CHerenkov detectors In mine PitS (CHIPS) Letter of Intent to FNAL

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Adamson, P. [Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory (FNAL), Batavia, IL (United States); Austin, J. [Univ. of Minnesota, Duluth, MN (United States); Cao, S. V. [Univ. of Texas, Austin, TX (United States); Coelho, J. A. B. [Tufts Univ., Medford, MA (United States); Davies, G. S. [Iowa State Univ., Ames, IA (United States); Evans, J. J. [Univ. of Manchester (United Kingdom); Guzowski, P. [Univ. of Manchester (United Kingdom); Habig, A. [Univ. of Minnesota, Duluth, MN (United States); Holin, A. [Univ. College London, London (United Kingdom); Huang, J. [Univ. of Texas, Austin, TX (United States); Johnson, R. [Univ. of Cincinnati, OH (United States); St. John, J. [Univ. of Cincinnati, OH (United States); Kreymer, A. [Fermi National Accelerator Lab. (FNAL), Batavia, IL (United States); Kordosky, M. [College of William and Mary, Williamsburg, VA (United States); Lang, K. [Univ. of Texas, Austin, TX (United States); Marshak, M. L. [Univ. of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN (United States); Mehdiyev, R. [Univ. of Texas, Austin, TX (United States); Meier, J. [Univ. of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN (United States); Miller, W. [Univ. of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN (United States); Naples, D. [Univ. of Pittsburgh, PA (United States); Nelson, J. K. [College of William and Mary, Williamsburg, VA (United States); Nichol, R. J. [Univ. College London, London (United Kingdom); Patterson, R. B. [California Inst. of Technology (CalTech), Pasadena, CA (United States); Paolone, V. [Univ. of Pittsburgh, PA (United States); Pawloski, G. [Univ. of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN (United States); Perch, A. [Univ. College London, London (United Kingdom); Pfutzner, M. [Univ. College London, London (United Kingdom); Proga, M. [Univ. of Texas, Austin, TX (United States); Qian, X. [Brookhaven National Lab. (BNL), Upton, NY (United States); Radovic, A. [Univ. College London, London (United Kingdom); Sanchez, M. C. [Iowa State Univ., Ames, IA (United States); Schreiner, S. [Univ. of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN (United States); Soldner-Rembold, S. [Univ. of Manchester (United Kingdom); Sousa, A. [Univ. of Cincinnati, OH (United States); Thomas, J. [Univ. College London, London (United Kingdom); Vahle, P. [College of William and Mary, Williamsburg, VA (United States); Wendt, C. [Univ. of Wisconsin, Madison, WI (United States); Whitehead, L. H. [Univ. College London, London (United Kingdom); Wojcicki, S. [Stanford Univ., CA (United States)

2013-12-30

This Letter of Intent outlines a proposal to build a large, yet cost-effective, 100 kton fiducial mass water Cherenkov detector that will initially run in the NuMI beam line. The CHIPS detector (CHerenkov detector In Mine PitS) will be deployed in a flooded mine pit, removing the necessity and expense of a substantial external structure capable of supporting a large detector mass. There are a number of mine pits in northern Minnesota along the NuMI beam that could be used to deploy such a detector. In particular, the Wentworth Pit 2W is at the ideal off-axis angle to contribute to the measurement of the CP violating phase. The detector is designed so that it can be moved to a mine pit in the LBNE beam line once that becomes operational.

Stochastic modeling of pitting corrosion: A new model for initiation and growth of multiple corrosion pits

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Valor, A.; Caleyo, F.; Alfonso, L.; Rivas, D.; Hallen, J.M.

2007-01-01

In this work, a new stochastic model capable of simulating pitting corrosion is developed and validated. Pitting corrosion is modeled as the combination of two stochastic processes: pit initiation and pit growth. Pit generation is modeled as a nonhomogeneous Poisson process, in which induction time for pit initiation is simulated as the realization of a Weibull process. In this way, the exponential and Weibull distributions can be considered as the possible distributions for pit initiation time. Pit growth is simulated using a nonhomogeneous Markov process. Extreme value statistics is used to find the distribution of maximum pit depths resulting from the combination of the initiation and growth processes for multiple pits. The proposed model is validated using several published experiments on pitting corrosion. It is capable of reproducing the experimental observations with higher quality than the stochastic models available in the literature for pitting corrosion

Stochastic modeling of pitting corrosion: A new model for initiation and growth of multiple corrosion pits

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Valor, A. [Facultad de Fisica, Universidad de La Habana, San Lazaro y L, Vedado, 10400 Havana (Cuba); Caleyo, F. [Departamento de Ingenieria, Metalurgica, IPN-ESIQIE, UPALM Edif. 7, Zacatenco, Mexico DF 07738 (Mexico)]. E-mail: fcaleyo@gmail.com; Alfonso, L. [Departamento de Ingenieria, Metalurgica, IPN-ESIQIE, UPALM Edif. 7, Zacatenco, Mexico DF 07738 (Mexico); Rivas, D. [Departamento de Ingenieria, Metalurgica, IPN-ESIQIE, UPALM Edif. 7, Zacatenco, Mexico DF 07738 (Mexico); Hallen, J.M. [Departamento de Ingenieria, Metalurgica, IPN-ESIQIE, UPALM Edif. 7, Zacatenco, Mexico DF 07738 (Mexico)

2007-02-15

In this work, a new stochastic model capable of simulating pitting corrosion is developed and validated. Pitting corrosion is modeled as the combination of two stochastic processes: pit initiation and pit growth. Pit generation is modeled as a nonhomogeneous Poisson process, in which induction time for pit initiation is simulated as the realization of a Weibull process. In this way, the exponential and Weibull distributions can be considered as the possible distributions for pit initiation time. Pit growth is simulated using a nonhomogeneous Markov process. Extreme value statistics is used to find the distribution of maximum pit depths resulting from the combination of the initiation and growth processes for multiple pits. The proposed model is validated using several published experiments on pitting corrosion. It is capable of reproducing the experimental observations with higher quality than the stochastic models available in the literature for pitting corrosion.

Grey Hair Evlsion Technique For Evaluating the Effect of Drugs For the Treatment of Premature Grey Hairs

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

J S Pasricha

1985-01-01

Full Text Available An improved method for evaluating the effect of treatment for premature grey hairs is described. The method consists of pulling out all the grey hairs in a patient and counting the number removed. Simultaneously, the converted hairs are also snipped at the grey-black junction and counted. After a gap of 3 months, the survey is repeated to count the number of hairs which have regrowing as grey hairs, the hairs which have become grey and also the hairs which have got converted into black during this period. Such surveys are repeated at 3 months intervals over a period of several years to see the progress of greying of hair in an individual and to evaluate the effect of various therapeutic procedures.

Current status and a short history of grey literature. Focusing on the international conference on grey literature

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ikeda, Kiyoshi

2010-01-01

'Grey literature' is a loosely defined term whose application is rather complex, but it is also an important source of information for academic researchers. Today, the spread of the Internet has led to changes not only in the circulation but also in the role and definition of 'grey literature'. This article therefore presents a short history of the definition of 'grey literature', with central focus on topics discussed by the International Conference on Grey Literature. After this, the current status and future prospects of 'grey literature' in the digital society are described. Finally, the article introduces the JAEA Library's activities on 'grey literature', particularly the acquisition of proceedings and the editing and dissemination of the JAEA Reports (technical reports of JAEA). (author)

A probability distribution model of tooth pits for evaluating time-varying mesh stiffness of pitting gears

Science.gov (United States)

Lei, Yaguo; Liu, Zongyao; Wang, Delong; Yang, Xiao; Liu, Huan; Lin, Jing

2018-06-01

Tooth damage often causes a reduction in gear mesh stiffness. Thus time-varying mesh stiffness (TVMS) can be treated as an indication of gear health conditions. This study is devoted to investigating the mesh stiffness variations of a pair of external spur gears with tooth pitting, and proposes a new model for describing tooth pitting based on probability distribution. In the model, considering the appearance and development process of tooth pitting, we model the pitting on the surface of spur gear teeth as a series of pits with a uniform distribution in the direction of tooth width and a normal distribution in the direction of tooth height, respectively. In addition, four pitting degrees, from no pitting to severe pitting, are modeled. Finally, influences of tooth pitting on TVMS are analyzed in details and the proposed model is validated by comparing with a finite element model. The comparison results show that the proposed model is effective for the TVMS evaluations of pitting gears.

Grey water biodegradability.

Science.gov (United States)

Ghunmi, Lina Abu; Zeeman, Grietje; Fayyad, Manar; van Lier, Jules B

2011-02-01

Knowing the biodegradability characteristics of grey water constituents is imperative for a proper design and operation of a biological treatment system of grey water. This study characterizes the different COD fractions of dormitory grey water and investigates the effect of applying different conditions in the biodegradation test. The maximum aerobic and anaerobic biodegradability and conversion rate for the different COD fractions is determined. The results show that, on average, dormitory grey water COD fractions are 28% suspended, 32% colloidal and 40% dissolved. The studied factors incubation time, inoculum addition and temperature are influencing the determined biodegradability. The maximum biodegradability and biodegradation rate differ between different COD fractions, viz. COD(ss), COD(col) and COD(diss). The dissolved COD fraction is characterised by the lowest degradation rate, both for anaerobic and aerobic conditions. The maximum biodegradability for aerobic and anaerobic conditions is 86 and 70% respectively, whereas the first order conversion rate constant, k₂₀, is 0.119 and 0.005 day⁻¹, respectively. The anaerobic and aerobic conversion rates in relation to temperature can be described by the Arrhenius relation, with temperature coefficients of 1.069 and 1.099, respectively.

Tank Riser Pit Decontamination System (Pit Viper) Return on Investment and Break-Even Analysis

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Young, Joan K.; Weimar, Mark R.; Balducci, Patrick J.; Fassbender, Linda L.; Hernandez, Melissa

2003-01-01

This study assessed the cost benefit of Pit Viper deployment for 80 tank farm pits between October 1, 2003 and September 30, 2012 under the technical baseline for applicable double-shell tank (DST) and single-shell tank (SST) projects. After this assessment had been completed, the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Richland Operations Office (RL) and Office of River Protection (ORP) published the Hanford Performance Management Plan (August 2003), which accelerated the schedule for SST retrieval. Then, DOE/CH2M HILL contract modification M064 (October 2002) and The Integrated Mission Acceleration Plan (March 2003) further accelerated SST retrieval and closure schedules. Twenty-six to 40 tanks must be retrieved by 2006. Thus the schedule for SST pit entries is accelerated and the number of SST pit entries is increased. This study estimates the return on investment (ROI) and the number of pits where Pit Viper deployment would break even or save money over current manual practices. The results of the analysis indicate a positive return on the federal investment for deployment of the Pit Viper provided it is used on a sufficient number of pits

Pit Water Storage Ottrupgaard

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Heller, Alfred

2000-01-01

The pit water storage, a seasonal thermal storage, was built in 1993 with floating lid and hybrid clay-polymer for pit lining. The storage was leaking severe and solutions were to be found. In the paper solutions for pit lining and floating lids are discussed, cost estimations given and coming...

Characteristics of grey wastewater

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Eriksson, Eva; Auffarth, Karina Pipaluk Solvejg; Henze, Mogens

2002-01-01

The composition of grey wastewater depends on sources and installations from where the water is drawn, e.g. kitchen, bathroom or laundry. The chemical compounds present originate from household chemicals, cooking, washing and the piping. In general grey wastewater contains lower levels of organic...

Open Pit Water Control Safety A Case Of Nchanga Open Pit Mine Zambia

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Silwamba C

2015-08-01

Full Text Available Abstract Mining in Chingola Zambia started underground in 1931 and was catastrophically flooded and closed. The present Nchanga Underground Mine NUG started in 1937. The Nchanga Open Pit NOP mine started in 1955 situated to the west of NUG and partially overlying it. Open pit water control safety operations in the Nchanga-Chingola area have successfully enabled the safe extraction of millions of tonnes of copper ore annually over the past 60 years from NUG mining as well as the NOP. At the start Nchanga mining license surface already had NUG and many watershed divides with the Nchanga and Chingola streams being the main streams feeding into Zambias second largest river Kafue river and 42 of the year was characterised by heavy rains ranging between 800mm to 1300mm per annum. In this paper the presence of very significant amounts of seasonal rain and subsurface water in the mining area was identified as both a curse and a blessing. An excess in seasonal rain and subsurface water would disrupt both open pit and underground mining operations. In order for NOP to be operated successfully stable and free from flooding coping water management tactics were adopted from 1955 to 2015 including 1. Underground mine pump chamber pumping system 2. Piezometer instrumented boreholes 3. Underground mine 1500-ft sub-haulage east borehole dewatering beneath the open pit 4. Nchanga and Chingola stream diversionary tunnel and open drains 5. Nchanga stream causeway and embankment dam in the Matero School Golf Club area 6. Pit perimeter borehole pumping 7. Outer and inner pit perimeter drains and bund walls 8. In-pit ramp side drains 9. In-pit sub-horizontal borehole geo-drains and water and 10. Pit bottom sump pumps. Application of grout curtains along the Vistula River Poland was noted as a possibility in the right circumstances although it had never been used at Nchanga Open Pit. An additional conclusion was that forward health safety and environmental end

An EGR performance evaluation and decision-making approach based on grey theory and grey entropy analysis.

Science.gov (United States)

Zu, Xianghuan; Yang, Chuanlei; Wang, Hechun; Wang, Yinyan

2018-01-01

Exhaust gas recirculation (EGR) is one of the main methods of reducing NOX emissions and has been widely used in marine diesel engines. This paper proposes an optimized comprehensive assessment method based on multi-objective grey situation decision theory, grey relation theory and grey entropy analysis to evaluate the performance and optimize rate determination of EGR, which currently lack clear theoretical guidance. First, multi-objective grey situation decision theory is used to establish the initial decision-making model according to the main EGR parameters. The optimal compromise between diesel engine combustion and emission performance is transformed into a decision-making target weight problem. After establishing the initial model and considering the characteristics of EGR under different conditions, an optimized target weight algorithm based on grey relation theory and grey entropy analysis is applied to generate the comprehensive evaluation and decision-making model. Finally, the proposed method is successfully applied to a TBD234V12 turbocharged diesel engine, and the results clearly illustrate the feasibility of the proposed method for providing theoretical support and a reference for further EGR optimization.

Grey water treatment systems: A review

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Abu-Ghunmi, L.N.A.H.; Zeeman, G.; Fayyad, M.; Lier, van J.B.

2011-01-01

This review aims to discern a treatment for grey water by examining grey water characteristics, reuse standards, technology performance and costs. The review reveals that the systems for treating grey water, whatever its quality, should consist of processes that are able to trap pollutants with a

The Dutch Grey Market

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Renneboog, L.D.R.; Spaenjers, C.

2008-01-01

When-issued trading concerns transactions in securities that have not yet been issued. This type of trade often takes place in a so-called 'grey market', in which all contracts are conditional on the issuance of the security. In this paper, we investigate the Dutch grey market for when-issued shares

The Dutch Grey Market

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Renneboog, L.D.R.; Spaenjers, C.

2008-01-01

When-issued trading concerns transactions in securities that have not yet been issued. This type of trade often takes place in a so-called ‘grey market’, in which all contracts are conditional on the issuance of the security. In this paper, we investigate the Dutch grey market for when-issued shares

GreyGuide - Guide to Good Practice in Grey Literature: A Community Driven Open Resource Project

OpenAIRE

Biagioni, Stefania (ISTI-CNR); Carlesi, Carlo (ISTI-CNR); Schopfel, Joachim (University of Lille); Farace, Dominic J. (GreyNet); Frantzen, Jerry (GreyNet); GreyNet, Grey Literature Network Service

2014-01-01

The goal of this project is to develop an open source repository of good practices in the field of grey literature. That which originated in monographic form will now open and expand to include content from the global grey literature community. Such practices will range from the production and processing of grey literature through to its distribution, uses, and preservation. The repository will contain guidelines such as those in handling theses and dissertations, how to write research report...

Repozitář a webový portál GreyGuide:Odpověď GreyNet na Deklaraci z Pisy

OpenAIRE

Farace, Dominic

2014-01-01

In December 2013, the GreyGuide was launched and in early 2014 GreyNet welcomed far reaching developments in its resource management. These developments are in line with the “Pisa Declaration on Policy Development for Grey Literature Resources (May 16, 2014)”. In compliance with this 15-point roadmap, a selection of GreyNet’s web-based content will now migrate to the GreyGuide allowing for seamless browse, search, and retrieval across its collections.

NELL-1 increases pre-osteoblast mineralization using both phosphate transporter Pit1 and Pit2

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Cowan, Catherine M. [Department of Bioengineering, University of California, Los Angeles, 420 Westwood Plaza,7523 Boelter Hall, Los Angeles, CA 90095 (United States); Dental and Craniofacial Research Institute and Section of Orthodontics, School of Dentistry, University of California, Los Angeles, 40833 Le Conte Ave, Los Angeles, CA 90095 (United States); Zhang, Xinli; James, Aaron W.; Mari Kim, T.; Sun, Nichole [Dental and Craniofacial Research Institute and Section of Orthodontics, School of Dentistry, University of California, Los Angeles, 40833 Le Conte Ave, Los Angeles, CA 90095 (United States); Wu, Benjamin [Department of Bioengineering, University of California, Los Angeles, 420 Westwood Plaza,7523 Boelter Hall, Los Angeles, CA 90095 (United States); Dental and Craniofacial Research Institute and Section of Orthodontics, School of Dentistry, University of California, Los Angeles, 40833 Le Conte Ave, Los Angeles, CA 90095 (United States); Ting, Kang [Dental and Craniofacial Research Institute and Section of Orthodontics, School of Dentistry, University of California, Los Angeles, 40833 Le Conte Ave, Los Angeles, CA 90095 (United States); Soo, Chia, E-mail: bsoo@ucla.edu [UCLA and Orthopaedic Hospital Department of Orthopaedic Surgery and the Orthopaedic, Hospital Research Center, University of California, Los Angeles, 2641 Charles E. Young Dr. South, Los Angeles, CA 90095 (United States)

2012-06-08

Highlights: Black-Right-Pointing-Pointer NELL-1 accelerates extracellular matrix mineralization in MC3T3-E1 pre-osteoblasts. Black-Right-Pointing-Pointer NELL-1 significantly increases intracellular inorganic phosphate levels. Black-Right-Pointing-Pointer NELL-1 positively regulates osteogenesis but not proliferation in MC3T3-E1 cells. Black-Right-Pointing-Pointer NELL-1 regulates inorganic phosphate transporter activity. -- Abstract: NELL-1 is a potent osteoinductive molecule that enhances bone formation in multiple animal models through currently unidentified pathways. In the present manuscript, we hypothesized that NELL-1 may regulate osteogenic differentiation accompanied by alteration of inorganic phosphate (Pi) entry into the osteoblast via sodium dependent phosphate (NaPi) transporters. To determine this, MC3T3-E1 pre-osteoblasts were cultured in the presence of recombinant human (rh)NELL-1 or rhBMP-2. Analysis was performed for intracellular Pi levels through malachite green staining, Pit-1 and Pit-2 expression, and forced upregulation of Pit-1 and Pit-2. Results showed rhNELL-1 to increase MC3T3-E1 matrix mineralization and Pi influx associated with activation of both Pit-1 and Pit-2 channels, with significantly increased Pit-2 production. In contrast, Pi transport elicited by rhBMP-2 showed to be associated with increased Pit-1 production only. Next, neutralizing antibodies against Pit-1 and Pit-2 completely abrogated the Pi influx effect of rhNELL-1, suggesting rhNELL-1 is dependent on both transporters. These results identify one potential mechanism of action for rhNELL-1 induced osteogenesis and highlight a fundamental difference between NELL-1 and BMP-2 signaling.

NELL-1 increases pre-osteoblast mineralization using both phosphate transporter Pit1 and Pit2

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Cowan, Catherine M.; Zhang, Xinli; James, Aaron W.; Mari Kim, T.; Sun, Nichole; Wu, Benjamin; Ting, Kang; Soo, Chia

2012-01-01

Highlights: ► NELL-1 accelerates extracellular matrix mineralization in MC3T3-E1 pre-osteoblasts. ► NELL-1 significantly increases intracellular inorganic phosphate levels. ► NELL-1 positively regulates osteogenesis but not proliferation in MC3T3-E1 cells. ► NELL-1 regulates inorganic phosphate transporter activity. -- Abstract: NELL-1 is a potent osteoinductive molecule that enhances bone formation in multiple animal models through currently unidentified pathways. In the present manuscript, we hypothesized that NELL-1 may regulate osteogenic differentiation accompanied by alteration of inorganic phosphate (Pi) entry into the osteoblast via sodium dependent phosphate (NaPi) transporters. To determine this, MC3T3-E1 pre-osteoblasts were cultured in the presence of recombinant human (rh)NELL-1 or rhBMP-2. Analysis was performed for intracellular Pi levels through malachite green staining, Pit-1 and Pit-2 expression, and forced upregulation of Pit-1 and Pit-2. Results showed rhNELL-1 to increase MC3T3-E1 matrix mineralization and Pi influx associated with activation of both Pit-1 and Pit-2 channels, with significantly increased Pit-2 production. In contrast, Pi transport elicited by rhBMP-2 showed to be associated with increased Pit-1 production only. Next, neutralizing antibodies against Pit-1 and Pit-2 completely abrogated the Pi influx effect of rhNELL-1, suggesting rhNELL-1 is dependent on both transporters. These results identify one potential mechanism of action for rhNELL-1 induced osteogenesis and highlight a fundamental difference between NELL-1 and BMP-2 signaling.

Grey-grey separate spatial soliton pairs in a biased series two-photon centrosymmetric photorefractive crystals circuit

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ji, Xuanmang; Wang, Jinlai; Jiang, Qichang; Liu, Jinsong

2012-01-01

Grey-grey separate spatial soliton pairs are predicted in a biased series circuit consisting of two centrosymmetric photorefractive (PR) crystals with the two-photon PR effect. The numerical results show that two grey solitons in a soliton pair can affect each other by the light-induced current. The effects of the intensity of solitary waves and gating lights on the normalized profiles and the dynamical evolutions of solitons are discussed.

Single pit propagation on austenitic stainless steel

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Heurtault, Stephane

2016-01-01

The electrochemical characterization of metastable events such as pitting corrosion of stainless steel in chloride electrolyte remains complex because many individual processes may occur simultaneously on the alloy surface. To overcome these difficulties, an experimental setup, the flow micro-device, has been developed to achieve the initiation of a single pit and to propagate the single pit in three dimensions. In this work, we take advantage of such a device in order to revisit the pitting process on a 316L stainless steel in a chloride - sulphate bulk. In a first step, the time evolution of the pit geometry (depth, radius) and the chemical evolution of the pit solution investigated using in situ Raman spectroscopy have shown that the pit depth propagation depends on the formation of a metal chloride and sulphate gel in the pit solution, and is controlled by the metallic cations diffusion from the pit bottom to the pit mouth. The pit radius growth is defined by the initial surface de-passivation, by the presence of a pit cover and by the gel development in the solution. all of these phenomena are function of applied potential and chemical composition of the solution. In a last step, it was demonstrated that a critical chloride concentration is needed in order to maintain the pit propagation. This critical concentration slightly increases with the pit depth. From statistical analysis performed on identical experiments, a zone diagram showing the pit stability as a function of the chloride concentration and the pit dimensions was built. (author) [fr

Grey Guide Repository: presentation and demo

OpenAIRE

Biagioni, Stefania; Carlesi, Carlo; Schopfel, Joachim; Farace, Dominic; Frantzen, Jerry

2013-01-01

The goal of this project is to develop an open source repository of good practices in the field of grey literature. That which originated in monographic form will now open and expand to include content from the global grey literature community. Such practices will range from the production and processing of grey literature through to its distribution, uses, and preservation.

Interacting Effects Induced by Two Neighboring Pits Considering Relative Position Parameters and Pit Depth

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Yongfang Huang

2017-04-01

Full Text Available For pre-corroded aluminum alloy 7075-T6, the interacting effects of two neighboring pits on the stress concentration are comprehensively analyzed by considering various relative position parameters (inclination angle θ and dimensionless spacing parameter λ and pit depth (d with the finite element method. According to the severity of the stress concentration, the critical corrosion regions, bearing high susceptibility to fatigue damage, are determined for intersecting and adjacent pits, respectively. A straightforward approach is accordingly proposed to conservatively estimate the combined stress concentration factor induced by two neighboring pits, and a concrete application example is presented. It is found that for intersecting pits, the normalized stress concentration factor Ktnor increases with the increase of θ and λ and always reaches its maximum at θ = 90°, yet for adjacent pits, Ktnor decreases with the increase of λ and the maximum value appears at a slight asymmetric location. The simulations reveal that Ktnor follows a linear and an exponential relationship with the dimensionless depth parameter Rd for intersecting and adjacent cases, respectively.

Locating grey literature on communication disorders.

Science.gov (United States)

Shpilko, Inna

2005-01-01

This article provides an overview of selected Web-based resources containing grey literature in the area of communication disorders. It is geared to practitioners, researchers, students, and consumers seeking reliable, freely available scientific information. Grey (or gray) literature has been defined as "that which is produced on all levels of government, academics, business, and industry in print and electronic formats, but which is not controlled by commercial publishers."1 This paper reviews various general reference sources potentially containing grey literature on communication disorders. This review includes identification of the methods specialists in this field use to obtain this valuable, yet often overlooked, literature. Access points and search tools for identifying grey literature on communication disorders are recommended. Commercial databases containing grey literature are not included. Conclusions presented in this article are considered complementary to traditionally published information resources on communication disorders, such as scholarly journals, online databases, etc.

Grey-Box Modelling of Pharmacokinetic /Pharmacodynamic Systems

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Tornøe, Christoffer Wenzel; Jacobsen, Judith L.; Pedersen, Oluf

2004-01-01

Grey-box pharmacokinetic/pharmacodynamic (PK/PD) modelling is presented as a promising way of modelling PK/PD systems. The concept behind grey-box modelling is based on combining physiological knowledge along with information from data in the estimation of model parameters. Grey-box modelling...

Baseline Risk Assessment for the F-Area Burning/Rubble Pits and Rubble Pit

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Palmer, E. [Westinghouse Savannah River Company, AIKEN, SC (United States)

1996-03-01

This document provides an overview of the Savannah River Site (SRS) and a description of the F-Area Burning/Rubble Pits (BRPs) and Rubble Pit (RP) unit. It also describes the objectives and scope of the baseline risk assessment (BRA).

Burn Pit Emissions Exposure and Respiratory and Cardiovascular Conditions Among Airborne Hazards and Open Burn Pit Registry Participants.

Science.gov (United States)

Liu, Jason; Lezama, Nicholas; Gasper, Joseph; Kawata, Jennifer; Morley, Sybil; Helmer, Drew; Ciminera, Paul

2016-07-01

The aim of this study was to determine how burn pit emissions exposure is associated with the incidence of respiratory and cardiovascular conditions. We examined the associations between assumed geographic and self-reported burn pit emissions exposure and respiratory and cardiovascular outcomes in participants of the Airborne Hazards and Open Burn Pit Registry. We found significant dose-response associations for higher risk of self-reported emphysema, chronic bronchitis, or chronic obstructive pulmonary disease with increased days of deployment within 2 miles of selected burn pits (P-trend = 0.01) and self-reported burn pit smoke exposure (P-trend = 0.0005). We found associations between burn pit emissions exposure and higher incidence of post-deployment self-reported respiratory and cardiovascular conditions, but these findings should be interpreted with caution because the surrogate measurements of burn pit emissions exposure in this analysis may not reflect individual exposure levels.

Burning/Rubble Pits: Environmental information document

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Huber, L.A.; Johnson, W.F.; Marine, I.W.

1987-03-01

The Burning/Rubble Pits, located near each of the major operating areas at the Savannah River Plant (SRP), began collecting burnable waste in 1951. The waste was incinerated monthly. All Burning/Rubble Pits are currently closed except for Burning/Rubble Pit 131-1R, which has not been backfilled but is inactive. No soil cores from the Burning/Rubble Pits have been analyzed. There are four groundwater monitoring wells located around each of the pits, which have been sampled quarterly since 1984. The closure options considered for the Burning/Rubble Pits are waste removal and closure, no waste removal and closure, and no action. Modeling calculations were made to determine the risks to human population for the three postulated closure options. An ecological assessment was conducted to predict the environmental impacts on aquatic and terrestrial biota. The relative costs for each of the closure options were estimated. An evaluation of the environmental impacts from the Burning/Rubble Pits indicates that the relative risks to human health and ecosystems for the postulated closure options are low. The ecological assessment shows that the effects of any closure activities on river water quality and wildlife would be insignificant. The cost estimates show the waste removal and closure option to be the most expensive for all of the pits. 38 refs., 35 figs., 47 tabs

Limbic grey matter changes in early Parkinson's disease.

Science.gov (United States)

Li, Xingfeng; Xing, Yue; Schwarz, Stefan T; Auer, Dorothee P

2017-05-02

The purpose of this study was to investigate local and network-related changes of limbic grey matter in early Parkinson's disease (PD) and their inter-relation with non-motor symptom severity. We applied voxel-based morphometric methods in 538 T1 MRI images retrieved from the Parkinson's Progression Markers Initiative website. Grey matter densities and cross-sectional estimates of age-related grey matter change were compared between subjects with early PD (n = 366) and age-matched healthy controls (n = 172) within a regression model, and associations of grey matter density with symptoms were investigated. Structural brain networks were obtained using covariance analysis seeded in regions showing grey matter abnormalities in PD subject group. Patients displayed focally reduced grey matter density in the right amygdala, which was present from the earliest stages of the disease without further advance in mild-moderate disease stages. Right amygdala grey matter density showed negative correlation with autonomic dysfunction and positive with cognitive performance in patients, but no significant interrelations were found with anxiety scores. Patients with PD also demonstrated right amygdala structural disconnection with less structural connectivity of the right amygdala with the cerebellum and thalamus but increased covariance with bilateral temporal cortices compared with controls. Age-related grey matter change was also increased in PD preferentially in the limbic system. In conclusion, detailed brain morphometry in a large group of early PD highlights predominant limbic grey matter deficits with stronger age associations compared with controls and associated altered structural connectivity pattern. This provides in vivo evidence for early limbic grey matter pathology and structural network changes that may reflect extranigral disease spread in PD. Hum Brain Mapp, 2017. © 2017 The Authors Human Brain Mapping Published by Wiley Periodicals, Inc. © 2017 The

Grey literature: An important resource in systematic reviews.

Science.gov (United States)

Paez, Arsenio

2017-12-21

Systematic reviews aid the analysis and dissemination of evidence, using rigorous and transparent methods to generate empirically attained answers to focused research questions. Identifying all evidence relevant to the research questions is an essential component, and challenge, of systematic reviews. Grey literature, or evidence not published in commercial publications, can make important contributions to a systematic review. Grey literature can include academic papers, including theses and dissertations, research and committee reports, government reports, conference papers, and ongoing research, among others. It may provide data not found within commercially published literature, providing an important forum for disseminating studies with null or negative results that might not otherwise be disseminated. Grey literature may thusly reduce publication bias, increase reviews' comprehensiveness and timeliness and foster a balanced picture of available evidence. Grey literature's diverse formats and audiences can present a significant challenge in a systematic search for evidence. However, the benefits of including grey literature may far outweigh the cost in time and resource needed to search for it, and it is important for it to be included in a systematic review or review of evidence. A carefully thought out grey literature search strategy may be an invaluable component of a systematic review. This narrative review provides guidance about the benefits of including grey literature in a systematic review, and sources for searching through grey literature. An illustrative example of a search for evidence within grey literature sources is presented to highlight the potential contributions of such a search to a systematic review. Benefits and challenges of grey literature search methods are discussed, and recommendations made. © 2017 Chinese Cochrane Center, West China Hospital of Sichuan University and John Wiley & Sons Australia, Ltd.

TREATMENT OF GREY WATER USING CONSTRUCTED WETLAND SYSTEM

OpenAIRE

David Prashant Asirvadam; K. Dhivya Bharathi; P. Durairaj; M. Kaleeswaran; S. Abinaya

2017-01-01

The grey water is the waste water that is generated in the households or office buildings from streams without fecal contamination. Sources of grey water include water from sinks, showers, baths, washing machine or dish washers. As grey water contains fewer pathogens than domestic waste, it is generally safer to handle and easier to treat and reuse onsite for toilet flushing, landscape or crop irrigation. The removal of toxic content in grey water in this era is one of the most needed process...

Parturition pit: the bony imprint of vaginal birth

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

McArthur, Tatum A.; Meyer, Isuzu; Jackson, Bradford; Pitt, Michael J.; Larrison, Matthew C.

2016-01-01

To retrospectively evaluate for pits along the dorsum of the pubic body in females and compare the presence/absence of these pits to vaginal birth data. We retrospectively reviewed females with vaginal birth data who underwent pelvic CT. The presence of pits along the dorsum of the pubic body, pit grade (0 = not present; 1 = faintly imperceptible; 2 = present; 3 = prominent), and the presence of osteitis condensans ilii, preauricular sulcus, and sacroiliac joint vacuum phenomenon were assessed on imaging. Musculoskeletal radiologists who were blinded to the birth data evaluated the CTs. 48 males were also evaluated for the presence of pits. 482 female patients underwent CT pelvis and 171 were excluded due to lack of vaginal birth data. Of the 311 study patients, 262 had prior vaginal birth(s) and 194 had pits on CT. Only 7 of the 49 patients without prior vaginal birth had pits. There was a statistically significant association between vaginal birth and presence of pits (p < 0.0001). Patients with more prominent pits (grades 2/3) had a greater number of vaginal births. As vaginal deliveries increased, the odds of having parturition pits greatly increased, adjusting for age and race at CT (p < 0.0001). No males had pits. Our study indicates that parturition pits are associated with prior vaginal birth and should be considered a characteristic of the female pelvis. The lytic appearance of prominent pits on imaging can simulate disease and create a diagnostic dilemma for interpreting radiologists. (orig.)

MRI of laminar heterotopic grey matter

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Vahldiek, G.; Terwey, B.; Hanefeld, F.; Sperner, J.

1990-01-01

In one baby and 2 infants who presented with psychomotor retardation and epilepsy laminar heterotopic grey matter was demonstrated via magnetic resonance imaging. Laminar heterotopia is a rare migrational disorder with bilateral symmetric ribbons of grey matter within the centrum semiovale, separated from ventricular walls and from obviously normal-sized cortex by broad layers of white matter. The heterotopic grey matter has a signal intensity which is isointense compared with that of normal cortex irrespective of image weighting. On account of this signal behaviour differentiation against other white matter diseases is easy. The knowledge of these pathognomonic findings facilitates correct diagnosis, especially during the first and the second year of life, when signal intensities of white and grey matter differ from normal findings because of the occasionally delayed myelination process. Therefore, further diagnostic procedures can be avoided and early counseling of parents is possible. (orig.) [de

Post-pit optimization strategic alignment

OpenAIRE

Breed, M.F.; van Heerden, D.

2016-01-01

Successful development of projects or life-of-mine strategies requires an understanding of the relative sensitivity of value drivers such as grade, tonnage, energy costs, direct operational costs, and recoveries. For example, the results could vary significantly depending on the grade strategy, given a specific orebody amenable to open pitting. Pit optimization is a very powerful tool widely used in the industry to determine the pit shell with the most attractive value potential. Based on the...

Influence of Pitting Corrosion on Fatigue and Corrosion Fatigue of Ship and Offshore Structures, Part II: Load - Pit - Crack Interaction

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Jakubowski Marek

2015-09-01

Full Text Available In the paper has been discussed influence of stresses on general corrosion rate and corrosion pit nucleation rate and growth , whose presence has been questioned by some authors but accepted by most of them. Influence of roughness of pit walls on fatigue life of a plate suffering pit corrosion and presence of the so called „ non-damaging” pits which never lead to initiation of fatigue crack, has been presented. Possibility of prediction of pit-to-crack transition moment by two different ways, i.e. considering a pit a stress concentrator or an equivalent crack, has been analyzed. Also, influence of statistical distribution of depth of corrosion pits as well as anticorrosion protection on fatigue and corrosion fatigue has been described.

pitting corrosion susceptibility pitting corrosion susceptibility of aisi

African Journals Online (AJOL)

eobe

2DEPARTMENT OF MECHANICAL ENGINEERING, UNIVERSITY OF BENIN, BENIN- CITY, EDO STATE, NIGERIA. E-mail addresses: ... fluids and aggressive chemicals. Pitting corrosion ... the kitchen, food manufacturing and dispensing and.

Grey water reclamation by decentralized MBR prototype

OpenAIRE

Santasmasas Rubiralta, Carme; Rovira Boixaderas, Miquel; Clarens Blanco, Frederic; Valderrama Angel, César Alberto

2013-01-01

Grey water treatment and reuse for non-drinking water requirements has become of great interest in arid and semi-arid zones where water resources are becoming both quantitatively and qualitatively scarce. In this study a decentralized and automatic MBR prototype has been designed and installed in the REMOSA facilities for treatment of low-load grey water to be recycled in flushing-toilet application. The recycling treatment of grey water comprises four stages: screening, biological oxidation,...

Alternative Axiomatic Characterizations of the Grey Shapley Value

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Sirma Zeynep Alparslan Gok

2014-05-01

Full Text Available The Shapley value, one of the most common solution concepts of cooperative game theory is defined and axiomatically characterized in different game-theoretic models. Certainly, the Shapley value can be used in interesting sharing cost/reward problems in the Operations Research area such as connection, routing, scheduling, production and inventory situations. In this paper, we focus on the Shapley value for cooperative games, where the set of players is finite and the coalition values are interval grey numbers. The central question in this paper is how to characterize the grey Shapley value. In this context, we present two alternative axiomatic characterizations. First, we characterize the grey Shapley value using the properties of efficiency, symmetry and strong monotonicity. Second, we characterize the grey Shapley value by using the grey dividends.

Oxygen pitting failure of a bagasse boiler tube

CSIR Research Space (South Africa)

Heyes, AM

2001-04-01

Full Text Available Examination of a failed roof tube from a bagasse boiler showed transverse through-cracks and extensive pitting. The pitting was typically oxygen induced pitting and numerous fatigue cracks had started within these pits. It is highly probable...

Accountability Quality Shuffler Measurements on Pits

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Rinard, P.M.

2000-01-01

Pits have generally been treated as accountable units that are intact if merely present and they are excluded from the more demanding nondestructive assay requirements. As pits begin to flow into disposition streams, there may be more incentive to measure the masses of their fissile components for accountability purposes. This Department of Energy Office of Safeguards and Security (OSS) Lifecycle Project has explored some ways in which such measurements may be done successfully. The active neutron instrument called a shuffler has been used to measure a variety of actual pits, and a calculational technique has been developed to accurately predict such count rates. Passive multiplicity counting has previously been applied to pits for determining their plutonium contents. This combination of measurement and calculational techniques provide powerful and accurate tools for determining the fissile contents of pits with the quality needed for accountability purposes

Application of grey system theory in telecare.

Science.gov (United States)

Huang, Jui-Chen

2011-05-01

As a superiority to conventional statistical models, grey models require only a limited amount of data to estimate the behaviour of unknown systems. Grey system theory can be used in the effective factor assessment, and used in large samples where data are not available or uncertain whether the data was representative. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to adopt grey system theory to discuss older adult users' opinions on the telecare and its effect on their quality of life. This study surveyed the older adult users of Taiwan as subjects. User perception of the telecare services was collected via face-to-face interview. The grey system theory was used to examine the model. The results showed that the overall living quality has the greatest effect on the perceived effects of the telecare on their quality of life, followed by the acquisition of information, accessibility of medical care services, and safety. This finding may serve as a reference to future studies and it also shows that the grey system theory is a feasible analysis method. Copyright © 2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Access to Grey Content: An Analysis of Grey Literature based on Citation and Survey Data, A Follow-up Study

OpenAIRE

Farace, Dominic J. (GreyNet); Frantzen, Jerry (GreyNet); Boekhorst, Albert K. (UvA); Schöpfel, Joachim (INIST-CNRS); Stock, Christiane (INIST-CNRS); GreyNet, Grey Literature Network Service

2005-01-01

Grey literature, an area of interest to special librarians and information professionals, can be traced back a half-century. However, grey literature as a specialized field in information studies is less than a decade old. At GL'97 in Luxembourg, grey literature was redefined "as information produced on all levels of government, academics, business and industry in electronic and print formats not controlled by commercial publishers (i.e. where publishing is not the primary activity of the pro...

Heterotopic grey matter: Ct vs. MRI

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hosten, N.; Schoerner, W.

1989-01-01

Heterotopic grey matter is a rare cause of seizures. While lesions appear suspicious on CT because of equidensity to cortex, MR imaging can establish the diagnosis by demonstrating same signal intensity of heterotopia and grey matter on T 1 - and T 2 -weighted as well as inversion-recovery sequences. (orig.) [de

Grey-Turner's sign in sclerosing peritonitis

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Stouthard, J. M.; Krediet, R. T.; Arisz, L.

1989-01-01

A 41-year-old CAPD patient developed Grey-Turner's sign during the course of bacterial peritonitis due to Pseudomonas aeruginosa. At the same time a diagnosis of sclerosing peritonitis was made by CT-scanning of the abdomen. We think that Grey-Turner's flank staining could either have been caused by

Software sensors based on the grey-box modelling approach

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Carstensen, J.; Harremoës, P.; Strube, Rune

1996-01-01

In recent years the grey-box modelling approach has been applied to wastewater transportation and treatment Grey-box models are characterized by the combination of deterministic and stochastic terms to form a model where all the parameters are statistically identifiable from the on......-box model for the specific dynamics is identified. Similarly, an on-line software sensor for detecting the occurrence of backwater phenomena can be developed by comparing the dynamics of a flow measurement with a nearby level measurement. For treatment plants it is found that grey-box models applied to on......-line measurements. With respect to the development of software sensors, the grey-box models possess two important features. Firstly, the on-line measurements can be filtered according to the grey-box model in order to remove noise deriving from the measuring equipment and controlling devices. Secondly, the grey...

Demonstration of In-Situ Stabilization of Buried Waste at Pit G-11 at the Brookhaven National laboratory Glass Pits Disposal Site

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Dwyer, B.P.; Gilbert, J.; Heiser, J.

1999-01-01

In 1989 BNL was added to the EPAs National Priorities List. The site is divided into seven operable units (OU). OU-I includes the former landfill area. The field task site is noted as the AOC 2C Glass Holes location. Beginning in the 1960s and continuing into the 1980s, BNL disposed of laboratory waste (glassware, chemicals and animal carcasses) in numerous shallow pits. The drivers for remediating the pits are; historical records that indicate hazardous materials may have been disposed of in the pits; ground water contamination down gradient of the pits; a test excavation of one of the glass holes that unearthed laboratory glass bottles with unidentified liquids still contained; and the fact that BNL rests atop an EPA designated sole-source aquifer. The specific site chosen for this demonstration was pit G-11. The requirements that lead to choosing this pit were; a well characterized pit and a relatively isolated pit where our construction operations would not impact on adjacent pits. The glass holes area, including pit G-11, was comprehensively surveyed using a suite of geophysical techniques (e.g., EM-31, EM-61, GPR). Prior to stabilizing the waste form a subsurface barrier was constructed to contain the entire waste pit. The pit contents were then stabilized using a cement grout applied via jet grouting. The stabilization was performed to make removal of the waste from the pit easier and safer in terms of worker exposure. The grouting process would mix and masticate the waste and grout and form a single monolithic waste form. This large monolith would then be subdivided into smaller 4 foot by 4 foot by 10-12 foot block using a demolition grout. The smaller blocks would then be easily removed from the site and disposed of in a CERCLA waste site

Organic matter and heavy metals in grey-water sludge | Eriksson ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

Grey-water intended for non-potable reuse is being intensively studied, but little attention has been given to the associated solid fraction, the grey-water sludge. In this study grey-water sludge originating from bathroom grey-water has been screened with respect to organic matter; particles; short-chain fatty alcohols and ...

Experimental Stress Analysis at Railway Inspection Pit

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Nicuşor Laurentiu Zaharia

2008-10-01

Full Text Available Railway inspection pits are used in railway halls. The purpose of inspection pits is to allow the working under the vehicle. Inspection pits can be found in locomotive depots, factories etc. The new design for a inspection pit in a railway hall involve tests in purpose of homologations the railway infrastructure. Before the homologation committee meeting, tests are made; after the test, a testing report is made which it will be part at homologation documents.

Pits on Ascraeus

Science.gov (United States)

2005-01-01

24 September 2005 This Mars Global Surveyor (MGS) Mars Orbiter Camera (MOC) image shows collapse pits and troughs on the lower northeast flank of the giant martian volcano, Ascraeus Mons. Layers of volcanic rock are evident in some of the pit and valley walls, and boulders the size of houses and trucks that were liberated from these walls by gravity can be seen on the floors of the depressions. Location near: 13.6oN, 102.6oW Image width: width: 3 km (1.9 mi) Illumination from: lower left Season: Northern Autumn

Evaluation of appropriate technologies for grey water treatments and reuses.

Science.gov (United States)

Li, Fangyue; Wichmann, Knut; Otterpohl, Ralf

2009-01-01

As water is becoming a rare resource, the onsite reuse and recycling of grey water is practiced in many countries as a sustainable solution to reduce the overall urban water demand. However, the lack of appropriate water quality standards or guidelines has hampered the appropriate grey water reuses. Based on literature review, a non-potable urban grey water treatment and reuse scheme is proposed and the treatment alternatives for grey water reuse are evaluated according to the grey water characteristics, the proposed standards and economical feasibility.

The 'grey' assessment practice of IA screening

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Bidstrup, Morten

2017-01-01

Research focusing on the practices surrounding screening in Impact Assessment (IA) is limited. Yet, it has been found that development proposals sometimes are adjusted through an informal dialog with IA practitioners prior to or during screening. Such practice is often referred to as ‘grey IA......’ in Denmark. This article explores the prevalence, influence and applied rationale of grey IA. Through a questionnaire, data was collected from 121 IA practitioners working within the fields of environmental impact assessment and strategic environmental assessment. It was found that grey IA is a common...... practice, which influences the outcomes of formal screening procedures through consideration of impacts on neighbours and spatial zones of protection. Grey IA is to some extent motivated by the opportunity to save the resources required for full-scale IA, but an additional ‘green’ rationale also exists...

Application of Grey Theory in Operator Management

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Xu, Hong

2011-01-01

Scientific and reasonable operator management is the basis of nuclear security. It was paid more attention after the three-mile island accident. The prediction of operators' basic behavior parameters is the premise and foundation of scientific and reasonable operator management. Grey theory happens to solve the dilemma encountered in prediction and decision-making of operator behavior in operator management of NPP. The procedure is divided into two steps: according to the history record of operators' behavior parameter, a differential equation model using grey theory is set up to predict the future behavior of operators and use grey theory to make decision for operator management. The calculation result is helpful for operator management and also useful for operators to find their shortcoming. Grey theory using in the study provides a new idea and method for future operator management in NPP

Spinal cord grey matter segmentation challenge.

Science.gov (United States)

Prados, Ferran; Ashburner, John; Blaiotta, Claudia; Brosch, Tom; Carballido-Gamio, Julio; Cardoso, Manuel Jorge; Conrad, Benjamin N; Datta, Esha; Dávid, Gergely; Leener, Benjamin De; Dupont, Sara M; Freund, Patrick; Wheeler-Kingshott, Claudia A M Gandini; Grussu, Francesco; Henry, Roland; Landman, Bennett A; Ljungberg, Emil; Lyttle, Bailey; Ourselin, Sebastien; Papinutto, Nico; Saporito, Salvatore; Schlaeger, Regina; Smith, Seth A; Summers, Paul; Tam, Roger; Yiannakas, Marios C; Zhu, Alyssa; Cohen-Adad, Julien

2017-05-15

An important image processing step in spinal cord magnetic resonance imaging is the ability to reliably and accurately segment grey and white matter for tissue specific analysis. There are several semi- or fully-automated segmentation methods for cervical cord cross-sectional area measurement with an excellent performance close or equal to the manual segmentation. However, grey matter segmentation is still challenging due to small cross-sectional size and shape, and active research is being conducted by several groups around the world in this field. Therefore a grey matter spinal cord segmentation challenge was organised to test different capabilities of various methods using the same multi-centre and multi-vendor dataset acquired with distinct 3D gradient-echo sequences. This challenge aimed to characterize the state-of-the-art in the field as well as identifying new opportunities for future improvements. Six different spinal cord grey matter segmentation methods developed independently by various research groups across the world and their performance were compared to manual segmentation outcomes, the present gold-standard. All algorithms provided good overall results for detecting the grey matter butterfly, albeit with variable performance in certain quality-of-segmentation metrics. The data have been made publicly available and the challenge web site remains open to new submissions. No modifications were introduced to any of the presented methods as a result of this challenge for the purposes of this publication. Copyright © 2017 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Comparison of grey matter volume and thickness for analysing cortical changes in chronic schizophrenia: a matter of surface area, grey/white matter intensity contrast, and curvature.

Science.gov (United States)

Kong, Li; Herold, Christina J; Zöllner, Frank; Salat, David H; Lässer, Marc M; Schmid, Lena A; Fellhauer, Iven; Thomann, Philipp A; Essig, Marco; Schad, Lothar R; Erickson, Kirk I; Schröder, Johannes

2015-02-28

Grey matter volume and cortical thickness are the two most widely used measures for detecting grey matter morphometric changes in various diseases such as schizophrenia. However, these two measures only share partial overlapping regions in identifying morphometric changes. Few studies have investigated the contributions of the potential factors to the differences of grey matter volume and cortical thickness. To investigate this question, 3T magnetic resonance images from 22 patients with schizophrenia and 20 well-matched healthy controls were chosen for analyses. Grey matter volume and cortical thickness were measured by VBM and Freesurfer. Grey matter volume results were then rendered onto the surface template of Freesurfer to compare the differences from cortical thickness in anatomical locations. Discrepancy regions of the grey matter volume and thickness where grey matter volume significantly decreased but without corresponding evidence of cortical thinning involved the rostral middle frontal, precentral, lateral occipital and superior frontal gyri. Subsequent region-of-interest analysis demonstrated that changes in surface area, grey/white matter intensity contrast and curvature accounted for the discrepancies. Our results suggest that the differences between grey matter volume and thickness could be jointly driven by surface area, grey/white matter intensity contrast and curvature. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.

Application of grey theory in operator management

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Xu Hong

2013-01-01

Scientific and reasonable operator management is the basis of nuclear safety. It is paid more attention after the three-mile island accident. The prediction of operators' basic behavior parameters is the premise and foundation of scientific and reasonable operator management. Grey theory happened to solve the dilemma encountered in prediction and decision-making of operator behavior in operator management of nuclear power plant. The procedure was divided into two steps: 1) According to the historical record of operators' behavior parameters, a differential equation model using grey theory was set up to predict the future behavior of operators; 2) operator management decision-making was made based on grey theory. The calculation result is not only helpful for operator management but also useful for operators to find their shortcomings. Grey theory used in the study provides a new idea and method for future operator management in nuclear power plant. (author)

The Influence of Radiation on Pit Solution Chemistry as it Pertains to the Transition from Metastable to Stable Pitting in Steels

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Galuszka-Muga, Barbara; Muga, Luis M.

2006-01-01

Previous work relevant to current efforts is summarized. A description of an improved version of a new electrochemical probe, the ArtPit, is given. The distinct feature of the probe for investigating metastable pitting of carbon steels is specified and compared to other approaches. The electrochemical response of the ArtPit under the gamma irradiation and elevated temperature conditions that occur at high level waste (HLW) storage tanks is presented. In particular, the Tafel slope determinations and chemical analyses of the ArtPit confined volume electrolyte are described. Based on results a possible approach for reducing the corrosion rate of HLW tank walls is suggested. Additional statistical analysis of the occurrence of short duration (passivated pits) and long term (stable pitting) electrochemical pulses (current surges) during exposure confirm that radiation enhances the occurrence of both more and smaller sized pits due to increased likelihood of repassivation

GreyGuide Portal and Repositories "Sharing knowledge as early as possible"

OpenAIRE

Biagioni, Stefania; Carlesi, Carlo; Barsotti, Alessia; Pardini, Andrea

2017-01-01

The GreyGuide - Repository and Guide to Good Practices and Resources in Grey Literature was launched in 2013 as a collaborative effort between GreyNet International and ISTI-CNR. It aims at ?. Offering information professionals, practitioners, and students common ground for good practices and resources in grey literature; ?. Providing support for all stakeholders working on Grey Literature related research issues; ?. Being consistent with recommendations made in the Pisa Declaration on Policy...

Computer simulation of pitting potential measurements

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Laycock, N.J.; Noh, J.S.; White, S.P.; Krouse, D.P.

2005-01-01

A deterministic model for the growth of single pits in stainless steel has been combined with a purely stochastic model of pit nucleation. Monte-Carlo simulations have been used to compare the predictions of this model with potentiodynamic experimental measurements of the pitting potential. The quantitative agreement between model and experiment is reasonable for both 304 and 316 stainless steel, and the effects of varying surface roughness, solution chloride concentration and potential sweep rate have been considered

Grey water treatment in UASB reactor at ambient temperature.

Science.gov (United States)

Elmitwalli, T A; Shalabi, M; Wendland, C; Otterpohl, R

2007-01-01

In this paper, the feasibility of grey water treatment in a UASB reactor was investigated. The batch recirculation experiments showed that a maximum total-COD removal of 79% can be obtained in grey-water treatment in the UASB reactor. The continuous operational results of a UASB reactor treating grey water at different hydraulic retention time (HRT) of 20, 12 and 8 hours at ambient temperature (14-24 degrees C) showed that 31-41% of total COD was removed. These results were significantly higher than that achieved by a septic tank (11-14%), the most common system for grey water pre-treatment, at HRT of 2-3 days. The relatively lower removal of total COD in the UASB reactor was mainly due to a higher amount of colloidal COD in the grey water, as compared to that reported in domestic wastewater. The grey water had a limited amount of nitrogen, which was mainly in particulate form (80-90%). The UASB reactor removed 24-36% and 10-24% of total nitrogen and total phosphorus, respectively, in the grey water, due to particulate nutrients removal by physical entrapment and sedimentation. The sludge characteristics of the UASB reactor showed that the system had stable performance and the recommended HRT for the reactor is 12 hours.

PIT 9 Project: A private sector initiative

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Macdonald, D.W.; Hughes, F.P.; Burton, B.N.

