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Sample records for significant commercial progress

  1. Commercial LFCM vitrification technology. Quarterly progress report, October-December 1984

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Burkholder, H.C.; Jarrett, J.H. (comps.)

    1985-07-01

    This report is the first in a series of quarterly reports compiled by the Nuclear Waste Treatment Program Office at Pacific Northwest Laboratory to document progress on commercial liquid-fed ceramic melter (LFCM) vitrification technology. Progress in the following technical subject areas during the first quarter of FY 1985 is discussed: pretreatment systems, melting process chemistry, glass development and characterization, feed preparation and transfer systems, melter systems, canister filling and handling systems, off-gas systems, process/product modeling and control, and supporting studies. 33 figs., 12 tabs.

  2. Commercial Alpha Waste Program. Quarterly progress report, January--March, 1975

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Cooley, C.R.

    1975-10-01

    This is the fourth quarterly progress report on the Commercial Alpha Waste Program being conducted at the Hanford Engineering Development Laboratory (HEDL) for the Division of Nuclear Fuel Cycle and Production, U. S. Energy Research and Development Administration. Data on waste composition for fuel reprocessing operations are discussed as well as information on radwaste generation at nuclear power reactors. Progress to date on development of the acid digestion process for treating combustible waste is discussed including initial studies using a critically safe tray digester. Data on alpha waste generation and product storage are also presented

  3. Technical summaries of Scotian Shelf - significant and commercial discoveries

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Dickey, J.E.; Bigelow, S.F.; Edens, J.A.; Brown, D.E.; Smith, B.; Makrides, C.; Mader, R.

    1997-03-01

    An independent assessment of the recoverable hydrocarbon resource currently held under' Significant and Commercial Discovery' status offshore Nova Scotia was presented. A generalized description of the regulatory issues regarding the discovered resources within the Scotian Basin was included. Twenty discoveries have been declared significant and two have been declared commercial, pursuant to the Canada-Nova Scotia Offshore Petroleum Resources Accord Implementation Acts. Salient facts about each discovery were documented. The information included the wells drilled within the structure, significant flow tests, geological and geophysical attributes, structural cross-section and areal extent, petrophysical parameters, hydrocarbons in place and anticipated hydrocarbon recoverable resource. tabs., figs

  4. The Energy-Related Inventions Program: A decade of commercial progress

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Brown, M.A.; Franchuk, C.A. (Oak Ridge National Lab., TN (United States)); Wilson, C.R. (Tennessee Univ., Knoxville, TN (United States))

    1991-12-01

    This report provides information on the recent commercial progress of inventions supported by the US Department of Energy's Energy-Related Inventions Programs (ERIP). It describes the results of the latest in a series of ERIP evaluation projects that have been completed since 1980. It focuses on the economic impacts of the program, notably sales and employment benefits. The period of interest is 1980 through 1990. The evaluation is based on data collected through mail and telephone surveying of 143 participants in the Program. As of October 1989, a total of 486 inventions were recommended to DOE by the National Institute for Standards and Technology, which screens all submitted inventions in terms of technical merit, potential for commercial success, and potential energy impact. By the end of 1990, at least 109 of these inventions had entered the market, generating total cumulative sales of more than $500 million. With $25.7 million in grants awarded from 1975 through 1990, and $63.1 million in program appropriations over the same period, ERIP has generated a 20:1 return in terms of sales values to grants, and an 8:1 return in sales versus program appropriations. It is estimated that 25% of all ERIP inventions had achieved sales by the end of 1990. While it is difficult to make exact comparisons between these percentages and other indicators of the success rates of technological innovations as a whole, the ERIP figures remain impressive. The commercial progress of spin-off technologies is also documented.

  5. The Energy-Related Inventions Program: A decade of commercial progress

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Brown, M.A.; Franchuk, C.A. [Oak Ridge National Lab., TN (United States); Wilson, C.R. [Tennessee Univ., Knoxville, TN (United States)

    1991-12-01

    This report provides information on the recent commercial progress of inventions supported by the US Department of Energy`s Energy-Related Inventions Programs (ERIP). It describes the results of the latest in a series of ERIP evaluation projects that have been completed since 1980. It focuses on the economic impacts of the program, notably sales and employment benefits. The period of interest is 1980 through 1990. The evaluation is based on data collected through mail and telephone surveying of 143 participants in the Program. As of October 1989, a total of 486 inventions were recommended to DOE by the National Institute for Standards and Technology, which screens all submitted inventions in terms of technical merit, potential for commercial success, and potential energy impact. By the end of 1990, at least 109 of these inventions had entered the market, generating total cumulative sales of more than $500 million. With $25.7 million in grants awarded from 1975 through 1990, and $63.1 million in program appropriations over the same period, ERIP has generated a 20:1 return in terms of sales values to grants, and an 8:1 return in sales versus program appropriations. It is estimated that 25% of all ERIP inventions had achieved sales by the end of 1990. While it is difficult to make exact comparisons between these percentages and other indicators of the success rates of technological innovations as a whole, the ERIP figures remain impressive. The commercial progress of spin-off technologies is also documented.

  6. Demonstrating the benefits of fuel cells: further significant progress towards commercialisation

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Anon,

    1995-01-01

    The fourteenth Fuel Cell Seminar held in San Diego, California in 1994 is reported. The phosphoric acid fuel cell (PAFC) is the closest to widespread commercialization. PAFC cogeneration plants have to be shown to compare favourable in reliability with current mature natural gas-fuelled engine and turbine technologies. Although highly efficient, further development is necessary to produce cost effective generators. Progress is being made on proton exchange membrane fuel cell (PEMFC) stationary power plants, too, which may prove to be cost effective. In view of its lower operating temperature, at below 100[sup o]C compared with about 200[sup o]C for the PAFC, the principal use of the PEMFC has been identified as powering vehicles. Fuel cells have significant environmental advantages but further capital cost reductions are necessary if they are to compete with established technologies. (UK)

  7. Commercial waste treatment program annual progress report for FY 1983

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    McElroy, J.L.; Burkholder, H.C. (comps.)

    1984-02-01

    This annual report describes progress during FY 1983 relating to technologies under development by the Commercial Waste Treatment Program, including: development of glass waste form and vitrification equipment for high-level wastes (HLW); waste form development and process selection for transuranic (TRU) wastes; pilot-scale operation of a radioactive liquid-fed ceramic melter (LFCM) system for verifying the reliability of the reference HLW treatment proces technology; evaluation of treatment requirements for spent fuel as a waste form; second-generation waste form development for HLW; and vitrification process control and product quality assurance technologies.

  8. Progress in developing new commercial LLRW disposal facilities and DOE assistance

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Tait, T.D.; Hinschberger, S.T.

    1988-01-01

    This paper reports state and regional progress in developing new commercial low-level radioactive waste disposal facilities. Specifically the paper addresses DOE determination of state and regional compliance with the 1988 milestone requirements of the Low-Level Radioactive Waste Policy Amendments Act of 1985 (LLRWPAA). In addition, the paper summarizes the assistance provided by the Department of Energy (DOE) to the states and regions in their efforts to develop new disposal facilities as mandated in the LLRWPAA

  9. Commercial progress and impacts of inventions and innovations

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Perlack, R.D.; Rizy, C.G.; Franchuk, C.A.; Cohn, S.M.

    1999-08-01

    This report presents the survey results from the 1997 inventions and innovations evaluation questionnaire. The evaluation impacts are based on responses from 136 out of 334 inventors sent the questionnaire. In 1996, there were 67 inventions identified that currently have direct, licensed, or spinoff sales. In total, the number of inventions and innovations with current sales and past sales (now retired from the market) is 144. This represents a commercial success rate of over 27%. For these grant-receiving inventions, the following performance metrics are of interest: (1) total cumulative direct and licensed sales through 1996 were $700 million (1995$), in addition, cumulative spinoff sales and royalties were $90 million and $20 million (1995$) through 1996, respectively; (2) employment sustained by direct and licensed sales was 1,189 full-time equivalents in 1996, employment attributable to technologies with no sales was 90 full-time equivalents, and the annual federal income taxes collected as a result of this employment was in excess of $6 million; and (3) energy savings attribute to supported inventions and innovations were estimated at 78 trillion Btu in 1996 with an estimated value of nearly $190 million (1995$), the associated reduction in carbon emissions was over 1.5 million metric tons. In terms of future commercialization progress and impacts, the 1997 survey revealed that 60% of the respondents are actively pursuing their invention, and nearly 50% of the inventions are in the prototype development, pre-production prototype testing, and pre-production development stages.

  10. Progress commercializing solar-electric power systems

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Dracker, R.; De Laquil, P. III

    1996-01-01

    The commercial status of the principal solar electric technologies -- photovoltaic and solar thermal -- is reviewed. Current and near-term market niches are identified, and projected longer-term markets are explored along with the key strategies for achieving them, including technological breakthroughs, manufacturing developments, economies of scale and mass production, and market creation. Market barriers and public policy impacts on commercialization are discussed

  11. Advances in commercial ICF technology since 1986

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Kulcinski, G.L.

    1989-01-01

    Progress in the march toward commercial ICF fusion reactors has been uneven in the past few years. Considerable advances have been made in the area of light ion beam fusion through the development of rep ratable drivers (i.e., HERMES-III technology) and diodes (i.e., applied B configuration with renewable Li surfaces). Significant progress in the development of lasers to compress targets has also been made through the KrF Aurura program. The possibility of lowering the cost of glass in the advanced solid state lasers has been given serious consideration. The development of the Induced Spatial Incoherence (ISI) technique to improve the uniformity of the laser beam has allowed physicists and engineers to once again contemplate the use of symmetric illumination. This would reduce the driver energy required to achieve high gains but it also introduces difficulty in the reactor design. Relatively little progress in commercial heavy ion beam drivers has been made over the past few years aside from an indepth study (HIFSA) of the desirable operating regimes to be pursued. Other areas where little progress has been made are conceptual reactor studies, target declassification and specific experimental programs to address commercial ICF reactor technology needs

  12. Commercial developments in food irradiation in North America

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Fraser, F.

    1997-01-01

    The 1990 s mark significant progress in the commercialization of food irradiation in the USA. This progress is, to a large extent, the result of a long list of approvals by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA), which started in earnest in 1986 by the approval of pork, fruits, vegetables, grains, enzymes and dry ingredients. With the establishment of the first dedicated food irradiator in Florida and the subsequent approval by FDA and USDA of fresh and frozen raw poultry, as well as the pending approvals of red meat and seafood, combine into a complete set of positive conditions for a successful commercial launch. (Author)

  13. Commercial developments in food irradiation in North America

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Fraser, F [MDS Nordion International Inc. 447 March Road, Kanata, Ontario K2k 1x8 (Canada)

    1998-12-31

    The 1990 s mark significant progress in the commercialization of food irradiation in the USA. This progress is, to a large extent, the result of a long list of approvals by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA), which started in earnest in 1986 by the approval of pork, fruits, vegetables, grains, enzymes and dry ingredients. With the establishment of the first dedicated food irradiator in Florida and the subsequent approval by FDA and USDA of fresh and frozen raw poultry, as well as the pending approvals of red meat and seafood, combine into a complete set of positive conditions for a successful commercial launch. (Author)

  14. Commercial developments in food irradiation in North America

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Fraser, F. [MDS Nordion International Inc. 447 March Road, Kanata, Ontario K2k 1x8 (Canada)

    1997-12-31

    The 1990 s mark significant progress in the commercialization of food irradiation in the USA. This progress is, to a large extent, the result of a long list of approvals by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA), which started in earnest in 1986 by the approval of pork, fruits, vegetables, grains, enzymes and dry ingredients. With the establishment of the first dedicated food irradiator in Florida and the subsequent approval by FDA and USDA of fresh and frozen raw poultry, as well as the pending approvals of red meat and seafood, combine into a complete set of positive conditions for a successful commercial launch. (Author)

  15. Fish impingement at estuarine power stations and its significance to commercial fishing

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Turnpenny, A.W.H.

    1989-01-01

    The abstraction of cooling water (CW) at power stations sited on tidal waters inevitably leads to mortalities of some fish which are drawn in with the CW supply and become impinged on the intake screens. These fish are predominantly 0- or 1-group juveniles which, owing to their small size, are unable to resist intake currents. Commercial fishermen often object to the fact that juvenile fish are killed in this way. Their concern stems from the fact that in order to protect stocks, commercial fishing is restricted to fish which are above a statutory minimum landing size, whereas the majority of fish killed by impingement are below this size. This Report considers the significance of impingement mortalities at four estuarine sites in Britain for six commercially important species. Life tables are used to establish expected survival trajectories for each species and to compute reproductive potential. Each fish killed on intake screens is then considered in terms of the fraction of the reproductive potential of a single adult at maturity, and is ascribed an 'adult equivalent' value. Total catches of mixed juveniles and adults are then presented as 'adult equivalent' values. (author)

  16. Project Management Plan/Progress Report UT/GTKS Training Program Development for Commercial Building Operators

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    None, None

    2013-03-31

    Universidad del Turabo (UT), in a collaborative effort with Global Turn Key Services, Inc. (GTKS), proposed to develop a training program and a commercialization plan for the development of Commercial Building Operators (CBOs). The CBOs will operate energy efficient buildings to help maintain existing buildings up to their optimal energy performance level, and ensure that net-zero-energy buildings continuously operate at design specifications, thus helping achieve progress towards meeting BTP Strategic Goals of creating technologies and design approaches that enable net-zero-energy buildings at low incremental costs by 2025. The proposed objectives were then: (1) Develop a Commercial Building Operator (CBO) training program and accreditation that will in turn provide a certification to participants recognized by Accreditation Boards such as the North American Board of Certified Energy Practitioners (NABCEP) and Leadership in Energy & Environmental Designs (LEED). (2) Develop and implement a commercialization and sustainability plan that details marketing, deployment, financial characterization, job placement, and other goals required for long-term sustainability of the project after the funding period. (3) After program development and deployment, provide potential candidates with the knowledge and skill sets to obtain employment in the commercial building green energy (net-zero-energy building) job market. The developed CBO training program will focus on providing skills for participants, such as displaced and unemployed workers, to enter the commercial building green energy (net-zeroenergy building) job market. This course was designed to allow a participant with minimal to no experience in commercial building green technology to obtain the required skill sets to enter the job market in as little as 12 weeks of intensive multi-faceted learning. After completion of the course, the CBO staff concluded the participant will meet minimum established accreditation

  17. Space Commercialization

    Science.gov (United States)

    Martin, Gary L.

    2011-01-01

    A robust and competitive commercial space sector is vital to continued progress in space. The United States is committed to encouraging and facilitating the growth of a U.S. commercial space sector that supports U.S. needs, is globally competitive, and advances U.S. leadership in the generation of new markets and innovation-driven entrepreneurship. Energize competitive domestic industries to participate in global markets and advance the development of: satellite manufacturing; satellite-based services; space launch; terrestrial applications; and increased entrepreneurship. Purchase and use commercial space capabilities and services to the maximum practical extent Actively explore the use of inventive, nontraditional arrangements for acquiring commercial space goods and services to meet United States Government requirements, including measures such as public-private partnerships, . Refrain from conducting United States Government space activities that preclude, discourage, or compete with U.S. commercial space activities. Pursue potential opportunities for transferring routine, operational space functions to the commercial space sector where beneficial and cost-effective.

  18. Progress in gamma processing of commercial products

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Fraser, F.M.

    1988-01-01

    In this paper the global outlook for gamma radiation processing of commercial products is discussed. Canada's contribution to the development of the industry is presented. New developments in the applications of the process and its marketing are discussed. (U.K.)

  19. IMHEX{sup {reg_sign}} fuel cells progress toward commercialization

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Scroppo, J.A.; Laurens, R.M.; Petraglia, V.J.

    1995-12-31

    The overall goal of M-C Power is the development and subsequent commercialization of Molten Carbonate Fuel Cell (MCFC) stacks. More specifically, MCFC`s Manifolded Heat Exchange (IMHEX{sup {reg_sign}}) plate design created by the Institute of Technology. In order to achieve the aforementioned goal, M-C Power assembled a formidable team of industry leaders. This group, refered to as the (IHMEX{sup {reg_sign}}) Team, has developed a strategy to move decisively through the stages of Technology Development and Product Design and Improvement through commercialization. This paper is to review the status of the overall commercialization program and activities. It will also provide an overview of the market entry product. Furthermore, we will evaluate the opportunities and benefits this product brings to a competitive power industry.

  20. Using voice to create hospital progress notes: Description of a mobile application and supporting system integrated with a commercial electronic health record.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Payne, Thomas H; Alonso, W David; Markiel, J Andrew; Lybarger, Kevin; White, Andrew A

    2018-01-01

    We describe the development and design of a smartphone app-based system to create inpatient progress notes using voice, commercial automatic speech recognition software, with text processing to recognize spoken voice commands and format the note, and integration with a commercial EHR. This new system fits hospital rounding workflow and was used to support a randomized clinical trial testing whether use of voice to create notes improves timeliness of note availability, note quality, and physician satisfaction with the note creation process. The system was used to create 709 notes which were placed in the corresponding patient's EHR record. The median time from pressing the Send button to appearance of the formatted note in the Inbox was 8.8 min. It was generally very reliable, accepted by physician users, and secure. This approach provides an alternative to use of keyboard and templates to create progress notes and may appeal to physicians who prefer voice to typing. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  1. In vitro bioassays reveal that additives are significant contributors to the toxicity of commercial household pesticides.

    Science.gov (United States)

    van de Merwe, Jason P; Neale, Peta A; Melvin, Steven D; Leusch, Frederic D L

    2018-06-01

    Pesticides commonly used around households can contain additives of unknown concentrations and toxicity. Given the likelihood of these chemicals washing into urban waterways, it is important to understand the effects that these additives may have on aquatic organisms. The aim of this study was to compare the toxicity of commercially available household pesticides to that of the active ingredient(s) alone. The toxicity of five household pesticides (three herbicides and two insecticides) was investigated using a bacterial cytotoxicity bioassay and an algal photosynthesis bioassay. The commercial products were up to an order of magnitude more toxic than the active ingredient(s) alone. In addition, two commercial products with the same listed active ingredients in the same ratio had a 600× difference in potency. These results clearly demonstrate that additives in commercial formulations are significant contributors to the toxicity of household pesticides. The toxicity of pesticides in aquatic systems is therefore likely underestimated by conventional chemical monitoring and risk assessment when only the active ingredients are considered. Regulators and customers should require more clarity from pesticide manufacturers about the nature and concentrations of not only the active ingredients, but also additives used in commercial formulations. In addition, monitoring programmes and chemical risk assessments schemes should develop a structured approach to assessing the toxic effects of commercial formulations, including additives, rather than simply those of the listed active ingredients. Copyright © 2018. Published by Elsevier B.V.

  2. Differential action of glycoprotein hormones: significance in cancer progression.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Govindaraj, Vijayakumar; Arya, Swathy V; Rao, A J

    2014-02-01

    Growth of multicellular organisms depends on maintenance of proper balance between proliferation and differentiation. Any disturbance in this balance in animal cells can lead to cancer. Experimental evidence is provided to conclude with special reference to the action of follicle-stimulating hormone (FSH) on Sertoli cells, and luteinizing hormone (LH) on Leydig cells that these hormones exert a differential action on their target cells, i.e., stimulate proliferation when the cells are in an undifferentiated state which is the situation with cancer cells and promote only functional parameters when the cell are fully differentiated. Hormones and growth factors play a key role in cell proliferation, differentiation, and apoptosis. There is a growing body of evidence that various tumors express some hormones at high levels as well as their cognate receptors indicating the possibility of a role in progression of cancer. Hormones such as LH, FSH, and thyroid-stimulating hormone have been reported to stimulate cell proliferation and act as tumor promoter in a variety of hormone-dependent cancers including gonads, lung, thyroid, uterus, breast, prostate, etc. This review summarizes evidence to conclude that these hormones are produced by some cancer tissues to promote their own growth. Also an attempt is made to explain the significance of the differential action of hormones in progression of cancer with special reference to prostate cancer.

  3. Changes in rocket salad phytochemicals within the commercial supply chain: Glucosinolates, isothiocyanates, amino acids and bacterial load increase significantly after processing.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bell, Luke; Yahya, Hanis Nadia; Oloyede, Omobolanle Oluwadamilola; Methven, Lisa; Wagstaff, Carol

    2017-04-15

    Five cultivars of Eruca sativa and a commercial variety of Diplotaxis tenuifolia were grown in the UK (summer) and subjected to commercial growth, harvesting and processing, with subsequent shelf life storage. Glucosinolates (GSL), isothiocyanates (ITC), amino acids (AA), free sugars, and bacterial loads were analysed throughout the supply chain to determine the effects on phytochemical compositions. Bacterial load of leaves increased significantly over time and peaked during shelf life storage. Significant correlations were observed with GSL and AA concentrations, suggesting a previously unknown relationship between plants and endemic leaf bacteria. GSLs, ITCs and AAs increased significantly after processing and during shelf life. The supply chain did not significantly affect glucoraphanin concentrations, and its ITC sulforaphane significantly increased during shelf life in E. sativa cultivars. We hypothesise that commercial processing may increase the nutritional value of the crop, and have added health benefits for the consumer. Copyright © 2016 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd.. All rights reserved.

  4. Commercializing fuel cells: managing risks

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bos, Peter B.

    Commercialization of fuel cells, like any other product, entails both financial and technical risks. Most of the fuel cell literature has focussed upon technical risks, however, the most significant risks during commercialization may well be associated with the financial funding requirements of this process. Successful commercialization requires an integrated management of these risks. Like any developing technology, fuel cells face the typical 'Catch-22' of commercialization: "to enter the market, the production costs must come down, however, to lower these costs, the cumulative production must be greatly increased, i.e. significant market penetration must occur". Unless explicit steps are taken to address this dilemma, fuel cell commercialization will remain slow and require large subsidies for market entry. To successfully address this commercialization dilemma, it is necessary to follow a market-driven commercialization strategy that identifies high-value entry markets while minimizing the financial and technical risks of market entry. The financial and technical risks of fuel cell commercialization are minimized, both for vendors and end-users, with the initial market entry of small-scale systems into high-value stationary applications. Small-scale systems, in the order of 1-40 kW, benefit from economies of production — as opposed to economies to scale — to attain rapid cost reductions from production learning and continuous technological innovation. These capital costs reductions will accelerate their commercialization through market pull as the fuel cell systems become progressively more viable, starting with various high-value stationary and, eventually, for high-volume mobile applications. To facilitate market penetration via market pull, fuel cell systems must meet market-derived economic and technical specifications and be compatible with existing market and fuels infrastructures. Compatibility with the fuels infrastructure is facilitated by a

  5. Commercialization and Standardization Progress Towards an Optical Communications Earth Relay

    Science.gov (United States)

    Edwards, Bernard L.; Israel, David J.

    2015-01-01

    NASA is planning to launch the next generation of a space based Earth relay in 2025 to join the current Space Network, consisting of Tracking and Data Relay Satellites in space and the corresponding infrastructure on Earth. While the requirements and architecture for that relay satellite are unknown at this time, NASA is investing in communications technologies that could be deployed to provide new communications services. One of those new technologies is optical communications. The Laser Communications Relay Demonstration (LCRD) project, scheduled for launch in 2018 as a hosted payload on a commercial communications satellite, is a critical pathfinder towards NASA providing optical communications services on the next generation space based relay. This paper will describe NASA efforts in the on-going commercialization of optical communications and the development of inter-operability standards. Both are seen as critical to making optical communications a reality on future NASA science and exploration missions. Commercialization is important because NASA would like to eventually be able to simply purchase an entire optical communications terminal from a commercial provider. Inter-operability standards are needed to ensure that optical communications terminals developed by one vendor are compatible with the terminals of another. International standards in optical communications would also allow the space missions of one nation to use the infrastructure of another.

  6. Commercial Biomass Syngas Fermentation

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    James Daniell

    2012-12-01

    Full Text Available The use of gas fermentation for the production of low carbon biofuels such as ethanol or butanol from lignocellulosic biomass is an area currently undergoing intensive research and development, with the first commercial units expected to commence operation in the near future. In this process, biomass is first converted into carbon monoxide (CO and hydrogen (H2-rich synthesis gas (syngas via gasification, and subsequently fermented to hydrocarbons by acetogenic bacteria. Several studies have been performed over the last few years to optimise both biomass gasification and syngas fermentation with significant progress being reported in both areas. While challenges associated with the scale-up and operation of this novel process remain, this strategy offers numerous advantages compared with established fermentation and purely thermochemical approaches to biofuel production in terms of feedstock flexibility and production cost. In recent times, metabolic engineering and synthetic biology techniques have been applied to gas fermenting organisms, paving the way for gases to be used as the feedstock for the commercial production of increasingly energy dense fuels and more valuable chemicals.

  7. Commercial relations: Spain in the China of reform

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Enrique Fanjul

    2003-09-01

    Full Text Available Since the 1980s, the period of reform in China, the commercial relations between Spain and China have been marked by a progressive increase, accentuated at the end of that decade and the beginning of the 1990s. But, this rapprochement has not been sufficient for ensuring a significant Spanish presence in a market like China’s, of an extraordinary magnitude and potential. Spain’s commercial presence continues to be very limited. After analyzing this evidence, the author makes several proposals for changing the situation, among which are: increasing public support to Spanish businesses for exportation to and investment in the area; strengthening the mechanisms of knowledge about the functioning of and the changes in the Chinese market, in the midst of a process of adaptation andexpansion; and keeping in mind Chinese tourism to foreign lands, which, according to predictions, will become one of the most significant types of tourism in the world.

  8. IAEA Mission Sees Significant Progress in Georgia’s Regulatory Framework, Challenges Ahead

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    2018-01-01

    An International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) team of experts said Georgia has made significant progress in strengthening its regulatory framework for nuclear and radiation safety. The team also pointed to challenges ahead as Georgia seeks to achieve further progress. The Integrated Regulatory Review Service (IRRS) team concluded a 10-day mission on 28 February to assess the regulatory safety framework in Georgia. The mission was conducted at the request of the Government and hosted by the Agency of Nuclear and Radiation Safety (ANRS), which is responsible for regulatory oversight in the country. IRRS missions are designed to strengthen the effectiveness of the national safety regulatory infrastructure, while recognizing the responsibility of each State to ensure nuclear and radiation safety. Georgia uses radioactive sources in medicine and industry and operates radioactive waste management facilities. It has decommissioned its only research reactor and has no nuclear power plants. In recent years, the Government and ANRS, with assistance from the IAEA, introduced new safety regulations and increased the number of regulatory inspections.

  9. Progress with commercial food radurization in South Africa

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Van der Linde, H J

    1986-07-01

    The commercial radurization of food is not a simple process although it has high potential advantages in a world of malnutrition and undernourishment. Before investing in food technology, the undertaker has to be sure about the user's acceptance of his product and the profitability of his process. The Atomic Energy Corporation undertook a marketing survey in South Africa in which the radurization process, its advantages and its feasibility was tested and demonstrated.

  10. Progress with commercial food radurization in South Africa

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Van der Linde, H.J.

    1986-01-01

    The commercial radurization of food is not a simple process although it has high potential advantages in a world of malnutrition and undernourishment. Before investing in food technology, the undertaker has to be sure about the user's acceptance of his product and the provitability of his process. The Atomic Energy Corporation undertook a marketing survey in South Africa in which the radurization process, its advantages and its feasibility was tested and demonstrated

  11. Ending commercial surrogacy in India: significance of the Surrogacy (Regulation) Bill, 2016.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Timms, Olinda

    2018-01-01

    The introduction of the Surrogacy (Regulation) Bill, 2016 into Parliament, in August 2016, was a much-awaited response to citizen voices and human rights groups calling for action in the unregulated area of commercial surrogacy arrangements. Both houses of Parliament have reviewed the Bill, and its fate was to be decided in the Winter Session of Parliament, 2017. It is still unclear whether the Bill will come up for decision in the Budget Session that will reconvene on March 5, 2018. The market for infertility treatments has attracted to India global clients seeking access to surrogates and procedures at lower costs. The Bill seeks to protect the rights of women and children at risk of exploitation and commodification as third parties in infertility treatments that use assisted reproductive technologies. Can commercial surrogacy be allowed in a country where injustice, inequalities, and poorly implemented laws place vulnerable women and children at risk? The proposed Bill could shut the door on commercial surrogacy arrangements in India and bring regulation into this sector of medical services.

  12. Impacts of Reinsurance Operations on Significant Items of the Financial Statements of Commercial Insurance Companies According to Czech Accounting Legislation and International Accounting Standards

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Jana Gláserová

    2015-01-01

    Full Text Available The principal aim of the paper is to determine the impact of reinsurance operations in commercial insurance companies, in accordance with the relevant accounting legislation, for certain significant items of the financial statements. In actual fact, the reinsurance operations affect the profit of a commercial insurance company, following the financial statements. The prerequisite for fulfilling the objective of the paper is to analyse the accounting legislation for reinsurance operations in commercial insurance companies. Attention will be devoted also to the method of accounting for reinsurance operations and their specific reporting in various parts of the financial statements of commercial insurance companies. The partial aim of this paper is to identify significant differences in the area of accounting of commercial insurance companies, based on the comparison of accounting practices of the issues examined in accordance with IAS/IFRS. In the conclusion, the authors will address the latest development of necessary steps in adopting the concept of IFRS 4 Phase II and accomplishing the process of the application of IFRS 4 Phase II to the accounts of commercial insurance companies.

  13. Stationary power fuel cell commercialization status worldwide

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Williams, M.C. [Dept. of Energy, Morgantown, WV (United States)

    1996-12-31

    Fuel cell technologies for stationary power are set to play a role in power generation applications worldwide. The worldwide fuel cell vision is to provide powerplants for the emerging distributed generation and on-site markets. Progress towards commercialization has occurred in all fuel cell development areas. Around 100 ONSI phosphoric acid fuel cell (PAFC) units have been sold, with significant foreign sales in Europe and Japan. Fuji has apparently overcome its PAFC decay problems. Industry-driven molten carbonate fuel cell (MCFC) programs in Japan and the U.S. are conducting megawatt (MW)-class demonstrations, which are bringing the MCFC to the verge of commercialization. Westinghouse Electric, the acknowledged world leader in tubular solid oxide fuel cell (SOFC) technology, continues to set performance records and has completed construction of a 4-MW/year manufacturing facility in the U.S. Fuel cells have also taken a major step forward with the conceptual development of ultra-high efficiency fuel cell/gas turbine plants. Many SOFC developers in Japan, Europe, and North America continue to make significant advances.

  14. Electric power and its significance as the energy for innovation and progress

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Klinger, H.; Boehmer, T.

    1999-01-01

    The significance of electric power as the essential form of energy to support innovation and progress well into the future is explained with respect to four major domains of application: 1. Innovative activities in microelectronics and semiconductor technology, for applications such as automation and computer technology, instrumentation and control technology, facility and systems management and control. 2. Energy efficiency programmes and schemes for increasing the penetration of energiy from renewable sources in the market. Example: Heat pump technology. 3. Electric power as an energy boosting innovation in industrial production processes. Examples are given from the transportation sector. (orig./CB) [de

  15. Progressive significance map and its application to error-resilient image transmission.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hu, Yang; Pearlman, William A; Li, Xin

    2012-07-01

    Set partition coding (SPC) has shown tremendous success in image compression. Despite its popularity, the lack of error resilience remains a significant challenge to the transmission of images in error-prone environments. In this paper, we propose a novel data representation called the progressive significance map (prog-sig-map) for error-resilient SPC. It structures the significance map (sig-map) into two parts: a high-level summation sig-map and a low-level complementary sig-map (comp-sig-map). Such a structured representation of the sig-map allows us to improve its error-resilient property at the price of only a slight sacrifice in compression efficiency. For example, we have found that a fixed-length coding of the comp-sig-map in the prog-sig-map renders 64% of the coded bitstream insensitive to bit errors, compared with 40% with that of the conventional sig-map. Simulation results have shown that the prog-sig-map can achieve highly competitive rate-distortion performance for binary symmetric channels while maintaining low computational complexity. Moreover, we note that prog-sig-map is complementary to existing independent packetization and channel-coding-based error-resilient approaches and readily lends itself to other source coding applications such as distributed video coding.

  16. Progress report 1979

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    1980-12-01

    This progress report deals with service oriented work performed at the AAEC Research Establishment in the twelve month period ending September 30, 1979. Services provided by the Engineering Services Division, the Safety Department, Site Information Services Department and Commercial Applications are described

  17. Proceedings and findings of the geothermal commercialization workshop

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Anderson, J.; Dhillon, H.

    1979-04-01

    The proceedings are presented of a Geothermal Commercialization Workshop conducted by the Division of Geothermal Resource Management, Department of Energy. The workshop was held in January-February 1979 at The MITRE Corporation facility in McLean, Virginia. The workshop addressed geothermal hydrothermal commercialization achievements and needs in the areas of Marketing and Outreach, Economics, Scenarios, and Progress Monitoring.

  18. 泰国商业银行现状%The Present Situation of Thailand's Commercial Banks

    Institute of Scientific and Technical Information of China (English)

    王晓明

    2005-01-01

    After years of adjustment and reform, commercial banks of Thailand have restarted with new vital power andenergy. They have made a lot of progress in establishing modern commercial banking system, and especially in the introduction offoreign capital to restructure the financial institutes and to deal with the problems of NPL (Non Performance Loan) .Thai commercial banks have also made progress in adopting advanced modern banking management system. Now the Thai commercial bankshave already got out of the downturn caused by the Asian Financial Crisis to create a new glory.

  19. A Case Study of the Impediments to the Commercialization of Research at the University of Kentucky.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Vanderford, Nathan L; Marcinkowski, Elizabeth

    2015-01-01

    The commercialization of university-based research occurs to varying degrees between academic institutions. Previous studies have found that multiple barriers can impede the effectiveness and efficiency by which academic research is commercialized. This case study was designed to analyze the status of the commercialization activity at the University of Kentucky via a survey and interview with a successful academic entrepreneur in order to determine the impediments the individual perceived during the commercialization process. The study also garnered insight from the individual as to how the commercialization process could be improved. Issues with infrastructure were highlighted as the most significant barrier faced by the individual. The research subject also suggested that commercialization activity may generally increase if a number of factors were mitigated. Such insight can be communicated to the administrative leadership of the commercialization process at the University of Kentucky. Long term, improving university-based research commercialization will allow academic researchers to be more active and successful entrepreneurs such that intellectual property will progress more freely to the marketplace for the benefit of inventors, universities, and society.

  20. Maximum standard uptake value on pre-chemotherapeutic FDG-PET is a significant parameter for disease progression of newly diagnosed lymphoma

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Eo, Jae Seon; Lee, Won Woo; Chung, June Key; Lee, Myung Chul; Kim, Sang Eun

    2005-01-01

    F-18 FDG-PET is useful for detection and staging of lymphoma. We investigated the prognostic significance of maximum standard uptake (maxSUV) value of FDG-PET for newly diagnosed lymphoma patients before chemotherapy. Twenty-seven patients (male: female = 17: 10: age: 49±19 years) with newly diagnosed lymphoma were enrolled. Nine-teen patients suffered from B cell lymphoma, 6 Hodgkins disease and 2 T cell lymphoma. One patient was stage I, 9 stage II, 3 stage III, 1 stage IV and 13 others. All patients underwent FDG-PET before initiation of chemotherapy. MaxSUV values using lean body weight were obtained for main and largest lesion to represent maxSUV of the patients. The disease progression was defined as total change of the chemotherapeutic regimen or addition of new chemotherapeutic agent during follow up period. The observed period was 389±224 days. The value of maxSUV ranged from 3 to 18 (mean±SD = 10.6±4.4). The disease progressions occurred in 6 patients. Using Cox proportional-hazard regression analysis, maxSUV was identified as a significant parameter for the disease progression free survival (p=0.044). Kaplan-Meier survival curve analysis revealed that the group with higher maxSUV (=10.6, n=5) suffered from shorter disease progression free survival (median 299 days) than the group with lower maxSUV (<10.6, n = 22) (median 378 days, p=0.0146). We found that maxSUV on pre-chemotherapeutic F-18 FDG-PET for newly diagnosed lymphoma patients is a significant parameter for disease progression. Lymphoma patients can be stratified before initiation of chemotherapy in terms of disease progression by the value of maxSUV 10.6

  1. Does significant renal ablation truly and invariably lead to hyperfiltration and progressive chronic kidney disease?

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wang, Andrew; Sam, Ramin

    2017-06-01

    It is generally believed that significant renal ablation leads to hyperfiltration and eventually progressively worsening chronic kidney disease. The data behind this belief have not been scrutinized intensively. More importantly, the above belief leads many physicians to manage patients differently than they otherwise would manage. Here, we examine the data behind whether hyperfiltration occurs when patients lose kidney mass (by excision or by disease) and whether the hyperfiltration is uniformly injurious.

  2. Appearance traits in fish farming: progress from classical genetics to genomics, providing insight into current and potential genetic improvement

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Nelson eColihueque

    2014-08-01

    Full Text Available Appearance traits in fish, those external body characteristics that influence consumer acceptance at point of sale, have come to the forefront of commercial fish farming, as culture profitability is closely linked to management of these traits. Appearance traits comprise mainly body shape and skin pigmentation. Analysis of the genetic basis of these traits in different fish reveals significant genetic variation within populations, indicating potential for their genetic improvement. Work into ascertaining the minor or major genes underlying appearance traits for commercial fish is emerging, with substantial progress in model fish in terms of identifying genes that control body shape and skin colors. In this review, we describe research progress to date, especially with regard to commercial fish, and discuss genomic findings in model fish in order to better address the genetic basis of the traits. Given that appearance traits are important in commercial fish, the genomic information related to this issue promises to accelerate the selection process in coming years.

  3. Appearance traits in fish farming: progress from classical genetics to genomics, providing insight into current and potential genetic improvement

    Science.gov (United States)

    Colihueque, Nelson; Araneda, Cristian

    2014-01-01

    Appearance traits in fish, those external body characteristics that influence consumer acceptance at point of sale, have come to the forefront of commercial fish farming, as culture profitability is closely linked to management of these traits. Appearance traits comprise mainly body shape and skin pigmentation. Analysis of the genetic basis of these traits in different fish reveals significant genetic variation within populations, indicating potential for their genetic improvement. Work into ascertaining the minor or major genes underlying appearance traits for commercial fish is emerging, with substantial progress in model fish in terms of identifying genes that control body shape and skin colors. In this review, we describe research progress to date, especially with regard to commercial fish, and discuss genomic findings in model fish in order to better address the genetic basis of the traits. Given that appearance traits are important in commercial fish, the genomic information related to this issue promises to accelerate the selection process in coming years. PMID:25140172

  4. International Commercial Arbitration

    OpenAIRE

    Hlušička, Ondřej

    2011-01-01

    The purpose of my thesis is to analyse one of the most used type of extrajudicial procedures, the International commercial arbitration. The reason for my research is the progress and elevation of use of the arbitration and not only on international field. The thesis is composed of six chapters, each of them dealing with different aspects of Arbitration. Chapter One is introductory and defines basic terminology used in the thesis. The chapter is subdivided into two parts. Part One describes in...

  5. Report to Congress: 1995 Annual report on low-level radioactive waste management progress

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    1996-06-01

    This report is prepared in response to the Low-Level Radioactive Waste Policy Act, Public Law 96-573, 1980, as amended by the Low-Level Radioactive Waste Policy Amendments Act of 1985, Public Law 99-240. The report summarizes the progress of states and compact regions during calendar year 1995 in establishing new disposal facilities for commercially-generated low-level radioactive waste. The report emphasizes significant issues and events that have affected progress, and also includes an introduction that provides background information and perspective on United States policy for low-level radioactive waste disposal

  6. 2010 Hydrogen and Fuel Cell Global Commercialization & Development Update

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    none,

    2010-11-01

    This report offers examples of real-world applications and technical progress of hydrogen and fuel cell technologies, including policies adopted by countries to increase technology development and commercialization.

  7. Impacts of Reinsurance Operations on Significant Items of the Financial Statements of Commercial Insurance Companies According to Czech Accounting Legislation and International Accounting Standards

    OpenAIRE

    Jana Gláserová; Eva Vávrová

    2015-01-01

    The principal aim of the paper is to determine the impact of reinsurance operations in commercial insurance companies, in accordance with the relevant accounting legislation, for certain significant items of the financial statements. In actual fact, the reinsurance operations affect the profit of a commercial insurance company, following the financial statements. The prerequisite for fulfilling the objective of the paper is to analyse the accounting legislation for reinsurance operations in c...

  8. Alpha-emitting nuclides in commercial fish species caught in the vicinity of Windscale, United Kingdom, and their radiological significance to man

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Pentreath, R.J.; Lovett, M.B.; Harvey, B.R.; Ibbett, R.D.

    1979-01-01

    The concentrations of a number of alpha-emitting nuclides have been determined in the tissues of several commercial fish species caught in the vicinity of the fuel reprocessing plant at Windscale. All tissues analysed were found to contain 238 Pu, sup(239+240)Pu and 241 Am, but 242 Cm and 244 Cm could only be reliably detected in the liver samples of some fish. Fish of the same species, but taken from the North Sea, have also been analysed for some naturally occurring alpha-emitting nuclides. Whereas uranium ( 238 U) and thorium ( 232 Th) could be detected in bone samples of fish, neither could be reliably detected in samples of muscle: in contrast, 210 Po was readily detected in samples of liver, muscle and bone. Commercial fish fillets from the Irish Sea, including the Windscale area, are also routinely monitored for alpha-emitting nuclides, and their radiological significance to man is briefly discussed. Comments are also made on the significance of the naturally occurring nuclides. (author)

  9. FY2016 Lightweight Materials Annual Progress Report

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    None, None

    2017-10-31

    The Lightweight Materials research and development (R&D) area within the DOE Vehicle Technologies Office (VTO) provides support and guidance for many cutting-edge automotive technologies under development. Research focuses on addressing critical barriers to commercializing lightweight materials for passenger and commercial vehicles. This report describes the progress made on the research and development projects funded by the Lightweight Materials area.

  10. The commercial potential of Nova Scotian natural gas

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Power, M.; Jewkes, E.

    1992-01-01

    The Scotian Shelf has estimated potential natural gas reserves of 18 trillion ft 3 . A project cash flow analysis of the development and production from Nova Scotia's discovered natural gas pools is presented to determine the commercial potential of these resources. The modelling framework proposed by Power and Jewkes (1990) is used in the analysis. This framework consists of three sub-models: a drilling model, a pool-cost model, and a filtration model. The model was run 84 times, once for each combination of the 21 price levels and 4 discount rates used in the study. It was assumed that exploration and delineation drilling, project construction, and operation were completed in 35 years. The sensitivity of commercial declarations to the discount rate is most clearly seen in the measure of commercially recoverable volumes calculated by the model. Gas prices below $1.80 per thousand ft 3 (MCF) do not result in any of the significant discoveries being declared as commercially viable. As prices rise above this level, a 6% discount rate results in the largest of the discovered pools being assessed as commercial. When prices have risen sufficiently to offset the discount rate effect, the differences in commercial declarations fall progressively as prices continue to rise. The financial variables (profit and fiscal take) both exhibit increasing sensitivity to the discount rate. The results suggest a limited role for Scotian Shelf gas in Canada's energy future. Landed prices must be in the range of $2.80-$4.00/MCF before sufficient quantities of gas are made available. It is likely that the market for such gas will be small and limited primarily to an interfuel substitution role. 16 refs., 4 figs., 3 tabs

  11. Los Alamos National Laboratory progress and path to inertial confinement fusion commercialization

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Harris, D.B.; Dudziak, D.J.

    1989-01-01

    KrF lasers appear to be an attractive driver for inertial confinement fusion commercial applications such as electric power production. Los Alamos National Laboratory is working to develop the technology required to demonstrate that KrF lasers can satisfy all of the driver requirements. The latest experimental and theoretical results indicate that cost currently appears to be the main issue for KrF lasers. The Los Alamos program is working to reduce the cost of KrF laser systems by developing damage-resistant optical coatings, low-cost optical blanks, high-intrinsic-efficiency gas mixtures, low-cost and high-efficiency pulsed power, and optimized system architectures. Other potential issues may cause problems after the 5 kJ Aurora KrF laser system becomes operational, such as amplified spontaneous emission, cross talk or temporal pulse distortion. Design solutions to issues such as these have been identified and will be experimentally demonstrated on Aurora. Issues specific to commercial-application drivers, such as cost, gas flow, repetively pulsed power, and high reliability cannot be experimentally addressed at this time. Projections will be made on the ability of KrF lasers to satisfy these requirements. The path to commercialization of inertial fusion for KrF lasers is also described. (orig.)

  12. Total dose hardness of a commercial SiGe BiCMOS technology

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Van Vonno, N.; Lucas, R.; Thornberry, D.

    1999-01-01

    Over the past decade SiGe HBT technology has progress from the laboratory to actual commercial applications. When integrated into a BiMOS process, this technology has applications in low-cost space systems. In this paper, we report results of total dose testing of a SiGe/CMOS process accessible through a commercial foundry. (authors)

  13. Utilities Power Change: Engaging Commercial Customers in Workplace Charging

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Lommele, S. [National Renewable Energy Lab. (NREL), Golden, CO (United States); Dafoe, W. [National Renewable Energy Lab. (NREL), Golden, CO (United States)

    2016-05-31

    Using electricity to power vehicles can help advance energy security and reduce emissions, and also presents a new market opportunity for utilities looking to diversify and offer an added benefit to commercial customers. By providing plug-in electric vehicle (PEV) charging stations for their employees, commercial customers can help attract and retain a cutting-edge workforce. These employers also signal a commitment to sustainability and demonstrate progressive leadership and a willingness to adopt advanced technology.

  14. Pilot production & commercialization of LAPPD{sup ™}

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Minot, Michael J., E-mail: mjm@incomusa.com [Incom Inc, 294 Southbridge Road, Charlton, MA 01507 (United States); Bennis, Daniel C.; Bond, Justin L.; Craven, Christopher A.; O' Mahony, Aileen; Renaud, Joseph M.; Stochaj, Michael E. [Incom Inc, 294 Southbridge Road, Charlton, MA 01507 (United States); Elam, Jeffrey W.; Mane, Anil U.; Demarteau, Marcellinus W.; Wagner, Robert G. [Argonne National Laboratory, 9700 S. Cass Avenue, Lemont, IL 60439-4814 (United States); McPhate, Jason B.; Helmut Siegmund, Oswald [Space Sciences Laboratory, University of California, Berkeley, CA 94720 (United States); Elagin, Andrey; Frisch, Henry J.; Northrop, Richard; Wetstein, Matthew J. [University of Chicago, 5640 S. Ellis Ave., Chicago, IL 60637 (United States)

    2015-07-01

    We present a progress update on plans to establish pilot production and commercialization of Large Area (400 cm{sup 2}) Picosecond Photodetector (LAPPD{sup ™}). Steps being taken to commercialize this MCP and LAPPD{sup ™} technology and begin tile pilot production are presented including (1) the manufacture of 203 mm×203 mm borosilicate glass capillary arrays (GCAs), (2) optimization of MCP performance and creation of an ALD coating facility to manufacture MCPs and (3) design, construction and commissioning of UHV tile integration and sealing facility to produce LAPPDs. Taken together these plans provide a “pathway toward commercialization”.

  15. Recent Progress in Advanced Materials for Lithium Ion Batteries

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Jiajun Chen

    2013-01-01

    Full Text Available The development and commercialization of lithium ion batteries is rooted in material discovery. Promising new materials with high energy density are required for achieving the goal toward alternative forms of transportation. Over the past decade, significant progress and effort has been made in developing the new generation of Li-ion battery materials. In the review, I will focus on the recent advance of tin- and silicon-based anode materials. Additionally, new polyoxyanion cathodes, such as phosphates and silicates as cathode materials, will also be discussed.

  16. TechTracS: NASA's commercial technology management system

    Science.gov (United States)

    Barquinero, Kevin; Cannon, Douglas

    1996-03-01

    The Commercial Technology Mission is a primary NASA mission, comparable in importance to those in aeronautics and space. This paper will discuss TechTracS, NASA Commercial Technology Management System that has been put into place in FY 1995 to implement this mission. This system is designed to identify and capture the NASA technologies which have commercial potential into an off-the-shelf database application, and then track the technologies' progress in realizing the commercial potential through collaborations with industry. The management system consists of four stages. The first is to develop an inventory database of the agency's entire technology portfolio and assess it for relevance to the commercial marketplace. Those technologies that are identified as having commercial potential will then be actively marketed to appropriate industries—this is the second stage. The third stage is when a NASA-industry partnership is entered into for the purposes of commercializing the technology. The final stage is to track the technology's success or failure in the marketplace. The collection of this information in TechTracS enables metrics evaluation and can accelerate the establishment on direct contacts between and NASA technologist and an industry technologist. This connection is the beginning of the technology commercialization process.

  17. Short communication: Genetic lag represents commercial herd genetic merit more accurately than the 4-path selection model.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Dechow, C D; Rogers, G W

    2018-05-01

    Expectation of genetic merit in commercial dairy herds is routinely estimated using a 4-path genetic selection model that was derived for a closed population, but commercial herds using artificial insemination sires are not closed. The 4-path model also predicts a higher rate of genetic progress in elite herds that provide artificial insemination sires than in commercial herds that use such sires, which counters other theoretical assumptions and observations of realized genetic responses. The aim of this work is to clarify whether genetic merit in commercial herds is more accurately reflected under the assumptions of the 4-path genetic response formula or by a genetic lag formula. We demonstrate by tracing the transmission of genetic merit from parents to offspring that the rate of genetic progress in commercial dairy farms is expected to be the same as that in the genetic nucleus. The lag in genetic merit between the nucleus and commercial farms is a function of sire and dam generation interval, the rate of genetic progress in elite artificial insemination herds, and genetic merit of sires and dams. To predict how strategies such as the use of young versus daughter-proven sires, culling heifers following genomic testing, or selective use of sexed semen will alter genetic merit in commercial herds, genetic merit expectations for commercial herds should be modeled using genetic lag expectations. Copyright © 2018 American Dairy Science Association. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  18. NCAP projection displays: key issues for commercialization

    Science.gov (United States)

    Tomita, Akira; Jones, Philip J.

    1992-06-01

    Recently there has been much interest in a new polymer nematic dispersion technology, often called as NCAP, PDLC, PNLC, LCPC, etc., since projection displays using this technology have been shown to produce much brighter display images than projectors using conventional twisted nematic (TN) lightvalves. For commercializing projection displays based on this polymer nematic dispersion technology, the new materials must not only meet various electro- optic requirements, e.g., operational voltage, `off-state'' scattering angle, voltage holding ratio and hysteresis, but must also be stable over the lifetime of the product. This paper reports recent progress in the development of NCAP based projection displays and discusses some of the key commercialization issues.

  19. State geothermal commercialization programs in seven Rocky Mountain states. Semiannual progress report, July-December 1980

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Lunis, B. C.; Toth, W. J. [comps.

    1981-10-01

    The activities and findings of the seven state commercialization teams participating in the Rocky Mountain Basin and Range commercialization program are described. Background information is provided; program objectives and the technical approach that is used are discussed; and the benefits of the program are described. The summary of findings is presented. Prospect identification, area development plans, site specific development analyses, time-phased project plans, the aggregated prospective geothermal energy use, and institutional analyses are discussed. Public outreach activities are covered and findings and recommendations are summarized. The commercialization activities carried out by the respective state teams are described for the following: Colorado, Montana, New Mexico, North Dakota, South Dakota, Utah, and Wyoming.

  20. Commercial software upgrades may significantly alter Perfusion CT parameter values in colorectal cancer

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Goh, Vicky; Shastry, Manu; Endozo, Raymondo; Groves, Ashley M.; Engledow, Alec; Peck, Jacqui; Reston, Jonathan; Wellsted, David M.; Rodriguez-Justo, Manuel; Taylor, Stuart A.; Halligan, Steve

    2011-01-01

    To determine how commercial software platform upgrades impact on derived parameters for colorectal cancer. Following ethical approval, 30 patients with suspected colorectal cancer underwent Perfusion CT using integrated 64 detector PET/CT before surgery. Analysis was performed using software based on modified distributed parameter analysis (Perfusion software version 4; Perfusion 4.0), then repeated using the previous version (Perfusion software version 3; Perfusion 3.0). Tumour blood flow (BF), blood volume (BV), mean transit time (MTT) and permeability surface area product (PS) were determined for identical regions-of-interest. Slice-by-slice and 'whole tumour' variance was assessed by Bland-Altman analysis. Mean BF, BV and PS was 20.4%, 59.5%, and 106% higher, and MTT 14.3% shorter for Perfusion 4.0 than Perfusion 3.0. The mean difference (95% limits of agreement) were +13.5 (-44.9 to 72.0), +2.61 (-0.06 to 5.28), -1.23 (-6.83 to 4.36), and +14.2 (-4.43 to 32.8) for BF, BV, MTT and PS respectively. Within subject coefficient of variation was 36.6%, 38.0%, 27.4% and 60.6% for BF, BV, MTT and PS respectively indicating moderate to poor agreement. Software version upgrades of the same software platform may result in significantly different parameter values, requiring adjustments for cross-version comparison. (orig.)

  1. FY2015 Lightweight Materials R&D Annual Progress Report

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    None, None

    2016-09-30

    The Lightweight Materials research and development (R&D) area within the DOE Vehicle Technologies Office (VTO) provides support and guidance for many cutting-edge automotive technologies under development. Research focuses on addressing critical barriers to commercializing lightweight materials for passenger and commercial vehicles. This report describes the progress made on the research and development projects funded by the Lightweight Materials area.

  2. Commercialization of technology in MINT

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Daud Mohamad; Razali Hamzah

    2005-01-01

    Full text:The Malaysian Institute for Nuclear Technology Research (MINT), was officially established in 1972 (PUSPATI as it was known then) and has progressed leaps and bounds to become one of the country's leading research organization particularly in the field of nuclear science and technology. Primarily set up as a full fledge research and development entity with one of the initial aims was looking into the possibility of embarking in the generation of power via the use of nuclear technology as an alternative source of energy for the nation. MINTs role has somewhat changed in tandem with her stage of development and national priorities. In line with the Government's policy on sustainability and self-reliance and a drive to commercialize R and D findings, the R and D institutions are expected to be self sufficiency at 30% of institutional operating budget. MINT has embarked on the commercialization program since in 1987 even before the the policy was instituted. Unlike other corporate R and D institutions and universities which do have some liberty and flexibility in the management of the organizations, MINT as a full fledge government R and D institute faces a number of challenges in the commercialization exercise. The paper describes the technologies developed at MINT, our product and services, and challenges and limitations in commercializing our R and D endeavors. (Author)

  3. Recent progress in food irradiation in Korea

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Joong-ho Kwon

    1988-01-01

    This paper discusses progress in research into food irradiation and government approval of the process in Korea. The development of the first cobalt-60 food irradiator is described and the role of international, trade and consumer associations in its commercialization discussed. (U.K.)

  4. FY2011 Annual Progress Report for Advanced Combustion Engine Research and Development

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    none,

    2011-12-01

    Annual Progress Report for the Advanced Combustion Engine Research and Development (R&D) subprogram supporting the mission of the Vehicle Technologies Program by removing the critical technical barriers to commercialization of advanced internal combustion engines (ICEs) for passenger and commercial vehicles that meet future federal emissions regulations.

  5. State geothermal commercialization programs in seven Rocky Mountain states. Semiannual progress report, January-July 1981

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Lunis, B.C.; Toth, W.J. (comps.)

    1982-05-01

    The activities and findings of the seven state commercialization teams participating in the Rocky Mountain Basin and Range commercialization program are described. For each state (Colorado, Montana, New Mexico, North and South Dakota, Utah, and Wyoming), prospect identification, area development plans, site specific development analyses, time-phased project plans, the aggregated prospective geothermal energy use, and institutional analyses are discussed. Public outreach activities are also covered, and findings and recommendations are given for each state. Some background information about the program is provided. (LEW)

  6. State geothermal commercialization programs in seven Rocky Mountain states. Semiannual progress report, July-December 1981

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Lunis, B.C. (ed.)

    1982-08-01

    The activities and findings of the seven state commercialization teams participating in the Rocky Mountain Basin and Range commercialization program are described. The period covered is July through December 1981. Background information is provided, program objectives and the technical approach used are discussed, and the benefits of the program are described. Prospect identification, area development plans, site specific development analyses, time-phased project plans, the aggregated prospective geothermal energy use, and institutional analyses are discussed. Public outreach activities are covered and findings and recommendations are summarized.

  7. Division of Waste Management programs. Progress report, July-December 1978

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Lerch, R.E.; Allen, C.R.; Richardson, G.L.

    1979-07-01

    This is the eleventh progress report on Division of Waste Management programs. The report describes progress in the second half of 1978 on the following programs: intermediate-level waste solidification, chemical processing of combustible solid waste, and application of acid digestion to commercial wastes. The latter two programs were combined in October 1978 into a single program, acid digestion of combustible wastes

  8. Performance measures in the earth observations commercialization applications program

    Science.gov (United States)

    Macauley, Molly K.

    1996-03-01

    Performance measures in the Earth Observations Commercialization Application Program (EOCAP) are key to its success and include net profitability; enhancements to industry productivity through generic innovations in industry practices, standards, and protocols; and documented contributions to public policy governing the newly developing remote sensing industry. Because EOCAP requires company co-funding, both parties to the agreement (the government and the corporate partner) have incentives to pursue these goals. Further strengthening progress towards these goals are requirements for business plans in the company's EOCAP proposal, detailed scrutiny given these plans during proposal selection, and regularly documented progress reports during project implementation.

  9. Canadian fuel cell commercialization roadmap update : progress of Canada's hydrogen and fuel cell industry

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Filbee, S.; Karlsson, T.

    2009-01-01

    Hydrogen and fuel cells are considered an essential part of future low-carbon energy systems for transportation and stationary power. In recognition of this, Industry Canada has worked in partnership with public and private stakeholders to provide an update to the 2003 Canadian Fuel Cell Commercialization Roadmap to determine infrastructure requirements for near-term markets. The update includes technology and market developments in terms of cost and performance. This presentation included an overview of global hydrogen and fuel cell markets as background and context for the activities of the Canadian industry. Approaches toward commercial viability and mass market success were also discussed along with possible scenarios and processes by which these mass markets could develop. Hydrogen and fuel cell industry priorities were outlined along with recommendations for building a hydrogen infrastructure

  10. Significant progress towards development of the low-level radioactive waste disposal facility in Illinois

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Klebe, M.; Henry, T.L.; Corpstein, P.

    1996-01-01

    Development of disposal sites for low-level radioactive waste is a complicated legal, regulatory and public sector process. Development of the low-level radioactive waste disposal facility to support generators in Illinois and Kentucky is well under way. Significant progress has been made to re-engineer the siting development process capitalizing on prior lessons learned and a recommitment from Illinois state leadership assuring the future success of the program. Comparisons of why this new process will succeed are the major focus of this paper. Specific changes in approach from the previous process including changes in the Illinois Management Act (Management Act), creation of the Illinois Low-Level Radioactive Waste Siting Task Group (Task Group), new roles for the Illinois State Geologic Survey and Illinois State Water Survey (Scientific Surveys) and the Illinois Department of Nuclear Safety (IDNS), a new contractor reliance approach and increased confidence on the open-quote science close-quote are the major contrasts between the previous process and the new process currently underway

  11. Detection of Progressive Retinal Nerve Fiber Layer Loss in Glaucoma Using Scanning Laser Polarimetry with Variable Corneal Compensation

    Science.gov (United States)

    Medeiros, Felipe A.; Alencar, Luciana M.; Zangwill, Linda M.; Bowd, Christopher; Vizzeri, Gianmarco; Sample, Pamela A.; Weinreb, Robert N.

    2010-01-01

    Purpose To evaluate the ability of scanning laser polarimetry with variable corneal compensation to detect progressive retinal nerve fiber layer (RNFL) loss in glaucoma patients and patients suspected of having the disease. Methods This was an observational cohort study that included 335 eyes of 195 patients. Images were obtained annually with the GDx VCC scanning laser polarimeter, along with optic disc stereophotographs and standard automated perimetry (SAP) visual fields. The median follow-up time was 3.94 years. Progression was determined using commercial software for SAP and by masked assessment of optic disc stereophotographs performed by expert graders. Random coefficient models were used to evaluate the relationship between RNFL thickness measurements over time and progression as determined by SAP and/or stereophotographs. Results From the 335 eyes, 34 (10%) showed progression over time by stereophotographs and/or SAP. Average GDx VCC measurements decreased significantly over time for both progressors as well as non-progressors. However, the rate of decline was significantly higher in the progressing group (−0.70 μm/year) compared to the non-progressing group (−0.14 μm/year; P = 0.001). Black race and male sex were significantly associated with higher rates of RNFL loss during follow-up. Conclusions The GDx VCC scanning laser polarimeter was able to identify longitudinal RNFL loss in eyes that showed progression in optic disc stereophotographs and/or visual fields. These findings suggest that this technology could be useful to detect and monitor progressive disease in patients with established diagnosis of glaucoma or suspected of having the disease. PMID:19029038

  12. Photovoltaic technologies for commercial power generation

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Carlson, D.E.

