Overtopping Measurements on the Wave Dragon Nissum Bredning Prototype

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Frigaard, Peter; Kofoed, Jens Peter; Rasmussen, Michael R.

2004-01-01

The paper describes the methods used to estimate (calculated from some indirect measurements) the overtopping of the wave energy converter Wave Dragon placed in a real sea environment. The wave energy converter in quistion is the 237-tonne heavy Wave Dragon Nissum Bredning Prototype. Comparisons...

Experimental Modeling of the Overtopping Flow on the Wave Dragon Wave Energy Converter

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Parmeggiani, Stefano; Kofoed, Jens Peter; Friis-Madsen, Erik

2011-01-01

The Wave Dragon Wave Energy Converter is currently facing a precommercial phase. At this stage of development a reliable overtopping model is highly required, in order to predict the performance of the device at possible deployment locations. A model formulation derived for an overtopping device...... with general geometry has been used so far. The paper presents an updated formulation drawn through the tank testing of a scaled model the Wave Dragon. The sensitivity analysis of the main features influencing the overtopping flow led to an updated model formulation which can be specifically suited...... for the Wave Dragon....

Experimental Update of the Overtopping Model Used for the Wave Dragon Wave Energy Converter

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Parmeggiani, Stefano; Kofoed, Jens Peter; Friis-Madsen, Erik

2013-01-01

An overtopping model specifically suited for Wave Dragon is needed in order to improve the reliability of its performance estimates. The model shall be comprehensive of all relevant physical processes that affect overtopping and flexible to adapt to any local conditions and device configuration....... An experimental investigation is carried out to update an existing formulation suited for 2D draft-limited, low-crested structures, in order to include the effects on the overtopping flow of the wave steepness, the 3D geometry of Wave Dragon, the wing reflectors, the device motions and the non-rigid connection...... of which can be measured in real-time. Instead of using new fitting coefficients, this approach allows a broader applicability of the model beyond the Wave Dragon case, to any overtopping WEC or structure within the range of tested conditions. Predictions reliability of overtopping over Wave Dragon...

Numerical Simulation of Wake Effects in the Lee of a Farm of Wave Dragon Wave Energy Converters

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Beels, C.; Troch, P.; De Visch, K.

2009-01-01

. In this paper wake effects in the lee of a single Wave Dragon WEC and multiple Wave Dragon WECs are studied in a time-dependent mild-slope equation model. The Wave Dragon WEC is a floating offshore converter of the overtopping type. The water volume of overtopped waves is first captured in a basin above mean...

Wave Induced Stresses Measured at the Wave Dragon Nissum Bredning Prototype

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Corona, L.; Kofoed, Jens Peter

2006-01-01

The paper describes the wave induced loading on the overtopping based wave energy converter Wave Dragon. Focus is put on the junction between the main body and the reflector, also called the "shoulder part", where large cross sectional forces and bending moments acts. There are two main objectives...... for this paper, first to verify the FEM results obtained by Niras, Danish society in charge of the finite element modelling and structural design, and then to make a first experimental fatigue analysis of a particular part of the Wave Dragon. This last part shall be considered as an exercise for the further work...

Investigation of Wave Transmission from a Floating Wave Dragon Wave Energy Converter

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Nørgaard, Jørgen Harck; Andersen, Thomas Lykke

2012-01-01

This paper focuses on the calibration of the MIKE21BW model against the measured wave height reduction behind a 24 kW/m Wave Dragon (WD) wave energy converter. A numerical model is used to determine the wave transmission through the floating WD in varying wave conditions. The transmission obtained...

Modelling of the Overtopping Flow on the Wave Dragon Wave Energy Converter

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Parmeggiani, Stefano; Pecher, Arthur; Kofoed, Jens Peter

2010-01-01

The Wave Dragon is a floating slack-moored Wave Energy Converter of the overtopping type, which is facing now the last phase of development before the commercial exploitation: the deployment of a full-scale demonstrator. In this phase a modelling tool allowing for accurate predictions of the perf......The Wave Dragon is a floating slack-moored Wave Energy Converter of the overtopping type, which is facing now the last phase of development before the commercial exploitation: the deployment of a full-scale demonstrator. In this phase a modelling tool allowing for accurate predictions...

Specification of Instrumentation of Multi MW Wave Dragon Offshore Wave Energy Converter

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Gilling, Lasse; Kofoed, Jens Peter

Wave Dragon is a wave energy converter of the overtopping type and is described e.g. in Tedd et. al. (2006). The device has been thoroughly tested on a 1:51.8 scale model in wave laboratories and a 1:4.5 scale model deployed in Nissum Bredning, a large inland waterway in Denmark. Based on the exp......Wave Dragon is a wave energy converter of the overtopping type and is described e.g. in Tedd et. al. (2006). The device has been thoroughly tested on a 1:51.8 scale model in wave laboratories and a 1:4.5 scale model deployed in Nissum Bredning, a large inland waterway in Denmark. Based...

Power Production Experience from Wave Dragon Prototype Testing in Nissum Bredning

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Frigaard, Peter; Kofoed, Jens Peter

The first Wave Dragon prototype power production testing started May 2003 and ended temporarily primo 2005. In the mentioned period Wave Dragon was situated in a corner of Nissum Bredning with relative little amount of wave energy. Main purpose of the tests was demonstration of survivability...

Measurements of Overtopping Flow Time Series on the Wave Dragon, Wave Energy Converter

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Tedd, James; Kofoed, Jens Peter

2009-01-01

A study of overtopping flow series on the Wave Dragon prototype, a low crested device designed to maximise flow, in a real sea, is presented. This study aims to fill the gap in the literature on time series of flow overtopping low crested structures. By comparing to a simulated flow the character......A study of overtopping flow series on the Wave Dragon prototype, a low crested device designed to maximise flow, in a real sea, is presented. This study aims to fill the gap in the literature on time series of flow overtopping low crested structures. By comparing to a simulated flow...... the characteristics of the overtopping flow are discussed and the simulation algorithm is tested. Measured data is shown from a storm build up in October 2006, from theWave Dragon prototype situated in an inland sea in Northern Denmark. This wave energy converter extracts energy from the waves, by funnelling them...

Hydraulic Model Tests on Modified Wave Dragon

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Hald, Tue; Lynggaard, Jakob

A floating model of the Wave Dragon (WD) was built in autumn 1998 by the Danish Maritime Institute in scale 1:50, see Sørensen and Friis-Madsen (1999) for reference. This model was subjected to a series of model tests and subsequent modifications at Aalborg University and in the following...... are found in Hald and Lynggaard (2001). Model tests and reconstruction are carried out during the phase 3 project: ”Wave Dragon. Reconstruction of an existing model in scale 1:50 and sequentiel tests of changes to the model geometry and mass distribution parameters” sponsored by the Danish Energy Agency...

Experimental Update of the Overtopping Model Used for the Wave Dragon Wave Energy Converter

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Erik Friis-Madsen

2013-04-01

Full Text Available An overtopping model specifically suited for Wave Dragon is needed in order to improve the reliability of its performance estimates. The model shall be comprehensive of all relevant physical processes that affect overtopping and flexible to adapt to any local conditions and device configuration. An experimental investigation is carried out to update an existing formulation suited for 2D draft-limited, low-crested structures, in order to include the effects on the overtopping flow of the wave steepness, the 3D geometry of Wave Dragon, the wing reflectors, the device motions and the non-rigid connection between platform and reflectors. The study is carried out in four phases, each of them specifically targeted at quantifying one of these effects through a sensitivity analysis and at modeling it through custom-made parameters. These are depending on features of the wave or the device configuration, all of which can be measured in real-time. Instead of using new fitting coefficients, this approach allows a broader applicability of the model beyond the Wave Dragon case, to any overtopping WEC or structure within the range of tested conditions. Predictions reliability of overtopping over Wave Dragon increased, as the updated model allows improved accuracy and precision respect to the former version.

Comparison of Mooring Loads in Survivability Mode on the Wave Dragon Wave Energy Converter Obtained by a Numerical Model and Experimental Data

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Parmeggiani, Stefano; Muliawan, Made Jaya; Gao, Zhen

2012-01-01

The Wave Dragon Wave Energy Converter is ready to be up-scaled to commercial size. The design and feasibility analysis of a 1.5 MW pre-commercial unit to be deployed at the DanWEC test center in Hanstholm, Denmark, is currently ongoing. With regard to the mooring system, the design has to be carr......The Wave Dragon Wave Energy Converter is ready to be up-scaled to commercial size. The design and feasibility analysis of a 1.5 MW pre-commercial unit to be deployed at the DanWEC test center in Hanstholm, Denmark, is currently ongoing. With regard to the mooring system, the design has...... to be carried out numerically, through coupled analyses of alternative solutions. The present study deals with the preliminary hydrodynamic characterization of Wave Dragon needed in order to calibrate the numerical model to be used for the mooring design. A hydrodynamic analysis of the small scale model...

Development of Wave Dragon from Scale 1:50 to Prototype

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Soerensen, H. C.; Friis-Madsen, E.; Panhauser, W.

2003-01-01

The Wave Dragon is a 4 to 11 MW offshore wave energy converter of the overtopping type. It basically consists of two wave reflectors focusing the waves towards a ramp, a reservoir for collecting the overtopping water and a number of hydro turbines for converting the pressure head into power....... In the period from 1998 to 2001 extensive testing on a scale 1:50 model was carried out. During the last month, testing has started on a prototype of the Wave Dragon in Nissum Bredning, Denmark (wave climate in scale 1:4.5 of the North Sea). The prototype has been grid connected in June 2003 as the world...

Model Testing of Hydraulic Damping of the Reflector Joint on Wave Dragon

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Tedd, James; Kofoed, Jens Peter

Further development of the Wave Dragon wave energy converter in preparation for full-scale demonstration in the North Sea, PHASE A. FU4305, A4305 & ENS j.nr. 7903-030......Further development of the Wave Dragon wave energy converter in preparation for full-scale demonstration in the North Sea, PHASE A. FU4305, A4305 & ENS j.nr. 7903-030...

Experimental Overtopping Investigation for the Wave Dragon

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Borgarino, Bruno; Kofoed, Jens Peter; Tedd, James

The present report displays the results from overtopping tests carried on the 1:51.8 Wave Dragon model in September 2007. This tests have been carried on by Bruno Borgarino, James Tedd and Jens Peter Kofoed in the wave tank facilities of Aalborg University. The objective was to provide an updated...

Model Testing of Forces in the Reflector Joint and Mooring Forces on Wave Dragon

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Gilling, Lasse; Kofoed, Jens Peter; Tedd, James

This report aims to present the results of a test series analysing the forces in the redesigned reflector joint and the forces in the main mooring link. The resluts presented are intended to be used by WD project partners, for the design and construction of the joint on the prototype Wave Dragon...... at Nissum Bredning and for future North Sea scale Wave Dragon. Lengths, forces and other dimentions presented are scaled to the North sea Wave Dragon unless otherwise specified....

Renovation of the Wave Dragon Nissum Bredning Prototype

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Tedd, James; Kofoed, Jens Peter; Friis-Madsen, Erik

2006-01-01

This paper presents developments of the Wave Dragon, a large offshore wave energy converter. A prototype has been tested in a real sea environment for over 20 months. During 2005 the plant has been in harbor for a major overhaul of several of its components. The motivation for the upgrades...

Experimental Modelling of the Overtopping Flow on the Wave Dragon Wave Energy Converter

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Parmeggiani, Stefano; Kofoed, Jens Peter

The Wave Dragon is a floating slack-moored Wave Energy Converter (WEC) of the overtopping type. Oncoming waves are focused by two wing reflectors towards the ramp of the device, surge-up and overtop into a reservoir placed at a higher level than the surface of the sea. The energy production takes...

The environmental impact of a Wave Dragon array operating in the Black Sea.

Science.gov (United States)

Diaconu, Sorin; Rusu, Eugen

2013-01-01

The present work describes a study related to the influence on the shoreline dynamics of a wave farm consisting of Wave Dragon devices operating in the western side of the Black Sea. Based on historical data analysis of the wave climate, the most relevant environmental conditions that could occur were defined, and for these cases, simulations with SWAN spectral phase averaged wave model were performed. Two situations were considered for the most representative patterns: model simulations without any wave energy converter and simulations considering a wave farm consisting of six Wave Dragon devices. Comparisons of the wave model outputs have been carried out in both geographical and spectral spaces. The results show that although a significant influence appears near the wave farm, this gradually decreases to the coast line level. In order to evaluate the influence of the wave farm on the longshore currents, a nearshore circulation modeling system was used. In relative terms, the longshore current velocities appear to be more sensitive to the presence of the wave farm than the significant wave height. Finally, the possible impact on the marine flora and fauna specific to the target area was also considered and discussed.

The Environmental Impact of a Wave Dragon Array Operating in the Black Sea

Science.gov (United States)

Rusu, Eugen

2013-01-01

The present work describes a study related to the influence on the shoreline dynamics of a wave farm consisting of Wave Dragon devices operating in the western side of the Black Sea. Based on historical data analysis of the wave climate, the most relevant environmental conditions that could occur were defined, and for these cases, simulations with SWAN spectral phase averaged wave model were performed. Two situations were considered for the most representative patterns: model simulations without any wave energy converter and simulations considering a wave farm consisting of six Wave Dragon devices. Comparisons of the wave model outputs have been carried out in both geographical and spectral spaces. The results show that although a significant influence appears near the wave farm, this gradually decreases to the coast line level. In order to evaluate the influence of the wave farm on the longshore currents, a nearshore circulation modeling system was used. In relative terms, the longshore current velocities appear to be more sensitive to the presence of the wave farm than the significant wave height. Finally, the possible impact on the marine flora and fauna specific to the target area was also considered and discussed. PMID:23844401

The Environmental Impact of a Wave Dragon Array Operating in the Black Sea

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Sorin Diaconu

2013-01-01

Full Text Available The present work describes a study related to the influence on the shoreline dynamics of a wave farm consisting of Wave Dragon devices operating in the western side of the Black Sea. Based on historical data analysis of the wave climate, the most relevant environmental conditions that could occur were defined, and for these cases, simulations with SWAN spectral phase averaged wave model were performed. Two situations were considered for the most representative patterns: model simulations without any wave energy converter and simulations considering a wave farm consisting of six Wave Dragon devices. Comparisons of the wave model outputs have been carried out in both geographical and spectral spaces. The results show that although a significant influence appears near the wave farm, this gradually decreases to the coast line level. In order to evaluate the influence of the wave farm on the longshore currents, a nearshore circulation modeling system was used. In relative terms, the longshore current velocities appear to be more sensitive to the presence of the wave farm than the significant wave height. Finally, the possible impact on the marine flora and fauna specific to the target area was also considered and discussed.

Extreme Loads on the Mooring Lines and Survivability Mode for the Wave Dragon Wave Energy Converter

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Parmeggiani, Stefano; Kofoed, Jens Peter; Friis-Madsen, E.

2011-01-01

Dragon aims at optimizing the power production by adapting the floating level to the incoming waves and by activating the hydro-turbines and regulating their working speed. In extreme conditions though, the control strategy could be changed in order to reduce the forces in the mooring system, lowering...

Data Obtained from Prototype Wave Dragon in Nissum Bredning

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Tedd, James William; Curie, Marie; Kofoed, Jens Peter

This report is a product of the Project: Sea Testing and Optimisation of Power Production on a Scale 1:4.5 Test Rig of the Offshore Wave Energy Converter Wave Dragon. This report aims to provide access for the project partners to the raw data obtained from the testing period in Nissum Bredning...

SpaceX Dragon Air Circulation System

Science.gov (United States)

Hernandez, Brenda; Piatrovich, Siarhei; Prina, Mauro

2011-01-01

The Dragon capsule is a reusable vehicle being developed by Space Exploration Technologies (SpaceX) that will provide commercial cargo transportation to the International Space Station (ISS). Dragon is designed to be a habitable module while it is berthed to ISS. As such, the Dragon Environmental Control System (ECS) consists of pressure control and pressure equalization, air sampling, fire detection, illumination, and an air circulation system. The air circulation system prevents pockets of stagnant air in Dragon that can be hazardous to the ISS crew. In addition, through the inter-module duct, the air circulation system provides fresh air from ISS into Dragon. To utilize the maximum volume of Dragon for cargo packaging, the Dragon ECS air circulation system is designed around cargo rack optimization. At the same time, the air circulation system is designed to meet the National Aeronautics Space Administration (NASA) inter-module and intra-module ventilation requirements and acoustic requirements. A flight like configuration of the Dragon capsule including the air circulation system was recently assembled for testing to assess the design for inter-module and intra-module ventilation and acoustics. The testing included the Dragon capsule, and flight configuration in the pressure section with cargo racks, lockers, all of the air circulation components, and acoustic treatment. The air circulation test was also used to verify the Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) model of the Dragon capsule. The CFD model included the same Dragon internal geometry that was assembled for the test. This paper will describe the Dragon air circulation system design which has been verified by testing the system and with CFD analysis.

Influence of Buoyancy Control Performance on Power Production by the Wave Dragon Nissum Bredning Prototype

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Kofoed, Jens Peter; Tedd, James; Friis-Madsen, E.

2007-01-01

This paper reports on the real sea performance of the buoyancy control system of Wave Dragon, a floating wave energy converter using the overtopping principle. The device operates with the full independent control system which has been tested during three years of operation. The impact of the buo...... of the buoyancy control system performance on the power production is noted. This provides motivation and a target for improved control algorithms....

Dragon Drone UAV System

Science.gov (United States)

2003-09-02

TYPE N/A 3. DATES COVERED - 4. TITLE AND SUBTITLE Dragon Drone UAV System 5a. CONTRACT NUMBER 5b. GRANT NUMBER 5c. PROGRAM ELEMENT NUMBER...ABSTRACT unclassified c. THIS PAGE unclassified Standard Form 298 (Rev. 8-98) Prescribed by ANSI Std Z39-18 A E R O S Y S T E M S BAI’s Dragon Drone ...the hundreds. BAI’s Dragon Drone system is the result of combining new ideas and emerging technologies with the in-depth knowl- edge gained from real

3 Years Experience with Energy Production on the Nissum Bredning Wave Dragon Prototype

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Frigaard, Peter; Tedd, James; Kofoed, Jens Peter

2006-01-01

Wave Dragon is a floating wave energy converter working by extracting energy principally by means of overtopping of waves into a reservoir. A 1:4.5 scale prototype has been sea tested for 20 months. This paper presents results from testing, experiences gained and developments made during this ext......Wave Dragon is a floating wave energy converter working by extracting energy principally by means of overtopping of waves into a reservoir. A 1:4.5 scale prototype has been sea tested for 20 months. This paper presents results from testing, experiences gained and developments made during...... this extended period. The prototype is highly instrumented. The overtopping characteristic and the power produced are presented here. This has enabled comparison between the prototype and earlier results from both laboratory model and computer simulation. This gives the optimal operating point and the expected...... power of the device. The project development team has gained much soft experience from working in the harsh offshore environment. In particular the effect of marine growth in the draft tubes of the turbines has been investigated. The control of the device has been a focus for development as is operates...

Preliminary Results from Second Phase Sea Testing of the Wave Dragon Prototype Wave Energy Converter

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Soerensen, Hans Chr.; Tedd, James; Friis-Madsen, Erik

2006-01-01

In March 2006 the prototype Wave Dragon has been redeployed to a more energetic site in Nissum Bredning an inland sea in Western Denmark. This has followed a period of renovation of many aspects of the device which have resulted in 20% higher energy output. This paper describes the preliminary...

Performance Assessment of the Wave Dragon Wave Energy Converter Based on the EquiMar Methodology

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Parmeggiani, Stefano; Chozas, Julia Fernandez; Pecher, Arthur

2011-01-01

At the present pre-commercial phase of the wave energy sector, device developers are called to provide reliable estimates on power performance and production at possible deployment locations. The EU EquiMar project has proposed a novel approach, where the performance assessment is based mainly...... on experimental data deriving from sea trials rather than solely on numerical predictions. The study applies this methodology to evaluate the performance of Wave Dragon at two locations in the North Sea, based on the data acquired during the sea trials of a 1:4.5 scale prototype. Indications about power...

Modelling and Testing of Wave Dragon Wave Energy Converter Towards Full Scale Deployment

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Parmeggiani, Stefano

-commercial stage in which it has proven difficult to secure the necessary funding for the deployment of a full-scale demonstrator unit. The work presented aims at easing this process, by increasing public and scientific knowledge of the device, as well as by showing the latest progress in its development. Research....... This is mainly due to the development of an updated overtopping model specifically suited to Wave Dragon, which allows greater quality to predictions of the primary energy absorption of the device compared to previous versions. At the same time an equitable approach has been described and used in the performance......, the research has also provided a deeper insight into the physics of the overtopping process by individually assessing the influence of related device configuration and wave features, which goes beyond the present application and may be used for other overtopping WECs as well. Comprehensive analysis...

Slow waves, sharp waves, ripples, and REM in sleeping dragons.

Science.gov (United States)

Shein-Idelson, Mark; Ondracek, Janie M; Liaw, Hua-Peng; Reiter, Sam; Laurent, Gilles

2016-04-29

Sleep has been described in animals ranging from worms to humans. Yet the electrophysiological characteristics of brain sleep, such as slow-wave (SW) and rapid eye movement (REM) activities, are thought to be restricted to mammals and birds. Recording from the brain of a lizard, the Australian dragon Pogona vitticeps, we identified SW and REM sleep patterns, thus pushing back the probable evolution of these dynamics at least to the emergence of amniotes. The SW and REM sleep patterns that we observed in lizards oscillated continuously for 6 to 10 hours with a period of ~80 seconds. The networks controlling SW-REM antagonism in amniotes may thus originate from a common, ancient oscillator circuit. Lizard SW dynamics closely resemble those observed in rodent hippocampal CA1, yet they originate from a brain area, the dorsal ventricular ridge, that has no obvious hodological similarity with the mammalian hippocampus. Copyright © 2016, American Association for the Advancement of Science.

Implementation of dragon-I database system based on B/S model

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Jiang Wei; Lai Qinggui; Chen Nan; Gao Feng

2010-01-01

B/S architecture is utilized in the database system of 'Dragon-I'. The dynamic web software is designed with the technology of ASP. NET, and the web software are divided into three main tiers: user interface tier, business logic tier and access tier. The data of accelerator status and the data generated in experiment processes are managed with SQL Server DBMS, and the database is accessed based on the technology of ADO. NET. The status of facility, control parameters and testing waves are queried by the experiment number and experiment time. The demand of storage, management, browse, query and offline analysis are implemented entirely in this database system based on B/S architecture. (authors)

Comparison of Mooring Loads in Survivability Mode on the Wave Dragon Wave Energy Converter Obtained by a Numerical Model and Experimental Data

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Parmeggiani, Stefano; Muliawan, Made Jaya; Gao, Zhen

2012-01-01

The Wave Dragon Wave Energy Converter is ready to be up-scaled to commercial size. The design and feasibility analysis of a 1.5 MW pre-commercial unit to be deployed at the DanWEC test center in Hanstholm, Denmark, is currently ongoing. With regard to the mooring system, the design has...... in the frequency domain is performed by the software HydroD, which uses WAMIT as core software. The quadratic damping term, accounting for the viscous effect, is determined through an iterative procedure aimed at matching numerical predictions on the mooring tension, derived through time domain coupled analysis......, with experimental results derived from tank tests of a small scale model. Due to the complex geometry of the device, a sensitivity analysis is performed to discuss the influence of the mean position on the quality of the numerical predictions. Good correspondence is achieved between the experimental and numerical...

Sea testing and optimisation of power production on a scale 1:4.5 test rig of the offshore wave energy converter wave dragon. Summary of final technical report

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

2006-06-15

The 4-11 MW Wave Dragon is a slack moored device that can be deployed in large parks wherever a sufficient wave climate and a water depth of more than 20 m is found--typically this is the case in the North Sea and in the Atlantic, offering significant economic and environmental benefits for the EU. The primary objective of the project was to establish the scientific knowledge base needed for deploying a full-scale prototype of the overtopping wave energy converter Wave Dragon. This has been obtained through long-term field-testing on a test rig with all systems installed. The scale 1:4.5 prototype has an installed power of 20 kW corresponding to 4 MW in full-scale with full-turbine deployment and is grid connected. The scale 1:4.5 prototype has been designed based on the conclusions from a previous EU Craft project. The basic test rig construction is provided through a project sponsored by the Danish Energy Authority. The test site is in protected waters in Nissum Bredning, Denmark, where the wave climate resembles North Sea conditions (scale 1:4.5) which in accordance with model law resembles a power scale of 1:200. The test results after more than 20,000 hours of operation cover: Long-term field testing of turbine operation, control strategy testing and optimisation, power monitoring and evaluation, stress and strain measurements and analysis, and mooring and cable systems analysis. The model tools developed in the previous EU Craft project have been validated and slightly modified based on the measured data. A Life Cycle Analysis and Finite Element Modelling have been performed. A report on market analysis, economic risk assessment and job creation potential has also been carried out. The project has established the necessary scientific and technical knowledge base for engaging in the establishment of a full-scale prototype in exposed waters. This includes the existence of a well-established design basis and documentation of technical viability through long

Experimental Study Related to the Mooring Design for the 1.5 MW Wave Dragon WEC Demonstrator at DanWEC

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Parmeggiani, Stefano; Kofoed, Jens Peter; Friis-Madsen, Erik

2013-01-01

The paper presents the results of an experimental study identifying the response of a 1.5 MW Wave Dragon to extreme conditions typical of the DanWEC test center. The best strategies allowing for a reduction in the extreme mooring tension have also been investigated, showing that this is possible...

Dragon exploratory system on Hepatitis C Virus (DESHCV)

KAUST Repository

Kwofie, Samuel K.; Radovanovic, Aleksandar; Sundararajan, Vijayaraghava Seshadri; Maqungo, Monique; Christoffels, Alan G.; Bajic, Vladimir B.

2011-01-01

text-mining is a useful approach for analyzing the increasing corpus of published scientific literature on HCV. We report here the first comprehensive HCV customized biomedical text-mining based online web resource, dragon exploratory system

Application of the Time-Dependent Mild-Slope Equations for the Simulation of Wake Effects in the Lee of a Farm of Wave Dragon Wave Energy Converters

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Beels, Charlotte; Troch, Peter; Visch, Kenneth De

2010-01-01

the wake effect is decreasing with increasing directional spreading. The wake in the lee of a farm of five Wave Dragon WECs, installed in a staggered grid (3 WECs in the first row and 2 WECs in the second row), is calculated for three in-between distances of respectively D, 2D and 3D, with D the distance...

Modeling the Buoyancy System of a Wave Energy Power Plant

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Pedersen, Tom S.; Nielsen, Kirsten M.

2009-01-01

A nonlinear dynamic model of the buoyancy system in a wave energy power plant is presented. The plant ("Wave Dragon") is a floating device using the potential energy in overtopping waves to produce power. A water reservoir is placed on top of the WD, and hydro turbines lead the water to the sea...... producing electrical power. Through air chambers it is possible to control the level of the WD. It is important to control the level in order to maximize the power production in proportion to the wave height, here the amount of overtopping water and the amount of potential energy is conflicting...

Dragons as Amulets, Dragons as Talismans, Dragons as Counselors.

Science.gov (United States)

Stevenson, Robert G.

1994-01-01

Notes that, in diverse historical and cultural settings, dragons have served as protective amulets/powerful talismans to protect/enhance powers of those who possess them. Explores use of such personal symbols in dealing with personal adversity and suggests methods in which dragon symbol can be used to promote discussion of feelings, problems, and…

Dragon bridge - the world largest dragon-shaped (ARCH steel bridge as element of smart city

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Chinh Luong Minh

2016-01-01

Full Text Available Dragon Bridge - The world’s largest dragon-shaped steel bridge, with an installation cost of $85 million USD, features 6 lanes for two separate directions, 666 meters of undulating steel in the shape of a dragon in the Ly Dynasty, the symbol of prosperity in Vietnamese culture. This unique and beautifully lit bridge, which also breathes fire and sprays water. It’s the purposeful integration of the lighting hardware articulates the dragon’s form, and the fire-breathing dragon head. This project transcends the notion of monumental bridge with dynamic colour-changing lighting, creating an iconic sculpture in the skyline that is both reverent and whimsical. The signature feature of the bridge was the massive undulating support structure resembling a dragon flying over the river. The dragon is prominent in Vietnamese culture as a symbol of power and nobility. Dragon Bridge stands out as a model of innovation. It has received worldwide attention in the design community and from the global media for its unique arch support system. Dragon Bridge serves as an example of how aesthetic quality of a design can serve cultural, economic and functional purposes. The article presents design solutions of the object and the evaluation of the technical condition before putting the facility into service.

DRAGON, Reactor Cell Calculation System with Burnup

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

2007-01-01

1 - Description of program or function: DRAGON is a collection of models to simulate the neutronic behavior of a unit cell or a fuel assembly in a nuclear reactor. It includes all of the functions that characterize a lattice cell code, namely: interpolation of microscopic cross sections supplied by means of standard libraries; resonance self-shielding calculations in multidimensional geometries; multigroup and multidimensional neutron flux calculations which can take into account neutron leakage; transport-transport or transport-diffusion equivalence calculations as well as editing of condensed and homogenized nuclear properties for reactor calculations; and finally isotopic depletion calculations. The user must supply cross sections. DRAGON can access directly standard microscopic cross-section libraries in the following formats: DRAGON, MATXS (TRANSX-CTR), WIMSD4, WIMS-AECL, and APOLLO. It has the capability of exchanging macroscopic and microscopic cross-section libraries with a code such as PSR-0206/TRANSX-CTR or PSR-0317/TRANSX-2 by the use of the GOXS and ISOTXS format files. Macroscopic cross sections can also be read in DRAGON via the input data stream. 2 - Method of solution: DRAGON contains a multigroup iterator conceived to control a number of different algorithms for the solution of the neutron transport equation. Each of these algorithms is presented in the form of a one-group solution procedure where the contributions from other energy groups are included in a source term. The current version, DRAGON 9 71124 (Release 3.02), which was released in January 1998, contains three such algorithms. The JPM option solves the integral transport equation using the interface current method applied to homogeneous blocks; the SYBIL option solves the integral transport equation using the collision probability method for simple one-dimensional (1-D) or two-dimensional (2-D) geometries and the interface current method for 2-D Cartesian or hexagonal assemblies; and the

Red Dragon drill missions to Mars

Science.gov (United States)

Heldmann, Jennifer L.; Stoker, Carol R.; Gonzales, Andrew; McKay, Christopher P.; Davila, Alfonso; Glass, Brian J.; Lemke, Larry L.; Paulsen, Gale; Willson, David; Zacny, Kris

2017-12-01

We present the concept of using a variant of a Space Exploration Technologies Corporation (SpaceX) Dragon space capsule as a low-cost, large-capacity, near-term, Mars lander (dubbed ;Red Dragon;) for scientific and human precursor missions. SpaceX initially designed the Dragon capsule for flight near Earth, and Dragon has successfully flown many times to low-Earth orbit (LEO) and successfully returned the Dragon spacecraft to Earth. Here we present capsule hardware modifications that are required to enable flight to Mars and operations on the martian surface. We discuss the use of the Dragon system to support NASA Discovery class missions to Mars and focus in particular on Dragon's applications for drilling missions. We find that a Red Dragon platform is well suited for missions capable of drilling deeper on Mars (at least 2 m) than has been accomplished to date due to its ability to land in a powered controlled mode, accommodate a long drill string, and provide payload space for sample processing and analysis. We show that a Red Dragon drill lander could conduct surface missions at three possible targets including the ice-cemented ground at the Phoenix landing site (68 °N), the subsurface ice discovered near the Viking 2 (49 °N) site by fresh impact craters, and the dark sedimentary subsurface material at the Curiosity site (4.5 °S).

Design and commissioning of a timestamp-based data acquisition system for the DRAGON recoil mass separator

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Christian, G.; Fallis, J.; Hutcheon, D.; Olchanski, K.; Ruiz, C.; Akers, C.; Connolly, D.

2014-01-01

The DRAGON recoil mass separator at TRIUMF exists to study radiative proton and alpha capture reactions, which are important in a variety of astrophysical scenarios. DRAGON experiments require a data acquisition system that can be triggered on either reaction product (γ-ray or heavy ion), with the additional requirement of being able to promptly recognize coincidence events in an online environment. To this end, we have designed and implemented a new data acquisition system for DRAGON, which consists of two independently triggered readouts. Events from both systems are recorded with timestamps from a 20 MHz clock that are used to tag coincidences in the earliest possible stage of the data analysis. Here we report on the design, implementation, and commissioning of the new DRAGON data acquisition system, including the hardware, trigger logic, coincidence reconstruction algorithm, and live time considerations. We also discuss the results of an experiment commissioning the new system, which measured the strength of the E c.m. = 1113 keV resonance in the 20 Ne(p, γ) 21 Na radiative proton capture reaction. (orig.)

Hadron Dragons strike again

CERN Multimedia

2009-01-01

The CERN Dragon Boat team – the Hadron Dragons – achieved a fantastic result at the "Paddle for Cancer" Dragon Boat Festival at Lac de Joux on 6 September. CERN Hadron Dragons heading for the start line.Under blue skies and on a clear lake, the Hadron Dragons won 2nd place in a hard-fought final, following top times in the previous heats. In a close and dramatic race – neck-and-neck until the final 50 metres – the local Lac-de-Joux team managed to inch ahead at the last moment. The Hadron Dragons were delighted to take part in this festival. No one would turn down a day out in such a friendly and fun atmosphere, but the Dragons were also giving their support to cancer awareness and fund-raising in association with ESCA (English-Speaking Cancer Association of Geneva). Riding on their great success in recent competitions, the Hadron Dragons plan to enter the last Dragon Boat festival of 2009 in Annecy on 17-18 October. This will coincide with t...

Scripting DRAGON

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hebert, A.

2002-01-01

The paper describes an user-oriented framework specifically designed to facilitate the use of legacy Fortran codes similar to Dragon. The basic idea is to use a bytecode interpreted language as a glue to link all the components required by the end user. This scripting approach is illustrated with Dragon, where we have replaced the control language CLE-2000 with a bytecode interpreted language, without having to modify Dragon. We have shown how Python or Java can be used to link the Dragon modules together and to construct an object-oriented user interface. Python or Java can also be used to construct execution procedures, calculation schemes and graphical user interfaces. Java was finally selected as the most interesting choice. This approach can be used with other legacy Fortran codes, as soon as their input/output data structures are Dragon-compatible. The only modification required on Fortran code is the replacement of some common blocks by associative tables, already available with the LCM application programming interface. (author)

Turbine Control Strategy using Wave Prediction to Optimise Power Take Off of Overtopping Wave Energy Converters

OpenAIRE

Tedd, James; Knapp, Wilfried; Frigaard, Peter; Kofoed, Jens Peter

2005-01-01

This paper presents the control strategy used on Wave Dragon overtopping wave energy converter. The nature of overtopping requires that for optimum performance the water level in the reservoir must be controlled by controlling the turbine outflows. A history of the simulations performed is included. The concept of including an element of prediction, based on wave records a short distance in front of the Wave Dragon, is introduced. Initial simulations indicate a possibility to increase product...

Direct conversion of fusion energy into the electric one in the 'Dragon' magnetic confinement system

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Glagolev, V.M.; Timofeev, A.V.

1993-01-01

It is shown that recuperator in which the thermal energy of particles is transformed into electric oue under drift in crossed fields is naturally coupled with dragontype magnetic confinement system, so the recuperation process can be initiated in the dragon magnetic field. A number of questions occuring under analysis of recuperator-dragon system is considered, including the dynamics of particle transfer to the recuperator, the share of particles entering the recuperator, the effect of rotational transform and the recuperation efficiency

DRAGON analysis of MOX fueled VVER cell benchmarks

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Marleau, G.; Foissac, F.

2002-01-01

The computational unit-cell benchmarks problems for LEU and MOX fueled VVER-1000 ('water-water energetic reactor') have been analyzed using the code DRAGON with ENDF/B-V and ENDF/B-VI based WIMS-AECL cross section libraries. The results obtained were compared with those generated using the SAS2H module of the SCALE-4.3 computational code system and with the code HELIOS. Good agreements between DRAGON and HELIOS were obtained when the ENDF/B-VI based library was considered while the ENDF/B-V DRAGON results were generally closer to those obtained using SAS2H. This study was useful for the verification of the DRAGON code and confirms that HELIOS and DRAGON have a similar behavior when compatible cross sections library are used. (author)

The feasibility study of Dragon Ⅰ using for temperature measurement of resonance neutron

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Xiang Yanjun; Ma Jingfang; Ai Jie; Fan Ruifeng

2010-01-01

The temperature measurement using neutron resonance spectrum can be used for temperature measurement of shock wave, but the high intensity pulsed neutron source is needed. This paper calculates the neutron transmission spectrum through resonance sample (contained 182 W), which produced by the current electron beam of Dragon Ⅰ impacting uranium target. The 4.155 eV and 21.06 eV resonance drop of 182 W can be seen from the transmission spectrum. Then, according to the experiment condition of Los Alamos, the neutron resonance spectrum of Dragon Ⅰ have been computed. Dragon Ⅰ can be used for temperature measurement using neutron spectrum, comparing this simulated result and the experiment result of Los Alamos. (authors)

Results from the development of ionization detection systems for the DRAGON facility

CERN Document Server

Chen, A A

2003-01-01

We discuss the implementation of an ionization detection system for the focal plane of the DRAGON recoil mass separator. We report recent tests performed with stable beams to test the feasibility of such a system for use in measurements of radiative capture reactions in inverse kinematics with radioactive beams.

Results from the development of ionization detection systems for the DRAGON facility

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Chen, Alan A.

2003-01-01

We discuss the implementation of an ionization detection system for the focal plane of the DRAGON recoil mass separator. We report recent tests performed with stable beams to test the feasibility of such a system for use in measurements of radiative capture reactions in inverse kinematics with radioactive beams

Plaster-Wrap Dragons

Science.gov (United States)

Vance, Shelly

2012-01-01

In this article, the author describes how her students constructed a three-dimensional sculpture of a dragon using plaster wrap and other materials. The dragons were formed from modest means--using only a toilet-paper tube, newsprint, tape and wire.

Physics experiment on the Dragon reactor

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Hunt, C.

1974-10-15

The paper describes a set of DRAGON experiments planned to measure burn-up effects in DRAGON irradiated fuel. Irradiated fuel elements from DRAGON are to be subjected to reactivity measurements in the HECTOR experimental reactor to infer the residual U235 content followed by isotopic analyses at CEA laboratories in 1975. Fast neutron damage to DRAGON graphite is compared to fast neutron dose measurements using Ni58 (n,p) Co58 activation wires in both DRAGON and the DIDO MTR. Gamma scanning of irradiated fuel elements are used to compare axial power profiles to those derived from two-dimensional and three-dimensional calculations of the DRAGON reactor.

The racing dragon

CERN Multimedia

2009-01-01

Dating back nearly 2000 years, the ancient Chinese tradition of Dragon Boat Racing was originally a celebration that fell on the 5th day of the 5th lunar month as a gesture to please the Gods and bring forth necessary rains to cultivate the lands. Now the CERN Canoe and Kayak Club, too, participates in this tradition, though not so much to please the Gods on the ritualistic date, but to bring forth giant smiles on the faces of members. Dragon Boat Racing has been rising steadily in popularity in Europe since the mid nineties and with the great potential to host and promote Dragon Boat Racing in the Geneva area, the CERN Canoe and Kayak Club, has taken the initiative to bring the sport to the region. Some members of the Club traveled to Dole in June to participate in the Festival Dragon Boat 2009. Under perfect sunny conditions, the team triumphed in their first ever tournament, cruising to a convincing first place overall finish. T...

Outliers and Extremes: Dragon-Kings or Dragon-Fools?

Science.gov (United States)

Schertzer, D. J.; Tchiguirinskaia, I.; Lovejoy, S.

2012-12-01

Geophysics seems full of monsters like Victor Hugo's Court of Miracles and monstrous extremes have been statistically considered as outliers with respect to more normal events. However, a characteristic magnitude separating abnormal events from normal ones would be at odd with the generic scaling behaviour of nonlinear systems, contrary to "fat tailed" probability distributions and self-organized criticality. More precisely, it can be shown [1] how the apparent monsters could be mere manifestations of a singular measure mishandled as a regular measure. Monstrous fluctuations are the rule, not outliers and they are more frequent than usually thought up to the point that (theoretical) statistical moments can easily be infinite. The empirical estimates of the latter are erratic and diverge with sample size. The corresponding physics is that intense small scale events cannot be smoothed out by upscaling. However, based on a few examples, it has also been argued [2] that one should consider "genuine" outliers of fat tailed distributions so monstrous that they can be called "dragon-kings". We critically analyse these arguments, e.g. finite sample size and statistical estimates of the largest events, multifractal phase transition vs. more classical phase transition. We emphasize the fact that dragon-kings are not needed in order that the largest events become predictable. This is rather reminiscent of the Feast of Fools picturesquely described by Victor Hugo. [1] D. Schertzer, I. Tchiguirinskaia, S. Lovejoy et P. Hubert (2010): No monsters, no miracles: in nonlinear sciences hydrology is not an outlier! Hydrological Sciences Journal, 55 (6) 965 - 979. [2] D. Sornette (2009): Dragon-Kings, Black Swans and the Prediction of Crises. International Journal of Terraspace Science and Engineering 1(3), 1-17.

DRAGON 3.05D, Reactor Cell Calculation System with Burnup

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

2007-01-01

1 - Description of program or function: The computer code DRAGON contains a collection of models that can simulate the neutron behavior of a unit cell or a fuel assembly in a nuclear reactor. It includes all of the functions that characterize a lattice cell code, namely: the interpolation of microscopic cross sections supplied by means of standard libraries; resonance self-shielding calculations in multidimensional geometries; multigroup and multidimensional neutron flux calculations that can take into account neutron leakage; transport-transport or transport-diffusion equivalence calculations as well as editing of condensed and homogenized nuclear properties for reactor calculations; and finally isotopic depletion calculations. 2 - Methods: The code DRAGON contains a multigroup flux solver conceived that can use a various algorithms to solve the neutron transport equation for the spatial and angular distribution of the flux. Each of these algorithms is presented in the form of a one-group solution procedure where the contributions from other energy groups are considered as sources. The current release of DRAGON contains five such algorithms. The JPM option that solves the integral transport equation using the J+- method, (interface current method applied to homogeneous blocks); the SYBIL option that solves the integral transport equation using the collision probability method for simple one dimensional (1-D) or two dimensional (2-D) geometries and the interface current method for 2-D Cartesian or hexagonal assemblies; the EXCELL/NXT option to solve the integral transport equation using the collision probability method for more general 2-D geometries and for three dimensional (3-D) assemblies; the MOCC option to solve the transport equation using the method of cyclic characteristics in 2-D Cartesian, and finally the MCU option to solve the transport equation using the method of characteristics (non cyclic) for 3-D Cartesian geometries. The execution of DRAGON is

Chinese New Year Dragons.

Science.gov (United States)

Balgemann, Linda

2000-01-01

Presents an art project, used in a culturally diverse curriculum, in which second grade students create Chinese New Year dragons. Describes the process of creating the dragons, from the two-week construction of the head to the accordion-folded bodies. (CMK)

Validation of DRAGON code in connection with WIMS-AECL/RFSP code system based on ENDF/B-VI library and two group model

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hong, In Seob; Suk, Ho Chun; Kim, Soon Young; Jo, Chang Keun

2002-06-01

The major objective of this research is to validate the incremental cross section property of DRAGON code in connection with WIMS-AECL/DRAGON/RFSP code system with ENDF/B-VI library and full 2G calculation model. The direct comparison between the incremental cross section results calculated by DRAGON with ENDF/B-VI and ENDF/B-V and MULTICELL with ENDF/B-V indicate that there are not much differences between the incremental cross sections of DRAGON with ENDF/B-V and ENDF/B-VI, but there exists large discrepancies between the results of DRAGON and those of MULTICELL. In the analysis of the difference between calculated and measured reactivity worths of various types of control devices during Phase-B Post-Simulation of Wolsong Units 2, 3 and 4, WIMS-AECL/DRAGON/RFSP analysis well agrees with those of previous WIMS-AECL /MULTICELL/RFSP analysis within very small differences. From those results, we can conclude that DRAGON code can be used as a general purpose incremental cross section generation tool for not only the natural uranium fuel but also slightly enriched fuel such as RU or SEU, to cover the shortcomings of natural uranium based MULTICELL code

Short term wave forecasting, using digital filters, for improved control of Wave Energy Converters

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Tedd, James; Frigaard, Peter

2007-01-01

This paper presents a Digital Filter method for real time prediction of waves incident upon a Wave Energy device. The method transforms waves measured at a point ahead of the device, to expected waves incident on the device. The relationship between these incident waves and power capture is derived...... experimentally. Results are shown form measurements taken on the Wave Dragon prototype device, a floating overtopping device situated in Northern Denmark. In this case the method is able to accurately predict the surface elevation at the device 11.2 seconds before the measurement is made. This is sufficient...... to allow advanced control systems to be developed using this knowledge to significantly improve power capture....

Short term wave forecasting, using digital filters, for improved control of Wave Energy Converters

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Tedd, J.; Frigaard, P. [Department of Civil Engineering, Aalborg University, Aalborg (Denmark)

2007-07-01

This paper presents a Digital Filter method for real time prediction of waves incident upon a Wave Energy device. The method transforms waves measured at a point ahead of the device, to expected waves incident on the device. The relationship between these incident waves and power capture is derived experimentally. Results are shown form measurements taken on the Wave Dragon prototype device, a floating overtopping device situated in Northern Denmark. In this case the method is able to accurately predict the surface elevation at the device 11.2 seconds before the measurement is made. This is sufficient to allow advanced control systems to be developed using this knowledge to significantly improve power capture.

Injuries in Competitive Dragon Boating.

Science.gov (United States)

Mukherjee, Swarup; Leong, Hin Fong; Chen, Simin; Foo, Yong Xiang Wayne; Pek, Hong Kiat

2014-11-01

Dragon boating is a fast-growing team water sport and involves forceful repetitive motions that predispose athletes to overuse injuries. Despite the rising popularity of the sport, there is a lack of studies on injury epidemiology in dragon boating. To investigate the injury epidemiology in competitive dragon boating athletes. Descriptive epidemiological study. A total of 95 dragon boaters (49 males, 46 females) representing their respective universities took part in this study. Data were collected retrospectively using a reliable and valid self-report questionnaire. The study period was from August 2012 to July 2013. A total of 104 musculoskeletal injuries were reported (3.82 injuries/1000 athlete-exposures), 99% of which occurred during training. The most commonly injured regions were the lower back (22.1%), shoulder (21.1%), and wrist (17.3%). The majority of injuries were due to overuse (56.3%), and incomplete muscle-tendon strain was the most prevalent type of injury (50.5%). The time loss from injuries varied. In addition, a significant majority of the dragon boating athletes incurred nonmusculoskeletal injuries, with abrasions (90.5%), blisters (78.9%), and sunburns (72.6%) being the most common. Competitive dragon boating has a moderately high injury incidence, and there seems to be a direct relationship between exposure time and injury rate. A majority of the injuries are overuse in nature, and the body parts most actively involved in paddling movement are at higher risk of injuries. The high incidence of nonmusculoskeletal injuries in dragon boaters suggested that these injuries are likely outcomes of participation in the sport.

How not to train your dragon: a case of a Komodo dragon bite.

Science.gov (United States)

Borek, Heather A; Charlton, Nathan P

2015-06-01

Komodo dragons (Varanus komodoensis) are the world's largest lizards, known for killing prey that exceed their body mass. Reports of bites to humans in the popular press suggest high degrees of morbidity and mortality. Reports in the medical literature are lacking. We describe the case of a zookeeper who was bitten by a Komodo dragon, with a resultant mallet finger. We further discuss the various potential mechanisms of Komodo dragon lethality, including sepsis and venom deposition theories that are useful in guiding management. Copyright © 2015 Wilderness Medical Society. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

DRAGONS - A Micrometeoroid and Orbital Debris Impact Sensor

Science.gov (United States)

Liou, J. -C.; Corsaro, R.; Giovane, F.; Anderson, C.; Sadilek, A.; Burchell, M.; Hamilton, J.

2015-01-01

The Debris Resistive/Acoustic Grid Orbital Navy-NASA Sensor (DRAGONS) is intended to be a large area impact sensor for in situ measurements of micrometeoroids and orbital debris (MMOD) in the millimeter or smaller size regime. These MMOD particles are too small to be detected by ground-based radars and optical telescopes, but are still large enough to be a serious safety concern for human space activities and robotic missions in the low Earth orbit (LEO) region. The nominal detection area of a DRAGONS unit is 1 m2, consisting of several independently operated panels. The approach of the DRAGONS design is to combine different particle impact detection principles to maximize information that can be extracted from detected events. After more than 10 years of concept and technology development, a 1 m2 DRAGONS system has been selected for deployment on the International Space Station (ISS) in August 2016. The project team achieved a major milestone when the Preliminary Design Review (PDR) was completed in May 2015. Once deployed on the ISS, this multi-year mission will provide a unique opportunity to demonstrate the MMOD detection capability of the DRAGONS technologies and to collect data to better define the small MMOD environment at the ISS altitude.

Dragon exploratory system on Hepatitis C Virus (DESHCV)

KAUST Repository

Kwofie, Samuel K.

2011-06-01

Even though Hepatitis C Virus (HCV) cDNA was characterized about 20 years ago, there is insufficient understanding of the molecular etiology underlying HCV infections. Current global rates of infection and its increasingly chronic character are causes of concern for health policy experts. Vast amount of data accumulated from biochemical, genomic, proteomic, and other biological analyses allows for novel insights into the HCV viral structure, life cycle and functions of its proteins. Biomedical text-mining is a useful approach for analyzing the increasing corpus of published scientific literature on HCV. We report here the first comprehensive HCV customized biomedical text-mining based online web resource, dragon exploratory system on Hepatitis C Virus (DESHCV), a biomedical text-mining and relationship exploring knowledgebase was developed by exploring literature on HCV. The pre-compiled dictionaries existing in the dragon exploratory system (DES) were enriched with biomedical concepts pertaining to HCV proteins, their name variants and symbols to make it suitable for targeted information exploration and knowledge extraction as focused on HCV. A list of 32,895 abstracts retrieved via PubMed database using specific keywords searches related to HCV were processed based on concept recognition of terms from several dictionaries. The web query interface enables retrieval of information using specified concepts, keywords and phrases, generating text-derived association networks and hypotheses, which could be tested to identify potentially novel relationship between different concepts. Such an approach could also augment efforts in the search for diagnostic or even therapeutic targets. DESHCV thus represents online literature-based discovery resource freely accessible for academic and non-profit users via http://apps.sanbi.ac.za/DESHCV/ and its mirror site http://cbrc.kaust.edu.sa/deshcv/. © 2010 Elsevier B.V.

Bitten by a Dragon.

Science.gov (United States)

Ducey, Stephen D; Cooper, Jeffrey S; Wadman, Michael C

2016-06-01

Komodo dragons (Varanus komodoensis) are large lizards known to take down prey even larger than themselves. They rarely attack humans. A 38-year-old woman was bitten by a Komodo dragon on her hand while cleaning its enclosure. She was transiently hypotensive. The wounds were extensively cleaned, and she was started on prophylactic antibiotics. Her wounds healed without any infectious sequelae. Komodo dragon bites are historically thought to be highly infectious and venomous. Based on a literature review, neither of these are likely true. As in any bite, initial stabilization followed by wound management are the main components to therapy. Copyright © 2016 Wilderness Medical Society. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Dragon-Kings, Black-Swans and Prediction (Invited)

Science.gov (United States)

Sornette, D.

2010-12-01

Extreme fluctuations or events are often associated with power law statistics. Indeed, it is a popular belief that "wild randomness'' is deeply associated with distributions with power law tails characterized by small exponents. In other words, power law tails are often seen as the epitome of extreme events (the "Black Swan'' story). Here, we document in very different systems that there is life beyond power law tails: power laws can be superseded by "dragon-kings'', monster events that occur beyond (or changing) the power law tail. Dragon-kings reveal hidden mechanisms that are only transiently active and that amplify the normal fluctuations (often described by the power laws of the normal regime). The goal of this lecture is to catalyze the interest of the community of geophysicists across all fields of geosciences so that the "invisible gorilla" fallacy may be avoided. Our own research illustrates that new statistics or representation of data are often necessary to identify dragon-kings, with strategies guided by the underlying mechanisms. Paradoxically, the monsters may be ignored or hidden by the use of inappropriate analysis or statistical tools that amount to cut a mamooth in small pieces, so as to lead to the incorrect belief that only mice exist. In order to stimulate further research, we will document and discuss the dragon-king phenomenon on the statistics of financial losses, economic geography, hydrodynamic turbulence, mechanical ruptures, avalanches in complex heterogeneous media, earthquakes, and epileptic seizures. The special status of dragon-kings open a new research program on their predictability, based on the fact that they belong to a different class of their own and express specific mechanisms amplifying the normal dynamics via positive feedbacks. We will present evidence of these claims for the predictions of material rupture, financial crashes and epileptic seizures. As a bonus, a few remarks will be offered at the end on how the dragon

Worlds Largest Wave Energy Project 2007 in Wales

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Christensen, Lars; Friis-Madsen, Erik; Kofoed, Jens Peter

2006-01-01

This paper introduces world largest wave energy project being developed in Wales and based on one of the leading wave energy technologies. The background for the development of wave energy, the total resource ands its distribution around the world is described. In contrast to wind energy turbines...... Dragon has to be scaled in accordance with the wave climate at the deployment site, which makes the Welch demonstrator device the worlds largest WEC so far with a total width of 300 meters. The project budget, the construction methods and the deployment site are also given....... a large number of fundamentally different technologies are utilised to harvest wave energy. The Wave Dragon belongs to the wave overtopping class of converters and the paper describes the fundamentals and the technical solutions used in this wave energy converter. An offshore floating WEC like the Wave...

Aerobic salivary bacteria in wild and captive Komodo dragons.

