The ultimate quotable Einstein

CERN Document Server

2011-01-01

Here is the definitive new edition of the hugely popular collection of Einstein quotations that has sold tens of thousands of copies worldwide and been translated into twenty-five languages. The Ultimate Quotable Einstein features 400 additional quotes, bringing the total to roughly 1,600 in all. This ultimate edition includes new sections--"On and to Children," "On Race and Prejudice," and "Einstein's Verses: A Small Selection"--as well as a chronology of Einstein's life and accomplishments, Freeman Dyson's authoritative foreword, and new commentary by Alice Calaprice.

Evaluation of Ultimate Pressure Capacity of a Prestressed Concrete Containment Building with Steel or Polyamide Fiber Reinforcement

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Choun, Youngsun; Hahm, Daegi [Korea Atomic Energy Research Institute, Daejeon (Korea, Republic of)

2014-05-15

Fiber reinforced concrete (FRC) includes thousands of small fibers that are distributed randomly in the concrete. Fibers resist the growth of cracks in concrete through their bridging at the cracks. Therefore, FRC fails in tension only when the fibers break or are pulled out of the cement matrix. For this reason, the addition of fibers in concrete mixing increases the tensile toughness of concrete and enhances the post-cracking behavior. A prevention of through-wall cracks and an increase of the post-cracking ductility will improve the ultimate internal pressure capacity of a prestressed concrete containment building (PCCB). In this study, the effects of steel or polyamide fiber reinforcement on the ultimate pressure capacity of a PCCB are evaluated. When R-SFRC contains hooked steel fibers in a volume fraction of 1.0%, the ultimate pressure capacity of a PCCB can be improved by 17%. When R-PFRC contains polyamide fibers in a volume fraction of 1.5%, the ultimate pressure capacity of a PCCB can be enhanced by 10%. Further studies are needed to determine the strain limits acceptable for PCCBs reinforced with fibers.

Evaluation of Ultimate Pressure Capacity of a Prestressed Concrete Containment Building with Steel or Polyamide Fiber Reinforcement

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Choun, Youngsun; Hahm, Daegi

2014-01-01

Fiber reinforced concrete (FRC) includes thousands of small fibers that are distributed randomly in the concrete. Fibers resist the growth of cracks in concrete through their bridging at the cracks. Therefore, FRC fails in tension only when the fibers break or are pulled out of the cement matrix. For this reason, the addition of fibers in concrete mixing increases the tensile toughness of concrete and enhances the post-cracking behavior. A prevention of through-wall cracks and an increase of the post-cracking ductility will improve the ultimate internal pressure capacity of a prestressed concrete containment building (PCCB). In this study, the effects of steel or polyamide fiber reinforcement on the ultimate pressure capacity of a PCCB are evaluated. When R-SFRC contains hooked steel fibers in a volume fraction of 1.0%, the ultimate pressure capacity of a PCCB can be improved by 17%. When R-PFRC contains polyamide fibers in a volume fraction of 1.5%, the ultimate pressure capacity of a PCCB can be enhanced by 10%. Further studies are needed to determine the strain limits acceptable for PCCBs reinforced with fibers

Shear wall ultimate drift limits

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Duffey, T.A.; Goldman, A.; Farrar, C.R.

1994-04-01

Drift limits for reinforced-concrete shear walls are investigated by reviewing the open literature for appropriate experimental data. Drift values at ultimate are determined for walls with aspect ratios ranging up to a maximum of 3.53 and undergoing different types of lateral loading (cyclic static, monotonic static, and dynamic). Based on the geometry of actual nuclear power plant structures exclusive of containments and concerns regarding their response during seismic (i.e.,cyclic) loading, data are obtained from pertinent references for which the wall aspect ratio is less than or equal to approximately 1, and for which testing is cyclic in nature (typically displacement controlled). In particular, lateral deflections at ultimate load, and at points in the softening region beyond ultimate for which the load has dropped to 90, 80, 70, 60, and 50 percent of its ultimate value, are obtained and converted to drift information. The statistical nature of the data is also investigated. These data are shown to be lognormally distributed, and an analysis of variance is performed. The use of statistics to estimate Probability of Failure for a shear wall structure is illustrated

Transcending matter: physics and ultimate meaning.

Science.gov (United States)

Paulson, Steve; Frank, Adam; Kaiser, David; Maudlin, Tim; Natarajan, Priyamvada

2015-12-01

From the discovery of new galaxies and nearly undetectable dark energy to the quantum entanglement of particles across the universe, new findings in physics naturally elicit a sense of awe and wonder. For the founders of modern physics-from Einstein and Bohr to Heisenberg, Pauli, and Bohm-a fascination with deeper questions of meaning and ultimate reality led some of them to explore esoteric traditions and metaphysics. More recently, however, physicists have largely shunned such philosophical and spiritual associations. What can contemporary physics offer us in the quest to understand our place in the universe? Has physics in some ways become a religion unto itself that rejects the search for existential meaning? Discussion of these and related questions is presented in this paper. © 2015 New York Academy of Sciences.

Physical demands in competitive ultimate frisbee

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Krustrup, Peter; Mohr, Magni

2015-01-01

The objective was to study game demands in competitive ultimate Frisbee by performing match analysis during a game. Thirteen moderately trained (Yo-Yo intermittent recovery test levels 1 and 2 [Yo-Yo IR1 and IR2] performance: 1790 ± 382 m and 657 ± 225 m, respectively) competitive male ultimate...... = 0.74, p ≤ 0.05). Ultimate Frisbee is an intense intermittent team sport with high cardiovascular loading and clear indications of fatigue toward the end of each half. Yo-Yo IR test performances correlate with physical match performance....

Improving Design Understandings and Skills through Enhanced Metacognition: Reflective Design Journals

Science.gov (United States)

Kurt, Mustafa; Kurt, Sevinc

2017-01-01

The main aim of this study was to investigate and discover whether going through the process of reflection by keeping reflective design journals (RDJ) enhances architecture students' metacognition and whether this enhanced metacognition improves their design understandings and skills. The study was a mixed-methods design and utilised content…

'My child will never initiate Ultimate Harm': an argument against moral enhancement.

Science.gov (United States)

Tonkens, Ryan

2015-03-01

Recently, there has been a lot of philosophical work published on the morality of moral enhancement. One thing that tends to get overlooked in this literature is that there are many different potential methods of morally enhancing humans, and a blanket moral assessment of them may not be warranted. Here I focus on one mode of moral enhancement, namely, prenatal genetic moral enhancement, and offer a normative assessment of it. I argue that there is good reason to adopt a parent-centred perspective (as opposed to a social or state-centred perspective) towards the ethics of prenatal genetic moral enhancement, and, once we do so, that there is good reason to argue that prenatal genetic attempts at moral enhancement are morally problematic and ought not to be pursued. The main reasons for this have to do with the nature of moral enhancement research, and the idea that prospective parents are justified in not assuming that their children will be morally depraved. I leave it open as to whether other modes of morally enhancing humans fare better, morally speaking. Published by the BMJ Publishing Group Limited. For permission to use (where not already granted under a licence) please go to http://group.bmj.com/group/rights-licensing/permissions.

Prediction of Local Ultimate Strain and Toughness of Trabecular Bone Tissue by Raman Material Composition Analysis

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Roberto Carretta

2015-01-01

Full Text Available Clinical studies indicate that bone mineral density correlates with fracture risk at the population level but does not correlate with individual fracture risk well. Current research aims to better understand the failure mechanism of bone and to identify key determinants of bone quality, thus improving fracture risk prediction. To get a better understanding of bone strength, it is important to analyze tissue-level properties not influenced by macro- or microarchitectural factors. The aim of this pilot study was to identify whether and to what extent material properties are correlated with mechanical properties at the tissue level. The influence of macro- or microarchitectural factors was excluded by testing individual trabeculae. Previously reported data of mechanical parameters measured in single trabeculae under tension and bending and its compositional properties measured by Raman spectroscopy was evaluated. Linear and multivariate regressions show that bone matrix quality but not quantity was significantly and independently correlated with the tissue-level ultimate strain and postyield work (r=0.65–0.94. Principal component analysis extracted three independent components explaining 86% of the total variance, representing elastic, yield, and ultimate components according to the included mechanical parameters. Some matrix parameters were both included in the ultimate component, indicating that the variation in ultimate strain and postyield work could be largely explained by Raman-derived compositional parameters.

Ultimate capacity of piles penetrating in weak soil layers

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Al-Obaidi Ahmed

2018-01-01

Full Text Available A pile foundation is one of the most popular forms of deep foundations. They are routinely employed to transfer axial structure loads through the soft soil to stronger bearing strata. Piles generally used to increase the load carrying capacity of the foundation and reduce the settlement of the foundation. On the other hand, many cases in practice where piles pass through different layers of soil that contain weak layers located at different depths and extension, also some time cavities with a different shape, size, and depth are found. In this study, a total of 96 cases is considered and simulated in PLAXIS 2D program aiming to understand the influence of weak soil on the ultimate pile capacity. The piles embedded in the dense sand with a layer of weak soil at different extension and location. The cross section of the geometry used in this study was designed as an axisymmetric model with the 15-node element; the boundary condition recommended at least 5D in the horizontal direction, and (L+5D in the vertical direction where D and L are the diameter and length of pile, respectively. The soil is modeled as Mohr-Coulomb, with five input parameters and the behavior of pile material represented by the linear elastic model. The results of the above cases are compared with the results found in a pile embedded in dense soil without weak layers or cavities. The results indicated that the existence of weak soil layer within the surrounding soil around the pile decreases the ultimate capacity. Furthermore, it has been found that increase in the weak soil width (extension leads to reduction in the ultimate capacity of the pile. This phenomenon is applicable to all depth of weak soil. The influence of weak layer extension on the ultimate capacity is less when it is presentin the upper soil layers.

Understanding public (misunderstanding of tDCS for enhancement

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Laura Yenisa Cabrera

2015-04-01

Full Text Available In order to gain insight into the public’s perspective on using the minimally invasive technique transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS as an enhancement tool, we analyzed and compared online comments in key popular press articles from two different periods (pre-commercialization and post-commercialization. The main conclusion drawn from this exploratory investigation is that public perception regarding tDCS has shifted from misunderstanding to cautionary realism. This change in attitude can be explained as moving from a focus on an emergent technology to a focus on its applications, benefits, and risks as the technology becomes more grounded within the public domain. Future governance of tDCS should include the concerns and enthusiasms of the public.Keywords: cognitive enhancement, neuroethics, public understanding, transcranial direct current stimulation, brain stimulation, public policy.

Ultimate justification: Wittgenstein and medical ethics.

Science.gov (United States)

Hughes, J

1995-02-01

Decisions must be justified. In medical ethics various grounds are given to justify decisions, but ultimate justification seems illusory and little considered. The philosopher Wittgenstein discusses the problem of ultimate justification in the context of general philosophy. His comments, nevertheless, are pertinent to ethics. From a discussion of Wittgensteinian notions, such as 'bedrock', the idea that 'ultimate' justification is grounded in human nature as such is derived. This discussion is relevant to medical ethics in at least five ways: it shows generally what type of certainty there is in practical ethics; it seems to imply some objective foundation to our ethical judgements; it squares with our experience of making ethical decisions; it shows something of the nature of moral arguments; and, finally, it has implications for teaching medicine and ethics.

Transition to the Ultimate Regime in Two-Dimensional Rayleigh-Bénard Convection

Science.gov (United States)

Zhu, Xiaojue; Mathai, Varghese; Stevens, Richard J. A. M.; Verzicco, Roberto; Lohse, Detlef

2018-04-01

The possible transition to the so-called ultimate regime, wherein both the bulk and the boundary layers are turbulent, has been an outstanding issue in thermal convection, since the seminal work by Kraichnan [Phys. Fluids 5, 1374 (1962), 10.1063/1.1706533]. Yet, when this transition takes place and how the local flow induces it is not fully understood. Here, by performing two-dimensional simulations of Rayleigh-Bénard turbulence covering six decades in Rayleigh number Ra up to 1 014 for Prandtl number Pr =1 , for the first time in numerical simulations we find the transition to the ultimate regime, namely, at Ra*=1013 . We reveal how the emission of thermal plumes enhances the global heat transport, leading to a steeper increase of the Nusselt number than the classical Malkus scaling Nu ˜Ra1 /3 [Proc. R. Soc. A 225, 196 (1954), 10.1098/rspa.1954.0197]. Beyond the transition, the mean velocity profiles are logarithmic throughout, indicating turbulent boundary layers. In contrast, the temperature profiles are only locally logarithmic, namely, within the regions where plumes are emitted, and where the local Nusselt number has an effective scaling Nu ˜Ra0.38 , corresponding to the effective scaling in the ultimate regime.

Ultimate - a new generation of gasoline and diesel fuels; Ultimate - eine neue Generation von Otto- und Dieselkraftstoffen

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Strempel, G. [Aral Forschung/Global Fuels Technology, Bochum (Germany); Beckwith, P. [BP Fuels Management Group, Pangbourne (United Kingdom); Froehling, J. [Aral Forschung, Bochum (Germany). Labor/Analytik; Baron, U. [Aral Forschung, Bochum (Germany). Motor- und Fahrzeuglaboratorium; Sauermann, P.; Balfanz, U. [Aral Forschung, Bochum (Germany). Produktentwicklung; Doermer, W. [Aral Forschung, Bochum (Germany). Produktqualitaet

2005-06-01

With the launch of Ultimate 100 gasoline and Ultimate Diesel, motorists in Germany now have the opportunity to choose new advanced performance fuels designed to get the very best from their engines. This article gives details of the technical development behind these fuels, their wide range of benefits, and how it is possible to manufacture fuels which meet the considerable technical challenge of achieving both more performance and less pollution. (orig.)

Markov Processes: Exploring the Use of Dynamic Visualizations to Enhance Student Understanding

Science.gov (United States)

Pfannkuch, Maxine; Budgett, Stephanie

2016-01-01

Finding ways to enhance introductory students' understanding of probability ideas and theory is a goal of many first-year probability courses. In this article, we explore the potential of a prototype tool for Markov processes using dynamic visualizations to develop in students a deeper understanding of the equilibrium and hitting times…

Preparation and Support of Patients through the Transplant Process: Understanding the Recipients' Perspectives

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Oliver Mauthner

2012-01-01

Full Text Available Preparation for heart transplant commonly includes booklets, instructional videos, personalized teaching sessions, and mentorship. This paper explores heart transplant recipients’ thoughts on their preparation and support through the transplant process. Twenty-five interviews were audio-/videotaped capturing voice and body language and transcribed verbatim. Coding addressed language, bodily gesture, volume, and tone in keeping with our visual methodology. Recipients reported that only someone who had a transplant truly understands the experience. As participants face illness and life-altering experiences, maintaining a positive attitude and hope is essential to coping well. Healthcare professionals provide ongoing care and reassurance about recipients’ medical status. Mentors, family members, and close friends play vital roles in supporting recipients. Participants reported that only heart transplant recipients understood the experience, the hope, and ultimately the suffering associated with living with another persons’ heart. Attention needs to be focused not solely on the use of teaching modalities, but also on the development of innovative support networks. This will promote patient and caregiver engagement in self-management. Enhancing clinicians’ knowledge of the existential aspects of transplantation will provide them with a nuanced understanding of the patients’ experience, which will ultimately enhance their ability to better prepare and support patients and their caregivers.

THE ULTIMATE STATE CONCEPT APPLIED TO TUNNEL SUPPORT

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Mladen Hudec

2000-12-01

Full Text Available The most questionable are the values of pressures between rock and support resulting from common deformations on the contact area between rock and support. Therefore the modelling and design of the tunnel support is not reliable, if it is based on active rock pressure resulting from this common deformations. The inversion of the design procedure is proposed. Instead of the active extreme pressure of the rock on support, the influence of ultimate reaction of the support on the rock has to be analysed. This procedure can be performed using the ultimate load principle, as proposed by Eurocodc 7 (Geotechnies. Normally, the rock has the tendency to increase the common conver¬gence until the support reaches its ultimate state. So, loading of profile boundary with the ultimate possible reaction of the support is very plausible. The reactive support pressures have to be probable and itself in equilibrium. The ultimate reactive load has to be reduced by Euro-code safety factor for structural elements and applied on the rock with given properties, or alternatively (as proposed by Eurocode 7 the soil or rock properties have to be diminished and calculated with full ultimate support pressures. If the rock with given (or proposed pro¬perties and loaded with ultimate reactive pressures resulting from supposed support, satisfy its failure criterion, then is the compound system support-rock verificatcd. By this procedure, the number of relevant material properties is reduce to the primary stress ratio and the constants defining the failure criterion. The verification can be performed by any of numerical methods, but we prefer here used boundary elements method (the paper is published in Croatian.

Ultimate disposal of radioactive wastes

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Roethemeyer, H.

1991-01-01

The activities developed by the Federal Institution of Physical Engineering PTB and by the Federal Office for Radiation Protection (BfS) concentrated, among others, on work to implement ultimate storage facilities for radioactive wastes. The book illuminates this development from site designation to the preliminary evaluation of the Gorleben salt dome, to the preparation of planning documents proving that the Konrad ore mine is suitable for a repository. The paper shows the legal provisions involved; research and development tasks; collection of radioactive wastes ready for ultimate disposal; safety analysis in the commissioning and post-operational stages, and product control. The historical development of waste management in the Federal Republic of Germany and international cooperation in this area are outlined. (DG) [de

Promoter or enhancer, what's the difference? Deconstruction of established distinctions and presentation of a unifying model

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Andersson, Robin

2015-01-01

Gene transcription is strictly controlled by the interplay of regulatory events at gene promoters and gene-distal regulatory elements called enhancers. Despite extensive studies of enhancers, we still have a very limited understanding of their mechanisms of action and their restricted spatio......-temporal activities. A better understanding would ultimately lead to fundamental insights into the control of gene transcription and the action of regulatory genetic variants involved in disease. Here, I review and discuss pros and cons of state-of-the-art genomics methods to localize and infer the activity...... of enhancers. Among the different approaches, profiling of enhancer RNAs yields the highest specificity and may be superior in detecting in vivo activity. I discuss their apparent similarities to promoters, which challenge the established view of enhancers and promoters as distinct entities, and present...

Enhancing Student’s Understanding in Entrepreneurship Through Business Plan Simulation

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Guzairy M.

2018-01-01

Full Text Available Business Plan is an important document for entrepreneurs to guide them managing their business. Business Plan also assist the entrepreneur to strategies their business and manage future growth. That is why Malaysian government has foster all Higher Education Provider to set entrepreneurship education as compulsory course. One of the entrepreneurship education learning outcome is the student can write effective business plan. This study focused on enhancing student’s understanding in entrepreneurship through business plan simulation. This study also considers which of the factor that most facilitate the business simulation that help the student to prepare effective business plan. The methodology of this study using quantitative approach with pre-and post-research design. 114 students take part as respondent in the business simulation and answer quantitative survey pre-question and post question. The crucial findings of this study are student characteristic factor after playing the simulation contribute much on facilitate business plan learning. The result has shown that the business plan simulation can enhance undergraduate student in understanding entrepreneurship by preparing effective business plan before opening new startup.

Ultimate Drivers and Proximate Correlates of Polyandry in Predatory Mites.

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Peter Schausberger

Full Text Available Polyandry is more widespread than anticipated from Bateman's principle but its ultimate (evolutionary causes and proximate (mechanistic correlates are more difficult to pinpoint than those of polygyny. Here, we combined mating experiments, quantification of reproductive traits and microsatellite genotyping to determine the fitness implications of polyandry in two predatory mite species, where males are highly polygynous (up to 45 fertilized females during life, whereas females range from monandry to various polyandry levels. The medium-level polyandrous (up to eight male mates possible Neoseiulus californicus received clear direct and indirect benefits: multiply mated females produced more offspring with higher survival chances over longer times than singly mated females. In contrast, singly and multiply mated females of the low-level polyandrous (commonly two male mates at maximum Phytoseiulus persimilis produced similar numbers of offspring having similar survival chances. In both species, multiple mating resulted in mixed offspring paternities, opening the chance for indirect fitness benefits such as enhanced genetic compatibility, complementarity and/or variability. However, the female re-mating likelihood and the paternity chance of non-first male mates were lower in P. persimilis than in N. californicus. Regarding proximate factors, in both species first mating duration and female re-mating likelihood were negatively correlated. Based on occasional fertilization failure of first male mates in P. persimilis, and mixed offspring paternities in both species, we argue that fertilization assurance and the chance to gain indirect fitness benefits are the ultimate drivers of polyandry in P. persimilis, whereas those of N. californicus are higher offspring numbers coupled with enhanced offspring viability and possibly other indirect fitness benefits. Overall, the adaptive significance and proximate events well reflected the polyandry levels. Our

Ultimate Drivers and Proximate Correlates of Polyandry in Predatory Mites.

Science.gov (United States)

Schausberger, Peter; Patiño-Ruiz, J David; Osakabe, Masahiro; Murata, Yasumasa; Sugimoto, Naoya; Uesugi, Ryuji; Walzer, Andreas

2016-01-01

Polyandry is more widespread than anticipated from Bateman's principle but its ultimate (evolutionary) causes and proximate (mechanistic) correlates are more difficult to pinpoint than those of polygyny. Here, we combined mating experiments, quantification of reproductive traits and microsatellite genotyping to determine the fitness implications of polyandry in two predatory mite species, where males are highly polygynous (up to 45 fertilized females during life), whereas females range from monandry to various polyandry levels. The medium-level polyandrous (up to eight male mates possible) Neoseiulus californicus received clear direct and indirect benefits: multiply mated females produced more offspring with higher survival chances over longer times than singly mated females. In contrast, singly and multiply mated females of the low-level polyandrous (commonly two male mates at maximum) Phytoseiulus persimilis produced similar numbers of offspring having similar survival chances. In both species, multiple mating resulted in mixed offspring paternities, opening the chance for indirect fitness benefits such as enhanced genetic compatibility, complementarity and/or variability. However, the female re-mating likelihood and the paternity chance of non-first male mates were lower in P. persimilis than in N. californicus. Regarding proximate factors, in both species first mating duration and female re-mating likelihood were negatively correlated. Based on occasional fertilization failure of first male mates in P. persimilis, and mixed offspring paternities in both species, we argue that fertilization assurance and the chance to gain indirect fitness benefits are the ultimate drivers of polyandry in P. persimilis, whereas those of N. californicus are higher offspring numbers coupled with enhanced offspring viability and possibly other indirect fitness benefits. Overall, the adaptive significance and proximate events well reflected the polyandry levels. Our study provides a

Ultimate fate of constrained voters

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Vazquez, F; Redner, S

2004-01-01

We examine the ultimate fate of individual opinions in a socially interacting population of leftists, centrists and rightists. In an elemental interaction between agents, a centrist and a leftist can both become centrists or both become leftists with equal rates (and similarly for a centrist and a rightist). However leftists and rightists do not interact. This interaction step between pairs of agents is applied repeatedly until the system can no longer evolve. In the mean-field limit, we determine the exact probability that the system reaches consensus (either leftist, rightist or centrist) or a frozen mixture of leftists and rightists as a function of the initial composition of the population. We also determine the mean time until the final state is reached. Some implications of our results for the ultimate fate in a limit of the Axelrod model are discussed

Ultimate fate of constrained voters

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Vazquez, F [Department of Physics, Center for BioDynamics, Boston University, Boston, MA 02215 (United States); Redner, S [Department of Physics, Center for Polymer Studies, Boston University, Boston, MA 02215 (United States)

2004-09-03

We examine the ultimate fate of individual opinions in a socially interacting population of leftists, centrists and rightists. In an elemental interaction between agents, a centrist and a leftist can both become centrists or both become leftists with equal rates (and similarly for a centrist and a rightist). However leftists and rightists do not interact. This interaction step between pairs of agents is applied repeatedly until the system can no longer evolve. In the mean-field limit, we determine the exact probability that the system reaches consensus (either leftist, rightist or centrist) or a frozen mixture of leftists and rightists as a function of the initial composition of the population. We also determine the mean time until the final state is reached. Some implications of our results for the ultimate fate in a limit of the Axelrod model are discussed.

Ultimate Tensile Strength as a Function of Test Rate for Various Ceramic Matrix Composites at Elevated Temperatures

Science.gov (United States)

Choi, Sung R.; Bansal, Narottam P.; Gyekenyesi, John P.

2002-01-01

Ultimate tensile strength of five different continuous fiber-reinforced ceramic composites, including SiC/BSAS (2D 2 types), SiC/MAS-5 (2D), SiC/SiC (2D enhanced), and C/SiC(2D) was determined as a function of test rate at I 100 to 1200 'C in air. All five composite materials exhibited a significant dependency of ultimate strength on test rate such that the ultimate strength decreased with decreasing test rate, similar to the behavior observed in many advanced monolithic ceramics at elevated temperatures. The application of the preloading technique as well as the prediction of life from one loading configuration (constant stress rate) to another (constant stress loading) for SiC/BSAS suggested that the overall macroscopic failure mechanism of the composites would be the one governed by a power-law type of damage evolution/accumulation, analogous to slow crack growth commonly observed in advanced monolithic ceramics.

The insomnia and suicide link: toward an enhanced understanding of this relationship.

Science.gov (United States)

Woznica, Andrea A; Carney, Colleen E; Kuo, Janice R; Moss, Taryn G

2015-08-01

Despite current knowledge of risk factors for suicidal behaviors, suicide remains a leading cause of death worldwide. This suggests a strong need to identify and understand additional risk factors. A number of recent studies have identified insomnia as a modifiable, independent suicide risk factor. Although a link between insomnia and suicide is emerging, further research is required in order to understand the nature of the relationship. Accordingly, this paper presents an overview of the insomnia and suicide literature to-date, and a discussion of two major limitations within this literature that hinder its progress. First, the classification and assessment of insomnia and suicide-related thoughts and behaviors are inconsistent across studies; and second, there is a lack of empirical studies focused on investigating mediators of the insomnia and suicide relationship. Suggestions are offered within this paper for future studies to address these issues and facilitate new developments in this important research area. Following these suggested lines of research will ultimately inform whether insomnia treatments, particularly cognitive-behavioral therapy for insomnia, can be used to target suicide risk prevention and intervention. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Applied information system-based in enhancing students' understanding towards higher order thinking (HOTS)

Science.gov (United States)

Hua, Ang Kean; Ping, Owi Wei

2017-05-01

The application of information and communications technology (ICT) had become more important in our daily life, especially in educational field. Teachers are encouraged to use information system-based in teaching Mathematical courses. Higher Order Thinking Skills (HOTS) approach is unable to explain using chalk and talk methods. It needs students to analyze, evaluate, and create by their own natural abilities. The aim of this research study was to evaluate the effectiveness of the application information system-based in enhance the students understanding about HOTS question. Mixed-methods or quantitative and qualitative approach was applied in collecting data, which involve only the standard five students and the teachers in Sabak Bernam, Selangor. Pra-postests was held before and after using information system-based in teaching to evaluate the students' understanding. The result from post-test indicates significant improvement which proves that the use of information system based able to enhance students' understanding about HOTS question and solve it. There were several factor influenced the students such as students' attitude, teachers attraction, school facilities, and computer approach. Teachers play an important role in attracting students to learn. Therefore, the school should provide a conducive learning environment and good facilities for students to learn so that they are able to access more information and always exposed to new knowledge. As conclusion, information system-based are able to enhance students understanding the need of HOTS questions and solve it.

Ultimate Lateral Capacity of Rigid Pile in c- φ Soil

Science.gov (United States)

Zhang, Wei-min

2018-03-01

To date no analytical solution of the pile ultimate lateral capacity for the general c- φ soil has been obtained. In the present study, a new dimensionless embedded ratio was proposed and the analytical solutions of ultimate lateral capacity and rotation center of rigid pile in c- φ soils were obtained. The results showed that both the dimensionless ultimate lateral capacity and dimensionless rotation center were the univariate functions of the embedded ratio. Also, the ultimate lateral capacity in the c- φ soil was the combination of the ultimate lateral capacity ( f c ) in the clay, and the ultimate lateral capacity ( f φ ) in the sand. Therefore, the Broms chart for clay, solution for clay ( φ=0) put forward by Poulos and Davis, solution for sand ( c=0) obtained by Petrasovits and Awad, and Kondner's ultimate bending moment were all proven to be the special cases of the general solution in the present study. A comparison of the field and laboratory tests in 93 cases showed that the average ratios of the theoretical values to the experimental value ranged from 0.85 to 1.15. Also, the theoretical values displayed a good agreement with the test values.

Ultimate Educational Aims, Overridingness, and Personal Well-Being

Science.gov (United States)

Haji, Ishtiyaque; Cuypers, Stefaan E.

2011-01-01

Discussion regarding education's aims, especially its ultimate aims, is a key topic in the philosophy of education. These aims or values play a pivotal role in regulating and structuring moral and other types of normative education. We outline two plausible strategies to identify and justify education's ultimate aims. The first associates these…

Enhancing Student’s Understanding in Entrepreneurship Through Business Plan Simulation

OpenAIRE

Guzairy M.; Mohamad N.; Yunus A.R.

2018-01-01

Business Plan is an important document for entrepreneurs to guide them managing their business. Business Plan also assist the entrepreneur to strategies their business and manage future growth. That is why Malaysian government has foster all Higher Education Provider to set entrepreneurship education as compulsory course. One of the entrepreneurship education learning outcome is the student can write effective business plan. This study focused on enhancing student’s understanding in entrepren...

Experimental investigation of ultimate loads

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Petersen, S M; Larsen, G C; Antoniou, I; Lind, S O; Courtney, M [Risoe National Lab., Wind Energy and Atmospheric Physics, Roskilde (Denmark)

1999-03-01

Verification of the structural integrity of a wind turbine involves analysis of fatigue loading as well as ultimate loading. With the trend of persistently growing turbines, the ultimate loading seems to become relatively more important. For wind turbines designed according to the wind conditions prescribed in the IEC-61400 code, the ultimate load is often identified as the leading load parameter. Exemplified by the use of an extensive measurement campaign a procedure for evaluation of the extreme flap-wise bending moments, occurring during normal operating of a wind turbine, is presented. The structural measurements are made on a NEG Micon 650 kW wind turbine erected at a complex high wind site in Oak Creek, California. The turbine is located on the top of a ridge. The prevailing wind direction is perpendicular to the ridge, and the annual mean wind speed is 9.5 m/s. The associated wind field measurement, are taken from two instrumented masts erected less than one rotor diameter in front of the turbine in direction of the prevailing wind direction. Both masts are instrumented at different heights in order to gain insight of the 3D-wind speed structure over the entire rotor plane. Extreme distributions, associated with a recurrence period of 10 minutes, conditioned on the mean wind speed and the turbulence intensity are derived. Combined with the wind climate model proposed in the IEC standard, these distributions are used to predict extreme distributions with recurrence periods equal to one and fifty years, respectively. The synthesis of the conditioned PDF`s and the wind climate model is performed by means of Monte Carlo simulation. (au)

Enhancing our Understanding of Snowfall Modes with Ground-Based Observations

Science.gov (United States)

Pettersen, C.; Kulie, M.; Petersen, W. A.; Bliven, L. F.; Wood, N.

2016-12-01

Snowfall can be broadly categorized into deep and shallow events based on the vertical distribution of the precipitating ice. Remotely sensed data refine these precipitation categories and aid in discerning the underlying macro- and microphysical mechanisms. The unique patterns in the remotely sensed instruments observations can potentially connect distinct modes of snowfall to specific processes. Though satellites can observe and recognize these patterns in snowfall, these measurements are limited - particularly in cases of shallow and light precipitation, as the snow may be too close to the surface or below the detection limits of the instrumentation. By enhancing satellite measurements with ground-based instrumentation, whether with limited-term field campaigns or long-term strategic sites, we can further our understanding and assumptions about different snowfall modes and how they are measured from spaceborne instruments. Presented are three years of data from a ground-based instrument suite consisting of a MicroRain Radar (MRR; optimized for snow events) and a Precipitation Imaging Package (PIP). These instruments are located at the Marquette, Michigan National Weather Service Weather Forecast Office to: a) use coincident meteorological measurements and observations to enhance our understanding of the thermodynamic drivers and b) showcase these instruments in an operational setting to enhance forecasts of shallow snow events. Three winters of MRR and PIP measurements are partitioned, based on meteorological surface observations, into two-dimensional histograms of reflectivity and particle size distribution data. These statistics improve our interpretation of deep versus shallow precipitation. Additionally, these statistical techniques are applied to similar datasets from Global Precipitation Measurement field campaigns for further insight into cloud and precipitation macro- and microphysical processes.

Understanding the Enhanced Catalytic Performance of Ultrafine Transition Metal Nanoparticles–Graphene Composites

KAUST Repository

Liu, Xin

2015-08-11

Catalysis, as the key to minimize the energy requirement and environmental impact of today\\'s chemical industry, plays a vital role in many fields directly related to our daily life and economy, including energy generation, environment control, manufacture of chemicals, medicine synthesis, etc. Rational design and fabrication of highly efficient catalysts have become the ultimate goal of today\\'s catalysis research. For the purpose of handling and product separation, heterogeneous catalysts are highly preferred for industrial applications and a large part of which are the composites of transition metal nanoparticles (TMNPs). With the fast development of nanoscience and nanotechnology and assisted with theoretical investigations, basic understanding on tailoring the electronic structure of these nanocomposites has been gained, mainly by precise control of the composition, morphology, interfacial structure and electronic states. With the rise of graphene, chemical routes to prepare graphene were developed and various graphene-based composites were fabricated. Transition metal nanoparticles-reduced graphene oxide (TMNPs–rGO) composites have attracted considerable attention, because of their intriguing catalytic performance which have been extensively explored for energy- and environment-related applications to date. This review summarizes our recent experimental and theoretical efforts on understanding the superior catalytic performance of subnanosized TMNPs–rGO composites.

Ultimate internal pressure capacity of concrete containment structures

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Krishnaswamy, C.N.; Namperumal, R.; Al-Dabbagh, A.

1983-01-01

Lesson learned from the accident at Three-Mile Island nuclear plant has necessitated the computation of the ultimate internal pressure capacity of containment structures as a licensing requirement in the U.S. In general, a containment structure is designed to be essentially elastic under design accident pressure. However, as the containment pressure builds up beyond the design value due to a more severe postulated accident, the containment response turns nonlinear as it sequentially passes through cracking of concrete, yielding of linear plate, yielding of rebar, and yielding of post-tensioning tendon (if the containment concrete is prestressed). This paper reports on the determination of the ultimate internal pressure capacity and nonlinear behavior of typical reinforced and prestressed concrete BWR containments. The probable modes of failure, the criteria for ultimate pressure capacity, and the most critical sections are described. Simple equations to hand-calculate the ultimate pressure capacity and the nonlinear behavior at membrane sections of the containment shell are presented. A nonlinear finite element analysis performed to determine the nonlinear behavior of the entire shell including nonmembrane sections is briefly discribed. The analysis model consisted of laminated axisymmetric shell finite elements with nonlinear stress-strain properties for each material. Results presented for typical BWR concrete containments include nonlinear response plots of internal pressure versus containment deflection and strains in the liner, rebar, and post-tensioning tendons at the most stressed section in the shell. Leak-tightness of the containment liner and the effect of thermal loads on the ultimate capacity are discussed. (orig.)

Ultimate load capacity assessment of reinforced concrete shell structures

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Gupta, Amita; Singh, R.K.; Kushwaha, H.S.; Mahajan, S.C.; Kakodkar, A.

1993-01-01

The objective of this study is to develop capability for prediction of ultimate load capacity of reinforced concrete shell structures. The present finite element code ULCA (Ultimate Load Capacity Assessment) adopts a degenerate concept of formulating general isoparametric shell element with a layered approach in the thickness direction. Different failure modes such as crushing, tensile cracking and reinforcement yielding are recognised for various problems. The structure fails by crushing of concrete when the concrete strain/stress reaches the ultimate stress or strain of concrete. Material nonlinearities as a result of tension cracking, tension stiffening between reinforcement and concrete in cracked region and yielding of reinforcement are considered along with geometric nonlinearity. Thus with this code it is possible to predict the pressure at which the first cracking, first through thickness cracking, first yielding of reinforcement occurs. After validating the code with few bench mark problems for different failure modes a reinforced concrete nuclear containment is analysed for its ultimate capacity and the results are matched with the published results. Further the ultimate load capacity of outer containment wall of Narora Atomic Power Station is predicted. It is observed that containment fails in membrane region and has a sufficient margin against design pressure. (author). 9 refs., 56 figs., 3 tabs., 1 appendix with 4 tabs

Direct ultimate disposal - state of investigations and prospects

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Gasterstaedt, N.

1991-01-01

Based on a decision adopted by the Prime Ministers on 25/10/90, the principles governing preventive waste management of nuclear power plants are reviewed. Increasing importance is attached to the direct ultimate disposal alternative. The legal and political framework, the technology involved, the state of developments, future activities under the R and D programme as well as a cost estimate of direct ultimate disposal are presented. (orig.) [de

Exploring Ultimate Water Capillary Evaporation in Nanoscale Conduits.

Science.gov (United States)

Li, Yinxiao; Alibakhshi, Mohammad Amin; Zhao, Yihong; Duan, Chuanhua

2017-08-09

Capillary evaporation in nanoscale conduits is an efficient heat/mass transfer strategy that has been widely utilized by both nature and mankind. Despite its broad impact, the ultimate transport limits of capillary evaporation in nanoscale conduits, governed by the evaporation/condensation kinetics at the liquid-vapor interface, have remained poorly understood. Here we report experimental study of the kinetic limits of water capillary evaporation in two dimensional nanochannels using a novel hybrid channel design. Our results show that the kinetic-limited evaporation fluxes break down the limits predicated by the classical Hertz-Knudsen equation by an order of magnitude, reaching values up to 37.5 mm/s with corresponding heat fluxes up to 8500 W/cm 2 . The measured evaporation flux increases with decreasing channel height and relative humidity but decreases as the channel temperature decreases. Our findings have implications for further understanding evaporation at the nanoscale and developing capillary evaporation-based technologies for both energy- and bio-related applications.

Sensitivity analysis on ultimate strength of aluminium stiffened panels

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Rigo, P.; Sarghiuta, R.; Estefen, S.

2003-01-01

This paper presents the results of an extensive sensitivity analysis carried out by the Committee III.1 "Ultimate Strength" of ISSC?2003 in the framework of a benchmark on the ultimate strength of aluminium stiffened panels. Previously, different benchmarks were presented by ISSC committees on ul...

Ultimate strength performance of tankers associated with industry corrosion addition practices

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Kim Do Kyun

2014-09-01

Full Text Available In the ship and offshore structure design, age-related problems such as corrosion damage, local denting, and fatigue damage are important factors to be considered in building a reliable structure as they have a significant influence on the residual structural capacity. In shipping, corrosion addition methods are widely adopted in structural design to prevent structural capacity degradation. The present study focuses on the historical trend of corrosion addition rules for ship structural design and investigates their effects on the ultimate strength performance such as hull girder and stiffened panel of double hull oil tankers. Three types of rules based on corrosion addition models, namely historic corrosion rules (pre-CSR, Common Structural Rules (CSR, and harmonised Common Structural Rules (CSRH are considered and compared with two other corrosion models namely UGS model, suggested by the Union of Greek Shipowners (UGS, and Time-Dependent Corrosion Wastage Model (TDCWM. To identify the general trend in the effects of corrosion damage on the ultimate longitudinal strength performance, the corrosion addition rules are applied to four representative sizes of double hull oil tankers namely Panamax, Aframax, Suezmax, and VLCC. The results are helpful in understanding the trend of corrosion additions for tanker structures

Ultimate strength performance of tankers associated with industry corrosion addition practices

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Do Kyun Kim

2014-09-01

Full Text Available In the ship and offshore structure design, age-related problems such as corrosion damage, local denting, and fatigue damage are important factors to be considered in building a reliable structure as they have a significant influence on the residual structural capacity. In shipping, corrosion addition methods are widely adopted in structural design to prevent structural capacity degradation. The present study focuses on the historical trend of corrosion addition rules for ship structural design and investigates their effects on the ultimate strength performance such as hull girder and stiffened panel of double hull oil tankers. Three types of rules based on corrosion addition models, namely historic corrosion rules (pre-CSR, Common Structural Rules (CSR, and harmonised Common Structural Rules (CSRH are considered and compared with two other corrosion models namely UGS model, suggested by the Union of Greek Shipowners (UGS, and Time-Dependent Corrosion Wastage Model (TDCWM. To identify the general trend in the effects of corrosion damage on the ultimate longitudinal strength performance, the corrosion addition rules are applied to four representative sizes of double hull oil tankers namely Panamax, Aframax, Suezmax, and VLCC. The results are helpful in understanding the trend of corrosion additions for tanker structures.

Computer-aided software understanding systems to enhance confidence of scientific codes

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Sheng, G.; Oeren, T.I.

1991-01-01

A unique characteristic of nuclear waste disposal is the very long time span over which the combined engineered and natural containment system must remain effective: hundreds of thousands of years. Since there is no precedent in human history for such an endeavour, simulation with the use of computers is the only means we have of forecasting possible future outcomes quantitatively. The need for reliable models and software to make such forecasts so far into the future is obvious. One of the critical elements necessary to ensure reliability is the degree of reviewability of the computer program. Among others, there are two very important reasons for this. Firstly, if there is to be any chance at all of validating the conceptual models as implemented by the computer code, peer reviewers must be able to see and understand what the program is doing. It is all but impossible to achieve this understanding by just looking at the code due to possible unfamiliarity with the language and often due as well to the length and complexity of the code. Secondly, a thorough understanding of the code is also necessary to carry out code maintenance activities which include among others, error detection, error correction and code modification for purposes of enhancing its performance, functionality or to adapt it to a changed environment. The emerging concepts of computer-aided software understanding and reverse engineering can answer precisely these needs. This paper will discuss the role they can play in enhancing the confidence one has on computer codes and several examples will be provided. Finally a brief discussion of combining state-of-art forward engineering systems with reverse engineering systems will show how powerfully they can contribute to the overall quality assurance of a computer program. (13 refs., 7 figs.)

Health care quality, access, cost, workforce, and surgical education: the ultimate perfect storm.

Science.gov (United States)

Schwartz, Marshall Z

2012-01-01

The discussions on health care reform over the past two years have focused on cost containment while trying to maintain quality of care. Focusing on just cost and quality unfortunately does not address other very important factors that impact on our health care delivery system. Availability of a well-trained workforce, maintaining the sophisticated medical/surgical education system, and ultimately access to quality care by the public are critical to maintaining and enhancing our health care delivery system. Unfortunately, all five of these components are under at risk. Thus, we have evolving the ultimate perfect storm affecting our health care delivery system. Although not ideal and given the uniqueness of our population and their expectations, our current delivery system is excellent compared to other countries. However, the cost of our current system is rising at an alarming rate. Currently, health care consumes 17% of our gross domestic product. If our system is not revised this will continue to rise and by 2025 it will consume 48%. The dilemma, given the current state of our overall economy and rising debt, is how to address this major problem. Unfortunately, the Affordable Care Act, which is now law, does not address most of the issues and the cost was initially grossly under estimated. Furthermore, the law does not address the issues of workforce, maintaining our medical education system or ultimately, access. A major revision of our system will be necessary to truly create a system that protects and enhances all five of the components of our health care delivery system. To effectively accomplish this will require addressing those issues that lead to wasteful spending and diversion of our health care dollars to profit instead of care. Improved and efficient delivery systems that reduce complications, reduction of duplication of tertiary and quaternary programs or services within the same markets (i.e. regionalization of care), health insurance reform, and

The ultimate disposition of depleted uranium

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

1990-12-01

Significant amounts of the depleted uranium (DU) created by past uranium enrichment activities have been sold, disposed of commercially, or utilized by defense programs. In recent years, however, the demand for DU has become quite small compared to quantities available, and within the US Department of Energy (DOE) there is concern for any risks and/or cost liabilities that might be associated with the ever-growing inventory of this material. As a result, Martin Marietta Energy Systems, Inc. (Energy Systems), was asked to review options and to develop a comprehensive plan for inventory management and the ultimate disposition of DU accumulated at the gaseous diffusion plants (GDPs). An Energy Systems task team, under the chairmanship of T. R. Lemons, was formed in late 1989 to provide advice and guidance for this task. This report reviews options and recommends actions and objectives in the management of working inventories of partially depleted feed (PDF) materials and for the ultimate disposition of fully depleted uranium (FDU). Actions that should be considered are as follows. (1) Inspect UF{sub 6} cylinders on a semiannual basis. (2) Upgrade cylinder maintenance and storage yards. (3) Convert FDU to U{sub 3}O{sub 8} for long-term storage or disposal. This will include provisions for partial recovery of costs to offset those associated with DU inventory management and the ultimate disposal of FDU. Another recommendation is to drop the term tails'' in favor of depleted uranium'' or DU'' because the tails'' label implies that it is waste.'' 13 refs.

76 FR 77115 - Amendments to the Export Administration Regulations: Facilitating Enhanced Public Understanding...

Science.gov (United States)

2011-12-12

..., and 774 [Docket No. 110627356-1475-01] RIN 0694-AF29 Amendments to the Export Administration Regulations: Facilitating Enhanced Public Understanding of the Provisions That Implement the Comprehensive U.S... rule, the Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS) amends the Export Administration Regulations (EAR) by...

Towards the understanding of microbial metabolism in relation to microbial enhanced oil recovery

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Halim, Amalia Yunita; Nielsen, Sidsel Marie; Nielsen, Kristian Fog

2017-01-01

In this study, Bacillus licheniformis 421 was used as a model organism to understand the effects of microbial cell growth and metabolite production under anaerobic conditions in relation to microbial enhanced oil recovery. The bacterium was able to grow anaerobically on different carbon compounds...

A Worksheet to Enhance Students’ Conceptual Understanding in Vector Components

Science.gov (United States)

Wutchana, Umporn; Emarat, Narumon

2017-09-01

With and without physical context, we explored 59 undergraduate students’conceptual and procedural understanding of vector components using both open ended problems and multiple choice items designed based on research instruments used in physics education research. The results showed that a number of students produce errors and revealed alternative conceptions especially when asked to draw graphical form of vector components. It indicated that most of them did not develop a strong foundation of understanding in vector components and could not apply those concepts to such problems with physical context. Based on the findings, we designed a worksheet to enhance the students’ conceptual understanding in vector components. The worksheet is composed of three parts which help students to construct their own understanding of definition, graphical form, and magnitude of vector components. To validate the worksheet, focus group discussions of 3 and 10 graduate students (science in-service teachers) had been conducted. The modified worksheet was then distributed to 41 grade 9 students in a science class. The students spent approximately 50 minutes to complete the worksheet. They sketched and measured vectors and its components and compared with the trigonometry ratio to condense the concepts of vector components. After completing the worksheet, their conceptual model had been verified. 83% of them constructed the correct model of vector components.

Assessment and characterization of radioactive waste for ultimate storage

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Brennecke, P.; Warnecke, E.

1986-01-01

The waste specifications determined from site safety analyses define the requirements to be met by waste forms for ultimate storage. Product quality control is the process step ensuring compliance with the conditions to be met for ultimate storage. For this purpose, radionuclide inventory, fixation method, container type, waste form and quantity, and type of waste are the most significant items on the checking list. (DG) [de

7 CFR 4280.21 - Eligible REDG Ultimate Recipients and Projects.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-01-01

... care providers; (5) Projects that utilize Advanced Telecommunications or computer networks to... 7 Agriculture 15 2010-01-01 2010-01-01 false Eligible REDG Ultimate Recipients and Projects. 4280... Economic Development Loan and Grant Programs § 4280.21 Eligible REDG Ultimate Recipients and Projects. The...

Voices of Experience: Understanding and Enhancing Successful Conflict Management by Community College Presidents

Science.gov (United States)

Zanjani, Mellissia M.

2012-01-01

The purpose of this research study was to enhance understanding of successful conflict management by community college Presidents through highlighting and describing conflict experiences with the faculty union or the board of trustees in a community college context. The following questions guided the research: (a) How do community college…

Influence of initial imperfections on ultimate strength of spherical shells

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Chang-Li Yu

2017-09-01

Full Text Available Comprehensive consideration regarding influence mechanisms of initial imperfections on ultimate strength of spherical shells is taken to satisfy requirement of deep-sea structural design. The feasibility of innovative numerical procedure that combines welding simulation and non-linear buckling analysis is verified by a good agreement to experimental and theoretical results. Spherical shells with a series of wall thicknesses to radius ratios are studied. Residual stress and deformations from welding process are investigated separately. Variant influence mechanisms are discovered. Residual stress is demonstrated to be influential to stress field and buckling behavior but not to the ultimate strength. Deformations are proved to have a significant impact on ultimate strength. When central angles are less than critical value, concave magnitudes reduce ultimate strengths linearly. However, deformations with central angles above critical value are of much greater harm. Less imperfection susceptibility is found in spherical shells with larger wall thicknesses to radius ratios.

Enhancing the Empathic Connection: Using Action Methods to Understand Conflicts in End-of-Life Care

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Silvia Tanzi

2014-05-01

Full Text Available Empathy is a core feature of patient-centered care. It enables practitioners to better understand the patient and family concerns that are key to patient and family satisfaction, prevention of anxiety and depression, and provider empowerment. Current methods of teaching communication skills do not specifically focus on enhancing the ability to “stand in the patient's shoes” as a way of connecting with the patient and/or family experience and understanding feelings that may be a source of conflict with providers. In this paper, we present a model for deepening empathic understanding based upon action methods (role-reversal and doubling derived from psychodrama and sociodrama. We describe these techniques and illustrate how they can be used to identify hidden emotions and attitudes and reveal that which the patient and family member may be thinking or feeling but be afraid to say. Finally, we present data showing that these methods were valuable to participants in enhancing their professional experience and skills.

Enhancing the Empathic Connection: Using Action Methods to Understand Conflicts in End-of-Life Care

Science.gov (United States)

Tanzi, Silvia; Biasco, Guido; Baile, Walter F.

2014-01-01

Empathy is a core feature of patient-centered care. It enables practitioners to better understand the patient and family concerns that are key to patient and family satisfaction, prevention of anxiety and depression, and provider empowerment. Current methods of teaching communication skills do not specifically focus on enhancing the ability to “stand in the patient's shoes” as a way of connecting with the patient and/or family experience and understanding feelings that may be a source of conflict with providers. In this paper, we present a model for deepening empathic understanding based upon action methods (role-reversal and doubling) derived from psychodrama and sociodrama. We describe these techniques and illustrate how they can be used to identify hidden emotions and attitudes and reveal that which the patient and family member may be thinking or feeling but be afraid to say. Finally, we present data showing that these methods were valuable to participants in enhancing their professional experience and skills. PMID:28725796

Enhancing the Empathic Connection: Using Action Methods to Understand Conflicts in End-of-Life Care.

Science.gov (United States)

Tanzi, Silvia; Biasco, Guido; Baile, Walter F

2014-05-01

Empathy is a core feature of patient-centered care. It enables practitioners to better understand the patient and family concerns that are key to patient and family satisfaction, prevention of anxiety and depression, and provider empowerment. Current methods of teaching communication skills do not specifically focus on enhancing the ability to "stand in the patient's shoes" as a way of connecting with the patient and/or family experience and understanding feelings that may be a source of conflict with providers. In this paper, we present a model for deepening empathic understanding based upon action methods (role-reversal and doubling) derived from psychodrama and sociodrama. We describe these techniques and illustrate how they can be used to identify hidden emotions and attitudes and reveal that which the patient and family member may be thinking or feeling but be afraid to say. Finally, we present data showing that these methods were valuable to participants in enhancing their professional experience and skills.

Ultimate pressure capacity of CANDU 6 containment structures

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Radulescu, J.P.; Pradolin, L.; Mamet, J.C.

1997-01-01

This paper summarizes the analytical work carried out and the results obtained when determining the ultimate pressure capacity (UPC) of the containment structures of CANDU 6 nuclear power plants. The purpose of the analysis work was to demonstrate that such containment structures are capable of meeting design requirements under the most severe accident conditions. For this concrete vessel subjected to internal pressure, the UPC was defined as the pressure causing through cracking in the concrete. The present paper deals with the overall behaviour of the containment. The presence of openings, penetrations and the ultimate pressure of the airlocks were considered separately. (author)

Ultimate guide to YouTube for business

CERN Document Server

2018-01-01

Ultimate Guide to YouTube for Business helps small business owners create marketing videos to help promote their products, share their story, build a community around their brand without spending a fortune-all the while making money.

Librarians Are the Ultimate Knowledge Managers?

Science.gov (United States)

Koina, Cathie

2003-01-01

Librarians are the ultimate knowledge managers. Everyone knows that. After all, haven't they been the custodians of documented knowledge for centuries? Who could possibly do it better than them? Well, then why aren't people knocking down their doors, begging them to be the knowledge managers of the organisation? Are they just ignorant of how…

A study of colloid-enhanced ultrafiltration. Final report, March 1984--December 1993

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Scamehorn, J.F.; Christian, S.D.

1994-02-01

Over the past nine years of funding by DOE Office of Basic Energy Sciences, the authors have developed a whole family of methods under the umbrella of colloid-enhanced ultrafiltration techniques. These methods can be used for removal of either dissolved organics or multivalent ions from water or both simultaneously. They have gone from very fundamental studies of the ultrafiltration process to a field test using actual polluted groundwater. The orientation of this research has been the ultimate development of a workable, economical process. To do this, the authors have tried to understand the underlying fundamental phenomena involved in the separation and in potential solutions to technological bottlenecks and developed new scientific knowledge in the process. However, the thrust of the investigations have been focused on bringing the technology to a successful adoption by industry. This report summarizes the following: micellar-enhanced ultrafiltration; polyelectrolyte-enhanced ultrafiltration; ion-expulsion ultrafiltration; ligand-modified micellar-enhanced ultrafiltration; polyelectrolyte/surfactant-enhanced ultrafiltration, supporting research, and relation to energy. 61 refs.

Trump er gældsøkonomiens ultimative illusionist

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Nielsen, Peter

2018-01-01

Trump giver ikke kun gevaldige skattelettelser og nærer en illusion om, at vækst vil løse alle problemer. Han fortrænger også gældsøkonomiens ultimative bundlinje i form af klimaforandringerne.......Trump giver ikke kun gevaldige skattelettelser og nærer en illusion om, at vækst vil løse alle problemer. Han fortrænger også gældsøkonomiens ultimative bundlinje i form af klimaforandringerne....

Educational attainment and ultimate fertility among Swedish women born in 1955-59

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Gerda Neyer

2006-05-01

Full Text Available This is the second of two companion papers addressing the association between educational attainment and fertility for some sixty educational groups of Swedish women, defined according to field of education as well as level of education. The first paper is about childlessness and education, the present one about the mean number of children ever born. We find that ultimate fertility decreases somewhat with an increasing educational level, but its dependence on the field of education is much more impressive. In general, educational groups with relatively little childlessness also have relatively high ultimate fertility, and educational groups with much childlessness have relatively low ultimate fertility. In particular, women educated for the teaching or health-care professions have less childlessness and a higher ultimate fertility than others. Conversely, women with an education for esthetic or (non-teacher humanist occupations have unusually high fractions childless and low ultimate fertility. Women with religious educations stand out by having very high fractions childless but quite ordinary mean ultimate fertility nevertheless; such women have very little childbearing outside of marriage. Women with research degrees have remarkably ordinary childbearing behavior; they do not forego motherhood to the extent that some theories would predict.

The ultimate disposition of depleted uranium

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Lemons, T.R. [Uranium Enrichment Organization, Oak Ridge, TN (United States)

1991-12-31

Depleted uranium (DU) is produced as a by-product of the uranium enrichment process. Over 340,000 MTU of DU in the form of UF{sub 6} have been accumulated at the US government gaseous diffusion plants and the stockpile continues to grow. An overview of issues and objectives associated with the inventory management and the ultimate disposition of this material is presented.

Understanding and enhancing future infrastructure resiliency: a socio-ecological approach.