    1990-01-01

    Photovoltaic power generation is an attractive source of energy since it involves the direct conversion of sunlight into electricity with no moving parts and no pollution. Following the demonstration of the first solar cell 35 years ago at Bell Laboratories, a steady stream of scientific and commercial progress has led to a rapid increase in applications in recent years. The first commercial application of solar cells occurred more than 20 years ago when they were used to supply power for space satellites, and even today photovoltaic arrays are used to supply electricity for most satellites and space probes. This paper reviews the status of the various photovoltaic technologies as well as present applications. The prospects for both distributed and central station grid-connected systems are discussed. The paper concludes with a discussion of the institutional and political factors that will affect the introduction of grid-connected photovoltaic power systems

  13. Space commercialization: Launch vehicles and programs; Symposium on Space Commercialization: Roles of Developing Countries, Nashville, TN, Mar. 5-10, 1989, Technical Papers

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Shahrokhi, F.; Greenberg, J.S.; Al-saud, Turki.

    1990-01-01

    The present volume on progress in astronautics and aeronautics discusses the advent of commercial space, broad-based space education as a prerequisite for space commercialization, and obstacles to space commercialization in the developing world. Attention is given to NASA directions in space propulsion for the year 2000 and beyond, possible uses of the external tank in orbit, power from the space shuttle and from space for use on earth, Long-March Launch Vehicles in the 1990s, the establishment of a center for advanced space propulsion, Pegasus as a key to low-cost space applications, legal problems of developing countries' access to space launch vehicles, and international law of responsibility for remote sensing. Also discussed are low-cost satellites and satellite launch vehicles, satellite launch systems of China; Raumkurier, the German recovery program; and the Ariane transfer vehicle as logistic support to Space Station Freedom

  14. Perovskite Solar Cells—Towards Commercialization

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Ono, Luis K.; Park, Nam-Gyu; Zhu, Kai; Huang, Wei; Qi, Yabing

    2017-01-01

    The Symposium ES1, Perovskite Solar Cells - Towards Commercialization, held at the 2017 Materials Research Society (MRS) Spring Meeting in Phoenix, Arizona (April 17-21, 2017) received ~200 abstracts. The 23 invited talks and 72 contributed oral presentations as well as 3 poster presentation sessions were organized into 13 principal themes according to the contents of the received abstracts. This Energy Focus article provides a concise summary of the opinions from the scientists and engineers who participated in this symposium regarding the recent progresses, challenges, and future directions for perovskite solar cells as well as other optoelectronic devices.

  15. Open science versus commercialization: a modern research conflict?

    Science.gov (United States)

    Caulfield, Timothy; Harmon, Shawn He; Joly, Yann

    2012-02-27

    Efforts to improve research outcomes have resulted in genomic researchers being confronted with complex and seemingly contradictory instructions about how to perform their tasks. Over the past decade, there has been increasing pressure on university researchers to commercialize their work. Concurrently, they are encouraged to collaborate, share data and disseminate new knowledge quickly (that is, to adopt an open science model) in order to foster scientific progress, meet humanitarian goals, and to maximize the impact of their research. We present selected guidelines from three countries (Canada, United States, and United Kingdom) situated at the forefront of genomics to illustrate this potential policy conflict. Examining the innovation ecosystem and the messages conveyed by the different policies surveyed, we further investigate the inconsistencies between open science and commercialization policies. Commercialization and open science are not necessarily irreconcilable and could instead be envisioned as complementary elements of a more holistic innovation framework. Given the exploratory nature of our study, we wish to point out the need to gather additional evidence on the coexistence of open science and commercialization policies and on its impact, both positive and negative, on genomics academic research.

  16. Technology Transfer: From the Research Bench to Commercialization

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Gail A. Van Norman, MD

    2017-02-01

    Full Text Available Summary: Progress in medicine hinges on the successful translation of basic science discoveries into new medical devices, diagnostics, and therapeutics. “Technology transfer” is the process by which new innovations flow from the basic research bench to commercial entities and then to public use. In academic institutions, intellectual property rights do not usually fall automatically to the individual inventor per se, but most often are the property of the institution. Technology transfer offices are tasked with seeing to it that such intellectual property rights are properly managed and commercialized. This 2-part series explores the technology transfer process from invention to commercialization. Part 1 reviews basic aspects of intellectual property rights, primarily patents and copyrights. Part 2 will discuss the ways in which inventions become commercialized through startup companies and licensing arrangements with industry players. Key Words: copyright, intellectual property, patent, technology transfer

  17. Beneficial uses program. Progress report ending December 31, 1979

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    None

    1980-06-01

    Progress is reported in research on uses of irradiated sewage sludge, particularly as a cattle feed supplement and commercial fertilizer additive, on potential sites for irradiator demonstration plants, and on the inactivation of enteric bacteria by radiation treatment. (LCL)

  18. Operating experience feedback report: Progress in scram reduction: Commercial power reactors

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Bell, L.G.; O'Reilly, P.D.

    1989-03-01

    This report documents the results of a trends and patterns analysis of unplanned reactor scrams at commercial US nuclear power reactors from January 1, 1984 to January 1, 1988. Major objectives of this report prepared by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission's (NRC's) Office for Analysis and Evaluation of Operational Data (AEOD) are to: (1) provide feedback of operational experience regarding reactor scram trends in support of the Commission's Strategic Goals, (2) examine the causes of unplanned scrams, and (3) examine the relationship between the causes of unplanned scrams and industry initiatives undertaken to reduce the frequency of unplanned scrams, especially with a view to the potential for future scram rate reduction. 31 refs., 14 figs., 49 tabs

  19. State geothermal commercialization programs in ten Rocky Mountain states. Semi-annual progress report, July-December 1979

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Griffith, J.L. (comp.)

    1980-08-01

    The activities and findings of the ten state teams participating in the Rocky Mountain Basin and Range Regional Hydrothermal Commercialization Program for the period are described. A summary of the state projects, compilation of project accomplishments, summary of findings, and a description of the major conclusions and recommendations are presented. Also included are chapters on the commercialization activities carried out by individual teams in each state: Arizona, Colorado, Idaho, Montana, Nevada, New-Mexico, North Dakota, South Dakota, Utah, and Wyoming. (MHR)

  20. Perovskite Solar Cells: Progress and Advancements

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Naveen Kumar Elumalai

    2016-10-01

    Full Text Available Organic–inorganic hybrid perovskite solar cells (PSCs have emerged as a new class of optoelectronic semiconductors that revolutionized the photovoltaic research in the recent years. The perovskite solar cells present numerous advantages include unique electronic structure, bandgap tunability, superior charge transport properties, facile processing, and low cost. Perovskite solar cells have demonstrated unprecedented progress in efficiency and its architecture evolved over the period of the last 5–6 years, achieving a high power conversion efficiency of about 22% in 2016, serving as a promising candidate with the potential to replace the existing commercial PV technologies. This review discusses the progress of perovskite solar cells focusing on aspects such as superior electronic properties and unique features of halide perovskite materials compared to that of conventional light absorbing semiconductors. The review also presents a brief overview of device architectures, fabrication methods, and interface engineering of perovskite solar cells. The last part of the review elaborates on the major challenges such as hysteresis and stability issues in perovskite solar cells that serve as a bottleneck for successful commercialization of this promising PV technology.

  1. Plutonium Finishing Plant (PFP) Safety Class and Safety Significant Commercial Grade Items (CGI) Critical Characteristic

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    THOMAS, R.J.

    2000-01-01

    This document specifies the critical characteristics for Commercial Grade Items (CGI) procured for use in the Plutonium Finishing Plant as required by HNF-PRO-268 and HNF-PRO-1819. These are the minimum specifications that the equipment must meet in order to properly perform its safety function. There may be several manufacturers or models that meet the critical characteristics of any one item

  2. A Case Study of the Impediments to the Commercialization of Research at the University of Kentucky [v2; ref status: indexed, http://f1000r.es/5pi

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Nathan L. Vanderford

    2015-08-01

    Full Text Available The commercialization of university-based research occurs to varying degrees between academic institutions. Previous studies have found that multiple barriers can impede the effectiveness and efficiency by which academic research is commercialized. This case study was designed to better understand the impediments to research commercialization at the University of Kentucky via a survey and interview with three successful academic entrepreneurs. The study also garnered insight from the individuals as to how the commercialization process could be improved. Issues with commercialization infrastructure; a lack of emphasis, at the university level, on the importance of research commercialization; a void in an entrepreneurial culture on campus; inhibitory commercialization policies; and a lack of business and commercialization knowledge among faculty were highlighted as the most significant barriers. The research subjects also suggested that commercialization activity may generally increase if a number of factors were mitigated. Such insight can be communicated to the administrative leadership of the commercialization process at the University of Kentucky. Long term, improving university-based research commercialization will allow academic researchers to be more active and successful entrepreneurs such that intellectual property will progress more freely to the marketplace for the benefit of inventors, universities and society.

  3. Progress of food irradiation in the United States

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Derr, D.D.; Engeljohn, D.L.; Griffin, R.L.

    1995-01-01

    Irradiated foods have not yet made a significant impact in the United States marketplace. What progress has occurred to facilitate their commercialization? Irradiated produce has been sold in small quantities since 1992 and irradiated poultry was introduced in the marketplace in 1993. Federal inspection of irradiated commodities has settled into a regular routine. What must occur to further expand irradiated foods in the marketplace? Petitions to permit irradiation of red meats and seafood are being considered by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and a petition to permit the irradiation of shell eggs is being prepared for submission to FDA. In addition, the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) has accelerated efforts to develop the policies and regulatory structure needed to facilitate the approval of new irradiation treatments for imported plant products regulated by quarantine. When will greater commercialization occur? More positive coverage to food irradiation in recent months by both the trade and popular press indicates a change in attitude towards irradiated foods by both consumers and the food industry. Finally, actual consumer response to available irradiated foods casts a favorable light on the potential for increased marketing of value-added irradiated foods. (Author)

  4. Methanol commercial aviation fuel

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Price, R.O.

    1992-01-01

    Southern California's heavy reliance on petroleum-fueled transportation has resulted in significant air pollution problems within the south Coast Air Basin (Basin) which stem directly from this near total dependence on fossil fuels. To deal with this pressing issue, recently enacted state legislation has proposed mandatory introduction of clean alternative fuels into ground transportation fleets operating within this area. The commercial air transportation sector, however, also exerts a significant impact on regional air quality which may exceed emission gains achieved in the ground transportation sector. This paper addresses the potential, through the implementation of methanol as a commercial aviation fuel, to improve regional air quality within the Basin and the need to flight test and demonstrate methanol as an environmentally preferable fuel in aircraft turbine engines

  5. Accelerating Clean Energy Commercialization. A Strategic Partnership Approach

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Adams, Richard [National Renewable Energy Lab. (NREL), Golden, CO (United States); Pless, Jacquelyn [Joint Institute for Strategic Energy Analysis, Golden, CO (United States); Arent, Douglas J. [Joint Institute for Strategic Energy Analysis, Golden, CO (United States); Locklin, Ken [Impax Asset Management Group (United Kingdom)

    2016-04-01

    Technology development in the clean energy and broader clean tech space has proven to be challenging. Long-standing methods for advancing clean energy technologies from science to commercialization are best known for relatively slow, linear progression through research and development, demonstration, and deployment (RDD&D); and characterized by well-known valleys of death for financing. Investment returns expected by traditional venture capital investors have been difficult to achieve, particularly for hardware-centric innovations, and companies that are subject to project finance risks. Commercialization support from incubators and accelerators has helped address these challenges by offering more support services to start-ups; however, more effort is needed to fulfill the desired clean energy future. The emergence of new strategic investors and partners in recent years has opened up innovative opportunities for clean tech entrepreneurs, and novel commercialization models are emerging that involve new alliances among clean energy companies, RDD&D, support systems, and strategic customers. For instance, Wells Fargo and Company (WFC) and the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) have launched a new technology incubator that supports faster commercialization through a focus on technology development. The incubator combines strategic financing, technology and technical assistance, strategic customer site validation, and ongoing financial support.

  6. Ceramic Technology Project semiannual progress report, April 1992--September 1992

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Johnson, D.R.

    1993-07-01

    This project was developed to meet the ceramic technology requirements of the DOE Office of Transportation Systems` automotive technology programs. Significant progress in fabricating ceramic components for DOE, NASA, and DOE advanced heat engine programs show that operation of ceramic parts in high-temperature engines is feasible; however, addition research is needed in materials and processing, design, and data base and life prediction before industry will have a sufficient technology base for producing reliable cost-effective ceramic engine components commercially. A 5-yr project plan was developed, with focus on structural ceramics for advanced gas turbine and diesel engines, ceramic bearings and attachments, and ceramic coatings for thermal barrier and wear applications in these engines.

  7. Polyyne-Enriched Extract from Oplopanax elatus Significantly Ameliorates the Progression of Colon Carcinogenesis in ApcMin/+ Mice

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Xin Qiao

    2017-09-01

    Full Text Available Colorectal cancer (CRC is the third most common cancer in the world. Oplopanax elatus is widely used in traditional medicine. However, little is known about its pharmacological effects and bioactive compounds. We evaluated the effects of the polyyne-enriched extract from O. elatus (PEO on the progression of colon carcinogenesis in ApcMin/+ mice. In addition, these effects were also investigated in HCT116 and SW480 cells. After PEO oral administration (0.2% diet for 12 weeks, PEO significantly improved body weight changes and reduced the tumor burden and tumor multiplicity compared with the untreated mice. Meanwhile, western blot and immunohistochemistry results showed PEO significantly reduced the expression of β-catenin and cyclinD1 in both small intestine and the colon tissues compared with the untreated mice. In addition, PEO treatment significant decreased the cell viability in both HCT116 and SW480 cell lines. It also decreased the levels of β-catenin, cyclinD1, c-myc and p-GSK-3β in HCT116 and SW480 cells at 25 μM. These results indicate that PEO may have potential value in prevention of colon cancer by down-regulating Wnt-related protein.

  8. Prospective, randomized, blinded evaluation of donor semen quality provided by seven commercial sperm banks.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Carrell, Douglas T; Cartmill, Deborah; Jones, Kirtly P; Hatasaka, Harry H; Peterson, C Matthew

    2002-07-01

    To evaluate variability in donor semen quality between seven commercial donor sperm banks, within sperm banks, and between intracervical insemination and intrauterine insemination. Prospective, randomized, blind evaluation of commercially available donor semen samples. An academic andrology laboratory. Seventy-five cryopreserved donor semen samples were evaluated. Samples were coded, then blindly evaluated for semen quality. Standard semen quality parameters, including concentration, motility parameters, World Health Organization criteria morphology, and strict criteria morphology. Significant differences were observed between donor semen banks for most semen quality parameters analyzed in intracervical insemination samples. In general, the greatest variability observed between banks was in percentage progressive sperm motility (range, 8.8 +/- 5.8 to 42.4 +/- 5.5) and normal sperm morphology (strict criteria; range, 10.1 +/- 3.3 to 26.6 +/- 4.7). Coefficients of variation within sperm banks were generally high. These data demonstrate the variability of donor semen quality provided by commercial sperm banks, both between banks and within a given bank. No relationship was observed between the size or type of sperm bank and the degree of variability. The data demonstrate the lack of uniformity in the criteria used to screen potential semen donors and emphasize the need for more stringent screening criteria and strict quality control in processing samples.

  9. Evaluation of keratoconus progression.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Shajari, Mehdi; Steinwender, Gernot; Herrmann, Kim; Kubiak, Kate Barbara; Pavlovic, Ivana; Plawetzki, Elena; Schmack, Ingo; Kohnen, Thomas

    2018-06-01

    To define variables for the evaluation of keratoconus progression and to determine cut-off values. In this retrospective cohort study (2010-2016), 265 eyes of 165 patients diagnosed with keratoconus underwent two Scheimpflug measurements (Pentacam) that took place 1 year apart ±3 months. Variables used for keratoconus detection were evaluated for progression and a correlation analysis was performed. By logistic regression analysis, a keratoconus progression index (KPI) was defined. Receiver-operating characteristic curve (ROC) analysis was performed and Youden Index calculated to determine cut-off values. Variables used for keratoconus detection showed a weak correlation with each other (eg, correlation r=0.245 between RPImin and Kmax, pKPI). KPI was defined by logistic regression and consisted of a Pachymin coefficient of -0.78 (p=0.001), a maximum elevation of back surface coefficient of 0.27 and coefficient of corneal curvature at the zone 3 mm away from the thinnest point on the posterior corneal surface of -12.44 (both pKPI: D-index had a cut-off of 0.4175 (70.6% sensitivity) and Youden Index of 0.606. Cut-off for KPI was -0.78196 (84.7% sensitivity) and a Youden Index of 0.747; both 90% specificity. Keratoconus progression should be defined by evaluating parameters that consider several corneal changes; we suggest D-index and KPI to detect progression. © Article author(s) (or their employer(s) unless otherwise stated in the text of the article) 2018. All rights reserved. No commercial use is permitted unless otherwise expressly granted.

  10. Progress report - Physics and Health Sciences - Physics Section - 1986 July 01 - December 31

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    1987-02-01

    This progress report of the Physics section of Chalk River Nuclear Laboratories highlights work on major equipment: 1) Tandem Accelerator Superconducting Cyclotron (TASCC), 2) Isotope Separator On Line (ISOL), 3) Spectrometer Array for Particles Produced in Heavy Ion Reactions (SAPPHIRE), and 4) The Double Neutron Spectrometer for neutron scattering (DUALSPEC). Theoretical physics work includes fractal theory, non-topological soliton model of the nucleons, meson currents in relativistic shell model theories and supergravity. Progress of the Sudbury Neutrino Observatory (SNO) and the National Fusion Program (NFP) is discussed. Two commercial aspects are included; the formation of Shar-Buc Enterprises, the first spin-off business of the Research Company and the Applied Neutron Diffraction for Industry (ANDI), a major commercial activity

  11. Preparation and Characterization of Cellulose Nanofibers from Two Commercial Hardwood and Softwood Pulps

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Stelte, Wolfgang; Sanadi, Anand R.

    2009-01-01

    The aim of this work was to study the mechanical fibrillation process for the preparation of cellulose nanofibers from two commercial hard- and softwood cellulose pulps. The process consisted of initial refining and subsequent high-pressure homogenization. The progress in fibrillation was studied...

  12. Reducing health care hazards: lessons from the commercial aviation safety team.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Pronovost, Peter J; Goeschel, Christine A; Olsen, Kyle L; Pham, Julius C; Miller, Marlene R; Berenholtz, Sean M; Sexton, J Bryan; Marsteller, Jill A; Morlock, Laura L; Wu, Albert W; Loeb, Jerod M; Clancy, Carolyn M

    2009-01-01

    The movement to improve quality of care and patient safety has grown, but examples of measurable and sustained progress are rare. The slow progress made in health care contrasts with the success of aviation safety. After a tragic 1995 plane crash, the aviation industry and government created the Commercial Aviation Safety Team to reduce fatal accidents. This public-private partnership of safety officials and technical experts is responsible for the decreased average rate of fatal aviation accidents. We propose a similar partnership in the health care community to coordinate national efforts and move patient safety and quality forward.

  13. 1996 annual report on low-level radioactive waste management progress. Report to Congress

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    1997-11-01

    This report is prepared in response to the Low-Level Radioactive Waste Policy Act (the Act), Public Law 96-573, 1980, as amended by the Low-Level Radioactive Waste Policy Amendments Act of 1985, Public Law 99-240. The report summarizes the activities during calendar year 1996 related to the establishment of new disposal facilities for commercially-generated low-level radioactive waste. The report emphasizes significant issues and events that have affected progress in developing new disposal facilities, and also includes an introduction that provides background information and perspective on US policy for low-level radioactive waste disposal

  14. Grid-Competitive Residential and Commercial Fully Automated PV Systems Technology: Final technical Report, August 2011

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Brown, Katie E.; Cousins, Peter; Culligan, Matt; Jonathan Botkin; DeGraaff, David; Bunea, Gabriella; Rose, Douglas; Bourne, Ben; Koehler, Oliver

    2011-08-26

    Under DOE's Technology Pathway Partnership program, SunPower Corporation developed turn-key, high-efficiency residential and commercial systems that are cost effective. Key program objectives include a reduction in LCOE values to 9-12 cents/kWh and 13-18 cents/kWh respectively for the commercial and residential markets. Target LCOE values for the commercial ground, commercial roof, and residential markets are 10, 11, and 13 cents/kWh. For this effort, SunPower collaborated with a variety of suppliers and partners to complete the tasks below. Subcontractors included: Solaicx, SiGen, Ribbon Technology, Dow Corning, Xantrex, Tigo Energy, and Solar Bridge. SunPower's TPP addressed nearly the complete PV value chain: from ingot growth through system deployment. Throughout the award period of performance, SunPower has made progress toward achieving these reduced costs through the development of 20%+ efficient modules, increased cell efficiency through the understanding of loss mechanisms and improved manufacturing technologies, novel module development, automated design tools and techniques, and reduced system development and installation time. Based on an LCOE assessment using NREL's Solar Advisor Model, SunPower achieved the 2010 target range, as well as progress toward 2015 targets.

  15. Commercialization of Innovations and Firm Performance

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Madsen, Erik Strøjer; Smith, Valdemar

    The decision on investment in R&D is very important and highly risky for firms' performance and survival in their business. This paper focuses on the commercialization of firms' investment in innovation and how these decisions affect their performance. The study uses a large innovation survey...... of Danish firms holding information on their R&D investment as well as their expenses on marketing which gives knowledge of the commercialization of their innovations. The results suggest a highly significant commercialization of innovation, which means that firms' follows a strategy of investment both...

  16. Determinants of Commercial Banks' Profitability in Malaysia

    OpenAIRE

    Trofimov, Ivan D.; Md. Aris, Nazaria; Ying Ying, Jovena Kho

    2018-01-01

    This study aims to examine the relationship between non-performing loans (NPLs) and commercial banks' performance in Malaysia, alongside other factors. It considers the effect of NPLs, cost efficiency and bank size on commercial banks' profitability by using panel data regression (Pooled OLS model), covering the period of 2010-2015. The findings of the study show that NPLs and cost efficiency have a significant negative relationship with commercial banks' performances in Malaysia. On the othe...

  17. Fuel performance improvement program. Quarterly/annual progress report, October 1977--September 1978

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Crouthamel, C.E.

    1978-10-01

    This quarterly/annual report reviews and summarizes the activities performed in support of the Fuel Performance Improvement Program (FPIP) during Fiscal Year 1978 with emphasis on those activities that transpired during the quarter ending September 30, 1978. Significant progress has been made in achieving the primary objectives of the program, i.e., to demonstrate commercially viable fuel concepts with improved fuel - cladding interaction (FCI) behavior. This includes out-of-reactor experiments to support the fuel concepts being evaluated, initiation of instrumented test rod experiments in the Halden Boiling Water Reactor (HBWR), and fabrication of the first series of demonstration rods for irradiation in the Big Rock Point Reactor

  18. Breaking down the barriers to commercialization of fuel cells in transportation through Government - industry R&D programs

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Chalk, S.G. [Dept. of Energy, Washington, DC (United States); Venkateswaran, S.R. [Energetics, Inc., Columbia, MD (United States)

    1996-12-31

    PEM fuel cell technology is rapidly emerging as a viable propulsion alternative to the internal combustion engine. Fuel cells offer the advantages of low emissions, high efficiency, fuel flexibility, quiet and continuous operation, and modularity. Over the last decade, dramatic advances have been achieved in the performance and cost of PEM fuel cell technologies for automotive applications. However, significant technical barriers remain to making fuel cell propulsion systems viable alternatives to the internal combustion engine. This paper focuses on the progress achieved and remaining technical barriers while highlighting Government-industry R&D efforts that are accelerating fuel cell technology toward commercialization.

  19. Localization of aPKC lambda/iota and its interacting protein, Lgl2, is significantly associated with lung adenocarcinoma progression.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Imamura, Naoko; Horikoshi, Yosuke; Matsuzaki, Tomohiko; Toriumi, Kentaro; Kitatani, Kanae; Ogura, Go; Masuda, Ryota; Nakamura, Naoya; Takekoshi, Susumu; Iwazaki, Masayuki

    2013-12-20

    Atypical protein kinase C lambda/iota (aPKC λ/ι) is expressed in several human cancers; however, the correlation between aPKC λ/ι localization and cancer progression in human lung adenocarcinoma (LAC) remains to be clarified. We found that patients with a high level of aPKC λ/ι expression in LAC had significantly shorter overall survival than those with a low level of aPKC λ/ι expression. In addition, localization of aPKC λ/ι in the apical membrane or at the cell-cell contact was associated with both lymphatic invasion and metastasis. The intercellular adhesion molecule, E-cadherin, was decreased in LACs with highly expressed aPKC λ/ι at the invasion site of tumor cells. This result suggested that the expression levels of aPKC λ/ι and E-cadherin reflect the progression of LAC. On double-immunohistochemical analysis, aPKC λ/ι and Lgl2, a protein that interacts with aPKC λ/ι, were co-localized within LACs. Furthermore, we found that Lgl2 bound the aPKC λ/ι-Par6 complex in tumor tissue by immune-cosedimentation analysis. Apical membrane localization of Lgl2 was correlated with lymphatic invasion and lymph node metastasis. These results thus indicate that aPKC λ/ι expression is altered upon the progression of LAC. This is also the first evidence to show aPKC λ/ι overexpression in LAC and demonstrates that aPKC λ/ι localization at the apical membrane or cell-cell contact is associated with lymphatic invasion and metastasis of the tumor.

  20. ORNL nuclear waste programs annual progress report for period ending September 30, 1982

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    1983-05-01

    Research progress is reported in 20 activities under the headings: spent fuels, defense waste management, commercial waste management, remedial action, and conventional reactors. Separate entries were prepared for each activity

  1. Commercial production of thin-film CdTe photovoltaic modules. 1995 annual report

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Brog, T.K. [Golden Photon, Inc., CO (United States)

    1997-02-01

    This report presents a general overview of progress made in Golden Photon Inc.`s commercial production of thin-film CdTe photovoltaic modules. It describes the improvement in the number of batch runs processed through substrate deposition, all inter-connection, and encapsulation process steps; a progressive increase in the total number of panels processed each month; an improvement in cumulative process yields; and the continual attention given to modifying operating parameters of each major process step. The report also describes manpower status and staffing issues. The description of the status of subcontract progress includes engineering design; process improvement and development; cost improvement and raw materials; environment, safety, and health; and manufacturing cost and productivity optimization. Milestones and deliverables are also described.

  2. TV Commercials as Achievement Scripts for Women.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Geis, F. L.; And Others

    1984-01-01

    Women who viewed four current, sex-stereotyped commercials emphasized homemaking over other achievement concerns in imagining their lives 10 years hence. Women who saw same commercials with sex roles reversed put significantly greater emphasis on their own achievement aspirations. Their more equal weighting of home and career matched men's. (CMG)

  3. Commercialization of Innovations and Firm Performance

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Madsen, Erik Strøjer; Smith, Valdemar

    The decision on investment in R&D is very important and highly risky for firms' performance and survival in their business. This paper focuses on the commercialization of firms' investment in innovation and how these decisions affect their performance. The study uses a large innovation survey...... of Danish firms holding information on their R&D investment as well as their expenses on marketing which gives knowledge of the commercialization of their innovations. The results suggest a highly significant commercialization of innovation, which means that firms' follows a strategy of investment both...... in innovation and marketing making R&D and marketing complements in their investment decision. However, there is only week evidence for the hypothesis that commercialization of innovations also creates more value for the firms in the short run....

  4. Electronic evaluation for video commercials by impression index.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kong, Wanzeng; Zhao, Xinxin; Hu, Sanqing; Vecchiato, Giovanni; Babiloni, Fabio

    2013-12-01

    How to evaluate the effect of commercials is significantly important in neuromarketing. In this paper, we proposed an electronic way to evaluate the influence of video commercials on consumers by impression index. The impression index combines both the memorization and attention index during consumers observing video commercials by tracking the EEG activity. It extracts features from scalp EEG to evaluate the effectiveness of video commercials in terms of time-frequency-space domain. And, the general global field power was used as an impression index for evaluation of video commercial scenes as time series. Results of experiment demonstrate that the proposed approach is able to track variations of the cerebral activity related to cognitive task such as observing video commercials, and help to judge whether the scene in video commercials is impressive or not by EEG signals.

  5. Atypical squamous cells of undetermined significance in patients with HPV positive DNA testing and correlation with disease progression by age group: an institutional experience.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Rodriguez, Erika F; Reynolds, Jordan P; Jenkins, Sarah M; Winter, Stephanie M; Henry, Michael R; Nassar, Aziza

    2012-01-01

    Atypical squamous cells of undetermined significance (ASC-US) is a broad diagnostic category that could be attributed to human papillomavirus infection (HPV), malignant neoplasia and reactive conditions. We evaluated our institutional experience with ASC-US in women who are positive for high risk HPV (HRHPV+) by the Digene hybrid capture method from 2005-2009 to identify the risk of progression to squamous intraepithelial lesion (SIL) and cervical intraepithelial neoplasia (CIN) in association with age. We reviewed cytologic and follow-up surgical pathology reports for all specimens available. Progression was defined as a diagnosis of at least CINI on follow-up biopsy or resection or SIL on cytology. We identified 2613 cases and follow-up was available in 1839 (70.4%). Of these 74.2% had just one follow-up, 16.2% had a total of 2 follow-ups, 5.3% had a total of 3 follow-ups, and the remaining had as many as 6 follow-ups. Among the 1839 patients, 69.4% were age 30 or younger, 16.0% were between 31 to 40, 9.0% were between 41 to 50, and 5.6% were 51 or older. Among these, 25-30% progressed to dysplasia. The risk of progression varied by age (p=0.04) and was lowest among women between the ages of 41-50. Our findings highlight the importance of continued cytologic follow-up in women with HRHPV+ ASC-US in order to detect progression of disease, although the risk of progression is age dependent.

  6. Synroc - progress and future prospects

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Jostsons, A.

    2001-01-01

    Most of the early development of SYNROC focused on the SYNROC-C formulation for immobilising liquid HLW from the reprocessing of commercial LWR spent fuel. Subsequently, ANSTO has responded to developments in R and D on partitioning and transmutation, excess plutonium disposition and the needs of global remediation programs by developing a variety of titanate ceramic waste forms for specific applications. This paper reviews the progress in the development of titanate ceramics and ceramic/glass composites and addresses the relevance of this work in future radioactive waste management strategies

  7. The endoparasitism challenge in developing countries as goat raising develops from smallholder to commercial production systems: A study from Laos.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Windsor, P A; Nampanya, S; Putthana, V; Keonam, K; Johnson, K; Bush, R D; Khounsy, S

    2018-02-15

    Progressing economic development in Southeast Asia has increased regional demand for goat meat, leading to expanding production by smallholders and recently, development of commercial farms. In Laos, an emerging export market for goats into Vietnam has led to increased goat numbers, with potential increases in risk of disease, particularly endoparasitism. A cross-sectional survey investigated the prevalence of gastrointestinal parasites in indigenous Kambing-Katjang goats on smallholder farms (n = 389) in 8 villages where no anthelmintic treatments were in use, providing comparisons with a case study of imported Boer crossbred goats (n = 45) on a commercial farm where intensive anthelmintic treatments were required to manage mortalities attributable to Haemonchosis. Clinical examinations, collection of faecal samples, and pathological examination on the commercial farm, accompanied collection of information on animal gender, age and body weight, with data analyses performed in Genstat. Faecal samples contained eggs of multiple endoparasitic species, with Strongyles spp. and coccidian oocysts of Eimeria spp. most prevalent. Significant associations between the presence of endoparasites and the farm type (smallholder versus commercial; p commercial farm having Stronglyes spp. and Eimeria spp. of 1.3 (CI = 0.6-2.9) and 4.8 (CI = 2.5-9.1). Mortalities from endoparasitism were only recorded at the commercial farm, with the loss of 24 goats in the final 3 months of the dry season (Feb-April). This study identified a moderate prevalence of multiple endoparasitic species in smallholder goat farms that appeared well-tolerated, whereas in the developing commercial system, endoparasites posed significant risks to enterprise viability, even with use of anthelmintics. Further studies on endoparasite control are required if commercial tropical goat meat production is to prove sustainable and assist in addressing regional food security, plus provide a pathway to

  8. Assessment of Tools for Marker-Assisted Selection in a Marine Commercial Species: Significant Association between MSTN-1 Gene Polymorphism and Growth Traits

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Irma Sánchez-Ramos

    2012-01-01

    Full Text Available Growth is a priority trait from the point of view of genetic improvement. Molecular markers linked to quantitative trait loci (QTL have been regarded as useful for marker-assisted selection in complex traits as growth. Polymorphisms have been studied in five candidate genes influencing growth in gilthead seabream (Sparus aurata: the growth hormone (GH, insulin-like growth factor-1 (IGF-1, myostatin (MSTN-1, prolactin (PRL, and somatolactin (SL genes. Specimens evaluated were from a commercial broodstock comprising 131 breeders (from which 36 males and 44 females contributed to the progeny. In all samples eleven gene fragments, covering more than 13,000 bp, generated by PCR-RFLP, were analyzed; tests were made for significant associations between these markers and growth traits. ANOVA results showed a significant association between MSTN-1 gene polymorphism and growth traits. Pairwise tests revealed several RFLPs in the MSTN-1 gene with significant heterogeneity of genotypes among size groups. PRL and MSTN-1 genes presented linkage disequilibrium. The MSTN-1 gene was mapped in the centromeric region of a medium-size acrocentric chromosome pair.

  9. Laser development for laser fusion applications research. Progress report, October 1977--March 1978

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    1978-06-01

    Research progress is reported on three laser programs being developed for the commercialization of laser-fusion energy. The lasers include iodine, hydrogen fluoride and Group VI atoms (e.g., O, S, Se, Te)

  10. Commercial lumber

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kent A. McDonald; David E. Kretschmann

    1999-01-01

    In a broad sense, commercial lumber is any lumber that is bought or sold in the normal channels of commerce. Commercial lumber may be found in a variety of forms, species, and types, and in various commercial establishments, both wholesale and retail. Most commercial lumber is graded by standardized rules that make purchasing more or less uniform throughout the country...

  11. 19 CFR 113.67 - Commercial gauger and commercial laboratory bond conditions.

    Science.gov (United States)

    2010-04-01

    ... 19 Customs Duties 1 2010-04-01 2010-04-01 false Commercial gauger and commercial laboratory bond... SECURITY; DEPARTMENT OF THE TREASURY CUSTOMS BONDS Customs Bond Conditions § 113.67 Commercial gauger and commercial laboratory bond conditions. Commercial Gauger Bond Conditions (a) Commercial gauger bond...

  12. Expression status and clinical significance of lncRNA APPAT in the progression of atherosclerosis

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Fanming Meng

    2018-01-01

    Full Text Available Background Long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs have been reported to modulate cardiovascular diseases, and expression dynamics of lncRNAs in the bloodstream were proposed to be potential biomarkers for clinical diagnosis. However, few cardiovascular diseases-related circulating lncRNAs were identified and their prediction power has not been investigated in depth. Here we report a new circulating lncRNA, atherosclerotic plaque pathogenesis associated transcript (APPAT, and evaluated its role and predicting ability in atherosclerotic development. Methods APPAT was analyzed and screened by high-throughput sequencing, and then detected in vitro and in vivo. Immunofluorescence-fluorescence in situ hybridization (IF-FISH was utilized to explore distribution and subcellular location of APPAT. The expressing alteration of APPAT in samples of healthy and pathological coronary artery was explored further. We also assessed the level of circulating APPAT in blood samples from healthy individuals, and patients with angina pectoris (AP or myocardial infarction (MI. Additionally, we predicted and validated microRNA targets of APPAT, then showed the expression level of a candidate target which was primarily measured in human VSMCs cell line, coronary artery, and blood samples. Lastly, we examined the potential indicating ability of APPAT for the risk of AP or MI. Results APPAT showed significant reduction in ox-LDL treated human VSMCs in vitro. It enriched in contractile VSMCs of artery tunica media and mainly existed in cytoplasm. Significant down-regulation of APPAT was found in coronary artery samples with severe stenosis. More importantly, we observed decreased expression of APPAT in blood samples accompanying disease progression. ROC and correlation analyses further verified the relatively high predicting ability of APPAT. We also observed the predicted miRNA exhibited opposite expression direction to that of APPAT. Conclusions This study revealed that

  13. Evaluation of TV commercials using neurophysiological responses.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Yang, Taeyang; Lee, Do-Young; Kwak, Youngshin; Choi, Jinsook; Kim, Chajoong; Kim, Sung-Phil

    2015-04-24

    In recent years, neuroscientific knowledge has been applied to marketing as a novel and efficient means to comprehend the cognitive and behavioral aspects of consumers. A number of studies have attempted to evaluate media contents, especially TV commercials using various neuroimaging techniques such as electroencephalography (EEG). Yet neurophysiological examination of detailed cognitive and affective responses in viewers is still required to provide practical information to marketers. Here, this study develops a method to analyze temporal patterns of EEG data and extract affective and cognitive indices such as happiness, surprise, and attention for TV commercial evaluation. Twenty participants participated in the study. We developed the neurophysiological indices for TV commercial evaluation using classification model. Specifically, these model-based indices were customized using individual EEG features. We used a video game for developing the index of attention and four video clips for developing indices of happiness and surprise. Statistical processes including one-way analyses of variance (ANOVA) and the cross validation scheme were used to select EEG features for each index. The EEG features were composed of the combinations of spectral power at selected channels from the cross validation for each individual. The Fisher's linear discriminant classifier (FLDA) was used to estimate each neurophysiological index during viewing four different TV commercials. Post hoc behavioral responses of preference, short-term memory, and recall were measured. Behavioral results showed significant differences for all preference, short-term memory rates, and recall rates between commercials, leading to a 'high-ranked' commercial group and a 'low-ranked' group (P < 0.05). Neural estimation of happiness results revealed a significant difference between the high-ranked and the low-ranked commercials in happiness index (P < 0.01). The order of rankings based on happiness and

  14. The Commercial Open Source Business Model

    Science.gov (United States)

    Riehle, Dirk

    Commercial open source software projects are open source software projects that are owned by a single firm that derives a direct and significant revenue stream from the software. Commercial open source at first glance represents an economic paradox: How can a firm earn money if it is making its product available for free as open source? This paper presents the core properties of com mercial open source business models and discusses how they work. Using a commercial open source approach, firms can get to market faster with a superior product at lower cost than possible for traditional competitors. The paper shows how these benefits accrue from an engaged and self-supporting user community. Lacking any prior comprehensive reference, this paper is based on an analysis of public statements by practitioners of commercial open source. It forges the various anecdotes into a coherent description of revenue generation strategies and relevant business functions.

  15. Environmental assessment for commercialization of the Mound Plant

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    1994-01-01

    In November 1993 US DOE decided to phase out operations at the Mound Plant in Miamisburg, Ohio, with the goal of releasing the site for commercial use. The broad concept is to transform the plant into an advanced manufacturing center with the main focus on commercializing products and other technology. DOE proposes to lease portions of the Mound Plant to commercial enterprises. This Environmental Impact statement has a finding of no significant impact in reference to such action

  16. The road to micronutrient biofortification of rice:Progress and prospects

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Khurram eBashir

    2013-02-01

    Full Text Available Biofortification (Increasing the contents of vitamins and minerals through plant breeding or biotechnology of food crops with micronutrient elements has the potential to combat widespread micronutrient deficiencies in humans. Rice (Oryza sativa L. feeds more than half of the world’s population and is used as a staple food in many parts of Asia. As in other plants, micronutrient transport in rice is controlled at several stages, including uptake from soil, transport from root to shoot, careful control of subcellular micronutrient transport, and finally, and most importantly, transport to seeds. To enhance micronutrient accumulation in rice seeds, we need to understand and carefully regulate all of these processes. During the last decade, numerous attempts such as increasing the contents/expression of genes encoding metal chelators (mostly phytosiderophores and metal transporters; overexpressing Fe storage protein ferritin and phytase were successfully undertaken to significantly increase the micronutrient content of rice. However, despite the rapid progress in biofortification of rice, the commercialization of biofortified crops has not yet been achieved. Here, we briefly review the progress in biofortification of rice with micronutrient elements (Fe, Zn and Mn and discuss future prospects to mitigate widespread micronutrient deficiencies in humans.

  17. Malignant progressive tumor cell clone exhibits significant up-regulation of cofilin-2 and 27-kDa modified form of cofilin-1 compared to regressive clone.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kuramitsu, Yasuhiro; Wang, Yufeng; Okada, Futoshi; Baron, Byron; Tokuda, Kazuhiro; Kitagawa, Takao; Akada, Junko; Nakamura, Kazuyuki

    2013-09-01

    QR-32 is a regressive murine fibrosarcoma cell clone which cannot grow when they are transplanted in mice; QRsP-11 is a progressive malignant tumor cell clone derived from QR-32 which shows strong tumorigenicity. A recent study showed there to be differentially expressed up-regulated and down-regulated proteins in these cells, which were identified by proteomic differential display analyses by using two-dimensional gel electrophoresis and mass spectrometry. Cofilins are small proteins of less than 20 kDa. Their function is the regulation of actin assembly. Cofilin-1 is a small ubiquitous protein, and regulates actin dynamics by means of binding to actin filaments. Cofilin-1 plays roles in cell migration, proliferation and phagocytosis. Cofilin-2 is also a small protein, but it is mainly expressed in skeletal and cardiac muscles. There are many reports showing the positive correlation between the level of cofilin-1 and cancer progression. We have also reported an increased expression of cofilin-1 in pancreatic cancer tissues compared to adjacent paired normal tissues. On the other hand, cofilin-2 was significantly less expressed in pancreatic cancer tissues. Therefore, the present study investigated the comparison of the levels of cofilin-1 and cofilin-2 in regressive QR-32 and progressive QRsP-11cells by western blotting. Cofilin-2 was significantly up-regulated in QRsP-11 compared to QR-32 cells (p<0.001). On the other hand, the difference of the intensities of the bands of cofilin-1 (18 kDa) in QR-32 and QRsP-11 was not significant. However, bands of 27 kDa showed a quite different intensity between QR-32 and QRsP-11, with much higher intensities in QRsP-11 compared to QR-32 (p<0.001). These results suggested that the 27-kDa protein recognized by the antibody against cofilin-1 is a possible biomarker for progressive tumor cells.

  18. Nuclear electricity - a progress report

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    England, G.

    1980-01-01

    A survey of the progress of nuclear power over the past three years reveals three major features: (i) the continued operation of the first generation of commercial nuclear power stations, based on the Magnox gas-cooled reactor; (ii) the introduction and operation of the first of the second-generation stations, based on the advanced gas-cooled reactor (AGR); and (iii) the commitment of two successive Governments to a flexible thermal reactor strategy. Each of these features is considered and a number of related issues, including the safety record and cost savings to the electricity consumer, are discussed. (author)

  19. Thermal comfort in commercial kitchens (RP-1469)

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Simone, Angela; Olesen, Bjarne W.; Stoops, John L.

    2013-01-01

    The indoor climate in commercial kitchens is often unsatisfactory, and working conditions can have a significant effect on employees’ comfort and productivity. The type of establishment (fast food, casual, etc.) and climatic zone can influence thermal conditions in the kitchens. Moreover, the size...... and arrangement of the kitchen zones, appliances, etc., further complicate an evaluation of the indoor thermal environment in commercial kitchens. In general, comfort criteria are stipulated in international standards (e.g., ASHRAE 55 or ISO EN 7730), but are these standardized methods applicable...... dissatisfied (PMV/PPD) index is not directly appropriate for all thermal conditions in commercial kitchens....

  20. Industry Research and Recommendations for New Commercial Buildings

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Hendron, B.; Leach, M.; Gregory, N.; Pless, S.; Selkowitz, S.; Matthew, P.

    2014-05-01

    Researchers evaluated industry needs and developed logic models to support possible future commercial new construction research and deployment efforts that could be led or supported by DOE's Commercial Building Integration program or other national initiatives. The authors believe that these recommendations support a proposed course of action from the current state of commercial building energy efficiency to a possible long-term goal of achieving significant market penetration of cost-effective NZE buildings in all building sectors and climates by 2030.

  1. Progress in neuromorphic photonics

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ferreira de Lima, Thomas; Shastri, Bhavin J.; Tait, Alexander N.; Nahmias, Mitchell A.; Prucnal, Paul R.

    2017-03-01

    As society's appetite for information continues to grow, so does our need to process this information with increasing speed and versatility. Many believe that the one-size-fits-all solution of digital electronics is becoming a limiting factor in certain areas such as data links, cognitive radio, and ultrafast control. Analog photonic devices have found relatively simple signal processing niches where electronics can no longer provide sufficient speed and reconfigurability. Recently, the landscape for commercially manufacturable photonic chips has been changing rapidly and now promises to achieve economies of scale previously enjoyed solely by microelectronics. By bridging the mathematical prowess of artificial neural networks to the underlying physics of optoelectronic devices, neuromorphic photonics could breach new domains of information processing demanding significant complexity, low cost, and unmatched speed. In this article, we review the progress in neuromorphic photonics, focusing on photonic integrated devices. The challenges and design rules for optoelectronic instantiation of artificial neurons are presented. The proposed photonic architecture revolves around the processing network node composed of two parts: a nonlinear element and a network interface. We then survey excitable lasers in the recent literature as candidates for the nonlinear node and microring-resonator weight banks as the network interface. Finally, we compare metrics between neuromorphic electronics and neuromorphic photonics and discuss potential applications.

  2. 1986 Annual report on Low-Level Radioactive Waste Management progress

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    1987-06-01

    This report summarizes the progress of states and compact regions without low-level waste disposal sites (non-sited compact regions and nonmember states) in 1986 in siting new low-level waste disposal facilities. It also reports the volume of low-level waste received for disposal in 1986 by commercially operated low-level waste disposal facilities. 6 figs., 7 tabs

  3. State geothermal commercialization programs in seven Rocky Mountain States. Semi-annual progress report, January-June 1980

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Tuttle, J.; Coe, B.A.; Gertsch, W.D.; Meyer, R.T.

    1980-12-01

    The following are included: a summary of the state projects, a summary of findings, public outreach, and a description of the major conclusions and recommendations. The commercialization activities carried out by the state teams are described for Colorado, Montana, New Mexico, North Dakota, South Dakota, Utah, and Wyoming. (MHR)

  4. FY2009 Annual Progress Report for Advanced Combustion Engine Research and Development

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    none,

    2009-12-01

    Fiscal Year 2009 Annual Progress Report for the Advanced Combustion Engine Research and Development (R&D) subprogram. The Advanced Combustion Engine R&D subprogram supports the mission of the VTP program by removing the critical technical barriers to commercialization of advanced internal combustion engines (ICEs) for passenger and commercial vehicles that meet future Federal emissions regulations. Dramatically improving the efficiency of ICEs and enabling their introduction in conventional as well as hybrid electric vehicles is the most promising and cost-effective approach to increasing vehicle fuel economy over the next 30 years.

  5. Conceptual design of a commercial accelerator driven thorium reactor

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Fuller, C. G.; Ashworth, R. W.

    2010-01-01

    This paper describes the substantial work done in underpinning and developing the concept design for a commercial 600 MWe, accelerator driven, thorium fuelled, lead cooled, power producing, fast reactor. The Accelerator Driven Thorium Reactor (ADTR TM) has been derived from original work by Carlo Rubbia. Over the period 2007 to 2009 Aker Solutions commissioned this concept design work and, in close collaboration with Rubbia, developed the physics, engineering and business model. Much has been published about the Energy Amplifier concept and accelerator driven systems. This paper concentrates on the unique physics developed during the concept study of the ADTR TM power station and the progress made in engineering and design of the system. Particular attention is paid to where the concept design has moved significantly beyond published material. Description of challenges presented for the engineering and safety of a commercial system and how they will be addressed is included. This covers the defining system parameters, accelerator sizing, core and fuel design issues and, perhaps most importantly, reactivity control. The paper concludes that the work undertaken supports the technical viability of the ADTR TM power station. Several unique features of the reactor mean that it can be deployed in countries with aspirations to gain benefit from nuclear power and, at 600 MWe, it fits a size gap for less mature grid systems. It can provide a useful complement to Generation III, III+ and IV systems through its ability to consume actinides whilst at the same time providing useful power. (authors)

  6. CRADA Carbon Sequestration in Soils and Commercial Products

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Jacobs, G.K.

    2002-01-31

    ORNL, through The Consortium for Research on Enhancing Carbon Sequestration in Terrestrial Ecosystems (CSiTE), collaborated with The Village Botanica, Inc. (VB) on a project investigating carbon sequestration in soils and commercial products from a new sustainable crop developed from perennial Hibiscus spp. Over 500 pre-treated samples were analyzed for soil carbon content. ORNL helped design a sampling scheme for soils during the planting phase of the project. Samples were collected and prepared by VB and analyzed for carbon content by ORNL. The project did not progress to a Phase II proposal because VB declined to prepare the required proposal.

  7. Commercial applications of solar total energy systems. Third quarterly progress report, November 1, 1976--January 31, 1977

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    1977-09-01

    The application of Solar Total Energy System (STES) to the commercial sector (e.g., office buildings, shopping centers, retail stores, etc.) in the United States is investigated. Candidate solar-thermal and solar-photovoltaic concepts are considered for providing on-site electrical power generation as well as thermal energy for both heating and cooling applications. The solar-thermal concepts include the use of solar concentrators (distributed or central-receiver) for collection of the thermal energy for conversion to electricity by means of a Rankine-cycle or Brayton-cycle power-conversion system. Recoverable waste heat from the power-generation process is utilized to help meet the building thermal-energy demand. Evaluation methodology is identified to allow ranking and/or selection of the most cost-effective concept for commercial-building applications.

  8. A commercial space technology testbed on ISS

    Science.gov (United States)

    Boyle, David R.

    2000-01-01

    There is a significant and growing commercial market for new, more capable communications and remote sensing satellites. Competition in this market strongly motivates satellite manufacturers and spacecraft component developers to test and demonstrate new space hardware in a realistic environment. External attach points on the International Space Station allow it to function uniquely as a space technology testbed to satisfy this market need. However, space industry officials have identified three critical barriers to their commercial use of the ISS: unpredictable access, cost risk, and schedule uncertainty. Appropriate NASA policy initiatives and business/technical assistance for industry from the Commercial Space Center for Engineering can overcome these barriers. .

  9. Acetic acid production from marine algae. Progress report No. 3, January 1, 1978--March 31, 1978

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Sanderson, J.E.; Wise, D.L.

    1978-06-01

    The program for acetic acid production from marine algae has made significant progress in the current quarter. Some of the significant developments during this period are: (1) conversion of the available reducing equivalents in Chondrus crispus to organic acids has been carried to better than 80% completion; (2) thermophilic fermentations produce higher ratios of acetic acid to total acid than is the case for mesophilic fermentations (80% vs. 50%); (3) a membrane extraction process for removing organic acid products has been developed which has potential for commercial use; (4) a large scale fermentation was shown to convert over 50% of the available carbon in five days; (5) a reducing equivalents balance on the large scale fermentation was closed to with 96% of theoretical.

  10. 77 FR 30919 - Commercial Driver's License Testing and Commercial Learner's Permit Standards

    Science.gov (United States)

    2012-05-24

    ..., and 385 [Docket No. FMCSA-2007-27659] Commercial Driver's License Testing and Commercial Learner's... published a final rule titled ``Commercial Driver's License Testing and Commercial Learner's Permit... additional drivers, primarily those transporting certain tanks temporarily attached to the commercial motor...

  11. Progress in video immersion using Panospheric imaging

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bogner, Stephen L.; Southwell, David T.; Penzes, Steven G.; Brosinsky, Chris A.; Anderson, Ron; Hanna, Doug M.

    1998-09-01

    Having demonstrated significant technical and marketplace advantages over other modalities for video immersion, PanosphericTM Imaging (PI) continues to evolve rapidly. This paper reports on progress achieved since AeroSense 97. The first practical field deployment of the technology occurred in June-August 1997 during the NASA-CMU 'Atacama Desert Trek' activity, where the Nomad mobile robot was teleoperated via immersive PanosphericTM imagery from a distance of several thousand kilometers. Research using teleoperated vehicles at DRES has also verified the exceptional utility of the PI technology for achieving high levels of situational awareness, operator confidence, and mission effectiveness. Important performance enhancements have been achieved with the completion of the 4th Generation PI DSP-based array processor system. The system is now able to provide dynamic full video-rate generation of spatial and computational transformations, resulting in a programmable and fully interactive immersive video telepresence. A new multi- CCD camera architecture has been created to exploit the bandwidth of this processor, yielding a well-matched PI system with greatly improved resolution. While the initial commercial application for this technology is expected to be video tele- conferencing, it also appears to have excellent potential for application in the 'Immersive Cockpit' concept. Additional progress is reported in the areas of Long Wave Infrared PI Imaging, Stereo PI concepts, PI based Video-Servoing concepts, PI based Video Navigation concepts, and Foveation concepts (to merge localized high-resolution views with immersive views).

  12. Thermal Environment evaluation in Commercial kitchens

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Simone, Angela; Olesen, Bjarne W.

    2012-01-01

    as commercial kitchens? There is therefore a need to study the indoor environment in commercial kitchens and to establish standardized methods and procedures for setting criteria that have to be met for the design and operation of kitchens. The present paper introduces a data collection protocol based......The indoor climate in commercial kitchens is often unsatisfactory and the working conditions can have a significant effect on employees’ comfort and productivity. The type (fast food, casual, etc.) and climatic zone can influence the thermal conditions in the kitchens. Moreover, size...... and arrangement of the kitchen zones, appliances, etc., complicate further an evaluation of the indoor thermal environment in kitchens. In general, comfort criteria are expressed in international standards such as ASHRAE 55 or ISO EN7730. But are these standardised methods applicable for such environments...

  13. 1994 annual report on low-level radioactive waste management progress

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    1995-04-01

    This report for calendar year 1994 summarizes the progress that states and compact regions made during the year in establishing new low-level radioactive waste disposal facilities. Although events that have occurred in 1995 greatly alter the perspective in terms of storage versus disposal, the purpose of this report is to convey the concerns as evidenced during calendar year 1994. Significant developments occurring in 1995 are briefly outlined in the transmittal letter and will be detailed in the report for calendar year 1995. The report also provides summary information on the volume of low-level radioactive waste received for disposal in 1994 by commercially operated low-level radioactive waste disposal facilities, and is prepared is in response to Section 7(b) of Title I of Public Law 99-240, the Low-Level Radioactive Waste Policy Amendments Act of 1985

  14. Progress in high gain inertial confinement fusion

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Sun Jingwen

    2001-01-01

    The author reviews the progress in laboratory high gain inertial confinement fusion (ICF), including ICF capsule physics, high-energy-density science, inertial fusion energy, the National Ignition Facility (NIF) and its design of ignition targets and the peta watt laser breakthrough. High power laser, particle beam, and pulsed power facilities around the world have established the new laboratory field of high-energy- density plasma physics and have furthered development of inertial fusion. New capabilities such as those provided by high-brightness peta watt lasers have enabled the study of matter feasible in conditions previously unachievable on earth. Science and technology developed in inertial fusion research have found near-term commercial use and have enabled steady progress toward the goal of fusion ignition and high gain in the laboratory, and have opened up new fields of study for the 21 st century

  15. Profile of medical care costs in patients with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis in the Medicare programme and under commercial insurance.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Meng, Lisa; Bian, Amy; Jordan, Scott; Wolff, Andrew; Shefner, Jeremy M; Andrews, Jinsy

    2018-02-01

    To determine amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS)-associated costs incurred by patients covered by Medicare and/or commercial insurance before, during and after diagnosis and provide cost details. Costs were calculated from the Medicare Standard Analytical File 5% sample claims data from Parts A and B from 2009, 2010 and 2011 for ALS Medicare patients aged ≥70 years (monthly costs) and ≥65 years (costs associated with disability milestones). Commercial insurance patients aged 18-63 years were selected based on the data provided in the Coordination of Benefits field from Truven MarketScan® in 2008-2010. Monthly costs increased nine months before diagnosis, peaked during the index month (Medicare: $10,398; commercial: $9354) and decreased but remained high post-index. Costs generally shifted from outpatient to inpatient and private nursing after diagnosis; prescriptions and durable medical equipment costs were much higher for commercial patients post-diagnosis. Patients appeared to progress to disability milestones more rapidly as their disease progressed in severity (14.4 months to non-invasive ventilation [NIV] vs. 16.6 months to hospice), and their costs increased accordingly (NIV: $58,973 vs. hospice: $76,179). For newly diagnosed ALS patients in the U.S., medical costs are substantial and increase rapidly and substantially with each disability milestone.

  16. University of Utah, Energy Commercialization Center

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Thompson, James [Univ. of Utah, Salt Lake City, UT (United States)

    2014-01-17

    During the Energy Commercialization Center’s (ECC) three years in operation, the only thing constant was change. The world of commercialization and cleantech evolved significantly during the time the ECC was formed and operating, including: the availability of cleantech funding lessoned, the growth of incubators and accelerators skyrocketed, the State of Utah created an office dedicated to energy development, the University of Utah was both praised and criticized for its success in commercialization, and the Federal government temporarily shut down. During the three-year grant there were three principle investigators on the grant, as well as three directors for the University’s Commercialization Office. Change can be hard for an organization,but as we instruct the companies we support, “Fail fast and fail often, because it is the fastest path to success.” Although there were some unanticipated challenges along the way, the local ecosystem is stronger because of the ECC’s efforts. Perhaps the greatest lesson learned was the importance of aligned incentives between key stakeholders in the commercialization process and the need for resources at the company and individual entrepreneur levels. The universities have systems and incentives to commercialize technologies, but creating value and companies generally rest with the individuals and entrepreneurs. Unfortunately the ECC was unable to create a viable mechanism to transfer the commercialization process that successfully aligned incentives and achieve a more effective ecosystem within the Rocky Mountain West. However, the ECC was successful in adding value to the individual ecosystems, and connecting national resources to regional and local needs. Regarding the ECC’s effectiveness in developing a cleantech commercialization ecosystem, initial inroads and relationships were established with key stakeholders. However, incentives, perceived or real competition, differences in commercialization processes, and

  17. Progress of JPDR decommissioning project

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Kiyota, M.; Yanagihara, S.

    1995-01-01

    The Japan Power Demonstration Reactor (JPDR) decommissioning project is progressively achieving its final goal; the project will be finished by March 1996 to release the JPDR's site into unrestricted use in a green field condition. The new techniques which developed or improved in R and D, the first phase of this program, have been successfully applied to the actual dismantling activities. Some decommissioning wastes have been managed as the first case of onsite shallow land burial based on the new regulatory frame of radioactive waste management. The experiences and the data obtained from the JPDR dismantling activities are expected to contribute to future decommissioning of commercial nuclear power plants. (author)

  18. Progress test utopia.

    Science.gov (United States)

    van der Vleuten, Cees; Freeman, Adrian; Collares, Carlos Fernando

    2018-04-01

    This paper discusses the advantages of progress testing. A utopia is described where medical schools would work together to develop and administer progress testing. This would lead to a significant reduction of cost, an increase in the quality of measurement and phenomenal feedback to learner and school. Progress testing would also provide more freedom and resources for more creative in-school assessment. It would be an educationally attractive alternative for the creation of cognitive licensing exams. A utopia is always far away in the future, but by formulating a vision for that future we may engage in discussions on how to get there.

  19. Development and progress of the South African uranium enrichment project

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Roux, A.J.A.; Grant, W.L.; Barbour, R.A.; Loubser, R.S.; Wannenburg, J.J.

