Damage Localization of Severely Damaged RC-Structures Based on Measured Eigenperiods from a Single Response

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Skjærbæk, P. S.; Nielsen, Søren R.K.; Cakmak, A. S.

This paper deals with the estimation of the damage location of severely damaged Reinforced Concrete (RC) structures excited by earthquakes. It is assumed that the building is instrumented with a sensor measuring the earthquake acceleration signal at ground surface and a sensor measuring only...

Melcor benchmarking against integral severe fuel damage tests

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Madni, I.K. [Brookhaven National Lab., Upton, NY (United States)

1995-09-01

MELCOR is a fully integrated computer code that models all phases of the progression of severe accidents in light water reactor nuclear power plants, and is being developed for the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) by Sandia National Laboratories (SNL). Brookhaven National Laboratory (BNL) has a program with the NRC to provide independent assessment of MELCOR, and a very important part of this program is to benchmark MELCOR against experimental data from integral severe fuel damage tests and predictions of that data from more mechanistic codes such as SCDAP or SCDAP/RELAP5. Benchmarking analyses with MELCOR have been carried out at BNL for five integral severe fuel damage tests, namely, PBF SFD 1-1, SFD 14, and NRU FLHT-2, analyses, and their role in identifying areas of modeling strengths and weaknesses in MELCOR.

Physically-based Assessment of Tropical Cyclone Damage and Economic Losses

Science.gov (United States)

Lin, N.

2012-12-01

Estimating damage and economic losses caused by tropical cyclones (TC) is a topic of considerable research interest in many scientific fields, including meteorology, structural and coastal engineering, and actuarial sciences. One approach is based on the empirical relationship between TC characteristics and loss data. Another is to model the physical mechanism of TC-induced damage. In this talk we discuss about the physically-based approach to predict TC damage and losses due to extreme wind and storm surge. We first present an integrated vulnerability model, which, for the first time, explicitly models the essential mechanisms causing wind damage to residential areas during storm passage, including windborne-debris impact and the pressure-debris interaction that may lead, in a chain reaction, to structural failures (Lin and Vanmarcke 2010; Lin et al. 2010a). This model can be used to predict the economic losses in a residential neighborhood (with hundreds of buildings) during a specific TC (Yau et al. 2011) or applied jointly with a TC risk model (e.g., Emanuel et al 2008) to estimate the expected losses over long time periods. Then we present a TC storm surge risk model that has been applied to New York City (Lin et al. 2010b; Lin et al. 2012; Aerts et al. 2012), Miami-Dade County, Florida (Klima et al. 2011), Galveston, Texas (Lickley, 2012), and other coastal areas around the world (e.g., Tampa, Florida; Persian Gulf; Darwin, Australia; Shanghai, China). These physically-based models are applicable to various coastal areas and have the capability to account for the change of the climate and coastal exposure over time. We also point out that, although made computationally efficient for risk assessment, these models are not suitable for regional or global analysis, which has been a focus of the empirically-based economic analysis (e.g., Hsiang and Narita 2012). A future research direction is to simplify the physically-based models, possibly through

Exploring aggregate economic damage functions due to climate change

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Dowlatabadi, H.; Kandlikar, M.; Patwardhan, A. [and others

1994-12-31

A number of issues need to be considered when developing aggregated economic damage functions due to climate change. These include: (i) identification of production processes vulnerable to climate change, (ii) an understanding of the mechanism of vulnerability, (iii) the rate of technological advance and diffusion (iv) the issue of detection of damages and availability of response options. In this paper we will explore the implications of these considerations with the aid of an illustrative model. The findings suggest that there is a significant upward bias in damage functions calculated without consideration of these issues. Furthermore, this systematic bias is larger as climate change increases. We believe the approach explored here is a more suitable model for adoption in future integrated assessments of climate change.

Exploring aggregate economic damage functions due to climate change

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Dowlatabadi, H.; Kandlikar, M.; Patwardhan, A.

1994-01-01

A number of issues need to be considered when developing aggregated economic damage functions due to climate change. These include: (1) identification of production processes vulnerable to climate change, (2) an understanding of the mechanism of vulnerability, (3) the rate of technological advance and diffusion, (4) the issue of detection of damages and availability of response options. In this paper the authors will explore the implications of these considerations with the aid of an illustrative model. The findings suggest that there is a significant upward bias in damage functions calculated without consideration of these issues. Furthermore, this systematic bias is larger as climate change increases. The authors believe the approach explored here is a more suitable model for adoption in future integrated assessments of climate change

Severe fuel damage investigations of KFK/PNS

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Fiege, A.

1983-01-01

This report is a comprehensive review of the objectives, the program planning, the status and the further procedure of the investigations of KfK/PNS on severe core damage. The investigations were started in 1981 and will be finished in 1985/86. (orig.) [de

Climate change loss and damage. Economic and legal foundations

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Pinninti, Krishna Rao

2014-04-01

This text works to establish essential foundations and guidelines in the current process of providing strategies, mechanisms and resources for mitigating loss and damage from the adverse impacts of climate change and climate variability. This builds on the groundwork done by the UNFCCC and other entities to facilitate the processes at the international level, pursuing a pragmatic approach and the objective specification of relevant frameworks for further actions. The primary goal is the development of integrated approaches to the assessment and reduction of loss and damage due to climate change (including climate variability), encompassing both economic and legal dimensions.

Climate change loss and damage. Economic and legal foundations

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Pinninti, Krishna Rao

2014-01-01

This text works to establish essential foundations and guidelines in the current process of providing strategies, mechanisms and resources for mitigating loss and damage from the adverse impacts of climate change and climate variability. This builds on the groundwork done by the UNFCCC and other entities to facilitate the processes at the international level, pursuing a pragmatic approach and the objective specification of relevant frameworks for further actions. The primary goal is the development of integrated approaches to the assessment and reduction of loss and damage due to climate change (including climate variability), encompassing both economic and legal dimensions.

PBF severe fuel damage program: results and comparison to analysis

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

McDonald, P.E.; Buescher, B.J.; Gruen, G.E.; Hobbins, R.R.; McCardell, R.K.

1983-01-01

The United States Nuclear Regulatory Commission has initiated a severe fuel damage research program in the Power Burst Facility (PBF) to investigate fuel rod and core response, and fission product and hydrogen release and transport under degraded core cooling accident conditions. This paper presents a description of Phase I of the PBF Severe Fuel Damage Program, discusses the results of the first experiment, and compares those results with analysis performed using the TRAC-BD1 computer code

PBF Severe Fuel-Damage Program: results and comparison to analysis

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

MacDonald, P.E.; Buescher, B.J.; Hobbins, R.R.; McCardell, R.K.; Gruen, G.E.

1983-01-01

The United States Nuclear Regulatory Commission has initiated a severe fuel-damage research program in the Power Burst Facility (PBF) to investigate fuel-rod and core response, and fission-product and hydrogen release and transport under degraded-core-cooling accident conditions. This paper presents a description of Phase I of the PBF Severe Fuel Damage Program, discusses the results of the first experiment, and compares those results with analysis performed using the TRAC-BD1 computer code

Economic damages of ozone air pollution to crops using combined air quality and GIS modelling

Science.gov (United States)

Vlachokostas, Ch.; Nastis, S. A.; Achillas, Ch.; Kalogeropoulos, K.; Karmiris, I.; Moussiopoulos, N.; Chourdakis, E.; Banias, G.; Limperi, N.

2010-09-01

This study aims at presenting a combined air quality and GIS modelling methodological approach in order to estimate crop damages from photochemical air pollution, depict their spatial resolution and assess the order of magnitude regarding the corresponding economic damages. The analysis is conducted within the Greater Thessaloniki Area, Greece, a Mediterranean territory which is characterised by high levels of photochemical air pollution and considerable agricultural activity. Ozone concentration fields for 2002 and for specific emission reduction scenarios for the year 2010 were estimated with the Ozone Fine Structure model in the area under consideration. Total economic damage to crops turns out to be significant and estimated to be approximately 43 M€ for the reference year. Production of cotton presents the highest economic loss, which is over 16 M€, followed by table tomato (9 M€), rice (4.2 M€), wheat (4 M€) and oilseed rape (2.8 M€) cultivations. Losses are not spread uniformly among farmers and the major losses occur in areas with valuable ozone-sensitive crops. The results are very useful for highlighting the magnitude of the total economic impacts of photochemical air pollution to the area's agricultural sector and can potentially be used for comparison with studies worldwide. Furthermore, spatial analysis of the economic damage could be of importance for governmental authorities and decision makers since it provides an indicative insight, especially if the economic instruments such as financial incentives or state subsidies to farmers are considered.

Precursors to potential severe core damage accidents: 1992, A status report

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Cox, D.F.; Cletcher, J.W.; Copinger, D.A.; Cross-Dial, A.E.; Morris, R.H.; Vanden Heuvel, L.N.; Dolan, B.W.; Jansen, J.M.; Minarick, J.W.; Lau, W.; Salyer, W.D.

1993-12-01

Twenty-seven operational events with conditional probabilities of subsequent severe core damage of 1.0 x 10E-06 or higher occurring at commercial light-water reactors during 1992 are considered to be precursors to potential core damage. These are described along with associated significance estimates, categorization, and subsequent analyses. The report discusses (1) the general rationale for this study, (2) the selection and documentation of events as precursors, (3) the estimation and use of conditional probabilities of subsequent severe core damage to rank precursor events, and (4) the plant models used in the analysis process

Severe core damage experiments and analysis for CANDU applications

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Mathew, P.M.; White, A.J.; Snell, V.G.; Bonechi, M.

2003-01-01

AECL uses the MAAP CANDU code to calculate the progression of a severe core damage accident in a CANDU reactor to support Level 2 Probabilistic Safety Assessment and Severe Accident Management activities. Experimental data are required to ensure that the core damage models used in MAAP CANDU code are adequate. In SMiRT 16, details of single channel experiments were presented to elucidate the mechanisms of core debris formation. This paper presents the progress made in severe core damage experiments since then using single channels in an inert atmosphere and results of the model development work to support the experiments. The core disassembly experiments are conducted with one-fifth scale channels made of Zr-2.5wt%Nb containing twelve simulated fuel bundles in an inert atmosphere. The reference fuel channel geometry consists of a pressure tube/calandria tube composite, with the pressure tube ballooned into circumferential contact with the calandria tube. Experimental results from single channel tests showed the development of time-dependent sag when the reference channel temperature exceeded 850 degC. The test results also showed significant strain localization in the gap at the bundle junctions along the bottom side of the channel, thus suggesting creep to be the main deformation mechanism for debris formation. An ABAQUS finite element model using two-dimensional beam elements with circular cross-section was developed to explain the experimental findings. A comparison of the calculated central sag (at mid-span), the axial displacement at the free end of the channel and the post-test sag profile showed good agreement with the experiments, when strain localization was included in the model, suggesting such a simple modelling approach would be adequate to explain the test findings. The results of the tests are important not only in the context of the validation of the analytical tools and models adopted by AECL for the severe accident analysis of CANDU reactors but

National Economic Development Procedures Manual - Agricultural Flood Damage,

Science.gov (United States)

1987-10-01

based on the conceptual framework of the Economic and Environmental Principles and Guidelines for Water and Related Land Resources Implementation...the planning process and the NED evaluacion ’- ". procedures for agriculture, as described in the P&G, are thei presented. Also identified are some...ood Ioss compu t at ion approach de ’(’ op4 t hie f I ond damage for hypothetical frequency flood events and weights the result to I V- II1. + . IV-11

Precursors to potential severe core damage accidents. A status report, 1982--1983

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Forester, J.A.; Mitchell, D.B.; Whitehead, D.W. [and others

1997-04-01

This study is a continuation of earlier work that evaluated 1969-1981 and 1984-1994 events affecting commercial light-water reactors. One-hundred nine operational events that affected 51 reactors during 1982 and 1983 and that are considered to be precursors to potential severe core damage are described. All these events had conditional probabilities of subsequent severe core damage greater than or equal to 1.0 x 10{sup {minus}6}. These events were identified by first computer screening the 1982-83 licensee event reports from commercial light-water reactors to select events that could be precursors to core damage. Candidates underwent engineering evaluation that identified, analyzed, and documented the precursors. This report discusses the general rationale for the study, the selection and documentation of events as precursors, and the estimation of conditional probabilities of subsequent severe core damage for the events.

Precursors to potential severe core damage accidents. A status report, 1982--1983

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Forester, J.A.; Mitchell, D.B.; Whitehead, D.W.

1997-04-01

This study is a continuation of earlier work that evaluated 1969-1981 and 1984-1994 events affecting commercial light-water reactors. One-hundred nine operational events that affected 51 reactors during 1982 and 1983 and that are considered to be precursors to potential severe core damage are described. All these events had conditional probabilities of subsequent severe core damage greater than or equal to 1.0 x 10 -6 . These events were identified by first computer screening the 1982-83 licensee event reports from commercial light-water reactors to select events that could be precursors to core damage. Candidates underwent engineering evaluation that identified, analyzed, and documented the precursors. This report discusses the general rationale for the study, the selection and documentation of events as precursors, and the estimation of conditional probabilities of subsequent severe core damage for the events

Prevention of Severe Hypoglycemia-Induced Brain Damage and Cognitive Impairment with Verapamil.

Science.gov (United States)

Jackson, David A; Michael, Trevin; Vieira de Abreu, Adriana; Agrawal, Rahul; Bortolato, Marco; Fisher, Simon J

2018-05-03

People with insulin-treated diabetes are uniquely at risk for severe hypoglycemia-induced brain damage. Since calcium influx may mediate brain damage, we tested the hypothesis that the calcium channel blocker, verapamil, would significantly reduce brain damage and cognitive impairment caused by severe hypoglycemia. Ten-week-old Sprague-Dawley rats were randomly assigned to one of three treatments; 1) control hyperinsulinemic (200 mU.kg -1 min -1 ) euglycemic (80-100mg/dl) clamps (n=14), 2) hyperinsulinemic hypoglycemic (10-15mg/dl) clamps (n=16), or 3) hyperinsulinemic hypoglycemic clamps followed by a single treatment with verapamil (20mg/kg) (n=11). As compared to euglycemic controls, hypoglycemia markedly increased dead/dying neurons in the hippocampus and cortex, by 16-fold and 14-fold, respectively. Verapamil treatment strikingly decreased hypoglycemia-induced hippocampal and cortical damage, by 87% and 94%, respectively. Morris Water Maze probe trial results demonstrated that hypoglycemia induced a retention, but not encoding, memory deficit (noted by both abolished target quadrant preference and reduced target quadrant time). Verapamil treatment significantly rescued spatial memory as noted by restoration of target quadrant preference and target quadrant time. In summary, a one-time treatment with verapamil following severe hypoglycemia prevented neural damage and memory impairment caused by severe hypoglycemia. For people with insulin treated diabetes, verapamil may be a useful drug to prevent hypoglycemia-induced brain damage. © 2018 by the American Diabetes Association.

Severe hepatic trauma: nonoperative management, definitive repair, or damage control surgery?

Science.gov (United States)

Leppäniemi, Ari K; Mentula, Panu J; Streng, Mari H; Koivikko, Mika P; Handolin, Lauri E

2011-12-01

Management of severe liver injuries has evolved to include the options for nonoperative management and damage control surgery. The present study analyzes the criteria for choosing between nonoperative management and early surgery, and definitive repair versus damage control strategy during early surgery. In a retrospective analysis of 144 patients with severe (AAST grade III-V) liver injuries (94% blunt trauma), early laparotomy was performed in 50 patients. Initial management was nonoperative in 94 blunt trauma patients with 8 failures. Uni- and multivariate analyses were used to calculate predictor odds ratios (OR) with 95% confidence intervals (CI). Factors associated with early laparotomy in blunt trauma included shock on admission, associated grade IV-V splenic injury, grade IV-V head injury, and grade V liver injury. Only shock was an independent predictor (OR, 26.1; 95% CI, 8.9-77.1; P < 0.001). The presence of a grade IV-V splenic injury predicted damage control strategy (OR infinite; P = 0.021). Failed nonoperative management was associated with grade IV-V splenic injury (OR, 14.00; 95% CI, 1.67-117.55), and shock (OR, 6.82; 95% CI, 1.49-31.29). The hospital mortality rate was 15%; 8 of 21 deaths were liver-related. Shock (OR, 9.3; 95% CI, 2.4-35.8; P = 0.001) and severe head injury (OR, 9.25; 95% CI, 3.0-28.9; P = 0.000) were independent predictors for mortality. In patients with severe liver injury, associated severe splenic injury favors early laparotomy and damage control strategy. Patients who arrive in shock or have an associated severe splenic injury should not be managed nonoperatively. In addition to severe head injury, uncontrollable bleeding from the liver injury is still a major cause of early death.

Severe fuel-damage scoping test performance

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Gruen, G.E.; Buescher, B.J.

1983-01-01

As a result of the Three Mile Island Unit-2 (TMI-2) accident, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission has initiated a severe fuel damage test program to evaluate fuel rod and core response during severe accidents similar to TMI-2. The first test of Phase I of this series has been successfully completed in the Power Burst Facility at the Idaho National Engineering Laboratory. Following the first test, calculations were performed using the TRAC-BD1 computer code with actual experimental boundary conditions. This paper discusses the test conduct and performance and presents the calculated and measured test bundle results. The test resulted in a slow heatup to 2000 K over about 4 h, with an accelerated reaction of the zirconium cladding at temperatures above 1600 K in the lower part or the bundle and 2000 K in the upper portion of the bundle

Characteristics of severely damaged fuel from PBF tests and the TMI-2 accident

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Osetek, D.J.; Cook, B.A.; Dallman, R.J.; Broughton, J.M.

1986-01-01

As a result of the TMI-2 reactor accident, the US Nuclear Regulatory Commission initiated a research program to investigate phenomena associated with severe fuel damage accidents. This program is sponsored by several countries and includes in-pile and out-of-pile experiments, separate effects studies, and computer code development. The principal in-pile testing portion of the program includes four integral severe fuel damage (SFD) tests in the Power Burst Facility (PBF) at the Idaho National Engineering Laboratory (INEL). The INEL is also responsible for examining the damaged core in the Three Mile Island-Unit 2 (TMI-2) reactor, which offers the unique opportunity to directly compare the findings of an experimental program to those of an actual reactor accident. The principal core damage phenomena which can occur during a severe accident are discussed, and examples from the INEL research programs are used to illustrate the characteristics of these phenomena. The preliminary results of the programs are presented, and their impact on plant operability during severe accidents is discussed

Ecological catastrophe and economical damages. The problems of assessment from Amoco-Cadiz

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Bonnieux, F.; Rainelli, P.

1991-01-01

This book strikes the balance of the accident of the tanker ship Amoco-Cadiz (environmental effects and economic impact) and sets the problem of damages assessment, liabilities, victims compensation. 99 refs., 41 figs., 43 tabs

Behavior of fission products released from severely damaged fuel during the PBF severe fuel damage tests

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Osetek, D.J.; Cronenberg, A.W.; Hagrman, D.L.; Broughton, J.M.; Rest, J.

1984-01-01

The results of fission product release behavior during the first two Power Burst Facility Severe Fuel Damage tests are presented. Measured fission product release is compared with calculated release using temperature dependent release rate correlations and FASTGRASS analysis. The test results indicate that release from fuel of the high volatility fission products (Xe, Kr, I, Cs, and Te) is strongly influenced by parameters other than fuel temperature; namely fuel/fission product morphology, fuel and cladding oxidation state, extent of fuel liquefaction, and quench induced fuel shattering. Fission product transport from the test fuel through the sample system was strongly influenced by chemical effects. Holdup of I and Cs was affected by fission product chemistry, and transport time while Te release was primarily influenced by the extent of zircaloy oxidation. Analysis demonstrates that such integral test data can be used to confirm physical, chemical, and mechanistic models of fission product behavior for severe accident conditions

A methodology for the economic assessment of material damage caused by SO2 and NOx emissions in Europe

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Mayerhofer, P.; Weltschev, M.; Trukenmueller, A.; Friedrich, R.

1995-01-01

Damage to materials causes high economic losses in Europe. A large part of this damage can be attributed to the emissions caused by the energy and the transport sector. In the paper, the procedure for the economic assessment of material damages caused by SO 2 and NO x emissions in Europe is described. Model and data requirements are outlined, and gaps and uncertainties of the quantification are discussed. Two types of results are presented. First, the marginal (additional) costs of damage to material caused by an additional power plant are assessed. The analysis covers plants with different technologies. Results for the fossil power plants are in the range of 0.0062 to 0.12 mECU/kWh. In addition, the total economic material damage due to the present air pollution was assessed. It is in the range of 2.9 to 5.3 x 10 9 ECU/year. However, the analysis has many uncertainties. Most noteworthy are the material inventories and partially the damage functions and input data. 15 refs., 1 fig., 1 tab

Assessing the Economic Cost of Landslide Damage in Low-Relief Regions: Case Study Evidence from the Flemish Ardennes (Belgium)

Science.gov (United States)

Vranken, L.; Van Turnhout, P.; Van Den Eeckhaut, M.; Vandekerckhove, L.; Vantilt, G.; Poesen, J.

2012-04-01

Several regions around the globe are at risk to incur damage from landslides. These landslides cause significant structural and functional damage to public and private buildings and infrastructure. Numerous studies investigated how natural factors and human activities control the (re-)activation of landslides. However, few studies have concentrated on a quantitative estimate of the overall damage caused by landslides at a regional scale. This study therefore starts with a quantitative economic assessment of the direct and indirect damage caused by landslides in the Flemish Ardennes (Belgium), a low-relief region (area=ca. 700 km2) susceptible to landslides. Based on focus interviews as well as on semi-structured interviews with homeowners, civil servants (e.g. from the technical services from the various towns), or with the owners and providers of lifelines such as electricity and sewage, we have quantitatively estimated the direct and indirect damage induced by landsliding and this for a 10 to 30 year period (depending on the type of infrastructure or buildings). Economic damage to public infrastructure and buildings was estimated for the entire region, while for private damage 10 cases with severe to small damage were quantified. For example, in the last 10 year, costs of road repair augmented to 814 560 €. Costs to repair damaged roads that have not yet been repaired, were estimated at 669 318 €. In the past 30 years, costs of measures to prevent road damage augmented to at least 14 872 380 €. More than 90% of this budget for preventive measures was spent 30 years ago, when an important freeway was damaged and had to be repaired. These preventive measures (building a grout wall and improving the drainage system) were effective as no further damage has been reported until present. To repair and prevent damage to waterworks and sewage systems, expenditures amounted to 551 044 € and this for the last 30 years. In the past 10 years, a new railway line

Modeling of reflood of severely damaged reactor core

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Bachrata, A.

2012-01-01

The TMI-2 accident and recently Fukushima accident demonstrated that the nuclear safety philosophy has to cover accident sequences involving massive core melt in order to develop reliable mitigation strategies for both, existing and advanced reactors. Although severe accidents are low likelihood and might be caused only by multiple failures, accident management is implemented for controlling their course and mitigating their consequences. In case of severe accident, the fuel rods may be severely damaged and oxidized. Finally, they collapse and form a debris bed on core support plate. Removal of decay heat from a damaged core is a challenging issue because of the difficulty for water to penetrate inside a porous medium. The reflooding (injection of water into core) may be applied only if the availability of safety injection is recovered during accident. If the injection becomes available only in the late phase of accident, water will enter a core configuration that will differ from original rod bundle geometry and will resemble to the severe damaged core observed in TMI-2. The higher temperatures and smaller hydraulic diameters in a porous medium make the coolability more difficult than for intact fuel rods under typical loss of coolant accident conditions. The modeling of this kind of hydraulic and heat transfer is a one of key objectives of this. At IRSN, part of the studies is realized using an European thermo-hydraulic computer code for severe accident analysis ICARE-CATHARE. The objective of this thesis is to develop a 3D reflood model (implemented into ICARE-CATHARE) that is able to treat different configurations of degraded core in a case of severe accident. The proposed model is characterized by treating of non-equilibrium thermal between the solid, liquid and gas phase. It includes also two momentum balance equations. The model is based on a previously developed model but is improved in order to take into account intense boiling regimes (in particular

Power Burst Facility Severe Fuel Damage test series

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Buescher, B.J.; Osetek, D.J.; Ploger, S.A.

1982-01-01

The Severe Fuel Damage (SFD) tests planned for the Power Burst Facility (PBF) are described. Bundles containing 32 zircaloy-clad, PWR-type fuel rods will be subjected to severe overheating transients in a high-pressure, superheated-steam environment. Cladding temperatures are expected to reach 2400 0 K, resulting in cladding ballooning and rupture, severe cladding oxidation, cladding melting, fuel dissolution, fuel rod fragmentation, and possibly, rubble bed formation. An experiment effluent collection system is being installed and the PBF fission product monitoring system is being upgraded to meet the special requirements of the SFD tests. Scoping calculations were performed to evaluate performance of the SFD test design and to establish operational requirements for the PBF loop

Evaluating the economic damages of transport disruptions using a transnational and interregional input-output model for Japan, China, and South Korea

Science.gov (United States)

Irimoto, Hiroshi; Shibusawa, Hiroyuki; Miyata, Yuzuru

2017-10-01

Damage to transportation networks as a result of natural disasters can lead to economic losses due to lost trade along those links in addition to the costs of damage to the infrastructure itself. This study evaluates the economic damages of transport disruptions such as highways, tunnels, bridges, and ports using a transnational and interregional Input-Output Model that divides the world into 23 regions: 9 regions in Japan, 7 regions in China, and 4 regions in Korea, Taiwan, ASEAN5, and the USA to allow us to focus on Japan's regional and international links. In our simulation, economic ripple effects of both international and interregional transport disruptions are measured by changes in the trade coefficients in the input-output model. The simulation showed that, in the case of regional links in Japan, a transport disruption in the Kanmon Straits causes the most damage to our targeted world, resulting in economic damage of approximately 36.3 billion. In the case of international links among Japan, China, and Korea, damage to the link between Kanto in Japan and Huabei in China causes economic losses of approximately 31.1 billion. Our result highlights the importance of disaster prevention in the Kanmon Straits, Kanto, and Huabei to help ensure economic resilience.

Full-length high-temperature severe fuel damage test No. 2

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hesson, G.M.; Lombardo, N.J.; Pilger, J.P.; Rausch, W.N.; King, L.L.; Hurley, D.E.; Parchen, L.J.; Panisko, F.E.

1993-09-01

Hazardous conditions associated with performing the Full-Length High- Temperature (FLHT). Severe Fuel Damage Test No. 2 experiment have been analyzed. Major hazards that could cause harm or damage are (1) radioactive fission products, (2) radiation fields, (3) reactivity changes, (4) hydrogen generation, (5) materials at high temperature, (6) steam explosion, and (7) steam pressure pulse. As a result of this analysis, it is concluded that with proper precautions the FLHT- 2 test can be safely conducted

Precursors to potential severe core damage accidents: 1995 A status report

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Belles, R.J.; Cletcher, J.W.; Copinger, D.A.

1997-04-01

Ten operational events that affected 10 commercial light-water reactors during 1995 and that are considered to be precursors to potential severe core damage are described. All these events had conditional probabilities of subsequent severe core damage greater than or equal to 1.0 x 10 -6 . These events were identified by first computer-screening the 1995 licensee event reports from commercial light-water reactors to identify those events that could potentially be precursors. Candidate precursors were selected and evaluated in a process similar to that used in previous assessments. Selected events underwent engineering evaluation that identified, analyzed, and documented the precursors. Other events designated by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) also underwent a similar evaluation. Finally, documented precursors were submitted for review by licensees and NRC headquarters and regional offices to ensure the plant design and its response to the precursor were correctly characterized. This study is a continuation of earlier work, which evaluated 1969-1981 and 1984-1994 events. The report discusses the general rationale for this study, the selection and documentation of events as precursors, and the estimation of conditional probabilities of subsequent severe core damage for the events

Precursors to potential severe core damage accidents: 1995 A status report

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Belles, R.J.; Cletcher, J.W.; Copinger, D.A. [and others

1997-04-01

Ten operational events that affected 10 commercial light-water reactors during 1995 and that are considered to be precursors to potential severe core damage are described. All these events had conditional probabilities of subsequent severe core damage greater than or equal to 1.0 x 10{sup {minus}6}. These events were identified by first computer-screening the 1995 licensee event reports from commercial light-water reactors to identify those events that could potentially be precursors. Candidate precursors were selected and evaluated in a process similar to that used in previous assessments. Selected events underwent engineering evaluation that identified, analyzed, and documented the precursors. Other events designated by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) also underwent a similar evaluation. Finally, documented precursors were submitted for review by licensees and NRC headquarters and regional offices to ensure the plant design and its response to the precursor were correctly characterized. This study is a continuation of earlier work, which evaluated 1969-1981 and 1984-1994 events. The report discusses the general rationale for this study, the selection and documentation of events as precursors, and the estimation of conditional probabilities of subsequent severe core damage for the events.

Analysis of severe core damage accident progression for the heavy water reactor

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Tong Lili; Yuan Kai; Yuan Jingtian; Cao Xuewu

2010-01-01

In this study, the severe accident progression analysis of generic Canadian deuterium uranium reactor 6 was preliminarily provided using an integrated severe accident analysis code. The selected accident sequences were multiple steam generator tube rupture and large break loss-of-coolant accidents because these led to severe core damage with an assumed unavailability for several critical safety systems. The progressions of severe accident included a set of failed safety systems normally operated at full power, and initiative events led to primary heat transport system inventory blow-down or boil off. The core heat-up and melting, steam generator response,fuel channel and calandria vessel failure were analyzed. The results showed that the progression of a severe core damage accident induced by steam generator tube rupture or large break loss-of-coolant accidents in a CANDU reactor was slow due to heat sinks in the calandria vessel and vault. (authors)

Assessment of outcome after severe brain damage.

Science.gov (United States)

Jennett, B; Bond, M

1975-03-01

Persisting disability after brain damage usually comprises both mental and physical handicap. The mental component is often the more important in contributing to overall social disability. Lack of an objective scale leads to vague and over-optimistic estimates of outcome, which obscure the ultimate results of early management. A five-point scale is described--death, persistent vegetative state, severe disability, moderate disability, and good recovery. Duration as well as intensity of disability should be included in an index of ill-health; this applies particularly after head injury, because many disabled survivors are young.

Management of severely damaged nuclear fuel and related waste

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

1991-01-01

This report is concerned primarily with severe fuel damage accidents in large electric power producing reactors such as those in the TMI and Chernobyl plants. It does include, as appropriate, knowledge gained from accidents in other power, research and military reactors. It is believed that the conclusions and recommendations apply to a large extent to severe fuel damage accidents in all types of reactors. The period considered in this publication begins after the initial crisis of an accident has been brought under control. (This initial crisis could be from one day to several weeks after the event, depending on the specific conditions). Accordingly, it is assumed that the plant is shut down, the reactor is under control and decay heat removal is in progress in a stable manner so that attention must be given to cleanup. This report addresses the principles involved in planning, engineering, construction, operation and other activities to characterize, clean up and dispose of the fuel and related waste. The end of the period under consideration is when the fuel and abnormal wastes are packaged either for interim storage or final disposal and activities are started either to restore the plant to service or to establish a safe state from which decommissioning planning can start. 36 refs, 3 figs, 4 tabs.

Hypoxic pretreatment protects against neuronal damage of the rat hippocampus induced by severe hypoxia.

Science.gov (United States)

Gorgias, N; Maidatsi, P; Tsolaki, M; Alvanou, A; Kiriazis, G; Kaidoglou, K; Giala, M

1996-04-01

The present study investigates whether under conditions of successive hypoxic exposures pretreatment with mild (15% O(2)) or moderate (10% O(2)) hypoxia, protects hippocampal neurones against damage induced by severe (3% O(2)) hypoxia. The ultrastructural findings were also correlated with regional superoxide dismutase (SOD) activity changes. In unpretreated rats severe hypoxia induced ultrastructural changes consistent with the aspects of delayed neuronal death (DND). However, in preexposed animals hippocampal damage was attenuated in an inversely proportional way with the severity of the hypoxic pretreatment. The ultrastructural hypoxic tolerance findings were also closely related to increased regional SOD activity levels. Thus the activation of the endogenous antioxidant defense by hypoxic preconditioning, protects against hippocampal damage induced by severe hypoxia. The eventual contribution of increased endogenous adenosine and/or reduced excitotoxicity to induce hypoxic tolerance is discussed.

SCDAP: a light water reactor computer code for severe core damage analysis

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Marino, G.P.; Allison, C.M.; Majumdar, D.

1982-01-01

Development of the first code version (MODO) of the Severe Core Damage Analysis Package (SCDAP) computer code is described, and calculations made with SCDAP/MODO are presented. The objective of this computer code development program is to develop a capability for analyzing severe disruption of a light water reactor core, including fuel and cladding liquefaction, flow, and freezing; fission product release; hydrogen generation; quenched-induced fragmentation; coolability of the resulting geometry; and ultimately vessel failure due to vessel-melt interaction. SCDAP will be used to identify the phenomena which control core behavior during a severe accident, to help quantify uncertainties in risk assessment analysis, and to support planning and evaluation of severe fuel damage experiments and data. SCDAP/MODO addresses the behavior of a single fuel bundle. Future versions will be developed with capabilities for core-wide and vessel-melt interaction analysis

Economics of social trade-off: Balancing wastewater treatment cost and ecosystem damage.

Science.gov (United States)

Jiang, Yu; Dinar, Ariel; Hellegers, Petra

2018-04-01

We have developed a social optimization model that integrates the financial and ecological costs associated with wastewater treatment and ecosystem damage. The social optimal abatement level of water pollution is determined by finding the trade-off between the cost of pollution control and its resulting ecosystem damage. The model is applied to data from the Lake Taihu region in China to demonstrate this trade-off. A wastewater treatment cost function is estimated with a sizable sample from China, and an ecological damage cost function is estimated following an ecosystem service valuation framework. Results show that the wastewater treatment cost function has economies of scale in facility capacity, and diseconomies in pollutant removal efficiency. Results also show that a low value of the ecosystem service will lead to serious ecological damage. One important policy implication is that the assimilative capacity of the lake should be enhanced by forbidding over extraction of water from the lake. It is also suggested that more work should be done to improve the accuracy of the economic valuation. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Use of classical criterions of a decision making for choice of measures on decrease of economic damage from nuclear and radiation accidents

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Rylov, M.I.; Kamynov, Sh.V.; Mozhaev, A.S.; Anisimov, N.A.; Nikitin, V.S.

2004-01-01

Application of classical criteria of decision making for choice of measures on the decrease of economic damage from possible nuclear and radiation accidents during spent fuel unloading from nuclear submarines and storage in the process of their utilization was demonstrated. Economic damage was chosen as optimization index, three versions of possible accidents and limited number of measures on the decrease of their effect were treated for illustration of the suggested approach. On the base of analysis of classical criteria the optimal strategy for decrease of economic damage was chosen [ru

Applications of Earth Remote Sensing for Identifying Tornado and Severe Weather Damage

Science.gov (United States)

Schultz, Lori; Molthan, Andrew; Burks, Jason E.; Bell, Jordan; McGrath, Kevin; Cole, Tony

2016-01-01

NASA SPoRT (Short-term Prediction Research and Transition Center) provided MODIS (Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectrometer) and ASTER (Advanced Spaceborne Thermal Emission and Reflection Radiometer) imagery to WFOs (Weather Forecast Offices) in Alabama to support April 27th, 2011 damage assessments across the state. SPoRT was awarded a NASA Applied Science: Disasters Feasibility award to investigate the applicability of including remote sensing imagery and derived products into the NOAA/NWS (National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration/National Weather System) Damage Assessment Toolkit (DAT). Proposal team was awarded the 3-year proposal to implement a web mapping service and associate data feeds from the USGS (U.S. Geological Survey) to provide satellite imagery and derived products directly to the NWS thru the DAT. In the United States, NOAA/NWS is charged with performing damage assessments when storm or tornado damage is suspected after a severe weather event. This has led to the development of the Damage Assessment Toolkit (DAT), an application for smartphones, tablets and web browsers that allows for the collection, geo-location, and aggregation of various damage indicators collected during storm surveys.

Instrumentation needs in LWR severe fuel damage experiments

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

McCormick, R.D.

1980-01-01

The Class 9 type nuclear accident is defined and the Three Mile Island type accident and proposed Idaho National Engineering Laboratory experiment series are described in some detail. Different types of severe fuel damage experiments are briefly discussed in order to show typical measurement requirements. General instrumentation needs and problems encountered in Class 9 accident research are outlined. It is concluded that the extremely high temperatures, high nuclear radiation fields, and oxidizing atmosphere will necessitate instrument development programs. Noncontact type sensing will be necessary in most of the molten core experiments

Short-run Economic Assessment of the Transportation Recovery Policy After an Earthquake

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Koike Atsushi

2017-01-01

Full Text Available This paper develops a short-run economic damage assessment model. The model contains two sub models. One is the conventional traffic assignment model, which calculates traveling time under the damaged transportation infrastructure. The other is the economic damage assessment model, which determines the decrease in production level in the short run. This method facilitates the identification of critical infrastructure that could reduce the economic damage when the disaster occurs. As a case study, we applied this model to several recovery plans for transport facilities. The results suggest that the proposed comprehensive model should be considered as a prevention plan.

Emergency repair of severely damaged reinforced concrete columns using active confinement with shape memory alloys

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Shin, Moochul; Andrawes, Bassem

2011-01-01

This experimental study focuses on investigating the feasibility of utilizing spirals made of shape memory alloys (SMAs) to conduct emergency repair on severely damaged reinforced concrete (RC) columns. The thermally triggered shape memory feature of SMAs is sought in this study, to apply active confinement pressure on the column's damaged region. Two severely damaged 1/3-scale RC columns are repaired using the proposed technique and tested under a quasi-static lateral cyclic load. The repair of each column is conducted in less than 15 h, and the columns are tested 24 h after the starting of the repair process. The experimental results show that the new repair technique is successful in either fully restoring the as-built lateral strength, stiffness, and flexural ductility of the columns or making them even better. The efficacy of the proposed repair technique is mainly attributed to the ability of the SMA spirals to apply and maintain active confining pressure on the damaged region of the columns, which increases the strength of the already damaged concrete and delays its damage

Assesment of Severely ASR Damaged Bridges: From Diagnosis to Structural Effects

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Barbosa, Ricardo Antonio; Hansen, Søren Gustenhoff; Hansen, Kurt Kielsgaard

2016-01-01

documented. The majority of the experimental data are based on relatively small scale laboratory specimens accelerated by various exposure conditions. Research on assessment and influence of severely ASR deterioration on the material properties and residual load carrying capacity of real-life structures...... is unfortunately limited. This paper presents an overview and discussion of the Danish experiences with assessment of the residual load carrying capacity of severely non-shear reinforced ASR damaged bridges. The discussion is supported by experimental data acquired from large scale in-situ tests of three severely...

Bacterial mutagenicity and mammalian cell DNA damage by several substituted anilines.

Science.gov (United States)

Zimmer, D; Mazurek, J; Petzold, G; Bhuyan, B K

1980-04-01

Several substituted alkyl- and haloanilines were tested for their ability to mutate Salmonella typhimurium and to damage the DNA of mammalian (V79) cells. These results were correlated with their reported carcinogenicity. Of 9 suspected carcinogens, 4 were bacterial mutagens and 4 (out of 7 tested) damaged DNA of V79 cells. The following compounds were weakly mutagenic (less than 150 revertants/mumole): 4-fluoroaniline, 2,3-, 2,4-, 2,5- and 3,4-dimethylaniline, and 2-methyl-4-fluoroaniline. The following compounds were strong mutagens: 2,4,5-trimethylaniline, 2-methyl-4-chloro-, and 2-methyl-4-bromo-, 4-methyl-2-chloro-, 4-methyl-2-bromo- and 2-ethyl-4-chloroaniline. The compounds which damaged DNA in V79 cells were: 2 methyl-4-chloroaniline, 2-methyl-4-bromoaniline, 2,4,5- and 2,4,6-trimethylaniline.

Economic Valuation of On Site Material Damages of High Water on Economic Activities based in the City of Venice: Results from a Dose-Response-Expert-Based Valuation Approach

OpenAIRE

Paulo A.L.D. Nunes; Margaretha Breil; Gretel Gambarelli

2005-01-01

The paper focuses on the economic assessment of damages caused by high water in the city of Venice. In particular, we focus our attention on a valuation exercise that addresses the estimation of monetary, short period, on-site damages due to high water events on the different business activities located in Venice. On-site damages include both mitigation costs, which refer to all types of financial expenditure undergone to avert physical and material damages caused by flooding, and remediation...

Precursors to potential severe core damage accidents: 1996. A status report. Volume 25

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Belles, R.J.; Cletcher, J.W.; Copinger, D.A.; Muhlheim, M.D.; Dolan, B.W.; Minarick, J.W.

1997-12-01

This report describes the 14 operational events in 1996 that affected 13 commercial light-water reactors and that are considered to be precursors to potential severe core damage accidents. All these events had conditional probabilities of subsequent severe core damage greater than or equal to 1.0 x 10 -6 . These events were identified by first computer-screening the 1996 licensee event reports from commercial light-water reactors to identify those events that could potentially be precursors. Candidate precursors were selected and evaluated in a process similar to that used in previous assessments. Selected events underwent engineering evaluation that identified, analyzed, and documented the precursors. Other events designated by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) also underwent a similar evaluation. Finally, documented precursors were submitted for review by licensees and NRC headquarters and regional offices to ensure the plant design and its response to the precursor were correctly characterized. This study is a continuation of earlier work, which evaluated 1969--1995 events. The report discusses the general rationale for this study, the selection and documentation of events as precursors, and the estimation of conditional probabilities of subsequent severe core damage for the events

Precursors to potential severe core damage accidents: 1997 - A status report. Volume 26

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Belles, R.J.; Cletcher, J.W.; Copinger, D.A.; Muhlheim, M.D.; Dolan, B.W.; Minarick, J.W.

1998-11-01

This report describes the five operational events in 1997 that affected five commercial light-water reactors (LWRs) and that are considered to be precursors to potential severe core damage accidents. All these events had conditional probabilities of subsequent severe core damage greater than or equal to 1.0 x 10 -6 . These events were identified by first computer-screening the 1997 licensee event reports from commercial LWRs to identify those events that could be precursors. Candidate precursors were selected and evaluated in a process similar to that used in previous assessments. Selected events underwent engineering evaluation that identified, analyzed, and documented the precursors. Other events designated by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) also underwent a similar evaluation. Finally, documented precursors were submitted for review by licensees and NRC headquarters to ensure that the plant design and its response to the precursor were correctly characterized. This study is a continuation of earlier work, which evaluated 1969--1996 events. The report discusses the general rationale for this study, the selection and documentation of events as precursors, and the estimation of conditional probabilities of subsequent severe core damage for the events

Quantification of flash flood economic risk using ultra-detailed stage-damage functions and 2-D hydraulic models

Science.gov (United States)

Garrote, J.; Alvarenga, F. M.; Díez-Herrero, A.

2016-10-01

The village of Pajares de Pedraza (Segovia, Spain) is located in the floodplain of the Cega River, a left bank tributary of the Douro River. Repeated flash flood events occur in this small village because of its upstream catchment area, mountainous character and impermeable lithology, which reduce concentration time to just a few hours. River overbank flow has frequently caused flooding and property damage to homes and rural properties, most notably in 1927, 1991, 1996, 2001, 2013 and 2014. Consequently, a detailed analysis was carried out to quantify the economic risk of flash floods in peri-urban and rural areas. Magnitudes and exceedance probabilities were obtained from a flood frequency analysis of maximum discharges. To determine the extent and characteristics of the flooded area, we performed 2D hydraulic modeling (Iber 2.0 software) based on LIDAR (1 m) topography and considering three different scenarios associated with the initial construction (1997) and subsequent extension (2013) of a linear defense structure (rockfill dike or levee) to protect the population. Specific stage-damage functions were expressly developed using in situ data collection for exposed elements, with special emphasis on urban-type categories. The average number of elements and their unit value were established. The relationship between water depth and the height at which electric outlets, furniture, household goods, etc. were located was analyzed; due to its effect on the form of the function. Other nonspecific magnitude-damage functions were used in order to compare both economic estimates. The results indicate that the use of non-specific magnitude-damage functions leads to a significant overestimation of economic losses, partly linked to the use of general economic cost data. Furthermore, a detailed classification and financial assessment of exposed assets is the most important step to ensure a correct estimate of financial losses. In both cases, this should include a

Relation between both oxidative and metabolic-osmotic cell damages and initial injury severity in bombing casualties

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Vučeljić Marina

2006-01-01

Full Text Available Background/Aim. We have recently reported the development of oxidative cell damages in bombing casualties within a very early period after the initial injury. The aim of this study, was to investigate malondialdehyde (MDA, as an indicator of lipid peroxidation, and osmolal gap (OG, as a good indicator of metabolic cell damages and to assess their relationship with the initial severity of the injury in bombing casualties. Methods. The study included the males (n = 52, injured during the bombing with the Injury Severity Score (ISS ranging from 3 to 66. The whole group of casualties was devided into a group of less severely (ISS < 25, n = 24 and a group of severely (ISS ≥ 26, n = 28 injured males. The uninjured volunteers (n = 10 were the controls. Osmolality, MDA, sodium, glucose, urea, creatinine, total bilirubin and total protein levels were measured in the venous blood, sampled daily, within a ten-day period. Results. In both groups of casualties, MDA and OG levels increased, total protein levels decreased, while other parameters were within the control limits. MDA alterations correlated with ISS (r = 0.414, p < 0.01, while a statistically significant correlation between OG and ISS was not obtained. Interestingly, in spite of some differences in MDA and OG trends, at the end of the examined period they were at the similar level in both groups. Conclusion. The initial oxidative damages of the cellular membrane with intracellular metabolic disorders contributed to the gradual development of metabolic-osmotic damages of cells, which, consequently caused the OG increase. In the bombing casualties, oxidative cell damages were dependent on the initial injury severity, while metabolic-osmotic cell damages were not.

Scaling future tropical cyclone damage with global mean temperature

Science.gov (United States)

Geiger, T.; Bresch, D.; Frieler, K.

2017-12-01

Tropical cyclones (TC) are one of the most damaging natural hazards and severely affectmany countries around the globe each year. Their nominal impact is projected to increasesubstantially as the exposed coastal population grows, per capita income increases, andanthropogenic climate change manifests. The magnitude of this increase, however, variesacross regions and is obscured by the stochastic behaviour of TCs, so far impeding arigorous quantification of trends in TC damage with global mean temperature (GMT) rise. Here, we build on the large sample of spatially explicit TCs simulations generated withinISIMIP(2b) for 1) pre-industrial conditions, 2) the historical period, and 3) future projectionsunder RCP2.6 and RCP6.0 to estimate future TC damage assuming fixed present-daysocio-economic conditions or SSP-based future projections of population patterns andincome. Damage estimates will be based on region-specific empirical damage modelsderived from reported damages and accounting for regional characteristics of vulnerability.Different combinations of 1) socio-economic drivers with pre-industrial climate or 2) changingclimate with fixed socio-economic conditions will be used to derive functional relationshipsbetween regionally aggregated changes in damages on one hand and global meantemperature and socio-economic predictors on the other hand. The obtained region-specific scaling of future TC damage with GMT provides valuable inputfor IPCC's special report on the impacts of global warming of 1.5°C by quantifying theincremental changes in impact with global warming. The approach allows for an update ofdamage functions used in integrated assessment models, and contributes to assessing theadequateness of climate mitigation and adaptation strategies.

Indoor microbiota in severely moisture damaged homes and the impact of interventions.

Science.gov (United States)

Jayaprakash, Balamuralikrishna; Adams, Rachel I; Kirjavainen, Pirkka; Karvonen, Anne; Vepsäläinen, Asko; Valkonen, Maria; Järvi, Kati; Sulyok, Michael; Pekkanen, Juha; Hyvärinen, Anne; Täubel, Martin

2017-10-13

The limited understanding of microbial characteristics in moisture-damaged buildings impedes efforts to clarify which adverse health effects in the occupants are associated with the damage and to develop effective building intervention strategies. The objectives of this current study were (i) to characterize fungal and bacterial microbiota in house dust of severely moisture-damaged residences, (ii) to identify microbial taxa associated with moisture damage renovations, and (iii) to test whether the associations between the identified taxa and moisture damage are replicable in another cohort of homes. We applied bacterial 16S rRNA gene and fungal ITS amplicon sequencing complemented with quantitative PCR and chemical-analytical approaches to samples of house dust, and also performed traditional cultivation of bacteria and fungi from building material samples. Active microbial growth on building materials had significant though small influence on the house dust bacterial and fungal communities. Moisture damage interventions-including actual renovation of damaged homes and cases where families moved to another home-had only a subtle effect on bacterial community structure, seen as shifts in abundance weighted bacterial profiles after intervention. While bacterial and fungal species richness were reduced in homes that were renovated, they were not reduced for families that moved houses. Using different discriminant analysis tools, we were able identify taxa that were significantly reduced in relative abundance during renovation of moisture damage. For bacteria, the majority of candidates belonged to different families within the Actinomycetales order. Results for fungi were overall less consistent. A replication study in approximately 400 homes highlighted some of the identified taxa, confirming associations with observations of moisture damage and mold. The present study is one of the first studies to analyze changes in microbiota due to moisture damage interventions

[Causes and management of severe acute liver damage during pregnancy].

Science.gov (United States)

Sepulveda-Martinez, Alvaro; Romero, Carlos; Juarez, Guido; Hasbun, Jorge; Parra-Cordero, Mauro

2015-05-01

Abnormalities in liver function tests appear in 3% of pregnancies. Severe acute liver damage can be an exclusive condition of pregnancy (dependent or independent of pre-eclampsia) or a concomitant disease. HELLP syndrome and acute fatty liver of pregnancy are the most severe liver diseases associated with pregnancy. Both appear during the third trimester and have a similar clinical presentation. Acute fatty liver may be associated with hypoglycemia and HELLP syndrome is closely linked with pre-eclampsia. Among concomitant conditions, fulminant acute hepatitis caused by medications or virus is the most severe disease. Its clinical presentation may be hyper-acute with neurological involvement and severe coagulation disorders. It has a high mortality and patients should be transplanted. Fulminant hepatic failure caused by acetaminophen overdose can be managed with n-acetyl cysteine. Because of the high fetal mortality rate, the gestational age at diagnosis is crucial.

Uncertainty and Sensitivity of Direct Economic Flood Damages: the FloodRisk Free and Open-Source Software

Science.gov (United States)

Albano, R.; Sole, A.; Mancusi, L.; Cantisani, A.; Perrone, A.

2017-12-01

The considerable increase of flood damages in the the past decades has shifted in Europe the attention from protection against floods to managing flood risks. In this context, the expected damages assessment represents a crucial information within the overall flood risk management process. The present paper proposes an open source software, called FloodRisk, that is able to operatively support stakeholders in the decision making processes with a what-if approach by carrying out the rapid assessment of the flood consequences, in terms of direct economic damage and loss of human lives. The evaluation of the damage scenarios, trough the use of the GIS software proposed here, is essential for cost-benefit or multi-criteria analysis of risk mitigation alternatives. However, considering that quantitative assessment of flood damages scenarios is characterized by intrinsic uncertainty, a scheme has been developed to identify and quantify the role of the input parameters in the total uncertainty of flood loss model application in urban areas with mild terrain and complex topography. By the concept of parallel models, the contribution of different module and input parameters to the total uncertainty is quantified. The results of the present case study have exhibited a high epistemic uncertainty on the damage estimation module and, in particular, on the type and form of the utilized damage functions, which have been adapted and transferred from different geographic and socio-economic contexts because there aren't depth-damage functions that are specifically developed for Italy. Considering that uncertainty and sensitivity depend considerably on local characteristics, the epistemic uncertainty associated with the risk estimate is reduced by introducing additional information into the risk analysis. In the light of the obtained results, it is evident the need to produce and disseminate (open) data to develop micro-scale vulnerability curves. Moreover, the urgent need to push

Drivers of flood damage on event level

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Kreibich, H.; Aerts, J. C. J. H.; Apel, H.

2016-01-01

example are the 2002 and 2013 floods in the Elbe and Danube catchments in Germany. The 2002 flood caused the highest economic damage (EUR 11600 million) due to a natural hazard event in Germany. Damage was so high due to extreme flood hazard triggered by extreme precipitation and a high number......-level mitigation measures, 3) more effective early warning and improved coordination of disaster response and 4) a more targeted maintenance of flood defence systems and their deliberate relocation. Thus, despite higher hydrological severity damage due to the 2013 flood was significantly lower than in 2002. In our...

Patellofemoral Instability in Children: Correlation Between Risk Factors, Injury Patterns, and Severity of Cartilage Damage.

Science.gov (United States)

Kim, Hee Kyung; Shiraj, Sahar; Kang, Chang Ho; Anton, Christopher; Kim, Dong Hoon; Horn, Paul S

2016-06-01

The purpose of this study was to compare MRI findings between groups with and without patellofemoral instability and to correlate the MRI findings with the severity of patellar cartilage damage. Fifty-three children with patellofemoral instability and 53 age- and sex-matched children without patellofemoral instability (15.9 ± 2.4 years) were included. Knee MRI with T2-weighted mapping was performed. On MR images, femoral trochlear dysplasia, patellofemoral malalignment, medial retinaculum injury, and bone marrow edema were documented. The degree of patellar cartilage damage was evaluated on MR images by use of a morphologic grading scale (0-4) and on T2 maps with mean T2 values at the medial, central, and lateral facets. MRI findings were compared between the two groups. In cases of patellofemoral instability, MRI findings were correlated with the severity of cartilage damage at each region. Trochlear structure and alignment were significantly different between the two groups (Wilcoxon p patellofemoral instability, a high-riding patella was associated with central patellar cartilage damage with a higher morphologic grade and T2 value (Spearman p patellofemoral instability have significantly different trochlear structure and alignment than those who do not, and these differences are known risk factors for patellofemoral instability. However, the only risk factors or injury patterns that directly correlated with the severity of patellar cartilage damage were patella alta, medial stabilizer injury, and bone marrow edema.

The Economic Impacts of Climate Change on Agriculture: New Damage Functions from a Meta-Analsis and the GGCMI

Science.gov (United States)

Moore, F. C.; Baldos, U. L. C.; Hertel, T. W.; Diaz, D.