Science.gov (United States)

Montgomery, Joel M; Gillespie, Don; Sastrawan, Putra; Fredeking, Terry M; Stewart, George L

2002-07-01

During the months of November 1996, August 1997, and March 1998, saliva and plasma samples were collected for isolation of aerobic bacteria from 26 wild and 13 captive Komodo dragons (Varanus komodoensis). Twenty-eight Gram-negative and 29 Gram-positive species of bacteria were isolated from the saliva of the 39 Komodo dragons. A greater number of wild than captive dragons were positive for both Gram-negative and Gram-positive bacteria. The average number of bacterial species within the saliva of wild dragons was 46% greater than for captive dragons. While Escherichia coli was the most common bacterium isolated from the saliva of wild dragons, this species was not present in captive dragons. The most common bacteria isolated from the saliva of captive dragons were Staphylococcus capitis and Staphylococcus capitis and Staphylococcus caseolyticus, neither of which were found in wild dragons. High mortality was seen among mice injected with saliva from wild dragons and the only bacterium isolated from the blood of dying mice was Pasteurella multocida. A competitive inhibition enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay revealed the presence of anti-Pasteurella antibody in the plasma of Komodo dragons. Four species of bacteria isolated from dragon saliva showed resistance to one or more of 16 antimicrobics tested. The wide variety of bacteria demonstrated in the saliva of the Komodo dragon in this study, at least one species of which was highly lethal in mice and 54 species of which are known pathogens, support the observation that wounds inflicted by this animal are often associated with sepsis and subsequent bacteremia in prey animals.

77 FR 23125 - Special Local Regulation; Tuscaloosa Dragon Boat Race; Black Warrior River; Tuscaloosa, AL

Science.gov (United States)

2012-04-18

... commercially transited river system poses significant safety hazards to both the Dragon Boat racers and the...-AA08 Special Local Regulation; Tuscaloosa Dragon Boat Race; Black Warrior River; Tuscaloosa, AL AGENCY... crews, vessels, and persons on navigable waters during the Jr. League of Tuscaloosa Dragon Boat Races...

Developing a Hybrid Solar/Wind Powered Drip Irrigation System for Dragon Fruit Yield

Science.gov (United States)

Widiastuti, I.; Wijayanto, D. S.

2017-03-01

Irrigation operations take a large amount of water and energy which impact to total costs of crop production. Development of an efficient irrigation supplying precise amount of water and conserving the use of energy can have benefits not only by reducing the operating costs but also by enhancing the farmland productivity. This article presents an irrigation method that promotes sustainable use of water and energy appropriate for a developing tropical country. It proposes a drip irrigation system supported by a combined solar-wind electric power generation system for efficient use of water in dragon fruit cultivation. The electric power generated is used to drive a water pump filling a storage tank for irrigating a 3000 m2 dragon fruit yield in Nguntoronadi, Wonogiri, Indonesia. In designing the irrigation system, the plant’s water requirement was identified based on the value of reference evapotranspiration of the area. A cost/benefit analysis was performed to evaluate the economic feasibility of the proposed scheme. The installation of this solar and wind drip irrigation helps provide sufficient quantity of water to each plant using renewable energy sources which reduce dependence on fossil fuel.

The DRAGON aerosol research facility to study aerosol behaviour for reactor safety applications

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Suckow, Detlef; Guentay, Salih

2008-01-01

During a severe accident in a nuclear power plant fission products are expected to be released in form of aerosol particles and droplets. To study the behaviour of safety relevant reactor components under aerosol loads and prototypical severe accident conditions the multi-purpose aerosol generation facility DRAGON is used since 1994 for several projects. DRAGON can generate aerosol particles by the evaporation-condensation technique using a plasma torch system, fluidized bed and atomization of particles suspended in a liquid. Soluble, hygroscopic aerosol (i.e. CsOH) and insoluble aerosol particles (i.e. SnO 2 , TiO 2 ) or mixtures of them can be used. DRAGON uses state-of-the-art thermal-hydraulic, data acquisition and aerosol measurement techniques and is mainly composed of a mixing chamber, the plasma torch system, a steam generator, nitrogen gas and compressed air delivery systems, several aerosol delivery piping, gas heaters and several auxiliary systems to provide vacuum, coolant and off-gas treatment. The facility can be operated at system pressure of 5 bars, temperatures of 300 deg. C, flow rates of non-condensable gas of 900 kg/h and steam of 270 kg/h, respectively. A test section under investigation is attached to DRAGON. The paper summarizes and demonstrates with the help of two project examples the capabilities of DRAGON for reactor safety studies. (authors)

Nuclear astrophysics at DRAGON

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hager, U.

2014-01-01

The DRAGON recoil separator is located at the ISAC facility at TRIUMF, Vancouver. It is designed to measure radiative alpha and proton capture reactions of astrophysical importance. Over the last years, the DRAGON collaboration has measured several reactions using both radioactive and high-intensity stable beams. For example, the 160(a, g) cross section was recently measured. The reaction plays a role in steady-state helium burning in massive stars, where it follows the 12C(a, g) reaction. At astrophysically relevant energies, the reaction proceeds exclusively via direct capture, resulting in a low rate. In this measurement, the unique capabilities of DRAGON enabled determination not only of the total reaction rates, but also of decay branching ratios. In addition, results from other recent measurements will be presented

Sea Dragon

National Research Council Canada - National Science Library

1997-01-01

.... In preparation for these changes, the Navy is exploring new command and control relationships, and the Marine Corps established Sea Dragon to experiment with emerging technologies, operational...

Rudi Stamm'ler contributions and Dragon - 041

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Roy, R.; Marleau, G.; Hebert, A.

2010-01-01

The lattice code DRAGON has been in constant development over the last 25 years. During this period, the DRAGON development team has often been directly influenced by the excellent work of Rudi Stamm'ler. First, his book on reactor physics has inspired a large number of programming and calculation techniques that were implemented in DRAGON. Then, the work of Rudi and his collaborators on the lattice code HELIOS, has also prompted a friendly competition that lead us to continuously improve our code in such a way that it could match the performance achieved by HELIOS. This paper provides a description of some characteristics or technologies implemented in DRAGON that were influenced by the work of Rudi Stamm'ler. It also describes a Candu simulation exercise where the capabilities of the HELIOS and DRAGON codes were combined. (authors)

Development of the Wave Energy Converter -Wave Dragon

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Kofoed, Jens Peter; Frigaard, Peter; Sørensen, Hans Christian

2000-01-01

2Over the years wave energy has gradually been brought into focus, as it has become clear that the fossil energy resources are limited, and cause large environmental problems, e.g. CO2 pollution. On this background a number of different wave energy converters have been proposed. In Denmark the go...

Dungeons & Dragons: The gamers are revolting! [symposium

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Rebecca Bryant

2009-03-01

Full Text Available The negative response by players to corporate changes to the rule systems governing Dungeons & Dragons suggests that tabletop RPGs have more in common with fan fiction than with computer games.

The verification of DRAGON: progress and lessons learned

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Marleau, G.

2002-01-01

The general requirements for the verification of the legacy code DRAGON are somewhat different from those used for new codes. For example, the absence of a design manual for DRAGON makes it difficult to confirm that the each part of the code performs as required since these requirements are not explicitly spelled out for most of the DRAGON modules. In fact, this conformance of the code can only be assessed, in most cases, by making sure that the contents of the DRAGON data structures, which correspond to the output generated by a module of the code, contains the adequate information. It is also possible in some cases to use the self-verification options in DRAGON to perform additional verification or to evaluate, using an independent software, the performance of specific functions in the code. Here, we will describe the global verification process that was considered in order to bring DRAGON to an industry standard tool-set (IST) status. We will also discuss some of the lessons we learned in performing this verification and present some of the modification to DRAGON that were implemented as a consequence of this verification. (author)

A brief outline of the proposed data/physics calculation scheme proposed for Dragon

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Hunt, C.

1974-10-15

The paper describes the data handling system COSMOS, that was in current use at the Dounreay Prototype Fast Reactor (PFR), to provide a template for data handling for the Dragon Project wherein the Physics and Engineering Modules would be centered instead around the WIMS-E suite of codes which are more applicable to the HTR. The tailoring of COSMOS to Dragon needs and the adaption of UKAEA and existing Dragon codes to operate on the data interface would require considerable modification.

SpaceX's Dragon America's next generation spacecraft

CERN Document Server

Seedhouse, Erik

2016-01-01

This book describes Dragon V2, a futuristic vehicle that not only provides a means for NASA to transport its astronauts to the orbiting outpost but also advances SpaceX’s core objective of reusability. A direct descendant of Dragon, Dragon V2 can be retrieved, refurbished and re-launched. It is a spacecraft with the potential to completely revolutionize the economics of an industry where equipment costing hundreds of millions of dollars is routinely discarded after a single use. It was presented by SpaceX CEO Elon Musk in May 2014 as the spaceship that will carry NASA astronauts to the International Space Station as soon as 2016 SpaceX’s Dragon – America’s Next Generation Spacecraft describes the extraordinary feats of engineering and human achievement that have placed this revolutionary spacecraft at the forefront of the launch industry and positioned it as the precursor for ultimately transporting humans to Mars. It describes the design and development of Dragon, provides mission highlights of the f...

Dragon Lake, Siberia

Science.gov (United States)

2002-01-01

Nicknamed 'Dragon Lake,' this body of water is formed by the Bratskove Reservoir, built along the Angara river in southern Siberia, near the city of Bratsk. This image was acquired in winter, when the lake is frozen. This image was acquired by Landsat 7's Enhanced Thematic Mapper plus (ETM+) sensor on December 19, 1999. This is a natural color composite image made using blue, green, and red wavelengths. Image provided by the USGS EROS Data Center Satellite Systems Branch

Turbine Control Strategy using Wave Prediction to Optimise Power Take Off of Overtopping Wave Energy Converters

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Tedd, James; Knapp, Wilfried; Frigaard, Peter

2005-01-01

This paper presents the control strategy used on Wave Dragon overtopping wave energy converter. The nature of overtopping requires that for optimum performance the water level in the reservoir must be controlled by controlling the turbine outflows. A history of the simulations performed is included...

Intraerythrocytic iridovirus in central bearded dragons (Pogona vitticeps).

Science.gov (United States)

Grosset, Claire; Wellehan, James F X; Owens, Sean D; McGraw, Sabrina; Gaffney, Patricia M; Foley, Janet; Childress, April L; Yun, Susan; Malm, Kirsten; Groff, Joseph M; Paul-Murphy, Joanne; Weber, E Scott

2014-05-01

Three adult central bearded dragons (Pogona vitticeps) originating from a commercial breeding facility presented with clinical signs, including anorexia, dehydration, white multifocal lesions on the dorsal aspect of the tongue, blepharospasm, and weight loss. In 1 of 3 lizards, a marked regenerative anemia was noted, and all 3 bearded dragons had erythrocytic intracytoplasmic inclusion bodies. Nine bearded dragons housed in contact also had identical, but fewer intraerythrocytic inclusions. Inclusion bodies examined by electron microscopy had particles consistent with iridoviruses. Attempts to culture the virus were unsuccessful; however, amplification and sequencing of regions of the viral DNA polymerase by polymerase chain reaction confirmed the presence of an iridovirus. One of the bearded dragons died, while the 2 others showing clinical signs were euthanized. The remaining 9 infected bearded dragons of the teaching colony were also euthanized. Postmortem examination revealed a moderate, multifocal, lymphoplasmacytic or mononuclear adenitis of the tongue in the 3 bearded dragons, and a lymphohistiocytic hepatitis with bacterial granulomas in 2 lizards. © 2014 The Author(s).

Antibacterial activities of serum from the Komodo Dragon (Varanus komodoensis)

OpenAIRE

Mark Merchant; Danyell Henry; Rodolfo Falconi; Bekky Muscher; Judith Bryja

2013-01-01

Komodo dragons (Varanus komodoensis) are able to feed on large prey items by injecting a dose of toxic bacteria with their bite that, over time, kills the prey by systemic infection. Dragons also suffer bites from other members of their own species during territorial disputes and feeding frenzies. However, they do not suffer the same fate as their prey, suggesting that they have developed a strong immunity to bacterial infections. This study was undertaken to determine the antibacterial activ...

Dragon (RGMb) induces oxaliplatin resistance in colon cancer cells.

Science.gov (United States)

Shi, Ying; Huang, Xiao-Xiao; Chen, Guo-Bin; Wang, Ying; Zhi, Qiang; Liu, Yuan-Sheng; Wu, Xiao-Ling; Wang, Li-Fen; Yang, Bing; Xiao, Chuan-Xing; Xing, Hui-Qin; Ren, Jian-Lin; Xia, Yin; Guleng, Bayasi

2016-07-26

Colorectal cancer (CRC) is one of the most commonly diagnosed cancers and a major cause of cancer mortality. Chemotherapy resistance remains a major challenge for treating advanced CRC. Therefore, the identification of targets that induce drug resistance is a priority for the development of novel agents to overcome resistance. Dragon (also known as RGMb) is a member of the repulsive guidance molecule (RGM) family. We previously showed that Dragon expression increases with CRC progression in human patients. In the present study, we found that Dragon inhibited apoptosis and increased viability of CMT93 and HCT116 cells in the presence of oxaliplatin. Dragon induced resistance of xenograft tumor to oxaliplatinin treatment in mice. Mechanistically, Dragon inhibited oxaliplatin-induced JNK and p38 MAPK activation, and caspase-3 and PARP cleavages. Our results indicate that Dragon may be a novel target that induces drug resistance in CRC.

Large Vocabulary Recognition of Wall Street Journal Sentences at Dragon Systems

National Research Council Canada - National Science Library

Baker, James; Baker, Janet; Bamberg, Paul; Bishop, Kathleen; Gillick, Larry; Helman, Vera; Huang, Zezhen; Ito, Yoshiko; Lowe, Stephen; Peskin, Barbara; Roth, Robert; Scattone, Francesco

1992-01-01

In this paper we present some of the algorithm improvements that have been made to Dragon's continuous speech recognition and training programs, improvements that have more than halved our error rate...

Comparison and Sensitivity Investigations of a CALM and SALM Type Mooring System for Wave Energy Converters

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Arthur Pecher

2014-02-01

Full Text Available A quasi-static analysis and sensitivity investigation of two different mooring configurations—a single anchor leg mooring (SALM and a three-legged catenary anchor leg system (CALM—is presented. The analysis aims to indicate what can be expected in terms of requirements for the mooring system size and stiffness. The two mooring systems were designed for the same reference load case, corresponding to a horizontal design load at the wave energy converter (WEC of 2000 kN and a water depth of 30 m. This reference scenario seems to be representative for large WECs operating in intermediate water depths, such as Weptos, Wave Dragon and many others, including reasonable design safety factors. Around this reference scenario, the main influential parameters were modified in order to investigate their impact on the specifications of the mooring system, e.g. the water depth, the horizontal design load, and a mooring design parameter.

Development of the Wave Energy Converter

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Kofoed, Jens Peter; Frigaard, Peter; Sørensen, Hans Christian

2000-01-01

The development of the wave energy converter Wave Dragon (WD) is presented. The WD is based on the overtopping principle. Initially a description of the WD is given. Then the development over time in terms of the various research and development projects working with the concept is described. Thi...

A validation of DRAGON based on lattice experiments

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Marleau, G.

1996-01-01

Here we address the validation of DRAGON using the Chalk River Laboratory experimental database which has already been used for the validation of other codes. Because of the large variety of information for different fuel and moderator types compiled on this database, the most basic modules of DRAGON are thoroughly tested. The general behaviour observed with DRAGON is very good. Its main weakness is seen in the self-shielding ,calculation where the correction applied to the inner fuel pin seems to be overevaluated with respect to the outer fuel pins. One question which is left open this paper concerns the need for inserting end-regions in the DRAGON cells when the heterogeneous B, leakage model is used. (author)

Dragon-I Linear Induction Electron Accelerator

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ding Bonan; Deng Jianjun; Wang Huacen; Cheng Nian'an; Dai Guangsen; Zhang Linwen; Liu Chengjun; Zhang Wenwei; Li Jin; Zhang Kaizhi

2005-01-01

Dragon-I is a linear induction electron accelerator. This facility consists of a 3.6 MeV injector, 38 meter beam transport line and 16 MeV induction accelerator powered by high voltage generators, including 8 Marx generators and 48 Blumlein lines. This paper describes the physics design, development and experimental results of Dragon-I. The key technology is analyzed in the accelerator development, and the design requirements and operation of the major subsystems are presented. The experimental results show Dragon-I generates an 18-20 MeV, 2.5 kA, 70 ns electron beam. The X-ray spot size is about 1.2 mm and dose level about 0.103 C/kg at 1 meter. (authors)

Nuclear astrophysics at ISAC with DRAGON: Initial studies

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Olin, Art; Bishop, Shawn; D'Auria, John M.; Lamey, Michael; Liu, Wenjie; Wrede, Chris; Buchmann, Lothar; Chen, Alan; Hunter, Don; Laird, Alison M.; Ottewell, Dave; Rogers, Joel; Chatterjee, Mohan L.; Engel, Sabine; Strieder, Frank; Gigliotti, Dario; Hussein, Ahmed; Greife, Uwe; Jewett, Cybele; Hutcheon, Dave

2002-01-01

The new DRAGON recoil separator facility, designed and built to measure directly the rates of radiative proton and alpha capture reactions important for nuclear astrophysics, is now in operation at the TRIUMF-ISAC radioactive beams facility in Vancouver, Canada. Experiments have been conducted for the first time on the 21Na(p,γ)22Mg reaction. The evolution of nova explosions, and particularly their 22Na abundance, depends sensitively on this reaction rate. The radioactive 21Na beam with an intensity of up to 5 x 108 /s was directed onto a windowless hydrogen gas target (3.8 x 1018 H atoms/cm2). Prompt reaction gamma rays were detected using a BGO array and separated reaction products detected using a silicon strip detector at the end of the 20.8 m recoil mass separator. Yield measurements recording simultaneously singles and coincident signals were performed by scanning in energy over the known resonance reported previously in 22Mg at Ecm = 212 keV, and in addition, over a strong resonance observed at Ecm ≅822 keV. Known resonances in the 21Ne(p,γ)22Na, 20Ne(p,γ)21Na, and 24Mg(p,γ)25Al reactions have been used to calibrate the DRAGON. Studies are in progress to further define the performance of the DRAGON facility. Status of the data analysis and results from system performance studies will be presented along with a brief description of the new ISAC and DRAGON facilities

Characterization of dragon fruit (Hylocereus spp.) components with valorization potential

OpenAIRE

Liaotrakoon, Wijitra

2013-01-01

Dragon fruit (Hylocereus spp.), also known as pitaya or pitahaya, is increasingly gaining interest in many countries, including Thailand which is a country with a climate ideal for breeding different varieties of tropical and subtropical fruits in general, and dragon fruit more specifically. The benefits of dragon fruit for human health can be explained by its essential nutrients such as vitamins, minerals, complex carbohydrates, dietary fibres and antioxidants. Dragon fruit is also an essent...

Dragon enhances BMP signaling and increases transepithelial resistance in kidney epithelial cells.

Science.gov (United States)

Xia, Yin; Babitt, Jodie L; Bouley, Richard; Zhang, Ying; Da Silva, Nicolas; Chen, Shanzhuo; Zhuang, Zhenjie; Samad, Tarek A; Brenner, Gary J; Anderson, Jennifer L; Hong, Charles C; Schneyer, Alan L; Brown, Dennis; Lin, Herbert Y

2010-04-01

The neuronal adhesion protein Dragon acts as a bone morphogenetic protein (BMP) coreceptor that enhances BMP signaling. Given the importance of BMP signaling in nephrogenesis and its putative role in the response to injury in the adult kidney, we studied the localization and function of Dragon in the kidney. We observed that Dragon localized predominantly to the apical surfaces of tubular epithelial cells in the thick ascending limbs, distal convoluted tubules, and collecting ducts of mice. Dragon expression was weak in the proximal tubules and glomeruli. In mouse inner medullary collecting duct (mIMCD3) cells, Dragon generated BMP signals in a ligand-dependent manner, and BMP4 is the predominant endogenous ligand for the Dragon coreceptor. In mIMCD3 cells, BMP4 normally signaled through BMPRII, but Dragon enhanced its signaling through the BMP type II receptor ActRIIA. Dragon and BMP4 increased transepithelial resistance (TER) through the Smad1/5/8 pathway. In epithelial cells isolated from the proximal tubule and intercalated cells of collecting ducts, we observed coexpression of ActRIIA, Dragon, and BMP4 but not BMPRII. Taken together, these results suggest that Dragon may enhance BMP signaling in renal tubular epithelial cells and maintain normal renal physiology.

Black swans and dragon kings: A unified model

Science.gov (United States)

Eliazar, Iddo

2017-09-01

The term “black swan” is a metaphor for outlier events whose statistics are characterized by Pareto's Law and by Zipf's Law; namely, statistics governed by power-law tails. The term “dragon king” is a metaphor for a singular outlier event which, in comparison with all other outlier events, is in a league of its own. As an illustrative example consider the wealth of a family that is sampled at random from a medieval society: the nobility constitutes the black-swan category, and the royal family constitutes the dragon-king category. In this paper we present and analyze a dynamical model that generates, universally and jointly, black swans and dragon kings. According to this model, growing from the microscopic scale to the macroscopic scale, black swans and dragon kings emerge together and invariantly with respect to initial conditions.

Dragon (repulsive guidance molecule b) inhibits IL-6 expression in macrophages.

Science.gov (United States)

Xia, Yin; Cortez-Retamozo, Virna; Niederkofler, Vera; Salie, Rishard; Chen, Shanzhuo; Samad, Tarek A; Hong, Charles C; Arber, Silvia; Vyas, Jatin M; Weissleder, Ralph; Pittet, Mikael J; Lin, Herbert Y

2011-02-01

Repulsive guidance molecule (RGM) family members RGMa, RGMb/Dragon, and RGMc/hemojuvelin were found recently to act as bone morphogenetic protein (BMP) coreceptors that enhance BMP signaling activity. Although our previous studies have shown that hemojuvelin regulates hepcidin expression and iron metabolism through the BMP pathway, the role of the BMP signaling mediated by Dragon remains largely unknown. We have shown previously that Dragon is expressed in neural cells, germ cells, and renal epithelial cells. In this study, we demonstrate that Dragon is highly expressed in macrophages. Studies with RAW264.7 and J774 macrophage cell lines reveal that Dragon negatively regulates IL-6 expression in a BMP ligand-dependent manner via the p38 MAPK and Erk1/2 pathways but not the Smad1/5/8 pathway. We also generated Dragon knockout mice and found that IL-6 is upregulated in macrophages and dendritic cells derived from whole lung tissue of these mice compared with that in respective cells derived from wild-type littermates. These results indicate that Dragon is an important negative regulator of IL-6 expression in immune cells and that Dragon-deficient mice may be a useful model for studying immune and inflammatory disorders.

Calculation of the Wave Conditions in Nissum Bredning

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Svendsen, Rasmus; Frigaard, Peter

For the purpose of determining the optimal position in Nissum Bredning for placement of wave dragon, the wave energy flux in Nissum Bredning has been calculated. It has not been posible to retrieve satisfactory measured wavedata for Nissum Bredning, therefor the calculations are based on the SPM...

Dragon pulse information management system (DPIMS): A unique model-based approach to implementing domain agnostic system of systems and behaviors

Science.gov (United States)

Anderson, Thomas S.

2016-05-01

The Global Information Network Architecture is an information technology based on Vector Relational Data Modeling, a unique computational paradigm, DoD network certified by USARMY as the Dragon Pulse Informa- tion Management System. This network available modeling environment for modeling models, where models are configured using domain relevant semantics and use network available systems, sensors, databases and services as loosely coupled component objects and are executable applications. Solutions are based on mission tactics, techniques, and procedures and subject matter input. Three recent ARMY use cases are discussed a) ISR SoS. b) Modeling and simulation behavior validation. c) Networked digital library with behaviors.

The origins of dragon-kings and their occurrence in society

Science.gov (United States)

Malkov, Artemy; Zinkina, Julia; Korotayev, Andrey

2012-11-01

A society is a medium with a complex structure of one-to-one relations between people. Those could be relations between friends, wife-husband relationships, relations between business partners, and so on. At a certain level of analysis, a society can be regarded as a gigantic maze constituted of one-to-one relationships between people. From a physical standpoint it can be considered as a highly porous medium. Such media are widely known for their outstanding properties and effects like self-organized criticality, percolation, power-law distribution of network cluster sizes, etc. In these media supercritical events, referred to as dragon-kings, may occur in two cases: when increasing stress is applied to a system (self-organized criticality scenario) or when increasing conductivity of a system is observed (percolation scenario). In social applications the first scenario is typical for negative effects: crises, wars, revolutions, financial breakdowns, state collapses, etc. The second scenario is more typical for positive effects like emergence of cities, growth of firms, population blow-ups, economic miracles, technology diffusion, social network formation, etc. If both conditions (increasing stress and increasing conductivity) are observed together, then absolutely miraculous dragon-king effects can occur that involve most human society. Historical examples of this effect are the emergence of the Mongol Empire, world religions, World War II, and the explosive proliferation of global internet services. This article describes these two scenarios in detail beginning with an overview of historical dragon-king events and phenomena starting from the early human history till the last decades and concluding with an analysis of their possible near future consequences on our global society. Thus we demonstrate that in social systems dragon-king is not a random outlier unexplainable by power-law statistics, but a natural effect. It is a very large cluster in a porous

Dermatomycosis in three central bearded dragons (Pogona vitticeps) associated with Nannizziopsis chlamydospora.

Science.gov (United States)

Schmidt-Ukaj, Silvana; Loncaric, Igor; Spergser, Joachim; Richter, Barbara; Hochleithner, Manfred

2016-05-01

Chronic dermatomycosis was identified in 3 central bearded dragons (Pogona vitticeps), held as companion animals by the same owner. Clinical signs of dermatomycosis included subcutaneous masses as well as crusty, erosive, and ulcerative skin lesions. The facial region was affected in 2 of the 3 cases. Masses were surgically excised, and histology confirmed necrotizing and granulomatous inflammatory processes associated with fungal hyphae. Two of the bearded dragons were euthanized because of their deteriorating condition. In both cases, postmortem histology confirmed systemic fungal infections despite treatment of 1 animal with itraconazole. In the third bearded dragon, therapy with voriconazole at 10 mg/kg was initially effective, but mycotic lesions reappeared 15 months later. Nannizziopsis chlamydospora was identified by PCR and subsequent DNA sequencing in 2 of these cases. © 2016 The Author(s).

Standalone visualization tool for three-dimensional DRAGON geometrical models

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Lukomski, A.; McIntee, B.; Moule, D.; Nichita, E.

2008-01-01

DRAGON is a neutron transport and depletion code able to solve one-, two- and three-dimensional problems. To date DRAGON provides two visualization modules, able to represent respectively two- and three-dimensional geometries. The two-dimensional visualization module generates a postscript file, while the three dimensional visualization module generates a MATLAB M-file with instructions for drawing the tracks in the DRAGON TRACKING data structure, which implicitly provide a representation of the geometry. The current work introduces a new, standalone, tool based on the open-source Visualization Toolkit (VTK) software package which allows the visualization of three-dimensional geometrical models by reading the DRAGON GEOMETRY data structure and generating an axonometric image which can be manipulated interactively by the user. (author)

Gastric neuroendocrine carcinomas in bearded dragons (Pogona vitticeps).

Science.gov (United States)

Ritter, J M; Garner, M M; Chilton, J A; Jacobson, E R; Kiupel, M

2009-11-01

This article describes a newly recognized highly malignant neoplastic entity in young bearded dragons (Pogona vitticeps), gastric neuroendocrine carcinomas, which readily metastasize. Ten bearded dragons with histories of anorexia (8), vomiting (3), hyperglycemia (2), and anemia (3) were included in this study. All animals had neoplastic masses in their stomach, with metastasis to the liver. Microscopically, 6 of these neuroendocrine carcinomas were well-differentiated and 4 were poorly differentiated. For further characterization, immunohistochemistry for protein gene product 9.5, neuron-specific enolase, endorphin, chromogranins A and B, synaptophysin, somatostatin, insulin, glucagon, gastrin, pancreatic polypeptide, and vasoactive intestinal peptide was performed on 5 animals. Because only immunolabeling for somatostatin was consistently observed in all neoplasms, a diagnosis of somatostatinoma was made for these 5 bearded dragons. Some neoplasms also exhibited multihormonal expression. Electron microscopy performed on 1 tumor confirmed the presence of neuroendocrine granules within neoplastic cells. Gastric neuroendocrine carcinomas, and specifically somatostatinomas, have not been previously reported in bearded dragons, or other reptiles, and may be underdiagnosed due to inconsistent, ambiguous clinical signs. In humans, pancreatic somatostatinomas are associated with a syndrome of hypersomatostatinemia, which includes hyperglycemia, weight loss, and anemia, as observed in some of these bearded dragons. Somatostatinomas in humans are commonly associated with neurofibromatosis type 1 (Von Recklinghausen's disease), caused by a mutation in the tumor suppressor gene NF1, which results in decreased expression of neurofibromin. In all 5 animals examined, neoplasms exhibited decreased neurofibromin expression compared with control tissues, suggesting that decreased functional neurofibromin may play a role in the pathogenesis of somatostatinomas in bearded dragons.

Parthenogenesis in Komodo dragons.

Science.gov (United States)

Watts, Phillip C; Buley, Kevin R; Sanderson, Stephanie; Boardman, Wayne; Ciofi, Claudio; Gibson, Richard

2006-12-21

Parthenogenesis, the production of offspring without fertilization by a male, is rare in vertebrate species, which usually reproduce after fusion of male and female gametes. Here we use genetic fingerprinting to identify parthenogenetic offspring produced by two female Komodo dragons (Varanus komodoensis) that had been kept at separate institutions and isolated from males; one of these females subsequently produced additional offspring sexually. This reproductive plasticity indicates that female Komodo dragons may switch between asexual and sexual reproduction, depending on the availability of a mate--a finding that has implications for the breeding of this threatened species in captivity. Most zoos keep only females, with males being moved between zoos for mating, but perhaps they should be kept together to avoid triggering parthenogenesis and thereby decreasing genetic diversity.

DRAGONS-A Micrometeoroid and Orbital Debris Impact Sensor on the ISS

Science.gov (United States)

Liou, J.-C.; Hamilton, J.; Liolios, S.; Anderson, C.; Sadilek, A.; Corsaro, R.; Giovane, F.; Burchell, M.

2015-01-01

The Debris Resistive/Acoustic Grid Orbital Navy-NASA Sensor (DRAGONS) is intended to be a large area impact sensor for in situ measurements of micrometeoroids and orbital debris (MMOD) in the sub-millimeter to millimeter size regime in the near Earth space environment. These MMOD particles are too small to be detected by ground-based radars and optical telescopes, but still large enough to be a serious threat to human space activities and robotic missions in the low Earth orbit (LEO) region. The nominal detection area of DRAGONS is 1 sq m, consisting of four 0.5 m × 0.5 m independent panels, but the dimensions of the panels can easily be modified to accommodate different payload constraints. The approach of the DRAGONS design is to combine three particle impact detection concepts to maximize information that can be extracted from each detected impact. The first is a resistive grid consisting of 75-micrometer-wide resistive lines, coated in parallel and separated by 75 micrometer gaps on a 25-micrometer thin film. When a particle a few hundred micrometers or larger strikes the grid, it would penetrate the film and sever some resistive lines. The size of the damage area can be estimated from the increased resistance. The second concept is based on polyvinylidene fluoride (PVDF) acoustic impact sensors. Multiple PVDF sensors are attached to the thin film to provide the impact timing information. From the different signal arrival times at different acoustic sensors, the impact location can be calculated via triangulation algorithms. The third concept employs a dual-layer film system where a second 25-micrometer film is placed 15 cm behind the resistive-grid film. Multiple PVDF acoustic sensors are also attached to the second film. The combination of impact timing and location information from the two films allows for direct measurements of the impact direction and speed. The DRAGONS technology development has been funded by several NASA organizations since 2002, first

The Dragon Project origins, achievements and legacies

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Price, M.S.T.

2012-01-01

fission product containment at high temperatures and for high burn-ups. What is remarkable is the speed with which the particle design evolved. The success of the choices that were made resulted in the High Temperature Gas Cooled Reactor system being studied in its various forms by many countries. Irrespective of the particular core design, the basic component of HTR fuel is the coated particle. In the intervening years since the early HTRs were launched it has been realised worldwide that there are now even more factors favouring the use of high temperature reactors. They enable more efficient use of fissile isotopes as well as providing inherent reactor safety. Unlike most other reactor designs, the HTR can take economic advantage from operation at high gas outlet temperatures, whilst maintaining the good retention of fuel and fission products within the fuel elements. The fuel cycle can use uranium, thorium or plutonium. In addition the burn-up can be high, permitting safe disposal of spent fuel without the need for reprocessing. Fast reactors based on coated particle fuel may be a future possibility. The Dragon Project was a successful political collaboration and a technical triumph in demonstrating a new type of reactor. However, overstretched resources coupled with a world-wide trend in that era to favour water reactors caused work on Dragon to be terminated in March 1976. By then the main objectives for the Dragon Project had been successfully achieved and extensively reported. The progression from the 20 MWE(Th) Dragon to a 1200 MW(e) power station as a single jump in technology was too large a step for the time. The experiences of the other major civil HTR projects of the same period in Germany and the United States of America resulted in the high temperature reactor system being studied in its various forms by many countries as is evidenced by the large number of papers presented at the biennial HTR conferences. In the intervening years since the early HTRs were

Computer simulation of variform fuel assemblies using Dragon code

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ju Haitao; Wu Hongchun; Yao Dong

2005-01-01

The DRAGON is a cell code that developed for the CANDU reactor by the Ecole Polytechnique de Montreal of CANADA. Although, the DRAGON is mainly used to simulate the CANDU super-cell fuel assembly, it has an ability to simulate other geometries of the fuel assembly. However, only NEACRP benchmark problem of the BWR lattice cell was analyzed until now except for the CANDU reactor. We also need to develop the code to simulate the variform fuel assemblies, especially, for design of the advanced reactor. We validated that the cell code DRAGON is useful for simulating various kinds of the fuel assembly by analyzing the rod-shape fuel assembly of the PWR and the MTR plate-shape fuel assembly. Some other kinds of geometry of geometry were computed. Computational results show that the DRAGON is able to analyze variform fuel assembly problems and the precision is high. (authors)

New computational methods used in the lattice code DRAGON

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Marleau, G.; Hebert, A.; Roy, R.

1992-01-01

The lattice code DRAGON is used to perform transport calculations inside cells and assemblies for multidimensional geometry using the collision probability method, including the interface current and J ± techniques. Typical geometries that can be treated using this code include CANDU 2-dimensional clusters, CANDU 3-dimensional assemblies, pressurized water reactor (PWR) rectangular and hexagonal assemblies. It contains a self-shielding module for the treatment of microscopic cross section libraries and a depletion module for burnup calculations. DRAGON was written in a modular form in such a way as to accept easily new collision probability options and make them readily available to all the modules that require collision probability matrices like the self-shielding module, the flux solution module and the homogenization module. In this paper the authors present an overview of DRAGON and discuss some of the methods that were implemented in DRAGON in order to improve on its performance

Blood values in wild and captive Komodo dragons (Varanus komodoensis).

Science.gov (United States)

Gillespie, Don; Frye, Frederic L.; Stockham, Steven L.; Fredeking, Terry

2000-01-01

The Komodo dragon (Varanus komodoensis) is the largest living lizard and occupies a range smaller than that of any other large carnivore in the world. Samples from 33 free-ranging animals at five localities in Komodo National Park, Indonesia were evaluated to assess underlying health problems. To build a comparative database, samples from 44 Komodo dragons in both Indonesian and U.S. zoos were also analyzed. Tests performed included complete blood counts, clinical chemistry profiles, vitamin A, D(3), and E analyses, mineral levels, and screening for chlorinated pesticides or other toxins in wild specimens. Blood samples from wild dragons were positive for hemogregarines, whereas captive specimens were all negative. Total white blood cell counts were consistently higher in captive Komodo dragons than in wild specimens. Reference intervals were established for some chemistry analytes, and values obtained from different groups were compared. Vitamin A and E ranges were established. Vitamin D(3) levels were significantly different in Komodo dragons kept in captive, indoor exhibits versus those with daily ultraviolet-B exposure, whether captive or wild specimens. Corrective measures such as ultraviolet-permeable skylights, direct sunlight exposure, and self-ballasted mercury vapor ultraviolet lamps increased vitamin D(3) concentrations in four dragons to levels comparable with wild specimens. Toxicology results were negative except for background-level chlorinated pesticide residues. The results indicate no notable medical, nutritional, or toxic problems in the wild Komodo dragon population. Problems in captive specimens may relate to, and can be corrected by, husbandry measures such as regular ultraviolet-B exposure. Zoo Biol 19:495-509, 2000. Copyright 2000 Wiley-Liss, Inc.

Identification Content of the Red Dragon Fruit Extract Skin Using Fourier Transform Infrared (FTIR and Phytochemistry

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Muhammad Ilham Noor

2016-08-01

Full Text Available Corrosion is a decline in the quality of the metal due to electrochemical reaction between the metal by a corrosive medium. One effort to reduce the rate of corrosion is by adding inhibitors. Organic inhibitors that can be used include antioxidants and vitamin C. To determine both the content of the test method is used Fourier Transform Infrared (FTIR and phytochemicals. FTIR is a method to measure used to determine the group and the type of bonding of a compound based on the value of the wave number of a plant. Phytochemical screening is a test of the qualitative secondary metabolites biologically active compounds found in plants. In this study used a sample of red dragon fruit. The results of the analysis provide information regarding the types of biologically active compounds and levels of the active compound contained in the red dragon fruit.

Mars Sample Return Landed with Red Dragon

Science.gov (United States)

Stoker, Carol R.; Lemke, Lawrence G.

2013-01-01

spacecraft designs capable of meeting mission requirements. Subsystems modeled in this study included structures, power system, propulsion system, nose fairing, thermal insulation, actuation devices, and GN&C. Best practice application of loads and design margins for all resources were used. Both storable and cryogenic propellant systems were examined. The landed mass and lander capsule size provide boundary conditions for the MAV design and packaging. We estimated the maximum mass the Dragon capsule is capable of landing. This and the volume capability to store the MAV was deduced from publically available data from SpaceX as well as our own engineering and aerodynamic estimates. Minimum gross-liftoff mass (GLOM) for the MAV were obtained for configurations that used pump-fed storable bi-propellant rocket engines for both the MAV and the ERV stage. The GLOM required fits within our internal estimate of the mass that Dragon can land at low elevation/optimal seasons on Mars. Based on the analysis, we show that a single Mars launch sample return mission is feasible using current commercial capabilities to deliver the return spacecraft assets.

Commissioning and operation of DRAGON

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Engel, Sabine

2003-01-01

The new DRAGON (Detector of Recoils And Gammas Of Nuclear reactions) facility, located at the TRIUMF-ISAC radioactive beams laboratory in Vancouver, Canada, has initiated its experimental program. Recently DRAGON was used for initial studies of the 21 Na(p,γ) 22 Mg reaction. This facility was designed to measure absolutely the rates of radiative proton and alpha capture reactions of astrophysical interest to a precision of ±20%, using inverse kinematics. To fully understand the optics and operational parameters of the facility along with the transmission particularly of the reaction recoils, systematic studies of various configurations are in progress using stable beams along with measurements of well-known resonance reactions. The status of these commissioning studies is presented

Size-Related Differences in the Thermoregulatory Habits of Free-Ranging Komodo Dragons

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Henry J. Harlow

2010-01-01

Full Text Available Thermoregulatory processes were compared among three-size groups of free-ranging Komodo dragons (Varanus komodoensis comprising small (5–20 kg, medium (20–40 gm and large (40–70 kg lizards. While all size groups maintained a similar preferred body temperature of ≈35∘C, they achieved this end point differently. Small dragons appeared to engage in sun shuttling behavior more vigorously than large dragons as represented by their greater frequency of daily ambient temperature and light intensity changes as well as a greater activity and overall exposure to the sun. Large dragons were more sedentary and sun shuttled less. Further, they appear to rely to a greater extent on microhabitat selection and employed mouth gaping evaporative cooling to maintain their preferred operational temperature and prevent overheating. A potential ecological consequence of size-specific thermoregulatory habits for dragons is separation of foraging areas. In part, differences in thermoregulation could contribute to inducing shifts in predatory strategies from active foraging in small dragons to more sedentary sit-and-wait ambush predators in adults.

Dragon Boat Festival.

Science.gov (United States)

Lew, Gordon

This is one of a series of elementary readers written in Cantonese and English and designed to familiarize children with the traditional major Chinese festivals celebrated by the Chinese in America. This booklet describes the celebration of the Dragon Boat Festival, which marks the beginning of summer. A brief background to the festival is…

DRAGONDATA: A computerized system to record data on fuel for the Dragon reactor

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Della Loggia, V. E.

1974-10-15

The paper describes the data handling computer code set-up to maintain the as-fabricated records of DRAGON fuel elements that could be used to check against specifications and to provide inputs to future heat transfer, physics and chemistry calculations.

Pigment identification and antioxidant properties of red dragon fruit ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

In the antioxidant properties determination, there were 86.10 mg of total polyphenolic compound in 0.50 g of dried dragon fruit extract using the total polyphenol assay which expresses gallic acid as equivalent. The reducing power assay further confirmed the antioxidant activity present in dragon fruit where the reducing ...

Thermoregulatory behavior and orientation preference in bearded dragons.

Science.gov (United States)

Black, Ian R G; Tattersall, Glenn J

2017-10-01

The regulation of body temperature is a critical function for animals. Although reliant on ambient temperature as a heat source, reptiles, and especially lizards, make use of multiple voluntary and involuntary behaviors to thermoregulate, including postural changes in body orientation, either toward or away from solar sources of heat. This thermal orientation may also result from a thermoregulatory drive to maintain precise control over cranial temperatures or a rostrally-driven sensory bias. The purpose of this work was to examine thermal orientation behavior in adult and neonatal bearded dragons (Pogona vitticeps), to ascertain its prevalence across different life stages within a laboratory situation and its interaction with behavioral thermoregulation. Both adult and neonatal bearded dragons were placed in a thermal gradient and allowed to voluntarily select temperatures for up to 8h to observe the presence and development of a thermoregulatory orientation preference. Both adult and neonatal dragons displayed a non-random orientation, preferring to face toward a heat source while achieving mean thermal preferences of ~ 33-34°C. Specifically, adult dragons were more likely to face a heat source when at cooler ambient temperatures and less likely at warmer temperatures, suggesting that orientation behavior counter-balances local selected temperatures but contributes to their thermoregulatory response. Neonates were also more likely to select cooler temperatures when facing a heat source, but required more experience before this orientation behavior emerged. Combined, these results demonstrate the importance of orientation to behavioral thermoregulation in multiple life stages of bearded dragons. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Verification of DRAGON: the NXT tracking module

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Zkiek, A.; Marleau, G.

2007-01-01

The version of DRAGON-IST that has been verified for the calculation of the incremental cross sections associated with CANDU reactivity devices is version 3.04Bb that was released in 2001. Since then, various improvements were implemented in the code including the NXT: module that can track assemblies of clusters in 2-D and 3-D geometries. Here we will discuss the verification plan for the NXT: module of DRAGON, illustrate the verification procedure we selected and present our verification results. (author)

Commissioning and operation of DRAGON

CERN Document Server

Engel, S

2003-01-01

The new DRAGON (Detector of Recoils And Gammas Of Nuclear reactions) facility, located at the TRIUMF-ISAC radioactive beams laboratory in Vancouver, Canada, has initiated its experimental program. Recently DRAGON was used for initial studies of the sup 2 sup 1 Na(p,gamma) sup 2 sup 2 Mg reaction. This facility was designed to measure absolutely the rates of radiative proton and alpha capture reactions of astrophysical interest to a precision of +-20%, using inverse kinematics. To fully understand the optics and operational parameters of the facility along with the transmission particularly of the reaction recoils, systematic studies of various configurations are in progress using stable beams along with measurements of well-known resonance reactions. The status of these commissioning studies is presented.

Are dragon-king neuronal avalanches dungeons for self-organized brain activity?

Science.gov (United States)

de Arcangelis, L.

2012-05-01

Recent experiments have detected a novel form of spontaneous neuronal activity both in vitro and in vivo: neuronal avalanches. The statistical properties of this activity are typical of critical phenomena, with power laws characterizing the distributions of avalanche size and duration. A critical behaviour for the spontaneous brain activity has important consequences on stimulated activity and learning. Very interestingly, these statistical properties can be altered in significant ways in epilepsy and by pharmacological manipulations. In particular, there can be an increase in the number of large events anticipated by the power law, referred to herein as dragon-king avalanches. This behaviour, as verified by numerical models, can originate from a number of different mechanisms. For instance, it is observed experimentally that the emergence of a critical behaviour depends on the subtle balance between excitatory and inhibitory mechanisms acting in the system. Perturbing this balance, by increasing either synaptic excitation or the incidence of depolarized neuronal up-states causes frequent dragon-king avalanches. Conversely, an unbalanced GABAergic inhibition or long periods of low activity in the network give rise to sub-critical behaviour. Moreover, the existence of power laws, common to other stochastic processes, like earthquakes or solar flares, suggests that correlations are relevant in these phenomena. The dragon-king avalanches may then also be the expression of pathological correlations leading to frequent avalanches encompassing all neurons. We will review the statistics of neuronal avalanches in experimental systems. We then present numerical simulations of a neuronal network model introducing within the self-organized criticality framework ingredients from the physiology of real neurons, as the refractory period, synaptic plasticity and inhibitory synapses. The avalanche critical behaviour and the role of dragon-king avalanches will be discussed in

Dragon.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Horacio Ortiz

2006-06-01

Full Text Available L’ouvrage d’Howard Becker, The Tricks of the Trade , finit sur une parabole, que l’auteur nous indique comme étant une métaphore sur la notion d’illumination. Cette métaphore est ce qui se rapproche le plus, selon Becker, du fait d’avoir, jusqu’à l’os, une manière de penser qui est celle des sciences sociales. La métaphore sur l’illumination particulière des sciences sociales compare les chercheuses en sciences sociales à des dragons océaniques. Pour celles 1 qui ...

The Dragon project and high temperature reactor (HTR position)

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Shepherd, L.

1981-01-01

After introduction describing the initiation of HTR work at AERE and in West Germany and the USA, the subject is discussed in detail under the headings: the Dragon Reactor Experiment (design and objectives); fuel elements and graphite (description of cooperative research programmes; development of coated fuel particles); helium technology; other Dragon activities. (U.K.)

IRPhE-DRAGON-DPR, OECD High Temperature Reactor Dragon Project, Primary Documents

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

2004-01-01

Description: The DRAGON Reactor Experiment (DRE): The first demonstration High temperature gas reactor (HTGR) was built in the 1960's. Thirteen OECD countries began a project in 1959 to build an experimental reactor known as Dragon at Winfrith in the UK. The reactor - which operated successfully between 1966 and 1975 - had a thermal output of 20 MW and achieved a gas outlet temperature of 750 deg. C. The High Temperature Reactor concept, if it justified its expectations, was seen as having its place as an advanced thermal reactor between the current thermal reactor types such as the PWR, BWR, and AGR and the sodium cooled fast breeder reactor. It was expected that the HTR would offer better thermal efficiency, better uranium utilisation, either with low enriched uranium fuel or high enriched uranium thorium fuel, better inherent safety and lower unit power costs. In the event all these potential advantages were demonstrated to be in principle achievable. This view is still shared today. In fact Very High Temperature Reactors is one of the concepts retained for Generation IV. Projects on constructing Modular Pebble Bed Reactors are under way. Here all available Dragon Project Reports (DPR) - approximately 1000 - are collected in electronic form. An index points to the reports (PDF format); each table in the report is accessible in EXCEL format with the aim of facilitating access to the data. These reports describe the design, experiments and modelling carried out over a period of 17 years. 2 - Related or auxiliary information: IRPHE-HTR-ARCH-01, Archive of HTR Primary Documents NEA-1728/01. 3 - Software requirements: Acrobat Reader, Microsoft Word, HTML Browser required

Victorian Dragons: The Reluctant Brood.

Science.gov (United States)

Berman, Ruth

1984-01-01

Relates why nineteenth century fantasy writers shied away from the use of dragons in their stories and rejoices over the return and happy transformation of this mythical beast in children's literature. (HOD)

Infection with Devriesea agamarum and Chrysosporium guarroi in an inland bearded dragon (Pogona vitticeps).

Science.gov (United States)

Schmidt-Ukaj, Silvana; Loncaric, Igor; Klang, Andrea; Spergser, Joachim; Häbich, Annett-Carolin; Knotek, Zdenek

2014-12-01

Description of clinical, microbiological and histopathological findings in a case of deep dermatitis in an inland bearded dragon (Pogona vitticeps) caused by Devriesea agamarum and Chrysosporium guarroi. A 4-year-old male inland bearded dragon, weighing 497 g, was presented at the clinic because the animal was suffering from dysecdysis and chronic skin lesions. Large numbers of bacilli, cocci and hyphal elements were diagnosed during the microscopic examination of the wound exudate. Microbiological analysis of a skin specimen revealed a moderate growth of Enterococcus sp. and D. agamarum. The condition of the bearded dragon improved with combined therapy consisting of ceftiofur hydrochloride, voriconazole and meloxicam. However, 3 months later recrudescence was observed. This time, Clostridium sp. and Chrysosporium sp. were isolated in large numbers. The bearded dragon was euthanized. Histopathology confirmed a severe granulomatous dermatitis with associated fungal hyphae and a severe granulomatous hepatitis with intralesional hyphae. Chrysosporium guarroi was identified by PCR and sequencing in two organs (skin and liver). This is the first case of an infection with D. agamarum and C. guarroi in an inland bearded dragon (P. vitticeps). It emphasizes the importance of mycological cultures and specific treatment. Samples of suspected Chrysosporium sp. should be cultured at 30°C for 10-14 days. Early antifungal treatment is necessary to prevent systemic and potentially fatal infection with C. guarroi. © 2014 ESVD and ACVD.

The behavioural consequences of sex reversal in dragons

Science.gov (United States)

Li, Hong; Holleley, Clare E.; Elphick, Melanie; Georges, Arthur

2016-01-01

Sex differences in morphology, physiology, and behaviour are caused by sex-linked genes, as well as by circulating sex-steroid levels. Thus, a shift from genotypic to environmental sex determination may create an organism that exhibits a mixture of male-like and female-like traits. We studied a lizard species (Central Bearded Dragon, Pogona vitticeps), in which the high-temperature incubation of eggs transforms genetically male individuals into functional females. Although they are reproductively female, sex-reversed dragons (individuals with ZZ genotype reversed to female phenotype) resemble genetic males rather than females in morphology (relative tail length), general behaviour (boldness and activity level), and thermoregulatory tactics. Indeed, sex-reversed ‘females’ are more male-like in some behavioural traits than are genetic males. This novel phenotype may impose strong selection on the frequency of sex reversal within natural populations, facilitating rapid shifts in sex-determining systems. A single period of high incubation temperatures (generating thermally induced sex reversal) can produce functionally female individuals with male-like (or novel) traits that enhance individual fitness, allowing the new temperature-dependent sex-determining system to rapidly replace the previous genetically based one.

Here be no dragons

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

1987-01-01

''Here be dragons'' is the phase used by ancient map makers to indicate areas about which they knew nothing or which they suspected contained unknown dangers. The aim of this booklet, ''Here be no dragons'', is to dispel the myths, misconceptions and misinformation about nuclear power. The South of Scotland Electricity Board explains why nuclear power is important to Scotland economically and deals in a non-technical way with many of the safety issues raised by the presence and operation of nuclear reactors. The environmental issues are also presented simply, with an explanation of the average annual radiation dose to the population of the UK, and a comparison of the radiation doses from the Chernobyl accident, compared to variations in background doses. The risks from nuclear accidents and the risk of death from accidents in industries in the UK compared with the risk from cancers potentially produced among radiation workers, are compared. (U.K.)

Use of the 'DRAGON' program for the calculation of reactivity devices; Utilizacion del programa DRAGON para el calculo de mecanismos de reactividad

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Mollerach, Ricardo; Fink, Jose [Nucleoelectrica Argentina SA (NASA), Buenos Aires (Argentina)

2003-07-01

DRAGON is a computer program developed at the Ecole Polytechnique of the University of Montreal and adopted by AECL for the transport calculations associated to reactivity devices. This report presents aspects of the implementation in NASA of the DRAGON program. Some cases of interest were evaluated. Comparisons with results of known programs as WIMS D5, and with experiments were done. a) Embalse (CANDU 6) cell without burnup and leakage. Calculations of macroscopic cross sections with WIMS and DRAGON show very good agreement with smaller differences in the thermal constants. b) Embalse fresh cell with different leakage options. c) Embalse cell with leakage and burnup. A comparison of k-infinity and k-effective with WIMS and DRAGON as a function of burnup shows that the differences ((D-W)/D) for fresh fuel are -0.17% roughly constant up to about 2500 MWd/tU, and then decrease to -0.06 % for 8500 MWd/tU. Experiments made in 1977 in ZED-2 critical facility, reported in [3], were used as a benchmark for the cell and supercell DRAGON calculations. Calculated fluxes were compared with experimental values and the agreement is so good. d) ZED-2 cell calculation. The measured buckling was used as geometric buckling. This case can be considered an experimental verification. The calculated reactivity with DRAGON is about 2 mk, and can be considered satisfactory. WIMS k-effective value is about one mk higher. e) Supercell calculations for ZED-2 vertical and horizontal tube and rod adjuster using 2D and 3D models were done. Comparisons between measured and calculated fluxes in the vicinity of the adjuster rods. Incremental cross sections for these adjusters were calculated using different options. f) ZED-2 reactor calculations with PUMA reveal a good concordance with critical heights measured in experiments. The report describes also particular features of the code and recommendations regarding its use that may be useful for new users. (author)

Computerised programming of the Dragon reactor fuel handling operations

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Butcher, P.

1976-11-01

Two suites of FORTRAN IV computer programs have been written to produce check lists for the operation of the two remote control fuel handling machines of the Dragon Reactor. This document describes the advantages of these programs over the previous manual system of writing check lists, and provides a detailed guide to the programs themselves. (author)

Dragon (repulsive guidance molecule b, RGMb) is a novel gene that promotes colorectal cancer growth.

