in plane direction for 6 and 10 MV beams show slow increase of 0.43 and 0.75 % respectively in about 4 years while the changes in the PDD ratio show no such trend. Over 10 % changes in BMI are required to induce changes in the beam quality indices at 2 % level. PDD ratio for the 10 MV beam is found to be less sensitive, while the depth of maximum dose, d max , is more sensitive to the changes in BMI compared to the 6 MV beam. Tolerances are more stringent for PDD 10 than PDD ratio for the 10 MV beam. PDD ratio, PDD 10 , and flatness must be monitored independently. Furthermore, off axis ratio alone cannot be used to monitor flatness. The effect of beam quality change in the absolute dose is clinically insignificant.

  12. Plastics and beaches: A degrading relationship

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Corcoran, Patricia L.; Biesinger, Mark C.; Grifi, Meriem

    2009-01-01

    Plastic debris in Earth's oceans presents a serious environmental issue because breakdown by chemical weathering and mechanical erosion is minimal at sea. Following deposition on beaches, plastic materials are exposed to UV radiation and physical processes controlled by wind, current, wave and tide action. Plastic particles from Kauai's beaches were sampled to determine relationships between composition, surface textures, and plastics degradation. SEM images indicated that beach plastics feature both mechanically eroded and chemically weathered surface textures. Granular oxidation textures were concentrated along mechanically weakened fractures and along the margins of the more rounded plastic particles. Particles with oxidation textures also produced the most intense peaks in the lower wavenumber region of FTIR spectra. The textural results suggest that plastic debris is particularly conducive to both chemical and mechanical breakdown in beach environments, which cannot be said for plastics in other natural settings on Earth

  13. Detecting areal changes in tidal flats after sea dike construction ...

    Indian Academy of Sciences (India)

    The main objective of this study was to estimate changes in the area of tidal flats that occurred after sea dike construction on the western coast of South Korea using Landsat-TM images. Applying the ISODATA method of unsupervised classification for Landsat-TM images, the tidal flats were identified, and the resulting areas ...

  14. Art and Plastic Surgery.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Fernandes, Julio Wilson; Metka, Susanne

    2016-04-01

    The roots of science and art of plastic surgery are very antique. Anatomy, drawing, painting, and sculpting have been very important to the surgery and medicine development over the centuries. Artistic skills besides shape, volume, and lines perception can be a practical aid to the plastic surgeons' daily work. An overview about the interactions between art and plastic surgery is presented, with a few applications to rhinoplasty, cleft lip, and other reconstructive plastic surgeries. This journal requires that authors assign a level of evidence to each article. For a full description of these Evidence-Based Medicine ratings, please refer to the Table of Contents or the online Instructions to Authors www.springer.com/00266.

  15. Polyurethane adhesives in flat roofs

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Bogárová Markéta

    2017-01-01

    Full Text Available It is necessary to stabilize individual layers of flat roofs, mainly because of wind suction. Apart from anchoring and surcharge, these layers can be secured by bonding. At present gluing is an indispensable and widely used stabilization method. On our market we can found many types of adhesives, most widely used are based on polyurethane. This paper focuses on problematic about stabilization thermal insulation from expanded polystyrene to vapor barrier from bitumen. One of the main issues is to calculate the exact amount of adhesive, which is required to guarantee the resistance against wind suction. In this problematic we can not find help neither in technical data sheets provided by the manufactures. Some of these data sheets contain at least information about amount of adhesive depending on location in roof plane and building height, but they do not specify the strength of such connection. It was therefore resorted to select several representatives polyurethane adhesives and their subsequent testing on specimens simulating the flat roof segment. The paper described the test methodology and results for two types of polyurethane adhesives.

  16. National construction, Denmark. Flat roofs

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Rode, C

    1995-04-01

    The Paris meeting of IEA Annex 24 (held in the spring of 1991) declared a set of typical building constructions, the Heat, Air and Moisture characteristics of which should be dealt with as part of the Annex work. Each type of construction was assigned to one or more countries as their National Construction, and it has been the responsibility of each country to prepare a report on what may be regarded as common knowledge in the country on the hygrothermal behaviour of their construction. This knowledge is in part due to experimental work carried out by research bodies in the countries, and due to experience form practice. This report has two main sections: Section 2 gives a general overview of the design of the most common variants of flat roofs and common knowledge reported for such roofs. Section 3 gives an account of research projects carried out in Denmark on flat roofs to analyze their hygrothermal performance. Whenever possible, an emphasis will be put on the hygrothermal consequences of thermally insulating such constructions. (EG) 19 refs.

  17. Projective flatness in the quantisation of bosons and fermions

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wu, Siye

    2015-07-01

    We compare the quantisation of linear systems of bosons and fermions. We recall the appearance of projectively flat connection and results on parallel transport in the quantisation of bosons. We then discuss pre-quantisation and quantisation of fermions using the calculus of fermionic variables. We define a natural connection on the bundle of Hilbert spaces and show that it is projectively flat. This identifies, up to a phase, equivalent spinor representations constructed by various polarisations. We introduce the concept of metaplectic correction for fermions and show that the bundle of corrected Hilbert spaces is naturally flat. We then show that the parallel transport in the bundle of Hilbert spaces along a geodesic is a rescaled projection provided that the geodesic lies within the complement of a cut locus. Finally, we study the bundle of Hilbert spaces when there is a symmetry.

  18. Present and future of flat panel detectors in the world

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Inamura, Kiyonari

    2002-01-01

    Present status of development of flat panel detectors and their clinical application in the world have been surveyed, and future trends are also explored especially in the field of material researches and methods of manufacturing. Also the importance of role of medical physicists on user side is described because characteristic physics measurement of a detector assembly is unavoidable and essential in quality assurance in clinical routine and acceptance test in hospitals. Even though physics measurements and clinical evaluations on flat panel detectors have shown remarkable progress and advances in these several years, future problems of cost down in manufacturing and quality assurance to prevent individual differences between detector assemblies must be resolved. Results of evaluation in mammography, chest radiography, fluoroscopy for cardiovascular examination, bone tumor examination and radiotherapy application indicate that flat panel detectors are future promising materials. Their systematic operation is contributing to heighten accuracy of image examinations and preciseness of radiation therapy. Encouragement to medical physicists relevant to flat panel detectors is also raised in this paper. (author)

  19. Infiltration barrier demonstration at Maxey Flats, Kentucky

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Mills, D.; Razor, J.

    1983-01-01

    At the 1982 DOE LLWMP meeting, the Kentucky Natural Resources and Environmental Protection Cabinet presented a history of the Maxey Flats Waste Disposal Facility, its status, and current Commonwealth activities leading toward stabilization and decommissioning. Information was presented at that time on the purpose of the DOE Trench Moisture Barrier Demonstration Grant and the early phases of construction and implementation. In this paper, final construction and implementation of the trench moisture barrier demonstration are discussed. Data including trench water level measurements, lateral liquid flow in experimental sections, and soil moisture measurements are presented and discussed. The Paper is completed with a brief discussion of remediation activities currently being implemented at Maxey Flats. 9 references, 7 figures, 1 table

  20. Towards a flat 45%-efficient concentrator module

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Mohedano, Rubén, E-mail: rmohedano@lpi-europe.com; Hernandez, Maikel; Vilaplana, Juan; Chaves, Julio; Sorgato, S.; Falicoff, Waqidi [LPI, Altadena, CA, USA and Madrid (Spain); Miñano, Juan C.; Benitez, Pablo [LPI, Altadena, CA, USA and Madrid (Spain); Universidad Politécnica de Madrid (UPM), Campus de Montegancedo, Madrid (Spain)

    2015-09-28

    The so-called CCS{sup 4}FK is an ultra-flat photovoltaic system of high concentration and high efficiency, with potential to convert, ideally, the equivalent of a 45% of direct solar radiation into electricity by optimizing the usage of sun spectrum and by collecting part of the diffuse radiation, as a flat plate does. LPI has recently finished a design based on this concept and is now developing a prototype based on this technology, thanks to the support of FUNDACION REPSOL-Fondo de Emprendedores, which promotes entrepreneur projects in different areas linked to energy. This works shows some details of the actual design and preliminary potential performance expected, according to accurate spectral simulations.

  1. Release fractions for Rocky Flats specific accidents

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Weiss, R.C.

    1992-01-01

    As Rocky Flats and other DOE facilities begin the transition process towards decommissioning, the nature of the scenarios to be studied in safety analysis will change. Whereas the previous emphasis in safety accidents related to production, now the emphasis is shifting to accidents related tc decommissioning and waste management. Accident scenarios of concern at Rocky Flats now include situations of a different nature and different scale than are represented by most of the existing experimental accident data. This presentation will discuss approaches at sign to use for applying the existing body of release fraction data to this new emphasis. Mention will also be made of ongoing efforts to produce new data and improve the understanding of physical mechanisms involved

  2. Kinematic tests of exotic flat cosmological models

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Charlton, J.C.; Turner, M.S.; NASA/Fermilab Astrophysics Center, Batavia, IL)

    1987-01-01

    Theoretical prejudice and inflationary models of the very early universe strongly favor the flat, Einstein-de Sitter model of the universe. At present the observational data conflict with this prejudice. This conflict can be resolved by considering flat models of the universe which posses a smooth component of energy density. The kinematics of such models, where the smooth component is relativistic particles, a cosmological term, a network of light strings, or fast-moving, light strings is studied in detail. The observational tests which can be used to discriminate between these models are also discussed. These tests include the magnitude-redshift, lookback time-redshift, angular size-redshift, and comoving volume-redshift diagrams and the growth of density fluctuations. 58 references

  3. Kinematic tests of exotic flat cosmological models

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Charlton, J.C.; Turner, M.S.

    1986-05-01

    Theoretical prejudice and inflationary models of the very early Universe strongly favor the flat, Einstein-deSitter model of the Universe. At present the observational data conflict with this prejudice. This conflict can be resolved by considering flat models of the Universe which possess a smooth component by energy density. We study in detail the kinematics of such models, where the smooth component is relativistic particles, a cosmological term, a network of light strings, or fast-moving, light strings. We also discuss the observational tests which can be used to discriminate between these models. These tests include the magnitude-redshift, lookback time-redshift, angular size-redshift, and comoving volume-redshift diagrams and the growth of density fluctuations

  4. Kinematic tests of exotic flat cosmological models

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Charlton, J.C.; Turner, M.S.

    1986-05-01

    Theoretical prejudice and inflationary models of the very early Universe strongly favor the flat, Einstein-deSitter model of the Universe. At present the observational data conflict with this prejudice. This conflict can be resolved by considering flat models of the Universe which possess a smooth component by energy density. We study in detail the kinematics of such models, where the smooth component is relativistic particles, a cosmological term, a network of light strings, or fast-moving, light strings. We also discuss the observational tests which can be used to discriminate between these models. These tests include the magnitude-redshift, lookback time-redshift, angular size-redshift, and comoving volume-redshift diagrams and the growth of density fluctuations.

  5. Towards a flat 45%-efficient concentrator module

    Science.gov (United States)

    Mohedano, Rubén; Hernandez, Maikel; Vilaplana, Juan; Chaves, Julio; Miñano, Juan C.; Benitez, Pablo; Sorgato, S.; Falicoff, Waqidi

    2015-09-01

    The so-called CCS4FK is an ultra-flat photovoltaic system of high concentration and high efficiency, with potential to convert, ideally, the equivalent of a 45% of direct solar radiation into electricity by optimizing the usage of sun spectrum and by collecting part of the diffuse radiation, as a flat plate does. LPI has recently finished a design based on this concept and is now developing a prototype based on this technology, thanks to the support of FUNDACION REPSOL-Fondo de Emprendedores, which promotes entrepreneur projects in different areas linked to energy. This works shows some details of the actual design and preliminary potential performance expected, according to accurate spectral simulations.

