Structuring factoring business: accounting aspects

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I.M. Vygivska

2017-08-01

Full Text Available The article theoretically substantiates the fact that factoring belongs to the main operational activity of a factoring company, and this allowed structuring the factoring business by types of activity. The lack of a unified approach to the classification of factoring (factoring services made it possible to systematize and refine their classification as a basis for developing accounting and analytical support for risk management of factoring business. The authors single out such classification signs as: the right of the reverse claim (reverse, irretrievable, a territorial feature (international, internal, the subject of the factoring contract (real, consensual, the availability of notification of the debtor (conventional, confidential. The structuring of factoring business contributes to the identification of the risks of the economic activities of a factoring company depending on the type of factoring, the development of methodological support for the bookkeeping of factoring transactions in a risk environment, the search for risk management practices and the determination of management effectiveness in general.

Factor Structure of Individual Consequences for Teleworking Professionals

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John Campbell

2016-06-01

Full Text Available Despite the increasing popularity of telework, little is known about individual outcomes that arise particularly for teleworking professionals. We build on earlier research by examining the conceptual constructs of individual consequences from telework. We initially categorized consequences identified in the extant literature into five areas. However, this model was not supported by confirmatory factor analysis of survey data collected from 250 teleworking accounting professionals. Subsequent exploratory factor analysis revealed a more complex six-factor structure relating to (1 Effectiveness; (2 Self-assurance; (3 Working with Others; (4 Work Pressure; (5 Professional Image; and (6 Physicality. The results extend our understanding of latent constructs underlying telework by professional knowledge workers, and provide a basis for further refinement of our model based on empirical research and theoretical development.

Comparing Factor Structures of Adolescent Psychopathology

Science.gov (United States)

Verona, Edelyn; Javdani, Shabnam; Sprague, Jenessa

2011-01-01

Research on the structure of adolescent psychopathology can provide information on broad factors that underlie different forms of maladjustment in youths. Multiple studies from the literature on adult populations suggest that 2 factors, Internalizing and Externalizing, meaningfully comprise the factor structure of adult psychopathology (e.g.,…

Assessing diabetes support in adolescents: factor structure of the Modified Diabetes Social Support Questionnaire (M-DSSQ-Family)

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Malik, J.A.; Koot, H.M.

2011-01-01

Objectives: To determine the underlying factor structure of diabetes specific support using a modified diabetes family social support questionnaire, the M-DSSQ-Family, in one half of a sample of adolescents with type 1 diabetes, confirm it in the second half, test invariance in factor structure

Deterioration of mechanical properties of high strength structural steel S460N under transient state fire condition

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Qiang, Xuhong; Bijlaard, Frans S.K.; Kolstein, Henk

2012-01-01

Highlights: ► Mechanical properties of S460N under transient state fire condition are obtained. ► Elevated-temperature mechanical properties of steels are dependent on steel grades. ► No design standard is applicable to HSS S460N under transient state fire condition. ► Specific statements on various HSS in fire should be proposed in design standards. ► Research results offer accurate material property for structural design engineers. -- Abstract: 911 World Trade Centre Tragedy put fire safety of constructional steel structures into question. Since then, more and more research attention has been paid to the elevated-temperature mechanical properties of structural steels, which is a critical basis of evaluating the fire performance of steel structures. In the literature the available mechanical properties of structural steels under fire conditions were mainly obtained from steady state test method, as steady state test method is easier to perform than transient state test method and offers stress–strain curves directly. However, the transient state fire condition is considered to be more realistic to represent the real condition when constructions are exposed to fire. In order to reveal the deterioration of mechanical properties of the commonly used high strength structural steel S460N under transient state fire condition, tensile tests were conducted under various constant stress levels up to 800 MPa. The reduction factors of elastic modulus, yield and ultimate strengths of S460N under transient state fire condition were obtained and compared with current leading design standards and available literature. The application of such accurate elevated-temperature mechanical properties reduction factors of S460N can ensure a safe fire-resistance design and evaluation of steel structures with high strength steel S460N under transient state fire condition. This experimental study also supports other relative research on fire performance of steel structures with