Science.gov (United States)

Shi, Ying; Chen, Guo-Bin; Huang, Xiao-Xiao; Xiao, Chuan-Xing; Wang, Huan-Huan; Li, Ye-Sen; Zhang, Jin-Fang; Li, Shao; Xia, Yin; Ren, Jian-Lin; Guleng, Bayasi

2015-08-21

Colorectal cancer (CRC) is one of the most commonly diagnosed cancers and a major cause of cancer death. However, the molecular mechanisms underlying CRC initiation, growth and metastasis are poorly understood. Dragon (RGMb), a member of the repulsive guidance molecule (RGM) family, has been recently identified as a co-receptor for bone morphogenetic protein (BMP) signaling, but the role of Dragon in CRC development is undefined. Here, we show that Dragon expression was increased in colon cancer tissues compared to control tissues in CAC mouse model and in human patients. Dragon promoted proliferation of CT26.WT and CMT93 colon cancer cells and accelerated tumor growth in the xenograft mouse model. Dragon's action on colon cancer development was mediated via the BMP4-Smad1/5/8 and Erk1/2 pathways. Therefore, our results have revealed that Dragon is a novel gene that promotes CRC growth through the BMP pathway. Dragon may be exploited as a potential therapeutic target for CRC treatment.

Validation of DRAGON side-step method for Bruce-A restart Phase-B physics tests

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Shen, W.; Ngo-Trong, C.; Davis, R.S.

2004-01-01

The DRAGON side-step method, developed at AECL, has a number of advantages over the all-DRAGON method that was used before. It is now the qualified method for reactivity-device calculations. Although the side-step-method-generated incremental cross sections have been validated against those previously calculated with the all-DRAGON method, it is highly desirable to validate the side-step method against device-worth measurements in power reactors directly. In this paper, the DRAGON side-step method was validated by comparison with the device-calibration measurements made in Bruce-A NGS Unit 4 restart Phase-B commissioning in 2003. The validation exercise showed excellent results, with the DRAGON code overestimating the measured ZCR worth by ∼5%. A sensitivity study was also performed in this paper to assess the effect of various DRAGON modelling techniques on the incremental cross sections. The assessment shows that the refinement of meshes in 3-D and the use of the side-step method are two major reasons contributing to the improved agreement between the calculated ZCR worths and the measurements. Use of different DRAGON versions, DRAGON libraries, local-parameter core conditions, and weighting techniques for the homogenization of tube clusters inside the ZCR have a very small effect on the ZCR incremental thermal absorption cross section and ZCR reactivity worth. (author)

OECD high temperature reactor project Dragon

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

1975-01-01

Information is presented concerning the Dragon reactor support studies and fuel irradiation programs, HTGR and fuel graphite studies, primary circuit materials, reactor safety evaluation, and administration

Ultrasonographic anatomy of bearded dragons (Pogona vitticeps).

Science.gov (United States)

Bucy, Daniel S; Guzman, David Sanchez-Migallon; Zwingenberger, Allison L

2015-04-15

To determine which organs can be reliably visualized ultrasonographically in bearded dragons (Pogona vitticeps), describe their normal ultrasonographic appearance, and describe an ultrasonographic technique for use with this species. Cross-sectional study. 14 healthy bearded dragons (6 females and 8 males). Bearded dragons were manually restrained in dorsal and sternal recumbency, and coelomic organs were evaluated by use of linear 7- to 15-MHz and microconvex 5- to 8-MHz transducers. Visibility, size, echogenicity, and ultrasound transducer position were assessed for each organ. Coelomic ultrasonography with both microconvex and linear ultrasound transducers allowed for visualization of the heart, pleural surface of the lungs, liver, caudal vena cava, aorta, ventral abdominal vein, gallbladder, fat bodies, gastric fundus, cecum, colon, cloaca, kidneys, and testes or ovaries in all animals. The pylorus was visualized in 12 of 14 animals. The small intestinal loops were visualized in 12 of 14 animals with the linear transducer, but could not be reliably identified with the microconvex transducer. The hemipenes were visualized in 7 of 8 males. The adrenal glands and spleen were not identified in any animal. Anechoic free coelomic fluid was present in 11 of 14 animals. Heart width, heart length, ventricular wall thickness, gastric fundus wall thickness, and height of the caudal poles of the kidneys were positively associated with body weight. Testis width was negatively associated with body weight in males. Results indicated coelomic ultrasonography is a potentially valuable imaging modality for assessment of most organs in bearded dragons and can be performed in unsedated animals.

Stick balancing, falls and Dragon-Kings

Science.gov (United States)

Cabrera, J. L.; Milton, J. G.

2012-05-01

The extent to which the occurrence of falls, the dominant feature of human attempts to balance a stick at their fingertip, can be predicted is examined in the context of the "Dragon-King" hypothesis. For skilled stick balancers, fluctuations in the controlled variable, namely the vertical displacement angle θ, exhibit power law behaviors. When stick balancing is made less stable by either decreasing the length of the stick or by requiring the subject to balance the stick on the surface of a table tennis racket, systematic departures from the power law behaviors are observed in the range of large θ. This observation raises the possibility that the presence of departures from the power law in the large length scale region, possibly Dragon-Kings, may identify situations in which the occurrence of a fall is more imminent. However, whether or not Dragon-Kings are observed, there is a Weibull-type survival function for stick falling. The possibility that increased risk of falling can, at least to some extent, be predicted from fluctuations in the controlled variable before the event occurs has important implications for the development of preventative strategies for the management of phenomena ranging from earthquakes to epileptic seizures to falls in the elderly.

Achievements of the Dragon Project

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Rennie, C.A.

1978-01-01

The Dragon High Temperature Reactor (HTR) Project began 1 April 1959 under OECD auspices. Extensions in time and budget allowed the project to continue 17 years at a total cost of nearly 100 million dollars under efficient and flexible international management. The reactor design evolved from purged elements and continuously decontaminated helium coolant in a highly contaminated circuit with double containment, to coated particle fuel elements that kept the coolant activity low and permitted easy maintenance. Some difficulties arose from corrosion of heat exchangers and stainless steel pipes and from dimensional changes in the reflector graphite. These problems were easily solved. Some ten years of experimental operation were very successful and demonstrated the soundness of the concept. The Dragon reactor proved to be a very useful test bed for a number of different HTR of different HTR fuel element concepts. (author)

Characteristics of Frozen Yoghurt Enriched with Red Dragon Fruit Skin Extracts (Hylocereus polyrhizus)

Science.gov (United States)

Analianasari; Apriyani, M.

2018-01-01

The composition of the dragon fruit skin with fruit has a weight of 30-35% of the fruit weight and has not been widely utilized. Previous studies have suggested that red dragon fruit skin extracts with water solvent contain 1.1 mg / 100 ml anthocyanin. The content of anthocyanin can function lower cholesterol content in blood, besides red dragon fruit skin contains fiber about 46,7% which is very good for health. This study aims to determine the chemical characteristics of frozen yogurt red dragon skin fruit to antioxidant levels, fiber content, pH, Total acid content and frozen yogurt melting time. The design of the research was Randomized Complete Design (RAL) of 1 factor, which was treated as red dragon skin fruit extract, consisting of 4 treatment levels: 0%, 25%, 35%, and 45%. The results showed that the addition of red dragon fruit extract increased antioxidant levels ranging from 4.00 to 12.25%, crude fiber content ranged from 1.037 to 1.625%, total acid ranged from 0.73 to 1.14%, and decreased the pH value of 5, 48 - 4.39 and has a melting time of frozen yogurt 17.20 - 22.88 minutes.

Progress and Achievements at the Mid Term of the Dragon 3 Programme

Science.gov (United States)

Desnos, Yves-Louis; Li, Zengyuan; Zmuda, Andy; Gao, Zhihai

2014-11-01

The Dragon Programme is a joint undertaking between ESA and the Ministry of Science and Technology (MOST) of China and the National Remote Sensing Center of China (NRSCC). Its purpose is to encourage increased exploitation of ESA and Chinese space resources within China as well as stimulate increased scientific cooperation in the field of Earth Observation (EO) science and applications between China and Europe. Since 2004, this pioneering programme has become a model for scientific and technological cooperation between China and Europe. By successfully encouraging joint research using ESA, Third Party Missions and Chinese EO data across a range of thematic areas, Dragon continues to deliver outstanding scientific results. The programme has successfully completed two phases, Dragon 1 from 2004 to 2008, Dragon 2 from 2008 to 2012. The third phase of Dragon was started in 2012 and will be completed in 2016. The Dragon 3 project teams are led by leading EO scientists and young scientists are also engaged on the projects. Advanced training in land, ocean and atmospheric applications is a feature of the programme and a course on land and one course on ocean applications have been successfully held in 2012 and 2013 in China. Here-in provided is an overview of the results, reporting and training activities at the mid-term stage of the programme.

Dragon (repulsive guidance molecule RGMb) inhibits E-cadherin expression and induces apoptosis in renal tubular epithelial cells.

Science.gov (United States)

Liu, Wenjing; Li, Xiaoling; Zhao, Yueshui; Meng, Xiao-Ming; Wan, Chao; Yang, Baoxue; Lan, Hui-Yao; Lin, Herbert Y; Xia, Yin

2013-11-01

Dragon is one of the three members of the repulsive guidance molecule (RGM) family, i.e. RGMa, RGMb (Dragon), and RGMc (hemojuvelin). We previously identified the RGM members as bone morphogenetic protein (BMP) co-receptors that enhance BMP signaling. Our previous studies found that Dragon is highly expressed in the tubular epithelial cells of mouse kidneys. However, the roles of Dragon in renal epithelial cells are yet to be defined. We now show that overexpression of Dragon increased cell death induced by hypoxia in association with increased cleaved poly(ADP-ribose) polymerase and cleaved caspase-3 levels in mouse inner medullary collecting duct (IMCD3) cells. Dragon also inhibited E-cadherin expression but did not affect epithelial-to-mesenchymal transition induced by TGF-β in IMCD3 cells. Previous studies suggest that the three RGM members can function as ligands for the receptor neogenin. Interestingly, our present study demonstrates that the Dragon actions on apoptosis and E-cadherin expression in IMCD3 cells were mediated by the neogenin receptor but not through the BMP pathway. Dragon expression in the kidney was up-regulated by unilateral ureteral obstruction in mice. Compared with wild-type mice, heterozygous Dragon knock-out mice exhibited 45-66% reduction in Dragon mRNA expression, decreased epithelial apoptosis, and increased tubular E-cadherin expression and had attenuated tubular injury after unilateral ureteral obstruction. Our results suggest that Dragon may impair tubular epithelial integrity and induce epithelial apoptosis both in vitro and in vivo.

Red Dragon: Low-cost Access to the Surface of Mars using Commercial Capabilities

Science.gov (United States)

Karcz, John; Davis, S. M.; Aftosmis, M. J.; Allen, G. A.; Bakhtian, N. M.; Dyakonov, A. A.; Edquist, K. T.; Glass, B. J.; Gonzales, A. A.; Heldmann, J. L.;

DRAGON, a GPI-anchored membrane protein, inhibits BMP signaling in C2C12 myoblasts.

Science.gov (United States)

Kanomata, Kazuhiro; Kokabu, Shoichiro; Nojima, Junya; Fukuda, Toru; Katagiri, Takenobu

2009-06-01

Bone morphogenetic proteins (BMPs) induce osteoblastic differentiation of myoblasts via binding to cell surface receptors. Repulsive guidance molecules (RGMs) have been identified as BMP co-receptors. We report here that DRAGON/RGMb, a member of the RGM family, suppressed BMP signaling in C2C12 myoblasts via a novel mechanism. All RGMs were expressed in C2C12 cells that were differentiated into myocytes and osteoblastic cells, but RGMc was not detected in immature cells. In C2C12 cells, only DRAGON suppressed ALP and Id1 promoter activities induced by BMP-4 or by constitutively activated BMP type I receptors. This inhibition by DRAGON was dependent on the secretory form of the von Willbrand factor type D domain. DRAGON even suppressed BMP signaling induced by constitutively activated Smad1. Over-expression of neogenin did not alter the inhibitory capacity of DRAGON. Taken together, these findings indicate that DRAGON may be an inhibitor of BMP signaling in C2C12 myoblasts. We also suggest that a novel molecule(s) expressed on the cell membrane may mediate the signal transduction of DRAGON in order to suppress BMP signaling in C2C12 myoblasts.

Dragon (Repulsive Guidance Molecule RGMb) Inhibits E-cadherin Expression and Induces Apoptosis in Renal Tubular Epithelial Cells*

Science.gov (United States)

Liu, Wenjing; Li, Xiaoling; Zhao, Yueshui; Meng, Xiao-Ming; Wan, Chao; Yang, Baoxue; Lan, Hui-Yao; Lin, Herbert Y.; Xia, Yin

2013-01-01

Dragon is one of the three members of the repulsive guidance molecule (RGM) family, i.e. RGMa, RGMb (Dragon), and RGMc (hemojuvelin). We previously identified the RGM members as bone morphogenetic protein (BMP) co-receptors that enhance BMP signaling. Our previous studies found that Dragon is highly expressed in the tubular epithelial cells of mouse kidneys. However, the roles of Dragon in renal epithelial cells are yet to be defined. We now show that overexpression of Dragon increased cell death induced by hypoxia in association with increased cleaved poly(ADP-ribose) polymerase and cleaved caspase-3 levels in mouse inner medullary collecting duct (IMCD3) cells. Dragon also inhibited E-cadherin expression but did not affect epithelial-to-mesenchymal transition induced by TGF-β in IMCD3 cells. Previous studies suggest that the three RGM members can function as ligands for the receptor neogenin. Interestingly, our present study demonstrates that the Dragon actions on apoptosis and E-cadherin expression in IMCD3 cells were mediated by the neogenin receptor but not through the BMP pathway. Dragon expression in the kidney was up-regulated by unilateral ureteral obstruction in mice. Compared with wild-type mice, heterozygous Dragon knock-out mice exhibited 45–66% reduction in Dragon mRNA expression, decreased epithelial apoptosis, and increased tubular E-cadherin expression and had attenuated tubular injury after unilateral ureteral obstruction. Our results suggest that Dragon may impair tubular epithelial integrity and induce epithelial apoptosis both in vitro and in vivo. PMID:24052264

78 FR 57063 - Special Local Regulations; Jacksonville Dragon Boat Festival; St. Johns River; Jacksonville, FL

Science.gov (United States)

2013-09-17

... 1625-AA08 Special Local Regulations; Jacksonville Dragon Boat Festival; St. Johns River; Jacksonville... Jacksonville Dragon Boat Festival, a series of paddle boat races. The event is scheduled to take place on... States during the Jacksonville Dragon Boat Festival. C. Discussion of the Final Rule On Saturday...

On the difference between DRAGON and WIMS-AECL calculations of the coolant void reactivity

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Altiparmakov, D.; Roubtsov, D.; Irish, J.D.

2009-01-01

A difference in the shape of the burnup dependence of the coolant void reactivity (CVR) has been observed between DRAGON and WIMS-AECL calculations. This paper discusses the root cause of the difference and assesses the impact on burnup and full-core reactor calculations. A Fortran procedure has been developed to run WIMS-AECL as necessary in order to mimic DRAGON burnup calculations with leakage effects included. The comparison of standard WIMS-AECL results and simulated DRAGON results demonstrated that the difference is due to different definitions of CVR. If the same CVR definition is used, then the results of both WIMS-AECL and DRAGON analyses are essentially indistinguishable. The discrepancies in the fuel composition and cell-averaged two-group cross sections that are due to differences in WIMS-AECL and DRAGON leakage treatments are insignificant. (author)

Dragons' Den: promoting healthcare research and innovation.

Science.gov (United States)

Mazhindu, Deborah; Gregory, Siobhan

2015-07-01

The changing health and social care landscape, and, in particular, the financial challenges affecting the NHS, can present difficulties for staff looking for funding to support innovation and new ways of working. One method of competitive tendering that is becoming more accepted as a way of allocating funds, encouraging staff engagement and developing innovation for research is a format based the BBC television series, Dragons' Den. This article describes how Hounslow and Richmond Community Healthcare NHS Trust, London, has developed a 'Dragons' Den initiative' of annual competitive research funding allocation to ensure that some of the most dynamic practice in the trust is captured.

Preliminary HECTOR analysis by Dragon

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Presser, W; Woloch, F

1972-06-02

From the different cores measured in HECTOR, only ACH 4/B-B was selected for the Dragon analysis, since it presented the largest amount of uniform fuel loading in the central test region and is therefore nearest to an infinite lattice. Preliminary results are discussed.

Morph-specific metabolic rate and the timing of reproductive senescence in a color polymorphic dragon.

Science.gov (United States)

Friesen, Christopher R; Johansson, Rasmus; Olsson, Mats

2017-08-01

Polymorphism has fascinated biologists for over a century because morphs persist within populations through evolutionary time in spite of showing disparate behavioral and physiological phenotypes; any one morph should go to fixation with the slightest fitness advantage over the others. Surely there must be trade-offs that balance selection on them. The polychromatic morphs of the Australian painted dragon lizard, Ctenophorus pictus, are one such system. The male color morphs of painted dragons have different physiological and behavioral traits including reproductive tactics, hormone levels, and the rate of body condition loss through the reproductive season. Due to their differences in physiology and reproductive tactics, we tested the hypotheses that male morphs would differ in resting metabolic rates (RMRs) and that the morphs' RMR would decline at different rates through the mating season. We found that bib-morphs (yellow gular patch) differ in RMR with bibbed (more aggressive) males having consistently higher RMR than non-bibbed males. Furthermore, we show that male dragons experience a decline in RMR as they age from reproductively active to inactive. We also found that the RMR of bibbed males has higher repeatability than non-bibbed males. Our results reinforce previous hypotheses about the morph-specific costs of bearing a gular patch in painted dragons. © 2017 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Analysis of neutronics benchmarks for the utilization of mixed oxide fuel in light water reactor using DRAGON code

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Nithyadevi, Rajan; Thilagam, L.; Karthikeyan, R.; Pal, Usha

2016-01-01

Highlights: • Use of advanced computational code – DRAGON-5 using advanced self shielding model USS. • Testing the capability of DRAGON-5 code for the analysis of light water reactor system. • Wide variety of fuels LEU, MOX and spent fuel have been analyzed. • Parameters such as k ∞ , one, few and multi-group macroscopic cross-sections and fluxes were calculated. • Suitability of deterministic methodology employed in DRAGON-5 code is demonstrated for LWR. - Abstract: Advances in reactor physics have led to the development of new computational technologies and upgraded cross-section libraries so as to produce an accurate approximation to the true solution for the problem. Thus it is necessary to revisit the benchmark problems with the advanced computational code system and upgraded cross-section libraries to see how far they are in agreement with the earlier reported values. Present study is one such analysis with the DRAGON code employing advanced self shielding models like USS and 172 energy group ‘JEFF3.1’ cross-section library in DRAGLIB format. Although DRAGON code has already demonstrated its capability for heavy water moderator systems, it is now tested for light water reactor (LWR) and fast reactor systems. As a part of validation of DRAGON for LWR, a VVER computational benchmark titled “Neutronics Benchmarks for the Utilization of Mixed-Oxide Fuel-Volume 3” submitted by the Russian Federation has been taken up. Presently, pincell and assembly calculations are carried out considering variation in fuel temperature (both fresh and spent), moderator temperatures and boron content in the moderator. Various parameters such as infinite neutron multiplication (k ∞ ) factor, one group integrated flux, few group homogenized cross-sections (absorption, nu-fission) and reaction rates (absorption, nu-fission) of individual isotopic nuclides are calculated for different reactor states. Comparisons of results are made with the reported Monte Carlo

When the dragon wore the crown putting starlight back into myth

CERN Document Server

Cerow, Don

2013-01-01

When our ancestors gazed upon the skies thousands of years ago they looked up into the center of Creation and saw a mighty Dragon, a great celestial serpent with wings circling ceaselessly above them, night after night, century after century. When the Dragon Wore the Crown is a ground breaking book that covers a period of over six thousand years, focusing on what astrologers would call the Ages of Gemini, Taurus and Aries and taking us through the period of classical astronomy with the Greeks and Romans (approx. 7000 BC-200 AD).When the Dragon Wore the Crown opens and closes with the Chinese m

33 CFR 100.903 - Harborfest Dragon Boat Race; South Haven, MI.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-07-01

... 33 Navigation and Navigable Waters 1 2010-07-01 2010-07-01 false Harborfest Dragon Boat Race; South Haven, MI. 100.903 Section 100.903 Navigation and Navigable Waters COAST GUARD, DEPARTMENT OF... Dragon Boat Race; South Haven, MI. (a) Regulated Area. A regulated area is established to include all...

Severe scuticociliate (Philasterides dicentrarchi) infection in a population of sea dragons (Phycodurus eques and Phyllopteryx taeniolatus).

Science.gov (United States)

Rossteuscher, S; Wenker, C; Jermann, T; Wahli, T; Oldenberg, E; Schmidt-Posthaus, H

2008-07-01

Scuticociliatosis is a disease of fish induced by ciliated parasites of the genus Scuticociliatida. It has been described in sea horses (Hippocampus sp.), flounders (Paralichthys olivaceus), and turbots (Scophthalmus maximus). Here we present a case study of a population of sea dragons chronically infected with scuticociliates identified as Philasterides dicentrarchi by histopathology and PCR. Beginning in 2004, over a period of 19 months, 10 sea dragons (Phycodurus eques and Phyllopteryx taeniolatus) were found dead in an aquarium of the Zoological Garden Basle, Switzerland. Clinically, the animals showed only faint symptoms of disease over a short period of time. At necropsy, macroscopic lesions were confined to the skin with multiple, often hemorrhagic, ulcerations. Histologically, epidermal ulcers were associated with necrosis and inflammation of the underlying dermis and musculature. Numerous ciliates, with a morphology consistent with scuticociliates, were present in these lesions. In several animals these ciliates had invaded blood vessels and were detected in gills and internal organs including kidney, thyroid gland, and central nervous system (CNS). In these organs, mild degenerative lesions and inflammatory reactions were evident. The ciliates were identified as Philasterides dicentrarchi based on small-subunit ribosomal RNA (SSUrRNA) gene sequences obtained by polymerase chain reaction (PCR) on DNA extracted from paraffin-embedded tissue sections. Our report shows that scuticociliate infections of sea dragons can develop into a systemic infection and that both species of sea dragons can be affected.

Experience with Wolsong-1 Phase-B pre-simulations using WIMS/DRAGON/RFSP-IST code suite

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Chung, D-H.; Kim, B-G.; Kim, S-M.; Suh, H-B.; Kim, H-S.; Kim, H-J.

2010-01-01

The Wolsong-1 Phase-B pre-simulations have been carried out with the exclusive use of the code suite WIMS/DRAGON/RFSP-IST in replacement of the previous PPV/MULTICELL/RFSP code system in preparation of tests to be conducted as scheduled in December 2010 after the refurbishment. A comprehensive simulation package has been undertaken starting from the approach to first criticality to the flux measurements and scan. In order to secure the validity of the results, the simulations are performed using both the Uniform and SCM fuel tables. An elaborating contribution has been invested into the work in view of the inexperience of using WIMS/SCM fuel tables as well as incremental cross sections generated by using DRAGON-IST. The overall assessment of simulation results indicates that the newly adopted WIMS/DRAGON/RFSP-IST code suite could be used in replacement of PPV/MULTICELL/RFSP for the verification against the Phase-B test results. (author)

JEM-EUSO Design for Accommodation on the SpaceX Dragon Spacecraft

Science.gov (United States)

Christl, Mark

2013-01-01

The JEM-EUSO mission has been planned for launch on JAXA's H2 Launch Vehicle. Recently, the SpaceX Dragon spacecraft has emerged as an alternative payload carrier for JEM-EUSO. This paper will discuss a concept for the re-design of JEM-EUSO so that it can be launched on Dragon.

CFD study of the overtopping discharge of the Wave Dragon wave energy converter

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Eskilsson, K.; Palm, J.; Kofoed, Jens Peter

2015-01-01

incompressible Euler/Navier-Stokes solver in the OpenFOAM® framework. We present simulations of: (i) a complete sea state for different crest heights, and (ii) regular waves for different wave conditions and crest heights. The simulations compare reasonably well with the experimental data, albeit the irregular...

Progress and Achievements at the Mid Term Stage of the Dragon 3 Programme

Science.gov (United States)

Desnos, Yves-Louis; Li, Zengyuan; Zmuda, Andy; Gao, Zhihai

2014-11-01

The Dragon Programme is a joint undertaking between ESA and the Ministry of Science and Technology (MOST) of China and the National Remote Sensing Center of China (NRSCC). Its purpose is to encourage increased exploitation of ESA and Chinese space resources within China as well as stimulate increased scientific cooperation in the field of Earth Observation (EO) science and applications between China and Europe. Since 2004, this pioneering programme has become a model for scientific and technological cooperation between China and Europe. By successfully encouraging joint research using ESA, Third Party Missions and Chinese EO data across a range of thematic areas, Dragon continues to deliver outstanding scientific results. The programme has successfully completed two phases, Dragon 1 from 2004 to 2008, Dragon 2 from 2008 to 2012. The third phase of Dragon was started in 2012 and will be completed in 2016. The Dragon 3 project teams are led by leading EO scientists and young scientists are also engaged on the projects. Advanced training in land, ocean and atmospheric applications is a feature of the programme and a course on land and one course on ocean applications have been successfully held in 2012 and 2013 in China. Here-in provided is an overview of the results, reporting and training activities at the mid-term stage of the programme.

Research on new BPM used to 'Dragon I'

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Xu Tiezheng; Xie Yutong; Gao Feng; Dai Wenhua; Gu Zhanjun; Wang Liming; Wang Huacen; Li Jing

2006-01-01

The principle of beam position monitoring of button was introduced briefly. It was compared with beam bugs in principle. Based on the result in simulation experiment, a new structure of button was design, and some mistakes in the primary design were corrected. In the really beam experiment of 'Dragon I', the beam waveform and position were monitored. Compared the position curve between button and beam bugs that indicated the data that got from button is credible. In the experiment, the button has an accuracy of 0.5 mm, which is adequate for beam position measurement of 'Dragon I'. (authors)

Adenoviral infection in a collection of juvenile inland bearded dragons (Pogona vitticeps).

Science.gov (United States)

Doneley, R J T; Buckle, K N; Hulse, L

2014-01-01

Juvenile inland bearded dragons (Pogona vitticeps) from a breeding collection in south-east Queensland were presented at age 6-10 weeks with neurological signs, poor growth and occasional deaths. Histopathological examination revealed that six of eight lizards had multifocal non-suppurative hepatitis associated with 5-10 μm diameter, smudgy, basophilic, hyaline intranuclear inclusion bodies that marginated the nuclear chromatin. These histological lesions were considered consistent with adenoviral hepatitis. Infection with adenovirus was confirmed positive in one of the eight dragons by PCR for adenoviral DNA. DNA was extracted from formalin-fixed paraffin-embedded pooled tissues of the juvenile inland bearded dragons and tested using a nested-PCR protocol with primers specific for identification of adenovirus. Sequencing of the one PCR-positive dragon showed 95% nucleotide sequence alignment with agamid atadenovirus 1. Further investigation involved testing the breeding population, including the parents of the affected juveniles. Blood and cloacal samples were collected from the adult population, DNA was extracted and tested by PCR for adenovirus. There was a high percentage of positive results from the samples collected from the breeding population. This is the first reported group outbreak of adenoviral disease in bearded dragons in Australia. © 2014 Australian Veterinary Association.

Dragons in English: The Great Change of the Late Nineteenth Century

Science.gov (United States)

Cheetham, Dominic

2014-01-01

The impetus for the incredible variety found in the modern literary dragon is commonly seen to stem from the creative genius of either E. Nesbit or Kenneth Grahame. However, examination of dragon stories in the late nineteenth century shows that several different authors, on both sides of the Atlantic, were producing similar stories at about the…

Recent Developments of Wave Energy Utilization in Denmark

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Kofoed, Jens Peter; Frigaard, Peter; Kramer, Morten

2006-01-01

by a more thorough description of three ongoing projects. These are Wave Dragon, Wave Star and Seawave Slot-cone Generator. Common for these projects are that they are being, or will soon be, tested in real sea and have benefited from the Danish Wave Energy Program. The work by the department......This paper aims at giving an overview of the developments researchers at the Department of Civil Engineering, Aalborg University, Denmark (DCE), have been involved in within the field of wave energy utilization in Denmark over the past decade. At first a general introduction is given followed...... on these projects involves substantial laboratory testing, numerical simulations and real sea prototype testing....

[The popular interpretation of strokes in ancient Galicia: the dragon myth].

Science.gov (United States)

Pías-Peleteiro, Juan M; Blanco, Miguel; Arias, Manuel; Castillo, José

2011-05-01

The high prevalence and mortality of stroke has consequently brought about a wide presence of this pathology in the Galician pre-scientific folk medicine. A new interpretation of stroke, linked to the local tradition around the figure of Saint James the Apostle, is presented in this paper: stroke is considered to be the result of the evil influence of a dragon. In the Codex Calixtinus, a xii century manuscript containing various materials around the figure of Saint James, a dragon is also mentioned as an obstacle for the translation of the apostolic body. The third book of Codex Calixtinus containing the narration of the translation of the dead body of James the Greater from Palestine to its likely current location in Santiago de Compostela (Galicia, Spain), also holds the major written record of the dragon of the Pico Sacro mountain. The pagan symbol of the dragon has remained in the orally-transmitted Galician folk medicine as a direct cause for neurological diseases such as stroke. For the first time, in our knowledge, the symbol of a dragon as the magical explanation for cerebral vascular disease has been described. Moreover, this mythical explanation, found only in the Galician folk medicine, is strongly linked to the legend of the translation of James the Apostle to Galicia. Such a link supports the originality of the narration in the Codex Calixtinus as opposed to other versions of the apostolic translation which can be found in other manuscripts.

Implementation of the equivalence theory inside the computational chain DRAGON/DONJON-NDF

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Dufour, P.

2005-01-01

The work accomplished in the scope of this master project consists in introducing the equivalence theory inside the computational schema DRAGON/DONJON-NDF. This theory takes into account the possible discontinuity of the homogeneous flux at the surfaces inside problems that involve an homogenisation procedure. To do it, the theory include new factors called discontinuity factors. These factors give, in theory, more exact solutions. Because we use the cell code DRAGON to generate all our homogeneous parameters we also used DRAGON to compute the heterogeneous surface fluxes which are essential to obtain the discontinuity factors. The project has been divided into two parts. The first part consists in computing the heterogeneous surface fluxes with the cell code DRAGON. For the second part of the project we have performed reactor computations using the code DONJON-NDF (over CANDU-6 geometry) with discontinuity factors and we have compared the results thus obtained with those computed without discontinuity factors.

The Dragon reactor experiment

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Anon.

1976-01-01

The concept on which the Dragon Reactor Experiment was based was evolved at the Atomic Energy Research Establishment at Harwell in 1956, and in February of that year a High Temperature Gas- cooled Reactor Project Group was set up to study the feasibility of a helium-cooled reactor with a graphite or beryllium moderator, and with the emphasis on the thorium fuel cycle [af

Further optimization studies of experimental dynamic responses measured on the HTGC Dragon reactor

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Cummins, J.D.

1968-04-01

This report considers some measurements made of the dynamics of the HTGC Dragon reactor and the optimization of a mathematical model which represents the reactor, by altering the parameters until a least squares fit between the experimental responses and the mathematical model is obtained. The experimental information was processed in various ways. The experimental response to an impulse, step or periodic sine wave change in reactivity was processed as an impulse, step or periodic sine wave response respectively and compared with a similar response from the model. In other studies the result of a binary cross correlation experiment (effectively an impulse response input) was processed as a frequency response and this experimental frequency response was compared with the frequency response from the mathematical model. It was possible therefore to compare the optimum values of parameters, obtained for different forms of perturbing signal and for different methods of processing and to relate the optima obtained to the problem of parameter estimation. (author)

MULTIHORMONAL ISLET CELL CARCINOMAS IN THREE KOMODO DRAGONS (VARANUS KOMODOENSIS).

Science.gov (United States)

Eustace, Ronan; Garner, Michael M; Cook, Kimberly; Miller, Christine; Kiupel, Matti

2017-03-01

  Multihormonal pancreatic islet cell carcinomas were found in one female and two male captive geriatric Komodo dragons (Varanus komodoensis). Gross changes in the pancreas were visible in two of the cases. Clinical signs noted in the Komodo dragons were lethargy, weakness, and anorexia. Histologically, the tumors were comprised of nests and cords of well-differentiated neoplastic islet cells with scant amounts of eosinophilic cytoplasm and round, euchromatic nuclei, with rare mitoses. Infiltration by the islet cell tumor into the surrounding acinar tissue was observed in all cases, but no metastatic foci were seen. Multihormone expression was observed in all tumors, which labeled strongly positive for glucagon and somatostatin and focally positive for polypeptide. Pancreatic islet cell neoplasms should be considered in the differential diagnosis for geriatric Komodo dragons presenting with weakness, lethargy, and poor appetite.

Studies on equilibrium fuel management schemes on the Dragon HTR core design

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Daub, J; Pedersen, J

1971-02-03

The Dragon Project has recently started investigations on fuel management in HTR's with the assumed Dragon design. The study covers the results of investigations into a number of equilibrium fuel management schemes with the 1-dimensional FLATTER code and calculations of the corresponding total power generating costs with the programme TECO.

Cerebral xanthomatosis in three green water dragons (Physignathus cocincinus).

Science.gov (United States)

Kummrow, Maya S; Berkvens, Charlene N; Paré, Jean A; Smith, Dale A

2010-03-01

Cerebral xanthomatosis was diagnosed in three female green water dragons (Physignathus cocincinus), all of which presented with progressive neurologic signs. No antemortem evidence for xanthomatosis was identified, but on postmortem examination cholesterol granulomas, composed of cholesterol clefts surrounded by macrophages and multinucleated giant cells, were found in the forebrain of each animal and were associated with significant displacement and pressure on the adjacent brain. Although the cause of xanthomatosis in these animals is unknown, nutrition and trauma may be involved in the pathogenesis of this condition. Cerebrum, cholesterol, green water dragon, Physignathus cocincinus, xanthoma.

Towards a more plausible dragon

Science.gov (United States)

Efthimiou, Costas

2014-08-01

Wizards, mermaids, dragons and aliens. Walking, running, flying and space travel. A hi-tech elevator, a computer, a propulsion engine and a black hole. What do all of these things have in common? This might seem like a really hard brainteaser but the answer is simple: they all obey the fundamental laws of our universe.

A comparison of UVb compact lamps in enabling cutaneous vitamin D synthesis in growing bearded dragons.

Science.gov (United States)

Diehl, J J E; Baines, F M; Heijboer, A C; van Leeuwen, J P; Kik, M; Hendriks, W H; Oonincx, D G A B

2018-02-01

The effect of exposure to different UVb compact lamps on the vitamin D status of growing bearded dragons (Pogona vitticeps) was studied. Forty-two newly hatched bearded dragons (dragons to provide a reference level. Only one treatment resulted in elevated levels of 25(OH)D 3 compared to the control group (41.0 ± 12.85 vs. 2.0 ± 0.0 nmol/L). All UVb-exposed groups had low 25(OH)D 3 plasma levels compared to earlier studies on captive bearded dragons as well as in comparison with the free-living adult bearded dragons (409 ± 56 nmol/L). Spectral analysis indicated that all treatment lamps emitted UVb wavelengths effective for some cutaneous vitamin D synthesis. None of these lamps, under this regime, appeared to have provided a sufficient UVb dose to enable synthesis of plasma 25(OH)D 3 levels similar to those of free-living bearded dragons in their native habitat. © 2017 The Authors. Journal of Animal Physiology and Animal Nutrition Published by Blackwell Verlag GmbH.

76 FR 61340 - Notice of Decision To Authorize the Importation of Dragon Fruit From Thailand Into the...

Science.gov (United States)

2011-10-04

... Inspection Service [Docket No. APHIS-2011-0047] Notice of Decision To Authorize the Importation of Dragon... importation into the continental United States of dragon fruit (multiple genera and species) from Thailand... weeds via the importation of dragon fruit from Thailand. DATES: Effective Date: October 4, 2011. FOR...

The Oral and Skin Microbiomes of Captive Komodo Dragons Are Significantly Shared with Their Habitat

OpenAIRE

Embriette R. Hyde; Jose A. Navas-Molina; Se Jin Song; Jordan G. Kueneman; Gail Ackermann; Cesar Cardona; Gregory Humphrey; Don Boyer; Tom Weaver; Joseph R. Mendelson; Valerie J. McKenzie; Jack A. Gilbert; Rob Knight; Ashley Shade

2016-01-01

ABSTRACT Examining the way in which animals, including those in captivity, interact with their environment is extremely important for studying ecological processes and developing sophisticated animal husbandry. Here we use the Komodo dragon (Varanus komodoensis) to quantify the degree of sharing of salivary, skin, and fecal microbiota with their environment in captivity. Both species richness and microbial community composition of most surfaces in the Komodo dragon?s environment are similar t...

Use of the 'DRAGON' program for the calculation of reactivity devices

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Mollerach, Ricardo; Fink, Jose

2003-01-01

DRAGON is a computer program developed at the Ecole Polytechnique of the University of Montreal and adopted by AECL for the transport calculations associated to reactivity devices. This report presents aspects of the implementation in NASA of the DRAGON program. Some cases of interest were evaluated. Comparisons with results of known programs as WIMS D5, and with experiments were done. a) Embalse (CANDU 6) cell without burnup and leakage. Calculations of macroscopic cross sections with WIMS and DRAGON show very good agreement with smaller differences in the thermal constants. b) Embalse fresh cell with different leakage options. c) Embalse cell with leakage and burnup. A comparison of k-infinity and k-effective with WIMS and DRAGON as a function of burnup shows that the differences ((D-W)/D) for fresh fuel are -0.17% roughly constant up to about 2500 MWd/tU, and then decrease to -0.06 % for 8500 MWd/tU. Experiments made in 1977 in ZED-2 critical facility, reported in [3], were used as a benchmark for the cell and supercell DRAGON calculations. Calculated fluxes were compared with experimental values and the agreement is so good. d) ZED-2 cell calculation. The measured buckling was used as geometric buckling. This case can be considered an experimental verification. The calculated reactivity with DRAGON is about 2 mk, and can be considered satisfactory. WIMS k-effective value is about one mk higher. e) Supercell calculations for ZED-2 vertical and horizontal tube and rod adjuster using 2D and 3D models were done. Comparisons between measured and calculated fluxes in the vicinity of the adjuster rods. Incremental cross sections for these adjusters were calculated using different options. f) ZED-2 reactor calculations with PUMA reveal a good concordance with critical heights measured in experiments. The report describes also particular features of the code and recommendations regarding its use that may be useful for new users. (author)

ASTRAL, DRAGON and SEDAN scores predict stroke outcome more accurately than physicians.

Science.gov (United States)

Ntaios, G; Gioulekas, F; Papavasileiou, V; Strbian, D; Michel, P

2016-11-01

ASTRAL, SEDAN and DRAGON scores are three well-validated scores for stroke outcome prediction. Whether these scores predict stroke outcome more accurately compared with physicians interested in stroke was investigated. Physicians interested in stroke were invited to an online anonymous survey to provide outcome estimates in randomly allocated structured scenarios of recent real-life stroke patients. Their estimates were compared to scores' predictions in the same scenarios. An estimate was considered accurate if it was within 95% confidence intervals of actual outcome. In all, 244 participants from 32 different countries responded assessing 720 real scenarios and 2636 outcomes. The majority of physicians' estimates were inaccurate (1422/2636, 53.9%). 400 (56.8%) of physicians' estimates about the percentage probability of 3-month modified Rankin score (mRS) > 2 were accurate compared with 609 (86.5%) of ASTRAL score estimates (P DRAGON score estimates (P DRAGON score estimates (P DRAGON and SEDAN scores predict outcome of acute ischaemic stroke patients with higher accuracy compared to physicians interested in stroke. © 2016 EAN.

Ecological allometries and niche use dynamics across Komodo dragon ontogeny

Science.gov (United States)

Purwandana, Deni; Ariefiandy, Achmad; Imansyah, M. Jeri; Seno, Aganto; Ciofi, Claudio; Letnic, Mike; Jessop, Tim S.

2016-04-01

Ontogenetic allometries in ecological habits and niche use are key responses by which individuals maximize lifetime fitness. Moreover, such allometries have significant implications for how individuals influence population and community dynamics. Here, we examined how body size variation in Komodo dragons ( Varanus komodoensis) influenced ecological allometries in their: (1) prey size preference, (2) daily movement rates, (3) home range area, and (4) subsequent niche use across ontogeny. With increased body mass, Komodo dragons increased prey size with a dramatic switch from small (≤10 kg) to large prey (≥50 kg) in lizards heavier than 20 kg. Rates of foraging movement were described by a non-linear concave down response with lizard increasing hourly movement rates up until ˜20 kg body mass before decreasing daily movement suggesting reduced foraging effort in larger lizards. In contrast, home range area exhibited a sigmoid response with increased body mass. Intrapopulation ecological niche use and overlap were also strongly structured by body size. Thus, ontogenetic allometries suggest Komodo dragon's transition from a highly active foraging mode exploiting small prey through to a less active sit and wait feeding strategy focused on killing large ungulates. Further, our results suggest that as body size increases across ontogeny, the Komodo dragon exhibited marked ontogenetic niche shifts that enabled it to function as an entire vertebrate predator guild by exploiting prey across multiple trophic levels.

Computer-animated stimuli to measure motion sensitivity: constraints on signal design in the Jacky dragon.

Science.gov (United States)

Woo, Kevin L; Rieucau, Guillaume; Burke, Darren

2017-02-01

Identifying perceptual thresholds is critical for understanding the mechanisms that underlie signal evolution. Using computer-animated stimuli, we examined visual speed sensitivity in the Jacky dragon Amphibolurus muricatus , a species that makes extensive use of rapid motor patterns in social communication. First, focal lizards were tested in discrimination trials using random-dot kinematograms displaying combinations of speed, coherence, and direction. Second, we measured subject lizards' ability to predict the appearance of a secondary reinforcer (1 of 3 different computer-generated animations of invertebrates: cricket, spider, and mite) based on the direction of movement of a field of drifting dots by following a set of behavioural responses (e.g., orienting response, latency to respond) to our virtual stimuli. We found an effect of both speed and coherence, as well as an interaction between these 2 factors on the perception of moving stimuli. Overall, our results showed that Jacky dragons have acute sensitivity to high speeds. We then employed an optic flow analysis to match the performance to ecologically relevant motion. Our results suggest that the Jacky dragon visual system may have been shaped to detect fast motion. This pre-existing sensitivity may have constrained the evolution of conspecific displays. In contrast, Jacky dragons may have difficulty in detecting the movement of ambush predators, such as snakes and of some invertebrate prey. Our study also demonstrates the potential of the computer-animated stimuli technique for conducting nonintrusive tests to explore motion range and sensitivity in a visually mediated species.

Weeping dragon, a unique ornamenal citrus

Science.gov (United States)

‘Weeping Dragon’ is a new ornamental citrus cultivar developed by intercrossing of two unusual and unique citrus types, Poncirus trifoliata cultivated variety (cv.) Flying Dragon, and Citrus sinensis cv. ‘Cipo’. This new hybrid cultivar combines strongly contorted and weeping growth traits in a smal...

Verification of the cross-section and depletion chain processing module of DRAGON 3.06

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Chambon, R.; Marleau, G.; Zkiek, A.

2008-01-01

In this paper we present a verification of the module of the lattice code DRAGON 3.06 used for processing microscopic cross-section libraries, including their associated depletion chain. This verification is performed by reprogramming the capabilities of DRAGON in another language (MATLAB) and testing them on different problems typical of the CANDU reactor. The verification procedure consists in first programming MATLAB m-files to read the different cross section libraries in ASCII format and to compute the reference cross-sections and depletion chains. The same information is also recovered from the output files of DRAGON (using different m-files) and the resulting cross sections and depletion chain are compared with the reference library, the differences being evaluated and tabulated. The results show that the cross-section calculations and the depletion chains are correctly processed in version 3.06 of DRAGON. (author)

33 CFR 100.1302 - Special Local Regulation, Annual Dragon Boat Races, Portland, Oregon.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-07-01

... 33 Navigation and Navigable Waters 1 2010-07-01 2010-07-01 false Special Local Regulation, Annual Dragon Boat Races, Portland, Oregon. 100.1302 Section 100.1302 Navigation and Navigable Waters COAST... § 100.1302 Special Local Regulation, Annual Dragon Boat Races, Portland, Oregon. (a) Regulated area. All...

Measurement of centroid trajectory of Dragon-I electron beam

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Jiang Xiaoguo; Wang Yuan; Zhang Wenwei; Zhang Kaizhi; Li Jing; Li Chenggang; Yang Guojun

2005-01-01

The control of the electron beam in an intense current linear induction accelerator (LIA) is very important. The center position of the electron beam and the beam profile are two important parameters which should be measured accurately. The setup of a time-resolved measurement system and a data processing method for determining the beam center position are introduced for the purpose of obtaining Dragon-I electron beam trajectory including beam profile. The actual results show that the centroid position error can be controlled in one to two pixels. the time-resolved beam centroid trajectory of Dragon-I (18.5 MeV, 2 kA, 90 ns) is obtained recently in 10 ns interval, 3 ns exposure time with a multi-frame gated camera. The results show that the screw movement of the electron beam is mainly limited in an area with a radius of 0.5 mm and the time-resolved diameters of the beam are 8.4 mm, 8.8 mm, 8.5 mm, 9.3 mm and 7.6 mm. These results have provided a very important support to several research areas such as beam trajectory tuning and beam transmission. (authors)

Feasibility of a Dragon-Derived Mars Lander for Scientific and Human-Precursor Missions

Science.gov (United States)

Karcz, John S.; Davis, Sanford S.; Allen, Gary A.; Glass, Brian J.; Gonzales, Andrew; Heldmann, Jennifer Lynne; Lemke, Lawrence G.; McKay, Chris; Stoker, Carol R.; Wooster, Paul Douglass;

The ZW sex microchromosomes of an Australian dragon lizard share no homology with those of other reptiles or birds.

Science.gov (United States)

Ezaz, Tariq; Moritz, Benjamin; Waters, Paul; Marshall Graves, Jennifer A; Georges, Arthur; Sarre, Stephen D

2009-01-01

Reptiles show a diverse array of sex chromosomal systems but, remarkably, the Z sex chromosomes of chicken are homologous to the ZW sex chromosomes of a species of gecko, Gekko hokouensis, suggesting an ancient but common origin. This is in contrast to the ZW sex chromosomes of snakes and a species of soft-shelled turtle, Pelodiscus sinensis, which are nonhomologous to those of chicken or each other and appear to have been independently derived. In this paper, we determine what homology, if any, the sex chromosomes of the Australian dragon lizard Pogona vitticeps shares with those of snake and chicken by mapping the dragon homologs of five snake Z chromosome genes (WAC, KLF6, TAX1BP1, RAB5A, and CTNNB1) and five chicken Z chromosome genes (ATP5A1, GHR, DMRT1, CHD1, and APTX) to chromosomes in the dragon. The dragon homologs of snake and chicken sex chromosome genes map to chromosomes 6 and chromosome 2, respectively, in the dragon and that DMRT1, the bird sex-determining gene, is not located on the sex chromosomes of P. vitticeps. Indeed, our data show that the dragon homolog to the chicken Z chromosome is likely to be wholly contained within chromosome 2 in P. vitticeps, which suggests that the sex-determining factor in P. vitticeps is not the sex-determining gene of chicken. Homology between chicken Z chromosome and G. hokouensis ZW chromosome pairs has been interpreted as retention of ancient ZW sex chromosomes in which case the nonhomologous sex chromosomes of snake and dragons would be independently derived. Our data add another case of independently derived sex chromosomes in a squamate reptile, which makes retention of ancient sex chromosome homology in the squamates less plausible. Alternatively, the conservation between the bird Z chromosome and the G. hokouensis ZW chromosomes pairs is coincidental, may be an example of convergent evolution, its status as the Z chromosome having been independently derived in birds and G. hokouensis.

Dragon Boat Festival (Dyun Ngh Jit).

Science.gov (United States)

Wu, Julia; Quan, Ella Y.

This bilingual-bicultural reader in Cantonese and English is intended for elementary school children in a bilingual education setting. Pen-and-ink drawings illustrate the story of the traditional dragon boat festival. Each page of the text is written in Chinese characters, Romanized form, and in English. (NCR)

Development of DRAGON electron cyclotron resonance ion source at Institute of Modern Physics

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Lu, W.; Lin, S. H.; Xie, D. Z.; Zhang, X. Z.; Sha, S.; Zhang, W. H.; Cao, Y.; Guo, J. W.; Fang, X.; Guo, X. H.; Li, X. X.; Ma, H. Y.; Wu, Q.; Zhao, H. Y.; Ma, B. H.; Wang, H.; Zhu, Y. H.; Feng, Y. C.; Li, J. Y.; Li, J. Q.

2012-01-01

A new room temperature electron cyclotron resonance (ECR) ion source, DRAGON, is under construction at IMP. DRAGON is designed to operate at microwaves of frequencies of 14.5-18 GHz. Its axial solenoid coils are cooled with evaporative medium to provide an axial magnetic mirror field of 2.5 T at the injection and 1.4 T at the extraction, respectively. In comparison to other conventional room temperature ECR ion sources, DRAGON has so far the largest bore plasma chamber of inner diameter of 126 mm with maximum radial fields of 1.4-1.5 T produced by a non-Halbach permanent sextupole magnet.

History of a Journal: the Case of Dragon Magazine (U.S. Edition

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Héctor Sevillano Pareja

2012-06-01

Full Text Available This work study and analyze the history and development of a journal, from its birth, on paper, until its transformation into electronic version. For this analysis we have focused in Dragon Magazine, which was the most important magazine of role playing games (or RPGs published until now, especially with regard to the first commercial RPG, Dungeons & Dragons.

33 CFR 100.909 - Chinatown Chamber of Commerce Dragon Boat Race; Chicago, IL.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-07-01

... 33 Navigation and Navigable Waters 1 2010-07-01 2010-07-01 false Chinatown Chamber of Commerce Dragon Boat Race; Chicago, IL. 100.909 Section 100.909 Navigation and Navigable Waters COAST GUARD... Chinatown Chamber of Commerce Dragon Boat Race; Chicago, IL. (a) Regulated Area. All waters of the South...

Analysis of the first- and second-generation Raving Dragon Novelty Bath Salts containing methylone and pentedrone.

Science.gov (United States)

Poklis, Justin L; Wolf, Carl E; ElJordi, Omar I; Liu, Kai; Zhang, Shijun; Poklis, Alphonse

2015-01-01

In recent years, a large number of designer drugs sold as "Bath Salts" have appeared on the market. In July of 2011, Raving Dragon Novelty Bath Salts was obtained over the Internet. This product became unavailable in October of that year coinciding with the DEA issuing a temporarily schedule of mephedrone, methylone, and MDPV. Four months later in February of 2012, a new product was released from the same company under the new name Raving Dragon Voodoo Dust. The contents of both products were identified using spectroscopy methods: nuclear magnetic resonance, infrared, UV-visible, tandem mass spectrometry, and high-resolution time-of-flight mass spectrometry. It was determined that Raving Dragon Novelty Bath Salts contained methylone. The replacement product Raving Dragon Voodoo Dust contained the unscheduled drug pentedrone. The Raving Dragon brand of products illustrates the rapid change of ingredients in these products to circumvent laws restricting availability, distribution, and use. © 2014 American Academy of Forensic Sciences.

Ecological allometries and niche use dynamics across Komodo dragon ontogeny.

Science.gov (United States)

Purwandana, Deni; Ariefiandy, Achmad; Imansyah, M Jeri; Seno, Aganto; Ciofi, Claudio; Letnic, Mike; Jessop, Tim S

2016-04-01

Ontogenetic allometries in ecological habits and niche use are key responses by which individuals maximize lifetime fitness. Moreover, such allometries have significant implications for how individuals influence population and community dynamics. Here, we examined how body size variation in Komodo dragons (Varanus komodoensis) influenced ecological allometries in their: (1) prey size preference, (2) daily movement rates, (3) home range area, and (4) subsequent niche use across ontogeny. With increased body mass, Komodo dragons increased prey size with a dramatic switch from small (≤10 kg) to large prey (≥50 kg) in lizards heavier than 20 kg. Rates of foraging movement were described by a non-linear concave down response with lizard increasing hourly movement rates up until ∼20 kg body mass before decreasing daily movement suggesting reduced foraging effort in larger lizards. In contrast, home range area exhibited a sigmoid response with increased body mass. Intrapopulation ecological niche use and overlap were also strongly structured by body size. Thus, ontogenetic allometries suggest Komodo dragon's transition from a highly active foraging mode exploiting small prey through to a less active sit and wait feeding strategy focused on killing large ungulates. Further, our results suggest that as body size increases across ontogeny, the Komodo dragon exhibited marked ontogenetic niche shifts that enabled it to function as an entire vertebrate predator guild by exploiting prey across multiple trophic levels.

DRAGON score predicts functional outcomes in acute ischemic stroke patients receiving both intravenous tissue plasminogen activator and endovascular therapy.

Science.gov (United States)

Wang, Arthur; Pednekar, Noorie; Lehrer, Rachel; Todo, Akira; Sahni, Ramandeep; Marks, Stephen; Stiefel, Michael F

2017-01-01

The DRAGON score, which includes clinical and computed tomographic (CT) scan parameters, predicts functional outcomes in ischemic stroke patients treated with intravenous tissue plasminogen activator (IV tPA). We assessed the utility of the DRAGON score in predicting functional outcome in stroke patients receiving both IV tPA and endovascular therapy. A retrospective chart review of patients treated at our institution from February 2009 to October 2015 was conducted. All patients with computed tomography angiography (CTA) proven large vessel occlusions (LVO) who underwent intravenous thrombolysis and endovascular therapy were included. Baseline DRAGON scores and modified Rankin Score (mRS) at the time of hospital discharge was calculated. Good outcome was defined as mRS ≤3. Fifty-eight patients with LVO of the anterior circulation were studied. The mean DRAGON score of patients on admission was 5.3 (range, 3-8). All patients received IV tPA and endovascular therapy. Multivariate analysis demonstrated that DRAGON scores ≥7 was associated with higher mRS ( P DRAGON scores ≤6. Patients with DRAGON scores of 7 and 8 on admission had a mortality rate of 3.8% and 40%, respectively. The DRAGON score can help predict better functional outcomes in ischemic stroke patients receiving both IV tPA and endovascular therapy. This data supports the use of the DRAGON score in selecting patients who could potentially benefit from more invasive therapies such as endovascular treatment. Larger prospective studies are warranted to further validate these results.