  6. Towards a flat 45%-efficient concentrator module

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Mohedano, Rubén; Hernandez, Maikel; Vilaplana, Juan; Chaves, Julio; Sorgato, S.; Falicoff, Waqidi; Miñano, Juan C.; Benitez, Pablo

    2015-01-01

    The so-called CCS 4 FK is an ultra-flat photovoltaic system of high concentration and high efficiency, with potential to convert, ideally, the equivalent of a 45% of direct solar radiation into electricity by optimizing the usage of sun spectrum and by collecting part of the diffuse radiation, as a flat plate does. LPI has recently finished a design based on this concept and is now developing a prototype based on this technology, thanks to the support of FUNDACION REPSOL-Fondo de Emprendedores, which promotes entrepreneur projects in different areas linked to energy. This works shows some details of the actual design and preliminary potential performance expected, according to accurate spectral simulations

  7. Plastics recycling: challenges and opportunities.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hopewell, Jefferson; Dvorak, Robert; Kosior, Edward

    2009-07-27

    Plastics are inexpensive, lightweight and durable materials, which can readily be moulded into a variety of products that find use in a wide range of applications. As a consequence, the production of plastics has increased markedly over the last 60 years. However, current levels of their usage and disposal generate several environmental problems. Around 4 per cent of world oil and gas production, a non-renewable resource, is used as feedstock for plastics and a further 3-4% is expended to provide energy for their manufacture. A major portion of plastic produced each year is used to make disposable items of packaging or other short-lived products that are discarded within a year of manufacture. These two observations alone indicate that our current use of plastics is not sustainable. In addition, because of the durability of the polymers involved, substantial quantities of discarded end-of-life plastics are accumulating as debris in landfills and in natural habitats worldwide. Recycling is one of the most important actions currently available to reduce these impacts and represents one of the most dynamic areas in the plastics industry today. Recycling provides opportunities to reduce oil usage, carbon dioxide emissions and the quantities of waste requiring disposal. Here, we briefly set recycling into context against other waste-reduction strategies, namely reduction in material use through downgauging or product reuse, the use of alternative biodegradable materials and energy recovery as fuel. While plastics have been recycled since the 1970s, the quantities that are recycled vary geographically, according to plastic type and application. Recycling of packaging materials has seen rapid expansion over the last decades in a number of countries. Advances in technologies and systems for the collection, sorting and reprocessing of recyclable plastics are creating new opportunities for recycling, and with the combined actions of the public, industry and governments it

  8. Plastics recycling: challenges and opportunities

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hopewell, Jefferson; Dvorak, Robert; Kosior, Edward

    2009-01-01

    Plastics are inexpensive, lightweight and durable materials, which can readily be moulded into a variety of products that find use in a wide range of applications. As a consequence, the production of plastics has increased markedly over the last 60 years. However, current levels of their usage and disposal generate several environmental problems. Around 4 per cent of world oil and gas production, a non-renewable resource, is used as feedstock for plastics and a further 3–4% is expended to provide energy for their manufacture. A major portion of plastic produced each year is used to make disposable items of packaging or other short-lived products that are discarded within a year of manufacture. These two observations alone indicate that our current use of plastics is not sustainable. In addition, because of the durability of the polymers involved, substantial quantities of discarded end-of-life plastics are accumulating as debris in landfills and in natural habitats worldwide. Recycling is one of the most important actions currently available to reduce these impacts and represents one of the most dynamic areas in the plastics industry today. Recycling provides opportunities to reduce oil usage, carbon dioxide emissions and the quantities of waste requiring disposal. Here, we briefly set recycling into context against other waste-reduction strategies, namely reduction in material use through downgauging or product reuse, the use of alternative biodegradable materials and energy recovery as fuel. While plastics have been recycled since the 1970s, the quantities that are recycled vary geographically, according to plastic type and application. Recycling of packaging materials has seen rapid expansion over the last decades in a number of countries. Advances in technologies and systems for the collection, sorting and reprocessing of recyclable plastics are creating new opportunities for recycling, and with the combined actions of the public, industry and governments it

  9. Plastic pollutants in water environment

    OpenAIRE

    Mrowiec Bożena

    2017-01-01

    Nowadays, wide applications of plastics result in plastic waste being present in the water environment in a wide variety of sizes. Plastic wastes are in water mainly as microplastics (the size range of 1 nm to < 5 mm). Microplastics have been recognized as an emerging threat, as well as ecotoxicological and ecological risk for water ecosystems. In this review are presented some of the physicochemical properties of plastic materials that determine their toxic effect on the aquatic environment....

  10. DEVELOPMENT OF PLASTIC SURGERY.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Pećanac, Marija Đ

    2015-01-01

    Plastic surgery is a medical specialty dealing with corrections of defects, improvements in appearance and restoration of lost function. Ancient times. The first recorded account of reconstructive plastic surgery was found in ancient Indian Sanskrit texts, which described reconstructive surgeries of the nose and ears. In ancient Greece and Rome, many medicine men performed simple plastic cosmetic surgeries to repair damaged parts of the body caused by war mutilation, punishment or humiliation. In the Middle Ages, the development of all medical braches, including plastic surgery was hindered. New age. The interest in surgical reconstruction of mutilated body parts was renewed in the XVIII century by a great number of enthusiastic and charismatic surgeons, who mastered surgical disciplines and became true artists that created new forms. Modern era. In the XX century, plastic surgery developed as a modern branch in medicine including many types of reconstructive surgery, hand, head and neck surgery, microsurgery and replantation, treatment of burns and their sequelae, and esthetic surgery. Contemporary and future plastic surgery will continue to evolve and improve with regenerative medicine and tissue engineering resulting in a lot of benefits to be gained by patients in reconstruction after body trauma, oncology amputation, and for congenital disfigurement and dysfunction.

  11. Flat-space holography and stress tensor of Kerr black hole

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Baghchesaraei, Omid, E-mail: omidbaghchesaraei@gmail.com [Department of Physics, Shahid Beheshti University, G.C., Evin, Tehran 19839 (Iran, Islamic Republic of); Fareghbal, Reza, E-mail: r_fareghbal@sbu.ac.ir [Department of Physics, Shahid Beheshti University, G.C., Evin, Tehran 19839 (Iran, Islamic Republic of); Izadi, Yousef, E-mail: yizadi2015@fau.edu [Department of Physics, Florida Atlantic University, Boca Raton, FL 33431 (United States)

    2016-09-10

    We propose a stress tensor for the Kerr black hole written in the Boyer–Lindquist coordinate. To achieve this, we use the dictionary of the Flat/CCFT correspondence and take the flat-space limit from the quasi-local stress tensor of the four-dimensional Kerr–AdS black hole. The proposed stress tensor yields the correct values for the mass and angular momentum of the Kerr black hole at spatial infinity. We also calculate some components of the energy momentum tensor of the three dimensional CCFT and show that they are consistent with the holographic calculation of the Kerr black hole. The calculation we present in this paper is another confirmation for the Flat/CCFT proposal.

  12. A work criterion for plastic collapse

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Muscat, Martin; Mackenzie, Donald; Hamilton, Robert

    2003-01-01

    A new criterion for evaluating limit and plastic loads in pressure vessel design by analysis is presented. The proposed criterion is based on the plastic work dissipated in the structure as loading progresses and may be used for structures subject to a single load or a combination of multiple loads. Example analyses show that limit and plastic loads given by the plastic work criterion are robust and consistent. The limit and plastic loads are determined purely by the inelastic response of the structure and are not influenced by the initial elastic response: a problem with some established plastic criteria

  13. A Coupled Plastic Damage Model for Concrete considering the Effect of Damage on Plastic Flow

    OpenAIRE

    Zhou, Feng; Cheng, Guangxu

    2015-01-01

    A coupled plastic damage model with two damage scalars is proposed to describe the nonlinear features of concrete. The constitutive formulations are developed by assuming that damage can be represented effectively in the material compliance tensor. Damage evolution law and plastic damage coupling are described using the framework of irreversible thermodynamics. The plasticity part is developed without using the effective stress concept. A plastic yield function based on the true stress is ado...

  14. The digital flat-panel X-Ray detectors

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Risticj, S. Goran

    2013-01-01

    In a digital imaging system, the incident x-ray image must be sampled both in the spatial and intensity dimensions. In the spatial dimensions, samples are obtained as averages of the intensity over picture elements or pixels. In the intensity dimension, the signal is digitalized into one of a finite number of levels or bits. Two main types of digital flat-panel detectors are based on the direct conversion, which contains the photoconductor, and on indirect conversion, which contains phosphor. The basics of these detectors are given. Coupling traditional x-ray detection material such as photoconductors and phosphors with a large-area active-matrix readout structure forms the basis of flat panel x-ray images. Active matrix technology provides a new, highly efficient, real time method for electronically storing and measuring the product of the x-ray interaction stage whether the product is visible wavelength photons or electrical charges. The direct and indirect detectors, made as the active-matrix flat-panel detectors containing sensing/storage elements, switching elements (diodes or thin film transistors (TFTS)) and image processing module, are described. Strengths and limitations of stimulable phosphors are discussed. The main advantages and disadvantages of mentioned x-ray detectors are also analyzed. (Author)

  15. Plastic solid waste utilization technologies: A Review

    Science.gov (United States)

    Awasthi, Arun Kumar; Shivashankar, Murugesh; Majumder, Suman

    2017-11-01

    Plastics are used in more number of applications in worldwide and it becomes essential part of our daily life. In Indian cities and villages people use the plastics in buying vegetable as a carry bag, drinking water bottle, use of plastic furniture in home, plastics objects uses in kitchen, plastic drums in packing and storage of the different chemicals for industrial use, use plastic utensils in home and many more uses. After usage of plastics it will become part of waste garbage and create pollution due to presence of toxic chemicals and it will be spread diseases and give birth to uncontrolled issues in social society. In current scenario consumption of plastic waste increasing day by day and it is very difficult to manage the plastic waste. There are limited methodologies available for reutilization of plastic waste again. Such examples are recycling, landfill, incineration, gasification and hydrogenation. In this paper we will review the existing methodologies of utilization of plastic waste in current scenario

  16. Plastic Pollution from Ships

    OpenAIRE

    Čulin, Jelena; Bielić, Toni

    2016-01-01

    The environmental impact of shipping on marine environment includes discharge of garbage. Plastic litter is of particular concern due to abundance, resistance to degradation and detrimental effect on marine biota. According to recently published studies, a further research is required to assess human health risk. Monitoring data indicate that despite banning plastic disposal at sea, shipping is still a source of plastic pollution. Some of the measures to combat the problem are discussed.

  17. Extruding plastic scintillator at Fermilab

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Pla-Dalmau, Anna; Bross, Alain D.; Rykalin, Viktor V.

    2003-01-01

    An understanding of the costs involved in the production of plastic scintillators and the development of a less expensive material have become necessary with the prospects of building very large plastic scintillation detectors. Several factors contribute to the high cost of plastic scintillating sheets, but the principal reason is the labor-intensive nature of the manufacturing process. In order to significantly lower the costs, the current casting procedures had to be abandoned. Since polystyrene is widely used in the consumer industry, the logical path was to investigate the extrusion of commercial-grade polystyrene pellets with dopants to yield high quality plastic scintillator. This concept was tested and high quality extruded plastic scintillator was produced. The D0 and MINOS experiments are already using extruded scintillator strips in their detectors. An extrusion line has recently been installed at Fermilab in collaboration with NICADD (Northern Illinois Center for Accelerator and Detector Development). This new facility will serve to further develop and improve extruded plastic scintillator. This paper will discuss the characteristics of extruded plastic scintillator and its raw materials, the different manufacturing techniques and the current R andD program at Fermilab

  18. Polarimetric scattering model for estimation of above ground biomass of multilayer vegetation using ALOS-PALSAR quad-pol data

    Science.gov (United States)

    Sai Bharadwaj, P.; Kumar, Shashi; Kushwaha, S. P. S.; Bijker, Wietske

    Forests are important biomes covering a major part of the vegetation on the Earth, and as such account for seventy percent of the carbon present in living beings. The value of a forest's above ground biomass (AGB) is considered as an important parameter for the estimation of global carbon content. In the present study, the quad-pol ALOS-PALSAR data was used for the estimation of AGB for the Dudhwa National Park, India. For this purpose, polarimetric decomposition components and an Extended Water Cloud Model (EWCM) were used. The PolSAR data orientation angle shifts were compensated for before the polarimetric decomposition. The scattering components obtained from the polarimetric decomposition were used in the Water Cloud Model (WCM). The WCM was extended for higher order interactions like double bounce scattering. The parameters of the EWCM were retrieved using the field measurements and the decomposition components. Finally, the relationship between the estimated AGB and measured AGB was assessed. The coefficient of determination (R2) and root mean square error (RMSE) were 0.4341 and 119 t/ha respectively.

  19. Applications and societal benefits of plastics.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Andrady, Anthony L; Neal, Mike A

    2009-07-27

    This article explains the history, from 1600 BC to 2008, of materials that are today termed 'plastics'. It includes production volumes and current consumption patterns of five main commodity plastics: polypropylene, polyethylene, polyvinyl chloride, polystyrene and polyethylene terephthalate. The use of additives to modify the properties of these plastics and any associated safety, in use, issues for the resulting polymeric materials are described. A comparison is made with the thermal and barrier properties of other materials to demonstrate the versatility of plastics. Societal benefits for health, safety, energy saving and material conservation are described, and the particular advantages of plastics in society are outlined. Concerns relating to littering and trends in recycling of plastics are also described. Finally, we give predictions for some of the potential applications of plastic over the next 20 years.