Science.gov (United States)

Sage, Daniel; Sircar, Indraneel; Dainty, Andrew; Fussey, Pete; Goodier, Chris

2015-07-01

The resilience of any system, human or natural, centres on its capacity to adapt its structure, but not necessarily its function, to a new configuration in response to long-term socio-ecological change. In the long term, therefore, enhancing resilience involves more than simply improving a system's ability to resist an immediate threat or to recover to a stable past state. However, despite the prevalence of adaptive notions of resilience in academic discourse, it is apparent that infrastructure planners and policies largely continue to struggle to comprehend longer-term system adaptation in their understanding of resilience. Instead, a short-term, stable system (STSS) perspective on resilience is prevalent. This paper seeks to identify and problematise this perspective, presenting research based on the development of a heuristic 'scenario-episode' tool to address, and challenge, it in the context of United Kingdom infrastructure resilience. The aim is to help resilience practitioners to understand better the capacities of future infrastructure systems to respond to natural, malicious threats. © 2015 The Author(s). Disasters © Overseas Development Institute, 2015.

Ultimate load model test for Sizewell 'B' primary containment

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Crowder, R.

1988-01-01

This paper considers the factors influencing the adoption of an ultimate load factor for the Sizewell 'B' PWR primary containment structure. As part of the validation process for the ultimate load analysis method, a proposal has been made by Nuclear Design Associates to build and test a 1/10th scale model of the containment structure, which would proceed following the granting of section 2 consent for Sizewell 'B'. The modelling principles, construction method and test proposals are examined in some detail. The proposal is currently being considered by the CEGB's Project Management Team. (author)

Using Laboratory Activities Enhanced with Concept Cartoons to Support Progression in Students' Understanding of Acid-Base Concepts

Science.gov (United States)

Ozmen, Haluk; Demircioglu, Gokhan; Burhan, Yasemin; Naseriazar, Akbar; Demircioglu, Hulya

2012-01-01

The aim of this study is to examine the effectiveness of an intervention based on a series of laboratory activities enhanced with concept cartoons. The purpose of the intervention was to enhance students' understanding of acid-base chemistry for eight grade students' from two classes in a Turkish primary school. A pretest-posttest non-equivalent…

Questioning in Distributed Product Development Teams: Supporting Shared Understanding

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Cash, Philip; Ahmed-Kristensen, Saeema

2015-01-01

globally distributed NPD activities. Poor shared understanding can ultimately result in delays and rework. One major antecedent of shared understanding development is question asking. This work uses a quasiexperimental study to test the impact of questioning support on different types of distributed teams...

Assessment on Ultimate Load of Cold-formed Steel Channel (CFSC Stub Column

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Mohd Sani Mohd Syahrul Hisyam

2015-01-01

Full Text Available Cold-formed steel is used as the non-structural and structural material in civil engineering work and building. Cold-formed steel channel is selected and cut into 100 mm, 200 mm, 300 mm, 400 mm and 500 mm. The slenderness ratio is calculated and noted as a stub or short column because below 40. The column is tested by using Universal Testing Machine to determine the ultimate load of the stub column. Besides, the CFSC is determined the material properties of CFSC for checking it’s the originality of steel based material. The experimental data are tested and compared with the Direct Strength Method (DSM. It showed that the CFSC1 with a height of 100 mm is reported to have a higher value of ultimate load when compared with other samples. When the height of the stub column increased, the ultimate load of the sample is decreased. Then, the CFSC1 also showed a higher in initial stiffness when compared with other samples. All samples are shown having a higher data in ultimate load when compared with the Direct Strength Method prediction. The ultimate load of experimental and DSM all gave a ratio below 1.03. Finally, all samples can further recommend determining the relation between the ultimate loads with variations of height of the column.

Excess glycogen does not resolve high ultimate pH of oxidative muscle.

Science.gov (United States)

England, Eric M; Matarneh, Sulaiman K; Oliver, Emily M; Apaoblaza, Ariel; Scheffler, Tracy L; Shi, Hao; Gerrard, David E

2016-04-01

Skeletal muscle glycogen content can impact the extent of postmortem pH decline. Compared to glycolytic muscles, oxidative muscles contain lower glycogen levels antemortem which may contribute to the higher ultimate pH. In an effort to explore further the participation of glycogen in postmortem metabolism, we postulated that increasing the availability of glycogen would drive additional pH decline in oxidative muscles to equivalent pH values similar to the ultimate pH of glycolytic muscles. Glycolysis and pH declines were compared in porcine longissimus lumborum (glycolytic) and masseter (oxidative) muscles using an in vitro system in the presence of excess glycogen. The ultimate pH of the system containing longissimus lumborum reached a value similar to that observed in intact muscle. The pH decline of the system containing masseter samples stopped prematurely resulting in a higher ultimate pH which was similar to that of intact masseter muscle. To investigate further, we titrated powdered longissimus lumborum and masseter samples in the reaction buffer. As the percentage of glycolytic sample increased, the ultimate pH decreased. These data show that oxidative muscle produces meat with a high ultimate pH regardless of glycogen content and suggest that inherent muscle factors associated with glycolytic muscle control the extent of pH decline in pig muscles. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Ultimate capabilities of soft x-ray optics

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Vinogradov, A.V.; Zorev, N.N.; Kozhevnikov, I.V.

1988-01-01

Nonimaging soft X-ray optics is examined. The ultimate capabilities of a number of X-ray optical components designed for concentration and collimation of radiation from point sources are determined. The applications of X-ray optics are discussed together with the properties of materials in the X-ray range

Ultimate Opening Combined with Area Stability Applied to Urban Scenes

OpenAIRE

Marcotegui , Beatriz; Serna , Andrés; Hernández , Jorge

2017-01-01

International audience; This paper explores the use of ultimate opening in urban analysis context. It demonstrates the efficiency of this approach for street level elevation images, derived from 3D point clouds acquired by terrestrial mobile mapping systems. An area-stability term is introduced in the residual definition, reducing the over-segmentation of the vegetation while preserving small significant regions. We compare two possible combinations of the Ultimate Opening and the Area Stabil...

The Ultimate Technology

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Riis, Søren

2013-01-01

One of the most influential philosophers of the 20th century, Martin Heidegger (1889-1976), died prior to the remarkable cloning of the sheep Dolly and before Dr. Venter started his experiments on creating synthetic life, and he never explicitly discussed living technologies. However, by reinterp......One of the most influential philosophers of the 20th century, Martin Heidegger (1889-1976), died prior to the remarkable cloning of the sheep Dolly and before Dr. Venter started his experiments on creating synthetic life, and he never explicitly discussed living technologies. However......, by reinterpreting his notion of "modern technology," this article shows how it is possible to philosophically assess living technologies and to recognize ways in which Heidegger anticipated this phenomenon with his notion of cybernetics. The interpretation elucidates the fundamental process of technology becoming...... living and simultaneously presents living technology as the ultimate technology. The thesis of this article is that living technology is not just one more technology; rather, it is the perfection of technology as understood by Aristotle. Aristotle's thinking is in this way a key example of a profound...

The Role of Computer Modeling in Enhancing Students' Conceptual Understanding of Physics

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

F. Ornek

2012-04-01

Full Text Available The purpose of this study was to investigate how the use of the computer simulations program VPython facilitated students’ conceptual understanding of fundamental physical principles and in constructing new knowledge of physics. We focused on students in a calculus-based introductory physics course, based on the Matter and Interactions curriculum of Chabay & Sherwood (2002 at a large state engineering and science university in the USA. A major emphasis of this course was on computer modeling by using VPython to write pro¬grams simulating physical systems. We conducted multiple student interviews, as well as an open-ended exit survey, to find out student views on how creating their own simulations to enhanced-conceptual understanding of physics and in constructing new knowledge of phys¬ics. The results varied in relation to the phases when the interviews were conducted. At the beginning of the course, students viewed the simulation program as a burden. However, dur¬ing the course, students stated that it promoted their knowledge and better conceptual understanding of physical phenomena. We deduce that VPython computer simulations can improve students’ conceptual understanding of fundamental physical concepts and promote construction of new knowledge in physics, once they overcome the initial learning curve associated with the VPython software package.

Human performance evaluation: The procedures of ultimate response guideline for nuclear power plants

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Liu, Kang-Hung, E-mail: alvinks@iner.gov.tw [Institute of Nuclear Energy Research, Atomic Engery Council, No. 1000, Whenhua Road, Jiaan Village, Longtan Township, Taoyuan County, Taiwan (China); Hwang, Sheue-Ling, E-mail: slhwang@ie.nthu.edu.tw [Department of Industrial Engineering and Engineering Management, National Tsing Hua University, No. 101, Section 2, Kuang-Fu Road, Hsinchu, Taiwan 30013, Taiwan (China)

2014-07-01

Highlights: • This study adopts SPAR-H to evaluate HEPs in the URG procedures. • The involvement of URG procedures could reduce CDF significantly. • Upgrading the training level of staff will enhance the reliability effectively. • Aiding the plant manager in making URG decision will enhance the reliability. - Abstract: In the nuclear accident which occurred in Japan on March 11, 2011, several units of Fukushima conventional BWR experienced a total loss of power and water supply triggered by a heavy earthquake and subsequent Tsunami which were outside design models. In the past, when an accident occurred, operators in nuclear power plants (NPP) followed emergency operating procedures (EOPs) or severe accident management guidance (SAMG). However, EOP and SAMG are symptom-based procedures to cope with severe transients and accidents, depending on real-time operational parameters. Ultimate response guidelines (URG), a plant specific interim remedy action plan, was developed to manage accidents caused by compound disasters which exceed design models. The URG guides the plant operators’ conduct of reactor depressurization, core cooling water injection, and containment venting. This study adopts NUREG/CR-6883 (Standardized Plant Analysis Risk Human Reliability Analysis, SPAR-H) to evaluate human error probabilities (HEPs) of action and diagnosis in the current URG procedures. We found the human reliability of URG procedures analyzed by SPAR-H is about 85% (depending on different decision makers). Upgrading the training level of staff or enhancing plant managers ability to decide whether to execute URG will enhance the human reliability of URG procedures.

75 FR 60133 - Agency Information Collection Activities: Declaration of Ultimate Consignee That Articles Were...

Science.gov (United States)

2010-09-29

... Activities: Declaration of Ultimate Consignee That Articles Were Exported for Temporary Scientific or... the Declaration of Ultimate Consignee That Articles Were Exported for Temporary Scientific or...: Title: Declaration of Ultimate Consignee That Articles Were Exported for Temporary Scientific or...

Understanding science teacher enhancement programs: Essential components and a model

Science.gov (United States)

Spiegel, Samuel Albert

Researchers and practioners alike recognize that "the national goal that every child in the United States has access to high-quality school education in science and mathematics cannot be realized without the availability of effective professional development of teachers" (Hewson, 1997, p. 16). Further, there is a plethora of reports calling for the improvement of professional development efforts (Guskey & Huberman, 1995; Kyle, 1995; Loucks-Horsley, Hewson, Love, & Stiles, 1997). In this study I analyze a successful 3-year teacher enhancement program, one form of professional development, to: (1) identify essential components of an effective teacher enhancement program; and (2) create a model to identify and articulate the critical issues in designing, implementing, and evaluating teacher enhancement programs. Five primary sources of information were converted into data: (1) exit questionnaires, (2) exit surveys, (3) exit interview transcripts, (4) focus group transcripts, and (5) other artifacts. Additionally, a focus group was used to conduct member checks. Data were analyzed in an iterative process which led to the development of the list of essential components. The Components are categorized by three organizers: Structure (e.g., science research experience, a mediator throughout the program), Context (e.g., intensity, collaboration), and Participant Interpretation (e.g., perceived to be "safe" to examine personal beliefs and practices, actively engaged). The model is based on: (1) a 4-year study of a successful teacher enhancement program; (2) an analysis of professional development efforts reported in the literature; and (3) reflective discussions with implementors, evaluators, and participants of professional development programs. The model consists of three perspectives, cognitive, symbolic interaction, and organizational, representing different viewpoints from which to consider issues relevant to the success of a teacher enhancement program. These

Ultimate gradient in solid-state accelerators

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Whittum, D.H.

1998-08-01

The authors recall the motivation for research in high-gradient acceleration and the problems posed by a compact collider. They summarize the phenomena known to appear in operation of a solid-state structure with large fields, and research relevant to the question of the ultimate gradient. They take note of new concepts, and examine one in detail, a miniature particle accelerator based on an active millimeter-wave circuit and parallel particle beams

78 FR 69101 - Agency Information Collection Activities: Declaration of the Ultimate Consignee That Articles...

Science.gov (United States)

2013-11-18

... Activities: Declaration of the Ultimate Consignee That Articles Were Exported for Temporary Scientific or... the Declaration of the Ultimate Consignee that Articles were Exported for Temporary Scientific or...: Title: Declaration of the Ultimate Consignee that Articles were Exported for Temporary Scientific or...

Episodic foresight and anxiety: Proximate and ultimate perspectives.

Science.gov (United States)

Miloyan, Beyon; Bulley, Adam; Suddendorf, Thomas

2016-03-01

In this paper, we examine the relationship between episodic foresight and anxiety from an evolutionary perspective, proposing that together they confer an advantage for modifying present moment decision-making and behaviour in the light of potential future threats to fitness. We review the body of literature on the role of episodic foresight in anxiety, from both proximate and ultimate perspectives. We propose that anxious feelings associated with episodic simulation of possible threat-related future events serve to imbue these simulations with motivational currency. Episodic and semantic details of a future threat may be insufficient for motivating its avoidance, but anxiety associated with a simulation can provoke adaptive threat management. As such, we detail how anxiety triggered by a self-generated, threat-related future simulation prepares the individual to manage that threat (in terms of its likelihood and/or consequences) over greater temporal distances than observed in other animals. We then outline how anxiety subtypes may represent specific mechanisms for predicting and managing particular classes of fitness threats. This approach offers an inroad for understanding the nature of characteristic future thinking patterns in anxiety disorders and serves to illustrate the adaptive function of the mechanism from which clinical anxiety deviates. © 2015 The British Psychological Society.

Aging characteristics of containment building and sensitivity on ultimate pressure capacity

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Seo, Jeong Moon; Choun, Young Sun; Choi, In Kil; Ha, Jae Joo

1998-03-01

For the reliable safety assessment of the containment building, structural and material conditions can be investigated in detail and pertinent assessment technologies have to be established. Also, an understanding on the aging-related degradations for the construction materials is required to predict long-term structural safety of the containment building. For the development of reliable aging prediction models, an extensive data base system related to aging properties of the containment building has to be prepared. The objectives of this research are to develop aging models representing long-term degradation of materials and a structural performance assessment program for containment building considering aging-related degradation. According to the results of sensitivity analysis, as the mechanical properties of the constituent materials degrade, the ultimate pressure capacity of containment building may decrease and severe damage may occur around the mid-level of the containment wall. (author). 28 refs., 11 tabs., 36 figs

Ultimate compression after impact load prediction in graphite/epoxy coupons using neural network and multivariate statistical analyses

Science.gov (United States)

Gregoire, Alexandre David

2011-07-01

The goal of this research was to accurately predict the ultimate compressive load of impact damaged graphite/epoxy coupons using a Kohonen self-organizing map (SOM) neural network and multivariate statistical regression analysis (MSRA). An optimized use of these data treatment tools allowed the generation of a simple, physically understandable equation that predicts the ultimate failure load of an impacted damaged coupon based uniquely on the acoustic emissions it emits at low proof loads. Acoustic emission (AE) data were collected using two 150 kHz resonant transducers which detected and recorded the AE activity given off during compression to failure of thirty-four impacted 24-ply bidirectional woven cloth laminate graphite/epoxy coupons. The AE quantification parameters duration, energy and amplitude for each AE hit were input to the Kohonen self-organizing map (SOM) neural network to accurately classify the material failure mechanisms present in the low proof load data. The number of failure mechanisms from the first 30% of the loading for twenty-four coupons were used to generate a linear prediction equation which yielded a worst case ultimate load prediction error of 16.17%, just outside of the +/-15% B-basis allowables, which was the goal for this research. Particular emphasis was placed upon the noise removal process which was largely responsible for the accuracy of the results.

''Project Crystal'' for ultimate storage of highly radioactive waste

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Anon.

1983-01-01

NAGRA (The National Association for storage of radioactive waste) in Baden has launched in North Switzerland an extensive geological research program. The current research program, under the title of ''Project Crystal'', aims at providing the scientific knowledge which is required for the assessment of the suitability of the crystalline sub-soil of North Switzerland for the ultimate storage of highly radioactive waste. Safety and feasibility of such ultimate storage are in the forefront of preoccupations. Scientific institutes of France, Germany, USA and Canada are cooperating more particularly on boring research and laboratory analyses. Technical data are given on the USA and German installations used. (P.F.K.)

Fundamental challenges in mechanistic enzymology: progress toward understanding the rate enhancements of enzymes.

Science.gov (United States)

Herschlag, Daniel; Natarajan, Aditya

2013-03-26

Enzymes are remarkable catalysts that lie at the heart of biology, accelerating chemical reactions to an astounding extent with extraordinary specificity. Enormous progress in understanding the chemical basis of enzymatic transformations and the basic mechanisms underlying rate enhancements over the past decades is apparent. Nevertheless, it has been difficult to achieve a quantitative understanding of how the underlying mechanisms account for the energetics of catalysis, because of the complexity of enzyme systems and the absence of underlying energetic additivity. We review case studies from our own work that illustrate the power of precisely defined and clearly articulated questions when dealing with such complex and multifaceted systems, and we also use this approach to evaluate our current ability to design enzymes. We close by highlighting a series of questions that help frame some of what remains to be understood, and we encourage the reader to define additional questions and directions that will deepen and broaden our understanding of enzymes and their catalysis.

Preliminary development of POEAW in enhancing K-11 students’ understanding level on impulse and momentum

Science.gov (United States)

Luthfiani, T. A.; Sinaga, P.; Samsudin, A.

2018-05-01

We have been analyzed that there were limited research about Predict-Observe- Explain which use writing process with conceptual change text strategy. This study aims to develop a learning model namely Predict-Observe-Explain-Apply-Writing (POEAW) which is able to enhance students’ understanding level. The research method utilized the 4D model (Defining, Designing, Developing and Disseminating) that is formally limited to Developing Stage. There are four experts who judge the learning component (syntax, lesson plan, teaching material and student worksheet) and matter component (learning quality and content component). The result of this study are obtained expert validity test score average of 87% for learning content and 89% for matter component that means the POEAW is valid and can be tested in classroom learning. This research producing POEAW learning model that has five main steps, Predict, Observe, Explain, Apply and Write. To sum up, we have early developed POEAW in enhancing K-11 students’ understanding levels on impulse and momentum.

Influence of cracks and pitting corrosion on residual ultimate strength of stiffened plates

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

ZHANG Jing

2018-02-01

Full Text Available [Objectives] Ships and offshore platforms serve in the harsh sea environment for a long time. Cracks and pitting corrosion will occur in such a structure and the damage will affect its ultimate strength.[Methods] To investigate the influence of cracks and pitting corrosion on ultimate bearing capacity, the ultimate strength of a structure under axial compression is studied by using a nonlinear finite element. The mesh size of a stiffened plate with cracks and pitting corrosion is first discussed. Then the influence of the relative positions of cracks and pitting corrosion, number of corrosion points and crack length impact on the residual ultimate strength of damaged stiffened plates is discussed via a series of calculations.[Results] The results indicate that the increase in crack length and pitting corrosion significantly decreases the ultimate strength of a stiffened plate. [Conclusions] This provides a useful reference for designing and maintaining ships and offshore structures in their life cycles.

Understanding the Enhanced Catalytic Performance of Ultrafine Transition Metal Nanoparticles–Graphene Composites

KAUST Repository

Liu, Xin; Meng, Changgong; Han, Yu

2015-01-01

, manufacture of chemicals, medicine synthesis, etc. Rational design and fabrication of highly efficient catalysts have become the ultimate goal of today's catalysis research. For the purpose of handling and product separation, heterogeneous catalysts are highly

Seismic shear wall ISP NUPEC's seismic ultimate dynamic response test. Comparison report

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

1996-01-01

In the seismic design of a nuclear power plant, evaluation of the ultimate strength of the nuclear reactor building is an important subject for assessment of seismic reliability of the plant. In order to carry out the evaluation, the response characteristics of reinforced concrete seismic shear walls up to their ultimate state have to be understood. For this purpose, there is a need to develop reliable non-linear response analysis methods which enables the reliable ultimate strength evaluation of nuclear reactor buildings. Along with this need, many computer codes have been developed. These computer codes are compared. (K.A.)

Ductility and Ultimate Capacity of Prestressed Steel Reinforced Concrete Beams

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Chengquan Wang

2017-01-01

Full Text Available Nonlinear numerical analysis of the structural behaviour of prestressed steel reinforced concrete (PSRC beams was carried out by using finite element analysis software ABAQUS. By comparing the load-deformation curves, the rationality and reliability of the finite element model have been confirmed; moreover, the changes of the beam stiffness and stress in the forcing process and the ultimate bearing capacity of the beam were analyzed. Based on the model, the effect of prestressed force, and H-steel to the stiffness, the ultimate bearing capacity and ductility of beam were also analyzed.

Ultimate strength and ductility of steel reinforced concrete beam-columns

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Shohara, Ryoichi

1991-01-01

The ultimate strength and ductility of SRC beam-columns are investigated using the data gathered in Architectural Institute of Japan. Though the simple superposed strength formula in AIJ standard underestimates the strength of SRC beam-column failed in flexure, the generalized superposed strength formula estimates it satisfactory. The strength formula in AIJ standard does not good agreement with test data. The SRC beam-column failed in shear has almost equalductility with that failed in flexure owing to the encased steel. Author presents the formulas which estimate the ultimate deformation angle for SRC beam-columns. (author)

Hydrogeological problems in the ultimate storage of radioactive wastes

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Uerpmann, E.P.

1980-01-01

The following work shows how one can achieve the safe closure of ultimate-stored radioactive wastes by connecting a series of various barriers to the biosphere. The propagation of radionuclides by ground water is considered to be the most important long-term transport mechanism. Salt occurences in the Federal Republic of Germany are considered to be the best form suitable for end storage formations for known reasons. When not observing mining and hydrogeological knowledge, the danger of uncontrollable water flow in the end storage can arise from the water solubility of the salt rocks. Therefore the filling of salt mines and the subsequent procedures are dealt with in detail. The leading of radioactive nuclides is influenced by the properties of the ultimately stored wastes and by the quality of the remaining filling of the caves. These problems are dealt with in detail. A series of barriers to the closure of the underground caves are suggested and discussed. The most important barriers consist of the stability of the corresponding selected end storage structure. Possible arrangements of the storage cave are given which even after storage must maintain a high stability. Proposals are made on how the ultimately stored wastes can protect themselves against contact with free water or salt solutions. (orig.) [de

Understanding Organizational Advantage

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Stea, Diego; Linder, Stefan; Foss, Nicolai Juul

2015-01-01

The attention-based view (ABV) of the firm highlights the role of decision makers’ attention in firm behavior. The ABV vastly improves our understanding of decision makers’ focus of attention; how that focus is situated in an organization’s procedural and communication channels; and how the distr......The attention-based view (ABV) of the firm highlights the role of decision makers’ attention in firm behavior. The ABV vastly improves our understanding of decision makers’ focus of attention; how that focus is situated in an organization’s procedural and communication channels; and how...... the distribution of the focus of attention among decision makers participating in those procedural and communication channels affects their understanding of a situation, their motivation to act, and, ultimately, their behavior. Significant progress has been made in recent years in refining and extending the ABV...

Human Computer Collaboration at the Edge: Enhancing Collective Situation Understanding with Controlled Natural Language

Science.gov (United States)

2016-09-06

conversational agent with information exchange disabled until the end of the experiment run. The meaning of the indicator in the top- right of the agent... Human Computer Collaboration at the Edge: Enhancing Collective Situation Understanding with Controlled Natural Language Alun Preece∗, William...email: PreeceAD@cardiff.ac.uk †Emerging Technology Services, IBM United Kingdom Ltd, Hursley Park, Winchester, UK ‡US Army Research Laboratory, Human

Steve Clarke, Julian Savulescu, Tony Coady, Alberto Giubilini, and Sagar Sanyal: the ethics of human enhancement: understanding the debate

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Frank, L.E.

2017-01-01

A decade of research on the ethics of human enhancement has produced a vast literature. This collection is an excellent contribution to the field; it fulfills and exceeds the promises of its two subsections: understanding and advancing the debate. Section 1, Understanding the Debate includes eight

Towards the Understanding of Induced Seismicity in Enhanced Geothermal Systems

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Gritto, Roland [Array Information Technology, Greenbelt, MD (United States); Dreger, Douglas [Univ. of California, Berkeley, CA (United States); Heidbach, Oliver [Helmholtz Centre Potsdam (Germany, German Research Center for Geosciences; Hutchings, Lawrence [Lawrence Berkeley National Lab. (LBNL), Berkeley, CA (United States)

2014-08-29

This DOE funded project was a collaborative effort between Array Information Technology (AIT), the University of California at Berkeley (UCB), the Helmholtz Centre Potsdam - German Research Center for Geosciences (GFZ) and the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (LBNL). It was also part of the European research project “GEISER”, an international collaboration with 11 European partners from six countries including universities, research centers and industry, with the goal to address and mitigate the problems associated with induced seismicity in Enhanced Geothermal Systems (EGS). The goal of the current project was to develop a combination of techniques, which evaluate the relationship between enhanced geothermal operations and the induced stress changes and associated earthquakes throughout the reservoir and the surrounding country rock. The project addressed the following questions: how enhanced geothermal activity changes the local and regional stress field; whether these activities can induce medium sized seismicity M > 3; (if so) how these events are correlated to geothermal activity in space and time; what is the largest possible event and strongest ground motion, and hence the potential hazard associated with these activities. The development of appropriate technology to thoroughly investigate and address these questions required a number of datasets to provide the different physical measurements distributed in space and time. Because such a dataset did not yet exist for an EGS system in the United State, we used current and past data from The Geysers geothermal field in northern California, which has been in operation since the 1960s. The research addressed the need to understand the causal mechanisms of induced seismicity, and demonstrated the advantage of imaging the physical properties and temporal changes of the reservoir. The work helped to model the relationship between injection and production and medium sized magnitude events that have

Innovation Learning: Audio Visual and Outdoor Study to Enhance Student's Understanding of Disaster

OpenAIRE

Furqan, M. Hafizul; Maryani, Enok; Ruhimat, Mamat

2017-01-01

Education is functioned to prepare human to compete in overcoming various challenges. One of challenge faced by Indonesian nation is natural disaster. The effective method to reduce the risk of natural disaster (disaster mitigation) is by enhancing understanding of disaster in each individual. Aceh Tsunami Museum (ATM) is one of important site which is build to remember the big disaster event which happened in 2004 in Aceh and as disaster learning source. This study is aimed to find out the...

Understanding Spider-Man: Your Everyday Superhero

OpenAIRE

Falk, Nicklas; Blomsterberg, Sofie Amalie; Suciu, Alice Sabrina; Pedersen, Mads Peter; Lucas, Vilhelm

2014-01-01

This project focuses on the understanding of Spider-Man, and the morals and ethics that lie behind the choices he makes. Through the Dimensions Philosophy & Science/Text & Sign, this understanding is concluded by looking at ethical theories and comic book analysis. Based on the Ultimate Spider-Man comic book series, the aim is to clarify who Spider-Man is and what causes him to act in certain ways; before and after his realization of power. Some theories used to investigate these area...

Ultimate capacity and influenced factors analysis of nuclear RC containment subjected to internal pressure

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Song Chenning; Hou Gangling; Zhou Guoliang

2014-01-01

Ultimate compressive bearing capacity, influenced factors and its rules of nuclear RC containment are key problems of safety assessment, accident treatment and structure design, etc. Ultimate compressive bearing capacity of nuclear RC containment is shown by concrete damaged plasticity model and steel double liner model of ABAQUS. The study shows that the concrete of nuclear RC containment cylinder wall becomes plastic when the internal pressure is up to 0.87 MPa, the maximum tensile strain of steel liner exceeds 3000 × 10 6 and nuclear RC containment reaches ultimate status when the internal pressure is up to 1.02 MPa. The result shows that nuclear RC containment is in elastic condition under the design internal pressure and the bearing capacity meets requirement. Prestress and steel liner play key parts in the ultimate internal pressure and failure mode of nuclear RC containment. The study results have value for the analysis of ultimate compressive bearing capacity, structure design and safety assessment. (authors)

Efficiency Of Different Teaching Models In Teaching Of Frisbee Ultimate

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Žuffová Zuzana

2015-05-01

Full Text Available The aim of the study was to verify the efficiency of two frisbee ultimate teaching models at 8-year grammar schools relative to age. In the experimental group was used a game based model (Teaching Games for Understanding and in the control group the traditional model based on teaching techniques. 6 groups of female students took part in experiment: experimental group 1 (n=10, age=11.6, experimental group 2 (n=12, age=13.8, experimental group 3 (n=14, age =15.8, control group 1 (n=11, age =11.7, control group 2 (n=10, age =13.8 and control group 3 (n=9, age =15.8. Efficiency of the teaching models was evaluated based of game performance and special knowledge results. Game performance was evaluated by the method of game performance assessment based on GPAI (Game Performance Assessment Instrument through video record. To verify level of knowledge, we used a knowledge test, which consisted of questions related to the rules and tactics knowledge of frisbee ultimate. To perform statistical evaluation Mann-Whitney U-test was used. Game performance assessment and knowledge level indicated higher efficiency of TGfU in general, but mostly statistically insignificant. Experimental groups 1 and 2 were significantly better in the indicator that evaluates tactical aspect of game performance - decision making (p<0.05. Experimental group 3 was better in the indicator that evaluates skill execution - disc catching. The results showed that the students of the classes taught by game based model reached partially better game performance in general. Experimental groups achieved from 79.17 % to 80 % of correct answers relating to the rules and from 75 % to 87.5 % of correct answers relating to the tactical knowledge in the knowledge test. Control groups achieved from 57.69 % to 72.22 % of correct answers relating to the rules and from 51.92 % to 72.22 % of correct answers relating to the tactical knowledge in the knowledge test.

78 FR 55117 - Ultimate Heat Sink for Nuclear Power Plants; Draft Regulatory Guide

Science.gov (United States)

2013-09-09

... NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION [NRC-2013-0203] Ultimate Heat Sink for Nuclear Power Plants; Draft... (DG), DG-1275, ``Ultimate Heat Sink for Nuclear Power Plants.'' This regulatory guide (RG) describes methods and procedures acceptable to the NRC staff that nuclear power plant facility licensees and...

Ultimate strength analysis of ring-stiffened cylinders subjected to hydrostatic pressure

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Park, Chi Mo

1990-01-01

In this study, ultimate strength analysis of ring-stiffened cylinders have been performed, considering the elasto-plastic large deflection. In the elasto-plastic analysis, von Mises yield criteria, the plastic flow theory and the layered approach have been adopted. In order to take into account the follower force effect of the hydrostatic pressure, the incremental load components have been updated at every loading step. As collapse modes, axisymmetric yielding, interframe shell buckling and general buckling are considered, while local buckling of ring-stiffener is not considered. Initial shape imperfection is assumed to be the elastic buckling mode to obtain the lower bound of the ultimate strength. Results of numerical analysis are compared with the experimental results to show the validity of the present approach. It has been drawn that the present numerical results are closely correlated with the experimental results. On the other hand, the effects of initial shape imperfection and condition on the ultimate strength have been investigated. (Author)

A comparison of international criteria for the ultimate storage of radioactive wastes

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Mielke, H.

1985-01-01

In countries other than the Federal Republic of Germany and internationally there are no comprehensive codes referring to criteria and safety requirements except those of the IAEA and USA. In other countries there exist safety goals for the ultimate storage or for purely geological criteria. The degree of detailing regulations differs widely abroad and internationally. Safety goals abroad and internationally as well as measures for their realisation in the ultimate storage of radioactive wastes in deep geological formations are in line with the German safety goals. The IAEA refers to general aspects of geological, waste technology and ultimate storage technology criteria. In the USA, ultimate storage technology criteria have been quantified in part. The quantitative geological criteria existing in Great Britain and in the Netherlands are only relevant in as much as safety analyses must be performed for a specific site to provide evidence for the safety of this site. The comparison shows that most requirements pronounced abroad are also made for the Federal Republic of Germany. Some requirements are more specified in the Federal Republic of Germany, some are more detailed abroad. (orig./HP) [de

Ultimate Bound of a 3D Chaotic System and Its Application in Chaos Synchronization

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Jiezhi Wang

2014-01-01

Full Text Available Two ellipsoidal ultimate boundary regions of a special three-dimensional (3D chaotic system are proposed. To this chaotic system, the linear coefficient of the ith state variable in the ith state equation has the same sign; it also has two one-order terms and one quadratic cross-product term in each equation. A numerical solution and an analytical expression of the ultimate bounds are received. To get the analytical expression of the ultimate boundary region, a new result of one maximum optimization question is proved. The corresponding ultimate boundary regions are demonstrated through numerical simulations. Utilizing the bounds obtained, a linear controller is proposed to achieve the complete chaos synchronization. Numerical simulation exhibits the feasibility of the designed scheme.

Understanding Obsessive-Compulsive Personality Disorder

OpenAIRE

Steven C. Hertler

2013-01-01

With the ultimate goal of better understanding Obsessive-Compulsive Personality Disorder (OCPD), the present work is a review and critique of Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (4th ed., DSM-IV) diagnostic criteria at the end of their 18 years of use. Problems of specificity (polythetic criteria and failure to employ a hallmark feature) make OCPD an indistinct diagnostic category that consequently co...

Ultimate internal pressure capacity assessment of SC structure

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Park, Hyungkui; Choi, Inkil

2013-01-01

An SC structure applied to a containment building can be quite effective. However, an SC structure cannot be applied to a containment building, because its internal pressure resistance performance has not been verified. The containment building, which undergoes ultimate internal pressure, resists the internal pressure through a pre-stress tendon. It is hard to apply a tendon to an SC structure because of its structural characteristics. Therefore, the internal pressure resistance performance of the SC structure itself should be ensured to apply it to a structure with internal pressure resistance. In this study, the suitability of an SC structure as a substitution for the tendon of a pressure resistant structure was evaluated. A containment structure model was used in this study, because it was representative structures that resistance of ultimate internal pressure be required. In this study, a nonlinear analysis was performed to evaluate and compare the behaviors of tendon model and SC structure model. By comparing the internal pressure-displacement according to the structure type, the stability of SC structure model was assessed

Ultimate dynamics of the Kirschner-Panetta model: Tumor eradication and related problems

Science.gov (United States)

Starkov, Konstantin E.; Krishchenko, Alexander P.

2017-10-01

In this paper we consider the ultimate dynamics of the Kirschner-Panetta model which was created for studying the immune response to tumors under special types of immunotherapy. New ultimate upper bounds for compact invariant sets of this model are given, as well as sufficient conditions for the existence of a positively invariant polytope. We establish three types of conditions for the nonexistence of compact invariant sets in the domain of the tumor-cell population. Our main results are two types of conditions for global tumor elimination depending on the ratio between the proliferation rate of the immune cells and their mortality rate. These conditions are described in terms of simple algebraic inequalities imposed on model parameters and treatment parameters. Our theoretical studies of ultimate dynamics are complemented by numerical simulation results.

The importance of mines for ultimate storage at Deilmann-Haniel Shaft Sinking

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Greinacher, Jochen; Oellers, Thomas; Ahlbrecht, Thomas

2011-01-01

Deilmann-Haniel Shaft Sinking GmbH and its predecessor and associate companies have been involved in projects for underground ultimate storage in Germany, Europe and America for over 45 years. The field of activities previously comprised surveying, planning and sinking of shafts, repair and conversion work, design of underground sealing structures, planning of conveyors and support of the BfS in planning approval procedures. Following discontinuation of activities in the German coal mining industry the use of mines for ultimate storage is an important support for German specialist mining companies. The use of mines for ultimate storage ensures that the existing mining know how in Germany is maintained, because training of the younger generation on the commercial and engineering side of the companies is made possible by the imminent major projects.

Enhancing Understanding of Transformation Matrices

Science.gov (United States)

Dick, Jonathan; Childrey, Maria

2012-01-01

With the Common Core State Standards' emphasis on transformations, teachers need a variety of approaches to increase student understanding. Teaching matrix transformations by focusing on row vectors gives students tools to create matrices to perform transformations. This empowerment opens many doors: Students are able to create the matrices for…

Maintained ship hull girder ultimate strength reliability considering corrosion and fatigue

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Hu, Yong; Cui, W.; Pedersen, Preben Terndrup

2004-01-01

The prupose of this paper is to propose a methodology to assess the time-variant ultimate strength of ship hull girder under the degradations of corrosion and fatigue. The effects of fatigue cracks on the tensile and compressive residual ultimate strength of stiffened panels and unstiffened plates......, webs and flanges, respectively. The effects of inspections and repair are taken into account. A minimum net thickness rule is used to determine repair policies. A procedure is proposed to determine the maximum allowable corrosion thickness of different parts of the hull cross section. The procedure...

Ultimate load design and testing of a cylindrical prestressed concrete vessel

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Stefanou, G.D.

1982-01-01

The object of this research was to design, construct and test to failure a prestressed concrete pressure vessel model that could be used to investigate the behavior of a full scale structure underworking and ultimate load. The properties and the design of the model was based generally on full scale vessels already constructed to house the nuclear reactors used in atomic power stations. To design the model the ultimate load approach was adopted throughout. All load factors associated with the prestressing have been defined and kept to a minimum in order that the vessel's behavior may be predicted. The tests on the vessel were carried out first on the elastic range to observe its behavior at working load and then at the ultimate range to observe the modes of failure and compare the actual results in both cases with the predicted values. Although full agreement between observed results and predicted values was not obtained, the conclusions drawn from the study were useful for the design of full scale vessels. (author)

Reduced design load basis for ultimate blade loads estimation in multidisciplinary design optimization frameworks

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Pavese, Christian; Tibaldi, Carlo; Larsen, Torben J.

2016-01-01

The aim is to provide a fast and reliable approach to estimate ultimate blade loads for a multidisciplinary design optimization (MDO) framework. For blade design purposes, the standards require a large amount of computationally expensive simulations, which cannot be efficiently run each cost...... function evaluation of an MDO process. This work describes a method that allows integrating the calculation of the blade load envelopes inside an MDO loop. Ultimate blade load envelopes are calculated for a baseline design and a design obtained after an iteration of an MDO. These envelopes are computed...... for a full standard design load basis (DLB) and a deterministic reduced DLB. Ultimate loads extracted from the two DLBs with the two blade designs each are compared and analyzed. Although the reduced DLB supplies ultimate loads of different magnitude, the shape of the estimated envelopes are similar...

Ultimate loading of wind turbines

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Larsen, Gunner Chr.; Ronold, K.; Ejsing Jørgensen, Hans

1999-01-01

An extreme loading study has been conducted comprising a general wind climate analysis as well as a wind turbine reliability study. In the wind climate analysis, the distribution of the (horizontal) turbulence standard deviation, conditioned on the meanwind speed, has been approximated by fitting......, a design turbulence intensity for off-shore application is proposed which, in the IEC code framework, is applicable for extreme as well as for fatigue loaddetermination. In order to establish a rational method to analyse wind turbine components with respect to failure in ultimate loading, and in addition...... a three parameter Weibull distribution to the measured on-shore and off-shore data for wind speed variations. Specific recommendations on off-shore design turbulence intensities are lacking in the presentIEC-code. Based on the present analysis of the off-shore wind climate on two shallow water sites...

75 FR 76746 - Agency Information Collection Activities: Declaration of Ultimate Consignee That Articles Were...

Science.gov (United States)

2010-12-09

... Activities: Declaration of Ultimate Consignee That Articles Were Exported for Temporary Scientific or... That Articles Were Exported for Temporary Scientific or Educational Purposes. This is a proposed... forms of information. Title: Declaration of Ultimate Consignee That Articles Were Exported for Temporary...

Conception of electron beam-driven subcritical molten salt ultimate safety reactor

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Abalin, S.S.; Alekseev, P.N.; Ignat`ev, V.V. [Kurchatov Institute, Moscow (Russian Federation)] [and others

1995-10-01

This paper is a preliminary sketch of a conception to develop the {open_quotes}ultimate safety reactor{close_quotes} using modern reactor and accelerator technologies. This approach would not require a long-range R&D program. The ultimate safety reactor could produce heat and electric energy, expand the production of fuel, or be used for the transmutation of long-lived wastes. The use of the combined double molten salt reactor system allows adequate neutron multiplication to permit using an electron accelerator for the initial neutron flux. The general parameters of such a system are discussed in this paper.

Enhancing intercultural understanding using e-learning strategies ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

Intercultural understanding is a prerequisite for peaceful local and global citizenship, especially in South African society where prejudice and negative stereotypes were previously the order of the day because of official separatism. It is therefore crucial to teach intercultural understanding in South Africa. I report with ...

Rooted in the Soil: How Understanding the Perspectives of Landowners Can Enhance the Management of Environmental Disputes.

Science.gov (United States)

Peterson, Tarla Rai; Horton, Cristi Choat

1995-01-01

Uses mythic criticism to examine missed opportunities for identifying with landowners in ways that would enhance the constructive management of environmental disputes. Offers an alternative mythic understanding of the American West drawn from discourse with Texas ranchers. Argues for the inclusion of communities that are directly influenced, yet…

AN APPRAISAL OF INSTRUCTIONAL UNITS TO ENHANCE STUDENT UNDERSTANDING OF PROFIT-MAXIMIZING PRINCIPLES. APPENDIX TO FINAL REPORT.

Science.gov (United States)

BARKER, RICHARD L.

TWENTY-TWO OHIO HIGH SCHOOLS OFFERING VOCATIONAL AGRICULTURE TO 262 JUNIOR AND SENIOR STUDENTS PARTICIPATED IN A STUDY TO MEASURE THE RELATIVE EFFECTIVENESS OF FARM MANAGEMENT INSTRUCTIONAL UNITS DESIGNED TO ENHANCE STUDENT UNDERSTANDING OF BASIC PROFIT-MAXIMIZING PRINCIPLES WHEN USED IN TEACHING VOCATIONAL AGRICULTURE STUDENTS IN THE SCHOOL…

Ultimate deformation capacity of reinforced concrete slabs underblast load

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Doormaal, J.C.A.M. van; Weerheijm, J.

1996-01-01

In this paper a test method to determine the deformation capacity and the resistance-deformation curve of blast-loaded slabs is described. This method was developed at TNO-PML. The method has been used to determine the ultimate deformation capacity of some simply supported reinforced concrete slabs

Independent learning modules enhance student performance and understanding of anatomy.

Science.gov (United States)

Serrat, Maria A; Dom, Aaron M; Buchanan, James T; Williams, Alison R; Efaw, Morgan L; Richardson, Laura L

2014-01-01

Didactic lessons are only one part of the multimodal teaching strategies used in gross anatomy courses today. Increased emphasis is placed on providing more opportunities for students to develop lifelong learning and critical thinking skills during medical training. In a pilot program designed to promote more engaged and independent learning in anatomy, self-study modules were introduced to supplement human gross anatomy instruction at Joan C. Edwards School of Medicine at Marshall University. Modules use three-dimensional constructs to help students understand complex anatomical regions. Resources are self-contained in portable bins and are accessible at any time. Students use modules individually or in groups in a structured self-study format that augments material presented in lecture and laboratory. Pilot outcome data, measured by feedback surveys and examination performance statistics, suggest that the activity may be improving learning in gross anatomy. Positive feedback on both pre- and post-examination surveys showed that students felt the activity helped to increase their understanding of the topic. In concordance with student perception, average examination scores on module-related laboratory and lecture questions were higher in the two years of the pilot program compared with the year before its initiation. Modules can be fabricated on a modest budget using minimal resources, making implementation practical for smaller institutions. Upper level medical students assist in module design and upkeep, enabling continuous opportunities for vertical integration across the curriculum. This resource offers a feasible mechanism for enhancing independent and lifelong learning competencies, which could be a valuable complement to any gross anatomy curriculum. © 2014 American Association of Anatomists.

Ultimate-gradient accelerators physics and prospects

CERN Document Server

Skrinsky, Aleksander Nikolayevich

1995-01-01

As introduction, the needs and ways for ultimate acceleration gradients are discussed briefly. The Plasma Wake Field Acceleration is analized in the most important details. The structure of specific plasma oscillations and "high energy driver beam SP-plasma" interaction is presented, including computer simulation of the process. Some pratical ways to introduce the necessary mm-scale bunching in driver beam and to arrange sequential energy multiplication are dicussed. The influence of accelerating beam particle - plasma binary collisions is considered, also. As applications of PWFA, the use of proton super-colliders beams (LHC and Future SC) to drive the "multi particle types" accelerator, and the arrangements for the electron-positron TeV range collider are discussed.

Numerical Study on Ultimate Behaviour of Bolted End-Plate Steel Connections

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

R.E.S. Ismail

Full Text Available Abstract Bolted end-plate steel connections have become more popular due to ease of fabrication. This paper presents a three dimension Finite Element Model (FEM, using the multi-purpose software ABAQUS, to study the effect of different geometrical parameters on the ultimate behavior of the connection. The proposed model takes into account material and geometrical non-linearities, initial imperfection, contact between adjacent surfaces and the pretension force in the bolts. The Finite Element results are calibrated with published experimental results ''briefly reviewed in this paper'' and verified that the numerical model can simulate and analyze the overall and detailed behavior of different types of bolted end-plate steel connections. Using verified FEM, parametric study is then carried out to study the ultimate behavior with variations in: bolt diameter, end-plate thickness, length of column stiffener, angle of rib stiffener. The results are examined with respect to the failure modes, the evolution of the resistance, the initial stiffness, and the rotation capacity. Finally, the ultimate behavior of the bolted end-plate steel connection is discussed in detail, and recommendations for the design purpose are made.

Cable tray ultimate strength test employing a large shaker table

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Komatsu, K.; Myojin, K.; Imai, K. [The Kansai Electric Power Co., Osaka (Japan); Fuyama, H. [Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Ltd, Takasago (Japan); Kokubo, E. [Mitsubishi Heavy Industdries Ltd, Kobe (Japan)

2004-07-01

Ultimate behaviors of cable trays, used in nuclear plants, have not been well studied since cable trays are designed based on conservative design criteria. In this study, by employing a large shaker table, an ultimate strength test was conducted for cable trays used in nuclear power plants. This report describes the results of shaker table test. The following results were obtained. First, in an S{sub 2} earthquake, the damping ratio was so large - more than 30% due to the rubbing of cables - that a large response was not present and the strains in the support were within the elastic limits. Secondly, the support was strong enough to sustain the cable trays even when the strain in the support was 20 times larger than the elastic limit. (authors)

Out-of-plane ultimate shear strength of RC mat-slab foundations

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kumagai, Hitoshi; Nukui, Yasushi; Imamura, Akira; Terayama, Takeshi; Hagiwara, Tetsuya; Kojima, Isao

2011-01-01

There have been few studies on the out-of-plane shear in RC mat-slab foundations, and the reasonable method has been demanded to estimate ultimate shear strength of RC mat-slab foundations in the nuclear facilities. In the previous study, the out-of-plane loading tests on the 20 square slab specimens had been performed to collect the fundamental data. In this study, the test results were successfully predicted by 3D non-linear Finite Element Analysis. It has been confirmed that the ultimate shear stress in the slab specimen can be estimated by the Arakawa's formula, which is commonly used to estimate the shear strength of RC beams. (author)

Analysis of ultimate-heat-sink spray ponds. Technical report

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Codell, R.

1981-08-01

This report develops models which can be utilized in the design of certain types of spray ponds used in ultimate heat sinks at nuclear power plants, and ways in which the models may be employed to determine the design basis required by U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission Regulatory Guide 1.27

An Exploration of the Validity and Potential of Adult Ego Development for Enhancing Understandings of School Leadership

Science.gov (United States)

James, Chris; James, Jane; Potter, Ian

2017-01-01

An adult ego development (AED) perspective accepts that the way adults interpret and interact in the social world can change during their life-span. This article seeks to analyse the validity and potential of AED for enhancing understandings of educational leadership practice and development. We analysed the AED literature and interviewed 16…

An Enhanced Understanding of Therapeutic Communities Worldwide.

Science.gov (United States)

Tiburcio, Nelson Jose; Kressel, David

2011-01-01

Therapeutic communities posit favorable treatment outcomes by relying on the community as the healing agent (Deleon 2000). Active treatment participation and treatment tenure are two domains that are positive predictors of positive treatment outcomes over time. Some of the more important domains that remain to be thoroughly investigated in international research on therapeutic community (TC) treatment outcome studies are the underlying effects of culture on the treatment process. Cultural components play a significant role, as also reported by various TC participants over the years (such as the effects of health literacy on sustaining abstinence from drug use over the long term, Tiburcio 2008). In recent years, health literacy has taken on a significant role in order for individuals to readily understand their needs (Schillinger et al 2002; Jorm et al 1997); or as pertains to feeling shamed in the process (Parikh et al 1996). As these and other studies suggest, the cultural competence of the providers is equally important. To our knowledge the " International TC Study " and findings presented herein constitute one of only a few studies that have conducted investigations comparing therapeutic community treatment modifications internationally, from the perspective of the participants themselves and which consider cultural components of this process. One key advantage of the resulting Qualitative datasets and analyses is that it not only includes residents' perspectives, and staff experiential elements, but importantly, incorporates staff debriefings about their respective interactions at each of the international treatment modalities, presenting well rounded depictions of each of these milieus. To that end, the data examined here presents an enhanced portrait of the provider-patient treatment dynamic, and lends voice to the various aspects of treatment participation in light of these cultural issues, and from the perspective of providers, as well as the participants.

Ultimate Owner and Firm Performance - Evidence from Romanian Mining and Quarrying Listed Firms

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Cosmin MIHAI

2012-08-01

Full Text Available The main objectives of this paper are to describe the necessary steps to identify the ultimate owner and to investigate the relation between the ultimate ownership and the financial performance of Romanian mining and quarrying listed firms. The study was conducted for the companies listed on Bucharest Stock Exchange, in both regulated and non-regulated segments. The final sample included 17 companies of mining and quarrying. Return on Equity was used for measuring the financial performance of the firms. The ultimate ownership was measured by the percentage of voting rights held by a shareholder. Econometric tools like multiple linear regression analysis were used for analysis. The results of the study suggest that there is a significant negative link between financial performance and divergence between voting rights and cash-flow rights.

Augmented Robotics Dialog System for Enhancing Human–Robot Interaction

Science.gov (United States)

Alonso-Martín, Fernando; Castro-González, Aívaro; de Gorostiza Luengo, Francisco Javier Fernandez; Salichs, Miguel Ángel

2015-01-01

Augmented reality, augmented television and second screen are cutting edge technologies that provide end users extra and enhanced information related to certain events in real time. This enriched information helps users better understand such events, at the same time providing a more satisfactory experience. In the present paper, we apply this main idea to human–robot interaction (HRI), to how users and robots interchange information. The ultimate goal of this paper is to improve the quality of HRI, developing a new dialog manager system that incorporates enriched information from the semantic web. This work presents the augmented robotic dialog system (ARDS), which uses natural language understanding mechanisms to provide two features: (i) a non-grammar multimodal input (verbal and/or written) text; and (ii) a contextualization of the information conveyed in the interaction. This contextualization is achieved by information enrichment techniques that link the extracted information from the dialog with extra information about the world available in semantic knowledge bases. This enriched or contextualized information (information enrichment, semantic enhancement or contextualized information are used interchangeably in the rest of this paper) offers many possibilities in terms of HRI. For instance, it can enhance the robot's pro-activeness during a human–robot dialog (the enriched information can be used to propose new topics during the dialog, while ensuring a coherent interaction). Another possibility is to display additional multimedia content related to the enriched information on a visual device. This paper describes the ARDS and shows a proof of concept of its applications. PMID:26151202

Beyond the Lambertian limit: Novel low-symmetry gratings for ultimate light trapping enhancement in next-generation photovoltaics

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Birkmire, Robert [Univ. of Delaware, Newark, DE (United States); Hu, Juejun [Univ. of Delaware, Newark, DE (United States); Richardson, Kathleen [Univ. of Central Florida, Orlando, FL (United States). College of Optics and Photonics, Center for Research and Education in Optics and Lasers (CREOL)

2016-05-20

This project aims at addressing the efficiency limit and high fabrication cost of current light trapping methods by developing novel low-symmetry gratings (LSG) for next-generation thin c-Si photovoltaic (PV) cells. The LSG design achieves light trapping enhancement exceeding the 4n² Lambertian limit and can be fabricated over large areas using low-cost, single-step nanoimprint techniques. We further explored the use of deposited high-refractive-index glass materials for low-temperature LSG processing, which enables direct imprint sculpting of even complex grating geometries in glass without requiring an additional pattern transfer step, which minimizes processing cost and surface damage to PV cells. In the project, we have demonstrated fabrication and integration of sub-wavelength LSG with thin c-Si wafers and bifacial solar cells with low defect density. Optical absorption measurements indicate that LSGs demonstrated superior absorption enhancement compared to their traditional symmetric counterparts as predicted by our simulations. Efficiency enhancement was observed in solar cells integrated with LSGs although fabrication yield of the LSG-integrated cells remains a challenge

AN APPRAISAL OF INSTRUCTIONAL UNITS TO ENHANCE STUDENT UNDERSTANDING OF PROFIT-MAXIMIZING PRINCIPLES. RESEARCH SERIES IN AGRICULTURAL EDUCATION.

Science.gov (United States)

BARKER, RICHARD L.; BENDER, RALPH E.

TWENTY-TWO SELECTED OHIO VOCATIONAL AGRICULTURE TEACHERS AND 262 JUNIOR AND SENIOR VOCATIONAL AGRICULTURE STUDENTS PARTICIPATED IN A STUDY TO MEASURE THE RELATIVE EFFECTIVENESS OF NEWLY DEVELOPED INSTRUCTIONAL UNITS DESIGNED TO ENHANCE STUDENT UNDERSTANDING OF PROFIT-MAXIMIZING PRINCIPLES IN FARM MANAGEMENT. FARM MANAGEMENT WAS TAUGHT IN THE…

49 Stories That Make an Ultimate STEM Lesson Plan

Science.gov (United States)

Mehta, Swati; Mehta, Rohit; Berzina-Pitcher, Inese; Seals, Christopher; Mishra, Punya

2016-01-01

In this paper we reviewed what 49 large urban public school district STEM teachers enrolled in a year-long graduate certificate and fellowship program at a large Midwestern university considered as their amazing teaching moments. They were asked to share their amazing teaching moments that would make an Ultimate Lesson Plan in STEM. In smaller…

Safety related aspects of ultimate disposal of radioactive wastes

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Goemmel, R.

1992-01-01

Solutions and questions related to nuclear waste management are presented. In particular, long-term safety of repositories in Germany and Sweden is considered, with special attention being paid to methods of detection, geotechnical barriers and post-operational phase of salt dome repositories, and conditioning of wastes to make them fit for ultimate disposal. (DG) [de

Ultimate Gradient Limitation in Niobium Superconducting Accelerating Cavities

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Checchin, Mattia [Illinois Inst. of Technology, Chicago, IL (United States); Fermi National Accelerator Lab. (FNAL), Batavia, IL (United States); Grassellino, Anna [Fermi National Accelerator Lab. (FNAL), Batavia, IL (United States); Martinello, Martina [Illinois Inst. of Technology, Chicago, IL (United States); Fermi National Accelerator Lab. (FNAL), Batavia, IL (United States); Posen, Sam [Fermi National Accelerator Lab. (FNAL), Batavia, IL (United States); Romanenko, Alexander [Fermi National Accelerator Lab. (FNAL), Batavia, IL (United States); Zasadzinski, John [Illinois Inst. of Technology, Chicago, IL (United States)

2016-06-01

The present study is addressed to the theoretical description of the ultimate gradient limitation in SRF cavities. Our intent is to exploit experimental data to confirm models which provide feed-backs on how to improve the current state-of-art. New theoretical insight on the cavities limiting factor can be suitable to improve the quench field of N-doped cavities, and therefore to take advantage of high Q₀ at high gradients.

Ultimate survival in anomalous ψ(2S) decays

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Gérard, Jean-Marc; Martini, Antony

2014-01-01

The hierarchy among the radiative γ(π 0 ,η,η ′ ) decay channels for the ψ ′ looks quite different from the J/ψ one. The fate of charm, namely an ultimate survival of on-shell cc ¯ intermediate states, might give us the clue for this new puzzle in exclusive charmonium decays. A similar self-preservation has already been invoked in the past to solve the so-called ρπ puzzle.

