Carbohydrates as Fat Replacers.

Science.gov (United States)

Peng, Xingyun; Yao, Yuan

2017-02-28

The overconsumption of dietary fat contributes to various chronic diseases, which encourages attempts to develop and consume low-fat foods. Simple fat reduction causes quality losses that impede the acceptance of foods. Fat replacers are utilized to minimize the quality deterioration after fat reduction or removal to achieve low-calorie, low-fat claims. In this review, the forms of fats and their functions in contributing to food textural and sensory qualities are discussed in various food systems. The connections between fat reduction and quality loss are described in order to clarify the rationales of fat replacement. Carbohydrate fat replacers usually have low calorie density and provide gelling, thickening, stabilizing, and other texture-modifying properties. In this review, carbohydrates, including starches, maltodextrins, polydextrose, gums, and fibers, are discussed with regard to their interactions with other components in foods as well as their performances as fat replacers in various systems.

Investment in Exploration-Production and Refining - 2016

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Maisonnier, Guy; Hureau, Geoffroy; Serbutoviez, Sylvain; Silva, Constancio

2017-03-01

IFPEN analyses in this study the 2016 evolution of global investment in the field of exploration-production and refining: - Trends in oil and gas prices; - Investment in exploration/production: in sharp decline for the second consecutive year - the first time this has happened since 1986; - The global drilling market; - Geophysical: global activity and markets; - Offshore construction: market and business; - A significant reduction in refining projects (atmospheric distillation and conversion)

Accurate macromolecular crystallographic refinement: incorporation of the linear scaling, semiempirical quantum-mechanics program DivCon into the PHENIX refinement package

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Borbulevych, Oleg Y.; Plumley, Joshua A.; Martin, Roger I. [QuantumBio Inc., 2790 West College Avenue, State College, PA 16801 (United States); Merz, Kenneth M. Jr [University of Florida, Gainesville, Florida (United States); Westerhoff, Lance M., E-mail: lance@quantumbioinc.com [QuantumBio Inc., 2790 West College Avenue, State College, PA 16801 (United States)

2014-05-01

Semiempirical quantum-chemical X-ray macromolecular refinement using the program DivCon integrated with PHENIX is described. Macromolecular crystallographic refinement relies on sometimes dubious stereochemical restraints and rudimentary energy functionals to ensure the correct geometry of the model of the macromolecule and any covalently bound ligand(s). The ligand stereochemical restraint file (CIF) requires a priori understanding of the ligand geometry within the active site, and creation of the CIF is often an error-prone process owing to the great variety of potential ligand chemistry and structure. Stereochemical restraints have been replaced with more robust functionals through the integration of the linear-scaling, semiempirical quantum-mechanics (SE-QM) program DivCon with the PHENIX X-ray refinement engine. The PHENIX/DivCon package has been thoroughly validated on a population of 50 protein–ligand Protein Data Bank (PDB) structures with a range of resolutions and chemistry. The PDB structures used for the validation were originally refined utilizing various refinement packages and were published within the past five years. PHENIX/DivCon does not utilize CIF(s), link restraints and other parameters for refinement and hence it does not make as many a priori assumptions about the model. Across the entire population, the method results in reasonable ligand geometries and low ligand strains, even when the original refinement exhibited difficulties, indicating that PHENIX/DivCon is applicable to both single-structure and high-throughput crystallography.

Meal Replacement Mass Reduction Integration and Acceptability Study

Science.gov (United States)

Sirmons, T.; Douglas, G.; Schneiderman, J.; Slack, K.; Whitmire, A.; Williams, T.; Young, M.

2018-01-01

The Orion Multi-Purpose Crew Vehicle (MPCV) and future exploration missions are mass constrained; therefore we are challenged to reduce the mass of the food system by 10% while maintaining safety, nutrition, and acceptability to support crew health and performance for exploration missions. Meal replacement with nutritionally balanced, 700-900 calorie bars was identified as a method to reduce mass. However, commercially available products do not meet the requirements for a meal replacement in the spaceflight food system. The purpose of this task was to develop a variety of nutritionally balanced, high quality, breakfast replacement bars, which enable a 10% food mass savings. To date, six nutrient-dense meal replacement bars have been developed, all of which meet spaceflight nutritional, microbiological, sensory, and shelf-life requirements. The four highest scoring bars were evaluated based on final product sensory acceptability, nutritional stability, qualitative stability of analytical measurements (i.e. color and texture), and microbiological compliance over a period of two years to predict long-term acceptability. All bars maintained overall acceptability throughout the first year of storage, despite minor changes in color and texture. However, added vitamins C, B1, and B9 degraded rapidly in fortified samples of Banana Nut bars, indicating the need for additional development. In addition to shelf-life testing, four bar varieties were evaluated in the Human Exploration Research Analog (HERA), campaign 3, to assess the frequency with which actual meal replacement options may be implemented, based on impact to satiety and psychosocial measurements. Crewmembers (n=16) were asked to consume meal replacement bars every day for the first fifteen days of the mission and every three days for the second half of the mission. Daily surveys assessed the crew's responses to bar acceptability, mood, food fatigue and perceived stress. Preliminary results indicate that the

Accurate macromolecular crystallographic refinement: incorporation of the linear scaling, semiempirical quantum-mechanics program DivCon into the PHENIX refinement package.

Science.gov (United States)

Borbulevych, Oleg Y; Plumley, Joshua A; Martin, Roger I; Merz, Kenneth M; Westerhoff, Lance M

2014-05-01

Macromolecular crystallographic refinement relies on sometimes dubious stereochemical restraints and rudimentary energy functionals to ensure the correct geometry of the model of the macromolecule and any covalently bound ligand(s). The ligand stereochemical restraint file (CIF) requires a priori understanding of the ligand geometry within the active site, and creation of the CIF is often an error-prone process owing to the great variety of potential ligand chemistry and structure. Stereochemical restraints have been replaced with more robust functionals through the integration of the linear-scaling, semiempirical quantum-mechanics (SE-QM) program DivCon with the PHENIX X-ray refinement engine. The PHENIX/DivCon package has been thoroughly validated on a population of 50 protein-ligand Protein Data Bank (PDB) structures with a range of resolutions and chemistry. The PDB structures used for the validation were originally refined utilizing various refinement packages and were published within the past five years. PHENIX/DivCon does not utilize CIF(s), link restraints and other parameters for refinement and hence it does not make as many a priori assumptions about the model. Across the entire population, the method results in reasonable ligand geometries and low ligand strains, even when the original refinement exhibited difficulties, indicating that PHENIX/DivCon is applicable to both single-structure and high-throughput crystallography.

Effect of Chemical Refining on Citrullus Colocynthis and Pongamia ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

Oil from the both plant seeds was evaluated (both before and after refining) for different physico-chemical parameters like free fatty acids, iodine value, peroxide value, saponification value, unsaponifiable matter and fatty acid composition. Oil yield (30-35 %) in both plants was found average. After refining, per cent reduction ...

Future prospects for palm oil refining and modifications

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Gibon Véronique

2009-07-01

Full Text Available Palm oil is rich in minor components that impart unique nutritional properties and need to be preserved. In this context, refining technologies have been improved, with the dual temperature deodorizer, the double condensing unit and the ice condensing system. The DOBI is a good tool to assess quality of the crude palm oil and its ability to be properly refined. Specially refined oils open a market for new high quality products (golden palm oil, red palm oil, white soaps, etc.. Palm oil is a good candidate for the multi-step dry fractionation process, aiming to the production of commodity oils and specialty fats (cocoa butter replacers. New technological developments allow quality and yield improvements. Palm oil and fractions are also valuable feedstock for enzymatic interesterification in which applications are for commodity oil (low-trans margarines and shortenings and for special products (cocoa butter equivalents, infant formulation, ….

Meal Replacement Mass Reduction and Integration Acceptability Study

Science.gov (United States)

Sirmons, T.; Barrett, A.; Richardson, M.; Arias, D.; Schneiderman, J.; Slack, K.; Williams, T.; Douglas, G.

2017-01-01

NASA, in planning for long-duration missions, has an imperative to provide a food system with the necessary nutrition, acceptability, and safety to ensure sustainment of crew health and performance. The Orion Multi-Purpose Crew Vehicle (MPCV) and future exploration missions are mass constrained; therefore the team is challenged to reduce the mass of the food system by 10% while maintaining product safety, nutrition, and acceptability. Commercially available products do not meet the nutritional requirements for a full meal replacement in the spaceflight food system, and it is currently unknown if daily meal replacements will impact crew food intake and psychosocial health over time. The purpose of this study was to develop a variety of nutritionally balanced breakfast replacement bars that meet spaceflight nutritional, microbiological, sensorial, and shelf-life requirements, while enabling a 10% savings in food mass. To date, six nutrient-dense meal replacement bars (approximately 700 calories per bar) have been developed, using traditional methods of compression as well as novel ultrasonic compression technologies developed by Creative Resonance Inc. (Phoenix, AZ). The four highest rated bars were evaluated in the Human Exploration Research Analog (HERA) to assess the frequency with which actual meal replacement options may be implemented. Specifically, overall impact of bars on mood, satiety, digestive discomfort, and satisfaction with food. These factors are currently being analyzed to inform successful implementation strategies where crew maintain adequate food intake. In addition, these bars are currently undergoing shelf-life testing to determine long-term sensory acceptability, nutritional stability, qualitative stability of analytical measurements (i.e. water activity and texture), and microbiological compliance over two years of storage at room temperature and potential temperature abuse conditions to predict long-term acceptability. It is expected that

The present state of refining in France

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

1996-01-01

The european refining industry suffers from a production over-capacity and closures are inevitable; the situation is even worse in France due to the imbalance between gas oil and gasoline prices and the weak margin for distributors. The French refining industry is however an important and essential link for its strategic fuel and petroleum product supply, and represent 17000 jobs. Several measures are introduced by the French Industry department towards restructuring, capacity reduction and fuel price harmonization

Action Relations. Basic Design Concepts for Behaviour Modelling and Refinement.

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Quartel, Dick

This thesis presents basic design concepts, design methods and a basic design language for distributed system behaviours. This language is based on two basic concepts: the action concept and the causality relation concept. Our methods focus on behaviour refinement, which consists of replacing an

Production of Al-Ti-B grain refining master alloys from Na2B4O7 and K2TiF6

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Birol, Yuecel

2008-01-01

It is very desirable to replace the KBF 4 salt in the popular 'halide salt' process to reduce the volume of fluoride salts to be added to molten aluminium in the production of Al-Ti-B grain refiners. Being over 2 times richer in B, Na 2 B 4 O 7 is a promising replacement for KBF 4 , and is used in the present work to produce Al-Ti-B grain refiner master alloys. A fraction of the aluminide particles were entrapped in the spent salt giving a relatively lower Ti recovery when KBF 4 was replaced by Na 2 B 4 O 7 . The grain refining performance of the Al-Ti-B grain refiner alloy thus produced was nevertheless acceptable. The spent salt became too viscous with the oxides, aluminides and borides to be removed by decanting when Na 2 B 4 O 7 .5H 2 O was used to supply boron. The viscous spent salt, entrained in the grain refiner alloy, did not only impair its performance, but also hurt the fluidity of the molten alloy and made pouring difficult

Modified process for refining niobium by electron beam

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Pinatti, D.G.; Takano, C.

1982-01-01

The experimental results, thermodynamic equilibrium and kinetic theory of the metal/gas interaction in refractory metals are reviewed. The adsorption and desorption of nitrogen, hydrogen and CO are reversible, whereas those of oxygen are irreversible, with adsorption of an oxygen atom and volatilisation of the metal oxide. Based upon this fact, a new electron beam refining technology is proposed for niobium, consisting of four points: preparation of an electrode by aluminothermic reduction; zone refining in the first melt; kinetic refining in subsequent melts and compact design of the refining plant. Experimental results from a 300 kW pilot plant were in complete agreement with the technology proposed, giving 2.4 times the productivity predicted by the conventional technology. (Author) [pt

The state of animal welfare in the context of refinement.

Science.gov (United States)

Zurlo, Joanne; Hutchinson, Eric

2014-01-01

The ultimate goal of the Three Rs is the full replacement of animals used in biomedical research and testing. However, replacement is unlikely to occur in the near future; therefore the scientific community as a whole must continue to devote considerable effort to ensure optimal animal welfare for the benefit of the science and the animals, i.e., the R of refinement. Laws governing the care and use of laboratory animals have recently been revised in Europe and the US and these place greater emphasis on promoting the well-being of the animals in addition to minimizing pain and distress. Social housing for social species is now the default condition, which can present a challenge in certain experimental settings and for certain species. The practice of positive reinforcement training of laboratory animals, particularly non-human primates, is gathering momentum but is not yet universally employed. Enhanced consideration of refinement extends to rodents, particularly mice, whose use is still increasing as more genetically modified models are generated. The wastage of extraneous mice and the method of their euthanasia are refinement issues that still need to be addressed. An international, concerted effort into defining the needs of laboratory animals is still necessary to improve the quality of the animal models used as well as their welfare.

A case study: Residue reduction at Deer Park Refining Limited Partnership

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Geehan, D.M.

1996-01-01

With input from Shell Synthetic Fuels Inc. (SSFI), Deer Park Refining Limited Partnership (DPRLP) analyzed options for managing the bottom of the barrel to extinction, with an objective of high return on investment. DPRLP is a joint venture of PEMEX and Shell Oil Company. This Gulf Coast refiner processes 227M BBL/D of heavy, high sulfur crude. This paper discusses the process options considered, their advantages and disadvantages, and the option selected as well as the options still open. Recent modernization projects at DPRLP are now on stream with high yield of clean products.There remains one by-product, petroleum coke, which presents opportunity as a low cost feed for one or more process options yielding attractive products. The Shell Coke (or Coal) Gasification Process is one of the options now being considered

Process for refining hydrocarbons

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Risenfeld, E H

1924-11-26

A process is disclosed for the refining of hydrocarbons or other mixtures through treatment in vapor form with metal catalysts, characterized by such metals being used as catalysts, which are obtained by reduction of the oxide of minerals containing the iron group, and by the vapors of the hydrocarbons, in the presence of the water vapor, being led over these catalysts at temperatures from 200 to 300/sup 0/C.

Towards automated crystallographic structure refinement with phenix.refine

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Afonine, Pavel V., E-mail: pafonine@lbl.gov; Grosse-Kunstleve, Ralf W.; Echols, Nathaniel; Headd, Jeffrey J.; Moriarty, Nigel W. [Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, One Cyclotron Road, MS64R0121, Berkeley, CA 94720 (United States); Mustyakimov, Marat; Terwilliger, Thomas C. [Los Alamos National Laboratory, M888, Los Alamos, NM 87545 (United States); Urzhumtsev, Alexandre [CNRS–INSERM–UdS, 1 Rue Laurent Fries, BP 10142, 67404 Illkirch (France); Université Henri Poincaré, Nancy 1, BP 239, 54506 Vandoeuvre-lès-Nancy (France); Zwart, Peter H. [Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, One Cyclotron Road, MS64R0121, Berkeley, CA 94720 (United States); Adams, Paul D. [Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, One Cyclotron Road, MS64R0121, Berkeley, CA 94720 (United States); University of California Berkeley, Berkeley, CA 94720 (United States)

2012-04-01

phenix.refine is a program within the PHENIX package that supports crystallographic structure refinement against experimental data with a wide range of upper resolution limits using a large repertoire of model parameterizations. This paper presents an overview of the major phenix.refine features, with extensive literature references for readers interested in more detailed discussions of the methods. phenix.refine is a program within the PHENIX package that supports crystallographic structure refinement against experimental data with a wide range of upper resolution limits using a large repertoire of model parameterizations. It has several automation features and is also highly flexible. Several hundred parameters enable extensive customizations for complex use cases. Multiple user-defined refinement strategies can be applied to specific parts of the model in a single refinement run. An intuitive graphical user interface is available to guide novice users and to assist advanced users in managing refinement projects. X-ray or neutron diffraction data can be used separately or jointly in refinement. phenix.refine is tightly integrated into the PHENIX suite, where it serves as a critical component in automated model building, final structure refinement, structure validation and deposition to the wwPDB. This paper presents an overview of the major phenix.refine features, with extensive literature references for readers interested in more detailed discussions of the methods.

Refined reservoir description to maximize oil recovery

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Flewitt, W.E.

1975-01-01

To assure maximized oil recovery from older pools, reservoir description has been advanced by fully integrating original open-hole logs and the recently introduced interpretive techniques made available through cased-hole wireline saturation logs. A refined reservoir description utilizing normalized original wireline porosity logs has been completed in the Judy Creek Beaverhill Lake ''A'' Pool, a reefal carbonate pool with current potential productivity of 100,000 BOPD and 188 active wells. Continuous porosity was documented within a reef rim and cap while discontinuous porous lenses characterized an interior lagoon. With the use of pulsed neutron logs and production data a separate water front and pressure response was recognized within discrete environmental units. The refined reservoir description aided in reservoir simulation model studies and quantifying pool performance. A pattern water flood has now replaced the original peripheral bottom water drive to maximize oil recovery

Replacement of Co-base alloy for radiation exposure reduction in the primary system of PWR

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Han, Jeong Ho; Nyo, Kye Ho; Lee, Deok Hyun; Lim, Deok Jae; Ahn, Jin Keun; Kim, Sun Jin

1996-01-01

Of numerous Co-free alloys developed to replace Co-base stellite used in valve hardfacing material, two iron-base alloys of Armacor M and Tristelle 5183 and one nickel-base alloy of Nucalloy 488 were selected as candidate Co-free alloys, and Stellite 6 was also selected as a standard hardfacing material. These four alloys were welded on 316SS substrate using TIG welding method. The first corrosion test loop of KAERI simulating the water chemistry and operation condition of the primary system of PWR was designed and fabricated. Corrosion behaviors of the above four kinds of alloys were evaluated using this test loop under the condition of 300 deg C, 1500 psi. Microstructures of weldment of these alloys were observed to identify both matrix and secondary phase in each weldment. Hardnesses of weld deposit layer including HAZ and substrate were measured using micro-Vickers hardness tester. The status on the technology of Co-base alloy replacement in valve components was reviewed with respect to the classification of valves to be replaced, the development of Co-free alloys, the application of Co-free alloys and its experiences in foreign NPPs, and the Co reduction program in domestic NPPs and industries. 18 tabs., 20 figs., 22 refs. (Author)

Measuring emotion socialization in families affected by pediatric cancer: Refinement and reduction of the Parents' Beliefs about Children's Emotions questionnaire.

Science.gov (United States)

Beitra, Danette; El-Behadli, Ana F; Faith, Melissa A

2018-01-01

The aim of this study is to conduct a multimethod psychometric reduction in the Parents' Beliefs about Children's Emotions (PBCE) questionnaire using an item response theory framework with a pediatric oncology sample. Participants were 216 pediatric oncology caregivers who completed the PBCE. The PBCE contains 105 items (11 subscales) rated on a 6-point Likert-type scale. We evaluated the PBCE subscale performance by applying a partial credit model in WINSTEPS. Sixty-six statistically weak items were removed, creating a 44-item PBCE questionnaire with 10 subscales and 3 response options per item. The refined scale displayed good psychometric properties and correlated .910 with the original PBCE. Additional analyses examined dimensionality, item-level (e.g. difficulty), and person-level (e.g. ethnicity) characteristics. The refined PBCE questionnaire provides better test information, improves instrument reliability, and reduces burden on families, providers, and researchers. With this improved measure, providers can more easily identify families who may benefit from psychosocial interventions targeting emotion socialization. The results of the multistep approach presented should be considered preliminary, given the limited sample size.

Macromolecular refinement by model morphing using non-atomic parameterizations.

Science.gov (United States)

Cowtan, Kevin; Agirre, Jon

2018-02-01

Refinement is a critical step in the determination of a model which explains the crystallographic observations and thus best accounts for the missing phase components. The scattering density is usually described in terms of atomic parameters; however, in macromolecular crystallography the resolution of the data is generally insufficient to determine the values of these parameters for individual atoms. Stereochemical and geometric restraints are used to provide additional information, but produce interrelationships between parameters which slow convergence, resulting in longer refinement times. An alternative approach is proposed in which parameters are not attached to atoms, but to regions of the electron-density map. These parameters can move the density or change the local temperature factor to better explain the structure factors. Varying the size of the region which determines the parameters at a particular position in the map allows the method to be applied at different resolutions without the use of restraints. Potential applications include initial refinement of molecular-replacement models with domain motions, and potentially the use of electron density from other sources such as electron cryo-microscopy (cryo-EM) as the refinement model.

Petroleum product refining: plant level analysis of costs and competitiveness. Implications of greenhouse gas emission reductions. Vol 1

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kelly, S.J.; Crandall, G.R.; Houlton, G.A.; Kromm, R.B.

1999-01-01

Implications on the Canadian refining industry of reducing greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions to meet Canada's Kyoto commitment are assessed, based on a plant-level analysis of costs, benefits and economic and competitive impacts. It was determined on the basis of demand estimates prepared by Natural Resources Canada that refining industry carbon dioxide emissions could be as much a 38 per cent higher than 1990 levels in 2010. Achieving a six per cent reduction below 1990 levels from this business-as-usual case is considered a very difficult target to achieve, unless refinery shutdowns occur. This would require higher imports to meet Canada's petroleum products demand, leaving total carbon dioxide emissions virtually unchanged. A range of options, classified as (1) low capital, operating efficiency projects, (2) medium capital, process/utility optimization projects, (3) high capital, refinery specific projects, and (4) high operating cost GHG projects, were evaluated. Of these four alternatives, the low capital or operating efficiency projects were the only ones judged to have the potential to be economically viable. Energy efficiency projects in these four groups were evaluated under several policy initiatives including accelerated depreciation and a $200 per tonne of carbon tax. Result showed that an accelerated depreciation policy would lower the hurdle rate for refinery investments, and could achieve a four per cent reduction in GHG emissions below 1990 levels, assuming no further shutdown of refinery capacity. The carbon tax was judged to be potentially damaging to the Canadian refinery industry since it would penalize cracking refineries (most Canadian refineries are of this type); it would provide further uncertainty and risk, such that industry might not be able to justify investments to reduce emissions. The overall assessment is that the Canadian refinery industry could not meet the pro-rata Kyoto GHG reduction target through implementation of economically

Outlook for Canadian refining

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Boje, G.

1998-01-01

The petroleum supply and demand balance was discussed and a comparison between Canadian and U.S. refineries was provided. The impact of changing product specifications on the petroleum industry was also discussed. The major changes include sulphur reductions in gasoline, benzene and MMT additives. These changes have been made in an effort to satisfy environmental needs. Geographic margin variations in refineries between east and west were reviewed. An overview of findings from the Solomon Refining Study of Canadian and American refineries, which has been very complimentary of the Canadian refining industry, was provided. From this writer's point of view refinery utilization has improved but there is a threat from increasing efficiency of US competitors. Environmental issues will continue to impact upon the industry and while the chances for making economic returns on investment are good for the years ahead, it will be a challenge to maintain profitability

Direct Reduction of Waste through Refining of DOE Metal Assets - 13632

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hargett, Michael C.; Terekhov, Dimitri; Khozan, Kamran M.

2013-01-01

CVMR R presents a technology for refining nickel from the enrichment barrier materials of the DOE that is proven through 100 years of use by the metals industry. CVMR R applies modern controls, instrumentation for process and monitoring of the system, and innovative production methods to produce a wide spectrum of products that generate new technology applications and improvements to our society and economy. CVMR R will receive barrier materials as a secure operation and size reduce the metal to a shred that is fed to a carbonylation reactor where nickel is reacted with carbon monoxide and generate nickel carbonyl. The carbonyl will be filtered and decomposed with heat to form a variety of products that include high value nano powders, coated substrates, net shapes and pure nickel. The residue from the reactor will retain radionuclides from enrichment activities. The carbon monoxide will only react and extract nickel under the operating conditions to leave volumetric contamination in the unreacted residue. A demonstration plant was designed and built by CVMR R and operated by BWXT, to demonstrate the systems capabilities to DOE in 2006. A pilot plant operation precedes the detailed design of the nickel refinery and provides essential data for design, safe work practices, waste characterizations and system kinetics and confirms the project feasibility. CVMR R produces nickel products that are cleaner than the nickel in U.S. commerce and used by industry today. The CVMR R process and systems for nickel refining is well suited for DOE materials and will provide value through environmental stewardship, recovery of high value assets, and support of the DOE environmental remediation programs as the refined nickel generates additional long term benefits to local communities. (authors)

The impact of a weight reduction program with and without meal-replacement on health related quality of life in middle-aged obese females.

Science.gov (United States)

Koohkan, Sadaf; Schaffner, Denise; Milliron, Brandy J; Frey, Ingrid; König, Daniel; Deibert, Peter; Vitolins, Mara; Berg, Aloys

2014-03-12

In addition to an increased risk for chronic illnesses, obese individuals suffer from social stigmatization and discrimination, and severely obese people may experience greater risk of impaired psychosocial and physical functioning. Lower health-related quality of life (HRQOL) has been reported among obese persons seeking intensive treatment for their disease. To aid in the treatment of obesity, meal replacements have been recommended as an effective therapeutic strategy for weight loss, particularly when consumed in the beginning of an intervention. Hence, the objective of this study was to assess the impact of two 12-month weight reduction interventions (one arm including a meal replacement) on changes in HRQOL among obese females. This controlled trial compared two versions of a standardized 12-month weight reduction intervention: the weight-reduction lifestyle program without a meal replacement (LS) versus the same lifestyle program with the addition of a soy-based meal replacement product (LSMR). 380 women (LS: n = 190, LSMR: n = 190) were matched by age, gender, and weight (51.4 ± 7.0 yrs., 35.5 ± 3.03 kg/m2). This sample of women all completed the 12-month lifestyle intervention that was part of a larger study. The lifestyle intervention included instruction on exercise/sport, psychology, nutrition, and medicine in 18 theoretical and 40 practical units. Led by a sport physiologist, participants engaged in group-based exercise sessions once or twice a week. To evaluate HRQOL, all participants completed the SF-36 questionnaire pre- and post-intervention. Anthropometric, clinical, physical performance (ergometric stress tests), and self-reported leisure time physical activity (hours/day) data were collected. The LSMR sample showed lower baseline HRQOL scores compared to the LS sample in six of eight HRQOL dimensions, most significant in vitality and health perception (p meal replacement product. ClinicalTrials.gov NCT00356785.

Towards automated crystallographic structure refinement with phenix.refine

OpenAIRE

Afonine, Pavel V.; Grosse-Kunstleve, Ralf W.; Echols, Nathaniel; Headd, Jeffrey J.; Moriarty, Nigel W.; Mustyakimov, Marat; Terwilliger, Thomas C.; Urzhumtsev, Alexandre; Zwart, Peter H.; Adams, Paul D.

2012-01-01

phenix.refine is a program within the PHENIX package that supports crystallographic structure refinement against experimental data with a wide range of upper resolution limits using a large repertoire of model parameterizations. It has several automation features and is also highly flexible. Several hundred parameters enable extensive customizations for complex use cases. Multiple user-defined refinement strategies can be applied to specific parts of the model in a single refinement run. An i...

Refined pipe theory for mechanistic modeling of wood development.

Science.gov (United States)

Deckmyn, Gaby; Evans, Sam P; Randle, Tim J

2006-06-01

We present a mechanistic model of wood tissue development in response to changes in competition, management and climate. The model is based on a refinement of the pipe theory, where the constant ratio between sapwood and leaf area (pipe theory) is replaced by a ratio between pipe conductivity and leaf area. Simulated pipe conductivity changes with age, stand density and climate in response to changes in allocation or pipe radius, or both. The central equation of the model, which calculates the ratio of carbon (C) allocated to leaves and pipes, can be parameterized to describe the contrasting stem conductivity behavior of different tree species: from constant stem conductivity (functional homeostasis hypothesis) to height-related reduction in stem conductivity with age (hydraulic limitation hypothesis). The model simulates the daily growth of pipes (vessels or tracheids), fibers and parenchyma as well as vessel size and simulates the wood density profile and the earlywood to latewood ratio from these data. Initial runs indicate the model yields realistic seasonal changes in pipe radius (decreasing pipe radius from spring to autumn) and wood density, as well as realistic differences associated with the competitive status of trees (denser wood in suppressed trees).

Electrocatalysts Prepared by Galvanic Replacement

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Athanasios Papaderakis

2017-03-01

Full Text Available Galvanic replacement is the spontaneous replacement of surface layers of a metal, M, by a more noble metal, Mnoble, when the former is treated with a solution containing the latter in ionic form, according to the general replacement reaction: nM + mMnoblen+ → nMm+ + mMnoble. The reaction is driven by the difference in the equilibrium potential of the two metal/metal ion redox couples and, to avoid parasitic cathodic processes such as oxygen reduction and (in some cases hydrogen evolution too, both oxygen levels and the pH must be optimized. The resulting bimetallic material can in principle have a Mnoble-rich shell and M-rich core (denoted as Mnoble(M leading to a possible decrease in noble metal loading and the modification of its properties by the underlying metal M. This paper reviews a number of bimetallic or ternary electrocatalytic materials prepared by galvanic replacement for fuel cell, electrolysis and electrosynthesis reactions. These include oxygen reduction, methanol, formic acid and ethanol oxidation, hydrogen evolution and oxidation, oxygen evolution, borohydride oxidation, and halide reduction. Methods for depositing the precursor metal M on the support material (electrodeposition, electroless deposition, photodeposition as well as the various options for the support are also reviewed.

Optimization of breast reconstruction results using TMG flap in 30 cases: Evaluation of several refinements addressing flap design, shaping techniques, and reduction of donor site morbidity.

Science.gov (United States)

Nickl, Stefanie; Nedomansky, Jakob; Radtke, Christine; Haslik, Werner; Schroegendorfer, Klaus F

2018-01-31

The transverse myocutaneous gracilis (TMG) flap is a widely used alternative to abdominal flaps in autologous breast reconstruction. However, secondary procedures for aesthetic refinement are frequently necessary. Herein, we present our experience with an optimized approach in TMG breast reconstruction to enhance aesthetic outcome and to reduce the need for secondary refinements. We retrospectively analyzed 37 immediate or delayed reconstructions with TMG flaps in 34 women, performed between 2009 and 2015. Four patients (5 flaps) constituted the conventional group (non-optimized approach). Thirty patients (32 flaps; modified group) underwent an optimized procedure consisting of modified flap harvesting and shaping techniques and methods utilized to reduce denting after rib resection and to diminish donor site morbidity. Statistically significant fewer secondary procedures (0.6 ± 0.9 versus 4.8 ± 2.2; P < .001) and fewer trips to the OR (0.4 ± 0.7 versus 2.3 ± 1.0 times; P = .001) for aesthetic refinement were needed in the modified group as compared to the conventional group. In the modified group, 4 patients (13.3%) required refinement of the reconstructed breast, 7 patients (23.3%) underwent mastopexy/mammoplasty or lipofilling of the contralateral breast, and 4 patients (13.3%) required refinement of the contralateral thigh. Total flap loss did not occur in any patient. Revision surgery was needed once. Compared to the conventional group, enhanced aesthetic results with consecutive reduction of secondary refinements could be achieved when using our modified flap harvesting and shaping techniques, as well as our methods for reducing contour deformities after rib resection and for overcoming donor site morbidities. © 2017 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Environmental benefits from CO2 reduction, due to modal replacement: Case study on light rail vehicle in Brasilia City

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Silva Costa, P.H. da; Alves Teixeira, L.M.; Cardoso Pinheiro, J.; Serra Arruda, F.; Mendonça Brasil, A.C.

2016-07-01

This work aims to measure the reduction of Carbon Dioxide (CO2) emissions in atmosphere by replacing the modal urban bus by Light Rail Vehicle (VLT). In order to accomplish this objective, a case study in Brasilia, Federal District, in the stretch of VLT which passes on Via W-3 South was conducted. The Theory of Externalities that discusses the right to ownership of private and public goods and responsibilities about the positive and negative externalities caused by the agents and individuals of society was used to support the analyses. It was used the Top-Down method, which allowed the calculation the direct emissions of CO2. The values obtained on the reduction of CO2 emissions were converted into values of carbon credits as a way to economically measure such reductions. The results showed a significant reduction in CO2 emissions per year and consequent environmental benefit. (Author)

Production of Al-Ti-B grain refining master alloys from Na{sub 2}B{sub 4}O{sub 7} and K{sub 2}TiF{sub 6}

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Birol, Yuecel [Materials Institute, Marmara Research Center, TUBITAK, Gebze, Kocaeli (Turkey)], E-mail: yucel.birol@mam.gov.tr

2008-06-30

It is very desirable to replace the KBF{sub 4} salt in the popular 'halide salt' process to reduce the volume of fluoride salts to be added to molten aluminium in the production of Al-Ti-B grain refiners. Being over 2 times richer in B, Na{sub 2}B{sub 4}O{sub 7} is a promising replacement for KBF{sub 4}, and is used in the present work to produce Al-Ti-B grain refiner master alloys. A fraction of the aluminide particles were entrapped in the spent salt giving a relatively lower Ti recovery when KBF{sub 4} was replaced by Na{sub 2}B{sub 4}O{sub 7}. The grain refining performance of the Al-Ti-B grain refiner alloy thus produced was nevertheless acceptable. The spent salt became too viscous with the oxides, aluminides and borides to be removed by decanting when Na{sub 2}B{sub 4}O{sub 7}.5H{sub 2}O was used to supply boron. The viscous spent salt, entrained in the grain refiner alloy, did not only impair its performance, but also hurt the fluidity of the molten alloy and made pouring difficult.

Grain refinement of permanent mold cast copper base alloys. Final report

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Sadayappan, M.; Thomson, J. P.; Elboujdaini, M.; Gu, G. Ping; Sahoo, M.

2004-04-29

Grain refinement behavior of copper alloys cast in permanent molds was investigated. This is one of the least studied subjects in copper alloy castings. Grain refinement is not widely practiced for leaded copper alloys cast in sand molds. Aluminum bronzes and high strength yellow brasses, cast in sand and permanent molds, were usually fine grained due to the presence of more than 2% iron. Grain refinement of the most common permanent mold casting alloys, leaded yellow brass and its lead-free replacement EnviroBrass III, is not universally accepted due to the perceived problem of hard spots in finished castings and for the same reason these alloys contain very low amounts of iron. The yellow brasses and Cu-Si alloys are gaining popularity in North America due to their low lead content and amenability for permanent mold casting. These alloys are prone to hot tearing in permanent mold casting. Grain refinement is one of the solutions for reducing this problem. However, to use this technique it is necessary to understand the mechanism of grain refinement and other issues involved in the process. The following issues were studied during this three year project funded by the US Department of Energy and the copper casting industry: (1) Effect of alloying additions on the grain size of Cu-Zn alloys and their interaction with grain refiners; (2) Effect of two grain refining elements, boron and zirconium, on the grain size of four copper alloys, yellow brass, EnviroBrass II, silicon brass and silicon bronze and the duration of their effect (fading); (3) Prediction of grain refinement using cooling curve analysis and use of this method as an on-line quality control tool; (4) Hard spot formation in yellow brass and EnviroBrass due to grain refinement; (5) Corrosion resistance of the grain refined alloys; (6) Transfer the technology to permanent mold casting foundries; It was found that alloying elements such as tin and zinc do not change the grain size of Cu-Zn alloys

[Reduction of animal experiments in experimental drug testing].

Science.gov (United States)

Behrensdorf-Nicol, H; Krämer, B

2014-10-01

In order to ensure the quality of biomedical products, an experimental test for every single manufactured batch is required for many products. Especially in vaccine testing, animal experiments are traditionally used for this purpose. For example, efficacy is often determined via challenge experiments in laboratory animals. Safety tests of vaccine batches are also mostly performed using laboratory animals. However, many animal experiments have clear inherent disadvantages (low accuracy, questionable transferability to humans, unclear significance). Furthermore, for ethical reasons and animal welfare aspects animal experiments are also seen very critical by the public. Therefore, there is a strong trend towards replacing animal experiments with methods in which no animals are used ("replacement"). If a replacement is not possible, the required animal experiments should be improved in order to minimize the number of animals necessary ("reduction") and to reduce pain and suffering caused by the experiment to a minimum ("refinement"). This "3R concept" is meanwhile firmly established in legislature. In recent years many mandatory animal experiments have been replaced by alternative in vitro methods or improved according to the 3R principles; numerous alternative methods are currently under development. Nevertheless, the process from the development of a new method to its legal implementation takes a long time. Therefore, supplementary regulatory measures to facilitate validation and acceptance of new alternative methods could contribute to a faster and more consequent implementation of the 3R concept in the testing of biomedical products.

Future of French refining

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Calvet, B.

1993-01-01

Over recent years, the refining industry has had to grapple with a growing burden of environmental and safety regulations concerning not only its plants and other facilities, but also its end products. At the same time, it has had to bear the effects of the reduction of the special status that used to apply to petroleum, and the consequences of economic freedom, to which we should add, as specifically concerns the French market, the impact of energy policy and the pro-nuclear option. The result is a drop in heavy fuel oil from 36 million tonnes per year in 1973 to 6.3 million in 1992, and in home-heating fuel from 37 to 18 million per year. This fast-moving market is highly competitive. The French market in particular is wide open to imports, but the refining companies are still heavy exporters for those products with high added-value, like lubricants, jet fuel, and lead-free gasolines. The competition has led the refining companies to commit themselves to quality, and to publicize their efforts in this direction. This is why the long-term perspectives for petroleum fuels are still wide open. This is supported by the probable expectation that the goal of economic efficiency is likely to soften the effects of the energy policy, which penalizes petroleum products, in that they have now become competitive again. In the European context, with the challenge of environmental protection and the decline in heavy fuel outlets, French refining has to keep on improving the quality of its products and plants, which means major investments. The industry absolutely must return to a more normal level of profitability, in order to sustain this financial effort, and generate the prosperity of its high-performance plants and equipment. 1 fig., 5 tabs

Grain refinement through severe plastic deformation (SPD) processing

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Izairi, N.; Vevecka - Priftaj, A.

2012-01-01

There is considerable current interest in processing metallic samples through procedures involving the imposition of severe plastic deformation (SPD). These procedures lead to very significant grain refinement to the submicrometer or even the nanometer level, resulting in advanced physical properties. Among various SPD processes, Equal Channel Angular Pressing, High pressure Torsion and Accumulated Roll Bonding have been widely used for many metals and alloys. In the present work, we present an overview of the most used methods of SPD for grain refinement and the production of bulk nano structured materials with enhancement in their mechanical and functional properties. In order to examine the potential for using ECAP to refine the grain size and improve the mechanical properties, two commercial 5754 Al alloy and AA 3004 , were selected for study. Processing by ECAP gives a reduction in the grain size and an increase in the microhardness. (Author)

Action Relations. Basic Design Concepts for Behaviour Modelling and Refinement.

OpenAIRE

Quartel, Dick

1998-01-01

This thesis presents basic design concepts, design methods and a basic design language for distributed system behaviours. This language is based on two basic concepts: the action concept and the causality relation concept. Our methods focus on behaviour refinement, which consists of replacing an abstract behaviour by a more concrete behaviour, such that the concrete behaviour conforms to the abstract behaviour. An important idea underlying this thesis is that an effective design methodology s...

Improved estimates of coordinate error for molecular replacement

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Oeffner, Robert D.; Bunkóczi, Gábor; McCoy, Airlie J.; Read, Randy J.

2013-01-01

A function for estimating the effective root-mean-square deviation in coordinates between two proteins has been developed that depends on both the sequence identity and the size of the protein and is optimized for use with molecular replacement in Phaser. A top peak translation-function Z-score of over 8 is found to be a reliable metric of when molecular replacement has succeeded. The estimate of the root-mean-square deviation (r.m.s.d.) in coordinates between the model and the target is an essential parameter for calibrating likelihood functions for molecular replacement (MR). Good estimates of the r.m.s.d. lead to good estimates of the variance term in the likelihood functions, which increases signal to noise and hence success rates in the MR search. Phaser has hitherto used an estimate of the r.m.s.d. that only depends on the sequence identity between the model and target and which was not optimized for the MR likelihood functions. Variance-refinement functionality was added to Phaser to enable determination of the effective r.m.s.d. that optimized the log-likelihood gain (LLG) for a correct MR solution. Variance refinement was subsequently performed on a database of over 21 000 MR problems that sampled a range of sequence identities, protein sizes and protein fold classes. Success was monitored using the translation-function Z-score (TFZ), where a TFZ of 8 or over for the top peak was found to be a reliable indicator that MR had succeeded for these cases with one molecule in the asymmetric unit. Good estimates of the r.m.s.d. are correlated with the sequence identity and the protein size. A new estimate of the r.m.s.d. that uses these two parameters in a function optimized to fit the mean of the refined variance is implemented in Phaser and improves MR outcomes. Perturbing the initial estimate of the r.m.s.d. from the mean of the distribution in steps of standard deviations of the distribution further increases MR success rates

PM-10 emissions and power of a Diesel engine fueled with crude and refined Biodiesel from salmon oil

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

J.F. Reyes; M.A. Sepulveda [University of Concepcion (Chile). Department of Mechanization and Energy, Faculty of Agricultural Engineering

2006-09-15

Power response and level of particulate emissions were assessed for blends of Diesel-crude Biodiesel and Diesel-refined Biodiesel. Crude Biodiesel and refined Biodiesel or methyl ester, were made from salmon oil with high content of free fatty acids, throughout a process of acid esterification followed by alkaline transesterification. Blends of Diesel-crude Biodiesel and Diesel-refined Biodiesel were tested in a diesel engine to measure simultaneously the dynamometric response and the particulate material (PM-10) emission performance. The results indicate a maximum power loss of about 3.5% and also near 50% of PM-10 reduction with respect to diesel when a 100% of refined Biodiesel is used. For blends with less content of either crude Biodiesel or refined Biodiesel, the observed power losses are lower but at the same time lower reduction in PM-10 emissions are attained. 21 refs., 4 figs., 2 tabs.

Refining revolution

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Fesharaki, F.; Isaak, D.

1984-01-01

A review of changes in the oil refining industry since 1973 examines the drop in capacity use and its effect on profits of the Organization of Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) countries compared to world refining. OPEC countries used their new oil revenues to expand Gulf refineries, which put additional pressure on OECD refiners. OPEC involvement in global marketing, however, could help to secure supplies. Scrapping some older OECD refineries could improve the percentage of capacity in use if new construction is kept to a minimum. Other issues facing refiners are the changes in oil demand patterns and government responses to the market. 2 tables.

Carcinogenicity of petroleum lubricating oil distillates: effects of solvent refining, hydroprocessing, and blending.

Science.gov (United States)

Halder, C A; Warne, T M; Little, R Q; Garvin, P J

1984-01-01

Certain refining processes were investigated to determine their influence on the dermal carcinogenic activity of petroleum-derived lubricating oil distillates. Specifically, the effects of solvent refining, hydroprocessing, a combination of both processes, and the blending of oils processed using each technique were evaluated in standard mouse skin-painting bioassays. The refining process used as well as the level or severity of treatment greatly influenced the carcinogenic outcome of processed lubricating oils. Solvent refining at severities normally used appeared to eliminate carcinogenicity. In contrast, hydroprocessing alone at mild levels of treatment was successful only in reducing the carcinogenic potency; severe hydroprocessing conditions were necessary to eliminate carcinogenic activity without the use of additional refining processes. Carcinogenic activity could also be eliminated by following moderate solvent refining with mild hydroprocessing. Blending of hydroprocessed oils with solvent-refined oils resulted in a substantial reduction or even elimination of carcinogenic activity. However, the degree of protection obtained varied with the particular distillates used and appeared largely dependent on the inherent biological activity of the hydroprocessed oil.

Remotely replaceable fuel and feed nozzles for the NWCF calciner vessel

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Fletcher, R.D.; Carter, J.A.; May, K.W.

1978-01-01

The development and testing of remotely replaceable fuel and feed nozzles for calcination of liquid radioactive wastes in the calciner vessel of the New Waste Calcining Facility (NWCF) being built at the Idaho National Engineering Laboratory are described. A complete fuel nozzle assembly was fabricated and tested at the Remote Maintenance Development Facility to evolve design refinements, identify required support equipment, and develop handling techniques. The design also provided for remote replacement of the nozzle support carriage and adjacent feed and fuel pipe loops using two pairs of master-slave manipulators

Refinement of the use of food and fluid control as motivational tools for macaques used in behavioural neuroscience research: report of a Working Group of the NC3Rs.

Science.gov (United States)

Prescott, Mark J; Brown, Verity J; Flecknell, Paul A; Gaffan, David; Garrod, Kate; Lemon, Roger N; Parker, Andrew J; Ryder, Kathy; Schultz, Wolfram; Scott, Leah; Watson, Jayne; Whitfield, Lucy

2010-11-30

This report provides practical guidance on refinement of the use of food and fluid control as motivational tools for macaques used in behavioural neuroscience research. The guidance is based on consideration of the scientific literature and, where data are lacking, expert opinion and professional experience, including that of the members of a Working Group convened by the United Kingdom National Centre for the Replacement, Refinement and Reduction of Animals in Research (NC3Rs). The report should be useful to researchers, veterinarians and animal care staff responsible for the welfare of macaques used in food and fluid control protocols, as well as those involved with designing, performing and analysing studies that use these protocols. It should also assist regulatory authorities and members of local ethical review processes or institutional animal care and use committees concerned with evaluating such protocols. The report provides a framework for refinement that can be tailored to meet local requirements. It also identifies data gaps and areas for future research and sets out the Working Group's recommendations on contemporary best practice. Copyright © 2010 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Iterative model building, structure refinement and density modification with the PHENIX AutoBuild wizard

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Terwilliger, Thomas C.; Grosse-Kunstleve, Ralf W.; Afonine, Pavel V.; Moriarty, Nigel W.; Zwart, Peter H.; Hung, Li-Wei; Read, Randy J.; Adams, Paul D.

2008-01-01

The highly automated PHENIX AutoBuild wizard is described. The procedure can be applied equally well to phases derived from isomorphous/anomalous and molecular-replacement methods. The PHENIX AutoBuild wizard is a highly automated tool for iterative model building, structure refinement and density modification using RESOLVE model building, RESOLVE statistical density modification and phenix.refine structure refinement. Recent advances in the AutoBuild wizard and phenix.refine include automated detection and application of NCS from models as they are built, extensive model-completion algorithms and automated solvent-molecule picking. Model-completion algorithms in the AutoBuild wizard include loop building, crossovers between chains in different models of a structure and side-chain optimization. The AutoBuild wizard has been applied to a set of 48 structures at resolutions ranging from 1.1 to 3.2 Å, resulting in a mean R factor of 0.24 and a mean free R factor of 0.29. The R factor of the final model is dependent on the quality of the starting electron density and is relatively independent of resolution

Animal welfare and the refinement of neuroscience research methods--a case study of Huntington's disease models.

Science.gov (United States)

Olsson, I Anna S; Hansen, Axel K; Sandøe, Peter

2008-07-01

The use of animals in biomedical and other research presents an ethical dilemma: we do not want to lose scientific benefits, nor do we want to cause laboratory animals to suffer. Scientists often refer to the potential human benefits of animal models to justify their use. However, even if this is accepted, it still needs to be argued that the same benefits could not have been achieved with a mitigated impact on animal welfare. Reducing the adverse effects of scientific protocols ('refinement') is therefore crucial in animal-based research. It is especially important that researchers share knowledge on how to avoid causing unnecessary suffering. We have previously demonstrated that even in studies in which animal use leads to spontaneous death, scientists often fail to report measures to minimize animal distress (Olsson et al. 2007). In this paper, we present the full results of a case study examining reports, published in peer-reviewed journals between 2003 and 2004, of experiments employing animal models to study the neurodegenerative disorder Huntington's disease. In 51 references, experiments in which animals were expected to develop motor deficits so severe that they would have difficulty eating and drinking normally were conducted, yet only three references were made to housing adaptation to facilitate food and water intake. Experiments including end-stages of the disease were reported in 14 papers, yet of these only six referred to the euthanasia of moribund animals. If the reference in scientific publications reflects the actual application of refinement, researchers do not follow the 3Rs (replacement, reduction, refinement) principle. While in some cases, it is clear that less-than-optimal techniques were used, we recognize that scientists may apply refinement without referring to it; however, if they do not include such information in publications, it suggests they find it less relevant. Journal publishing policy could play an important role: first, in

Advances in Rosetta structure prediction for difficult molecular-replacement problems

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

DiMaio, Frank

2013-01-01

Modeling advances using Rosetta structure prediction to aid in solving difficult molecular-replacement problems are discussed. Recent work has shown the effectiveness of structure-prediction methods in solving difficult molecular-replacement problems. The Rosetta protein structure modeling suite can aid in the solution of difficult molecular-replacement problems using templates from 15 to 25% sequence identity; Rosetta refinement guided by noisy density has consistently led to solved structures where other methods fail. In this paper, an overview of the use of Rosetta for these difficult molecular-replacement problems is provided and new modeling developments that further improve model quality are described. Several variations to the method are introduced that significantly reduce the time needed to generate a model and the sampling required to improve the starting template. The improvements are benchmarked on a set of nine difficult cases and it is shown that this improved method obtains consistently better models in less running time. Finally, strategies for best using Rosetta to solve difficult molecular-replacement problems are presented and future directions for the role of structure-prediction methods in crystallography are discussed

China's refiners face massive overhaul, expansion to meet demand growth, new crude slate

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Anon.

1994-01-01

China's refining industry has embarked on a massive overhaul and expansion to accommodate soaring domestic growth in refined products demand. Currently that growth in demand is being met by increasing imports of refined products, in recent years attaining triple digit growth rates and squeezing direly needed foreign exchange. The focus is on adding refining capacity of about 1.4 million b/d to the current capacity of about 3.2 million b/d by 2000. Priority for increasing capacity is being given to expanding existing refineries and participating in foreign joint venture grassroots refineries along China's booming coastal regions as well as hiking output. A major challenge for China's refineries is that country's reentry into the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT), recently signed in Morocco by more than 100 nations. The accompanying reduction of tariffs on imported refined products will make it more difficult for China's marginal refineries to compete in the domestic market. The paper discusses imports and exports, LPG outlook, refining capacity, revamps needed, third party processing, China's first joint venture refinery, industry plans, and GATT challenges

Development of interface technology between unit processes in E-Refining process

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Lee, S. H.; Lee, H. S.; Kim, J. G. [Korea Atomic Energy Research Institute, Daejeon (Korea, Republic of)

2010-10-15

The pyroprocessing is composed mainly four subprocesses, such as an electrolytic reduction, an electrorefining, an electrowinning, and waste salt regeneration/ solidification processes. The electrorefining process, one of main processes which are composed of pyroprocess to recover the useful elements from spent fuel, is under development by Korea Atomic Energy Research Institute as a sub process of pyrochemical treatment of spent PWR fuel. The CERS(Continuous ElectroRefining System) is composed of some unit processes such as an electrorefiner, a salt distiller, a melting furnace for the U-ingot and U-chlorinator (UCl{sub 3} making equipment) as shown in Fig. 1. In this study, the interfaces technology between unit processes in E-Refining system is investigated and developed for the establishment of integrated E-Refining operation system as a part of integrated pyroprocessing

Oil price scenarios and refining profitability

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Sweeney, B.

1993-01-01

Currently refining profitability is low because there has been an overbuilding of conversion capacity in Western Europe in the last round. Oil marketing, the chemicals business and the fundamental economy itself are at low points in their cycles which have not coincided, at least in the UK, since 1975. Against that gloomy background, it is predicted that downstream profitability will recover in the mid-1990s. Crude oil prices will remain low until the call on OPEC crude increases again and takes up the capacity which has been brought on stream in response to the Gulf War. When this happens, it is likely to trigger another price spike and another round of investment in production capacity. Environmentally driven investments in desulphurisation or emissions reduction will be poorly remunerated all the way through the value chain. Refining margins will recover when white oil demand growth tightens up the need for conversion capacity. Marketing will need to reduce the retail network overcapacity in the mature markets if it is to improve its profitability. In this period of low profitability, even with the light at the end of the tunnel for refiners in the middle of the decade, the industry structure is under threat. There is a strong argument for new modes of competitive behaviour which are backed by strong elements of cooperation. (author)

Future refining impacts of the Clean Air Act amendments of 1990

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hadder, G.R.

1992-01-01

An assessment of the future refining impacts of the U.S. Clean Air Act Amendments of 1990 has been performed with the Navy Mobility Fuels Forecasting System. In 1992, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) should finalize precise requirements for Phase I reformulated gasoline, to be produced in 1995-1999. EPA requirements for Phase II reformulated gasoline, to be produced after 1999, will not be established until 1993. The assessment of refining impacts assumes that reformulated gasoline with likely Phase I specifications will be produced for markets projected for the year 2000. The assessment suggests that gasoline reformulation costs in U.S. coastal and near-coastal refining regions could be 3.5 to 5.6 cents per gallon (1989 U.S. currency). The relative value of MTBE is the most important determinant of the reformulation cost. For mileage equivalent to one gallon of conventional gasoline, the regional total added costs (including reformulation costs) for reformulated gasoline could be 5.2 to 7.6 cents. In blending reformulated gasolines, the reduction of butane for lower Reid vapor pressure and the reduction of reformate for lower aromatics are generally compensated by increased percentages of alkylate and/or straight run naphthas. Relatively larger refinery process capacity additions are required for butane isomerization alkylation aromatics recovery, and distillate hydrotreating. (Author)

Technology of niobium and molybdenum refining by electron beam

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Conti, R.A.; Pinatti, D.G.; Sandim, H.R.Z.

1988-01-01

The uses of metals and alloys in superconductors (Nb46%Ti), aerospatial industry (Ti6Al4V), electroeletronic industry (Nb, Mo, W) and in surgical implants (Ti, Nb) are increasing nowadays. A refining process of niobium and molybdenum by electron beam technique, since the oxides reduction till the obtention of a high purity ingot is presented. (C.G.C.) [pt

Assessment of Energy Efficiency Improvement in the United States Petroleum Refining Industry

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Morrow, William R. [Ernest Orlando Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (LBNL), Berkeley, CA (United States); Marano, John [JM Energy Consulting, Inc.; Sathaye, Jayant [Ernest Orlando Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (LBNL), Berkeley, CA (United States); Hasanbeigi, Ali [Ernest Orlando Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (LBNL), Berkeley, CA (United States); Xu, Tengfang [Ernest Orlando Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (LBNL), Berkeley, CA (United States)

2013-02-01

Adoption of efficient process technologies is an important approach to reducing CO₂ emissions, in particular those associated with combustion. In many cases, implementing energy efficiency measures is among the most cost-effective approaches that any refiner can take, improving productivity while reducing emissions. Therefore, careful analysis of the options and costs associated with efficiency measures is required to establish sound carbon policies addressing global climate change, and is the primary focus of LBNL’s current petroleum refining sector analysis for the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. The analysis is aimed at identifying energy efficiency-related measures and developing energy abatement supply curves and CO₂ emissions reduction potential for the U.S. refining industry. A refinery model has been developed for this purpose that is a notional aggregation of the U.S. petroleum refining sector. It consists of twelve processing units and account s for the additional energy requirements from steam generation, hydrogen production and water utilities required by each of the twelve processing units. The model is carbon and energy balanced such that crud e oil inputs and major refinery sector outputs (fuels) are benchmarked to 2010 data. Estimates of the current penetration for the identified energy efficiency measures benchmark the energy requirements to those reported in U.S. DOE 2010 data. The remaining energy efficiency potential for each of the measures is estimated and compared to U.S. DOE fuel prices resulting in estimates of cost- effective energy efficiency opportunities for each of the twelve major processes. A combined cost of conserved energy supply curve is also presented along with the CO₂ emissions abatement opportunities that exist in the U.S. petroleum refinery sector. Roughly 1,200 PJ per year of primary fuels savings and close to 500 GWh per y ear of electricity savings are potentially cost

Refining capacity in Quebec : the Quebec market, industry viewpoint

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Trudelle, F.

2004-01-01

Canada's second largest oil refinery is operated by Ultramar Ltd. in Levis, Quebec. The refinery, which supplies 45 per cent of all Quebec's petroleum, distributes its products to Quebec, Ontario and the Maritime provinces. The refinery currently produces 215,000 barrels per day. Ultramar is a division of Valero, an American firm which has a total refining capacity of 2.4 million barrels per day. A summary of the company's petroleum energy distribution, consumption, and reserves was presented and compared with the national and global position. It was noted that world demand for petroleum products increases yearly by 1 to 1.5 per cent while the demand for automobile fuel in North America increases by 2.5 to 3.5 per cent. In the last 10 years, world demand has increased by more than 22 per cent but refining capacity has only increased by 12 per cent. The average profitability of the refining industry from 1992 to 2002 was approximately 5.5 per cent, which limited investments in new refinery installations. Much of the industry's profits have been utilized to modify installations in order to reduce the sulphur content in gasoline and diesel fuels. Furthermore, the obtention of permits to construct new refining installations has become a major obstacle and the ratification of the Kyoto Protocol may signify a 30 per cent reduction in automotive fuel demand. Given this, there is currently some hesitation and uncertainty by the refining industry to proceed with new major installations. tabs., figs

Protein NMR Structures Refined with Rosetta Have Higher Accuracy Relative to Corresponding X-ray Crystal Structures

Science.gov (United States)

2014-01-01

We have found that refinement of protein NMR structures using Rosetta with experimental NMR restraints yields more accurate protein NMR structures than those that have been deposited in the PDB using standard refinement protocols. Using 40 pairs of NMR and X-ray crystal structures determined by the Northeast Structural Genomics Consortium, for proteins ranging in size from 5–22 kDa, restrained Rosetta refined structures fit better to the raw experimental data, are in better agreement with their X-ray counterparts, and have better phasing power compared to conventionally determined NMR structures. For 37 proteins for which NMR ensembles were available and which had similar structures in solution and in the crystal, all of the restrained Rosetta refined NMR structures were sufficiently accurate to be used for solving the corresponding X-ray crystal structures by molecular replacement. The protocol for restrained refinement of protein NMR structures was also compared with restrained CS-Rosetta calculations. For proteins smaller than 10 kDa, restrained CS-Rosetta, starting from extended conformations, provides slightly more accurate structures, while for proteins in the size range of 10–25 kDa the less CPU intensive restrained Rosetta refinement protocols provided equally or more accurate structures. The restrained Rosetta protocols described here can improve the accuracy of protein NMR structures and should find broad and general for studies of protein structure and function. PMID:24392845

Combined miglustat and enzyme replacement therapy in two patients with type 1 Gaucher disease: two case reports.