  20. UVIS Flat Field Uniformity

    Science.gov (United States)

    Quijano, Jessica Kim

    2009-07-01

    The stability and uniformity of the low-frequency flat fields {L-flat} of the UVIS detector will be assessed by using multiple-pointing observations of the globular clusters 47 Tucanae {NGC104} and Omega Centauri {NGC5139}, thus imaging moderately dense stellar fields. By placing the same star over different portions of the detector and measuring relative changes in its brightness, it will be possible to determine local variations in the response of the UVIS detector. Based on previous experience with STIS and ACS, it is deemed that a total of 9 different pointings will suffice to provide adequate characterization of the flat field stability in any given band. For each filter to be tested, the baseline consists of 9 pointings in a 3X3 box pattern with dither steps of about 25% of the FOV, or 40.5", in either the x or y direction {useful also for CTE measurements, if needed in the future}. During SMOV, the complement of filters to be tested is limited to the following 6 filters: F225W, F275W, F336W, for Omega Cen, and F438W, F606W, and F814W for 47 Tuc. Three long exposures for each target are arranged such that the initial dither position is observed with the appropriate filters for that target within one orbit at a single pointing, so that filter-to-filter differences in the observed star positions can be checked. In addition to the 9 baseline exposures, two sets of short exposures will be taken:a} one short exposure will be taken of OmegaCen with each of the visible filters {F438W, F606W and F814W} in order to check the geometric distortion solution to be obtained with the data from proposal 11444;b} for each target, a single short exposure will be taken with each filter to facilitate the study of the PSF as a function of position on the detector by providing unsaturated images of sparsely-spaced bright stars.This proposal corresponds to Activity Description ID WF39. It should execute only after the following proposal has executed:WF21 - 11434

  1. Splines and polynomial tools for flatness-based constrained motion planning

    Science.gov (United States)

    Suryawan, Fajar; De Doná, José; Seron, María

    2012-08-01

    This article addresses the problem of trajectory planning for flat systems with constraints. Flat systems have the useful property that the input and the state can be completely characterised by the so-called flat output. We propose a spline parametrisation for the flat output, the performance output, the states and the inputs. Using this parametrisation the problem of constrained trajectory planning can be cast into a simple quadratic programming problem. An important result is that the B-spline parametrisation used gives exact results for constrained linear continuous-time system. The result is exact in the sense that the constrained signal can be made arbitrarily close to the boundary without having intersampling issues (as one would have in sampled-data systems). Simulation examples are presented, involving the generation of rest-to-rest trajectories. In addition, an experimental result of the method is also presented, where two methods to generate trajectories for a magnetic-levitation (maglev) system in the presence of constraints are compared and each method's performance is discussed. The first method uses the nonlinear model of the plant, which turns out to belong to the class of flat systems. The second method uses a linearised version of the plant model around an operating point. In every case, a continuous-time description is used. The experimental results on a real maglev system reported here show that, in most scenarios, the nonlinear and linearised models produce almost similar, indistinguishable trajectories.

  2. Plastic pollutants in water environment

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Mrowiec Bożena

    2017-12-01

    Full Text Available Nowadays, wide applications of plastics result in plastic waste being present in the water environment in a wide variety of sizes. Plastic wastes are in water mainly as microplastics (the size range of 1 nm to < 5 mm. Microplastics have been recognized as an emerging threat, as well as ecotoxicological and ecological risk for water ecosystems. In this review are presented some of the physicochemical properties of plastic materials that determine their toxic effect on the aquatic environment. Wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs are mentioned as one of main sources of microplastics introduced into fresh water, and rivers are the pathways for the transportation of the pollutants to seas and oceans. But, effluents from tertiary wastewater treatment facilities can contain only minimally microplastic loads. The issue of discharge reduction of plastic pollutants into water environment needs activities in the scope of efficient wastewater treatment, waste disposal, recycling of plastic materials, education and public involvement.

  3. Track treeing mechanism and plastic zone in solid Part 1: Initial development of plastic zone

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Li Boyang

    2008-01-01

    After neutron exposure and chemical etching in advance, latent tracks of recoil nucleon develop into pits on CR39 surface. During electrochemical etching, plastic zone is formed at top of pits. Some pits develop into tree cracks in the initial stage of plastic zone development. Physical and mathematical model of crack and plastic zone is proposed; parameter of development free path of plastic zone is presented. Based on integration of elementary theories the stress analysis is build up; based on analyses of measured parameters, a set of common relations between parameters is obtained. Integrate parameter analysis and stress analysis, depth of plastic zone development, law and phenomenon in experimental data can be interpreted completely

  4. Do intertidal flats ever reach equilibrium?

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Maan, D.C.; van Prooijen, B.C.; Wang, Z.B.; de Vriend, H.J.

    2015-01-01

    Various studies have identified a strong relation between the hydrodynamic forces and the equilibrium profile for intertidal flats. A thorough understanding of the interplay between the hydrodynamic forces and the morphology, however, concerns more than the equilibrium state alone. We study the

  5. Design scenarios for flat panel photobioreactors

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Slegers, P.M.; Wijffels, R.H.; Straten, van G.; Boxtel, van A.J.B.

    2011-01-01

    Evaluation of the potential of algae production for biofuel and other products at various locations throughout the world requires assessment of algae productivity under varying light conditions and different reactor layouts. A model was developed to predict algae biomass production in flat panel

  6. Accumulation of plastic-derived chemicals in tissues of seabirds ingesting marine plastics.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Tanaka, Kosuke; Takada, Hideshige; Yamashita, Rei; Mizukawa, Kaoruko; Fukuwaka, Masa-aki; Watanuki, Yutaka

    2013-04-15

    We analyzed polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs) in abdominal adipose of oceanic seabirds (short-tailed shearwaters, Puffinus tenuirostris) collected in northern North Pacific Ocean. In 3 of 12 birds, we detected higher-brominated congeners (viz., BDE209 and BDE183), which are not present in the natural prey (pelagic fish) of the birds. The same compounds were present in plastic found in the stomachs of the 3 birds. These data suggested the transfer of plastic-derived chemicals from ingested plastics to the tissues of marine-based organisms. Copyright © 2012 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  7. History of Rocky Flats waste streams

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Luckett, L.L.; Dickman, A.A.; Wells, C.R.; Vickery, D.J.

    1982-01-01

    An analysis of the waste streams at Rocky Flats was done to provide information for the Waste Certification program. This program has involved studying the types and amounts of retrievable transuranic (TRU) waste from Rocky Flats that is stored at the Idaho National Engineering Laboratory (INEL). The information can be used to estimate the types and amounts of waste that will need to be permanently stored in the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant (WIPP). The study covered mostly the eight-year period from June 1971 to June 1979. The types, amounts, and plutonium content of TRU waste and the areas or operations responsible for generating the waste are summarized in this waste stream history report. From the period studied, a total of 24,546,153 lbs of waste containing 211,148 g of plutonium currently occupies 709,497 cu ft of storage space at INEL

  8. FLOW VISUALIZATION OF RECTANGULAR SLOT AIR JET IMPINGEMENT ON FLAT SURFACES

    OpenAIRE

    Satheesha V *1, B. K. Muralidhra2, Abhilash N3, C. K. Umesh4

    2018-01-01

    Jet impingement near the mid-chord of the gas turbine blade is treated as a flat plate. Experimental and numerical investigations are carried out for a single slot air jet impinging on flat surface for two different rectangular slots of dimension (3mm x 65 mm) and (5mm x 65 mm). Experimentation is done to study the flow pattern topography on the flat target plate, with varying the flow rate from 20 LPM to 50 LPM by varying the nozzle to plate distance from 9 mm to 24 mm for slot jet of 3mm an...

  9. Extraction of Organochlorine Pesticides from Plastic Pellets and Plastic Type Analysis.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Pflieger, Marilyne; Makorič, Petra; Kovač Viršek, Manca; Koren, Špela

    2017-07-01

    Plastic resin pellets, categorized as microplastics (≤5 mm in diameter), are small granules that can be unintentionally released to the environment during manufacturing and transport. Because of their environmental persistence, they are widely distributed in the oceans and on beaches all over the world. They can act as a vector of potentially toxic organic compounds (e.g., polychlorinated biphenyls) and might consequently negatively affect marine organisms. Their possible impacts along the food chain are not yet well understood. In order to assess the hazards associated with the occurrence of plastic pellets in the marine environment, it is necessary to develop methodologies that allow for rapid determination of associated organic contaminant levels. The present protocol describes the different steps required for sampling resin pellets, analyzing adsorbed organochlorine pesticides (OCPs) and identifying the plastic type. The focus is on the extraction of OCPs from plastic pellets by means of a pressurized fluid extractor (PFE) and on the polymer chemical analysis applying Fourier Transform-InfraRed (FT-IR) spectroscopy. The developed methodology focuses on 11 OCPs and related compounds, including dichlorodiphenyltrichloroethane (DDT) and its two main metabolites, lindane and two production isomers, as well as the two biologically active isomers of technical endosulfan. This protocol constitutes a simple and rapid alternative to existing methodology for evaluating the concentration of organic contaminants adsorbed on plastic pieces.

  10. Computational strain gradient crystal plasticity

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Niordson, Christian Frithiof; Kysar, Jeffrey W.

    2014-01-01

    A numerical method for viscous strain gradient crystal plasticity theory is presented, which incorporates both energetic and dissipative gradient effects. The underlying minimum principles are discussed as well as convergence properties of the proposed finite element procedure. Three problems...... of plane crystal plasticity are studied: pure shear of a single crystal between rigid platens as well as plastic deformation around cylindrical voids in hexagonal close packed and face centered cubic crystals. Effective in-plane constitutive slip parameters for plane strain deformation of specifically...... oriented face centered cubic crystals are developed in terms of the crystallographic slip parameters. The effect on geometrically necessary dislocation structures introduced by plastic deformation is investigated as a function of the ratio of void radius to plasticity length scale....

  11. Imaging brain plasticity after trauma

    Institute of Scientific and Technical Information of China (English)

    Zhifeng Kou; Armin Iraji

    2014-01-01

    The brain is highly plastic after stroke or epilepsy;however, there is a paucity of brain plasticity investigation after traumatic brain injury (TBI). This mini review summarizes the most recent evidence of brain plasticity in human TBI patients from the perspective of advanced magnetic resonance imaging. Similar to other forms of acquired brain injury, TBI patients also demonstrat-ed both structural reorganization as well as functional compensation by the recruitment of other brain regions. However, the large scale brain network alterations after TBI are still unknown, and the ifeld is still short of proper means on how to guide the choice of TBI rehabilitation or treat-ment plan to promote brain plasticity. The authors also point out the new direction of brain plas-ticity investigation.

  12. Prescribed curvature tensor in locally conformally flat manifolds

    Science.gov (United States)

    Pina, Romildo; Pieterzack, Mauricio

    2018-01-01

    A global existence theorem for the prescribed curvature tensor problem in locally conformally flat manifolds is proved for a special class of tensors R. Necessary and sufficient conditions for the existence of a metric g ¯ , conformal to Euclidean g, are determined such that R ¯ = R, where R ¯ is the Riemannian curvature tensor of the metric g ¯ . The solution to this problem is given explicitly for special cases of the tensor R, including the case where the metric g ¯ is complete on Rn. Similar problems are considered for locally conformally flat manifolds.

  13. Holographic interferometry for early diagnosisof children flat foot

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Oleg Petrovich Bolshakov

    2015-03-01

    Full Text Available The article presents the first experience ofthe use of holographic interferometr y for earlydiagnosis of the flat foot in 4-5 years old children.13 patients were examined. The results of the clinicalexamination, plantography, and of the graphicalreconstruction of the form of the foot arch basedon the interferogramms of the prints on Pedilen areanalyzed. We revealed typical differences betweenthe form of the foot arches in children with flat foot and children with normal status. The use of the proposed method for early detection of congenital pes valgus and of the signs of “flexible flat” foot is being suggested.

  14. Stationary closed strings in five-dimensional flat spacetime

    Science.gov (United States)

    Igata, Takahisa; Ishihara, Hideki; Nishiwaki, Keisuke

    2012-11-01

    We investigate stationary rotating closed Nambu-Goto strings in five-dimensional flat spacetime. The stationary string is defined as a world sheet that is tangent to a timelike Killing vector. The Nambu-Goto equation of motion for the stationary string is reduced to the geodesic equation on the orbit space of the isometry group action generated by the Killing vector. We take a linear combination of a time-translation vector and space-rotation vectors as the Killing vector, and explicitly construct general solutions of stationary rotating closed strings in five-dimensional flat spacetime. We show a variety of their configurations and properties.

  15. Constraints on the evolution of phenotypic plasticity

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Murren, Courtney J; Auld, Josh R.; Callahan, Hilary S

    2015-01-01

    Phenotypic plasticity is ubiquitous and generally regarded as a key mechanism for enabling organisms to survive in the face of environmental change. Because no organism is infinitely or ideally plastic, theory suggests that there must be limits (for example, the lack of ability to produce...... an optimal trait) to the evolution of phenotypic plasticity, or that plasticity may have inherent significant costs. Yet numerous experimental studies have not detected widespread costs. Explicitly differentiating plasticity costs from phenotype costs, we re-evaluate fundamental questions of the limits...... to the evolution of plasticity and of generalists vs specialists. We advocate for the view that relaxed selection and variable selection intensities are likely more important constraints to the evolution of plasticity than the costs of plasticity. Some forms of plasticity, such as learning, may be inherently...