1993-01-01

The Pit 9 Comprehensive Demonstration is intended to demonstrate a cost-effective approach to remediate an Idaho National Engineering Lab. (INEL) waste disposal pit through a Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act (CERCLA) Interim Action. The remediation will include additional requirements, if needed, to provide high confidence that only minor additional work would be necessary to accomplish the final closure as part of the overall final closure strategy for the INEL's Subsurface Disposal Area (SDA). Pit 9 is an inactive waste disposal pit located in the northeastern corner of the SDA at the INEL's Radioactive Waste Management Complex (RWMC). It covers approximately 1 acre. The waste within Pit 9 is primarily transuranic waste generated at the Rocky Flats Plant and additional wastes, both hazardous and low-level radioactive, from generators at the INEL

Grey relevant analysis of sodium critical heat flux in annular channel and the establishing of grey model

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Zhou Tao; Su Guanghui; Liao Yixiang; Zhang Weizhong; Qiu Suizheng; Jia Dounan

1999-12-01

Using grey systems theory and experimental data obtained from sodium boiling test loop in China, grey mutual analysis is done to some parameters influencing sodium CHF. The results of CHF are predicted by using GM (1,1) model. The GM(1,h) model is made up for creating CHF model. The results are in good agreement with the experimental data

Analysis of BY-106 pump pit cover plate

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Coverdell, B.L.

1994-01-01

A new cover for the pump pit of Tank 241-BY-106 has been designed to allow the rotary core exhauster to be hooked up without requiring pit entry, riser modification, or equipment removal. The new pit cover is necessary to allow installation of two risers for reducing exposure, contamination, and waste. Computer analysis indicates that the safety margin of the pit cover plate with two risers is adequate. The computer stress model and input files are attached. The pit cover plate is a replacement for an existing plate; therefore seismic and wind loads were considered for the plate only

Review of the technological approaches for grey water treatment and reuses.

Science.gov (United States)

Li, Fangyue; Wichmann, Knut; Otterpohl, Ralf

2009-05-15

Based on literature review, a non-potable urban grey water reuse standard is proposed and the treatment alternatives and reuse scheme for grey water reuses are evaluated according to grey water characteristics and the proposed standard. The literature review shows that all types of grey water have good biodegradability. The bathroom and the laundry grey water are deficient in both nitrogen and phosphors. The kitchen grey water has a balanced COD: N: P ratio. The review also reveals that physical processes alone are not sufficient to guarantee an adequate reduction of the organics, nutrients and surfactants. The chemical processes can efficiently remove the suspended solids, organic materials and surfactants in the low strength grey water. The combination of aerobic biological process with physical filtration and disinfection is considered to be the most economical and feasible solution for grey water recycling. The MBR appears to be a very attractive solution in collective urban residential buildings.

Invenio: A Modern Digital Library for Grey Literature

CERN Document Server

Caffaro, Jerome

2010-01-01

Grey literature has historically played a key role for researchers in the field of High- Energy Physics (HEP). Consequently CERN (European Organization for Nuclear Research) as the world’s largest particle physics laboratory has always been facing the challenge of distributing and archiving grey material. Invenio, an open-source repository software, has been developed as part of CERN’s institutional repository strategy to answer these needs. In this document we describe how the particular context of grey literature within the HEP community shaped the development of Invenio. We focus on the strategies that have been established in order to process grey material within the software and we analyse how it is used in a real production environment, the CERN Document Server (CDS).

Structures of Bordered Pits Potentially Contributing to Isolation of a Refilled Vessel from Negative Xylem Pressure in Stems of Morus australis Poir.: Testing of the Pit Membrane Osmosis and Pit Valve Hypotheses.

Science.gov (United States)

Ooeda, Hiroki; Terashima, Ichiro; Taneda, Haruhiko

2017-02-01

Two hypotheses have been proposed to explain the mechanism preventing the refilling vessel water from being drained to the neighboring functional vessels under negative pressure. The pit membrane osmosis hypothesis proposes that the xylem parenchyma cells release polysaccharides that are impermeable to the intervessel pit membranes into the refilling vessel; this osmotically counteracts the negative pressure, thereby allowing the vessel to refill. The pit valve hypothesis proposes that gas trapped within intervessel bordered pits isolates the refilling vessel water from the surrounding functional vessels. Here, using the single-vessel method, we assessed these hypotheses in shoots of mulberry (Morus australis Poir.). First, we confirmed the occurrence of xylem refilling under negative pressure in the potted mulberry saplings. To examine the pit membrane osmosis hypothesis, we estimated the semi-permeability of pit membranes for molecules of various sizes and found that the pit membranes were not semi-permeable to polyethylene glycol of molecular mass osmosis mechanism in mulberry would be unrealistically large. © The Author 2016. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of Japanese Society of Plant Physiologists. All rights reserved. For permissions, please email: journals.permissions@oup.com.

Multiattribute Grey Target Decision Method Based on Soft Set Theory

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Xia Wang

2014-01-01

Full Text Available With respect to the Multiattribute decision-making problems in which the evaluation attribute sets are different and the evaluating values of alternatives are interval grey numbers, a multiattribute grey target decision-making method in which the attribute sets are different was proposed. The concept of grey soft set was defined, and its “AND” operation was assigned by combining the intersection operation of grey number. The expression approach of new grey soft set of attribute sets considering by all decision makers were gained by applying the “AND” operation of grey soft set, and the weights of synthesis attribute were proved. The alternatives were ranked according to the size of distance of bull’s eyes of each alternative under synthetic attribute sets. The green supplier selection was illustrated to demonstrate the effectiveness of proposed model.

Pit Viper strikes at the Hanford site. Pit maintenance using robotics at the Hanford Tank Farms

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Roeder-Smith, Lynne

2002-01-01

The Pit Viper--a remote operations waste retrieval system--was developed to replace manual operations in the valve pits of waste storage tanks at the Hanford Site. The system consists of a typical industrial backhoe fitted with a robotic manipulator arm and is operated remotely from a control trailer located outside of the tank farm. Cameras mounted to the arm and within the containment tent allow the operator to view the entire pit area and operate the system using a joystick. The arm's gripper can grasp a variety of tools that allow personnel to perform cleaning, debris removal, and concrete repair tasks--a more efficient and less dose-intensive process than the previous 'long-pole' method. The project team overcame a variety of obstacles during development and testing of the Pit Viper system, and deployment occurred in Hanford Tank C-104 in December 2001

Characterization and treatment of grey water : option for (re)use

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Abu-Ghunmi, L.N.A.H.

2009-01-01

Addressing the issues of water shortage and appropriate sanitation in Jordan, domestic grey water treatment receives growing interest. Grey water comprises the domestic wastewater flows excluding waters associated with the toilet. The topics of concern for grey water are its characteristics,

Markov Chain Models for the Stochastic Modeling of Pitting Corrosion

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

A. Valor

2013-01-01

Full Text Available The stochastic nature of pitting corrosion of metallic structures has been widely recognized. It is assumed that this kind of deterioration retains no memory of the past, so only the current state of the damage influences its future development. This characteristic allows pitting corrosion to be categorized as a Markov process. In this paper, two different models of pitting corrosion, developed using Markov chains, are presented. Firstly, a continuous-time, nonhomogeneous linear growth (pure birth Markov process is used to model external pitting corrosion in underground pipelines. A closed-form solution of the system of Kolmogorov's forward equations is used to describe the transition probability function in a discrete pit depth space. The transition probability function is identified by correlating the stochastic pit depth mean with the empirical deterministic mean. In the second model, the distribution of maximum pit depths in a pitting experiment is successfully modeled after the combination of two stochastic processes: pit initiation and pit growth. Pit generation is modeled as a nonhomogeneous Poisson process, in which induction time is simulated as the realization of a Weibull process. Pit growth is simulated using a nonhomogeneous Markov process. An analytical solution of Kolmogorov's system of equations is also found for the transition probabilities from the first Markov state. Extreme value statistics is employed to find the distribution of maximum pit depths.

Characterization and anaerobic biodegradability of grey water

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Hernandez Leal, L.; Temmink, B.G.; Zeeman, G.; Buisman, C.J.N.

2011-01-01

Grey water consists of the discharges from kitchen sinks, showers, baths, washing machines and hand basins. Thorough characterization of 192 time proportional samples of grey water from 32 houses was conducted over a period of 14 months. COD concentrations were 724 ± 150 mg L- 1, of which 34% was

Assembling and testing of laboratory scale grey water treatment system

OpenAIRE

Harju, Vilhelmiina

2010-01-01

Grey water management and reuse is slowly gaining importance in the management of water resources. The benefits of well organized grey water management is that it offers a tool for coping with water scarcity and reduces the amount of pollution to enter the hydrological cycle. Grey water management aims on using treated grey water in applications which do not require drinking water quality. These non-potable reuse applications include industrial processes, irrigation, toilet flushing and lau...

W-12 valve pit decontamination demonstration

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Benson, C.E.; Parfitt, J.E.; Patton, B.D.

1995-12-01

Waste tank W-12 is a tank in the ORNL Low-Level Liquid Waste (LLLW) system that collected waste from Building 3525. Because of a leaking flange in the discharge line from W-12 to the evaporator service tank (W-22) and continual inleakage into the tank from an unknown source, W-12 was removed from service to comply with the Federal Facilities Agreement requirement. The initial response was to decontaminate the valve pit between tank W-12 and the evaporator service tank (W-22) to determine if personnel could enter the pit to attempt repair of the leaking flange. Preventing the spread of radioactive contamination from the pit to the environment and to other waste systems was of concern during the decontamination. The drain in the pit goes to the process waste system; therefore, if high-level liquid waste were generated during decontamination activities, it would have to be removed from the pit by means other than the available liquid waste connection. Remote decontamination of W-12 was conducted using the General Mills manipulator bridge and telescoping trolley and REMOTEC RM-10 manipulator. The initial objective of repairing the leaking flange was not conducted because of the repair uncertainty and the unknown tank inleakage. Rather, new piping was installed to empty the W-12 tank that would bypass the valve pit and eliminate the need to repair the flange. The radiological surveys indicated that a substantial decontamination factor was achieved

Pitting corrosion of copper. Further model studies

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Taxen, C.

2002-08-01

The work presented in this report is a continuation and expansion of a previous study. The aim of the work is to provide background information about pitting corrosion of copper for a safety analysis of copper canisters for final deposition of radioactive waste. A mathematical model for the propagation of corrosion pits is used to estimate the conditions required for stationary propagation of a localised anodic corrosion process. The model uses equilibrium data for copper and its corrosion products and parameters for the aqueous mass transport of dissolved species. In the present work we have, in the model, used a more extensive set of aqueous and solid compounds and equilibrium data from a different source. The potential dependence of pitting in waters with different compositions is studied in greater detail. More waters have been studied and single parameter variations in the composition of the water have been studied over wider ranges of concentration. The conclusions drawn in the previous study are not contradicted by the present results. However, the combined effect of potential and water composition on the possibility of pitting corrosion is more complex than was realised. In the previous study we found what seemed to be a continuous aggravation of a pitting situation by increasing potentials. The present results indicate that pitting corrosion can take place only over a certain potential range and that there is an upper potential limit for pitting as well as a lower. A sensitivity analysis indicates that the model gives meaningful predictions of the minimum pitting potential also when relatively large errors in the input parameters are allowed for

Bibliometric study of grey literature in core veterinary medical journals.

Science.gov (United States)

Pelzer, Nancy L; Wiese, William H

2003-10-01

Grey literature has been perceived by many as belonging to the primary sources of information and has become an accepted method of nonconventional communication in the sciences and medicine. Since little is known about the use and nature of grey literature in veterinary medicine, a systematic study was done to analyze and characterize the bibliographic citations appearing in twelve core veterinary journals. Citations from 2,159 articles published in twelve core veterinary journals in 2000 were analyzed to determine the portion of citations from grey literature. Those citations were further analyzed and categorized according to the type of publication. Citation analysis yielded 55,823 citations, of which 3,564 (6.38%) were considered to be grey literature. Four veterinary specialties, internal medicine, pathology, theriogenology, and microbiology, accounted for 70% of the total number of articles. Three small-animal clinical practice journals cited about 2.5-3% grey literature, less than half that of journals with basic research orientations, where results ranged from almost 6% to approximately 10% grey literature. Nearly 90% of the grey literature appeared as conferences, government publications, and corporate organization literature. The results corroborate other reported research that the incidence of grey literature is lower in medicine and biology than in some other fields, such as aeronautics and agriculture. As in other fields, use of the Internet and the Web has greatly expanded the communication process among veterinary professionals. The appearance of closed community email forums and specialized discussion groups within the veterinary profession is an example of what could become a new kind of grey literature.

Pitting corrosion on a copper canister

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hermansson, H.P.; Beverskog, B.

1996-02-01

It is demonstrated that normal pitting can occur during oxidizing conditions in the repository. It is also concluded that a new theory for pitting corrosion has to be developed, as the present theory is not in accordance with all practical and experimental observations. A special variant of pitting, based on the growth of sulfide whiskers, is suggested to occur during reducing conditions. However, such a mechanism needs to be demonstrated experimentally. A simple calculational model of canister corrosion was developed based on the results of this study. 69 refs, 3 figs

Assessment and remediation of earthen pits in Alberta

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Lye, D.E.; Deibert, L.

1999-01-01

The proper decommissioning of abandoned earthen pits and the elimination of the associated environmental liabilities were discussed. An earthen pit is an excavated pit used by upstream oil and gas companies to contain/store/burn produced fluids and gases from either gas or oil producing operations. Produced fluids may include liquid hydrocarbons, process chemicals and water originating from oil wells, gas wells, and associated batteries and processing facilities. Improper operation and management at some pits has resulted in soil and/or groundwater contamination. In response to regulatory direction, petroleum operators in Alberta have begun the process of replacing earthen pits with alternative flaring and liquid storage facilities, and embarked on programs to assess, remediate and decommission earthen pits at their operations. This paper describes some of the challenges facing petroleum operators in this regard. It also outlines the regulatory framework within which decommissioning projects must be completed. 2 tabs

The Application of Foundation Pit Monitoring Technology to the Excavation

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Qiu Jin

2015-01-01

Full Text Available The foundation pit monitoring plays an important role in the foundation pit supporting projects especially in those deep foundation pit projects. Through the whole monitoring of the foundation pit construction from the excavation to the backfill, we can learn about the forcing and deforming process of the foundation pit supporting system, and grasp the impact of external condition changes on the foundation pit. This paper takes a project in Jinan as an example to establish a specific monitoring program, and then conducts the analysis and evaluation of the monitoring data; the real-time grasp of the foundation pit deformation and internal force changes can help to further ensure the security status of the foundation pit, thus better guiding the construction.

Modeling and management of pit lake water chemistry 1: Theory

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Castendyk, D.N.; Eary, L.E.; Balistrieri, L.S.

2015-01-01

Highlights: • Review of pit lake literature in the context of pit lake predictions. • Review of approaches used to predict pit wall-rock runoff and leachate. • Review of approaches used to generate a pit lake water balance. • Review of approaches used to generate a hydrodynamic prediction. • Review of approaches used to generate a geochemical prediction of a future pit lake. - Abstract: Pit lakes are permanent hydrologic/landscape features that can result from open pit mining for metals, coal, uranium, diamonds, oil sands, and aggregates. Risks associated with pit lakes include local and regional impacts to water quality and related impacts to aquatic and terrestrial ecosystems. Stakeholders rely on predictive models of water chemistry to prepare for and manage these risks. This paper is the first of a two part series on the modeling and management of pit lakes. Herein, we review approaches that have been used to quantify wall-rock runoff geochemistry, wall-rock leachate geochemistry, pit lake water balance, pit lake limnology (i.e. extent of vertical mixing), and pit lake water quality, and conclude with guidance on the application of models within the mine life cycle. The purpose of this paper is to better prepare stakeholders, including future modelers, mine managers, consultants, permitting agencies, land management agencies, regulators, research scientists, academics, and other interested parties, for the challenges of predicting and managing future pit lakes in un-mined areas

Putative Adult Neurogenesis in Old World Parrots: The Congo African Grey Parrot (Psittacus erithacus and Timneh Grey Parrot (Psittacus timneh

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Pedzisai Mazengenya

2018-02-01

Full Text Available In the current study, we examined for the first time, the potential for adult neurogenesis throughout the brain of the Congo African grey parrot (Psittacus erithacus and Timneh grey parrot (Psittacus timneh using immunohistochemistry for the endogenous markers proliferating cell nuclear antigen (PCNA, which labels proliferating cells, and doublecortin (DCX, which stains immature and migrating neurons. A similar distribution of PCNA and DCX immunoreactivity was found throughout the brain of the Congo African grey and Timneh grey parrots, but minor differences were also observed. In both species of parrots, PCNA and DCX immunoreactivity was observed in the olfactory bulbs, subventricular zone of the lateral wall of the lateral ventricle, telencephalic subdivisions of the pallium and subpallium, diencephalon, mesencephalon and the rhombencephalon. The olfactory bulb and telencephalic subdivisions exhibited a higher density of both PCNA and DCX immunoreactive cells than any other brain region. DCX immunoreactive staining was stronger in the telencephalon than in the subtelencephalic structures. There was evidence of proliferative hot spots in the dorsal and ventral poles of the lateral ventricle in the Congo African grey parrots at rostral levels, whereas only the dorsal accumulation of proliferating cells was observed in the Timneh grey parrot. In most pallial regions the density of PCNA and DCX stained cells increased from rostral to caudal levels with the densest staining in the nidopallium caudolaterale (NCL. The widespread distribution of PCNA and DCX in the brains of both parrot species suggest the importance of adult neurogenesis and neuronal plasticity during learning and adaptation to external environmental variations.

Putative Adult Neurogenesis in Old World Parrots: The Congo African Grey Parrot (Psittacus erithacus) and Timneh Grey Parrot (Psittacus timneh).

Science.gov (United States)

Mazengenya, Pedzisai; Bhagwandin, Adhil; Manger, Paul R; Ihunwo, Amadi O

2018-01-01

In the current study, we examined for the first time, the potential for adult neurogenesis throughout the brain of the Congo African grey parrot ( Psittacus erithacus ) and Timneh grey parrot ( Psittacus timneh ) using immunohistochemistry for the endogenous markers proliferating cell nuclear antigen (PCNA), which labels proliferating cells, and doublecortin (DCX), which stains immature and migrating neurons. A similar distribution of PCNA and DCX immunoreactivity was found throughout the brain of the Congo African grey and Timneh grey parrots, but minor differences were also observed. In both species of parrots, PCNA and DCX immunoreactivity was observed in the olfactory bulbs, subventricular zone of the lateral wall of the lateral ventricle, telencephalic subdivisions of the pallium and subpallium, diencephalon, mesencephalon and the rhombencephalon. The olfactory bulb and telencephalic subdivisions exhibited a higher density of both PCNA and DCX immunoreactive cells than any other brain region. DCX immunoreactive staining was stronger in the telencephalon than in the subtelencephalic structures. There was evidence of proliferative hot spots in the dorsal and ventral poles of the lateral ventricle in the Congo African grey parrots at rostral levels, whereas only the dorsal accumulation of proliferating cells was observed in the Timneh grey parrot. In most pallial regions the density of PCNA and DCX stained cells increased from rostral to caudal levels with the densest staining in the nidopallium caudolaterale (NCL). The widespread distribution of PCNA and DCX in the brains of both parrot species suggest the importance of adult neurogenesis and neuronal plasticity during learning and adaptation to external environmental variations.

Inhibition of Copper Pitting Corrosion in Aggressive Potable Waters

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Emily Sarver

2012-01-01

Full Text Available Copper pitting corrosion can lead to premature plumbing failures, and can be caused by aggressive potable waters characterized by high pH, free chlorine residual and low alkalinity. In such waters and under continuous flow, certain inhibitors including phosphate, silica or natural organic matter may greatly reduce pitting occurrence. In the current work, 1 mg/L phosphate (as P completely prevented initiation of pits, and 5 mg/L silica (as Si significantly decelerated pitting. However, much lower doses of these inhibitors had little benefit and actually accelerated the rate of attack in some cases. Effects of organic matter were dependent on both the type (e.g., natural versus ozonated humic substances and dosage. Dose-response effects of free chlorine and alkalinity were also investigated. Based on electrochemical data, pits initiated more rapidly with increased free chlorine, but even moderate levels of chlorine (~0.4 mg/L eventually caused severe pitting. High alkalinity decreased pit propagation rates but did not prevent pit formation.

Prediction Model of Interval Grey Numbers with a Real Parameter and Its Application

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Bo Zeng

2014-01-01

Full Text Available Grey prediction models have become common methods which are widely employed to solve the problems with “small examples and poor information.” However, modeling objects of existing grey prediction models are limited to the homogenous data sequences which only contain the same data type. This paper studies the methodology of building prediction models of interval grey numbers that are grey heterogeneous data sequence, with a real parameter. Firstly, the position of the real parameter in an interval grey number sequence is discussed, and the real number is expanded into an interval grey number by adopting the method of grey generation. On this basis, a prediction model of interval grey number with a real parameter is deduced and built. Finally, this novel model is successfully applied to forecast the concentration of organic pollutant DDT in the atmosphere. The analysis and research results in this paper extend the object of grey prediction from homogenous data sequence to grey heterogeneous data sequence. Those research findings are of positive significance in terms of enriching and improving the theory system of grey prediction models.

Searching for Grey Literature for Systematic Reviews: Challenges and Benefits

Science.gov (United States)

Mahood, Quenby; Van Eerd, Dwayne; Irvin, Emma

2014-01-01

There is ongoing interest in including grey literature in systematic reviews. Including grey literature can broaden the scope to more relevant studies, thereby providing a more complete view of available evidence. Searching for grey literature can be challenging despite greater access through the Internet, search engines and online bibliographic…

Prediction of pipeline corrosion rate based on grey Markov models

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Chen Yonghong; Zhang Dafa; Peng Guichu; Wang Yuemin

2009-01-01

Based on the model that combined by grey model and Markov model, the prediction of corrosion rate of nuclear power pipeline was studied. Works were done to improve the grey model, and the optimization unbiased grey model was obtained. This new model was used to predict the tendency of corrosion rate, and the Markov model was used to predict the residual errors. In order to improve the prediction precision, rolling operation method was used in these prediction processes. The results indicate that the improvement to the grey model is effective and the prediction precision of the new model combined by the optimization unbiased grey model and Markov model is better, and the use of rolling operation method may improve the prediction precision further. (authors)

Detecting pits in tart cherries by hyperspectral transmission imaging

Science.gov (United States)

Qin, Jianwei; Lu, Renfu

2004-11-01

The presence of pits in processed cherry products causes safety concerns for consumers and imposes potential liability for the food industry. The objective of this research was to investigate a hyperspectral transmission imaging technique for detecting the pit in tart cherries. A hyperspectral imaging system was used to acquire transmission images from individual cherry fruit for four orientations before and after pits were removed over the spectral region between 450 nm and 1,000 nm. Cherries of three size groups (small, intermediate, and large), each with two color classes (light red and dark red) were used for determining the effect of fruit orientation, size, and color on the pit detection accuracy. Additional cherries were studied for the effect of defect (i.e., bruises) on the pit detection. Computer algorithms were developed using the neural network (NN) method to classify the cherries with and without the pit. Two types of data inputs, i.e., single spectra and selected regions of interest (ROIs), were compared. The spectral region between 690 nm and 850 nm was most appropriate for cherry pit detection. The NN with inputs of ROIs achieved higher pit detection rates ranging from 90.6% to 100%, with the average correct rate of 98.4%. Fruit orientation and color had a small effect (less than 1%) on pit detection. Fruit size and defect affected pit detection and their effect could be minimized by training the NN with properly selected cherry samples.

Brain grey matter volume alterations in late-life depression.

Science.gov (United States)

Du, Mingying; Liu, Jia; Chen, Ziqi; Huang, Xiaoqi; Li, Jing; Kuang, Weihong; Yang, Yanchun; Zhang, Wei; Zhou, Dong; Bi, Feng; Kendrick, Keith M; Gong, Qiyong

2014-11-01

Voxel-based morphometry (VBM) studies have demonstrated that grey matter abnormalities are involved in the pathophysiology of late-life depression (LLD), but the findings are inconsistent and have not been quantitatively reviewed. The aim of the present study was to conduct a meta-analysis that integrated the reported VBM studies, to determine consistent grey matter alterations in individuals with LLD. A systematic search was conducted to identify VBM studies that compared patients with LLD and healthy controls. We performed a meta-analysis using the effect size signed differential mapping method to quantitatively estimate regional grey matter abnormalities in patients with LLD. We included 9 studies with 11 data sets comprising 292 patients with LLD and 278 healthy controls in our meta-analysis. The pooled and subgroup meta-analyses showed robust grey matter reductions in the right lentiform nucleus extending into the parahippocampus, the hippocampus and the amygdala, the bilateral medial frontal gyrus and the right subcallosal gyrus as well as a grey matter increase in the right lingual gyrus. Meta-regression analyses showed that mean age and the percentage of female patients with LLD were not significantly related to grey matter changes. The analysis techniques, patient characteristics and clinical variables of the studies included were heterogeneous, and most participants were medicated. The present meta-analysis is, to our knowledge, the first to overcome previous inconsistencies in the VBM studies of LLD and provide robust evidence for grey matter alterations within fronto-striatal-limbic networks, thereby implicating them in the pathophysiology of LLD. The mean age and the percentage of female patients with LLD did not appear to have a measurable impact on grey matter changes, although we cannot rule out the contributory effects of medication.

Prediction of lithium-ion battery capacity with metabolic grey model

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Chen, Lin; Lin, Weilong; Li, Junzi; Tian, Binbin; Pan, Haihong

2016-01-01

Given the popularity of Lithium-ion batteries in EVs (electric vehicles), predicting the capacity quickly and accurately throughout a battery's full life-time is still a challenging issue for ensuring the reliability of EVs. This paper proposes an approach in predicting the varied capacity with discharge cycles based on metabolic grey theory and consider issues from two perspectives: 1) three metabolic grey models will be presented, including MGM (metabolic grey model), MREGM (metabolic Residual-error grey model), and MMREGM (metabolic Markov-residual-error grey model); 2) the universality of these models will be explored under different conditions (such as various discharge rates and temperatures). Furthermore, the research findings in this paper demonstrate the excellent performance of the prediction depending on the three models; however, the precision of the MREGM model is inferior compared to the others. Therefore, we have obtained the conclusion in which the MGM model and the MMREGM model have excellent performances in predicting the capacity under a variety of load conditions, even using few data points for modeling. Also, the universality of the metabolic grey prediction theory is verified by predicting the capacity of batteries under different discharge rates and different temperatures. - Highlights: • The metabolic mechanism is introduced in a grey system for capacity prediction. • Three metabolic grey models are presented and studied. • The universality of these models under different conditions is assessed. • A few data points are required for predicting the capacity with these models.

Grey Box Modelling of Hydrological Systems

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Thordarson, Fannar Ørn

of two papers where the stochastic differential equation based model is used for sewer runoff from a drainage system. A simple model is used to describe a complex rainfall-runoff process in a catchment, but the stochastic part of the system is formulated to include the increasing uncertainty when...... rainwater flows through the system, as well as describe the lower limit of the uncertainty when the flow approaches zero. The first paper demonstrates in detail the grey box model and all related transformations required to obtain a feasible model for the sewer runoff. In the last paper this model is used......The main topic of the thesis is grey box modelling of hydrologic systems, as well as formulation and assessment of their embedded uncertainties. Grey box model is a combination of a white box model, a physically-based model that is traditionally formulated using deterministic ordinary differential...

Open Pit Water Control Safety A Case Of Nchanga Open Pit Mine Zambia

OpenAIRE

Silwamba C; Chileshe P R K

2015-01-01

Abstract Mining in Chingola Zambia started underground in 1931 and was catastrophically flooded and closed. The present Nchanga Underground Mine NUG started in 1937. The Nchanga Open Pit NOP mine started in 1955 situated to the west of NUG and partially overlying it. Open pit water control safety operations in the Nchanga-Chingola area have successfully enabled the safe extraction of millions of tonnes of copper ore annually over the past 60 years from NUG mining as well as the NOP. At the st...

Investigating pitting in X65 carbon steel using potentiostatic polarisation

Science.gov (United States)

Mohammed, Sikiru; Hua, Yong; Barker, R.; Neville, A.

2017-11-01

Although pitting corrosion in passive materials is generally well understood, the growth of surface pits in actively-corroding materials has received much less attention to date and remains poorly understood. One of the key challenges which exists is repeatedly and reliably generating surface pits in a practical time-frame in the absence of deformation and/or residual stress so that studies on pit propagation and healing can be performed. Another pertinent issue is how to evaluate pitting while addressing general corrosion in low carbon steel. In this work, potentiostatic polarisation was employed to induce corrosion pits (free from deformation or residual stress) on actively corroding X65 carbon steel. The influence of applied potential (50 mV, 100 mV and 150 mV vs open circuit potential) was investigated over 24 h in a CO2-saturated, 3.5 wt.% NaCl solution at 30 °C and pH 3.8. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) was utilised to examine pits, while surface profilometry was conducted to measure pit depth as a function of applied potential over the range considered. Analyses of light pitting (up to 120 μm) revealed that pit depth increased linearly with increase in applied potential. This paper relates total pit volume (measured using white light interferometry) to dissipated charge or total mass loss (using the current response for potentiostatic polarisation in conjunction with Faraday's law). By controlling the potential of the surface (anodic) the extent of pitting and general corrosion could be controlled. This allowed pits to be evaluated for their ability to continue to propagate after the potentiostatic technique was employed. Linear growth from a depth of 70 μm at pH 3.8, 80 °C was demonstrated. The technique offers promise for the study of inhibition of pitting.

Using atmospheric pressure plasma treatment for treating grey cotton fabric.

Science.gov (United States)

Kan, Chi-Wai; Lam, Chui-Fung; Chan, Chee-Kooi; Ng, Sun-Pui

2014-02-15

Conventional wet treatment, desizing, scouring and bleaching, for grey cotton fabric involves the use of high water, chemical and energy consumption which may not be considered as a clean process. This study aims to investigate the efficiency of the atmospheric pressure plasma (APP) treatment on treating grey cotton fabric when compared with the conventional wet treatment. Grey cotton fabrics were treated with different combinations of plasma parameters with helium and oxygen gases and also through conventional desizing, scouring and bleaching processes in order to obtain comparable results. The results obtained from wicking and water drop tests showed that wettability of grey cotton fabrics was greatly improved after plasma treatment and yielded better results than conventional desizing and scouring. The weight reduction of plasma treated grey cotton fabrics revealed that plasma treatment can help remove sizing materials and impurities. Chemical and morphological changes in plasma treated samples were analysed by FTIR and SEM, respectively. Finally, dyeability of the plasma treated and conventional wet treated grey cotton fabrics was compared and the results showed that similar dyeing results were obtained. This can prove that plasma treatment would be another choice for treating grey cotton fabrics. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Contrast between white and grey matter: MRI appearance with ageing

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Magnaldi, S.; Ukmar, M.; Vasciaveo, A.; Longo, R.; Pozzi-Mucelli, R.S.

1993-01-01

MRI contrast between white and grey matter appears to be higher in young normal subjects than in older patients. The aim of the present study was to investigate the possible relationships between these changes in contrast and ageing. It consisted of two parts. In the first part we retrospectively evaluated 140 MRI brain examinations of healthy subjects, 20 per decade (age range 20-90 years), in whom the contrast was subjectively scored. In the second part we prospectively measured the actual T1, spin density (SD) and T2 values of white and grey matter in another 22 healthy subjects (age range 20-80 years). In the first group of subjects a progressive decrease in white/grey matter contrast was observed with ageing. In the second group of subjects the T1, SD and T2 values of white matter were always shorter than those of grey matter. There is a close relation among T1, SD and T2 values of white and grey matter with ageing. We suggest that there is a progressive loss of white/grey matter contrast with ageing. Such a phenomenon is possibly due to an increased water content in the white matter and the progressive neuronal loss in the grey matter that occurs with age. (orig.)

Pitting of malaria parasites and spherocyte formation

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Gichuki Charity W

2006-07-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background A high prevalence of spherocytes was detected in blood smears of children enrolled in a case control study conducted in the malaria holoendemic Lake Victoria basin. It was speculated that the spherocytes reflect intraerythrocytic removal of malarial parasites with a concurrent removal of RBC membrane through a process analogous to pitting of intraerythrocytic inclusion bodies. Pitting and re-circulation of RBCs devoid of malaria parasites could be a host mechanism for parasite clearance while minimizing the anaemia that would occur were the entire parasitized RBC removed. The prior demonstration of RBCs containing ring-infected erythrocyte surface antigen (pf 155 or RESA but no intracellular parasites, support the idea of pitting. Methods An in vitro model was developed to examine the phenomenon of pitting and spherocyte formation in Plasmodium falciparum infected RBCs (iRBC co-incubated with human macrophages. In vivo application of this model was evaluated using blood specimens from patients attending Kisumu Ditrict Hospital. RBCs were probed with anti-RESA monoclonal antibody and a DNA stain (propidium iodide. Flow cytometry and fluorescent microscopy was used to compare RBCs containing both the antigen and the parasites to those that were only RESA positive. Results Co-incubation of iRBC and tumor necrosis factor-alpha activated macrophages led to pitting (14% ± 1.31% macrophages with engulfed trophozoites as opposed to erythrophagocytosis (5.33% ± 0.95% (P Conclusion It is proposed that in malaria holoendemic areas where prevalence of asexual stage parasites approaches 100% in children, RBCs with pitted parasites are re-circulated and pitting may produce spherocytes.

Pitting corrosion of copper. An equilibrium - mass transport study

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Taxen, C

1996-11-01

A mathematical model for the propagation of corrosion pits on copper is described. The model is used to predict the potentials below which copper is immune to pitting. The criteria used for immunity against pitting is that the volume of the cuprous oxide formed at the site of the metal oxidation at the bottom of a corrosion pit must be smaller than the volume of the oxidised metal. Equal volumes would give a complete coverage of the metal in a pit by adherent cuprous oxide and propagation would not be possible. For potentials where copper is not immune to pitting an estimate of the maximum growth rate is given. The model uses equilibrium data and diffusion coefficients and calculates the stationary concentration profiles from the bulk water outside a corrosion pit to the site of the metal dissolution at the bottom a corrosion pit. Precipitation of oxides as well as of basic salts of copper is considered. A total of 26 aqueous species are considered in waters with compositions ranging from those of tap waters to that of sea water. Calculations are made for the temperatures 25 deg C and 75 deg C. 38 refs, 60 figs, 17 tabs

Premature hair greying may predict reduced bone mineral density in Graves' disease.

LENUS (Irish Health Repository)

Leary, A C

2012-02-03

BACKGROUND: Premature hair greying has been associated with low bone mineral density (BMD), and it may be more frequent in Graves\\' disease. AIMS: To determine whether premature greying is associated with reduced BMD in women with Graves\\' disease and in control women, and to examine whether premature greying is more common in Graves\\' disease. METHODS: Premature greying (> 50% grey by 40 years) and BMD were determined in 44 women with a history of Graves\\' disease and 133 female controls referred for routine BMD measurement. Exclusion criteria included diseases or drugs known to affect BMD. RESULTS: Mean Z and T scores at the lumbar spine were significantly lower (P < 0.04) in subjects with premature greying than in those not prematurely grey among women with Graves\\' disease, but not among control women. Multiple regression confirmed this difference between Graves\\' and control women (P = 0.041). There were no differences at other measurement sites. Of Graves\\' patients, 36% were prematurely grey compared with 25% of control women (P = 0.14). CONCLUSION: Premature greying may be a weak marker for reduced BMD in women with a history of Graves\\' disease, but it is not a marker in normal women.

Research process of nondestructive testing pitting corrosion in metal material

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Bo ZHANG

2017-12-01

Full Text Available Pitting corrosion directly affects the usability and service life of metal material, so the effective nondestructive testing and evaluation on pitting corrosion is of great significance for fatigue life prediction because of data supporting. The features of pitting corrosion are elaborated, and the relation between the pitting corrosion parameters and fatigue performance is pointed out. Through introducing the fundamental principles of pitting corrosion including mainly magnetic flux leakage inspection, pulsed eddy current and guided waves, the research status of nondestructive testing technology for pitting corrosion is summarized, and the key steps of nondestructive testing technologies are compared and analyzed from the theoretical model, signal processing to industrial applications. Based on the analysis of the signal processing specificity of different nondestructive testing technologies in detecting pitting corrosion, the visualization combined with image processing and signal analysis are indicated as the critical problems of accurate extraction of pitting defect information and quantitative characterization for pitting corrosion. The study on non-contact nondestructive testing technologies is important for improving the detection precision and its application in industries.

Grey scale, the 'crispening effect', and perceptual linearization

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Belaïd, N.; Martens, J.B.

1998-01-01

One way of optimizing a display is to maximize the number of distinguishable grey levels, which in turn is equivalent to perceptually linearizing the display. Perceptual linearization implies that equal steps in grey value evoke equal steps in brightness sensation. The key to perceptual

Modification of grey scale in computer tomographic images

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hemmingsson, A.; Jung, B.

1980-01-01

Optimum perception of minute but relevant attenuation differences in CT images often requires display window settings so narrow that a considerable fraction of the image appears completely black or white and consequently without structure. In order to improve the display characteristics two principles of grey scale modification are presented. In one method the pixel contents are displayed unchanged within a selectable attenuation band but moved towards the limits of the band for pixels that are outside it. In the other the grey scale is arranged to a constant number of pixels per grey scale interval. (Auth.)

Spontaneous Resolution of Optic Disc Pit Maculopathy

OpenAIRE

Tripathy, Koushik

2017-01-01

I read with interest the article reporting spontaneous resolution of optic disc pit maculopathy in a boy.1 Though the presence of an optic disc pit and associated macular involvement is undoubted in the presented case, the provided optical coherence tomography (OCT) does not clearly show typical intraretinal schisis (Figure 1B)1 at multiple retinal levels which may communicate with the pit. Instead, it shows a sub-internal limiting membrane (sub-ILM) cavity. Such cavities are known to occur f...

Grey literature for development: Some case studies

OpenAIRE

Sen, B. (SHPT); GreyNet, Grey Literature Network Service

2007-01-01

Grey Literature refers to publications issued by government, academia, business, and industry, in both print and electronic formats, but not controlled by commercial publishing interests, and where publishing is not the primary business activity of the organization. Newsletters, reports, working papers, theses, government documents, bulletins, fact sheets, conference proceedings and other publications distributed free, available by subscription, or for sale comprises grey literature. Non-prof...

Grey water characterisation and pollutant loads in an urban slum

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Katukiza, A. Y.; Ronteltap, M.; Niwagaba, C. B.; Kansiime, F.; Lens, P. N. L.

2015-01-01

On-site sanitation provisions in urban slums rarely prioritise grey water management, yet it forms the largest fraction of wastewater. This study was carried out to characterise grey water and quantify its pollutant loads in Bwaise III (Uganda) and to provide data for grey water management in urban slums of developing countries. Samples were collected for analysis from ten representative households as well as from four tertiary drains and the main drainage channel for 7 months in two dry seasons. Grey water production was found to comprise 85 % of the domestic water consumption. The chemical oxygen demand concentration in the grey water generated by laundry, in the kitchen and in the bathroom was 9,225 ± 1,200 mg L-1, 71,250 ± 1,011 mg L-1 and 4,675 ± 750 mg L-1, while the BOD5 (biochemical oxygen demand) to COD ratio was 0.24 ± 0.05, 0.33 ± 0.08 and 0.31 ± 0.07, respectively. The maximum concentration of Escherichia coli and total coliforms was 2.05 9 107 cfu (100 mL)-1 and 1.75 9 108 cfu (100 mL)-1, respectively, in grey water from the bathroom, while that of Salmonella spp. was 7.32 9 106 cfu (100 mL)-1 from laundry. Analysis of variance (ANOVA) showed a significant difference in the concentration of COD, total suspended solids, total organic carbon, dissolved organic carbon, total phosphorus, sodium adsorption ratio, oil and grease, and Salmonella spp. in grey water from laundry, bathroom and kitchen (p/0.05). The high loads of COD ([500 kg day-1), total suspended solids ([200 kg day-1), nutrients (8.3 kg TKN day-1 and 1.4 kg total phosphorus day-1) and microorganisms (106 to 109 cfu c-1 day-1) originating from grey water in Bwaise III show that grey water poses a threat to the environment and a risk to human health in urban slums. Therefore, there is a need to prioritise grey water treatment in urban slums of developing countries to achieve adequate sanitation.

Quality tools and resources to support organisational improvement integral to high-quality primary care: a systematic review of published and grey literature.

Science.gov (United States)

Janamian, Tina; Upham, Susan J; Crossland, Lisa; Jackson, Claire L

2016-04-18

To conduct a systematic review of the literature to identify existing online primary care quality improvement tools and resources to support organisational improvement related to the seven elements in the Primary Care Practice Improvement Tool (PC-PIT), with the identified tools and resources to progress to a Delphi study for further assessment of relevance and utility. Systematic review of the international published and grey literature. CINAHL, Embase and PubMed databases were searched in March 2014 for articles published between January 2004 and December 2013. GreyNet International and other relevant websites and repositories were also searched in March-April 2014 for documents dated between 1992 and 2012. All citations were imported into a bibliographic database. Published and unpublished tools and resources were included in the review if they were in English, related to primary care quality improvement and addressed any of the seven PC-PIT elements of a high-performing practice. Tools and resources that met the eligibility criteria were then evaluated for their accessibility, relevance, utility and comprehensiveness using a four-criteria appraisal framework. We used a data extraction template to systematically extract information from eligible tools and resources. A content analysis approach was used to explore the tools and resources and collate relevant information: name of the tool or resource, year and country of development, author, name of the organisation that provided access and its URL, accessibility information or problems, overview of each tool or resource and the quality improvement element(s) it addresses. If available, a copy of the tool or resource was downloaded into the bibliographic database, along with supporting evidence (published or unpublished) on its use in primary care. This systematic review identified 53 tools and resources that can potentially be provided as part of a suite of tools and resources to support primary care practices in

Modelling assessment of End Pit Lakes meromictic potential

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

2006-11-01

The use of End Pit Lakes have been proposed as a remediation solution for oil sands reclamation and operational waters. This report modelled the main factors controlling the occurrence of stratification in Pit Lakes in order to establish design and management guidelines for the Cumulative Environmental Management Association's End Pit Lake Sub-group. The study focused on End Pit Lake size, depth, starting lake salinity concentrations, inflow rates and inflow salinity flux, and investigated their influence on density gradients. One-dimensional modelling and limited 2-D modelling simulations were conducted to examine meromictic potential for a large range of End Pit Lake configurations and conditions. Modelling results showed that fall is the governing season for determining meromixis. The expelling of salt from saline water upon ice formation and its effect on stratification potential and the effect of fresh water loading on stratification potential during spring melt events were not observed to be dominant factors governing meromictic potential for the scenarios examined in the study. Results suggested that shallow End Pit Lakes showed a high turn-over rate with seasonal heating and cooling cycles. Moderately deep End Pit Lakes demonstrated a meromictic potential that was inversely proportional to lake size and require higher starting salinities. With a 2 or 10 million m 3 /yr inflow rate and a 5 parts per thousand starting salinity, a 50 m deep End Pit Lake achieved meromixis at all 3 size ranges considered in the study. Results also showed that the rate of influent salinity decrease was the least important of the parameters influencing meromixis. It was observed that meromixis was a temporary condition in all of the End Pit Lake scenarios envisioned due to the lack of a constant, positive salt replenishment over the long term. It was concluded that further 3-D modelling is required to represent littoral areas as well as to account for extreme winter conditions. A

Pit Study, Geographic NAD83, LOSCO (1999) [pit_study_LOSCO_1998

Data.gov (United States)

Louisiana Geographic Information Center — The 'Pit Study' was meant to identify the remnants of former oil extraction sites which pose the threat of creating an oil spill. These remnants include many other...

OpenSIGLE, Home to GreyNet's Research Community and its Grey Literature Collections: Initial Results and a Project Proposal

OpenAIRE

Farace , Dominic ,; Frantzen , Jerry; Stock , Christiane; Henrot , Nathalie; Schöpfel , Joachim

2008-01-01

International audience; In 1980, some major European scientific information centres established the “System for Information on Grey Literature in Europe” (SIGLE) to provide access to European grey literature and to improve bibliographic coverage. August 23, 2006, the Luxemburg Register of Commerce and Societies published the liquidation of the association EAGLE that produced the SIGLE database until 2005. Nevertheless, the former EAGLE member consented to preserve the European co-operation fo...

Grey seal predation on forage fish in the Baltic Sea

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Eero, Aro; Neuenfeldt, Stefan; Aho, Teija

The mean annual growth rate of grey seal stock in the Baltic has been on average 7.5% annually during the last decade. In 2010, a total of approximately 23 100 grey seals were counted. The increase in stock size was highest in the northern areas and the predation pressure of grey seals on clupeoids...... has increased accordingly. The diet of grey seal in the Baltic consists of ca. 20 fish species. The most abundant prey items in the Baltic proper are Baltic herring, sprat, and cod, and in the Bothnian Sea and Bothnian Bay Baltic herring, Coregonus sp., Baltic salmon, and sea trout. An adult seal...... consumes on average round 4.5 kg fish per day, of which 55% are clupeoids in the Baltic Main basin and 70% in the Bothnian Sea and Bothnian Bay. According to acoustic estimates, predator– prey distribution patterns, migration patterns, and multispecies analysis (SMS), the predation effect of grey seals...

Markov chain modelling of pitting corrosion in underground pipelines

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Caleyo, F. [Departamento de Ingenieri' a Metalurgica, ESIQIE, IPN, UPALM Edif. 7, Zacatenco, Mexico D. F. 07738 (Mexico)], E-mail: fcaleyo@gmail.com; Velazquez, J.C. [Departamento de Ingenieri' a Metalurgica, ESIQIE, IPN, UPALM Edif. 7, Zacatenco, Mexico D. F. 07738 (Mexico); Valor, A. [Facultad de Fisica, Universidad de La Habana, San Lazaro y L, Vedado, 10400 La Habana (Cuba); Hallen, J.M. [Departamento de Ingenieri' a Metalurgica, ESIQIE, IPN, UPALM Edif. 7, Zacatenco, Mexico D. F. 07738 (Mexico)

2009-09-15

A continuous-time, non-homogenous linear growth (pure birth) Markov process has been used to model external pitting corrosion in underground pipelines. The closed form solution of Kolmogorov's forward equations for this type of Markov process is used to describe the transition probability function in a discrete pit depth space. The identification of the transition probability function can be achieved by correlating the stochastic pit depth mean with the deterministic mean obtained experimentally. Monte-Carlo simulations previously reported have been used to predict the time evolution of the mean value of the pit depth distribution for different soil textural classes. The simulated distributions have been used to create an empirical Markov chain-based stochastic model for predicting the evolution of pitting corrosion depth and rate distributions from the observed properties of the soil. The proposed model has also been applied to pitting corrosion data from pipeline repeated in-line inspections and laboratory immersion experiments.

Markov chain modelling of pitting corrosion in underground pipelines

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Caleyo, F.; Velazquez, J.C.; Valor, A.; Hallen, J.M.

2009-01-01

A continuous-time, non-homogenous linear growth (pure birth) Markov process has been used to model external pitting corrosion in underground pipelines. The closed form solution of Kolmogorov's forward equations for this type of Markov process is used to describe the transition probability function in a discrete pit depth space. The identification of the transition probability function can be achieved by correlating the stochastic pit depth mean with the deterministic mean obtained experimentally. Monte-Carlo simulations previously reported have been used to predict the time evolution of the mean value of the pit depth distribution for different soil textural classes. The simulated distributions have been used to create an empirical Markov chain-based stochastic model for predicting the evolution of pitting corrosion depth and rate distributions from the observed properties of the soil. The proposed model has also been applied to pitting corrosion data from pipeline repeated in-line inspections and laboratory immersion experiments.

Force-displacement measurements of earlywood bordered pits using a mesomechanical tester.

Science.gov (United States)

Zelinka, Samuel L; Bourne, Keith J; Hermanson, John C; Glass, Samuel V; Costa, Adriana; Wiedenhoeft, Alex C

2015-10-01

The elastic properties of pit membranes are reported to have important implications in understanding air-seeding phenomena in gymnosperms, and pit aspiration plays a large role in wood technological applications such as wood drying and preservative treatment. Here we present force-displacement measurements for pit membranes of circular bordered pits, collected on a mesomechanical testing system. The system consists of a quartz microprobe attached to a microforce sensor that is positioned and advanced with a micromanipulator mounted on an inverted microscope. Membrane displacement is measured from digital image analysis. Unaspirated pits from earlywood of never-dried wood of Larix and Pinus and aspirated pits from earlywood of dried wood of Larix were tested to generate force-displacement curves up to the point of membrane failure. Two failure modes were observed: rupture or tearing of the pit membrane by the microprobe tip, and the stretching of the pit membrane until the torus was forced out of the pit chamber through the pit aperture without rupture, a condition we refer to as torus prolapse. Published 2015. This article is a U.S. Government work and is in the public domain in the USA.

The potential of grey alder plantation forestry

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Rytter, L. [Swedish Univ. of Agricultural Sciences, Uppsala (Sweden). Dept. of Short Rotation Forestry

1996-12-31

A survey concerning the potential use of grey alder (Alnus incana (L.) Moench.) in short rotation forestry is performed. The most important characters in this context are discussed. It is concluded that grey alder is an interesting contributor in plantation forestry, because it has a high woody biomass production, is more or less self-supporting with nitrogen, and is well adapted to the conditions in Fennoscandia and Balticum. 36 refs, 2 figs, 1 tab

Structural and functional connectivity underlying grey matter covariance: impact of developmental insult.

Science.gov (United States)

Paquola, Casey; Bennett, Maxwell; Lagopoulos, Jim

2018-05-15

Structural covariance networks (SCNs) may offer unique insights into the developmental impact of childhood maltreatment because they are thought to reflect coordinated maturation of distinct grey matter regions. T1-weighted magnetic resonance images were acquired from 121 young people with emerging mental illness. Diffusion weighted and resting state functional imaging was also acquired from a random subset of the participants (n=62). Ten study-specific SCNs were identified using a whole brain grey matter independent component analysis. The effects of childhood maltreatment and age on average grey matter density and the expression of each SCN were calculated. Childhood maltreatment was linked to age-related decreases in grey matter density across a SCN that overlapped with the default mode and fronto-parietal networks. Resting state functional connectivity and structural connectivity were calculated in the study-specific SCN and across the whole brain. Grey matter covariance was significantly correlated with rsFC across the SCN, and rsFC fully mediated the relationship between grey matter covariance and structural connectivity in the non-maltreated group. A unique association of grey matter covariance with structural connectivity was detected amongst individuals with a history of childhood maltreatment. Perturbation of grey matter development across the default mode and fronto-parietal networks following childhood maltreatment may have significant implications for mental well-being, given the networks' roles in self-referential activity. Cross-modal comparisons suggest reduced grey matter following childhood maltreatment could arise from deficient functional activity earlier in life.

Shape-based grey-level image interpolation

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Keh-Shih Chuang; Chun-Yuan Chen; Ching-Kai Yeh

1999-01-01

The three-dimensional (3D) object data obtained from a CT scanner usually have unequal sampling frequencies in the x-, y- and z-directions. Generally, the 3D data are first interpolated between slices to obtain isotropic resolution, reconstructed, then operated on using object extraction and display algorithms. The traditional grey-level interpolation introduces a layer of intermediate substance and is not suitable for objects that are very different from the opposite background. The shape-based interpolation method transfers a pixel location to a parameter related to the object shape and the interpolation is performed on that parameter. This process is able to achieve a better interpolation but its application is limited to binary images only. In this paper, we present an improved shape-based interpolation method for grey-level images. The new method uses a polygon to approximate the object shape and performs the interpolation using polygon vertices as references. The binary images representing the shape of the object were first generated via image segmentation on the source images. The target object binary image was then created using regular shape-based interpolation. The polygon enclosing the object for each slice can be generated from the shape of that slice. We determined the relative location in the source slices of each pixel inside the target polygon using the vertices of a polygon as the reference. The target slice grey-level was interpolated from the corresponding source image pixels. The image quality of this interpolation method is better and the mean squared difference is smaller than with traditional grey-level interpolation. (author)

Inconsistent identification of pit bull-type dogs by shelter staff.

Science.gov (United States)

Olson, K R; Levy, J K; Norby, B; Crandall, M M; Broadhurst, J E; Jacks, S; Barton, R C; Zimmerman, M S

2015-11-01

Shelter staff and veterinarians routinely make subjective dog breed identification based on appearance, but their accuracy regarding pit bull-type breeds is unknown. The purpose of this study was to measure agreement among shelter staff in assigning pit bull-type breed designations to shelter dogs and to compare breed assignments with DNA breed signatures. In this prospective cross-sectional study, four staff members at each of four different shelters recorded their suspected breed(s) for 30 dogs; there was a total of 16 breed assessors and 120 dogs. The terms American pit bull terrier, American Staffordshire terrier, Staffordshire bull terrier, pit bull, and their mixes were included in the study definition of 'pit bull-type breeds.' Using visual identification only, the median inter-observer agreements and kappa values in pair-wise comparisons of each of the staff breed assignments for pit bull-type breed vs. not pit bull-type breed ranged from 76% to 83% and from 0.44 to 0.52 (moderate agreement), respectively. Whole blood was submitted to a commercial DNA testing laboratory for breed identification. Whereas DNA breed signatures identified only 25 dogs (21%) as pit bull-type, shelter staff collectively identified 62 (52%) dogs as pit bull-type. Agreement between visual and DNA-based breed assignments varied among individuals, with sensitivity for pit bull-type identification ranging from 33% to 75% and specificity ranging from 52% to 100%. The median kappa value for inter-observer agreement with DNA results at each shelter ranged from 0.1 to 0.48 (poor to moderate). Lack of consistency among shelter staff indicated that visual identification of pit bull-type dogs was unreliable. Copyright © 2015 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd.. All rights reserved.

Sustainable Environmental Protection Using Modified Pit-Latrines

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Chaggu, E.J.

2004-01-01

Pit-latrines are on-site excreta disposal facilities widely used as anaerobic accumulation system for stabilizing human wastes like excreta, both in rural and urban settlements of developing countries. Flooding of pit-latrines is often a common phenomenon, especially in situations of high water

Pitting corrosion of copper. An equilibrium - mass transport study

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Taxen, C.