Science.gov (United States)

Amato, Dominick; Patterson, Mary Anne

2018-01-27

Intravenous enzyme replacement therapy is a first-line therapy for Gaucher disease type 1, and substrate reduction therapy represents an oral treatment alternative. Both enzyme replacement therapy and substrate reduction therapy are generally used as monotherapies in Gaucher disease. However, one randomized study and several case reports have described combination therapy over short time periods. We report two female Gaucher disease type 1 patients of mainly Anglo-Saxon descent, where combined enzyme replacement therapy and miglustat substrate reduction therapy were administered to overcome refractory clinical symptoms. The first patient was diagnosed at age 17 and developed Gaucher disease-related bone manifestations that worsened despite starting imiglucerase enzyme replacement therapy. After switching to miglustat substrate reduction therapy, her bone symptoms improved, but she developed tremors and eventually switched back to enzyme replacement therapy. Miglustat was later recommenced in combination with ongoing enzyme replacement therapy due to continued bone pain, and her bone symptoms improved along with maintained visceral manifestations. Enzyme replacement therapy was subsequently tapered off and the patient has since been successfully maintained on miglustat. The second patient was diagnosed aged 3, and commenced imiglucerase enzyme replacement therapy aged 15. After 9 years on enzyme replacement therapy she switched to miglustat substrate reduction therapy and her core symptoms were maintained/stable for 3 years. Imiglucerase enzyme replacement therapy was later added as a boost to therapy and her symptoms were subsequently maintained over a 2.3-year period. However, miglustat was discontinued due to her relocation, necessitating an increase in enzyme replacement therapy dose. Overall, both patients benefited from combination therapy. While the majority of Gaucher disease type 1 patients will not need treatment with both substrate reduction therapy

The Effect of Protein-Enriched Meal Replacement on Waist Circumference Reduction among Overweight and Obese Chinese with Hyperlipidemia.

Science.gov (United States)

Chen, Wei; Liu, Yanjun; Yang, Qinbing; Li, Xiaohui; Yang, Jiongxian; Wang, Jing; Shi, Lintao; Chen, Yu; Zhu, Sainan

2016-01-01

In China, high-fat diets and excessive energy intake have led to an increasing prevalence of obesity which was previously uncommon. The current study examined the effects of meal replacement (MR) on weight control in overweight or obese Chinese individuals with hyperlipidemia. Patients, 18-65 years, with body mass index 25-35 kg/m(2) and triglycerides >1.7 and 2%; use of cholesterol-lowering drugs. Eligible patients were randomized 1:1 to a high-protein (HP) diet (2.2 g protein/kg/day) or a standard-protein (SP) diet (1.1 g protein/kg/ day) provided twice daily for 3 months. Assessments included body weight, waist-hip ratio, body fat percentage, blood lipids, blood glucose, insulin, liver and kidney function. Although mean weight loss and percent BMI reduction were greater with HP than SP at 12 weeks, the differences were not significant. There was, however, a significantly greater decrease in waist-hip ratio with HP versus SP (-0.03 ± 0.03 vs. -0.01 ± 0.04; p meal replacement in a free-living Chinese population suggests a new and promising strategy for reducing abdominal obesity in China.

Controlling cyanobacterial blooms in hypertrophic Lake Taihu, China: will nitrogen reductions cause replacement of non-N2 fixing by N2 fixing taxa?

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Hans W Paerl

Full Text Available Excessive anthropogenic nitrogen (N and phosphorus (P inputs have caused an alarming increase in harmful cyanobacterial blooms, threatening sustainability of lakes and reservoirs worldwide. Hypertrophic Lake Taihu, China's third largest freshwater lake, typifies this predicament, with toxic blooms of the non-N2 fixing cyanobacteria Microcystis spp. dominating from spring through fall. Previous studies indicate N and P reductions are needed to reduce bloom magnitude and duration. However, N reductions may encourage replacement of non-N2 fixing with N2 fixing cyanobacteria. This potentially counterproductive scenario was evaluated using replicate, large (1000 L, in-lake mesocosms during summer bloom periods. N+P additions led to maximum phytoplankton production. Phosphorus enrichment, which promoted N limitation, resulted in increases in N2 fixing taxa (Anabaena spp., but it did not lead to significant replacement of non-N2 fixing with N2 fixing cyanobacteria, and N2 fixation rates remained ecologically insignificant. Furthermore, P enrichment failed to increase phytoplankton production relative to controls, indicating that N was the most limiting nutrient throughout this period. We propose that Microcystis spp. and other non-N2 fixing genera can maintain dominance in this shallow, highly turbid, nutrient-enriched lake by outcompeting N2 fixing taxa for existing sources of N and P stored and cycled in the lake. To bring Taihu and other hypertrophic systems below the bloom threshold, both N and P reductions will be needed until the legacy of high N and P loading and sediment nutrient storage in these systems is depleted. At that point, a more exclusive focus on P reductions may be feasible.

Petroleum refining industry in China

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Walls, W.D.

2010-01-01

The oil refining industry in China has faced rapid growth in oil imports of increasingly sour grades of crude with which to satisfy growing domestic demand for a slate of lighter and cleaner finished products sold at subsidized prices. At the same time, the world petroleum refining industry has been moving from one that serves primarily local and regional markets to one that serves global markets for finished products, as world refining capacity utilization has increased. Globally, refined product markets are likely to experience continued globalization until refining investments significantly expand capacity in key demand regions. We survey the oil refining industry in China in the context of the world market for heterogeneous crude oils and growing world trade in refined petroleum products. (author)

Materials refining on the Moon

Science.gov (United States)

Landis, Geoffrey A.

2007-05-01

Oxygen, metals, silicon, and glass are raw materials that will be required for long-term habitation and production of structural materials and solar arrays on the Moon. A process sequence is proposed for refining these materials from lunar regolith, consisting of separating the required materials from lunar rock with fluorine. The fluorine is brought to the Moon in the form of potassium fluoride, and is liberated from the salt by electrolysis in a eutectic salt melt. Tetrafluorosilane produced by this process is reduced to silicon by a plasma reduction stage; the fluorine salts are reduced to metals by reaction with metallic potassium. Fluorine is recovered from residual MgF and CaF2 by reaction with K2O.

Remotely replaceable fuel and feed nozzles for the new waste calcining facility calciner vessel

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Fletcher, R.D.; Carter, J.A.; May, K.W.

1978-01-01

The development and testing of remotely replaceable fuel and feed nozzles for calcination of liquid radioactive wastes in the calciner vessel of the New Waste Calcining Facility being built at the Idaho National Engineering Laboratory is described. A complete fuel nozzle assembly was fabricated and tested at the Remote Maintenance Development Facility to evolve design refinements, identify required support equipment, and develop handling techniques. The design also provided for remote replacement of the nozzle support carriage and adjacent feed and fuel pipe loops using two pairs of master-slave manipulators

On the refinement calculus

CERN Document Server

Vickers, Trevor

1992-01-01

On the Refinement Calculus gives one view of the development of the refinement calculus and its attempt to bring together - among other things - Z specifications and Dijkstra's programming language. It is an excellent source of reference material for all those seeking the background and mathematical underpinnings of the refinement calculus.

North American refining

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Osten, James; Haltmaier, Susan

2000-01-01

This article examines the current status of the North American refining industry, and considers the North American economy and the growth in demand in the petroleum industry, petroleum product demand and quality, crude oil upgrading to meet product standards, and changes in crude oil feedstocks such as the use of heavier crudes and bitumens. Refining expansion, the declining profits in refining, and changes due to environmental standards are discussed. The Gross Domestic Product and oil demand for the USA, Canada, Mexico, and Venezuela for the years 1995-2020 are tabulated

Solving nucleic acid structures by molecular replacement: examples from group II intron studies

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Marcia, Marco; Humphris-Narayanan, Elisabeth; Keating, Kevin S.; Somarowthu, Srinivas; Rajashankar, Kanagalaghatta; Pyle, Anna Marie

2013-01-01

Strategies for phasing nucleic acid structures by molecular replacement, using both experimental and de novo designed models, are discussed. Structured RNA molecules are key players in ensuring cellular viability. It is now emerging that, like proteins, the functions of many nucleic acids are dictated by their tertiary folds. At the same time, the number of known crystal structures of nucleic acids is also increasing rapidly. In this context, molecular replacement will become an increasingly useful technique for phasing nucleic acid crystallographic data in the near future. Here, strategies to select, create and refine molecular-replacement search models for nucleic acids are discussed. Using examples taken primarily from research on group II introns, it is shown that nucleic acids are amenable to different and potentially more flexible and sophisticated molecular-replacement searches than proteins. These observations specifically aim to encourage future crystallographic studies on the newly discovered repertoire of noncoding transcripts

Production and characterization of refined oils obtained from Indian oil sardine (Sardinella longiceps).

Science.gov (United States)

Chakraborty, Kajal; Joseph, Deepu

2015-01-28

Crude Sardinella longiceps oil was refined in different stages such as degumming, neutralization, bleaching, and deodorization. The efficiency of these processes was evaluated on the basis of free fatty acid (FFA), peroxide (PV), p-anisidine (pAV), total oxidation (TOTOX), thiobarbituric acid reactive species (TBARS) values, Lovibond CIE-L*a*b* color analyses, and (1)H NMR or GC-MS experiments. The utilities of NMR-based proton signal characteristics as new analytical tools to understand the signature peaks and relative abundance of different fatty acids and monitoring the refining process of fish oil have been demonstrated. Phosphoric acid (1%) was found to be an effective degumming reagent to obtain oil with the lowest FFA, PV, pAV, TOTOX, and TBARS values and highest color reduction. Significant reduction in the contents of hydrocarbon functionalities as shown by the decrease in proton integral in the characteristic (1)H NMR region was demonstrated by using 1% H3PO4 during the course of the degumming process. A combination (1.25:3.75%) of activated charcoal and Fuller's earth at 3% concentration for a stirring time of 40 min was found to be effective in bleaching the sardine oil. This study demonstrated that unfavorable odor-causing components, particularly low molecular weight carbonyl compounds, could successfully be removed by the refining process. The alkane-dienals/alkanes, which cause unfavorable fishy odors, were successfully removed by distillation (100 °C) under vacuum with aqueous acetic acid solution (0.25 N) to obtain greater quality of refined sardine oil, a rich source of essential fatty acids and improved oxidative stability. The present study demonstrated that the four-stage refinement process of sardine oil resulted in a significant improvement in quality characteristics and nutritional values, particularly n-3 PUFAs, with improved fish oil characteristics for use in the pharmaceutical and functional food industries.

Grain refining of Al-4.5Cu alloy by adding an Al-30TiC master alloy

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Sato, Kazuaki [Toyota Motor Corp., Shizuoka (Japan). Materials Engineering Div. III; Flemings, M.C. [Massachusetts Inst. of Tech., Cambridge, MA (United States). Dept. of Materials Science and Engineering

1998-06-01

A particulate Al-30 wt pct TiC composite was employed as a grain refiner for the Al-4.5 wt pct Cu alloy. The composite contains submicron TiC particles. The addition of the TiC grain refiner to the metal alloy in the amount of 0.1 Ti wt pct effected a remarkable reduction in the average grain size in Al-4.5 wt pct Cu alloy castings. With the content of over 0.2 Ti wt pct, the grain refiner maintained its refining effectiveness even after a 3,600-second holding time at 973 K. The TiC particles in the resulting castings were free of interfacial phases. It is concluded that the TiC are the nucleating agents and that they are resistant to the fading effect encountered with most grain refiners.

Egyptian And International Automotive Diesel. Fuels: Specifications Meeting Challenges To Refining Industry

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Zayed, A.M.; EI Shamy, A.A.

2004-01-01

This paper presents a brief summary and comparison of Egyptian automotive diesel fuel to the international one. Recent legislation all over the world, requiring further reduction in sulfur, aromatics, T 90 and T 95 and increasing cetane value of the transportation diesel fuels, presents numerous technical and economic challenges to the refiners. While refiners grapple with these challenges, they will also face pressure from the increased demand of transportation diesel fuel and tighter capital restrictions. Overcome of these challenges makes a fair competition. A comparison of the Egyptian automotive diesel fuel and the international one will be a guide to locally and globally facing these challenges

Refinement of Parallel and Reactive Programs

OpenAIRE

Back, R. J. R.

1992-01-01

We show how to apply the refinement calculus to stepwise refinement of parallel and reactive programs. We use action systems as our basic program model. Action systems are sequential programs which can be implemented in a parallel fashion. Hence refinement calculus methods, originally developed for sequential programs, carry over to the derivation of parallel programs. Refinement of reactive programs is handled by data refinement techniques originally developed for the sequential refinement c...

Creating value in refining

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Cobb, C.B.

2001-01-01

This article focuses on recent developments in the US refining industry and presents a model for improving the performance of refineries based on the analysis of the refining industry by Cap Gemini Ernst and Young. The identification of refineries in risk of failing, the construction of pipelines for refinery products from Gulf State refineries, mergers and acquisitions, and poor financial performance are discussed. Current challenges concerning the stagnant demand for refinery products, environmental regulations, and shareholder value are highlighted. The structure of the industry, the creation of value in refining, and the search for business models are examined. The top 25 US companies and US refining business groups are listed

Southeast Asian oil markets and refining

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Yamaguchi, N.D. [FACTS, Inc., Honolulu, Hawaii (United States)

1999-09-01

An overview of the Southeast Asian oil markets and refining is presented concentrating on Brunei, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore and Thailand refiners. Key statistics of the refiners in this region are tabulated. The demand and the quality of Indonesian, Malaysian, Philippine, Singapore and Thai petroleum products are analysed. Crude distillation unit capacity trends in the Southeastern Asian refining industry are discussed along with cracking to distillation ratios, refining in these countries, and the impact of changes in demand and refining on the product trade.

Southeast Asian oil markets and refining

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Yamaguchi, N.D.

1999-01-01

An overview of the Southeast Asian oil markets and refining is presented concentrating on Brunei, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore and Thailand refiners. Key statistics of the refiners in this region are tabulated. The demand and the quality of Indonesian, Malaysian, Philippine, Singapore and Thai petroleum products are analysed. Crude distillation unit capacity trends in the Southeastern Asian refining industry are discussed along with cracking to distillation ratios, refining in these countries, and the impact of changes in demand and refining on the product trade

Formation and reduction of 3-monochloropropane-1,2-diol esters in peanut oil during physical refining.

Science.gov (United States)

Li, Chang; Li, Linyan; Jia, Hanbing; Wang, Yuting; Shen, Mingyue; Nie, Shaoping; Xie, Mingyong

2016-05-15

In the present study, lab-scale physical refining processes were investigated for their effects on the formation of 3-monochloropropane-1,2-diol (3-MCPD) esters. The potential precursors, partial acylglycerols and chlorines were determined before each refining step. 3-MCPD esters were not detected in degummed and bleached oil when the crude oils were extracted by solvent. While in the hot squeezed crude oils, 3-MCPD esters were detected with low amounts. 3-MCPD esters were generated with maximum values in 1-1.5h at a certain deodorizing temperature (220-260°C). Chlorine seemed to be more effective precursor than partial acylglycerol. By washing bleached oil before deodorization with ethanol solution, the precursors were removed partially and the content of 3-MCPD esters decreased to some extent accordingly. Diacetin was found to reduce 3-MCPD esters effectively. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Effect of strontium on the grain refining efficiency of Mg-3Al alloy refined by carbon inoculation

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Du Jun; Yang Jian; Kuwabara, Mamoru; Li Wenfang; Peng Jihua

2009-01-01

The effect of Sr on the grain refining efficiency of the Mg-3Al alloy refined by carbon inoculation has been investigated in the present study. A significant grain refinement was obtained for the Mg-3Al alloy treated with either 0.2% C or 0.2% Sr. The Al-C-O particles were found in the sample refined by 0.2% C, and the element O should come from reaction between Al 4 C 3 nuclei of Mg grains and water during the process of sample preparation. The grain size of the sample refined by carbon inoculation was further decreased after the combined addition of Sr. The grain size decreased with increasing Sr content. Much higher refining efficiency was obtained when the Sr addition was increased to 0.5%. Sr is an effective element to improve the grain refining efficiency for the Mg-Al alloys refined by carbon inoculation. The number of Al 4 C 3 particles in the sample refined by the combination of carbon and Sr was more than that in the sample refined by only carbon. No Al-C-O-Sr-rich particles were obviously found in the sample refined by the combination of carbon and a little (<0.5%) Sr addition

Reductions in red blood cell 2,3-diphosphoglycerate concentration during continuous renal replacment therapy.

Science.gov (United States)

Sharma, Shilpa; Brugnara, Carlo; Betensky, Rebecca A; Waikar, Sushrut S

2015-01-07

Hypophosphatemia is a frequent complication during continuous renal replacement therapy (CRRT), a dialytic technique used to treat AKI in critically ill patients. This study sought to confirm that phosphate depletion during CRRT may decrease red blood cell (RBC) concentration of 2,3-diphosphoglycerate (2,3-DPG), a crucial allosteric effector of hemoglobin's (Hgb's) affinity for oxygen, thereby leading to impaired oxygen delivery to peripheral tissues. Phosphate mass balance studies were performed in 20 patients with severe AKI through collection of CRRT effluent. RBC concentrations of 2,3-DPG, venous blood gas pH, and oxygen partial pressure required for 50% hemoglobin saturation (P50) were measured at CRRT initiation and days 2, 4, and 7. Similar measurements were obtained on days 0 and 2 in a reference group of 10 postsurgical patients, most of whom did not have AKI. Associations of 2,3-DPG with laboratory parameters and clinical outcomes were examined using mixed-effects and Cox regression models. Mean 2,3-DPG levels decreased from a mean (±SD) of 13.4±3.4 µmol/g Hgb to 11.0±3.1 µmol/g Hgb after 2 days of CRRT (Plevels decreased from 29.7±4.4 mmHg to 26.7±4.0 mmHg (Plevels after 2 days of CRRT were not significantly lower than those in the reference group on day 2. Among patients receiving CRRT, 2,3-DPG decreased by 0.53 µmol/g Hgb per 1 g phosphate removed (95% confidence interval 0.38 to 0.68 µmol/g Hgb; P<0.001). Greater reductions in 2,3-DPG were associated with higher risk for death (hazard ratio, 1.43; 95% confidence interval, 1.09 to 1.88; P=0.01). CRRT-induced phosphate depletion is associated with measurable reductions in RBC 2,3-DPG concentration and a shift in the O2:Hgb affinity curve even in the absence of overt hypophosphatemia. 2,3-DPG reductions may be associated with higher risk for in-hospital death and represent a potentially avoidable complication of CRRT. Copyright © 2015 by the American Society of Nephrology.

Decontamination of steel by melt refining: A literature review

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ozturk, B.; Fruehan, R.J.

1994-01-01

It has been reported that a large amount of metal waste is produced annually by nuclear fuel processing and nuclear power plants. These metal wastes are contaminated with radioactive elements, such as uranium and plutonium. Current Department of Energy guidelines require retrievable storage of all metallic wastes containing transuranic elements above a certain level. Because of high cost, it is important to develop an effective decontamination and volume reduction method for low level contaminated metals. It has been shown by some investigators that a melt refining technique can be used for the processing of the contaminated metal wastes. In this process, contaminated metal is melted wit a suitable flux. The radioactive elements are oxidized and transferred to a slag phase. In order to develop a commercial process it is important to have information on the thermodynamics and kinetics of the removal. Therefore, a literature search was carried out to evaluate the available information on the decontamination uranium and transuranic-contaminated plain steel, copper and stainless steel by melt a refining technique. Emphasis was given to the thermodynamics and kinetics of the removal. Data published in the literature indicate that it is possible to reduce the concentration of radioactive elements to a very low level by the melt refining method. 20 refs

Linearly Refined Session Types

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Pedro Baltazar

2012-11-01

Full Text Available Session types capture precise protocol structure in concurrent programming, but do not specify properties of the exchanged values beyond their basic type. Refinement types are a form of dependent types that can address this limitation, combining types with logical formulae that may refer to program values and can constrain types using arbitrary predicates. We present a pi calculus with assume and assert operations, typed using a session discipline that incorporates refinement formulae written in a fragment of Multiplicative Linear Logic. Our original combination of session and refinement types, together with the well established benefits of linearity, allows very fine-grained specifications of communication protocols in which refinement formulae are treated as logical resources rather than persistent truths.

Preliminary assessment of future refining impacts of the Clean Air Act Amendments of 1990

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hadder, G.R.

1991-09-01

A preliminary assessment of the future refining impacts of the Clean Air Act Amendments of 1990 has been performed with the Navy Mobility Fuels Forecasting Systems. The assessment suggests that gasoline reformulation costs in domestic coastal and near-coastal refining regions in the year 2000 could be 3.5 to 5.6 cents per gallon (in terms of 1989 currency). For heating value equivalent to one gallon of conventional gasoline, the regional total added costs (including reformulation costs) for reformulated gasoline could be 5.9 to 8.0 cents. In blending reformulated gasolines, the reduction of butane for lower Reid vapor pressure and the reduction of reformate for lower aromatics are generally compensated by increased percentages of alkylate and/or straight run naphthas. Relatively larger refinery process capacity additions are required for butane isomerization, alkylation, aromatics recovery, and distillate hydrotreating. 21 refs., 3 figs., 18 tabs

Preparation of hafnium metal by calciothermic reduction of HfO2

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Sharma, I.G.; Vijay, P.L.; Sehra, J.C.; Sundaram, C.V.

1975-01-01

Hafnium metal powder has been produced by the calciothermic reduction of hafnium oxide. The influence of various experimental parameters - such as amount of calcium in excess of stoichiometric requirement, temperature, and time of reduction - on the yield and purity of the metal has been studied. The metal powder obtained by reduction at 960 0 C (two hours) with a calcium excess of 70% analysed 600 ppm of oxygen and 147 ppm of nitrogen. A reduction efficiency of 96% has been achieved under these conditions. The refining of the powder by electron beam melting, fused salt electrolysis, and iodide process has been studied. The oxygen content in the metal could be brought down from 6900 to 148 ppm by electron beam melt-refining. (author)

AUTOMR: An automatic processing program system for the molecular replacement method

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Matsuura, Yoshiki

1991-01-01

An automatic processing program system of the molecular replacement method AUTMR is presented. The program solves the initial model of the target crystal structure using a homologous molecule as the search model. It processes the structure-factor calculation of the model molecule, the rotation function, the translation function and the rigid-group refinement successively in one computer job. Test calculations were performed for six protein crystals and the structures were solved in all of these cases. (orig.)

Impact of Crude Oil Quality on the Refining Conditions and Composition of Nutraceuticals in Refined Palm Oil.

Science.gov (United States)

Sampaio, Klicia A; Ayala, Jose Vila; Van Hoed, Vera; Monteiro, Simone; Ceriani, Roberta; Verhé, Roland; Meirelles, Antonio J A

2017-08-01

Palm oil is the major vegetable oil used worldwide due to its unique properties. The effect of crude palm oil acidity on the final free fatty acids (FFA) content, neutral oil loss (NOL), and nutraceutical compounds, such as carotenes, total tocols (tocopherols and tocotrienols), squalene, and phytosterols was investigated. A central composite design was employed to study the influence of the refining conditions: temperature (200 to 260 °C), steam percentage (0.5% to 3.5%), and initial FFA content (2.2% to 6.0%) on the quality of the refined product. The results revealed that initial palm oil acidity is a statistically important parameter to obtain commercially acceptable values for final FFA content. The increase of temperature presented the most important effect on the reduction of all nutraceutical compounds. The highest tocopherols (88%), phytosterols (98%), and squalene retention (84%) was obtained when applying the mildest temperature (200 °C). From the experimental results, 3 equations were generated enabling the prediction of the free fatty acids content, the tocols content, and the losses of neutral oil. Therefore, this work contributes to the understanding and optimization of the process for the production of palm oil with high nutraceutical quality and low free fatty acid contents. © 2017 Institute of Food Technologists®.

Spatially adaptive hp refinement approach for PN neutron transport equation using spectral element method

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Nahavandi, N.; Minuchehr, A.; Zolfaghari, A.; Abbasi, M.

2015-01-01

Highlights: • Powerful hp-SEM refinement approach for P N neutron transport equation has been presented. • The method provides great geometrical flexibility and lower computational cost. • There is a capability of using arbitrary high order and non uniform meshes. • Both posteriori and priori local error estimation approaches have been employed. • High accurate results are compared against other common adaptive and uniform grids. - Abstract: In this work we presented the adaptive hp-SEM approach which is obtained from the incorporation of Spectral Element Method (SEM) and adaptive hp refinement. The SEM nodal discretization and hp adaptive grid-refinement for even-parity Boltzmann neutron transport equation creates powerful grid refinement approach with high accuracy solutions. In this regard a computer code has been developed to solve multi-group neutron transport equation in one-dimensional geometry using even-parity transport theory. The spatial dependence of flux has been developed via SEM method with Lobatto orthogonal polynomial. Two commonly error estimation approaches, the posteriori and the priori has been implemented. The incorporation of SEM nodal discretization method and adaptive hp grid refinement leads to high accurate solutions. Coarser meshes efficiency and significant reduction of computer program runtime in comparison with other common refining methods and uniform meshing approaches is tested along several well-known transport benchmarks

Reduction of healthcare-associated infections in a long-term care brain injury ward by replacing regular linens with biocidal copper oxide impregnated linens.

Science.gov (United States)

Lazary, A; Weinberg, I; Vatine, J-J; Jefidoff, A; Bardenstein, R; Borkow, G; Ohana, N

2014-07-01

Contaminated textiles in hospitals contribute to endogenous, indirect-contact, and aerosol transmission of nosocomial related pathogens. Copper oxide impregnated linens have wide-spectrum antimicrobial, antifungal, and antiviral properties. Our aim was to determine if replacing non-biocidal linens with biocidal copper oxide impregnated linens would reduce the rates of healthcare-associated infections (HAI) in a long-term care ward. We compared the rates of HAI in two analogous patient cohorts in a head injury care ward over two 6-month parallel periods before (period A) and after (period B) replacing all the regular non-biocidal linens and personnel uniforms with copper oxide impregnated biocidal products. During period B, in comparison to period A, there was a 24% reduction in the HAI per 1000 hospitalization-days (p38.5°C) per 1000 hospitalization-days (p<0.01), and a 32.8% reduction in total number of days of antibiotic administration per 1000 hospitalization-days (p<0.0001). Accordingly there was saving of approximately 27% in costs of antibiotics, HAI-related treatments, X-rays, disposables, labor, and laundry, expenses during period B. The use of biocidal copper oxide impregnated textiles in a long-term care ward may significantly reduce HAI, fever, antibiotic consumption, and related treatment costs. Copyright © 2014 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd.. All rights reserved.

Commercial refining in the Mediterranean

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Packer, P.

1999-01-01

About 9% of the world's oil refining capacity is on the Mediterranean: some of the world's biggest and most advanced refineries are on Sicily and Sardinia. The Mediterranean refineries are important suppliers to southern Europe and N. Africa. The article discusses commercial refining in the Mediterranean under the headings of (i) historic development, (ii) product demand, (iii) refinery configurations, (iv) refined product trade, (v) financial performance and (vi) future outlook. Although some difficulties are foreseen, refining in the Mediterranean is likely to continue to be important well into the 21st century. (UK)

Refining Nodes and Edges of State Machines

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Hallerstede, Stefan; Snook, Colin

2011-01-01

State machines are hierarchical automata that are widely used to structure complex behavioural specifications. We develop two notions of refinement of state machines, node refinement and edge refinement. We compare the two notions by means of examples and argue that, by adopting simple conventions...... refinement theory and UML-B state machine refinement influences the style of node refinement. Hence we propose a method with direct proof of state machine refinement avoiding the detour via Event-B that is needed by UML-B....

Anomalies in the refinement of isoleucine

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Berntsen, Karen R. M.; Vriend, Gert

2014-01-01

The side-chain torsion angles of isoleucines in X-ray protein structures are a function of resolution, secondary structure and refinement software. Detailing the standard torsion angles used in refinement software can improve protein structure refinement. A study of isoleucines in protein structures solved using X-ray crystallography revealed a series of systematic trends for the two side-chain torsion angles χ 1 and χ 2 dependent on the resolution, secondary structure and refinement software used. The average torsion angles for the nine rotamers were similar in high-resolution structures solved using either the REFMAC, CNS or PHENIX software. However, at low resolution these programs often refine towards somewhat different χ 1 and χ 2 values. Small systematic differences can be observed between refinement software that uses molecular dynamics-type energy terms (for example CNS) and software that does not use these terms (for example REFMAC). Detailing the standard torsion angles used in refinement software can improve the refinement of protein structures. The target values in the molecular dynamics-type energy functions can also be improved

Anomalies in the refinement of isoleucine

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Berntsen, Karen R. M.; Vriend, Gert, E-mail: gerrit.vriend@radboudumc.nl [Radboud University Medical Center, Geert Grooteplein 26-28, 6525 GA Nijmegen (Netherlands)

2014-04-01

The side-chain torsion angles of isoleucines in X-ray protein structures are a function of resolution, secondary structure and refinement software. Detailing the standard torsion angles used in refinement software can improve protein structure refinement. A study of isoleucines in protein structures solved using X-ray crystallography revealed a series of systematic trends for the two side-chain torsion angles χ{sub 1} and χ{sub 2} dependent on the resolution, secondary structure and refinement software used. The average torsion angles for the nine rotamers were similar in high-resolution structures solved using either the REFMAC, CNS or PHENIX software. However, at low resolution these programs often refine towards somewhat different χ{sub 1} and χ{sub 2} values. Small systematic differences can be observed between refinement software that uses molecular dynamics-type energy terms (for example CNS) and software that does not use these terms (for example REFMAC). Detailing the standard torsion angles used in refinement software can improve the refinement of protein structures. The target values in the molecular dynamics-type energy functions can also be improved.

Grain refinement of zinc-aluminium alloys

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Zaid, A.I.O.

2006-01-01

It is now well-established that the structure of the zinc-aluminum die casting alloys can be modified by the binary Al-Ti or the ternary Al-Ti-B master alloys. in this paper, grain refinement of zinc-aluminum alloys by rare earth materials is reviewed and discussed. The importance of grain refining of these alloys and parameters affecting it are presented and discussed. These include parameters related to the Zn-Al alloys cast, parameters related to the grain refining elements or alloys and parameters related to the process. The effect of addition of other alloying elements e.g. Zr either alone or in the presence of the main grain refiners Ti or Ti + B on the grain refining efficiency is also reviewed and discussed. Furthermore, based on the grain refinement and the parameters affecting it, a criterion for selection of the optimum grain refiner is suggested. Finally, the recent research work on the effect of grain refiners on the mechanical behaviour, impact strength, wear resistance, and fatigue life of these alloys are presented and discussed. (author)

Summary of uranium refining and conversion pilot plant at Ningyo-toge works

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Iwata, Ichiro

1981-01-01

In the Ningyo-toge works, Power Reactor and Nuclear Fuel Development Corp., the construction of the uranium refining and conversion pilot plant was completed, and the operation will be started after the various tests based on the related laws. As for the uranium refining in Japan, the PNC process by wet refining method has been developed since 1958. The history of the development is described. It was decided to construct the refining and conversion pilot plant with 200 t uranium/year capacity as the comprehensive result of the development. This is the amount sufficient to supply UF 6 to the uranium enrichment pilot plant in Ningyo-toge. The building for the refining and conversion pilot plant is a three-story ferro-concrete building with the total floor area of about 13,000 m 2 . The raw materials are the uranium ore produced in Ningyo-toge and the yellow cakes from abroad. Uranyl sulfate solution is obtained by solvent extraction using an extraction tower or a mixer-settler. The following processes are electrolytic reduction, precipitation of uranium tetrafluoride, filtration, drying, dehydration and UF 6 conversion. The fluorine for UF 6 conversion is produced by the facility in the plant. The operation of the pilot plant will be started in the latter half of the fiscal year 1981, the batch operation is carrried out in 1982, and the continuous operation from 1983. (Kako, I.)

Refining and petrochemicals

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Constancio, Silva

2006-07-01

In 2004, refining margins showed a clear improvement that persisted throughout the first three quarters of 2005. This enabled oil companies to post significantly higher earnings for their refining activity in 2004 compared to 2003, with the results of the first half of 2005 confirming this trend. As for petrochemicals, despite a steady rise in the naphtha price, higher cash margins enabled a turnaround in 2004 as well as a clear improvement in oil company financial performance that should continue in 2005, judging by the net income figures reported for the first half-year. Despite this favorable business environment, capital expenditure in refining and petrochemicals remained at a low level, especially investment in new capacity, but a number of projects are being planned for the next five years. (author)

Refining and petrochemicals

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Constancio, Silva

2006-01-01

In 2004, refining margins showed a clear improvement that persisted throughout the first three quarters of 2005. This enabled oil companies to post significantly higher earnings for their refining activity in 2004 compared to 2003, with the results of the first half of 2005 confirming this trend. As for petrochemicals, despite a steady rise in the naphtha price, higher cash margins enabled a turnaround in 2004 as well as a clear improvement in oil company financial performance that should continue in 2005, judging by the net income figures reported for the first half-year. Despite this favorable business environment, capital expenditure in refining and petrochemicals remained at a low level, especially investment in new capacity, but a number of projects are being planned for the next five years. (author)

Grain refinement of aluminum and its alloys

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Zaid, A.I.O.

2001-01-01

Grain refinement of aluminum and its alloys by the binary Al-Ti and Ternary Al-Ti-B master alloys is reviewed and discussed. The importance of grain refining to the cast industry and the parameters affecting it are presented and discussed. These include parameters related to the cast, parameters related to the grain refining alloy and parameters related to the process. The different mechanisms, suggested in the literature for the process of grain refining are presented and discussed, from which it is found that although the mechanism of refining by the binary Al-Ti is well established the mechanism of grain refining by the ternary Al-Ti-B is still a controversial matter and some research work is still needed in this area. The effect of the addition of other alloying elements in the presence of the grain refiner on the grain refining efficiency is also reviewed and discussed. It is found that some elements e.g. V, Mo, C improves the grain refining efficiency, whereas other elements e.g. Cr, Zr, Ta poisons the grain refinement. Based on the parameters affecting the grain refinement and its mechanism, a criterion for selection of the optimum grain refiner is forwarded and discussed. (author)

Niobium-base grain refiner for aluminium

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Silva Pontes, P. da; Robert, M.H.; Cupini, N.L.

1980-01-01

A new chemical grain refiner for aluminium has been developed, using inoculation of a niobium-base compound. When a bath of molten aluminium is inoculated whith this refiner, an intermetallic aluminium-niobium compound is formed which acts as a powerful nucleant, producing extremely fine structure comparable to those obtained by means of the traditional grain refiner based on titanium and boron. It was found that the refinement of the structure depends upon the weight percentage of the new refiner inoculated as well as the time of holding the bath after inoculation and before pouring, but mainly on the inoculating temperature. (Author) [pt

Refining of yellow cake by solvent extraction. Pakistan status report

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Yunus, M.; Muzaffar, A.; Qureshi, M.T.; Qazi, N.K.; Khan, J.R.; Chughtai, N.A.; Zaidi, S.M.H.

1980-01-01

The paper describes the pilot-plant studies made at the Pakistan Institute of Nuclear Science and Technology, Rawalpindi, on refining yellow cake. The process units mainly consist of digestion and filtration, solvent extraction, precipitation and filtration, and calcining and reduction. Extraction parameters, such as free acidity in terms of nitrate ion concentration, throughputs and AF index, have been studied in some detail. Product of satisfactory chemical purity, as confirmed by spectrochemical analysis, was produced by this method. (author)

Indian refining industry

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Singh, I.J.

2002-01-01

The author discusses the history of the Indian refining industry and ongoing developments under the headings: the present state; refinery configuration; Indian capabilities for refinery projects; and reforms in the refining industry. Tables lists India's petroleum refineries giving location and capacity; new refinery projects together with location and capacity; and expansion projects of Indian petroleum refineries. The Indian refinery industry has undergone substantial expansion as well as technological changes over the past years. There has been progressive technology upgrading, energy efficiency, better environmental control and improved capacity utilisation. Major reform processes have been set in motion by the government of India: converting the refining industry from a centrally controlled public sector dominated industry to a delicensed regime in a competitive market economy with the introduction of a liberal exploration policy; dismantling the administered price mechanism; and a 25 year hydrocarbon vision. (UK)

Spanish Refining

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Lores, F.R.

2001-01-01

An overview of petroleum refining in Spain is presented (by Repsol YPF) and some views on future trends are discussed. Spain depends heavily on imports. Sub-headings in the article cover: sources of crude imports, investments and logistics and marketing, -detailed data for each are shown diagrammatically. Tables show: (1) economic indicators (e.g. total GDP, vehicle numbers and inflation) for 1998-200; (2) crude oil imports for 1995-2000; (3) oil products balance for 1995-2000; (4) commodities demand, by product; (5) refining in Spain in terms of capacity per region; (6) outlets in Spain and other European countries in 2002 and (7) sales distribution channel by product

Replacement of Refined Starches and Added Sugars with Egg Protein and Unsaturated Fats Increases Insulin Sensitivity and Lowers Triglycerides in Overweight or Obese Adults with Elevated Triglycerides.

Science.gov (United States)

Maki, Kevin C; Palacios, Orsolya M; Lindner, Emily; Nieman, Kristin M; Bell, Marjorie; Sorce, Jennifer

2017-07-01

.9%) and 18.6% (-34.8%, -7.4%), respectively, after the Epro and UFA condition and by 2.5% (-13.4%, 17.0%) and 3.6% (-12.5%, 16.2%), respectively, after the carbohydrate diet condition ( P < 0.002). Conclusions: The replacement of refined carbohydrates with a combination of Epro and UFA increased the MISI value and altered several markers of cardiometabolic health in overweight or obese adults with elevated TG concentrations. This trial was registered at clinicaltrials.gov as NCT02924558. © 2017 American Society for Nutrition.

Parallel Block Structured Adaptive Mesh Refinement on Graphics Processing Units

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Beckingsale, D. A. [Atomic Weapons Establishment (AWE), Aldermaston (United Kingdom); Gaudin, W. P. [Atomic Weapons Establishment (AWE), Aldermaston (United Kingdom); Hornung, R. D. [Lawrence Livermore National Lab. (LLNL), Livermore, CA (United States); Gunney, B. T. [Lawrence Livermore National Lab. (LLNL), Livermore, CA (United States); Gamblin, T. [Lawrence Livermore National Lab. (LLNL), Livermore, CA (United States); Herdman, J. A. [Atomic Weapons Establishment (AWE), Aldermaston (United Kingdom); Jarvis, S. A. [Atomic Weapons Establishment (AWE), Aldermaston (United Kingdom)

2014-11-17

Block-structured adaptive mesh refinement is a technique that can be used when solving partial differential equations to reduce the number of zones necessary to achieve the required accuracy in areas of interest. These areas (shock fronts, material interfaces, etc.) are recursively covered with finer mesh patches that are grouped into a hierarchy of refinement levels. Despite the potential for large savings in computational requirements and memory usage without a corresponding reduction in accuracy, AMR adds overhead in managing the mesh hierarchy, adding complex communication and data movement requirements to a simulation. In this paper, we describe the design and implementation of a native GPU-based AMR library, including: the classes used to manage data on a mesh patch, the routines used for transferring data between GPUs on different nodes, and the data-parallel operators developed to coarsen and refine mesh data. We validate the performance and accuracy of our implementation using three test problems and two architectures: an eight-node cluster, and over four thousand nodes of Oak Ridge National Laboratory’s Titan supercomputer. Our GPU-based AMR hydrodynamics code performs up to 4.87× faster than the CPU-based implementation, and has been scaled to over four thousand GPUs using a combination of MPI and CUDA.

Cement replacement by sugar cane bagasse ash: CO2 emissions reduction and potential for carbon credits.

Science.gov (United States)

Fairbairn, Eduardo M R; Americano, Branca B; Cordeiro, Guilherme C; Paula, Thiago P; Toledo Filho, Romildo D; Silvoso, Marcos M

2010-09-01

This paper presents a study of cement replacement by sugar cane bagasse ash (SCBA) in industrial scale aiming to reduce the CO(2) emissions into the atmosphere. SCBA is a by-product of the sugar/ethanol agro-industry abundantly available in some regions of the world and has cementitious properties indicating that it can be used together with cement. Recent comprehensive research developed at the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro/Brazil has demonstrated that SCBA maintains, or even improves, the mechanical and durability properties of cement-based materials such as mortars and concretes. Brazil is the world's largest sugar cane producer and being a developing country can claim carbon credits. A simulation was carried out to estimate the potential of CO(2) emission reductions and the viability to issue certified emission reduction (CER) credits. The simulation was developed within the framework of the methodology established by the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) for the Clean Development Mechanism (CDM). The State of São Paulo (Brazil) was chosen for this case study because it concentrates about 60% of the national sugar cane and ash production together with an important concentration of cement factories. Since one of the key variables to estimate the CO(2) emissions is the average distance between sugar cane/ethanol factories and the cement plants, a genetic algorithm was developed to solve this optimization problem. The results indicated that SCBA blended cement reduces CO(2) emissions, which qualifies this product for CDM projects. 2010 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Optimization on replacement and inspection period of plant equipment

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Takase, Kentaro; Kasai, Masao

2004-01-01

Rationalization of the plant maintenance is one of the main topics being investigated in Japanese nuclear power industries. Optimization of the inspection and replacement period of equipments is effective for the maintenance cost reduction. The more realistic model of the replacement policy is proposed in this study. It is based on the classical replacement policy model and its cost is estimated. Then, to consider the inspection for the maintenance, the formulation that includes the risk concept is discussed. Based on it, two variations of the combination of the inspection and the replacement are discussed and the costs are estimated. In this study the effect of the degradation of the equipment is important. The optimized maintenance policy depends on the existence of significant degradation. (author)

Comparing Refinements for Failure and Bisimulation Semantics

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Eshuis, H.; Fokkinga, M.M.

2002-01-01

Refinement in bisimulation semantics is defined differently from refinement in failure semantics: in bisimulation semantics refinement is based on simulations between labelled transition systems, whereas in failure semantics refinement is based on inclusions between failure systems. There exist

Crystal structure refinement with SHELXL

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Sheldrick, George M., E-mail: gsheldr@shelx.uni-ac.gwdg.de [Department of Structural Chemistry, Georg-August Universität Göttingen, Tammannstraße 4, Göttingen 37077 (Germany)

2015-01-01

New features added to the refinement program SHELXL since 2008 are described and explained. The improvements in the crystal structure refinement program SHELXL have been closely coupled with the development and increasing importance of the CIF (Crystallographic Information Framework) format for validating and archiving crystal structures. An important simplification is that now only one file in CIF format (for convenience, referred to simply as ‘a CIF’) containing embedded reflection data and SHELXL instructions is needed for a complete structure archive; the program SHREDCIF can be used to extract the .hkl and .ins files required for further refinement with SHELXL. Recent developments in SHELXL facilitate refinement against neutron diffraction data, the treatment of H atoms, the determination of absolute structure, the input of partial structure factors and the refinement of twinned and disordered structures. SHELXL is available free to academics for the Windows, Linux and Mac OS X operating systems, and is particularly suitable for multiple-core processors.

Refining cocoon to prepare (N, S, and Fe) ternary-doped porous carbon aerogel as efficient catalyst for the oxygen reduction reaction in alkaline medium

Science.gov (United States)

Li, Changqing; Sun, Fengzhan; Lin, Yuqing

2018-04-01

Various advanced sulfur doped Fe-N-C non-noble metal catalysts of oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) have been recently designed and reported with excellent catalytic activity. Herein, we refined cocoon with several steps to form silk fibroin solution, treated with iron salt to prepare an easy available, heteroatom (N, S, and Fe) ternary-doped, porous carbon aerogel (HDCA). Heteroatom existed in organic compounds in silk fibroin endow active site for ORR of the resultant carbon frameworks. Moreover, the amino acids presented in silk fibroin acted as ligands, functioning with Fe ions to form FeNx coordination compounds, which also served as active sites towards ORR. The synthesized HDCA electrocatalysts, especially HDCA-800 (obtained at 800 °C) displayed excellent catalytic activity with onsets, half-wave potential of 0.94 V, 0.79 V and higher limited current density of 3.80 mA cm-2 through a near four-electron reduction pathway with an average electron transferred number of 3.86, making them promising alternatives for state-of-the-art ORR electrocatalysts in fuel cell field. The porous structure with synergistic effect of N and S heteroatom doping has been proposed to play a key role in facilitating the desired ORR reaction.

Energy conservation potential in China’s petroleum refining industry: Evidence and policy implications

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Lin, Boqiang; Xie, Xuan

2015-01-01

Highlights: • A long-term equilibrium relationship of energy demand in China’s petroleum refining industry is established. • The sectoral energy conservation potential is evaluated by using scenarios analysis. • Energy prices, enterprise scale, R and D investment and ownership structure affect electricity intensity. • Future policy for energy conservation in China’s petroleum refining industry is suggested. - Abstract: China is currently the second largest petroleum refining country in the world due to rapid growth in recent years. Because the petroleum refining industry is energy-intensive, the rapid growth in petroleum refining and development caused massive energy consumption. China’s urbanization process will guarantee sustained growth of the industry for a long time. Therefore, it is necessary to study the energy conservation potential of the petroleum industry. This paper estimates the energy conservation potential of the industry by applying a cointegration model to investigate the long-run equilibrium relationship between energy consumption and some factors such as energy price, enterprise scale, R and D investment and ownership structure. The results show that R and D investment has the greatest reduction impact on energy intensity, and the growth of market participants (i.e. the decline of the share of state-owned companies) can improve energy efficiency of this industry. Under the advanced energy-saving scenario, the accumulated energy conservation potential will reach 230.18 million tons of coal equivalent (tce). Finally, we provide some targeted policy recommendations for industrial energy conservation

On the combination of molecular replacement and single-wavelength anomalous diffraction phasing for automated structure determination

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Panjikar, Santosh; Parthasarathy, Venkataraman; Lamzin, Victor S.; Weiss, Manfred S.; Tucker, Paul A.

2009-01-01

The combination of molecular replacement and single-wavelength anomalous diffraction improves the performance of automated structure determination with Auto-Rickshaw. A combination of molecular replacement and single-wavelength anomalous diffraction phasing has been incorporated into the automated structure-determination platform Auto-Rickshaw. The complete MRSAD procedure includes molecular replacement, model refinement, experimental phasing, phase improvement and automated model building. The improvement over the standard SAD or MR approaches is illustrated by ten test cases taken from the JCSG diffraction data-set database. Poor MR or SAD phases with phase errors larger than 70° can be improved using the described procedure and a large fraction of the model can be determined in a purely automatic manner from X-ray data extending to better than 2.6 Å resolution

Latin American oil markets and refining

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Yamaguchi, N.D.; Obadia, C.

1999-01-01

This paper provides an overview of the oil markets and refining in Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Ecuador, Mexico, Peru and Venezuela, and examines the production of crude oil in these countries. Details are given of Latin American refiners highlighting trends in crude distillation unit capacity, cracking to distillation ratios, and refining in the different countries. Latin American oil trade is discussed, and charts are presented illustrating crude production, oil consumption, crude refining capacity, cracking to distillation ratios, and oil imports and exports

Grain refinement of AZ91D alloy by intensive melt shearing and its persistence after remelting and isothermal holding

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Zuo Yubo

2013-01-01

Full Text Available Intensive melt shearing has a significant grain refining effect on some light alloys. However, the persistence of the grain refining effect during isothermal holding and remelting is still unclear, although it is very important for the practical application. In this study, intensive melt shearing was achieved in a twin-screw mechanism to investigate its grain refining effect on AZ91D magnesium alloy. The refinement mechanism was discussed and the persistence of grain refinement after remelting and isothermal holding was also studied. A Zeiss imaging system with polarized light was used for quantitative measurement of grain size. The results show that the intensive melt shearing has a significant grain refining effect on AZ91D magnesium alloy. With the application of intensive melt shearing, the grain size of AZ91D magnesium alloy can be reduced from 530 μm (for a typical as-cast microstructure to 170 μm, which is about 70% size reduction. The grain refinement achieved by the intensive melt shearing can be partially kept after isothermal holding and remelting. It is believed that the refinement effect was mainly due to the finer and well dispersed oxide particles formed by high intensive shearing. The smaller size of oxide particles and their slow motion velocity in the sheared melt could make important contributions to the remained grain refinement.

Relational Demonic Fuzzy Refinement

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Fairouz Tchier

2014-01-01

Full Text Available We use relational algebra to define a refinement fuzzy order called demonic fuzzy refinement and also the associated fuzzy operators which are fuzzy demonic join (⊔fuz, fuzzy demonic meet (⊓fuz, and fuzzy demonic composition (□fuz. Our definitions and properties are illustrated by some examples using mathematica software (fuzzy logic.

Randomized controlled trial to evaluate tooth stain reduction with nicotine replacement gum during a smoking cessation program

LENUS (Irish Health Repository)

Whelton, Helen

2012-06-13

.011) and 12 weeks (p = 0.003) with greater lightening in the gum-group at each examination period.ConclusionThese results support the efficacy of the tested nicotine replacement gum in stain reduction and shade lightening. These findings may help dentists to motivate those wishing to quit smoking using a nicotine replacement gum.Trial registrationNCT01440985

Refining margins and prospects

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Baudouin, C.; Favennec, J.P.

1997-01-01

Refining margins throughout the world have remained low in 1996. In Europe, in spite of an improvement, particularly during the last few weeks, they are still not high enough to finance new investments. Although the demand for petroleum products is increasing, experts are still sceptical about any rapid recovery due to prevailing overcapacity and to continuing capacity growth. After a historical review of margins and an analysis of margins by regions, we analyse refining over-capacities in Europe and the unbalances between production and demand. Then we discuss the current situation concerning barriers to the rationalization, agreements between oil companies, and the consequences on the future of refining capacities and margins. (author)

High-speed double-disc TMP [thermomechanical pulp] from northern and southern softwoods: One or two refining stages

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Sabourin, M.J. (Andritz Sprout-Bauer, Inc., Springfield, OH (United States)); Cort, J.B.; Musselman, R.L. (Andritz Sprout-Bauer, Inc., Muncy, PA (United States))

1994-01-01

Pilot-plant studies were carried out to evaluate one- and two-stage high-speed refining processes for production of thermomechanical pulp (TMP) at minimal energy consumption. Both northern (black spruce/balsam fir) and southern (lobolly pine) wood species were tested. Preliminary results indicate both one- and two-stage high-speed refining are suitable for the production of TMP from spruce and fir. Single-stage, high-speed refining of spruce/fir resulted in over 25% energy savings compared to conventional TMP production. The resulting TMP had improved optical and shive content properties, with slightly reduced pulp strength and long fiber content. Two stages of refining were necessary to optimize pulp quality from the lobolly pine furnish. A 15% energy reduction was obtained when comparing high-speed and conventional TMP pulping of lobolly pine at similar operating conditions. The high-speed pine TMP had comparable bonding strength, shive content, and lower tear than conventional two-stage lobolly pine TMP. 14 refs., 11 figs., 6 tabs.

Electro-deposition of Pd on Carbon paper and Ni foam via surface limited redox-replacement reaction for oxygen reduction reaction

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Modibedi, Remegia M.; Mathe, Mkhulu K.; Motsoeneng, Rapelang G.; Khotseng, Lindiwe E.; Ozoemena, Kenneth I.; Louw, Eldah K.

2014-01-01

Pd nanostructured catalysts were electrodeposited by surface-limited redox replacement reactions using the electrochemical atomic layer deposition technique. Carbon paper and Ni foam were used as substrates for the electrodeposition of the metal. Supported nanostructured Pd electrodes were characterized using electrochemical methods and scanning electron microscopy. Carbon paper and Ni foam produced good quality deposits with some agglomeration on Ni foam. The EDX profiles confirmed the presence of Pd particles. Cyclic voltammograms of the electrodeposited Pd on substrates showed features characteristic of polycrystalline Pd electrodes. In the acidic electrolyte a very weak oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) activity was observed on Pd/Carbon paper electrode when compared to Pd/Ni foam electrode. The Pd/Ni foam electrode showed improved ORR activity in alkaline medium

Effects of slag composition and process variables on decontamination of metallic wastes by melt refining

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Heshmatpour, B.; Copeland, G.L.

1981-01-01

Melt refining has been suggested as an alternative for decontamination and volume reduction of low-level-contaminated metallic wastes. Knowledge of metallurgical and thermochemical aspects of the process is essential for effective treatment of various metals. Variables such as slag type and composition, melting technique, and refractory materials need to be identified for each metal or alloy. Samples of contaminated metals were melted with fluxes by resistance furnace or induction heating. The resulting ingots as well as the slags were analyzed for their nuclide contents, and the corresponding partition ratios were calculated. Compatibility of slags and refractories was also investigated, and proper refractory materials were identified. Resistance furnace melting appeared to be a better melting technique for nonferrous scrap, while induction melting was more suitable for ferrous metals. In general uranium contents of the metals, except for aluminum, could be reduced to as low as 0.01 to 0.1 ppM by melt refining. Aluminum could be decontaminated to about 1 to 2 ppM U when certain fluoride slags were used. The extent of decontamination was not very sensitive to slag type and composition. However, borosilicate and basic oxidizing slags were more effective on ferrous metals and Cu; NaNO 3 -NaCl-NaOH type fluxes were desirable for Zn, Pb, and Sn; and fluoride type slags were effective for decontamination of Al. Recrystallized alumina proved to be the most compatible refractory for melt refining both ferrous and nonferrous metals, while graphite was suitable for nonferrous metal processing. In conclusion, melt refining is an effective technique for volume reduction ad decontamination of contaminated metal scrap when proper slags, melting technique, and refractories are used

Refinement Types for TypeScript

OpenAIRE

Vekris, Panagiotis; Cosman, Benjamin; Jhala, Ranjit

2016-01-01

We present Refined TypeScript (RSC), a lightweight refinement type system for TypeScript, that enables static verification of higher-order, imperative programs. We develop a formal core of RSC that delineates the interaction between refinement types and mutability. Next, we extend the core to account for the imperative and dynamic features of TypeScript. Finally, we evaluate RSC on a set of real world benchmarks, including parts of the Octane benchmarks, D3, Transducers, and the TypeScript co...

Risk-based replacement strategies for redundant deteriorating reinforced concrete pipe networks

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Adey, B.; Bernard, O.; Gerard, B.

2003-01-01

This paper gives an example of how predictive models of the deterioration of reinforced concrete pipes and the consequences of failure can be used to develop risk-based replacement strategies for redundant reinforced concrete pipe networks. It also shows how an accurate deterioration prediction can lead to a reduction of agency costs, and illustrates the limitation of the incremental intervention step algorithm. The main conclusion is that the use of predictive models, such as those developed by Oxand S.A., in the determination of replacement strategies for redundant reinforced concrete pipe networks can lead to a significant reduction in overall costs for the owner of the structure. (author)

Working in partnership to advance the 3Rs in toxicity testing

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Holmes, Anthony M.; Creton, Stuart; Chapman, Kathryn

2010-01-01

Toxicological assessment of pharmaceutical and non-pharmaceutical chemicals is a regulatory requirement to ensure all compounds likely to be exposed to humans or the environment are safe. These studies rely on the use of large numbers of animals and involve a number of assumptions and extrapolations that remain controversial in assuring consumer safety. The UK's National Centre for the Replacement, Refinement and Reduction of Animals in Research (NC3Rs) has taken a collaborative approach to identify opportunities for implementation of the 3Rs principles (Replacement, Reduction and Refinement) to drive innovation and support animal welfare in toxicity testing. This review highlights the mechanisms by which the NC3Rs is working with the pharmaceutical and chemical industries and regulatory authorities to achieve these goals.