    1977-01-01

    The earlier development of the project is briefly reviewed, and some of the salient features of the South African process are touched upon. Development of the separation element in the last 18 months is discussed, as well as further work on the helikon cascade process. A brief description of the helikon cascade operation is given by means of diagrams. Because of time limitations, the complete helikon theory is not presented, but only some examples shown. Experimental work done to verify the helikon concept, as well as theoretical treatment, is presented. A brief report of the progress made on the experimental module of 6 t/a separative work capacity is given. This module, known as Mini-Z, is well advanced and details of its features and construction are shown. A short discussion of progress on the full-scale prototype module, known as Proto-Z, is next presented. The flexibility of such a design to fit a wide range of cascade sizes is considered, as well as cost implications of various approaches to design. Apart from progress on the development of the commercial plant, a brief review is given of the present state of the pilot plant at Valindaba. Some of the information obtained is mentioned. In conclusion, some information is given in regard to further planning and other work on the commercial plant at present being undertaken. Projected operation of the plant and some nuclear fuel service aspects are touched on

  20. Investigating the usefulness of a cluster-based trend analysis to detect visual field progression in patients with open-angle glaucoma.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Aoki, Shuichiro; Murata, Hiroshi; Fujino, Yuri; Matsuura, Masato; Miki, Atsuya; Tanito, Masaki; Mizoue, Shiro; Mori, Kazuhiko; Suzuki, Katsuyoshi; Yamashita, Takehiro; Kashiwagi, Kenji; Hirasawa, Kazunori; Shoji, Nobuyuki; Asaoka, Ryo

    2017-12-01

    To investigate the usefulness of the Octopus (Haag-Streit) EyeSuite's cluster trend analysis in glaucoma. Ten visual fields (VFs) with the Humphrey Field Analyzer (Carl Zeiss Meditec), spanning 7.7 years on average were obtained from 728 eyes of 475 primary open angle glaucoma patients. Mean total deviation (mTD) trend analysis and EyeSuite's cluster trend analysis were performed on various series of VFs (from 1st to 10th: VF1-10 to 6th to 10th: VF6-10). The results of the cluster-based trend analysis, based on different lengths of VF series, were compared against mTD trend analysis. Cluster-based trend analysis and mTD trend analysis results were significantly associated in all clusters and with all lengths of VF series. Between 21.2% and 45.9% (depending on VF series length and location) of clusters were deemed to progress when the mTD trend analysis suggested no progression. On the other hand, 4.8% of eyes were observed to progress using the mTD trend analysis when cluster trend analysis suggested no progression in any two (or more) clusters. Whole field trend analysis can miss local VF progression. Cluster trend analysis appears as robust as mTD trend analysis and useful to assess both sectorial and whole field progression. Cluster-based trend analyses, in particular the definition of two or more progressing cluster, may help clinicians to detect glaucomatous progression in a timelier manner than using a whole field trend analysis, without significantly compromising specificity. © Article author(s) (or their employer(s) unless otherwise stated in the text of the article) 2017. All rights reserved. No commercial use is permitted unless otherwise expressly granted.

  1. Altitude exposures during commercial flight: a reappraisal.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hampson, Neil B; Kregenow, David A; Mahoney, Anne M; Kirtland, Steven H; Horan, Kathleen L; Holm, James R; Gerbino, Anthony J

    2013-01-01

    Hypobaric hypoxia during commercial air travel has the potential to cause or worsen hypoxemia in individuals with pre-existing cardiopulmonary compromise. Knowledge of cabin altitude pressures aboard contemporary flights is essential to counseling patients accurately about flying safety. The objective of the study was to measure peak cabin altitudes during U.S. domestic commercial flights on a variety of aircraft. A handheld mountaineering altimeter was carried by the investigators in the plane cabin during commercial air travel and peak cabin altitude measured. The values were then compared between aircraft models, aircraft classes, and distances flown. The average peak cabin altitude on 207 flights aboard 17 different aircraft was 6341 +/- 1813 ft (1933 m +/- 553 m), significantly higher than when measured in a similar fashion in 1988. Peak cabin altitude was significantly higher for flights longer than 750 mi (7085 +/- 801 ft) compared to shorter flights (5160 +/- 2290 ft/1573 +/- 698 m). Cabin altitude increased linearly with flight distance for flights up to 750 mi in length, but was independent of flight distance for flights exceeding 750 mi. Peak cabin altitude was less than 5000 ft (1524 m) in 70% of flights shorter than 500 mi. Peak cabin altitudes greater than 8000 ft (2438 m) were measured on approximately 10% of the total flights. Peak cabin altitude on commercial aircraft flights has risen over time. Cabin altitude is lower with flights of shorter distance. Physicians should take these factors into account when determining an individual's need for supplemental oxygen during commercial air travel.

  2. Significance of Selective Predation and Development of Prey Protection Measures for Juvenile Salmonids in the Columbia and Snake River Reservoirs: Annual Progress Report, February 1991-February 1992.

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Poe, Thomas P.

    1992-12-31

    This document is the 1991 annual report of progress for the Bonneville Power Administration (BPA) research Project conducted by the US Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS). Our approach was to present the progress achieved during 1991 in a series of separate reports for each major project task. Each report is prepared in the format of a scientific paper and is able to stand alone, whatever the state of progress or completion. This project has two major goals. One is to understand the significance of selective predation and prey vulnerability by determining if substandard juvenile salmonids (dead, injured, stressed, diseased, or naive) are more vulnerable to predation by northern squawfish, than standard or normal juvenile salmonids. The second goal is to develop and test prey protection measures to control predation on juvenile salmonids by reducing predator-smolt encounters or predator capture efficiency.

  3. Determining significant endpoints for ecological risk analyses. 1997 annual progress report

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Hinton, T.G.; Congdon, J.; Rowe, C.; Scott, D. [Univ. of Georgia, Aiken, SC (US). Savannah River Ecology Lab.; Bedford, J.; Whicker, F.W. [Colorado State Univ., Fort Collins, CO (US)

    1997-11-01

    'This report summarizes the first year''s progress of research funded under the Department of Energy''s Environmental Management Science Program. The research was initiated to better determine ecological risks from toxic and radioactive contaminants. More precisely, the research is designed to determine the relevancy of sublethal cellular damage to the performance of individuals and to identify characteristics of non-human populations exposed to chronic, low-level radiation, as is typically found on many DOE sites. The authors propose to establish a protocol to assess risks to non-human species at higher levels of biological organization by relating molecular damage to more relevant responses that reflect population health. They think that they can achieve this by coupling changes in metabolic rates and energy allocation patterns to meaningful population response variables, and by using novel biological dosimeters in controlled, manipulative dose/effects experiments. They believe that a scientifically defensible endpoint for measuring ecological risks can only be determined once its understood the extent to which molecular damage from contaminant exposure is detrimental at the individual and population levels of biological organization.'

  4. Modular Platform for Commercial Mobile Robots

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Kjærgaard, Morten

    , and not on putting the robots on the commercial market. At the time when this research project was started in May 2010, the amount of successful commercial applications based on mobile robots was very limited. The most known applications were vacuum cleaners, lawn mowers, and few examples of specialized transport...... by the individual groups and perhaps a few close industrial partners. This research project addresses the problem of increasing the potential for more commercial applications based on mobile wheeled robots. Therefore the main focus is not on inventing new ground-breaking robotics technology, but instead...... period, a signicant research community was created around one specific robot control framework called ROS. From the very beginning,this research project acknowledged the value of such a community, and put a significant eort into in uencing the ROS framework to become usable also for industry...

  5. Development of Career Progression Systems for Employees in the Foodservice Industry. Final Report.

    Science.gov (United States)

    National Restaurant Association, Chicago, IL.

    Firms representing four segments of the foodservice industry (institutional foodservice (9 jobs), commercial restaurants (19 jobs), hotel foodservice (100 jobs), and airline foodservice (10 jobs), participated in a career and training study to test the feasibility of designing and implementing career progression (c.p.) systems within these…

  6. Commercial mitigation techniques used in remediating a 2200 pCi/L public building

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Davidson, J.G.

    1990-01-01

    This paper reports on commercial mitigation techniques used in remediating a 2200 pCi/L public building. In March of 1989 EPA and Pa. DER officials were amazed to discover a school in Pennsylvania with levels in its library of 2200 pCi/L. The library was a 30 year old, three story slab-on-grade structure more like a commercial building than a typical school structure. It had three separate and complex HVAC systems. Initial diagnostics indicated radon levels under the slab at over 80,000 pCi/L. Further investigations revealed major entry routes and a HVAC system terribly out of balance. Remediation consisted of installing a complex sub-slab depressurization system with an exterior commercial fan unit, major entry route sealing, and working closely with a mechanical contractor to bring the HVAC systems back into balance. Initial post remediation testing showed a 99% drop in radon levels. Refinements to the system are still in progress

  7. Effect of commercial diets quality on bio-economic performances of broilers in Benin

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Houndonougbo, F M; Chwalibog, André; Chrysostome, C A A M

    2009-01-01

    The objective of this study was to assess the quality of commercial poultry feeds in Benin. The performances of 396 unsexed broilers chickens Ross 308 fed with a control diet (R1) and five commercial diets (R2 to R6) were evaluated. Broilers fed commercial diets showed significantly low (P ....001) body weight gain (BWG) and economic feed efficiency (EFE) and significantly high (P cost (FC). At 42 days of age, the body weight of broilers fed control diet was 1662 g versus 838 to 1041 g for broilers fed commercial diets. In R1 diet, overall FC...... commercial diets. These results suggest the necessity to organize the market of poultry feed in Benin in the perspective to reduce the production cost by using more efficient and cheap commercial diets....

  8. ESSENCE AND VALUE OF FINANCIAL RESULTS OF COMMERCIAL BANK ACTIVITY

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Kushnarova Anna

    2018-01-01

    Full Text Available Introduction. Financial results of the banking institution activity are one of the most important indicators of its functioning. They characterize the stability and reliability of a commercial bank, which is necessary to create reserve funds, to encourage staff and offer guidance to develop and improve operations on the market, reduce costs and improve the quality of services provided. Purpose. The purpose of the study is to determine the composition and significance of financial results for the functioning of the banking institution in the existing competitive environment. Results. The article considers the concept of financial results of a commercial bank as an important element of its activity for achieving competitive advantages in the banking services market. The composition and structure of financial results, factors of possible impact on them are determined. The source of the mapping and recording of the results of the activity is indicated. Attention is paid to the significance of profit as a positive financial result of a commercial bank activity and the priority directions of its distribution are formed. The importance of the relative indicator of the effective activity of a commercial bank as one of the elements of the formation of financial results is substantiated. Conclusions. Thus, in today’s market conditions, one can talk about the expediency of determining the composition of financial results and their significance to ensure the main directions of the functioning of a commercial bank. First of all, in order to increase the level of profitability it is necessary to carry out a comprehensive analysis of income and expenditure, to identify the factors of influence on them, to increase the reserves of activity. Receiving a positive or negative value of financial performance depends primarily on the effectiveness of the interaction of each component of the organization of a modern commercial bank. The ability to correctly identify

  9. How commercial and non-commercial swine producers move pigs in Scotland: a detailed descriptive analysis.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Porphyre, Thibaud; Boden, Lisa A; Correia-Gomes, Carla; Auty, Harriet K; Gunn, George J; Woolhouse, Mark E J

    2014-06-25

    The impact of non-commercial producers on disease spread via livestock movement is related to their level of interaction with other commercial actors within the industry. Although understanding these relationships is crucial in order to identify likely routes of disease incursion and transmission prior to disease detection, there has been little research in this area due to the difficulties of capturing movements of small producers with sufficient resolution. Here, we used the Scottish Livestock Electronic Identification and Traceability (ScotEID) database to describe the movement patterns of different pig production systems which may affect the risk of disease spread within the swine industry. In particular, we focused on the role of small pig producers. Between January 2012 and May 2013, 23,169 batches of pigs were recorded moving animals between 2382 known unique premises. Although the majority of movements (61%) were to a slaughterhouse, the non-commercial and the commercial sectors of the Scottish swine industry coexist, with on- and off-movement of animals occurring relatively frequently. For instance, 13% and 4% of non-slaughter movements from professional producers were sent to a non-assured commercial producer or to a small producer, respectively; whereas 43% and 22% of movements from non-assured commercial farms were sent to a professional or a small producer, respectively. We further identified differences between producer types in several animal movement characteristics which are known to increase the risk of disease spread. Particularly, the distance travelled and the use of haulage were found to be significantly different between producers. These results showed that commercial producers are not isolated from the non-commercial sector of the Scottish swine industry and may frequently interact, either directly or indirectly. The observed patterns in the frequency of movements, the type of producers involved, the distance travelled and the use of haulage

  10. Commercial Buildings Characteristics, 1992

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    1994-04-29

    Commercial Buildings Characteristics 1992 presents statistics about the number, type, and size of commercial buildings in the United States as well as their energy-related characteristics. These data are collected in the Commercial Buildings Energy Consumption Survey (CBECS), a national survey of buildings in the commercial sector. The 1992 CBECS is the fifth in a series conducted since 1979 by the Energy Information Administration. Approximately 6,600 commercial buildings were surveyed, representing the characteristics and energy consumption of 4.8 million commercial buildings and 67.9 billion square feet of commercial floorspace nationwide. Overall, the amount of commercial floorspace in the United States increased an average of 2.4 percent annually between 1989 and 1992, while the number of commercial buildings increased an average of 2.0 percent annually.

  11. 1992 annual report on low-level radioactive waste management progress

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    1993-11-01

    This report summarizes the progress States and compact regions made during 1992 in establishing new low-level radioactive waste disposal facilities. It also provides summary information on the volume of low-level radioactive waste received for disposal in 1992 by commercially operated low-level radioactive waste disposal facilities. This report is in response to section 7 (b) of the Low-Level Radioactive Waste Policy Act

  12. Future trends in commercial and military systems

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bond, F. E.

    Commercial and military satellite communication systems are addressed, with a review of current applications and typical communication characteristics of the space and earth segments. Drivers for the development of future commercial systems include: the pervasion of digital techniques and services, growing orbit and frequency congestion, demand for more entertainment, and the large potential market for commercial 'roof-top' service. For military systems, survivability, improved flexibility, and the need for service to small mobile terminals are the principal factors involved. Technical trends include the use of higher frequency bands, multibeam antennas and a significant increase in the application of onboard processing. Military systems will employ a variety of techniques to counter both physical and electronic threats. The use of redundant transmission paths is a particularly effective approach. Successful implementation requires transmission standards to achieve the required interoperability among the pertinent networks. For both the military and commercial sectors, the trend toward larger numbers of terminals and more complex spacecraft is still persisting.

  13. High-performance commercial building systems

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Selkowitz, Stephen

    2003-10-01

    This report summarizes key technical accomplishments resulting from the three year PIER-funded R&D program, ''High Performance Commercial Building Systems'' (HPCBS). The program targets the commercial building sector in California, an end-use sector that accounts for about one-third of all California electricity consumption and an even larger fraction of peak demand, at a cost of over $10B/year. Commercial buildings also have a major impact on occupant health, comfort and productivity. Building design and operations practices that influence energy use are deeply engrained in a fragmented, risk-averse industry that is slow to change. Although California's aggressive standards efforts have resulted in new buildings designed to use less energy than those constructed 20 years ago, the actual savings realized are still well below technical and economic potentials. The broad goal of this program is to develop and deploy a set of energy-saving technologies, strategies, and techniques, and improve processes for designing, commissioning, and operating commercial buildings, while improving health, comfort, and performance of occupants, all in a manner consistent with sound economic investment practices. Results are to be broadly applicable to the commercial sector for different building sizes and types, e.g. offices and schools, for different classes of ownership, both public and private, and for owner-occupied as well as speculative buildings. The program aims to facilitate significant electricity use savings in the California commercial sector by 2015, while assuring that these savings are affordable and promote high quality indoor environments. The five linked technical program elements contain 14 projects with 41 distinct R&D tasks. Collectively they form a comprehensive Research, Development, and Demonstration (RD&D) program with the potential to capture large savings in the commercial building sector, providing significant economic benefits to

  14. Commercialization of nanotechnology.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hobson, David W

    2009-01-01

    The emerging and potential commercial applications of nanotechnologies clearly have great potential to significantly advance and even potentially revolutionize various aspects of medical practice and medical product development. Nanotechnology is already touching upon many aspects of medicine, including drug delivery, diagnostic imaging, clinical diagnostics, nanomedicines, and the use of nanomaterials in medical devices. This technology is already having an impact; many products are on the market and a growing number is in the pipeline. Momentum is steadily building for the successful development of additional nanotech products to diagnose and treat disease; the most active areas of product development are drug delivery and in vivo imaging. Nanotechnology is also addressing many unmet needs in the pharmaceutical industry, including the reformulation of drugs to improve their bioavailability or toxicity profiles. The advancement of medical nanotechnology is expected to advance over at least three different generations or phases, beginning with the introduction of simple nanoparticulate and nanostructural improvements to current product and process types, then eventually moving on to nanoproducts and nanodevices that are limited only by the imagination and limits of the technology itself. This review looks at some recent developments in the commercialization of nanotechnology for various medical applications as well as general trends in the industry, and explores the nanotechnology industry that is involved in developing medical products and procedures with a view toward technology commercialization. (c) 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

  15. 78 FR 17875 - Commercial Driver's License Testing and Commercial Learner's Permit Standards

    Science.gov (United States)

    2013-03-25

    ... [Docket No. FMCSA-2007-27659] RIN 2126-AB59 Commercial Driver's License Testing and Commercial Learner's.... The 2011 final rule amended the commercial driver's license (CDL) knowledge and skills testing standards and established new minimum Federal standards for States to issue the commercial learner's permit...

  16. Thermal Environment Evaluation in Commercial Kitchens of United States

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Simone, Angela; Olesen, Bjarne W.

    The indoor climate in commercial kitchens is often unsatisfactory and the working conditions can have a significant effect on employees’ comfort and productivity. The differences between type (fast food, dining, etc.) and climatic zone can have an influence on the environment conditions and on th......The indoor climate in commercial kitchens is often unsatisfactory and the working conditions can have a significant effect on employees’ comfort and productivity. The differences between type (fast food, dining, etc.) and climatic zone can have an influence on the environment conditions...... of defining the values of thermal comfort parameters in kitchens. It can also help to evaluate if the standardized methods are applicable for such non-uniform environment, like commercial kitchens. By using an established method and procedure for evaluating the indoor thermal comfort in commercial kitchens...... more than 100 kitchens environments in the United States were investigated in summer and winter. Results show the influence due to type of kitchen (fast food, casual, etc.) and climatic region. Physical measurement confirmed that communally the workers are exposed to a warm or hot environment...

  17. Guide to commercially available wind machines

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    1978-04-03

    Wind Energy Conversion Systems (WECS) commercially available in the United States are described. The terms used to describe these wind systems are defined and their significance discussed. Lists of manufacturers and distributors, subsystem components and suppliers, and references are provided.

  18. 77 FR 26989 - Commercial Driver's License Testing and Commercial Learner's Permit Standards

    Science.gov (United States)

    2012-05-08

    ... [Docket No. FMCSA-2007-27659] RIN 2126-AB02 Commercial Driver's License Testing and Commercial Learner's... effective on July 8, 2011. That final rule amended the commercial driver's license (CDL) knowledge and skills testing standards and established new minimum Federal standards for States to issue the commercial...

  19. Maize transformation technology development for commercial event generation

    Science.gov (United States)

    Que, Qiudeng; Elumalai, Sivamani; Li, Xianggan; Zhong, Heng; Nalapalli, Samson; Schweiner, Michael; Fei, Xiaoyin; Nuccio, Michael; Kelliher, Timothy; Gu, Weining; Chen, Zhongying; Chilton, Mary-Dell M.

    2014-01-01

    Maize is an important food and feed crop in many countries. It is also one of the most important target crops for the application of biotechnology. Currently, there are more biotech traits available on the market in maize than in any other crop. Generation of transgenic events is a crucial step in the development of biotech traits. For commercial applications, a high throughput transformation system producing a large number of high quality events in an elite genetic background is highly desirable. There has been tremendous progress in Agrobacterium-mediated maize transformation since the publication of the Ishida et al. (1996) paper and the technology has been widely adopted for transgenic event production by many labs around the world. We will review general efforts in establishing efficient maize transformation technologies useful for transgenic event production in trait research and development. The review will also discuss transformation systems used for generating commercial maize trait events currently on the market. As the number of traits is increasing steadily and two or more modes of action are used to control key pests, new tools are needed to efficiently transform vectors containing multiple trait genes. We will review general guidelines for assembling binary vectors for commercial transformation. Approaches to increase transformation efficiency and gene expression of large gene stack vectors will be discussed. Finally, recent studies of targeted genome modification and transgene insertion using different site-directed nuclease technologies will be reviewed. PMID:25140170

  20. Maize transformation technology development for commercial event generation.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Que, Qiudeng; Elumalai, Sivamani; Li, Xianggan; Zhong, Heng; Nalapalli, Samson; Schweiner, Michael; Fei, Xiaoyin; Nuccio, Michael; Kelliher, Timothy; Gu, Weining; Chen, Zhongying; Chilton, Mary-Dell M

    2014-01-01

    Maize is an important food and feed crop in many countries. It is also one of the most important target crops for the application of biotechnology. Currently, there are more biotech traits available on the market in maize than in any other crop. Generation of transgenic events is a crucial step in the development of biotech traits. For commercial applications, a high throughput transformation system producing a large number of high quality events in an elite genetic background is highly desirable. There has been tremendous progress in Agrobacterium-mediated maize transformation since the publication of the Ishida et al. (1996) paper and the technology has been widely adopted for transgenic event production by many labs around the world. We will review general efforts in establishing efficient maize transformation technologies useful for transgenic event production in trait research and development. The review will also discuss transformation systems used for generating commercial maize trait events currently on the market. As the number of traits is increasing steadily and two or more modes of action are used to control key pests, new tools are needed to efficiently transform vectors containing multiple trait genes. We will review general guidelines for assembling binary vectors for commercial transformation. Approaches to increase transformation efficiency and gene expression of large gene stack vectors will be discussed. Finally, recent studies of targeted genome modification and transgene insertion using different site-directed nuclease technologies will be reviewed.

  1. Association Between Breast Cancer Disease Progression and Workplace Productivity in the United States.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Yin, Wesley; Horblyuk, Ruslan; Perkins, Julia Jane; Sison, Steve; Smith, Greg; Snider, Julia Thornton; Wu, Yanyu; Philipson, Tomas J

    2017-02-01

    Determine workplace productivity losses attributable to breast cancer progression. Longitudinal analysis linking 2005 to 2012 medical and pharmacy claims and workplace absence data in the US patients were commercially insured women aged 18 to 64 diagnosed with breast cancer. Productivity was measured as employment status and total quarterly workplace hours missed, and valued using average US wages. Six thousand four hundred and nine women were included. Breast cancer progression was associated with a lower probability of employment (hazard ratio [HR] = 0.65, P work was $24,166 for non-metastatic and $30,666 for metastatic patients. Thus, progression to metastatic disease is associated with an additional $6500 in lost work time (P < 0.05), or 14% of average US wages. Breast cancer progression leads to diminished likelihood of employment, increased workplace hours missed, and increased cost burden.

  2. Transuranic solid waste management programs. Progress report, July--December 1975

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    1976-09-01

    Progress is reported for three transuranic solid waste management programs funded at the Los Alamos Scientific Laboratory (LASL) by the Energy Research and Development Administration (ERDA) Division of Fuel Cycle and Production (NFCP). Under the Transuranic Waste Research and Development Program, continued studies have shown the potential attractiveness of fiber drums as an acceptable substitute for the current mild steel storage containers. Various fire retardants have been evaluated, with one indicating significant ability to inhibit fire propagation. Continued radiolysis studies, under laboratory and field conditions, continue to reaffirm earlier LASL results indicating no significant hazard from radiolytic reactions, assuming no change in current allowable loadings. Care must be exercised to differentiate between radiolytic and chemical reactions. Other efforts have identified a modification of chemical processing to reduce the amounts of plutonium requiring retrievable storage. Studies are also in progress to enhance the sensitivity of the LASL MEGAS assay system. The Transuranic-Contaminated Solid Waste Treatment Development Facility building was 72 percent complete as of December 31, 1975, which is in accord with the existing schedule. Procurement of process components is also on schedule. Certain modifications to the facility have been made, and various pre-facility experiments on waste container handling and processing have been completed. The program for the Evaluation of Transuranic-Contaminated Radioactive Waste Disposal Areas continued development of various computer modules for simulation of radionuclide transport within the biosphere. In addition, program staff contributed to an ERDA document on radioactive waste management through the preparation of a report on burial of radioactive waste at ERDA-contractor and commercial sites

  3. Transuranic solid waste management programs. Progress report, July--December 1975

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    1976-09-01

    Progress is reported for three transuranic solid waste management programs funded at the Los Alamos Scientific Laboratory (LASL) by the Energy Research and Development Administration (ERDA) Division of Fuel Cycle and Production (NFCP). Under the Transuranic Waste Research and Development Program, continued studies have shown the potential attractiveness of fiber drums as an acceptable substitute for the current mild steel storage containers. Various fire retardants have been evaluated, with one indicating significant ability to inhibit fire propagation. Continued radiolysis studies, under laboratory and field conditions, continue to reaffirm earlier LASL results indicating no significant hazard from radiolytic reactions, assuming no change in current allowable loadings. Care must be exercised to differentiate between radiolytic and chemical reactions. Other efforts have identified a modification of chemical processing to reduce the amounts of plutonium requiring retrievable storage. Studies are also in progress to enhance the sensitivity of the LASL MEGAS assay system. The Transuranic-Contaminated Solid Waste Treatment Development Facility building was 72 percent complete as of December 31, 1975, which is in accord with the existing schedule. Procurement of process components is also on schedule. Certain modifications to the facility have been made, and various pre-facility experiments on waste container handling and processing have been completed. The program for the Evaluation of Transuranic-Contaminated Radioactive Waste Disposal Areas continued development of various computer modules for simulation of radionuclide transport within the biosphere. In addition, program staff contributed to an ERDA document on radioactive waste management through the preparation of a report on burial of radioactive waste at ERDA-contractor and commercial sites.

  4. SIGNIFICANT PROGRESS IN THE DEPLOYMENT OF NEW TECHNOLOGIES FOR THE RETRIEVAL OF HANFORD RADIOACTIVE WASTE STORAGE TANKS

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    RAYMOND RE; DODD RA; CARPENTER KE; STURGES MH

    2008-01-01

    Significant enhancements in the development and deployment of new technologies for removing waste from storage tanks at the Hanford Site have resulted in accelerated progress and reduced costs for tank cleanup. CH2M HILL Hanford Group, Inc. is the U.S. Department of Energy, Office of River Protection's prime contractor responsible for safely storing and retrieving approximately 53 million gallons of highly-radioactive and hazardous waste stored in 177 underground tanks. The waste is stored in 149 older single-shell tanks (SST) and 28 newer double-shell tanks (DST) that are grouped in 18 so-called farms near the center of the Hanford Site, located in southeastern Washington State. Tank contents include materials from years of World-War II and post-war weapons production, which account for 60 percent by volume of the nation's high-level radioactive waste. A key strategy for improved cleanup is the development and deployment of innovative technologies, which enhance worker safety, resolve technical challenges, streamline retrieval processes, and cut project costs and durations. During the past seven years of tank cleanout projects we have encountered conditions and waste chemistry that defy conventional approaches, requiring a variety of new tools and techniques. Through the deployment of advanced technology and the creative application of resources, we are finding ways to accomplish the retrieval process safely, swiftly, and economically. To date, retrieval operations have been completed in seven tanks, including a record six tanks in a two-year period. Retrieval operations are in progress for another three tanks. This paper describes the following tank cleanup technologies deployed at Hanford in the past few years: Modified waste sluicing, High pressure water lance, Mobile retrieval tools, Saltcake dissolution, Vacuum retrieval, Sparging of wastes, Selective dissolution for waste treatment, Oxalic acid dissolution, High-pressure water mixers, Variable height pumps

  5. Commercial Cuts of Carcass of Thin-Tailed Lambs and Sheep Fed Complete Feed

    Science.gov (United States)

    Nurbaeti, N.; Lestari, C. M. S.; Purbowati, E.

    2018-02-01

    This research was conducted to examine the commercial cuts of thin tailed lambs and sheep fed complete feed. This study used 6 male thin tailed sheep aged ±11 months with average body weight of 23,01 ± 1,91 kg (CV 8,31%) and 6 male thin tailed lambs aged ±4 months with average body weight of 15,41 ± 2,11 kg (CV 13,72%). They were fed a complete feed as much as 3.5% from body weight. Fed contained 12% crude protein (CP) and 55% total digestible nutrients (TDN) and was given ad libitum. The animals were raised for 12 weeks and slaughtered being carcass. Commercial cuts were obtained from a half right body part of each sheep carcass and divided into eight commercial cuts, i.e., neck, shoulder, fore shank, breast, flank, rack, loin and leg. The collected data was analysed using t- test in 5% level. The results showed that slaughter weight, carcass weight and half carcass weight were significantly different (Pcarcass weight and half carcass was not significantly different (P>0.05). All of the weight commercial cuts of thin tailed lambs and sheep were significantly different (P0.05). The percentage of neck and leg were significantly different (P<0.05), while the other commercial cuts were not significantly different (P<0.05). Based on the result, it can be concluded that commercial cuts of sheep is better than lambs.

  6. Progression of motor symptoms in Parkinson's disease

    Institute of Scientific and Technical Information of China (English)

    Ruiping Xia; Zhi-Hong Mao

    2012-01-01

    Parkinson's disease (PD) is a chronic progressive neurodegenerative disease that is clinically manifested by a triad of cardinal motor symptoms - rigidity,bradykinesia and tremor - due to loss of dopaminergic neurons.The motor symptoms of PD become progressively worse as the disease advances.PD is also a heterogeneous disease since rigidity and bradykinesia are the major complaints in some patients whereas tremor is predominant in others.In recent years,many studies have investigated the progression of the hallmark symptoms over time,and the cardinal motor symptoms have different rates of progression,with the disease usually progressing faster in patients with rigidity and bradykinesia than in those with predominant tremor.The current treatment regime of dopamine-replacement therapy improves motor symptoms and alleviates disability.Increasing the dosage of dopaminergic medication is commonly used to combat the worsenirtg symptoms.However,the drug-induced involuntary body movements and motor comphcations can significantly contribute to overall disability.Further,none of the currently-available therapies can slow or halt the disease progression.Significant research efforts have been directed towards developing neuroprotective or disease-modifying agents that are intended to slow the progression.In this article,the most recent clinical studies investigating disease progression and current progress on the development of disease-modifying drug trials are reviewed.

  7. Adult Neurogenesis in the Mammalian Brain: Significant Answers and Significant Questions

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ming, Guo-li; Song, Hongjun

    2011-01-01

    Summary Adult neurogenesis, a process of generating functional neurons from adult neural precursors, occurs throughout life in restricted brain regions in mammals. The past decade has witnessed tremendous progress in addressing questions related to almost every aspect of adult neurogenesis in the mammalian brain. Here we review major advances in our understanding of adult mammalian neurogenesis in the dentate gyrus of the hippocampus and from the subventricular zone of the lateral ventricle, the rostral migratory stream to the olfactory bulb. We highlight emerging principles that have significant implications for stem cell biology, developmental neurobiology, neural plasticity, and disease mechanisms. We also discuss remaining questions related to adult neural stem cells and their niches, underlying regulatory mechanisms and potential functions of newborn neurons in the adult brain. Building upon the recent progress and aided by new technologies, the adult neurogenesis field is poised to leap forward in the next decade. PMID:21609825

  8. A comparison of safety belt use between commercial and noncommercial light-vehicle occupants.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Eby, David W; Fordyce, Tiffani A; Vivoda, Jonathon M

    2002-05-01

    The purpose of this study was to conduct an observational survey of safety belt use to determine the use rate of commercial versus noncommercial light-vehicle occupants. Observations were conducted on front-outboard vehicle occupants in eligible commercial and noncommercial vehicles in Michigan (i.e.. passenger cars, vans/minivans, sport-utility vehicles, and pickup trucks). Commercial vehicles that did not fit into one of the four vehicle type categories, such as tractor-trailers, buses, or heavy trucks, were not included in the survey. The study found that the restraint use rate for commercial light-vehicle occupants was 55.8% statewide. The statewide safety belt use rate for commercial light-vehicles was significantly lower than the rate of 71.2% for noncommercial light-vehicles. The safety belt use rate for commercial vehicles was also significantly different as a function of region, vehicle type, seating position, age group, and road type. The results provide important preliminary data about safety belt use in commercial versus noncommercial light-vehicles and indicate that further effort is needed to promote safety belt use in the commercial light-vehicle occupant population. The study also suggests that additional research is required in order to develop effective programs that address low safety belt use in the commercial light-vehicle occupant population.

  9. Discovery of CDH23 as a Significant Contributor to Progressive Postlingual Sensorineural Hearing Loss in Koreans.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Bong Jik Kim

    Full Text Available CDH23 mutations have mostly been associated with prelingual severe-to-profound sensorineural hearing loss (SNHL in either syndromic or nonsyndromic SNHL (DFNB12. Herein, we demonstrate the contribution of CDH23 mutations to postlingual nonsyndromic SNHL (NS-SNHL. We screened 32 Korean adult probands with postlingual NS-SNHL sporadically or in autosomal recessive fashion using targeted panel or whole exome sequencing. We identified four (12.5%, 4/32 potential postlingual DFNB12 families that segregated the recessive CDH23 variants, qualifying for our criteria along with rapidly progressive SNHL. Three of the four families carried one definite pathogenic CDH23 variant previously known as the prelingual DFNB12 variant in a trans configuration with rare CDH23 variants. To determine the contribution of rare CDH23 variants to the postlingual NS-SNHL, we checked the minor allele frequency (MAF of CDH23 variants detected from our postlingual NS-SNHL cohort and prelingual NS-SNHL cohort, among the 2040 normal control chromosomes. The allele frequency of these CDH23 variants in our postlingual cohort was 12.5%, which was significantly higher than that of the 2040 control chromosomes (5.53%, confirming the contribution of these rare CDH23 variants to postlingual NS-SNHL. Furthermore, MAF of rare CDH23 variants from the postlingual NS-SNHL group was significantly higher than that from the prelingual NS-SNHL group. This study demonstrates an important contribution of CDH23 mutations to poslingual NS-SNHL and shows that the phenotypic spectrum of DFNB12 can be broadened even into the presbycusis, depending on the pathogenic potential of variants. We also propose that pathogenic potential of CDH23 variants and the clinical fate of DFNB12 may be predicted by MAF.

  10. Structural MRI correlates of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis progression.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Senda, Joe; Atsuta, Naoki; Watanabe, Hirohisa; Bagarinao, Epifanio; Imai, Kazunori; Yokoi, Daichi; Riku, Yuichi; Masuda, Michihito; Nakamura, Ryoichi; Watanabe, Hazuki; Ito, Mizuki; Katsuno, Masahisa; Naganawa, Shinji; Sobue, Gen

    2017-11-01

    Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) presents with varying degrees of brain degeneration that can extend beyond the corticospinal tract (CST). Furthermore, the clinical course and progression of ALS varies widely. Brain degeneration detected using structural MRI could reflect disease progression. On study registration, 3-Tesla volumetric MRI and diffusion tensor imaging scans were obtained at baseline in 38 healthy controls and 67 patients with sporadic ALS. Patients had Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis Functional Rating Scale-Revised (ALSFRS-R) scores of ≥36 and did not have the chromosome 9, open reading frame 72 repeat expansion. Six months later, changes in ALSFRS-R (ΔALSFRS-R) scores were calculated and patients were grouped into three categories, namely, patients with slow progression with ΔALSFRS-R scores ≤3 (n=19), intermediate progression with ΔALSFRS-R scores =4, 5 and 6 (n=36) and rapid progression with ΔALSFRS-R scores ≥7 (n=12). We analysed voxel-based morphometry and tract-based spatial statistics among these subgroups and controls. In comparison with controls, patients with ALS showed grey matter atrophy and decreased fractional anisotropy beyond the motor cortex and CST, especially in the frontotemporal lobes and basal ganglia. Moreover, the degree of change was highly proportional to ΔALSFRS-R at the 6-month assessment. A more rapid disease progression and poorer functional decline were associated with greater involvement of the extra-motor cortex and basal ganglia, suggesting that the spatial extent of brain involvement can be an indicator of the progression in ALS. © Article author(s) (or their employer(s) unless otherwise stated in the text of the article) 2017. All rights reserved. No commercial use is permitted unless otherwise expressly granted.

  11. 2010 Annual Progress Report: DOE Hydrogen Program

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    2011-02-01

    In the past year, the DOE Hydrogen Program (the Program) made substantial progress toward its goals and objectives. The Program has conducted comprehensive and focused efforts to enable the widespread commercialization of hydrogen and fuel cell technologies in diverse sectors of the economy. With emphasis on applications that will effectively strengthen our nation's energy security and improve our stewardship of the environment, the Program engages in research, development, and demonstration of critical improvements in the technologies. Highlights of the Program's accomplishments can be found in the sub-program chapters of this report.

  12. Carfilzomib significantly improves the progression-free survival of high-risk patients in multiple myeloma.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Avet-Loiseau, Hervé; Fonseca, Rafael; Siegel, David; Dimopoulos, Meletios A; Špička, Ivan; Masszi, Tamás; Hájek, Roman; Rosiñol, Laura; Goranova-Marinova, Vesselina; Mihaylov, Georgi; Maisnar, Vladimír; Mateos, Maria-Victoria; Wang, Michael; Niesvizky, Ruben; Oriol, Albert; Jakubowiak, Andrzej; Minarik, Jiri; Palumbo, Antonio; Bensinger, William; Kukreti, Vishal; Ben-Yehuda, Dina; Stewart, A Keith; Obreja, Mihaela; Moreau, Philippe

    2016-09-01

    The presence of certain high-risk cytogenetic abnormalities, such as translocations (4;14) and (14;16) and deletion (17p), are known to have a negative impact on survival in multiple myeloma (MM). The phase 3 study ASPIRE (N = 792) demonstrated that progression-free survival (PFS) was significantly improved with carfilzomib, lenalidomide, and dexamethasone (KRd), compared with lenalidomide and dexamethasone (Rd) in relapsed MM. This preplanned subgroup analysis of ASPIRE was conducted to evaluate KRd vs Rd by baseline cytogenetics according to fluorescence in situ hybridization. Of 417 patients with known cytogenetic risk status, 100 patients (24%) were categorized with high-risk cytogenetics (KRd, n = 48; Rd, n = 52) and 317 (76%) were categorized with standard-risk cytogenetics (KRd, n = 147; Rd, n = 170). For patients with high-risk cytogenetics, treatment with KRd resulted in a median PFS of 23.1 months, a 9-month improvement relative to treatment with Rd. For patients with standard-risk cytogenetics, treatment with KRd led to a 10-month improvement in median PFS vs Rd. The overall response rates for KRd vs Rd were 79.2% vs 59.6% (high-risk cytogenetics) and 91.2% vs 73.5% (standard-risk cytogenetics); approximately fivefold as many patients with high- or standard-risk cytogenetics achieved a complete response or better with KRd vs Rd (29.2% vs 5.8% and 38.1% vs 6.5%, respectively). KRd improved but did not abrogate the poor prognosis associated with high-risk cytogenetics. This regimen had a favorable benefit-risk profile in patients with relapsed MM, irrespective of cytogenetic risk status, and should be considered a standard of care in these patients. This trial was registered at www.clinicaltrials.gov as #NCT01080391. © 2016 by The American Society of Hematology.

  13. Escherichia coli DinB inhibits replication fork progression without significantly inducing the SOS response.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Mori, Tetsuya; Nakamura, Tatsuro; Okazaki, Naoto; Furukohri, Asako; Maki, Hisaji; Akiyama, Masahiro Tatsumi

    2012-01-01

    The SOS response is readily triggered by replication fork stalling caused by DNA damage or a dysfunctional replicative apparatus in Escherichia coli cells. E. coli dinB encodes DinB DNA polymerase and its expression is upregulated during the SOS response. DinB catalyzes translesion DNA synthesis in place of a replicative DNA polymerase III that is stalled at a DNA lesion. We showed previously that DNA replication was suppressed without exogenous DNA damage in cells overproducing DinB. In this report, we confirm that this was due to a dose-dependent inhibition of ongoing replication forks by DinB. Interestingly, the DinB-overproducing cells did not significantly induce the SOS response even though DNA replication was perturbed. RecA protein is activated by forming a nucleoprotein filament with single-stranded DNA, which leads to the onset of the SOS response. In the DinB-overproducing cells, RecA was not activated to induce the SOS response. However, the SOS response was observed after heat-inducible activation in strain recA441 (encoding a temperature-sensitive RecA) and after replication blockage in strain dnaE486 (encoding a temperature-sensitive catalytic subunit of the replicative DNA polymerase III) at a non-permissive temperature when DinB was overproduced in these cells. Furthermore, since catalytically inactive DinB could avoid the SOS response to a DinB-promoted fork block, it is unlikely that overproduced DinB takes control of primer extension and thus limits single-stranded DNA. These observations suggest that DinB possesses a feature that suppresses DNA replication but does not abolish the cell's capacity to induce the SOS response. We conclude that DinB impedes replication fork progression in a way that does not activate RecA, in contrast to obstructive DNA lesions and dysfunctional replication machinery.

  14. Performance properties of commercial explosives

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Johnson, J.N.; Mader, C.L.; Goldstein, S.

    1983-01-01

    The aquarium test is a proven means of obtaining nonidial performance property data for commercial blasting agents. Optical data on the detonation velocity, shock wave in water, and expansion rate of the pipe enclosing the detonation products (in combination with the equilibrium thermodynamic chemistry code BKW) give the C-J state and degree of chemical reaction at the detonation front, as well as information on additional chemical reaction that occurs as the detonation products expand. Specific explosive systems that are studied are ammonium nitrate-fuel oil mixture (ANFO), aluminized ANFO, flaked trinitrotoluene (TNT), and several other commercial products in 10-cm diam and 20-cm-diam pipes of Plexiglas and clay. Experimental shock-pressure data are obtained with lithium niobate transducers placed in the water surrounding the explosive charge. These data show that the addition of approx.100-..mu..m aluminum particles to ANFO significantly increases the initial peak shock pressure delivered to the surrounding medium. Peak shock pressures in the water, calculated from the shock-wave orientation, are also useful in comparing performance properties of various commercial explosives. 20 references, 17 figures, 2 tables.

  15. Hardness variability in commercial technologies

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Shaneyfelt, M.R.; Winokur, P.S.; Meisenheimer, T.L.; Sexton, F.W.; Roeske, S.B.; Knoll, M.G.

    1994-01-01

    The radiation hardness of commercial Floating Gate 256K E 2 PROMs from a single diffusion lot was observed to vary between 5 to 25 krad(Si) when irradiated at a low dose rate of 64 mrad(Si)/s. Additional variations in E 2 PROM hardness were found to depend on bias condition and failure mode (i.e., inability to read or write the memory), as well as the foundry at which the part was manufactured. This variability is related to system requirements, and it is shown that hardness level and variability affect the allowable mode of operation for E 2 PROMs in space applications. The radiation hardness of commercial 1-Mbit CMOS SRAMs from Micron, Hitachi, and Sony irradiated at 147 rad(Si)/s was approximately 12, 13, and 19 krad(Si), respectively. These failure levels appear to be related to increases in leakage current during irradiation. Hardness of SRAMs from each manufacturer varied by less than 20%, but differences between manufacturers are significant. The Qualified Manufacturer's List approach to radiation hardness assurance is suggested as a way to reduce variability and to improve the hardness level of commercial technologies

  16. 76 FR 39018 - Commercial Driver's License Testing and Commercial Learner's Permit Standards; Corrections

    Science.gov (United States)

    2011-07-05

    ... [Docket No. FMCSA-2007-27659] RIN 2126-AB02 Commercial Driver's License Testing and Commercial Learner's..., 2011, that will be effective on July 8, 2011. This final rule amends the commercial driver's license... to issue the commercial learner's permit (CLP). Since the final rule was published, FMCSA identified...

  17. The Significance of α-Synuclein, Amyloid-β and Tau Pathologies in Parkinson’s Disease Progression and Related Dementia

    Science.gov (United States)

    Compta, Y.; Parkkinen, L.; Kempster, P.; Selikhova, M.; Lashley, T.; Holton, J.L.; Lees, A.J.; Revesz, T.

    2014-01-01

    Background Dementia is one of the milestones of advanced Parkinson’s disease (PD), with its neuropathological substrate still being a matter of debate, particularly regarding its potential mechanistic implications. Objective The aim of this study was to review the relative importance of Lewy-related α-synuclein and Alzheimer’s tau and amyloid-β (Aβ) pathologies in disease progression and dementia in PD. Methods We reviewed studies conducted at the Queen Square Brain Bank, Institute of Neurology, University College London, using large PD cohorts. Results Cortical Lewy- and Alzheimer-type pathologies are associated with milestones of poorer prognosis and with non-tremor predominance, which have been, in turn, linked to dementia. The combination of these pathologies is the most robust neuropathological substrate of PD-related dementia, with cortical Aβ burden determining a faster progression to dementia. Conclusion The shared relevance of these pathologies in PD progression and dementia is in line with experimental data suggesting synergism between α-synuclein, tau and Aβ and with studies testing these proteins as disease biomarkers, hence favouring the eventual testing of therapeutic strategies targeting these proteins in PD. PMID:24028925

  18. Immediate treatment with bicalutamide 150mg as adjuvant therapy significantly reduces the risk of PSA progression in early prostate cancer

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    See, W; Iversen, P; Wirth, M

    2003-01-01

    To evaluate the effect of bicalutamide ('Casodex') 150mg (in addition to standard care), on the risk of prostate-specific antigen (PSA) progression, in patients with early prostate cancer.......To evaluate the effect of bicalutamide ('Casodex') 150mg (in addition to standard care), on the risk of prostate-specific antigen (PSA) progression, in patients with early prostate cancer....

  19. Indium Tin Oxide-Free Polymer Solar Cells: Toward Commercial Reality

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Angmo, Dechan; Espinosa Martinez, Nieves; Krebs, Frederik C

    2014-01-01

    Polymer solar cell (PSC) is the latest of all photovoltaic technologies which currently lies at the brink of commercialization. The impetus for its rapid progress in the last decade has come from low-cost high throughput production possibility which in turn relies on the use of low-cost materials...... and vacuum-free manufacture. Indium tin oxide (ITO), the commonly used transparent conductor, imposes the majority of the cost of production of PSCs, limits flexibility, and is feared to create bottleneck in the dawning industry due to indium scarcity and the resulting large price fluctuations. As such...

  20. The investment strategy of commercial banks on the financial markets

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Ercegovac Dajana

    2012-01-01

    Full Text Available In contemporary market conditions classical deposit-loan strategy is not enough anymore in order to ensure survival of the commercial banks on the financial market and to reach profit that is high enough. Besides the loan placements strategy, it is necessary to adopt an adequate investment strategy which will contribute to the profitability, liquidity and safety of gross asset portfolio. Commercial banks, unlike investment banks, invest smaller part of their resources into securities of diverse maturity on financial markets. However, with the harsh competition of banks and other non-banking institutions, significance of investment portfolio grows as an alternative that ensures additional sources of revenue, assures liquidity, diversification of placements and decreases risk exposure. Banks have at their disposal vast range of investment strategies that can be combined depending on their investment objectives and risk aversion, such as passive and active strategy, strategy of ladder, weights strategy etc. Therefore, the aim of this paper is to present the significance of investment portfolio in commercial banks and the basic management strategies of investment portfolio that can be used by commercial banks.

  1. Finding of no significant impact shipment of stabilized mixed waste from the K-25 Site to an off-site commercial disposal facility, Oak Ridge K-25 Site, Oak Ridge, Tennessee

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    1994-01-01

    The Department of Energy (DOE) has prepared an Environmental Assessment (EA) for the shipment of stabilized mixed waste, removed from K-1407-B and -C ponds, to an off-site commercial disposal facility (Envirocare) for permanent land disposal. Based on the analysis in the EA, DOE has determined that the proposed action is not a major federal action significantly affecting the quality of the human environment, within the meaning of the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) of 1969. Therefore, the preparation of an environmental impact statement (EIS) is not required, and DOE is issuing this Finding of No Significant Impact (FONSI)

  2. Setting a research agenda for progressive multiple sclerosis: the International Collaborative on Progressive MS.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Fox, Robert J; Thompson, Alan; Baker, David; Baneke, Peer; Brown, Doug; Browne, Paul; Chandraratna, Dhia; Ciccarelli, Olga; Coetzee, Timothy; Comi, Giancarlo; Feinstein, Anthony; Kapoor, Raj; Lee, Karen; Salvetti, Marco; Sharrock, Kersten; Toosy, Ahmed; Zaratin, Paola; Zuidwijk, Kim

    2012-11-01

    Despite significant progress in the development of therapies for relapsing MS, progressive MS remains comparatively disappointing. Our objective, in this paper, is to review the current challenges in developing therapies for progressive MS and identify key priority areas for research. A collaborative was convened by volunteer and staff leaders from several MS societies with the mission to expedite the development of effective disease-modifying and symptom management therapies for progressive forms of multiple sclerosis. Through a series of scientific and strategic planning meetings, the collaborative identified and developed new perspectives on five key priority areas for research: experimental models, identification and validation of targets and repurposing opportunities, proof-of-concept clinical trial strategies, clinical outcome measures, and symptom management and rehabilitation. Our conclusions, tackling the impediments in developing therapies for progressive MS will require an integrated, multi-disciplinary approach to enable effective translation of research into therapies for progressive MS. Engagement of the MS research community through an international effort is needed to address and fund these research priorities with the ultimate goal of expediting the development of disease-modifying and symptom-relief treatments for progressive MS.

  3. Setting a research agenda for progressive multiple sclerosis: The International Collaborative on Progressive MS

    Science.gov (United States)

    Thompson, Alan; Baker, David; Baneke, Peer; Brown, Doug; Browne, Paul; Chandraratna, Dhia; Ciccarelli, Olga; Coetzee, Timothy; Comi, Giancarlo; Feinstein, Anthony; Kapoor, Raj; Lee, Karen; Salvetti, Marco; Sharrock, Kersten; Toosy, Ahmed; Zaratin, Paola; Zuidwijk, Kim

    2012-01-01

    Despite significant progress in the development of therapies for relapsing MS, progressive MS remains comparatively disappointing. Our objective, in this paper, is to review the current challenges in developing therapies for progressive MS and identify key priority areas for research. A collaborative was convened by volunteer and staff leaders from several MS societies with the mission to expedite the development of effective disease-modifying and symptom management therapies for progressive forms of multiple sclerosis. Through a series of scientific and strategic planning meetings, the collaborative identified and developed new perspectives on five key priority areas for research: experimental models, identification and validation of targets and repurposing opportunities, proof-of-concept clinical trial strategies, clinical outcome measures, and symptom management and rehabilitation. Our conclusions, tackling the impediments in developing therapies for progressive MS will require an integrated, multi-disciplinary approach to enable effective translation of research into therapies for progressive MS. Engagement of the MS research community through an international effort is needed to address and fund these research priorities with the ultimate goal of expediting the development of disease-modifying and symptom-relief treatments for progressive MS. PMID:22917690

  4. Overview of Commercial Building Partnerships in Higher Education

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Schatz, Glenn [Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE), Washington, DC (United States)

    2013-03-01

    Higher education uses less energy per square foot than most commercial building sectors. However, higher education campuses house energy-intensive laboratories and data centers that may spend more than this average; laboratories, in particular, are disproportionately represented in the higher education sector. The Commercial Building Partnership (CBP), a public/private, cost-shared program sponsored by the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE), paired selected commercial building owners and operators with representatives of DOE, its national laboratories, and private-sector technical experts. These teams explored energy-saving measures across building systems–including some considered too costly or technologically challenging–and used advanced energy modeling to achieve peak whole-building performance. Modeling results were then included in new construction or retrofit designs to achieve significant energy reductions.

  5. Caries progression in non-cavitated fissures after infiltrant application: a 3-year follow-up of a randomized controlled clinical trial

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Camillo ANAUATE-NETTO

    Full Text Available Abstract Objectives To evaluate the efficacy of a conservative treatment to prevent the progression of caries using an infiltrant on non-cavitated pit and fissures. Material and Methods This controlled clinical trial selected 23 volunteers with clinically and radiographically non-cavitated occlusal caries among patients presenting a “rather low” to “very high” caries risk. Eighty-six teeth were randomly divided into two experimental groups: teeth receiving a commercial pit-and-fissure sealant (Alpha Seal-DFL and contralateral teeth receiving Icon infiltrant (DMG. Caries progression was monitored by clinical (laser fluorescence caries detection and radiographic examination at 12-month intervals over a period of 3 years of monitored caries progression. Probing the sealing materials to detect areas of retention was also used to evaluate marginal integrity. Results Statistical analysis showed no difference in caries progression using laser fluorescence caries detection when both materials were compared, regardless of the evaluation times (p>0.05. No significance was observed when the marginal sealant integrity of both materials was compared, regardless of the evaluation time (p0.05. SEM analysis exhibited a more homogeneous sealing for the infiltrant than obtained by the sealant. Conclusions The infiltrant was effective to prevent the caries progression in non-cavitated pit-and-fissures after 3 years of clinical evaluation, comparable with the conventional sealant. The infiltrant also presented better results in terms of caries progression at the 3-year evaluation time using the radiographic analysis.

  6. Caries progression in non-cavitated fissures after infiltrant application: a 3-year follow-up of a randomized controlled clinical trial

    Science.gov (United States)

    ANAUATE-NETTO, Camillo; BORELLI, Laurindo; AMORE, Ricardo; DI HIPÓLITO, Vinicius; D’ALPINO, Paulo Henrique Perlatti

    2017-01-01

    Abstract Objectives To evaluate the efficacy of a conservative treatment to prevent the progression of caries using an infiltrant on non-cavitated pit and fissures. Material and Methods This controlled clinical trial selected 23 volunteers with clinically and radiographically non-cavitated occlusal caries among patients presenting a “rather low” to “very high” caries risk. Eighty-six teeth were randomly divided into two experimental groups: teeth receiving a commercial pit-and-fissure sealant (Alpha Seal-DFL) and contralateral teeth receiving Icon infiltrant (DMG). Caries progression was monitored by clinical (laser fluorescence caries detection) and radiographic examination at 12-month intervals over a period of 3 years of monitored caries progression. Probing the sealing materials to detect areas of retention was also used to evaluate marginal integrity. Results Statistical analysis showed no difference in caries progression using laser fluorescence caries detection when both materials were compared, regardless of the evaluation times (p>0.05). No significance was observed when the marginal sealant integrity of both materials was compared, regardless of the evaluation time (p0.05). SEM analysis exhibited a more homogeneous sealing for the infiltrant than obtained by the sealant. Conclusions The infiltrant was effective to prevent the caries progression in non-cavitated pit-and-fissures after 3 years of clinical evaluation, comparable with the conventional sealant. The infiltrant also presented better results in terms of caries progression at the 3-year evaluation time using the radiographic analysis. PMID:28877284

  7. Penetrating the markets: biomass and commercial distribution

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Schmidl, J.

    1999-01-01

    Although biomass accounts for a significant proportion of renewable energy in Europe, its market penetration could be increased if certain barriers can be surmounted. Some of those barriers are identified and suggestions made as to how they may be overcome through improved 'distribution' in various sectors. To integrate biomass into the electricity distribution system, the commercial distribution of liquid biofuels, and in the commercial distribution of biomass in the heat sector, certain rewards and penalties could be introduced and these are discussed. The low temperature heat market is seen as very important for the further development of bioenergy in Europe. (UK)

  8. Characterization of commercial building appliances. Final report

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Patel, R.F.; Teagan, P.W.; Dieckmann, J.T.

    1993-08-01

    This study focuses on ``other`` end-uses category. The purpose of this study was to determine the relative importance of energy end-use functions other than HVAC and lighting for commercial buildings, and to identify general avenues and approaches for energy use reduction. Specific energy consuming technologies addressed include non-HVAC and lighting technologies in commercial buildings with significant energy use to warrant detailed analyses. The end-uses include office equipment, refrigeration, water heating, cooking, vending machines, water coolers, laundry equipment and electronics other than office equipment. The building types include offices, retail, restaurants, schools, hospitals, hotels/motels, grocery stores, and warehouses.

  9. Commercial Aircraft Development and the Export Market

    Science.gov (United States)

    Snodgrass, J.

    1972-01-01

    The various factors which endanger the future of commercial aircraft development are defined. The factors discussed are: (1) a decline in federally funded research and development programs, (2) a general decline in the economic health of the domestic airlines, (3) the increased cost of development which may be several times the net worth of the company, (4) the development overseas of common market and manufacturing consortia, and (5) foreign manufacturers receiving significant financial support from their national governments. It is stated that unless immediate and innovative solutions to combat these factors are found, the commercial aviation industry will be in serious difficulty.

  10. Virale commercials: de consument als marketeer. Onderzoek naar de redenen waarom consumenten virale commercials doorsturen: hun motieven, de inhoudskenmerken van viral commercials en de mediumcontext waarin virale commercials verschijnen

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Ketelaar, P.E.; Lucassen, P.; Kregting, G.H.J.

    2010-01-01

    Research into the reasons why consumers pass along viral commercials: their motives, the content characteristics of viral commercials and the medium context in which viral commercials appear. Based on the uses and gratifications perspective this study has determined which motives of consumers,

  11. Commercial activities and the promotion of health in schools.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Raine, Gary

    2013-11-01

    Many companies nowadays consider schools to be an important setting for marketing to children. However, important concerns can be raised from a health promotion perspective about the potential negative impact of commercial activities on the health and well-being of pupils. As this discussion paper will demonstrate, some commercial activities raise concerns in relation to physical health and obesity, not only by potentially undermining formal curriculum messages, but also through the active promotion of specific products, particularly those high in fat, sugar or salt. Nonetheless, the issues raised by commercial activities are not solely limited to effects on physical health. By allowing commercial activities, schools risk instilling in pupils consumer-orientated values. This is significant as such values have been linked to the development of poor health and well-being. Furthermore, the presence in schools of commercial activities will also militate against informed decision-making and be disempowering. There is also evidence that business-sponsored teaching materials can contain biased and misleading information. The potential negative impacts of commercial activities are inconsistent with goals in relation to the promotion of health and the principles of health-promoting schools.

  12. Do television food commercials target children in Germany?

    Science.gov (United States)

    Effertz, Tobias; Wilcke, Ann-Christin

    2012-08-01

    To examine whether the German food industry directs commercials for unhealthy products to children and whether self-administered voluntary restrictions on the promotion of less healthy foods (the EU Pledge) are effective to mitigate this exposure. By analysing German data from television (TV) channels, advertised products were categorized and food products classified as core foods (healthy) and non-core foods (less healthy). Marketing techniques were documented. Food commercials were furthermore compared with commercials for toy products, and comparisons were made between advertising patterns before and after the EU Pledge. Data for ten German TV channels were recorded for two weekdays and two weekend days from 06.00 to 22.00 hours in 2007 and 2008. A second sample containing one weekday and one weekend day of three German TV channels was recorded again in 2010 for comparison in the same time period. In total 16 062 advertisements from 2007-2008 and 2657 from 2010 were analysed. In 2007-2008 19·9 % of TV commercials were for food products, of which 73 % were for non-core foods, 21 % for core foods and 6 % not classified. In three specified channels widely viewed by children and youth, 14·5 % of commercials were for food products, of which 88·2 % were for non-core foods. Commercials for unhealthy foods were broadcast significantly more often during children's peak viewing and in children's programmes, with a higher use of promotional characters and premiums than found in commercials for non-food products. In 2010, analysis of the three specified channels found that 18·5 % of commercials were for food products, of which 98·2 % were for non-core foods. While the use of premiums decreased compared with other commercials, the use of promotional characters in non-core food commercials increased, especially during children's programmes. Children in Germany are exposed to large numbers of food commercials. The exposure to commercials for non-core foods and the use of

  13. Commercialism in US elementary and secondary school nutrition environments: trends from 2007 to 2012.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Terry-McElrath, Yvonne M; Turner, Lindsey; Sandoval, Anna; Johnston, Lloyd D; Chaloupka, Frank J

    2014-03-01

    Schools present highly desirable marketing environments for food and beverage companies. However, most marketed items are nutritionally poor. To examine national trends in student exposure to selected school-based commercialism measures from 2007 through 2012. Annual nationally representative cross-sectional studies were evaluated in US public elementary, middle, and high schools with use of a survey of school administrators. School-based commercialism, including exclusive beverage contracts and associated incentives, profits, and advertising; corporate food vending and associated incentives and profits; posters/advertisements for soft drinks, fast food, or candy; use of food coupons as incentives; event sponsorships; and fast food available to students. Changes over time in school-based commercialism as well as differences by student body racial/ethnic distribution and socioeconomic status. Although some commercialism measures-especially those related to beverage vending-have shown significant decreases over time, most students at all academic levels continued to attend schools with one or more types of school-based commercialism in 2012. Overall, exposure to school-based commercialism increased significantly with grade level. For 63.7% of elementary school students, the most frequent type of commercialism was food coupons used as incentives. For secondary students, the type of commercialism most prevalent in schools was exclusive beverage contracts, which were in place in schools attended by 49.5% of middle school students and 69.8% of high school students. Exposure to elementary school coupons, as well as middle and high school exclusive beverage contracts, was significantly more likely for students attending schools with mid or low (vs high) student body socioeconomic status. Most US elementary, middle, and high school students attend schools where they are exposed to commercial efforts aimed at obtaining food or beverage sales or developing brand recognition

  14. Information Loss from Technological Progress

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Townsend, P D

    2014-01-01

    Progress in electronics and optics offers faster computers, and rapid communication via the internet that is matched by ever larger and evolving storage systems. Instinctively one assumes that this must be totally beneficial. However advances in software and storage media are progressing in ways which are frequently incompatible with earlier systems and the economics and commercial pressures rarely guarantee total compatibility with earlier systems. Instead, the industries actively choose to force the users to purchase new systems and software. Thus we are moving forward with new technological variants that may have access to only the most recent systems and we will have lost earlier alternatives. The reality is that increased processing speed and storage capacity are matched by an equally rapid decline in the access and survival lifetime of older information. This pattern is not limited to modern electronic systems but is evident throughout history from writing on stone and clay tablets to papyrus and paper. It is equally evident in image systems from painting, through film, to magnetic tapes and digital cameras. In sound recording we have variously progressed from wax discs to vinyl, magnetic tape and CD formats. In each case the need for better definition and greater capacity has forced the earlier systems into oblivion. Indeed proposed interactive music systems could similarly relegate music CDs to specialist collections. The article will track some of the examples and discuss the consequences as well as noting that this information loss is further compounded by developments in language and changes in cultural views of different societies

  15. Information Loss from Technological Progress

    Science.gov (United States)

    Townsend, P. D.