2002-08-01

A mathematical model for the propagation of corrosion pits is described and used to calculate the potentials below which copper is immune to pitting. The model uses equilibrium data and diffusion coefficients and calculates the stationary concentration profiles of 26 aqueous species from the bulk water outside a corrosion pit to the site of the metal dissolution. Precipitation of oxides and salts of copper is considered. Studied conditions include water compositions from tap waters to seawater at the temperatures 25 deg C and 75 deg C. Carbonate and sulphate are aggressive towards copper because of complex formation with divalent copper. Carbonate is less aggressive in a corrosion pit than outside at the pH of the bulk. Carbonate carries acidity out from the pit, favours oxide formation and may prevent the initiation of acidic corrosion pits. The concentration profiles are used to estimate the maximum propagation rates for a corrosion pit. A high potential is found to be the most important factor for the rate of propagation. The levels of potential copper can sustain, as corrosion potentials are discussed in terms of the stability of cuprous oxide as a cathode material for oxygen reduction relative to non-conducting cupric phases

Pitting corrosion of copper. An equilibrium - mass transport study

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Taxen, C. [Swedish Corrosion Inst., Stockholm (Sweden)

2002-08-01

A mathematical model for the propagation of corrosion pits is described and used to calculate the potentials below which copper is immune to pitting. The model uses equilibrium data and diffusion coefficients and calculates the stationary concentration profiles of 26 aqueous species from the bulk water outside a corrosion pit to the site of the metal dissolution. Precipitation of oxides and salts of copper is considered. Studied conditions include water compositions from tap waters to seawater at the temperatures 25 deg C and 75 deg C. Carbonate and sulphate are aggressive towards copper because of complex formation with divalent copper. Carbonate is less aggressive in a corrosion pit than outside at the pH of the bulk. Carbonate carries acidity out from the pit, favours oxide formation and may prevent the initiation of acidic corrosion pits. The concentration profiles are used to estimate the maximum propagation rates for a corrosion pit. A high potential is found to be the most important factor for the rate of propagation. The levels of potential copper can sustain, as corrosion potentials are discussed in terms of the stability of cuprous oxide as a cathode material for oxygen reduction relative to non-conducting cupric phases.

A predictive approach to fitness-for-service assessment of pitting corrosion

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Shekari, Elahe; Khan, Faisal; Ahmed, Salim

2016-01-01

Pitting corrosion is a localized corrosion that often causes leak and failure of process components. The aim of this work is to present a new fitness-for-service (FFS) assessment methodology for process equipment to track and predict pitting corrosion. In this methodology, pit density is modeled using a non-homogenous Poisson process and induction time for pit initiation is simulated as the realization of a Weibull process. The non-homogenous Markov process is used to estimate maximum pit depth, considering that only the current state of the damage influences its future development. Subsequently, the distributions of the operating pressure and the estimated burst pressure of the defected component are integrated with Monte Carlo simulations and First Order Second Moment (FOSM) method to calculate the reliability index and probability of failure. This methodology provides a more realistic failure assessment and enables consideration of uncertainty associated with estimating pit characteristics. The practical application of the proposed model is demonstrated using a piping case study. - Highlights: • A new model to estimate maximum pit depth and pit density as two main pit characteristics. • Integrating maximum pit depth with failure analysis considering allowable pressure of defected component. • Time dependent failure analysis to determine the remaining life.

Least tern and piping plover nesting at sand pits in Nebraska

Science.gov (United States)

Sidle, John G.; Kirsch, E.M.

1993-01-01

Endangered Least Terns (Sterna antillarum) and threatened Piping Plovers (Charadrius melodus) nest at commercial sand and gravel mining operations (sand pits) along the Platte River system in Nebraska. Sandbar habitat has been disappearing since the early 1900's along the Platte River system, but numbers of sand pits have increased. We hypothesized that birds would more fully utilize sand pits where suitable sandbar habitat was limited. We inventoried sand pits and censused terns and plovers on both habitats along the Loup River, part of the North Loup River, and most of the Platte River during 1988-1991. Using aircraft, we also quantified features of suitable sand pits present on the central Platte in 1988 and lower Platte in 1990, and related features to abundance and presence of birds. We found 225 sand pits of which 78 were suitable and 187 were unsuitable for nesting. Along the central Platte, where sandbar habitat is severely degraded, birds nested at 81% of the suitable sand pits (N = 32) at least once during 1988-1991, and most birds (61-94%) nested on sand pits. Along the lower Platte, where both sandbar and sand pit habitat are plentiful, birds nested at 60% of the suitable sand pits (N = 35) at least once during 1988-1991, and most birds (60-86%) nested on sandbars. Numbers of terns and plovers were more weakly correlated with features of sand pits on the central Platte than on the lower Platte. Least Terns and Piping Plovers seem to use more of the suitable sand pit habitat on the central Platte than on the lower Platte. Sand pits probably have influenced the birds' distribution by providing alternative nesting habitat along rivers where suitable sandbars are rare or absent.

Composição mineral e severidade de "bitter pit" em maçãs 'Catarina' Mineral composition and bitter pit severity in 'Catarina' apples

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Cassandro Vidal Talamini do Amarante

2006-04-01

Full Text Available Maçãs 'Catarina', colhidas na maturação comercial em pomar no município de São Joaquim-SC, foram separadas em quatro lotes de 14 frutos, de acordo com a severidade de incidência de "bitter pit": nula (nenhuma lesão/fruto, baixa (1-2 lesões/fruto, moderada (3-5 lesões/fruto e alta (6-18 lesões/fruto. Foram determinadas as concentrações de Ca, Mg, K e N na casca e na polpa de cada fruto. Foram verificadas relação linear (P 'Catarina' apples were harvested at the commercial maturity in an orchard in São Joaquim-SC and segregated in four lots of 14 fruits with different levels of bitter pit severity: null (none pit/fruit, low (1-2 pits/fruit, moderate (3-5 pits/fruit, and high (6-18 pits/fruit. Nutritional analysis (Ca, Mg, K, and N in the skin and flesh tissues were performed on individual fruits of each severity level. The average number of pits/fruit (calculated for each lot of bitter pit severity showed a negative linear relationship (P < 0.05 with the skin Ca content, and a negative linear relationship (P < 0.05 with the ratios of Mg/Ca, (K+Mg/Ca, and (K+Mg+N/Ca in the skin. For the flesh, the increasing of bitter pit severity was accompanied by significant reduction of Ca and Mg contents. The multivariate analysis (canonical discriminant analysis showed that the Mg/Ca ratio in the skin provided the best discrimination between the lots of fruit with different levels of bitter pit severity. Therefore, for 'Catarina' apples, increasing values of the Mg/Ca ratio in the skin are indicative of fruits with increasing bitter pit susceptibility.

Grey literature in meta-analyses of randomized trials of health care interventions.

Science.gov (United States)

Hopewell, S; McDonald, S; Clarke, M; Egger, M

2007-04-18

The inclusion of grey literature (i.e. literature that has not been formally published) in systematic reviews may help to overcome some of the problems of publication bias, which can arise due to the selective availability of data. To review systematically research studies, which have investigated the impact of grey literature in meta-analyses of randomized trials of health care interventions. We searched the Cochrane Methodology Register (The Cochrane Library Issue 3, 2005), MEDLINE (1966 to 20 May 2005), the Science Citation Index (June 2005) and contacted researchers who may have carried out relevant studies. A study was considered eligible for this review if it compared the effect of the inclusion and exclusion of grey literature on the results of a cohort of meta-analyses of randomized trials. Data were extracted from each report independently by two reviewers. The main outcome measure was an estimate of the impact of trials from the grey literature on the pooled effect estimates of the meta-analyses. Information was also collected on the area of health care, the number of meta-analyses, the number of trials, the number of trial participants, the year of publication of the trials, the language and country of publication of the trials, the number and type of grey and published literature, and methodological quality. Five studies met the inclusion criteria. All five studies showed that published trials showed an overall greater treatment effect than grey trials. This difference was statistically significant in one of the five studies. Data could be combined for three of the five studies. This showed that, on average, published trials showed a 9% greater treatment effect than grey trials (ratio of odds ratios for grey versus published trials 1.09; 95% CI 1.03-1.16). Overall there were more published trials included in the meta-analyses than grey trials (median 224 (IQR 108-365) versus 45(IQR 40-102)). Published trials had more participants on average. The most

Deterministic chaos in the pitting phenomena of passivable alloys

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hoerle, Stephane

1998-01-01

It was shown that electrochemical noise recorded in stable pitting conditions exhibits deterministic (even chaotic) features. The occurrence of deterministic behaviors depend on the material/solution severity. Thus, electrolyte composition ([Cl - ]/[NO 3 - ] ratio, pH), passive film thickness or alloy composition can change the deterministic features. Only one pit is sufficient to observe deterministic behaviors. The electrochemical noise signals are non-stationary, which is a hint of a change with time in the pit behavior (propagation speed or mean). Modifications of electrolyte composition reveals transitions between random and deterministic behaviors. Spontaneous transitions between deterministic behaviors of different features (bifurcation) are also evidenced. Such bifurcations enlighten various routes to chaos. The routes to chaos and the features of chaotic signals allow to suggest the modeling (continuous and discontinuous models are proposed) of the electrochemical mechanisms inside a pit, that describe quite well the experimental behaviors and the effect of the various parameters. The analysis of the chaotic behaviors of a pit leads to a better understanding of propagation mechanisms and give tools for pit monitoring. (author) [fr

Ultraviolet (UV) disinfection of grey water: particle size effects.

Science.gov (United States)

Winward, G P; Avery, L M; Stephenson, T; Jefferson, B

2008-02-01

The impact of water quality on the ultraviolet (UV) disinfection of grey water was investigated with reference to urban water reuse. Direct UV disinfection of grey water did not meet the stringent California State Title 22 criteria for unrestricted urban water reuse due to the presence of particulate material ranging from or = 2000 microm in size. Grey water was manipulated by settling to produce fractions of varying particle size distributions and blending was employed post-disinfection to extract particle-associated coliforms (PACs). The efficacy of UV disinfection was found to be linked to the particle size of the grey water fractions. The larger particle size fractions with a mean particle size of 262 microm and above were observed to shield more coliforms from UV light than did the smaller particles with a mean particle size below 119 microm. Up to 70% of total coliforms in the larger particle size fractions were particle-associated following a UV dose (fluence) of 260 mJ.cm(-2) and would remain undetected by standard coliform enumeration techniques. Implications for urban water reuse are discussed and recommendations made for grey water treatment to ensure removal of particle-associated indicator bacteria and pathogens prior to UV disinfection.

Internet trade and threat of the grey area

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Anna Ćwiąkała-Małys

2012-06-01

Full Text Available In recent years it has been of great interest to tax, fiscal and customs authorities how trade and services provided over the Internet develop. A long time ago it was stated that the intense development of the Internet contributes to the expansion of the grey area. The grey area’s functioning is very unfavourable to the state economy, because although it creates GDP, it does not directly support the state budget. When considering reduced inflows to the state budget and increases in the deficit, it is reasonable to take any and all actions in order to limit the grey area in each field of social and economic life. Thus, the interest of specialized public authorities in this field should not raise any concerns.

Grey matter alterations in patients with Pantothenate Kinase-Associated Neurodegeneration (PKAN).

Science.gov (United States)

Rodriguez-Raecke, Rea; Roa-Sanchez, Pedro; Speckter, Herwin; Fermin-Delgado, Rafael; Perez-Then, Eddy; Oviedo, Jairo; Stoeter, Peter

2014-09-01

Pantothenate Kinase-Associated Neurodegeneration (PKAN) is a rare heritable disease marked by dystonia and loss of movement control. In contrast to the well-known "Eye-of-the-Tiger" sign affecting the globus pallidus, little is known about other deviations of brain morphology, especially about grey matter changes. We investigated 29 patients with PKAN and 29 age-matched healthy controls using Magnet Resonance Imaging and Voxel-Based Morphometry. As compared to controls, children with PKAN showed increased grey matter density in the putamen and nucleus caudatus and adults with PKAN showed increased grey matter density in the ventral part of the anterior cingulate cortex. A multiple regression analysis with dystonia score as predictor showed grey matter reduction in the cerebellum, posterior cingulate cortex, superior parietal lobule, pars triangularis and small frontal and temporal areas and an analysis with age as predictor showed grey matter decreases in the putamen, nucleus caudatus, supplementary motor area and anterior cingulate cortex. The grey matter increases may be regarded as a secondary phenomenon compensating the increased activity of the motor system due to a reduced inhibitory output of the globus pallidus. With increasing age, the grey matter reduction of cortical midline structures however might contribute to the progression of dystonic symptoms due to loss of this compensatory control. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Subcortical grey matter changes in untreated, early stage Parkinson's disease without dementia.

Science.gov (United States)

Lee, Hye Mi; Kwon, Kyum-Yil; Kim, Min-Jik; Jang, Ji-Wan; Suh, Sang-Il; Koh, Seong-Beom; Kim, Ji Hyun

2014-06-01

Previous MRI studies have investigated cortical or subcortical grey matter changes in patients with Parkinson's disease (PD), yielding inconsistent findings between the studies. We therefore sought to determine whether focal cortical or subcortical grey matter changes may be present from the early disease stage. We recruited 49 untreated, early stage PD patients without dementia and 53 control subjects. Voxel-based morphometry was used to evaluate cortical grey matter changes, and automated volumetry and shape analysis were used to assess volume changes and shape deformation of the subcortical grey matter structures, respectively. Voxel-based morphometry showed neither reductions nor increases in grey matter volume in patients compared to controls. Compared to controls, PD patients had significant reductions in adjusted volumes of putamen, nucleus accumbens, and hippocampus (corrected p grey matter and clinical variables representing disease duration and severity. Our results suggest that untreated, early stage PD without dementia is associated with volume reduction and shape deformation of subcortical grey matter, but not with cortical grey matter reduction. Our findings of structural changes in the posterolateral putamen and ventromedial putamen/nucleus accumbens could provide neuroanatomical basis for the involvement of motor and limbic striatum, further implicating motor and non-motor symptoms in PD, respectively. Early hippocampal involvement might be related to the risk for developing dementia in PD patients. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Spontaneous Resolution of Optic Disc Pit Maculopathy

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Koushik Tripathy

2017-06-01

Full Text Available I read with interest the article reporting spontaneous resolution of optic disc pit maculopathy in a boy.1 Though the presence of an optic disc pit and associated macular involvement is undoubted in the presented case, the provided optical coherence tomography (OCT does not clearly show typical intraretinal schisis (Figure 1B1 at multiple retinal levels which may communicate with the pit. Instead, it shows a sub-internal limiting membrane (sub-ILM cavity. Such cavities are known to occur following the resolution of sub-ILM bleed due to various cause including Valsalva retinopathy,2 Terson syndrome, and also in some retinitis3 cases.4 In fact, some of these cavities may simulate a neurosensory retinal detachment or central serous chorioretinopathy on cursory clinical examination.5 To confirm that the features of the current patient1 are indeed related to the optic disc pit, it is necessary for the authors to provide an OCT scan which shows a connection of the presented cavity with the optic disc pit. Also, clear OCT scans of the fovea, both at presentation and at final follow-up would help our understanding of the visual recovery of the patient. The interval between the presenting (28 June 2012 OCT and final OCT (30 Nov 2012 is 5 months and not 6 months as described in the manuscript. For an effective comparison, both the presenting and final OCT scans should have been taken using either horizontal or vertical orientation over the macula. Though the spontaneous resolution of optic disc pit maculopathy is possible, visual recovery in usually unlikely and in such cases an alternate diagnosis needs to be excluded.

Relationship between grey matter integrity and executive abilities in aging.

Science.gov (United States)

Manard, Marine; Bahri, Mohamed Ali; Salmon, Eric; Collette, Fabienne

2016-07-01

This cross-sectional study was designed to investigate grey matter changes that occur in healthy aging and the relationship between grey matter characteristics and executive functioning. Thirty-six young adults (18-30 years old) and 43 seniors (60-75 years old) were included. A general executive score was derived from a large battery of neuropsychological tests assessing three major aspects of executive functioning (inhibition, updating and shifting). Age-related grey matter changes were investigated by comparing young and older adults using voxel-based morphometry and voxel-based cortical thickness methods. A widespread difference in grey matter volume was found across many brain regions, whereas cortical thinning was mainly restricted to central areas. Multivariate analyses showed age-related changes in relatively similar brain regions to the respective univariate analyses but appeared more limited. Finally, in the older adult sample, a significant relationship between global executive performance and decreased grey matter volume in anterior (i.e. frontal, insular and cingulate cortex) but also some posterior brain areas (i.e. temporal and parietal cortices) as well as subcortical structures was observed. Results of this study highlight the distribution of age-related effects on grey matter volume and show that cortical atrophy does not appear primarily in "frontal" brain regions. From a cognitive viewpoint, age-related executive functioning seems to be related to grey matter volume but not to cortical thickness. Therefore, our results also highlight the influence of methodological aspects (from preprocessing to statistical analysis) on the pattern of results, which could explain the lack of consensus in literature. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Frontal and subcortical grey matter reductions in PTSD.

Science.gov (United States)

O'Doherty, Daniel C M; Tickell, Ashleigh; Ryder, Will; Chan, Charles; Hermens, Daniel F; Bennett, Maxwell R; Lagopoulos, Jim

2017-08-30

Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is characterised by a range of debilitating psychological, physical and cognitive symptoms. PTSD has been associated with grey matter atrophy in limbic and frontal cortical brain regions. However, previous studies have reported heterogeneous findings, with grey matter changes observed beyond limbic/frontal areas. Seventy-five adults were recruited from the community, 25 diagnosed with PTSD along with 25 healthy and 25 trauma exposed age and gender matched controls. Participants underwent clinical assessment and magnetic resonance imaging. The data-analyses method Voxel Based Morphometry (VBM) was used to estimate cortical grey matter volumes. When compared to both healthy and trauma exposed controls, PTSD subjects demonstrated decreased grey matter volumes within subcortical brain regions-including the hippocampus and amygdala-along with reductions in the anterior cingulate cortex, frontal medial cortex, middle frontal gyrus, superior frontal gyrus, paracingulate gyrus, and precuneus cortex. Significant negative correlations were found between total CAPS lifetime clinical scores/sub-scores and GM volume of both the PTSD and TC groups. GM volumes of the left rACC and right amygdala showed a significant negative correlation within PTSD diagnosed subjects. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.

Liquid waste processing from TRIGA spent fuel storage pits

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Buchtela, Karl

1988-01-01

At the Atominstitute of the Austrian Universities and also at other facilities running TRIGA reactors, storage pits for spent fuel elements are installed. During the last revision procedure, the reactor group of the Atominstitute decided to refill the storage pits and to get rid of any contaminated storage pit water. The liquid radioactive waste had been pumped to polyethylene vessels for intermediate storage before decontamination and release. The activity concentration of the storage pit water at the Aominstitute after a storage period of several years was about 40 kBq/l, the total amount of liquid in the storage pits was about 0.25 m 3 . It was attempted to find a simple and inexpensive method to remove especially the radioactive Cesium from the waste solution. Different methods for decontamination like distillation, precipitation and ion exchange are discussed

Peering through the Review Process: Towards Transparency in Grey Literature

OpenAIRE

Farace, Dominic

2010-01-01

Now that grey literature is readily catalogued, referenced, cited, and openly accessible to subject based communities as well as net users, the claims that grey literature is unpublished or non-published have sufficiently been put to rest. However, now that grey literature has met these former challenges and entered mainstream publishing, it requires in the spirit of science to have a system in place for the quality control of its content. This new challenge has recently been spurred by the I...

Investigation of Stress Concentration and Casing Strength Degradation Caused by Corrosion Pits

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Wei Yan

2016-01-01

Full Text Available Downhole casing and tubing are subjected to corrosion in many cases because of the exposure to corrosive environment. A more serious problem is that pitting corrosion occurs in the casing inner surface. Meanwhile, downhole strings are subjected to various forms of mechanical loads, for example, internal pressure load, external collapse load, or both. These loads acting on the corrosion pits will cause stress concentration and degrade the casing strength. Thus, it is essential to evaluate the stress concentration degree reasonably. The SCF (stress concentration factor is usually used to characterize the degree of stress concentration induced by corrosion pits. This paper presented a comparison on the SCFs regarding the analytical method for a single pit and experimental method for double pits. The results show that the SCF of a single pit depends mainly on the depth of the corrosion pit; however, the SCF of the double pits strongly depends on the pits distance. A correction factor of 1.3 was recommended in the double pits SCF prediction model.

Effect of titanium on the near eutectic grey iron

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Moumeni, Elham; Tiedje, Niels Skat; Hattel, Jesper Henri

The effect of Titanium on the microstructure of grey iron was investigated experimentally in this work. Tensile test bars of grey cast iron of near eutectic alloys containing 0.01, 0.1, 0.26 and 0.35% Ti, respectively were made in green sand moulds. Chemical analysis, metallographic investigation...

Chlorine disinfection of grey water for reuse: effect of organics and particles.

Science.gov (United States)

Winward, Gideon P; Avery, Lisa M; Stephenson, Tom; Jefferson, Bruce

2008-01-01

Adequate disinfection of grey water prior to reuse is important to prevent the potential transmission of disease-causing microorganisms. Chlorine is a widely utilised disinfectant and as such is a leading contender for disinfection of grey water intended for reuse. This study examined the impact of organics and particles on chlorine disinfection of grey water, measured by total coliform inactivation. The efficacy of disinfection was most closely linked with particle size. Larger particles shielded total coliforms from inactivation and disinfection efficacy decreased with increasing particle size. Blending to extract particle-associated coliforms (PACs) following chlorine disinfection revealed that up to 91% of total coliforms in chlorinated grey water were particle associated. The organic concentration of grey water affected chlorine demand but did not influence the disinfection resistance of total coliforms when a free chlorine residual was maintained. Implications for urban water reuse are discussed and it is recommended that grey water treatment systems target suspended solids removal to ensure removal of PACs prior to disinfection.

Transcriptome analysis of grey mullet (Mugil cephalus) after challenge with Lactococcus garvieae.

Science.gov (United States)

Byadgi, Omkar; Chen, Yao-Chung; Barnes, Andrew C; Tsai, Ming-An; Wang, Pei-Chyi; Chen, Shih-Chu

2016-11-01

Grey mullet (Mugil cephalus) is an economically important fish species in Taiwan mariculture industry. Moreover, grey mullet are common hosts of a bacterial infection by Lactococcus garvieae. However, until now the information related to the immune system of grey mullet is unclear. Therefore, to understand the molecular basis underlying the host immune response to L. garvieae infection, Illumina HiSeq™ 2000 was used to analyse the head kidney and spleen transcriptome of infected grey mullet. De novo assembly of paired-end reads yielded 55,203 unigenes. Comparative analysis of the expression profiles between bacterial challenge fish and control fish identified a total of 7192 from head kidney and 7280 in spleen differentially expressed genes (P grey mullet to Lactococcus garvieae, carrying out detailed functional analysis of these genes and developing strategies for efficient immune protection against infections in grey mullet. Crown Copyright © 2016. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Speed, Acceleration, Chameleons and Cherry Pit Projectiles

Science.gov (United States)

Planinsic, Gorazd; Likar, Andrej

2012-01-01

The paper describes the mechanics of cherry pit projectiles and ends with showing the similarity between cherry pit launching and chameleon tongue projecting mechanisms. The whole story is written as an investigation, following steps that resemble those typically taken by scientists and can therefore serve as an illustration of scientific…

Status of the pit disassembly and conversion facility

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Wood, Warren T.; Christensen, Lowell T.

2000-01-01

A planned new facility, the Pit Disassembly and Conversion Facility (PDCF), will be used to disassemble the nation's inventory of surplus nuclear weapons pits and convert the plutonium from those pits into a form suitable for storage, international inspection, and final disposition. Sized to handle 35 metric tons of plutonium from pits and other sources over its 10-year operating life, the PDCF will apply the Advanced Recovery and Integrated Extraction System (ARIES) technology. ARIES process technology has been developed at Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL) and Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL), and an integrated system is being demonstrated at LANL. The Los Alamos National Laboratory is the lead for technical design oversight of the PDCF. Technical data gained from the ARIES demonstrations is integral for the proper design of the PDCF

The role of inclusions in the pitting behaviour of maraging steel

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ahmad, M.S.; Hussain, S.W.; Ashraf, H.

1999-01-01

The pitting characteristics of maraging steel in artificial seawater have been investigated electrochemically using the cyclic polarization technique. Pits were found to be associated with the inclusions present in steel. The hysteresis loop observed indicates that maraging steel has poor resistance to pitting in air saturated seawater. On examination of corroded surfaces under SEM, it is noted that the pits are always associated with inclusions, which are generally the carbonitrides of TiMo presents in maraging steel in varying quantities depending on the melting practice. In order to confirm that the pitting behavior is associated with inclusions, samples from clean maraging steel, having very low inclusion level, were tested. Such samples showed much less tendency for pitting. (author)

Force-displacement measurements of earlywood bordered pits using a mesomechanical tester

Science.gov (United States)

Samuel L. Zelinka; Keith J. Bourne; John C. Hermanson; Samuel V. Glass; Adriana Costa; Alex C. Wiedenhoeft

2015-01-01

The elastic properties of pit membranes are reported to have important implications in understanding air-seeding phenomena in gymnosperms, and pit aspiration plays a large role in wood technological applications such as wood drying and preservative treatment. Here we present force–displacement measurements for pit membranes of circular bordered pits, collected on a...

Grey literature in library and information studies

CERN Document Server

Schopfel, Joachim

2010-01-01

The further rise of electronic publishing has come to change the scale and diversity of grey literature facing librarians and other information practitioners. This compiled work brings together research and authorship over the past decade dealing with both the supply and demand sides of grey literature. While this book is written with students and instructors of Colleges and Schools of Library and Information Science in mind, it likewise serves as a reader for information professionals working in any and all like knowledge-based communities

Investigating oiled birds from oil field waste pits

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Gregory, D.G.; Edwards, W.C.

1991-01-01

Procedures and results of investigations concerning the oiling of inland raptors, migratory water-fowl and other birds are presented. Freon washings from the oiled birds and oil from the pits were analyzed by gas chromatography. In most instances the source of the oil could be established by chromatographic procedures. The numbers of birds involved (including many on the endangered species list) suggested the need for netting or closing oil field waste pits and mud disposal pits. Maintaining a proper chain of custody was important

Atmospheric Pressure Plasma Treatment for Grey Cotton Knitted Fabric

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Chi-wai Kan

2018-01-01

Full Text Available 100% grey cotton knitted fabric contains impurities and yellowness and needs to be prepared for processing to make it suitable for coloration and finishing. Therefore, conventionally 100% grey cotton knitted fabric undergoes a process of scouring and bleaching, which involves the use of large amounts of water and chemicals, in order to remove impurities and yellowness. Due to increased environmental awareness, pursuing a reduction of water and chemicals is a current trend in textile processing. In this study, we explore the possibility of using atmospheric pressure plasma as a dry process to treat 100% grey cotton knitted fabric (single jersey and interlock before processing. Experimental results reveal that atmospheric pressure plasma treatment can effectively remove impurities from 100% grey cotton knitted fabrics and significantly improve its water absorption property. On the other hand, if 100% grey cotton knitted fabrics are pretreated with plasma and then undergo a normal scouring process, the treatment time is reduced. In addition, the surface morphological and chemical changes in plasma-treated fabrics were studied and compared with the conventionally treated fabrics using scanning electron microscope (SEM, Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy-attenuated total reflection (FTIR-ATR and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS. The decrease in carbon content, as shown in XPS, reveal the removal of surface impurities. The oxygen-to-carbon (O/C ratios of the plasma treated knitted fabrics reveal enhanced hydrophilicity.

Grey Literature Between Tradition and Innovation: Is There a Continuum?

OpenAIRE

Pardelli, Gabriella; Goggi, Sara; Sassi, Manuela

2012-01-01

This study wants to explore ways of social media communication for Grey Literature. In particular it describes the role of social media in relation with traditional channels and how social media applications can be used for Grey.

Some questions on small uranium open-pit mines

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Li Junyi

1992-01-01

The experiences of the existing uranium open pits are summarized and the questions in design, erection and production are analyzed. It is important helpful to develop and to design such economical and reasonable small uranium open pits

Assessment of global grey water footprint of major food crops

Science.gov (United States)

Yang, Hong; Liu, Wenfeng; Antonelli, Marta

2016-04-01

Agricultural production is one of the major sources of water pollution in the world. This is closely related to the excess application of fertilizers. Leaching of N and P to water bodies has caused serious degradation of water quality in many places. With the persistent increase in the demand for agricultural products, agricultural intensification evident during the past decades will continue in the future. This will lead to further increase in fertilizer application and consequently water pollution. Grey water footprint is a measure of the intensity of water pollution caused by water use for human activities. It is defined as the volume of water that is required to assimilate a load of pollutants to a freshwater body, based on natural background concentrations and water quality standards. This study conducts a global assessment of grey water footprint for major cereal crops, wheat, maize and rice. A crop model, Python-based EPIC (PEPIT), is applied to quantify the leaching of N and P from the fertilizer application in the three crops on a global scale with 0.5 degree spatial resolution. The hotspots of leaching are identified. The results suggest that, based on the definition and method of grey water footprint proposed by the World Water Footprint Network, the grey water footprint in many parts of the world has exceeded their total water resources availability. This indicates the seriousness of water pollution caused by agricultural production. However, the situation may also call for the development of a realistic measurement of grey water footprint which is more pertinent to water resources management. This paper proposes some alternatives in measuring grey water footprint and also discusses incorporation of grey water footprint assessment into water policy formulation and river basins plan development.

WorldWideScience.org: Bringing Light to Grey

OpenAIRE

Hitson, Brian A. (OSTI-DOE); Johnson, Lorrie A. (OSTI-DOE); GreyNet, Grey Literature Network Service

2008-01-01

WorldWideScience.org and its governance structure, the WorldWideScience Alliance, are putting a brighter spotlight on grey literature. Through this new tool, grey literature is getting broader exposure to audiences all over the world. Improved access to and sharing of research information is the key to accelerating progress and breakthroughs in any field, especially science. Includes: Conference preprint, Powerpoint presentation, Abstract and Biographical notes, Pratt student commentary ...

Water and chemical budgets of gravel pit lakes : Case studies of fluvial gravel pit lakes along the Meuse River (The Netherlands) and coastal gravel pit lakes along the Adriatic Sea (Ravenna, Italy)

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Mollema, P.N.

2016-01-01

Gravel pit lakes form when gravel is excavated from below the water table of a phreatic or shallow confined aquifer. Typically many of these lakes are concentrated along naturally occurring sedimentary gravel deposits in areas where gravel is needed for construction. Most gravel pit lakes are

A prediction method based on grey system theory in equipment condition based maintenance

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Yan, Shengyuan; Yan, Shengyuan; Zhang, Hongguo; Zhang, Zhijian; Peng, Minjun; Yang, Ming

2007-01-01

Grey prediction is a modeling method based on historical or present, known or indefinite information, which can be used for forecasting the development of the eigenvalues of the targeted equipment system and setting up the model by using less information. In this paper, the postulate of grey system theory, which includes the grey generating, the sorts of grey generating and the grey forecasting model, is introduced first. The concrete application process, which includes the grey prediction modeling, grey prediction, error calculation, equal dimension and new information approach, is introduced secondly. Application of a so-called 'Equal Dimension and New Information' (EDNI) technology in grey system theory is adopted in an application case, aiming at improving the accuracy of prediction without increasing the amount of calculation by replacing old data with new ones. The proposed method can provide a new way for solving the problem of eigenvalue data exploding in equal distance effectively, short time interval and real time prediction. The proposed method, which was based on historical or present, known or indefinite information, was verified by the vibration prediction of induced draft fan of a boiler of the Yantai Power Station in China, and the results show that the proposed method based on grey system theory is simple and provides a high accuracy in prediction. So, it is very useful and significant to the controlling and controllable management in safety production. (authors)

The geographical distribution of grey wolves (Canis lupus) in China: a systematic review.

Science.gov (United States)

Wang, Lu; Ma, Ya-Ping; Zhou, Qi-Jun; Zhang, Ya-Ping; Savolaimen, Peter; Wang, Guo-Dong

2016-11-18

The grey wolf ( Canis lupus ) is one of the most widely distributed terrestrial mammals, and its distribution and ecology in Europe and North America are largely well described. However, the distribution of grey wolf in southern China is still highly controversial. Several well-known western literatures stated that there are no grey wolves in southern China, while the presence of grey wolf across China has been indicated in A Guide to the Mammals of China , published by Princeton University Press. It is essential to solve this discrepancy since dogs may have originated from grey wolfs in southern China. Therefore, we systematically investigated Chinese literatures about wild animal surveys and identified more than 100 articles and books that included information of the distribution of grey wolves in China. We also surveyed the collections of three Chinese natural museums and found 26 grey wolf skins specimens collected across China. Moreover, we investigated the fossil records of wolf in China and identified 25 archaeological sites with wolf remains including south China. In conclusion, with the comprehensive summary of Chinese literatures, museum specimens and fossil records, we demonstrate that grey wolves does distribute across all parts of the Chinese mainland, including the most southern parts of China.

Stochastic models for predicting pitting corrosion damage of HLRW containers

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Henshall, G.A.

1991-10-01

Stochastic models for predicting aqueous pitting corrosion damage of high-level radioactive-waste containers are described. These models could be used to predict the time required for the first pit to penetrate a container and the increase in the number of breaches at later times, both of which would be useful in the repository system performance analysis. Monte Carlo implementations of the stochastic models are described, and predictions of induction time, survival probability and pit depth distributions are presented. These results suggest that the pit nucleation probability decreases with exposure time and that pit growth may be a stochastic process. The advantages and disadvantages of the stochastic approach, methods for modeling the effects of environment, and plans for future work are discussed

A Bayesian approach to modeling and predicting pitting flaws in steam generator tubes

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Yuan, X.-X.; Mao, D.; Pandey, M.D.

2009-01-01

Steam generators in nuclear power plants have experienced varying degrees of under-deposit pitting corrosion. A probabilistic model to accurately predict pitting damage is necessary for effective life-cycle management of steam generators. This paper presents an advanced probabilistic model of pitting corrosion characterizing the inherent randomness of the pitting process and measurement uncertainties of the in-service inspection (ISI) data obtained from eddy current (EC) inspections. A Markov chain Monte Carlo simulation-based Bayesian method, enhanced by a data augmentation technique, is developed for estimating the model parameters. The proposed model is able to predict the actual pit number, the actual pit depth as well as the maximum pit depth, which is the main interest of the pitting corrosion model. The study also reveals the significance of inspection uncertainties in the modeling of pitting flaws using the ISI data: Without considering the probability-of-detection issues and measurement errors, the leakage risk resulted from the pitting corrosion would be under-estimated, despite the fact that the actual pit depth would usually be over-estimated.

Grey('s) Identity: Complications of Learning and Becoming in a Popular Television Show

Science.gov (United States)

Jubas, Kaela

2013-01-01

In this article, the author outlines an analysis of the American show "Grey's Anatomy" as an example of how popular culture represents identity and the process of professional identity construction in a medical workplace, particularly the surgical service of a large urban hospital. In discussing identity, she connects professional identity to…

Tale of two pit lakes: initial results of a three-year study of the Main Zone and Waterline pit lakes near Houston, British Columbia, Canada

Science.gov (United States)

Crusius, John; Pieters, R.; Leung, A.; Whittle, P.; Pedersen, T.; Lawrence, G.; McNee, J.J.

2003-01-01

Pit lakes are becoming increasingly common in North America as well as in the rest of the world. They are created as openpit mines fill passively with ground water and surface inflows on cessation of mining activity. In many instances, the water quality in these pit lakes does not meet regulatory requirements due to a number of influences. The most important are the oxidation of sulfide minerals and the associated release of acid and metals and the flushing of soluble metals during pit filling. Examples of pit lakes with severe water-quality problems include the Berkeley Pit lake (Butte, MT) and the Liberty Pit lake (Nevada), whose waters are characterized by a pH near 3 and Cu concentrations as high as ~150 mg/L (Miller et al., 1996; Davis and Eary, 1997). The importance of the problem can be seen in the fact that some of these sites in the United States are Superfund sites.

Tularemia without lesions in grey tree squirrels: A diagnostic challenge

Science.gov (United States)

Fifteen cases of Francisella tularenesis infection (tularemia) were identified in western grey (Sciurus griseus) and eastern grey (Sciurus carolinesis) squirrels submitted to the Washington Animal Disease Diagnostic Laboratory between 2008 and 2011. All of the squirrels originated in Washington stat...

Analysis of grey-water used for irrigating vegetables and possible ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

Analysis of grey-water used for irrigating vegetables and possible effects on soils in the ... The concentrations of nutrients and heavy metals found in the grey-water ... in order to lower the salt content and to improve the irrigation water quality.

Fish assemblages in borrow-pit lakes of the Lower Mississippi River

Science.gov (United States)

Miranda, Leandro E.; Killgore, K. J.; Hoover, J.J.

2013-01-01

Borrow-pit lakes encompass about a third of the lentic water habitats (by area) in the active floodplain of the Lower Mississippi River, yet little is known about their fish assemblages. We investigated whether fish assemblages supported by borrow-pit lakes resembled those in oxbow lakes to help place the ecological relevance of borrow-pit lakes in context with that of natural floodplain lakes. In all, we collected 75 fish species, including 65 species in eight borrow-pit lakes, 52 species in four riverside oxbow lakes, and 44 species in eight landside oxbow lakes. Significant differences in several species richness metrics were evident between borrow-pit lakes and landside oxbow lakes but not between borrow-pit lakes and riverside oxbow lakes. All three lake types differed in fish assemblage composition. Borrow-pit lakes and riverside oxbow lakes tended to include a greater representation of fish species that require access to diverse environments, including lentic, lotic, and palustrine habitats; fish assemblages in landside oxbow lakes included a higher representation of lacustrine species. None of the fish species collected in borrow-pit lakes was federally listed as threatened or endangered, but several were listed as species of special concern by state governments in the region, suggesting that borrow-pit lakes provide habitat for sensitive riverine and wetland fish species. Differences in fish assemblages among borrow-pit lakes were linked to engineered morphologic features, suggesting that diversity in engineering can contribute to diversity in fish assemblages; however, more research is needed to match engineering designs with fish assemblage structures that best meet conservation needs.

Modeling sludge accumulation rates in lined pit latrines in slum ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

Yvonne

should include geo-physical characterization of soil and drainage of pit latrine sites so as ... Key words: Faecal, sludge accumulation rates, slum areas, lined pit latrines. .... Value and its unit Source .... overall quality of the models had to be assessed by validation on ..... Sanitation partnership series: Bringing pit emptying out.

Converter of a continuous code into the Grey code

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Gonchar, A.I.; TrUbnikov, V.R.

1979-01-01

Described is a converter of a continuous code into the Grey code used in a 12-charged precision amplitude-to-digital converter to decrease the digital component of spectrometer differential nonlinearity to +0.7% in the 98% range of the measured band. To construct the converter of a continuous code corresponding to the input signal amplitude into the Grey code used is the regularity in recycling of units and zeroes in each discharge of the Grey code in the case of a continuous change of the number of pulses of a continuous code. The converter is constructed on the elements of 155 series, the frequency of continuous code pulse passing at the converter input is 25 MHz

Rethinking the Role of Grey Literature in the Fourth Industrial Revolution

OpenAIRE

Savić, Dobrica

2017-01-01

This paper examines the potential impact of the emerging Fourth Industrial Revolution on grey literature and the challenges it will bring to the information management profession. Based on analysis of the most prevalent current trends and developments, it appears we will need to rethink the defi nition of grey literature, its creation and types, processing, storage, sustainability and usability. Information professionals, including the grey literature ones, will require training and new knowl...

Effect of microcrystallization on pitting corrosion of pure aluminium

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Meng Guozhe; Wei Liyan; Zhang Tao; Shao Yawei; Wang Fuhui; Dong Chaofang; Li Xiaogang

2009-01-01

A microcrystalline aluminium film with grain size of about 400 nm was prepared by magnetron sputtering technique. Its corrosion behaviour was investigated in NaCl containing acidic solution by means of potentiodynamic polarization curves and electrochemical noise (EN). The polarization results indicated that the corrosion potential of the sample shifted towards more positive direction, while its corrosion current density decreased compared with that of pure coarse-grain Al. The EN analysis based on stochastic model demonstrated that there existed two kinds of effect of microcrystallization on the pitting behaviour of pure aluminium: (1) the rate of pit initiation is accelerated, (2) the pit growth process was impeded. This leads to the enhancement of pitting resistance for the microcrystallized aluminium.

Pitting and stress corrosion cracking of stainless steel

Science.gov (United States)

Saithala, Janardhan R.

An investigation has been performed to determine the pitting resistance of stainless steels and stress corrosion cracking of super duplex stainless steels in water containing chloride ions from 25 - 170°C. The steels studied are 12% Cr, FV520B, FV566, 304L, Uranus65, 2205, Ferallium Alloy 255, and Zeron 100. All these commercial materials used in very significant industrial applications and suffer from pitting and stress corrosion failures. The design of a new experimental setup using an autoclave enabled potentiodynamic polarisation experiments and slow strain rate tests in dilute environments to be conducted at elevated temperatures. The corrosion potentials were controlled using a three electrode cell with computer controlled potentiostat.The experimental programme to determine pitting potentials was designed to simulate the service conditions experienced in most industrial plants and develop mathematical model equations to help a design engineer in material selection decision. Stress corrosion resistance of recently developed Zeron100 was evaluated in dilute environments to propose a mechanism in chloride solutions at high' temperatures useful for the nuclear and power generation industry. Results have shown the significance of the composition of alloying elements across a wide range of stainless steels and its influence on pitting. Nitrogen and molybdenum added to modern duplex stainless steels was found to be unstable at higher temperatures. The fractographic results obtained using the scanning electron microscope (SEM) has given insight in the initiation of pitting in modem duplex and super duplex stainless steels. A mathematical model has been proposed to predict pitting in stainless steels based on the effect of environmental factors (temperature, chloride concentration, and chemical composition). An attempt has been made to identify the mechanism of SCC in Zeron100 super duplex stainless steel.The proposed empirical models have shown good correlation

78 FR 17183 - Information Collection: Grey Towers Visitor Comment Card

Science.gov (United States)

2013-03-20

... DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE Forest Service Information Collection: Grey Towers Visitor Comment Card... request: (1) An extension from the Office of Management and Budget; and (2) to merge the currently approved information collection 0596- 0222, ``Grey Towers Visitor Comment Card'' with 0596-0226, ``Forest...

Laboratory protocols for testing the efficacy of commercial pit latrine ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

There is considerable national interest in the use of commercial microbially derived products for controlling the rate of accumulation of the contents of pit latrines. Manufacturers claim that some of these products can reduce accumulation rates, prevent the pit from ever filling up, or even result in decreases in pit contents ...

105-KW Sandfilter Backwash Pit sludge volume calculation

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Dodd, E.N. Jr.

1995-01-01

The volume of sludge contained in the 100-KW Sandfilter Backwash Pit (SFBWP) was calculated from depth measurements of the sludge, pit dimension measurements and analysis of video tape recordings taken by an underwater camera. The term sludge as used in this report is any combination of sand, sediment, or corrosion products visible in the SFBWP area. This work was performed to determine baseline volume for use in determination of quantities of uranium and plutonium deposited in the pit from sandfilter backwashes. The SFBWP has three areas where sludge is deposited: (1) the main pit floor, (2) the transfer channel floor, and (3) the surfaces and structures in the SFBWP. The depths of sludge and the uniformity of deposition varies significantly between these three areas. As a result, each of the areas was evaluated separately. The total volume of sludge determined was 3.75 M 3 (132.2 ft 3 )

Management of Pit 9 - highlights of accomplishments and lessons learned to date

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Schwartz, F.G.

1995-01-01

The Pit 9 project is a U.S. Department of Energy prototype full scale demonstration to retrieve and treat buried mixed transuranic waste. The project is being managed by the DOE-Idaho Environmental Restoration Program, in conjunction with the Environmental Protection Agency Region 10 and the state of Idaho, under the Idaho National Engineering Laboratory Federal Facility Agreement and Consent Order. Pit 9 is located in the northeast corner of the Subsurface Disposal Area (SDA) of the Radioactive Waste Management Complex (RWMC) at the Idaho National Engineering Laboratory (INEL). The Pit 9 project was conceived out of the need to determine capabilities to cost effectively retrieve and treat buried radioactive and radioactive mixed waste, and obtain characterization and contaminant migration data for buried waste at the INEL. Waste was disposed in Pit 9 from November 1967 to June 1969. Pit 9, at about 380 feet by 125 feet, represents approximately one acre of surface area of the 88 acre SDA. The pit contains approximately 350,000 ft 3 of soil beneath and between the buried waste and about 250,000 ft 3 of overburden soil. The average depth of the pit from soil surface to bedrock is approximately 17.5 feet. Approximately 110,000 ft 3 of transuranic (TRU) contaminated mixed wastes from Rocky Flats and approximately 40,000 ft 3 of low level and mixed wastes from the INEL were buried in Pit 9 during this period. Pit 9 is estimated to contain over 30,000 gallons of organics (over 30% of the total organic inventory in the SDA) and approximately 66 pounds of TRU radionuclides (between 3% and 4% of the total TRU inventory in the SDA). Pit 9 was selected as a demonstration site because it was one of the last disposal pits at the INEL to receive Rocky Flats waste, disposal records are better for Pit 9 than for disposal pits and trenches from earlier points in time, and the wastes in Pit 9 are representative of the wastes disposed in the SDA

Pit above the lesser tuberosity in axial view radiography.

Science.gov (United States)

Cho, Jae-Ho; Han, Kyeong-Jin; Lee, Doo-Hyung; Chung, Nam-Su; Park, Do Young

2015-02-01

This study examined the relationship between the presence of a pit above the lesser tuberosity on axial view radiographs and rotator cuff tears and compared the demographic data between groups according to the presence of a pit above the lesser tuberosity. The hypothesis of this study was that the radiographic finding of a pit above the lesser tuberosity is related to rotator cuff tears. For 112 patients with a symptomatic rotator cuff tear, plain radiographs of the symptomatic shoulder (tear side radiographs) and plain radiographs of the asymptomatic contralateral shoulder (no-tear side radiographs) were assessed. Seventeen radiological findings, including a pit above the lesser tuberosity, osteophytes, subchondral cysts, and sclerosis, were recorded by one blinded observer. Demographic data such as age, duration of symptoms, sex, arm dominance, smoking history, trauma history, American Shoulder and Elbow Surgeons score, Constant score, and involved tendon were collected. A pit above the lesser tuberosity was noted on tear side radiographs of 40 patients (35.7 %) and on the no-tear side radiographs of 27 patients (24.1 %), representing a significant difference (P = 0.040). A pit associated with a rotator cuff tear was observed more often in the dominant arm (P = 0.040) and more often in patients with less previous trauma (P = 0.024). A pit above the lesser tuberosity on axial view radiography was associated with a rotator cuff tear and occurred more often in the dominant arm of patients who had no trauma history. Prognostic study, Level III.

Environmental vulnerability assessment using Grey Analytic Hierarchy Process based model

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Sahoo, Satiprasad; Dhar, Anirban; Kar, Amlanjyoti

2016-01-01

Environmental management of an area describes a policy for its systematic and sustainable environmental protection. In the present study, regional environmental vulnerability assessment in Hirakud command area of Odisha, India is envisaged based on Grey Analytic Hierarchy Process method (Grey–AHP) using integrated remote sensing (RS) and geographic information system (GIS) techniques. Grey–AHP combines the advantages of classical analytic hierarchy process (AHP) and grey clustering method for accurate estimation of weight coefficients. It is a new method for environmental vulnerability assessment. Environmental vulnerability index (EVI) uses natural, environmental and human impact related factors, e.g., soil, geology, elevation, slope, rainfall, temperature, wind speed, normalized difference vegetation index, drainage density, crop intensity, agricultural DRASTIC value, population density and road density. EVI map has been classified into four environmental vulnerability zones (EVZs) namely: ‘low’, ‘moderate’ ‘high’, and ‘extreme’ encompassing 17.87%, 44.44%, 27.81% and 9.88% of the study area, respectively. EVI map indicates that the northern part of the study area is more vulnerable from an environmental point of view. EVI map shows close correlation with elevation. Effectiveness of the zone classification is evaluated by using grey clustering method. General effectiveness is in between “better” and “common classes”. This analysis demonstrates the potential applicability of the methodology. - Highlights: • Environmental vulnerability zone identification based on Grey Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP) • The effectiveness evaluation by means of a grey clustering method with support from AHP • Use of grey approach eliminates the excessive dependency on the experience of experts.

Environmental vulnerability assessment using Grey Analytic Hierarchy Process based model

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Sahoo, Satiprasad [School of Water Resources, Indian Institute of Technology Kharagpur (India); Dhar, Anirban, E-mail: anirban.dhar@gmail.com [Department of Civil Engineering, Indian Institute of Technology Kharagpur (India); Kar, Amlanjyoti [Central Ground Water Board, Bhujal Bhawan, Faridabad, Haryana (India)

2016-01-15

Environmental management of an area describes a policy for its systematic and sustainable environmental protection. In the present study, regional environmental vulnerability assessment in Hirakud command area of Odisha, India is envisaged based on Grey Analytic Hierarchy Process method (Grey–AHP) using integrated remote sensing (RS) and geographic information system (GIS) techniques. Grey–AHP combines the advantages of classical analytic hierarchy process (AHP) and grey clustering method for accurate estimation of weight coefficients. It is a new method for environmental vulnerability assessment. Environmental vulnerability index (EVI) uses natural, environmental and human impact related factors, e.g., soil, geology, elevation, slope, rainfall, temperature, wind speed, normalized difference vegetation index, drainage density, crop intensity, agricultural DRASTIC value, population density and road density. EVI map has been classified into four environmental vulnerability zones (EVZs) namely: ‘low’, ‘moderate’ ‘high’, and ‘extreme’ encompassing 17.87%, 44.44%, 27.81% and 9.88% of the study area, respectively. EVI map indicates that the northern part of the study area is more vulnerable from an environmental point of view. EVI map shows close correlation with elevation. Effectiveness of the zone classification is evaluated by using grey clustering method. General effectiveness is in between “better” and “common classes”. This analysis demonstrates the potential applicability of the methodology. - Highlights: • Environmental vulnerability zone identification based on Grey Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP) • The effectiveness evaluation by means of a grey clustering method with support from AHP • Use of grey approach eliminates the excessive dependency on the experience of experts.

State-of-the-evidence reviews: advantages and challenges of including grey literature.

Science.gov (United States)

Benzies, Karen M; Premji, Shahirose; Hayden, K Alix; Serrett, Karen

2006-01-01

Increasingly, health policy decision-makers and professionals are turning to research-based evidence to support decisions about policy and practice. Systematic reviews are useful for gathering, summarizing, and synthesizing published and unpublished research about clearly defined interventions. State-of-the-evidence reviews are broader than traditional systematic reviews and may include not only published and unpublished research, but also published and unpublished non-research literature. Decisions about whether to include this "grey literature" in a review are challenging and lead to many questions about whether the advantages outweigh the challenges. The primary purpose of this article is to describe what constitutes grey literature, and methods to locate it and assess its quality. The secondary purpose is to discuss the core issues to consider when making decisions to include grey literature in a state-of-the-evidence review. A recent state-of-the-evidence review is used as an exemplar to present advantages and challenges related to including grey literature in a review. Despite the challenges, in the exemplar, inclusion of grey literature was useful to validate the results of a research-based literature search. Decisions about whether to include grey literature in a state-of-the-evidence review are complex. A checklist to assist in decision-making was created as a tool to assist the researcher in determining whether it is advantageous to include grey literature in a review.

The phylogenetic significance of vestured pits in Boraginaceae

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Rabaey, D.; Lens, F.; Smets, E.; Jansen, S.

2010-01-01

The bordered pit structure in tracheary elements of 105 Boraginaceae species is studied using scanning electron microscopy to examine the systematic distribution of vestured pits. Forty-three species out of 16 genera show a uniform presence of this feature throughout their secondary xylem. Most

Structural evaluation of W-211 flexible receiver platforms and tank pit walls

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Shrivastava, H.P.

1997-01-01

This document is a structural analysis of the Flexible Receiver Platforms and the tank-pit wall during removal of equipment and during a accidental drop of that equipment. The platform and the pit walls must withstand a accidental drop of a mixer and transfer pumps in specific pits in tanks 102-AP and 104-AP. A mixer pump will be removed from riser 11 in pit 2A on tank 241-AP-102. A transfer pump will be removed from riser 13 in pit 2D on tank 241-AP-102 and another transfer pump will be removed from riser 3A in pit 4A on tank 241-AP-104

Early grey matter changes in structural covariance networks in Huntington's disease.

Science.gov (United States)

Coppen, Emma M; van der Grond, Jeroen; Hafkemeijer, Anne; Rombouts, Serge A R B; Roos, Raymund A C

2016-01-01

Progressive subcortical changes are known to occur in Huntington's disease (HD), a hereditary neurodegenerative disorder. Less is known about the occurrence and cohesion of whole brain grey matter changes in HD. We aimed to detect network integrity changes in grey matter structural covariance networks and examined relationships with clinical assessments. Structural magnetic resonance imaging data of premanifest HD ( n  = 30), HD patients (n = 30) and controls (n = 30) was used to identify ten structural covariance networks based on a novel technique using the co-variation of grey matter with independent component analysis in FSL. Group differences were studied controlling for age and gender. To explore whether our approach is effective in examining grey matter changes, regional voxel-based analysis was additionally performed. Premanifest HD and HD patients showed decreased network integrity in two networks compared to controls. One network included the caudate nucleus, precuneous and anterior cingulate cortex (in HD p  covariance might be a sensitive approach to reveal early grey matter changes, especially for premanifest HD.

ON THE PROPAGATION OF OPEN AND COVERED PIT IN 316L STAINLESS STEEL

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Heurtault, Stéphane; Robin, Raphaël; Rouillard, Fabien; Vivier, Vincent

2016-01-01

Highlights: • The propagation of a single pit was investigated with a flow micro-device. • Both in depth and radial pit propagation were characterized. • The formation of a salt film in the pit was discussed. - Abstract: Pitting corrosion on stainless steel has been widely studied during the last decades, but since it is a stochastic process, it remains difficult to analyze experimentally such a phenomenon. In this work, reproducible single pits were performed on 316L steel by using an experimental setup based on the use of a glass microcapillary to locally supply chloride ions on the steel surface in order to characterize the pit propagation. This original approach allowed obtaining new results about pit propagation. Indeed, it was possible to control the presence of a metallic cap covering the pit by adjusting the experimental parameters (potential – chloride to sulfate ratio – temperature). The presence of this cover was shown to be an important issue concerning the propagation mechanism. It was also possible to study the evolution of both the pit depth and the pit diameter as a function of various parameters. Then, based on the simulation of the current densities at the pit bottom and at the pit aperture, a special attention has been paid for the investigation of the local propagation mechanism.

Black and grey neutron detectors

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Gabbard, F.

1977-01-01

Recent progress in the development and use of ''black'' and ''grey'' detectors is reviewed. Such detectors are widely used for counting neutrons in (p,n) and (α,n) experiments and in neutron cross section measurements. Accuracy of each detector is stressed. 19 figures

Studies in pitting corrosion on archaeological bronzes. Copper

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Bresle, Aa.; Saers, J.; Arrhenius, B.

1983-01-01

Copper has been proposed as a canister material for use in the long-term storage of radioactive waste from nuclear power reactors. The storage period has been set to at least 100 000 years, during which time the copper cylinders must remain intact so that the contained waste has no possibility of leaking out. In this work, the pitting factor in archaelogical copper objects have been determined. The absolute values of the pitting factor obtained are generally very low. In the case of the most thoroughly studied material the pitting factor is only slightly more than three units. Nor does the native copper, with a presumed burial period of about 8000 years, exhibit particularly high values. In summary, it can therefore be concluded that the present study does not provide support for the assumption of extremely high pitting factors in copper-base material that has been buried for periods of several millenia. (G.B.)