Enhancing Understanding of Social Responsibility through Intentional Teacher Education Programming: A Profession's Imperative

Science.gov (United States)

Miels, Jill C.

2011-01-01

Universities are central to promoting the idea of civic engagement. As for teacher education programs, the author believes that civic engagement is the ultimate outcome for the profession. She argues that civic engagement should be the responsibility of every individual, but often it rests solely on the shoulders of classroom teachers. In offering…

Reliability analysis of production ships with emphasis on load combination and ultimate strength

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Wang, Xiaozhi

1995-05-01

This thesis deals with ultimate strength and reliability analysis of offshore production ships, accounting for stochastic load combinations, using a typical North Sea production ship for reference. A review of methods for structural reliability analysis is presented. Probabilistic methods are established for the still water and vertical wave bending moments. Linear stress analysis of a midships transverse frame is carried out, four different finite element models are assessed. Upon verification of the general finite element code ABAQUS with a typical ship transverse girder example, for which test results are available, ultimate strength analysis of the reference transverse frame is made to obtain the ultimate load factors associated with the specified pressure loads in Det norske Veritas Classification rules for ships and rules for production vessels. Reliability analysis is performed to develop appropriate design criteria for the transverse structure. It is found that the transverse frame failure mode does not seem to contribute to the system collapse. Ultimate strength analysis of the longitudinally stiffened panels is performed, accounting for the combined biaxial and lateral loading. Reliability based design of the longitudinally stiffened bottom and deck panels is accomplished regarding the collapse mode under combined biaxial and lateral loads. 107 refs., 76 refs., 37 tabs.

Determination of Ultimate Torque for Multiply Connected Cross Section Rod

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

V. L. Danilov

2015-01-01

Full Text Available The aim of this work is to determine load-carrying capability of the multiply cross-section rod. This calculation is based on the model of the ideal plasticity of the material, so that the desired ultimate torque is a torque at which the entire cross section goes into a plastic state.The article discusses the cylindrical multiply cross-section rod. To satisfy the equilibrium equation and the condition of plasticity simultaneously, two stress function Ф and φ are introduced. By mathematical transformations it has been proved that Ф is constant along the path, and a formula to find its values on the contours has been obtained. The paper also presents the rationale of the line of stress discontinuity and obtained relationships, which allow us to derive the equations break lines for simple interaction of neighboring circuits, such as two lines, straight lines and circles, circles and a different sign of the curvature.After substitution into the boundary condition at the end of the stress function Ф and mathematical transformations a formula is obtained to determine the ultimate torque for the multiply cross-section rod.Using the doubly connected cross-section and three-connected cross-section rods as an example the application of the formula of ultimate torque is studied.For doubly connected cross-section rod, the paper offers a formula of the torque versus the radius of the rod, the aperture radius and the distance between their centers. It also clearly demonstrates the torque dependence both on the ratio of the radii and on the displacement of hole. It is shown that the value of the torque is more influenced by the displacement of hole, rather than by the ratio of the radii.For the three-connected cross-section rod the paper shows the integration feature that consists in selection of a coordinate system. As an example, the ultimate torque is found by two methods: analytical one and 3D modeling. The method of 3D modeling is based on the Nadai�

Optical absorption enhancement in silicon nanowire arrays with a large lattice constant for photovoltaic applications.

Science.gov (United States)

Lin, Chenxi; Povinelli, Michelle L

2009-10-26

In this paper, we use the transfer matrix method to calculate the optical absorptance of vertically-aligned silicon nanowire (SiNW) arrays. For fixed filling ratio, significant optical absorption enhancement occurs when the lattice constant is increased from 100 nm to 600 nm. The enhancement arises from an increase in field concentration within the nanowire as well as excitation of guided resonance modes. We quantify the absorption enhancement in terms of ultimate efficiency. Results show that an optimized SiNW array with lattice constant of 600 nm and wire diameter of 540 nm has a 72.4% higher ultimate efficiency than a Si thin film of equal thickness. The enhancement effect can be maintained over a large range of incidence angles.

Ultimate survival in anomalous ψ(2S) decays

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Gérard, Jean-Marc; Martini, Antony

2014-03-07

The hierarchy among the radiative γ(π{sup 0},η,η{sup ′}) decay channels for the ψ{sup ′} looks quite different from the J/ψ one. The fate of charm, namely an ultimate survival of on-shell cc{sup ¯} intermediate states, might give us the clue for this new puzzle in exclusive charmonium decays. A similar self-preservation has already been invoked in the past to solve the so-called ρπ puzzle.

Current understanding of the human microbiome

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Gilbert, Jack A.; Blaser, Martin J.; Caporaso, J. Gregory; Jansson, Janet K.; Lynch, Susan V.; Knight, Rob

2018-04-10

Our understanding of the link between the human microbiome and disease, including obesity, inflammatory bowel disease, arthritis and autism, is rapidly expanding. Improvements in the throughput and accuracy of DNA sequencing of the genomes of microbial communities associated with human samples, complemented by analysis of transcriptomes, proteomes, metabolomes and immunomes, and mechanistic experiments in model systems, have vastly improved our ability to understand the structure and function of the microbiome in both diseased and healthy states. However, many challenges remain. In this Review we focus on studies in humans to describe these challenges, and propose strategies that leverage existing knowledge to move rapidly from correlation to causation, and ultimately to translation.

Getting “Just Deserts” or Seeing the “Silver Lining”: The Relation between Judgments of Immanent and Ultimate Justice

Science.gov (United States)

Harvey, Annelie J.; Callan, Mitchell J.

2014-01-01

People can perceive misfortunes as caused by previous bad deeds (immanent justice reasoning) or resulting in ultimate compensation (ultimate justice reasoning). Across two studies, we investigated the relation between these types of justice reasoning and identified the processes (perceptions of deservingness) that underlie them for both others (Study 1) and the self (Study 2). Study 1 demonstrated that observers engaged in more ultimate (vs. immanent) justice reasoning for a “good” victim and greater immanent (vs. ultimate) justice reasoning for a “bad” victim. In Study 2, participants' construals of their bad breaks varied as a function of their self-worth, with greater ultimate (immanent) justice reasoning for participants with higher (lower) self-esteem. Across both studies, perceived deservingness of bad breaks or perceived deservingness of ultimate compensation mediated immanent and ultimate justice reasoning respectively. PMID:25036011

Going beyond the Mean: Using Variances to Enhance Understanding of the Impact of Educational Interventions for Multilevel Models

Science.gov (United States)

Peralta, Yadira; Moreno, Mario; Harwell, Michael; Guzey, S. Selcen; Moore, Tamara J.

2018-01-01

Variance heterogeneity is a common feature of educational data when treatment differences expressed through means are present, and often reflects a treatment by subject interaction with respect to an outcome variable. Identifying variables that account for this interaction can enhance understanding of whom a treatment does and does not benefit in…

Enhancing Dental Students' Understanding of Poverty Through Simulation.

Science.gov (United States)

Lampiris, Lewis N; White, Alex; Sams, Lattice D; White, Tiffany; Weintraub, Jane A

2017-09-01

Dental students should develop an understanding of the barriers to and frustrations with accessing dental care and maintaining optimal oral health experienced by persons with limited resources rather than blaming the patient or caregiver. Developing this understanding may be aided by helping students learn about the lives of underserved and vulnerable patients they will encounter not only in extramural rotations, but throughout their careers. The aim of this study was to determine if dental students' understanding of daily challenges faced by families with low income changed as a result of a poverty simulation. In 2015 and 2016, an experiential poverty simulation was used to prepare third-year dental students at one U.S. dental school for their upcoming required community-based rotations. In 2015, United Way staff conducted the simulation using the Missouri Community Action Poverty Simulation (CAPS); in 2016, faculty members trained in CAPS conducted the simulation using a modified version of the tool. In the simulation, students were assigned to family units experiencing various types of hardship and were given specific identities for role-playing. A retrospective pretest and a posttest were used to assess change in levels of student understanding after the simulation. Students assessed their level of understanding in five domains: financial pressures, difficult choices, difficulties in improving one's situation, emotional stressors, and impact of community resources for those living in poverty. The survey response rates in 2015 and 2016 were 86% and 74%, respectively. For each of the five domains, students' understanding increased from 58% to 74% per domain. The majority reported that the exercise was very valuable or somewhat valuable (74% in 2015, 88% in 2016). This study found that a poverty simulation was effective in raising dental students' understanding of the challenges faced by low-income families. It also discovered that framing the issues in the

Enhancing human understanding through intelligent explanations

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Mioch, T.; Harbers, M.; Doesburg, W.A. van; Bosch, K. van den

2007-01-01

Ambient systems that explain their actions promote the user's understanding as they give the user more insight in the e®ects of their behavior on the environment. In order to provide individualized intelligent explanations, we need not only to evaluate a user's observable behavior, but we also need

Direct ultimate disposal of spent fuel DEAB. Systems analysis. Ultimate disposal concepts. Final report. Main volume

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Wahl, A.

1995-10-01

The results elaborated under the project, systems analysis of mixed radwaste disposal concepts and systems analysis of ultimate disposal concepts, provide a comprehensive description and assessment of a radwaste repository, for heat generating wastes and for wastes with negligible heat generation, and thus represent the knowledge basis for forthcoming planning work for a repository in an abandoned salt mine. A fact to be considered is that temperature field calculations have shown that there is room for further optimization with regard to the mine layout. The following aspects have been analysed: (1) safety of operation; (2) technical feasibility and realisation and licensability of the concepts; (3) operational aspects; (4) varieties of utilization of the salt dome for the intended purpose (boreholes for waste emplacement, emplacement in galleries, multi-horizon systems); (5) long-term structural stability of the mine; (6) economic efficiency; (7) nuclear materials safeguards. (orig./HP) [de

Landau damping: the mechanics model and its ultimate entropy gain

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hannay, J H; Kluge, Michel

2011-01-01

Classical mechanics has only been invoked to account for Landau damping in a rather half-hearted way, alongside plasma perturbation theory. In particular this invocation is essential for the study of the saturation, or post-linear (or 'nonlinear') regime of the damping initiated by Dawson and O'Neill. By embracing mechanics wholeheartedly here, with its attendant phase space, one can access results, old and new, cleanly and directly, and with one fewer numerical integration for the post-linear regime. By using a summation technique familiar in semiclassical quantum mechanics (Poisson summation), the one remaining numerical integration can be much improved in accuracy. Also accessible from mechanics is the ultimate entropy gain. Though zero for any finite time (in the absence of coarse graining), the entropy gain is ultimately non-zero (at infinite time the required coarse graining is zero). It is calculated analytically by using the appropriate asymptotics, hitherto not fully exploited.

[Deniss Hanovs, Valdis Tēraudkalns: Ultimate Freedom - no choice] / Olaf Mertelsmann

Index Scriptorium Estoniae

Mertelsmann, Olaf, 1969-

2014-01-01

Arvustus: Deniss Hanovs, Valdis Tēraudkalns: Ultimate Freedom - no choice. The culture of authoritarianism in Latvia, 1934-1940. (Central and Eastern Europe. Reginal perspectives in global context, Bd. 2.) Brill. Leiden-Boston 2013

Understanding Obsessive-Compulsive Personality Disorder

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Steven C. Hertler

2013-08-01

Full Text Available With the ultimate goal of better understanding Obsessive-Compulsive Personality Disorder (OCPD, the present work is a review and critique of Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (4th ed., DSM-IV diagnostic criteria at the end of their 18 years of use. Problems of specificity (polythetic criteria and failure to employ a hallmark feature make OCPD an indistinct diagnostic category that consequently contains a plurality of types. Problems of sensitivity (missing elements and concrete expression of signs make it more difficult to cull OCPD persons from the population at large. Collectively, these problems of specificity and sensitivity have undermined the efficiency of the DSM-IV criteria set; but more importantly, these problems continue to distort the clinical understanding of OCPD generally.

The ultimate security bounds of quantum key distribution protocols

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Nikolopoulos, G.M.; Alber, G.

2005-01-01

Full text: Quantum key distribution (QKD) protocols exploit quantum correlations in order to establish a secure key between two legitimate users. Recent work on QKD has revealed a remarkable link between quantum and secret correlations. In this talk we report on recent results concerning the ultimate upper security bounds of various QKD schemes (i.e., the maximal disturbance up to which the two legitimate users share quantum correlations) under the assumption of general coherent attacks. In particular, we derive an analytic expression for the ultimate upper security bound of QKD schemes that use two mutually unbiased bases. As long as the two legitimate users focus on the sifted key and treat each pair of data independently during the post processing, our results are valid for arbitrary dimensions of the information carriers. The bound we have derived is well below the predictions of optimal cloning machines. The possibility of extraction of a secret key beyond entanglement distillation is also discussed. In the case of qutrits we argue that any eavesdropping strategy is equivalent to a symmetric one. For higher dimensions, however, such equivalence is generally no longer valid. (author)

Ultimate strength of a large wind turbine blade

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Moelholt Jensen, Find

2008-05-15

The present PhD project contains a study of the structural static strength of wind turbine blades loaded in flap-wise direction. A combination of experimental and numerical work has been used to address the most critical failure mechanisms and to get an understanding of the complex structural behaviour of wind turbine blades. Four failure mechanisms observed during the fullscale tests and the corresponding FE-analysis are presented. Elastic mechanisms associated with failure, such as buckling, localized bending and the Brazier effect, are studied. Six different types of structural reinforcements helping to prevent undesired structural elastic mechanisms are presented. The functionality of two of the suggested structural reinforcements was demonstrated in full-scale tests and the rest trough FE-studies. The blade design under investigation consisted of an aerodynamic airfoil and a load carrying box girder. In total, five full-scale tests have been performed involving one complete blade and two shortened box girders. The second box girder was submitted to three independent tests covering different structural reinforcement alternatives. The advantages and disadvantages of testing a shortened load carrying box girder vs. an entire blade are discussed. Changes in the boundary conditions, loads and additional reinforcements, which were introduced in the box girder tests in order to avoid undesired structural elastic mechanisms, are presented. New and advanced measuring equipment was used in the fullscale tests to detect the critical failure mechanisms and to get an understanding of the complex structural behaviour. Traditionally, displacement sensors and strain gauges in blade tests are arranged based on an assumption of a Bernoulli-Euler beam structural response. In the present study it is shown that when following this procedure important information about distortions of the cross sections is lost. In the tests presented here, one of the aims was to measure distortion

Concept for an ultimate storage facility for heat-generating radioactive waste in clay stone in Germany

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Bollingerfehr, Wilhelm; Poehler, Matthias

2010-01-01

According to the German reference ultimate storage concept heat-generating radioactive waste from the operation of nuclear power stations should be stored permanently maintenance-free and in a non-recoverable manner in a salt formation. Within the framework of investigations into the utilisation of alternative host rocks a concept for an ultimate storage facility in clay stone was developed in an R and D project. For this purpose all important aspects of the design, development, operation and shutdown were taken into account for a model region in northern Germany. It was established that storage in 50 m deep vertical boreholes in a mine at a depth of about 350 m appears to be the most practical solution for an ultimate storage facility in clay stone. Compared to the reference concept in salt an ultimate storage facility in clay stone requires solid support of all mine openings with steel arches or shotcrete. Because of the lower maximum permissible temperature in the backfilling material (bentonite) the area required for the ultimate storage facility is about five times larger. A period of more than 100 years is estimated from survey to shutdown. (orig.)

Human enhancement and communication: on meaning and shared understanding.

Science.gov (United States)

Cabrera, Laura; Weckert, John

2013-09-01

Our technologies have enabled us to change both the world and our perceptions of the world, as well as to change ourselves and to find new ways to fulfil the human desire for improvement and for having new capacities. The debate around using technology for human enhancement has already raised many ethical concerns, however little research has been done in how human enhancement can affect human communication. The purpose of this paper is to explore whether some human enhancements could change our shared lifeworld so radically that human communication as we know it would not be possible any longer. After exploring the kinds of communication problems we are concerned with as well as mentioning some possible enhancement interventions that could bring about such problems, we will address some of the ethical implications that follow from these potential communication problems. We argue that because of the role that communication plays in human society, this issue deserves attention.

ULTimateCO2 - State of the art report. Dealing with uncertainty associated with long-term CO2 geological storage

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

2014-01-01

ULTimateCO2, a four-year collaborative project financed by the 7. Framework Programme and coordinated by BRGM, aims to shed more light on the long-term processes associated with the geological storage of CO 2 . ULTimateCO2 unites 12 partners (research institutes, universities, industrialists) and a varied panel of experts (NGOs, national authority representatives, IEAGHG,...). Based on a multidisciplinary approach, and bringing together laboratory experiments, numerical modelling and natural analogue field studies, ULTimateCO2 will increase our understanding of the long-term effects of CO 2 Capture and Storage (CCS) in terms of hydrodynamics, geochemistry, mechanics of the storage formations and their vicinity. The report contains the partners' pooled knowledge and provides a view of the current state-of-the-art for the issues addressed by this project: - The long-term reservoir trapping efficiency (WP3); - The long-term sealing integrity of faulted and fractured cap-rock (WP4); - The near-well leakage characterisation and chemical processes (WP5); - The long-term behavior of stored CO 2 looking at the basin scale (WP2); - Uncertainty assessment (WP6). Each chapter is divided into two sections: (i) a summary which explains in 'simple words' the main issues and objectives of the WP, and (ii) a current state of the art section which provides a more sound review on the specific studied processes. The aim is to provide answers to pertinent questions from a variety of users, particularly project owners, site operators and national authorities, about their exposure to uncertainty downstream of closure of a CO 2 geological storage site

Decision basis for a Danish ultimate storage for low and intermediate radioactive wastes

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

2008-11-01

In 2003 the Danish Parliament consented to let the government start the preparation of a basis for decision on a Danish ultimate storage for low and intermediate radioactive wastes. The present report was prepared by a working group and it presents the final proposal for such a decision basis. The report describes the fundamental safety and environmental principles for establishing an ultimate storage, including determining the principles for site selection, storage construction, and safety analysis. In an appendix, the amount, types, and activity level of the Danish radioactive wastes are presented. (ln)

UHS, Ultimate Heat Sink Cooling Pond Analysis

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Codell, R.; Nuttle, W.K.

1998-01-01

1 - Description of program or function: Three programs model performance of an ultimate heat sink cooling pond. National Weather Service data is read and analyzed to predict periods of lowest cooling performance and highest evaporative loss. The data is compared to local site data for significant differences. Then the maximum pond temperature is predicted. Five programs model performance of an ultimate heat sink spray pond. The cooling performance, evaporative water loss, and drift water loss as a function of wind speed are estimated for a spray field. These estimates are used in conjunction with National Weather Service data to predict periods of lowest cooling performance and highest evaporative loss. This data is compared to local site data for significant differences. Then the maximum pond temperature is predicted. 2 - Method of solution: The transfer of heat and water vapor is modeled using an equilibrium temperature procedure for an UHS cooling pond. The UHS spray pond model considers heat, mass, and momentum transfer from a single water drop with the surrounding air, and modification of the surrounding air resulting from the heat, mass, and momentum transfer from many drops in different parts of a spray field. 3 - Restrictions on the complexity of the problem: The program SPRCO uses RANF, a uniform random number generator which is an intrinsic function on the CDC. All programs except COMET use the NAMELIST statement, which is non standard. Otherwise these programs conform to the ANSI Fortran 77 standard. The meteorological data scanning procedure requires tens of years of recorded data to be effective. The models and methods, provided as useful tool for UHS analyses of cooling ponds and spray ponds, are intended as guidelines only. Use of these methods does not automatically assure NRC approval, nor are they required procedures for nuclear-power-plant licensing

Thermal performance experiments on ultimate heat sinks, spray ponds, and cooling ponds

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hadlock, R.K.

1976-12-01

A program of measurement on a Battelle-Northwest (BNW) spray pond has been completed to prove an integrated instrumentation system for application in future field experiments. The measurement programs in the field will produce data of relevance to the design and understanding of performance for ultimate heat sinks as components of emergency core cooling systems. In the absence of active emergency cooling systems, the data will be obtained on analog systems--prime candidates among these are the naturally-occurring hot ponds at Yellowstone National Park and man-made hot cooling ponds at Savannah River National Laboratory as well as spray ponds at various industrial facilities. The proof experiment has provided data that not only illustrate the effectiveness of the instrumentation system but also display interesting site-specific heat transfer processes. The data to be obtained in the field will also be site specific but must be of generic applicability in modeling for design and performance purposes. The integrated instrumentation system will evolve, through modest modifications and substantial supplementation, to provide the requisite data for the more demanding situation of work in and about hot water

Understanding how environmental enhancement and conservation activities may benefit health and wellbeing: a systematic review.

Science.gov (United States)

Lovell, Rebecca; Husk, Kerryn; Cooper, Chris; Stahl-Timmins, Will; Garside, Ruth

2015-09-07

Action taken to enhance or conserve outdoor environments may benefit health and wellbeing through the process of participation but also through improving the environment. There is interest, amongst both health and environmental organisations, in using such activities as health promotion interventions. The objective of this systematic review was to investigate the health and wellbeing impacts of participation in environmental enhancement and conservation activities and to understand how these activities may be beneficial, to whom and in what circumstances or contexts. A theory-led mixed-method systematic review was used to assess evidence of effect and to identify pathways to change (protocol: http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/ 10.1002/14651858.CD010351/full ). Due to the multi-disciplinary, dispersed and disparate body of evidence an extensive multi-stage search strategy was devised and undertaken. Twenty-seven databases and multiple sources of grey literature were searched and over 200 relevant organisations were contacted. The heterogenous evidence was synthesised using a narrative approach and a conceptual model was developed to illustrate the mechanisms of effect. Due to the limited nature of the evidence additional higher order evidence was sought to assess the plausibility of the proposed mechanisms of effect through which health and wellbeing may accrue. The majority of the quantitative evidence (13 studies; all poor quality and lower-order study designs) was inconclusive, though a small number of positive and negative associations were observed. The qualitative evidence (13 studies; 10 poor quality, 3 good) indicated that the activities were perceived to have value to health and wellbeing through a number of key mechanisms; including exposure to natural environments, achievement, enjoyment and social contact. Additional high level evidence indicated that these pathways were plausible. Despite interest in the use of environmental enhancement activities as a

Ultimate pressure capacity assessment of R FRC PCCV based on the tension stiffening tests

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hahm, Dae Gi; Choun, Young Sun

2012-01-01

The use of fibers in concrete or cement composites can enhance the performance of structural elements. Fibers have been used for a cement mixture to increase the toughness and tensile strength, and to improve the cracking and deformation characteristics. The addition of fibers into concrete can improve the ductility and increase the tensile resistance of concrete structures. Recently, the application of fibers to prestressed concrete containment vessels (PCCVs) has been a major research topic. However, the tensile stiffening behavior of reinforced - fiber reinforced concrete (RFRC) is not fully developed yet especially for specimens using large diameter re bars. In nuclear power plant (NPP) PCCVs, large diameter re bars are applied. Therefore, the tensile stiffening behavior model should be developed to assess ultimate pressure capacity (UPC) of R FRC PCCVs. In this study, we modeled the tensile stiffening behavior of R FRC PCCVs by using recently developed model, and assessed the UPC of R FRC PCCVs. To do this, we performed tension stiffening test of R FRC with large diameter re bar

Ultimate pressure capacity assessment of R FRC PCCV based on the tension stiffening tests

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Hahm, Dae Gi; Choun, Young Sun [KAERI, Daejeon (Korea, Republic of)

2012-10-15

The use of fibers in concrete or cement composites can enhance the performance of structural elements. Fibers have been used for a cement mixture to increase the toughness and tensile strength, and to improve the cracking and deformation characteristics. The addition of fibers into concrete can improve the ductility and increase the tensile resistance of concrete structures. Recently, the application of fibers to prestressed concrete containment vessels (PCCVs) has been a major research topic. However, the tensile stiffening behavior of reinforced - fiber reinforced concrete (RFRC) is not fully developed yet especially for specimens using large diameter re bars. In nuclear power plant (NPP) PCCVs, large diameter re bars are applied. Therefore, the tensile stiffening behavior model should be developed to assess ultimate pressure capacity (UPC) of R FRC PCCVs. In this study, we modeled the tensile stiffening behavior of R FRC PCCVs by using recently developed model, and assessed the UPC of R FRC PCCVs. To do this, we performed tension stiffening test of R FRC with large diameter re bar.

Ultimate analysis of PWR prestressed concrete containment subjected to internal pressure

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hu, H.-T.; Lin, Y.-H.

2006-01-01

Numerical analyses are carried out by using the ABAQUS finite element program to predict the ultimate pressure capacity and the failure mode of the PWR prestressed concrete containment at Maanshan nuclear power plant. Material nonlinearity such as concrete cracking, tension stiffening, shear retention, concrete plasticity, yielding of prestressing tendon, yielding of steel reinforcing bar and degradation of material properties due to high temperature are all simulated with proper constitutive models. Geometric nonlinearity due to finite deformation has also been considered. The results of the analysis show that when the prestressed concrete containment fails, extensive cracks take place at the apex of the dome, the junction of the dome and cylinder, and the bottom of the cylinder connecting to the base slab. In addition, the ultimate pressure capacity of the containment is higher than the design pressure by 86%

The Effectiveness of the Brain Based Teaching Approach in Enhancing Scientific Understanding of Newtonian Physics among Form Four Students

Science.gov (United States)

Saleh, Salmiza

2012-01-01

The aim of this study was to assess the effectiveness of Brain Based Teaching Approach in enhancing students' scientific understanding of Newtonian Physics in the context of Form Four Physics instruction. The technique was implemented based on the Brain Based Learning Principles developed by Caine & Caine (1991, 2003). This brain compatible…

ULtiMATE system for rapid assembly of customized TAL effectors.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Junjiao Yang

Full Text Available Engineered TAL-effector nucleases (TALENs and TALE-based constructs have become powerful tools for eukaryotic genome editing. Although many methods have been reported, it remains a challenge for the assembly of designer-based TALE repeats in a fast, precise and cost-effective manner. We present an ULtiMATE (USER-based Ligation Mediated Assembly of TAL Effector system for speedy and accurate assembly of customized TALE constructs. This method takes advantage of uracil-specific excision reagent (USER to create multiple distinct sticky ends between any neighboring DNA fragments for specific ligation. With pre-assembled templates, multiple TALE DNA-binding domains could be efficiently assembled in order within hours with minimal manual operation. This system has been demonstrated to produce both functional TALENs for effective gene knockout and TALE-mediated gene-specific transcription activation (TALE-TA. The feature of both ease-of-operation and high efficiency of ULtiMATE system makes it not only an ideal method for biologic labs, but also an approach well suited for large-scale assembly of TALENs and any other TALE-based constructions.

Towards understanding the evolution and functional diversification of DNA-containing plant organelles

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Leister, Dario Michael

2016-01-01

direct way to reconstruct the evolutionary history of plastids and mitochondria is to sequence and analyze their relatively small genomes. However, understanding the functional diversification of these organelles requires the identification of their complete protein repertoires - which is the ultimate...

Molar mass of poly(ethylene terephthalate) (PET) during ultimate uniaxial drawing

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Göschel, U.; Cools, P.J.C.H.

2000-01-01

The changes of the average molar mass Mw, Mn, Mz, and molar mass distributions during multistep uniaxial drawing of poly(ethylene terephthalate) (PET) to achieve ultimate mechanical properties have been studied in detail by means of size exclusion chromatography (SEC) with triple detection:

Molar-Mass of Poly(Ethylene-Terephthalate) (PET) During Ultimate Uniaxial Drawing

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Göschel, A.G.P.U.; Cools, P.J.C.H.

2000-01-01

The changes of the average molar mass Mw, Mn, Mz, and molar mass distributions during multistep uniaxial drawing of poly(ethylene terephthalate) (PET) to achieve ultimate mechanical properties have been studied in detail by means of size exclusion chromatography (SEC) with triple detection:

Prisoner Fasting as Symbolic Speech: The Ultimate Speech-Action Test.

Science.gov (United States)

Sneed, Don; Stonecipher, Harry W.

The ultimate test of the speech-action dichotomy, as it relates to symbolic speech to be considered by the courts, may be the fasting of prison inmates who use hunger strikes to protest the conditions of their confinement or to make political statements. While hunger strikes have been utilized by prisoners for years as a means of protest, it was…

Method for ultimate disposition of borate containing radioactive wastes by vitrification

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Bege, D.; Faust, H.J.; Puthawala, A.; Stunkel, H.

1984-01-01

Method for the ultimate disposition of radioactive wastes by vitrification, in which weak to medium radioactive waste concentrates from borate-containing radioactive liquids are mixed with added glass-forming materials, maximally in a ratio of 1:3, and the mixture heated to obtain a glass-forming melt

Duties of the Physikalisch-Technische Bundesanstalt (PTB) in connection with radioactive waste safeguarding and ultimate storage

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Roethemeyer, H.

1977-01-01

An outline of the history and duties of the Physikalisch-Technische Bundesanstalt (PTB) is to illustrate that the new duties of the PTB in connection with radioactive substance safeguarding and ultimate storage fit in very well with the range of duties of the PTB. The organisatory and technical accomplishment of these duties in cooperation with a building and operating company and with industry is explained. The department of the PTB for the 'safeguarding and ultimate storage of radioactive wastes' has an examining, appraising and licensing function in connection with construction, operation and shutdown of safety facilities. Methods for the safeguarding and ultimate storage of all the radioactive wastes in the Federal Republic of Germany are described. (HS) [de

LRFD software for design and actual ultimate capacity of confined rectangular columns.

Science.gov (United States)

2013-04-01

The analysis of concrete columns using unconfined concrete models is a well established practice. On the : other hand, prediction of the actual ultimate capacity of confined concrete columns requires specialized nonlinear : analysis. Modern codes and...

Long-term experience in salt mining and experience in salt mine decommissioning - a chance for ultimate storage?

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Sitz, P.; Rauche, H.

2003-01-01

The author discusses similarities between salt mining and ultimate storage and the possibility of using abandoned salt mines as ultimate storage site. He states that with all the numeric prediction tools now available, expert knowledge of mining engineers is still indispensable [de

Ultimate load capacities of expansion anchor bolts

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Czarnecki, R.M.; Manrique, M.A.; Samaddar, S.K.

1993-01-01

A summary of available experimental expansion anchor bolt test data is presented. These data were collected as part of programs by the nuclear industry to address generic issues related to verification of seismic adequacy of equipment in nuclear power plants. Some of the data presented are suitable for use in seismic probabilistic risk assessments. For example, mean values of ultimate strength, along with their standard deviation and coefficients of variation, for a range of most typical expansion anchor bolt sizes are presented. Effects of interaction between shear and tension, edge distance, spacing, and cracking of the concrete are presented in a manner that is more suitable for use in deterministic evaluations. Related industry programs to derive anchor bolt capacities are briefly discussed. Recommendations for areas of further investigation are also presented

COLLECTIVE VORTEX BEHAVIORS: DIVERSITY, PROXIMATE, AND ULTIMATE CAUSES OF CIRCULAR ANIMAL GROUP MOVEMENTS.

Science.gov (United States)

Delcourt, Johann; Bode, Nikolai W F; Denoël, Mathieu

2016-03-01

Ant mill, caterpillar circle, bat doughnut, amphibian vortex, duck swirl, and fish torus are different names for rotating circular animal formations, where individuals turn around a common center. These "collective vortex behaviors" occur at different group sizes from pairs to several million individuals and have been reported in a large number of organisms, from bacteria to vertebrates, including humans. However, to date, no comprehensive review and synthesis of the literature on vortex behaviors has been conducted. Here, we review the state of the art of the proximate and ultimate causes of vortex behaviors. The ubiquity of this behavioral phenomenon could suggest common causes or fundamental underlying principles across contexts. However, we find that a variety of proximate mechanisms give rise to vortex behaviors. We highlight the potential benefits of collective vortex behaviors to individuals involved in them. For example, in some species, vortices increase feeding efficiency and could give protection against predators. It has also been argued that vortices could improve collective decision-making and information transfer. We highlight gaps in our understanding of these ubiquitous behavioral phenomena and discuss future directions for research in vortex studies.

Rapid population growth and environmental degradation: ultimate versus proximate factors.

Science.gov (United States)

Shaw, R P

1989-01-01

This philosophical review of 2 arguments about responsibility for and solutions to environmental degradation concludes that both sides are correct: the ultimate and the proximal causes. Ultimate causes of pollution are defined as the technology responsible for a given type of pollution, such as burning fossil fuel; proximate causes are defined as situation-specific factors confounding the problem, such as population density or rate of growth. Commoner and others argue that developed countries with low or negative population growth rates are responsible for 80% of world pollution, primarily in polluting technologies such as automobiles, power generation, plastics, pesticides, toxic wastes, garbage, warfaring, and nuclear weapons wastes. Distortionary policies also contribute; examples are agricultural trade protection, land mismanagement, urban bias in expenditures, and institutional rigidity., Poor nations are responsible for very little pollution because poverty allows little waste or expenditures for polluting, synthetic technologies. The proximal causes of pollution include numbers and rate of growth of populations responsible for the pollution. Since change in the ultimate cause of pollution remains out of reach, altering the numbers of polluters can make a difference. Predictions are made for proportions of the world's total waste production, assuming current 1.6 tons/capita for developed countries and 0.17 tons/capita for developing countries. If developing countries grow at current rates and become more wealthy, they will be emitting half the world's waste by 2025. ON the other hand, unsustainable population growth goes along with inadequate investment in human capital: education, health, employment, infrastructure. The solution is to improve farming technologies in the 117 non-self-sufficient countries, fund development in the most unsustainable enclaves of growing countries, break institutionalized socio-political rigidity in these enclaves, and focus on

proximate and ultimate analysis of fuel pellets from oil palm residues

African Journals Online (AJOL)

HOD

Keywords: Oil Palm Residues, Fuel Pellets, Proximate Analysis, Ultimate Analysis. 1. INTRODUCTION ... Pelletizing of this biomass resources into pellets is a way of ensuring a ... demand for pellets [3], and alternative feed-stocks such as palm kernel ... agro-residues, selection of the best pellets has to be made based on ...

Evaluation of time-accelerated irradiation method of elastomer by modulus-ultimate elongation profile

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ito, Masayuki; Oka, Toshitaka; Hama, Yosimasa

2009-01-01

'Generalized modulus-ultimate elongation profile' was induced from the relationship between the modulus and the ultimate elongation of an elastomer that was quantitatively added crosslinking and scission. This profile can be used to evaluate the time-accelerated irradiation methods of ethylene-propylene-diene elastomer. The irradiation under low dose rate (0.33 kGy/h) at room temperature was the reference condition. The short-time irradiation condition was 4.2 kGy/h in 0.5 MPa oxygen at room temperature and 5.0 kGy/h in air at 70 o C. The former tended to bring about the higher ratio of scission than the reference condition; the latter tended to bring about the higher ratio of crosslinking.

A probabilistics safety assessment of ultimate response guidelines of Maanshan Nuclear Power Plant

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Wang, P-Y.; Lee, M. [National Tsing Hua Univ., Hsinchu, Taiwan (China); Chao, C-C. [Inst. of Nuclear Energy Research, Taoyuan, Taiwan (China)

2014-07-01

Ultimate Response Guidelines (URGs) was proposed to mitigate the so called 'Fukushima type accident' of nuclear power plants (NPPs). As specified in URGs, if it is necessary, operators will depressurize the secondary side of steam generators (SGs) to bring in the low pressure water. The injection damages the economic value of the plant. However, the injection prevents the cladding temperature from rising above 1500 F (1089 K), which is the temperature that release of volatile fission products from gap is initiated. In the present study, the impact of URGs on the Core Damage Frequency (CDF) in a SBO (Station Blackout) accident of a Pressurized Water Reactor (PWR) designed by Westinghouse and adopts large dry containment is quantified. In the Base Case analysis of the study, the actions in the URGs are not considered. The CDF of SBO in the base case calculation is 2.49x10{sup -7} year. The actions specified in URGs can reduce CDF by 62%. The strategies in URGs are very effective in enhancing the reliability of decay heat removal via SG secondary side. Therefore, the implementation of these strategies can reduce the CDF of sequences involving late failure of AFWS. After the incorporation URGs, the dominant sequences of SBO are the sequences with seal failure. (author)

Comparison between field data and ultimate heat-sink cooling-pond and spray-pond models

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Codell, R.

1982-09-01

Two previously published reports, NUREG-0693 and NUREG-0733, presented models and methods by which ultimate heat sink cooling ponds and spray ponds used for safety-related water supplies in nuclear power plants could be analyzed for design-basis conditions of heat load and meteorology. These models were only partially verified with field data. The present report compares the NRC models to data collected for NRC by Battelle Pacific Northwest Laboratories on the performance of small geothermally heated ponds and spray ponds. These comparisons generally support the conclusion that the NRC models are useful tools in predicting ultimate heat sink performance

Foam for Enhanced Oil Recovery : Modeling and Analytical Solutions

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Ashoori, E.

2012-01-01

Foam increases sweep in miscible- and immiscible-gas enhanced oil recovery by decreasing the mobility of gas enormously. This thesis is concerned with the simulations and analytical solutions for foam flow for the purpose of modeling foam EOR in a reservoir. For the ultimate goal of upscaling our

The use of computer based instructions to enhance Rwandan ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

This study intended to investigate into the extent to which computers and Internet that are being availed to schools in Rwanda can be used to enhance teachers' ICT competency and continuous professional development. In order to attain this ultimate aim, researchers undertook a Problem Solving and Theory Testing ...

Ultimate Electrical Means for Severe Accident and Multi Unit Event Management

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Guisez, Xavier

2015-01-01

Following the Multi Unit Severe Accident that occurred at Fukushima as a result of the tsunami on 11 March 2011, the European Council decided to submit its Nuclear Power Plants to a Stress Test. In Belgium, this Stress Test, named BEST (Belgian Stress Test), was successfully concluded at the end of 2011. Nevertheless, Electrabel decided, in agreement with the Authorities, to start a beyond design basis action plan, with the goal to mitigate the consequences of a Beyond Design Basis Accident and a Multi Unit Event. Consequently, this has led to an improvement of the robustness of its Nuclear Power Plants. Considering the importance of electrical power supply to a nuclear power plant, a significant part of this action plan consisted of setting up a mobile, 'plug and play' method for the electrical power supply to some major safety systems. In order to install this ultimate power supply, three factors were retained as essential. First, important reactor monitoring instrumentation is preserved. Second, core cooling is provided at all times. Finally, systems are easily made operational within a very short delay of time. During normal operation and Design Basis Events, core cooling is provided by High Voltage equipment. However, during high stress circumstances, it is too complex to realize connections on this equipment. Therefore, analysis was performed to realize core cooling with, easier to handle, Low Voltage equipment. These systems are powered by several GenSets, especially designed and manufactured for this application. The outcome of this project are easy to use, ultimate means, that supply electric power to important safety systems in order to drastically reduce the risk of core damage, during a beyond design basis event. Additionally, for all ultimate means, procedures and training modules were developed for the operators. (authors)

Recommendation for basis for decision on a Danish ultimate storage for low and intermediate radioactive wastes

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

2006-12-01

In 2003 the Danish Parliament consented to let the government start the preparation of a basis for decision on a Danish ultimate storage for low and intermediate radioactive wastes. The present report is the result of the preparation process, and it describes the fundamental safety and environmental principles for establishing an ultimate storage, including determining the principles for the site selection, storage construction, and safety analyses. (LN)

A Technique for Temperature and Ultimate Load Calculations of Thin Targets in a Pulsed Electron Beam

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Hansen, Jørgen-Walther; Lundsager, Per

1979-01-01

A technique is presented for the calculation of transient temperature distributions and ultimate load of rotationally symmetric thin membranes with uniform lateral load and exposed to a pulsed electron beam from a linear accelerator. Heat transfer by conduction is considered the only transfer...... mechanism. The ultimate load is calculated on the basis of large plastic strain analysis. Analysis of one aluminum and one titanium membrane is shown....

The Misfortunes of Moral Enhancement.

Science.gov (United States)

Azevedo, Marco Antonio

2016-10-01

In Unfit for the Future, Ingmar Persson and Julian Savulescu present a sophisticated argument in defense of the imperative of moral enhancement. They claim that without moral enhancement, the future of humanity is seriously compromised. The possibility of ultimate harm, caused by a dreadful terrorist attack or by a final unpreventable escalation of the present environmental crisis aggravated by the availability of cognitive enhancement, makes moral enhancement a top priority. It may be considered optimistic to think that our present moral capabilities can be successfully improved by means of moral education, moral persuasion, and fear of punishment. So, without moral enhancement, drastic restrictions on human freedom would become the only alternative to prevent those dramatic potential outcomes. In this article, I will try to show that we still have reason to be less pessimistic and that Persson & Savulescu's arguments are fortunately unconvincing. © The Author 2016. Published by Oxford University Press, on behalf of the Journal of Medicine and Philosophy Inc. All rights reserved. For permissions, please e-mail: journals.permissions@oup.com.

Enhancing Student Learning with Brain-Based Research

Science.gov (United States)

Bonnema, Ted R.

2009-01-01

This paper discusses brain-based learning and its relation to classroom instruction. A rapidly growing quantity of research currently exists regarding how the brain perceives, processes, and ultimately learns new information. In order to maximize their teaching efficacy, educators should have a basic understanding of key memory functions in the…

In vitro percutaneous absorption enhancement of granisetron by chemical penetration enhancers.

Science.gov (United States)

Zhao, Nanxi; Cun, Dongmei; Li, Wei; Ma, Xu; Sun, Lin; Xi, Honglei; Li, Li; Fang, Liang

2013-04-01

Granisetron (GRN), a potent antiemetic agent, is frequently used to prevent nausea and vomiting induced by cancer cytotoxic chemotherapy and radiation therapy. As part of our efforts to further modify the physicochemical properties of this market drug, with the ultimate goal to formulate a better dosage form for GRN, this work was carried out to improve its permeability in vitro. The permeation behavior of GRN in isopropyl myristate (IPM) was investigated across excised rabbit abdominal skin and the enhancing activities of three novel O-acylmenthol derivatives synthesized in our laboratory as well as five well-known chemical enhancers were evaluated. It was found that the steady-state flux of granisetron free base (GRN-B) was about 26-fold higher than that of granisetron hydrochloride (GRN-H). The novel enhancer, 2-isopropyl-5-methylcyclohexyl heptanoate (M-HEP), was observed to provide the most significant enhancement for the absorption of GRN-B. When incorporated in the donor solution with the optimal enhancer M-HEP, the steady-state flux of GRN-B increased from (196.44 ± 12.03) μg·cm⁻²·h⁻¹ to (1044.95 ± 71.99) μg·cm⁻²·h⁻¹ (P < 0.01). These findings indicated that the application of chemical enhancers was an effective approach to increase the percutaneous absorption of GRN in vitro.

Understanding and building wilderness management partnerships with indigenous peoples and communities

Science.gov (United States)

Gregory F. Hansen

2011-01-01

Learning about, understanding, and working with native cultures can be rewarding as well as enlightening. Such endeavors can also be time consuming, difficult, and even frustrating in certain instances. However, if coordinated carefully and managed properly, at the end of the day such efforts can ultimately result in innumerable benefits to native communities, land...

Revealing Conceptual Understanding of International Business

Science.gov (United States)

Ashley, Sue; Schaap, Harmen; de Bruijn, Elly

2017-01-01

This study aims to identify an adequate approach for revealing conceptual understanding in higher professional education. Revealing students' conceptual understanding is an important step towards developing effective curricula, assessment and aligned teaching strategies to enhance conceptual understanding in higher education. Essays and concept…

Methodology for predicting ultimate pressure capacity of the ACR-1000 containment structure

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Saudy, A.M.; Awad, A.; Elgohary, M.

2006-01-01

The Advanced CANDU Reactor or the ACR-1000 is developed by Atomic Energy of Canada Limited (AECL) to be the next step in the evolution of the CANDU product line. It is based on the proven CANDU technology and incorporates advanced design technologies. The ACR containment structure is an essential element of the overall defense in depth approach to reactor safety, and is a physical barrier against the release of radioactive material to the environment. Therefore, it is important to provide a robust design with an adequate margin of safety. One of the key design requirements of the ACR containment structure is to have an ultimate pressure capacity that is at least twice the design pressure Using standard design codes, the containment structure is expected to behave elastically at least up to 1.5 times the design pressure. Beyond this pressure level, the concrete containment structure with reinforcements and post-tension tendons behaves in a highly non-linear manner and exhibits a complex response when cracks initiate and propagate. To predict the structural non-linear responses, at least two critical features are involved. These are: the structural idealization by the geometry and material property models, and the adopted solution algorithm. Therefore, detailed idealization of the concrete structure is needed in order to accurately predict its ultimate pressure capacity. This paper summarizes the analysis methodology to be carried out to establish the ultimate pressure capacity of the ACR containment structure and to confirm that the structure meets the specified design requirements. (author)

Experimental research on the ultimate strength of hard aluminium alloy 2017 subjected to short-time radioactive heating

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Dafang, Wu; Yuewu, Wang; Bing, Pan; Meng, Mu; Lin, Zhu

2012-01-01

Highlights: ► Ultimate strength at transient heating is critical to security design of missiles. ► We measure the ultimate strength of alloy 2017 subjected to transient heating. ► Experimental results at transient heating are lacking in strength design handbook. ► Ultimate strength of alloy 2017 experimented is much higher than handbook value. ► The results provide a new method for optimal design of high-speed flight vehicles. -- Abstract: Alloy 2017 (Al–Cu–Mg) is a hard aluminium alloy strengthened by heat treatment. Because of its higher strength, finer weldability and ductility, hard aluminium alloy 2017 has been widely used in the field of aeronautics and astronautics. However, the ultimate strength and other characteristic mechanical parameters of aluminium alloy 2017 in a transient heating environment are still unclear, as these key mechanical parameters are lacking in the existing strength design handbook. The experimental characterisation of these critical parameters of aluminium alloy 2017 is undoubtedly meaningful for reliably estimating life span of and improving safety in designing high-speed flight vehicles. In this paper, the high-temperature ultimate strength, loading time and other mechanical properties of hard aluminium alloy 2017 under different transient heating temperatures and loading conditions are investigated by combining a transient aerodynamic heating simulation system and a material testing machine. The experimental results reveal that the ultimate strength and loading capability of aluminium alloy 2017 subjected to transient thermal heating are much higher than those tested in a long-time stable high-temperature environment. The research of this work not only provides a substantial basis for the loading capability improvement and optimal design of aerospace materials and structures subject to transient heating but also presents a new research direction with a practical application value.

7 CFR 4280.29 - Supplemental financing required for the Ultimate Recipient Project.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-01-01

... 7 Agriculture 15 2010-01-01 2010-01-01 false Supplemental financing required for the Ultimate Recipient Project. 4280.29 Section 4280.29 Agriculture Regulations of the Department of Agriculture... AND GRANTS Rural Economic Development Loan and Grant Programs § 4280.29 Supplemental financing...

PSA Update Procedures, an Ultimate Need for Living PSA

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hegedus, D.

1998-01-01

Nuclear facilities by their complex nature, change with time. These changes can be both physical (plant modification, etc.), operational (enhanced procedures, etc.) and organizational. In addition, there are also changes in our understanding of the plant, due to operational experience, data collection, technology enhancements, etc. Therefore, it is imperative that PSA model must be frequently up-dated or modified to reflect these changes. Over the last ten years. these has been a remarkable growth of the use of Probabilistic Safety Assessments (PSAs). The most rapidly growing area of the PSA Applications is their use to support operational decision-making. Many of these applications are characterized by the potential for not only improving the safety level but also for providing guidance on the optimal use of resources and reducing regulatory burden. To enable a wider use of the PSA model as a tool for safety activities it is essential to maintain the model in a controlled state. Moreover, to fulfill requirements for L iving PSA , the PSA model has to be constantly updated and/or monitored to reflect the current plant configuration. It should be noted that the PSA model should not only represent the plant design but should also represent the operational and emergency procedures. To keep the PSA model up-to-date several issues should be clearly defined including: - Responsibility should be divided among the PSA group, - Procedures for implementing changes should be established, and - QA requirements/program should be established to assure documentation and reporting. (author)

Focused ion beam technology and ultimate applications

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Gierak, Jacques

2009-01-01

In this topical review, the potential of the focused ion beam (FIB) technology and ultimate applications are reviewed. After an introduction to the technology and to the operating principles of liquid metal ion sources (LMIS), of ion optics and instrument architectures, several applications are described and discussed. First, the application of FIB for microcircuit inspection, metrology and failure analysis is presented. Then, we introduce and illustrate some advanced patterning schemes we propose as next generation FIB processing examples. These patterning schemes are (i) local defect injection or smoothing in magnetic thin film direct patterning, (ii) functionalization of graphite substrates to guide organization of clusters, (iii) local and selective epitaxy of III–V semiconductor quantum dots and (iv) FIB patterned solid-state nanopores for biological molecules manipulation and analysis. We conclude this work by giving our vision of the future developments for FIB technology. (topical review)

Circuitry and plasticity of the dorsal horn--toward a better understanding of neuropathic pain.

Science.gov (United States)

West, S J; Bannister, K; Dickenson, A H; Bennett, D L

2015-08-06

Maladaptive plasticity within the dorsal horn (DH) of the spinal cord is a key substrate for development of neuropathic pain following peripheral nerve injury. Advances in genetic engineering, tracing techniques and opto-genetics are leading to a much better understanding of the complex circuitry of the spinal DH and the radical changes evoked in such circuitry by nerve injury. These changes can be viewed at multiple levels including: synaptic remodeling including enhanced excitatory and reduced inhibitory drive, morphological and electrophysiological changes which are observed both to primary afferent inputs as well as DH neurons, and ultimately circuit-level rewiring which leads to altered connectivity and aberrant processing of sensory inputs in the DH. The DH should not be seen in isolation but is subject to important descending modulation from the brainstem, which is further dysregulated by nerve injury. Understanding which changes relate to specific disease-states is essential, and recent work has aimed to stratify patient populations in a mechanistic fashion. In this review we will discuss how such pathophysiological mechanisms may lead to the distressing sensory phenomena experienced by patients suffering neuropathic pain, and the relationship of such mechanisms to current and potential future treatment modalities. Copyright © 2015 IBRO. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Understanding physics

CERN Document Server

Mansfield, Michael

2011-01-01

Understanding Physics - Second edition is a comprehensive, yet compact, introductory physics textbook aimed at physics undergraduates and also at engineers and other scientists taking a general physics course. Written with today's students in mind, this text covers the core material required by an introductory course in a clear and refreshing way. A second colour is used throughout to enhance learning and understanding. Each topic is introduced from first principles so that the text is suitable for students without a prior background in physics. At the same time the book is designed to enable

Management and ultimate storage of wastes from nuclear power generation

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

1989-09-01

The annotation on R and D prorgam 86 parts I-II have been brought together in the present report part I, together with some general viewpoints, and been classified according to subject. Part II of the present report comprises viewpoints of 'Research Program 1987-1992' and part III of 'Alternative methods of ultimate storage'. Swedish and French viewpoints are presented in Swedish, the remaining foreign material in English. The comments are grouped in subject catergories. (O.S.)

Ultimate uniaxial compressive strength of stiffened panel with opening under lateral pressure

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Chang-Li Yu

2015-03-01

Full Text Available This paper concentrated on the ultimate uniaxial compressive strength of stiffened panel with opening under lateral load and also studied the design-oriented formulae. For this purpose, three series of well executed experiments on longitudinal stiffened panel with rectangular opening subjected to the combined load have been selected as test models. The finite element analysis package, ABAQUS, is used for simulation with considering the large elasticplastic deflection behavior of stiffened panels. The feasibility of the numerical procedure is verified by a good agreement of experimental results and numerical results. More cases studies are executed employing nonlinear finite element method to analyze the influence of design variables on the ultimate strength of stiffened panel with opening under combined pressure. Based on data, two design formulae corresponding to different opening types are fitted, and accuracy of them is illustrated to demonstrate that they could be applied to basic design of practical engineering structure.

Adobe Photoshop CS5 for Photographers The Ultimate Workshop

CERN Document Server

Evening, Martin

2010-01-01

If you already have a good knowledge of Adobe Photoshop and are looking to advance your skills, Adobe Photoshop CS5 for Photographers: The Ultimate Workshop is the book you've been waiting for.  Renowned photographers Martin Evening and Jeff Schewe impart their Photoshop tips and workflow, showing you how to use a vast array of rarely seen advanced Photoshop techniques.  Whether the subject is serious retouching work, weird and wonderful compositions, or planning a shoot before you've even picked up a camera, you can be sure that the advice is based on years of practical experience.

Classification of radioactive waste and determination of waste specifications as well as conditions of acceptance for ultimate storage

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Merz, E.

1983-04-01

The determination of waste specification and conditions of acceptance must follow a certain scheme, the basics of which will be presented. First the types of waste and the ultimate storage facilities will be characterized. The various categories of waste will be listed in a universally valid system, and the preliminary conditioning options will be determined. Based on the results of safety analysis taking into account the whole system - geological circumstances, ultimate store mines, types and forms of waste - specifications for the various ultimate store products are to be derived following iterative methods. Suggestions though not of a binding nature and probably subject to eventual revisions in part will be presented. To ensure the safety goals, i.e. the exclusion of radioactivity from the human biosphere, appropriate quality control is required concerning the production and the acceptance at the ultimate store. The guiding principles to be heeded will be discussed in brief. (orig./HP) [de

Too many journals? Towards a theory of repeated rejections and ultimate acceptance

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Oosterhaven, Jan

Under a set of reasonable assumptions, it is shown that all manuscripts submitted to any journal will ultimately be published, either by the first journal or by one of the following journals to which a manuscript is resubmitted. This suggests that low quality manuscripts may also be published, which

Magnetic surfaces, particle orbits and neutral injection in conventional and ultimate torsatrons

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Anderson, D.T.; Derr, J.A.; Kruckewitt, T.; Shohet, J.L.; Rehker, S.; Tataronis, J.A.

1979-01-01

Capabilities in fully non-axisymmetric numerical methods have resulted in a parametric study of various conventional and ultimate torsatron configurations. No superbananas are found in torsatrons without local magnetic wells. Neutral injection calculations show that, if the vacuum magnetic surfaces are well defined, tangential injection is very efficient

ZIO: The Ultimate Linux I/O Framework

CERN Document Server

Gonzalez Cobas, J D; Rubini, A; Nellaga, S; Vaga, F

2014-01-01

ZIO (with Z standing for “The Ultimate I/O” Framework) was developed for CERN with the specific needs of physics labs in mind, which are poorly addressed in the mainstream Linux kernel. ZIO provides a framework for industrial, high-bandwith, high-channel count I/O device drivers (digitizers, function generators, timing devices like TDCs) with performance, generality and scalability as design goals. Among its features, it offers abstractions for • both input and output channels, and channel sets • run-time selection of trigger types • run-time selection of buffer types • sysfs-based configuration • char devices for data and metadata • a socket interface (PF ZIO) as alternative to char devices In this paper, we discuss the design and implementation of ZIO, and describe representative cases of driver development for typical and exotic applications: drivers for the FMC (FPGAMezzanine Card, see [1]) boards developed at CERN like the FMC ADC 100Msps digitizer, FMC TDC timestamp counter, and FMC DEL ...

Ultimately short ballistic vertical graphene Josephson junctions

Science.gov (United States)

Lee, Gil-Ho; Kim, Sol; Jhi, Seung-Hoon; Lee, Hu-Jong

2015-01-01

Much efforts have been made for the realization of hybrid Josephson junctions incorporating various materials for the fundamental studies of exotic physical phenomena as well as the applications to superconducting quantum devices. Nonetheless, the efforts have been hindered by the diffusive nature of the conducting channels and interfaces. To overcome the obstacles, we vertically sandwiched a cleaved graphene monoatomic layer as the normal-conducting spacer between superconducting electrodes. The atomically thin single-crystalline graphene layer serves as an ultimately short conducting channel, with highly transparent interfaces with superconductors. In particular, we show the strong Josephson coupling reaching the theoretical limit, the convex-shaped temperature dependence of the Josephson critical current and the exceptionally skewed phase dependence of the Josephson current; all demonstrate the bona fide short and ballistic Josephson nature. This vertical stacking scheme for extremely thin transparent spacers would open a new pathway for exploring the exotic coherence phenomena occurring on an atomic scale. PMID:25635386

The Assessment of the Ultimate Hull Girder Strength of RO-RO Ship after Damages

Science.gov (United States)

Zubair Muis Alie, Muhammad; Sitepu, Ganding; Izaak Latumahin, Samuel

2018-03-01

Many accidents of Ro-Ro ships happen in Indonesia such as collision and grounding. When the collision or grounding takes place on the Ro-Ro ship, the ultimate strength of hull structure after damage becomes decrease. Car and passenger decks are critical location since collision and/or grounding occur. In the present study, the assessment of the ultimate hull girder strength is conducted. The cross section of Ro-Ro ship is taken to be analyzed. The collision and grounding damages are assumed to be palced on the side and bottom area, respectively. The damages are created by removing the element from the side shell and bottom part. Finally, the result obtained is compared with one another.