  16. Emission of a propagation invariant flat-top beam from a microchip laser

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Naidoo, Darryl [Council for Scientific and Industrial Research, National Laser Centre, P.O. Box 395, Pretoria 0001 (South Africa); Harfouche, A. [Faculté de Physique, Université des Sciences et de la Technologie Houari Boumédiène, B.P. no 32, El Alia, 16111 Algiers (Algeria); Fromager, Michael; Ait-Ameur, Kamel [Centre de Recherche sur les Ions, les Matériaux et la Photonique, Unité Mixte de Recherche de Recherche 6252, Commissariat à l’Energie Atomique, Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique, Université de Caen Basse Normandie, Ecole Nationale Supérieure des Ingénieurs de Caen, Boulevard Maréchal Juin, F14050 Caen (France); Forbes, Andrew, E-mail: andrew.forbes@wits.ac.za [School of Physics, University of the Witwatersrand, Private Bag 3, Johannesburg 2050 (South Africa)

    2016-02-15

    Light beams with a flat-top intensity profile have found many applications in both pure and applied studies, but are not the natural modes of conventional light sources such as lasers. Moreover, such light beams are also not the eigenmodes of the wave equation in a vacuum and so change their intensity profile dramatically during propagation. Here we overcome both these limitations and create a propagation invariant flat-top beam from a microchip laser. By optical feedback into the excited medium we are able to create emission that is an incoherent mix of two spatial modes, a Gaussian and a donut, so that the sum is a flat-top beam that maintains its shape to infinity. Such miniature sources that emit structured light will be attractive for integrated light-based technologies. - Highlights: • First demonstration of the generation of a flat-top beam from a microchip laser. • The flat-top beam is shape-invariant during propagation. • By optical feedback we can select the desired shape from the microchip laser.

  17. Emission of a propagation invariant flat-top beam from a microchip laser

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Naidoo, Darryl; Harfouche, A.; Fromager, Michael; Ait-Ameur, Kamel; Forbes, Andrew

    2016-01-01

    Light beams with a flat-top intensity profile have found many applications in both pure and applied studies, but are not the natural modes of conventional light sources such as lasers. Moreover, such light beams are also not the eigenmodes of the wave equation in a vacuum and so change their intensity profile dramatically during propagation. Here we overcome both these limitations and create a propagation invariant flat-top beam from a microchip laser. By optical feedback into the excited medium we are able to create emission that is an incoherent mix of two spatial modes, a Gaussian and a donut, so that the sum is a flat-top beam that maintains its shape to infinity. Such miniature sources that emit structured light will be attractive for integrated light-based technologies. - Highlights: • First demonstration of the generation of a flat-top beam from a microchip laser. • The flat-top beam is shape-invariant during propagation. • By optical feedback we can select the desired shape from the microchip laser.

  18. Field-theoretic approach to gravity in the flat space-time

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Cavalleri, G [Centro Informazioni Studi Esperienze, Milan (Italy); Milan Univ. (Italy). Ist. di Fisica); Spinelli, G [Istituto di Matematica del Politecnico di Milano, Milano (Italy)

    1980-01-01

    In this paper it is discussed how the field-theoretical approach to gravity starting from the flat space-time is wider than the Einstein approach. The flat approach is able to predict the structure of the observable space as a consequence of the behaviour of the particle proper masses. The field equations are formally equal to Einstein's equations without the cosmological term.

  19. Use of pultruded reinforced plastics in energy generation and energy related applications

    Science.gov (United States)

    Anderson, R.

    Applications of pultrusion-formed fiber-reinforced plastics (FRP) in the wind, oil, and coal derived energy industries are reviewed. FRP is noted to be a viable alternative to wood, aluminum, and steel for reasons of availability, price, and weight. Attention is given to the development of FRP wind turbine blades for the DOE 8 kW low cost, high reliability wind turbine program. The blades feature a NACA 23112 profile with a 15 in. chord on the system which was tested at Rocky Flats, CO. Fabricating the blades involved a plus and minus 45 deg roving orientation, a heavy fiber-glass nose piece to assure blade strength, and a separately manufactured foam core. Additional uses for FRP products have been found in the structural members of coal stack scrubbers using a vinyl ester resin in a fire retardant formulation, and as low cost, light weight sucker rods for deep well oil drilling.

  20. Recycling of packing plastics

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Gintenreiter-Koegl, S.

    2001-05-01

    The ordinance on the avoidance of packaging waste was a serious intervention in the public and private waste management in Austria. Above all the high expenses for an overall packaging waste collection and the recycling of packaging plastics were criticized. The landfill ordinance comes into force in 2004 and this means another major change in the Austrian waste management system. In the course of this change the overall collection and the recycling and recovery of waste streams, especially of the high caloric plastics waste, have to be discussed again. The goal of this work was on the one hand to develop and adapt the hydrocracking process for the recovery of mixed plastics waste and to show a possible application in Austria. On the other hand the work shows the technical, ecological and economical conditions for packaging plastics recycling and recovery in order to find optimum applications for the processes and to examine their contribution to a sustainable development. A hydrocracking test plant for the processing of mixed plastic wastes was built and had been running for about three years. The tests were carried out successfully and the suitability of the technology for the recovery of packaging plastics could be shown. Results show at least a 35 % yield of fuel. The hydrocracking technology is quite common in the oil industries and therefore an integration on a refinery site is suggested. (author)

  1. Development of a Surface Micromachined On-Chip Flat Disk Micropump

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    M. I. KILANI

    2009-08-01

    Full Text Available The paper presents research progress in the development of a surface micromachined flat disk micropump which employs the viscous and centrifugal effects acting on a layer of fluid sandwiched between a rotating flat disk and a stationary plate. The pump is fabricated monolithically on-chip using Sandia’s Ultraplanar Multilevel MEMS Technology (SUMMiT™ where an electrostatic comb-drive Torsional Ratcheting Actuator (TRA drives the flat disk through a geared transmission. The paper reviews available analytical models for flow geometries similar to that of the described pump, and presents a set of experiments which depict its performance and possible failure modes. Those experiments highlight future research directions in the development of electrostatically-actuated, CMOS-compatible, surface micromachined pumps.

  2. Influence of preliminary plastic deformation on plasticity characteristics and structure of armco-iron

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Vergazov, A.N.; Rybin, V.V.; Meshkov, Yu.Ya.; Moskvina, V.A.; Serditova, T.N.

    1990-01-01

    Effect of preliminary plastic deformation (PPD) by drawing on the maximum plasticity characteristics (critical rupture strain) ε c , general δ and uniform δ p relative elongation and on the structure of armco-iron in a wide range of PPD degree change (e=0-4.6) is studied. It is ascertained that with e growth the metal plastic properties at T test =77 and 293 K change in a different way. In particular, the critical strain ε c increases monotonously at 77 K and reduces at 293 K. It is shown that all changes of mechanical characteristics observed with e increase are conditioned by the development of fragmentation process in armco-iron. The data obtained are discussed from the veiwpoint of the developed plastic deformation physics concepts

  3. Plastic accumulation in the Mediterranean sea.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Andrés Cózar

    Full Text Available Concentrations of floating plastic were measured throughout the Mediterranean Sea to assess whether this basin can be regarded as a great accumulation region of plastic debris. We found that the average density of plastic (1 item per 4 m2, as well as its frequency of occurrence (100% of the sites sampled, are comparable to the accumulation zones described for the five subtropical ocean gyres. Plastic debris in the Mediterranean surface waters was dominated by millimeter-sized fragments, but showed a higher proportion of large plastic objects than that present in oceanic gyres, reflecting the closer connection with pollution sources. The accumulation of floating plastic in the Mediterranean Sea (between 1,000 and 3,000 tons is likely related to the high human pressure together with the hydrodynamics of this semi-enclosed basin, with outflow mainly occurring through a deep water layer. Given the biological richness and concentration of economic activities in the Mediterranean Sea, the affects of plastic pollution on marine and human life are expected to be particularly frequent in this plastic accumulation region.

  4. Plastic Accumulation in the Mediterranean Sea

    KAUST Repository

    Có zar, André s; Sanz-Martí n, Marina; Martí , Elisa; Gonzá lez-Gordillo, J. Ignacio; Ubeda, Bá rbara; Gá lvez, José Á .; Irigoien, Xabier; Duarte, Carlos M.

    2015-01-01

    Concentrations of floating plastic were measured throughout the Mediterranean Sea to assess whether this basin can be regarded as a great accumulation region of plastic debris. We found that the average density of plastic (1 item per 4 m2), as well as its frequency of occurrence (100% of the sites sampled), are comparable to the accumulation zones described for the five subtropical ocean gyres. Plastic debris in the Mediterranean surface waters was dominated by millimeter-sized fragments, but showed a higher proportion of large plastic objects than that present in oceanic gyres, reflecting the closer connection with pollution sources. The accumulation of floating plastic in the Mediterranean Sea (between 1,000 and 3,000 tons) is likely related to the high human pressure together with the hydrodynamics of this semi-enclosed basin, with outflow mainly occurring through a deep water layer. Given the biological richness and concentration of economic activities in the Mediterranean Sea, the affects of plastic pollution on marine and human life are expected to be particularly frequent in this plastic accumulation region.

  5. Nano-plastics in the aquatic environment.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Mattsson, K; Hansson, L-A; Cedervall, T

    2015-10-01

    The amount of plastics released to the environment in modern days has increased substantially since the development of modern plastics in the early 1900s. As a result, concerns have been raised by the public about the impact of plastics on nature and on, specifically, aquatic wildlife. Lately, much attention has been paid to macro- and micro-sized plastics and their impact on aquatic organisms. However, micro-sized plastics degrade subsequently into nano-sizes whereas nano-sized particles may be released directly into nature. Such particles have a different impact on aquatic organisms than larger pieces of plastic due to their small size, high surface curvature, and large surface area. This review describes the possible sources of nano-sized plastic, its distribution and behavior in nature, the impact of nano-sized plastic on the well-being of aquatic organisms, and the difference of impact between nano- and micro-sized particles. We also identify research areas which urgently need more attention and suggest experimental methods to obtain useful data.

  6. Integrating Hebbian and homeostatic plasticity: introduction.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Fox, Kevin; Stryker, Michael

    2017-03-05

    Hebbian plasticity is widely considered to be the mechanism by which information can be coded and retained in neurons in the brain. Homeostatic plasticity moves the neuron back towards its original state following a perturbation, including perturbations produced by Hebbian plasticity. How then does homeostatic plasticity avoid erasing the Hebbian coded information? To understand how plasticity works in the brain, and therefore to understand learning, memory, sensory adaptation, development and recovery from injury, requires development of a theory of plasticity that integrates both forms of plasticity into a whole. In April 2016, a group of computational and experimental neuroscientists met in London at a discussion meeting hosted by the Royal Society to identify the critical questions in the field and to frame the research agenda for the next steps. Here, we provide a brief introduction to the papers arising from the meeting and highlight some of the themes to have emerged from the discussions.This article is part of the themed issue 'Integrating Hebbian and homeostatic plasticity'. © 2017 The Author(s).

  7. Plastic Accumulation in the Mediterranean Sea

    KAUST Repository

    Cózar, Andrés

    2015-04-01

    Concentrations of floating plastic were measured throughout the Mediterranean Sea to assess whether this basin can be regarded as a great accumulation region of plastic debris. We found that the average density of plastic (1 item per 4 m2), as well as its frequency of occurrence (100% of the sites sampled), are comparable to the accumulation zones described for the five subtropical ocean gyres. Plastic debris in the Mediterranean surface waters was dominated by millimeter-sized fragments, but showed a higher proportion of large plastic objects than that present in oceanic gyres, reflecting the closer connection with pollution sources. The accumulation of floating plastic in the Mediterranean Sea (between 1,000 and 3,000 tons) is likely related to the high human pressure together with the hydrodynamics of this semi-enclosed basin, with outflow mainly occurring through a deep water layer. Given the biological richness and concentration of economic activities in the Mediterranean Sea, the affects of plastic pollution on marine and human life are expected to be particularly frequent in this plastic accumulation region.

  8. Plastic accumulation in the Mediterranean sea.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Cózar, Andrés; Sanz-Martín, Marina; Martí, Elisa; González-Gordillo, J Ignacio; Ubeda, Bárbara; Gálvez, José Á; Irigoien, Xabier; Duarte, Carlos M

    2015-01-01

    Concentrations of floating plastic were measured throughout the Mediterranean Sea to assess whether this basin can be regarded as a great accumulation region of plastic debris. We found that the average density of plastic (1 item per 4 m2), as well as its frequency of occurrence (100% of the sites sampled), are comparable to the accumulation zones described for the five subtropical ocean gyres. Plastic debris in the Mediterranean surface waters was dominated by millimeter-sized fragments, but showed a higher proportion of large plastic objects than that present in oceanic gyres, reflecting the closer connection with pollution sources. The accumulation of floating plastic in the Mediterranean Sea (between 1,000 and 3,000 tons) is likely related to the high human pressure together with the hydrodynamics of this semi-enclosed basin, with outflow mainly occurring through a deep water layer. Given the biological richness and concentration of economic activities in the Mediterranean Sea, the affects of plastic pollution on marine and human life are expected to be particularly frequent in this plastic accumulation region.