PITTING CORROSION OF STAINLESS STEEL AT THE VARIOUS SURFACE TREATMENT

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Viera Zatkalíková

2011-09-01

Full Text Available The stainless steel surface treatment is very important with regard to its pitting corrosion susceptibility. An effect of various types surfacing on pitting corrosion resistance of AISI 304stainless steel is investigated in this work. The samples of the tested material are turned, blasted, peened, grinded and a half of them are pickled to achieve higher purity of surfaces and better quality of passive film. Eight types of different finished surfaces are tested by electrochemical and immersion tests to determine corrosion behaviour in conditions where pitting is evoked by controlled potential and second by solution with high redox potential. By this way the effect of mechanical and chemical surface treatment on the resistance to pitting corrosion, character, size and shape of pits are compared in the conditions of different mechanisms of corrosion process.

Yellowing and bleaching of grey hair caused by photo and thermal degradation.

Science.gov (United States)

Richena, M; Silveira, M; Rezende, C A; Joekes, I

2014-09-05

Yellowing is an undesirable phenomenon that is common in people with white and grey hair. Because white hair has no melanin, the pigment responsible for hair colour, the effects of photodegradation are more visible in this type of hair. The origin of yellowing and its relation to photodegradation processes are not properly established, and many questions remain open in this field. In this work, the photodegradation of grey hair was investigated as a function of the wavelength of incident radiation, and its ultrastructure was determined, always comparing the results obtained for the white and black fibres present in grey hair with the results of white wool. The results presented herein indicate that the photobehaviour of grey hair irradiated with a mercury lamp or with solar radiation is dependent on the wavelength range of the incident radiation and on the initial shade of yellow in the sample. Two types of grey hair were used: (1) blended grey hair (more yellow) and (2) grey hair from a single-donor (less yellow). After exposure to a full-spectrum mercury lamp for 200 h, the blended white hair turned less yellow (the yellow-blue difference, Db(*) becomes negative, Db(*)=-6), whereas the white hair from the single-donor turned slightly yellower (Db(*)=2). In contrast, VIS+IR irradiation resulted in bleaching in both types of hair, whereas a thermal treatment (at 81 °C) caused yellowing of both types of hair, resulting in a Db(*)=3 for blended white hair and Db(*)=9 for single-donor hair. The identity of the yellow chromophores was investigated by UV-Vis spectroscopy. The results obtained with this technique were contradictory, however, and it was not possible to obtain a simple correlation between the sample shade of yellow and the absorption spectra. In addition, the results are discussed in terms of the morphology differences between the pigmented and non-pigmented parts of grey hair, the yellowing and bleaching effects of grey hair, and the occurrence of dark

Congenital pits of the optic nerve head and retinochoroidal colobomas.

Science.gov (United States)

Brown, G C; Augsburger, J J

1980-07-01

A 45-year-old man presented with bilateral retinochoroidal colobomas associated with an inferonasal congenital pit of the optic nerve head in each eye. Different theories on the origin of such pits are discussed. This case supports the theory that some congenital optic pits occur as a result of failure of closure of the superior end of the embryonic fissure.

Effects of selected water chemistry variables on copper pitting propagation in potable water

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ha Hung; Taxen, Claes; Williams, Keith; Scully, John

2011-01-01

Highlights: → The effects of water composition on pit propagation kinetics on Cu were separated from pit initiation and stabilization using the artificial pit method in a range of dilute HCO 3 - , SO 4 2- and Cl - -containing waters. → The effective polarization and Ohmic resistance of pits were lower in SO4 2- -containing solutions and greater in Cl - -containing solutions. → Relationship between the solution composition and the corrosion product identity and morphology were found. → These, in turn controlled the corrosion product Ohmic resistance and subsequently the pit growth rate. - Abstract: The pit propagation behavior of copper (UNS C11000) was investigated from an electrochemical perspective using the artificial pit method. Pit growth was studied systematically in a range of HCO 3 - , SO 4 2- and Cl - containing-waters at various concentrations. Pit propagation was mediated by the nature of the corrosion products formed both inside and over the pit mouth (i.e., cap). Certain water chemistry concentrations such as those high in sulfate were found to promote fast pitting that could be sustained over long times at a fixed applied potential but gradually stifled in all but the lowest concentration solutions. In contrast, Cl - containing waters without sulfate ions resulted in slower pit growth and eventual repassivation. These observations were interpreted through understanding of the identity, amount and porosity of corrosion products formed inside and over pits. These factors controlled their resistive nature as characterized using electrochemical impedance spectroscopy. A finite element model (FEM) was developed which included copper oxidation kinetics, transport by migration and diffusion, Cu(I) and Cu(II) solid corrosion product formation and porosity governed by equilibrium thermodynamics and a saturation index, as well as pit current and depth of penetration. The findings of the modeling were in good agreement with artificial pit experiments

Microstructural evolution and pitting resistance of annealed lean duplex stainless steel UNS S32304

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Zhang Ziying; Han Dong; Jiang Yiming; Shi Chong; Li Jin

2012-01-01

Highlights: ► The relationship between pitting corrosion resistance and annealing temperature for UNS S32304 was systemically studied. ► The specimens annealed at 1080 °C for 1 h, quenched in water exhibit the best pitting corrosion resistance. ► The relationship between microstructural evolution and pitting resistance of annealed UNS S32304 was discussed in detail. ► The pitting corrosion resistance is consistent with pitting resistance equivalent number of weaker phase for UNS S32304 alloy. - Abstract: The effect of annealing temperature in the range from 1000 to 1200 °C on the pitting corrosion behavior of duplex stainless steel UNS S32304 was investigated by the potentiodynamic polarization and potentiostatic critical pitting temperature techniques. The microstructural evolution and pit morphologies were studied using a scanning electron microscopy with energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy. The results demonstrated that the nucleation of metastable pits transformed from austenite phase to ferrite phase with the increasing annealing temperature. As the annealing temperature increased, the pitting corrosion resistance firstly increased and then decreased. The highest pitting corrosion resistance was obtained at 1080 °C with the highest critical pitting temperature value and pitting nucleation resistance. The results could be well explained by the microstructural evolution of ferrite and austenite phases induced by annealing treatment.

Grey Literature and the Internet

Science.gov (United States)

Hartman, Karen A.

2006-01-01

Accreditation standards for professional schools offering social work degrees mandate curriculum content that provides students with skills to analyze, formulate, and influence social policies. An important source of analytical thinking about social policy is the "grey" literature issued by public policy organizations, think tanks,…

Land governance as grey zone

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Kjær, Anne Mette

2017-01-01

demonstrates that in Uganda, the need to maintain the ruling coalition in a clientelist political settlement to build electoral support, and the desire to attract economic investors, constitute political incentives to maintain land governance as a grey zone, even if there is apparent political...

Study on grey theoretical model of passive residual heat removal system

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Zhou Tao; Yang Ruichang; Su, G.H.; Jia Dounan; Sugiyama, K.

2004-01-01

Natural Circulation Passive Residual Heat Removal System is treated as a Grey System by taking into account of its complexity and uncertainty of effect for factors each other. The magnitude and degree of some factors are confirmed by grey incidence analysis method; The one-one relationship of some variables is built by GM (1, 1) model; The relationship between key factor and other effect factors is built (1, 4) model. Grey model shows its more advantage of precision through comparing with multivariate model. (author)

Pitting growth rate in carbon steel exposed to simulated radioactive waste

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Zapp, P.E.

1995-01-01

Dilute high-level radioactive waste slurries can induce pitting corrosion in carbon steel tanks in which such waste is stored and processed. The waste is normally maintained with closely monitored nitrite and hydroxide concentrations known to prevent the initiation of pitting. Coupon immersion are being conducted in laboratory simulants of waste to determine the probability and growth rate of pitting in steel in the event of below-limits nitrite concentrations. Sets of about 36 carbon steel coupons have been immersed in known corrosive conditions (nitrite < 5% of the established limit) at a temperature of 50 C. Three sets have been removed from testing after 64, 150, and 350 days of immersion. The long immersion times introduced variability in the exposure conditions due to the evaporation and replenishment of solution. The deepest corrosive attack was measured one each coupon by optical microscopy. The deepest pits were ranked and analyzed as a type 1 extreme value distribution to extrapolate from the coupon population to the maximum pit depths in a waste tank structure. The data were compared to a power law for pit growth, although the deepest pits did not increase monotonically with time in the limited data set

Bioflocculation of grey water for improved energy recovery within decentralized sanitation concepts.

Science.gov (United States)

Hernández Leal, L; Temmink, H; Zeeman, G; Buisman, C J N

2010-12-01

Bioflocculation of grey water was tested with a lab-scale membrane bioreactor in order to concentrate the COD. Three concentration factors were tested based on the ratio of sludge retention time (SRT) and hydraulic retention time (HRT): 3, 8 and 12. COD concentration factor was up to 7.1, achieving a final concentration of 7.2 g COD L(-1). Large fractions of suspended COD were recovered in the concentrate (57%, 81% and 82% at SRT/HRT ratios of 3, 8 and 12, respectively) indicating a strong bioflocculation of grey water. A maximum of 11% of COD mineralization of grey water was measured at the longest SRT tested (1 d). The integration of bioflocculation of grey water in decentralized sanitation concepts may increase the overall production of methane by 73%, based on the biogas produced by black water only. Therefore, bioflocculation is a promising grey water pre-treatment step for energy recovery within decentralized sanitation concepts. 2010 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Improved Energy Recovery by Anaerobic Grey Water Sludge Treatment with Black Water

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Taina Tervahauta

2014-08-01

Full Text Available This study presents the potential of combining anaerobic grey water sludge treatment with black water in an up-flow anaerobic sludge blanket (UASB reactor to improve energy recovery within source-separated sanitation concepts. Black water and the mixture of black water and grey water sludge were compared in terms of biochemical methane potential (BMP, UASB reactor performance, chemical oxygen demand (COD mass balance and methanization. Grey water sludge treatment with black water increased the energy recovery by 23% in the UASB reactor compared to black water treatment. The increase in the energy recovery can cover the increased heat demand of the UASB reactor and the electricity demand of the grey water bioflocculation system with a surplus of 0.7 kWh/cap/y electricity and 14 MJ/cap/y heat. However, grey water sludge introduced more heavy metals in the excess sludge of the UASB reactor and might therefore hinder its soil application.

Ecotoxicological assessment of grey water treatment systems with Daphnia magna and Chironomus riparius.

Science.gov (United States)

Hernández Leal, L; Soeter, A M; Kools, S A E; Kraak, M H S; Parsons, J R; Temmink, H; Zeeman, G; Buisman, C J N

2012-03-15

In order to meet environmental quality criteria, grey water was treated in four different ways: 1) aerobic 2) anaerobic+aerobic 3) aerobic+activated carbon 4) aerobic+ozone. Since each treatment has its own specific advantages and disadvantages, the aim of this study was to compare the ecotoxicity of differently treated grey water using Chironomus riparius (96 h test) and Daphnia magna (48 h and 21d test) as test organisms. Grey water exhibited acute toxicity to both test organisms. The aerobic and combined anaerobic+aerobic treatment eliminated mortality in the acute tests, but growth of C. riparius was still affected by these two effluents. Post-treatment by ozone and activated carbon completely removed the acute toxicity from grey water. In the chronic toxicity test the combined anaerobic+aerobic treatment strongly affected D. magna population growth rate (47%), while the aerobic treatment had a small (9%) but significant effect. Hence, aerobic treatment is the best option for biological treatment of grey water, removing most of the toxic effects of grey water. If advanced treatment is required, the treatment with either ozone or GAC were shown to be very effective in complete removal of toxicity from grey water. Copyright © 2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Greying of the human hair: a worldwide survey, revisiting the '50' rule of thumb.

Science.gov (United States)

Panhard, S; Lozano, I; Loussouarn, G

2012-10-01

While numerous papers have reported on the biological mechanisms of human hair pigmentation and greying, epidemiological descriptions of both natural hair colour and the greying process, worldwide, remain scarce. To assess hair colour and greying in a large world sample of human subjects, and to revisit the validity of the 50/50/50 rule of thumb, which states that 'at age 50 years, 50% of the population has at least 50% grey hair'. The natural hair colour of 4192 healthy male and female volunteers was assessed using a sensorial expert evaluation through the comparison of each volunteer's hair with standard swatches. Hair colour was studied according to age, gender and ethnic or geographical origin. Overall we observed that between 45 and 65 years of age, 74% of people were affected by grey hair with a mean intensity of 27%. Men harboured significantly more grey hair than women. Both age at onset and rate of greying with age appeared to be clearly linked to ethnic/geographical origin. Subjects of Asian and African descent showed less grey hair than those of caucasian origin, at comparable ages, confirming previously reported data. Calculating the percentage of people showing at least 50% grey hair coverage at age 50 years leads to a global range of 6-23%, according to ethnic/geographical origin and natural hair colour: well below that expressed by the '50' rule of thumb. © 2012 The Authors. BJD © 2012 British Association of Dermatologists.

76 FR 41753 - Sierra National Forest, Bass Lake Ranger District, California, Grey's Mountain Ecosystem...

Science.gov (United States)

2011-07-15

..., California, Grey's Mountain Ecosystem Restoration Project AGENCY: Forest Service, USDA. ACTION: Notice of...: Background Information: The Grey's Mountain Ecosystem Restoration Project (Madera County, California) lies... vegetation. Currently, vegetation within the Grey's Mountain Ecosystem Restoration Project has changed from...

Impacts of Triclosan in Grey water on Soil Microorganisms

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Harrow, D.I; Felker, J.M; Baker, K.H

2011-01-01

The use of grey water for irrigation is becoming a common practice in arid regions such as the Southwestern US, the Middle East, Australia, and China. While grey water supplies nutrients to soil ecosystems, the possible impact of trace contaminants, particularly pharmaceuticals and personal care products, has not been determined. This paper examined the impact of triclosan, an antibacterial agent commonly added to consumer products, on microbial populations and microbial diversity in soil irrigated with grey water. While there was no change in the total number of heterotrophic microorganisms in the soil, both the types and the antibiotic resistance of the microorganisms were significantly influenced by triclosan. The proportion of the microbial isolates resistant to antibiotics increased while at the same time, overall diversity of the microbial community decreased.

Acidic pit lakes. The legacy of coal and metal surface mines

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Geller, Walter; Schultze, Martin [Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research - UFZ, Magdeburg (Germany); Wolkersdorfer, Christian (eds.) [Cape Breton Univ., Sydney, NS (Canada). Industrial Research Chair in Mine Water Remediation and Management; International Mine Water Association, Wendelstein (Germany). General Secretary; Kleinmann, Robert

2013-07-01

This monograph provides an international perspective on pit lakes in post-mining landscapes, including the problem of geogenic acidification. Much has been learned during the last decade through research and practical experience on how to mitigate or remediate the environmental problems of acidic pit lakes. In the first part of the book, general scientific issues are presented in 21 contributions from the fields of geo-environmental science, water chemistry, lake physics, lake modeling, and on the peculiar biological features that occur in the extreme habitats of acidic pit lakes. Another chapter provides an overview of methods currently used to remediate acidic pit lakes and treat outflowing acidic water. The second part of the book is a collection of regional surveys of pit lake problems from three European countries and Australia, and case studies of various individual representative lakes. A final case study provides an innovative approach to assessing the economic value of new pit lakes and balancing the costs and benefits, a valuable tool for decision makers.

Stochastic modeling of pitting corrosion in underground pipelines using Markov chains

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Velazquez, J.C.; Caleyo, F.; Hallen, J.M.; Araujo, J.E. [Instituto Politecnico Nacional (IPN), Mexico D.F. (Mexico). Escuela Superior de Ingenieria Quimica e Industrias Extractivas (ESIQIE); Valor, A. [Universidad de La Habana, La Habana (Cuba)

2009-07-01

A non-homogenous, linear growth (pure birth) Markov process, with discrete states in continuous time, has been used to model external pitting corrosion in underground pipelines. The transition probability function for the pit depth is obtained from the analytical solution of the forward Kolmogorov equations for this process. The parameters of the transition probability function between depth states can be identified from the observed time evolution of the mean of the pit depth distribution. Monte Carlo simulations were used to predict the time evolution of the mean value of the pit depth distribution in soils with different physicochemical characteristics. The simulated distributions have been used to create an empirical Markov-chain-based stochastic model for predicting the evolution of pitting corrosion from the observed properties of the soil in contact with the pipeline. Real- life case studies, involving simulated and measured pit depth distributions are presented to illustrate the application of the proposed Markov chains model. (author)

The grey relational approach for evaluating measurement uncertainty with poor information

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Luo, Zai; Wang, Yanqing; Zhou, Weihu; Wang, Zhongyu

2015-01-01

The Guide to the Expression of Uncertainty in Measurement (GUM) is the master document for measurement uncertainty evaluation. However, the GUM may encounter problems and does not work well when the measurement data have poor information. In most cases, poor information means a small data sample and an unknown probability distribution. In these cases, the evaluation of measurement uncertainty has become a bottleneck in practical measurement. To solve this problem, a novel method called the grey relational approach (GRA), different from the statistical theory, is proposed in this paper. The GRA does not require a large sample size or probability distribution information of the measurement data. Mathematically, the GRA can be divided into three parts. Firstly, according to grey relational analysis, the grey relational coefficients between the ideal and the practical measurement output series are obtained. Secondly, the weighted coefficients and the measurement expectation function will be acquired based on the grey relational coefficients. Finally, the measurement uncertainty is evaluated based on grey modeling. In order to validate the performance of this method, simulation experiments were performed and the evaluation results show that the GRA can keep the average error around 5%. Besides, the GRA was also compared with the grey method, the Bessel method, and the Monte Carlo method by a real stress measurement. Both the simulation experiments and real measurement show that the GRA is appropriate and effective to evaluate the measurement uncertainty with poor information. (paper)

Pitting corrosion of Inconel 600 in chloride and sulfate solutions at low temperature

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Chang Mingyu; Yu Geping

1993-01-01

Pitting corrosion of Inconel 600 was examined in chloride and sulfate solutions through usage of potentiodynamic polarization techniques. The effects of chloride and sulfate concentration were investigated in the range of 0.0001 to 0.1 M. Increasing chloride concentrations resulted in active shifts of the pit nucleation potential. Immunity to pitting corrosion was evident at a chloride level below 0.005 M. Increasing sulfate concentrations resulted in improved pitting resistance of Inconel 600 in chloride solutions. Detrimental effects associated with pitting were evident with low-level sulfate being added to dilute chloride media. The density of pits increased with increasing chloride concentrations or temperature between room temperature and 70 C. Systematic trends for the depth of pits were not evident. The observations of pitting corrosion in open immersion were consistent with those in polarization methods. Corrosion products contained in the pits were enriched in nickel, chromium and iron with a small amount of titanium and silicon. The enrichment of chlorine or sulfur was still, however, not found. (orig.)

Numerical modelling of the groundwater inflow to an advancing open pit mine: Kolahdarvazeh pit, Central Iran.

Science.gov (United States)

Bahrami, Saeed; Doulati Ardejani, Faramarz; Aslani, Soheyla; Baafi, Ernest

2014-12-01

The groundwater inflow into a mine during its life and after ceasing operations is one of the most important concerns of the mining industry. This paper presents a hydrogeological assessment of the Irankuh Zn-Pb mine at 20 km south of Esfahan and 1 km northeast of Abnil in west-Central Iran. During mine excavation, the upper impervious bed of a confined aquifer was broken and water at high-pressure flowed into an open pit mine associated with the Kolahdarvazeh deposit. The inflow rates were 6.7 and 1.4 m(3)/s at the maximum and minimum quantities, respectively. Permeability, storage coefficient, thickness and initial head of the fully saturated confined aquifer were 3.5 × 10(-4) m/s, 0.2, 30 m and 60 m, respectively. The hydraulic heads as a function of time were monitored at four observation wells in the vicinity of the pit over 19 weeks and at an observation well near a test well over 21 h. In addition, by measuring the rate of pumping out from the pit sump, at a constant head (usually equal to height of the pit floor), the real inflow rates to the pit were monitored. The main innovations of this work were to make comparison between numerical modelling using a finite element software called SEEP/W and actual data related to inflow and extend the applicability of the numerical model. This model was further used to estimate the hydraulic heads at the observation wells around the pit over 19 weeks during mining operations. Data from a pump-out test and observation wells were used for model calibration and verification. In order to evaluate the model efficiency, the modelling results of inflow quantity and hydraulic heads were compared to those from analytical solutions, as well as the field data. The mean percent error in relation to field data for the inflow quantity was 0.108. It varied between 1.16 and 1.46 for hydraulic head predictions, which are much lower values than the mean percent errors resulted from the analytical solutions (from 1.8 to 5

A numerical study of under-deposit pitting corrosion in sour petroleum pipelines

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Zhu, Z.; Sand, K.W.; Teevens, P.J. [Broadsword Corrosion Engineering Ltd., Calgary, AB (Canada)

2010-07-01

Insufficient fluid velocity in petroleum pipelines can lead to the deposit of sand, corrosion products, and non-corrosion products on the pipe's metal surface, which in turn can lead to pitting corrosion. There is currently no reliable means of detecting and preventing the pitting process. This paper presented a computerized simulation tool that used the finite element method to model mass transfer-governed internal pitting corrosion under solids deposition in sour petroleum pipelines. The computational domain consisted of a hemispherical pit and a thin stagnant solution film under a surface deposit. The moving mesh method was used to track pitting growth. A Poisson equation was used to determine aqueous path migration of ions. Pitting corrosion rates were estimated using the Nernst-Planck equation. The model was used to predict the effects of different operating parameters on pitting corrosion rates. The model can be used to develop pigging and in-line-inspection (ILI) procedures. 35 refs., 2 tabs., 16 figs.

A Novel Grey Wave Method for Predicting Total Chinese Trade Volume

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Kedong Yin

2017-12-01

Full Text Available The total trade volume of a country is an important way of appraising its international trade situation. A prediction based on trade volume will help enterprises arrange production efficiently and promote the sustainability of the international trade. Because the total Chinese trade volume fluctuates over time, this paper proposes a Grey wave forecasting model with a Hodrick–Prescott filter (HP filter to forecast it. This novel model first parses time series into long-term trend and short-term cycle. Second, the model uses a general GM (1,1 to predict the trend term and the Grey wave forecasting model to predict the cycle term. Empirical analysis shows that the improved Grey wave prediction method provides a much more accurate forecast than the basic Grey wave prediction method, achieving better prediction results than autoregressive moving average model (ARMA.

Sensory migraine aura is not associated with structural grey matter abnormalities

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Hougaard, Anders; Amin, Faisal Mohammad; Arngrim, Nanna

2016-01-01

Migraine with aura (MA) is characterized by cortical dysfunction. Frequent aura attacks may alter cerebral cortical structure in patients, or structural grey matter abnormalities may predispose MA patients to aura attacks. In the present study we aimed to investigate cerebral grey matter structure...... sensory aura regularly. We analysed high-resolution structural MR images using two complimentary approaches and compared patients with and without sensory aura. Patients were also compared to controls. We found no differences of grey matter density or cortical thickness between patients with and without...... sensory aura and no differences for the cortical visual areas between patients and controls. The somatosensory cortex was thinner in patients (1.92 mm vs. 1.96 mm, P = 0.043) and the anterior cingulate cortex of patients had a decreased grey matter density (P = 0.039) compared to controls...

Clinico epidemiological study of pitted keratolysis

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Naik Chandra

2007-01-01

Full Text Available Background: Pitted keratolysis is a common dermatological condition. However, very few studies are available on the clinical characteristics and epidemiological features of this disorder from India and abroad. Materials and Methods: Fifty patients from rural area of Kolar at Sri R.L.J.H. and S.N.R. Hospital, presenting with clinically distinctive lesions of pitted keratolysis were included in the study. Cases were interviewed with particular emphasis on triggering factors and findings were recorded. Investigations like Gram′s stain, culture studies, Wood′s ultraviolet light examination, histopathology etc, was done in selected cases to ascertain the clinical diagnosis. Results: Age of the patients varied from 20 to 40 years in 52% with male preponderance in 82% of cases. Duration of the disease varied from 15 days to five years, most of the patients were bare-footed farmers (62% of cases. Hyperhidrosis and pruritus were most frequently observed symptoms in 70% and 60% of patients. Most of the patients presented with the characteristic pits which varied from 1 to 50 in number in 56 % of cases, located predominantly on the pressure bearing areas in 92% of cases and depth of the pits varied from 1 to 2 mm in 60% of cases. Associated skin conditions recorded in present study were fissuring of soles in 38%, psoriasis 10%, dermatophyte infections in 6%, planter warts 6% and Corynebacterial triad and corn in 2% of patients each. Discussion: Affection of bare-footed individuals, male preponderance, presence of hyperhidrosis and occurrence of lesions over pressure bearing areas of soles, observed in the present study were consistent with earlier studies on the subject. However, pruritus as commonest presenting symptom reported by 60% patients in the present study, has not been documented in the previous studies. Conclusion: Pitted keratolysis is fairly common in bare footed male farmers of rural India. The condition is predominantly seen over the

Corrosion pit depth extreme value prediction from limited inspection data

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Najjar, D.; Bigerelle, M.; Iost, A.; Bourdeau, L.; Guillou, D.

2004-01-01

Passive alloys like stainless steels are prone to localized corrosion in chlorides containing environments. The greater the depth of the localized corrosion phenomenon, the more dramatic the related damage that can lead to a structure weakening by fast perforation. In practical situations, because measurements are time consuming and expensive, the challenge is usually to predict the maximum pit depth that could be found in a large scale installation from the processing of a limited inspection data. As far as the parent distribution of pit depths is assumed to be of exponential type, the most successful method was found in the application of the statistical extreme-value analysis developed by Gumbel. This study aims to present a new and alternative methodology to the Gumbel approach with a view towards accurately estimating the maximum pit depth observed on a ferritic stainless steel AISI 409 subjected to an accelerated corrosion test (ECC1) used in automotive industry. This methodology consists in characterising and modelling both the morphology of pits and the statistical distribution of their depths from a limited inspection dataset. The heart of the data processing is based on the combination of two recent statistical methods that avoid making any choice about the type of the theoretical underlying parent distribution of pit depths: the Generalized Lambda Distribution (GLD) is used to model the distribution of pit depths and the Bootstrap technique to determine a confidence interval on the maximum pit depth. (authors)

Non-Grey Radiation Modeling using Thermal Desktop/Sindaworks TFAWS06-1009

Science.gov (United States)

Anderson, Kevin R.; Paine, Chris

2006-01-01

This paper provides an overview of the non-grey radiation modeling capabilities of Cullimore and Ring's Thermal Desktop(Registered TradeMark) Version 4.8 SindaWorks software. The non-grey radiation analysis theory implemented by Sindaworks and the methodology used by the software are outlined. Representative results from a parametric trade study of a radiation shield comprised of a series of v-grooved shaped deployable panels is used to illustrate the capabilities of the SindaWorks non-grey radiation thermal analysis software using emissivities with temperature and wavelength dependency modeled via a Hagen-Rubens relationship.

Statistical characterization of pitting corrosion process and life prediction

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Sheikh, A.K.; Younas, M.

1995-01-01

In order to prevent corrosion failures of machines and structures, it is desirable to know in advance when the corrosion damage will take place, and appropriate measures are needed to mitigate the damage. The corrosion predictions are needed both at development as well as operational stage of machines and structures. There are several forms of corrosion process through which varying degrees of damage can occur. Under certain conditions these corrosion processes at alone and in other set of conditions, several of these processes may occur simultaneously. For a certain type of machine elements and structures, such as gears, bearing, tubes, pipelines, containers, storage tanks etc., are particularly prone to pitting corrosion which is an insidious form of corrosion. The corrosion predictions are usually based on experimental results obtained from test coupons and/or field experiences of similar machines or parts of a structure. Considerable scatter is observed in corrosion processes. The probabilities nature and kinetics of pitting process makes in necessary to use statistical method to forecast the residual life of machine of structures. The focus of this paper is to characterization pitting as a time-dependent random process, and using this characterization the prediction of life to reach a critical level of pitting damage can be made. Using several data sets from literature on pitting corrosion, the extreme value modeling of pitting corrosion process, the evolution of the extreme value distribution in time, and their relationship to the reliability of machines and structure are explained. (author)

Lithium-ion battery remaining useful life prediction based on grey support vector machines

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Xiaogang Li

2015-12-01

Full Text Available In this article, an improved grey prediction model is proposed to address low-accuracy prediction issue of grey forecasting model. The first step is using a trigonometric function to transform the original data sequence to smooth the data, which is called smoothness of grey prediction model, and then a grey support vector machine model by integrating the improved grey model with support vector machine is introduced. At the initial stage of the model, trigonometric functions and accumulation generation operation can be used to preprocess the data, which enhances the smoothness of the data and reduces the associated randomness. In addition, support vector machine is implemented to establish a prediction model for the pre-processed data and select the optimal model parameters via genetic algorithms. Finally, the data are restored through the ‘regressive generate’ operation to obtain the forecasting data. To prove that the grey support vector machine model is superior to the other models, the battery life data from the Center for Advanced Life Cycle Engineering are selected, and the presented model is used to predict the remaining useful life of the battery. The predicted result is compared to that of grey model and support vector machines. For a more intuitive comparison of the three models, this article quantifies the root mean square errors for these three different models in the case of different ratio of training samples and prediction samples. The results show that the effect of grey support vector machine model is optimal, and the corresponding root mean square error is only 3.18%.

Grey matter volume in adolescents with anorexia nervosa and associated eating disorder symptoms.

Science.gov (United States)

Martin Monzon, Beatriz; Henderson, Luke A; Madden, Sloane; Macefield, Vaughan G; Touyz, Stephen; Kohn, Michael R; Clarke, Simon; Foroughi, Nasim; Hay, Phillipa

2017-10-01

Anorexia nervosa (AN) is a mental health disorder of complex aetiology. Previous neuroimaging studies have found consistent global reductions in global grey matter volume of underweight girls with AN; however, differences in regional grey matter volumes are less consistent. The aims of this study were to investigate grey matter regional volumes of adolescent girls with AN before and after weight recovery and the relationship of any changes with clinical characteristics. We collected high-resolution T1-weighted images from 26 underweight girls with AN before weight gain and 20 healthy control volunteers. Clinical features were assessed using the Eating Disorder Examination Questionnaire. AN subjects displayed reduced grey matter volumes in the insula, amygdala, prefrontal, hippocampal and cingulate cortices and the precuneus, relative to healthy controls. In a subset of 10 AN subjects who were followed after weight recovery, grey matter volumes increased to near-control levels in the orbito- and medial prefrontal, insular, left hippocampal and mid- and posterior cingulate cortices and precuneus. The recovery of the right anterior thalamus and the left orbitofrontal cortex was correlated with improvements in eating concerns and shape concerns, respectively. However, large parts of the anterior cingulate cortex, caudate nuclei and right hippocampus did not display any grey matter recovery following a short-term of treatment. These results show that in adolescents with AN, some brain regions display marked recovery in grey matter volume following weight recovery, whereas others do not, considering grey mater recovery possibly linked to symptom improvement. © 2017 Federation of European Neuroscience Societies and John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

Template measurement for plutonium pit based on neural networks

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Zhang Changfan; Gong Jian; Liu Suping; Hu Guangchun; Xiang Yongchun

2012-01-01

Template measurement for plutonium pit extracts characteristic data from-ray spectrum and the neutron counts emitted by plutonium. The characteristic data of the suspicious object are compared with data of the declared plutonium pit to verify if they are of the same type. In this paper, neural networks are enhanced as the comparison algorithm for template measurement of plutonium pit. Two kinds of neural networks are created, i.e. the BP and LVQ neural networks. They are applied in different aspects for the template measurement and identification. BP neural network is used for classification for different types of plutonium pits, which is often used for management of nuclear materials. LVQ neural network is used for comparison of inspected objects to the declared one, which is usually applied in the field of nuclear disarmament and verification. (authors)

Improved Energy Recovery by Anaerobic Grey Water Sludge Treatment with Black Water

OpenAIRE

Tervahauta, Taina; Bryant, Isaac; Leal, Lucía; Buisman, Cees; Zeeman, Grietje

2014-01-01

This study presents the potential of combining anaerobic grey water sludge treatment with black water in an up-flow anaerobic sludge blanket (UASB) reactor to improve energy recovery within source-separated sanitation concepts. Black water and the mixture of black water and grey water sludge were compared in terms of biochemical methane potential (BMP), UASB reactor performance, chemical oxygen demand (COD) mass balance and methanization. Grey water sludge treatment with black water increased...

Cormorant predation on PIT-tagged lake fish

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Skov, Christian; Jepsen, Niels; Baktoft, Henrik

2014-01-01

The present study use data from recovered PIT (Passive Integrated Transponder) tags to explore species-and size-specific annual predation rates by cormorants on three common lacustrine fishes (size range 120-367 mm) in a European lake; roach (Rutilus rutilus), common bream (Abramis brama) and perch...... (Perca fluviatilis). In addition, we quantify the level of age/size truncation that cormorant predation could introduce in a population of perch, an important fish for recreational angling as well as for trophic interactions and ecosystem function in European lakes. Based on three years of PIT tagging...... of fish in Lake Viborg and subsequent recoveries of PIT tags from nearby cormorant roosting and breeding sites, we show that cormorants are major predators of roach, bream and perch within the size groups we investigated and for all species larger individuals had higher predation rates. Perch appear...

Bite injuries of grey seals (Halichoerus grypus) on harbour porpoises (Phocoena phocoena).

Science.gov (United States)

Jauniaux, Thierry; Garigliany, Mutien-Marie; Loos, Pauline; Bourgain, Jean-Luc; Bouveroux, Thibaut; Coignoul, Freddy; Haelters, Jan; Karpouzopoulos, Jacky; Pezeril, Sylvain; Desmecht, Daniel

2014-01-01

Bite-like skin lesions on harbour porpoises (Phocoena phocoena) have been suspected to be caused by grey seals (Halichoerus grypus), and a few field observations have been reported. Bite-like skin lesions observed on stranded animals were characterized by two main components: large flaps of loose or missing skin and blubber with frayed edges and puncture lesions. Definitive demonstration of predation by a grey seal was not reported so far in those stranded animals. In this study, five stranded porpoises with bite-like skin lesions were swabbed for genetic investigations. In addition, the head of a recently dead grey seal was used to mimic bite-like skin injuries on a porpoise carcass. Subsequently, the artificial skin injuries were swabbed, along with the gum of the seal used for inflicting them (positive controls). Total DNA was extracted from the swabs and was used to retrieve a fragment of mitochondrial DNA by PCR. Primers were designed to amplify a specific stretch of mitochondrial DNA known to differ between grey seals and porpoises. The amplicon targeted was successfully amplified from the positive control and from two of the stranded porpoises, and grey seal-specific mitochondrial DNA was retrieved from all those samples. We conclude that (1) it is possible to detect grey seal DNA from dead porpoises even after several days in seawater and (2) bite-like skin lesions found on dead porpoises definitively result from grey seals attacks. The attacks are most likely linked with predation although, in a number of cases, scavenging and aggressive behaviour cannot be excluded.

Metallography of pitted aluminum-clad, depleted uranium fuel

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Nelson, D.Z.; Howell, J.P.

1994-01-01

The storage of aluminum-clad fuel and target materials in the L-Disassembly Basin at the Savannah River Site for more than 5 years has resulted in extensive pitting corrosion of these materials. In many cases the pitting corrosion of the aluminum clad has penetrated in the uranium metal core, resulting in the release of plutonium, uranium, cesium-137, and other fission product activity to the basin water. In an effort to characterize the extent of corrosion of the Mark 31A target slugs, two unirradiated slug assemblies were removed from basin storage and sent to the Savannah River Technology Center for evaluation. This paper presents the results of the metallography and photographic documentation of this evaluation. The metallography confirmed that pitting depths varied, with the deepest pit found to be about 0.12 inches (3.05 nun). Less than 2% of the aluminum cladding was found to be breached resulting in less than 5% of the uranium surface area being affected by corrosion. The overall integrity of the target slug remained intact

The kinetics of pitting corrosion of carbon steel

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Marsh, G.P.; Taylor, K.J.; Sooi, Z.

1988-02-01

The development of an improved statistical method for analysing pit growth data to take account of the difference in area of laboratory specimens and full sized high level nuclear waste containers is described. Statistical analysis of data from pit growth experiments with large area (460 cm 2 ) plates of BS 4360 steel have indicated that the depth distributions correlate most closely with a limited distribution function. This correlation implies that previous statistical analyses to estimate the maximum pit depths in full size containers, which were made using unlimited distribution functions, will be pessimistic. An evaluation of the maximum feasible pitting period based on estimating the period during which the oxygen diffusion flux is sufficient to stabilise a passive film on carbon steel containers has indicated that this is of the order of 125 years rather than the full 1000 year container life. The estimate is sensitive to the value of the leakage current assumed to flow through the passive film, and therefore work is planned to measure this accurately in relevant granitic environments. (author)

Pitting growth rate in carbon steel exposed to simulated radioactive waste

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Zapp, P.E.

1996-06-01

Dilute high-level radioactive waste slurries can induce pitting corrosion in carbon steel tanks in which such waste is stored and processed. The waste is normally maintained with closely monitored nitrite and hydroxide concentrations known to prevent the initiation of pitting. Coupon immersion tests are being conducted in laboratory simulants of waste to determine the probability and growth rate of pitting in steel in the event of out-of-limits nitrite concentrations. Sets of about 36 carbon steel coupons have been immersed in known corrosive conditions (nitrite < 5 per cent of the established limit) at a temperature of 50 degrees C. Three sets have been removed from testing after 64, 150, and 350 days of immersion. The long immersion times introduced variability in the exposure conditions due to the evaporation and replenishment of solution. The deepest corrosive attack was measured on each coupon by optical microscopy. The deepest pits were ranked and analyzed as a type 1 extreme value distribution to extrapolate from the coupon population to the maximum expected pit depths in a waste tank structure. The data were compared to a power law for pit growth, although the deepest pits did not increase monotonically with time in the limited data set

Pitting Corrosion of Ni3(Si,Ti Intermetallic Compound at Various Chloride Concentrations

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Gadang Priyotomo

2013-10-01

Full Text Available The pitting corrosion of Ni3(Si,Ti intermetallic compound was investigated as function of chloride concentration by using electrochemical method and scanning electron microscope in sodium chloride solutions at 293 K.  In addition, the pitting corrosion of type C276 alloy was also studied under the same experimental condition for comparison.  The pitting potential obtained for the intermetallic compound decreased with increasing chloride concentration.  The specific pitting potential and pitting potential of Ni3(Si,Ti were lower than those of C276 alloy, which means that the pitting corrosion resistance of C276 alloy was higher than that of Ni3(Si,Ti.

Asymptotic variance of grey-scale surface area estimators

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Svane, Anne Marie

Grey-scale local algorithms have been suggested as a fast way of estimating surface area from grey-scale digital images. Their asymptotic mean has already been described. In this paper, the asymptotic behaviour of the variance is studied in isotropic and sufficiently smooth settings, resulting...... in a general asymptotic bound. For compact convex sets with nowhere vanishing Gaussian curvature, the asymptotics can be described more explicitly. As in the case of volume estimators, the variance is decomposed into a lattice sum and an oscillating term of at most the same magnitude....

Green Walls as an Approach in Grey Water Treatment

Science.gov (United States)

Rysulova, Martina; Kaposztasova, Daniela; Vranayova, Zuzana

2017-10-01

Grey water contributes significantly to waste water parameters such as biochemical oxygen demand (BOD), chemical oxygen demand (COD), total suspended solids (TSS), total phosphorus (Ptotal), total nitrogen (Ntotal), ammonium, boron, metals, salts, surfactants, synthetic chemicals, oils and greases, xenobiotic substances and microorganisms. Concentration of these pollutants and the water quality highlights the importance of treatment process in grey water systems. Treatment technologies operating under low energy and maintenance are usually preferred, since they are more cost effective for users. Treatment technologies based on natural processes represent an example of such technology including vegetated wall. Main aim of this paper is to introduce the proposal of vegetated wall managing grey water and brief characteristic of proposed system. Is expected that prepared experiment will establish the purifying ability and the potential of green wall application as an efficient treatment technology.

Simulation of Fatigue Crack Initiation at Corrosion Pits With EDM Notches

Science.gov (United States)

Smith, Stephen W.; Newman, John A.; Piascik, Robert S.

2003-01-01

Uniaxial fatigue tests were conducted to compare the fatigue life of laboratory produced corrosion pits, similar to those observed in the shuttle main landing gear wheel bolt-hole, and an electro-discharged-machined (EDM) flaw. EDM Jaws are used to simulate corrosion pits during shuttle wheel (dynamometer) testing. The aluminum alloy, (AA 7050) laboratory fatigue tests were conducted to simulate the local stress level contained in the wheel bolt-hole. Under this high local stress condition, the EDM notch produced a fatigue life similar to test specimens containing corrosion pits of similar size. Based on the laboratory fatigue test results, the EDM Jaw (semi-circular disc shaped) produces a local stress state similar to corrosion pits and can be used to simulate a corrosion pit during the shuttle wheel dynamometer tests.

Non Destructive Testing Measurement for Monitoring Pitting Corrosion using Dcp Techniques

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Atlam, A.; Omar, A.A.; Habashy, M.; Waheed, A.F.; Shafy, M.

2010-01-01

A repeatable monitoring of pit from in accessible side of a welded side of a structure is one of the hurdles in field of NT. The present work uses the DC potential drop measuring system for evaluating the response of pits in the weld joins to be detected by DC potential drop measurements. Weld joint of type 304L stainless steel welded with 308L was tested. Selected pits in different zones of the weld joint were detected by optical microscopy. The PD test shows difference in potential between pitted and non-pitted weld joints ranging from 1.3 in BM to 1.7 in HAZ. The capability of present monitoring process can be extended to evaluate the reduction in thickness for the case of thick stainless steel structure

Study of pitting corrosion in line-pipe steel under the influence of remanent magnetization

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Espina-Hernandez, J H; Caleyo, F; Hallen, J M [Instituto Politecnico Nacional (IPN), Zacatenco (Mexico)

2009-07-01

The influence of remanent magnetization on pitting corrosion in line-pipe steels is studied. Pitting corrosion experiments have been carried out on samples of an API 5L grade 52 steel under a magnetization level of the same order of magnitude of the remanent magnetization in the pipeline wall after in-line inspection based on magnetic flux leakage. The samples were magnetized using rings of the same grade as the investigated steel. Immediately after magnetization, the investigated samples were subjected to pitting by immersing them in a solution containing dissolved Cl{sup -} and SO{sup 2-}{sub 4} and ions. The pitting experiments were conducted during a seven days period. The pit depth distribution and the maximum pit depth in each sample were recorded and used to conduct extreme value analyses of the pitting process in magnetized and non-magnetized control samples. The statistical assessment of the pitting corrosion data collected during this study shows that the magnetic field reduces the average depth of the pit population and also the extreme pit depth values that can be predicted from the maximum values observed in the magnetized samples in comparison with to the non-magnetized control samples. Scanning electron microscopy observations show that the magnetic field alters the pit morphology by increasing the pit mouth opening. (author)

Markov Chain Models for the Stochastic Modeling of Pitting Corrosion

OpenAIRE

Valor, A.; Caleyo, F.; Alfonso, L.; Velázquez, J. C.; Hallen, J. M.

2013-01-01

The stochastic nature of pitting corrosion of metallic structures has been widely recognized. It is assumed that this kind of deterioration retains no memory of the past, so only the current state of the damage influences its future development. This characteristic allows pitting corrosion to be categorized as a Markov process. In this paper, two different models of pitting corrosion, developed using Markov chains, are presented. Firstly, a continuous-time, nonhomogeneous linear growth (pure ...

Resistance to pitting corrosion in ferritic and austenitic/ferritic steels

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

De Bouvier, O.

1995-01-01

Stainless steel tubes carrying raw water are potentially vulnerable to pitting corrosion. With a view to minimizing the corrosion risk in the river-water-cooled condensers at PWR power plant, a study was conducted to determine initiation conditions and incubation durations for pitting corrosion in stagnant water. As a result, condenser tubes in Z2 CI 18 (439) or Z2 CT 18-10 (304L) steels were phased out in favour of Z2 CND 16-32 (316L) stainless steel. The same question can be yield for other applications and especially for all types of exchangers for use in electrical applications. This study sought to assess alternative methods for estimating pitting corrosion, and to check the results of these methods against the actual behaviour of studied steels. The study covered ferritic steels (439, 444, 290Mo), austenitic steel (316L) and austenitic/ferritic steels (Uranus 35N, 45N, 47N, 52N). Two approaches were adopted: laboratory tests to compare pitting corrosion risks on different materials, and tests for characterizing the behaviour of steels exposed to river water. The study begins with a laboratory tests that yield an arbitrary parameter for quantifying pitting corrosion resistance. One method involves measuring the pitting temperature in an aggressive ferric chloride solution. Other methods measure the pitting potential, either statistically (Multipit method) or deterministically (polarization curve). We then go on to discuss tests under simulated life-like conditions, involving repeated immersions in water from the Seine. (author). 9 refs., 13 figs, 9 tabs

Blue and grey water footprint of textile industry in China.

Science.gov (United States)

Wang, Laili; Ding, Xuemei; Wu, Xiongying

2013-01-01

Water footprint (WF) is a newly developed idea that indicates impacts of freshwater appropriation and wastewater discharge. The textile industry is one of the oldest, longest and most complicated industrial chains in the world's manufacturing industries. However, the textile industry is also water intensive. In this paper, we applied a bottom-up approach to estimate the direct blue water footprint (WFdir,blue) and direct grey water footprint (WFdir,grey) of China's textile industry at sector level based on WF methodology. The results showed that WFdir,blue of China's textile industry had an increasing trend from 2001 to 2010. The annual WFdir,blue surpassed 0.92 Gm(3)/yr (giga cubic meter a year) since 2004 and rose to peak value of 1.09 Gm(3)/yr in 2007. The original and residuary WFdir,grey (both were calculated based on the concentration of chemical oxygen demand (CODCr)) of China's textile industry had a similar variation trend with that of WFdir,blue. Among the three sub-sectors of China's textile industry, the manufacture of textiles sector's annual WFdir,blue and WFdir,grey were much larger than those of the manufacture of textile wearing apparel, footware and caps sector and the manufacture of chemical fibers sector. The intensities of WFdir,blue and WF(res)dir,grey of China's textile industry were year by year decreasing through the efforts of issuing restriction policies on freshwater use and wastewater generation and discharge, and popularization of water saving and wastewater treatment technologies.

5G in Open-Pit Mines

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Portela Lopes de Almeida, Erika; Caldwell, George; Rodriguez Larrad, Ignacio

2017-01-01

5G will play a pivotal role in the digitization of the industrial sector and is expected to make the best use of every bit of spectrum available. In this light, this paper presents the results of an extensive measurement campaign in two iron-ore open-pit mining complexes, at the 700 MHz and 2.6 GHz...... for the future wireless network design, simulation and performance evaluation. The results show that, in order to comply with ultra-reliable communications (URC) availability requirements, larger shadowing margins will have to be considered in the network planning in open-pit mines, when compared to traditional...

International Conference on Grey Systems and intelligent Services (IEEE GSIS 2009)

CERN Document Server

Liu, Sifeng; Advances in Grey Systems Research

2010-01-01

This book contains contributions by some of the leading researchers in the area of grey systems theory and applications. All the papers included in this volume are selected from the contributions physically presented at the 2009 IEEE International Conference on Grey Systems and Intelligent Services, November 11 – 12, 2009, Nanjing, Jiangsu, People’s Republic of China. This event was jointly sponsored by IEEE Systems, Man, and Cybernetics Society, Natural Science Foundation of China, and Grey Systems Society of China. Additionally, Nanjing University of Aeronautics and Astronautics also invested heavily in this event with its direct and indirect financial and administrative supports.

Playing Super Mario 64 increases hippocampal grey matter in older adults.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Greg L West

Full Text Available Maintaining grey matter within the hippocampus is important for healthy cognition. Playing 3D-platform video games has previously been shown to promote grey matter in the hippocampus in younger adults. In the current study, we tested the impact of 3D-platform video game training (i.e., Super Mario 64 on grey matter in the hippocampus, cerebellum, and the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC of older adults. Older adults who were 55 to 75 years of age were randomized into three groups. The video game experimental group (VID; n = 8 engaged in a 3D-platform video game training over a period of 6 months. Additionally, an active control group took a series of self-directed, computerized music (piano lessons (MUS; n = 12, while a no-contact control group did not engage in any intervention (CON; n = 13. After training, a within-subject increase in grey matter within the hippocampus was significant only in the VID training group, replicating results observed in younger adults. Active control MUS training did, however, lead to a within-subject increase in the DLPFC, while both the VID and MUS training produced growth in the cerebellum. In contrast, the CON group displayed significant grey matter loss in the hippocampus, cerebellum and the DLPFC.

Playing Super Mario 64 increases hippocampal grey matter in older adults.

Science.gov (United States)

West, Greg L; Zendel, Benjamin Rich; Konishi, Kyoko; Benady-Chorney, Jessica; Bohbot, Veronique D; Peretz, Isabelle; Belleville, Sylvie

2017-01-01

Maintaining grey matter within the hippocampus is important for healthy cognition. Playing 3D-platform video games has previously been shown to promote grey matter in the hippocampus in younger adults. In the current study, we tested the impact of 3D-platform video game training (i.e., Super Mario 64) on grey matter in the hippocampus, cerebellum, and the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC) of older adults. Older adults who were 55 to 75 years of age were randomized into three groups. The video game experimental group (VID; n = 8) engaged in a 3D-platform video game training over a period of 6 months. Additionally, an active control group took a series of self-directed, computerized music (piano) lessons (MUS; n = 12), while a no-contact control group did not engage in any intervention (CON; n = 13). After training, a within-subject increase in grey matter within the hippocampus was significant only in the VID training group, replicating results observed in younger adults. Active control MUS training did, however, lead to a within-subject increase in the DLPFC, while both the VID and MUS training produced growth in the cerebellum. In contrast, the CON group displayed significant grey matter loss in the hippocampus, cerebellum and the DLPFC.

Influence of lubricant on the pitting capacity of gears. Comparison and discussion of main pitting test methods

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Hoehn, Bernd-Robert; Oster, Peter; Tobie, Thomas; Hergesell, Maria [Forschungsstelle fuer Zahnraeder und Getriebebau, Technische Univ. Muenchen, Garching (Germany)

2009-07-01

The lubricant in a gearbox should provide a separating lubricating film between the meshing teeth. Furthermore its main task is the evacuation of the developing heat. Hence the lubricant is also an important influence parameter on the pitting life time of gearsets. Due to the constantly rising demands for higher power transmission of gearsets, also higher demands are made against the performance of the lubricants. In order to quantify the capability and to choose the appropriate lubricant for each application, reliable testing methods are necessary. Therefor today different testing methods are available. Two of the main pitting testing methods are the Standard Pittingtest according to FVA 2/IV [2] and its advancement, the Practice Relevant Pittingtest according to FVA 371 [4]. For the Practice Relevant Pittingtest test gears with profile modification and lengthwise crowning are used, which are superfinished. For the introduction of the Practice Relevant Pittingtest into industrial application a round robin test was performed in co-operation with FVA and DGMK. This paper is discussing the today usual testing methods regarding the pitting load capacity of lubricants and their characteristics in comparison. Furthermore the results of the round robin test and further example results, including pictures of typical pittings, are presented. In addition it is demonstrated, how to deal with the results. On the basis of test experience, knowledge from research projects and other examples typical questions concerning the different testing methods are discussed. Thereby essential requirements for reliable and reproducible results are pointed out and possible limits for the application of the test methods are represented. (orig.)

In situ vitrification demonstration at Pit 1, Oak Ridge National Laboratory. Volume 2: Site characterization report of the Pit 1 area

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Spalding, B.P.; Bogle, M.A.; Cline, S.R.; Naney, M.T.; Gu, B.

1997-12-01

A treatability study was initiated in October 1993, initially encompassing the application of in situ vitrification (ISV) to at least two segments of Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) seepage Pit 1 by the end of fiscal year (FY) 1995. This treatability study was to have supported a possible Interim Record of Decision (IROD) or removal action for closure of one or more of the seepage pits and trenches as early as FY 1997. The Remedial Investigation/Feasibility Study for Waste Area Grouping (WAG) 7, which contains these seven seepage pits and trenches, will probably not begin until after the year 2000. This treatability study will establish the field-scale technical performance of ISV for (1) attaining the required depth, nominally 15 ft, to incorporate source contamination within and beneath the pits; (2) demonstrating field capability to overlap melt settings that are necessary to achieve fused, melted segments of the source contamination; (3) demonstrating off-gas handling technology for accommodating and minimizing the volatilization of 137 Cs; (4) demonstrating adequate site characterization techniques to predict ISV melting kinetics, processing temperatures, and product durability; and (5) promoting public acceptance of ISV technology by demonstrating its safety, implementability, site impacts, and air emissions and by coordinating the treatability study within the regulatory closure process. This report summarizes the site characterization information gathered through the end of September 1996 which supports the planning and assessment of ISV for Pit 1 (objective 4 above)

In situ vitrification demonstration at Pit 1, Oak Ridge National Laboratory. Volume 2: Site characterization report of the Pit 1 area

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Spalding, B.P.; Bogle, M.A.; Cline, S.R.; Naney, M.T.; Gu, B.

1997-12-01

A treatability study was initiated in October 1993, initially encompassing the application of in situ vitrification (ISV) to at least two segments of Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) seepage Pit 1 by the end of fiscal year (FY) 1995. This treatability study was to have supported a possible Interim Record of Decision (IROD) or removal action for closure of one or more of the seepage pits and trenches as early as FY 1997. The Remedial Investigation/Feasibility Study for Waste Area Grouping (WAG) 7, which contains these seven seepage pits and trenches, will probably not begin until after the year 2000. This treatability study will establish the field-scale technical performance of ISV for (1) attaining the required depth, nominally 15 ft, to incorporate source contamination within and beneath the pits; (2) demonstrating field capability to overlap melt settings that are necessary to achieve fused, melted segments of the source contamination; (3) demonstrating off-gas handling technology for accommodating and minimizing the volatilization of {sup 137}Cs; (4) demonstrating adequate site characterization techniques to predict ISV melting kinetics, processing temperatures, and product durability; and (5) promoting public acceptance of ISV technology by demonstrating its safety, implementability, site impacts, and air emissions and by coordinating the treatability study within the regulatory closure process. This report summarizes the site characterization information gathered through the end of September 1996 which supports the planning and assessment of ISV for Pit 1 (objective 4 above).