REPLACEMENT OF SOFTWOOD KRAFT PULP WITH ECF-BLEACHED BAMBOO KRAFT PULP IN FINE PAPER

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Guanglei Zhao

2010-06-01

Full Text Available Non-wood fibers such as bamboo and wheat straw have been playing important roles in the pulp and paper industry in China. In this study an ECF-bleached bamboo kraft pulp was compared with a bleached softwood kraft pulp (NBSK as the reinforcement pulp in fine paper production. Areas that were examined include the refining of pure fibers, influence of bamboo on dewatering, retention, and sizing. The influence of bamboo kraft pulp as a part of a furnish replacing NBSK was compared as well. Results show that fiber shortening was more prominent with bamboo when refined. This resulted in a higher amount of fines, and addition wet-end chemicals may be required to compensate. Handsheets with bamboo as a reinforcement fiber showed similar mechanical and optical properties to handsheets containing NBSK.

The EU's roadmap for moving to a low-carbon economy. Aspirations and reality for refiners

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Lichtscheidl, J.; Buchsbaum, A.; Bachmann, G. [OMV Refining and Marketing GesmbH, Wien (Austria)

2012-07-01

Europe's refining industry is facing huge challenges. About 20% of the capacity should be reduced as soon as possible. And more capacities will become idle after 2020. About 35 % of the refineries changed their ownership, were sold or closed during the last four years. The EU has set up a roadmap to move to a low-carbon economy. The Renewable Energy Directive asks for a share of energy from renewable sources in all forms of transport of at least 10 % in 2020. The Fuel Quality Directive requests a mandatory 6% reduction of CO{sub 2} in energy equivalent content of transport fuels by 2020. And the EU Emission-Trading-System for CO{sub 2} sets a reduction target of 21% for refining which is part of the ETS sectors for the next trading period 2013-2020. This target has to be calculated on best available technology which means that for less efficient refiners the target will be significantly higher. New emission targets for refineries will be fixed by the Industrial Emission Directive and the revised BAT document soon. A European Tax Directive is being prepared which will base the tax on the energy content and CO{sub 2} footprint of the fuels. And a new Energy Efficiency Directive will ask for substantial reductions in the energy demand. Their impact on refineries can hardly be estimated today. While the targets are set the roadmap to fulfil all these remains misty. Other than purchasing biofuels from the market, buying CO{sub 2} credits and trying to compensate these additional costs with even tougher cost cutting measures, are there other options the refining industry can do? This paper will try to show possible options which are investigated for OMV refineries such as: - Improve significantly the efficiency of the power production; - Use existing units for co-processing bio components; - Reconfigure the waste heat recovery system, and - equally important -; - Rate high key performance indicators for energy demand. These measures have to be fully compatible with

Iterative-build OMIT maps: map improvement by iterative model building and refinement without model bias

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Terwilliger, Thomas C.; Grosse-Kunstleve, Ralf W.; Afonine, Pavel V.; Moriarty, Nigel W.; Adams, Paul D.; Read, Randy J.; Zwart, Peter H.; Hung, Li-Wei

2008-01-01

An OMIT procedure is presented that has the benefits of iterative model building density modification and refinement yet is essentially unbiased by the atomic model that is built. A procedure for carrying out iterative model building, density modification and refinement is presented in which the density in an OMIT region is essentially unbiased by an atomic model. Density from a set of overlapping OMIT regions can be combined to create a composite ‘iterative-build’ OMIT map that is everywhere unbiased by an atomic model but also everywhere benefiting from the model-based information present elsewhere in the unit cell. The procedure may have applications in the validation of specific features in atomic models as well as in overall model validation. The procedure is demonstrated with a molecular-replacement structure and with an experimentally phased structure and a variation on the method is demonstrated by removing model bias from a structure from the Protein Data Bank

Neutron Powder Diffraction and Constrained Refinement

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Pawley, G. S.; Mackenzie, Gordon A.; Dietrich, O. W.

1977-01-01

The first use of a new program, EDINP, is reported. This program allows the constrained refinement of molecules in a crystal structure with neutron diffraction powder data. The structures of p-C6F4Br2 and p-C6F4I2 are determined by packing considerations and then refined with EDINP. Refinement is...

Refined geometric transition and qq-characters

Science.gov (United States)

Kimura, Taro; Mori, Hironori; Sugimoto, Yuji

2018-01-01

We show the refinement of the prescription for the geometric transition in the refined topological string theory and, as its application, discuss a possibility to describe qq-characters from the string theory point of view. Though the suggested way to operate the refined geometric transition has passed through several checks, it is additionally found in this paper that the presence of the preferred direction brings a nontrivial effect. We provide the modified formula involving this point. We then apply our prescription of the refined geometric transition to proposing the stringy description of doubly quantized Seiberg-Witten curves called qq-characters in certain cases.

Strategic focus on 3R principles reveals major reductions in the use of animals in pharmaceutical toxicity testing.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Elin Törnqvist

Full Text Available The principles of the 3Rs, Replacement, Reduction and Refinement, are being increasingly incorporated into legislations, guidelines and practice of animal experiments in order to safeguard animal welfare. In the present study we have studied the systematic application of 3R principles to toxicological research in the pharmaceutical industry, with particular focus on achieving reductions in animal numbers used in regulatory and investigatory in vivo studies. The work also details major factors influencing these reductions including the conception of ideas, cross-departmental working and acceptance into the work process. Data from 36 reduction projects were collected retrospectively from work between 2006 and 2010. Substantial reduction in animal use was achieved by different strategies, including improved study design, method development and project coordination. Major animal savings were shown in both regulatory and investigative safety studies. If a similar (i.e. 53% reduction had been achieved simultaneously within the twelve largest pharmaceutical companies, the equivalent reduction world-wide would be about 150,000 rats annually. The results point at the importance of a strong 3R culture, with scientific engagement, collaboration and a responsive management being vital components. A strong commitment in leadership for the 3R is recommended to be translated into cross-department and inter-profession involvement in projects for innovation, validation and implementation. Synergies between all the three Rs are observed and conclude that in silico-, in vitro- and in vivo-methods all hold the potential for applying the reduction R and should be consequently coordinated at a strategic level.

Science, technology and environmental demands: innovations in oil refining process; Ciencia, tecnologia e demandas ambientais: inovacoes nos processos de refino

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Azevedo, Adalberto Mantovani Martiniano de [Universidade Estadual de Campinas, SP (Brazil). Inst. de Geociencias. Programa de Pos-graduacao do Departamento de Politica Cientifica e Tecnologica

2003-07-01

This paper consists in a survey about changes in oil refining technologies caused by an increase of external environmental restrictions, that create demands for innovations related to the reduction of environmental impacts in refining processes and products. The environmental restrictions considered in this paper include state regulation, like the control over solid and gas wastes and the control over levels of air pollutants on refined products. Another group of restrictions include market restrictions, mainly the restrictions for obtaining 'green' quality labels, like ISO 14000. The paper will show the main environmental restrictions for the Paulinia Refinery (REPLAN), and its reaction in introducing innovations in refining processes. Some aspects of the innovations observed will be described, like the kind of innovation (process or product), the institutions that created innovations and their resources, the knowledge fields applied, and another characteristics for the evaluation of environmental influence over the development on oil refining innovations. (author)

Type II dehydroquinase: molecular replacement with many copies

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Stewart, Kirsty Anne; Robinson, David Alexander; Lapthorn, Adrian Jonathan

2007-01-01

The type II dehydroquinase enzyme is a symmetrical dodecameric protein which crystallizes in either high-symmetry cubic space groups or low-symmetry crystal systems with multiple copies in the asymmetric unit. Both systems have provided challenging examples for molecular replacement; for example, a triclinic crystal form has 16 dodecamers (192 monomers) in the unit cell. Three difficult examples are discussed and two are used as test cases to compare the performance of four commonly used molecular-replacement packages. Type II dehydroquinase is a small (150-amino-acid) protein which in solution packs together to form a dodecamer with 23 cubic symmetry. In crystals of this protein the symmetry of the biological unit can be coincident with the crystallographic symmetry, giving rise to cubic crystal forms with a single monomer in the asymmetric unit. In crystals where this is not the case, multiple copies of the monomer are present, giving rise to significant and often confusing noncrystallographic symmetry in low-symmetry crystal systems. These different crystal forms pose a variety of challenges for solution by molecular replacement. Three examples of structure solutions, including a highly unusual triclinic crystal form with 16 dodecamers (192 monomers) in the unit cell, are described. Four commonly used molecular-replacement packages are assessed against two of these examples, one of high symmetry and the other of low symmetry; this study highlights how program performance can vary significantly depending on the given problem. In addition, the final refined structure of the 16-dodecamer triclinic crystal form is analysed and shown not to be a superlattice structure, but rather an F-centred cubic crystal with frustrated crystallographic symmetry

Effects of grain refinement on the biocorrosion and in vitro bioactivity of magnesium

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Saha, Partha; Roy, Mangal [Department of Bioengineering, Swanson School of Engineering, University of Pittsburgh, PA 15261 (United States); Datta, Moni Kanchan [Department of Bioengineering, Swanson School of Engineering, University of Pittsburgh, PA 15261 (United States); Center for Complex Engineered Multifunctional Materials, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA 15261 (United States); Lee, Boeun [Department of Bioengineering, Swanson School of Engineering, University of Pittsburgh, PA 15261 (United States); Kumta, Prashant N., E-mail: pkumta@pitt.edu [Department of Bioengineering, Swanson School of Engineering, University of Pittsburgh, PA 15261 (United States); Center for Complex Engineered Multifunctional Materials, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA 15261 (United States); Mechanical Engineering and Materials Science, Swanson School of Engineering, University of Pittsburgh, PA 15261 (United States); Chemical and Petroleum Engineering, Swanson School of Engineering, University of Pittsburgh, PA 15261 (United States); School of Dental Medicine, University of Pittsburgh, PA 15261 (United States); McGowan Institute of Regenerative Medicine, University of Pittsburgh, PA 15261 (United States)

2015-12-01

Magnesium is a new class of biodegradable metals potentially suitable for bone fracture fixation due to its suitable mechanical properties, high degradability and biocompatibility. However, rapid corrosion and loss in mechanical strength under physiological conditions render it unsuitable for load-bearing applications. In the present study, grain refinement was implemented to control bio-corrosion demonstrating improved in vitro bioactivity of magnesium. Pure commercial magnesium was grain refined using different amounts of zirconium (0.25 and 1.0 wt.%). Corrosion behavior was studied by potentiodynamic polarization (PDP) and mass loss immersion tests demonstrating corrosion rate decrease with grain size reduction. In vitro biocompatibility tests conducted by MC3T3-E1 pre-osteoblast cells and measured by DNA quantification demonstrate significant increase in cell proliferation for Mg–1 wt.% Zr at day 5. Similarly, alkaline phosphatase (ALP) activity was higher for grain refined Mg. Alloys were also tested for ability to support osteoclast differentiation using RAW264.7 monocytes with receptor activator of nuclear factor kappa-β ligand (RANKL) supplemented cell culture. Osteoclast differentiation process was observed to be severely restricted for smaller grained Mg. Overall, the results indicate grain refinement to be useful not only for improving corrosion resistance of Mg implants for bone fixation devices but also potentially modulate bone regeneration around the implant. - Highlights: • The biocorrosion and biocompatibility of pure Mg and Mg grain refined with different Zr levels were investigated. • Corrosion resistance in HBSS and compressive strength of pure Mg was significantly improved with Zr addition. • Electrochemical and immersion corrosion tests showed a fourfold decrease in corrosion rate of pure Mg with 1% Zr addition. • Grain refinement of pure Mg demonstrated enhanced osteoblast cell activity and proliferation.

Effects of grain refinement on the biocorrosion and in vitro bioactivity of magnesium

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Saha, Partha; Roy, Mangal; Datta, Moni Kanchan; Lee, Boeun; Kumta, Prashant N.

2015-01-01

Magnesium is a new class of biodegradable metals potentially suitable for bone fracture fixation due to its suitable mechanical properties, high degradability and biocompatibility. However, rapid corrosion and loss in mechanical strength under physiological conditions render it unsuitable for load-bearing applications. In the present study, grain refinement was implemented to control bio-corrosion demonstrating improved in vitro bioactivity of magnesium. Pure commercial magnesium was grain refined using different amounts of zirconium (0.25 and 1.0 wt.%). Corrosion behavior was studied by potentiodynamic polarization (PDP) and mass loss immersion tests demonstrating corrosion rate decrease with grain size reduction. In vitro biocompatibility tests conducted by MC3T3-E1 pre-osteoblast cells and measured by DNA quantification demonstrate significant increase in cell proliferation for Mg–1 wt.% Zr at day 5. Similarly, alkaline phosphatase (ALP) activity was higher for grain refined Mg. Alloys were also tested for ability to support osteoclast differentiation using RAW264.7 monocytes with receptor activator of nuclear factor kappa-β ligand (RANKL) supplemented cell culture. Osteoclast differentiation process was observed to be severely restricted for smaller grained Mg. Overall, the results indicate grain refinement to be useful not only for improving corrosion resistance of Mg implants for bone fixation devices but also potentially modulate bone regeneration around the implant. - Highlights: • The biocorrosion and biocompatibility of pure Mg and Mg grain refined with different Zr levels were investigated. • Corrosion resistance in HBSS and compressive strength of pure Mg was significantly improved with Zr addition. • Electrochemical and immersion corrosion tests showed a fourfold decrease in corrosion rate of pure Mg with 1% Zr addition. • Grain refinement of pure Mg demonstrated enhanced osteoblast cell activity and proliferation

An analytical approach to elucidate the mechanism of grain refinement in calcium added Mg-Al alloys

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Nagasivamuni, B.; Ravi, K.R.

2015-01-01

Highlights: • Minor additions of Ca (<0.2%) refines the grain structure in Mg-(3, 6 and 9)Al alloys. • Analytical model elucidate that nucleation potency is enhanced after Ca addition. • Ternary Mg-Al-xCa growth restriction values (Q t ) are computed using Scheil equations. • Grain size predictions elucidate that nucleation events dominate grain refinement. • Growth restriction due to the higher Ca addition on grain refinement is not significant. - Abstract: The present study investigates the grain refinement of Mg-3Al, Mg-6Al and Mg-9Al alloys by calcium addition. The maximum reduction in grain size has been observed at 0.2% Ca addition in Mg-Al alloys, in which any further addition (up to 0.4%) has marginal improvement in grain refinement. The mechanism associated with the grain refinement of Mg-Al alloys by Ca addition is discussed in terms of growth restriction factor (Q) and constitutional undercooling (ΔT CS ) using analytical model. The influence of growth restriction factor (Q) on the final grain size of Ca-added Mg-Al alloys are calculated with the help analytical model by assuming that the number of nucleant particles is not altered through Ca addition. For accurate grain size calculations, the value of Q has been estimated with reliable thermodynamic database using Scheil solidification simulation. The comparison of predicted and experimental grain size results indicate that constitutional undercooling activation of nucleation events plays dominant role in grain refinement in Mg-Al alloys by calcium addition, whereas the increase in growth restriction value has negligible effect

On Modal Refinement and Consistency

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Nyman, Ulrik; Larsen, Kim Guldstrand; Wasowski, Andrzej

2007-01-01

Almost 20 years after the original conception, we revisit several fundamental question about modal transition systems. First, we demonstrate the incompleteness of the standard modal refinement using a counterexample due to Hüttel. Deciding any refinement, complete with respect to the standard...

Effects of grain refinement on the biocorrosion and in vitro bioactivity of magnesium.

Science.gov (United States)

Saha, Partha; Roy, Mangal; Datta, Moni Kanchan; Lee, Boeun; Kumta, Prashant N

2015-12-01

Magnesium is a new class of biodegradable metals potentially suitable for bone fracture fixation due to its suitable mechanical properties, high degradability and biocompatibility. However, rapid corrosion and loss in mechanical strength under physiological conditions render it unsuitable for load-bearing applications. In the present study, grain refinement was implemented to control bio-corrosion demonstrating improved in vitro bioactivity of magnesium. Pure commercial magnesium was grain refined using different amounts of zirconium (0.25 and 1.0 wt.%). Corrosion behavior was studied by potentiodynamic polarization (PDP) and mass loss immersion tests demonstrating corrosion rate decrease with grain size reduction. In vitro biocompatibility tests conducted by MC3T3-E1 pre-osteoblast cells and measured by DNA quantification demonstrate significant increase in cell proliferation for Mg-1 wt.% Zr at day 5. Similarly, alkaline phosphatase (ALP) activity was higher for grain refined Mg. Alloys were also tested for ability to support osteoclast differentiation using RAW264.7 monocytes with receptor activator of nuclear factor kappa-β ligand (RANKL) supplemented cell culture. Osteoclast differentiation process was observed to be severely restricted for smaller grained Mg. Overall, the results indicate grain refinement to be useful not only for improving corrosion resistance of Mg implants for bone fixation devices but also potentially modulate bone regeneration around the implant. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Refining - Panorama 2008

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

2008-01-01

Investment rallied in 2007, and many distillation and conversion projects likely to reach the industrial stage were announced. With economic growth sustained in 2006 and still pronounced in 2007, oil demand remained strong - especially in emerging countries - and refining margins stayed high. Despite these favorable business conditions, tensions persisted in the refining sector, which has fallen far behind in terms of investing in refinery capacity. It will take renewed efforts over a long period to catch up. Looking at recent events that have affected the economy in many countries (e.g. the sub-prime crisis), prudence remains advisable

Quality of austenite chrome-nickel steel made by gas-oxygen refining

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Fel'dgandler, Eh.G.; Levin, F.L.; Moshkevich, E.A.; Shifrin, Eh.V.; Movshovich, V.S.; Pargamonov, E.A.

1991-01-01

Properties and structure were investigated of austenitic 03Kh18N11 and 08KhN10T steels melted at gas oxygen refining aggregates. It was established that mechanical and corrosion properties of rolling of such steels were in agreement with standard properties of metal of open melting. Sheet 08Kh18N10T steel has the level of strength and plasticity regulated for 12Kh18N10T steel. As steel of 08Kh18N10T holds the complex of high mechanical and corrosion properties, 08Kh18N10T is recommended to be replace by 12Kh18N10T with the aim of decrease of titanium usage and increase of process efficiency

Refinement by interface instantiation

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Hallerstede, Stefan; Hoang, Thai Son

2012-01-01

be easily refined. Our first contribution hence is a proposal for a new construct called interface that encapsulates the external variables, along with a mechanism for interface instantiation. Using the new construct and mechanism, external variables can be refined consistently. Our second contribution...... is an approach for verifying the correctness of Event-B extensions using the supporting Rodin tool. We illustrate our approach by proving the correctness of interface instantiation....

An Optimization Mechanism Intended for Static Power Reduction Using Dual-thTechnique

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Rodolfo P. Santos

2012-01-01

Full Text Available Power consumption reduction is a challenge nowadays. Techniques for dynamic and static power minimization have been proposed, but most of them are very time consuming. This work proposes an algorithm for reducing static power, which can be perfectly inserted in the conventional design flow for integrated systems considering an open source environment (open access infrastructure. The proposed approach, based on a Dual-Threshold technique, replaces part of the cells of the circuit by cells with a higher threshold voltage without resulting in timing violations in the circuit. The decision to replace a cell is based on timing estimates of the circuit modeling with the cell replacement, before it is actually replaced. The fact that only some cells are replaced every iteration results in a reduction of the runtime of the algorithm. Additionally, results showed a reduction in static power up to 39.28%, when applying the proposed approach in the ISCAS85 benchmark circuits.

Challenges of the refining and bio-refining integration: a future view; O desafio da integracao refino-bio-refino: uma visao do futuro

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Baptista, Claudia Alvarenga; Oliveira, Sandra Lima de [PETROBRAS S. A., Rio de de Janeiro, RJ (Brazil); Silva, Suely Coutinho da [Hope Consultoria Ltda., Rio de Janeiro, RJ (Brazil)

2008-07-01

As the world economy growths, it is expected an increase in the fuels demand. In the other hand, there is a public denounce against the harmful of gas emissions from the mineral fuels, especial the emission of greenhouse gases. Based on this scenario, there is a growing search for renewable fuels as an alternative for the present world energetic matrix. Therefore the biofuel has conquered more and more participation in the economy as a clean grow-your-own fuel. It is not only a renewable fuel but also a way to reduces Co2 emission. The use of this kind of fuel can bring environmental, social and economic advantages. So, a feasible proposal for the near future could be the performance of a binomial and dynamic model that takes place in the integration between biorefining and conventional refining. Biorefining is similar in concept to the petroleum refining industry, except that renewable biomass materials or vegetable oil are the feedstocks rather than crude oil. An important incentive to the integration of these two concepts is the alternative to process the majority of the conventional refining residue or by products in the biorefining. It is possible to produce high quality low emission fuel from co-conversion of biomass and petroleum residue. There are important processes that can be used to carry out this object, such as gasification coupled with Fischer-Tropsch. Besides the production of PREMIUM quality fuel, the energy and the hydrogen obtained in the gasification process can be used in the conventional refining. Biomass can also be turned into alcohol fuel by enzymatic hydrolysis and can be mixed in the refinery gasoline pool for emissions reduction. Another possibility is to process vegetable oil together with middle distillate in the conventional hydrotreating unity. Although the optimized integration involves technical and economic challenges, it is known that this is an important opportunity to mitigate the environmental problems and to allow the world

Property enhancement by grain refinement of zinc-aluminium foundry alloys

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Krajewski, W K; Piwowarski, G; Krajewski, P K; Greer, A L

2016-01-01

Development of cast alloys with good mechanical properties and involving less energy consumption during their melting is one of the key demands of today's industry. Zinc foundry alloys of high and medium Al content, i.e. Zn-(15-30) wt.% Al and Zn-(8-12) wt.% Al, can satisfy these requirements. The present paper summarizes the work [1-9] on improving properties of sand-cast ZnAl10 (Zn-10 wt.% Al) and ZnAl25 (Zn-25 wt. % Al) alloys by melt inoculation. Special attention was devoted to improving ductility, whilst preserving high damping properties at the same time. The composition and structural modification of medium- and high-aluminium zinc alloys influence their strength, tribological properties and structural stability. In a series of studies, Zn - (10-12) wt. % Al and Zn - (25-26) wt.% Al - (1-2.5) wt.% Cu alloys have been doped with different levels of added Ti. The melted alloys were inoculated with ZnTi-based refiners and it was observed that the dendritic structure is significantly finer already after addition of 50 - 100 ppm Ti to the melted alloys. The alloy's structure and mechanical properties have been studied using: SEM (scanning electron microscopy), LM (light microscopy), dilatometry, pin-on-disc wear, and tensile strength measurements. Grain refinement leads to significant improvement of ductility in the binary high-aluminium Zn-(25-27) Al alloys while in the medium-aluminium alloys the effect is rather weak. In the ternary alloys Zn-26Al-Cu, replacing a part of Cu with Ti allows dimensional changes to be reduced while preserving good tribological properties. Furthermore, the high initial damping properties were nearly entirely preserved after inoculation. The results obtained allow us to characterize grain refinement of the examined high-aluminium zinc alloys as a promising process leading to the improvement of their properties. At the same time, using low melting ZnTi-based master alloys makes it possible to avoid the excessive melt

Renal replacement therapy in healthy adult horses.

Science.gov (United States)

Wong, D M; Witty, D; Alcott, C J; Sponseller, B A; Wang, C; Hepworth, K

2013-01-01

Renal replacement therapy (RRT) has been implemented extensively in people to facilitate recovery from acute renal failure (ARF). RRT has not been explored in horses, but might provide a further treatment option in horses with ARF. To investigate efficacy and safety of RRT in horses. Five healthy adult horses. A prospective study was performed on horses restrained in stocks and intravenously connected to a commercial RRT machine to allow continuous venovenous hemodiafiltration to be performed for 6 hours. The RRT machine was set at the following flow rates: blood flow rate 250 mL/min; dialysate rate 3,000 mL/h; prefilter replacement pump 3,000 mL/h; and postfilter replacement pump rate 2,000 mL/h. Balanced electrolyte solution was used as dialysate and replacement fluid. Heart rate, respiratory rate, body temperature, direct arterial blood pressure, urine output, and various clinicopathologic parameters were measured over the study period. Renal replacement therapy was successfully performed in horses, resulting in a mean creatinine clearance of 0.127 mL/kg/min (68.9 mL/min) and urea reduction ratio of 24%. No adverse effects were detected although a significant decrease in rectal temperature was observed (P ≤ .007). A significant increase in serum phosphorus (P ≤ .001) and decrease in BUN (P replacement therapy can safely and effectively be used in adult horses. Copyright © 2013 by the American College of Veterinary Internal Medicine.

The relationship between viscosity and refinement efficiency of pure aluminum by Al-Ti-B refiner

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Yu Lina [Key Laboratory of Liquid Structure and Heredity of Materials, Ministry of Education, Shandong University, 73 Jingshi Road, Jinan 250061 (China); Liu Xiangfa [Key Laboratory of Liquid Structure and Heredity of Materials, Ministry of Education, Shandong University, 73 Jingshi Road, Jinan 250061 (China)]. E-mail: xfliu@sdu.edu.cn

2006-11-30

The relationship between viscosity and refinement efficiency of pure aluminum with the addition of Al-Ti-B master alloy was studied in this paper. The experimental results show that when the grain size of solidified sample is finer the viscosity of the melt is higher after the addition of different Al-Ti-B master alloys. This indicates that viscosity can be used to approximately estimate the refinement efficiency of Al-Ti-B refiners in production to a certain extent. The main reason was also discussed in this paper by using transmission electron microscopy (TEM) analysis and differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) experiment.

Relational Demonic Fuzzy Refinement

OpenAIRE

Tchier, Fairouz

2014-01-01

We use relational algebra to define a refinement fuzzy order called demonic fuzzy refinement and also the associated fuzzy operators which are fuzzy demonic join $({\\bigsqcup }_{\\mathrm{\\text{f}}\\mathrm{\\text{u}}\\mathrm{\\text{z}}})$ , fuzzy demonic meet $({\\sqcap }_{\\mathrm{\\text{f}}\\mathrm{\\text{u}}\\mathrm{\\text{z}}})$ , and fuzzy demonic composition $({\\square }_{\\mathrm{\\text{f}}\\mathrm{\\text{u}}\\mathrm{\\text{z}}})$ . Our definitions and properties are illustrated by some examples using ma...

Progress in vacuum metal extraction, refining and consolidation

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Sundaram, C.V.; Mukherjee, T.K.; Sharma, B.P.

1973-01-01

The unique achievements in the process metallurgy of rare metals in the past quarter century should largely be attributed to advances in vacuum technology. New standards for high purity, increasing demand for pure metals and alloys for established applications, and steady improvement in sophistication and capacity of vacuum furnaces have provided the stimulus for developing and expanding vacuum metal extraction processes, and also exploring totally new processes. The paper discusses the thermochemistry of vacuum metallurgy, carbothermic and metallothermic reduction reactions, consolidation and refining by vacuum arc melting, electron beam melting and high temperature high vacuum sintering, and ultrapurification, with special reference to the reactive and refractory metals of Group IV to VI. (author)

Enzymatic Refining and Cellulose Nanofiber Addition in Papermaking Processes from Recycled and Deinked Slurries

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Marc Delgado-Aguilar

2015-07-01

Full Text Available Recycling and deinking processes cause fiber damage because of hornification phenomena and increased external fibrillation. Mechanical refining has been used for many years to enhance the mechanical properties of paper. Biorefining of pulp using enzymes is receiving increasing interest for energy reduction at the refining step of the paper-making process. Moreover, enzymes have also been used for the enhancement of mechanical properties without affecting the drainage rate. As an alternative to mechanical refining treatment, a combination of an enzymatic treatment and cellulose nanofibril (CNF addition was explored to enhance the mechanical properties of paper. The tests were carried out on a deinked pulp (DIP suspension made of 50% old newspapers (ONP and 50% old magazines (OMG. Various enzyme charges and CNF amounts were added to the mixture of ONP and OMG. All pulps (treated and untreated were characterized from a morphological point of view, and the paper sheets made thereof were mechanically characterized. The combination of the enzymatic treatment with the addition of 3% CNF provided sufficient tensile strength for the paper to be used in high-performance applications.

The Analysis of the Chloride and Fluoride Influences on the Reducer Refinement Processes (Carbo-N-Ox Aluminum Alloys

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Bydałek A. W.

2013-09-01

Full Text Available Slag refining slag with west materials was analysed used the DTA methods. In the paper a method of determining the reduction capability, with the Carbo-N-Ox method, of slag solutions was used. Some relations between the stimulators in the environment - slag - metal system allow to initiate mass exchange reactions in the process of slag refining.The presented in work course of behaviour permits on choice of basic composition of slaglite, the of necessary components stimulating quantities, as well as on accomplishment of opinion of ability refinement. The worked out programme Slag-Prop, after introduction of data with experiment, it allows on next corrections in composition of proposed mixtures also, should be put on properly elaborated factors of multistage reaction with essential usage of suitable stimulators.

Potentiality Prediction of Electric Power Replacement Based on Power Market Development Strategy

Science.gov (United States)

Miao, Bo; Yang, Shuo; Liu, Qiang; Lin, Jingyi; Zhao, Le; Liu, Chang; Li, Bin

2017-05-01

The application of electric power replacement plays an important role in promoting the development of energy conservation and emission reduction in our country. To exploit the potentiality of regional electric power replacement, the regional GDP (gross domestic product) and energy consumption are taken as potentiality evaluation indicators. The principal component factors are extracted with PCA (principal component analysis), and the integral potentiality analysis is made to the potentiality of electric power replacement in the national various regions; a region is taken as a research object, and the potentiality of electric power replacement is defined and quantified. The analytical model for the potentiality of multi-scenario electric power replacement is developed, and prediction is made to the energy consumption with the grey prediction model. The relevant theoretical research is utilized to realize prediction analysis on the potentiality amount of multi-scenario electric power replacement.

Panorama 2007: Refining and Petrochemicals

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Silva, C.

2007-01-01

The year 2005 saw a new improvement in refining margins that continued during the first three quarters of 2006. The restoration of margins in the last three years has allowed the refining sector to regain its profitability. In this context, the oil companies reported earnings for fiscal year 2005 that were up significantly compared to 2004, and the figures for the first half-year 2006 confirm this trend. Despite this favorable business environment, investments only saw a minimal increase in 2005 and the improvement expected for 2006 should remain fairly limited. Looking to 2010-2015, it would appear that the planned investment projects with the highest probability of reaching completion will be barely adequate to cover the increase in demand. Refining sector should continue to find itself under pressure. As for petrochemicals, despite a steady up-trend in the naphtha price, the restoration of margins consolidated a comeback that started in 2005. All in all, capital expenditure remained fairly low in both the refining and petrochemicals sectors, but many projects are planned for the next ten years. (author)

Refining margins: recent trends

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Baudoin, C.; Favennec, J.P.

1999-01-01

Despite a business environment that was globally mediocre due primarily to the Asian crisis and to a mild winter in the northern hemisphere, the signs of improvement noted in the refining activity in 1996 were borne out in 1997. But the situation is not yet satisfactory in this sector: the low return on invested capital and the financing of environmental protection expenditure are giving cause for concern. In 1998, the drop in crude oil prices and the concomitant fall in petroleum product prices was ultimately rather favorable to margins. Two elements tended to put a damper on this relative optimism. First of all, margins continue to be extremely volatile and, secondly, the worsening of the economic and financial crisis observed during the summer made for a sharp decline in margins in all geographic regions, especially Asia. Since the beginning of 1999, refining margins are weak and utilization rates of refining capacities have decreased. (authors)

Panorama 2009 - refining

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

2008-01-01

For oil companies to invest in new refining and conversion capacity, favorable conditions over time are required. In other words, refining margins must remain high and demand sustained over a long period. That was the situation prevailing before the onset of the financial crisis in the second half of 2008. The economic conjuncture has taken a substantial turn for the worse since then and the forecasts for 2009 do not look bright. Oil demand is expected to decrease in the OECD countries and to grow much more slowly in the emerging countries. It is anticipated that refining margins will fall in 2009 - in 2008, they slipped significantly in the United States - as a result of increasingly sluggish demand, especially for light products. The next few months will probably be unfavorable to investment. In addition to a gloomy business outlook, there may also be a problem of access to sources of financing. As for investment projects, a mainstream trend has emerged in the last few years: a shift away from the regions that have historically been most active (the OECD countries) towards certain emerging countries, mostly in Asia or the Middle East. The new conjuncture will probably not change this trend

Effect of addition of tantalum and zirconium on the mechanical behavior of aluminum grain refined by Ti+ B

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Zaid, A.I.O.

2003-01-01

Aluminum and its alloys normally solidify in a columnar structure with coarse grains. Therefore, they are normally grain refined by adding either titanium or titanium + boron to their melts to obtain finer grain size and better surface quality. Other elements may be added beside the grain refiners to enhance their grain refinement efficiency and improve the mechanical behavior. Some elements were found to improve the grain refining efficiency of the master alloys e.g., vanadium, molybdenum, while others were found to deteriorate the grain refining efficiency e.g., zirconium and tantalum. The literature reveals that in general, only one element is added in the presence of the binary AI-Ti or the ternary AI-Ti-B grain refining master alloy. It is, therefore, anticipated that the addition of Ta and Zr may have different effect when added together from that if each element is added alone. This formed the main objective of this paper. In this paper, the effect of addition of either Zr, Ta or both of them together, with a percentage of 0.1 %wt each, on the grain size, hardness and mechanical behavior of AI and AI grain refined by Ti+B is investigated. It was found that adding Zr or Ta to commercially pure aluminum resulted in grain refinement of its structure and resulted in slight improvement of its hardness. However, a pronounced improvement was obtained in its mechanical strength and formability. On the other hand, addition of either Zr or Ta to Al grain refined by Ti+B resulted in poisoning effect i.e. reducing the grain refining efficiency of the AI- Ti-B master alloy. Practically, addition of either Zr or Ta has no effect on its hardness but resulted in a pronounced improvement of its mechanical strength. Finally, the addition of Zr + Ta to commercially pure aluminum or to aluminum grain refined by Ti+B resulted in reduction of grain size, little improvement in hardness and pronounced improvement in mechanical strength than when each element was added alone

Refining of Cd and Zn from interstitial impurities using distillation with a ZrFe getter filter

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Scherban’ A. P.

2013-10-01

Full Text Available Behavior of interstitial impurities in Cd and Zn is analysed in terms of thermodynamics. The authors consider reduction reactions of cadmium, zinc and carbon oxides, as well as zinc nitride with the getter material from the Zr-Fe alloy, depending on temperature and vacuum. Optimum initial temperature and vacuum conditions for the processes of deep refining of Cd and Zn from interstitial impurities has been developed. It has been shown experimentally that the proposed refining method provides a more effective cleaning of cadmium and zinc from the interstitial impurities than the distillation without a filter: the impurity content is reduced more than tenfold compared to the concentration in the input metal.

Effect of Grain Refinement and Cooling Rate on the Microstructure and Mechanical Properties of Secondary Al-Si-Cu Alloys

Science.gov (United States)

Timelli, Giulio; Camicia, Giordano; Ferraro, Stefano

2014-02-01

The effect of AlTi5B1 grain refinement and different solidification rates on metallurgical and mechanical properties of a secondary AlSi7Cu3Mg alloy is reported. While the Ti content ranges from 0.04 up to 0.225 wt.%, the cooling rate varies between 0.1 and 5.5 °C/s. Metallographic and thermal analysis techniques have been used to quantitatively examine the macro- and microstructural changes occurring with grain refiner addition at various cooling rates. The results indicate that a small AlTi5B1 addition produces the greatest refinement, while no significant reduction of grain size is obtained with a great amount of grain refiner. On increasing the cooling rate, a lower amount of AlTi5B1 master alloy is necessary to produce a uniform grain size throughout the casting. The combined addition of AlTi5B1 and Sr does not produce any reciprocal interaction or effect on primary α-Al and eutectic solidification. The grain refinement improves the plastic behavior of the alloy and increases the reliability of castings, as evidenced by the Weibull statistics.

Calculating corrections in F-theory from refined BPS invariants and backreacted geometries

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Poretschkin, Maximilian

2015-07-01

-String which are counted in the dual F-theory compactification. Using the refined BPS invariants we can count these states and explain their space-time spin content. In addition, we explain that they fall into representations of E8 which can be explicitly determined. The second application is given by a proposal how to count [p,q]-strings within F-theory which is based on the D3 probe-brane picture and the dual Seiberg-Witten description. As a third contribution to F-theory which is independent of the results obtained in the first part, we consider the backreaction of G{sub 4}-flux onto the geometry of a local model of a Calabi-Yau fourfold geometry. This induces a non-trivial warp-factor and modifies the Kaluza-Klein reduction ansatz. Taking this into account we demonstrate how corrections to the 7-brane gauge coupling function can be computed within F-theory.

Romanian refining industry assesses restructuring

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Tanasescu, D.G.

1991-01-01

The Romanian crude oil refining industry, as all the other economic sectors, faces the problems accompanying the transition from a centrally planned economy to a market economy. At present, all refineries have registered as joint-stock companies and all are coordinated and assisted by Rafirom S.A., from both a legal and a production point of view. Rafirom S.A. is a joint-stock company that holds shares in refineries and other stock companies with activities related to oil refining. Such activities include technological research, development, design, transportation, storage, and domestic and foreign marketing. This article outlines the market forces that are expected to: drive rationalization and restructuring of refining operations and define the targets toward which the reconfigured refineries should strive

Salt in bread in Europe: potential benefits of reduction.

Science.gov (United States)

Quilez, Joan; Salas-Salvado, Jordi

2012-11-01

Bread is widely considered to be the foodstuff that provides the most dietary salt to the diet. As such, it is one of the key public health targets for a salt reduction policy. In this respect, it has been shown that a reduction in the salt content of bread is possible, and an alternative approach involves partial replacement with other, mainly potassium-based salts, which also counteract the effects of sodium. This replacement should be undertaken on the basis of criteria that maintain the product's sensory profile, and it tends to be more successful in breads with more naturally flavorful taste. The present review was conducted to examine salt intake in Europe and the health problems associated with its excessive consumption; particular focus is placed on the salt content of bread and the effects of its possible reduction and/or correction. The beneficial effects of such changes are highlighted by way of a theoretical calculation in baguette-type wheat bread. European legislation in the field of nutrition and health claims allows the positive aspects of such salt reduction and replacement methods to be stated. © 2012 International Life Sciences Institute.

A method for refining oil

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Bruskin, Yu.A.; Gorokhov, V.V.; Kotler, L.D.; Kovalenko, N.F.; Spasskiy, Yu.B.; Titov, A.M.; Vlasenko, V.Ye.; Vytnov, V.A.

1983-01-01

In the method for refining oil through its distillation with the isolation of directly distilled gases and a benzine fraction (BS) with the use of a benzine fraction pyrolysis, in order to increase the output of the lower olefines and to reduce the energy expenditures, the distillation is conducted with the isolation of 10 to 40 percent of the benzine fraction from its potential content along with the directly distilled gases. The obtained mixture of the remaining part of the benzine fraction is absorbed at a pressure of 1.5 to 6 atmospheres with the feeding of the obtained saturated absorbent to pyrolysis and subsequent mixing of the obtained pyrolysis gas with the unabsorbed product and their joint gas division. As compared to the known method, the proposed method makes it possible to reduce the energy expenditures which is achieved through a reduction in the volume of irrigation in the tower, and to increase the output of the olefines through processing of the steam and gas mixture of the benzine and the directly distilled gases.

The effects of physical refining on the formation of 3-monochloropropane-1,2-diol esters in relation to palm oil minor components.

Science.gov (United States)

Zulkurnain, Musfirah; Lai, Oi Ming; Latip, Razam Abdul; Nehdi, Imededdine Arbi; Ling, Tau Chuan; Tan, Chin Ping

2012-11-15

The formation of 3-monochloropropane-1,2-diol (3-MCPD) esters in refined palm oil during deodorisation is attributed to the intrinsic composition of crude palm oil. Utilising D-optimal design, the effects of the degumming and bleaching processes on the reduction in 3-MCPD ester formation in refined palm oil from poor-quality crude palm oil were studied relative to the palm oil minor components that are likely to be their precursors. Water degumming remarkably reduced 3-MCPD ester formation by up to 84%, from 9.79 mg/kg to 1.55 mg/kg. Bleaching with synthetic magnesium silicate caused a further 10% reduction, to 0.487 mg/kg. The reduction in 3-MCPD ester formation could be due to the removal of related precursors prior to the deodorisation step. The phosphorus content of bleached palm oil showed a significant correlation with 3-MCPD ester formation. Copyright © 2012 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Action Refinement

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Gorrieri, R.; Rensink, Arend; Bergstra, J.A.; Ponse, A.; Smolka, S.A.

2001-01-01

In this chapter, we give a comprehensive overview of the research results in the field of action refinement during the past 12 years. The different approaches that have been followed are outlined in detail and contrasted to each other in a uniform framework. We use two running examples to discuss

Energy saving and emission reduction of China's urban district heating

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Chen, Xia; Wang, Li; Tong, Lige; Sun, Shufeng; Yue, Xianfang; Yin, Shaowu; Zheng, Lifang

2013-01-01

China's carbon dioxide (CO 2 ) emission ranks highest in the world. China is committed to reduce its CO 2 emission by 40% to 45% from the 2005 levels by 2020. To fulfill the target, China's CO 2 emission reduction must exceed 6995 million tons. Energy consumption and CO 2 emission of China's urban district heating (UDH) are increasing. The current policy implemented to improve UDH focuses on replacing coal with natural gas to reduce energy consumption and CO 2 emission to some extent. This paper proposes that heat pump heating (HPH) could serve as a replacement for UDH to help realize energy-saving and emission-reduction goals to a greater extent. The paper also analyzes the impact of this replacement on the heating and power generation sectors. The results show that replacing coal-based UDH with HPH decreases energy consumption and CO 2 emission by 43% in the heating sector. In the power generation sector, the efficiency of power generation at the valley electricity time increases by 0.512%, and the ratio of peak–valley difference decreases by 16.5%. The decreases in CO 2 emission from the heating and power generation sectors cumulatively account for 5.55% of China's total CO 2 emission reduction target in 2020. - Highlights: ► Replacing urban district heating with heat pump heating. ► Impact of heat pump heating on heating and power generation sectors. ► Potential of energy saving and emission reduction for heat pump heating. ► China should adjust current urban heating strategy

Optimization of Refining Craft for Vegetable Insulating Oil

Science.gov (United States)

Zhou, Zhu-Jun; Hu, Ting; Cheng, Lin; Tian, Kai; Wang, Xuan; Yang, Jun; Kong, Hai-Yang; Fang, Fu-Xin; Qian, Hang; Fu, Guang-Pan

2016-05-01

Vegetable insulating oil because of its environmental friendliness are considered as ideal material instead of mineral oil used for the insulation and the cooling of the transformer. The main steps of traditional refining process included alkali refining, bleaching and distillation. This kind of refining process used in small doses of insulating oil refining can get satisfactory effect, but can't be applied to the large capacity reaction kettle. This paper using rapeseed oil as crude oil, and the refining process has been optimized for large capacity reaction kettle. The optimized refining process increases the acid degumming process. The alkali compound adds the sodium silicate composition in the alkali refining process, and the ratio of each component is optimized. Add the amount of activated clay and activated carbon according to 10:1 proportion in the de-colorization process, which can effectively reduce the oil acid value and dielectric loss. Using vacuum pumping gas instead of distillation process can further reduce the acid value. Compared some part of the performance parameters of refined oil products with mineral insulating oil, the dielectric loss of vegetable insulating oil is still high and some measures are needed to take to further optimize in the future.

Grain refining efficiency of Al-Ti-C alloys

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Birol, Yuecel

2006-01-01

The problems associated with boride agglomeration and the poisoning effect of Zr in Zr-bearing alloys have created a big demand for boron-free grain refiners. The potential benefits of TiC as a direct nucleant for aluminium grains have thus generated a great deal of interest in TiC-bearing alloys in recent years. In Al-Ti-C grain refiners commercially available today, Al 3 Ti particles are introduced into the melt along with the TiC particles. Since the latter are claimed to nucleate α-Al directly, it is of great technological interest to see if reducing the Ti:C ratio further, i.e., increasing the C content of the grain refiner, will produce an increase in the grain refining efficiency of these alloys. A series of grain refiner samples with the Ti concentration fixed at 3% and a range of C contents between 0 and 0.75 were obtained by appropriately mixing an experimental Al-3Ti-0.75C alloy with Al-10Ti alloy and commercial purity aluminium. The grain refining efficiency of these grain refiners was assessed to investigate the role of the insoluble TiC and the soluble Al 3 Ti particles. The optimum chemistry for the Al-Ti-C grain refiners was also identified

Grain refining efficiency of Al-Ti-C alloys

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Birol, Yuecel [Materials Institute, Marmara Research Center, TUBITAK, 41470 Gebze, Kocaeli (Turkey)]. E-mail: yucel.birol@mam.gov.tr

2006-09-28

The problems associated with boride agglomeration and the poisoning effect of Zr in Zr-bearing alloys have created a big demand for boron-free grain refiners. The potential benefits of TiC as a direct nucleant for aluminium grains have thus generated a great deal of interest in TiC-bearing alloys in recent years. In Al-Ti-C grain refiners commercially available today, Al{sub 3}Ti particles are introduced into the melt along with the TiC particles. Since the latter are claimed to nucleate {alpha}-Al directly, it is of great technological interest to see if reducing the Ti:C ratio further, i.e., increasing the C content of the grain refiner, will produce an increase in the grain refining efficiency of these alloys. A series of grain refiner samples with the Ti concentration fixed at 3% and a range of C contents between 0 and 0.75 were obtained by appropriately mixing an experimental Al-3Ti-0.75C alloy with Al-10Ti alloy and commercial purity aluminium. The grain refining efficiency of these grain refiners was assessed to investigate the role of the insoluble TiC and the soluble Al{sub 3}Ti particles. The optimum chemistry for the Al-Ti-C grain refiners was also identified.

Optimal Overhaul-Replacement Policies for Repairable Machine Sold with Warranty

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Kusmaningrum Soemadi

2014-12-01

Full Text Available This research deals with an overhaul-replacement policy for a repairable machine sold with Free Replacement Warranty (FRW. The machine will be used for a finite horizon, T (T <, and evaluated at a fixed interval, s (s< T. At each evaluation point, the buyer considers three alternative decisions i.e. Keep the machine, Overhaul it, or Replace it with a new identical one. An overhaul can reduce the machine age virtually, but not to a point that the machine is as good as new. If the machine fails during the warranty period, it is rectified at no cost to the buyer. Any failure occurring before and after the expiry of the warranty is restored by minimal repair. An overhaul-replacement policy is formulated for such machines by using dynamic programming approach to obtain the buyer’s optimal policy. The results show that a significant rejuvenation effect due to overhaul may extend the length of machine life cycle and delay the replacement decision. In contrast, the warranty stimulates early machine replacement and by then increases the replacement frequencies for a certain range of replacement cost. This demonstrates that to minimize the total ownership cost over T the buyer needs to consider the minimal repair cost reduction due to rejuvenation effect of overhaul as well as the warranty benefit due to replacement. Numerical examples are presented for both illustrating the optimal policy and describing the behavior of the optimal solution.

Autologous blood transfusion in total knee replacement surgery.

Science.gov (United States)

Sarkanović, Mirka Lukić; Gvozdenović, Ljiljana; Savić, Dragan; Ilić, Miroslav P; Jovanović, Gordana

2013-03-01

Total knee replacement (TKR) surgery is one of the most frequent and the most extensive procedures in orthopedic surgery, accompanied with some serious complications. Perioperative blood loss is one of the most serious losses, so it is vital to recognize and treat such losses properly. Autologous blood transfusion is the only true alternative for the allogeneic blood. The aim of this study was to to examine if autologous blood transfusion reduces usage of allogenic blood in total knee replacement surgery, as well as to examine possible effect of autologous blood transfusion on postoperative complications, recovery and hospital stay of patients after total knee replacement surgery. During the controlled, prospective, randomised study we compared two groups of patients (n = 112) with total prosthesis implanted in their knee. The group I consisted of the patients who received the transfusion of other people's (allogeneic) blood (n = 57) and the group II of the patients whose blood was collected postoperatively and then given them [their own (autologous) blood] (n = 55). The transfusion trigger for both groups was hemoglobin level of 85 g/L. In the group of patients whose blood was collected perioperatively only 9 (0.9%) of the patients received transfusion of allogeneic blood, as opposed to the control group in which 98.24% of the patients received the transfusion of allogeneic blood (p blood was collected stayed in hospital for 6.18 days, while the patients of the control group stayed 7.67 days (p blood transfusion is a very effective method for reducing consumption of allogenic blood and thus, indirectly for reducing all complications related to allogenic blood transfusion. There is also a positive influence on postoperative recovery after total knee replacement surgery due to the reduction of hospital stay, and indirectly on the reduction of hospital costs.

Data refinement for true concurrency

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Brijesh Dongol

2013-05-01

Full Text Available The majority of modern systems exhibit sophisticated concurrent behaviour, where several system components modify and observe the system state with fine-grained atomicity. Many systems (e.g., multi-core processors, real-time controllers also exhibit truly concurrent behaviour, where multiple events can occur simultaneously. This paper presents data refinement defined in terms of an interval-based framework, which includes high-level operators that capture non-deterministic expression evaluation. By modifying the type of an interval, our theory may be specialised to cover data refinement of both discrete and continuous systems. We present an interval-based encoding of forward simulation, then prove that our forward simulation rule is sound with respect to our data refinement definition. A number of rules for decomposing forward simulation proofs over both sequential and parallel composition are developed.

Grain Refinement of Permanent Mold Cast Copper Base Alloys

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

M.Sadayappan; J.P.Thomson; M.Elboujdaini; G.Ping Gu; M. Sahoo

2005-04-01

Grain refinement is a well established process for many cast and wrought alloys. The mechanical properties of various alloys could be enhanced by reducing the grain size. Refinement is also known to improve casting characteristics such as fluidity and hot tearing. Grain refinement of copper-base alloys is not widely used, especially in sand casting process. However, in permanent mold casting of copper alloys it is now common to use grain refinement to counteract the problem of severe hot tearing which also improves the pressure tightness of plumbing components. The mechanism of grain refinement in copper-base alloys is not well understood. The issues to be studied include the effect of minor alloy additions on the microstructure, their interaction with the grain refiner, effect of cooling rate, and loss of grain refinement (fading). In this investigation, efforts were made to explore and understand grain refinement of copper alloys, especially in permanent mold casting conditions.

Comparing Syntactic and Semantics Action Refinement

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Goltz, Ursula; Gorrieri, Roberto; Rensink, Arend

The semantic definition of action refinement on labelled configuration structures is compared with the notion of syntactic substitution, which can be used as another notion of action refinement in a process algebraic setting. The comparison is done by studying a process algebra equipped with

Inter-proximal enamel reduction in contemporary orthodontics.

Science.gov (United States)

Pindoria, J; Fleming, P S; Sharma, P K

2016-12-16

Inter-proximal enamel reduction has gained increasing prominence in recent years being advocated to provide space for orthodontic alignment, to refine contact points and to potentially improve long-term stability. An array of techniques and products are available ranging from hand-held abrasive strips to handpiece mounted burs and discs. The indications for inter-proximal enamel reduction and the importance of formal space analysis, together with the various techniques and armamentarium which may be used to perform it safely in both the labial and buccal segments are outlined.

Sensory and Physical Effects of Sugar Reduction in a Caramel Coating System.

Science.gov (United States)

Mayhew, Emily J; Schmidt, Shelly J; Lee, Soo-Yeun

2017-08-01

Sugar reduction in processed foods is a pressing and complex problem, as sugars contribute important sensory and physical properties to foods. Composed of sugars and lipids, caramel coating systems, like the coating in caramel popcorns, exemplify this challenge. In order to probe the feasibility and consequences of sugar reduction, both sensory and physical properties were measured for 3 types of caramel coating systems. Four commonly used sugar alcohols, isomalt, maltitol, mannitol, and sorbitol, with different thermal properties and relative sweetness values were chosen to replace sugar in the caramel coating systems at 25% and 50% sugar reduction levels. Full sugar (control) and reduced sugar caramel coating samples were prepared in duplicate. Ten trained panelists participated in a 6-wk descriptive analysis panel to define and quantify the intensity of important sensory characteristics. All 24 sensory terms generated by the panel differed significantly across caramel type and sugar replacer. Thermal properties were measured through differential scanning calorimetry, and textural properties were measured through texture profile analysis. Replacement of sugar with sugar alcohols was found to decrease the glass transition temperature and systematically alter the hardness and resilience of caramel samples. Principal component analysis of sensory and physical data revealed that caramel coating type dictates caramel aroma, aroma by mouth, taste, and aftertaste, while sugar replacer and replacement level dictate texture. This research represents the first comprehensive study of the effects of sugar reduction in a caramel coating system and suggests successful strategies for sugar reduction and key parameters to control in reduced sugar systems. © 2017 Institute of Food Technologists®.

Steel refining possibilities in LF

Science.gov (United States)

Dumitru, M. G.; Ioana, A.; Constantin, N.; Ciobanu, F.; Pollifroni, M.

2018-01-01

This article presents the main possibilities for steel refining in Ladle Furnace (LF). These, are presented: steelmaking stages, steel refining through argon bottom stirring, online control of the bottom stirring, bottom stirring diagram during LF treatment of a heat, porous plug influence over the argon stirring, bottom stirring porous plug, analysis of porous plugs disposal on ladle bottom surface, bottom stirring simulation with ANSYS, bottom stirring simulation with Autodesk CFD.

On Syntactic and Semantic Action Refinement

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Hagiya, M.; Goltz, U.; Mitchell, J.C.; Gorrieri, R.; Rensink, Arend

1994-01-01

The semantic definition of action refinement on labelled event structures is compared with the notion of syntactic substitution, which can be used as another notion of action refinement in a process algebraic setting. This is done by studying a process algebra equipped with the ACP sequential

The EU's roadmap to a low-carbon economy. Aspirations and realities for refiners

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Lichtscheidl, Josef; Buchsbaum, Alexander; Maly, Markus [OMV Refining and Marketing GmbH, Vienna (Austria)

2013-06-15

We live in a fast moving world, and energy is of one the main agents of change. Prosperity is closely linked to the use of affordable energy for consumers and companies. Global energy demand has risen by almost 50% in the past 20 years and is forecast to continue to grow rapidly [1]. Experts warn of soaring CO2 emissions - a negative effect of fossil fuels. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) publishes regular Assessment Reports on global warming which include policy recommendations. The political target is clear - to replace fossil fuels with renewables, and do it quick. The EU has decided to aim for world leadership, and has adopted a road map for moving to a low-carbon economy by 2050. However, it should be emphasised that international agreements hold the key both to successfully combating globalwarming and to maintaining the competitiveness of European industry. The refining industry must respond to this challenge. After the early years of expansion and prosperity (up to the mid-1980s), and a mid-life phase of fierce competition and continuous improvement, refiners now looking ahead to a period of painful consolidation. According to expert opinion European refining capacity needs to be pruned by about 20% in the near future and another 20% by 2030. About 35% of all European refineries have changed hands or shut down in the past four years. Bad news for European refiners also comes from the USA, which is transmuting from a large importer of oil products - especially gasoline - into a net exporter. Where can Europe find markets for its surplus gasoline? Converting European refineries to maximise diesel production will cost a lot of money - perhaps more than it will bring in, at today's depressed margins. (orig.)

Effect of sugar replacement with date paste and date syrup on texture and sensory quality of kesari (traditional Indian dessert

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Annamalai Manickvasagan

2018-01-01

Full Text Available In this study, a popular Indian dessert, kesari, was reformulated by substituting refined sugar at various levels (0%=control, 25%, 50%, 75% and 100% with date past and syrup, and changes in instrumental texture profile, L*a*b* colour values and sensory properties were determined.  The hardness of date syrup kesari was higher than that of date paste kesari. However, there were no differences in hardness among various levels of replacement.  There were no differences between syrup vs paste products or among various levels of replacements in cohesiveness, springiness, gumminess, adhesiveness and chewiness of kesari.  The developed kesari scored 5.5 to 7.5 on a 9 level hedonic scale (like slightly-like moderately in all sensory attributes.  Replacement of sugar at 75% and 100% levels, significantly lowered the scores for most of the sensory attributes.  Around 50% of the panellist in informed sensory, selected 50% replaced products (paste or syrup as their first choice.

Refinement for Transition Systems with Responses

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Marco Carbone

2012-07-01

Full Text Available Motivated by the response pattern for property specifications and applications within flexible workflow management systems, we report upon an initial study of modal and mixed transition systems in which the must transitions are interpreted as must eventually, and in which implementations can contain may behaviors that are resolved at run-time. We propose Transition Systems with Responses (TSRs as a suitable model for this study. We prove that TSRs correspond to a restricted class of mixed transition systems, which we refer to as the action-deterministic mixed transition systems. We show that TSRs allow for a natural definition of deadlocked and accepting states. We then transfer the standard definition of refinement for mixed transition systems to TSRs and prove that refinement does not preserve deadlock freedom. This leads to the proposal of safe refinements, which are those that preserve deadlock freedom. We exemplify the use of TSRs and (safe refinements on a small medication workflow.

Design of Grain Refiners for Aluminium Alloys

Science.gov (United States)

Tronche, A.; Greer, A. L.