  9. Plastic Accumulation in the Mediterranean Sea

    Science.gov (United States)

    Cózar, Andrés; Sanz-Martín, Marina; Martí, Elisa; González-Gordillo, J. Ignacio; Ubeda, Bárbara; Gálvez, José Á.; Irigoien, Xabier; Duarte, Carlos M.

    2015-01-01

    Concentrations of floating plastic were measured throughout the Mediterranean Sea to assess whether this basin can be regarded as a great accumulation region of plastic debris. We found that the average density of plastic (1 item per 4 m2), as well as its frequency of occurrence (100% of the sites sampled), are comparable to the accumulation zones described for the five subtropical ocean gyres. Plastic debris in the Mediterranean surface waters was dominated by millimeter-sized fragments, but showed a higher proportion of large plastic objects than that present in oceanic gyres, reflecting the closer connection with pollution sources. The accumulation of floating plastic in the Mediterranean Sea (between 1,000 and 3,000 tons) is likely related to the high human pressure together with the hydrodynamics of this semi-enclosed basin, with outflow mainly occurring through a deep water layer. Given the biological richness and concentration of economic activities in the Mediterranean Sea, the affects of plastic pollution on marine and human life are expected to be particularly frequent in this plastic accumulation region. PMID:25831129

  10. Americium behaviour in plastic vessels

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Legarda, F.; Herranz, M. [Departamento de Ingenieria Nuclear y Mecanica de Fluidos, Escuela Tecnica Superior de Ingenieria de Bilbao, Universidad del Pais Vasco (UPV/EHU), Alameda de Urquijo s/n, 48013 Bilbao (Spain); Idoeta, R., E-mail: raquel.idoeta@ehu.e [Departamento de Ingenieria Nuclear y Mecanica de Fluidos, Escuela Tecnica Superior de Ingenieria de Bilbao, Universidad del Pais Vasco (UPV/EHU), Alameda de Urquijo s/n, 48013 Bilbao (Spain); Abelairas, A. [Departamento de Ingenieria Nuclear y Mecanica de Fluidos, Escuela Tecnica Superior de Ingenieria de Bilbao, Universidad del Pais Vasco (UPV/EHU), Alameda de Urquijo s/n, 48013 Bilbao (Spain)

    2010-07-15

    The adsorption of {sup 241}Am dissolved in water in different plastic storage vessels was determined. Three different plastics were investigated with natural and distilled waters and the retention of {sup 241}Am by these plastics was studied. The same was done by varying vessel agitation time, vessel agitation speed, surface/volume ratio of water in the vessels and water pH. Adsorptions were measured to be between 0% and 70%. The adsorption of {sup 241}Am is minimized with no water agitation, with PET or PVC plastics, and by water acidification.

  11. Americium behaviour in plastic vessels

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Legarda, F.; Herranz, M.; Idoeta, R.; Abelairas, A.

    2010-01-01

    The adsorption of 241 Am dissolved in water in different plastic storage vessels was determined. Three different plastics were investigated with natural and distilled waters and the retention of 241 Am by these plastics was studied. The same was done by varying vessel agitation time, vessel agitation speed, surface/volume ratio of water in the vessels and water pH. Adsorptions were measured to be between 0% and 70%. The adsorption of 241 Am is minimized with no water agitation, with PET or PVC plastics, and by water acidification.

  12. Remediation of the Maxey Flats Site

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    1990-01-01

    This report describes issues associated with remedial action of Maxey Flats, a low-level radioactive waste disposal site from 1963-1977, located in Fleming County, Kentucky. Present remedial action alternatives being considered are discussed along with emergency plans, ground water monitoring plans, and budgets

  13. Random source generating far field with elliptical flat-topped beam profile

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Zhang, Yongtao; Cai, Yangjian

    2014-01-01

    Circular and rectangular multi-Gaussian Schell-model (MGSM) sources which generate far fields with circular and rectangular flat-topped beam profiles were introduced just recently (Sahin and Korotkova 2012 Opt. Lett. 37 2970; Korotkova 2014 Opt. Lett. 39 64). In this paper, a random source named an elliptical MGSM source is introduced. An analytical expression for the propagation factor of an elliptical MGSM beam is derived. Furthermore, an analytical propagation formula for an elliptical MGSM beam passing through a stigmatic ABCD optical system is derived, and its propagation properties in free space are studied. It is interesting to find that an elliptical MGSM source generates a far field with an elliptical flat-topped beam profile, being qualitatively different from that of circular and rectangular MGSM sources. The ellipticity and the flatness of the elliptical flat-topped beam profile in the far field are determined by the initial coherence widths and the beam index, respectively. (paper)

  14. The Flat Tax in Central Europe: Slovakia and the Czech Republic in Comparative Perspective

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Joseph Michael Ellis

    2011-03-01

    Full Text Available Why and how have Slovakia and the Czech Republic adopted flat tax policies? That is what this paper answers. This is a curious development given that flat tax policies were noticeably absent from the landscape of most of the world, including Eastern Europe. I argue that two simultaneous processes occur that make adoption viable.  First, at the domestic level, the idea of the flat tax is held in esteem by a number of actors, specifically: elite carriers, tax and financial ministers, think tanks and right-wing political parties. They champion this idea to its adoption, or at the least, introduce the flat tax into the policy-making apparatus. Second, at the international level, policy diffusion of the flat tax takes place. In other words, the experience of previous adopters impacts the decisions of future adopters. Examining both cognitive heuristics theory and rational learning I argue that there are “varieties of diffusion” during the diffusion of the flat tax.

  15. Sustainable reverse logistics for household plastic waste

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Bing, X.

    2014-01-01

    Summary of the thesis titled “Sustainable Reverse Logistics for Household Plastic Waste”

    PhD Candidate: Xiaoyun Bing

    Recycled plastic can be used in the manufacturing of plastic products to reduce the use of virgin plastics material. The cost of recycled plastics is usually lower

  16. Engineering flat electronic bands in quasiperiodic and fractal loop geometries

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Nandy, Atanu, E-mail: atanunandy1989@gmail.com; Chakrabarti, Arunava, E-mail: arunava_chakrabarti@yahoo.co.in

    2015-11-06

    Exact construction of one electron eigenstates with flat, non-dispersive bands, and localized over clusters of various sizes is reported for a class of quasi-one-dimensional looped networks. Quasiperiodic Fibonacci and Berker fractal geometries are embedded in the arms of the loop threaded by a uniform magnetic flux. We work out an analytical scheme to unravel the localized single particle states pinned at various atomic sites or over clusters of them. The magnetic field is varied to control, in a subtle way, the extent of localization and the location of the flat band states in energy space. In addition to this we show that an appropriate tuning of the field can lead to a re-entrant behavior of the effective mass of the electron in a band, with a periodic flip in its sign. - Highlights: • Exact construction of eigenstates with flat and dispersive bands is reported. • Competition between translational order and growth of aperiodicity is discussed. • The effect of magnetic field on the location of flat band states is shown. • Flux tunable re-entrant behavior of the effective mass of electron is studied.

  17. Size effects in crystal plasticity

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Borg, Ulrik

    2007-01-01

    Numerical analyses of plasticity size effects have been carried out for different problems using a developed strain gradient crystal plasticiy theory. The theory employs higher order stresses as work conjugates to slip gradients and uses higher order boundary conditions. Problems on localization...... of plastic flow in a single crystal, grain boundary effects in a bicrystal, and grain size effects in a polycrystal are studied. Single crystals containing micro-scale voids have also been analyzed at different loading conditions with focus on the stress and deformation fields around the voids, on void...... growth and interaction between neighboring voids, and on a comparison between the developed strain gradient crystal plasticity theory and a discrete dislocation plasticity theory. Furthermore, voids and rigid inclusions in isotropic materials have been studied using a strain gradient plasticity theory...

  18. Benchmarking and performance improvement at Rocky Flats Technology Site

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Elliott, C.; Doyle, G.; Featherman, W.L.

    1997-03-01

    The Rocky Flats Environmental Technology Site has initiated a major work process improvement campaign using the tools of formalized benchmarking and streamlining. This paper provides insights into some of the process improvement activities performed at Rocky Flats from November 1995 through December 1996. It reviews the background, motivation, methodology, results, and lessons learned from this ongoing effort. The paper also presents important gains realized through process analysis and improvement including significant cost savings, productivity improvements, and an enhanced understanding of site work processes

  19. The influence of groundwater depth on coastal dune development at sand flats close to inlets

    Science.gov (United States)

    Silva, Filipe Galiforni; Wijnberg, Kathelijne M.; de Groot, Alma V.; Hulscher, Suzanne J. M. H.

    2018-05-01

    A cellular automata model is used to analyze the effects of groundwater levels and sediment supply on aeolian dune development occurring on sand flats close to inlets. The model considers, in a schematized and probabilistic way, aeolian transport processes, groundwater influence, vegetation development, and combined effects of waves and tides that can both erode and accrete the sand flat. Next to three idealized cases, a sand flat adjoining the barrier island of Texel, the Netherlands, was chosen as a case study. Elevation data from 18 annual LIDAR surveys was used to characterize sand flat and dune development. Additionally, a field survey was carried out to map the spatial variation in capillary fringe depth across the sand flat. Results show that for high groundwater situations, sediment supply became limited inducing formation of Coppice-like dunes, even though aeolian losses were regularly replenished by marine import during sand flat flooding. Long dune rows developed for high sediment supply scenarios which occurred for deep groundwater levels. Furthermore, a threshold depth appears to exist at which the groundwater level starts to affect dune development on the inlet sand flat. The threshold can vary spatially depending on external conditions such as topography. On sand flats close to inlets, groundwater is capable of introducing spatial variability in dune growth, which is consistent with dune development patterns found on the Texel sand flat.

  20. Elongated grains in cube textured nickel substrate tapes and flat wires

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Eickemeyer, J; Gueth, A; Holzapfel, B

    2008-01-01

    Cube textured nickel substrate tapes and flat wires with an increased grain aspect ratio were prepared from nickel micro-alloyed with silver plus yttrium and silver, respectively. Whereas the maximum grain aspect ratio for the tapes was about 6, this value reached up to 14 for the flat wires

  1. Comparative Transcriptome and Microscopy Analyses Provide Insights into Flat Shape Formation in Peach (Prunus persica

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Jian Guo

    2018-01-01

    Full Text Available Fruit shape is an important external characteristic that consumers use to select preferred fruit cultivars. In peach, the flat fruit cultivars have become more and more popular worldwide. Genetic markers closely linking to the flat fruit trait have been identified and are useful for marker-assisted breeding. However, the cellular and genetic mechanisms underpinning flat fruit formation are still poorly understood. In this study, we have revealed the differences in fruit cell number, cell size, and in gene expression pattern between the traditional round fruit and modern flat fruit cultivars. Flat peach cultivars possessed significantly lower number of cells in the vertical axis because cell division in the vertical direction stopped early in the flat fruit cultivars at 15 DAFB (day after full bloom than in round fruit cultivars at 35 DAFB. This resulted in the reduction in vertical development in the flat fruit. Significant linear relationship was observed between fruit vertical diameter and cell number in vertical axis for the four examined peach cultivars (R2 = 0.9964 at maturation stage, and was also observed between fruit vertical diameter and fruit weight (R2 = 0.9605, which indicated that cell number in vertical direction contributed to the flat shape formation. Furthermore, in RNA-seq analysis, 4165 differentially expressed genes (DEGs were detected by comparing RNA-seq data between flat and round peach cultivars at different fruit development stages. In contrast to previous studies, we discovered 28 candidate genes potentially responsible for the flat shape formation, including 19 located in the mapping site and 9 downstream genes. Our study indicates that flat and round fruit shape in peach is primarily determined by the regulation of cell production in the vertical direction during early fruit development.