Pitting process visualization

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Michal Černý

2010-01-01

Full Text Available The paper describes time-domain simulation of gear pitting damage using animation program. Key frames have been used to create illusion of motion. The animation uses experimental results of high-cycle fatigue of material. The fatigue damage occurs in the nominal creep area on the side of the gear tooth sample loaded with variable-positioned Hertz pressure. By applying the force, the pressure cumulates between two convex surfaces. This phenomenon results in material damage under of curved surfaces in contact. Moreover, further damage has been registered on the surface. This is due to exceeding the elastic-plastic state limit and development of „tabs“. The tabs serve as origin of surface micro cracks powered by shear stress and enclosed grease pressure as well. This deformation and extreme pressures of Pascal law contribute to elongation and growth of the surface micro crack. Non-homogenous parts of material volume support the initialization/development of the micro cracks as well. Resulting visualization of the tooth-side fatigue damage provides clear and easy-to-understand description of the damage development process right from the micro crack initialization to the final fragmentation due to pitting degradation.

Pitting by corrosion in aluminium and Al-6201 alloy

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Vera, R.; Schrebler, R.; Layana, G.; Orellana, F.; Olguin, A.

1998-01-01

The susceptibility of pure aluminum 6201 alloy to pitting was investigated in sodium chloride solutions through determination of the corrosion, repassivation and pitting potentials. Potentiodynamic polarization including scratching techniques were employed being also determined the type and relative amount of corrosion damage to the metals. The morphology of the attach was determined using scanning electrons microscopy (SEM). The results showed a similar performance for aluminum 6201 alloy and aluminum. It was also observed that an increase in chloride concentration resulted in a decrease in the corrosion, pitting and repassivation potentials of both materials. (Author) 19 refs

Pitting of Incoloy 800 in presence of CuII

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Bianchi, G.L.; Alvarez, M.G.

1993-01-01

The pitting behaviour of Incoloy 800 in presence of Cu II ions, at 60 degrees C and 280 degrees C was studied by long term exposition of specimens in aqueous cupric chloride solutions. At 60 degrees C experiments were performed in aerated (7 ppm O 2 ) and deaerated solutions containing 500, 1000, 2000, 10000 and 20000 ppm CuCl 2 . At 280 degrees C experiments were performed in deaerated 20 ppm, 50 ppm and 100 ppm CuCl 2 solutions. During each experiment the open circuit potential of the alloy was measured as a function of time. After corrosion test the specimens were examined by Scanning Electron Microscopy for the presence of pits. In another set of experiments potentiodynamic anodic polarization curves were used to determine the pitting potential of Incoloy 800 in deaerated NaCl solutions at chloride concentrations and pH values corresponding to those possessed by solutions containing 20 ppm to 20000 ppm CuCl 2 . At 60 degrees C pitting was observed in those solutions where the CuCl 2 concentration is higher than 1000 ppm. At 280 degrees C pitting was found in the specimens exposed to those solutions where the CuCl 2 concentration was higher than 20 ppm. (author). 3 refs

Annealing to Mitigate Pitting in Electropolished Niobium Coupons and SRF Cavities

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Cooley, L.D.; Hahn, E.; Hicks, D.; Romanenko, A.; Schuessler, R.; Thompson, C.; /Fermilab

2011-06-08

Ongoing studies at Fermilab investigate whether dislocations and other factors instigate pitting during cavity electropolishing (EP), despite careful processing controls and the inherent leveling mechanism of EP itself. Here, cold-worked niobium coupons, which exhibited increased tendencies for pitting in our past study, were annealed in a high vacuum furnace and subsequently processed by EP. Laser confocal scanning microscopy and special defect counting algorithms were used to assess the population of pits formed. Hardness measurements indicated that annealing for 2 hours at 800 C produced recovery, whereas annealing for 12 hours at 600 C did not, as is consistent with known changes for cavities annealed in a similar way. The 800 C anneal was effective in some cases but not others, and we discuss reasons why tendencies for pitting remain. We discuss implications for cavities and continued work to understand pitting.

Congenital upper lip pit: A rare case report

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Leena James

2015-01-01

Full Text Available One of the rarest developmental malformations of the lip is congenital lip pits. They are usually seen as bilateral depressions in the vermilion zone of the lip and occur on the paramedian portion of the vermilion border of the lip. They are extremely rare in the upper lip. Lip pits are due to the failure of complete union of embryonic lateral sulci of the lip/notching of lip at an early stage of development with fixation of tissues of the base of the notch. Lip pits have also been associated with a variety of other congenital disorders and other malformations. The clinical and pathologic picture and the therapeutic aspects of this condition are discussed in this paper.

Numerical Investigation on Stress Concentration of Tension Steel Bars with One or Two Corrosion Pits

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Jian Hou

2015-01-01

Full Text Available Pitting corrosion has been observed in steel bars of existing reinforced concrete (RC structures in different erosion environments and has been identified as a potential origin for fatigue crack nucleation. In the present study, under uniaxial tension loading, stress distribution in the steel bars with one or two semiellipsoidal corrosion pits has systematically been investigated by conducting a series of three-dimensional semiellipsoidal pitted models. Based on the finite element analyses, it is shown that stress concentration factor (SCF increases linearly with increasing pit aspect ratio (a/b and increases nonlinearly with increasing pit relative depth (a/R for single corrosion pit problem. For double corrosion pits problem, the SCF decreases nonlinearly with increasing angle of two transverse pits (θ. The interaction of two longitudinal pits can be ignored in the calculation of SCF even if the distance of two pits (d is very small.

Non-grey benchmark results for two temperature non-equilibrium radiative transfer

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Su, B.; Olson, G.L.

1999-01-01

Benchmark solutions to time-dependent radiative transfer problems involving non-equilibrium coupling to the material temperature field are crucial for validating time-dependent radiation transport codes. Previous efforts on generating analytical solutions to non-equilibrium radiative transfer problems were all restricted to the one-group grey model. In this paper, a non-grey model, namely the picket-fence model, is considered for a two temperature non-equilibrium radiative transfer problem in an infinite medium. The analytical solutions, as functions of space and time, are constructed in the form of infinite integrals for both the diffusion description and transport description. These expressions are evaluated numerically and the benchmark results are generated. The asymptotic solutions for large and small times are also derived in terms of elementary functions and are compared with the exact results. Comparisons are given between the transport and diffusion solutions and between the grey and non-grey solutions. (Copyright (c) 1999 Elsevier Science B.V., Amsterdam. All rights reserved.)

An FMEA analysis using grey theory and grey rough sets

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Farshad Faezy Razi

2013-10-01

Full Text Available This paper presents a hybrid method for detecting the most important failure items as well as the most effective alternative strategy to cope with possible events. The proposed model of this paper uses grey technique to rank various alternatives and FMEA technique to find important faults. The implementation of the proposed method has been illustrated for an existing example on the literature. The results of this method show that the proposed model has been capable of detecting the most trouble making problems with fuzzy logic and finds the most important solution strategy using FMEA technique.

Cellular and ultrastructural characterization of the grey-morph phenotype in southern right whales (Eubalaena australis).

Science.gov (United States)

Eroh, Guy D; Clayton, Fred C; Florell, Scott R; Cassidy, Pamela B; Chirife, Andrea; Marón, Carina F; Valenzuela, Luciano O; Campbell, Michael S; Seger, Jon; Rowntree, Victoria J; Leachman, Sancy A

2017-01-01

Southern right whales (SRWs, Eubalena australis) are polymorphic for an X-linked pigmentation pattern known as grey morphism. Most SRWs have completely black skin with white patches on their bellies and occasionally on their backs; these patches remain white as the whale ages. Grey morphs (previously referred to as partial albinos) appear mostly white at birth, with a splattering of rounded black marks; but as the whales age, the white skin gradually changes to a brownish grey color. The cellular and developmental bases of grey morphism are not understood. Here we describe cellular and ultrastructural features of grey-morph skin in relation to that of normal, wild-type skin. Melanocytes were identified histologically and counted, and melanosomes were measured using transmission electron microscopy. Grey-morph skin had fewer melanocytes when compared to wild-type skin, suggesting reduced melanocyte survival, migration, or proliferation in these whales. Grey-morph melanocytes had smaller melanosomes relative to wild-type skin, normal transport of melanosomes to surrounding keratinocytes, and normal localization of melanin granules above the keratinocyte nuclei. These findings indicate that SRW grey-morph pigmentation patterns are caused by reduced numbers of melanocytes in the skin, as well as by reduced amounts of melanin production and/or reduced sizes of mature melanosomes. Grey morphism is distinct from piebaldism and albinism found in other species, which are genetic pigmentation conditions resulting from the local absence of melanocytes, or the inability to synthesize melanin, respectively.

Railroad Rails Containing Electrode-Induced Pitting from Pressure Electric Welding

Science.gov (United States)

2018-04-18

This paper describes the forensic evaluations of three railroad rails containing electrode-induced pitting. These evaluations include: magnetic particle inspection to nondestructively detect cracks emanating from the pitting; fractography to study th...

Detailed investigation of current transients from metastable pitting events on stainless steel - the transition to stability

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Pistorius, P.C.; Burstein, G.T.

1992-01-01

Current transients which result from metastable pitting events (on Type 304 stainless steel in an acidic solution containing 1 M Cl - ) are presented. A criterion for the stable growth of open hemispherical pits is developed; the criterion states that the product of current density and pit depth must exceed a certain minimum value, to sustain rapid dissolution. Analysis of the transients from metastable pits shows that these pits fall short of this minimum, as do stable pits initially. The growth of these pits thus requires the presence of another barrier to diffusion, which is thought to be a remnant of the passive film; this forms a flawed cover over the pit mouth. When this cover ruptures under the influence of osmotic pressure, the pit repassivates. Pits growing at higher current densities approach the minimum requirement for stable growth more closely. A ''pitting potential'' results from the effect that metastable pits formed at more positive potentials grow at higher current densities, and are thus more likely to grow into stable pits. The effect of potential on the current density does not result from either activation control or ohmic control; rather, the pits grow under diffusion control. A change, with potential, of the type of pit site which can be activated, causes the potential dependence of the distribution of current densities in metastable pits. Although the distribution of current densities changes with potential, each metastable pit grows under diffusion control with a current density which is independent of the potential; this is confirmed by polarisation tests on growing metastable pits

A modified discrete algebraic reconstruction technique for multiple grey image reconstruction for limited angle range tomography.

Science.gov (United States)

Liang, Zhiting; Guan, Yong; Liu, Gang; Chen, Xiangyu; Li, Fahu; Guo, Pengfei; Tian, Yangchao

2016-03-01

The `missing wedge', which is due to a restricted rotation range, is a major challenge for quantitative analysis of an object using tomography. With prior knowledge of the grey levels, the discrete algebraic reconstruction technique (DART) is able to reconstruct objects accurately with projections in a limited angle range. However, the quality of the reconstructions declines as the number of grey levels increases. In this paper, a modified DART (MDART) was proposed, in which each independent region of homogeneous material was chosen as a research object, instead of the grey values. The grey values of each discrete region were estimated according to the solution of the linear projection equations. The iterative process of boundary pixels updating and correcting the grey values of each region was executed alternately. Simulation experiments of binary phantoms as well as multiple grey phantoms show that MDART is capable of achieving high-quality reconstructions with projections in a limited angle range. The interesting advancement of MDART is that neither prior knowledge of the grey values nor the number of grey levels is necessary.

Pit 9 project: A private sector initiative

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Macdonald, D.W.; Hughes, F.P.; Burton, B.N.

1993-01-01

This report discusses the Pit 9 Comprehensive Demonstration which is intended to demonstrate a cost-effective approach to remediate an Idaho National Engineering Laboratory (INEL) waste disposal pit through a Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act (CERCLA) Interim Action. The remediation will include additional requirements, if needed, to provide high confidence that only minor additional work would be necessary to accomplish the final closure as part of the overall final closure strategy for the INEL's Subsurface Disposal Area (SDA)

Shape-based interpolation of multidimensional grey-level images

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Grevera, G.J.; Udupa, J.K.

1996-01-01

Shape-based interpolation as applied to binary images causes the interpolation process to be influenced by the shape of the object. It accomplishes this by first applying a distance transform to the data. This results in the creation of a grey-level data set in which the value at each point represents the minimum distance from that point to the surface of the object. (By convention, points inside the object are assigned positive values; points outside are assigned negative values.) This distance transformed data set is then interpolated using linear or higher-order interpolation and is then thresholded at a distance value of zero to produce the interpolated binary data set. In this paper, the authors describe a new method that extends shape-based interpolation to grey-level input data sets. This generalization consists of first lifting the n-dimensional (n-D) image data to represent it as a surface, or equivalently as a binary image, in an (n + 1)-dimensional [(n + 1)-D] space. The binary shape-based method is then applied to this image to create an (n + 1)-D binary interpolated image. Finally, this image is collapsed (inverse of lifting) to create the n-D interpolated grey-level data set. The authors have conducted several evaluation studies involving patient computed tomography (CT) and magnetic resonance (MR) data as well as mathematical phantoms. They all indicate that the new method produces more accurate results than commonly used grey-level linear interpolation methods, although at the cost of increased computation

OpenSIGLE - Crossroads for Libraries, Research and Educational Institutions in the field of Grey Literature

OpenAIRE

Farace, Dominic J. (GreyNet); Frantzen, Jerry (GreyNet); Stock, Christiane (INIST-CNRS); Henrot, Nathalie (INIST-CNRS); Schöpfel, Joachim (University of Lille); GreyNet, Grey Literature Network Service

2009-01-01

This poster is based on a paper presented at the Tenth International Conference on Grey Literature (GL10) in which GreyNet's collections of conference preprints were made accessible via the OpenSIGLE Repository. OpenSIGLE offers a unique distribution channel for European grey literature with roots dating back a quarter century. The experience of INIST as service provider and GreyNet as data provider will be further discussed including recent developments. The poster closes...

Nucleation sites of Ge nanoislands grown on pit-patterned Si substrate prepared by electron-beam lithography

Science.gov (United States)

Smagina, Zh. V.; Zinovyev, V. A.; Rudin, S. A.; Novikov, P. L.; Rodyakina, E. E.; Dvurechenskii, A. V.

2018-04-01

Regular pit-patterned Si(001) substrates were prepared by electron-beam lithography followed by plasma chemical etching. The geometry of the pits was controlled by varying the etching conditions and the electron-beam exposure duration. It was shown that the location of three-dimensional (3D) Ge nanoislands subsequently grown on the pit-patterned Si substrates depends on the shape of the pit bottom. In the case of pits having a sharp bottom, 3D Ge islands nucleate inside the pits. For pits with a wide flat bottom, the 3D Ge island nucleation takes place at the pit periphery. This effect is attributed to the strain relaxation depending not only on the initial pit shape, but also on its evolution during the Ge wetting layer deposition. It was shown by Monte Carlo simulations that in the case of a pit with a pointed bottom, the relaxation is most effective inside the pit, while for a pit with a wide bottom, the most relaxed area migrates during Ge deposition from the pit bottom to its edges, where 3D Ge islands nucleate.

Pitting Corrosion Topography Characteristics and Evolution Laws of LC4 Aluminum Alloy in Service Environment

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

LIU Zhiguo

2017-08-01

Full Text Available Aircraft aluminum alloy is easy to initiate pitting corrosion in the service environment, the pitting corrosion topography characteristics could directly affect the fatigue mechanical property of structure material. In order to obtain the pitting corrosion topography characteristics of LC4 aluminum alloy in the service environment, the accelerated corrosion test was carried out along the accelerated corrosion test environment spectrum which imitated the service environment spectrum, and the corrosion topography characteristic parameters of corrosion pit depth H,corrosion pit surface length L and corrosion pit surface width W were defined respectively. During the corrosion test process,the three parameters of typical corrosion pit were successively measured in different equivalent corrosion years for obtaining the corrosion pit damage size data, then the data were analysed through the statistics method and fractal theory. Further more in order to gain the pit topography characteristics in the same equivalent corrosion year and the topography evolution laws during different equivalent corrosion years were gained. The analysis results indicate that LC4 aluminum alloy corrosion pit topography characteristics in the service environment include the following:firstly, the pit topography characteristic parameters conform to the lognormal distributions in the same equivalent corrosion years; secondly,the pit topography characteristic parameters gradually reflect the fractal feature in accordance with the equivalent corrosion year increment, and the pits tend to be shallow, long and moderate wide topography character.

Large heterogeneities in comet 67P as revealed by active pits from sinkhole collapse.

Science.gov (United States)

Vincent, Jean-Baptiste; Bodewits, Dennis; Besse, Sébastien; Sierks, Holger; Barbieri, Cesare; Lamy, Philippe; Rodrigo, Rafael; Koschny, Detlef; Rickman, Hans; Keller, Horst Uwe; Agarwal, Jessica; A'Hearn, Michael F; Auger, Anne-Thérèse; Barucci, M Antonella; Bertaux, Jean-Loup; Bertini, Ivano; Capanna, Claire; Cremonese, Gabriele; Da Deppo, Vania; Davidsson, Björn; Debei, Stefano; De Cecco, Mariolino; El-Maarry, Mohamed Ramy; Ferri, Francesca; Fornasier, Sonia; Fulle, Marco; Gaskell, Robert; Giacomini, Lorenza; Groussin, Olivier; Guilbert-Lepoutre, Aurélie; Gutierrez-Marques, P; Gutiérrez, Pedro J; Güttler, Carsten; Hoekzema, Nick; Höfner, Sebastian; Hviid, Stubbe F; Ip, Wing-Huen; Jorda, Laurent; Knollenberg, Jörg; Kovacs, Gabor; Kramm, Rainer; Kührt, Ekkehard; Küppers, Michael; La Forgia, Fiorangela; Lara, Luisa M; Lazzarin, Monica; Lee, Vicky; Leyrat, Cédric; Lin, Zhong-Yi; Lopez Moreno, Josè J; Lowry, Stephen; Magrin, Sara; Maquet, Lucie; Marchi, Simone; Marzari, Francesco; Massironi, Matteo; Michalik, Harald; Moissl, Richard; Mottola, Stefano; Naletto, Giampiero; Oklay, Nilda; Pajola, Maurizio; Preusker, Frank; Scholten, Frank; Thomas, Nicolas; Toth, Imre; Tubiana, Cecilia

2015-07-02

Pits have been observed on many cometary nuclei mapped by spacecraft. It has been argued that cometary pits are a signature of endogenic activity, rather than impact craters such as those on planetary and asteroid surfaces. Impact experiments and models cannot reproduce the shapes of most of the observed cometary pits, and the predicted collision rates imply that few of the pits are related to impacts. Alternative mechanisms like explosive activity have been suggested, but the driving process remains unknown. Here we report that pits on comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko are active, and probably created by a sinkhole process, possibly accompanied by outbursts. We argue that after formation, pits expand slowly in diameter, owing to sublimation-driven retreat of the walls. Therefore, pits characterize how eroded the surface is: a fresh cometary surface will have a ragged structure with many pits, while an evolved surface will look smoother. The size and spatial distribution of pits imply that large heterogeneities exist in the physical, structural or compositional properties of the first few hundred metres below the current nucleus surface.

Copper Tube Pitting in Santa Fe Municipal Water Caused by Microbial Induced Corrosion.

Science.gov (United States)

Burleigh, Thomas D; Gierke, Casey G; Fredj, Narjes; Boston, Penelope J

2014-06-05

Many copper water lines for municipal drinking water in Santa Fe, New Mexico USA, have developed pinhole leaks. The pitting matches the description of Type I pitting of copper, which has historically been attributed to water chemistry and to contaminants on the copper tubing surface. However, more recent studies attribute copper pitting to microbial induced corrosion (MIC). In order to test for microbes, the copper tubing was fixed in hexamethyldisilazane (HMDS), then the tops of the corrosion mounds were broken open, and the interior of the corrosion pits were examined with scanning electron microscopy (SEM). The analysis found that microbes resembling actinobacteria were deep inside the pits and wedged between the crystallographic planes of the corroded copper grains. The presence of actinobacteria confirms the possibility that the cause of this pitting corrosion was MIC. This observation provides better understanding and new methods for preventing the pitting of copper tubing in municipal water.

Copper Tube Pitting in Santa Fe Municipal Water Caused by Microbial Induced Corrosion

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Thomas D. Burleigh

2014-06-01

Full Text Available Many copper water lines for municipal drinking water in Santa Fe, New Mexico USA, have developed pinhole leaks. The pitting matches the description of Type I pitting of copper, which has historically been attributed to water chemistry and to contaminants on the copper tubing surface. However, more recent studies attribute copper pitting to microbial induced corrosion (MIC. In order to test for microbes, the copper tubing was fixed in hexamethyldisilazane (HMDS, then the tops of the corrosion mounds were broken open, and the interior of the corrosion pits were examined with scanning electron microscopy (SEM. The analysis found that microbes resembling actinobacteria were deep inside the pits and wedged between the crystallographic planes of the corroded copper grains. The presence of actinobacteria confirms the possibility that the cause of this pitting corrosion was MIC. This observation provides better understanding and new methods for preventing the pitting of copper tubing in municipal water.

Markov chain model helps predict pitting corrosion depth and rate in underground pipelines

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Caleyo, F.; Velazquez, J.C.; Hallen, J. M. [ESIQIE, Instituto Politecnico Nacional, Mexico D. F. (Mexico); Esquivel-Amezcua, A. [PEMEX PEP Region Sur, Villahermosa, Tabasco (Mexico); Valor, A. [Universidad de la Habana, Vedado, La Habana (Cuba)

2010-07-01

Recent reports place pipeline corrosion costs in North America at seven billion dollars per year. Pitting corrosion causes the higher percentage of failures among other corrosion mechanisms. This has motivated multiple modelling studies to be focused on corrosion pitting of underground pipelines. In this study, a continuous-time, non-homogenous pure birth Markov chain serves to model external pitting corrosion in buried pipelines. The analytical solution of Kolmogorov's forward equations for this type of Markov process gives the transition probability function in a discrete space of pit depths. The transition probability function can be completely identified by making a correlation between the stochastic pit depth mean and the deterministic mean obtained experimentally. The model proposed in this study can be applied to pitting corrosion data from repeated in-line pipeline inspections. Case studies presented in this work show how pipeline inspection and maintenance planning can be improved by using the proposed Markovian model for pitting corrosion.

Norm Levels in Mine Pit Lakes in South-Western Spain

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Manjón, G.; Galván, J.; Mantero, J.; Díaz, I.; García-Tenorio, R.

2015-01-01

Former mining activities in a pyritic area in south-western Spain have generated mine pits in which underground water and rainwater has accumulated. The accumulated waters have produced oxidation of the pyrite and, consequently, the pit water has become acidic, causing the dissolution of metals and radionuclides of natural origin. The paper discusses the activity concentration levels of uranium isotopes and other radionuclides in water samples and sediments collected from these mine pit lakes. Tributaries of the nearby Odiel River, when crossing the mining area, show low pH values and high concentrations of uranium isotopes due to acid mine drainage. Through the analysis of several isotope activity ratios, the presence of radionuclides in the pit lakes and the influence of these radionuclides on the surrounding area and the Odiel River are evaluated. (author)

Numerical simulation of the double pits stress concentration in a curved casing inner surface

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Wei Yan

2016-12-01

Full Text Available Sour or sweet oil fields development is common in recent years. Casing and tubing are usually subjected to pitting corrosion because of exposure to the strong corrosion species, such as CO2, H2S, and saline water. When the corrosion pits formed in the casing inner surface, localized stress concentration will occur and the casing strength will be degraded. Thus, it is essential to evaluate the degree of stress concentration factor accurately. This article performed a numerical simulation on double pits stress concentration factor in a curved inner surface using the finite element software ABAQUS. The results show that the stress concentration factor of double pits mainly depends on the ratio of two pits distance to the pit radius (L/R. It should not be only assessed by the absolute distance between the two pits. When the two pits are close and tangent, the maximum stress concentration factor will appear on the inner tangential edges. Stress concentration increased by double pits in a curved casing inner surface is more serious than that in a flat surface. A correction factor of 1.9 was recommended in the curved inner surface double pits stress concentration factor predict model.

Clinical nursing and midwifery research: grey literature in African countries.

Science.gov (United States)

Sun, C; Dohrn, J; Omoni, G; Malata, A; Klopper, H; Larson, E

2016-03-01

This study reviewed grey literature to assess clinical nursing and midwifery research conducted in southern and eastern African countries over the past decade. The shortage of published nursing research from African countries severely limits the ability of practicing nurses and midwives to base clinical decisions on solid evidence. However, little is known regarding unpublished or unindexed clinical research ('grey literature'), a potentially rich source of information. Identifying these sources may reveal resources to assist nurses in providing evidence-based care. This scoping review of grey literature on clinical nursing and midwifery research in southern and eastern African countries helped to identify gaps in research and assess whether these gaps differ from published research. Systematic searches of grey literature were performed. Research was included if it was conducted by nurses in 1 of 25 southern or eastern African countries, between 2004 and 2014 and included patient outcomes. Data were extracted on location, institution, research topic, institutional connections and author information. Chi-square tests were performed to compare differences between indexed and non-indexed literature. We found 262 studies by 287 authors from 17 southern and eastern African countries covering 13 topics. Although all topics were also found in indexed literature and there were statistically significant differences between the number of times, fewer topics were covered in grey literature vs. indexed. Patient satisfaction and experience and traditional health practices were more likely to be published, whereas chronic disease, assault and paediatric-related research were less often published. Generally, there is a paucity of clinical nursing research in this region. This could reflect the shortage of nurses prepared to conduct research in this region. Nurses may find additional resources for evidence in the grey literature. A complete understanding of the state of nursing

TRANSITIONS IN ELECTROCHEMICAL NOISE DURING PITTING CORROSION OF ALUMINUM IN CHLORIDE ENVIRONMENTS

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

SASAKI, K.; ISAACS, H.S.; LEVY, P.W.

2001-01-01

Aluminum, in a chloride containing solutions close to its pitting potential, shows vigorous fluctuations in current and potential. Measurements have been made of the freely corroding potential, and the currents between interconnected electrodes. It is shown that there is a transition in the behavior of the transients. The transition occurs when multiple active pits are present and electrochemical communication occurs between them. The major source of current and potential transients is the growth process in the active pits rather than meta-stable pitting at the passive surface

TRANSITIONS IN ELECTROCHEMICAL NOISE DURING PITTING CORROSION OF ALUMINUM IN CHLORIDE ENVIRONMENTS.

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

SASAKI,K.; ISAACS,H.S.; LEVY,P.W.

2001-09-02

Aluminum, in a chloride containing solutions close to its pitting potential, shows vigorous fluctuations in current and potential. Measurements have been made of the freely corroding potential, and the currents between interconnected electrodes. It is shown that there is a transition in the behavior of the transients. The transition occurs when multiple active pits are present and electrochemical communication occurs between them. The major source of current and potential transients is the growth process in the active pits rather than meta-stable pitting at the passive surface.

Application of Surpac and Whittle Software in Open Pit Optimisation ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

Application of Surpac and Whittle Software in Open Pit Optimisation and Design. ... This paper studies the Surpac and Whittle software and their application in designing an optimised pit. ... EMAIL FREE FULL TEXT EMAIL FREE FULL TEXT

Pitting corrosion of zirconium in aqueous solution

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

El Shayeb, H.A.; Abd El Wahab, F.M.; Abd Elk Meguid, E.A.

1994-01-01

The open circuit potentials of the Zr electrode are followed as a function of time in various aqueous solutions till attainment of steady state values.The results are discussed on the basis of oxide film thickening and repair. Pitting corrosion of Zr was examined in chloride solutions using the potentiodynamic technique. The effect of some inorganic and organic additives was also investigated for inhibiting the pitting corrosion of Zr and the relative performance is presented and discussed. (author). 21 refs., 6 figs., 1 tab

PIT Coating Requirements Analysis

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

MINTEER, D.J.

2000-01-01

This study identifies the applicable requirements for procurement and installation of a coating intended for tank farm valve and pump pit interior surfaces. These requirements are intended to be incorporated into project specification documents and design media. This study also evaluates previously recommended coatings and identifies requirement-compliant coating products

PIT Coating Requirements Analysis

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

MINTEER, D.J.

2000-10-20

This study identifies the applicable requirements for procurement and installation of a coating intended for tank farm valve and pump pit interior surfaces. These requirements are intended to be incorporated into project specification documents and design media. This study also evaluates previously recommended coatings and identifies requirement-compliant coating products.

Grey situation group decision-making method based on prospect theory.

Science.gov (United States)

Zhang, Na; Fang, Zhigeng; Liu, Xiaqing

2014-01-01

This paper puts forward a grey situation group decision-making method on the basis of prospect theory, in view of the grey situation group decision-making problems that decisions are often made by multiple decision experts and those experts have risk preferences. The method takes the positive and negative ideal situation distance as reference points, defines positive and negative prospect value function, and introduces decision experts' risk preference into grey situation decision-making to make the final decision be more in line with decision experts' psychological behavior. Based on TOPSIS method, this paper determines the weight of each decision expert, sets up comprehensive prospect value matrix for decision experts' evaluation, and finally determines the optimal situation. At last, this paper verifies the effectiveness and feasibility of the method by means of a specific example.

Pitting morphologies of zirconium base alloys in aqueous and non aqueous chloride media

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Palit, G.C.; Gadiyar, H.S.

1988-01-01

Pitting morphology of zirconium and Zr-Cr alloys in aqueous chloride and nonaqueous methanol + 0.4 per cent HCl solution was investigated and observed to follow different modes in these two environments. While in aqueous chloride solution pitting was transgranular and randomly oriented, in methanol-chloride solution pits were observed to initiate and propagate along the grain boundaries. In aqueous chloride solution very irregular and sponge like zirconium metal was formed inside the pit while in methanol-chloride solution the pits were crystallographic in nature. Optical microscopy has revealed that pits preferentially initiate and propagate along scratch line in aqueous chloride solution, but such was not the case in nonaqueous methanol-chloride solution. The nature and the mechanism operating in the catastropic failure of these materials are investigated. (author). 10 refs., 11 figs

Pitting Corrosion Behaviour of New Corrosion-Resistant Reinforcement Bars in Chloride-Containing Concrete Pore Solution.

Science.gov (United States)

Jiang, Jin-Yang; Liu, Yao; Chu, Hong-Yan; Wang, Danqian; Ma, Han; Sun, Wei

2017-08-04

In this study, the pitting behaviour of a new corrosion-resistant alloy steel (CR) is compared to that of low-carbon steel (LC) in a simulated concrete pore solution with a chloride concentration of 5 mol/L. The electrochemical behaviour of the bars was characterised using linear polarisation resistance (LPR) and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS). The pitting profiles were detected by reflective digital holographic microscopy (DHM), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), and the chemical components produced in the pitting process were analysed by X-ray energy dispersive spectroscopy (EDS). The results show that the CR bars have a higher resistance to pitting corrosion than the LC bars. This is primarily because of the periodic occurrence of metastable pitting during pitting development. Compared to the pitting process in the LC bars, the pitting depth grows slowly in the CR bars, which greatly reduces the risk of pitting. The possible reason for this result is that the capability of the CR bars to heal the passivation film helps to restore the metastable pits to the passivation state.

A New Algorithm for Determining Ultimate Pit Limits Based on Network Optimization

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Ali Asghar Khodayari

2013-12-01

Full Text Available One of the main concerns of the mining industry is to determine ultimate pit limits. Final pit is a collection of blocks, which can be removed with maximum profit while following restrictions on the slope of the mine’s walls. The size, location and final shape of an open-pit are very important in designing the location of waste dumps, stockpiles, processing plants, access roads and other surface facilities as well as in developing a production program. There are numerous methods for designing ultimate pit limits. Some of these methods, such as floating cone algorithm, are heuristic and do not guarantee to generate optimum pit limits. Other methods, like Lerchs–Grossmann algorithm, are rigorous and always generate the true optimum pit limits. In this paper, a new rigorous algorithm is introduced. The main logic in this method is that only positive blocks, which can pay costs of their overlying non-positive blocks, are able to appear in the final pit. Those costs may be paid either by positive block itself or jointly with other positive blocks, which have the same overlying negative blocks. This logic is formulated using a network model as a Linear Programming (LP problem. This algorithm can be applied to two- and three-dimension block models. Since there are many commercial programs available for solving LP problems, pit limits in large block models can be determined easily by using this method.

A Decision-Making Method with Grey Multi-Source Heterogeneous Data and Its Application in Green Supplier Selection

Science.gov (United States)

Dang, Yaoguo; Mao, Wenxin

2018-01-01

In view of the multi-attribute decision-making problem that the attribute values are grey multi-source heterogeneous data, a decision-making method based on kernel and greyness degree is proposed. The definitions of kernel and greyness degree of an extended grey number in a grey multi-source heterogeneous data sequence are given. On this basis, we construct the kernel vector and greyness degree vector of the sequence to whiten the multi-source heterogeneous information, then a grey relational bi-directional projection ranking method is presented. Considering the multi-attribute multi-level decision structure and the causalities between attributes in decision-making problem, the HG-DEMATEL method is proposed to determine the hierarchical attribute weights. A green supplier selection example is provided to demonstrate the rationality and validity of the proposed method. PMID:29510521

A Decision-Making Method with Grey Multi-Source Heterogeneous Data and Its Application in Green Supplier Selection.

Science.gov (United States)

Sun, Huifang; Dang, Yaoguo; Mao, Wenxin

2018-03-03

In view of the multi-attribute decision-making problem that the attribute values are grey multi-source heterogeneous data, a decision-making method based on kernel and greyness degree is proposed. The definitions of kernel and greyness degree of an extended grey number in a grey multi-source heterogeneous data sequence are given. On this basis, we construct the kernel vector and greyness degree vector of the sequence to whiten the multi-source heterogeneous information, then a grey relational bi-directional projection ranking method is presented. Considering the multi-attribute multi-level decision structure and the causalities between attributes in decision-making problem, the HG-DEMATEL method is proposed to determine the hierarchical attribute weights. A green supplier selection example is provided to demonstrate the rationality and validity of the proposed method.

Increased Grey Matter Associated with Long-Term Sahaja Yoga Meditation: A Voxel-Based Morphometry Study.

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Sergio Elías Hernández

Full Text Available To investigate regional differences in grey matter volume associated with the practice of Sahaja Yoga Meditation.Twenty three experienced practitioners of Sahaja Yoga Meditation and twenty three non-meditators matched on age, gender and education level, were scanned using structural Magnetic Resonance Imaging and their grey matter volume were compared using Voxel-Based Morphometry.Grey matter volume was larger in meditators relative to non-meditators across the whole brain. In addition, grey matter volume was larger in several predominantly right hemispheric regions: in insula, ventromedial orbitofrontal cortex, inferior temporal and parietal cortices as well as in left ventrolateral prefrontal cortex and left insula. No areas with larger grey matter volume were found in non-meditators relative to meditators.The study shows that long-term practice of Sahaja Yoga Meditation is associated with larger grey matter volume overall, and with regional enlargement in several right hemispheric cortical and subcortical brain regions that are associated with sustained attention, self-control, compassion and interoceptive perception. The increased grey matter volume in these attention and self-control mediating regions suggests use-dependent enlargement with regular practice of this meditation.

Increased Grey Matter Associated with Long-Term Sahaja Yoga Meditation: A Voxel-Based Morphometry Study.

Science.gov (United States)

Hernández, Sergio Elías; Suero, José; Barros, Alfonso; González-Mora, José Luis; Rubia, Katya

2016-01-01

To investigate regional differences in grey matter volume associated with the practice of Sahaja Yoga Meditation. Twenty three experienced practitioners of Sahaja Yoga Meditation and twenty three non-meditators matched on age, gender and education level, were scanned using structural Magnetic Resonance Imaging and their grey matter volume were compared using Voxel-Based Morphometry. Grey matter volume was larger in meditators relative to non-meditators across the whole brain. In addition, grey matter volume was larger in several predominantly right hemispheric regions: in insula, ventromedial orbitofrontal cortex, inferior temporal and parietal cortices as well as in left ventrolateral prefrontal cortex and left insula. No areas with larger grey matter volume were found in non-meditators relative to meditators. The study shows that long-term practice of Sahaja Yoga Meditation is associated with larger grey matter volume overall, and with regional enlargement in several right hemispheric cortical and subcortical brain regions that are associated with sustained attention, self-control, compassion and interoceptive perception. The increased grey matter volume in these attention and self-control mediating regions suggests use-dependent enlargement with regular practice of this meditation.

Analysis of two Pit-1 gene polymorphisms: Single nucleotide ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

Pit-1 is a pituitary-specific transcription factor responsible for pituitary development and hormone expression in mammals. Pit-1 is a member of the POU domain containing proteins, a group of transcriptional regulators with a critical role in cell differentiation and proliferation. It was shown that this group of proteins control the ...

INFLUENCE OF PIT WALL ANCHORAGE ONTO ADDITIONAL DEFORMATIONS OF EXISTING BUILDINGS

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Kubetskiy Valeriy Leonidovich

2012-07-01

Assessment of additional projected deformations of buildings located in close proximity to pits is exemplified by the specific structure of the pit support system that has active PIT [1] anchors. The authors also consider the influence produced by the structure of anchors onto the two buildings located within the area of influence of the excavation works and protected by the anchors installed underneath the foundations of the two adjacent buildings.

Complement is activated in progressive multiple sclerosis cortical grey matter lesions.

Science.gov (United States)

Watkins, Lewis M; Neal, James W; Loveless, Sam; Michailidou, Iliana; Ramaglia, Valeria; Rees, Mark I; Reynolds, Richard; Robertson, Neil P; Morgan, B Paul; Howell, Owain W

2016-06-22

The symptoms of multiple sclerosis (MS) are caused by damage to myelin and nerve cells in the brain and spinal cord. Inflammation is tightly linked with neurodegeneration, and it is the accumulation of neurodegeneration that underlies increasing neurological disability in progressive MS. Determining pathological mechanisms at play in MS grey matter is therefore a key to our understanding of disease progression. We analysed complement expression and activation by immunocytochemistry and in situ hybridisation in frozen or formalin-fixed paraffin-embedded post-mortem tissue blocks from 22 progressive MS cases and made comparisons to inflammatory central nervous system disease and non-neurological disease controls. Expression of the transcript for C1qA was noted in neurons and the activation fragment and opsonin C3b-labelled neurons and glia in the MS cortical and deep grey matter. The density of immunostained cells positive for the classical complement pathway protein C1q and the alternative complement pathway activation fragment Bb was significantly increased in cortical grey matter lesions in comparison to control grey matter. The number of cells immunostained for the membrane attack complex was elevated in cortical lesions, indicating complement activation to completion. The numbers of classical (C1-inhibitor) and alternative (factor H) pathway regulator-positive cells were unchanged between MS and controls, whilst complement anaphylatoxin receptor-bearing microglia in the MS cortex were found closely apposed to cortical neurons. Complement immunopositive neurons displayed an altered nuclear morphology, indicative of cell stress/damage, supporting our finding of significant neurodegeneration in cortical grey matter lesions. Complement is activated in the MS cortical grey matter lesions in areas of elevated numbers of complement receptor-positive microglia and suggests that complement over-activation may contribute to the worsening pathology that underlies the

Critical pitting temperature for Type 254 SMO stainless steel in chloride solutions

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Abd El Meguid, E.A.; Abd El Latif, A.A.

2007-01-01

The variation with time of the open circuit potential of high molybdenum containing stainless steel (Type 254 SMO) was measured in 4% sodium chloride solution in the temperatures range 30-100 deg. C. The plot of steady state potentials as function of temperature showed an inflection at 50 deg. C, attributed to the decrease of oxygen solubility in test solution above 50 deg. C. Potentiodynamic cycling anodic polarization technique was used to determine the critical pitting potential (E pit ) and the critical protection potential (E prot ) of the steel in 4-30% NaCl solutions at temperatures between 30 and 100 deg. C. By plotting the two values versus solution temperature, the corresponding critical pitting (CPT) and the critical protection (CPrT) temperatures were determined. Both parameters decreased with increasing chloride content. Above the CPT, E pit and E prot decreased linearly with log[Cl - ]. The addition of bromide ions to the solution shifted both E pit and E prot towards positive values. In 4% NaCl, E pit increased linearly with pH in the range 1-10. The combined effect of chloride ion concentration and pH on the morphology of the pits was examined by scanning electron microscopy (SEM) following potentiodynamic cycling anodic polarization

Forecasting Performance of Grey Prediction for Education Expenditure and School Enrollment

Science.gov (United States)

Tang, Hui-Wen Vivian; Yin, Mu-Shang

2012-01-01

GM(1,1) and GM(1,1) rolling models derived from grey system theory were estimated using time-series data from projection studies by National Center for Education Statistics (NCES). An out-of-sample forecasting competition between the two grey prediction models and exponential smoothing used by NCES was conducted for education expenditure and…

Inspecting a research reactor's control rod surface for pitting using a machine vision

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Tokuhiro, Akira T.; Vadakattu, Shreekanth

2005-01-01

Inspection for pits on the control rod is performed to study the degradation of the control rod material which helps estimating the service life of the control rod at UMR nuclear reactor (UMRR). This inspection task is visually inspected and recorded subjectively. The conventional visual inspection to identify pits on the control rod surface can be automated using machine vision technique. Since the in-service control rods were not available to capture images and measure number of pits and size of the pits, the applicability of machine vision method was applied on SAE 1018 steel coupons immersed in oxygen saturated de-ionized water at 30deg, 50deg and 70deg. Images were captured after each test cycle at different light intensity to reveal surface topography of the coupon surface and analyzed for number of pits and pit size using EPIX XCAP-Std software. The captured and analyzed images provided quantitative results for the steel coupons and demonstrated that the method can be applied for identifying pits on control rod surface in place of conventional visual inspection. (author)

Initiation and inhibition of pitting corrosion on reinforcing steel under natural corrosion conditions

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Abd El Wanees, S., E-mail: s_wanees@yahoo.com [Chemistry Department, Faculty of Science, University of Tabuk, Tabuk (Saudi Arabia); Chemistry Department, Faculty of Science, Zagazig University, Zagazig 44519 (Egypt); Bahgat Radwan, A. [Center for Advanced Materials, Qatar University, Doha 2713 (Qatar); Alsharif, M.A. [Chemistry Department, Faculty of Science, University of Tabuk, Tabuk (Saudi Arabia); Abd El Haleem, S.M. [Chemistry Department, Faculty of Science, Zagazig University, Zagazig 44519 (Egypt)

2017-04-01

Initiation and inhibition of pitting corrosion on reinforcing steel in saturated, naturally aerated Ca(OH){sub 2} solutions, under natural corrosion conditions, are followed through measurements of corrosion current, electrochemical impedance spectroscopy and SEM investigation. Induction period for pit initiation and limiting corrosion current for pit propagation are found to depend on aggressive salt anion and cation-types, as well as, concentration. Ammonium chlorides and sulfates are more corrosive than the corresponding sodium salts. Benzotriazole and two of its derivatives are found to be good inhibitors for pitting corrosion of reinforcing steel. Adsorption of these compounds follows a Langmuir adsorption isotherm. The thermodynamic functions ΔE{sup ∗}, ΔH{sup ∗} and ΔS{sup ∗} for pitting corrosion processes in the absence and presence of inhibitor are calculated and discussed. - Highlights: • Cl{sup −} and SO{sub 4} {sup 2-} induce pitting corrosion on passive reinforcing steel. • Initiation and propagation of pitting depend on cation and anion types. • Inhibition is based on adsorption according to Langmuir isotherm.

Pit membranes of Ephedra resemble gymnosperms more than angiosperms

Science.gov (United States)

Roland Dute; Lauren Bowen; Sarah Schier; Alexa Vevon; Troy Best; Maria Auad; Thomas Elder; Pauline Bouche; Steven Jansen

2014-01-01

Bordered pit pairs of Ephedra species were characterized using different types of microscopy. Pit membranes contained tori that did not stain for lignin. SEM and AFM views of the torus surface showed no plasmodesmatal openings, but branched, secondary plasmodesmata were occasionally noted using TEM in conjunction with ultrathin sections. The margo consisted of radial...

Formation of primary pit connection during conchocelis phase of Porphyra yezoensis (Bangiophyceae, Rhodophyta)

Science.gov (United States)

Shual, Li; Jiang, Ming; Duan, Delin

2006-09-01

The formation of pit connection during conchocelis phase of Porphyra yezoensis Ueda was observed and examined with transmission electron microscope (TEM) and epifluorence microscope. It is indicated that the pit connection was formed in late stage of conchocelis phase and the early stages of conchosporangial cell development, and disappeared in bispore stage. The pit connection contained a thin membrane layer at outer pit plug. Stained with 4', 6'-diamidino-2-phenylidole dihydrochloride hydrate (DAPI), transferring of DNA or RNA between adjacent cells were observed in late stage of conchocelis development, it was deduced that pit connection might serve as a channel for signal transduction and genetic substance transportation in conchocelis phase.

New diagnostic technology and hidden pits and fissures caries

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Fabrizio Guerra

2015-10-01

Full Text Available The accuracy in pits and fissures caries detection is of paramount importance in dental caries primary and secondary prevention. A combination of visual examination and probing is currently the mainstay of occlusal caries diagnosis. Unfortunately, these types of inspection alone may leave a certain number of pit and fissure caries undetected. The Vista Cam iX fluorescence camera (Durr Dental, Bietigheim-Bissingen, Germany is a novel dental diagnostic tool for quantitative assessment of dental caries with high specificity for carious lesions detection. In the presented cases photographic images, representing the visual diagnostic approach, are applied as integration to VistaCam iX Proof images. A step-by-step sequence of inspection and assessment of operative treatment need is presented in a case of hidden pit and fissure caries on a permanent molar. Based on the reported case, it could be observed that VistaCam iX Proof shows promising results in hidden pits and fissures caries detection and could be considered a non-invasive examination method that facilitate the detection of early lesions and a potential diagnostic aid.

Does the inclusion of grey literature influence estimates of intervention effectiveness reported in meta-analyses?

Science.gov (United States)

McAuley, L; Pham, B; Tugwell, P; Moher, D

2000-10-07

The inclusion of only a subset of all available evidence in a meta-analysis may introduce biases and threaten its validity; this is particularly likely if the subset of included studies differ from those not included, which may be the case for published and grey literature (unpublished studies, with limited distribution). We set out to examine whether exclusion of grey literature, compared with its inclusion in meta-analysis, provides different estimates of the effectiveness of interventions assessed in randomised trials. From a random sample of 135 meta-analyses, we identified and retrieved 33 publications that included both grey and published primary studies. The 33 publications contributed 41 separate meta-analyses from several disease areas. General characteristics of the meta-analyses and associated studies and outcome data at the trial level were collected. We explored the effects of the inclusion of grey literature on the quantitative results using logistic-regression analyses. 33% of the meta-analyses were found to include some form of grey literature. The grey literature, when included, accounts for between 4.5% and 75% of the studies in a meta-analysis. On average, published work, compared with grey literature, yielded significantly larger estimates of the intervention effect by 15% (ratio of odds ratios=1.15 [95% CI 1.04-1.28]). Excluding abstracts from the analysis further compounded the exaggeration (1.33 [1.10-1.60]). The exclusion of grey literature from meta-analyses can lead to exaggerated estimates of intervention effectiveness. In general, meta-analysts should attempt to identify, retrieve, and include all reports, grey and published, that meet predefined inclusion criteria.

Trends and Consumption Structures of China’s Blue and Grey Water Footprint

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Huixiao Wang

2018-04-01

Full Text Available Water footprint has become a common method to study the water resources utilization in recent years. By using input–output analysis and dilution theory, the internal water footprint, blue water footprint and grey water footprint of China from 2002 to 2012 were estimated, and the consumption structure of water footprint and virtual water trade were analyzed. The results show: (1 From 2002 to 2012, the average annual internal water footprint was 3.83 trillion m3 in China, of which the blue water footprint was 0.25 trillion m3, and the grey water footprint was 3.58 trillion m3 (with Grade III water standard accounting; both the internal water footprint and grey water footprint experienced decreasing trends from 2002 to 2012, except for a dramatic increase in 2010; (2 Average annual virtual blue water footprint was the greatest in agriculture (39.2%, while tertiary industry (27.5% and food and tobacco processing (23.7% were the top two highest for average annual virtual grey water footprint; (3 Virtual blue water footprint in most sectors showed increasing trends due to the increase of final demand, while virtual grey water footprint in most sectors showed decreasing trends due to the decreases of total return water coefficients and conversion coefficients of virtual grey water footprint; (4 For water resources, China was self-reliant: the water used for producing the products and services to meet domestic consumption was taken domestically; meanwhile, China exported virtual water to other countries, which aggravated the water stress in China.

200 West Ash Pit Demolition Site closure plan

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

1992-11-01

The Hanford Facility is owned by the US Government and operated by the US Department of Energy, Richland Field Office. Dangerous waste and mixed waste (containing both radioactive and dangerous components) are managed and produced on the Hanford Facility. Westinghouse Hanford Company is a major contractor to the US Department of Energy, Richland Field Office and serves as cooperator of the 200 West Ash Pit Demolition Site, the unit addressed in this closure plan. The 200 West Ash Pit Demolition Site Closure Plan consists of a Part A Permit Application (Revision 3) and a closure plan. An explanation of the Part A Permit Application revision is provided at the beginning of the Part A section. The closure plan consists of nine chapters and three appendices. This 200 West Ash Pit Demolition Site Closure Plan submittal contains information current as of October 15, 1992

Dependence of quality properties for grey iron on used raw materials

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E. Weiss

2009-01-01

Full Text Available Grey iron castings keep the first place among castings on base of iron. Present trend in growing entrance production costs of cast stock force manufacturer to cost minimizing. Therefore is most actual deal replacement pig iron by steel scrap. In contribution are presented results research work relating to influence of raw materials on grey iron properties.

Differences in regional grey matter volumes in currently ill patients with anorexia nervosa.

Science.gov (United States)

Phillipou, Andrea; Rossell, Susan Lee; Gurvich, Caroline; Castle, David Jonathan; Abel, Larry Allen; Nibbs, Richard Grant; Hughes, Matthew Edward

2018-01-01

Neurobiological findings in anorexia nervosa (AN) are inconsistent, including differences in regional grey matter volumes. Methodological limitations often contribute to the inconsistencies reported. The aim of this study was to improve on these methodologies by utilising voxel-based morphometry (VBM) analysis with the use of diffeomorphic anatomic registration through an exponentiated lie algebra algorithm (DARTEL), in a relatively large group of individuals with AN. Twenty-six individuals with AN and 27 healthy controls underwent a T1-weighted magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scan. AN participants were found to have reduced grey matter volumes in a number of areas including regions of the basal ganglia (including the ventral striatum), and parietal and temporal cortices. Body mass index (BMI) and global scores on the Eating Disorder Examination Questionnaire (EDE-Q) were also found to correlate with grey matter volumes in a region of the brainstem (including the substantia nigra and ventral tegmental area) in AN, and predicted 56% of the variance in grey matter volumes in this area. The brain regions associated with grey matter reductions in AN are consistent with regions responsible for cognitive deficits associated with the illness including anhedonia, deficits in affect perception and saccadic eye movement abnormalities. Overall, the findings suggest reduced grey matter volumes in AN that are associated with eating disorder symptomatology. © 2017 Federation of European Neuroscience Societies and John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

Encoding arbitrary grey-level optical landscapes for trapping and manipulation using GPC

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Alonzo, Carlo Amadeo; Rodrigo, Peter John; Palima, Darwin

2007-01-01

review the analysis of the GPC method with emphasis on efficiently producing speckle-free two-dimensional grey-level light Patterns. Numerical simulations are applied to construct 8-bit grey-level optical potential landscapes with high fidelity and optical throughput via the GPC method. Three types...

Preliminary quantification of a shape model for etch-pits formed during natural weathering of olivine

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Nowicki, M. Anna; Velbel, Michael A.

2011-01-01

Many etch-pits on olivine grains occur as a pair of cone-shaped pits sharing a base, which consequently appear as diamond-shaped etch-pits in cross-section. Quantitative image analysis of back-scattered electron images establishes empirical dimensions of olivine etch-pits in naturally weathered samples from Hawaii and North Carolina. Images of naturally etched olivine were acquired from polished thin-sections by scanning electron microscopy. An average cone-radius-to-height ratio (r:h) of 1.78 was determined for diamond-shaped cross-sections of etch-pits occurring in naturally weathered olivine grains, largely consistent with previous qualitative results. Olivine etch-pit shape as represented by r:h varies from slightly more than half the average value to slightly more than twice the average. Etch-pit shape does not appear to vary systematically with etch-pit size.

Nondestructive testing of hardness of grey iron casts by upper harmonics method

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ershov, R.E.; Ivanenko, T.G.; Kuznetsky, S.S.; Mutovin, V.A.

1982-01-01

The relation between microstructure of grey iron and his surface hardness on the one hand and magnetic characteristics on the other hand has been investigated on toroidal samples. It is shown that surface hardness of grey iron and parameter a in Froelich formula are dependent linearly on the total surface of graphite inclusions. The conclusion was made that the testing of the grey iron hardness better to make by using the phase of the upper harmonics of the output signal of the overlain transducer. The coefficient of the linear correlation between readings corresponding device and the hardness is 0.86. (orig.)

Ecological geology environmental assessment of open-pit mines

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Dong Shuangfa; Jiang Xue

2010-01-01

In this paper, there is a detail description of ecological geology environmental assessment of open-pit mines, including method, process and results. We took ecological geology environmental assessment work on the base of the results of some open-pit mines such as extremely low content magnetite in Hebei Province, inducted and summarized the ecological geology environment quality. The results are reasonable. It provides basic data for the second mines programming in Hebei Province. (authors)

Multiple sclerosis deep grey matter: the relation between demyelination, neurodegeneration, inflammation and iron.

Science.gov (United States)

Haider, Lukas; Simeonidou, Constantina; Steinberger, Günther; Hametner, Simon; Grigoriadis, Nikolaos; Deretzi, Georgia; Kovacs, Gabor G; Kutzelnigg, Alexandra; Lassmann, Hans; Frischer, Josa M

2014-12-01

In multiple sclerosis (MS), diffuse degenerative processes in the deep grey matter have been associated with clinical disabilities. We performed a systematic study in MS deep grey matter with a focus on the incidence and topographical distribution of lesions in relation to white matter and cortex in a total sample of 75 MS autopsy patients and 12 controls. In addition, detailed analyses of inflammation, acute axonal injury, iron deposition and oxidative stress were performed. MS deep grey matter was affected by two different processes: the formation of focal demyelinating lesions and diffuse neurodegeneration. Deep grey matter demyelination was most prominent in the caudate nucleus and hypothalamus and could already be seen in early MS stages. Lesions developed on the background of inflammation. Deep grey matter inflammation was intermediate between low inflammatory cortical lesions and active white matter lesions. Demyelination and neurodegeneration were associated with oxidative injury. Iron was stored primarily within oligodendrocytes and myelin fibres and released upon demyelination. In addition to focal demyelinated plaques, the MS deep grey matter also showed diffuse and global neurodegeneration. This was reflected by a global reduction of neuronal density, the presence of acutely injured axons, and the accumulation of oxidised phospholipids and DNA in neurons, oligodendrocytes and axons. Neurodegeneration was associated with T cell infiltration, expression of inducible nitric oxide synthase in microglia and profound accumulation of iron. Thus, both focal lesions as well as diffuse neurodegeneration in the deep grey matter appeared to contribute to the neurological disabilities of MS patients. Published by the BMJ Publishing Group Limited. For permission to use (where not already granted under a licence) please go to http://group.bmj.com/group/rights-licensing/permissions.