NEOCE: a new external occulting coronagraph experiment for ultimate observations of the chromosphere, corona and interface

Science.gov (United States)

Damé, Luc; Fineschi, Silvano; Kuzin, Sergey; Von Fay-Siebenburgen, Erdélyi Robert

Several ground facilities and space missions are currently dedicated to the study of the Sun at high resolution and of the solar corona in particular. However, and despite significant progress with the advent of space missions and UV, EUV and XUV direct observations of the hot chromosphere and million-degrees coronal plasma, much is yet to be achieved in the understanding of these high temperatures, fine dynamic dissipative structures and of the coronal heating in general. Recent missions have shown the definite role of a wide range of waves and of the magnetic field deep in the inner corona, at the chromosphere-corona interface, where dramatic and physically fundamental changes occur. The dynamics of the chromosphere and corona is controlled and governed by the emerging magnetic field. Accordingly, the direct measurement of the chromospheric and coronal magnetic fields is of prime importance. The solar corona consists of many localised loop-like structures or threads with the plasmas brightening and fading independently. The plasma evolution in each thread is believed to be related to the formation of filaments, each one being dynamic, in a non-equilibrium state. The mechanism sustaining this dynamics, oscillations or waves (Alfvén or other magneto-plasma waves), requires both very high-cadence, multi-spectral observations, and high resolution and coronal magnetometry. This is foreseen in the future Space Mission NEOCE (New External Occulting Coronagraph Experiment), the ultimate new generation high-resolution coronagraphic heliospheric mission, to be proposed for ESA M4. NEOCE, an evolution of the HiRISE mission, is ideally placed at the L5 Lagrangian point (for a better follow-up of CMEs), and provides FUV imaging and spectro-imaging, EUV and XUV imaging and spectroscopy, and ultimate coronagraphy by a remote external occulter (two satellites in formation flying 375 m apart minimizing scattered light) allowing to characterize temperature, densities and

Understanding Female Receiver Psychology in Reproductive Contexts.

Science.gov (United States)

Lynch, Kathleen S

2017-10-01

Mate choice decision-making requires four components: sensory, cognitive, motivation, and salience. During the breeding season, the neural mechanisms underlying these components act in concert to radically transform the way a female perceives the social cues around her as well as the way in which cognitive and motivational processes influence her decision to respond to courting males. The role of each of these four components in mate choice responses will be discussed here as well as the brain regions involved in regulating each component. These components are not independent, modular systems. Instead, they are dependent on one another. This review will discuss the many ways in which these components interact and affect one another. The interaction of these components, however, ultimately leads back to a few key neuromodulators that thread motivation, sensory, salience, and cognitive components into a set of inter-dependent processes. These neuromodulators are estrogens and catecholamines. This review will highlight the need to understand estrogens in reproductive contexts not just as simply a 'sexual motivation modulator' or catecholamines as 'cognitive regulators' but as neuromodulators that work together to fully transform a non-breeding female into a completely reproductive female displaying: heightened sexual interest in courting males, greater arousal and selective attention toward courtship signals, improved signal detection and discrimination abilities, enhanced contextual signal memory, and increased motivation to respond to signals assigned incentive salience. The aim of this review is to build a foundation in which to understand the brain regions associated with cognitive, sensory, motivational, and signal salience not as independently acting systems but as a set of interacting processes that function together in a context-appropriate manner. © The Author 2017. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the Society for Integrative and Comparative

Understanding Biological Regulation Through Synthetic Biology.

Science.gov (United States)

Bashor, Caleb J; Collins, James J

2018-03-16

Engineering synthetic gene regulatory circuits proceeds through iterative cycles of design, building, and testing. Initial circuit designs must rely on often-incomplete models of regulation established by fields of reductive inquiry-biochemistry and molecular and systems biology. As differences in designed and experimentally observed circuit behavior are inevitably encountered, investigated, and resolved, each turn of the engineering cycle can force a resynthesis in understanding of natural network function. Here, we outline research that uses the process of gene circuit engineering to advance biological discovery. Synthetic gene circuit engineering research has not only refined our understanding of cellular regulation but furnished biologists with a toolkit that can be directed at natural systems to exact precision manipulation of network structure. As we discuss, using circuit engineering to predictively reorganize, rewire, and reconstruct cellular regulation serves as the ultimate means of testing and understanding how cellular phenotype emerges from systems-level network function. Expected final online publication date for the Annual Review of Biophysics Volume 47 is May 20, 2018. Please see http://www.annualreviews.org/page/journal/pubdates for revised estimates.

Understanding modern transparency

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Meijer, A.J.|info:eu-repo/dai/nl/172436729

2009-01-01

Proponents and opponents fiercely debate whether computer-mediated transparency has a positive effect on trust in the public sector. This article enhances our understanding of transparency by presenting three perspectives: a premodern, modern and post-modern perspective, and analyzing the basic

Revealing conceptual understanding of international business

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Sue Ashley; Dr. Harmen Schaap; Prof.Dr. Elly de Bruijn

2017-01-01

This study aims to identify an adequate approach for revealing conceptual understanding in higher professional education. Revealing students’ conceptual understanding is an important step towards developing effective curricula, assessment and aligned teaching strategies to enhance conceptual

The prospects of transition metal dichalcogenides for ultimately scaled CMOS

Science.gov (United States)

Thiele, S.; Kinberger, W.; Granzner, R.; Fiori, G.; Schwierz, F.

2018-05-01

MOSFET gate length scaling has been a main source of progress in digital electronics for decades. Today, researchers still spend considerable efforts on reducing the gate length and on developing ultimately scaled MOSFETs, thereby exploring both new device architectures and alternative channel materials beyond Silicon such as two-dimensional TMDs (transition metal dichalcogenide). On the other hand, the envisaged scaling scenario for the next 15 years has undergone a significant change recently. While the 2013 ITRS edition required a continuation of aggressive gate length scaling for at least another 15 years, the 2015 edition of the ITRS suggests a deceleration and eventually a levelling off of gate length scaling and puts more emphasis on alternative options such as pitch scaling to keep Moore's Law alive. In the present paper, future CMOS scaling is discussed in the light of emerging two-dimensional MOSFET channel, in particular two-dimensional TMDs. To this end, the scaling scenarios of the 2013 and 2015 ITRS editions are considered and the scaling potential of TMD MOSFETs is investigated by means of quantum-mechanical device simulations. It is shown that for ultimately scaled MOSFETs as required in the 2013 ITRS, the heavy carrier effective masses of the Mo- and W-based TMDs are beneficial for the suppression of direct source-drain tunneling, while to meet the significantly relaxed scaling targets of the 2016 ITRS heavy-effective-mass channels are not needed.

The Contribution of Constructivist Instruction Accompanied by Concept Mapping in Enhancing Pre-Service Chemistry Teachers' Conceptual Understanding of Chemistry in the Laboratory Course

Science.gov (United States)

Aydin, Sevgi; Aydemir, Nurdane; Boz, Yezdan; Cetin-Dindar, Ayla; Bektas, Oktay

2009-01-01

The present study aimed to evaluate whether a chemistry laboratory course called "Laboratory Experiments in Science Education" based on constructivist instruction accompanied with concept mapping enhanced pre-service chemistry teachers' conceptual understanding. Data were collected from five pre-service chemistry teachers at a university…

Future Synchrotron Light Sources Based on Ultimate Storage Rings

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Cai, Yunhai

2012-01-01

The main purpose of this talk is to describe how far one might push the state of the art in storage ring design. The talk will start with an overview of the latest developments and advances in the design of synchrotron light sources based on the concept of an 'ultimate' storage ring. The review will establish how bright a ring based light source might be, where the frontier of technological challenges are, and what the limits of accelerator physics are. Emphasis will be given to possible improvements in accelerator design and developments in technology toward the goal of achieving an ultimate storage ring. An ultimate storage ring (USR), defined as an electron ring-based light source having an emittance in both transverse planes at the diffraction limit for the range of X-ray wavelengths of interest for a scientific community, would provide very high brightness photons having high transverse coherence that would extend the capabilities of X-ray imaging and probe techniques beyond today's performance. It would be a cost-effective, high-coherence 4th generation light source, competitive with one based on energy recovery linac (ERL) technology, serving a large number of users studying material, chemical, and biological sciences. Furthermore, because of the experience accumulated over many decades of ring operation, it would have the great advantage of stability and reliability. In this paper we consider the design of an USR having 10-pm-rad emittance. It is a tremendous challenge to design a storage ring having such an extremely low emittance, a factor of 100 smaller than those in existing light sources, especially such that it has adequate dynamic aperture and beam lifetime. In many ultra-low emittance designs, the injection acceptances are not large enough for accumulation of the electron beam, necessitating on-axis injection where stored electron bunches are completely replaced with newly injected ones. Recently, starting with the MAX-IV 7-bend achromatic cell, we

Future Synchrotron Light Sources Based on Ultimate Storage Rings

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Cai, Yunhai; /SLAC

2012-04-09

The main purpose of this talk is to describe how far one might push the state of the art in storage ring design. The talk will start with an overview of the latest developments and advances in the design of synchrotron light sources based on the concept of an 'ultimate' storage ring. The review will establish how bright a ring based light source might be, where the frontier of technological challenges are, and what the limits of accelerator physics are. Emphasis will be given to possible improvements in accelerator design and developments in technology toward the goal of achieving an ultimate storage ring. An ultimate storage ring (USR), defined as an electron ring-based light source having an emittance in both transverse planes at the diffraction limit for the range of X-ray wavelengths of interest for a scientific community, would provide very high brightness photons having high transverse coherence that would extend the capabilities of X-ray imaging and probe techniques beyond today's performance. It would be a cost-effective, high-coherence 4th generation light source, competitive with one based on energy recovery linac (ERL) technology, serving a large number of users studying material, chemical, and biological sciences. Furthermore, because of the experience accumulated over many decades of ring operation, it would have the great advantage of stability and reliability. In this paper we consider the design of an USR having 10-pm-rad emittance. It is a tremendous challenge to design a storage ring having such an extremely low emittance, a factor of 100 smaller than those in existing light sources, especially such that it has adequate dynamic aperture and beam lifetime. In many ultra-low emittance designs, the injection acceptances are not large enough for accumulation of the electron beam, necessitating on-axis injection where stored electron bunches are completely replaced with newly injected ones. Recently, starting with the MAX-IV 7-bend

Behaviour of concrete nuclear containment structures upto ultimate failure with special reference to MAPP-1 containment

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Appa Rao, T.V.S.R.

1975-01-01

Theoretical and experimental methods for investigating the behaviour of concrete secondary containment structures subjected to loads upto their ultimate failure have been discussed in the paper. Need for inelastic nonlinear analysis of containments has been emphasized. Different contitutive models of concrete that can be employed in the nonlinear analysis of concrete structures were briefly reviewed. Based on the experimental results obtained in a 1:12 scale model test conducted at the Structural Engineering Research (Regional) Centre, Madras, behaviour of the MAPP-1 containment to internal pressure loading upto its ultimate failure has been discussed. (author)

Assessing student understanding of sound waves and trigonometric reasoning in a technology-rich, project-enhanced environment

Science.gov (United States)

Wilhelm, Jennifer Anne

This case study examined what student content understanding could occur in an inner city Industrial Electronics classroom located at Tree High School where project-based instruction, enhanced with technology, was implemented for the first time. Students participated in a project implementation unit involving sound waves and trigonometric reasoning. The unit was designed to foster common content learning (via benchmark lessons) by all students in the class, and to help students gain a deeper conceptual understanding of a sub-set of the larger content unit (via group project research). The objective goal of the implementation design unit was to have students gain conceptual understanding of sound waves, such as what actually waves in a wave, how waves interfere with one another, and what affects the speed of a wave. This design unit also intended for students to develop trigonometric reasoning associated with sinusoidal curves and superposition of sinusoidal waves. Project criteria within this design included implementation features, such as the need for the student to have a driving research question and focus, the need for benchmark lessons to help foster and scaffold content knowledge and understanding, and the need for project milestones to complete throughout the implementation unit to allow students the time for feedback and revision. The Industrial Electronics class at Tree High School consisted of nine students who met daily during double class periods giving 100 minutes of class time per day. The class teacher had been teaching for 18 years (mathematics, physics, and computer science). He had a background in engineering and experience teaching at the college level. Benchmark activities during implementation were used to scaffold fundamental ideas and terminology needed to investigate characteristics of sound and waves. Students participating in benchmark activities analyzed motion and musical waveforms using probeware, and explored wave phenomena using waves

Radionuclide getters in the near-field chemistry of repositories

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Holland, T.R.; Lee, D.J.

1993-01-01

The ultimate release of radionuclides from a radioactive waste repository will depend upon the natural and man-made barriers surrounding the site. An opportunity exists to enhance natural radionuclide retention through improved sorption, by the use of suitable additives applied to the repository backfill material. This programme of work was designed to identify problem isotopes, to search for suitable materials to enhance their retention and ultimately to provide, through experimental studies, an understanding of their effectiveness under repository conditions. (Author)

MO-E-18C-04: Advanced Computer Simulation and Visualization Tools for Enhanced Understanding of Core Medical Physics Concepts

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Naqvi, S

2014-01-01

Purpose: Most medical physics programs emphasize proficiency in routine clinical calculations and QA. The formulaic aspect of these calculations and prescriptive nature of measurement protocols obviate the need to frequently apply basic physical principles, which, therefore, gradually decay away from memory. E.g. few students appreciate the role of electron transport in photon dose, making it difficult to understand key concepts such as dose buildup, electronic disequilibrium effects and Bragg-Gray theory. These conceptual deficiencies manifest when the physicist encounters a new system, requiring knowledge beyond routine activities. Methods: Two interactive computer simulation tools are developed to facilitate deeper learning of physical principles. One is a Monte Carlo code written with a strong educational aspect. The code can “label” regions and interactions to highlight specific aspects of the physics, e.g., certain regions can be designated as “starters” or “crossers,” and any interaction type can be turned on and off. Full 3D tracks with specific portions highlighted further enhance the visualization of radiation transport problems. The second code calculates and displays trajectories of a collection electrons under arbitrary space/time dependent Lorentz force using relativistic kinematics. Results: Using the Monte Carlo code, the student can interactively study photon and electron transport through visualization of dose components, particle tracks, and interaction types. The code can, for instance, be used to study kerma-dose relationship, explore electronic disequilibrium near interfaces, or visualize kernels by using interaction forcing. The electromagnetic simulator enables the student to explore accelerating mechanisms and particle optics in devices such as cyclotrons and linacs. Conclusion: The proposed tools are designed to enhance understanding of abstract concepts by highlighting various aspects of the physics. The simulations serve as

MO-E-18C-04: Advanced Computer Simulation and Visualization Tools for Enhanced Understanding of Core Medical Physics Concepts

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Naqvi, S [Saint Agnes Cancer Institute, Department of Radiation Oncology, Baltimore, MD (United States)

2014-06-15

Purpose: Most medical physics programs emphasize proficiency in routine clinical calculations and QA. The formulaic aspect of these calculations and prescriptive nature of measurement protocols obviate the need to frequently apply basic physical principles, which, therefore, gradually decay away from memory. E.g. few students appreciate the role of electron transport in photon dose, making it difficult to understand key concepts such as dose buildup, electronic disequilibrium effects and Bragg-Gray theory. These conceptual deficiencies manifest when the physicist encounters a new system, requiring knowledge beyond routine activities. Methods: Two interactive computer simulation tools are developed to facilitate deeper learning of physical principles. One is a Monte Carlo code written with a strong educational aspect. The code can “label” regions and interactions to highlight specific aspects of the physics, e.g., certain regions can be designated as “starters” or “crossers,” and any interaction type can be turned on and off. Full 3D tracks with specific portions highlighted further enhance the visualization of radiation transport problems. The second code calculates and displays trajectories of a collection electrons under arbitrary space/time dependent Lorentz force using relativistic kinematics. Results: Using the Monte Carlo code, the student can interactively study photon and electron transport through visualization of dose components, particle tracks, and interaction types. The code can, for instance, be used to study kerma-dose relationship, explore electronic disequilibrium near interfaces, or visualize kernels by using interaction forcing. The electromagnetic simulator enables the student to explore accelerating mechanisms and particle optics in devices such as cyclotrons and linacs. Conclusion: The proposed tools are designed to enhance understanding of abstract concepts by highlighting various aspects of the physics. The simulations serve as

Application of risk-informed design methods to select the PSACS ultimate heat sink

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Elliott, Michael A.; Apostolakis, George E.

2009-01-01

In the early phases of advanced system design, information is scarce. The technologies, components and processes to be used have not been specified adequately or are not well understood and uncertainties are very large. Yet, it is during these early phases that design teams and other stakeholders are required to make critical decisions to guide the development of the system. To aid in this decision making, a formal process is proposed based on the Analytic-Deliberative Decision-Making Process (ADP) that allows stakeholders to synthesize rationally their knowledge and experience and facilitate learning and sharing of best practices. The ADP identifies and prioritizes attributes relevant to a decision problem and supports the formulation of metrics to measure the performance of different design options. This paper reports on an application of the ADP to the selection of an ultimate heat sink for the Flexible Conversion Ratio (FCR) reactor's Passive Secondary Auxiliary Cooling System (PSACS). Two ultimate heat sink options are identified and evaluated, air and water.

O-O Radical Coupling: From Detailed Mechanistic Understanding to Enhanced Water Oxidation Catalysis.

Science.gov (United States)

Xie, Yan; Shaffer, David W; Concepcion, Javier J

2018-04-30

A deeper mechanistic understanding of the key O-O bond formation step of water oxidation by the [Ru(bda)(L) 2 ] (bdaH 2 = 2,2'-bipyridine-6,6'-dicarboxylic acid; L is a pyridine or isoquinoline derivative) family of catalysts is reached through harmonious experimental and computational studies of two series of modified catalysts with systematic variations in the axial ligands. The introduction of halogen and electron-donating substituents in [Ru(bda)(4-X-py) 2 ] and [Ru(bda)(6-X-isq) 2 ] (X is H, Cl, Br, and I for the pyridine series and H, F, Cl, Br, and OMe for the isoquinoline series) enhances the noncovalent interactions between the axial ligands in the transition state for the bimolecular O-O coupling, resulting in a lower activation barrier and faster catalysis. From detailed transition state calculations in combination with experimental kinetic studies, we find that the main contributor to the free energy of activation is entropy due to the highly organized transition states, which is contrary to other reports. Previous work has considered only the electronic influence of the substituents, suggesting electron-withdrawing groups accelerate catalysis, but we show that a balance between polarizability and favorable π-π interactions is the key, leading to rationally devised improvements. Our calculations predict the catalysts with the lowest Δ G ⧧ for the O-O coupling step to be [Ru(bda)(4-I-py) 2 ] and [Ru(bda)(6,7-(OMe) 2 -isq) 2 ] for the pyridine and isoquinoline families, respectively. Our experimental results corroborate these predictions: the turnover frequency for [Ru(bda)(4-I-py) 2 ] (330 s -1 ) is a 10-fold enhancement with respect to that of [Ru(bda)(py) 2 ], and the turnover frequency for [Ru(bda)(6-OMe-isq) 2 ] reaches 1270 s -1 , two times faster than [Ru(bda)(isq) 2 ].

A Case of Contiguous Primary Hepatic Marginal Zone B-Cell Lymphoma and Hemangioma Ultimately Diagnosed Using Contrast-Enhanced Ultrasonography

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Kazue Shiozawa

2015-02-01

Full Text Available Primary hepatic marginal zone B-cell malignant lymphoma of mucosa-associated lymphoid tissue (MALT lymphoma is extremely rare. We present a case in which a lesion was diagnosed as 2 contiguous tumors (MALT lymphoma and hemangioma using contrast-enhanced ultrasonography (US with sonazoid. There has been no previous case of contiguous hepatic MALT lymphoma and hemangioma. The present case was a female with no medical history. We detected a snowman-like appearance, which was a tumor of 15 mm in diameter with hypo- and hyper-echogenicities in the lateral and medial parts, respectively, in the Couinaud's segment (S6 of the liver on US. The tumor appeared as a single lesion with a low-density area in the unenhanced phase and prolonged enhancement in the equilibrium phases on dynamic CT. On MRI, the whole lesion showed a low-intensity signal on T1-weighted imaging, but isointensity in the lateral part and high intensity in the medial part were seen on T2-weighted imaging. On contrast-enhanced US, the lateral hypoechoic region was homogenously hyperenhanced in the early vascular phase, and the contrast medium was washed out after about 30 s; in contrast, the medial hyperechoic region was gradually stained from the margin toward the central region. The tumor showed a defect in both hypo- and hyperechoic regions in the postvascular phase. Hemangioma was suspected for the medial part based on the typical image findings, but the lateral part was not given a diagnosis. Thus, surgical resection was performed. The medial part was a hemangioma, and the lateral part was a MALT lymphoma by histopathological findings.

Implementation of 5E Inquiry Incorporated with Analogy Learning Approach to Enhance Conceptual Understanding of Chemical Reaction Rate for Grade 11 Students

Science.gov (United States)

Supasorn, Saksri; Promarak, Vinich

2015-01-01

The main purpose of this study was to enhance student understanding of the scientific concepts of chemical reaction rate. Forty-four grade 11 students were the target group. The treatment tools were seven learning plans of 5E inquiry incorporated with an analogy learning approach during 15 hours of class time. In each learning plan, the students…

The ultimate safe (US) Reactor: A concept for the third millenium

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Gat, U.

1986-01-01

The Ultimate Safe (U.S.) Reactor is based on a novel safety concept. Fission products in the reactor are allowed to accumulate only to a level at which they would constitute a harmless source term. Removal of fission products also removes the decay heat - the driving force for the source term. The reactor has no excess criticality and is controlled by the reactivity temperature coefficient. Safety is inherent and passive. Waste is removed from the site promptly

26 CFR 48.6427-10 - Kerosene; claims by registered ultimate vendors (blocked pumps).

Science.gov (United States)

2010-04-01

... (blocked pumps). 48.6427-10 Section 48.6427-10 Internal Revenue INTERNAL REVENUE SERVICE, DEPARTMENT OF THE...; claims by registered ultimate vendors (blocked pumps). (a) Overview. This section provides rules under... allowed by section 6427(l)(5)(B)(i). These claims relate to kerosene sold from a blocked pump. Claims...

Qualtum cosmics-and-chaotics--the ultimate tortoise in physics and modern medicine.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Kothari M

1997-10-01

Full Text Available Qualtum cosmics is the qualitative opposite of quantum mechanics. The flip-side of qualtum cosmics is qualtum chaotics, the two governing much of what is seen as inscrutable in medicine. The Ultimate (Last Tortoise is close to Einsteinean idea of a Unified Theory, a single concept that can explain whatsoever there is in physics, (and in medicine, or what have you.

Assessment of Coping Capability of KORI Unit 1 under Extended Loss AC Power and Loss of Ultimate Heat Sink Initiated by Beyond Design Natural Disaster

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Kim, Chang Hyun; Ha, Sang Jun [KHNP CRI, Daejeon (Korea, Republic of); Han, Kee Soo [Nuclear Engineering Service and Solution (NESS) Co. Ltd., Deajeon (Korea, Republic of); Park, Chan Eok [KEPCO Engineering and Constructd., Deajeon (Korea, Republic of)

2016-10-15

In Korea, the government and industry performed comprehensive safety inspection on all domestic nuclear power plants against beyond design basis external events and fifty action items have been issued. In addition to post- Fukushima action items, the stress tests for all domestic nuclear power plants are on the way to enhance the safety of domestic nuclear power plants through finding the vulnerabilities in intentional stress conditions initiated by beyond design natural disaster. This paper presents assessment results of coping capability of KORI Unit 1 under the simultaneous Extended Loss of AC Power (ELAP) and Loss of Ultimate Heat Sink (LUHS) which is a representative plant condition initiated by beyond design natural disaster. The assessment of the coping capability of KORI Unit 1 has been performed under simultaneous the extended loss of AC power and loss of ultimate heat sink initiated by beyond design natural disaster. It is concluded that KORI Unit 1 has the capability, in the event of loss of safety functions by beyond design natural disaster, to sufficiently cool down the reactor core without fuel damage, to keep pressure boundaries of the reactor coolant system in transient condition and to control containment and temperature to maintain the integrity of the containment buildings.

Assessment of Coping Capability of KORI Unit 1 under Extended Loss AC Power and Loss of Ultimate Heat Sink Initiated by Beyond Design Natural Disaster

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kim, Chang Hyun; Ha, Sang Jun; Han, Kee Soo; Park, Chan Eok

2016-01-01

In Korea, the government and industry performed comprehensive safety inspection on all domestic nuclear power plants against beyond design basis external events and fifty action items have been issued. In addition to post- Fukushima action items, the stress tests for all domestic nuclear power plants are on the way to enhance the safety of domestic nuclear power plants through finding the vulnerabilities in intentional stress conditions initiated by beyond design natural disaster. This paper presents assessment results of coping capability of KORI Unit 1 under the simultaneous Extended Loss of AC Power (ELAP) and Loss of Ultimate Heat Sink (LUHS) which is a representative plant condition initiated by beyond design natural disaster. The assessment of the coping capability of KORI Unit 1 has been performed under simultaneous the extended loss of AC power and loss of ultimate heat sink initiated by beyond design natural disaster. It is concluded that KORI Unit 1 has the capability, in the event of loss of safety functions by beyond design natural disaster, to sufficiently cool down the reactor core without fuel damage, to keep pressure boundaries of the reactor coolant system in transient condition and to control containment and temperature to maintain the integrity of the containment buildings

Nonlinear finite element analysis of nuclear reinforced prestressed concrete containments up to ultimate load capacity

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Gupta, A.; Singh, R.K.; Kushwaha, H.S.; Mahajan, S.C.; Kakodkar, A.

1996-01-01

For safety evaluation of nuclear structures a finite element code ULCA (Ultimate Load Capacity Assessment) has been developed. Eight/nine noded isoparametric quadrilateral plate/shell element with reinforcement as a through thickness discrete but integral smeared layer of the element is presented to analyze reinforced and prestressed concrete structures. Various constitutive models such as crushing, cracking in tension, tension stiffening and rebar yielding are studied and effect of these parameters on the reserve strength of structures is brought out through a number of benchmark tests. A global model is used to analyze the prestressed concrete containment wall of a typical 220 MWe Pressurized Heavy Water Reactor (PHWR) up to its ultimate capacity. This demonstrates the adequacy of Indian PHWR containment design to withstand severe accident loads

A Comparative Study of the Effects of a Concept Mapping Enhanced Laboratory Experience on Turkish High School Students' Understanding of Acid-Base Chemistry

Science.gov (United States)

Ozmen, Haluk; Demircioglu, Gokhan; Coll, Richard K.

2009-01-01

The research reported here consists of the introduction of an intervention based on a series of laboratory activities combined with concept mapping. The purpose of this intervention was to enhance student understanding of acid-base chemistry for tenth grade students' from two classes in a Turkish high school. An additional aim was to enhance…

ONE FINANCIAL REPORTING GLOBAL LANGUAGE: THE ULTIMATE GOAL?

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Amelia Limijaya

2017-05-01

Full Text Available This article aims to analyse the extent to which international accounting standards is applied and whether it is the ultimate goal. Up until the end of 2016, approximately there are 84% of the 149 jurisdictions analysed which require IFRS for all or most domestic publicly accountable entities. This may indicate that we are not that much further from having a single set of globally-accepted accounting standards. However, there is more to financial reporting than just accounting standards alone, such as the political aspect of accounting standard-setting, translation issues surrounding IFRS adoption, the US position and the complexity of financial reporting. Improving financial reporting quality needs more than just having global accounting standards, rather, it is also essential to consider the preparers’ incentives and other institutions surrounding the firm. Stakeholders need to broaden the perspective when viewing financial reporting, so that it will not be focused merely on accounting standards alone.

Understanding and Enhancing Soil Biological Health: The Solution for Reversing Soil Degradation

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

R. Michael Lehman

2015-01-01

Full Text Available Our objective is to provide an optimistic strategy for reversing soil degradation by increasing public and private research efforts to understand the role of soil biology, particularly microbiology, on the health of our world’s soils. We begin by defining soil quality/soil health (which we consider to be interchangeable terms, characterizing healthy soil resources, and relating the significance of soil health to agroecosystems and their functions. We examine how soil biology influences soil health and how biological properties and processes contribute to sustainability of agriculture and ecosystem services. We continue by examining what can be done to manipulate soil biology to: (i increase nutrient availability for production of high yielding, high quality crops; (ii protect crops from pests, pathogens, weeds; and (iii manage other factors limiting production, provision of ecosystem services, and resilience to stresses like droughts. Next we look to the future by asking what needs to be known about soil biology that is not currently recognized or fully understood and how these needs could be addressed using emerging research tools. We conclude, based on our perceptions of how new knowledge regarding soil biology will help make agriculture more sustainable and productive, by recommending research emphases that should receive first priority through enhanced public and private research in order to reverse the trajectory toward global soil degradation.

Understanding enhanced tourist experiences through technology: a brief approach to the Vilnius case

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ilona Beliatskaya

2017-11-01

Full Text Available The present research investigates the notion of enhanced tourist experiences through technology shedding light on co-creation practices and empowerment of customers. Neuhofer and Buhalis (2013 introduced a novel concept of technology-enhanced tourist experiences by generating a joint comprehension of new era of experiences which conjoin the elements of experiences, co-creation and technology. Being one of rather promoting cities in online environment Vilnius represents an interesting case of successive adoption of smart technologies in order to enhance tourist experiences and facilitate customer empowerment in Vilnius tourism domain. This study aims to determine technology-enhanced tourist experiences in order to measure factors of customer empowerment on the example of international incoming tourists to Vilnius (Lithuania. The mix-methods approach (qualitative online content and functionality analysis and quantitative survey was justified as being the most appropriate for the purpose of this research with intention to find a basis for applying of technology-enhanced tourist experiences in Vilnius tourism marketplace. The paper concludes with the definition of current level of ICTs application to enhance tourist experience co-creation and a discussion of practical implications of technology-enhanced tourist experiences development.

Understanding Plant Nitrogen Metabolism through Metabolomics and Computational Approaches

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Perrin H. Beatty

2016-10-01

Full Text Available A comprehensive understanding of plant metabolism could provide a direct mechanism for improving nitrogen use efficiency (NUE in crops. One of the major barriers to achieving this outcome is our poor understanding of the complex metabolic networks, physiological factors, and signaling mechanisms that affect NUE in agricultural settings. However, an exciting collection of computational and experimental approaches has begun to elucidate whole-plant nitrogen usage and provides an avenue for connecting nitrogen-related phenotypes to genes. Herein, we describe how metabolomics, computational models of metabolism, and flux balance analysis have been harnessed to advance our understanding of plant nitrogen metabolism. We introduce a model describing the complex flow of nitrogen through crops in a real-world agricultural setting and describe how experimental metabolomics data, such as isotope labeling rates and analyses of nutrient uptake, can be used to refine these models. In summary, the metabolomics/computational approach offers an exciting mechanism for understanding NUE that may ultimately lead to more effective crop management and engineered plants with higher yields.

La simplexité, ultime avatar de la complexité ?

OpenAIRE

Demongeot, Jacques; Amor, Hedi Ben; Hazgui, Hana; Lontos, Athanasios

2014-01-01

1. Introduction La simplexité peut être considérée comme l’émergence de nouvelles fonctionnalités, issues des interactions entre sous-systèmes (ou modules) d’un système complexe : elle apparaît ainsi comme l’ultime avatar de la complexité, ce qui permet de la définir, sans rupture épistémologique avec le courant scientifique des systèmes complexes, comme la tendance qu’a la nature de sélectionner les fonctions vitales des êtres vivants, en particulier celles les plus utiles à la spécificité e...

A CRISPR-Cas system enhances envelope integrity mediating antibiotic resistance and inflammasome evasion.

Science.gov (United States)

Sampson, Timothy R; Napier, Brooke A; Schroeder, Max R; Louwen, Rogier; Zhao, Jinshi; Chin, Chui-Yoke; Ratner, Hannah K; Llewellyn, Anna C; Jones, Crystal L; Laroui, Hamed; Merlin, Didier; Zhou, Pei; Endtz, Hubert P; Weiss, David S

2014-07-29

Clustered, regularly interspaced, short palindromic repeats-CRISPR associated (CRISPR-Cas) systems defend bacteria against foreign nucleic acids, such as during bacteriophage infection and transformation, processes which cause envelope stress. It is unclear if these machineries enhance membrane integrity to combat this stress. Here, we show that the Cas9-dependent CRISPR-Cas system of the intracellular bacterial pathogen Francisella novicida is involved in enhancing envelope integrity through the regulation of a bacterial lipoprotein. This action ultimately provides increased resistance to numerous membrane stressors, including antibiotics. We further find that this previously unappreciated function of Cas9 is critical during infection, as it promotes evasion of the host innate immune absent in melanoma 2/apoptosis associated speck-like protein containing a CARD (AIM2/ASC) inflammasome. Interestingly, the attenuation of the cas9 mutant is complemented only in mice lacking both the AIM2/ASC inflammasome and the bacterial lipoprotein sensor Toll-like receptor 2, but not in single knockout mice, demonstrating that Cas9 is essential for evasion of both pathways. These data represent a paradigm shift in our understanding of the function of CRISPR-Cas systems as regulators of bacterial physiology and provide a framework with which to investigate the roles of these systems in myriad bacteria, including pathogens and commensals.

The theoretical ultimate magnetoelectric coefficients of magnetoelectric composites by optimization design

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Wang, H.-L.; Liu, B.

2014-01-01

This paper investigates what is the largest magnetoelectric (ME) coefficient of ME composites, and how to realize it. From the standpoint of energy conservation, a theoretical analysis is carried out on an imaginary lever structure consisting of a magnetostrictive phase, a piezoelectric phase, and a rigid lever. This structure is a generalization of various composite layouts for optimization on ME effect. The predicted theoretical ultimate ME coefficient plays a similar role as the efficiency of ideal heat engine in thermodynamics, and is used to evaluate the existing typical ME layouts, such as the parallel sandwiched layout and the serial layout. These two typical layouts exhibit ME coefficient much lower than the theoretical largest values, because in the general analysis the stress amplification ratio and the volume ratio can be optimized independently and freely, but in typical layouts they are dependent or fixed. To overcome this shortcoming and achieve the theoretical largest ME coefficient, a new design is presented. In addition, it is found that the most commonly used electric field ME coefficient can be designed to be infinitely large. We doubt the validity of this coefficient as a reasonable ME effect index and consider three more ME coefficients, namely the electric charge ME coefficient, the voltage ME coefficient, and the static electric energy ME coefficient. We note that the theoretical ultimate value of the static electric energy ME coefficient is finite and might be a more proper measure of ME effect

Different Ultimate Factors Define Timing of Breeding in Two Related Species.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Veli-Matti Pakanen

Full Text Available Correct reproductive timing is crucial for fitness. Breeding phenology even in similar species can differ due to different selective pressures on the timing of reproduction. These selection pressures define species' responses to warming springs. The temporal match-mismatch hypothesis suggests that timing of breeding in animals is selected to match with food availability (synchrony. Alternatively, time-dependent breeding success (the date hypothesis can result from other seasonally deteriorating ecological conditions such as intra- or interspecific competition or predation. We studied the effects of two ultimate factors on the timing of breeding, synchrony and other time-dependent factors (time-dependence, in sympatric populations of two related forest-dwelling passerine species, the great tit (Parus major and the willow tit (Poecile montanus by modelling recruitment with long-term capture-recapture data. We hypothesized that these two factors have different relevance for fitness in these species. We found that local recruitment in both species showed quadratic relationships with both time-dependence and synchrony. However, the importance of these factors was markedly different between the studied species. Caterpillar food played a predominant role in predicting the timing of breeding of the great tit. In contrast, for the willow tit time-dependence modelled as timing in relation to conspecifics was more important for local recruitment than synchrony. High caterpillar biomass experienced during the pre- and post-fledging periods increased local recruitment of both species. These contrasting results confirm that these species experience different selective pressures upon the timing of breeding, and hence responses to climate change may differ. Detailed information about life-history strategies is required to understand the effects of climate change, even in closely related taxa. The temporal match-mismatch hypothesis should be extended to consider

Enhancing biomedical design with design thinking.

Science.gov (United States)

Kemnitzer, Ronald; Dorsa, Ed

2009-01-01

The development of biomedical equipment is justifiably focused on making products that "work." However, this approach leaves many of the people affected by these designs (operators, patients, etc.) with little or no representation when it comes to the design of these products. Industrial design is a "user focused" profession which takes into account the needs of diverse groups when making design decisions. The authors propose that biomedical equipment design can be enhanced, made more user and patient "friendly" by adopting the industrial design approach to researching, analyzing, and ultimately designing biomedical products.

Modeling and simulation of loss of the ultimate heat sink in a typical material testing reactor

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

El-Khatib, Hisham; El-Morshedy, Salah El-Din; Higazy, Maher G.; El-Shazly, Karam

2013-01-01

Highlights: ► A thermal–hydraulic model has been developed to simulate loss of the ultimate heat sink in MTR. ► The model involves three coupled sub-models for core, heat exchanger and cooling tower. ► The model is validated against PARET for steady-state and verified by operation data for transients. ► The model is used to simulate the behavior of the reactor under a loss of the ultimate heat sink. ► The model results are analyzed and discussed. -- Abstract: A thermal–hydraulic model has been developed to simulate loss of the ultimate heat sink in a typical material testing reactor (MTR). The model involves three interactively coupled sub-models for reactor core, heat exchanger and cooling tower. The model is validated against PARET code for steady-state operation and verified by the reactor operation records for transients. Then, the model is used to simulate the thermal–hydraulic behavior of the reactor under a loss of the ultimate heat sink event. The simulation is performed for two operation regimes: regime I representing 11 MW power and three cooling tower cells operated, and regime II representing 22 MW power and six cooling tower cells operated. In regime I, the simulation is performed for 1, 2 and 3 cooling tower cells failed while in regime II, it is performed for 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 and 6 cooling tower cells failed. The simulation is performed under protected conditions where the safety action called power reduction is triggered by reactor protection system to decrease the reactor power by 20% when the coolant inlet temperature to the core reaches 43 °C and scram is triggered if the core inlet temperature reaches 44 °C. The model results are analyzed and discussed.

Ultimate pressures achieved in TiZrV sputter-coated vacuum chambers

CERN Document Server

Benvenuti, Cristoforo; Ruzinov, V

2001-01-01

Two metre long, cylindrical vacuum chambers of diameter ranging from 34 to 100 mm, coated with TiZrV getter films by sputtering, have been baked for about 24 h at temperatures from 120 to 250 degrees C. The ultimate pressures achieved after bakeout were found to correspond to the ratio of the pressure gauge degassing to the effective pumping speed provided by the chamber at the location of the gauge. The results covering a pressure range from 10/sup -11/ Torr down to 10 /sup -13/ Torr are presented and discussed. (6 refs).

Physics the ultimate adventure

CERN Document Server

Barrett, Ross; Tartaglia, Angelo

2016-01-01

This book explains - in simple terms and with almost no math - the physics behind recent and glamorous discoveries in Cosmology, Quantum Mechanics, Elementary Particles (e.g. Higgs bosons) and Complexity Theory. En route it delves into the historical landmarks and revolutions that brought about our current understanding of the universe. The book is written mainly for those with little scientific background, both college students and lay readers alike, who are curious about the world of modern physics. Unsolved problems are highlighted and the philosophical implications of the sometimes astounding modern discoveries are discussed. Along the way the reader gains an insight into the mindset and methodology of a physicist.

Study of ultimate heat sink to Angra-1,2 and 3 Nuclear Power Plants

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Moreira, R.M.; Pinto, A.M.F.

1985-03-01

This report presents the premises, results and conclusion of study done to ultimate heat sink of Angra 1,2 and 3 units, with base in postulated accidents that generate transient heat discharges to environment. It's explicitily presumed the eventuality of discharging heat water recirculation. (C.M.) [pt

Review and evaluation of information on the thermal performance of ultimate heat sinks: spray ponds and cooling ponds

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Drake, R.L.

1975-09-01

A report is presented which identifies and evaluates available information and data useful in validating and improving existing models for the thermal performance of ultimate heat sinks. Included are discussions of the thermal elements of cooling ponds and spray ponds, the available information and data pertinent to the problem, and the requirements and needs for further research and performance data. An outline is presented of the necessary elements required for a performance test of an ultimate heat sink before the system is thermally approved. (auth)

On the ultimate uncertainty of the top quark pole mass

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Beneke, M. [Technische Univ. Muenchen, Garching (Germany). Physik-Department; Marquard, P. [Deutsches Elektronen-Synchrotron (DESY), Zeuthen (Germany); Nason, P. [INFN, Sezione di Milano Bicocca (Italy); Steinhauser, M. [Karlsruher Institut fuer Technologie (Germany). Inst. fuer Theoretische Teilchenphysik

2016-05-15

We combine the known asymptotic behaviour of the QCD perturbation series expansion, which relates the pole mass of a heavy quark to the MS mass, with the exact series coefficients up to the four-loop order to determine the ultimate uncertainty of the top-quark pole mass due to the renormalon divergence. We perform extensive tests of our procedure by varying the number of colours and flavours, as well as the scale of the strong coupling and the MS mass, and conclude that this uncertainty is around 70 MeV. We further estimate the additional contribution to the mass relation from the five-loop correction and beyond to be 250 MeV.

On the ultimate uncertainty of the top quark pole mass

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Beneke, M.; Nason, P.; Steinhauser, M.

2016-05-01

We combine the known asymptotic behaviour of the QCD perturbation series expansion, which relates the pole mass of a heavy quark to the MS mass, with the exact series coefficients up to the four-loop order to determine the ultimate uncertainty of the top-quark pole mass due to the renormalon divergence. We perform extensive tests of our procedure by varying the number of colours and flavours, as well as the scale of the strong coupling and the MS mass, and conclude that this uncertainty is around 70 MeV. We further estimate the additional contribution to the mass relation from the five-loop correction and beyond to be 250 MeV.

The Influence of Wagon Structure Part Shape Optimization on Ultimate Fatigue Strength

OpenAIRE

Milovanović, Vladimir; Živković, Miroslav; Jovičić, Gordana; Živković, Jelena; Kozak, Dražan

2016-01-01

This study investigates how shape optimisation affects the ultimate fatigue strength of a mechanical part. The mechanical part chosen for this investigation is an axle guard of running gear elements of the Hccrrs 2x2 axle car-carrying wagon. The static and fatigue strength analysis procedure according to the UIC 517 standard and numerical methods have been applied. Material properties were determined experimentally and the necessary numerical calculations were performed by using the finite el...

Effects of urbanization on animal behaviour : patterns, underlying mechanisms and ultimate causes

OpenAIRE

Miranda, Ana Catarina Sequeira Nunes Coutinho de

2014-01-01

Human-altered environmental conditions affect many species at the global scale. An extreme form of anthropogenic alteration is the existence and rapid increase of urban areas. A key question is how animals cope with urbanization. In order to live in cities, animals have to adjust their behaviour and life histories to the urban novel environment.The main objectives of this thesis were to investigate (i) the existence of behavioural changes related to the urbanization process, (ii) the ultimate...

A not-so-new eugenics. Harris and Savulescu on human enhancement.

Science.gov (United States)

Sparrow, Robert

2011-01-01

John Harris and Julian Savulescu, leading figures in the "new' eugenics, argue that parents are morally obligated to use genetic and other technologies to enhance their children. But the argument they give leads to conclusions even more radical than they acknowledge. Ultimately, the world it would lead to is not all that different from that championed by eugenicists one hundred years ago.

Bootstrap calculation of ultimate strength temperature maxima for neutron irradiated ferritic/martensitic steels

Science.gov (United States)

Obraztsov, S. M.; Konobeev, Yu. V.; Birzhevoy, G. A.; Rachkov, V. I.

2006-12-01

The dependence of mechanical properties of ferritic/martensitic (F/M) steels on irradiation temperature is of interest because these steels are used as structural materials for fast, fusion reactors and accelerator driven systems. Experimental data demonstrating temperature peaks in physical and mechanical properties of neutron irradiated pure iron, nickel, vanadium, and austenitic stainless steels are available in the literature. A lack of such an information for F/M steels forces one to apply a computational mathematical-statistical modeling methods. The bootstrap procedure is one of such methods that allows us to obtain the necessary statistical characteristics using only a sample of limited size. In the present work this procedure is used for modeling the frequency distribution histograms of ultimate strength temperature peaks in pure iron and Russian F/M steels EP-450 and EP-823. Results of fitting the sums of Lorentz or Gauss functions to the calculated distributions are presented. It is concluded that there are two temperature (at 360 and 390 °C) peaks of the ultimate strength in EP-450 steel and single peak at 390 °C in EP-823.

Ultimate shearing strength of aseismatic walls with many small holes for reactor buildings

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Yoshizaki, Seiji; Ezaki, Tetsuro; Korenaga, Takeyoshi; Sotomura, Kentaro.

1984-01-01

The aseismatic walls for reactor buildings have complicated forms, and are characterized by large wall thickness and high reinforcement ratio as compared with ordinary aseismatic walls. The forms are mainly box, cylinder or irregular polygonal prism and their combination. The design of the walls with many small holes has been performed on the basis of the reinforced concrete structure calculation standard of the Architectural Institute of Japan, following the case with large opening. When there are many small holes, the arrangement of reinforcement for the openings becomes complex, and the construction is difficult. It is necessary to rationalize the design and to simplify the reinforcement work. Under the background like this, the experiment to examine the shearing property in bending of the aseismatic walls with many small holes for reactor buildings was carried out, and horizontal loading test was performed on 43 specimens. The method of calculating the ultimate shearing strength of a wall without opening was proposed, and the method of applying it to a wall with many small holes is shown. The experimental method and the results, the examination of the experimental results, and the ultimate shearing strength of the aseismatic walls are reported. (Kako, I.)

Discussion of the Method to Determine the Ultimate Bearing Capacity of Soil Foundation

Science.gov (United States)

Du, Peng; Liu, Xiaoling; Zhang, Yangfu

2017-12-01

Combining literature examples, this paper has carried out Contrastive analysis of the theoretical formula method and finite element method about the ultimate bearing capacity of foundation, To verify rationality and superiority of the incremental load method in finite element ABAQUS in solving the bearing capacity of foundation soil. The study can provide certain reference for practical engineering calculation and analysis of foundation bearing capacity.

Science + Maths = A Better Understanding of Science!

Science.gov (United States)

Markwick, Andy; Clark, Kris

2016-01-01

Science and mathematics share a common purpose: to explore, understand and explain the pure beauty of our universe and how it works. Using mathematics in science enquiry can enhance children's understanding of science and also provide opportunities for children to apply their mathematical knowledge to "real" contexts. The authors…

Lava ultimate resin nano ceramic for CAD/ CAM: customization case study.

Science.gov (United States)

Koller, M; Arnetzl, G V; Holly, L; Arnetzl, G

2012-01-01

Lava Ultimate Resin Nano Ceramic (RNC) blocks are innovative new CAD/CAM materials that make it possible to achieve superior esthetic results in easy steps. The blocks are made of nano ceramic particles embedded in a highly cured resin matrix. Therefore, composite materials can be used to characterize and adjust resin nano ceramic restorations after milling. The milled RNC restorations can be individualized intra-orally or extra-orally, either before or after insertion. Unlike conventional ceramic restorations, customization and glaze firing is neither necessary nor possible with RNC restorations. This opens up the opportunity for intraoral individualization and adaptation of the restorations.

Advances in understanding river-groundwater interactions

Science.gov (United States)

Brunner, Philip; Therrien, René; Renard, Philippe; Simmons, Craig T.; Franssen, Harrie-Jan Hendricks

2017-09-01

River-groundwater interactions are at the core of a wide range of major contemporary challenges, including the provision of high-quality drinking water in sufficient quantities, the loss of biodiversity in river ecosystems, or the management of environmental flow regimes. This paper reviews state of the art approaches in characterizing and modeling river and groundwater interactions. Our review covers a wide range of approaches, including remote sensing to characterize the streambed, emerging methods to measure exchange fluxes between rivers and groundwater, and developments in several disciplines relevant to the river-groundwater interface. We discuss approaches for automated calibration, and real-time modeling, which improve the simulation and understanding of river-groundwater interactions. Although the integration of these various approaches and disciplines is advancing, major research gaps remain to be filled to allow more complete and quantitative integration across disciplines. New possibilities for generating realistic distributions of streambed properties, in combination with more data and novel data types, have great potential to improve our understanding and predictive capabilities for river-groundwater systems, especially in combination with the integrated simulation of the river and groundwater flow as well as calibration methods. Understanding the implications of different data types and resolution, the development of highly instrumented field sites, ongoing model development, and the ultimate integration of models and data are important future research areas. These developments are required to expand our current understanding to do justice to the complexity of natural systems.

Ultimate strength analysis of long-span cable-stayed bridges; Chodai chachokyo no shukyoku kyodo kaiseki to kyodo ni kansuru ichikosatsu

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Xie, X.; Yamaguchi, H. [Saitama Univ., Urawa (Japan)] Nagai, M. [Nagaoka Technical Coll., Niigata (Japan)

1998-07-21

Recently, span of cable-stayed bridges has been getting loner and longer, present situation is that cable-stayed bridges with span 600 to 800m class have been built inside and outside the country, and accurate determination of its ultimate strength has been an important problem statistically. However, concrete design method for evaluating load bearing stress of long-span cable-stayed bridge. Particularly of the main beam whose axial stress is dominating, has not been established so far. As for cable-stayed bridge, even for long-span, effect of plasticization of cross section on ultimate strength is severe because there is little effect of geometric nonlinearity and it is thought that accurate evaluation of ultimate strength only by elastic finite potential analysis is difficult. Accordingly, it is necessary to study the behavior by using combined nonlinear analysis considering the nonlinearity of the material in order to evaluate the safety and economy to long-span cable-stayed bridge. In this report, 3 dimensional analysis method was formularized taking into account the combine nonlinearity of multi-box girder and analysis program of ultimate strength behavior of long-span cable-stayed bridge was developed. 19 refs., 17 figs., 2 tabs.

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

OpenAIRE

Ali Asghar Khodayari

2013-01-01

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

Advanced characterization techniques in understanding the roles of nickel in enhancing strength and toughness of submerged arc welding high strength low alloy steel multiple pass welds in the as-welded condition

Science.gov (United States)

Sham, Kin-Ling

Striving for higher strength along with higher toughness is a constant goal in material properties. Even though nickel is known as an effective alloying element in improving the resistance of a steel to impact fracture, it is not fully understood how nickel enhances toughness. It was the goal of this work to assist and further the understanding of how nickel enhanced toughness and maintained strength in particular for high strength low alloy (HSLA) steel submerged arc welding multiple pass welds in the as-welded condition. Using advanced analytical techniques such as electron backscatter diffraction, x-ray diffraction, electron microprobe, differential scanning calorimetry, and thermodynamic modeling software, the effect of nickel was studied with nickel varying from one to five wt. pct. in increments of one wt. pct. in a specific HSLA steel submerged arc welding multiple pass weldment. The test matrix of five different nickel compositions in the as-welded and stress-relieved condition was to meet the targeted mechanical properties with a yield strength greater than or equal to 85 ksi, a ultimate tensile strength greater than or equal to 105 ksi, and a nil ductility temperature less than or equal to -140 degrees F. Mechanical testing demonstrated that nickel content of three wt. pct and greater in the as-welded condition fulfilled the targeted mechanical properties. Therefore, one, three, and five wt. pct. nickel in the as-welded condition was further studied to determine the effect of nickel on primary solidification mode, nickel solute segregation, dendrite thickness, phase transformation temperatures, effective ferrite grain size, dislocation density and strain, grain misorientation distribution, and precipitates. From one to five wt. pct nickel content in the as-welded condition, the primary solidification was shown to change from primary delta-ferrite to primary austenite. The nickel partitioning coefficient increased and dendrite/cellular thickness was

Wellbeing Understanding in High Quality Healthcare Informatics and Telepractice.

Science.gov (United States)

Fiorini, Rodolfo A; De Giacomo, Piero; L'Abate, Luciano

2016-01-01

The proper use of healthcare informatics technology and multidimensional conceptual clarity are fundamental to create and boost outstanding clinical and telepractice results. Avoiding even terminology ambiguities is mandatory for high quality of care service. For instance, well-being or wellbeing is a different way to write the same concept only, or there is a good deal of ambiguity around the meanings of these terms the way they are written. In personal health, healthcare and healthcare informatics, this kind of ambiguity and lack of conceptual clarity has been called out repeatedly over the past 50 years. It is time to get the right, terse scenario. We present a brief review to develop and achieve ultimate wellbeing understanding for practical high quality healthcare informatics and telepractice application. This article presents an innovative point of view on deeper wellbeing understanding towards its increased clinical effective application.

Parametric Study on Ultimate Failure Criteria of Elbow Piping Components in Seismically Isolated NPP

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Hahm, Dae Gi; Ki, Min Kyu [KAERI, Daejeon (Korea, Republic of); Jeon, Bub Gyu; Kim, Nam Sik [Pusan National University, Busan (Korea, Republic of)

2016-05-15

It is well known that the interface pipes between isolated and non-isolated structures will become the most critical in the seismically isolated NPPs. Therefore, seismic performance of such interface pipes should be evaluated comprehensively especially in terms of the seismic fragility capacity. To evaluate the seismic capacity of interface pipes in the isolated NPP, firstly, we should define the failure mode and failure criteria of critical pipe components. Hence, in this study, we performed the dynamic tests of elbow components which were installed in a seismically isolated NPP, and evaluated the ultimate failure mode and failure criteria by using the test results. To do this, we manufactured 25 critical elbow component specimens and performed cyclic loading tests under the internal pressure condition. The failure mode and failure criteria of a pipe component will be varied by the design parameters such as the internal pressure, pipe diameter, loading type, and loading amplitude. From the tests, we assessed the effects of the variation parameters onto the failure criteria. For the tests, we generated the seismic input protocol of relative displacement between the ends of elbow component. In this paper, elbow in piping system was defined as a fragile element and numerical model was updated by component test. Failure mode of piping component under seismic load was defined by the dynamic tests of ultimate pipe capacity. For the interface piping system, the seismic capacity should be carefully estimated since that the required displacement absorption capacity will be increased significantly by the adoption of the seismic isolation system. In this study, the dynamic tests were performed for the elbow components which were installed in an actual NPPs, and the ultimate failure mode and failure criteria were also evaluated by using the test results.

Understanding the physiology of postharvest needle abscission in balsam fir

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Mason Thane Macdonald

2015-11-01

Full Text Available Balsam fir (Abies balsamea trees are commonly used as a specialty horticultural species for Christmas trees and associated greenery in eastern Canada and United States. Postharvest needle abscission has always been a problem, but is becoming an even bigger challenge in recent years presumably due to increased autumn temperatures and earlier harvesting practices. An increased understanding of postharvest abscission physiology in balsam fir may benefit the Christmas tree industry while simultaneously advancing our knowledge in senescence and abscission of conifers in general. Our paper describes the dynamics of needle abscission in balsam fir while identifying key factors that modify abscission patterns. Concepts such as genotypic abscission resistance, nutrition, environmental factors, and postharvest changes in water conductance and hormone evolution are discussed as they relate to our understanding of the balsam fir abscission physiology. Our paper ultimately proposes a pathway for needle abscission via ethylene and also suggests other potential alternative pathways based on our current understanding.