The efficiency of a grain refiner can be quantified as the number of grains per nucleant particle in the solidified product. Even for effective refiners in aluminium, such as Al-5Ti-1B, it is known from experiments that efficiencies are very low, at best 10-3 to 102. It is of interest to explore the reasons for such low values, and to assess the prospects for increased efficiency though design of refiners. Recently it has been shown [1] that a simple recalescence-based model can make quantitative predictions of grain size as a function of refiner addition level, cooling rate and solute content. In the model, the initiation of grains is limited by the free growth from nucleant particles, the size distribution of which is very important. The present work uses this model as the basis for discussing the effect of particle size distribution on grain refiner performance. Larger particles (of TiB2 in the case of present interest) promote greater efficiency, as do narrower size distributions. It is shown that even if the size distribution could be exactly specified, compromises would have to be made to balance efficiency (defined as above) with other desirable characteristics of a refiner.

A refinement methodology for object-oriented programs

OpenAIRE

Tafat , Asma; Boulmé , Sylvain; Marché , Claude

2010-01-01

International audience; Refinement is a well-known approach for developing correct-byconstruction software. It has been very successful for producing high quality code e.g., as implemented in the B tool. Yet, such refinement techniques are restricted in the sense that they forbid aliasing (and more generally sharing of data-structures), which often happens in usual programming languages. We propose a sound approach for refinement in presence of aliases. Suitable abstractions of programs are d...

Bauxite Mining and Alumina Refining

Science.gov (United States)

Frisch, Neale; Olney, David

2014-01-01

Objective: To describe bauxite mining and alumina refining processes and to outline the relevant physical, chemical, biological, ergonomic, and psychosocial health risks. Methods: Review article. Results: The most important risks relate to noise, ergonomics, trauma, and caustic soda splashes of the skin/eyes. Other risks of note relate to fatigue, heat, and solar ultraviolet and for some operations tropical diseases, venomous/dangerous animals, and remote locations. Exposures to bauxite dust, alumina dust, and caustic mist in contemporary best-practice bauxite mining and alumina refining operations have not been demonstrated to be associated with clinically significant decrements in lung function. Exposures to bauxite dust and alumina dust at such operations are also not associated with the incidence of cancer. Conclusions: A range of occupational health risks in bauxite mining and alumina refining require the maintenance of effective control measures. PMID:24806720

Mangaba (Hancornia speciosa Gomez ice cream prepared with fat replacers and sugar substitutes

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Grazielle Gebrim Santos

2012-09-01

Full Text Available The effect of replacing shortening and sugar on the physical and chemical properties of mangaba ice cream and its acceptability were evaluated. Ice cream formulations were tested with the following fat replacers: Selecta Light, Litesse, and Dairy Lo and the following sugar substitutes: Lactitol and Splenda. All formulations were subjected to physical, chemical, and microbiological analyses and evaluated by acceptability tests. In the sensory analysis, it was observed a larger acceptance of the formulations containing Selecta Light (SL and the combination of Litesse, Lactiol, and Splenda (LLS. The largest reduction in total energetic value (50% was observed in the formulation LLS. The use of fat and/or sugar substitutes caused a reduction in the air incorporation (overrun and affected viscosity. The highest melting speed was observed in the formulation with Dairy-Lo, Lactitol, and Splenda. All formulations showed good levels of global acceptability and appearance. The substitution of shortening for fat replacers caused a reduction in air incorporation and changes in ice-cream viscosity. The low-fat mangaba ice-cream elaborated with Selecta Light was the best formulation in terms of viscosity and air incorporation when compared with the control. It also showed a good level of acceptability and low fat content.

South Korea - oil refining overview

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hayes, D.

1999-01-01

Following the economic problems of the 1990s, the petroleum refining industry of South Korea underwent much involuntary restructuring in 1999 with respect to takeovers and mergers and these are discussed. The demand for petroleum has now pretty well recovered. The reasons for fluctuating prices in the 1990s, how the new structure should be cushioned against changes in the future, and the potential for South Korea to export refined petroleum, are all discussed

Adaptive Mesh Refinement in CTH

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Crawford, David

1999-01-01

This paper reports progress on implementing a new capability of adaptive mesh refinement into the Eulerian multimaterial shock- physics code CTH. The adaptivity is block-based with refinement and unrefinement occurring in an isotropic 2:1 manner. The code is designed to run on serial, multiprocessor and massive parallel platforms. An approximate factor of three in memory and performance improvements over comparable resolution non-adaptive calculations has-been demonstrated for a number of problems

A Pilot Study of Common Bile Duct Reconstruction with CorMatrix Extracellular Matrix in Swine (Sus scrofa)

Science.gov (United States)

2015-02-06

additional pages if necessary.) PROTOCOL#: FDG20140008A DATE: 6 February 2015 PROTOCOL TITLE: A Pilot Study of Common Bile Duct Reconstruction with...obstruction or bile peritonitis. This was reported to the IACUC chair. 9. REDUCTION, REFINEMENT, OR REPLACEMENT OF ANIMAL USE; REPLACEMENT...benefit the DoD/USAF? We developed a porcine model of common bile duct injury and interposition grafting, gained experience managing these patients

Price implications for Russia's oil refining

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Khartukov, Eugene M.

1998-01-01

Over the past several years, Russia's oil industry has undergone its radical transformation from a wholly state-run and generously subsidized oil distribution system toward a substantially privatized, cash-strapped, and quasi-market ''petropreneurship''. This fully applies to the industry's downstream sector. Still unlike more dynamic E and C operations, the country's refining has turned out better fenced off competitive market forces and is less capable to respond to market imperatives. Consequently, jammed between depressed product prices and persistent feedstock costs, Russian refiners were badly hit by the world oil glut - which has made a radical modernization of the obsolete refining sector clearly a must. (author)

Grain refinement mechanism in A3003 alloy

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Cho, Hoon; Shin, Je-Sik; Lee, Byoung-Soo; Jo, Hyung-Ho

2009-01-01

In the present study, in order to find out an grain refinement mechanism, 0.1wt.% Al-10wt.%Ti master alloy was added into A3003 alloy melt contained in graphite crucible and in alumina crucible, and then the melt holding time at 750 deg. C was systematically changed from 1 min up to 120 min. It is interesting to note that the grain refinement and fading phenomena remarkably depend on the crucible material. The fading effect in the specimens using alumina crucible can be explained as the result of TiAl 3 phase dissolution into molten aluminium matrix. In the specimens using graphite crucible, the grain refinement was occurred gradually with increasing holding time. It was suggest that the continuous grain refinement is due to transition of refinement mechanism from TiAl 3 phase to TiC phase. It can be mentioned that the TiC formed from titanium and carbon solute in the aluminium melt, which came from the Al-10Ti alloy and the graphite crucible.

Surface neuromuscular electrical stimulation for quadriceps strengthening pre and post total knee replacement.

LENUS (Irish Health Repository)

Monaghan, Brenda

2010-01-01

Total knee replacement has been demonstrated to be one of the most successful procedures in the treatment of osteoarthritis. However quadriceps weakness and reductions in function are commonly reported following surgery. Recently Neuromuscular Electrical Stimulation (NMES) has been used as an adjunct to traditional strengthening programmes. This review considers the effectiveness of NMES as a means of increasing quadriceps strength in patients before and after total knee replacement.

Technology management: a perspective on system support, procurement, and replacement planning.

Science.gov (United States)

Dickerson, M L; Jackson, M E

1992-01-01

The escalating costs associated with medical technology present a host of challenges for the hospital clinical engineering department. As service and support costs comprise ever larger portions of a system's life cycle cost, innovative management of service provider mix and mechanisms can provide substantial savings in operating expenses. In addition to full-service contracts, the use of demand service and independents has become commonplace. Medical equipment maintenance insurance programs provide yet another service alternative, combining the flexibility of demand service with the safety of a capped budget. These programs have gained acceptance among hospitals as their providers have become more focused on the healthcare market and its many needs. In view of the long-term cost impact surrounding technology procurement, the authors recommend that hospitals refine system evaluation methodologies and develop more comprehensive techniques directed at capital equipment replacement planning. One replacement planning approach, based on an estimation of system value changes, is described and illustrated using data collected through client consultations. Although the validity of this method has not been demonstrated, it represents a simplified approach to life cycle cost analysis and is intended to provide a standard method by which system replacement planning may be quantified. As a departure from system devaluation based solely on depreciation, this method estimates prospective system values derived from anticipated operations and maintenance costs, projected revenue, and the availability of new technology.

Basic effects of pulp refining on fiber properties--a review.

Science.gov (United States)

Gharehkhani, Samira; Sadeghinezhad, Emad; Kazi, Salim Newaz; Yarmand, Hooman; Badarudin, Ahmad; Safaei, Mohammad Reza; Zubir, Mohd Nashrul Mohd

2015-01-22

The requirement for high quality pulps which are widely used in paper industries has increased the demand for pulp refining (beating) process. Pulp refining is a promising approach to improve the pulp quality by changing the fiber characteristics. The diversity of research on the effect of refining on fiber properties which is due to the different pulp sources, pulp consistency and refining equipment has interested us to provide a review on the studies over the last decade. In this article, the influence of pulp refining on structural properties i.e., fibrillations, fine formation, fiber length, fiber curl, crystallinity and distribution of surface chemical compositions is reviewed. The effect of pulp refining on electrokinetic properties of fiber e.g., surface and total charges of pulps is discussed. In addition, an overview of different refining theories, refiners as well as some tests for assessing the pulp refining is presented. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Characteristics of Australian smokers using bupropion and nicotine-replacement therapies.

Science.gov (United States)

Doran, Christopher; Stafford, Jennifer; Shanahan, Marian; Mattick, Richard P

2007-02-01

Smokers were surveyed using a computer-assisted telephone interview to explore behaviors associated with the use of bupropion and nicotine-replacement therapies, using a convenient sample of Australian smokers. With assistance from the Pharmacy Guild of Australia, smokers were recruited through pharmacies and interviewed at baseline and after 3 months. A total of 508 smokers were recruited, 396 were interviewed at baseline and 318 completed a 3-month computer-assisted telephone interview. At 3 months, over two-thirds of participants were still smoking, the majority daily. However, the number of cigarettes smoked per week reduced and the time taken before smoking the first cigarette after waking increased. Nearly all participants started their medication (94%), while only 39% completed the full course. The main reasons for not completing the full course were adverse side effects, such as abnormal dreams and sleep disturbance. Despite Australian guidelines for bupropion and nicotine-replacement therapies to be used within a comprehensive treatment program, only 11% of patients were recommended behavioral support for nicotine dependence by their doctor or pharmacist. The results of the study shed light on patient utilization of the medication in terms of uptake and completion, possible side effects experienced and use of adjuncts. A better understanding of the use and experience of bupropion and nicotine-replacement therapies, and the lack of behavioral support offered with these, provides policy makers with a stronger evidence base to refine and improve the use of such pharmacotherapies.

Postnatal reduction of BDNF regulates the developmental remodeling of taste bud innervation.

Science.gov (United States)

Huang, Tao; Ma, Liqun; Krimm, Robin F

2015-09-15

The refinement of innervation is a common developmental mechanism that serves to increase the specificity of connections following initial innervation. In the peripheral gustatory system, the extent to which innervation is refined and how refinement might be regulated is unclear. The initial innervation of taste buds is controlled by brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF). Following initial innervation, taste receptor cells are added and become newly innervated. The connections between the taste receptor cells and nerve fibers are likely to be specific in order to retain peripheral coding mechanisms. Here, we explored the possibility that the down-regulation of BDNF regulates the refinement of taste bud innervation during postnatal development. An analysis of BDNF expression in Bdnf(lacZ/+) mice and real-time reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) revealed that BDNF was down-regulated between postnatal day (P) 5 and P10. This reduction in BDNF expression was due to a loss of precursor/progenitor cells that express BDNF, while the expression of BDNF in the subpopulations of taste receptor cells did not change. Gustatory innervation, which was identified by P2X3 immunohistochemistry, was lost around the perimeter where most progenitor/precursor cells are located. In addition, the density of innervation in the taste bud was reduced between P5 and P10, because taste buds increase in size without increasing innervation. This reduction of innervation density was blocked by the overexpression of BDNF in the precursor/progenitor population of taste bud cells. Together these findings indicate that the process of BDNF restriction to a subpopulation of taste receptor cells between P5 and P10, results in a refinement of gustatory innervation. We speculate that this refinement results in an increased specificity of connections between neurons and taste receptor cells during development. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Postnatal reduction of BDNF regulates the developmental remodeling of taste bud innervation

Science.gov (United States)

Huang, Tao; Ma, Liqun; Krimm, Robin F

2015-01-01

The refinement of innervation is a common developmental mechanism that serves to increase the specificity of connections following initial innervation. In the peripheral gustatory system, the extent to which innervation is refined and how refinement might be regulated is unclear. The initial innervation of taste buds is controlled by brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF). Following initial innervation, taste receptor cells are added and become newly innervated. The connections between the taste receptor cells and nerve fibers are likely to be specific in order to retain peripheral coding mechanisms. Here, we explored the possibility that the down-regulation of BDNF regulates the refinement of taste bud innervation during postnatal development. An analysis of BDNF expression in BdnflacZ/+ mice and real-time reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) revealed that BDNF was down-regulated between postnatal day (P) 5 and P10. This reduction in BDNF expression was due to a loss of precursor/progenitor cells that express BDNF, while the expression of BDNF in the subpopulations of taste receptor cells did not change. Gustatory innervation, which was identified by P2X3 immunohistochemistry, was lost around the perimeter where most progenitor/precursor cells are located. In addition, the density of innervation in the taste bud was reduced between P5 and P10, because taste buds increase in size without increasing innervation. This reduction of innervation density was blocked by the overexpression of BDNF in the precursor/progenitor population of taste bud cells. Together these findings indicate that the process of BDNF restriction to a subpopulation of taste receptor cells between P5 and P10, results in a refinement of gustatory innervation. We speculate that this refinement results in an increased specificity of connections between neurons and taste receptor cells during development. PMID:26164656

Embedded piezoelectrics for sensing and energy harvesting in total knee replacement units

Science.gov (United States)

Wilson, Brooke E.; Meneghini, Michael; Anton, Steven R.

2015-04-01

The knee replacement is the second most common orthopedic surgical intervention in the United States, but currently only 1 in 5 knee replacement patients are satisfied with their level of pain reduction one year after surgery. It is imperative to make the process of knee replacement surgery more objective by developing a data driven approach to ligamentous balance, which increases implant life. In this work, piezoelectric materials are considered for both sensing and energy harvesting applications in total knee replacement implants. This work aims to embed piezoelectric material in the polyethylene bearing of a knee replacement unit to act as self-powered sensors that will aid in the alignment and balance of the knee replacement by providing intraoperative feedback to the surgeon. Postoperatively, the piezoelectric sensors can monitor the structural health of the implant in order to perceive potential problems before they become bothersome to the patient. Specifically, this work will present on the use of finite element modeling coupled with uniaxial compression testing to prove that piezoelectric stacks can be utilized to harvest sufficient energy to power sensors needed for this application.

Oil refining expansion criteria for Brazil

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Tavares, M.E.E.; Szklo, A.S.; Machado, G.V.; Schaeffer, R.; Mariano, J.B.; Sala, J.F.

2006-01-01

This paper assesses different strategies for the expansion of Brazil's oil refining segment, using criteria that range from energy security (reducing imports and vulnerability for key products) through to maximizing the profitability of this sector (boosting the output of higher value oil products) and adding value to Brazil's oil production (reducing exports of heavy acid oil). The development prospects are analyzed for conventional fuel production technology routes, sketching out three possible refining schemes for Brazilian oil and a GTL plant for producing gasoil from natural gas. Market scenario simulations indicate that investments will be required in Brazil's oil refining segment over and above those allocated to planned modifications in its current facilities, reducing the nation's vulnerability in terms of gasoil and petrochemical naphtha imports. Although not economically attractive, oil refining is a key activity that is crucial to oil company strategies. The decision to invest in this segment depends on local infrastructure conditions, environmental constraints and fuel specifications, in addition to oil company strategies, steady growth in demand and the definition of a government policy that eases institutional risks. (author)

Oil refining expansion criteria for Brazil

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Tavares, Marina Elisabete Espinho; Szklo, Alexandre Salem; Machado, Giovani Vitoria; Schaeffer, Roberto; Mariano, Jacqueline Barboza; Sala, Janaina Francisco

2006-01-01

This paper assesses different strategies for the expansion of Brazil's oil refining segment, using criteria that range from energy security (reducing imports and vulnerability for key products) through to maximizing the profitability of this sector (boosting the output of higher value oil products) and adding value to Brazil's oil production (reducing exports of heavy acid oil). The development prospects are analyzed for conventional fuel production technology routes, sketching out three possible refining schemes for Brazilian oil and a GTL plant for producing gasoil from natural gas. Market scenario simulations indicate that investments will be required in Brazil's oil refining segment over and above those allocated to planned modifications in its current facilities, reducing the nation's vulnerability in terms of gasoil and petrochemical naphtha imports. Although not economically attractive, oil refining is a key activity that is crucial to oil company strategies. The decision to invest in this segment depends on local infrastructure conditions, environmental constraints and fuel specifications, in addition to oil company strategies, steady growth in demand and the definition of a government policy that eases institutional risks

Reduction in thermal conductivity of BiSbTe lump

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Ahmad, Kaleem [King Saud University, Sustainable Energy Technologies Center, College of Engineering, PO Box 800, Riyadh (Saudi Arabia); Wan, C. [Tsinghua University, State Key Laboratory of New Ceramics and Fine Processing, School of Materials Science and Engineering, Beijing (China); Al-Eshaikh, M.A.; Kadachi, A.N. [King Saud University, Research Center, College of Engineering, PO Box 800, Riyadh (Saudi Arabia)

2017-03-15

In this work, systematic investigations on the thermal conductivities of BiSbTe lump, microstructured pristine BiSbTe bulk and single wall carbon nanotubes (SWCNTs)/BiSbTe bulk nanocomposites were performed. BiSbTe lumps were crushed to form a coarse powder (200 μm) and effect of particle size reduction on the effective thermal conductivity of BiSbTe (200 μm) bulk were analyzed. For further reduction in the conductivity, a two pronged strategy has been employed. First, additional refinement of BiSbTe (200 μm) were performed through ball milling in an inert environment. Second, SWCNTs in 0.75, and 1.0 vol% were distributed uniformly in the fine BiSbTe ball milled powder. The results showed that the effective thermal conductivities decrease with the reduction in the particle size from lump to BiSbTe (200 μm) bulk as well as with the addition of SWCNTs accompanied by further refinement of BiSbTe particles. The significant reduction in thermal conductivities of the lump was achieved for pure BiSbTe (200 μm) bulk and 0.75 vol% of SWCNTs/BiSbTe composite. This can be ascribed to the enhanced phonon scattering by the grain boundaries between the nanostructured BiSbTe particles as well as the interfaces between BiSbTe and the low dimensional carbon nanotubes. (orig.)

Refined large N duality for knots

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Kameyama, Masaya; Nawata, Satoshi

We formulate large N duality of U(N) refined Chern-Simons theory with a torus knot/link in S³. By studying refined BPS states in M-theory, we provide the explicit form of low-energy effective actions of Type IIA string theory with D4-branes on the Ω-background. This form enables us to relate...

Comparative study on sulphur reduction from heavy petroleum - Solvent extraction and microwave irradiation approach

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Mohammed, Abdullahi Dyadya; Isah, Abubakar Garba; Umaru, Musa; Ahmed, Shehu [Department of Chemical Engineering, Federal University of Technology, P.M.B 65, Minna (Nigeria); Abdullahi, Yababa Nma [National Petroleum Investment Management Services (Nigeria National Petroleum Corporation), Lagos (Nigeria)

2012-07-01

Sulphur- containing compounds in heavy crude oils are undesirable in refining process as they affect the quality of the final product, cause catalyst poisoning and deactivation in catalytic converters as well as causing corrosion problems in oil pipelines, pumps and refining equipment aside environmental pollution from their combustion and high processing cost. Sulphur reduction has being studied using microwave irradiation set at 300W for 10 and 15minutes and oxidative- solvent extraction method using n- heptane and methanol by 1:1, 1:2 and 1:3 crude- solvent ratios after being oxidized with hydrogen peroxide, H2O2 oxidants. Percentage sulphur removal with n- heptane solvent by 1:1 and 1:2 are 81.73 and 85.47%; but extraction using methanol by different observed ratios gave less sulphur reduction. Indeed when microwave irradiated at 300W for 10 and 15minutes, 53.68 and 78.45% reduction were achieved. This indicates that microwave irradiation had caused oxidation by air in the oven cavity and results to formation of alkyl radicals and sulphoxide from sulphur compound in the petroleum. The prevailing sulphur found in the crude going by FT-IR results is sulphides which oxidized to sulphoxide or sulphones. It is clear that sulphur extraction with heptane is more efficient than microwave irradiation but economically due to demands for solvent and its industrial usage microwave irradiation can serve as alternative substitute for sulphur reduction in petroleum. Sulphur reduction by microwave radiation should be up- scaled from laboratory to a pilot plant without involving extraction column in the refining.

Region-of-interest volumetric visual hull refinement

KAUST Repository

Knoblauch, Daniel; Kuester, Falko

2010-01-01

This paper introduces a region-of-interest visual hull refinement technique, based on flexible voxel grids for volumetric visual hull reconstructions. Region-of-interest refinement is based on a multipass process, beginning with a focussed visual

Cyclic Parameter Refinement of 4S-10 Hybrid Flux-Switching Motor for Lightweight Electric Vehicle

Science.gov (United States)

Rani, J. Abd; Sulaiman, E.; Kumar, R.

2017-08-01

A great deal of attention has been given to the reduction of lighting the vehicle because the lighter the vehicle the energy consumption is comparatively low. Hence, the lightweight electric vehicle was introduced for lower carbon footprint and the sizing of the vehicle itself. One of the components to reduce the weight of the vehicle is the propulsion system which comprised of electric motor functioning as the source of torque to drive the propulsion system of the machine. This paper presents the refinement methodology for the optimized design of the 4S-10P E-Core hybrid excitation flux switching motor. The purpose of the refinement methodology is to improve the torque production of the optimized motor. The result of the successful improvement of the torque production is justifiable for a lightweight electric vehicle to drive the propulsion system.

US refining reviewed

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Yamaguchi, N.D.

1998-01-01

The paper reviews the history, present position and future prospects of the petroleum industry in the USA. The main focus is on supply and demand, the high quality of the products, refinery capacity and product trade balances. Diagrams show historical trends in output, product demand, demand for transport fuels and oil, refinery capacity, refinery closures, and imports and exports. Some particularly salient points brought out were (i) production of US crude shows a marked downward trend but imports of crude will continue to increase, (ii) product demand will continue to grow even though the levels are already high, (iii) the demand is dominated by those products that typically yield the highest income for the refiner, (i.e. high quality transport fuels for environmental compliance), (iv) refinery capacity has decreased since 1980 and (v) refining will continue to have financial problems but will still be profitable. (UK)

Neutrosophic Refined Similarity Measure Based on Cosine Function

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Said Broumi

2014-12-01

Full Text Available In this paper, the cosine similarity measure of neutrosophic refined (multi- sets is proposed and its properties are studied. The concept of this cosine similarity measure of neutrosophic refined sets is the extension of improved cosine similarity measure of single valued neutrosophic. Finally, using this cosine similarity measure of neutrosophic refined set, the application of medical diagnosis is presented.

The evolution of oil refining in Europe

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Reid, A. [CONCAWE, Brussels (Belgium)

2013-04-01

Back in 1963 when CONCAWE was founded, the world looked very different from what it is today, and so did the global and European refining industry. Oil product markets were expanding fast and new refineries were being built at a steady rate. The oil crisis of the 1970s brought an abrupt end to this, heralding a long era of consolidation and stepwise adaptation. At the same time the nature of the global oil business shifted from fully integrated companies producing, transporting and refining their own oil to a much more diversified situation where oil production ('upstream') and refining/distribution ('downstream') gradually became two essentially separate businesses. From being purely a 'cost centre' in an integrated chain, refining has become a separate activity in its own right, operating as a 'profit centre' between two global markets - crude oil and products - which, although not entirely independent, have their own dynamics and influences. In addition demand gradually shifted towards lighter products while the quality requirements on all products were considerably tightened. This article explores the new challenges that these changes have imposed on EU refiners, and describes CONCAWE's contributions to understanding their impact on refinery production and investments.

Hip joint replacement

Science.gov (United States)

Hip arthroplasty; Total hip replacement; Hip hemiarthroplasty; Arthritis - hip replacement; Osteoarthritis - hip replacement ... Your hip joint is made up of 2 major parts. One or both parts may be replaced during surgery: ...

Refining of raw materials, lignite present economic problems

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Schirmer, G.

1985-06-01

East Germany seeks an economic intensification program that involves refining raw materials to a higher level. Lignite briquetting prior to liquefaction and gasification illustrates both the theoretical and practical aspects of that goal and also introduces questions of secure supplies. The author describes the special labor processes, use of technology, recycling of waste materials, and other new problems that the approach entails as the refined raw materials become new materials or energy sources. Economics based on the value of the refined product and the cost of the materials determine the degree of refinement. The concept also involves the relationship of producer and user as profits increase.

Refining's-clean new jingle

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Anon.

1992-01-01

This paper reports that at a time when profit margins are slim and gasoline demand is down, the U.S. petroleum-refining industry is facing one of its greatest challenges; How to meet new federal and state laws for reformulated gasoline, oxygenated fuels, low-sulfur diesel and other measures to improve the environment. The American Petroleum Institute (API) estimates that industry will spend between $15 and $23 billion by the end of the decade to meet the U.S. Clean Air Act Amendments (CAAA) of 1990, and other legislation. ENSR Consulting and Engineering's capital-spending figure runs to between $70 and 100 billion this decade, including $24 billion to produce reformulated fuels and $10-12 billion to reduce refinery emissions. M.W. Kellogg Co. estimates that refiners may have to spend up to $30 billion this decade to meet the demand for reformulated gasoline. The estimates are wide-ranging because refiners are still studying their options and delaying final decisions as long as they can, to try to ensure they are the best and least-costly decisions. Oxygenated fuels will be required next winter, but federal regulations for reformulated gasoline won't go into effect until 1995, while California's tougher reformulated-fuels law will kick in the following year

The effect of the replacement of fat with carbohydrate-based fat replacers on the dough properties and quality of the baked pogaca: a traditional high-fat bakery product

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Seher SERIN

2016-01-01

Full Text Available Abstract Pogaca is a traditional high-fat bakery product in Turkey. This study was conducted to evaluate the effect of fat replacement in pogaca formulation by various amounts (5, 10 and 15 g on 100 g wheat flour basis of inulin, polydextrose and maltodextrin on the properties of dough and quality of pogaca. Dough stickiness values were increased by increasing the amount of fat replacer at the all fat reduction levels (20, 30 and 40% studied. Extensibility and resistance to extension values of dough were also significantly changed due to the fat replacement. Sensory analysis of pogaca showed that the formulations prepared by maltodextrin and polydextrose generally received higher scores than the formulation prepared by inulin. Overall, it was observed that up to 30% of the fat can be replaced in pogaca formulation without any decrease in the physical, textural and sensory quality of pogaca.

The effect of the replacement of fat with carbohydrate-based fat replacers on the dough properties and quality of the baked pogaca: a traditional high-fat bakery product

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Seher SERIN

Full Text Available Abstract Pogaca is a traditional high-fat bakery product in Turkey. This study was conducted to evaluate the effect of fat replacement in pogaca formulation by various amounts (5, 10 and 15 g on 100 g wheat flour basis of inulin, polydextrose and maltodextrin on the properties of dough and quality of pogaca. Dough stickiness values were increased by increasing the amount of fat replacer at the all fat reduction levels (20, 30 and 40% studied. Extensibility and resistance to extension values of dough were also significantly changed due to the fat replacement. Sensory analysis of pogaca showed that the formulations prepared by maltodextrin and polydextrose generally received higher scores than the formulation prepared by inulin. Overall, it was observed that up to 30% of the fat can be replaced in pogaca formulation without any decrease in the physical, textural and sensory quality of pogaca.

Redesigning a joint replacement program using Lean Six Sigma in a Veterans Affairs hospital.

Science.gov (United States)

Gayed, Benjamin; Black, Stephen; Daggy, Joanne; Munshi, Imtiaz A

2013-11-01

In April 2009, an analysis of joint replacement surgical procedures at the Richard L. Roudebush Veterans Affairs Medical Center, Indianapolis, Indiana, revealed that total hip and knee replacements incurred $1.4 million in non-Veterans Affairs (VA) care costs with an average length of stay of 6.1 days during fiscal year 2008. The Joint Replacement Program system redesign project was initiated following the Vision-Analysis-Team-Aim-Map-Measure-Change-Sustain (VA-TAMMCS) model to increase efficiency, decrease length of stay, and reduce non-VA care costs. To determine the effectiveness of Lean Six Sigma process improvement methods applied in a VA hospital. Perioperative processes for patients undergoing total joint replacement were redesigned following the VA-TAMMCS model--the VA's official, branded method of Lean Six Sigma process improvement. A multidisciplinary team including the orthopedic surgeons, frontline staff, and executive management identified waste in the current processes and initiated changes to reduce waste and increase efficiency. Data collection included a 1-year baseline period and a 20-month sustainment period. The primary endpoint was length of stay; a secondary analysis considered non-VA care cost reductions. Length of stay decreased 36% overall, decreasing from 5.3 days during the preproject period to 3.4 days during the 20-month sustainment period (P Lean and Six Sigma process improvement initiatives in a surgical practice, producing a 36% sustained reduction in length of stay and completely eliminating non-VA care for total hip and knee replacements while increasing total joint replacement volume at this medical center.

Refinement of the concept of uncertainty.

Science.gov (United States)

Penrod, J

2001-04-01

To analyse the conceptual maturity of uncertainty; to develop an expanded theoretical definition of uncertainty; to advance the concept using methods of concept refinement; and to analyse congruency with the conceptualization of uncertainty presented in the theory of hope, enduring, and suffering. Uncertainty is of concern in nursing as people experience complex life events surrounding health. In an earlier nursing study that linked the concepts of hope, enduring, and suffering into a single theoretical scheme, a state best described as 'uncertainty' arose. This study was undertaken to explore how this conceptualization fit with the scientific literature on uncertainty and to refine the concept. Initially, a concept analysis using advanced methods described by Morse, Hupcey, Mitcham and colleagues was completed. The concept was determined to be partially mature. A theoretical definition was derived and techniques of concept refinement using the literature as data were applied. The refined concept was found to be congruent with the concept of uncertainty that had emerged in the model of hope, enduring and suffering. Further investigation is needed to explore the extent of probabilistic reasoning and the effects of confidence and control on feelings of uncertainty and certainty.

Discrimination of volatiles of refined and whole wheat bread containing red and white wheat bran using an electronic nose.

Science.gov (United States)

Sapirstein, Harry D; Siddhu, Silvi; Aliani, Michel

2012-11-01

The principal objective of this study was to evaluate the capability of electronic (E) nose technology to discriminate refined and whole wheat bread made with white or red wheat bran according to their headspace volatiles. Whole wheat flour was formulated with a common refined flour from hard red spring wheat, blended at the 15% replacement level with bran milled from representative samples of one hard red and 2 hard white wheats. A commercial formula was used for breadmaking. Results varied according to the nature of the sample, that is, crust, crumb, or whole slices. Bread crust and crumb were completely discriminated. Crumb of whole wheat bread made with red bran was distinct from other bread types. When misclassified, whole wheat bread crumb with white bran was almost invariably identified as refined flour bread crumb. Using crust as the basis for comparisons, the largest difference in volatiles was between refined flour bread and whole wheat bread as a group. When refined flour bread crust was misclassified, samples tended to be confused with whole white wheat crust. Samples prepared from whole bread slices were poorly discriminated in general. E-nose results indicated that whole wheat bread formulated with white bran was more similar in volatile makeup to refined flour bread compared to whole wheat bread made with red bran. The E-nose appears to be very capable to accommodate differentiation of bread volatiles whose composition varies due to differences in flour or bran type. Consumer preference of bread made using refined flour in contrast to whole wheat flour is partly due to the different aroma of whole wheat bread. This study used an electronic nose to analyze bread volatiles, and showed that whole wheat bread incorporating white bran was different from counterpart bread made using red bran, and was closer in volatile makeup to "white" bread made without bran. Commercial millers and bakers can take advantage of these results to formulate whole wheat flour

Refinement Checking on Parametric Modal Transition Systems

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Benes, Nikola; Kretínsky, Jan; Larsen, Kim Guldstrand

2015-01-01

Modal transition systems (MTS) is a well-studied specification formalism of reactive systems supporting a step-wise refinement methodology. Despite its many advantages, the formalism as well as its currently known extensions are incapable of expressing some practically needed aspects in the refin...

Japan's refiner/marketers headed for major shakeout

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Anon.

1996-01-01

Japan's downstream oil industry is in a state of crisis and headed for a major shakeout. The major catalyst for this was a dramatic deregulation step during April 1996 that allowed refined petroleum product imports by non-refiners. The move, together with a sharp drop in refining margins, falling retail gasoline prices, and a service station sector on the brink of collapse, are all leading to massive changes in the way the country's refiners and marketers do business. This paper reviews the collapse of corporate profits during this period of deregulation; the development of a new price system geared toward bringing the prices of gasoline, fuel oil, and kerosene into line with each other to offset the fall in gasoline prices; and industry restructuring including mergers, acquisitions, and marketing consolidation. The paper then makes predictions on the outcome of these changes on the Japanese oil industry

Identification of Key Residues for Enzymatic Carboxylate Reduction

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Holly Stolterfoht

2018-02-01

Full Text Available Carboxylate reductases (CARs, E.C. 1.2.1.30 generate aldehydes from their corresponding carboxylic acid with high selectivity. Little is known about the structure of CARs and their catalytically important amino acid residues. The identification of key residues for carboxylate reduction provides a starting point to gain deeper understanding of enzymatic carboxylate reduction. A multiple sequence alignment of CARs with confirmed activity recently identified in our lab and from the literature revealed a fingerprint of conserved amino acids. We studied the function of conserved residues by multiple sequence alignments and mutational replacements of these residues. In this study, single-site alanine variants of Neurospora crassa CAR were investigated to determine the contribution of conserved residues to the function, expressability or stability of the enzyme. The effect of amino acid replacements was investigated by analyzing enzymatic activity of the variants in vivo and in vitro. Supported by molecular modeling, we interpreted that five of these residues are essential for catalytic activity, or substrate and co-substrate binding. We identified amino acid residues having significant impact on CAR activity. Replacement of His 237, Glu 433, Ser 595, Tyr 844, and Lys 848 by Ala abolish CAR activity, indicating their key role in acid reduction. These results may assist in the functional annotation of CAR coding genes in genomic databases. While some other conserved residues decreased activity or had no significant impact, four residues increased the specific activity of NcCAR variants when replaced by alanine. Finally, we showed that NcCAR wild-type and mutants efficiently reduce aliphatic acids.

Pilot scale refinning of crude soybean oil | Mensah | Journal of ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

Pilot scale refinning of crude soybean oil. ... Abstract. A laboratory process for refining soybean has been scaled up to a 145 tonne per annum pilot plant to refine crude soybean oil. ... The quality of the refined oil was found to be within national and codex standard specifications for edible oil from vegetable sources.

Parallel Adaptive Mesh Refinement for High-Order Finite-Volume Schemes in Computational Fluid Dynamics

Science.gov (United States)

Schwing, Alan Michael

comparisons across a range of regimes. Unsteady and steady applications are considered in both subsonic and supersonic flows. Inviscid and viscous simulations achieve similar results at a much reduced cost when employing dynamic mesh adaptation. Several techniques for guiding adaptation are compared. Detailed analysis of statistics from the instrumented solver enable understanding of the costs associated with adaptation. Adaptive mesh refinement shows promise for the test cases presented here. It can be considerably faster than using conventional grids and provides accurate results. The procedures for adapting the grid are light-weight enough to not require significant computational time and yield significant reductions in grid size.

Technological studies on uranium refining at nuclear materials authority, Egypt

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Mohammed, H.S.

1997-01-01

In 1992 nuclear materials authority (NMA) took a decision to establish yellow cake refining. Unit so as to study refining of El-Atshan yellow cake which recently produced by ion-exchange pilot plant, production sector. The research studies followed the conventional refining rout to produce nuclear grade UO 3 . This implies investigations on some common solvents to refine the cake viz. tri alkyl phosphates, tri alkyl phosphine oxides, dialkyl phosphoric acid as well as high-molecular weight long-chain tertiary amines. Moreover, non-conventional refining process has also been presented depending on the selectivity of uranyl ion to be dissolved by carbonate and to be precipitated by hydrogen peroxide. Most of the proposed processes were found feasible to refine El-Atshan yellow cake. however, the non- conventional refining process appears to be the most promising, owing to its superior performance and economy

Cavitation-aided grain refinement in aluminium alloys

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Atamanenko, T.V.

2010-01-01

This thesis deals with grain refinement under the influence of ultrasonic-driven cavitation in aluminium casting processes. Three major goals of this research were: (1) to identify the mechanism of the cavitation-aided grain refinement at different stages of solidification; (2) to reveal the

Searching and review on the Three Rs information in Korea: time for quality assessment and continued education

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Gwi Hyang Lee

2013-07-01

Full Text Available Scientists planning research that involves the use of animals arerequired by international and/or national law to examine thepossibilities for the implementation of Replacement, Reductionand/or Refinement (the Three Rs principles of Russell and Burchin experiments for research, testing, and education. There aretwo Korean laws legislating humane use of animals and ethicalreview prior to animal experiments. This report reviews currentpractice of the literature search by the researchers and protocolreview by the Institutional Animal Care and Use Committees onthe Replacement, Reduction and Refinement alternatives inKorea. The promotion and protection of the laboratory animalsare one of the core competencies of investigators exploring theethical conduct of research and good science. (BMB Reports2013; 46(7: 335-337

Enzyme Replacement Therapy for Fabry Disease

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Maria Dolores Sanchez-Niño PhD

2016-11-01

Full Text Available Fabry disease is a rare X-linked disease caused by the deficiency of α-galactosidase that leads to the accumulation of abnormal glycolipid. Untreated patients develop potentially lethal complications by age 30 to 50 years. Enzyme replacement therapy is the current standard of therapy for Fabry disease. Two formulations of recombinant human α-galactosidase A (agalsidase are available in most markets: agalsidase-α and agalsidase-β, allowing a choice of therapy. However, the US Food and Drug Administration rejected the application for commercialization of agalsidase-α. The main difference between the 2 enzymes is the dose. The label dose for agalsidase-α is 0.2 mg/kg/2 weeks, while the dose for agalsidase-β is 1.0 mg/kg/2 weeks. Recent evidence suggests a dose-dependent effect of enzyme replacement therapy and agalsidase-β is 1.0 mg/kg/2 weeks, which has been shown to reduce the occurrence of hard end points (severe renal and cardiac events, stroke, and death. In addition, patients with Fabry disease who have developed tissue injury should receive coadjuvant tissue protective therapy, together with enzyme replacement therapy, to limit nonspecific progression of the tissue injury. It is likely that in the near future, additional oral drugs become available to treat Fabry disease, such as chaperones or substrate reduction therapy.

Optimization bitumen-based upgrading and refining schemes

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Munteanu, M.; Chen, J. [National Centre for Upgrading Technology, Devon, AB (Canada); Natural Resources Canada, Devon, AB (Canada). CanmetENERGY

2009-07-01

This poster highlighted the results of a study in which the entire refining scheme for Canadian bitumen as feedstocks was modelled and simulated under different process configurations, operating conditions and product structures. The aim of the study was to optimize the economic benefits, product quality and energy use under a range of operational scenarios. Optimal refining schemes were proposed along with process conditions for existing refinery configurations and objectives. The goal was to provide guidelines and information for upgrading and refining process design and retrofitting. Critical steps were identified with regards to the upgrading process. It was concluded that the information obtained from this study would lead to significant improvement in process performance and operations, and in reducing the capital cost for building new upgraders and refineries. The simulation results provided valuable information for increasing the marketability of bitumen, reducing greenhouse gas emissions and other environmental impacts associated with bitumen upgrading and refining. tabs., figs.

1991 worldwide refining and gas processing directory

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Anon.

1990-01-01

This book ia an authority for immediate information on the industry. You can use it to find new business, analyze market trends, and to stay in touch with existing contacts while making new ones. The possibilities for business applications are numerous. Arranged by country, all listings in the directory include address, phone, fax and telex numbers, a description of the company's activities, names of key personnel and their titles, corporate headquarters, branch offices and plant sites. This newly revised edition lists more than 2000 companies and nearly 3000 branch offices and plant locations. This east-to-use reference also includes several of the most vital and informative surveys of the industry, including the U.S. Refining Survey, the Worldwide Construction Survey in Refining, Sulfur, Gas Processing and Related Fuels, the Worldwide Refining and Gas Processing Survey, the Worldwide Catalyst Report, and the U.S. and Canadian Lube and Wax Capacities Report from the National Petroleum Refiner's Association

A Macdonald refined topological vertex

Science.gov (United States)

Foda, Omar; Wu, Jian-Feng

2017-07-01

We consider the refined topological vertex of Iqbal et al (2009 J. High Energy Phys. JHEP10(2009)069), as a function of two parameters ≤ft\\lgroup x, y \\right\\rgroup , and deform it by introducing the Macdonald parameters ≤ft\\lgroup q, t \\right\\rgroup , as in the work of Vuletić on plane partitions (Vuletić M 2009 Trans. Am. Math. Soc. 361 2789-804), to obtain ‘a Macdonald refined topological vertex’. In the limit q → t , we recover the refined topological vertex of Iqbal et al and in the limit x → y , we obtain a qt-deformation of the original topological vertex of Aganagic et al (2005 Commun. Math. Phys. 25 425-78). Copies of the vertex can be glued to obtain qt-deformed 5D instanton partition functions that have well-defined 4D limits and, for generic values of ≤ft\\lgroup q, t\\right\\rgroup , contain infinite-towers of poles for every pole present in the limit q → t .

Is it possible to replace stimulus animals by scent-filled cups in the social discrimination test?

Science.gov (United States)

van den Bos, Ruud; van der Horst, Klaske J; Baars, Annemarie M; Spruijt, Berry M

2002-01-01

A study in which the rat social discrimination test was refined is described. This test measures social memory by using, in general, juvenile rats as stimulus animals. Rats are offered a first juvenile to investigate (learning trial), and after a specified interval, the rats are offered the same rat and a second juvenile rat to investigate again (retrieval trial). When the rats sniff the second juvenile in the retrieval trial more than the first, social memory for the second juvenile is said to be present. This test is mainly based on scents from the juvenile. Attempts were made to refine the test to reduce the number of animals used, to enhance the scope of the test, and to improve its validity. Firstly, the stimulus animals were replaced by the scent of juveniles, in the form of cups filled with sawdust taken from cages of juvenile rats. Similar results to those in the original test were obtained when using these scents. Furthermore, male and female scents were tested, and showed the same results as for the juvenile scents. Secondly, rats were also given two cups (one scent-filled and one filled with plain sawdust) in the learning trial, to determine which allowed a more-precise delineation of motivational, discriminatory and memory components. Overall, it is possible to replace stimulus animals by scent-filled cups in the social discrimination test, to enhance the scope of the test, and to draw more-valid conclusions with respect to social memory.

Shoulder replacement - discharge

Science.gov (United States)

Total shoulder arthroplasty - discharge; Endoprosthetic shoulder replacement - discharge; Partial shoulder replacement - discharge; Partial shoulder arthroplasty - discharge; Replacement - shoulder - discharge; Arthroplasty - shoulder - discharge

Replacing penalties

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Vitaly Stepashin

2017-01-01

Full Text Available УДК 343.24The subject. The article deals with the problem of the use of "substitute" penalties.The purpose of the article is to identify criminal and legal criteria for: selecting the replacement punishment; proportionality replacement leave punishment to others (the formalization of replacement; actually increasing the punishment (worsening of legal situation of the convicted.Methodology.The author uses the method of analysis and synthesis, formal legal method.Results. Replacing the punishment more severe as a result of malicious evasion from serving accused designated penalty requires the optimization of the following areas: 1 the selection of a substitute punishment; 2 replacement of proportionality is serving a sentence other (formalization of replacement; 3 ensuring the actual toughening penalties (deterioration of the legal status of the convict. It is important that the first two requirements pro-vide savings of repression in the implementation of the replacement of one form of punishment to others.Replacement of punishment on their own do not have any specifics. However, it is necessary to compare them with the contents of the punishment, which the convict from serving maliciously evaded. First, substitute the punishment should assume a more significant range of restrictions and deprivation of certain rights of the convict. Second, the perfor-mance characteristics of order substitute the punishment should assume guarantee imple-mentation of the new measures.With regard to replacing all forms of punishment are set significant limitations in the application that, in some cases, eliminates the possibility of replacement of the sentence, from serving where there has been willful evasion, a stricter measure of state coercion. It is important in the context of the topic and the possibility of a sentence of imprisonment as a substitute punishment in cases where the original purpose of the strict measures excluded. It is noteworthy that the

Grain refinement of AZ31 magnesium alloy by electromagnetic ...

Indian Academy of Sciences (India)

Low-frequency electromagnetic field; AZ31 magnesium alloy; Al4C3; grain refinement. Abstract. The effects of electromagnetic stirring and Al4C3 grain refiner on the grain refinement of semicontinuously cast AZ31 magnesium alloy were discussed in this investigation. The results indicate that electromagnetic stirring has an ...

Refinement of RAIM via Implementation of Implicit Euler Method

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Lee, Yoonhee; Kim, Han-Chul [Korea Institute of Nuclear and Safety, Daejeon (Korea, Republic of)

2016-10-15

The first approach is a mechanistic approach which is used in LIRIC in which more than 200 reactions are modeled in detail. This approach enables to perform the detailed analysis. However, it requires huge computation burden. The other approach is a simplified model approach which is used in the IMOD, ASTEC/IODE, and etc. Recently, KINS has developed RAIM (Radio-Active Iodine chemistry Model) based on the simplified model approach. Since the numerical analysis module in RAIM is based on the explicit Euler method, there are major issues on the stability of the module. Therefore, implementation of a stable numerical method becomes essential. In this study, RAIM is refined via implementation of implicit Euler method in which the Newton method is used to find the solutions at each time step. The refined RAIM is tested by comparing to RAIM based on the explicit Euler method. In this paper, RAIM was refined by implementing the implicit Euler method. At each time step of the method in the refined RAIM, the reaction kinetics equations are solved by the Newton method in which elements of the Jacobian matrix are expressed analytically. With the results of OECD-BIP P10T2 test, the refined RAIM was compared to RAIM with the explicit Euler method. The refined RAIM shows better agreement with the experimental data than those from the explicit Euler method. For the rapid change of pH during the experiment, the refined RAIM gives more realistic changes in the concentrations of chemical species than those from the explicit Euler method. In addition, in terms of computing time, the refined RAIM shows comparable computing time to that with explicit Euler method. These comparisons are attributed to ⁓10 times larger time step size used in the implicit Euler method, even though computation burden at each time step in the refined RAIM is much higher than that of the explicit Euler method. Compared to the experimental data, the refined RAIM still shows discrepancy, which are attributed

Refinement of RAIM via Implementation of Implicit Euler Method

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Lee, Yoonhee; Kim, Han-Chul

2016-01-01

The first approach is a mechanistic approach which is used in LIRIC in which more than 200 reactions are modeled in detail. This approach enables to perform the detailed analysis. However, it requires huge computation burden. The other approach is a simplified model approach which is used in the IMOD, ASTEC/IODE, and etc. Recently, KINS has developed RAIM (Radio-Active Iodine chemistry Model) based on the simplified model approach. Since the numerical analysis module in RAIM is based on the explicit Euler method, there are major issues on the stability of the module. Therefore, implementation of a stable numerical method becomes essential. In this study, RAIM is refined via implementation of implicit Euler method in which the Newton method is used to find the solutions at each time step. The refined RAIM is tested by comparing to RAIM based on the explicit Euler method. In this paper, RAIM was refined by implementing the implicit Euler method. At each time step of the method in the refined RAIM, the reaction kinetics equations are solved by the Newton method in which elements of the Jacobian matrix are expressed analytically. With the results of OECD-BIP P10T2 test, the refined RAIM was compared to RAIM with the explicit Euler method. The refined RAIM shows better agreement with the experimental data than those from the explicit Euler method. For the rapid change of pH during the experiment, the refined RAIM gives more realistic changes in the concentrations of chemical species than those from the explicit Euler method. In addition, in terms of computing time, the refined RAIM shows comparable computing time to that with explicit Euler method. These comparisons are attributed to ⁓10 times larger time step size used in the implicit Euler method, even though computation burden at each time step in the refined RAIM is much higher than that of the explicit Euler method. Compared to the experimental data, the refined RAIM still shows discrepancy, which are attributed

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

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

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

2017-01-01

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

The European refining and distribution industry at the 2010 vista

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Lacour, J.J.; Tessmer, G.; Ward, I.

1998-01-01

Oil company chairmen belonging to the AFTP, DGMK and IP associations met together to debate about the future of the European refining industry. The following topics were discussed: is it the end of the refining crisis? Which uncertainties will have to be met? What is the situation of petroleum products supply and demand? What are the consumers' expectations? How to face the environmental constraints? Which future for the refining activities in Europe? Seven round-tables took place with the following themes: the factors of uncertainty in the future of refining activities, the petroleum products supply and demand (automotive fuels, fuel oils, lubricants), the refining activities and the supply of consumers (service stations and supermarkets), the situation of the European petroleum policy, the European refining industry and the public regulations (development of more efficient environmental approaches), the impact of environmental constraints and the technical solutions, and the future of the refining industry. (J.S.)

Zone refining high-purity germanium

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hubbard, G.S.; Haller, E.E.; Hansen, W.L.

1977-10-01

The effects of various parameters on germanium purification by zone refining have been examined. These parameters include the germanium container and container coatings, ambient gas and other operating conditions. Four methods of refining are presented which reproducibly yield 3.5 kg germanium ingots from which high purity (vertical barN/sub A/ - N/sub D/vertical bar less than or equal to2 x 10 10 cm -3 ) single crystals can be grown. A qualitative model involving binary and ternary complexes of Si, O, B, and Al is shown to account for the behavior of impurities at these low concentrations

Refining processes of selected copper alloys

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

S. Rzadkosz

2009-04-01

Full Text Available The analysis of the refining effectiveness of the liquid copper and selected copper alloys by various micro additions and special refiningsubstances – was performed. Examinations of an influence of purifying, modifying and deoxidation operations performed in a metal bath on the properties of certain selected alloys based on copper matrix - were made. Refining substances, protecting-purifying slag, deoxidation and modifying substances containing micro additions of such elements as: zirconium, boron, phosphor, sodium, lithium, or their compounds introduced in order to change micro structures and properties of alloys, were applied in examinations. A special attention was directed to macro and micro structures of alloys, their tensile and elongation strength and hot-cracks sensitivity. Refining effects were estimated by comparing the effectiveness of micro structure changes with property changes of copper and its selected alloys from the group of tin bronzes.

Native species that can replace exotic species in landscaping

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Elisabeth Regina Tempel Stumpf

2015-08-01

Full Text Available Beyond aesthetics, the contemporary landscaping intends to provide other benefits for humans and environment, especially related to the environmental quality of urban spaces and conservation of the species. A trend in this direction is the reduction in the use of exotic plants in their designs, since, over time, they can become agents of replacement of native flora, as it has occurred in Rio Grande do Sul with many species introduced by settlers. However, the use of exotic species is unjustifiable, because the flora diversity of the Bioma Pampa offers many native species with appropriate features to the ornamental use. The commercial cultivation and the implantation of native species in landscaped areas constitute innovations for plant nurseries and landscapers and can provide a positive reduction in extractivism, contributing to dissemination, exploitation and preservation of native flora, and also decrease the impact of chemical products on environment. So, this work intends to identify native species of Bioma Pampa with features and uses similar to the most used exotic species at Brazilian landscaping. The species were selected from consulting books about native plants of Bioma Pampa and plants used at Brazilian landscaping, considering the similarity on habit and architecture, as well as characteristics of leafs, flowers and/or fruits and environmental conditions of occurrence and cultivation. There were identified 34 native species able to properly replace exotic species commonly used. The results show that many native species of Bioma Pampa have interesting ornamental features to landscape gardening, allowing them to replace exotic species that are traditionally cultivated.

Adaptive mesh refinement for shocks and material interfaces

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Dai, William Wenlong [Los Alamos National Laboratory

2010-01-01

There are three kinds of adaptive mesh refinement (AMR) in structured meshes. Block-based AMR sometimes over refines meshes. Cell-based AMR treats cells cell by cell and thus loses the advantage of the nature of structured meshes. Patch-based AMR is intended to combine advantages of block- and cell-based AMR, i.e., the nature of structured meshes and sharp regions of refinement. But, patch-based AMR has its own difficulties. For example, patch-based AMR typically cannot preserve symmetries of physics problems. In this paper, we will present an approach for a patch-based AMR for hydrodynamics simulations. The approach consists of clustering, symmetry preserving, mesh continuity, flux correction, communications, management of patches, and load balance. The special features of this patch-based AMR include symmetry preserving, efficiency of refinement across shock fronts and material interfaces, special implementation of flux correction, and patch management in parallel computing environments. To demonstrate the capability of the AMR framework, we will show both two- and three-dimensional hydrodynamics simulations with many levels of refinement.

Development of metallic uranium recovery technology from uranium oxide by Li reduction and electrorefining

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Tokiwai, Moriyasu; Kawabe, Akihiro; Yuda, Ryouichi; Usami, Tsuyoshi; Fujita, Reiko; Nakamura, Hitoshi; Yahata, Hidetsugu

2002-01-01

The purpose of the study is to develop technology for pre-treatment of oxide fuel reprocessing through pyroprocess. In the pre-treatment process, it is necessary to reduce actinide oxide to metallic form. This paper outlines some experimental results of uranium oxide reduction and recovery of refined metallic uranium in electrorefining. Both uranium oxide granules and pellets were used for the experiments. Uranium oxide granules was completely reduced by lithium in several hours at 650degC. Reduced uranium pellets by about 70% provided a simulation of partial reduction for the process flow design. Almost all adherent residues of Li and Li 2 O were successfully washed out with fresh LiCl salt. During electrorefining, metallic uranium deposited on the iron cathode as expected. The recovery efficiencies of metallic uranium from reduced uranium oxide granules and from pellets were about 90% and 50%, respectively. The mass balance data provided the technical bases of Li reduction and refining process flow for design. (author)

Chinese refining capacity for Canadian heavy oil

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Bruce, G.W.

2006-01-01

This paper discussed China's refining capacity in relation to exports of Canadian heavy oil. Demand for oil is increasing throughout the world, and China is expected to consume 25 per cent of the projected yearly oil supplies. Alberta currently has an estimated 174 billion barrels of recoverable bitumen, and produces 1.06 million barrels per day. Production is expected to increase to 4.5 million barrels per day by the year 2020. Currently bitumen blends are refined and diluted with naphtha and sweet synthetic crude oil. Bitumen is a challenging feedstock for refineries, and requires thermal production methods or gasification processes. Primary conversion into sour synthetic crude is typically followed by hydrocracking and further refining into finished petroleum products. There are currently 50 refineries in China with a 7.4 million barrel per day capacity. Coastal refineries using imported crude oil have a 4 million barrel per day capacity. New facilities are being constructed and existing plants are being upgraded in order to process heavier and more sour crude oils. However, current refining capabilities in Chinese refineries have a limited ability for resid conversion. It was concluded that while China has a refining infrastructure, only refineries on the coast will use oil sands-derived feedstocks. However, there are currently opportunities to design refineries to match future feedstocks. tabs., figs

On macromolecular refinement at subatomic resolution with interatomic scatterers

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Afonine, Pavel V., E-mail: pafonine@lbl.gov; Grosse-Kunstleve, Ralf W.; Adams, Paul D. [Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, One Cyclotron Road, BLDG 64R0121, Berkeley, CA 94720 (United States); Lunin, Vladimir Y. [Institute of Mathematical Problems of Biology, Russian Academy of Sciences, Pushchino 142290 (Russian Federation); Urzhumtsev, Alexandre [IGMBC, 1 Rue L. Fries, 67404 Illkirch and IBMC, 15 Rue R. Descartes, 67084 Strasbourg (France); Faculty of Sciences, Nancy University, 54506 Vandoeuvre-lès-Nancy (France); Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, One Cyclotron Road, BLDG 64R0121, Berkeley, CA 94720 (United States)

2007-11-01

Modelling deformation electron density using interatomic scatters is simpler than multipolar methods, produces comparable results at subatomic resolution and can easily be applied to macromolecules. A study of the accurate electron-density distribution in molecular crystals at subatomic resolution (better than ∼1.0 Å) requires more detailed models than those based on independent spherical atoms. A tool that is conventionally used in small-molecule crystallography is the multipolar model. Even at upper resolution limits of 0.8–1.0 Å, the number of experimental data is insufficient for full multipolar model refinement. As an alternative, a simpler model composed of conventional independent spherical atoms augmented by additional scatterers to model bonding effects has been proposed. Refinement of these mixed models for several benchmark data sets gave results that were comparable in quality with the results of multipolar refinement and superior to those for conventional models. Applications to several data sets of both small molecules and macromolecules are shown. These refinements were performed using the general-purpose macromolecular refinement module phenix.refine of the PHENIX package.