The Factor Structure in Equity Options

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Christoffersen, Peter; Fournier, Mathieu; Jacobs, Kris

2018-01-01

Equity options display a strong factor structure. The first principal components of the equity volatility levels, skews, and term structures explain a substantial fraction of the crosssectional variation. Furthermore, these principal components are highly correlated with the S&P 500 index option...... volatility, skew, and term structure, respectively. We develop an equity option valuation model that captures this factor structure. The model predicts that firms with higher market betas have higher implied volatilities, steeper moneyness slopes, and a term structure that covaries more with the market...

Examining Factor Structure of the Chinese Version of the PIRLS 2011 Home Questionnaire

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Wai Ming Cheung

2016-01-01

Full Text Available The home questionnaire of the Progress in International Reading Literacy Study (PIRLS-HQ 2011 was designed to gather information from parents or primary caregivers of fourth-grade pupils on their reading literacy development related to aspects of pupils’ home lives across countries/districts. The questionnaire was translated into different languages for international comparison and research purposes. This study aims to assess the psychometric properties of the Chinese version of the PIRLS 2011 home questionnaire (PIRLS-HQCV 2011 and identify the underlying factor structure using exploratory factor analysis (EFA and confirmatory factor analysis (CFA among Chinese fourth-grade pupils in Hong Kong. A 7-factor structure model has been identified by EFA and confirmed to resemble much to the original PIRLS structure by CFA. Additional conceptually important domains have been identified which add further insights into the inconclusive results in the literature regarding the relationship between home factors and reading achievement. Implications for further studies are discussed.

The Factor Structure in Equity Options

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Christoffersen, Peter; Fournier, Mathieu; Jacobs, Kris

Equity options display a strong factor structure. The first principal components of the equity volatility levels, skews, and term structures explain a substantial fraction of the cross-sectional variation. Furthermore, these principal components are highly correlated with the S&P500 index option...... volatility, skew, and term structure respectively. We develop an equity option valuation model that captures this factor structure. The model predicts that firms with higher market betas have higher implied volatilities, steeper moneyness slopes, and a term structure that co-varies more with the market...

FACTOR STRUCTURE OF FUNCTIONAL CAPABILITIES OF BODYBUILDERS

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Predrag Milenović

2007-05-01

Full Text Available It is evident that researches in the fi eld of kineziology and sports sciences on the topic of body-building here are very rare mainly and probably because of its place in the system of hyerarchy of sports. Lack of interest in body-building and its insuffi cient popularization springs probably, among other things, from its different interpretation and, according to some people, from its ultimate goals which are not justifi ed by many. Others, experts from the fi eld of body-building, starting from the basic principles of its exercising point out its numerous positive characteristics and sides. Undoubtedly, characteristics of functional capabilities of sportspeople are specifi c for each sport or discipline. In body-building the functional sphere is bordered and defi ned by the nature of the sport’s activity itself, as well as by genetics and internal and external factors in a very complex training process of a bodu-builder. The goal of this research was determining the structure of the functional sphere of a body-builder. It was performed on the sample of 30 selected sportsmen, body-builders, of chronological age between 17 and 19 ( 6 months, members of the Sports' Club Strength ''Leskovac'', the Weight Lifters' Club '' Dubočica'' and the Body-building Club '' Dubočica'' from Leskovac. All the examiees have been submitted to training processes during a period longer than a year. For the purpose of determining the structure of the morphological sphere the Factor Analysis has been applied. Based on the data from the matrix of the Factor Structure the isolated factors can be interpreted in the following manner: The fi rst isolated factor in the sphere of applied functional variables is best defi ned by the variable of pulse under stress (FPUOP and the variable of maximum Oxygen consumption in liters per minute (FOLM. This isolated factor can be defi ned as a dimension of the transportation system of Oxygen. The second isolated factor in the

Electronic structure of Ca, Sr, and Ba under pressure.