Multiple (Two) Met Bel 601 In Series Ultimate Vacuum Testing

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Restivo, M. [Savannah River Site (SRS), Aiken, SC (United States). Savannah River National Lab. (SRNL)

2016-09-30

SRNL Environmental and Chemical Process Technology (E&CPT) was requested to perform testing of vacuum pumps per a verbal request from the Customer, SRNL Hydrogen Processing Technology. Tritium Operations is currently having difficulties procuring the Normetex™® Model 15 m³/hr (9 CFM) vacuum pump (formerly Normetex Pompes, now Eumeca_SARL). One possible solution proposed by Hydrogen Processing Technology personnel is to use two Senior Aerospace Metal Bellows MB-601 vacuum pumps piped with the heads in series, and the pumps in series (Figure 1 below). This memorandum documents the ultimate vacuum testing that was performed to determine if this concept was a viable alternate vacuum pump strategy. This testing dovetails with previous pump evaluations documented in references 1 and 2.

On the ultimate uncertainty of the top quark pole mass

Science.gov (United States)

Beneke, M.; Marquard, P.; Nason, P.; Steinhauser, M.

2017-12-01

We combine the known asymptotic behaviour of the QCD perturbation series expansion, which relates the pole mass of a heavy quark to the MS ‾ mass, with the exact series coefficients up to the four-loop order to determine the ultimate uncertainty of the top-quark pole mass due to the renormalon divergence. We perform extensive tests of our procedure by varying the number of colours and flavours, as well as the scale of the strong coupling and the MS ‾ mass. Including an estimate of the internal bottom and charm quark mass effect, we conclude that this uncertainty is around 110 MeV. We further estimate the additional contribution to the mass relation from the five-loop correction and beyond to be around 300 MeV.

The ultimate challenge of cloacal exstrophy.

Science.gov (United States)

Schober, Justine M; Carmichael, Polly A; Hines, Melissa; Ransley, Philip G

2002-01-01

Our review addresses the various system abnormalities associated with cloacal exstrophy and revisits the question of gender assignment. Gender assignment decisions and psychological aspects of gender issues have become the "ultimate challenge." Exploration of gender identity, gender role behavior and sexual orientation has just begun. A comprehensive literature review was performed with all world literature regarding the current management of cloacal exstrophy. Research focused on management principles, outcomes and documentation of concurrent anomalies. We also describe original research evaluating gender identity in our own series of patients raised as girls to illustrate the challenge of treatment and augment the available literature, which is scant. Abnormalities of the vertebral column ranged from hemivertebra to myelomeningocele. With magnetic resonance imaging, the incidence of spinal dysraphism approached 100% and cord tethering was also more frequently recognized. For children with the short bowel syndrome, advances in antibiotic usage, and parenteral and enteral nutrition have increased the survival rate and reduced morbidity. A neurological component has been recognized for bladder function, bladder neck continence, lower extremity function and erectile capacity. Mitrofanoff-type reconstruction with bladder neck closure and continent catheterizable stoma dramatically increased continence. Diminutive or absent penis has been documented in 30% of males, and no documentation of paternity exists. The majority of females have bicornuate uterus. However, ovaries and tubes were generally normal. No reports of proven fertility exist. The strategy and timing of surgery relating to gender assignment remain controversial. A desperate need exists for research focusing on gender development and quality of life. Until that time, a cautious watchful approach may be most appropriate as our patients with cloacal exstrophy mature into adulthood.

Principal efforts in improving the understanding of Climate impact of ...

Indian Academy of Sciences (India)

First page Back Continue Last page Overview Graphics. Principal efforts in improving the understanding of Climate impact of aerosols -. New and enhanced satellite borne sensors. Focused field experiments. Establishment and enhancement of ground based networks. Development and deployment of new and enhanced ...

Accounting conservatism,ultimate ownership and investment efficiency

Institute of Scientific and Technical Information of China (English)

Xiaodong Xu; Xia Wang; Nina Han

2012-01-01

Purpose-The purpose of this paper is to analyze and examine the role of accounting conservatism on firm investment behavior in China.Design/methodology/approach-By combining a developed theoretical framework and empirical study,this paper examines the impacts of accounting conservatism on firm investment.The sample and data are all collected from Wind and CAMAR databases.Findings-The paper finds that the association between accounting conservatism and capital expenditure is significantly positive when inside capital is not enough to use for investment,suggesting that conservatism can expend the level of investment by decreasing information asymmetry and cost of capital;however,the association between accounting conservatism and capital expenditure is significantly negative when inside capital is enough to use for investment,suggesting that conservatism can curtail the level of investment by mitigating the interest conflicts between management and outside shareholders and decreasing agency costs.Additionally,the paper finds that the severity of information asymmetry and agency problem affects the role of accounting conservatism on firm investment behaviour,and the association between accounting conservatism and capital expenditure is weaker for firms with ultimate ownership controller as local government or individuals.Originality/value-This is the first paper to analyze and examine the impacts of accounting conservatism on firm investment in China directly.The findings are also useful to explain the awkward predicament found by prior literature.

Quantum Computation--The Ultimate Frontier

OpenAIRE

Adami, Chris; Dowling, Jonathan P.

2002-01-01

The discovery of an algorithm for factoring which runs in polynomial time on a quantum computer has given rise to a concerted effort to understand the principles, advantages, and limitations of quantum computing. At the same time, many different quantum systems are being explored for their suitability to serve as a physical substrate for the quantum computer of the future. I discuss some of the theoretical foundations of quantum computer science, including algorithms and error correction, and...

The legal ensurance of underground ultimate storage of radioactive wastes without risk

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Prasse, R.

1974-01-01

1. The legal position towards the property owner: a) with a view to the freedom of property claim, b) in the light of the influence of the property owner. 2. The legal position towards the neighbouring property owners: a) resistance rights of the body corporate responsible for the ultimate storage, b) resistance rights of the neighbouring property owner. 3. The legal position towards those authorized to mine: a) mining free minerals, b) mining minerals reserved for the state. 4. The legal position towards prospectors. (orig./HP) [de

Wall roughness induces asymptotic ultimate turbulence

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Zhu, Xiaojue; Verschoof, Ruben Adriaan; Bakhuis, Dennis; Huisman, Sander Gerard; Verzicco, Roberto; Sun, Chao; Lohse, Detlef

2018-01-01

Turbulence governs the transport of heat, mass and momentum on multiple scales. In real-world applications, wall-bounded turbulence typically involves surfaces that are rough; however, characterizing and understanding the effects of wall roughness on turbulence remains a challenge. Here, by

Understanding the Relationship between Teachers' Pedagogical Beliefs and Technology Use in Education: A Systematic Review of Qualitative Evidence

Science.gov (United States)

Tondeur, Jo; van Braak, Johan; Ertmer, Peggy A.; Ottenbreit-Leftwich, Anne

2017-01-01

This review was designed to further our understanding of the link between teachers' pedagogical beliefs and their educational uses of technology. The synthesis of qualitative findings integrates the available evidence about this relationship with the ultimate goal being to facilitate the integration of technology in education. A meta-aggregative…

Lev Shestov as a Theologian and the Theology of the Great and Ultimate Battle

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Natalya Bonetskaya

2015-04-01

Full Text Available Lev Shestov’s early period in which he developed his religious views is the subject of this article. Shestov was a well-known Russian thinker. The author sheds some light on the furtive character of his thought as well as attempts to reconstruct the sources of his religious consciousness. He was formed at the border between two religious worlds — that of Judaism and that of Christianity. Traces of Jewish free-thinking typical of the end of the nineteenth century color his Weltanschauung together with the infl uence of Nietzsche and the Bible, the last as it was interpreted by the western tradition. Shestov understands God in a way akin to that of anthropomorphic psychology, an understanding which develops the concept of the deity into a form of radical apophatic ignorance or the complete absence of the ability to know God. The author points out that Shestov’s God is not the God of life and religious experience but rather a product of a kind of radicalized rationality. This notwithstanding, the original theological perceptions of Shestov were generated by his search for an authentic philosophical life. The author concentrates her attention on two main tendencies in Shestov’s understanding of life — a holistic tendency and a personalistic tendency. From a reading of Shestov’s first book (Shakespeare and his critic Brandes published in 1898 it becomes clear that the personalistic tendency won out. The concept of rebellion takes first place in Shestov’s thought as well as that of the great and ultimate battle. As a result Shestov’s thought becomes dominated by anthopology rather than theology and the concept of God gives way to that of man as the rebel. Shestov’s thought, particularly in his works dating from the second half of the twentieth century, falls under the influence of Nietzsche and the man from the underground of Dostoevsky. His God becomes the God of Manichaeism, on the far side of neither good nor evil, and his

Early developmental gene enhancers affect subcortical volumes in the adult human brain.

Science.gov (United States)

Becker, Martin; Guadalupe, Tulio; Franke, Barbara; Hibar, Derrek P; Renteria, Miguel E; Stein, Jason L; Thompson, Paul M; Francks, Clyde; Vernes, Sonja C; Fisher, Simon E

2016-05-01

Genome-wide association screens aim to identify common genetic variants contributing to the phenotypic variability of complex traits, such as human height or brain morphology. The identified genetic variants are mostly within noncoding genomic regions and the biology of the genotype-phenotype association typically remains unclear. In this article, we propose a complementary targeted strategy to reveal the genetic underpinnings of variability in subcortical brain volumes, by specifically selecting genomic loci that are experimentally validated forebrain enhancers, active in early embryonic development. We hypothesized that genetic variation within these enhancers may affect the development and ultimately the structure of subcortical brain regions in adults. We tested whether variants in forebrain enhancer regions showed an overall enrichment of association with volumetric variation in subcortical structures of >13,000 healthy adults. We observed significant enrichment of genomic loci that affect the volume of the hippocampus within forebrain enhancers (empirical P = 0.0015), a finding which robustly passed the adjusted threshold for testing of multiple brain phenotypes (cutoff of P < 0.0083 at an alpha of 0.05). In analyses of individual single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs), we identified an association upstream of the ID2 gene with rs7588305 and variation in hippocampal volume. This SNP-based association survived multiple-testing correction for the number of SNPs analyzed but not for the number of subcortical structures. Targeting known regulatory regions offers a way to understand the underlying biology that connects genotypes to phenotypes, particularly in the context of neuroimaging genetics. This biology-driven approach generates testable hypotheses regarding the functional biology of identified associations. Hum Brain Mapp 37:1788-1800, 2016. © 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. © 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Accelerator physics and technology limitations to ultimate energy and luminosity in very large hadron colliders

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

P. Bauer et al.

2002-12-05

The following presents a study of the accelerator physics and technology limitations to ultimate energy and luminosity in very large hadron colliders (VLHCs). The main accelerator physics limitations to ultimate energy and luminosity in future energy frontier hadron colliders are synchrotron radiation (SR) power, proton-collision debris power in the interaction regions (IR), number of events-per-crossing, stored energy per beam and beam-stability [1]. Quantitative estimates of these limits were made and translated into scaling laws that could be inscribed into the particle energy versus machine size plane to delimit the boundaries for possible VLHCs. Eventually, accelerator simulations were performed to obtain the maximum achievable luminosities within these boundaries. Although this study aimed at investigating a general VLHC, it was unavoidable to refer in some instances to the recently studied, [2], 200 TeV center-of-mass energy VLHC stage-2 design (VLHC-2). A more thorough rendering of this work can be found in [3].

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

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ali Asghar Khodayari

2013-12-01

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

Improving Student Understanding of Lipids Concepts in a Biochemistry Course Using Test-Enhanced Learning

Science.gov (United States)

Horn, Savannah; Hernick, Marcy

2015-01-01

Test-enhanced learning has successfully been used as a means to enhance learning and promote knowledge retention in students. We have examined whether this approach could be used in a biochemistry course to enhance student learning about lipids-related concepts. Students were provided access to two optional learning modules with questions related…

15 CFR Supplement No. 3 to Part 748 - BIS-711, Statement by Ultimate Consignee and Purchaser Instructions

Science.gov (United States)

2010-01-01

...” include: contractual, franchise, distributor, wholesaler, continuing and regular individual business, etc... persons, other than employees of the ultimate consignee or purchaser, who assisted in the preparation of...

Investigations on the ultimate compressive strength of composite plates with geometrical imperfections

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Misirlis, K.; Downes, J.; Dow, R.S.

2009-01-01

with initial geometric imperfections. This paper presents the validation of finite element models against a series of plate tests that were performed within this framework and parametric studies that were carried out to identify the effects of geometric imperfections on the ultimate compressive strength......A series of studies has been performed within the MARSTRUCT Network of Excellence on Marine Structures in order to investigate the buckling response of glass fibre reinforced polymer plates. These studies include the fabrication, testing and finite element analysis of a large number of plates...

Enhanced Oil Recovery with Application of Enzymes

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Khusainova, Alsu

Enzymes have recently been reported as effective enhanced oil recovery (EOR) agents. Both laboratory and field tests demonstrated significant increase in the ultimate oil production. Up to16% of additional oil was produced in the laboratory conditions and up to 269 barrels of additional oil per day...... were recovered in the field applications. The following mechanisms were claimed to be responsible for the enhancement of the oil production due to enzymes: wettability improvement of the rock surface; formation of the emulsions; reduction of oil viscosity; and removal of high molecular weight paraffins....... However, the positive effect of enzymes on oil recovery is not that obvious. In most of the studies commercial enzyme products composed of enzymes, surfactants and stabilisers were used. Application of such samples makes it difficult to assign a positive EOR effect to a certain compound, as several...

Experimental study on buckling and ultimate strength of thin-walled box stub columns; Usuniku hakogata danmen buzai no zakutsu / shukyoku kyodo tokusei ni kansuru jikkenteki kenkyu

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Nakai, H.; Kitada, T. [Osaka City Univ. (Japan); Oryu, T. [Kawasaki Heavy Industries Ltd., Kobe (Japan)

1998-10-21

Thin-walled box stub columns such as beams of cable-stayed bridge, suspension bridge tower, arch rib of arch bridge and steel piers and so forth can also bear torsion at the same time besides compression and bending. These thin-walled box stub columns may achieve ultimate condition before reaching to plastic condition due to the effect of local buckling and so forth. Accordingly, it is the important topic to study the properties regarding ultimate strength of thin-walled box members in order to evaluate correctly the effect on load bearing resistance of local buckling. In this report, validity of load bearing resistance curve and ultimate strength interaction curve proposed by authors was studied using load bearing capacity experiment results. As a result, all ultimate strengths obtained by the experiment were higher than the ultimate strengths estimated by load bearing capacity curve and ultimate strength interaction curve. Further, it was revealed that the specimens subjected to torsion or subjected to bending and torsion and so forth exceeded the plastic strength due to the effect of strain hardening. 12 refs., 14 figs., 4 tabs.

Ultimate stress increase in unbonded tendons in post-tensioned indeterminate I-beams cast with high strength normal and self compacting concrete

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Yousef Askari Dolatabad

2018-06-01

Full Text Available The use of un-bonded tendons is prevalent in post-tensioned concrete structures. Equations for prediction of stress in un-bonded tendons of post-tensioned normal (vibrating concrete flexural members have been given in various codes. They are based on experience and don’t account all of important parameters such as concrete strength (normal and high strength and its type (vibrating and non-vibrating concrete. Since self-compacting concrete (SCC is nearly a new innovation therefore, understanding the implementation of this type of non-vibrating concrete on the ultimate unbonded tendon stress is critical. For this aim, in this paper there are presented experimental results of six continuous un-bonded post-tensioned I-beams in two groups were casted and monitored by different electrical strain gauges. In the first tested group, the beams (UPN1-12, UPN1-18, UPN1-22 were consisting of high strength normal concrete (HSNC where as in the second group (UPS1-12, UPS1-18, UPS1-22 high strength self-compacting concrete (HSSCC were tested. The variables included the type of concrete and percentage of bounded non-prestressed steel. Experimental monitored results of ultimate stress increase in unbonded tendons are compared with predicted equations of different researchers and standards. It was found that, the proposed equation is in better agreement with the test results. The results of standard error of estimate Sy/x, indicates that for two types of HSCs, the ACI 318-2011 provides better estimates than AASHTO-2010 model whereas this model provides better estimates than BS 8110-97. Keywords: Post-tensioned, Unbonded tendons, Stress increase, High strength normal and self-compacting concrete, Continuous beams

Dramatic Enhancement of Graphene Oxide/Silk Nanocomposite Membranes: Increasing Toughness, Strength, and Young's modulus via Annealing of Interfacial Structures.

Science.gov (United States)

Wang, Yaxian; Ma, Ruilong; Hu, Kesong; Kim, Sunghan; Fang, Guangqiang; Shao, Zhengzhong; Tsukruk, Vladimir V

2016-09-21

We demonstrate that stronger and more robust nacre-like laminated GO (graphene oxide)/SF (silk fibroin) nanocomposite membranes can be obtained by selectively tailoring the interfacial interactions between "bricks"-GO sheets and "mortar"-silk interlayers via controlled water vapor annealing. This facial annealing process relaxes the secondary structure of silk backbones confined between flexible GO sheets. The increased mobility leads to a significant increase in ultimate strength (by up to 41%), Young's modulus (up to 75%) and toughness (up to 45%). We suggest that local silk recrystallization is initiated in the proximity to GO surface by the hydrophobic surface regions serving as nucleation sites for β-sheet domains formation and followed by SF assembly into nanofibrils. Strong hydrophobic-hydrophobic interactions between GO layers with SF nanofibrils result in enhanced shear strength of layered packing. This work presented here not only gives a better understanding of SF and GO interfacial interactions, but also provides insight on how to enhance the mechanical properties for the nacre-mimic nanocomposites by focusing on adjusting the delicate interactions between heterogeneous "brick" and adaptive "mortar" components with water/temperature annealing routines.

Resonance Enhanced Multi-photon Spectroscopy of DNA

Science.gov (United States)

Ligare, Marshall Robert

For over 50 years DNA has been studied to better understand its connection to life and evolution. These past experiments have led to our understanding of its structure and function in the biological environment but the interaction of DNA with UV radiation at the molecular level is still not very well understood. Unique mechanisms in nucleobase chromaphores protect us from adverse chemical reactions after UV absorption. Studying these processes can help develop theories for prebiotic chemistry and the possibility of alternative forms of DNA. Using resonance enhanced multi-photon spectroscopic techniques in the gas phase allow for the structure and dynamics of individual nucleobases to be studied in detail. Experiments studying different levels of structure/complexity with relation to their biological function are presented. Resonant IR multiphoton dissociation spectroscopy in conjunction with molecular mechanics and DFT calculations are used to determine gas phase structures of anionic nucleotide clusters. A comparison of the identified structures with known biological function shows how the hydrogen bonding of the nucleotides and their clusters free of solvent create favorable structures for quick incorporation into enzymes such as DNA polymerase. Resonance enhanced multi-photon ionization (REMPI) spectroscopy techniques such as resonant two photon ionization (R2PI) and IR-UV double resonance are used to further elucidate the structure and excited state dynamics of the bare nucleobases thymine and uracil. Both exhibit long lived excited electronic states that have been implicated in DNA photolesions which can ultimately lead to melanoma and carcinoma. Our experimental data in comparison with many quantum chemical calculations suggest a new picture for the dynamics of thymine and uracil in the gas phase. A high probability of UV absorption from a vibrationally hot ground state to the excited electronic state shows that the stability of thymine and uracil comes from

Utilization of metal scrap for the production of waste drums for ultimate disposal

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Janberg, K.; Rittscher, D.

1988-01-01

The contribution reviews the history of development of the techniques for treatment of decommissioning scrap from the beginning of the 1980's onwards (decommissioning of the Niederaichbach and Gundremmingen nuclear power stations), together with the radiological measuring methods required for regulatory purposes. The advantages of the recycling of the metal scrap by means of melting, and of materials utilization for production of waste containers for ultimate storage are discussed together with product quality assurance criteria. (RB) [de

Poor understanding? Challenges to Global Development Education

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

John Buchanan

2018-03-01

Full Text Available As members of a global community, we cohabit a metaphorically shrinking physical environment, and are increasingly connected one to another, and to the world, by ties of culture, economics, politics, communication and the like. Education is an essential component in addressing inequalities and injustices concerning global rights and responsibilities. The increasing multicultural nature of societies locally, enhanced access to distal information, and the work of charitable organisations worldwide are some of the factors that have contributed to the interest in, and need for, understanding global development education. The project on which this paper reports sought answers to the question: to what extent and in what ways can a semester-long subject enhance and extend teacher education students’ understandings of and responses to global inequalities and global development aid? In the course of the project, a continuum model emerged, as follows: Indifference or ignorance ➝ pity and charity ➝ partnership and development among equals. In particular, this paper reports on some of the challenges and obstacles that need to be addressed in order to enhance pre-service teachers’ understandings of global development education. The study, conducted in Australia, has implications for global development education in other developed nations.

Ultimate internal pressure capacity of a reinforced concrete Mark III containment

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

McGaughy, J.P. Jr.; Lin, F.T.; Sen, S.K.

1983-01-01

The static ultimate capacity of a Mark III BWR pressure suppression type containment has been investigated with a view to determine its capability to withstand the internal pressure associated with a postulated hydrogen burn. The reinforced concrete containment consists of a right circular cylinder covered by a hemispherical dome and supported on a flat circular foundation mat. A 1/4'' thick welded steel liner plate covers the inside surface of the containment shell. The cylinder is a 3.5 ft. thick shell with an inside radius of 62.0 feet. The thickness of the dome is 3.5 feet. Reinforcement in the shell is comprised of multi-layers of circumferential, meridional and diagonal rebars. Major containment penetrations consists of a circular equipment hatch and two personnel airlock assemblies. The containment ultimate capacity is determined by performing a non-linear analysis using the proprietary finite element computer code 'FINEL'. The code has the capability of modelling concrete cracking in tension and redistribution forces and moments to account for such phenomenon. For analysis purposes, the finite element model included the containment dome and the upper portion of the containment cylinder with appropriate boundary conditions applied at the model cut off region. This portion of the containment structure is selected because the segment of the cylinder that is included in the model has the least amount of hopp reinforcement, and when the general yield state is reached, the hoop reinforcement will be the limiting element. The containment structure has been treated as an axisymmetric shell using axisymmetric quadrilateral finite elements in the radial plane to model the liner plate and concrete. The reinforcing steel have been idealized by finite elements with unidirectional stiffness. (orig./RW)

Fullerene–epoxy nanocomposites-enhanced mechanical properties at low nanofiller loading

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Rafiee, Mohammad A.; Yavari, Fazel; Rafiee, Javad; Koratkar, Nikhil

2011-01-01

In this study, we characterized the mechanical properties of fullerence (C 60 ) epoxy nanocomposites at various weight fractions of fullerene additives in the epoxy matrix. The mechanical properties measured were the Young’s modulus, ultimate tensile strength, fracture toughness, fracture energy, and the material’s resistance to fatigue crack propagation. All of the above properties of the epoxy polymer were significantly enhanced by the fullerene additives at relatively low nanofiller loading fractions (∼0.1 to 1% of the epoxy matrix weight). By contrast, other forms of nanoparticle fillers such as silica, alumina, and titania nanoparticles require up to an order of magnitude higher weight fraction to achieve comparable enhancement in properties.

Towards a Molecular Scale Understanding of Surface Chemistry and Photocatalysis on Metal Oxides: Surface Science Experiments and First Principles Theory

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Diebold, Ulrike [Tulane Univ., New Orleans, LA (United States)

2015-01-29

This project has provided an increased understanding of molecular processes and structure-activity relationships in photocatalytic systems. This could ultimately lead to guidelines on how to make TiO₂-based photocatalytic systems more efficient. This directly relates to the Program’s mission to develop a mechanistic understanding of chemical reactions that pertain to environmental remediation and pollution control; energy production (photoelectrochemical and production of hydrogen); and novel materials synthesis.

Steve Clarke, Julian Savulescu, C. A. J. Coady, Alberto Giubilini, and Sagar Sanyal (eds.), The Ethics of Human Enhancement: Understanding the Debate, Oxford University Press, 2016, 269pp., $74.00 (hbk), ISBN 9780198754855.

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Nyholm, S.R.

2017-01-01

The Ethics of Human Enhancement: Understanding the Debate has two chief aims. These aims are to help readers understand the existing debate and to move the debate forward. The book consists of an introductory chapter by Alberto Giubilini and Sagar Sanyal (which lays out some prominent

Collective Sensing: Integrating Geospatial Technologies to Understand Urban Systems—An Overview

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Geoffrey J. Hay

2011-08-01

Full Text Available Cities are complex systems composed of numerous interacting components that evolve over multiple spatio-temporal scales. Consequently, no single data source is sufficient to satisfy the information needs required to map, monitor, model, and ultimately understand and manage our interaction within such urban systems. Remote sensing technology provides a key data source for mapping such environments, but is not sufficient for fully understanding them. In this article we provide a condensed urban perspective of critical geospatial technologies and techniques: (i Remote Sensing; (ii Geographic Information Systems; (iii object-based image analysis; and (iv sensor webs, and recommend a holistic integration of these technologies within the language of open geospatial consortium (OGC standards in-order to more fully understand urban systems. We then discuss the potential of this integration and conclude that this extends the monitoring and mapping options beyond “hard infrastructure” by addressing “humans as sensors”, mobility and human-environment interactions, and future improvements to quality of life and of social infrastructures.

Understanding the experience of training for overseas nurses.

Science.gov (United States)

Smith, Sally

To explore the perceptions of overseas nurses during their induction programme. A pilot cohort of 20 overseas nurses. A qualitative research approach was used. The key themes were: communication issues, culture, role definition and feelings of self-worth, which are interrelated and suggest how the experience has influenced each nurse's professional development and ultimate achievement of 'competence' as a registered nurse able to practise in the UK. These findings confirm there is a need for greater understanding of the 'adjustment process' and integration into the workforce. Recommendations are made that for future projects to succeed, comprehensive support frameworks are required to fully support both the overseas nurse and the organisation as a whole.

Secondary Moments due to Prestressing with Different Bond at the Ultimate Limit State

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Halvoník Jaroslav

2018-03-01

Full Text Available Secondary effects of prestressing develop in statically indeterminate structures (e.g., continuous beams due to the restraint of deformations imposed by hyperstatic restraints. These effects may significantly influence internal forces and stresses in prestressed structures. Secondary effects are influenced by the redundancy of a structural system, which raises the question of whether they will remain constant after a change in the structural system, e.g., due to the development of plastic hinge(s in a critical cross-section(s or after the development of a kinematic mechanism, or if they will disappear when the structure changes into a sequence of simply supported beams. The paper deals with an investigation of the behavior of continuous post-tensioned beams subjected to an ultimate load with significant secondary effects from prestressing. A total of 6 two-span beams prestressed by tendons with different bonds were tested in a laboratory with a load that changed their structural system into a kinematic mechanism. The internal forces and secondary effects of the prestressing were controlled through measurements of the reactions in all the supports. The results revealed that the secondary effects remained as a permanent part of the action on the experimental beams, even after the development of the kinematic mechanism. The results obtained confirmed that secondary effects should be included in all combinations of actions for verifications of ultimate limit states (ULS.

Secondary Moments due to Prestressing with Different Bond at the Ultimate Limit State

Science.gov (United States)

Halvoník, Jaroslav; Pažma, Peter; Vida, Radoslav

2018-03-01

Secondary effects of prestressing develop in statically indeterminate structures (e.g., continuous beams) due to the restraint of deformations imposed by hyperstatic restraints. These effects may significantly influence internal forces and stresses in prestressed structures. Secondary effects are influenced by the redundancy of a structural system, which raises the question of whether they will remain constant after a change in the structural system, e.g., due to the development of plastic hinge(s) in a critical cross-section(s) or after the development of a kinematic mechanism, or if they will disappear when the structure changes into a sequence of simply supported beams. The paper deals with an investigation of the behavior of continuous post-tensioned beams subjected to an ultimate load with significant secondary effects from prestressing. A total of 6 two-span beams prestressed by tendons with different bonds were tested in a laboratory with a load that changed their structural system into a kinematic mechanism. The internal forces and secondary effects of the prestressing were controlled through measurements of the reactions in all the supports. The results revealed that the secondary effects remained as a permanent part of the action on the experimental beams, even after the development of the kinematic mechanism. The results obtained confirmed that secondary effects should be included in all combinations of actions for verifications of ultimate limit states (ULS).

Understanding Recent Mass Balance Changes of the Greenland Ice Sheet

Science.gov (United States)

vanderVeen, Cornelius

2003-01-01

The ultimate goal of this project is to better understand the current transfer of mass between the Greenland Ice Sheet, the world's oceans and the atmosphere, and to identify processes controlling the rate of this transfer, to be able to predict with greater confidence future contributions to global sea level rise. During the first year of this project, we focused on establishing longer-term records of change of selected outlet glaciers, reevaluation of mass input to the ice sheet and analysis of climate records derived from ice cores, and modeling meltwater production and runoff from the margins of the ice sheet.

BNL NONLINEAR PRE TEST SEISMIC ANALYSIS FOR THE NUPEC ULTIMATE STRENGTH PIPING TEST PROGRAM

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

DEGRASSI, G.; HOFMAYER, C.; MURPHY, C.; SUZUKI, K.; NAMITA, Y.

2003-01-01

The Nuclear Power Engineering Corporation (NUPEC) of Japan has been conducting a multi-year research program to investigate the behavior of nuclear power plant piping systems under large seismic loads. The objectives of the program are: to develop a better understanding of the elasto-plastic response and ultimate strength of nuclear piping; to ascertain the seismic safety margin of current piping design codes; and to assess new piping code allowable stress rules. Under this program, NUPEC has performed a large-scale seismic proving test of a representative nuclear power plant piping system. In support of the proving test, a series of materials tests, static and dynamic piping component tests, and seismic tests of simplified piping systems have also been performed. As part of collaborative efforts between the United States and Japan on seismic issues, the US Nuclear Regulatory Commission (USNRC) and its contractor, the Brookhaven National Laboratory (BNL), are participating in this research program by performing pre-test and post-test analyses, and by evaluating the significance of the program results with regard to safety margins. This paper describes BNL's pre-test analysis to predict the elasto-plastic response for one of NUPEC's simplified piping system seismic tests. The capability to simulate the anticipated ratcheting response of the system was of particular interest. Analyses were performed using classical bilinear and multilinear kinematic hardening models as well as a nonlinear kinematic hardening model. Comparisons of analysis results for each plasticity model against test results for a static cycling elbow component test and for a simplified piping system seismic test are presented in the paper

Metal-enhanced fluorescence exciplex emission.

Science.gov (United States)

Zhang, Yongxia; Mali, Buddha L; Geddes, Chris D

2012-01-01

In this letter, we report the first observation of metal-enhanced exciplex fluorescence, observed from anthracene in the presence of diethylaniline. Anthracene in the presence of diethylaniline in close proximity to Silver Island Films (SIFs) shows enhanced monomer and exciplex emission as compared to a non-silvered control sample containing no silver nanoparticles. Our findings suggest two complementary methods for the enhancement: (i) surface plasmons can radiate coupled monomer and exciplex fluorescence efficiently, and (ii) enhanced absorption (enhanced electric near-field) further facilitates enhanced emission. Our exciplex studies help us to further understand the complex photophysics of the metal-enhanced fluorescence technology. Copyright © 2011 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Multi-Scale Computational Enzymology: Enhancing Our Understanding of Enzymatic Catalysis

OpenAIRE

Rami Gherib; Hisham M. Dokainish; James W. Gauld

2013-01-01

Elucidating the origin of enzymatic catalysis stands as one the great challenges of contemporary biochemistry and biophysics. The recent emergence of computational enzymology has enhanced our atomistic-level description of biocatalysis as well the kinetic and thermodynamic properties of their mechanisms. There exists a diversity of computational methods allowing the investigation of specific enzymatic properties. Small or large density functional theory models allow the comparison of a pleth...

A computed microtomography method for understanding epiphyseal growth plate fusion

Science.gov (United States)

Staines, Katherine A.; Madi, Kamel; Javaheri, Behzad; Lee, Peter D.; Pitsillides, Andrew A.

2017-12-01

The epiphyseal growth plate is a developmental region responsible for linear bone growth, in which chondrocytes undertake a tightly regulated series of biological processes. Concomitant with the cessation of growth and sexual maturation, the human growth plate undergoes progressive narrowing, and ultimately disappears. Despite the crucial role of this growth plate fusion ‘bridging’ event, the precise mechanisms by which it is governed are complex and yet to be established. Progress is likely hindered by the current methods for growth plate visualisation; these are invasive and largely rely on histological procedures. Here we describe our non-invasive method utilising synchrotron x-ray computed microtomography for the examination of growth plate bridging, which ultimately leads to its closure coincident with termination of further longitudinal bone growth. We then apply this method to a dataset obtained from a benchtop microcomputed tomography scanner to highlight its potential for wide usage. Furthermore, we conduct finite element modelling at the micron-scale to reveal the effects of growth plate bridging on local tissue mechanics. Employment of these 3D analyses of growth plate bone bridging is likely to advance our understanding of the physiological mechanisms that control growth plate fusion.

On Ritalin, Adderall, and Cognitive Enhancement: Metaethics, Bioethics, Neuroethics

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Nythamar de Oliveira

2016-09-01

Full Text Available http://dx.doi.org/10.5007/1677-2954.2016v15n3p343 In this article, I argue that the neuroethics of cognitive enhancement can help us bridge the explanatory gap between metaethics and bioethics (qua normative, applied ethics and throw light on the classic gap between moral beliefs and neural correlates of brain processes. Insofar as it unveils the irreducibility of first-person propositional attitudes (esp. moral beliefs and judgments, neuroethics allows for justifying cosmetic, pharmacological interventions so as to bring about human enhancement, regardless of descriptive accounts of its neural correlates and independently of the cognitivist, noncognitivist or hybrid inputs of metanormative theories. Precisely because it cannot provide the ultimate grounds for any conservative, libertarian or liberal attitudes towards cognitive enhancement, neuroethics is better conceived in terms of a Rawlsian-like wide reflective equilibrium, procedurally and without any specific substantive commitment to any moral or comprehensive doctrine of sorts.

Ultimate Pressure Capacity of Prestressed Concrete Containment Vessels with Steel Fibers

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Hahm, Dae Gi; Choun, Young Sun; Choi, In Kil [Korea Atomic Energy Research Institute, Daejeon (Korea, Republic of)

2011-10-15

The ultimate pressure capacity (UPC) of the prestressed concrete containment vessel (PCCV) is very important since the PCCV are final protection to prevent the massive leakage of a radioactive contaminant caused by the severe accident of nuclear power plants (NPPs). The tensile behavior of a concrete is an important factor which influence to the UPC of PCCVs. Hence, nowadays, it is interested that the application of the steel fiber to the PCCVs since that the concrete with steel fiber shows an improved performance in the tensile behavior compared to reinforced concrete (RC). In this study, we performed the UPC analysis of PCCVs with steel fibers corresponding to the different volume ratio of fibers to verify the effectiveness of steel fibers on PCCVs

Making Information Visible, Accessible, and Understandable: Meta-Data and Registries

National Research Council Canada - National Science Library

Robinson, Clay

2007-01-01

... the interoperability, discovery, and utility of data assets throughout the Department of Defense (DoD). Proper use and understanding of metadata can substantially enhance the utility of data by making it more visible, accessible, and understandable...

Plasticity and constraints on social evolution in African mole-rats: ultimate and proximate factors.

Science.gov (United States)

Faulkes, Chris G; Bennett, Nigel C

2013-05-19

Here, we review comparative studies of African mole-rats (family Bathyergidae) to explain how constraints acting at the ultimate (environmental) and proximate (organismal) levels have led to convergent gains and losses of sociality within this extensive adaptive radiation of subterranean rodents endemic to sub-Saharan Africa. At the ultimate level, living in environments that range from mesic through to arid has led to both variation and flexibility in social organization among species, culminating in the pinnacle of social evolution in the eusocial naked and Damaraland mole-rats (Heterocephalus glaber and Fukomys damarensis). The common mole-rat (Cryptomys hottentotus) provides a model example of how plasticity in social traits exists within a single species inhabiting areas with different ecological constraint. At the proximate level, reproductive strategies and cooperative breeding may be constrained by the correlated evolution of a suite of traits including physiological suppression of reproduction, the development of physiological and morphological castes, and the mode of ovulatory control and seasonality in breeding. Furthermore, recent neurobiological advances indicate that differential patterns of neurotransmitter expression within the forebrain may underpin (and limit) either a solitary or group living/cooperative lifestyle not only in mole-rats, but also more widely among disparate mammalian taxa.

Evaluation of the ultimate pressure capacity of rectangular HVAC ducts for nuclear pwoer plants

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Wedellsborg, B.W.

1984-01-01

Typical Category I HVAC ducts in a nuclear plant must be designed for loads and load combinations including positive and negative pressure loads which are generated due to the normal operation and postulated accident conditions. These pressure loads most often govern the design of the HVAC ducts. Structural design criteria are presently based on the AISI Code which limits the duct panel width-to-thickness ratio to a maximum of 500 and the maximum height-to-thickness ratio to 200, unless it can be shown by structural tests that larger ratios can be used. Test Programs performed on rectangular HVAC ducts subjected to vacumm loads have substantiated the use of ducts having panel width to thickness ratios of up to 1600. The results of the test programs were subsequently incorporated into the design through a more rational analytical design method which was developed from and correlates well with the test results. The purpose of this paper is to present the analytical design method and its correlation with the test results. Simple formulae for the design of rectangular HVAC ducts are presented. Lower bound values of duct sheet, and stiffener ultimate loads are derived, and correlated with recent test results. Analytically predicted ultimate pressures are also compared with other available duct test data

Playing "Sherlock Holmes": Enhancing Students' Understanding of Prejudice and Stereotyping.

Science.gov (United States)

Junn, Ellen N.; Grier, Leslie K.; Behrens, Debra P.

2001-01-01

Describes an experiential classroom exercise that was designed to help students understand stereotyping and prejudice. The instructor read behavioral and psychological descriptions, asked students to imagine they were Sherlock Holmes, and identify classmates to whom the descriptions might apply. States that students of color reported more benefits…

Enhancing Preservice Teachers' Understanding of Students' Misconceptions in Learning Chemistry

Science.gov (United States)

Naah, Basil Mugaga

2015-01-01

Preservice teachers enrolled in a modified introductory chemistry course used an instructional rubric to improve and evaluate their understanding of students' misconceptions in learning various chemistry concepts. A sample of 79 preservice teachers first explored the state science standards to identify chemistry misconceptions associated with the…

Family perceptions of intellectual disability: Understanding and support in Dar es Salaam

Science.gov (United States)

2012-01-01

When attempting to understand the construct of intellectual disability in different contexts, speaking to family members in addition to the individual with the disability may provide new insight about understandings of and responses to intellectual disability in society and may help to identify the forms of support that are available or needed to ensure the quality of life of people with disabilities. This article outlines and discusses interviews that were conducted in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, with family members of children and adults with intellectual disabilities. These interviews explore how families came to understand that their child had an intellectual disability; the availability of family support; and family hopes and dreams for the future, and were a part of a wider exploratory study that gathered insight from individuals with disabilities, families, and other providers of support to explore understandings and perceptions of disability in Dar es Salaam. Understanding family experiences will help researchers, policy makers, non-governmental organisations, and others to identify family strengths and family support needs which can ultimately improve family quality of life and the quality of life of the member with a disability. PMID:28729979

Dual characteristics of yield and ultimate strength as applied to two grades of beryllium

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Priddy, T.G.; Benzley, S.E.; Johnson, R.L.

1977-02-01

Published yield and ultimate biaxial strength data for two grades of beryllium are correlated with the use of a macroscopic failure model. Cross sections of the resulting surfaces in three-dimensional stress space are drawn to illustrate the expected transition from ductile to brittle fracture for triaxial tension states of stress. The usefulness of these models to the prediction of fracture in ductile materials is discussed. 5 tables, 8 figures, 11 references

Proximate and ultimate controls on carbon and nutrient dynamics of small agricultural catchments

Science.gov (United States)

Thomas, Zahra; Abbott, Benjamin W.; Troccaz, Olivier; Baudry, Jacques; Pinay, Gilles

2016-03-01

Direct and indirect effects from human activity have dramatically increased nutrient loading to aquatic inland and estuarine ecosystems. Despite an abundance of studies investigating the impact of agricultural activity on water quality, our understanding of what determines the capacity of a watershed to remove or retain nutrients remains limited. The goal of this study was to identify proximate and ultimate controls on dissolved organic carbon and nutrient dynamics in small agricultural catchments by investigating the relationship between catchment characteristics, stream discharge, and water chemistry. We analyzed a 5-year, high-frequency water chemistry data set from three catchments in western France ranging from 2.3 to 10.8 km2. The relationship between hydrology and solute concentrations differed between the three catchments and was associated with hedgerow density, agricultural activity, and geology. The catchment with thicker soil and higher surface roughness had relatively invariant carbon and nutrient chemistry across hydrologic conditions, indicating high resilience to human disturbance. Conversely, the catchments with smoother, thinner soils responded to both intra- and interannual hydrologic variation with high concentrations of phosphate (PO43-) and ammonium (NH4+) in streams during low flow conditions and strong increases in dissolved organic carbon (DOC), sediment, and particulate organic matter during high flows. Despite contrasting agricultural activity between catchments, the physical context (geology, topography, and land-use configuration) appeared to be the most important determinant of catchment solute dynamics based on principle components analysis. The influence of geology and accompanying topographic and geomorphological factors on water quality was both direct and indirect because the distribution of agricultural activity in these catchments is largely a consequence of the geologic and topographic context. This link between inherent

Seismic proving test of ultimate piping strength (current status of preliminary tests)

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Suzuki, K.; Namita, Y.; Abe, H.; Ichihashi, I.; Suzuki, K.; Ishiwata, M.; Fujiwaka, T.; Yokota, H.

2001-01-01

In 1998 Fiscal Year, the 6 year program of piping tests was initiated with the following objectives: i) to clarify the elasto-plastic response and ultimate strength of nuclear piping, ii) to ascertain the seismic safety margin of the current seismic design code for piping, and iii) to assess new allowable stress rules. In order to resolve extensive technical issues before proceeding on to the seismic proving test of a large-scale piping system, a series of preliminary tests of materials, piping components and simplified piping systems is intended. In this paper, the current status of the material tests and the piping component tests is reported. (author)

Identification of activated enhancers and linked transcription factors in breast, prostate, and kidney tumors by tracing enhancer networks using epigenetic traits.

Science.gov (United States)

Rhie, Suhn Kyong; Guo, Yu; Tak, Yu Gyoung; Yao, Lijing; Shen, Hui; Coetzee, Gerhard A; Laird, Peter W; Farnham, Peggy J

2016-01-01

Although technological advances now allow increased tumor profiling, a detailed understanding of the mechanisms leading to the development of different cancers remains elusive. Our approach toward understanding the molecular events that lead to cancer is to characterize changes in transcriptional regulatory networks between normal and tumor tissue. Because enhancer activity is thought to be critical in regulating cell fate decisions, we have focused our studies on distal regulatory elements and transcription factors that bind to these elements. Using DNA methylation data, we identified more than 25,000 enhancers that are differentially activated in breast, prostate, and kidney tumor tissues, as compared to normal tissues. We then developed an analytical approach called Tracing Enhancer Networks using Epigenetic Traits that correlates DNA methylation levels at enhancers with gene expression to identify more than 800,000 genome-wide links from enhancers to genes and from genes to enhancers. We found more than 1200 transcription factors to be involved in these tumor-specific enhancer networks. We further characterized several transcription factors linked to a large number of enhancers in each tumor type, including GATA3 in non-basal breast tumors, HOXC6 and DLX1 in prostate tumors, and ZNF395 in kidney tumors. We showed that HOXC6 and DLX1 are associated with different clusters of prostate tumor-specific enhancers and confer distinct transcriptomic changes upon knockdown in C42B prostate cancer cells. We also discovered de novo motifs enriched in enhancers linked to ZNF395 in kidney tumors. Our studies characterized tumor-specific enhancers and revealed key transcription factors involved in enhancer networks for specific tumor types and subgroups. Our findings, which include a large set of identified enhancers and transcription factors linked to those enhancers in breast, prostate, and kidney cancers, will facilitate understanding of enhancer networks and mechanisms

Proximate and ultimate aspects of phenotypic plasticity in timing of great tit breeding in a heterogeneous environment

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Nager, R.G.; Van Noordwijk, A.J.

1995-01-01

Using the theoretical framework of phenotypic plasticity, we studied the timing of breeding in great tits (Parus major), combining proximate questions about its physiological causation and ultimate questions about its fitness consequences. The plasticity observed in the timing of breeding can be

Motives for choosing growth-enhancing hormone treatment in adolescents with idiopathic short stature: a questionnaire and structured interview study

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Visser-van Balen, J.; Geenen, R.; Kamp, G.A.; Huisman, J.; Wit, J.M.; Sinnema, G.

2005-01-01

Background Growth-enhancing hormone treatment is considered a possible intervention in short but otherwise healthy adolescents. Although height gain is an obvious measure for evaluating hormone treatment, this may not be the ultimate goal for the person, but rather a means to reach other goals such

Thermal performance measurements on ultimate heat sinks--cooling ponds

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hadlock, R.K.; Abbey, O.B.

1977-12-01

The primary objective of the studies described is to obtain the requisite data, with respect to modeling requirements, to characterize thermal performance of heat sinks for nuclear facilities existing at elevated water temperatures in result of experiencing a genuinely large heat load and responding to meteorological influence. The data should reflect thermal performance for combinations leading to worst-case meteorological influence. A geothermal water retention basin has been chosen as the site for the first measurement program and data have been obtained in the first of several experiments scheduled to be performed there. These data illustrate the thermal and water budgets during episodes of cooling from an initially high pond water bulk temperature. Monitoring proceeded while the pond experienced only meteorological and seepage influence. The data are discussed and are presented as a data volume which may be used for calculation purposes. Suggestions for future measurement programs are stated with the intent to maintain and improve relevance to nuclear ultimate heat sinks while continuing to examine the performance of the analog geothermal pond. It is further suggested that the geothermal pond, with some modification, may be a suitable site for spray pond measurements

Integrated Approach for Understanding Impurity Adsorption on Calcite: Mechanisms for Micro-scale Surface Phenomena

Science.gov (United States)

Vinson, M. D.; Arvidson, R. S.; Luttge, A.

2004-12-01

A longstanding goal within the field of environmental geochemistry has been the development of a fundamental understanding of the kinetics that governs the interactions of solution-borne impurities with the calcite mineral surface. Recent dissolution experiments using Mg2+, Mn2+, and Sr2+ have shown distinct differences in the interaction of these three impurity ions with the calcite crystal surface. Because the dissolution of carbonate minerals in soils and sediments influences the uptake and migration of groundwater contaminants, a rigorous understanding of the basic processes that occur at the mineral-fluid interface is necessary. We have used vertical scanning interferometry (VSI) coupled with scanning probe microscopy (SPM) to examine calcite crystal dissolution in the presence of Mg2+, Mn2+, and Sr2+, all known dissolution inhibitors and possible groundwater contaminants. We have studied the kinetics of impurity-crystal interactions at a pH 8.8, and in the presence or absence of dissolved inorganic carbon. Our data show that, when individually introduced into undersaturated solutions, Mg2+ and Mn2+ are shown to activate the calcite crystal surface, resulting in enhanced etch pit nucleation rates and step density. Conversely, Sr2+ is shown to cause passivation of the calcite surface. The effect is intensified when solutions are saturated with respect to atmospheric CO2. Results indicate that aqueous CO32- (or HCO3-) may influence how aqueous metal ionic complexes interact with the crystal surface. Furthermore, the influence is differently exhibited, and passivation or activation ultimately depends on the properties of the diffusing metal ion or metal-hydroxide complex. These properties include for example, differences in hydration enthalpy, the effective ionic radius, and electron shell configuration.

Surface-enhanced Raman spectroscopy: nonlocal limitations

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Toscano, Giuseppe; Raza, Søren; Xiao, Sanshui

2012-01-01

for our understanding of surface-enhanced Raman spectroscopy (SERS). The intrinsic length scale of the electron gas serves to smear out assumed field singularities, leaving the SERS enhancement factor finite, even for geometries with infinitely sharp features. For silver nanogroove structures, mimicked...

Experimental study on ultimate strength and strain behavior of concrete under biaxial compressive stresses

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Onuma, Hiroshi; Aoyagi, Yukio

1976-01-01

The purpose of this investigation was to study the ultimate strength failure mode and deformation behavior of concrete under short-term biaxial compressive stresses, as an aid to design and analyze the concrete structures subjected to multiaxial compression such as prestressed or reinforced concrete vessel structures. The experimental work on biaxial compression was carried out on the specimens of three mix proportions and different ages with 10cm x 10cm x 10cm cubic shape in a room controlled at 20 0 C. The results are summarized as follows. (1) To minimize the surface friction between specimens and loading platens, the pads of teflon sheets coated with silicone grease were used. The coefficient of friction was measured and was 3 percent on the average. (2) The test data showed that the strength of the concrete subjected to biaxial compression increased as compared to uniaxial compressive strength, and that the biaxial strength increase was mainly dependent on the ratio of principal stresses, and it was hardly affected by mix proportions and ages. (3) The maximum increase of strength, which occurred at the stress ratio of approximately sigma 2 /sigma 1 = 0.6, was about 27 percent higher than the uniaxial strength of concrete. (4) The ultimate strength in case of biaxial compression could be approximated by the parabolic equation. (Kako, I.)

Mutual understanding: a communication model for general practice.

Science.gov (United States)

Hantho, Arne; Jensen, Lena; Malterud, Kirsti

2002-12-01

To present our pursuits towards development of a simple model for clinical communication intended for application by the practitioner as a tool for enhancing mutual understanding. Inspired by theories about patient-centredness and interactive modes of understanding, and supported by the perspectives of the Danish philosopher Niels Thomassen, we reviewed audiotapes from our own consultations. Recognising four dimensions assumed to be essential for mutual understanding in the transcripts, we explored these dimensions further. We present a communication model consisting of the following dimensions: The Framework, within which the communication takes place; The Subject, about which the communication takes place; The Persons, between whom the communication takes place; and The Action, verbally and non-verbally, through which communication takes place. We describe these dimensions in detail. The nature of the dimensions indicates that there is an interrelationship between them, implying that the character of the communication may change if one of the factors is changed. Analysis of an ongoing or recent consultation completed in accordance with these four dimensions allows the doctor to refocus the communication, thus leading to a more extensive mutual understanding and perhaps enhanced freedom of action.

How innovative ICT tools can enhance understanding of interactions between societal, hydrological and environmental changes

Science.gov (United States)

Foglia, L.; Borsi, I.; Cannata, M.; De Filippis, G.; Criollo, R.; Mehl, S.; Rossetto, R.

2017-12-01

The interaction of environmental, physical, and socioeconomic processes alter and are altered by water and by how human can affect water use. For example, a warming climate increases the chance of warm temperatures and lack of precipitation, and when combined with growing population requires understanding of impact on water resources and on all the processes related to the water budget including evapotranspiration. On this foundation, humans add engineered and social systems to control, manage, utilize, and alter our water environment for a variety of uses and through a variety of organizational and individual decisions. Some engineered systems have mixed consequences, for example groundwater helped sustain agriculture during drought periods, but then groundwater levels critically decrease with no chances to recover in some parts of the world. Innovative ICT tools have been demonstrated as a helpful tool for enhancing human understanding of the effect that societal, economical, and policy-based decisions have on the water resources and on the environment in general. Here we apply the new FREEWAT platform to demonstrate the importance of developing ad-hoc database and hydrological models to simulate different scenarios using a participatory approach. Stakeholders have been involved in data collection, database design and model development during the entire project period and discussion between researcher and stakeholders have been fostered during Focus Groups and workshops organized in many countries in Europe and beyond (including case studies in Ukraine and Africa). FREEWAT is an open source and public domain GIS integrated modelling environment for simulation of water quantity and quality in surface water and groundwater with an integrated water management and planning module. FREEWAT aims at promoting water resource management by simplifying the application of the Water Framework Directive and related Directives. Fourteen case studies have been considered and

Tasks of radiation protection in the centralized collection and ultimate disposal of radioactive waste

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Boerst, F.M.; Fasten, C.; Koerner, W.; Oppermann, U.; Werner, H.J.; Zappe, D.

1988-01-01

In the GDR, the ERAM (Endlager fuer radioaktive Abfaelle, Morsleben), an operating unit of Volkseigenes Kombinat Kernkraftwerke 'Bruno Leuschner' in Greifswald, is responsible for the central collection and ultimate disposal of radioactive waste. From the licensing body's point of view an assessment is given of the legislation for radioactive wastes, especially as to their collection, transport to and handling in the final repository. As a result, some conclusions are drawn concerning future work in this field. 9 tabs., 34 refs. (author)

Imaging-Genetics in Dyslexia: Connecting risk genetic variants to brain neuroimaging and ultimately to reading impairments

Science.gov (United States)

Eicher, John D.; Gruen, Jeffrey R.

2013-01-01

Dyslexia is a common pediatric disorder that affects 5-17% of schoolchildren in the United States. It is marked by unexpected difficulties in fluent reading despite adequate intelligence, opportunity, and instruction. Classically, neuropsychologists have studied dyslexia using a variety of neurocognitive batteries to gain insight into the specific deficits and impairments in affected children. Since dyslexia is a complex genetic trait with high heritability, analyses conditioned on performance on these neurocognitive batteries have been used to try to identify associated genes. This has led to some successes in identifying contributing genes, although much of the heritability remains unexplained. Additionally, the lack of relevant human brain tissue for analysis and the challenges of modeling a uniquely human trait in animals are barriers to advancing our knowledge of the underlying pathophysiology. In vivo imaging technologies, however, present new opportunities to examine dyslexia and reading skills in a clearly relevant context in human subjects. Recent investigations have started to integrate these imaging data with genetic data in attempts to gain a more complete and complex understanding of reading processes. In addition to bridging the gap from genetic risk variant to a discernible neuroimaging phenotype and ultimately to the clinical impairments in reading performance, the use of neuroimaging phenotypes will reveal novel risk genes and variants. In this article, we briefly discuss the genetic and imaging investigations and take an in-depth look at the recent imaging-genetics investigations of dyslexia. PMID:23916419

The ultimate SharePoint performance guide ! configuring SharePoint, SQL and Office 365 for maximum performance

CERN Document Server

Catrinescu, Vlad

2017-01-01

This is an ultimate guidance on performance for SharePoint Server 2013, 2016 and SharePoint Online inspired both by Microsoft’s best practices and real life experiences from countless deployments on the field.This book was Tech Reviewed by Microsoft MVP & RD Jussi Roine and includes an awesome foreword by SharePoint MVP Christian Buckley.

Ultimate Attainment in Late Second Language Acquisition: Phonetic and Grammatical Challenges in Advanced Dutch-English Bilingualism

Science.gov (United States)

Schmid, Monika S.; Gilbers, Steven; Nota, Amber

2014-01-01

The present article provides an exploration of ultimate attainment in second language (L2) and its limitations. It is argued that the question of maturational constraints can best be investigated when the reference population is bilingual and exposed on a regular basis to varieties of their first language (L1) that show cross-linguistic influence.…

太阳能电池的最终效率探讨%Discussion about ultimate efficiency of solar cells

Institute of Scientific and Technical Information of China (English)

钱志成; 戴晓; 史鹏; 尹万健; 娄艳辉; 邹贵付

2016-01-01

Solar energy is considered as one of the most promising green energy due to clean,safe,long life,and renewable advantages.Solar cell is an electrical device that converts solar energy directly into electric power on the basis of photovoltaic effect.Fritts built the first solar cell in 1883.Although the initial efficiency was only 1％,it has been exciting to know that the power conversion efficiency of solar cells is endlessly improved since it was reported.Up to now,the efficiency of commercial silicon solar cell is between 10％-18％.The latest research shows that the best efficiency of perovskite solar cell has been improved to be over 20％ within several years.As it is well known,the maximum power conversion efficiency of single-junction solar cells are only around 33％ according to the ShockleyQueisser limit.With the development of new materials and high technologies,one issue is emerging:What is the ultimate efficiency of solar cells? The highest efficiency of solar cell is possible to break the Schockley-Queisser limit? How to further enhance the efficiency of solar cell? All the questions are hard to answer at present.Surrounding these concerns,this article presents a brief review about the efficiency limits of different solar cells.It might help to understand the ultimate efficiency of solar cells.The details address the basic principle,advantages and disadvantages of single-junction,multi-junction and other new concept solar cells regarding the power conversion efficiency.The review also includes the solar cell materials involving silicon,compound,perovskite,quantum dot,hybrid materials,etc.Finally,we look ahead into the prospect of new concept solar cells and the maximum power conversion efficiency.%太阳能电池利用光伏效应将太阳能直接转换为电能,拥有可再生、清洁、安全、寿命长等优点,被认为是最有前途的可再生能源技术之一.虽然光电转化效率在10％～18％的太阳能电池已经实�

A phenomenographic study of the ways of understanding conditional and repetition structures in computer programming languages

Science.gov (United States)

Bucks, Gregory Warren

Computers have become an integral part of how engineers complete their work, allowing them to collect and analyze data, model potential solutions and aiding in production through automation and robotics. In addition, computers are essential elements of the products themselves, from tennis shoes to construction materials. An understanding of how computers function, both at the hardware and software level, is essential for the next generation of engineers. Despite the need for engineers to develop a strong background in computing, little opportunity is given for engineering students to develop these skills. Learning to program is widely seen as a difficult task, requiring students to develop not only an understanding of specific concepts, but also a way of thinking. In addition, students are forced to learn a new tool, in the form of the programming environment employed, along with these concepts and thought processes. Because of this, many students will not develop a sufficient proficiency in programming, even after progressing through the traditional introductory programming sequence. This is a significant problem, especially in the engineering disciplines, where very few students receive more than one or two semesters' worth of instruction in an already crowded engineering curriculum. To address these issues, new pedagogical techniques must be investigated in an effort to enhance the ability of engineering students to develop strong computing skills. However, these efforts are hindered by the lack of published assessment instruments available for probing an individual's understanding of programming concepts across programming languages. Traditionally, programming knowledge has been assessed by producing written code in a specific language. This can be an effective method, but does not lend itself well to comparing the pedagogical impact of different programming environments, languages or paradigms. This dissertation presents a phenomenographic research study

Can an egg-dropping race enhance students' conceptual understanding of air resistance?