Review of Grain Refinement of Cast Metals Through Inoculation: Theories and Developments

Science.gov (United States)

Liu, Zhilin

2017-10-01

The inoculation method of grain refinement is widely used in research and industry. Because of its commercial and engineering importance, extensive research on the mechanisms/theories of grain refinement and development of effective grain refiners for diverse cast metals/alloys has been conducted. In 1999, Easton and St. John reviewed the mechanisms of grain refinement of cast Al alloys. Since then, grain refinement in alloys of Al, Mg, Fe, Ti, Cu, and Zn has evolved a lot. However, there is still no full consensus on the mechanisms/theories of grain refinement. Moreover, some new grain refiners developed based on the theories do not ensure efficient grain refinement. Thus, the factors that contribute to grain refinement are still not fully understood. Clarification of the prerequisite issues that occur in grain refinement is required using recent theories. This review covers multiple metals/alloys and developments in grain refinement from the last twenty years. The characteristics of effective grain refiners are considered from four perspectives: effective particle/matrix wetting configuration, sufficiently powerful segregating elements, preferential crystallographic matching, and geometrical features of effective nucleants. Then, recent mechanisms/theories on the grain refinement of cast metals/alloys are reviewed, including the peritectic-related, hypernucleation, inert nucleant, and constitutional supercooling-driven theories. Further, developments of deterministic and probabilistic modeling and nucleation crystallography in the grain refinement of cast metals are reviewed. Finally, the latest progress in the grain refinement of cast Zn and its alloys is described, and future work on grain refinement is summarized.

Total antioxidant content of alternatives to refined sugar.

Science.gov (United States)

Phillips, Katherine M; Carlsen, Monica H; Blomhoff, Rune

2009-01-01

Oxidative damage is implicated in the etiology of cancer, cardiovascular disease, and other degenerative disorders. Recent nutritional research has focused on the antioxidant potential of foods, while current dietary recommendations are to increase the intake of antioxidant-rich foods rather than supplement specific nutrients. Many alternatives to refined sugar are available, including raw cane sugar, plant saps/syrups (eg, maple syrup, agave nectar), molasses, honey, and fruit sugars (eg, date sugar). Unrefined sweeteners were hypothesized to contain higher levels of antioxidants, similar to the contrast between whole and refined grain products. To compare the total antioxidant content of natural sweeteners as alternatives to refined sugar. The ferric-reducing ability of plasma (FRAP) assay was used to estimate total antioxidant capacity. Major brands of 12 types of sweeteners as well as refined white sugar and corn syrup were sampled from retail outlets in the United States. Substantial differences in total antioxidant content of different sweeteners were found. Refined sugar, corn syrup, and agave nectar contained minimal antioxidant activity (sugar had a higher FRAP (0.1 mmol/100 g). Dark and blackstrap molasses had the highest FRAP (4.6 to 4.9 mmol/100 g), while maple syrup, brown sugar, and honey showed intermediate antioxidant capacity (0.2 to 0.7 mmol FRAP/100 g). Based on an average intake of 130 g/day refined sugars and the antioxidant activity measured in typical diets, substituting alternative sweeteners could increase antioxidant intake an average of 2.6 mmol/day, similar to the amount found in a serving of berries or nuts. Many readily available alternatives to refined sugar offer the potential benefit of antioxidant activity.

Investment in exploration-production and refining 2015

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Maisonnier, G.; Hureau, G.; Serbutoviez, S.; Silva, C.

2016-01-01

IFPEN analyses in this study the 2015 evolution of global investment in the field of exploration-production and refining: - Changes in oil and gas prices; - Investment in Exploration/Production: the end of an upward cycle; - Drilling and the global drilling market, upstream activities and markets; - 2015, a breath of fresh air for refining

Grain Refinement of an Al-2 wt%Cu Alloy by Al3Ti1B Master Alloy and Ultrasonic Treatment

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Wang, E Q; Wang, G; Dargusch, M S; StJohn, D H; Qian, M; Eskin, D G

2016-01-01

Both inoculation by AlTiB master alloys and Ultrasonic Treatment (UT) are effective methods of refining the grain size of aluminium alloys. The present study investigates the influence of UT on the grain refinement of an Al-2 wt% Cu alloy with a range of Al3TilB master alloy additions. When the alloy contains the smallest amount of added master alloy, UT caused significant additional grain refinement compared with that provided by the master alloy only. However, the influence of UT on grain size reduces with increasing addition of the master alloy. Plotting the grain size data versus the inverse of the growth restriction factor (Q) reveals that the application of UT causes both an increase in the number of potentially active nuclei and a decrease in the size of the nucleation free zone due to a reduction in the temperature gradient throughout the melt. Both these factors promote the formation of a fine equiaxed grain structure. (paper)

Properties of Concrete with Tire Derived Aggregate Partially Replacing Coarse Aggregates.

Science.gov (United States)

Siringi, Gideon; Abolmaali, Ali; Aswath, Pranesh B

2015-01-01

Tire derived aggregate (TDA) has been proposed as a possible lightweight replacement for mineral aggregate in concrete. The role played by the amount of TDA replacing coarse aggregate as well as different treatment and additives in concrete on its properties is examined. Conventional concrete (without TDA) and concrete containing TDA are compared by examining their compressive strength based on ASTM C39, workability based on ASTM C143, splitting tensile strength based on ASTM C496, modulus of rupture (flexural strength) based on ASTM C78, and bond stress based on ASTM C234. Results indicate that while replacement of coarse aggregates with TDA results in reduction in strength, it may be mitigated with addition of silica fume to obtain the desired strength. The greatest benefit of using TDA is in the development of a higher ductile product while utilizing recycled TDA.

Hirshfeld atom refinement.

Science.gov (United States)

Capelli, Silvia C; Bürgi, Hans-Beat; Dittrich, Birger; Grabowsky, Simon; Jayatilaka, Dylan

2014-09-01

Hirshfeld atom refinement (HAR) is a method which determines structural parameters from single-crystal X-ray diffraction data by using an aspherical atom partitioning of tailor-made ab initio quantum mechanical molecular electron densities without any further approximation. Here the original HAR method is extended by implementing an iterative procedure of successive cycles of electron density calculations, Hirshfeld atom scattering factor calculations and structural least-squares refinements, repeated until convergence. The importance of this iterative procedure is illustrated via the example of crystalline ammonia. The new HAR method is then applied to X-ray diffraction data of the dipeptide Gly-l-Ala measured at 12, 50, 100, 150, 220 and 295 K, using Hartree-Fock and BLYP density functional theory electron densities and three different basis sets. All positions and anisotropic displacement parameters (ADPs) are freely refined without constraints or restraints - even those for hydrogen atoms. The results are systematically compared with those from neutron diffraction experiments at the temperatures 12, 50, 150 and 295 K. Although non-hydrogen-atom ADPs differ by up to three combined standard uncertainties (csu's), all other structural parameters agree within less than 2 csu's. Using our best calculations (BLYP/cc-pVTZ, recommended for organic molecules), the accuracy of determining bond lengths involving hydrogen atoms from HAR is better than 0.009 Å for temperatures of 150 K or below; for hydrogen-atom ADPs it is better than 0.006 Å(2) as judged from the mean absolute X-ray minus neutron differences. These results are among the best ever obtained. Remarkably, the precision of determining bond lengths and ADPs for the hydrogen atoms from the HAR procedure is comparable with that from the neutron measurements - an outcome which is obtained with a routinely achievable resolution of the X-ray data of 0.65 Å.

Biomolecular structure refinement using the GROMOS simulation software

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Schmid, Nathan; Allison, Jane R.; Dolenc, Jožica; Eichenberger, Andreas P.; Kunz, Anna-Pitschna E.; Gunsteren, Wilfred F. van

2011-01-01

For the understanding of cellular processes the molecular structure of biomolecules has to be accurately determined. Initial models can be significantly improved by structure refinement techniques. Here, we present the refinement methods and analysis techniques implemented in the GROMOS software for biomolecular simulation. The methodology and some implementation details of the computation of NMR NOE data, 3 J-couplings and residual dipolar couplings, X-ray scattering intensities from crystals and solutions and neutron scattering intensities used in GROMOS is described and refinement strategies and concepts are discussed using example applications. The GROMOS software allows structure refinement combining different types of experimental data with different types of restraining functions, while using a variety of methods to enhance conformational searching and sampling and the thermodynamically calibrated GROMOS force field for biomolecular simulation.

Biomolecular structure refinement using the GROMOS simulation software

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Schmid, Nathan; Allison, Jane R.; Dolenc, Jozica; Eichenberger, Andreas P.; Kunz, Anna-Pitschna E.; Gunsteren, Wilfred F. van, E-mail: wfvgn@igc.phys.chem.ethz.ch [Swiss Federal Institute of Technology ETH, Laboratory of Physical Chemistry (Switzerland)

2011-11-15

For the understanding of cellular processes the molecular structure of biomolecules has to be accurately determined. Initial models can be significantly improved by structure refinement techniques. Here, we present the refinement methods and analysis techniques implemented in the GROMOS software for biomolecular simulation. The methodology and some implementation details of the computation of NMR NOE data, {sup 3}J-couplings and residual dipolar couplings, X-ray scattering intensities from crystals and solutions and neutron scattering intensities used in GROMOS is described and refinement strategies and concepts are discussed using example applications. The GROMOS software allows structure refinement combining different types of experimental data with different types of restraining functions, while using a variety of methods to enhance conformational searching and sampling and the thermodynamically calibrated GROMOS force field for biomolecular simulation.

Pakistan stepping up expansion of refining, transportation sectors

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Anon.

1992-01-01

This paper reports that Pakistan is taking steps to speed expansion of its refining and oil transportation infrastructure. While the country has made significant progress toward energy self-efficiency by boosting oil and gas production it still must modernize and expand an aging, inadequate refining sector to meet rapidly growing demand for refined products. Pakistan's government has disclosed plans to build two refineries in the country, one at Rawalpindi near a string of recent oil discoveries, the other somewhere in the southern part of the country, likely Karachi. At the same time, efforts are proceeding to upgrade Pakistan's refineries. In addition, Pakistani state companies continue to press joint ventures in refining and marketing with foreign companies and expand downstream ties with neighbors that are key oil and gas exporters

New Process for Grain Refinement of Aluminum. Final Report

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Dr. Joseph A. Megy

2000-09-22

A new method of grain refining aluminum involving in-situ formation of boride nuclei in molten aluminum just prior to casting has been developed in the subject DOE program over the last thirty months by a team consisting of JDC, Inc., Alcoa Technical Center, GRAS, Inc., Touchstone Labs, and GKS Engineering Services. The Manufacturing process to make boron trichloride for grain refining is much simpler than preparing conventional grain refiners, with attendant environmental, capital, and energy savings. The manufacture of boride grain refining nuclei using the fy-Gem process avoids clusters, salt and oxide inclusions that cause quality problems in aluminum today.

SCEDS: protein fragments for molecular replacement in Phaser

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

McCoy, Airlie J., E-mail: ajm201@cam.ac.uk [University of Cambridge, Hills Road, Cambridge CB2 0XY (United Kingdom); Nicholls, Robert A. [MRC Laboratory of Molecular Biology, Francis Crick Avenue, Cambridge Biomedical Campus, Cambridge CB2 0QH (United Kingdom); Schneider, Thomas R. [Hamburg Unit c/o DESY, Notkestrasse 85, 22603 Hamburg (Germany); University of Cambridge, Hills Road, Cambridge CB2 0XY (United Kingdom)

2013-11-01

Protein fragments suitable for use in molecular replacement can be generated by normal-mode perturbation, analysis of the difference distance matrix of the original versus normal-mode perturbed structures, and SCEDS, a score that measures the sphericity, continuity, equality and density of the resulting fragments. A method is described for generating protein fragments suitable for use as molecular-replacement (MR) template models. The template model for a protein suspected to undergo a conformational change is perturbed along combinations of low-frequency normal modes of the elastic network model. The unperturbed structure is then compared with each perturbed structure in turn and the structurally invariant regions are identified by analysing the difference distance matrix. These fragments are scored with SCEDS, which is a combined measure of the sphericity of the fragments, the continuity of the fragments with respect to the polypeptide chain, the equality in number of atoms in the fragments and the density of C{sup α} atoms in the triaxial ellipsoid of the fragment extents. The fragment divisions with the highest SCEDS are then used as separate template models for MR. Test cases show that where the protein contains fragments that undergo a change in juxtaposition between template model and target, SCEDS can identify fragments that lead to a lower R factor after ten cycles of all-atom refinement with REFMAC5 than the original template structure. The method has been implemented in the software Phaser.

SCEDS: protein fragments for molecular replacement in Phaser

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

McCoy, Airlie J.; Nicholls, Robert A.; Schneider, Thomas R.

2013-01-01

Protein fragments suitable for use in molecular replacement can be generated by normal-mode perturbation, analysis of the difference distance matrix of the original versus normal-mode perturbed structures, and SCEDS, a score that measures the sphericity, continuity, equality and density of the resulting fragments. A method is described for generating protein fragments suitable for use as molecular-replacement (MR) template models. The template model for a protein suspected to undergo a conformational change is perturbed along combinations of low-frequency normal modes of the elastic network model. The unperturbed structure is then compared with each perturbed structure in turn and the structurally invariant regions are identified by analysing the difference distance matrix. These fragments are scored with SCEDS, which is a combined measure of the sphericity of the fragments, the continuity of the fragments with respect to the polypeptide chain, the equality in number of atoms in the fragments and the density of C α atoms in the triaxial ellipsoid of the fragment extents. The fragment divisions with the highest SCEDS are then used as separate template models for MR. Test cases show that where the protein contains fragments that undergo a change in juxtaposition between template model and target, SCEDS can identify fragments that lead to a lower R factor after ten cycles of all-atom refinement with REFMAC5 than the original template structure. The method has been implemented in the software Phaser

Ankle replacement

Science.gov (United States)

Ankle arthroplasty - total; Total ankle arthroplasty; Endoprosthetic ankle replacement; Ankle surgery ... Ankle replacement surgery is most often done while you are under general anesthesia. This means you will ...

Assessing the search for information on three Rs methods, and their subsequent implementation: a national survey among scientists in the Netherlands

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Luijk, J. van; Cuijpers, Y.M.; Vaart, L. van der; Leenaars, M; Ritskes-Hoitinga, M.

2011-01-01

A local survey conducted among scientists into the current practice of searching for information on Three Rs (i.e. Replacement, Reduction and Refinement) methods has highlighted the gap between the statutory requirement to apply Three Rs methods and the lack of criteria to search for them. To verify

Assessing the Search for Information on Three Rs Methods, and their Subsequent Implementation: A National Survey among Scientists in The Netherlands.

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Luijk, J. van; Cuijpers, Y.M.; Vaart, L. van der; Leenaars, M.; Ritskes-Hoitinga, M.

2011-01-01

A local survey conducted among scientists into the current practice of searching for information on Three Rs (i.e. Replacement, Reduction and Refinement) methods has highlighted the gap between the statutory requirement to apply Three Rs methods and the lack of criteria to search for them. To verify

Pseudoislets as primary islet replacements for research: report on a symposium at King's College London, London UK.

Science.gov (United States)

Persaud, Shanta J; Arden, Catherine; Bergsten, Peter; Bone, Adrian J; Brown, James; Dunmore, Simon; Harrison, Moira; Hauge-Evans, Astrid; Kelly, Catriona; King, Aileen; Maffucci, Tania; Marriott, Claire E; McClenaghan, Neville; Morgan, Noel G; Reers, Christina; Russell, Mark A; Turner, Mark D; Willoughby, Emma; Younis, Mustafa Y G; Zhi, Z L; Jones, Peter M

2010-01-01

Laboratory-based research aimed at understanding processes regulating insulin secretion and mechanisms underlying β-cell dysfunction and loss in diabetes often makes use of rodents, as these processes are in many respects similar between rats/mice and humans. Indeed, a rough calculation suggests that islets have been isolated from as many as 150,000 rodents to generate the data contained within papers published in 2009 and the first four months of 2010. Rodent use for islet isolation has been mitigated, to a certain extent, by the availability of a variety of insulin-secreting cell lines that are used by researchers world-wide. However, when maintained as monolayers the cell lines do not replicate the robust, sustained secretory responses of primary islets which limits their usefulness as islet surrogates. On the other hand, there have been several reports that configuration of MIN6 β-cells, derived from a mouse insulinoma, as three-dimensional cell clusters termed ‘pseudoislets’ largely recapitulates the function of primary islet β-cells. The Diabetes Research Group at King’s College London has been using the MIN6 pseudoislet model for over a decade and they hosted a symposium on “Pseudoislets as primary islet replacements for research”, which was funded by the UK National Centre for the Replacement, Refinement and Reduction of Animals in Research (NC3Rs), in London on 15th and 16th April 2010. This small, focused meeting was conceived as an opportunity to consolidate information on experiences of working with pseudoislets between different UK labs, and to introduce the theory and practice of pseudoislet culture to laboratories working with islets and/or β-cell lines but who do not currently use pseudoislets. This short review summarizes the background to the development of the cell line-derived pseudoislet model, the key messages arising from the symposium and emerging themes for future pseudoislet research.

An experience in dynamic seals of reduction and hydrofluorination furnaces in refining plant

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Dhavamani, D; Shivakumar, L; Agrawal, A [Rare Materials Project, Bhabha Atomic Research Centre, Mysore (India)

1994-06-01

Reduction and hydrofluorination are some of the most important stages in the production of nuclear grade green salt, UF{sub 4}, involving solid-gas reactions. They are difficult steps considering the process conditions and nature of materials to be handled (reduction involves cracked ammonia at 600 deg C which is highly explosive, handling of brown oxide which is radioactive and pyroforic; hydrofluorination involves highly toxic and corrosive hydrofluoric acid diluted with cracked ammonia at 450 deg C). In view of the above, emphasis has to be given for efficient leak tightness of the equipment being employed for this purpose such that atmospheric air should not leak into the equipment as well as process gases, radioactive powder should not leak out. Previous experience from other Department of Atomic Energy (DAE) units, indicated that the failure of dynamic seals is the nagging problem with consequent bearing on safety, availability and ease of maintenance. The attempt made in improving the design, showed promising results at Rare Materials Plant (RMP), Mysore is described. (author). 6 figs.

Model reduction for circuit simulation

CERN Document Server

Hinze, Michael; Maten, E Jan W Ter

2011-01-01

Simulation based on mathematical models plays a major role in computer aided design of integrated circuits (ICs). Decreasing structure sizes, increasing packing densities and driving frequencies require the use of refined mathematical models, and to take into account secondary, parasitic effects. This leads to very high dimensional problems which nowadays require simulation times too large for the short time-to-market demands in industry. Modern Model Order Reduction (MOR) techniques present a way out of this dilemma in providing surrogate models which keep the main characteristics of the devi

Transcatheter aortic-valve replacement with a self-expanding prosthesis.

Science.gov (United States)

Adams, David H; Popma, Jeffrey J; Reardon, Michael J; Yakubov, Steven J; Coselli, Joseph S; Deeb, G Michael; Gleason, Thomas G; Buchbinder, Maurice; Hermiller, James; Kleiman, Neal S; Chetcuti, Stan; Heiser, John; Merhi, William; Zorn, George; Tadros, Peter; Robinson, Newell; Petrossian, George; Hughes, G Chad; Harrison, J Kevin; Conte, John; Maini, Brijeshwar; Mumtaz, Mubashir; Chenoweth, Sharla; Oh, Jae K

2014-05-08

We compared transcatheter aortic-valve replacement (TAVR), using a self-expanding transcatheter aortic-valve bioprosthesis, with surgical aortic-valve replacement in patients with severe aortic stenosis and an increased risk of death during surgery. We recruited patients with severe aortic stenosis who were at increased surgical risk as determined by the heart team at each study center. Risk assessment included the Society of Thoracic Surgeons Predictor Risk of Mortality estimate and consideration of other key risk factors. Eligible patients were randomly assigned in a 1:1 ratio to TAVR with the self-expanding transcatheter valve (TAVR group) or to surgical aortic-valve replacement (surgical group). The primary end point was the rate of death from any cause at 1 year, evaluated with the use of both noninferiority and superiority testing. A total of 795 patients underwent randomization at 45 centers in the United States. In the as-treated analysis, the rate of death from any cause at 1 year was significantly lower in the TAVR group than in the surgical group (14.2% vs. 19.1%), with an absolute reduction in risk of 4.9 percentage points (upper boundary of the 95% confidence interval, -0.4; P<0.001 for noninferiority; P = 0.04 for superiority). The results were similar in the intention-to-treat analysis. In a hierarchical testing procedure, TAVR was noninferior with respect to echocardiographic indexes of valve stenosis, functional status, and quality of life. Exploratory analyses suggested a reduction in the rate of major adverse cardiovascular and cerebrovascular events and no increase in the risk of stroke. In patients with severe aortic stenosis who are at increased surgical risk, TAVR with a self-expanding transcatheter aortic-valve bioprosthesis was associated with a significantly higher rate of survival at 1 year than surgical aortic-valve replacement. (Funded by Medtronic; U.S. CoreValve High Risk Study ClinicalTrials.gov number, NCT01240902.).

Nicotine replacement therapy

Science.gov (United States)

Smoking cessation - nicotine replacement; Tobacco - nicotine replacement therapy ... Before you start using a nicotine replacement product, here are some things to know: The more cigarettes you smoke, the higher the dose you may need to ...

Method of optimization of the natural gas refining process

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Sadykh-Zade, E.S.; Bagirov, A.A.; Mardakhayev, I.M.; Razamat, M.S.; Tagiyev, V.G.

1980-01-01

The SATUM (automatic control system of technical operations) system introduced at the Shatlyk field should assure good quality of gas refining. In order to optimize the natural gas refining processes and experimental-analytical method is used in compiling the mathematical descriptions. The program, compiled in Fortran language, in addition to parameters of optimal conditions gives information on the yield of concentrate and water, concentration and consumption of DEG, composition and characteristics of the gas and condensate. The algorithm for calculating optimum engineering conditions of gas refining is proposed to be used in ''advice'' mode, and also for monitoring progress of the gas refining process.

Optimal algebraic multilevel preconditioning for local refinement along a line

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Margenov, S.D.; Maubach, J.M.L.

1995-01-01

The application of some recently proposed algebraic multilevel methods for the solution of two-dimensional finite element problems on nonuniform meshes is studied. The locally refined meshes are created by the newest vertex mesh refinement method. After the introduction of this refinement technique

Implementation of a Low Frame-Rate Protocol and Noise-Reduction Technology to Minimize Radiation Dose in Transcatheter Aortic Valve Replacement.

Science.gov (United States)

Maccagni, Davide; Candilio, Luciano; Latib, Azeem; Godino, Cosmo; Chieffo, Alaide; Montorfano, Matteo; Colombo, Antonio; Azzalini, Lorenzo

2018-05-01

Limiting radiation exposure is necessary in radiological procedures. This study evaluates the impact of a radiological low frame-rate protocol in a standard angiographic system and the implementation of a noise-reduction technology (NRT) on patient radiation exposure during transcatheter aortic valve replacement (TAVR). Transfemoral TAVR procedures performed between February 2016 and February 2017 were analyzed according to two angiographic systems, Standard and NRT, and further divided in four subgroups: (1) Standard 15 frames per second (fps) with 15 fps for both fluoroscopy and cine acquisitions; (2) Standard 7.5 fps with 7.5 fps for both fluoroscopy and cine acquisitions; (3) NRT 15 fps with 15 fps for both fluoroscopy and cine acquisitions; and (4) NRT 7.5 fps with 15 fps for fluoroscopy and 7.5 fps for cine acquisitions. Study endpoints were kerma area product (KAP) and cumulative air kerma at interventional reference point (AK at IRP). Significant differences were found in KAP (153 Gy·cm² [IQR, 95-234 Gy·cm²] vs 78.3 Gy·cm² [IQR, 54.4-103.5 Gy·cm²]; Pfps and Standard 7.5 fps groups (184 Gy·cm² [IQR, 128-262 Gy·cm²] vs 106.8 Gy·cm² [IQR, 76.87-181 Gy·cm²] [P<.01] and 0.973 Gy [IQR, 0.642-1.786 Gy] vs 0.64 Gy [IQR, 0.489-0.933 Gy] [P<.01], respectively). The present study suggests that the low frame-rate protocol in Standard system and NRT implementation allows a marked reduction of patient radiation exposure in TAVR procedures.

Hip Replacement Surgery

Science.gov (United States)

... Outreach Initiative Breadcrumb Home Health Topics English Español Hip Replacement Surgery Basics In-Depth Download Download EPUB ... PDF What is it? Points To Remember About Hip Replacement Surgery Hip replacement surgery removes damaged or ...

RBT—A Tool for Building Refined Buneman Trees

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Besenbacher, Søren; Mailund; Westh-Nielsen, Lasse

2005-01-01

We have developed a tool implementing an efficient algorithm for refined Buneman tree reconstruction. The algorithm—which has the same complexity as the neighbour-joining method and the (plain) Buneman tree construction—enables refined Buneman tree reconstruction on large taxa sets....

Phase equilibria study of systems composed of refined babassu oil, lauric acid, ethanol, and water at 303.2 K

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Reipert, Erika C. D'Anton; Rodrigues, Christianne E.C.; Meirelles, Antonio J.A.

2011-01-01

Highlights: → Refining of vegetable oils. → Deacidification of babassu oil by liquid-liquid extraction using ethanol as solvent. → Distribution coefficient values of lauric acid and neutral oil were evaluated. → The carbon chain length of the molecules influenced the solubility of the system. - Abstract: Deacidification of vegetable oils can be performed using liquid-liquid extraction as an alternative method to the classical chemical and physical refining processes. This paper reports experimental data for systems containing refined babassu oil, lauric acid, ethanol, and water at 303.2 K with different water mass fractions in the alcoholic solvent (0, 0.0557, 0.1045, 0.2029, and 0.2972). The dilution of solvent with water reduced the distribution coefficient values, which indicates a reduction in the loss of neutral oil. The experimental data were used to adjust the NRTL equation parameters. The global deviation between the observed and the estimated compositions was 0.0085, indicating that the model can accurately predict the behavior of the compounds at different levels of solvent hydration.

India's refining prospects linked to economic growth

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Lewis, E.

1996-01-01

International investors assess refining ventures in India the same way they do comparable projects elsewhere in the world: according to their expectations about investment returns. By that standard, India's appeal is mixed, although its need for some measure of additional refining capacity seems certain. The success of future refinery investments will depend heavily on the government's commitment to policies allowing the economy to grow faster than the population. Unless accompanied by economic growth, expected increases in the population will not automatically raise demand for petroleum products. Decisions about investments in India's refining sector, therefore, must carefully weigh market fundamentals, the business environment, and likely investment performance. This paper reviews the market for the various products and predicts new economic trends

Limited versus full sternotomy for aortic valve replacement.

Science.gov (United States)

Kirmani, Bilal H; Jones, Sion G; Malaisrie, S C; Chung, Darryl A; Williams, Richard Jnn

2017-04-10

Aortic valve disease is a common condition that is easily treatable with cardiac surgery. This is conventionally performed by opening the sternum longitudinally down the centre ("median sternotomy") and replacing the valve under cardiopulmonary bypass. Median sternotomy is generally well tolerated, but as less invasive options have become available, the efficacy of limited incisions has been called into question. In particular, the effects of reducing the visibility and surgical access has raised safety concerns with regards to the placement of cannulae, venting of the heart, epicardial wire placement, and de-airing of the heart at the end of the procedure. These difficulties may increase operating times, affecting outcome. The benefits of smaller incisions are thought to include decreased pain; improved respiratory mechanics; reductions in wound infections, bleeding, and need for transfusion; shorter intensive care stay; better cosmesis; and a quicker return to normal activity. To assess the effects of minimally invasive aortic valve replacement via a limited sternotomy versus conventional aortic valve replacement via median sternotomy in people with aortic valve disease requiring surgical replacement. We performed searches of CENTRAL, MEDLINE, Embase, clinical trials registries, and manufacturers' websites from inception to July 2016, with no language limitations. We reviewed references of identified papers to identify any further studies of relevance. Randomised controlled trials comparing aortic valve replacement via a median sternotomy versus aortic valve replacement via a limited sternotomy. We excluded trials that performed other minimally invasive incisions such as mini-thoracotomies, port access, trans-apical, trans-femoral or robotic procedures. Although some well-conducted prospective and retrospective case-control and cohort studies exist, these were not included in this review. Two review authors independently assessed trial papers to extract data

Orbit Refinement of Asteroids and Comets Using a Robotic Telescope Network

Science.gov (United States)

Lantz Caughey, Austin; Brown, Johnny; Puckett, Andrew W.; Hoette, Vivian L.; Johnson, Michael; McCarty, Cameron B.; Whitmore, Kevin; UNC-Chapel Hill SKYNET Team

2016-01-01

We report on a multi-semester project to refine the orbits of asteroids and comets in our Solar System. One of the newest fields of research for undergraduate Astrophysics students at Columbus State University is that of asteroid astrometry. By measuring the positions of an asteroid in a set of images, we can reduce the overall uncertainty in the accepted orbital parameters of that object. These measurements, using our WestRock Observatory (WRO) and several other telescopes around the world, are being published through the Minor Planet Center (MPC) and benefit the global community.Three different methods are used to obtain these observations. First, we use our own 24-inch telescope at WRO, located in at CSU's Coca-Cola Space Science Center in downtown Columbus, Georgia . Second, we have access to data from the 20-inch telescope at Stone Edge Observatory in El Verano, California. Finally, we may request images remotely using Skynet, an online worldwide network of robotic telescopes. Our primary and long-time collaborator on Skynet has been the "41-inch" reflecting telescope at Yerkes Observatory in Williams Bay, Wisconsin. Thus far, we have used these various telescopes to refine the orbits of more than 15 asteroids and comets. We have also confirmed the resulting reduction in orbit-model uncertainties using Monte Carlo simulations and orbit visualizations, using Find_Orb and OrbitMaster software, respectively.Before any observatory site can be used for official orbit refinement projects, it must first become a trusted source of astrometry data for the MPC. We have therefore obtained Observatory Codes not only for our own WestRock Observatory (W22), but also for 3 Skynet telescopes that we may use in the future: Dark Sky Observatory in Boone, North Carolina (W38) Hume Observatory in Santa Rosa, California (U54) and Athabasca University Geophysical Observatory in Athabasca, Alberta, Canada (U96).

Suspension Hydrogen Reduction of Iron Oxide Concentrates

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

H.Y. Sohn

2008-03-31

The objective of the project is to develop a new ironmaking technology based on hydrogen and fine iron oxide concentrates in a suspension reduction process. The ultimate objective of the new technology is to replace the blast furnace and to drastically reduce CO2 emissions in the steel industry. The goals of this phase of development are; the performance of detailed material and energy balances, thermochemical and equilibrium calculations for sulfur and phosphorus impurities, the determination of the complete kinetics of hydrogen reduction and bench-scale testing of the suspension reduction process using a large laboratory flash reactor.

Properties of Concrete with Tire Derived Aggregate Partially Replacing Coarse Aggregates

Science.gov (United States)

Siringi, Gideon; Abolmaali, Ali; Aswath, Pranesh B.

2015-01-01

Tire derived aggregate (TDA) has been proposed as a possible lightweight replacement for mineral aggregate in concrete. The role played by the amount of TDA replacing coarse aggregate as well as different treatment and additives in concrete on its properties is examined. Conventional concrete (without TDA) and concrete containing TDA are compared by examining their compressive strength based on ASTM C39, workability based on ASTM C143, splitting tensile strength based on ASTM C496, modulus of rupture (flexural strength) based on ASTM C78, and bond stress based on ASTM C234. Results indicate that while replacement of coarse aggregates with TDA results in reduction in strength, it may be mitigated with addition of silica fume to obtain the desired strength. The greatest benefit of using TDA is in the development of a higher ductile product while utilizing recycled TDA. PMID:26161440

Properties of Concrete with Tire Derived Aggregate Partially Replacing Coarse Aggregates

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Gideon Siringi

2015-01-01

Full Text Available Tire derived aggregate (TDA has been proposed as a possible lightweight replacement for mineral aggregate in concrete. The role played by the amount of TDA replacing coarse aggregate as well as different treatment and additives in concrete on its properties is examined. Conventional concrete (without TDA and concrete containing TDA are compared by examining their compressive strength based on ASTM C39, workability based on ASTM C143, splitting tensile strength based on ASTM C496, modulus of rupture (flexural strength based on ASTM C78, and bond stress based on ASTM C234. Results indicate that while replacement of coarse aggregates with TDA results in reduction in strength, it may be mitigated with addition of silica fume to obtain the desired strength. The greatest benefit of using TDA is in the development of a higher ductile product while utilizing recycled TDA.

Control rod upper pin and roller removal and replacement

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Giordano, B.

1995-01-01

There has been increasing utility interest in removing cobalt sources as a means to minimize dose rates and shipping costs associated with operations, maintenance, shipping and radioactive waste disposal. This activation product accounts for approximately 80% of the dose rates at a plant. Estimates suggest that older (original equipment) control rod blades (CRBs) using stellite rollers and Haynes Alloy 25 pins can contribute as much as 43% of the cobalt in the plant. Since CRBs are the most concentrated source of cobalt in the reactor vessel, pin and roller (P ampersand R) replacement will provide significant reductions in cobalt-60 levels. The reductions will be measurable within 2 years, and should plateau within 5 to 6 years. This paper described a new, simple, cost effective, field proven in-situ method to replace these high source term contributing components and return the CRB to the reactor core for continued service. The paper also briefly describes a methodology that has been developed to estimate the labor and material costs along with a man-rem dollar savings for removal of the upper P ampersand Rs from in-service CRBs purchased prior to 1982. This method permits comparison to the cost of early replacement of CRBs. The result of this study is an EXCEL spreadsheet cost/benefit analysis that can be made plant specific by incorporation of plant data. The Analysis shows that the removal of P ampersand Rs can be beneficial for a Co-60 contribution as low as 5-10%. Recent interest by non-utility radioactive material users in obtaining the removed P ampersand Rs may further increase the benefit and reduce the cost associated with in-situ removal

Comparison of Some Rural Wastewater Refining Systems Considering Chemical Properties and Heavy Metals

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Najme Yazdanpanah

2016-02-01

Full Text Available Introduction: Water scarcity is an important challenge worldwide, especially in arid and semi-arid regions. In these areas, the excessive exploitation of groundwater for irrigation, inefficient irrigation methods, irrigation with low-quality water and uncontrolled utilization of fertilizers in agricultural lands in addition to contamination of water resources by domestic and industrial wastewater in urban as well as rural regions, have led to water pollution problems. Furthermore, pollution and transportation of pollutants through wastewater have been considered as an environmental issue. Wastewater is a term that is used to describe waste materials that includes liquid waste and sewage waste. Wastewaters from single houses in the countryside that are not connected to sewers are generally treated on-site by septic tank systems or individual domestic wastewater treatment systems. Study on wastewater quality derived from refining systems in rural areas has been rarely taken into account. This study investigates the efficiency of some refining systems in the reduction of wastewater pollution indices and heavy metal concentrations. Materials and Methods: This study was done in four rural areas including Dehmilan, Hotkan, Sarbagh and Sekukan which are located around the city of Zarand in the Kerman province. Recently, some refining systems have been established in these areas in order to mitigate the environmental issues. An experiment was done to assess the efficiency of these refining systems and to determine the pollution indices for such small communities. Wastewater sampling was done in 10 replicates each at one week interval from four refineries. Different variables including BOD, COD, TOC, EC, TSS, TDS, DO, TKN, TP, pH, temperature, turbidity (Turb, alkanity (Alk and also the concentrations of Cd, Zn, Pb, Ni and Mo were measured using standard methods. To quantify the performance of each system, the amount of each variable at the outlet was

Refinement-Animation for Event-B - Towards a Method of Validation

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Hallerstede, Stefan; Leuschel, Michael; Plagge, Daniel

2010-01-01

We provide a detailed description of refinement in Event-B, both as a contribution in itself and as a foundation for the approach to simultaneous animation of multiple levels of refinement that we propose. We present an algorithm for simultaneous multi-level animation of refinement, and show how ...

Cleaning Data with OpenRefine

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Seth van Hooland

2013-08-01

Full Text Available Duplicate records, empty values and inconsistent formats are phenomena we should be prepared to deal with when using historical data sets. This lesson will teach you how to discover inconsistencies in data contained within a spreadsheet or a database. As we increasingly share, aggregate and reuse data on the web, historians will need to respond to data quality issues which inevitably pop up. Using a program called OpenRefine, you will be able to easily identify systematic errors such as blank cells, duplicates, spelling inconsistencies, etc. OpenRefine not only allows you to quickly diagnose the accuracy of your data, but also to act upon certain errors in an automated manner.

Oil refining in U.S. foreign-trade zones

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Powell, S.J.; Potter, T.J.

1991-01-01

With the crude-oil import supply being as inexpensive as it is today, relative to domestic supply, many independents have been sourcing their crude-oil needs from abroad and have found it an opportune time to step up their level of refining activity. To further enhance their competitive position with respect to foreign refineries, certain domestic refiners have discovered the operational benefits and savings that result from having a refinery designated as a foreign-trade zone (FTZ) under the Foreign-Trade Zones Act of 1934, as amended. This paper examines the history and use of foreign-trade subzones for refining activities

Knee Replacement

Science.gov (United States)

Knee replacement is surgery for people with severe knee damage. Knee replacement can relieve pain and allow you to ... Your doctor may recommend it if you have knee pain and medicine and other treatments are not ...

English-Chinese oil refining dictionary. [English-Chinese

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Chou, P; Zing, Z [eds.

1979-01-01

The dictionary is a collection of many disciplines but specialized in the terminology related to petroleum refining. It contains terms in areas such as refining, factory equipment and installation, petroleum products and test analysis, and instrument automation. It also contains terms in areas of petrochemistry, oil storage and transport, computer technology, and environmental protection. The total number of terms collected was approximately 53,000.

Cost-Effectiveness of Transcatheter Aortic Valve Replacement With a Self-Expanding Prosthesis Versus Surgical Aortic Valve Replacement.

Science.gov (United States)

Reynolds, Matthew R; Lei, Yang; Wang, Kaijun; Chinnakondepalli, Khaja; Vilain, Katherine A; Magnuson, Elizabeth A; Galper, Benjamin Z; Meduri, Christopher U; Arnold, Suzanne V; Baron, Suzanne J; Reardon, Michael J; Adams, David H; Popma, Jeffrey J; Cohen, David J

2016-01-05

Previous studies of the cost-effectiveness of transcatheter aortic valve replacement (TAVR) have been based primarily on a single balloon-expandable system. The goal of this study was to evaluate the cost-effectiveness of TAVR with a self-expanding prosthesis compared with surgical aortic valve replacement (SAVR) for patients with severe aortic stenosis and high surgical risk. We performed a formal economic analysis on the basis of individual, patient-level data from the CoreValve U.S. High Risk Pivotal Trial. Empirical data regarding survival and quality of life over 2 years, and medical resource use and hospital costs through 12 months were used to project life expectancy, quality-adjusted life expectancy, and lifetime medical costs in order to estimate the incremental cost-effectiveness of TAVR versus SAVR from a U.S. Relative to SAVR, TAVR reduced initial length of stay an average of 4.4 days, decreased the need for rehabilitation services at discharge, and resulted in superior 1-month quality of life. Index admission and projected lifetime costs were higher with TAVR than with SAVR (differences $11,260 and $17,849 per patient, respectively), whereas TAVR was projected to provide a lifetime gain of 0.32 quality-adjusted life-years ([QALY]; 0.41 LY) with 3% discounting. Lifetime incremental cost-effectiveness ratios were $55,090 per QALY gained and $43,114 per LY gained. Sensitivity analyses indicated that a reduction in the initial cost of TAVR by ∼$1,650 would lead to an incremental cost-effectiveness ratio <$50,000/QALY gained. In a high-risk clinical trial population, TAVR with a self-expanding prosthesis provided meaningful clinical benefits compared with SAVR, with incremental costs considered acceptable by current U.S. With expected modest reductions in the cost of index TAVR admissions, the value of TAVR compared with SAVR in this patient population would become high. (Safety and Efficacy Study of the Medtronic CoreValve System in the Treatment of

An analysis of the cost effectiveness of replacing maize with wheat ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

Increasing the level of inclusion of agro-industrial by-products in poultry diets formulation that will not adversely affect growth performance but enhancing feed cost reduction have been the major concern of researchers. In this study the cost effectiveness of using wheat offal to replace maize at 0, 5, 10, 15, 20 and 25 percent ...

Contextual Distance Refining for Image Retrieval

KAUST Repository

Islam, Almasri

2014-01-01

Recently, a number of methods have been proposed to improve image retrieval accuracy by capturing context information. These methods try to compensate for the fact that a visually less similar image might be more relevant because it depicts the same object. We propose a new quick method for refining any pairwise distance metric, it works by iteratively discovering the object in the image from the most similar images, and then refine the distance metric accordingly. Test show that our technique improves over the state of art in terms of accuracy over the MPEG7 dataset.

Contextual Distance Refining for Image Retrieval

KAUST Repository

Islam, Almasri

2014-09-16

Recently, a number of methods have been proposed to improve image retrieval accuracy by capturing context information. These methods try to compensate for the fact that a visually less similar image might be more relevant because it depicts the same object. We propose a new quick method for refining any pairwise distance metric, it works by iteratively discovering the object in the image from the most similar images, and then refine the distance metric accordingly. Test show that our technique improves over the state of art in terms of accuracy over the MPEG7 dataset.

Refinement in Z and Object-Z foundations and advanced applications

CERN Document Server

Derrick, John

2013-01-01

Refinement is one of the cornerstones of the formal approach to software engineering, and its use in various domains has led to research on new applications and generalisation. This book brings together this important research in one volume, with the addition of examples drawn from different application areas. It covers four main themes:Data refinement and its application to ZGeneralisations of refinement that change the interface and atomicity of operationsRefinement in Object-ZModelling state and behaviour by combining Object-Z with CSPRefinement in Z and Object-Z: Foundations and Advanced A

Modelling CEC variations versus structural iron reduction levels in dioctahedral smectites. Existing approaches, new data and model refinements.

Science.gov (United States)

Hadi, Jebril; Tournassat, Christophe; Ignatiadis, Ioannis; Greneche, Jean Marc; Charlet, Laurent

2013-10-01

A model was developed to describe how the 2:1 layer excess negative charge induced by the reduction of Fe(III) to Fe(II) by sodium dithionite buffered with citrate-bicarbonate is balanced and applied to nontronites. This model is based on new experimental data and extends structural interpretation introduced by a former model [36-38]. The 2:1 layer negative charge increase due to Fe(III) to Fe(II) reduction is balanced by an excess adsorption of cations in the clay interlayers and a specific sorption of H(+) from solution. Prevalence of one compensating mechanism over the other is related to the growing lattice distortion induced by structural Fe(III) reduction. At low reduction levels, cation adsorption dominates and some of the incorporated protons react with structural OH groups, leading to a dehydroxylation of the structure. Starting from a moderate reduction level, other structural changes occur, leading to a reorganisation of the octahedral and tetrahedral lattice: migration or release of cations, intense dehydroxylation and bonding of protons to undersaturated oxygen atoms. Experimental data highlight some particular properties of ferruginous smectites regarding chemical reduction. Contrary to previous assumptions, the negative layer charge of nontronites does not only increase towards a plateau value upon reduction. A peak is observed in the reduction domain. After this peak, the negative layer charge decreases upon extended reduction (>30%). The decrease is so dramatic that the layer charge of highly reduced nontronites can fall below that of its fully oxidised counterpart. Furthermore, the presence of a large amount of tetrahedral Fe seems to promote intense clay structural changes and Fe reducibility. Our newly acquired data clearly show that models currently available in the literature cannot be applied to the whole reduction range of clay structural Fe. Moreover, changes in the model normalising procedure clearly demonstrate that the investigated low

Singapore refiners in midst of huge construction campaign

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Land, R.

1992-01-01

This paper reports that Singapore's downstream capacity continues to mushroom. Singapore refiners, upbeat about long term prospects for petroleum products demand in the Asia-Pacific region, and are pressing plans to boost processing capacity. Their plans go beyond capacity expansions. They are proceeding with projects to upgrade refineries to emphasize production of higher value products and to further integrate refining capabilities wit the region's petrochemical industry. Planned expansion and upgrading projects at Singapore refineries call for outlays of more than $1 billion to boost total capacity to about 1.1 million b/d in 1993 and 1.27 million b/d by 1995. That would be the highest level since the mid-1980s, when refiners such as Shell Singapore cut capacity amid an oil glut. Singapore refineries currently are running at effective full capacity of 1.04 million b/d. Meanwhile, Singapore refiners are aggressively courting customers in the Indochina subcontinent, where long isolated centrally planned economies are turning gradually to free markets

Directions in refining and upgrading of heavy oil and bitumen

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Dawson, B.; Parker, R. J.; Flint, L.

1997-01-01

The expansion of heavy oil transportation, marketing and refining facilities over the past two decades have been reviewed to show the strides that several Canadian refiners have taken to build up the facilities required to process synthetic crude oil (SCO). Key points made at a conference, convened by the National Centre for Upgrading Technology (NCUT), held in Edmonton during September 1997 to discuss current and future directions in the refining and marketing of heavy oil, bitumen and SCO, were summarized. Among the key points mentioned were: (1) the high entry barriers faced by centralized upgraders, (2) the advantages of integrating SCO or heavy oil production with downstream refining, (3) the stiff competition from Venezuela and Mexico that both SCO and heavy oil will face in the U.S. PADD II market, (4) the differences between Canadian refiners who have profited from hydrocracking and are better able to handle coker-based SCO, and American refiners who rely chiefly on catalytic cracking and are less able to process the highly aromatic SCO, and (5) the disproportionate cost in the upgrading process represented by the conversion of asphaltenes. Challenges and opportunities for key stakeholders, i.e. producers, refiners, marketers and technology licensors also received much attention at the Edmonton conference

30 CFR 208.4 - Royalty oil sales to eligible refiners.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-07-01

... 30 Mineral Resources 2 2010-07-01 2010-07-01 false Royalty oil sales to eligible refiners. 208.4... MANAGEMENT SALE OF FEDERAL ROYALTY OIL General Provisions § 208.4 Royalty oil sales to eligible refiners. (a... and defense. The Secretary will review these items and will determine whether eligible refiners have...

76 FR 15055 - Proposed Information Collection (Requirements for Interest Rate Reduction Refinancing Loans...

Science.gov (United States)

2011-03-18

... (Requirements for Interest Rate Reduction Refinancing Loans); Comment Request AGENCY: Veterans Benefits... to refinance a delinquent VA-guaranteed loan with a lower interest rate. DATES: Written comments and... techniques or the use of other forms of information technology. Title: Requirements for Interest Rate...

Grain Refinement of Low Carbon Martensitic Steel by Heat Treatment

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

N. V. Kolebina

2015-01-01

Full Text Available The low-carbon steels have good corrosion and technological properties. Hot deformation is the main operation in manufacturing the parts from these steels. So one of the important properties of the material is a property of plasticity. The grain size significantly influences on the ductility properties of steel. The grain size of steel depends on the chemical composition of the crystallization process, heat treatment, and steel machining. There are plenty methods to have grain refinement. However, taking into account the large size of the blanks for the hydro turbine parts, the thermal cycling is an advanced method of the grain refinement adaptable to streamlined production. This work experimentally studies the heat treatment influence on the microstructure of the low-carbon 01X13N04 alloy steel and proposes the optimal regime of the heat treatment to provide a significantly reduced grain size. L.M. Kleiner, N.P. Melnikov and I.N. Bogachyova’s works focused both on the microstructure of these steels and on the influence of its parameters on the mechanical properties. The paper focuses mainly on defining an optimal regime of the heat treatment for grain refinement. The phase composition of steel and temperature of phase transformation were defined by the theoretical analysis. The dilatometric experiment was done to determine the precise temperature of the phase transformations. The analysis and comparison of the experimental data with theoretical data and earlier studies have shown that the initial sample has residual stress and chemical heterogeneity. The influence of the heat treatment on the grain size was studied in detail. It is found that at temperatures above 950 ° C there is a high grain growth. It is determined that the optimal number of cycles is two. The postincreasing number of cycles does not cause further reducing grain size because of the accumulative recrystallization process. Based on the results obtained, the thermal cycling

Development of an efficient grain refiner for Al-7Si alloy

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Kori, S.A.; Murty, B.S.; Chakraborty, M. [Indian Inst. of Technol., Kharagpur (India). Dept. of Metall. and Mater. Eng.

2000-03-15

The response of Al-7Si alloy towards grain refinement by Al-Ti-B master alloys (with different Ti-B ratios) at different addition levels has been studied in detail. The results indicate that high B-containing master alloys are powerful grain refiners when compared to conventional grain refiners like Al-5Ti-lB master alloys. In the present study, indigenously developed master alloys have been used for the grain refinement of alloys Al-7Si and LM-25. Significant improvements in mechanical properties have been obtained with a combination of grain refiner and Sr as modifier. (orig.)

Local grid refinement for free-surface flow simulations

NARCIS (Netherlands)

van der Plas, Peter

2017-01-01

The principal goal of the current study is to explore and investigate the potential of local grid refinement for increasing the numerical efficiency of free-surface flow simulations in a practical context. In this thesis we propose a method for local grid refinement in the free-surface flow model

Image color reduction method for color-defective observers using a color palette composed of 20 particular colors

Science.gov (United States)

Sakamoto, Takashi

2015-01-01

This study describes a color enhancement method that uses a color palette especially designed for protan and deutan defects, commonly known as red-green color blindness. The proposed color reduction method is based on a simple color mapping. Complicated computation and image processing are not required by using the proposed method, and the method can replace protan and deutan confusion (p/d-confusion) colors with protan and deutan safe (p/d-safe) colors. Color palettes for protan and deutan defects proposed by previous studies are composed of few p/d-safe colors. Thus, the colors contained in these palettes are insufficient for replacing colors in photographs. Recently, Ito et al. proposed a p/dsafe color palette composed of 20 particular colors. The author demonstrated that their p/d-safe color palette could be applied to image color reduction in photographs as a means to replace p/d-confusion colors. This study describes the results of the proposed color reduction in photographs that include typical p/d-confusion colors, which can be replaced. After the reduction process is completed, color-defective observers can distinguish these confusion colors.

Oil refining in South Asia and Australasia

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Yamaguchi, N.D.

2000-01-01

An overview of the oil markets of Southeast Asia and Australasia is presented focussing on oil refining. Key statistics of both areas are tabulated, and figures providing information on GDP/capita, crude production, comparison of demand barrels, and product demand are provided. Crude oil production and supply, oil product demand, and the refining industries are examined with details given of evolution of capacity and cracking to distillation ratios

Meal-Replacements followed by Topiramate for the Treatment of Adolescent Severe Obesity: A Pilot Randomized Controlled Trial

Science.gov (United States)

Fox, Claudia K.; Kaizer, Alexander M.; Rudser, Kyle D.; Nathan, Brandon M.; Gross, Amy C.; Sunni, Muna; Abuzzahab, M. Jennifer; Schwartz, Betsy L.; Kumar, Seema; Petryk, Anna; Billington, Charles J.; Ryder, Justin R.; Kelly, Aaron S.

2016-01-01

Objective The objective of this pilot study was to assess the safety and efficacy of short-term meal replacement therapy followed by topiramate for body mass index (BMI) reduction in adolescents with severe obesity. Methods Adolescents (ages 12-18 years) with severe obesity (BMI ≥1.2 times the 95th percentile or BMI ≥35 kg/m2) were recruited for this double-blind, randomized, placebo-controlled trial. Participants completed 4 weeks of meal replacement therapy followed by randomization (1:1) to either 24 weeks of topiramate 75 mg/day or placebo. Mean changes were compared between groups. Results Thirty adolescents (mean age 15.2 ± 1.7 years, mean BMI 40.3 ± 4.6 kg/m2) completed the meal replacement phase and were randomized; 21 completed the study. The difference in mean percent change in BMI between the topiramate and placebo groups was not significant (−1.9% [95% CI (−5.2%, +1.5%); P=0.291]). Significant improvements in visceral fat and VLDL-c were observed in the topiramate compared to the placebo group. There were no concerning changes in neurocognitive function or bone health. Conclusion In this pilot study, 4 weeks of meal replacement therapy followed by 24 weeks of low-dose topiramate compared to meal replacement therapy alone did not result in significant BMI reduction for adolescents with severe obesity. PMID:27807925

Meal replacements followed by topiramate for the treatment of adolescent severe obesity: A pilot randomized controlled trial.

Science.gov (United States)

Fox, Claudia K; Kaizer, Alexander M; Rudser, Kyle D; Nathan, Brandon M; Gross, Amy C; Sunni, Muna; Jennifer Abuzzahab, M; Schwartz, Betsy L; Kumar, Seema; Petryk, Anna; Billington, Charles J; Ryder, Justin R; Kelly, Aaron S

2016-12-01

To assess the safety and efficacy of short-term meal replacement therapy followed by topiramate for body mass index (BMI) reduction in adolescents with severe obesity. Adolescents (ages 12-18 years) with severe obesity (BMI ≥1.2 times the 95th percentile or BMI ≥35 kg/m 2 ) were recruited for this double-blind, randomized, placebo-controlled trial. Participants completed 4 weeks of meal replacement therapy followed by randomization (1:1) to either 24 weeks of topiramate 75 mg/day or placebo. Mean changes were compared between groups. Thirty adolescents (mean age 15.2 ± 1.7 years, mean BMI 40.3 ± 4.6 kg/m 2 ) completed the meal replacement phase and were randomized; 21 completed the study. The difference in mean percent change in BMI between the topiramate and placebo groups was not significant (-1.9%; 95% CI: -5.2% to +1.5%; P = 0.291). Significant improvements in visceral fat and very-low-density lipoprotein cholesterol were observed in the topiramate compared with the placebo group. There were no concerning changes in neurocognitive function or bone health. In this pilot study, 4 weeks of meal replacement therapy followed by 24 weeks of low-dose topiramate compared with meal replacement therapy alone did not result in significant BMI reduction for adolescents with severe obesity. © 2016 The Obesity Society.

Use of Tranexamic Acid during Total Endoprosthetic Replacement of the Hip Joint

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

D. D. Selivanov

2010-01-01

Full Text Available Objective: to evaluate the blood-saving activity, efficacy, and safety of tranexamic acid. Subjects and methods. Thirty-seven patients allocated into two groups were enrolled in the study of the efficacy of tranexamic acid as an agent in reducing blood loss during hip joint replacement. Group 2 patients were injected tranexamic acid, 10 mg/kg body weight, 20—30 minutes before and 3 hours after surgery in the same dosage. This resulted in a significant (48.5% reduction in total blood loss (from 1089.6 to 560.8 ml (p<0.05. No tranexamic acid-induced complications were found. The administration of tranexamic acid during total endoprosthetic replacement of the hip joint could reduce blood loss by 35 and 59.4% in the intraoperative and postoperative periods, respectively, and total blood loss by 48.4%. The use of tranexamic acid allows one to refuse transfusion of blood components during total endoprosthetic replacement of the hip joint. Key words: hip joint replacement, blood loss, tranexamic acid.

Successful switch from enzyme replacement therapy to miglustat in an adult patient with type 1 Gaucher disease: a case report.

Science.gov (United States)

Giuffrida, Gaetano; Lombardo, Rita; Di Francesco, Ernesto; Parrinello, Laura; Di Raimondo, Francesco; Fiumara, Agata

2016-11-08

Gaucher disease is one of the most common lipid-storage disorders, affecting approximately 1 in 75,000 births. Enzyme replacement therapy with recombinant glucocerebrosidase is currently considered the first-line treatment choice for patients with symptomatic Gaucher disease type 1. Oral substrate reduction therapy is generally considered a second-line treatment option for adult patients with mild to moderate Gaucher disease type 1 who are unable or unwilling to receive lifelong intravenous enzyme infusions. The efficacy and safety of the oral substrate reduction therapy miglustat (Zavesca®) in patients with Gaucher disease type 1 have been established in both short-term clinical trials and long-term, open-label extension studies. Published data indicate that miglustat can be used as maintenance therapy in patients with stable Gaucher disease type 1 switched from previous enzyme replacement therapy. We report a case of a 44-year-old Caucasian man with Gaucher disease type 1 who was initially treated with enzyme replacement therapy but, owing to repeated cutaneous allergic reactions, had to be switched to miglustat after several attempts with enzyme replacement therapy. Despite many attempts, desensitization treatment did not result in improved toleration of imiglucerase infusions, and the patient became unwilling to continue with any intravenous enzyme replacement therapy. He subsequently agreed to switch to oral substrate reduction therapy with miglustat 100 mg twice daily titrated up to 100 mg three times daily over a short period. Long-term miglustat treatment maintained both hemoglobin and platelet levels within acceptable ranges over 8 years. The patient's spleen volume decreased, his plasma chitotriosidase levels stayed at reduced levels, and his bone mineral density findings have remained stable throughout follow-up. The patient's quality of life has remained satisfactory. Miglustat showed good gastrointestinal tolerability in this patient, and no

Dermasence refining gel modulates pathogenetic factors of rosacea in vitro.