Análise multivariada de atributos nutricionais associados ao "bitter pit" em maçãs 'Gala' Multivariate analysis of nutritional attributes associated with bitter pit in 'Gala' apples

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Cassandro Vidal Talamini do Amarante

2006-05-01

Full Text Available O objetivo deste trabalho foi identificar atributos nutricionais, quantificados na polpa e na casca dos frutos, que melhor discriminam quanto à severidade de "bitter pit" em maçãs 'Gala'. Depois de quatro meses de armazenamento em atmosfera normal (0-1°C; 90-95% UR, os frutos foram separados em quatro lotes, de acordo com a severidade de incidência de "bitter pit": nula (nenhuma lesão por fruto, baixa (1-2 lesões por fruto, moderada (3-4 lesões por fruto e alta (5-13 lesões por fruto. Foram determinados os teores de Ca, Mg, K e N na casca e na polpa em frutos individuais (doze frutos de cada lote. A análise univariada mostrou que os frutos com sintomas de "bitter pit" apresentaram menor teor de Ca na casca e na polpa, maior teor de K na casca e maiores valores das relações K/Ca, Mg/Ca, N/Ca, (K+Mg/Ca e (K+Mg+N/Ca, tanto na casca como na polpa. Todavia, quando todos os atributos nutricionais avaliados na casca e na polpa foram submetidos à análise canônica discriminante (análise multivariada, a melhor discriminação entre frutos sem "bitter pit" e frutos com severidade de incidência de "bitter pit" de baixa a alta é obtida com a relação K/Ca na casca, seguido, em menor grau, pelas relações Mg/Ca e N/Ca na polpa.The objective of this work was to identify nutritional attributes, assessed in the flesh and skin tissues, that provide a better discrimination regarding bitter pit severity in 'Gala' apples. After four months in regular cold storage (0-1°C; 90-95% RH, fruits were segregated into four lots with different levels of bitter pit severity: null (none pit per fruit, low (1-2 pits per fruit, moderate (3-4 pits per fruit, and high (5-13 pits per fruit. Nutritional analysis (Ca, Mg, K and N in the skin and in the flesh tissues were performed on twelve individual fruits of each severity level. The univariate analysis showed that fruits with bitter pit symptoms had lower concentration of Ca in the skin and flesh tissues, a

Modelling prey consumption and switching by UK grey seals

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Smout, Sophie; Rindorf, Anna; Hammond, Philip S.

2014-01-01

Grey seals (Halichoerus grypus) are adaptable generalist predatorswhose diet includes commercial fish species such as cod. Consumption by the seals may reduce the size of some fish stocks or have an adverse effect on stock recovery programmes, especially because predation may trap sparse prey...... populations in a “predator pit”. To assess the likely impact of such effects, it is important to know how consumption and consequent predation mortality respond to the changing availability of prey.Wepresent a model of grey seal consumption as a function of the availability of multiple prey types [a Multi...

Grey Rod Test in HANARO Reactor

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Choo, K. N.; Kim, B. G.; Kang, Y. H. (and others)

2008-08-15

Westinghouse/KAERI/KNF agreed to perform an irradiation test in the HANARO reactor to obtain irradiation data on the new grey rods that will be part of an AP1000 system. As a preliminary test, two samples containing pure Ag (Reference) and Ag-In-Cd materials provided by Westinghouse Electric Company (WEC) were inserted in a KNF irradiation capsule of 07M-13N. The specimens were irradiated for 95.19days (4 cycles) in the CT test hole of the HANARO of a 30MW thermal output to have a fast neutron fluence of 1.11x10{sup 21}(n/cm{sup 2}) (E>1.0MeV). This report provides all the test conditions and data obtained during the irradiation test of the grey rods in HANARO requested by Westinghouse. The test was prepared according to the meeting minutes (June 26, 2007) and the on-going subject test was stopped midway by the request of Westinghouse.

Micro pit formation by mercury-sphere collision

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ishikura, Syuichi; Kogawa, Hiroyuki; Futakawa, Masatoshi; Kaminaga, Masanori; Hino, Ryutaro

2004-01-01

The development of a MW-class spallation neutron source facility is being carried out under the Japan Proton Accelerator Research Complex (J-PARC) Project promoted by JAERI and KEK. A mercury target working as the spallation neutron source will be subjected to pressure waves generated by rapid thermal expansion of mercury due to a pulsed proton beam injection. The pressure wave will impose dynamic stress on the vessel and deform the vessel, which would cause cavitation in mercury. To evaluate the effect of mercury micro jets, driven by cavitation bubble collapse, on the micro-pit formation, analyses on mercury sphere collision were carried out: single bubble dynamics and collision behavior on interface between liquid and solid, which take the nonlinearity due to shock wave in mercury and the strain rate dependency of yield stress in solid metal into account. Analytical results give a good explanation to understand relationship between the micro-pit formation and material properties: the pit size could decrease with increasing the yield strength of materials. (author)

Relationship between foveal cone specialization and pit morphology in albinism.

Science.gov (United States)

Wilk, Melissa A; McAllister, John T; Cooper, Robert F; Dubis, Adam M; Patitucci, Teresa N; Summerfelt, Phyllis; Anderson, Jennifer L; Stepien, Kimberly E; Costakos, Deborah M; Connor, Thomas B; Wirostko, William J; Chiang, Pei-Wen; Dubra, Alfredo; Curcio, Christine A; Brilliant, Murray H; Summers, C Gail; Carroll, Joseph

2014-05-20

Albinism is associated with disrupted foveal development, though intersubject variability is becoming appreciated. We sought to quantify this variability, and examine the relationship between foveal cone specialization and pit morphology in patients with a clinical diagnosis of albinism. We recruited 32 subjects with a clinical diagnosis of albinism. DNA was obtained from 25 subjects, and known albinism genes were analyzed for mutations. Relative inner and outer segment (IS and OS) lengthening (fovea-to-perifovea ratio) was determined from manually segmented spectral domain-optical coherence tomography (SD-OCT) B-scans. Foveal pit morphology was quantified for eight subjects from macular SD-OCT volumes. Ten subjects underwent imaging with adaptive optics scanning light ophthalmoscopy (AOSLO), and cone density was measured. We found mutations in 22 of 25 subjects, including five novel mutations. All subjects lacked complete excavation of inner retinal layers at the fovea, though four subjects had foveal pits with normal diameter and/or volume. Peak cone density and OS lengthening were variable and overlapped with that observed in normal controls. A fifth hyper-reflective band was observed in the outer retina on SD-OCT in the majority of the subjects with albinism. Foveal cone specialization and pit morphology vary greatly in albinism. Normal cone packing was observed in the absence of a foveal pit, suggesting a pit is not required for packing to occur. The degree to which retinal anatomy correlates with genotype or visual function remains unclear, and future examination of larger patient groups will provide important insight on this issue. Copyright 2014 The Association for Research in Vision and Ophthalmology, Inc.

Improved Energy Recovery by Anaerobic Grey Water Sludge Treatment with Black Water

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Tervahauta, T.H.; Bryant, I.M.; Hernandez Leal, L.; Buisman, C.J.N.; Zeeman, G.

2014-01-01

This study presents the potential of combining anaerobic grey water sludge treatment with black water in an up-flow anaerobic sludge blanket (UASB) reactor to improve energy recovery within source-separated sanitation concepts. Black water and the mixture of black water and grey water sludge were

Optimizing the physical conditioning of the NASCAR sprint cup pit crew athlete.

Science.gov (United States)

Ferguson, David P; Davis, Adam M; Lightfoot, J Timothy

2015-03-01

Stock car racing is the largest spectator sport in the United States. As a result, National Association for Stock Car Automobile Racing (NASCAR) Sprint Cup teams have begun to invest in strength and conditioning programs for their pit crew athletes. However, there is limited knowledge regarding the physical characteristics of elite NASCAR pit crew athletes, how the NASCAR Sprint Cup season affects basic physiological parameters such as body composition, and what is the most appropriate physical training program that meets the needs of a pit crew athlete. We conducted 3 experiments involving Sprint Cup motorsport athletes to determine predictors of success at the elite level, seasonal physiological changes, and appropriate physical training programs. Our results showed that hamstring flexibility (p = 0.015) and the score on the 2-tire front run test (p = 0.012) were significant predictors of NASCAR Sprint Cup Pit Crew athlete performance. Additionally, during the off season, pit crew athletes lost lean body mass, which did not return until the middle of the season. Therefore, a strength and conditioning program was developed to optimize pit crew athlete performance throughout the season. Implementation of this strength and conditioning program in 1 NASCAR Sprint Cup team demonstrated that pit crew athletes were able to prevent lean body mass loss and have increased muscle power output from the start of the season to the end of the season.

The phenomenon of prehistoric ritual pits: Several examples from the central Balkans

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Bulatović Aleksandar P.

2015-01-01

Full Text Available In recent years, the phenomenon of pits with special deposits, i.e. ritual pits, seems to have, once again, attracted attention both in Europe and in the Balkans. In the central Balkans, scientific literature related to this topic is still deficient, hence one of the objectives of this paper is to change the current state and rekindle interest in the study of this form of manifestation of the spiritual culture of prehistoric man. It appears that one of the oldest reasons for sacrificial offerings is primal, instinctive fear. The fear of the transience of life or of death compelled our ancient ancestors to make some sort of “agreement” with the surrounding forces, bestowing particular sacrifices onto them. Sacrifice represents one of the rituals of prehistoric communities which could have been performed in a number of ways and in different circumstances. One of these are offerings placed in pits, in the form of specific objects, food, drink or living beings sacrificed to higher powers and accompanied by certain symbolic actions, for the purpose of gaining their favour or help. When interpreting pits, what should further be considered is that the fundamental difference between a discarded object and an object used for a ritual purpose lies in the fact that the object of ritual character is still meaningful to man, performing a symbolic function, unlike the former, whose role is lost after being disposed of. Aritual object, an item or a living being sacrificed in a pit, is no longer of common, worldly significance (food, drink, tools, etc., but rather possesses a symbolic, sacral meaning, intended for higher powers, to propitiate and appease them, that is to create some form of the oldest religious communication. Not only is it difficult to identify the pits used for ritual purposes in the course of fieldwork, but it is even more challenging to interpret them and practically impossible to accurately reconstruct the actions performed during the

Herniation pits of the femur neck: incidence and radiologic findings

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Cho, Jae Hyun; Suh, Jin Suk; Lee, Hye Yeon

1994-01-01

In order to assess the incidence and radiologic findings of herniation pit of the femur neck in Korean. In 152 macerated femurs of 88 cadavers, and randomly selected 115 hips of 70 patients, the presence of herniation pit was determined by using fluoroscopy and radiography. It was then examined by CT for inspection of overlying surface and its opening was confirmed by inserting thin steal wire under the fluoroscopic guidance. Seventeen herniation pits in 15 macerated femurs of 13 cadavers were noted. (14.8%, 13/88). Two of 13 individuals showed bilaterality. All lesions were found only in males. Six herniation pit in 6 femurs of 6 patients (8.6%, 6/70) were also noted. All lesions were on anterosuperior aspect of femur neck. Plain radiographs of macerated femurs revealed well marginated and thin sclerosis in 15 lesions. Of all 23 lesions, CT showed cortical breakdown in 3, and overlying cortical thickening in 8. In 15 macerated femurs, roughed area of cortex was found in anterosuperior aspect of femur in all cases, and tiny openings(diameter less than 1 mm) related to cystic lesions were confirmed in 9 lesions. The incidence of herniation pits was 14.8% in 88 cadaver, and 8.6% in 70 patients. All were males

High-order solution methods for grey discrete ordinates thermal radiative transfer

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Maginot, Peter G., E-mail: maginot1@llnl.gov [Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, Livermore, CA 94551 (United States); Ragusa, Jean C., E-mail: jean.ragusa@tamu.edu [Department of Nuclear Engineering, Texas A& M University, College Station, TX 77843 (United States); Morel, Jim E., E-mail: morel@tamu.edu [Department of Nuclear Engineering, Texas A& M University, College Station, TX 77843 (United States)

2016-12-15

This work presents a solution methodology for solving the grey radiative transfer equations that is both spatially and temporally more accurate than the canonical radiative transfer solution technique of linear discontinuous finite element discretization in space with implicit Euler integration in time. We solve the grey radiative transfer equations by fully converging the nonlinear temperature dependence of the material specific heat, material opacities, and Planck function. The grey radiative transfer equations are discretized in space using arbitrary-order self-lumping discontinuous finite elements and integrated in time with arbitrary-order diagonally implicit Runge–Kutta time integration techniques. Iterative convergence of the radiation equation is accelerated using a modified interior penalty diffusion operator to precondition the full discrete ordinates transport operator.

Investigation of the pitting of aluminum induced by chloride ions by holographic microphotography

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

LIANG LI

2008-05-01

Full Text Available Holographic microphotography was used to investigate the dynamic processes of pitting during anodic dissolution of aluminum in a solution containing chloride ions. The induction and the follow-up propagation processes of the pitting were observed in real-time. A simple model of the propagating process of the pitting was deduced from the result of the holograms of the Al/electrolyte interface. The results prove that holographic microphotography is a useful tool to study the dynamic processes of pitting.

Dependence of Crystallographic Orientation on Pitting Corrosion Behavior of Ni-Fe-Cr Alloy 028

Science.gov (United States)

Zhang, LiNa; Szpunar, Jerzy A.; Dong, JianXin; Ojo, Olanrewaju A.; Wang, Xu

2018-03-01

The influence of crystallographic orientation on the pitting corrosion behavior of Ni-Fe-Cr alloy 028 was studied using a combination of X-ray diffraction (XRD), electron backscatter diffraction (EBSD), potentiodynamic polarization technique, and atomic force microscopy (AFM). The results show that there is anisotropy of pitting corrosion that strongly depends on crystallographic orientation of the surface plane. The distribution of pit density in a standard stereographic triangle indicates that the crystallographic planes close to {100} are more prone to pitting corrosion compared to planes {110} and {111}. The surface energy calculation of (001) and (111) shows that the plane with a high atomic packing density has a low surface energy with concomitant strong resistance to pitting corrosion. A correlation function between crystallographic orientation and pitting corrosion susceptibility suggests a method that not only predicts the pitting resistance of known textured materials, but also could help to improve corrosion resistance by controlling material texture.

Stochastic modeling of inspection uncertainties and applications to pitting flaws in steam generator tubes

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Mao, D.; Yuan, X.-X.; Pandey, M.D.

2009-01-01

Steam generators (SG) are a major pressure retaining component of great safety significance in nuclear power plants. Due to various manufacturing, operation and maintenance activities, as well as material interaction with the surrounding chemical environment, the SG tubes have been subject to a number of degradation modes. Among them, the under-deposit pitting corrosion at outside surfaces of the SG tubes just on top of the tubesheet support plates has had a serious impact on the integrity of the SG tubes. This paper presents an advanced probabilistic model of pitting corrosion characterizing the inherent randomness of the pitting process and measurement uncertainties of the in-service inspection (ISI) data obtained from eddy current (EC) inspections. A Bayesian method based on Markov Chain Monte Carlo (MCMC) simulation is developed for estimating the model parameters. The proposed model is able to predict the actual pit number, the actual pit depth as well as the maximum pit depth, which is the main interest of the pitting corrosion model. (author)

Grey Nurse Shark ( Carcharias taurus) Diving Tourism: Tourist Compliance and Shark Behaviour at Fish Rock, Australia

Science.gov (United States)

Smith, Kirby; Scarr, Mark; Scarpaci, Carol

2010-11-01

Humans can dive with critically endangered grey nurse sharks ( Carcharias taurus) along the east coast of Australia. This study investigated both compliance of tourist divers to a code of conduct and legislation and the behaviour of grey nurse sharks in the presence of divers. A total of 25 data collection dives were conducted from December 2008 to January 2009. Grey nurse shark and diver behaviour were documented using 2-min scan samples and continuous observation. The proportion of time spent observing human-shark interactions was 9.4% of total field time and mean human-shark interaction time was 15.0 min. Results were used to gauge the effectiveness of current management practices for the grey nurse shark dive industry at Fish Rock in New South Wales, Australia. Grey nurse shark dive tourists were compliant to stipulations in the code of conduct and legislation (compliance ranged from 88 to 100%). The research detailed factors that may promote compliance in wildlife tourism operations such as the clarity of the stipulations, locality of the target species and diver perceptions of sharks. Results indicated that grey nurse sharks spent the majority of their time milling (85%) followed by active swimming (15%). Milling behaviour significantly decreased in the presence of more than six divers. Distance between sharks and divers, interaction time and number of sharks were not significantly correlated with grey nurse shark school behaviour. Jaw gaping, rapid withdrawal and stiff or jerky movement were the specific behaviours of grey nurse sharks that occurred most frequently and were associated with distance between divers and sharks and the presence of six or more divers. Revision of the number of divers allowed per interaction with a school of grey nurse sharks and further research on the potential impacts that shark-diving tourism may pose to grey nurse sharks is recommended.

Grey nurse shark (Carcharias taurus) diving tourism: Tourist compliance and shark behaviour at Fish Rock, Australia.

Science.gov (United States)

Smith, Kirby; Scarr, Mark; Scarpaci, Carol

2010-11-01

Humans can dive with critically endangered grey nurse sharks (Carcharias taurus) along the east coast of Australia. This study investigated both compliance of tourist divers to a code of conduct and legislation and the behaviour of grey nurse sharks in the presence of divers. A total of 25 data collection dives were conducted from December 2008 to January 2009. Grey nurse shark and diver behaviour were documented using 2-min scan samples and continuous observation. The proportion of time spent observing human-shark interactions was 9.4% of total field time and mean human-shark interaction time was 15.0 min. Results were used to gauge the effectiveness of current management practices for the grey nurse shark dive industry at Fish Rock in New South Wales, Australia. Grey nurse shark dive tourists were compliant to stipulations in the code of conduct and legislation (compliance ranged from 88 to 100%). The research detailed factors that may promote compliance in wildlife tourism operations such as the clarity of the stipulations, locality of the target species and diver perceptions of sharks. Results indicated that grey nurse sharks spent the majority of their time milling (85%) followed by active swimming (15%). Milling behaviour significantly decreased in the presence of more than six divers. Distance between sharks and divers, interaction time and number of sharks were not significantly correlated with grey nurse shark school behaviour. Jaw gaping, rapid withdrawal and stiff or jerky movement were the specific behaviours of grey nurse sharks that occurred most frequently and were associated with distance between divers and sharks and the presence of six or more divers. Revision of the number of divers allowed per interaction with a school of grey nurse sharks and further research on the potential impacts that shark-diving tourism may pose to grey nurse sharks is recommended.

Open pit mining of uranium

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Wood, J.T.

1977-01-01

The Jackpile--Paquate Mines of the Anaconda Company are on the Laguna Indian Reservation midway between Grants and Albuquerque, New Mexico. The open pit mining of uranium ore at those mines is conducted in three separate operations (stripping, mining, and ore haul)

Creating Nanoscale Pits on Solid Surfaces in Aqueous Environment with Scanning Tunnelling Microscopy

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Chi, Qijin; Zhang, Jingdong; Friis, Esben P.

2000-01-01

of the pits can be controlled well in aqueous environments, and the operations are simple. Parameters affecting the pit formation and size have been systematically characterized to show that pit formation is dominated by bias voltage. A mechanism is proposed based on local surface reconstruction induced...

Grey matter correlates of susceptibility to scams in community-dwelling older adults.

Science.gov (United States)

Duke Han, S; Boyle, Patricia A; Yu, Lei; Arfanakis, Konstantinos; James, Bryan D; Fleischman, Debra A; Bennett, David A

2016-06-01

Susceptibility to scams is a significant issue among older adults, even among those with intact cognition. Age-related changes in brain macrostructure may be associated with susceptibility to scams; however, this has yet to be explored. Based on previous work implicating frontal and temporal lobe functioning as important in decision making, we tested the hypothesis that susceptibility to scams is associated with smaller grey matter volume in frontal and temporal lobe regions in a large community-dwelling cohort of non-demented older adults. Participants (N = 327, mean age = 81.55, mean education = 15.30, 78.9 % female) completed a self-report measure used to assess susceptibility to scams and an MRI brain scan. Results indicated an inverse association between overall grey matter and susceptibility to scams in models adjusted for age, education, and sex; and in models further adjusted for cognitive function. No significant associations were observed for white matter, cerebrospinal fluid, or total brain volume. Models adjusted for age, education, and sex revealed seven clusters showing smaller grey matter in the right parahippocampal/hippocampal/fusiform, left middle temporal, left orbitofrontal, right ventromedial prefrontal, right middle temporal, right precuneus, and right dorsolateral prefrontal regions. In models further adjusted for cognitive function, results revealed three significant clusters showing smaller grey matter in the right parahippocampal/hippocampal/fusiform, right hippocampal, and right middle temporal regions. Lower grey matter concentration in specific brain regions may be associated with susceptibility to scams, even after adjusting for cognitive ability. Future research is needed to determine whether grey matter reductions in these regions may be a biomarker for susceptibility to scams in old age.

Numerical Simulation of Interactions between Corrosion Pits on Stainless Steel under Loading Conditions

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Wang, Haitao; Han, En-Hou

2017-01-01

The interactions between corrosion pits on stainless steel under loading conditions are studied by using a cellular automata model coupled with finite element method at a mesoscopic scale. The cellular automata model focuses on a metal/film/electrolyte system, including anodic dissolution, passivation, diffusion of hydrogen ions and salt film hydrolysis. The Chopard block algorithm is used to improve the diffusion simulation efficiency. The finite element method is used to calculate the stress concentration on the pit surface during pit growth, and the effect of local stress and strain on anodic current is obtained by using the Gutman model, which is used as the boundary conditions of the cellular automata model. The transient current characteristics of the interactions between corrosion pits under different simulation factors including the breakdown of the passive film at the pit mouth and the diffusion of hydrogen ions are analyzed. The analysis of the pit stability product shows that the simulation results are close to the experimental conclusions.

Electronic structures of GeSi nanoislands grown on pit-patterned Si(001 substrate

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Han Ye

2014-11-01

Full Text Available Patterning pit on Si(001 substrate prior to Ge deposition is an important approach to achieve GeSi nanoislands with high ordering and size uniformity. In present work, the electronic structures of realistic uncapped pyramid, dome, barn and cupola nanoislands grown in {105} pits are systematically investigated by solving Schrödinger equation for heavy-hole, which resorts to inhomogeneous strain distribution and nonlinear composition-dependent band parameters. Uniform, partitioned and equilibrium composition profile (CP in nanoisland and inverted pyramid structure are simulated separately. We demonstrate the huge impact of composition profile on localization of heavy-hole: wave function of ground state is confined near pit facets for uniform CP, at bottom of nanoisland for partitioned CP and at top of nanoisland for equilibrium CP. Moreover, such localization is gradually compromised by the size effect as pit filling ratio or pit size decreases. The results pave the fundamental guideline of designing nanoislands on pit-patterned substrates for desired applications.

Numerical Simulation of Interactions between Corrosion Pits on Stainless Steel under Loading Conditions

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Wang, Haitao; Han, En-Hou [Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shenyang (China)

2017-04-15

The interactions between corrosion pits on stainless steel under loading conditions are studied by using a cellular automata model coupled with finite element method at a mesoscopic scale. The cellular automata model focuses on a metal/film/electrolyte system, including anodic dissolution, passivation, diffusion of hydrogen ions and salt film hydrolysis. The Chopard block algorithm is used to improve the diffusion simulation efficiency. The finite element method is used to calculate the stress concentration on the pit surface during pit growth, and the effect of local stress and strain on anodic current is obtained by using the Gutman model, which is used as the boundary conditions of the cellular automata model. The transient current characteristics of the interactions between corrosion pits under different simulation factors including the breakdown of the passive film at the pit mouth and the diffusion of hydrogen ions are analyzed. The analysis of the pit stability product shows that the simulation results are close to the experimental conclusions.

Performance evaluation of services quality in higher education institutions using modified SERVQUAL approach with grey analytic hierarchy process (G-AHP and multilevel grey evaluation

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Mohsen Zareinejad

2014-04-01

Full Text Available In today’s climate of fierce competition, there is a necessity to pay especial attention on customer demands either in manufacturing or service sector. Managers in service sector are under pressure in terms of environmental factors, they focus on customers’ satisfaction and this has led to the continuous improvement in the performance of service organizations. Meanwhile, customers’ expectations should be properly understood and measured. There have been various efforts to measure the quality of services using the SERVQUAL model. In this study, we try to investigate the concepts and factors influencing the quality of services according to modified SERVQUAL model and then utilize the proposed model of Grey Analytic Hierarchy Process (G-AHP and Multilevel Grey Evaluation in order to evaluate the quality of services in the framework of Grey Systems Theory (GST. In order to propose our method, we will conduct a case study of the performance of service quality in higher education institutions of Isfahan-Iran.

Participation of the dorsal periaqueductal grey matter in the hypoxic ventilatory response in unanaesthetized rats.

Science.gov (United States)

Lopes, L T; Biancardi, V; Vieira, E B; Leite-Panissi, C; Bícego, K C; Gargaglioni, L H

2014-07-01

Although periaqueductal grey matter activation is known to elicit respiratory and cardiovascular responses, the role of this midbrain area in the compensatory responses to hypoxia is still unknown. To test the participation of the periaqueductal grey matter in cardiorespiratory and thermal responses to hypoxia in adult male Wistar rats, we performed a chemical lesion of the dorsolateral/dorsomedial or the ventrolateral/lateral periaqueductal grey matter using ibotenic acid. Pulmonary ventilation, mean arterial pressure, heart rate and body temperature were measured in unanaesthetized rats during normoxic and hypoxic exposure (5, 15, 30 min, 7% O2). An ibotenic acid lesion of the dorsolateral/dorsomedial periaqueductal grey matter caused a higher increase in pulmonary ventilation (67.1%, 1730±282.5 mL kg(-1) min(-1)) compared to the Sham group (991.4±194 mL kg(-1) min(-1)) after 15 min in hypoxia, whereas for the ventrolateral/Lateral periaqueductal grey matter lesion, no differences were observed between groups. Mean arterial pressure, heart rate and body temperature were not affected by a dorsolateral/dorsomedial or ventrolateral/lateral periaqueductal grey matter lesion. Middle to caudal portions of the dorsolateral/dorsomedial periaqueductal grey matter neurones modulate the hypoxic ventilatory response, exerting an inhibitory modulation during low O2 situations. In addition, the middle to caudal portions of the dorsolateral/dorsomedial or ventrolateral/lateral periaqueductal grey matter do not appear to exert a tonic role on cardiovascular or thermal parameters during normoxic and hypoxic conditions. © 2014 Scandinavian Physiological Society. Published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

HLA-DRB*1501 associations with magnetic resonance imaging measures of grey matter pathology in multiple sclerosis.

Science.gov (United States)

Yaldizli, Özgür; Sethi, Varun; Pardini, Matteo; Tur, Carmen; Mok, Kin Y; Muhlert, Nils; Liu, Zheng; Samson, Rebecca S; Wheeler-Kingshott, Claudia A M; Yousry, Tarek A; Houlden, Henry; Hardy, John; Miller, David H; Chard, Declan T

2016-05-01

The HLA-DRB*1501 haplotype influences the risk of developing multiple sclerosis (MS), but it is not known how it affects grey matter pathology. To assess HLA-DRB(*)1501 effects on magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) cortical grey matter pathology. Whole and lesional cortical grey matter volumes, lesional and normal-appearing grey matter magnetization transfer ratio were measured in 85 people with MS and 36 healthy control subjects. HLA-DRB(*)1501 haplotype was determined by genotyping (rs3135388). No significant differences were observed in MRI measures between the HLA-DRB(*)1501 subgroups. The HLA-DRB(*)1501 haplotype is not strongly associated with MRI-visible grey matter pathology. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Right hemisphere grey matter structure and language outcomes in chronic left hemisphere stroke

Science.gov (United States)

Xing, Shihui; Lacey, Elizabeth H.; Skipper-Kallal, Laura M.; Jiang, Xiong; Harris-Love, Michelle L.; Zeng, Jinsheng

2016-01-01

The neural mechanisms underlying recovery of language after left hemisphere stroke remain elusive. Although older evidence suggested that right hemisphere language homologues compensate for damage in left hemisphere language areas, the current prevailing theory suggests that right hemisphere engagement is ineffective or even maladaptive. Using a novel combination of support vector regression-based lesion-symptom mapping and voxel-based morphometry, we aimed to determine whether local grey matter volume in the right hemisphere independently contributes to aphasia outcomes after chronic left hemisphere stroke. Thirty-two left hemisphere stroke survivors with aphasia underwent language assessment with the Western Aphasia Battery-Revised and tests of other cognitive domains. High-resolution T1-weighted images were obtained in aphasia patients and 30 demographically matched healthy controls. Support vector regression-based multivariate lesion-symptom mapping was used to identify critical language areas in the left hemisphere and then to quantify each stroke survivor’s lesion burden in these areas. After controlling for these direct effects of the stroke on language, voxel-based morphometry was then used to determine whether local grey matter volumes in the right hemisphere explained additional variance in language outcomes. In brain areas in which grey matter volumes related to language outcomes, we then compared grey matter volumes in patients and healthy controls to assess post-stroke plasticity. Lesion–symptom mapping showed that specific left hemisphere regions related to different language abilities. After controlling for lesion burden in these areas, lesion size, and demographic factors, grey matter volumes in parts of the right temporoparietal cortex positively related to spontaneous speech, naming, and repetition scores. Examining whether domain general cognitive functions might explain these relationships, partial correlations demonstrated that grey matter

Grey matter, an endophenotype for schizophrenia? A voxel-based morphometry study in siblings of patients with schizophrenia.

Science.gov (United States)

van der Velde, Jorien; Gromann, Paula M; Swart, Marte; de Haan, Lieuwe; Wiersma, Durk; Bruggeman, Richard; Krabbendam, Lydia; Aleman, André

2015-05-01

Grey matter, both volume and concentration, has been proposed as an endophenotype for schizophrenia given a number of reports of grey matter abnormalities in relatives of patients with schizophrenia. However, previous studies on grey matter abnormalities in relatives have produced inconsistent results. The aim of the present study was to examine grey matter differences between controls and siblings of patients with schizophrenia and to examine whether the age, genetic loading or subclinical psychotic symptoms of selected individuals could explain the previously reported inconsistencies. We compared the grey matter volume and grey matter concentration of healthy siblings of patients with schizophrenia and healthy controls matched for age, sex and education using voxel-based morphometry (VBM). Furthermore, we selected subsamples based on age (grey matter volume or concentration. Furthermore, specifically selecting participants based on age, genetic loading or subclinical psychotic symptoms did not alter these findings. The main limitation was that subdividing the sample resulted in smaller samples for the subanalyses. Furthermore, we used MRI data from 2 different scanner sites. These results indicate that grey matter measured through VBM might not be a suitable endophenotype for schizophrenia.

The Use of Pit and Fissure Sealants—A Literature Review

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Reem Naaman

2017-12-01

Full Text Available This paper reviews the literature and discusses the latest updates on the use of pit and fissure sealants. It demonstrates the effectiveness of pit and fissure sealants in preventing caries and the management of early carious lesions. It compares the use of different sealant materials and their indications. It describes the application technique for sealants. It also reviews the cost-effectiveness of sealants as a preventive strategy. From this review and after the discussion of recently published studies on pit and fissure sealants, it is evident that sealants are effective in caries prevention and in preventing the progression of incipient lesions. It is therefore recommended that pit and fissure sealant be applied to high-caries-risk children for optimum cost-effectiveness. It is a highly sensitive technique that needs optimum isolation, cleaning of the tooth surface, etching, and the application of a thin bonding layer for maximum benefit. Recall and repair, when needed, are important to maximize the effectiveness of such sealant use.

The Use of Pit and Fissure Sealants—A Literature Review

Science.gov (United States)

Naaman, Reem; El-Housseiny, Azza A.; Alamoudi, Najlaa

2017-01-01

This paper reviews the literature and discusses the latest updates on the use of pit and fissure sealants. It demonstrates the effectiveness of pit and fissure sealants in preventing caries and the management of early carious lesions. It compares the use of different sealant materials and their indications. It describes the application technique for sealants. It also reviews the cost-effectiveness of sealants as a preventive strategy. From this review and after the discussion of recently published studies on pit and fissure sealants, it is evident that sealants are effective in caries prevention and in preventing the progression of incipient lesions. It is therefore recommended that pit and fissure sealant be applied to high-caries-risk children for optimum cost-effectiveness. It is a highly sensitive technique that needs optimum isolation, cleaning of the tooth surface, etching, and the application of a thin bonding layer for maximum benefit. Recall and repair, when needed, are important to maximize the effectiveness of such sealant use. PMID:29563440

Influence of remanent magnetization on pitting corrosion in pipeline steel

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Espina-Hernandez, J. H. [ESIME Zacatenco, SEPI Electronica Instituto Politecnico Nacional Mexico, D. F. (Mexico); Caleyo, F.; Hallen, J. M. [DIM-ESIQIE, Instituto Politecnico Nacional Mexico D. F. (Mexico); Lopez-Montenegro, A.; Perez-Baruch, E. [Pemex Exploracion y Produccion, Region Sur Villahermosa, Tabasco (Mexico)

2010-07-01

Statistical studies performed in Mexico indicate that leakage due to external pitting corrosion is the most likely cause of failure of buried pipelines. When pipelines are inspected with the magnetic flux leakage (MFL) technology, which is routinely used, the magnetization level of every part of the pipeline changes as the MFL tool travels through it. Remanent magnetization stays in the pipeline wall after inspection, at levels that may differ from a point to the next. This paper studies the influence of the magnetic field on pitting corrosion. Experiments were carried out on grade 52 steel under a level of remanent magnetization and other laboratory conditions that imitated the conditions of a pipeline after an MLF inspection. Non-magnetized control samples and magnetized samples were subjected to pitting by immersion in a solution containing chlorine and sulfide ions for seven days, and then inspected with optical microscopy. Results show that the magnetic field in the pipeline wall significantly increases pitting corrosion.

Staging of cortical and deep grey matter functional connectivity changes in multiple sclerosis.

Science.gov (United States)

Meijer, Kim A; Eijlers, Anand J C; Geurts, Jeroen J G; Schoonheim, Menno M

2018-02-01

Functional connectivity is known to increase as well as decrease throughout the brain in multiple sclerosis (MS), which could represent different stages of the disease. In addition, functional connectivity changes could follow the atrophy pattern observed with disease progression, that is, moving from the deep grey matter towards the cortex. This study investigated when and where connectivity changes develop and explored their clinical and cognitive relevance across different MS stages. A cohort of 121 patients with early relapsing-remitting MS (RRMS), 122 with late RRMS and 53 with secondary progressive MS (SPMS) as well as 96 healthy controls underwent MRI and neuropsychological testing. Functional connectivity changes were investigated for (1) within deep grey matter connectivity, (2) connectivity between the deep grey matter and cortex and (3) within-cortex connectivity. A post hoc regional analysis was performed to identify which regions were driving the connectivity changes. Patients with late RRMS and SPMS showed increased connectivity of the deep grey matter, especially of the putamen and palladium, with other deep grey matter structures and with the cortex. Within-cortex connectivity was decreased, especially for temporal, occipital and frontal regions, but only in SPMS relative to early RRMS. Deep grey matter connectivity alterations were related to cognition and disability, whereas within-cortex connectivity was only related to disability. Increased connectivity of the deep grey matter became apparent in late RRMS and further increased in SPMS. The additive effect of cortical network degeneration, which was only seen in SPMS, may explain the sudden clinical deterioration characteristic to this phase of the disease. © 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.

Towards a Holistic Cortical Thickness Descriptor: Heat Kernel-Based Grey Matter Morphology Signatures.

Science.gov (United States)

Wang, Gang; Wang, Yalin

2017-02-15

In this paper, we propose a heat kernel based regional shape descriptor that may be capable of better exploiting volumetric morphological information than other available methods, thereby improving statistical power on brain magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) analysis. The mechanism of our analysis is driven by the graph spectrum and the heat kernel theory, to capture the volumetric geometry information in the constructed tetrahedral meshes. In order to capture profound brain grey matter shape changes, we first use the volumetric Laplace-Beltrami operator to determine the point pair correspondence between white-grey matter and CSF-grey matter boundary surfaces by computing the streamlines in a tetrahedral mesh. Secondly, we propose multi-scale grey matter morphology signatures to describe the transition probability by random walk between the point pairs, which reflects the inherent geometric characteristics. Thirdly, a point distribution model is applied to reduce the dimensionality of the grey matter morphology signatures and generate the internal structure features. With the sparse linear discriminant analysis, we select a concise morphology feature set with improved classification accuracies. In our experiments, the proposed work outperformed the cortical thickness features computed by FreeSurfer software in the classification of Alzheimer's disease and its prodromal stage, i.e., mild cognitive impairment, on publicly available data from the Alzheimer's Disease Neuroimaging Initiative. The multi-scale and physics based volumetric structure feature may bring stronger statistical power than some traditional methods for MRI-based grey matter morphology analysis. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

New Generation Energy Efficient Refractory Application in Soaking Pits of Bhilai Steel Plant, Sail

Science.gov (United States)

Roy, Indranil; Chintaiah, Perumetla; Bhattacharya, Ajoy Kr.; Garai, Swapan Kr.; Ray Choudhury, Pankaj Kr.; Tiwari, Laksman

In Bhilai Steel Plant (BSP), soaking pits are used for heating ingots for successive rolling into blooms. Pits are operated at a temperature of around 1350°C. Mixed gas (Mixture of Blast Furnace gas & Coke Oven gas) of calorific value around 2040 kcal/Nm3 is used as fuel. The walls of soaking pits were lined with traditional 38% Al2O3 firebricks and top 500mm was cast with 70% Al2O3 low cement castable (LCC). This type of lining results in frequent damages due to hitting by ingots while being lifted from pit by overhead cranes thus affecting the availability of pit. Life of pits was 2 to 2.5 years in BSP with 3-4 cold repairs and 3-4 hot repairs. Energy loss through the wall is also quite high in this type of lining. To triumph over the limitations of the conventional lining, a lining design was developed for the walls which consist of special 70% Al2O3 LCC having high hot strength (HMOR) in combination with specially design flexible SS-304 anchors. Ceramic fiber blanket and insulation bricks were provided between castable and the metallic shell of the pit to minimize the heat loss. A heating schedule was developed and introduced based on available infrastructure at BSP for proper curing of modified LCC based lining. After introduction of modified lining, pit no. 14/2 is running for more than 2.5 years without any repair. To capitalize the success, two more pits i.e. 12/1 and 9/2 were converted to modified lining. These pits are also running satisfactorily for more than 1.5 years. The modification has resulted in higher availability with substantial increase in production. Shell temperature of the modified pits reduced to 90° - 140°C from 120° - 200°C of conventional pits. This shows reduction in heat loss through walls, resulting less fuel consumption and energy saving of about 18%.

Removal of micropollutants from grey water : combining biological and physical/chemical processes

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Hernandez Leal, L.

2010-01-01

Grey water consists of the discharges from kitchen sinks, showers, baths, washing machines and hand basins. The amount of grey water produced per person in The Netherlands is about 90 Ld-1, accounting for up to 75 % of the wastewater volume produced by households, and over 90 % if vacuum toilets are

Heart rate and core temperature responses of elite pit crews during automobile races.

Science.gov (United States)

Ferguson, David P; Bowen, Robert S; Lightfoot, J Timothy

2011-08-01

There is limited information regarding the physiological and psychological demands of the racing environment, and the subsequent effect on the performance of pit crew athletes. The purpose of this study was to evaluate heart rates (HRs) and core body temperatures (CTs) of pit crew athletes in the race environment. The HR and CT of pit crew athletes (n = 7) and control subjects were measured during 6 National Association for Stock Car Automobile Racing Sprint Cup races using ingestible sensors (HQ Inc, Palmetto, FL, USA). The HR and CT were measured before each race, at 15-minute intervals during the race, and upon completion of each pit stop. Compared to the control subject at each race, the pit crew athletes had significantly (p = 0.014) lower core temperatures (CTs). The pit crew athletes displayed higher HRs on the asphalt tracks than on concrete tracks (p = 0.011), and HR responses of the crew members were significantly (p = 0.012) different between pit crew positions, with the tire changers and jackman exhibiting higher HRs than the tire carriers. Unexpectedly, the CTs of the pit crew athletes were not elevated in the race environment, despite high ambient temperatures and the extensive fire-protection equipment (e.g., helmet, suit, gloves) each pit crew athlete wore. The lack of CT change is possibly the result of the increased HR more efficiently shunting blood to the skin and dissipating heat as a consequence of the athletes' extensive training regimen and ensuing heat acclimation. Additionally, it is possible that psychological stress unique to several of the tracks provided an additive effect resulting in increased heart rates.

Plantar pitted keratolysis: a study from non-risk groups

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Asli Feride Kaptanoglu

2012-02-01

Full Text Available Pitted keratolysis is an acquired, superficial bacterial infection of the skin which is characterized by typical malodor and pits in the hyperkeratotic areas of the soles. It is more common in barefooted people in tropical areas, or those who have to wear occlusive shoes, such as soldiers, sailors and athletes. In this study, we evaluated 41 patients who had been diagnosed with plantar pitted keratolysis. The patients were of high socioeconomic status, were office-workers, and most had a university degree. Malodor and plantar hyperhydrosis were the most frequently reported symptoms. The weight-bearing metatarsal parts of the feet were those most affected. Almost half the women in the study gave a history of regular pedicure and foot care in a spa salon. Mean treatment duration was 19 days. All patients were informed about the etiology of the disease, predisposing factors and preventive methods. Recurrences were observed in only 17% of patients during the one year follow-up period. This study emphasizes that even malodorous feet among non-risk city dwellers may be a sign of plantar pitted keratolysis. A study of the real incidence of the disease in a large population-based series is needed.

Effect of nitrite concentration on pit depth in carbon steel exposed to simulated radioactive waste

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Zapp, P.E.

1997-01-01

The growth of pits in carbon steel exposed to dilute (0.055 M nitrate-bearing) alkaline salt solutions that simulate radioactive waste was investigated in coupon immersion tests. Most coupons were tested in the as-received condition, with the remainder having been heat treated to produce an oxide film. Nitrite, which is an established pitting inhibitor in these solutions, was present in concentrations from 0 to 0.031 M to 0.16 M; the last concentration is known to prevent pitting initiation in the test solution at the 50 degrees C test temperature. The depths of the deepest pits on coupons of particular exposure conditions were measure microscopically and were analyzed as simple, type 1 extreme value statistical distributions, to predict the deepest expected pit in a radioactive waste tank subject to the test conditions. While the growth rate of pits could not be established from these tests, the absolute value of the deepest pits predicted is of the order of 100 mils after 448 days of exposure. The data indicate that even nitrite concentrations insufficient to prevent pitting have a beneficial effect on limiting the growth of deepest pits

The trajectory prediction of spacecraft by grey method

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Wang, Qiyue; Wang, Zhongyu; Zhang, Zili; Wang, Yanqing; Zhou, Weihu

2016-01-01

The real-time and high-precision trajectory prediction of a moving object is a core technology in the field of aerospace engineering. The real-time monitoring and tracking technology are also significant guarantees of aerospace equipment. A dynamic trajectory prediction method called grey dynamic filter (GDF) which combines the dynamic measurement theory and grey system theory is proposed. GDF can use coordinates of the current period to extrapolate coordinates of the following period. At meantime, GDF can also keep the instantaneity of measured coordinates by the metabolism model. In this paper the optimal model length of GDF is firstly selected to improve the prediction accuracy. Then the simulation for uniformly accelerated motion and variably accelerated motion is conducted. The simulation results indicate that the mean composite position error of GDF prediction is one-fifth to that of Kalman filter (KF). By using a spacecraft landing experiment, the prediction accuracy of GDF is compared with the KF method and the primitive grey method (GM). The results show that the motion trajectory of spacecraft predicted by GDF is much closer to actual trajectory than the other two methods. The mean composite position error calculated by GDF is one-eighth to KF and one-fifth to GM respectively. (paper)

Grey-Markov prediction model based on background value optimization and central-point triangular whitenization weight function

Science.gov (United States)

Ye, Jing; Dang, Yaoguo; Li, Bingjun

2018-01-01

Grey-Markov forecasting model is a combination of grey prediction model and Markov chain which show obvious optimization effects for data sequences with characteristics of non-stationary and volatility. However, the state division process in traditional Grey-Markov forecasting model is mostly based on subjective real numbers that immediately affects the accuracy of forecasting values. To seek the solution, this paper introduces the central-point triangular whitenization weight function in state division to calculate possibilities of research values in each state which reflect preference degrees in different states in an objective way. On the other hand, background value optimization is applied in the traditional grey model to generate better fitting data. By this means, the improved Grey-Markov forecasting model is built. Finally, taking the grain production in Henan Province as an example, it verifies this model's validity by comparing with GM(1,1) based on background value optimization and the traditional Grey-Markov forecasting model.

Rationale and concept for a lunar pit reconnaissance probe

Science.gov (United States)

Dorrington, G. E.

2018-04-01

Speculation on near-term scientific reasons for the exploration of lunar pits is offered alongside comments on possible longer-term human exploitation. It is proposed that in order to determine whether or not one or more of the pits offer access the large subsurface voids e.g. a non-collapsed lava tube, a preliminary reconnaissance mission solely focused on obtaining lateral images (and/or LiDAR maps) is needed. Possible concept options for such a preliminary reconnaissance mission are discussed. It is suggested that one of the best possible strategies is to employ a micro-sized probe (∼0.3m) that would hop from a nearby main landing spacecraft to the selected pit. After the surface position of the main lander is determined accurately, the probe would perform a ballistic hop, or hover-traverse, a distance of ∼3 km over the lunar surface using existing propulsive and guidance technology capability. Once hovering above the pit, the probe or a separate tethered imaging unit would then be lowered into the pit to acquire the necessary subsurface void topology data. This data would then be transmitted back to Earth, directly, via the lander, or via a store-and-forward orbiting relay. Preliminary estimates indicate that a probe of ∼14 kg (dry mass) is viable using a conventional hydrazine monopropellant system with a propellant mass fraction of less than ∼0.2 (20%) including margins, suggesting a piggyback architecture would be feasible.

Pitting of 3003 aluminum

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Lee, R.

1996-01-01

The Advanced Photon Source is a state-of-the-art synchrotron light source. The storage ring vacuum chamber is fabricated from 6061 extruded Al. Water connections to the vacuum chambers that were fabricated from 3003 Al had developed water leaks, which were subsequently remedied after considerable investigations. Materials subjected to the pitting analysis in this study are 3003, 6061, and 6063 Al

Criticality analysis for weapon disassembly at the Pantex Plant - part I: Bare pits

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Knief, R.A. [Ogden Environmental & Energy Services, Albuquerque, NM (United States)

1997-06-01

This paper briefly describes criticality investigations for weapon assembly and dismantlement at the Pantex Plant. Results are summarized for calculations performed for safety analyses, radiological hazards assessments, and a study to justify the criticality alarm exemption. Pits and pits in containers were modeled in their most reactive configuration. Criticality calculations were performed with the KENO and MCNP code packages. Configurations involving bare pits were subcritical by a substantial amount even with very conservative model assumptions. Thus, it is concluded that a critical configuration involving the bare pits is not credible.

Mud Pit Risk-Based Closure Strategy Report, Nevada Test Site, Nevada, Revision 0

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Brain Hoenes

2004-08-01

This report presents the findings of the human and ecological risk assessment for the NTS mud pits. The risk assessment utilizes data from 52 of the 270 NTS mud pits in conjunction with corroborative data from 87 other DOE mud pits associated with nuclear testing (at locations on the NTS, in the western United States, and Alaska) as well as relevant process knowledge. Based on the risk assessment findings, the report provides a strategy for further evaluation, characterization, and closure of all 270 NTS mud pit CASs using the Streamlined Approach for Environmental Restoration (SAFER).

Grey Tienshan Urumqi Glacier No.1 and light-absorbing impurities

OpenAIRE

Ming, Jing; Xiao, Cunde; Wang, Feiteng; Li, Zhongqin; Li, Yamin

2016-01-01

The Tienshan Urumqi Glacier No.1 (TUG1) usually shows ?grey? surfaces in summers. Besides known regional warming, what should be responsible for largely reducing its surface albedo and making it look ?grey?? A field campaign was conducted on the TUG1 on a selected cloud-free day of 2013 after a snow fall at night. Fresh and aged snow samples were collected in the field, and snow densities, grain sizes, and spectral reflectances were measured. Light-absorbing impurities (LAIs) including black ...

Changes in energy metabolism accompanying pitting in blueberries stored at low temperature.

Science.gov (United States)

Zhou, Qian; Zhang, Chunlei; Cheng, Shunchang; Wei, Baodong; Liu, Xiuying; Ji, Shujuan

2014-12-01

Low-temperature storage and transport of blueberries is widely practiced in commercial blueberry production. In this research, the storage life of blueberries was extended at low temperature, but fruit stored for 30 d at 0°C pitted after 2d at room-temperature. Fruit cellular structure and physiological parameters accompanying pitting in blueberries were changed. The objective of this research was to characterise properties of energy metabolism accompanying pitting in blueberries during storage, including adenosine phosphates and mitochondrial enzymes involved in stress responses. Physiological and metabolic disorders, changes in cell ultrastructure, energy content and ATPase enzyme activity were observed in pitting blueberries. Energy shortages and increased activity of phenylalanine ammonia lyase (PAL) and lipoxygenase (LOX) were observed in fruit kept at shelf life. The results suggested that sufficient available energy status and a stable enzymatic system in blueberries collectively contribute to improve chilling tolerance, thereby alleviating pitting and maintaining quality of blueberry fruit in long-term cold storage. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Situation and development of uranium open-pit mining techniques in China

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Li Kaiwen.

1986-01-01

The situation of uranium open-pit mining techniques in China is described. The main experiences in production and management are introduced. Meanwhile the suggestions about the further development of uranium open-pit mining techniques are also proposed

Pit disassembly and conversion demonstration environmental assessment and research and development activities

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

1998-08-01

A significant portion of the surplus plutonium is in the form of pits, a nuclear weapons component. Pits are composed of plutonium which is sealed in a metallic shell. These pits would need to be safely disassembled and permanently converted to an unclassified form that would be suitable for long-term disposition and international inspection. To determine the feasibility of an integrated pit disassembly and conversion system, a Pit Disassembly and Conversion Demonstration is proposed to take place at the Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL). This demonstration would be done in existing buildings and facilities, and would involve the disassembly of up to 250 pits and conversion of the recovered plutonium to plutonium metal ingots and plutonium dioxide. This demonstration also includes the conversion of up to 80 kilograms of clean plutonium metal to plutonium dioxide because, as part of the disposition process, some surplus plutonium metal may be converted to plutonium dioxide in the same facility as the surplus pits. The equipment to be used for the proposed demonstration addressed in this EA would use some parts of the Advanced Recovery and Integrated Extraction System (ARIES) capability, other existing equipment/capacities, plus new equipment that was developed at other sites. In addition, small-scale R and D activities are currently underway as part of the overall surplus plutonium disposition program. These R and D activities are related to pit disassembly and conversion, MOX fuel fabrication, and immobilization (in glass and ceramic forms). They are described in Section 7.0. On May 16, 1997, the Office of Fissile Materials Disposition (MD) notified potentially affected states and tribes that this EA would be prepared in accordance with NEPA. This EA has been prepared to provide sufficient information for DOE to determine whether a Finding of No Significant Impact (FONSI) is warranted or whether an EIS must be prepared

Pits, rifts and slumps: the summit structure of Piton de la Fournaise

Science.gov (United States)

Carter, Adam; van Wyk de Vries, Benjamin; Kelfoun, Karim; Bachèlery, Patrick; Briole, Pierre

2007-06-01

A clear model of structures and associated stress fields of a volcano can provide a framework in which to study and monitor activity. We propose a volcano-tectonic model for the dynamics of the summit of Piton de la Fournaise (La Reunion Island, Indian Ocean). The summit contains two main pit crater structures (Dolomieu and Bory), two active rift zones, and a slumping eastern sector, all of which contribute to the actual fracture system. Dolomieu has developed over 100 years by sudden large collapse events and subsequent smaller drops that include terrace formation. Small intra-pit collapse scars and eruptive fissures are located along the southern floor of Dolomieu. The western pit wall of Dolomieu has a superficial inward dipping normal fault boundary connected to a deeper ring fault system. Outside Dolomieu, an oval extension zone containing sub-parallel pit-related fractures extends to a maximum distance of 225 m from the pit. At the summit the main trend for eruptive fissures is N80°, normal to the north south rift zone. The terraced structure of Dolomieu has been reproduced by analogue models with a roof to width ratio of approximately 1, suggesting an original magma chamber depth of about 1 km. Such a chamber may continue to act as a storage location today. The east flank has a convex concave profile and is bounded by strike-slip fractures that define a gravity slump. This zone is bound to the north by strike-slip fractures that may delineate a shear zone. The southern reciprocal shear zone is probably marked by an alignment of large scoria cones and is hidden by recent aa lavas. The slump head intersects Dolomieu pit and may slide on a hydrothermally altered layer known to be located at a depth of around 300 m. Our model has the summit activity controlled by the pit crater collapse structure, not the rifts. The rifts become important on the mid-flanks of the cone, away from pit-related fractures. On the east flank the superficial structures are controlled

Mycotoxin occurrence on baled and pit silages collected in Co. Meath

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

McElhinney C.

2015-12-01

Full Text Available Recent studies of baled silages produced in Ireland have identified considerable filamentous fungal contamination. Many of these fungi are toxigenic, capable of producing secondary metabolites, namely mycotoxins. Mycotoxins are potentially detrimental to livestock health and some can pose a risk to consumers of animal products. Baled (n=20 and pit (n=18 silages from a sample of farms (n=38 in Co. Meath were examined to assess the occurrence of mycotoxins and ascertain whether sampling position within the pit silos (feed face vs. 3 m behind the feed face has an effect on mycotoxin content or other chemical compositional variables. Of the 20 mycotoxins assayed, baled silages contained [mean of positive values (no. of values in mean] mycotoxin concentrations (μg/kg dry matter of beauvericin 36 (2, enniatin (enn. A 9.3 (3, enn. A1 54 (8, enn. B 351 (9, enn. B1 136 (10, mycophenolic acid (MPA 11,157 (8 and roquefortine C (Roq. C 1037 (8 and pit silages contained beauvericin 25 (2 enn. A1 18 (2, enn. B 194 (9, enn. B1 57 (3, MPA 287 (6, Roq. C 3649 (6 and zearalenone 76 (1. There was no difference (P>0.05 observed in the mycotoxin concentrations between baled and pit silages, and 11 of the 20 mycotoxins assayed were below the limits of detection. The position of sampling had no effect on the mycotoxin concentration detected in pit silages. It is concluded that mycotoxin concentrations detected in these pit and baled silages in Co. Meath did not exceed EU regulation or guidance limits, and that similar chemical composition and mycotoxin concentration values occurred at the pit silage feed face and 3 m behind this feed face.