Dragones, serpientes y cocodrilos infernales en la comedia de santos

OpenAIRE

Gonzalez Fernandez , Luis

2009-01-01

International audience; Se examinan en este artículo algunos casos en los que aparecen dragones, serpientes y cocodrilos vinculados al personaje teatral del demonio en la comedia de santos. El corpus es mayormente calderoniano.; Parcours retraçant dans la comedia de santos (pièces hagiographiques) la présence de monstres tels que les dragons, les serpents et les crocodiles là où il y a une relation spécifique avec le diable. Le corpus examiné porte essentiellement sur les oeuvres de Pedro Cal...

Raytracing, chopper, and guideline for double-headed Dragon monochromators (invited)

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Chen, C.T.

1992-01-01

The raytracing of the double-headed Dragon, a recently proposed monochromator for producing two simultaneous left and right circularly polarized soft x-ray beams, is presented. The energy resolution and wavelength of these two beams are confirmed to be identical, and the high performance of the original Dragon is found to be preserved in the double-headed configuration. A compact ultra-high vacuum compatible chopper for rapid alternation between left and right helicities is presented, and a guideline for collecting circularly polarized light from bending magnet sources is given

Measurement of intraocular pressure in healthy unanesthetized inland bearded dragons (Pogona vitticeps).

Science.gov (United States)

Schuster, Eva J; Strueve, Julia; Fehr, Michael J; Mathes, Karina A

2015-06-01

To evaluate the use of rebound and applanation tonometry for the measurement of intraocular pressure (IOP) and to assess diurnal variations in and the effect of topical anesthesia on the IOP of healthy inland bearded dragons (Pogona vitticeps). 56 bearded dragons from 4 months to 11 years old. For each animal following an initial ophthalmic examination, 3 IOP measurements were obtained on each eye between 9 AM and 10 AM, 1 PM and 2 PM, and 5 PM and 7 PM by use of rebound and applanation tonometry. An additional measurement was obtained by rebound tonometry for each eye in the evening following the application of a topical anesthetic to evaluate changes in the tolerance of the animals to the tonometer. Descriptive data were generated, and the effects of sex, time of day, and topical anesthesia on IOP were evaluated. Bearded dragons did not tolerate applanation tonometry even following topical anesthesia. Median daily IOP as determined by rebound tonometry was 6.16 mm Hg (95% confidence interval, 5.61 to 6.44 mm Hg). The IOP did not differ significantly between the right and left eyes. The IOP was highest in the morning, which indicated that the IOP in this species undergoes diurnal variations. Topical anesthesia did not significantly affect IOP, but it did improve the compliance for all subjects. Results indicated that rebound tonometry, but not applanation tonometry, was appropriate for measurement of IOP in bearded dragons. These findings provided preliminary guidelines for IOP measurement and ophthalmic evaluation in bearded dragons.

Analgesic efficacy of butorphanol and morphine in bearded dragons and corn snakes.

Science.gov (United States)

Sladky, Kurt K; Kinney, Matthew E; Johnson, Stephen M

2008-07-15

To test the hypothesis that administration of butorphanol or morphine induces antinociception in bearded dragons and corn snakes. Prospective crossover study. 12 juvenile and adult bearded dragons and 13 corn snakes. Infrared heat stimuli were applied to the plantar surface of bearded dragon hind limbs or the ventral surface of corn snake tails. Thermal withdrawal latencies (TWDLs) were measured before (baseline) and after SC administration of physiologic saline (0.9% NaCl) solution (equivalent volume to opioid volumes), butorphanol tartrate (2 or 20 mg/kg [0.91 or 9.1 mg/lb]), or morphine sulfate (1, 5, 10, 20, or 40 mg/kg [0.45, 2.27, 4.5, 9.1, or 18.2 mg/lb]). For bearded dragons, butorphanol (2 or 20 mg/kg) did not alter hind limb TWDLs at 2 to 24 hours after administration. However, at 8 hours after administration, morphine (10 and 20 mg/kg) significantly increased hind limb TWDLs from baseline values (mean +/- SEM maximum increase, 2.7+/-0.4 seconds and 2.8+/-0.9 seconds, respectively). For corn snakes, butorphanol (20 mg/kg) significantly increased tail TWDLs at 8 hours after administration (maximum increase from baseline value, 3.0+/-0.8 seconds); the low dose had no effect. Morphine injections did not increase tail TWDLs at 2 to 24 hours after administration. Compared with doses used in most mammalian species, high doses of morphine (but not butorphanol) induced analgesia in bearded dragons, whereas high doses of butorphanol (but not morphine) induced analgesia in corn snakes.

The quest for the understanding of Religious Studies: Seeing dragons

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Jaco Beyers

2016-03-01

Full Text Available Religious Studies is concerned with studying religion or the absence thereof. The concept of religion has been discussed, disliked and dissected over centuries. Some have predicted the disappearance of religion, others have predicted the changing of location from the public to the private sphere and some even the re-emergence of religion. In trying to determine the place and relations of Religious Studies an understanding of what religion entails is necessary. It is clear that Religious Studies consists of a multiform subject field and a variety of disciplines with a multiplicity of issues, interests and topics together with a wide variety of approaches and methods. Some scholars have described religion as a �saturated phenomenon� trying to indicate how the diversity of elements described as religious came to shroud the true subject matter. All these hindrances on the road to comprehending religion are like dragons preventing one from completing a (holy! quest. This article does not want to provide new answers to an old debate. In this sense this article is not an attempt at slaying the dragons but identifying them. Three issues (dragons are discussed. How religion, the object of Religious Studies, should be viewed? What methods are employed by Religious Studies and the relatedness of Religious Studies to Theology? In the end the article wants to provide direction on how Religious Studies, as academic discipline, can collaborate with research in Theology.Intradisciplinary and/or interdisciplinary implications: This article discusses the development of the subject of Religious Studies by providing a historic overview of sociological influences on the development. In this sense this article is not an attempt at slaying the dragons but identifying them. Three issues (dragons are discussed: how religion, the object of Religious Studies, should be viewed; what methods are employed by Religious Studies and the relatedness of Religious Studies to

Compressive myelopathy of the cervical spine in Komodo dragons (Varanus komodoensis).

Science.gov (United States)

Zimmerman, Dawn M; Douglass, Michael; Sutherland-Smith, Meg; Aguilar, Roberto; Schaftenaar, Willem; Shores, Andy

2009-03-01

Cervical subluxation and compressive myelopathy appears to be a cause of morbidity and mortality in captive Komodo dragons (Varanus komodoensis). Four cases of cervical subluxation resulting in nerve root compression or spinal cord compression were identified. Three were presumptively induced by trauma, and one had an unknown inciting cause. Two dragons exhibited signs of chronic instability. Cervical vertebrae affected included C1-C4. Clinical signs on presentation included ataxia, ambulatory paraparesis or tetraparesis to tetraplegia, depression to stupor, cervical scoliosis, and anorexia. Antemortem diagnosis of compression was only confirmed with magnetic resonance imaging or computed tomography. Treatment ranged from supportive care to attempted surgical decompression. All dragons died or were euthanatized, at 4 days to 12 mo postpresentation. Studies to define normal vertebral anatomy in the species are necessary to determine whether the pathology is linked to cervical malformation, resulting in ligament laxity, subsequent instability, and subluxation.

First Description of the Karyotype and Sex Chromosomes in the Komodo Dragon (Varanus komodoensis).

Science.gov (United States)

Johnson Pokorná, Martina; Altmanová, Marie; Rovatsos, Michail; Velenský, Petr; Vodička, Roman; Rehák, Ivan; Kratochvíl, Lukáš

2016-01-01

The Komodo dragon (Varanus komodoensis) is the largest lizard in the world. Surprisingly, it has not yet been cytogenetically examined. Here, we present the very first description of its karyotype and sex chromosomes. The karyotype consists of 2n = 40 chromosomes, 16 macrochromosomes and 24 microchromosomes. Although the chromosome number is constant for all species of monitor lizards (family Varanidae) with the currently reported karyotype, variability in the morphology of the macrochromosomes has been previously documented within the group. We uncovered highly differentiated ZZ/ZW sex microchromosomes with a heterochromatic W chromosome in the Komodo dragon. Sex chromosomes have so far only been described in a few species of varanids including V. varius, the sister species to Komodo dragon, whose W chromosome is notably larger than that of the Komodo dragon. Accumulations of several microsatellite sequences in the W chromosome have recently been detected in 3 species of monitor lizards; however, these accumulations are absent from the W chromosome of the Komodo dragon. In conclusion, although varanids are rather conservative in karyotypes, their W chromosomes exhibit substantial variability at the sequence level, adding further evidence that degenerated sex chromosomes may represent the most dynamic genome part. © 2016 S. Karger AG, Basel.

On the Origin of the Dragon Image on the Plate from Shilovka Burial Mound

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Liphanov Nicolay А.

2017-07-01

Full Text Available The author of the article analyzes an unique image of two opposed dragons engraved on a bone plate discovered in 1992 at barrow No.1 of Shilovka burial mound located on the right bank of the Volga river in Ulyanovsk Oblast (the excavations were conducted by R.S. Bagautdinov. The burial mound is related to the cattle breeding population of late 7th century. The article considers different hypotheses concerning the origin of these dragon images in the artistic traditions of various regions: China (A.V. Komar, D.G. Savinov, B. Totev, Pelevina, Central Asia (V.G. Kotov, V.E. Flyorova, India (N.A. Fonyakova. According to the author, this image has no apparent iconographic parallels in the traditions of these regions. Such analogues are found in the art of the Mediterranean where the ancient images of various mythological creatures exist alongside the image of the sea dragon “ketos” which later became part of the Christian tradition. The appearance of this monster in the images of the first half – middle of the 1st millennium A.D. is practically identical to the dragons from Shilovka burial mound. According to the author, certain impact on the formation of the considered dragon image was made by Iranian art.

DRAGON and CORD-2 nuclear calculation of the NPP Krško fuel assembly

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kromar, Marjan; Kurinčič, Bojan

2012-01-01

Highlights: ▶ Comparison of the DRAGON 4 and CORD-2 calculation of the NPP Krško 16 × 16 fuel assembly has been performed. ▶ Two different enrichments (4.60% and 4.95%), three IFBA configurations (0, 64 and 116 IFBAs) and the burnup up to 60,000 MWd/tU were considered. ▶ Comparison shows that the agreement in the results of both codes is very good. ▶ Regarding efficiency, one CORD-2 assembly depletion calculation takes about 3 min of the CPU time on the typical PC, while the DRAGON calculation runs more than 25 h. - Abstract: The geometry of the reactor core is usually too complex to be solved in one step. Therefore, a solution for the whole core in 3-D geometry is sought in several steps, where some kind of homogenization procedure of neutron few-group cross sections is applied. Usually, assembly-homogenized effective two-group cross sections are determined, which are suitable for solving the diffusion equation for the whole core by a coarse mesh nodal methods. In this paper DRAGON 4 and CORD-2 codes are used for the calculation of NPP Krško 16 × 16 fuel assemblies without and with IFBA rods. DRAGON code was selected, since it can use the same cross-section library as the WIMS-D5 code employed in the CORD-2 system. Different results arise therefore solely from the different models used in the calculations. The heterogeneous depletion calculation was performed up to burnup of 60,000 MWd/tU. Results of both codes are compared for the infinite multiplication factor, fast to thermal spectral ratio and pin power distributions.

A Wims E analysis of the zero energy experiments of Dragon prior to charge IV - Part 3: Prelmininary investigations into the control rod representation and related problems

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Dubofsky, W; Woloch, F

1973-09-28

In the collaboration between UKAEA and Dragon for Zero Energy Experiment Evaluation, Dragon is to undertake all investigations needed for the representation of specific features of the Dragon Reactor experiment which are not necessarily characteristic of the large HTR system. One quite obvious uniqueness of Dragon is the location of the control rods situated in the radial reflector, only a few thermal mean free paths away from the core reflector boundary. In the first onslaught it is our intention to use the already available WIMS modules as much as possible and to identify difficulties in doing so. Finally it will be profitable to consider if the control rod representation found as a result of the whole exercise lends itself for the routine calculations of Dragon. In this paper Section 2 describes the geometrical difficulties to be overcome. Section 3 presents the results of calculations so far available. Section 4 gives the layout of further calculations planned and Section 5 presents the conclusions.

Experiments with the Dragon Machine

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Malenfant, R.E.

2005-01-01

The basic characteristics of a self-sustaining chain reaction were demonstrated with the Chicago Pile in 1943, but it was not until early 1945 that sufficient enriched material became available to experimentally verify fast-neutron cross-sections and the kinetic characteristics of a nuclear chain reaction sustained with prompt neutrons alone. However, the demands of wartime and the rapid decline in effort following the cessation of hostilities often resulted in the failure to fully document the experiments or in the loss of documentation as personnel returned to civilian pursuits. When documented, the results were often highly classified. Even when eventually declassified, the data were often not approved for public release until years later.2 Even after declassification and approval for public release, the records are sometimes difficult to find. Through a fortuitous discovery, a set of handwritten notes by ''ORF July 1945'' entitled ''Dragon - Research with a Pulsed Fission Reactor'' was found by William L. Myers in an old storage safe at Pajarito Site of the Los Alamos National Laboratory3. Of course, ORF was identified as Otto R. Frisch. The document was attached to a page in a nondescript spiral bound notebook labeled ''494 Book'' that bore the signatures of Louis Slotin and P. Morrison. The notes also reference an ''Idea LS'' that can only be Louis Slotin. The discovery of the notes led to a search of Laboratory Archives, the negative files of the photo lab, and the Report Library for additional details of the experiments with the Dragon machine that were conducted between January and July 1945. The assembly machine and the experiments were carefully conceived and skillfully executed. The analyses--without the crutch of computers--display real insight into the characteristics of the nuclear chain reaction. The information presented here provides what is believed to be a complete collection of the original documentation of the observations made with the Dragon

High-speed two-frame gated camera for parameters measurement of Dragon-Ⅰ LIA

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Jiang Xiaoguo; Wang Yuan; Zhang Kaizhi; Shi Jinshui; Deng Jianjun; Li Jin

2012-01-01

The time-resolved measurement system which can work at very high speed is necessary in electron beam parameter diagnosis for Dragon-Ⅰ linear induction accelerator (LIA). A two-frame gated camera system has been developed and put into operation. The camera system adopts the optical principle of splitting the imaging light beam into two parts in the imaging space of a lens with long focus length. It includes lens coupled gated image intensifier, CCD camera, high speed shutter trigger device based on large scale field programmable gate array. The minimum exposure time for each image is about 3 ns, and the interval time between two images can be adjusted with a step of about 0.5 ns. The exposure time and the interval time can be independently adjusted and can reach about 1 s. The camera system features good linearity, good response uniformity, equivalent background illumination (EBI) as low as about 5 electrons per pixel per second, large adjustment range of sensitivity, and excel- lent flexibility and adaptability in applications. The camera system can capture two frame images at one time with the image size of 1024 x 1024. It meets the requirements of measurement for Dragon-Ⅰ LIA. (authors)

Dragon boat racing and health-related quality of life of breast cancer survivors: a mixed methods evaluation.

Science.gov (United States)

Ray, Heather A; Verhoef, Marja J

2013-08-05

Breast cancer survivors who participate in physical activity (PA) are reported to experience improved health-related quality of life (HRQOL). However, the quantitative research exploring the relationship between the team-based activity of dragon boat racing and the HRQOL of breast cancer survivors is limited. Given the rising number of breast cancer survivors, and their growing attraction to dragon boating, further exploration of the influence of this activity on HRQOL is warranted. This study is designed to: 1) quantitatively assess whether and how breast cancer survivors' participation in a season of dragon boat racing is related to HRQOL and 2) qualitatively explore the survivors' lived experience of dragon boating and how and why this experience is perceived to influence HRQOL. A mixed methods sequential explanatory design was used with the purpose of complementing quantitative findings with qualitative data. Quantitative data measuring HRQOL were collected at baseline and post-season (N=100); semi-structured qualitative interviews were used to elicit a personal account of the dragon boat experience (N=15). Statistically significant improvements were shown for HRQOL, physical, functional, emotional and spiritual well-being, breast cancer-specific concerns and cancer-related fatigue. A trend towards significance was shown for social/family well-being. Qualitative data elaborated on the quantitative findings, greatly enhancing the understanding of how and why dragon boat racing influences HRQOL. The use of a mixed methods design effectively captured the complex yet positive influence of dragon boating on survivor HRQOL. These findings contribute to a growing body of literature supporting the value of dragon boat racing as a viable PA intervention for enhancing survivor HRQOL.

The role of red dragon fruit peel (Hylocereus polyrhizus) to improvement blood lipid levels of hyperlipidaemia male mice

Science.gov (United States)

Hernawati; Setiawan, N. A.; Shintawati, R.; Priyandoko, D.

2018-05-01

The purpose of this research was to know the role of red dragon fruit peel powder to total cholesterol, triglyceride, high-density lipoprotein (HDL), low-density lipoprotein (LDL), and weight in the male hyperlipidaemic Balb-C mice (Mus musculus). This study used a completely randomized design (CRD) and four replicates for each dose treatments. Samples were 24 male mice that divided into six groups i.e. positive and negative controls, doses of 50; 100; 150 and 200 mg/kgBW/days red dragon fruit peel powder. Before being given treatment, mice were given feed containing high fat for 20 days until experiencing conditions hyperlipidaemia. The red dragon fruit peel powder was given at oral with used gavage for 30 days. Blood samples were taken from the tail on vena caudalis. Blood lipid samples were analysed at enzymatic with BIOLABO kits. The results of this study indicate that after administration of red dragon fruit peel powder total cholesterol levels, triglycerides and LDL-c decreased, along with increasing doses of red dragon fruit peel powder for 30 days. Furthermore showed that dragon fruit powder can increase HDL-c levels. The conclusion of this research was The red dragon fruit peel powder can improve blood lipid level of male Balb-c mice hyperlipidaemia.

Temperature coefficients in the Dragon low-enriched power reactor

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Hansen, U

1972-05-15

The temperature coefficient of the fuel and of the moderator have been evaluated for the Dragon HTR design for different stages in reactor life, initial core, end of no-refuelling period and equilibrium conditions. The investigation has shown the low-enriched HTR to have a strong, positive moderator coefficient. In some cases and for special operating conditions, even leading to a positive total temperature coefficient. This does not imply, however, that the HTR is an unsafe reactor system. By adequate design of the control system, safe and reliable operating characteristics can be achieved. This has already been proved satisfactory through many years of operation of other graphite moderated systems, such as the Magnox stations.

78 FR 42733 - Safety Zone; Cleveland Dragon Boat Festival and Head of the Cuyahoga, Cuyahoga River, Cleveland, OH

Science.gov (United States)

2013-07-17

...-AA00 Safety Zone; Cleveland Dragon Boat Festival and Head of the Cuyahoga, Cuyahoga River, Cleveland... intended to restrict vessels from a portion of the Cuyahoga River during the Dragon Boat Festival and Head... over a decade and the Dragon Boat Festival for the last 7 years. In response to past years' events, the...

A Case Study in Byzantine Dragon-Slaying: Digenes and the Serpent

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Christopher Livanos

2011-03-01

Full Text Available The Byzantine epic Digenes Akrites has similarities with ancient and medieval Iranian traditions that, in consideration of the epic’s Eastern settings, suggest Iranian influences. Digenes resembles dragon-slaying heroes of other Indo-European traditions. He also resembles the Irish hero Cú Chulainn in that he is not psychologically fit to live in the midst of the community that depends on his protection. Freudian readings of Digenes’ encounters with the dragon and the Amazon Maximou are proposed.

CANDU reactor core simulations using fully coupled DRAGON and DONJON calculations

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Varin, E.; Marleau, G.

2006-01-01

The operating CANDU-6 reactors are refueled on-power to compensate for the reactivity loss due to fuel burnup. In order to predict the core behavior, fuel bundle burnups and local parameter information need to be tracked. The history-based approach has been developed to follow local parameter as well as history effect in CANDU reactors. The finite reactor diffusion code DONJON and the lattice code DRAGON have been coupled to perform reactor follow-up calculations using a history-based approach. A coupled methodology that manages the transfer of information between standard DONJON and DRAGON data structures has been developed. Push-through refueling can be taken into account directly in cell calculations. Using actual on-site information, an isotopic core content database has been generated with coupled DONJON and DRAGON calculations. Moreover calculations have been performed for different local parameters. Results are compared with those obtained using standard cross section generation approaches

A DRAGON-MCNP comparison of void reactivity calculations

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Marleau, G [Ecole Polytechnique, Montreal, PQ (Canada). Inst. de Genie Nucleaire; Milgram, M S [Atomic Energy of Canada Ltd., Chalk River, ON (Canada)

1996-12-31

The determination of the reactivity coefficients associated with coolant voiding in a CANDU reactor is a subject which has attracted a large amount of interest in the last few years both from the theoretical and experimental point of view. One expects that deterministic codes such as DRAGON and WIMS-AECL or the MCNP4 Monte Carlo code should be able to adequately simulate the cell behaviour upon coolant voiding. However, the absence of an experimental database at equilibrium and discharge burnups has not permitted the full validation of any of these lattice codes, although a partial validation through comparison of two different computer codes has been considered. Here we present a comparison between DRAGON and MCNP4 of the void reactivity evaluation for fresh fuel. (author). 16 refs., 5 tabs.

A DRAGON-MCNP comparison of void reactivity calculations

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Marleau, G.

1995-01-01

The determination of the reactivity coefficients associated with coolant voiding in a CANDU reactor is a subject which has attracted a large amount of interest in the last few years both from the theoretical and experimental point of view. One expects that deterministic codes such as DRAGON and WIMS-AECL or the MCNP4 Monte Carlo code should be able to adequately simulate the cell behaviour upon coolant voiding. However, the absence of an experimental database at equilibrium and discharge burnups has not permitted the full validation of any of these lattice codes, although a partial validation through comparison of two different computer codes has been considered. Here we present a comparison between DRAGON and MCNP4 of the void reactivity evaluation for fresh fuel. (author). 16 refs., 5 tabs

The Dragon Bone Collectors

Institute of Scientific and Technical Information of China (English)

2008-01-01

Finding of a dinosaur fossil skeleton sparks excitement among paleontologists and locals in a poor Henan village Avillager’s accidental discovery four years ago has made known to the world a rich mine of dinosaur fossils in Ruyang County,central China’s Henan Province.At the same time,the fate of the small village has been changed. Li Chui,a farmer in Shaping Village, thought he had found bones of a"dragon"when he dug up stones for his new house on an April morning in 2005.

Feasibility study of the Dragon reactor for HTGR fuel testing

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Wallroth, C.F.

1975-01-01

The Organization of European Community Development (OECD) Dragon high-temperature reactor project has performed HTGR fuel and fuel element testing for about 10 years. To date, a total of about 250 fuel elements have been irradiated and the test program continues. The feasibility of using this test facility for HTGR fuel testing, giving special consideration to U. S. needs, is evaluated. A detailed description for design, preparation, and data acquisition of a test experiment is given together with all possible options on supporting work, which could be carried out by the experienced Dragon project staff. 11 references. (U.S.)

O herói na forma e no conteúdo: análise textual do Mangá Dragon Ball e Dragon Ball Z.

OpenAIRE

Silva, André Luiz Souza da

2006-01-01

A presente dissertação, intitulada O herói na forma e no conteúdo: análise textual do mangá Dragon Ball e Dragon Ball Z, objetiva averiguar os aspectos narrativos que compõem o mangá ao longo dessa série, verificando o papel do herói e a sua relação com os demais personagens. Para isso, a investigação analisa os aspectos plásticos do herói no contexto da economia narrativa geral dos quadrinhos. O objetivo é ponderar e realçar certos aspectos de ordem morfológica e das ações narrativas entre o...

New layout of time resolved beam energy spectrum measurement for dragon-I

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Liao Shuqing; Zhang Kaizhi; Shi Jinshui

2010-01-01

A new layout of time resolved beam energy spectrum measurement is proposed for Dragon-I by a new method named RBS (rotating beams in solenoids). The basic theory of RBS and the new layout are presented and the measuring error is also discussed. The derived time resolved beam energy spectrum is discrete and is determined by measuring the beam's rotating angle and expanding width through a group of solenoids at the export of Dragon-I. (authors)

Nuclear astrophysics with DRAGON at ISAC

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

D'Auria, J.M.

2003-01-01

A new facility, DRAGON, designed specifically to measure radiative proton and alpha capture reaction rates using short-lived, radioactive beams is almost installed at the new ISAC accelerated radioactive beam facility. A description of the planned experimental program, status of the installation (as of July 2001), results from commissioning studies, and the planned schedule are provided in this report. (orig.)

Statistical Modeling of Extreme Values and Evidence of Presence of Dragon King (DK) in Solar Wind

Science.gov (United States)

Gomes, T.; Ramos, F.; Rempel, E. L.; Silva, S.; C-L Chian, A.

2017-12-01

The solar wind constitutes a nonlinear dynamical system, presenting intermittent turbulence, multifractality and chaotic dynamics. One characteristic shared by many such complex systems is the presence of extreme events, that play an important role in several Geophysical phenomena and their statistical characterization is a problem of great practical relevance. This work investigates the presence of extreme events in time series of the modulus of the interplanetary magnetic field measured by Cluster spacecraft on February 2, 2002. One of the main results is that the solar wind near the Earth's bow shock can be modeled by the Generalized Pareto (GP) and Generalized Extreme Values (GEV) distributions. Both models present a statistically significant positive shape parameter which implyies a heavy tail in the probability distribution functions and an unbounded growth in return values as return periods become too long. There is evidence that current sheets are the main responsible for positive values of the shape parameter. It is also shown that magnetic reconnection at the interface between two interplanetary magnetic flux ropes in the solar wind can be considered as Dragon Kings (DK), a class of extreme events whose formation mechanisms are fundamentally different from others. As long as magnetic reconnection can be classified as a Dragon King, there is the possibility of its identification and even its prediction. Dragon kings had previously been identified in time series of financial crashes, nuclear power generation accidents, stock market and so on. It is believed that they are associated with the occurrence of extreme events in dynamical systems at phase transition, bifurcation, crises or tipping points.

Evaluation of the DRAGON code for VHTR design analysis.

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Taiwo, T. A.; Kim, T. K.; Nuclear Engineering Division

2006-01-12

This letter report summarizes three activities that were undertaken in FY 2005 to gather information on the DRAGON code and to perform limited evaluations of the code performance when used in the analysis of the Very High Temperature Reactor (VHTR) designs. These activities include: (1) Use of the code to model the fuel elements of the helium-cooled and liquid-salt-cooled VHTR designs. Results were compared to those from another deterministic lattice code (WIMS8) and a Monte Carlo code (MCNP). (2) The preliminary assessment of the nuclear data library currently used with the code and libraries that have been provided by the IAEA WIMS-D4 Library Update Project (WLUP). (3) DRAGON workshop held to discuss the code capabilities for modeling the VHTR.

Evaluation of the DRAGON code for VHTR design analysis

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Taiwo, T. A.; Kim, T. K.; Nuclear Engineering Division

2006-01-01

This letter report summarizes three activities that were undertaken in FY 2005 to gather information on the DRAGON code and to perform limited evaluations of the code performance when used in the analysis of the Very High Temperature Reactor (VHTR) designs. These activities include: (1) Use of the code to model the fuel elements of the helium-cooled and liquid-salt-cooled VHTR designs. Results were compared to those from another deterministic lattice code (WIMS8) and a Monte Carlo code (MCNP). (2) The preliminary assessment of the nuclear data library currently used with the code and libraries that have been provided by the IAEA WIMS-D4 Library Update Project (WLUP). (3) DRAGON workshop held to discuss the code capabilities for modeling the VHTR

Validation of a thermal threshold nociceptive model in bearded dragons (Pogona vitticeps).

Science.gov (United States)

Couture, Émilie L; Monteiro, Beatriz P; Aymen, Jessica; Troncy, Eric; Steagall, Paulo V

2017-05-01

To validate a thermal threshold (TT) nociceptive model in bearded dragons (Pogona vitticeps) and to document TT changes after administration of morphine. A two-part randomized, blinded, controlled, experimental study. Five adult bearded dragons (242-396 g). A TT device delivered a ramped nociceptive stimulus (0.6 °C second -1 ) to the medial thigh until a response (leg kick/escape behavior) was observed or maximum (cut-off) temperature of 62 °C was reached. In phase I, period 1, six TT readings were determined at 20 minute intervals for evaluation of repeatability. Two of these readings were randomly assigned to be sham to assess specificity of the behavioral response. The same experiment was repeated 2 weeks later (period 2) to test reproducibility. In phase II, animals were administered either intramuscular morphine (10 mg kg -1 ) or saline 0.9%. TTs (maximum 68 °C) were determined before and 2, 4, 8, 12 and 24 hours after treatment administration. Data were analyzed using one-way anova (temporal changes and repeatability) and paired t tests (reproducibility and treatment comparisons) using Bonferroni correction (p dragons. TT nociceptive testing detected morphine administration and may be suitable for studying opioid regimens in bearded dragons. Copyright © 2017 Association of Veterinary Anaesthetists and American College of Veterinary Anesthesia and Analgesia. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Effectiveness of the Red Dragon Fruit (Hylocereus polyrhizus Peel Extract as the Colorant, Antioxidant, and Antimicrobial on Beef Sausage

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Fitri M Manihuruk

2017-04-01

Full Text Available This study aimed to evaluate the effectiveness of red dragon fruit (Hylocereus polyrhizus peel extracts addition on beef sausages. Red dragon fruit peel extracts were obtained by maceration using solvent at pH 5. Phytochemical characteristics, total phenols, antioxidant, and antimicrobial activity of the peel extracts were observed. Antioxidant and antimicrobial activities of the extracts were associated with high phytochemical compounds and total phenols contained in the extracts. Red dragon fruit peel extracts with various percentages (0%, 20%, 30%, and 40% were added on beef sausages, and their physicochemical characteristics, nutrients, antioxidant activity, and microbiological profile were analyzed. The data were analyzed using analysis of variance and Duncan’s multiple range test. Results showed that the addition of red dragon fruit peel extracts significantly reduced texture values, but increased intensity of luminosity, intensity of red color, and intensity of yellow color (P<0.05 beef sausages. It could be concluded that red dragon fruit peel extract containing phytochemical compounds was effective as an antibacterial agent and natural antioxidant. The addition of red dragon fruit peel extracts was effective in increasing the antioxidant activity and decreasing TBARS values. The addition of red dragon fruit peel extract did not affect the reddish colorization of beef sausages, but it was capable of increasing the yellowish colorization on beef sausage.

Devriesea agamarum causes dermatitis in bearded dragons (Pogona vitticeps).

Science.gov (United States)

Hellebuyck, Tom; Martel, An; Chiers, Koen; Haesebrouck, Freddy; Pasmans, Frank

2009-03-02

Devriesea agamarum is frequently isolated from dermatitis in lizards, notably from cheilitis in spiny tailed lizards (genus Uromastyx). It was the aim of the present study to assess the role of this bacterium as a causative agent of dermatitis by fulfilling Koch's postulates. First, its association with diseased lizards was demonstrated. The bacterium was isolated from several, mainly desert dwelling squamate species showing symptoms of dermatitis and/or septicaemia. The affected lizards mainly belonged to the family of the Agamidae (genera Pogona, Uromastyx, Agama) and in one case to the Iguanidae (genus Crotaphytus). Secondly, the occurrence of D. agamarum in 66 clinically healthy bearded dragons, 21 clinically healthy Uromastyx species and 40 squamate eggshells was studied. The bacterium was isolated from the oral cavity of 10 bearded dragons but from none of the healthy Uromastyx species. Hence D. agamarum was found to be part of the oral microbiota in Pogona vitticeps. Finally, bearded dragons (P. vitticeps) were experimentally inoculated with D. agamarum by direct application of a bacterial suspension on intact and abraded skin. At the scarified skin of all inoculated lizards, dermatitis was induced from which D. agamarum was re-isolated. In conclusion, D. agamarum is a facultative pathogenic bacterium, able to cause dermatitis in agamid lizards when the integrity of the skin is breached.

Male tawny dragons use throat patterns to recognize rivals.

Science.gov (United States)

Osborne, Louise; Umbers, Kate D L; Backwell, Patricia R Y; Keogh, J Scott

2012-10-01

The ability to distinguish between familiar and unfamiliar conspecifics is important for many animals, especially territorial species since it allows them to avoid unnecessary interactions with individuals that pose little threat. There are very few studies, however, that identify the proximate cues that facilitate such recognition in visual systems. Here, we show that in tawny dragons (Ctenophorus decresii), males can recognize familiar and unfamiliar conspecific males based on morphological features alone, without the aid of chemical or behavioural cues. We further show that it is the colour pattern of the throat patches (gular) that facilitates this recognition.

Life history and spatial determinants of somatic growth dynamics in Komodo dragon populations

OpenAIRE

Laver, Rj; Purwandana, D; Ariefiandy, A; Imansyah, J; Forsyth, D; Ciofi, C; Jessop, Ts

2012-01-01

Somatic growth patterns represent a major component of organismal fitness and may vary among sexes and populations due to genetic and environmental processes leading to profound differences in life-history and demography. This study considered the ontogenic, sex-specific and spatial dynamics of somatic growth patterns in ten populations of the world's largest lizard the Komodo dragon (Varanus komodoensis). The growth of 400 individual Komodo dragons was measured in a capture-mark-recapture st...

Background suppression by the DRAGON radiative capture facility at TRIUMF/ISAC

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hutcheon, D.; Buchmann, L.; Chen, A.A.; D'Auria, J.M.; Davis, C.A.; Greife, U.; Hussein, A.; Ottewell, D.F.; Ouellet, C.V.; Parikh, A.; Parker, P.; Pearson, J.; Ruiz, C.; Ruprecht, G.; Trinczek, M.; Vockenhuber, C.

2008-01-01

The DRAGON facility at TRIUMF/ISAC detects reaction products following radiative capture of a hydrogen or helium target nucleus by an accelerated heavy ion. Capture reactions of interest in nuclear astrophysics may have reaction rates 10-14 orders of magnitude lower than the intensity of the incident beam: as well as efficiently transporting the heavy reaction product from the target to a suitable particle detector, the separator must provide most of the suppression of unreacted beam. We describe the features of beam background encountered in a range of proton- and alpha-capture experiments at the DRAGON facility.

Operational experience with Dragon reactor experiment of relevance to commercial reactors

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Capp, P.D.; Simon, R.A.

1976-01-01

An important part of the experience gained during the first ten years of successful power operation of the Dragon Reactor is relevant to the design and operation of future High Temperature Reactors (HTRs). The aspects presented in this paper have been chosen as being particularly applicable to larger HTR systems. Core performance under a variety of conditions is surveyed with particular emphasis on a technique developed for the identification and location of unpurged releasing fuel and the presence of activation and fission products in the core area. The lessons learned during the reflector block replacement are presented. Operating experience with the primary circuit identifies the lack of mixing of gas streams within the hot plenum and the problems of gas streaming in ducts. Helium leakage from the circuit is often greater than the optimum 0.1%/d. Virtually all the leakage problems are associated with the small bore instrument pipework essential for the many experiments associated with the Dragon Reactor Experiment (DRE). Primary circuit maintenance work confirms the generally clean state of the DRE circuit but identifies 137 Cs and 110 Agsup(m) as possible hazards if fuel emitting these isotopes is irradiated. (author)

The primary circuit of the dragon high temperature reactor experiment

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Simon, R.

2005-01-01

The 20 MWth Dragon Reactor Experiment was the first HTGR (High Temperature Gas-cooled Reactor) with coated particle fuel. Its purpose was to test fuel and materials for the High Temperature Reactor programmes pursued in Europe 40 years ago. This paper describes the design and construction of the primary (helium) circuit. It summarizes the main design objectives, lists the performance data and explains the flow paths of the heat removal and helium purification systems. The principal circuit accidents postulated are discussed and the choice of the main construction materials is given. (author)

Safety assessment for Dragon fuel element production

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Price, M.S.T.

1963-11-01

This report shall be the Safety Assessment covering the manufacture of the First Charge of Fuel and Fuel Elements for the Dragon Reactor Experiment. It is issued in two parts, of which Part I is descriptive and Part II gives the Hazards Analysis, the Operating Limitations, the Standing Orders and the Emergency Drill. (author)

Efficacy of Dragon's blood cream on wound healing: A randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled clinical trial

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Foroogh Namjoyan

2016-01-01

Full Text Available The blood-red sap of Dragon's blood has been used in folk medicine for fractures, wounds, inflammation, gastrointestinal disorders, rheumatism, blood circulation dysfunctions, and cancer. Existing in vitro and in vivo bioactivity of this herb on different mechanisms of healing shows strong potential of this sap in wound healing. This clinical trial study was designated to evaluate the wound healing effect of Dragon's blood on human wounds. Sixty patients, between the ages of 14–65 years, who were referred to remove their skin tag, were assigned to this double-blind, placebo-controlled, randomized clinical trial and received either Dragon's blood or a placebo cream. They were visited on the 3rd, 5th, 7th, 10th, 14th, and 20th day of the trial to check the process of healing and to measure the wound's surface. At the end of trial, there was a significant difference in the mean duration of wound healing between the two groups (p = 0.0001. The phenolic compounds and the alkaloid taspine, which exist in Dragon's-blood resin, are probably the main reasons for the wound healing property of this plant. Being natural accessible, safe, and affordable makes Dragon's blood cream, a good choice for addition to the wound healing armamentarium. Further studies on wounds with different causes and among larger populations are suggested to ensure the effectiveness and safety of Dragon's blood.

Application of the Dragon reactor experiment to the safety evaluation of current HTR systems

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ashworth, F.P.O.; Faircloth, R.L.

1976-01-01

An important component of the confidence required for the safety assessment of high-temperature reactors is the experimental proof of phenomena such as fission product release or core corrosion. The most convincing experiments are those carried out in a reactor. This paper outlines the scope of experiments relevant to safety which can be done in the Dragon Reactor Experiment and describes as an example the experimental campaign and the current outcome of the work on validating the predictions of caesium release and migration. (author)

"Snow White" Coating Protects SpaceX Dragon's Trunk Against Rigors of Space

Science.gov (United States)

McMahan, Tracy

2013-01-01

He described it as "snow white." But NASA astronaut Don Pettit was not referring to the popular children's fairy tale. Rather, he was talking about the white coating of the Space Exploration Technologies Corp. (SpaceX) Dragon spacecraft that reflected from the International Space Station s light. As it approached the station for the first time in May 2012, the Dragon s trunk might have been described as the "fairest of them all," for its pristine coating, allowing Pettit to clearly see to maneuver the robotic arm to grab the Dragon for a successful nighttime berthing. This protective thermal control coating, developed by Alion Science and Technology Corp., based in McLean, Va., made its bright appearance again with the March 1 launch of SpaceX's second commercial resupply mission. Named Z-93C55, the coating was applied to the cargo portion of the Dragon to protect it from the rigors of space. "For decades, Alion has produced coatings to protect against the rigors of space," said Michael Kenny, senior chemist with Alion. "As space missions evolved, there was a growing need to dissipate electrical charges that build up on the exteriors of spacecraft, or there could be damage to the spacecraft s electronics. Alion's research led us to develop materials that would meet this goal while also providing thermal controls. The outcome of this research was Alion's proprietary Z-93C55 coating."

Behavior of Salmonella spp. and natural microbiota on fresh-cut dragon fruits at different storage temperatures.

Science.gov (United States)

Sim, Hui Li; Hong, Yoon-Ki; Yoon, Won Byong; Yuk, Hyun-Gyun

2013-01-01

The aim of this study was to determine survival or growth of unadapted, acid-adapted and cold-stressed Salmonella spp., and natural microbiota on fresh-cut dragon fruits at different storage temperatures. Dragon fruits were sliced and spot inoculated with five-strain cocktail of Salmonella spp. at two inoculum levels (2.5 or 5.5 log CFU/g). Inoculated fruits were stored at 28°C for 48h and at 4°C and 12°C for 96 h. Salmonella population significantly increased by 2.4 to 3.0 log CFU/g at low inoculum level, whereas the numbers increased by 0.4 to 0.7 log CFU/g at the high inoculum level on fruits held at 28°C for 48h. Only unadapted and acid-adapted cells grew with 0.7 to 0.9log increase at the low inoculum level at 12°C for 96h. No significant growth was observed at both inoculum levels during storage at 4°C. Overall, acid, starved and cold adaptation of Salmonella spp. did not show significant difference in survival or growth on fresh-cut dragon fruits during storage compared to unadapted control cells. For natural microbiota on the fruit, mesophilic bacterial counts reached to 5-log CFU/g at 28 and 12°C by 9.9 and 52.9h. Similar with Salmonella spp. there was no growth of natural microbiota at 4°C. These results showed that Salmonella spp. could grow on fresh-cut dragon fruits under inappropriate storage conditions, indicating that fresh-cut dragon fruits could be a potential vehicle for salmonellosis. Thus, this study suggests that fresh-cut dragon fruits should be stored at 4°C to ensure the safety as well as to extend the shelf life of fresh-cut dragon fruits. Copyright © 2012 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

The Oral and Skin Microbiomes of Captive Komodo Dragons Are Significantly Shared with Their Habitat.

Science.gov (United States)

Hyde, Embriette R; Navas-Molina, Jose A; Song, Se Jin; Kueneman, Jordan G; Ackermann, Gail; Cardona, Cesar; Humphrey, Gregory; Boyer, Don; Weaver, Tom; Mendelson, Joseph R; McKenzie, Valerie J; Gilbert, Jack A; Knight, Rob

2016-01-01

Examining the way in which animals, including those in captivity, interact with their environment is extremely important for studying ecological processes and developing sophisticated animal husbandry. Here we use the Komodo dragon ( Varanus komodoensis ) to quantify the degree of sharing of salivary, skin, and fecal microbiota with their environment in captivity. Both species richness and microbial community composition of most surfaces in the Komodo dragon's environment are similar to the Komodo dragon's salivary and skin microbiota but less similar to the stool-associated microbiota. We additionally compared host-environment microbiome sharing between captive Komodo dragons and their enclosures, humans and pets and their homes, and wild amphibians and their environments. We observed similar host-environment microbiome sharing patterns among humans and their pets and Komodo dragons, with high levels of human/pet- and Komodo dragon-associated microbes on home and enclosure surfaces. In contrast, only small amounts of amphibian-associated microbes were detected in the animals' environments. We suggest that the degree of sharing between the Komodo dragon microbiota and its enclosure surfaces has important implications for animal health. These animals evolved in the context of constant exposure to a complex environmental microbiota, which likely shaped their physiological development; in captivity, these animals will not receive significant exposure to microbes not already in their enclosure, with unknown consequences for their health. IMPORTANCE Animals, including humans, have evolved in the context of exposure to a variety of microbial organisms present in the environment. Only recently have humans, and some animals, begun to spend a significant amount of time in enclosed artificial environments, rather than in the more natural spaces in which most of evolution took place. The consequences of this radical change in lifestyle likely extend to the microbes residing

Effects of high dose coffee intake on aerobic power in dragon female athletes

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Shabani Ramin

2016-08-01

Full Text Available Background : There are few studies that consider the effect of high doses of caffeine on aerobic power (VO2max. Also, to date, no study examined the effect of coffee intake on dragon boat paddler specifically on women. The purpose of this study was to investigate the effect of espresso coffee on improvement of aerobic power of dragon boat paddler. Material : Twenty women athletes of Guilan dragon bout team members of Malavan club of port city of Anzali (mean ±SD age, 23.60± 3.49 years; BMI,23.77±1.88kg/m2; body fat, 30.32±4.65% were recruited to this study, after they completed a primary test without consuming any coffee, they consumed 6mg/kg of coffee (espresso or decaffeinated and following that they completed two experimental trials. A randomized, double-blind, repeated-measures, design was employed whereby paddlers complete a 2000m paddling dragon boat ergo-meter. Results : Coffee could improve VO2max (Without coffee =74.40± QUOTE 4.99, Espresso coffee =90.10± QUOTE 6.19, Decaffeinated coffee =91.00± QUOTE 5.67, P≤ QUOTE 0.05. VO2max amount after exercise were significantly higher for both espresso coffee and decaffeinated coffee, when compared with without coffee condition. No significant differences were observed between espresso coffee and decaffeinated coffee (P≤ QUOTE 0.05. Conclusion : The present study shows that both high doses of caffeine (espresso coffee and decaffeinated coffee can enhance VO2max during aerobic exercise including 2000m dragon boat paddling. It seems that some compounds except caffeine in decaffeinated coffee can act improve VO2max. Further studies needed for considering the effect of high doses of coffee on endurance exercises. Also in other age ranges of women athletes and other sport athletes.

A comparison of UVb compact lamps in enabling cutaneous vitamin D synthesis in growing bearded dragons

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Diehl, J.J.E.; Baines, F.M.; Heijboer, A.C.; Leeuwen, van J.P.; Kik, M.; Hendriks, W.H.; Oonincx, D.G.A.B.

2018-01-01

The effect of exposure to different UVb compact lamps on the vitamin D status of growing bearded dragons (Pogona vitticeps) was studied. Forty-two newly hatched bearded dragons (<24 h old) were allocated to six treatment groups (n = 7 per group). Five groups were exposed to different UVb

A comparison of UVb compact lamps in enabling cutaneous vitamin D synthesis in growing bearded dragons

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Diehl, J J E; Baines, F M; Heijboer, A C; van Leeuwen, J P; Kik, M; Hendriks, W H; Oonincx, D G A B

The effect of exposure to different UVb compact lamps on the vitamin D status of growing bearded dragons (Pogona vitticeps) was studied. Forty-two newly hatched bearded dragons (<24 h old) were allocated to six treatment groups (n = 7 per group). Five groups were exposed to different UVb compact

Encephalitozoonosis in two inland bearded dragons (Pogona vitticeps).

Science.gov (United States)

Richter, B; Csokai, J; Graner, I; Eisenberg, T; Pantchev, N; Eskens, H U; Nedorost, N

2013-02-01

Microsporidiosis is reported rarely in reptiles. Sporadic multisystemic granulomatous disease of captive bearded dragons (Pogona vitticeps) has been associated with microsporidia showing Encephalitozoon-like morphology. Two such cases are described herein. Both animals displayed clinical signs suggestive of renal failure. Necropsy examination revealed granulomatous lesions in the liver and adrenal area in both animals, and in several other organs in one animal. The lesions were associated with intracellular protozoa consistent with microsporidia. Ultrastructural examination of the organisms revealed morphology similar to Encephalitozoon spp. Immunohistochemistry and chromogenic in-situ hybridization for Encephalitozoon cuniculi were positive in both animals. Nucleotide sequencing of the partial small subunit ribosomal RNA gene and the complete internal transcribed spacer (ITS) region revealed high similarity with published E. cuniculi sequences in both animals. However, the ITS region showed a GTTT-repeat pattern distinct from mammalian E. cuniculi strains. This may be a novel E. cuniculi strain associated with multisystemic granulomatous disease in bearded dragons. Copyright © 2012 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

DRAGON and SERPENT 2-D modelling of the SLOWPOKE-2 reactor at Ecole Polytechnique Montreal

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Raouafi, H.; Marleau, G.

2012-01-01

DRAGON is a deterministic code that can be used to perform lattice cell calculations based on numerical solutions of neutron transport equation. DRAGON can also be used for full core 2-D and 3-D simulations in transport. One alternative to the use of such a deterministic code consist in following the history of neutrons in the core based on statistical Monte Carlo simulation with codes like MCNP and SERPENT. This second calculation approach has been used successfully for SLOWPOKE-2 simulation in the past. Here we present a comparison between DRAGON and SERPENT calculations for the SLOWPOKE-2 reactor. We also compare the flux distribution obtained using both codes for a copper sample placed inside a small irradiation site. (author)

DRAGON FRUIT JUICE ADDITION IN PALM OIL-PUMPKIN EMULSION: PANELIST ACCEPTANCE AND ANTIOXIDANT CAPACITY

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Anton Rahmadi*

2017-12-01

Full Text Available Addition of dragon juice to emulsion products formulated from olein fraction of red palm oil and pumpkin juice was conducted as an effort to improve the taste thus it can be accepted by consumers. This study aims to (1 observe the acceptance of 60 panelists aged 17-21 years on the parameters of taste, aroma, mouthfeel, color, flavor and aroma of each contributing components of dragon fruit, palm oil, and raspberry flavor with the addition of dragon fruit juice at level 0 (control, 25, 50, and 75% (v/v, and (2 observe the changes in chemical components i.e. vitamin C and total titrable acids, total carotenoid by spectrophotometry, and antioxidant activity by 2,2-diphenyl-1-picrylhdrazyl (DPPH reduction method. The best formula was the one containing 75% (v/v of red dragon juice in fresh condition with vitamin C content of 19.32±0.62 mg/100 mL, antioxidant activity of 354.25±0.77 ppm, hedonic color, taste, and viscosity between favorable and very favorable. After 2 weeks of storage at room temperature (28±2ºC, the vitamin C, total carotene, and antioxidant activity of the mixture decreased by 29.72, 15.44, and 46.59%, res-pectively.

Isolation and identification of lactic acid bacteria from fermented red dragon fruit juices.

Science.gov (United States)

Ong, Yien Yien; Tan, Wen Siang; Rosfarizan, Mohamad; Chan, Eng Seng; Tey, Beng Ti

2012-10-01

Red dragon fruit or red pitaya is rich in potassium, fiber, and antioxidants. Its nutritional properties and unique flesh color have made it an attractive raw material of various types of food products and beverages including fermented beverages or enzyme drinks. In this study, phenotypic and genotypic methods were used to confirm the identity of lactic acid bacteria (LAB) appeared in fermented red dragon fruit (Hylocereus polyrhizus) beverages. A total of 21 isolates of LAB were isolated and characterized. They belonged to the genus of Enterococcus based on their biochemical characteristics. The isolates can be clustered into two groups by using the randomly amplified polymorphic DNA method. Nucleotide sequencing and restriction fragment length polymorphism of the 16S rRNA region suggested that they were either Enterococcus faecalis or Enterococcus durans. Current research revealed the use of biochemical analyses and molecular approaches to identify the microbial population particularly lactic acid bacteria from fermented red dragon fruit juices. © 2012 Institute of Food Technologists®

Chinese Dragons in an American Science Unit

Science.gov (United States)

Lew, Lee Yuen; McLure, John W.

2005-01-01

Can art and science find a happy home in the same unit? We think the answer is yes, if the central problem interests the students and allows them to try out multiple abilities. The sixth-grade unit described in this article, which we called "The Dragon Project," grew mainly from two roots, a study of ancient China and a later probe into…

External validation of the ability of the DRAGON score to predict outcome after thrombolysis treatment.

Science.gov (United States)

Ovesen, C; Christensen, A; Nielsen, J K; Christensen, H

2013-11-01

Easy-to-perform and valid assessment scales for the effect of thrombolysis are essential in hyperacute stroke settings. Because of this we performed an external validation of the DRAGON scale proposed by Strbian et al. in a Danish cohort. All patients treated with intravenous recombinant plasminogen activator between 2009 and 2011 were included. Upon admission all patients underwent physical and neurological examination using the National Institutes of Health Stroke Scale along with non-contrast CT scans and CT angiography. Patients were followed up through the Outpatient Clinic and their modified Rankin Scale (mRS) was assessed after 3 months. Three hundred and three patients were included in the analysis. The DRAGON scale proved to have a good discriminative ability for predicting highly unfavourable outcome (mRS 5-6) (area under the curve-receiver operating characteristic [AUC-ROC]: 0.89; 95% confidence interval [CI] 0.81-0.96; pDRAGON scale provided good discriminative capability (AUC-ROC: 0.89; 95% CI 0.78-1.0; p=0.003) for highly unfavourable outcome. We confirmed the validity of the DRAGON scale in predicting outcome after thrombolysis treatment. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Magnetic Resonance Imaging-DRAGON score: 3-month outcome prediction after intravenous thrombolysis for anterior circulation stroke.

Science.gov (United States)

Turc, Guillaume; Apoil, Marion; Naggara, Olivier; Calvet, David; Lamy, Catherine; Tataru, Alina M; Méder, Jean-François; Mas, Jean-Louis; Baron, Jean-Claude; Oppenheim, Catherine; Touzé, Emmanuel

2013-05-01

The DRAGON score, which includes clinical and computed tomographic scan parameters, showed a high specificity to predict 3-month outcome in patients with acute ischemic stroke treated by intravenous tissue plasminogen activator. We adapted the score for patients undergoing MRI as the first-line diagnostic tool. We reviewed patients with consecutive anterior circulation ischemic stroke treated ≤ 4.5 hour by intravenous tissue plasminogen activator between 2003 and 2012 in our center, where MRI is systematically implemented as first-line diagnostic work-up. We derived the MRI-DRAGON score keeping all clinical parameters of computed tomography-DRAGON (age, initial National Institutes of Health Stroke Scale and glucose level, prestroke handicap, onset to treatment time), and considering the following radiological variables: proximal middle cerebral artery occlusion on MR angiography instead of hyperdense middle cerebral artery sign, and diffusion-weighted imaging Alberta Stroke Program Early Computed Tomography Score (DWI ASPECTS) ≤ 5 instead of early infarct signs on computed tomography. Poor 3-month outcome was defined as modified Rankin scale >2. We calculated c-statistics as a measure of predictive ability and performed an internal cross-validation. Two hundred twenty-eight patients were included. Poor outcome was observed in 98 (43%) patients and was significantly associated with all parameters of the MRI-DRAGON score in multivariate analysis, except for onset to treatment time (nonsignificant trend). The c-statistic was 0.83 (95% confidence interval, 0.78-0.88) for poor outcome prediction. All patients with a MRI-DRAGON score ≤ 2 (n=22) had a good outcome, whereas all patients with a score ≥ 8 (n=11) had a poor outcome. The MRI-DRAGON score is a simple tool to predict 3-month outcome in acute stroke patients screened by MRI then treated by intravenous tissue plasminogen activator and may help for therapeutic decision.