2016-12-01

Substantial advances have been made in recent years in understanding the effects of climate change on agriculture, but this is not currently represented in economic models used to quantify the benefits of reducing greenhouse gas emissions. In fact, the science regarding climate change impacts on agriculture in these models dates to the early 1990s or before. In this paper we derive new economic damage functions for the agricultural sector based on two methods for aggregating current scientific understanding of the impacts of warming on yields. We first present a new meta-analysis based on a review of the agronomic literature performed for the IPCC 5th Assessment Report and compare results from this approach with findings from the AgMIP Global Gridded Crop Model Intercomparison (GGCMI). We find yield impacts implied by the meta-analysis are generally more negative than those from the GGCMI, particularly at higher latitudes, but show substantial agreement in many areas. We then use both yield products as input to the Global Trade Analysis Project (GTAP) computable general equilibrium (CGE) model in order to estimate the welfare consequences of these yield shocks and to produce two new economic damage functions. These damage functions are consistently more negative than the current representation of agricultural damages in Integrated Asessment Models (IAMs), in some cases substantially so. Replacing the existing damage functions with those based on more recent science increases the social cost of carbon (SCC) by between 43% (GGCMI) and 143% (Meta-Analysis). In addition to presenting a new mutli-crop, multi-model gridded yield impact prouct that complements the GGCMI, this is also the first end-to-end study that directly links the biophysical impacts of climate change to the SCC, something we believe essential to improving the integrity of IAMs going forward.

Damaging Hydrogeological Events: A Procedure for the Assessment of Severity Levels and an Application to Calabria (Southern Italy

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Tommaso Caloiero

2014-11-01

Full Text Available A damaging hydrogeological event (DHE is characterized by two components: a rainfall event and a subsequent damage event, which is the result of floods and landslides triggered by rainfall. The characteristics of both events depend on climatic, geomorphological and anthropogenic factors. In this paper, a methodology to classify the severity of DHEs is presented. A chart which considers indicators of both the damage (Dscore and the daily rainfall (Rscore values recorded in the study area is proposed. According to the chart, the events are classified into four types: ordinary events, with low Dscore and Rscore values; extraordinary events, with high Rscore values but low Dscore values; catastrophic events, characterized by non-exceptional rainfall (low Rscore and severe damage (high Dscore; major catastrophic events, obtained by both high Dscore and Rscore values. Using this approach, the 2013 DHE that occurred in Calabria (Italy was classified as an ordinary event, when compared to the previous ones, even though the widespread diffusion of damage data induced the perception of high severity damage. The rainfall that triggered this event confirms the negative trend of heavy daily precipitation detected in Calabria, and the damage can be ascribed more to sub-daily than daily rainfall affecting urbanized flood-prone areas.

A method for estimating the local area economic damages of Superfund waste sites

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Walker, D.R.

1992-01-01

National Priority List (NPL) sites, or more commonly called Superfund sites, are hazardous waste sites (HWS) deemed by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to impose the greatest risks to human health or welfare or to the environment. HWS are placed and ranked for cleanup on the NPL based on a score derived from the Hazard Ranking System (HRS), which is a scientific assessment of the health and environmental risks posed by HWS. A concern of the HRS is that the rank of sites is not based on benefit-cost analysis. The main objective of this dissertation is to develop a method for estimating the local area economic damages associated with Superfund waste sites. Secondarily, the model is used to derive county-level damage estimates for use in ranking the county level damages from Superfund sites. The conceptual model used to describe the damages associated with Superfund sites is a household-firm location decision model. In this model assumes that households and firms make their location choice based on the local level of wages, rents and amenities. The model was empirically implemented using 1980 census microdata on households and workers in 253 counties across the US. The household sample includes data on the value and structural characteristics of homes. The worker sample includes the annual earnings of workers and a vector worker attributes. The microdata was combined with county level amenity data, including the number of Superfund sites. The hedonic pricing technique was used to estimate the effect of Superfund sites on average annual wages per household and on monthly expenditures on housing. The results show that Superfund sites impose statistically significant damages on households. The annual county damages from Superfund sites for a sample of 151 counties was over 14 billion dollars. The ranking of counties using the damage estimates is correlated with the rank of counties using the HRS

Economic games quantify diminished sense of guilt in patients with damage to the prefrontal cortex

Science.gov (United States)

Krajbich, Ian; Adolphs, Ralph; Tranel, Daniel; Denburg, Natalie L.; Camerer, Colin F.

2009-01-01

Damage to the ventromedial prefrontal cortex (VMPFC) impairs concern for other people, as reflected in the dysfunctional real-life social behavior of patients with such damage, as well as their abnormal performances on tasks ranging from moral judgment to economic games. Despite these convergent data, we lack a formal model of how, and to what degree, VMPFC lesions affect an individual’s social decision-making. Here we provide a quantification of these effects using a formal economic model of choice that incorporates terms for the disutility of unequal payoffs, with parameters that index behaviors normally evoked by guilt and envy. Six patients with focal VMPFC lesions participated in a battery of economic games that measured concern about payoffs to themselves and to others: dictator, ultimatum, and trust games. We analyzed each task individually, but also derived estimates of the guilt and envy parameters from aggregate behavior across all of the tasks. Compared to control subjects, the patients donated significantly less and were less trustworthy, and overall our model found a significant insensitivity to guilt. Despite these abnormalities, the patients had normal expectations about what other people would do, and they also did not simply generate behavior that was more noisy. Instead, the findings argue for a specific insensitivity to guilt, an abnormality that we suggest characterizes a key contribution made by the VMPFC to social behavior. PMID:19228971

Economic games quantify diminished sense of guilt in patients with damage to the prefrontal cortex.

Science.gov (United States)

Krajbich, Ian; Adolphs, Ralph; Tranel, Daniel; Denburg, Natalie L; Camerer, Colin F

2009-02-18

Damage to the ventromedial prefrontal cortex (VMPFC) impairs concern for other people, as reflected in the dysfunctional real-life social behavior of patients with such damage, as well as their abnormal performances on tasks ranging from moral judgment to economic games. Despite these convergent data, we lack a formal model of how, and to what degree, VMPFC lesions affect an individual's social decision-making. Here we provide a quantification of these effects using a formal economic model of choice that incorporates terms for the disutility of unequal payoffs, with parameters that index behaviors normally evoked by guilt and envy. Six patients with focal VMPFC lesions participated in a battery of economic games that measured concern about payoffs to themselves and to others: dictator, ultimatum, and trust games. We analyzed each task individually, but also derived estimates of the guilt and envy parameters from aggregate behavior across all of the tasks. Compared with control subjects, the patients donated significantly less and were less trustworthy, and overall our model found a significant insensitivity to guilt. Despite these abnormalities, the patients had normal expectations about what other people would do, and they also did not simply generate behavior that was more noisy. Instead, the findings argue for a specific insensitivity to guilt, an abnormality that we suggest characterizes a key contribution made by the VMPFC to social behavior.

Climate change and hailstorm damage: Empirical evidence and implications for agriculture and insurance

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Botzen, W.J.W.; Bouwer, L.M.; van den Bergh, J.C.J.M.

2010-01-01

There is much uncertainty about the effects of anthropogenic climate change on the frequency and severity of extreme weather events like hailstorms, and subsequent economic losses, while this is also relevant information for the design of climate policy. Few studies conducted indicate that a strong positive relation exists between hailstorm activity and hailstorm damage, as predicted by minimum temperatures using simple correlations. This relation suggests that hailstorm damage may increase in the future if global warming leads to further temperature increase. This study estimates a range of Tobit models of relations between normalized insured hailstorm damage to agriculture and several temperature and precipitation indicators for the Netherlands. Temporal dynamics are explicitly modelled. A distinction is made between damage costs for greenhouse horticulture and outdoor farming, which appear to be differently affected by variability in weather. 'Out of sample' forecast tests show that a combination of maximum temperatures and precipitation predicts hailstorm damage best. Extrapolations of the historical relations between hailstorm damage and weather indicators under climate change scenarios project a considerable increase in future hailstorm damage. Our estimates show that by 2050 annual hailstorm damage to outdoor farming could increase by between 25% and 50%, with considerably larger impacts on greenhouse horticulture in summer of more than 200%. The economic implications of more hailstorm damage for, and adaptation by, the agricultural and insurance sectors are discussed. (author)

ECONOMIC AND LEGAL ASPECTS OF THE PLANNED DAMAGES ACTIONS FOR THE BREACHES OF EC ANTITRUST LAW

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Elena Isac

2010-09-01

Full Text Available This paper investigates the planned damages actions for breaches of EC antitrust law in order to assess their impact on consumer welfare. It first examines the current legal situation and concurs that the European Union needs to regulate damages actions for breaches of EC antitrust law so that a higher number of consumers could be compensated for their losses. This paper then discusses the main legal provisions proposed by the Commission in the Green and in the White paper on damages actions for breaches of EC antitrust law. The analysis of these proposed legal provisions is done using arguments specific to the economic analysis of law. It is demonstrated that most of these proposed legal provisions will enhance consumer welfare but that there are also proposed legal provisions which will damage consumer welfare. The paper concludes that the planned damages actions for breaches of the EC law will be an improvement compared to the current situation. However, the Commission should amend some of the proposed legal provisions in order to help consumers further.

Full-length high-temperature severe fuel damage test No. 5

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Lanning, D.D.; Lombardo, N.J.; Hensley, W.K.; Fitzsimmons, D.E.; Panisko, F.E.; Hartwell, J.K.

1993-09-01

This report describes and presents data from a severe fuel damage test that was conducted in the National Research Universal (NRU) reactor at Chalk River Nuclear Laboratories (CRNL), Ontario, Canada. The test, designated FLHT-5, was the fourth in a series of full-length high-temperature (FLHT) tests on light-water reactor fuel. The tests were designed and performed by staff from the US Department of Energy's Pacific Northwest Laboratory (PNL), operated by Battelle Memorial Institute. The test operation and test results are described in this report. The fuel bundle in the FLHT-5 experiment included 10 unirradiated full-length pressurized-water reactor (PWR) rods, 1 irradiated PWR rod and 1 dummy gamma thermometer. The fuel rods were subjected to a very low coolant flow while operating at low fission power. This caused coolant boilaway, rod dryout and overheating to temperatures above 2600 K, severe fuel rod damage, hydrogen generation, and fission product release. The test assembly and its effluent path were extensively instrumented to record temperatures, pressures, flow rates, hydrogen evolution, and fission product release during the boilaway/heatup transient. Post-test gamma scanning of the upper plenum indicated significant iodine and cesium release and deposition. Both stack gas activity and on-line gamma spectrometer data indicated significant (∼50%) release of noble fission gases. Post-test visual examination of one side of the fuel bundle revealed no massive relocation and flow blockage; however, rundown of molten cladding was evident

Integrated flood damage modelling in the Ebro river basin under hydrodynamic, socio-economic and environmental factors

Science.gov (United States)

Foudi, S.; Galarraga, I.; Osés, N.

2012-04-01

This paper presents a model of flood damage measurement. It studies the socio-economic and environmental potential damage of floods in the Ebro river basin. We estimate the damage to the urban, rural and environmental sectors. In these sectors, we make distinctions between residential, non residential, cultural, agricultural, public facilities and utilities, environmental and human subsectors. We focus on both the direct, indirect, tangible and intangible impacts. The residential damages refer to the damages on housing, costs of repair and cleaning as direct effects and the re-housing costs as an indirect effect. The non residential and agricultural impacts concern the losses to the economic sectors (industry, business, agricultural): production, capital losses, costs of cleaning and repairs for the direct costs and the consequences of the suspension of activities for the indirect costs. For the human sector, we refer to the physical impacts (injuries and death) in the direct tangible effects and to the posttraumatic stress as indirect intangible impact. The environmental impacts focus on a site of Community Interests (pSCIs) in the case study area. The case study is located the Ebro river basin, Spain. The Ebro river basin is the larger river basin in term of surface and water discharge. The Ebro river system is subject to Atlantic and Mediterranean climatic influences. It gathers most of its water from the north of Spain (in the Pyrenees Mountains) and is the most important river basin of Spain in term of water resources. Most of the flooding occurs during the winter period. Between 1900- 2010, the National Catalogue of Historical Floods identifies 372 events: meanly 33 events every 10 years and up to 58 during the 1990-2000. Natural floods have two origins: (i) persistent rainfalls in large sub basins raised up by high temperature giving rise to a rapid thaw in the Pyrenees, (ii) local rainfalls of short duration and high intensity that gives rise to rapid and

Land Use Adaptation to Climate Change: Economic Damages from Land-Falling Hurricanes in the Atlantic and Gulf States of the USA, 1900–2005

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Asim Zia

2012-05-01

Full Text Available Global climate change, especially the phenomena of global warming, is expected to increase the intensity of land-falling hurricanes. Societal adaptation is needed to reduce vulnerability from increasingly intense hurricanes. This study quantifies the adaptation effects of potentially policy driven caps on housing densities and agricultural cover in coastal (and adjacent inland areas vulnerable to hurricane damages in the Atlantic and Gulf Coastal regions of the U.S. Time series regressions, especially Prais-Winston and Autoregressive Moving Average (ARMA models, are estimated to forecast the economic impacts of hurricanes of varying intensity, given that various patterns of land use emerge in the Atlantic and Gulf coastal states of the U.S. The Prais-Winston and ARMA models use observed time series data from 1900 to 2005 for inflation adjusted hurricane damages and socio-economic and land-use data in the coastal or inland regions where hurricanes caused those damages. The results from this study provide evidence that increases in housing density and agricultural cover cause significant rise in the de-trended inflation-adjusted damages. Further, higher intensity and frequency of land-falling hurricanes also significantly increase the economic damages. The evidence from this study implies that a medium to long term land use adaptation in the form of capping housing density and agricultural cover in the coastal (and adjacent inland states can significantly reduce economic damages from intense hurricanes. Future studies must compare the benefits of such land use adaptation policies against the costs of development controls implied in housing density caps and agricultural land cover reductions.

Precursors to potential severe core damage accidents: 1992, A status report. Volume 17, Main report and Appendix A

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Cox, D.F.; Cletcher, J.W.; Copinger, D.A.; Cross-Dial, A.E.; Morris, R.H.; Vanden Heuvel, L.N. [Oak Ridge National Lab., TN (United States); Dolan, B.W.; Jansen, J.M.; Minarick, J.W. [Science Applications International Corp., Oak Ridge, TN (United States); Lau, W.; Salyer, W.D. [Reliability and Performance Associates (United States)

1993-12-01

Twenty-seven operational events with conditional probabilities of subsequent severe core damage of 1.0 {times} 10E-06 or higher occurring at commercial light-water reactors during 1992 are considered to be precursors to potential core damage. These are described along with associated significance estimates, categorization, and subsequent analyses. The report discusses (1) the general rationale for this study, (2) the selection and documentation of events as precursors, (3) the estimation and use of conditional probabilities of subsequent severe core damage to rank precursor events, and (4) the plant models used in the analysis process.

Comprehensive flood economic losses: review of the potential damage and implementation of an agricultural impact model

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Mao Gwladys

2016-01-01

Full Text Available With an annual loss averaging 580 M€ between 1990 and 2014, floods are the main natural catastrophe (Nat Cat risk for the French Nat Cat compensation scheme. As part of its role in this scheme, the Caisse Centrale de Réassurance (CCR offers state guaranteed reinsurance programs and has been modelling the risk of flooding since 2003. This model is based on the traditional valuation approach of direct tangible costs which pairs a physical model with exposure through damage curves. CCR wishes now to widen the studied damage scope to insured and noninsured economic costs and has been collaborating with the SAF research laboratory from the Institute of Financial and Insurance Sciences (ISFA since 2014. CCR’s model has been used to estimate the insured direct damage to residential and non-residential properties and it is now being developed to include damage to vehicles, agriculture and network infrastructures. Research is also being carried out to take into account business interruptions and indirect losses using an Input-Output model. This article describes the undergoing work on model development to estimate the damage to agriculture.

Precursors to potential severe core damage accidents: 1994, a status report. Volume 22: Appendix I

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Belles, R.J.; Cletcher, J.W.; Copinger, D.A.; Vanden Heuvel, L.N.; Dolan, B.W.; Minarick, J.W.

1995-12-01

Nine operational events that affected eleven commercial light-water reactors (LWRs) during 1994 and that are considered to be precursors to potential severe core damage are described. All these events had conditional probabilities of subsequent severe core damage greater than or equal to 1.0 x 10 -6 . These events were identified by computer-screening the 1994 licensee event reports from commercial LWRs to identify those that could be potential precursors. Candidate precursors were then selected and evaluated in a process similar to that used in previous assessments. Selected events underwent engineering evaluation that identified, analyzed, and documented the precursors. Other events designated by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) also underwent a similar evaluation. Finally, documented precursors were submitted for review by licensees and NRC headquarters and regional offices to ensure that the plant design and its response to the precursor were correctly characterized. This study is a continuation of earlier work, which evaluated 1969--1981 and 1984--1993 events. The report discusses the general rationale for this study, the selection and documentation of events as precursors, and the estimation of conditional probabilities of subsequent severe core damage for events. This document is bound in two volumes: Vol. 21 contains the main report and Appendices A--H; Vol. 22 contains Appendix 1

Precursors to potential severe core damage accidents: 1994, a status report. Volume 22: Appendix I

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Belles, R.J.; Cletcher, J.W.; Copinger, D.A.; Vanden Heuvel, L.N. [Oak Ridge National Lab., TN (United States); Dolan, B.W.; Minarick, J.W. [Oak Ridge National Lab., TN (United States)]|[Science Applications International Corp., Oak Ridge, TN (United States)

1995-12-01

Nine operational events that affected eleven commercial light-water reactors (LWRs) during 1994 and that are considered to be precursors to potential severe core damage are described. All these events had conditional probabilities of subsequent severe core damage greater than or equal to 1.0 {times} 10{sup {minus}6}. These events were identified by computer-screening the 1994 licensee event reports from commercial LWRs to identify those that could be potential precursors. Candidate precursors were then selected and evaluated in a process similar to that used in previous assessments. Selected events underwent engineering evaluation that identified, analyzed, and documented the precursors. Other events designated by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) also underwent a similar evaluation. Finally, documented precursors were submitted for review by licensees and NRC headquarters and regional offices to ensure that the plant design and its response to the precursor were correctly characterized. This study is a continuation of earlier work, which evaluated 1969--1981 and 1984--1993 events. The report discusses the general rationale for this study, the selection and documentation of events as precursors, and the estimation of conditional probabilities of subsequent severe core damage for events. This document is bound in two volumes: Vol. 21 contains the main report and Appendices A--H; Vol. 22 contains Appendix 1.

Time course study of feeding damage to pin head cotton squares by Lygus hesperus (Hemiptera: Miridae)

Science.gov (United States)

Lygus hesperus (Hemiptera: Miridae) is an economically important pest affecting cotton crops in California. Lygus feeding causes abscission of cotton squares, with damage severity dependent on size of the square and life stage of the insect. Fifth instar nymphs are the most damaging stage; however, ...

Meeting energy demand in a developing economy without damaging the environment. A case study in Sabah, Malaysia, from technical, environmental and economic perspectives

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Koh, Siong Lee; Lim, Yun Seng [Department of Physical Science, Electrical and Electronic Engineering, Tunku Abdul Rahman University (Malaysia)

2010-08-15

The challenges faced by the developing countries are unique in that they need to meet the increasing energy demands for their economic growths at a competitive price without damaging the environments. In this paper, a case study on the electricity demand issue in Sabah, Malaysia, is presented to investigate potential solutions in addressing this current need for a typical developing economy from the technical, economical and environmental perspectives. Sabah, one of the 13 states in Malaysia, is currently experiencing a serious power shortage, especially at the east coast. A 300 MW coal plant is proposed by the electricity utility company. However, the proposal has been rejected in the past several years due to the negative environmental impacts of the plant. In this paper, a number of alternative solutions were evaluated and proposed with respect to the viability of technologies, financial return and minimum environmental impact in terms of GHG emission. (author)

Meeting energy demand in a developing economy without damaging the environment-A case study in Sabah, Malaysia, from technical, environmental and economic perspectives

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Koh, Siong Lee; Lim, Yun Seng

2010-01-01

The challenges faced by the developing countries are unique in that they need to meet the increasing energy demands for their economic growths at a competitive price without damaging the environments. In this paper, a case study on the electricity demand issue in Sabah, Malaysia, is presented to investigate potential solutions in addressing this current need for a typical developing economy from the technical, economical and environmental perspectives. Sabah, one of the 13 states in Malaysia, is currently experiencing a serious power shortage, especially at the east coast. A 300 MW coal plant is proposed by the electricity utility company. However, the proposal has been rejected in the past several years due to the negative environmental impacts of the plant. In this paper, a number of alternative solutions were evaluated and proposed with respect to the viability of technologies, financial return and minimum environmental impact in terms of GHG emission.

The Economic Crisis and Several Effects on Global Economy

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Florina BRAN

2011-01-01

Full Text Available The main mechanism of profit making is not production according to the outcomes of several analyses of the current economic crisis. This mechanism is circulation and exchange. Starting with this observation the paper goes through a number of aspects regarding the relation between crisis and economy at global level. These aspects consist in the recent financial turmoil; who pays for the crisis; stabilizing the financial sector; recession and the financial crisis; the internationalization of the crisis; commodities and the ecological crisis; an end to neo-liberalism; what should socialists demand. We notice and comment on how important current development in the wake of the banking crisis is for the transmission of that crisis to the rest of the economy and its interaction with the more general economic crisis now emerging. It was concluded that there are good chances that the current economic order to be broken. The future shape of the order will depend more on vision of managers than on the influence of the so called objective factors.

Economically optimal timing for crop disease control under uncertainty: an options approach

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Ndeffo Mbah, M.L.; Forster, G.; Wesseler, J.H.H.; Gilligan, C.A.

2010-01-01

Severe large-scale disease and pest infestations in agricultural regions can cause significant economic damage. Understanding if and when disease control measures should be taken in the presence of risk and uncertainty is a key issue. We develop a framework to examine the economically optimal timing

Scale interactions in economics: application to the evaluation of the economic damages of climatic change and of extreme events; Interactions d'echelles en economie: application a l'evaluation des dommages economiques du changement climatique et des evenements extremes

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Hallegatte, S

2005-06-15

Growth models, which neglect economic disequilibria, considered as temporary, are in general used to evaluate the damaging effects generated by climatic change. This work shows, through a series of modeling experiences, the importance of disequilibria and of endogenous variability of economy in the evaluation of damages due to extreme events and climatic change. It demonstrates the impossibility to separate the evaluation of damages from the representation of growth and of economic dynamics: the comfort losses will depend on both the nature and intensity of impacts and on the dynamics and situation of the economy to which they will apply. Thus, the uncertainties about the damaging effects of future climatic changes come from both scientific uncertainties and from uncertainties about the future organization of our economies. (J.S.)

Level of damages and economical threshold, decisive aspects in the integrated management of plagues.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Rafael Meneses

2011-03-01

Full Text Available The establishment and application of economical levels demand a procedure to find with precision the insects population in a given moment. In the integrated management of plagues is not allowed the idea that any insect which is feeding from a part of plants requires a control action, that is why it is very important to determine the real effect that this insect population causes to the cultivation. Any decrease in the crop, constitutes a real waste of time; but when the economical level is defined, it is included an additional factor which is the measure cost of the plagues control. The determination of damages of levels is very important for economists, farming experts and specialists; while for producers is very significant its implementation with the objective to count with a sustainable and beneficial agriculture.

Fission neutron damage rates and efficiencies in several metals

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Klabunde, C.E.; Coltman, R.R. Jr.

1981-11-01

Initial rates of resistivity-measured low-temperature damage production by fission-spectrum fast neutrons have been determined for 14 metals in the same very well characterized irradiation facility. Six of these metals were fcc, 5 bcc, and 3 hcp. Most were of quite high purity. Observed damage rates, after correction for all known extraneous resistivity-producing effects, were compared with rates predicted by the damage calculation code RECOIL, using parameters chosen from the literature. These parameters, effective displacement threshold energy, E/sub d/, and Frenkel-pair resistivity, rho/sub F/, were in many cases only best estimates, the further refinement of which may be aided by the present results. Damage efficiencies (measured/predicted rates) follow the same trends by crystal classes as seen in other fast-neutron studies

Economic Analysis of Several Nuclear Fuel Cycles

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ko, Won Il; Gao, Fanxing; Kim, Sung Ki

2012-01-01

appropriate for an estimate on the costs of energy given the various technologies. Levelized fuel cycle cost (LFCC) and levelized generation cost (LGC) have offered effective indicators for economic comparison among nuclear fuel cycles and were adopted to compare the fuel cycle options considered in this study. The unpredictable change of the unit costs of several key components due to the uncertainties can lead to considerable differences in levelized costs among the fuel cycle alternatives. To take these unavoidable uncertainties into account, a wide scale was applied to each unit cost and a distribution of levelized cost was also obtained

Climate Risk Modelling of Balsam Woolly Adelgid Damage Severity in Subalpine Fir Stands of Western North America.

Science.gov (United States)

Hrinkevich, Kathryn H; Progar, Robert A; Shaw, David C

2016-01-01

The balsam woolly adelgid (Adelges piceae (Ratzeburg) (Homoptera: Adelgidae)) (BWA) is a nonnative, invasive insect that threatens Abies species throughout North America. It is well established in the Pacific Northwest, but continues to move eastward through Idaho and into Montana and potentially threatens subalpine fir to the south in the central and southern Rocky Mountains. We developed a climatic risk model and map that predicts BWA impacts to subalpine fir using a two-step process. Using 30-year monthly climate normals from sites with quantitatively derived BWA damage severity index values, we built a regression model that significantly explained insect damage. The sites were grouped into two distinct damage categories (high damage and mortality versus little or no mortality and low damage) and the model estimates for each group were used to designate distinct value ranges for four climatic risk categories: minimal, low, moderate, and high. We then calculated model estimates for each cell of a 4-kilometer resolution climate raster and mapped the risk categories over the entire range of subalpine fir in the western United States. The spatial variation of risk classes indicates a gradient of climatic susceptibility generally decreasing from the Olympic Peninsula in Washington and the Cascade Range in Oregon and Washington moving eastward, with the exception of some high risk areas in northern Idaho and western Montana. There is also a pattern of decreasing climatic susceptibility from north to south in the Rocky Mountains. Our study provides an initial step for modeling the relationship between climate and BWA damage severity across the range of subalpine fir. We showed that September minimum temperature and a metric calculated as the maximum May temperature divided by total May precipitation were the best climatic predictors of BWA severity. Although winter cold temperatures and summer heat have been shown to influence BWA impacts in other locations, these

Scale interactions in economics: application to the evaluation of the economic damages of climatic change and of extreme events; Interactions d'echelles en economie: application a l'evaluation des dommages economiques du changement climatique et des evenements extremes

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Hallegatte, S

2005-06-15

Growth models, which neglect economic disequilibria, considered as temporary, are in general used to evaluate the damaging effects generated by climatic change. This work shows, through a series of modeling experiences, the importance of disequilibria and of endogenous variability of economy in the evaluation of damages due to extreme events and climatic change. It demonstrates the impossibility to separate the evaluation of damages from the representation of growth and of economic dynamics: the comfort losses will depend on both the nature and intensity of impacts and on the dynamics and situation of the economy to which they will apply. Thus, the uncertainties about the damaging effects of future climatic changes come from both scientific uncertainties and from uncertainties about the future organization of our economies. (J.S.)

DNA Damages and White Blood Cell Death Processes in Victims with Severe Injury

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

V. V. Moroz

2014-01-01

Full Text Available Objective. To study the mechanisms of posttraumatic changes in the blood cells, by investigating DNA damages associat ed with hypoxia caused by massive blood loss (BL in severe injury.Subjects and methods. Ninetyfive patients aged 40.6±16.5 years (from 20 to 79 years who had sustained severe mechanical injury with different BL volumes (BLV (from 100 to 4000 ml and hemodynamic disorders were examined to study DNA damages and white blood cell necrotic and apop totic processes. In terms of the victims' weight, the mean BL was 21.5±16.5 ml/kg (from 1.4 to 61.5 ml/kg. The victimswere divided into 4 groups according to BLV: 1 26 victims whose BLV was less than 750 ml (5.93±2.41 ml/kg (grade I BL; 2 23 victims whose BLV was 750—1500 ml (11.5±1.5 ml/kg (grade 2 BL; 3 23 victims whose BLV was 1500—2000 ml (23.8±4.0 ml/kg (grade 3 BL; 4 23 victims whose BLV was over 2000 ml (45.6±10.1 ml/kg (grade 4 BL, according to the type of injury: 1 severe skeletal injury (SSI (n=17; 2 brain injury (BI (n=43; 3 a concurrence of SSI and BI (SSI+BI (n=35; according to the development of infectious complications: 1 69 victims who developed infectious com plications on days 5—7 postinjury; 2 26 victims who did not. To evaluate the impact of hypoxia on DNA damages, white blood cell apoptotic and necrotic processes, the victims were divided into 2 groups: 1 hypoxia (18 of the 95 victims who had 4 altered indicators, such as capillary blood pO2, plasma lactate levels, pH, and BE; 2 no hypoxia (10 of the 95 victims whose indicators were within the normal range. DNA damages and necrotic and apoptotic changes in the white blood cells were assessed by the DNA comet assay. The plasma concentration of extracellular DNA was fluorometrically determined using a QuantiTTM HS DNA Assay Kit (Invitrogen, USA. That of 8hydroxy2deoxyguanosine was estimated by enzyme immunoassay employing an 8hydroxy2deoxyGuanosine EIA Kit (Cayman Chemical, USA. The levels of cas

The CATDAT damaging earthquakes database

Science.gov (United States)

Daniell, J. E.; Khazai, B.; Wenzel, F.; Vervaeck, A.

2011-08-01

The global CATDAT damaging earthquakes and secondary effects (tsunami, fire, landslides, liquefaction and fault rupture) database was developed to validate, remove discrepancies, and expand greatly upon existing global databases; and to better understand the trends in vulnerability, exposure, and possible future impacts of such historic earthquakes. Lack of consistency and errors in other earthquake loss databases frequently cited and used in analyses was a major shortcoming in the view of the authors which needed to be improved upon. Over 17 000 sources of information have been utilised, primarily in the last few years, to present data from over 12 200 damaging earthquakes historically, with over 7000 earthquakes since 1900 examined and validated before insertion into the database. Each validated earthquake includes seismological information, building damage, ranges of social losses to account for varying sources (deaths, injuries, homeless, and affected), and economic losses (direct, indirect, aid, and insured). Globally, a slightly increasing trend in economic damage due to earthquakes is not consistent with the greatly increasing exposure. The 1923 Great Kanto (214 billion USD damage; 2011 HNDECI-adjusted dollars) compared to the 2011 Tohoku (>300 billion USD at time of writing), 2008 Sichuan and 1995 Kobe earthquakes show the increasing concern for economic loss in urban areas as the trend should be expected to increase. Many economic and social loss values not reported in existing databases have been collected. Historical GDP (Gross Domestic Product), exchange rate, wage information, population, HDI (Human Development Index), and insurance information have been collected globally to form comparisons. This catalogue is the largest known cross-checked global historic damaging earthquake database and should have far-reaching consequences for earthquake loss estimation, socio-economic analysis, and the global reinsurance field.

The CATDAT damaging earthquakes database

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

J. E. Daniell

2011-08-01

Full Text Available The global CATDAT damaging earthquakes and secondary effects (tsunami, fire, landslides, liquefaction and fault rupture database was developed to validate, remove discrepancies, and expand greatly upon existing global databases; and to better understand the trends in vulnerability, exposure, and possible future impacts of such historic earthquakes.

Lack of consistency and errors in other earthquake loss databases frequently cited and used in analyses was a major shortcoming in the view of the authors which needed to be improved upon.

Over 17 000 sources of information have been utilised, primarily in the last few years, to present data from over 12 200 damaging earthquakes historically, with over 7000 earthquakes since 1900 examined and validated before insertion into the database. Each validated earthquake includes seismological information, building damage, ranges of social losses to account for varying sources (deaths, injuries, homeless, and affected, and economic losses (direct, indirect, aid, and insured.

Globally, a slightly increasing trend in economic damage due to earthquakes is not consistent with the greatly increasing exposure. The 1923 Great Kanto ($214 billion USD damage; 2011 HNDECI-adjusted dollars compared to the 2011 Tohoku (>$300 billion USD at time of writing, 2008 Sichuan and 1995 Kobe earthquakes show the increasing concern for economic loss in urban areas as the trend should be expected to increase. Many economic and social loss values not reported in existing databases have been collected. Historical GDP (Gross Domestic Product, exchange rate, wage information, population, HDI (Human Development Index, and insurance information have been collected globally to form comparisons.

This catalogue is the largest known cross-checked global historic damaging earthquake database and should have far-reaching consequences for earthquake loss estimation, socio-economic analysis, and the global

[A Method Research on Environmental Damage Assessment of a Truck Rollover Pollution Incident].

Science.gov (United States)

Cai, Feng; Zhao, Shi-ho; Chen, Gang-cai; Xian, Si-shu; Yang, Qing-ling; Zhou, Xian-jie; Yu, Hai

2015-05-01

With high occurrence of sudden water pollution incident, China faces an increasingly severe situation of water environment. In order to deter the acts of environmental pollution, ensure the damaged resources of environment can be restored and compensated, it is very critical to quantify the economic losses caused by the sudden water pollution incident. This paper took truck rollover pollution incidents in Chongqing for an example, established a set of evaluation method for quantifying the environmental damage, and then assessed the environmental damage by the method from four aspects, including the property damage, ecological environment and resources damages, the costs of administrative affairs in emergency disposal, and the costs of investigation and evaluation.

Characterizing Damage of Brown Marmorated Stink Bug (Hemiptera: Pentatomidae) in Blueberries.

Science.gov (United States)

Wiman, Nik G; Parker, Joyce E; Rodriguez-Saona, Cesar; Walton, Vaughn M

2015-06-01

Brown marmorated stink bug, Halyomorpha halys (Stål) (Hemiptera: Pentatomidae), is a severe economic pest of growing importance in the United States, Canada, and Europe. While feeding damage from H. halys has been characterized in tree fruit, vegetables, and agronomic crops, less is known about the impacts of stink bugs on small fruits such as blueberries. In this study, we examined H. halys feeding on two representative early and late ripening blueberry cultivars in Oregon and New Jersey. This research examined how different densities of H. halys confined on blueberry clusters for week-long periods affected fruit quality at harvest. After fruit were ripe, we stained and quantified the number of salivary sheaths on berries as an indication of feeding pressure. Feeding by H. halys damaged the fruits by causing increased levels of external discoloration, and internal damage in the form of tissue necrosis. Exposure of berries to H. halys was also associated with decreasing berry weights and lower soluble solids in fruits. However, the different cultivars did not respond consistently to feeding pressure from H. halys. Weekly variability in feeding pressure of two of the cultivars as quantified by the number of stylet sheaths per berry was largely accounted for by environmental variables. We conclude that H. halys does have potential to severely damage blueberries and may become an important economic pest. Characterization of damage is important because correct identification of insect damage is key for successful management. © The Authors 2015. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of Entomological Society of America. All rights reserved. For Permissions, please email: journals.permissions@oup.com.

Recent changes in flood damage in the United States from observations and ACME model

Science.gov (United States)

Leng, G.; Leung, L. R.

2017-12-01

Despite efforts to mitigate flood hazards in flood-prone areas, survey- and report-based flood databases show that flood damage has increased and emerged as one of the most costly disaster in the United States since the 1990s. Understanding the mechanism driving the changes in flood damage is therefore critical for reducing flood risk. In this study, we first conduct a comprehensive analysis of the changing characteristics of flood damage at local, state and country level. Results show a significant increasing trend in the number of flood hazards, causing economic losses of up to $7 billion per year. The ratio of flood events that caused tangible economical cost to the total flood events has exhibited a non-significant increasing trend before 2007 followed by a significant decrease, indicating a changing vulnerability to floods. Analysis also reveals distinct spatial and temporal patterns in the threshold intensity of flood hazards with tangible economical cost. To understand the mechanism behind the increasing flood damage, we develop a flood damage economic model coupled with the integrated hydrological modeling system of ACME that features a river routing model with an inundation parameterization and a water use and regulation model. The model is evaluated over the country against historical records. Several numerical experiments are then designed to explore the mechanisms behind the recent changes in flood damage from the perspective of flood hazard, exposure and vulnerability, which constitute flood damage. The role of human activities such as reservoir operations and water use in modifying regional floods are also explored using the new tool, with the goal of improving understanding and modeling of vulnerability to flood hazards.

Socio-economic disadvantage, quality of medical care and admission for acute severe asthma.

Science.gov (United States)

Kolbe, J; Vamos, M; Fergusson, W

1997-06-01

In asthma, socio-economic and health care factors may operate by a number of mechanisms to influence asthma morbidity and mortality. To determine the quality of medical care including the patient perception of the doctor-patient relationship, and the level of socio-economic disadvantage in patients admitted to hospital with acute severe asthma. One hundred and thirty-eight patients (15-50 years) admitted to hospital (general ward or intensive care unit) with acute asthma were prospectively assessed using a number of previously validated instruments. The initial subjects had severe asthma on admission (pH = 7.3 +/- 0.2, PaCO2 = 7.1 +/- 5.0 kPa, n = 90) but short hospital stay (3.7 +/- 2.6 days). Although having high morbidity (40% had hospital admission in the last year and 60% had moderate/severe interference with sleep and/or ability to exercise), they had indicators of good ongoing medical care (96% had a regular GP, 80% were prescribed inhaled steroids, 84% had a peak flow meter, GP measured peak flow routinely in 80%, 52% had a written crisis plan and 44% had a supply of steroids at home). However, they were severely economically disadvantaged (53% had experienced financial difficulties in the last year, and for 35% of households the only income was a social security benefit). In the last year 39% had delayed or put off GP visit because of cost. Management of the index attack was compromised by concern about medical costs in 16% and time off work in 20%. Patients admitted to hospital with acute asthma have evidence of good quality on-going medical care, but are economically disadvantaged. If issues such as financial barriers to health care are not acknowledged and addressed, the health care services for asthmatics will not be effectively utilised and the current reductions in morbidity and mortality may not be maintained.

Multidisciplinary approach to evaluate flood damage for residential buildings: first results in Northern Italy

Science.gov (United States)

Luino, Fabio

2015-04-01

Flooding is the most common natural instability process in Italy. Flood damage are the results of land-use planning policies which, starting chiefly from the late 1950s and early 1960s, did not take into account the geomorphologic-hydraulic characteristics of an area or the its historical data on past flood events. Historically, compared to other areas, riverside property has always been less valuable. Unfortunately, year after year, even areas of high recreational and environmental value were intensely urbanized despite their being exposed to the threat of flooding. As the number of residential dwellings, infrastructure and industrial buildings increased, what was originally a hazard became a risk. For each flood event, the damage depends on the specific land-use of the area and subsequently on the elements at risk in the area involved and its vulnerability, expressed as a percentage of the element that has actually been lost during the event. This is why a comprehensive knowledge of the area it is so important for conducting a detailed survey of an area's structures and infrastructure and to evaluate the degree of vulnerability. This paper presents first results in Italy of the European Project called DAMAGE, the first attempt by the civil protection agencies of several European Union member states to devise a common methodology for the assessment of damage caused by natural or anthropic disasters. The main objective was to create an initial tool for practical and immediate application by civil protection agencies and local governments, to assess damage in a multidimensional perspective that takes into account infrastructure, the economy, the environment and social problems. Within the framework of a broad-based project for the evaluation and collection of reports on damage caused by floods, the CNR-IRPI of Turin and Regione Lombardia have directed attention to the town of Cittiglio (province of Varese), which was struck by severe flash flood in May 2002. One of

Mechanistic model for Sr and Ba release from severely damaged fuel

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Rest, J.; Cronenberg, A.W.

1985-11-01

Among radionuclides associated with fission product release during severe accidents, the primary ones with health consequences are the volatile species of I, Te, and Cs, and the next most important are Sr, Ba, and Ru. Considerable progress has been made in the mechanistic understanding of I, Cs, Te, and noble gas release; however, no capability presently exists for estimating the release of Sr, Ba, and Ru. This paper presents a description of the primary physical/chemical models recently incorporated into the FASTGRASS-VFP (volatile fission product) code for the estimation of Sr and Ba release. FASTGRASS-VFP release predictions are compared with two data sets: (1) data from out-of-reactor induction-heating experiments on declad low-burnup (1000 and 4000 MWd/t) pellets, and (2) data from the more recent in-reactor PBF Severe Fuel Damage Tests, in which one-meter-long, trace-irradiated (89 MWd/t) and normally irradiated (approx.35,000 MWd/t) fuel rods were tested under accident conditions. 10 refs

Influence of coffee pruning on the severity of frost damage

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Armando Androcioli Filho

2000-01-01

Full Text Available Frost damages in a field experiment of pruning types and systems for the cultivars of Coffea arabica Catuaí and Mundo Novo, were evaluated at Londrina (23º22’S, 52º10´W, State of Parana, southern Brazil, during the winter of 1990 and 1994. Pruning types evaluated were ‘esqueletamento’ (cutting off all plagiotropic branches at 20-30 cm from the orthotropic branch, ‘decote’ (cutting off the orthotropic branch at 1.5 m and 2.0 m above ground and ‘recepa’ (cutting off the orthotropic branch at 0.8 m above ground, performed on all rows and on alternate rows, and on different sections of the plant. Results indicated that frost damage could increase according to the type and height of pruning. The pruning type ‘esqueletamento’ and prunings at higher levels were more suitable for regions with frost risk. Under severe frost condition, pruning type did not affect the damage in anyone of the treatments evaluated.Foram avaliados os danos causados pelas geadas ocorridas em 1990 e 1994 em cafeeiros de duas cultivares de Coffea arabica L., Catuaí e Mundo Novo, conduzidos em Londrina-PR. Os tipos e sistemas de podas aplicados foram o esqueletamento a 20-30 cm do tronco, decote a 1,5 m e 2,0 m de altura e recepa a 0,80 m de altura. As podas foram feitas em área total e em linhas alternadas e em diferentes partes da planta. Os dados obtidos indicaram que os danos por geada podem ser intensificados em função do tipo e altura da poda. A poda do tipo esqueletamento e as podas altas são mais indicadas para o manejo das lavouras nas regiões mais sujeitas ao fenômeno de geada. No caso de geada severa, todos os cafeeiros foram afetados, independente do tipo de poda.

Modelling of Zircaloy-steam-oxidation under severe fuel damage conditions

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Malang, S.; Neitzel, H.J.

1983-01-01

Small break loss-of-coolant accidents and special transients in an LWR, in combination with loss of required safety systems, may lead to an uncovered core for an extended period of time. As a consequence, the cladding temperature could rise up to the melting point due to the decay heat, resulting in severely damaged fuel rods. During heat-up the claddings oxidize due to oxygen uptake from the steam atmosphere in the core. The modeling and assessment of the Zircaloy-steam oxidation under such conditions is important, mainly for two reasons: The oxidation of the cladding influences the temperature transients due to the exothermic heat of reaction; the amount of liquified fuel depends on the oxide layer thickness and the oxygen content of the remaining Zircaloy metal when the melting point is reached. (author)

Micro-CT features of intermediate gunshot wounds severely damaged by fire.

Science.gov (United States)

Fais, Paolo; Giraudo, Chiara; Boscolo-Berto, Rafael; Amagliani, Alessandro; Miotto, Diego; Feltrin, Giampietro; Viel, Guido; Ferrara, S Davide; Cecchetto, Giovanni

2013-03-01

Incineration or extensive burning of the body, causing changes in the content and distribution of fluids, fixation and shrinking processes of tissues, can alter the typical macroscopic and microscopic characteristics of firearm wounds, hampering or at least complicating the reconstruction of gunshot fatalities. The present study aims at evaluating the potential role of micro-computed tomography (micro-CT) for detecting and quantifying gunshot residue (GSR) particles in experimentally produced intermediate-range gunshot wounds severely damaged by fire. Eighteen experimental shootings were performed on 18 sections of human calves surgically amputated for medical reasons at three different firing distances (5, 15 and 30 cm). Six stab wounds produced with an ice pick were used as controls. Each calf section underwent a charring cycle, being placed in a wood-burning stove for 4 min at a temperature of 400 °C. At visual inspection, the charred entrance wounds could not be differentiated from the exit lesions and the stab wounds. On the contrary, micro-CT analysis showed the presence of GSR particles in all burnt entrance gunshot wounds, while GSR was absent in the exit and stab wounds. The GSR deposits of the firearm lesions inflicted at very close distance (5 cm) were mainly constituted of huge particles (diameter >150 μm) with an irregular shape and well-delineated edges; at greater distances (15 and 30 cm), agglomerates of tiny radiopaque particles scattered in the epidermis and dermis layers were evident. Statistical analysis demonstrated that also in charred firearm wounds the amount of GSR roughly correlates with the distance from which the gun was fired. The obtained results suggest that micro-CT analysis can be a valid screening tool for identifying entrance gunshot wounds and for differentiating firearm wounds from sharp-force injuries in bodies severely damaged by fire.

[Severe hypertension: definition and patients profiles].

Science.gov (United States)

Mourad, Jean-Jacques

2013-05-01

Severe arterial hypertension gathers relatively different clinical situations explained by the heterogeneity of the definitions of this clinical setting. From a medical point of view, severe hypertension is a short course situation defined by very high values of blood pressure corresponding to grade 3 hypertension. In France, until 2011, the social security also included in the definition of severe HTA chronic situations characterized by moderate blood pressure values requiring at least triple anthihypertensive therapies associated with a clinical or infraclinical target organ damages. These clinical profiles, much more frequent than grade 3 hypertension, allowed the full reimbursement of care costs for these patients. In France, it is estimated that 10% of hypertensive patients present a severe form with an annual incidence of 50,000 patients. The patients with severe hypertension have an increased cardiovascular morbidity justifying a closer clinical monitoring. From an economic point of view, these severe forms of hypertension have a higher cost of care, explained primarily by a more frequent need of specialized referrals, radiological exams and hospitalizations. This excess cost justified the existence of a full coverage of induced costs by the social security, since the incidence of severe hypertension is more frequent in the low social categories, and in patients with economic fragility.

Phenomena occurring in the reactor coolant system during severe core damage accidents

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Malinauskas, A.P.

1989-01-01

The reactor coolant system (RCS) of a nuclear power plant consists of the reactor pressure vessel and the piping and associated components that are required for the continuous circulation of the coolant which is used to maintain thermal equilibrium throughout the system. In the event of an accident, the RCS also serves as one of several barriers to the escape of radiotoxic material into the biosphere. In contrast to normal operating conditions, severe core damage accidents are characterized by significant temporal and spatial variations in heat and mass fluxes, and by eventual geometrical changes within the RCS. Furthermore, the difficulties in describing the system in the severe accident mode are compounded by the occurrence of chemical reactions. These reactions can influence both the thermal and the mass transport behavior of the system. In addition, behavior of the reactor vessel internals and of materials released from the core region (especially the radioactive fission products) in the course of the accident likewise become of concern to the analyst. This report addresses these concerns. 9 refs., 1 tab

Damage Valuation Arising From Flood in São Luiz do Paraitinga (SP

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Alessandra Cristina Corsi

2012-12-01

Full Text Available The Sao Luiz de Paraitinga city staged between December 2009 and January 2010, intensity rainfall which resulted in flooding of the central area and several landslides in urban and rural areas. The occurrence of natural disasters like this gets a great media appeal, with reports showing strong images, the suffering of the people directly affected, their relatives loss, their homes and appliances and housewares. However a question that calls attention not counting the shock of the humanitarian tragedy are economic losses involved. There are some methods of valuation of damage to estimate economic losses. For this estimate we used an adaptation of the method Dala (Damage and Loss Assessment. This evaluation includes a set of effects and their impacts on different economic and social sectors, infrastructure and the environment; thereby allowing scale the amount needed for reconstruction, risk management and public policies aimed at the prevention of natural disaster risk. As a result the amount of damages in São Luiz de Paraitinga measure up to R$103.63 million. It should be noted that the housing sector and cultural heritage was the most impacted in the event, representing 35% of damages, showing the sector's vulnerability, ie, R$ 35 million. Followed by the transport sector that represents 24% of the flooding  total costs in the city.

Risk of nuclear damage

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kienzl, K.

1997-01-01

Following the opening and words of welcome by Mr. Fritz Unterpertinger (unit director at the Austrian Federal Ministry for the Environment, Youth and Family; BMUJF) Mrs Helga Kromp-Kolb (professor at the Institute for Meteorology and Physics of the University of Natural Resources Science Vienna) illustrated the risks of nuclear damage in Europe by means of a nuclear risk map. She explained that even from a scientific or technical point of view the assessment of risks arising from nuclear power stations was fraught with great uncertainties. Estimates about in how far MCAs (maximum credible accident) could still be controlled by safety systems vary widely and so do assessments of the probability of a core melt. But there is wide agreement in all risk assessments conducted so far that MCAs might occur within a - from a human point of view - conceivable number of years. In this connection one has to bear in mind that the occurrence of such a major accident - whatever its probability may be - could entail immense damage and the question arises whether or not it is at all justifiable to expose the general public to such a risk. Klaus Rennings (Centre for European Economic Research, Mannheim, Germany) dealt with the economic aspects of nuclear risk assessment. He explained that there are already a number of studies available aiming to assess the risk of damage resulting from a core melt accident in economic terms. As to the probability of occurrence estimates vary widely between one incident in 3,333 and 250,000 year of reactor operation. It is assumed, however, that a nuclear accident involving a core melt in Germany would probably exceed the damage caused by the Chernobyl accident. The following speakers addressed the legal aspects of risks associated with nuclear installations. Mrs Monika Gimpel-Hinteregger (professor at the Institute for Civil Law in Graz) gave an overview on the applicable Austrian law concerning third party liability in the field of nuclear energy

Concrete model for finite element analysis of structures subjected to severe damages

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Jamet, Ph.; Millard, A.; Hoffmann, A.; Nahas, G.; Barbe, B.

1984-01-01

A specific concrete model has been developed, in order to perform mechanical analysis of civil engineering structures, when subjected to accidental loadings, leading to severe damages. Its formulation is based on the physical mechanisms, which have been observed on laboratory specimens. The model has been implemented into the CASTEM finite element system, and the case of a concrete slab perforation by a rigid missile has been considered. The qualitative behaviour of the structure is well predicted by the model. Comparison between numerical and experimental results is also performed, using two main curves: missile velocity versus penetration depth; reaction forces versus time. (Author) [pt

Oviposition punctures in cucurbit fruits and their economic damage caused by the sterile female melon fly, Bactrocera cucurbitae Coquillett

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Miyatake, T.; Irabu, T.; Higa, R.

1993-01-01

Oviposition punctures caused by sterile females of the tephritid Bactrocera cucurbitae in cucurbit fruits were examined and economic damage was evaluated in Okinawa, Ryukyu Archipelago, Japan. Cage experiments in the field confirmed that sterile females make punctures (sterile stings) on fruits. The features of sterile stings differed depending on fruit species and were classified into 5 types

A Tensor-Based Structural Damage Identification and Severity Assessment

Science.gov (United States)

Anaissi, Ali; Makki Alamdari, Mehrisadat; Rakotoarivelo, Thierry; Khoa, Nguyen Lu Dang

2018-01-01

Early damage detection is critical for a large set of global ageing infrastructure. Structural Health Monitoring systems provide a sensor-based quantitative and objective approach to continuously monitor these structures, as opposed to traditional engineering visual inspection. Analysing these sensed data is one of the major Structural Health Monitoring (SHM) challenges. This paper presents a novel algorithm to detect and assess damage in structures such as bridges. This method applies tensor analysis for data fusion and feature extraction, and further uses one-class support vector machine on this feature to detect anomalies, i.e., structural damage. To evaluate this approach, we collected acceleration data from a sensor-based SHM system, which we deployed on a real bridge and on a laboratory specimen. The results show that our tensor method outperforms a state-of-the-art approach using the wavelet energy spectrum of the measured data. In the specimen case, our approach succeeded in detecting 92.5% of induced damage cases, as opposed to 61.1% for the wavelet-based approach. While our method was applied to bridges, its algorithm and computation can be used on other structures or sensor-data analysis problems, which involve large series of correlated data from multiple sensors. PMID:29301314

Consequence analysis of core damage states following severe accidents for the CANDU reactor design

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Wahba, N.N.; Kim, Y.T.; Lie, S.G.

1997-01-01

The analytical methodology used to evaluate severe accident sequences is described. The relevant thermal-mechanical phenomena and the mathematical approach used in calculating the timing of the accident progression and source term estimate are summarized. The postulated sever accidents analyzed, in general, mainly differ in the timing to reach and progress through each defined c ore damage state . This paper presents the methodology and results of the timing and steam discharge calculations as well as source term estimate out of containment for accident sequences classified as potentially leading to core disassembly following a small break loss-of-coolant accident (LOCA) scenario as a specific example. (author)

A study on the estimation of economic consequence of severe accident

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hong, Dae Seok; Lee, Kun Jai; Jeong, Jong Tae

1996-01-01

A model to estimate economic consequence of severe accident provides some measure of the impact on the accident and enables to know the different effects of the accident described as same terms of cost and combined as necessary. Techniques to assess the consequences of accidents in terms of cost have many applications, for instance in examining countermeasure options, as part of either emergency planning or decision making after an accident. In this study, a model to estimate the accident economic consequence is developed appropriate to our country focused on PWR accident costs from a societal viewpoint. Societal costs are estimated by accounting for losses that directly affect the plant licensee, the public, the nuclear industry, or the electric utility industry after PWR accident

The disproportionate economic burden associated with severe and complicated obesity: a systematic review.

Science.gov (United States)

Grieve, E; Fenwick, E; Yang, H-C; Lean, M

2013-11-01

Burden of disease studies typically classify individuals with a body mass index (BMI) ≥ 30 kg m(-2) as a single group ('obese') and make comparisons to those with lower BMIs. Here, we review the literature on the additional economic burden associated with severe obesity or classes 3 and 4 obesity (BMI ≥ 40 kg m(-2) ), the fastest growing category of obesity, with the aim of exploring and disaggregating differences in resource use as BMI increases beyond 40 kg m(-2) . We recognize the importance of comparing classes 3 and 4 obesity to less severe obesity (classes 1 and 2) as well as quantifying the single sub-class impacts (classes 3 and 4). Although the latter analysis is the aim of this review, we include results, where found in the literature, for movement between the recognized subclasses and within classes 3 and 4 obesity. Articles presenting data on the economic burden associated with severe obesity were identified from a search of Ovid MEDLINE, EMBASE, EBSCO CINAHL and Cochrane Library databases. Data were extracted on the direct costs, productivity costs and resource use associated with severe obesity along with estimates of the multiplier effects associated with increasing BMI. Fifteen studies were identified, of which four disaggregated resource use for BMI ≥ 40 kg m(-2) . The multiplier effects derived for a variety of different types of costs incurred by the severely obese compared with those of normal weight (18.5 kg m(-2)  productivity costs. There are few published data on the economic burden of obesity disaggregated by BMI ≥ 40 kg m(-2) . By grouping people homogenously above a threshold of BMI 40 kg m(-2) , the multiplier effects for those at the highest end of the spectrum are likely to be underestimated. This will, in turn, impact on the estimates of cost-effectiveness for interventions and policies aimed at the severely obese. © 2013 The Authors. obesity reviews © 2013 International

Economic models of compensation for damages caused by nuclear accidents: some lessons for the revision of the Paris and Vienna Conventions

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Faure, Michael G.