    2014-12-01

    Progress in electronics and optics offers faster computers, and rapid communication via the internet that is matched by ever larger and evolving storage systems. Instinctively one assumes that this must be totally beneficial. However advances in software and storage media are progressing in ways which are frequently incompatible with earlier systems and the economics and commercial pressures rarely guarantee total compatibility with earlier systems. Instead, the industries actively choose to force the users to purchase new systems and software. Thus we are moving forward with new technological variants that may have access to only the most recent systems and we will have lost earlier alternatives. The reality is that increased processing speed and storage capacity are matched by an equally rapid decline in the access and survival lifetime of older information. This pattern is not limited to modern electronic systems but is evident throughout history from writing on stone and clay tablets to papyrus and paper. It is equally evident in image systems from painting, through film, to magnetic tapes and digital cameras. In sound recording we have variously progressed from wax discs to vinyl, magnetic tape and CD formats. In each case the need for better definition and greater capacity has forced the earlier systems into oblivion. Indeed proposed interactive music systems could similarly relegate music CDs to specialist collections. The article will track some of the examples and discuss the consequences as well as noting that this information loss is further compounded by developments in language and changes in cultural views of different societies.

  16. Progression from acute to chronic pancreatitis

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Nøjgaard, Camilla; Becker, Ulrik; Matzen, Peter

    2011-01-01

    Objectives: Knowledge of the natural course of acute pancreatitis (AP) and risk of progression to chronic pancreatitis (CP) is limited. The aims were to describe: (1) the incidence of progression from AP to CP, (2) prognostic factors for progression, and (3) the natural course and mortality.......1%) during follow-up; 48.2% developed from alcoholic AP, 47.0% from idiopathic AP, and 4.8% from other causes. The mortality rate for patients with progressive AP was 2.7 times higher than in patients with nonprogressive acute pancreatitis, and 5.3 to 6.5 times higher than in the background population....... In Cox regression analyses corrected for age, only smoking was of significance for the progression from AP to CP. Conclusions: Acute pancreatitis can progress to CP, not only from alcoholic but also from nonalcoholic AP. Smoking was the strongest risk factor associated with progression. The mortality...

  17. Progressive Decrease of Peripapillary Angioflow Vessel Density During Structural and Visual Field Progression in Early Primary Open-angle Glaucoma.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Holló, Gábor

    2017-07-01

    To present a case of early primary open-angle glaucoma in which retinal nerve fiber layer thickness (RNFLT), ganglion cell complex (GCC), and visual field progression were accompanied with significant progression of peripapillary angioflow vessel density (PAFD) measured with optical coherence tomographic angiography. A 68-year-old female patient who was under topical intraocular pressure (IOP) lowering medication for 20 years for ocular hypertension of the right and preperimetric primary open-angle glaucoma of the left eye (with reproducible inferotemporal and superotemporal neuroretinal rim and RNFL loss) was prospectively imaged with the AngioVue OCT for RNFLT, GCC thickness, and PAFD, and investigated with the Octopus Normal G2 visual field test on the same days at 6-month intervals for 18 months, while the IOP of the left eye escaped from control. IOP of the left eye fluctuated between 14 and 30 mm Hg in the study period. RNFLT, GCC thickness, and peripapillary PAFD all decreased significantly (linear regression analysis, P=0.030, 0.040, and 0.020, respectively), and a significant 2.1 dB/y progression was seen for a superior visual field cluster. The RNFLT, peripapillary PAFD, and visual field of the right eye remained normal and unchanged. In our case IOP elevation, glaucomatous visual field conversion, and structural progression were accompanied with significant progressive decrease of peripapillary PAFD. The simultaneous thinning of RNFLT and GCC and decrease of peripapillary PAFD suggest that PAFD may potentially be an additional indicator of early progression in primary open-angle glaucoma.

  18. Cancer nanomedicine: progress, challenges and opportunities.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Shi, Jinjun; Kantoff, Philip W; Wooster, Richard; Farokhzad, Omid C

    2017-01-01

    The intrinsic limits of conventional cancer therapies prompted the development and application of various nanotechnologies for more effective and safer cancer treatment, herein referred to as cancer nanomedicine. Considerable technological success has been achieved in this field, but the main obstacles to nanomedicine becoming a new paradigm in cancer therapy stem from the complexities and heterogeneity of tumour biology, an incomplete understanding of nano-bio interactions and the challenges regarding chemistry, manufacturing and controls required for clinical translation and commercialization. This Review highlights the progress, challenges and opportunities in cancer nanomedicine and discusses novel engineering approaches that capitalize on our growing understanding of tumour biology and nano-bio interactions to develop more effective nanotherapeutics for cancer patients.

  19. Fluor Hanford Project Focused Progress at Hanford

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    HANSON, R.D.

    2000-01-01

    Fluor Hanford is making significant progress in accelerating cleanup at the Hanford site. This progress consistently aligns with a new strategic vision established by the U.S. Department of Energy's Richland Operations Office (RL)

  20. 1989 Annual report on low-level radioactive waste management progress

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    1990-10-01

    This report summarizes the progress during 1989 of states and compacts in establishing new low-level radioactive waste disposal facilities. It also provides summary information on the volume of low-level waste received for disposal in 1989 by commercially operated low-level waste disposal facilities. This report is in response to Section 7(b) of Title I of Public Law 99--240, the Low-Level Radioactive Waste Policy Amendments Act of 1985. 2 figs., 5 tabs

  1. Judicial Reform and Commercial Justice : The Experience of Tanzania's Commercial Court

    OpenAIRE

    Finnegan, David Louis

    2004-01-01

    Policymakers in developing and transition economies recognize the important role played by judiciaries in creating an institutional environment conducive to robust private sector activity. In the case of Tanzania, the government, with the support of local business groups, international investors, and the donor community, created a specialized court dedicated to considering and resolving commercial and financial cases. The Commercial Division of the High Court of Tanzania (the "Commercial Cour...

  2. Sponsored Schools and Commercialized Classrooms: Schoolhouse Commercializing Trends in the 1990's.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Molnar, Alex

    This report analyzes commercializing trends in America's schools and classrooms, using data from database searches in seven categories of schoolhouse commercialism in the period 1990-97. The number of citations relating to commercializing activities can provide only a rough approximation of the scope and development of the phenomenon. The number…

  3. NASA commercial programs

    Science.gov (United States)

    1990-01-01

    Highlights of NASA-sponsored and assisted commercial space activities of 1989 are presented. Industrial R and D in space, centers for the commercial development of space, and new cooperative agreements are addressed in the U.S. private sector in space section. In the building U.S. competitiveness through technology section, the following topics are presented: (1) technology utilization as a national priority; (2) an exploration of benefits; and (3) honoring Apollo-Era spinoffs. International and domestic R and D trends, and the space sector are discussed in the section on selected economic indicators. Other subjects included in this report are: (1) small business innovation; (2) budget highlights and trends; (3) commercial programs management; and (4) the commercial programs advisory committee.

  4. How Bank Capital Structure Affects Business Performance---- Empirical evidence from Chinese Commercial banks

    OpenAIRE

    Luo, Ting

    2010-01-01

    In the end of 2006, China realizes the opening of financial market, thus Chinese commercial banks have to face the global competitors. How to exist and develop in the market with fierce competition has been more and more significant to Chinese commercial banks. Because commercial banks’ business performance is the overall reflection of banks’ competence, so they should consider improving the bank business performance. Thus this study aims to discuss how commercial banks’ capital structure aff...

  5. Transferring diffractive optics from research to commercial applications: Part I - progress in the patent landscape

    Science.gov (United States)

    Brunner, Robert

    2013-12-01

    In the last 20 years, diffractive optics experienced a strong research interest and was in the center of many development projects in applied optics. To offer a side view for optical engineers, here, we discuss selected, business-related aspects of the current status of the transfer process to bring diffractive optics into commercial products. The contribution is divided into two parts. Here, in part I, we focus on the patent landscape of diffractive optics with a closer look on the temporal development and the distribution over main players. As an important result, currently, new strong patent activities are observed especially in the context of imaging systems. In the second part, the business volumes of selected market segments are discussed.

  6. Soft Robotics Commercialization: Jamming Grippers from Research to Product

    Science.gov (United States)

    Cheng, Nadia; Fakhouri, Sami; Culley, Bill

    2016-01-01

    Abstract Recent work in the growing field of soft robotics has demonstrated a number of very promising technologies. However, to make a significant impact in real-world applications, these new technologies must first transition out of the laboratory through successful commercialization. Commercialization is perhaps the most critical future milestone facing the field of soft robotics today, and this process will reveal whether the apparent impact we now perceive has been appropriately estimated. Since 2012, Empire Robotics has been one of the first companies to attempt to reach this milestone through our efforts to commercialize jamming-based robotic gripper technology in a product called VERSABALL®. However, in spring 2016 we are closing our doors, having not been able to develop a sustainable business around this technology. This article presents some of the key takeaways from the technical side of the commercialization process and lessons learned that may be valuable to others. We hope that sharing this information will provide a frame of reference for technology commercialization that can help others motivate research directions and maximize research impact. PMID:28078197

  7. Outbreak of Type C Botulism in Commercial Layer Chickens.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Sato, Yuko; Wigle, William L; Gallagher, Susan; Johnson, Amy L; Sweeney, Raymond W; Wakenell, Patricia S

    2016-03-01

    This report describes an outbreak of type C botulism in two organic, free-range commercial layer farms in the Midwest. Hens affected were 64-wk-old Hy-Line brown hens and 34-wk-old Hy-Line brown hens owned by the same company, but housed on different premises, with approximately 20,000 birds per house. Mortality over the 2 wk of investigation was estimated to be up to 8% and 2.8%, respectively, with birds acting listless, lethargic, and depressed. Clinical signs consisted of progressive paralysis, and severely affected birds were moribund and laterally recumbent. Hens had ruffled feathers that easily epilated, with loss of muscular tone in the neck, tail, and wings. Hens had closed eyes and were reluctant to move. There were no significant gross or histopathologic lesions. Intestinal samples were submitted to the University of Pennsylvania Botulism Diagnostic Laboratory for real-time PCR and were positive for Clostridium botulinum organisms containing the Type C neurotoxin gene. Speculations on the source of the botulinum toxins include poor mortality removal leading to cannibalism of decomposing carcasses, as well as birds on the farm having access to putrid carcasses in the compost pile from a hole in their outdoor access fence.

  8. The feasibility study on commercialized fast reactor cycle system

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Noda, Hiroshi

    2002-01-01

    The feasibility study on commercialized Fast Reactor cycle system (FS) has been carried out by a joint team with the participation of all parties concerned in Japan since July, 1999. It aims to clarify various perspectives for commercialized fast reactor cycle system and also suggest development strategies to diverse social needs in the 21 st century. The FS consists of several phases. The phase 1 has progressed as planned and the highly feasible candidate concepts with innovative technologies have been screened out among a wide variety of concepts. During the phase 2, approximately five years after the phase 1, the in-depth design studies and engineering scale tests of key technologies are being conducted to verify and validate the feasibility of screened candidate concepts. At the end of the phase 2, a few promising concepts will be selected with their R and D tasks. The paper describes the results of the phase 1, the activities of the phase 2 and the new concept related to the fast reactor fuel cycle focusing on the reduction in environmental burden, which is one of key factors to sustain the nuclear power generation in the 21 st century

  9. A market-driven commercialization strategy for gasification-based technologies

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Klara, J.M.; Tomer, B.J.; Stiegel, G.J.

    1998-01-01

    In the wake of deregulation of power generation in the US, market-based competition is driving electricity generators to low-cost risk system. In such an environment, gasification-based technologies will not be competitive with low capital cost, efficient, and reliable natural gas-fired facilities for baseload power generation in the foreseeable future. The lack of a near-term market application poses a serious threat to the progress of gasification technology. With a reduction in direct federal funding of large-scale demonstration plants as the trend to reduce the size of government continues, an alternate approach to commercialize gasification-based technologies has been developed at DOE/FETC. This new strategy employs gasification in near-term markets where, due to its ability to coproduce a wide variety of commodity and premium products to meet market requirements, it is an attractive alternative. By obtaining operating experience in near-term coproduction applications, gasification system modules can be refined and improved leading to commercial guarantees and acceptance of gasification technology as a cost-effective technology for baseload power generation when this market begins to open domestically, sometime after 2005

  10. Spotlight on siponimod and its potential in the treatment of secondary progressive multiple sclerosis: the evidence to date

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Gajofatto A

    2017-11-01

    Full Text Available Alberto Gajofatto Department of Neuroscience, Biomedicine and Movement Sciences, University of Verona, Verona, Italy Abstract: Siponimod (BAF312 is a synthetic molecule belonging to the sphingosine-1-phosphate (S1P modulator family, which has putative neuroprotective properties and well-characterized immunomodulating effects mediated by sequestration of B and T cells in secondary lymphoid organs. Compared to fingolimod (ie, precursor of the S1P modulators commercially available for the treatment of relapsing–remitting [RR] multiple sclerosis [MS], siponimod exhibits selective affinity for types 1 and 5 S1P receptor, leading to a lower risk of adverse events that are mainly induced by S1P3 receptor activation, such as bradycardia and vasoconstriction. In addition, S1P1 and S1P5 receptors are expressed by neurons and glia and could mediate a possible neuroprotective effect of the drug. A Phase II clinical trial of siponimod for RR MS showed a significant effect of the active drug compared to placebo on reducing gadolinium-enhancing lesions on brain magnetic resonance imaging (MRI after 3 months of treatment. In a recently completed Phase III trial, treatment with siponimod was associated with a significant reduction in disability progression in secondary progressive (SP MS patients compared to placebo. In this article, current evidence supporting siponimod efficacy for SP MS is reviewed. Keywords: multiple sclerosis, siponimod, progression, disability, treatment

  11. The Significance of Trust in the Political System and Motivation for Pupils' Learning Progress in Politics Lessons

    Science.gov (United States)

    Landwehr, Barbara; Weisseno, Georg

    2016-01-01

    Very little research has been conducted on the contribution of political education to learning progress in Germany. Hence, there is a need for intervention studies measuring performance against the theoretical background of a political competence model. This model comprises three constructs: subject knowledge, motivation and attitudes. According…

  12. Implementation of a low-cost, commercial orbit determination system

    Science.gov (United States)

    Corrigan, Jim

    1994-01-01

    Traditional satellite and launch control systems have consisted of custom solutions requiring significant development and maintenance costs. These systems have typically been designed to support specific program requirements and are expensive to modify and augment after delivery. The expanding role of space in today's marketplace combined with the increased sophistication and capabilities of modern satellites has created a need for more efficient, lower cost solutions to complete command and control systems. Recent technical advances have resulted in commercial-off-the-shelf products which greatly reduce the complete life-cycle costs associated with satellite launch and control system procurements. System integrators and spacecraft operators have, however, been slow to integrate these commercial based solutions into a comprehensive command and control system. This is due, in part, to a resistance to change and the fact that many available products are unable to effectively communicate with other commercial products. The United States Air Force, responsible for the health and safety of over 84 satellites via its Air Force Satellite Control Network (AFSCN), has embarked on an initiative to prove that commercial products can be used effectively to form a comprehensive command and control system. The initial version of this system is being installed at the Air Force's Center for Research Support (CERES) located at the National Test Facility in Colorado Springs, Colorado. The first stage of this initiative involved the identification of commercial products capable of satisfying each functional element of a command and control system. A significant requirement in this product selection criteria was flexibility and ability to integrate with other available commercial products. This paper discusses the functions and capabilities of the product selected to provide orbit determination functions for this comprehensive command and control system.

  13. Sensory differentiation of commercially produced spaghetti

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Pestorić Mladenka V.

    2015-01-01

    Full Text Available This work was focused on the performance of trained and untrained panel in evaluating the texture of nine commercially produced wheat spaghetti. Several sensory methods were applied in order to investigate the performance of different panel groups. In order to avoid the loss of information obtained by non-parametric methods, data were scaled according to contingency tables. This analysis showed that significant differences existed between the two panels for the given products. On the basis of these results, it can be concluded that the used panels cannot be a good alternative to each other in providing sensory texture profiling of commercial spaghetti, except in the case when the properties of spaghetti were evaluated using the control sample.

  14. Targeting ECM Disrupts Cancer Progression

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Venning, Freja A; Wullkopf, Lena; Erler, Janine T

    2015-01-01

    , the extracellular matrix (ECM). Many ECM proteins are significantly deregulated during the progression of cancer, causing both biochemical and biomechanical changes that together promote the metastatic cascade. In this review, the influence of several ECM proteins on these multiple steps of cancer spread...... is summarized. In addition, we highlight the promising (pre-)clinical data showing benefits of targeting these ECM macromolecules to prevent cancer progression....

  15. Bioreactors for plant cells: hardware configuration and internal environment optimization as tools for wider commercialization.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Georgiev, Milen I; Weber, Jost

    2014-07-01

    Mass production of value-added molecules (including native and heterologous therapeutic proteins and enzymes) by plant cell culture has been demonstrated as an efficient alternative to classical technologies [i.e. natural harvest and chemical (semi)synthesis]. Numerous proof-of-concept studies have demonstrated the feasibility of scaling up plant cell culture-based processes (most notably to produce paclitaxel) and several commercial processes have been established so far. The choice of a suitable bioreactor design (or modification of an existing commercially available reactor) and the optimization of its internal environment have been proven as powerful tools toward successful mass production of desired molecules. This review highlights recent progress (mostly in the last 5 years) in hardware configuration and optimization of bioreactor culture conditions for suspended plant cells.

  16. Assessing Energy Efficiency Opportunities in US Industrial and Commercial Building Motor Systems

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Rao, Prakash; Sheaffer, Paul; McKane, Aimee; Scheihing, Paul

    2015-09-01

    In 2002, the United States Department of Energy (USDOE) published an energy efficiency assessment of U.S. industrial sector motor systems titled United States Industrial Electric Motor Systems Market Opportunities Assessment. The assessment advanced motor system efficiency by providing a greater understanding of the energy consumption, use characteristics, and energy efficiency improvement potential of industrial sector motor systems in the U.S. Since 2002, regulations such as Minimum Energy Performance Standards, cost reductions for motor system components such as variable frequency drives, system-integrated motor-driven equipment, and awareness programs for motor system energy efficiency have changed the landscape of U.S. motor system energy consumption. To capture the new landscape, the USDOE has initiated a three-year Motor System Market Assessment (MSMA), led by Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (LBNL). The MSMA will assess the energy consumption, operational and maintenance characteristics, and efficiency improvement opportunity of U.S. industrial sector and commercial building motor systems. As part of the MSMA, a significant effort is currently underway to conduct field assessments of motor systems from a sample of facilities representative of U.S. commercial and industrial motor system energy consumption. The Field Assessment Plan used for these assessments builds on recent LBNL research presented at EEMODS 2011 and EEMODS 2013 using methods for characterizing and determining regional motor system energy efficiency opportunities. This paper provides an update on the development and progress of the MSMA, focusing on the Field Assessment Plan and the framework for assessing the global supply chain for emerging motors and drive technologies.

  17. Public Good or Commercial Opportunity: Case Studies in Remote Sensing Commercialization

    Science.gov (United States)

    Johnston, Shaida; Cordes, Joseph

    2002-01-01

    The U.S. Government is once again attempting to commercialize the Landsat program and is asking the private sector to develop a next generation mid-resolution remote sensing system that will provide continuity with the thirty-year data archive of Landsat data. Much of the case for commercializing the Landsat program rests on the apparently successful commercialization of high-resolution remote sensing activities coupled with the belief that conditions have changed since the failed attempt to commercialize Landsat in the 1980s. This paper analyzes the economic, political and technical conditions that prevailed in the 1980s as well as conditions that might account for the apparent success of the emerging high-resolution remote sensing industry today. Lessons are gleaned for the future of the Landsat program.

  18. Sulfur impact on NO{sub x} storage, oxygen storage, and ammonia breakthrough during cyclic lean/rich operation of a commercial lean NO{sub x} trap

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Choi, Jae-Soon; Partridge, William P.; Daw, C. Stuart [Fuels, Engines, and Emissions Research Center, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, P.O. Box 2008, MS-6472, Oak Ridge, TN 37831-6472 (United States)

    2007-11-30

    The objective of the present study was to develop an improved understanding of how sulfur affects the spatiotemporal distribution of reactions and temperature inside a monolithic lean NO{sub x} trap (LNT). These spatiotemporal distributions are believed to be major factors in LNT function, and thus, we expect that a better understanding of these phenomena can benefit the design and operation of commercial LNTs. In our study, we experimentally evaluated a commercial LNT monolith installed in a bench-flow reactor with simulated engine exhaust. The reactor feed gas composition was cycled to simulate fast lean/rich LNT operation at 325 C, and spatiotemporal species and temperature profiles were monitored along the LNT axis at different sulfur loadings. Reactor outlet NO{sub x}, NO, N{sub 2}O, and NH{sub 3} were also measured. Sulfur tended to accumulate in a plug-like fashion in the reactor and progressively inhibited NO{sub x} storage capacity along the axis. The NO{sub x} storage/reduction (NSR) reactions occurred over a relatively short portion of the reactor (NSR zone) under the conditions used in this study, and thus, net NO{sub x} conversion was only significantly reduced at high sulfur loading. Oxygen storage capacity (OSC) was poisoned by sulfur also in a progressive manner but to a lesser extent than the NO{sub x} storage capacity. Global selectivity for N{sub 2}O remained low at all sulfur loadings, but NH{sub 3} selectivity increased significantly with sulfur loading. We conjecture that NH{sub 3} breakthrough increased because of decreasing oxidation of NH{sub 3}, slipping from the NSR zone, by downstream stored oxygen. The NSR and oxygen storage/reduction (OSR) generated distinctive exotherms during the rich phase and at the rich/lean transition. Exotherm locations shifted downstream with sulfur accumulation in a manner that was consistent with the progressive poisoning of NSR and OSR sites. (author)

  19. Commercial Radio as Communication.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Rothenbuhler, Eric W.

    1996-01-01

    Compares the day-to-day work routines of commercial radio with the principles of a theoretical communication model. Illuminates peculiarities of the conduct of communication by commercial radio. Discusses the application of theoretical models to the evaluation of practicing institutions. Offers assessments of commercial radio deriving from…

  20. Into the void: Regulating pesticide use in Colorado's commercial cannabis markets.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Subritzky, Todd; Pettigrew, Simone; Lenton, Simon

    2017-04-01

    In 2014, Colorado implemented the world's first seed-to-sale recreational cannabis market under a commercial model. This paper aims to provide a thick descriptive account that gives insight into the issues and complexities of Colorado's pioneering and evolving attempt to regulate the use of pesticides on commercial cannabis plantations. The paper examines multiple data sets including: (i) Colorado State Government documents; (ii) recreational cannabis regulations; (iii) mass and niche media publications (n=175); (iv) face-to-face interviews with key stakeholders, including seniors, regulators and industry executives (n=8); and (v) field notes from relevant conferences and cultivation facility tours in Denver in October, 2016. Two key issues are identified. First, a public safety threat has arisen relating to application of pesticides on cannabis with intensified toxicity in concentrated products of particular concern. Second, as a pioneering jurisdiction, Colorado faces a considerable knowledge gap. To expand collective learning on this issue, for which no regulatory template and little research exists, state regulators tapped industry and other stakeholder expertise while attempting to ensure public safety goals were achieved and regulatory capture by industry was limited. Four years since the recreational cannabis market in Colorado was legalised, the State continues to grapple with the pesticide issue as testing regulations and cultivation standards are yet to be finalised. While more work is needed, Colorado has made significant progress in developing regulations relating to this complex matter. As governments of countries such as Canada and US states, including California, contemplate changes to recreational cannabis laws, Colorado's experience can assist regulators in other jurisdictions considering policy change. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

  1. Conductors for commercial MRI magnets beyond NbTi: requirements and challenges

    Science.gov (United States)

    Parizh, Michael; Lvovsky, Yuri; Sumption, Michael

    2017-01-01

    Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), a powerful medical diagnostic tool, is the largest commercial application of superconductivity. The superconducting magnet is the largest and most expensive component of an MRI system. The magnet configuration is determined by competing requirements including optimized functional performance, patient comfort, ease of siting in a hospital environment, minimum acquisition and lifecycle cost including service. In this paper, we analyze conductor requirements for commercial MRI magnets beyond traditional NbTi conductors, while avoiding links to a particular magnet configuration or design decisions. Potential conductor candidates include MgB2, ReBCO and BSCCO options. The analysis shows that no MRI-ready non-NbTi conductor is commercially available at the moment. For some conductors, MRI specifications will be difficult to achieve in principle. For others, cost is a key barrier. In some cases, the prospects for developing an MRI-ready conductor are more favorable, but significant developments are still needed. The key needs include the development of, or significant improvements in: (a) conductors specifically designed for MRI applications, with form-fit-and-function readily integratable into the present MRI magnet technology with minimum modifications. Preferably, similar conductors should be available from multiple vendors; (b) conductors with improved quench characteristics, i.e. the ability to carry significant current without damage while in the resistive state; (c) insulation which is compatible with manufacturing and refrigeration technologies; (d) dramatic increases in production and long-length quality control, including large-volume conductor manufacturing technology. In-situ MgB2 is, perhaps, the closest to meeting commercial and technical requirements to become suitable for commercial MRI. Conductor technology is an important, but not the only, issue in introduction of HTS/MgB2 conductor into commercial MRI magnets. These

  2. MODERN TENDENCIES IN THE FIELD OF THE COMMERCIAL REAL ESTATE MANAGEMENT IN UKRAINE

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    L.Chubuk

    2014-04-01

    Full Text Available The advantages of owners, got from the use of services of professional real estate management, are exposed. The spheres of most distribution of professional services of real estate management, their progress trends, prevailing form of organization of mutual relations between the owner of the real estate and managing company, special terms of payments for services are revealed. The range of management services and specific criteria of a choice of management companies in domestic practice are exposed, the rating of the leading companies in the market of complex services of commercial real estate management in Ukraine is given. Dynamics of the indicators, characterizing a condition of the market and efficiency of using of commercial real estate in Kiev for the period before and after financial and economic crisis, is illustrated. Reasons that limits possibilities of strategic real estate management in a long-term prospect are examines. The comparative analysis of attractiveness of basic sectors of the Ukrainian commercial property market (office, trade, ware-house real estate is conducted from positions of investing and professional management. There is proved that perspective of investments in the ware-house (industrial real estate is reasonable.

  3. A gap analysis of meteorological requirements for commercial space operators

    Science.gov (United States)

    Stapleton, Nicholas James

    Commercial space companies will soon be the primary method of launching people and supplies into orbit. Among the critical aspects of space launches are the meteorological concerns. Laws and regulations pertaining to meteorological considerations have been created to ensure the safety of the space industry and those living around spaceports; but, are they adequate? Perhaps the commercial space industry can turn to the commercial aviation industry to help answer that question. Throughout its history, the aviation industry has dealt with lessons learned from mishaps due to failures in understanding the significance of weather impacts on operations. Using lessons from the aviation industry, the commercial space industry can preempt such accidents and maintain viability as an industry. Using Lanicci's Strategic Planning Model, this study identified the weather needs of the commercial space industry by conducting three gap analyses. First, a comparative analysis was done between laws and regulations in commercial aviation and those in the commercial space industry pertaining to meteorological support, finding a "legislative gap" between the two industries, as no legal guarantee is in place to ensure weather products remain available to the commercial space industry. A second analysis was conducted between the meteorological services provided for the commercial aviation industry and commercial space industry, finding a gap at facilities not located at an established launch facility or airport. At such facilities, many weather observational technologies would not be present, and would need to be purchased by the company operating the spaceport facility. A third analysis was conducted between the meteorological products and regulations that are currently in existence, and those needed for safe operations within the commercial space industry, finding gaps in predicting lightning, electric field charge, and space weather. Recommendations to address these deficiencies have

  4. Trends in energy use in commercial buildings -- Sixteen years of EIA's commercial buildings energy consumption survey

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Davis, J.; Swenson, A.

    1998-07-01

    The Commercial Buildings Energy Consumption Survey (CBECS) collects basic statistical information on energy consumption and energy-related characteristics of commercial buildings in the US. The first CBECS was conducted in 1979 and the most recent was completed in 1995. Over that period, the number of commercial bindings and total amount of floorspace increased, total consumption remained flat, and total energy intensity declined. By 1995, there were 4.6 million commercial buildings and 58.8 billion square feet of floorspace. The buildings consumed a total of 5.3 quadrillion Btu (site energy), with a total intensity of 90.5 thousand Btu per square foot per year. Electricity consumption exceeded natural gas consumption (2.6 quadrillion and 1.9 quadrillion Btu, respectively). In 1995, the two major users of energy were space heating (1.7 quadrillion Btu) and lighting (1.2 quadrillion Btu). Over the period 1979 to 1995, natural gas intensity declined from 71.4 thousand to 51.0 thousand Btu per square foot per year. Electricity intensity did not show a similar decline (44.2 thousand Btu per square foot in 1979 and 45.7 thousand Btu per square foot in 1995). Two types of commercial buildings, office buildings and mercantile and service buildings, were the largest consumers of energy in 1995 (2.0 quadrillion Btu, 38% of total consumption). Three building types, health care, food service, and food sales, had significantly higher energy intensities. Buildings constructed since 1970 accounted for half of total consumption and a majority (59%) of total electricity consumption.

  5. Eliminating malaria in Malaysia: the role of partnerships between the public and commercial sectors in Sabah

    OpenAIRE

    Sanders, Kelly C; Rundi, Christina; Jelip, Jenarun; Rashman, Yusof; Smith Gueye, Cara; Gosling, Roly D

    2014-01-01

    Background Countries in the Asia Pacific region have made great progress in the fight against malaria; several are rapidly approaching elimination. However, malaria control programmes operating in elimination settings face substantial challenges, particularly around mobile migrant populations, access to remote areas and the diversity of vectors with varying biting and breeding behaviours. These challenges can be addressed through subnational collaborations with commercial partners, such as mi...

  6. Commercialization of DOE isotope production

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Laflin, S.

    1997-01-01

    This paper describes the business structure and operations of MAC Isotopes (MACI) L.L.C., a newly created business resulting from the commercialization of a former U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) mission at the Idaho National Engineering and Environmental Laboratory (INEEL). MACI began its commercial operations on October 1, 1996, and is the first U.S. commercial isotope production business to result from the commercialization of DOE facilities or programs. The commercialization was the culmination of an -2-yr competitive procurement process by the DOE and Lockheed Martin Idaho Technologies Company (LMITCO). MACI was selected from this competitive process as the commercial business of choice on the basis of providing the best value to the DOE/LMITCO and having the greatest potential for commercial success

  7. Commercial Banking Industry Survey.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bright Horizons Children's Centers, Cambridge, MA.

    Work and family programs are becoming increasingly important in the commercial banking industry. The objective of this survey was to collect information and prepare a commercial banking industry profile on work and family programs. Fifty-nine top American commercial banks from the Fortune 500 list were invited to participate. Twenty-two…

  8. 76 FR 126 - Requirement for Commercial Users To Use Commercial Public Key Information (PKI) Certificate

    Science.gov (United States)

    2011-01-03

    ... DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE Department of the Army Requirement for Commercial Users To Use Commercial..., SDDC will require all commercial accounts accessing transportation systems and applications to use a commercial PKI certificate or Transportation Workers Identification Credential (TWIC). This requirement will...

  9. Research achievements and commercial interaction

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Garnett, H.M.

    2001-01-01

    ANSTO, in partnership with Australian and overseas organisations, continues to make significant contributions to selected fields of research and development. Major revenue for ANSTO is generated through sales of radiopharmaceuticals and radioisotopes for medical, industrial, environmental and research purposes and through neutron irradiation services. Further, ANSTO is actively trying to generate maximum value from its knowledge and know-how through protection and exploitation of its intellectual property. Strategic alliances have been developed to further the commercial utilisation of ANSTO know-how in, for example, delivery systems for tumour treatments, commercial waste remediation and applications of plasma implantation. The 2000-2001 financial year saw the establishment of an ANSTO business unit called Sulfide Solutions targeted at better management of environmental issues arising from mining operations. Overall, ANSTO's capacity to generate value from the application of its knowledge and know-how is being increasingly acknowledged, the organisation attaining credibility as an international leader in the application of nuclear science and technology in targeted areas

  10. Enforcement actions: significant actions resolved. Quarterly progress report, July-September 1982

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    1982-10-01

    This compilation summarizes significant enforcement actions that have been resolved during one quarterly period (July to September 1982) and includes copies of letters, notices, and orders sent by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission to the licensee with respect to the enforcement action. It is anticipated that the information in this publication will be widely disseminated to managers and employees engaged in activities licensed by the NRC, in the interest of promoting public health and safety as well as common defense and security. This publication is issued on a quarterly basis to include significant enforcement actions resolved during the preceding quarter

  11. Clinical significance of pretreatment FDG PET/CT IN MOBG-avid pediatric neuroblastoma

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Kang, Seo Young; Kim, Yong Il; Cheon, Gi Jeong; Kang, Keon Wook; Chung, June Key; Lee, Dong Soo; Kang, Hyoung Jin; Shin, Hee Young [Seoul National University Hospital, Seoul (Korea, Republic of); Kim, E. Edmund [Seoul National University, Seoul (Korea, Republic of); Rahim, Muhammad Kashif [Nishtar Medical College and Hospital, Multan (Pakistan)

    2017-06-15

    {sup 18}F-fluorodeoxyglucose-positron emission tomography (FDG-PET) imaging is well known to have clinical significance in the initial staging and response evaluation of the many kinds of neoplasms. However, its role in the pediatric neuroblastoma is not clearly defined. In the present study, the clinical significance of FDG-PET/computed tomography (CT) in 123I- or 131I-metaiodobenzylguanidine (MIBG)-avid pediatric neuroblastoma was investigated. Twenty patients with neuroblastoma who undertook pretreatment FDG PET/CT at our institute between 2008 and 2015 and showed MIBG avidity were retrospectively enrolled in the present study. Clinical information—including histopathology, and serum markers—and several PET parameters—including SUVmax of the primary lesion (Psuv), target-to-background ratio (TBR), metabolic tumor volume (MTV), and coefficient of variation (CV)—were analyzed. The prognostic effect of PET parameters was evaluated in terms of progression-free survival (PFS). Total 20 patients (4.5 ± 3.5 years) were divided as two groups by disease progression. Six patients (30.0 %) experienced disease progression and one patient (5.0 %) died during follow-up period. There were not statistically significant in age, stage, MYCN status, primary tumor size, serum lactate dehydrogenase (LDH), neuron-specific enolase (NSE), and ferritin level between two groups with progression or no progression. However, Psuv (p = 0.017), TBR (p = 0.09), MTV (p = 0.02), and CV (p = 0.036) showed significant differences between two groups. In univariate analysis, PFS was significantly associated with Psuv (p = 0.021) and TBR (p = 0.023). FDG-PET parameters were significantly related with progression of neuroblastoma. FDG-PET/CT may have the potential as a valuable modality for evaluating prognosis in the patients with MIBG-avid pediatric neuroblastoma.

  12. Structure-Based Virtual Screening of Commercially Available Compound Libraries.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kireev, Dmitri

    2016-01-01

    Virtual screening (VS) is an efficient hit-finding tool. Its distinctive strength is that it allows one to screen compound libraries that are not available in the lab. Moreover, structure-based (SB) VS also enables an understanding of how the hit compounds bind the protein target, thus laying ground work for the rational hit-to-lead progression. SBVS requires a very limited experimental effort and is particularly well suited for academic labs and small biotech companies that, unlike pharmaceutical companies, do not have physical access to quality small-molecule libraries. Here, we describe SBVS of commercial compound libraries for Mer kinase inhibitors. The screening protocol relies on the docking algorithm Glide complemented by a post-docking filter based on structural protein-ligand interaction fingerprints (SPLIF).

  13. Recent progress in stellarator reactor conceptual design

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Miller, R.L.

    1985-01-01

    The Stellarator/Torsatron/Heliotron (S/T/H) class of toroidal magnetic fusion reactor designs continues to offer a distinct and in several ways superior approach to eventual commercial competitiveness. Although no major, integrated conceptual reactor design activity is presently underway, a number of international research efforts suggest avenues for the substantial improvement of the S/T/H reactor embodiment, which derive from recent experimental and theoretical progress and are responsive to current trends in fusion-reactor projection to set the stage for a third generation of designs. Recent S/T/H reactor design activity is reviewed and the impact of the changing technical and programmatic context on the direction of future S/T/H reactor design studies is outlined

  14. Enforcement actions: significant actions resolved. Quarterly progress report, January-June 1982

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    1982-09-01

    This compilation summarizes significant enforcement actions that have been resolved during two quarterly periods (January to June 1982) and includes copies of letters, notices, and orders sent by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission to the licensee with respect to the enforcement action. It is anticipated that the information in this publication will be widely disseminated to managers and employees engaged in activities licensed by the NRC, in the interest of promoting public health and safety as well as common defense and security. The intention is that this publication will be issued on a quarterly basis to include significant enforcement actions resolved during the preceding quarter

  15. Interventions to slow progression of myopia in children.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Walline, Jeffrey J; Lindsley, Kristina; Vedula, Satyanarayana S; Cotter, Susan A; Mutti, Donald O; Twelker, J Daniel

    2011-12-07

    independently extracted data and assessed the risk of bias for each included study. When possible, we analyzed data with the inverse variance method using a fixed-effect or random-effects model, depending on the number of studies and amount of heterogeneity detected. We included 23 studies (4696 total participants) in this review, with 17 of these studies included in quantitative analysis. Since we only included RCTs in the review, the studies were generally at low risk of bias for selection bias. Undercorrection of myopia was found to increase myopia progression slightly in two studies; children who were undercorrected progressed on average 0.15 D (95% confidence interval (CI) -0.29 to 0.00) more than the fully corrected SVLs wearers at one year. Rigid gas permeable contact lenses (RGPCLs) were found to have no evidence of effect on myopic eye growth in two studies (no meta-analysis due to heterogeneity between studies). Progressive addition lenses (PALs), reported in four studies, and bifocal spectacles, reported in four studies, were found to yield a small slowing of myopia progression. For seven studies with quantitative data at one year, children wearing multifocal lenses, either PALs or bifocals, progressed on average 0.16 D (95% CI 0.07 to 0.25) less than children wearing SVLs. The largest positive effects for slowing myopia progression were exhibited by anti-muscarinic medications. At one year, children receiving pirenzepine gel (two studies), cyclopentolate eye drops (one study), or atropine eye drops (two studies) showed significantly less myopic progression compared with children receiving placebo (mean differences (MD) 0.31 (95% CI 0.17 to 0.44), 0.34 (95% CI 0.08 to 0.60), and 0.80 (95% CI 0.70 to 0.90), respectively). The most likely effective treatment to slow myopia progression thus far is anti-muscarinic topical medication. However, side effects of these medications include light sensitivity and near blur. Also, they are not yet commercially available, so their

  16. Recent progresses in biomedical applications of aptamer-functionalized systems.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ding, Fei; Gao, Yangguang; He, Xianran

    2017-09-15

    Aptamers, known as "chemical antibodies" are screened via a combinational technology of systematic evolution of ligands by exponential enrichment (SELEX). Due to their specific targeting ability, high binding affinity, low immunogenicity and easy modification, aptamer-functionalized systems have been extensively applied in various fields and exhibit favorable results. However, there is still a long way for them to be commercialized, and few aptamer-functionalized systems have yet successfully entered clinical and industrial use. Thus, it is necessary to overview the recent research progresses of aptamer-functionalized systems for the researchers to improve or design novel and better aptamer-functionalized systems. In this review, we first introduce the recent progresses of aptamer-functionalized systems' applications in biosensing, targeted drug delivery, gene therapy and cancer cell imaging, followed by a discussion of the challenges faced with extensive applications of aptamer-functionalized systems and speculation of the future prospects of them. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  17. TRENDS REGARDING THE DEVELOPMENT OF THE COMMERCIAL ACTIVITY IN ROMANIA

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Catana Adina

    2010-07-01

    Full Text Available World economy is experiencing some important transformations, mainly due to the rapid evolution of the informational and communication technologies. In the last years, new technologies flooded the production processes. They have allowed the improvement of the processing and use of the economic information and the general accelaration of the economic flows. The technological revolution is presented in all its trade forms, either the wholesale trade or the retail trade. The technical progress interferes with the economic activity through the re-engineering of the production lines, the revolution in the field of building materials and store, shopping center, malls and industrial hall building, the considerably shorter time period these are being built and they become available for the commercial activity, the revolution in the field of supply, merchandise storage and manipulation, the appearance of different types of intelligent machineries and equipment, merchandise storage software improving the way the client is served at the counter. The industrial revolution determines a reorganization of the economic activity, a resetting of the trade economic activity by directing the trader towards the client using new commercial techniques and strategies.

  18. Recycling Sounds in Commercials

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Larsen, Charlotte Rørdam

    2012-01-01

    Commercials offer the opportunity for intergenerational memory and impinge on cultural memory. TV commercials for foodstuffs often make reference to past times as a way of authenticating products. This is frequently achieved using visual cues, but in this paper I would like to demonstrate how...... such references to the past and ‘the good old days’ can be achieved through sounds. In particular, I will look at commercials for Danish non-dairy spreads, especially for OMA margarine. These commercials are notable in that they contain a melody and a slogan – ‘Say the name: OMA margarine’ – that have basically...... remained the same for 70 years. Together these identifiers make OMA an interesting Danish case to study. With reference to Ann Rigney’s memorial practices or mechanisms, the study aims to demonstrate how the auditory aspects of Danish margarine commercials for frying tend to be limited in variety...

  19. Cell therapy companies make strong progress from October 2012 to March 2013 amid mixed stock market sentiment.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Mason, Chris; Mason, Julian; Culme-Seymour, Emily J; Bonfiglio, Gregory A; Reeve, Brock C

    2013-06-06

    During Q4 2012 and Q1 2013, the cell therapy industry made strong progress in translation and commercialization. Continued development of the companies included in a dedicated stock market index suggests emergence of this industry as a distinct healthcare sector. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  20. Radiation Characterization of Commercial GaN Devices

    Science.gov (United States)

    Harris, Richard D.; Scheick, Leif Z.; Hoffman, James P.; Thrivikraman, Tushar; Jenabi, Masud; Gim, Yonggyu; Miyahira, Tetsuo

    2011-01-01

    Radiative feedback from primordial protostars and final mass of the first star Commercially available devices fabricated from GaN are beginning to appear from a number of different suppliers. Based on previous materials and prototype device studies, it is expected that these commercial devices will be quite tolerant to the types of radiation encountered in space. This expectation needs to be verified and the study described herein was undertaken for that purpose. All of the parts discussed in this report are readily available commercially. The parts chosen for study are all targeted for RF applications. Three different studies were performed: 1) a preliminary DDD/TID test of a variety of part types was performed by irradiating with 50 MeV protons, 2) a detailed DDD/TID study of one particular part type was performed by irradiating with 50 MeV protons, and 3) a SEB/SEGR test was performed on a variety of part types by irradiating with heavy ions. No significant degradation was observed in the tests performed in this study.

  1. Universities innovation and technology commercialization challenges and solutions from the perspectives of Malaysian research universities

    Science.gov (United States)

    Rasli, Amran; Kowang, Tan Owee

    2017-11-01

    The roles of universities in the context of a nation's shift towards sustainable competitive advantage have changed drastically recently. Universities are now expected to contribute to the creation of new knowledge-based industries, i.e. to support knowledge-based economic growth through the creation of industrially-relevant knowledge/innovation and their commercialization, and to attract global MNCs in new emerging industries; and foster entrepreneurial mindset to support the future knowledge economy where stable job opportunities are no longer guaranteed. As such, there is a need to inculcate the spirit of enterprise as compared to the past where high economic growth has provided graduates with good career prospects as salaried employees, particularly in MNC subsidiaries and the government. The shift requires a bigger role in supporting innovation and commercialization, i.e. to venture beyond its traditional function of teaching, research and publication by incorporating a technology commercialization role which will inevitably help the institution to improve its global ranking. However, there are many national and operational obstacles that impede the progression of research and development to commercialization and entrepreneurship. The main challenges include: (I) lack of connectivity between the industry and academia; (2) myopic perception of the market; (3) inability to evaluate viability from ideas to innovations and beyond; (4) lack of support for investment in new technologies, and (5) lack of positive culture among academic researchers. To overcome the aforementioned obstacles, priority in developing a complete commercialization ecosystem has become a national agenda for most emerging economies.

  2. Tensile Fracture Behavior of Progressively-Drawn Pearlitic Steels

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Jesús Toribio

    2016-05-01

    Full Text Available In this paper a study is presented of the tensile fracture behavior of progressively-drawn pearlitic steels obtained from five different cold-drawing chains, including each drawing step from the initial hot-rolled bar (not cold-drawn at all to the final commercial product (pre-stressing steel wire. To this end, samples of the different wires were tested up to fracture by means of standard tension tests, and later, all of the fracture surfaces were analyzed by scanning electron microscopy (SEM. Micro-fracture maps (MFMs were assembled to characterize the different fractographic modes and to study their evolution with the level of cumulative plastic strain during cold drawing.

  3. 10. International commercial vehicle congress; 10. Internationale Fachtagung Nutzfahrzeuge

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    NONE

    2009-07-01

    turbocompounding on heavy duty diesel engines (J. McGuire et al.); (17) Progress in preventive safety systems for medium and heavy commercial vehicles (L. Consano); (18) Area of attention of the legal regulation of emergency braking systems (K. Breuer, C. Adam); (19) Protection of pedestrians by means of near field monitoring in commercial vehicles (D. Sandkuehler); (20) Design of driver assistance systems and integral safety by means of a PMD 3D camera (M. Painter et al.); (21) Solutions for trailors for an economic transport and increase of the traffic safety (R. Risse); (22) Remote Download - the key for an efficient data management (D. Gandras, G. Albayrak); (23) Reduction of fuels by means of an intelligent utilization of navigation data (R. Varnhagen); (24) An investigation of the thermal comfort in commercial vehicles (C. Theimert, F. Kager); (25) Integrated NO{sub x} and PM exhaust gas purification for EU VI and as a solution for retrofitting (R. Mueller et al.); (26) Hynovis - The innovative concept from Irisbus (J.M. Boucheret); (27) Development of a modular generation of bus chassis (M. Kreisel et al.); (28) Modular control of doors for the omnibus (G. Hennings, F. Pietsch); (29) The 'Front Collision Guard' (G. Steinmetz, T. Moennich).

  4. Direct fuel cell power plants: the final steps to commercialization

    Science.gov (United States)

    Glenn, Donald R.

    Since the last paper presented at the Second Grove Fuel Cell Symposium, the Energy Research Corporation (ERC) has established two commercial subsidiaries, become a publically-held firm, expanded its facilities and has moved the direct fuel cell (DFC) technology and systems significantly closer to commercial readiness. The subsidiaries, the Fuel Cell Engineering Corporation (FCE) and Fuel Cell Manufacturing Corporation (FCMC) are perfecting their respective roles in the company's strategy to commercialize its DFC technology. FCE is the prime contractor for the Santa Clara Demonstration and is establishing the needed marketing, sales, engineering, and servicing functions. FCMC in addition to producing the stacks and stack modules for the Santa Clara demonstration plant is now upgrading its production capability and product yields, and retooling for the final stack scale-up for the commercial unit. ERC has built and operated the tallest and largest capacities-to-date carbonate fuel cell stacks as well as numerous short stacks. While most of these units were tested at ERC's Danbury, Connecticut (USA) R&D Center, others have been evaluated at other domestic and overseas facilities using a variety of fuels. ERC has supplied stacks to Elkraft and MTU for tests with natural gas, and RWE in Germany where coal-derived gas were used. Additional stack test activities have been performed by MELCO and Sanyo in Japan. Information from some of these activities is protected by ERC's license arrangements with these firms. However, permission for limited data releases will be requested to provide the Grove Conference with up-to-date results. Arguably the most dramatic demonstration of carbonate fuel cells in the utility-scale, 2 MW power plant demonstration unit, located in the City of Santa Clara, California. Construction of the unit's balance-of-plant (BOP) has been completed and the installed equipment has been operationally checked. Two of the four DFC stack sub-modules, each

  5. interest rate and commercial banks' lending operations in nigeria

    African Journals Online (AJOL)

    statutory liquidity ratio had negative and significant effect on the volume of commercial banks' ... Insurance Corporation (NDIC) jointly sharing the .... affected banks performances in Nigeria and the ... profitability in India and was specified thus:.

  6. Antibacterial Activity of Probiotic Bacteria Isolated From Broiler Feces and Commercial Strains

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Parisa Darabi

    2014-07-01

    Full Text Available Background: The extensive use of antibiotics in animal farms to promote the growth rate and prevent the enteric pathogen has led to the development of antibiotic-resistant bacteria and drug residues in the birds body. In the recent years, probiotics have been constantly studied for their inhibitory effects on pathogenic bacteria. Objectives: The current study aimed to assess the effect of magnesium oxide on controlling serum phosphorus levels and evaluate its side effects. Materials and Methods: Antibacterial activity of local and commercial probiotic bacteria was investigated using colony overlay assay. Then antibacterial activity of local and commercial probiotics against each pathogen, Salmonella typhimurium, Escherichia coli and Staphylococcus aureus were compared. Results: Local strain of lactic acid bacteria had significantly higher antibacterial activity compared to those of the commercial probiotics. Local probiotics showed a significantly stronger activity against Staphylococcus aureus, Salmonella typhimurium and Escherichia coli compared to all commercial probiotics. Conclusions: Administration of mono strain of Lactobacillus salivarius ES1, or co-administration of ES1 and L. salivarius ES6, is not only more effective than commercial probiotics against Salmonella spp., Staphylococcus spp. and E.coli, but also, will have no negative effects on micro flora balance of local birds.

  7. 10 MMBt/Hr AFBC Commercial Demonstration Cedar Lane Farms

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Harold M. Keener; Mary H. Wicks; Tom Machamer; Dave Hoecke; Don Bonk; Bob Brown

    2005-10-31

    The objective of this project was to demonstrate and promote the commercialization of coal-fired atmospheric fluidized bed combustion (AFBC) systems, with limestone addition for SO2 emissions control and a baghouse for particulate emissions control. This AFBC system was targeted for small scale industrial-commercial-institutional space and process heat applications in the 4-40 MMBtu/hr size range. A cost effective and environmentally acceptable AFBC technology in this size range could displace a considerable amount of heating gas and oil with coal, while resulting in significant total cost savings to the owner/operators.

  8. Detection of Clinically Significant Retinopathy of Prematurity Using Wide-angle Digital Retinal Photography

    Science.gov (United States)

    Chiang, Michael F.; Melia, Michele; Buffenn, Angela N.; Lambert, Scott R.; Recchia, Franco M.; Simpson, Jennifer L.; Yang, Michael B.

    2013-01-01

    Objective To evaluate the accuracy of detecting clinically significant retinopathy of prematurity (ROP) using wide-angle digital retinal photography. Methods Literature searches of PubMed and the Cochrane Library databases were conducted last on December 7, 2010, and yielded 414 unique citations. The authors assessed these 414 citations and marked 82 that potentially met the inclusion criteria. These 82 studies were reviewed in full text; 28 studies met inclusion criteria. The authors extracted from these studies information about study design, interventions, outcomes, and study quality. After data abstraction, 18 were excluded for study deficiencies or because they were superseded by a more recent publication. The methodologist reviewed the remaining 10 studies and assigned ratings of evidence quality; 7 studies were rated level I evidence and 3 studies were rated level III evidence. Results There is level I evidence from ≥5 studies demonstrating that digital retinal photography has high accuracy for detection of clinically significant ROP. Level III studies have reported high accuracy, without any detectable complications, from real-world operational programs intended to detect clinically significant ROP through remote site interpretation of wide-angle retinal photographs. Conclusions Wide-angle digital retinal photography has the potential to complement standard ROP care. It may provide advantages through objective documentation of clinical examination findings, improved recognition of disease progression by comparing previous photographs, and the creation of image libraries for education and research. Financial Disclosure(s) Proprietary or commercial disclosure may be found after the references. PMID:22541632

  9. 36 CFR 5.6 - Commercial vehicles.

    Science.gov (United States)

    2010-07-01

    ... 36 Parks, Forests, and Public Property 1 2010-07-01 2010-07-01 false Commercial vehicles. 5.6... COMMERCIAL AND PRIVATE OPERATIONS § 5.6 Commercial vehicles. (a) The term “Commercial vehicle” as used in... used in connection with any business. (b) The use of government roads within park areas by commercial...

  10. Africa's inevitable walk to genetically modified (GM) crops: opportunities and challenges for commercialization.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Okeno, James A; Wolt, Jeffrey D; Misra, Manjit K; Rodriguez, Lulu

    2013-01-25

    High relative poverty levels in Africa are attributed to the continent's under performing agriculture. Drought, low-yielding crop varieties, pests and diseases, poor soils, low fertilizer use, limited irrigation and lack of modern technologies are among the problems that plague African agriculture. Genetically modified (GM) crops may possess attributes that can help overcome some of these constraints, but have yet to be fully embraced in the mix of technology solutions for African agriculture. Cognizant of this, South Africa, Burkina Faso and Egypt are steadily growing GM crops on a commercial scale. Countries like Kenya, Nigeria, and Uganda are increasingly field-testing these crops with the view to commercialize them. These countries show strong government support for GM technology. Progress by these first adopter nations provides an insight as to how GM crops are increasingly being viewed as one of the ways in which the continent can invigorate the agriculture sector and achieve food security. Copyright © 2012 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

  11. Commercial Decommissioning at DOE's Rocky Flats

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Freiboth, C.; Sandlin, N.; Schubert, A.; Hansen, S.

    2002-01-01

    Due in large part to the number of nuclear facilities that make up the DOE complex, DOE-EM work has historically been paperwork intensive and driven by extensive regulations. Requirements for non-nuclear facilities are often grouped with those of nuclear facilities, driving up costs. Kaiser-Hill was interested in applying a commercial model to demolition of these facilities and wanted to apply necessary and sufficient standards to the work activities, but avoid applying unnecessary requirements. Faced with demolishing hundreds of uncontaminated or non-radiologically contaminated facilities, Kaiser-Hill has developed a subcontracting strategy to drastically reduce the cost of demolishing these facilities at Rocky Flats. Aiming to tailor the demolition approach of such facilities to more closely follow commercial practices, Kaiser-Hill recently released a Request for Proposals (RFP) for the demolition of the site's former central administration facility. The RFP significantly reduced requirements for compliance with specific DOE directives. Instead, the RFP required subcontractors to comply with health and safety requirements commonly found in the demolition of similar facilities in a commercial setting. This resulted in a number of bids from companies who have normally not bid on DOE work previously and at a reduced cost over previous approaches. This paper will discuss the details of this subcontracting strategy

  12. Progress in Electrolyte-Free Fuel Cells

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Lu, Yuzheng; Zhu, Bin; Cai, Yixiao; Kim, Jung-Sik; Wang, Baoyuan; Wang, Jun; Zhang, Yaoming; Li, Junjiao

    2016-01-01

    Solid oxide fuel cell (SOFC) represents a clean electrochemical energy conversion technology with characteristics of high conversion efficiency and low emissions. It is one of the most important new energy technologies in the future. However, the manufacture of SOFCs based on the structure of anode/electrolyte/cathode is complicated and time-consuming. Thus, the cost for the entire fabrication and technology is too high to be affordable, and challenges still hinder commercialization. Recently, a novel type of electrolyte-free fuel cell (EFFC) with single component was invented, which could be the potential candidate for the next generation of advanced fuel cells. This paper briefly introduces the EFFC, working principle, performance, and advantages with updated research progress. A number of key R&D issues about EFFCs have been addressed, and future opportunities and challenges are discussed.

  13. Progress In Fresnel-Köhler Concentrators

    Science.gov (United States)

    Mohedano, Rubén; Cvetković, Aleksandra; Benítez, Pablo; Chaves, Julio; Miñano, Juan C.; Zamora, Pablo; Hernandez, Maikel; Vilaplana, Juan

    2011-12-01

    The Fresnel Köhler (FK) concentrator was first presented in 2008. Since then, various CPV companies have adopted this technology as base for their future commercial product. The key for this rapid penetration is a mixture of simplicity (the FK is essentially a Fresnel lens concentrator, a technology that dominates the market) and excellent performance: high concentration without giving up large manufacturing/aiming tolerances, enabling high efficiency even at the array level. All these features together have a great potential to lower energy costs. This work shows recent results and progress regarding this device, covering new design features, measurements and tests along with first performance achievements at the array level (pilot 6.5 Kwp plant). The work also discusses the potential impact of the FK enhanced performance on the Levelized Cost Of Electricity (LCOE).

  14. Progress in Electrolyte-Free Fuel Cells

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Lu, Yuzheng [Jiangsu Provincial Key Laboratory of Solar Energy Science and Technology, School of Energy and Environment, Southeast University, Nanjing (China); Zhu, Bin, E-mail: binzhu@kth.se [Faculty of Physics and Electronic Technology, Hubei Collaborative Innovation Center for Advanced Organic Materials, Hubei University, Wuhan (China); Department of Energy Technology, Royal Institute of Technology KTH, Stockholm (Sweden); Cai, Yixiao [Ångström Laboratory, Department of Engineering Sciences, Uppsala University, Uppsala (Sweden); Kim, Jung-Sik [Department of Aeronautical and Automotive Engineering, Loughborough University, Loughborough (United Kingdom); Wang, Baoyuan [Faculty of Physics and Electronic Technology, Hubei Collaborative Innovation Center for Advanced Organic Materials, Hubei University, Wuhan (China); Department of Energy Technology, Royal Institute of Technology KTH, Stockholm (Sweden); Wang, Jun, E-mail: binzhu@kth.se; Zhang, Yaoming [Jiangsu Provincial Key Laboratory of Solar Energy Science and Technology, School of Energy and Environment, Southeast University, Nanjing (China); Li, Junjiao [Nanjing Yunna Nano Technology Co., Ltd., Nanjing (China)

    2016-05-02

    Solid oxide fuel cell (SOFC) represents a clean electrochemical energy conversion technology with characteristics of high conversion efficiency and low emissions. It is one of the most important new energy technologies in the future. However, the manufacture of SOFCs based on the structure of anode/electrolyte/cathode is complicated and time-consuming. Thus, the cost for the entire fabrication and technology is too high to be affordable, and challenges still hinder commercialization. Recently, a novel type of electrolyte-free fuel cell (EFFC) with single component was invented, which could be the potential candidate for the next generation of advanced fuel cells. This paper briefly introduces the EFFC, working principle, performance, and advantages with updated research progress. A number of key R&D issues about EFFCs have been addressed, and future opportunities and challenges are discussed.

  15. Commercial off-the-shelf software dedication process based on the commercial grade survey of supplier

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Kim, J. Y.; Lee, J. S.; Chon, S. W.; Lee, G. Y.; Park, J. K.