Science.gov (United States)

Lee, Yeung Chung; Kwok, Ping Wai

2009-03-01

Children are familiar with situations in which air resistance plays an important role, such as parachuting. However, it is not known whether they have any understanding about the concept of air resistance, how air resistance affects falling objects, and the differential effect it has on different objects. The literature reveals that there are misconceptions even among undergraduate physics students about how air resistance is affected by the mass and size of falling objects. A study was carried out in Hong Kong to explore Grade 6 students' (aged 11-12) conceptions of air resistance with respect to falling objects of different size and mass, and whether the subjects showed any change in their conceptual understanding after participating in an egg-dropping race. The findings show that students had a wide range of conceptions, which could be characterized into different levels. Their conceptions seem rather robust, and more structured interventions are required to bring about changes in students' conceptual understanding of air resistance.

Supporting students with disabilities--promoting understanding amongst mentors in practice.

Science.gov (United States)

Tee, Stephen; Cowen, Michelle

2012-01-01

Good practice demands a clinical practice culture positively disposed to students with disabilities. Equality legislation seeks to protect those with a disability from either direct or indirect discrimination. The balance between providing "reasonable adjustments" for the student, whilst ensuring "Fitness to Practice", and ultimate employability, requires a close partnership between higher education and practice mentors. This paper reports on the development and evaluation of a range of interactive resources, used in the preparation of mentors to help them address the specific learning needs of disabled students. The evaluation revealed the benefit of student 'stories' in helping mentors to understand the support needs of disabled students and ensure reasonable adjustments are implemented in compliance with disability legislation. The interactive resources have been helpful in promoting positive action towards disabled students' learning, empathic understanding of mental health issues and knowledge and skills acquisition in support of dyslexic students. Implementing reasonable adjustments in practice requires a close working partnership between HEI's and mentors who appreciate support in understanding the development and application of coping strategies to overcome disabilities. Effective preparation of mentors is essential to ensure that opportunities for disabled students to succeed are maximised. Copyright © 2011. Published by Elsevier Ltd.

Understanding the Sustainability of Private Development Initiatives

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Kinsbergen, Sara; Schulpen, Lau; Ruben, Ruerd

2017-01-01

In the Netherlands, there is a large group of small-scale, voluntary development organisations, referred to as Private Development Initiatives (PDIs). By classifying PDI interventions based on their potential sustainability, we aim to enhance our understanding of PDIs as alternative development

Rethinking enhancement in sport.

Science.gov (United States)

Miah, Andy

2006-12-01

This article explores the arguments surrounding the use of human enhancement technologies in sport, arguing for a reconceptualization of the doping debate. First, it develops an overview and critique of the legislative structures on enhancement. Subsequently, a conceptual framework for understanding the role of technological effects in sport is advanced. Finally, two case studies (hypoxic chambers and gene transfer) receive specific attention, through which it is argued that human enhancement technologies can enrich the practice of elite sports rather than diminish them. In conclusion, it is argued that elite sports are at a pivotal moment in their history as an increasing range of enhancements makes less relevant the protection of the natural human through anti-doping.

Ultimate storage of radioactive wastes annual report, 1973

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

The present report is a cooperative effort by the Company for Radiation and Environmental Research, Munich, and the Company for Nuclear Research, Karlsruhe, and provides a survey of work carried out during 1973 in the area of ultimate storage of radioactive wastes. Mining and construction works which were carried out in the Asse Salt Mine near Remlingen both underground as well as above the ground and which were used for repair, maintenance and expansion of the operation consistent with its future tasks are reported. The storage of low-level wastes at the 750 m level and also the test-oriented storage of medium-level waste materials at the 490 m level were carried out within the reporting period. Shielded storage casks S7V developed by the GfK were used for the first time in September for transporting 200 l iron-hooped drums filled with medium-level radioactive wastes to Asse, each shipment always containing seven drums. With two round-trips a week taking place between the Nuclear Research Center, Karlsruhe and the Asse II shaft installation, 14 drums were brought each week so that, by the end of the year, the quantity in storage amounted to a total of 233 drums. Further information is provided concerning the present status of research work in the fields of oromechanics, geology and hydrology as well as other findings. Further, storage techniques are discussed which are presently in the planning stage

Experimental investigation on ultimate strength and failure response of composite box beams used in wind turbine blades

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Tang, Jing; Chen, Xiao

2018-01-01

This study focuses on the ultimate strength and failure response of composite box beams under three-point bending. The box beams consist of spar caps and shear webs and they are typically used in wind turbine blades as load-carrying members. Different spar cap configurations and loading directions...

Manipulating 3D-Printed and Paper Models Enhances Student Understanding of Viral Replication

Science.gov (United States)

Couper, Lisa; Johannes, Kristen; Powers, Jackie; Silberglitt, Matt; Davenport, Jodi

2016-01-01

Understanding key concepts in molecular biology requires reasoning about molecular processes that are not directly observable and, as such, presents a challenge to students and teachers. We ask whether novel interactive physical models and activities can help students understand key processes in viral replication. Our 3D tangible models are…

Reflecting on impact, changes and continuities: restructuring workplace cultures: the ultimate work-family challenge.

OpenAIRE

Lewis, Suzan

2010-01-01

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to reflect on the paper “Restructuring workplace cultures: the ultimate work-family challenge?” is published in Women in Management Review, Vol. 16 No. 1, 2001, pp. 21-9. \\ud \\ud Design/methodology/approach – The impact of the paper is considered within a framework that takes account of national discursive and political contexts in the UK in 2001 and in the present and uses a gendered organisation lens. \\ud \\ud Findings – The 2001 paper demonstrates that...

Process Inherent Ultimate Safety (PIUS) reactor evaluation study: Final report

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

1987-02-01

This report presents the results of an independent study by United Engineers and Constructors (UNITED) of the SECURE-P Process Inherent Ultimate Safety (PIUS) Reactor Concept which is presently under development by the Swedish light water reactor vendor ASEA-ATOM of Vasteras, Sweden. This study was performed to investigate whether there is any realistic basis for believing that the PIUS reactor could be a viable competitor in the US energy market in the future. Assessments were limited to the technical, economic and licensing aspects of PIUS. Socio-political issues, while certainly important in answering this question, are so broad and elusive that it was considered that addressing them with the limited perspective of one small group from one company would be of questionable value and likely be misleading. Socio-political issues aside, the key issue is economics. For this reason, the specific objectives of this study were to determine if the estimated PIUS plant cost will be competitive in the US market and to identify and evaluate the technical and licensing risks that might make PIUS uneconomical or otherwise unacceptable

Yield, utilization, storage and ultimate storage of depleted uranium

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Aumueller, L.; Hermann, J.

1977-11-01

More than 80% of the uranium leaving uranium enrichment plants is depleted to a residual content of about 0,25% U 235. Due to the present ineconomical further depletion to the technically possible residual content of 0,1% U 235, the so-called 'tails' are first of all stored. The quantity of stored depleted uranium in the FRG should be about 100.000 t by the year 2000. It represents a strategic reserve for future energy supply regardless of profitableness. The study analysis the conceivable possible uses for the tails quantity considered. These are, besides further depletion whose profitableness is considered, also the use as breeder material in breeder reactors and the use in the non-nuclear field. The main part of the study deals with the various storage possibilities of the depleted uranium in oxidic or fluoride form. A comparison of costs of alternative storage concepts showed a clear advantage for the storage of UF 6 in 48 inch containers already in use. The conceivable accidents in storing are analyzed and measures to reduce the consequences are discussed. Finally, the problems of ultimate storage for the remaining waste after further depletion or use are investigated and the costs arising here are also estimated. (RB) [de

Design proposal for ultimate shear strength of tapered steel plate girders

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

A. Bedynek

2017-03-01

Full Text Available Numerous experimental and numerical studies on prismatic plate girders subjected to shear can be found in the literature. However, the real structures are frequently designed as non-uniform structural elements. The main objective of the research is the development of a new proposal for the calculation of the ultimate shear resistance of tapered steel plate girders taking into account the specific behaviour of such members. A new mechanical model is presented in the paper and it is used to show the differences between the behaviour of uniform and tapered web panels subjected to shear. EN 1993-1-5 design specifications for the determination of the shear strength for rectangular plates are improved in order to assess the shear strength of tapered elements. Numerical studies carried out on tapered steel plate girders subjected to shear lead to confirm the suitability of the mechanical model and the proposed design expression.

Advancing Future Network Science through Content Understanding

Science.gov (United States)

2014-05-01

BitTorrent, PostgreSQL, MySQL , and GRSecurity) and emerging technologies (HadoopDFS, Tokutera, Sector/Sphere, HBase, and other BigTable-like...result. • Multi-Source Network Pulse Analyzer and Correlator provides course of action planning by enhancing the understanding of the complex dynamics

Enhancing operability and reliability through configuration management

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hancock, L.R.

1993-01-01

This paper describes the evolution of plant design control techniques from the early 1970's to today's operating environment that demands accurate, up-to-date design data. This evolution of design control is responsible for the increasingly troublesome scenario of design data being very difficult to locate and when found, its credibility is questioned. The design information could be suspect because there are discrepancies between two or more source documents or there is a difference between the design documents and the physical configuration of the plant. This paper discusses the impact these design control problems are having on plant operations and presents common sense solutions for improving configuration management techniques to ultimately enhance operability and reliability

Ultimate resources of drinking water in the event of a major pollution crisis: the role of bottled water

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Collin, J.J.; Comte, J.P.; Daum, J.R.; Lopoukhine, M.; Mesny, M.

1995-01-01

In the event of a serious and widespread pollution incident - on the level of the ''Chernobyl cloud'' - most of the drinking water resources in France could be contaminated : surface water immediately, ground water in a few days... or a few months. Therefore on the initiative of the Ministry of the Environment's Director for Defence, a study has been initiated as to what might be qualified as ''final emergency resources''. An inventory and map of protected resources have been prepared. In this context it seems reasonable to show bottled water as a resource meeting the necessary protection criteria. However it seems that these criteria are not all, nor always, relevant for defining a ''ultimate emergency resource'' not contaminated by a major incident. This article outlines a typology of situations and defines the main criteria necessary for bottled water to be able to constitute an ultimate resource

Risk, Rationality and Nudging in Late Modern Society: Understanding the dynamics of the climate crisis

OpenAIRE

Jakobsen, Terne Sasha Thorn

2016-01-01

This study seeks to explore and explain how nudge theory may contribute to the understanding of thedynamics of the climate crisis in a ‘world risk society’. It is based on Ulrich Beck’s theory of a worldrisk society and unfolds through the combination of theories about risk, rationality and behaviour thatare ultimately brought together in relation to the climate crisis. A critical realistic perspective andmethod is taken to explore three hypothetical premises: 1) That the climate crisis is a ...

The U.S. Gas Flooding Experience: CO2 Injection Strategies and Impact on Ultimate Recovery

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Nunez-Lopez, Vanessa [The University of Texas at Austin; Hosseini, Seyyed; Gil-Egui, Ramon

2017-09-29

The Permian Basin in West Texas and southwestern New Mexico has seen 45 years of oil reserve growth through CO2 enhanced oil recovery (CO2 EOR). More than 60 CO2 EOR projects are currently active in the region’s limestone, sandstone and dolomite reservoirs. Water alternating gas (WAG) has been the development strategy of choice in the Permian for several technical and economic reasons. More recently, the technology started to get implemented in the much more porous and permeable clastic depositional systems of the onshore U.S. Gulf Coast. Continued CO2 injection (CGI), as opposed to WAG, was selected as the injection strategy to develop Gulf Coast oil fields, where CO2 injection volumes are significantly larger (up to 6 times larger) than those of the Permian. We conducted a compositional simulation based study with the objective of comparing the CO2 utilization ratios (volume of CO2 injected to produce a barrel of oil) of 4 conventional and novel CO2 injection strategies: (1) continuous gas injection (CGI), (2) water alternating gas (WAG), (3) water curtain injection (WCI), and (4) WAG and WCI combination. These injection scenarios were simulated using the GEM module from the Computer Modeling Group (CMG). GEM is an advanced general equation-of-state compositional simulator, which includes equation of state, CO2 miscible flood, CO2/brine interactions, and complex phase behavior. The simulator is set up to model three fluid phases including water, oil, and gas. Our study demonstrates how the selected field development strategy has a significant impact on the ultimate recovery of CO2-EOR projects, with GCI injection providing maximum oil recovery in absolute volume terms, but with WAG offering a more balanced technical-economical approach.

Surfactant-enhanced alkaline flooding for light oil recovery. Annual report, 1992--1993

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Wasan, D.T.

1994-08-01

In this report, the authors present the results of experimental and theoretical studies in surfactant-enhanced alkaline flooding for light oil recovery. The overall objective of this work is to develop a very cost-effective method for formulating a successful surfactant-enhanced alkaline flood by appropriately choosing mixed alkalis which form inexpensive buffers to obtain the desired pH (between 8.5 and 12.0) for ultimate spontaneous emulsification and ultralow interfacial tension. In addition, the authors have (1) developed a theoretical interfacial activity model for determining equilibrium interfacial tension, (2) investigated the mechanisms for spontaneous emulsification, (3) developed a technique to monitor low water content in oil, and (4) developed a technique to study water-in-oil emulsion film properties.

Challenges in Understanding Photosynthesis in a University Introductory Biosciences Class

Science.gov (United States)

Södervik, Ilona; Virtanen, Viivi; Mikkilä-Erdmann, Mirjamaija

2015-01-01

University students' understanding of photosynthesis was examined in a large introductory biosciences class. The focus of this study was to first examine the conceptions of photosynthesis among students in class and then to investigate how a certain type of text could enhance students' understanding of photosynthesis. The study was based on pre-…

Tapping into a vital resource: Understanding the motivators and barriers to blood donation in Sub-Saharan Africa

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Tanja Z. Zanin

2016-06-01

Conclusion: Due to paucity of research on this topic, our understanding of blood donor behaviour in SSA is limited. Local traditions and cultures intimately shape individuals’ proclivity towards the donation process. In order to change the attitudes and behaviours of many potential donors in SSA it is important to address the deterrents to blood donation, as many represent misconceptions or culture-specific beliefs that may be the ultimate driving force dictating donor behaviour.

Public Relations in enhancing brand values: case study Virgin Atlantic and Vietnam Airlines

OpenAIRE

Tran Viet, Thang

2014-01-01

The ultimate purpose of this dissertation is to evaluate the Public Relations (PR) activities of Vietnam Airlines and give the airline some recommendations to improve its PR performance. In order to achieve this purpose, there are three issues needed to be solved: 1) how PR helps to enhance brand personality and brand values 2) the differences in PR activities between Vietnam Airlines and Virgin Atlantic and 3) what approaches Vietnam Airlines should implement to improve its PR performance. ...

Design and Implementation of NTU Wearable Exoskeleton as an Enhancement and Assistive Device

OpenAIRE

Low, K. H.; Liu, X.; Yu, H.

2006-01-01

This article presents a wearable lower extremity exoskeleton (LEE) developed to enhance the ability of a human’s walking while carrying heavy loads. The ultimate goal of the current research work is to design and control a power assist system that integrates a human’s intellect for feedback and sensory purposes. The exoskeleton system in this work consists of an inner exoskeleton and an outer exoskeleton. The inner exoskeleton measures the movements of the wearer and provides these measuremen...

Toward improved understanding and control in analytical atomic spectrometry

Science.gov (United States)

Hieftje, Gary M.

1989-01-01

As with most papers which attempt to predict the future, this treatment will begin with a coverage of past events. It will be shown that progress in the field of analytical atomic spectrometry has occurred through a series of steps which involve the addition of new techniques and the occasional displacement of established ones. Because it is difficult or impossible to presage true breakthroughs, this manuscript will focus on how such existing methods can be modified or improved to greatest advantage. The thesis will be that rational improvement can be accomplished most effectively by understanding fundamentally the nature of an instrumental system, a measurement process, and a spectrometric technique. In turn, this enhanced understanding can lead to closer control, from which can spring improved performance. Areas where understanding is now lacking and where control is most greatly needed will be identified and a possible scheme for implementing control procedures will be outlined. As we draw toward the new millennium, these novel procedures seem particularly appealing; new high-speed computers, the availability of expert systems, and our enhanced understanding of atomic spectrometric events combine to make future prospects extremely bright.

Understanding Urban Watersheds through Digital Interactive Maps, San Francisco Bay Area, California

Science.gov (United States)

Sowers, J. M.; Ticci, M. G.; Mulvey, P.

2014-12-01

Dense urbanization has resulted in the "disappearance" of many local creeks in urbanized areas surrounding the San Francisco Bay. Long reaches of creeks now flow in underground pipes. Municipalities and water agencies trying to reduce non-point-source pollution are faced with a public that cannot see and therefore does not understand the interconnected nature of the drainage system or its ultimate discharge to the bay. Since 1993, we have collaborated with the Oakland Museum, the San Francisco Estuary Institute, public agencies, and municipalities to create creek and watershed maps to address the need for public understanding of watershed concepts. Fifteen paper maps are now published (www.museumca.org/creeks), which have become a standard reference for educators and anyone working on local creek-related issues. We now present digital interactive creek and watershed maps in Google Earth. Four maps are completed covering urbanized areas of Santa Clara and Alameda Counties. The maps provide a 3D visualization of the watersheds, with cartography draped over the landscape in transparent colors. Each mapped area includes both Present and Past (circa 1800s) layers which can be clicked on or off by the user. The Present layers include the modern drainage network, watershed boundaries, and reservoirs. The Past layers include the 1800s-era creek systems, tidal marshes, lagoons, and other habitats. All data are developed in ArcGIS software and converted to Google Earth format. To ensure the maps are interesting and engaging, clickable icons pop-up provide information on places to visit, restoration projects, history, plants, and animals. Maps of Santa Clara Valley are available at http://www.valleywater.org/WOW.aspx. Maps of western Alameda County will soon be available at http://acfloodcontrol.org/. Digital interactive maps provide several advantages over paper maps. They are seamless within each map area, and the user can zoom in or out, and tilt, and fly over to explore

Kansas Department of Transportation column expert : ultimate shear capacity of circular columns using the simplified modified compression field theory.

Science.gov (United States)

2015-09-01

The importance of the analysis of circular columns to accurately predict their ultimate confined : capacity under shear-flexure-axial force interaction domain is recognized in light of the extreme load event : imposed by the current American Associat...

26 CFR 48.6420-1 - Credits or payments to ultimate purchaser of gasoline used on a farm.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-04-01

... gasoline used on a farm. 48.6420-1 Section 48.6420-1 Internal Revenue INTERNAL REVENUE SERVICE, DEPARTMENT... § 48.6420-1 Credits or payments to ultimate purchaser of gasoline used on a farm. (a) In general. If gasoline is used on a farm for farming purposes after June 30, 1965, a credit (under the circumstances...

Understanding Self-regulation Behaviors in South Asians With Coronary Artery Disease: A Mixed-Methods Study.

Science.gov (United States)

Jiwani, Rozmin B; Cleveland, Lisa M; Patel, Darpan I; Virani, Salim S; Gill, Sara L

South Asians (SAs) have a well-documented risk for mortality related to coronary artery disease (CAD). However, there is a lack of evidence to guide the implementation and dissemination of primary and secondary interventions to control and deter progression of CAD in SAs. The aim of this study is to explore and describe self-regulation behaviors in SAs with CAD using Leventhal's Common Sense Model. In this mixed-methods study, quantitative data were collected using 3 survey questionnaires (demographics, Illness Perception Questionnaire-Revised, and Coping/Self-Regulation Behaviors). Before completing the surveys, a subset of the sample (n = 20) participated in individual face-to-face or telephone interviews. A total of 102 SAs were enrolled (age, 53.5 ± 9.98 years). On average, participants rated themselves high (63 ± 3.06) on negative perceptions. In addition, they discussed desi diet, stress, a lack of physical activity, ignoring symptoms, and kismet (fate) as the most important perceived causes of their CAD. Most of the participants modified their lifestyle after their CAD event. Participants expressed regret for not having changed their lifestyle earlier when they were experiencing early symptoms of their CAD. Findings from this study enhance the understanding of self-regulation behaviors of SAs with CAD. Ultimately, these findings will inform the development and implementation of targeted interventions that address culture-specific lifestyle modification for SAs with CAD.

Production enhancement partnerships -- successful business arrangements

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Coble, L.; Weitzel, K.; Attai, L.; Gray, K.

1995-01-01

Production enhancement projects are creating changes in business relationships between oil and gas and service companies. The most successful projects are building partnerships. Service companies are being asked to share the risk while supplying services to enhance well performance. Risk sharing creates common project objectives and requires the service company's involvement in initial project planning, job design, and reservoir understanding. Service work compensation is based on well or field performance improvement as a result of the treatment(s). This paper presents an integrated approach to the selection and prioritization of well candidates for production enhancement jobs or treatments. Special emphasis is placed on reservoir understanding using field reviews and/or extensive reservoir description studies to provide the essential information for well candidate selection and the best return on investment. Processes are illustrated and discussion gives the data requirements and techniques used to select and prioritize well candidates. Field examples demonstrate the techniques, critical factors, and appropriate software used by geoscience and field operations teams to maximize benefits from production enhancement projects

Music training improves the ability to understand speech-in-noise in older adults

OpenAIRE

Belleville, Sylvie; Zendel, Benjamin; West, Greg; Peretz, Isabelle

2017-01-01

It is well known that hearing abilities decline with age, and one of the most commonly reported hearing difficulties reported in older adults is a reduced ability to understand speech in noisy environments. Older musicians have an enhanced ability to understand speech in noise, and this has been associated with enhanced brain responses related to both speech processing and the deployment of attention, however the causal impact of music lessons in older adults is poorly understood. A sample of...

Using Porterian Activity Analysis to Understand Organizational Capabilities

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Sheehan, Norman T.; Foss, Nicolai Juul

2017-01-01

conceptualized by Porter’s writings on the activity-based view. Porterian activity analysis is becoming more accepted in the strategy literature, but no strategy scholar has explicitly used Porter’s activities, and particularly his concept of drivers, to understand and analyze organizational capabilities....... Introducing Porterian activities into the discussion of capabilities improves strategy scholars’ understanding of the bases of capability heterogeneity, offers academics future directions for research, and provides managers with guidance to enhance their organizations’ capabilities....

Novel routes to electromagnetic enhancement and its characterisation in surface- and tip-enhanced Raman scattering.

Science.gov (United States)

Dawson, P; Frey, D; Kalathingal, V; Mehfuz, R; Mitra, J

2017-12-04

Quantitative understanding of the electromagnetic component in enhanced Raman spectroscopy is often difficult to achieve on account of the complex substrate structures utilised. We therefore turn to two structurally simple systems amenable to detailed modelling. The first is tip-enhanced Raman scattering under electron scanning tunnelling microscopy control (STM-TERS) where, appealing to understanding developed in the context of photon emission from STM, it is argued that the localised surface plasmon modes driving the Raman enhancement exist in the visible and near-infrared regime only by virtue of significant modification to the optical properties of the tip and sample metals (gold here). This is due to the strong dc field-induced (∼10 9 V m -1 ) non-linear corrections to the dielectric function of gold via the third order susceptibility term in the polarisation. Also, sub-5 nm spatial resolution is shown in the modelling. Secondly, we suggest a novel deployment of hybrid plasmonic waveguide modes in surface enhanced Raman scattering (HPWG-SERS). This delivers strong confinement of electromagnetic energy in a ∼10 nm oxide 'gap' between a high-index dielectric material of nanoscale width (a GaAs nanorod and a 100 nm Si slab are considered here) and a metal, yielding a monotonic variation in the Raman enhancement factor as a function of wavelength with no long-wavelength cut-off, both features that contrast with STM-TERS.

Controlled biomineralization of electrospun poly(ε-caprolactone) fibers to enhance their mechanical properties.

Science.gov (United States)

Xie, Jingwei; Zhong, Shaoping; Ma, Bing; Shuler, Franklin D; Lim, Chwee Teck

2013-03-01

Electrospun polymeric fibers have been investigated as scaffolding materials for bone tissue engineering. However, their mechanical properties, and in particular stiffness and ultimate tensile strength, cannot match those of natural bones. The objective of the study was to develop novel composite nanofiber scaffolds by attaching minerals to polymeric fibers using an adhesive material - the mussel-inspired protein polydopamine - as a "superglue". Herein, we report for the first time the use of dopamine to regulate mineralization of electrospun poly(ε-caprolactone) (PCL) fibers to enhance their mechanical properties. We examined the mineralization of the PCL fibers by adjusting the concentration of HCO(3)(-) and dopamine in the mineralized solution, the reaction time and the surface composition of the fibers. We also examined mineralization on the surface of polydopamine-coated PCL fibers. We demonstrated the control of morphology, grain size and thickness of minerals deposited on the surface of electrospun fibers. The obtained mineral coatings render electrospun fibers with much higher stiffness, ultimate tensile strength and toughness, which could be closer to the mechanical properties of natural bone. Such great enhancement of mechanical properties for electrospun fibers through mussel protein-mediated mineralization has not been seen previously. This study could also be extended to the fabrication of other composite materials to better bridge the interfaces between organic and inorganic phases. Copyright © 2012 Acta Materialia Inc. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Does External Knowledge Sourcing Enhance Market Performance? Evidence from the Korean Manufacturing Industry.

Science.gov (United States)

Lee, Kibaek; Yoo, Jaeheung; Choi, Munkee; Zo, Hangjung; Ciganek, Andrew P

2016-01-01

Firms continuously search for external knowledge that can contribute to product innovation, which may ultimately increase market performance. The relationship between external knowledge sourcing and market performance is not well-documented. The extant literature primarily examines the causal relationship between external knowledge sources and product innovation performance or to identify factors which moderates the relationship between external knowledge sourcing and product innovation. Non-technological innovations, such as organization and marketing innovations, intervene in the process of external knowledge sourcing to product innovation to market performance but has not been extensively examined. This study addresses two research questions: does external knowledge sourcing lead to market performance and how does external knowledge sourcing interact with a firm's different innovation activities to enhance market performance. This study proposes a comprehensive model to capture the causal mechanism from external knowledge sourcing to market performance. The research model was tested using survey data from manufacturing firms in South Korea and the results demonstrate a strong statistical relationship in the path of external knowledge sourcing (EKS) to product innovation performance (PIP) to market performance (MP). Organizational innovation is an antecedent to EKS while marketing innovation is a consequence of EKS, which significantly influences PIP and MP. The results imply that any potential EKS effort should also consider organizational innovations which may ultimately enhance market performance. Theoretical and practical implications are discussed as well as concluding remarks.

Toward a new understanding of the links between poverty and illegal wildlife hunting.

Science.gov (United States)

Duffy, Rosaleen; St John, Freya A V; Büscher, Bram; Brockington, Dan

2016-02-01

Conservation organizations have increasingly raised concerns about escalating rates of illegal hunting and trade in wildlife. Previous studies have concluded that people hunt illegally because they are financially poor or lack alternative livelihood strategies. However, there has been little attempt to develop a richer understanding of the motivations behind contemporary illegal wildlife hunting. As a first step, we reviewed the academic and policy literatures on poaching and illegal wildlife use and considered the meanings of poverty and the relative importance of structure and individual agency. We placed motivations for illegal wildlife hunting within the context of the complex history of how wildlife laws were initially designed and enforced to indicate how hunting practices by specific communities were criminalized. We also considered the nature of poverty and the reasons for economic deprivation in particular communities to indicate how particular understandings of poverty as material deprivation ultimately shape approaches to illegal wildlife hunting. We found there is a need for a much better understanding of what poverty is and what motivates people to hunt illegally. © 2015 Society for Conservation Biology.

BOOK REVIEW: Seeking Ultimates. An Intuitive Guide to Physics

Science.gov (United States)

Brown, Neil

2000-05-01

Physics has the reputation of being a difficult and dry subject. Many books have been written in attempts to show that the difficulties are not insurmountable, even for the layman, and to convey some of the fascination it provides for those within it. In Seeking Ultimates Peter Landsberg avoids mathematics, the source of so many difficulties, entirely, and seeks to make physics comprehensible by what he terms intuition. He also emphasizes that there is almost no part of science that is completely understood; there are always areas of incompleteness and uncertainty, capable of providing exciting new results, and examples of this are highlighted throughout the book. After an introduction Landsberg starts with macroscopic phenomena for ease of understanding, though one might question whether the chosen topic of thermodynamics is ever going to be easy. Next he looks at microscopic effects, from atomic structure to the fundamental particles of the standard model and their interactions. There follow chapters on time and entropy, on chaos theory, on quantum mechanics and then cosmology. The final chapters look at physical constants (including the anthropic principle), whether physics has room for a creator God (the conclusion is that this is not the province of science), and some thoughts on science as a human activity. The chosen topics are those which have been important in the late twentieth century and remain important. Each chapter cites an eminent scientist as a `hero', though little is made of this. There are occasional historical notes, set in boxes, and a few short poems to leaven the text. What the book achieves is difficult to assess. Removing mathematics and adding a glossary of technical terms do not necessarily allow non-scientists to enjoy the text, as the publisher's note on the back cover suggests. The concepts can baffle the layman even more than the mathematics, and one of the most difficult of all physical concepts permeates so much of this book

Understanding and imitating unfamiliar actions: distinct underlying mechanisms.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Joana C Carmo

Full Text Available The human "mirror neuron system" has been proposed to be the neural substrate that underlies understanding and, possibly, imitating actions. However, since the brain activity with mirror properties seems insufficient to provide a good description for imitation of actions outside one's own repertoire, the existence of supplementary processes has been proposed. Moreover, it is unclear whether action observation requires the same neural mechanisms as the explicit access to their meaning. The aim of this study was two-fold as we investigated whether action observation requires different processes depending on 1 whether the ultimate goal is to imitate or understand the presented actions and 2 whether the to-be-imitated actions are familiar or unfamiliar to the subject. Participants were presented with both meaningful familiar actions and meaningless unfamiliar actions that they had to either imitate or discriminate later. Event-related Potentials were used as differences in brain activity could have been masked by the use of other techniques with lower temporal resolution. In the imitation task, a sustained left frontal negativity was more pronounced for meaningless actions than for meaningful ones, starting from an early time-window. Conversely, observing unfamiliar versus familiar actions with the intention of discriminating them led to marked differences over right centro-posterior scalp regions, in both middle and latest time-windows. These findings suggest that action imitation and action understanding may be sustained by dissociable mechanisms: while imitation of unfamiliar actions activates left frontal processes, that are likely to be related to learning mechanisms, action understanding involves dedicated operations which probably require right posterior regions, consistent with their involvement in social interactions.

Children's Understanding of Self-Focused Humor Styles.

Science.gov (United States)

James, Lucy Amelia; Fox, Claire Louise

2016-08-01

It has been proposed that four main styles of humor exist, two which are thought to be adaptive (affiliative, self-enhancing) and two which are thought to be maladaptive (aggressive, self-defeating). Whilst the existence of these four humor styles has been supported in older children, it is suggested that for younger children, self-enhancing and self-defeating humor may develop at a later point. To investigate this further, the current research involved five semi-structured paired interviews with children aged eight to eleven years to explore the use and understanding of self-enhancing and self-defeating humor in this age group. Findings indicated that use of both self-enhancing and self-defeating humor were apparent in some children, but not all. It therefore seems appropriate that attempts to investigate humor in this age group should aim to include all four styles of humor. The current research also demonstrated the value of paired interviews when carrying out this sort of research with children.

SoundScapes - Beyond Interaction... in search of the ultimate human-centred interface

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Brooks, Tony

2006-01-01

that can also benefit communication. To achieve this a new generation of intuitive natural interfaces will be required and SoundScapes (see below) is a step toward this goal to discover the ultimate interface for matching the human experience to technology. Emergent hypothesis that have developed...... as a result of the SoundScapes research will be discussed. Introduction to SoundScapes SoundScapes is a contemporary art concept that has become widely known as an interdisciplinary platform for knowledge exchange, innovative product creation of creative and scientific work that uses non-invasive sensor...... Resonance. The multimedia content is adaptable so that the environment is tailored for each participant according to a user profile. This full body movement or the smallest of gesture results in human data input to SoundScapes. The same technology that enables this empowerment is used for performance art...

Can citizen science enhance public understanding of science?

Science.gov (United States)

Bonney, Rick; Phillips, Tina B; Ballard, Heidi L; Enck, Jody W

2016-01-01

Over the past 20 years, thousands of citizen science projects engaging millions of participants in collecting and/or processing data have sprung up around the world. Here we review documented outcomes from four categories of citizen science projects which are defined by the nature of the activities in which their participants engage - Data Collection, Data Processing, Curriculum-based, and Community Science. We find strong evidence that scientific outcomes of citizen science are well documented, particularly for Data Collection and Data Processing projects. We find limited but growing evidence that citizen science projects achieve participant gains in knowledge about science knowledge and process, increase public awareness of the diversity of scientific research, and provide deeper meaning to participants' hobbies. We also find some evidence that citizen science can contribute positively to social well-being by influencing the questions that are being addressed and by giving people a voice in local environmental decision making. While not all citizen science projects are intended to achieve a greater degree of public understanding of science, social change, or improved science -society relationships, those projects that do require effort and resources in four main categories: (1) project design, (2) outcomes measurement, (3) engagement of new audiences, and (4) new directions for research. © The Author(s) 2015.

Human freedom and enhancement.

Science.gov (United States)

Heilinger, Jan-Christoph; Crone, Katja

2014-02-01

Ideas about freedom and related concepts like autonomy and self-determination play a prominent role in the moral debate about human enhancement interventions. However, there is not a single understanding of freedom available, and arguments referring to freedom are simultaneously used to argue both for and against enhancement interventions. This gives rise to misunderstandings and polemical arguments. The paper attempts to disentangle the different distinguishable concepts, classifies them and shows how they relate to one another in order to allow for a more structured and clearer debate. It concludes in identifying the individual underpinnings and the social conditions of choice and decision-making as particularly salient dimensions of freedom in the ethical debate about human enhancement.

Queerspawn Speak out: A Review of "Let's Get This Straight: The Ultimate Handbook for Youth with LGBTQ Parents"

Science.gov (United States)

Ryan, Caitlin L.

2012-01-01

"Let's Get This Straight: The Ultimate Handbook for Youth With LGBTQ Parents" provides an engaging and accessible set of tools for youth from LGBTQ-headed families. The stories and resources shared encourage these youth to take pride in their families, value their diverse experiences, and work against homophobia, transphobia, and other forms of…

Waste Field Characteristics, Ultimate Mixing and Dilution in Surface Discharge of Dense Jets into Stagnant Water Bodies

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

2012-04-01

Full Text Available Direct discharges of municipal and industrial waste waters into water bodies through marine outfalls are considered as a common way to dispose the generated waste in coastal zones. Marine discharge, intensifying flow mixing and entrainment, decrease the concentration of polutant up to accepted concentration and meet the guideline values and to make possible continues discharge of flow into matine environment. During last years due to quick development of coastal desalination plants, surface discharge of preduced salty water into seas and oceans has increased significantly. In this study, releases of dense jets from surface rectangular channel into stagnant bodies are experimentally studied. The location of flow plunge point, impact point and discharge ultimate dilution were drown out by a digital video technology. In addition, using some conductivity probes located in ambient floor, waste filed dilution in flow impact point and discharge ultimate dilution were identified. Finally the obtained results were plotted and explained along with some diagrams to show flow non-dimensional behavior. The results showed that the properties of flow are changing directly with ambient water depth and discharge initial fluxes.

Enhancing Understanding of the Visual Cycle by Applying CRISPR/Cas9 Gene Editing in Zebrafish

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Rebecca Ward

2018-04-01

Full Text Available During the vertebrate visual cycle, all-trans-retinal is exported from photoreceptors to the adjacent RPE or Müller glia wherein 11-cis-retinal is regenerated. The 11-cis chromophore is returned to photoreceptors, forming light-sensitive visual pigments with opsin GPCRs. Dysfunction of this process perturbs phototransduction because functional visual pigment cannot be generated. Mutations in visual cycle genes can result in monogenic inherited forms of blindness. Though key enzymatic processes are well characterized, questions remain as to the physiological role of visual cycle proteins in different retinal cell types, functional domains of these proteins in retinoid biochemistry and in vivo pathogenesis of disease mutations. Significant progress is needed to develop effective and accessible treatments for inherited blindness arising from mutations in visual cycle genes. Here, we review opportunities to apply gene editing technology to two crucial visual cycle components, RPE65 and CRALBP. Expressed exclusively in the human RPE, RPE65 enzymatically converts retinyl esters into 11-cis retinal. CRALBP is an 11-cis-retinal binding protein expressed in human RPE and Muller glia. Loss-of-function mutations in either protein results in autosomal recessive forms of blindness. Modeling these human conditions using RPE65 or CRALBP murine knockout models have enhanced our understanding of their biochemical function, associated disease pathogenesis and development of therapeutics. However, rod-dominated murine retinae provide a challenge to assess cone function. The cone-rich zebrafish model is amenable to cost-effective maintenance of a variety of strains. Interestingly, gene duplication in zebrafish resulted in three Rpe65 and two Cralbp isoforms with differential temporal and spatial expression patterns. Functional investigations of zebrafish Rpe65 and Cralbp were restricted to gene knockdown with morpholino oligonucleotides. However, transient

DENdb: database of integrated human enhancers

KAUST Repository

Ashoor, Haitham

2015-09-05

Enhancers are cis-acting DNA regulatory regions that play a key role in distal control of transcriptional activities. Identification of enhancers, coupled with a comprehensive functional analysis of their properties, could improve our understanding of complex gene transcription mechanisms and gene regulation processes in general. We developed DENdb, a centralized on-line repository of predicted enhancers derived from multiple human cell-lines. DENdb integrates enhancers predicted by five different methods generating an enriched catalogue of putative enhancers for each of the analysed cell-lines. DENdb provides information about the overlap of enhancers with DNase I hypersensitive regions, ChIP-seq regions of a number of transcription factors and transcription factor binding motifs, means to explore enhancer interactions with DNA using several chromatin interaction assays and enhancer neighbouring genes. DENdb is designed as a relational database that facilitates fast and efficient searching, browsing and visualization of information.

DENdb: database of integrated human enhancers

KAUST Repository

Ashoor, Haitham; Kleftogiannis, Dimitrios A.; Radovanovic, Aleksandar; Bajic, Vladimir B.

2015-01-01

Enhancers are cis-acting DNA regulatory regions that play a key role in distal control of transcriptional activities. Identification of enhancers, coupled with a comprehensive functional analysis of their properties, could improve our understanding of complex gene transcription mechanisms and gene regulation processes in general. We developed DENdb, a centralized on-line repository of predicted enhancers derived from multiple human cell-lines. DENdb integrates enhancers predicted by five different methods generating an enriched catalogue of putative enhancers for each of the analysed cell-lines. DENdb provides information about the overlap of enhancers with DNase I hypersensitive regions, ChIP-seq regions of a number of transcription factors and transcription factor binding motifs, means to explore enhancer interactions with DNA using several chromatin interaction assays and enhancer neighbouring genes. DENdb is designed as a relational database that facilitates fast and efficient searching, browsing and visualization of information.

Quantum mechanical limit to plasmonic enhancement as observed by surface-enhanced Raman scattering.

Science.gov (United States)

Zhu, Wenqi; Crozier, Kenneth B

2014-10-14

Plasmonic nanostructures enable light to be concentrated into nanoscale 'hotspots', wherein the intensity of light can be enhanced by orders of magnitude. This plasmonic enhancement significantly boosts the efficiency of nanoscale light-matter interactions, enabling unique linear and nonlinear optical applications. Large enhancements are often observed within narrow gaps or at sharp tips, as predicted by the classical electromagnetic theory. Only recently has it become appreciated that quantum mechanical effects could emerge as the feature size approaches atomic length-scale. Here we experimentally demonstrate, through observations of surface-enhanced Raman scattering, that the emergence of electron tunnelling at optical frequencies limits the maximum achievable plasmonic enhancement. Such quantum mechanical effects are revealed for metallic nanostructures with gap-widths in the single-digit angstrom range by correlating each structure with its optical properties. This work furthers our understanding of quantum mechanical effects in plasmonic systems and could enable future applications of quantum plasmonics.

Stapledon's Interplanetary Man: A Commonwealth of Worlds and the Ultimate Purpose of Space Colonisation

Science.gov (United States)

Crawford, Ian A.

In his 1948 lecture to the British Interplanetary Society Stapledon considered the ultimate purpose of colonising other worlds. Having examined the possible motivations arising from improved scientific knowledge and access to extraterrestrial raw materials, he concludes that the ultimate benefits of space colonisation will be the increased opportunities for developing human (and post-human) diversity, intellectual and aesthetic potential and, especially, `spirituality'. By the latter concept he meant a striving for ``sensitive and intelligent awareness of things in the universe (including persons), and of the universe as a whole.'' A key insight articulated by Stapledon in this lecture was that this should be the aspiration of all human development anyway, with or without space colonisation, but that the latter would greatly increase the scope for such developments. Another key aspect of his vision was the development of a diverse, but connected, `Commonwealth of Worlds' extending throughout the Solar System, and eventually beyond, within which human potential would be maximised. In this paper I analyse Stapledon's vision of space colonisation, and will conclude that his overall conclusions remain sound. However, I will also argue that he was overly utopian in believing that human social and political unity are prerequisites for space exploration (while agreeing that they are desirable objectives in their own right), and that he unnecessarily downplayed the more prosaic scientific and economic motivations which are likely to be key drivers for space exploration (if not colonisation) in the shorter term. Finally, I draw attention to some recent developments in international space policy which, although probably not influenced by Stapledon's work, are nevertheless congruent with his overarching philosophy as outlined in `Interplanetary Man?'.

Literature Review of Applying Visual Method to Understand Mathematics

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Yu Xiaojuan

2015-01-01

Full Text Available As a new method to understand mathematics, visualization offers a new way of understanding mathematical principles and phenomena via image thinking and geometric explanation. It aims to deepen the understanding of the nature of concepts or phenomena and enhance the cognitive ability of learners. This paper collates and summarizes the application of this visual method in the understanding of mathematics. It also makes a literature review of the existing research, especially with a visual demonstration of Euler’s formula, introduces the application of this method in solving relevant mathematical problems, and points out the differences and similarities between the visualization method and the numerical-graphic combination method, as well as matters needing attention for its application.

DHC in Helsinki - The Ultimate Heating and Cooling Solution for a Large Urban Area

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Wirgentius, Niko; Riipinen, Marko

2010-09-15

Since the 1950s there has been successful district energy business in Helsinki. It has been the main factor for superior energy efficiency and low CO2 emissions both in heating and cooling as well as providing clean air for the metropolitan area. The system has been grown by commercial basis based on customers' own willingness to select district energy solution. It also provided a profitable energy business to local energy company, Helsinki Energy. Helsinki DHC system is a good example of ultimate urban energy solution that provides benefits for the customer, energy company, metropolitan area and for the whole society as well.

Defining Human Enhancement

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Nordberg, Ana

2017-01-01

-matter definitions are vital legal tools to determine what is currently regulated in established fields of law and whether there is room for a new legal field – Enhancement Law. This paper provides a reflection on the relevance of establishing a legal definition of human enhancement and to what extent different...... legal fields and jurisdictions may warrant different understandings of such concept. It reviews a number of different and often divergent concepts and taxonomies of human enhancement and concludes with the proposal and analysis of a definition: Use of technological means with the intention to improve......Emerging technologies open the prospect of extraordinary interventions on the human body. These may go beyond what is strictly necessary to sustain health and well-being. While responding to social and ethical challenges of such advances, the Law simultaneously faces the challenge of reflecting...

Ultimate storage of spent fuel elements from the AVR experimental nuclear power plant in the Asse Salt Mine

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Wolf, J.

1975-02-15

The present paper is intended to serve as the basis for the licensing procedures both in respect of the transport and storage techniques and also for the ultimate storage itself. In regard to the technique it will be shown on the basis of design drawings and calculations that the handling, transport and storage of the fuel elements can be safely carried out in accordance with the regulations in force. In regard to the ultimate storage itself, since no highly radioactive wastes with a long-lived actinide content have yet been stored, it will be necessary to show that an unacceptable contamination of the biosphere will be avoided even in the long term under all anticipated conditions. It will further be necessary to show by calculations and suitable tests, in view of the radioactive gas and fissile material content, that no danger due to gas release from the fuel elements will arise during the operating life of the mine and that a nuclear criticality risk can be excluded for all time.

Optimized molten salt receivers for ultimate trough solar fields

Science.gov (United States)

Riffelmann, Klaus-J.; Richert, Timo; Kuckelkorn, Thomas

2016-05-01

Today parabolic trough collectors are the most successful concentrating solar power (CSP) technology. For the next development step new systems with increased operation temperature and new heat transfer fluids (HTF) are currently developed. Although the first power tower projects have successfully been realized, up to now there is no evidence of an all-dominant economic or technical advantage of power tower or parabolic trough. The development of parabolic trough technology towards higher performance and significant cost reduction have led to significant improvements in competitiveness. The use of molten salt instead of synthetic oil as heat transfer fluid will bring down the levelized costs of electricity (LCOE) even further while providing dispatchable energy with high capacity factors. FLABEG has developed the Ultimate TroughTM (UT) collector, jointly with sbp Sonne GmbH and supported by public funds. Due to its validated high optical accuracy, the collector is very suitable to operate efficiently at elevated temperatures up to 550 °C. SCHOTT will drive the key-innovations by introducing the 4th generation solar receiver that addresses the most significant performance and cost improvement measures. The new receivers have been completely redesigned to provide a product platform that is ready for high temperature operation up to 550 °C. Moreover distinct product features have been introduced to reduce costs and risks in solar field assembly and installation. The increased material and design challenges incurred with the high temperature operation have been reflected in sophisticated qualification and validation procedures.

Understanding and controlling transient enhanced dopant diffusion in silicon

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Stolk, P.A.; Gossmann, H.J.; Eaglesham, D.J.; Jacobson, D.C.; Poate, J.M.; Luftman, H.S.

1995-01-01

Implanted B and P dopants in Si exhibit transient enhanced diffusion (TED) during initial annealing which arises from the excess interstitials generated by the implant. In order to study the mechanisms of TED, the authors have used B doping marker layers in Si to probe the injection of interstitials from near-surface, non-amorphizing Si implants during annealing. The in-diffusion of interstitials is limited by trapping at impurities and has an activation energy of ∼3.5 eV. Substitutional C is the dominant trapping center with a binding energy of 2--2.5 eV. The high interstitial supersaturation adjacent to the implant damage drives substitutional B into metastable clusters at concentrations below the B solid solubility limit. Transmission electron microscopy shows that the interstitials driving TED are emitted from {311} defect clusters in the damage region at a rate which also exhibits an activation energy of 3.6 eV. The population of excess interstitials is strongly reduced by incorporating substitutional C in Si to levels of ∼10 19 /cm 3 prior to ion implantation. This provides a promising method for suppressing TED, thus enabling shallow junction formation in future Si devices through dopant implantation

Enhancing health-care workers' understanding and thinking about people living with co-occurring mental health and substance use issues through consumer-led training.

Science.gov (United States)

Roussy, Véronique; Thomacos, Nikos; Rudd, Annette; Crockett, Belinda

2015-10-01

Stigma and judgemental assumptions by health workers have been identified as key barriers to accessing health care for people living with co-occurring mental health and substance use issues (dual diagnosis). To evaluate the effectiveness of consumer-led training by people with dual diagnosis in improving the knowledge, understanding and role adequacy of community health staff to work with this consumer group. A controlled before-and-after study design with four waves of quantitative data collection was used. Qualitative data were collected to explore participants' views about training. Participants were staff from two community health services from Victoria, Australia. Recruitment occurred across various work areas: reception, oral health, allied health, counselling and health promotion. At baseline, all participants attended a 4-h clinician-led training session. The intervention consisted of a 3-h consumer-led training session, developed and delivered by seven individuals living with dual diagnosis. Outcome measures included understanding of dual diagnosis, participants' feelings of role adequacy and role legitimacy, personal views, and training outcomes and relevance. Consumer-led training was associated with a significant increase in understanding. The combination of clinician-led and consumer-led training was associated with a positive change in role adequacy. Consumer-led training is a promising approach to enhance primary health-care workers' understanding of the issues faced by dual-diagnosis consumers, with such positive effects persisting over time. Used alongside other organizational capacity building strategies, consumer-led training has the potential to help address stigma and judgemental attitudes by health workers and improve access to services for this consumer group. © 2013 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

A Simplified Model for the Effect of Weld-Induced Residual Stresses on the Axial Ultimate Strength of Stiffened Plates

Science.gov (United States)

Chen, Bai-Qiao; Guedes Soares, C.

2018-03-01

The present work investigates the compressive axial ultimate strength of fillet-welded steel-plated ship structures subjected to uniaxial compression, in which the residual stresses in the welded plates are calculated by a thermo-elasto-plastic finite element analysis that is used to fit an idealized model of residual stress distribution. The numerical results of ultimate strength based on the simplified model of residual stress show good agreement with those of various methods including the International Association of Classification Societies (IACS) Common Structural Rules (CSR), leading to the conclusion that the simplified model can be effectively used to represent the distribution of residual stresses in steel-plated structures in a wide range of engineering applications. It is concluded that the widths of the tension zones in the welded plates have a quasi-linear behavior with respect to the plate slenderness. The effect of residual stress on the axial strength of the stiffened plate is analyzed and discussed.

The Limitations of In Vitro Experimentation in Understanding Biofilms and Chronic Infection

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Roberts, Aled E. L.; Kragh, Kasper N.; Bjarnsholt, Thomas

2015-01-01

a systematic review of the most widely used in vitro biofilm systems, and we discuss why they are not always representative of the in vivo biofilms found in chronic infections. We present examples of methods that will help us to bridge the gap between in vitro and in vivo biofilm work so that we can ultimately......We have become increasingly aware that, during infection, pathogenic bacteria often grow in multicellular biofilms that are often highly resistant to antibacterial strategies. In order to understand how biofilms form and contribute to infection, many research groups around the world have heavily...

A Framework for Better Understanding and Enhancing Direct Contact Membrane Distillation (DCMD) in Terms of Module Design, Cost Analysis and Energy Required

KAUST Repository

AbuHannoud, Ali

2011-07-01

Water is becoming scarcer and several authors have highlighted the upcoming problem of higher water salinity and the difficulty of treating and discharging water. Moreover, current discoveries of problems with chemicals that have been used for pretreating or post-treating water alerted scientists to research better solutions to treat water. Membrane distillation (MD) is a promising technology that might replace current processes as it has lower pretreatment requirements combined with a tremendous ability to treat a wide range of feed sources while producing very high product quality. If it enters the market, it will have a big influence on all products, from food industry to spaceflight. However, there are several problems which make MD a hot topic for research. One of them is the question about the real cost of MD in terms of heating feed and cooling distillate over time with respect to product quantity and quality. In this work, extensive heating and cooling analyses are covered to answer this question in order to enhance the MD process. Results show energy cost to produce water and the main source of energy loss for direct contact membrane distillation (DCMD), and several suggestions are made in order to better understand and hence enhance the process.

The nature of science and the preservice elementary teacher: Changes in understanding and practice

Science.gov (United States)

Rivas, Michael Gerald

This action research project studies preservice elementary teachers in a science methods course. The purpose of this research project was to enhance preservice teachers' understanding of specific nature of science (NOS) tenets so as to promote equity and access within the elementary science classroom. In particular, I chose five NOS tenets that were listed in the first chapter of the AAAS (1989) document titled, "The Nature of Science," and connected them to equitable educational goals and practices. The theoretical framework guiding this study came from bodies of scholarship relating to the NOS, social constructivism, and action research. This study addressed the following three questions: (1) What opportunities were provided the preservice teachers so that they could enhance their understandings of the NOS? (2) What were the changes in preservice teachers' understanding of the NOS as a result? (3) How did the prospective teachers' understandings of the NOS translate into their classroom practice? The analysis revealed that the science methods course's operational curriculum consisted of implicit and explicit teaching of the NOS, as well as intended and untended NOS tenets. The prospective teachers initially held a limited view of the NOS, but by the end of the course their view had been enhanced. In addition, the participants made direct connections between their new understandings of the NOS and equity and access in the science classroom. In their teaching, the preservice teachers as a group implicitly taught all five of the NOS tenets. In fact, a majority taught three of the five intended tenets. Explicitly, only one tenet was taught, but it was taught with a direct connection to making the science classroom more inclusive. The findings of this study indicate that preservice teachers can have their views of the NOS enhanced even though they may have experienced years of deficient science instruction. They pointed out that this enhanced view of the NOS can be

Enhanced non-volatile and updatable holography using a polymer composite system.

Science.gov (United States)

Wu, Pengfei; Sun, Sam Q; Baig, Sarfaraz; Wang, Michael R

2012-03-12

Updatable holography is considered as the ultimate technique for true 3D information recording and display. However, there is no practical solution to preserve the required features of both non-volatility and reversibility which conflict with each other when the reading has the same wavelength as the recording. We demonstrate a non-volatile and updatable holographic approach by exploiting new features of molecular transformations in a polymer recording system. In addition, by using a new composite recording film containing photo-reconfigurable liquid-crystal (LC) polymer, the holographic recording is enhanced due to the collective reorientation of LC molecules around the reconfigured polymer chains.

The stiffness change and the increase in the ultimate capacity for a stiff pile resulting from a cyclic loading

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Lada, Aleksandra; Ibsen, Lars Bo; Nicolai, Giulio

In the paper the experimental results of small-scale tests on a stiff monopile are presented to outline the change in stiffness during the cyclic loading and the change in the ultimate pile capacity. The results confirm the increase of stiffness and the increase in bearing capacity resulting from...

Technology-enhanced human interaction in psychotherapy.

Science.gov (United States)

Imel, Zac E; Caperton, Derek D; Tanana, Michael; Atkins, David C

2017-07-01

Psychotherapy is on the verge of a technology-inspired revolution. The concurrent maturation of communication, signal processing, and machine learning technologies begs an earnest look at how these technologies may be used to improve the quality of psychotherapy. Here, we discuss 3 research domains where technology is likely to have a significant impact: (1) mechanism and process, (2) training and feedback, and (3) technology-mediated treatment modalities. For each domain, we describe current and forthcoming examples of how new technologies may change established applications. Moreover, for each domain we present research questions that touch on theoretical, systemic, and implementation issues. Ultimately, psychotherapy is a decidedly human endeavor, and thus the application of modern technology to therapy must capitalize on-and enhance-our human capacities as counselors, students, and supervisors. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2017 APA, all rights reserved).