1995-01-01

Alternative systems of compensation for damages caused by nuclear accidents have been proposed. In respect, the question merits attention to whether these alternative models of compensation discussed in the economic literature could be implemented when discussing the revision of the Paris and Vienna Conventions. 55 refs., 1 tab

Economic Evaluation of Intensive Inpatient Treatments for Severely Obese Children and Adolescents

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Sabine Makkes

2017-10-01

Full Text Available Background: Considering the large economic consequences of severe childhood obesity for the society, we aimed to conduct an economic evaluation comparing two intensive 1-year lifestyle treatments with varying inpatient periods for severely obese children and adolescents with regard to standard deviation score BMI (SDS-BMI and quality-adjusted life years (QALYs. Methods: An economic evaluation from a societal perspective accompanying a randomized controlled trial with a 24-month follow-up. 80 participants (8-19 years with severe obesity were included. Participants received an intensive 1-year lifestyle treatment with an inpatient period of 2 months (short-stay group or 6 months (long-stay group. Data were collected at baseline, 6, 12 ,and 24 months and included SDS-BMI and QALYs. Results: SDS-BMI decreased in the first 6 months of treatment, stabilized in the second 6 months, and increased during the 2nd year in both groups. After 24 months, SDS-BMI was similar in both groups, but remained lower than baseline values (mean difference -0.24, 95% CI -0.42; -0.06. There was no difference in QALYs between the groups after 24 months. For SDS-BMI, the probability of the short-stay treatment being cost-effective in comparison with the long-stay treatment was 1 at a willingness-to-pay of 0 EUR/unit of effect, which slowly decreased to 0.54 for larger willingness-to-pay values. Conclusions: Based on the results of this study, the short-stay treatment is considered to be more cost-effective from the societal perspective in comparison with the long-stay treatment. Future research should provide insight in whether the short-stay treatment is cost-effective in comparison with usual care.

Drivers of flood damage on event level

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Kreibich, H.; Aerts, J. C. J. H.; Apel, H.

2016-01-01

Flood risk is dynamic and influenced by many processes related to hazard, exposure and vulnerability. Flood damage increased significantly over the past decades, however, resulting overall economic loss per event is an aggregated indicator and it is difficult to attribute causes to this increasing...... trend. Much has been learned about damaging processes during floods at the micro-scale, e.g. building level. However, little is known about the main factors determining the amount of flood damage on event level. Thus, we analyse and compare paired flood events, i.e. consecutive, similar damaging floods...... example are the 2002 and 2013 floods in the Elbe and Danube catchments in Germany. The 2002 flood caused the highest economic damage (EUR 11600 million) due to a natural hazard event in Germany. Damage was so high due to extreme flood hazard triggered by extreme precipitation and a high number...

Precursors to potential severe core damage accidents: 1994, a status report. Volume 21: Main report and appendices A--H

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Belles, R.J.; Cletcher, J.W.; Copinger, D.A.; Vanden Heuvel, L.N.; Dolan, B.W.; Minarick, J.W.

1995-12-01

Nine operational events that affected eleven commercial light-water reactors (LWRs) during 1994 and that are considered to be precursors to potential severe core damage are described. All these events had conditional probabilities of subsequent severe core damage greater than or equal to 1.0 x 10 -6 . These events were identified by computer-screening the 1994 licensee event reports from commercial LWRs to identify those that could be potential precursors. Candidate precursors were then selected and evaluated in a process similar to that used in previous assessments. Selected events underwent engineering evaluation that identified, analyzed, and documented the precursors. Other events designated by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) also underwent a similar evaluation. Finally, documented precursors were submitted for review by licensees and NRC headquarters and regional offices to ensure that the plant design and its response to the precursor were correctly characterized. This study is a continuation of earlier work, which evaluated 1969--1981 and 1984--1993 events. The report discusses the general rationale for this study, the selection and documentation of events as precursors, and the estimation of conditional probabilities of subsequent severe core damage for events. This document is bound in two volumes: Vol. 21 contains the main report and Appendices A--H; Vol. 22 contains Appendix 1

The usefulness of the nuclear cardiology in the cellular implant in patients with severe myocardial damage

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Omelas A, M.; Arguero S, R.; Garrido G, M.H.; Rodriguez C, A.; Careaga, G.; Castano G, R.; Nambo, M.J.; Pascual P, J.; Ortega R, A.; Gaxiola A, A.; Magana S, J.A.; Estrada A, H.; Equipo de Tecnicos en Medicina Nuclear

2005-01-01

The recent therapeutic advances as the cellular implant as well as those different protocols of image acquisition in the field of the Nuclear Cardiology its have allowed that the patient with severe myocardial damage and without some possibility of revascularization is benefited with these advances. Doubtless the Tl-201 par excellence has an important paper for standardize the more appropriate therapeutic behavior for the heart attack patient; reason by this investigation protocol was developed. The objective of the study was to identify the heart attack regions without viable tissue with SPECT in patient with important myocardial damage without some possibility of traditional revascularization; for the 'Stem cell' cellular implantation therapy. The methodology it was carried out by a study of myocardial perfusion in 10 patients with important myocardial damage previous cellular implants, with PICANUC/ SPECT methodology and using a software (Emory Tool Box) for the image processing validated by the University of Emory Atlanta GA; and using as tracer the Tl - 201 to identify the heart attack regions without presence of viable tissue with an analysis model of 17 segments standardized for the left ventricle; qualifying this way the myocardial perfusion in: 0 (normal), 1 (light), 2 (moderate), 3 (severe), 4 (absent) and x (bad technique). The conclusions were that the SPECT study with PICANUC methodology with Tl-201 is safe and effective for the precise localization for the cellular implantation via direct intra myocardial. (Author)

Cumulative Effects of Several Target Organ Damages in Risk Assessment in Hypertension.

Science.gov (United States)

Harbaoui, Brahim; Courand, Pierre-Yves; Defforges, Alice; Khettab, Fouad; Milon, Hugues; Girerd, Nicolas; Lantelme, Pierre

2016-02-01

The prognostic value of screening multiple target organ damages (TODs) in hypertensive subjects has not been extensively studied. We estimated the prognostic value of considering 3 TODs in estimating the 10-year survival in hypertensive subjects. At baseline 1,848 out of a cohort of 1,963 hypertensive patients had a previous cardiovascular disease (CVD) or assessments of 3 TODs: Modification in Diet in Renal Disease (MDRD) 300mg/day, Sokolow index >3.5 mV, and advanced hypertensive retinopathy (grades 3 and 4 of Keith-Wagener-Barker classification). The cohort was divided into 5 groups: 0 TOD (N = 978), 1 TOD (N = 308), 2 TODs (N = 94), 3 TODs (N = 30), and previous CVD (N = 438). After 10 years of follow-up, we observed 418 deaths of which 254 from cardiovascular cause. The adjusted hazard ratios for the major cardiovascular risk factors showed a progressive risk associated with the number of TODs. For all-cause death, the hazard ratios [95% confidence intervals] vs. 0 TOD of the other 4 groups were 1.91 [1.39-2.63], 1.99 [1.28-3.10], 4.33 [2.42-7.72], and 3.09 [2.35-4.05], respectively. For cardiovascular death, the hazard ratios [95% confidence intervals] were of the same order of magnitude: 2.14 [1.38-3.32], 2.12 [1.15-3.89], 4.22 [1.83-9.72], and 4.24 [2.95-6.11], respectively. Our results indicate that hypertensive patients with several TODs had a worst outcome. Thus, it seems important to screen for multiple TODs in hypertension; especially check for severe hypertensive retinopathy in patients with left ventricular hypertrophy (LVH) and renal damage. © American Journal of Hypertension, Ltd 2015. All rights reserved. For Permissions, please email: journals.permissions@oup.com.

Estimating the short-term economic damages from the Prestige oil spill in the Galician fisheries and tourism

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Garza-Gil, M. Dolores; Prada-Blanco, Albino; Vazquez-Rodriguez, M. Xose [Department of Applied Economics, Faculty of Economics, University of Vigo Lagoas-Marcosende, 36310 Vigo (Spain)

2006-07-01

The Prestige oil spill may be considered as one of the worst in the last years because of the amount of oil spilled (59,000 tons at the moment) and the wide zone affected: almost all the coastline in Galicia (Spanish region with a very important coast fishing and tourist activity) and some points in North Spain and in Southwest France. In this paper, we estimate the short-term economic damages from the Prestige oil spills in the Galician fishing and tourist activities. The economic losses arising from the Prestige oil spill exceed those items that can be indemnified under the IOPC system. Their magnitude could reach 5 times more than the applicable limit of compensations in the Prestige case. The consequence is net losses from repeated oil spills and internationally accepted incentives to risky strategies in the marine transport of hydrocarbons. (author)

Estimating the short-term economic damages from the Prestige oil spill in the Galician fisheries and tourism

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Garza-Gil, M. Dolores; Prada-Blanco, Albino; Vazquez-Rodriguez, M. Xose

2006-01-01

The Prestige oil spill may be considered as one of the worst in the last years because of the amount of oil spilled (59,000 tons at the moment) and the wide zone affected: almost all the coastline in Galicia (Spanish region with a very important coast fishing and tourist activity) and some points in North Spain and in Southwest France. In this paper, we estimate the short-term economic damages from the Prestige oil spills in the Galician fishing and tourist activities. The economic losses arising from the Prestige oil spill exceed those items that can be indemnified under the IOPC system. Their magnitude could reach 5 times more than the applicable limit of compensations in the Prestige case. The consequence is net losses from repeated oil spills and internationally accepted incentives to risky strategies in the marine transport of hydrocarbons. (author)

Full-Length High-Temperature Severe Fuel Damage Test No. 5: Final safety analysis

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Lanning, D.D.; Lombardo, N.J.; Panisko, F.E.

1993-09-01

This report presents the final safety analysis for the preparation, conduct, and post-test discharge operation for the Full-Length High Temperature Experiment-5 (FLHT-5) to be conducted in the L-24 position of the National Research Universal (NRU) Reactor at Chalk River Nuclear Laboratories (CRNL), Ontario, Canada. The test is sponsored by an international group organized by the US Nuclear Regulatory Commission. The test is designed and conducted by staff from Pacific Northwest Laboratory with CRNL staff support. The test will study the consequences of loss-of-coolant and the progression of severe fuel damage

IAEA Regional Workshop on Development and Validation of EOP/AMG for Effective Prevention/Mitigation of Severe Core Damage

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

1999-01-01

Materials of the IAEA Regional Workshop contain 24 presented lectures. Authors deal with development and validation of emergency operating procedures as well as with accident management guidelines (EOP/AMG) for effective prevention and mitigation of severe core damage

Time Course and Association of Functional and Biochemical Markers in Severe Semitendinosus Damage Following Intensive Eccentric Leg Curls: Differences between and within Subjects

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Gerard Carmona

2018-02-01

Full Text Available Purpose: To investigate the extent and evolution of hamstring muscle damage caused by an intensive bout of eccentric leg curls (ELCs by (1 assessing the time course and association of different indirect markers of muscle damage such as changes in the force-generating capacity (FGC, functional magnetic resonance (fMRI, and serum muscle enzyme levels and (2 analyzing differences in the degree of hamstring muscle damage between and within subjects (limb-to-limb comparison.Methods: Thirteen male participants performed six sets of 10 repetitions of an ELC with each leg. Before and at regular intervals over 7 days after the exercise, FGC was measured with maximal isometric voluntary contraction (MVC. Serum enzyme levels, fMRI transverse relaxation time (T2 and perceived muscle soreness were also assessed and compared against the FGC.Results: Two groups of subjects were identified according to the extent of hamstring muscle damage based on decreased FGC and increased serum enzyme levels: high responders (n = 10, severe muscle damage and moderate responders (n = 3, moderate muscle damage. In the high responders, fMRI T2 analysis revealed that the semitendinosus (ST muscle suffered severe damage in the three regions measured (proximal, middle, and distal. The biceps femoris short head (BFsh muscle was also damaged and there were significant differences in the FGC within subjects in the high responders.Conclusion: FGC and serum enzyme levels measured in 10 of the subjects from the sample were consistent with severe muscle damage. However, the results showed a wide range of peak MVC reductions, reflecting different degrees of damage between subjects (high and moderate responders. fMRI analysis confirmed that the ST was the hamstring muscle most damaged by ELCs, with uniform T2 changes across all the measured sections of this muscle. During intensive ELCs, the ST muscle could suffer an anomalous recruitment pattern due to fatigue and damage, placing an

Tort Damages

NARCIS (Netherlands)

L.T. Visscher (Louis)

2008-01-01

textabstractAbstract: In this Chapter, I provide an overview of Law and Economics literature regarding tort damages. Where necessary, attention is also spent to rules of tort liability. Both types of rules provide behavioral incentives to both injurers and victims, with respect to their level of

Testing and Analysis of a Composite Non-Cylindrical Aircraft Fuselage Structure . Part II; Severe Damage

Science.gov (United States)

Przekop, Adam; Jegley, Dawn C.; Lovejoy, Andrew E.; Rouse, Marshall; Wu, Hsi-Yung T.

2016-01-01

The Environmentally Responsible Aviation Project aimed to develop aircraft technologies enabling significant fuel burn and community noise reductions. Small incremental changes to the conventional metallic alloy-based 'tube and wing' configuration were not sufficient to achieve the desired metrics. One airframe concept identified by the project as having the potential to dramatically improve aircraft performance was a composite-based hybrid wing body configuration. Such a concept, however, presented inherent challenges stemming from, among other factors, the necessity to transfer wing loads through the entire center fuselage section which accommodates a pressurized cabin confined by flat or nearly flat panels. This paper discusses a finite element analysis and the testing of a large-scale hybrid wing body center section structure developed and constructed to demonstrate that the Pultruded Rod Stitched Efficient Unitized Structure concept can meet these challenging demands of the next generation airframes. Part II of the paper considers the final test to failure of the test article in the presence of an intentionally inflicted severe discrete source damage under the wing up-bending loading condition. Finite element analysis results are compared with measurements acquired during the test and demonstrate that the hybrid wing body test article was able to redistribute and support the required design loads in a severely damaged condition.

The effects of harassment severity and organizational behavior on damage awards in a hostile work environment sexual harassment case.

Science.gov (United States)

Cass, Stacie A; Levett, Lora M; Kovera, Margaret Bull

2010-01-01

Community members reporting for jury duty (N = 128) read a sexual harassment trial summary in which harassment severity and the organization's sexual harassment policy and response were manipulated. Jurors who read the severe harassment scenario were more likely to agree that the plaintiff had suffered and should be compensated for her suffering and that the organization should be punished than were jurors who read the mild harassment scenario. When the organization had and enforced a sexual harassment policy, jurors believed that the plaintiff had suffered little and the organization should not be punished compared with conditions in which the organization did not have an enforced sexual harassment policy. Harassment severity influenced jurors' compensatory awards, and organizational behavior influenced jurors' punitive awards. These results have implications for plaintiffs, who must decide whether to claim specific or garden-variety damages; organizations, which could create or modify sexual harassment policy to limit damages; and trial lawyers, who could tailor arguments to maximize or minimize awards. 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

The economics (or lack thereof) of aerosol geoengineering

Science.gov (United States)

Goes, M.; Keller, K.; Tuana, N.

2009-04-01

Anthropogenic greenhouse gas emissions are changing the Earth's climate and impose substantial risks for current and future generations. What are scientifically sound, economically viable, and ethically defendable strategies to manage these climate risks? Ratified international agreements call for a reduction of greenhouse gas emissions to avoid dangerous anthropogenic interference with the climate system. Recent proposals, however, call for the deployment of a different approach: to geoengineer climate by injecting aerosol precursors into the stratosphere. Published economic studies typically suggest that substituting aerosol geoengineering for abatement of carbon dioxide emissions results in large net monetary benefits. However, these studies neglect the risks of aerosol geoengineering due to (i) the potential for future geoengineering failures and (ii) the negative impacts associated with the aerosol forcing. Here we use a simple integrated assessment model of climate change to analyze potential economic impacts of aerosol geoengineering strategies over a wide range of uncertain parameters such as climate sensitivity, the economic damages due to climate change, and the economic damages due to aerosol geoengineering forcing. The simplicity of the model provides the advantages of parsimony and transparency, but it also imposes severe caveats on the interpretation of the results. For example, the analysis is based on a globally aggregated model and is hence silent on the question of intragenerational distribution of costs and benefits. In addition, the analysis neglects the effects of endogenous learning about the climate system. We show that the risks associated with a future geoengineering failure and negative impacts of aerosol forcings can cause geoenginering strategies to fail an economic cost-benefit test. One key to this finding is that a geoengineering failure would lead to dramatic and abrupt climatic changes. The monetary damages due to this failure can

Severe ASR damaged concrete bridges

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Antonio Barbosa, Ricardo; Gustenhoff Hansen, Søren

2015-01-01

Technical University of Denmark (DTU) and University of Southern Denmark (SDU) have conducted several full-scale experiments with severe ASR deteriorated bridges. This paper presents few and preliminary results from both the shear tests and the measuring of the material properties. The shear test...... show that the shear capacity is almost unaffected of ASR despite significant reduction in compressive concrete strength. Furthermore, measurements show a significant tensile reinforcement strain developed due to ASR expansion....

Economic impacts of the SAFRR tsunami scenario in California: Chapter H in The SAFRR (Science Application for Risk Reduction) Tsunami Scenario

Science.gov (United States)

Wein, Anne; Rose, Adam; Sue Wing, Ian; Wei, Dan

2013-01-01

This study evaluates the hypothetical economic impacts of the SAFRR (Science Application for Risk Reduction) tsunami scenario to the California economy. The SAFRR scenario simulates a tsunami generated by a hypothetical magnitude 9.1 earthquake that occurs offshore of the Alaska Peninsula (Kirby and others, 2013). Economic impacts are measured by the estimated reduction in California’s gross domestic product (GDP), the standard economic measure of the total value of goods and services produced. Economic impacts are derived from the physical damages from the tsunami as described by Porter and others (2013). The principal physical damages that result in disruption of the California economy are (1) about $100 million in damages to the twin Ports of Los Angeles (POLA) and Long Beach (POLB), (2) about $700 million in damages to marinas, and (3) about $2.5 billion in damages to buildings and contents (properties) in the tsunami inundation zone on the California coast. The study of economic impacts does not include the impacts from damages to roads, bridges, railroads, and agricultural production or fires in fuel storage facilities because these damages will be minimal with respect to the California economy. The economic impacts of damage to other California ports are not included in this study because detailed evaluation of the physical damage to these ports was not available in time for this report. The analysis of economic impacts is accomplished in several steps. First, estimates are made for the direct economic impacts that result in immediate business interruption losses in individual sectors of the economy due to physical damage to facilities or to disruption of the flow of production units (commodities necessary for production). Second, the total economic impacts (consisting of both direct and indirect effects) are measured by including the general equilibrium (essentially quantity and price multiplier effects) of lost production in other sectors by ripple

Comparative Assessment of Severe Accidents in the Chinese Energy Sector

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Hirschberg, S; Burgherr, P; Spiekerman, G; Cazzoli, E; Vitazek, J; Cheng, L

2003-03-01

This report deals with the comparative assessment of accidents risks characteristic for the various electricity supply options. A reasonably complete picture of the wide spectrum of health, environmental and economic effects associated with various energy systems can only be obtained by considering damages due to normal operation as well as due to accidents. The focus of the present work is on severe accidents, as these are considered controversial. By severe accidents we understand potential or actual accidents that represent a significant risk to people, property and the environment and may lead to large consequences. (author)

Exploring the potential of multivariate depth-damage and rainfall-damage models

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

van Ootegem, Luc; van Herck, K.; Creten, T.

2018-01-01

In Europe, floods are among the natural catastrophes that cause the largest economic damage. This article explores the potential of two distinct types of multivariate flood damage models: ‘depth-damage’ models and ‘rainfall-damage’ models. We use survey data of 346 Flemish households that were...... victim of pluvial floods complemented with rainfall data from both rain gauges and weather radars. In the econometrical analysis, a Tobit estimation technique is used to deal with the issue of zero damage observations. The results show that in the ‘depth-damage’ models flood depth has a significant...... impact on the damage. In the ‘rainfall-damage’ models there is a significant impact of rainfall accumulation on the damage when using the gauge rainfall data as predictor, but not when using the radar rainfall data. Finally, non-hazard indicators are found to be important for explaining pluvial flood...

MELCOR modeling of the PBF [Power Burst Facility] Severe Fuel Damage Test 1-4

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Madni, I.K.

1990-01-01

This paper describes a MELCOR Version 1.8 simulation of the Power Burst Facility (PBF) Severe Fuel Damage (SFD) Test 1--4. The input data for the analysis were obtained from the Test Results Report and from SCDAP/RELAP5 input. Results are presented for the transient liquid level in the test bundle, clad temperatures, shroud temperatures, clad oxidation and hydrogen generation, bundle geometry changes, fission product release, and heat transfer to the bypass flow. Comparisons are made with experimental data and with SCDAP/RELAP5 calculations. 10 refs., 7 figs

Telomere elongation protects heart and lung tissue cells from fatal damage in rats exposed to severe hypoxia.

Science.gov (United States)

Wang, Yaping; Zhao, Zhen; Zhu, Zhiyong; Li, Pingying; Li, Xiaolin; Xue, Xiaohong; Duo, Jie; Ma, Yingcai

2018-02-17

The effects of acute hypoxia at high altitude on the telomere length of the cells in the heart and lung tissues remain unclear. This study aimed to investigate the change in telomere length of rat heart and lung tissue cells in response to acute exposure to severe hypoxia and its role in hypoxia-induced damage to heart and lung tissues. Forty male Wistar rats (6-week old) were randomized into control group (n = 10) and hypoxia group (n = 30). Rats in control group were kept at an altitude of 1500 m, while rats in hypoxia group were exposed to simulated hypoxia with an altitude of 5000 m in a low-pressure oxygen chamber for 1, 3, and 7 days (n = 10). The left ventricular and right middle lobe tissues of each rat were collected for measurement of telomere length and reactive oxygen species (ROS) content, and the mRNA and protein levels of telomerase reverse transcriptase (TERT), hypoxia-inducible factor1α (HIF-1α), and hypoxia-inducible factor1α (HIF-2α). Increased exposure to hypoxia damaged rat heart and lung tissue cells and increased ROS production and telomere length. The mRNA and protein levels of TERT and HIF-1α were significantly higher in rats exposed to hypoxia and increased with prolonged exposure; mRNA and protein levels of HIF-2α increased only in rats exposed to hypoxia for 7 days. TERT was positively correlated with telomere length and the levels of HIF-1α but not HIF-2α. Acute exposure to severe hypoxia causes damage to heart and lung tissues due to the production of ROS but promotes telomere length and adaptive response by upregulating TERT and HIF-1α, which protect heart and lung tissue cells from fatal damage.

Impact of Chronic Neonatal Intermittent Hypoxia on Severity of Retinal Damage in a Rat Model of Oxygen-Induced Retinopathy.

Science.gov (United States)

Beharry, Kay D; Cai, Charles L; Ahmad, Taimur; Guzel, Sibel; Valencia, Gloria B; Aranda, Jacob V

2018-01-01

Neonatal intermittent hypoxia (IH) followed by re-oxygenation in normoxia or supplemental oxygen (IHR) increases the risk for severe retinopathy of prematurity (ROP). The exact timing for the onset of retinal damage which may guide strategic interventions during retinal development, is unknown. We tested the hypothesis that chronic exposure of the immature retina to neonatal IH induces early manifestations of retinal damage that can be utilized as key time points for strategic pharmacologic intervention. Newborn rats were exposed to IH within 2 hours of birth (P0) until P14, or allowed to recover in room air (RA) from P14 to P21 (IHR). Retinal integrity and angiogenesis biomarkers were progressively assessed before (P0), during IH, and post IH (recovery in RA), or IHR, and compared to normoxic age-matched controls. Retinal damage occurred as early as day 3 of neonatal IH, consistent with vascular abnormalities and disturbances in the astrocytic template. These abnormalities worsened during IHR. Pharmacologic and non-pharmacologic interventions to identify, prevent, or minimize neonatal IH should be implemented shortly after birth in high risk preterm newborns. This strategy may lead to a reduction in the outcome of severe ROP requiring later invasive treatments.

How severe space weather can disrupt global supply chains

Science.gov (United States)

Schulte in den Bäumen, H.; Moran, D.; Lenzen, M.; Cairns, I.; Steenge, A.

2014-10-01

Coronal mass ejections (CMEs) strong enough to create electromagnetic effects at latitudes below the auroral oval are frequent events that could soon have substantial impacts on electrical grids. Modern society's heavy reliance on these domestic and international networks increases our susceptibility to such a severe space-weather event. Using a new high-resolution model of the global economy, we simulate the economic impact of strong CMEs for three different planetary orientations. We account for the economic impacts within the countries directly affected, as well as the post-disaster economic shock in partner economies linked by international trade. For a 1989 Quebec-like event, the global economic impacts would range from USD 2.4 to 3.4 trillion over a year. Of this total economic shock, about 50% would be felt in countries outside the zone of direct impact, leading to a loss in global Gross Domestic Product (GDP) of 3.9 to 5.6%. The global economic damage is of the same order as wars, extreme financial crisis and estimated for future climate change.

Severe Space Weather Events--Understanding Societal and Economic Impacts: A Workshop Report - Extended Summary

Science.gov (United States)

2009-01-01

The effects of space weather on modern technological systems are well documented in both the technical literature and popular accounts. Most often cited perhaps is the collapse within 90 seconds of northeastern Canada's Hydro-Quebec power grid during the great geomagnetic storm of March 1989, which left millions of people without electricity for up to 9 hours. This event exemplifies the dramatic impact that severe space weather can have on a technology upon which modern society critically depends. Nearly two decades have passed since the March 1989 event. During that time, awareness of the risks of severe space weather has increased among the affected industries, mitigation strategies have been developed, new sources of data have become available, new models of the space environment have been created, and a national space weather infrastructure has evolved to provide data, alerts, and forecasts to an increasing number of users. Now, 20 years later and approaching a new interval of increased solar activity, how well equipped are we to manage the effects of space weather? Have recent technological developments made our critical technologies more or less vulnerable? How well do we understand the broader societal and economic impacts of severe space weather events? Are our institutions prepared to cope with the effects of a 'space weather Katrina,' a rare, but according to the historical record, not inconceivable eventuality? On May 22 and 23, 2008, a one-and-a-half-day workshop held in Washington, D.C., under the auspices of the National Research Council's (NRC's) Space Studies Board brought together representatives of industry, the federal government, and the social science community to explore these and related questions. The key themes, ideas, and insights that emerged during the presentations and discussions are summarized in 'Severe Space Weather Events--Understanding Societal and Economic Impacts: A Workshop Report' (The National Academies Press, Washington, D

Socio-economic Impact Analysis for Near Real-Time Flood Detection in the Lower Mekong River Basin

Science.gov (United States)

Oddo, P.; Ahamed, A.; Bolten, J. D.

2017-12-01

Flood events pose a severe threat to communities in the Lower Mekong River Basin. The combination of population growth, urbanization, and economic development exacerbate the impacts of these flood events. Flood damage assessments are frequently used to quantify the economic losses in the wake of storms. These assessments are critical for understanding the effects of flooding on the local population, and for informing decision-makers about future risks. Remote sensing systems provide a valuable tool for monitoring flood conditions and assessing their severity more rapidly than traditional post-event evaluations. The frequency and severity of extreme flood events are projected to increase, further illustrating the need for improved flood monitoring and impact analysis. In this study we implement a socio-economic damage model into a decision support tool with near real-time flood detection capabilities (NASA's Project Mekong). Surface water extent for current and historical floods is found using multispectral Moderate-resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) 250-meter imagery and the spectral Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) signatures of permanent water bodies (MOD44W). Direct and indirect damages to populations, infrastructure, and agriculture are assessed using the 2011 Southeast Asian flood as a case study. Improved land cover and flood depth assessments result in a more refined understanding of losses throughout the Mekong River Basin. Results suggest that rapid initial estimates of flood impacts can provide valuable information to governments, international agencies, and disaster responders in the wake of extreme flood events.

Environmental Disaster and Economic Change: Do tropical cyclones have permanent effects on economic growth and structure?

Science.gov (United States)

Jina, A.; von der Goltz, J.; Hsiang, S. M.

2011-12-01

Natural disasters have important, often devastating, effects upon economic growth and well-being. Due to this, disasters have become an active area of recent research and policy attention. However, much of this research has been narrowly focused, relying on anecdotal evidence and aggregated data to support conclusions about disaster impacts in the short-term. Employing a new global data set of tropical cyclone exposure from 1960 to 2008, we investigate in greater detail whether permanent changes in economic performance and structure can result from these extreme events in some cases. Our macro-economic analyses use the World Development Indicator dataset and have shown promising results: there are dramatic long-term economic transformations associated with tropical cyclones across a number of countries and industries. This effect is most clearly seen in Small Island Developing States (SIDS) and some countries in Latin America, where negative changes in long-term growth trends are observed in the years following a large tropical cyclone. In many economies with a high exposure to tropical cyclone damage, there are noticeable structural changes within the economy. The impacts of disasters might be expressed through various economic and social channels, through direct loss of lives and infrastructure damage; for instance, the destruction of infrastructure such as ports may damage export opportunities where replacement capital is not readily available. These structural changes may have far-reaching implications for economic growth and welfare. Larger nations subjected to the impacts of tropical cyclones are thought to be able to relocate economically important activities that are damaged by cyclones, and so long-term trend changes are not observed, even for events that cause a large immediate decrease in national productivity. By investigating in a more rigorous fashion the hypothesis that the environment triggers these permanent economic changes, our work has

A quantification of damage and assessment of economic loss due to crop raiding by Asian Elephant Elephas maximus (Mammalia: Proboscidea: Elephantidae: a case study of Manas National Park, Assam, India

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Naba K. Nath

2015-02-01

Full Text Available A study was carried out in Manas National Park, Assam in northeastern India between 2007 and 2009 to understand the magnitude of human-elephant conflict through a quantification of damage and assessment of economic loss. A cluster of six villages adjacent to the Park was selected for this study. Five major agricultural crops were grown during the study period of which three were raided by elephants: winter paddy, autumn paddy and pulses. Paddy was the principle crop central to the farmers’ subsistence. Winter paddy was the most cultivated crop and autumn paddy was the least cultivated. The incidence rate of crop raiding was highest for autumn paddy and lowest for pulses. Overall economic loss due to crop raiding was negligible, however at the individual farmer level, it was quite high. The study revealed that human-elephant conflict is not so severe, indicating ample opportunity for human-elephant coexistence in the region. Crop fields adjacent to the Park were particularly vulnerable to crop raiding which necessitates creation of a buffer zone. The frequency of raiding and the extent of damage was found to be significantly less in crop fields which were guarded by farmers. This was due to traditional crop guarding practices being followed in the region, the strengthening of which could effectively reduce annual crop loss and thus human-elephant conflict could be minimized to a large extent.

DNA damage and polyploidization.

Science.gov (United States)

Chow, Jeremy; Poon, Randy Y C

2010-01-01

A growing body of evidence indicates that polyploidization triggers chromosomal instability and contributes to tumorigenesis. DNA damage is increasingly being recognized for its roles in promoting polyploidization. Although elegant mechanisms known as the DNA damage checkpoints are responsible for halting the cell cycle after DNA damage, agents that uncouple the checkpoints can induce unscheduled entry into mitosis. Likewise, defects of the checkpoints in several disorders permit mitotic entry even in the presence of DNA damage. Forcing cells with damaged DNA into mitosis causes severe chromosome segregation defects, including lagging chromosomes, chromosomal fragments and chromosomal bridges. The presence of these lesions in the cleavage plane is believed to abort cytokinesis. It is postulated that if cytokinesis failure is coupled with defects of the p53-dependent postmitotic checkpoint pathway, cells can enter S phase and become polyploids. Progress in the past several years has unraveled some of the underlying principles of these pathways and underscored the important role of DNA damage in polyploidization. Furthermore, polyploidization per se may also be an important determinant of sensitivity to DNA damage, thereby may offer an opportunity for novel therapies.

Damage analysis: damage function development and application

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Simons, R.L.; Odette, G.R.

1975-01-01

The derivation and application of damage functions, including recent developments for the U.S. LMFBR and CTR programs, is reviewed. A primary application of damage functions is in predicting component life expectancies; i.e., the fluence required in a service spectrum to attain a specified design property change. An important part of the analysis is the estimation of the uncertainty in such fluence limit predictions. The status of standardizing the procedures for the derivation and application of damage functions is discussed. Improvements in several areas of damage function development are needed before standardization can be completed. These include increasing the quantity and quality of the data used in the analysis, determining the limitations of the analysis due to the presence of multiple damage mechanisms, and finally, testing of damage function predictions against data obtained from material surveillance programs in operating thermal and fast reactors. 23 references. (auth)

THE ECONOMIC SITUATION IN SOUTH EASTERN EUROPE: A POSSIBLE THREAT TO THE SECURITY SYSTEMS

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Oana-Andreea PIRNUTA

2012-01-01

Full Text Available The entire world has had to face the draconian effects of the economic recession recently. One of the regions marked by severe economic damages has been South Eastern Europe. The present article aims at analyzing the current economic situation in this particular region by trying to identify the strong and weak points, as well as possible ways to solve these specific issues. This paper lays emphasis upon states, such as: Turkey, Greece and Romania, but also on certain facts about the other states belonging to the previously mentioned region.

Returns to damage under undesirable congestion and damages to return under desirable congestion measured by DEA environmental assessment with multiplier restriction: Economic and energy planning for social sustainability in China

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Sueyoshi, Toshiyuki; Yuan, Yan

2016-01-01

This study discusses the concept of natural and managerial disposability from their economic and methodological implications on social sustainability development. Then, it explores their analytical linkages to a concept on “congestion.” The concept is classified into Undesirable Congestion (UC) under natural disposability and Desirable Congestion (DC) under managerial disposability. Considering the two disposability concepts, this study compares between Returns to Damage (RTD) under UC and Damages to Return (DTR) under DC. Conceptually, UC and DC are conceptually different from RTD and DTR although they are closely related to each other group. An occurrence of the former measures is identified by a single negative multiplier (i.e. dual variable). In contrast, the latter measures are associated with multiple negative multipliers and an intercept of a supporting hyperplane on a production and pollution possibility set. Thus, an occurrence of UC and DC is a necessary condition, but not a sufficient condition on RTD and DTR, respectively, in terms of the number of negative multipliers on production factors. To document the practicality of the proposed approach, this study applies it to Chinese economic and environmental assessment for its economic and energy planning for social sustainability development. This study identifies four important findings: First, the Chinese government has historically paid attention to the economic prosperity, but not paying serious attention on the environmental pollution (e.g., air pollution). Second, there was an increasing trend in improving the two components (i.e., economic and environmental performance measures) regarding social sustainability. Third, China's economic and energy policy concerns have been focused upon well-developed municipalities (e.g., Beijing and Shanghai) and large provinces. Therefore, it is an important strategy for the government to allocate economic and energy resources to other provinces so that China

Economic damage and state policy on the overcoming of the Chernobyl NPP catastrophe consequences. Chapter 2

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Konoplya, E.F.; Rolevich, I.V.

1998-01-01

The economic consequences of the Chernobyl NPP accident for the Republic of Belarus are given. The damage, taking into account the 30-years period needed for its overcoming, is estimated to be 235 billion US$ that is equal to 32 annual budgets of the republic of 1985. The losses connected with the deterioration of population health, damage incurred in industry and social sphere, agriculture, building complex, transport and communication, housing, with contamination of raw, mineral, land, water, forest and other resources are shown. The main directions of the state and legislative bodies activity on overcoming of the Chernobyl NPP accident consequences are directed on realization of complex of measures on maximum decreasing the radiation exposure dose; providing safety of people's health at the expense of medical preventive measures, improvement of their health, social insurance and resettlement from the zones where the safe living criteria are not observed; providing safe living conditions in regions subjected to radioactive contamination; rise of population life quality in these regions; scientific research of the problems connected with radiation influence on ecosystem, etc. The medical care and social protection systems of the affected population are describe

Damage cost of the Dan River coal ash spill

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Dennis Lemly, A.

2015-01-01

The recent coal ash spill on the Dan River in North Carolina, USA has caused several negative effects on the environment and the public. In this analysis, I report a monetized value for these effects after the first 6 months following the spill. The combined cost of ecological damage, recreational impacts, effects on human health and consumptive use, and esthetic value losses totals $295,485,000. Because the environmental impact and associated economic costs of riverine coal ash spills can be long-term, on the order of years or even decades, this 6-month assessment should be viewed as a short-term preview. The total cumulative damage cost from the Dan River coal ash spill could go much higher. - Highlights: • Six-month post-spill damage cost exceeded $295,000,000. • Components of cost include ecological, recreational, human health, property, and aesthetic values. • Attempts by the electric utility to “clean” the river left over 95% of coal ash behind. • Long-term impacts will likely drive the total damage cost much higher. - Damage costs of the Dan River coal ash spill are extensive and growing. The 6-month cost of that spill is valued at $295,485,000, and the long-term total cost is likely to rise substantially

Regeneration of alveolar type I and II cells from Scgb1a1-expressing cells following severe pulmonary damage induced by bleomycin and influenza.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Dahai Zheng

Full Text Available The lung comprises an extensive surface of epithelia constantly exposed to environmental insults. Maintaining the integrity of the alveolar epithelia is critical for lung function and gaseous exchange. However, following severe pulmonary damage, what progenitor cells give rise to alveolar type I and II cells during the regeneration of alveolar epithelia has not been fully determined. In this study, we have investigated this issue by using transgenic mice in which Scgb1a1-expressing cells and their progeny can be genetically labeled with EGFP. We show that following severe alveolar damage induced either by bleomycin or by infection with influenza virus, the majority of the newly generated alveolar type II cells in the damaged parenchyma were labeled with EGFP. A large proportion of EGFP-expressing type I cells were also observed among the type II cells. These findings strongly suggest that Scgb1a1-expressing cells, most likely Clara cells, are a major cell type that gives rise to alveolar type I and II cells during the regeneration of alveolar epithelia in response to severe pulmonary damage in mice.

Economic impacts of a California tsunami

Science.gov (United States)

Rose, Adam; Wing, Ian Sue; Wei, Dan; Wein, Anne

2016-01-01

The economic consequences of a tsunami scenario for Southern California are estimated using computable general equilibrium analysis. The economy is modeled as a set of interconnected supply chains interacting through markets but with explicit constraints stemming from property damage and business downtime. Economic impacts are measured by the reduction of Gross Domestic Product for Southern California, Rest of California, and U.S. economies. For California, total economic impacts represent the general equilibrium (essentially quantity and price multiplier) effects of lost production in industries upstream and downstream in the supply-chain of sectors that are directly impacted by port cargo disruptions at Port of Los Angeles and Port of Long Beach (POLA/POLB), property damage along the coast, and evacuation of potentially inundated areas. These impacts are estimated to be $2.2 billion from port disruptions, $0.9 billion from property damages, and $2.8 billion from evacuations. Various economic-resilience tactics can potentially reduce the direct and total impacts by 80–85%.

The new definition of nuclear damage in the 1997 protocol to amend the 1963 vienna convention on civil liability for nuclear damage

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Soljan, V.

2000-01-01

This communication analyzes the content and the impact of the new definition of nuclear damage contented in the amendment protocol of the Vienna Convention relative to the civil liability in the 1963 Convention. Having in mind the experience of the Three Mile Island and Chernobyl accidents, it is demonstrated that the costs of preventive measures, damage to the environment and economic loss may constitute substantial portions of the total damage following a nuclear accident. Then, the new definition is studied in detail, on insisting on the notion of economic loss. A development is devoted to the question of damage to the environment. The preventive measures are studied and their conditions of the compensation receivability evoked with the criteria of reasonable measures. (N.C.)

Behavioral economic measures of alcohol reward value as problem severity indicators in college students.

Science.gov (United States)

Skidmore, Jessica R; Murphy, James G; Martens, Matthew P

2014-06-01

The aims of the current study were to examine the associations among behavioral economic measures of alcohol value derived from 3 distinct measurement approaches, and to evaluate their respective relations with traditional indicators of alcohol problem severity in college drinkers. Five behavioral economic metrics were derived from hypothetical demand curves that quantify reward value by plotting consumption and expenditures as a function of price, another metric measured proportional behavioral allocation and enjoyment related to alcohol versus other activities, and a final metric measured relative discretionary expenditures on alcohol (RDEA). The sample included 207 heavy-drinking college students (53% female) who were recruited through an on-campus health center or university courses. Factor analysis revealed that the alcohol valuation construct comprises 2 factors: 1 factor that reflects participants' levels of alcohol price sensitivity (demand persistence), and a second factor that reflects participants' maximum consumption and monetary and behavioral allocation toward alcohol (amplitude of demand). The demand persistence and behavioral allocation metrics demonstrated the strongest and most consistent multivariate relations with alcohol-related problems, even when controlling for other well-established predictors. The results suggest that behavioral economic indices of reward value show meaningful relations with alcohol problem severity in young adults. Despite the presence of some gender differences, these measures appear to be useful problem indicators for men and women. PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2014 APA, all rights reserved.

The American 'severe fuel damage program'

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Sdouz, G.

1982-03-01

The TMI-2 accident has initiated a new phase of safety research. It is necessary to consider severe accidents with degraded or molten core. For NRC there was a need for an improved understanding of this reactor behaviour and the 'Severe Fuel Dage Program' was initiated. Planned are in-pile experiments in PBF, NRU and ESSOR and in addition separate effects tests and results from TMI-2. The analytical component of the program is the development of different versions of the code SCDAP for the detailed analysis during severe accident transients. (Author) [de

The estimation economic impacts from severe accidents of a nuclear power plant

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Jeong, J. T.; Jeong, W. D.

2001-01-01

The severe accidents of a nuclear power plant may cause health effects in the exposed population and societal economic impacts or costs. Techniques to assess the consequences of an accident in terms of cost may be applied in studies on the design of plant safety features and in examining countermeasure options as part of emergency planning or in decision making after an accident. In this study, the costs resulting from the severe accidents of a nuclear power plant were estimated for the different combinations of source term release parameters and meteorological data. Also, the costs were estimated for the different scenarios considering seasonal characteristics of Korea. The results can be used as essential inputs in costs/benefit analysis and in developing optimum risk reduction strategies

Economic Assessment of Flood Control Facilities under Climate Uncertainty: A Case of Nakdong River, South Korea

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Kyeongseok Kim

2018-01-01

Full Text Available Climate change contributes to enhanced flood damage that has been increasing for the last several decades. Understanding climate uncertainties improves adaptation strategies used for investment in flood control facilities. This paper proposes an investment decision framework for one flood zone to cope with future severe climate impacts. This framework can help policy-makers investigate the cost of future damage and conduct an economic assessment using real options under future climate change scenarios. The proposed methodology provides local municipalities with an adaptation strategy for flood control facilities in a flood zone. Using the proposed framework, the flood prevention facilities in the Nakdong River Basin of South Korea was selected as a case study site to analyze the economic assessment of the investments for flood control facilities. Using representative concentration pathway (RCP climate scenarios, the cost of future flood damage to 23 local municipalities was calculated, and investment strategies for adaptation were analyzed. The project option value was determined by executing an option to invest in an expansion that would adapt to floods under climate change. The results of the case study showed that the proposed flood facilities are economically feasible under both scenarios used. The framework is anticipated to present guidance for establishing investment strategies for flood control facilities of a flood zone in multiple municipalities’ settings.

The estimation of economic impacts resulting from the severe accidents of a nuclear power plant

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Jeong, Jong Tae; Jung, Won dea

2001-03-01

The economic impacts resulting from the severe accidents of a nuclear power plant were estimated for the different combinations of a release parameters and metrorological data. According to the cost estimation for the basic scenarios, the population dependent cost is dominant. The cost for the protective actions such as evacuation and relocation have a small portion in the total cost and show little variation from scenario to scenario. The economic cost estimation for the seasonal scenarios show very similar trend as that for the basic scenarios. There are little or small variation in the economic cost for the different scenarios for each season except for the season-5 scenario. The health effect value shows maximum in Summer and minimum in Fall. On the contrast, the economic cost shows maximum in Fall and minimum in Summer. The result will be used as basic data in the establishment of effective emergency response and in the cost/benefit analysis in developing optimum risk reduction strategies.

The estimation of economic impacts resulting from the severe accidents of a nuclear power plant

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Jeong, Jong Tae; Jung, Won dea

2001-03-01

The economic impacts resulting from the severe accidents of a nuclear power plant were estimated for the different combinations of a release parameters and metrorological data. According to the cost estimation for the basic scenarios, the population dependent cost is dominant. The cost for the protective actions such as evacuation and relocation have a small portion in the total cost and show little variation from scenario to scenario. The economic cost estimation for the seasonal scenarios show very similar trend as that for the basic scenarios. There are little or small variation in the economic cost for the different scenarios for each season except for the season-5 scenario. The health effect value shows maximum in Summer and minimum in Fall. On the contrast, the economic cost shows maximum in Fall and minimum in Summer. The result will be used as basic data in the establishment of effective emergency response and in the cost/benefit analysis in developing optimum risk reduction strategies

Cascading costs: an economic nitrogen cycle.

Science.gov (United States)

Moomaw, William R; Birch, Melissa B L

2005-09-01

The chemical nitrogen cycle is becoming better characterized in terms of fluxes and reservoirs on a variety of scales. Galloway has demonstrated that reactive nitrogen can cascade through multiple ecosystems causing environmental damage at each stage before being denitrified to N(2). We propose to construct a parallel economic nitrogen cascade (ENC) in which economic impacts of nitrogen fluxes can be estimated by the costs associated with each stage of the chemical cascade. Using economic data for the benefits of damage avoided and costs of mitigation in the Chesapeake Bay basin, we have constructed an economic nitrogen cascade for the region. Since a single ton of nitrogen can cascade through the system, the costs also cascade. Therefore evaluating the benefits of mitigating a ton of reactive nitrogen released needs to consider the damage avoided in all of the ecosystems through which that ton would cascade. The analysis reveals that it is most cost effective to remove a ton of nitrogen coming from combustion since it has the greatest impact on human health and creates cascading damage through the atmospheric, terrestrial, aquatic and coastal ecosystems. We will discuss the implications of this analysis for determining the most cost effective policy option for achieving environmental quality goals.

Implications of Severe Economic Decline & Demographic Pressures on Youth Literacy in Sub-Saharan Africa

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Okpala, Comfort O.

2009-01-01

Although literacy rates have improved somehow in recent years, there are still large numbers of people that are illiterates in developing countries. This paper examines the impact of severe economic decline and demographic pressures on youth literacy rate in Sub-Saharan Africa. In this study, a cross-sectional data of 39 Sub-Saharan African…

Severe structural and functional visual system damage leads to profound loss of vision-related quality of life in patients with neuromyelitis optica spectrum disorders.

Science.gov (United States)

Schmidt, Felix; Zimmermann, Hanna; Mikolajczak, Janine; Oertel, Frederike C; Pache, Florence; Weinhold, Maria; Schinzel, Johann; Bellmann-Strobl, Judith; Ruprecht, Klemens; Paul, Friedemann; Brandt, Alexander U

2017-01-01

Neuromyelitis optica spectrum disorders (NMOSD) are characterized by devastating optic neuritis attacks causing more structural damage and visual impairment than in multiple sclerosis (MS). The objective of this study was to compare vision-related quality of life in NMOSD and MS patients and correlate it to structural retinal damage and visual function. Thirty-one NMOSD and 31 matched MS patients were included. Vision-related quality of life was assessed with the 39-item National Eye Institute Visual Function Questionnaire (NEI-VFQ). All patients underwent retinal optical coherence tomography and visual acuity and contrast sensitivity measurements. Vision-related quality of life was reduced in NMOSD compared to MS patients. This difference was driven by a higher incidence of bilateral and more severe optic neuritis in the NMOSD group. Retinal thinning and visual impairment were significantly greater in the NMOSD cohort. Lower vision-related quality of life was associated with more retinal damage and reduced visual function as assessed by visual acuity and contrast sensitivity. NMOSD-related bilateral ON-attacks cause severe structural damage and visual impairment that lead to severe loss of vision-related quality of life. The NEI-VFQ is a helpful tool to monitor vision-related quality of life in NMOSD patients. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

THE RISK OF INJURY AND VEHICLE DAMAGE SEVERITY IN VEHICLE MISMATCHED SIDE IMPACT CRASHES IN BRITISH COLUMBIA

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Ediriweera DESAPRIYA

2005-01-01

Full Text Available As occupant protection offered by new passenger vehicles has improved, there has been growing concern about the harm that some vehicle designs may inflict on occupants of other vehicles with which they collide. Preceding analyses of crash statistics have clearly demonstrated the incompatibility between passenger sedan cars (PS and pick-up trucks (PU involved in side impact crashes in British Columbia. A comparison of light truck and passenger car crashes in previous literature reveals that light truck vehicles inflict greater harm than passenger cars for a number of reasons including their greater weight, stiffer structure, and higher ride height. These features place occupants of passenger cars at a disadvantage should they be involved in a collision with a light truck vehicle. The injury risk for passenger sedan car occupants is greater than the risk for pick-up truck occupants in two-vehicle crashes (Odds Ratio (OR 1.87; 95% Confidence Interval (CI 1.38-2.52. In addition, the risk of vehicle damage severity was increased for passenger cars compared with pick-up trucks (write off vehicle-OR 5.35; 95% CI 3.75-7.63, severely damaged vehicles-OR 5.87; 95% CI 4.79–7.19, moderately damaged vehicles-OR 2.86; 95% CI 2.44–3.36. There is strong justification for injury prevention experts and policy makers to step up motor vehicle crash injury prevention advocacy by implementing evidence-based policies to reduce rates of injury as a result of passenger sedan cars and pick-up trucks involved in side impact crashes in the province of British Columbia.

Memantine for treatment of moderate or severe Alzheimer's disease patients in urban China: clinical and economic outcomes from a health economic model.

Science.gov (United States)

Hu, Shanlian; Yu, Xin; Chen, Shengdi; Clay, Emilie; Toumi, Mondher; Milea, Dominique

2015-01-01

To estimate the clinical and economic benefits of memantine treatment initiated in moderate Alzheimer's disease (AD) in China, compared with initiation in severe AD only. A Markov model with a 5-year time horizon simulated moderate patients' progression through health states. Two groups were compared: patients receiving memantine from the moderate stage (i.e., at model entry), continuing treatment when reaching the severe stage; patients initiating memantine only when they developed severe disease. After 5 years, fewer patients receiving memantine from the moderate stage were severe (49%), dependent (59%) or aggressive (47%) compared with moderate patients who initiated treatment from severe stage only (58, 67 and 55%, respectively). Total cost of care was lower for treatment from moderate stage (67 billion RMB) when compared with treatment from severe stage (73 billion RMB). In China, AD treatment with memantine from the moderate stage could result in substantial cost savings.

Defibrotide in Severe Sinusoidal Obstruction Syndrome: Medicine and Economic Issues.

Science.gov (United States)

Steelandt, Julie; Bocquet, François; Cordonnier, Anne-Laure; De Courtivron, Charlotte; Fusier, Isabelle; Paubel, Pascal

2017-02-01

In Europe, Defitelio (defibrotide) has a Market Authorization in curative treatment of severe sinusoidal obstruction syndrome (SOS) but not in prophylaxis (2013). In France, defibrotide has had a compassionate-use program since 2009. Today, the high cost of defibrotide remains a major hurdle for hospital budgets. Medicine and economic issues were evaluated for the 39 hospitals of the French Public Assistance-Hospitals of Paris (AP-HP). We analyzed literature reviews, consumption, and expenditures through AP-HP data in 2014 and patient profiles with defibrotide in the corresponding diagnostic-related groups (DRGs) and consulted a board of hematologists. Finally, 18 publications were selected. Between 2011 and 2014 consumption increased to €5.2M. In 2014, 80 patients receiving defibrotide were mainly ascribed to the DRG "hematopoietic stem cell transplantation" levels 3 or 4. The tariffs attributed to drugs (€3544 to 4084) cover a small part of treatment costs (€97,524 for an adult). French experts thus recommended a harmonization of indications in prophylaxis (off-label use), improvement of pretransplant care, and optimization of the number of vials used. The economic impact led experts to change their practices. They recommended the restriction of defibrotide use to SOS curative treatment and to high-risk situations in prophylaxis. Copyright © 2017 The American Society for Blood and Marrow Transplantation. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Did the Stern Review underestimate US and global climate damages?

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ackerman, Frank; Stanton, Elizabeth A.; Hope, Chris; Alberth, Stephane

2009-01-01

The Stern Review received widespread attention for its innovative approach to the economics of climate change when it appeared in 2006, and generated controversies that have continued to this day. One key controversy concerns the magnitude of the expected impacts of climate change. Stern's estimates, based on results from the PAGE2002 model, sounded substantially greater than those produced by many other models, leading several critics to suggest that Stern had inflated his damage figures. We reached the opposite conclusion in a recent application of PAGE2002 in a study of the costs to the US economy of inaction on climate change. This article describes our revisions to the PAGE estimates, and explains our conclusion that the model runs used in the Stern Review may well underestimate US and global damages. Stern's estimates from PAGE2002 implied that mean business-as-usual damages in 2100 would represent just 0.4 percent of GDP for the United States and 2.2 percent of GDP for the world. Our revisions and reinterpretation of the PAGE model imply that climate damages in 2100 could reach 2.6 percent of GDP for the United States and 10.8 percent for the world.

Microstructural damage of the posterior corpus callosum contributes to the clinical severity of neglect.