Safety of operations in the manufacture of driver fuel for the first charge of the Dragon Reactor and modifications to the safety document for the Dragon Fuel Element Production Building

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Beutler, H.; Cross, J.; Flamm, J.

1965-01-01

The manufacture of the zirconium containing 'driver' fuel and fuel elements for the First Charge of the Dragon Reactor Experiment has been completed without incident. This is a report on the safety of operations in the Dragon Fuel Element Production Building during an approximately six month period when the 'driver' fuel was manufactured and 25 elements containing this fuel were assembled and exported to the Reactor Building. The opportunity is taken to bring the Safety Document up-to-date and to report on any significant operational failures of equipment. (author)

Performance of Active Wave Absorption Systems

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Hald, Tue; Frigaard, Peter

on a horisontal and vertical velocity are treated. All three systems are based on digital FIR-filters. For numerical comparison a performance function combining the frequency response of the set of filters for each system is derived enabling discussion on optimal filter design and system setup. Irregular wave......A comparison of wave gauge based on velocity meter based active absorption systems is presented discussing advantages and disadvantages of the systems. In detail one system based on two surface elevations, one system based on a surface elevation and a horisontal velocity and one system based...... tests with a highly reflective structure with the purely wave gauge based system and the wave gauge velocity meter based system are performed. The wave test depict the differences between the systems....

Here Be Dragons: voorgeschiedenis en ontstaan van Adventure Games

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Veugen, Connie

2004-01-01

The article traces the history of adventure games from the birth of the fantasy genre in William Morris' work and the origins of the Kriegspiel, through Tolkien's fantasy world and Dungeons and Dragons to the early text adventures and the first graphical adventures.

Perception of artificial conspecifics by bearded dragons (Pogona vitticeps).

Science.gov (United States)

Frohnwieser, Anna; Pike, Thomas W; Murray, John C; Wilkinson, Anna

2018-01-09

Artificial animals are increasingly used as conspecific stimuli in animal behavior research. However, researchers often have an incomplete understanding of how the species under study perceives conspecifics, and hence which features needed for a stimulus to be perceived appropriately. To investigate the features to which bearded dragons (Pogona vitticeps) attend, we measured their lateralized eye use when assessing a successive range of stimuli. These ranged through several stages of realism in artificial conspecifics, to see how features such as color, the presence of eyes, body shape and motion influence behavior. We found differences in lateralized eye use depending on the sex of the observing bearded dragon and the artificial conspecific, as well as the artificial conspecific's behavior. Therefore, this approach can inform the design of robotic animals that elicit biologically-meaningful responses in live animals. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.

The simulation of resonance photoneutron produced by dragon-I

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Xiang Yanjun; Ma Jingfang

2010-01-01

The temperature measurement using neutron resonance spectroscopy has many advantages such as non-immerging, inside measurement and local temperature distribution measurement, but the deficiency of high intensity pulsed neutron source limits it's application.In order to study the feasibility of Dragon-I as the pulsed neutron source of temperature measurement, the photoneutron characteristic had been simulated by MCNP5, the photoneutron yield is 1.34 x 10 11 per electron pulse, pulse width is 90ns. the yield is as high as 7.47 x 10 12 per electron pulse when 8cm thick U target had been used, which is only one magnitude lower than the yield of spallation source. the moderation of photoneutron had been simulated using some moderator, the results displayed Dragon-I can be a high intensity,narrow pulse neutron source, it's necessary to study further about it's application to temperature measurement using neutron resonance spectroscopy. (authors)

Recent work on graphite corrosion in dragon HTR

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Wilkinson, V.J.; Parsons, P.D.; Lind, R.

1976-01-01

Recent studies are described of graphite corrosion in the Dragon reactor as a consequence of a programme of moisture additions to the helium coolant. The pattern of oxidation was significantly different from that expected from out-of-pile studies. Explanations are suggested in terms of flow and pore structure effects. (orig.) [de

Vulnerable Cyborgs: Learning to Live with our Dragons.

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Coeckelbergh, Mark

2011-01-01

Transhumanist visions appear to aim at invulnerability. We are invited to fight the dragon of death and disease, to shed our old, human bodies, and to live on as invulnerable minds or cyborgs. This paper argues that even if we managed to enhance humans in one of these ways, we would remain highly

Forest Dragon-3: Decadal Trends of Northeastern Forests in China from Earth Observation Synergy

Science.gov (United States)

Schmullius, C.; Balling, J.; Schratz, P.; Thiel, C.; Santoro, M.; Wegmuller, U.; Li, Z.; Yong, P.

2016-08-01

In Forest DRAGON 3, synergy of Earth Observation products to derive information of decadal trends of forest in northeast China was investigated. Following up the results of Forest-DRAGON 1 and 2, Growing Stock Volume (GSV) products from different years were investigated to derive information on vegetational in north- east China. The BIOMASAR maps of 2005 and 2010, produced within the previous DRAGON projects, set the base for all analyses. We took a closer look at scale problems regarding GSV derivation, which are introduced by differing landcover within one pixel, to investigate differences throughout pixel classes with varying landcover class percentages. We developed an approach to select pixels containing forest only with the aim of undertaking a detailed analysis on retrieved GSV values for such pixels for the years 2005 and 2010. Using existing land cover products at different scales, the plausibility of changes in the BIOMASAR maps were checked.

DRAGON - 8U Nanosatellite Orbital Deployer

Science.gov (United States)

Dobrowolski, Marcin; Grygorczuk, Jerzy; Kedziora, Bartosz; Tokarz, Marta; Borys, Maciej

2014-01-01

The Space Research Centre of the Polish Academy of Sciences (SRC PAS) together with Astronika company have developed an Orbital Deployer called DRAGON for ejection of the Polish scientific nanosatellite BRITE-PL Heweliusz (Fig. 1). The device has three unique mechanisms including an adopted and scaled lock and release mechanism from the ESA Rosetta mission MUPUS instrument. This paper discusses major design restrictions of the deployer, unique design features, and lessons learned from development through testing.

Guided acoustic wave inspection system

Science.gov (United States)

Chinn, Diane J.

2004-10-05

A system for inspecting a conduit for undesirable characteristics. A transducer system induces guided acoustic waves onto said conduit. The transducer system detects the undesirable characteristics of the conduit by receiving guided acoustic waves that contain information about the undesirable characteristics. The conduit has at least two sides and the transducer system utilizes flexural modes of propagation to provide inspection using access from only the one side of the conduit. Cracking is detected with pulse-echo testing using one transducer to both send and receive the guided acoustic waves. Thinning is detected in through-transmission testing where one transducer sends and another transducer receives the guided acoustic waves.

Dragon's Blood Sap (Croton Lechleri) As Storage Medium For Avulsed Teeth: In Vitro Study Of Cell Viability.

Science.gov (United States)

Martins, Christine Men; Hamanaka, Elizane Ferreira; Hoshida, Thayse Yumi; Sell, Ana Maria; Hidalgo, Mirian Marubayashi; Silveira, Catarina Soares; Poi, Wilson Roberto

2016-01-01

Tooth replantation success depends on the condition of cementum periodontal ligament after tooth avulsion; which is influenced by storage medium. The dragon's blood (Croton lechleri) sap has been suggested as a promising medium because it supports collagen formation and exhibits healing, anti-inflammatory and antimicrobial properties. Thus, the aim of this study was to evaluate the efficacy of dragon's blood sap as a storage medium for avulsed teeth through evaluation of functional and metabolic cell viability. This in vitro study compared the efficacy of different storage media to maintain the viability of human peripheral blood mononuclear and periodontal ligament cells. A 10% dragon's blood sap was tested while PBS was selected as its control. Ultra pasteurized whole milk was used for comparison as a commonly used storage medium. DMEM and distilled water were the positive and negative controls, respectively. The viability was assessed through trypan blue exclusion test and colorimetric MTT assay after 1, 3, 6, 10 and 24 h of incubation. The dragon's blood sap showed promising results due to its considerable maintenance of cell viability. For trypan blue test, the dragon's blood sap was similar to milk (psap showed better results than all storage media, even better than milk (psap was as effective as milk, the gold standard for storage medium. The experimental sap preserved the membrane of all cells and the functional viability of periodontal ligament cells.

Dragon Boat training exerts a positive effect on myocardial function in breast cancer survivors.

Science.gov (United States)

Stefani, Laura; Galanti, Giorgio; Di Tante, Valentina; Klika, Riggs J; Maffulli, Nicola

2015-07-01

Dragon Boat training is often suggested to control upper limb edema in breast cancer (BC) survivors, but little information is available regarding the cardiac impact of such activity. The present study evaluates this aspect during a 4-year follow-up of BC survivors. From 2006 to 2010, 55 women diagnosed with BC in 2005, treated with adjuvant therapy without evidence of metastases, were enrolled for competitive Dragon Boat training. They underwent ergometric tests yearly, and 2D echocardiography to evaluate hemodynamic, morphological and functional cardiac parameters. The data were compared with those from a group of 36 healthy women (HW). Both groups maintained normal systolic function throughout the period, with Cardiac Mass index, Body Mass Index and Ejection Fraction values being higher in HW. At the onset of the study, the diastolic function of BC survivors was normal though compatible with initial diastolic dysfunction when compared to the diastolic function of HW. After 4 years of competitive activity, the diastolic parameters improved in both groups and particularly in BC survivors (A peak: from 68.5 ± 15.1 cm/s to 50 ± 14.1 cm/s, p Dragon Boat training. Dragon Boat training impacts favorably on the myocardial performance in patients previously treated with chemotherapy. These results support the positive role of sport activity in myocardial function of BC survivors.

Extraction and Characterization of Pectin from Dragon Fruit (Hylocereus Polyrhizus) using Various Extraction Conditions

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Norazelina Sah Mohd Ismail; Nazaruddin Ramli; Norziah Mohd Hani; Zainudin Meon

2012-01-01

The extraction of pectin from dragon fruit (Hylocereus polyrhizus) peels under three different extraction conditions was identified as an alternative source of commercial pectin. In this work, dried alcohol-insoluble residues (AIR) of dragon fruit peels were treated separately with 0.25 % ammonium oxalate/oxalic acid at a pH of 4.6 at 85 degree Celsius; 0.03 M HCl at a pH of 1.5 at 85 degree Celsius; and de-ionized water at 75 degree Celsius. The pectin obtained from these methods was compared in terms of yield, physicochemical properties and chemical structure. Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy (FTIR) was used in the identification of dragon fruit pectins. The results showed that the pectin yield (14.96-20.14 % based on dry weight), moisture content (11.13-11.33 %), ash content (6.88-11.55 %), equivalent weight (475.64-713.99), methoxyl content (2.98-4.34 %), anhydro uronic acid (45.25-52.45 %) and the degree of esterification (31.05-46.96 %) varied significantly (p < 0.05) with the various extraction conditions used. Pectin extracted with ammonium oxalate gave the highest yield of pectin, with high purity and low ash content. Based on the value of methoxyl content and the degree of esterification, dragon fruit pectin can be categorized as low-methoxyl pectin. (author)

External validation of the ability of the DRAGON score to predict outcome after thrombolysis treatment

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Ovesen, Christian Aavang; Christensen, Anders; Nielsen, J K

2013-01-01

Easy-to-perform and valid assessment scales for the effect of thrombolysis are essential in hyperacute stroke settings. Because of this we performed an external validation of the DRAGON scale proposed by Strbian et al. in a Danish cohort. All patients treated with intravenous recombinant plasmino......Easy-to-perform and valid assessment scales for the effect of thrombolysis are essential in hyperacute stroke settings. Because of this we performed an external validation of the DRAGON scale proposed by Strbian et al. in a Danish cohort. All patients treated with intravenous recombinant...... and their modified Rankin Scale (mRS) was assessed after 3 months. Three hundred and three patients were included in the analysis. The DRAGON scale proved to have a good discriminative ability for predicting highly unfavourable outcome (mRS 5-6) (area under the curve-receiver operating characteristic [AUC-ROC]: 0...

Lion and dragon: four centuries of Dutch-Vietnamese relations

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Kleinen, J.; van der Zwan, B.; Moors, H.; van Zeeland, T.

2008-01-01

Dutch-Vietnamese relations go back as far as the beginning of the seventeenth century. For a long time, relations between the Dutch lion and the Vietnamese dragon have been fragile and even violent. Although the relations were not continuously bad, they remained distant rather than warm. Today

Powerful elderly characters in video games: Flemeth of Dragon Age

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Elisabeta Toma

2015-12-01

Full Text Available As games are becoming an increasingly popular medium in various demographic and professional strata, scholars are discussing their content and how they shape society. However, despite an increase in gender analysis of video games, little has been written about orienting games towards an elderly audience, or game representations of aging and older persons. Games specifically designed for older persons are focused on improving cognitive functions, starting from the assumption that the elderly are in need of special games in order to repair age-related deficits. This repair-focused design philosophy comes at the expense of pursuing a broader understanding of quality of life and non-programmatic entertainment. Games-for-fun that also explicitly target the elderly as an audience are almost invisible. In this article we turn our attention to a powerful elderly feminine character in an AAA game designed for entertainment without a serious mission, namely Flemeth from Dragon Age. We discuss how the game depicts and models older characters: What repertoire of portraits has Flemeth as an old woman, in the Dragon Age games? How does Flemeth contribute to an enlarged repertoire of portrayals of old women in video games? We conclude that Flemeth’s gender and age displays in Dragon Age do not impoverish her portrayal but, on the contrary, turn her into a powerful and complex character, thus offering a model for game design to represent and invite older players.

A preliminary layout and PIC simulations of the time resolved beam energy spectrum measurement for DRAGON-I

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Liao Shuqing; Zhang Kaizhi; Shi Jingshui

2010-01-01

The time resolved beam energy spectrum for DRAGON-I can be measured with a new method which is named RBS (Rotating Beam in Solenoid). The beam energy spectrum is determined by measuring the beam rotation angle and its expansion width at the exit of DRAGON-I. The rotation beam is shaped by a slit at the exit of DRAGON-I, then rotated in the magnetic field of the solenoids and the resulted beamlet is measured by the Cherenkov screen. The beam motion in the solenoids is simulated by PARMELA and the relationships between the beam rotation angle's expansion width and the beam energy spread, emittance are discussed. The measurement error is also discussed in this paper. (authors)

Studies on the behavior of graphite structures irradiated in the Dragon Reactor. Dragon Project report

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Everett, M. R.; Graham, L. W.; Ridealgh, F.

1971-11-15

Design data for the physical and mechanical property changes which occur in graphite structural and fuel body components irradiated in an HTR are largely obtained from small specimens tested in the laboratory and in materials test reactors. A brief data summary is given. This graphite physics data can be used to predict dimensional changes, internal stress generation and strength changes in the graphite materials of HTR fuel elements irradiated in the Dragon Reactor. In this paper, the results which have been obtained from post-irradiation examination of a number of fuel pins, are compared with prediction.

Wave Dragon

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Kofoed, Jens Peter; Petersen, Anne-Louise S.

2004-01-01

Udvikling og produktion af vindmøller har været en af de største danske erhvervssucceser gennem de sidste 10 år. Nu er det næste danske bud på en vedvarende energikilde under udvikling havets bølger skal fanges, og deres energi skal tappes....

A Literature Unit for "Dragon's Gate" by Laurence Yep.

Science.gov (United States)

Thomas-Vallens, Mary

Intended as a an aid to classroom teachers, this 52-page handbook presents a literature unit based on the children and young people's book, "Dragon's Gate" by Laurence Yep. It begins with sample lesson plans, pre-reading activities, author information, a book summary, vocabulary lists and suggested vocabulary activities. Next, chapters…

76 FR 38349 - Notice of Availability of Pest Risk Analysis for the Importation of Dragon Fruit From Thailand...

Science.gov (United States)

2011-06-30

...] Notice of Availability of Pest Risk Analysis for the Importation of Dragon Fruit From Thailand Into the...: We are advising the public that we have prepared a pest risk analysis that evaluates the risks... importation of dragon fruit from Thailand. We are making the pest risk analysis available to the public for...

External validation of the MRI-DRAGON score: early prediction of stroke outcome after intravenous thrombolysis.

Science.gov (United States)

Turc, Guillaume; Aguettaz, Pierre; Ponchelle-Dequatre, Nelly; Hénon, Hilde; Naggara, Olivier; Leclerc, Xavier; Cordonnier, Charlotte; Leys, Didier; Mas, Jean-Louis; Oppenheim, Catherine

2014-01-01

The aim of our study was to validate in an independent cohort the MRI-DRAGON score, an adaptation of the (CT-) DRAGON score to predict 3-month outcome in acute ischemic stroke patients undergoing MRI before intravenous thrombolysis (IV-tPA). We reviewed consecutive (2009-2013) anterior circulation stroke patients treated within 4.5 hours by IV-tPA in the Lille stroke unit (France), where MRI is the first-line pretherapeutic work-up. We assessed the discrimination and calibration of the MRI-DRAGON score to predict poor 3-month outcome, defined as modified Rankin Score >2, using c-statistic and the Hosmer-Lemeshow test, respectively. We included 230 patients (mean ±SD age 70.4±16.0 years, median [IQR] baseline NIHSS 8 [5]-[14]; poor outcome in 78(34%) patients). The c-statistic was 0.81 (95%CI 0.75-0.87), and the Hosmer-Lemeshow test was not significant (p = 0.54). The MRI-DRAGON score showed good prognostic performance in the external validation cohort. It could therefore be used to inform the patient's relatives about long-term prognosis and help to identify poor responders to IV-tPA alone, who may be candidates for additional therapeutic strategies, if they are otherwise eligible for such procedures based on the institutional criteria.

External validation of the MRI-DRAGON score: early prediction of stroke outcome after intravenous thrombolysis.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Guillaume Turc

Full Text Available The aim of our study was to validate in an independent cohort the MRI-DRAGON score, an adaptation of the (CT- DRAGON score to predict 3-month outcome in acute ischemic stroke patients undergoing MRI before intravenous thrombolysis (IV-tPA.We reviewed consecutive (2009-2013 anterior circulation stroke patients treated within 4.5 hours by IV-tPA in the Lille stroke unit (France, where MRI is the first-line pretherapeutic work-up. We assessed the discrimination and calibration of the MRI-DRAGON score to predict poor 3-month outcome, defined as modified Rankin Score >2, using c-statistic and the Hosmer-Lemeshow test, respectively.We included 230 patients (mean ±SD age 70.4±16.0 years, median [IQR] baseline NIHSS 8 [5]-[14]; poor outcome in 78(34% patients. The c-statistic was 0.81 (95%CI 0.75-0.87, and the Hosmer-Lemeshow test was not significant (p = 0.54.The MRI-DRAGON score showed good prognostic performance in the external validation cohort. It could therefore be used to inform the patient's relatives about long-term prognosis and help to identify poor responders to IV-tPA alone, who may be candidates for additional therapeutic strategies, if they are otherwise eligible for such procedures based on the institutional criteria.

Systemic adenovirus infection in Bearded Dragons (Pogona vitticeps): histological, ultrastructural and molecular findings.

Science.gov (United States)

Moormann, S; Seehusen, F; Reckling, D; Kilwinski, J; Puff, C; Elhensheri, M; Wohlsein, P; Peters, M

2009-07-01

Three Inland Bearded Dragons (Pogona vitticeps) from two breeding groups were humanely destroyed following a period of anorexia. Two of the animals were 8-months old and related and one animal was approximately 2-weeks old. Necropsy examination revealed poor bodily condition but no other gross abnormalities. Microscopically there was non-suppurative hepatitis and interstitial nephritis. Multiple large, amphophilic, intranuclear inclusion bodies were present within hepatocytes and epithelial cells of the bile ducts, renal tubules, small and large intestinal mucosa, pancreatic acini and oral mucous membranes. Transmission electron microscopy (TEM) demonstrated that the inclusions comprised viral particles with morphology consistent with an adenovirus. A fragment of the adenoviral polymerase gene was amplified, sequenced and compared with other reptilian adenoviral sequences.

Buoy-Rope-Drum Wave Power System

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Linsen Zhu

2013-01-01

Full Text Available A buoy-rope-drum wave power system is a new type of floating oscillating buoy wave power device, which absorbs energy from waves by buoy-rope-drum device. Based on the linear deep water wave theory and pure resistive load, with cylinder buoy as an example, the research sets up the theoretical model of direct-drive buoy-rope-drum wave power efficiency and analyzes the influence of the mass and load of the system on its generating efficiency. It points out the two main categories of the efficient buoy-rope-drum wave power system: light thin type and resonance type, and optimal designs of their major parameters are carried out on the basis of the above theoretical model of generating efficiency.

Genotype differentiation of Agamid Adenovirus 1 in bearded dragons (Pogona vitticeps) in the USA by hexon gene sequence.

Science.gov (United States)

Parkin, Derek B; Archer, Linda L; Childress, April L; Wellehan, James F X

2009-07-01

Bearded dragons (Pogona vitticeps) are popular pets in the United States. Agamid Adenovirus 1 (AgAdV1) is an important infectious agent of bearded dragons. The only AgAdV1 sequences available to date are from a highly conserved region of the DNA polymerase gene. Degenerate primers were designed to amplify a variable region of the AgAdV1 hexon gene for sequencing. Genetic differences were identified within the hexon gene of 17 bearded dragons from 4 collections. Much less diversity was present in the polymerase gene. Bayesian analysis of the hexon nucleotide alignment identified two larger groups and two isolates that did not tightly cluster with these two groups. Multiple genotypes were identified within collections, and individual genotypes were seen in different collections. Three bearded dragons appeared to be infected by multiple strains. These findings show that this hexon region is useful for AgAdV1 genotyping, which can be used epidemiologically as well as in future investigations of AgAdV1 evolution and clinical implications of strain differences.

Approach to equilibrium calculations for the dragon HTR design

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Hansen, U

1971-06-10

The calculational methods and the model used in representing the core and the fuel management operations are described. Different layouts of the first core and approach to equilibrium schemes for the Dragon HTR design are investigated. A simple fuelling modus is found and the tchnological and economical implications are discussed in detail.

The Application of Dragon Fruit Peels as a Dye in Red Velvet Cake

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Dianka Wahyuningtias

2015-11-01

Full Text Available Red Dragon fruit peel that has a high antioxidant content is very useful and suitable processed into natural coloring in household industry are easily processed. One product to apply it is the Red Velvet Cake. Red Velvet Cake is basically uses natural coloring from the bits fruit and instant food coloring. This discussion will create a research that is attempting to replace the instant food coloring and natural food coloring from the bit that is commonly used in Red Velvet Cake by making use of the Dragon fruit that is considered to be food wastes. This research aims to provide a new alternative natural food coloring in the Red Velvet Cake. Experimental research is used by doing experiments and planned and systematic testing to Red Velvet Cake, and by collecting primary data and secondary data as well. All data is presented in a descriptive with SPSS. From the results of mean average can be inferred that the Red Velvet Cake using natural food coloring from Red Dragon fruit is acceptable to the community.

External validation of the DRAGON score in an elderly Spanish population: prediction of stroke prognosis after IV thrombolysis.

Science.gov (United States)

Giralt-Steinhauer, Eva; Rodríguez-Campello, Ana; Cuadrado-Godia, Elisa; Ois, Ángel; Jiménez-Conde, Jordi; Soriano-Tárraga, Carolina; Roquer, Jaume

2013-01-01

Intravenous (i.v.) thrombolysis within 4.5 h of symptom onset has proven efficacy in acute ischemic stroke treatment, although half of all outcomes are unfavorable. The recently published DRAGON score aims to predict the 3-month outcome in stroke patients who have received i.v. alteplase. The purpose of this study was an external validation of the results of the DRAGON score in a Spanish cohort. Patients with acute stroke treated with alteplase were prospectively registered in our BasicMar database. We collected demographic characteristics, vascular risk factors, the time from stroke onset to treatment, baseline serum glucose levels and stroke severity for this population. We then reviewed hyperdense cerebral artery signs and signs of early infarct on the admission CT scan. We calculated the DRAGON score and used the developers' 3-month prognosis categories: good [modified Rankin Scale score (mRS) 0-2], poor (mRS 3-6) and miserable (mRS 5-6) outcome. Discrimination was tested using the area under the receiver operator curve (AUC-ROC). Calibration was assessed by the Hosmer-Lemeshow test. Our final cohort of 297 patients was older (median age 74 years, IQR 65-80) and had more risk factors and severe strokes [median National Institutes of Health Stroke Scale (NIHSS) points 13, IQR 7-19] than the original study population. Poor prognosis was observed in 143 (48.1%) patients. Higher DRAGON scores were associated with a higher risk of poor prognosis. None of our treated stroke patients with a DRAGON score ≥8 at admission experienced a favorable outcome after 3 months. All DRAGON variables were significantly associated with a worse outcome in the multivariate analysis except for onset-to-treatment time (p = 0.334). Discrimination to predict poor prognosis was very good (AUC-ROC 0.84) and the score had good Hosmer-Lemeshow calibration (p = 0.84). The DRAGON score is easy to perform and offers a rapid, reliable prediction of poor prognosis in acute-stroke patients

Refrigeration system having standing wave compressor

Science.gov (United States)

Lucas, Timothy S.

1992-01-01

A compression-evaporation refrigeration system, wherein gaseous compression of the refrigerant is provided by a standing wave compressor. The standing wave compressor is modified so as to provide a separate subcooling system for the refrigerant, so that efficiency losses due to flashing are reduced. Subcooling occurs when heat exchange is provided between the refrigerant and a heat pumping surface, which is exposed to the standing acoustic wave within the standing wave compressor. A variable capacity and variable discharge pressure for the standing wave compressor is provided. A control circuit simultaneously varies the capacity and discharge pressure in response to changing operating conditions, thereby maintaining the minimum discharge pressure needed for condensation to occur at any time. Thus, the power consumption of the standing wave compressor is reduced and system efficiency is improved.

Physiological and physical characteristics of elite dragon boat paddlers.

Science.gov (United States)

Ho, Sarah R; Smith, Richard M; Chapman, Philip G; Sinclair, Peter J; Funato, Kazuo

2013-01-01

The objectives of this study were to profile the physiological and physical characteristics of elite dragon boat paddlers, to identify characteristics that predict race performance and to quantify the metabolic energy contributions to simulated 200-m and 500-m dragon boat racing. Eleven, national level, male, Japanese dragon boat paddlers completed a battery of tests on a paddling ergometer including an incremental maximal aerobic capacity test, a 2-minute maximal accumulated oxygen deficit (MAOD) test, and simulated 200-m and 500-m races. A physiological and physical profile of subjects was compiled. Results showed that 200-m race performance correlated with flexed arm girth and excess postexercise oxygen consumption (EPOC) measured in the 30 minutes after the MAOD test, whereas 500-m race performance correlated with body fat percentage, relaxed and flexed arm girth, MAOD, EPOC, and peak power during the MAOD test. Stepwise multiple regression revealed that flexed arm girth was the most powerful predictor of 200-m and 500-m race performance, followed by EPOC with the combination of these 2 factors able to explain 74% and 68% of the variance in 200-m and 500-m race performance, respectively. Aerobic energy contributions for 200-m (50 seconds) and 500-m (1 minute 50 seconds) races were (mean (95% confidence intervals)) 52.1% (range, 47.4-56.8%) and 67.5% (range, 60.1-77.8%), respectively. In conclusion, coaches should develop training programs targeted at developing upper-body musculature and increasing anaerobic capacity because these factors are the strongest predictors of 200-m and 500-m race performance. Given the substantial aerobic energy contributions even for a 200-m race event, coaches should aim to increase the maximal aerobic capacity of the paddler in preparation for both 200-m and 500-m events.

Low Cost Mars Sample Return Utilizing Dragon Lander Project

Science.gov (United States)

Stoker, Carol R.

2014-01-01

We studied a Mars sample return (MSR) mission that lands a SpaceX Dragon Capsule on Mars carrying sample collection hardware (an arm, drill, or small rover) and a spacecraft stack consisting of a Mars Ascent Vehicle (MAV) and Earth Return Vehicle (ERV) that collectively carry the sample container from Mars back to Earth orbit.

"We're All in the Same Boat": A Review of the Benefits of Dragon Boat Racing for Women Living with Breast Cancer.

Science.gov (United States)

Harris, Susan R

2012-01-01

This narrative review summarizes findings from quantitative and qualitative research literature that has been published over the past 15 years since an initial, community-based pilot study first challenged the long-held medical belief that vigorous, upper-body exercise would lead to lymphedema in women who were at risk due to treatments for breast cancer. Dragon boat racing originated in China more than 2000 years ago and has become a popular recreational and competitive support around the world. From the advent of the world's first breast cancer survivor dragon boat team, Abreast in a Boat launched in Vancouver, British Columbia, in 1996, there are now more than 140 breast cancer survivor dragon boat teams paddling and competing in 12 different countries. The wealth of quantitative and qualitative research that has ensued since that pilot study further supports the initial hypothesis that resistance exercise, for example, dragon boat paddling, is not only safe for women recovering from conventional breast cancer therapies but also shows that dragon boating has been embraced as a complementary exercise therapy by the cancer survivors participating in this magical sport.

Editorial: aboard the Red Dragon in 2017 | Thurman | Shakespeare ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

Editorial: aboard the Red Dragon in 2017. Chris Thurman. Abstract. No Abstract. Full Text: EMAIL FULL TEXT EMAIL FULL TEXT · DOWNLOAD FULL TEXT DOWNLOAD FULL TEXT · http://dx.doi.org/10.4314/sisa.v29i1.1 · AJOL African Journals Online. HOW TO USE AJOL... for Researchers · for Librarians · for Authors ...

Application of Planar Broadband Slow-Wave Systems

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Edvardas Metlevskis

2012-04-01

Full Text Available Different types of planar broadband slow-wave systems are used for designing microwave devices. The papers published by Lithuanian scientists analyze and investigate the models of helical and meander slow-wave systems. The article carefully examines the applications of meander slow-wave systems and presents the areas where similar systems, e.g. mobile devices, RFID, wireless technologies are used and reviewed nowadays. The paper also focuses on the examples of the papers discussing antennas, filters and couplers that contain designed and fabricated meander slow-wave systems.Article in Lithuanian

The Application of Active Paper Incorporated with Oleoresin of Cinnamon Leaf (Cinnamomum burmanii) Distillation Residues on Maintaining Dragon Fruits (Hylocereus costaricensis) Quality during Storage

Science.gov (United States)

Aziz, M. S. H.; Manuhara, G. J.; Utami, R.; Khasanah, L. U.

2018-03-01

The purpose of this study was to determine the effect of active paper placement methods on super red dragon fruits quality during storage at ambient temperature. The active papers were incorporated with oleoresin of cinnamon leaf distillation residues. Various active paper placement methods were applied such as wrapping, placed on the cardboard wall, placed cardboard pad, and scrap of paper on the sidelines. Weight loss, peel color, surface and flesh hardness, total titratable acid, soluble solid total, pH flesh fruit, and total plate count (TPC) of super red dragon fruits samples were investigated during 9 days storage. The result shows that active paper placement methods significantly affected the weight loss, surface firmness and color peel change of super red dragon fruits samples. However, active paper placement methods insignificantly affected the titrable acid total, soluble solid total, pH, flesh firmness and microbial spoilage of super red dragon fruits samples. The best method to maintain the super red dragon fruits quality was wrapping method.

Dragon kings of the deep sea: marine particles deviate markedly from the common number-size spectrum.

Science.gov (United States)

Bochdansky, Alexander B; Clouse, Melissa A; Herndl, Gerhard J

2016-03-04

Particles are the major vector for the transfer of carbon from the upper ocean to the deep sea. However, little is known about their abundance, composition and role at depths greater than 2000 m. We present the first number-size spectrum of bathy- and abyssopelagic particles to a depth of 5500 m based on surveys performed with a custom-made holographic microscope. The particle spectrum was unusual in that particles of several millimetres in length were almost 100 times more abundant than expected from the number spectrum of smaller particles, thereby meeting the definition of "dragon kings." Marine snow particles overwhelmingly contributed to the total particle volume (95-98%). Approximately 1/3 of the particles in the dragon-king size domain contained large amounts of transparent exopolymers with little ballast, which likely either make them neutrally buoyant or cause them to sink slowly. Dragon-king particles thus provide large volumes of unique microenvironments that may help to explain discrepancies in deep-sea biogeochemical budgets.

Aeroacoustics of the swinging corrugated tube : voice of the dragon

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Nakiboglu, G.; Rudenko, O.; Hirschberg, A.

2012-01-01

When one swings a short corrugated pipe segment around one’s head, it produces a musically interesting whistling sound. As a musical toy it is called a "Hummer" and as a musical instrument, the "Voice of the Dragon." The fluid dynamics aspects of the instrument are addressed, corresponding to the

Dragon Stream Cipher for Secure Blackbox Cockpit Voice Recorder

Science.gov (United States)

Akmal, Fadira; Michrandi Nasution, Surya; Azmi, Fairuz

2017-11-01

Aircraft blackbox is a device used to record all aircraft information, which consists of Flight Data Recorder (FDR) and Cockpit Voice Recorder (CVR). Cockpit Voice Recorder contains conversations in the aircraft during the flight.Investigations on aircraft crashes usually take a long time, because it is difficult to find the aircraft blackbox. Then blackbox should have the ability to send information to other places. Aircraft blackbox must have a data security system, data security is a very important part at the time of information exchange process. The system in this research is to perform the encryption and decryption process on Cockpit Voice Recorder by people who are entitled by using Dragon Stream Cipher algorithm. The tests performed are time of data encryption and decryption, and avalanche effect. Result in this paper show us time encryption and decryption are 0,85 seconds and 1,84 second for 30 seconds Cockpit Voice Recorder data witn an avalanche effect 48,67 %.

Traveling wave laser system

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Gregg, D.W.; Kidder, R.E.; Biehl, A.T.

1975-01-01

The invention broadly involves a method and means for generating a traveling wave laser pulse and is basically analogous to a single pass light amplifier system. However, the invention provides a traveling wave laser pulse of almost unlimited energy content, wherein a gain medium is pumped in a traveling wave mode, the traveling wave moving at essentially the velocity of light to generate an amplifying region or zone which moves through the medium at the velocity of light in the presence of directed stimulating radiation, thereby generating a traveling coherent, directed radiation pulse moving with the amplification zone through the gain medium. (U.S.)

Plasma biochemical reference values in clinically healthy captive bearded dragons (Pogona vitticeps) and the effects of sex and season.

Science.gov (United States)

Tamukai, Kenichi; Takami, Yoshinori; Akabane, Yoshihito; Kanazawa, Yuko; Une, Yumi

2011-09-01

Bearded dragons are one of the most popular pet lizard species, and biochemical reference values are useful for health management of these reptiles. The objectives of this study were to measure plasma biochemical values in healthy captive bearded dragons, determine reference values, and evaluate the effects of sex and season on the results. Blood samples were collected from 100 captive healthy bearded dragons in Tokyo during the summer and winter. Plasma biochemical measurements were performed using a dry-slide automated biochemical analyzer. The data were then compared based on sex and season using 2-way ANOVA. Globulin, cholesterol, and calcium concentrations of females were higher in both summer and winter compared with the values obtained for males. Both males and females had higher uric acid concentrations in winter than in summer. When compared with males, females had a higher chloride concentration in summer and a higher total protein concentration and aspartate aminotransferase activity in winter. Potassium concentration in males was lower in winter than in summer, whereas in females cholesterol concentration was lower in winter than in summer. Biochemical values that differed based on sex and season in bearded dragons were similar to those in other lizards. These differences reflect physiologic differences in reproductive status in females and seasonal changes in temperature and hydration status. Plasma biochemical values established for bearded dragons in this study will be useful in the diagnostic assessment of captive animals. ©2011 American Society for Veterinary Clinical Pathology.

Using Paraffin with -10 deg C to 10 deg C Melting Point for Payload Thermal Energy Storage in SpaceX Dragon Trunk

Science.gov (United States)

Choi, Michael K.

2013-01-01

A concept of using paraffin wax phase change material (PCM) with a melting point between -10 deg C and 10 deg C for payload thermal energy storage in a Space Exploration Technologies (SpaceX) Dragon trunk is presented. It overcomes the problem of limited heater power available to a payload with significant radiators when the Dragon is berthed to the International Space Station (ISS). It stores adequate thermal energy to keep a payload warm without power for 6 hours during the transfer from the Dragon to an ExPRESS logistics carrier (ELC) on the ISS.

[Efficacy observation of nonspecific low back pain treated with the dragon-tiger fighting needling method].

Science.gov (United States)

Zhao, Feng; Cao, Dong-bo; Yuan, Yi-qin; Luo, Jian; Wen, Yan-yun; Wang, Yue; Yu, Jie

2012-06-01

To compare the difference in the clinical efficacy on nonspecific low back pain (NLBP) treated with the dragon-tiger fighting needling method, the uniform reinforcing-reducing method and the intermediate frequency physiotherapy. Ninety cases of NLBP were randomly divided into a dragon-tiger fighting needling group (group A), an uniform reinforcing-reducing needling group (group B) and an intermediate frequency physiotherapy group (group C), 30 cases in each one. In the group A, the dragon-tiger fighting needling method was used. In the group B, the uniform reinforcing-reducing method was applied. Two groups of acupoints were prescribed. One group included Shenshu (BL 23), Dachangshu (BL 25), Weizhong (BL 40) and Ashi points. The other group included Qihaishu (BL 24), Guanyuanshu (BL 26), Kunlun (BL 60), Yaoyangguan (GV 3). These two groups of acupoints were used alternatively in the above two groups. In the group C, the intermediate frequency physiotherapy was adopted in the pain area of the lumbar region. The treatment was given once per day in each group. Six treatments made one session. Totally, 2 sessions were required. The Visual Analogue Scale (VAS), the Oswestry Disability Index (ODD and the clinical efficacy were observed in each group. The scores of VAS and ODI were reduced obviously after treatment in each group (P dragon-tiger fighting needling method achieves the much better efficacy on NLBP compared with either the uniform reinforcing-reducing method or the intermediate frequency physiotherapy. It is one of the more effective needling method for analgesia.

Aeroacoustics of the swinging corrugated tube: Voice of the Dragon

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Nakiboglu, G.; Rudenko, O.; Hirschberg, Abraham

2012-01-01

When one swings a short corrugated pipe segment around one’s head, it produces a musically interesting whistling sound. As a musical toy it is called a “Hummer” and as a musical instrument, the “Voice of the Dragon.” The fluid dynamics aspects of the instrument are addressed, corresponding to the

Clones, Drones and Dragons: Ongoing Uncertainties around School Leader Development

Science.gov (United States)

Walker, Allan

2015-01-01

This article examines a number of key issues around successful school leadership and leader development. Three metaphors are used to frame, track and analyse recent research and commentary in the area--these are clones, drones and dragons. Although development mechanisms rarely fall neatly within one category, the metaphors provide a useful way to…

The diet of free-roaming Australian Central Bearded Dragons (Pogona vitticeps)

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Oonincx, D.G.A.B.; Leeuwen, van J.P.; Hendriks, W.H.; Poel, van der A.F.B.

2015-01-01

The central bearded dragon (Pogona vitticeps) is one of the most popular pet lizards. However, little is known regarding their nutrient requirement, or their natural diet. Therefore, the stomach contents of 14 free-roaming P. vitticeps were determined by flushing. These stomach contents were

WORD FORMATION ON DRAGON NEST CHAT LANGUAGE

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Shavitri Cecillia Harsono

2016-11-01

Full Text Available Word formation is creation of new words, which sometimes changes a word’s meaning. Words can be formed from multi word phrases as well. In many cases vocabularies in language are formed from combination of words (Haspelmath 2010: 102. Word formation does not only involve changing physical form of the word itself, but also changing the meaning of said word. There are also instances where the physical form retain its original form while the meaning changes. The phenomenon is called semantic change (Stockwell-Minkova 2001:149. In this thesis the research proposed that the said phenomenon occur in virtual environment, such as in MMORPG. Multiplayer online games that feature fantasy setting virtual environment. For the purpose of this research, Dragon Nest South East Asia server was chosen as data source. The samples are taken from players perusing [World] communication channel. The result of the data analysis has shown that the phenomenon of word formation could occur in a virtual environment of MMORPG, specifcally in Dragon Nest SEA. There are two word formation processes found: processes that involve physical changes and processes that do not involve physical changes but rather innate meaning. It is done by both processing daily language vocabulary both physically and changing its innate meaning to create new words that suits the said virtual environment context. This fnding may influence future research on a fresh perspective and untilled feld.

The safety of operations in the Dragon fuel element production building during the manufacture of thorium fuel for the first charge of the Dragon Reactor experiment

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Beutler, H.; Gardham, B.; Holliday, J.

1965-04-01

The first charge of fuel and fuel elements for the Dragon Reactor has been completed without significant difficulty. This report covers the safety of operations during the production of the 10 thorium elements together with the final 2 driver elements needed to complete the 37 element charge. (author)

Validation of the DRAGON/DONJON code package for MNR using the IAEA 10 MW benchmark problem

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Day, S.E.; Garland, W.J.

2000-01-01

The first step in developing a framework for reactor physics analysis is to establish the appropriate and proven reactor physics codes. The chosen code package is tested, by executing a benchmark problem and comparing the results to the accepted standards. The IAEA 10 MW Benchmark problem is suitable for static reactor physics calculations on plate-fueled research reactor systems and has been used previously to validate codes for the McMaster Nuclear (MNR). The flexible and advanced geometry capabilities of the DRAGON transport theory code make it a desirable tool, and the accompanying DONJON diffusion theory code also has useful features applicable to safety analysis work at MNR. This paper describes the methodology used to benchmark the DRAGON/DONJON code package against this problem and the results herein extend the domain of validation of this code package. The results are directly applicable to MNR and are relevant to a reduced-enrichment fuel program. The DRAGON transport code models, used in this study, are based on the 1-D infinite slab approximation whereas the DONJON diffusion code models are defined in 3-D Cartesian geometry. The cores under consideration are composed of HEU (93% enrichment), MEU (45% enrichment) and LEU (20% enrichment) fuel and are examined in a fresh state, as well as at beginning-of-life (BOL) and end-of-life (EOL) exposures. The required flux plots and flux-ratio plots are included, as are transport theory code k∞and diffusion theory code k eff results. In addition to this, selected isotope atom densities are charted as a function of fuel burnup. Results from this analysis are compared to and are in good agreement with previously published results. (author)

Dragon Fruit Foliage Plant-Based Coagulant for Treatment of Concentrated Latex Effluent: Comparison of Treatment with Ferric Sulfate

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Juferi Idris

2013-01-01

Full Text Available The effectiveness of dragon fruit foliage as a natural coagulant for treatment of concentrated latex effluent was investigated and compared with ferric sulfate, a chemical coagulant. Dragon fruit is a round and often red-colored fruit with scales-like texture and is native to south American countries which is also cultivated and heavily marketed in southeast Asian countries. Its foliage represents a part of its overall plant system. Latex effluent is one of the main byproduct from rubber processing factories in Malaysia. Three main parameters investigated were chemical oxygen demand (COD, suspended solids (SS, and turbidity of effluent. Coagulation experiments using jar test were performed with a flocculation system where the effects of latex effluent pH as well as coagulation dosage on coagulation effectiveness were examined. The highest recorded COD, SS, and turbidity removal percentages for foliage were observed for effluent pH 10 at 94.7, 88.9, and 99.7%, respectively. It is concluded that the foliage showed tremendous potential as a natural coagulant for water treatment purposes. The foliage could be used in the pretreatment stage of Malaysian latex effluent prior to secondary treatment.

Validation of MCNP and WIMS-AECL/DRAGON/RFSP for ACR-1000 applications

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Bromley, Blair P.; Adams, Fred P.; Zeller, Michael B.; Watts, David G.; Shukhman, Boris V.; Pencer, Jeremy

2008-01-01

This paper gives a summary of the validation of the reactor physics codes WIMS-AECL, DRAGON, RFSP and MCNP5, which are being used in the design, operation, and safety analysis of the ACR-1000 R . The standards and guidelines being followed for code validation of the suite are established in CSA Standard N286.7-99 and ANS Standard ANS-19.3-2005. These codes are being validated for the calculation of key output parameters associated with various reactor physics phenomena of importance during normal operations and postulated accident conditions in an ACR-1000 reactor. Experimental data from a variety of sources are being used for validation. The bulk of the validation data is from critical experiments in the ZED-2 research reactor with ACR-type lattices. To supplement and complement ZED-2 data, qualified and applicable data are being taken from other power and research reactors, such as existing CANDU R units, FUGEN, NRU and SPERT research reactors, and the DCA critical facility. MCNP simulations of the ACR-1000 are also being used for validating WIMS-AECL/ DRAGON/RFSP, which involves extending the validation results for MCNP through the assistance of TSUNAMI analyses. Code validation against commissioning data in the first-build ACR-1000 will be confirmatory. The code validation is establishing the biases and uncertainties in the calculations of the WIMS-AECL/DRAGON/RFSP suite for the evaluation of various key parameters of importance in the reactor physics analysis of the ACR-1000. (authors)

Discussion of the use of the Dragon reactor as a facility for integral reactor physics experiments

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Gutmann, H

1972-06-05

The purpose and use of the Dragon Reactor Experiment (DRE) has changed considerably during the years of its operation. The original purpose was to show that the principle of a High Temperature Reactor is sound and demonstrate its operation. After this achievement, the purpose of the Dragon reactor changed to the use as a fuel testing facility. During recent years, a new use of the DRE has been added to its use as a fuel testing facility, namely Fuel Element Design Testing. The current report covers reactor physics experiments aspects.

Waves from Propulsion Systems of Fast Ferries

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Taatø, Søren Haugsted; Aage, Christian; Arnskov, Michael M.

1998-01-01

Waves from fast ferries have become an environmental problem of growing concern to the public. Fast ferries produce not only higher waves than conventional ships but also fundamentally different wave systems when they sail at supercritical speeds. Hitherto, ship waves have been considered as being...... generated by the ship hulls alone. Whereas this assumption may be reasonable for conventional ships with large hulls and limited propulsive power, the situation is different for fast ferries with their smaller hulls and very large installed power. A simple theoretical model and a series of model tests...... on a monohull fast ferry seem to indicate that a substantial part of the wave-making can be directly attributed to the propulsion system itself. Thus, two wave systems are created with different phases, but with similar frequency contents, which means that they merge into one system behind the ship, very...

Biological monitoring of the micro watershed - Canada del Dragon

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Fernandez, H.; Rossetti, K.; Caceres, T.; Palma, R.; Garcia, P.; De la Rosa, A.; Seoane, I.

2012-01-01

The working group under the Uruguay RCA L-5053 project is about La canada del Dragon (located in Santa Lucia basin - Uruguay) evaluation using benthic macro invertebrates. The main problems of the study area were the riverbanks expansion, the erosion and the pesticides impact on the native fish. The group implemented the water quality evaluation through the study of the invertebrates in the basin.

Validation of the DRAGON score in 12 stroke centers in anterior and posterior circulation.

Science.gov (United States)

Strbian, Daniel; Seiffge, David J; Breuer, Lorenz; Numminen, Heikki; Michel, Patrik; Meretoja, Atte; Coote, Skye; Bordet, Régis; Obach, Victor; Weder, Bruno; Jung, Simon; Caso, Valeria; Curtze, Sami; Ollikainen, Jyrki; Lyrer, Philippe A; Eskandari, Ashraf; Mattle, Heinrich P; Chamorro, Angel; Leys, Didier; Bladin, Christopher; Davis, Stephen M; Köhrmann, Martin; Engelter, Stefan T; Tatlisumak, Turgut

2013-10-01

The DRAGON score predicts functional outcome in the hyperacute phase of intravenous thrombolysis treatment of ischemic stroke patients. We aimed to validate the score in a large multicenter cohort in anterior and posterior circulation. Prospectively collected data of consecutive ischemic stroke patients who received intravenous thrombolysis in 12 stroke centers were merged (n=5471). We excluded patients lacking data necessary to calculate the score and patients with missing 3-month modified Rankin scale scores. The final cohort comprised 4519 eligible patients. We assessed the performance of the DRAGON score with area under the receiver operating characteristic curve in the whole cohort for both good (modified Rankin scale score, 0-2) and miserable (modified Rankin scale score, 5-6) outcomes. Area under the receiver operating characteristic curve was 0.84 (0.82-0.85) for miserable outcome and 0.82 (0.80-0.83) for good outcome. Proportions of patients with good outcome were 96%, 93%, 78%, and 0% for 0 to 1, 2, 3, and 8 to 10 score points, respectively. Proportions of patients with miserable outcome were 0%, 2%, 4%, 89%, and 97% for 0 to 1, 2, 3, 8, and 9 to 10 points, respectively. When tested separately for anterior and posterior circulation, there was no difference in performance (P=0.55); areas under the receiver operating characteristic curve were 0.84 (0.83-0.86) and 0.82 (0.78-0.87), respectively. No sex-related difference in performance was observed (P=0.25). The DRAGON score showed very good performance in the large merged cohort in both anterior and posterior circulation strokes. The DRAGON score provides rapid estimation of patient prognosis and supports clinical decision-making in the hyperacute phase of stroke care (eg, when invasive add-on strategies are considered).

CHARACTERISTICS ANALYSIS OF DRAGON FRUIT EXTRACT SKIN BETACYANIN OF HYLOCEREUS POLYRHIZUS AND HYLOCEREUS UNDATUS WITH TEST OF STABILITY ORGANOLEPTIC JELLY AS ATLAS MEDIA

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Tutut Puji Lestari

2016-03-01

Full Text Available Dragon fruit Hylocereus polyrhizus and Hylocereus undatus are familiy of cactus, grown in Malang. The high consumption of dragon fruit, have an impact on the fruit skin buildup that simply disposed of as trash. Dragon fruit skin is known to have a source of natural red dye, which is Betacyanin. The purpose of this study was to determine the characteristics of the dragon fruit peel extract Betacyanin Hylocereus polyrhizus and Hylocereus undatus as well as the stability of the organoleptic jelly, which will be developed into a learning materials atlas for class VIII Junior High School. The study was conducted in September-October 2015. The study was conducted in three stages. This type of research phase I and II is True Experimental, and phase III is development. The results of phase I shows that various concentrations of ethanol (70% and 90% have an effect on the characteristics of the extract Betacyanin skin dragon fruit Hylocereus polyrhizus and Hylocereus undatus, but very significant effect on skin extract dragon fruit Hylocereus undatus the treatment of N2, EI at pH 4,5. Later in the phase II study results showed that different concentrations of extracts of the best Betacyanin significantly affect the organoleptic stability of jelly. The results of phase III is the development of phase I and II studies into Atlas media for 8th grade of Junior High School.

“We're All in the Same Boat”: A Review of the Benefits of Dragon Boat Racing for Women Living with Breast Cancer

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Susan R. Harris

2012-01-01

Full Text Available This narrative review summarizes findings from quantitative and qualitative research literature that has been published over the past 15 years since an initial, community-based pilot study first challenged the long-held medical belief that vigorous, upper-body exercise would lead to lymphedema in women who were at risk due to treatments for breast cancer. Dragon boat racing originated in China more than 2000 years ago and has become a popular recreational and competitive support around the world. From the advent of the world's first breast cancer survivor dragon boat team, Abreast in a Boat launched in Vancouver, British Columbia, in 1996, there are now more than 140 breast cancer survivor dragon boat teams paddling and competing in 12 different countries. The wealth of quantitative and qualitative research that has ensued since that pilot study further supports the initial hypothesis that resistance exercise, for example, dragon boat paddling, is not only safe for women recovering from conventional breast cancer therapies but also shows that dragon boating has been embraced as a complementary exercise therapy by the cancer survivors participating in this magical sport.

A Wims E analysis of the zero energy experiments of Dragon prior to charge IV - Part 1: General description of the method

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Lancefield, M J

1973-09-15

This paper describes the proposed analysis scheme for the ZEX cores of DC4/1: the analysis was started in April and the progress to date is given in Reference 1. This analysis is a joint UKAEA/DRAGON exercise, funded by the DRAGON project.

Dynamic analysis of floating wave energy generation system with mooring system

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Choi, Gyu Seok; Sohn, Jeong Hyun

2013-01-01

In this study, dynamic behaviors of a wave energy generation system (WEGS) that converts wave energy into electric energy are analyzed using multibody dynamics techniques. Many studies have focused on reducing the effects of a mooring system on the motion of a WEGS. Several kinematic constraints and force elements are employed in the modeling stage. Three dimensional wave load equations are used to implement wave loads. The dynamic behaviors of a WEGS are analyzed under several wave conditions by using MSC/ADAMS, and the rotating speed of the generating shaft is investigated for predicting the electricity capacity. The dynamic behaviors of a WEGS with a mooring system are compared with those of a WEGS without a mooring system. Stability evaluation of a WEGS is carried out through simulation under extreme wave load

Analysis of Dragon's Breath and Scattered Light Detector Anomalies on WFC3/UVIS

Science.gov (United States)

Fowler, Julia; Markwardt, Larissa; Bourque, Matthew; Anderson, Jay

2017-02-01

We summarize the examination of the light anomalies known as Dragon's Breath and Scattered Light for the UVIS channel of Wide Field Camera 3 (WFC3) of the Hubble Space Telescope (HST). We present three methods for WFC3 users to help avoid these effects during observation planning. We analyzed all of the full-frame wide and long pass filters with exposure times ≥ 300 seconds, comprising ∼13% of WFC3/UVIS on-orbit data (∼20% of all full-frame data, and ∼35% of all full-frame ≥300 second exposures.) We find that stars producing Dragon's Breath peak at specific orientations to the detector and V-band magnitudes. The bulk of these stars fall along the vertical and horizontal edges, within ∼490 pixels of the image frame. The corners of the detector show significantly fewer instances of Dragon's Breath and Scattered Light, though still a few occurrences. Furthermore, matching stars outside the field of the image to V-band magnitude data from the Hubble Guide Star Catalog II (GSC-II) shows that stars causing the anomaly consistently peak around a V-band magnitude of 11.9 or 14.6, whereas the general trend of objects lying outside the field instead peaks around a magnitude of 16.5 within our exposure time and filter selection.

Life-history and spatial determinants of somatic growth dynamics in Komodo dragon populations.