    2000-01-01

    Commercial Off-The-Shelf(COTS) software dedication process can apply to a combination of methods like the hardware commercial grade item dedication process. In general, these methods are : methods 1(special test and inspection), method 2(commercial grade survey of supplier), method 3(source verification), and method 4(acceptance supplier/item performance record). In this paper, the suggested procedure-oriented dedication process on the basis of method 2 for COTS software is consistent with EPRI/TR-106439 and NUREG/CR-6421 requirements. Additional tailoring policy based on code and standards related to COTS software may be also founded in the suggested commercial software dedication process. Suggested commercial software dedication process has been developed for a commercial I and C software dedication who performs COTS qualification according to the dedication procedure

  16. Association between metformin use and progression of monoclonal gammopathy of undetermined significance to multiple myeloma in US veterans with diabetes mellitus: a population-based retrospective cohort study.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Chang, Su-Hsin; Luo, Suhong; O'Brian, Katiuscia K; Thomas, Theodore S; Colditz, Graham A; Carlsson, Nils P; Carson, Kenneth R

    2015-01-01

    Multiple myeloma is one of the most common haematological malignancies in the USA and is consistently preceded by monoclonal gammopathy of undetermined significance (MGUS). We aimed to assess the association between metformin use and progression of MGUS to multiple myeloma. We did a retrospective cohort study of patients registered in the US Veterans Health Administration database and diagnosed with MGUS between Oct 1, 1999, and Dec 31, 2009. We included patients (aged >18 years) with at least one International Classification of Diseases (9th revision) code for diabetes mellitus and one treatment for their diabetes before MGUS diagnosis. We reviewed patient-level clinical data to verify diagnoses and extract any available data for size of baseline M-protein and type of MGUS. We defined metformin users as patients with diabetes who were given metformin consistently for 4 years after their diabetes diagnosis and before multiple myeloma development, death, or censorship. Our primary outcome was time from MGUS diagnosis to multiple myeloma diagnosis. We used Kaplan-Meier curves and Cox models to analyse the association between metformin use and MGUS progression. We obtained data for 3287 patients, of whom 2003 (61%) were included in the final analytical cohort. Median follow-up was 69 months (IQR 49–96). 463 (23%) participants were metformin users and 1540 (77%) participants were non-users. 13 (3%) metformin users progressed to multiple myeloma compared with 74 (5%) non-users. After adjustment, metformin use was associated with a reduced risk of progression to multiple myeloma (hazard ratio 0·47, 95% CI 0·25–0·87). For patients with diabetes diagnosed with MGUS, metformin use for 4 years or longer was associated with a reduced risk of progression of MGUS to multiple myeloma. Prospective studies are needed to establish whether this association is causal and whether these results can be extrapolated to non-diabetic individuals. Barnes-Jewish Hospital Foundation

  17. Quantitative comparison of commercial and non-commercial metal artifact reduction techniques in computed tomography.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Dirk Wagenaar

    Full Text Available Typical streak artifacts known as metal artifacts occur in the presence of strongly attenuating materials in computed tomography (CT. Recently, vendors have started offering metal artifact reduction (MAR techniques. In addition, a MAR technique called the metal deletion technique (MDT is freely available and able to reduce metal artifacts using reconstructed images. Although a comparison of the MDT to other MAR techniques exists, a comparison of commercially available MAR techniques is lacking. The aim of this study was therefore to quantify the difference in effectiveness of the currently available MAR techniques of different scanners and the MDT technique.Three vendors were asked to use their preferential CT scanner for applying their MAR techniques. The scans were performed on a Philips Brilliance ICT 256 (S1, a GE Discovery CT 750 HD (S2 and a Siemens Somatom Definition AS Open (S3. The scans were made using an anthropomorphic head and neck phantom (Kyoto Kagaku, Japan. Three amalgam dental implants were constructed and inserted between the phantom's teeth. The average absolute error (AAE was calculated for all reconstructions in the proximity of the amalgam implants.The commercial techniques reduced the AAE by 22.0±1.6%, 16.2±2.6% and 3.3±0.7% for S1 to S3 respectively. After applying the MDT to uncorrected scans of each scanner the AAE was reduced by 26.1±2.3%, 27.9±1.0% and 28.8±0.5% respectively. The difference in efficiency between the commercial techniques and the MDT was statistically significant for S2 (p=0.004 and S3 (p<0.001, but not for S1 (p=0.63.The effectiveness of MAR differs between vendors. S1 performed slightly better than S2 and both performed better than S3. Furthermore, for our phantom and outcome measure the MDT was more effective than the commercial MAR technique on all scanners.

  18. Central Blood Pressure and Chronic Kidney Disease Progression

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Debbie L. Cohen

    2011-01-01

    Full Text Available Hypertension, diabetes, and proteinuria are well-recognized risk factors for progressive kidney function loss. However, despite excellent antihypertensive and antidiabetic drug therapies, which also often lower urinary protein excretion, there remains a significant reservoir of patients with chronic kidney disease who are at high risk for progression to end-stage kidney disease. This has led to the search for less traditional cardiovascular risk factors that will help stratify patients at risk for more rapid kidney disease progression. Among these are noninvasive estimates of vascular structure and function. Arterial stiffness, manifested by the pulse wave velocity in the aorta, has been established in a number of studies as a significant risk factor for kidney disease progression and cardiovascular endpoints. Much less well studied in chronic kidney disease are measures of central arterial pressures. In this paper we cover the physiology behind the generation of the central pulse wave contour and the studies available using these approaches and conclude with some speculations on the rationale for why measurements of central pressure may be informative for the study of chronic kidney disease progression.

  19. [Riboflavin UVA crosslinking in progressive keratoconus].

    Science.gov (United States)

    Maier, P; Reinhard, T

    2017-06-01

    In patients with keratoconus, a progressive, ectatic disease of the cornea, the shape of the cornea is continuously changing leading to a reduction in visual acuity by progressive myopia and more and more (irregular) astigmatism. The symptomatic treatment consists of the prescription of glasses or special gas-permeable rigid contact lenses. Corneal tomography is generally used for diagnosis. After initial diagnosis of keratoconus, regular tomographic follow-ups should be performed. If clinically significant progression is found and confirmed by repeated measurements, riboflavin UVA collagen crosslinking should be offered to the patients. The aim of riboflavin UVA collagen crosslinking is to halt the progression of the disease to avoid further complications. The therapeutic principle is a combined effect of the photosensitizer riboflavin and UVA light. This stiffening effect of the corneal tissue halts the progression of keratoconus. The efficacy of this treatment has been demonstrated in various randomized, controlled trials.

  20. Liquid Storage of Boar Semen Using Commercial Extenders

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Liviu BOGDAN

    2018-05-01

    Full Text Available The research was focused on the modern evaluation of boar semen parameters, using computer assisted sperm analysis (CASA, before and after liquid storage at 15ºC. Semen was collected from 15 sexually mature boars by manual stimulation. Macroscopical and microscopical evaluation of semen was performed, followed by a detailed CASA analysis of all ejaculates. Subsequently, semen was diluted using 4 different extenders (Semtest, Androstar, MIII and Cronos and stored at 15ºC for 24 hours. Next, evaluation of progressive motility, total motility and viability was performed, using the same CASA system. All experiments were performed in triplicates and results were statistically analyzed. The average progressive motility after 24 hours was as follows: 69.56 ± 6.38 for MIII, 65.92% ± 2.63 for Semtest, 67.07% ± 5.58 for Androstar Plus and 68.93% ± 3.40 for Cronos. The viability results after 24 hours were: 86.34% ± 1.38 for Semtest extender, 93.55% ± 3.38% for Androstrar Plus, 89.19% ± 3.42 for MIII and 91.35% ± 2.37 for Cronos. The findings of this study suggest that the use of commercial extenders for short-term storage of swine semen is important in order to increase sperm longevity with minimal sperm function deterioration.

  1. High-temperature properties of commercial pyrolytic graphite

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Goetzel, C.G.

    1979-01-01

    Pyrolytic graphite is produced commercially as free-standing massive structures of continuously-nucleated and surface-nucleated varieties. Both are used for rocket nozzle components. The major design-significant thermal and mechanical properties of both material types are presented as a function of temperature up to 3000 K. They are compared with each other and with previous data. (author)

  2. Assessment of Energy Impact of Window Technologies for Commercial Buildings

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Hong, Tianzhen [Lawrence Berkeley National Lab. (LBNL), Berkeley, CA (United States). Environmental Energy Technologies Division; Selkowitz, Stephen [Lawrence Berkeley National Lab. (LBNL), Berkeley, CA (United States). Environmental Energy Technologies Division; Yazdanian, Mehry [Lawrence Berkeley National Lab. (LBNL), Berkeley, CA (United States). Environmental Energy Technologies Division

    2009-10-01

    Windows play a significant role in commercial buildings targeting the goal of net zero energy. This report summarizes research methodology and findings in evaluating the energy impact of windows technologies for commercial buildings. The large office prototypical building, chosen from the DOE commercial building benchmarks, was used as the baseline model which met the prescriptive requirements of ASHRAE Standard 90.1-2004. The building simulations were performed with EnergyPlus and TMY3 weather data for five typical US climates to calculate the energy savings potentials of six windows technologies when compared with the ASHRAE 90.1-2004 baseline windows. The six windows cover existing, new, and emerging technologies, including ASHRAE 189.1 baseline windows, triple pane low-e windows, clear and tinted double pane highly insulating low-e windows, electrochromic (EC) windows, and highly insulating EC windows representing the hypothetically feasible optimum windows. The existing stocks based on average commercial windows sales are included in the analysis for benchmarking purposes.

  3. The use of semiochemical-based devices and formulations in area-wide programmes - A commercial perspective

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Jones, Owen T.; Casagrande, Enzo D.

    2000-01-01

    It is now almost 40 years since the first insect pheromone was isolated and identified and many authors have referred over the years to their commercial potential. Although much progress has been made during those years in terms of scientific and technological advances related to semiochemicals, the 'progress' that has actually been made in the commercial exploitation of pheromones and other semiochemicals has been rather limited when viewed in terms of their share of the agrochemical market. Based on published data and unpublished information which has been made available to the authors, semiochemical-based products are estimated to have world-wide sales in the US$70-80 million range at the manufacturers' level. This compares with a world-wide insecticide market of nearly US$8 billion in 1995 so that it therefore constitutes less than 1% of that market. In terms of the biopesticide market (bacteria, viruses, botanical insecticides, entomopathogenic nematodes and beneficial insects) on the other hand, semiochemicals constitute a much higher percentage (ca. 30%) and probably are third in importance after bacterial and botanical products. The industry has taken over 20 years to achieve its current size and has been pioneered mostly by small to medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). Several technical and biological factors have played a part in determining the rate at which semiochemical-based technology has been adopted commercially in the field but one factor in particular has greatly influenced this technology transfer process, namely, area-wide programmes. These have often been government-backed programmes that have demonstrated the effectiveness of the semiochemical-based technique being implemented and have convinced the farmers and growers of the benefits that these novel techniques can bring. Several strategies have been developed where semiochemicals have been used either alone or in combination with other control technologies but three in particular stands out

  4. Factors influencing investment in commercial pig production on ...

    African Journals Online (AJOL)

    Following a systematic sampling procedure, 124 households were interviewed to identify variables that influence their decisions on whether or not to invest in commercial pig production. Using a binary logistic regression model the analytical results revealed that the decisions are significantly influenced by gender of ...

  5. Clinical Significance of HER-2 Splice Variants in Breast Cancer Progression and Drug Resistance

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Claire Jackson

    2013-01-01

    Full Text Available Overexpression of human epidermal growth factor receptor (HER-2 occurs in 20–30% of breast cancers and confers survival and proliferative advantages on the tumour cells making HER-2 an ideal therapeutic target for drugs like Herceptin. Continued delineation of tumour biology has identified splice variants of HER-2, with contrasting roles in tumour cell biology. For example, the splice variant 16HER-2 (results from exon 16 skipping increases transformation of cancer cells and is associated with treatment resistance; conversely, Herstatin (results from intron 8 retention and p100 (results from intron 15 retention inhibit tumour cell proliferation. This review focuses on the potential clinical implications of the expression and coexistence of HER-2 splice variants in cancer cells in relation to breast cancer progression and drug resistance. “Individualised” strategies currently guide breast cancer management; in accordance, HER-2 splice variants may prove valuable as future prognostic and predictive factors, as well as potential therapeutic targets.

  6. Progressive taxation, income inequality, and happiness.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Oishi, Shigehiro; Kushlev, Kostadin; Schimmack, Ulrich

    2018-01-01

    Income inequality has become one of the more widely debated social issues today. The current article explores the role of progressive taxation in income inequality and happiness. Using historical data in the United States from 1962 to 2014, we found that income inequality was substantially smaller in years when the income tax was more progressive (i.e., a higher tax rate for higher income brackets), even when controlling for variables like stock market performance and unemployment rate. Time lag analyses further showed that higher progressive taxation predicted increasingly lower income inequality up to 5 years later. Data from the General Social Survey (1972-2014; N = 59,599) with U.S. residents (hereafter referred to as "Americans") showed that during years with higher progressive taxation rates, less wealthy Americans-those in the lowest 40% of the income distribution-tended to be happier, whereas the richest 20% were not significantly less happy. Mediational analyses confirmed that the association of progressive taxation with the happiness of less wealthy Americans can be explained by lower income inequality in years with higher progressive taxation. A separate sample of Americans polled online (N = 373) correctly predicted the positive association between progressive taxation and the happiness of poorer Americans but incorrectly expected a strong negative association between progressive taxation and the happiness of richer Americans. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2018 APA, all rights reserved).

  7. Integrating commercial and legacy systems with EPICS

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Hill, J.O.; Kasemir, K.U.

    1997-01-01

    The Experimental Physics and Industrial Control System (EPICS) is a software toolkit, developed by a worldwide collaboration, which significantly reduces the level of effort required to implement a new control system. Recent developments now also significantly reduce the level of effort required to integrate commercial, legacy and/or site-authored control systems with EPICS. This paper will illustrate with an example both the level and type of effort required to use EPICS with other control system components as well as the benefits that may arise

  8. MEDIATION CLAUSE IN COMMERCIAL CONTRACTS (THE ADVANTAGES OF MEDIATION CLAUSE IN COMMERCIAL CONTRACTS

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Claudiu Florinel Augustin Ignat

    2013-11-01

    Full Text Available It often happens that the end of the contracts to be existing commercial relationships and a new contract has already intuitu personae character. But not always the case, that those who enter into legal commercial forcing consideration to the benefits and under commercial contracts, know the dealer or individual that established commercial relations. These traders resort to contractual conditions which states precisely the extent of the obligations assumed by each party, setting rules, deadlines, penalties and even ways of interpretation of contracts. Contracting Parties, namely traders aware that the law is the contract parties by special caluze invest ( to settle disputes concerning the interpretation or punishment for failure and even termination obligations tribunalule arbitration courts or the territorial and material .

  9. Controlling myopia progression in children and adolescents

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Smith MJ

    2015-08-01

    Full Text Available Molly J Smith, Jeffrey J WallineThe Ohio State University College of Optometry, Columbus, OH, USAAbstract: Myopia is a common disorder, affecting approximately one-third of the US population and over 90% of the population in some East Asian countries. High amounts of myopia are associated with an increased risk of sight-threatening problems, such as retinal detachment, choroidal degeneration, cataracts, and glaucoma. Slowing the progression of myopia could potentially benefit millions of children in the USA. To date, few strategies used for myopia control have proven to be effective. Treatment options such as undercorrection of myopia, gas permeable contact lenses, and bifocal or multifocal spectacles have all been proven to be ineffective for myopia control, although one recent randomized clinical trial using executive top bifocal spectacles on children with progressive myopia has shown to decrease the progression to nearly half of the control subjects. The most effective methods are the use of orthokeratology contact lenses, soft bifocal contact lenses, and topical pharmaceutical agents such as atropine or pirenzepine. Although none of these modalities are US Food and Drug Administration-approved to slow myopia progression, they have been shown to slow the progression by approximately 50% with few risks. Both orthokeratology and soft bifocal contact lenses have shown to slow myopia progression by slightly less than 50% in most studies. Parents and eye care practitioners should work together to determine which modality may be best suited for a particular child. Topical pharmaceutical agents such as anti-muscarinic eye drops typically lead to light sensitivity and poor near vision. The most effective myopia control is provided by atropine, but is rarely prescribed due to the side effects. Pirenzepine provides myopia control with little light sensitivity and few near-vision problems, but it is not yet commercially available as an eye drop or

  10. Progress Report on Disassembly and Post-Irradiation Experiments for UCSB ATR-2 Experiment

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Nanstad, Randy K [Oak Ridge National Lab. (ORNL), Oak Ridge, TN (United States); Odette, G. R. [Univ. of California, Santa Barbara, CA (United States); Robertson, Janet Pawel [Oak Ridge National Lab. (ORNL), Oak Ridge, TN (United States); Yamamoto, T [Univ. of California, Santa Barbara, CA (United States)

    2015-09-01

    The reactor pressure vessel (RPV) in a light-water reactor (LWR) represents the first line of defense against a release of radiation in case of an accident. Thus, regulations that govern the operation of commercial nuclear power plants require conservative margins of fracture toughness, both during normal operation and under accident scenarios. In the unirradiated condition, the RPV has sufficient fracture toughness such that failure is implausible under any postulated condition, including pressurized thermal shock (PTS) in pressurized water reactors (PWR). In the irradiated condition, however, the fracture toughness of the RPV may be severely degraded, with the degree of toughness loss dependent on the radiation sensitivity of the materials. As stated in previous progress reports, the available embrittlement predictive models, e.g. [1], and our present understanding of radiation damage are not fully quantitative, and do not treat all potentially significant variables and issues, particularly considering extension of operation to 80y.

  11. Use of commercial vessels in survey augmentation: the size-frequency distribution

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Eric N. Powell

    2006-09-01

    Full Text Available The trend towards use of commercial vessels to enhance survey data requires assessment of the advantages and limitations of various options for their use. One application is to augment information on size-frequency distributions obtained in multispecies trawl surveys where stratum boundaries and sampling density are not optimal for all species. Analysis focused on ten recreationally and commercially important species: bluefish, butterfish, Loligo squid, weakfish, summer flounder, winter flounder, silver hake (whiting, black sea bass, striped bass, and scup (porgy. The commercial vessel took 59 tows in the sampled domain south of Long Island, New York and the survey vessel 18. Black sea bass, Loligo squid, and summer flounder demonstrated an onshore-offshore gradient such that smaller fish were caught disproportionately inshore and larger fish offshore. Butterfish, silver hake, and weakfish were characterized by a southwest-northeast gradient such that larger fish were caught disproportionately northeast of the southwestern-most sector. All sizes of scup, striped bass, and bluefish were caught predominately inshore. Winter flounder were caught predominately offshore. The commercial vessel was characterized by an increased frequency of large catches for most species. Consequently, patchiness was assayed to be higher by the commercial vessel in nearly all cases. The size-frequency distribution obtained by the survey vessel for six of the ten species, bluefish, butterfish, Loligo squid, summer flounder, weakfish, and silver hake, could not be obtained by chance from the size-frequency distribution obtained by the commercial vessel. The difference in sample density did not significantly influence the size-frequency distribution. Of the six species characterized by significant differences in size-frequency distribution between boats, all but one was patchy at the population level and all had one or more size classes so characterized. Although the

  12. Indicators and Determinants of Small-Scale Bamboo Commercialization in Ethiopia

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    André Lindner

    2013-09-01

    Full Text Available Bamboo is an abundant resource in Ethiopia and has a great potential for commercialization, which can drive rural development. In view of these realities, this study analyzed the state and determinants of small-scale bamboo commercialization in Ethiopia. Data were collected from three major bamboo-growing districts (Awi, Sidama, and Sheka and four urban centers (Masha, Hawassa, Bahir Dar, and Addis Ababa via semi-structured interviews, group discussions, and questionnaire surveys with key actors along the value chain. Results revealed distinctive differences in proportion of cash income, value chain structure, and management engagement among the districts. Percentages of cash income were 60.15, 42.60, and 9.48 at Awi, Sidam, and Sheka, respectively. Differences were statistically significant between Sheka and both other districts (p = 0.05, but not between Awi and Sidama. The value chain structure showed that compared with Sheka, Awi and Sidama have a relatively large number of actors involved. The major factors explaining commercialization differences among regions were distance to market and presence of alternative forest products. Within Sheka, households with larger family size, higher education attainment, and access to training reportedly engaged more in commercial extraction. Therefore, we conclude that development of infrastructure for linking resource and consumer centers and expansion of extension education among producers may enhance the commercial engagement of producers and improve the accessibility of bamboo resources for commercial production.

  13. Recent Progress in Graphite Intercalation Compounds for Rechargeable Metal (Li, Na, K, Al)-Ion Batteries.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Xu, Jiantie; Dou, Yuhai; Wei, Zengxi; Ma, Jianmin; Deng, Yonghong; Li, Yutao; Liu, Huakun; Dou, Shixue

    2017-10-01

    Lithium-ion batteries (LIBs) with higher energy density are very necessary to meet the increasing demand for devices with better performance. With the commercial success of lithiated graphite, other graphite intercalation compounds (GICs) have also been intensively reported, not only for LIBs, but also for other metal (Na, K, Al) ion batteries. In this Progress Report, we briefly review the application of GICs as anodes and cathodes in metal (Li, Na, K, Al) ion batteries. After a brief introduction on the development history of GICs, the electrochemistry of cationic GICs and anionic GICs is summarized. We further briefly summarize the use of cationic GICs and anionic GICs in alkali ion batteries and the use of anionic GICs in aluminium-ion batteries. Finally, we reach some conclusions on the drawbacks, major progress, emerging challenges, and some perspectives on the development of GICs for metal (Li, Na, K, Al) ion batteries. Further development of GICs for metal (Li, Na, K, Al) ion batteries is not only a strong supplement to the commercialized success of lithiated-graphite for LIBs, but also an effective strategy to develop diverse high-energy batteries for stationary energy storage in the future.

  14. Progress in the development of the write process

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Guffey, F.D.; Fahy, J.; Worman, D.; Lowry, C.; Mones, C. [Western Research Inst., Laramie, WY (United States); Corscadden, T.; Diduch, G. [MEG Energy Corp., Calgary, AB (Canada)

    2009-07-01

    This presentation described the commercialization of a field deployable upgrader developed by the Western Research Institute (WRI). The WRI Thermal Enhancement (WRITE) process was first tested in a 1-bbl/day bench scale unit. Based on the results of the testing program, a 5 bbl/day WRITE Process pilot plant was designed and built. It is currently in operation at WRI's Advanced Technology Center in Laramie, Wyoming. The 5 bbl/day WRITE Process pilot plant includes a 5 bbl/day distillate recovery unit (DRU) and a continuous coker that receives the produced bottoms. The DRU recovers diluent for recycling. The bitumen undergoes thermal conversion in the WRITE reactor to produce a pipeline quality product. The pyrolyzate produced by the coker is blended with the DRU to produce a synthetic crude oil (SCO) that is pipelined to existing refineries. Studies are currently underway at the pilot plant using dilbit produced at EMG's Christina Lake site. This presentation described the experimental program that is in progress. It also discussed the commercial viability of the technology for producing a pipeline quality product. tabs., figs.

  15. Business-Level Strategy for the Foreign Commercial Banks operating within Malaysia

    OpenAIRE

    Rasool Khan, Mohamed Rizal

    2007-01-01

    This paper discusses the strategic positioning and use of Porter’s (1980) generic strategy framework within the foreign commercial banks operating in Malaysia. It was found that two distinct strategic groups were formed by the foreign commercial banks. Performance analysis conducted suggests that banks with clearer strategic direction managed to outperform its peers in its strategic group. Furthermore, the performance of one strategic group was significantly lower than that of the second.

  16. 36 CFR 271.4 - Commercial license.

    Science.gov (United States)

    2010-07-01

    ... 36 Parks, Forests, and Public Property 2 2010-07-01 2010-07-01 false Commercial license. 271.4... BEARâ SYMBOL § 271.4 Commercial license. (a) The Chief may authorize the commercial manufacture... a use or royalty charge which is reasonably related to the commercial enterprise has been...

  17. 27 CFR 10.21 - Commercial bribery.

    Science.gov (United States)

    2010-04-01

    ... 27 Alcohol, Tobacco Products and Firearms 1 2010-04-01 2010-04-01 false Commercial bribery. 10.21 Section 10.21 Alcohol, Tobacco Products and Firearms ALCOHOL AND TOBACCO TAX AND TRADE BUREAU, DEPARTMENT OF THE TREASURY LIQUORS COMMERCIAL BRIBERY Commercial Bribery § 10.21 Commercial bribery. It is...

  18. Problems in radioimmunoassay of human lutropin with commercially available regents

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Hammond, J.E.; Phillips, J.C.; Straight, C.B.; Hammond, M.G.

    1980-01-01

    To evaluate five commercially available reagent sets supplied for the radioimmunoassay of lutropin, we determined whether there was parallelism between the curve given by dilutions of the standards supplied by the manufacturers, by dilutions of a serum pool, and by dilutions of a standard preparation from human pituitaries, LER-907. These studies demonstrated significant analytical problems with three of the five sets. We conclude that each user should carefully evaluate all commercially available radioimmunoassays for lutropin (and, by inference, for other peptide hormones) before use

  19. Jurisdictional basics governing the commercial arbitration in Iran

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Tahmineh Rahmani

    2016-06-01

    Full Text Available With the birth and growth of the arbitration phenomena in recent decades, establishment of Court of Arbitration in the form of International Commercial Arbitration Law, international treaties and domestic independent and particular laws by countries, the increasing tendency of traders and businesses to resolve problems through this body gradually leads to excellence of the position of this body and typically coercion and obligation of officials and supporters of this entity to modify or supplement the former rules or ratify new and progressive legislation with broader discretionary limits for arbitrators, so that the establishment and ratification of regulations in form of conventions with membership of many countries has been the result of meeting will of politicians with fortune and tendency of businessmen, merchants and etc. If there is alleged invalidity of the contract, Limits and scope of arbitration referee. This issue calls “competence-competence” principle and we seek to investigate whether the possibility of accepting the competence to judge. It means making decision about competence of referee. Competency of arbitration board is inherent and it is created by law and it is separate from competency of public arbitration. Arbitration ritual theory is differences as a separate method of dispute resolution in international commercial transactions. However, Consistent with the dominance of the national authority on private equity, the entity is located at the foot of the rights of nature into the public law; although, private perspective is dominance.

  20. TNF blockers inhibit spinal radiographic progression in ankylosing spondylitis by reducing disease activity: results from the Swiss Clinical Quality Management cohort.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Molnar, Christoph; Scherer, Almut; Baraliakos, Xenofon; de Hooge, Manouk; Micheroli, Raphael; Exer, Pascale; Kissling, Rudolf O; Tamborrini, Giorgio; Wildi, Lukas M; Nissen, Michael J; Zufferey, Pascal; Bernhard, Jürg; Weber, Ulrich; Landewé, Robert B M; van der Heijde, Désirée; Ciurea, Adrian

    2018-01-01

    To analyse the impact of tumour necrosis factor inhibitors (TNFis) on spinal radiographic progression in ankylosing spondylitis (AS). Patients with AS in the Swiss Clinical Quality Management cohort with up to 10 years of follow-up and radiographic assessments every 2 years were included. Radiographs were scored by two readers according to the modified Stoke Ankylosing Spondylitis Spine Score (mSASSS) with known chronology. The relationship between TNFi use before a 2-year radiographic interval and progression within the interval was investigated using binomial generalised estimating equation models with adjustment for potential confounding and multiple imputation of missing values. Ankylosing Spondylitis Disease Activity Score (ASDAS) was regarded as mediating the effect of TNFi on progression and added to the model in a sensitivity analysis. A total of 432 patients with AS contributed to data for 616 radiographic intervals. Radiographic progression was defined as an increase in ≥2 mSASSS units in 2 years. Mean (SD) mSASSS increase was 0.9 (2.6) units in 2 years. Prior use of TNFi reduced the odds of progression by 50% (OR 0.50, 95% CI 0.28 to 0.88) in the multivariable analysis. While no direct effect of TNFi on progression was present in an analysis including time-varying ASDAS (OR 0.61, 95% CI 0.34 to 1.08), the indirect effect, via a reduction in ASDAS, was statistically significant (OR 0.75, 95% CI 0.59 to 0.97). TNFis are associated with a reduction of spinal radiographic progression in patients with AS. This effect seems mediated through the inhibiting effect of TNFi on disease activity. © Article author(s) (or their employer(s) unless otherwise stated in the text of the article) 2018. All rights reserved. No commercial use is permitted unless otherwise expressly granted.

  1. Effect of commercialization way on the physicochemical and microbial characteristics of pork

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Lima, R.N.

    2017-07-01

    Full Text Available The analyze of meat exposed to commercialization, it becomes necessary to know its physicochemical, organoleptic and nutritional characteristics, as well as the conditions of hygiene and preservation. The purpose of this study was to evaluate how different forms of processing and commercialization affect the physicochemical and microbiological parameters of pork loin (Longissimus dorsi. To achieve this, twenty samples of pork loin (Longissimus dorsi were obtained. Ten samples were fresh and commercialized and handled on a counter and the other ten samples were vacuum-packed and frozen, without manipulation on the counter. The samples were analyzed for enterobacteria, mesophilic bacteria, chemical composition (protein, moisture, ash, fat and physical parameters (pH, water holding capacity, shear force, cooking loss, color characteristics by the CIE system L* a* b*. The data were submitted to analysis of variance and t-test (5% significance. The physical and microbiological parameters were influenced by the commercial forms evaluated (P 0.05, while protein content was lower in meat in natura (P<0.05. Despite the lower level of contamination, frozen meat undergoes significant physical changes that may compromise its quality and consumer acceptance.

  2. Propulsion System Materials Program semiannual progress report for April 1995 through September 1995

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    NONE

    1996-04-01

    Significant accomplishments in fabricating ceramic components for the DOE, NASA, and DOD advanced heat engine programs have provided evidence that the operation of ceramic parts in high-temperature engine environments is feasible. These programs have also demonstrated that additional research is needed in materials and processing development, design methodology, and data base and life prediction before industry will have a sufficient technology base from which to produce reliable cost-effective ceramic engine components commercially. An assessment of needs was completed, and a 5-year program plan was developed with extensive input from private industry. During the course of the Propulsion System Materials Program, remarkable progress has been made in the development of reliable structural ceramics. However, further work is needed to reduce the cost of ceramics to facilitate their commercial introduction, especially in the highly cost-sensitive automotive market. To this end, the direction of the Propulsion System Materials Program is now shifting toward reducing the cost of ceramics to facilitate commercial introduction of ceramic components for near-term engine applications. In response to extensive input from industry, the plan is to extend the engine types which were previously supported to include near-term (5--10 years) applications in conventional automobile and diesel truck engines. To facilitate the rapid transfer of this technology to US industry, the major portion of the work is being done in the ceramic industry, with technological support from government laboratories, other industrial laboratories, and universities. A systematic approach to reducing the cost of components is envisioned. The work elements are as follows: economic cost modeling, ceramic machining, powder synthesis, alternative forming and densification processes, yield improvement, system design studies, standards development, low-expansion ceramics, and testing and data base development.

  3. Commercial Discount Rate Estimation for Efficiency Standards Analysis

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Fujita, K. Sydny [Lawrence Berkeley National Lab. (LBNL), Berkeley, CA (United States)

    2016-04-13

    Underlying each of the Department of Energy's (DOE's) federal appliance and equipment standards are a set of complex analyses of the projected costs and benefits of regulation. Any new or amended standard must be designed to achieve significant additional energy conservation, provided that it is technologically feasible and economically justified (42 U.S.C. 6295(o)(2)(A)). A proposed standard is considered economically justified when its benefits exceed its burdens, as represented by the projected net present value of costs and benefits. DOE performs multiple analyses to evaluate the balance of costs and benefits of commercial appliance and equipment e efficiency standards, at the national and individual building or business level, each framed to capture different nuances of the complex impact of standards on the commercial end user population. The Life-Cycle Cost (LCC) analysis models the combined impact of appliance first cost and operating cost changes on a representative commercial building sample in order to identify the fraction of customers achieving LCC savings or incurring net cost at the considered efficiency levels.1 Thus, the choice of commercial discount rate value(s) used to calculate the present value of energy cost savings within the Life-Cycle Cost model implicitly plays a key role in estimating the economic impact of potential standard levels.2 This report is intended to provide a more in-depth discussion of the commercial discount rate estimation process than can be readily included in standard rulemaking Technical Support Documents (TSDs).

  4. 36 CFR 1005.6 - Commercial vehicles.

    Science.gov (United States)

    2010-07-01

    ... 36 Parks, Forests, and Public Property 3 2010-07-01 2010-07-01 false Commercial vehicles. 1005.6 Section 1005.6 Parks, Forests, and Public Property PRESIDIO TRUST COMMERCIAL AND PRIVATE OPERATIONS § 1005.6 Commercial vehicles. (a) The term “Commercial vehicle” as used in this section shall include, but...

  5. 50 CFR 404.10 - Commercial fishing.

    Science.gov (United States)

    2010-10-01

    ... 50 Wildlife and Fisheries 7 2010-10-01 2010-10-01 false Commercial fishing. 404.10 Section 404.10... MARINE NATIONAL MONUMENT § 404.10 Commercial fishing. (a) Lobster fishing. Any commercial lobster fishing... species. (1) Notwithstanding the prohibitions in § 404.7(a) and (h), commercial fishing for bottomfish and...

  6. Effluent profile of commercially used low-phosphorus fish feeds

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Sugiura, Shozo H.; Marchant, Daniel D.; Kelsey, Kevin; Wiggins, Thomas; Ferraris, Ronaldo P.

    2006-01-01

    Excess phosphorus (P) in aquaculture feeds contributes to the eutrophication of natural waters. While commercially available low-P (LP) fish feeds have been developed, there is uncertainty about their potential to reduce effluent P while maintaining fish growth relative to regular P (RP) feeds. We therefore simulated commercial aquaculture conditions and fed for 55 days rainbow trout (∼190 kg/raceway, n = 3 raceways/diet) RP (1.4% total P) and LP (1.0%) feeds then determined effluent P levels, fish growth, and feed costs. Excretions of fecal-P and soluble-P, but not particulate-P, in effluents were greater in RP than in LP ponds. Fish growth, bone-P and plasma-P were similar between diets, demonstrating that LP feeds can lower effluent P levels without compromising growth. Costs were $0.97/kg fish production for LP feeds, and $0.74/kg for RP. Because feed is the largest variable cost in commercial aquaculture, the use of LP feeds can significantly increase production costs. - Commercial low-phosphorus fish feeds pollute less but are more costly than standard fish feeds that provide similar fish growth rates

  7. Commercialization in Innovation Management

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Sløk-Madsen, Stefan Kirkegaard; Ritter, Thomas; Sornn-Friese, Henrik

    For any firm, the ultimate purpose of new product development is the commercialization of the new offerings. Despite its regular use in the product innovation and general management science literature, commercialization is only loosely defined and applied. This lack of conceptual clarity about...... the processes at the interface between product development and customer application is noteworthy as it hinders the theoretical development of the field. In this paper, we explore how research has advanced our understanding of commercialization in product innovation over a 30 year period by mapping different...

  8. Progressive Finland sees progress with nuclear projects

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Dalton, David [NucNet, Brussels (Belgium)

    2016-02-15

    The Finnish Hanhikivi-1 reactor project is firmly on track and a licence has been granted for construction of a final disposal facility for spent nuclear fuel - the first final repository in the world to enter the construction phase. Significant progress has been made with plans for Finland to build its sixth nuclear reactor unit at Hanhikivi. Fennovoima's licensing manager Janne Liuko said the company expects to receive the construction licence for the Generation III+ Hanhikivi-1 plant in late 2017. The application was submitted to the Finnish Ministry of Employment and the Economy in June 2015.

  9. Commercial Banks Performance 2008–2012

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Simona Vidzbelytė

    2013-09-01

    Full Text Available A country’s image, economic development process and GDP growth is significantly influenced by its banking sector performance. Banking’s success largely depends on public confidence. Only a small part of the banking services customers understand the indicators and ratios which are used to assess bank’s activities. Therefore, there is a need to analyze banks performance results in Lithuania. The paper presents a principal component analysis model applied on banks performance ratios in Lithuania. The main purpose of this article is to analyze basic indicators used in banks performance evaluation by principal component method. The obtained results represent the main components with the highest influence on Lithuanian commercial banks performance results in 2008–2012 year period. The main findings of the study indicate that commercial banks in Lithuania have been affected by different factors during 2008–2012 periods. It has been noted that Scandinavian capital commercial banks‘ performance results have been influenced by similar factors, have had similar structure of the factors, which has been more stable in comparison with small and/or Lithuanian capital banks. Conclusions and recommendations help banks’ board to improve their competitiveness and financial results, thus it also helps them to make appropriate decisions. It is also useful for an academic community to understand the structure of main components in banking sector.

  10. 36 CFR 272.4 - Commercial use.

    Science.gov (United States)

    2010-07-01

    ... 36 Parks, Forests, and Public Property 2 2010-07-01 2010-07-01 false Commercial use. 272.4 Section... OWLâ SYMBOL § 272.4 Commercial use. (a) General. The Chief may authorize the Commercial manufacture... charge, royalty charge, or payment in kind which is reasonably related to the commercial value has been...

  11. Progress in the development of a S-RETGEM-based detector for an early forest fire warning system

    Science.gov (United States)

    Charpak, G.; Benaben, P.; Breuil, P.; Martinengo, P.; Nappi, E.; Peskov, V.

    2009-12-01

    We present a prototype of a Strip Resistive Thick GEM (S-RETGEM) photosensitive gaseous detector filled with Ne and ethylferrocene (EF) vapours at a total pressure of 1 atm for an early forest fire detection system. Measurements show that it is one hundred times more sensitive than the best commercial ultraviolet (UV) flame detectors; and therefore, it is able to reliably detect a flame of ~ 1.5 × 1.5 × 1.5 m3 at a distance of about 1 km. An additional and unique feature of this detector is its imaging capability, which in combination with other techniques, may significantly reduce false fire alarms rate when operating in an automatic mode. Preliminary results conducted with air-filled photosensitive gaseous detectors are also presented. The main advantages of this approach include both the simplicity of manufacturing and affordability of construction materials such as plastics and glues specifically reducing detector production cost. The sensitivity of these air-filled detectors at certain conditions may be as high as those filled with Ne and EF. Long-term tests of such sealed detectors indicate a significant progress in this direction. We believe that our detectors utilized in addition to other flame and smoke sensors will exceptionally increase the capability to detect forest fire at a very early stage of development. Our future efforts will be focused on attempts to commercialize such detectors utilizing our aforementioned findings.

  12. Progress in Electrolyte-Free Fuel Cells

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Yuzheng eLu

    2016-05-01

    Full Text Available Solid Oxide Fuel Cell (SOFC represents a clean electrochemical energy conversion technology with characteristics of high conversion efficiency and low emissions. It is one of the most important new energy technologies in the future. However, the manufacture of SOFCs based on the structure of anode/electrolyte/cathode is complicated and time-consuming. Thus, the cost for the entire fabrication and technology is too high to be affordable and challenges still hinder commercialization. Recently, a novel type of Electrolyte -free fuel cell (EFFC with single component was invented which could be the potential candidate for the next generation of advanced fuel cells. This paper briefly introduces the EFFC, working principle, performance and advantages with updated research progress. A number of key R&D issues about EFFCs have been addressed and future opportunities and challenges are discussed.

  13. Operation of commercially-based microcomputer technology in a space radiation environment

    Science.gov (United States)

    Yelverton, J. N.

    This paper focuses on detection and recovery techniques that should enable the reliable operation of commercially-based microprocessor technology in the harsh radiation environment of space and at high altitudes. This approach is especially significant in light of the current shift in emphasis (due to cost) from space hardened Class-S parts qualification to a more direct use of commercial parts. The method should offset some of the concern that the newer high density state-of-the-art RISC and CISC microprocessors can be used in future space applications. Also, commercial aviation, should benefit, since radiation induced transients are a new issue arising from the increased quantities of microcomputers used in aircraft avionics.

  14. Industry's Commercial Initiatives on ISS

    Science.gov (United States)

    Shields, C. E.; Kessler, C.; Lavitola, M. S.

    2002-01-01

    For more than ten years, private industry has worked to develop a commercial human space market and to create a sustainable ISS commercial utilization customer base. Before ISS assembly was underway - and long before NASA and the international space agencies began to craft ISS commercial business terms and conditions - industry planted and nurtured the seeds of interest in exploiting human space utilization for commerce. These early initiatives have yielded the impetus and framework for industry approaches to ISS commercial utilization today and for NASA's and the International Partners' planned accommodation of private sector interests and desires on the ISS. This paper chronicles major industry initiatives for commercial ISS utilization, emphasizing successful marketing and business approaches and why these approaches have a higher likelihood of success than others. It provides an overview of individual companies' initiatives, as well as collaborative efforts that cross company lines and country borders; and it assesses the relative success of each. Rather than emphasize negative issues and barriers, this paper characterizes and prioritizes actionable success factors for industry and government to make ISS commercial utilization a sustainable reality.

  15. 2016 Annual Progress Report: DOE Hydrogen and Fuel Cells Program

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Satyapal, Sunita [National Renewable Energy Lab. (NREL), Golden, CO (United States)

    2017-02-01

    In the past year, the DOE Hydrogen Program (the Program) made substantial progress toward its goals and objectives. The Program has conducted comprehensive and focused efforts to enable the widespread commercialization of hydrogen and fuel cell technologies in diverse sectors of the economy. With emphasis on applications that will effectively strengthen our nation's energy security and improve our stewardship of the environment, the Program engages in research, development, and demonstration of critical improvements in the technologies. Highlights of the Program's accomplishments can be found in the sub-program chapters of this report.

  16. 2015 Annual Progress Report: DOE Hydrogen and Fuel Cells Program

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Popovich, Neil

    2015-12-01

    In the past year, the DOE Hydrogen Program (the Program) made substantial progress toward its goals and objectives. The Program has conducted comprehensive and focused efforts to enable the widespread commercialization of hydrogen and fuel cell technologies in diverse sectors of the economy. With emphasis on applications that will effectively strengthen our nation's energy security and improve our stewardship of the environment, the Program engages in research, development, and demonstration of critical improvements in the technologies. Highlights of the Program's accomplishments can be found in the sub-program chapters of this report.

  17. 2012 Annual Progress Report: DOE Hydrogen and Fuel Cells Program

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    2012-12-01

    In the past year, the DOE Hydrogen Program (the Program) made substantial progress toward its goals and objectives. The Program has conducted comprehensive and focused efforts to enable the widespread commercialization of hydrogen and fuel cell technologies in diverse sectors of the economy. With emphasis on applications that will effectively strengthen our nation's energy security and improve our stewardship of the environment, the Program engages in research, development, and demonstration of critical improvements in the technologies. Highlights of the Program's accomplishments can be found in the sub-program chapters of this report.

  18. Transition of Japanese commercial space: What has been lost from the commercial space?

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Fujioka Tatsuma

    2016-12-01

    Full Text Available This paper compares the types of two commercial spaces in modern Japan, shopping mall and “traditional” shopping district called Shotengai, from the viewpoint of commercial space as the third space in the city. Particularly in the discourse of commercial spaces in Japan, "shopping district" has been portrayed tied to nostalgia. Therefore, the transition of commercial space is always accompanied by a discourse of the" Lost." However, there is no unified opinion about what's been lost in the process of this transition in fact. In this paper, we extract the social category by considering focus on discourse for both places. As a specific object I use to target the research papers and journal articles in Japan. Because these documents are discussed by distinct main thesis and based on specific data, I adopt these materials. After extraction of social category, through the comparison of the two discourses, I reveal what kind of nature is the "Lost" at the commercial spaces as the third place in the city. I also discuss how this change is related the changes in Japanese social relationship and community.

  19. Radon investigations - Soil and commercial projects

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Goodwin, R.W.

    1987-01-01

    The liability issues of radon exposure have prompted potential purchasers of vacant land for commercial/industrial development, and commercial landlords, renting large commercial buildings, to determine the radon gas levels at such sites. This paper deals with both pre-construction sites subject to freezing conditions and to large commercial structures. A correlation of radon gas levels within a commercial building and a sister pre-construction site confirms the validity of using activated charcoal canisters as a cost effective means to combating radon in large structures

  20. Combined Heat and Power: A Decade of Progress, A Vision for the Future

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    none,

    2009-08-01

    Over the past 10 years, DOE has built a solid foundation for a robust CHP marketplace. We have aligned with key partners to produce innovative technologies and spearhead market-transforming projects. Our commercialization activities and Clean Energy Regional Application Centers have expanded CHP across the nation. More must be done to tap CHP’s full potential. Read more about DOE’s CHP Program in “Combined Heat and Power: A Decade of Progress, A Vision for the Future.”

  1. Semi-commercialization of PVP-carrageenan hydrogel

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Relleve, Lorna S.; Abad, Lucille V.; Aranilla, Charito T.; Dela Rosa, A.M.

    2008-01-01

    The Philippine Nuclear Research Institute (PNRI) has developed the PVP-Carrageenan hydrogel wound dressing by radiation processing. The PVP-Carrageenan hydrogel has undergone clinical testing for burn and bedsores. It has already a pending patent application (No. 1-2000-02471) at the Philippine Patent Office. The techno-economic feasibility study has also been completed. In order to commercialize this product, a project on semi-commercialization in partnership with the investor was proposed to Technology Incubation for Commercialization (TECHNICOM), a technology transfer program of the Department of Science and Technology (DOST). TECHNICOM was established in 2003 under the National Science and Technology Plan (2002-2020) as a strategic technology transfer program. The program aims to identify key technological breakthroughs especially those generated by R and D institutes. It can intervene through the following: technology assessment/commercial prototype development; business plan/feasibility study preparation; intellectual property rights protection; technology valuation negotiation and licensing; semi-commercial production assistance and training/consultancy services. High technology applications with commercial potentials are given priority. Under semi-commercialization stage, government funds will be provided to match private sector investment in the commercial application of a particular technology innovation. This will lessen the risk of commercialization and ensure commitment from the investors. Commercial success in the shortest time is ensured since scientist can then work closely with the private sector at the production floor while testing the gaps in the technology. (author)

  2. Campylobacter jejuni in commercial eggs.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Fonseca, Belchiolina Beatriz; Beletti, Marcelo Emílio; de Melo, Roberta Torres; Mendonça, Eliane Pereira; Coelho, Letícia Ríspoli; Nalevaiko, Priscila Christen; Rossi, Daise Aparecida

    2014-01-01

    This study evaluated the ability of Campylobacter jejuni to penetrate through the pores of the shells of commercial eggs and colonize the interior of these eggs, which may become a risk factor for human infection. Furthermore, this study assessed the survival and viability of the bacteria in commercial eggs. The eggs were placed in contact with wood shavings infected with C. jejuni to check the passage of the bacteria. In parallel, the bacteria were inoculated directly into the air chamber to assess the viability in the egg yolk. To determine whether the albumen and egg fertility interferes with the entry and survival of bacteria, we used varying concentrations of albumen and SPF and commercial eggs. C. jejuni was recovered in SPF eggs (fertile) after three hours in contact with contaminated wood shavings but not in infertile commercial eggs. The colonies isolated in the SPF eggs were identified by multiplex PCR and the similarity between strains verified by RAPD-PCR. The bacteria grew in different concentrations of albumen in commercial and SPF eggs. We did not find C. jejuni in commercial eggs inoculated directly into the air chamber, but the bacteria were viable during all periods tested in the wood shavings. This study shows that consumption of commercial eggs infected with C. jejuni does not represent a potential risk to human health.

  3. Smoldering multiple myeloma risk factors for progression

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Sørrig, Rasmus; Klausen, Tobias W; Salomo, Morten

    2016-01-01

    Several risk scores for disease progression in Smoldering Multiple Myeloma (SMM) patients have been proposed, however, all have been developed using single center registries. To examine risk factors for time to progression (TTP) to Multiple Myeloma (MM) for SMM we analyzed a nationwide population......-based cohort of 321 newly diagnosed SMM patients registered within the Danish Multiple Myeloma Registry between 2005 and 2014. Significant univariable risk factors for TTP were selected for multivariable Cox regression analyses. We found that both an M-protein ≥ 30g/l and immunoparesis significantly influenced......-high risk of transformation to MM. Using only immunoparesis and M-protein ≥ 30g/l, we created a scoring system to identify low, intermediate and high risk SMM. This first population-based study of SMM patients confirms that an M-protein ≥ 30g/l and immunoparesis remain important risk factors for progression...

  4. Constraints to commercialization of algal fuels.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Chisti, Yusuf

    2013-09-10

    Production of algal crude oil has been achieved in various pilot scale facilities, but whether algal fuels can be produced in sufficient quantity to meaningfully displace petroleum fuels, has been largely overlooked. Limitations to commercialization of algal fuels need to be understood and addressed for any future commercialization. This review identifies the major constraints to commercialization of transport fuels from microalgae. Algae derived fuels are expensive compared to petroleum derived fuels, but this could change. Unfortunately, improved economics of production are not sufficient for an environmentally sustainable production, or its large scale feasibility. A low-cost point supply of concentrated carbon dioxide colocated with the other essential resources is necessary for producing algal fuels. An insufficiency of concentrated carbon dioxide is actually a major impediment to any substantial production of algal fuels. Sustainability of production requires the development of an ability to almost fully recycle the phosphorous and nitrogen nutrients that are necessary for algae culture. Development of a nitrogen biofixation ability to support production of algal fuels ought to be an important long term objective. At sufficiently large scale, a limited supply of freshwater will pose a significant limitation to production even if marine algae are used. Processes for recovering energy from the algal biomass left after the extraction of oil, are required for achieving a net positive energy balance in the algal fuel oil. The near term outlook for widespread use of algal fuels appears bleak, but fuels for niche applications such as in aviation may be likely in the medium term. Genetic and metabolic engineering of microalgae to boost production of fuel oil and ease its recovery, are essential for commercialization of algal fuels. Algae will need to be genetically modified for improved photosynthetic efficiency in the long term. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier B.V. All

  5. Commercialization of Los Alamos National Laboratory technologies via small businesses. Final report

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Brice, R.; Cartron, D.; Rhyne, T.; Schulze, M.; Welty, L.

    1997-06-01

    Over the past decade, numerous companies have been formed to commercialize research results from leading U.S. academic and research institutions. Emerging small businesses in areas such as Silicon Valley, Boston`s Route 128 corridor, and North Carolina`s Research Triangle have been especially effective in moving promising technologies from the laboratory bench to the commercial marketplace--creating new jobs and economic expansion in the process. Unfortunately, many of the U.S. national laboratories have not been major participants in this technology/commercialization activity, a result of a wide variety of factors which, until recently, acted against successful commercialization. This {open_quotes}commercialization gap{close_quotes} exists partly due to a lack, within Los Alamos in particular and the DOE in general, of in-depth expertise and experience in such business areas as new business development, securities regulation, market research and the determination of commercial potential, the identification of entrepreneurial management, marketing and distribution, and venture capital sources. The immediate consequence of these factors is the disappointingly small number of start-up companies based on technologies from Los Alamos National Laboratory that have been attempted, the modest financial return Los Alamos has received from these start-ups, and the lack of significant national recognition that Los Alamos has received for creating and commercializing these technologies.

  6. Conceptual design of a commercial tokamak reactor using resistive magnets

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    LeClaire, R.J. Jr.

    1988-01-01

    The future of the tokamak approach to controlled thermonuclear fusion depends in part on its potential as a commercial electricity-producing device. This potential is continually being evaluated in the fusion community using parametric, system, and conceptual studies of various approaches to improving tokamak reactor design. The potential of tokamaks using resistive magnets as commercial electricity-producing reactors is explored. Parametric studies have been performed to examine the major trade-offs of the system and to identify the most promising configurations for a tokamak using resistive magnets. In addition, a number of engineering issues have been examined including magnet design, blanket/first-wall design, and maintenance. The study indicates that attractive design space does exist and presents a conceptual design for the Resistive Magnet Commercial Tokamak Reactor (RCTR). No issue has been identified, including recirculating power, that would make the overall cost of electricity of RCTR significantly different from that of a comparably sized superconducting tokamak. However, RCTR may have reliability and maintenance advantages over commercial superconducting magnet devices

  7. 48 CFR 12.213 - Other commercial practices.

    Science.gov (United States)

    2010-10-01

    ... 48 Federal Acquisition Regulations System 1 2010-10-01 2010-10-01 false Other commercial practices... ACQUISITION PLANNING ACQUISITION OF COMMERCIAL ITEMS Special Requirements for the Acquisition of Commercial Items 12.213 Other commercial practices. It is a common practice in the commercial marketplace for both...

  8. Political oil import diversification by financial and commercial traders

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Kashcheeva, Mila; Tsui, Kevin K.

    2015-01-01

    International politics affects the oil trade. But do financial and commercial traders who participate in spot oil trading also respond to changes in international politics? We construct a firm-level dataset for all U.S. oil-importing companies over 1986–2008 to examine how these firms respond to increases in “political distance” between the U.S. and her trading partners, measured by divergence in their UN General Assembly voting patterns. Consistent with previous macro evidence, we first show that individual firms diversify their oil imports politically, even after controlling for unobserved firm heterogeneity. However, the political pattern of oil imports is not entirely driven by the concerns of hold-up risks, which exist when oil transactions via term contracts are associated with backward vertical FDI that is subject to expropriation. In particular, our results indicate that even financial and commercial traders significantly reduce their oil imports from U.S. political enemies. Interestingly, while these traders diversify their oil imports politically immediately after changes in international politics, other oil companies reduce their oil imports with a significant time lag. Our findings suggest that in designing regulations to avoid harmful repercussions on commodity and financial assets, policymakers need to understand the nature of political risk. -- Highlights: •American firms diversify their oil imports politically. •Financial and commercial traders diversify their oil imports politically immediately. •Other oil companies reduce their oil imports with a significant time lag. •Policymakers need to understand the nature of political risk

  9. Commercial mortgages: An underutilized channel for scaling energy efficiency investments?

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Mathew, Paul; Wallace, Nancy; Alschuler, Elena; Kolstad, Leonard

    2016-02-01

    Commercial mortgages currently do not fully account for energy factors in underwriting and valuation, particularly as it relates to the impact of energy costs and volatility on an owner’s net operating income. As a consequence, energy efficiency is not properly valued and energy risks are not properly assessed and mitigated. Commercial mortgages are a large lever and could be a significant channel for scaling energy efficiency investments. A pilot analysis of loans with different mortgage contract structures and locations showed that when energy cost volatility was included in mortgage valuation, a 20% reduction in energy use resulted in a 1.3% average increase in mortgage value. This suggests that the explicit inclusion of energy use and volatility in mortgage valuation can send a strong price signal that financially rewards and values energy efficiency in commercial properties. This paper presents findings from a scoping study addressing energy factors in commercial mortgages. First, we present a review of current practices as it relates to incorporating energy factors into commercial mortgage underwriting and valuation. Next, we detail the impacts of energy factors on property values, net operating income and mortgage valuation. Building operational practices alone can result in energy use variations from -17% to 87%. Finally, we present a set of proposed interventions to properly address energy factors in commercial mortgages, based on extensive discussions with stakeholders including mortgage originators, underwriters, building owners and regulators.

  10. ISO 50001 for US Commercial Buildings - Current Status and Opportunities

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Liu, Jingjing; Sheaffer, Paul

    2017-12-01

    ''ISO 50001: 2011 Energy management systems – Requirements with guidance for use'' is a voluntary International Standard which provides organizations a proven framework to manage energy and continuously improve their energy performance. Implementing ISO 50001 in the commercial building sector has its unique opportunities and challenges in comparison with the industrial sector. The energy footprint of a portfolio of commercial buildings can be just as significant as a large industrial facility in comparison. There are many energy-saving opportunities in commercial buildings that can be addressed without capital investments, and the perceived risks for making energy improvements can be lower than in the industrial sector. In addition, the energy-consuming systems in commercial buildings are limited in types and have many similarities across buildings, which makes it much easier to standardize many ISO 50001 required processes, 5 procedures and documents to simplify implementation. There are also some sector-unique challenges, such as less familiar with ISO systems and the certification process. Another challenge arises from the complexity in some buildings’ ownership, tenancy, and O&M responsibilities. This whitepaper discusses these opportunities and issues in detail. The paper also recommends the characteristics of organizations in the commercial building sector that can benefit the most from adopting the ISO 50001 standard – namely the “suitable market”. Eight segments (education, food sales, retail, inpatient health care, hospitality, office buildings, laboratories and data centers) within the commercial building sector are highlighted.

  11. Nutritionism, Commercialization and Food; Comment on “Buying Health: The Costs of Commercialism and an Alternative Philosophy”

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Anne Barnhill

    2013-01-01

    Full Text Available In “Buying Health: the Costs of Commercialization and an Alternative Philosophy”, Larry R. Churchill and Shelley C. Churchill discuss the commercialization of health and, in particular, the commercialization of nutrition. In this commentary on their article, I draw a connection between Churchill and Churchill’s account of the commercialization of nutrition and Michael Pollan’s critique of “nutritionism”. I also offer a friendly amendment to Churchill and Churchill’s account, suggesting that the commercialization of nutrition is not a monolithic experience but it is rather widely challenged.

  12. Recent Progress in Graphite Intercalation Compounds for Rechargeable Metal (Li, Na, K, Al)‐Ion Batteries

    Science.gov (United States)

    Xu, Jiantie; Dou, Yuhai; Wei, Zengxi; Li, Yutao; Liu, Huakun; Dou, Shixue

    2017-01-01

    Abstract Lithium‐ion batteries (LIBs) with higher energy density are very necessary to meet the increasing demand for devices with better performance. With the commercial success of lithiated graphite, other graphite intercalation compounds (GICs) have also been intensively reported, not only for LIBs, but also for other metal (Na, K, Al) ion batteries. In this Progress Report, we briefly review the application of GICs as anodes and cathodes in metal (Li, Na, K, Al) ion batteries. After a brief introduction on the development history of GICs, the electrochemistry of cationic GICs and anionic GICs is summarized. We further briefly summarize the use of cationic GICs and anionic GICs in alkali ion batteries and the use of anionic GICs in aluminium‐ion batteries. Finally, we reach some conclusions on the drawbacks, major progress, emerging challenges, and some perspectives on the development of GICs for metal (Li, Na, K, Al) ion batteries. Further development of GICs for metal (Li, Na, K, Al) ion batteries is not only a strong supplement to the commercialized success of lithiated‐graphite for LIBs, but also an effective strategy to develop diverse high‐energy batteries for stationary energy storage in the future. PMID:29051856

  13. High Performance Commercial Fenestration Framing Systems

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Mike Manteghi; Sneh Kumar; Joshua Early; Bhaskar Adusumalli

    2010-01-31

    A major objective of the U.S. Department of Energy is to have a zero energy commercial building by the year 2025. Windows have a major influence on the energy performance of the building envelope as they control over 55% of building energy load, and represent one important area where technologies can be developed to save energy. Aluminum framing systems are used in over 80% of commercial fenestration products (i.e. windows, curtain walls, store fronts, etc.). Aluminum framing systems are often required in commercial buildings because of their inherent good structural properties and long service life, which is required from commercial and architectural frames. At the same time, they are lightweight and durable, requiring very little maintenance, and offer design flexibility. An additional benefit of aluminum framing systems is their relatively low cost and easy manufacturability. Aluminum, being an easily recyclable material, also offers sustainable features. However, from energy efficiency point of view, aluminum frames have lower thermal performance due to the very high thermal conductivity of aluminum. Fenestration systems constructed of aluminum alloys therefore have lower performance in terms of being effective barrier to energy transfer (heat loss or gain). Despite the lower energy performance, aluminum is the choice material for commercial framing systems and dominates the commercial/architectural fenestration market because of the reasons mentioned above. In addition, there is no other cost effective and energy efficient replacement material available to take place of aluminum in the commercial/architectural market. Hence it is imperative to improve the performance of aluminum framing system to improve the energy performance of commercial fenestration system and in turn reduce the energy consumption of commercial building and achieve zero energy building by 2025. The objective of this project was to develop high performance, energy efficient commercial

  14. The impact of innovative commercial technologies on students’ behaviour of an economic university

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Laurentiu-Dan Anghel

    2015-05-01

    Full Text Available In a dynamic business environment, implementing innovative commercial technologies facilitates the winning of new competitive advantages in the retail industry, given the manifested influence on consumer buying behaviour towards commercial units, as well as the significant contribution to the development of modern shops image. This paper presents the attitude of students from the Bucharest University of Economic Studies towards the adoption of innovative retail technologies within hypermarkets in Romania, based on a selective marketing research, conducted on a sample of 359 students from undergraduate and master cycles. The main objectives focused on identifying: the image of certain instruments belonging to the innovative commercial technologies in terms of usefulness in the process of buying; the intention to use innovative commercial technologies; the perception of the main advantages and disadvantages of using innovative commercial technologies in the buying process; the importance of commercial technologies in relation to other attributes underlying the development of a hypermarket image. Research results show a relatively low level of awareness among buyers, due to a reduced exposure to innovative commercial technologies, but a relatively high availability of acceptance in the purchasing process. Thus, there is a favourable assessment of the utility of commercial instruments in the buying process and a relatively high intention of use. The paper also highlights the influence of innovative commercial technologies on store image and loyalty of buyers.

  15. Commercial Conspiracy Theories

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Adrian eFurnham

    2013-06-01

    Full Text Available There are many ways to categorise conspiracy theories. In the present study, we examined individual and demographic predictors of beliefs in commercial conspiracy theories among a British sample of over 300 women and men. Results showed people were cynical and sceptical with regard to advertising tricks, as well as the tactics of organisations like banks and alcohol, drug and tobacco companies. Beliefs sorted into four identifiable clusters, labelled sneakiness, manipulative, change-the-rules and suppression/prevention. The high alpha for the overall scale suggested general beliefs in commercial conspiracy. Regressions suggested that those people who were less religious, more left-wing, more pessimistic, less (self-defined as wealthy, less Neurotic and less Open-to-Experience believed there was more commercial conspiracy. Overall the individual difference variables explained relatively little of the variance in these beliefs.The implications of these findings for the literature on conspiracy theories are discussed.