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Marco Bozzali

Full Text Available One theory to account for neglect symptoms in patients with right focal damage invokes a release of inhibition of the right parietal cortex over the left parieto-frontal circuits, by disconnection mechanism. This theory is supported by transcranial magnetic stimulation studies showing the existence of asymmetric inhibitory interactions between the left and right posterior parietal cortex, with a right hemispheric advantage. These inhibitory mechanisms are mediated by direct transcallosal projections located in the posterior portions of the corpus callosum. The current study, using diffusion imaging and tract-based spatial statistics (TBSS, aims at assessing, in a data-driven fashion, the contribution of structural disconnection between hemispheres in determining the presence and severity of neglect. Eleven patients with right acute stroke and 11 healthy matched controls underwent MRI at 3T, including diffusion imaging, and T1-weighted volumes. TBSS was modified to account for the presence of the lesion and used to assess the presence and extension of changes in diffusion indices of microscopic white matter integrity in the left hemisphere of patients compared to controls, and to investigate, by correlation analysis, whether this damage might account for the presence and severity of patients' neglect, as assessed by the Behavioural Inattention Test (BIT. None of the patients had any macroscopic abnormality in the left hemisphere; however, 3 cases were discarded due to image artefacts in the MRI data. Conversely, TBSS analysis revealed widespread changes in diffusion indices in most of their left hemisphere tracts, with a predominant involvement of the corpus callosum and its projections on the parietal white matter. A region of association between patients' scores at BIT and brain FA values was found in the posterior part of the corpus callosum. This study strongly supports the hypothesis of a major role of structural disconnection between the

Optimal CO2 mitigation under damage risk valuation

Science.gov (United States)

Crost, Benjamin; Traeger, Christian P.

2014-07-01

The current generation has to set mitigation policy under uncertainty about the economic consequences of climate change. This uncertainty governs both the level of damages for a given level of warming, and the steepness of the increase in damage per warming degree. Our model of climate and the economy is a stochastic version of a model employed in assessing the US Social Cost of Carbon (DICE). We compute the optimal carbon taxes and CO2 abatement levels that maximize welfare from economic consumption over time under different risk states. In accordance with recent developments in finance, we separate preferences about time and risk to improve the model's calibration of welfare to observed market interest. We show that introducing the modern asset pricing framework doubles optimal abatement and carbon taxation. Uncertainty over the level of damages at a given temperature increase can result in a slight increase of optimal emissions as compared to using expected damages. In contrast, uncertainty governing the steepness of the damage increase in temperature results in a substantially higher level of optimal mitigation.

Remote sensing appraisal of Lake Chad shrinkage connotes severe impacts on green economics and socio-economics of the catchment area.

Science.gov (United States)

Onamuti, Olapeju Y; Okogbue, Emmanuel C; Orimoloye, Israel R

2017-11-01

Lake Chad commonly serves as a major hub of fertile economic activities for the border communities and contributes immensely to the national growth of all the countries that form its boundaries. However, incessant and multi-decadal drying via climate change pose greater threats to this transnational water resource, and adverse effects on ecological sustainability and socio-economic status of the catchment area. Therefore, this study assessed the extent of shrinkage of Lake Chad using remote sensing. Landsat imageries of the lake and its surroundings between 1987 and 2005 were retrieved from Global Land Cover Facility website and analysed using Integrated Land and Water Information System version 3.3 (ILWIS 3.3). Supervised classification of area around the lake was performed into various land use/land cover classes, and the shrunk part of its environs was assessed based on the land cover changes. The shrinkage trend within the study period was also analysed. The lake water size reduced from 1339.018 to 130.686 km 2 (4.08-3.39%) in 1987-2005. The supervised classification of the Landsat imageries revealed an increase in portion of the lake covered by bare ground and sandy soil within the reference years (13 490.8-17 503.10 km 2 ) with 4.98% total range of increase. The lake portion intersected with vegetated ground and soil also reduced within the period (11 046.44-10 078.82 km 2 ) with 5.40% (967.62 km 2 ) total decrease. The shrunk part of the lake covered singly with vegetation increased by 2.74% from 1987 to 2005. The shrunk part of the lake reduced to sand and turbid water showed 5.62% total decrease from 1987 to 2005 and a total decrease of 1805.942 km 2 in area. The study disclosed an appalling rate of shrinkage and damaging influences on the hydrologic potential, eco-sustainability and socio-economics of the drainage area as revealed using ILWIS 3.3.

Actual implications of industrial smoke damage to forests

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Zieger, E

1955-01-01

General problems of smoke-induced damages, diagnosis, and control methods are reviewed. Damages caused by etching of leaves and needles are mostly of an acute and local character. Damages due to disturbed assimilation, caused primarily by sulfur dioxide, are of the greatest importance economically. Sulfur dioxide is less harmful in winter and during night hours. Acids and sulfur dioxide both turn the soil acid, and affect the edaphon. Such damages are primarily of chronic character. Different diagnostic methods such as plant, soil, and air analyses should be combined to obtain reliable results. Due to the complexity of the processes involved in smoke damages, biological tests are best in diagnosis. The sunlight test exploits the fact that branches cut from smoke-damaged trees lose their needles more readily than such from intact trees. Haertels turbidity test is based on the increased wax secretion by smoke-damaged needles. The appraisal of damages is made by evaluation of the economic losses after the limitation of the smoke-affected area. The possible control measures in forestry are the breeding of smoke-resistant species and liming, while the pollution control techniques presently available in industry are unsatisfactory, the major problems being caused by sulfur dioxide. Standardization of thresholds and maximum allowable concentrations, as well as cooperation of forestry and industries are imperative. 12 references.

Fission product behavior during the first two PBF severe fuel damage tests

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Osetek, D.J.; Cronenberg, A.W.; Hobbins, R.R.; Vinjamuri, K.

1984-01-01

The results of the first two severe fuel damage tests performed in the Power Burst Facility are assessed in terms of fission product release and chemical behavior. On-line gamma spectroscopy and grab sample data indicate limited release during solid-phase fuel heatup. Analysis indicates that the fuel morphology conditions for the trace-irradiated fuel employed in these two tests limit initial release. Only upon high temperature fuel restructuring and liquefaction is significant release indicated. Chemical equilibrium predictions, based on steam oxidation or reduction conditions, indicate I to be the primary iodine species during trnsport in the steam environment of the first test and CsI to be the primary species during transport in the hydrogen environment of the second test. However, the higher steam flow rate conditions of the first test transported the released iodine through the sample system; whereas, low-hydrogen flow rate of the second test apparently allowed the vast majority of iodine-bearing compounds to plateout during transport

Oxidative Damage and Mitochondrial Injuries Are Induced by Various Irrigation Pressures in Rabbit Models of Mild and Severe Hydronephrosis

Science.gov (United States)

Cao, Zhixiu; Yu, Weimin; Li, Wei; Cheng, Fan; Rao, Ting; Yao, Xiaobing; Zhang, Xiaobin; Larré, Stéphane

2015-01-01

Objective We aimed to study whether tolerance to irrigation pressure could be modified by evaluating the oxidative damage of obstructed kidneys based on rabbit models experiencing different degrees of hydronephrosis. Methods A total of 66 rabbits were randomly divided into two experimental groups and a control group. In the experimental groups, the rabbits underwent a surgical procedure inducing mild (group M, n=24) or severe (group S, n=24) hydronephrosis. In each experimental group, the rabbits were then randomly divided into 4 subgroups (M0-M3 and S0-S3) consisting of 6 rabbits each. Group 0 received no perfusion. Groups 1 through 3 were perfused with 20, 60 and 100 mmHg fluid, respectively. For the control group, after a sham operation was performed, the rabbits were divided into 4 subgroups and were perfused with fluid at 0, 20, 60 or 100 mmHg of pressure. Kidney injuries was evaluated by neutrophil gelatinase associated lipocalin (NGAL). Oxidative damage was assessed by analyzing superoxide dismutase (Mn-SOD) activity, malondialdehyde (MDA) levels, glutathione reductase (GR), catalase (CAT) and peroxide (H2O2) levels, mitochondrial injuries was assessed by mitochondrial membrane potential (MMP), the mitochondrial ultrastructure and tubular cell apoptosis. Results In the experimental groups, all results were similar for groups 0 and 1. In group 2, abnormalities were observed in the S group only, and the kidneys of rabbits in group 3 suffered oxidative damage and mitochondrial injuries with increased NGAL, decreased Mn-SOD, GR and CAT,increased MDA and H2O2, lower levels of MMP, mitochondrial vacuolization and an increased apoptotic index. Conclusion In rabbits, severely obstructed kidneys were more susceptible to oxidative damage and mitochondrial injury than mildly obstructed kidneys when subjected to higher degrees of kidney perfusion pressure. PMID:26090815

Oxidative Damage and Mitochondrial Injuries Are Induced by Various Irrigation Pressures in Rabbit Models of Mild and Severe Hydronephrosis.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Zhixiu Cao

Full Text Available We aimed to study whether tolerance to irrigation pressure could be modified by evaluating the oxidative damage of obstructed kidneys based on rabbit models experiencing different degrees of hydronephrosis.A total of 66 rabbits were randomly divided into two experimental groups and a control group. In the experimental groups, the rabbits underwent a surgical procedure inducing mild (group M, n=24 or severe (group S, n=24 hydronephrosis. In each experimental group, the rabbits were then randomly divided into 4 subgroups (M0-M3 and S0-S3 consisting of 6 rabbits each. Group 0 received no perfusion. Groups 1 through 3 were perfused with 20, 60 and 100 mmHg fluid, respectively. For the control group, after a sham operation was performed, the rabbits were divided into 4 subgroups and were perfused with fluid at 0, 20, 60 or 100 mmHg of pressure. Kidney injuries was evaluated by neutrophil gelatinase associated lipocalin (NGAL. Oxidative damage was assessed by analyzing superoxide dismutase (Mn-SOD activity, malondialdehyde (MDA levels, glutathione reductase (GR, catalase (CAT and peroxide (H2O2 levels, mitochondrial injuries was assessed by mitochondrial membrane potential (MMP, the mitochondrial ultrastructure and tubular cell apoptosis.In the experimental groups, all results were similar for groups 0 and 1. In group 2, abnormalities were observed in the S group only, and the kidneys of rabbits in group 3 suffered oxidative damage and mitochondrial injuries with increased NGAL, decreased Mn-SOD, GR and CAT,increased MDA and H2O2, lower levels of MMP, mitochondrial vacuolization and an increased apoptotic index.In rabbits, severely obstructed kidneys were more susceptible to oxidative damage and mitochondrial injury than mildly obstructed kidneys when subjected to higher degrees of kidney perfusion pressure.

Evaluation of urban flood damages in climate and land use changes: Case Studies from Southeast Asia

Science.gov (United States)

Kefi, M.; Binaya, M. K.; Kumar, P.; Fukushi, K.

2017-12-01

Urbanization, changes in land use and global warming increase the threat of natural disasters such as flooding. In recent decades, it was observed a rise of intensity and frequency of flood events. The exposure both of people and the national economy to flood hazards is amplified and can induce serious economic and social damages. For this reason, local governments adopted several strategies to cope with flood risk in urban areas in particular, but a better comprehension of the flood hazard factors may enhance the efficiency of mitigating measures overall. For this research, a spatial analysis is applied to estimate future direct flood damage for 2030 in three Southeast Asian megacities: Jakarta (Indonesia), Metro-Manila (Philippines) and Hanoi (Vietnam). This comprehensive method combined flood characteristics (flood depth) obtained from flood simulation using FLO-2D, land use generated from supervised classification and remote sensing products, property value of affected buildings and flood damage rate derived from flood depth function. This function is established based on field surveys with local people affected by past flood events. Additionally, two scenarios were analyzed to simulate the future conditions. The first one is related to climate change and it is based on several General Circulation Models (GCMs). However, the second one is establish to point out the effect of adaptation strategies. The findings shows that the climate change combined with the expansion of built-up areas increase the vulnerability of urban areas to flooding and the economic damage. About 16%, 8% and 19% of flood inundation areas are expected to increase respectively in Metro-Manila, Jakarta and Hanoi. However, appropriate flood control measures can be helpful to reduce the impact of natural disaster. Furthermore, flood damage maps are generated at a large scale, which can be helpful to local stakeholders when prioritizing their mitigation strategies on urban disaster resilience.

Natural resource damage assessments: The second generation

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Luthi, R.; Burlington, L.; Reinharz, E.; Shutler, S.

1993-01-01

The Damage Assessment Regulations Team (DART), Office of General Counsel, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), has focused on developing natural resource damage assessment regulations for oil pollution in navigable waters. These procedures may lower the transaction costs of assessments, encourage joint cooperative assessments, simplify most assessments and provide technical guidance for conducting assessments. DART is developing regulations for the assessment of damages due to injuries related to oil spills under the Oil pollution Act of 1990. These regulations will involve coordination, restoration and economic valuation. NOAA encourages federal, state, tribal and foreign trustees, to develop prespill plans. Coordination with response agencies assures protection of important natural resources. The regulations provide an open record, which becomes the basis for judicial review. Various methods being developed to assess damages for injuries to natural resources include: compensation formulas for spills under 50,000 gallons of oil, the Type A model, expedited damage assessment (EDA) procedures, and comprehensive damage assessment (CDA) procedures which can be used for spills of various sizes. These procedures provide trustees with a choice for assessing natural resource damages to each oil spill. NOAA is emphasizing the importance of restoration. Restoration plans will define project goals and objectives, establish procedures and methods for site restoration, and define the approach based on sound science. Finally, numerous economic methods are identified to calculate the lost or diminished use as passive use of the affected resources

Damage resistant optics for a mega-joule solid-state laser

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Campbell, J.H.; Rainer, F.; Kozlowski, M.; Wolfe, C.R.; Thomas, I.; Milanovich, F.

1990-01-01

Research on Inertial Confinement Fusion (ICF) has progressed rapidly in the past several years. As a consequence, LLNL is developing plans to upgrade the current 120 kJ solid state (Nd +3 -phosphate glass) Nova laser to a 1.5 to 2 megajoule system with the goal of achieving fusion ignition. The design of the planned Nova Upgrade is briefly discussed. Because of recent improvements in the damage resistance of optical materials it is now technically and economically feasible to build a megajoule-class solid state laser. Specifically, the damage threshold of Nd +3 -doped phosphate laser glass, multilayer dielectric coatings, and non-linear optical crystals (e.g., KDP) have been dramatically improved. These materials now meet the fluence requirements for a 1.5--2 MJ Nd 3+ -glass laser operating at 1054 and 351 nm and at a pulse length of 3 ns. The recent improvements in damage thresholds are reviewed; threshold data at both 1064 and 355 nm and the measured pulse length scaling are presented. 20 refs., 9 figs., 2 tabs

SAFRR Tsunami Scenario: Economic Impacts and Resilience

Science.gov (United States)

Wein, A. M.; Rose, A.; Sue Wing, I.; Wei, D.

2013-12-01

Business interruption (BI) losses for the SAFRR tsunami scenario are derived from the forecasted physical damages of about 100 million at the Ports of Los Angeles (LA) and Long Beach (LB), and 700 million in marina damages, and 2 billion in inundated property damages along the California coast. Economic impacts are measured by the reduction in California's gross domestic product (GDP). The analysis involves several steps. First, estimates are made of immediate business interruption losses due to physical damage to facilities or to disruption of production. Second, total economic impacts (consisting of both direct and indirect effects) are measured by a general equilibrium (quantity and price multiplier effects) of lost production in other sectors through ripple effects upstream and downstream along the supply chain. Third, many types of resilience are applied to demonstrate their potential reductions of the impacts. At the Ports of LA and LB, a two-day port shutdown, cargo losses, and additional terminal downtimes would expose 1.2 billion of trade (import and export) value associated with over 4 billion of BI losses. The sectors potentially most affected by trade disruptions are leather, metal, and motor vehicle manufacturing. Excess capacity, inventories, export conversion, and conservation could reduce the direct trade impacts by 85%. Production recapture alone (including clearing the backlog of waiting ships) could reduce BI losses by 85%. The Port of LA commercial fishing would be subject to damages to the fleet, perished fish that cannot be landed, and lost fishing days. Although BI losses are relatively small, the southern Californian fishing sector could incur a 4% drop in output. The impacts would depend on the speed at which boats are repaired and whether lost fishing days can be made up. Ship-building and repair could also be negatively affected, but these impacts would be offset somewhat by reconstruction. Effects on commercial fishing in other locations

The extent of immission damage to coniferous forests in the GDR around the year 1985

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Schuster, E.

1991-01-01

The economic effects of air pollution extend to the economic result of forestry and also directly to the state of forests; the latter damage includes loss of supplies, growth and unsuitability for felling and the adverse effect on forests as a place for rest and recreation. In this publication, results of calculations on the extent of this damage to the coniferous forests of the former DDR (differentiated according to spruce and pine and to the degree of damage) are submitted. The knowledge of the amount of this damage is of economic and forestry policy interest and it is gaining increasing trade importance. (orig.) [de

Characteristics and Impacts of the severe Hailstorm on 28 July 2013

Science.gov (United States)

Kunz, Michael; Jürgen Punge, Heinz; Fluck, Elody; Schmidberger, Manuel; Blahak, Ulrich; Handwerker, Jan; Mohr, Susanna; Mühr, Bernhard

2015-04-01

On 27/28 July, two severe supercell thunderstorms in Germany caused unexpected extreme losses of 3.1 bn EUR(insured) and 4.0 bn EUR(economic), respectively. According to the recently published damage statistics of Munich Re for the year 2013, these hail events were the costliest natural catastrophe in worldwide for that year ranked by insured losses. This example exemplifies the large damage potential related to hail events, which is still underestimated both by the public and the insurance industry. On 27 July, the first supercell moved over the federal states of North Rhine-Westphalia and Lower Saxony. Large hail with diameters of up to 7.5 cm according to observations archived in the European Severe Weather Database (ESWD) caused severe damage especially over the Volkswagen factory in Wolfsburg. One day later, on 28 July, another supercell formed upstream of the Black Forest Mountains and moved almost parallel over the Swabian Jura and Bavaria. Hail with diameters of up to 8 cm fell over a heavily populated region between the cities of Reutlingen and Tübingen. In this area, exposed assets are extremely high, which partly explain the high total loss. Approximately 100,000 buildings and 50,000 automobiles (not considered are the damaged automobiles at the parking lot in Wolfsburg) were severely damaged by these two events. Considering the single event definition over a 72-hr period, which is usually applied in the insurance industry, these hailstorms were one of the most expensive loss events in Germany. In this paper, we investigate the severe hailstorm on 28 July from different views. By using and combining available observational data sets, the objective is to reconstruct the whole events at a very high resolution and to examine the conditions that are most relevant for convective initiation and the further development of the organized convective cell. Using a series of photos of damaged objects the aim is to relate different object classes and hail stone

Evaluation of compensation formulae to measure natural resource damages

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Robilliard, G.A.; Fischel, M.; Desvousges, W.H.; Dunford, R.W.; Mathews, K.

1993-01-01

Most of the oil spills in marine, estuarine, or freshwater environments of the United States are small (less than 1,000 gallons) and result in minimal injury to natural resources or little to no loss of services. However, federal, state, and Indian tribe trustees for natural resources are entitled under a variety of laws, including the Oil Pollution Act of 1990, to collect damages (money) from responsible parties to compensate for the foregone services and restoration of the services provided by the natural resources. Alaska, Washington, and Florida have developed a formula-based approach to calculating natural resource damages resulting from most spills; the federal National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and several other states are considering developing a compensation formula. The ideal compensation formula is a simplified assessment process that (a) can be applied rapidly, (b) requires relatively small transaction or assessment costs, (c) requires minimal site- and spill-specific data as inputs, (d) is based on generally accepted scientific and economic principles and methods, and (e) results in damage values acceptable to both the trustees and the responsible party. In theory, a compensation formula could be applied to most small oil spills in United States waters

Neuro-fuzzy computing for vibration-based damage localization and severity estimation in an experimental wind turbine blade with superimposed operational effects

Science.gov (United States)

Hoell, Simon; Omenzetter, Piotr

2016-04-01

Fueled by increasing demand for carbon neutral energy, erections of ever larger wind turbines (WTs), with WT blades (WTBs) with higher flexibilities and lower buckling capacities lead to increasing operation and maintenance costs. This can be counteracted with efficient structural health monitoring (SHM), which allows scheduling maintenance actions according to the structural state and preventing dramatic failures. The present study proposes a novel multi-step approach for vibration-based structural damage localization and severity estimation for application in operating WTs. First, partial autocorrelation coefficients (PACCs) are estimated from vibrational responses. Second, principal component analysis is applied to PACCs from the healthy structure in order to calculate scores. Then, the scores are ranked with respect to their ability to differentiate different damage scenarios. This ranking information is used for constructing hierarchical adaptive neuro-fuzzy inference systems (HANFISs), where cross-validation is used to identify optimal numbers of hierarchy levels. Different HANFISs are created for the purposes of structural damage localization and severity estimation. For demonstrating the applicability of the approach, experimental data are superimposed with signals from numerical simulations to account for characteristics of operational noise. For the physical experiments, a small scale WTB is excited with a domestic fan and damage scenarios are introduced non-destructively by attaching small masses. Numerical simulations are also performed for a representative fully functional small WT operating in turbulent wind. The obtained results are promising for future applications of vibration-based SHM to facilitate improved safety and reliability of WTs at lower costs.

Coal transportation road damage

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Burtraw, D.; Harrison, K.; Pawlowski, J.A.

1994-01-01

Heavy trucks are primarily responsible for pavement damage to the nation's highways. In this paper we evaluate the pavement damage caused by coal trucks. We analyze the chief source of pavement damage (vehicle weight per axle, not total vehicle weight) and the chief cost involved (the periodic overlay that is required when a road's surface becomes worn). This analysis is presented in two stages. In the first section we present a synopsis of current economic theory including simple versions of the formulas that can be: used to calculate costs of pavement wear. In the second section we apply this theory to a specific example proximate to the reference environment for the Fuel Cycle Study in New Mexico in order to provide a numerical measure of the magnitude of the costs

Damage growth in aerospace composites

CERN Document Server

2015-01-01

This book presents novel methods for the simulation of damage evolution in aerospace composites that will assist in predicting damage onset and growth and thus foster less conservative designs which realize the promised economic benefits of composite materials. The presented integrated numerical/experimental methodologies are capable of taking into account the presence of damage and its evolution in composite structures from the early phases of the design (conceptual design) through to the detailed finite element method analysis and verification phase. The book is based on the GARTEUR Research Project AG-32, which ran from 2007 to 2012, and documents the main results of that project. In addition, the state of the art in European projects on damage evolution in composites is reviewed. While the high specific strength and stiffness of composite materials make them suitable for aerospace structures, their sensitivity to damage means that designing with composites is a challenging task. The new approaches describ...

Quality of life in glaucoma patients and normal subjects related to the severity of damage in each eye.

Science.gov (United States)

Pujol Carreras, O; Anton, A; Mora, C; Pastor, L; Gudiña, S; Maull, R; Vega, Z; Castilla, M

2017-11-01

To assess the quality of life in glaucoma patients and normal subjects, and to assess its relationship with the severity of damage in each eye. A cross-sectional study was conducted with prospective selection of cases. The study included 464 subjects and were distributed into 4categories. Subjects included in group 1 had both eyes normal, that is with a normal intraocular pressure (IOP), optic disk and visual fields (VF), or mild glaucoma, defined as untreated IOP>21mmHg and abnormal VF with mean defect (MD) over -6dB. Group 2 consisted of patients with both eyes with mild or moderate glaucoma, defined as untreated IOP>21mmHg and abnormal VF with MD between -6 and -12dB. Group 3 included patients with moderate to severe glaucoma, that is, untreated IOP>21mmHg and abnormal VF with MD of less than -12dB in both eyes. Group 4 consisted of patients with asymmetric glaucoma damage, that is, they had one eye with severe glaucoma and the other eye normal or with mild glaucoma. All subjects completed 3 different questionnaires. Global quality of life was evaluated with EuroQol-5D (EQ-5D). Vision related quality of life was assessed with Visual Function Questionnaire (VFQ-25). Quality of life related to ocular surface disease was measured with Ocular Surface Disease Index (OSDI). VFQ-25 showed that group 3 had significantly lower scores than group 1 in mental health (P=.006), dependence (P=.006), colour vision (P=.002), and peripheral vision (P=.002). EQ-5D showed no significant differences between any group, but a trend was found to greater difficulty in group 3 than in groups 1 and 2, and in all dimensions. OSDI showed a higher score, or which was the same as a major disability, in groups 2 and 3 than group 1 (P=.021 and P=.014, respectively). VFQ-25 only found significant differences between group 1 and group 4. Dimensions with significant differences were found between group 1 and 3 (both eyes with advanced or moderate glaucoma). These were not found between group 1 and

Regulation Plans on Severe Accidents developed by KINS Severe Accident Regulation Preparation TFT

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kim, Kyun Tae; Chung, Ku Young; Na, Han Bee

2016-01-01

Some nuclear power plants in Fukushima Daiichi site had lost their emergency reactor cooling function for long-time so the fuels inside the reactors were molten, and the integrity of containment was damaged. Therefore, large amount of radioactive material was released to environment. Because the social and economic effects of severe accidents are enormous, Korean Government already issued 'Severe Accident Policy' in 2001 which requires nuclear power plant operators to set up 'Quantitative Safety Goal', to do 'Probabilistic Safety Analysis', to install 'Severe Accident Countermeasures' and to make 'Severe Accident Management Plan'. After the Fukushima disaster, a Special Safety Inspection was performed for all operating nuclear power plants of Korea. The inspection team from industry, academia, and research institutes assessed Korean NPPs capabilities to cope with or respond to severe accidents and emergency situation caused by natural disasters such as a large earthquake or tsunami. As a result of the special inspection, about 50 action items were identified to increase the capability to cope with natural disaster and severe accidents. Nuclear Safety Act has been amended to require NPP operators to submit Accident Management Plant as part of operating license application. The KINS Severe Accident Regulation Preparation TFT had first investigated oversea severe accident regulation trend before and after the Fukushima accident. Then, the TFT has developed regulation draft for severe accidents such as Severe accident Management Plans, the required design features for new NPPs to prevent severe accident against multiple failures and beyond-design external events, countermeasures to mitigate severe accident and to keep the integrity of containment, and assessment methodology on safety assessment plan and probabilistic safety assessment

Studies on marine oil spills and their ecological damage

Science.gov (United States)

Mei, Hong; Yin, Yanjie

2009-09-01

The sources of marine oil spills are mainly from accidents of marine oil tankers or freighters, marine oil-drilling platforms, marine oil pipelines, marine oilfields, terrestrial pollution, oil-bearing atmosphere, and offshore oil production equipment. It is concluded upon analysis that there are two main reasons for marine oil spills: (I) The motive for huge economic benefits of oil industry owners and oil shipping agents far surpasses their sense of ecological risks. (II) Marine ecological safety has not become the main concern of national security. Oil spills are disasters because humans spare no efforts to get economic benefits from oil. The present paper draws another conclusion that marine ecological damage caused by oil spills can be roughly divided into two categories: damage to marine resource value (direct value) and damage to marine ecosystem service value (indirect value). Marine oil spills cause damage to marine biological, fishery, seawater, tourism and mineral resources to various extents, which contributes to the lower quality and value of marine resources.

Multivariate pluvial flood damage models

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Van Ootegem, Luc; Verhofstadt, Elsy; Van Herck, Kristine; Creten, Tom

2015-01-01

Depth–damage-functions, relating the monetary flood damage to the depth of the inundation, are commonly used in the case of fluvial floods (floods caused by a river overflowing). We construct four multivariate damage models for pluvial floods (caused by extreme rainfall) by differentiating on the one hand between ground floor floods and basement floods and on the other hand between damage to residential buildings and damage to housing contents. We do not only take into account the effect of flood-depth on damage, but also incorporate the effects of non-hazard indicators (building characteristics, behavioural indicators and socio-economic variables). By using a Tobit-estimation technique on identified victims of pluvial floods in Flanders (Belgium), we take into account the effect of cases of reported zero damage. Our results show that the flood depth is an important predictor of damage, but with a diverging impact between ground floor floods and basement floods. Also non-hazard indicators are important. For example being aware of the risk just before the water enters the building reduces content damage considerably, underlining the importance of warning systems and policy in this case of pluvial floods. - Highlights: • Prediction of damage of pluvial floods using also non-hazard information • We include ‘no damage cases’ using a Tobit model. • The damage of flood depth is stronger for ground floor than for basement floods. • Non-hazard indicators are especially important for content damage. • Potential gain of policies that increase awareness of flood risks

Multivariate pluvial flood damage models

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Van Ootegem, Luc [HIVA — University of Louvain (Belgium); SHERPPA — Ghent University (Belgium); Verhofstadt, Elsy [SHERPPA — Ghent University (Belgium); Van Herck, Kristine; Creten, Tom [HIVA — University of Louvain (Belgium)

2015-09-15

Depth–damage-functions, relating the monetary flood damage to the depth of the inundation, are commonly used in the case of fluvial floods (floods caused by a river overflowing). We construct four multivariate damage models for pluvial floods (caused by extreme rainfall) by differentiating on the one hand between ground floor floods and basement floods and on the other hand between damage to residential buildings and damage to housing contents. We do not only take into account the effect of flood-depth on damage, but also incorporate the effects of non-hazard indicators (building characteristics, behavioural indicators and socio-economic variables). By using a Tobit-estimation technique on identified victims of pluvial floods in Flanders (Belgium), we take into account the effect of cases of reported zero damage. Our results show that the flood depth is an important predictor of damage, but with a diverging impact between ground floor floods and basement floods. Also non-hazard indicators are important. For example being aware of the risk just before the water enters the building reduces content damage considerably, underlining the importance of warning systems and policy in this case of pluvial floods. - Highlights: • Prediction of damage of pluvial floods using also non-hazard information • We include ‘no damage cases’ using a Tobit model. • The damage of flood depth is stronger for ground floor than for basement floods. • Non-hazard indicators are especially important for content damage. • Potential gain of policies that increase awareness of flood risks.

Crop Damage: The Hail Size Factor.

Science.gov (United States)

Sánchez, J. L.; Fraile, R.; de La Madrid, J. L.; de La Fuente, M. T.; Rodríguez, P.; Castro, A.

1996-09-01

Between 1986 and 1992 a research project was developed and carried out on hail climatology and the economic repercussions of hail on agriculture in León (northwestern Spain). A target area with an extent of 6825 km2 was defined, within which a network of meteorological observers was established at an average density of 1 per 17 km2. A network of 250 hailpads installed in a grid formation was also laid out over an area of 1000 km2 inside the target area. The frequent occurrence of hailfalls—122 hail days over seven consecutive summers—provided a detailed database and allowed several climatological studies to be made. Crop damage was also closely monitored and quantified. Barley and wheat were selected as crops on which to base an analysis of the relationship between hailfall characteristics and crop damage. As the resistance of plants to hailstones is held to vary according to their physiological state, four different stages of plant growth were defined, beginning with the formation of grain heads.An important conclusion was drawn: the dispersion of percentages of damage always covers the possible variations in resistance caused by the physiological state of the plants. As a result, using only minimal information about hailfall characteristics—namely, the initial reports of observers regarding hailstone size—a working statistical model has successfully been constructed to predict losses to barley and wheat, using data provided by the León hail project.

The composition of aerosols generated during a severe reactor accident: Experimental results from the Power Burst Facility Severe Fuel Damage Test 1-4

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Petti, D.A.; Hobbins, R.R.; Hagrman, D.L.

1994-01-01

Experimental results on fission product and aerosol release during the Power Burst Facility Severe Fuel Damages (SFD) Test 1-4 are examined to determine the composition of aerosols that would be generated during a severe reactor accident. The SFD 1-4 measured aerosol contained significant quantities of volatile fission products (VFPs) (cesium, iodine, tellurium), control materials (silver and cadmium), and structural materials (tin), indicating that fission product release, vaporization of control material, and release of tin from oxidized Zircaloy were all important aerosol sources. On average the aerosol composition is between one-quarter and one-half VFPs (especially cesium), with the remainder being control material (especially cadmium), and structural material (especially tin). Source term computer codes like CORSOR-M tend to overpredict the release of structural and control rod material relative to fission products by a factor of between 2 and 15 because the models do not account for relocation of molten control, fuel, and structural material during the degradation process, which tends to reduce the aerosol source. The results indicate that the aerosol generation in a severe reactor accident is intimately linked to the core degradation process. They recommend that these results be used to improve the models in source term computer codes

DNA Damage Signals and Space Radiation Risk

Science.gov (United States)

Cucinotta, Francis A.

2011-01-01

Space radiation is comprised of high-energy and charge (HZE) nuclei and protons. The initial DNA damage from HZE nuclei is qualitatively different from X-rays or gamma rays due to the clustering of damage sites which increases their complexity. Clustering of DNA damage occurs on several scales. First there is clustering of single strand breaks (SSB), double strand breaks (DSB), and base damage within a few to several hundred base pairs (bp). A second form of damage clustering occurs on the scale of a few kbp where several DSB?s may be induced by single HZE nuclei. These forms of damage clusters do not occur at low to moderate doses of X-rays or gamma rays thus presenting new challenges to DNA repair systems. We review current knowledge of differences that occur in DNA repair pathways for different types of radiation and possible relationships to mutations, chromosomal aberrations and cancer risks.

A spatial-dynamic value transfer model of economic losses from a biological invasion

Science.gov (United States)

Thomas P. Holmes; Andrew M. Liebhold; Kent F. Kovacs; Betsy. Von Holle

2010-01-01

Rigorous assessments of the economic impacts of introduced species at broad spatial scales are required to provide credible information to policy makers. We propose that economic models of aggregate damages induced by biological invasions need to link microeconomic analyses of site-specific economic damages with spatial-dynamic models of value change associated with...

Physical and economic consequences of climate change in Europe.

Science.gov (United States)

Ciscar, Juan-Carlos; Iglesias, Ana; Feyen, Luc; Szabó, László; Van Regemorter, Denise; Amelung, Bas; Nicholls, Robert; Watkiss, Paul; Christensen, Ole B; Dankers, Rutger; Garrote, Luis; Goodess, Clare M; Hunt, Alistair; Moreno, Alvaro; Richards, Julie; Soria, Antonio

2011-02-15

Quantitative estimates of the economic damages of climate change usually are based on aggregate relationships linking average temperature change to loss in gross domestic product (GDP). However, there is a clear need for further detail in the regional and sectoral dimensions of impact assessments to design and prioritize adaptation strategies. New developments in regional climate modeling and physical-impact modeling in Europe allow a better exploration of those dimensions. This article quantifies the potential consequences of climate change in Europe in four market impact categories (agriculture, river floods, coastal areas, and tourism) and one nonmarket impact (human health). The methodology integrates a set of coherent, high-resolution climate change projections and physical models into an economic modeling framework. We find that if the climate of the 2080s were to occur today, the annual loss in household welfare in the European Union (EU) resulting from the four market impacts would range between 0.2-1%. If the welfare loss is assumed to be constant over time, climate change may halve the EU's annual welfare growth. Scenarios with warmer temperatures and a higher rise in sea level result in more severe economic damage. However, the results show that there are large variations across European regions. Southern Europe, the British Isles, and Central Europe North appear most sensitive to climate change. Northern Europe, on the other hand, is the only region with net economic benefits, driven mainly by the positive effects on agriculture. Coastal systems, agriculture, and river flooding are the most important of the four market impacts assessed.

Environmental Impacts to Residual Stand Damage due to Logging Operations in Hyrcanian Forest

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Meghdad JOURGHOLAMI

2012-08-01

Full Text Available The development of harvesting systems aims to provide physically feasible, economically viable, and environmentally sound solutions. Residual stand-damage data have been collected from a mixed broadleaved stand in Kheyrud area in Hyrcanian forest in the northern of Iran. After the harvesting operations, for all trees, damage to the bole, roots, extent of the damage, wounding patterns, size and distribution was assessed using stratified systematic sampling with a random start and fixed area plots. Results show that wounding occurred on 16.4% of the remaining trees, but the severity of wounding varied significantly by species. Forty-six percent of wounding for all species combined was considered as small size. The greatest average amount of damage, to a bole, occurred along the first 1m up from the ground and also within 3m of the skid trail centerline (86.4%. Gouges were present on 79% of all scars. The stratification of the study unit would effectively improve accuracy of stand damage surveys. Selection of the appropriate method for damage reduction to trees adjacent skid trails was crucial. According to the results, skidding damage cannot be completely avoided in practice. We suggest that the education and the entertainment of the foresters and workers in forest would be enhanced and the injuries could be explained before the harvesting to the workers. In such a way the damages would be less in the future.

The tsunami's impact on mortality in a town severely damaged by the 2011 Great East Japan Earthquake.

Science.gov (United States)

Nagata, Satoko; Teramoto, Chie; Okamoto, Reiko; Koide, Keiko; Nishida, Masumi; Suzuki, Ruriko; Nomura, Michie; Tada, Toshiko; Kishi, Emiko; Sakai, Yoko; Jojima, Noriko; Kusano, Emiko; Iwamoto, Saori; Saito, Miki; Murashima, Sachiyo

2014-07-01

This study identifies the relationship between tsunami damage and mortality through a demographic pyramid of a town severely damaged by the tsunami following the Great East Japan Earthquake of 11 March 2011. It uses cross-sectional data collection. Volunteers visited all households, including shelters, and asked residents about the whereabouts of family members and neighbours. The information was collated with lists of evacuees and the dead to confirm the whereabouts of all residents about 50 days after the disaster. Demographic pyramids for the whole population based on pre- and post-disaster data were drawn. In all, 1,412 (8.8 per cent) were dead or missing, 60.2 per cent of whom were aged 65 and over and 37.5 per cent aged 75 and over, suggesting that the very old should be located beyond the reach of tsunamis. The mortality rate of children was lower than that in other studies, which may indicate the efficacy of disaster evacuation drills. © 2014 The Author(s). Disasters © Overseas Development Institute, 2014.

Benefits of invasion prevention: Effect of time lags, spread rates, and damage persistence

Science.gov (United States)

Rebecca S. Epanchin-Niell; Andrew M. Liebhold

2015-01-01

Quantifying economic damages caused by invasive species is crucial for cost-benefit analyses of biosecurity measures. Most studies focus on short-term damage estimates, but evaluating exclusion or prevention measures requires estimates of total anticipated damages from the time of establishment onward. The magnitude of such damages critically depends on the timing of...

Optimal policies for cumulative damage models with maintenance last and first

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Zhao, Xufeng; Qian, Cunhua; Nakagawa, Toshio

2013-01-01

From the economical viewpoint of several combined PM policies in reliability theory, this paper takes up a standard cumulative damage model in which the notion of maintenance last is applied, i.e., the unit undergoes preventive maintenances before failure at a planned time T, at a damage level Z, or at a shock number N, whichever occurs last. Expected cost rates are detailedly formulated, and optimal problems of two alternative policies which combine time-based with condition-based preventive maintenances are discussed, i.e., optimal T L ⁎ for N, Z L ⁎ for T, and N L ⁎ for T are rigorously obtained. Comparison methods between such maintenance last and conventional maintenance first are explored. It is determined theoretically and numerically which policy should be adopted, according to the different methods in different cases when the time-based or the condition-based PM policy is optimized.

Regulation Plans on Severe Accidents developed by KINS Severe Accident Regulation Preparation TFT

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Kim, Kyun Tae; Chung, Ku Young; Na, Han Bee [KINS, Daejeon (Korea, Republic of)

2016-05-15

Some nuclear power plants in Fukushima Daiichi site had lost their emergency reactor cooling function for long-time so the fuels inside the reactors were molten, and the integrity of containment was damaged. Therefore, large amount of radioactive material was released to environment. Because the social and economic effects of severe accidents are enormous, Korean Government already issued 'Severe Accident Policy' in 2001 which requires nuclear power plant operators to set up 'Quantitative Safety Goal', to do 'Probabilistic Safety Analysis', to install 'Severe Accident Countermeasures' and to make 'Severe Accident Management Plan'. After the Fukushima disaster, a Special Safety Inspection was performed for all operating nuclear power plants of Korea. The inspection team from industry, academia, and research institutes assessed Korean NPPs capabilities to cope with or respond to severe accidents and emergency situation caused by natural disasters such as a large earthquake or tsunami. As a result of the special inspection, about 50 action items were identified to increase the capability to cope with natural disaster and severe accidents. Nuclear Safety Act has been amended to require NPP operators to submit Accident Management Plant as part of operating license application. The KINS Severe Accident Regulation Preparation TFT had first investigated oversea severe accident regulation trend before and after the Fukushima accident. Then, the TFT has developed regulation draft for severe accidents such as Severe accident Management Plans, the required design features for new NPPs to prevent severe accident against multiple failures and beyond-design external events, countermeasures to mitigate severe accident and to keep the integrity of containment, and assessment methodology on safety assessment plan and probabilistic safety assessment.

The economics and ethics of aerosol geoengineering strategies

Science.gov (United States)

Goes, Marlos; Keller, Klaus; Tuana, Nancy

2010-05-01

Anthropogenic greenhouse gas emissions are changing the Earth's climate and impose substantial risks for current and future generations. What are scientifically sound, economically viable, and ethically defendable strategies to manage these climate risks? Ratified international agreements call for a reduction of greenhouse gas emissions to avoid dangerous anthropogenic interference with the climate system. Recent proposals, however, call for a different approach: geoengineering climate by injecting aerosol precursors into the stratosphere. Published economic studies typically neglect the risks of aerosol geoengineering due to (i) a potential failure to sustain the aerosol forcing and (ii) due to potential negative impacts associated with aerosol forcings. Here we use a simple integrated assessment model of climate change to analyze potential economic impacts of aerosol geoengineering strategies over a wide range of uncertain parameters such as climate sensitivity, the economic damages due to climate change, and the economic damages due to aerosol geoengineering forcings. The simplicity of the model provides the advantages of parsimony and transparency, but it also imposes considerable caveats. For example, the analysis is based on a globally aggregated model and is hence silent on intragenerational distribution of costs and benefits. In addition, the analysis neglects the effects of future learning and is based on a simple representation of climate change impacts. We use this integrated assessment model to show three main points. First, substituting aerosol geoengineering for the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions can fail the test of economic efficiency. One key to this finding is that a failure to sustain the aerosol forcing can lead to sizeable and abrupt climatic changes. The monetary damages due to such a discontinuous aerosol geoengineering can dominate the cost-benefit analysis because the monetary damages of climate change are expected to increase with

Farmers’ perceptions of crop pest severity in Nigeria are associated with landscape, agronomic and socio-economic factors

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Zhang, Wei; Kato, Edward; Bianchi, Felix; Bhandary, Prapti; Gort, Gerrit; Werf, van der Wopke

2018-01-01

Insect pests are a major cause of crop yield losses around the world and pest management plays a critical role in providing food security and farming income. This study links Nigerian farmers’ perceptions of pest severity to the landscape, agronomic, biophysical, and socio-economic context in which

Ecological economics, energy, and sustainable development

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Peet, J.

1991-01-01

Conventional techniques of economics, in different countries, do not normally take proper account of increases in the cost of energy (especially oil) that are expected in the next twenty years, or the rapidly declining ability of the environment to absorb wastes and pollutants, especially those resulting from the use of fossil fuels. Unless these factors are included in political-economic decision-making, and paths for future development adjusted to take account of them, many future development options will be severely damaged. In this paper, it is argued that new decision-making principles are urgently needed, in which societies accept that the physics of the environment are dominant, and the desires of people are subject to physical constraints. When future development options are considered, there is therefore a hierarchy of decision-making. Primary decisions depend upon the physics and ecology of the environment, of development, and of resource utilization. These have to be made before secondary decisions which are mainly ethical, and depend upon social and community values. These are best expressed by people, through adult education and the political process. Only then is it possible to make tertiary decisions, which relate to the allocation of resources. These decisions will depend heavily upon the use of economic tools. Several approaches have been proposed for improving political-economic decision-making. Some concentrate on modifications to markets, so they can incorporate ''externalities''. In other approaches, physical understandings are introduced into policy analyses, in order to indicate the constraints that limit development options. Some important techniques are reviewed, and suggestions are made about better methods of decision-making in the future. (author)

Flood Damage and Loss Estimation for Iowa on Web-based Systems using HAZUS

Science.gov (United States)

Yildirim, E.; Sermet, M. Y.; Demir, I.

2016-12-01

Importance of decision support systems for flood emergency response and loss estimation increases with its social and economic impacts. To estimate the damage of the flood, there are several software systems available to researchers and decision makers. HAZUS-MH is one of the most widely used desktop program, developed by FEMA (Federal Emergency Management Agency), to estimate economic loss and social impacts of disasters such as earthquake, hurricane and flooding (riverine and coastal). HAZUS used loss estimation methodology and implements through geographic information system (GIS). HAZUS contains structural, demographic, and vehicle information across United States. Thus, it allows decision makers to understand and predict possible casualties and damage of the floods by running flood simulations through GIS application. However, it doesn't represent real time conditions because of using static data. To close this gap, an overview of a web-based infrastructure coupling HAZUS and real time data provided by IFIS (Iowa Flood Information System) is presented by this research. IFIS is developed by the Iowa Flood Center, and a one-stop web-platform to access community-based flood conditions, forecasts, visualizations, inundation maps and flood-related data, information, and applications. Large volume of real-time observational data from a variety of sensors and remote sensing resources (radars, rain gauges, stream sensors, etc.) and flood inundation models are staged on a user-friendly maps environment that is accessible to the general public. Providing cross sectional analyses between HAZUS-MH and IFIS datasets, emergency managers are able to evaluate flood damage during flood events easier and more accessible in real time conditions. With matching data from HAZUS-MH census tract layer and IFC gauges, economical effects of flooding can be observed and evaluated by decision makers. The system will also provide visualization of the data by using augmented reality for

Economic resilience lessons from the ShakeOut earthquake scenario

Science.gov (United States)

Wein, A.; Rose, A.

2011-01-01

Following a damaging earthquake, “business interruption” (BI)—reduced production of goods and services—begins and continues long after the ground shaking stops. Economic resilience reduces BI losses by making the best use of the resources available at a given point in time (static resilience) or by speeding recovery through repair and reconstruction (dynamic resilience), in contrast to mitigation that prevents damage in the first place. Economic resilience is an important concept to incorporate into economic loss modeling and in recovery and contingency planning. Economic resilience framework includes the applicability of resilience strategies to production inputs and output, demand- and supply-side effects, inherent and adaptive abilities, and levels of the economy. We use our resilience framework to organize and share strategies that enhance economic resilience, identify overlooked resilience strategies, and present evidence and structure of resilience strategies for economic loss modelers. Numerous resilience strategies are compiled from stakeholder discussions about the ShakeOut Scenario (Jones et. al. 2008). Modeled results of ShakeOut BI sector losses reveal variable effectiveness of resilience strategies for lengthy disruptions caused by fire-damaged buildings and water service outages. Resilience is a complement to mitigation and may, in fact, have cost and all-hazards advantages.

Economic analysis of pandemic influenza mitigation strategies for five pandemic severity categories

Science.gov (United States)

2013-01-01

Background The threat of emergence of a human-to-human transmissible strain of highly pathogenic influenza A(H5N1) is very real, and is reinforced by recent results showing that genetically modified A(H5N1) may be readily transmitted between ferrets. Public health authorities are hesitant in introducing social distancing interventions due to societal disruption and productivity losses. This study estimates the effectiveness and total cost (from a societal perspective, with a lifespan time horizon) of a comprehensive range of social distancing and antiviral drug strategies, under a range of pandemic severity categories. Methods An economic analysis was conducted using a simulation model of a community of ~30,000 in Australia. Data from the 2009 pandemic was used to derive relationships between the Case Fatality Rate (CFR) and hospitalization rates for each of five pandemic severity categories, with CFR ranging from 0.1% to 2.5%. Results For a pandemic with basic reproduction number R0 = 1.8, adopting no interventions resulted in total costs ranging from $441 per person for a pandemic at category 1 (CFR 0.1%) to $8,550 per person at category 5 (CFR 2.5%). For severe pandemics of category 3 (CFR 0.75%) and greater, a strategy combining antiviral treatment and prophylaxis, extended school closure and community contact reduction resulted in the lowest total cost of any strategy, costing $1,584 per person at category 5. This strategy was highly effective, reducing the attack rate to 5%. With low severity pandemics costs are dominated by productivity losses due to illness and social distancing interventions, whereas higher severity pandemic costs are dominated by healthcare costs and costs arising from productivity losses due to death. Conclusions For pandemics in high severity categories the strategies with the lowest total cost to society involve rigorous, sustained social distancing, which are considered unacceptable for low severity pandemics due to societal

The economic impact of the insured patients with severe chronic and acute illnesses: a qualitative approach

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Budi Aji

2014-10-01

Full Text Available Background: Little research has focused on the economic hardship among the insured with severe illnesses and high treatment costs, in particular, the consequence of poorer insurance coverage for high-cost illnesses. Therefore, we presented the case for identifying the experiences of insured patients with severe chronic and acute illnesses. This study identified a qualitative understanding of the economic impact of severe chronic and acute illnesses and household strategies to deal with high treatment costs. Design: Interviews were conducted with 19 insured households of three different health insurance programs with a family member that had been hospitalized for severe chronic or acute illnesses in either Banyumas or Margono Sukarjo hospitals in Banyumas, Central Java, Indonesia. A thematic analysis was applied to guide the interpretation of the data. Results: Insured households with a family member that had been hospitalized for severe chronic and acute illnesses were greatly affected by the high treatment costs. Four major issues emerged from this qualitative study: insured patients are still burdened with high out-of-pocket payments, households adopt various strategies to cope with the high cost of treatments, households experience financial hardships, and positive and negative perceptions of the insured regarding their health insurance coverage for acute and chronic illnesses. Conclusions: Askes and Jamsostek patients faced financial burdens from high cost sharing for hospital amenities, non-covered drugs, and treatments and other indirect costs. Meanwhile, Jamkesmas beneficiaries faced no financial burden for related medical services but were rather burdened with indirect costs for the carers. Households relied on internal resources to cover hospital bills as the first strategy, which included the mobilization of savings, sale of assets, and borrowing of money. External support was tapped secondarily and included financial support from

Severe fuel damage in steam and helium environments observed in in-reactor experiments

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Saito, S.; Shiozawa, S.

1984-01-01

The bahavior of severe fuel damages has been studied in gaseous environments simulating core uncovery accidents in the in-reactor experiments utilizing the NSRR. Two types of cladding relocation modes, azimuthal flow and melt-down, were revealed through the parametric experiments. The azimuthal flow was evident in an oxidizing environment in case of no oxide film break. The melt-down can be categorized into flow-down and move-down, according to the velocity of the melt-down. Cinematographies showed that the flow-down was very fast as water flows down while the move-down appeared to be much slower. The flow-down was possible in an unoxidizing environment, whereas the move-down of molten cladding occured through a crack induced in an oxide film in an oxidizing environment. The criterion of the relocation modes was developed as a function of peak cladding temperature and oxidation condition. It was also found that neither immediate quench nor fuel fracture occurred upon flooding when cladding temperature was about 1800 0 C at water injection. The external mechanical force is needed for fuel fracture. (orig.)

The game damages on agricultural crops in Croatia

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Hrvoje Novosel

2012-12-01

Full Text Available Conflicts between wildlife and humans have been reported from all over the world, but in Croatia the extent and intensity of the conflict is increasing. Agricultural damage by game is a major concern for both agricultural and wildlife agencies at the national level. In this study 4,695 cases of game damage over a 4-year period were analysed. Results indicated that the total amount of economic impact on agriculture from game damage was significant. The distribution of payments shows that a majority of payments have lower economic value with an average amount of single payment being 477.08 €. The annual number of payments was found to have a negative correlation coefficient (-0.469 to the total payment amount for damages. According to the number of payments (68% of the number of payments and the payment amount (60% of total payment amount, the crop most often damaged was maize. Analysis of the data found that there was a negative growth trend of payment frequency and total payment amount for grape vineyards. The correlation between yearly number of payments and yearly production was not calculated for any crop. The high seasonal nature of payments was a determent of seasonal regression using a dummy variable regression (r2=0.93. A comparison of the monthly number of payments and monthly amounts is depicted by a time series using a seasonal line. The impact of wild boar damage on agriculture crops, in total, leads to the conclusion that this game species is a major problem. The results showed a specific subset of game damage in Croatia and, as such, it can be extrapolated to provide insight into the damage caused by wild boar in other countries.

Exacerbated vulnerability of coupled socio-economic risk in complex networks

Science.gov (United States)

Zhang, Xin; Feng, Ling; Berman, Yonatan; Hu, Ning; Stanley, H. Eugene

2016-10-01

The study of risk contagion in economic networks has most often focused on the financial liquidities of institutions and assets. In practice the agents in a network affect each other through social contagion, i.e., through herd behavior and the tendency to follow leaders. We study the coupled risk between social and economic contagion and find it significantly more severe than when economic risk is considered alone. Using the empirical network from the China venture capital market we find that the system exhibits an extreme risk of abrupt phase transition and large-scale damage, which is in clear contrast to the smooth phase transition traditionally observed in economic contagion alone. We also find that network structure impacts market resilience and that the randomization of the social network of the market participants can reduce system fragility when there is herd behavior. Our work indicates that under coupled contagion mechanisms network resilience can exhibit a fundamentally different behavior, i.e., an abrupt transition. It also reveals the extreme risk when a system has coupled socio-economic risks, and this could be of interest to both policy makers and market practitioners.

Using satellite multispectral imagery for damage mapping armyworm (Spodoptera frugiperda) in maize damage at a regional scale

Science.gov (United States)

Armyworm, as a destructive insect for maize, causes wide range of damage in both China and U.S. in recent years. To obtain the spatial distribution of damage area and assess the damage severity, a fast and accurate loss assessment method is of great importance for effective management. This study, t...

Economic Efficiency of Maize Production in Yola North Local ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

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should include the basic nutrients necessary to meet the needs of the ... economic production and home production, often have damaging ..... economic citizens in Nigeria (Ankroyd and. Doughty, 1984). ... Nutritional Guide. University of.

Temperature impacts on economic growth warrant stringent mitigation policy

Science.gov (United States)

Moore, Frances C.; Diaz, Delavane B.

2015-02-01

Integrated assessment models compare the costs of greenhouse gas mitigation with damages from climate change to evaluate the social welfare implications of climate policy proposals and inform optimal emissions reduction trajectories. However, these models have been criticized for lacking a strong empirical basis for their damage functions, which do little to alter assumptions of sustained gross domestic product (GDP) growth, even under extreme temperature scenarios. We implement empirical estimates of temperature effects on GDP growth rates in the DICE model through two pathways, total factor productivity growth and capital depreciation. This damage specification, even under optimistic adaptation assumptions, substantially slows GDP growth in poor regions but has more modest effects in rich countries. Optimal climate policy in this model stabilizes global temperature change below 2 °C by eliminating emissions in the near future and implies a social cost of carbon several times larger than previous estimates. A sensitivity analysis shows that the magnitude of climate change impacts on economic growth, the rate of adaptation, and the dynamic interaction between damages and GDP are three critical uncertainties requiring further research. In particular, optimal mitigation rates are much lower if countries become less sensitive to climate change impacts as they develop, making this a major source of uncertainty and an important subject for future research.

Socio-economic determinants of severe and moderate stunting among under-five children of rural Bangladesh.