Science.gov (United States)

Laver, Rebecca J; Purwandana, Deni; Ariefiandy, Achmad; Imansyah, Jeri; Forsyth, David; Ciofi, Claudio; Jessop, Tim S

2012-01-01

Somatic growth patterns represent a major component of organismal fitness and may vary among sexes and populations due to genetic and environmental processes leading to profound differences in life-history and demography. This study considered the ontogenic, sex-specific and spatial dynamics of somatic growth patterns in ten populations of the world's largest lizard the Komodo dragon (Varanus komodoensis). The growth of 400 individual Komodo dragons was measured in a capture-mark-recapture study at ten sites on four islands in eastern Indonesia, from 2002 to 2010. Generalized Additive Mixed Models (GAMMs) and information-theoretic methods were used to examine how growth rates varied with size, age and sex, and across and within islands in relation to site-specific prey availability, lizard population density and inbreeding coefficients. Growth trajectories differed significantly with size and between sexes, indicating different energy allocation tactics and overall costs associated with reproduction. This leads to disparities in maximum body sizes and longevity. Spatial variation in growth was strongly supported by a curvilinear density-dependent growth model with highest growth rates occurring at intermediate population densities. Sex-specific trade-offs in growth underpin key differences in Komodo dragon life-history including evidence for high costs of reproduction in females. Further, inverse density-dependent growth may have profound effects on individual and population level processes that influence the demography of this species.

Life-history and spatial determinants of somatic growth dynamics in Komodo dragon populations.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Rebecca J Laver

Full Text Available Somatic growth patterns represent a major component of organismal fitness and may vary among sexes and populations due to genetic and environmental processes leading to profound differences in life-history and demography. This study considered the ontogenic, sex-specific and spatial dynamics of somatic growth patterns in ten populations of the world's largest lizard the Komodo dragon (Varanus komodoensis. The growth of 400 individual Komodo dragons was measured in a capture-mark-recapture study at ten sites on four islands in eastern Indonesia, from 2002 to 2010. Generalized Additive Mixed Models (GAMMs and information-theoretic methods were used to examine how growth rates varied with size, age and sex, and across and within islands in relation to site-specific prey availability, lizard population density and inbreeding coefficients. Growth trajectories differed significantly with size and between sexes, indicating different energy allocation tactics and overall costs associated with reproduction. This leads to disparities in maximum body sizes and longevity. Spatial variation in growth was strongly supported by a curvilinear density-dependent growth model with highest growth rates occurring at intermediate population densities. Sex-specific trade-offs in growth underpin key differences in Komodo dragon life-history including evidence for high costs of reproduction in females. Further, inverse density-dependent growth may have profound effects on individual and population level processes that influence the demography of this species.

Life-History and Spatial Determinants of Somatic Growth Dynamics in Komodo Dragon Populations

Science.gov (United States)

Laver, Rebecca J.; Purwandana, Deni; Ariefiandy, Achmad; Imansyah, Jeri; Forsyth, David; Ciofi, Claudio; Jessop, Tim S.

2012-01-01

Somatic growth patterns represent a major component of organismal fitness and may vary among sexes and populations due to genetic and environmental processes leading to profound differences in life-history and demography. This study considered the ontogenic, sex-specific and spatial dynamics of somatic growth patterns in ten populations of the world’s largest lizard the Komodo dragon (Varanus komodoensis). The growth of 400 individual Komodo dragons was measured in a capture-mark-recapture study at ten sites on four islands in eastern Indonesia, from 2002 to 2010. Generalized Additive Mixed Models (GAMMs) and information-theoretic methods were used to examine how growth rates varied with size, age and sex, and across and within islands in relation to site-specific prey availability, lizard population density and inbreeding coefficients. Growth trajectories differed significantly with size and between sexes, indicating different energy allocation tactics and overall costs associated with reproduction. This leads to disparities in maximum body sizes and longevity. Spatial variation in growth was strongly supported by a curvilinear density-dependent growth model with highest growth rates occurring at intermediate population densities. Sex-specific trade-offs in growth underpin key differences in Komodo dragon life-history including evidence for high costs of reproduction in females. Further, inverse density-dependent growth may have profound effects on individual and population level processes that influence the demography of this species. PMID:23028983

Generation of consistent nuclear properties of DUPIC fuel by DRAGON with ENDF/B-VI nuclear data library

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Shen, W.; Rozon, D.

1998-01-01

DRAGON code with 89-groups ENDF/B-VI cross section library was used in this paper to generate consistent nuclear properties of DUPIC fuel. The reference feed material used for the DUPIC fuel cycle is a 17x17 French standard 900 MWe PWR spent fuel assembly with 3.2 w/o initial enrichment and 32500 MWD/7 discharge burnup. The PWR fuel assembly was modeled by JPMT/SYBILT transport method in DRAGON to generate nuclide fields of spent PWR fuel. The resultant nuclide fields constitute the initial fuel composition files for reference DUPIC fuel which can be accessed by DRAGON for CANDU 2D cluster geometry depletion calculation and 3D supercell calculation. Because of uneven spatial power distribution in PWR assemblies and full core, unexpected transition cycle, and various fuel management strategy, the spent PWR fuel composition is expected to be different from one assembly to the next. This heterogeneity was characterized also by modeling various spent PWR fuel assembly types in the paper. (author)

Foodborne outbreak of Salmonella subspecies IV infections associated with contamination from bearded dragons.

Science.gov (United States)

Lowther, S A; Medus, C; Scheftel, J; Leano, F; Jawahir, S; Smith, K

2011-12-01

Approximately 1.4 million Salmonella infections and 400 deaths occur annually in the United States. Approximately 6% of human Salmonella cases are thought to be associated with reptiles; Salmonella enterica subspecies IV is primarily reptile-associated. During 1-4 December, 2009, three isolates of Salmonella IV 6,7:z4,z24:- with indistinguishable pulsed-field gel electrophoresis (PFGE) patterns were identified through Minnesota Department of Health laboratory-based surveillance. None of the three patients associated with the isolates reported reptile contact; however, all had attended the same potluck dinner. Dinner attendees were asked questions regarding illness history, foods they prepared for and consumed at the event, and pet ownership. Cases were defined as illness in a person who had eaten potluck food and subsequently experienced fever and diarrhoea (three or more loose stools in 24 h) or laboratory-confirmed infection with Salmonella IV matching the outbreak PFGE subtype. Nineteen days after the event, environmental samples were collected from a food preparer's house where two pet bearded dragons were kept. Sixty-six of 73 potluck food consumers were interviewed; 19 cases were identified; 18 persons reported illness but did not meet the case definition. Median incubation period was 19 h (range: 3-26 h). Median duration of illness was 5 days (range: 1-11 days). Consumption of gravy, prepared by the bearded dragons' asymptomatic owner, was associated with illness (16/32 exposed versus 1/12 unexposed; risk ratio: 6.0; exact P = 0.02). Salmonella Labadi was recovered from 10 samples, including from one bearded dragon, the bathroom door knob and sink drain, and the kitchen sink drain. The outbreak PFGE subtype of Salmonella subspecies IV was isolated from vacuum-cleaner bag contents. This foodborne outbreak probably resulted from environmental contamination from bearded dragons. Reptiles pose a community threat when food for public consumption is prepared in

Wave energy resource of Brazil: An analysis from 35 years of ERA-Interim reanalysis data.

Science.gov (United States)

Espindola, Rafael Luz; Araújo, Alex Maurício

2017-01-01

This paper presents a characterization of the wave power resource and an analysis of the wave power output for three (AquaBuoy, Pelamis and Wave Dragon) different wave energy converters (WEC) over the Brazilian offshore. To do so it used a 35 years reanalysis database from the ERA-Interim project. Annual and seasonal statistical analyzes of significant height and energy period were performed, and the directional variability of the incident waves were evaluated. The wave power resource was characterized in terms of the statistical parameters of mean, maximum, 95th percentile and standard deviation, and in terms of the temporal variability coefficients COV, SV e MV. From these analyses, the total annual wave power resource available over the Brazilian offshore was estimated in 89.97 GW, with largest mean wave power of 20.63 kW/m in the southernmost part of the study area. The analysis of the three WEC was based in the annual wave energy output and in the capacity factor. The higher capacity factor was 21.85% for Pelamis device at the southern region of the study area.

First report of fatal disseminated microsporidiosis in two inland bearded dragons Pogona vitticeps in Japan.

Science.gov (United States)

Shibasaki, Kojiro; Tokiwa, Toshihiro; Sukegawa, Akihiro; Kondo, Hirotaka; Tamukai, Kenichi; Haga, Yumiko; Ike, Kazunori

2017-04-01

Introduction. Encephalitozoon pogonae is a newly described pathogen belonging to the phylum Microsporidia. In Austria and the USA, this species has been isolated from fatal and disseminated cases of captive-bred inland bearded dragons. Here, we report the case of fatal disseminated microsporidiosis caused by E. pogonae in two bearded dragons in Japan. Case Presentation. The two lizards from different private households in Tokyo, Japan, had been brought to an animal hospital for examination. In both cases, the animal presented with a history of weight loss for several weeks. There were no improvements in clinical symptoms and the lizards deteriorated and finally died. Histopathological examination demonstrated necrotizing granulomatous inflammation attributed to disseminated microsporidian infection. Nucleotide sequencing of the nuclear ribosomal internal transcribed spacer region identified the microsporidian as E. pogonae with sequence identity of 100 %. Conclusion. We report the first case, to our knowledge, of disseminated microsporidiosis caused by E. pogonae in inland bearded dragons in Japan. Although it is difficult to diagnose prenatally since the signs are nonspecific, the disease should be considered in the differential diagnosis of chronic infections that do not respond to antibiotics.

PEMANFAATAN KULIT BUAH NAGA (Dragon Fruit SEBAGAI PEWARNA ALAMI MAKANAN PENGGANTI PEWARNA SINTETIS

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Prima Astuti Handayani

2013-05-01

Full Text Available Kulit buah naga merupakan limbah hasil pertanian yang mengandung zat warna alami antosianin cukup tinggi. Antosianin merupakan zat warna yang berperan memberikan warna merah yang berpotensi menjadi pewarna alami untuk pangan dan dapat dijadikan alternatif pengganti pewarna sintetis yang lebih aman bagi kesehatan. Pengambilan zat warna antosianin dilakukan dengan metode ekstraksi. Pelarut yang digunakan adalah aquades. Variabel penelitian antara lain varietas buah naga, konsentrasi asam sitrat dalam pelarut, suhu ekstraksi, dan waktu ekstraksi. Potongan kulit buah naga diekstraksi dengan pelarut aquades dan asam sitrat dengan perbandingan tertentu, pada suhu ekstraksi 25-800C dan waktu ekstraksi 0,5-3 jam. Analisis kadar antosianin dilakukan dengan analisa antosianin metode Glusti dan Wrolstad. Hasil percobaan diperoleh bahwa varietas buah naga daging merah menghasilkan kadar antosianin terbesar 22,59335 ppm. Selain itu kadar antosianin terbesar diperoleh pada variasi pelarut aquades:asam sitrat (5:1 26,4587 ppm, variasi pada suhu kamar menghasilkan 21,5028 ppm dan waktu pengadukan  3 jam menghasilkan 23,3027 ppm. Pewarna alami ini telah diaplikasikan pada makanan dan diujikan pada tikus putih, hasil uji coba menunjukkan pewarna buah naga dapat dipakai sebagai pewarna alami makanan. Dragon fruit peel is agricultural waste which contains quite high natural pigments of anthocyanins. Anthocyanin is a dye that potentially provides a red natural colorant for food and alternatively used as synthetic dye which is safe for health. In this study, the process of taking anthocyanin was conducted using extraction method. The solvent used was distilled water. The variables observed in the research include dragon fruit varieties, the concentration of citric acid in the solvent, extraction temperature, and extraction time. The dragon fruit peel was extracted using solvents of distilled water and citric acid at a certain ratio, at extraction temperature

Dragon's blood dropping pills have protective effects on focal cerebral ischemia rats model.

Science.gov (United States)

Xin, Nian; Yang, Fang-Ju; Li, Yan; Li, Yu-Juan; Dai, Rong-Ji; Meng, Wei-Wei; Chen, Yan; Deng, Yu-Lin

2013-12-15

Dragon's blood is a bright red resin obtained from Dracaena cochinchinensis (Lour.) S.C.Chen (Yunnan, China). As a traditional Chinese medicinal herb, it has great traditional medicinal value and is used for wound healing and to stop bleeding. Its main biological activity comes from phenolic compounds. In this study, phenolic compounds were made into dropping pills and their protective effects were examined by establishing focal cerebral ischemia rats model used method of Middle Cerebral Artery Occlusion (MCAO), and by investigating indexes of neurological scores, infarct volume, cerebral index, cerebral water content and oxidation stress. Compared to model group, high, middle and low groups of Dragon's blood dropping pills could improve the neurological function significantly (ppills had protective effects on focal cerebral ischemia rats. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier GmbH. All rights reserved.

Pharmacokinetics of subcutaneous versus intramuscular administration of ceftiofur crystalline-free acid to bearded dragons (Pogona vitticeps).

Science.gov (United States)

Churgin, Sarah M; Musgrave, Kari E; Cox, Sherry K; Sladky, Kurt K

2014-05-01

To compare pharmacokinetics after a single IM or SC injection of ceftiofur crystalline-free acid (CCFA) to bearded dragons (Pogona vitticeps). 8 adult male bearded dragons. In a preliminary experiment, doses of 15 and 30 mg/kg, SC, were compared in 2 animals, and 30 mg/kg resulted in a more desirable pharmacokinetic profile. Then, in a randomized, complete crossover experimental design, each bearded dragon (n = 6) received a single dose of 30 mg of CCFA/kg IM or SC; the experiment was repeated after a 28-day washout period with the other route of administration. Blood samples were collected at 10 time points for 288 hours after injection. Plasma concentrations of ceftiofur and desfuroylceftiofur metabolites were measured via reverse-phase high-performance liquid chromatography. Data were analyzed with a noncompartmental model. No adverse effects were observed. Plasma concentrations greater than a target minimum inhibitory concentration of 1 μg/mL were achieved by 4 hours after administration by both routes. Mean plasma concentrations remained > 1 μg/mL for > 288 hours for both routes of administration. A single dose of CCFA (30 mg/kg) administered IM or SC to bearded dragons yielded plasma concentrations of ceftiofur and its metabolites > 1 μg/mL for > 288 hours. The SC route would be preferred because of less variability in plasma concentrations and greater ease of administration than the IM route. Future studies should include efficacy data as well as evaluation of the administration of multiple doses.

Developing CALL for Heritage Languages: "The 7 Keys of the Dragon"

Science.gov (United States)

Revithiadou, Anthi; Kourtis-Kazoullis, Vasilia; Soukalopoulou, Maria; Konstantoudakis, Konstantinos; Zarras, Christos

2015-01-01

In this article we present an interactive extensible software, "The 7 Keys of the Dragon," for the teaching/learning of Albanian and Russian to students that attend primary and secondary education in Greece with the respective languages as their heritage languages. We address the key challenges we encountered during the conceptualization…

Blood vitamin D(3) metabolite concentrations of adult female bearded dragons (Pogona vitticeps) remain stable after ceasing UVb exposure.

Science.gov (United States)

Oonincx, D G A B; van de Wal, M D; Bosch, G; Stumpel, J B G; Heijboer, A C; van Leeuwen, J P T M; Hendriks, W H; Kik, M

2013-07-01

Vitamin D deficiency can lead to several health problems collectively called metabolic bone disease (MBD). One commonly kept reptile species prone to develop MBD if managed incorrectly is the bearded dragon (Pogona vitticeps). This study aimed to determine the extent to which adult female bearded dragons fed a diet low in vitamin D can use stored vitamin D and its metabolites to maintain plasma 25(OH)D(3) and 1,25(OH)(2)D(3) concentrations after discontinuing UVb exposure. Blood samples of healthy adult female bearded dragons, exposed to UVb radiation for over 6 months were collected (day 0) after which UVb exposure was discontinued for 83 days and blood was collected. Blood plasma was analysed for concentrations of total Ca, total P, ionized Ca, uric acid, 25(OH)D(3) and 1,25(OH)(2)D(3). There was no significant change in plasma 25(OH)D(3) and 1,25(OH)(2)D(3) concentrations during the study. While total Ca and P in whole blood was found to significantly decrease over time (P dragons, previously exposed to UVb, are able to maintain blood vitamin D metabolite concentrations when UVb exposure is discontinued for a period of up to 83 days. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

A Comparison on Intercultural Business Negotiations of Asia’s Four Little Dragons

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Yu-Te Tu

2013-07-01

Full Text Available The Four Little Dragons have experienced growth rates between 5 and 10 percent over the last decade and are the recipients of the largest capital transfer in the region. Despite the enthusiasm for increased economic exchange, however, people are finding that cultural differences hinder their ability to efficiently conduct business. In this research, Casse and Deols’ model of negotiation styles are dependent variables, and cultural factors are utilized as independent variables to examine how cultural differences affect negotiation styles. Data are collected from public companies by means of an online survey, and the snowball sampling method is applied. Structural equation modeling is selected to measurehypothesized models and research hypotheses. The findings show that (1 an individualist attitude directly affects the style of negotiation; (2 nationality is a moderated variant of individualist attitude and style of negotiation; and (3 different styles of negotiation are preferred by negotiators of the Four Little Dragons. The researcher hopes this study can improve the understanding of the negotiation styles used by the Four Little Dragons and help business people develop better strategies to reap increased benefits and to maintain their competitive advantage. Additionally, a comparison can be made of the differences and similarities among the styles of negotiation used in a number of different countries, such as BRIC, or within specific regions, such as Germany. Furthermore, future studies can employ a qualitative method and other factors, such as gender or ethics to examine and add value to the current findings.

The containment safety of the Dragon Reactor

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Cullington, G.R.

1967-08-01

The original design of the Dragon Reactor was based upon the assumption that fission product emitting fuel elements would be used, leading to two significant considerations. First, a highly active primary circuit would result in normal operation, and second, under accident conditions involving massive core damage and corrosion following a major pressure vessel failure, the bulk of the core burden of fission products would be released. The adoption of coated particle fuel able to retain fission products has changed significantly the philosophy behind the design of the containment. The new philosophy is described and its effect on operating principles is discussed. (UK)

Ice Dragon: A Mission to Address Science and Human Exploration Objectives on Mars

Science.gov (United States)

Stoker, Carol R.; Davila, A.; Sanders, G.; Glass, Brian; Gonzales, A.; Heldmann, Jennifer; Karcz, J.; Lemke, L.; Sanders, G.

2012-01-01

We present a mission concept where a SpaceX Dragon capsule lands a payload on Mars that samples ground ice to search for evidence of life, assess hazards to future human missions, and demonstrate use of Martian resources.

Simulations of the neutronic REP behaviour using the codes DRAGON/DONJON

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Le Mer, J.

2007-01-01

Neutron flux calculation is necessary to understand how a nuclear reactor works. This flux is derived from the transport equation on the whole core. Because of its really complex structure and the angular dependence of the transport equation, it is impossible to compute the flux directly and several neutronic calculation codes must be used to solve the equation for different discretizations which require different modelisations. This chain of successive models, known as a calculation scheme, compute the neutron flux of a reactor from its geometry, its isotopic compositions and a cross-section library. Pressurised light Water Reactor (PWR) are the most common nuclear reactor used today. It is necessary for each neutronic code to be validated for this type of reactor. The goal of this work is to create a complete calculation scheme which can be applied to the evolution of the core of a pressurised light water nuclear reactor using the lattice code DRAGON and the reactor code DONJON. Each step of this scheme will be validated by comparisons with other codes or with experimental results. The unit cell calculation will be computed for a benchmark submitted by R. Mosteller. The assembly calculations will be used to compare the results given by DRAGON, APOLLO2 and MCNP for an assembly used by EDF for code testing. The core calculations will show that the codes DRAGON and DONJON can produce accurate macroscopic results for a real core. Those studies will be used to show the effects of many factors on the flux distribution including the cross section library, the number of energy groups, spatial discretization of the unit cell, the tracking model, the self-shielding of the resonant isotopes or the burnup steps. (author)

A Wims E analysis of the zero energy experiments of Dragon prior to charge IV - Part 2: Progress with single element calculations

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Briggs, A J; Dubofsky, W; Lancefield, M J; Woloch, F

1973-09-15

An earlier paper gave a broad outline of the proposed method of analysing the DRAGON experiments. This paper describes the progress made in collecting and processing the data and in performing the single element calculations. Thus Section 2 covers the data, Section 3 gives a general picture of the whole reactor and Sections 4 to 7 describe the element calculations. Finally, Section 8 contains some results from the element calculations and Section 9 summarises an investigation performed prior to the start of the analysis. It bears emphasising that the data collection was a very time consuming operation due mainly to the diversity of the DRAGON elements and due also to the fact that DRAGON, as an irradiation facility, is not a clean experimental core with the result that data requires careful evaluation and is often difficult to obtain. For similar reasons the element calculations represent a much longer task than in most reactors in which only a small number of element types are present. In DRAGON separate data is supplied for each of the 37 elements.

Cosmic-ray propagation with DRAGON2: I. numerical solver and astrophysical ingredients

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Evoli, Carmelo [Gran Sasso Science Institute, viale Francesco Crispi 7, 67100 L' Aquila (AQ) (Italy); Gaggero, Daniele [GRAPPA Institute, University of Amsterdam, Science Park 904, 1090 GL Amsterdam (Netherlands); Vittino, Andrea [Physik-Department T30d, Technische Universität München, James-Franck-Straße 1, D-85748 Garching (Germany); Bernardo, Giuseppe Di [Max-Planck-Institut für Astrophysik, Karl-Schwarzschild-Straße 1, 85740 Garching bei München (Germany); Mauro, Mattia Di [W.W. Hansen Experimental Physics Laboratory, Kavli Institute for Particle Astrophysics and Cosmology, Department of Physics and SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory, Stanford University, Stanford, CA 94305 (United States); Ligorini, Arianna [Instytut Fizyki J\\cadrowej—PAN, ul. Radzikowskiego 152, 31-342 Kraków (Poland); Ullio, Piero [Scuola Internazionale di Studi Superiori Avanzati, via Bonomea 265, 34136 Trieste (Italy); Grasso, Dario, E-mail: carmelo.evoli@gssi.infn.it, E-mail: d.gaggero@uva.nl, E-mail: andrea.vittino@tum.de, E-mail: bernardo@mpa-garching.mpg.de, E-mail: mdimauro@slac.stanford.edu, E-mail: arianna.ligorini@ifj.edu.pl, E-mail: piero.ullio@sissa.it, E-mail: dario.grasso@pi.infn.it [INFN and Dipartimento di Fisica ' ' E. Fermi' ' , Pisa University, Largo B. Pontecorvo 3, I-56127 Pisa (Italy)

2017-02-01

We present version 2 of the DRAGON code designed for computing realistic predictions of the CR densities in the Galaxy. The code numerically solves the interstellar CR transport equation (including inhomogeneous and anisotropic diffusion, either in space and momentum, advective transport and energy losses), under realistic conditions. The new version includes an updated numerical solver and several models for the astrophysical ingredients involved in the transport equation. Improvements in the accuracy of the numerical solution are proved against analytical solutions and in reference diffusion scenarios. The novel features implemented in the code allow to simulate the diverse scenarios proposed to reproduce the most recent measurements of local and diffuse CR fluxes, going beyond the limitations of the homogeneous galactic transport paradigm. To this end, several applications using DRAGON2 are presented as well. This new version facilitates the users to include their own physical models by means of a modular C++ structure.

Solar system plasma waves

Science.gov (United States)

Gurnett, Donald A.

1995-01-01

An overview is given of spacecraft observations of plasma waves in the solar system. In situ measurements of plasma phenomena have now been obtained at all of the planets except Mercury and Pluto, and in the interplanetary medium at heliocentric radial distances ranging from 0.29 to 58 AU. To illustrate the range of phenomena involved, we discuss plasma waves in three regions of physical interest: (1) planetary radiation belts, (2) planetary auroral acceleration regions and (3) the solar wind. In each region we describe examples of plasma waves that are of some importance, either due to the role they play in determining the physical properties of the plasma, or to the unique mechanism involved in their generation.

Dining in the lions� den � Bel and the dragon, verses 28�42 (Old Greek/Theodotion

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Joseph J. de Bruyn

2015-03-01

Full Text Available This article is part of a series of articles written on Bel and the dragon. This series of articles is an investigation into the Greek editor/author�s use of body, space, narrative and genre in creating a new reality regarding the Jewish deity. A spatial framework is used to specifically examine the third episode of Bel and the dragon, entitled Dining in the lions� den. It is suggested that the third episode of Bel and the dragon should be read in a reciprocal relationship with not only Bel and the dragon but also the larger book of Daniel. Firstly, such an analysis indicates that the smaller episode is part of a larger clash of deities. Secondly, it shows that the editor/ author utilises the episode to recreate a new cosmology. In this new cosmology, the God of Israel is an almighty deity whilst other deities are revealed as false and not real living gods. In his own way, the editor/author contributes to the way in which Jews regarded their God within the reality of the diaspora.Intradisciplinary and/or interdisciplinary implications: The aim with this article was to analyse Daniel 14 by means of new insights from developments in language studies. Until now, scholars tended to repeat each other in their analysis of Daniel 14. No attention was given to space, body or other aspects of new developments in the field of language. This article challenges the repetitive research previously done on Daniel 14.

As sure as tax, rain or death (Part II) : digitalisation dragons?

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Staal, Anne

2017-01-01

Tax evasion, delayed trains & untidy death seem to be parts of our daily lives. But what about the digitalisation dragons? Will they wipe away B2B sales and procurement as we know it, our will we see a more nuanced picture? The first Part on this topic so far has attracted 3700+ readers at our PSF

Validation of DRAGON4/DONJON4 simulation methodology for a typical MNSR by calculating reactivity feedback coefficient and neutron flux

Science.gov (United States)

Al Zain, Jamal; El Hajjaji, O.; El Bardouni, T.; Boukhal, H.; Jaï, Otman

2018-06-01

The MNSR is a pool type research reactor, which is difficult to model because of the importance of neutron leakage. The aim of this study is to evaluate a 2-D transport model for the reactor compatible with the latest release of the DRAGON code and 3-D diffusion of the DONJON code. DRAGON code is then used to generate the group macroscopic cross sections needed for full core diffusion calculations. The diffusion DONJON code, is then used to compute the effective multiplication factor (keff), the feedback reactivity coefficients and neutron flux which account for variation in fuel and moderator temperatures as well as the void coefficient have been calculated using the DRAGON and DONJON codes for the MNSR research reactor. The cross sections of all the reactor components at different temperatures were generated using the DRAGON code. These group constants were used then in the DONJON code to calculate the multiplication factor and the neutron spectrum at different water and fuel temperatures using 69 energy groups. Only one parameter was changed where all other parameters were kept constant. Finally, Good agreements between the calculated and measured have been obtained for every of the feedback reactivity coefficients and neutron flux.

DRAGON solutions to the 3D transport benchmark over a range in parameter space

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Martin, Nicolas; Hebert, Alain; Marleau, Guy

2010-01-01

DRAGON solutions to the 'NEA suite of benchmarks for 3D transport methods and codes over a range in parameter space' are discussed in this paper. A description of the benchmark is first provided, followed by a detailed review of the different computational models used in the lattice code DRAGON. Two numerical methods were selected for generating the required quantities for the 729 configurations of this benchmark. First, S N calculations were performed using fully symmetric angular quadratures and high-order diamond differencing for spatial discretization. To compare S N results with those of another deterministic method, the method of characteristics (MoC) was also considered for this benchmark. Comparisons between reference solutions, S N and MoC results illustrate the advantages and drawbacks of each methods for this 3-D transport problem.

Report on Damage in Storm 05.01.08

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Kofoed, Jens Peter; Friis-Madsen, Erik; Christensen, Lars

The report describes a number of observations at the energy converter Wave Dragon, Nissum Bredning, during the storm on January 8th 2005.......The report describes a number of observations at the energy converter Wave Dragon, Nissum Bredning, during the storm on January 8th 2005....

Control of an exotic tick (Aponomma komodoense) infestation in a Komodo dragon (Varanus komodoensis) exhibit at a zoo in Florida.

Science.gov (United States)

Burridge, Michael J; Simmons, Leigh-Anne; Condie, Thomas

2004-06-01

A protocol was developed to control an exotic tick (Aponomma komodoense) infestation on three Komodo dragons (Varanus komodoensis) at a Florida zoo without direct application of acaricides to the lizards. With the Komodo dragons secured within their indoor pens, their outdoor enclosures and the exhibition area were sprayed with a formulation of permethrin prepared specifically for use with reptiles. Once the acaricide had dried, the Komodo dragons were allowed to return to their outdoor enclosures, whereupon the indoor pens were closed and sprayed with the same formulation. After this initial treatment, the outdoor and indoor areas were retreated every 2 wk and 8-10 wk, respectively, for 6 mo. The initial on-host and off-host tick count of 301 ticks fell to 0 ticks after 6 mo. No adverse effects of the acaricide treatment were observed on the lizards during daily monitoring.

A WIMS E analysis of zero energy experiments performed on the Dragon reactor

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Lancefield, M. J.; Broadhouse, B.; Woloch, F.

1974-10-15

UKAEA methods embodied in the WINS-E modular scheme of codes are described in their application to the analysis of zero energy experiments performed on the DRAGON reactor. Measured reactivity and reaction rate distributions are compared with the predictions of the analysis.

Wave energy resource of Brazil: An analysis from 35 years of ERA-Interim reanalysis data

Science.gov (United States)

Araújo, Alex Maurício

2017-01-01

This paper presents a characterization of the wave power resource and an analysis of the wave power output for three (AquaBuoy, Pelamis and Wave Dragon) different wave energy converters (WEC) over the Brazilian offshore. To do so it used a 35 years reanalysis database from the ERA-Interim project. Annual and seasonal statistical analyzes of significant height and energy period were performed, and the directional variability of the incident waves were evaluated. The wave power resource was characterized in terms of the statistical parameters of mean, maximum, 95th percentile and standard deviation, and in terms of the temporal variability coefficients COV, SV e MV. From these analyses, the total annual wave power resource available over the Brazilian offshore was estimated in 89.97 GW, with largest mean wave power of 20.63 kW/m in the southernmost part of the study area. The analysis of the three WEC was based in the annual wave energy output and in the capacity factor. The higher capacity factor was 21.85% for Pelamis device at the southern region of the study area. PMID:28817731

Wave energy resource of Brazil: An analysis from 35 years of ERA-Interim reanalysis data.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Rafael Luz Espindola

Full Text Available This paper presents a characterization of the wave power resource and an analysis of the wave power output for three (AquaBuoy, Pelamis and Wave Dragon different wave energy converters (WEC over the Brazilian offshore. To do so it used a 35 years reanalysis database from the ERA-Interim project. Annual and seasonal statistical analyzes of significant height and energy period were performed, and the directional variability of the incident waves were evaluated. The wave power resource was characterized in terms of the statistical parameters of mean, maximum, 95th percentile and standard deviation, and in terms of the temporal variability coefficients COV, SV e MV. From these analyses, the total annual wave power resource available over the Brazilian offshore was estimated in 89.97 GW, with largest mean wave power of 20.63 kW/m in the southernmost part of the study area. The analysis of the three WEC was based in the annual wave energy output and in the capacity factor. The higher capacity factor was 21.85% for Pelamis device at the southern region of the study area.

Controlling wave propagation through nonlinear engineered granular systems

Science.gov (United States)

Leonard, Andrea

We study the fundamental dynamic behavior of a special class of ordered granular systems in order to design new, structured materials with unique physical properties. The dynamic properties of granular systems are dictated by the nonlinear, Hertzian, potential in compression and zero tensile strength resulting from the discrete material structure. Engineering the underlying particle arrangement of granular systems allows for unique dynamic properties, not observed in natural, disordered granular media. While extensive studies on 1D granular crystals have suggested their usefulness for a variety of engineering applications, considerably less attention has been given to higher-dimensional systems. The extension of these studies in higher dimensions could enable the discovery of richer physical phenomena not possible in 1D, such as spatial redirection and anisotropic energy trapping. We present experiments, numerical simulation (based on a discrete particle model), and in some cases theoretical predictions for several engineered granular systems, studying the effects of particle arrangement on the highly nonlinear transient wave propagation to develop means for controlling the wave propagation pathways. The first component of this thesis studies the stress wave propagation resulting from a localized impulsive loading for three different 2D particle lattice structures: square, centered square, and hexagonal granular crystals. By varying the lattice structure, we observe a wide range of properties for the propagating stress waves: quasi-1D solitary wave propagation, fully 2D wave propagation with tunable wave front shapes, and 2D pulsed wave propagation. Additionally the effects of weak disorder, inevitably present in real granular systems, are investigated. The second half of this thesis studies the solitary wave propagation through 2D and 3D ordered networks of granular chains, reducing the effective density compared to granular crystals by selectively placing wave

Panda-Huggers and Dragon-Slayers: How to View Modern China Today

Science.gov (United States)

Gifford, Rob

2010-01-01

Panda-hugger and dragon-slayer are phrases used to describe two different kinds of China-watchers, and increasingly, two different types of people in the general public. A panda-hugger is someone who says that almost everything going on in China is good, that China's progress is a great thing for the world, and that any problems are peripheral. A…

Raman spectroscopic analysis of dragon's blood resins-basis for distinguishing between Dracaena(Convallariaceae), Daemonorops(Palmae) and Croton(Euphorbiaceae).

Science.gov (United States)

Edwards, Howell G M; de Oliveira, Luiz F C; Prendergast, Hew D V

2004-02-01

"Dragon[prime or minute]s blood" is the name applied to the deep-red coloured resin obtained from various plants. The original source in Roman times, used by many cultures and esteemed for its depth of colour and mystical association, was the dragon tree Dracaena cinnabari(Convallariaceae), found only on the Indian Ocean island of Socotra, (Yemen). Additional sources emerged later, including another species of Dracaena, D. draco, from the Canary Islands and Madeira, and species in the genera Daemonorops(Palmae) from South East Asia and Croton(Euphorbiaceae) from tropical parts of both the New and Old Worlds. In this study, examples of dragon's blood resins from the Economic Botany Collections at the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, dating from 1851 to 1993, have been analysed non-destructively using Raman spectroscopy. The Raman spectra of well-documented, provenanced specimens have been used to establish the source of specimens of questionable or unknown origin. It has also been possible from the Raman spectra to indicate whether processing of the resins has been undertaken in the preparation of the specimens before their deposition at Kew.

Mitochondrial genome of the Komodo dragon: efficient sequencing method with reptile-oriented primers and novel gene rearrangements.

Science.gov (United States)

Kumazawa, Yoshinori; Endo, Hideki

2004-04-30

The mitochondrial genome of the Komodo dragon (Varanus komodoensis) was nearly completely sequenced, except for two highly repetitive noncoding regions. An efficient sequencing method for squamate mitochondrial genomes was established by combining the long polymerase chain reaction (PCR) technology and a set of reptile-oriented primers designed for nested PCR amplifications. It was found that the mitochondrial genome had novel gene arrangements in which genes from NADH dehydrogenase subunit 6 to proline tRNA were extensively shuffled with duplicate control regions. These control regions had 99% sequence similarity over 700 bp. Although snake mitochondrial genomes are also known to possess duplicate control regions with nearly identical sequences, the location of the second control region suggested independent occurrence of the duplication on lineages leading to snakes and the Komodo dragon. Another feature of the mitochondrial genome of the Komodo dragon was the considerable number of tandem repeats, including sequences with a strong secondary structure, as a possible site for the slipped-strand mispairing in replication. These observations are consistent with hypotheses that tandem duplications via the slipped-strand mispairing may induce mitochondrial gene rearrangements and may serve to maintain similar copies of the control region.

Influence of conventional and ultrasonic-assisted extraction on phenolic contents, betacyanin contents, and antioxidant capacity of red dragon fruit (Hylocereus polyrhizus).

Science.gov (United States)

Ramli, Nurul Shazini; Ismail, Patimah; Rahmat, Asmah

2014-01-01

The aim of this study was to examine the effects of extraction methods on antioxidant capacities of red dragon fruit peel and flesh. Antioxidant capacities were measured using ethylenebenzothiozoline-6-sulfonic acid (ABTS) radical cation assay and ferric reducing antioxidant power assay (FRAP). Total phenolic content (TPC) was determined using Folin-Ciocalteu reagent while quantitative determination of total flavonoid content (TFC) was conducted using aluminium trichloride colorimetric method. Betacyanin content (BC) was measured by spectrophotometer. Red dragon fruit was extracted using conventional (CV) and ultrasonic-assisted extraction (UE) technique to determine the most efficient way of extracting its antioxidant components. Results indicated that UE increased TFC, reduced the extraction yield, BC, and TPC, but exhibited the strongest scavenging activity for the peel of red dragon fruit. In contrast, UE reduced BC, TFC, and scavenging activity but increased the yield for the flesh. Nonetheless, UE slightly increases TPC in flesh. Scavenging activity and reducing power were highly correlated with phenolic and flavonoid compounds. Conversely, the scavenging activity and reducing power were weakly correlated with betacyanin content. This work gives scientific evidences for the consideration of the type of extraction techniques for the peel and flesh of red dragon fruit in applied research and food industry.

Influence of Conventional and Ultrasonic-Assisted Extraction on Phenolic Contents, Betacyanin Contents, and Antioxidant Capacity of Red Dragon Fruit (Hylocereus polyrhizus

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Nurul Shazini Ramli

2014-01-01

Full Text Available The aim of this study was to examine the effects of extraction methods on antioxidant capacities of red dragon fruit peel and flesh. Antioxidant capacities were measured using ethylenebenzothiozoline-6-sulfonic acid (ABTS radical cation assay and ferric reducing antioxidant power assay (FRAP. Total phenolic content (TPC was determined using Folin-Ciocalteu reagent while quantitative determination of total flavonoid content (TFC was conducted using aluminium trichloride colorimetric method. Betacyanin content (BC was measured by spectrophotometer. Red dragon fruit was extracted using conventional (CV and ultrasonic-assisted extraction (UE technique to determine the most efficient way of extracting its antioxidant components. Results indicated that UE increased TFC, reduced the extraction yield, BC, and TPC, but exhibited the strongest scavenging activity for the peel of red dragon fruit. In contrast, UE reduced BC, TFC, and scavenging activity but increased the yield for the flesh. Nonetheless, UE slightly increases TPC in flesh. Scavenging activity and reducing power were highly correlated with phenolic and flavonoid compounds. Conversely, the scavenging activity and reducing power were weakly correlated with betacyanin content. This work gives scientific evidences for the consideration of the type of extraction techniques for the peel and flesh of red dragon fruit in applied research and food industry.

A proposed wave farm on the Galician coast

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Veigas, M.; López, M.; Romillo, P.; Carballo, R.; Castro, A.; Iglesias, G.

2015-01-01

Highlights: • The productions of four wave energy converters are estimated and compared. • The electric production of single units and 12 MW power plants are considered. • Three study sites at different water depths in the northwest of Spain are studied. • The occupation of the wave plant is considered to determine the best technology. • The Wave Dragon resulted the technology with the highest production. - Abstract: This work is focused on the analysis of the wave resource and its exploitation by means of a proposed 12 MW wave plant in Northwestern Spain. For this purpose, a total of four current technologies of wave conversion are analysed at three different sites located at different water depths, which correspond to one of the European areas with the greatest wave energy resource and where its electric production is still underdeveloped. To carry out the research, the wave data recorded at an offshore buoy near the area and the power matrices of the four selected wave energy technologies are used. The offshore wave conditions—representing 95% of the total energy of an average year—are propagated through spectral numerical modelling towards the coast. On the basis of the results, two of the four selected technologies forming the 12 MW power plants and one of the three considered points emerge as the ones allowing the greatest energy production and, at the same time, having a minimum area of occupation which, in turn, is crucial to reducing the visual impact. Finally, this research discusses the energy supply capacity of the proposed plants to satisfy the energy consumption required by nearby communities

Validation of the DRAGON Score in a Chinese Population to Predict Functional Outcome of Intravenous Thrombolysis-Treated Stroke Patients.

Science.gov (United States)

Zhang, Xinmiao; Liao, Xiaoling; Wang, Chunjuan; Liu, Liping; Wang, Chunxue; Zhao, Xingquan; Pan, Yuesong; Wang, Yilong; Wang, Yongjun

2015-08-01

The DRAGON score predicts functional outcome of ischemic stroke patients treated with intravenous thrombolysis. Our aim was to evaluate its utility in a Chinese stroke population. Patients with acute ischemic stroke treated with intravenous thrombolysis were prospectively registered in the Thrombolysis Implementation and Monitor of acute ischemic Stroke in China. We excluded patients with basilar artery occlusion and missing data, leaving 970 eligible patients. We calculated the DRAGON score, and the clinical outcome was measured by the modified Rankin Scale at 3 months. Model discrimination was quantified by calculating the C statistic. Calibration was assessed using Pearson correlation coefficient. The C statistic was .73 (.70-.76) for good outcome and .75 (.70-.79) for miserable outcome. Proportions of patients with good outcome were 94%, 83%, 70%, and 0% for 0 to 1, 2, 3, and 8 to 10 score points, respectively. Proportions of patients with miserable outcome were 0%, 3%, 9%, and 50% for 0 to 1, 2, 3, and 8 to 10 points, respectively. There was high correlation between predicted and observed probability of 3-month favorable and miserable outcome in the external validation cohort (Pearson correlation coefficient, .98 and .98, respectively, both P DRAGON score showed good performance to predict functional outcome after tissue-type plasminogen activator treatment in the Chinese population. This study demonstrated the accuracy and usability of the DRAGON score in the Chinese population in daily practice. Copyright © 2015 National Stroke Association. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

The history of some Komodo Dragons (Varanus Komodoensis) captured on Rintja in 1927

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Rookmaaker, L.C.

1975-01-01

INTRODUCTION The first scientific description of the Komodo Dragon (Varanus komodoensis), given by P. A. Ouwens, appeared only as late as 1912. During some time following this event, but little information on the species became available and no specimens were captured. Only in 1926, an American

Physical therapy as an adjunctive treatment for severe osteoarthritis in a Komodo dragon (Varanus komodoensis).

Science.gov (United States)

Wolfe, Tammy Culpepper; Stringer, Elizabeth; Krauss, Sue; Trout, Tim

2015-03-01

This case report describes a new physical therapy technique, specifically the Wolfe Kinetic Technique, as adjunctive therapy in the treatment of severe osteoarthritis in a 20-yr-old Komodo dragon (Varanus komodoensis). This animal was managed with oral analgesics for 3 yr with fair to minimal response over time. Due to worsening of lameness and mobility, physical therapy was initiated. Ten treatment sessions were administered at 1-wk intervals. Within 1 mo the Komodo dragon exhibited marked improvement in gait and function, increased responsiveness to his environment, and increased mobility which continued to improve over the subsequent sessions. Although outcomes could not be measured by standardized objective measures, this study provides a reference for treatment of future cases and a foundation for future research substantiating treatment practices in animal physical therapy.

Estimation of coolant void reactivity for CANDU-NG lattice using DRAGON and validation using MCNP5 and TRIPOLI-4.3

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Karthikeyan, R.; Tellier, R. L.; Hebert, A.

2006-01-01

The Coolant Void Reactivity (CVR) is an important safety parameter that needs to be estimated at the design stage of a nuclear reactor. It helps to have an a priori knowledge of the behavior of the system during a transient initiated by the loss of coolant. In the present paper, we have attempted to estimate the CVR for a CANDU New Generation (CANDU-NG) lattice, as proposed at an early stage of the Advanced CANDU Reactor (ACR) development. We have attempted to estimate the CVR with development version of the code DRAGON, using the method of characteristics. DRAGON has several advanced self-shielding models incorporated in it, each of them compatible with the method of characteristics. This study will bring to focus the performance of these self-shielding models, especially when there is voiding of such a tight lattice. We have also performed assembly calculations in 2 x 2 pattern for the CANDU-NG fuel, with special emphasis on checkerboard voiding. The results obtained have been validated against Monte Carlo codes MCNP5 and TRIPOLI-4.3. (authors)

Black swans, power laws, and dragon-kings: Earthquakes, volcanic eruptions, landslides, wildfires, floods, and SOC models

Science.gov (United States)

Sachs, M. K.; Yoder, M. R.; Turcotte, D. L.; Rundle, J. B.; Malamud, B. D.

2012-05-01

Extreme events that change global society have been characterized as black swans. The frequency-size distributions of many natural phenomena are often well approximated by power-law (fractal) distributions. An important question is whether the probability of extreme events can be estimated by extrapolating the power-law distributions. Events that exceed these extrapolations have been characterized as dragon-kings. In this paper we consider extreme events for earthquakes, volcanic eruptions, wildfires, landslides and floods. We also consider the extreme event behavior of three models that exhibit self-organized criticality (SOC): the slider-block, forest-fire, and sand-pile models. Since extrapolations using power-laws are widely used in probabilistic hazard assessment, the occurrence of dragon-king events have important practical implications.

Thermoregulation and aggregation in neonatal bearded dragons (Pogona vitticeps).

Science.gov (United States)

Khan, Jameel J; Richardson, Jean M L; Tattersall, Glenn J

2010-05-11

Ectothermic vertebrates, such as reptiles, thermoregulate behaviorally by choosing from available temperatures in their environment. As neonates, bearded dragons (Pogona vitticeps) are often observed to aggregate in vertical strata. A proximate mechanism for this behavior is the thermal advantage of heat storage (i.e., grouped lizards benefit through a decreased surface area to volume ratio), although competition for limited thermal resources, or aggregation for social reasons are alternative explanations. This study was designed to gain an understanding of how aggregation and thermoregulation interact. We observed that both isolated and grouped individuals achieved a similar level of thermoregulation (mean T(b) over trial) within a thermal gradient, but that individuals within a group had lower thermoregulatory precision. An experimental design in which light and ambient temperature (T(a)) (20 versus 30 degrees C) were altered established that a light bulb (source of heat) was a limited and valuable resource to both isolated and grouped neonatal lizards. Lizards aggregated more when the light was on at both temperatures, suggesting that individuals were equally attracted to or repelled from the heat source, depending on the ambient temperature. These data suggest aggregation occurs in neonatal bearded dragons through mutual attraction to a common resource. Further, increased variability in thermal preference occurs in groups, demonstrating the potential for agonistic behaviors to compromise optimal thermoregulation in competitive situations, potentially leading to segregation, rather than aggregation. Crown Copyright 2010. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Dragon Skin - How It Changed Body Armor Testing in the United States Army

Science.gov (United States)

2015-09-01

members of this committee who have their kids at one time or another wearing body armor in theater, either Iraq or Afghanistan. And that includes... YouTube has pictures of Dragon Skin body armor testing on the Internet and Wikipedia has posted a carefully documented description of the history of

Postharvest quality of dragon fruit (Hylocereus spp.) after x-ray irradiation quarantine treatment

Science.gov (United States)

The quality of three dragon fruit clones (Hylocereus sp.) was determined following x-ray irradiation for disinfestation of quarantine pests. Fruit were treated with irradiation doses of 0, 200, 400, 600, or 800 Gy and stored for 12 days at 10 °C. Irradiation did not affect soluble solids content, ti...

Operating experience with the DRAGON High Temperature Reactor experiment

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Simon, R.A.; Capp, P.D.

2002-01-01

The Dragon Reactor Experiment in Winfrith/UK was a materials test facility for a number of HTR projects pursued in the sixties and seventies of the last century. It was built and managed as an OECD/NEA international joint undertaking. The reactor operated successfully between 1964 and 1975 to satisfy the growing demand for irradiation testing of fuels and fuel elements as well as for technological tests of components and materials. The paper describes the reactor's main experimental features and presents results of 11 years of reactor operation relevant for future HTRs. (author)

Life cycle assessment of the wave energy converter: Wave Dragon

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Hans Chr., Sørensen; Stefan, Naef; Stefan, Anderberg

Any power production technology should be able to demonstrate that it's able to comply with current and future environmental regulation and that it demonstrates a considerable surplus in the energy balance being a part of the entire power system. This means that the energy used throughout all the...

An oscillating wave energy converter with nonlinear snap-through Power-Take-Off systems in regular waves

Science.gov (United States)

Zhang, Xian-tao; Yang, Jian-min; Xiao, Long-fei

2016-07-01

Floating oscillating bodies constitute a large class of wave energy converters, especially for offshore deployment. Usually the Power-Take-Off (PTO) system is a directly linear electric generator or a hydraulic motor that drives an electric generator. The PTO system is simplified as a linear spring and a linear damper. However the conversion is less powerful with wave periods off resonance. Thus, a nonlinear snap-through mechanism with two symmetrically oblique springs and a linear damper is applied in the PTO system. The nonlinear snap-through mechanism is characteristics of negative stiffness and double-well potential. An important nonlinear parameter γ is defined as the ratio of half of the horizontal distance between the two springs to the original length of both springs. Time domain method is applied to the dynamics of wave energy converter in regular waves. And the state space model is used to replace the convolution terms in the time domain equation. The results show that the energy harvested by the nonlinear PTO system is larger than that by linear system for low frequency input. While the power captured by nonlinear converters is slightly smaller than that by linear converters for high frequency input. The wave amplitude, damping coefficient of PTO systems and the nonlinear parameter γ affect power capture performance of nonlinear converters. The oscillation of nonlinear wave energy converters may be local or periodically inter well for certain values of the incident wave frequency and the nonlinear parameter γ, which is different from linear converters characteristics of sinusoidal response in regular waves.

CMOS front ends for millimeter wave wireless communication systems

CERN Document Server

Deferm, Noël

2015-01-01

This book focuses on the development of circuit and system design techniques for millimeter wave wireless communication systems above 90GHz and fabricated in nanometer scale CMOS technologies. The authors demonstrate a hands-on methodology that was applied to design six different chips, in order to overcome a variety of design challenges. Behavior of both actives and passives, and how to design them to achieve high performance is discussed in detail. This book serves as a valuable reference for millimeter wave designers, working at both the transistor level and system level.   Discusses advantages and disadvantages of designing wireless mm-wave communication circuits and systems in CMOS; Analyzes the limitations and pitfalls of building mm-wave circuits in CMOS; Includes mm-wave building block and system design techniques and applies these to 6 different CMOS chips; Provides guidelines for building measurement setups to evaluate high-frequency chips.  

Double system wave energy converter for the breaker zone

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Malavasi, Stefano; Negri; Marco

2015-01-01

In this paper a particular type of wave energy converter, namely EDS (Energy Double System) is presented. It is a two-body point absorber composed by a heaving float and a surging paddle, mounted on the same structure and aligned along the wave propagation direction. The system is designed for working in the breaker zone, where waves close to breaking can generate a considerable surging force on the paddle. A scale EDS model has been built and tested in the wave flume of the Hydraulics Laboratory of the 'Politecnico' of Milan. The power absorbed by the system, varying its configuration, position and wave, has been measured, and interesting efficiencies have been found.

Polyandry in dragon lizards: inbred paternal genotypes sire fewer offspring

Science.gov (United States)

Frère, Celine H; Chandrasoma, Dani; Whiting, Martin J

2015-01-01

Multiple mating in female animals is something of a paradox because it can either be risky (e.g., higher probability of disease transmission, social costs) or provide substantial fitness benefits (e.g., genetic bet hedging whereby the likelihood of reproductive failure is lowered). The genetic relatedness of parental units, particularly in lizards, has rarely been studied in the wild. Here, we examined levels of multiple paternity in Australia's largest agamid lizard, the eastern water dragon (Intellagama lesueurii), and determined whether male reproductive success is best explained by its heterozygosity coefficient or the extent to which it is related to the mother. Female polyandry was the norm: 2/22 clutches (9.2%) were sired by three or more fathers, 17/22 (77.2%) were sired by two fathers, and only 3/22 (13.6%) clutches were sired by one father. Moreover, we reconstructed the paternal genotypes for 18 known mother–offspring clutches and found no evidence that females were favoring less related males or that less related males had higher fitness. However, males with greater heterozygosity sired more offspring. While the postcopulatory mechanisms underlying this pattern are not understood, female water dragons likely represent another example of reproduction through cryptic means (sperm selection/sperm competition) in a lizard, and through which they may ameliorate the effects of male-driven precopulatory sexual selection. PMID:25937911

Design and Control of Full Scale Wave Energy Simulator System

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Pedersen, Henrik C.; Hansen, Anders Hedegaard; Hansen, Rico Hjerm

2012-01-01

For wave energy to become feasible it is a requirement that the efficiency and reliability of the power take-off (PTO) systems are significantly improved. The cost of installing and testing PTO-systems at sea are however very high, and the focus of the current paper is therefore on the design...... of a full scale wave simulator for testing PTO-systems for point absorbers. The main challenge is here to design a system, which mimics the behavior of a wave when interacting with a given PTO-system. The paper includes a description of the developed system, located at Aalborg University......, and the considerations behind the design. Based on the description a model of the system is presented, which, along with a description of the wave theory applied, makes the foundation for the control strategy. The objective of the control strategy is to emulate not only the wave behavior, but also the dynamic wave...

Evaluation of the Wave Energy Conversion Efficiency in Various Coastal Environments

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Eugen Rusu

2014-06-01

Full Text Available The main objective of the present work was to assess and compare the wave power resources in various offshore and nearshore areas. From this perspective, three different groups of coastal environments were considered: the western Iberian nearshore, islands and an enclosed environment with sea waves, respectively. Some of the most representative existent wave converters were evaluated in the analysis and a second objective was to compare their performances at the considered locations, and in this way to determine which is better suited for potential commercial exploitation. In order to estimate the electric power production expected in a certain location, the bivariate distributions of the occurrences corresponding to the sea states, defined by the significant wave height and the energy period, were constructed in each coastal area. The wave data were provided by hindcast studies performed with numerical wave models or based on measurements. The transformation efficiency of the wave energy into electricity is evaluated via the load factor and also through the capture width, defined as the ratio between the electric power estimated to be produced by each specific wave energy converters (WEC and the expected wave power corresponding to the location considered. Finally, by evaluating these two different indicators, comparisons of the performances of three WEC types (Aqua Buoy, Pelamis and Wave Dragon in the three different groups of coastal environments considered have been also carried out. The work provides valuable information related to the effectiveness of various technologies for the wave energy extraction that would operate in different coastal environments.

Effects of heat, pH, antioxidant, agitation and light on betacyanin stability using red-fleshed dragon fruit (Hylocereus polyrhizus) juice and concentrate as models.