Retrospective Analysis of Mosh-Pit-Related Injuries.

Science.gov (United States)

Milsten, Andrew M; Tennyson, Joseph; Weisberg, Stacy

2017-12-01

Moshing is a violent form of dancing found world-wide at rock concerts, festivals, and electronic dance music events. It involves crowd surfing, shoving, and moving in a circular rotation. Moshing is a source of increased morbidity and mortality. The goal of this study was to report epidemiologic information on patient presentation rate (PPR), transport to hospital rate (TTHR), and injury patterns from patients who participated in mosh-pits. Materials and Methods Subjects were patrons from mosh-pits seeking medical care at a single venue. The events reviewed were two national concert tours which visited this venue during their tour. The eight distinct events studied occurred between 2011 and 2014. Data were collected retrospectively from prehospital patient care reports (PCRs). A single Emergency Medical Service (EMS) provided medical care at this venue. The following information was gathered from each PCR: type of injury, location of injury, treatment received, alcohol or drug use, Advanced Life Support/ALS interventions required, age and gender, disposition, minor or parent issues, as well as type of activity engaged in when injured. Attendance for the eight events ranged from 5,100 to 16,000. Total patient presentations ranged from 50 to 206 per event. Patient presentations per ten thousand (PPTT) ranged from 56 to 130. The TTHR per 10,000 ranged from seven to 20. The mean PPTT was 99 (95% CI, 77-122) and the median was 98. The mean TTHR was 16 (95% CI, 12-29) and the median TTHR was 17. Patients presenting from mosh-pits were more frequently male (57.6%; Psurfing was the next most significant, accounting for 20% of presentations. The most common body part injured was the head (64% of injuries). This retrospective review of mosh-pit-associated injury patterns demonstrates a high rate of injuries and presentations for medical aid at the evaluated events. General moshing was the most commonly associated activity and the head was the most common body part injured

200 West Area Ash Pit Demolition Site closure plan. Revision 1

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ruck, F.R.

1994-01-01

The Ash Pit Demolition Site had two known demolition events, the first occurred in November of 1984, and the second occurred in June of 1986. These demolition events were a form of thermal treatment for discarded explosive chemical products. Because the Ash Pit Demolition Site will no longer be used for this thermal activity, the site will be closed. Closure will be conducted pursuant to the requirements of the Washington State Department of Ecology (Ecology) ''Dangerous Waste Regulations'', Washington Administrative Code (WAC) 173-303-610 and 40 Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) 270.1. The 200 West Area Ash Pit Demolition Site Closure Plan consists of a Part A, Form 3, Dangerous Waste Permit Application (Revision 4) and a closure plan. An explanation of the Part A, Form 3, submitted with this closure plan is provided at the beginning of the Part A Section. The closure plan consists of nine chapters and five appendices. This closure plan presents a description of the Ash,Pit Demolition Site, the history of the waste treated, and the approach that will be followed to close the Ash Pit Demolition Site. Because there were no radioactively contaminated chemicals involved in the demolitions, the information on radionuclides is provided for ''information only''. Remediation of any radioactive contamination is not within the scope of this closure plan. Only dangerous constituents derived from Ash Pit Demolition Site operations will be addressed in this closure plan in accordance with WAC 173-303-610(2)(b)(i)

Modeling imperfectly repaired system data via grey differential equations with unequal-gapped times

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Guo Renkuan

2007-01-01

In this paper, we argue that grey differential equation models are useful in repairable system modeling. The arguments starts with the review on GM(1,1) model with equal- and unequal-spaced stopping time sequence. In terms of two-stage GM(1,1) filtering, system stopping time can be partitioned into system intrinsic function and repair effect. Furthermore, we propose an approach to use grey differential equation to specify a semi-statistical membership function for system intrinsic function times. Also, we engage an effort to use GM(1,N) model to model system stopping times and the associated operating covariates and propose an unequal-gapped GM(1,N) model for such analysis. Finally, we investigate the GM(1,1)-embed systematic grey equation system modeling of imperfectly repaired system operating data. Practical examples are given in step-by-step manner to illustrate the grey differential equation modeling of repairable system data

The effect of precipitated carbides on the pitting corrosion of 304 stainless steel

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kwak, Jai-Hyun; Kim, Kwan-Hun

1985-01-01

In order to investigate the relation between the pitting corrosion and precipitated carbides, the heat treatment of specimens was carried out in two ways: Solution treatment and carbides precipitation treatment. The experiment was focused on the polarization curves of specimens immersed in HCL solution and on the microscopic analysis of the corroded specimens through a potentiodynamic method. It was found out that the intergranular and pitting corrosion occurred remarkably in 0.1N and 1N KCL solution when carbides were precipitated around the grain boundary of the 304 stain steel. The intergranular corrosion was noticed in the region of passivation and the pitting was prominent in the region of passivation break-down. The distribution of pits on the solution treated 304 stainless steel was random, while that of pits on carbides precipitated specimen was concentrated around the grain boundary in 0.1N and 1N HCL solution. It was ascertained that the pitting resistance of the solution treated 304 stainless steel was better than that of carbides precipitated specimen. (Author)

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

Science.gov (United States)

Zhang, Chunsu

2017-08-01

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

Preliminary study of realizability of Karazhyra open pit coal fines briquetting

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Deryavko, I.I.; Perepelkin, I.G.; Chuprunov, K.V.

2001-01-01

Main properties of brown coals in Karazhyra open pit upper and lower packs are determined. Characteristics of these coals briquette-ability are evaluated. A conceptual possibility to obtain high-quality briquettes from open pit coal fines is shown. (author)

The Effects of Meditation on Grey Matter Atrophy and Neurodegeneration: A Systematic Review.

Science.gov (United States)

Last, Nicole; Tufts, Emily; Auger, Leslie E

2017-01-01

The present systematic review is based on the premise that a variety of neurodegenerative diseases are accompanied by grey matter atrophy in the brain and meditation may impact this. Given that age is a major risk factor for many of these progressive and neurodegenerative diseases and that the percentage of the population over the age of 65 is quickly increasing, there is an obvious need for prompt treatment and prevention advances in research. As there is currently no cure for Alzheimer's disease and other neurodegenerative diseases, many are seeking non-pharmacological treatment options in attempts to offset the disease-related cognitive and functional declines. On the basis of a growing body of research suggesting that meditation is effective in increasing grey matter volume in healthy participants, this paper systematically reviewed the literature regarding the effects of meditation on restoring grey matter volume in healthy individuals and those affected by neurodegeneration. This review searched PubMed, CINAHL, and APA PsycNET to identify original studies that included MRI imaging to measure grey matter volume in meditators and post-mindfulness-based intervention participants compared to controls. Thirteen studies were considered eligible for review and involved a wide variety of meditation techniques and included participants with and without cognitive impairment. All studies reported significant increases in grey matter volume in the meditators/intervention group, albeit in assorted regions of the brain. Limited research exists on the mechanisms through which meditation affects disease-related neurodegeneration, but preliminary evidence suggests that it may offset grey matter atrophy.

Whole genome grey and white matter DNA methylation profiles in dorsolateral prefrontal cortex.

Science.gov (United States)

Sanchez-Mut, Jose Vicente; Heyn, Holger; Vidal, Enrique; Delgado-Morales, Raúl; Moran, Sebastian; Sayols, Sergi; Sandoval, Juan; Ferrer, Isidre; Esteller, Manel; Gräff, Johannes

2017-06-01

The brain's neocortex is anatomically organized into grey and white matter, which are mainly composed by neuronal and glial cells, respectively. The neocortex can be further divided in different Brodmann areas according to their cytoarchitectural organization, which are associated with distinct cortical functions. There is increasing evidence that brain development and function are governed by epigenetic processes, yet their contribution to the functional organization of the neocortex remains incompletely understood. Herein, we determined the DNA methylation patterns of grey and white matter of dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (Brodmann area 9), an important region for higher cognitive skills that is particularly affected in various neurological diseases. For avoiding interindividual differences, we analyzed white and grey matter from the same donor using whole genome bisulfite sequencing, and for validating their biological significance, we used Infinium HumanMethylation450 BeadChip and pyrosequencing in ten and twenty independent samples, respectively. The combination of these analysis indicated robust grey-white matter differences in DNA methylation. What is more, cell type-specific markers were enriched among the most differentially methylated genes. Interestingly, we also found an outstanding number of grey-white matter differentially methylated genes that have previously been associated with Alzheimer's, Parkinson's, and Huntington's disease, as well as Multiple and Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis. The data presented here thus constitute an important resource for future studies not only to gain insight into brain regional as well as grey and white matter differences, but also to unmask epigenetic alterations that might underlie neurological and neurodegenerative diseases. © 2017 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Modelling the Errors of EIA’s Oil Prices and Production Forecasts by the Grey Markov Model

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Gholam Hossein Hasantash

2012-01-01

Full Text Available Grey theory is about systematic analysis of limited information. The Grey-Markov model can improve the accuracy of forecast range in the random fluctuating data sequence. In this paper, we employed this model in energy system. The average errors of Energy Information Administrations predictions for world oil price and domestic crude oil production from 1982 to 2007 and from 1985 to 2008 respectively were used as two forecasted examples. We showed that the proposed Grey-Markov model can improve the forecast accuracy of original Grey forecast model.

Forecasting the natural gas demand in China using a self-adapting intelligent grey model

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Zeng, Bo; Li, Chuan

2016-01-01

Reasonably forecasting demands of natural gas in China is of significance as it could aid Chinese government in formulating energy policies and adjusting industrial structures. To this end, a self-adapting intelligent grey prediction model is proposed in this paper. Compared with conventional grey models which have the inherent drawbacks of fixed structure and poor adaptability, the proposed new model can automatically optimize model parameters according to the real data characteristics of modeling sequence. In this study, the proposed new model, discrete grey model, even difference grey model and classical grey model were employed, respectively, to simulate China's natural gas demands during 2002–2010 and forecast demands during 2011–2014. The results show the new model has the best simulative and predictive precision. Finally, the new model is used to forecast China's natural gas demand during 2015–2020. The forecast shows the demand will grow rapidly over the next six years. Therefore, in order to maintain the balance between the supplies and the demands for the natural gas in the future, Chinese government needs to take some measures, such as importing huge amounts of natural gas from abroad, increasing the domestic yield, using more alternative energy, and reducing the industrial reliance on natural gas. - Highlights: • A self-adapting intelligent grey prediction model (SIGM) is proposed in this paper. • The SIGM has the advantage of working with exponential functions and linear functions. • The SIGM solves the drawbacks of fixed structure and poor adaptability of grey models. • The demand of natural gas in China is successfully forecasted using the SIGM model. • The study findings can help Chinese government reasonably formulate energy policies.

PREVENTION OF ACID MINE DRAINAGE GENERATION FROM OPEN-PIT MINE HIGHWALLS

Science.gov (United States)

Exposed, open pit mine highwalls contribute significantly to the production of acid mine drainage (AMD) thus causing environmental concerns upon closure of an operating mine. Available information on the generation of AMD from open-pit mine highwalls is very limit...

Neutron transport by TRIPOLI-2 code in the lower part of a PWR pit and in the pit-access cell

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Vergnaud, T.; Bourdet, L.; Gonnord, J.; Nimal, J.C.; Champion, G.

1984-09-01

The neutrons, which exit the reactor vessel, leak between the reactor vessel and the primary concrete shield and provide high dose rate in the lower part of the reactor pit. In this part of the reactor the biological shield is reduced at the level of the pit-access cell door and of the ventilation duct. Consequently there is a pin-point increase of dose rate at reactor place where access must be free during power operation. Studies concern 900 MWe and 1300 MWe plants; calculation results are compared with dose rate measurements which have been done at several interesting points of reactor. Neutron transport is studied in two steps: - first Monte Carlo calculation carried out by the TRIPOLI-2 system gives the current of neutrons entering into the pit-access cell; - a second calculation is about neutron transport in this cell; it is also performed with the TRIPOLI-2 code which uses a very realistic model for cell geometry. Then the door efficiency is evaluated by a SN one dimension code

The United States pit disassembly and conversion project -- Meeting the MOX fuel specification

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Nelson, T.O.; James, C.A.; Kolman, D.G.

1998-01-01

The US is actively involved in demonstrating the disassembly of nuclear weapons pits to an unclassified form readied for disposition. The MOX option is the most likely path forward for plutonium that originated from nuclear weapon pits. The US demonstration line for pit disassembly and conversion is known as ARIES, the advanced recovery and integrated extraction system. The ARIES demonstration line is being used to gather data in an integrated fashion of the technologies needed for pit disassembly and conversion. These activities include the following modules: pit bisection, hydride-dehydride, oxide conversion, canning, electrolytic decontamination, and nondestructive assay (NDA). Pit bisection swages in a pit in half. Hydride-dehydride converts the pit plutonium metal to an unclassified metal button. To convert the plutonium metal to an oxide the US is investigating a number of options. The primary oxide conversion approach involves variations of combining plutonium hydriding and subsequent oxidation. Another approach is to simply oxidize the metal under controlled conditions-direct metal oxidation (DMO). To remove the gallium from the plutonium oxide, a thermal distillation approach is being used. These pyrochemical approaches will substantially reduce the wastes produced for oxide conversion of weapon plutonium, compared to traditional aqueous processing. The packaging of either the plutonium metal or oxide to long term storage criteria involves the canning and electrolytic decontamination modules. The NDA suite of instruments is then used to assay the material in the containers, which enables international verification without the need to open the containers and repackage them. All of these processes are described

Itataia's deposit - Structural zoning of a pit until the level 480 meters

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Mendonca, J.C.G.S.

1986-01-01

This work is part of Itataia Project-Geotechnics; in it are introduced several comments concerning the structural zoning of a pit in Itataias' phosphorous-uranipherous deposit, until the level 480 meters. The structural parameters (fractures, faults, foliations) obtained in surface and underground works were statistically treated. Stereographic projection was used to define eventual slipping into the pit. All the data were arranged in tables to make it easy the comparison with experimental pits. (author) [pt

Functioning heterotopic grey matter? Increased blood flow with voluntary movement and sensory stimulation

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Shimodozono, M.; Kawahira, K.; Tanaka, N.

1995-01-01

Heterotopic grey matter has never been reported to have any neuronal function other than as an epileptic focus. However, recent advances in measurement of regional cerebral blood flow (rCBF) and cerebral metabolism have enabled us to assess localised function and functional changes of the brain. We saw a patient with cerebral haemorrhage with bilateral heterotopic grey matter. No neurological deficits or seizures were present before the haemorrhage. To establish the function of the heterotopic grey matter, we studied changes in their rCBF during voluntary movement and sensory stimulation of unilateral extremities using xenon-CT (Xe-CT). (orig.)

Right hemisphere grey matter structure and language outcomes in chronic left hemisphere stroke.

Science.gov (United States)

Xing, Shihui; Lacey, Elizabeth H; Skipper-Kallal, Laura M; Jiang, Xiong; Harris-Love, Michelle L; Zeng, Jinsheng; Turkeltaub, Peter E

2016-01-01

The neural mechanisms underlying recovery of language after left hemisphere stroke remain elusive. Although older evidence suggested that right hemisphere language homologues compensate for damage in left hemisphere language areas, the current prevailing theory suggests that right hemisphere engagement is ineffective or even maladaptive. Using a novel combination of support vector regression-based lesion-symptom mapping and voxel-based morphometry, we aimed to determine whether local grey matter volume in the right hemisphere independently contributes to aphasia outcomes after chronic left hemisphere stroke. Thirty-two left hemisphere stroke survivors with aphasia underwent language assessment with the Western Aphasia Battery-Revised and tests of other cognitive domains. High-resolution T1-weighted images were obtained in aphasia patients and 30 demographically matched healthy controls. Support vector regression-based multivariate lesion-symptom mapping was used to identify critical language areas in the left hemisphere and then to quantify each stroke survivor's lesion burden in these areas. After controlling for these direct effects of the stroke on language, voxel-based morphometry was then used to determine whether local grey matter volumes in the right hemisphere explained additional variance in language outcomes. In brain areas in which grey matter volumes related to language outcomes, we then compared grey matter volumes in patients and healthy controls to assess post-stroke plasticity. Lesion-symptom mapping showed that specific left hemisphere regions related to different language abilities. After controlling for lesion burden in these areas, lesion size, and demographic factors, grey matter volumes in parts of the right temporoparietal cortex positively related to spontaneous speech, naming, and repetition scores. Examining whether domain general cognitive functions might explain these relationships, partial correlations demonstrated that grey matter

Application of complex inoculants in improving the process-ability of grey cast iron for cylinder blocks

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

LIU Wei-ming

2006-05-01

Full Text Available Effect of several complex inoculants on mechanical properties, process-ability and sensibility of grey cast iron used in cylinder block were investigated. The experimental results showed that the grey cast iron treated with 60%FeSi75+40%RE complex inoculants has tensile strength consistently at about 295 MPa along with good hardness and improved metallurgy quality. While the grey cast iron inoculated with 20%FeSi75+80%Sr compound inoculants has the best process-ability, the lowest cross-section sensibility and the least microhardness difference. The wear amount of the drill increases correspondingly with the increase of the microhardness difference of matrix structure, indicating the great effect of homogeneousness of matrix structure in the grey cast iron on the machinability of the grey cast iron.

Bitter pit in apples: pre- and postharvest factors: A review

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Jemrić, T.; Fruk, I.; Fruk, M.; Radman, S.; Sinkovič, L.; Fruk, G.

2016-01-01

Bitter pit is a physiological disorder that significantly reduces the quality of apples. Although it has been detected since the beginning of the last century, still there is little known about the mechanism of its occurrence. According to numerous studies, bitter pit is formed as a result of calcium deficiency in the fruit. Some authors cite the high concentration of gibberellins, later in the production season, most probably caused by excessive activity of the roots, as the chief causative factor. Beside Ca, there are several factors that can also contribute to its development, like imbalance among some mineral elements (N, P, K and Mg), cultivar, rootstock, the ratio of vegetative and generative growth, post-harvest treatments and the storage methods. There are some prediction models available that can estimate the risk of bitter pit in apples, but even those are not always reliable. The aim of this review was to encompass the pre and postharvest factors which cause bitter pit and point out the directions for solving this problem.

Bitter pit in apples: pre- and postharvest factors: A review

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Jemrić, T.; Fruk, I.; Fruk, M.; Radman, S.; Sinkovič, L.; Fruk, G.

2016-07-01

Bitter pit is a physiological disorder that significantly reduces the quality of apples. Although it has been detected since the beginning of the last century, still there is little known about the mechanism of its occurrence. According to numerous studies, bitter pit is formed as a result of calcium deficiency in the fruit. Some authors cite the high concentration of gibberellins, later in the production season, most probably caused by excessive activity of the roots, as the chief causative factor. Beside Ca, there are several factors that can also contribute to its development, like imbalance among some mineral elements (N, P, K and Mg), cultivar, rootstock, the ratio of vegetative and generative growth, post-harvest treatments and the storage methods. There are some prediction models available that can estimate the risk of bitter pit in apples, but even those are not always reliable. The aim of this review was to encompass the pre and postharvest factors which cause bitter pit and point out the directions for solving this problem.

Rough Neutrosophic Multi-Attribute Decision-Making Based on Grey Relational Analysis

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Kalyan Mondal

2015-01-01

Full Text Available This paper presents rough netrosophic multiattribute decision making based on grey relational analysis. While the concept of neutrosophic sets is a powerful logic to deal with indeterminate and inconsistent data, the theory of rough neutrosophic sets is also a powerful mathematical tool to deal with incompleteness. The rating of all alternatives is expressed with the upper and lower approximation operator and the pair of neutrosophic sets which are characterized by truth-membership degree, indeterminacy-membership degree, and falsitymembership degree. Weight of each attribute is partially known to decision maker. We extend the neutrosophic grey relational analysis method to rough neutrosophic grey relational analysis method and apply it to multiattribute decision making problem. Information entropy method is used to obtain the partially known attribute weights. Accumulated geometric operator is defined to transform rough neutrosophic number (neutrosophic pair to single valued neutrosophic number. Neutrosophic grey relational coefficient is determined by using Hamming distance between each alternative to ideal rough neutrosophic estimates reliability solution and the ideal rough neutrosophic estimates un-reliability solution. Then rough neutrosophic relational degree is defined to determine the ranking order of all alternatives. Finally, a numerical example is provided to illustrate the applicability and efficiency of the proposed approach.

Grey fuzzy optimization model for water quality management of a river system

Science.gov (United States)

Karmakar, Subhankar; Mujumdar, P. P.

2006-07-01

A grey fuzzy optimization model is developed for water quality management of river system to address uncertainty involved in fixing the membership functions for different goals of Pollution Control Agency (PCA) and dischargers. The present model, Grey Fuzzy Waste Load Allocation Model (GFWLAM), has the capability to incorporate the conflicting goals of PCA and dischargers in a deterministic framework. The imprecision associated with specifying the water quality criteria and fractional removal levels are modeled in a fuzzy mathematical framework. To address the imprecision in fixing the lower and upper bounds of membership functions, the membership functions themselves are treated as fuzzy in the model and the membership parameters are expressed as interval grey numbers, a closed and bounded interval with known lower and upper bounds but unknown distribution information. The model provides flexibility for PCA and dischargers to specify their aspirations independently, as the membership parameters for different membership functions, specified for different imprecise goals are interval grey numbers in place of a deterministic real number. In the final solution optimal fractional removal levels of the pollutants are obtained in the form of interval grey numbers. This enhances the flexibility and applicability in decision-making, as the decision-maker gets a range of optimal solutions for fixing the final decision scheme considering technical and economic feasibility of the pollutant treatment levels. Application of the GFWLAM is illustrated with case study of the Tunga-Bhadra river system in India.

Nutrient Removal of Grey Water from Wet Market Using Sequencing Batch Reactor

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Omar Danial; Mohd Razman Salim; Salmiati

2016-01-01

Fresh water scarcity has become an important issue in this world today. Water reuse is known as one of the strategies to overcome this problem. Grey water is one of the sources of reused water. Several researches were carried out on water reuse, but limited attention was focused on reusing grey water from wet market, which contains high nutrient and organic matters. This study was carried out on nutrient removal from grey water using sequencing batch reactor (SBR). The grey water sample was taken from a wet market (Pasar Peladang, Skudai). About 1L of grey water was fed into the reactor with a total volume of 4L. Anoxic-aerobic phase were divided with a ratio of 30 % - 70 % of total time respectively. Mixing was maintained at 30 rpm during the start of each cycle until settling phase to achieve uniform condition. Influent and effluent were set for 30 minutes. The SBR was operated with 3 cycles/ day, temperature 30 degree Celsius, cycle time 8 hours and hydraulic retention time (HRT) 1.2 days. Aeration at 35 L/ min was induced for ammonia conversion and assisting nitrification.. The results show that the bacteria growing in alternating anoxic/ aerobic systems could remove organic substrates and nutrient. The COD, Total Nitrogen and Total Phosphorus removal efficiencies were maximum at the levels of 94 %, 88 % and 70 % respectively. Anaerobic-Aerobic-Anoxic phase was proposed to increase the removal percentage. (author)

The Role of Google Scholar in Evidence Reviews and Its Applicability to Grey Literature Searching.

Science.gov (United States)

Haddaway, Neal Robert; Collins, Alexandra Mary; Coughlin, Deborah; Kirk, Stuart

2015-01-01

Google Scholar (GS), a commonly used web-based academic search engine, catalogues between 2 and 100 million records of both academic and grey literature (articles not formally published by commercial academic publishers). Google Scholar collates results from across the internet and is free to use. As a result it has received considerable attention as a method for searching for literature, particularly in searches for grey literature, as required by systematic reviews. The reliance on GS as a standalone resource has been greatly debated, however, and its efficacy in grey literature searching has not yet been investigated. Using systematic review case studies from environmental science, we investigated the utility of GS in systematic reviews and in searches for grey literature. Our findings show that GS results contain moderate amounts of grey literature, with the majority found on average at page 80. We also found that, when searched for specifically, the majority of literature identified using Web of Science was also found using GS. However, our findings showed moderate/poor overlap in results when similar search strings were used in Web of Science and GS (10-67%), and that GS missed some important literature in five of six case studies. Furthermore, a general GS search failed to find any grey literature from a case study that involved manual searching of organisations' websites. If used in systematic reviews for grey literature, we recommend that searches of article titles focus on the first 200 to 300 results. We conclude that whilst Google Scholar can find much grey literature and specific, known studies, it should not be used alone for systematic review searches. Rather, it forms a powerful addition to other traditional search methods. In addition, we advocate the use of tools to transparently document and catalogue GS search results to maintain high levels of transparency and the ability to be updated, critical to systematic reviews.

DEFINICIÓN DE PIT FINAL CAPACITADO BAJO INCERTIDUMBRE

OpenAIRE

PEIRANO OPAZO, FERNANDO ANDRÉS

2011-01-01

El objetivo principal de este trabajo de tesis es desarrollar una metodología y una herramienta que permitan definir un pit final incorporando las restricciones de capacidad y las condiciones de incertidumbre asociadas al recurso geológico. El resultado metodológico consiste en un algoritmo de cálculo que incorpora heurísticas de definición de pit final como es la enunciada por Lerchs y Grossman (1964), en conjunto con heurísticas de secuenciamiento de bloques como son enunciadas por Gersh...

Whole-brain grey matter density predicts balance stability irrespective of age and protects older adults from falling.

Science.gov (United States)

Boisgontier, Matthieu P; Cheval, Boris; van Ruitenbeek, Peter; Levin, Oron; Renaud, Olivier; Chanal, Julien; Swinnen, Stephan P

2016-03-01

Functional and structural imaging studies have demonstrated the involvement of the brain in balance control. Nevertheless, how decisive grey matter density and white matter microstructural organisation are in predicting balance stability, and especially when linked to the effects of ageing, remains unclear. Standing balance was tested on a platform moving at different frequencies and amplitudes in 30 young and 30 older adults, with eyes open and with eyes closed. Centre of pressure variance was used as an indicator of balance instability. The mean density of grey matter and mean white matter microstructural organisation were measured using voxel-based morphometry and diffusion tensor imaging, respectively. Mixed-effects models were built to analyse the extent to which age, grey matter density, and white matter microstructural organisation predicted balance instability. Results showed that both grey matter density and age independently predicted balance instability. These predictions were reinforced when the level of difficulty of the conditions increased. Furthermore, grey matter predicted balance instability beyond age and at least as consistently as age across conditions. In other words, for balance stability, the level of whole-brain grey matter density is at least as decisive as being young or old. Finally, brain grey matter appeared to be protective against falls in older adults as age increased the probability of losing balance in older adults with low, but not moderate or high grey matter density. No such results were observed for white matter microstructural organisation, thereby reinforcing the specificity of our grey matter findings. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Optimal grade control sampling practice in open-pit mining

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Engström, Karin; Esbensen, Kim Harry

2017-01-01

Misclassification of ore grades results in lost revenues, and the need for representative sampling procedures in open pit mining is increasingly important in all mining industries. This study evaluated possible improvements in sampling representativity with the use of Reverse Circulation (RC) drill...... sampling compared to manual Blast Hole (BH) sampling in the Leveäniemi open pit mine, northern Sweden. The variographic experiment results showed that sampling variability was lower for RC than for BH sampling. However, the total costs for RC drill sampling are significantly exceeding current costs...... for manual BH sampling, which needs to be compensated for by other benefits to motivate introduction of RC drilling. The main conclusion is that manual BH sampling can be fit-for-purpose in the studied open pit mine. However, with so many mineral commodities and mining methods in use globally...

Modelling the filling rate of pit latrines | Brouckaert | Water SA

African Journals Online (AJOL)

Excreta (faeces and urine) that are deposited into a pit latrine are subject to biodegradation, which substantially reduces the volume that remains. On the other hand, other matter that is not biodegradable usually finds itsway into pit latrines. The net filling rate is thus dependent on both the rate of addition of material and its ...

241-AY-102 Leak Detection Pit Drain Line Inspection Report

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Boomer, Kayle D.; Engeman, Jason K.; Gunter, Jason R.; Joslyn, Cameron C.; Vazquez, Brandon J.; Venetz, Theodore J.; Garfield, John S.

2014-01-01

This document provides a description of the design components, operational approach, and results from the Tank AY-102 leak detection pit drain piping visual inspection. To perform this inspection a custom robotic crawler with a deployment device was designed, built, and operated by IHI Southwest Technologies, Inc. for WRPS to inspect the 6-inch leak detection pit drain line

Grey-box state-space identification of nonlinear mechanical vibrations

Science.gov (United States)

Noël, J. P.; Schoukens, J.

2018-05-01

The present paper deals with the identification of nonlinear mechanical vibrations. A grey-box, or semi-physical, nonlinear state-space representation is introduced, expressing the nonlinear basis functions using a limited number of measured output variables. This representation assumes that the observed nonlinearities are localised in physical space, which is a generic case in mechanics. A two-step identification procedure is derived for the grey-box model parameters, integrating nonlinear subspace initialisation and weighted least-squares optimisation. The complete procedure is applied to an electrical circuit mimicking the behaviour of a single-input, single-output (SISO) nonlinear mechanical system and to a single-input, multiple-output (SIMO) geometrically nonlinear beam structure.

Criticality safety evaluation report for the 100 KE Basin sandfilter backwash pit

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Erickson, D.G.

1995-01-01

This analysis presents the technical basis for establishing a safe mass limit for continued operations of the KE Basin sandfilter backwash pit. The main analysis is based on a very conservative UO 2 -PuO 2 -H 2 O system using the measured isotopic concentrations of uranium and plutonium in the sludge. Appendix C contains analyses of the sandfilter backwash pit utilizing all verified materials presently in the pit, and gives new limits based on assumptions made

New diagnostic technology and hidden pits and fissures caries

OpenAIRE

Fabrizio Guerra; Marta Mazur; Francesca Rinaldo; Denise Corridore; Daniele Salvi; Debora Pasqualotto; Gianna Maria Nardi; Livia Ottolenghi

2015-01-01

The accuracy in pits and fissures caries detection is of paramount importance in dental caries primary and secondary prevention. A combination of visual examination and probing is currently the mainstay of occlusal caries diagnosis. Unfortunately, these types of inspection alone may leave a certain number of pit and fissure caries undetected. The Vista Cam iX fluorescence camera (Durr Dental, Bietigheim-Bissingen, Germany) is a novel dental diagnostic tool for quantitative assessment of denta...

78 FR 33894 - Proposed Information Collection (Open Burn Pit Registry Airborne Hazard Self-Assessment...

Science.gov (United States)

2013-06-05

... chemicals and fumes caused by open burn pits. DATES: Written comments and recommendations on the proposed... to ``OMB Control No. 2900-NEW, Open Burn Pit Registry Airborne Hazard Self-Assessment Questionnaire.... Title: Open Burn Pit Registry Airborne Hazard Self-Assessment Questionnaire, VA Form 10-10066. OMB...

SUSTAINABILITY OF TURKISH GREY CATTLE IN ORGANIC SYSTEM

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Hülya HANOĞLU

2015-08-01

Full Text Available Beef consumption has significantly increased in the last fifty years as a response to the increase in population size, whereas the sustainability of production systems has begun to be questioned. Because the residues left in the animal feed additives used in conventional food production constitute major health problems in consumers. Therefore, an interest in organic farming methods based on natural grazing and feed production without the use of chemicals is increasing. One of the most important examples of organic beef production in Turkey is the project carried out in the villages of Ayvacık district in Çanakkale. This region has an ecological structure which does not allow an extensive production of culture cattle. The most important advantages of the Turkish grey cattle living in the pastures in the region covered with bushes are that they have less needs of shelter, they do not need supplementary feeding throughout the year and labor costs for their production for beef are low. Breeders in this region maintained a market price for their products by shifting to organic system and thus allowed the sustainable production of the Turkish grey cattle. In this study, Ayvacık Organic Beef Production Project which sets an example for the sustainability of Turkish grey cattle production by featuring its surplus values was evaluated.

Global population structure and demographic history of the grey seal

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Klimova, A.; Phillips, C. D.; Fietz, Katharina

2014-01-01

Although the grey seal Halichoerus grypus is one of the most familiar and intensively studied of all pinniped species, its global population structure remains to be elucidated. Little is also known about how the species as a whole may have historically responded to climate-driven changes in habitat...... a little over 10 000 years ago, consistent with the last proposed isolation of the Baltic Sea. Approximate Bayesian computation also identified genetic signals consistent with postglacial population expansion across much of the species range, suggesting that grey seals are highly responsive to changes...

Grey matter connectivity within and between auditory, language and visual systems in prelingually deaf adolescents.

Science.gov (United States)

Li, Wenjing; Li, Jianhong; Wang, Zhenchang; Li, Yong; Liu, Zhaohui; Yan, Fei; Xian, Junfang; He, Huiguang

2015-01-01

Previous studies have shown brain reorganizations after early deprivation of auditory sensory. However, changes of grey matter connectivity have not been investigated in prelingually deaf adolescents yet. In the present study, we aimed to investigate changes of grey matter connectivity within and between auditory, language and visual systems in prelingually deaf adolescents. We recruited 16 prelingually deaf adolescents and 16 age-and gender-matched normal controls, and extracted the grey matter volume as the structural characteristic from 14 regions of interest involved in auditory, language or visual processing to investigate the changes of grey matter connectivity within and between auditory, language and visual systems. Sparse inverse covariance estimation (SICE) was utilized to construct grey matter connectivity between these brain regions. The results show that prelingually deaf adolescents present weaker grey matter connectivity within auditory and visual systems, and connectivity between language and visual systems declined. Notably, significantly increased brain connectivity was found between auditory and visual systems in prelingually deaf adolescents. Our results indicate "cross-modal" plasticity after deprivation of the auditory input in prelingually deaf adolescents, especially between auditory and visual systems. Besides, auditory deprivation and visual deficits might affect the connectivity pattern within language and visual systems in prelingually deaf adolescents.

Application of grey system theory to construction control for prestressed concrete continuous bridge

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Yu, Q.; Lu, Zhean; Wang, Juanjuan

2006-01-01

Text in Chinese. - This paper discussed the application of the grey system theory for the construction control of bridges on the background of the construction of Fuhe Bridge in Huangpi county, Hubei province. The GM( 1,1) model was the most representative and widely applied grey prognosticate model

Lessons Learned from Pit Viper Integration into Hanford Tank Farm Reality

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Catalan, Michael A.; Bailey, Sharon A.; Alzheimer, James M.; Niebuhr, Daniel P.

2002-01-01

The Pit Viper is a tele-operated system intended to enhance worker safety while simultaneously improving the efficiency of pit operations at the Hanford Site. Commercial off-the-shelf (COTS) components were used in an attempt to increase system efficiency. During preparation for initial deployment, the Pit Viper team identified multiple areas where more advanced technology offers substantial improvement in system capabilities. The team also ensured that the system as is, was capable of fulfilling its mission. However, there are valid concerns of the reliability of the technology. Areas where improvement are desired include; operator feedback, manipulator dexterous envelope, and system reliability

Designing local solutions for emptying pit latrines in low-income urban settlements (Malawi)

Science.gov (United States)

Chipeta, W. C.; Holm, R. H.; Kamanula, J. F.; Mtonga, W. E.; de los Reyes, F. L.

2017-08-01

A lack of effective options in local technology poses challenges when onsite household sanitation facilities are eventually filled to capacity in unplanned settlement areas within Mzuzu City, located in northern Malawi. Vacuum trucks currently dominate the market but focus on emptying septic tanks in the more easily accessible planned settlement areas, rather than servicing the pit latrines common in unplanned settlement areas. As a result, households in the unplanned settlement areas within Mzuzu rely primarily on manual pit emptying (i.e., shoveling by hand) or digging a new pit latrine. These practices have associated health risks and are limited by space constraints. This research focused on filling the technological gap through the design, development, and testing of a pedal powered modified Gulper pump using locally available materials and fabrication. A modified pedal powered Gulper technology was developed and demonstrated to be capable of lifting fecal sludge from a depth of 1.5 m with a mean flow rate of 0.00058 m3/s. If the trash content was low, a typical pit latrine with a volume of 1-4 m3 could be emptied within 1-2 h. Based on the findings in our research Phase IV, the pedal powered Gulper modification is promising as a potential emptying technology for lined pit latrines in unplanned settlement areas. The success rate of the technology is about 17% (5 out 30 sampled lined pit latrines were successful) and reflects the difficulty in finding a single technology that can work well in all types of pit latrines with varying contents. We note that cost should not be the only design criteria and acknowledge the challenge of handling trash in pit latrines.

Probability distribution of pitting corrosion depth and rate in underground pipelines: A Monte Carlo study

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Caleyo, F.; Velazquez, J.C.; Valor, A.; Hallen, J.M.

2009-01-01

The probability distributions of external-corrosion pit depth and pit growth rate were investigated in underground pipelines using Monte Carlo simulations. The study combines a predictive pit growth model developed by the authors with the observed distributions of the model variables in a range of soils. Depending on the pipeline age, any of the three maximal extreme value distributions, i.e. Weibull, Frechet or Gumbel, can arise as the best fit to the pitting depth and rate data. The Frechet distribution best fits the corrosion data for long exposure periods. This can be explained by considering the long-term stabilization of the diffusion-controlled pit growth. The findings of the study provide reliability analysts with accurate information regarding the stochastic characteristics of the pitting damage in underground pipelines.

Probability distribution of pitting corrosion depth and rate in underground pipelines: A Monte Carlo study

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Caleyo, F. [Departamento de Ingenieria Metalurgica, ESIQIE, IPN, UPALM Edif. 7, Zacatenco, 07738 Mexico, D.F. (Mexico)], E-mail: fcaleyo@gmail.com; Velazquez, J.C. [Departamento de Ingenieria Metalurgica, ESIQIE, IPN, UPALM Edif. 7, Zacatenco, 07738 Mexico, D.F. (Mexico); Valor, A. [Facultad de Fisica, Universidad de La Habana, San Lazaro y L, Vedado, 10400, La Habana (Cuba); Hallen, J.M. [Departamento de Ingenieria Metalurgica, ESIQIE, IPN, UPALM Edif. 7, Zacatenco, 07738 Mexico, D.F. (Mexico)

2009-09-15

The probability distributions of external-corrosion pit depth and pit growth rate were investigated in underground pipelines using Monte Carlo simulations. The study combines a predictive pit growth model developed by the authors with the observed distributions of the model variables in a range of soils. Depending on the pipeline age, any of the three maximal extreme value distributions, i.e. Weibull, Frechet or Gumbel, can arise as the best fit to the pitting depth and rate data. The Frechet distribution best fits the corrosion data for long exposure periods. This can be explained by considering the long-term stabilization of the diffusion-controlled pit growth. The findings of the study provide reliability analysts with accurate information regarding the stochastic characteristics of the pitting damage in underground pipelines.

3D Modeling of Lacus Mortis Pit Crater with Presumed Interior Tube Structure

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ik-Seon Hong

2015-06-01

Full Text Available When humans explore the Moon, lunar caves will be an ideal base to provide a shelter from the hazards of radiation, meteorite impact, and extreme diurnal temperature differences. In order to ascertain the existence of caves on the Moon, it is best to visit the Moon in person. The Google Lunar X Prize(GLXP competition started recently to attempt lunar exploration missions. Ones of those groups competing, plan to land on a pit of Lacus Mortis and determine the existence of a cave inside this pit. In this pit, there is a ramp from the entrance down to the inside of the pit, which enables a rover to approach the inner region of the pit. In this study, under the assumption of the existence of a cave in this pit, a 3D model was developed based on the optical image data. Since this model simulates the actual terrain, the rendering of the model agrees well with the image data. Furthermore, the 3D printing of this model will enable more rigorous investigations and also could be used to publicize lunar exploration missions with ease.

3D Modeling of Lacus Mortis Pit Crater with Presumed Interior Tube Structure

Science.gov (United States)

Hong, Ik-Seon; Yi, Yu; Yu, Jaehyung; Haruyama, Junichi

2015-06-01

When humans explore the Moon, lunar caves will be an ideal base to provide a shelter from the hazards of radiation, meteorite impact, and extreme diurnal temperature differences. In order to ascertain the existence of caves on the Moon, it is best to visit the Moon in person. The Google Lunar X Prize(GLXP) competition started recently to attempt lunar exploration missions. Ones of those groups competing, plan to land on a pit of Lacus Mortis and determine the existence of a cave inside this pit. In this pit, there is a ramp from the entrance down to the inside of the pit, which enables a rover to approach the inner region of the pit. In this study, under the assumption of the existence of a cave in this pit, a 3D model was developed based on the optical image data. Since this model simulates the actual terrain, the rendering of the model agrees well with the image data. Furthermore, the 3D printing of this model will enable more rigorous investigations and also could be used to publicize lunar exploration missions with ease.

Mapping grey matter reductions in schizophrenia: an anatomical likelihood estimation analysis of voxel-based morphometry studies.

Science.gov (United States)

Fornito, A; Yücel, M; Patti, J; Wood, S J; Pantelis, C

2009-03-01

Voxel-based morphometry (VBM) is a popular tool for mapping neuroanatomical changes in schizophrenia patients. Several recent meta-analyses have identified the brain regions in which patients most consistently show grey matter reductions, although they have not examined whether such changes reflect differences in grey matter concentration (GMC) or grey matter volume (GMV). These measures assess different aspects of grey matter integrity, and may therefore reflect different pathological processes. In this study, we used the Anatomical Likelihood Estimation procedure to analyse significant differences reported in 37 VBM studies of schizophrenia patients, incorporating data from 1646 patients and 1690 controls, and compared the findings of studies using either GMC or GMV to index grey matter differences. Analysis of all studies combined indicated that grey matter reductions in a network of frontal, temporal, thalamic and striatal regions are among the most frequently reported in literature. GMC reductions were generally larger and more consistent than GMV reductions, and were more frequent in the insula, medial prefrontal, medial temporal and striatal regions. GMV reductions were more frequent in dorso-medial frontal cortex, and lateral and orbital frontal areas. These findings support the primacy of frontal, limbic, and subcortical dysfunction in the pathophysiology of schizophrenia, and suggest that the grey matter changes observed with MRI may not necessarily result from a unitary pathological process.

Pit morphology studies of iron and steel in alkaline chloride environment using EMPA technique

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Benjamin, S.E.; Sykes, J.M.

1993-01-01

A comparative study of iron and steel in stimulated alkaline chloride solutions showed that Swedish iron has better reproducibility in terms of pitting potentials as compared to ordinary hot rolled mild steel. This study was undertaken to reason this pitting behavior on the basis of number and the nature of inclusions present in both the metals. Electron probe microanalysis technique (EPMA) was utilised to contemplate the origin of pits, the solution chemistry of the pits and finally the nature of the rust product. (author)

Atypical pit craters on Mars: new insights from THEMIS, CTX and HiRISE observations

Science.gov (United States)

Cushing, Glen; Okubo, Chris H.; Titus, Timothy N.

2015-01-01

More than 100 pit craters in the Tharsis region of Mars exhibit morphologies, diameters and thermal behaviors that diverge from the much larger bowl-shaped pit craters that occur in most regions across Mars. These Atypical Pit Craters (APCs) generally have sharp and distinct rims, vertical or overhanging walls that extend down to their floors, surface diameters of ~50-350 m, and high depth-to-diameter (d/D) ratios that are usually greater than 0.3 (which is an upper-range value for impacts and bowl-shaped pit craters), and can exceed values of 1.8. Observations by the Mars Odyssey THermal Emission Imaging System (THEMIS) show that APC floor temperatures are warmer at night, and fluctuate with much lower diurnal amplitudes than nearby surfaces or adjacent bowl-shaped pit craters. Kīlauea volcano, Hawai'i, hosts pit craters that formed through subsurface collapse into active volcanic dikes, resulting in pits that can appear morphologically analogous to either APCs or bowl-shaped pit craters. Partially-drained dikes are sometimes exposed within the lower walls and floors of these terrestrial APC analogs and can form extensive cave systems with unique microclimates. Similar caves in martian pit craters are of great interest for astrobiology. This study uses new observations by the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO) High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment (HiRISE) and Context Camera (CTX) to refine previous work where seven APCs were described from lower-resolution THEMIS visible-wavelength (VIS) observations. Here, we identify locations of 115 APCs, map their distribution across the Tharsis region, characterize their internal morphologies with high-resolution observations, and discuss possible formation mechanisms.

A New Algorithm for Determining Ultimate Pit Limits Based on Network Optimization

OpenAIRE

Ali Asghar Khodayari

2013-01-01

One of the main concerns of the mining industry is to determine ultimate pit limits. Final pit is a collection of blocks, which can be removed with maximum profit while following restrictions on the slope of the mine’s walls. The size, location and final shape of an open-pit are very important in designing the location of waste dumps, stockpiles, processing plants, access roads and other surface facilities as well as in developing a production program. There are numerous methods for designing...

Use and Access of Grey Literature in Special Libraries may be Hindered by Lack of Visibility and Cataloguing. A review of: Ranger, Sara L. “Grey Literature in Special Libraries: Access in Use.” Publishing Research Quarterly 21.1 (Spring 2005: 53-63.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

David Hook

2006-03-01

Full Text Available Objective – To examine the barriers to making grey literature (literature not controlled by commercial publishers easier to access in special libraries. Design – Interviews. Setting – Variety of special libraries (government, corporate and specialized academic in the United States. Subjects – Sixteen librarians from fourteen organizations in Washington, Michigan and Texas were interviewed. Four of the organizations were government libraries, four were corporate libraries and five were specialized academic libraries. One of the interviews was not used because the organization did not maintain a collection of paper‐based grey literature. Methods – Librarians were selected as possible interview subjects via three methods: some were previously familiar with the author; some were referred to the author by friends, family and colleagues; two candidates volunteered in response to a presentation of the project at a professional meeting. Interviews were conducted between February 2002 and May 2003. A standard set of seven questions were used, but often followed with further questions. The interviews were conducted either in the library or the librarian’s office. The interviews were tape‐recorded and the answers were written down. Interviews typically lasted between fifteen and thirty minutes and asked about the current state, holdings, access and use of grey literature in the special library. Main Results – Results from the interviews suggest a wide variance in the percentage of users that access grey literature. Grey literature was used less in the corporate libraries than the academic and government libraries. The percentage of the collection made up of grey literature also varied widely between the different libraries. Reports were found to be the most popular form of grey literature, although most of the libraries reported owning conference proceedings and newsletters in addition to reports. One interesting observation found during

"Grey matters".

Science.gov (United States)

Rose, Katie

2014-01-01

It's common in this world, for diagnoses to be confused. This grey, oblique world is the "World of Brain Tumors" from which these narratives are written, a world I entered when a tangerine-sized tumor was found on my temporal lobe. Each narrative illustrates this world in which everything is covered in a thick film rendering things once obvious, now unknown. Parents are asked to choose treatment plans for their children, plans that will inevitably alter their child's quality of life but in ways they cannot determine or even imagine. Parents are asked to play God. Most of the parents who share their stories in this collection, parents of PBT (pediatric brain tumor) patients have to walk the line of trying to not disrupt their relationships with their physicians, wanting the best for their child, and facing the decision to follow their gut or go with advised treatment plans.

Research on a Novel Kernel Based Grey Prediction Model and Its Applications

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Xin Ma

2016-01-01

Full Text Available The discrete grey prediction models have attracted considerable interest of research due to its effectiveness to improve the modelling accuracy of the traditional grey prediction models. The autoregressive GM(1,1 model, abbreviated as ARGM(1,1, is a novel discrete grey model which is easy to use and accurate in prediction of approximate nonhomogeneous exponential time series. However, the ARGM(1,1 is essentially a linear model; thus, its applicability is still limited. In this paper a novel kernel based ARGM(1,1 model is proposed, abbreviated as KARGM(1,1. The KARGM(1,1 has a nonlinear function which can be expressed by a kernel function using the kernel method, and its modelling procedures are presented in details. Two case studies of predicting the monthly gas well production are carried out with the real world production data. The results of KARGM(1,1 model are compared to the existing discrete univariate grey prediction models, including ARGM(1,1, NDGM(1,1,k, DGM(1,1, and NGBMOP, and it is shown that the KARGM(1,1 outperforms the other four models.

Pitting growth modelling in buried oil and gas pipelines using statistical techniques

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Velazquez, J. C.; Caleyo, F.; Valorm, A.; Hallen, J. M.

2011-01-01

New deterministic and stochastic predictive models are proposed for external pitting corrosion in underground pipelines. The deterministic model takes into consideration the local chemical and physical properties of the soil as well as the pipeline coating to predict the time dependence of pitting depth and rate in a range of soils. This model, based on results from a field study, was used to conduct Monte Carlo simulations that established the probability distribution of pitting depth and growth rate in the studied soils and their evolution over the life of the pipeline. In the last stage of the study, an empirical Markov chain-based stochastic model was developed for predicting the evolution of pitting corrosion depth and rate distributions from the observed properties of the soil. (Author) 18 refs.

Voxel-wise grey matter asymmetry analysis in left- and right-handers.

Science.gov (United States)

Ocklenburg, Sebastian; Friedrich, Patrick; Güntürkün, Onur; Genç, Erhan

2016-10-28

Handedness is thought to originate in the brain, but identifying its structural correlates in the cortex has yielded surprisingly incoherent results. One idea proclaimed by several authors is that structural grey matter asymmetries might underlie handedness. While some authors have found significant associations with handedness in different brain areas (e.g. in the central sulcus and precentral sulcus), others have failed to identify such associations. One method used by many researchers to determine structural grey matter asymmetries is voxel based morphometry (VBM). However, it has recently been suggested that the standard VBM protocol might not be ideal to assess structural grey matter asymmetries, as it establishes accurate voxel-wise correspondence across individuals but not across both hemispheres. This could potentially lead to biased and incoherent results. Recently, a new toolbox specifically geared at assessing structural asymmetries and involving accurate voxel-wise correspondence across hemispheres has been published [F. Kurth, C. Gaser, E. Luders. A 12-step user guide for analyzing voxel-wise gray matter asymmetries in statistical parametric mapping (SPM), Nat Protoc 10 (2015), 293-304]. Here, we used this new toolbox to re-assess grey matter asymmetry differences in left- vs. right-handers and linked them to quantitative measures of hand preference and hand skill. While we identified several significant left-right asymmetries in the overall sample, no difference between left- and right-handers reached significance after correction for multiple comparisons. These findings indicate that the structural brain correlates of handedness are unlikely to be rooted in macroscopic grey matter area differences that can be assessed with VBM. Future studies should focus on other potential structural correlates of handedness, e.g. structural white matter asymmetries. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.

Fukushima Nuclear Accident Recorded in Tibetan Plateau Snow Pits

Science.gov (United States)

Wang, Ninglian; Wu, Xiaobo; Kehrwald, Natalie; Li, Zhen; Li, Quanlian; Jiang, Xi; Pu, Jianchen

2015-01-01

The β radioactivity of snow-pit samples collected in the spring of 2011 on four Tibetan Plateau glaciers demonstrate a remarkable peak in each snow pit profile, with peaks about ten to tens of times higher than background levels. The timing of these peaks suggests that the high radioactivity resulted from the Fukushima nuclear accident that occurred on March 11, 2011 in eastern Japan. Fallout monitoring studies demonstrate that this radioactive material was transported by the westerlies across the middle latitudes of the Northern Hemisphere. The depth of the peak β radioactivity in each snow pit compared with observational precipitation records, suggests that the radioactive fallout reached the Tibetan Plateau and was deposited on glacier surfaces in late March 2011, or approximately 20 days after the nuclear accident. The radioactive fallout existed in the atmosphere over the Tibetan Plateau for about one month. PMID:25658094

Standardized emissions inventory methodology for open-pit mining areas.

Science.gov (United States)

Huertas, Jose I; Camacho, Dumar A; Huertas, Maria E

2011-08-01

There is still interest in a unified methodology to quantify the mass of particulate material emitted into the atmosphere by activities inherent to open-pit mining. For the case of total suspended particles (TSP), the current practice is to estimate such emissions by developing inventories based on the emission factors recommended by the USEPA for this purpose. However, there are disputes over the specific emission factors that must be used for each activity and the applicability of such factors to cases quite different to the ones under which they were obtained. There is also a need for particulate matter with an aerodynamic diameter less than 10 μm (PM(10)) emission inventories and for metrics to evaluate the emission control programs implemented by open-pit mines. To address these needs, work was carried out to establish a standardized TSP and PM(10) emission inventory methodology for open-pit mining areas. The proposed methodology was applied to seven of the eight mining companies operating in the northern part of Colombia, home to the one of the world's largest open-pit coal mining operations (∼70 Mt/year). The results obtained show that transport on unpaved roads is the mining activity that generates most of the emissions and that the total emissions may be reduced up to 72% by spraying water on the unpaved roads. Performance metrics were defined for the emission control programs implemented by mining companies. It was found that coal open-pit mines are emitting 0.726 and 0.180 kg of TSP and PM(10), respectively, per ton of coal produced. It was also found that these mines are using on average 1.148 m(2) of land per ton of coal produced per year.

Grey matter, an endophenotype for schizophrenia? A voxel-based morphometry study in siblings of patients with schizophrenia

Science.gov (United States)

van der Velde, Jorien; Gromann, Paula M.; Swart, Marte; de Haan, Lieuwe; Wiersma, Durk; Bruggeman, Richard; Krabbendam, Lydia; Aleman, André

2015-01-01

Background Grey matter, both volume and concentration, has been proposed as an endophenotype for schizophrenia given a number of reports of grey matter abnormalities in relatives of patients with schizophrenia. However, previous studies on grey matter abnormalities in relatives have produced inconsistent results. The aim of the present study was to examine grey matter differences between controls and siblings of patients with schizophrenia and to examine whether the age, genetic loading or subclinical psychotic symptoms of selected individuals could explain the previously reported inconsistencies. Methods We compared the grey matter volume and grey matter concentration of healthy siblings of patients with schizophrenia and healthy controls matched for age, sex and education using voxel-based morphometry (VBM). Furthermore, we selected subsamples based on age (< 30 yr), genetic loading and subclinical psychotic symptoms to examine whether this would lead to different results. Results We included 89 siblings and 69 controls in our study. The results showed that siblings and controls did not differ significantly on grey matter volume or concentration. Furthermore, specifically selecting participants based on age, genetic loading or subclinical psychotic symptoms did not alter these findings. Limitations The main limitation was that subdividing the sample resulted in smaller samples for the subanalyses. Furthermore, we used MRI data from 2 different scanner sites. Conclusion These results indicate that grey matter measured through VBM might not be a suitable endophenotype for schizophrenia. PMID:25768029

Research on wind field algorithm of wind lidar based on BP neural network and grey prediction

Science.gov (United States)

Chen, Yong; Chen, Chun-Li; Luo, Xiong; Zhang, Yan; Yang, Ze-hou; Zhou, Jie; Shi, Xiao-ding; Wang, Lei

2018-01-01

This paper uses the BP neural network and grey algorithm to forecast and study radar wind field. In order to reduce the residual error in the wind field prediction which uses BP neural network and grey algorithm, calculating the minimum value of residual error function, adopting the residuals of the gray algorithm trained by BP neural network, using the trained network model to forecast the residual sequence, using the predicted residual error sequence to modify the forecast sequence of the grey algorithm. The test data show that using the grey algorithm modified by BP neural network can effectively reduce the residual value and improve the prediction precision.