Life and Understanding: The Origins of "Understanding" in Self-Organizing Nervous Systems.

Science.gov (United States)

Yufik, Yan M; Friston, Karl

2016-01-01

This article is motivated by a formulation of biotic self-organization in Friston (2013), where the emergence of "life" in coupled material entities (e.g., macromolecules) was predicated on bounded subsets that maintain a degree of statistical independence from the rest of the network. Boundary elements in such systems constitute a Markov blanket ; separating the internal states of a system from its surrounding states. In this article, we ask whether Markov blankets operate in the nervous system and underlie the development of intelligence, enabling a progression from the ability to sense the environment to the ability to understand it. Markov blankets have been previously hypothesized to form in neuronal networks as a result of phase transitions that cause network subsets to fold into bounded assemblies, or packets (Yufik and Sheridan, 1997; Yufik, 1998a). The ensuing neuronal packets hypothesis builds on the notion of neuronal assemblies (Hebb, 1949, 1980), treating such assemblies as flexible but stable biophysical structures capable of withstanding entropic erosion. In other words, structures that maintain their integrity under changing conditions. In this treatment, neuronal packets give rise to perception of "objects"; i.e., quasi-stable (stimulus bound) feature groupings that are conserved over multiple presentations (e.g., the experience of perceiving "apple" can be interrupted and resumed many times). Monitoring the variations in such groups enables the apprehension of behavior; i.e., attributing to objects the ability to undergo changes without loss of self-identity. Ultimately, "understanding" involves self-directed composition and manipulation of the ensuing "mental models" that are constituted by neuronal packets, whose dynamics capture relationships among objects: that is, dependencies in the behavior of objects under varying conditions. For example, movement is known to involve rotation of population vectors in the motor cortex (Georgopoulos et al

Assessment of Ultimate Load Capacity for Pre-Stressed Concrete Containment Vessel Model of PWR Design With BARC Code ULCA

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Basha, S.M.; Singh, R.K.; Patnaik, R.; Ramanujam, S.; Kushwaha, H.S.; Venkat Raj, V.

2002-01-01

Ultimate load capacity assessment of nuclear containments has been a thrust research area for Indian Pressurised Heavy Water Reactor (PHWR) power programme. For containment safety assessment of Indian PHWRs a finite element code ULCA was developed at BARC, Trombay. This code has been extensively benchmarked with experimental results. The present paper highlights the analysis results for Prestressed Concrete Containment Vessel (PCCV) tested at Sandia National Labs, USA in a Round Robin analysis activity co-sponsored by Nuclear Power Engineering Corporation (NUPEC), Japan and the U.S Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC). Three levels of failure pressure predictions namely the upper bound, the most probable and the lower bound (all with 90% confidence) were made as per the requirements of the round robin analysis activity. The most likely failure pressure is predicted to be in the range of 2.95 Pd to 3.15 Pd (Pd= design pressure of 0.39 MPa for the PCCV model) depending on the type of liners used in the construction of the PCCV model. The lower bound value of the ultimate pressure of 2.80 Pd and the upper bound of the ultimate pressure of 3.45 Pd are also predicted from the analysis. These limiting values depend on the assumptions of the analysis for simulating the concrete-tendon interaction and the strain hardening characteristics of the steel members. The experimental test has been recently concluded at Sandia Laboratory and the peak pressure reached during the test is 3.3 Pd that is enveloped by our upper bound prediction of 3.45 Pd and is close to the predicted most likely pressure of 3.15 Pd. (authors)

Profiling of Indigenous Microbial Community Dynamics and Metabolic Activity During Enrichment in Molasses-Supplemented Crude Oil-Brine Mixtures for Improved Understanding of Microbial Enhanced Oil Recovery

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Halim, Amalia Yunita; Pedersen, Dorthe Skou; Nielsen, Sidsel Marie

2015-01-01

Anaerobic incubations using crude oil and brine from a North Sea reservoir were conducted to gain increased understanding of indigenous microbial community development, metabolite production, and the effects on the oil–brine system after addition of a complex carbon source, molasses, with or with...... of molasses has potential as microbial enhanced oil recovery (MEOR) strategy in North Sea oil reservoirs.......Anaerobic incubations using crude oil and brine from a North Sea reservoir were conducted to gain increased understanding of indigenous microbial community development, metabolite production, and the effects on the oil–brine system after addition of a complex carbon source, molasses....... The microbial growth caused changes in the crude oil–brine system: formation of oil emulsions, and reduction of interfacial tension (IFT). Reduction in IFT was associated with microbes being present at the oil–brine interphase. These findings suggest that stimulation of indigenous microbial growth by addition...

Metaheuristic applications to speech enhancement

CERN Document Server

Kunche, Prajna

2016-01-01

This book serves as a basic reference for those interested in the application of metaheuristics to speech enhancement. The major goal of the book is to explain the basic concepts of optimization methods and their use in heuristic optimization in speech enhancement to scientists, practicing engineers, and academic researchers in speech processing. The authors discuss why it has been a challenging problem for researchers to develop new enhancement algorithms that aid in the quality and intelligibility of degraded speech. They present powerful optimization methods to speech enhancement that can help to solve the noise reduction problems. Readers will be able to understand the fundamentals of speech processing as well as the optimization techniques, how the speech enhancement algorithms are implemented by utilizing optimization methods, and will be given the tools to develop new algorithms. The authors also provide a comprehensive literature survey regarding the topic.

Does External Knowledge Sourcing Enhance Market Performance? Evidence from the Korean Manufacturing Industry

Science.gov (United States)

Lee, Kibaek; Yoo, Jaeheung; Choi, Munkee; Zo, Hangjung; Ciganek, Andrew P.

2016-01-01

Firms continuously search for external knowledge that can contribute to product innovation, which may ultimately increase market performance. The relationship between external knowledge sourcing and market performance is not well-documented. The extant literature primarily examines the causal relationship between external knowledge sources and product innovation performance or to identify factors which moderates the relationship between external knowledge sourcing and product innovation. Non-technological innovations, such as organization and marketing innovations, intervene in the process of external knowledge sourcing to product innovation to market performance but has not been extensively examined. This study addresses two research questions: does external knowledge sourcing lead to market performance and how does external knowledge sourcing interact with a firm’s different innovation activities to enhance market performance. This study proposes a comprehensive model to capture the causal mechanism from external knowledge sourcing to market performance. The research model was tested using survey data from manufacturing firms in South Korea and the results demonstrate a strong statistical relationship in the path of external knowledge sourcing (EKS) to product innovation performance (PIP) to market performance (MP). Organizational innovation is an antecedent to EKS while marketing innovation is a consequence of EKS, which significantly influences PIP and MP. The results imply that any potential EKS effort should also consider organizational innovations which may ultimately enhance market performance. Theoretical and practical implications are discussed as well as concluding remarks. PMID:28006022

The ultimate emergency measures to secure a NPP under an accidental condition with no designed power or water supply

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Liang, K.S., E-mail: ksliang@alum.mit.edu [Institute of Nuclear Engineering and Science, National Tsing Hua University, 101 Sec. 2, Kuang-Fu Road, Hsinchu 30013, Taiwan (China); School of Nuclear Science and Engineering, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, 800 Dong-Chuan Road, Shanghai (China); Chiang, S.C. [Department of Nuclear Safety, Taiwan Power Company, 242 Sec. 3, Roosevelt Road, Taipei 10016, Taiwan (China); Hsu, Y.F.; Young, H.J.; Pei, B.S. [Institute of Nuclear Engineering and Science, National Tsing Hua University, 101 Sec. 2, Kuang-Fu Road, Hsinchu 30013, Taiwan (China); Wang, L.C. [Department of Nuclear Safety, Taiwan Power Company, 242 Sec. 3, Roosevelt Road, Taipei 10016, Taiwan (China)

2012-12-15

Highlights: Black-Right-Pointing-Pointer An ultimate measure to secure core was developed, if power or water supply cannot be restored in time. Black-Right-Pointing-Pointer This ultimate measure was simulated by RELAP5-3D to verify the concept of this emergency plan. Black-Right-Pointing-Pointer Quantification of the required raw water injection rate was performed for NPPS in Taiwan Black-Right-Pointing-Pointer Reactor controlled depressurization within the 1st hour is essential to reduce the required raw water injection rate. Black-Right-Pointing-Pointer For PWR, even heat sink can be developed, RCP seal leak might eventually cause core uncover 10 h after seal leak occurs. - Abstract: In the recent nuclear catastrophe which occurred in Japan on March 11, 2011, several units of Fukushima conventional BWR experienced a total loss of power and water supply triggered by a heavy earthquake and a following Tsunami beyond design basis. In Fukushima accident it was observed that sea water was injected into reactors only after hydrogen explosion took place and it was considered a little too late to prevent core from damage. With regard to this fact, the Taiwan power company develops an ultimate measure to prevent reactor from encountering core damage, if either designed AC power or reactor water supply cannot be restored in time. This ultimate measure was named as DIVing plan, abbreviated from system depressurization, water injection and containment venting. Once any designed AC power or reactor water supply is made available, this DIVing plan will be activated to (1) depressurize reactor first, (2) inject any available water into reactor by any available power supply if this critical status cannot be restored in time, and (3) vent the containment if necessary to maintain containment integrity. In this paper the DIVing plan was simulated by RELAP5-3D to verify the concept of it and also to quantify the required raw water injection rate to prevent core from damage for both

The ultimate emergency measures to secure a NPP under an accidental condition with no designed power or water supply

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Liang, K.S.; Chiang, S.C.; Hsu, Y.F.; Young, H.J.; Pei, B.S.; Wang, L.C.

2012-01-01

Highlights: ► An ultimate measure to secure core was developed, if power or water supply cannot be restored in time. ► This ultimate measure was simulated by RELAP5-3D to verify the concept of this emergency plan. ► Quantification of the required raw water injection rate was performed for NPPS in Taiwan ► Reactor controlled depressurization within the 1st hour is essential to reduce the required raw water injection rate. ► For PWR, even heat sink can be developed, RCP seal leak might eventually cause core uncover 10 h after seal leak occurs. - Abstract: In the recent nuclear catastrophe which occurred in Japan on March 11, 2011, several units of Fukushima conventional BWR experienced a total loss of power and water supply triggered by a heavy earthquake and a following Tsunami beyond design basis. In Fukushima accident it was observed that sea water was injected into reactors only after hydrogen explosion took place and it was considered a little too late to prevent core from damage. With regard to this fact, the Taiwan power company develops an ultimate measure to prevent reactor from encountering core damage, if either designed AC power or reactor water supply cannot be restored in time. This ultimate measure was named as DIVing plan, abbreviated from system depressurization, water injection and containment venting. Once any designed AC power or reactor water supply is made available, this DIVing plan will be activated to (1) depressurize reactor first, (2) inject any available water into reactor by any available power supply if this critical status cannot be restored in time, and (3) vent the containment if necessary to maintain containment integrity. In this paper the DIVing plan was simulated by RELAP5-3D to verify the concept of it and also to quantify the required raw water injection rate to prevent core from damage for both PWR and BWR plants in Taiwan, after the loss of passive cooling mechanism. Provided the passive cooling mechanism is lost

Sixth-Grade Students' Progress in Understanding the Mechanisms of Global Climate Change

Science.gov (United States)

Visintainer, Tammie; Linn, Marcia

2015-01-01

Developing solutions for complex issues such as global climate change requires an understanding of the mechanisms involved. This study reports on the impact of a technology-enhanced unit designed to improve understanding of global climate change, its mechanisms, and their relationship to everyday energy use. Global Climate Change, implemented in…

Using Immersive Visualizations to Improve Decision Making and Enhancing Public Understanding of Earth Resource and Climate Issues

Science.gov (United States)

Yu, K. C.; Raynolds, R. G.; Dechesne, M.

2008-12-01

New visualization technologies, from ArcGIS to Google Earth, have allowed for the integration of complex, disparate data sets to produce visually rich and compelling three-dimensional models of sub-surface and surface resource distribution patterns. The rendering of these models allows the public to quickly understand complicated geospatial relationships that would otherwise take much longer to explain using traditional media. We have impacted the community through topical policy presentations at both state and city levels, adult education classes at the Denver Museum of Nature and Science (DMNS), and public lectures at DMNS. We have constructed three-dimensional models from well data and surface observations which allow policy makers to better understand the distribution of groundwater in sandstone aquifers of the Denver Basin. Our presentations to local governments in the Denver metro area have allowed resource managers to better project future ground water depletion patterns, and to encourage development of alternative sources. DMNS adult education classes on water resources, geography, and regional geology, as well as public lectures on global issues such as earthquakes, tsunamis, and resource depletion, have utilized the visualizations developed from these research models. In addition to presenting GIS models in traditional lectures, we have also made use of the immersive display capabilities of the digital "fulldome" Gates Planetarium at DMNS. The real-time Uniview visualization application installed at Gates was designed for teaching astronomy, but it can be re-purposed for displaying our model datasets in the context of the Earth's surface. The 17-meter diameter dome of the Gates Planetarium allows an audience to have an immersive experience---similar to virtual reality CAVEs employed by the oil exploration industry---that would otherwise not be available to the general public. Public lectures in the dome allow audiences of over 100 people to comprehend

The Agile Rapid Global Combat Support (ARGCS) System: A Cost and Benefit Analysis of Including the ARGCS Technologies in the Acquisition of the Enhanced Consolidated Support System (ECASS)

National Research Council Canada - National Science Library

Lund, John N

2007-01-01

...). The ultimate goal of this project is to assist in the analysis of the ARGCS technologies and what benefit they would provide if included in the proposed next generation of Naval Aviation test equipment, currently called the Enhanced Consolidated Automated Support System (ECASS).

Ultimate Limit State Design Of Sheet Pile Walls By Finite Elements And Nonlinear Programming

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Krabbenhøft, Kristian; Damkilde, Lars; Krabbenhøft, Sven

2002-01-01

Limit analysis has been used for decades in civil and mechanical engineering practice as a means of analyzing structures of materials which with reasonable accuracy can be described as being rigid-perfectly plastic. Such materials include steel, concrete and soils. Traditionally, most attention has...... been given to the problem which consists of determining the ultimate magnitude of a given set of loads acting on a structure with a given geometry. This problem is relevant when determining e.g. the necessary extrusion pressure in metal forming problems, when evaluating the bearing capacity...... is the load intensity. In the paper we consider the latter of these problems with particular reference to the design of sheet pile walls....

Methodological Challenges of Identifying Ultimate Land Use Changes Caused by Biofuel Production

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Wenzel, Henrik; Kløverpris, Jesper; Nielsen, Per Henning

2007-01-01

that is only poorly dealt with by LCA methods. Even though the use of land, or change of land cover and its eco-systems, is acknowledged to be a very important impact of human activities, a methodology for assessing this impact category has not yet  been properly developed within LCA. Some LCA scientists have...... looked into methods for assessing the impacts of given changes of land use, i.e. the impact assessment component of the LCA, but very few have looked into how to actually do the inventory modelling, i.e. how to identify which land is ultimately affected by the decision and system under study. State...... in the systems being studied. The aims of this paper is to analyse the mechanisms influencing the long-term land use consequences of changes in crop demand and propose a methodological framework for identifying these consequences within a global scope. The outset of the paper is the principles of consequential...

Hierarchical nanoporous metals as a path toward the ultimate three-dimensional functionality.

Science.gov (United States)

Fujita, Takeshi

2017-01-01

Nanoporous metals prepared via dealloying or selective leaching of solid solution alloys and compounds represent an emerging class of materials. They possess a three-dimensional (3D) structure of randomly interpenetrating ligaments/nanopores with sizes between 5 nm and several tens of micrometers, which can be tuned by varying their preparation conditions (such as dealloying time and temperature) or additional thermal coarsening. As compared to other nanostructured materials, nanoporous metals have many advantages, including their bicontinuous structure, tunable pore sizes, bulk form, good electrical conductivity, and high structural stability. Therefore, nanoporous metals represent ideal 3D materials with versatile functionality, which can be utilized in various fields. In this review, we describe the recent applications of nanoporous metals in molecular detection, catalysis, 3D graphene synthesis, hierarchical pore formation, and additive manufacturing (3D printing) together with our own achievements in these areas. Finally, we discuss possible ways of realizing the ultimate 3D functionality beyond the scope of nanoporous metals.

Understanding Why Students Drop Out of High School, According to Their Own Reports

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Jonathan Jacob Doll

2013-10-01

Full Text Available Research on school dropout extends from early 20th-century pioneers until now, marking trends of causes and prevention. However, specific dropout causes reported by students from several nationally representative studies have never been examined together, which, if done, could lead to a better understanding of the dropout problem. Push, pull, and falling out factors provide a framework for understanding dropouts. Push factors include school-consequence on attendance or discipline. Pull factors include out-of-school enticements like jobs and family. Finally, falling out factors refer to disengagement in students not caused by school or outside pulling factors. Since 1966, most nationally representative studies depicted pull factors as ranking the highest. Also, administrators in one study corroborated pull out factors for younger dropouts, not older ones, while most recent research cites push factors as highest overall. One rationale for this change is a response to rising standards from No Child Left Behind (NCLB, which can be ultimately tested only by future dropout research.

Understanding Participatory Action Research: A Qualitative Research Methodology Option

Science.gov (United States)

MacDonald, Cathy

2012-01-01

Participatory Action Research (PAR) is a qualitative research methodology option that requires further understanding and consideration. PAR is considered democratic, equitable, liberating, and life-enhancing qualitative inquiry that remains distinct from other qualitative methodologies (Kach & Kralik, 2006). Using PAR, qualitative features of an…

Children’s Understanding of Self-Focused Humor Styles

Science.gov (United States)

James, Lucy Amelia; Fox, Claire Louise

2016-01-01

It has been proposed that four main styles of humor exist, two which are thought to be adaptive (affiliative, self-enhancing) and two which are thought to be maladaptive (aggressive, self-defeating). Whilst the existence of these four humor styles has been supported in older children, it is suggested that for younger children, self-enhancing and self-defeating humor may develop at a later point. To investigate this further, the current research involved five semi-structured paired interviews with children aged eight to eleven years to explore the use and understanding of self-enhancing and self-defeating humor in this age group. Findings indicated that use of both self-enhancing and self-defeating humor were apparent in some children, but not all. It therefore seems appropriate that attempts to investigate humor in this age group should aim to include all four styles of humor. The current research also demonstrated the value of paired interviews when carrying out this sort of research with children. PMID:27547258

Glycolytic potential and ultimate muscle pH values in red deer (Cervus elaphus and fallow deer (Dama dama

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Eva Wiklund

2004-04-01

Full Text Available The ultimate pH value of meat (measured at approx. 24 hours post slaughter gives information about the technological quality, i.e. shelf life, colour, water-holding properties and tenderness and is a direct consequence of muscle glycogen (energy levels at slaughter. It may therefore also indicate whether or not the animal has been exposed to stressful energy depleting events prior to slaughter. In the present study, 141 animals (130 red deer (Cervus elaphus and 11 fallow deer (Dama dama were included to investigate the relationship between ultimate pH and residual glycogen concentration in red deer and fallow deer M. longissimus. In addition, the muscle glycogen content and ultimate pH values in three red deer muscles (Mm. triceps brachii, longissimus and biceps femoris were studied. M. triceps brachii had higher ultimate pH and lower glycogen content compared with the other two studied muscles. The frequency of intermediate DFD (5.8≤ pH<6.2 was 5.4% in red deer M. longissimus, compared with 9.1% in fallow deer, while the frequency of DFD (pH≥ 6.2 was much lower in red deer (3.8% than in fallow deer (54.5%. A curvilinear relationship between ultimate pH and total glucose concentration (glycogen and glucose 30 min post slaughter in red deer and fallow deer M. longissimus was found. The relationship between muscle pH and lactic acid concentration however, was indicated to be linear. A significant variation in total glucose concentration at ultimate pH below 5.80 was observed, including values in the range from 18 to 123 mmol/kg wet tissue. It was concluded that further studies are needed to further explore the relationship between muscle glycogen content and technological and sensory quality attributes of meat from different deer species.Abstract in Swedish / Sammanfattning:Köttets pH-värde (mätt ca 24 timmar efter slakt har stor betydelse för den teknologiska kvaliteten som t. ex. hållbarhet, färg, vattenhållande förmåga och m

Effects of conventional welding and laser welding on the tensile strength, ultimate tensile strength and surface characteristics of two cobalt-chromium alloys: a comparative study.

Science.gov (United States)

Madhan Kumar, Seenivasan; Sethumadhava, Jayesh Raghavendra; Anand Kumar, Vaidyanathan; Manita, Grover

2012-06-01

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the efficacy of laser welding and conventional welding on the tensile strength and ultimate tensile strength of the cobalt-chromium alloy. Samples were prepared with two commercially available cobalt-chromium alloys (Wironium plus and Diadur alloy). The samples were sectioned and the broken fragments were joined using Conventional and Laser welding techniques. The welded joints were subjected to tensile and ultimate tensile strength testing; and scanning electron microscope to evaluate the surface characteristics at the welded site. Both on laser welding as well as on conventional welding technique, Diadur alloy samples showed lesser values when tested for tensile and ultimate tensile strength when compared to Wironium alloy samples. Under the scanning electron microscope, the laser welded joints show uniform welding and continuous molt pool all over the surface with less porosity than the conventionally welded joints. Laser welding is an advantageous method of connecting or repairing cast metal prosthetic frameworks.

Understanding NaI(Tl) crystal background for dark matter searches

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Adhikari, G.; Adhikari, P.; Kong, S.Y.; Oh, S.Y. [Sejong University, Department of Physics and Astronomy, Seoul (Korea, Republic of); Ha, C.; Jeon, E.J.; Kim, N.Y.; Lee, H.S.; Park, J.S.; Park, K.S. [Institute for Basic Science (IBS), Center for Underground Physics, Daejeon (Korea, Republic of); Kim, Y.D. [Institute for Basic Science (IBS), Center for Underground Physics, Daejeon (Korea, Republic of); Sejong University, Department of Physics and Astronomy, Seoul (Korea, Republic of)

2017-07-15

We have developed ultra-low-background NaI(Tl) crystals to reproduce the DAMA results with the ultimate goal of achieving purity levels that are comparable to or better than those of the DAMA/LIBRA crystals. Even though the achieved background level does not approach that of DAMA/LIBRA, it is crucial to have a quantitative understanding of the backgrounds. We have studied background simulations toward a deeper understanding of the backgrounds and developed background models for a 9.16-kg NaI(Tl) crystal used in the test arrangement. In this paper we describe the contributions of background sources quantitatively by performing Geant4 Monte Carlo simulations that are fitted to the measured data to quantify the unknown fractions of the background compositions. In the fitted results, the overall simulated background spectrum well describes the measured data with a 9.16-kg NaI(Tl) crystal and shows that the background sources are dominated by surface {sup 210}Pb and internal {sup 40}K in the 2-6-keV energy interval, which produce 2.4 counts/day/keV/kg (dru) and 0.5 dru, respectively. (orig.)

A Study on Enhancement of Understanding of Radiation and Safety Management

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Yoo, Dong Han; Park, Ji Young; Lee, Jae Uk; Bae, Jun Woo; Kim, Hee Reyoung [Ulsan National Institute of Science and Technology, Ulsan (Korea, Republic of)

2014-10-15

Concerns for radiation exposure have been increased from small and big radiation works or experiments with radiation generator (RG) or radiation isotopes (RI) at institutions using radiation in Korea. Actually, due to radiation exposure occurred on the process of handling RI, etc., The exposure should be maintained as low as reasonably possible. To do this, above all, suitable training and establishment of safety culture have to be preceded. In this respect, an education institution is a place where people learn first about handling radiations in various specialties with purposes including academic research, and the first learned habits and practices acts as the basis for safety management of radiation when they continue to do radiation work after going into the society. Hereford, it is needed to establish the right safety culture on radiation for its safe managing. In the present study, the direction for the right understandings and safety improvement are suggested through the radiation survey on education institutions and preparation of safety guidances for users. The basic guidance at the radiation experiment was prepared for the right understanding of the radiation to prevent radiation accidents from careless handling by workers based on the surveyed results for education institutions. It is expected to be used as fundamentals for improvement for radiation safety management of workers and researchers and, further, safety policy for national nuclear energy and radiations.

A Study on Enhancement of Understanding of Radiation and Safety Management

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Yoo, Dong Han; Park, Ji Young; Lee, Jae Uk; Bae, Jun Woo; Kim, Hee Reyoung

2014-01-01

Concerns for radiation exposure have been increased from small and big radiation works or experiments with radiation generator (RG) or radiation isotopes (RI) at institutions using radiation in Korea. Actually, due to radiation exposure occurred on the process of handling RI, etc., The exposure should be maintained as low as reasonably possible. To do this, above all, suitable training and establishment of safety culture have to be preceded. In this respect, an education institution is a place where people learn first about handling radiations in various specialties with purposes including academic research, and the first learned habits and practices acts as the basis for safety management of radiation when they continue to do radiation work after going into the society. Hereford, it is needed to establish the right safety culture on radiation for its safe managing. In the present study, the direction for the right understandings and safety improvement are suggested through the radiation survey on education institutions and preparation of safety guidances for users. The basic guidance at the radiation experiment was prepared for the right understanding of the radiation to prevent radiation accidents from careless handling by workers based on the surveyed results for education institutions. It is expected to be used as fundamentals for improvement for radiation safety management of workers and researchers and, further, safety policy for national nuclear energy and radiations

Shape understanding system machine understanding and human understanding

CERN Document Server

Les, Zbigniew

2015-01-01

This is the third book presenting selected results of research on the further development of the shape understanding system (SUS) carried out by authors in the newly founded Queen Jadwiga Research Institute of Understanding. In this book the new term Machine Understanding is introduced referring to a new area of research aiming to investigate the possibility of building machines with the ability to understand. It is presented that SUS needs to some extent mimic human understanding and for this reason machines are evaluated according to the rules applied for the evaluation of human understanding. The book shows how to formulate problems and how it can be tested if the machine is able to solve these problems.    

Enhanced magnetic anisotropies of single transition-metal adatoms on a defective MoS2 monolayer.

Science.gov (United States)

Cong, W T; Tang, Z; Zhao, X G; Chu, J H

2015-03-23

Single magnetic atoms absorbed on an atomically thin layer represent the ultimate limit of bit miniaturization for data storage. To approach the limit, a critical step is to find an appropriate material system with high chemical stability and large magnetic anisotropic energy. Here, on the basis of first-principles calculations and the spin-orbit coupling theory, it is elucidated that the transition-metal Mn and Fe atoms absorbed on disulfur vacancies of MoS2 monolayers are very promising candidates. It is analysed that these absorption systems are of not only high chemical stabilities but also much enhanced magnetic anisotropies and particularly the easy magnetization axis is changed from the in-plane one for Mn to the out-of-plane one for Fe by a symmetry-lowering Jahn-Teller distortion. The results point out a promising direction to achieve the ultimate goal of single adatomic magnets with utilizing the defective atomically thin layers.

Physics of Limiting Phenomena in Superconducting Microwave Resonators: Vortex Dissipation, Ultimate Quench and Quality Factor Degradation Mechanisms

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Checchin, Mattia [Illinois Inst. of Technology, Chicago, IL (United States)

2016-12-01

Superconducting niobium accelerating cavities are devices operating in radio-frequency and able to accelerate charged particles up to energy of tera-electron-volts. Such accelerating structures are though limited in terms of quality factor and accelerating gradient, that translates--in some cases--in higher capital costs of construction and operation of superconducting rf accelerators. Looking forward for a new generation of more affordable accelerators, the physical description of limiting mechanisms in superconducting microwave resonators is discussed. In particular, the physics behind the dissipation introduced by vortices in the superconductor, the ultimate quench limitations and the quality factor degradation mechanism after a quench are described in detail. One of the limiting factor of the quality factor is the dissipation introduced by trapped magnetic flux vortices. The radio-frequency complex response of trapped vortices in superconductors is derived by solving the motion equation for a magnetic flux line, assuming a bi-dimensional and mean free path-dependent Lorentzian-shaped pinning potential. The resulting surface resistance shows the bell-shaped trend as a function of the mean free path, in agreement with the experimental data observed. Such bell-shaped trend of the surface resistance is described in terms of the interplay of the two limiting regimes identified as pinning and flux flow regimes, for low and large mean free path values respectively. The model predicts that the dissipation regime--pinning- or flux-flow-dominated--can be tuned either by acting on the frequency or on the electron mean free path value. The effect of different configurations of pinning sites and strength on the vortex surface resistance are also discussed. Accelerating cavities are also limited by the quench of the superconductive state, which limits the maximum accelerating gradient achievable. The accelerating field limiting factor is usually associate d to the

Physics of limiting phenomena in superconducting microwave resonators: Vortex dissipation, ultimate quench and quality factor degradation mechanisms

Science.gov (United States)

Checchin, Mattia

Superconducting niobium accelerating cavities are devices operating in radiofrequency and able to accelerate charged particles up to energy of tera-electron-volts. Such accelerating structures are though limited in terms of quality factor and accelerating gradient, that translates--in some cases--in higher capital costs of construction and operation of superconducting rf accelerators. Looking forward for a new generation of more affordable accelerators, the physical description of limiting mechanisms in superconducting microwave resonators is discussed. In particular, the physics behind the dissipation introduced by vortices in the superconductor, the ultimate quench limitations and the quality factor degradation mechanism after a quench are described in detail. One of the limiting factor of the quality factor is the dissipation introduced by trapped magnetic flux vortices. The radio-frequency complex response of trapped vortices in superconductors is derived by solving the motion equation for a magnetic flux line, assuming a bi-dimensional and mean free path-dependent Lorentzian-shaped pinning potential. The resulting surface resistance shows the bell-shaped trend as a function of the mean free path, in agreement with the experimental data observed. Such bell-shaped trend of the surface resistance is described in terms of the interplay of the two limiting regimes identified as pinning and flux flow regimes, for low and large mean free path values respectively. The model predicts that the dissipation regime--pinning- or flux-flow-dominated--can be tuned either by acting on the frequency or on the electron mean free path value. The effect of different configurations of pinning sites and strength on the vortex surface resistance are also discussed. Accelerating cavities are also limited by the quench of the superconductive state, which limits the maximum accelerating gradient achievable. The accelerating field limiting factor is usually associated to the superheating

Informed consent in contrast-enhanced CT. Understanding of risks and identification of possible prognostic factors

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Roehrl, S.; Dendl, L.M.; Scharf, G.; Stroszczynski, C.; Schreyer, A.G.; Zeman, F.

2015-01-01

Aim of our study was to assess understanding of risks associated with intravascular application of contrast media in patients undergoing CT examination. We wanted to evaluate epidemiologic and socio-economic prognostic factors for a higher understanding of risks. Additionally, we evaluated a possible correlation between an extensive, outcome-oriented oral informed consent and better understanding of risks. 120 patients distributed in 2 study arms participated in this prospective study. In study arm I, the treating physician was not informed that his patients participated in a study whereas the physician in study arm II knew about the survey. After the informed consent we performed a standardized, semi-structured interview to enquire the 3 most frequent risks of intravascular application of contrast agents (anaphylactoid reactions, nephropathy and thyrotoxic crisis) and epidemiologic data. The understanding of the risks was evaluated using a 6 point scale. Patients scored 3.73 points in study arm I and 4.93 points in arm II on average. The statistical difference between both study arms was highly significant (p < 0.001). In a combined logistic regression analysis, only ''higher education'' (p = 0.001) and participation in study arm II (p =0.001) showed a significant connection to a better understanding of risks. Patients profit from an outcome-oriented and individualized informed consent. Due to the significant correlation between educational level and understanding of risks, informed consent should be adjusted to the educational status of the individual patient, e.g. by using didactic aids or individualized information sheets.

Using Prediction to Promote Mathematical Understanding and Reasoning

Science.gov (United States)

Kasmer, Lisa; Kim, Ok-Kyeong

2011-01-01

Research has shown that prediction has the potential to promote the teaching and learning of mathematics because it can be used to enhance students' thinking and reasoning at all grade levels in various topics. This article addresses the effectiveness of using prediction on students' understanding and reasoning of mathematical concepts in a middle…

Artificial Intelligence: Realizing the Ultimate Promises of Computing

OpenAIRE

Waltz, David L.

1997-01-01

Artificial intelligence (AI) is the key technology in many of today's novel applications, ranging from banking systems that detect attempted credit card fraud, to telephone systems that understand speech, to software systems that notice when you're having problems and offer appropriate advice. These technologies would not exist today without the sustained federal support of fundamental AI research over the past three decades.

Study of Plant Growth Promoting Rhizobacteria (PGPR and Drought on Physiological Traits and Ultimate Yield of Cultivars of Oilseed Rape (Brassica spp. L.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

pooya arvin

2018-02-01

, canopy temperature depletion , harvest index and final seed yield were measured in the present study as well. In addition, variance analysis (ANOVA was performed using SAS ver. 9.1 software. Result and Discussion The examination of physiological characteristics including Harvest Index (HI, chlorophyll content, and Relative Water Content (RWC showed that there is a considerable difference between location, cultivar, and bacteria cultivar. At the second stage of sampling, due to the reduction of cell water content and enhancement of concentration of cell content in stress field, the chlorophyll rate was enhanced in stressed locations. While findings in RWC showed that Pseudomonas putida had the highest percentage (64.23%, and no inoculation had the lowest RWC (60.32%. Therefore, inoculation treatment, specifically the individual inoculation in the study of RWC, could ease the effects of drought stress. Results of the final stem height were significant, only in cultivar level and BP.18 with 1.24m was the highest and Hayol 330 with 0.9m was the shortest cultivars regarding to stem height. Individual and interaction effects of bacteria with other treatments on harvest index were significant. In current study, it seems that application of bacteria treatments has caused better formation of final seed yield .There was a considerable difference between location, cultivars and interaction of location×cultivar regarding to ultimate yield. Final seed yield in non-stress location (1351.85 Kg.ha-1 was significantly higher than in stress location (535.38 Kg.ha-1. In the study of both morphological and physiological traits and final seed yield of the current research, Hayola hybrid showed more superiority than other cultivars. Conclusion It seems the individual application of either P. flourescens 169 or P. putida 108 leads to better formation results than two mixed strains of the aforementioned bacteria. In the current study, Hayola hybrids showed a better function in physiology and

Test research and analysis for ultimate capacity of Qinshan NPP PCCV

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Zufeng, X.

1994-01-01

This paper introduces design and research for containment of Qinshan NPP which is the first PWR in CHINA designed and constructed by ourselves. The PCCV design is basically in conformity to ASME code. To verify the structural integrity capacity of Qinshan NPP containment, we fulfilled SIT and ILRT successfully in June, 1991. The special attention of the paper is focused on the ultimate capacity of the PCCV under severe accidents and earthquake. A study comprised of five different independent parts has been performed for the development of containment model test and corresponding nonlinear analysis. There are two prestressed concrete containment models with equipment hatch. One is 1/15 scale with steel liner tested on shake table and then moved out loaded with atmospheric pressure. The other is 1/10 scale without steel liner loaded with water pressure until destruction. From different methods including model test and nonlinear analysis, all obtained unanimous conclusion. The capacity under internal pressure and earthquake is reliable. The safety margin is enough. Consequently, in the second phase of Qinshan NPP and other PWR NPP under design, PCCV should be a better selection in China since it's more economic, rational and safe. (author)

Developing an Enhanced Lightning Jump Algorithm for Operational Use

Science.gov (United States)

Schultz, Christopher J.; Petersen, Walter A.; Carey, Lawrence D.

2009-01-01

Overall Goals: 1. Build on the lightning jump framework set through previous studies. 2. Understand what typically occurs in nonsevere convection with respect to increases in lightning. 3. Ultimately develop a lightning jump algorithm for use on the Geostationary Lightning Mapper (GLM). 4 Lightning jump algorithm configurations were developed (2(sigma), 3(sigma), Threshold 10 and Threshold 8). 5 algorithms were tested on a population of 47 nonsevere and 38 severe thunderstorms. Results indicate that the 2(sigma) algorithm performed best over the entire thunderstorm sample set with a POD of 87%, a far of 35%, a CSI of 59% and a HSS of 75%.

Behavior and ultimate strength of an inner concrete structure of a nuclear reactor building subjected to thermal and seismic loads

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Omatsuzawa, K.; Suzuki, Y.; Sato, M.; Takeda, T.; Yamaguchi, T.; Yoshioka, K.; Nakayama, T.; Furuya, N.; Kawaguchi, T.; Koike, K.; Naganuma, K.

1987-01-01

Heating tests and heating-plus-seismic-loading tests at high temperature (T max = 175 0 C) were conducted using various concrete structural members such as beams, cylindrical walls, H-section walls, and 1/10-scale models of the inner concrete (I/C) structure in a fast breeder reactor (FBR) building. Concrete subjected to high temperature exceeding 100 0 C has a tendency to have lower Young's modulus and to shrink. As these material constants are temperature-dependent, the thermal stress occurring within the concrete structure is smaller than the values usually obtained by normal crack analysis methods. Although thermal stresses and cracks exert marked influences on the behaviors of the structures during the earlier stages of loading, they hardly affect the ultimate bending and shear strengths. Specifically, as a result of I/C model tests, it was made clear that the ultimate strength of the structure is considerably greater than the design loads under combined thermal and seismic loading conditions. (orig./HP)

Dental Providers’ Perspectives on Diagnosis-Driven Dentistry: Strategies to Enhance Adoption of Dental Diagnostic Terminology

Science.gov (United States)

Obadan-Udoh, Enihomo; Etolue, Jini; Tokede, Oluwabunmi; White, Joel; Spallek, Heiko; Walji, Muhammad; Kalenderian, Elsbeth

2017-01-01

The routine use of standardized diagnostic terminologies (DxTMs) in dentistry has long been the subject of academic debate. This paper discusses the strategies suggested by a group of dental stakeholders to enhance the uptake of DxTMs. Through unstructured interviewing at the ‘Toward a Diagnosis-Driven Profession’ National Conference held on 19 March 2016 in Los Angeles, CA, USA participants were asked how enthusiastic they were about implementing and consistently using DxTMs at their work. They also brainstormed on strategies to improve the widespread use of DxTMs. Their responses are summarized by recursive abstraction and presented in themes. Conference participants were very enthusiastic about using a DxTM in their place of work. Participants enumerated several strategies to make DxTMs more appealing including: the use of mandates, a value proposition for providers, communication and education, and integration with EHRs and existing systems. All groups across the dental healthcare delivery spectrum will need to work together for the success of the widespread and consistent use of DxTMs. Understanding the provider perspective is however the most critical step in achieving this goal, as they are the group who will ultimately be saddled with the critical task of ensuring DxTM use at the point of care. PMID:28703751

Dental Providers' Perspectives on Diagnosis-Driven Dentistry: Strategies to Enhance Adoption of Dental Diagnostic Terminology.

Science.gov (United States)

Obadan-Udoh, Enihomo; Simon, Lisa; Etolue, Jini; Tokede, Oluwabunmi; White, Joel; Spallek, Heiko; Walji, Muhammad; Kalenderian, Elsbeth

2017-07-13

The routine use of standardized diagnostic terminologies (DxTMs) in dentistry has long been the subject of academic debate. This paper discusses the strategies suggested by a group of dental stakeholders to enhance the uptake of DxTMs. Through unstructured interviewing at the 'Toward a Diagnosis-Driven Profession' National Conference held on 19 March 2016 in Los Angeles, CA, USA participants were asked how enthusiastic they were about implementing and consistently using DxTMs at their work. They also brainstormed on strategies to improve the widespread use of DxTMs. Their responses are summarized by recursive abstraction and presented in themes. Conference participants were very enthusiastic about using a DxTM in their place of work. Participants enumerated several strategies to make DxTMs more appealing including: the use of mandates, a value proposition for providers, communication and education, and integration with EHRs and existing systems. All groups across the dental healthcare delivery spectrum will need to work together for the success of the widespread and consistent use of DxTMs. Understanding the provider perspective is however the most critical step in achieving this goal, as they are the group who will ultimately be saddled with the critical task of ensuring DxTM use at the point of care.

The radiographer-patient relationship: Enhancing understanding using a transactional analysis approach

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Booth, Lisa

2008-01-01

Purpose: Government initiatives such as the NHS Plan, the NHS Key Skills Framework and the NHS Career framework place communication at the centre of effective patient care, and role/career development. All advocate a patient-centred approach to dealing with patients, through open communication styles that encourage patients to become active participants in their care. Previous research, that has investigated communication in diagnostic radiography, demonstrated a preference for practitioner-centred, rather than patient-centred approaches to communication, however, there is little evidence to suggest why this should be the case or how a more patient-centred approach might be encouraged. The present study therefore sought to explore factors that influence communication in diagnostic radiography, with the view to understanding the barriers to patient-centred care. Method: Semi-structured group interviews took place with 12 radiographers, across two NHS trusts, with the aim of understanding their communication with patients and the factors that influence it. An open coding approach was used to analyse the data. Results: Four attitude categories were identified as influencing the communication used by diagnostic radiographers. 1. Characteristics of the radiographer. 2. Characteristics of the patient. 3. The need to produce a diagnostic image. 4. The need to keep the department running. Conclusion: Radiographer-patient communication is evidently influenced by these four attitude categories. If patient-centred styles of communication are to be encouraged, these factors need to be recognised and taken account of in the selection, education/training and workforce planning of diagnostic radiographers

Assessing neuronal networks: understanding Alzheimer's disease.

LENUS (Irish Health Repository)

Bokde, Arun L W

2012-02-01

Findings derived from neuroimaging of the structural and functional organization of the human brain have led to the widely supported hypothesis that neuronal networks of temporally coordinated brain activity across different regional brain structures underpin cognitive function. Failure of integration within a network leads to cognitive dysfunction. The current discussion on Alzheimer\\'s disease (AD) argues that it presents in part a disconnection syndrome. Studies using functional magnetic resonance imaging, positron emission tomography and electroencephalography demonstrate that synchronicity of brain activity is altered in AD and correlates with cognitive deficits. Moreover, recent advances in diffusion tensor imaging have made it possible to track axonal projections across the brain, revealing substantial regional impairment in fiber-tract integrity in AD. Accumulating evidence points towards a network breakdown reflecting disconnection at both the structural and functional system level. The exact relationship among these multiple mechanistic variables and their contribution to cognitive alterations and ultimately decline is yet unknown. Focused research efforts aimed at the integration of both function and structure hold great promise not only in improving our understanding of cognition but also of its characteristic progressive metamorphosis in complex chronic neurodegenerative disorders such as AD.

New Technologies for Acquisition and 3-D Visualization of Geophysical and Other Data Types Combined for Enhanced Understandings and Efficiencies of Oil and Gas Operations, Deepwater Gulf of Mexico

Science.gov (United States)

Thomson, J. A.; Gee, L. J.; George, T.

2002-12-01

This presentation shows results of a visualization method used to display and analyze multiple data types in a geospatially referenced three-dimensional (3-D) space. The integrated data types include sonar and seismic geophysical data, pipeline and geotechnical engineering data, and 3-D facilities models. Visualization of these data collectively in proper 3-D orientation yields insights and synergistic understandings not previously obtainable. Key technological components of the method are: 1) high-resolution geophysical data obtained using a newly developed autonomous underwater vehicle (AUV), 2) 3-D visualization software that delivers correctly positioned display of multiple data types and full 3-D flight navigation within the data space and 3) a highly immersive visualization environment (HIVE) where multidisciplinary teams can work collaboratively to develop enhanced understandings of geospatially complex data relationships. The initial study focused on an active deepwater development area in the Green Canyon protraction area, Gulf of Mexico. Here several planned production facilities required detailed, integrated data analysis for design and installation purposes. To meet the challenges of tight budgets and short timelines, an innovative new method was developed based on the combination of newly developed technologies. Key benefits of the method include enhanced understanding of geologically complex seabed topography and marine soils yielding safer and more efficient pipeline and facilities siting. Environmental benefits include rapid and precise identification of potential locations of protected deepwater biological communities for avoidance and protection during exploration and production operations. In addition, the method allows data presentation and transfer of learnings to an audience outside the scientific and engineering team. This includes regulatory personnel, marine archaeologists, industry partners and others.

Chemotherapy-induced peripheral neuropathy: an update on the current understanding.

Science.gov (United States)

Addington, James; Freimer, Miriam

2016-01-01

Chemotherapy-induced peripheral neuropathy is a common side effect of selected chemotherapeutic agents. Previous work has suggested that patients often under report the symptoms of chemotherapy-induced peripheral neuropathy and physicians fail to recognize the presence of such symptoms in a timely fashion. The precise pathophysiology that underlies chemotherapy-induced peripheral neuropathy, in both the acute and the chronic phase, remains complex and appears to be medication specific. Recent work has begun to demonstrate and further clarify potential pathophysiological processes that predispose and, ultimately, lead to the development of chemotherapy-induced peripheral neuropathy. There is increasing evidence that the pathway to neuropathy varies with each agent. With a clearer understanding of how these agents affect the peripheral nervous system, more targeted treatments can be developed in order to optimize treatment and prevent long-term side effects.

Assessing and Improving Student Understanding of Tree-Thinking

Science.gov (United States)

Kummer, Tyler A.

Evolution is the unifying theory of biology. The importance of understanding evolution by those who study the origins, diversification and diversity life cannot be overstated. Because of its importance, in addition to a scientific study of evolution, many researchers have spent time studying the acceptance and the teaching of evolution. Phylogenetic Systematics is the field of study developed to understand the evolutionary history of organisms, traits, and genes. Tree-thinking is the term by which we identify concepts related to the evolutionary history of organisms. It is vital that those who undertake a study of biology be able to understand and interpret what information these phylogenies are meant to convey. In this project, we evaluated the current impact a traditional study of biology has on the misconceptions students hold by assessing tree-thinking in freshman biology students to those nearing the end of their studies. We found that the impact of studying biology was varied with some misconceptions changing significantly while others persisted. Despite the importance of tree-thinking no appropriately developed concept inventory exists to measure student understanding of these important concepts. We developed a concept inventory capable of filling this important need and provide evidence to support its use among undergraduate students. Finally, we developed and modified activities as well as courses based on best practices to improve teaching and learning of tree-thinking and organismal diversity. We accomplished this by focusing on two key questions. First, how do we best introduce students to tree-thinking and second does tree-thinking as a course theme enhance student understanding of not only tree-thinking but also organismal diversity. We found important evidence suggesting that introducing students to tree-thinking via building evolutionary trees was less successful than introducing the concept via tree interpretation and may have in fact introduced or

The autophagosome: current understanding of formation and maturation

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Mannack LVJC

2015-02-01

Full Text Available Lilith VJC Mannack, Jon D Lane Cell Biology Laboratories, School of Biochemistry, University of Bristol, Bristol, UK Abstract: Autophagy is an important and highly conserved catabolic process with roles in development, homeostasis, and cellular stress responses. It describes various distinct pathways for the delivery of cytoplasmic materials (including misfolded protein aggregates and some organelles to the lysosome for degradation and component recycling. The best understood form of autophagy (macroautophagy describes the de novo assembly, maturation, and trafficking of a unique double membrane-bound organelle – the autophagosomes – that sequesters cytoplasmic materials and ultimately merges with the lysosomal compartment to form a degradative autolysosome. To rapidly assemble such a structure in response to stimuli, cells express a family of dedicated autophagy-related (ATG gene products that act sequentially to control membrane events leading first to the nucleation of an isolation membrane or phagophore, followed by phagophore expansion, and sealing to form an autophagosome that traffics to – and ultimately fuses with – the lysosome. These molecules are activated in response to upstream signaling pathways (notably, the mechanistic target of rapamycin [mTOR] pathway, and comprise protein and lipid kinases, putative membrane coats, and unique ubiquitin-like conjugation systems. In concert, a barrage of accessory proteins involved in various membrane trafficking pathways focused on the endosomal compartment are co-opted at the assembly site to facilitate autophagosome biogenesis. Understanding the integrated pathways that coordinate autophagosome assembly at the molecular level will be crucial if we are to realize the potential for autophagy manipulation in future disease therapies. Keywords: autophagy, ATG proteins, lysosome, phagophore, omegasome, autolysosome, membrane trafficking, ULK1, mTOR, PI(3 kinase, PI3P, LIR motif

Adaptive memory: young children show enhanced retention of fitness-related information.

Science.gov (United States)

Aslan, Alp; Bäuml, Karl-Heinz T

2012-01-01

Evolutionary psychologists propose that human cognition evolved through natural selection to solve adaptive problems related to survival and reproduction, with its ultimate function being the enhancement of reproductive fitness. Following this proposal and the evolutionary-developmental view that ancestral selection pressures operated not only on reproductive adults, but also on pre-reproductive children, the present study examined whether young children show superior memory for information that is processed in terms of its survival value. In two experiments, we found such survival processing to enhance retention in 4- to 10-year-old children, relative to various control conditions that also required deep, meaningful processing but were not related to survival. These results suggest that, already in very young children, survival processing is a special and extraordinarily effective form of memory encoding. The results support the functional-evolutionary proposal that young children's memory is "tuned" to process and retain fitness-related information. Copyright © 2011 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Enhancer evolution across 20 mammalian species

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Villar, Diego; Berthelot, Camille; Aldridge, Sarah

2015-01-01

The mammalian radiation has corresponded with rapid changes in noncoding regions of the genome, but we lack a comprehensive understanding of regulatory evolution in mammals. Here, we track the evolution of promoters and enhancers active in liver across 20 mammalian species from six diverse orders...... by profiling genomic enrichment of H3K27 acetylation and H3K4 trimethylation. We report that rapid evolution of enhancers is a universal feature of mammalian genomes. Most of the recently evolved enhancers arise from ancestral DNA exaptation, rather than lineage-specific expansions of repeat elements....... These results provide important insight into the functional genetics underpinning mammalian regulatory evolution....

Recommendation for basis for decision on a Danish ultimate storage for low and intermediate radioactive wastes; Forslag til beslutningsgrundlag for et dansk slutdepot for lav- og mellemaktivt affald

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

NONE

2006-12-15

In 2003 the Danish Parliament consented to let the government start the preparation of a basis for decision on a Danish ultimate storage for low and intermediate radioactive wastes. The present report is the result of the preparation process, and it describes the fundamental safety and environmental principles for establishing an ultimate storage, including determining the principles for the site selection, storage construction, and safety analyses. (LN)

PEP-X: An Ultimate Storage Ring Based on Fourth-Order Geometric Achromats

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Cai, Yunhai; Bane, Karl; Hettel, Robert; Nosochkov, Yuri; Wang, Min-Huey; /SLAC

2012-04-06

We have designed an 'ultimate' storage ring for the PEP-X light source that achieves the diffraction limited emittances (at 1.5 {angstrom}) of 12 pm-rad in both horizontal and vertical planes with a 4.5-GeV beam. These emittances include the contribution of intrabeam scattering at a nominal current of 200 mA in 3300 bunches. This quality beam in conjunction with a conventional 4-m undulator in a straight section can generate synchrotron radiation having a spectral brightness above 10{sup 22} [photons/s/mm{sup 2}/mrad{sup 2}/0.1% BW] at a 10 keV photon energy. The high coherence at the diffraction limit makes PEP-X competitive with 4th generation light sources based on an energy recovery linac. In addition, the beam lifetime is several hours and the dynamic aperture is large enough to allow off-axis injection. The alignment and stability tolerances, though challenging, are achievable. A ring with all these properties is only possible because of several major advances in mitigating the effects of nonlinear resonances.

A new approach to the modeling of ultimate heat sink cooling ponds

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Policastro, A.J.; Wastag, M.; Paul, J.; Carhart, R.A.

1996-01-01

Ultimate heat sink (UHS) cooling pond thermal performance is analyzed by a new method in which zero, one, and three-dimensional models are used in combination. A typical UHS pond has an irregular shape covering 20 hectares at an average depth of 4 m with a heavy thermal load of 40 MWt (megawatts thermal) per hectare. The resulting flow field can be one, two or three dimensional. A three-dimensional numerical model (Paul 1983) is modified and used to determine the effective dimensionality of the pond under accident conditions. The model's surface heat transfer formulas and its predictions of thermal hydraulics are verified using laboratory and field data. The Paul model shows that, unlike normal cooling ponds, a typical UHS pond is vertically-mixed with only a longitudinal temperature variation. Buoyancy-driven circulations, strong discharge-to-intake flow, and rapid surface heat removal break down the usual vertical stratification. Predictions of the one-dimensional MITEMP model are shown to agree with Paul model predictions for a typical UHS pond at the Catawba Nuclear Power Plant

Ultimate disposition of aluminum clad spent nuclear fuel in the United States

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Messick, C.E.; Clark, W.D.; Clapper, M.; Mustin, T.P.

2001-01-01

Treatment and disposition of spent nuclear fuel (SNF) in the United States has changed significantly over the last decade due to change in world climate associated with nuclear material. Chemical processing of aluminum based SNF is ending and alternate disposition paths are being developed that will allow for the ultimate disposition of the enriched uranium in this SNF. Existing inventories of aluminum based SNF are currently being stored primarily in water-filled basins at the Savannah River Site (SRS) while these alternate disposition paths are being developed and implemented. Nuclear nonproliferation continues to be a worldwide concern and it is causing a significant influence on the development of management alternatives for SNF. SRS recently completed an environmental impact statement for the management of aluminum clad SNF that selects alternatives for all of the fuels in inventory. The U.S. Department of Energy and SRS are now implementing a dual strategy of processing small quantities of 'problematic' SNF while developing an alternative technology to dispose of the remaining aluminum clad SNF in the proposed monitored geologic repository. (author)

The Utilization of Spin Polarized Photoelectron Spectroscopy as a Probe of Electron Correlation with an Ultimate Goal of Pu

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Tobin, James; Yu, Sung; Chung, Brandon; Morton, Simon; Komesu, Takashi; Waddill, George

2008-01-01

We are developing the technique of spin-polarized photoelectron spectroscopy as a probe of electron correlation with the ultimate goal of resolving the Pu electronic structure controversy. Over the last several years, we have demonstrated the utility of spin polarized photoelectron spectroscopy for determining the fine details of the electronic structure in complex systems such as those shown in the paper.

Teaching Teaching & Understanding Understanding

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

2006-01-01

"Teaching Teaching & Understanding Understanding" is a 19-minute award-winning short-film about teaching at university and higher-level educational institutions. It is based on the "Constructive Alignment" theory developed by Prof. John Biggs. The film delivers a foundation for understanding what...

Dose-dependent effects of an immune challenge at both ultimate and proximate levels in Drosophila melanogaster.

Science.gov (United States)

Nystrand, M; Dowling, D K

2014-05-01

Immune responses are highly dynamic. The magnitude and efficiency of an immune response to a pathogen can change markedly across individuals, and such changes may be influenced by variance in a range of intrinsic (e.g. age, genotype, sex) and external (e.g. abiotic stress, pathogen identity, strain) factors. Life history theory predicts that up-regulation of the immune system will come at a physiological cost, and studies have confirmed that increased investment in immunity can reduce reproductive output and survival. Furthermore, males and females often have divergent reproductive strategies, and this might drive the evolution of sex-specific life history trade-offs involving immunity, and sexual dimorphism in immune responses per se. Here, we employ an experiment design to elucidate dose-dependent and sex-specific responses to exposure to a nonpathogenic immune elicitor at two scales--the 'ultimate' life history and the underlying 'proximate' immune level in Drosophila melanogaster. We found dose-dependent effects of immune challenges on both male and female components of reproductive success, but not on survival, as well as a response in antimicrobial activity. These results indicate that even in the absence of the direct pathogenic effects that are associated with actual disease, individual life histories respond to a perceived immune challenge--but with the magnitude of this response being contingent on the initial dose of exposure. Furthermore, the results indicate that immune responses at the ultimate life history level may indeed reflect underlying processes that occur at the proximate level. © 2014 The Authors. Journal of Evolutionary Biology © 2014 European Society For Evolutionary Biology.