Science.gov (United States)

Animalu, A. O. E.; Heine, V.; Vasvari, B.

1967-01-01

Electronic band structure calculations phase of Ca, Sr and Ba over wide range of atomic volumes under pressure electronic band structure calculations for fcc phase of Ca, Sr and Ba over wide range of atomic volumes under pressure electronic band structure calculations for fcc phase of Ca, Sr and Ba over wide range of atomic volumes under pressure

The Factor Structure in Equity Options

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Christoffersen, Peter; Fournier, Mathieu; Jacobs, Kris

Principal component analysis of equity options on Dow-Jones firms reveals a strong factor structure. The first principal component explains 77% of the variation in the equity volatility level, 77% of the variation in the equity option skew, and 60% of the implied volatility term structure across...... equities. Furthermore, the first principal component has a 92% correlation with S&P500 index option volatility, a 64% correlation with the index option skew, and a 80% correlation with the index option term structure. We develop an equity option valuation model that captures this factor structure...

INVESTIGATING THE FACTOR STRUCTURE OF THE BLOG ATTITUDE SCALE

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Zahra SHAHSAVAR

2010-10-01

Full Text Available Due to the wide application of advanced technology in education, many attitude scales have been developed to evaluate learners’ attitudes toward educational tools. However, with the rapid development of emerging technologies, using blogs as one of the Web 2.0 tools is still in its infancy and few blog attitude scales have been developed yet. In view of this need, a lot of researchers like to design a new scale based on their conceptual and theoretical framework of their own study rather than using available scales. The present study reports the design and development of a blog attitude scale (BAS. The researchers developed a pool of items to capture the complexity of the blog attitude trait, selected 29 items in the content analysis, and assigned the scale comprising 29 items to 216 undergraduate students to explore the underlying structure of the BAS. In exploratory factor analysis, three factors were discovered: blog anxiety, blog desirability, and blog self-efficacy; 14 items were excluded. The extracted items were subjected to a confirmatory factor analysis which lent further support to the BAS underpinning structure.

Evaluating WAIS-IV structure through a different psychometric lens: structural causal model discovery as an alternative to confirmatory factor analysis.

Science.gov (United States)

van Dijk, Marjolein J A M; Claassen, Tom; Suwartono, Christiany; van der Veld, William M; van der Heijden, Paul T; Hendriks, Marc P H

Since the publication of the WAIS-IV in the U.S. in 2008, efforts have been made to explore the structural validity by applying factor analysis to various samples. This study aims to achieve a more fine-grained understanding of the structure of the Dutch language version of the WAIS-IV (WAIS-IV-NL) by applying an alternative analysis based on causal modeling in addition to confirmatory factor analysis (CFA). The Bayesian Constraint-based Causal Discovery (BCCD) algorithm learns underlying network structures directly from data and assesses more complex structures than is possible with factor analysis. WAIS-IV-NL profiles of two clinical samples of 202 patients (i.e. patients with temporal lobe epilepsy and a mixed psychiatric outpatient group) were analyzed and contrasted with a matched control group (N = 202) selected from the Dutch standardization sample of the WAIS-IV-NL to investigate internal structure by means of CFA and BCCD. With CFA, the four-factor structure as proposed by Wechsler demonstrates acceptable fit in all three subsamples. However, BCCD revealed three consistent clusters (verbal comprehension, visual processing, and processing speed) in all three subsamples. The combination of Arithmetic and Digit Span as a coherent working memory factor could not be verified, and Matrix Reasoning appeared to be isolated. With BCCD, some discrepancies from the proposed four-factor structure are exemplified. Furthermore, these results fit CHC theory of intelligence more clearly. Consistent clustering patterns indicate these results are robust. The structural causal discovery approach may be helpful in better interpreting existing tests, the development of new tests, and aid in diagnostic instruments.