Science.gov (United States)

Mostafa, Kamal S M

2011-04-01

Malnutrition among under-five children is a chronic problem in developing countries. This study explores the socio-economic determinants of severe and moderate stunting among under-five children of rural Bangladesh. The study used data from the 2007 Bangladesh Demographic and Health Survey. Cross-sectional and multinomial logistic regression analyses were used to assess the effect of the socio-demographic variables on moderate and severe stunting over normal among the children. Findings revealed that over two-fifths of the children were stunted, of which 26.3% were moderately stunted and 15.1% were severely stunted. The multivariate multinomial logistic regression analysis yielded significantly increased risk of severe stunting (OR=2.53, 95% CI=1.34-4.79) and moderate stunting (OR=2.37, 95% CI=1.47-3.83) over normal among children with a thinner mother. Region, father's education, toilet facilities, child's age, birth order of children and wealth index were also important determinants of children's nutritional status. Development and poverty alleviation programmes should focus on the disadvantaged rural segments of people to improve their nutritional status.

Increasing severity of damage caused by floods in the Spanish Mediterranean coast (1960-2014), climate change or vulnerability?

Science.gov (United States)

Perez, Alfredo; Gil, Salvador; Lopez, Francisco; Barriendos, Mariano

2016-04-01

In recent decades, there has been an increase in physical and economic losses (WMO, CRED and UCL, 2014) that raises serious concerns in society. Climate change projections may explain the rise in flood losses; however, these shouldn't be considered yet (Bouwer, 2011). According to IPCC (2014), there is low confidence in anthropogenic climate change affecting the frequency and magnitude of fluvial floods on a global scale. In other words, this increase in flood events is not completely related to the higher frequency of heavy rainfall. To illustrate the aforementioned, a spatial example can be seen in the study area. In the Spanish Mediterranean coast, we see an increase in economic losses within the last 50 years due to flood events (Gil et al., 2014). It seems that the socio-economic growth and the rise of housing construction (Gaja, 2008) have led to an increase in vulnerability and exposure which are mainly responsible for those losses and the increase in severity of flood events (Pérez et al., 2015). Furthermore, this situation will probably become more precarious if some climate forecasts are met [IPCC, 2014; AEMET, 2015], and if the economic model fails to adopt efficient adaptive measures. Therefore, it is interesting to focus attention on social factors either within the present or future scenario in order to minimise the potential consequences and improve the adaptation. The main objective of this work focuses on the study of the evolution of the severity of the floods in the Spanish Mediterranean coast for the period (1960-2015). To do that, a statistical analysis of the data base [Gil et al., 2014; extended to the entire Spanish Mediterranean coast (MEDIFLOOD)] and a multiscale mapping (local, provincial and regional level) of the frequency of these events will take place in order to make comparisons and show spatiotemporal patterns according to the severity events evolution. Preliminary results show some interesting statistically significant

ROSFOND based heating-damage cross sections sub-library: Preliminary uncertainty assessment

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Sinitsa, V.V.

2016-01-01

The accuracy of radiation damage calculations for the most important LWR component, the reactor pressure vessel (RPV), directly linked with the RPV End-of-Life (EoL) prediction which is in its turn connected with fundamental nuclear safety aspects and relevant economic impacts. In this connection, for nearly ten years the ENEA-Bologna Nuclear Data Group conducts the nuclear data processing and validation activities addressed to update the specialized broad-group coupled neutron/photon working cross section libraries for shielding and radiation damage calculations through NJOY and Bologna revised version of SCAMPI data processing systems. A number of working group-wise data libraries has been prepared and transferred to the ENEA Data Bank for dissemination. Several years ago the NRC ”Kurchatov Institute” has reset the GRUCON project, originally designed to provide group constants for fast nuclear reactor calculations [12], with aim to expand its application area and to use in the WWER safety tasks, in particular, in the RPV radiation damage analyses. By means of updated GRUCON and NJOY-99 processing codes, and calculation procedure, developed in the NDG of ENEA Bologna, a sample of kerma&damage energy point-wise data sub-libraries from different evaluated data libraries has been generated. On the base of this sample, the quantitative assessment of kerma/dpa data precision in the RPV calculations is obtained

Anisotropic creep damage in the framework of continuum damage mechanics

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Caboche, J.L.

1983-01-01

For some years, various works have shown the possibility of applying continuum mechanics to model the evolution of the damage variable, initially introduced by Kachanov. Of interest here are the complex problems posed by the anisotropy which affects both the elastic behaviour and the viscoplastic one, and also the rupture phenomenon. The main concepts of the Continuum Damage Mechanics are briefly reviewed together with some classical ways to introduce anisotropy of damage in the particular case of proportional loadings. Based on previous works, two generalizations are presented and discussed, which use different kinds of tensors to describe the anisotropy of creep damage: - The first one, by Murakami and Ohno introduces a second rank damage tensor and a net stress tensor through a net area definition. The effective stress-strain behaviour is then obtained by a fourth rank tensor. - The second theory, by the author, uses one effective stress tensor only, defined in terms of the macroscopic strain behaviour, through a fourth-order non-symmetrical damage tensor. The two theories are compared at several levels: difference and similarities are pointed out for the damage evolution during tensile creep as well as for anisotropy effects. The possibilities are discussed and compared on the basis of some existing experimental results, which leads to a partial validation of the two approaches. (orig.)

Landslide Risk: Economic Valuation in The North-Eastern Zone of Medellin City

Science.gov (United States)

Vega, Johnny Alexander; Hidalgo, César Augusto; Johana Marín, Nini

2017-10-01

Natural disasters of a geodynamic nature can cause enormous economic and human losses. The economic costs of a landslide disaster include relocation of communities and physical repair of urban infrastructure. However, when performing a quantitative risk analysis, generally, the indirect economic consequences of such an event are not taken into account. A probabilistic approach methodology that considers several scenarios of hazard and vulnerability to measure the magnitude of the landslide and to quantify the economic costs is proposed. With this approach, it is possible to carry out a quantitative evaluation of the risk by landslides, allowing the calculation of the economic losses before a potential disaster in an objective, standardized and reproducible way, taking into account the uncertainty of the building costs in the study zone. The possibility of comparing different scenarios facilitates the urban planning process, the optimization of interventions to reduce risk to acceptable levels and an assessment of economic losses according to the magnitude of the damage. For the development and explanation of the proposed methodology, a simple case study is presented, located in north-eastern zone of the city of Medellín. This area has particular geomorphological characteristics, and it is also characterized by the presence of several buildings in bad structural conditions. The proposed methodology permits to obtain an estimative of the probable economic losses by earthquake-induced landslides, taking into account the uncertainty of the building costs in the study zone. The obtained estimative shows that the structural intervention of the buildings produces a reduction the order of 21 % in the total landslide risk.

Nuclear energy and economic competitiveness in several normative systems

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Thomas, S.

2009-01-01

The serious challenge imposed by the necessity of reducing the gases emission of greenhouse effect in the electric generation sector, it has renovated the interest in the new plants construction of nuclear energy. Nevertheless, since the use of the nuclear energy began to descend ago more of 25 years, it is has speculated continually about the possible nuclear rebirth. Are such predictions based in solid basis or are mere groundless prognostics? The objective of the present document is to analyze the economic aspects of the nuclear energy, to identify the key factors that they allow to determine its competitiveness and to sound the possible markets for the new plants of nuclear energy. To achieve this, it is divided in the following sections: Revision of the current state of the nuclear energy, including the location, the type and capacity of the plants; Identification of the variables that determine the economic situation of the nuclear energy; Revision of the recent predictions and of the economic aspects of the Olkiluoto nuclear power plant of Finland; A revision by market of the possible future of the new nuclear facilities in the coming decade. (Author)

Contribution to the damage measurement of reinforced concrete buildings under seismic solicitations: proposal of an improvement for the evaluation of the damaging potential of a signal and of the damage for the girders structures: introduction to the reliability analysis of the damage in terms of the damaging potential of a seismic signal

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Naze, P.A.

2004-12-01

Building damage measurement during and after an earthquake remains an economical as well as technical stake as difficult to cope with as the problem it raises all the more because its importance depends on the field or the building function: civil, medical, military, nuclear... Even building ruin remains one of the most critical diagnosis to establish. Then since prediction of earthquake still remains impossible, foreseeing structural damages due to seismic motion has become a key point in earthquake engineering. This work aims at evaluating the relevance of classical seismic signal damaging potential indices and at proposing improvement of these indices in order to provide better prediction of structural damage due to earthquake. The first part supplies a non exhaustive state of the art of main Damaging Potential Indices IP and Damage Indices ID used in earthquake engineering. In the second part, IP/ID correlations results are analysed in order to evaluate IP relevance, to justify displacement based approach use (capacity spectrum method) for damage prediction and to make good the proposal for improvement of Damaging Potential Index. But studding seismic signal damaging potential is usually not enough to foresee damage firstly because scalar representation of damaging potential is not easy to link to physics reality and secondly because of damage scattering often observed for a single value of seismic signal damaging potential. In the same way, a single damage index value may correspond to very different structural damage states. Hence, this work carries on with a contribution to damage index reliability improvement, able to detect real structural damage appearance as well as to quantify this damage by associating the distance between one structural sate and the structural collapse, defined as an instability. (author)

Coupling Between Doppler Radar Signatures and Tornado Damage Tracks

Science.gov (United States)

Jedlovec, Gary J.; Molthan, Andrew L.; Carey, Lawrence; Carcione, Brian; Smith, Matthew; Schultz, Elise V.; Schultz, Christopher; Lafontaine, Frank

2011-01-01

On April 27, 2011, the southeastern United States was raked with several episodes of severe weather. Numerous tornadoes caused extensive damage, and tragically, the deaths of over 300 people. In Alabama alone, there were 61 confirmed tornados, 4 of them produced EF5 damage, and several were on the ground an hour or more with continuous damage tracks exceeding 80km. The use of Doppler radars covering the region provided reflectivity and velocity signatures that allowed forecasters to monitors the severe storms from beginning to end issuing hundreds of severe weather warnings throughout the day. Meteorologists from the the NWS performed extensive surveys to assess the intensity, duration, and ground track of tornadoes reported during the event. Survey activities included site visits to the affected locations, analysis of radar and satellite data, aerial surveys, and interviews with eyewitnesses. Satellite data from NASA's MODIS and ASTER instruments played a helpful role in determining the location of tornado damage paths and in the assessment. High resolution multispectral and temporal composites helped forecasters corroborate their damage assessments, determine starting and ending points for tornado touchdowns, and helped to provide forecasters with a better big-picture view of the damage region. The imagery also helped to separate damage from the April 27th tornados from severe weather that occurred earlier that month. In a post analysis of the outbreak, tornado damage path signatures observed in the NASA satellite data have been correlated to "debris ball" signatures in the NWS Doppler radars and a special ARMOR dual-polarization radar operated by the University of Alabama Huntsville during the event. The Doppler radar data indicates a circular enhanced reflectivity signal and rotational couplet in the radial velocity likely associated with the tornado that is spatially correlated with the damage tracks in the observed satellite data. An algorithm to detect and

Large scale hydro-economic modelling for policy support

Science.gov (United States)

de Roo, Ad; Burek, Peter; Bouraoui, Faycal; Reynaud, Arnaud; Udias, Angel; Pistocchi, Alberto; Lanzanova, Denis; Trichakis, Ioannis; Beck, Hylke; Bernhard, Jeroen

2014-05-01

To support European Union water policy making and policy monitoring, a hydro-economic modelling environment has been developed to assess optimum combinations of water retention measures, water savings measures, and nutrient reduction measures for continental Europe. This modelling environment consists of linking the agricultural CAPRI model, the LUMP land use model, the LISFLOOD water quantity model, the EPIC water quality model, the LISQUAL combined water quantity, quality and hydro-economic model, and a multi-criteria optimisation routine. With this modelling environment, river basin scale simulations are carried out to assess the effects of water-retention measures, water-saving measures, and nutrient-reduction measures on several hydro-chemical indicators, such as the Water Exploitation Index (WEI), Nitrate and Phosphate concentrations in rivers, the 50-year return period river discharge as an indicator for flooding, and economic losses due to water scarcity for the agricultural sector, the manufacturing-industry sector, the energy-production sector and the domestic sector, as well as the economic loss due to flood damage. Recently, this model environment is being extended with a groundwater model to evaluate the effects of measures on the average groundwater table and available resources. Also, water allocation rules are addressed, while having environmental flow included as a minimum requirement for the environment. Economic functions are currently being updated as well. Recent development and examples will be shown and discussed, as well as open challenges.

Comparison of computer codes relative to the aerosol behavior in the reactor containment building during severe core damage accidents in a PWR

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Fermandjian, J.; Dunbar, I.; Gauvain, J.; Ricchena, R.

1986-02-01

The present study concerns a comparative exercise, performed within the framework of the Commission of the European Communities, of the computer codes (AEROSISM-M, UK; AEROSOLS/BI, France; CORRAL-2, CEC and NAUA Mod5, Germany) used in order to assess the aerosol behavior in the reactor containment building during severe core damage accidents in a PWR

Damage control resuscitation for abdominal war injury

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Wei-wei DING

2014-03-01

Full Text Available In recent years, the concept of comprehensive treatment for military trauma has been comprehensively updated. The application of damage control surgery has significantly improved the clinical outcome of severe abdominal injury. With appropriate surgical intervention, post-trauma fluid resuscitation plays an increasingly important role in the treatment of abdominal injury. The damage control resuscitation strategy addresses the importance of permissive hypotension and haemostatic resuscitation for patients with severe trauma, under the guidance of damage control surgical principle. DOI: 10.11855/j.issn.0577-7402.2014.03.02

ECONOMIC CRISIS AND ECONOMIC DISPARITIES IN EUROPEAN UNION

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Rodica CRUDU

2015-09-01

Full Text Available The impact of the economic and financial crisis is still being felt. It started as an acute crisis of the banking system, but then quickly affected the real economy, causing a substantial slump in business investment, household demand and output. The current economic crisis has affected almost all European countries but the countries of the European south and the former eastern socialist republics have suffered the most. The objective in this paper is to quantify economic disparities as expressed by several growth indicators, such as GDP per capita, employment/unemployment rates, labour productivity rates and use them to compare the economic performances before and after the crisis. EU took several measures to recover from the economic crisis. Nevertheless, its ability to adjust to widely diverse national and local contexts that have been impacted differently by the effects of the crisis, and to support the different patterns of economic growth that will result from it, is yet to be seen.

A regional analysis of the effects generated by the economic crisis and its impact on the outstanding loan portfolio in Romania

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Alina BRĂTUCU (LUCA

2012-07-01

Full Text Available Known as the biggest crises since the Great Depression, the actual global crisis has modified the economical structures of many countries and a vicious circle of tightening credit, has reduced demand and rapid job cuts occurred. In Romania, the situation evolved with rapidity based on a series of snow-ball effects and the economy suffered severe damages in terms of intensive growth and sustainability. The lending activity was seriously damaged and many people got in a difficult situation with no jobs and with higher interest rates on loans.For a better understanding of the economic crisis phenomena consequences in Romania, we will try to emphasize the main implications of the influences of unemployment and medium net wages on the banking activity using a regional econometric model for panel data.

Air exposure behavior of the semiterrestrial crab Neohelice granulata allows tolerance to severe hypoxia but not prevent oxidative damage due to hypoxia-reoxygenation cycle.

Science.gov (United States)

de Lima, Tábata Martins; Geihs, Márcio Alberto; Nery, Luiz Eduardo Maia; Maciel, Fábio Everton

2015-11-01

The air exposure behavior of the semi-terrestrial crab Neohelice granulata during severe hypoxia was studied. This study also verified whether this behavior mitigates possible oxidative damage, namely lipoperoxidation, caused by hypoxia and reoxygenation cycles. The lethal time for 50% of the crabs subjected to severe hypoxia (0.5 mgO2 · L(-1)) with free access to air was compared to that of crabs subjected to severe hypoxia without access to air. Crabs were placed in aquaria divided into three zones: water (when the animal was fully submersed), land (when the animal was completely emerged) and intermediate (when the animal was in contact with both environments) zones. Then the crabs were held in this condition for 270 min, and the time spent in each zone was recorded. Lipid peroxidation (LPO) damage to the walking leg muscles was determined for the following four experimental conditions: a--normoxic water with free access to air; b--hypoxic water without access to air; c--hypoxic water followed by normoxic water without air access; and d--hypoxic water with free access to air. When exposed to hypoxic water, N. granulata spent significantly more time on land, 135.3 ± 17.7 min, whereas control animals (exposed to normoxic water) spent more time submerged, 187.4 ± 20.2 min. By this behavior, N. granulata was able to maintain a 100% survival rate when exposed to severe hypoxia. However, N. granulata must still return to water after periods of air exposure (~ 14 min), causing a sequence of hypoxia/reoxygenation events. Despite increasing the survival rate, hypoxia with air access does not decrease the lipid peroxidation damage caused by the hypoxia and reoxygenation cycle experienced by these crabs.

Economic evaluation of safety measures for transport companies

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Rietveld, Piet; Rienstra, Sytze A.

1998-01-01

Measures to reduce material damage within companies may both increase the business economic performance of the company and traffic safety in general. In this paper the notion of whether such measures are economically feasible is investigated. Results are presented of a series of interviews

Residential damage in an area of underground coal mining

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Padgett, M.F.

1988-01-01

In order to estimate the potential for future subsidence-related residential damage, a statistical analysis of past residential damage in the Boulder-Weld, Colorado, coal field was performed. The objectives of this study were to assess the difference in damage severity and frequency between undermined and non-undermined areas, and to determine, where applicable, which mining factors significantly influence the severity and frequency of residential damage. The results of this study suggest that undermined homes have almost three times the risk of having some type of structural damage than do non-undermined homes. The study also indicated that both geologic factors, such as the ratio of sandstone/claystone in the overburden, and mining factors, such as the mining feature (room, pillar, entry, etc.), can significantly affect the severity of overlying residential damage. However, the results of this study are dependent on local conditions and should not be applied elsewhere unless the geologic, mining, and residential conditions are similar

Economic Analysis of Biological Invasions in Forests

Science.gov (United States)

Tomas P. Holmes; Julian Aukema; Jeffrey Englin; Robert G. Haight; Kent Kovacs; Brian Leung

2014-01-01

Biological invasions of native forests by nonnative pests result from complex stochastic processes that are difficult to predict. Although economic optimization models describe efficient controls across the stages of an invasion, the ability to calibrate such models is constrained by lack of information on pest population dynamics and consequent economic damages. Here...

Human activity and damaging landslides and floods on Madeira Island

Science.gov (United States)

Baioni, D.

2011-11-01

Over the last few decades, the island of Madeira has become an important offshore tourism and business center, with rapid economic and demographic development that has caused changes to the landscape due to human activity. In Madeira's recent history, there has been an increase over time in the frequency of occurrence of damaging landslide and flood events. As a result, the costs of restoration work due to damage caused by landslide and flood events have become a larger and larger component of Madeira's annual budget. Landslides and floods in Madeira deserve particular attention because they represent the most serious hazard to human life, to property, and to the natural environment and its important heritage value. The work reported on in this paper involved the analysis of historical data regarding damaging landslide and flood events on Madeira (in particular from 1941 to 1991) together with data on geological characteristics, topographic features, and climate, and from field observations. This analysis showed that the main factor triggering the occurrence of damaging landslide and flood events is rainfall, but that the increase in the number of damaging events recorded on Madeira Island, especially in recent times, seems to be related mostly to human activity, specifically to economic development and population growth, rather than to natural factors.

Chapter 6: Fire damage of wood structures

Science.gov (United States)

B. Kukay; R.H. White; F. Woeste

2012-01-01

Depending on the severity, fire damage can compromise the structural integrity of wood structures such as buildings or residences. Fire damage of wood structures can incorporate several models that address (1) the type, cause, and spread of the fire, (2) the thermal gradients and fire-resistance ratings, and (3) the residual load capacity (Figure 6.1). If there is a...

Volcanic Ash -Aircraft Encounter Damages: in Volcanological Point of View

Science.gov (United States)

Aydar, Erkan; Aladaǧ, Çaǧdaş Hakan; Menteş, Turhan

2017-04-01

The jet era or age began at 1930 and 40's in aviation sector, with the production of first jet engine for the aircrafts. Since 1950's, the commercial aviation with regular flights were established. Civil aviation and air-transport drastically increased due to intensive demand, and declared at least 10 fold since 1970 by IATA report. Parallelly to technological and economical developpement, the commercial jets became more comfortable, secure and rapid, bringing the world smaller, the countries closer. On the other hand, according to Global Volcanism Program Catalogues of Smithsonian Institute, about 1,500 volcanoes have erupted in the Holocene, 550 of them have had historical eruptions and considered as active. Besides an average of 55-60 volcanoes erupt each year, and about 8-10 of these eruptions produce ash clouds that reach aircraft flight altitudes (Salinas and Watt, 2004). Volcanic ash can be expected to be in air routes at altitudes greater than 9 km (30,000 ft) for roughly 20 days per year worldwide (Miller &Casadeval, 2000). A precious compilation of incidents due to encounters of aircrafts with volcanic ash clouds covering the years between 1953 and 2009 was used in this work (Guffanti et al., 2010-USGS Report) with an additional information on Eyfjallajökull-2010 eruption. According to this compilation,129 incidents happened within the concerned time interval. The damages, in general, fall in second and third class of Severity index, indicating the damages are limited on airframe of the planes, or some abrasions in jet engine, windblast etc.. We focused on fourth class of severity index involving the damages on jet engine of aircraft (engine fail) due to ingestion of volcanic ash and investigate eruption style and caused damage relationships. During the eruptive sequences of Mts Saint Helen (USA), Galunggung (Indonesia, 2 incidents), Redoubt (USA), Pinatubo (Philipinnes), Unzen (Japan), Manam (Papua New Guinea), Soufriere Hills (Lesser Antilles), Chaiten

Performance and techno-economic assessment of several solid-liquid separation technologies for processing dilute-acid pretreated corn stover.

Science.gov (United States)

Sievers, David A; Tao, Ling; Schell, Daniel J

2014-09-01

Solid-liquid separation of pretreated lignocellulosic biomass slurries is a critical unit operation employed in several different processes for production of fuels and chemicals. An effective separation process achieves good recovery of solute (sugars) and efficient dewatering of the biomass slurry. Dilute acid pretreated corn stover slurries were subjected to pressure and vacuum filtration and basket centrifugation to evaluate the technical and economic merits of these technologies. Experimental performance results were used to perform detailed process simulations and economic analysis using a 2000 tonne/day biorefinery model to determine differences between the various filtration methods and their process settings. The filtration processes were able to successfully separate pretreated slurries into liquor and solid fractions with estimated sugar recoveries of at least 95% using a cake washing process. A continuous vacuum belt filter produced the most favorable process economics. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Damage correlation in theory and practice

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Doran, D.G.; Odette, G.R.; Simons, R.L.; Mansur, L.K.

1977-01-01

Common to all reactor development work is the problem of differences between the irradiation environments used for materials testing and those typical of service conditions. Efforts are being made to develop damage models that incorporate irradiation parameters such as type and energy of radiation, flux, and exposure. Models relating radiation damage production and microstructural evolution to changes in mechanical properties are primitive. Nevertheless, they suggest that the inability to account quantitatively for differences in test and service neutron spectra leads to overly conservative design of out-of-core components. Direct experimental corroboration is difficult because of the low neutron fluxes associated with the desired soft spectra. Further development of mechanistic models and new approaches to model testing are needed. Models of the growth stage of swelling, on the other hand, are relatively advanced. These models are discussed briefly as an example of how damage models can be used to help guide and analyze irradiation experiments. Accelerated damage studies using charged particles are expected to continue. Current empirical correlations of damage rates can be given a firmer theoretical basis as analysis of experiments and modeling of damage continue to improve. Damage correlation methodology practices in reactor design must necessarily follow different rules from that practiced in materials research and development. Nevertheless, decreasing the gap between them is a laudable objective with potentially significant economic impact

Petroleum: Social and economic effect in Ecuador

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Roberto Aguas Pután

2016-09-01

Full Text Available The present article presents the results of the research work related to the social and economic impact of the exploitation of oil in Ecuador, presents the reader with the methodologies that allowed obtaining the results and the most viable solution to the economic problems facing the country . The purpose of the investigative work is to propose a practical solution to the economic and social situation in the country, especially in the last years when the business started with the international oil companies which did not respect the agreement made by both parties that produced Negative consequences for the land, such as damages, contamination of the rivers, damage of the flora and fauna of the surroundings, it is considered that there were and there are economic fluctuations that have varied the economy and development of the fulfillment of the state budget and the breach of the same Towards social promises to the people of Ecuador, for not having the necessary provisions in the fall of the price of oil and this has its effect on the national budget.

Comparative assessment of severe accident risks in the energy sector

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hirschberg, S.; Spiekerman, G.; Dones, R.

1997-01-01

This paper addresses one of the major limitations of the current comparative studies of environmental and health impacts of energy systems, i.e. the treatment of severe accidents. The work covers technical aspects of severe accidents and thus primarily reflects an engineering perspective on the energy-related risk issues. The assessments concern full energy chains associated with fossil sources (coal, oil and gas), nuclear power and hydro power. A comprehensive severe accidents database has been established. Thanks to the variety of information sources used, it exhibits in comparison with other corresponding databases a far more extensive coverage of the energy-related accidents. For hypothetical nuclear accidents the probabilistic approach has been employed and extended to cover the economic consequences of power reactor accidents. Results of comparisons between the various energy chains are shown and discussed along with a number of current issues in comparative assessment of severe accidents. As opposed to the previous studies, the aim of the present work has been, to cover whenever possible, a relatively broad spectrum of damage categories of interest. (author) 5 figs., 1 tab., 18 refs

[Ophthalmological opinions for liability affairs material damage (Part I) (author's transl)].

Science.gov (United States)

Burggraf, H

1979-02-01

German law abides anyone reponsible for the damage he or she has caused to another person's property or corporal integrity. This includes all medical costs directed towards the restitution of health as well as economical damage in direct consequence of the corporal damage. An ophthalmological expert is to state his opinion therefore in accordance with the specific conditions of every individual case and not just according to general charts. Financial compensation is only granted for the actual results of damage inquestion. Prior damage and disability have to be remarked but not to justify a financial compensation. The question of smart-money is dealt with in Part II.

Damage Models for Soft Tissues: A Survey.

Science.gov (United States)

Li, Wenguang

Damage to soft tissues in the human body has been investigated for applications in healthcare, sports, and biomedical engineering. This paper reviews and classifies damage models for soft tissues to summarize achievements, identify new directions, and facilitate finite element analysis. The main ideas of damage modeling methods are illustrated and interpreted. A few key issues related to damage models, such as experimental data curve-fitting, computational effort, connection between damage and fractures/cracks, damage model applications, and fracture/crack extension simulation, are discussed. Several new challenges in the field are identified and outlined. This review can be useful for developing more advanced damage models and extending damage modeling methods to a variety of soft tissues.

Conference on the Rehabilitation of Severely Damaged Land and Freshwater Ecosystems in Temperate Zones

CERN Document Server

Woodman, M

1978-01-01

This volume contains the papers presented at a conference on "The rehabilitation of severely damaged land and freshwater eco­ systems in temperate zones", held at Reykjavik, Iceland, from 4th to 11th July, 1976. The meeting was held under the auspices of the Ecosciences Panel of the N.A.T.O. Science Committee, and the organising expenses and greater part of the expenses of the speakers and chairmen were provided by N.A.T.O. The scientific programme was planned by M. W. Holdgate and M. J. Woodman, in consultation with numerous colleagues, and especially with the Administrative Director of the Conference in Iceland, Dr. Sturla Fridriksson. Iceland proved a particularly suitable location for such a Conference. Geologically, it is one of the youngest countries 1n the world, owing its origin to the up-welling of volcanic rock along the spreading zone of the mid-Atlantic ridge within the past 20 million years. Its structure, northern oceanic situation, recent glaciation and continuing volcanic activity make it dis...

Multi-level damage identification with response reconstruction

Science.gov (United States)

Zhang, Chao-Dong; Xu, You-Lin

2017-10-01

Damage identification through finite element (FE) model updating usually forms an inverse problem. Solving the inverse identification problem for complex civil structures is very challenging since the dimension of potential damage parameters in a complex civil structure is often very large. Aside from enormous computation efforts needed in iterative updating, the ill-condition and non-global identifiability features of the inverse problem probably hinder the realization of model updating based damage identification for large civil structures. Following a divide-and-conquer strategy, a multi-level damage identification method is proposed in this paper. The entire structure is decomposed into several manageable substructures and each substructure is further condensed as a macro element using the component mode synthesis (CMS) technique. The damage identification is performed at two levels: the first is at macro element level to locate the potentially damaged region and the second is over the suspicious substructures to further locate as well as quantify the damage severity. In each level's identification, the damage searching space over which model updating is performed is notably narrowed down, not only reducing the computation amount but also increasing the damage identifiability. Besides, the Kalman filter-based response reconstruction is performed at the second level to reconstruct the response of the suspicious substructure for exact damage quantification. Numerical studies and laboratory tests are both conducted on a simply supported overhanging steel beam for conceptual verification. The results demonstrate that the proposed multi-level damage identification via response reconstruction does improve the identification accuracy of damage localization and quantization considerably.

New economic initiatives are designed to protect the environment

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Fleet, B.; Fleet, N.S.

1992-01-01

The use of economic initiatives or economic instruments as an alternative to or as support for existing environmental legislation is reviewed. The most controversial area of economic incentives is the concept of creating a market in pollution rights. While emissions trading can enable economic growth in areas of high pollution, this approach is only marginally different than the traditional regulatory approach. Environmental economics is complex, with mixtures of private and public costs. Social costs include subsidies, waste treatment, landfill disposal costs, etc. More intangible social costs include public health costs and damage to the natural environment. Conventional economic approaches ignore most such social costs. Several European countries have started to develop a green gross national product (GNP) which sets out an alternative approach to the traditional measure of economic activity by subtracting a figure for harm to the environment from economic activity. This ambitious approach attempts to measure the costs of all toxic discharges along with the disappearance of plant and animal life and other environmental changes. A powerful new tool for the environmental manager is full cost accounting, which uses a long (10-20 y) window for projects, anticipates the impact of stricter discharge standards, and attempts to quantify a range of less tangible social costs elements, such as liability, improved environmental image, etc. Various strategies can be ranked on the basis of their future risk cost. The application of full cost accounting models, small business, computer models and expert systems, developing country debt-for-nature swaps, and environmental risk assessment are discussed. 12 refs

Influence of coffee pruning on the severity of frost damage

OpenAIRE

Androcioli Filho,Armando; Caramori,Paulo Henrique

2000-01-01

Frost damages in a field experiment of pruning types and systems for the cultivars of Coffea arabica Catuaí and Mundo Novo, were evaluated at Londrina (23º22’S, 52º10´W), State of Parana, southern Brazil, during the winter of 1990 and 1994. Pruning types evaluated were ‘esqueletamento’ (cutting off all plagiotropic branches at 20-30 cm from the orthotropic branch), ‘decote’ (cutting off the orthotropic branch at 1.5 m and 2.0 m above ground) and ‘recepa’ (cutting off the orthotropic branch at...

Nuclear power investment risk economic model

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Houghton, W.J.; Postula, F.D.

1985-12-01

This paper describes an economic model which was developed to evaluate the net costs incurred by a utility due to an accident induced outage at a nuclear power plant. During such an outage the portion of the plant operating costs associated with power production are saved; however, the owning utility faces a sizable expense as fossil fuels are burned as a substitute for the incapacitated nuclear power. Additional expenses are incurred by the utility for plant repair and if necessary, decontamination costs. The model makes provision for mitigating these costs by sales of power, property damage insurance payments, tax write-offs and increased rates. Over 60 economic variables contribute to the net cost uncertainty. The values of these variables are treated as uncertainty distributions and are used in a Monte carlo computer program to evaluate the cost uncertainty (investment risk) associated with damage which could occur from various categories of initiating accidents. As an example, results of computations for various levels of damage associated with a loss of coolant accident are shown as a range of consequential plant downtime and unrecovered cost. A typical investment risk profile is shown for these types of accidents. Cost/revenue values for each economic factor are presented for a Three Mile Island - II type accident, e.g., uncontrolled core heatup. 4 refs., 6 figs., 3 tabs

Environmental damage caused by fossil fuels consumption

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Barbir, F.; Veziroglu, T.N.

1991-01-01

This paper reports that the objectives of this study is to identify the negative effects of the fossil fuels use and to evaluate their economic significance. An economic value of the damage for each of the analyzed effects has been estimated in US dollars per unit energy of the fuel used ($/GJ). This external costs of fossil fuel use should be added to their existing market price, and such real costs should be compared with the real costs of other, environmentally acceptable, energy alternatives, such as hydrogen

A new survey tool to assess pluvial damage to residential buildings

Science.gov (United States)

Rözer, Viktor; Spekkers, Matthieu; ten Veldhuis, Marie-Claire; Kreibich, Heidi

2017-04-01

Pluvial floods have caused severe damage to urban dwellings in Europe and elsewhere in recent years. These type of flood events are caused by storm events with exceptionally high rainfall rates, which lead to inundation of streets and buildings and are commonly associated with a failure of the urban drainage system. Therefore, pluvial floods often happen with little warning and in areas that are not obviously prone to flooding. With a predicted increase in extreme weather events as well as an ongoing urbanization, pluvial flood damage is expected to increase in the future. So far little research was done on the adverse consequences of pluvial floods, as empirical damage data of pluvial flooding is scarce. Therefore, a newly developed survey tool to assess pluvial flood damage as well as the results of a comparison between two international pluvial flood case studies are presented. The questionnaire used in the two study areas was developed with the aim to create a harmonized transnational pluvial flood damage survey that can potentially be extended to other European countries. New indicator variables have been developed to account for different national and regional standards in building structure, early warning, socio-economic data and recovery. The surveys comprise interviews with 510 households in the Münster area (Germany) and 349 households in Amsterdam (the Netherlands), which were affected by the heavy rainfall events on July 28 2014. The respondents were asked more than 80 questions about the damage to their building structure and contents, as well as on topics such as early warning, emergency and precautionary measures, building properties and hazard characteristics. A comparison of the two surveys revealed strong similarities concerning damage reducing effects and the popularity of precautionary measures, besides significant differences between the mean water levels inside the house as well as the median of the building structure and content damage. A

Improving Flood Damage Assessment Models in Italy

Science.gov (United States)

Amadio, M.; Mysiak, J.; Carrera, L.; Koks, E.

2015-12-01

The use of Stage-Damage Curve (SDC) models is prevalent in ex-ante assessments of flood risk. To assess the potential damage of a flood event, SDCs describe a relation between water depth and the associated potential economic damage over land use. This relation is normally developed and calibrated through site-specific analysis based on ex-post damage observations. In some cases (e.g. Italy) SDCs are transferred from other countries, undermining the accuracy and reliability of simulation results. Against this background, we developed a refined SDC model for Northern Italy, underpinned by damage compensation records from a recent flood event. Our analysis considers both damage to physical assets and production losses from business interruptions. While the first is calculated based on land use information, production losses are measured through the spatial distribution of Gross Value Added (GVA). An additional component of the model assesses crop-specific agricultural losses as a function of flood seasonality. Our results show an overestimation of asset damage from non-calibrated SDC values up to a factor of 4.5 for tested land use categories. Furthermore, we estimate that production losses amount to around 6 per cent of the annual GVA. Also, maximum yield losses are less than a half of the amount predicted by the standard SDC methods.

The second generation of natural resource damage assessments: Lessons learned?

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Luthi, R.B.; Burlington, L.B.; Reinharz, E.; Shutler, S.K.

1993-01-01

The Damage Assessment Regulations Team (DART), under the Office of General Counsel of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), has centered its efforts on developing natural resource damage assessment regulations for oil pollution in navigable waters. These procedures will likely lower the costs associated with damage assessments, encourage joint cooperative assessments and simplify most assessments. The DART team of NOAA is developing new regulations for the assessment of damages due to injuries related to oil spills under the Oil Pollution Act of 1990. These regulations will involve coordination, restoration, and economic valuation. Various methods are currently being developed to assess damages for injuries to natural resources. The proposed means include: compensation tables for spills under 50,000 gallons, Type A model, expedited damage assessment (EDA) procedures, and comprehensive procedures. They are being developed to provide trustees with a choice for assessing natural resource damages for each oil spill

THE ECONOMIC IMPACT OF CUSCUTA: DAMAGES AND USAGES

OpenAIRE

TANASE Maria; SAND Camelia; CIORTEA Gligor

2012-01-01

Many dicotyledonous weeds serve as hosts for Cuscuta. Such plants can support Cuscuta on road-sides, field borders, and other non-cropped areas, as well as within fields of non-host crops. Weedy hosts have two significant economic effects: not only can they perpetuate and even amplify the reservoir of Cuscuta seed in the soil during years in which non-host crops are grown, but they also serve as a first attachment site for Cuscuta seedlings. Much of the information found in literature refers ...

Information on the evolution of severe LWR fuel element damage obtained in the CORA program

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Schanz, G.; Hagen, S.; Hofmann, P.; Sepold, L.; Schumacher, G.

1992-01-01

In the CORA program a series of out-of-pile experiments on LWR severe accidental situations is being performed, in which test bundles of LWR typical components and arrangements (PWR, BWR) are exposed to temperature transients up to about 2400deg C under flowing steam. The individual features of the facility, the test conduct, and the evaluation will be presented. In the frame of the international cooperation in severe fuel damage (SFD) programs the CORA tests are contributing confirmatory and complementary informations to the results from the limited number of in-pile tests. The identification of basic phenomena of the fuel element destruction, observed as a function of temperature, is supported by separate-effects test results. Most important mechanisms are the steam oxidation of the Zircaloy cladding, which determines the temperature escalation, the chemical interaction between UO 2 fuel and cladding, which dominates fuel liquefaction, relocation and resulting blockage formation, as well as chemical interactions with Inconel spacer grids and absorber units ((Ag, In, Cd) alloy or B 4 C), which are leading to extensive low-temperature melt formation around 1200deg C. Interrelations between those basic phenomena, resulting for example in cladding deformation ('flowering') and the dramatic hydrogen formation in response to the fast cooling of a hot bundle by cold water ('quenching') are determining the evolution paths of fuel element destruction, which are to be identified. (orig.)

Reducing environmental damages caused by transportation: towards an heterodox approach

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Marletto, Gerardo

2006-01-01

According to orthodox economics, monetary incentives are the best way to reduce environmental damages caused by transportation. This approach is consistent with the consideration of environmental damages as a market failure and with the use of pigouvian taxes to re-establish market equilibrium. Using heterodox economics both the theoretical and the policy approach will change radically. Indeed, market is just one of the structural components of the existing transport system; others being: institutions, technologies, values. Then, a shift in policy approaches is needed: from the orthodox efficient allocation of existing resources, to the heterodox promotion of new development patterns, needed to alter the given structural situation. Consistently with this paradigmatic shift, environmental damages caused by transportation can be reduced only by making the transition to a new transport system viable. Moreover, an heterodox approach to the reduction of environmental damages caused by transportation gives rise to a sound revision of policy tools; among these must be considered: selective industrial policies to foster the ecological reconversion of transport supply (instead of a non-discriminatory support to ecological innovations); participatory decision procedures to evaluate and select transport policies (instead of neutral technical tools - such as Cba or Eia); information campaigns based on ethical considerations (instead of economic incentives to transport demand); attribution of the status of commons to environmental resources, in order to protect them from the free riding of transport activities (instead of the attribution to them of private property rights). This essay is composed of four parts. In the first one, some data on environmental damages caused by transportation in Italy are shown. In the second one, orthodox and heterodox paradigms of public interventions in the economy are compared, with a specific attention to environmental applications. In the

Modelling the economic losses of historic and present-day high-impact winter storms in Switzerland

Science.gov (United States)

Welker, Christoph; Stucki, Peter; Bresch, David; Dierer, Silke; Martius, Olivia; Brönnimann, Stefan

2014-05-01

Severe winter storms such as "Vivian" in February 1990 and "Lothar" in December 1999 are among the most destructive meteorological hazards in Switzerland. Disaster severity resulting from such windstorms is attributable, on the one hand, to hazardous weather conditions such as high wind gust speeds; and on the other hand to socio-economic factors such as population density, distribution of values at risk, and damage susceptibility. For present-day winter storms, the data basis is generally good to describe the meteorological development and wind forces as well as the associated socio-economic impacts. In contrast, the information on historic windstorms is overall sparse and the available historic weather and loss reports mostly do not provide quantitative information. This study illustrates a promising technique to simulate the economic impacts of both historic and present winter storms in Switzerland since end of the 19th century. Our approach makes use of the novel Twentieth Century Reanalysis (20CR) spanning 1871-present. The 2-degree spatial resolution of the global 20CR dataset is relatively coarse. Thus, the complex orography of Switzerland is not realistically represented, which has considerable ramifications for the representation of wind systems that are strongly influenced by the local orography, such as Föhn winds. Therefore, a dynamical downscaling of the 20CR to 3 km resolution using the Weather Research and Forecasting (WRF) model was performed, for in total 40 high-impact winter storms in Switzerland since 1871. Based on the downscaled wind gust speeds and the climada loss model, the estimated economic losses were calculated at municipality level for current economic and social conditions. With this approach, we find an answer to the question what would be the economic losses of e.g. a hazardous Föhn storm - which occurred in northern Switzerland in February 1925 - today, i.e. under current socio-economic conditions. Encouragingly, the pattern of

Environmental protection in East Germany as an economical factor - in connection with energy supply

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Weisheimer, M.

1994-01-01

The current environment damages and risks were substantially defused in the recent three years. That was mainly the result of the drastic decline of the Eastern economy. Then there were substitutions of several energies and row materials as well as ecological immediate measures. Transfers and financial aids of the government together with private investments create positive effects on industry and private households. They are concerned with the economic potential, labour market (incl. ABM) and with quality of the location. (orig.) [de

Human activity and damaging landslides and floods on Madeira Island

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

D. Baioni

2011-11-01

Full Text Available Over the last few decades, the island of Madeira has become an important offshore tourism and business center, with rapid economic and demographic development that has caused changes to the landscape due to human activity. In Madeira's recent history, there has been an increase over time in the frequency of occurrence of damaging landslide and flood events. As a result, the costs of restoration work due to damage caused by landslide and flood events have become a larger and larger component of Madeira's annual budget. Landslides and floods in Madeira deserve particular attention because they represent the most serious hazard to human life, to property, and to the natural environment and its important heritage value.

The work reported on in this paper involved the analysis of historical data regarding damaging landslide and flood events on Madeira (in particular from 1941 to 1991 together with data on geological characteristics, topographic features, and climate, and from field observations. This analysis showed that the main factor triggering the occurrence of damaging landslide and flood events is rainfall, but that the increase in the number of damaging events recorded on Madeira Island, especially in recent times, seems to be related mostly to human activity, specifically to economic development and population growth, rather than to natural factors.

Habitat damage, marine reserves, and the value of spatial management

KAUST Repository

Moeller, Holly V.

2013-07-01

The biological benefits of marine reserves have garnered favor in the conservation community, but "no-take" reserve implementation is complicated by the economic interests of fishery stakeholders. There are now a number of studies examining the conditions under which marine reserves can provide both economic and ecological benefits. A potentially important reality of fishing that these studies overlook is that fishing can damage the habitat of the target stock. Here, we construct an equilibrium bioeconomic model that incorporates this habitat damage and show that the designation of marine reserves, coupled with the implementation of a tax on fishing effort, becomes both biologically and economically favorable as habitat sensitivity increases. We also study the effects of varied degrees of spatial control on fisheries management. Together, our results provide further evidence for the potential monetary and biological value of spatial management, and the possibility of a mutually beneficial resolution to the fisherman-conservationist marine reserve designation dilemma. © 2013 by the Ecological Society of America.

Coal consumption and economic growth in Taiwan

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Yang, H.Y.

2000-01-01

The purpose of this paper is to examine the causality issue between coal consumption and economic growth for Taiwan. The co-integration and Granger's causality test are applied to investigate the relationship between the two economic series. Results of the co-integration and Granger's causality test based on 1954--1997 Taiwan data show a unidirectional causality from economic growth to coal consumption with no feedback effects. Their major finding supports the neutrality hypothesis of coal consumption with respect to economic growth. Further, the finding has practical policy implications for decision makers in the area of macroeconomic planning, as coal conservation is a feasible policy with no damaging repercussions on economic growth

Hurricane Harvey Building Damage Assessment Using UAV Data

Science.gov (United States)

Yeom, J.; Jung, J.; Chang, A.; Choi, I.

2017-12-01

Hurricane Harvey which was extremely destructive major hurricane struck southern Texas, U.S.A on August 25, causing catastrophic flooding and storm damages. We visited Rockport suffered severe building destruction and conducted UAV (Unmanned Aerial Vehicle) surveying for building damage assessment. UAV provides very high resolution images compared with traditional remote sensing data. In addition, prompt and cost-effective damage assessment can be performed regardless of several limitations in other remote sensing platforms such as revisit interval of satellite platforms, complicated flight plan in aerial surveying, and cloud amounts. In this study, UAV flight and GPS surveying were conducted two weeks after hurricane damage to generate an orthomosaic image and a DEM (Digital Elevation Model). 3D region growing scheme has been proposed to quantitatively estimate building damages considering building debris' elevation change and spectral difference. The result showed that the proposed method can be used for high definition building damage assessment in a time- and cost-effective way.

Socio-Economical, Environmental Evaluation of Ken-Betwa River Link Project, India

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Pathak Hemant

2016-10-01

Full Text Available The India's ambitious Rs 9,393 crore Ken-Betwa river interlinking project will impact very significantly on Socio-economic life of two million people of Bundelkhand region, India. Water is an important input for survival and sustenance of life. The demand of this natural gift has been increasing exponentially. This ambitious project will help us in irrigation, potable water, cheap transportation, electricity as well as a source of livelihood for our ever increasing population. In Bundelkhand region, there is a severe problem of lack of irrigation in one region and water logging in others. Damage to crops due to drought and pitiable drainage facility could be managed. The objectives of the paper are to study socio-economical issues and environmental challenges in Ken-Betwa River link in India and to study environmental impact of this Project.

The study of past damaging hydrogeological events for damage susceptibility zonation

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

O. Petrucci

2008-08-01

Full Text Available Damaging Hydrogeological Events are defined as periods during which phenomena, such as landslides, floods and secondary floods, cause damage to people and the environment.

A Damaging Hydrogeological Event which heavily damaged Calabria (Southern Italy between December 1972, and January 1973, has been used to test a procedure to be utilised in the zonation of a province according to damage susceptibility during DHEs. In particular, we analyzed the province of Catanzaro (2391 km², an administrative district composed of 80 municipalities, with about 370 000 inhabitants.

Damage, defined in relation to the reimbursement requests sent to the Department of Public Works, has been quantified using a procedure based on a Local Damage Index. The latter, representing classified losses, has been obtained by multiplying the value of the damaged element and the percentage of damage affecting it.

Rainfall has been described by the Maximum Return Period of cumulative rainfall, for both short (1, 3, 5, 7, 10 consecutive days and long duration (30, 60, 90, 180 consecutive days, recorded during the event.

Damage index and population density, presumed to represent the location of vulnerable elements, have been referred to Thiessen polygons associated to rain gauges working at the time of the event.

The procedure allowed us to carry out a preliminary classification of the polygons composing the province according to their susceptibility to damage during DHEs. In high susceptibility polygons, severe damage occurs during rainfall characterised by low return periods; in medium susceptibility polygons maximum return period rainfall and induced damage show equal levels of exceptionality; in low susceptibility polygons, high return period rainfall induces a low level of damage.

The east and west sectors of the province show the highest susceptibility, while polygons of the N-NE sector show the lowest

GREEN INVESTMENT: A STRATEGY FOR SUSTAINABLE ECONOMIC GROWTH AND INVESTMENT

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Jaya Shukla

2014-01-01

Full Text Available Sustainable economic development has become an important area of concern due to climatic change with its long term effects. Climatic change has posed several challenges for economic sustainability of economies. Now major development projects have to comply with international environmental norms. Failure to do so may result in the delay of a project, fines including penalties for environmental damage or charges for remedial action, that affect the viability of a project or the value of any security taken. This paper investigates with help of secondary date using descriptive statistical technique opportunities and challenges of green investment. Here it is developed into suitable model for developing economies for successfully adopting green investment without much cost to their economies. The paper concludes that green investment involving direct investment and portfolio investment in firms adopting and following environmental protection norms will lead to sustainable growth and investment for economy.

Tree-based flood damage modeling of companies: Damage processes and model performance

Science.gov (United States)

Sieg, Tobias; Vogel, Kristin; Merz, Bruno; Kreibich, Heidi

2017-07-01

Reliable flood risk analyses, including the estimation of damage, are an important prerequisite for efficient risk management. However, not much is known about flood damage processes affecting companies. Thus, we conduct a flood damage assessment of companies in Germany with regard to two aspects. First, we identify relevant damage-influencing variables. Second, we assess the prediction performance of the developed damage models with respect to the gain by using an increasing amount of training data and a sector-specific evaluation of the data. Random forests are trained with data from two postevent surveys after flood events occurring in the years 2002 and 2013. For a sector-specific consideration, the data set is split into four subsets corresponding to the manufacturing, commercial, financial, and service sectors. Further, separate models are derived for three different company assets: buildings, equipment, and goods and stock. Calculated variable importance values reveal different variable sets relevant for the damage estimation, indicating significant differences in the damage process for various company sectors and assets. With an increasing number of data used to build the models, prediction errors decrease. Yet the effect is rather small and seems to saturate for a data set size of several hundred observations. In contrast, the prediction improvement achieved by a sector-specific consideration is more distinct, especially for damage to equipment and goods and stock. Consequently, sector-specific data acquisition and a consideration of sector-specific company characteristics in future flood damage assessments is expected to improve the model performance more than a mere increase in data.

International standard problem ISP36. Cora-W2 experiment on severe fuel damage for a Russian type PWR

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

NONE

1997-12-31

An OECD/NEA-CSNI International Standard Problem (ISP) has been performed on the experimental comparison basis of the severe fuel damage experiment CORA-W2. The out-of-pile experiment CORA-W2 was executed in February 1993 at he Forschungszentrum Karlsruhe. The objective of this experiment was the investigation of the behavior of a Russian type PWR fuel element (VVER-1000) during early core degradation. The main difference between a Western type and a Russian type PWR bundle is the B{sub 4}C absorber rod instead of AgInCd. Measured quantities ar boundary conditions, bundle temperature, hydrogen generation and the final bundle configurations after cooldown. The ISP was conducted as a blind exercise. Boundary conditions were estimated using ATHLET-CD. Six different severe accident codes were used. The comparisons between experimental and analytical results were grouped by codes and examined separately. The thermal behavior up to significant oxidation has been predicted quite well. Larger deviations have been observed for the oxidation-induced temperature escalation, both time of onset and maximum temperature as well. The bundle behavior is greatly influenced by chemical interactions involving B{sub 4}C absorber rod material, which failed relatively early at low temperature due to eutectic interaction between B{sub 4}C and SS cladding as well as the SS guide tube. Regarding the complex material interaction larger differences can be recognized between calculated and measured results because of inappropriate models for material relocation and solidification processes and the lack of models describing the interactions of absorber rod materials with the fuel rods. For the total amount of H{sub 2} generated, acceptable agreement could be achieved, if the total of oxidized zirconium was calculated correctly. The oxidation of stainless steel components and B{sub 4}C were not treated. In general the confidence in code predictions decreases with processing core damage. 36 refs.

International standard problem ISP36. Cora-W2 experiment on severe fuel damage for a Russian type PWR

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

1996-01-01

An OECD/NEA-CSNI International Standard Problem (ISP) has been performed on the experimental comparison basis of the severe fuel damage experiment CORA-W2. The out-of-pile experiment CORA-W2 was executed in February 1993 at he Forschungszentrum Karlsruhe. The objective of this experiment was the investigation of the behavior of a Russian type PWR fuel element (VVER-1000) during early core degradation. The main difference between a Western type and a Russian type PWR bundle is the B 4 C absorber rod instead of AgInCd. Measured quantities ar boundary conditions, bundle temperature, hydrogen generation and the final bundle configurations after cooldown. The ISP was conducted as a blind exercise. Boundary conditions were estimated using ATHLET-CD. Six different severe accident codes were used. The comparisons between experimental and analytical results were grouped by codes and examined separately. The thermal behavior up to significant oxidation has been predicted quite well. Larger deviations have been observed for the oxidation-induced temperature escalation, both time of onset and maximum temperature as well. The bundle behavior is greatly influenced by chemical interactions involving B 4 C absorber rod material, which failed relatively early at low temperature due to eutectic interaction between B 4 C and SS cladding as well as the SS guide tube. Regarding the complex material interaction larger differences can be recognized between calculated and measured results because of inappropriate models for material relocation and solidification processes and the lack of models describing the interactions of absorber rod materials with the fuel rods. For the total amount of H 2 generated, acceptable agreement could be achieved, if the total of oxidized zirconium was calculated correctly. The oxidation of stainless steel components and B 4 C were not treated. In general the confidence in code predictions decreases with processing core damage. (N.T.)

Technical and economical incentives behind strain limitation in piping

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Koch, E.

1986-01-01

An inspection of conventional industrial plants subsequent to severe earthquakes showed that nothing or next to nothing had been damaged in these plants, although - assessed to the codes and standards for nuclear power plants - they were not designed to. Beside a lot of conservatism, an analysis revealed that structures subject to plasticization exhibit a much more favourable behaviour than anticipated on the basis of the design calculations. Thus, the introduction of the strain limitation approach promised service and cost advantages, above all for the expensive nuclear power plant piping. However, at the current state of the art it is possible to design piping sufficiently flexible to obtain satisfactory operational stresses. A cost analysis showed that - on the basis of today's dimensioning regulations, strain limitation is only economic in special cases. Strain limitation is nevertheless the adequate procedure in terms of engineering in those cases where today safeguarding against accidents is based on stresses of Stress Category D. It is therefore recommended to develop rules for admissible strains and economic methods for strain assessment. The efforts and expense should, however, be in line with the economic benefits. (orig.)

The socio-technical setting of economic stakes of global environment risks

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Salles, J.M.