Science.gov (United States)

Wong, Yen-Ming; Siow, Lee-Fong

2015-05-01

Red-fleshed dragon fruit (Hylocereus polyrhizus) is rich in antioxidants. The aim of this study was to determine the effects of heat pasteurization, pH adjustment, ascorbic acid addition as well as storage under agitation and light or dark condition on betacyanin content in red-fleshed dragon fruit (Hylocereus polyrhizus) juice and concentrate. The concentrate was produced by concentrating clarified red-fleshed dragon fruit juice in a rotary evaporator at 40 °C. UV-Visible spectrophotometer was used for analyzing betacyanin content. Addition of 0.25 % ascorbic acid, pH 4.0, and pasteurization at 65 °C for 30 min were selected as the best processing conditions to retain betacyanin content in red-fleshed dragon fruit juice. Storage at the agitation speed of 220 rpm showed that the concentrated samples had higher betacyanin stability compared to juice, while both juice and concentrate had almost similar betacyanin stability when tested for storage in the presence of light. In summary, ascorbic acid stabilized betacyanin in both juice and concentrate at agitated or non-agitated conditions. In contrast, light degraded betacyanin in both juice and concentrate models.

Validating the history-based method in DRAGON/DONJON using G2 core follow-up

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Varin, E.; Marleau, G.

2005-01-01

Operating CANDU-6 reactors are refueled on power to compensate for the loss in reactivity resulting from fuel burnup. Since the selection of channels to refuel on any single day relies on the results of a diffusion based finite reactor calculation, it is important that the program that simulates the reactor operations uses information that reflects as accurately as possible the core condition at any specific time. These reactor simulations therefore require, as an input, the average properties associated with each of the 4560 individual fuel bundles present in the core. The calculation procedure, where the properties of each fuel bundle are generated independently at each time step using a lattice cell code, is called the history-based approach. We have implemented such a history-based approach by coupling directly the finite reactor code DONJON with the lattice cell code DRAGON. Here we validate our methodology by comparing DONJON/DRAGON simulation results with operation data for the Gentilly-2 reactor. (author)

Dragons with Clay Feet? : Transition, sustainable land use and rural environment in China and Vietnam

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Spoor, M.; Heerink, N.; Qu, F.

2007-01-01

Dragons with Clay Feet? presents state-of-the-art research on the impact of ongoing and anticipated economic policy and institutional reforms on agricultural development and sustainable rural resource in two East-Asian transition (and developing) economies--China and Vietnam.

Effects of vitamin D3 supplementation and UVb exposure on the growth and plasma concentration of vitamin D3 metabolites in juvenile bearded dragons (Pogona vitticeps)

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Oonincx, D.G.A.B.; Stevens, Y.; Borne, van den J.J.G.C.; Leeuwen, van J.P.T.M.; Hendriks, W.H.

2010-01-01

The effectiveness of dietary vitamin D3 and UVb exposure on plasma vitamin D metabolites in growing bearded dragons (Pogona vitticeps) was studied. A total of 84 (40 males and 44 females) newly hatched bearded dragons were allocated to six levels of oral vitamin D3 supplementation (0 to 400%) or six

Response of a Doppler canceling system to plane gravitational waves

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Caporali, A.

1982-01-01

This paper discusses the interaction of long periodic gravitational waves with a three-link microwave system known as the Doppler canceling system. This system, which was developed for gravitational red-shift experiment, uses one-way and two-way Doppler information to construct the beat signal of two reference oscillators moving with respect to each other. The geometric-optics approximation is used to derive the frequency shift produced on a light signal propagating in a gravitational-wave space-time. The signature left on the Doppler-canceled beat by bursts and continuous gravitational waves is analyzed. A comparison is made between the response to gravitational waves of the Doppler canceling system and that of a (NASA) Doppler tracking system which employs two-way, round-trip radio waves. A threefold repetition of the gravitational wave form is found to be a common feature of the response functions of both systems. These two functions otherwise exhibit interesting differences

Development of Wave Energy Devices: The Danish Case / The Dragon of Nissum Bredning

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Kofoed, Jens Peter; Frigaard, Peter

2009-01-01

The paper presents the Danish case of development of wave energy devices and outlines the established best practice. A brief overview of international standardization efforts is given and the Danish involvement in this described. The developed Danish best practice, which is being carried over to ...

Effects Of Irradiation On Mealybug Dysmicoccus neobrevipes (Hemiptera: Pseudococcidae) Infesting On Dragon Fruits

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Doan Thi The; Nguyen Thuy Khanh; Vo Kim Lang; Cao Van Chung; Tran Thien An; Nguyen Hoang Hanh Thi

2011-01-01

Since 2008 APHIS/USDA approved to import dragon fruit into the United States from Vietnam if fruits are treated with the minimum absorbed dose of 400 Gy to control fruit flies and mealybugs. However, a lower dose could be accepted if released data is enough to demonstrate that it is efficient to inhibit the development and stop the reproduction of adult females for three species of mealybugs (Order: Hemiptera; Family: Pseudococcidae) infesting on dragon fruit. Four development stages including 1 st , 2 nd , 3 rd instars and adult of Dymicoccus neobrevipes by isolating and rearing in the laboratory conditions were irradiated in Co-60 source gamma with dosages of 100, 200, 300 and 400 Gy. The main purposes of the study are to find the most tolerant stage and to determine the most optimal dose to control D. neobrevipes. The initial obtained results showed that the adult stage is the most radiotolerant and the dose of 200 Gy could be an effective dose to inhibit development and to control reproduction of D. neobrevipes. (author)

Traveling wave solutions for reaction-diffusion systems

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Lin, Zhigui; Pedersen, Michael; Tian, Canrong

2010-01-01

This paper is concerned with traveling waves of reaction–diffusion systems. The definition of coupled quasi-upper and quasi-lower solutions is introduced for systems with mixed quasimonotone functions, and the definition of ordered quasi-upper and quasi-lower solutions is also given for systems...... with quasimonotone nondecreasing functions. By the monotone iteration method, it is shown that if the system has a pair of coupled quasi-upper and quasi-lower solutions, then there exists at least a traveling wave solution. Moreover, if the system has a pair of ordered quasi-upper and quasi-lower solutions...

Efficiency Analysis of a Wave Power Generation System by Using Multibody Dynamics

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kim, Min Soo; Sohn, Jeong Hyun; Kim, Jung Hee; Sung, Yong Jun

2016-01-01

The energy absorption efficiency of a wave power generation system is calculated as the ratio of the wave power to the power of the system. Because absorption efficiency depends on the dynamic behavior of the wave power generation system, a dynamic analysis of the wave power generation system is required to estimate the energy absorption efficiency of the system. In this study, a dynamic analysis of the wave power generation system under wave loads is performed to estimate the energy absorption efficiency. RecurDyn is employed to carry out the dynamic analysis of the system, and the Morison equation is used for the wave load model. According to the results, the lower the wave height and the shorter the period, the higher is the absorption efficiency of the system

Efficiency Analysis of a Wave Power Generation System by Using Multibody Dynamics

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Kim, Min Soo; Sohn, Jeong Hyun [Pukyong National Univ., Busan (Korea, Republic of); Kim, Jung Hee; Sung, Yong Jun [INGINE Inc., Seoul (Korea, Republic of)

2016-06-15

The energy absorption efficiency of a wave power generation system is calculated as the ratio of the wave power to the power of the system. Because absorption efficiency depends on the dynamic behavior of the wave power generation system, a dynamic analysis of the wave power generation system is required to estimate the energy absorption efficiency of the system. In this study, a dynamic analysis of the wave power generation system under wave loads is performed to estimate the energy absorption efficiency. RecurDyn is employed to carry out the dynamic analysis of the system, and the Morison equation is used for the wave load model. According to the results, the lower the wave height and the shorter the period, the higher is the absorption efficiency of the system.

Further analysis of the zero-energy experiment on the Dragon reactor

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Woloch, F.; Neuberger, W.

1978-01-01

The analysis of the Zero-Energy Experiments performed on the Dragon reactor, a high-temperature reactor of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, has been continued. The first analysis established the main route of calculations within the WIMS-E scheme and was reported elsewhere. This Note presents further calculations showing the merits of a refinement in the number of neutron energy groups, of the use of different condensation spectra, and of transport calculations

Properties of waves in an ion-beam plasma system

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Zank, G.P.; McKenzie, J.F.

1988-01-01

A multi-fluid approach is used to describe electrostatic interactions in an ion-beam plasma system. The structure of the wave equation governing the system exhibits the anisotropic and dispersive nature of the waves, whose properties are analysed in terms of the dispersion relation. The main purpose is to classify the different waves that can arise in an ion-beam plasma system in a systematic fashion. The classification is facilitated by introducing a three-parameter CMA diagram that illustrates the topological changes in not only the wavenumber, or refractive-index, surface but also the ray-velocity surface. Furthermore, an analytic expression governing wave amplification in an ion beam plasma is incorporated within the framework of a generalized CMA diagram. Such a description provides a simple interpretation for the onset of wave amplification in terms of a topological change in the refractive-index surface. It is hoped that by collating the wave properties in a unified form, many of the complicated wave features observed in an experiment may be interpreted more easily. (author)

Comparison of Wims-Aecl / Dragon / RFSP and MCNP results with Zed-2 measurements for control device worth and reactor kinetics - 037

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Pencer, J.; Choy Wong, F.; Bromley, B.P.; Atfield, J.; Zeller, M.

2010-01-01

This paper summarizes comparisons between MCNP5 and WIMS-AECL / DRAGON / RFSP calculations and experimental results obtained from the Zero Energy Deuterium (ZED-2) critical facility at AECL Chalk River Laboratories. MCNP5 and WIMS-AECL / DRAGON / RFSP were used to calculate reactivity worths for two reactivity devices, a mechanical zone controller (MZC) and shut-off rod (SOR) in a lattice similar to that of the ACR-1000 R . WIMS-AECL / DRAGON / RFSP was also used to obtain kinetics parameters for a transient based on a rod drop of a ZED-2 standby absorber rod (SAR). ZED-2 experiments were performed using 43-element ACR Low Enriched Uranium (ACR-LEU) fuel bundles with H 2 O- or air-cooled fuel bundles arranged in a 24-cm pitch square lattice. Calculations with MCNP5 gave biases in device worths that were within 0.2 mk of measured values, while WIMS-AECL / DRAGON / RFSP gave values that were within 0.3 mk of measured values. Transient analyses using the CERBERUS module within RFSP yielded a total delayed neutron fraction (β) that was within 4% of the value derived by point kinetics analysis of experimental data. The corresponding delayed photo-neutron fraction (β photo-neutron ) from CERBERUS was within 5% of that derived by point kinetics. This study has helped quantify the agreement between calculation and measurement for codes that are used in the safety analysis of the ACR-1000 reactor. Results demonstrate good agreement in code predictions. (authors)

Whole Module Offgas Test Report: Space-Xl Dragon Module

Science.gov (United States)

James, John T.

2012-01-01

On September 26 and September 28,2012 a chemist from the JSC Toxicology Group acquired samples of air in 500 m1 evacuated canisters from the sealed Space-Xl Dragon Module. One sample was also acquired from Space-X Facility near the module at the start of the test. Samples of the module air were taken in triplicate once the module had been sealed, and then taken again in triplicate 1.98 days later. Ofthe triplicate samples, the first served as a line purge, and the last two were analyzed. The results of 5 samples are reported.

Discovery of Novel Antimicrobial Peptides from Varanus komodoensis (Komodo Dragon) by Large-Scale Analyses and De-Novo-Assisted Sequencing Using Electron-Transfer Dissociation Mass Spectrometry.

Science.gov (United States)

Bishop, Barney M; Juba, Melanie L; Russo, Paul S; Devine, Megan; Barksdale, Stephanie M; Scott, Shaylyn; Settlage, Robert; Michalak, Pawel; Gupta, Kajal; Vliet, Kent; Schnur, Joel M; van Hoek, Monique L

2017-04-07

Komodo dragons are the largest living lizards and are the apex predators in their environs. They endure numerous strains of pathogenic bacteria in their saliva and recover from wounds inflicted by other dragons, reflecting the inherent robustness of their innate immune defense. We have employed a custom bioprospecting approach combining partial de novo peptide sequencing with transcriptome assembly to identify cationic antimicrobial peptides from Komodo dragon plasma. Through these analyses, we identified 48 novel potential cationic antimicrobial peptides. All but one of the identified peptides were derived from histone proteins. The antimicrobial effectiveness of eight of these peptides was evaluated against Pseudomonas aeruginosa (ATCC 9027) and Staphylococcus aureus (ATCC 25923), with seven peptides exhibiting antimicrobial activity against both microbes and one only showing significant potency against P. aeruginosa. This study demonstrates the power and promise of our bioprospecting approach to cationic antimicrobial peptide discovery, and it reveals the presence of a plethora of novel histone-derived antimicrobial peptides in the plasma of the Komodo dragon. These findings may have broader implications regarding the role that intact histones and histone-derived peptides play in defending the host from infection. Data are available via ProteomeXChange with identifier PXD005043.

Wave-packet revivals for quantum systems with nondegenerate energies

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Bluhm, R.; Tudose, B.

1996-01-01

The revival structure of wave packets is examined for quantum systems having energies that depend on two nondegenerate quantum numbers. For such systems, the evolution of the wave packet is controlled by two classical periods and three revival times. These wave packets exhibit quantum beats in the initial motion as well as new types of long-term revivals. The issue of whether fractional revivals can form is addressed. We present an analytical proof showing that at certain times equal to rational fractions of the revival times the wave packet can reform as a sum of subsidiary waves and that both conventional and new types of fractional revivals can occur. (orig.)

Deterministic Modeling of the High Temperature Test Reactor with DRAGON-HEXPEDITE

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ortensi, J.; Pope, M.A.; Ferrer, R.M.; Cogliati, J.J.; Bess, J.D.; Ougouag, A.M.

2010-01-01

The Idaho National Laboratory (INL) is tasked with the development of reactor physics analysis capability of the Next Generation Nuclear Power (NGNP) project. In order to examine the INL's current prismatic reactor analysis tools, the project is conducting a benchmark exercise based on modeling the High Temperature Test Reactor (HTTR). This exercise entails the development of a model for the initial criticality, a 19 fuel column thin annular core, and the fully loaded core critical condition with 30 fuel columns. Special emphasis is devoted to physical phenomena and artifacts in HTTR that are similar to phenomena and artifacts in the NGNP base design. The DRAGON code is used in this study since it offers significant ease and versatility in modeling prismatic designs. DRAGON can generate transport solutions via Collision Probability (CP), Method of Characteristics (MOC) and Discrete Ordinates (Sn). A fine group cross-section library based on the SHEM 281 energy structure is used in the DRAGON calculations. The results from this study show reasonable agreement in the calculation of the core multiplication factor with the MC methods, but a consistent bias of 2-3% with the experimental values is obtained. This systematic error has also been observed in other HTTR benchmark efforts and is well documented in the literature. The ENDF/B VII graphite and U235 cross sections appear to be the main source of the error. The isothermal temperature coefficients calculated with the fully loaded core configuration agree well with other benchmark participants but are 40% higher than the experimental values. This discrepancy with the measurement partially stems from the fact that during the experiments the control rods were adjusted to maintain criticality, whereas in the model, the rod positions were fixed. In addition, this work includes a brief study of a cross section generation approach that seeks to decouple the domain in order to account for neighbor effects. This spectral

Protective, Modular Wave Power Generation System

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Vvedensky, Jane M.; Park, Robert Y.

2012-11-27

The concept of small wave energy conversion modules that can be built into large, scalable arrays, in the same vein as solar panels, has been developed. This innovation lends itself to an organic business and development model, and enables the use of large-run manufacturing technology to reduce system costs. The first prototype module has been built to full-scale, and tested in a laboratory wave channel. The device has been shown to generate electricity and dissipate wave energy. Improvements need to be made to the electrical generator and a demonstration of an array of modules should be made in natural conditions.

Design of full scale wave simulator for testing Power Take Off systems for wave energy converters

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Pedersen, H. C.; Hansen, R. H.; Hansen, Anders Hedegaard

2016-01-01

is therefore on the design and commissioning of a full scale wave simulator for testing PTO-systems for point absorbers. The challenge is to be able to design a system, which mimics the behavior of a wave when interacting with a given PTO-system – especially when considering discrete type PTO...

DEVRIESEASIS IN A PLUMED BASILISK (BASILISCUS PLUMIFRONS) AND CHINESE WATER DRAGONS (PHYSIGNATHUS COCINCINUS) IN A ZOOLOGIC COLLECTION.

Science.gov (United States)

Rossier, Christophe; Hoby, Stefan; Wenker, Christian; Brawand, Stefanie Gobeli; Thomann, Andreas; Brodard, Isabelle; Jermann, Thomas; Posthaus, Horst

2016-03-01

Devriesea agamarum is a Gram-positive bacterium that was first described in 2008 as a causative agent of disease in lizards. Until today, reports from several countries reported the presence of this bacterium in various lizard species, which suggests a wide distribution among lizard collections. Pathologic lesions ranged from proliferative dermatitis and cheilitis to abscesses in multiple organs and septicemia in single animals, as well as entire groups. Until now, disease caused by D. agamarum has been reported in several lizard species. Because the bacterium is only identified by 16S rRNA sequencing and no commercially available identification systems contain the agent in their database, it may be underdiagnosed. This report describes a series of fatal devrieseasis in plumed basilisks (Basiliscus plumifrons) and Chinese water dragons (Physignathus cocincinus) from a zoologic collection and extends the range of susceptible species. In 3 mo, five animals died with pyogranulomatous lesions in the subcutis, the coelomic cavity, or multiple organs. In all cases, diffuse swelling or focal skin elevations of different body parts were observed. Devriesea agamarum could be isolated from lesions in all animals. A subsequent clinical survey of the lizard collection including bacteriologic investigation of oral cavity swabs indicated that bearded dragons (Pogona vitticeps) were carriers of D. agamarum, which suggests that this species could be a source of infection with this pathogen.

St George the dragon-slayer at Prague Castle - the eternal pilgrim without a home?

Czech Academy of Sciences Publication Activity Database

Benešovská, Klára

2007-01-01

Roč. 55, č. 1 (2007), s. 28-39 ISSN 0049-5123 Institutional research plan: CEZ:AV0Z80330511 Keywords : Gothic bronze sculpture * St George the dragon -slayer * Martin and George of Cluj * Prague Castle Subject RIV: AL - Art, Architecture, Cultural Heritage http://www.umeni-art.cz/cz/soubory/benesovska.pdf

Measurements and effects of backstreaming ions produced at bremsstrahlung converter target in Dragon-I linear induction accelerator

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Yu Haijun; Zhu Jun; Chen Nan; Xie Yutong; Jiang Xiaoguo; Jian Cheng

2010-01-01

Positive ions released from x-ray converter target impacted by electron beam of millimeter spot size can be trapped and accelerated in the incident beam's potential well. As the ions move upstream, the beam will be pinched first and then defocused at the target. Four Faraday cups are used to collect backstreaming ions produced at the bremsstrahlung converter target in Dragon-I linear induction accelerator (LIA). Experimental and theoretical results show that the backstreaming positive ions density and velocity are about 10 21 /m 3 and 2-3 mm/μs, respectively. The theoretical and experimental results of electron beam envelope with ions and without ions are also presented. The discussions show that the backstreaming positive ions will not affect the electron beam focusing and envelope radius in Dragon-I LIA.

Mass-mortality in green striped tree dragons (Japalura splendida) associated with multiple viral infections.

Science.gov (United States)

Behncke, H; Stöhr, A C; Heckers, K O; Ball, I; Marschang, R E

2013-09-14

In spring 2011, high mortality in association with skin lesions, systemic haemorrhages and necrosis occurred in a group of green striped tree dragons (Japalura splendida) which were imported from southwestern China via Florida to Germany. Infections with various endoparasites were diagnosed in coprological examinations. Different antiparasitic and antibiotic treatments over a period of three months did not reduce the mortality rate. The remaining animals were therefore euthanased and submitted for additional testing. Predominant findings in pathological examination were granulomatous and necrotising inflammation of the skin, vacuolar tubulonephrosis of the distal renal tubules, hyperaemia and liver necrosis. Eosinophilic intranuclear and basophilic intracytoplasmic inclusion bodies were detected in the liver. Virological testing (PCR and virus isolation methods) demonstrated the presence of ranavirus, adenovirus and invertebrate iridovirus.

Acceleration of step and linear discontinuous schemes for the method of characteristics in DRAGON5

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Alain Hébert

2017-09-01

Full Text Available The applicability of the algebraic collapsing acceleration (ACA technique to the method of characteristics (MOC in cases with scattering anisotropy and/or linear sources was investigated. Previously, the ACA was proven successful in cases with isotropic scattering and uniform (step sources. A presentation is first made of the MOC implementation, available in the DRAGON5 code. Two categories of schemes are available for integrating the propagation equations: (1 the first category is based on exact integration and leads to the classical step characteristics (SC and linear discontinuous characteristics (LDC schemes and (2 the second category leads to diamond differencing schemes of various orders in space. The acceleration of these MOC schemes using a combination of the generalized minimal residual [GMRES(m] method preconditioned with the ACA technique was focused on. Numerical results are provided for a two-dimensional (2D eight-symmetry pressurized water reactor (PWR assembly mockup in the context of the DRAGON5 code.

WDM Phase-Modulated Millimeter-Wave Fiber Systems

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Yu, Xianbin; Prince, Kamau; Gibbon, Timothy Braidwood

2012-01-01

This chapter presents a computer simulation case study of two typical WDM phase-modulated millimeter-wave systems. The phase-modulated 60 GHz fiber multi-channel transmission systems employ single sideband (SSB) and double sideband subcarrier modulation (DSB-SC) schemes and present one of the lat......This chapter presents a computer simulation case study of two typical WDM phase-modulated millimeter-wave systems. The phase-modulated 60 GHz fiber multi-channel transmission systems employ single sideband (SSB) and double sideband subcarrier modulation (DSB-SC) schemes and present one...... of the latest research efforts in the rapidly emerging Radio-over-Fiber (RoF) application space for in-house access networks....

Deep fungal dermatitis caused by the Chrysosporium anamorph of Nannizziopsis vriesii in captive coastal bearded dragons (Pogona barbata).

Science.gov (United States)

Johnson, R S P; Sangster, C R; Sigler, L; Hambleton, S; Paré, J A

2011-12-01

Deep fungal dermatitis caused by the Chrysosporium anamorph of Nannizziopsis vriesii (CANV) was diagnosed in a group of coastal bearded dragons (Pogona barbata). The outbreak extended over a 6-month period, with four of six lizards from the same zoological outdoor enclosure succumbing to infection. A fifth case of dermatomycosis was identified in a pet lizard originally sourced from the wild. Diagnosis of infection with the CANV was based on similar clinical signs and histopathology in all animals and confirmed by culture and sequencing of the fungus from one animal. This is the first report of the CANV causing disease in a terrestrial reptile species in Australia and the first in the coastal bearded dragon. © 2011 The Authors. Australian Veterinary Journal © 2011 Australian Veterinary Association.

Neoplasia of captive yellow sea horses (Hippocampus kuda) and weedy sea dragons (Phyllopteryx taeniolatus).

Science.gov (United States)

LePage, Véronique; Dutton, Christopher J; Kummrow, Maya; McLelland, David J; Young, Karrie; Lumsden, John S

2012-03-01

Syngnathidae is the family of fish that includes sea horses, pipefish, and sea dragons. To date, only a single publication has described neoplasia in syngnathids, a fibrosarcoma of the brood pouch in an aquarium-reared lined sea horse (Hippocampus erectus). From 1998 until 2010, the Toronto Zoo submitted 172 syngnathids for postmortem; species included the spotted or yellow sea horse (Hippocampus kuda), the pot-bellied sea horse (Hippocampus abdominalis) and the weedy sea dragon (Phyllopteryx taeniolatus). Seven neoplasms and two neoplastic-like lesions were identified from these cases. Under light microscopy, the neoplasms had morphological characteristics of a cardiac rhabdomyosarcoma, renal adenocarcinoma, renal adenoma, renal round cell tumors, which were likely lymphomas, exocrine pancreatic carcinoma, and intestinal carcinoma. Of these neoplasms, four had clear evidence of metastasis: the pancreatic and intestinal carcinomas and both round cell tumors. As syngnathids are highly fastidious animals, they can be difficult to maintain in captivity. In order to improve their husbandry, preventative and palliative care, as well as treatment, it is important to investigate and document the types of diseases affecting syngnathids.

DRAGON: a new 18 GHz RT ECRIS with a large plasma chamber

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Lu, W.; Xie, D.Z.; Zhang, X.Z.; Zhao, H.W.; Ruan, L.; Song, F.C.; Xiong, B.; Yu, S.; Yuan, J.

2012-01-01

Building a strong radial magnetic field with a permanent sextupole magnet for an ECRIS is extremely challenging so that the conventional wisdom recommends a small but not optimal plasma chamber that is typically of ID less or equal to 80 mm. A new 18 GHz RT ECRIS, DRAGON, with a large bore permanent sextupole has been designed and is under construction at IMP (Institute of Modern Physics, Lanzhou, China). Its plasma chamber is of ID 126 mm, the same as that of the superconducting ion source SECRAL, with maximum radial field strength reaching 1.5 T at the plasma chamber wall. The overall magnetic strengths of DRAGON, with maximum axial fields of 2.7 T at the injection and 1.3 T at the extraction, are very similar to those of SECRAL operating at 18 GHz and hopefully its performance. The source solenoid magnets are cooled by medium evaporation at about 50 C. In addition, the source is thickly insulated for beam extraction at 50 kV and higher voltage up to 100 kV can be explored. This article will present the design details and discussions of this new ion source. It is followed by the associated poster. (authors)

Toxic leucoencephalopathy after 'chasing the dragon'.

Science.gov (United States)

Singh, Rajinder; Saini, Monica

2015-06-01

Toxic leucoencephalopathy (TLE) is a rare neurological complication of heroin abuse. 'Chasing the dragon' is an inhalational mode of heroin abuse that originated in Southeast Asia. Intriguingly, no cases of TLE have been reported from this region, although the inhalational mode of heroin abuse is common. We herein report the case of a middle-aged man with a history of polysubstance abuse who presented with progressive neurological symptoms and progressed to an uncommunicative state. While the initial impression was that of iatrogenic parkinsonism, diffuse leucoencephalopathy with sparing of the cerebellum was noted on magnetic resonance imaging. In view of his history of inhalational heroin abuse close to the onset of the neurological symptoms, a diagnosis of TLE was made. No clinical improvement was noted with administration of a dopaminergic agent. This is the first known case of delayed TLE following heroin inhalation from Southeast Asia with the unusual feature of cerebellar sparing.

Yield and fruit quality traits of dragon fruit lines and cultivars grown in Puerto Rico

Science.gov (United States)

Dragon fruit or pitahaya (Hylocereus undatus and Selenicereus megalanthus) is a member of the Cactaceae family and native to the tropical forest regions of Mexico, Central, and South America. The fruit was practically unknown 15 years ago but it occupies a growing niche in Europe’s exotic fruit mar...

An overview of mesoscale aerosol processes, comparisons, and validation studies from DRAGON networks

Science.gov (United States)

Holben, Brent N.; Kim, Jhoon; Sano, Itaru; Mukai, Sonoyo; Eck, Thomas F.; Giles, David M.; Schafer, Joel S.; Sinyuk, Aliaksandr; Slutsker, Ilya; Smirnov, Alexander; Sorokin, Mikhail; Anderson, Bruce E.; Che, Huizheng; Choi, Myungje; Crawford, James H.; Ferrare, Richard A.; Garay, Michael J.; Jeong, Ukkyo; Kim, Mijin; Kim, Woogyung; Knox, Nichola; Li, Zhengqiang; Lim, Hwee S.; Liu, Yang; Maring, Hal; Nakata, Makiko; Pickering, Kenneth E.; Piketh, Stuart; Redemann, Jens; Reid, Jeffrey S.; Salinas, Santo; Seo, Sora; Tan, Fuyi; Tripathi, Sachchida N.; Toon, Owen B.; Xiao, Qingyang

2018-01-01

Over the past 24 years, the AErosol RObotic NETwork (AERONET) program has provided highly accurate remote-sensing characterization of aerosol optical and physical properties for an increasingly extensive geographic distribution including all continents and many oceanic island and coastal sites. The measurements and retrievals from the AERONET global network have addressed satellite and model validation needs very well, but there have been challenges in making comparisons to similar parameters from in situ surface and airborne measurements. Additionally, with improved spatial and temporal satellite remote sensing of aerosols, there is a need for higher spatial-resolution ground-based remote-sensing networks. An effort to address these needs resulted in a number of field campaign networks called Distributed Regional Aerosol Gridded Observation Networks (DRAGONs) that were designed to provide a database for in situ and remote-sensing comparison and analysis of local to mesoscale variability in aerosol properties. This paper describes the DRAGON deployments that will continue to contribute to the growing body of research related to meso- and microscale aerosol features and processes. The research presented in this special issue illustrates the diversity of topics that has resulted from the application of data from these networks.

An overview of mesoscale aerosol processes, comparisons, and validation studies from DRAGON networks

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

B. N. Holben

2018-01-01

Full Text Available Over the past 24 years, the AErosol RObotic NETwork (AERONET program has provided highly accurate remote-sensing characterization of aerosol optical and physical properties for an increasingly extensive geographic distribution including all continents and many oceanic island and coastal sites. The measurements and retrievals from the AERONET global network have addressed satellite and model validation needs very well, but there have been challenges in making comparisons to similar parameters from in situ surface and airborne measurements. Additionally, with improved spatial and temporal satellite remote sensing of aerosols, there is a need for higher spatial-resolution ground-based remote-sensing networks. An effort to address these needs resulted in a number of field campaign networks called Distributed Regional Aerosol Gridded Observation Networks (DRAGONs that were designed to provide a database for in situ and remote-sensing comparison and analysis of local to mesoscale variability in aerosol properties. This paper describes the DRAGON deployments that will continue to contribute to the growing body of research related to meso- and microscale aerosol features and processes. The research presented in this special issue illustrates the diversity of topics that has resulted from the application of data from these networks.

Competencia digital y literacidad: nuevos formatos narrativos en el videojuego «Dragon Age: Orígenes» Digital Competence and Literacy: Developing New Narrative Formats. The «Dragon Age: Origins» Videogame

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Amando López Valero

2011-03-01

Full Text Available Este artículo tiene como ejes conceptuales la competencia digital, la literacidad y los nuevos formatos narrativos. El aprendizaje permanente incluye las mismas como claves de la formación de la persona y sobre todo, como elemento que va a contribuir a su inserción en una sociedad dinámica y cambiante. Tras analizar dichas dimensiones, las mismas serán reflejadas en el videojuego denominado «Dragon Age: Orígenes», galardonado con el premio juego de rol del año en el año 2009. El desarrollo de la competencia digital conlleva una nueva alfabetización y en la misma es preciso hallar recursos motivadores para que dicha adquisición sea a la vez una cuestión lúdica y formativa. Otro aspecto relevante que será tratado en el texto tiene que ver con la multimodalidad textual (Kress & Van Leeuwen, 2001, sobre todo con los nuevos formatos narrativos. Este hecho supone un importante avance social ya que las formas de lectura varían apareciendo formas distintas más motivadoras para el usuario pero no por ello poseen menor calidad. Éste es el caso de «Dragon Age: Orígenes», un juego de rol basado en la fantasía heroica ubicado en un mundo novedoso. Dicho juego se convierte en una excelente historia para ser leída y experimentada.The approach of this article is centered on the concepts of digital competence and new narrative formats. We aim to apply these dimensions to the videogame «Dragon Age Origins», winner of the 2009 videogame of the year award. Its features - plot, characters and interactivity – make it ideal reading material in other formats and are highly motivational for young people. The development of digital competence signifies new literacy, and it is necessary to find new stimulating resources that combine the fun and formative dimensions. Equally relevant are multimodal texts (Kress & Van Leeuwen, 2001, especially new narrative formats that imply social progress, as the ways of reading are different. The texts have

Wave dispersion relations in two-dimensional Yukawa systems

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Liu Yanhong; Liu Bin; Chen Yanping; Yang Size; Wang Long; Wang Xiaogang

2003-01-01

Collective modes in a two-dimensional Yukawa system are investigated by molecular dynamics simulation in a wide range of coupling parameter Γ and screening strength κ. The dispersion relations and sound speeds of the transverse and longitudinal waves obtained for hexagonal lattice are in agreement with the theoretical results. The negative dispersion of the longitudinal wave is demonstrated. Frequency gaps are found on the dispersion curves of the transverse wave due to scattering of the waves on lattice defects for proper values of Γ. The common frequency of transverse and longitudinal waves drops dramatically with the increasing screening strength κ

WKB wave function for many-variable systems

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Sakita, B.; Tzani, R.

1986-01-01

The WKB method is a non-perturbative semi-classical method in quantum mechanics. The method for a system of one degree of freedom is well known and described in standard textbooks. The method for a system with many degrees of freedom especially for quantum fields is more involved. There exist two methods: Feynman path integral and Schrodinger wave function. The Feynman path integral WKB method is essentially a stationary phase approximation for Feynman path integrals. The WKB Schrodinger wave function method is on the other hand an extension of the standard WKB to many-variable systems

Bioprotective properties of Dragon's blood resin: In vitro evaluation of antioxidant activity and antimicrobial activity

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Gupta Rajinder K

2011-02-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background Food preservation is basically done to preserve the natural characteristics and appearance of the food and to increase the shelf life of food. Food preservatives in use are natural, chemical and artificial. Keeping in mind the adverse effects of synthetic food preservatives, there is a need to identify natural food preservatives. The aims of this study were to evaluate in vitro antioxidant and antimicrobial activities of Dragon's blood resin obtained from Dracaena cinnabari Balf f., with a view to develop safer food preservatives. Methods In this study, three solvents of varying polarity were used to extract and separate the medium and high polarity compounds from the non-polar compounds of the Dragon's blood resin. The extracts were evaluated for their antimicrobial activity against the food borne pathogens. The antioxidant activities of the extracts were assessed using DPPH and ABTS radical scavenging, FRAP, metal chelating and reducing power assays. Total phenolics, flavonoids and flavonols of extracts were also estimated using the standard methods. Results Phytochemical analysis of extracts revealed high phenolic content in CH2Cl2 extract of resin. Free radical scavenging of CH2Cl2 extract was found to be highest which is in good correlation with its total phenolic content. All test microorganisms were also inhibited by CH2Cl2 extract. Conclusions Our result provide evidence that CH2Cl2 extract is a potential source of natural antioxidant compounds and exhibited good inhibitory activity against various food borne pathogens. Thus, CH2Cl2 extract of Dragon's blood resin could be considered as possible source of food preservative.

Establishment of an agamid cell line and isolation of adenoviruses from central bearded dragons (Pogona vitticeps).

Science.gov (United States)

Ball, Inna; Hoferer, Marc; Marschang, Rachel E

2014-03-01

A cell line was established from whole 6-8-week-old central bearded dragon (Pogona vitticeps) embryos. Cells were mid-sized and showed an elongated and polymorphic form. The cell line grew in a monolayer and has been serially passaged for 17 passages at time of publication. This cell line has been used with samples from adenovirus polymerase chain reaction (PCR)-positive bearded dragons, and 2 virus isolates have been obtained so far. The isolates show a clear cytopathic effect in inoculated cells. Both virus isolates have been serially passaged on this cell line, and have been identified by PCR amplification and sequencing of a portion of the DNA-dependent DNA polymerase gene and show 100% nucleotide identity to the corresponding region of an agamid adenovirus. Electron microscopic examination of supernatant from infected cells demonstrated the presence of nonenveloped particles, with a diameter of approximately 80 nm in both virus isolates.

RED DRAGON FRUIT (Hylocereus costaricensis Britt. Et R. PEEL EXTRACT AS A NATURAL DYE ALTERNATIVE IN MICROSCOPIC OBSERVATION OF PLANT TISSUES: THE PRACTICAL GUIDE IN SENIOR HIGH SCHOOL

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Heni Wagiyanti

2017-11-01

Full Text Available Prepared slide of plant tissue needs to be staining to facilitate observations under microscope. Laboratorium activities in schools usually use synthetic dyes which expensive and can be damaged the student. Therefore the exploration of alternative dyes need to be established, such as utilizing of red dragon fruit (Hylocereus castaricensis Britt. Et R.. This study aims to (1 find out the best concentration of dragon fruit peel extract for staining plant tissue prepared slide and (2 to develop the practical guide related to plant tissue observation. The qualitative research used different concentration of red dragon fruit peel extract, namely: 30%, 40%, 50%, 60%, 70%, 80%, 90%, and 100% with 3 repetitions. Data were obtained from observation photos of prepared slide. The result showed that the most contrast prepared slide was used red dragon fruit extract in 60% concentration. The result use to arrange practical guide in observation of plant tissues which is validated by material expert. The validation result showed “very good” criteria (86.01%.

Waves in Seagrass Systems: Review and Technical Recommendations

Science.gov (United States)

2006-11-01

Florida, St. Petersburg, FL, 123 pp. Koch, E. W. 1994. Hydrodynamics, diffusion boundary layers and photosynthesis of the seagrasses Thalassia testudinum...ER D C TR -0 6- 15 System-Wide Water Resources Program Submerged Aquatic Vegetation Restoration Research Program Waves in Seagrass ...Water Resources Research Program and Submerged Aquatic Vegetation Restoration Research Program ERDC TR-06-15 November 2006 Waves in Seagrass Systems

Autovaccination confers protection against Devriesea agamarum associated septicemia but not dermatitis in bearded dragons (Pogona vitticeps).

Science.gov (United States)

Hellebuyck, Tom; Van Steendam, Katleen; Deforce, Dieter; Blooi, Mark; Van Nieuwerburgh, Filip; Bullaert, Evelien; Ducatelle, Richard; Haesebrouck, Freddy; Pasmans, Frank; Martel, An

2014-01-01

Devrieseasis caused by Devriesea agamarum is a highly prevalent disease in captive desert lizards, resulting in severe dermatitis and in some cases mass mortality. In this study, we assessed the contribution of autovaccination to devrieseasis control by evaluating the capacity of 5 different formalin-inactivated D. agamarum vaccines to induce a humoral immune response in bearded dragons (Pogona vitticeps). Each vaccine contained one of the following adjuvants: CpG, incomplete Freund's, Ribi, aluminium hydroxide, or curdlan. Lizards were administrated one of the vaccines through subcutaneous injection and booster vaccination was given 3 weeks after primo-vaccination. An indirect ELISA was developed and used to monitor lizard serological responses. Localized adverse effects following subcutaneous immunization were observed in all but the Ribi adjuvanted vaccine group. Following homologous experimental challenge, the incomplete Freund's as well as the Ribi vaccine were observed to confer protection in bearded dragons against the development of D. agamarum associated septicemia but not against dermatitis. Subsequently, two-dimensional gelelectrophoresis followed by immunoblotting and mass spectrometry was conducted with serum obtained from 3 lizards that showed seroconversion after immunisation with the Ribi vaccine. Fructose-bisphosphate aldolase and aldo-keto reductase of D. agamarum reacted with serum from the latter lizards. Based on the demonstrated seroconversion and partial protection against D. agamarum associated disease following the use of formalin-inactivated vaccines as well as the identification of target antigens in Ribi vaccinated bearded dragons, this study provides promising information towards the development of a vaccination strategy to control devrieseasis in captive lizard collections.

Autovaccination confers protection against Devriesea agamarum associated septicemia but not dermatitis in bearded dragons (Pogona vitticeps.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Tom Hellebuyck

Full Text Available Devrieseasis caused by Devriesea agamarum is a highly prevalent disease in captive desert lizards, resulting in severe dermatitis and in some cases mass mortality. In this study, we assessed the contribution of autovaccination to devrieseasis control by evaluating the capacity of 5 different formalin-inactivated D. agamarum vaccines to induce a humoral immune response in bearded dragons (Pogona vitticeps. Each vaccine contained one of the following adjuvants: CpG, incomplete Freund's, Ribi, aluminium hydroxide, or curdlan. Lizards were administrated one of the vaccines through subcutaneous injection and booster vaccination was given 3 weeks after primo-vaccination. An indirect ELISA was developed and used to monitor lizard serological responses. Localized adverse effects following subcutaneous immunization were observed in all but the Ribi adjuvanted vaccine group. Following homologous experimental challenge, the incomplete Freund's as well as the Ribi vaccine were observed to confer protection in bearded dragons against the development of D. agamarum associated septicemia but not against dermatitis. Subsequently, two-dimensional gelelectrophoresis followed by immunoblotting and mass spectrometry was conducted with serum obtained from 3 lizards that showed seroconversion after immunisation with the Ribi vaccine. Fructose-bisphosphate aldolase and aldo-keto reductase of D. agamarum reacted with serum from the latter lizards. Based on the demonstrated seroconversion and partial protection against D. agamarum associated disease following the use of formalin-inactivated vaccines as well as the identification of target antigens in Ribi vaccinated bearded dragons, this study provides promising information towards the development of a vaccination strategy to control devrieseasis in captive lizard collections.

Anaerobic and aerobic bacteriology of the saliva and gingiva from 16 captive Komodo dragons (Varanus komodoensis): new implications for the "bacteria as venom" model.

Science.gov (United States)

Goldstein, Ellie J C; Tyrrell, Kerin L; Citron, Diane M; Cox, Cathleen R; Recchio, Ian M; Okimoto, Ben; Bryja, Judith; Fry, Bryan G

2013-06-01

It has been speculated that the oral flora of the Komodo dragon (Varanus komodoensis) exerts a lethal effect on its prey; yet, scant information about their specific oral flora bacteriology, especially anaerobes, exists. Consequently, the aerobic and anaerobic oral bacteriology of 16 captive Komodo dragons (10 adults and six neonates), aged 2-17 yr for adults and 7-10 days for neonates, from three U.S. zoos were studied. Saliva and gingival samples were collected by zoo personnel, inoculated into anaerobic transport media, and delivered by courier to a reference laboratory. Samples were cultured for aerobes and anaerobes. Strains were identified by standard methods and 16S rRNA gene sequencing when required. The oral flora consisted of 39 aerobic and 21 anaerobic species, with some variation by zoo. Adult dragons grew 128 isolates, including 37 aerobic gram-negative rods (one to eight per specimen), especially Enterobacteriaceae; 50 aerobic gram-positive bacteria (two to nine per specimen), especially Staphylococcus sciuri and Enterococcusfaecalis, present in eight of 10 and nine of 10 dragons, respectively; and 41 anaerobes (one to six per specimen), especially clostridia. All hatchlings grew aerobes but none grew anaerobes. No virulent species were isolated. As with other carnivores, captive Komodo oral flora is simply reflective of the gut and skin flora of their recent meals and environment and is unlikely to cause rapid fatal infection.

Nonlinear Time-Reversal in a Wave Chaotic System

Science.gov (United States)

Frazier, Matthew; Taddese, Biniyam; Ott, Edward; Antonsen, Thomas; Anlage, Steven

2012-02-01

Time reversal mirrors are particularly simple to implement in wave chaotic systems and form the basis for a new class of sensors [1-3]. These sensors work by applying the quantum mechanical concepts of Loschmidt echo and fidelity decay to classical waves. The sensors make explicit use of time-reversal invariance and spatial reciprocity in a wave chaotic system to remotely measure the presence of small perturbations to the system. The underlying ray chaos increases the sensitivity to small perturbations throughout the volume explored by the waves. We extend our time-reversal mirror to include a discrete element with a nonlinear dynamical response. The initially injected pulse interacts with the nonlinear element, generating new frequency components originating at the element. By selectively filtering for and applying the time-reversal mirror to the new frequency components, we focus a pulse only onto the element, without knowledge of its location. Furthermore, we demonstrate transmission of arbitrary patterns of pulses to the element, creating a targeted communication channel to the exclusion of 'eavesdroppers' at other locations in the system. [1] Appl. Phys. Lett. 95, 114103 (2009) [2] J. Appl. Phys. 108, 1 (2010) [3] Acta Physica Polonica A 112, 569 (2007)

Traveling waves in the discrete fast buffered bistable system.

Science.gov (United States)

Tsai, Je-Chiang; Sneyd, James

2007-11-01

We study the existence and uniqueness of traveling wave solutions of the discrete buffered bistable equation. Buffered excitable systems are used to model, among other things, the propagation of waves of increased calcium concentration, and discrete models are often used to describe the propagation of such waves across multiple cells. We derive necessary conditions for the existence of waves, and, under some restrictive technical assumptions, we derive sufficient conditions. When the wave exists it is unique and stable.

Automatic Control of Freeboard and Turbine Operation

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Kofoed, Jens Peter; Frigaard, Peter Bak; Friis-Madsen, Erik

The report deals with the modules for automatic control of freeboard and turbine operation on board the Wave dragon, Nissum Bredning (WD-NB) prototype, and covers what has been going on up to ultimo 2003.......The report deals with the modules for automatic control of freeboard and turbine operation on board the Wave dragon, Nissum Bredning (WD-NB) prototype, and covers what has been going on up to ultimo 2003....

On the identification of Dragon Kings among extreme-valued outliers

Science.gov (United States)

Riva, M.; Neuman, S. P.; Guadagnini, A.

2013-07-01

Extreme values of earth, environmental, ecological, physical, biological, financial and other variables often form outliers to heavy tails of empirical frequency distributions. Quite commonly such tails are approximated by stretched exponential, log-normal or power functions. Recently there has been an interest in distinguishing between extreme-valued outliers that belong to the parent population of most data in a sample and those that do not. The first type, called Gray Swans by Nassim Nicholas Taleb (often confused in the literature with Taleb's totally unknowable Black Swans), is drawn from a known distribution of the tails which can thus be extrapolated beyond the range of sampled values. However, the magnitudes and/or space-time locations of unsampled Gray Swans cannot be foretold. The second type of extreme-valued outliers, termed Dragon Kings by Didier Sornette, may in his view be sometimes predicted based on how other data in the sample behave. This intriguing prospect has recently motivated some authors to propose statistical tests capable of identifying Dragon Kings in a given random sample. Here we apply three such tests to log air permeability data measured on the faces of a Berea sandstone block and to synthetic data generated in a manner statistically consistent with these measurements. We interpret the measurements to be, and generate synthetic data that are, samples from α-stable sub-Gaussian random fields subordinated to truncated fractional Gaussian noise (tfGn). All these data have frequency distributions characterized by power-law tails with extreme-valued outliers about the tail edges.

On the identification of Dragon Kings among extreme-valued outliers

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

M. Riva

2013-07-01

Full Text Available Extreme values of earth, environmental, ecological, physical, biological, financial and other variables often form outliers to heavy tails of empirical frequency distributions. Quite commonly such tails are approximated by stretched exponential, log-normal or power functions. Recently there has been an interest in distinguishing between extreme-valued outliers that belong to the parent population of most data in a sample and those that do not. The first type, called Gray Swans by Nassim Nicholas Taleb (often confused in the literature with Taleb's totally unknowable Black Swans, is drawn from a known distribution of the tails which can thus be extrapolated beyond the range of sampled values. However, the magnitudes and/or space–time locations of unsampled Gray Swans cannot be foretold. The second type of extreme-valued outliers, termed Dragon Kings by Didier Sornette, may in his view be sometimes predicted based on how other data in the sample behave. This intriguing prospect has recently motivated some authors to propose statistical tests capable of identifying Dragon Kings in a given random sample. Here we apply three such tests to log air permeability data measured on the faces of a Berea sandstone block and to synthetic data generated in a manner statistically consistent with these measurements. We interpret the measurements to be, and generate synthetic data that are, samples from α-stable sub-Gaussian random fields subordinated to truncated fractional Gaussian noise (tfGn. All these data have frequency distributions characterized by power-law tails with extreme-valued outliers about the tail edges.

Classical representation of wave functions for integrable systems

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kay, Kenneth G.

2004-01-01

Classical exact (CE) wave functions are certain integral representations of energy eigenfunctions that are parameterized in terms of the motion of the corresponding classical system in a semiclassically relevant way. When applied to systems for which they are not exact, such expressions serve as semiclassical approximations. Previous work identified CE wave functions for a number of specific systems and established their semiclassical usefulness. This paper explores the degree to which such representations can be found for more general systems. It is shown that CE wave functions exist, in principle, for bound states of an arbitrary integrable system that are confined to a single classically allowed region. Evidence is presented that CE representations also exist for more general states of such a system that are unbound, or that extend over more than one allowed region. The CE expressions are not unique: an innumerable variety exists for each such system. The existence proof provides a formal method for constructing CE expressions by Fourier transforming certain superpositions of energy eigenstates. The parameterization in terms of the classical motion is achieved by identifying certain quantities in these superpositions as classical action and angle variables. The semiclassical relevance of this identification is ensured by imposing some mild conditions on the coefficients in the superposition. This procedure for parameterizing exact wave functions in terms of classical variables indicates a basic relationship between the quantum and classical descriptions of states. The method of constructing CE wave functions introduced in the proof is shown to be consistent with a number of previously obtained CE formulas and is used to derive two new, closed-form, CE expressions. A simple numerical example is presented to illustrate the semiclassical application of one of these expressions and to further verify the physical significance of the classical parameterization

Mediterranea Forecasting System: a focus on wave-current coupling

Science.gov (United States)

Clementi, Emanuela; Delrosso, Damiano; Pistoia, Jenny; Drudi, Massimiliano; Fratianni, Claudia; Grandi, Alessandro; Pinardi, Nadia; Oddo, Paolo; Tonani, Marina

2016-04-01

The Mediterranean Forecasting System (MFS) is a numerical ocean prediction system that produces analyses, reanalyses and short term forecasts for the entire Mediterranean Sea and its Atlantic Ocean adjacent areas. MFS became operational in the late 90's and has been developed and continuously improved in the framework of a series of EU and National funded programs and is now part of the Copernicus Marine Service. The MFS is composed by the hydrodynamic model NEMO (Nucleus for European Modelling of the Ocean) 2-way coupled with the third generation wave model WW3 (WaveWatchIII) implemented in the Mediterranean Sea with 1/16 horizontal resolution and forced by ECMWF atmospheric fields. The model solutions are corrected by the data assimilation system (3D variational scheme adapted to the oceanic assimilation problem) with a daily assimilation cycle, using a background error correlation matrix varying seasonally and in different sub-regions of the Mediterranean Sea. The focus of this work is to present the latest modelling system upgrades and the related achieved improvements. In order to evaluate the performance of the coupled system a set of experiments has been built by coupling the wave and circulation models that hourly exchange the following fields: the sea surface currents and air-sea temperature difference are transferred from NEMO model to WW3 model modifying respectively the mean momentum transfer of waves and the wind speed stability parameter; while the neutral drag coefficient computed by WW3 model is passed to NEMO that computes the turbulent component. In order to validate the modelling system, numerical results have been compared with in-situ and remote sensing data. This work suggests that a coupled model might be capable of a better description of wave-current interactions, in particular feedback from the ocean to the waves might assess an improvement on the prediction capability of wave characteristics, while suggests to proceed toward a fully

76 FR 27284 - Special Local Regulation; Partnership in Education, Dragon Boat Race; Maumee River, Toledo, OH

Science.gov (United States)

2011-05-11

...-AA08 Special Local Regulation; Partnership in Education, Dragon Boat Race; Maumee River, Toledo, OH... establishing a permanent Special Local Regulation on the Maumee River, Toledo, Ohio. This regulation is... place during the third or fourth weekend in July each year. This special local regulated area is...

77 FR 55436 - Special Local Regulation; Partnership in Education, Dragon Boat Race; Maumee River, Toledo, OH

Science.gov (United States)

2012-09-10

...-AA08 Special Local Regulation; Partnership in Education, Dragon Boat Race; Maumee River, Toledo, OH.... Add Sec. 100.921 to read as follows: Sec. 100.921 Special Local Regulations, Partnership in Education... establishing a permanent Special Local Regulation on the Maumee River, Toledo, Ohio. This regulation is...

Post-Flight Evaluation of PICA and PICA-X - Comparisons of the Stardust SRC and Space-X Dragon 1 Forebody Heatshield Materials

Science.gov (United States)

Stackpoole, M.; Kao, D.; Qu, V.; Gonzales, G.

2013-01-01

Phenolic Impregnated Carbon Ablator (PICA) was developed at NASA Ames Research Center. As a thermal protection material, PICA has the advantages of being able to withstand high heat fluxes with a relatively low density. This ablative material was used as the forebody heat shield material for the Stardust sample return capsule, which re-entered the Earths atmosphere in 2006. Based on PICA, SpaceX developed a variant, PICA-X, and used it as the heat shield material for its Dragon spacecraft, which successfully orbited the Earth and re-entered the atmosphere during the COTS Demo Flight 1 in 2010. Post-flight analysis was previously performed on the Stardust PICA heat shield material. Similarly, a near-stagnation core was obtained from the post-flight Dragon 1 heat shield, which was retrieved from the Pacific Ocean. Materials testing and analyses were performed on the core to evaluate its ablation performance and post-flight properties. Comparisons between PICA and PICA-X are made where applicable. Stardust and Dragon offer rare opportunities to evaluate materials post-flight - this data is beneficial in understanding material performance and also improves modeling capabilities.

Genetic divergence and units for conservation in the Komodo dragon Varanus komodoensis

OpenAIRE

Ciofi, C.; Beaumont, M. A.; Swingland, I. R.; Bruford, M. W.

1999-01-01

In the past decade much attention has focused on the role that genetics can play in the formation of management strategies in conservation. Here, we describe genetic diversity in the world's largest lizard, the Komodo dragon (Varanus komodoensis), examining the evolutionary relationships and population genetic history of the four islands in south-east Indonesia, which form the vast majority of its range. We identify distinct genetic groups for conservation. The population on the island of Kom...

Propagating wave correlations in complex systems

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Creagh, Stephen C; Gradoni, Gabriele; Hartmann, Timo; Tanner, Gregor

2017-01-01

We describe a novel approach for computing wave correlation functions inside finite spatial domains driven by complex and statistical sources. By exploiting semiclassical approximations, we provide explicit algorithms to calculate the local mean of these correlation functions in terms of the underlying classical dynamics. By defining appropriate ensemble averages, we show that fluctuations about the mean can be characterised in terms of classical correlations. We give in particular an explicit expression relating fluctuations of diagonal contributions to those of the full wave correlation function. The methods have a wide range of applications both in quantum mechanics and for classical wave problems such as in vibro-acoustics and electromagnetism. We apply the methods here to simple quantum systems, so-called quantum maps, which model the behaviour of generic problems on Poincaré sections. Although low-dimensional, these models exhibit a chaotic classical limit and share common characteristics with wave propagation in complex structures. (paper)

Geographic divergence and colour change in response to visual backgrounds and illumination intensity in bearded dragons.