  2. Fecal-tagging CT colonography with structure-analysis electronic cleansing for detection of colorectal flat lesions

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Xu, Yonghua; Cai, Wenli; Nappi, Janne; Yoshida, Hiro

    2012-01-01

    Purpose: To evaluate the feasibility and sensitivity of the 3D-reading of fecal-tagging CT colonography (CTC) with a novel structure-analysis electronic cleansing (SAEC) in detecting colorectal flat lesions in comparison with a cleansed 3D reading with Viatronix V3D Colon system (V3D) and primary uncleansed 2D reading (2D). Materials and methods: Forty CTC cases with flat lesions were retrospectively observed. The Subjects from a multicenter clinical trial underwent cathartic bowel preparation with orally administrated barium-based fecal-tagging. Sixty-nine flat lesions were confirmed using colonoscopy and histopathology as a reference standard. The results from SAEC reading were compared with those of prospective V3D and 2D readings. Results: Overall detection sensitivity with SAEC was 52% (36/69), which was statistically higher than that of 32% (22/69) and 29% (20/69) with V3D and 2D readings, respectively (p < 0.05). The sensitivities in detecting not-on-fold flat lesions were 63% (24/38), 45% (17/38), and 42% (16/38) with SAEC, V3D, and 2D readings, respectively; whereas those of on-fold flat lesions were 39% (12/31), 16% (5/31), and 13% (4/31), respectively. None of the eight flat lesions (2-9 mm) at cecum was detected by any of the three reading methods. Excluding the flat lesions at cecum, the sensitivity with SAEC for detecting flat lesion ≥4 mm increased to 84% (31/37). Conclusions: The fecal-tagging CTC with structure-analysis electronic cleansing could yield a high sensitivity for detecting flat lesions ≥4 mm. The not-on-fold flat lesions were detected with higher sensitivity than on-fold flat lesions.

  3. SYNTHESIS AND CHARACTERIZATION OF BIODEGRDABLE PLASTIC FROM CASAVA STARCH AND ALOE VERA EXTRACT WITH GLYCEROL PLASTICIZER

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Mery Apriyani

    2016-05-01

    Full Text Available Synthesis and characterizations of Biodegradable Plastic made of Cassava Waste Starch, glycerol, acetic acid and Aloe vera extract has done. The aims of this research are to study the influence of addition of aloe vera extract in plastics mechanics properties, water vapor transmission rate and biodegradation. There are five main steps in this research, extraction of aloe vera, cassava starch preparation from cassava waste, preparations, characterization and biodegradability study of biodegradable plastic. The addition variations of aloe vera extract that used in this research are 0.01; 0.03; 0.05; 0.07 and 0.14 grams. Results showed that the addition of aloe Vera tends to increased biodegrable plastic thickness to 0.01 mm and elongation to 32.07%. However, biodegradable plastic tensile strength tends to decreased to 23.95 Mpa. Optimum tensile strength is 3.90 Mpa and elongation is 34.43%. Optimum water vapor transmission rate is 2.40 g/m2hours. Biodegradation study of biodegradable plastic showed that addition of aloe vera extract doesn’t significantly influence in plastic degradations.

  4. Development of a highly maneuverable unmanned underwater vehicle on the basis of quad-copter dynamics

    Science.gov (United States)

    Amin, Osman Md; Karim, Md. Arshadul; Saad, Abdullah His

    2017-12-01

    At present, research on unmanned underwater vehicle (UUV) has become a significant & familiar topic for researchers from various engineering fields. UUV is of mainly two types - AUV (Autonomous Underwater vehicle) & ROV (Remotely Operated Vehicle). There exist a significant number of published research papers on UUV, where very few researchers emphasize on the ease of maneuvering and control of UUV. Maneuvering is important for underwater vehicle in avoiding obstacles, installing underwater piping system, searching undersea resources, underwater mine disposal operations, oceanographic surveys etc. A team from Dept. of Naval Architecture & Marine Engineering of MIST has taken a project to design a highly maneuverable unmanned underwater vehicle on the basis of quad-copter dynamics. The main objective of the research is to develop a control system for UUV which would be able to maneuver the vehicle in six DOF (Degrees of Freedom) with great ease. For this purpose we are not only focusing on controllability but also designing an efficient hull with minimal drag force & optimized propeller using CFD technique. Motors were selected on the basis of the simulated thrust generated by propellers in ANSYS Fluent software module. Settings for control parameters to carry out different types of maneuvering such as hovering, spiral, one point rotation about its centroid, gliding, rolling, drifting and zigzag motions were explained in short at the end.

  5. Map of mixed prairie grassland vegetation, Rocky Flats, Colorado

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Clark, S J.V.; Webber, P J; Komarkova, V; Weber, W A

    1980-01-01

    A color vegetation map at the scale of 1:12,000 of the area surrounding the Rocky Flats, Rockwell International Plant near Boulder, Colorado, provides a permanent record of baseline data which can be used to monitor changes in both vegetation and environment and thus to contribute to future land management and land-use policies. Sixteen mapping units based on species composition were identified, and characterized by two 10-m/sup 2/ vegetation stands each. These were grouped into prairie, pasture, and valley side on the basis of their species composition. Both the mapping units and these major groups were later confirmed by agglomerative clustering analysis of the 32 vegetation stands on the basis of species composition. A modified Bray and Curtis ordination was used to determine the environmental factor complexes controlling the distribution of vegetation at Rocky flats. Recommendations are made for future policies of environmental management and predictions of the response to environmental change of the present vegetation at the Rocky Flats site.

  6. Cosmological consequences of supersymmetric flat directions

    CERN Document Server

    Riva, Francesco; Sarkar, Subir; Giudice, Gian

    In this work we analyze various implications of the presence of large field vacum expectation values (VEVs) along supersymmetric flat direct ions during the early universe. First, we discuss supersymmetric leptogenesis and the grav itino bound. Supersym- metric thermal leptogenesis with a hierarchical right-han ded neutrino mass spectrum normally requires the mass of the lightest right-handed neu trino to be heavier than about 10 9 GeV. This is in conflict with the upper bound on the reheating t empera- ture which is found by imposing that the gravitinos generate d during the reheating stage after inflation do not jeopardize successful nucleosy nthesis. We show that a solution to this tension is actually already incorporated i n the framework, because of the presence of flat directions in the supersymmetric scalar potential. Massive right- handed neutrinos are efficiently produced non-thermally and the observed baryon asymmetry can be explained even for a reheating temperature respecting the grav- itino bound...

  7. A Flat World with Deep Fractures

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Emil Constantinescu

    2016-10-01

    Full Text Available The Internet manages to connect different parts of the world, defies geographical distances and gives the impression that our planet is flat, but the Internet is there only for the ones who have the possibility and the ability to use it. Our contemporary flat world has deep transversal fractures which, like in many geological structures, make a direct connection between layers with different characteristics. The elites are moving across information avenues with targets set in the future; at the same time, in many parts of our planet, there are people organizing their lives in pre-modern agrarian cycles. Diversity in ways of living and in social organization is a sign of human freedom, not a sign of error, so, having different alternatives to achieving prosperity and happiness should be good news. Holding dear to a society’s lifestyle should not push for the destruction of societies with different sets of values.

  8. 76 FR 37655 - Combined Mailings of Standard Mail and Periodicals Flats

    Science.gov (United States)

    2011-06-28

    ... Periodicals flats to be made using a minimum of six (6) pieces, as is currently permitted for Periodicals... Regulations to reflect that the Standard Mail service standards apply to all Periodicals flats pieces entered... for Standard Mail of 200 pieces or 50 pounds. Periodicals publications must be authorized or have a...

  9. Americium behaviour in plastic vessels.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Legarda, F; Herranz, M; Idoeta, R; Abelairas, A

    2010-01-01

    The adsorption of (241)Am dissolved in water in different plastic storage vessels was determined. Three different plastics were investigated with natural and distilled waters and the retention of (241)Am by these plastics was studied. The same was done by varying vessel agitation time, vessel agitation speed, surface/volume ratio of water in the vessels and water pH. Adsorptions were measured to be between 0% and 70%. The adsorption of (241)Am is minimized with no water agitation, with PET or PVC plastics, and by water acidification. Copyright 2009 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  10. Plastics control paraffin buildup

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    1965-06-01

    Paraffin buildup in producing oil wells has been virtually eliminated by the use of plastic-coated sucker rods. The payout of the plasticing process is generally reached in less than a year, and the paraffin buildup may be inhibited for 10 yr or longer. Most of the plants applying plastic coatings to sucker rods are now fully automated, though a few still offer the hand-sprayed coating that some operators prefer. The several steps involved are described. The ideal plastic for the job is resistant to chemicals at high and low temperatures, flexible, has good adhesion, abrasion resistance, impact resistance, and a smooth glossy finish. The phenol aldehyde and epoxy resins presently offered by the industry fulfill these specifications very well; the multicoating and multibaking techniques improve their performance. Due to wide variations in the severity of the paraffin problem from one oil field to another, there is no general rule to estimate the possible savings from using plastic-coated sucker rods. The process, however, does appear to do a remarkable job in controlling paraffin buildup wherever it is a problem in producing oil by pump.

  11. Plastics: Friend or foe?

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    O P Gupta

    2018-01-01

    Full Text Available Plastics has been playing a very significant role in our life. Being light weight, inexpensive and heving good insulating properties it is being used in all aspects of life, from clothes to contact lenses and from mobile phones to automobiles as well as in medical equipments, However it is not biodegradable, and while degrading to fragments it gets converted in to microplastics and nanoplastics The plastic waste is being recognized as an environmental hazard, since these micr- and nanoplastics find way from landfills to water and foods, It is said that we are not only using, but we are eating, drinking and even braething the plastics. These microplastics in body release certain hazardous chemicals and found to be disrupting functions of certain endocrine organs. Whether the rising prevalence of Diabetes, thyroid disorders or infirtility etc., are realated to the plastics?

  12. CMB spectra and bispectra calculations: making the flat-sky approximation rigorous

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Bernardeau, Francis; Pitrou, Cyril; Uzan, Jean-Philippe

    2011-01-01

    This article constructs flat-sky approximations in a controlled way in the context of the cosmic microwave background observations for the computation of both spectra and bispectra. For angular spectra, it is explicitly shown that there exists a whole family of flat-sky approximations of similar accuracy for which the expression and amplitude of next to leading order terms can be explicitly computed. It is noted that in this context two limiting cases can be encountered for which the expressions can be further simplified. They correspond to cases where either the sources are localized in a narrow region (thin-shell approximation) or are slowly varying over a large distance (which leads to the so-called Limber approximation). Applying this to the calculation of the spectra it is shown that, as long as the late integrated Sachs-Wolfe contribution is neglected, the flat-sky approximation at leading order is accurate at 1% level for any multipole. Generalization of this construction scheme to the bispectra led to the introduction of an alternative description of the bispectra for which the flat-sky approximation is well controlled. This is not the case for the usual description of the bispectrum in terms of reduced bispectrum for which a flat-sky approximation is proposed but the next-to-leading order terms of which remain obscure

  13. Recent advances in flat plate photovoltaic/thermal (PV/T) solar collectors

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Ibrahim, Adnan; Othman, Mohd Yusof; Ruslan, Mohd Hafidz; Mat, Sohif; Sopian, Kamaruzzaman [Solar Energy Research Institute Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia, 43600 Bangi, Selangor (Malaysia)

    2011-01-15

    Flat plate photovoltaic/thermal (PV/T) solar collector produces both thermal energy and electricity simultaneously. This paper presents the state-of-the-art on flat plate PV/T collector classification, design and performance evaluation of water, air and combination of water and/or air based. This review also covers the future development of flat plate PV/T solar collector on building integrated photovoltaic (BIPV) and building integrated photovoltaic/thermal (BIPVT) applications. Different designs feature and performance of flat plate PV/T solar collectors have been compared and discussed. Future research and development (R and D) works have been elaborated. The tube and sheet design is the simplest and easiest to be manufactured, even though, the efficiency is 2% lower compared to other types of collectors such as, channel, free flow and two-absorber. It is clear from the review that for both air and water based PV/T solar collectors, the important key factors that influenced the efficiency of the system are the area where the collector covered, the number of passes and the gap between the absorber collector and solar cells. From the literature review, it is obvious that the flat plate PV/T solar collector is an alternative promising system for low-energy applications in residential, industrial and commercial buildings. Other possible areas for the future works of BIPVT are also mentioned. (author)

  14. Interacting agegraphic dark energy models in non-flat universe

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Sheykhi, Ahmad

    2009-01-01

    A so-called 'agegraphic dark energy' was recently proposed to explain the dark energy-dominated universe. In this Letter, we generalize the agegraphic dark energy models to the universe with spatial curvature in the presence of interaction between dark matter and dark energy. We show that these models can accommodate w D =-1 crossing for the equation of state of dark energy. In the limiting case of a flat universe, i.e. k=0, all previous results of agegraphic dark energy in flat universe are restored.

  15. Digital radiography with large-area flat-panel detectors

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Kotter, E.; Langer, M.

    2002-01-01

    Large-area flat-panel detectors with active readout mechanisms have been on the market for the past 2 years. This article describes different detector technologies. An important distinction is made between detectors with direct and those with indirect conversion of X-rays into electrical charges. Detectors with indirect conversion are built with unstructured or structured scintillators, the latter resulting in less lateral diffusion of emitted light. Some important qualities of flat-panel detectors are discussed. The first phantom and clinical studies published report an image quality at least comparable to that of screen-film systems and a potential for dose reduction. The available studies are summarised in this article. (orig.)