Science.gov (United States)

Borelli, C; Becker, B; Thude, S; Fehrenbacher, B; Isermann, D

2017-12-01

Over the counter cosmetics sold for local treatment of slight to moderate rosacea often state the claim of actively modulating rosacea pathogenesis. Factors involved in the pathogenesis of this common yet complex skin disorder include kallikrein-related peptidase 5 (KLK5), LL-37, as well as protease-activated receptor 2 (PAR2) and vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF). The objective was to prove the modulating effect of the cosmetic skin care agent Dermasence Refining Gel (DRG) on factors involved in rosacea pathogenesis. We analyzed the effect of DRG on the expression of KLK5, LL-37, PAR2, and VEGF in an in vitro skin model of human reconstituted epidermis. The expression of CAMP (LL-37 gene, fold change -4.19 [±0.11]), VEGFA (fold change -2.55 [±0.12]) and PAR2 (-1.33 [±0.12]) was reduced, KLK5 expression increased (fold change 2.06 (±0.08)) after 18 h of treatment with DRG in comparison to treatment with the matrix gel only. The reduction in CAMP expression was significant (P<.01). The protein expression of all four inflammatory markers was markedly reduced after 18 hours of DRG treatment in comparison to baseline (0 hour), by measure of fluorescence intensity. We show evidence explaining the anti-inflammatory effect of Dermasence Refining Gel in rosacea pathogenesis in vitro. The adjunctive use of DRG in mild to moderate rosacea as a topical cosmetic seems medically reasonable. © 2017 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Problems persist for French refining sector

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Beck, R.J.

1992-01-01

This paper reports that France's refiners face a continuing shortfall of middle distillate capacity and a persistent surplus of heavy fuel oil. That's the main conclusion of the official Hydrocarbon Directorate's report on how France's refining sector performed in 1991. Imports up---The directorate noted that although net production of refined products in French refineries rose to 1.534 million b/d in 1991 from 1.48 million b/d in 1990, products imports jumped 9.7% to 602,000 b/d in the period. The glut of heavy fuel oil eased to some extent last year because French nuclear power capacity, heavily dependent on ample water supplies, was crimped by drought. That spawned fuel switching. The most note worthy increase in imports was for motor diesel, climbing to 176,000 b/d from 148,000 b/d in 1990. Tax credits are spurring French consumption of that fuel. For the first time, consumption of motor diesel in 1991 outstripped that of gasoline at 374,000 b/d and 356,000 b/d respectively

Refining glass structure in two dimensions

Science.gov (United States)

Sadjadi, Mahdi; Bhattarai, Bishal; Drabold, D. A.; Thorpe, M. F.; Wilson, Mark

2017-11-01

Recently determined atomistic scale structures of near-two dimensional bilayers of vitreous silica (using scanning probe and electron microscopy) allow us to refine the experimentally determined coordinates to incorporate the known local chemistry more precisely. Further refinement is achieved by using classical potentials of varying complexity: one using harmonic potentials and the second employing an electrostatic description incorporating polarization effects. These are benchmarked against density functional calculations. Our main findings are that (a) there is a symmetry plane between the two disordered layers, a nice example of an emergent phenomena, (b) the layers are slightly tilted so that the Si-O-Si angle between the two layers is not 180∘ as originally thought but rather 175 ±2∘ , and (c) while interior areas that are not completely imagined can be reliably reconstructed, surface areas are more problematic. It is shown that small crystallites that appear are just as expected statistically in a continuous random network. This provides a good example of the value that can be added to disordered structures imaged at the atomic level by implementing computer refinement.

Segmental Refinement: A Multigrid Technique for Data Locality

KAUST Repository

Adams, Mark F.; Brown, Jed; Knepley, Matt; Samtaney, Ravi

2016-01-01

We investigate a domain decomposed multigrid technique, termed segmental refinement, for solving general nonlinear elliptic boundary value problems. We extend the method first proposed in 1994 by analytically and experimentally investigating its complexity. We confirm that communication of traditional parallel multigrid is eliminated on fine grids, with modest amounts of extra work and storage, while maintaining the asymptotic exactness of full multigrid. We observe an accuracy dependence on the segmental refinement subdomain size, which was not considered in the original analysis. We present a communication complexity analysis that quantifies the communication costs ameliorated by segmental refinement and report performance results with up to 64K cores on a Cray XC30.

Segmental Refinement: A Multigrid Technique for Data Locality

KAUST Repository

Adams, Mark F.

2016-08-04

We investigate a domain decomposed multigrid technique, termed segmental refinement, for solving general nonlinear elliptic boundary value problems. We extend the method first proposed in 1994 by analytically and experimentally investigating its complexity. We confirm that communication of traditional parallel multigrid is eliminated on fine grids, with modest amounts of extra work and storage, while maintaining the asymptotic exactness of full multigrid. We observe an accuracy dependence on the segmental refinement subdomain size, which was not considered in the original analysis. We present a communication complexity analysis that quantifies the communication costs ameliorated by segmental refinement and report performance results with up to 64K cores on a Cray XC30.

Influence of conformity on the wear of total knee replacement: An experimental study.

Science.gov (United States)

Brockett, Claire L; Carbone, Silvia; Fisher, John; Jennings, Louise M

2018-02-01

Wear of total knee replacement continues to be a significant factor influencing the clinical longevity of implants. Historically, failure due to delamination and fatigue directed design towards more conforming inserts to reduce contact stress. As new generations of more oxidatively stable polyethylene have been developed, more flexibility in bearing design has been introduced. The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of insert conformity on the wear performance of a fixed bearing total knee replacement through experimental simulation. Two geometries of insert were studied under standard gait conditions. There was a significant reduction in wear with reducing implant conformity. This study has demonstrated that bearing conformity has a significant impact on the wear performance of a fixed bearing total knee replacement, providing opportunities to improve clinical performance through enhanced material and design selection.

Effect of sugar replacement with date paste and date syrup on texture and sensory quality of kesari (traditional Indian dessert)

OpenAIRE

Annamalai Manickvasagan; Chandini S Kumar; Zaher H Al-Attabi

2018-01-01

In this study, a popular Indian dessert, kesari, was reformulated by substituting refined sugar at various levels (0%=control, 25%, 50%, 75% and 100%) with date past and syrup, and changes in instrumental texture profile, L*a*b* colour values and sensory properties were determined.  The hardness of date syrup kesari was higher than that of date paste kesari. However, there were no differences in hardness among various levels of replacement.  There were no differences between syrup vs paste pr...

Solving the Sophistication-Population Paradox of Game Refinement Theory

OpenAIRE

Xiong , Shuo; Tiwary , Parth ,; Iida , Hiroyuki

2016-01-01

Part 4: Short Papers; International audience; A mathematical model of game refinement was proposed based on uncertainty of game outcome. This model has been shown to be useful in measuring the entertainment element in the domains such as boardgames and sport games. However, game refinement theory has not been able to explain the correlation between the popularity of a game and the game refinement value. This paper introduces another aspect in the study of game entertainment, the concept of “a...

A refined approach: Saudi Arabia moves beyond crude

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Krane, Jim

2015-01-01

Saudi Arabia's role in global energy markets is changing. The kingdom is reshaping itself as a supplier of refined petroleum products while moving beyond its long-held role as a simple exporter of crude oil. This change is commensurate with the typical development trajectory of a state progressing to a more advanced stage of global economic integration. Gains from increased refining include reducing fuel imports and capturing margins now bequeathed to competitors. Refining also allows the kingdom to export its heavy crude oil to a wider array of customers, beyond select importers configured to handle heavy crudes. However, the move also presents strategic complications. The world's 'swing supplier' of oil may grow less willing or able to adjust supply to suit market demands. In the process, Saudi Arabia may have to update the old “oil for security” relationship that links it with Washington, augmenting it with a more diverse set of economic and investment ties with individual companies and countries, including China. -- Highlights: •Saudi Arabia is diverting crude oil into an expanding refining sector. •In doing so, the kingdom is moving beyond its role as global “swing supplier” of crude oil. •The kingdom will benefit from increased refining, including enhanced demand for heavy crude. •Strategic complications may force it to seek security partners beyond Washington

Bayesian ensemble refinement by replica simulations and reweighting

Science.gov (United States)

Hummer, Gerhard; Köfinger, Jürgen

2015-12-01

We describe different Bayesian ensemble refinement methods, examine their interrelation, and discuss their practical application. With ensemble refinement, the properties of dynamic and partially disordered (bio)molecular structures can be characterized by integrating a wide range of experimental data, including measurements of ensemble-averaged observables. We start from a Bayesian formulation in which the posterior is a functional that ranks different configuration space distributions. By maximizing this posterior, we derive an optimal Bayesian ensemble distribution. For discrete configurations, this optimal distribution is identical to that obtained by the maximum entropy "ensemble refinement of SAXS" (EROS) formulation. Bayesian replica ensemble refinement enhances the sampling of relevant configurations by imposing restraints on averages of observables in coupled replica molecular dynamics simulations. We show that the strength of the restraints should scale linearly with the number of replicas to ensure convergence to the optimal Bayesian result in the limit of infinitely many replicas. In the "Bayesian inference of ensembles" method, we combine the replica and EROS approaches to accelerate the convergence. An adaptive algorithm can be used to sample directly from the optimal ensemble, without replicas. We discuss the incorporation of single-molecule measurements and dynamic observables such as relaxation parameters. The theoretical analysis of different Bayesian ensemble refinement approaches provides a basis for practical applications and a starting point for further investigations.

The future of refining industry is in Asia

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Dupin, L.

2010-01-01

The decision of Total Group to close down the refining activity of its Flandres' site at Dunkerque (France) is a testimony of the deep restructuring that is affecting this sector. The migration of the refining activity towards Middle-East and Asia has started several years ago. The World capacities are increasing: in 2009 4.36 billion tons of petroleum products were refined in the world, representing a 1.9% rise with respect to 2008. 661 refineries exist in the world, among which 6 were inaugurated in 2009, 115 are located in Europe and 12 in France. The bad health of the European refining activity is beneficial to Middle and Asia where investments in new production capacities follow on from one another. From now to 2030, these areas will benefit from 70% of the worldwide investments compared to 11% only for Europe and North America. The decline of the European refining industry is directly linked to decay of the automotive fuel consumption and to the increase of the diesel fuel share with respect to gasoline. On the other hand, Asia, and in particular China and India, follow the exactly opposite trend thanks to their population and economic growths. Therefore, European oil companies try to invest in Asia and are looking for new production capacities in China and India. (J.S.)

A spatially adaptive grid-refinement approach for the finite element solution of the even-parity Boltzmann transport equation

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Mirza, Anwar M.; Iqbal, Shaukat; Rahman, Faizur

2007-01-01

A spatially adaptive grid-refinement approach has been investigated to solve the even-parity Boltzmann transport equation. A residual based a posteriori error estimation scheme has been utilized for checking the approximate solutions for various finite element grids. The local particle balance has been considered as an error assessment criterion. To implement the adaptive approach, a computer program ADAFENT (adaptive finite elements for neutron transport) has been developed to solve the second order even-parity Boltzmann transport equation using K + variational principle for slab geometry. The program has a core K + module which employs Lagrange polynomials as spatial basis functions for the finite element formulation and Legendre polynomials for the directional dependence of the solution. The core module is called in by the adaptive grid generator to determine local gradients and residuals to explore the possibility of grid refinements in appropriate regions of the problem. The a posteriori error estimation scheme has been implemented in the outer grid refining iteration module. Numerical experiments indicate that local errors are large in regions where the flux gradients are large. A comparison of the spatially adaptive grid-refinement approach with that of uniform meshing approach for various benchmark cases confirms its superiority in greatly enhancing the accuracy of the solution without increasing the number of unknown coefficients. A reduction in the local errors of the order of 10 2 has been achieved using the new approach in some cases

A spatially adaptive grid-refinement approach for the finite element solution of the even-parity Boltzmann transport equation

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Mirza, Anwar M. [Department of Computer Science, National University of Computer and Emerging Sciences, NUCES-FAST, A.K. Brohi Road, H-11, Islamabad (Pakistan)], E-mail: anwar.m.mirza@gmail.com; Iqbal, Shaukat [Faculty of Computer Science and Engineering, Ghulam Ishaq Khan (GIK) Institute of Engineering Science and Technology, Topi-23460, Swabi (Pakistan)], E-mail: shaukat@giki.edu.pk; Rahman, Faizur [Department of Physics, Allama Iqbal Open University, H-8 Islamabad (Pakistan)

2007-07-15

A spatially adaptive grid-refinement approach has been investigated to solve the even-parity Boltzmann transport equation. A residual based a posteriori error estimation scheme has been utilized for checking the approximate solutions for various finite element grids. The local particle balance has been considered as an error assessment criterion. To implement the adaptive approach, a computer program ADAFENT (adaptive finite elements for neutron transport) has been developed to solve the second order even-parity Boltzmann transport equation using K{sup +} variational principle for slab geometry. The program has a core K{sup +} module which employs Lagrange polynomials as spatial basis functions for the finite element formulation and Legendre polynomials for the directional dependence of the solution. The core module is called in by the adaptive grid generator to determine local gradients and residuals to explore the possibility of grid refinements in appropriate regions of the problem. The a posteriori error estimation scheme has been implemented in the outer grid refining iteration module. Numerical experiments indicate that local errors are large in regions where the flux gradients are large. A comparison of the spatially adaptive grid-refinement approach with that of uniform meshing approach for various benchmark cases confirms its superiority in greatly enhancing the accuracy of the solution without increasing the number of unknown coefficients. A reduction in the local errors of the order of 10{sup 2} has been achieved using the new approach in some cases.

Mixed-strain housing for female C57BL/6, DBA/2, and BALB/c mice: validating a split-plot design that promotes refinement and reduction.

Science.gov (United States)

Walker, Michael; Fureix, Carole; Palme, Rupert; Newman, Jonathan A; Ahloy Dallaire, Jamie; Mason, Georgia

2016-01-27

enhanced statistical power of split-plot designs, allowing many fewer animals to be used. More powerful designs can also increase the chances of replicable findings, and increase the ability of small-scale studies to yield significant results. Using mixed-strain housing for female C57BL/6, DBA/2 and BALB/c mice is therefore an effective, efficient way to promote both refinement and the reduction of animal-use in research.

Refining - Panorama 2008; Raffinage - Panorama 2008

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

NONE

2008-07-01

Investment rallied in 2007, and many distillation and conversion projects likely to reach the industrial stage were announced. With economic growth sustained in 2006 and still pronounced in 2007, oil demand remained strong - especially in emerging countries - and refining margins stayed high. Despite these favorable business conditions, tensions persisted in the refining sector, which has fallen far behind in terms of investing in refinery capacity. It will take renewed efforts over a long period to catch up. Looking at recent events that have affected the economy in many countries (e.g. the sub-prime crisis), prudence remains advisable.

Defining line replaceable units

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Parada Puig, J. E.; Basten, R. J I

2015-01-01

Defective capital assets may be quickly restored to their operational condition by replacing the item that has failed. The item that is replaced is called the Line Replaceable Unit (LRU), and the so-called LRU definition problem is the problem of deciding on which item to replace upon each type of

The Charfuel coal refining process

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Meyer, L.G.

1991-01-01

The patented Charfuel coal refining process employs fluidized hydrocracking to produce char and liquid products from virtually all types of volatile-containing coals, including low rank coal and lignite. It is not gasification or liquefaction which require the addition of expensive oxygen or hydrogen or the use of extreme heat or pressure. It is not the German pyrolysis process that merely 'cooks' the coal, producing coke and tar-like liquids. Rather, the Charfuel coal refining process involves thermal hydrocracking which results in the rearrangement of hydrogen within the coal molecule to produce a slate of co-products. In the Charfuel process, pulverized coal is rapidly heated in a reducing atmosphere in the presence of internally generated process hydrogen. This hydrogen rearrangement allows refinement of various ranks of coals to produce a pipeline transportable, slurry-type, environmentally clean boiler fuel and a slate of value-added traditional fuel and chemical feedstock co-products. Using coal and oxygen as the only feedstocks, the Charfuel hydrocracking technology economically removes much of the fuel nitrogen, sulfur, and potential air toxics (such as chlorine, mercury, beryllium, etc.) from the coal, resulting in a high heating value, clean burning fuel which can increase power plant efficiency while reducing operating costs. The paper describes the process, its thermal efficiency, its use in power plants, its pipeline transport, co-products, environmental and energy benefits, and economics

Applicabilities of ship emission reduction methods

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Guleryuz, Adem [ARGEMAN Research Group, Marine Division (Turkey)], email: ademg@argeman.org; Kilic, Alper [Istanbul Technical University, Maritime Faculty, Marine Engineering Department (Turkey)], email: enviromarineacademic@yahoo.com

2011-07-01

Ships, with their high consumption of fossil fuels to power their engines, are significant air polluters. Emission reduction methods therefore need to be implemented and the aim of this paper is to assess the advantages and disadvantages of each emissions reduction method. Benefits of the different methods are compared, with their disadvantages and requirements, to determine the applicability of such solutions. The methods studied herein are direct water injection, humid air motor, sea water scrubbing, diesel particulate filter, selected catalytic reduction, design of engine components, exhaust gas recirculation and engine replacement. Results of the study showed that the usefulness of each emissions reduction method depends on the particular case and that an evaluation should be carried out for each ship. This study pointed out that methods to reduce ship emissions are available but that their applicability depends on each case.

Asian oil refining. Demand growth and deregulation - an uncertain future

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Sameer Nawaz.

1996-01-01

The objective of the report is to identify the most important features of the oil refining industry in Asia. Major developments in consumption patterns changes in regional importance of countries are discussed, highlighting potential future developments. The first chapter introduces the various refining processes and presents a simple model for the analysis of complex refineries. Chapter 2 examines the development of the Asian refining industry against a background of economic growth and analyses trends in consumption of all products in Asian countries. In Chapter 3, the key issues concerning the refining industry are examined, among them the forces driving consumption, including the importance of economic development, and electricity and transport demand. The importance of product imports and international trade is discussed, and the extent of government involvement and the effects of changing retail and market prices are analysed. Chapter 4 looks at the strategies that oil and gas companies are following in the Asian refining industry. Particular significance is attached to the vertical integration of the oil majors, Japanese and Middle Eastern oil companies. A brief overview of the importance of the petrochemical industry is presented. The countries of Asia that are involved in the refining industry are profiled in Chapter 5. The future trend in oil consumption is examined in Chapter 6. There follows a brief discussion of the plans to expand crude refining capacity in the various countries and a forecast of the state of overcapacity which will result. In the final chapter, brief profiles of some of the most important companies in the Asian refining industry are presented, discussing their major activities and future plans. (Author)

Structural, textural and sensory impact of sodium reduction on long fermented pizza.

Science.gov (United States)

Bernklau, Isabelle; Neußer, Christian; Moroni, Alice V; Gysler, Christof; Spagnolello, Alessandro; Chung, Wookyung; Jekle, Mario; Becker, Thomas

2017-11-01

The aim of this study was to elucidate the microstructural, textural, and sensory impact of sodium reduction and its partial replacement by potassium chloride in pizza dough and crusts prepared by a traditional long fermentation process. For the first time, macrostructural changes in texture were elucidated and quantified by a novel protein network analysis. The fermentation process exerted a strengthening effect in the doughs, allowing to reduce sodium up to 25% without any negative impact on texture. Sodium reduction by 15% did not cause any significant textural changes in pizza crusts and partial replacement by KCl resulted in a strengthened dough and firmer pizza crust. The use of toppings masked the effect of lowering the sodium content, allowing to increase the reduction level from 15% to 35%. A reduction of NaCl by 25% with an addition of KCl achieved high acceptance in the sensory evaluation. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Advanced digital signal processing and noise reduction

CERN Document Server

Vaseghi, Saeed V

2008-01-01

Digital signal processing plays a central role in the development of modern communication and information processing systems. The theory and application of signal processing is concerned with the identification, modelling and utilisation of patterns and structures in a signal process. The observation signals are often distorted, incomplete and noisy and therefore noise reduction, the removal of channel distortion, and replacement of lost samples are important parts of a signal processing system. The fourth edition of Advanced Digital Signal Processing and Noise Reduction updates an

Removal of C and SiC from Si and FeSi during ladle refining and solidification

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Klevan, Ole Svein

1997-12-31

The utilization of solar energy by means of solar cells requires the Si to be very pure. The purity of Si is important for other applications as well. This thesis mainly studies the total removal of carbon from silicon and ferrosilicon. The decarburization includes removal of SiC particles by stirring and during casting in addition to reduction of dissolved carbon by gas purging. It was found that for three commercial qualities of FeSi75, Refined, Gransil, and Standard lumpy, the refined quality is lowest in carbon, followed by Gransil and Standard. A decarburization model was developed that shows the carbon removal by oxidation of dissolved carbon to be a slow process at atmospheric pressure. Gas stirring experiments have shown that silicon carbide particles are removed by transfer to the ladle wall. The casting method of ferrosilicon has a strong influence on the final total carbon content in the commercial alloy. Shipped refined FeSi contains about 100 ppm total carbon, while the molten alloy contains roughly 200 ppm. The total carbon out of the FeSi-furnace is about 1000 ppm. It is suggested that low values of carbon could be obtained on an industrial scale by injection of silica combined with the use of vacuum. Also, the casting system could be designed to give low carbon in part of the product. 122 refs., 50 figs., 24 tabs.

On the energy economics of air lubrication drag reduction

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Simo A. Mäkiharju

2012-12-01

Full Text Available Air lubrication techniques for frictional drag reduction on ships have been proposed by numerous researchers since the 19th century. However, these techniques have not been widely adopted as questions persist about their drag reduction performance beyond the laboratory, as well as energy and economic cost-benefit. This paper draws on data from the literature to consider the suitability of air lubrication for large ocean going and U.S. Great Lakes ships, by establishing the basic energy economic calculations and presenting results for a hypothetical air lubricated ship. All the assumptions made in the course of the analysis are clearly stated so that they can be refined when considering application of air lubrication to a specific ship. The analysis suggests that, if successfully implemented, both air layer and partial cavity drag reduction could lead to net energy savings of 10 to 20%, with corresponding reductions in emissions.

A new process of electron beam refining of niobium

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Pinatti, D.G.

1981-01-01

A review of thermodynamic equilibrium, the kinetic theory and experimental results of the metal-gas interaction in refractory metals is presented. N 2 , H 2 and CO absorption and desorption take place by a reversible process while O 2 takes place by a irreversible process with atom absorption and metal oxide desorption. A new technology of electron beam refining of Niobium is proposed based on four points: 1) preparation of the aluminothermic reduced electrode, 2) zone refining in the first melt, 3) kinetic theory of refining in the following melts and 4) design of a compact furnace. Experimental results in a pilot plant of 300 KW have shown complete agreement with the proposed technology yielding a productivity 2.4 times larger than the value predicted by the conventional technology of electron beam refining of Niobium. (Author) [pt

European refining: evolution or revolution?

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Cuthbert, N.

1999-01-01

A recent detailed analysis of the refining business in Europe (by Purvin and Gurtz) was used to highlight some key issues facing the industry. The article was written under five sub-sections: (i) economic environment (assessment of the economic prospects for Europe), (ii) energy efficiency and global warming (lists the four points of the EU car makers' voluntary agreement), (iii) fuel quality and refinery investment (iv) refinery capacity and utilisation and (v) industry structure and development. Diagrams show GDP per capita for East and West, European road fuel demand to 2015 and European net trade and European refinery ownership by crude capacity. It was concluded that the future of refining in Europe is 'exciting and challenging' and there are likely to be more large joint venture refineries. (UK)

Overview of reductants utilized in nuclear fuel reprocessing/recycling

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Paviet-Hartmann, P. [Idaho National Laboratory, 995 University Blvd, Idaho Falls, ID 83402 (United States); Riddle, C. [Idaho National Laboratory, Material and Fuel Complex, Idaho Falls, ID 83415-6150 (United States); Campbell, K. [University of Nevada Las Vegas, 4505 S. Maryland Pkwy, Las Vegas, NV 89144 (United States); Mausolf, E. [Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, 902 Batelle Blvd, Richland, WA 99352 (United States)

2013-07-01

The most widely used reductant to partition plutonium from uranium in the Purex process was ferrous sulfamate, other alternates were proposed such as hydrazine-stabilized ferrous nitrate or uranous nitrate, platinum catalyzed hydrogen, and hydrazine, hydroxylamine salts. New candidates to replace hydrazine or hydroxylamine nitrate (HAN) are pursued worldwide. They may improve the performance of the industrial Purex process towards different operations such as de-extraction of plutonium and reduction of the amount of hydrazine which will limit the formation of hydrazoic acid. When looking at future recycling technologies using hydroxamic ligands, neither acetohydroxamic acid (AHA) nor formohydroxamic acid (FHA) seem promising because they hydrolyze to give hydroxylamine and the parent carboxylic acid. Hydroxyethylhydrazine, HOC{sub 2}H{sub 4}N{sub 2}H{sub 3} (HEH) is a promising non-salt-forming reductant of Np and Pu ions because it is selective to neptunium and plutonium ions at room temperature and at relatively low acidity, it could serve as a replacement of HAN or AHA for the development of a novel used nuclear fuel recycling process.

A protocol for the refinement of NMR structures using simultaneously pseudocontact shift restraints from multiple lanthanide ions

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Sala, Davide; Giachetti, Andrea; Luchinat, Claudio, E-mail: luchinat@cerm.unifi.it; Rosato, Antonio, E-mail: rosato@cerm.unifi.it [University of Florence, Magnetic Resonance Center (CERM) (Italy)

2016-11-15

The binding of paramagnetic metal ions to proteins produces a number of different effects on the NMR spectra of the system. In particular, when the magnetic susceptibility of the metal ion is anisotropic, pseudocontact shifts (PCSs) arise and can be easily measured. They constitute very useful restraints for the solution structure determination of metal-binding proteins. In this context, there has been great interest in the use of lanthanide(III) ions to induce PCSs in diamagnetic proteins, e.g. through the replacement native calcium(II) ions. By preparing multiple samples in each of which a different ion of the lanthanide series is introduced, it is possible to obtain multiple independent PCS datasets that can be used synergistically to generate protein structure ensembles (typically called bundles). For typical NMR-based determination of protein structure, it is necessary to perform an energetic refinement of such initial bundles to obtain final structures whose geometric quality is suitable for deposition in the PDB. This can be conveniently done by using restrained molecular dynamics simulations (rMD) in explicit solvent. However, there are no available protocols for rMD using multiple PCS datasets as part of the restraints. In this work, we extended the PCS module of the AMBER MD package to handle multiple datasets and tuned a previously developed protocol for NMR structure refinement to achieve consistent convergence with PCS restraints. Test calculations with real experimental data show that this new implementation delivers the expected improvement of protein geometry, resulting in final structures that are of suitable quality for deposition. Furthermore, we observe that also initial structures generated only with traditional restraints can be successfully refined using traditional and PCS restraints simultaneously.

Multilevel local refinement and multigrid methods for 3-D turbulent flow

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Liao, C.; Liu, C. [UCD, Denver, CO (United States); Sung, C.H.; Huang, T.T. [David Taylor Model Basin, Bethesda, MD (United States)

1996-12-31

A numerical approach based on multigrid, multilevel local refinement, and preconditioning methods for solving incompressible Reynolds-averaged Navier-Stokes equations is presented. 3-D turbulent flow around an underwater vehicle is computed. 3 multigrid levels and 2 local refinement grid levels are used. The global grid is 24 x 8 x 12. The first patch is 40 x 16 x 20 and the second patch is 72 x 32 x 36. 4th order artificial dissipation are used for numerical stability. The conservative artificial compressibility method are used for further improvement of convergence. To improve the accuracy of coarse/fine grid interface of local refinement, flux interpolation method for refined grid boundary is used. The numerical results are in good agreement with experimental data. The local refinement can improve the prediction accuracy significantly. The flux interpolation method for local refinement can keep conservation for a composite grid, therefore further modify the prediction accuracy.

Early weight loss predicts the reduction of obesity in men with erectile dysfunction and hypogonadism undergoing long-term testosterone replacement therapy.

Science.gov (United States)

Salman, Mahmoud; Yassin, Dany-Jan; Shoukfeh, Huda; Nettleship, Joanne Elisabeth; Yassin, Aksam

2017-03-01

We and others have previously shown that testosterone replacement therapy (TRT) results in sustained weight loss in the majority of middle-aged hypogonadal men. Previously, however, a small proportion failed to lose at least 5% of their baseline weight. The reason for this is not yet understood. In the present study, we sought to identify early indicators that may predict successful long-term weight loss, defined as a reduction of at least 5% of total body weight relative to baseline weight (T0), in men with hypogonadism undergoing TRT. Eight parameters measured were assessed as potential predictors of sustained weight loss: loss of 3% or more of baseline weight after 1 year of TU treatment, severe hypogonadism, BMI, waist circumference, International Prostate Symptom Score (IPSS), glycated hemoglobin (HbA 1C ), age and use of vardenafil. Among the eight measured parameters, three factors were significantly associated with sustained weight loss over the entire period of TU treatment: (1) a loss of 3% of the baseline body weight after 1 year of TRT; (2) baseline BMI over 30; and (3) a waist circumference >102 cm. Age was not a predictor of weight loss.

Refining clean fuels for the future

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Courty, P.; Gruson, J.F.

2001-01-01

To which extent transportation fuels will reasonably be changed in the coming years? LPG and natural gas are expected to challenge conventional fuels, hydrogen and methanol are bounded to possible fuel cells development. Among others, security of supply, competitive economics and environmental protection issues will be the key to the changes in the coming years. But taking into account expected transportation development, liquid fuels from oil should prevail as the reference energy. Though most of technologies and catalysts needed for the future are still existing or under marketing plans, the industry has to cope with the growing share of middle distillates. Indeed future zero heavy fuel-oil refineries are technically feasible through many existing and recent technologies. However their potential profitability is weighed down deeply by the very high investments and operating costs which are tied up. Tomorrow's main gasoline challenges deal with sulfur in FCC gasoline, aromatics and olefins contents together with a possible ban of ethers, hampering future octane demand and its technical feasibility. In a similar way diesel oil issues for the future imply a very deep desulfurization with possible aromatics hydrogenation and rings opening in order to comply with cetane and poly-aromatics ratings. Natural gas upgrading via syngas chemistry is still expected to open the way to clean fuels for the future via improved and integrated FT's GTL technologies which could as a matter provide most of future increases in clean fuels demand without decreasing the related fatal carbon losses as CO 2 . As an overall view, clean fuels production for the future is technically feasible. Advanced hydro-refining and hydro-conversion technologies open the way to clean fuels and allow the best flexibility in the gasoline/middle distillates ratio. However cost reduction remains a key issue since the huge investments needed are faced with low and volatile refining margins. In addition, CO 2

Production of Solar Grade (SoG) Silicon by Refining Liquid Metallurgical Grade (MG) Silicon: Final Report, 19 April 2001; FINAL

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Khattack, C. P.; Joyce, D. B.; Schmid, F.

2001-01-01

This report summarizes the results of the developed technology for producing SoG silicon by upgrading MG silicon with a cost goal of$20/kg in large-scale production. A Heat Exchanger Method (HEM) furnace originally designed to produce multicrystalline ingots was modified to refine molten MG silicon feedstock prior to directional solidification. Based on theoretical calculations, simple processing techniques, such as gas blowing through the melt, reaction with moisture, and slagging have been used to remove B from molten MG silicon. The charge size was scaled up from 1 kg to 300 kg in incremental steps and effective refining was achieved. After the refining parameters were established, improvements to increase the impurity reduction rates were emphasized. With this approach, 50 kg of commercially available as-received MG silicon was processed for a refining time of about 13 hours. A half life of and lt;2 hours was achieved, and the B concentration was reduced to 0.3 ppma and P concentration to 10 ppma from the original values of 20 to 60 ppma, and all other impurities to and lt;0.1 ppma. Achieving and lt;1 ppma B by this simple refining technique is a breakthrough towards the goal of achieving low-cost SoG silicon for PV applications. While the P reduction process was being optimized, the successful B reduction process was applied to a category of electronics industry silicon scrap previously unacceptable for PV feedstock use because of its high B content (50-400 ppma). This material after refining showed that its B content was reduced by several orders of magnitude, to(approx)1 ppma (0.4 ohm-cm, or about 5x1016 cm-3). NREL's Silicon Materials Research team grew and wafered small and lt;100 and gt; dislocation-free Czochralski (Cz) crystals from the new feedstock material for diagnostic tests of electrical properties, C and O impurity levels, and PV performance relative to similar crystals grown from EG feedstock and commercial Cz wafers. The PV conversion

Custom total knee replacement in a dog with femoral condylar bone loss.

Science.gov (United States)

Liska, William D; Marcellin-Little, Denis J; Eskelinen, Esa V; Sidebotham, Christopher G; Harrysson, Ola L A; Hielm-Björkman, Anna K

2007-06-01

To report surgical planning, technique, and outcome of custom total knee replacement (TKR) performed to manage a medial femoral condylar nonunion in a dog. Clinical case report. A 3-year-old, 20 kg Karelian Bear Hound. Computed tomographic scan of the left pelvic limb was used to build a stereolithography model of the distal portion of the femur. The model was used to create a custom augment to replace the missing medial femoral condyle and a custom stem for intramedullary condylar cemented fixation. The augment and stem were adapted to femoral and tibial components already available. The model was used to rehearse the surgery and then the custom prosthesis was implanted. Weight bearing returned 8 hours after surgery and improved thereafter. Joint alignment was normal and prosthetic joint motion was 60-165 degrees postoperatively. The dog resumed moose hunting 3 months after surgery. Peak vertical force and impulse of the operated limb measured 17 months after surgery were 65% and 47% of the normal, contralateral limb. Based on short-term follow-up, cemented canine TKR was successfully achieved for management of a severely abnormal stifle joint. With further refinement and development of commercially available prostheses, TKR should be possible for canine patients.

Measurements of Residual Stresses In Cold-Rolled 304 Stainless Steel Plates Using X-Ray Diffraction with Rietveld Refinement Method

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Parikin; Killen, P; Rafterry, A.

2009-01-01

The determination of the residual stresses using X-ray powder diffraction in a series of cold-rolled 304 stainless steel plates, deforming 0, 34, 84, 152, 158, 175 and 196 % reduction in thickness has been carried out. The diffraction data were analyzed using the Rietveld structure refinement method. The analysis shows that for all specimens, the martensite particles are closely in compression and the austenite matrix is in tension. Both the martensite and austenite, for a sample reducing 34% in thickness (containing of about 1% martensite phase) the average lattice strains are anisotropic and decrease approximately exponential with an increase in the corresponding percent reduction (essentially phase content). It is shown that this feature can be qualitatively understood by taking into consideration the thermal expansion mismatch between the martensite and austenite grains. Also, for all cold-rolled stainless steel specimens, the diffraction peaks are broader than the unrolled one (instrumental resolution), indicating that the strains in these specimens are inhomogeneous. From an analysis of the refined peak shape parameters, the average root-mean square strain, which describes the distribution of the inhomogeneous strain field, was predicted. The average residual stresses in cold-rolled 304 stainless steel plates showed a combination effect of hydrostatic stresses of the martensite particles and the austenite matrix. (author)

Adaptive mesh refinement for storm surge

KAUST Repository

Mandli, Kyle T.; Dawson, Clint N.

2014-01-01

An approach to utilizing adaptive mesh refinement algorithms for storm surge modeling is proposed. Currently numerical models exist that can resolve the details of coastal regions but are often too costly to be run in an ensemble forecasting framework without significant computing resources. The application of adaptive mesh refinement algorithms substantially lowers the computational cost of a storm surge model run while retaining much of the desired coastal resolution. The approach presented is implemented in the GeoClaw framework and compared to ADCIRC for Hurricane Ike along with observed tide gauge data and the computational cost of each model run. © 2014 Elsevier Ltd.

Adaptive mesh refinement for storm surge

KAUST Repository

Mandli, Kyle T.

2014-03-01

An approach to utilizing adaptive mesh refinement algorithms for storm surge modeling is proposed. Currently numerical models exist that can resolve the details of coastal regions but are often too costly to be run in an ensemble forecasting framework without significant computing resources. The application of adaptive mesh refinement algorithms substantially lowers the computational cost of a storm surge model run while retaining much of the desired coastal resolution. The approach presented is implemented in the GeoClaw framework and compared to ADCIRC for Hurricane Ike along with observed tide gauge data and the computational cost of each model run. © 2014 Elsevier Ltd.

Russian refining - an industry in transition

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Barrett, E [CentreInvest, Moscow (Russian Federation)

1999-02-01

In the old Soviet Union (now called the CIS), the refining industry is undergoing much modernisation, although the process is far from complete. Eventually, the CIS is expected to have a market-responsive competitive refining business. The expected transformation is discussed according to a five-stage plan. The stages are (i) the change from horizontally integrated entity to vertically integrated global concerns, (ii) the change from over-manned dinosaurs to modern efficient businesses, (iii) the move towards smaller, more advanced market-orientated processes, (iv) improving the transport and storage infrastructures and (v) improving accountability and profitability. The predictions for 2005 onwards are for sustained profitability. (UK)

The synthesis of PdPt/carbon paper via surface limited redox replacement reactions for oxygen reduction reaction

CSIR Research Space (South Africa)

Motsoeneng, RG

2015-09-01

Full Text Available Surface-limited redox replacement reactions using the electrochemical atomic layer deposition (EC-ALD) technique were used to synthesize PdPt bimetallic electrocatalysts on carbon paper substrate. Electrocatalysts having different Pd:Pt ratio were...

Variability-Specific Abstraction Refinement for Family-Based Model Checking

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Dimovski, Aleksandar; Wasowski, Andrzej

2017-01-01

and property, while the number of possible scenarios is very large. In this work, we present an automatic iterative abstraction refinement procedure for family-based model checking. We use Craig interpolation to refine abstract variational models based on the obtained spurious counterexamples (traces...

Zone refining of sintered, microwave-derived YBCO superconductors

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Warrier, K.G.K.; Varma, H.K.; Mani, T.V.; Damodaran, A.D.; Balachandran, U.

1993-07-01

Post-sintering treatments such as zone melting under thermal gradient has been conducted on sintered YBCO tape cast films. YBCO precursor powder was derived through decomposition of a mixture of nitrates of cations in a microwave oven for ∼4 min. The resulting powder was characterized and made into thin sheets by tape casting and then sintered at 945 C for 5 h. The sintered tapes were subjected to repeated zone refining operations at relatively high speeds of ∼30 mm/h. A microstructure having uniformly oriented grains in the a-b plane throughout the bulk of the sample was obtained by three repeated zone refining operations. Details of precursor preparation, microwave processing and its advantages, zone refining conditions, and microstructural features are presented in this paper

Transcatheter aortic valve replacement

Science.gov (United States)

... gov/ency/article/007684.htm Transcatheter aortic valve replacement To use the sharing features on this page, please enable JavaScript. Transcatheter aortic valve replacement (TAVR) is surgery to replace the aortic valve. ...

An enriched finite element model with q-refinement for radiative boundary layers in glass cooling

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Mohamed, M. Shadi [Institute for Infrastructure and Environment, Heriot-Watt University, Edinburgh EH14 4AS (United Kingdom); Seaid, Mohammed; Trevelyan, Jon [School of Engineering and Computing Sciences, University of Durham, South Road, Durham DH1 3LE (United Kingdom); Laghrouche, Omar [Institute for Infrastructure and Environment, Heriot-Watt University, Edinburgh EH14 4AS (United Kingdom)

2014-02-01

Radiative cooling in glass manufacturing is simulated using the partition of unity finite element method. The governing equations consist of a semi-linear transient heat equation for the temperature field and a stationary simplified P{sub 1} approximation for the radiation in non-grey semitransparent media. To integrate the coupled equations in time we consider a linearly implicit scheme in the finite element framework. A class of hyperbolic enrichment functions is proposed to resolve boundary layers near the enclosure walls. Using an industrial electromagnetic spectrum, the proposed method shows an immense reduction in the number of degrees of freedom required to achieve a certain accuracy compared to the conventional h-version finite element method. Furthermore the method shows a stable behaviour in treating the boundary layers which is shown by studying the solution close to the domain boundaries. The time integration choice is essential to implement a q-refinement procedure introduced in the current study. The enrichment is refined with respect to the steepness of the solution gradient near the domain boundary in the first few time steps and is shown to lead to a further significant reduction on top of what is already achieved with the enrichment. The performance of the proposed method is analysed for glass annealing in two enclosures where the simplified P{sub 1} approximation solution with the partition of unity method, the conventional finite element method and the finite difference method are compared to each other and to the full radiative heat transfer as well as the canonical Rosseland model.

Improvement of the shielding used during the channel replacement tasks

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Madariaga, M.; Zamonsky, G.

1995-01-01

The objective of this paper is to make a proposal in order to improve the shielding which is used during the channel replacement tasks. Two options are proposed. The first one on the basis of a moderate increase of the shielding weight (20%) and the second one assuming an important weight increase (68%). The expected result is an average dose reduction of some 8% and 21% respectively. (author). 5 refs., 6 figs

Oil refining and product marketing developments in southeast Asia

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Szabo, A.M.

1992-01-01

Views on the future are based on supplies from a relatively stable Middle East and continued economic growth in the southeast Asian and Pacific countries. Under these circumstances the oil market for the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) will expand considerably during the decade of the 90's. Pacific country demand, 5.92 MMB/D, in 1990 is likely to grow to 7.06 MMB/D in 2000. Regional production could supply about 40% of this. The Asia-Pacific shortage of refining capacity could lead to high regional refined product prices and health refining profit margins. (author)

Electromyogram refinement using muscle synergy based regulation of uncertain information.

Science.gov (United States)

Min, Kyuengbo; Shin, Duk; Lee, Jongho; Kakei, Shinji

2018-04-27

Electromyogram signal (EMG) measurement frequently experiences uncertainty attributed to issues caused by technical constraints such as cross talk and maximum voluntary contraction. Due to these problems, individual EMGs exhibit uncertainty in representing their corresponding muscle activations. To regulate this uncertainty, we proposed an EMG refinement, which refines EMGs with regulating the contribution redundancy of the signals from EMGs to approximating torques through EMG-driven torque estimation (EDTE) using the muscular skeletal forward dynamic model. To regulate this redundancy, we must consider the synergistic contribution redundancy of muscles, including "unmeasured" muscles, to approximating torques, which primarily causes redundancy of EDTE. To suppress this redundancy, we used the concept of muscle synergy, which is a key concept of analyzing the neurophysiological regulation of contribution redundancy of muscles to exerting torques. Based on this concept, we designed a muscle-synergy-based EDTE as a framework for EMG refinement, which regulates the abovementioned uncertainty of individual EMGs in consideration of unmeasured muscles. In achieving the proposed EMG refinement, the most considerable point is to suppress a large change such as overestimation attributed to enhancement of the contribution of particular muscles to estimating torques. Therefore it is reasonable to refine EMGs by minimizing the change in EMGs. To evaluate this model, we used a Bland-Altman plot, which quantitatively evaluates the proportional bias of refined signals to EMGs. Through this evaluation, we showed that the proposed EDTE minimizes the bias while approximating torques. Therefore this minimization optimally regulates the uncertainty of EMGs and thereby leads to optimal EMG refinement. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Decontamination of transuranic contaminated metals by melt refining

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

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

1983-01-01

Melt refining of transuranic contaminated metals is a possible decontamination process with the potential advantages of producing metal for reuse and of simplifying chemical analyses. By routinely achieving the 10 nCi/g( about0.1ppm) level by melt refining, scrap metal can be removed from the transuranic waste category. (To demonstrate the effectiveness of this melt refining process, mild steel, stainless steel, nickel, and copper were contaminated with 500 ppm (μg/g) PuO 2 and melted with various fluxes. The solidified slags and metals were analyzed for their plutonium contents, and corresponding partition ratios for plutonium were calculated. Some metals were double refined in order to study the effect of secondary slag treatment. The initial weight of the slags was also varied to investigate the effect of slag weight on the degree of plutonium removal. In general, all four metals could be decontaminated below 1 ppm (μg/g) Pu ( about100 nCi/g) by a single slag treatment. Doubling the slag weight did not improve decontamination significantly; however, double slag treatment using 5 wt.% slag did decontaminate the metals to below 0.1 ppm (μg/g) Pu (10 nCi/g).)

Household air pollution following replacement of traditional open fire with an improved rocket type cookstove.

Science.gov (United States)

Ochieng, Caroline; Vardoulakis, Sotiris; Tonne, Cathryn

2017-02-15

Cooking with biomass fuel is an important source of household air pollution (HAP) in developing countries, and a leading risk factor for ill-health. Although various designs of "improved cookstoves" (ICS) have been promoted as HAP interventions in these settings, few of them have undergone in-field evaluation, partly due to the challenge of conducting field measurements in remote settings. In this study we assessed the change in carbon monoxide (CO) exposure following the replacement of the traditional three-stone stove with a popular ICS in 49 homes in Western Kenya. We also assessed the suitability of using kitchen CO as a proxy for kitchen PM 2.5 . Reduction in 48h mean kitchen CO was 3.1ppm (95% CI: -8.1, 1.8) and in personal CO was 0.9ppm (95% CI: -4.3, 2.6) following stove replacements. Overall, 48-h kitchen and personal CO exposures were lower after stove replacement (28% and 12%, respectively) but with wide confidence intervals that also suggested possible increases in exposure. There were statistically significant reductions in peak kitchen and personal CO concentrations represented by the 8-h 95th percentile: reductions of 26.1ppm (95% CI: -44.6, -7.6) and 8.0ppm (95% CI: -12.2, -3.8), respectively. This is equivalent to 53% reduction in kitchen CO and 39% reduction in personal CO. We found good correlation between kitchen CO and PM 2.5 concentrations overall (r=0.73, n=33 over averaging periods approximating 1day), which varied by time of day and exposure setting. These variations limit the applicability of CO as a proxy measure for PM 2.5 concentrations. A combination of interventions, including better designed stoves, improved ventilation and cleaner fuels, may be needed to reduce HAP to levels that are likely to improve health. Copyright © 2016. Published by Elsevier B.V.

Role of manganese on the grain refining efficiency of AZ91D magnesium alloy refined by Al4C3

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Liu Shengfa; Zhang Yuan; Han Hui

2010-01-01

A novel Mg-50% Al 4 C 3 (hereafter in wt.%) master alloy has been developed by powder in situ synthesis process, the role of manganese on the grain refining efficiency of AZ91D magnesium alloy refined by this master alloy has been investigated. X-ray diffraction (XRD) and energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDS) results show the existence of Al 4 C 3 particles in this master alloy. After addition of 0.6% Al 4 C 3 or combined addition of 0.6% Al 4 C 3 and 0.27% Mn, the average grain size of AZ91D decreased dramatically from 360 μm to 210 μm, and from 360 μm to130 μm, respectively. However, no further refinement of grain size was achieved with additional amount of Mn exceeding 0.27% for AZ91D alloy refined by 0.6% Al 4 C 3 in the present investigation. Al-C-O-Mn-Fe-rich intermetallic particles with an Al-C-O-rich coating film, often observed in the central region of magnesium grains of the AZ91D alloy treated by the combination of Al 4 C 3 and Mn, are proposed to be the potent nucleating substrates for primary α-Mg.

Metal decontamination for waste minimization using liquid metal refining technology

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Joyce, E.L. Jr.; Lally, B.; Ozturk, B.; Fruehan, R.J.

1993-01-01

The current Department of Energy Mixed Waste Treatment Project flowsheet indicates that no conventional technology, other than surface decontamination, exists for metal processing. Current Department of Energy guidelines require retrievable storage of all metallic wastes containing transuranic elements above a certain concentration. This project is in support of the National Mixed Low Level Waste Treatment Program. Because of the high cost of disposal, it is important to develop an effective decontamination and volume reduction method for low-level contaminated metals. It is important to be able to decontaminate complex shapes where surfaces are hidden or inaccessible to surface decontamination processes and destruction of organic contamination. These goals can be achieved by adapting commercial metal refining processes to handle radioactive and organic contaminated metal. The radioactive components are concentrated in the slag, which is subsequently vitrified; hazardous organics are destroyed by the intense heat of the bath. The metal, after having been melted and purified, could be recycled for use within the DOE complex. In this project, we evaluated current state-of-the-art technologies for metal refining, with special reference to the removal of radioactive contaminants and the destruction of hazardous organics. This evaluation was based on literature reports, industrial experience, plant visits, thermodynamic calculations, and engineering aspects of the various processes. The key issues addressed included radioactive partitioning between the metal and slag phases, minimization of secondary wastes, operability of the process subject to widely varying feed chemistry, and the ability to seal the candidate process to prevent the release of hazardous species

40 CFR 80.555 - What provisions are available to a large refiner that acquires a small refiner or one or more of...

Science.gov (United States)

2010-07-01

... FUELS AND FUEL ADDITIVES Motor Vehicle Diesel Fuel; Nonroad, Locomotive, and Marine Diesel Fuel; and ECA... May 31, 2010 for a refinery acquired from a motor vehicle diesel fuel small refiner or beyond the... motor vehicle diesel fuel small refiner or beyond the dates specified in § 80.554(a) or (b), as...

The Influence of Grain Refiners on the Efficiency of Ceramic Foam Filters

Science.gov (United States)

Towsey, Nicholas; Schneider, Wolfgang; Krug, Hans-Peter; Hardman, Angela; Keegan, Neil J.

An extensive program of work has been carried out to evaluate the efficiency of ceramic foam filters under carefully controlled conditions. Work reported at previous TMS meetings showed that in the absence of grain refiners, ceramic foam filters have the capacity for high filtration efficiency and consistent, reliable performance. The current phase of the investigation focuses on the impact grain refiner additions have on filter performance. The high filtration efficiencies obtained using 50 or 80ppi CFF's in the absence of grain refiners diminish when Al-3%Ti-1%B grain refiners are added. This, together with the impact of incoming inclusion loading on filter performance and the level of grain refiner addition are considered in detail. The new generation Al-3%Ti-0.15%C grain refiner has also been included. At typical addition levels (1kg/tonne) the effect on filter efficiency is similar to that for TiB2based grain refiners. The work was again conducted on a production scale using AA1050 alloy. Metal quality was determined using LiMCA and PoDFA. Spent filters were also analysed.

Whole grain and refined grain consumption and the risk of type 2 diabetes: a systematic review and dose-response meta-analysis of cohort studies.

Science.gov (United States)

Aune, Dagfinn; Norat, Teresa; Romundstad, Pål; Vatten, Lars J

2013-11-01

Several studies have suggested a protective effect of intake of whole grains, but not refined grains on type 2 diabetes risk, but the dose-response relationship between different types of grains and type 2 diabetes has not been established. We conducted a systematic review and meta-analysis of prospective studies of grain intake and type 2 diabetes. We searched the PubMed database for studies of grain intake and risk of type 2 diabetes, up to June 5th, 2013. Summary relative risks were calculated using a random effects model. Sixteen cohort studies were included in the analyses. The summary relative risk per 3 servings per day was 0.68 (95% CI 0.58-0.81, I(2) = 82%, n = 10) for whole grains and 0.95 (95% CI 0.88-1.04, I(2) = 53%, n = 6) for refined grains. A nonlinear association was observed for whole grains, p nonlinearity cereals, wheat bran and brown rice, but these results were based on few studies, while white rice was associated with increased risk. Our meta-analysis suggests that a high whole grain intake, but not refined grains, is associated with reduced type 2 diabetes risk. However, a positive association with intake of white rice and inverse associations between several specific types of whole grains and type 2 diabetes warrant further investigations. Our results support public health recommendations to replace refined grains with whole grains and suggest that at least two servings of whole grains per day should be consumed to reduce type 2 diabetes risk.

Ankle replacement - discharge

Science.gov (United States)

... total - discharge; Total ankle arthroplasty - discharge; Endoprosthetic ankle replacement - discharge; Osteoarthritis - ankle ... You had an ankle replacement. Your surgeon removed and reshaped ... an artificial ankle joint. You received pain medicine and were ...

Strategic issues and implications for the refining and marketing sector

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Jeffe, R.A.

1995-01-01

Refiners have faced a challenging business environment for the past decade. During this period, the industry has made approximately $25 billion of capital expenditures primarily to comply with increased governmental mandates, faced highly volatile petroleum product prices and garnered a return to equity of only 5%. While worldwide and US refining capacity has been flat in recent years, demand for refined petroleum products has been on the upswing and domestic supplies have also increased due to improved US capacity utilization rates (76% in 1984 and 93% in 1994) and increased imports (gasoline sales up 11% since 1984). The result has been highly volatile and generally weak refining margins (net Gulf Coast crack spread ranging from ($.95)/bbl in 1984 to $1.84/bbl in 1990 and averaging $.81/bbl since 1984). In response to the sustained difficulties in the marketplace, one has recently witnessed some strategic realignment in the industry. Several of the integrated companies, frustrated with the required capital expenditures and meager returns, have decided to shed non-core, non-strategic refining assets. For the most part, these assets have been bought by independents at, by historical measures, very attractive terms. This paper will provide an overview of the economics of the refining business, discuss the recent trends in refinery M and A activity and summarize possible implications of the recent strategic realignment

Origins and exploration significance of replacement and vein-type alunite deposits in the Marysvale volcanic field, west central Utah.

Science.gov (United States)

Cunningham, C.G.; Rye, R.O.; Steven, T.A.; Mehnert, H.H.

1984-01-01

Alunite in the Marysvale volcanic field forms two (three are described) different types of deposits which contrast in appearance and conditions of origin: 1) Replacement deposits are generally fine-grained and formed by near-surface replacement of intermediate-composition volcanic rocks. The deposits form a bead necklace around a monzonite stock. Each deposit is zoned horizontally from alunitic cores to kaolinitic and propylitic envelopes and zoned vertically from pyrite/propylite upward through alunite/jarosite/hematite to a silica cap. Alunite does not extend below 100 m. Sulphur isotope ratios agree with derivation from underlying Mesozoic evaporites. 2) Natroalunite of 14-m.y. age crosscuts replacement-type alunite deposits. Its S-isotope ratios are comparable with those of pyrite in the volcanics. The Na may be from underlying Mesozoic halites. 3) Veins of coarse-grained alunite of 14-m.y. age filled extension fractures above a postulated stock. S-isotope ratios indicate a probable magmatic source. The contrasting properties of the Marysvale alunite deposits preclude any simple relation to ore deposits, but serve to refine interpretations based on other geological considerations. The replacement deposits are a logical near-surface result of skarn forming processes at depth around the monzonite stock. The vein- type deposits are a logical near-surface result of porphyry metallization in an underlying stock. -G.J.N.

Oxford Partial Knee Replacement as a Gateway to Outpatient Arthroplasty “Lessons Learned along the Journey”

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Michael E Berend

2016-09-01

Full Text Available The Oxford Partial Knee Replacement was approved for implantation in the US in 2004 after the surgeon completed an educational training requirement.  Since then my knee practiced has expanded to over 50% partial knee.  This experience coupled with refinement of surgical techniques, anesthesia protocols, and patient selection has facilitated the transformation to same day discharge for partial knee cases and has quickly transitioned to total hip, total knee, and selected revision surgeries.  Patient selection has also expanded for outpatient joints and is now based on medical screening criteria and insurance access.  Over a two-year period we have performed over 1,000 outpatient arthroplasty procedures with no readmissions for pain control.   Overall readmission rate for all reasons was 2%.  Patient satisfaction scores were 98% Great-Good for 2014-15.  The combination of a partial knee replacement practice and an outpatient joint program brings the best VALUE to the patients, surgeons, and the arthroplasty system and represents the future of arthroplasty care.

Packet loss replacement in voip using a recursive low-order autoregressive modelbased speech

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Miralavi, Seyed Reza; Ghorshi, Seyed; Mortazavi, Mohammad; Choupan, Jeiran

2011-01-01

In real-time packet-based communication systems one major problem is misrouted or delayed packets which results in degraded perceived voice quality. When some speech packets are not available on time, the packet is known as lost packet in real-time communication systems. The easiest task of a network terminal receiver is to replace silence for the duration of lost speech segments. In a high quality communication system in order to avoid quality reduction due to packet loss a suitable method and/or algorithm is needed to replace the missing segments of speech. In this paper, we introduce a recursive low order autoregressive (AR) model for replacement of lost speech segment. The evaluation results show that this method has a lower mean square error (MSE) and low complexity compared to the other efficient methods like high-order AR model without any substantial degradation in perceived voice quality.

Preparation of Al-Ti-B grain refiner by SHS technology

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Nikitin, V.I.; Wanqi, J.I.E.; Kandalova, E.G.; Makarenko, A.G.; Yong, L.