  16. Roadmap for the Future of Commercial Energy Codes

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Rosenberg, Michael I. [Pacific Northwest National Lab. (PNNL), Richland, WA (United States); Hart, Philip R. [Pacific Northwest National Lab. (PNNL), Richland, WA (United States); Zhang, Jian [Pacific Northwest National Lab. (PNNL), Richland, WA (United States); Athalye, Rahul A. [Pacific Northwest National Lab. (PNNL), Richland, WA (United States)

    2015-01-01

    Building energy codes have significantly increased building efficiency over the last 38 years, since the first national energy code was published in 1975. The most commonly used path in energy codes, the prescriptive path, appears to be reaching a point of diminishing returns. The current focus on prescriptive codes has limitations including significant variation in actual energy performance depending on which prescriptive options are chosen, a lack of flexibility for designers and developers, the inability to handle optimization that is specific to building type and use, the inability to account for project-specific energy costs, and the lack of follow-through or accountability after a certificate of occupancy is granted. It is likely that an approach that considers the building as an integrated system will be necessary to achieve the next real gains in building efficiency. This report provides a high-level review of different formats for commercial building energy codes, including prescriptive, prescriptive packages, capacity constrained, outcome based, and predictive performance approaches. This report also explores a next generation commercial energy code approach that places a greater emphasis on performance-based criteria.

  17. Building a conservation culture : progress report 2005

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Ceksters, G. [Enersource Corp., Mississauga, ON (Canada); Cananzi, M. [Horizon Utilities Corp., Hamilton, ON (Canada); Leclair, R. [Hydro Ottawa Holding Inc., Ottawa, ON (Canada); Bentz, B. [PowerStream, Markham, ON (Canada); O' Brien, D.S. [Toronto Hydro, ON (Canada); Angemeer, M.C. [Veridian Connections, Ajax, ON (Canada)

    2006-07-01

    The PowerWise Team is comprised of the 6 largest electricity companies in Ontario, who joined forces to lay the foundation for a conservation culture in Ontario. This progress report provided details of plans implemented for their customers in order to support the province's vision of reducing peak electricity demand by 5 per cent by 2007. Accomplishments of the team to date include the development of the PowerWise website, which provides customers with updated information about conservation programs as well as energy saving tips. Members of the team have also re-branded 1100 of their fleet vehicles with the PowerWise logo. Two in-store and retail coupon programs were launched as a means of encouraging customers to experiment with new energy efficiency products, resulting in the distribution of over 2.3 million coupons. The PowerWise business incentive program was developed to encourage industrial and commercial customers to make their workplaces more energy efficient. In addition, a total of 11,175 smart meters were installed by the PowerWise alliance in a series of pilot programs to lay the foundation for the widespread introduction of smart metering. In addition to describing PowerWise programs and initiatives, an overview of programs undertaken by individual utilities was presented, with details of total conservation and demand management investment and annual energy savings. Significant strides were taken in 2005 to pave the way for a change in attitude about conservation. Plans for the future include inviting more local distribution companies to join the team, and continuing to deliver significant energy consumption reductions. 22 figs.

  18. An Argument for Formative Assessment with Science Learning Progressions

    Science.gov (United States)

    Alonzo, Alicia C.

    2018-01-01

    Learning progressions--particularly as defined and operationalized in science education--have significant potential to inform teachers' formative assessment practices. In this overview article, I lay out an argument for this potential, starting from definitions for "formative assessment practices" and "learning progressions"…

  19. Presence of nanosilica (E551) in commercial food products: TNF-mediated oxidative stress and altered cell cycle progression in human lung fibroblast cells.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Athinarayanan, Jegan; Periasamy, Vaiyapuri Subbarayan; Alsaif, Mohammed A; Al-Warthan, Abdulrahman A; Alshatwi, Ali A

    2014-04-01

    Silica (E551) is commonly used as an anti-caking agent in food products. The morphology and the dimension of the added silica particles are not, however, usually stated on the food product label. The food industry has adapted nanotechnology using engineered nanoparticles to improve the quality of their products. However, there has been increased debate regarding the health and safety concerns related to the use of engineered nanoparticles in consumer products. In this study, we investigated the morphology and dimensions of silica (E551) particles in food. The silica content of commercial food products was determined using inductively coupled plasma optical emission spectrometry. The result indicates that 2.74-14. 45 μg/g silica was found in commercial food products; however, the daily dietary intake in increase causes adverse effects on human health. E551 was isolated from food products and the morphology, particle size, crystalline nature, and purity of the silica particles were analyzed using XRD, FTIR, TEM, EDX and DLS. The results of these analyses confirmed the presence of spherical silica nanoparticles (of amorphous nature) in food, approximately 10-50 nm in size. The effects of E551 on human lung fibroblast cell viability, intracellular ROS levels, cell cycle phase, and the expression levels of metabolic stress-responsive genes (CAT, GSTA4, TNF, CYP1A, POR, SOD1, GSTM3, GPX1, and GSR1) were studied. The results suggest that E551 induces a dose-dependent cytotoxicity and changes in ROS levels and alters the gene expression and cell cycle. Treatment with a high concentration of E551 caused significant cytotoxic effects on WI-38 cells. These findings have implications for the use of these nanoparticles in the food industry.

  20. Commercialization of sustainable energy technologies

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Balachandra, P.; Kristle Nathan, Hippu Salk; Reddy, B. Sudhakara

    2010-01-01

    Commercialization efforts to diffuse sustainable energy technologies (SETs) have so far remained as the biggest challenge in the field of renewable energy and energy efficiency. Limited success of diffusion through government driven pathways urges the need for market based approaches. This paper reviews the existing state of commercialization of SETs in the backdrop of the basic theory of technology diffusion. The different SETs in India are positioned in the technology diffusion map to reflect their slow state of commercialization. The dynamics of SET market is analysed to identify the issues, barriers and stakeholders in the process of SET commercialization. By upgrading the 'potential adopters' to 'techno-entrepreneurs', the study presents the mechanisms for adopting a private sector driven 'business model' approach for successful diffusion of SETs. This is expected to integrate the processes of market transformation and entrepreneurship development with innovative regulatory, marketing, financing, incentive and delivery mechanisms leading to SET commercialization. (author)

  1. Commercialism in Intercollegiate Athletics.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Delany, James E.

    1997-01-01

    Outlines the history of intercollegiate athletics and the evolution of commercialization in college sports, particularly through television. Argues that few Division I programs could be self-sufficient; the issue is the degree to which sports are commercialized for revenue, and the challenge to balance schools' needs, private sector interests, and…

  2. Commercialization of fuel-cells

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Penner, S.S.; Appleby, A.J.; Baker, B.S.; Bates, J.L.; Buss, L.B.; Dollard, W.J.; Farris, P.J.; Gillis, E.A.; Gunsher, J.A.; Khandkar, A.; Krumpelt, M.; O' Sullivan, J.B.; Runte, G.; Savinell, R.F.; Selman, J.R.; Shores, D.A.; Tarman, P.

    1995-03-01

    This report is an abbreviated version of the ''Report of the DOE Advanced Fuel Cell Commercialization Working Group (AFC2WG),'' released January 1995. We describe fuel-cell commercialization for stationary power applications of phosphoric acid, molten carbonate, solid oxide, and polymer electrolyte membrane fuel cells.

  3. The status of commercial and developmental HTS wires

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Masur, L.J.; Buczek, D.; Harley, E.; Kodenkandath, T.; Li, X.; Lynch, J.; Nguyen, N.; Rupich, M.; Schoop, U.; Scudiere, J.; Siegal, E.; Thieme, C.; Verebelyi, D.; Zhang, W.; Kellers, J

    2003-10-15

    This paper provides an update on the development, performance and application of first and second generation high temperature superconductor (HTS) wires fabricated at American Superconductor (AMSC). First generation, multifilamentary composite wire is available commercially today in different viable product forms. This conductor carries 140 x the current of copper of the same cross-section, and is robust enough to stand tough industrial requirements. Second generation HTS wires, having a coated conductor composite architecture, are under development today and achieved substantial progress recently. AMSC's first generation wire will continue as the workhorse of the industry for the next 3-4 years while AMSC's second generation coated conductor wire is on track to be reproducible, uniform, scalable, and low cost. This paper provides a product differentiation with a view on the application of HTS wire in the electric power sector. Basic engineering data is reviewed that shall aid the engineer in the selection of the HTS wire product.

  4. Problems of intangible assets commercialization accounting

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    S.F. Legenchyk

    2016-03-01

    Full Text Available The growing role of intangible assets in conditions of global economy postindustrialization is grounded. The problems of intangible assets accounting are singled out. The basic tasks of the intangible assets accounting commercialization process are determined. The difference between the commercialization of intellectual property and intangible assets is considered. The basic approaches to understanding the essence of the intangible assets commercialization are singled out and grounded. The basic forms and methods of intangible assets commercialization researched by the author are analyzed. The order of accounting reflection of licensee royalties is considered. The factors of influence on the accounting process of intangible assets commercialization are determined. The necessity of solving the problem of accounting of lease payments for computer program by providing access to SaaS environment is grounded. The prospects of further studies of intangible assets accounting commercialization are determined.

  5. Psychosocial predictors of coronary artery calcification progression in postmenopausal women.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Low, Carissa A; Matthews, Karen A; Kuller, Lewis H; Edmundowicz, Daniel

    2011-01-01

    Coronary artery calcification (CAC) has been associated with psychosocial factors in some but not all cross-sectional analyses. The goal of this study was to determine whether positive and negative psychosocial factors prospectively predict CAC progression in postmenopausal women. Participants from the Healthy Women Study who also participated in the Pittsburgh Mind-Body Center protocol (n = 149) completed self-report psychosocial measures before two electron beam computed tomographic scans of CAC separated by an average of 3.3 years. Results of exploratory factor analysis were used to create aggregate psychosocial indices: psychological risk (depressive symptoms, perceived stress, cynicism, and anger-in) and psychosocial resources (optimism, purpose in life, mastery, self-esteem, and social support). The psychological risk index predicted significantly greater CAC progression over 3 years (β = 0.16, p = .035, ΔR(2) = 0.03), whereas the psychosocial resources index was not predictive of CAC progression (β = -0.08, p = .30, ΔR(2) = 0.01). On individual scales, higher scores on cynicism emerged as a significant predictor of CAC progression, along with a trend linking anger-in to atherosclerosis progression. A post hoc analysis showed a significant interaction between cynicism and anger-in (β = 0.20, p = .01, ΔR(2) = 0.03), such that women reporting high levels of both cynicism and anger suppression exhibited the most CAC progression. These findings highlight psychosocial risk factors that may accelerate the progression of subclinical atherosclerosis in older women, suggest the potential importance of examining combinations of psychosocial risk factors, and identify potential targets for psychological interventions to reduce cardiovascular risk.

  6. Trabecular morphometry by fractal signature analysis is a novel marker of osteoarthritis progression.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kraus, Virginia Byers; Feng, Sheng; Wang, ShengChu; White, Scott; Ainslie, Maureen; Brett, Alan; Holmes, Anthony; Charles, H Cecil

    2009-12-01

    To evaluate the effectiveness of using subchondral bone texture observed on a radiograph taken at baseline to predict progression of knee osteoarthritis (OA) over a 3-year period. A total of 138 participants in the Prediction of Osteoarthritis Progression study were evaluated at baseline and after 3 years. Fractal signature analysis (FSA) of the medial subchondral tibial plateau was performed on fixed flexion radiographs of 248 nonreplaced knees, using a commercially available software tool. OA progression was defined as a change in joint space narrowing (JSN) or osteophyte formation of 1 grade according to a standardized knee atlas. Statistical analysis of fractal signatures was performed using a new model based on correlating the overall shape of a fractal dimension curve with radius. Fractal signature of the medial tibial plateau at baseline was predictive of medial knee JSN progression (area under the curve [AUC] 0.75, of a receiver operating characteristic curve) but was not predictive of osteophyte formation or progression of JSN in the lateral compartment. Traditional covariates (age, sex, body mass index, knee pain), general bone mineral content, and joint space width at baseline were no more effective than random variables for predicting OA progression (AUC 0.52-0.58). The predictive model with maximum effectiveness combined fractal signature at baseline, knee alignment, traditional covariates, and bone mineral content (AUC 0.79). We identified a prognostic marker of OA that is readily extracted from a plain radiograph using FSA. Although the method needs to be validated in a second cohort, our results indicate that the global shape approach to analyzing these data is a potentially efficient means of identifying individuals at risk of knee OA progression.

  7. Static Progressive Orthoses for Elbow Contracture: A Systematic Review

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Bin Chen

    2017-01-01

    Full Text Available Background. As one of the most common musculoskeletal complications following trauma, elbow contracture is a frequent source of disabled daily activities. Conventional interventions are inadequate to provide favorable outcome. The static progressive orthoses are getting popular in the treatment of this problem. Objective. The purpose of this review was to assess the effectiveness of static progressive orthoses for elbow contracture. Methods. Literatures when written in English published during 1 January 1997 and 31 January 2017 were searched in the following databases: Web of Science, Cochrane Library, PubMed, and EBSCOhost. Articles are quality-assessed by two assessors, each article was summarized in evidence tables, and a narrative synthesis was also performed. Results. Ten clinical trials were included. The study design and outcome measures used varied. Significant immediate improvement in the range of motion was reported by all studies, and those effects were still significant at follow-up. No significant difference was shown between static progressive and dynamic orthoses for elbow contracture in one randomized control trial. Conclusions. Current low-quality evidence suggested that static progressive orthoses provided assistance for elbow contracture through improving range of motion. Further research is recommended using high-quality randomized controlled trials.

  8. Public acceptance, market development and commercialization of food irradiation technology in Bangladesh

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Karim, A.

    2001-01-01

    Current status of food irradiation technology in Bangladesh with respect to public acceptance, commercial application, trade development and present research and development activities are summarized in the paper. Irradiated food products are generally accepted by people. To further boost public opinion on the usefulness of the technology, two national seminars were successfully organized in 1995 and 1996 respectively with wide participation and media coverage. A number of non-traditional items such as beef casing, flour, turtle meat, macaroni, peat soil, etc. were irradiated and successfully marketed during the last 5 years. Bangladesh adopted a ''Specification for Authorisation of Irradiation by Groups/Classes of Foods'' in 1995 in line with the ICGFI Guidelines. The Bangladesh Standard is essentially similar to the Harmonised Regulations adopted for the RCA countries in April 1998. About 1300 metric tons of different food items were irradiated for commercial purposes at the Gammatech Irradiation Facility in Chittagong during the past 5 years. Present research activities in Bangladesh include irradiation disinfestations of nematodes in ginger and turmeric, and mites and thrips from cut flowers. Work on identification of fruit flies, mites and thrips by using sensitive protein markers is in progress. (author)

  9. Commercial speech in crisis: Crisis Pregnancy Center regulations and definitions of commercial speech.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Gilbert, Kathryn E

    2013-02-01

    Recent attempts to regulate Crisis Pregnancy Centers, pseudoclinics that surreptitiously aim to dissuade pregnant women from choosing abortion, have confronted the thorny problem of how to define commercial speech. The Supreme Court has offered three potential answers to this definitional quandary. This Note uses the Crisis Pregnancy Center cases to demonstrate that courts should use one of these solutions, the factor-based approach of Bolger v. Youngs Drugs Products Corp., to define commercial speech in the Crisis Pregnancy Center cases and elsewhere. In principle and in application, the Bolger factor-based approach succeeds in structuring commercial speech analysis at the margins of the doctrine.

  10. Evaluating progressive-rendering algorithms in appearance design tasks.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Jiawei Ou; Karlik, Ondrej; Křivánek, Jaroslav; Pellacini, Fabio

    2013-01-01

    Progressive rendering is becoming a popular alternative to precomputational approaches to appearance design. However, progressive algorithms create images exhibiting visual artifacts at early stages. A user study investigated these artifacts' effects on user performance in appearance design tasks. Novice and expert subjects performed lighting and material editing tasks with four algorithms: random path tracing, quasirandom path tracing, progressive photon mapping, and virtual-point-light rendering. Both the novices and experts strongly preferred path tracing to progressive photon mapping and virtual-point-light rendering. None of the participants preferred random path tracing to quasirandom path tracing or vice versa; the same situation held between progressive photon mapping and virtual-point-light rendering. The user workflow didn’t differ significantly with the four algorithms. The Web Extras include a video showing how four progressive-rendering algorithms converged (at http://youtu.be/ck-Gevl1e9s), the source code used, and other supplementary materials.

  11. Viral commercials: the consumer as marketeer

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Ketelaar, P.E.; Lucassen, P.; Kregting, G.H.J.

    2010-01-01

    Research into the reasons why consumers pass along viral commercials: their motives, the content characteristics of viral commercials and the medium context in which viral commercials appear. Based on the uses and gratifications perspective this study has determined which motives of consumers,

  12. NASA's commercial research plans and opportunities

    Science.gov (United States)

    Arnold, Ray J.

    One of the primary goals of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration's (NASA) commercial space development plan is to encourage the development of space-based products and markets, along with the infrastructure and transportation that will support those products and markets. A three phased program has been instituted to carry out this program. The first phase utilizes government grants through the Centers for the Commercial Development of Space (CCDS) for space-related, industry driven research; the development of a technology data base; and the development of commercial space transportation and infrastructure. The second phase includes the development of these technologies by industry for new commercial markets, and features unique industry/government collaborations such as Joint Endeavor Agreements. The final phase will feature technical applications actually brought to the marketplace. The government's role will be to support industry required infrastructure to encourage start-up markets and industries through follow-on development agreements such as the Space Systems Development Agreement. The Office of Commercial Programs has an aggressive flight program underway on the Space Shuttle, suborbital rockets, orbital expendable launch vehicles, and the Commercial Middeck Accommodation Module with SPACEHAB Inc. The Office of Commercial Program's has been allocated 35 percent of the U.S. share of the Space Station Freedom resources for 1997 utilization. A utilization plan has been developed with the Centers for the Commercial Development of Space and has identified eleven materials processing and biotechnology payloads occupying 5 double racks in the pressurized module as well as two payloads external to the module in materials exposure and environment monitoring. The Office of Commercial Programs will rely on the Space Station Freedom to provide the long duration laboratory component for space-based commercial research.

  13. Fossil fuels. Commercializing clean coal technologies

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Fultz, Keith O.; Sprague, John W.; Kirk, Roy J.; Clark, Marcus R. Jr.; Greene, Richard M.; Buncher, Carole S.; Kleigleng, Robert G.; Imbrogno, Frank W.

    1989-03-01

    , President Bush told the Congress that he plans to propose legislation for a new, more effective Clean Air Act, which will include a plan to reduce, by a specific date, the emissions that cause acid rain. DOE experienced difficulties in negotiating cooperative agreements with round-one project sponsors, which delayed completing agreements for five projects and resulted in the termination of negotiations for three projects. One of the main problems was that project sponsors had difficulty in completing financial and other business arrangements to fund their share of project costs. Negotiations were also delayed because of (1) sponsors' reluctance to agree to repay the federal share of project costs should the technology become commercialized and (2) sponsors' and other project participants' reluctance to release proprietary data to DOE. Further, DOE headquarters review and approval process to ensure negotiation consistency added time to the agreement formalization process. Although DOE made changes for round two of the program, federal repayment requirements and proprietary data rights could continue to cause delays in completing agreements with project sponsors. Seven of the nine funded round-one projects are not progressing as planned because of equipment failure, delays in obtaining equipment, project financing problems, and delays in obtaining permits. DOE said it is too early to tell whether the slippage will affect the timing of the commercial availability of the clean coal technologies. The CCT program can play an important role in reducing emissions from fossil fuel-fired power plants. The new administration has indicated its commitment to full funding of the program. Enactment of legislation that prescribes stringent deadlines and/or reduced levels of emissions to control acid rain could affect the program's potential effectiveness by diverting investment from emerging clean coal technologies into available conventional technologies. On the other hand, enactment of

  14. Food claims and nutrition facts of commercial infant foods.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Koo, Yu-Chin; Chang, Jung-Su; Chen, Yi Chun

    2018-01-01

    Composition claim, nutrition claim and health claim are often found on the commercial complementary food packaging. The introduction of complementary foods (CFs) to infants is a turning point in the development of their eating behavior, and their commercial use for Taiwanese infants is growing. In Taiwan, lots of the advertisements for CFs employed health or nutrition claims to promote the products, but the actual nutritional content of these CFs is not clear. The aim of this study was to compare the food claims of commercial complementary food products with their actual nutrition facts. A sample of 363 commercial CFs was collected from websites, local supermarkets, and other food stores, and their nutrition-related claims were classified into composition, nutrition, and health categories. Although the World Health Organization recommends that infants should be exclusively breastfed for the first 6 months, 48.2% of the commercial CFs were targeted at infants younger than 6 months. Therefore, marketing regulations should be implemented to curb early weaning as a result of products targeted at infants younger than 6 months. More than 50% of Taiwanese commercial CFs have high sugar content and more than 20% were high in sodium. Products with health claims, such as "provides good nutrition to children" or "improves appetite," have higher sodium or sugar content than do those without such claims. Moreover, products with calcium or iron content claims did not contain more calcium or iron than products without such claims. Additionally, a significantly greater proportion of the products with "no added sugar" claims were classified as having high sugar content as compared to those without such claims. Parents cannot choose the healthiest food products for their children by simply focusing on food claims. Government should regulate the labeling of nutrition facts and food claims for foods targeted at infants younger than 12 months.

  15. On the beginnings of cinema historiography: the architecture of a modern commercial activity

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Andrés Ávila Gómez

    2015-12-01

    Full Text Available This article outlines a structured critical reflection of Ben Hall´s analysis in his The Best Remaining Seats. The Golden Age of the Movie Palace. When it was published in 1961, this article progressively provoked interest in commercial architecture. Its mutations foretold its own disappearance, in the ways that were known at that time: it was architecture for cinematographic exhibition. Beginning with the identification of the main historic elements that are suggested by Hall, this analysis seeks to establish some of the continuities or lack of continuities that they subsequently have in renowned researchers’ written works on the ever-changing cinema architecture.

  16. Physicochemical state of the nanotopographic surface of commercially pure titanium following anodization-hydrothermal treatment reveals significantly improved hydrophilicity and surface energy profiles.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Takebe, Jun; Ito, Shigeki; Miura, Shingo; Miyata, Kyohei; Ishibashi, Kanji

    2012-01-01

    A method of coating commercially pure titanium (cpTi) implants with a highly crystalline, thin hydroxyapatite (HA) layer using discharge anodic oxidation followed by hydrothermal treatment (Spark discharged Anodic oxidation treatment ; SA-treated cpTi) has been reported for use in clinical dentistry. We hypothesized that a thin HA layer with high crystallinity and nanostructured anodic titanium oxide film on such SA-treated cpTi implant surfaces might be a crucial function of their surface-specific potential energy. To test this, we analyzed anodic oxide (AO) cpTi and SA-treated cpTi disks by SEM and AFM. Contact angles and surface free energy of each disk surface was measured using FAMAS software. High-magnification SEM and AFM revealed the nanotopographic structure of the anodic titanium oxide film on SA-treated cpTi; however, this was not observed on the AO cpTi surface. The contact angle and surface free energy measurements were also significantly different between AO cpTi and SA-treated cpTi surfaces (Tukey's, P<0.05). These data indicated that the change of physicochemical properties of an anodic titanium oxide film with HA crystals on an SA-treated cpTi surface may play a key role in the phenomenon of osteoconduction during the process of osseointegration. Copyright © 2011 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

  17. Allopurinol Against Progression of Chronic Kidney Disease.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Golmohammadi, Sima; Almasi, Afshin; Manouchehri, M; Omrani, Hamid Reza; Zandkarimi, Mohammad Reza

    2017-07-01

    Hyperuricemia is common in approximately 50% of patients with kidney failure due to decreased uric acid excretion, and it has been recently known as an independent factor in the progression of renal insufficiency. Allopurinol inhibits the production of uric acid. The aim of this study was to evaluate the effect of allopurinol on chronic kidney disease progression. In a clinical trial, patients with stages 3 and 4 of chronic kidney disease were divided into two groups to receive allopurinol, 100 mg, daily and placebo for 12 months. Patients' kidney function and serum uric acid levels were assessed at baseline and 3, 6, and 12 months after initial administration. Subgroups of patients with severe and mild glomerular filtration rate (GFR) impairment (GFR, 15 mL/min/1.73 m2 to 30 mL/min/1.73 m2 and 30 mL/min/1.73 m2 to 60 mL/min/1.73 m2, respectively), were compared between the groups. Serum uric acid levels decreased significantly during after 12 months of allopurinol administration (P = .004). In patients with severe GFR impairment, serum creatinine levels did not decrease significantly and there was no significant increase in GFR, but in those with mild GFR impairment, serum creatinine levels decreased and GFR increase significantly (P kidney disease progression and could be administered with other effective medications for controlling the kidney disease.

  18. Commercial SNF Accident Release Fractions

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    J. Schulz

    2004-11-05

    The purpose of this analysis is to specify and document the total and respirable fractions for radioactive materials that could be potentially released from an accident at the repository involving commercial spent nuclear fuel (SNF) in a dry environment. The total and respirable release fractions are used to support the preclosure licensing basis for the repository. The total release fraction is defined as the fraction of total commercial SNF assembly inventory, typically expressed as an activity inventory (e.g., curies), of a given radionuclide that is released to the environment from a waste form. Radionuclides are released from the inside of breached fuel rods (or pins) and from the detachment of radioactive material (crud) from the outside surfaces of fuel rods and other components of fuel assemblies. The total release fraction accounts for several mechanisms that tend to retain, retard, or diminish the amount of radionuclides that are available for transport to dose receptors or otherwise can be shown to reduce exposure of receptors to radiological releases. The total release fraction includes a fraction of airborne material that is respirable and could result in inhalation doses; this subset of the total release fraction is referred to as the respirable release fraction. Accidents may involve waste forms characterized as: (1) bare unconfined intact fuel assemblies, (2) confined intact fuel assemblies, or (3) canistered failed commercial SNF. Confined intact commercial SNF assemblies at the repository are contained in shipping casks, canisters, or waste packages. Four categories of failed commercial SNF are identified: (1) mechanically and cladding-penetration damaged commercial SNF, (2) consolidated/reconstituted assemblies, (3) fuel rods, pieces, and debris, and (4) nonfuel components. It is assumed that failed commercial SNF is placed into waste packages with a mesh screen at each end (CRWMS M&O 1999). In contrast to bare unconfined fuel assemblies, the

  19. Commercial SNF Accident Release Fractions

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Schulz, J.

    2004-01-01

    The purpose of this analysis is to specify and document the total and respirable fractions for radioactive materials that could be potentially released from an accident at the repository involving commercial spent nuclear fuel (SNF) in a dry environment. The total and respirable release fractions are used to support the preclosure licensing basis for the repository. The total release fraction is defined as the fraction of total commercial SNF assembly inventory, typically expressed as an activity inventory (e.g., curies), of a given radionuclide that is released to the environment from a waste form. Radionuclides are released from the inside of breached fuel rods (or pins) and from the detachment of radioactive material (crud) from the outside surfaces of fuel rods and other components of fuel assemblies. The total release fraction accounts for several mechanisms that tend to retain, retard, or diminish the amount of radionuclides that are available for transport to dose receptors or otherwise can be shown to reduce exposure of receptors to radiological releases. The total release fraction includes a fraction of airborne material that is respirable and could result in inhalation doses; this subset of the total release fraction is referred to as the respirable release fraction. Accidents may involve waste forms characterized as: (1) bare unconfined intact fuel assemblies, (2) confined intact fuel assemblies, or (3) canistered failed commercial SNF. Confined intact commercial SNF assemblies at the repository are contained in shipping casks, canisters, or waste packages. Four categories of failed commercial SNF are identified: (1) mechanically and cladding-penetration damaged commercial SNF, (2) consolidated/reconstituted assemblies, (3) fuel rods, pieces, and debris, and (4) nonfuel components. It is assumed that failed commercial SNF is placed into waste packages with a mesh screen at each end (CRWMS M andO 1999). In contrast to bare unconfined fuel assemblies, the

  20. 76 FR 60474 - Commercial Item Handbook

    Science.gov (United States)

    2011-09-29

    ... DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE Defense Acquisition Regulations System Commercial Item Handbook AGENCY.... SUMMARY: DoD has updated its Commercial Item Handbook. The purpose of the Handbook is to help acquisition personnel develop sound business strategies for procuring commercial items. DoD is seeking industry input on...

  1. 32 CFR 37.1250 - Commercial firm.

    Science.gov (United States)

    2010-07-01

    ... 32 National Defense 1 2010-07-01 2010-07-01 false Commercial firm. 37.1250 Section 37.1250... REGULATIONS TECHNOLOGY INVESTMENT AGREEMENTS Definitions of Terms Used in This Part § 37.1250 Commercial firm... does a substantial portion of its business in the commercial marketplace. ...

  2. Commercialization of a DOE Laboratory

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Stephenson, Barry A.

    2008-01-01

    On April 1, 1998, Materials and Chemistry Laboratory, Inc. (MCLinc) began business as an employee-owned, commercial, applied research laboratory offering services to both government and commercial clients. The laboratory had previously been a support laboratory to DoE's gaseous diffusion plant in Oak Ridge (K-25). When uranium enrichment was halted at the site, the laboratory was expanded to as an environmental demonstration center and served from 1992 until 1997 as a DOE Environmental User Facility. In 1997, after the laboratory was declared surplus, it was made available to the employee group who operated the laboratory for DOE as a government-owned, contractor-operated facility. This paper describes briefly the process of establishing the business. Attributes that contributed to the success of MCLinc are described. Some attention is given to lessons learned and to changes that could facilitate future attempts to make similar transitions. Lessons learnt: as with any business venture, operation over time has revealed that some actions taken by the laboratory founders have contributed to its successful operation while others were not so successful. Observations are offered in hopes that lessons learned may suggest actions that will facilitate future attempts to make similar transitions. First, the decision to vest significant ownership of the business in the core group of professionals operating the business is key to its success. Employee-owners of the laboratory have consistently provided a high level of service to its customers while conducting business in a cost-efficient manner. Secondly, an early decision to provide business support services in-house rather than purchasing them from support contractors on site have proven cost-effective. Laboratory employees do multiple tasks and perform overhead tasks in addition to their chargeable technical responsibilities. Thirdly, assessment of technical capabilities in view of market needs and a decision to offer these

  3. BANKING SYSTEM STABILITY: COMMERCIAL AND CO-OPERATIVE BANKS

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Dumitru-Cristian OANEA

    2014-04-01

    Full Text Available Commercial banks and co-operative banks are credit institutions, but there are some differences between the main operations proceeded by each of them. Based on these specific characteristics, we want to identify the manner in which financial crisis affected their activity. As we all know, the financial crisis had a major impact in the United States, the “natal” country of the crisis, because great banks such as Lehman Brothers or Merrill Lynch have bankrupted. Even if the Romanian banking system was not affected by such catastrophic situations, surely the financial crisis had a significant impact on it. This topic is worth to be analysed, because we would be able to identify the risk differences between these two types of business: commercial banks versus co-operative banks.

  4. Control of grapevine wood fungi in commercial nurseries

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    C. Rego

    2009-05-01

    Full Text Available Previous surveys conducted in commercial nurseries found that different wood fungi, namely Cylindrocarpon spp., Botryosphaeriaceae, Phomopsis viticola and Phaeomoniella chlamydospora infect grapevine cuttings. Two field trials were carried out to evaluate the effectiveness of cyprodinil + fludioxonil, pyraclostrobin + metiram, fludioxonil and cyprodinil to prevent or reduce natural infections caused by such fungi. Rootstock and scion cuttings were soaked in fungicidal suspensions for 50 min prior to grafting. After callusing, the grafted cuttings were planted in two commercial field nurseries with and without a previous history of grapevine cultivation. After nine months in the nursery, the plants were uprooted and analysed for the incidence and severity of the wood fungi. Plants uprooted from the field without a previous history of grapevine cultivation were generally less strongly infected by wood fungi. Under this condition, only the mixture cyprodinil + fludioxonil simultaneously reduced the incidence of Cylindrocarpon and Botryosphaeriaceae fungi, as well as the severity of Cylindrocarpon infections. Treatments did not produce significant differences in the incidence and severity of P. viticola, and Pa. chlamydospora. For plants grown in the field with a grapevine history, all fungicides except cyprodinil significantly reduced the incidence and severity of Cylindrocarpon fungi. Also, the incidence and severity of Botryosphaeriaceae pathogens were significantly decreased both by cyprodinil + fludioxonil and by cyprodinil. No significant differences were noticed for P. viticola incidence and severity, and Pa. chlamydospora was not detected again. These results suggest that the practice of soaking grapevine cuttings in selected fungicides prior to grafting significantly reduces Cylindrocarpon spp. and Botryosphaeriaceae infections, thus improving the quality of planting material.

  5. Enforcement actions: Significant actions resolved: Quarterly progress report, July--September 1988

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    1988-12-01

    This compilation summarizes significant enforcement actions that have been resolved during one quarterly period (July--September 1988) and includes copies of letters, Notices, and Orders sent by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission to licensees with respect to these enforcement actions. It is anticipated that the information in this publication will be widely disseminated to managers and employees engaged in activities licensed by the NRC, so that actions can be taken to improve safety by avoiding future violations similar to those described in this publication

  6. Enforcement actions: Significant actions resolved: Quarterly progress report, October--December 1988

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    1989-02-01

    This compilation summarizes significant enforcement actions that have been resolved during one quarterly period (October--December 1988) and includes copies of letters, Notices, and Orders sent by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission to licensees with respect to these enforcement actions. It is anticipated that the information in this publication will be widely disseminated to managers and employees engaged in activities licensed by the NRC, so that actions can be taken to improve safety by avoiding future violations similar to those described in this publication

  7. Enforcement actions: Significant actions resolved: Quarterly progress report, April-June 1987

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    1987-08-01

    This compilation summarizes significant enforcement actions that have been resolved during one quarterly period (April-June 1987) and includes copies of letters, Notices, and Orders sent by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission to licensees with respect to these enforcement actions. It is anticipated that the information in this publication will be widely disseminated to managers and employees engaged in activities licensed by the NRC, so that actions can be taken to improve safety by avoiding future violations similar to those described in this publication

  8. Enforcement actions: Significant actions resolved: Quarterly progress report, April--June 1988

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    1988-08-01

    This compilation summarizes significant enforcement actions that have been resolved during one quarterly period (April--June 1988) and includes copies of letters, Notices, and Orders sent by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission to licensees with respect to these enforcement actions. It is anticipated that the information in this publication will be widely disseminated to managers and employees engaged in activities licensed by the NRC, so that actions can be taken to improve safety by avoiding future violations similar to those described in this publication

  9. Enforcement actions: Significant actions resolved: Quarterly progress report, July-September 1987

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    1987-12-01

    This compilation summarizes significant enforcement actions that have been resolved during one quarterly period (July-September 1987) and includes copies of letters, Notices, and Orders sent by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission to licensees with respect to these enforcement actions. It is anticipated that the information in this publication will be widely disseminated to managers and employees engaged in activities licensed by the NRC, so that actions can be taken to improve safety by avoiding future violations similar to those described in this publication

  10. Enforcement actions: Significant actions resolved: Quarterly progress report, January-March 1988

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    1988-06-01

    This compilation summarizes significant enforcement actions that have been resolved during one quarterly period (January-March 1988) and includes copies of letters, Notices, and Orders sent by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission to licensees with respect to these enforcement actions. It is anticipated that the information in this publication will be widely disseminated to managers and employees engaged in activities licensed by the NRC, so that actions can be taken to improve safety by avoiding future violations similar to those described in this publication

  11. Models and correlations of the DEBRIS Late-Phase Melt Progression Model

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Schmidt, R.C.; Gasser, R.D.

    1997-09-01

    The DEBRIS Late Phase Melt Progression Model is an assembly of models, embodied in a computer code, which is designed to treat late-phase melt progression in dry rubble (or debris) regions that can form as a consequence of a severe core uncover accident in a commercial light water nuclear reactor. The approach is fully two-dimensional, and incorporates a porous medium modeling framework together with conservation and constitutive relationships to simulate the time-dependent evolution of such regions as various physical processes act upon the materials. The objective of the code is to accurately model these processes so that the late-phase melt progression that would occur in different hypothetical severe nuclear reactor accidents can be better understood and characterized. In this report the models and correlations incorporated and used within the current version of DEBRIS are described. These include the global conservation equations solved, heat transfer and fission heating models, melting and refreezing models (including material interactions), liquid and solid relocation models, gas flow and pressure field models, and the temperature and compositionally dependent material properties employed. The specific models described here have been used in the experiment design analysis of the Phebus FPT-4 debris-bed fission-product release experiment. An earlier DEBRIS code version was used to analyze the MP-1 and MP-2 late-phase melt progression experiments conducted at Sandia National Laboratories for the US Nuclear Regulatory Commission

  12. 2011 Annual Progress Report: DOE Hydrogen and Fuel Cells Program (Book)

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    2011-11-01

    In the past year, the DOE Hydrogen and Fuel Cells Program (the Program) made substantial progress toward its goals and objectives. The Program has conducted comprehensive and focused efforts to enable the widespread commercialization of hydrogen and fuel cell technologies in diverse sectors of the economy. With emphasis on applications that will effectively strengthen our nation's energy security and improve our stewardship of the environment, the Program engages in research, development, and demonstration of critical improvements in the technologies. Highlights of the Program's accomplishments can be found in the sub-program chapters of this report.

  13. Noise Annoyance Produced by Commercial Vehicles Transit on Rumble Strips

    Science.gov (United States)

    Zaiton, Haron; Khairulzan, Yahya; Nadirah, Darus; Nordiana, Mashros; Azril, Hezmi Muhammad; Samah Rosiah, Abu; Mutalif, Abdul Hameed Abdul; Asyraf, Norudin Wan Mohammad; Habab, Abd Halil Muhammad; Zanariah, Jahya; Hanifi, Othman Mohd

    2018-03-01

    This paper reports on research examining the extent of noise annoyance affecting residents within the vicinity of installation of two types of transverse rumble strips (TRS), namely Middle Overlapped (MO) and Multilayer Overlapping (MLO). In order to assess the noise annoyance in the area, measurements were taken at 7.5m from centre of road with TRS installation using single vehicle test to determine the extent of changes of sound level indices and sound spectrum. Two light and two medium weight commercial vehicles were used. Indicators LAeq, LAFmax, LAImax, LAIeq, and LASmax were used to determine impulsivity that led to noise annoyance. The results showed that, at 30 km/h, all commercial vehicles considered in this study that transited on MO produced impulsive noise, while only light commercial vehicles caused noise annoyance when they transited on MLO. The research also analysed the extent of low-frequency noise and found a significant low-frequency component, which indicated that noise annoyance might arise from the hitting of MO and MLO by the commercial vehicles. For night-time related annoyance, it was suggested that an additional weighting factor could be added to the average A-weighted value during night-time.

  14. Solar photochemistry - twenty years of progress, what`s been accomplished, and where does it lead?

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Blake, D M

    1995-01-01

    It has been more than 20 years since the first oil embargo. That event created an awareness of the need for alternative sources of energy and renewed interest in combining sunlight and chemistry to produce the chemicals and materials required by industry. This paper will review approaches that have been taken, progress that has been made, and give some projections for the near and longer term prospects for commercialization of solar photochemistry.

  15. Financial Health of a Commercial Insurance Company and its Coherences

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Svatopluk Nečas

    2016-05-01

    Full Text Available Purpose of the article: The main purpose of the article is to define the term “financial health of a commercial insurance company” and identify the factors that influence management and its economic results of a commercial insurance company. The above mentioned term will be faced with other similar terms such as financial stability, financial strength, solvency, liquidity or profitability (always with emphasis on the insurance sector. Related to this purpose, this hypothesis is formulated: “Financial health of a commercial insurance company can be identified in the long perspective with the term financial stability and as its synonym the concept of solvency can be stated.” Methodology/methods: The methods of description, analysis, deduction and induction will be used in the article. The research part is based on a qualitative basis. It combines three methods of qualitative research: interviews with experts, a structured interview with open questions, a questionnaire with open questions. Its subject is a managed conversation with leading experts in the field of insurance and related branches, who answered questions related to the topic. Evaluation of interviews was done by method of interview analysis, respectively thematic analysis and subsequent synthesis based on respondents’ answers. The synthesis is used as a method to gain new knowledge. The conclusions are the basis for discussion for the theory completion in the case of the term mentioned above and for statements to other contexts that are defined in the objectives of the article. Synthetic approach is applied in the formulation of conclusions of the research. Significant findings for the theory are obtained by abstraction, as derived from observations of the issues, i.e. financial health of a commercial insurance company. The evaluation also includes a summary of significant matters and it reflects the opinion of the author devised throughout literature and based on interviews

  16. Reducing greenhouse gas emissions in the commercial and industrial sectors in British Columbia: Technical/economic potential, market barriers, and strategies for success

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Boudreau, K.

    2000-05-01

    According to current forecasts, greenhouse gas emissions from energy consumption by the commercial and industrial sector will increase from 11,000 kilotonnes to 16,000 kilotons between 1990 and 2015. During the same period electricity generated in British Columbia from fossil fuel combustion will have increased from five per cent to 26 per cent. Therefore, to reduce greenhouse gas emissions it will be imperative to find ways of significantly reducing the consumption of electricity, natural gas and petroleum products in both the commercial and industrial sectors. Increased application of energy conservation practices, energy efficiency improvements, fuel switching and the increased use of renewable energy sources come to mind as the most appropriate strategies to be considered, despite formidable barriers to implementation. Despite the existence of barriers, some progress is being made as indicated by codes and standards, financial incentives, educational and public awareness campaigns, and research and development programs. This report examines the barriers, the measures that have already been implemented to combat greenhouse gas emissions and the economic and environmental benefits that will accrue from these and other measures currently under development. The beneficial impact of increased investment in greenhouse gas emission reduction technologies on employment is emphasized. 24 refs., tabs., figs

  17. Progress on development of nuclear power in Japan

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Anon.

    2000-01-01

    Since three Laws on the nuclear power were published 45 years has passed. Now, development on nuclear power in Japan is at an emergent state. In Japan, 51 units of commercial nuclear reactors with 44.917 GW are in operation, occupy about 37% of total electric power generation, and is positioned at an essential basic energy source supporting economical society in Japan. However, an accident occurred at Tokai Works of the JCO Co., Ltd., one of the uranium reconversion company, on September 30, 1999, was the first critical accident in Japan, and became the worst case in history on development of nuclear power in Japan, because of forming three heavy radiation disabled persons (One of them was dead) in its operators. This was a big crisis with relation to existence on development of nuclear power in Japan, by which anxiety and distrust of the Japanese against the nuclear power were amplified rapidly. On the other side, for Japan short in energy sources and of a big energy consumption, in order to intend for a long term to carry out energy security, global environmental conservation, and sustainable maintenance of essential growth, it remains to be one of important optional methods to further promote nuclear power generation and to establish nuclear fuel cycle. Here were described on progress on peaceful applications of nuclear power in Japan, progress on the field of nuclear power in Japan (from 1955 to 1999), progress on Tokai nuclear power station, introduction of nuclear power generation and effort on its domestic production. (G.K.)

  18. 48 CFR 852.203-70 - Commercial advertising.

    Science.gov (United States)

    2010-10-01

    ... 48 Federal Acquisition Regulations System 5 2010-10-01 2010-10-01 false Commercial advertising... Commercial advertising. As prescribed in 803.570-2, insert the following clause: Commercial Advertising (JAN... solicitation, he/she will not advertise the award of the contract in his/her commercial advertising in such a...

  19. Estimation of Radiative Efficiency of Chemicals with Potentially Significant Global Warming Potential

    Data.gov (United States)

    U.S. Environmental Protection Agency — The set of commercially available chemical substances in commerce that may have significant global warming potential (GWP) is not well defined. Although there are...

  20. Weathering durability of commercial polymeric coatings tested by positron annihilation spectroscopy

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Chen, H.; Peng, Q.; Huang, Y.Y.; Zhang, R.; Li, Y.; Zhang, J.; Wu, Y.C.; Richardson, J.R.; Sandreczki, T.C.; Jean, Y.C.

    2003-01-01

    A series of commercial coatings were prepared according to the industrial specifications and were exposed to Florida natural weathering and controlled UVA irradiation. The Doppler broadening energy spectra (DBES) of positron annihilation were measured as a function of incident positron energy at different periods of weathering. A significant decrease in the S parameter was observed and it was used as an indicator to test coating durability in micro-scale. Application to weathering durability of commercial polymeric coatings under natural weathering and controlled UVA irradiation is investigated by using the S parameter from the DBES

  1. Building a progressive vertical integration

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Charette, D.

    2008-01-01

    AAER Inc. is a Quebec-based company that manufactures turbines using proven European designs. This presentation discussed the company's business model. The company places an emphasis on identifying strategic and key components currently available for its turbines. Market analyses are performed in order to determine ideal suppliers and define business strategies and needs. The company invests in long-term relationships with its suppliers. Business partners for AAER are of a similar size and have a mutual understanding and respect for the company's business practices. Long-term agreements with suppliers are signed in order to ensure reliability and control over costs. Progressive vertical integration has been achieved by progressively manufacturing key components and integrating a North American supply chain. The company's secure supply chain and progressive vertical integration has significantly reduced financial costs and provided better quality control. It was concluded that vertical integration has also allowed AAER to provide better customer service and reduce transportation costs. tabs., figs

  2. Progress and challenges in improving the nutritional quality of rice (Oryza sativa L.).

    Science.gov (United States)

    Birla, Deep Shikha; Malik, Kapil; Sainger, Manish; Chaudhary, Darshna; Jaiwal, Ranjana; Jaiwal, Pawan K

    2017-07-24

    Rice is a staple food for more than 3 billion people in more than 100 countries of the world but ironically it is deficient in many bioavailable vitamins, minerals, essential amino- and fatty-acids and phytochemicals that prevent chronic diseases like type 2 diabetes, heart disease, cancers, and obesity. To enhance the nutritional and other quality aspects of rice, a better understanding of the regulation of the processes involved in the synthesis, uptake, transport, and metabolism of macro-(starch, seed storage protein and lipid) and micronutrients (vitamins, minerals and phytochemicals) is required. With the publication of high quality genomic sequence of rice, significant progress has been made in identification, isolation, and characterization of novel genes and their regulation for the nutritional and quality enhancement of rice. During the last decade, numerous efforts have been made to refine the nutritional and other quality traits either by using the traditional breeding with high through put technologies such as marker assisted selection and breeding, or by adopting the transgenic approach. A significant improvement in vitamins (A, folate, and E), mineral (iron), essential amino acid (lysine), and flavonoids levels has been achieved in the edible part of rice, i.e., endosperm (biofortification) to meet the daily dietary allowance. However, studies on bioavailability and allergenicity on biofortified rice are still required. Despite the numerous efforts, the commercialization of biofortified rice has not yet been achieved. The present review summarizes the progress and challenges of genetic engineering and/or metabolic engineering technologies to improve rice grain quality, and presents the future prospects in developing nutrient dense rice to save the everincreasing population, that depends solely on rice as the staple food, from widespread nutritional deficiencies.

  3. REGOSARC: Regorafenib versus placebo in doxorubicin-refractory soft-tissue sarcoma-A quality-adjusted time without symptoms of progression or toxicity analysis.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Berry, Vincent; Basson, Laurent; Bogart, Emilie; Mir, Olivier; Blay, Jean-Yves; Italiano, Antoine; Bertucci, François; Chevreau, Christine; Clisant-Delaine, Stéphanie; Liegl-Antzager, Bernadette; Tresch-Bruneel, Emmanuelle; Wallet, Jennifer; Taieb, Sophie; Decoupigny, Emilie; Le Cesne, Axel; Brodowicz, Thomas; Penel, Nicolas

    2017-06-15

    In a placebo-controlled, randomized phase 2 trial (ClinicalTrials.gov identifier NCT01900743), regorafenib improved progression-free survival (PFS) for patients with doxorubicin-pretreated advanced nonadipocytic sarcoma. A quality-adjusted time without symptoms of progression or toxicity (Q-TWiST) post hoc exploratory analysis was applied to provide an integrated measure of its clinical benefit. In the base-case analysis, each patient's overall survival (OS) was partitioned into 3 mutually exclusive health states: the time with a grade 3 or 4 adverse event (TOX), the time without symptoms of disease or grade 3 or 4 toxicity from treatment, and the time after tumor progression or relapse. The time spent in each state was weighted with a health-state utility associated with that state and was summed to calculate the Q-TWiST. The stability of the base-case analysis was explored with several sensitivity analyses. In nonadipocytic sarcoma, the PFS was (4.0 months [2.6-5.5 months] with regorafenib vs 1.0 month [0.9-1.8 months] with a placebo; hazard ratio, 0.36 [0.25-0.53]; P regorafenib and 9.0 months (6.8-12.5 months) with a placebo (hazard ratio, 0.67 [0.44-1.02]). With the classic definition of TOX (including all grade 3 and 4 clinical adverse events), the Q-TWiSTs were 8.0 months (7.0-9.0 months) with regorafenib and 5.7 months (4.9-6.4 months) with a placebo (P regorafenib significantly improved quality-adjusted survival in comparison with a placebo. Cancer 2017;123:2294-2302. © 2017 The Authors. Cancer published by Wiley Periodicals, Inc. on behalf of American Cancer Society. This is an open access article under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution NonCommercial License, which permits use, distribution and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited and is not used for commercial purposes. © 2017 American Cancer Society.

  4. 12 CFR 541.5 - Commercial paper.

    Science.gov (United States)

    2010-01-01

    ... 12 Banks and Banking 5 2010-01-01 2010-01-01 false Commercial paper. 541.5 Section 541.5 Banks and Banking OFFICE OF THRIFT SUPERVISION, DEPARTMENT OF THE TREASURY DEFINITIONS FOR REGULATIONS AFFECTING FEDERAL SAVINGS ASSOCIATIONS § 541.5 Commercial paper. The term commercial paper means any note, draft, or...

  5. A review on primary progressive aphasia

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Gabriel C Léger

    2007-01-01

    Full Text Available Gabriel C Léger1,2, Nancy Johnson31Neurology Service, Hôtel-Dieu du Centre Hospitalier de l’Univertité de Montréal, Montréal, Québec, Canada; 2Faculty of Medicine, Université de Montréal, Montréal, Québec, Canada; 3Cognitive Neurology and Alzheimer’s Disease Center, Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Science, Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine, Chicago, IL, USAAbstract: Primary progressive aphasia (PPA is a neurodegenerative disease of insidious onset presenting with progressive isolated loss of language function, without significant impairment in other cognitive domains. Current diagnostic criteria require the language dysfunction to remain isolated for at least two years, and to remain the salient feature as the disease progresses, usually to involve other domains such as behavior, executive functions, and judgment. Although PPA in its early stages can usually be differentiated from probable Alzheimer’s disease (PRAD and the behavioral variant of frontotemporal lobar degeneration by the absence of significant changes in memory and behavior, and the preservation of activities daily living, progression of the disease often leads to deficits more consistent with the latter. Underlying etiologies remain heterogeneous: the neuropathological characteristics associated with frontotemporal lobar degeneration, cortocobasal degeneration, and motor neuron disease are usually found. There is a strong genetic susceptibility with affliction of first-degree relatives with similar disease in up to 40 to 50% in some series. Pathogenic mutations in genes coding for the proteins tau and progranulin have been isolated. These are leading to a better understanding of the neuropathological mechanisms and hopefully targeted disease-modifying therapy. Current therapy is limited to improving mood symptoms and targeting behavior changes as they develop. Referral to specialized centers where speech therapy, counseling, and education

  6. The effects of ionizing radiation on commercial power MOSFETs operated at cryogenic temperatures

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Johnson, G.H.; Kemp, W.T.; Ackermann, M.R.; Pugh, R.D.; Schrimpf, R.D.; Galloway, K.F.

    1994-01-01

    This is the first report of commercial n- and p-channel power MOSFETs exposed to ionizing radiation while operating in a cryogenic environment. The transistors were exposed to low energy x-rays while placed in a liquid nitrogen-cooled dewar. Results demonstrate significant performance and survivability advantages for space-borne power MOSFETs operated at cryogenic temperatures. The key advantages for low-temperature operation of power MOSFET's in an ionizing radiation environment are: (1) steeper subthreshold current slope before and after irradiation; (2) lower off-state leakage currents before and after irradiation; and (3) larger prerad threshold voltage for n-channel devices. The first two points are also beneficial for devices that are not irradiated, but the advantages are more significant in radiation environments. The third point is only an advantage for commercial devices operated in radiation environments. Results also demonstrate that commercial off-the-shelf power MOSFETs can be used for low-temperature operations in a limited total dose environment (i.e., many space applications)

  7. Risk of progression in macula-on rhegmatogenous retinal detachment.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Callizo, Josep; Pfeiffer, Sebastian; Lahme, Eva; van Oterendorp, Christian; Khattab, Mohammed; Bemme, Sebastian; Kulanga, Miroslav; Hoerauf, Hans; Feltgen, Nicolas

    2017-08-01

    To identify factors that may lead to a rapid progression in macula-on rhegmatogenous retinal detachment (RRD), in particular, those that may lead to macular involvement. Observational, prospective, single-center study. Patients referred for surgery due to primary rhegmatogenous retinal detachment with the macula on between 2009 and 2013 were included. Relevant factors analyzed included age, time delay until surgery, lens status, myopia, the detachment's location and configuration as well as number, size and type of retinal breaks. Eyes underwent optical coherence tomography to detect macular detachment. A multivariate analysis was performed to investigate the effect of several factors in the progression of retinal detachment. A total of 116 eyes of 116 patients were included. Mean time delay between admission and surgery was 1.8 ± 1.4 days. Progression was observed in 19.8% of the eyes. Of those, 47.8% presented macular detachment. Ten of the 11 (90.9%) eyes presenting progression involving the macula also exhibited a bullous configuration, which was the only parameter that correlated significantly with detachment progression in patients with (p = 0.0036) and without (p = 0.0014) macular involvement. For the first time in a prospective trial, a bullous configuration was found to be a highly significant predictor for progression in macula-on detachments. Our data support prompt surgery in patients diagnosed with bullous macula-on RRD.

  8. The Relation between the Romanian Commercial Banking Companies and the Corporate Social Responsibility

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Laura Mureşan

    2009-12-01

    Full Text Available The relatively recent legal regulation regarding the field of the banking service consumer protection has been determined by the abusive commercial activity of the commercial banking companies. If the commercial banking companies had been aware of the need to comply with certain ethical principles in their relation with consumers – having a socially responsible behavior – then these principles would not legally have been sanctioned. That is why we consider that the significant sanctions to which the banks expose themselves at present are a consequence of the flagrant and repeated breach of the ethical principles in the field of consumer protection.

  9. Atom probe tomography of a commercial light emitting diode

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Larson, D J; Prosa, T J; Olson, D; Lawrence, D; Clifton, P H; Kelly, T F; Lefebvre, W

    2013-01-01

    The atomic-scale analysis of a commercial light emitting diode device purchased at retail is demonstrated using a local electrode atom probe. Some of the features are correlated with transmission electron microscopy imaging. Subtle details of the structure that are revealed have potential significance for the design and performance of this device

  10. Shifting closeness: interpersonal effects of personal goal progress.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Fitzsimons, Gráinne M; Fishbach, Ayelet

    2010-04-01

    In this article, we examine how the shifting motivational priority of personal goals affects relationship closeness. We hypothesize that people will draw closer to significant others who are instrumental (vs. noninstrumental) for a goal that has not been progressing well-a goal that is thus high in motivational priority. Once the goal has progressed successfully, we predict that people will cease to draw closer to instrumental others. Five studies support these predictions by showing that the impact of goal progress on reduced preference for instrumental others (Experiment 1) depends on the framing of progress as partial attainment (vs. greater commitment, Experiment 2) and the intention to balance across goals (vs. focus on one goal; Experiments 3-4). We find that moving away from instrumental others post progress is functional, in that it allows for drawing closer to those who are instrumental for alternative goals (Experiment 5).

  11. Commercial Toilets

    Science.gov (United States)

    Whether you are looking to reduce water use in a new facility or replace old, inefficient toilets in commercial restrooms, a WaterSense labeled flushometer-valve toilet is a high-performance, water-efficient option worth considering.

  12. Large-scale distribution of tritium in a commercial product

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Combs, F.; Doda, R.J.

    1979-01-01

    Tritium enters the environment from various sources including nuclear reactor operations, weapons testing, natural production, and from the manufacture, use and ultimate disposal of commercial products containing tritium. A recent commercial application of tritium in the United States of America involves the backlighting of liquid crystal displays (LCD) in digital electronic watches. These watches are distributed through normal commercial channels to the general public. One million curies (MCi) of tritium were distributed in 1977 in this product. This is a significant quantity of tritium compared with power reactor-produced tritium (3MCi yearly) or with naturally produced tritium (6MCi yearly). This is the single largest commercial application involving tritium to date. The final disposition of tritium from large quantities of this product, after its useful life, must be estimated by considering the means of disposal and the possibility of dispersal of tritium concurrent with disposal. The most likely method of final disposition of this product will be disposal in solid refuse; this includes burial in land fills and incineration. Burial in land fills will probably contain the tritium for its effective lifetime, whereas incineration will release all the tritium gas (as the oxide) to the atmosphere. The use and disposal of this product will be studied as part of an environmental study that is at present being prepared for the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission. (author)

  13. The NASA Commercial Crew Program (CCP) Mission Assurance Process

    Science.gov (United States)

    Canfield, Amy

    2016-01-01

    In 2010, NASA established the Commercial Crew Program in order to provide human access to the International Space Station and low earth orbit via the commercial (non-governmental) sector. A particular challenge to NASA has been how to determine the commercial providers transportation system complies with Programmatic safety requirements. The process used in this determination is the Safety Technical Review Board which reviews and approves provider submitted Hazard Reports. One significant product of the review is a set of hazard control verifications. In past NASA programs, 100 percent of these safety critical verifications were typically confirmed by NASA. The traditional Safety and Mission Assurance (SMA) model does not support the nature of the Commercial Crew Program. To that end, NASA SMA is implementing a Risk Based Assurance (RBA) process to determine which hazard control verifications require NASA authentication. Additionally, a Shared Assurance Model is also being developed to efficiently use the available resources to execute the verifications. This paper will describe the evolution of the CCP Mission Assurance process from the beginning of the Program to its current incarnation. Topics to be covered include a short history of the CCP; the development of the Programmatic mission assurance requirements; the current safety review process; a description of the RBA process and its products and ending with a description of the Shared Assurance Model.

  14. Commercial Crew Program and the Safety Technical Review Board

    Science.gov (United States)

    Mullen, Macy

    2016-01-01

    The Commercial Crew Program (CCP) is unique to any other program office at NASA. After the agency suffered devastating budget cuts and the Shuttle Program retired, the U.S. gave up its human spaceflight capabilities. Since 2011 the U.S. has been dependent on Russia to transport American astronauts and cargo to the International Space Station (ISS) and back. NASA adapted and formed CCP, which gives private, domestic, aerospace companies unprecedented reign over America's next ride to space. The program began back in 2010 with 5 companies and is now in the final phase of certification with 2 commercial partners. The Commercial Crew Program is made up of 7 divisions, each working rigorously with the commercial providers to complete the certification phase. One of these 7 divisions is Systems Engineering and Integration (SE&I) which is partly comprised of the Safety Technical Review Board (STRB). The STRB is primarily concerned with mitigating improbable, but catastrophic hazards. It does this by identifying, managing, and tracking these hazards in reports. With the STRB being in SE&I, it significantly contributes to the overall certification of the partners' vehicles. After the partners receive agency certification approval, they will have the capability to provide the U.S. with a reliable, safe, and cost-effective means of human spaceflight and cargo transport to the ISS and back.

  15. A method for studying the development pattern of urban commercial service facilities based on customer reviews from social media

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wang, Y. D.; Jiang, B. T.; Ye, X. Y.

    2016-06-01

    Urbanization is one of the most important human social activities in the 21st century (Chaolin et al., 2012). With an increasing number of people visiting cities, the provision of adequate urban service facilities, including public and commercial service facilities, in locations where people live has become an important guarantee of the success of urbanization. Exploring the commercial service facilities in a specific area of a city can help us understand the progress and trends of urban renewal in the area, provide a quantitative basis for evaluating the rationality of planning implementation, and facilitate an analysis of the effects of different factors on the regional development of a city (Schor et al. 2003). In this paper, we proposed a data processing and analysis method for studying the distribution and development pattern of urban commercial facilities based on customer reviews. In addition, based on road network constraints, we explored the patterns contained in customer reviews data, including patterns for the spatial distribution and spatial-temporal evolution of facilities as well as the number of facilities and degree of satisfaction.