Antibody-nanoparticle conjugates to enhance the sensitivity of ELISA-based detection methods.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Margaret M Billingsley

Full Text Available Accurate antigen detection is imperative for clinicians to diagnose disease, assess treatment success, and predict patient prognosis. The most common technique used for the detection of disease-associated biomarkers is the enzyme linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA. In an ELISA, primary antibodies are incubated with biological samples containing the biomarker of interest. Then, detectible secondary antibodies conjugated with horseradish peroxidase (HRP bind the primary antibodies. Upon addition of a color-changing substrate, the samples provide a colorimetric signal that directly correlates to the targeted biomarker concentration. While ELISAs are effective for analyzing samples with high biomarker content, they lack the sensitivity required to analyze samples with low antigen levels. We hypothesized that the sensitivity of ELISAs could be enhanced by replacing freely delivered primary antibodies with antibody-nanoparticle conjugates that provide excess binding sites for detectible secondary antibodies, ultimately leading to increased signal. Here, we investigated the use of nanoshells (NS decorated with antibodies specific to epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR as a model system (EGFR-NS. We incubated one healthy and two breast cancer cell lines, each expressing different levels of EGFR, with EGFR-NS, untargeted NS, or unconjugated EGFR antibodies, as well as detectable secondary antibodies. We found that EGFR-NS consistently increased signal intensity relative to unconjugated EGFR antibodies, with a substantial 13-fold enhancement from cells expressing high levels of EGFR. Additionally, 40x more unconjugated antibodies were required to detect EGFR compared to those conjugated to NS. Our results demonstrate that antibody-nanoparticle conjugates lower the detection limit of traditional ELISAs and support further investigation of this strategy with other antibodies and nanoparticles. Owing to their enhanced sensitivity, we anticipate that

The system for centralized inventory keeping and ultimate disposal of radioactive waste in the former German Democratic Republic

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Beise, E.; Mielke, H.G.; Mueller, W.; Oppermann, U.

1991-01-01

The report explains the concept adopted by the former GDR. The system based at Morsleben, for centralized inventory keeping and management of radioactive waste is explained, refewing to the amounts of waste accrued, storage and transport of waste drums, classification and preparation of waste forms, and ultimate disposal of radioactive waste in the Morsleben repository. The report includes information on the management of special waste and spent fuel elements which cannot be stored at the Morsleben site. Most of the radioactive waste produced in the former GDR has been stored since 1979 at the Morsleben site. The waste came from the nuclear power plants (Greifswald, Rheinsberg), and from installations and institutes applying or producing radionuclides - so-called APR waste - (e.g. from the institutes at Rossendorf and Berlin-Buch, and from about 1300 other waste producers). The waste was accepted as or processed to solid waste forms, liquid waste, sealed radiation sources, and special waste; the ultimate storage techniques applied are packing of drums, backfilling, solidification of liquid waste and disposal in boreholes. Up to the end of the year 1989, the Morsleben repository received about 14000 m 3 of radioactive waste (about 40% solid waste, and about 60% liquid waste). (orig.) [de

How evolutionary principles improve the understanding of human health and disease.

Science.gov (United States)

Gluckman, Peter D; Low, Felicia M; Buklijas, Tatjana; Hanson, Mark A; Beedle, Alan S

2011-03-01

An appreciation of the fundamental principles of evolutionary biology provides new insights into major diseases and enables an integrated understanding of human biology and medicine. However, there is a lack of awareness of their importance amongst physicians, medical researchers, and educators, all of whom tend to focus on the mechanistic (proximate) basis for disease, excluding consideration of evolutionary (ultimate) reasons. The key principles of evolutionary medicine are that selection acts on fitness, not health or longevity; that our evolutionary history does not cause disease, but rather impacts on our risk of disease in particular environments; and that we are now living in novel environments compared to those in which we evolved. We consider these evolutionary principles in conjunction with population genetics and describe several pathways by which evolutionary processes can affect disease risk. These perspectives provide a more cohesive framework for gaining insights into the determinants of health and disease. Coupled with complementary insights offered by advances in genomic, epigenetic, and developmental biology research, evolutionary perspectives offer an important addition to understanding disease. Further, there are a number of aspects of evolutionary medicine that can add considerably to studies in other domains of contemporary evolutionary studies.

Jmol-Enhanced Biochemistry Research Projects

Science.gov (United States)

Saderholm, Matthew; Reynolds, Anthony

2011-01-01

We developed a protein research project for a one-semester biochemistry lecture class to enhance learning and more effectively train students to understand protein structure and function. During this semester-long process, students select a protein with known structure and then research its structure, sequence, and function. This project…

The magic of money and the illusion of biofuels: toward an interdisciplinary understanding of technology

Science.gov (United States)

Hornborg, Alf

2017-02-01

For several centuries, the dominant worldview in industrial societies has held that various problems -such as those recently identified as relating to sustainability- can be solved through technological progress. Technological progress has been conceived as the fruits of engineering science, new knowledge, and innovation. While knowledge of the principles of physics is certainly a necessary condition for technological development, it is not a sufficient condition. Technology is not only a product of engineering, but, ultimately, also of asymmetric transfers of biophysical resources. In other words, the feasibility of technological progress is contingent on world market prices. The history of technology has been written from the perspective of advancing ingenuity, rather than that of unequal global exchange. The implicit world view underlying dominant historiography and economic science ignores the deepening global inequalities which are prerequisite to what some sectors of world society can celebrate as technological progress, including visions of replacing fossil fuels with biofuels and other renewable energy sources. This observation should prompt us to conceptualize technological progress as an inherently unequal capacity to locally save time and space at the expense of human time and natural space lost elsewhere. It implies that the physical agency of technology ultimately rests on prices, i.e. subjective human conceptions about the value of market commodities, and thus finally on the magical artifact we know as money. The purpose of this article is to show how current deliberations on biofuels illustrate the insufficiencies of mainstream understandings of the phenomenon of technology, and to indicate why an adequate understanding of technology must be interdisciplinary, combining insights on both Nature and Society.

Withania somnifera: Advances and Implementation of Molecular and Tissue Culture Techniques to Enhance Its Application

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Vibha Pandey

2017-08-01

Full Text Available Withania somnifera, commonly known as Ashwagandha an important medicinal plant largely used in Ayurvedic and indigenous medicine for over 3,000 years. Being a medicinal plant, dried powder, crude extract as well as purified metabolies of the plant has shown promising therapeutic properties. Withanolides are the principal metabolites, responsible for the medicinal properties of the plant. Availability and amount of particular withanolides differ with tissue type and chemotype and its importance leads to identification characterization of several genes/ enzymes related to withanolide biosynthetic pathway. The modulation in withanolides can be achieved by controlling the environmental conditions like, different tissue culture techniques, altered media compositions, use of elicitors, etc. Among all the in vitro techniques, hairy root culture proved its importance at industrial scale, which also gets benefits due to more accumulation (amount and number of withanolides in roots tissues of W. somnifera. Use of media compostion and elicitors further enhances the amount of withanolides in hairy roots. Another important modern day technique used for accumulation of desired secondary metabolites is modulating the gene expression by altering environmental conditions (use of different media composition, elicitors, etc. or through genetic enginnering. Knowing the significance of the gene and the key enzymatic step of the pathway, modulation in withanolide contents can be achieved upto required amount in therapeutic industry. To accomplish maximum productivity through genetic enginnering different means of Withania transformation methods have been developed to obtain maximum transformation efficiency. These standardized transformation procedues have been used to overexpress/silence desired gene in W. somnifera to understand the outcome and succeed with enhanced metabolic production for the ultimate benefit of human race.

Ultimate refrigerating conditions, behavior turning and a thermodynamic analysis for absorption–compression hybrid refrigeration cycle

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Zheng Danxing; Meng Xuelin

2012-01-01

Highlights: ► Two novel fundamental concepts of the absorption refrigeration cycle were proposed. ► The interaction mechanism of compressor pressure increasing with other key-parameters was investigated. ► A set of optimal operating condition of hybrid refrigeration cycle was found. ► A simulation and investigation for R134a-DMF hybrid refrigeration cycle was performed. - Abstract: The absorption–compression hybrid refrigeration cycle has been considered as an effective approach to reduce the mechanical work consumption by using low-grade heat, such as solar energy. This work aims at studying the thermodynamic mechanism of the hybrid refrigeration cycle. Two fundamental concepts have been proposed, which are the ultimate refrigerating temperature (or the ultimate temperature lift) and the behavior turning. On the basis of that, the interaction mechanism of compressor pressure increasing with other key-parameters and the impact of compressor pressure increasing on the cycle performance have been investigated. The key-parameters include the concentration difference, the circulation ratio of working fluid, etc. The work points out that the hybrid refrigeration cycle performance varies with the change of compressor outlet pressure and depends on which one achieves dominance in the hybrid refrigeration cycle, the absorption sub-system or the compression sub-system. The behavior turning point during parameters changing corresponds to a maximum value of the heat powered coefficient of performance. In this case, the hybrid refrigeration cycle performance is optimal because the low-grade heat utilization is the most effective. In addition, to validate the theoretical analysis, a solar hybrid refrigeration cycle with R134a–DMF as working pair was simulated. The Peng–Robinson equation of state was adopted to calculate thermophysical properties when the reliability assessment of the prediction models on the available literature data of R134a–DMF system had been

Cost studies of thermally enhanced in situ soil remediation technologies

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Bremser, J.; Booth, S.R.

1996-05-01

This report describes five thermally enhanced technologies that may be used to remediate contaminated soil and water resources. The standard methods of treating these contaminated areas are Soil Vapor Extraction (SVE), Excavate ampersand Treat (E ampersand T), and Pump ampersand Treat (P ampersand T). Depending on the conditions at a given site, one or more of these conventional alternatives may be employed; however, several new thermally enhanced technologies for soil decontamination are emerging. These technologies are still in demonstration programs which generally are showing great success at achieving the expected remediation results. The cost savings reported in this work assume that the technologies will ultimately perform as anticipated by their developers in a normal environmental restoration work environment. The five technologies analyzed in this report are Low Frequency Heating (LF or Ohmic, both 3 and 6 phase AC), Dynamic Underground Stripping (DUS), Radio Frequency Heating (RF), Radio Frequency Heating using Dipole Antennae (RFD), and Thermally Enhanced Vapor Extraction System (TEVES). In all of these technologies the introduction of heat to the formation raises vapor pressures accelerating contaminant evaporation rates and increases soil permeability raising diffusion rates of contaminants. The physical process enhancements resulting from temperature elevations permit a greater percentage of volatile organic compound (VOC) or semi- volatile organic compound (SVOC) contaminants to be driven out of the soils for treatment or capture in a much shorter time period. This report presents the results of cost-comparative studies between these new thermally enhanced technologies and the conventional technologies, as applied to five specific scenarios

Allan Deviation Plot as a Tool for Quartz-Enhanced Photoacoustic Sensors Noise Analysis.

Science.gov (United States)

Giglio, Marilena; Patimisco, Pietro; Sampaolo, Angelo; Scamarcio, Gaetano; Tittel, Frank K; Spagnolo, Vincenzo

2016-04-01

We report here on the use of the Allan deviation plot to analyze the long-term stability of a quartz-enhanced photoacoustic (QEPAS) gas sensor. The Allan plot provides information about the optimum averaging time for the QEPAS signal and allows the prediction of its ultimate detection limit. The Allan deviation can also be used to determine the main sources of noise coming from the individual components of the sensor. Quartz tuning fork thermal noise dominates for integration times up to 275 s, whereas at longer averaging times, the main contribution to the sensor noise originates from laser power instabilities.

Structural Phenomenon of Cement-Based Composite Elements in Ultimate Limit State

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

I. Iskhakov

2016-01-01

Full Text Available Cement-based composite materials have minimum of two components, one of which has higher strength compared to the other. Such materials include concrete, reinforced concrete (RC, and ferrocement, applied in single- or two-layer RC elements. This paper discusses experimental and theoretical results, obtained by the authors in the recent three decades. The authors have payed attention to a structural phenomenon that many design features (parameters, properties, etc. at ultimate limit state (ULS of a structure are twice higher (or lower than at initial loading state. This phenomenon is evident at material properties, structures (or their elements, and static and/or dynamic structural response. The phenomenon is based on two ideas that were developed by first author: quasi-isotropic state of a structure at ULS and minimax principle. This phenomenon is supported by experimental and theoretical results, obtained for various structures, like beams, frames, spatial structures, and structural joints under static or/and dynamic loadings. This study provides valuable indicators for experiments’ planning and estimation of structural state. The phenomenon provides additional equation(s for calculating parameters that are usually obtained experimentally and can lead to developing design concepts and RC theory, in which the number of empirical design coefficients will be minimal.

Design Dependent Cutoff Frequency of Nanotransistors Near the Ultimate Performance Limit

Science.gov (United States)

Kordrostami, Zoheir; Sheikhi, M. Hossein; Zarifkar, Abbas

2012-12-01

We have studied the effect of different structural designs of double gate MOSFETs (DG-MOSFETs) and carbon nanotube field effect transistors (CNTFETs) on the cutoff frequency (fT). The effects of metallic contacts with Schottky barriers, gate work function, dual material gate (DMG), halo doped channel and lightly doped drain and source (LDDS) architectures on the fT have been investigated for DG-MOSFETs and CNTFETs and the design dependent fT for both types of transistors has been studied for the first time. The simulations are based on the Schrödinger-Poisson solvers developed for each nanotransistor separately. The ballistic limit has been studied as the ultimate performance limit of the DG-MOSFETs and CNTFETs. The results of this paper, for the first time, show how some designations used for modification of short channel effects or current-voltage characteristics affect the fT. The results revealed that the cutoff frequencies of both types of the transistors exhibit the same behavior with changing design parameters. We have shown that the Schottky barriers, parasitic capacitances and halo doping reduce the fT and have proposed the DMG and LDDS artchitectures as ways to increase the fT for DG-MOSFETs and CNTFETs for the first time.

Material Properties Test to Determine Ultimate Strain and True Stress-True Strain Curves for High Yield Steels

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

K.R. Arpin; T.F. Trimble

2003-04-01

This testing was undertaken to develop material true stress-true strain curves for elastic-plastic material behavior for use in performing transient analysis. Based on the conclusions of this test, the true stress-true strain curves derived herein are valid for use in elastic-plastic finite element analysis for structures fabricated from these materials. In addition, for the materials tested herein, the ultimate strain values are greater than those values cited as the limits for the elastic-plastic strain acceptance criteria for transient analysis.

Fuzzy stochastic analysis of serviceability and ultimate limit states of two-span pedestrian steel bridge

Science.gov (United States)

Kala, Zdeněk; Sandovič, GiedrÄ--

2012-09-01

The paper deals with non-linear analysis of ultimate and serviceability limit states of two-span pedestrian steel bridge. The effects of random material and geometrical characteristics on limit states are analyzed. The Monte Carlo method was applied to stochastic analysis. For the serviceability limit state, also influence of fuzzy uncertainty of the limit deflection value on random characteristics of load capacity of variable action was studied. The results prove that, for the type of structure studied, the serviceability limit state is decisive from the point of view of design. The present paper opens a discussion on the use of stochastic analysis to verify the limit deflections given in the standards EUROCODES.

Effect of Deep Drying and Torrefaction Temperature on Proximate, Ultimate Composition, and Heating Value of 2-mm Lodgepole Pine (Pinus contorta) Grind

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Tumuluru, Jaya

2016-06-01

Deep drying and torrefaction is a thermal pretreatment method, where biomass is heated in the temperature range of 150–300°C in an inert or reduced environment. The process parameters like temperature and residence time has a significant impact on proximate, ultimate, and energy properties of the biomass. In the present study, torrrefaction experiments were conducted on 2 mm lodgepole pine grind using a thermogravimetric analyzer. Both deep drying and torrefaction temperature (160–270°C) and time (15–120 min) were selected. Torrefied samples were analyzed for proximate, ultimate and energy properties. Results indicated that moisture content decreased with increases in torrefaction temperature and time, where at 270°C and 120 min, the moisture content was found to be 1.15% (w.b.). Volatile content in the biomass decreased from about 80% to about 45%, and ash content increased from 0.77 to about 1.91% at 270°C and 120 min. The hydrogen, oxygen and sulfur content decreased to 3%, 28.24%, and 0.01 whereas carbon content and higher heating value increased to 68.86% and 23.67 MJ/kg at 270°C and 120 min. H/C and O/C ratio calculated at 270°C and 120 min residence time were about 0.56 and 0.47. This study indicated that higher torrefaction temperatures >230°C and residence time >15 min influenced the proximate, ultimate, and energy properties.

Multi-Scale Computational Enzymology: Enhancing Our Understanding of Enzymatic Catalysis

Science.gov (United States)

Gherib, Rami; Dokainish, Hisham M.; Gauld, James W.

2014-01-01

Elucidating the origin of enzymatic catalysis stands as one the great challenges of contemporary biochemistry and biophysics. The recent emergence of computational enzymology has enhanced our atomistic-level description of biocatalysis as well the kinetic and thermodynamic properties of their mechanisms. There exists a diversity of computational methods allowing the investigation of specific enzymatic properties. Small or large density functional theory models allow the comparison of a plethora of mechanistic reactive species and divergent catalytic pathways. Molecular docking can model different substrate conformations embedded within enzyme active sites and determine those with optimal binding affinities. Molecular dynamics simulations provide insights into the dynamics and roles of active site components as well as the interactions between substrate and enzymes. Hybrid quantum mechanical/molecular mechanical (QM/MM) can model reactions in active sites while considering steric and electrostatic contributions provided by the surrounding environment. Using previous studies done within our group, on OvoA, EgtB, ThrRS, LuxS and MsrA enzymatic systems, we will review how these methods can be used either independently or cooperatively to get insights into enzymatic catalysis. PMID:24384841

Multi-Scale Computational Enzymology: Enhancing Our Understanding of Enzymatic Catalysis

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Rami Gherib

2013-12-01

Full Text Available Elucidating the origin of enzymatic catalysis stands as one the great challenges of contemporary biochemistry and biophysics. The recent emergence of computational enzymology has enhanced our atomistic-level description of biocatalysis as well the kinetic and thermodynamic properties of their mechanisms. There exists a diversity of computational methods allowing the investigation of specific enzymatic properties. Small or large density functional theory models allow the comparison of a plethora of mechanistic reactive species and divergent catalytic pathways. Molecular docking can model different substrate conformations embedded within enzyme active sites and determine those with optimal binding affinities. Molecular dynamics simulations provide insights into the dynamics and roles of active site components as well as the interactions between substrate and enzymes. Hybrid quantum mechanical/molecular mechanical (QM/MM can model reactions in active sites while considering steric and electrostatic contributions provided by the surrounding environment. Using previous studies done within our group, on OvoA, EgtB, ThrRS, LuxS and MsrA enzymatic systems, we will review how these methods can be used either independently or cooperatively to get insights into enzymatic catalysis.

Understanding virtual world usage : A multipurpose model and empirical testing

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Verhagen, Tibert; Feldberg, Frans; Van Den Hooff, Bart; Meents, Selmar

2009-01-01

This study reports an attempt to enhance our understanding of the reasons behind virtual world usage. By providing a mixture of utilitarian and hedonic value, virtual worlds represent an emerging class of multipurpose information systems (MPIS). Previous research seems to fall short in explaining

EDITORIAL: Enhancing nanolithography Enhancing nanolithography

Science.gov (United States)

Demming, Anna

2012-01-01

Lithography was invented in late 18th century Bavaria by an ambitious young playwright named Alois Senefelder. Senefelder experimented with stone, wax, water and ink in the hope of finding a way of reproducing text so that he might financially gain from a wider distribution of his already successful scripts. His discovery not only facilitated the profitability of his plays, but also provided the world with an affordable printing press that would ultimately democratize the dissemination of art, knowledge and literature. Since Senefelder, experiments in lithography have continued with a range of innovations including the use of electron beams and UV that allow increasingly higher-resolution features [1, 2]. Applications for this have now breached the limits of paper printing into the realms of semiconductor and microelectronic mechanical systems technology. In this issue, researchers demonstrate a technique for fabricating periodic features in poly(3,4-ethylene dioxythiophene)-poly(styrenesulfonate) (PEDOT-PSS) [3]. Their method combines field enhancements from silica nanospheres with laser-interference lithography to provide a means of patterning a polymer that has the potential to open the market of low-end, high-volume microelectronics. Laser-interference lithography has already been used successfully in patterning. Researchers in Korea used laser-interference lithography to generate stamps for imprinting a two-dimensional photonic crystal structure into green light emitting diodes (LEDs) [4]. The imprinted patterns comprised depressions 100 nm deep and 180 nm wide with a periodicity of 295 nm. In comparison with unpatterned LEDs, the intensity of photoluminescence was enhanced by a factor of seven in the LEDs that had the photonic crystal structures imprinted in them. The potential of exploiting field enhancements around nanostructures for new technologies has also attracted a great deal of attention. Researchers in the USA and Australia have used the field

Understanding Creativity Methods in Design

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Biskjaer, Michael Mose; Dalsgaard, Peter; Halskov, Kim

2017-01-01

This paper contributes an analytical framework to improve understanding of the composition of recognized creativity methods used in design. Based on an extensive literature review, our framework synthesizes key concepts from design and particularly creativity research, and is further supported...... by significant experience with creativity methods in design. We propose that nine concepts are relevant for analyzing creativity methods in design: process structure, materials, tools, combination, metaphor, analogy, framing, divergence, and convergence. To test their relevance as components of an analytical...... are composed, how and why they work, and how they potentially may be tweaked or refined for enhanced deployment in design....

Enhancement of confinement in tokamaks

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Furth, H.P.

1986-05-01

A plausible interpretation of the experimental evidence is that energy confinement in tokamaks is governed by two separate considerations: (1) the need for resistive MHD kink-stability, which limits the permissible range of current profiles - and therefore normally also the range of temperature profiles; and (2) the presence of strongly anomalous microscopic energy transport near the plasma edge, which calibrates the amplitude of the global temperature profile, thus determining the energy confinement time tau/sub E/. Correspondingly, there are two main paths towards the enhancement of tokamak confinement: (1) Configurational optimization, to increase the MHD-stable energy content of the plasma core, can evidently be pursued by varying the cross-sectional shape of the plasma and/or finding stable radial profiles with central q-values substantially below unity - but crossing from ''first'' to ''second'' stability within the peak-pressure region would have the greatest ultimate potential. (2) Suppression of edge turbulence, so as to improve the heat insulation in the outer plasma shell, can be pursued by various local stabilizing techniques, such as use of a poloidal divertor. The present confinement model and initial TFTR pellet-injection results suggest that the introduction of a super-high-density region within the plasma core should be particularly valuable for enhancing ntau/subE/. In D-T operation, a centrally peaked plasma pressure profile could possibly lend itself to alpha-particle-driven entry into the second-stability regime

Surfactant-enhanced alkaline flooding for light oil recovery. Final report

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Wasan, D.T.

1996-05-01

In this report, we present the results of our experimental and theoretical studies in surfactant-enhanced alkaline flooding for light oil recovery. The overall objective of this work is to develop a very cost-effective method for formulating a successful surfactant-enhanced alkaline flood by appropriately choosing mixed alkalis which form inexpensive buffers to obtain the desired pH (between 8.5 and 12. 0) for ultimate spontaneous emulsification and ultralow interfacial tension. In addition, we have (1) developed a theoretical interfacial activity model for determining equilibrium interfacial tension, (2) investigated the mechanisms for spontaneous emulsification, (3) developed a technique to monitor low water content in oil and (4) developed a technique to study water-in-oil emulsion film properties, (5) investigated the effect of surfactant on the equilibrium and transient interfacial tension, (6) investigated the kinetics of oil removal from a silica surface, and (7) developed a theoretical interfacial activity model for determining equilibrium interfacial tension, accounting for added surfactant. The results of the studies conducted during the course of this project are discussed.

An Experimental Investigation on the Ultimate Strength of Partially Infilled: Braced Steel Frames

Science.gov (United States)

Dubey, Shailendra Kumar Damodar; Kute, Sunil Y.

2017-12-01

Infilled walls are usually, considered as non-structural elements. However, these walls are effective in carrying lateral loads. In this regard, an experimental investigation was planned and conducted to study the effect of braced and partially infilled steel frames with cement mortar and concrete in comparison to the bare frames. All these frames were tested up to collapse and subjected only to horizontal loads to obtain an effective and possible solution for soft storey which are generally not infilled. In comparison to bare steel frames, partially infilled frames have an increase of lateral load capacity by 45-60%. Central bracing is more effective than that of the corner bracing. For the same load partially infilled frames have significantly less deflection than that of the bare frames. A reduced load factor is suggested for the design of soft storey columns with the partial infills. A mathematical model has been proposed to calculate the theoretical ultimate load for the braced, cement mortar and concrete partial infilled frames.

Assessment of Wind Parameter Sensitivity on Ultimate and Fatigue Wind Turbine Loads: Preprint

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Robertson, Amy N [National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL), Golden, CO (United States); Sethuraman, Latha [National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL), Golden, CO (United States); Jonkman, Jason [National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL), Golden, CO (United States); Quick, Julian [National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL), Golden, CO (United States)

2018-02-13

Wind turbines are designed using a set of simulations to ascertain the structural loads that the turbine could encounter. While mean hub-height wind speed is considered to vary, other wind parameters such as turbulence spectra, sheer, veer, spatial coherence, and component correlation are fixed or conditional values that, in reality, could have different characteristics at different sites and have a significant effect on the resulting loads. This paper therefore seeks to assess the sensitivity of different wind parameters on the resulting ultimate and fatigue loads on the turbine during normal operational conditions. Eighteen different wind parameters are screened using an Elementary Effects approach with radial points. As expected, the results show a high sensitivity of the loads to the turbulence standard deviation in the primary wind direction, but the sensitivity to wind shear is often much greater. To a lesser extent, other wind parameters that drive loads include the coherence in the primary wind direction and veer.

A Decision Support Framework for Feasibility Analysis of International Space Station (ISS) Research Capability Enhancing Options

Science.gov (United States)

Ortiz, James N.; Scott,Kelly; Smith, Harold

2004-01-01

The assembly and operation of the ISS has generated significant challenges that have ultimately impacted resources available to the program's primary mission: research. To address this, program personnel routinely perform trade-off studies on alternative options to enhance research. The approach, content level of analysis and resulting outputs of these studies vary due to many factors, however, complicating the Program Manager's job of selecting the best option. To address this, the program requested a framework be developed to evaluate multiple research-enhancing options in a thorough, disciplined and repeatable manner, and to identify the best option on the basis of cost, benefit and risk. The resulting framework consisted of a systematic methodology and a decision-support toolset. The framework provides quantifiable and repeatable means for ranking research-enhancing options for the complex and multiple-constraint domain of the space research laboratory. This paper describes the development, verification and validation of this framework and provides observations on its operational use.

Understanding Gas-Phase Ammonia Chemistry in Protoplanetary Disks

Science.gov (United States)

Chambers, Lauren; Oberg, Karin I.; Cleeves, Lauren Ilsedore

2017-01-01

Protoplanetary disks are dynamic regions of gas and dust around young stars, the remnants of star formation, that evolve and coagulate over millions of years in order to ultimately form planets. The chemical composition of protoplanetary disks is affected by both the chemical and physical conditions in which they develop, including the initial molecular abundances in the birth cloud, the spectrum and intensity of radiation from the host star and nearby systems, and mixing and turbulence within the disk. A more complete understanding of the chemical evolution of disks enables a more complete understanding of the chemical composition of planets that may form within them, and of their capability to support life. One element known to be essential for life on Earth is nitrogen, which often is present in the form of ammonia (NH3). Recent observations by Salinas et al. (2016) reveal a theoretical discrepancy in the gas-phase and ice-phase ammonia abundances in protoplanetary disks; while observations of comets and protostars estimate the ice-phase NH3/H2O ratio in disks to be 5%, Salinas reports a gas-phase NH3/H2O ratio of ~7-84% in the disk surrounding TW Hydra, a young nearby star. Through computational chemical modeling of the TW Hydra disk using a reaction network of over 5000 chemical reactions, I am investigating the possible sources of excess gas-phase NH3 by determining the primary reaction pathways of NH3 production; the downstream chemical effects of ionization by ultraviolet photons, X-rays, and cosmic rays; and the effects of altering the initial abundances of key molecules such as N and N2. Beyond providing a theoretical explanation for the NH3 ice/gas discrepancy, this new model may lead to fuller understanding of the gas-phase formation processes of all nitrogen hydrides (NHx), and thus fuller understanding of the nitrogen-bearing molecules that are fundamental for life as we know it.

The ultimate intrinsic signal-to-noise ratio of loop- and dipole-like current patterns in a realistic human head model.

Science.gov (United States)

Pfrommer, Andreas; Henning, Anke

2018-03-13

The ultimate intrinsic signal-to-noise ratio (UISNR) represents an upper bound for the achievable SNR of any receive coil. To reach this threshold a complete basis set of equivalent surface currents is required. This study systematically investigated to what extent either loop- or dipole-like current patterns are able to reach the UISNR threshold in a realistic human head model between 1.5 T and 11.7 T. Based on this analysis, we derived guidelines for coil designers to choose the best array element at a given field strength. Moreover, we present ideal current patterns yielding the UISNR in a realistic body model. We distributed generic current patterns on a cylindrical and helmet-shaped surface around a realistic human head model. We excited electromagnetic fields in the human head by using eigenfunctions of the spherical and cylindrical Helmholtz operator. The electromagnetic field problem was solved by a fast volume integral equation solver. At 7 T and above, adding curl-free current patterns to divergence-free current patterns substantially increased the SNR in the human head (locally >20%). This was true for the helmet-shaped and the cylindrical surface. On the cylindrical surface, dipole-like current patterns had high SNR performance in central regions at ultra-high field strength. The UISNR increased superlinearly with B0 in most parts of the cerebrum but only sublinearly in the periphery of the human head. The combination of loop and dipole elements could enhance the SNR performance in the human head at ultra-high field strength. © 2018 International Society for Magnetic Resonance in Medicine.

The impact of therapeutic delay time on acute scintigraphic lesion and ultimate scar formation in children with first febrile UTI.

Science.gov (United States)

Oh, Mi Mi; Kim, Jin Wook; Park, Min Gu; Kim, Je Jong; Yoo, Kee Hwan; Moon, Du Geon

2012-03-01

We assessed the role of therapeutic delay time (TDT) in acute renal cortical scintigraphic lesion (ASL) and ultimate scar formation (USF) in children with first febrile UTI and whether it is affected by the presence of vesico-ureteral reflux (VUR). 230 children, 90 girls and 140 boys with first febrile UTI were included. Radiologic (USG, DMSA, and VCUG), clinical (age, gender, peak fever, therapeutic delay time) and laboratory (CBC with differential count, ANC (absolute neutrophil count), BUN, Creatinine, urine analysis, gram stain, culture, CRP and ESR) variables were analysed. DMSA was performed within 5 days and after six months. VCUG was performed after acute phase of UTI. The differences in TDT according to the presence of ASL, USF and VUR were assessed. And the correlation between ASL or USF with the duration of TDT was assessed. Of 230 patients enrolled, 142 patients had refluxing UTI and 88 patients had non-refluxing UTI. TDT was the risk factor associated with ASL and USF along with presence of VUR. TDT was longer in ASL positive group compared with the ASL negative group. Also USF group showed longer TDT compared with those without USF in both refluxing UTI and non refluxing UTI. The TDT was significantly shorter in USF group with the presence of VUR. Positive linear association was noted between prevalence of ASL and USF and duration of TDT. In conclusion, the impact of UTI on formation of USF may be enhanced by the presence of VUR with shorter duration of TDT.

Guide for understanding and evaluation of safety culture

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

2008-01-01

This report was the guide of understanding and evaluation of safety culture. Operator's activities for enhancement of safety culture in nuclear installations became an object of safety regulation in the management system. Evaluation of operator's activities (including top management's involvement) to prevent degradation of safety culture and organization climate in daily works needed understanding of safety culture and diversity of operator's activities. This guide was prepared to check indications of degradation of safety culture and organization climate in operator's activities in daily works and encourage operator's activities to enhance safety culture improvement and good practice. Comprehensive evaluation of operator's activities to prevent degradation of safety culture and organization climate would be performed from the standpoints of 14 safety culture elements such as top management commitment, clear plan and implementation of upper manager, measures to avoid wrong decision making, questioning attitude, reporting culture, good communications, accountability and openness, compliance, learning system, activities to prevent accidents or incidents beforehand, self-assessment or third party evaluation, work management, change management and attitudes/motivation. Element-wise examples and targets for evaluation were attached with evaluation check tables. (T. Tanaka)

The implementation of case study with module-assisted to improve students' understanding on phytochemistry course

Science.gov (United States)

Julianto, Tatang Shabur; Fitriastuti, Dhina; Diniaty, Artina; Fauzi'ah, Lina; Arlianty, Widinda Normalia; Febriana, Beta Wulan; Muhaimin

2017-12-01

Phytochemistry is one of the course in Chemistry Department's curriculum which discusses about biosynthetic path of secondary metabolite compound in a plant, classification of secondary metabolite compound, isolation technique, and identification analysis. This course is expected to be able to bridge the generations of a nation that has expertise in managing the natural resources of Indonesian plants. In this research, it was evaluated the implementation of case study learning method towards students' understanding on phytochemistry course. The learning processes were conducted in 2 cycles i.e. before and after midterm. The first seven themes of materials before midterm were learned with case study method and the next seven themes of materials were studied with the same method with the module-assisted. The results showed that there was enhancement of students' understanding in class D that were obtained from comparison of midterm and final test. Contrarily, the students of class C have no significant enhancement. In addition, it was predicted that understanding enhancement was strongly influenced by the life skills and the motivation of students especially the academic skills aspect.

Generating or developing grounded theory: methods to understand health and illness.

Science.gov (United States)

Woods, Phillip; Gapp, Rod; King, Michelle A

2016-06-01

Grounded theory is a qualitative research methodology that aims to explain social phenomena, e.g. why particular motivations or patterns of behaviour occur, at a conceptual level. Developed in the 1960s by Glaser and Strauss, the methodology has been reinterpreted by Strauss and Corbin in more recent times, resulting in different schools of thought. Differences arise from different philosophical perspectives concerning knowledge (epistemology) and the nature of reality (ontology), demanding that researchers make clear theoretical choices at the commencement of their research when choosing this methodology. Compared to other qualitative methods it has ability to achieve understanding of, rather than simply describing, a social phenomenon. Achieving understanding however, requires theoretical sampling to choose interviewees that can contribute most to the research and understanding of the phenomenon, and constant comparison of interviews to evaluate the same event or process in different settings or situations. Sampling continues until conceptual saturation is reached, i.e. when no new concepts emerge from the data. Data analysis focusses on categorising data (finding the main elements of what is occurring and why), and describing those categories in terms of properties (conceptual characteristics that define the category and give meaning) and dimensions (the variations within properties which produce specificity and range). Ultimately a core category which theoretically explains how all other categories are linked together is developed from the data. While achieving theoretical abstraction in the core category, it should be logical and capture all of the variation within the data. Theory development requires understanding of the methodology not just working through a set of procedures. This article provides a basic overview, set in the literature surrounding grounded theory, for those wanting to increase their understanding and quality of research output.

Production-enhancement partnerships: Successful business arrangements

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Coble, L.E.; Weitzel, K.R.; Attai, L.F.; Gray, K.A.

1996-01-01

Production-enhancement projects are creating changes in business relationships between oil and gas and service companies. The most successful projects are building partnerships. Service companies are being asked to share the risk while supplying services to enhance well performance. Risk sharing creates common project objectives and requires the service company's involvement in initial project planning, job design, and reservoir understanding. Service-work compensation is based on well- or field-performance improvement resulting from the treatment(s). This paper presents an integrated approach to the selection and prioritization of well candidates for production-enhancement jobs or treatments. Processes are illustrated, and data requirements and techniques necessary to select well candidates that provide the highest return on investment are discussed. Field examples demonstrate the techniques, critical factors, and appropriate software used by geoscience and field-operations teams to maximize benefits from production-enhancement projects

Understanding Muslim patients: cross-cultural dental hygiene care.

Science.gov (United States)

Sirois, M L; Darby, M; Tolle, S

2013-05-01

Healthcare providers who understand the basic pillars of Islamic beliefs and common religious practices can apply these concepts, anticipate the needs of the Muslim patient and family, and attract Muslim patients to the practice. Cross cultural knowledge can motivate dental hygienists to adopt culturally acceptable behaviors, strengthen patient-provider relationships and optimize therapeutic outcomes. Trends in Muslim population growth, Islamic history and beliefs, modesty practices, healthcare beliefs, contraception, childbearing, childrearing, pilgrimage, dietary practices, dental care considerations and communication are explained. This paper reviews traditional Muslim beliefs and practices regarding lifestyle, customs, healthcare and religion as derived from the literature and study abroad experiences. Recommendations are offered on how to blend western healthcare with Islamic practices when making introductions, appointments, eye contact, and selecting a practitioner. The significance of fasting and how dental hygiene care can invalidate the fast are also discussed. The ultimate goal is for practitioners to be culturally competent in providing care to Muslim patients, while keeping in mind that beliefs and practices can vary widely within a culture. © 2012 John Wiley & Sons A/S.

Recent advances in functional assays of transcriptional enhancers.

Science.gov (United States)

Babbitt, Courtney C; Markstein, Michele; Gray, Jesse M

2015-09-01

In this special edition of Genomics, we present reviews of the current state of the field in identifying and functionally understanding transcriptional enhancers in cells and developing tissues. Typically several enhancers coordinate the expression of an individual target gene, each controlling that gene's expression in specific cell types at specific times. Until recently, identifying each gene's enhancers had been challenging because enhancers do not occupy prescribed locations relative to their target genes. Recently there have been powerful advances in DNA sequencing and other technologies that make it possible to identify the majority of enhancers in virtually any cell type of interest. The reviews in this edition of Genomics highlight some of these new and powerful approaches. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Indulging anxiety: human enhancement from a Protestant perspective.

Science.gov (United States)

Hanson, Mark J

1999-08-01

At the heart of any ethics of human enhancement must be some normative assumptions about human nature. The purpose of this essay is to draw on themes from a Protestant theological anthropology to provide a basis for understanding and evaluating the tension between maintaining our humanity and enhancing it. Drawing primarily on the work of theologian Reinhold Niebuhr, I interpret enhancement as proceeding from the anxiety that characterizes human experience at the juncture of freedom and finiteness. Religious and moral dimensions of human sinfulness are considered in relation to cultural values that motivate human enhancement generally. I employ these dimensions in a series of benchmarks to suggest a background of theological, anthropological, and moral considerations against which enhancement is not to be condemmed but rather critically evaluated.

Nanodiamond-enhanced MRI via in situ hyperpolarization

Science.gov (United States)

Waddington, David E. J.; Sarracanie, Mathieu; Zhang, Huiliang; Salameh, Najat; Glenn, David R.; Rej, Ewa; Gaebel, Torsten; Boele, Thomas; Walsworth, Ronald L.; Reilly, David J.; Rosen, Matthew S.

2017-04-01

Nanodiamonds are of interest as nontoxic substrates for targeted drug delivery and as highly biostable fluorescent markers for cellular tracking. Beyond optical techniques, however, options for noninvasive imaging of nanodiamonds in vivo are severely limited. Here, we demonstrate that the Overhauser effect, a proton-electron polarization transfer technique, can enable high-contrast magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) of nanodiamonds in water at room temperature and ultra-low magnetic field. The technique transfers spin polarization from paramagnetic impurities at nanodiamond surfaces to 1H spins in the surrounding water solution, creating MRI contrast on-demand. We examine the conditions required for maximum enhancement as well as the ultimate sensitivity of the technique. The ability to perform continuous in situ hyperpolarization via the Overhauser mechanism, in combination with the excellent in vivo stability of nanodiamond, raises the possibility of performing noninvasive in vivo tracking of nanodiamond over indefinitely long periods of time.

Enhancing Established Counting Routines to Promote Place-Value Understanding: An Empirical Study in Early Elementary Classrooms

Science.gov (United States)

Fraivillig, Judith L.

2018-01-01

Understanding place value is a critical and foundational competency for elementary mathematics. Classroom teachers who endeavor to promote place-value development adopt a variety of established practices to varying degrees of effectiveness. In parallel, researchers have validated models of how young children acquire place-value understanding.…

Review of ultimate pressure capacity test of containment structure and scale model design techniques

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Seo, Jeong Moon; Choi, In Kil [Korea Atomic Energy Research Institute, Taejeon (Korea)

2000-03-01

This study was performed to obtain the basic knowledge of the scaled model test through the review of experimental studies conducted in foreign countries. The results of this study will be used for the wall segment test planed in next year. It was concluded from the previous studies that the larger the model, the greater the trust of the community in the obtained results. It is recommended that a scale model 1/4 - 1/6 be suitable considering the characteristics of concrete, reinforcement, liner and tendon. Such a large scale model test require large amounts of time and budget. Because of these reasons, it is concluded that the containment wall segment test with analytical studies is efficient for the verification of the ultimate pressure capacity of the containment structures. 57 refs., 46 figs., 11 tabs. (Author)

Silicon coupled-ring resonator structures for slow light applications: potential, impairments and ultimate limits

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Canciamilla, A; Torregiani, M; Ferrari, C; Morichetti, F; Melloni, A; De La Rue, R M; Samarelli, A; Sorel, M

2010-01-01

Coupled-ring resonator-based slow light structures are reported and discussed. By combining the advantages of high index contrast silicon-on-insulator technology with an efficient thermo-optical activation, they provide an on-chip solution with a bandwidth of up to 100 GHz and a slowdown factor of up to 16, as well as a continuous reconfiguration scheme and a fine tunability. The performance of these devices is investigated in detail for both static and dynamic operation, in order to evaluate their potential in optical signal processing applications at high bit rate. The main impairments imposed by fabrication imperfections are also discussed in relation to the slowdown factor. In particular, the analysis of the impact of backscatter, disorder and two-photon absorption on the device transfer function reveals the ultimate limits of these structures and provides valuable design rules for their optimization

Quantitative reconstruction from a single diffraction-enhanced image

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Paganin, D.M.; Lewis, R.A.; Kitchen, M.

2003-01-01

Full text: We develop an algorithm for using a single diffraction-enhanced image (DEI) to obtain a quantitative reconstruction of the projected thickness of a single-material sample which is embedded within a substrate of approximately constant thickness. This algorithm is used to quantitatively map inclusions in a breast phantom, from a single synchrotron DEI image. In particular, the reconstructed images quantitatively represent the projected thickness in the bulk of the sample, in contrast to DEI images which greatly emphasise sharp edges (high spatial frequencies). In the context of an ultimate aim of improved methods for breast cancer detection, the reconstructions are potentially of greater diagnostic value compared to the DEI data. Lastly, we point out that the methods of analysis presented here are also applicable to the quantitative analysis of differential interference contrast (DIC) images

Glycolytic potential and ultimate muscle pH values in red deer (Cervus elaphus) and fallow deer (Dama dama)

OpenAIRE

Wiklund, Eva; Manley, Timothy R.; Littlejohn, Roger P.

2004-01-01

The ultimate pH value of meat (measured at approx. 24 hours post slaughter) gives information about the technological quality, i.e. shelf life, colour, water-holding properties and tenderness and is a direct consequence of muscle glycogen (energy) levels at slaughter. It may therefore also indicate whether or not the animal has been exposed to stressful energy depleting events prior to slaughter. In the present study, 141 animals (130 red deer (Cervus elaphus) and 11 fallow deer (Dama dama) w...

MEAL-BASED ENHANCEMENT OF PROTEIN QUALITY AND QUANTITY DURING WEIGHT LOSS IN OBESE OLDER ADULTS WITH MOBILITY LIMITATIONS: RATIONALE AND DESIGN FOR THE MEASUR-UP TRIAL

Science.gov (United States)

McDonald, Shelley R.; Starr, Kathryn N. Porter; Mauceri, Luisa; Orenduff, Melissa; Granville, Esther; Ocampo, Christine; Payne, Martha E.; Pieper, Carl F.; Bales, Connie W.

2015-01-01

Obese older adults with even modest functional limitations are at a disadvantage for maintaining their independence into late life. However, there is no established intervention for obesity in older individuals. The Measuring Eating, Activity and Strength: Understanding the Response --Using Protein (MEASUR-UP) trial is a randomized controlled pilot study of obese women and men aged ≥60 years with mild to moderate functional impairments. Changes in body composition (lean and fat mass) and function (Short Physical Performance Battery) in an enhanced protein weight reduction (Protein) arm will be compared to those in a traditional weight loss (Control) arm. The Protein intervention is based on evidence that older adults achieve optimal rates of muscle protein synthesis when consuming about 25-30 grams of high quality protein per meal; these participants will consume −30 g of animal protein at each meal via a combination of provided protein (beef) servings and diet counseling. This trial will provide information on the feasibility and efficacy of enhancing protein quantity and quality in the context of a weight reduction regimen and determine the impact of this intervention on body weight, functional status, and lean muscle mass. We hypothesize that the enhancement of protein quantity and quality in the Protein arm will result in better outcomes for function and/or lean muscle mass than in the Control arm. Ultimately, we hope our findings will help identify a safe weight loss approach that can delay or prevent late life disability by changing the trajectory of age-associated functional impairment associated with obesity. PMID:25461495

A Philosophical Framework for Enhancing the Understanding of Artefacts in the Technology Classroom

Science.gov (United States)

Rauscher, Willem

2016-01-01

Technology teachers should have a sound understanding and knowledge of artefacts in order to assist learners in the designing, making and evaluating of artefacts. Unfortunately, technology teachers in South African schools seem to have a poor grasp of the complexity of this important part of knowledge that is specific to technology. As a result,…

Enhanced understanding of the relationship between chemical modification and mechanical properties of wood

Science.gov (United States)

Charles R. Frihart; Daniel J. Yelle; John Ralph; Robert J. Moon; Donald S. Stone; Joseph E. Jakes

2008-01-01

Chemical additions to wood often change its bulk properties, which can be determined using conventional macroscopic mechanical tests. However, the controlling interactions between chemicals and wood take place at and below the scale of individual cells and cell walls. To better understand the effects of chemical additions to wood, we have adapted and extended two...

Exploring the role of the church as a ‘reformation agency’ in enhancing a socially transformative agenda in South Africa

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Micheal M. van Wyk

2017-03-01

Full Text Available International political, social, economic and religious developments influence how local communities operate. The South African church society is influenced by such developments taking place globally and which clearly influence how local churches function. This article explores the role of the contemporary church as a ‘reformation agency’ in enhancing a socially transformative agenda in South Africa. A qualitative research approach – an interpretative phenomenology design – was employed to negotiate a shared understanding through conversation and intersubjective meaning-making with church ministers, with the primary focus being their subjective experience of the changing role of the church in enhancing a transformative agenda in a South African context. A purposive sampling (n = 6 consisted of local church leaders who participated in the face-to-face and telephonic semi-structured interviews to achieve the purpose of the study. The findings clearly show that deliberate and intentional actions by churches allow them to become a voice for the marginalised, to create spaces for searching for excellence and to increase the quality of servant leadership, all as vehicles for transforming church society. Furthermore, servant leadership is a social phenomenon, a philosophy-in-practice aimed at leading by example to achieve a common goal. To accomplish this, church ministers are required to spearhead the challenge as a prerequisite to creating ‘lived experienced’ opportunities for members as an inward-outward spiritual journey. Finally, church leaders believed that transformation is a secular dimension, but that it can also be aligned towards God’s redemption plan and enhancing a socially just transformation agenda. Ultimately, this study proposed several recommendations to allow the local church to be relevant in practicing and promoting stronger unity and reconciliation amongst all churches nationally and globally.

STORIES OF TECHNOLOGY-ENHANCEMENT IN HIGHER EDUCATION – A CRITICAL APPROACH

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Trine Fossland

2016-11-01

Full Text Available There is a large body of research on technology-enhanced learning, but questions related to the educational effectiveness of technology use still needs to be questioned. In this paper, I argue that digital innovators’ stories about technology enhancement may constitute a rich source for understanding this complex educational phenomenon both in relation to teachers’ daily practices and the implementation of ICT in higher education at large. Based on biographical interviews with “digital innovators”, the aim of this paper is to investigate how [their] digital competence is used to enhance teaching and learning in higher education. This paper asks; how do digital innovators approach the use of ICT to enhance students’ learning and what are the organisational conditions for this approach? The findings suggests that technology-enhancement is linked to nine key characteristics: different educational models, authenticity, pedagogical added values, meaningful student activities, changing approaches to feedback, assessment and connection with the outside world, as well as holistic planning, supportive leaders and strong micro-cultures. This paper proposes a more nuanced understanding of the term technology enhanced learning and suggests strategies for educational development and further investigations related to this phenomenon in higher education.

Pharmacological cognitive enhancement-how neuroscientific research could advance ethical debate.

Science.gov (United States)

Maslen, Hannah; Faulmüller, Nadira; Savulescu, Julian

2014-01-01

THERE ARE NUMEROUS WAYS PEOPLE CAN IMPROVE THEIR COGNITIVE CAPACITIES: good nutrition and regular exercise can produce long-term improvements across many cognitive domains, whilst commonplace stimulants such as coffee temporarily boost levels of alertness and concentration. Effects like these have been well-documented in the medical literature and they raise few (if any) ethical issues. More recently, however, clinical research has shown that the off-label use of some pharmaceuticals can, under certain conditions, have modest cognition-improving effects. Substances such as methylphenidate and modafinil can improve capacities such as working memory and concentration in some healthy individuals. Unlike their more mundane predecessors, these methods of "cognitive enhancement" are thought to raise a multitude of ethical issues. This paper presents the six principal ethical issues raised in relation to pharmacological cognitive enhancers (PCEs)-issues such as whether: (1) the medical safety-profile of PCEs justifies restricting or permitting their elective or required use; (2) the enhanced mind can be an "authentic" mind; (3) individuals might be coerced into using PCEs; (4), there is a meaningful distinction to be made between the treatment vs. enhancement effect of the same PCE; (5) unequal access to PCEs would have implications for distributive justice; and (6) PCE use constitutes cheating in competitive contexts. In reviewing the six principal issues, the paper discusses how neuroscientific research might help advance the ethical debate. In particular, the paper presents new arguments about the contribution neuroscience could make to debates about justice, fairness, and cheating, ultimately concluding that neuroscientific research into "personalized enhancement" will be essential if policy is to be truly informed and ethical. We propose an "ethical agenda" for neuroscientific research into PCEs.

Understanding Technology Literacy: A Framework for Evaluating Educational Technology Integration

Science.gov (United States)

Davies, Randall S.

2011-01-01

Federal legislation in the United States currently mandates that technology be integrated into school curricula because of the popular belief that learning is enhanced through the use of technology. The challenge for educators is to understand how best to teach with technology while developing the technological expertise of their students. This…

Enhanced Publications: Data Models and Information Systems

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Alessia Bardi

2014-04-01

Full Text Available “Enhanced publications” are commonly intended as digital publications that consist of a mandatory narrative part (the description of the research conducted plus related “parts”, such as datasets, other publications, images, tables, workflows, devices. The state-of-the-art on information systems for enhanced publications has today reached the point where some kind of common understanding is required, in order to provide the methodology and language for scientists to compare, analyse, or simply discuss the multitude of solutions in the field. In this paper, we thoroughly examined the literature with a two-fold aim: firstly, introducing the terminology required to describe and compare structural and semantic features of existing enhanced publication data models; secondly, proposing a classification of enhanced publication information systems based on their main functional goals.

Learning from the private sector: towards a keener understanding of the end-user for microbicide introduction planning.

Science.gov (United States)

Lin, Amy H; Breger, Tiffany L; Barnhart, Matthew; Kim, Ann; Vangsgaard, Charlotte; Harris, Emily

2014-01-01

that enhances product usage. The introduction of microbicide products presents an ideal opportunity to draw on the insights from user-centred private sector companies' approaches, which can complement other methods that have been more commonly utilized in microbicide research to date. As microbicides move from clinical trials to real-world implementation, there will be more opportunities to combine a variety of approaches to understand end-users, which can lead to a more effective product launch and ultimately greater impact on preventing HIV infections.

Sixth-Grade Students' Progress in Understanding the Mechanisms of Global Climate Change

Science.gov (United States)

Visintainer, Tammie; Linn, Marcia

2015-04-01

Developing solutions for complex issues such as global climate change requires an understanding of the mechanisms involved. This study reports on the impact of a technology-enhanced unit designed to improve understanding of global climate change, its mechanisms, and their relationship to everyday energy use. Global Climate Change, implemented in the Web-based Inquiry Science Environment (WISE), engages sixth-grade students in conducting virtual investigations using NetLogo models to foster an understanding of core mechanisms including the greenhouse effect. Students then test how the greenhouse effect is enhanced by everyday energy use. This study draws on three data sources: (1) pre- and post-unit interviews, (2) analysis of embedded assessments following virtual investigations, and (3) contrasting cases of two students (normative vs. non-normative understanding of the greenhouse effect). Results show the value of using virtual investigations for teaching the mechanisms associated with global climate change. Interviews document that students hold a wide range of ideas about the mechanisms driving global climate change. Investigations with models help students use evidence-based reasoning to distinguish their ideas. Results show that understanding the greenhouse effect offers a foundation for building connections between everyday energy use and increases in global temperature. An impediment to establishing coherent understanding was the persistence of an alternative conception about ozone as an explanation for climate change. These findings illustrate the need for regular revision of curriculum based on classroom trials. We discuss key design features of models and instructional revisions that can transform the teaching and learning of global climate change.

Enhanced wetting of Cu on ZnO by migration of subsurface oxygen vacancies

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Beinik, Igor; Helström, Matti; Jensen, Thomas Nørregaard

2015-01-01

is of utmost importance. The Cu/ZnO system is among the most investigated of such systems in model studies, but the presence of subsurface ZnO defects and their important role for adhesion on ZnO have been unappreciated so far. Here we reveal that the surface-directed migration of subsurface defects affects...... the Cu adhesion on polar ZnO(0001) in the technologically interesting temperature range up to 550 K. This leads to enhanced adhesion and ultimately complete wetting of ZnO(0001) by a Cu overlayer. On the basis of our experimental and computational results we demonstrate a mechanism which implies...

Patient dose rate: An ultimate limit for spatial and density resolution of scanning systems

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kowalski, G.; Wagner, W.

1979-01-01

In X-ray scanning systems, picture quality of the reconstructed slices is limited to a maximum spatial as well as density resolution by the applied radiation dose. Density resolution can be improved in proportion to the root of the patient dose, whereas a doubled spatial resolving power requires an eight times higher patient dose, assuming a fixed slice thickness. Only a careful trade-off between the applied patient dose, density resolution and spatial resolution yields a maximal diagnostic value for the physician. Specifications of a scanning system have to take into account these ultimate restrictions, so that picture quality really is limited by the patient's dose rather than by technical constraints. In addition a method is given by which the applied dose can be reduced by focusing the main intensity onto the region of interest, in case that region is known a priori. (orig.) [de

Enhancement of optical Kerr effect in quantum-cascade lasers with multiple resonance levels.

Science.gov (United States)

Bai, Jing; Citrin, D S

2008-08-18

In this paper, we investigated the optical Kerr lensing effect in quantum-cascade lasers with multiple resonance levels. The Kerr refractive index n2 is obtained through the third-order susceptibility at the fundamental frequency chi(3)( omega; omega, omega,-omega). Resonant two-photon processes are found to have almost equal contributions to chi(3)( omega; omega, omega,-omega) as the single-photon processes, which result in the predicted enhancement of the positive nonlinear (Kerr) refractive index, and thus may enhance mode-locking of quantum-cascade lasers. Moreover, we also demonstrate an isospectral optimization strategy for further improving n2 through the band-structure design, in order to boost the multimode performance of quantum-cascade lasers. Simulation results show that the optimized stepwise multiple-quantum-well structure has n2 approximately 10-8 cm2/W, a twofold enhancement over the original flat quantum-well structure. This leads to a refractive-index change (delta)n of about 0.01, which is at the upper bound of those reported for typical Kerr medium. This stronger Kerr refractive index may be important for quantum-cascade lasers ultimately to demonstrate self-mode-locking.

Ultimate strength, low stress creep characteristics, and thermal intercept methods for an epoxy fiberglass tension member support

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Niemann, R.C.; Gonczy, J.D.; Hoffman, J.A.; Mataya, K.F.; Smelser, P.; Young, W.C.

1979-01-01

A support system utilizing epoxy fiberglass tension members will be used for the UTSI Superconducting Dipole Magnet. Elements of a support system have a basic member which is a link in which a composite is wound around a mandrel. This element uses the strength of the material fibers in a most advantageous way. The flexural and torsional load imputs to the link at its end must be minimized. A spherical bearing with a cylindrical outer surface functions as the central pin. Experience gained in the application with emphasis on tension member material, ultimate strength, creep, and heat intercepts is presented