Influence of cracks and pitting corrosion on residual ultimate strength of stiffened plates

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

ZHANG Jing

2018-02-01

Full Text Available [Objectives] Ships and offshore platforms serve in the harsh sea environment for a long time. Cracks and pitting corrosion will occur in such a structure and the damage will affect its ultimate strength.[Methods] To investigate the influence of cracks and pitting corrosion on ultimate bearing capacity, the ultimate strength of a structure under axial compression is studied by using a nonlinear finite element. The mesh size of a stiffened plate with cracks and pitting corrosion is first discussed. Then the influence of the relative positions of cracks and pitting corrosion, number of corrosion points and crack length impact on the residual ultimate strength of damaged stiffened plates is discussed via a series of calculations.[Results] The results indicate that the increase in crack length and pitting corrosion significantly decreases the ultimate strength of a stiffened plate. [Conclusions] This provides a useful reference for designing and maintaining ships and offshore structures in their life cycles.

Morphological Evolution of Pit-Patterned Si(001) Substrates Driven by Surface-Energy Reduction

Science.gov (United States)

Salvalaglio, Marco; Backofen, Rainer; Voigt, Axel; Montalenti, Francesco

2017-09-01

Lateral ordering of heteroepitaxial islands can be conveniently achieved by suitable pit-patterning of the substrate prior to deposition. Controlling shape, orientation, and size of the pits is not trivial as, being metastable, they can significantly evolve during deposition/annealing. In this paper, we exploit a continuum model to explore the typical metastable pit morphologies that can be expected on Si(001), depending on the initial depth/shape. Evolution is predicted using a surface-diffusion model, formulated in a phase-field framework, and tackling surface-energy anisotropy. Results are shown to nicely reproduce typical metastable shapes reported in the literature. Moreover, long time scale evolutions of pit profiles with different depths are found to follow a similar kinetic pathway. The model is also exploited to treat the case of heteroepitaxial growth involving two materials characterized by different facets in their equilibrium Wulff's shape. This can lead to significant changes in morphologies, such as a rotation of the pit during deposition as evidenced in Ge/Si experiments.

Constitutive activation of the ERK pathway in melanoma and skin melanocytes in Grey horses.

Science.gov (United States)

Jiang, Lin; Campagne, Cécile; Sundström, Elisabeth; Sousa, Pedro; Imran, Saima; Seltenhammer, Monika; Pielberg, Gerli; Olsson, Mats J; Egidy, Giorgia; Andersson, Leif; Golovko, Anna

2014-11-21

Constitutive activation of the ERK pathway, occurring in the vast majority of melanocytic neoplasms, has a pivotal role in melanoma development. Different mechanisms underlie this activation in different tumour settings. The Grey phenotype in horses, caused by a 4.6 kb duplication in intron 6 of Syntaxin 17 (STX17), is associated with a very high incidence of cutaneous melanoma, but the molecular mechanism behind the melanomagenesis remains unknown. Here, we investigated the involvement of the ERK pathway in melanoma development in Grey horses. Grey horse melanoma tumours, cell lines and normal skin melanocytes were analyzed with help of indirect immunofluorescence and immunoblotting for the expression of phospho-ERK1/2 in comparison to that in non-grey horse and human counterparts. The mutational status of BRAF, RAS, GNAQ, GNA11 and KIT genes in Grey horse melanomas was determined by direct sequencing. The effect of RAS, RAF and PI3K/AKT pathways on the activation of the ERK signaling in Grey horse melanoma cells was investigated with help of specific inhibitors and immunoblotting. Individual roles of RAF and RAS kinases on the ERK activation were examined using si-RNA based approach and immunoblotting. We found that the ERK pathway is constitutively activated in Grey horse melanoma tumours and cell lines in the absence of somatic activating mutations in BRAF, RAS, GNAQ, GNA11 and KIT genes or alterations in the expression of the main components of the pathway. The pathway is mitogenic and is mediated by BRAF, CRAF and KRAS kinases. Importantly, we found high activation of the ERK pathway also in epidermal melanocytes, suggesting a general predisposition to melanomagenesis in these horses. These findings demonstrate that the presence of the intronic 4.6 kb duplication in STX17 is strongly associated with constitutive activation of the ERK pathway in melanocytic cells in Grey horses in the absence of somatic mutations commonly linked to the activation of this

The clinical impact of cerebellar grey matter pathology in multiple sclerosis.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Alfredo Damasceno

Full Text Available BACKGROUND: The cerebellum is an important site for cortical demyelination in multiple sclerosis, but the functional significance of this finding is not fully understood. OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the clinical and cognitive impact of cerebellar grey-matter pathology in multiple sclerosis patients. METHODS: Forty-two relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis patients and 30 controls underwent clinical assessment including the Multiple Sclerosis Functional Composite, Expanded Disability Status Scale (EDSS and cerebellar functional system (FS score, and cognitive evaluation, including the Paced Auditory Serial Addition Test (PASAT and the Symbol-Digit Modalities Test (SDMT. Magnetic resonance imaging was performed with a 3T scanner and variables of interest were: brain white-matter and cortical lesion load, cerebellar intracortical and leukocortical lesion volumes, and brain cortical and cerebellar white-matter and grey-matter volumes. RESULTS: After multivariate analysis high burden of cerebellar intracortical lesions was the only predictor for the EDSS (p<0.001, cerebellar FS (p = 0.002, arm function (p = 0.049, and for leg function (p<0.001. Patients with high burden of cerebellar leukocortical lesions had lower PASAT scores (p = 0.013, while patients with greater volumes of cerebellar intracortical lesions had worse SDMT scores (p = 0.015. CONCLUSIONS: Cerebellar grey-matter pathology is widely present and contributes to clinical dysfunction in relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis patients, independently of brain grey-matter damage.

Analysis and design of a Taguchi-Grey based electricity demand predictor for energy management systems

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Yao, Albert W.L.; Chi, S.C.

2004-01-01

In order to use electricity efficiently, a demand control management system is one of the effective ways to reduce energy consumption and electric bills. An electricity demand control system is used as a means to monitor and manage the usage of electricity effectively. Moreover, it is a useful tool for avoiding penalties beyond the contracted demand value of electricity with the electric power company. In this project, we developed a Taguchi-Grey based predictor to forecast the demand value of electricity on line. In a Grey prediction, the parameter settings are highly relevant to the accuracy of forecasting. A Taguchi method was employed to optimize the parameter settings for the Grey based electricity demand value predictor. Our experimental results show that the optimal parameter settings of the Grey prediction are α=0.4, five point modeling and three minute sampling time of the data acquisition system. The improved Taguchi-Grey based electricity demand predictor in conjunction with the PC based electricity demand control system is a cost effective and efficient means to manage the usage of electricity

Research on horizontal displacement monitoring method of deep foundation pit based on laser projecting sensing technology

Science.gov (United States)

Liu, Peng; Xie, Shulin; Zhang, Lixiao; Zhou, Guangyi; Zhao, Xuefeng

2018-03-01

A certain level of horizontal displacement will occur during excavation or subsequent construction of deep foundation pit. If the support is improper and the horizontal displacement of the foundation pit is too large, it will cause collapse and even affect the buildings around the foundation pit, which will endanger people's life and property. Therefore, the horizontal displacement monitoring of deep foundation pit becomes more and more important. At present, the electronic total station is often used to monitor the horizontal displacement of the foundation pit, but this monitoring method is expensive, prone to accidental errors, and can not be used for real-time monitoring. Therefore, a method of monitoring the horizontal displacement of deep foundation pit by using laser projection sensing technique is proposed in this paper. The horizontal displacement of the foundation pit is replaced by the displacement of the laser spot emitted by the laser, and the horizontal displacement of the foundation pit can be obtained by identifying the displacement of the laser spot projected on the screen. A series of experiments show that the accuracy of this monitoring method meets the engineering requirements and greatly reduces the cost, which provides a new technology for the displacement monitoring of deep foundation pit.

Experimental and theoretic investigations of thermal behavior of a seasonal water pit heat storage

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Fan, Jianhua; Huang, Junpeng; Chatzidiakos, Angelos

Seasonal heat storages are considered essential for district heating systems because they offer flexibility for the system to integrate different fluctuating renewable energy sources. Water pit thermal storages (PTES) have been successfully implemented in solar district heating plants in Denmark....... Thermal behavior of a 75,000 m3 water pit heat storage in Marstal solar heating plant was investigated experimentally and numerically. Temperatures at different levels of the water pit storage and temperatures at different depths of the ground around the storage were monitored and analyzed. A simulation...... model of the water pit storage is built to investigate development of temperatures in and around the storage. The calculated temperatures are compared to the monitored temperatures with an aim to validate the simulation model. Thermal stratification in the water pit heat storage and its interaction...

Application of entropy measurement technique in grey based ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

For this study, four control variables are selected current, voltage, gas flow rate and ... Keywords: Metal Inert Gas (MIG) Welding, Grey-Taguchi Method, Entropy ...... of metal inert gas welding on the corrosion and mechanical behaviour of.

Grey zones of welfare

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ida Harboe Knudsen

2015-01-01

Full Text Available In this article I explore the ‘grey zones of welfare’ in rural Lithuania whereby I point to the inherent ambiguities that lies in a system where people to a high degree rely on networks and normative solutions to everyday shortcomings, rather than on the state. I argue that we in the period after socialism witness an increased degree of informal economies and social arrangements, as the formal sector of social security is perceived as unreliable. This results in a model where liberalism and individual ethics co-exist with a strong morality to support the poorest in society.

Impacts of swine manure pits on groundwater quality

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Krapac, I.G.; Dey, W.S.; Roy, W.R.; Smyth, C.A.; Storment, E.; Sargent, S.L.; Steele, J.D.

2002-01-01

New information is presented on impacts on groundwater by manure storage in deep ground pits. - Manure deep-pits are commonly used to store manure at confined animal feeding operations. However, previous to this study little information had been collected on the impacts of deep-pits on groundwater quality to provide science-based guidance in formulating regulations and waste management strategies that address risks to human health and the environment. Groundwater quality has been monitored since January 1999 at two hog finishing facilities in Illinois that use deep-pit systems for manure storage. Groundwater samples were collected on a monthly basis and analyzed for inorganic and bacteriological constituent concentrations. The two sites are located in areas with geologic environments representing different vulnerabilities for local groundwater contamination. One site is underlain by more than 6 m of clayey silt, and 7-36 m of shale. Concentrations of chloride, ammonium, phosphate, and potassium indicated that local groundwater quality had not been significantly impacted by pit leakage from this facility. Nitrate concentrations were elevated near the pit, often exceeding the 10 mg N/l drinking water standard. Isotopic nitrate signatures suggested that the nitrate was likely derived from soil organic matter and fertilizer applied to adjacent crop fields. At the other site, sandstone is located 4.6-6.1 m below land surface. Chloride concentrations and δ 15 N and δ 18 O values of dissolved nitrate indicated that this facility may have limited and localized impacts on groundwater. Other constituents, including ammonia, potassium, phosphate, and sodium were generally at or less than background concentrations. Trace- and heavy-metal concentrations in groundwater samples collected from both facilities were at concentrations less than drinking water standards. The concentration of inorganic constituents in the groundwater would not likely impact human health. Fecal

Impacts of swine manure pits on groundwater quality

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Krapac, I.G.; Dey, W.S.; Roy, W.R.; Smyth, C.A.; Storment, E.; Sargent, S.L.; Steele, J.D

2002-12-01

New information is presented on impacts on groundwater by manure storage in deep ground pits. - Manure deep-pits are commonly used to store manure at confined animal feeding operations. However, previous to this study little information had been collected on the impacts of deep-pits on groundwater quality to provide science-based guidance in formulating regulations and waste management strategies that address risks to human health and the environment. Groundwater quality has been monitored since January 1999 at two hog finishing facilities in Illinois that use deep-pit systems for manure storage. Groundwater samples were collected on a monthly basis and analyzed for inorganic and bacteriological constituent concentrations. The two sites are located in areas with geologic environments representing different vulnerabilities for local groundwater contamination. One site is underlain by more than 6 m of clayey silt, and 7-36 m of shale. Concentrations of chloride, ammonium, phosphate, and potassium indicated that local groundwater quality had not been significantly impacted by pit leakage from this facility. Nitrate concentrations were elevated near the pit, often exceeding the 10 mg N/l drinking water standard. Isotopic nitrate signatures suggested that the nitrate was likely derived from soil organic matter and fertilizer applied to adjacent crop fields. At the other site, sandstone is located 4.6-6.1 m below land surface. Chloride concentrations and {delta}{sup 15}N and {delta}{sup 18}O values of dissolved nitrate indicated that this facility may have limited and localized impacts on groundwater. Other constituents, including ammonia, potassium, phosphate, and sodium were generally at or less than background concentrations. Trace- and heavy-metal concentrations in groundwater samples collected from both facilities were at concentrations less than drinking water standards. The concentration of inorganic constituents in the groundwater would not likely impact human

Membrane chemical reactor (MCR) combining photocatalysis and microfiltration for grey water treatment.

Science.gov (United States)

Rivero, M J; Parsons, S A; Jeffrey, P; Pidou, M; Jefferson, B

2006-01-01

Urban water recycling is now becoming an important issue where water resources are becoming scarce. This paper looks at reusing grey water; the preference is treatment processes based on biological systems to remove the dissolved organic content. Here, an alternative process, photocatalysis is discussed as it is an attractive technology that could be well-suited for treating the recalcitrant organic compounds found in grey water. The photocatalytic process oxidises organic reactants at a catalyst surface in the presence of ultraviolet light. Given enough exposure time, organic compounds will be oxidized into CO2 and water. The best contact is achieved in a slurry reactor but a second step to separate and recover the catalyst is need. This paper discusses a new membrane chemical reactor (MCR) combining photocatalysis and microfiltration for grey water treatment.

Microstructure and pitting corrosion of 13CrNiMo weld metals

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Bilmes, P.D.; Llorente, C.L.; Saire Huaman, L.; Gassa, L.M.; Gervasi, C.A.

2006-01-01

Cyclic potentiodynamic measurements and scanning electron microscopy were used to analyze susceptibility to pitting corrosion of 13CrNiMo weld metals. In order to carry out a critical assessment of the influence of microstructural factors on localized corrosion, different heat treatments were applied to the alloys under investigation. Volume fractions of austenite in tempered conditions as well as the amount and size of precipitated carbides strongly affect pitting resistance. Characteristic potentials (pitting potential and repassivation potential) increase according to the retained austenite content. Results can be discussed in terms of a model that describes the structural refinement resulting from a double-tempering procedure

Effect of heat treatment on pitting corrosion of austenitic Cr-Ni-Mo steels in sodium chloride solution

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Stefec, R.; Franz, F.; Holecek, A.

1979-01-01

The pitting corrosion resistance of Cr17Ni12Mo2,5 type steel under potentiostatic polarization in a sodium chloride solution is adversely affected by previous annealing. The data obtained were systematically dependent on annealing temperature, time and surface roughness. The corrosion current, the number of pits or the mean area of pit opening and the corrosion rate within the pits were increased by previous annealing at 550 to 750 0 C for 1-100 hrs. The highest corrosion rate estimated corresponded to heat treatments provoking severe sensitization to intergranular corrosion. The paercentage area of corrosion pit openings and the estimated pit penetration rates were several times higher for as-machined than for polished surfaces. It can be assumed that pitting corrosion is little affected by the carbon content and that molybdenum depletion of grain-boundary zones is responsible for the reduced pitting resistance of annealed steels. (orig./HP) [de

Decontamination and decommissioning of the SPERT-I seepage pit at the Idaho National Engineering Laboratory. Final report

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Suckel, R.A.

1984-11-01

This report describes the decontamination and decommissioning of the SPERT-I seepage pit. Prior to its decontamination and decommissioning, the seepage pit was surrounded by an earthen dike varying from 2 to 6 ft above the pit bottom. A 6-in., cast iron, underground waste line originated at the pit tank in the reactor building and ran approximately 68 ft to the seepage pit. The soil in the seepage pit contained low-level radioactive contamination. The soil surface was removed to a depth of 2.5 ft and shipped to the Radioactive Waste Management Complex (RWMC). The waste line that contained fixed contamination was removed and also sent to the RWMC. The pit was backfilled with radiologically clean soil, reducing the surface activity to background. A permanent marker was erected over the backfilled pit to indicate that presence of residual subsurface radioactive contamination. 5 references, 26 figures, 3 tables

Pitting corrosion susceptibility study of zirconium alloys in the presence of the chloride ions

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Radulescu, M.; Pirvan, I.; Velciu, L.

1997-01-01

Pitting corrosion mechanism is specific to metal/aggressive environment systems. The influence of both components of the process was thoroughly investigated. After reviewing the principal steps of the pitting corrosion and of the electrochemical reactions associated, there were presented the physico-chemical methods used for the determination of the corrosion pitting parameters completed with the metallographic techniques of investigation of the attacked surfaces. Reported are the results of determinations of the pit initiation (E np ) and pit passivation (E pp ) potentials in the systems Zy-4 (Zr)/ Cl - provided from the following solutions: HCl, FeCl 3 , NaCl and LiCl. In the case of the last two solutions, the measurements were carried out also in the range of alkaline pH values. It was also determined the dependence of E np and E pp potential on the Cl - ions concentration in NaCl and HCl solutions, and also the reaction order 'n' in presence of several chloride concentration. Finally, on the basis of the experimental data, we established the kinetic characteristics specific to different steps of pitting. (authors)

Quantitative ultrasonography of the periventricular white and grey matter of the developing brain.

Science.gov (United States)

Mullaart, R A; Thijssen, J M; Rotteveel, J J; Valckx, F M; van Geemen, A J

1999-05-01

This study addresses the value of operator-independent computer processing of ultrasonograms of the developing brain. With this aim, routine cranial ultrasonograms obtained from 39 term and preterm infants without clinical or sonographic evidence of brain damage were analyzed by five observers. The procedure, respectively, included: 1. the definition of four regions of interest (ROI), one white matter and one grey matter area on each side of the brain; 2. digitization of the sonogram data within these ROIs; 3. correction for the equipment settings, using data from a tissue-mimicking phantom as a reference; and 4. calculation of four sonogram characteristics (i.e., mean echo level, MEAN, signal-to-noise ratio, SNR, and axial and lateral correlation, CORAX and CORLAT, of the echo level co-occurrence matrix). Significant differences between both sides of the brain or a significant influence of ROI size were not found. The interobserver spread was considerable, but less than the intersubject spread. Two sonogram characteristics seemed strongly correlated in white and grey matter (CORAX and CORLAT) and another only in white matter (SNR with CORAX and CORLAT). MEAN seemed not to be correlated with any other characteristic. Furthermore, it was found that maturation equally decreases white and grey matter MEAN and, thus, hardly affects the ratio between the two. An effect on the other sonogram characteristics was only found in the white matter (i.e., an increase of SNR and a decrease of CORAX and CORLAT). Except for MEAN, the grey matter sonogram characteristics seem hardly affected by maturation. In view of these findings, we conclude that quantitative ultrasonography reveals white and grey matter maturation and, furthermore, provides a conceptional-age-independent reference (MEAN white:grey matter ratio) that might be found to facilitate the detection of pathologic brain alterations.

On the detection of corrosion pit interactions using two-dimensional spectral analysis

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Jarrah, Adil; Nianga, Jean-Marie; Iost, Alain; Guillemot, Gildas; Najjar, Denis

2010-01-01

A statistical methodology for detecting pits interactions based on a two-dimensional spectral analysis is presented. This method can be used as a tool for the exploratory analysis of spatial point patterns and can be advanced as an alternative of classical methods based on distance. One of the major advantages of the spectral analysis approach over the use of classical methods is its ability to reveal more details about the spatial structure like the scale for which pits corrosion can be considered as independent. Furthermore, directional components of pattern can be investigated. The method is validated in a first time using numerical simulations on random, regular and aggregated structures. The density of pits, used in the numerical simulations, corresponds to that assessed from a corroded aluminium sheet. In a second time, this method is applied to verify the independence of the corrosion pits observed on the aforementioned aluminium sheet before applying the Gumbel theory to determine the maximum pit depth. Indeed, the property of independence is a prerequisite of the Gumbel theory which is one of the most frequently used in the field of safety and reliability.

Design-only conceptual design report for pit disassembly and conversion facility. Rev 0

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Zygmunt, S.; Christensen, L.; Richardson, C.

1997-01-01

This design-only conceptual design report (DOCDR) was prepared to support a funding request by the Department of Energy (DOE)-Office of Fissile Material Disposition (OFMD) for engineering design of the Pit Disassembly and Conversion Facility (PDCF) Project No. 99-D-141. The PDCF will be used to disassemble the nation's inventory of surplus nuclear weapons pits and convert the plutonium recovered from those pits into a form suitable for storage, international inspection, and final disposition. The PDCF is a complex consisting of a hardened building that will contain the plutonium processes in a safe and secure manner, and conventional buildings and structures that will house support personnel, systems, and equipment. The PDCF uses the Advanced Recovery and Integrated Extraction System (ARIES), a low waste, modular pyroprocessing system to convert pits to plutonium oxide. The PDCF project consists of engineering and design, and construction of the buildings and structures, and engineering and design, procurement, installation, testing and start-up of equipment to disassemble pits and convert plutonium in pits to oxide form. The facility is planned to operate for 10 years, averaging 3.5 metric tons (3.86 tons) of plutonium metal per year. On conclusion of operations, the PDCF will be decontaminated and decommissioned

Design-only conceptual design report for pit disassembly and conversion facility. Rev 0

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Zygmunt, S.; Christensen, L.; Richardson, C.

1997-12-12

This design-only conceptual design report (DOCDR) was prepared to support a funding request by the Department of Energy (DOE)-Office of Fissile Material Disposition (OFMD) for engineering design of the Pit Disassembly and Conversion Facility (PDCF) Project No. 99-D-141. The PDCF will be used to disassemble the nation`s inventory of surplus nuclear weapons pits and convert the plutonium recovered from those pits into a form suitable for storage, international inspection, and final disposition. The PDCF is a complex consisting of a hardened building that will contain the plutonium processes in a safe and secure manner, and conventional buildings and structures that will house support personnel, systems, and equipment. The PDCF uses the Advanced Recovery and Integrated Extraction System (ARIES), a low waste, modular pyroprocessing system to convert pits to plutonium oxide. The PDCF project consists of engineering and design, and construction of the buildings and structures, and engineering and design, procurement, installation, testing and start-up of equipment to disassemble pits and convert plutonium in pits to oxide form. The facility is planned to operate for 10 years, averaging 3.5 metric tons (3.86 tons) of plutonium metal per year. On conclusion of operations, the PDCF will be decontaminated and decommissioned.

Antibiotic resistance in primary care in Austria - a systematic review of scientific and grey literature

Science.gov (United States)

2011-01-01

Background Antibiotic resistance is an increasing challenge for health care services worldwide. While up to 90% of antibiotics are being prescribed in the outpatient sector recommendations for the treatment of community-acquired infections are usually based on resistance findings from hospitalized patients. In context of the EU-project called "APRES - the appropriateness of prescribing antibiotic in primary health care in Europe with respect to antibiotic resistance" it was our aim to gain detailed information about the resistance data from Austria in both the scientific and the grey literature. Methods A systematic review was performed including scientific and grey literature published between 2000 and 2010. Inclusion and exclusion criteria were defined and the review process followed published recommendations. Results Seventeen scientific articles and 23 grey literature documents could be found. In contrast to the grey literature, the scientific publications describe only a small part of the resistance situation in the primary health care sector in Austria. Merely half of these publications contain data from the ambulatory sector exclusively but these data are older than ten years, are very heterogeneous concerning the observed time period, the number and origin of the isolates and the kind of bacteria analysed. The grey literature yields more comprehensive and up-to-date information of the content of interest. These sources are available in German only and are not easily accessible. The resistance situation described in the grey literature can be summarized as rather stable over the last two years. For Escherichia coli e.g. the highest antibiotic resistance rates can be seen with fluorochiniolones (19%) and trimethoprim/sulfamethoxazole (27%). Conclusion Comprehensive and up-to-date antibiotic resistance data of different pathogens isolated from the community level in Austria are presented. They could be found mainly in the grey literature, only few are

The Role of Google Scholar in Evidence Reviews and Its Applicability to Grey Literature Searching

Science.gov (United States)

Haddaway, Neal Robert; Collins, Alexandra Mary; Coughlin, Deborah; Kirk, Stuart

2015-01-01

Google Scholar (GS), a commonly used web-based academic search engine, catalogues between 2 and 100 million records of both academic and grey literature (articles not formally published by commercial academic publishers). Google Scholar collates results from across the internet and is free to use. As a result it has received considerable attention as a method for searching for literature, particularly in searches for grey literature, as required by systematic reviews. The reliance on GS as a standalone resource has been greatly debated, however, and its efficacy in grey literature searching has not yet been investigated. Using systematic review case studies from environmental science, we investigated the utility of GS in systematic reviews and in searches for grey literature. Our findings show that GS results contain moderate amounts of grey literature, with the majority found on average at page 80. We also found that, when searched for specifically, the majority of literature identified using Web of Science was also found using GS. However, our findings showed moderate/poor overlap in results when similar search strings were used in Web of Science and GS (10–67%), and that GS missed some important literature in five of six case studies. Furthermore, a general GS search failed to find any grey literature from a case study that involved manual searching of organisations’ websites. If used in systematic reviews for grey literature, we recommend that searches of article titles focus on the first 200 to 300 results. We conclude that whilst Google Scholar can find much grey literature and specific, known studies, it should not be used alone for systematic review searches. Rather, it forms a powerful addition to other traditional search methods. In addition, we advocate the use of tools to transparently document and catalogue GS search results to maintain high levels of transparency and the ability to be updated, critical to systematic reviews. PMID:26379270

Antibiotic resistance in primary care in Austria - a systematic review of scientific and grey literature.

Science.gov (United States)

Hoffmann, Kathryn; Wagner, Gernot; Apfalter, Petra; Maier, Manfred

2011-11-28

Antibiotic resistance is an increasing challenge for health care services worldwide. While up to 90% of antibiotics are being prescribed in the outpatient sector recommendations for the treatment of community-acquired infections are usually based on resistance findings from hospitalized patients. In context of the EU-project called "APRES - the appropriateness of prescribing antibiotic in primary health care in Europe with respect to antibiotic resistance" it was our aim to gain detailed information about the resistance data from Austria in both the scientific and the grey literature. A systematic review was performed including scientific and grey literature published between 2000 and 2010. Inclusion and exclusion criteria were defined and the review process followed published recommendations. Seventeen scientific articles and 23 grey literature documents could be found. In contrast to the grey literature, the scientific publications describe only a small part of the resistance situation in the primary health care sector in Austria. Merely half of these publications contain data from the ambulatory sector exclusively but these data are older than ten years, are very heterogeneous concerning the observed time period, the number and origin of the isolates and the kind of bacteria analysed. The grey literature yields more comprehensive and up-to-date information of the content of interest. These sources are available in German only and are not easily accessible. The resistance situation described in the grey literature can be summarized as rather stable over the last two years. For Escherichia coli e.g. the highest antibiotic resistance rates can be seen with fluorochiniolones (19%) and trimethoprim/sulfamethoxazole (27%). Comprehensive and up-to-date antibiotic resistance data of different pathogens isolated from the community level in Austria are presented. They could be found mainly in the grey literature, only few are published in peer-reviewed journals. The grey

Optimisation of wire-cut EDM process parameter by Grey-based response surface methodology

Science.gov (United States)

Kumar, Amit; Soota, Tarun; Kumar, Jitendra

2018-03-01

Wire electric discharge machining (WEDM) is one of the advanced machining processes. Response surface methodology coupled with Grey relation analysis method has been proposed and used to optimise the machining parameters of WEDM. A face centred cubic design is used for conducting experiments on high speed steel (HSS) M2 grade workpiece material. The regression model of significant factors such as pulse-on time, pulse-off time, peak current, and wire feed is considered for optimising the responses variables material removal rate (MRR), surface roughness and Kerf width. The optimal condition of the machining parameter was obtained using the Grey relation grade. ANOVA is applied to determine significance of the input parameters for optimising the Grey relation grade.

Connecting Archaeological Data and Grey Literature via Semantic Cross Search

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Douglas Tudhope

2011-07-01

Full Text Available Differing terminology and database structure hinders meaningful cross search of excavation datasets. Matching free text grey literature reports with datasets poses yet more challenges. Conventional search techniques are unable to cross search between archaeological datasets and Web-based grey literature. Results are reported from two AHRC funded research projects that investigated the use of semantic techniques to link digital archive databases, vocabularies and associated grey literature. STAR (Semantic Technologies for Archaeological Resources was a collaboration between the University of Glamorgan, Hypermedia Research Unit and English Heritage (EH. The main outcome is a research Demonstrator (available online, which cross searches over excavation datasets from different database schemas, including Raunds Roman, Raunds Prehistoric, Museum of London, Silchester Roman and Stanwick sampling. The system additionally cross searches over an extract of excavation reports from the OASIS index of grey literature, operated by the Archaeology Data Service (ADS. A conceptual framework provided by the CIDOC Conceptual Reference Model (CRM integrates the different database structures and the metadata automatically generated from the OASIS reports by natural language processing techniques. The methods employed for extracting semantic RDF representations from the datasets and the information extraction from grey literature are described. The STELLAR project provides freely available tools to reduce the costs of mapping and extracting data to semantic search systems such as the Demonstrator and to linked data representation generally. Detailed use scenarios (and a screen capture video provide a basis for a discussion of key issues, including cost-benefits, ontology modelling, mapping, terminology control, semantic implementation and information extraction issues. The scenarios show that semantic interoperability can be achieved by mapping and extracting

Métodos para predição de bitter pit em maçãs 'Fuji' e 'Braeburn' Methods for bitter pit prediction in Fuji and Braeburn apples

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ivan Sestari

2009-07-01

Full Text Available Experimentos foram conduzidos com objetivo de avaliar a eficiência de métodos para predição da ocorrência de bitter pit em maçãs 'Fuji' e 'Braeburn' em duas épocas de amostragem. Os frutos, provenientes de seis pomares distintos, três para cada cultivar, foram coletados antecipadamente (20 dias em relação à colheita e na data prevista para a colheita comercial. Os métodos de predição utilizados foram: a infiltração dos frutos com solução 0,10M MgCl2 mais 0,01% Tween-20 e 0,4M de sorbitol; b imersão dos frutos em solução com 2500nL L-1 de ethephon mais 0,01% Tween-20. Os frutos foram armazenados em atmosfera controlada (AC por cinco meses mais 12 dias, a 20°C, simulando a incidência real de bitter pit em armazenamento comercial. Cada tratamento foi constituído por quatro repetições de 25 frutos. A incidência e severidade de bitter pit, prevista por ambos os métodos foi semelhante à ocorrência real de bitter pit após o armazenamento em atmosfera controlada para cada uma das cultivares utilizadas, quando os frutos foram amostrados antecipadamente em relação à colheita comercial. Na avaliação realizada com frutos amostrados na colheita comercial, nenhum dos métodos foi capaz de prever a incidência de bitter pit após o armazenamento de maneira confiável. Para ambas as cultivares, a infiltração com magnésio e a imersão dos frutos em ethephon só são eficientes na predição da incidência de bitter pit em frutos coletados 20 dias antes da colheita comercial.Experiments were carried out with objective to evaluate the efficiency of methods for bitter pit prediction in 'Fuji' and 'Braeburn' apples sampled at two harvest dates. Fruits from 6 orchards, three for each cultivar, were sampled earlier (20 days before harvest and at commercial harvest date. The prediction methods assessed were: infiltration of apples with 0.10M MgCl2 solution containing 0.01% Tween-20 and 0.4M sorbitol; and immersion of fruits in 2

Evaluation of PIT-tagging in cyprinids

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Skov, Christian; Brodersen, J.; Brönmark, C.

2005-01-01

Laboratory and field experiments were used to investigate how different marking procedures, with 23 mm PIT (passive integrated transponders) - tags. affected mortality, body condition and tag expulsion in small roach Rutilus rutilus and rudd Scardinus erythrophthalmus (117 to 163 mm total length...

Development of Piagetian object permanence in a grey parrot (Psittacus erithacus).

Science.gov (United States)

Pepperberg, I M; Willner, M R; Gravitz, L B

1997-03-01

The authors evaluated the ontogenetic performance of a grey parrot (Psittacus erithacus) on object permanence tasks designed for human infants. Testing began when the bird was 8 weeks old, prior to fledging and weaning. Because adult grey parrots understand complex invisible displacements (I. M. Pepperberg & F. A. Kozak, 1986), the authors continued weekly testing until the current subject completed all of I. C. Uzgiris and J. Hunt's (1975) Scale 1 tasks. Stage 6 object permanence with respect to these tasks emerged at 22 weeks, after the bird had fledged but before it was completely weaned. Although the parrot progressed more rapidly overall than other species that have been tested ontogenetically, the subject similarly exhibited a behavioral plateau part way through the study. Additional tests, administered at 8 and 12 months as well as to an adult grey parrot, demonstrated, respectively, that these birds have some representation of a hidden object and understand advanced invisible displacements.

Time evolution of hadronization and grey tracks in DIS off nuclei

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ciofi degli Atti, C.; Kopeliovich, B.Z.

2005-01-01

The analysis of the grey tracks produced in deep inelastic scattering (DIS) off nuclei provides important information on the space-time development of hadronization in nuclear medium. This method is complementary to the measurement of nuclear attenuation of leading inclusive hadrons. While the latter is focused on the hadronization dynamics for the quite rare process of leading hadrons production, the former covers the main bulk of inelastic events, and its Q 2 dependence is a very sensitive tool to discriminate between different models of hadronization. Employing the model of perturbative hadronization developed earlier, we calculate the Q 2 and x Bj dependences of the number of collisions and relate it to the mean number of grey tracks, using an empirical relation obtained from the analysis of data from the Fermilab E665 experiment on DIS of muons off the Xe nucleus. We found the number of grey tracks to rise steeply with Q 2 in good agreement with the experimental data

Pit-a-Pat: A Smart Electrocardiogram System for Detecting Arrhythmia.

Science.gov (United States)

Park, Juyoung; Lee, Kuyeon; Kang, Kyungtae

2015-10-01

Electrocardiogram (ECG) telemonitoring is one of the most promising applications of medical telemetry. However, previous approaches to ECG telemonitoring have largely relied on public databases of ECG results. In this article we propose a smart ECG system called Pit-a-Pat, which extracts features from ECG signals and detects arrhythmia. It is designed to run on an Android™ (Google, Mountain View, CA) device, without requiring modifications to other software. We implemented the Pit-a-Pat system using a commercial ECG device, and the experimental results demonstrate the effectiveness and accuracy of Pit-a-Pat for monitoring the ECG signal and analyzing the cardiac activity of a mobile patient. The proposed system allows monitoring of cardiac activity with automatic analysis, thereby providing a convenient, inexpensive, and ubiquitous adjunct to personal healthcare.

Application of Grey-TOPSIS approach to evaluate value chain performance of tea processing chains

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Richard Nyaoga

2016-03-01

Full Text Available This study develops an effective method to measure value chain performance and rank them based on qualitative criteria and to determine the ranking order of the various forms of performance under study. This approach integrates the advantage of grey systems theory and TOPSIS to evaluate and rank value chain performance. Grey-TOPSIS approach has been applied to measure and rank the value chain performance of various firms. The results indicate that the proposed model is useful to facilitate multi-criteria decision-making (MCDM problem under the environment of uncertainty and vagueness. The model also provides an appropriate ranking order based on the available alternatives. The Grey-TOPSIS approach that will be useful to the managers to use for solving the similar type of decision-making problems in their firms in the future has been discussed. Even though, the problem of choosing a suitable performance option is often addressed in practice and research, very few studies are available in the literature of Grey-TOPSIS decision models. Also, Grey-TOPSIS model application in the tea processing firms is non-existence hence this study is the very first to apply this model in evaluating value chain performance in the tea processing firms.

Characterising the grey matter correlates of leukoaraiosis in cerebral small vessel disease

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Christian Lambert

2015-01-01

We demonstrate that SVD severity is associated with regional cortical thinning. Furthermore a quantitative measure of SVD severity (WMH volume can be predicted from grey matter measures, supporting an association between white and grey matter damage. The pattern of cortical thinning and volumetric decline is distinctive for SVD severity compared to ageing. These results, taken together, suggest that there is a phenotypic pattern of atrophy associated with SVD severity.

Drill and Blast Performance Evaluation at the Obra Pit of Chirano ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

This paper investigates the causes of inefficient fragmentation and formation of toes in the Obra pit of Chirano Gold Mines Ltd and recommends best practices in order to produce optimum fragmentation to feed the crusher at a reduced cost and to provide good working pit floors. The methods employed included: drilling ...

Modelling the Heat Consumption in District Heating Systems using a Grey-box approach

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Nielsen, Henrik Aalborg; Madsen, Henrik

2006-01-01

identification of an overall model structure followed by data-based modelling, whereby the details of the model are identified. This approach is sometimes called grey-box modelling, but the specific approach used here does not require states to be specified. Overall, the paper demonstrates the power of the grey......-box approach. (c) 2005 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved....

Complex inheritance of melanoma and pigmentation of coat and skin in Grey horses.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ino Curik

Full Text Available The dominant phenotype of greying with age in horses, caused by a 4.6-kb duplication in intron 6 of STX17, is associated with a high incidence of melanoma and vitiligo-like skin depigmentation. However, the progressive greying and the incidence of melanoma, vitiligo-like depigmentation, and amount of speckling in these horses do not follow a simple inheritance pattern. To understand their inheritance, we analysed the melanoma grade, grey level, vitiligo grade, and speckling grade of 1,119 Grey horses (7,146 measurements measured in six countries over a 9-year period. We estimated narrow sense heritability (h(2, and we decomposed this parameter into polygenic heritability (h(2 (POLY, heritability due to the Grey (STX17 mutation (h(2 (STX17, and heritability due to agouti (ASIP locus (h(2 (ASIP. A high heritability was found for greying (h(2 = 0.79, vitiligo (h(2 = 0.63, and speckling (h(2 = 0.66, while a moderate heritability was estimated for melanoma (h(2 = 0.37. The additive component of ASIP was significantly different from zero only for melanoma (h(2 (ASIP = 0.02. STX17 controlled large proportions of phenotypic variance (h(2 (STX17 = 0.18-0.55 and overall heritability (h(2 (STX17/h(2 = 0.28-0.83 for all traits. Genetic correlations among traits were estimated as moderate to high, primarily due to the effects of the STX17 locus. Nevertheless, the correlation between progressive greying and vitiligo-like depigmentation remained large even after taking into account the effects of STX17. We presented a model where four traits with complex inheritance patterns are strongly influenced by a single mutation. This is in line with evidence of recent studies in domestic animals indicating that some complex traits are, in addition to the large number of genes with small additive effects, influenced by genes of moderate-to-large effect. Furthermore, we demonstrated that the STX17 mutation explains to a large extent the

Advantages and limitations for users of double pit pour-flush latrines: a qualitative study in rural Bangladesh.

Science.gov (United States)

Hussain, Faruqe; Clasen, Thomas; Akter, Shahinoor; Bawel, Victoria; Luby, Stephen P; Leontsini, Elli; Unicomb, Leanne; Barua, Milan Kanti; Thomas, Brittany; Winch, Peter J

2017-05-25

In rural Bangladesh, India and elsewhere, pour-flush pit latrines are the most common sanitation system. When a single pit latrine becomes full, users must empty it themselves and risk exposure to fresh feces, pay an emptying service to remove pit contents or build a new latrine. Double pit pour-flush latrines may serve as a long-term sanitation option including high water table areas because the pits do not need to be emptied immediately and the excreta decomposes into reusable soil. Double pit pour-flush latrines were implemented in rural Bangladesh for 'hardcore poor' households by a national NGO, BRAC. We conducted interviews, focus groups, and spot checks in two low-income, rural areas of Bangladesh to explore the advantages and limitations of using double pit latrines compared to single pit latrines. The rural households accepted the double pit pour-flush latrine model and considered it feasible to use and maintain. This latrine design increased accessibility of a sanitation facility for these low-income residents and provided privacy, convenience and comfort, compared to open defecation. Although a double pit latrine is more costly and requires more space than a single pit latrine the households perceived this sanitation system to save resources, because households did not need to hire service workers to empty pits or remove decomposed contents themselves. In addition, the excreta decomposition process produced a reusable soil product that some households used in homestead gardening. The durability of the latrine superstructures was a problem, as most of the bamboo-pole superstructure broke after 6-18 months of use. Double pit pour-flush latrines are a long-term improved sanitation option that offers users several important advantages over single pit pour-flush latrines like in rural Bangladesh which can also be used in areas with high water table. Further research can provide an understanding of the comparative health impacts and effectiveness of the model

Advantages and limitations for users of double pit pour-flush latrines: a qualitative study in rural Bangladesh

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Faruqe Hussain

2017-05-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background In rural Bangladesh, India and elsewhere, pour-flush pit latrines are the most common sanitation system. When a single pit latrine becomes full, users must empty it themselves and risk exposure to fresh feces, pay an emptying service to remove pit contents or build a new latrine. Double pit pour-flush latrines may serve as a long-term sanitation option including high water table areas because the pits do not need to be emptied immediately and the excreta decomposes into reusable soil. Methods Double pit pour-flush latrines were implemented in rural Bangladesh for ‘hardcore poor’ households by a national NGO, BRAC. We conducted interviews, focus groups, and spot checks in two low-income, rural areas of Bangladesh to explore the advantages and limitations of using double pit latrines compared to single pit latrines. Results The rural households accepted the double pit pour-flush latrine model and considered it feasible to use and maintain. This latrine design increased accessibility of a sanitation facility for these low-income residents and provided privacy, convenience and comfort, compared to open defecation. Although a double pit latrine is more costly and requires more space than a single pit latrine the households perceived this sanitation system to save resources, because households did not need to hire service workers to empty pits or remove decomposed contents themselves. In addition, the excreta decomposition process produced a reusable soil product that some households used in homestead gardening. The durability of the latrine superstructures was a problem, as most of the bamboo-pole superstructure broke after 6–18 months of use. Conclusions Double pit pour-flush latrines are a long-term improved sanitation option that offers users several important advantages over single pit pour-flush latrines like in rural Bangladesh which can also be used in areas with high water table. Further research can provide an

Grey Literature Searching for Health Sciences Systematic Reviews: A Prospective Study of Time Spent and Resources Utilized.

Science.gov (United States)

Saleh, Ahlam A; Ratajeski, Melissa A; Bertolet, Marnie

To identify estimates of time taken to search grey literature in support of health sciences systematic reviews and to identify searcher or systematic review characteristics that may impact resource selection or time spent searching. A survey was electronically distributed to searchers embarking on a new systematic review. Characteristics of the searcher and systematic review were collected along with time spent searching and what resources were searched. Time and resources were tabulated and resources were categorized as grey or non-grey. Data was analyzed using Kruskal-Wallis tests. Out of 81 original respondents, 21% followed through with completion of the surveys in their entirety. The median time spent searching all resources was 471 minutes, and of those a median of 85 minutes were spent searching grey literature. The median number of resources used in a systematic review search was four and the median number of grey literature sources searched was two. The amount of time spent searching was influenced by whether the systematic review was grant funded. Additionally, the number of resources searched was impacted by institution type and whether systematic review training was received. This study characterized the amount of time for conducting systematic review searches including searching the grey literature, in addition to the number and types of resources used. This may aid searchers in planning their time, along with providing benchmark information for future studies. This paper contributes by quantifying current grey literature search patterns and associating them with searcher and review characteristics. Further discussion and research into the search approach for grey literature in support of systematic reviews is encouraged.

Pricing rainbow, green, blue and grey water: tree cover and geopolitics of climatic teleconnections

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Noordwijk, van M.; Namirembe, S.; Catacutan, D.; Williamson, D.; Gebrekirstos, A.

2014-01-01

Atmospheric moisture (“rainbow water”) is the source of all green, blue and grey water flows. Current water-related legislation and policies have moved beyond blue (water allocation) and grey (waste water treatment) water concerns to incorporate the green water concept of additional water use by

Prediction on corrosion rate of pipe in nuclear power system based on optimized grey theory

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Chen Yonghong; Zhang Dafa; Chen Dengke; Jiang Wei

2007-01-01

For the prediction of corrosion rate of pipe in nuclear power system, the pre- diction error from the grey theory is greater, so a new method, optimized grey theory was presented in the paper. A comparison among predicted results from present and other methods was carried out, and it is seem that optimized grey theory is correct and effective for the prediction of corrosion rate of pipe in nuclear power system, and it provides a fundamental basis for the maintenance of pipe in nuclear power system. (authors)

Northern Alabama colonies of the endangered grey bat Myotis grisescens: Organochlorine contamination and mortality

Science.gov (United States)

Clark, D.R.; Bagley, F.M.; Johnson, W.W.

1988-01-01

From 1976 to 1986, dead and dying grey bats Myotis grisescens and grey bat guano were collected from caves along the Tennessee River in northern Alabama to determine the possible role of organochlorine chemicals.sbd.in particular wastes from a former DDT manufacturing plant near Huntsville.sbd.in the mortalities. Concentrations of chemical residues in brains were less than known lethal levels: certain observations and analyses did indicate the possibility of past organochlorine-induced bat deaths. Levels of contaminants in bats declined slowly during the 10-year sampling period, but heavy residue burdens persist. The high ratio of DDD to DDE in residue from the former DDT plant made them identifiable as far as 140 km downriver. Grey bats concentrated chemical rsidues to higher levels and demonstrated the presence of these residues over much greater distances than did red-winged blackbirds Agelaius phoeniceus. Grey bats may be the most sensitive indicator available for monitoring the contamination from this former DDT manufacturing site.

Software Modules for the Proximity-1 Space Link Interleaved Time Synchronization (PITS) Protocol

Science.gov (United States)

Woo, Simon S.; Veregge, John R.; Gao, Jay L.; Clare, Loren P.; Mills, David

2012-01-01

The Proximity-1 Space Link Interleaved Time Synchronization (PITS) protocol provides time distribution and synchronization services for space systems. A software prototype implementation of the PITS algorithm has been developed that also provides the test harness to evaluate the key functionalities of PITS with simulated data source and sink. PITS integrates time synchronization functionality into the link layer of the CCSDS Proximity-1 Space Link Protocol. The software prototype implements the network packet format, data structures, and transmit- and receive-timestamp function for a time server and a client. The software also simulates the transmit and receive-time stamp exchanges via UDP (User Datagram Protocol) socket between a time server and a time client, and produces relative time offsets and delay estimates.

Influence of the filler material on the pitting corrosion in welded duplex stainless

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Munez, C. J.; Utrilla, M. V.; Urena, A.; Otero, E.

2007-01-01

In this work, it has been studied the pitting corrosion resistance of welding duplex stainless steel 2205. Unions were made by GMAW process with different fillers: duplex ER 2209 and two austenitic (ER 316LSi and ER 308LSi). the microstructure obtained with the duplex ER 2209 filler is similar to the duplex 2205 base material, but the unions produced with the austenitic fillers cause a decrease of the phases relationα/γ. To evaluate the influence of the filler on the weld, the pitting corrosion resistance was determined by electrochemical critical pitting temperature test (TCP) and the mechanical properties by the hardness. The phases imbalance produced for the dissimilar fillers bring out a variation of the pitting corrosion resistance and the mechanical properties. (Author)

Detection of simulated pitting corrosion and noises in crude oil storage tank by acoustic emission

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Shukri Mohd; Latif, N.A.; Azhar Mohd Sinin; Mohamad Daud; Abd Nasir Ibrahim

2008-01-01

The damage mechanisms associated with crude oil storage tanks can be complex and varied and include pitting corrosion due to presence of species such as sulphate reducing bacteria. Acoustic Emission (AE) could be used to characterise the pitting corrosion signal in crude oil storage tanks but it is extremely difficult to simulate the pitting corrosion in the laboratory using crude oil as electrolyte because crude oil is considered as non corrosive medium. In this study, induced current have been introduced onto a surface ASTM 516 steel as an electrical source to simulate the electrical noise produced during pitting corrosion process and AE sensor have been used to detect this current. It is found that AE system could detect AE signal release during current induction this current and is expected that if the exact simulation of the current magnitude produced during pitting corrosion process is made available, AE characterisation of pitting corrosion in such tank could be made possible. (Author)

AHAR: Part 1 - PIT Estimates of Homelessness

Data.gov (United States)

Department of Housing and Urban Development — This report outlines the key findings of the 2014 Point-In-Time (PIT) and Housing Inventory (HIC) counts conducted in January 2014. Specifically, this report...

Probabilistic models for steel corrosion loss and pitting of marine infrastructure

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Melchers, R.E.; Jeffrey, R.J.

2008-01-01

With the increasing emphasis on attempting to retain in service ageing infrastructure models for the description and prediction of corrosion losses and for maximum pit depth are of increasing interest. In most cases assessment and prediction will be done in a probabilistic risk assessment framework and this then requires probabilistic corrosion models. Recently, novel models for corrosion loss and maximum pit depth under marine immersion conditions have been developed. The models show that both corrosion loss and pit depth progress in a non-linear fashion with increased exposure time and do so in a non-monotonic manner as a result of the controlling corrosion process changing from oxidation to being influenced by bacterial action. For engineers the importance of this lies in the fact that conventional 'corrosion rates' have no validity, particularly for the long-term corrosion effects as relevant to deteriorated infrastructure. The models are consistent with corrosion science principles as well as current understanding of the considerable influence of bacterial processes on corrosion loss and pitting. The considerable practical implications of this are described

Pitting resistance and mechanism of TiN-coated Inconel 600 in 100 C NaCl solution

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

In, C.B.; Kim, J.S.; Chun, S.S.; Lee, W.J.

1995-01-01

TiN films were deposited on Inconel 600 by PACVD method using a gaseous mixture of TiCl 4 , N 2 , H 2 and Ar, and their pitting resistance and mechanism in 100 C NaCl solution were investigated. Anodic polarization measurement of TiN-coated Inconel 600 was compared with that of bare Inconel 600. TiN-coated Inconel 600 has a higher E np and a lower pit depth than bare Inconel 600. It also shows a smaller pit aspect ratio due to the concentration of the corrosion in the Inconel 600 contacted with the TiN film. When the Inconel 600 has a rough surface, E np decreases and the pit density increases to a great extent. However, E corr , pit depth and pit aspect ratio are not affected. ((orig.))

Comparative sensitivity of harbour and grey seals to several environmental contaminants using in vitro exposure

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Dufresne, M.M.; Frouin, H.; Pillet, S.; Lesage, V.; De Guise, S.; Fournier, M.

2010-01-01

In this study, we investigated the effects of cadmium chloride (CdCl 2 ), mercury chloride (HgCl 2 ), methylmercury chloride (CH 3 HgCl), and PCBs on lymphocyte proliferation in phocids. PBMCs isolated from harbour and grey seals were exposed in vitro to varying concentrations of contaminants. A reduction of viability occurred when cells were exposed to 10 -4 M HgCl 2 or CH 3 HgCl or to 50 ppm of Aroclor 1254. In both grey and harbour seals, T-lymphocyte proliferation was suppressed when their cells were incubated with 5 x 10 -5 M CdCl 2 or 10 -4 M HgCl 2 . An inhibition of proliferation occurred with CH 3 HgCl from 10 -6 M in grey seals and from 10 -5 M in harbour seals. In grey seals, Aroclor 1254 reduced lymphocyte proliferation at 15 ppm. In both harbour and grey seals, CH 3 HgCl was ten times more immunotoxic that HgCl 2 . From IC 50 , chemicals were ranked in terms of toxicity as followed: CH 3 HgCl > CdCl 2 > HgCl 2 > Aroclor 1254.

Principle Study of Head Meridian Acupoint Massage to Stress Release via Grey Data Model Analysis.

Science.gov (United States)

Lee, Ya-Ting

2016-01-01

This paper presents the scientific study of the effectiveness and action principle of head meridian acupoint massage by applying the grey data model analysis approach. First, the head massage procedure for massaging the important head meridian acupuncture points including Taiyang, Fengfu, Tianzhu, Fengqi, and Jianjing is formulated in a standard manner. Second, the status of the autonomic nervous system of each subject is evaluated by using the heart rate variability analyzer before and after the head massage following four weeks. Afterward, the physiological factors of autonomic nerves are quantitatively analyzed by using the grey data modeling theory. The grey data analysis can point out that the status of autonomic nervous system is greatly improved after the massage. The order change of the grey relationship weighting of physiological factors shows the action principle of the sympathetic and parasympathetic nerves when performing head massage. In other words, the grey data model is able to distinguish the detailed interaction of the autonomic nervous system and the head meridian acupoint massage. Thus, the stress relaxing effect of massaging head meridian acupoints is proved, which is lacked in literature. The results can be a reference principle for massage health care in practice.

Thinlip grey mullet Liza ramada (Mugilidae caught in a

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Bror Jonsson

2009-12-01

Full Text Available Normal 0 21 false false false MicrosoftInternetExplorer4 Two individuals of thinlip grey mullet Liza ramada were collected in a southern Norwegian brook (58° 22’ N, 8° 37’ E on 12th September 2007. The fish were 8.7 and 9.0 cm in total length, 6 and 7 g in total mass, and most probably in their first year of life. The nearest known spawning area of the species is south of the English Channel, meaning that they had probably moved at least 900 km across the North Sea during their first growth season. To our knowledge, this is the first published observation of the catadromous thinlip grey mullet from a Scandinavian freshwater course.

Stochastic approach to pitting-corrosion-extreme modelling in low-carbon steel

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Valor, A. [Facultad de Fisica, Universidad de La Habana, San Lazaro y L, Vedado 10400, La Habana (Cuba); Caleyo, F. [Departamento de Ingenieria Metalurgica, IPN-ESIQIE, UPALM Edif. 7, Zacatenco, Mexico DF 07738 (Mexico)], E-mail: fcaleyo@gmail.com; Rivas, D.; Hallen, J.M. [Departamento de Ingenieria Metalurgica, IPN-ESIQIE, UPALM Edif. 7, Zacatenco, Mexico DF 07738 (Mexico)

2010-03-15

A stochastic model previously developed by the authors using Markov chains has been improved in the light of new experimental evidence. The new model has been successfully applied to reproduce the time evolution of extreme pitting corrosion depths in low-carbon steel. The model is shown to provide a better physical understanding of the pitting process.