  16. A method for studying the development pattern of urban commercial service facilities based on customer reviews from social media

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Y. D. Wang

    2016-06-01

    Full Text Available Urbanization is one of the most important human social activities in the 21st century (Chaolin et al., 2012. With an increasing number of people visiting cities, the provision of adequate urban service facilities, including public and commercial service facilities, in locations where people live has become an important guarantee of the success of urbanization. Exploring the commercial service facilities in a specific area of a city can help us understand the progress and trends of urban renewal in the area, provide a quantitative basis for evaluating the rationality of planning implementation, and facilitate an analysis of the effects of different factors on the regional development of a city (Schor et al. 2003. In this paper, we proposed a data processing and analysis method for studying the distribution and development pattern of urban commercial facilities based on customer reviews. In addition, based on road network constraints, we explored the patterns contained in customer reviews data, including patterns for the spatial distribution and spatial-temporal evolution of facilities as well as the number of facilities and degree of satisfaction.

  17. 36 CFR 1005.5 - Commercial photography.

    Science.gov (United States)

    2010-07-01

    ... 36 Parks, Forests, and Public Property 3 2010-07-01 2010-07-01 false Commercial photography. 1005.5 Section 1005.5 Parks, Forests, and Public Property PRESIDIO TRUST COMMERCIAL AND PRIVATE OPERATIONS § 1005.5 Commercial photography. (a) Motion pictures, television. Before any motion picture may be filmed or any television production or sound...

  18. 36 CFR 5.5 - Commercial photography.

    Science.gov (United States)

    2010-07-01

    ... 36 Parks, Forests, and Public Property 1 2010-07-01 2010-07-01 false Commercial photography. 5.5 Section 5.5 Parks, Forests, and Public Property NATIONAL PARK SERVICE, DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR COMMERCIAL AND PRIVATE OPERATIONS § 5.5 Commercial photography. (a) Motion pictures, television. Before any motion picture may be filmed or any...

  19. Progression-free survival as a potential surrogate for overall survival in metastatic breast cancer

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Beauchemin C

    2014-06-01

    this study indicate a significant association between PFS/TTP and OS in mBC, which may justify the use of PFS/TTP in the approval for commercialization and reimbursement of new anti-cancer drugs in this cancer setting.Keywords: progression-free survival, time to progression, surrogate endpoint, metastatic breast cancer

  20. Global Trends and Current Status of Commercial Urban Rooftop Farming

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Devi Buehler

    2016-10-01

    Full Text Available The aim of this study was to analyze current practices in commercial urban rooftop farming (URF. In recent years, URF has been experiencing increasing popularity. It is a practice that is well-suited to enhancing food security in cities and reducing the environmental impact that results from long transportation distances that are common in conventional agriculture. To date, most URF initiatives have been motivated by social and educational factors rather than the aim of creating large sustainable food production systems in cities. The commercial operation of urban rooftop farms, should they become profitable, is likely to attract notable private investment, allowing a significant level of high quality urban food production to be achieved. There is a reasonable amount of literature available on urban farming that deals with its potential, and its limitations. However, it does not focus on commercial operations. In contrast to other surveys and theoretical papers, this study of URF focuses on large and commercial operations. The analysis showed that commercial URFs can be grouped into two main types: Firstly, hydroponic systems in greenhouses where mostly leafy greens, tomatoes, and herbs are grown; secondly, soil-based open-air farms that grow a large variety of vegetables. Hydroponics is frequently seen as the key technology for commercial urban food production. While the technology is not in and of itself sustainable, hydroponic farms often make an effort to implement environmentally friendly technologies and methods. However, there is still untapped potential to systemically integrate farms into buildings. The findings of this study identified where future research is needed in order to make URF a widespread sustainable solution.

  1. Intitutional constraints to fusion commercialization

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    1979-10-01

    The major thrust of this report is that the long time frame associated with the development of commercial fusion systems in the context of the commercialization and institutional history of an allied technology, fission-power, suggests that fusion commercialization will not occur without active and broad-based support on the part of the Nation's political leaders. Its key recommendation is that DOE fusion planners devote considerable resources to analytical efforts aimed at determining the need for fusion and the timing of that need, in order to convince policymakers that they need do more than preserve fusion as an option for application at some indefinite point in the future. It is the thesis of the report that, in fact, an act of political vision on the part of the Nation's leaders will be required to accomplish fusion commercialization

  2. This is Commercial Titan Inc.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Van Rensselaer, F. L.; Slovikoski, R. D.; Abels, T. C.

    Out of a quarter-century heritage of eminently successful expendable launch vehicle history with the U.S. government, a commercial launch services enterprise which challenges the corporation as well as the competition has been launched within the Martin Marietta Corporation. This paper is an inside look at the philosophy, structure, and success of the new subsidiary, Commercial Titan Inc., which is taking on its U.S. and foreign rocket-making competitors to win a share of the international communication satellite market as well as the U.S. government commercial launch services market.

  3. A Comparative Analysis between Commercial Banks and Insurance Companies in Bangladesh on the basis of Capital Structure

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Md. Moniruzzaman

    2017-08-01

    Full Text Available This research aims to compare the capital structure of Bangladeshi commercial banks and insurance companies. This research tries to identify how debt-equity mix influences firm performance in banks and insurance companies in Bangladesh. The annual financial statements of 10 commercial banks and 10 insurance Companies were used for this study which covers a period of five (5 years from 2011-2015. The study assesses the capital structure of the commercial banks and insurance companies measured by total debt to equity ratio (DER, total debt to total funds ratio and performance by ROE, ROA, and EPS. Descriptive statistics, t-test have been used to show the differences between commercial banks and insurance companies capital structure and performance. However this study concludes that there is no significant difference between Bank and insurance companies EPS& ROE but there is a significant difference between Bank and insurance company’s D/A ratio, D/E ratio and ROA. We have tried to find out the significances of capital structure on depository and non-depository financial institutions from this study.

  4. Commercialization of new biotechnology: a systematic review of 16 commercial case studies in a novel manufacturing sector.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Paul, Matthew J; Thangaraj, Harry; Ma, Julian K-C

    2015-10-01

    The 1980s and 1990s saw a major expansion of biotechnology into new areas of science including genomics and recombinant technologies. This was coupled to the widespread emergence of academics into the commercial sector as they were encouraged to spin out companies or commercialize their intellectual property. There were many opportunities to raise investment, and extraordinary success stories were prominent across many areas of technology. The field of plant biotechnology for manufacturing recombinant pharmaceuticals (molecular pharming) emerged and was developed in this period. Like other biotechnologies, this was an exciting new development which offered some very obvious benefits and commercial advantages. In particularly, plant molecular pharming represented a highly novel and potentially disruptive manufacturing technology for recombinant proteins. Twenty-five years on, a series of interviews with senior members of sixteen of the most prominent companies involved in the field provides insight into the original drivers for commercialization, strategic thinking and planning behind key commercial decisions and an insider view into the major reasons for commercial success or failure. These observations and recurring themes identified across a number of commercial ventures remain relevant today, as new biotech companies continue to spin out of the world of academia. © 2015 Society for Experimental Biology, Association of Applied Biologists and John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

  5. Commercial incineration demonstration

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Vavruska, J.S.; Borduin, L.C.

    1982-01-01

    Low-level radioactive wastes (LLW) generated by nuclear utilities presently are shipped to commercial burial grounds for disposal. Increasing transportation and disposal costs have caused industry to consider incineration as a cost-effective means of volume reduction of combustible LLW. Repeated inquiries from the nuclear industry regarding the applicability of the Los Alamos controlled air incineration (CAI) design led the DOE to initiate a commercial demonstration program in FY-1980. Development studies and results in support of this program involving ion exchange resin incineration and fission/activation product distributions within the Los Alamos CAI are described

  6. 10 CFR 603.1230 - Commercial firm.

    Science.gov (United States)

    2010-01-01

    ... 10 Energy 4 2010-01-01 2010-01-01 false Commercial firm. 603.1230 Section 603.1230 Energy... Used in this Part § 603.1230 Commercial firm. A for-profit firm or segment of a for-profit firm (e.g., a division or other business unit) that does a substantial portion of its business in the commercial...

  7. Commercial and Institutional Waste

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Christensen, Thomas Højlund; Fruergaard, Thilde

    2011-01-01

    Commercial and institutional waste is primarily from retail (stores), hotels, restaurants, health care (except health risk waste), banks, insurance companies, education, retirement homes, public services and transport. Within some of these sectors, e.g. retail and restaurants, large variations...... are found in terms of which products and services are offered. Available data on unit generation rates and material composition as well as determining factors are discussed in this chapter. The characterizing of commercial and institutional waste is faced with the problem that often only a part of the waste...... is handled in the municipal waste system, where information is easily accessible. An important part of commercial and institutional waste is packaging waste, and enterprises with large quantities of clean paper, cardboard and plastic waste may have their own facilities for baling and storing their waste...

  8. Digital/Commercial (In)visibility

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Leander, Anna

    2017-01-01

    an argument demonstrating specifically how digital and commercial logics characterize the aesthetic, circulatory, and infrastructuring practices re-producing the regime of (in)visibility. It shows that digital/commercial logics are at the heart of the combinatorial marketing of multiple, contradictory images......This article explores one aspect of digital politics, the politics of videos and more spe- cifically of DAESH recruitment videos. It proposes a practice theoretical approach to the politics of DAESH recruitment videos focused on the re-production of regimes of (in)visibility. The article develops...... on the internet. The theoretical and political cost of overlooking these digital and commercial characteristics of DAESH visibility practices are high. It perpetuates misconceptions of how the videos work and what their politics are and it reinforces the digital Orientalism/Occidentalism in which...

  9. Development of new low level radioactive waste disposal sites: A progress report

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Anderson, Robert T.; Antonucci, George J.; Ryan, Michael T.

    1992-01-01

    The status of the development of three new low level radioactive waste disposal facilities for the Central Midwest (Illinois), Southeastern (North Carolina) and Appalachian (Pennsylvania) compacts is presented. These three sites will dispose of about 50-65 percent of the commercial low-level waste (LLW) generated in the U.S. annually. Chem-Nuclear, as developer and proposed operator of all three sites has used a common approach to site development. This approach has been based on their twenty-plus years of operating experience and a standard technical approach. The technology employed is an above-grade, multiple engineered barrier design. The paper also contrasts actual progress at each site with a generalized project schedule. Areas of schedule delays are noted along with the steps being taken to accelerate schedule. Finally, we note that continued progress and timely start-up of operations of these new sites is critical on a national basis. This is due to the possibility of near-term closure of the existing LLW disposal sites. (author)

  10. Evaluation of geothermal energy in Arizona. Arizona geothermal planning/commercialization team. Quarterly topical progress report, July 1-September 30, 1980

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    White, D.H.; Mancini, F.; Goldstone, L.A.; Malysa, L.

    1980-01-01

    Progress is reviewed on the following: area development plans, evaluation of geothermal applications, continued evaluation of geothermal resources, engineering and economic analyses, technical assistance in the state of Arizona, the impact of various growth patterns upon geothermal energy development, and the outreach program. (MHR)

  11. Being everything to anyone: Applicability of thermoacoustic technology in the commercial refrigeration market

    Science.gov (United States)

    Poese, Matthew E.; Smith, Robert W. M.; Garrett, Steven L.

    2005-09-01

    This talk will compare electrodynamically driven thermoacoustic refrigeration technology to some common implementations of low-lift vapor-compression technology. A rudimentary explanation of vapor-compression refrigeration will be presented along with some of the implementation problems faced by refrigeration engineers using compressor-based systems. These problems include oil management, compressor slugging, refrigerant leaks and the environmental impact of refrigerants. Recently, the method of evaluating this environmental impact has been codified to include the direct effects of the refrigerants on global warming as well as the so-called ``indirect'' warming impact of the carbon dioxide released during the generation (at the power plant) of the electrical power consumed by the refrigeration equipment. It is issues like these that generate commercial interest in an alternative refrigeration technology. However, the requirements of a candidate technology for adoption in a mature and risk-averse commercial refrigeration industry are as hard to divine as they are to meet. Also mentioned will be the state of other alternative refrigeration technologies like free-piston Stirling, thermoelectric and magnetocaloric as well as progress using vapor compression technology with alternative refrigerants like hydrocarbons and carbon dioxide.

  12. Commodification and commercial surrogacy.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Arneson, Richard J

    1992-01-01

    ... In this article I shall argue tentatively for the claim that commercial surrogacy should be legally permissible. I am more strongly convinced that a commitment to feminism should not predispose anyone against surrogacy. At least, no arguments offered so far should persuade anyone who is committed to equal rights for women and men and the dismantling of gender-based hierarchies to favor either legal prohibition or moral condemnation of commercial surrogacy.

  13. Unsafe and violent behavior in commercials aired during televised major sporting events.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Tamburro, Robert F; Gordon, Patricia L; D'Apolito, James P; Howard, Scott C

    2004-12-01

    commercials depicting such behavior). The proportion of commercials that contained violent/unsafe behavior for each advertised product was compared with the proportion of such commercials that advertised food or nonalcoholic beverages. Food and nonalcoholic beverage commercials were selected as the reference because they are a well-defined, common category of commercial. Of the 1185 commercials assessed, 14% (n = 165) displayed unsafe behavior and 6% (n = 66) depicted violence. Of the 322 commercial breaks, 158 (49%) contained at least 1 commercial showing unsafe behavior or violence. Sixty-three commercials required review by a third investigator to adjudicate violence or unsafe behavior; 20 of 52 were ultimately judged to portray unsafe behavior, and 4 of 11 were ultimately judged to portray violence. Sporting events differed in the proportion of commercials that showed violence or unsafe behavior. The Super Bowl had the highest proportion of such commercials, and the Masters Golf Tournament had the least (relative risk: 4.3; 95% confidence interval: 1.4-12.5). The Masters Golf Tournament was noteworthy for the complete absence of violent commercials. Only 18% of reviewed commercials advertised movies or television programs, yet these commercials accounted for 86% of all violent commercials. Forty-eight percent of commercials that contained violence were for movies, and an additional 38% were for television programs. Nearly two thirds of all commercials for movies contained violence, whereas 15% of all commercials for television programs contained violence, a rate that increased to 22% when commercials for other sporting events were excluded. Several categories of commercials portrayed unsafe behaviors; commercials for automobiles accounted for the most. In 8 different categories, 10% or more of the commercials depicted unsafe behavior, and 7 were significantly more likely to depict such behavior than a food or beverage commercial. Children who watch televised sports view a

  14. Commercial lumber, round timbers, and ties

    Science.gov (United States)

    David E. Kretschmann

    2010-01-01

    When sawn, a log yields round timber, ties, or lumber of varying quality. This chapter presents a general discussion of grading, standards, and specifications for these commercial products. In a broad sense, commercial lumber is any lumber that is bought or sold in the normal channels of commerce. Commercial lumber may be found in a variety of forms, species, and types...

  15. Clinical progress of human papillomavirus genotypes and their persistent infection in subjects with atypical squamous cells of undetermined significance cytology: Statistical and latent Dirichlet allocation analysis

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kim, Yee Suk; Lee, Sungin; Zong, Nansu; Kahng, Jimin

    2017-01-01

    The present study aimed to investigate differences in prognosis based on human papillomavirus (HPV) infection, persistent infection and genotype variations for patients exhibiting atypical squamous cells of undetermined significance (ASCUS) in their initial Papanicolaou (PAP) test results. A latent Dirichlet allocation (LDA)-based tool was developed that may offer a facilitated means of communication to be employed during patient-doctor consultations. The present study assessed 491 patients (139 HPV-positive and 352 HPV-negative cases) with a PAP test result of ASCUS with a follow-up period ≥2 years. Patients underwent PAP and HPV DNA chip tests between January 2006 and January 2009. The HPV-positive subjects were followed up with at least 2 instances of PAP and HPV DNA chip tests. The most common genotypes observed were HPV-16 (25.9%, 36/139), HPV-52 (14.4%, 20/139), HPV-58 (13.7%, 19/139), HPV-56 (11.5%, 16/139), HPV-51 (9.4%, 13/139) and HPV-18 (8.6%, 12/139). A total of 33.3% (12/36) patients positive for HPV-16 had cervical intraepithelial neoplasia (CIN)2 or a worse result, which was significantly higher than the prevalence of CIN2 of 1.8% (8/455) in patients negative for HPV-16 (Paged ≥51 years (38.7%) than in those aged ≤50 years (20.4%; P=0.036). Progression from persistent infection to CIN2 or worse (19/34, 55.9%) was higher than clearance (0/105, 0.0%; Page and long infection period with a clinical progression of CIN2 or worse. Therefore, LDA results may be presented as explanatory evidence during time-constrained patient-doctor consultations in order to deliver information regarding the patient's status. PMID:28587376

  16. Commercial Function as a Treat to the Monument - 25 Years of Experience in the Commercialization of Monuments in Gdansk, Poland

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ratajczyk – Piatkowska, Elzbieta

    2017-10-01

    The principles of the market economy adopted in Poland in the nineties have significantly touched the resources of immovable monuments. As a result, monuments have become a product of culture subject to the rules of the free market; and state ownership, patronage and decision-making practice has now been replaced by private interest. Practical monument use has also changed with the shift in ownership of objects after privatization and further advances in technology and the economy. Accordingly, the subject of this research addresses the issue of ensuring protection as well as the profitability of monumental objects of heritage under private investment in association with municipal and state ownership. The nineties of the twentieth century in Poland marked a period of rapid revival in trade based on market principles and openness to contemporary global trends in the design of commercial facilities. Thus, commercial function as a new use has been used for the commercialization of the monument. After 25 years of experience, it turns out that this new use may pose a threat to the conditions of monument preservation. The spatial and location specifics of the monument are poorly matched to the organizational form of trade and product range, despite the huge variety of these forms; the result is bankruptcy of the commercial operation and the consequent loss of use for the monument. Unused objects will eventually be destroyed. Studies have shown that functions supporting the creation of culture, especially museums, are optimal for the use of monuments. The museum function provides sufficiently high prestige and spatial stability, and allows for the maximum preservation of authentic elements, thus performing an additional role as museum piece.

  17. Haphazard commercialization: a potential threat to sustainable commercial development in metropolitan cities? The case of Lahore

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Nadeem, O.; Hameed, R.

    2005-01-01

    The demand of urban space for commercial development due to unprecedented population growth has surpassed the planned supply delivered by planning agencies in metropolitan cities of Pakistan. As a corollary to that, conversion of residential land use into various types of commercial activities has sprung up particularly along major roads of planned residential areas and arterial roads of cities. These conversions have proceeded, both with and without official consent, largely in a haphazard manner without following a coherent strategy. This has resulted in acute parking problems, reduction in traffic capacity of roads and resultant increase in congestion, energy use, air and noise pollution, and burden on utility services. Permitting conversion of land use in a haphazard manner seems not only a departure from planning principles but also jeopardizing the spatial structure of cities causing serious environmental repercussions. This paper presents evidence to the above observations through a detailed study of the environmental impact of commercial development in Lahore. The study is based on detailed land use, socio-economic, traffic, and parking surveys in carefully selected sample of three major housing schemes variously located in Lahore. The paper argues that weak development control, out-dated master plan, and inappropriate commercialization policies of the Government have lead to unsustainable pattern of commercial development even in planned residential areas. The findings of the study call for formulation of environmentally friendly commercialization policy. This will also involve redefining basic land use allocation standards and improvements in the design considerations so as to promote sustainable development of commercial areas in metropolitan cities. (author)

  18. Diallel analyze of yield and progress of the severity of leaf diseases in maize hybrids in two population density

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Marcos Ventura Faria

    2015-02-01

    Full Text Available Seven commercial maize hybrids (AS1575, 2B688, Penta, GNZ2004, AG8021, Sprint e P30F53 were intercrossed in a complete diallel, excluded reciprocal, obtaining 21 crosses. The 28 treatments were evaluated in two environments characterized by different densities (62,500 and 90,000 plants ha-1, with the aim of selecting the most promising parents for generating base population to obtain lines. Two experiments were carried out in Guarapuava-PR, at randomized block design with three replications. We estimated the general (GCA and specific (SCA combining abilities for yield and disease severity assessed by the area under the common rust (Puccinia sorghi progress curve (AURPC and the area under the leaf spot (Cercospora zeae-maydis progress curve (AULPC. The effects of GCA and SCA were significant for grain yield and diseases severity in both densities, revealing the importance of both additive and non-additive effects. There GCA x densities interaction was significant only for grain yield. Crossings P30F53 x AG8021 and P30F53 x Penta had negative estimates of SCA for AURPC and AULPC on the environments average. Hybrids GNZ 2004 and P30F53 stood out showing positive GCA for grain yield and negative for AURPC and AULPC in both densities and therefore are recommended for generating base populations for obtaining lines adapted for both densities, conventional and denser plantings, given the current trends in management of maize.

  19. The Influence of Televised Food Commercials on Children's Food Choices: Evidence from Ventromedial Prefrontal Cortex Activations.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bruce, Amanda S; Pruitt, Stephen W; Ha, Oh-Ryeong; Cherry, J Bradley C; Smith, Timothy R; Bruce, Jared M; Lim, Seung-Lark

    2016-10-01

    To investigate how food commercials influence children's food choices. Twenty-three children ages 8-14 years provided taste and health ratings for 60 food items. Subsequently, these children were scanned with the use of functional magnetic resonance imaging while making food choices (ie, "eat" or "not eat") after watching food and nonfood television commercials. Our results show that watching food commercials changes the way children consider the importance of taste when making food choices. Children did not use health values for their food choices, indicating children's decisions were largely driven by hedonic, immediate rewards (ie, "tastiness"); however, children placed significantly more importance on taste after watching food commercials compared with nonfood commercials. This change was accompanied by faster decision times during food commercial trials. The ventromedial prefrontal cortex, a reward valuation brain region, showed increased activity during food choices after watching food commercials compared with after watching nonfood commercials. Overall, our results suggest watching food commercials before making food choices may bias children's decisions based solely on taste, and that food marketing may systematically alter the psychological and neurobiologic mechanisms of children's food decisions. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  20. Program Incubation and Commercialization Best Practices Report

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Richardson, Shannon

    2018-04-06

    As a reminder, the primary task of the 4C Program is to increase the commercialization rate of cleantech companies in California. Commercialization, broadly defined, is the innovation continuum of developing and introducing a new product or service into the market. For measurability, the 4C Program defines commercialization as encompassing a startup’s: (a) preparation, (b) incubation, (c) commercial-scale pilot / demonstration, and (d) first customer.

  1. Superconductivity program for electric systems, Superconductivity Technology Center, Los Alamos National Laboratory, annual progress report for fiscal year 1997

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Willis, J.O.; Newnam, B.E. [eds.; Peterson, D.E.

    1999-03-01

    Development of high-temperature superconductors (HTS) has undergone tremendous progress during the past year. Kilometer tape lengths and associated magnets based on BSCCO materials are now commercially available from several industrial partners. Superconducting properties in the exciting YBCO coated conductors continue to be improved over longer lengths. The Superconducting Partnership Initiative (SPI) projects to develop HTS fault current limiters and transmission cables have demonstrated that HTS prototype applications can be produced successfully with properties appropriate for commercial applications. Research and development activities at LANL related to the HTS program for Fiscal Year 1997 are collected in this report. LANL continues to support further development of Bi2223 and Bi2212 tapes in collaboration with American Superconductor Corporation (ASC) and Oxford Superconductivity Technology, Inc. (OSTI), respectively. The tape processing studies involving novel thermal treatments and microstructural characterization have assisted these companies in commercializing these materials. The research on second-generation YBCO-coated conductors produced by pulsed-laser deposition (PLD) over buffer template layers produced by ion beam-assisted deposition (IBAD) continues to lead the world. The applied physics studies of magnetic flux pinning by proton and heavy ion bombardment of BSCCO and YBCO tapes have provided many insights into improving the behavior of these materials in magnetic fields. Sections 4 to 7 of this report contain a list of 29 referred publications and 15 conference abstracts, a list of patent and license activities, and a comprehensive list of collaborative agreements in progress and completed.

  2. Benchmarking Commercial Conformer Ensemble Generators.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Friedrich, Nils-Ole; de Bruyn Kops, Christina; Flachsenberg, Florian; Sommer, Kai; Rarey, Matthias; Kirchmair, Johannes

    2017-11-27

    We assess and compare the performance of eight commercial conformer ensemble generators (ConfGen, ConfGenX, cxcalc, iCon, MOE LowModeMD, MOE Stochastic, MOE Conformation Import, and OMEGA) and one leading free algorithm, the distance geometry algorithm implemented in RDKit. The comparative study is based on a new version of the Platinum Diverse Dataset, a high-quality benchmarking dataset of 2859 protein-bound ligand conformations extracted from the PDB. Differences in the performance of commercial algorithms are much smaller than those observed for free algorithms in our previous study (J. Chem. Inf. 2017, 57, 529-539). For commercial algorithms, the median minimum root-mean-square deviations measured between protein-bound ligand conformations and ensembles of a maximum of 250 conformers are between 0.46 and 0.61 Å. Commercial conformer ensemble generators are characterized by their high robustness, with at least 99% of all input molecules successfully processed and few or even no substantial geometrical errors detectable in their output conformations. The RDKit distance geometry algorithm (with minimization enabled) appears to be a good free alternative since its performance is comparable to that of the midranked commercial algorithms. Based on a statistical analysis, we elaborate on which algorithms to use and how to parametrize them for best performance in different application scenarios.

  3. Investment feasibility tracking: the importance of measuring and tracking the success level of the project during commercialization phase

    Science.gov (United States)

    Saputra, Y. A.; Setyaningtyas, V. E. D.; Latiffianti, E.; Wijaya, S. H.; Ladamay, O. S. A.

    2018-04-01

    Measuring project success level is a challenging activity. This area of works has attracted many researchers to look deeper into the method of measurement, success factor identification, risk management, and many others relevant topics. However, the project management scope is limited until the project handover stage. After a project handover, the control of a project management changes from Project Management Team to the project owner/commercialization team. From an investor’s point of view, the success of a project delivery needs to be followed by the success of commercialization phase. This paper aims to present an approach on how we track and measure the progress and success level of a project investment in the commercialization phase. This is an interesting topic which probably often being forgotten in many practical case. Our proposed concept modify Freeman and Beale concept by estimating the variance between the Planned Net Present Value / Annual Worth (as it is in the Feasibility Study Document) and the Actual Net Present Value / Annual Worth (until the point time of evaluation). The gap will lead us to the next analysis and give us some important information, especially exposing whether our project investment performs better than the planning or underperformed. Some corrective actions can be suggested based on the provided information. Practical cases to exercise the concept is also provided and discussed; one case in a property sector in the middle of commercialization phase, and another case in a Power Plant investment approaching the end of commercialization phase.

  4. Home-made and commercial complementary meals in German infants: results of the DONALD study.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hilbig, A; Foterek, K; Kersting, M; Alexy, U

    2015-12-01

    Infant complementary food can be home-made or bought as ready-to-eat commercial products. The nutrient composition of commercial products is regularised in a European Commission guideline, whereas the preparation of home-made complementary meals is the responsibility of caregivers. In the present study, the composition of commercial and home-made complementary meals as eaten by healthy German infants was compared. Of 8226 complementary meals (74% commercial and 26% home-made) recorded in 1083, 3-day weighed dietary records from 396 participants (6-12 months old) of the German DONALD (DOrtmund Nutritional and Anthropometric Longitudinally Designed) study were analysed. Median energy density (kcal 100 g(-1)) was highest in commercial and home-made cereal-milk meals (89 kcal 100 g(-1)). In home-made savoury and cereal-fruit meals, the energy density was significantly higher compared to their commercial counterparts. Median protein contents were highest in savoury and cereal-milk meals (>2.5 g 100 g(-1)) and dairy-fruit meals (2-4 g 100 g(-1)). Added sugars were found in less than a quarter of meals. Highest median sodium contents were found not only in commercial savoury meals (median 38 mg 100 g(-1)) and vegetable meals (32 mg 100 g(-1)), but also in home-made cereal-milk meals (36 mg 100 g(-1)). Both median fat and iron contents were higher in home-made meals compared to commercial savoury and cereal-fruit meals. With the exception of the higher sodium content in commercial savoury meals for older infants, the lower fat content in commercial savoury and cereal-fruit meals, and the added sugar content in some commercial dairy-fruit meals, a comparison of commercial and home-made complementary meals did not reveal any serious inadequacy. © 2015 The British Dietetic Association Ltd.

  5. FY 2014 Annual Progress Report - Advanced Combustion Engine Research and Development (Book)

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    2014-11-01

    In the past year, the DOE Hydrogen Program (the Program) made substantial progress toward its goals and objectives. The Program has conducted comprehensive and focused efforts to enable the widespread commercialization of hydrogen and fuel cell technologies in diverse sectors of the economy. With emphasis on applications that will effectively strengthen our nation's energy security and improve our stewardship of the environment, the Program engages in research, development, and demonstration of critical improvements in the technologies. Highlights of the Program's accomplishments can be found in the sub-program chapters of this report.

  6. Determinants of Successful Weight Loss After Using a Commercial Web-Based Weight Reduction Program for Six Months: Cohort Study

    OpenAIRE

    Postrach, Elisa; Aspalter, Rosa; Elbelt, Ulf; Koller, Michael; Longin, Rita; Schulzke, J?rg-Dieter; Valentini, Luzia

    2013-01-01

    Background The Internet is widely available and commonly used for health information; therefore, Web-based weight loss programs could provide support to large parts of the population in self-guided weight loss. Previous studies showed that Web-based weight loss interventions can be effective, depending on the quality of the program. The most effective program tools are visual progress charts or tools for the self-monitoring of weight, diet, and exercises. KiloCoach, a commercial program curre...

  7. Progress Toward Heavy Ion IFE

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Meier, W.R.; Logan, B.G.; Waldron, W.L.; Sabbi, G.L.; Callahan-Miller, D.A.; Peterson, P.F.; Goodin, D.T.

    2002-01-01

    Successful development of Heavy Ion Fusion (HIF) will require scientific and technology advances in areas of targets, drivers and chambers. Design work on heavy ion targets indicates that high gain (60-130) may be possible with a -3-6 MJ driver depending on the ability to focus the beams to small spot sizes. Significant improvements have been made on key components of heavy ion drivers, including sources, injectors, insulators and ferromagnetic materials for long-pulse induction accelerator cells, solid-state pulsers, and superconducting quadrupole magnets. The leading chamber concept for HIF is the thick-liquid-wall HYLEE-II design, which uses an array of flibe jets to protect chamber structures from x-ray, debris, and neutron damage. Significant progress has been made in demonstrating the ability to create and control the types of flow needed to form the protective liquid blanket. Progress has also been made on neutron shielding for the final focus magnet arrays with predicted lifetimes now exceeding the life of the power plant. Safety analyses have been completed for the HYLEE-II design using state-of-the-art codes. Work also continues on target fabrication and injection for HE. A target injector experiment capable of > 5 Hz operation has been designed and construction will start in 2002. Methods for mass production of hohlraum targets are being evaluated with small-scale experiments and analyses. Progress in these areas will be reviewed

  8. Progress toward heavy-ion IFE

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Meier, W.R.; Logan, B.G.; Waldron, W.L.; Sabbi, G.-L.; Callahan, D.A.; Peterson, P.F.; Goodin, D.T.

    2002-01-01

    Successful development of heavy-ion fusion (HIF) will require scientific and technology advances in areas of targets, drivers and chambers. Design work on heavy-ion targets indicates that high gain (60-130) may be possible with a ∼3-6 MJ driver depending on the ability to focus the beams to small spot sizes. Significant improvements have been made on key components of heavy-ion drivers, including sources, injectors, insulators and ferromagnetic materials for long-pulse induction accelerator cells, solid-state pulsers, and superconducting quadrupole magnets. The leading chamber concept for HIF is the thick-liquid-wall HYLIFE-II design, which uses an array of flibe jets to protect chamber structures from X-ray, debris, and neutron damage. Significant progress has been made in demonstrating the ability to create and control the types of flow needed to form the protective liquid blanket. Progress has also been made on neutron shielding for the final focus magnet arrays with predicted lifetimes now exceeding the life of the power plant. Safety analyses have been completed for the HYLIFE-II design using state-of-the-art codes. Work also continues on target fabrication and injection for HIF. A target injector experiment capable of >5 Hz operation has been designed and construction will start in 2002. Methods for mass-production of hohlraum targets are being evaluated with small-scale experiments and analyses. Progress in these areas will be reviewed

  9. Ban on commercial fishing in the estuarine waters of New South Wales, Australia: Community consultation and social impacts

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Momtaz, Salim; Gladstone, William

    2008-01-01

    In its effort to resolve the conflict between commercial and recreational fishers the New South Wales (NSW) government (NSW Fisheries) banned commercial fishing in the estuarine waters. The NSW Fisheries conducted a number of studies and held meetings with the affected communities including commercial fishers prior to the implementation of the ban. To investigate how community consultation played a role in the decision-making process especially as perceived by the commercial fishers and to determine actual social impacts of the ban on commercial fishers, in-depth interviews were conducted with the commercial fishers. This research reveals that despite the NSW Fisheries' consultations with commercial fishers prior to the closure, the latter were confused about various vital aspects of the decision. It further reveals that, the commercial fishers faced a number of significant changes as a result of this decision. We argue that a better decision-making process and outcome would have been possible through a meaningful consultation with the commercial fishers and a social impact assessment

  10. Research progress of siloxane removal from biogas

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Gao Ruiling

    2017-01-01

    Full Text Available Siloxanes in biogas are detrimental to engine, turbine, fuel cell, etc., thus it is necessary to remove siloxanes from biogas before biogas high-value utilization. At present, there are few domestic researches and related reports in view of siloxanes removal from biogas. This paper introduces the property of siloxanes as well as sampling and analysis method, and then presents the research progress of siloxanes removal from biogas. Three commercial technologies overseas are adsorption, absorption and cryogenic condensation. Among them, adsorption on activated carbon is the most widely used method. Other technologies, such as biological removal, catalytic processes, membranes, source controlling, etc. are under exploration and development. At last, this paper summarizes the advantages and disadvantages of siloxanes removal technologies as well as the applicability and analyzes the future research trend and emphasis. This paper could provide a reference in the field of biogas high-value utilization.

  11. Radiation evaluation of commercial ferroelectric nonvolatile memories

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Benedetto, J.M.; DeLancey, W.M.; Oldham, T.R.; McGarrity, J.M.; Tipton, C.W.; Brassington, M.; Fisch, D.E.

    1991-01-01

    This paper reports on ferroelectric (FE) on complementary metal-oxide semiconductor (CMOS) 4-kbit nonvolatile memories, 8-bit octal latches (with and without FE), and process control test chips that were used to establish a baseline characterization of the radiation response of CMOS/FE integrated devices and to determine whether the additional FE processing caused significant degradation to the baseline CMOS process. Functional failure of all 4-kbit memories and octal latches occurred at total doses of between 2 and 4 krad(Si), most likely due to field- oxide effects in the underlying CMOS. No significant difference was observed between the radiation responses of devices with and without the FE film in this commercial process

  12. Population Dynamics of Salmonella enterica Serotypes in Commercial Egg and Poultry Production ▿

    Science.gov (United States)

    Foley, Steven L.; Nayak, Rajesh; Hanning, Irene B.; Johnson, Timothy J.; Han, Jing; Ricke, Steven C.

    2011-01-01

    Fresh and processed poultry have been frequently implicated in cases of human salmonellosis. Furthermore, increased consumption of meat and poultry has increased the potential for exposure to Salmonella enterica. While advances have been made in reducing the prevalence and frequency of Salmonella contamination in processed poultry, there is mounting pressure on commercial growers to prevent and/or eliminate these human pathogens in preharvest production facilities. Several factors contribute to Salmonella colonization in commercial poultry, including the serovar and the infectious dose. In the early 1900s, Salmonella enterica serovars Pullorum and Gallinarum caused widespread diseases in poultry, but vaccination and other voluntary programs helped eradicate pullorum disease and fowl typhoid from commercial flocks. However, the niche created by the eradication of these serovars was likely filled by S. Enteritidis, which proliferated in the bird populations. While this pathogen remains a significant problem in commercial egg and poultry production, its prevalence among poultry has been declining since the 1990s. Coinciding with the decrease of S. Enteritidis, S. Heidelberg and S. Kentucky have emerged as the predominant serovars in commercial broilers. In this review, we have highlighted bacterial genetic and host-related factors that may contribute to such shifts in Salmonella populations in commercial poultry and intervention strategies that could limit their colonization. PMID:21571882

  13. Carcass Characteristics and Meat Quality of Korean Native Ducks and Commercial Meat-type Ducks Raised under Same Feeding and Rearing Conditions

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    H. J. Kwon

    2014-11-01

    Full Text Available This study was conducted to compare carcass characteristics and physico-chemical meat quality in two different genotype ducks raised under identical feeding and rearing conditions. A total of ninety 1-d-old Korean native ducks (KND, n = 45 and commercial meat-type ducks (Grimaud, n = 45 were fed same experimental diets during 56 d and 42 d, respectively to obtain similar slaughter weights. The experimental diet for starter period contained 20% crude protein (CP and 2,900 kcal nitrogen corrected true metabolizable energy (TMEn/kg of diet and that for grower period contained 17% CP and 3,050 TMEn/kg of diet. Average daily gain and feed efficiency of KND were inferior to those of commercial meat-type ducks (p<0.05. Carcass weight was not different between two genetically different ducks, but carcass yield of KND was significantly higher (p<0.05 than that of commercial meat-type ducks. There were no significant differences in cooking loss and pH of breast meat between two genetically different ducks, but water holding capacity of KND was significantly higher than that of commercial meat-type ducks. The linoleic acid and total polyunsaturated fatty acid of breast meat from KND were significantly higher (p<0.05 than the corresponding part from commercial meat-type ducks. Significant differences were detected in water holding capacity and the content of linoleic acid and polyunsaturated fatty acid, which were significantly higher in KND, whereas growth performance tended to be superior in commercial ducks. At the market weight, the meat from KND was judged to have better qualities with regard to higher water holding capacity and greater content of polyunsaturated fatty acid compare with meat from commercial meat-type duck.

  14. Methodical Approaches to Risk Management in a Regional Commercial Bank

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Elena Vladimirovna Altukhova

    2016-03-01

    Full Text Available The article presents the results of the research of the methodological and information infrastructure of the integrated risk management in a regional commercial bank. Within the study of the general development tendencies of the regional banking services market, the most significant risks for a regional bank are revealed. The analysis is carried out on the basis of the stress testing technique developed at the Plekhanov Russian University of Economics. It is based on a technique of dynamic economic and mathematical modeling with the application of information technologies. The created combination of the methodological and instrumental tools allows to carry out the dynamic scenario analysis of the activity of a commercial bank for the identification of potential risks and for the development of the strategy of financial management reducing the potential risks and leveling the consequences of their realization. The received tool allows during the computer test to watch the predicted dynamics of the condition of the key indicators of the activity of a regional commercial bank changing under the influence of the exogenous regulatory measures and instruments of bank management applied to decrease risk and at the same time to introduce adjustments in the perspective strategy of management. As the result of the analysis, the universal management model of the main bank risks in a regional commercial bank within three alternative scenarios is created. The software product allowing to develop and acquire the practical skills of the students in banking is developed. It also may help to develop the methodological support for the regulation of the organizational procedures of risk management in a regional commercial bank. The received software product may be used in a system of the improving the professional skills, and also for obtaining the expected data in a risk management system in a regional commercial bank.

  15. Impacts of Commercial Building Controls on Energy Savings and Peak Load Reduction

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Fernandez, Nicholas E.P. [Pacific Northwest National Lab. (PNNL), Richland, WA (United States); Katipamula, Srinivas [Pacific Northwest National Lab. (PNNL), Richland, WA (United States); Wang, Weimin [Pacific Northwest National Lab. (PNNL), Richland, WA (United States); Xie, YuLong [Pacific Northwest National Lab. (PNNL), Richland, WA (United States); Zhao, Mingjie [Pacific Northwest National Lab. (PNNL), Richland, WA (United States); Corbin, Charles D. [Pacific Northwest National Lab. (PNNL), Richland, WA (United States)

    2017-05-30

    Commercial buildings in the United States use about 18 Quadrillion British thermal units (Quads) of primary energy annually . Studies have shown that as much as 30% of building energy consumption can be avoided by using more accurate sensing, using existing controls better, and deploying advanced controls; hence, the motivation for the work described in this report. Studies also have shown that 10% to 20% of the commercial building peak load can be temporarily managed/curtailed to provide grid services. Although many studies have indicated significant potential for reducing the energy consumption in commercial buildings, very few have documented the actual savings. The studies that did so only provided savings at the whole building level, which makes it difficult to assess the savings potential of each individual measure deployed.

  16. Analysis of commercial bouillons for trace levels of mutagens.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Stavric, B; Matula, T I; Klassen, R; Downie, R H

    1993-12-01

    A new method, developed specifically for the extraction of heterocyclic aromatic amine (HAA) type mutagens from different food matrices, was applied to various forms of commercially available bouillons. This procedure is based on liquid-liquid extraction of the sample at different pH values. Recovery and reproducibility of the procedure was determined by processing spiked samples using a mutagenicity bioassay technique as an endpoint. The mutagenicity was tested in the Salmonella/microsome assay using strain TA98 with metabolic activation. 22 bouillon samples in liquid, cube or powder forms from seven manufacturers were extracted and tested for potential mutagenicity. The mutagenic activity of these samples varied and ranged from non-detectable to about 1200 induced revertants per gram of solid material, with a median value of approximately 250 revertants/g. The mutagenic response appeared to be dependent on the source rather than the type or form of the product tested. A negative response was obtained from only one chicken bouillon, and the highest positive response was obtained from a beef bouillon in cube form. It appears that the average beef sample, regardless of form, has a higher mutagenic potency than chicken or chicken and turkey samples. Overall, the intake of mutagens from commercial bouillons (obtained as cubes, concentrates or dry mixes) to prepare one serving (as bouillon, soup, casseroles, etc.) is considerably less than that reported in the literature for one serving of fried beef or pork. The extractability and mutagenic characteristics of these samples indicate the presence of HAA-type mutagens. Work is in progress to identify the mutagenic factors in bouillons.

  17. Helix Nebula and CERN: A Symbiotic approach to exploiting commercial clouds

    CERN Document Server

    Barreiro Megino, Fernando Harald; Kucharczyk, Katarzyna; Medrano Llamas, Ramón; van der Ster, Daniel

    2014-01-01

    The recent paradigm shift toward cloud computing in IT, and general interest in "Big Data" in particular, have demonstrated that the computing requirements of HEP are no longer globally unique. Indeed, the CERN IT department and LHC experiments have already made significant R&D investments in delivering and exploiting cloud computing resources. While a number of technical evaluations of interesting commercial offerings from global IT enterprises have been performed by various physics labs, further technical, security, sociological, and legal issues need to be address before their large-scale adoption by the research community can be envisaged. Helix Nebula - the Science Cloud is an initiative that explores these questions by joining the forces of three European research institutes (CERN, ESA and EMBL) with leading European commercial IT enterprises. The goals of Helix Nebula are to establish a cloud platform federating multiple commercial cloud providers, along with new business models, which can sustain ...

  18. Helix Nebula and CERN: A Symbiotic approach to exploiting commercial clouds

    CERN Multimedia

    Barreiro Megino, Fernando Harald; Kucharczyk, Katarzyna; Medrano Llamas, Ramón; van der Ster, Daniel

    2013-01-01

    The recent paradigm shift toward cloud computing in IT, and general interest in "Big Data" in particular, have demonstrated that the computing requirements of HEP are no longer globally unique. Indeed, the CERN IT department and LHC experiments have already made significant R&D; investments in delivering and exploiting cloud computing resources. While a number of technical evaluations of interesting commercial offerings from global IT enterprises have been performed by various physics labs, further technical, security, sociological, and legal issues need to be address before their large-scale adoption by the research community can be envisaged. Helix Nebula - the Science Cloud is an initiative that explores these questions by joining the forces of three European research institutes (CERN, ESA and EMBL) with leading European commercial IT enterprises. The goals of Helix Nebula are to establish a cloud platform federating multiple commercial cloud providers, along with new business models, which can sustain...

  19. 48 CFR 252.244-7000 - Subcontracts for Commercial Items and Commercial Components (DoD Contracts).

    Science.gov (United States)

    2010-10-01

    ... under this contract: (a) 252.225-7009 Restriction on Acquisition of Certain Articles Containing... 48 Federal Acquisition Regulations System 3 2010-10-01 2010-10-01 false Subcontracts for Commercial Items and Commercial Components (DoD Contracts). 252.244-7000 Section 252.244-7000 Federal...

  20. Static strain-aging in commercial purity alpha titanium

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Donoso, J.R.; Reed-Hill, R.E.

    1977-01-01

    Static strain-aging was investigated in commercial purity α-Ti, containing 0.41 at. percent of oxygen as the principal interstitial impurity. 17 μM grain size specimens, prestrained to 0.02 strain at a nominal strain-rate of 3.3 x 10 -4 s -1 , were aged in situ between 555 and 630 0 K for lengths of time between 150 and 2.55 x 10 5 seconds. Both the upper and lower yield point increments were employed as measures of the aging progress. Under the stated conditions, the static strain-aging response of the titanium appeared to consist of four stages, of which only Stages 1 and 2 were considered in this work. Stage 1 corresponded to a Haasen and Kelly type of yield point, while Stage 2, after correcting for the time-independent yield point increment of Stage 1, conformed to Cottrell aging, i.e., the increase in flow stress after aging followed a t/sup 2 / 3 / behavior. The activation energy deduced for the process is in good agreement with that for the diffusion of oxygen in titanium

  1. Commercialization of higher education: characteristics and trends

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    M. V. Klyov

    2014-04-01

    Much attention is given to the variety of approaches to the study of higher education. Today, sociological discourses used to analyze modern innovation in the education sphere, such as multiculturalism, diversification, confessionalization, regionalization, cosmopolitan atmosphere in the modern world, including the global information technology to the higher education. In the course of innovation and modernization of higher education, commercialization becomes significantly prevalent a phenomenon and a social process of educational institutions, which requires considerable research. The review of the US and European models of higher education makes it possible to understand the essence of appearance in the literature of such concepts as «academic capitalism», «university of market­type» and «entrepreneurial University», analyze relation to the appearance of private education and income and define the priority of commercialization. Indisputably, with both positive and negative, as a result of the reform of higher education appeared the peculiar environment of business education, which requires the existence of new rules of interaction, status­role relationships, values and norms . In some extent, commercialization is a transformation of knowledge into a commodity (speaking in the context of consumer society; however, it is the growing influence of market relations on the purpose and objectives of higher education, the growth of the importance of knowledge as a resource for economic development that focuses on  the concept of an economy based on knowledge.

  2. Genetic similarity among commercial oil palm materials based on microsatellite markers

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Diana Arias

    2012-08-01

    Full Text Available Microsatellite markers are used to determine genetic similarities among individuals and might be used in various applications in breeding programs. For example, knowing the genetic similarity relationships of commercial planting materials helps to better understand their responses to environmental, agronomic and plant health factors. This study assessed 17 microsatellite markers in 9 crosses (D x P of Elaeis guineensis Jacq. from various commercial companies in Malaysia, France, Costa Rica and Colombia, in order to find possible genetic differences and/or similarities. Seventy-seven alleles were obtained, with an average of 4.5 alleles per primer and a range of 2-8 amplified alleles. The results show a significant reduction of alleles, compared to the number of alleles reported for wild oil palm populations. The obtained dendrogram shows the formation of two groups based on their genetic similarity. Group A, with ~76% similarity, contains the commercial material of 3 codes of Deli x La Mé crosses produced in France and Colombia, and group B, with ~66% genetic similarity, includes all the materials produced by commercial companies in Malaysia, France, Costa Rica and Colombia

  3. Regulatory assessment of brand changes in the commercial tobacco product market.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wayne, G Ferris; Connolly, G N

    2009-08-01

    Regulatory oversight of tobacco product design has gained momentum in the US and internationally. Appropriate standards for assessing commercial brands and characterising product features must be considered a priority. An area of potential concern is in-market design changes adopted within a single commercial brand over time. Internal tobacco industry documents were identified and used to assess internal discussion of product guidelines and practices regarding in-market brand changes. Commercial tobacco products undergo a constant process of revision in-market, beginning at the most basic level of physical product characteristics and components, and including every aspect of design. These revisions commonly exceed guidelines for acceptable product variance adopted within the industry. While consumer and market testing is conducted to ensure that products remain acceptable to users, explicit marketing often may not accompany brand changes. In the absence of such marketing, it should not be assumed that a brand remains unchanged. For manufacturers, assessment of competitor brands includes identification and analysis of non-routine changes; that is, those changes likely to significantly alter the character of a given brand. Regulators must adopt a similar practice in determining standards for product evaluation in the face of ongoing commercial product revision.

  4. Recent Progress in Producing Lignin-Based Carbon Fibers for Functional Applications

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Paul, Ryan [GrafTech International Holdings Inc.; Burwell, Deanna [GrafTech International Holdings Inc.; Dai, Xuliang [GrafTech International Holdings Inc.; Naskar, Amit [Oak Ridge National Laboratory; Gallego, Nidia [Oak Ridge National Laboratory; Akato, Kokouvi [Oak Ridge National Laboratory

    2015-10-29

    Lignin, a biopolymer, has been investigated as a renewable and low-cost carbon fiber precursor since the 1960s. Although successful lab-scale production of lignin-based carbon fibers has been reported, there are currently not any commercial producers. This paper will highlight some of the known challenges with converting lignin-based precursors into carbon fiber, and the reported methods for purifying and modifying lignin to improve it as a precursor. Several of the challenges with lignin are related to its diversity in chemical structure and purity, depending on its biomass source (e.g. hardwood, softwood, grasses) and extraction method (e.g. organosolv, kraft). In order to make progress in this field, GrafTech and Oak Ridge National Laboratory are collaborating to develop lignin-based carbon fiber technology and to demonstrate it in functional applications, as part of a cooperative agreement with the DOE Advanced Manufacturing Office. The progress made to date with producing lignin-based carbon fiber for functional applications, as well as developing and qualifying a supply chain and value proposition, are also highlighted.

  5. SEU blending project, concept to commercial operation, Part 4: engineering design

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Ingalls, D.G.; Ioffe, M.S.; Oliver, A.J.; Smith, T.P.; Ozberk, E.

    2005-01-01

    The process development test program for production of Slightly Enriched Uranium (SEU) dioxide powder and Blend of Dysprosium and Uranium (BDU) oxide powder was initiated almost simultaneously with the conceptual engineering study for the commercial plant in 2001. During the very early phases of the project it was recognized that meeting the challenging requirements would necessitate wide expertise from different departments within the Cameco operations as well as consultants from outside the Company. The project team formed reflected this recognition. The conceptual engineering study was the lead into preparation of the engineering design study in 2003, which provided the process description based on the research and development program being carried out at Cameco Technology Development (CTD), project description, and project cost estimates. The detailed engineering phase commenced in June 2004 and was in progress at the the time when this paper was presented. The detailed engineering phase is addressing all aspects of the commercial plant including all health and safety, environment and security related issues, nuclear safety, training program, all product quality assurance issues, quality management issues, powder and fuel bundle transportation issues, all regulatory requirements, establishing project execution plans and budget, and strategies to control the costs. At the end of the detailed engineering phase, construction packages will be ready for tender, and major pieces of equipment will be selected and procured. (author)

  6. EEG Spectral Dynamics of Video Commercials: Impact of the Narrative on the Branding Product Preference.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wang, Regina W Y; Chang, Yu-Ching; Chuang, Shang-Wen

    2016-11-07

    Neuromarketing has become popular and received a lot of attention. The quality of video commercials and the product information they convey to consumers is a hotly debated topic among advertising agencies and product advertisers. This study explored the impact of advertising narrative and the frequency of branding product exposures on the preference for the commercial and the branding product. We performed electroencephalography (EEG) experiments on 30 subjects while they watched video commercials. The behavioral data indicated that commercials with a structured narrative and containing multiple exposures of the branding products had a positive impact on the preference for the commercial and the branding product. The EEG spectral dynamics showed that the narratives of video commercials resulted in higher theta power of the left frontal, bilateral occipital region, and higher gamma power of the limbic system. The narratives also induced significant cognitive integration-related beta and gamma power of the bilateral temporal regions and the parietal region. It is worth noting that the video commercials with a single exposure of the branding products would be indicators of attention. These new findings suggest that the presence of a narrative structure in video commercials has a critical impact on the preference for branding products.

  7. EEG Spectral Dynamics of Video Commercials: Impact of the Narrative on the Branding Product Preference

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wang, Regina W. Y.; Chang, Yu-Ching; Chuang, Shang-Wen

    2016-01-01

    Neuromarketing has become popular and received a lot of attention. The quality of video commercials and the product information they convey to consumers is a hotly debated topic among advertising agencies and product advertisers. This study explored the impact of advertising narrative and the frequency of branding product exposures on the preference for the commercial and the branding product. We performed electroencephalography (EEG) experiments on 30 subjects while they watched video commercials. The behavioral data indicated that commercials with a structured narrative and containing multiple exposures of the branding products had a positive impact on the preference for the commercial and the branding product. The EEG spectral dynamics showed that the narratives of video commercials resulted in higher theta power of the left frontal, bilateral occipital region, and higher gamma power of the limbic system. The narratives also induced significant cognitive integration-related beta and gamma power of the bilateral temporal regions and the parietal region. It is worth noting that the video commercials with a single exposure of the branding products would be indicators of attention. These new findings suggest that the presence of a narrative structure in video commercials has a critical impact on the preference for branding products. PMID:27819348

  8. Forest habitat conservation in Africa using commercially important insects.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Raina, Suresh Kumar; Kioko, Esther; Zethner, Ole; Wren, Susie

    2011-01-01

    African forests, which host some of the world's richest biodiversity, are rapidly diminishing. The loss of flora and fauna includes economically and socially important insects. Honey bees and silk moths, grouped under commercial insects, are the source for insect-based enterprises that provide income to forest-edge communities to manage the ecosystem. However, to date, research output does not adequately quantify the impact of such enterprises on buffering forest ecosystems and communities from climate change effects. Although diseases/pests of honey bees and silk moths in Africa have risen to epidemic levels, there is a dearth of practical research that can be utilized in developing effective control mechanisms that support the proliferation of these commercial insects as pollinators of agricultural and forest ecosystems. This review highlights the critical role of commercial insects within the environmental complexity of African forest ecosystems, in modern agroindustry, and with respect to its potential contribution to poverty alleviation and pollination services. It identifies significant research gaps that exist in understanding how insects can be utilized as ecosystem health indicators and nurtured as integral tools for important socioeconomic and industrial gains.

  9. Commercial Spacewalking: Designing an EVA Qualification Program for Space Tourism

    Science.gov (United States)

    Gast, Matthew A.

    2010-01-01

    In the near future, accessibility to space will be opened to anyone with the means and the desire to experience the weightlessness of microgravity, and to look out upon both the curvature of the Earth and the blackness of space, from the protected, shirt-sleeved environment of a commercial spacecraft. Initial forays will be short-duration, suborbital flights, but the experience and expertise of half a century of spaceflight will soon produce commercial vehicles capable of achieving low Earth orbit. Even with the commercial space industry still in its infancy, and manned orbital flight a number of years away, there is little doubt that there will one day be a feasible and viable market for those courageous enough to venture outside the vehicle and into the void, wearing nothing but a spacesuit, armed with nothing but preflight training. What that Extravehicular Activity (EVA) preflight training entails, however, is something that has yet to be defined. A number of significant factors will influence the composition of a commercial EVA training program, but a fundamental question remains: 'what minimum training guidelines must be met to ensure a safe and successful commercial spacewalk?' Utilizing the experience gained through the development of NASA's Skills program - designed to qualify NASA and International Partner astronauts for EVA aboard the International Space Station - this paper identifies the attributes and training objectives essential to the safe conduct of an EVA, and attempts to conceptually design a comprehensive training methodology meant to represent an acceptable qualification standard.

  10. 78 FR 11996 - Energy Efficiency Program for Commercial and Industrial Equipment: Commercial and Industrial Pumps

    Science.gov (United States)

    2013-02-21

    .... EERE-2011-BT-STD-0031] RIN 1904-AC54 Energy Efficiency Program for Commercial and Industrial Equipment: Commercial and Industrial Pumps AGENCY: Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy, Department of... CONTACT: Mr. Charles Llenza, U.S. Department of Energy, Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy...

  11. Technology Commercialization Program 1991

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    1991-11-01

    This reference compilation describes the Technology Commercialization Program of the Department of Energy, Defense Programs. The compilation consists of two sections. Section 1, Plans and Procedures, describes the plans and procedures of the Defense Programs Technology Commercialization Program. The second section, Legislation and Policy, identifies legislation and policy related to the Program. The procedures for implementing statutory and regulatory requirements are evolving with time. This document will be periodically updated to reflect changes and new material.

  12. Learning effects and the commercialization of new energy technologies: the case of nuclear power

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Zimmerman, M.B.

    1982-01-01

    Recently, attention has been focused on government policy toward commercialization of new energy technologies. Arguments are offered that, in the early days of commercialization, significant learning externalities that justify subsidy are present. Using nuclear power as a case study, this article estimates the learning effects actually present. The effect of experience on construction cost and on the accuracy of cost estimation is examined. External learning is separated from internalized learning about both construction cost and cost estimation. Finally, an estimate of the value of both kinds of learning externality is provided. The results suggest learning externalities were present, but had little effect on the rate of commercialization. 19 references, 5 tables

  13. Nondestructive Evaluation Program: Progress in 1986

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    1987-07-01

    The increasing cost of equipment for power generating plants and the potential increases in productivity and safety available through rapidly developing Nondestructive Evaluation (NDE) technology led EPRI to initiate a Nondestructive Evaluation Program in 1974. To date, the major focus has been on light water reactor inspection problems; however, increased application to other systems is now under way. This report presents a comprehensive review of the EPRI effort in the NDE area. Most of the report consists of contractor-supplied progress reports on each current project. An organizational plan of the program is presented in overview. In addition, organization from several viewpoints is presented, e.g., in-service inspection operators, R and D personnel, and utility representatives. The report summarizes significant progress made since the previous EPRI Special Report NP-4315-SR was issued in May 1986. Section 1 contains information about the program organization, and the sections that follow contain contractor-supplied progress reports of each current project. The progress reports are grouped by plant components - pipe, pressure vessel, steam generator and boiler tubes, and turbine. In addition, Part 6 is devoted to discussions of technology transfer

  14. Systemic Inflammation in Progressive Multiple Sclerosis Involves Follicular T-Helper, Th17- and Activated B-Cells and Correlates with Progression

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Romme Christensen, Jeppe; Börnsen, Lars; Ratzer, Rikke

    2013-01-01

    with disease progression, using flow cytometry and gene expression analysis of CD4(+) and CD8(+)T-cells, B-cells, monocytes and dendritic cells. Furthermore, gene expression of cerebrospinal fluid cells was studied. Flow cytometry studies revealed increased frequencies of ICOS(+)TFH-cells in peripheral blood...... increased in PPMS and SPMS. In the analysis of B-cells, we found a significant increase of plasmablasts and DC-SIGN(+) and CD83(+)B-cells in SPMS. ICOS(+)TFH-cells and DC-SIGN(+)B-cells correlated with disease progression in SPMS patients. Gene expression analysis of peripheral blood cell subsets...... substantiated the flow cytometry findings by demonstrating increased expression of IL21, IL21R and ICOS in CD4(+)T-cells in progressive MS. Cerebrospinal fluid cells from RRMS and progressive MS (pooled SPMS and PPMS patients) had increased expression of TFH-cell and plasmablast markers. In conclusion...

  15. The commercial marketing of healthy lifestyles to address the global child and adolescent obesity pandemic: prospects, pitfalls and priorities.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kraak, Vivica I; Kumanyika, Shiriki K; Story, Mary

    2009-11-01

    Public- and private-sector initiatives to promote healthy eating and physical activity, called 'healthy lifestyles', are a relatively recent response to the global obesity pandemic. The present paper explores different views about marketing healthy lifestyles with a special emphasis on private-sector initiatives and public-private partnerships designed to reach young people. We discuss aspects of these initiatives and partnerships from three perspectives: (i) the potential for commercial marketing practices to have a favourable influence on reversing global obesity trends (termed prospects); (ii) unresolved dilemmas and challenges that may hinder progress (termed pitfalls); and (iii) the implementation and evaluation of coordinated and systematic actions (termed priorities) that may increase the likelihood that commercially marketed healthy-lifestyle initiatives and public-private partnerships can make a positive contribution to reverse the rise in overweight and obesity among young people globally.

  16. 47 CFR 0.485 - Commercial radio operator examinations.

    Science.gov (United States)

    2010-10-01

    ... 47 Telecommunication 1 2010-10-01 2010-10-01 false Commercial radio operator examinations. 0.485....485 Commercial radio operator examinations. Generally, written and telegraphy examinations for commercial radio operator licenses shall be conducted at locations and times specified by commercial operator...