Science.gov (United States)

Cadena, Viviana; Smith, Kathleen R; Endler, John A; Stuart-Fox, Devi

2017-03-15

Animals may improve camouflage by both dynamic colour change and local evolutionary adaptation of colour but we have little understanding of their relative importance in colour-changing species. We tested for differences in colour change in response to background colour and light intensity in two populations of central bearded dragon lizards ( Pogona vitticeps ) representing the extremes in body coloration and geographical range. We found that bearded dragons change colour in response to various backgrounds and that colour change is affected by illumination intensity. Within-individual colour change was similar in magnitude in the two populations but varied between backgrounds. However, at the endpoints of colour change, each population showed greater similarity to backgrounds that were representative of the local habitat compared with the other population, indicating local adaptation to visual backgrounds. Our results suggest that even in species that change colour, both phenotypic plasticity and geographic divergence of coloration may contribute to improved camouflage. © 2017. Published by The Company of Biologists Ltd.

Language and Cross-Culture Understanding—Through Cross-Culture Study of the Word'Dragon'

Institute of Scientific and Technical Information of China (English)

周玲

2016-01-01

This essay contributes to the analysis of the significance of cross-culture understanding in connection with language. It is important and necessary to promote cross-cultural understanding in order to communicate with people from various cultural backgrounds with the development of globalization. This essay also gives the example of the word'dragon'to illustrate that the cross-culture understanding of language will make us communicate with each other more effectively.

Ocean waves monitor system by inland microseisms

Science.gov (United States)

Lin, L. C.; Bouchette, F.; Chang, E. T. Y.

2016-12-01

Microseisms are continuous ground oscillations which have been wildly introduced for decades. It is well known that the microseismicity in the frequency band from 0.05 to about 1 Hz partly results from ocean waves, which has been first explained by Longuet-Higgins [1950]. The generation mechanism for such a microseismicity is based on nonlinear wave-wave interactions which drive pressure pulses within the seafloor. The resulting ground pressure fluctuations yield ground oscillations at a double frequency (DF) with respect to that of current ocean waves. In order to understand the characteristics of DF microseisms associated with different wave sources, we aim to analyze and interpret the spectra of DF microseisms by using the simple spectrum method [Rabinovich, 1997] at various inland seismometer along the Taiwan coast. This is the first monitoring system of ocean waves observed by inland seismometers in Taiwan. The method is applied to identify wave sources by estimating the spectral ratios of wave induced microseisms associated with local winds and typhoons to background spectra. Microseism amplitudes above 0.2 Hz show a good correlation with wind-driven waves near the coast. Comparison of microseism band between 0.1 and 0.2 Hz with buoys in the deep sea shows a strong correlation of seismic amplitude with storm generated waves, implying that such energy portion originates in remote regions. Results indicate that microseisms observed at inland sites can be a potential tool for the tracking of typhoon displacements and the monitoring of extreme ocean waves in real time. Real- time Microseism-Ocean Waves Monitoring Website (http://mwave.droppages.com/) Reference Rabinovich, A. B. (1997) "Spectral analysis of tsunami waves: Separation of source and topography effects," J. Geophys. Res., Vol. 102, p. 12,663-12,676. Longuet-Higgins, M.S. (1950) "A theory of origin of microseisms," Philos. Trans. R. Soc., A. 243, pp. 1-35.

The "7 Keys of the Dragon": An E-Learning Gamelike Environment for Albanian and Russian

Science.gov (United States)

Revithiadou, Anthi; Kourtis-Kazoullis, Vasilia; Soukalopoulou, Maria; Konstantoudakis, Konstantinos; Zarras, Christos; Pelesoglou, Nestoras

2014-01-01

In this article we report on the development of an interactive open source extensible software, dubbed "The 7 Keys of the Dragon," for the teaching/learning of Albanian and Russian to students (9-12 years old) with the respective languages as their heritage languages. Based on the assumption that games in language learning are associated…

Delay-induced wave instabilities in single-species reaction-diffusion systems

Science.gov (United States)

Otto, Andereas; Wang, Jian; Radons, Günter

2017-11-01

The Turing (wave) instability is only possible in reaction-diffusion systems with more than one (two) components. Motivated by the fact that a time delay increases the dimension of a system, we investigate the presence of diffusion-driven instabilities in single-species reaction-diffusion systems with delay. The stability of arbitrary one-component systems with a single discrete delay, with distributed delay, or with a variable delay is systematically analyzed. We show that a wave instability can appear from an equilibrium of single-species reaction-diffusion systems with fluctuating or distributed delay, which is not possible in similar systems with constant discrete delay or without delay. More precisely, we show by basic analytic arguments and by numerical simulations that fast asymmetric delay fluctuations or asymmetrically distributed delays can lead to wave instabilities in these systems. Examples, for the resulting traveling waves are shown for a Fisher-KPP equation with distributed delay in the reaction term. In addition, we have studied diffusion-induced instabilities from homogeneous periodic orbits in the same systems with variable delay, where the homogeneous periodic orbits are attracting resonant periodic solutions of the system without diffusion, i.e., periodic orbits of the Hutchinson equation with time-varying delay. If diffusion is introduced, standing waves can emerge whose temporal period is equal to the period of the variable delay.

Subtitling of an abridged series : Dragon Ball Z Abridged

OpenAIRE

Donné, Loïc

2017-01-01

Ce mémoire consiste en une traduction et un sous-titrage de la série abrégée "Dragon Ball Z Abridged", créée par la Team Four Star. Ce travail commence par une introduction dans laquelle je développe et explique l'histoire du genre qu'est la série abrégée et dans laquelle je compare deux grands noms de l'univers des séries abrégées : Eric Fensler et Marc Billany. Je les compare également avec la Team Four Star. La seconde partie est la traduction des douze épisodes qui forment la première sai...

HISTOLOGIC, IMMUNOHISTOCHEMICAL, AND ELECTRON MICROSCOPIC CHARACTERIZATION OF A MALIGNANT IRIDOPHOROMA IN A DWARF BEARDED DRAGON (POGONA HENRYLAWSONI).

Science.gov (United States)

de Brot, Simone; Sydler, Titus; Nufer, Lisbeth; Ruetten, Maja

2015-09-01

A dwarf bearded dragon (Pogona henrylawsoni) was presented with a white subcutaneous mandibular mass and multiple nodules in the oral mucosa, heart, liver, kidney, intestine, and visceral fat. Histologically, the tumor consisted of densely packed spindle-shaped cells with brow intracytoplasmic pigment that exhibited white-blue birefringence with polarized light. Immunohistochemical staining was negative for S-100 and weakly positive with melan A. Electron microscopic examination revealed cytoplasmic irregular and oblong empty spaces, laminated and often arranged into short stacks, compatible with reflecting platelet profiles typically seen in iridophores. However, in unstained ultrathin sections, electron-dense crystalline material was present, which filled the empty spaces described for stained sections before. Based on histology, immunohistochemistry, and biologic behavior, a malignant iridophoroma was diagnosed. To the authors' knowledge, iridophoromas in lizards have rarely been characterized by using electronic microscopy. Moreover, this is the first description of an iridophoroma in a dwarf bearded dragon.

Ageing and the cost of maintaining coloration in the Australian painted dragon

Science.gov (United States)

Friesen, Christopher R.; Sudyka, Joanna; Rollings, Nicky; Whittington, Camilla M.; Wilson, Mark R.; Olsson, Mats

2016-01-01

There is now good evidence in several taxa that animal coloration positively reflects an individual's antioxidant capacity. However, even though telomeres, a marker of ageing, are known to be vulnerable to reactive oxygen species (ROS) attacks, no studies have ever assessed whether colour fading reflects the rate of biological ageing in any taxa. Here, we measured colour fading, telomere erosion (a measure of biological ageing) and ROS levels in painted dragons. We show that individuals that were better at maintaining their coloration during the three months of the study suffered a higher cost in terms of telomere erosion, but overall ROS levels measured at the start of the study were not significantly related to colour maintenance and telomere shortening. We therefore suggest that colour maintenance is a costly phenomenon in terms of telomere erosion, and that overall ROS levels do not seem to be a crucial component linking ornamental coloration and telomere erosion in our study system. PMID:27405377

Wave ensemble forecast system for tropical cyclones in the Australian region

Science.gov (United States)

Zieger, Stefan; Greenslade, Diana; Kepert, Jeffrey D.

2018-05-01

Forecasting of waves under extreme conditions such as tropical cyclones is vitally important for many offshore industries, but there remain many challenges. For Northwest Western Australia (NW WA), wave forecasts issued by the Australian Bureau of Meteorology have previously been limited to products from deterministic operational wave models forced by deterministic atmospheric models. The wave models are run over global (resolution 1/4∘) and regional (resolution 1/10∘) domains with forecast ranges of + 7 and + 3 day respectively. Because of this relatively coarse resolution (both in the wave models and in the forcing fields), the accuracy of these products is limited under tropical cyclone conditions. Given this limited accuracy, a new ensemble-based wave forecasting system for the NW WA region has been developed. To achieve this, a new dedicated 8-km resolution grid was nested in the global wave model. Over this grid, the wave model is forced with winds from a bias-corrected European Centre for Medium Range Weather Forecast atmospheric ensemble that comprises 51 ensemble members to take into account the uncertainties in location, intensity and structure of a tropical cyclone system. A unique technique is used to select restart files for each wave ensemble member. The system is designed to operate in real time during the cyclone season providing + 10-day forecasts. This paper will describe the wave forecast components of this system and present the verification metrics and skill for specific events.

CHARACTERISTICS OF SOYMILK ADDED WITH DRAGON FRUIT AND EGGPLANT PEEL EXTRACTS [Karakteristik Susu Kedelai dengan Penambahan Ekstrak Kulit Buah Naga dan Kulit Terong

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Diana Sari Kusuma

2013-06-01

Full Text Available Soymilk has become progressively consumed in Indonesia since early 1990. However, soymilk has a short shelf life due to its high protein content that promotes growth of spoilage microorganisms. This study was aimed at utilizing peel waste of eggplant (Solanum melongena L. and dragon fruit (Hylocereus polyrhizus, to prolong shelf life of fresh soymilk through microbial growth inhibition, so that it will not be easily contaminated during storage, transportation and distribution time to meet the needs of consumers. Microbiological analysis showed a notably higher inhibitory effect of dragon fruit peel extract when soymilk was stored at 4ºC and it exhibited lower number of colonies even after 6 days. Interestingly, the antimicrobial activity of eggplant peel extract in cold soymilk could only be observed on day 3 until day 9. Hence, it is assumed that chlorogenic acid, as a primary antimicrobial agent in eggplant peel, needed certain time interval to activate its inhibitory activity against microorganism. However, the two peel extracts could not prolong the shelf life of soymilk stored at ambient temperature. All soymilk samples added with the peel extracts fulfilled the Indonesian National standards (SNI for pH value, protein, and total solid content. Based on the sensory evaluation, the samples with dragon fruit peel extract attained a comparable acceptance level as plain soymilk and were favored over those added with eggplant extract. In conclusion, this research indicated potential applications of usual household waste of dragon fruit and eggplant peels as antimicrobial agents for protein-rich beverages.

Can camera traps monitor Komodo dragons a large ectothermic predator?

Science.gov (United States)

Ariefiandy, Achmad; Purwandana, Deni; Seno, Aganto; Ciofi, Claudio; Jessop, Tim S

2013-01-01

Camera trapping has greatly enhanced population monitoring of often cryptic and low abundance apex carnivores. Effectiveness of passive infrared camera trapping, and ultimately population monitoring, relies on temperature mediated differences between the animal and its ambient environment to ensure good camera detection. In ectothermic predators such as large varanid lizards, this criterion is presumed less certain. Here we evaluated the effectiveness of camera trapping to potentially monitor the population status of the Komodo dragon (Varanus komodoensis), an apex predator, using site occupancy approaches. We compared site-specific estimates of site occupancy and detection derived using camera traps and cage traps at 181 trapping locations established across six sites on four islands within Komodo National Park, Eastern Indonesia. Detection and site occupancy at each site were estimated using eight competing models that considered site-specific variation in occupancy (ψ)and varied detection probabilities (p) according to detection method, site and survey number using a single season site occupancy modelling approach. The most parsimonious model [ψ (site), p (site survey); ω = 0.74] suggested that site occupancy estimates differed among sites. Detection probability varied as an interaction between site and survey number. Our results indicate that overall camera traps produced similar estimates of detection and site occupancy to cage traps, irrespective of being paired, or unpaired, with cage traps. Whilst one site showed some evidence detection was affected by trapping method detection was too low to produce an accurate occupancy estimate. Overall, as camera trapping is logistically more feasible it may provide, with further validation, an alternative method for evaluating long-term site occupancy patterns in Komodo dragons, and potentially other large reptiles, aiding conservation of this species.

Controlling an acoustic wave with a cylindrically-symmetric gradient-index system

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Zhang Zhe; Li Rui-Qi; Liang Bin; Zou Xin-Ye; Cheng Jian-Chun

2015-01-01

We present a detailed theoretical description of wave propagation in an acoustic gradient-index system with cylindrical symmetry and demonstrate its potential to numerically control acoustic waves in different ways. The trajectory of an acoustic wave within the system is derived by employing the theory of geometric acoustics, and the validity of the theoretical descriptions is verified numerically by using the finite element method simulation. The results show that by tailoring the distribution function of the refractive index, the proposed system can yield a tunable manipulation of acoustic waves, such as acoustic bending, trapping, and absorbing. (paper)

Generation of spiral waves pinned to obstacles in a simulated excitable system

Science.gov (United States)

Phantu, Metinee; Kumchaiseemak, Nakorn; Porjai, Porramain; Sutthiopad, Malee; Müller, Stefan C.; Luengviriya, Chaiya; Luengviriya, Jiraporn

2017-09-01

Pinning phenomena emerge in many dynamical systems. They are found to stabilize extreme conditions such as superconductivity and super fluidity. The dynamics of pinned spiral waves, whose tips trace the boundary of obstacles, also play an important role in the human health. In heart, such pinned waves cause longer tachycardia. In this article, we present two methods for generating pinned spiral waves in a simulated excitable system. In method A, an obstacle is set in the system prior to an ignition of a spiral wave. This method may be suitable only for the case of large obstacles since it often fails when used for small obstacles. In method B, a spiral wave is generated before an obstacle is placed at the spiral tip. With this method, a pinned spiral wave is always obtained, regardless the obstacle size. We demonstrate that after a transient interval the dynamics of the pinned spiral waves generated by the methods A and B are identical. The initiation of pinned spiral waves in both two- and three-dimensional systems is illustrated.

Gravitational waves emitted by extrasolar planetary systems

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Berti, E.; Ferrari, V.

2001-01-01

The recently discovered Extrasolar Planetary Systems (EPS's) are potentially interesting sources of gravitational waves, since they are very close to Earth (at distances ∼ 10 pc), and their orbital features and positions in the sky are quite well known. As a first estimate, we compute the orbital emission of these systems using the quadrupole formula. Then we show that, in principle, the orbiting planet could resonantly excite the quasi-normal modes of the central star. We use the general-relativistic theory of stellar pulsations to estimate the effects of such a resonance on the gravitational-wave emission of the system. We also consider radiation-reaction effects on the orbital evolution, and give upper limits on the timescales required for a planet to get off-resonance. (author)

Evolution of wave function in a dissipative system

Science.gov (United States)

Yu, Li-Hua; Sun, Chang-Pu

1994-01-01

For a dissipative system with Ohmic friction, we obtain a simple and exact solution for the wave function of the system plus the bath. It is described by the direct product in two independent Hilbert space. One of them is described by an effective Hamiltonian, the other represents the effect of the bath, i.e., the Brownian motion, thus clarifying the structure of the wave function of the system whose energy is dissipated by its interaction with the bath. No path integral technology is needed in this treatment. The derivation of the Weisskopf-Wigner line width theory follows easily.

Analysis of HITREX-1 using the reactor physics methods of the Dragon Project/KFA and the CEGB(BNL) - a joint evaluation

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Hansen, U.; Neef, H. J.; Waterson, R. H.

1976-06-15

An analysis of the HITREX 1 reactor experiment has been jointly performed by the DRAGON project/KFA and the CEGB, Berkeley, applying methods and codes currently in use within these organisations. The different methods are described and the results of the analyses are compared with each other and with experiment. Although in general the various methods give comparable results, there are two areas of significant discrepancy. First, the thermalisation data in the DRAGON codes is shown to be inadequate, so that the Pu/U fission ratio is over-estimated by some 3%, and secondly, there are differences of about 2 or 3% in the /sup 238/U absorption rates. From existing analyses, it is not possible to conclude which method gives the best overall representation of the resonance events. Concerning thermal reaction rate distribution, it is concluded that for an accuracy of about +- 1% it is necessary to perform a reactor spectrum calculation in many groups before condensation. The 32-group WIMS model achieves this, but the XSDRN/CITATION 10-group model does not. The DRAGON/KFA power reactor method predicts reaction rates in the core to within a few per cent. All methods grossly under-estimate the gradient of fast neutron flux at the core/reflector interface.

Analysis of HITREX-1 using the reactor physics methods of the Dragon Project/KFA and the CEGB(BNL) - a joint evaluation

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hansen, U.; Neef, H.J.; Waterson, R.H.

1976-06-01

An analysis of the HITREX 1 reactor experiment has been jointly performed by the DRAGON project/KFA and the CEGB, Berkeley, applying methods and codes currently in use within these organisations. The different methods are described and the results of the analyses are compared with each other and with experiment. Although in general the various methods give comparable results, there are two areas of significant discrepancy. First, the thermalisation data in the DRAGON codes is shown to be inadequate, so that the Pu/U fission ratio is over-estimated by some 3%, and secondly, there are differences of about 2 or 3% in the 238 U absorption rates. From existing analyses, it is not possible to conclude which method gives the best overall representation of the resonance events. Concerning thermal reaction rate distribution, it is concluded that for an accuracy of about +- 1% it is necessary to perform a reactor spectrum calculation in many groups before condensation. The 32-group WIMS model achieves this, but the XSDRN/CITATION 10-group model does not. The DRAGON/KFA power reactor method predicts reaction rates in the core to within a few per cent. All methods grossly under-estimate the gradient of fast neutron flux at the core/reflector interface. (author)

Constraining the 19Ne(p,γ)20Na Reaction Rate Using a Direct Measurement at DRAGON

Science.gov (United States)

Wilkinson, R.; Lotay, G.; Lennarz, A.; Ruiz, C.; Christian, G.; Akers, C.; Catford, W. N.; Chen, A. A.; Connolly, D.; Davids, B.; Hutcheon, D. A.; Jedrejcic, D.; Laird, A. M.; Martin, L.; McNeice, E.; Riley, J.; Williams, M.

2018-01-01

A direct measurement of the 19Ne(p, γ)20 Na reaction has been performed in inverse kinematics at the DRAGON recoil separator, at an energy ˜ 10 keV higher than previous measurements. The key resonance in the 19 Ne + p system relevant for ONe novae and Type-I X-ray burst temperatures have been successfully measured for the first time. Preliminary estimates of the resonance energy and strength are reported as Ec.m. ≈ 458 keV and ωγ ≈ 18 meV. These results are consistent with previous direct measurements, but disagree with the most recent study of the 19Ne(p, γ)20 Na reaction rate. These preliminary results will be finalised after a forthcoming negative log-likelihood analysis.

Rostral mandibular fracture repair in a pet bearded dragon (Pogona vitticeps).

Science.gov (United States)

Nau, Melissa R; Eshar, David

2018-04-15

CASE DESCRIPTION A 2-year-old male bearded dragon (Pogona vitticeps) was evaluated because of a traumatic mandibular fracture. CLINICAL FINDINGS An open comminuted fracture of the rostral aspect of the right mandible was evident, with a fragment of bone exposed and dorsally displaced. Whole-body radiography revealed no evidence of additional injury. Other findings were unremarkable, except for moderate anemia (PCV, 19%). TREATMENT AND OUTCOME The fracture fragments were stabilized with 2 crossed 36-gauge interfragmentary wire loops. An external fixator device was fashioned from four 25-gauge needles inserted at alternating angles through the fracture fragments; plastic IV fluid line tubing filled with dental acrylic was used as a connecting bar. One day after surgery, the lizard had regained its typical activity level and appetite. Body weight was measured and the external fixator was inspected 1 week after surgery and monthly thereafter. Three months after initial injury, the fracture was stable, radiography revealed bony callus formation at the fracture site, and the external fixator was removed. Recheck radiography performed 5.5 months after initial injury revealed complete osseous union of the fracture fragments, and the interfragmentary wires were removed. CLINICAL RELEVANCE Surgical management of the traumatic comminuted mandibular fracture in this bearded dragon by means of a combination of internal and external fixation resulted in complete healing of the mandible and restoration of function. Management of this complicated fracture was achieved with the aid of readily available and inexpensive supplies in a clinical setting, which may be useful to other clinicians in the management of similar cases.

Multicomponent long-wave-short-wave resonance interaction system: Bright solitons, energy-sharing collisions, and resonant solitons.

Science.gov (United States)

Sakkaravarthi, K; Kanna, T; Vijayajayanthi, M; Lakshmanan, M

2014-11-01

We consider a general multicomponent (2+1)-dimensional long-wave-short-wave resonance interaction (LSRI) system with arbitrary nonlinearity coefficients, which describes the nonlinear resonance interaction of multiple short waves with a long wave in two spatial dimensions. The general multicomponent LSRI system is shown to be integrable by performing the Painlevé analysis. Then we construct the exact bright multisoliton solutions by applying the Hirota's bilinearization method and study the propagation and collision dynamics of bright solitons in detail. Particularly, we investigate the head-on and overtaking collisions of bright solitons and explore two types of energy-sharing collisions as well as standard elastic collision. We have also corroborated the obtained analytical one-soliton solution by direct numerical simulation. Also, we discuss the formation and dynamics of resonant solitons. Interestingly, we demonstrate the formation of resonant solitons admitting breather-like (localized periodic pulse train) structure and also large amplitude localized structures akin to rogue waves coexisting with solitons. For completeness, we have also obtained dark one- and two-soliton solutions and studied their dynamics briefly.

Deathly drool: evolutionary and ecological basis of septic bacteria in Komodo dragon mouths.

OpenAIRE

J J Bull; Tim S Jessop; Marvin Whiteley

2010-01-01

Komodo dragons, the world's largest lizard, dispatch their large ungulate prey by biting and tearing flesh. If a prey escapes, oral bacteria inoculated into the wound reputedly induce a sepsis that augments later prey capture by the same or other lizards. However, the ecological and evolutionary basis of sepsis in Komodo prey acquisition is controversial. Two models have been proposed. The ?bacteria as venom? model postulates that the oral flora directly benefits the lizard in prey capture ir...

Four colorful new species of dragon millipedes, genus Desmoxytes Chamberlin, 1923, from northern Thailand (Diplopoda: Polydesmida: Paradoxosomatidae)

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Srisonchai, Ruttapon; Enghoff, Henrik; Likhitrakarn, Natdanai

2016-01-01

Four new dragon millipede species of the genus Desmoxytes from northern Thailand are described and illustrated: D. des sp. n. from Chiang Mai Province, D. breviverpa sp. n. from Phrae Province, D. takensis sp. n. from Tak Province and D. pinnasquali sp. n. from Phitsanulok Province. The new species...

The difference is more than floating: factors affecting breast cancer survivors' decisions to join and maintain participation in dragon boat teams and support groups.

Science.gov (United States)

McDonough, Meghan H; Patterson, Michelle C; Weisenbach, Beth B; Ullrich-French, Sarah; Sabiston, Catherine M

2018-03-09

Peer support can be helpful in rehabilitation from breast cancer, but participation in peer support groups is low. Groups that provide support opportunities in physical activity contexts are an attractive alternative for some survivors. This study examined survivors' reasons for joining and maintaining participation on a dragon boat team, along with perceptions of barriers and attractions to traditional peer support groups. Seventeen breast cancer survivors were interviewed on five occasions over their first two seasons of a newly formed dragon boating team to explore their perceptions of peer support groups and dragon boating. Data were inductively analyzed using thematic analysis. Categories surrounding physical, psychological, social and community features were identified with several themes emerging within each. Advantages of dragon boating included opportunities to get a combination of physical, psychosocial and community benefits; health improvement and behavior change; and obtaining social support without the focus being on cancer. Peer support groups were identified as having advantages for forming relationships and avoiding barriers associated with physical activity. While neither type of program meets all needs, practical considerations are identified for incorporating advantages of both programs to improve participation. Implications for rehabilitation Further understanding of perceptions, and attractions and challenges to taking part in group programs will inform development of accessible programs that target multiple rehabilitation needs. Physical activity can provide a positive, alternative focus that takes the emphasis off of cancer, which is more accessible to some survivors. Physical activity also provides opportunities to build relationships around a common, positive goal, which can be a foundation for providing support for coping with cancer.

Bistable traveling waves for a competitive-cooperative system with nonlocal delays

Science.gov (United States)

Tian, Yanling; Zhao, Xiao-Qiang

2018-04-01

This paper is devoted to the study of bistable traveling waves for a competitive-cooperative reaction and diffusion system with nonlocal time delays. The existence of bistable waves is established by appealing to the theory of monotone semiflows and the finite-delay approximations. Then the global stability of such traveling waves is obtained via a squeezing technique and a dynamical systems approach.

A double sided silicon strip detector as a DRAGON end detector

CERN Document Server

Wrede, C; Rogers, J G; D'Auria, J M

2003-01-01

The new DRAGON facility (detector of recoils and gammas of nuclear reactions), located at the TRlUMF-ISAC Radioactive Beams facility in Vancouver, Canada is now operational. This facility is used to study radiative proton capture reactions in inverse kinematics (heavy ion beam onto a light gaseous target) with both stable beams and radioactive beams of mass A=13-26 in the energy range 0.15-1.5 MeV/u. A double sided silicon strip detector (DSSSD) has been used to detect recoil ions. Tests have been performed to determine the performance of this DSSSD.

Asymmetric rogue waves, breather-to-soliton conversion, and nonlinear wave interactions in the Hirota–Maxwell–Bloch system

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Wang Lei; Zhu Yujie; Wang Ziqi; Xu Tao; Qi Fenghua; Xue Yushan

2016-01-01

We study the nonlinear localized waves on constant backgrounds of the Hirota–Maxwell–Bloch (HMB) system arising from the erbium doped fibers. We derive the asymmetric breather, rogue wave (RW) and semirational solutions of the HMB system. We show that the breather and RW solutions can be converted into various soliton solutions. Under different conditions of parameters, we calculate the locus of the eigenvalues on the complex plane which converts the breathers or RWs into solitons. Based on the second-order solutions, we investigate the interactions among different types of nonlinear waves including the breathers, RWs and solitons. (author)

Asymmetric Rogue Waves, Breather-to-Soliton Conversion, and Nonlinear Wave Interactions in the Hirota-Maxwell-Bloch System

Science.gov (United States)

Wang, Lei; Zhu, Yu-Jie; Wang, Zi-Qi; Xu, Tao; Qi, Feng-Hua; Xue, Yu-Shan

2016-02-01

We study the nonlinear localized waves on constant backgrounds of the Hirota-Maxwell-Bloch (HMB) system arising from the erbium doped fibers. We derive the asymmetric breather, rogue wave (RW) and semirational solutions of the HMB system. We show that the breather and RW solutions can be converted into various soliton solutions. Under different conditions of parameters, we calculate the locus of the eigenvalues on the complex plane which converts the breathers or RWs into solitons. Based on the second-order solutions, we investigate the interactions among different types of nonlinear waves including the breathers, RWs and solitons.

Electrical Systems for Wave Energy Conversion

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Bostroem, Cecilia

2011-07-01

Wave energy is a renewable energy source with a large potential to contribute to the world's electricity production. There exist several technologies on how to convert the energy in the ocean waves into electric energy. The wave energy converter (WEC) presented in this thesis is based on a linear synchronous generator. The generator is placed on the seabed and driven by a point absorbing buoy on the ocean surface. Instead of having one large unit, several smaller units are interconnected to increase the total installed power. To convert and interconnect the power from the generators, marine substations are used. The marine substations are placed on the seabed and convert the fluctuating AC from the generators into an AC suitable for grid connection. The work presented in the thesis focuses on the first steps in the electric energy conversion, converting the voltage out from the generators into DC, which have an impact on the WEC's ability to absorb and produce power. The purpose has been to investigate how the generator will operate when it is subjected to different load cases and to obtain guidelines on how future systems could be improved. Offshore experiments and simulations have been done on full scale generators connected to four different loads, i.e. one linear resistive load and three different non-linear loads representing different cases for grid connected WECs. The results show that the power can be controlled and optimized by choosing a suitable system for the WEC. It is not obvious which kind of system is the most preferable, since there are many different parameters that have an impact on the system performance, such as the size of the buoy, how the generator is designed, the number of WECs, the highest allowed complexity of the system, costs and so on. Therefore, the design of the electrical system should preferably be carried out in parallel with the design of the WEC in order to achieve an efficient system

High temperature graphite irradiation creep experiment in the Dragon Reactor. Dragon Project report

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Manzel, R.; Everett, M. R.; Graham, L. W.

1971-05-15

The irradiation induced creep of pressed Gilsocarbon graphite under constant tensile stress has been investigated in an experiment carried out in FE 317 of the OECD High Temperature Gass Cooled Reactor ''Dragon'' at Winfrith (England). The experiment covered a temperature range of 850 dec C to 1240 deg C and reached a maximum fast neutron dose of 1.19 x 10²¹ n cm^-2 NDE (Nickel Dose DIDO Equivalent). Irradiation induced dimensional changes of a string of unrestrained graphite specimens are compared with the dimensional changes of three strings of restrained graphite specimens stressed to 40%, 58%, and 70% of the initial ultimate tensile strength of pressed Gilsocarbon graphite. Total creep strains ranging from 0.18% to 1.25% have been measured and a linear dependence of creep strain on applied stress was observed. Mechanical property measurements carried out before and after irradiation demonstrate that Gilsocarbon graphite can accommodate significant creep strains without failure or structural deterioration. Total creep strains are in excellent agreement with other data, however the results indicate a relatively large temperature dependent primary creep component which at 1200 deg C approaches a value which is three times larger than the normally assumed initial elastic strain. Secondary creep constants derived from the experiment show a temperature dependence and are in fair agreement with data reported elsewhere. A possible determination of the results is given.

Statistical Tests Black swans or dragon-kings? A simple test for deviations from the power law★

Science.gov (United States)

Janczura, J.; Weron, R.

2012-05-01

We develop a simple test for deviations from power law tails. Actually, from the tails of any distribution. We use this test - which is based on the asymptotic properties of the empirical distribution function - to answer the question whether great natural disasters, financial crashes or electricity price spikes should be classified as dragon-kings or `only' as black swans.

Can Camera Traps Monitor Komodo Dragons a Large Ectothermic Predator?

Science.gov (United States)

Ariefiandy, Achmad; Purwandana, Deni; Seno, Aganto; Ciofi, Claudio; Jessop, Tim S.

2013-01-01

Camera trapping has greatly enhanced population monitoring of often cryptic and low abundance apex carnivores. Effectiveness of passive infrared camera trapping, and ultimately population monitoring, relies on temperature mediated differences between the animal and its ambient environment to ensure good camera detection. In ectothermic predators such as large varanid lizards, this criterion is presumed less certain. Here we evaluated the effectiveness of camera trapping to potentially monitor the population status of the Komodo dragon (Varanus komodoensis), an apex predator, using site occupancy approaches. We compared site-specific estimates of site occupancy and detection derived using camera traps and cage traps at 181 trapping locations established across six sites on four islands within Komodo National Park, Eastern Indonesia. Detection and site occupancy at each site were estimated using eight competing models that considered site-specific variation in occupancy (ψ)and varied detection probabilities (p) according to detection method, site and survey number using a single season site occupancy modelling approach. The most parsimonious model [ψ (site), p (site*survey); ω = 0.74] suggested that site occupancy estimates differed among sites. Detection probability varied as an interaction between site and survey number. Our results indicate that overall camera traps produced similar estimates of detection and site occupancy to cage traps, irrespective of being paired, or unpaired, with cage traps. Whilst one site showed some evidence detection was affected by trapping method detection was too low to produce an accurate occupancy estimate. Overall, as camera trapping is logistically more feasible it may provide, with further validation, an alternative method for evaluating long-term site occupancy patterns in Komodo dragons, and potentially other large reptiles, aiding conservation of this species. PMID:23527027

Can camera traps monitor Komodo dragons a large ectothermic predator?

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Achmad Ariefiandy

Full Text Available Camera trapping has greatly enhanced population monitoring of often cryptic and low abundance apex carnivores. Effectiveness of passive infrared camera trapping, and ultimately population monitoring, relies on temperature mediated differences between the animal and its ambient environment to ensure good camera detection. In ectothermic predators such as large varanid lizards, this criterion is presumed less certain. Here we evaluated the effectiveness of camera trapping to potentially monitor the population status of the Komodo dragon (Varanus komodoensis, an apex predator, using site occupancy approaches. We compared site-specific estimates of site occupancy and detection derived using camera traps and cage traps at 181 trapping locations established across six sites on four islands within Komodo National Park, Eastern Indonesia. Detection and site occupancy at each site were estimated using eight competing models that considered site-specific variation in occupancy (ψand varied detection probabilities (p according to detection method, site and survey number using a single season site occupancy modelling approach. The most parsimonious model [ψ (site, p (site survey; ω = 0.74] suggested that site occupancy estimates differed among sites. Detection probability varied as an interaction between site and survey number. Our results indicate that overall camera traps produced similar estimates of detection and site occupancy to cage traps, irrespective of being paired, or unpaired, with cage traps. Whilst one site showed some evidence detection was affected by trapping method detection was too low to produce an accurate occupancy estimate. Overall, as camera trapping is logistically more feasible it may provide, with further validation, an alternative method for evaluating long-term site occupancy patterns in Komodo dragons, and potentially other large reptiles, aiding conservation of this species.

Geo-Spatial Multi-criteria Analysis for Wave Energy System Deployment

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Nobre, Ana; Pacheco, Miguel (Instituto Hidrografico, Rua das Trinas, 49, Lisboa (PT)); Jorge, Raquel Lopes, M. F. P.; Gato, L. M. C. (IDMEC, Instituto Superior Tecnico, Technical University of Lisbon, Av. Rovisco Pais, Lisboa (PT))

2007-07-01

The growing requirements for renewable energy production lead to the development of a new series of systems, including wave energy conversion systems. Due to their sensitivity and the impact of the aggressive marine environment, the selection of the most adequate location for these systems is a major and very important task. Several factors, such as technological limitations, environmental conditions, administrative and logistic conditions, have to be taken into account in order to support the decision for best location. This paper describes a geo-spatial multi-criteria analysis methodology, based on geographic information systems technology, for selection of the best location to deploy a wave energy farm. This methodology is not conversion system dependent and therefore can be easily customized for different systems and conditions. Selection factors can include, for example, ocean depth, bottom type, underwater cables, marine protected areas, ports location, shoreline, power grid location, military exercise areas, climatology of wave significant height, period and direction. A case study demonstrating this methodology is presented, for an area offshore the Portuguese southwest coast. The system output allows a clear identification of the best spots for a wave energy farm. It is not just a simple Boolean result showing valid and invalid locations, but a layer with a graded suitability for farm deployment.

Stability of Nonlinear Wave Patterns to the Bipolar Vlasov-Poisson-Boltzmann System

Science.gov (United States)

Li, Hailiang; Wang, Yi; Yang, Tong; Zhong, Mingying

2018-04-01

The main purpose of the present paper is to investigate the nonlinear stability of viscous shock waves and rarefaction waves for the bipolar Vlasov-Poisson-Boltzmann (VPB) system. To this end, motivated by the micro-macro decomposition to the Boltzmann equation in Liu and Yu (Commun Math Phys 246:133-179, 2004) and Liu et al. (Physica D 188:178-192, 2004), we first set up a new micro-macro decomposition around the local Maxwellian related to the bipolar VPB system and give a unified framework to study the nonlinear stability of the basic wave patterns to the system. Then, as applications of this new decomposition, the time-asymptotic stability of the two typical nonlinear wave patterns, viscous shock waves and rarefaction waves are proved for the 1D bipolar VPB system. More precisely, it is first proved that the linear superposition of two Boltzmann shock profiles in the first and third characteristic fields is nonlinearly stable to the 1D bipolar VPB system up to some suitable shifts without the zero macroscopic mass conditions on the initial perturbations. Then the time-asymptotic stability of the rarefaction wave fan to compressible Euler equations is proved for the 1D bipolar VPB system. These two results are concerned with the nonlinear stability of wave patterns for Boltzmann equation coupled with additional (electric) forces, which together with spectral analysis made in Li et al. (Indiana Univ Math J 65(2):665-725, 2016) sheds light on understanding the complicated dynamic behaviors around the wave patterns in the transportation of charged particles under the binary collisions, mutual interactions, and the effect of the electrostatic potential forces.

Dermatomycosis in a pet inland bearded dragon (Pogona vitticeps) caused by a Chrysosporium species related to Nannizziopsis vriesii.

Science.gov (United States)

Abarca, M L; Martorell, J; Castellá, G; Ramis, A; Cabañes, F J

2009-08-01

A Chrysosporium sp. related to Nannizziopsis vriesii was isolated in pure culture from squames and biopsies of facial lesions in a pet inland bearded dragon (Pogona vitticeps) in Spain. The presence in histological sections of morphologically consistent fungal elements strongly incriminates this fungus as the aetiological agent of infection. Lesions regressed following treatment with oral ketoconazole and topical chlorhexidine and terbinafine until the lizard was lost to follow up 1 month later. The ITS-5.8S rRNA gene of the isolate was sequenced and a search on the GenBank database revealed a high match with the sequences of two Chrysosporium sp. strains recently isolated from green iguanas (Iguana iguana) with dermatomycosis, also in Spain. Phylogenetic analysis of the sequences revealed that all these strains are related to N. vriesii. This is the first report of dermatomycoses caused by a Chrysosporium species related to N. vriesii in a bearded dragon outside North America.

Nonlinear waves in reaction-diffusion systems: The effect of transport memory

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Manne, K. K.; Hurd, A. J.; Kenkre, V. M.

2000-01-01

Motivated by the problem of determining stress distributions in granular materials, we study the effect of finite transport correlation times on the propagation of nonlinear wave fronts in reaction-diffusion systems. We obtain results such as the possibility of spatial oscillations in the wave-front shape for certain values of the system parameters and high enough wave-front speeds. We also generalize earlier known results concerning the minimum wave-front speed and shape-speed relationships stemming from the finiteness of the correlation times. Analytic investigations are made possible by a piecewise linear representation of the nonlinearity. (c) 2000 The American Physical Society

Nonlinear waves in reaction-diffusion systems: The effect of transport memory

Science.gov (United States)

Manne, K. K.; Hurd, A. J.; Kenkre, V. M.

2000-04-01

Motivated by the problem of determining stress distributions in granular materials, we study the effect of finite transport correlation times on the propagation of nonlinear wave fronts in reaction-diffusion systems. We obtain results such as the possibility of spatial oscillations in the wave-front shape for certain values of the system parameters and high enough wave-front speeds. We also generalize earlier known results concerning the minimum wave-front speed and shape-speed relationships stemming from the finiteness of the correlation times. Analytic investigations are made possible by a piecewise linear representation of the nonlinearity.

Cholelithiasis in adult bearded dragons: retrospective study of nine adult bearded dragons (Pogona vitticeps) with cholelithiasis between 2013 and 2015 in southern Germany.

Science.gov (United States)

Gimmel, A; Kempf, H; Öfner, S; Müller, D; Liesegang, A

2017-06-01

With an increased number of pet reptiles, many diseases occur due to nutritional disorders. Between 2013 and 2015, irregular gallbladder contents (sludge/choleliths) in adult bearded dragons (Pogona vitticeps) were recorded in many of the routinely conducted necropsies at the reptile rescue station in Munich (Auffangstation für Reptilien, München e.V., Munich, Germany). Nine animals, six from the rescue station and three from an associated veterinary practice (Tierärztliche Praxis für Exoten, Augsburg, Germany), were studied. Gallbladder contents from all animals were analysed at the Institute for Clinical Chemistry in Zurich, Switzerland. In three of nine animals, one cholelith composed of 100% calcium carbonate (CaCO 3 ) was detected and it precipitated either as pure calcite or as a calcite:vaterite combination. In the remaining six animals, analyses suggested a protein-based material. The detection of choleliths/sludge was not anticipated at necropsy or surgery in eight of nine animals. The diet of the six animals from the rescue station was retrospectively described as mainly insects, whereas the diet of the three animals from the veterinary practice also contained little plant matter. Fed insect species were mealworm larva (Tenebrio molitor), house cricket (Acheta domestica), migratory locust (Locusta migratoria) and zophobas larva (Zophobas morio), all high in protein and fat. In other species, a nidus must be present for CaCO 3 to precipitate. As a protein-based sludge was detected in six gallbladders, it is possible that a high-protein diet could lead to such a nidus and subsequently to cholelith formation. Cholelithiasis seems to be a rising problem in adult bearded dragons and is likely underdiagnosed, as many choleliths were found at necropsy. This rise in cholelithiasis may correlate with an unnatural high-protein, high-fat insect-based diet instead of a balanced plant-based diet. Journal of Animal Physiology and Animal Nutrition © 2017 Blackwell

Nano-optomechanical system based on microwave frequency surface acoustic waves

Science.gov (United States)

Tadesse, Semere Ayalew

Cavity optomechnics studies the interaction of cavity confined photons with mechanical motion. The emergence of sophisticated nanofabrication technology has led to experimental demonstrations of a wide range of novel optomechanical systems that exhibit strong optomechanical coupling and allow exploration of interesting physical phenomena. Many of the studies reported so far are focused on interaction of photons with localized mechanical modes. For my doctoral research, I did experimental investigations to extend this study to propagating phonons. I used surface travelling acoustic waves as the mechanical element of my optomechanical system. The optical cavities constitute an optical racetrack resonator and photonic crystal nanocavity. This dissertation discusses implementation of this surface acoustic wave based optomechanical system and experimental demonstrations of important consequences of the optomechanical coupling. The discussion focuses on three important achievements of the research. First, microwave frequency surface acoustic wave transducers were co-integrated with an optical racetrack resonator on a piezoelectric aluminum nitride film deposited on an oxidized silicon substrate. Acousto-optic modulation of the resonance modes at above 10 GHz with the acoustic wavelength significantly below the optical wavelength was achieved. The phase and modal matching conditions in this paradigm were investigated for efficient optmechanical coupling. Second, the optomechanical coupling was pushed further into the sideband resolved regime by integrating the high frequency surface acoustic wave transducers with a photonic crystal nanocavity. This device was used to demonstrate optomecahnically induced transparency and absorption, one of the interesting consequences of cavity optomechanics. Phase coherent interaction of the acoustic wave with multiple nanocavities was also explored. In a related experiment, the photonic crystal nanoscavity was placed inside an acoustic

The development of social relationships, social support, and posttraumatic growth in a dragon boating team for breast cancer survivors.

Science.gov (United States)

McDonough, Meghan H; Sabiston, Catherine M; Ullrich-French, Sarah

2011-10-01

Physical activity experiences may contribute to psychological and social wellbeing among breast cancer survivors. The main purpose of the current study was to qualitatively explore the development of social relationships, social support, and posttraumatic growth among breast cancer survivors participating in a dragon boat program over 19 months. Guided by interpretative phenomenological analysis (Smith, Flowers, & Larkin, 2009), semistructured interviews were conducted with 17 breast cancer survivors on five occasions over their first two seasons of dragon boating. Narrative accounts were developed for each participant, and four profiles emerged describing processes of social and posttraumatic growth development over time: "developing a feisty spirit of survivorship," "I don't want it to be just about me," "it's not about the pink it's about the paddling," and "hard to get close." Profiles were discussed in terms of developing social relationships and support, providing support to others, physicality and athleticism, and negative interactions and experiences.

Performance of advanced self-shielding models in DRAGON Version4 on analysis of a high conversion light water reactor lattice

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Karthikeyan, Ramamoorthy; Hebert, Alain

2008-01-01

A high conversion light water reactor lattice has been analysed using the code DRAGON Version4. This analysis was performed to test the performance of the advanced self-shielding models incorporated in DRAGON Version4. The self-shielding models are broadly classified into two groups - 'equivalence in dilution' and 'subgroup approach'. Under the 'equivalence in dilution' approach we have analysed the generalized Stamm'ler model with and without Nordheim model and Riemann integration. These models have been analysed also using the Livolant-Jeanpierre normalization. Under the 'subgroup approach', we have analysed Statistical self-shielding model based on physical probability tables and Ribon extended self-shielding model based on mathematical probability tables. This analysis will help in understanding the performance of advanced self-shielding models for a lattice that is tight and has a large fraction of fissions happening in the resonance region. The nuclear data for the analysis was generated in-house. NJOY99.90 was used for generating libraries in DRAGLIB format for analysis using DRAGON and A Compact ENDF libraries for analysis using MCNP5. The evaluated datafiles were chosen based on the recommendations of the IAEA Co-ordinated Research Project on the WIMS Library Update Project. The reference solution for the problem was obtained using Monte Carlo code MCNP5. It was found that the Ribon extended self-shielding model based on mathematical probability tables using correlation model performed better than all other models

Wireless system controlling of electromagnetic wave distribution in nuclear power plant use

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kuroda, Hidehiko; Kume, Naoto; Oshima, Tomomi; Takakura, Kei; Oda, Naotaka; Hasegawa, Takeshi; Odanaka, Shigeru

2017-01-01

Recently, wireless technologies have rapidly spread by cellular phones, smartphones and tablet devices. Wireless systems in the nuclear power plant are expected to bring various advantages such as shortening of the inspection time, online monitoring, remote control and cable reduction, etc. However, wireless systems have hardly applied to the nuclear power plant, from the point of security and electromagnetic interference (EMI). We propose a new wireless system controlling automatically electromagnetic wave distribution. In our wireless system, the transmitter / receiver modules automatically measure the wave strength and adjust the power and directivity of the wave, resulting in wireless communication only in target zones, i.e. non-influence to safety-related instruments and non-leakage of information. We will present the algorithm of the electromagnetic wave controlling and experimental results about the proposed system. (author)

Abnormal storm waves in the winter East/Japan Sea: generation process and hindcasting using an atmosphere-wind wave modelling system

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

H. S. Lee

2010-04-01

Full Text Available Abnormal storm waves cause coastal disasters along the coasts of Korean Peninsula and Japan in the East/Japan Sea (EJS in winter, arising due to developed low pressures during the East Asia winter monsoon. The generation of these abnormal storm waves during rough sea states were studied and hindcast using an atmosphere-wave coupled modelling system. Wind waves and swell due to developed low pressures were found to be the main components of abnormal storm waves. The meteorological conditions that generate these waves are classified into three patterns based on past literature that describes historical events as well as on numerical modelling. In hindcasting the abnormal storm waves, a bogussing scheme originally designed to simulate a tropical storm in a mesoscale meteorological model was introduced into the modelling system to enhance the resolution of developed low pressures. The modelling results with a bogussing scheme showed improvements in terms of resolved low pressure, surface wind field, and wave characteristics obtained with the wind field as an input.

Shock waves in collective field theories for many particle systems

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Oki, F; Saito, T [Kyoto Prefectural Univ. of Medicine (Japan); Shigemoto, K

1980-10-01

We find shock wave solutions to collective field equations for quantum mechanical many particle system. Importance of the existence of a ''tension'' working on the surface of the shock-wave front is pointed out.

Rogue waves in the multicomponent Mel'nikov system and multicomponent Schrödinger-Boussinesq system

Science.gov (United States)

Sun, Baonan; Lian, Zhan

2018-02-01

By virtue of the bilinear method and the KP hierarchy reduction technique, exact explicit rational solutions of the multicomponent Mel'nikov equation and the multicomponent Schrödinger-Boussinesq equation are constructed, which contain multicomponent short waves and single-component long wave. For the multicomponent Mel'nikov equation, the fundamental rational solutions possess two different behaviours: lump and rogue wave. It is shown that the fundamental (simplest) rogue waves are line localised waves which arise from the constant background with a line profile and then disappear into the constant background again. The fundamental line rogue waves can be classified into three: bright, intermediate and dark line rogue waves. Two subclasses of non-fundamental rogue waves, i.e., multirogue waves and higher-order rogue waves are discussed. The multirogue waves describe interaction of several fundamental line rogue waves, in which interesting wave patterns appear in the intermediate time. Higher-order rogue waves exhibit dynamic behaviours that the wave structures start from lump and then retreat back to it. Moreover, by taking the parameter constraints further, general higher-order rogue wave solutions for the multicomponent Schrödinger-Boussinesq system are generated.

Nuclear astrophysics with DRAGON at ISAC: the 21Na(p, γ)22Mg reaction

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

D'Auria, J.M.

2003-01-01

The DRAGON facility at the new intense radioactive beams facility, ISAC, is now operational. It was built to perform studies of radiative alpha and proton capture reactions involving radioactive reactants, and of interest to nuclear astrophysics. The rate of the 21 Na(p, γ) 22 Mg reaction has been measured using inverse kinematics. Resonance strengths have been measured for states of importance for novae explosions. This report will summarize aspects of this study and its impact. (orig.)

Blood vitamin D(3) metabolite concentrations of adult female bearded dragons (Pogona vitticeps) remain stable after ceasing UVb exposure

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Oonincx, D.G.A.B.; Wal, van de M.D.; Bosch, G.; Stumpel, J.B.G.; Heijboer, A.C.; Leeuwen, van J.P.T.M.; Hendriks, W.H.; Kik, M.

2013-01-01

Vitamin D deficiency can lead to several health problems collectively called metabolic bone disease (MBD). One commonly kept reptile species prone to develop MBD if managed incorrectly is the bearded dragon (Pogona vitticeps). This study aimed to determine the extent to which adult female bearded

Blood vitamin D(3) metabolite concentrations of adult female bearded dragons (Pogona vitticeps) remain stable after ceasing UVb exposure

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Oonincx, D G A B; van de Wal, M D; Bosch, Guido; Stumpel, J B G; Heijboer, A C; van Leeuwen, J P T M; Hendriks, W H; Kik, M

Vitamin D deficiency can lead to several health problems collectively called metabolic bone disease (MBD). One commonly kept reptile species prone to develop MBD if managed incorrectly is the bearded dragon (Pogona vitticeps). This study aimed to determine the extent to which adult female bearded

Buoy and Generator Interaction with Ocean Waves: Studies of a Wave Energy Conversion System

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Lindroth, Simon

2011-07-01

On March 13th, 2006, the Div. of Electricity at Uppsala Univ. deployed its first wave energy converter, L1, in the ocean southwest of Lysekil. L1 consisted of a buoy at the surface, connected through a line to a linear generator on the seabed. Since the deployment, continuous investigations of how L1 works in the waves have been conducted, and several additional wave energy converters have been deployed. This thesis is based on ten publications, which focus on different aspects of the interaction between wave, buoy, and generator. In order to evaluate different measurement systems, the motion of the buoy was measured optically and using accelerometers, and compared to measurements of the motion of the movable part of the generator - the translator. These measurements were found to correlate well. Simulations of buoy and translator motion were found to match the measured values. The variation of performance of L1 with changing water levels, wave heights, and spectral shapes was also investigated. Performance is here defined as the ratio of absorbed power to incoming power. It was found that the performance decreases for large wave heights. This is in accordance with the theoretical predictions, since the area for which the stator and the translator overlap decreases for large translator motions. Shifting water levels were predicted to have the same effect, but this could not be seen as clearly. The width of the wave energy spectrum has been proposed by some as a factor that also affects the performance of a wave energy converter, for a set wave height and period. Therefore the relation between performance and several different parameters for spectral width was investigated. It was found that some of the parameters were in fact correlated to performance, but that the correlation was not very strong. As a background on ocean measurements in wave energy, a thorough literature review was conducted. It turns out that the Lysekil project is one of quite few projects that

Nonlinear wave-beam kinetic equilibrium in decelerating systems

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Grishin, V.K.; Shaposhnikova, E.N.

1981-01-01

The equilibrium state of the wave-beam system arising during the interaction of a particle beam and excited electromagnetic wave has been investigated on the basis of the analysis of the exact polution of a non-linear self-consistent linear equation using the complete system of conservation laws. A waveguide with a dielectric filler, into which a monoenergetic particle beam magnetized in a transverse plane is continuously injected, is used as a model of an decelerating system. A dispersion equation describing the system state and expression for the evaluation of efficiency of the beam energy conversion to the field energy have been obtained. It is concluded that larae fields and high efficiency of energy conversion are achieved during the marked beam reconstruction. States with different values of current and beam velocity but similar amplitudes of a longitudinal field are possible in the system considered [ru

Deathly drool: evolutionary and ecological basis of septic bacteria in Komodo dragon mouths.

Science.gov (United States)

Bull, J J; Jessop, Tim S; Whiteley, Marvin

2010-06-21

Komodo dragons, the world's largest lizard, dispatch their large ungulate prey by biting and tearing flesh. If a prey escapes, oral bacteria inoculated into the wound reputedly induce a sepsis that augments later prey capture by the same or other lizards. However, the ecological and evolutionary basis of sepsis in Komodo prey acquisition is controversial. Two models have been proposed. The "bacteria as venom" model postulates that the oral flora directly benefits the lizard in prey capture irrespective of any benefit to the bacteria. The "passive acquisition" model is that the oral flora of lizards reflects the bacteria found in carrion and sick prey, with no relevance to the ability to induce sepsis in subsequent prey. A third model is proposed and analyzed here, the "lizard-lizard epidemic" model. In this model, bacteria are spread indirectly from one lizard mouth to another. Prey escaping an initial attack act as vectors in infecting new lizards. This model requires specific life history characteristics and ways to refute the model based on these characteristics are proposed and tested. Dragon life histories (some details of which are reported here) prove remarkably consistent with the model, especially that multiple, unrelated lizards feed communally on large carcasses and that escaping, wounded prey are ultimately fed on by other lizards. The identities and evolutionary histories of bacteria in the oral flora may yield the most useful additional insights for further testing the epidemic model and can now be obtained with new technologies.