1993-01-01

For policy-making for fighting acid rain, protecting the ozone layer and initiating action to prevent global climate change related to the growth of the greenhouse effect, the economic approach requires more precise consideration of how the economic stakes attached to these threats have been built up by their social actors. Global environmental risks (GER) are not directly perceivable nor can they be easily related to any activity or phenomena at local level (in time or space). There are scientific controversies about the reality of damage and establishing credible responsibility links. Moreover, these controversies are brought to media and social debate before any scientific clarification is possible. The media representations of GER emphasize the fact they could have catastrophic and irreversible consequences. So, the social demand for public action becomes very heavy when delay, possibly of several years between the causes and consequences of global environmental change, prevents any rapid clarification in the controversies. These difficulties have led to the evolution of a decision process in several steps: firstly, an international convention is prepared in which signatory countries commit themselves to cooperate and to take action; secondly, one or several agreements are signed with clear technical objectives and a timetable for implementations. 23 refs

Assessment of Forest Damage in Croatia using Landsat-8 OLI Images

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Anita Simic Milas

2015-05-01

Full Text Available Background and Purpose: Rapid assessments of forest damage caused by natural disasters such as ice-break, wind, flooding, hurricane, or forest fires are necessary for mitigation and forest management. Forest damage directly impacts carbon uptake and biogeochemical cycles, and thus, has an impact on climate change. It intensifies erosion and flooding, and influences socio-economic well-being of population. Quantification of forest cover change represents a challenge for the scientific community as damaged areas are often in the mountainous and remote regions. Forested area in the western Croatia was considerably damaged by ice-breaking and flooding in 2014. Satellite remote sensing technology has opened up new possibilities for detecting and quantifying forest damage. Several remote sensing tools are available for rapid assessment of forest damage. These include aerial photographic interpretation, and airborne and satellite imagery. This study evaluates the capability of Landsat-8 optical data and a vegetation index for mapping forest damage in Croatia that occurred during the winter of 2014. Materials and Methods: The change detection analysis in this study was based on the Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI difference approach, where pre- and post- event Landsat-8 images were employed in the ENVI image change workflow. The validation was done by comparing the satellite-generated change detection map with the ground truth data based on field observations and spatial data of forest management units and plans. Results: The overall damage assessment from this study suggests that the total damaged area covers 45,265.32 ha of forest. It is 19.20% less than estimated by Vuletić et al. [3] who found that 56,021.86 ha of forest were affected. Most damage was observed in the mixed, broadleaf and coniferous forest. The change errors of commission and omission were calculated to be 35.73% and 31.60%, respectively. Conclusions: Landsat-8 optical

Landslide Economics: Concepts and Case Studies

Science.gov (United States)

Klose, Martin; Damm, Bodo

2015-04-01

Landslide economics is vital for fundamental understanding of landslide risk as dealing with two important topics: (i) impact assessment, either as damage statistics or cost modeling, and (ii) vulnerability assessment, i.e., the study of exposure, sensitivity, and resilience to landslide damage, ideally from both sociotechnical and financial perspective (e.g., Crovelli and Coe, 2009; Wills et al., 2014). Many aspects addressed in landslide economics have direct influence on landslide risk, including: (i) human activity is often a major causative factor of landslides, not only by predisposing or triggering them, but also as a result of inadequate (low-cost) landslide mitigation; (ii) the level of tolerable or acceptable risk, a measure driving a large part of landslide costs in industrialized countries, is highly variable, differing between individuals, public or private organizations, and societies, with its nature being to change over time; and (iii) decision makers are faced with finding the right balance in landslide mitigation, thus need to weight diverse geological and socioeconomic factors that control its effectiveness in both technical and financial terms (e.g., Klose et al., 2014a). A large part of the complexity in assessing landslide risk as measured by economic costs is due to unique problems in understanding of (i) what types of landslide damage affect human activity and infrastructure in which way, (ii) how society contributes and responds to various kinds of damage, and (iii) how landslide damage is valued in monetary terms. Landslide economics shows the potential to take account of these sociocultural factors to the benefit of risk analysis (e.g., Klose et al., 2014b). The present contribution introduces local and regional case studies in which different economic issues of landslide risk are highlighted using the example of public infrastructures in NW Germany. A special focus is on the following topics: (i) risk culture and created risk, (ii

Flood damage curves for consistent global risk assessments

Science.gov (United States)

de Moel, Hans; Huizinga, Jan; Szewczyk, Wojtek

2016-04-01

Assessing potential damage of flood events is an important component in flood risk management. Determining direct flood damage is commonly done using depth-damage curves, which denote the flood damage that would occur at specific water depths per asset or land-use class. Many countries around the world have developed flood damage models using such curves which are based on analysis of past flood events and/or on expert judgement. However, such damage curves are not available for all regions, which hampers damage assessments in those regions. Moreover, due to different methodologies employed for various damage models in different countries, damage assessments cannot be directly compared with each other, obstructing also supra-national flood damage assessments. To address these problems, a globally consistent dataset of depth-damage curves has been developed. This dataset contains damage curves depicting percent of damage as a function of water depth as well as maximum damage values for a variety of assets and land use classes (i.e. residential, commercial, agriculture). Based on an extensive literature survey concave damage curves have been developed for each continent, while differentiation in flood damage between countries is established by determining maximum damage values at the country scale. These maximum damage values are based on construction cost surveys from multinational construction companies, which provide a coherent set of detailed building cost data across dozens of countries. A consistent set of maximum flood damage values for all countries was computed using statistical regressions with socio-economic World Development Indicators from the World Bank. Further, based on insights from the literature survey, guidance is also given on how the damage curves and maximum damage values can be adjusted for specific local circumstances, such as urban vs. rural locations, use of specific building material, etc. This dataset can be used for consistent supra

Severe accident phenomena

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Jokiniemi, J.; Kilpi, K.; Lindholm, I.; Maekynen, J.; Pekkarinen, E.; Sairanen, R.; Silde, A.

1995-02-01

Severe accidents are nuclear reactor accidents in which the reactor core is substantially damaged. The report describes severe reactor accident phenomena and their significance for the safety of nuclear power plants. A comprehensive set of phenomena ranging from accident initiation to containment behaviour and containment integrity questions are covered. The report is based on expertise gained in the severe accident assessment projects conducted at the Technical Research Centre of Finland (VTT). (49 refs., 32 figs., 12 tabs.)

Hurricane Sandy Economic Impacts Assessment: A Computable General Equilibrium Approach and Validation

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Boero, Riccardo [Los Alamos National Laboratory; Edwards, Brian Keith [Los Alamos National Laboratory

2017-08-07

Economists use computable general equilibrium (CGE) models to assess how economies react and self-organize after changes in policies, technology, and other exogenous shocks. CGE models are equation-based, empirically calibrated, and inspired by Neoclassical economic theory. The focus of this work was to validate the National Infrastructure Simulation and Analysis Center (NISAC) CGE model and apply it to the problem of assessing the economic impacts of severe events. We used the 2012 Hurricane Sandy event as our validation case. In particular, this work first introduces the model and then describes the validation approach and the empirical data available for studying the event of focus. Shocks to the model are then formalized and applied. Finally, model results and limitations are presented and discussed, pointing out both the model degree of accuracy and the assessed total damage caused by Hurricane Sandy.

Coastal risk management: how to motivate individual economic decisions to lower flood risk?

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Filatova, Tatiana; Mulder, J.P.M. P.M.; van der Veen, A.

2011-01-01

Coastal flood risk is defined as a product of probability of event and its effect, measured in terms of damage. The paper is focused on coastal management strategies aimed to decrease risk by decreasing potential damage. We review socio-economic literature to show that total flood damage depends on

Numerical studies of the heat-up-phase of Super-Sara 'severe fuel damage'. Boildown tests

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Eifler, W.; Shepherd, I.M.

1983-01-01

Calculations to investigate the heat-up phase of the Super-Sara 'severe fuel damage' test matrix have been performed using a simple computer code which models a typical pin. In particular the effect of the exothermic zirconium water reaction on the transient is considered. It is shown that it is possible to achieve the desired objectives of all the tests by a test procedure involving a constant power level a simple flow history. This flow history consists of an initial inlet flow, that has the water saturated at outlet. It is then linearly decreased in a time of the order of 200 seconds to a steady lower value. The clad temperature ramp rate is defined by the power and the peak clad temperature by the ratio of the power of the final steady inlet flow rate. If the final inlet flow rate for a particular power is below a certain critical value then the clad will reach melting temperature. The sensitivity of the results are discussed and a sample calculation is made for each test in the matrix

Mechanisms for radiation damage in DNA

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Sevilla, M.D.

1993-12-01

In this project the author has proposed several mechanisms for radiation damage to DNA and its constituents, and has detailed a series of experiments utilizing electron spin resonance spectroscopy, HPLC, GC-mass spectroscopy and ab initio molecular orbital calculations to test the proposed mechanisms. In this years work he has completed several experiments on the role of hydration water on DNA radiation damage, continued the investigation of the localization of the initial charges and their reactions on DNA, investigated protonation reactions in DNA base anions, and employed ab initio molecular orbital theory to gain insight into the initial events of radiation damage to DNA. Ab initio calculations have provided an understanding of the energetics evolved in anion and cation formation, ion radical transfer in DNA as well as proton transfer with DNA base pair radical ions. This has been extended in this years work to a consideration of ionization energies of various components of the DNA deoxyribose backbone and resulting neutral sugar radicals. This information has aided the formation of new radiation models for the effect of radiation on DNA. During this fiscal year four articles have been published, four are in press, one is submitted and several more are in preparation. Four papers have been presented at scientific meetings. This years effort will include another review article on the open-quotes Electron Spin Resonance of Radiation Damage to DNAclose quotes

Continuum damage mechanics: Present state and future trends

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Chaboche, J.L.

1987-01-01

Continuum Damage Mechanics (CDM) has developed since the initial works of Kachanov and Rabotnov. The paper gives a review of its main features, of the present possibilities and of further developments. Several aspects are considered successively: damage definitions and measures, damage growth equations and anisotropy effects, and use of CDM for local approaches of fracture. Various materials, loading conditions and damaging processes are incorporated in the same general framework. Particular attention is given to the possible connections between different definitions of damage, especially between the CDM definition and the information obtained from material science. (orig.)

The Opinions of Economics Majors before and after Learning Economics

Science.gov (United States)

Hammock, Michael R.; Routon, P. Wesley; Walker, Jay K.

2016-01-01

Using longitudinal data on undergraduates from 463 American colleges and universities from 1994-99, the authors examine how majoring in economics affects student opinions on 13 social, political, and economic issues. Economics majors were found to begin and end their college tenure with differing opinions on several issues when compared to other…

The potential cost-effectiveness of the Diamondback 360® Coronary Orbital Atherectomy System for treating de novo, severely calcified coronary lesions: an economic modeling approach.

Science.gov (United States)

Chambers, Jeffrey; Généreux, Philippe; Lee, Arthur; Lewin, Jack; Young, Christopher; Crittendon, Janna; Mann, Marita; Garrison, Louis P

2016-04-01

Patients who undergo percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) for severely calcified coronary lesions have long been known to have worse clinical and economic outcomes than patients with no or mildly calcified lesions. We sought to assess the likely cost-effectiveness of using the Diamondback 360(®) Orbital Atherectomy System (OAS) in the treatment of de novo, severely calcified lesions from a health-system perspective. In the absence of a head-to-head trial and long-term follow up, cost-effectiveness was based on a modeled synthesis of clinical and economic data. A cost-effectiveness model was used to project the likely economic impact. To estimate the net cost impact, the cost of using the OAS technology in elderly (⩾ 65 years) Medicare patients with de novo severely calcified lesions was compared with cost offsets. Elderly OAS patients from the ORBIT II trial (Evaluate the Safety and Efficacy of OAS in Treating Severely Calcified Coronary Lesions) [ClinicalTrials.gov identifier: NCT01092426] were indirectly compared with similar patients using observational data. For the index procedure, the comparison was with Medicare data, and for both revascularization and cardiac death in the following year, the comparison was with a pooled analysis of the Harmonizing Outcomes with Revascularization and Stents in Acute Myocardial Infarction (HORIZONS-AMI)/Acute Catheterization and Urgent Intervention Triage Strategy (ACUITY) trials. After adjusting for differences in age, gender, and comorbidities, the ORBIT II mean index procedure costs were 17% (p economic modeling, the recently approved coronary OAS device is projected to be highly cost-effective for patients who undergo PCI for severely calcified lesions. © The Author(s), 2015.

A measure of vulnerability and damage tolerance

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Lind, Niels C.

1995-01-01

The purpose of the paper is to present probabilistic definitions of 'vulnerability' and 'damage tolerance'. A new measure of damage is also proposed. Disastrous failures, such as of the Titanic or the Chernobyl reactor, have revealed that some systems can be highly vulnerable. A seemingly insignificant damage can reduce such a system's resistance severely. Attempts to write design code requirements for damage tolerance or structural integrity have not been successful so far. One reason is that these ideas have not been defined with the necessary precision. The suggested definitions aim to be general, applicable to all engineered systems, and readily specializable to particular system types. Vulnerability is defined as the ratio of the failure probability of the damaged system to the failure probability of the undamaged system. It is argued that 'vulnerability' and 'damage tolerance' are complementary concepts. Damage tolerance is defined as the reciprocal of vulnerability. Vulnerability and damage tolerance both concern hypothetical future damage. A damage factor, applicable for the analysis of an existing structure in an assessed state of damage, is defined analogous to vulnerability. Application is illustrated by examples

Tail posture predicts tail damage among weaned piglets

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Zonderland, J.J.; Riel, van J.W.; Bracke, M.B.M.; Kemp, B.; Hartog, den L.A.; Spoolder, H.A.M.

2009-01-01

Tail biting in pigs is a widespread behavioural vice with significant animal welfare and economic consequences. All too often, tail biting is not diagnosed nor dealt with until tail damage is present. To effectively reduce the negative effects of tail biting, it must be diagnosed in an early stage.

Post-flood damage data: requirements for disaster forensic investigation

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Dolan Martin

2016-01-01

Full Text Available Disaster forensic investigation analyses the unfolding of a disaster and attempts to identify its multiple causes of damage which can lead to (i improved disaster prevention and management from lessons learnt, and (ii more effective mitigation measures in the aftermath of a disaster. The way in which damage data are collected after a flood event as well as the types of collected data influences their usability within forensic investigations. In order to explore whether or not existing data can be used for disaster forensic analysis, the European Project IDEA (Improving Damage assessments to Enhance cost-benefit Analyses is investigating existing gaps in damage information so as to identify possible paths towards improving data quality. This paper focuses in detail on a forensic analysis of the interlinked damage to economic activities and infrastructure in the Severn floods of 2007 in the UK. Besides investigating the usability of existing data, this research investigated: (i the relative weight of direct and indirect costs to business and infrastructure companies; (ii to what extent damage to infrastructure has impacted on indirect damage to businesses. Finally recommendations for improving the data for use in forensic investigation are offered.

Cancer cells recovering from damage exhibit mitochondrial restructuring and increased aerobic glycolysis

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Akakura, Shin; Ostrakhovitch, Elena; Sanokawa-Akakura, Reiko [Frontiers in Bioscience Research Institute in Aging and Cancer, University of California, Irvine, CA (United States); Tabibzadeh, Siamak, E-mail: fbs@bioscience.org [Frontiers in Bioscience Research Institute in Aging and Cancer, University of California, Irvine, CA (United States); Dept of Oncologic Radiology, University of California, Irvine, CA (United States)

2014-06-13

Highlights: • Some cancer cells recover from severe damage that causes cell death in majority of cells. • Damage-Recovered (DR) cancer cells show reduced mitochondria, mDNA and mitochondrial enzymes. • DR cells show increased aerobic glycolysis, ATP, cell proliferation, and resistance to damage. • DR cells recovered from in vivo damage also show increased glycolysis and proliferation rate. - Abstract: Instead of relying on mitochondrial oxidative phosphorylation, most cancer cells rely heavily on aerobic glycolysis, a phenomenon termed as “the Warburg effect”. We considered that this effect is a direct consequence of damage which persists in cancer cells that recover from damage. To this end, we studied glycolysis and rate of cell proliferation in cancer cells that recovered from severe damage. We show that in vitro Damage-Recovered (DR) cells exhibit mitochondrial structural remodeling, display Warburg effect, and show increased in vitro and in vivo proliferation and tolerance to damage. To test whether cancer cells derived from tumor microenvironment can show similar properties, we isolated Damage-Recovered (T{sup DR}) cells from tumors. We demonstrate that T{sup DR} cells also show increased aerobic glycolysis and a high proliferation rate. These findings show that Warburg effect and its consequences are induced in cancer cells that survive severe damage.

Comparison of computer codes relative to the aerosol behavior in the reactor containment building during severe core damage accidents in a PWR

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Fermandjian, J.; Bunz, H.; Dunbar, I.; Gauvain, J.; Ricchena, R.

1986-01-01

The present study concerns a comparative exercise, performed within the framework of the Commission of the European Communities, of the computer codes (AEROSIM-M, UK; AEROSOLS/B1, France; CORRAL-2, CEC and NAUA Mod5, Germany) used in order to assess the aerosol behavior in the reactor containment building during severe core damage accidents in a PWR. Topics considered in this paper include aerosols, containment buildings, reactor safety, fission product release, reactor cores, meltdown, and monitoring

The Economic Risks Arising from the Analysis of the Balance Sheet of an Economic Entity

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Andreea Mihaela Marin

2016-01-01

Full Text Available Any economic entity operates under probability and risk. In a general acceptation, risk means the validity of the result obtained under pressure of the economic environment; in other words, the risk is the potential damage posed to heritage, interests and affect the entity. In this paper we want to capture, the calculation in terms of the balance sheet analysis of the three risks, which can be measured on the basis of the balance sheet data and indicators, namely: the operational risk, financial risk, and the risk of bankruptcy.

A review of severe accident assessment

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kawashima, Kei

2000-01-01

One of the most difficult problems on evaluation of external costs on nuclear power generation is value on a severe accident risk. Once forming a severe accident, its effect is very important and extends to a wide range, to give a lot of damages. It is a main area of study on externality of energy to compare various risks by means of price conversion at unit kWh. Here was outlined on research examples on main severe accident risks before then. A common fact on estimation cost such research examples is to limit it to direct cost (mainly to health damage) at accident phenomenon. As an actual problem, it is very difficult to substantially quantify such parameters because of basically belonging to social psychology. It is due to no finding out decisive evaluation method on this problem to be adopted conventional EED (Expert Expected Damages) approach in the ExternE Phase III, either. (G.K.)

Feral burro populations: Distribution and damage assessment

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Tiller, B.L.

1997-12-01

This report was prepared to document (1) regional use of the National Training Center (NTC), Fort Irwin, CA, by burros, (2)influence of available water sources for burro use, (3) burro-related damage at several NTC sensitive habitat areas, and (4) management recommendations. All work described in this report was conducted in 1996 and 1997. Roadside transects were conducted and mapped using Geographical Positioning Systems/Geographical Information Systems (GPS/GIS) to indirectly measure relative abundance of feral burros (scat per mile) and to examine the spatial relationship of burro use to permanent or semi-permanent water sources that exist on the NTC. The authors also surveyed several permanent springs for burro-related damage and mapped the impact areas using GPS/GIS to quantify the extent of damage and to provide guidance on size and extent of burro exclosures in those areas. Photographs of the spring sites were also archived and permanent photo points were established for long-term monitoring of feral burro damage areas. In addition, aquatic invertebrate data collected during another spring site study were summarized and discussed in relation to burro-related impacts on the NTC`s sensitive habitats. Several water-quality parameters were also obtained from each spring, including temperature, dissolved oxygen, pH, and total dissolved solids.

As Bad as it Gets: How Climate Damage Functions Affect Growth and the Social Cost of Carbon

OpenAIRE

Bretschger, Lukas; Pattakou, Aimilia

2017-01-01

The paper analyzes the effects of varying climate impacts on the social cost of carbon and economic growth. We use polynomial damage functions in a model of an endogenously growing two-sector economy. The framework includes nonrenewable natural resources which cause greenhouse gas emissions; pollution stock harms capital and reduces economic growth. We find a big effect of the selected damage function on the social cost of carbon and a significant impact on the growth rate. In our calibration...

Estimates of the Economic Effects of Sea Level Rise

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Darwin, R.F.; Tol, R.S.J.

2001-01-01

Regional estimates of direct cost (DC) are commonly used to measure the economic damages of sea level rise. Such estimates suffer from three limitations: (1) values of threatened endowments are not well known, (2) loss of endowments does not affect consumer prices, and (3) international trade is disregarded. Results in this paper indicate that these limitations can significantly affect economic assessments of sea level rise. Current uncertainty regarding endowment values (as reflected in two alternative data sets), for example, leads to a 17 percent difference in coastal protection, a 36 percent difference in the amount of land protected, and a 36 percent difference in DC globally. Also, global losses in equivalent variation (EV), a welfare measure that accounts for price changes, are 13 percent higher than DC estimates. Regional EV losses may be up to 10 percent lower than regional DC, however, because international trade tends to redistribute losses from regions with relatively high damages to regions with relatively low damages. 43 refs

Economic impacts of invasive species in forests: past, present, and future.

Science.gov (United States)

Holmes, Thomas P; Aukema, Juliann E; Von Holle, Betsy; Liebhold, Andrew; Sills, Erin

2009-04-01

Biological invasions by nonnative species are a by-product of economic activities, with the vast majority of nonnative species introduced by trade and transport of products and people. Although most introduced species are relatively innocuous, a few species ultimately cause irreversible economic and ecological impacts, such as the chestnut blight that functionally eradicated the American chestnut across eastern North America. Assessments of the economic costs and losses induced by nonnative forest pests are required for policy development and need to adequately account for all of the economic impacts induced by rare, highly damaging pests. To date, countrywide economic evaluations of forest-invasive species have proceeded by multiplying a unit value (price) by a physical quantity (volume of forest products damaged) to arrive at aggregate estimates of economic impacts. This approach is inadequate for policy development because (1) it ignores the dynamic impacts of biological invasions on the evolution of prices, quantities, and market behavior, and (2) it fails to account for the loss in the economic value of nonmarket ecosystem services, such as landscape aesthetics, outdoor recreation, and the knowledge that healthy forest ecosystems exist. A review of the literature leads one to anticipate that the greatest economic impacts of invasive species in forests are due to the loss of nonmarket values. We proposed that new methods for evaluating aggregate economic damages from forest-invasive species need to be developed that quantify market and nonmarket impacts at microscales that are then extended using spatially explicit models to provide aggregate estimates of impacts. Finally, policies that shift the burden of economic impacts from taxpayers and forest landowners onto parties responsible for introducing or spreading invasives, whether through the imposition of tariffs on products suspected of imposing unacceptable risks on native forest ecosystems or by requiring

Modelling the interaction between flooding events and economic growth

Science.gov (United States)

Grames, Johanna; Fürnkranz-Prskawetz, Alexia; Grass, Dieter; Viglione, Alberto; Blöschl, Günter

2016-04-01

Recently socio-hydrology models have been proposed to analyze the interplay of community risk-coping culture, flooding damage and economic growth. These models descriptively explain the feedbacks between socio-economic development and natural disasters such as floods. Complementary to these descriptive models, we develop a dynamic optimization model, where the inter-temporal decision of an economic agent interacts with the hydrological system. This interdisciplinary approach matches with the goals of Panta Rhei i.e. to understand feedbacks between hydrology and society. It enables new perspectives but also shows limitations of each discipline. Young scientists need mentors from various scientific backgrounds to learn their different research approaches and how to best combine them such that interdisciplinary scientific work is also accepted by different science communities. In our socio-hydrology model we apply a macro-economic decision framework to a long-term flood-scenario. We assume a standard macro-economic growth model where agents derive utility from consumption and output depends on physical capital that can be accumulated through investment. To this framework we add the occurrence of flooding events which will destroy part of the capital. We identify two specific periodic long term solutions and denote them rich and poor economies. Whereas rich economies can afford to invest in flood defense and therefore avoid flood damage and develop high living standards, poor economies prefer consumption instead of investing in flood defense capital and end up facing flood damages every time the water level rises. Nevertheless, they manage to sustain at least a low level of physical capital. We identify optimal investment strategies and compare simulations with more frequent and more intense high water level events.

Unique prediction of cannabis use severity and behaviors by delay discounting and behavioral economic demand.

Science.gov (United States)

Strickland, Justin C; Lile, Joshua A; Stoops, William W

2017-07-01

Few studies have simultaneously evaluated delay discounting and behavioral economic demand to determine their unique contribution to drug use. A recent study in cannabis users found that monetary delay discounting uniquely predicted cannabis dependence symptoms, whereas cannabis demand uniquely predicted use frequency. This study sought to replicate and extend this research by evaluating delay discounting and behavioral economic demand measures for multiple commodities and including a use quantity measure. Amazon.com's Mechanical Turk was used to sample individuals reporting recent cannabis use (n=64) and controls (n=72). Participants completed measures of monetary delay discounting as well as alcohol and cannabis delay discounting and demand. Cannabis users and controls did not differ on monetary delay discounting or alcohol delay discounting and demand. Among cannabis users, regression analyses indicated that cannabis delay discounting uniquely predicted use severity, whereas cannabis demand uniquely predicted use frequency and quantity. These effects remained significant after controlling for other delay discounting and demand measures. This research replicates previous outcomes relating delay discounting and demand with cannabis use and extends them by accounting for the contribution of multiple commodities. This research also demonstrates the ability of online crowdsourcing methods to complement traditional human laboratory techniques. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Social tension as precursor of large damaging earthquake: legend or reality?

Science.gov (United States)

Molchanov, O.

2008-11-01

Using case study of earthquake (EQ) activity and war conflicts in Caucasus during 1975 2002 time interval and correlation analysis of global distribution of damaging EQs and war-related social tension during 1901 2005 period we conclude: There is a statistically reliable increase of social tension several years (or several months in case study) before damaging EQs, There is evident decrease of social tension several years after damaging EQs, probably due to society consolidation, Preseismic effect is absent for the large EQs in unpopulated areas, There is some factual background for legendary belief in Almighty retribution for social abnormal behavior.

VT Ice Damage Assessment from the 1998 Ice Storm

Data.gov (United States)

Vermont Center for Geographic Information — (Link to Metadata) This dataset (ICEDAMAG98) depicts the extent and severity of tree damage caused by the 1998 ice storm, which resulted in extensive tree damage in...

Issues of damage estimation under radiation emergency situation

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Volobuev, P.V.; Kozlova, N.I.

2005-01-01

The specificity of social, economical and ecological consequences of major radiation emergency situation is considered in the paper. The definitions and structure of direct and indirect damage under radiation emergency situation are given. The priority components of immediate expenses and those of long-term living on the contaminated territories are considered in the paper. (author)

Relation between hippocampal damage and cerebral cortical function in Alzheimer's disease

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hanyu, Haruo; Asano, Tetsuichi; Kogure, Daiji; Sakurai, Hirofumi; Iwamoto, Toshihiko; Takasaki, Masaru

2000-01-01

We investigated the relation between hippocampal damage and cerebral cortical dysfunction in Alzheimer's disease (AD) using MRI and SPECT. Nineteen patients with AD and 10 control subjects were studied. Hippocampal damage (including hippocampal formation, entorhinal cortex, and parahippocampal white matter) was assessed to evaluate the severity of atrophy and the magnetization transfer ratio (MTR) and cerebral cortical dysfunction was evaluated by quantitative cerebral blood flow (CBF) measurements using SPECT with 99mTc-ECD. Compared with controls, patients with AD had significantly more atrophy of the medial temporal lobe and a decrease in MTRs of the hippocampus and parahippocampus. There were significant correlations between the severity of hippocampal damage and regional CBF in temporoparietal lobes. Mini-Mental State Examination scores significantly correlated with the severity of hippocampal damage and regional CBFs in temporoparietal lobes. These results suggest that the functional effect of hippocampal damage occurs in temporoparietal lobes in AD, probably due to neuronal disconnections between hippocampal areas (including the entorhinal cortex) and temporoparietal lobes. (author)

Ecosystems, ecological restoration, and economics: does habitat or resource equivalency analysis mean other economic valuation methods are not needed?

Science.gov (United States)

Shaw, W Douglass; Wlodarz, Marta

2013-09-01

Coastal and other area resources such as tidal wetlands, seagrasses, coral reefs, wetlands, and other ecosystems are often harmed by environmental damage that might be inflicted by human actions, or could occur from natural hazards such as hurricanes. Society may wish to restore resources to offset the harm, or receive compensation if this is not possible, but faces difficult choices among potential compensation projects. The optimal amount of restoration efforts can be determined by non-market valuation methods, service-to-service, or resource-to-resource approaches such as habitat equivalency analysis (HEA). HEA scales injured resources and lost services on a one-to-one trade-off basis. Here, we present the main differences between the HEA approach and other non-market valuation approaches. Particular focus is on the role of the social discount rate, which appears in the HEA equation and underlies calculations of the present value of future damages. We argue that while HEA involves elements of economic analysis, the assumption of a one-to-one trade-off between lost and restored services sometimes does not hold, and then other non-market economic valuation approaches may help in restoration scaling or in damage determination.

Characterizing microbial diversity and damage in mural paintings.

Science.gov (United States)

Rosado, Tânia; Mirão, José; Candeias, António; Caldeira, Ana Teresa

2015-02-01

Mural paintings are some of the oldest and most important cultural expressions of mankind and play an important role for the understanding of societies and civilizations. These cultural assets have high economic and cultural value and therefore their degradation has social and economic impact. The present work presents a novel microanalytical approach to understand the damages caused by microbial communities in mural paintings. This comprises the characterization and identification of microbial diversity and evaluation of damage promoted by their biological activity. Culture-dependent methods and DNA-based approaches like denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis (DGGE) and pyrosequencing are important tools in the isolation and identification of the microbial communities allowing characterization of the biota involved in the biodeterioration phenomena. Raman microspectrometry, infrared spectrometry, and variable pressure scanning electron microscopy coupled with energy-dispersive X-ray spectrometry are also useful tools for evaluation of the presence of microbial contamination and detection of the alteration products resulting from metabolic activity of the microorganisms. This study shows that the degradation status of mural paintings can be correlated to the presence of metabolically active microorganisms.

Results of international standard problem No. 36 severe fuel damage experiment of a VVER fuel bundle

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Firnhaber, M. [Gesellschaft fuer Anlagen-und Reaktorsicherheit, Koeln (Germany); Yegorova, L. [Nuclear Safety Institute of Russian Research Center, Moscow (Russian Federation); Brockmeier, U. [Ruhr-Univ. of Bochum (Germany)] [and others

1995-09-01

International Standard Problems (ISP) organized by the OECD are defined as comparative exercises in which predictions with different computer codes for a given physical problem are compared with each other and with a carefully controlled experimental study. The main goal of ISP is to increase confidence in the validity and accuracy of analytical tools used in assessing the safety of nuclear installations. In addition, it enables the code user to gain experience and to improve his competence. This paper presents the results and assessment of ISP No. 36, which deals with the early core degradation phase during an unmitigated severe LWR accident in a Russian type VVER. Representatives of 17 organizations participated in the ISP using the codes ATHLET-CD, ICARE2, KESS-III, MELCOR, SCDAP/RELAP5 and RAPTA. Some participants performed several calculations with different codes. As experimental basis the severe fuel damage experiment CORA-W2 was selected. The main phenomena investigated are thermal behavior of fuel rods, onset of temperature escalation, material behavior and hydrogen generation. In general, the calculations give the right tendency of the experimental results for the thermal behavior, the hydrogen generation and, partly, for the material behavior. However, some calculations deviate in important quantities - e.g. some material behavior data - showing remarkable discrepancies between each other and from the experiments. The temperature history of the bundle up to the beginning of significant oxidation was calculated quite well. Deviations seem to be related to the overall heat balance. Since the material behavior of the bundle is to a great extent influenced by the cladding failure criteria a more realistic cladding failure model should be developed at least for the detailed, mechanistic codes. Regarding the material behavior and flow blockage some models for the material interaction as well as for relocation and refreezing requires further improvement.

Damage Localization and Quantification of Earthquake Excited RC-Frames

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Skjærbæk, P. S.; Nielsen, Søren R. K.; Kirkegaard, Poul Henning

1998-01-01

or three series of ground motions of increasing magnitude. After each of these runs the damage state of the frame was examined and each storey of the frame were classified into one of the following six classifications: undamaged, cracked, lightly damaged, damaged, severely damaged or collapse. During each...... of the ground motion events the storey accelerations were measured by accelerometers. After application of the last earthquake sequence to the structure the frames were cut into pieces and each of the beams and columns was statically tested and damage assessment was performed using the obtained stiffnesses...

Severe Accidents in the Energy Sector

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Hirschberg, S; Spiekerman, G; Dones, R

1998-11-01

A comprehensive database on severe accidents, with main emphasis on the ones associated with the energy sector, has been established by the Paul Scherrer Institute (PSI). Fossil energy carriers, nuclear power and hydro power are covered in ENSAD (Energy related Severe Accident Database), and the scope of work includes all stages of the analysed energy chains, i.e. exploration, extraction, transports, processing, storage and waste disposal. The database has been developed using a wide variety of sources. As opposed to the previous studies the ambition of the present work has been, whenever feasible, to cover a relatively broad spectrum of damage categories of interest. This includes apart from fatalities also serious injuries, evacuations, land or water contamination, and economic losses. Currently, ENSAD covers 13,914 accidents, of which 4290 are energy related, and 1943 are considered as severe accidents. Significant effort has been directed towards the examination of the relevance of the worldwide accident records to the Swiss specific conditions, particularly in the context of nuclear and hydro power. For example, a detailed investigation of large dam failures and their consequences was carried out. Generally, while Swiss specific aspects are emphasised, the major part of the collected and analysed data, as well as the insights gained, are considered to be of general interest. In particular, three sets of the aggregated results are provided based on world wide occurrence, on OECD countries, and on non OECD countries, respectively. Significant differences exist between the aggregated, normalised damage rates assessed for the various energy carriers: On the world wide basis, the broader picture obtained by coverage of full energy chains leads to aggregated immediate fatality rates being much higher for the fossil fuels than what one would expect if power plants only were considered. The highest rates apply to LPG, followed by hydro, oil, coal, natural gas and

Severe Accidents in the Energy Sector

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hirschberg, S.; Spiekerman, G.; Dones, R.

1998-11-01

A comprehensive database on severe accidents, with main emphasis on the ones associated with the energy sector, has been established by the Paul Scherrer Institute (PSI). Fossil energy carriers, nuclear power and hydro power are covered in ENSAD (Energy related Severe Accident Database), and the scope of work includes all stages of the analysed energy chains, i.e. exploration, extraction, transports, processing, storage and waste disposal. The database has been developed using a wide variety of sources. As opposed to the previous studies the ambition of the present work has been, whenever feasible, to cover a relatively broad spectrum of damage categories of interest. This includes apart from fatalities also serious injuries, evacuations, land or water contamination, and economic losses. Currently, ENSAD covers 13,914 accidents, of which 4290 are energy related, and 1943 are considered as severe accidents. Significant effort has been directed towards the examination of the relevance of the worldwide accident records to the Swiss specific conditions, particularly in the context of nuclear and hydro power. For example, a detailed investigation of large dam failures and their consequences was carried out. Generally, while Swiss specific aspects are emphasised, the major part of the collected and analysed data, as well as the insights gained, are considered to be of general interest. In particular, three sets of the aggregated results are provided based on world wide occurrence, on OECD countries, and on non OECD countries, respectively. Significant differences exist between the aggregated, normalised damage rates assessed for the various energy carriers: On the world wide basis, the broader picture obtained by coverage of full energy chains leads to aggregated immediate fatality rates being much higher for the fossil fuels than what one would expect if power plants only were considered. The highest rates apply to LPG, followed by hydro, oil, coal, natural gas and

Natural resource damage assessment models for Great Lakes, coastal, and marine environments

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

French, D.P.; Reed, M.

1993-01-01

A computer model of the physical fates, biological effects, and economic damages resulting from releases of oil and other hazardous materials has been developed by Applied Science Associates to be used in Type A natural resource damage assessments under the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act of 1980 (CERCLA). Natural resource damage assessment models for great lakes environments and for coastal and marine environments will become available. A coupled geographical information system allows gridded representation of complex coastal boundaries, variable bathymetry, shoreline types, and multiple biological habitats. The physical and biological models are three dimensional. Direct mortality from toxic concentrations and oiling, impacts of habitat loss, and food web losses are included in the model. Estimation of natural resource damages is based both on the lost value of injured resources and on the costs of restoring or replacing those resources. The models are implemented on a personal computer, with a VGA graphical user interface. Following public review, the models will become a formal part of the US regulatory framework. The models are programmed in a modular and generic fashion, to facilitate transportability and application to new areas. The model has several major components. Physical fates and biological effects submodels estimate impacts or injury resulting from a spill. The hydrodynamic submodel calculates currents that transport contaminant(s) or organisms. The compensable value submodel values injuries to help assess damages. The restoration submodel determines what restoration actions will most cost-effectively reduce injuries as measured by compensable values. Injury and restoration costs are assessed for each of a series of habitats (environments) affected by the spill. Environmental, chemical, and biological databases supply required information to the model for computing fates and effects (injury)

A prediction and damage assessment model for snowmelt flood events in middle and high latitudes Region

Science.gov (United States)

Qiao, C.; Huang, Q.; Chen, T.; Zhang, X.

2017-12-01

In the context of global warming, the snowmelt flood events in the mountainous area of the middle and high latitudes are increasingly frequent and create severe casualties and property damages. Carrying out the prediction and risk assessment of the snowmelt flood is of great importance in the water resources management, the flood warning and prevention. Based on the remote sensing and GIS techniques, the relationships of the variables influencing the snowmelt flood such as the snow area, the snow depth, the air temperature, the precipitation, the land topography and land covers are analyzed and a prediction and damage assessment model for snowmelt floods is developed. This model analyzes and predicts the flood submerging area, flood depth, flood grade, and the damages of different underlying surfaces in the study area in a given time period based on the estimation of snowmelt amount, the snowmelt runoff, the direction and velocity of the flood. Then it was used to predict a snowmelt flood event in the Ertis River Basin in northern Xinjiang, China, during March and June, 2005 and to assess its damages including the damages of roads, transmission lines, settlements caused by the floods and the possible landslides using the hydrological and meteorological data, snow parameter data, DEM data and land use data. A comparison was made between the prediction results from this model and observation data including the flood measurement and its disaster loss data, which suggests that this model performs well in predicting the strength and impact area of snowmelt flood and its damage assessment. This model will be helpful for the prediction and damage assessment of snowmelt flood events in the mountainous area in the middle and high latitudes in spring, which has great social and economic significance because it provides a relatively reliable method for snowmelt flood prediction and reduces the possible damages caused by snowmelt floods.

The external costs of low probability-high consequence events: Ex ante damages and lay risks

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Krupnick, A.J.; Markandya, A.; Nickell, E.

1994-01-01

This paper provides an analytical basis for characterizing key differences between two perspectives on how to estimate the expected damages of low probability - high consequence events. One perspective is the conventional method used in the U.S.-EC fuel cycle reports [e.g., ORNL/RFF (1994a,b]. This paper articulates another perspective, using economic theory. The paper makes a strong case for considering this, approach as an alternative, or at least as a complement, to the conventional approach. This alternative approach is an important area for future research. I Interest has been growing worldwide in embedding the external costs of productive activities, particularly the fuel cycles resulting in electricity generation, into prices. In any attempt to internalize these costs, one must take into account explicitly the remote but real possibilities of accidents and the wide gap between lay perceptions and expert assessments of such risks. In our fuel cycle analyses, we estimate damages and benefits' by simply monetizing expected consequences, based on pollution dispersion models, exposure-response functions, and valuation functions. For accidents, such as mining and transportation accidents, natural gas pipeline accidents, and oil barge accidents, we use historical data to estimate the rates of these accidents. For extremely severe accidents--such as severe nuclear reactor accidents and catastrophic oil tanker spills--events are extremely rare and they do not offer a sufficient sample size to estimate their probabilities based on past occurrences. In those cases the conventional approach is to rely on expert judgments about both the probability of the consequences and their magnitude. As an example of standard practice, which we term here an expert expected damage (EED) approach to estimating damages, consider how evacuation costs are estimated in the nuclear fuel cycle report

The external costs of low probability-high consequence events: Ex ante damages and lay risks

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Krupnick, A J; Markandya, A; Nickell, E

1994-07-01

This paper provides an analytical basis for characterizing key differences between two perspectives on how to estimate the expected damages of low probability - high consequence events. One perspective is the conventional method used in the U.S.-EC fuel cycle reports [e.g., ORNL/RFF (1994a,b]. This paper articulates another perspective, using economic theory. The paper makes a strong case for considering this, approach as an alternative, or at least as a complement, to the conventional approach. This alternative approach is an important area for future research. I Interest has been growing worldwide in embedding the external costs of productive activities, particularly the fuel cycles resulting in electricity generation, into prices. In any attempt to internalize these costs, one must take into account explicitly the remote but real possibilities of accidents and the wide gap between lay perceptions and expert assessments of such risks. In our fuel cycle analyses, we estimate damages and benefits' by simply monetizing expected consequences, based on pollution dispersion models, exposure-response functions, and valuation functions. For accidents, such as mining and transportation accidents, natural gas pipeline accidents, and oil barge accidents, we use historical data to estimate the rates of these accidents. For extremely severe accidents--such as severe nuclear reactor accidents and catastrophic oil tanker spills--events are extremely rare and they do not offer a sufficient sample size to estimate their probabilities based on past occurrences. In those cases the conventional approach is to rely on expert judgments about both the probability of the consequences and their magnitude. As an example of standard practice, which we term here an expert expected damage (EED) approach to estimating damages, consider how evacuation costs are estimated in the nuclear fuel cycle report.

No post-no core approach to restore severely damaged posterior teeth: An up to 10-year retrospective study of documented endocrown cases.

Science.gov (United States)

Belleflamme, Marcia M; Geerts, Sabine O; Louwette, Marie M; Grenade, Charlotte F; Vanheusden, Alain J; Mainjot, Amélie K

2017-08-01

The objectives of the present study were to (1) retrospectively evaluate documented cases of ceramic and composite endocrowns performed using immediate dentin sealing (IDS); (2) correlate failures with clinical parameters such as tooth preparation characteristics and occlusal parameters. 99 documented cases of endocrowns were evaluated after a mean observation period of 44.7±34.6months. A classification of restorations was established in function of the level of damage of residual tooth tissues after preparation, from 1 to 3. Evaluation was performed according to FDI criteria and endodontic outcomes were analyzed. Occlusal risk factors were examined and fractographic analysis was performed in case of fracture. 48.4% of patients were shown to present occlusal risk factors. 75.8% of restorations were Class 3 endocrowns. 56.6% were performed on molars, 41.4% on premolars and 2.0% on canines. 84.8% were performed in lithium-disilicate glass-ceramic and 12.1% in Polymer-Infiltrated Ceramic Network (PICN) material. The survival and success rates of endocrowns were 99.0% and 89.9% respectively, while the 10-year Kaplan-Meier estimated survival and success rates were 98.8% and 54.9% respectively. Ten failures were detected: periodontal disease (n=3), endocrown debonding (n=2), minor chipping (n=2), caries recurrence (n=2) and major fractures (n=1). Due to the reduced amount of failures, no statistical correlation could be established with clinical parameters. Endocrowns were shown to constitute a reliable approach to restore severely damaged molars and premolars, even in the presence of extensive coronal tissue loss or occlusal risk factors, such as bruxism or unfavorable occlusal relationships. Practitioners should consider the endocrown instead of the post and core approach to restore severely damaged non-vital posterior teeth. This minimally invasive solution reduces the risk of catastrophic failures and is easily performed. The use of IDS procedure and lithium

Damages on pumps and systems the handbook for the operation of centrifugal pumps

CERN Document Server

Merkle, Thomas

2014-01-01

Damage on Pumps and Systems. The Handbook for the Operation of Centrifugal Pumps offers a combination of the theoretical basics and practical experience for the operation of circulation pumps in the engineering industry. Centrifugal pumps and systems are extremely vulnerable to damage from a variety of causes, but the resulting breakdown can be prevented by ensuring that these pumps and systems are operated properly. This book provides a total overview of operating centrifugal pumps, including condition monitoring, preventive maintenance, life cycle costs, energy savings and economic aspects. Extra emphasis is given to the potential damage to these pumps and systems, and what can be done to prevent breakdown. Addresses specific issues about pumping of metal chips, sand, abrasive dust and other solids in fluidsEmphasis on economic and efficiency aspects of predictive maintenance and condition monitoring Uses life cycle costs (LCC) to evaluate and calculate the costs of pumping systems

Random accumulated damage evaluation under multiaxial fatigue loading conditions

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

V. Anes

2015-07-01

Full Text Available Multiaxial fatigue is a very important physical phenomenon to take into account in several mechanical components; its study is of utmost importance to avoid unexpected failure of equipment, vehicles or structures. Among several fatigue characterization tools, a correct definition of a damage parameter and a load cycle counting method under multiaxial loading conditions show to be crucial to estimate multiaxial fatigue life. In this paper, the SSF equivalent stress and the virtual cycle counting method are presented and discussed, regarding their physical foundations and their capability to characterize multiaxial fatigue damage under complex loading blocks. Moreover, it is presented their applicability to evaluate random fatigue damage.

Detection of multiple damages employing best achievable eigenvectors under Bayesian inference

Science.gov (United States)

Prajapat, Kanta; Ray-Chaudhuri, Samit

2018-05-01

A novel approach is presented in this work to localize simultaneously multiple damaged elements in a structure along with the estimation of damage severity for each of the damaged elements. For detection of damaged elements, a best achievable eigenvector based formulation has been derived. To deal with noisy data, Bayesian inference is employed in the formulation wherein the likelihood of the Bayesian algorithm is formed on the basis of errors between the best achievable eigenvectors and the measured modes. In this approach, the most probable damage locations are evaluated under Bayesian inference by generating combinations of various possible damaged elements. Once damage locations are identified, damage severities are estimated using a Bayesian inference Markov chain Monte Carlo simulation. The efficiency of the proposed approach has been demonstrated by carrying out a numerical study involving a 12-story shear building. It has been found from this study that damage scenarios involving as low as 10% loss of stiffness in multiple elements are accurately determined (localized and severities quantified) even when 2% noise contaminated modal data are utilized. Further, this study introduces a term parameter impact (evaluated based on sensitivity of modal parameters towards structural parameters) to decide the suitability of selecting a particular mode, if some idea about the damaged elements are available. It has been demonstrated here that the accuracy and efficiency of the Bayesian quantification algorithm increases if damage localization is carried out a-priori. An experimental study involving a laboratory scale shear building and different stiffness modification scenarios shows that the proposed approach is efficient enough to localize the stories with stiffness modification.

Radiation damage prediction system using damage function

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Tanaka, Yoshihisa; Mori, Seiji

1979-01-01

The irradiation damage analysis system using a damage function was investigated. This irradiation damage analysis system consists of the following three processes, the unfolding of a damage function, the calculation of the neutron flux spectrum of the object of damage analysis and the estimation of irradiation effect of the object of damage analysis. The damage function is calculated by applying the SAND-2 code. The ANISN and DOT3, 5 codes are used to calculate neutron flux. The neutron radiation and the allowable time of reactor operation can be estimated based on these calculations of the damage function and neutron flux. The flow diagram of the process of analyzing irradiation damage by a damage function and the flow diagram of SAND-2 code are presented, and the analytical code for estimating damage, which is determined with a damage function and a neutron spectrum, is explained. The application of the irradiation damage analysis system using a damage function was carried out to the core support structure of a fast breeder reactor for the damage estimation and the uncertainty evaluation. The fundamental analytical conditions and the analytical model for this work are presented, then the irradiation data for SUS304, the initial estimated values of a damage function, the error analysis for a damage function and the analytical results are explained concerning the computation of a damage function for 10% total elongation. Concerning the damage estimation of FBR core support structure, the standard and lower limiting values of damage, the permissible neutron flux and the allowable years of reactor operation are presented and were evaluated. (Nakai, Y.)

Grain boundary sweeping and dissolution effects on fission product behavior under severe fuel damage accident conditions

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Rest, J.

1985-10-01

The theoretical FASTGRASS-VFP model has been used in the interpretation of fission gas, iodine, tellurium, and cesium release from severe-fuel-damage (SFD) tests performed in the PBF reactor in Idaho. A theory of grain boundary sweeping of gas bubbles, gas bubble behavior during fuel liquefaction (destruction of grain boundaries due to formation of a U-rich melt phase), and during U-Zr eutectic melting has been included within the FASTGRASS-VFP formalism. The grain-boundary-sweeping theory considers the interaction between the moving grain boundary and two distinct size classes of bubbles, those on grain faces and on grain edges. The theory of the effects of fuel liquefaction and U-Zr eutectic melting on fission product behavior considers the migration and coalescence of fission gas bubbles in either molten uranium, or a zircaloy-uranium eutectic melt. The FASTGRASS-VFP predictions, measured release rates from the above tests, and previously published release rates are compared and differences between fission product behavior in trace-irradiated and in normally irradiated fuel are highlighted

Factors influencing to earthquake caused economical losses on urban territories

Science.gov (United States)

Nurtaev, B.; Khakimov, S.

2005-12-01

Questions of assessment of earthquake economical losses on urban territories of Uzbekistan, taking into account damage forming factors, which are increqasing or reducing economical losses were discussed in the paper. Buildings and facilities vulnerability factors were classified. From total value (equal to 50) were selected most important ones. Factors ranging by level of impact and weight function in loss assessment were ranged. One group of damage forming factors includs seismic hazard assessment, design, construction and maintenance of building and facilities. Other one is formed by city planning characteristics and includes : density of constructions and population, area of soft soils, existence of liquefaction susceptible soils and etc. To all these factors has been given weight functions and interval values by groups. Methodical recomendations for loss asessment taking into account above mentioned factors were developed. It gives possibility to carry out preventive measures for protection of vulnerable territories, to differentiate cost assessment of each region in relation with territory peculiarity and damage value. Using developed method we have ranged cities by risk level. It has allowed to establish ratings of the general vulnerability of urban territories of cities and on their basis to make optimum decisions, oriented to loss mitigation and increase of safety of population. Besides the technique can be used by insurance companies for estimated zoning of territory, development of effective utilization schema of land resources, rational town-planning, an economic estimation of used territory for supply with information of the various works connected to an estimation of seismic hazard. Further improvement of technique of establishment of rating of cities by level of damage from earthquakes will allow to increase quality of construction, rationality of accommodation of buildings, will be an economic stimulator for increasing of seismic resistance of

The global historical and future economic loss and cost of earthquakes during the production of adaptive worldwide economic fragility functions

Science.gov (United States)

Daniell, James; Wenzel, Friedemann

2014-05-01

Over the past decade, the production of economic indices behind the CATDAT Damaging Earthquakes Database has allowed for the conversion of historical earthquake economic loss and cost events into today's terms using long-term spatio-temporal series of consumer price index (CPI), construction costs, wage indices, and GDP from 1900-2013. As part of the doctoral thesis of Daniell (2014), databases and GIS layers for a country and sub-country level have been produced for population, GDP per capita, net and gross capital stock (depreciated and non-depreciated) using studies, census information and the perpetual inventory method. In addition, a detailed study has been undertaken to collect and reproduce as many historical isoseismal maps, macroseismic intensity results and reproductions of earthquakes as possible out of the 7208 damaging events in the CATDAT database from 1900 onwards. a) The isoseismal database and population bounds from 3000+ collected damaging events were compared with the output parameters of GDP and net and gross capital stock per intensity bound and administrative unit, creating a spatial join for analysis. b) The historical costs were divided into shaking/direct ground motion effects, and secondary effects costs. The shaking costs were further divided into gross capital stock related and GDP related costs for each administrative unit, intensity bound couplet. c) Costs were then estimated based on the optimisation of the function in terms of costs vs. gross capital stock and costs vs. GDP via the regression of the function. Losses were estimated based on net capital stock, looking at the infrastructure age and value at the time of the event. This dataset was then used to develop an economic exposure for each historical earthquake in comparison with the loss recorded in the CATDAT Damaging Earthquakes Database. The production of economic fragility functions for each country was possible using a temporal regression based on the parameters of

KEKB facility damage caused by the Great East Japan Earthquake

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ono, Masaaki

2011-01-01

As shown in photos, severe damages were observed at several facilities in Tsukuba campus, including the infrastructure, especially at the ground - weakened area. KEKB also damaged facility has been under the upgrade stage to SuperKEKB. So works for disassembling of KEKB machine and for remodeling of the equipment were undertaken. Fortunately no one was injured but the situations were quite hazardous. KEKB ring set ∼13m below the ground also experienced the severe tremors. All expansion points were injured and the cracks on the ceiling/wall/floor were created around the ring, but significant damage such as the tunnel destruction was not observed. Repairs were started, and resumed possible SuperKEKB construction though it will delay 2-3 months. (author)

NPP Krsko Severe Accident Management Guidelines Upgrade

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Mihalina, Mario; Spalj, Srdjan; Glaser, Bruno; Jalovec, Robi; Jankovic, Gordan

2014-01-01

Nuclear Power Plant Krsko (NEK) has decided to take steps for upgrade of safety measures to prevent severe accidents, and to improve the means to successfully mitigate their consequences. The content of the program for the NEK Safety Upgrade is consistent with the nuclear industry response to Fukushima accident, which revealed many new insights into severe accidents. Therefore, new strategies and usage of new systems and components should be integrated into current NEK Severe Accident Management Guidelines (SAMG's). SAMG's are developed to arrest the progression of a core damage accident and to limit the extent of resulting releases of fission products. NEK new SAMG's revision major changes are made due to: replacement of Electrical Recombiners by Passive Autocatalytic Recombiners (PARs) and the installation of Passive Containment Filtered Vent System (PCFV); to handle a fuel damage situation in Spent Fuel Pool (SFP) and to assess risk of core damage situation during shutdown operation. (authors)

Multi-stage identification scheme for detecting damage in structures under ambient excitations

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Bao, Chunxiao; Li, Zhong-Xian; Hao, Hong

2013-01-01

Structural damage identification methods are critical to the successful application of structural health monitoring (SHM) systems to civil engineering structures. The dynamic response of civil engineering structures is usually characterized by high nonlinearity and non-stationarity. Accordingly, an improved Hilbert–Huang transform (HHT) method which is adaptive, output-only and applicable to system identification of in-service structures under ambient excitations is developed in this study. Based on this method, a multi-stage damage detection scheme including the detection of damage occurrence, damage existence, damage location and the estimation of damage severity is developed. In this scheme, the improved HHT method is used to analyse the structural acceleration response, the obtained instantaneous frequency detects the instant of damage occurrence, the instantaneous phase is sensitive to minor damage and provides reliable damage indication, and the damage indicator developed based on statistical analysis of the Hilbert marginal spectrum detects damage locations. Finally, the response sampled at the detected damage location is continuously analysed to estimate the damage severity. Numerical and experimental studies of frame structures under ambient excitations are performed. The results demonstrate that this scheme accomplishes the above damage detection functions within one flow. It is robust, time efficient, simply implemented and applicable to the real-time SHM of in-service structures. (paper)

Crop production and economic loss due to wind erosion in hot arid ecosystem of India

Science.gov (United States)

Santra, Priyabrata; Moharana, P. C.; Kumar, Mahesh; Soni, M. L.; Pandey, C. B.; Chaudhari, S. K.; Sikka, A. K.