2000-01-01

Since the discovery of the grain refinement effect of aluminum by titanium, especially with the existence of B or C in 1950, grain refiners are widely accepted in industry for microstructure control of aluminum alloys. Research on this topic is to obtain the highest grain refinement efficiency with the lowest possible addition of master alloy. It is widely accepted that the morphology and size of TiAl 3 particles, which are known as heterogeneous nucleation centers, are important factors deterring the grain refinement efficiency. Fine TiAl 3 particles are favorable. The grain refinement process shows a heredity phenomenon, which means that structural information from initial materials transfers through a melt to the final product. It is important to find the connection between microstructural parameters of the master alloy and the final product. To improve the quality of Al-Ti-B master alloys for the use as a grain refiner, a new method based on SHS (self-propagating high-temperature synthesis) technology has been developed in Samara State Technical University to produce the master alloys. SHS, as a new method for preparation of materials, was first utilized by Merzhanov in 1967. This method uses the energy from highly exothermic reactions to sustain the chemical reaction in a combustion wave. The advantages of SHS include simplicity, low energy requirement, and higher product purity. Because SHS reactions can take place between elemental reactants, it is easy to control product composition. The purposes of this investigation were to fabricate an SHS Al-5%Ti-1%B master alloy, to analyze its structure and to test its grain refining performance

Formal refinement of extended state machines

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Thomas Fayolle

2016-06-01

Full Text Available In a traditional formal development process, e.g. using the B method, the informal user requirements are (manually translated into a global abstract formal specification. This translation is especially difficult to achieve. The Event-B method was developed to incrementally and formally construct such a specification using stepwise refinement. Each increment takes into account new properties and system aspects. In this paper, we propose to couple a graphical notation called Algebraic State-Transition Diagrams (ASTD with an Event-B specification in order to provide a better understanding of the software behaviour. The dynamic behaviour is captured by the ASTD, which is based on automata and process algebra operators, while the data model is described by means of an Event-B specification. We propose a methodology to incrementally refine such specification couplings, taking into account new refinement relations and consistency conditions between the control specification and the data specification. We compare the specifications obtained using each approach for readability and proof complexity. The advantages and drawbacks of the traditional approach and of our methodology are discussed. The whole process is illustrated by a railway CBTC-like case study. Our approach is supported by tools for translating ASTD's into B and Event-B into B.

Replacing sedentary time with physical activity: a 15-year follow-up of mortality in a national cohort

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Dohrn IM

2018-01-01

Full Text Available Ing-Mari Dohrn,1 Lydia Kwak,2 Pekka Oja,3 Michael Sjöström,4 Maria Hagströmer1,5 1Department of Neurobiology, Care Sciences and Society (NVS, 2Institute of Environmental Medicine (IMM, Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden; 3UKK Institute, Tampere, Finland; 4Department of Biosciences and Nutrition (BioNut, Karolinska Institutet, 5Functional Area Occupational Therapy and Physiotherapy, Karolinska University Hospital, Stockholm, Sweden Background: Sedentary behavior is associated with health risks in adults. The potential benefits of reducing sedentary time may be dependent not only on decrease per se, but also on the type of activity it replaces. Few longitudinal studies have investigated the effects on mortality when replacing objectively assessed sedentary time with another physical activity (PA behavior. Objective: To investigate the effects of replacing objectively assessed sedentary time with time in light-intensity PA or moderate-vigorous PA (MVPA on all-cause mortality, cardiovascular disease (CVD mortality or cancer mortality in a cohort with 15 years follow-up time.Methods: In total, 851 women and men from the population-based Sweden Attitude Behaviour and Change study were included. Time spent sedentary, in light-intensity PA and in MVPA were assessed using an Actigraph 7164 accelerometer. Mortality data were obtained from Swedish registers. Cox proportional hazards models estimated hazard ratios (HR of mortality with 95% confidence intervals (CI and isotemporal substitution models were used to estimate the effect of replacing sedentary behavior with PA for the same amount of time.Results: Over a follow-up of 14.2 years (SD 1.9 with 12,117 person-years at risk, 79 deaths occurred, 24 deaths from CVD, 27 from cancer, and 28 from other causes. Replacing 30 minutes/day of sedentary time with light-intensity PA was associated with significant reduction in all-cause mortality risk (HR: 0.89, 95% CI: 0.81-0.98 and CVD mortality risk (HR

Mirror of the refined topological vertex from a matrix model

CERN Document Server

Eynard, B

2011-01-01

We find an explicit matrix model computing the refined topological vertex, starting from its representation in terms of plane partitions. We then find the spectral curve of that matrix model, and thus the mirror symmetry of the refined vertex. With the same method we also find a matrix model for the strip geometry, and we find its mirror curve. The fact that there is a matrix model shows that the refined topological string amplitudes also satisfy the remodeling the B-model construction.

Recursions of Symmetry Orbits and Reduction without Reduction

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Andrei A. Malykh

2011-04-01

Full Text Available We consider a four-dimensional PDE possessing partner symmetries mainly on the example of complex Monge-Ampère equation (CMA. We use simultaneously two pairs of symmetries related by a recursion relation, which are mutually complex conjugate for CMA. For both pairs of partner symmetries, using Lie equations, we introduce explicitly group parameters as additional variables, replacing symmetry characteristics and their complex conjugates by derivatives of the unknown with respect to group parameters. We study the resulting system of six equations in the eight-dimensional space, that includes CMA, four equations of the recursion between partner symmetries and one integrability condition of this system. We use point symmetries of this extended system for performing its symmetry reduction with respect to group parameters that facilitates solving the extended system. This procedure does not imply a reduction in the number of physical variables and hence we end up with orbits of non-invariant solutions of CMA, generated by one partner symmetry, not used in the reduction. These solutions are determined by six linear equations with constant coefficients in the five-dimensional space which are obtained by a three-dimensional Legendre transformation of the reduced extended system. We present algebraic and exponential examples of such solutions that govern Legendre-transformed Ricci-flat Kähler metrics with no Killing vectors. A similar procedure is briefly outlined for Husain equation.

Patients Unicondylar Knee Replacement vs. Total Knee Replacement

OpenAIRE

Hedra Eskander

2017-01-01

The aim of this review article is to analyse the clinical effectiveness of total knee replacement (TKR) compared to unicondylar knee replacement (UKR) on patients. In terms of survival rates, revision rates and postoperative complications. The keywords used were: knee arthroplasty. Nearly three thousand articles were found on 25 August 2016. Of those, only twenty-five were selected and reviewed because they were strictly focused on the topic of this article. Compared with those who have TKR, ...

Artificial Disc Replacement

Science.gov (United States)

... Spondylolisthesis BLOG FIND A SPECIALIST Treatments Artificial Disc Replacement (ADR) Patient Education Committee Jamie Baisden The disc ... Disc An artificial disc (also called a disc replacement, disc prosthesis or spine arthroplasty device) is a ...

Product Platform Replacements

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Sköld, Martin; Karlsson, Christer

2012-01-01

. To shed light on this unexplored and growing managerial concern, the purpose of this explorative study is to identify operational challenges to management when product platforms are replaced. Design/methodology/approach – The study uses a longitudinal field-study approach. Two companies, Gamma and Omega...... replacement was chosen in each company. Findings – The study shows that platform replacements primarily challenge managers' existing knowledge about platform architectures. A distinction can be made between “width” and “height” in platform replacements, and it is crucial that managers observe this in order...... to challenge their existing knowledge about platform architectures. Issues on technologies, architectures, components and processes as well as on segments, applications and functions are identified. Practical implications – Practical implications are summarized and discussed in relation to a framework...

Reduction of CO{sub 2} emission and oil dependency with biomass-based polygeneration

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Joelsson, Jonas M; Gustavsson, Leif [Ecotechnology and Environmental Science, Department of Engineering and Sustainable Development, Mid Sweden University, SE-831 25 Oestersund (Sweden)

2010-07-15

We compare different options for the use of lignocellulosic biomass to reduce CO{sub 2} emission and oil use, focusing on polygeneration of biomass-based motor fuels and electricity, and discuss methodological issues related to such comparisons. The use of biomass can significantly reduce CO{sub 2} emission and oil use, but there is a trade-off between the reductions in CO{sub 2} emission and oil use. Bioelectricity from stand-alone plants replacing coal-based electricity reduced CO{sub 2} emission by 99 kg per GJ biomass input but gave no oil use reduction. Stand-alone produced methanol replacing diesel reduced the CO{sub 2} emission with 38 kg and the oil use with 0.67 GJ per GJ biomass, indicating that a potential CO{sub 2} emission reduction of 90 kg is lost per GJ oil reduced. CO{sub 2} emission and oil use reduction for alternatives co-producing fuel and electricity fall between the stand-alone alternatives. Plug-in hybrid-electric vehicles using bioelectricity reduced CO{sub 2} emission by 75-88 kg and oil use by 0.99-1.2 GJ, per GJ biomass input. Biomass can also reduce CO{sub 2} emission and/or oil use more efficiently if fossil-fuel-fired boilers or electric heating is replaced by district heating from biomass-based combined heat and power generation. This is also true if electricity or motor fuel is produced from black liquor gasification in pulp mills or if wood is used instead of concrete in building construction. Biomass gasification is an important technology to achieve large reductions, irrespective of whether CO{sub 2} emission or oil use reduction is prioritised. (author)

Size and composition tunable Ag-Au alloy nanoparticles by replacement reactions

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Zhang Qingbo; Lee, J Y; Yang Jun; Boothroyd, Chris; Zhang Jixuan

2007-01-01

Ag-Au alloy nanoparticles with tunable size and composition were prepared by a replacement reaction between Ag nanoparticles and HAuCl 4 at elevated temperatures. The formation of homogeneous alloy nanoparticles was confirmed by selected-area energy-dispersive x-ray spectroscopy (SAEDX), UV-visible absorption spectroscopy, high resolution transmission electron microscopy (HRTEM) and electron diffraction. This method leverages upon the rapid interdiffusion of Ag and Au atoms in the reduced dimension of a nanoparticle, elevated temperatures and the large number of vacancy defects created in the replacement reaction. This method of preparation has several notable advantages: (1) independent tuning of the size and composition of alloy nanoparticles; (2) production of alloy nanoparticles in high concentrations; (3) general utility in the synthesis of alloy nanoparticles that cannot be obtained by the co-reduction method

Influence of the reduction-crucible material on the uranium properties

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Braga, F.J.C.; Bose, A.; Freitas, C.T. de

1979-01-01

The uranium obtained by UF 4 reduction using Mg in bombs coated with different materials such as alumina, blast furnace slag, Zirconia and graphite was studied. The reduction process involves a reaction that altains temperatures of the order of 1600 0 C at tightly closed enclosure environment. Assuming in this process that the only possible influencial agent on the reaction main product, i.e., metallic uranium is the own bomb coaling, different properties, mechanical-metallurgical and phase-transformation characteristics were examined and the influences of the coating materials were compared. The comparison of these properties was also studied in uranium refined by arc fusion. (Author) [pt

Reduction procedures for accurate analysis of MSX surveillance experiment data

Science.gov (United States)

Gaposchkin, E. Mike; Lane, Mark T.; Abbot, Rick I.

1994-01-01

Technical challenges of the Midcourse Space Experiment (MSX) science instruments require careful characterization and calibration of these sensors for analysis of surveillance experiment data. Procedures for reduction of Resident Space Object (RSO) detections will be presented which include refinement and calibration of the metric and radiometric (and photometric) data and calculation of a precise MSX ephemeris. Examples will be given which support the reduction, and these are taken from ground-test data similar in characteristics to the MSX sensors and from the IRAS satellite RSO detections. Examples to demonstrate the calculation of a precise ephemeris will be provided from satellites in similar orbits which are equipped with S-band transponders.

Potential efficacy of enzyme replacement and substrate reduction therapy in three siblings with Gaucher disease type III

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Cox-Brinkman, J.; van Breemen, M. J.; van Maldegem, B. T.; Bour, L.; Donker, W. E.; Hollak, C. E. M.; Wijburg, F. A.; Aerts, J. M. F. G.

2008-01-01

We report three siblings with Gaucher disease type III, born between 1992 and 2004. During this period, new developments resulted in different potential therapies, changing clinical practice. The two eldest siblings received enzyme replacement therapy (ERT) from the age of 24 and 5 months

Linkages between the markets for crude oil and the markets for refined products

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Didziulis, V.S.

1990-01-01

To understand the crude oil price determination process it is necessary to extend the analysis beyond the markets for petroleum. Crude oil prices are determined in two closely related markets: the markets for crude oil and the markets for refined products. An econometric-linear programming model was developed to capture the linkages between the markets for crude oil and refined products. In the LP refiners maximize profits given crude oil supplies, refining capacities, and prices of refined products. The objective function is profit maximization net of crude oil prices. The shadow price on crude oil gives the netback price. Refined product prices are obtained from the econometric models. The model covers the free world divided in five regions. The model is used to analyze the impacts on the markets of policies that affect crude oil supplies, the demands for refined products, and the refining industry. For each scenario analyzed the demand for crude oil is derived from the equilibrium conditions in the markets for products. The demand curve is confronted with a supply curve which maximizes revenues providing an equilibrium solution for both crude oil and product markets. The model also captures crude oil price differentials by quality. The results show that the demands for crude oil are different across regions due to the structure of the refining industries and the characteristics of the demands for refined products. Changes in the demands for products have a larger impact on the markets than changes in the refining industry. Since markets for refined products and crude oil are interrelated they can't be analyzed individually if an accurate and complete assessment of a policy is to be made. Changes in only one product market in one region affect the other product markets and the prices of crude oil

Replacement

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

S. Radhakrishnan

2014-03-01

Full Text Available The fishmeal replaced with Spirulina platensis, Chlorella vulgaris and Azolla pinnata and the formulated diet fed to Macrobrachium rosenbergii postlarvae to assess the enhancement ability of non-enzymatic antioxidants (vitamin C and E, enzymatic antioxidants (superoxide dismutase (SOD and catalase (CAT and lipid peroxidation (LPx were analysed. In the present study, the S. platensis, C. vulgaris and A. pinnata inclusion diet fed groups had significant (P < 0.05 improvement in the levels of vitamins C and E in the hepatopancreas and muscle tissue. Among all the diets, the replacement materials in 50% incorporated feed fed groups showed better performance when compared with the control group in non-enzymatic antioxidant activity. The 50% fishmeal replacement (best performance diet fed groups taken for enzymatic antioxidant study, in SOD, CAT and LPx showed no significant increases when compared with the control group. Hence, the present results revealed that the formulated feed enhanced the vitamins C and E, the result of decreased level of enzymatic antioxidants (SOD, CAT and LPx revealed that these feeds are non-toxic and do not produce any stress to postlarvae. These ingredients can be used as an alternative protein source for sustainable Macrobrachium culture.

Refined analysis results for multimedia network costs and profits

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Tahkokorpi, M.; Falch, Morten; Skouby, Knud Erik

This deliverable describes the techno-economic business model developed in EURORIM WP3 and presents the refined results of the multimedia service delivery cost-profit calculations......This deliverable describes the techno-economic business model developed in EURORIM WP3 and presents the refined results of the multimedia service delivery cost-profit calculations...

Refining and petrochemicals

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Benazzi, E.

2003-01-01

Down sharply in 2002, refining margins showed a clear improvement in the first half-year of 2003. As a result, the earnings reported by oil companies for financial year 2002 were significantly lower than in 2001, but the prospects are brighter for 2003. In the petrochemicals sector, slow demand and higher feedstock prices eroded margins in 2002, especially in Europe and the United States. The financial results for the first part of 2003 seem to indicate that sector profitability will not improve before 2004. (author)

Refining of biodiesel by ceramic membrane separation

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Wang, Yong; Ou, Shiyi; Tan, Yanlai; Tang, Shuze [Department of Food Science and Engineering, Jinan University, Guangzhou 510632 (China); Wang, Xingguo; Liu, Yuanfa [School of Food Science and Technology, Jiangnan University, Wuxi 214112 (China)

2009-03-15

A ceramic membrane separation process for biodiesel refining was developed to reduce the considerable usage of water needed in the conventional water washing process. Crude biodiesel produced by refined palm oil was micro-filtered by ceramic membranes of the pore size of 0.6, 0.2 and 0.1 {mu}m to remove the residual soap and free glycerol, at the transmembrane pressure of 0.15 MPa and temperature of 60 C. The flux through membrane maintained at 300 L m{sup -} {sup 2} h{sup -} {sup 1} when the volumetric concentrated ratio reached 4. The content of potassium, sodium, calcium and magnesium in the whole permeate was 1.40, 1.78, 0.81 and 0.20 mg/kg respectively, as determined by inductively coupled plasma-atomic emission spectroscopy. These values are lower than the EN 14538 specifications. The residual free glycerol in the permeate was estimated by water extraction, its value was 0.0108 wt.%. This ceramic membrane technology was a potential environmental process for the refining of biodiesel. (author)

Production of Al-Ti-C grain refiners with the addition of elemental carbon

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Gezer, Berke Turgay; Toptan, Fatih; Daglilar, Sibel; Kerti, Isil

2010-01-01

Grain refining process used in aluminium alloys, has an important role for preventing columnar, coarse grains and encouraging fine, equiaxed grain formation. Al-Ti-B grain refiners are widely used as aluminium grain refiners despite the problems in application Al-Ti-C refiners have an increasing demand in recent years. In the present work, Al-Ti-C grain refiners with different Ti:C ratios were produced by insitu method with the addition of elemental carbon. Microstructures were characterised by optic microscope and scanning electron microscope equipped with energy dispersive spectroscopy. The effects of temperature, holding time and Ti:C ratio on the grain refinement process were investigated and optimum conditions were determined.

European oil refining: strategies for a competitive future

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

MacDonald, James.

1997-07-01

European Oil Refining investigates how the industry came to be in crisis and what the future holds. As well as an extensive analysis of past and present market shifts, the report predicts likely future developments and their consequences for investors. The report reviews the European oil sector in a global context, calculates the cost to refiners of key environmental legislation, assesses the problems caused by changing product demand and crude supply, examines possible solutions to the problems of low margins and overcapacity, evaluates the key players' main strategies to increase their competitiveness, analyses the western European oil refining industry by country, details the refinery operations of the major countries of central and eastern Europe, profiles 15 of the major oil companies and estimates the increase in investment required as a result of legislative and demand changes. (author)

CUSTOM TRIFLANGE ACETABULAR COMPONENTS IN REVISION HIP REPLACEMENT (EXPERIENCE REVIEW

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

A. A. Korytkin

2017-01-01

Full Text Available Extensive defects of acetabulum especially accompanied by pelvis discontinuity at the level of acetabulum pose a serious challenge in revision hip replacement and create additional complexity in fixing the acetabular component. One of the perspective options to solve the above issue is the use of custom triflange acetabular components (CTAC designed based on preoperative computer tomography given the specifics of bone defects of the patient. Purpose of the study — to evaluate the outcomes of CTAC use in revision hip replacement.Materials and methods. The authors analyzed treatment outcomes of 12 patients after revision hip replacement using additive techniques of computer simulation and 3D printing CTAC. Follow up period after the surgery averaged 7±3 months (from one to ten months. 7 out of 12 patients had acetabular defects of Paprosky 3B type, 4 patients had defects of Paprosky 3A and in one patient — of Paprosky 2C.Results. Two out of twelve patients had prosthesis dislocations that required revision hip surgery, one of those patients underwent open reduction of dislocation with wound debridement, another patient underwent replacement of articulating couple of acetabular component. Total scores under Harris Hip Score and paint VAS score prior to treatment was 28±7 and 7±1 points respectively, postoperative scores were 76±9 and 3±1 respectively.Conclusion. The application of additive techniques for revision hip replacement in patients with extensive acetabular and pelvic defects allows to make a precise preoperative planning, to restore joint rotation center, to reconstruct bone defects and to securely fix triflange acetabular component that altogether significantly improve treatment outcomes and patients satisfaction with the surgery.

Current research progress in grain refinement of cast magnesium alloys: A review article

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ali, Yahia; Qiu, Dong; Jiang, Bin; Pan, Fusheng; Zhang, Ming-Xing

2015-01-01

Grain refinement of cast magnesium alloys, particularly in magnesium–aluminium (Mg–Al) based alloys, has been an active research topic in the past two decades, because it has been considered as one of the most effective approaches to simultaneously increase the strength, ductility and formability. The development of new grain refiners was normally based on the theories/models that were established through comprehensive and considerable studies of grain refinement in cast Al alloys. Generally, grain refinement in cast Al can be achieved through either inoculation treatment, which is a process of adding, or in situ forming, foreign particles to promote heterogeneous nucleation rate, or restricting grain growth by controlling the constitutional supercooling or both. But, the concrete and tangible grain refinement mechanism in cast metals is still not fully understood and there are a number of controversies. Therefore, most of the new developed grain refiners for Mg–Al based alloys are not as efficient as the commercially available ones, such as zirconium in non-Al containing Mg alloys. To facilitate the research in grain refinement of cast magnesium alloys, this review starts with highlighting the theoretical aspects of grain refinement in cast metals, followed by reviewing the latest research progress in grain refinement of magnesium alloys in terms of the solute effect and potent nucleants

Current research progress in grain refinement of cast magnesium alloys: A review article

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Ali, Yahia; Qiu, Dong [School of Mechanical and Mining Engineering, University of Queensland, St Lucia, QLD 4072 (Australia); Jiang, Bin; Pan, Fusheng [College of Materials Science and Engineering, Chongqing University, Chongqing 400030 (China); Zhang, Ming-Xing, E-mail: Mingxing.Zhang@uq.edu.au [School of Mechanical and Mining Engineering, University of Queensland, St Lucia, QLD 4072 (Australia)

2015-01-15

Grain refinement of cast magnesium alloys, particularly in magnesium–aluminium (Mg–Al) based alloys, has been an active research topic in the past two decades, because it has been considered as one of the most effective approaches to simultaneously increase the strength, ductility and formability. The development of new grain refiners was normally based on the theories/models that were established through comprehensive and considerable studies of grain refinement in cast Al alloys. Generally, grain refinement in cast Al can be achieved through either inoculation treatment, which is a process of adding, or in situ forming, foreign particles to promote heterogeneous nucleation rate, or restricting grain growth by controlling the constitutional supercooling or both. But, the concrete and tangible grain refinement mechanism in cast metals is still not fully understood and there are a number of controversies. Therefore, most of the new developed grain refiners for Mg–Al based alloys are not as efficient as the commercially available ones, such as zirconium in non-Al containing Mg alloys. To facilitate the research in grain refinement of cast magnesium alloys, this review starts with highlighting the theoretical aspects of grain refinement in cast metals, followed by reviewing the latest research progress in grain refinement of magnesium alloys in terms of the solute effect and potent nucleants.

Feasibility study of sucrose and fat replacement using inulin and rebaudioside A in cake formulations.

Science.gov (United States)

Majzoobi, Mahsa; Mohammadi, Mahshid; Mesbahi, Gholamreza; Farahnaky, Asgar

2018-02-20

Cake is a popular food around the world, however, it is considered as unhealthy due to its high fat and sucrose content. To satisfy customers' demand for a low fat and sucrose cake, in this research both sucrose and fat content of the cake were reduced by using rebaudioside A (Reb A; as a natural sucrose replacer) and inulin (as a natural fat replacer) at 0%, 25%, 50%, 75%, and 100%. The water content of different formulation was adjusted to obtain a constant batter viscosity similar to the control (3,757 cP). By reducing sucrose and fat content up to 50%, water activity increased and the cakes became more asymmetrical. However, other physical properties including baking weight loss, height, volume, crust color, and texture were similar to those of the control. Higher levels of replacement (75% and 100%) resulted in remarkable loss of different quality attributes. These samples showed higher water activity and baking loss, lower volume, harder texture, darker color, and highly asymmetrical shape. Thus, successful reduction of both fat and sucrose in cakes is possible by using inulin and Reb A at replacement levels no more than 50%. Customers' demand for healthy and yet tasty and high-quality foods is increasing around the world. Therefore, finding applicable and safe methods to produce such products is of great interest in the food manufacturing to satisfy customers. Health conscious customers avoid consumption of cakes because it contains high sucrose and fat content. Many studies have been performed to reduce either fat or sucrose content, while a few studies are available to show the reduction of both fat and sucrose in the same product. This study indicates the results of an applicable method to reduce fat and sucrose content of cakes simultaneously. Using rebaudioside A (as a natural sucrose replacer) and inulin (as a natural fat replacer) up to 50% of sucrose and fat content of cakes were reduced and the resulting cake had very similar physical properties to

Radiation control in the core shroud replacement project of Fukushima-Daiichi NPS Unit no.2

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kokubun, Yasunori; Haraguchi, Kazuyuki; Yoshizawa, Yuji; Yamada, Yasuo

2000-01-01

In Fukushima-Daiichi NPS Unit no.2, the core shroud replacement was made following that of Unit no.3. This project involves replacement of wide-ranging equipment, with the project extending over a long period of time. This was expected to increase the dose equivalent of workers. Accordingly, various measures to lower the dose equivalent were planned and implemented. We outline radiation controls implemented during the project period. The shroud replacement project was a preventive maintenance project which consisted of replacing the core shroud and other internals with those less susceptible to stress corrosion cracking. Problems related to radiation control during the replacement project of Unit no.3 the year before last were summarized. We studied, planned, and implemented measures to be reflected in the project for Unit no.2. This was done to lower the dose equivalent as much as possible while paying due attention to safety and economy. For radiation control during the project for Unit no.2, experiments with Unit no.3 were fully exploited and any effective measures taken at that time were adopted in this project. Problems pointed out after that project with Unit no.3 resulted in new or improved measures being taken with Unit no.2. Measures taken over from the project with Unit no.3; a. Daily analysis of difference between expected and actual dose equivalents b. Dose reduction measures, chemical decontamination, temporary shield, flushing, etc.; New or improved measures; a. Dose reduction measures: Mechanical removal of radiation sources, strengthening of shield, etc.; b. Automatic remote control system; c. Use of new protective devices. With measures implemented as described above, the dose equivalent during shroud replacement of Unit no.2 was reduced by about 30% when compared with that (11.5 persons · Sv) in the case of Unit no.3. Implemented radiation controls will be checked and reviewed in future for reflection in projects with other units. (author)

Being a long-term user of nicotine replacement therapy

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Borup, Gitte; Nørgaard, Lotte Stig; Tønnesen, Philip

Background During recent years a gradual shift in the application of nicotine replacement therapy (NRT) has taken place from NRT-products only being recommended to achieve smoking cessation, to now including smoking reduction, and long-term substitution of tobacco with NRT has taken place. This has...... been promoted as a way of achieving harm-reduction in highly nicotine dependent smokers who are unwilling or incapable of quitting all nicotine products, as continued use of NRT is widely accepted as being far less hazardous than continued smoking. To our knowledge no previous research has been done...... of feeling addicted, cost of NRT products and fear of adverse health consequences. Aim of study • To get a thorough understanding of the lived experiences of nicotine dependent long-term NRT users. • To investigate what motivates or discourages quitting NRT. Method Semi-structured interviews with long...

Mixed-strain housing for female C57BL/6, DBA/2, and BALB/c mice: validating a split-plot design that promotes refinement and reduction

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Michael Walker

2016-01-01

for research mice. Furthermore, it dramatically illustrates the enhanced statistical power of split-plot designs, allowing many fewer animals to be used. More powerful designs can also increase the chances of replicable findings, and increase the ability of small-scale studies to yield significant results. Using mixed-strain housing for female C57BL/6, DBA/2 and BALB/c mice is therefore an effective, efficient way to promote both refinement and the reduction of animal-use in research.

Analysis model for forecasting extreme temperature using refined rank set pair

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Qiao Ling-Xia

2013-01-01

Full Text Available In order to improve the precision of forecasting extreme temperature time series, a refined rank set pair analysis model with a refined rank transformation function is proposed to improve precision of its prediction. The measured values of the annual highest temperature of two China’s cities, Taiyuan and Shijiazhuang, in July are taken to examine the performance of a refined rank set pair model.

Potency of high-intensity ultrasonic treatment for grain refinement of magnesium alloys

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ramirez, A.; Qian Ma; Davis, B.; Wilks, T.; StJohn, D.H.

2008-01-01

High-intensity ultrasonic treatment (UT) for grain refinement of magnesium alloys has been investigated using a novel theoretical approach in order to better understand its grain-refining potential and the mechanism of nucleation. The process demonstrated significantly superior grain-refining potency to carbon inoculation for Al-containing magnesium alloys but inferior potency to zirconium for Al-free alloys. Details revealed by applying the theoretical approach to ultrasonic grain refinement provide new clues to understanding the mechanism of grain nucleation by UT

Trends in heavy oil production and refining in California

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Olsen, D.K.; Ramzel, E.B.; Pendergrass, R.A. II.

1992-07-01

This report is one of a series of publications assessing the feasibility of increasing domestic heavy oil production and is part of a study being conducted for the US Department of Energy. This report summarizes trends in oil production and refining in Canada. Heavy oil (10 degrees to 20 degrees API gravity) production in California has increased from 20% of the state's total oil production in the early 1940s to 70% in the late 1980s. In each of the three principal petroleum producing districts (Los Angeles Basin, Coastal Basin, and San Joaquin Valley) oil production has peaked then declined at different times throughout the past 30 years. Thermal production of heavy oil has contributed to making California the largest producer of oil by enhanced oil recovery processes in spite of low oil prices for heavy oil and stringent environmental regulation. Opening of Naval Petroleum Reserve No. 1, Elk Hills (CA) field in 1976, brought about a major new source of light oil at a time when light oil production had greatly declined. Although California is a major petroleum-consuming state, in 1989 the state used 13.3 billion gallons of gasoline or 11.5% of US demand but it contributed substantially to the Nation's energy production and refining capability. California is the recipient and refines most of Alaska's 1.7 million barrel per day oil production. With California production, Alaskan oil, and imports brought into California for refining, California has an excess of oil and refined products and is a net exporter to other states. The local surplus of oil inhibits exploitation of California heavy oil resources even though the heavy oil resources exist. Transportation, refining, and competition in the market limit full development of California heavy oil resources

Fetching and Parsing Data from the Web with OpenRefine

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Evan Peter Williamson

2017-08-01

Full Text Available OpenRefine is a powerful tool for exploring, cleaning, and transforming data. An earlier Programming Historian lesson, “Cleaning Data with OpenRefine”, introduced the basic functionality of Refine to efficiently discover and correct inconsistency in a data set. Building on those essential data wrangling skills, this lesson focuses on Refine’s ability to fetch URLs and parse web content. Examples introduce some of the advanced features to transform and enhance a data set including: - fetch URLs using Refine - construct URL queries to retrieve information from a simple web API - parse HTML and JSON responses to extract relevant data - use array functions to manipulate string values - use Jython to extend Refine’s functionality It will be helpful to have basic familiarity with OpenRefine, HTML, and programming concepts such as variables and loops to complete this lesson.

Capital Equipment Replacement Decisions

OpenAIRE

Batterham, Robert L.; Fraser, K.I.

1995-01-01

This paper reviews the literature on the optimal replacement of capital equipment, especially farm machinery. It also considers the influence of taxation and capital rationing on replacement decisions. It concludes that special taxation provisions such as accelerated depreciation and investment allowances are unlikely to greatly influence farmers' capital equipment replacement decisions in Australia.

Bridging the Gap Between Validation and Implementation of Non-Animal Veterinary Vaccine Potency Testing Methods

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Alistair Currie

2011-11-01

Full Text Available In recent years, technologically advanced high-throughput techniques have been developed that replace, reduce or refine animal use in vaccine quality control tests. Following validation, these tests are slowly being accepted for use by international regulatory authorities. Because regulatory acceptance itself has not guaranteed that approved humane methods are adopted by manufacturers, various organizations have sought to foster the preferential use of validated non-animal methods by interfacing with industry and regulatory authorities. After noticing this gap between regulation and uptake by industry, we began developing a paradigm that seeks to narrow the gap and quicken implementation of new replacement, refinement or reduction guidance. A systematic analysis of our experience in promoting the transparent implementation of validated non-animal vaccine potency assays has led to the refinement of our paradigmatic process, presented here, by which interested parties can assess the local regulatory acceptance of methods that reduce animal use and integrate them into quality control testing protocols, or ensure the elimination of peripheral barriers to their use, particularly for potency and other tests carried out on production batches.

Bridging the Gap Between Validation and Implementation of Non-Animal Veterinary Vaccine Potency Testing Methods.

Science.gov (United States)

Dozier, Samantha; Brown, Jeffrey; Currie, Alistair

2011-11-29

In recent years, technologically advanced high-throughput techniques have been developed that replace, reduce or refine animal use in vaccine quality control tests. Following validation, these tests are slowly being accepted for use by international regulatory authorities. Because regulatory acceptance itself has not guaranteed that approved humane methods are adopted by manufacturers, various organizations have sought to foster the preferential use of validated non-animal methods by interfacing with industry and regulatory authorities. After noticing this gap between regulation and uptake by industry, we began developing a paradigm that seeks to narrow the gap and quicken implementation of new replacement, refinement or reduction guidance. A systematic analysis of our experience in promoting the transparent implementation of validated non-animal vaccine potency assays has led to the refinement of our paradigmatic process, presented here, by which interested parties can assess the local regulatory acceptance of methods that reduce animal use and integrate them into quality control testing protocols, or ensure the elimination of peripheral barriers to their use, particularly for potency and other tests carried out on production batches.

New Insights on Degumming and Bleaching Process Parameters on The Formation of 3-Monochloropropane-1,2-Diol Esters and Glycidyl Esters in Refined, Bleached, Deodorized Palm Oil.

Science.gov (United States)

Sim, Biow Ing; Muhamad, Halimah; Lai, Oi Ming; Abas, Faridah; Yeoh, Chee Beng; Nehdi, Imededdine Arbi; Khor, Yih Phing; Tan, Chin Ping

2018-04-01

This paper examines the interactions of degumming and bleaching processes as well as their influences on the formation of 3-monochloropropane-1,2-diol esters (3-MCPDE) and glycidyl esters in refined, bleached and deodorized palm oil by using D-optimal design. Water degumming effectively reduced the 3-MCPDE content up to 50%. Acid activated bleaching earth had a greater effect on 3-MCPDE reduction compared to natural bleaching earth and acid activated bleaching earth with neutral pH, indicating that performance and adsorption capacities of bleaching earth are the predominant factors in the removal of esters, rather than its acidity profile. The combination of high dosage phosphoric acid during degumming with the use of acid activated bleaching earth eliminated almost all glycidyl esters during refining. Besides, the effects of crude palm oil quality was assessed and it was found that the quality of crude palm oil determines the level of formation of 3-MCPDE and glycidyl esters in palm oil during the high temperature deodorization step of physical refining process. Poor quality crude palm oil has strong impact towards 3-MCPDE and glycidyl esters formation due to the intrinsic components present within. The findings are useful to palm oil refining industry in choosing raw materials as an input during the refining process.

Animal-Friendly Affinity Reagents: Replacing the Needless in the Haystack.

Science.gov (United States)

Gray, A C; Sidhu, S S; Chandrasekera, P C; Hendriksen, C F M; Borrebaeck, C A K

2016-12-01

The multibillion-dollar global antibody industry produces an indispensable resource but that is generated using millions of animals. Despite the irrefutable maturation and availability of animal-friendly affinity reagents (AFAs) employing naïve B lymphocyte or synthetic recombinant technologies expressed by phage display, animal immunisation is still authorised for antibody production. Remarkably, replacement opportunities have been overlooked, despite the enormous potential reduction in animal use. Directive 2010/63/EU requires that animals are not used where alternatives exist. To ensure its implementation, we have engaged in discussions with the EU Reference Laboratory for alternatives to animal testing (EURL ECVAM) and the Directorate General for Environment to carve out an EU-led replacement strategy. Measures must be imposed to avoid outsourcing, regulate commercial production, and ensure that antibody producers are fully supported. Copyright © 2016 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd.. All rights reserved.

Genomic multiple sequence alignments: refinement using a genetic algorithm

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Lefkowitz Elliot J

2005-08-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background Genomic sequence data cannot be fully appreciated in isolation. Comparative genomics – the practice of comparing genomic sequences from different species – plays an increasingly important role in understanding the genotypic differences between species that result in phenotypic differences as well as in revealing patterns of evolutionary relationships. One of the major challenges in comparative genomics is producing a high-quality alignment between two or more related genomic sequences. In recent years, a number of tools have been developed for aligning large genomic sequences. Most utilize heuristic strategies to identify a series of strong sequence similarities, which are then used as anchors to align the regions between the anchor points. The resulting alignment is globally correct, but in many cases is suboptimal locally. We describe a new program, GenAlignRefine, which improves the overall quality of global multiple alignments by using a genetic algorithm to improve local regions of alignment. Regions of low quality are identified, realigned using the program T-Coffee, and then refined using a genetic algorithm. Because a better COFFEE (Consistency based Objective Function For alignmEnt Evaluation score generally reflects greater alignment quality, the algorithm searches for an alignment that yields a better COFFEE score. To improve the intrinsic slowness of the genetic algorithm, GenAlignRefine was implemented as a parallel, cluster-based program. Results We tested the GenAlignRefine algorithm by running it on a Linux cluster to refine sequences from a simulation, as well as refine a multiple alignment of 15 Orthopoxvirus genomic sequences approximately 260,000 nucleotides in length that initially had been aligned by Multi-LAGAN. It took approximately 150 minutes for a 40-processor Linux cluster to optimize some 200 fuzzy (poorly aligned regions of the orthopoxvirus alignment. Overall sequence identity increased only

Effect of extruded wheat flour as a fat replacer on batter characteristics and cake quality.

Science.gov (United States)

Román, Laura; Santos, Isabel; Martínez, Mario M; Gómez, Manuel

2015-12-01

The effects of three levels of fat replacement (1/3, 2/3, and 3/3) by extruded flour paste and the effects of the presence of emulsifier on layer cake batter characteristics and final cake quality were studied. Replacement of oil by extruded flour paste modified the batter density and microscopy, reducing the number of air bubbles and increasing their size, while emulsifier incorporation facilitated air entrapment in batter. Emulsifier addition also increased the elastic and viscous moduli of the batter, while oil reduction resulted in a less structured batter. Emulsifier incorporation leads to good quality cakes, minimizing the negative effect of oil reduction, maintaining the volume and reducing the hardness of cakes. Furthermore, consumer acceptability of the reduced fat cakes was improved by the addition of emulsifier. Thus, the results confirmed the positive effect of partial oil substitution (up to 2/3) by extruded flour paste on the quality of reduced fat cakes when emulsifier was incorporated.

Need for refining capacity creates opportunities for producers in Middle East

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ali, M.S.S.

1994-01-01

Oil industry interest in refining has revived in the past few years in response to rising oil consumption. The trend creates opportunities, for countries in the Middle East, which do not own refining assets nearly in proportion to their crude oil reserved. By closing this gap between reserves and refining capacity, the countries can ease some of the instability now characteristic of the oil market. Some major oil producing countries have begun to move downstream. During the 1980s, Venezuela, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, Libya, and other members of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries acquired refining assets through direct total purchase or joint ventures. Nevertheless, the oil industry remains largely unintegrated, with the Middle East holding two thirds of worldwide oil reserves but only a small share downstream. As worldwide refining capacity swings from a period of surplus toward one in which the need for new capacity will be built. The paper discusses background of the situation, shrinking surplus, investment requirements, sources of capital, and shipping concerns

A grid-enabled web service for low-resolution crystal structure refinement.

Science.gov (United States)

O'Donovan, Daniel J; Stokes-Rees, Ian; Nam, Yunsun; Blacklow, Stephen C; Schröder, Gunnar F; Brunger, Axel T; Sliz, Piotr

2012-03-01

Deformable elastic network (DEN) restraints have proved to be a powerful tool for refining structures from low-resolution X-ray crystallographic data sets. Unfortunately, optimal refinement using DEN restraints requires extensive calculations and is often hindered by a lack of access to sufficient computational resources. The DEN web service presented here intends to provide structural biologists with access to resources for running computationally intensive DEN refinements in parallel on the Open Science Grid, the US cyberinfrastructure. Access to the grid is provided through a simple and intuitive web interface integrated into the SBGrid Science Portal. Using this portal, refinements combined with full parameter optimization that would take many thousands of hours on standard computational resources can now be completed in several hours. An example of the successful application of DEN restraints to the human Notch1 transcriptional complex using the grid resource, and summaries of all submitted refinements, are presented as justification.

Refining and petrochemicals

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Benazzi, E.; Alario, F.

2004-01-01

In 2003, refining margins showed a clear improvement that continued throughout the first three quarters of 2004. Oil companies posted significantly higher earnings in 2003 compared to 2002, with the results of first quarter 2004 confirming this trend. Due to higher feedstock prices, the implementation of new capacity and more intense competition, the petrochemicals industry was not able to boost margins in 2003. In such difficult business conditions, aggravated by soaring crude prices, the petrochemicals industry is not likely to see any improvement in profitability before the second half of 2004. (author)

Chronic asymptomatic dislocation of a total hip replacement: a case report

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Lidder Surjit

2009-08-01

Full Text Available Abstract Introduction Dislocation of a prosthetic hip is the second most common complication after thromboembolic disease in patients undergoing total hip arthroplasty, with an incidence reported as 0.5 to 20%. Although the period of greatest risk for dislocation has been reported to be within the first few months after surgery, late dislocation occurs more commonly then previously thought. Case presentation A 60-year-old man underwent a right Exeter cemented total hip replacement and was subsequently discharged after appropriate follow-up. He next presented 8 years later complaining of pain in the left groin. An anterioposterior radiograph of the pelvis revealed degenerative changes in the left hip and a dislocated right total hip replacement. The dislocated femoral component had formed a neoacetabulum within the ilium, in which it was freely articulating. He remained pain-free on this side, had 5 cm of true leg length shortening with a good range of movement and was very pleased with his hip replacement. He was later placed on the waiting list for a left total hip replacement. Conclusion This case illustrates that a dislocated total hip replacement may occasionally not cause symptoms that cause significant discomfort or reduction in range of movement. The prosthetic femoral head can form a neoacetabulum allowing a full range of pain-free movement. Furthermore it emphasises that with an increased trend to earlier hospital discharge and shorter follow-up, potential complications may be missed. We urge a low index of suspicion for potential complications and suggest that regular review with radiographic follow-up should be made.

Initiating technical refinements in high-level golfers: Evidence for contradictory procedures.

Science.gov (United States)

Carson, Howie J; Collins, Dave; Richards, Jim

2016-01-01

When developing motor skills there are several outcomes available to an athlete depending on their skill status and needs. Whereas the skill acquisition and performance literature is abundant, an under-researched outcome relates to the refinement of already acquired and well-established skills. Contrary to current recommendations for athletes to employ an external focus of attention and a representative practice design,  Carson and  Collins' (2011) [Refining and regaining skills in fixation/diversification stage performers: The Five-A Model. International Review of Sport and Exercise Psychology, 4, 146-167. doi: 10.1080/1750984x.2011.613682 ] Five-A Model requires an initial narrowed internal focus on the technical aspect needing refinement: the implication being that environments which limit external sources of information would be beneficial to achieving this task. Therefore, the purpose of this paper was to (1) provide a literature-based explanation for why techniques counter to current recommendations may be (temporarily) appropriate within the skill refinement process and (2) provide empirical evidence for such efficacy. Kinematic data and self-perception reports are provided from high-level golfers attempting to consciously initiate technical refinements while executing shots onto a driving range and into a close proximity net (i.e. with limited knowledge of results). It was hypothesised that greater control over intended refinements would occur when environmental stimuli were reduced in the most unrepresentative practice condition (i.e. hitting into a net). Results confirmed this, as evidenced by reduced intra-individual movement variability for all participants' individual refinements, despite little or no difference in mental effort reported. This research offers coaches guidance when working with performers who may find conscious recall difficult during the skill refinement process.

Replacing lactose from calf milk replacers : effects on digestion and post-absorptive metabolism

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Gilbert, M.S.

2015-01-01

Summary PhD thesis Myrthe S. Gilbert

Replacing lactose from calf milk replacers – Effects on digestion and post-absorptive metabolism

Veal calves are fed milk replacer (MR) and solid feed. The largest part of the energy provided to veal calves

The use of the isotopic composition of individual compounds for correlating spilled oils and refined products in the environment with suspected sources

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Philp, R.P.; Allen, J.; Kuder, T.

2002-01-01

Gas chromatography (GC) and gas chromatography/mass spectrometry (CGMS) are two methods generally used to correlate crude oils and refined products found in the environment with their suspected pollution sources. In certain cases, this can be done with bulk carbon isotope compositions, but with crude condensates, or refined products, the lack of biomarkers prohibits the successful use for making unique correlations. Such products can be correlated using an alternative method which makes use of combined gas chromatography-isotope ratio and mass spectrometry (GCIRMS). This method makes it possible to determine the carbon and hydrogen isotopic composition of individual compounds in crude oil, thus producing isotopic fingerprints that could be used in correlation studies. The feasibility of using of GCIRMS to correlate various spilled products in different environments was the main focus of this study. The authors are not proposing that this method will replace GC or GCMS, but are suggesting that it is a powerful tool that could be used in conjunction with the early methods. Carbon and hydrogen isotopic fractionation has been reported for light components such as benzene and toluene. Higher carbon numbered compounds do not seem to undergo major carbon isotopic fractionation as a result of weathering. Hydrogen variations are currently undergoing investigation for compounds with a carbon number greater than C10. Also, isotopic fractionation for refined products has the potential to attenuate naturally. 33 refs., 6 figs

Unilever food safety assurance system for refined vegetable oils and fats

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

van Duijn Gerrit

2010-03-01

Full Text Available The Unilever Food Safety Assurance system for refined oils and fats is based on risk assessments for the presence of contaminants or pesticide residues in crude oils, and refining process studies to validate the removal of these components. Crude oil risk assessments were carried out by combining supply chain visits, and analyses of the contaminant and pesticide residue levels in a large number of crude oil samples. Contaminants like poly-aromatic hydrocarbons and hydrocarbons of mineral origin, and pesticide residues can largely be removed by refining. For many years, this Food Safety Assurance System has proven to be effective in controlling contaminant levels in refined vegetable oils and fats.

Hirshfeld atom refinement for modelling strong hydrogen bonds.

Science.gov (United States)

Woińska, Magdalena; Jayatilaka, Dylan; Spackman, Mark A; Edwards, Alison J; Dominiak, Paulina M; Woźniak, Krzysztof; Nishibori, Eiji; Sugimoto, Kunihisa; Grabowsky, Simon

2014-09-01

High-resolution low-temperature synchrotron X-ray diffraction data of the salt L-phenylalaninium hydrogen maleate are used to test the new automated iterative Hirshfeld atom refinement (HAR) procedure for the modelling of strong hydrogen bonds. The HAR models used present the first examples of Z' > 1 treatments in the framework of wavefunction-based refinement methods. L-Phenylalaninium hydrogen maleate exhibits several hydrogen bonds in its crystal structure, of which the shortest and the most challenging to model is the O-H...O intramolecular hydrogen bond present in the hydrogen maleate anion (O...O distance is about 2.41 Å). In particular, the reconstruction of the electron density in the hydrogen maleate moiety and the determination of hydrogen-atom properties [positions, bond distances and anisotropic displacement parameters (ADPs)] are the focus of the study. For comparison to the HAR results, different spherical (independent atom model, IAM) and aspherical (free multipole model, MM; transferable aspherical atom model, TAAM) X-ray refinement techniques as well as results from a low-temperature neutron-diffraction experiment are employed. Hydrogen-atom ADPs are furthermore compared to those derived from a TLS/rigid-body (SHADE) treatment of the X-ray structures. The reference neutron-diffraction experiment reveals a truly symmetric hydrogen bond in the hydrogen maleate anion. Only with HAR is it possible to freely refine hydrogen-atom positions and ADPs from the X-ray data, which leads to the best electron-density model and the closest agreement with the structural parameters derived from the neutron-diffraction experiment, e.g. the symmetric hydrogen position can be reproduced. The multipole-based refinement techniques (MM and TAAM) yield slightly asymmetric positions, whereas the IAM yields a significantly asymmetric position.

Influences of different degassing processes on refining effect and properties of 4004 Al alloy

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Wang Liping

2013-03-01

Full Text Available In order to improve the plasticity of 4004 Al alloy and subsequently the productivity of 4004 Al foil, the research studied in detail the influence of the rotary impeller degassing process on the refining effect of 4004 Al alloy, in which the impacts of four major parameters: gas flow, rotational speed, refining time, and stewing time, on degassing rate of 4004 Al alloy was systematically studied by using an orthogonal experiment methodology. Results show that the rotational speed has the greatest impact on the degassing of 4004 Al alloy, followed by gas flow and refining time; stewing time has the least impact. The optimum purification parameters obtained by current orthogonal analysis were: rotor speed of 500 r·min-1, inert gas flow of 0.4 mL·h-1, refining time of 15 min, and stewing time of 6 min. Degassing rate using the optimum parameters reaches 68%. In addition, the comparison experiments among C2Cl6 refining, rotary impeller degassing, and combined treatment of C2Cl6 refining and rotary impeller degassing for 4004 Al alloy were performed. The experimental data indicated that the combined treatment of C2Cl6 refining and rotary impeller degassing has the best degassing effect. Degassing rate of C2Cl6 refining, rotary impeller degassing and combined refining treatment is 39%, 69.1% and 76.9%, respectively. The mechanical properties of the specimen refined by rotary impeller degassing were higher than those by C2Cl6 refining, but lower than those by combined refining treatment.

Flued head replacement alternatives

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Smetters, J.L.

1987-01-01

This paper discusses flued head replacement options. Section 2 discusses complete flued head replacement with a design that eliminates the inaccessible welds. Section 3 discusses alternate flued head support designs that can drastically reduce flued head installation costs. Section 4 describes partial flued head replacement designs. Finally, Section 5 discusses flued head analysis methods. (orig./GL)

Application of nonliner reduction techniques in chemical process modeling: a review

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Muhaimin, Z; Aziz, N.; Abd Shukor, S.R.

2006-01-01

Model reduction techniques have been used widely in engineering fields for electrical, mechanical as well as chemical engineering. The basic idea of reduction technique is to replace the original system by an approximating system with much smaller state-space dimension. A reduced order model is more beneficial to process and industrial field in terms of control purposes. This paper is to provide a review on application of nonlinear reduction techniques in chemical processes. The advantages and disadvantages of each technique reviewed are also highlighted

Reduction of hexavalent chromium by fasted and fed human gastric fluid. II. Ex vivo gastric reduction modeling

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Kirman, Christopher R., E-mail: ckirman@summittoxicology.com [Summit Toxicology, Orange Village, OH, 44022 (United States); Suh, Mina, E-mail: msuh@toxstrategies.com [ToxStrategies, Inc., Mission Viejo, CA, 92692 (United States); Hays, Sean M., E-mail: shays@summittoxicology.com [Summit Toxicology, Allenspark, CO, 8040 (United States); Gürleyük, Hakan, E-mail: hakan@brooksrand.com [Brooks Applied Labs, Bothell, WA, 98011 (United States); Gerads, Russ, E-mail: russ@brooksrand.com [Brooks Applied Labs, Bothell, WA, 98011 (United States); De Flora, Silvio, E-mail: sdf@unige.it [Department of Health Sciences, University of Genoa, 16132 Genoa (Italy); Parker, William, E-mail: william.parker@duke.edu [Duke University Medical Center, Department of Surgery, Durham, NC, 27710 (United States); Lin, Shu, E-mail: shu.lin@duke.edu [Duke University Medical Center, Department of Surgery, Durham, NC, 27710 (United States); Haws, Laurie C., E-mail: lhaws@toxstrategies.com [ToxStrategies, Inc., Katy, TX, 77494 (United States); Harris, Mark A., E-mail: mharris@toxstrategies.com [ToxStrategies, Inc., Austin, TX, 78751 (United States); Proctor, Deborah M., E-mail: dproctor@toxstrategies.com [ToxStrategies, Inc., Mission Viejo, CA, 92692 (United States)

2016-09-01

To extend previous models of hexavalent chromium [Cr(VI)] reduction by gastric fluid (GF), ex vivo experiments were conducted to address data gaps and limitations identified with respect to (1) GF dilution in the model; (2) reduction of Cr(VI) in fed human GF samples; (3) the number of Cr(VI) reduction pools present in human GF under fed, fasted, and proton pump inhibitor (PPI)-use conditions; and (4) an appropriate form for the pH-dependence of Cr(VI) reduction rate constants. Rates and capacities of Cr(VI) reduction were characterized in gastric contents from fed and fasted volunteers, and from fasted pre-operative patients treated with PPIs. Reduction capacities were first estimated over a 4-h reduction period. Once reduction capacity was established, a dual-spike approach was used in speciated isotope dilution mass spectrometry analyses to characterize the concentration-dependence of the 2nd order reduction rate constants. These data, when combined with previously collected data, were well described by a three-pool model (pool 1 = fast reaction with low capacity; pool 2 = slow reaction with higher capacity; pool 3 = very slow reaction with higher capacity) using pH-dependent rate constants characterized by a piecewise, log-linear relationship. These data indicate that human gastric samples, like those collected from rats and mice, contain multiple pools of reducing agents, and low concentrations of Cr(VI) (< 0.7 mg/L) are reduced more rapidly than high concentrations. The data and revised modeling results herein provide improved characterization of Cr(VI) gastric reduction kinetics, critical for Cr(VI) pharmacokinetic modeling and human health risk assessment. - Highlights: • SIDMS allows for measurement of Cr(VI) reduction rate in gastric fluid ex vivo • Human gastric fluid has three reducing pools • Cr(VI) in drinking water at < 0.7 mg/L is rapidly reduced in human gastric fluid • Reduction rate is concentration- and pH-dependent • A refined PK

Refined liquid smoke: a potential antilisterial additive to cold-smoked sockeye salmon (Oncorhynchus nerka).

Science.gov (United States)

Montazeri, Naim; Himelbloom, Brian H; Oliveira, Alexandra C M; Leigh, Mary Beth; Crapo, Charles A

2013-05-01

Cold-smoked salmon (CSS) is a potentially hazardous ready-to-eat food product due to the high risk of contamination with Listeria monocytogenes and lack of a listericidal step. We investigated the antilisterial property of liquid smokes (LS) against Listeria innocua ATCC 33090 (surrogate to L. monocytogenes) as a potential supplement to vacuum-packaged CSS. A full-strength LS (Code 10-Poly), and three commercially refined fractions (AM-3, AM-10, and 1291) having less color and flavor (lower content of phenols and carbonyl-containing compounds) were tested. In vitro assays showed strong inhibition for all LS except for 1291. The CSS strips were surface coated with AM-3 and AM-10 at 1% LS (vol/wt) with an L-shaped glass rod and then inoculated with L. innocua at 3.5 log CFU/g, vacuum packaged, and stored at 4°C. The LS did not completely eliminate L. innocua but provided a 2-log reduction by day 14, with no growth up to 35 days of refrigerated storage. A simple difference sensory test by 180 untrained panelists showed the application of AM-3 did not significantly influence the overall sensorial quality of CSS. In essence, the application of the refined LS as an antilisterial additive to CSS is recommended.

The Analysis of the Refined Financial Management of Modern Enterprises

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Li Ran

2016-01-01

Full Text Available This paper briefly introduces the concept of the refined financial management, elaborates on its characteristics and puts forward some main points about it. It also comes up with some personal suggestions for reference on effective ways of refining financial management.

Profex: a graphical user interface for the Rietveld refinement program BGMN

OpenAIRE

Doebelin, Nicola; Kleeberg, Reinhard

2015-01-01

Profex is a graphical user interface for the Rietveld refinement program BGMN. Its interface focuses on preserving BGMN’s powerful and flexible scripting features by giving direct access to BGMN input files. Very efficient workflows for single or batch refinements are achieved by managing refinement control files and structure files, by providing dialogues and shortcuts for many operations, by performing operations in the background, and by providing import filters for CIF and XML crystal str...

Implementing Replacement Cost Accounting

Science.gov (United States)

1976-12-01

cost accounting Clickener, John Ross Monterey, California. Naval Postgraduate School http://hdl.handle.net/10945/17810 Downloaded from NPS Archive...Calhoun IMPLEMENTING REPLACEMENT COST ACCOUNTING John Ross CHckener NAVAL POSTGRADUATE SCHOOL Monterey, California THESIS IMPLEMENTING REPLACEMENT COST ...Implementing Replacement Cost Accounting 7. AUTHORS John Ross Clickener READ INSTRUCTIONS BEFORE COMPLETING FORM 3. RECIPIENT’S CATALOG NUMBER 9. TYRE OF

Investment in exploration-production and refining 2014

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hureau, Geoffroy; Serbutoviez, Sylvain; Silva, Constancio; Maisonnier, Guy

2014-11-01

IFPEN analyses in this study the 2014 evolution of global investment in the field of exploration-production and refining: 1 - Changes in oil and gas prices: General background: weak economy and global disorder, Oil prices: fundamentals that could help to relax oil prices?, Gas prices: fall in Europe, stability in Japan, increase in the US; 2 - Exploration and production - Slowdown in growth: moderate rise in investment in 2014, exploration - Discoveries in 2014, Russia: sanctions will have limited short term impact, implications of the reforms to the Mexican energy sector; 3 - Drilling activity and market throughout the world: onshore and offshore drilling (Number of wells drilled throughout the world, Number of onshore wells, Number of offshore wells, Drilling, equipment and well services markets, Onshore drilling market, Offshore drilling market, Fracking market), Geophysical activity and the geophysical market, Offshore construction activity and the offshore construction market (Offshore construction activities, Rig construction activity, Floating Platform Systems (FPS), Sub-sea constructions, Offshore construction market); 4 - Refining - Significant increase in spending: increase in industrial costs, a slowdown in the increase in excess capacity in the future?, A bleak future for the european refining sector

P-Refinement and P-Threads (Preprint)

National Research Council Canada - National Science Library

Dong, Steven; Karniadakis, George E

2002-01-01

...]) in d dimensions, which is higher than lower-order methods. In this paper, we demonstrate that by employing multi-threading within MPI processes we manage to counter- balance the cost increase associated with P-refinement...