  16. Two theorems on flat space-time gravitational theories

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Castagnino, M.; Chimento, L.

    1980-01-01

    The first theorem states that all flat space-time gravitational theories must have a Lagrangian with a first term that is an homogeneous (degree-1) function of the 4-velocity usup(i), plus a functional of nsub(ij)usup(i)usup(j). The second theorem states that all gravitational theories that satisfy the strong equivalence principle have a Lagrangian with a first term gsub(ij)(x)usup(i)usup(j) plus an irrelevant term. In both cases the theories must issue from a unique variational principle. Therefore, under this condition it is impossible to find a flat space-time theory that satisfies the strong equivalence principle. (author)

  17. Motor cortical plasticity in Parkinson's disease.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Udupa, Kaviraja; Chen, Robert

    2013-09-04

    In Parkinson's disease (PD), there are alterations of the basal ganglia (BG) thalamocortical networks, primarily due to degeneration of nigrostriatal dopaminergic neurons. These changes in subcortical networks lead to plastic changes in primary motor cortex (M1), which mediates cortical motor output and is a potential target for treatment of PD. Studies investigating the motor cortical plasticity using non-invasive transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) have found altered plasticity in PD, but there are inconsistencies among these studies. This is likely because plasticity depends on many factors such as the extent of dopaminergic loss and disease severity, response to dopaminergic replacement therapies, development of l-DOPA-induced dyskinesias (LID), the plasticity protocol used, medication, and stimulation status in patients treated with deep brain stimulation (DBS). The influences of LID and DBS on BG and M1 plasticity have been explored in animal models and in PD patients. In addition, many other factors such age, genetic factors (e.g., brain derived neurotropic factor and other neurotransmitters or receptors polymorphism), emotional state, time of the day, physical fitness have been documented to play role in the extent of plasticity induced by TMS in human studies. In this review, we summarize the studies that investigated M1 plasticity in PD and demonstrate how these afore-mentioned factors affect motor cortical plasticity in PD. We conclude that it is important to consider the clinical, demographic, and technical factors that influence various plasticity protocols while developing these protocols as diagnostic or prognostic tools in PD. We also discuss how the modulation of cortical excitability and the plasticity with these non-invasive brain stimulation techniques facilitate the understanding of the pathophysiology of PD and help design potential therapeutic possibilities in this disorder.

  18. Measure Guideline. Deep Energy Enclosure Retrofit for Zero Energy Ready House Flat Roofs

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Loomis, H. [Building Science Corporation, Westford, MA (United States); Pettit, B. [Building Science Corporation, Westford, MA (United States)

    2015-05-29

    This Measure Guideline provides design and construction information for a deep energy enclosure retrofit solution of a flat roof assembly. It describes the strategies and procedures for an exterior retrofit of a flat wood-framed roof with brick masonry exterior walls using exterior and interior (framing cavity) insulation. The approach supported in this guide could also be adapted for use with flat wood-framed roofs with wood-framed exterior walls.

  19. Measure Guideline: Deep Energy Enclosure Retrofit for Zero Energy Ready House Flat Roofs

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Loomis, H. [Building Science Corporation, Westford, MA (United States); Pettit, B. [Building Science Corporation, Westford, MA (United States)

    2015-05-01

    This Measure Guideline provides design and construction information for a deep energy enclosure retrofit (DEER) solution of a flat roof assembly. It describes the strategies and procedures for an exterior retrofit of a flat, wood-framed roof with brick masonry exterior walls, using exterior and interior (framing cavity) insulation. The approach supported in this guide could also be adapted for use with flat, wood-framed roofs with wood-framed exterior walls.

  20. Idaho National Engineering Laboratory code assessment of the Rocky Flats transuranic waste

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    NONE

    1995-07-01

    This report is an assessment of the content codes associated with transuranic waste shipped from the Rocky Flats Plant in Golden, Colorado, to INEL. The primary objective of this document is to characterize and describe the transuranic wastes shipped to INEL from Rocky Flats by item description code (IDC). This information will aid INEL in determining if the waste meets the waste acceptance criteria (WAC) of the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant (WIPP). The waste covered by this content code assessment was shipped from Rocky Flats between 1985 and 1989. These years coincide with the dates for information available in the Rocky Flats Solid Waste Information Management System (SWIMS). The majority of waste shipped during this time was certified to the existing WIPP WAC. This waste is referred to as precertified waste. Reassessment of these precertified waste containers is necessary because of changes in the WIPP WAC. To accomplish this assessment, the analytical and process knowledge available on the various IDCs used at Rocky Flats were evaluated. Rocky Flats sources for this information include employee interviews, SWIMS, Transuranic Waste Certification Program, Transuranic Waste Inspection Procedure, Backlog Waste Baseline Books, WIPP Experimental Waste Characterization Program (headspace analysis), and other related documents, procedures, and programs. Summaries are provided of: (a) certification information, (b) waste description, (c) generation source, (d) recovery method, (e) waste packaging and handling information, (f) container preparation information, (g) assay information, (h) inspection information, (i) analytical data, and (j) RCRA characterization.

  1. Flow over a traveling wavy foil with a passively flapping flat plate

    Science.gov (United States)

    Liu, Nansheng; Peng, Yan; Liang, Youwen; Lu, Xiyun

    2012-05-01

    Flow over a traveling wavy foil with a passively flapping flat plate has been investigated using a multiblock lattice Boltzmann equation and the immersed boundary method. The foil undergoes prescribed undulations in the lateral direction and the rigid flat plate has passive motion determined by the fluid structure interaction. This simplified model is used to study the effect of the fish caudal fin and its flexibility on the locomotion of swimming animals. The flexibility of the caudal fin is modeled by a torsion spring acting about the pivot at the conjuncture of the wavy foil and the flat plate. The study reveals that the passively oscillating flat plate contributes half of the propulsive force. The flexibility, represented by the nondimensional natural frequency F, plays a very important role in the movement and propulsive force generation of the whole body. When the plate is too flexible, the drag force is observed. As the flat plate becomes more rigid, the propulsive force that is generated when the undulation is confined to last part of the wavy foil becomes larger. The steady movement occurs at F=5. These results are consistent with the observations of some swimming animals in nature.

  2. A small flat fission chamber

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Li Yijun; Wang Dalun; Chen Suhe

    1999-01-01

    With fission materials of depleted uranium, natural uranium, enriched uranium, 239 Pu, and 237 Np, the authors have designed and made a series of small flat fission chamber. The authors narrated the construction of the fission chamber and its technological process of manufacture, and furthermore, the authors have measured and discussed the follow correct factor, self-absorption, boundary effect, threshold loss factor, bottom scatter and or so

  3. Flat space physics from holography

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Bousso, Raphael

    2004-01-01

    We point out that aspects of quantum mechanics can be derived from the holographic principle, using only a perturbative limit of classical general relativity. In flat space, the covariant entropy bound reduces to the Bekenstein bound. The latter does not contain Newton's constant and cannot operate via gravitational back reaction. Instead, it is protected by - and in this sense, predicts - the Heisenberg uncertainty principle. (author)

  4. Process for remediation of plastic waste

    Science.gov (United States)

    Pol, Vilas G [Westmont, IL; Thiyagarajan, Pappannan [Germantown, MD

    2012-04-10

    A single step process for degrading plastic waste by converting the plastic waste into carbonaceous products via thermal decomposition of the plastic waste by placing the plastic waste into a reactor, heating the plastic waste under an inert or air atmosphere until the temperature of 700.degree. C. is achieved, allowing the reactor to cool down, and recovering the resulting decomposition products therefrom. The decomposition products that this process yields are carbonaceous materials, and more specifically egg-shaped and spherical-shaped solid carbons. Additionally, in the presence of a transition metal compound, this thermal decomposition process produces multi-walled carbon nanotubes.

  5. DESIGNERS’ KNOWLEDGE IN PLASTICS

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Eriksen, Kaare

    2013-01-01

    The Industrial designers’ knowledge in plastics materials and manufacturing principles of polymer products is very important for the innovative strength of the industry, according to a group of Danish plastics manufacturers, design students and practicing industrial designers. These three groups ...

  6. Development of electromagnetic welding facility of flat plates for nuclear industry

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Kumar, Rajesh; Sahoo, Subhanarayan; Sarkar, Biswanath; Shyam, Anurag

    2015-01-01

    Electromagnetic pulse welding (EMPW) process, one of high speed welding process uses electromagnetic force from discharged current through working coil, which develops a repulsive force between the induced current flowing parallel and in opposite direction. For achieving the successful weldment using this process the design of working coil is the most important factor due to high magnetic field on surface of work piece. In case of high quality flat plate welding factors such as impact velocity, angle of impact standoff distance, thickness of flyer and overlap length have to be chosen carefully. All the parameters should be optimized because above or below the optimized value, it is impossible to get high quality welding of flat components. Electromagnetic pulse welding of flat components has been studied in detail by many researches due to its advantages of increased formability and reduced spring back than other welding methods. The feasibility of electromagnetic welding of sheets has been established, but the effect of process parameters on the weld quality has not been justified properly. The present study investigates the effect of parameters on welding quality of flat sheets, which has wide applications in nuclear industry, automotive industry, aerospace, electrical industries. However formability and weld ability still remain major issues. The EMPW process for flat sheets and axi-symmetric components has been studied in details by many researchers. Due to ease in controlling the magnetic field enveloped inside tubes, the EMPW has been widely used for tube welding. In case of flat components control of magnetic field is difficult. Hence the application of EMPW gets restricted. The present work attempts to make a novel contribution by investigating the effect of process parameters on welding quality. The work emphasizes the approaches and engineering calculations required to effectively use of actuator in EMPW. (author)

  7. Grain Interactions in Crystal Plasticity

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Boyle, K.P.; Curtin, W.A.

    2005-01-01

    The plastic response of a sheet metal is governed by the collective response of the underlying grains. Intragranular plasticity depends on intrinsic variables such as crystallographic orientation and on extrinsic variables such as grain interactions; however, the role of the latter is not well understood. A finite element crystal plasticity formulation is used to investigate the importance of grain interactions on intragranular plastic deformation in initially untextured polycrystalline aggregates. A statistical analysis reveals that grain interactions are of equal (or more) importance for determining the average intragranular deviations from the applied strain as compared to the orientation of the grain itself. Furthermore, the influence of the surrounding grains is found to extend past nearest neighbor interactions. It is concluded that the stochastic nature of the mesoscale environment must be considered for a proper understanding of the plastic response of sheet metals at the grain-scale

  8. Degradation of oxo-biodegradable plastic by Pleurotus ostreatus.

    Science.gov (United States)

    da Luz, José Maria Rodrigues; Paes, Sirlaine Albino; Nunes, Mateus Dias; da Silva, Marliane de Cássia Soares; Kasuya, Maria Catarina Megumi

    2013-01-01

    Growing concerns regarding the impact of the accumulation of plastic waste over several decades on the environmental have led to the development of biodegradable plastic. These plastics can be degraded by microorganisms and absorbed by the environment and are therefore gaining public support as a possible alternative to petroleum-derived plastics. Among the developed biodegradable plastics, oxo-biodegradable polymers have been used to produce plastic bags. Exposure of this waste plastic to ultraviolet light (UV) or heat can lead to breakage of the polymer chains in the plastic, and the resulting compounds are easily degraded by microorganisms. However, few studies have characterized the microbial degradation of oxo-biodegradable plastics. In this study, we tested the capability of Pleurotus ostreatus to degrade oxo-biodegradable (D2W) plastic without prior physical treatment, such as exposure to UV or thermal heating. After 45 d of incubation in substrate-containing plastic bags, the oxo-biodegradable plastic, which is commonly used in supermarkets, developed cracks and small holes in the plastic surface as a result of the formation of hydroxyl groups and carbon-oxygen bonds. These alterations may be due to laccase activity. Furthermore, we observed the degradation of the dye found in these bags as well as mushroom formation. Thus, P. ostreatus degrades oxo-biodegradable plastics and produces mushrooms using this plastic as substrate.

  9. Degradation of oxo-biodegradable plastic by Pleurotus ostreatus.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    José Maria Rodrigues da Luz

    Full Text Available Growing concerns regarding the impact of the accumulation of plastic waste over several decades on the environmental have led to the development of biodegradable plastic. These plastics can be degraded by microorganisms and absorbed by the environment and are therefore gaining public support as a possible alternative to petroleum-derived plastics. Among the developed biodegradable plastics, oxo-biodegradable polymers have been used to produce plastic bags. Exposure of this waste plastic to ultraviolet light (UV or heat can lead to breakage of the polymer chains in the plastic, and the resulting compounds are easily degraded by microorganisms. However, few studies have characterized the microbial degradation of oxo-biodegradable plastics. In this study, we tested the capability of Pleurotus ostreatus to degrade oxo-biodegradable (D2W plastic without prior physical treatment, such as exposure to UV or thermal heating. After 45 d of incubation in substrate-containing plastic bags, the oxo-biodegradable plastic, which is commonly used in supermarkets, developed cracks and small holes in the plastic surface as a result of the formation of hydroxyl groups and carbon-oxygen bonds. These alterations may be due to laccase activity. Furthermore, we observed the degradation of the dye found in these bags as well as mushroom formation. Thus, P. ostreatus degrades oxo-biodegradable plastics and produces mushrooms using this plastic as substrate.