2017-10-01

Wind erosion is a severe land degradation process in hot arid western India and affects the agricultural production system. It affects crop yield directly by damaging the crops through abrasion, burial, dust deposition etc. and indirectly by reducing soil fertility. In this study, an attempt was made to quantify the indirect impact of wind erosion process on crop production loss and associated economic loss in hot arid ecosystem of India. It has been observed that soil loss due to wind erosion varies from minimum 1.3 t ha-1 to maximum 83.3 t ha-1 as per the severity. Yield loss due to wind erosion was found maximum for groundnut (Arachis hypogea) (5-331 kg ha-1 yr-1), whereas minimum for moth bean (Vigna aconitifolia) (1-93 kg ha-1 yr-1). For pearl millet (Pennisetum glaucum), which covers a major portion of arable lands in western Rajasthan, the yield loss was found 3-195 kg ha-1 yr-1. Economic loss was found higher for groundnut and clusterbean (Cyamopsis tetragonoloba) than rest crops, which are about

Ecological-economical approach to assessment of environment state at the Semipalatinsk test site

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Chugunova, N.S.; Balykbaeva, S.Y.

2002-01-01

The paper presents methods used for ecological-economical assessment of the environment condition at the former Semipalatinsk Test Site. It also presents methodology of calculating ecological and economical parameters for different options. Besides, the paper provides data describing assessment of ecological and economical damage caused by defense establishment activities at the Semipalatinsk Test Site. (author)

Economic impacts of non-native forest insects in the continental United States.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Juliann E Aukema

Full Text Available Reliable estimates of the impacts and costs of biological invasions are critical to developing credible management, trade and regulatory policies. Worldwide, forests and urban trees provide important ecosystem services as well as economic and social benefits, but are threatened by non-native insects. More than 450 non-native forest insects are established in the United States but estimates of broad-scale economic impacts associated with these species are largely unavailable. We developed a novel modeling approach that maximizes the use of available data, accounts for multiple sources of uncertainty, and provides cost estimates for three major feeding guilds of non-native forest insects. For each guild, we calculated the economic damages for five cost categories and we estimated the probability of future introductions of damaging pests. We found that costs are largely borne by homeowners and municipal governments. Wood- and phloem-boring insects are anticipated to cause the largest economic impacts by annually inducing nearly $1.7 billion in local government expenditures and approximately $830 million in lost residential property values. Given observations of new species, there is a 32% chance that another highly destructive borer species will invade the U.S. in the next 10 years. Our damage estimates provide a crucial but previously missing component of cost-benefit analyses to evaluate policies and management options intended to reduce species introductions. The modeling approach we developed is highly flexible and could be similarly employed to estimate damages in other countries or natural resource sectors.

A linear model of ductile plastic damage

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Lemaitre, J.

1983-01-01

A three-dimensional model of isotropic ductile plastic damage based on a continuum damage variable on the effective stress concept and on thermodynamics is derived. As shown by experiments on several metals and alloys, the model, integrated in the case of proportional loading, is linear with respect to the accumulated plastic strain and shows a large influence of stress triaxiality [fr

Computational model for the assessment of oil spill damages

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Seip, K L; Heiberg, A B; Brekke, K A

1985-06-01

A description is given of the method and the required data of a model for calculating oil spill damages. Eleven damage attributes are defined: shorelength contaminated, shore restitution time, birds dead, restitution time for three groups of birds, open sea damages-two types, damages to recreation, economy and fisheries. The model has been applied in several cases of oil pollution assessments: in an examination of alternative models for the organization of oil spill combat in Norway, in the assessment of the damages coused by a blowout at Tromsoeflaket and in assessing a possible increase in oil spill preparedness for Svalbard. 56 references.

The potential cost-effectiveness of the Diamondback 360® Coronary Orbital Atherectomy System for treating de novo, severely calcified coronary lesions: an economic modeling approach

Science.gov (United States)

Chambers, Jeffrey; Généreux, Philippe; Lee, Arthur; Lewin, Jack; Young, Christopher; Crittendon, Janna; Mann, Marita; Garrison, Louis P.

2015-01-01

Background: Patients who undergo percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) for severely calcified coronary lesions have long been known to have worse clinical and economic outcomes than patients with no or mildly calcified lesions. We sought to assess the likely cost-effectiveness of using the Diamondback 360® Orbital Atherectomy System (OAS) in the treatment of de novo, severely calcified lesions from a health-system perspective. Methods and results: In the absence of a head-to-head trial and long-term follow up, cost-effectiveness was based on a modeled synthesis of clinical and economic data. A cost-effectiveness model was used to project the likely economic impact. To estimate the net cost impact, the cost of using the OAS technology in elderly (⩾ 65 years) Medicare patients with de novo severely calcified lesions was compared with cost offsets. Elderly OAS patients from the ORBIT II trial (Evaluate the Safety and Efficacy of OAS in Treating Severely Calcified Coronary Lesions) [ClinicalTrials.gov identifier: NCT01092426] were indirectly compared with similar patients using observational data. For the index procedure, the comparison was with Medicare data, and for both revascularization and cardiac death in the following year, the comparison was with a pooled analysis of the Harmonizing Outcomes with Revascularization and Stents in Acute Myocardial Infarction (HORIZONS-AMI)/Acute Catheterization and Urgent Intervention Triage Strategy (ACUITY) trials. After adjusting for differences in age, gender, and comorbidities, the ORBIT II mean index procedure costs were 17% (p < 0.001) lower, approximately US$2700. Estimated mean revascularization costs were lower by US$1240 in the base case. These cost offsets in the first year, on average, fully cover the cost of the device with an additional 1.2% cost savings. Even in the low-value scenario, the use of the OAS is cost-effective with a cost per life-year gained of US$11,895. Conclusions: Based on economic modeling

Economic impact on the Florida economy of energy price spikes

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Mory, J.F.

1992-01-01

A substantial disturbance in oil supplies is likely to generate a large price upsurge and a downturn in the level of economic activity. Each of these two effects diminishes demand by a certain amount. The specific price surge required to reduce demand to the lower level of supply can be calculated with an oil demand function and with empirical estimations of the association between price spikes and declines in economic activity. The first section presents an energy demand model for Florida, which provides the price and income elasticities needed. The second section includes theoretical explanations and empirical estimations of the relationship between price spikes and recessions. Based on historical evidence, it seems that Florida's and the nation's economic systems are very sensitive to oil price surges. As price spikes appear damaging to the economy, it could be expected that reductions in the price of oil are beneficial to the system. That is likely to be the case in the long run, but no empirical evidence of favorable short-term effects of oil price decreases was found. Several possible explanations and theoretical reasons are offered to explain this lack of association. The final section presents estimates of the effect of oil disruptions upon specific industries in Florida and the nation

Financial Bubbles, Real Estate Bubbles, Derivative Bubbles, and the Financial and Economic Crisis

Science.gov (United States)

Sornette, Didier; Woodard, Ryan

The financial crisis of 2008, which started with an initially well-defined epicenter focused on mortgage backed securities (MBS), has been cascading into a global economic recession, whose increasing severity and uncertain duration has led and is continuing to lead to massive losses and damage for billions of people. Heavy central bank interventions and government spending programs have been launched worldwide and especially in the USA and Europe, with the hope to unfreeze credit and bolster consumption. Here, we present evidence and articulate a general framework that allows one to diagnose the fundamental cause of the unfolding financial and economic crisis: the accumulation of several bubbles and their interplay and mutual reinforcement have led to an illusion of a "perpetual money machine" allowing financial institutions to extract wealth from an unsustainable artificial process. Taking stock of this diagnostic, we conclude that many of the interventions to address the so-called liquidity crisis and to encourage more consumption are ill-advised and even dangerous, given that precautionary reserves were not accumulated in the "good times" but that huge liabilities were. The most "interesting" present times constitute unique opportunities but also great challenges, for which we offer a few recommendations.

Pain severity and the economic burden of neuropathic pain in the United States: BEAT Neuropathic Pain Observational Study

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Schaefer C

2014-10-01

Full Text Available Caroline Schaefer,1 Alesia Sadosky,2 Rachael Mann,3 Shoshana Daniel,4 Bruce Parsons,2 Michael Tuchman,5 Alan Anschel,6 Brett R Stacey,7 Srinivas Nalamachu,8 Edward Nieshoff9 1Covance Market Access Services Inc., Gaithersburg, MD, 2Pfizer, Inc., New York, NY, 3Covance Market Access Services Inc., San Diego, CA, 4Covance Market Access Services Inc., Conshohocken, PA, 5Palm Beach Neurological Center, Palm Beach Gardens, FL, 6Rehabilitation Institute of Chicago, Chicago, IL, 7Oregon Health and Science University, Portland, OR, 8International Clinical Research Institute, Overland Park, KS, 9Rehabilitation Institute of Michigan/Wayne State University, Detroit, MI, USABackground: As with many chronic conditions, patients with neuropathic pain (NeP are high consumers of health care resources. However, limited literature exists on the economic burden of NeP, including its impact on productivity. The aim of this study was to characterize health care resource utilization, productivity, and costs associated with NeP by pain severity level in US adults.Methods: Subjects (n=624 with painful diabetic peripheral neuropathy, human immunodeficiency virus-related peripheral NeP, post-trauma/post-surgical NeP, spinal cord injury with NeP, chronic low back pain with NeP, and small fiber neuropathy were recruited during routine office visits to US community-based general practitioners and specialists. Clinicians captured clinical characteristics, NeP-related medications, and health care resource utilization based on 6-month retrospective medical chart review. Subjects completed questionnaires on demographics, pain/symptoms, costs, and productivity. Brief Pain Inventory pain severity scores were used to classify subjects by mild, moderate, or severe pain. Annualized NeP-related costs (adjusted for covariates were estimated, and differences across pain severity groups were evaluated.Results: In total, 624 subjects were recruited (mean age 55.5±13.7 years; 55.4% male

Quantifying the economic risks of climate change

Science.gov (United States)

Diaz, Delavane; Moore, Frances

2017-11-01

Understanding the value of reducing greenhouse-gas emissions matters for policy decisions and climate risk management, but quantification is challenging because of the complex interactions and uncertainties in the Earth and human systems, as well as normative ethical considerations. Current modelling approaches use damage functions to parameterize a simplified relationship between climate variables, such as temperature change, and economic losses. Here we review and synthesize the limitations of these damage functions and describe how incorporating impacts, adaptation and vulnerability research advances and empirical findings could substantially improve damage modelling and the robustness of social cost of carbon values produced. We discuss the opportunities and challenges associated with integrating these research advances into cost-benefit integrated assessment models, with guidance for future work.

Institutional models of Bunaken National Park (BNP management to ensure sustainability of ecological and economic functions

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Kholil

2012-09-01

Full Text Available Bunaken Marine Park is one of the world's most beautiful marine tourism which has a unique coral reefs, turtles and diversity of pelagic fish. Currently Bunaken Marine Park has become an excellent tourist attraction for diving. Since the number of visitors and community activities around the park are continues to increase; there have been severe damages to coral reefs as well as polluting the environment around the marine park. Therefore, the sustainability of economic and social benefits is threatened. To avoid damage to coral reefs and pollutions, it is necessary the institute manager which can ensure the sustainability of he sustainability of the tourism attraction. Interpretative Method Structure Modeling (ISM was chosen to design the institutional model appropriate to the conditions surrounding the object, which is able to manage Bunaken Marine Park as a sustainable tourist attraction.

Radiation exposure and chromosome damage

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Lloyd, D.

1979-01-01

Chromosome damage is discussed as a means of biologically measuring radiation exposure to the body. Human lymphocytes are commonly used for this test since the extent of chromosome damage induced is related to the exposure dose. Several hundred lymphocytes are analysed in metaphase for chromosome damage, particularly dicentrics. The dose estimate is made by comparing the observed dicentric yield against calibration curves, previously produced by in vitro irradiation of blood samples to known doses of different types of radiation. This test is useful when there is doubt that the film badge has recorded a reasonable whole body dose and also when there is an absence of any physical data. A case of deliberate exposure is described where the chromosome damage test estimated an exposure of 152 rads. The life span of cell aberrations is also considered. Regular checks on radiotherapy patients and some accidental overdose cases have shown little reduction in the aberration levels over the first six weeks after which the damage disappears slowly with a half-life of about three years. In conclusion, chromosome studies have been shown to be of value in resolving practical problems in radiological protection. (U.K.)

Damage assessment in Braunsbach 2016: data collection and analysis for an improved understanding of damaging processes during flash floods

Science.gov (United States)

Laudan, Jonas; Rözer, Viktor; Sieg, Tobias; Vogel, Kristin; Thieken, Annegret H.

2017-12-01

Flash floods are caused by intense rainfall events and represent an insufficiently understood phenomenon in Germany. As a result of higher precipitation intensities, flash floods might occur more frequently in future. In combination with changing land use patterns and urbanisation, damage mitigation, insurance and risk management in flash-flood-prone regions are becoming increasingly important. However, a better understanding of damage caused by flash floods requires ex post collection of relevant but yet sparsely available information for research. At the end of May 2016, very high and concentrated rainfall intensities led to severe flash floods in several southern German municipalities. The small town of Braunsbach stood as a prime example of the devastating potential of such events. Eight to ten days after the flash flood event, damage assessment and data collection were conducted in Braunsbach by investigating all affected buildings and their surroundings. To record and store the data on site, the open-source software bundle KoBoCollect was used as an efficient and easy way to gather information. Since the damage driving factors of flash floods are expected to differ from those of riverine flooding, a post-hoc data analysis was performed, aiming to identify the influence of flood processes and building attributes on damage grades, which reflect the extent of structural damage. Data analyses include the application of random forest, a random general linear model and multinomial logistic regression as well as the construction of a local impact map to reveal influences on the damage grades. Further, a Spearman's Rho correlation matrix was calculated. The results reveal that the damage driving factors of flash floods differ from those of riverine floods to a certain extent. The exposition of a building in flow direction shows an especially strong correlation with the damage grade and has a high predictive power within the constructed damage models. Additionally

Refurbishment of damaged tools using the combination of GTAW and laser beam welding

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

J. Tušek

2014-10-01

Full Text Available This paper presents the use of two welding processes for the refurbishment of damaged industrial tools. In the first part the problem is presented followed by the comparison of GTAW and laser welding in terms of repair welding of damaged tools. The macrosections of the welds show the difference between both welding processes in repairing of damaged tools. At the conclusion the main findings are presented. In many cases it is useful to use both welding processes in order to achieve better weld quality and to make welding more economical. The order of the technology used depends on the tool material, the use of the tool and the tool damage.

Cultured cells from a severe combined immunodeficient mouse have a slower than normal rate of repair of potentially lethal damage sensitive to hypertonic treatment

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kimura, H.; Terado, T.; Ikebuchi, M.; Aoyama, T.; Komatsu, K.; Nozawa, A.

1995-01-01

The effects of hypertonic 0.5 M NaCl treatment after irradiation on the repair of DNA damage were examined in fibroblasts of the severe combined immunodeficient (scid) mouse. These cells are hypersensitive to ionizing radiation because of a deficiency in the repair of double-strand breaks. Hypertonic treatment caused radiosensitization due to a fixation of potentially lethal damage (PLD) in scid cells, demonstrating that scid cells normally repair PLD. To assess the kinetics of the repair of PLD, hypertonic treatment was delayed for various times after irradiation. Potentially lethal damage was repaired during these times in isotonic medium at 37 degrees C. It was found that the rate of repair of PLD was much slower in scid cells than in BALB/c 3T3 cells, which have a open-quotes wild-typeclose quotes level of radiosensitivity. This fact indicates that the scid mutation affects the type of repair of PLD that is sensitive to 0.5 M NaCl treatment. In scid hybrid cells containing fragments of human chromosome 8, which complements the radiosensitivity of the scid cells, the rate of repair was restored to a normal level. An enzyme encoded by a gene on chromosome 8 may also be connected with PLD which is sensitive to hypertonic treatment. 29 refs., 3 figs

Type A natural resource damage assessment models for Great Lakes environments (NRDAM/GLE) and coastal and marine environments (NRDAM/CME)

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

French, D.P.; Reed, M.

1993-01-01

A computer model of the physical fates, biological effects, and economic damages resulting from releases of oil and other hazardous materials has been developed by ASA to be used in Type A natural resource damage assessments under the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act of 1980 (CERCLA). Natural Resource Damage Assessment Models for Great Lakes Environments (NRDAM/GLE) and for Coastal and Marine Environments (NRDAM/GLE) and for Coastal and Marine Environments (NRDAM/CME) will become available. These models will also support NOAA's damage assessment regulations under the Oil Pollution Act of 1990. The physical and biological models are three-dimensional. Direct mortality from toxic concentrations and oiling, impacts of habitat loss, and food web losses are included in the model. Estimation of natural resource damages is based both on the lost value of injured resources and on the costs for restoration or replacement of those resources. A coupled geographical information system (GIS) allows gridded representation of complex coastal boundaries, variable bathymetry, shoreline types, and multiple biological habitats. The models contain environmental, geographical, chemical, toxicological, biological, restoration and economic databases with the necessary information to estimate damages. Chemical and toxicological data are included for about 470 chemicals and oils. Biological data are unique to 77 coastal and marine plus 11 Great Lakes provinces, and to habitat type. Restoration and economic valuations are also regionally specific

Picosecond laser damage of fused silica at 355 nm

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Meng Xiangjie; Liu Hongjie; Wang Fang; Zhang Zhen; An Xinyou; Huang Jin; Jiang Xiaodong; Wu Weidong; Ren Weiyi

2013-01-01

This paper studies the initiated damage threshold, the damage morphology and the subsequent damage growth on fused silica's input-surface and exit-surface under picosecond laser irradiation at 355 nm. Defects induced fluorescence on surface of the optical component is observed. The results demonstrate a significant dependence of the initiated damage on pulse duration and surface defects, and that of the damage growth on self-focusing, sub-surface defects. The damage-threshold is 3.98 J/cm 2 of input surface and 2.91 J/cm 2 of exit surface. The damage morphologies are quite different between input surface and exit surface. Slow growth behavior appears for the diameter of exit-surface and linear growth one for the depth of exit-surface in the lateral side of damage site with the increase of shot number. Defects have changed obviously compared with nanosecond laser damage in the damage area. Several main reasons such as electric intensification and self-focusing for the observed initiated damage and damage growth behavior are discussed. (authors)

Understanding vulnerability to self-harm in times of economic hardship and austerity: a qualitative study.

Science.gov (United States)

Barnes, M C; Gunnell, D; Davies, R; Hawton, K; Kapur, N; Potokar, J; Donovan, J L

2016-02-17

Self-harm and suicide increase in times of economic recession, but little is known about why people self-harm when in financial difficulty, and in what circumstances self-harm occurs. This study aimed to understand events and experiences leading to the episode of self-harm and to identify opportunities for prevention or mitigation of distress. Participants' homes or university rooms. 19 people who had attended hospital following self-harm in two UK cities and who specifically cited job loss, economic hardship or the impact of austerity measures as a causal or contributory factor. Semistructured, in-depth interviews. Interviews were audio recorded, transcribed and analysed cross-sectionally and as case studies. Study participants described experiences of severe economic hardship; being unable to find employment or losing jobs, debt, housing problems and benefit sanctions. In many cases problems accumulated and felt unresolvable. For others an event, such as a call from a debt collector or benefit change triggered the self-harm. Participants also reported other current or past difficulties, including abuse, neglect, bullying, domestic violence, mental health problems, relationship difficulties, bereavements and low self-esteem. These contributed to their sense of despair and worthlessness and increased their vulnerability to self-harm. Participants struggled to gain the practical help they felt they needed for their economic difficulties or therapeutic support that might have helped with their other co-existing or historically damaging experiences. Economic hardships resulting from the recession and austerity measures accumulated or acted as a 'final straw' to trigger self-harm, often in the context of co-existing or historically damaging life-experiences. Interventions to mitigate these effects should include providing practical advice about economic issues before difficulties become insurmountable and providing appropriate psychosocial support for vulnerable

Repair methods for damaged pipeline beyond diving depth

OpenAIRE

Mohammadi, Keramat

2011-01-01

Master's thesis in Offshore Technology Mechanical damage of a subsea pipeline is found as one of the most severe concern in management of pipeline integrity. The need to reach and bring the hydrocarbons from the fields located in deep and ultra-deep waters, imposes the need to improve the technologies and techniques in order to repair any unacceptable damage in pipeline. The main objective of this work is to investigate various methods for repairing a subsea pipeline that has been damaged ...

Management of patients with severe lung injury : first, do no harm

NARCIS (Netherlands)

van der Werf, TS

Severe acute lung injury may result from many infectious and other insults. Although the initial insult may cause overwhelming tissue damage with subsequent gas exchange impairment and risk of death. several strategies of management may also add substantial toxicity. This review focuses on damage

TRANSBOUNDARY DAMAGE IN THE LIGHT OF INTERNATIONAL ENVIRONMENTAL LAW

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Oana Maria HANCIU

2014-05-01

Full Text Available Some activities that are useful for economic and social development of a State even if are not prohibited by national or international law can cause transboundary damages to other countries. This kind of transboundary damages have given rise to theories of State responsibility and a worldwide demand for increased environmental protection. "Under the principles of international law...no State has the right to use or permit the use of its territory in such a manner as to cause [environmental] injury ... in or to the territory of another or the properties of persons therein, when the case is of serious consequence and the injury is established by clear and convincing evidence." (Stockholm Principle 21 The paper analyses the impact of transboundary damage in the light of international environmental law and the increasing concern among States for environmental protection.

Toward an estimation of the relationship between cyclonic structures and damages at the ground in Europe

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

F. Porcu

2009-06-01

Full Text Available Cyclonic systems dominate European and Mediterranean meteorology throughout the year and often induce severe weather in terms of heavy and/or long-lasting precipitation with related phenomena such as strong winds and lightning. Surface cyclonic structures are often related to well defined precipitation patterns with different scales, duration and intensity. Cyclones confined in the upper troposphere, usually referred to as cut off low, may induce instability at lower levels and the development of convective precipitation.

In this work the occurrence of cyclonic events (discriminated between surface ones and cut-off lows is analyzed and matched with an economic losses database to highlight a relation between the atmospheric structures and the impact on the social environment in terms of casualties and material damages. The study focus on the continental Europe and, based on the ERA-40 reanalysis, two databases of surface cyclones and cut-off lows have been constructed by means of automatic pattern recognition algorithms. The impact on the local communities is estimated from an insurance company record, which provides the location, date and type of the events, as well as related losses in terms of damages and casualties. Results show the relatively high impact of cyclonic structures on human life in Europe: most of the weather induced damages occur close to a cyclonic center, especially during warm months. Damages and human losses are more frequent from late summer to January, and precipitation is the most relevant meteorological damaging feature throughout the year.

Politico-economic equivalence

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Gonzalez Eiras, Martin; Niepelt, Dirk

2015-01-01

Traditional "economic equivalence'' results, like the Ricardian equivalence proposition, define equivalence classes over exogenous policies. We derive "politico-economic equivalence" conditions that apply in environments where policy is endogenous and chosen sequentially. A policy regime and a st......Traditional "economic equivalence'' results, like the Ricardian equivalence proposition, define equivalence classes over exogenous policies. We derive "politico-economic equivalence" conditions that apply in environments where policy is endogenous and chosen sequentially. A policy regime...... their use in the context of several applications, relating to social security reform, tax-smoothing policies and measures to correct externalities....

The intrinsic inferiority of efficiency wages to damages and conditional bonuses

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Geest, Gerrit de; Dari Mattiacci, G.; Siegers, J.J.

2004-01-01

In this paper, we argue that, as an enforcement mechanism, efficiency wages are intrinsically inferior to damages and to conditional bonuses an alternative positive sanction system overlooked in the labor economics literature, under which rents are only paid if monitoring has effectively taken

Exploration economics

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Mcgill, R.E.

1992-01-01

This paper deals with determining the economic viability of the play or prospect. At the outset, one point is important. Preexploration economists are important because they enable geologists to see if their assumptions will prove profitable. Their assumptions must consider the full range of possible outcomes, even if only some portion of that range may contain prospects or plays that are estimated to be profitable. Play economics are preferable to prospect economics because, being the sum of several prospects, they give a broader view of the investment opportunity. Finally, remember that play and prospect economics are always slightly optimistic. They seldom include all of the exploration and overhead changes that must ultimately be borne by the successful prospects

Use of X - Rays for the evaluation of internal damages provoked by corn seed drying and the effect of those damages upon the seeds quality

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Obando Flor, Ebert Pepe; Moreira de Carvalho, Maria Laene

2002-01-01

The work was conducted in the seed analysis laboratory of the department of agriculture and forest sciences of the Universidade Federal de Lavras (Federal University of Lavras. MG), over the period 1999 - 2000. Aiming to evaluate the efficiency of utilization of X - rays in the identification of the several types of internal damages provoked by corn seed drying to high temperatures as well as the effect of those damages upon the physiological quality of stored seeds, lots of the cultivars AG1143 and BR 106 were submitted to drying at the temperature of 50 degrades Celsius. The lots were divided into two categories according to the presence or not of internal damages visible with the naked eye submitted to the X - ray test (for 45 at 25 Kvp of radiation intensity) afterwards. They were separated into three sub lots. CDVCDRX (with visual damages and detected by X - ray) SDVSDRX (without visual damages and with damages detected by X ray). The sub lots were evaluated in their physiological quality by viability and vigor tests. The results showed the efficiency of X ray in detecting internal damages of drying not observed by visual analysis. The vigor of corn seeds with internal drying damages is affected in several manners, depending on the cultivars, evaluation time and sort of damage internal damages of drying detected by the radiographical analysis in spite of not affecting early viability, when they occurs in the two directions horizontal and vertical (Double damage) decrease the vigor of seeds after storage

Metabolite Damage and Metabolite Damage Control in Plants

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Hanson, Andrew D. [Horticultural Sciences Department and; Henry, Christopher S. [Mathematics and Computer Science Division, Argonne National Laboratory, Argonne, Illinois 60439, email:; Computation Institute, University of Chicago, Chicago, Illinois 60637; Fiehn, Oliver [Genome Center, University of California, Davis, California 95616, email:; de Crécy-Lagard, Valérie [Microbiology and Cell Science Department, University of Florida, Gainesville, Florida 32611, email: ,

2016-04-29

It is increasingly clear that (a) many metabolites undergo spontaneous or enzyme-catalyzed side reactions in vivo, (b) the damaged metabolites formed by these reactions can be harmful, and (c) organisms have biochemical systems that limit the buildup of damaged metabolites. These damage-control systems either return a damaged molecule to its pristine state (metabolite repair) or convert harmful molecules to harmless ones (damage preemption). Because all organisms share a core set of metabolites that suffer the same chemical and enzymatic damage reactions, certain damage-control systems are widely conserved across the kingdoms of life. Relatively few damage reactions and damage-control systems are well known. Uncovering new damage reactions and identifying the corresponding damaged metabolites, damage-control genes, and enzymes demands a coordinated mix of chemistry, metabolomics, cheminformatics, biochemistry, and comparative genomics. This review illustrates the above points using examples from plants, which are at least as prone to metabolite damage as other organisms.

Economic and Ethical Consequences of Natural Hazards in Alpine Valleys (EE-Con)

Science.gov (United States)

Ortner, Florian; Brantl, Dirk; Meyer, Lukas; Steininger, Karl; Sass, Oliver

2015-04-01

The Alps and their population are particularly vulnerable to geomorphological and hydrological hazards and this problem might be amplified by ongoing climate change. Natural disasters cause severe monetary damage which often leads to the difficult question whether it socially pays to protect settlements at high costs or whether alternatively settlement areas should better be abandoned. By investigations in the Johnsbachtal and the Kleinsölktal (Styria), the interdisciplinary project "Economic and Ethical Consequences of Natural Hazards in Alpine Valleys" (EE-Con), funded by the Austrian Academy of Sciences, seeks to answer the following questions: (1) Are natural hazards and associated damages in fact increasing, and is this due to meteorological triggers, to anthropogenic factors or to internal process dynamics? (2) What is the perception and knowledge of local people, how is risk and risk prevention communicated? (3) What is the respective cost ratio between protection infrastructure, soft measures of adaptation and other options (e.g. reduction of settlement area)? (4) What legitimate claims to compensation do people have, how far does societal responsibility go and where does individual responsibility start if parts of the settlement area had to be abandoned? These questions will be tackled in an interdisciplinary cooperation between geography, economics and normative theory (philosophy). EE-Con will follow broadly the path of risk analysis and risk assessment, focusing on the temporal dimension (past - present - future) with the aim to unravel the history of natural hazards in the areas and to analyse the economic values involved. In the following, natural hazard scenarios for the future (2050 and 2100) will be developed considering the economic consequences. Besides this, the project deals with local knowledge, risk perception and risk communication, which will be investigated via group interviews and stakeholder workshops and be integrated into a human

Pump Damage in the Hanshin Earthquake

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Toshiyuki Osada

2000-01-01

Full Text Available There was a severe earthquake in the southern area ofHyogo prefecture in Japan on January 17, 1995. In this paper the damage to pump facilities caused by the earthquake, based on field investigation results in the Hanshin (Osaka–Kobe area is reported. In particular a lot of damage was reported in the pumping facilities for sewage or drainage of storm sewage. This paper also presents recommendations for aseismic design of pump facilities based on the results of the survey.

Predicting hurricane wind damage by claim payout based on Hurricane Ike in Texas

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ji-Myong Kim

2016-09-01

Full Text Available The increasing occurrence of natural disasters and their related damage have led to a growing demand for models that predict financial loss. Although considerable research on the financial losses related to natural disasters has found significant predictors, there has been a lack of comprehensive study that addresses the relationship among vulnerabilities, natural disasters, and the economic losses of individual buildings. This study identifies the vulnerability indicators for hurricanes to establish a metric to predict the related financial loss. We classify hurricane-prone areas by highlighting the spatial distribution of losses and vulnerabilities. This study used a Geographical Information System (GIS to combine and produce spatial data and a multiple regression method to establish a wind damage prediction model. As the dependent variable, we used the value of the Texas Windstorm Insurance Association (TWIA claim payout divided by the appraised values of the buildings to predict real economic loss. As independent variables, we selected a hurricane indicator and built environment vulnerability indicators. The model we developed can be used by government agencies and insurance companies to predict hurricane wind damage.

The Intrinsic Inferiority of Efficiency Wages to Damages and Conditional Bonuses

NARCIS (Netherlands)

de Geest, G.G.A.; Dari Mattiacci, G.; Siegers, J.J.

In this paper, we argue that, as an enforcement mechanism, efficiency wages are intrinsically inferior to damages and to conditional bonuses – an alternative positive sanction system overlooked in the labor economics literature, under which rents are only paid if monitoring has effectively taken

The management of severe accidents in modern pressure tube reactors

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Popov, N.K.; Santamaura, P.; Blahnik, C.; Snell, V.G.; Duffey, R.B.

2007-01-01

Advanced new reactor designs resist severe accidents through a balance between prevention and mitigation. This balance is achieved by designing to ensure that such accidents are very rare; and by limiting core damage progression and releases from the plant in the event of such rare accidents. These design objectives are supported by a suitable combination of probabilistic safety analysis, engineering judgment and experimental and analytical study. This paper describes the approach used for the Advanced CANDU Reactor TM -1000 (ACR-1000) design, which includes provisions to both prevent and mitigate severe accidents. The paper describes the use of PSA as a 'design assist' tool; the analysis of core damage progression pathways; the definition of the core damage states; the capability of the mitigating systems to stop and control severe accident events; and the severe accident management opportunities for consequence reduction. (author)

Features of RAPTA-SFD code modelling of chemical interactions of basic materials of the WWER active zone in accident conditions with severe fuel damage

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Bibilashvili, Yu.K.; Sokolov, N.B.; Salatov, A.V.; Nechaeva, O.A.; Andreyeva-Andrievskaya, L.N.; Vlasov, F.Yu.

1996-01-01

A brief description of RAPTA-SFD code intended for computer simulations of WWER-type fuel elements (simulator or absorber element) in conditions of accident with severe damage of fuel. Presented are models of chemical interactions of basic materials of the active zone, emphasized are special feature of their application in carrying out of the CORA-W2 experiment within the framework of International Standard Problem ISP-36. Results obtained confirm expediency of phenomenological models application. (author). 6 refs, 7 figs, 1 tab

Guide on Economic Instruments & Non-market Valuation Methods

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Zandersen, Marianne; Bartczak, Anna; Czajkowski, Mikołaj

The aim of this guidance document is to provide forest practitioners, decision makers and forest owners insights into the various economic instruments available to enhance the non-market ecosystem provision of forests such as a high quality biodiversity; enhanced carbon sequestration; improved...... with ecosystem degradation and iii) by recognising the substantial economic and welfare benefits of better management of ecosystems in forests. Ecosystem services contribute to economic welfare in two ways: • by contributing to the generation of income and wellbeing; and • by preventing damages that inflict...... initiatives it is therefore essential to consider trade offs and synergies between the complex interplay between ecosystem goods and services within an ecosystem,...

2-Aminopurine hairpin probes for the detection of ultraviolet-induced DNA damage

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

El-Yazbi, Amira F.; Loppnow, Glen R.

2012-01-01

Highlights: ► Molecular beacon with 2AP bases detects DNA damage in a simple mix-and-read assay. ► Molecular beacons with 2AP bases detect damage at a 17.2 nM limit of detection. ► The 2AP molecular beacon is linear over a 0–3.5 μM concentration range for damage. - Abstract: Nucleic acid exposure to radiation and chemical insults leads to damage and disease. Thus, detection and understanding DNA damage is important for elucidating molecular mechanisms of disease. However, current methods of DNA damage detection are either time-consuming, destroy the sample, or are too specific to be used for generic detection of damage. In this paper, we develop a fluorescence sensor of 2-aminopurine (2AP), a fluorescent analogue of adenine, incorporated in the loop of a hairpin probe for the quantification of ultraviolet (UV) C-induced nucleic acid damage. Our results show that the selectivity of the 2AP hairpin probe to UV-induced nucleic acid damage is comparable to molecular beacon (MB) probes of DNA damage. The calibration curve for the 2AP hairpin probe shows good linearity (R 2 = 0.98) with a limit of detection of 17.2 nM. This probe is a simple, fast and economic fluorescence sensor for the quantification of UV-induced damage in DNA.

Hurricane Harvey: Infrastructure Damage Assessment of Texas' Central Gulf Coast Region

Science.gov (United States)

Mooney, W. D.; Fovenyessy, S.; Patterson, S. F.

2017-12-01

We report a detailed ground-based damage survey for Hurricane Harvey, the first major hurricane to make landfall along the central Texas coast since the 1970 Category 3 Hurricane Celia. Harvey, a Category 4 storm, made landfall near Rockport, Texas on August 25th, 2017 at 10 PM local time. From September 2nd to 5th we visited Rockport and 22 nearby cities to assess the severity of the damage. Nearly all damage observed occurred as a direct result of the hurricane-force winds, rather than a storm surge. This observation is in contrast to the severe damage caused by both high winds and a significant storm surge, locally 3 to 5 m in height, in the 2013 Category 5 Hurricane Haiyan, that devastated the Philippines. We have adopted a damage scale and have given an average damage score for each of the areas investigated. Our damage contour map illustrates the areal variation in damage. The damage observed was widespread with a high degree of variability. Different types of damage included: (1) fallen fences and utility poles; (2) trees with branches broken or completely snapped in half; (3) business signs that were either partially or fully destroyed; (4) partially sunken or otherwise damaged boats; (5) and sheet metal sheds either completely or partially destroyed. There was also varying degrees of damage to both residential and commercial structures. Many homes had (6) roof damage, ranging from minor damage to complete destruction of the roof and second story, and (7) siding damage, where parts or whole sections of the homes siding had been removed. The area that had the lowest average damage score was Corpus Christi, and the areas that had the highest average damage score was both Fulton and Holiday Beach. There is no simple, uniform pattern of damage distribution. Rather, the damage was scattered, revealing hot spots of areas that received more damage than the surrounding area. However, when compared to the NOAA wind swath map, all of the damage was contained within

DNA Damage, Mutagenesis and Cancer

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ashis K. Basu

2018-03-01

Full Text Available A large number of chemicals and several physical agents, such as UV light and γ-radiation, have been associated with the etiology of human cancer. Generation of DNA damage (also known as DNA adducts or lesions induced by these agents is an important first step in the process of carcinogenesis. Evolutionary processes gave rise to DNA repair tools that are efficient in repairing damaged DNA; yet replication of damaged DNA may take place prior to repair, particularly when they are induced at a high frequency. Damaged DNA replication may lead to gene mutations, which in turn may give rise to altered proteins. Mutations in an oncogene, a tumor-suppressor gene, or a gene that controls the cell cycle can generate a clonal cell population with a distinct advantage in proliferation. Many such events, broadly divided into the stages of initiation, promotion, and progression, which may occur over a long period of time and transpire in the context of chronic exposure to carcinogens, can lead to the induction of human cancer. This is exemplified in the long-term use of tobacco being responsible for an increased risk of lung cancer. This mini-review attempts to summarize this wide area that centers on DNA damage as it relates to the development of human cancer.

The concept of ''pollution damage'' in the maritime conventions governing liability and compensation for oil spills

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Jacobsson, M.

2000-01-01

Compensation for pollution damage caused by spills from oil tankers is governed by an international regime elaborated under the auspices of the International Maritime Organization (I.M.O.). The framework for the regime was originally by the 1969 International Convention on Civil Liability for Oil Pollution Damage (1969 Civil liability convention) and the 1971 International Convention on the Establishment of an International Fund for Compensation for Oil Pollution Damage (1971 Fund Convention). This old regime was amended in 1992 by two protocols, and the amended Conventions are known as 1992 Civil Liability Convention and the 1992 Fund Convention. The Civil Liability conventions govern the liability of ship-owners for oil pollution damage. The Conventions lay down the principle of strict liability for ship-owners and create a system of compulsory liability insurance. The ship-owner is normally entitled to limit his liability to an amount which is linked to the tonnage of his ship. The regime of liability and the funds created by the 1971 and 1992 Conventions are analyzed in detail. Are studied as following: the concepts of pollution damage and the safeguard measures or preventive measures, the question of receivability for compensation demands (damage to properties, cleansing operations, costs, economic loss). The question of compensation conditions for the only economic loss and the damage to environment are tackled. This expose is concluded by enlightening the contribution brought by the previously named Conventions to the International law about the civil liability. (N.C.)

Damage detection in carbon composite material typical of wind turbine blades using auto-associative neural networks

Science.gov (United States)

Dervilis, N.; Barthorpe, R. J.; Antoniadou, I.; Staszewski, W. J.; Worden, K.

2012-04-01

The structure of a wind turbine blade plays a vital role in the mechanical and structural operation of the turbine. As new generations of offshore wind turbines are trying to achieve a leading role in the energy market, key challenges such as a reliable Structural Health Monitoring (SHM) of the blades is significant for the economic and structural efficiency of the wind energy. Fault diagnosis of wind turbine blades is a "grand challenge" due to their composite nature, weight and length. The damage detection procedure involves additional difficulties focused on aerodynamic loads, environmental conditions and gravitational loads. It will be shown that vibration dynamic response data combined with AANNs is a robust and powerful tool, offering on-line and real time damage prediction. In this study the features used for SHM are Frequency Response Functions (FRFs) acquired via experimental methods based on an LMS system by which identification of mode shapes and natural frequencies is accomplished. The methods used are statistical outlier analysis which allows a diagnosis of deviation from normality and an Auto-Associative Neural Network (AANN). Both of these techniques are trained by adopting the FRF data for normal and damage condition. The AANN is a method which has not yet been widely used in the condition monitoring of composite materials of blades. This paper is trying to introduce a new scheme for damage detection, localisation and severity assessment by adopting simple measurements such as FRFs and exploiting multilayer neural networks and outlier novelty detection.

SMEs capital structure determinants during severe economic crisis: The case of Greece

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

D. Balios

2016-12-01

Full Text Available The objective of this paper was to explore whether and how the main capital structure determinants of SMEs affected capital structure determination in different ways during the years of economic crisis. We used panel data of 8,052 SMEs operating in Greece during 2009–2012. We found that the effect of capital structure determinants on leverage does not change in an environment of economic crisis; larger SMEs continued to show higher debt ratios, the relationship between profitability and tangibility of assets with leverage continued to be negative, and growth was positively related to leverage.

Linking Physical Climate Research and Economic Assessments of Mitigation Policies

Science.gov (United States)

Stainforth, David; Calel, Raphael

2017-04-01

Evaluating climate change policies requires economic assessments which balance the costs and benefits of climate action. A certain class of Integrated Assessment Models (IAMS) are widely used for this type of analysis; DICE, PAGE and FUND are three of the most influential. In the economics community there has been much discussion and debate about the economic assumptions implemented within these models. Two aspects in particular have gained much attention: i) the costs of damages resulting from climate change - the so-called damage function, and ii) the choice of discount rate applied to future costs and benefits. There has, however, been rather little attention given to the consequences of the choices made in the physical climate models within these IAMS. Here we discuss the practical aspects of the implementation of the physical models in these IAMS, as well as the implications of choices made in these physical science components for economic assessments[1]. We present a simple breakdown of how these IAMS differently represent the climate system as a consequence of differing underlying physical models, different parametric assumptions (for parameters representing, for instance, feedbacks and ocean heat uptake) and different numerical approaches to solving the models. We present the physical and economic consequences of these differences and reflect on how we might better incorporate the latest physical science understanding in economic models of this type. [1] Calel, R. and Stainforth D.A., "On the Physics of Three Integrated Assessment Models", Bulletin of the American Meteorological Society, in press.

Behavioral economics

OpenAIRE

Camerer, Colin F.

2014-01-01

Economics, like behavioral psychology, is a science of behavior, albeit highly organized human behavior. The value of economic concepts for behavioral psychology rests on (1) their empirical validity when tested in the laboratory with individual subjects and (2) their uniqueness when compared to established behavioral concepts. Several fundamental concepts are introduced and illustrated by reference to experimental data: open and closed economies, elastic and inelastic demand, and substitutio...

A Pharmaco-Economic Analyzis of Treating Severe Uncontrolled Child Asthma with Omalizumab — Actual Russian Clinical Practice Data

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

A. S. Kolbin

2016-01-01

Full Text Available Background: Omalizumab is the first and yet the only biopreparation for asthma which combines high efficiency and high cost. The clinical-economic expediency of using omalizumab in asthmatic children has not been previously studied in Russia.Objective: Our aim was to evaluate the clinical and economic expediency of using omalizumab as additive treatment (to basic or supporting therapy in children with severe uncontrolled atopic asthma under the Russian economic conditions.Methods: We conducted a mathematical simulation of asthma treatment in children with an increased frequency of hospitalization (9 times per year with an average monthly omalizumab requirement of 558 mg. The model is based on the Markov chain. The model includes direct and non-direct costs. The planning horizons were 2 and 5 years. We analyzed the efficiency and utility of the costs and their influence on the budget. The stability of received data is proven by sensitivity analyzis.Results: Over a 5-year planning horizon the cost of an additional year of quality life (due to using omalizumab was 1,259,185 roubles, while the “society’s solvency” is 1 341 308 roubles (cost utility analizis. It takes 39,820 rubles to prevent one hospitalization with omalizumab over a 5-year planning horizon (cost efficiency analizis, which is comparable to the cost of hospitalization (43,141 rubles. Total costs for treating 100 children with asthma, 7 of which would be treated with omalizumab, were equal to the amount of money which is enough to treat 105 children without omalizumab (analysis of budgetary influence.Conclusion: The analyses of cost efficiency and utility have shown that the strategy of using omalizumab together with standard treatment is economically expedient. Budgetary influence analysis has not detected a significant burden on the budget.

Implementation of the natural resource damage assessment rule

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

1991-11-01

Regulations have been promulgated by the Department of Interior (DOI) which provide an administrative process whereby natural resource trustees may establish the type and extent of injury and evaluate the damages to natural resources. These regulations provide an optional mechanism for Natural Resource Damage Assessments (NRDAs), with four major components. A workshop was held to develop recommendations for DOE-OR regarding implementation of the DOI NRDA regulations at the Oak Ridge Reservation (ORR). The attendants were divided into three working groups to consider (1) administrative/legal requirements, (2) ecological assessments, and (3) the NRDA/economic evaluation process. This report supplies an overview of the DOI NRDA regulations as well as summaries of the consensus of each of the three working groups

Constructive and critical approach of the radiation damage simulation

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Becquart, Ch.

2002-11-01

This work deals with the problem of radiation damage in materials for applications in development of fission and nuclear fusion technologies. It is organised in 3 sections. In section 1 are presented the mechanisms of formation and the evolution kinetics of the primary damage. Section 2 is devoted to the study of the sensitivity of the radiation damage at different approximations. Section 3 discusses the contribution of the ab initio calculations to the study of radiation damage and more particularly the point defects in a dilute Fe-Cu ferritic alloy. This work is illustrated by several publications added in each section. (O.M.)

Near-infrared spectroscopy for detection of hailstorm damage on olive fruit

Science.gov (United States)

A rapid, robust, unbiased and inexpensive discriminant method capable of classifying olive fruit (Olea europaea L.) on the basis of the presence of hailstorm damage is economically important to the olive oil milling industry. Thus, in the present study, the feasibility of Near-Infrared (NIR) spectro...

Successful biological invasion despite a severe genetic load.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Amro Zayed

2007-09-01

Full Text Available Understanding the factors that influence the success of ecologically and economically damaging biological invasions is of prime importance. Recent studies have shown that invasive populations typically exhibit minimal, if any, reductions in genetic diversity, suggesting that large founding populations and/or multiple introductions are required for the success of biological invasions, consistent with predictions of the propagule pressure hypothesis. Through population genetic analysis of neutral microsatellite markers and a gene experiencing balancing selection, we demonstrate that the solitary bee Lasioglossum leucozonium experienced a single and severe bottleneck during its introduction from Europe. Paradoxically, the success of L. leucozonium in its introduced range occurred despite the severe genetic load caused by single-locus complementary sex-determination that still turns 30% of female-destined eggs into sterile diploid males, thereby substantially limiting the growth potential of the introduced population. Using stochastic modeling, we show that L. leucozonium invaded North America through the introduction of a very small number of propagules, most likely a singly-mated female. Our results suggest that chance events and ecological traits of invaders are more important than propagule pressure in determining invasion success, and that the vigilance required to prevent invasions may be considerably greater than has been previously considered.

Oxidative DNA damage & repair: An introduction.

Science.gov (United States)

Cadet, Jean; Davies, Kelvin J A

2017-06-01

This introductory article should be viewed as a prologue to the Free Radical Biology & Medicine Special Issue devoted to the important topic of Oxidatively Damaged DNA and its Repair. This special issue is dedicated to Professor Tomas Lindahl, co-winner of the 2015 Nobel Prize in Chemistry for his seminal discoveries in the area repair of oxidatively damaged DNA. In the past several years it has become abundantly clear that DNA oxidation is a major consequence of life in an oxygen-rich environment. Concomitantly, survival in the presence of oxygen, with the constant threat of deleterious DNA mutations and deletions, has largely been made possible through the evolution of a vast array of DNA repair enzymes. The articles in this Oxidatively Damaged DNA & Repair special issue detail the reactions by which intracellular DNA is oxidatively damaged, and the enzymatic reactions and pathways by which living organisms survive such assaults by repair processes. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Advanced nondestructive evaluation for creep damage

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Anon.

1987-01-01

As a result of operation at elevated temperatures, power plant components experience creep. Changes in metallurgical structure and microscopic cracking occur after periods of operation and lead to component failure. In order to detect the presence of creep and avoid creep-related failures, EPRI has just initiated a five year program entitled Advanced NDE for Creep Damage (RP 1856-7). The objective of this program is to develop NDE methods for detection and characterization of microscopic creep damage. Several NDE methods will be initially evaluated to determine their potential for detecting and characterizing such damage. These NDE methods include ultrasonics, eddy current, Barkhausen, positron annihilation, and thermal-wave imaging. A prototype system will be developed and tested for commercial applications in a follow-on project, utilizing characteristics of the best NDE method for creep detection. A brief description of the project and results of a theoretical investigation, to determine feasibility of ultrasonic NDE method, for detection of creep damage are presented

Harm to the Resources of Traditional Nature Management and Its Economic Evaluation

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Vladimir Grigoryevich Loginov

2017-06-01

Full Text Available The Yamal region occupies the fifth part of the Yamal-Nenets Autonomous District. Therefore it is one of the territories where traditional natural resource management is mainly developing. Its key branches are reindeer herding and fisheries. The major problems in the development of industries are due to an active industrial and transport exploitation of the tundra zone; the situation in reindeer husbandry caused by pasture overgrazing because of uncontrolled increase in livestock; poaching fish. Two following anthropogenic factors have a negative impact on soil and vegetation in the Yamal region: reindeer herding as the main traditional form of natural resource management of Small Indigenous People of the North (SIPN and the intensive industryrelated development of the territory (geological exploration, industry, transport, construction. Since grazing is practiced throughout the whole Yamal Peninsula, which is not occupied by industrial zones, it is the most widespread form of natural resource use and the leading factor of anthropogenic impact on Yamal’s natural territorial complexes. The primary reason for the decline in fish resources is the violation of the ecosystemic reproduction of fish resources due to their excessive catch. One of the main reasons of this is poaching. In turn, the annual increase of surplus catch is caused by the population growth, including SIPN, and the growing density of the road network providing the access to fishing grounds. The article offers the guidelines for economic damage assessment determined by the harm to the pasture resources. The authors justify the amount of compensation that repairs losses arising from their damage, which takes into account the decline in the productivity of land and the period of restoration of the economic and biological potential of pastures for the corresponding periods of years (compensation for economic damage. The economic damage assessment of the fish resources supposes

Genetic doping and health damages.

Science.gov (United States)

Fallahi, Aa; Ravasi, Aa; Farhud, Dd

2011-01-01

Use of genetic doping or gene transfer technology will be the newest and the lethal method of doping in future and have some unpleasant consequences for sports, athletes, and outcomes of competitions. The World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) defines genetic doping as "the non-therapeutic use of genes, genetic elements, and/or cells that have the capacity to enhance athletic performance ". The purpose of this review is to consider genetic doping, health damages and risks of new genes if delivered in athletes. This review, which is carried out by reviewing relevant publications, is primarily based on the journals available in GOOGLE, ELSEVIER, PUBMED in fields of genetic technology, and health using a combination of keywords (e.g., genetic doping, genes, exercise, performance, athletes) until July 2010. There are several genes related to sport performance and if they are used, they will have health risks and sever damages such as cancer, autoimmunization, and heart attack.

The management of severe accidents

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Pelce, J.; Brignon, P.

1987-01-01

In considering severe accidents in water power reactors, a major problem that arises is how to manage them in such a way that the situation can be controlled as well as possible, from the aspects both of preventing serious damage to the core of limiting the discharge of radioactivity. A number of countries have announced provisions in the field of accident management, some already set up, others planned, but these mainly apply to preventing damage to the core. Part of this report deals with this aspect, to show that there is a fairly wide consensus on how problems should be approached. Attitudes vary, on the other hand, in the approach to mitigate radioactive release. In fact, few countries have proposed concrete steps to manage severe accidents in the final stages when the core is seriously damaged. Since it is difficult to compare different approaches, only the French approach is described. This description is however very brief, because in the five or six years since it was defined, the approach has been presented many times. The stress is placed more on the comments which this type of approach suggests, to make the subsequent general discussion easier

Computer tomography in management and prognosis of patients with severe brain injury

NARCIS (Netherlands)

K.J. van Dongen

1982-01-01

textabstractThe purpose of this study is to investigate the influence of computer tomography on the management and prognosis of patients with severe traumatic brain damage. To this end a consecutive series of patients with severe brain damage was investigated by means of serial

Statistical time series methods for damage diagnosis in a scale aircraft skeleton structure: loosened bolts damage scenarios

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kopsaftopoulos, Fotis P; Fassois, Spilios D

2011-01-01

A comparative assessment of several vibration based statistical time series methods for Structural Health Monitoring (SHM) is presented via their application to a scale aircraft skeleton laboratory structure. A brief overview of the methods, which are either scalar or vector type, non-parametric or parametric, and pertain to either the response-only or excitation-response cases, is provided. Damage diagnosis, including both the detection and identification subproblems, is tackled via scalar or vector vibration signals. The methods' effectiveness is assessed via repeated experiments under various damage scenarios, with each scenario corresponding to the loosening of one or more selected bolts. The results of the study confirm the 'global' damage detection capability and effectiveness of statistical time series methods for SHM.

Abdominal penetrating trauma and organ damage and its prognosis

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Babak Abri

2016-12-01

Full Text Available Introduction: Abdominal penetrating trauma is still a serious problem in the world, due to its high prevalence in young people that impose a heavy economic burden on our country, we decided to evaluate the epidemiologic and demographic status and patient’s prognosis. Methods: This is a descriptive cross-sectional study; all patients with abdominal penetrating trauma referred to the emergency department of Imam Reza Hospital between March 2012 and March 2014 were enrolled to study. Age, sex, injured organs, mechanism of trauma and the prognosis was documented in the checklist. Data was analyzed by SPSS 15.0, and descriptive analysis was run. Results: In this study, 137 patients were enrolled; 103 patients (75.20% did not have visceral damage. In visceral injury, the spleen was most commonly injured abdominal organs (8.03%. the damage to small intestine seen in 8 patients (5.84%, kidney and liver damage seen in 6 patients (4.38% and 5 patients, respectively, and finally diaphragm and colon injury was seen in 2 patients (1.46%. Conclusion: According to a recent study, abdominal penetrating trauma mostly occurred in men. The most common cause of abdominal penetrating trauma was related to knife damage; spleen was commonly damaged organ caused by knives and other sharp objects.

The Importance of Damage Potential for Avalanche Risk Assessments

Science.gov (United States)

Keiler, M.; Fuchs, S.

2003-04-01

Risk is normally expressed as a function of recurrence probability of a process and its related damage potential. Various physical and empirical models describing the process aspect of the risk formula exist in the field of avalanche risk management while studies on damage potential are rare. Due to the changes of the socio-economic structures in mountain regions (urban sprawl, population growth, increased mobility and tourism) these studies are mandatory. This study focuses on different possibilities to obtain obligatory input parameters for multitemporal studies in settlement areas. A conceptual method that records the damage potential (probability of presence, evaluation of buildings) was developed and applied in Tyrol, Austria. A second approach, working with real-time insurance values for buildings and population growth, was tested in Grison, Switzerland. The different developments of the damage potential in the two alpine study areas are highlighted; their influences on the risk formula are discussed. The results of both studies show the advantages and disadvantages of each method, such as precision, amount of time needed and possibilities of implementing in a GIS. The results serve to improve risk determination and point out an unnoticed increase of damage potential and risk in apparently safe settlement areas.