  17. Mechanical Properties of Commercial Carbon Fibers Using a Single Filament Tensile Test

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Joh, Han-Ik; Song, Hae Kyung; Ku, Bon-Cheol; Lee, Sungho; Kim, Ki-Young; Kang, Phil-Hyun

    2013-01-01

    In this study, mechanical properties of commercial carbon fibers were evaluated using a single filament tensile test with various fiber gauge lengths. Tensile strength increased significantly with a decreasing length of the test specimens possibly due to small defect sites. The compliance method provided more accurate moduli of the carbon fibers, removing system errors during the single filament tensile test. The Weibull modulus revealed that shorter specimens had an inhomogeneous defect distribution, leading to a higher tensile strength and its standard deviation. X-ray diffractograms of carbon fibers showed a similar crystallinity and orientation in spite of significant differences in the fiber modulus and strength, indicating that crystalline structure of the commercial carbon fibers used in the study was not attributable to the difference in their tensile properties.

  18. A Statistical Analysis of the Economic Drivers of Battery Energy Storage in Commercial Buildings: Preprint

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Long, Matthew; Simpkins, Travis; Cutler, Dylan; Anderson, Katie

    2016-11-01

    There is significant interest in using battery energy storage systems (BESS) to reduce peak demand charges, and therefore the life cycle cost of electricity, in commercial buildings. This paper explores the drivers of economic viability of BESS in commercial buildings through statistical analysis. A sample population of buildings was generated, a techno-economic optimization model was used to size and dispatch the BESS, and the resulting optimal BESS sizes were analyzed for relevant predictor variables. Explanatory regression analyses were used to demonstrate that peak demand charges are the most significant predictor of an economically viable battery, and that the shape of the load profile is the most significant predictor of the size of the battery.

  19. The exploitation argument against commercial surrogacy.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wilkinson, Stephen

    2003-04-01

    This paper discusses the exploitation argument against commercial surrogacy: the claim that commercial surrogacy is morally objectionable because it is exploitative. The following questions are addressed. First, what exactly does the exploitation argument amount to? Second, is commercial surrogacy in fact exploitative? Third, if it were exploitative, would this provide a sufficient reason to prohibit (or otherwise legislatively discourage) it? The focus throughout is on the exploitation of paid surrogates, although it is noted that other parties (e.g. 'commissioning parents') may also be the victims of exploitation. It is argued that there are good reasons for believing that commercial surrogacy is often exploitative. However, even if we accept this, the exploitation argument for prohibiting (or otherwise legislatively discouraging) commercial surrogacy remains quite weak. One reason for this is that prohibition may well 'backfire' and lead to potential surrogates having to do other things that are more exploitative and/or more harmful than paid surrogacy. It is concluded therefore that those who oppose exploitation should (rather than attempting to stop particular practices like commercial surrogacy) concentrate on: (a) improving the conditions under which paid surrogates 'work'; and (b) changing the background conditions (in particular, the unequal distribution of power and wealth) which generate exploitative relationships.

  20. Context-Aware Online Commercial Intention Detection

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hu, Derek Hao; Shen, Dou; Sun, Jian-Tao; Yang, Qiang; Chen, Zheng

    With more and more commercial activities moving onto the Internet, people tend to purchase what they need through Internet or conduct some online research before the actual transactions happen. For many Web users, their online commercial activities start from submitting a search query to search engines. Just like the common Web search queries, the queries with commercial intention are usually very short. Recognizing the queries with commercial intention against the common queries will help search engines provide proper search results and advertisements, help Web users obtain the right information they desire and help the advertisers benefit from the potential transactions. However, the intentions behind a query vary a lot for users with different background and interest. The intentions can even be different for the same user, when the query is issued in different contexts. In this paper, we present a new algorithm framework based on skip-chain conditional random field (SCCRF) for automatically classifying Web queries according to context-based online commercial intention. We analyze our algorithm performance both theoretically and empirically. Extensive experiments on several real search engine log datasets show that our algorithm can improve more than 10% on F1 score than previous algorithms on commercial intention detection.

  1. Comparison of Glaucoma Progression Detection by Optical Coherence Tomography and Visual Field.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Zhang, Xinbo; Dastiridou, Anna; Francis, Brian A; Tan, Ou; Varma, Rohit; Greenfield, David S; Schuman, Joel S; Huang, David

    2017-12-01

    To compare longitudinal glaucoma progression detection using optical coherence tomography (OCT) and visual field (VF). Validity assessment. We analyzed subjects with more than 4 semi-annual follow-up visits (every 6 months) in the multicenter Advanced Imaging for Glaucoma Study. Fourier-domain optical coherence tomography (OCT) was used to map the thickness of the peripapillary retinal nerve fiber layer (NFL) and ganglion cell complex (GCC). OCT-based progression detection was defined as a significant negative trend for either NFL or GCC. VF progression was reached if either the event or trend analysis reached significance. The analysis included 356 glaucoma suspect/preperimetric glaucoma (GS/PPG) eyes and 153 perimetric glaucoma (PG) eyes. Follow-up length was 54.1 ± 16.2 months for GS/PPG eyes and 56.7 ± 16.0 for PG eyes. Progression was detected in 62.1% of PG eyes and 59.8% of GS/PPG eyes by OCT, significantly (P glaucoma. While the utility of NFL declines in advanced glaucoma, GCC remains a sensitive progression detector from early to advanced stages. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  2. Planning and Operation of Commercial Application Center

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Kim, Jun Yeon; Kim, Kye Ryung; Lee, Tae Joon; Lee, Jae Hyeong; Park, Je Won; Lee, Jae Sang

    2003-06-01

    The objectives of this R and D project are as follows : First, transferring developed technologies to outside companies and operating technology market to vitalize technology transactions, Second, developing commercial application projects to transfer technologies for commercial purposes and to solve interface problems in commercial applications, Third, enhancing commercial utilizations of developed accelerator and beam utilization technologies, Finally. preparing infra-structures for the development of over 30 venture- businesses based on achieved technologies through the Proton Engineering Frontier Project

  3. Planning and Operation of Commercial Application Center

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Kim, Jun Yeon; Kim, Kye Ryung; Lee, Tae Joon; Lee, Jae Hyeong; Park, Je Won; Lee, Jae Sang

    2003-06-15

    The objectives of this R and D project are as follows : First, transferring developed technologies to outside companies and operating technology market to vitalize technology transactions, Second, developing commercial application projects to transfer technologies for commercial purposes and to solve interface problems in commercial applications, Third, enhancing commercial utilizations of developed accelerator and beam utilization technologies, Finally. preparing infra-structures for the development of over 30 venture- businesses based on achieved technologies through the Proton Engineering Frontier Project.

  4. Change in Visual Field Progression Following Treatment Escalation in Primary Open-angle Glaucoma.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Aptel, Florent; Bron, Alain M; Lachkar, Yves; Schweitzer, Cédric

    2017-10-01

    To evaluate the effect of treatment escalation on the rate of visual field progression in patients with primary open-angle glaucoma (POAG). Multicenter database study. We reviewed the electronic records of 171 patients with POAG under medical hypotensive treatment who underwent 5 consecutive visits 6 months apart before and after medical treatment escalation or additive laser trabeculoplasty. We calculated the rate of visual field progression (mean deviation change per year) before and after treatment escalation. The mean duration of follow-up was 5.1±0.5 years and the mean number of visual field examinations was 10.2±0.2. In 139 eyes with medical treatment escalation, the rate of progression was significantly reduced [from -0.57 to -0.29 dB/y; P=0.022; intraocular pressure (IOP) reduction 11.1%]. In detail, the rate of progression was significantly reduced after escalation from mono to dual therapy, dual to triple therapy, and from mono to triple therapy (-0.35 to -0.24 dB/y, P=0.018; -1.01 to -0.48 dB/y, P=0.038; -1.04 to -0.35 dB/y, P=0.020, respectively). In 32 eyes with additive laser trabeculoplasty, the rate of progression was significantly reduced (-0.60 to -0.24 dB/y; P=0.014; IOP reduction 9.4%). Medical treatment escalation or additive laser trabeculoplasty significantly reduced the rate of visual field progression in POAG. Larger IOP reduction has a greater probability of reducing glaucoma progression.

  5. Relationship between progression of visual field defect and intraocular pressure in primary open-angle glaucoma.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Naito, Tomoko; Yoshikawa, Keiji; Mizoue, Shiro; Nanno, Mami; Kimura, Tairo; Suzumura, Hirotaka; Shiraga, Fumio

    2015-01-01

    To analyze the relationship between intraocular pressure (IOP) and the progression of visual field defects in Japanese primary open-angle glaucoma (POAG) and normal-tension glaucoma (NTG) patients. The subjects of the study were patients undergoing treatment for POAG or NTG who had performed visual field tests at least ten times with a Humphrey field analyzer (Swedish interactive thresholding algorithm standard, C30-2 program). The progression of visual field defects was defined by a significantly negative value of the mean deviation slope at the final visual field test during the follow-up period. The relationships between the progression of visual field defects and IOP, as well as other clinical factors, were retrospectively analyzed. A total of 156 eyes of 156 patients were included in the analysis. Significant progression of visual field defects was observed in 70 eyes of 70 patients (44.9%), while no significant progression was evident in 86 eyes of 86 patients (55.1%). The eyes with visual field defect progression had significantly lower baseline IOP (Pfield defect progression than in eyes without (Pfield defects. In NTG, IOP management should take into account not only achieving the target IOP, but also minimizing the fluctuation of IOP during follow-up period.

  6. THE EFFECTS OF SINGLE LEG HOP PROGRESSION AND DOUBLE LEGS HOP PROGRESSION EXERCISE TO INCREASE SPEED AND EXPLOSIVE POWER OF LEG MUSCLE

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Nining W. Kusnanik

    2015-05-01

    Full Text Available The main purpose of this study was to determine the effect of single leg hop progression and double legs hop progression exercise to increase speed and explosive power of leg muscles. Plyometric is one of the training methods that can increase explosive power. There are many models of plyometric training including single leg hop progression and double leg hop progression. This research was experimental using match subject design techniques. The subjects of this study were 39 students who joined basketball school club. There were 3 groups in this study: Group 1 were 13 students who given sin¬gle leg hop progression exercise, Group 2 were 13 students who given double legs hop progression exercise, Group 3 were 13 students who given conventional exercise. The data was collected during pre test and post test by testing 30m speed running and vertical jump. The data was analyzed using Analysis of Varians (Anova. It was found that there were significantly increased on speed and explosive power of leg muscles of Group 1 and Group 2. It can be stated that single leg hop progression exercise was more effective than double leg hop progression exercise. The recent findings supported the hypothesis that single leg hop progression and double legs hop progression exercise can increase speed and explosive power of leg muscles. These finding were supported by some previous studies (Singh, et al, 2011; Shallaby, H.K., 2010. The single leg hop progression is more effective than double legs hop progression. This finding was consistent with some previous evidences (McCurdy, et al, 2005; Makaruk et al, 2011.

  7. Commercial Banks

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Abbas Asosheh

    2009-09-01

    Full Text Available Information systems outsourcing issues has been attracted in recent years because many information systems projects in organizations are done in this case. On the other hand, failure rate of this kind of projects is also high. The aim of this article is to find success factors in risk management of information systems outsourcing in commercial banks using these factors leads to increase the success rate of risk management of information systems outsourcing projects. Research methods in the present article based on purpose are applied and descriptive- survey. In addition, research tool is questionnaire which was used among commercial bank experts. For this purpose, First information systems outsourcing risks were identified and then ranked. In the next step, the information systems outsourcing reasons were surveyed and the most important reasons were identified. Then the risks which have not any relationship with the most important reasons were removed and success factors in managing residual risks were extracted.

  8. 77 FR 41331 - Commercial Mobile Alert System

    Science.gov (United States)

    2012-07-13

    ... FEDERAL COMMUNICATIONS COMMISSION 47 CFR Part 10 [PS Docket No. 07-287; FCC 08-164] Commercial... with the Commission's Commercial Mobile Alert System (CMS), Second Report and Order (``CMAS Second..., for a period of three years, the information collection requirements relating to the Commercial Mobile...

  9. CASH 2021: Commercial access and space habitation

    Science.gov (United States)

    Aldrin, Andrew; Amara, Adam; Aris, Lodewijk; Baierl, Nida; Beatty, Patrick; Beaulieu, Catherine; Behnke, Torsten; Castegini, Roberta; Chauhan, Amitabh; Cojanis, Philip; Dayawansa, Pelawa; Diop, Marie; Eito, Kinya; Engle, Steve; Ferretti, Stefano; Gassama, Hamet; Genova, Bojana; Goulding, Colin; Janjua, Jameel; Jansaeng, Thidarat; Jousset, Frédéric; Kopik, Anatoly; Laurin, Catherine; Leggatt, Jason; Li, Hengnian; Mezzadri, Monica; Miura, Amane; Nolet, Simon; Ogami, Satoshi; Patry, Johanne; Patten, Laryssa; Payerne, Cyril; Peer, Guy; Prampolini, Marco; Rheaume, Caroline; Saary, Joan; Spehar, Daniela; Sufi, Atiya; Sun, Baosheng; Thompson, J. Barry; Thomson, Ward; Trautner, Roland; Tursunmuratov, Murat; Venet, Vrata; Wilems, Elizabeth; Wilson, Helen; Wittwer, Karl; Wokke, Frank; Wu, Yansheng; Zhou, Shaobin; Zilioli, Ilaria

    2002-07-01

    Issues about commercialization of space have been a growing concern in the past decade for the space community. This paper focuses on the work from a team of 51 students attending the Summer Session Program of the International Space University in Bremen, Germany. CASH 2021 (Commercial Access and Space Habitation) documents a plan that identifies commercial opportunities for space utilization that will extend human presence in space, and will chart the way forward for the next 20 years. The group selected four commercial sectors that show the most promise for the future: tourism, entertainment, space system service, assembly and debris removal, and research and development/production. The content of this document presents the results of their research. Historical activities in each of the commercial sectors are reviewed along with the current market situation. To provide a coherent background for future commercialization possibilities a scenario has been developed. This scenario includes a postulated upon ideal future and includes social, political and economic factors that may affect the space industry over the timeline of the study. The study also presents a roadmap, within the limited optimistic scenario developed, for the successful commercialization of space leading to future human presence in space. A broad range of commercially viable opportunities, not only within the current limits of the International Space Station, but also among the many new developments that are expected by 2021 are discussed.

  10. Commercial incineration demonstration

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Borduin, L.C.; Neuls, A.S.

    1981-01-01

    Low-level radioactive wastes (LLW) generated by nuclear utilities presently are shipped to commercial burial grounds for disposal. Substantially increasing shipping and disposal charges have sparked renewed industry interest in incineration and other advanced volume reduction techniques as potential cost-saving measures. Repeated inquiries from industry sources regarding LLW applicability of the Los Alamos controlled-air incineration (CAI) design led DOE to initiate this commercial demonstration program in FY-1980. The selected program approach to achieving CAI demonstration at a utility site is a DOE sponsored joint effort involving Los Alamos, a nuclear utility, and a liaison subcontractor. Required development tasks and responsibilities of the particpants are described. Target date for project completion is the end of FY-1985

  11. Mass Spectrometer Sounding of the Turbopause Region on Commercial Vehicles

    Science.gov (United States)

    Thurairajah, B.; Bailey, S. M.; Syrstad, E. A.; Fish, C. S.; Siskind, D. E.; Russell, J. M.

    2013-12-01

    The turbopause region near 100 km remains one of the most poorly explored yet crucial regions of the upper atmosphere. In the vicinity of this altitude, the atmosphere reaches its lowest temperature and changes from being well mixed to being in diffusive equilibrium. Dynamical energy in the form of tides as well as gravity and planetary waves propagate from the lower atmosphere up to the ionosphere and thermosphere. Some energy and reactive chemical species are transported down across the turbopause to lower altitudes where the impact is significant. There is a significant dearth of composition observations near the turbopause. Few measurement techniques work well at this altitude, and it is too low for satellite orbits. Amazingly, major species with relatively large abundances such as O2, O, and CO2 are all poorly understood at these attitudes. While there are several experiments that measure temperature, the uncertainties in the temperature measurements are large because the techniques that are used rely on knowledge of CO2 or sometimes of O2. The lack of composition information thus hinders those observations that do occur near the turbopause and mesopause and leaves us with an overall poor understanding of this altitude region. We are soon to enter a new era in space exploration. Routine visits to the 100km region by commercial vehicles are on the verge of becoming a reality. The relevant organizations have expressed a willingness and even enthusiasm for including scientific instrumentation with their tourism and related commercial goals. We propose a major step forward in understanding the turbopause region by developing a mass spectrometer capable of being manifested on these commercial vehicles. Such an implantation could ultimately result in daily sounding of the turbopause region and greatly expand the database of measurements there. Our suggested instrument is a cryogenic time-of-flight mass Spectrometer. This technique has heritage, and our

  12. Commercially available video motion detectors

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    1979-01-01

    A market survey of commercially available video motion detection systems was conducted by the Intrusion Detection Systems Technology Division of Sandia Laboratories. The information obtained from this survey is summarized in this report. The cutoff date for this information is May 1978. A list of commercially available video motion detection systems is appended

  13. 47 CFR 20.9 - Commercial mobile radio service.

    Science.gov (United States)

    2010-10-01

    ... 47 Telecommunication 2 2010-10-01 2010-10-01 false Commercial mobile radio service. 20.9 Section... COMMERCIAL MOBILE RADIO SERVICES § 20.9 Commercial mobile radio service. (a) The following mobile services shall be treated as common carriage services and regulated as commercial mobile radio services...

  14. Accounting Education Approach in the Context of New Turkish Commercial Code and Turkish Accounting Standards

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Cevdet Kızıl

    2014-08-01

    Full Text Available The aim of this article is to investigate the impact of new Turkish commercial code and Turkish accounting standards on accounting education. This study takes advantage of the survey method for gathering information and running the research analysis. For this purpose, questionnaire forms are distributed to university students personally and via the internet.This paper includes significant research questions such as “Are accounting academicians informed and knowledgeable on new Turkish commercial code and Turkish accounting standards?”, “Do accounting academicians integrate new Turkish commercial code and Turkish accounting standards to their lectures?”, “How does modern accounting education methodology and technology coincides with the teaching of new Turkish commercial code and Turkish accounting standards?”, “Do universities offer mandatory and elective courses which cover the new Turkish commercial code and Turkish accounting standards?” and “If such courses are offered, what are their names, percentage in the curriculum and degree of coverage?”Research contributes to the literature in several ways. Firstly, new Turkish commercial code and Turkish accounting standards are current significant topics for the accounting profession. Furthermore, the accounting education provides a basis for the implementations in public and private sector. Besides, one of the intentions of new Turkish commercial code and Turkish accounting standards is to foster transparency. That is definitely a critical concept also in terms of mergers, acquisitions and investments. Stakeholders of today’s business world such as investors, shareholders, entrepreneurs, auditors and government are in need of more standardized global accounting principles Thus, revision and redesigning of accounting educations plays an important role. Emphasized points also clearly prove the necessity and functionality of this research.

  15. 7 CFR 51.2832 - U.S. Commercial.

    Science.gov (United States)

    2010-01-01

    ... 7 Agriculture 2 2010-01-01 2010-01-01 false U.S. Commercial. 51.2832 Section 51.2832 Agriculture Regulations of the Department of Agriculture AGRICULTURAL MARKETING SERVICE (Standards, Inspections, Marketing.... Commercial. U.S. Commercial consists of onions which meet the following requirements: (a) Basic requirements...

  16. 76 FR 30301 - Commercial Acquisition; Anchor Tenancy

    Science.gov (United States)

    2011-05-25

    ... NATIONAL AERONAUTICS AND SPACE ADMINISTRATION 48 CFR Part 1812 RIN 2700-AD64 Commercial... consistent with NASA's authority under Section 401 of the Commercial Space Competitiveness Act (CSCA) of 1992. NASA may enter into multi-year anchor tenancy contracts for commercial space goods or services. Anchor...

  17. 41 CFR 101-29.213 - Commercial product.

    Science.gov (United States)

    2010-07-01

    ... 41 Public Contracts and Property Management 2 2010-07-01 2010-07-01 true Commercial product. 101... Regulations System FEDERAL PROPERTY MANAGEMENT REGULATIONS SUPPLY AND PROCUREMENT 29-FEDERAL PRODUCT DESCRIPTIONS 29.2-Definitions § 101-29.213 Commercial product. A commercial product is any item, component, or...

  18. 15 CFR 971.503 - Diligent commercial recovery.

    Science.gov (United States)

    2010-01-01

    ... ENVIRONMENTAL DATA SERVICE DEEP SEABED MINING REGULATIONS FOR COMMERCIAL RECOVERY PERMITS Resource Development... expenditures for commercial recovery by the permittee, taking into account the size of the area of the deep... required to initiate commercial recovery of hard mineral resources within the time limit established by the...

  19. The Therapeutic Potential of the Ketogenic Diet in Treating Progressive Multiple Sclerosis

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Mithu Storoni

    2015-01-01

    Full Text Available Until recently, multiple sclerosis has been viewed as an entirely inflammatory disease without acknowledgment of the significant neurodegenerative component responsible for disease progression and disability. This perspective is being challenged by observations of a dissociation between inflammation and neurodegeneration where the neurodegenerative component may play a more significant role in disease progression. In this review, we explore the relationship between mitochondrial dysfunction and neurodegeneration in multiple sclerosis. We review evidence that the ketogenic diet can improve mitochondrial function and discuss the potential of the ketogenic diet in treating progressive multiple sclerosis for which no treatment currently exists.

  20. The significance of Campylobacter jejuni infection in poultry: a review.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Shane, S M

    1992-01-01

    Campylobacter is a significant cause of enterocolitis in consumers of undercooked poultry meat. Campylobacter jejuni is the most significant of the three thermophilic Campylobacter species, and is responsible for intestinal colonization in poultry and food-borne enteritis in humans. Generally, C. jejuni is apathogenic in poultry, although newly hatched chicks and turkeys may develop a transient diarrhoea following infection. Modern intensive poultry production favours the introduction of infection into commercial growing units, resulting in intestinal colonization during the second to fourth weeks inclusive. Routes of infection include contaminated fomites, infected water supply, rodents, insects, and free-living birds. Vertical transmission is considered unlikely. Contamination of poultry meat is enhanced by deficiencies in transport and processing of broilers and turkeys. Scalding, defeathering and evisceration represent the significant points of cross-contamination during processing. Epidemiological correlation has been established between consumption of contaminated chicken and outbreaks of human campylobacteriosis. Amelioration of infection by application of improved standards of hygiene and decontamination is possible in the context of commercial poultry production. Improvement in washing of carcasses, and the application of chemical disinfectants and gamma irradiation have the potential to reduce the prevalence of C. jejuni contamination in poultry meat. These innovations, together with improved storage and handling of meat products, will reduce the risk of campylobacteriosis to consumers.

  1. 12 CFR 615.5030 - Borrowings from commercial banks.

    Science.gov (United States)

    2010-01-01

    ... 12 Banks and Banking 6 2010-01-01 2010-01-01 false Borrowings from commercial banks. 615.5030... commercial banks. (a) Each System bank board, by resolution, shall authorize all commercial bank borrowings by that System bank. (b) The Financial Assistance Corporation may borrow from commercial banks with...

  2. Progress report, physics and health sciences, physics section, 1986 January 01 - June 30

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    1986-08-01

    The two progress reports PR-PHS-P-1 (AECL-9262) and PR-PHS-HS-1 (AECL-9263) are continuations of the former series in Physics, PR-P-142, (AECL-9103) and in Health Sciences, PH-HS-20 (AECL-9102). The new series have been initiated to take into account the reorganization of the Research Company effective 1986 February 1. It is intended to issue the reports semi-annually on June 30 and December 31 covering the previous six months. The new series cover the same areas as before except that the Accelerator Physics Branch and the Mathematics and Computation Branch activities are no longer included in Physics, and the activities of the Medical Biophysics Branch at Whiteshell are now included in Health Sciences. The latest progress report on the Medical Biophysics work appeared in the WNRE report PR-WHS-73. This report (AECL-9262) covers the research, business and commercial activities of Nuclear Physics, TASCC Operations, Neutron and Solid State Physics, Theoretical Physics and the Fusion Office

  3. Does Participation in Sports Affect Osteoarthritic Progression After Periacetabular Osteotomy?

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hara, Daisuke; Hamai, Satoshi; Fukushi, Jun-Ichi; Kawaguchi, Ken-Ichi; Motomura, Goro; Ikemura, Satoshi; Komiyama, Keisuke; Nakashima, Yasuharu

    2017-09-01

    Periacetabular osteotomy (PAO) is an effective treatment for symptomatic acetabular dysplasia. However, whether postoperative participation in sports leads to progression of the Kellgren-Lawrence (KL) grade of osteoarthritis (OA) in these patients is unclear. To investigate (1) participation in sports before and after PAO and (2) whether postoperative participation in sports leads to progression of the KL grade. Case-control study; Level of evidence, 3. The authors retrospectively reviewed data on 161 patients (183 hips) who underwent PAO for symptomatic acetabular dysplasia with preoperative KL grade 1 or 2 between 1998 and 2011. The mean age at the time of surgery was 42.0 ± 10.9 years (range, 12-64 years), and the mean follow-up duration was 100 months (range, 13-180 months). Data included participation in sports, the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) activity scale score, age at the time of surgery, body mass index, follow-up duration, history of treatment for developmental hip dislocations, Merle d'Aubigné-Postel score, Oxford Hip Score, center-edge angle, and KL grade. Univariate and multivariate analyses were applied to determine which factors were associated with progression to KL grade 3 or 4 after PAO. The number of patients who participated in sports significantly increased from 50 (31.1%) preoperatively to 89 (55.3%) postoperatively. The mean UCLA score significantly increased from 4.7 ± 2.1 preoperatively to 5.5 ± 2.0 postoperatively. The KL grade progressed to grade 3 or 4 in 16 hips, including 4 hips that underwent conversion to total hip arthroplasty. No significant differences were found in postoperative participation in sports (89 hips [53.3%] vs 11 hips [68.8%], respectively; P = .24) and the UCLA score (5.6 ± 2.0 vs 5.1 ± 2.0, respectively; P = .30) between hips with KL grade 1 or 2 and KL grade 3 or 4. A multivariate analysis revealed that no factors, including postoperative participation in sports, were significantly

  4. 48 CFR 803.570 - Commercial advertising.

    Science.gov (United States)

    2010-10-01

    ... 48 Federal Acquisition Regulations System 5 2010-10-01 2010-10-01 false Commercial advertising. 803.570 Section 803.570 Federal Acquisition Regulations System DEPARTMENT OF VETERANS AFFAIRS GENERAL... Commercial advertising. ...

  5. Commercialization of NESSUS: Status

    Science.gov (United States)

    Thacker, Ben H.; Millwater, Harry R.

    1991-01-01

    A plan was initiated in 1988 to commercialize the Numerical Evaluation of Stochastic Structures Under Stress (NESSUS) probabilistic structural analysis software. The goal of the on-going commercialization effort is to begin the transfer of Probabilistic Structural Analysis Method (PSAM) developed technology into industry and to develop additional funding resources in the general area of structural reliability. The commercialization effort is summarized. The SwRI NESSUS Software System is a general purpose probabilistic finite element computer program using state of the art methods for predicting stochastic structural response due to random loads, material properties, part geometry, and boundary conditions. NESSUS can be used to assess structural reliability, to compute probability of failure, to rank the input random variables by importance, and to provide a more cost effective design than traditional methods. The goal is to develop a general probabilistic structural analysis methodology to assist in the certification of critical components in the next generation Space Shuttle Main Engine.

  6. Variation in Quality of Urgent Health Care Provided During Commercial Virtual Visits.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Schoenfeld, Adam J; Davies, Jason M; Marafino, Ben J; Dean, Mitzi; DeJong, Colette; Bardach, Naomi S; Kazi, Dhruv S; Boscardin, W John; Lin, Grace A; Duseja, Reena; Mei, Y John; Mehrotra, Ateev; Dudley, R Adams

    2016-05-01

    Commercial virtual visits are an increasingly popular model of health care for the management of common acute illnesses. In commercial virtual visits, patients access a website to be connected synchronously-via videoconference, telephone, or webchat-to a physician with whom they have no prior relationship. To date, whether the care delivered through those websites is similar or quality varies among the sites has not been assessed. To assess the variation in the quality of urgent health care among virtual visit companies. This audit study used 67 trained standardized patients who presented to commercial virtual visit companies with the following 6 common acute illnesses: ankle pain, streptococcal pharyngitis, viral pharyngitis, acute rhinosinusitis, low back pain, and recurrent female urinary tract infection. The 8 commercial virtual visit websites with the highest web traffic were selected for audit, for a total of 599 visits. Data were collected from May 1, 2013, to July 30, 2014, and analyzed from July 1, 2014, to September 1, 2015. Completeness of histories and physical examinations, the correct diagnosis (vs an incorrect or no diagnosis), and adherence to guidelines of key management decisions. Sixty-seven standardized patients completed 599 commercial virtual visits during the study period. Histories and physical examinations were complete in 417 visits (69.6%; 95% CI, 67.7%-71.6%); diagnoses were correctly named in 458 visits (76.5%; 95% CI, 72.9%-79.9%), and key management decisions were adherent to guidelines in 325 visits (54.3%; 95% CI, 50.2%-58.3%). Rates of guideline-adherent care ranged from 206 visits (34.4%) to 396 visits (66.1%) across the 8 websites. Variation across websites was significantly greater for viral pharyngitis and acute rhinosinusitis (adjusted rates, 12.8% to 82.1%) than for streptococcal pharyngitis and low back pain (adjusted rates, 74.6% to 96.5%) or ankle pain and recurrent urinary tract infection (adjusted rates, 3.4% to 40

  7. The Evolution of the NASA Commercial Crew Program Mission Assurance Process

    Science.gov (United States)

    Canfield, Amy C.

    2016-01-01

    In 2010, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) established the Commercial Crew Program (CCP) in order to provide human access to the International Space Station and low Earth orbit via the commercial (non-governmental) sector. A particular challenge to NASA has been how to determine that the Commercial Provider's transportation system complies with programmatic safety requirements. The process used in this determination is the Safety Technical Review Board which reviews and approves provider submitted hazard reports. One significant product of the review is a set of hazard control verifications. In past NASA programs, 100% of these safety critical verifications were typically confirmed by NASA. The traditional Safety and Mission Assurance (S&MA) model does not support the nature of the CCP. To that end, NASA S&MA is implementing a Risk Based Assurance process to determine which hazard control verifications require NASA authentication. Additionally, a Shared Assurance Model is also being developed to efficiently use the available resources to execute the verifications.

  8. Progression of Dysphagia in Spinocerebellar Ataxia Type 6.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Isono, Chiharu; Hirano, Makito; Sakamoto, Hikaru; Ueno, Shuichi; Kusunoki, Susumu; Nakamura, Yusaku

    2017-06-01

    Spinocerebellar ataxia type 6 (SCA6), an autosomal dominant triplet repeat disease, predominantly affects the cerebellum with a late onset and generally good prognosis. Dysphagia is commonly associated with the outcomes of neurodegenerative diseases such as SCA6. Although the characteristics of dysphagia have been rarely reported in SCA6, our previous study indicated that dysphagia is generally milder in SCA6 than in SCA3, another inherited ataxia with multisystem involvement. However, abnormalities in the pharyngeal phase in SCA6 were indistinguishable from those in SCA3, with no explainable reason. To determine the reason, we repeatedly performed videofluoroscopic examinations (VF) in 14 patients with SCA6. The results showed that the gross progression of dysphagia was apparently slow, but four patients had progressive dysphagia at an early disease stage; dysphagia began within 10 years from the onset of ataxia and rapidly progressed. A common clinical feature of the four patients was a significantly older age at the onset of ataxia (74.0 vs. 60.3 years), associated with significantly shorter triplet repeats. This finding surprisingly indicated that patients who had shorter repeats and thereby later onset and potentially better prognoses were at risk for dysphagia-associated problems. Ischemic changes, homozygous mutation, and diabetes mellitus as well as aging might have contributed to the observed progressive dysphagia. We found that conventionally monitored somatosensory evoked potentials at least partly reflected progressive dysphagia. Despite the small study group, our findings suggest that clinicians should carefully monitor dysphagia in patients with SCA6 who are older at disease onset (>60 years).

  9. Radiometric analysis of Chinese commercial granites

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Xinwei, L.; Lingqing, W.; Xiaodan, J.

    2006-01-01

    Due to the widespread use of granites as building and ornamental materials, measurements of 226 Ra, 232 Th and 40 K activities in commercial granites have been carried out using a NaI(Tl) γ-ray spectrometer with a matrix-inversion-based spectral stripping technique. The concentrations of 226 Ra, 232 Th and 40 K in Chinese commercial granite range from 14.5 to 204.7 Bq x kg -1 , 16.7 to 186.7 Bq x kg -1 and 185.7 to 1745.6 Bq x kg -1 , respectively. The mean values of the activity concentrations of 226 Ra, 232 Th and 40 K in red and pink commercial granites are all higher than those in black and gray commercial ones. The radium equivalent activity (Ra eq ), the external hazard index (H ex ), the internal hazard index (H in ) and the annual gonadal dose equivalent (AGDE) were also calculated and compared to the international recommended values. Six types of red commercial granites (CBR, MLR, QXR, PBR, JXR, LQR, YDR and TSR) of China do not satisfy the universal standards. (author)

  10. Facile deferration of commercial fertilizers containing iron chelates for their NMR analysis.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Laghi, Luca; Alcañiz, Sara; Cerdán, Mar; Gomez-Gallego, Mar; Sierra, Miguel Angel; Placucci, Giuseppe; Cremonini, Mauro Andrea

    2009-06-24

    Ethylenediamine-N,N'-bis(o-hydroxyphenylacetic) acid (o,o-EDDHA) is widely used in commercial formulations as a Fe(3+) chelating agent to remedy iron shortage in calcareous and alkaline soils. Commercially available o,o-EDDHA-Fe(3+) formulations contain a mixture of EDDHA regioisomers (o,p-EDDHA and p,p-EDDHA), together with other, still uncharacterized, products. NMR spectroscopy can be applied to their study as long as iron is accurately removed prior to the observation. This paper shows that it is possible to obtain a deferrated solution of the organic ligands present in commercial fertilizers containing the EDDHA-Fe(3+) chelate by treating the chelate with ferrocyanide, thus forming Prussian Blue that can be easily removed by centrifugation. This iron removal process does not cause significant losses of the o,o-EDDHA ligand or its minor structural isomers.

  11. Phenolic Analysis and Theoretic Design for Chinese Commercial Wines' Authentication.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Li, Si-Yu; Zhu, Bao-Qing; Reeves, Malcolm J; Duan, Chang-Qing

    2018-01-01

    To develop a robust tool for Chinese commercial wines' varietal, regional, and vintage authentication, phenolic compounds in 121 Chinese commercial dry red wines were detected and quantified by using high-performance liquid chromatography triple-quadrupole mass spectrometry (HPLC-QqQ-MS/MS), and differentiation abilities of principal component analysis (PCA), partial least squares discriminant analysis (PLS-DA), and orthogonal partial least squares discriminant analysis (OPLS-DA) were compared. Better than PCA and PLS-DA, OPLS-DA models used to differentiate wines according to their varieties (Cabernet Sauvignon or other varieties), regions (east or west Cabernet Sauvignon wines), and vintages (young or old Cabernet Sauvignon wines) were ideally established. The S-plot provided in OPLS-DA models showed the key phenolic compounds which were both statistically and biochemically significant in sample differentiation. Besides, the potential of the OPLS-DA models in deeper sample differentiating of more detailed regional and vintage information of wines was proved optimistic. On the basis of our results, a promising theoretic design for wine authentication was further proposed for the first time, which might be helpful in practical authentication of more commercial wines. The phenolic data of 121 Chinese commercial dry red wines was processed with different statistical tools for varietal, regional, and vintage differentiation. A promising theoretical design was summarized, which might be helpful for wine authentication in practical situation. © 2017 Institute of Food Technologists®.

  12. Integrated continuous bioprocessing: Economic, operational, and environmental feasibility for clinical and commercial antibody manufacture.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Pollock, James; Coffman, Jon; Ho, Sa V; Farid, Suzanne S

    2017-07-01

    This paper presents a systems approach to evaluating the potential of integrated continuous bioprocessing for monoclonal antibody (mAb) manufacture across a product's lifecycle from preclinical to commercial manufacture. The economic, operational, and environmental feasibility of alternative continuous manufacturing strategies were evaluated holistically using a prototype UCL decisional tool that integrated process economics, discrete-event simulation, environmental impact analysis, operational risk analysis, and multiattribute decision-making. The case study focused on comparing whole bioprocesses that used either batch, continuous or a hybrid combination of batch and continuous technologies for cell culture, capture chromatography, and polishing chromatography steps. The cost of goods per gram (COG/g), E-factor, and operational risk scores of each strategy were established across a matrix of scenarios with differing combinations of clinical development phase and company portfolio size. The tool outputs predict that the optimal strategy for early phase production and small/medium-sized companies is the integrated continuous strategy (alternating tangential flow filtration (ATF) perfusion, continuous capture, continuous polishing). However, the top ranking strategy changes for commercial production and companies with large portfolios to the hybrid strategy with fed-batch culture, continuous capture and batch polishing from a COG/g perspective. The multiattribute decision-making analysis highlighted that if the operational feasibility was considered more important than the economic benefits, the hybrid strategy would be preferred for all company scales. Further considerations outside the scope of this work include the process development costs required to adopt continuous processing. © 2017 The Authors Biotechnology Progress published by Wiley Periodicals, Inc. on behalf of American Institute of Chemical Engineers Biotechnol. Prog., 33:854-866, 2017. © 2017 The

  13. 76 FR 43218 - Commercial and Industrial Pumps

    Science.gov (United States)

    2011-07-20

    .... EERE-2011-BT-STD-0031] RIN 1904-AC54 Commercial and Industrial Pumps AGENCY: Department of Energy... efficient product designs for commercial and industrial pumps. The comment period closed on July 13, 2011... commercial and industrial pumps. The comment period is extended to September 16, 2011. DATES: The comment...

  14. 7 CFR 51.2278 - U.S. Commercial.

    Science.gov (United States)

    2010-01-01

    ... 7 Agriculture 2 2010-01-01 2010-01-01 false U.S. Commercial. 51.2278 Section 51.2278 Agriculture Regulations of the Department of Agriculture AGRICULTURAL MARKETING SERVICE (Standards, Inspections, Marketing... Standards for Shelled English Walnuts (Juglans Regia) Grades § 51.2278 U.S. Commercial. “U.S. Commercial...

  15. The Track of Brain Activity during the Observation of TV Commercials with the High-Resolution EEG Technology

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Laura Astolfi

    2009-01-01

    Full Text Available We estimate cortical activity in normal subjects during the observation of TV commercials inserted within a movie by using high-resolution EEG techniques. The brain activity was evaluated in both time and frequency domains by solving the associate inverse problem of EEG with the use of realistic head models. In particular, we recover statistically significant information about cortical areas engaged by particular scenes inserted within the TV commercial proposed with respect to the brain activity estimated while watching a documentary. Results obtained in the population investigated suggest that the statistically significant brain activity during the observation of the TV commercial was mainly concentrated in frontoparietal cortical areas, roughly coincident with the Brodmann areas 8, 9, and 7, in the analyzed population.

  16. The commercial home enterprise: Labour with love

    OpenAIRE

    Harris, Candice; McIntosh, Alison; Lewis, Kate

    2007-01-01

    Within the wider context of critical discourse, this paper examines the personal experiences of commercial home hosts in New Zealand, focusing on issues of copreneurship and work-life balance. When the home has a commercial domain, the impact of hosting on a host’s life can be immense; hence the commercial home provides a unique context in which to examine the issue of work-life balance. This paper presents the findings of a study of 12 commercial home hosts conducted to explore the strategie...

  17. Targeting the extracellular matrix to disrupt cancer progression

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Freja Albjerg Venning

    2015-10-01

    Full Text Available Metastatic complications are responsible for more than 90% of cancer related deaths. The progression from an isolated tumor to disseminated metastatic disease is a multi-step process, with each step involving intricate cross-talk between the cancer cells and their non-cellular surroundings, the extracellular matrix (ECM. Many ECM proteins are significantly de-regulated during the progression of cancer, causing both biochemical and biomechanical changes that together promote the metastatic cascade. In this review, the influence of several ECM proteins on these multiple steps of cancer spread is summarized. In addition, we highlight the promising (pre-clinical data showing benefits of targeting these ECM macromolecules to prevent cancer progression.

  18. 10 CFR 431.82 - Definitions concerning commercial packaged boilers.

    Science.gov (United States)

    2010-01-01

    ... gases. Manufacturer of a commercial packaged boiler means any person who manufactures, produces... 10 Energy 3 2010-01-01 2010-01-01 false Definitions concerning commercial packaged boilers. 431.82... COMMERCIAL AND INDUSTRIAL EQUIPMENT Commercial Packaged Boilers § 431.82 Definitions concerning commercial...

  19. Commercial, environmental and legislative factors that influence the implementation of fuel cells

    Science.gov (United States)

    Serfass, Jeffrey A.; Bergman, Michael K.; Rodenhiser, Wendy

    1994-04-01

    Fuel cells and other advanced electric-generation technologies have not experienced a record of successful commercialization efforts. To lower costs for these technologies, it requires substantial production volumes with a significant investment in manufacturing facilities, all dependent on developer confidence in the ultimate market. Yet, market acceptance by buyers requires an adequate demonstration of technical performance and an assurance that these lower costs can be reached. In addition to this fundamental commercialization challenge, there are significant external factors that are greatly influencing the market's (utility's) future implementation of new alternative energy-generating technologies. The factor that has possibly the greatest impact today is the public demand for environmentally benign and renewable resource technologies. There is a growing trend of involvement by consumers, regulators and intervenors in the business and utility industry that is shifting the economic playing field by which industries make resource decisions. Concerns over air pollution, global warming, acid precipitation, depletion of the ozone layer and the hazards of electromagnetic fields (EMF) from power lines, have all led to more stringent regulations and environmental mandates. The utility business environment itself is rapidly changing. Higher public expectations from energy providers and increasing competition are leading to major changes in the American utility sector. Competitive requirements to reduce the cost of utility service is leading to business decisions that provide both opportunities and problems for increased use of alternative energy-generating technologies, like fuel cells, and/or renewables, such as wind and solar photovoltaics. Bringing new energy technologies to market is very expensive and this financial burden cannot be shouldered by the market, manufacturers or federal government alone. Further, for the market to assume a key position in early

  20. Womb Outsourcing: Commercial Surrogacy in India.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Frankford, David M; Bennington, Linda K; Ryan, Jane Greene

    2015-01-01

    Infertility affects more than 7 million American couples. As traditional treatments fail and the costs of hiring a surrogate increase in the United States, transnational commercial surrogacy becomes a feasible alternative for many couples. Infertile couples may opt for this choice after reading enticing Internet advertisements of global medical tourism offering "special deals" on commercial surrogacy. This is particularly true in India where couples from the United States can purchase transnational surrogacy for less than one-half or even one-third of the costs in the United States, including the cost of travel. The majority of surrogate mothers in India come from impoverished, poorly educated rural areas of India. Commercial surrogacy offers the lure of earning the equivalent of 5 years of family income. This multidisciplinary review of the literature suggests that the issue of commercial surrogacy is complex and influenced by a number of factors including expensive infertility costs, ease of global travel, and the financial vulnerability of Indian commercial surrogate mothers and their families. Questions are being raised about decision making by the surrogate mother particularly as influenced by gender inequities, power differentials, and inadequate legal protection for the surrogate mother. More research is needed to understand commercial surrogacy, especially research inclusive of the viewpoints of the Indian mothers and their families involved in these transactions.

  1. Toxicity of Commercial Neem Extract to Earthworms (Pheretima peguana

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Ptumporn Muangphra

    2011-01-01

    Full Text Available The LC50 of commercial neem extract (Sadao Thai III containing azadirachtin; NEEM on filter paper in the earthworm Pheretima peguana at 48 h and 72 h was 3.79 and 3.33 g cm−2, respectively. In earthworms exposed to five NEEM concentrations from 0.39 (~10% of 48-h LC50 to 3.13 (~80% of 48-h LC50 g cm−2, the radial thickness of the epidermis and body wall significantly (<.05 decreased, and thickness of intestinal epithelium increased but only at high doses, approximately 25-fold above the concentration permitted for use as an insecticide in field applications (0.09 g cm−2. NEEM significantly (<.05 increased the number of binucleated coelomocytes in the micronucleus test (detects chromosomal aberrations at 3.13 g cm−2, approximately 35-fold higher than the recommended dose, but it did not cause coelomocyte DNA single-strand breaks in the comet assay. Thus, NEEM is cytotoxic (increase in binucleates through the inhibition of cytokinesis but not genotoxic to earthworm coelomocytes. This study demonstrates that the recommended dosage of commercial neem extract as an insecticide in agricultural practices is safe for earthworms.

  2. Selling Violence: Television Commercials Targeted to Children.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Palmerton, Patricia R.; Judas, Jeff

    Noting that little research has addressed the question of violence in commercials directed to children, a study examined commercials aired during the 21 top-rated children's cartoons during one broadcast week in late spring 1993. Commercials were analyzed for violent content, gender of primary actors and recipients of violent action, primary…

  3. Characteristics of Commercial Motorcyclists in Benin City ...

    African Journals Online (AJOL)

    The aim of this paper is to evaluate the characteristics of commercial motorcyclists in Ugbowo, Benin-city. A cross-sectional and descriptive study was carried out among commercial motorcyclists in Ugbowo, Benin-city, Edo State. A total of 252 commercial motorcyclists were involved in the study. A cluster sampling method ...

  4. Commercial applications of inertial confinement fusion

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Booth, L.A.; Frank, T.G.

    1977-05-01

    This report describes the fundamentals of inertial-confinement fusion, some laser-fusion reactor (LFR) concepts, and attendant means of utilizing the thermonuclear energy for commercial electric power generation. In addition, other commercial energy-related applications, such as the production of fissionable fuels, of synthetic hydrocarbon-based fuels, and of process heat for a variety of uses, as well as the environmental and safety aspects of fusion energy, are discussed. Finally, the requirements for commercialization of laser fusion technologies are described

  5. Progress in food irradiation: South Africa

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Linde, H.J. van der

    1978-01-01

    The most significant development to date is the commissioning of a pilot plant for the treatment of subtropical fruits at Tzaneen (N. Transvaal) in January 1977. The purpose of this facility is to generate commercial quantities of treated produce for process and product evaluation. The irradiator consists of a six-metre-deep pool filled with water. The product is lowered in two large, watertight containers which surround the plaque source. To provide for dose homogeneity, the containers are rotated at half the exposure time. With the present loading of cobalt-60, the treatment time for one batch of approximately 350 kg of fruit is approximately one hour. The pilot plant has been successfully used this year to treat approximately 6.5 t of mangoes in the commercial sea-shipment trial, as well as several small consignments of avocados and papayas sent to local markets for evaluation. The existing facilities are the same as described in the previous report. The commercial sterilization plant (AECL JS6500) has been up-graded to 400 kCi of cobalt-60. The research loop in this plant has been utilized to treat 10.5 t of potatoes which were supplied to local supermarkets for trial sale purposes. (orig.) [de

  6. Guam Commercial Fisheries BioSampling (CFBS)

    Data.gov (United States)

    National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Department of Commerce — The Guam Commercial Fisheries Biosampling program, which collects length and weight frequency data for whole commercial catches, and samples 4-8 species for in-depth...

  7. The denigration of women in Malawian radio commercials.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Chilimampunga, C

    1999-07-01

    This article investigates the denigration of women in Malawi Broadcasting Corporation (MBC) commercials. A random sample of 100 commercials was tape-recorded, transcribed, and analyzed using a content-analysis method. Results showed that 36 of the 100 commercials portrayed females negatively. 41 commercials were judged to denigrate females; of these, 24 portrayed them as having little authority, 4 as dependent, 8 as home-oriented, 5 as noncompetitive, and 4 as sex objects. The large number of commercials featuring both female and male voices reflects the widespread and internalized acceptance of gender stereotypes, which favor men in wider Malawian society. In order to improve images of women, three actions must be taken: commercials must be conceived in a balanced manner, there must be an increase in the female-male ratio among MBC employees, and training on gender issues and on nonsexist advertising techniques should be introduced. While radio commercials are not the fundamental cause of the subordinate status of women, and women's status will not be transformed by the commercials alone, radio advertising can stimulate change.

  8. Biotechnological conversion of methane to methanol: evaluation of progress and potential

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Charlotte E. Bjorck

    2018-01-01

    Full Text Available Sources of methane are numerous, and vary greatly in their use and sustainable credentials. A Jekyll and Hyde character, it is a valuable energy source present as geological deposits of natural gas, however it is also potent greenhouse gas, released during many waste management processes. Gas-to-liquid technologies are being investigated as a means to exploit and monetise non-traditional and unutilised methane sources. The product identified as having the greatest potential is methanol due to it being a robust, commercially mature conversion process from methane and its beneficial fuel characteristics. Commercial methane to methanol conversion requires high temperatures and pressures, in an energy intensive and costly process. In contrast methanotrophic bacteria perform the desired transformation under ambient conditions, using methane monooxygenase (MMO enzymes. Despite the great potential of these bacteria a number of biotechnical difficulties are hindering progress towards an industrially suitable process. We have identified five major challenges that exist as barriers to a viable conversion process that, to our knowledge, have not previously been examined as distinct process challenges. Although biotechnological applications of methanotrophic bacteria have been reviewed in part, no review has comprehensively covered progress and challenges for a methane to methanol process from an industrial perspective. All published examples to date of methanotroph catalysed conversion of methane to methanol are collated, and standardised to allow direct comparison. The focus will be on conversion of methane to methanol by whole-cell, wild type, methanotroph cultures, and the potential for their application in an industrially relevant process. A recent shift in the research community focus from a mainly biological angle to an overall engineering approach, offers potential to exploit methanotrophs in an industrially relevant biotechnological gas

  9. Comparison of Two Commercial FE-Codes for Sheet Metal Forming

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Revuelta, A.; Larkiola, J.; Kanervo, K.; Korhonen, A. S.; Myllykoski, P.

    2007-01-01

    There is urgent need to develop new advanced fast and cost-effective mass-production methods for small sheet metal components. Traditionally progressive dies have been designed by using various CAD techniques. Recent results in mass production of small sheet metal parts using progressive dies and a transfer press showed that the tool design time may be cut in up to a half by using 3D finite element simulation of forming. In numerical simulation of sheet metal forming better constitutive models are required to obtain more accurate results, reduce the time for tool design and cut the production costs further. Accurate models are needed to describe the initial yielding, subsequent work hardening and to predict the formability. In this work two commercially available finite element simulation codes, PAM-STAMP and LS-DYNA, were compared in forming of small austenitic stainless steel sheet part for electronic industry. Several constitutive models were used in both codes and the results were compared. Comparisons were made between the same models in each of the codes and also between different models in the same code. Material models ranged from very simple to advanced ones, which took into account anisotropy and both isotropic and kinematic hardening behavior. In order to make a valid comparison we employed similar finite element meshes. The effects of the material models parameters were studied and the results were compared with experiments. The effects of the computational time were also studied

  10. Consortium for Algal Biofuel Commercialization (CAB-COMM) Final Report

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Mayfield, Stephen P. [Univ. of California, San Diego, CA (United States)

    2015-12-04

    The Consortium for Algal Biofuel Commercialization (CAB-Comm) was established in 2010 to conduct research to enable commercial viability of alternative liquid fuels produced from algal biomass. The main objective of CAB-Comm was to dramatically improve the viability of algae as a source of liquid fuels to meet US energy needs, by addressing several significant barriers to economic viability. To achieve this goal, CAB-Comm took a diverse set of approaches on three key aspects of the algal biofuels value chain: crop protection; nutrient utilization and recycling; and the development of genetic tools. These projects have been undertaken as collaboration between six academic institutions and two industrial partners: University of California, San Diego; Scripps Institution of Oceanography; University of Nebraska, Lincoln; Rutgers University; University of California, Davis; Johns Hopkins University; Sapphire Energy; and Life Technologies.

  11. Better Plants Progress Update Fall 2013

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    none,

    2013-09-23

    This Progress Update summarizes the significant energy saving achievements and cumulative cost savings made by these industry leaders from 2010-2012. The update also shares the plans and priorities over the next year for the Better Plants Program to continue to advance energy efficiency in the industrial sector.

  12. World bank and the environment. Progress report

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    1991-01-01

    The second annual report describes specific environmental strategies and environmental lending in the Bank's four operational regions: Africa; Asia; Europe, Middle East, and North Africa; and Latin America and the Caribbean. It details the Bank's progress in eight environmental categories: energy and the environment, pollution, urban environment, water resources management, forest and land management, social and cultural, environmental economics, and the global environment. One chapter is devoted exclusively to tropical forests, studying ways in which the Bank is dealing with deforestation as a part of the constant review of its forest policies. Suggestions are made for decreasing the degradation of tropical forests while meeting demands for forest products. This chapter reflects a shift in Bank emphasis from commercial ventures to conservation measures. The publication reports on other initiatives by the Bank during fiscal 1991, including the launching of the Global Environment Facility (GEF)--a pilot program to oversee reduction of global warming, preservation of biological diversity, protection of international waters, and prevention of ozone depletion

  13. Quarterly Progress Report (January 1 to March 31, 1950)

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Brookhaven National Laboratory

    1950-04-01

    This is the first of a series of Quarterly Reports. These reports will deal primarily with the progress made in our scientific program during a three months period. Those interested in matters pertaining to organization, administration, complete scientific program, personnel and other matters not directly involved in current scientific progress are referred to our Annual Progress Report which is issued in January. We have attempted to describe new information that appears significant, or of interest, to other scientists within the Atomic Energy Commission Laboratories. No effort has been made, however, to detail progress in each and every research project. Little or no reference will therefore be found to the projects in which progress during the current period is considered too inconclusive. Since our organizational structure is departmental, the work described herein is arranged in the following sequence: (1) Accelerator Project; (2) Biology Department; (3) Chemistry Department; (4) Instrumentation and Health Physic8 Department; (5) Medical Department; (6) Physics Department; and (7) Reactor Science and Engineering Department.

  14. Monthly oral methylprednisolone pulse treatment in progressive multiple sclerosis

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Ratzer, Rikke; Iversen, Pernille; Börnsen, Lars

    2016-01-01

    BACKGROUND: There is a large unmet need for treatments for patients with progressive multiple sclerosis (MS). Phase 2 studies with cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) biomarker outcomes may be well suited for the initial evaluation of efficacious treatments. OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the effect of monthly oral...... methylprednisolone pulse treatment on intrathecal inflammation in progressive MS. METHODS: In this open-label phase 2A study, 15 primary progressive and 15 secondary progressive MS patients received oral methylprednisolone pulse treatment for 60 weeks. Primary outcome was changes in CSF concentrations of osteopontin...... no change in the CSF concentration of osteopontin, but we observed significant improvement in clinical scores, MTR, DTI and some secondary CSF outcome measures. Adverse events were well-known side effects to methylprednisolone. CONCLUSION: Monthly methylprednisolone pulse treatment was safe, but had...

  15. Optimal load scheduling in commercial and residential microgrids

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ganji Tanha, Mohammad Mahdi

    Residential and commercial electricity customers use more than two third of the total energy consumed in the United States, representing a significant resource of demand response. Price-based demand response, which is in response to changes in electricity prices, represents the adjustments in load through optimal load scheduling (OLS). In this study, an efficient model for OLS is developed for residential and commercial microgrids which include aggregated loads in single-units and communal loads. Single unit loads which include fixed, adjustable and shiftable loads are controllable by the unit occupants. Communal loads which include pool pumps, elevators and central heating/cooling systems are shared among the units. In order to optimally schedule residential and commercial loads, a community-based optimal load scheduling (CBOLS) is proposed in this thesis. The CBOLS schedule considers hourly market prices, occupants' comfort level, and microgrid operation constraints. The CBOLS' objective in residential and commercial microgrids is the constrained minimization of the total cost of supplying the aggregator load, defined as the microgrid load minus the microgrid generation. This problem is represented by a large-scale mixed-integer optimization for supplying single-unit and communal loads. The Lagrangian relaxation methodology is used to relax the linking communal load constraint and decompose the independent single-unit functions into subproblems which can be solved in parallel. The optimal solution is acceptable if the aggregator load limit and the duality gap are within the bounds. If any of the proposed criteria is not satisfied, the Lagrangian multiplier will be updated and a new optimal load schedule will be regenerated until both constraints are satisfied. The proposed method is applied to several case studies and the results are presented for the Galvin Center load on the 16th floor of the IIT Tower in Chicago.

  16. Hydrogen storage - are we making progress?

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Blair, L.; Milliken, J.; Satyapal, S.

    2004-01-01

    'Full text:' The efficient storage of hydrogen in compact, lightweight systems that allow greater than 300-mile range has been identified as one of the major technical challenges facing the practical commercialization of fuel cell power systems for light-duty vehicles. Following the hydrogen vision announced by President Bush in his 2003 State of the Union address, the U.S. Department of Energy issued a Grand Challenge, soliciting ideas from universities, national laboratories, and industry. DOE's National Hydrogen Storage Project, an aggressive and innovative research program focused on materials R and D, will be launched in Fiscal Year 2005. An intensive effort is also underway in the private sector, both in the U.S. and abroad, to meet the challenging on-board hydrogen storage requirements. A historical perspective of hydrogen storage research and development will be provided and the current DOE technical targets for hydrogen storage systems will be discussed. The state-of-the-art in hydrogen storage will be summarized and recent progress assessed. Finally future research directions and areas of technical emphasis will be described. (author)

  17. Ghrelin and cancer progression.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lin, Tsung-Chieh; Hsiao, Michael

    2017-08-01

    Ghrelin is a small peptide with 28 amino acids, and has been characterized as the ligand of the growth hormone secretagogue receptor (GHSR). In addition to its original function in stimulating pituitary growth hormone release, ghrelin is multifunctional and plays a role in the regulation of energy balance, gastric acid release, appetite, insulin secretion, gastric motility and the turnover of gastric and intestinal mucosa. The discovery of ghrelin and GHSR expression beyond normal tissues suggests its role other than physiological function. Emerging evidences have revealed ghrelin's function in regulating several processes related to cancer progression, especially in metastasis and proliferation. We further show the relative GHRL and GHSR expression in pan-cancers from The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA), suggesting the potential pathological role of the axis in cancers. This review focuses on ghrelin's biological function in cancer progression, and reveals its clinical significance especially the impact on cancer patient outcome. Copyright © 2017 The Authors. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

  18. The progressive tax

    OpenAIRE

    Estrada, Fernando

    2010-01-01

    This article describes the argumentative structure of Hayek on the relationship between power to tax and the progressive tax. It is observed throughout its work giving special attention to two works: The Constitution of Liberty (1959) and Law, Legislation and Liberty, vol3; The Political Order of Free People, 1979) Hayek describes one of the arguments most complete information bout SFP progressive tax systems (progressive tax). According to the author the history of the tax progressive system...

  19. The Commercial Energy Consumer: About Whom Are We Speaking?

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Payne, Christopher

    2006-05-12

    Who are commercial sector customers, and how do they make decisions about energy consumption and energy efficiency investment? The energy policy field has not done a thorough job of describing energy consumption in the commercial sector. First, the discussion of the commercial sector itself is dominated by discussion of large businesses/buildings. Second, discussion of this portion of the commercial sectors consumption behavior is driven primarily by theory, with very little field data collected on the way commercial sector decision-makers describe their own options, choices, and reasons for taking action. These limitations artificially constrain energy policy options. This paper reviews the extant literature on commercial sector energy consumption behavior and identifies gaps in our knowledge. In particular, it argues that the primary energy policy model of commercial sector energy consumption is a top-down model that uses macro-level investment data to make conclusions about commercial behavior. Missing from the discussion is a model of consumption behavior that builds up to a theoretical framework informed by the micro-level data provided by commercial decision-makers themselves. Such a bottom-up model could enhance the effectiveness of commercial sector energy policy. In particular, translation of some behavioral models from the residential sector to the commercial sector may offer new opportunities for policies to change commercial energy consumption behavior. Utility bill consumption feedback is considered as one example of a policy option that may be applicable to both the residential and small commercial sector.

  20. Opteren voor de Netherlands Commercial Court

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Hoeben, J.; Keirse, A.L.M.; Reijneveld, M.D.

    Internationale contracten leiden tot internationale handelsgeschillen. Deze kunnen onder meer worden beslecht bij een commercial court. In Nederland wordt momenteel een Netherlands Commercial Court (NCC) opgericht. Dit introduceert een keuze voor (contracts)partijen voor een nieuw forum voor