  10. Degradation of Oxo-Biodegradable Plastic by Pleurotus ostreatus

    Science.gov (United States)

    da Luz, José Maria Rodrigues; Paes, Sirlaine Albino; Nunes, Mateus Dias; da Silva, Marliane de Cássia Soares; Kasuya, Maria Catarina Megumi

    2013-01-01

    Growing concerns regarding the impact of the accumulation of plastic waste over several decades on the environmental have led to the development of biodegradable plastic. These plastics can be degraded by microorganisms and absorbed by the environment and are therefore gaining public support as a possible alternative to petroleum-derived plastics. Among the developed biodegradable plastics, oxo-biodegradable polymers have been used to produce plastic bags. Exposure of this waste plastic to ultraviolet light (UV) or heat can lead to breakage of the polymer chains in the plastic, and the resulting compounds are easily degraded by microorganisms. However, few studies have characterized the microbial degradation of oxo-biodegradable plastics. In this study, we tested the capability of Pleurotus ostreatus to degrade oxo-biodegradable (D2W) plastic without prior physical treatment, such as exposure to UV or thermal heating. After 45 d of incubation in substrate-containing plastic bags, the oxo-biodegradable plastic, which is commonly used in supermarkets, developed cracks and small holes in the plastic surface as a result of the formation of hydroxyl groups and carbon-oxygen bonds. These alterations may be due to laccase activity. Furthermore, we observed the degradation of the dye found in these bags as well as mushroom formation. Thus, P. ostreatus degrades oxo-biodegradable plastics and produces mushrooms using this plastic as substrate. PMID:23967057

  11. Desorption modeling of hydrophobic organic chemicals from plastic sheets using experimentally determined diffusion coefficients in plastics.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lee, Hwang; Byun, Da-Eun; Kim, Ju Min; Kwon, Jung-Hwan

    2018-01-01

    To evaluate rate of migration from plastic debris, desorption of model hydrophobic organic chemicals (HOCs) from polyethylene (PE)/polypropylene (PP) films to water was measured using PE/PP films homogeneously loaded with the HOCs. The HOCs fractions remaining in the PE/PP films were compared with those predicted using a model characterized by the mass transfer Biot number. The experimental data agreed with the model simulation, indicating that HOCs desorption from plastic particles can generally be described by the model. For hexachlorocyclohexanes with lower plastic-water partition coefficients, desorption was dominated by diffusion in the plastic film, whereas desorption of chlorinated benzenes with higher partition coefficients was determined by diffusion in the aqueous boundary layer. Evaluation of the fraction of HOCs remaining in plastic films with respect to film thickness and desorption time showed that the partition coefficient between plastic and water is the most important parameter influencing the desorption half-life. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  12. Friction of hydrogels with controlled surface roughness on solid flat substrates.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Yashima, Shintaro; Takase, Natsuko; Kurokawa, Takayuki; Gong, Jian Ping

    2014-05-14

    This study investigated the effect of hydrogel surface roughness on its sliding friction against a solid substrate having modestly adhesive interaction with hydrogels under small normal pressure in water. The friction test was performed between bulk polyacrylamide hydrogels of varied surface roughness and a smooth glass substrate by using a strain-controlled rheometer with parallel-plates geometry. At small pressure (normal strain 1.4-3.6%), the flat surface gel showed a poor reproducibility in friction. In contrast, the gels with a surface roughness of 1-10 μm order showed well reproducible friction behaviors and their frictional stress was larger than that of the flat surface hydrogel. Furthermore, the flat gel showed an elasto-hydrodynamic transition while the rough gels showed a monotonous decrease of friction with velocity. The difference between the flat surface and the rough surface diminished with the increase of the normal pressure. These phenomena are associated with the different contact behaviors of these soft hydrogels in liquid, as revealed by the observation of the interface using a confocal laser microscope.

  13. Design and analysis of all-dielectric subwavelength focusing flat lens

    Science.gov (United States)

    Turduev, M.; Bor, E.; Kurt, H.

    2017-09-01

    In this letter, we numerically designed and experimentally demonstrated a compact photonic structure for the subwavelength focusing of light using all-dielectric absorption-free and nonmagnetic scattering objects distributed in an air medium. In order to design the subwavelength focusing flat lens, an evolutionary algorithm is combined with the finite-difference time-domain method for determining the locations of cylindrical scatterers. During the multi-objective optimization process, a specific objective function is defined to reduce the full width at half maximum (FWHM) and diminish side lobe level (SLL) values of light at the focal point. The time-domain response of the optimized flat lens exhibits subwavelength light focusing with an FWHM value of 0.19λ and an SLL value of 0.23, where λ denotes the operating wavelength of light. Experimental analysis of the proposed flat lens is conducted in a microwave regime and findings exactly verify the numerical results with an FWHM of 0.192λ and an SLL value of 0.311 at the operating frequency of 5.42 GHz. Moreover, the designed flat lens provides a broadband subwavelength focusing effect with a 9% bandwidth covering frequency range of 5.10 GHz-5.58 GHz, where corresponding FWHM values remain under 0.21λ. Also, it is important to note that the designed flat lens structure performs a line focusing effect. Possible applications of the designed structure in telecom wavelengths are speculated upon for future perspectives. Namely, the designed structure can perform well in photonic integrated circuits for different fields of applications such as high efficiency light coupling, imaging and optical microscopy, with its compact size and ability for strong focusing.

  14. Liquid crystal displays with plastic substrates

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lueder, Ernst H.

    1998-04-01

    Plastic substrates for the cells of displays exhibit only 1/6 of the weight of glass substrates; they are virtually unbreakable; their flexibility allows the designer to give them a shape suppressing reflections, to realize a display board on a curved surface or meeting the requirements for an appealing styling; displays with plastics are thinner which provides a wider viewing angle. These features render them attractive for displays in portable systems such as mobile phones, pagers, smart cards, personal digital assistants (PDAs) and portable computers. Reflective displays are especially attractive as they don't need a back light. The most important requirements are the protection of plastics against gas permeation and chemical agents, the prevention of layers on plastics to crack or peel off when the plastic is bent and the development of low temperature thin film processes because the plastics, as a rule, only tolerate temperatures below 150 degrees Celsius. Bistable reflective FLC- and PSCT-displays with plastic substrates will be introduced. Special sputtered SiO2-orientation layers preserve the displayed information even if pressure or torsion is applied. MIM-addressed PDLC-displays require additional Al- or Ti-layers which provide the necessary ductility. Sputtered or PECVD-generated TFTs can be fabricated on plastics at temperatures below 150 degrees Celsius.

  15. Radiological/Health physics program assessement at Rocky Flats, the process

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Psomas, P.O.

    1996-01-01

    The Department of Energy, Rocky Flats Office, Safety and Health Group, Health Physics Team (HPT) is responsible for oversight of the Radiation Protection and Health Physics Program (RPHP) of the Integrating Management Contractor (IMC), Kaiser-Hill (K-H) operations at the Rocky Flats Environmental Technology Site (RFETS). As of 1 January 1996 the Rocky Flats Plant employed 300 DOE and 4,300 contractor personnel (K-H and their subcontractors). WSI is a subcontractor and provides plant security. To accomplish the RPHP program oversight HPT personnel developed a systematic methodology for performing a functional RPHP Assessment. The initial process included development of a flow diagram identifying all programmatic elements and assessment criteria documents. Formulation of plans for conducting interviews and performance of assessments constituted the second major effort. The generation of assessment reports was the final step, based on the results of this process. This assessment will be a 6 person-year effort, over the next three years. This process is the most comprehensive assessment of any Radiation Protection and Health Physics (RPHP) Program ever performed at Rocky Flats. The results of these efforts will establish a baseline for future RPHP Program assessments at RFETS. This methodology has been well-received by contractor personnel and creates no Privacy Act violations or other misunderstandings

  16. Flat microwave photonic filter based on hybrid of two filters

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Qi, Chunhui; Pei, Li; Ning, Tigang; Li, Jing; Gao, Song

    2010-01-01

    A new microwave photonic filter (MPF) hybrid of two filters that can realize both multiple taps and a flat bandpass or bandstop response is presented. Based on the phase character of a Mach–Zehnder modulator (MZM), a two taps finite impulse response (FIR) filter is obtained as the first part. The second part is obtained by taking full advantage of the wavelength selectivity of the fiber Bragg grating (FBG) and the gain of a erbium-doped fiber (EDF). Combining the two filters, the flat bandpass or bandstop response is realized by changing the coupler's factor k, the reflectivity of FBG1 R 1 or the gain of the EDF g. Optimizing the system parameters, a flat bandpass response with amplitude depth of more than 45 dB is obtained at k = 0.5, R 1 = 0.33, g = 10, and a flat bandstop response is also obtained at k = 0.4, R 1 = 0.5, g = 2. In addition, the free-spectral range (FSR) can be controlled by changing the length of the EDF and the length difference between two MZMs. The method is proved feasible by some experiments. Such a method offers realistic solutions to support future radio-frequency (RF) optical communication systems

  17. A methodology to investigate size scale effects in crystalline plasticity using uniaxial compression testing

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Uchic, Michael D.; Dimiduk, Dennis M.

    2005-01-01

    A methodology for performing uniaxial compression tests on samples having micron-size dimensions is presented. Sample fabrication is accomplished using focused ion beam milling to create cylindrical samples of uniform cross-section that remain attached to the bulk substrate at one end. Once fabricated, samples are tested in uniaxial compression using a nanoindentation device outfitted with a flat tip, and a stress-strain curve is obtained. The methodology can be used to examine the plastic response of samples of different sizes that are from the same bulk material. In this manner, dimensional size effects at the micron scale can be explored for single crystals, using a readily interpretable test that minimizes imposed stretch and bending gradients. The methodology was applied to a single-crystal Ni superalloy and a transition from bulk-like to size-affected behavior was observed for samples 5 μm in diameter and smaller

  18. Colonies of Gyrosigma eximium: a new phenomenon in Arctic tidal flats

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Józef Wiktor

    2016-10-01

    Full Text Available For the first time at Svalbard, a colonial form of the tube-dwelling diatom Gyrosigma eximium was found in summer 2010 in the tidal flats on Spitsbergen at 78°N. The colonies take the form of conical, green structures that are 1–2 cm high and are associated with other diatom taxa and cyanobacteria (Oscillatoriaceae. The diatom colonies were associated with rich meiofauna and apparently act as cohesive factors for the fine sediment. In the Arctic tidal flats, this represents the first observation of long-term sediment stabilization and biological enrichment. Since this first observation, this species has apparently colonized broader areas in Advenentelva's tidal flat.

  19. Long-lasting antifog plasma modification of transparent plastics.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Di Mundo, Rosa; d'Agostino, Riccardo; Palumbo, Fabio

    2014-10-08

    Antifog surfaces are necessary for any application requiring optical efficiency of transparent materials. Surface modification methods aimed toward increasing solid surface energy, even when supposed to be permanent, in fact result in a nondurable effect due to the instability in air of highly hydrophilic surfaces. We propose the strategy of combining a hydrophilic chemistry with a nanotextured topography, to tailor a long-lasting antifog modification on commercial transparent plastics. In particular, we investigated a two-step process consisting of self-masked plasma etching followed by plasma deposition of a silicon-based film. We show that the deposition of the silicon-based coatings on the flat (pristine) substrates allows a continuous variation of wettability from hydrophobic to superhydrophilic, due to a continuous reduction of carbon-containing groups, as assessed by Fourier transform infrared and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopies. By depositing these different coatings on previously nanotextured substrates, the surface wettability behavior is changed consistently, as well as the condensation phenomenon in terms of microdroplets/liquid film appearance. This variation is correlated with advancing and receding water contact angle features of the surfaces. More importantly, in the case of the superhydrophilic coating, though its surface energy decreases with time, when a nanotextured surface underlies it, the wetting behavior is maintained durably superhydrophilic, thus durably antifog.

  20. PLASTIC ANALYSIS OF STEEL FRAME STRUCTURE

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    M. Rogac

    2013-05-01

    Full Text Available This paper presents the plastic analysis of steel frame structure loaded by gravity loads. By applying the cinematic theorem of ultimate analysis, the ultimate load for the case of elastic - ideally plastic material is calculated. The identical structure was treated in the computer program SAP2000 where the zone of material reinforcement in the plastic area was covered. Keywords: Steel frame structure, plastic analysis, ultimate gravity load, material reinforcement.