Economic Estimation of the Losses Caused by Surface Water Pollution Accidents in China From the Perspective of Water Bodies’ Functions

Science.gov (United States)

Yao, Hong; You, Zhen; Liu, Bo

2016-01-01

The number of surface water pollution accidents (abbreviated as SWPAs) has increased substantially in China in recent years. Estimation of economic losses due to SWPAs has been one of the focuses in China and is mentioned many times in the Environmental Protection Law of China promulgated in 2014. From the perspective of water bodies’ functions, pollution accident damages can be divided into eight types: damage to human health, water supply suspension, fishery, recreational functions, biological diversity, environmental property loss, the accident’s origin and other indirect losses. In the valuation of damage to people’s life, the procedure for compensation of traffic accidents in China was used. The functional replacement cost method was used in economic estimation of the losses due to water supply suspension and loss of water’s recreational functions. Damage to biological diversity was estimated by recovery cost analysis and damage to environmental property losses were calculated using pollutant removal costs. As a case study, using the proposed calculation procedure the economic losses caused by the major Songhuajiang River pollution accident that happened in China in 2005 have been estimated at 2263 billion CNY. The estimated economic losses for real accidents can sometimes be influenced by social and political factors, such as data authenticity and accuracy. Besides, one or more aspects in the method might be overestimated, underrated or even ignored. The proposed procedure may be used by decision makers for the economic estimation of losses in SWPAs. Estimates of the economic losses of pollution accidents could help quantify potential costs associated with increased risk sources along lakes/rivers but more importantly, highlight the value of clean water to society as a whole. PMID:26805869

Economic Estimation of the Losses Caused by Surface Water Pollution Accidents in China From the Perspective of Water Bodies' Functions.

Science.gov (United States)

Yao, Hong; You, Zhen; Liu, Bo

2016-01-22

The number of surface water pollution accidents (abbreviated as SWPAs) has increased substantially in China in recent years. Estimation of economic losses due to SWPAs has been one of the focuses in China and is mentioned many times in the Environmental Protection Law of China promulgated in 2014. From the perspective of water bodies' functions, pollution accident damages can be divided into eight types: damage to human health, water supply suspension, fishery, recreational functions, biological diversity, environmental property loss, the accident's origin and other indirect losses. In the valuation of damage to people's life, the procedure for compensation of traffic accidents in China was used. The functional replacement cost method was used in economic estimation of the losses due to water supply suspension and loss of water's recreational functions. Damage to biological diversity was estimated by recovery cost analysis and damage to environmental property losses were calculated using pollutant removal costs. As a case study, using the proposed calculation procedure the economic losses caused by the major Songhuajiang River pollution accident that happened in China in 2005 have been estimated at 2263 billion CNY. The estimated economic losses for real accidents can sometimes be influenced by social and political factors, such as data authenticity and accuracy. Besides, one or more aspects in the method might be overestimated, underrated or even ignored. The proposed procedure may be used by decision makers for the economic estimation of losses in SWPAs. Estimates of the economic losses of pollution accidents could help quantify potential costs associated with increased risk sources along lakes/rivers but more importantly, highlight the value of clean water to society as a whole.

Economic Estimation of the Losses Caused by Surface Water Pollution Accidents in China From the Perspective of Water Bodies’ Functions

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Hong Yao

2016-01-01

Full Text Available The number of surface water pollution accidents (abbreviated as SWPAs has increased substantially in China in recent years. Estimation of economic losses due to SWPAs has been one of the focuses in China and is mentioned many times in the Environmental Protection Law of China promulgated in 2014. From the perspective of water bodies’ functions, pollution accident damages can be divided into eight types: damage to human health, water supply suspension, fishery, recreational functions, biological diversity, environmental property loss, the accident’s origin and other indirect losses. In the valuation of damage to people’s life, the procedure for compensation of traffic accidents in China was used. The functional replacement cost method was used in economic estimation of the losses due to water supply suspension and loss of water’s recreational functions. Damage to biological diversity was estimated by recovery cost analysis and damage to environmental property losses were calculated using pollutant removal costs. As a case study, using the proposed calculation procedure the economic losses caused by the major Songhuajiang River pollution accident that happened in China in 2005 have been estimated at 2263 billion CNY. The estimated economic losses for real accidents can sometimes be influenced by social and political factors, such as data authenticity and accuracy. Besides, one or more aspects in the method might be overestimated, underrated or even ignored. The proposed procedure may be used by decision makers for the economic estimation of losses in SWPAs. Estimates of the economic losses of pollution accidents could help quantify potential costs associated with increased risk sources along lakes/rivers but more importantly, highlight the value of clean water to society as a whole.

Cost-benefit analysis of a green electricity system in Japan considering the indirect economic impacts of tropical cyclones

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Esteban, Miguel; Zhang, Qi; Longarte-Galnares, Gorka

2012-01-01

Global warming is likely to profoundly influence future weather patterns, and one consequence of this is the likelihood of an increase in tropical cyclone intensity. The present paper presents a cost-benefit analysis of introducing significant amounts of green energy in the electricity system in Japan in the light of the economic damage that an increase in tropical cyclone intensity could have on GDP growth between 2010 and 2085. Essentially the passage of a tropical cyclone will result not only in physical damage but also on a decrease in economic productivity due to precautionary cessation of the economic activity, which has an effect on GDP growth. By comparing the economic performance of different electricity system scenarios with the indirect economic damage of tropical cyclones from 2010 to 2085, based on the yearly economic data of green electricity, fossil fuel, GDP and population, it can be seen that the green scenarios are generally a cost-effective way of mitigating the effects of these weather systems, despite the large amount of initial investments necessary. - Highlights: ► Climate change is likely to increase the future strength of tropical cyclones. ► An increase in tropical cyclone strength would reduce GDP growth in Japan. ► Reducing green-house gas emissions is a cost-effective mitigation strategy.

Democratising the global economy by ecologicalising economics. The example of global warming

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Jenkins, T.N.

1996-01-01

The aim of this paper is to show that continued reliance on an unreconstructed neo-classical economic model for human progress is largely responsible for an economic development path which is both unsustainable and undemocratic. Using the topical issue of global warming as an illustration, it is argued that the ecologicalisation of the economics discipline challenges the foundations of this strategy and promises, among other benefits, a more democratic global economic organisation. The data analysed in this paper suggest that the damage of global warming is directly attributable to economic activity, the benefits of economic growth go to the economically articulate, and the disbenefits in terms of environmental damage are borne by the economically inarticulate. Mainstream economics gives no answer to, and becomes a method for evading, this moral problem. The data also show that huge increases in energy efficiency are required if a basically unchanged world economic system is to be sustainable. Nevertheless, the predominant goal of development policy is to ignore the problem of scale and to promote an economic model of urbanised development in the 'developing' countries which carries the implication (and the promise) that the rates of resource consumption typical in 'developed' countries can be achieved globally. An alternative development model is presented which includes the recognition that, in ecological terms, 'developed' countries are in debt to 'developing' countries, largely because of the way in which economic growth is measured gross of externalised social and environmental costs. A method is suggested for calculating part of this ecological debt for individual countries, thus going some way towards quantifying the extent of the distortions in the current global political economy and the unsustainability of the present economic order

Evaluating Post-Earthquake Building Safety Using Economical MEMS Seismometers.

Science.gov (United States)

Hsu, Ting-Yu; Yin, Ren-Cheng; Wu, Yih-Min

2018-05-05

The earthquake early warning (EEW)-research group at National Taiwan University has been developing a microelectromechanical system-based accelerometer called “P-Alert”, designed for issuing EEWs. The main advantage of P-Alert is that it is a relatively economical seismometer. However, because of the expensive nature of commercial hardware for structural health monitoring (SHM) systems, the application of SHM to buildings remains limited. To determine the performance of P-Alert for evaluating post-earthquake building safety, we conducted a series of steel-frame shaking table tests with incremental damage. We used the fragility curves of different damage levels and the interstory drift ratios (calculated by the measured acceleration of each story using double integration and a filter) to gauge the potential damage levels. We concluded that the acceptable detection of damage for an entire building is possible. With improvements to the synchronization of the P-Alert sensors, we also anticipate a damage localization feature for the stories of a building.

Recent Advances in Durability and Damage Tolerance Methodology at NASA Langley Research Center

Science.gov (United States)

Ransom, J. B.; Glaessgen, E. H.; Raju, I. S.; Harris, C. E.

2007-01-01

Durability and damage tolerance (D&DT) issues are critical to the development of lighter, safer and more efficient aerospace vehicles. Durability is largely an economic life-cycle design consideration whereas damage tolerance directly addresses the structural airworthiness (safety) of the vehicle. Both D&DT methodologies must address the deleterious effects of changes in material properties and the initiation and growth of damage that may occur during the vehicle s service lifetime. The result of unanticipated D&DT response is often manifested in the form of catastrophic and potentially fatal accidents. As such, durability and damage tolerance requirements must be rigorously addressed for commercial transport aircraft and NASA spacecraft systems. This paper presents an overview of the recent and planned future research in durability and damage tolerance analytical and experimental methods for both metallic and composite aerospace structures at NASA Langley Research Center (LaRC).

Predicting TDN losses from heat damaged hays and haylages with NIR

Science.gov (United States)

During the storage of hay or haylage, heating damage may occur and lead to losses of available protein and digestible nutrients. Recent research indicates that losses of TDN may be more significant economically than losses of available protein. Our objectives for this study were to establish a near-...

The Economic Value of Climate Science

Science.gov (United States)

Wielicki, B. A.; Cooke, R.; Young, D. F.; Mlynczak, M. G.

2012-12-01

While demonstrating the economic value of science is challenging, it can be more direct for some Earth observations. For example, suppose a climate science mission can yield decisive information on climate change within a shortened time frame. How much should society be willing to pay for this knowledge today? The US interagency memo on the social cost of carbon (SCC) provides a standard for valuing damages from carbon emissions. We illustrate how value of information (VOI) calculations can be used to monetize the relative value of different climate observations. We follow the SCC, stipulating uncertainty in climate sensitivity, using discount rates of 2.5%, 3% and 5%, and using one of the Integrated Assessment Models sanctioned in SCC (DICE, Nordhaus 2008). We consider three mitigation scenarios: Business as Usual (BAU), a moderate response (DICE Optimal), and a strong response (Stern). To illustrate results, suppose that we would switch from BAU to the Stern emissions path if we learn with 90% confidence that the decadal rate of temperature change reaches or exceeds 0.2 C/decade. Under the SCC assumptions, the year in which this happens, if it happens, depends on uncertain climate sensitivity and on the emissions path. The year in which we become 90% certain also depends on our Earth observations, their accuracy, and their completeness. The resolving power of a climate observing system cannot exceed climate system natural variability. All climate observations add noise to natural variability caused by observing limitations, including calibration errors and space/time sampling uncertainty. The basic concept is that more accurate observations can advance the time for societal decisions. The economic value of the resulting averted damages depends on the discount rate, and the years in which the damages occur. A new climate observation would be economically justified if the net present value (NPV) of the difference in averted damages, relative to the existing systems

Damage control in orthopedics and traumatology

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Martinez R, Alfredo

2006-01-01

The damage control allows the clinician to institute a rapid process that avoids early death from over aggressive treatment of an injury and lack of attention to the underlying physiological state of victim. This concept allows rapid control and support of the patients underlying physiological condition in an attempt to avoid the triad of death: bleeding, hypothermia and metabolic acidosis. We revised the several indications to damage control in orthopedics in the patients with polytrauma, isolated extremity injury as femur fracture, and the geriatric patients and crane cephalic trauma

Modularity and Economic Organization

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Sanchez, Ron; Mahoney, Joseph T.

This paper addresses modularity as a basis for organizing economic activity. We first define the key concepts of architecture and of modularity as a special form of architecture. We then suggest how modular systems of all types may exhibit several properties of fundamental importance to the organ......This paper addresses modularity as a basis for organizing economic activity. We first define the key concepts of architecture and of modularity as a special form of architecture. We then suggest how modular systems of all types may exhibit several properties of fundamental importance...... to the organization of economic activities, including greater adaptability and evolvability than systems that lack modular properties. We draw extensively on our original 1996 paper on modularity and subsequent research to suggest broad theoretical implications of modularity for (i) firms' product strategies...... markets. We also discuss an evolutionary perspective on modularity as an emergent phenomenon in firms and industries. We explain how modularity as a relatively new field of strategy and economic research may provide a new theoretical perspective on economic organizing that has significant potential...

Radiation damage in plastic scintillators

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Majewski, S.

1990-01-01

Results of radiation damage studies in plastic scintillators are reviewed and critically analyzed from the point of view of applications of plastic scintillators in calorimetric detectors for the SSC. Damage to transmission and to fluorescent yield in different conditions is discussed. New directions in R ampersand D are outlined. Several examples are given of the most recent data on the new scintillating materials made with old and new plastics and fluors, which are exhibiting significantly improved radiation resistance. With a present rate of a vigorous R D programme, the survival limits in the vicinity of 100 MRad seem to be feasible within a couple of years

Causes and consequences of the sinkhole at El Trébol of Quito, Ecuador - implications for economic damage and risk assessment

Science.gov (United States)

Toulkeridis, Theofilos; Rodríguez, Fabián; Arias Jiménez, Nelson; Simón Baile, Débora; Salazar Martínez, Rodolfo; Addison, Aaron; Carreón Freyre, Dora; Mato, Fernando; Díaz Perez, Carmen

2016-09-01

The so-called El Trébol is a critical road interchange in Quito connecting the north and south regions of the city. In addition, it connects Quito with the highly populated Los Chillos Valley, one of the most traveled zones in the Ecuadorian capital. El Trébol was constructed in the late 1960s in order to resolve the traffic jams of the capital city and for that purpose the Machángara River was rerouted through an underground concrete box tunnel. In March 2008, the tunnel contained a high amount of discarded furniture that had been impacting the top portion of the tunnel, compromising the structural integrity. On 31 March 2008 after a heavy rainfall a sinkhole of great proportions formed in the Trébol traffic hub. In the first few minutes, the sinkhole reached an initial diameter of 30 m. The collapse continued to grow in the following days until the final dimensions of 120 m in diameter and some 40 m of depth, revealing the Machángara River at the base of the sinkhole.A state of emergency was declared. The cause of the sinkhole was a result of the lack of monitoring of the older subterranean infrastructure where trash had accumulated and damaged the concrete tunnel that channelized the Machángara River until it was worn away for a length of some 20 m, leaving behind the sinkhole and the fear of recurrence in populated areas.With the intent to understand the causes and consequences of this sinkhole event, rainfall data are shown together with hydrogeological characteristics and a view back to the recent history of sinkhole lineation or arrangement of the city of Quito. The economic impact is also emphasized, where the direct costs of the damage and the reconstruction are presented and compared to indirect costs associated with this socio-natural disaster. These analyses suggest that the costs of indirect financial damage, like time loss or delay, and subsequent higher expenses for different types of vehicles, are equivalent to many times the costs of the

Creating a Chinese-style coal-industry economic system

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Gao, Y

1985-04-25

Efforts to keep China's coal industry financially healthy and to continue increasing production also created problems in terms of output, transport, environmental damage, accidents, and labor pressures. In addition to the historical and economic reasons for these pressures, inadequate leadership and policy errors made things worse. An analysis suggests three problems: (1) an inequitable division of duties between government and business, (2) a neglected marketplace, and (3) the dominance of egalitarianism. The report relates these problems to the production of coal and a package of reforms which restructured the economic system of the industry to give it more autonomy and economic responsibility. The reforms emphasize rational pricing and use of coal as well as management of the industry.

Behavior of Frame-Stiffened Composite Panels with Damage

Science.gov (United States)

Jegley, Dawn C.

2013-01-01

NASA, the Air Force Research Laboratory and The Boeing Company have worked to develop new low-cost, light-weight composite structures for aircraft. A Pultruded Rod Stitched Efficient Unitized Structure (PRSEUS) concept has been developed which offers advantages over traditional metallic structures. In this concept, a stitched carbon-epoxy material system has been developed with the potential for reducing the weight and cost of transport aircraft structure by eliminating fasteners, thereby reducing part count and labor. Stitching and the use of thin skins with rod-stiffeners to move loading away from the morevulnerable outer surface produces a structurally efficient, damage tolerant design. This study focuses on the behavior of PRSEUS panels loaded in the frame direction and subjected to severe damage in the form of a severed central frame in a three-frame panel. Experimental results for a pristine two-frame panel and analytical predictions for pristine two-frame and three-frame panels as well as damaged three-frame panels are described.

Laser induced damage threshold on metallic surfaces during laser cleaning

CSIR Research Space (South Africa)

Labuschagne, K

2005-07-01

Full Text Available laser paint removal. Laser induced damage on 316L stainless steel was studied, with the target subjected to single and multiple pulse irradiations using a Q-switched Nd:YAG, with fluences between 0.15 and 11.8 J/cm2. Several different damage morphologies...

Radiation damage studies of nuclear structural materials

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Barat, P.

2012-01-01

Maximum utilization of fuel in nuclear reactors is one of the important aspects for operating them economically. The main hindrance to achieve this higher burnups of nuclear fuel for the nuclear reactors is the possibility of the failure of the metallic core components during their operation. Thus, the study of the cause of the possibility of failure of these metallic structural materials of nuclear reactors during full power operation due to radiation damage, suffered inside the reactor core, is an important field of studies bearing the basic to industrial scientific views.The variation of the microstructure of the metallic core components of the nuclear reactors due to radiation damage causes enormous variation in the structure and mechanical properties. A firm understanding of this variation of the mechanical properties with the variation of microstructure will serve as a guide for creating new, more radiation-tolerant materials. In our centre we have irradiated structural materials of Indian nuclear reactors by charged particles from accelerator to generate radiation damage and studied the some aspects of the variation of microstructure by X-ray diffraction studies. Results achieved in this regards, will be presented. (author)

Comparison of european computer codes relative to the aerosol behavior in PWR containment buildings during severe core damage accidents. (Modelling of steam condensation on the particles)

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Bunz, H.; Dunbar, L.H.; Fermandjian, J.; Lhiaubet, G.

1987-11-01

An aerosol code comparison exercise was performed within the framework of the Commission of European Communities (Division of Safety of Nuclear Installations). This exercise, focused on the process of steam condensation onto the aerosols occurring in PWR containment buildings during severe core damage accidents, has allowed to understand the discrepancies between the results obtained. These discrepancies are due, in particular, to whether the curvature effect is modelled or not in the codes

CORA-13 experiment on severe fuel damage

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Firnhaber, M.; Trambauer, K.; Hagen, S.; Hofmann, P.; Schanz, G.; Sepold, L.

1993-07-01

The major objectives of the experiment were to investigate the behavior of PWR fuel elements during early core degradation and fast cooldown due to refill. Measured quantities are boundary conditions, bundle temperatures, hydrogen generation and the final bundle configuration. Boundary conditions which could not be measured, but which are necessary for simplified test simulation (axial power profile, shroud insulation temperature, bundle refill flow) were estimated using ATHLET-CD. The capability of the codes in calculating the main degradation phenomena has been clearly illustrated and weaknesses concerning the modelling of some degradation processes have been identified. Among the degradation phenomena involved in the test, the more severe limitations concern the UO 2 -ZrO 2 dissolution by molten Zr, the solubility limits in the resulting U-Zr-O mixture and the cladding failure by the molten mixture. There is a lack concerning the Inconel spacer-grid interactions with the rods, the material interaction between control rod material and fuel rods, and in the modelling of hydrogen generation during cooldown. (orig./DG)

The Social and Economic Impacts of Space Weather (US Project)

Science.gov (United States)

Pulkkinen, A. A.; Bisi, M. M.; Webb, D. F.; Oughton, E. J.; Worman, S. L.; Taylor, S. M.; Onsager, T. G.; Adkins, J. E.; Baker, D. N.; Forbes, K. F.; Basoli, D.; Griot, O.

2017-12-01

The National Space Weather Action Plan calls for new research into the social and economic impacts of space weather and for the development of quantitative estimates of potential costs. In response to this call, NOAA's Space Weather Prediction Center (SWPC) and Abt Associates are working together to identify, describe, and quantify the impact of space weather to U.S. interests. This study covers impacts resulting from both moderate and severe space weather events across four technological sectors: Electric power, commercial aviation, satellites, and Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) users. It captures the full range of potential impacts, identified from an extensive literature review and from additional conversations with more than 50 sector stakeholders of diverse expertise from engineering to operations to end users. We organize and discuss our findings in terms of five broad but interrelated impact categories including Defensive Investments, Mitigating Actions, Asset Damages, Service Interruptions, and Health Effects. We also present simple, tractable estimates of the potential costs where we focused on quantifying a subset of all identified impacts that are apt to be largest and are also most plausible during moderate and more severe space weather scenarios. We hope that our systematic exploration of the social and economic impacts provides a foundation for the future work that is critical for designing technologies, developing procedures, and implementing policies that can effectively reduce our known and evolving vulnerabilities to this natural hazard.

Radiation damage of structural materials

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Koutsky, J.; Kocik, J.

1994-01-01

Maintaining the integrity of nuclear power plants (NPP) is critical in the prevention or control of severe accidents. This monograph deals with both basic groups of structural materials used in the design of light-water nuclear reactors, making the primary safety barriers of NPPs. Emphasis is placed on materials used in VVER-type nuclear reactors: Cr-Mo-V and Cr-Ni-Mo-V steel for reactor pressure vessels (RPV) and Zr-Nb alloys for fuel element cladding. The book is divided into seven main chapters, with the exception of the opening one and the chapter providing phenomenological background for the subject of radiation damage. Chapters 3-6 are devoted to RPV steels and chapters 7-9 to zirconium alloys, analyzing their radiation damage structure, changes of mechanical properties due to neutron irradiation as well as factors influencing the degree of their performance degradation. The recovery of damaged materials is also discussed. Considerable attention is paid to a comparison of VVER-type and western-type light-water materials

Drought damage to bushveld trees and large shrubs | JJP | African ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

An intensive survey was carried out in Sweet Bushveld (savanna) to study drought damage to the trees and large shrubs in a Combretum apiculatum community. In general, the severity of damage was less than was expected and its pattern differed markedly between the 21 different species encountered. Keywords: ...

Economic losses to buildings due to tsunami impact: the case of Rhodes city, Greece

Science.gov (United States)

Triantafyllou, Ioanna; Novikova, Tatyana; Papadopoulos, Gerassimos

2017-04-01

The expected economic losses to buildings due to the tsunami impact is of particular importance for the tsunami risk management. However, only few efforts can be found in this direction. In this study we approached this issue selecting the city of Rhodes Isl., Greece, as a test-site. The methodological steps followed include (a) selection of worst case scenario in the study area based on the tsunami history of the area which includes several powerful events, e.g. 142 AD, 1303, 1481, 1609, 1741, (b) numerical simulation of the tsunami and determination of the inundation zone, (c) application of the DAMASCHE empirical tool, produced by the SCHEMA EU-FP6 project, for the calculation of the damage level expected at each one of the buildings as a function of the water depth in the inundation area, (d) calculation of the buildings that would need reparation after partial damage and of those that would need reconstruction after total destruction, (e) calculation of the cost implied for both reparation and reconstruction. The several data sets which are needed for the execution of these steps, are susceptible to uncertainties and, therefore, the final results are quite sensitive to changes of the data sets. Alternative costs were calculated by taking into account the several uncertainties involved. This research is a contribution to the EU-FP7 tsunami research project ASTARTE (Assessment, Strategy And Risk Reduction for Tsunamis in Europe), grant agreement no: 603839, 2013-10-30.

Effectiveness of Percutaneous Celiac Plexus Ablation in the Treatment of Severe Cancer Pain in Upper Abdomen and Evaluation of Health Economics.

Science.gov (United States)

Cao, Jun; He, Yang; Liu, Hongqiang; Wang, Saibo; Zhao, Baocheng; Zheng, Xiaohui; Yang, Kai; Xie, Donghao

2017-03-01

To compare the effectiveness, adverse effects, and cost-effectiveness of percutaneous neurolytic celiac plexus block (NCPB) versus traditional medication strategies for the treatment of patients with advanced cancer having severe upper abdominal cancer pain. This retrospective study included 81 patients with advanced upper abdominal cancer admitted to The Sixth People's Hospital Affiliated to Shanghai Jiaotong University between January 2013 and July 2014. The patients were divided into percutaneous NCPB (treatment) and medication for pain (control) groups. The outcomes were measured in terms of Numeric Rating Scale (NRS) score and Karnofsky Performance Status (KPS) score before treatment and on the 3rd, 7th, 14th, and 28th days posttreatment. The effectiveness and cost-effectiveness of the therapy were assessed using analysis of the health economics. The improvements in NRS score (1.42 ± 1.09 vs 4.03 ± 0.96, P economics evaluation revealed that the medicine-specific costs and total health care costs were significantly reduced in the treatment group compared to the control group ( P .05) were seen in the costs of hospitalization, examinations, and treatment. The percutaneous NCPB method shows promising results and better cost-effectiveness for treating patients with advanced cancer having severe upper abdominal pain.

Physical and economic consequences of climate change in Europe

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Ciscar, J.C.; Iglesias, A.; Feyen, L.; Szabo, L.; Regemorter, van D.; Amelung, B.; Nicholls, R.; Watkiss, P.; Christensen, O.B.; Dankers, R.; Garrote, L.; Goodess, C.M.; Hunt, A.; Moreno, A.; Richards, J.; Soria, A.

2011-01-01

Quantitative estimates of the economic damages of climate change usually are based on aggregate relationships linking average temperature change to loss in gross domestic product (GDP). However, there is a clear need for further detail in the regional and sectoral dimensions of impact assessments to

Irradiation damage behavior of low alloy steel wrought and weld materials

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Stofanak, R.J.; Poskie, T.J.; Li, Y.Y.; Wire, G.L.

1993-01-01

A study was undertaken to evaluate the irradiation damage response of several different types of low alloy steel: vintage type ASTM A302 Grade B (A302B) plates and welds containing different Ni and Cu concentrations, 3.5% Ni steels similar to ASTM A508 Class 4, welds containing about 1% Ni (similar to type 105S), and 3.5% Ni steels with ''superclean'' composition. All materials were irradiated at several different irradiation damage levels ranging from 0.0003 to 0.06 dpa at 232C (450F). Complete Charpy V-notch impact energy transition temperature curves were generated for all materials before and after irradiation to determine transition temperature at 4IJ (30 ft-lb) or 47J (35 ft-lb) and the upper shelf energy. Irradiation damage behavior was measured by shift in Charpy 41J or 47J transition temperature (ΔTT4 41J or ΔTT 47J ) and lowering of upper shelf Charpy energy at a given irradiation damage level. It was found that chemical composition greatly influenced irradiation damage behavior; highest irradiation damage (greatest ΔTT) was found in an A302B type weld containing 1.28% Ni and 0.20% Cu while the least damage was found in 3.5% Ni, 0.05% Cu, superclean wrought materials. Combination of Ni and Cu was found to affect irradiation damage behavior at higher irradiation damage levels in the A302B welds where the 1.28% Ni, 0.20% Cu weld showed more damage than a 0.60% Ni, 0.31% Cu weld. For the 3.5% Ni steels, fabrication influenced irradiation behavior in that a silicon (Si) killed material showed greater irradiation damage than a low silicon material. In general, the 3.5% Ni materials with low copper showed less irradiation damage than the A302B materials

Damage preventing measures for wind turbines. Phase 1- Reliability data

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Carlsson, Fredrik; Eriksson, Emil; Dahlberg, Magnus

2010-08-15

The state of existing reliability and failure data in the public sources has been investigated. The prime goal has been to evaluate the data's usefulness for developing damage preventing measures. Some publicly available databases exist, and the data has been presented in several papers in the literature. The results from the investigation can seem quite negative. Detailed data are lacking and the level of detailed reporting has even been decreasing in recent years. Information on the impact of load condition on failures, which is an important question, are lacking throughout in the statistics. Some components dominate the failure statistics. These are for example the gearboxes, where failures lead to long down times. Failures of the electrical system lead to considerably shorter down times but the failure rate is much higher. Severe rotor failures seem to be rare, but they occur and the consequences can be dramatic. Operators and insurance companies are demanding improved insight in damage collection, maintenance and overall damage preventing measures. Closer cooperation with these parties could be a fruitful way of gathering more useful data. Improvements for future databases are suggested. A structure for damage collection is proposed. Comparing experience of damage preventing measures from other industries, knowledge about the nature of the damage mechanism and current practice in the wind industry will be an important tool in the evaluation of different damage preventing measures. This will be done in the following phases of this project

Localization of Transversal Cracks in Sandwich Beams and Evaluation of Their Severity

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

G. R. Gillich

2014-01-01

Full Text Available An algorithm to assess transversal cracks in composite structures based on natural frequency changes due to damage is proposed. The damage assessment is performed in two steps; first the crack location is found, and afterwards an evaluation of its severity is performed. The technique is based on a mathematical relation that provides the exact solution for the frequency changes of bending vibration modes, considering two terms. The first term is related to the strain energy stored in the beam, while the second term considers the increase of flexibility due to damage. Thus, it is possible to separate the problems of localization and severity assessment, which makes the localization process independent of the beams cross-section shape and boundary conditions. In fact, the process consists of comparing vectors representing the measured frequency shifts with patterns constructed using the mode shape curvatures of the undamaged beam. Once the damage is localized, the evaluation of its severity is made taking into account the global rigidity reduction. The damage identification algorithm was validated by experiments performed on numerous sandwich panel specimens.

A reliable, practical, and economical protocol for inducing diarrhea and severe dehydration in the neonatal calf.

Science.gov (United States)

Walker, P G; Constable, P D; Morin, D E; Drackley, J K; Foreman, J H; Thurmon, J C

1998-07-01

Fifteen healthy, colostrum-fed, male dairy calves, aged 2 to 7 d were used in a study to develop a diarrhea protocol for neonatal calves that is reliable, practical, and economical. After instrumentation and recording baseline data, diarrhea and dehydration were induced by administering milk replacer [16.5 mL/kg of body weight (BW), PO], sucrose (2 g/kg in a 20% aqueous solution, p.o.), spironolactone and hydrochlorothiazide (1 mg/kg, PO) every 8 h, and furosemide (2 mg/kg, i.m., q6h). Calves were administered sucrose and diuretic agents for 48 h to induce diarrhea and severe dehydration. Clinical changes after 48 h were severe watery diarrhea, severe depression, and marked dehydration (mean, 14% BW loss). Cardiac output, stroke volume, mean central venous pressure, plasma volume, thiocyanate space, blood pH and bicarbonate concentration, base excess, serum chloride concentration, and fetlock temperature were decreased. Plasma lactate concentration, hematocrit, and serum potassium, creatinine, phosphorus, total protein and albumin concentrations were increased. This non-infectious calf diarrhea protocol has a 100% response rate, while providing a consistent and predictable hypovolemic state with diarrhea that reflects most of the clinicopathologic changes observed in osmotic/maldigestive diarrhea caused by infection with rotavirus, coronavirus or cryptosporidia. Limitations of the protocol, when compared to infectious diarrhea models, include failure to induce a severe metabolic acidosis, absence of hyponatremia, renal instead of enteric loss of chloride, renal as well as enteric loss of free water, absence of profound clinical depression and suspected differences in the morphologic and functional effect on intestinal epithelium. Despite these differences, the sucrose/diuretic protocol should be useful in the initial screening of new treatment modalities for calf diarrhea. To confirm their efficacy, the most effective treatment methods should then be examined in

Economic value of U.S. fossil fuel electricity health impacts.

Science.gov (United States)

Machol, Ben; Rizk, Sarah

2013-02-01

Fossil fuel energy has several externalities not accounted for in the retail price, including associated adverse human health impacts, future costs from climate change, and other environmental damages. Here, we quantify the economic value of health impacts associated with PM(2.5) and PM(2.5) precursors (NO(x) and SO(2)) on a per kilowatt hour basis. We provide figures based on state electricity profiles, national averages and fossil fuel type. We find that the economic value of improved human health associated with avoiding emissions from fossil fuel electricity in the United States ranges from a low of $0.005-$0.013/kWh in California to a high of $0.41-$1.01/kWh in Maryland. When accounting for the adverse health impacts of imported electricity, the California figure increases to $0.03-$0.07/kWh. Nationally, the average economic value of health impacts associated with fossil fuel usage is $0.14-$0.35/kWh. For coal, oil, and natural gas, respectively, associated economic values of health impacts are $0.19-$0.45/kWh, $0.08-$0.19/kWh, and $0.01-$0.02/kWh. For coal and oil, these costs are larger than the typical retail price of electricity, demonstrating the magnitude of the externality. When the economic value of health impacts resulting from air emissions is considered, our analysis suggests that on average, U.S. consumers of electricity should be willing to pay $0.24-$0.45/kWh for alternatives such as energy efficiency investments or emission-free renewable sources that avoid fossil fuel combustion. The economic value of health impacts is approximately an order of magnitude larger than estimates of the social cost of carbon for fossil fuel electricity. In total, we estimate that the economic value of health impacts from fossil fuel electricity in the United States is $361.7-886.5 billion annually, representing 2.5-6.0% of the national GDP. Published by Elsevier Ltd.

Mining-induced surface damage and the study of countermeasures

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Cui Jixian

1994-01-01

Coal constitutes China's major energy resource. The majority of the coal is produced from underground mining operations. Surface subsidence may amount to 80% of the thickness of the seam mined, while the subsided volume is around 60% of the mined volume underground. An area of 20 hectares of land will be affected with each 1 million tons of coal mined, thereby causing severe surface damage. Following a description of the characteristics of surface damages due to underground mining disturbance, this paper elaborates on the damage prediction method, standards applied for evaluating the damages experienced by surface buildings, land reclamation methods in subsided area, measures for reinforcing and protecting buildings in mining-affected areas, and performance of antideformation buildings

Lesiones torácicas graves y el enfoque del control de daños Severe thoracic lesions and the damage control approach

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Mario Miguel Morales Wong

2008-03-01

Full Text Available En los últimos años se han desarrollado nuevas estrategias para el tratamiento del trauma grave con lesiones exanguinantes o sin ellas, pero son estas últimas las que más requieren un cambio de la forma de actuar en aras de mejorar la supervivencia. Tales estrategias quirúrgicas se han denominado cirugía de control de daños, que en esencia evita complicaciones como la tríada letal de acidosis, hipotermia y coagulopatía. A diferencia del control de daños en el abdomen, existen lesiones torácicas que requieren una reparación inicial durante el acto quirúrgico, pero pueden hallarse otras cuya reparación puede ser secundaria. El método de control de daños en las lesiones torácicas debe llevarse a cabo con procedimientos que sean técnicamente rápidos y simples, para postergar el tratamiento definitivo de las lesiones que no requieran una reparación inmediata en pacientes in extremisNew strategies have been developed in the last years to treat severe trauma with exsanguinating lesions or without them. The latter demand more changes in the way of acting in order to improve survival. Such surgical strategies have been called damage control surgery that in essence prevent complications such as the lethal triad of acidosis, hypothermia and coagulopathy. Unlike the control of abdomen damage, there are thoracic lesions requiring an initial repair during surgery, but there may be found others, whose repair is secondary. The damage control method in the thoracic lesions should be conducted with technically fast and simple procedures to postpone the definitive treatment of the lesions that do not require an immediate repair in patients in extremis

Vulnerability Assessment of Housing Damage in the Philippines Due to an Increase Increase in Typhoon Intensity

Science.gov (United States)

Esteban, Miguel; Stromberg, Per; Gasparatos, Alexandros

2010-05-01

It is currently feared that the increase in surface sea temperature resulting from increasing level of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere could result in higher tropical cyclone intensity in the future. Although the vulnerability of infrastructure and economic systems have been studied for a number of developed countries, very little work has been done on developing countries. The present work first attempts to evaluate the vulnerability of different regions in the Philippines to the passage of tropical cyclones. To this effect a total of 22 typhoons and tropical storms that affected the Philippines were analysed for the period 2003-2008. The data used was collected by the National Disaster Coordinating Council of the Philippines, who issue "SitRep" NDCC Reports after each major storm. This agency provides damage data for each region, including number of casualties, affected people, damaged and destroyed houses, and losses in the infrastructure and agriculture. The likely economic effects of increased typhoon intensity by using a Monte Carlo Simulation that magnifies the intensity of historical tropical cyclones between the years 1978 and 2008 to simulate the economic damage by 2085. The methodology used is based on the work of Esteban et al. (2009), which in turn uses the results of Knutson and Tuleya (2004) for the estimation of the increase in tropical cyclone intensity in 2085. The results show that downtime could increase from a national 1% to 1.3% by 2050 if economic and population growth are taken into account (29 to 36bn USD, from a total GDP of 2,757bn USD by 2050). If these are ignored the time lost each year can be estimated to cost around 630m USD (PPP) for the control scenario, which could increase to between 766m or 945mm USD by the year 2085 for the two different scenarios considered. This indirect damage depends on the geographical location and is for example higher in some areas of the northern island of Luzon, while the island of Mindanao in the

Structural Integrity Evaluation for Damaged Fuel Canister of a Research Reactor

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Oh, Jinho; Kwak, Jinsung; Lee, Sangjin; Lee, Jongmin; Ryu, Jeong-Soo

2016-01-01

The purpose of this document is to confirm the structural integrity of damaged fuel canister through the numerical simulation. The analysis results of canister including damaged fuel are evaluated with design limits of the ASME Sec. III NF Codes and Standards. The main function of canister is to store and protect the damaged fuel assembly generated from the operation of the research reactor. The canister is classified into safety class NNS (Non-nuclear Safety) and seismic category II. The shape of the canister is designed into commercialized circular tube due to economic benefit and easy manufacturing. The damaged fuel assembly is loaded in a dedicated canister by using special tool and supported by lower block in the canister. Then it is move into the damaged fuel storage rack under safeguards arrangements. The canister is securely supported at guide plate and base plate of rack. The structural integrity evaluation for the canister is performed by using response spectrum analysis. The analysis results show that the stress intensity of the canister under the seismic loads is within the ASME Code limits. Thus, the validity of the present design of the canister has been demonstrated

Structural Integrity Evaluation for Damaged Fuel Canister of a Research Reactor

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Oh, Jinho; Kwak, Jinsung; Lee, Sangjin; Lee, Jongmin; Ryu, Jeong-Soo [Korea Atomic Energy Research Institute, Daejeon (Korea, Republic of)

2016-10-15

The purpose of this document is to confirm the structural integrity of damaged fuel canister through the numerical simulation. The analysis results of canister including damaged fuel are evaluated with design limits of the ASME Sec. III NF Codes and Standards. The main function of canister is to store and protect the damaged fuel assembly generated from the operation of the research reactor. The canister is classified into safety class NNS (Non-nuclear Safety) and seismic category II. The shape of the canister is designed into commercialized circular tube due to economic benefit and easy manufacturing. The damaged fuel assembly is loaded in a dedicated canister by using special tool and supported by lower block in the canister. Then it is move into the damaged fuel storage rack under safeguards arrangements. The canister is securely supported at guide plate and base plate of rack. The structural integrity evaluation for the canister is performed by using response spectrum analysis. The analysis results show that the stress intensity of the canister under the seismic loads is within the ASME Code limits. Thus, the validity of the present design of the canister has been demonstrated.

NOx emissions from large point sources: variability in ozone production, resulting health damages and economic costs

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Mauzerall, D.L.; Namsoug Kim

2005-01-01

We present a proof-of-concept analysis of the measurement of the health damage of ozone (O 3 ) produced from nitrogen oxides (NO x =NO+NO 2 ) emitted by individual large point sources in the eastern United States. We use a regional atmospheric model of the eastern United States, the Comprehensive Air quality Model with Extensions (CAMx), to quantify the variable impact that a fixed quantity of NO x emitted from individual sources can have on the downwind concentration of surface O 3 , depending on temperature and local biogenic hydrocarbon emissions. We also examine the dependence of resulting O 3 -related health damages on the size of the exposed population. The investigation is relevant to the increasingly widely used 'cap and trade' approach to NO x regulation, which presumes that shifts of emission over time and space, holding the total fixed over the course of the summer O 3 season, will have minimal effect on the environmental outcome. By contrast, we show that a shift of a unit of NO x emissions from one place or time to another could result in large changes in resulting health effects due to O 3 formation and exposure. We indicate how the type of modeling carried out here might be used to attach externality-correcting prices to emissions. Charging emitters fees that are commensurate with the damage caused by their NO x emissions would create an incentive for emitters to reduce emissions at times and in locations where they cause the largest damage. (author)

Micronutrient special issue: Coenzyme Q10 requirements for DNA damage prevention

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Schmelzer, Constance; Döring, Frank

2012-01-01

Coenzyme Q 10 (CoQ 10 ) is an essential component for electron transport in the mitochondrial respiratory chain and serves as cofactor in several biological processes. The reduced form of CoQ 10 (ubiquinol, Q 10 H 2 ) is an effective antioxidant in biological membranes. During the last years, particular interest has been grown on molecular effects of CoQ 10 supplementation on mechanisms related to DNA damage prevention. This review describes recent advances in our understanding about the impact of CoQ 10 on genomic stability in cells, animals and humans. With regard to several in vitro and in vivo studies, CoQ 10 provides protective effects on several markers of oxidative DNA damage and genomic stability. In comparison to the number of studies reporting preventive effects of CoQ 10 on oxidative stress biomarkers, CoQ 10 intervention studies in humans with a direct focus on markers of DNA damage are limited. Thus, more well-designed studies in healthy and disease populations with long-term follow up results are needed to substantiate the reported beneficial effects of CoQ 10 on prevention of DNA damage.

ISP-31 OECD/NEA/CSNI International Standard Problem n.31. Cora-13 experiment on severe fuel damage. Comparison report

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Firnhaber, M.; Trambauer, K.; Hagen, S.; Hofmann, P.; Schanz, G.; Sepold, L.

1993-07-01

The severe fuel damage experiment CORA-13 has been offered as CSNI-International Standard Problem (ISP) No. 31. The out-of-pile experiment CORA-13 was executed in November 1990 at Kernforschungszentrum Karlsruhe. The major objectives of this experiment were to investigate the behavior of PWR fuel elements during early core degradation and fast cooldown due to refill. Measured quantities are boundary conditions, bundle temperatures, hydrogen generation and the final bundle configuration. The ISP was conducted as a blind exercise. Boundary conditions which could not be measured, but which are necessary for simplified test simulation (axial power profile, shroud insulation temperature, bundle refill flow) were estimated using ATHLET-CD. Results to the ISP were submitted by 9 participants using different versions of SCDAP/RELAP5, and codes such as FRAS-SFD, ICARE2, KESS-III, MELCOR. The thermal behavior up to significant oxidation has been predicted quite well by most of the codes. In general, the capability of the codes in calculating the main degradation phenomena has been clearly illustrated and weaknesses concerning the modelling of some degradation processes have been identified. Among the degradation phenomena involved in the test, the more severe limitations concern the UO 2 -ZrO 2 dissolution by molten Zr, the solubility limits in the resulting U-Zr-O mixture and the cladding failure by the molten mixture

Identifying structural damage with ground penetrating radar

CSIR Research Space (South Africa)

Van Schoor, Abraham M

2008-07-01

Full Text Available Ground penetrating radar (GPR) and electrical resistance tomography (ERT) surveys were conducted in an urban environment in an attempt to identify the cause of severe structural damage to a historically significant residential property...

Autophagy in DNA Damage Response

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Piotr Czarny

2015-01-01

Full Text Available DNA damage response (DDR involves DNA repair, cell cycle regulation and apoptosis, but autophagy is also suggested to play a role in DDR. Autophagy can be activated in response to DNA-damaging agents, but the exact mechanism underlying this activation is not fully understood, although it is suggested that it involves the inhibition of mammalian target of rapamycin complex 1 (mTORC1. mTORC1 represses autophagy via phosphorylation of the ULK1/2–Atg13–FIP200 complex thus preventing maturation of pre-autophagosomal structures. When DNA damage occurs, it is recognized by some proteins or their complexes, such as poly(ADPribose polymerase 1 (PARP-1, Mre11–Rad50–Nbs1 (MRN complex or FOXO3, which activate repressors of mTORC1. SQSTM1/p62 is one of the proteins whose levels are regulated via autophagic degradation. Inhibition of autophagy by knockout of FIP200 results in upregulation of SQSTM1/p62, enhanced DNA damage and less efficient damage repair. Mitophagy, one form of autophagy involved in the selective degradation of mitochondria, may also play role in DDR. It degrades abnormal mitochondria and can either repress or activate apoptosis, but the exact mechanism remains unknown. There is a need to clarify the role of autophagy in DDR, as this process may possess several important biomedical applications, involving also cancer therapy.

Variation in damage from growing-season frosts among open-pollinated families of red alder.

Science.gov (United States)

Kevin C. Peeler; Dean S. DeBell

1987-01-01

Repeated growing-season frosts during late April and early May 1985 caused extensive damage to red alder (Alnus rubra Bong.) seedlings in a newly planted research trial in western Washington. About two-thirds of the seedlings were severely damaged (entire stem damaged or necrotic). Such damage varied by family, from 50 percent of seedlings in the...

Damage limits of accelerator equipment

CERN Document Server

Rosell, Gemma

2014-01-01

Beam losses occur in particle accelerators for various reasons. The effect of lost particles on accelerator equipment becomes more severe with the increasing energies and intensities. The present study is focused on the damage potential of the proton beam as a function of particle energy and beam size. Injection and extraction energies of different accelerators at CERN were considered.

Experimental study of oxidative DNA damage

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Loft, Steffen; Deng, Xin-Sheng; Tuo, Jingsheng

1998-01-01

Animal experiments allow the study of oxidative DNA damage in target organs and the elucidation of dose-response relationships of carcinogenic and other harmful chemicals and conditions as well as the study of interactions of several factors. So far the effects of more than 50 different chemical ...

The aggregation of climate change damages. A welfare theoretic approach

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Fankhauser, S.; Pearce, D.W.; Tol, R.S.J.

1997-01-01

The economic value of environmental goods is commonly determined using the concepts of willingness to pay (WTP) or willingness to accept (WTA). However, the WTP/WTA observed in different countries (or between individuals) will differ according to socio-economic characteristics, in particular income. This notion of differentiated values for otherwise identical goods (say, a given reduction in mortality risk) has been criticized as unethical, most recently in the context of the 'social cost' chapter of the IPCC Second Assessment Report. These critics argue that, being a function of income, WTP/WTA estimates reflect the unfairness in the current income distribution, and for equity reasons uniform per-unit values should therefore be applied across individuals and countries. This paper analyses the role of equity in the aggregation of climate change damage estimates, using basic tools of welfare economics. It shows one way of how WTP/WTA estimates can be corrected in aggregation if the underlying income distribution is considered unfair. It proposes that in the aggregation process individual estimates be weighted with an equity factor derived from the social welfare and utility functions. Equity weighting can significantly increase aggregate (global) damage figures, although some specifications of weighting functions also imply reduced estimates. The paper also shows that while the postulate of uniform per-unit values is compatible with a wide range of 'reasonable' utility and welfare specifications, there are also cases where the common-value notion is not compatible with defensible welfare concepts. 3 tabs., 32 refs

Economic effects of full corrosion surveys for aging concrete structures

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Polder, R.B.; Peelen, W.H.A.; Raupach, M.; Reichling, K.

2013-01-01

This paper investigates the economic effects of full corrosion surveys of concrete structures. The background is that the existing concrete infrastructure is aging, while being exposed to aggressive influences, which increases the occurrence of corrosion and related concrete damage over time. The

Assessment of the economic costs of damage caused by air pollution

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Holland, M.R.

1995-01-01

Cost-benefit analysis is one of the fundamental tools for the development of economic instruments for pollution control. The costs of various abatement measures are reasonably well characterised. However, assessment of the economic costs of pollutant impacts is less well developed. This paper reports on two studies carried out for DGXII of the European Commission, the ExternE-Project and the Green Accounting Research Project. Both studies have been performed by international, multi-disciplinary research teams. Analysis of the effects of emissions of PM 10 , SO 2 , NO x and VOCs (as ozone precursors) has included assessment of human health, materials, crops and other terrestrial ecosystems, and freshwater fisheries. The analysis follows the 'impact pathway' approach, linking dose-response functions, valuation data and other models. It differs significantly to earlier 'top-down' approaches that made only very limited use of the wealth of scientific data available. Most success has been achieved in analysis of impacts on human health, building materials and crops. Significant uncertainties exist for these receptors, though these have been identified and are now being addressed. Assessment of impacts on other receptors, perhaps most notably forests, is more limited. The methodology is particularly applicable for analysis of impacts on receptors for which the critical loads approach is not appropriate. 7 refs., 3 figs., 1 tab

Assessing economic impact of storm surge under projected sea level rise scenarios

Science.gov (United States)

Del Angel, D. C.; Yoskowitz, D.

2017-12-01

Global sea level is expected to rise 0.2-2m by the year 2100. Rising sea level is expected to have a number of impacts such as erosion, saltwater intrusion, and decline in coastal wetlands; all which have direct and indirect socio-economic impact to coastal communities. By 2050, 25% of the world's population will reside within flood-prone areas. These statistics raise a concern for the economic cost that sea level and flooding has on the growing coastal communities. Economic cost of storm surge inundation and rising seas may include loss or damage to public facilities and infrastructure that may become temporarily inaccessible, as well as disruptions to business and services. This goal of this project is to assess economic impacts of storms under four SLR scenarios including low, intermediate-low, intermediate-high, and high (0.2m, 0.5m, 1.2m and 2m, respectively) in the Northern Gulf of Mexico region. To assess flooding impact on communities from storm surge, this project utilizes HAZUS-MH software - a Geographic Information System (GIS)-based modeling tool developed by the Federal Emergency Management Agency - to estimate physical, economic, and social impacts of natural disasters such as floods, earthquakes and hurricanes. The HAZUS database comes integrated with aggregate and site specific inventory which includes: demographic data, general building stock, agricultural statistics, vehicle inventory, essential facilities, transportation systems, utility systems (among other sensitive facilities). User-defined inundation scenarios will serve to identify assets at risk and damage estimates will be generated using the Depth Damage Function included in the HAZUS software. Results will focus on 3 communities in the Gulf and highlight changes in storm flood impact. This approach not only provides a method for economic impact assessment but also begins to create a link between ecosystem services and natural and nature-based features such as wetlands, beaches and dunes

Quantitative MRI shows cerebral microstructural damage in hemolytic-uremic syndrome patients with severe neurological symptoms but no changes in conventional MRI

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Weissenborn, Karin; Worthmann, Hans; Heeren, Meike [Hannover Medical School, Clinic for Neurology, Hannover (Germany); Bueltmann, Eva; Donnerstag, Frank; Giesemann, Anja M.; Goetz, Friedrich; Lanfermann, Heinrich; Ding, Xiao-Qi [Hannover Medical School, Institute of Diagnostic and Interventional Neuroradiology, Hannover (Germany); Kielstein, Jan; Schwarz, Anke [Hannover Medical School, Clinic for Nephrology and Hypertension, Hannover (Germany)

2013-07-15

Severe neurological symptoms in Shiga toxin-producing Escherichia coli infection associated hemolytic-uremic syndrome (STEC-HUS) are often accompanied by none or only mild alterations of cerebral magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). This study aims to analyze if quantitative MRI is able to reveal cerebral pathological alterations invisible for conventional MRI. In nine patients with STEC-HUS associated severe neurological symptoms but inconspicuous cerebral MRI findings maps of the parameters T2 relaxation time, relative proton density (PD), apparent diffusion coefficient (ADC), and fractional anisotropy (FA) were generated. Quantitative values of these parameters were measured at the basal ganglia, thalamus, and white matter of the frontal and parietal lobe and compared to those of nine age- and sex-matched controls. Significant T2 prolongation (p < 0.01) was found in the basal ganglia of all patients compared to controls. PD and ADC were not significantly altered. A significant reduction of FA in patients was seen at caput nuclei caudati (p < 0.01). Prolonged T2 relaxation time indicates cerebral microstructural damages in these patients despite their inconspicuous MRI findings. T2 relaxometry could be used as a complementary tool for the assessment of metabolic-toxic brain syndromes. (orig.)

Neutron induced radiation damage

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Williams, M.M.R.

1977-01-01

We derive a general expression for the number of displaced atoms of type j caused by a primary knock-on of type i. The Kinchin-Pease model is used, but considerably generalised to allow for realistic atomic potentials. Two cases are considered in detail: the single particle problem causing a cascade and the neutron initiated problem which leads to multiple subcascades. Numerical results have been obtained for a variety of scattering laws. An important conclusion is that neutron initiated damage is much more severe than atom-initiated damage and leads to the number of displaced atoms being a factor of (A+1) 2 /4A larger than the single primary knock-on theory predicts. A is the ratio of the atomic mass to the neutron mass. The importance of this result to the theory of neutron sputtering is explained. (orig.) [de

A transportable system of models for natural resource damage assessment

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Reed, M.; French, D.

1992-01-01

A system of computer models has been developed for assessment of natural resource economic damages resulting from spills of oil and hazardous materials in marine and fresh water environments. Under USA federal legislation, the results of the model system are presumed correct in damage litigation proceedings. The model can address a wide range of spatial and temporal scales. The equations describing the motion of both pollutants and biota are solved in three dimensions. The model can simulate continuous releases of a contaminant, with representation of complex coastal boundaries, variable bathymetry, multiple shoreline types, and spatially variable ecosystem habitats. A graphic user interface provides easy control of the system in addition to the ability to display elements of the underlying geographical information system data base. The model is implemented on a personal computer and on a UNIX workstation. The structure of the system is such that transport to new geographic regions can be accomplished relatively easily, requiring only the development of the appropriate physical, toxicological, biological, and economic data sets. Applications are currently in progress for USA inland and coastal waters, the Adriatic Sea, the Strait of Sicily, the Gulf of Suez, and the Baltic Sea. 4 refs., 2 figs

The economics of climate change and the theory of discounting

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Philibert, C.

1999-01-01

This paper confronts the theory of discounting with climate change economics. Standard discounting would give long-term damages a very low present value. On the other hand, low discount rates would imply more sacrifices for present generations, although future generations may be richer. And using multiple rates would lead to economic inefficiencies. The paper first shows that arguments favouring a low or zero discount rate in general are weak, even from an ethical point of view. It goes on by considering different arguments in favour of discount rates decreasing over time, and by recalling the argument that non-reproducible environmental assets should be given a value growing over time. Through the example of climate change, it finally shows that the latter argument not only implies that the costs of damages associated to climate change should not be underestimated, but also reinforce the legitimacy of using decreasing discount rates. (author)

Severe fuel damage experiments performed in the QUENCH facility with 21-rod bundles of LWR-type