Refinement of a model of repeated cerebrospinal fluid collection in conscious rats.

Science.gov (United States)

Amen, Eva Maria; Brecheisen, Muriel; Sach-Peltason, Lisa; Bergadano, Alessandra

2017-02-01

The cannulation of the cisterna magna in rats for in vivo sampling of cerebrospinal fluid serves as a valuable model for studying the delivery of new drugs into the central nervous system or disease models. It offers the advantages of repeated sampling without anesthesia-induced bias and using animals as their own controls. An established model was retrospectively reviewed for the outcomes and it was hypothesized that by refining the method, i.e. by (1) implementing pathophysiological-based anesthesia and analgesia, (2) using state-of-the-art peri-operative monitoring and supportive care, (3) increasing stability of the cement-cannula assembly, and (4) selecting a more adaptable animal strain, the outcome in using the model - quantified by peri-operative mortality, survival time and stability of the implant - could be improved and could enhance animal welfare. After refinement of the technique, peri-operative mortality decreased significantly (7 animals out of 73 compared with 4 out of 322; P = 0.001), survival time increased significantly (36 ± 14 days compared with 28 ± 18 days; P concept of Russell and Burch was successfully addressed and animal welfare was improved by (1) the reduction in the total number of animals needed as a result of lower mortality or fewer euthanizations due to technical failure, and frequent use of individual rats over a time frame; and (2) improving the scientific quality of the model.

Brief Report: Loss of Muscle Strength Prior to Knee Replacement: A Question of Anatomic Cross-Sectional Area or Specific Strength?

Science.gov (United States)

Culvenor, Adam G; Hamler, Felix C; Kemnitz, Jana; Wirth, Wolfgang; Eckstein, Felix

2018-02-01

To determine whether loss in thigh muscle strength prior to knee replacement is caused by reductions of muscle strength in the anatomic cross-sectional area or by reductions of specific strength. All 100 of the participants in the Osteoarthritis Initiative who underwent knee replacement and whose medical records included data on thigh isometric muscle strength and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) (58 women, and 42 men, mean ± SD age 65 ± 8 years, mean ± SD body mass index [BMI] 29 ± 5 kg/m 2 ) were matched with a control (no knee replacement) for age, sex, height, BMI, and radiographic severity. Thigh muscle anatomic cross-sectional area was determined by MRI at the research visit before knee replacement (time 0) and 2 years before time 0 (time -2). Specific strength (strength/anatomic cross-sectional area) was calculated, and the measures were compared by conditional logistic regression (i.e., odds ratio [OR] per standard deviation). ORs adjusted for pain (OR adj ) and 95% confidence intervals (95% CIs) were also calculated. Knee replacement cases had significantly smaller extensor (but not flexor) anatomic cross-sectional areas than controls at time 0 (women, OR adj 1.89 [95% CI 1.05-3.90]; men, OR adj 2.22 [95% CI 1.04-4.76]), whereas no significant differences were found at time -2. Women who had knee replacement showed lower levels of extensor specific strength than controls at time 0 (OR 1.59 [95% CI 1.02-2.50]), although this difference was not observed in men and did not maintain significance after adjustment for pain (OR adj 1.22 [95% CI 0.71-2.08]). Female cases lost significantly more extensor specific strength between time -2 and time 0 than controls (OR adj 3.76 [95% CI 1.04-13.60]), whereas no significant differences were noted at time -2, or in men. Prior to knee replacement, a significant reduction in knee extensor strength appears to occur in women through 2 mechanisms: one driven by pain (loss of specific strength) and one independent of pain

Refining in the 1990's: Restructuring and resurgence

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Cobb, C.B.

1994-01-01

After two years of uncertainty in dealing with the 1990 Clean Air Act Amendments coupled with the shutdown of 5% of total US refining capacity, the industry is now positioning itself for continued operations throughout the remainder of the decade. However, refineries are experiencing a shift in the mode of operations to a period of more restructuring (closings, ventures, alliances, etc.) followed by a resurgence in financial performance. The purpose of this paper is to examine the current industry and highlight the reasons for industry's current plans. The authors also speculate about the strategies companies will choose to better their financial performance. Fundamentally, the characteristics of a mature domestic business remain the driving force that shape decision making. In responding to the maturing of refining, the authors suggest that refiners will change the way they conduct business over the next few years. Building on the theme of the 1993 NPRA paper, strategies will target the domestic side of the business while simultaneously shifting to a global perspective

Refining SCJ Mission Specifications into Parallel Handler Designs

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Frank Zeyda

2013-05-01

Full Text Available Safety-Critical Java (SCJ is a recent technology that restricts the execution and memory model of Java in such a way that applications can be statically analysed and certified for their real-time properties and safe use of memory. Our interest is in the development of comprehensive and sound techniques for the formal specification, refinement, design, and implementation of SCJ programs, using a correct-by-construction approach. As part of this work, we present here an account of laws and patterns that are of general use for the refinement of SCJ mission specifications into designs of parallel handlers used in the SCJ programming paradigm. Our notation is a combination of languages from the Circus family, supporting state-rich reactive models with the addition of class objects and real-time properties. Our work is a first step to elicit laws of programming for SCJ and fits into a refinement strategy that we have developed previously to derive SCJ programs.

Assume-Guarantee Abstraction Refinement Meets Hybrid Systems

Science.gov (United States)

Bogomolov, Sergiy; Frehse, Goran; Greitschus, Marius; Grosu, Radu; Pasareanu, Corina S.; Podelski, Andreas; Strump, Thomas

2014-01-01

Compositional verification techniques in the assume- guarantee style have been successfully applied to transition systems to efficiently reduce the search space by leveraging the compositional nature of the systems under consideration. We adapt these techniques to the domain of hybrid systems with affine dynamics. To build assumptions we introduce an abstraction based on location merging. We integrate the assume-guarantee style analysis with automatic abstraction refinement. We have implemented our approach in the symbolic hybrid model checker SpaceEx. The evaluation shows its practical potential. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first work combining assume-guarantee reasoning with automatic abstraction-refinement in the context of hybrid automata.

India beckons participants in burgeoning refining sector

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Anon.

1992-01-01

This paper reports that India has opened its refining sector to full private investment for the first time in more than 2 decades. The government again gave a green light to construction of three 120,000 b/d grassroots refineries in East, West, and Central India. The projects had won various governmental approvals in the past few years, but never moved off high center for a variety of economic and regulatory reasons. The difference this time is that the government is offering interests in the projects to private foreign and domestic investors. It's part of India's push to boost overall refining capacity by more than 80% this century

Horn clause verification with convex polyhedral abstraction and tree automata-based refinement

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Kafle, Bishoksan; Gallagher, John Patrick

2017-01-01

In this paper we apply tree-automata techniques to refinement of abstract interpretation in Horn clause verification. We go beyond previous work on refining trace abstractions; firstly we handle tree automata rather than string automata and thereby can capture traces in any Horn clause derivations...... underlying the Horn clauses. Experiments using linear constraint problems and the abstract domain of convex polyhedra show that the refinement technique is practical and that iteration of abstract interpretation with tree automata-based refinement solves many challenging Horn clause verification problems. We...... compare the results with other state-of-the-art Horn clause verification tools....

Nucleation mechanisms of refined alpha microstructure in beta titanium alloys

Science.gov (United States)

Zheng, Yufeng

Due to a great combination of physical and mechanical properties, beta titanium alloys have become promising candidates in the field of chemical industry, aerospace and biomedical materials. The microstructure of beta titanium alloys is the governing factor that determines their properties and performances, especially the size scale, distribution and volume fraction of precipitate phase in parent phase matrix. Therefore in order to enhance the performance of beta titanium alloys, it is critical to obtain a thorough understanding of microstructural evolution in beta titanium alloys upon various thermal and/or mechanical processes. The present work is focusing on the study of nucleation mechanisms of refined alpha microstructure and super-refined alpha microstructure in beta titanium alloys in order to study the influence of instabilities within parent phase matrix on precipitates nucleation, including compositional instabilities and/or structural instabilities. The current study is primarily conducted in Ti-5Al-5Mo-5V-3Cr (wt%, Ti-5553), a commercial material for aerospace application. Refined and super-refined precipitates microstructure in Ti-5553 are obtained under specific accurate temperature controlled heat treatments. The characteristics of either microstructure are investigated in details using various characterization techniques, such as SEM, TEM, STEM, HRSTEM and 3D atom probe to describe the features of microstructure in the aspect of morphology, distribution, structure and composition. Nucleation mechanisms of refined and super-refined precipitates are proposed in order to fully explain the features of different precipitates microstructure in Ti-5553. The necessary thermodynamic conditions and detailed process of phase transformations are introduced. In order to verify the reliability of proposed nucleation mechanisms, thermodynamic calculation and phase field modeling simulation are accomplished using the database of simple binary Ti-Mo system

Pipe replacement in a water supply network: coordinated versus uncoordinated replacement and budget effects

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Dijk, van D.; Hendrix, E.M.T.

2016-01-01

Operators of underground water supply networks are challenged with pipe replacement
decisions, because pipes are subject to increased failure rates as they age and financial resources
are often limited.We study the optimal replacement time and optimal number of pipe replacements
such

ICH guidelines--implementation of the 3Rs (refinement, reduction, and replacement): incorporating best scientific practices into the regulatory process.

Science.gov (United States)

Ohno, Yasuo

2002-01-01

An overview of the International Conference on Harmonization of Technical Requirements for Registration of Pharmaceuticals for Human Use (ICH) is described. ICH was established through cooperation of the regulatory agencies and industrial parties of three main regions involved in pharmaceuticals: the European Union, the United States, and Japan. The purpose of the ICH is to make recommendations to achieve greater harmonization regarding interpretation and application of technical guidelines and requirements for product registration in an effort to reduce or obviate the need to duplicate the testing carried out during the research and development of new medicines. The main purpose of ICH was not to foster the 3Rs per se; however, harmonization of guidelines has eliminated duplications of similar tests to satisfy the specific requirements of each region. The ICH process has contributed to mutual understanding of the regulatory requirements and has decreased the number of unnecessary animal experiments. Specific examples of the contributions of ICH harmonization to the 3Rs are described.

Implementation of the 3Rs (refinement, reduction, and replacement): validation and regulatory acceptance considerations for alternative toxicological test methods.

Science.gov (United States)

Schechtman, Leonard M

2002-01-01

Toxicological testing in the current regulatory environment is steeped in a history of using animals to answer questions about the safety of products to which humans are exposed. That history forms the basis for the testing strategies that have evolved to satisfy the needs of the regulatory bodies that render decisions that affect, for the most part, virtually all phases of premarket product development and evaluation and, to a lesser extent, postmarketing surveillance. Only relatively recently have the levels of awareness of, and responsiveness to, animal welfare issues reached current proportions. That paradigm shift, although sluggish, has nevertheless been progressive. New and alternative toxicological methods for hazard evaluation and risk assessment have now been adopted and are being viewed as a means to address those issues in a manner that considers humane treatment of animals yet maintains scientific credibility and preserves the goal of ensuring human safety. To facilitate this transition, regulatory agencies and regulated industry must work together toward improved approaches. They will need assurance that the methods will be reliable and the results comparable with, or better than, those derived from the current classical methods. That confidence will be a function of the scientific validation and resultant acceptance of any given method. In the United States, to fulfill this need, the Interagency Coordinating Committee on the Validation of Alternative Methods (ICCVAM) and its operational center, the National Toxicology Program Interagency Center for the Evaluation of Alternative Toxicological Methods (NICEATM), have been constituted as prescribed in federal law. Under this mandate, ICCVAM has developed a process and established criteria for the scientific validation and regulatory acceptance of new and alternative methods. The role of ICCVAM in the validation and acceptance process and the criteria instituted toward that end are described. Also discussed are the participation of the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in the ICCVAM process and that agency's approach to the application and implementation of ICCVAM-recommended methods.

Refining mineral oils

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

1946-07-05

A process is described refining raw oils such as mineral oils, shale oils, tar, their fractions and derivatives, by extraction with a selected solvent or a mixture of solvents containing water, forming a solvent more favorable for the hydrocarbons poor in hydrogen than for hydrocarbons rich in hydrogen, this process is characterized by the addition of an aiding solvent for the water which can be mixed or dissolved in the water and the solvent or in the dissolving mixture and increasing in this way the solubility of the water in the solvent or the dissolving mixture.

Low-flow CO₂ removal integrated into a renal-replacement circuit can reduce acidosis and decrease vasopressor requirements.

Science.gov (United States)

Forster, Christian; Schriewer, Jens; John, Stefan; Eckardt, Kai-Uwe; Willam, Carsten

2013-07-24

Lung-protective ventilation in patients with ARDS and multiorgan failure, including renal failure, is often paralleled with a combined respiratory and metabolic acidosis. We assessed the effectiveness of a hollow-fiber gas exchanger integrated into a conventional renal-replacement circuit on CO₂ removal, acidosis, and hemodynamics. In ten ventilated critically ill patients with ARDS and AKI undergoing renal- and respiratory-replacement therapy, effects of low-flow CO₂ removal on respiratory acidosis compensation were tested by using a hollow-fiber gas exchanger added to the renal-replacement circuit. This was an observational study on safety, CO₂-removal capacity, effects on pH, ventilator settings, and hemodynamics. CO₂ elimination in the low-flow circuit was safe and was well tolerated by all patients. After 4 hours of treatment, a mean reduction of 17.3 mm Hg (-28.1%) pCO₂ was observed, in line with an increase in pH. In hemodynamically instable patients, low-flow CO₂ elimination was paralleled by hemodynamic improvement, with an average reduction of vasopressors of 65% in five of six catecholamine-dependent patients during the first 24 hours. Because no further catheters are needed, besides those for renal replacement, the implementation of a hollow-fiber gas exchanger in a renal circuit could be an attractive therapeutic tool with only a little additional trauma for patients with mild to moderate ARDS undergoing invasive ventilation with concomitant respiratory acidosis, as long as no severe oxygenation defects indicate ECMO therapy.

Assessing food allergy risks from residual peanut protein in highly refined vegetable oil

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Blom, W.M.; Kruizinga, A.G.; Rubingh, C.M.; Remington, B.C.; Crevel, R.W.R.; Houben, G.F.

2017-01-01

Refined vegetable oils including refined peanut oil are widely used in foods. Due to shared production processes, refined non-peanut vegetable oils can contain residual peanut proteins. We estimated the predicted number of allergic reactions to residual peanut proteins using probabilistic risk

The changing face of U.S. refining: Ominous notes

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Anon.

1992-01-01

As environmental protection comes of age in the US, a complex series of structural changes is also expected - in enforcement bureaucracy, manufacturing, and in energy consumption. It is already quite obvious in the petroleum refining industry. A side effect may be the export of jobs. Buyouts and closures are expected, as is increased refined product import dependency. This issue updates expected changes in gasoline and distillate product requirements in the US, and reports some ominous statements from some of the oil industry's affected parties. This issue also presented the following: (1) the ED Refining Netback Data Series for the US Gulf and West Coasts, Rotterdam, and Singapore as of Jan. 24, 1992; and (2) the ED Fuel Price Tax Series for countries of the Eastern Hemisphere, Jan. 1992 edition

Taiwan: refined need for consuming population

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hayes, David.

1995-01-01

A brief discussion is given of the oil and gas industry in Taiwan. Topics covered include the possibility of privatization, refineries and refining contracts overseas, plans for a new petrochemical complex and an offshore submarine transmission pipeline. (UK)

Effect of some grain refiners on the mechanical properties of aluminum

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Zaid, A.I.O.

2001-01-01

It is well established that aluminum and its alloys are grain refined by some refractory metals to enhance their surface qualities and mechanical strengths. In this paper, the literature on grain refining, and its mechanism is reviewed and discussed. Also, the effect of grain refining of commercially pure aluminum by the addition of titanium, boron, vanadium, molybdenum, and zirconium is investigated. The effect of each of these elements on grain size, hardness and mechanical behavior is presented and discussed. It was found that the addition of any of these elements except zirconium resulted in enhancement of grain size, hardness and mechanical strength. An increase of 2.1 % in flow stress of Al grain refined by Ti+B was achieved by addition of 0.1 % V at 0.2 strain. (author)

Refined 3d-3d correspondence

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Alday, Luis F.; Genolini, Pietro Benetti; Bullimore, Mathew; Loon, Mark van [Mathematical Institute, University of Oxford, Andrew Wiles Building,Radcliffe Observatory Quarter, Woodstock Road, Oxford, OX2 6GG (United Kingdom)

2017-04-28

We explore aspects of the correspondence between Seifert 3-manifolds and 3d N=2 supersymmetric theories with a distinguished abelian flavour symmetry. We give a prescription for computing the squashed three-sphere partition functions of such 3d N=2 theories constructed from boundary conditions and interfaces in a 4d N=2{sup ∗} theory, mirroring the construction of Seifert manifold invariants via Dehn surgery. This is extended to include links in the Seifert manifold by the insertion of supersymmetric Wilson-’t Hooft loops in the 4d N=2{sup ∗} theory. In the presence of a mass parameter for the distinguished flavour symmetry, we recover aspects of refined Chern-Simons theory with complex gauge group, and in particular construct an analytic continuation of the S-matrix of refined Chern-Simons theory.

The use of inulin as fat replacer and its effect on texture and sensory properties of emulsion type sausages

Science.gov (United States)

Berizi, E.; Shekarforoush, S. S.; Mohammadinezhad, S.; Hosseinzadeh, S.; Farahnaki, A.

2017-01-01

The present study aimed to investigate the possibility of reducing energy content in emulsion type sausages by replacing fat with inulin. In the manufactured product, the fat content was reduced to 6%-18% and replaced by inulin and water. The quality of the resulting product was determined by chemical and texture profile analyses (TPA), color measurement and sensory evaluation. The results showed that replacing fat with inulin led to a significant energy content reduction of up to 64% (with 6% inulin and 12% water). In addition, color measurement, sensory evaluation and TPA were comparable to the traditional product in the inulin treated samples. The overall acceptability of all experimental groups was adequate; therefore, inulin is suggested as a good replacement for fat in emulsion type sausages. PMID:29387097

SELECTION AND PRELIMINARY EVALUATION OF ALTERNATIVE REDUCTANTS FOR SRAT PROCESSING

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Stone, M.; Pickenheim, B.; Peeler, D.

2009-06-30

Defense Waste Processing Facility - Engineering (DWPF-E) has requested the Savannah River National Laboratory (SRNL) to perform scoping evaluations of alternative flowsheets with the primary focus on alternatives to formic acid during Chemical Process Cell (CPC) processing. The reductants shown below were selected for testing during the evaluation of alternative reductants for Sludge Receipt and Adjustment Tank (SRAT) processing. The reductants fall into two general categories: reducing acids and non-acidic reducing agents. Reducing acids were selected as direct replacements for formic acid to reduce mercury in the SRAT, to acidify the sludge, and to balance the melter REDuction/OXidation potential (REDOX). Non-acidic reductants were selected as melter reductants and would not be able to reduce mercury in the SRAT. Sugar was not tested during this scoping evaluation as previous work has already been conducted on the use of sugar with DWPF feeds. Based on the testing performed, the only viable short-term path to mitigating hydrogen generation in the CPC is replacement of formic acid with a mixture of glycolic and formic acids. An experiment using glycolic acid blended with formic on an 80:20 molar basis was able to reduce mercury, while also targeting a predicted REDuction/OXidation (REDOX) of 0.2 expressed as Fe{sup 2+}/{Sigma}Fe. Based on this result, SRNL recommends performing a complete CPC demonstration of the glycolic/formic acid flowsheet followed by a design basis development and documentation. Of the options tested recently and in the past, nitric/glycolic/formic blended acids has the potential for near term implementation in the existing CPC equipment providing rapid throughput improvement. Use of a non-acidic reductant is recommended only if the processing constraints to remove mercury and acidify the sludge acidification are eliminated. The non-acidic reductants (e.g. sugar) will not reduce mercury during CPC processing and sludge acidification would

Using atomic energy in the oil refining and petrochemical industry

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Feigin, E.A.; Barashkov, R.Ia.; Raud, E.A.

1982-01-01

A short description of the basic large scale processes for oil refining and petrochemistry in which nuclear reactors can be used is given. The possible industrial plans for using nuclear reactors are examined together with the problems in using the advances in atomic technology in oil refining and petrochemical processes.

The Three Rs of Animal Research: What they Mean for the Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee and Why.

Science.gov (United States)

Curzer, Howard J; Perry, Gad; Wallace, Mark C; Perry, Dan

2016-04-01

The Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee (IACUC) is entrusted with assessing the ethics of proposed projects prior to approval of animal research. The role of the IACUC is detailed in legislation and binding rules, which are in turn inspired by the Three Rs: the principles of Replacement, Reduction, and Refinement. However, these principles are poorly defined. Although this provides the IACUC leeway in assessing a proposed project, it also affords little guidance. Our goal is to provide procedural and philosophical clarity to the IACUC without mandating a particular outcome. To do this, we analyze the underlying logic of the Three Rs and conclude that the Three Rs accord animals moral standing, though not necessarily "rights" in the philosophical sense. We suggest that the Rs are hierarchical, such that Replacement, which can totally eliminate harm, should be considered prior to Reduction, which decreases the number of animals harmed, with Refinement being considered last. We also identify the need for a hitherto implicit fourth R: Reject, which allows the IACUC to refuse permission for a project which does not promise sufficient benefit to offset the pain and distress likely to be caused by the proposed research.

Repetitive Identification of Structural Systems Using a Nonlinear Model Parameter Refinement Approach

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Jeng-Wen Lin

2009-01-01

Full Text Available This paper proposes a statistical confidence interval based nonlinear model parameter refinement approach for the health monitoring of structural systems subjected to seismic excitations. The developed model refinement approach uses the 95% confidence interval of the estimated structural parameters to determine their statistical significance in a least-squares regression setting. When the parameters' confidence interval covers the zero value, it is statistically sustainable to truncate such parameters. The remaining parameters will repetitively undergo such parameter sifting process for model refinement until all the parameters' statistical significance cannot be further improved. This newly developed model refinement approach is implemented for the series models of multivariable polynomial expansions: the linear, the Taylor series, and the power series model, leading to a more accurate identification as well as a more controllable design for system vibration control. Because the statistical regression based model refinement approach is intrinsically used to process a “batch” of data and obtain an ensemble average estimation such as the structural stiffness, the Kalman filter and one of its extended versions is introduced to the refined power series model for structural health monitoring.

Influence of Total Knee Arthroplasty on Gait Mechanics of the Replaced and Non-Replaced Limb During Stair Negotiation.

Science.gov (United States)

Standifird, Tyler W; Saxton, Arnold M; Coe, Dawn P; Cates, Harold E; Reinbolt, Jeffrey A; Zhang, Songning

2016-01-01

This study compared biomechanics during stair ascent in replaced and non-replaced limbs of total knee arthroplasty (TKA) patients with control limbs of healthy participants. Thirteen TKA patients and fifteen controls performed stair ascent. Replaced and non-replaced knees of TKA patients were less flexed at contact compared to controls. The loading response peak knee extension moment was greater in control and non-replaced knees compared with replaced. The push-off peak knee abduction moment was elevated in replaced limbs compared to controls. Loading and push-off peak hip abduction moments were greater in replaced limbs compared to controls. The push-off peak hip abduction moment was greater in non-replaced limbs compared to controls. Future rehabilitation protocols should consider the replaced knee and also the non-replaced knee and surrounding joints. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Refining borders of genome-rearrangements including repetitions

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

JA Arjona-Medina

2016-10-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background DNA rearrangement events have been widely studied in comparative genomic for many years. The importance of these events resides not only in the study about relatedness among different species, but also to determine the mechanisms behind evolution. Although there are many methods to identify genome-rearrangements (GR, the refinement of their borders has become a huge challenge. Until now no accepted method exists to achieve accurate fine-tuning: i.e. the notion of breakpoint (BP is still an open issue, and despite repeated regions are vital to understand evolution they are not taken into account in most of the GR detection and refinement methods. Methods and results We propose a method to refine the borders of GR including repeated regions. Instead of removing these repetitions to facilitate computation, we take advantage of them using a consensus alignment sequence of the repeated region in between two blocks. Using the concept of identity vectors for Synteny Blocks (SB and repetitions, a Finite State Machine is designed to detect transition points in the difference between such vectors. The method does not force the BP to be a region or a point but depends on the alignment transitions within the SBs and repetitions. Conclusion The accurate definition of the borders of SB and repeated genomic regions and consequently the detection of BP might help to understand the evolutionary model of species. In this manuscript we present a new proposal for such a refinement. Features of the SBs borders and BPs are different and fit with what is expected. SBs with more diversity in annotations and BPs short and richer in DNA replication and stress response, which are strongly linked with rearrangements.

Refinement of the gross theory of nuclear {beta}-decay, and hindrance of the first-forbidden transition of rank 1

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Nakata, Hidehiko [Waseda Univ., Tokyo (Japan). Dept. of Physics; Tachibana, Takahiro; Yamada, Masami

1997-03-01

Recently the gross theory of nuclear {beta}-decay was refined for odd-odd nuclei. In this refinement, the effect of the selection rule of {beta}-transitions from the ground states of odd-odd nuclei to those of even-even nuclei was taken into account based on a statistical consideration. The transitions to the first 2{sup +} excited states in even-even nuclei were also taken into account according to the selection rule approximately. In that study, it was found that the transitions between 1{sup -} ground states of the odd-odd nuclei and 0{sup +} ground states of even-even nuclei, belonging to the first-forbidden transitions of rank 1, are strongly hindered. A reduction factor was introduced for the transitions to the ground states of even-even nuclei to take into account this hindrance. It was also found that the strength functions of the Gamow-Teller transitions obtained from the conventional gross theory are underestimated by a factor of about 3. In order to improve this underestimation, the Lorentz-type function was adopted for the one-particle strength function in the model instead of the hyperbolic-secant-type function. In the present study we have newly analyzed the experimental ft-values of odd-A nuclei, and found that the first-forbidden transitions of rank 1 are also considerably hindered between the ground states. Following the above refinement we have calculated the {beta}-ray spectra of some odd-odd short-lived fission products with the use of the refined gross theory. These results are compared not only with the experiments by Rudstam et al. but also with the conventional gross theory. (author)

Emission Reduction Potential with the Renewal of the Vehicle Fleet in Croatia

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Zidov, B.; Brlek, G.; Brajkovic, J.; Karan, M.

2015-01-01

The European Union has identified the typical areas of application of measures to tackle the problem of pollutants emissions into the air. Road transport is recognized as the largest polluter of the environment and an increase in CO2 emissions is most difficult to suppress in this type of transport. Looking at the projected trend of emission reductions in Croatia, it is clear that for achieving the minimum targets by 2050, as proposed by the European Union, implementation of the very strong measures in the coming period will be inevitable. The main aim of the paper refers to the analysis of potential emission reduction of pollutants generated by passenger vehicles registered in Croatia, assuming the implementation of measures that will result in technological renewal of the fleet at the national level. Generally considering, passenger cars before the Euro 1 standard, Euro 1 and Euro 2 standards together emit nearly 40 percent of all CO2 emissions generated by passenger cars registered in Croatia. Assuming replacement of all cars up to and including Euro 2, with Euro 6 vehicles, and taking into account certain assumptions, the potential reductions in emissions of NOx, CO, CH4 and particles were quantified. The potential reduction in NOx emissions is approximately 3,061 tons, in CO emissions approximately 14482 tons, in CH4 approximately 114 tons and in particulate matter approximately 257 tons. Depending on the engine size, with the replacement of the typical gasoline 20 years old passenger vehicle with the new one, without changing the driving mode, annual savings of up to 209 liters of gasoline fuel and reduction of CO2 emissions by 475 kg could be achieved (according to the assumptions described in the paper). With the replacement of diesel vehicles under the same conditions, the savings of up to 311 liters of diesel fuel annually and reduction of CO2 emissions by 815 kg could be achieved. (author).

Grain refinement of AZ31 by (SiC)P: Theoretical calculation and experiment

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Guenther, R.; Hartig, Ch.; Bormann, R.

2006-01-01

Grain refinement of gravity die-cast Mg-alloys can be achieved via two methods: in situ refinement by primary precipitated metallic or intermetallic phases, and inoculation of the melt via ceramic particles that remain stable in the melt due to their high thermodynamic stability. In order to clarify grain refinement mechanisms and optimize possible potent refiners in Mg-alloys, a simulation method for heterogeneous nucleation based on a free growth model has been developed. It allows the prediction of the grain size as a function of the particle size distribution, the volumetric content of ceramic inoculants, the cooling rate and the alloy constitution. The model assumptions were examined experimentally by a study of the grain refinement of (SiC) P in AZ31. Additions of (SiC) P result in significant grain refinement, if appropriate parameters for ceramic particles are chosen. The model makes quantitatively correct predictions for the grain size and its variation with cooling rate

Process for refining shale bitumen

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Plauson, H

1920-09-19

A process is disclosed for refining shale bitumen for use as heavy mineral oil, characterized by mixtures of blown hard shale pitch and heavy mineral oil being blown with hot air at temperatures of 120 to 150/sup 0/ with 1 to 3 percent sulfur, and if necessary with 0.5 to 3 percent of an aldehyde.

Multigrid for refined triangle meshes

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Shapira, Yair

1997-02-01

A two-level preconditioning method for the solution of (locally) refined finite element schemes using triangle meshes is introduced. In the isotropic SPD case, it is shown that the condition number of the preconditioned stiffness matrix is bounded uniformly for all sufficiently regular triangulations. This is also verified numerically for an isotropic diffusion problem with highly discontinuous coefficients.

Hip Replacement: MedlinePlus Health Topic

Science.gov (United States)

... invasive hip replacement (Medical Encyclopedia) Also in Spanish Topic Image MedlinePlus Email Updates Get Hip Replacement updates ... replacement - precautions Minimally invasive hip replacement Related Health Topics Hip Injuries and Disorders National Institutes of Health ...

Unit-cell refinement from powder diffraction scans

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Pawley, G.S.

1981-01-01

A procedure for the refinement of the crystal unit cell from a powder diffraction scan is presented. In this procedure knowledge of the crystal structure is not required, and at the end of the refinement a list of indexed intensities is produced. This list may well be usable as the starting point for the application of direct methods. The problems of least-squares ill-conditioning due to overlapping reflections are overcome by constraints. An example using decafluorocyclohexene, C 6 F 10 , shows the quality of fit obtained in a case which may even be a false minimum. The method should become more relevant as powder scans of improved resolution become available, through the use of pulsed neutron sources. (Auth.)

Refining crude oils and gasolines, etc

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

1931-11-23

A process of refining crude oils and gasolines distilled from shale and the like is described, consisting of submitting them to a prewash with soda, an oxidation preferably with hypochlorite solution, a hydrogenation with nascent hydrogen, and finally rectification and neutralization.

Aorto-right atrial fistula after ascending aortic replacement or aortic value replacement

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Zhi Aihua; Dai Ruping; Jiang Shiliang; Lu Bin

2012-01-01

Objective: To evaluate the CT features of aorto-right atrial fistula after aortic valve replacement (AVR) or ascending aortic replacement. Methods: Eighty-seven patients with aortic-right atrial fistula underwent CT after operation. The CT features were retrospectively analyzed. Fistula was measured according to maximum width of the shunt. Results: Aorto-right atrial fistula was detected in 87 patients after aortic valve replacement or ascending aortic replacement by CT scan. Among them, 25 patients were diagnosed as mild aorto-right atrial fistula, 47 patients as moderate, and 15 patients as severe. Thirty-seven patients underwent follow-up CT.Among them, 10 patients with mild to moderate aorto-right atrial fistula were considered to have complete regression, 8 patients with mild aorto-right atrial fistula considered to have incomplete regression, 14 patients with mild to moderate aorto-right atrial fistula considered to have stable condition, and 5 patients with moderate aorto-right atrial fistula considered to have progression at the 3-month follow-up. Conclusion: CT is a useful tool for defining aorto-right atrial fistula after AVR or ascending aortic replacement and for evaluating it in follow-up. (authors)

Mineral Replacement Reactions as a Precursor to Strain Localisation: an (HR-)EBSD approach

Science.gov (United States)

Gardner, J.; Wheeler, J.; Wallis, D.; Hansen, L. N.; Mariani, E.

2017-12-01

Much remains to be learned about the links between metamorphism and deformation. Our work investigates the behaviour of fluid-mediated mineral replacement reaction products when exposed to subsequent shear stresses. We focus on albite from a metagabbro that has experienced metamorphism and subsequent deformation at greenschist facies, resulting in a reduction in grain size and associated strain localisation. EBSD maps show that prior to grain size reduction, product grains are highly distorted, yet they formed, and subsequently deformed, at temperatures at which extensive dislocation creep is unlikely. The Weighted Burgers Vector can be used to quantitatively describe the types of Burgers vectors present in geometrically necessary dislocation (GND) populations derived from 2-D EBSD map data. Application of this technique to the distorted product grains reveals the prominence of, among others, dislocations with apparent [010] Burgers vectors. This supports (with some caveats) the idea that dislocation creep is not responsible for the observed lattice distortion, as there are no known slip systems in plagioclase with a [010] Burgers vector. Distortion in a replacement microstructure has also been attributed to the presence of nanoscale product grains, which share very similar, but not identical, orientations due to topotactic nucleation from adjacent sites on the same substrate. As a precipitate, the product grains should be expected to be largely free of elastic strain. However, high angular resolution EBSD results demonstrate that product grains contain both elastic strains (> 10-3) and residual stresses (several hundred MPa), as well as GND densities on the order of 1014-1015 m-2. Thus we suggest the observed distortion (elastic strain plus rotations) in the lattice is produced during the mineral replacement reaction by a lattice mismatch and volume change between parent and product. Stored strain energy then provides a driving force for recovery and

A conformation-dependent stereochemical library improves crystallographic refinement even at atomic resolution

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Tronrud, Dale E.; Karplus, P. Andrew

2011-01-01

A script was created to allow SHELXL to use the new CDL v.1.2 stereochemical library which defines the target values for main-chain bond lengths and angles as a function of the residue’s ϕ/ψ angles. Test refinements using this script show that the refinement behavior of structures at resolutions even better than 1 Å is substantially enhanced by the use of the new conformation-dependent ideal geometry paradigm. To utilize a new conformation-dependent backbone-geometry library (CDL) in protein refinements at atomic resolution, a script was written that creates a restraint file for the SHELXL refinement program. It was found that the use of this library allows models to be created that have a substantially better fit to main-chain bond angles and lengths without degrading their fit to the X-ray data even at resolutions near 1 Å. For models at much higher resolution (∼0.7 Å), the refined model for parts adopting single well occupied positions is largely independent of the restraints used, but these structures still showed much smaller r.m.s.d. residuals when assessed with the CDL. Examination of the refinement tests across a wide resolution range from 2.4 to 0.65 Å revealed consistent behavior supporting the use of the CDL as a next-generation restraint library to improve refinement. CDL restraints can be generated using the service at http://pgd.science.oregonstate.edu/cdl_shelxl/

Refining mass formulas for astrophysical applications: A Bayesian neural network approach

Science.gov (United States)

Utama, R.; Piekarewicz, J.

2017-10-01

Background: Exotic nuclei, particularly those near the drip lines, are at the core of one of the fundamental questions driving nuclear structure and astrophysics today: What are the limits of nuclear binding? Exotic nuclei play a critical role in both informing theoretical models as well as in our understanding of the origin of the heavy elements. Purpose: Our aim is to refine existing mass models through the training of an artificial neural network that will mitigate the large model discrepancies far away from stability. Methods: The basic paradigm of our two-pronged approach is an existing mass model that captures as much as possible of the underlying physics followed by the implementation of a Bayesian neural network (BNN) refinement to account for the missing physics. Bayesian inference is employed to determine the parameters of the neural network so that model predictions may be accompanied by theoretical uncertainties. Results: Despite the undeniable quality of the mass models adopted in this work, we observe a significant improvement (of about 40%) after the BNN refinement is implemented. Indeed, in the specific case of the Duflo-Zuker mass formula, we find that the rms deviation relative to experiment is reduced from σrms=0.503 MeV to σrms=0.286 MeV. These newly refined mass tables are used to map the neutron drip lines (or rather "drip bands") and to study a few critical r -process nuclei. Conclusions: The BNN approach is highly successful in refining the predictions of existing mass models. In particular, the large discrepancy displayed by the original "bare" models in regions where experimental data are unavailable is considerably quenched after the BNN refinement. This lends credence to our approach and has motivated us to publish refined mass tables that we trust will be helpful for future astrophysical applications.

A Canadian refiner's perspective of synthetic crudes

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Halford, T.L.; McIntosh, A.P.; Rasmussen

1997-01-01

Some of the factors affecting a refiner's choice of crude oil include refinery hardware, particularly gas oil crackers, products slate and product specifications, crude availability, relative crude price and crude quality. An overview of synthetic crude, the use of synthetic crude combined with other crudes and a comparison of synthetic crude with conventional crude oil was given. The two main users of synthetic crude are basically two groups of refiners, those large groups who use synthetic crude combined with other crudes, and a smaller group who run synthetic crude on specially designed units as a sole feed. The effects of changes in fuel legislation were reviewed. It was predicted that the changes will have a mixed impact on the value of synthetic crude, but low sulphur diesel regulations and gasoline sulphur regulations will make current synthetic crudes attractive. The big future change with a negative impact will be diesel cetane increases to reduce engine emissions. This will reduce synthetic crude attractiveness due to distillate yields and quality and high gas oil yields. Similarly, any legislation limiting aromatics in diesel fuel will also make synthetic crudes less attractive. Problems experienced by refiners with hardware dedicated to synthetic crude (salt, naphthenic acid, fouling, quality variations) were also reviewed. 3 tabs

A Facile Fabrication of Silver-Coated Copper Nanowires by Galvanic Replacement

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Xin He

2016-01-01

Full Text Available We demonstrated a general strategy to fabricate silver-coated copper nanowires by a galvanic replacement, which is guided by the chemical principle that metal ions (silver ions with a relatively high reduction potential can galvanically etch nanostructure made from a less metal (copper. Well-dispersed and high-yielded copper nanowires were initially synthesized and then introduced into silver-ammonia solution for the growth of silver nanocrystals on the nanowire surfaces under vigorous oscillation. The results of X-ray diffraction, scanning electron microscope, and transmission electron microscope revealed that the silver nanocrystals were uniformly distributed on the copper nanowire surfaces to form Cu-Ag heterostructures. The concentration of silver-ammonia solution and the time of replacement reaction determine the size and density of the silver nanocrystals. Our investigation might pave the way to the synthesis of other bimetallic nanostructures via a facile, fast, and economical route.

Concrete manufactured with crushed asphalt as partial replacement of natural aggregates

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

L. Coppola

2016-09-01

Full Text Available The paper focuses on the reuse of crushed asphalt (GA as a partial replacement (up to 20% of natural aggregates for concrete manufacture. Addition of GA aggregates produced a positive effect on workability loss. The GA mixes, however, showed a significant tendency to bleed and segregate at the highest replacement percentage applied. GA led to a decrease of compressive strength in concrete (with respect to that of the reference concrete up to 50% due to the weakness of the cement paste / recycled aggregate interface. To compensate for this negative effect, a reduction of w/c for the GA concretes was necessary. A decrease of w/c allowed the GA concretes to show drying shrinkage values substantially similar to those of reference concrete with the same cement factor. The experimental results confirmed the possibility of partial substitution (max. 15% of natural aggregates with crushed asphalt for making concrete.

The Generation of AlmFe in Dilute Aluminium Alloys with Different Grain Refining Additions

Science.gov (United States)

Meredith, M. W.; Greer, A. L.; Evans, P. V.; Hamerton, R. G.

Al13Fe4, Al6Fe and AlmFe are common intermetallics in commercial AA1XXX series Al alloys. Grain-refining additions (based on either Al-Ti-B or Al-Ti-C) are usually added to such alloys during solidification processing to aid the grain structure development. They also influence the favoured intermetallic and, hence, can affect the materials' properties. This work simulates commercial casting practices in an attempt to determine the mechanisms by which one intermetallic phase is favoured over another by the introduction of grain-refining additions. Directional solidification experiments on Al-0.3wt.%Fe-0.15wt.%Si with and without grain refiner are conducted using Bridgman apparatus. The type, amount and effectiveness of the grain-refining additions are altered and the resulting intermetallic phase selection followed. The materials are characterised using optical microscopy, scanning electron microscopy and X-ray diffraction. AlmFe is seen to form when Al-Ti-B grain-refiner is introduced but only when the refinement is successful; reducing the effectiveness of the refiner led to Al6Fe forming under all conditions. Al-Ti-C refiners are seen to promote AlmFe at lower solidification velocities than when Al-Ti-B was used even though the grain structure was not as refined. These trends can be explained within existing eutectic theory, by considering growth undercooling.

Grain Refinement of Commercial EC Grade 1070 Aluminium Alloy for Electrical Application

OpenAIRE

Hassanabadi, Massoud

2015-01-01

The aluminium alloys for electrical conductivity applications are generally not grain refinedsince the addition of grain refiners drops the electrical conductivity by introducing impuritiesinto the melt. Non-grain refined aluminium may lead to bar fracture and cracks during themetalworking process. The present study focuses to find an optimum balance between the grain refiner addition andthe electrical conductivity of commercial EC grade 1070 aluminium alloy for electricalapplication. In orde...

Refined Fuchs inequalities for systems of linear differential equations

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Gontsov, R R

2004-01-01

We refine the Fuchs inequalities obtained by Corel for systems of linear meromorphic differential equations given on the Riemann sphere. Fuchs inequalities enable one to estimate the sum of exponents of the system over all its singular points. We refine these well-known inequalities by considering the Jordan structure of the leading coefficient of the Laurent series for the matrix of the right-hand side of the system in the neighbourhood of a singular point

Minimally invasive aortic valve replacement

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Foghsgaard, Signe; Schmidt, Thomas Andersen; Kjaergard, Henrik K

2009-01-01

In this descriptive prospective study, we evaluate the outcomes of surgery in 98 patients who were scheduled to undergo minimally invasive aortic valve replacement. These patients were compared with a group of 50 patients who underwent scheduled aortic valve replacement through a full sternotomy...... operations were completed as mini-sternotomies, 4 died later of noncardiac causes. The aortic cross-clamp and perfusion times were significantly different across all groups (P replacement...... is an excellent operation in selected patients, but its true advantages over conventional aortic valve replacement (other than a smaller scar) await evaluation by means of randomized clinical trial. The "extended mini-aortic valve replacement" operation, on the other hand, is a risky procedure that should...

Rising costs call for new European refining strategies

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Sweeney, B.N.C.

1993-01-01

The outlook for the global refining industry is for increased spending and reduced margins, largely because of efforts to improve the environment. A look at these trends through the end of the decade is thus in order. Three major industry thrusts are proposed to see refiners through this uncertain period. Three main thrusts are necessary: fixed costs must be reduced by re-engineering business processes and reexamining noncore business units against total and marginal costs. In this respect the best refiners are well ahead of the good ones. New cooperative ways of meeting regulations must be sought, to avoid wasteful over capacity. Joint ventures and alliances with competitors will be needed. The cooperative principle upstream must be extended and new strategies must be sought to meet product demand changes and reduce feedstock costs. The picture that is presented is tough, largely because of the wish to improve the environment. The question that must be continually reviewed is ''Have governments got the right balance in these regulations between the environment and the downstream industry?''

Stability studies on refined soybean oil stored in various conditions

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Arawande, J.O.; Amoo, I.A.

2008-01-01

The 12 months stability study of freshly produced refined soybean oil revealed that refined soybean oil stored in plastic containers in dark was more hydrolytically and oxidatively stable than that stored in other containers in light condition. There was no significant difference at P < 0.05 in free fatty acids and acid value of oil stored under light and dark conditions in tin and glass containers but there was significant difference at P < 0.05 in peroxide value of oil stored in light and dark conditions in all the storage containers. Light increased the degree of oxidative rancidity of refined soybean oil, the most in tin containers, followed by glass containers and the least in plastic containers. (author)

Atlantic Basin refining profitability

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Jones, R.J.

1998-01-01

A review of the profitability margins of oil refining in the Atlantic Basin was presented. Petroleum refiners face the continuous challenge of balancing supply with demand. It would appear that the profitability margins in the Atlantic Basin will increase significantly in the near future because of shrinking supply surpluses. Refinery capacity utilization has reached higher levels than ever before. The American Petroleum Institute reported that in August 1997, U.S. refineries used 99 per cent of their capacity for several weeks in a row. U.S. gasoline inventories have also declined as the industry has focused on reducing capital costs. This is further evidence that supply and demand are tightly balanced. Some of the reasons for tightening supplies were reviewed. It was predicted that U.S. gasoline demand will continue to grow in the near future. Gasoline demand has not declined as expected because new vehicles are not any more fuel efficient today than they were a decade ago. Although federally-mandated fuel efficiency standards were designed to lower gasoline consumption, they may actually have prevented consumption from falling. Atlantic margins were predicted to continue moving up because of the supply and demand evidence: high capacity utilization rates, low operating inventories, limited capacity addition resulting from lower capital spending, continued U.S. gasoline demand growth, and steady total oil demand growth. 11 figs

The effect of refining step on the changes in viscosity values of vegetable oils

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ergonul, P.G.

2013-01-01

In this work, the viscosity values of chemically refined vegetable oils (sunflower, corn, soybean and rapeseed) and physically refined vegetable oils (olive and palm) were determined during refining processes. At this point of view, fatty acid compositions and viscosity values of oil samples were determined. The edible vegetable oils presented Newtonian behavior in shear rates at ranges 6.28-20.93 s/sup -1/. It was observed that palm oil is more viscous than the others. During physical refining, the effect of both oil type and refining steps were significantly important, whereas in chemical refining only the effect of oil type was found statistically important (p<0.01). It was observed that correlation among fatty acid compositions and viscosity values of the samples showed differences according to oil type. (author)

Hybrid direct and iterative solvers for h refined grids with singularities

KAUST Repository

Paszyński, Maciej R.; Paszyńska, Anna; Dalcin, Lisandro; Calo, Victor M.

2015-01-01

on top of it. The hybrid solver is applied for two or three dimensional grids automatically h refined towards point or edge singularities. The automatic refinement is based on the relative error estimations between the coarse and fine mesh solutions [2

Panorama 2016 - Refining outlook for 2035

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Marion, Pierre; Saint-Antonin, Valerie

2015-12-01

The rising influence of objectives intended to address the energy transition in global industry helps to perpetuate a high degree of uncertainty about changes in the transportation sector, currently a bastion of the oil industry. How can the growing need for individual mobility be met while reducing Greenhouse Gas (GHG) emissions in a world of open international competition? The refining sector is gaining strength in Asia and the Middle East to the detriment of Europe and North America, reflecting demand and the intrinsic competitiveness of various geographic regions. The 2025 worldwide roll-out (2020 in Europe) of a bunker fuel grade below 0.5 wt% (percentage by weight) in sulphur could experience delays, given the number of installations to be completed. Finally, the reversal of the 'all diesel' trend in the European transport market is a positive change for the European refining industry. (authors)

Tree automata-based refinement with application to Horn clause verification

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Kafle, Bishoksan; Gallagher, John Patrick

2015-01-01

In this paper we apply tree-automata techniques to refinement of abstract interpretation in Horn clause verification. We go beyond previous work on refining trace abstractions; firstly we handle tree automata rather than string automata and thereby can capture traces in any Horn clause derivation...... compare the results with other state of the art Horn clause verification tools....

The regulations concerning refining business of nuclear source material and nuclear fuel materials

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

1979-01-01

The regulations are provided for under the law for the regulations of nuclear source materials, nuclear fuel materials and reactors and provisions concerning refining business in the enforcement order for the law. The basic concepts and terms are defined, such as: exposure dose, accumulative dose; controlled area; inspected surrounding area and employee. Refining facilities listed in the application for designation shall be classified into clushing and leaching, thickning, refining facilities, storage facilities of nuclear source materials and nuclear fuel materials, disposal facilities of contaminated substances and building for refining, etc. Business program attached to the application shall include expected time of beginning of refining, estimated production amount of nuclear source materials or nuclear fuel materials for the first three years and funds necessary for construction, etc. Records shall be made and kept for particular periods on delivery and storage of nuclear source materials and nuclear fuel materials, control of radiation, maintenance and accidents of refining facilities. Safety securing, application of internationally regulated substances and measures in dangerous situations are stipulated respectively. Exposure dose of employees and other specified matters shall be reported by the refiner yearly to the Director General of Science and Technology Agency and the Minister of International Trade and Industry. (Okada, K.)

Catalysts in petroleum refining and petrochemical industries 1995

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Absi-Halabi, M.; Beshara, J.; Qabazard, H.; Stanislaus, A. [eds.] [Petroleum, Petrochemicals and Materials Division, Kuwait Institute of Scientific Research, Kuwait (Kuwait)

1996-07-01

Catalysis plays an increasingly critical role in modern petroleum refining and basic petrochemical industries. The market demands for and specifications of petroleum and petrochemical products are continuously changing. They have impacted the industry significantly over the past twenty years. Numerous new refining processes have been developed and significant improvements were made on existing technologies. Catalysts have been instrumental in enabling the industry to meet the continuous challenges posed by the market. As we enter the 21st century, new challenges for catalysis science and technology are anticipated in almost every field. Particularly, better utilization of petroleum resources and demands for cleaner transportation fuels are major items on the agenda. It is against this background that the 2nd International Conference on Catalysts in Petroleum Refining and Petrochemical Industries was organized. The papers from the conference were carefully selected from around 100 submissions. They were a mix of reviews providing an overview of selected areas, original fundamental research results, and industrial experiences. The papers in the proceedings were grouped in the following sections for quick reference: Plenary Papers; Hydroprocessing of Petroleum Residues and Distillates; Fluid Catalytic Cracking; Oxidation Catalysis; Aromatization and Polymerization Catalysis; Catalyst Characterization and Performance. The plenary papers were mostly reviews covering important topics related to the objectives of the conference. The remaining sections cover various topics of major impact on modern petroleum refining and petrochemical industries. A large number of papers dealt with hydroprocessing of petroleum distillates and residues which reflects the concern over meeting future sulfur-level specifications for diesel and fuel oils

The role of nuclear power in the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Baratta, A.J.

2010-01-01

Nuclear energy is a low greenhouse gas emitter and is capable of providing large amounts of power using proven technology. In the immediate future, it can contribute to greenhouse gas reduction but only on a modest scale, replacing a portion of the electricity produced by coal fired power plants. While it has the potential to do more, there are significant resource issues that must be addressed if nuclear power is to replace coal or natural gas as a source of electricity

Task Refinement for Autonomous Robots using Complementary Corrective Human Feedback

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Cetin Mericli

2011-06-01

Full Text Available A robot can perform a given task through a policy that maps its sensed state to appropriate actions. We assume that a hand-coded controller can achieve such a mapping only for the basic cases of the task. Refining the controller becomes harder and gets more tedious and error prone as the complexity of the task increases. In this paper, we present a new learning from demonstration approach to improve the robot's performance through the use of corrective human feedback as a complement to an existing hand-coded algorithm. The human teacher observes the robot as it performs the task using the hand-coded algorithm and takes over the control to correct the behavior when the robot selects a wrong action to be executed. Corrections are captured as new state-action pairs and the default controller output is replaced by the demonstrated corrections during autonomous execution when the current state of the robot is decided to be similar to a previously corrected state in the correction database. The proposed approach is applied to a complex ball dribbling task performed against stationary defender robots in a robot soccer scenario, where physical Aldebaran Nao humanoid robots are used. The results of our experiments show an improvement in the robot's performance when the default hand-coded controller is augmented with corrective human demonstration.

Partial knee replacement - slideshow

Science.gov (United States)

... page: //medlineplus.gov/ency/presentations/100225.htm Partial knee replacement - series—Normal anatomy To use the sharing ... A.M. Editorial team. Related MedlinePlus Health Topics Knee Replacement A.D.A.M., Inc. is accredited ...

24 CFR 891.405 - Replacement reserve.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-04-01

... 24 Housing and Urban Development 4 2010-04-01 2010-04-01 false Replacement reserve. 891.405....405 Replacement reserve. (a) Establishment of reserve. The Owner shall establish and maintain a replacement reserve to aid in funding extraordinary maintenance and repair and replacement of capital items...

Profex: a graphical user interface for the Rietveld refinement program BGMN.

Science.gov (United States)

Doebelin, Nicola; Kleeberg, Reinhard

2015-10-01

Profex is a graphical user interface for the Rietveld refinement program BGMN . Its interface focuses on preserving BGMN 's powerful and flexible scripting features by giving direct access to BGMN input files. Very efficient workflows for single or batch refinements are achieved by managing refinement control files and structure files, by providing dialogues and shortcuts for many operations, by performing operations in the background, and by providing import filters for CIF and XML crystal structure files. Refinement results can be easily exported for further processing. State-of-the-art graphical export of diffraction patterns to pixel and vector graphics formats allows the creation of publication-quality graphs with minimum effort. Profex reads and converts a variety of proprietary raw data formats and is thus largely instrument independent. Profex and BGMN are available under an open-source license for Windows, Linux and OS X operating systems.

Stable grid refinement and singular source discretization for seismic wave simulations

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Petersson, N A; Sjogreen, B

2009-10-30

An energy conserving discretization of the elastic wave equation in second order formulation is developed for a composite grid, consisting of a set of structured rectangular component grids with hanging nodes on the grid refinement interface. Previously developed summation-by-parts properties are generalized to devise a stable second order accurate coupling of the solution across mesh refinement interfaces. The discretization of singular source terms of point force and point moment tensor type are also studied. Based on enforcing discrete moment conditions that mimic properties of the Dirac distribution and its gradient, previous single grid formulas are generalized to work in the vicinity of grid refinement interfaces. These source discretization formulas are shown to give second order accuracy in the solution, with the error being essentially independent of the distance between the source and the grid refinement boundary. Several numerical examples are given to illustrate the properties of the proposed method.

Demand, deregulation may attract more refiners to Asia

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Rhodes, A.K.

1995-01-01

As a result of rapidly increasing demand, major oil companies are eyeing Asian oil and gas markets more closely than ever. Higher earnings can be expected there than in the US or Europe, where product markets--especially light products--are expected to tighten long-term. Of the nations with growing requirements for refined products, China and India offer greater opportunity for foreign investors to enter downstream projects. Also offering excellent business prospects are Thailand, Malaysia, and Indonesia. The paper discusses oil demand, products, refining capacity, and capacity additions in Japan, South Korea, Taiwan, Singapore, India, Indonesia, Malaysia, and China

The Refining Mechanism of Super Gravity on the Solidification Structure of Al-Cu Alloys

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Yuhou Yang

2016-12-01

Full Text Available There is far less study of the refining effect of super gravity fields on solidification structures of metals than of the effects of electrical currents, magnetic and ultrasonic fields. Moreover, the refining mechanisms of super gravity are far from clear. This study applied a super gravity field to Al-Cu alloys to investigate its effect on refining their structures and the mechanism of interaction. The experimental results showed that the solidification structure of Al-Cu alloys can be greatly refined by a super gravity field. The major refining effect was mainly achieved when super gravity was applied at the initial solidification stage; only slight refinement could be obtained towards the end of solidification. No refinement was obtained by the super gravity treatment on pure liquid or solid stages. The effectiveness of super gravity results from its promoting the multiplication of crystal nuclei, which we call “Heavy Crystal Rain”, thereby greatly strengthening the migration of crystal nuclei within the alloy. Increasing the solute Cu content can increase nucleation density and restrict the growth of crystals, which further increases the refining effect of super gravity. Within this paper, we also discuss the motile behavior of crystals in a field of super gravity.

Effect of grain refinement on the fluidity of two commercial Al-Si foundry alloys

Science.gov (United States)

Dahle, A. K.; Tøndel, P. A.; Paradies, C. J.; Arnberg, L.

1996-08-01

The effect of grain refinement on the fluidity of AlSi7Mg and AlSi11Mg has been investigated by spiral tests. Two different types of grain refiners have been evaluated. An AlTi5Bl master alloy was added to different Ti contents. Since the commercial alloys had a high initial content of titanium, model alloys were made to investigate the fluidity at low grain refiner additions. Commercial alloys grain refined only by boron additions have also been investigated. The results from the fluidity measurements have been verified by measuring the dendrite coherency point of the different cast alloys. Although different, the two methods show similar trends. The spirals from each fraction grain refiner cast were subsequently investigated metallographically at the tip of the spirals and at a reference point a distance behind, but no obvious difference in structure was observed. For both alloys, an increase in fluidity is observed as the content of grain refiner increases above 0.12 pct Ti, while the fluidity is impaired with increased grain refinement below 0.12 pct Ti. The alloys grain refined with ~0.015 pct B show the highest fraction solid at dendrite coherency, the smallest grain size, and the best fluidity.