A temperature-dependent theory for HeII: Application to the liquid structure factor

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Chela-Flores, J.; Ghassib, H.B.

1981-08-01

A temperature-dependent theory is presented for HeII, which is based on both a gauge-theoretic formulation as well as a mean-field (Hartree) approach. A simple model calculation is then performed within this framework for the liquid structure factor of the system. In particular, explicit expressions are obtained for the low-momentum-transfer and low-temperature limits, which seem to conform with the available experimental data. Further, the curvature of the structure factor is predicted, under these circumstances, to be only mildly dependent on temperature. Throughout, we compare and contrast with other theoretical attempts, including Feynman's. (author)

Underlying Factors for Practicality of the Production Control Systems

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Arica, Emrah; Strandhagen, Jan Ola; Hvolby, Hans-Henrik

2012-01-01

and communication technology, coordination and feedback, human factors and decision making, and measurement are the identified factors to be taken into account. Industrial interviews with three case companies, that are participating to the research program called The Norwegian Manufacturing Future (SFI NORMAN......This paper gives indications to important factors that must be considered for effectiveness of the production control systems under uncertainty. Five key factors have been identified by the literature study. Production schedule generation and execution approach under uncertainty, information...

Spin factor and spinor structure of Dirac propagator in constant field

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Gitman, D.M.; Cruz, W. da [Sao Paulo Univ., SP (Brazil). Inst. de Fisica; Zlatev, S.I. [Sergipe Univ., Aracaju, SE (Brazil). Dept. de Fisica

1996-06-01

We use bosonic path integral representation of Dirac propagator with a spin factor to calculate the propagator in a constant uniform electromagnetic field. Such a way of calculation allows us to get the explicit spinor structure of the propagator in the case under consideration. The representation obtained differs from the Schwinger`s one but the equivalence can be checked. (author). 21 refs.

Spin factor and spinor structure of Dirac propagator in constant field

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Gitman, D.M.; Cruz, W. da; Zlatev, S.I.

1996-01-01

We use bosonic path integral representation of Dirac propagator with a spin factor to calculate the propagator in a constant uniform electromagnetic field. Such a way of calculation allows us to get the explicit spinor structure of the propagator in the case under consideration. The representation obtained differs from the Schwinger's one but the equivalence can be checked. (author). 21 refs

Gender differences in the factor structure of posttraumatic stress disorder symptoms in war-exposed adolescents.

Science.gov (United States)

Armour, Cherie; Elhai, Jon D; Layne, Christopher M; Shevlin, Mark; Duraković-Belko, Elvira; Djapo, Nermin; Pynoos, Robert S

2011-05-01

DSM-IV's three-factor model of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is rarely empirically supported, whereas other four-factor models (King et al., 1998; Simms, Watson, & Doebbeling, 2002) have proven to be better representations of PTSD's latent structure. To date, a clear consensus as to which model provides the best representation of PTSD's underlying dimensions has yet to be reached. The current study investigated whether gender is associated with factor structure differences using the King et al. (1998) model of reexperiencing, avoidance, numbing, and hyperarousal PTSD symptoms. Participants were war-exposed Bosnian secondary/high school boys and girls (N=1572) assessed nearly two years after the 1992-1995 Bosnian conflict. Confirmatory factor analytic tests of measurement invariance across PTSD model parameters revealed many significant sex-linked differences. Implications regarding the potential role of gender as a moderator of the King et al. (1998) model's factor structure are discussed. Copyright © 2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Electronic structure and optical properties of AIN under high pressure

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Li Zetao; Dang Suihu; Li Chunxia

2011-01-01

We have calculated the electronic structure and optical properties of Wurtzite structure AIN under different high pressure with generalized gradient approximation (GGA) in this paper. The total energy, density of state, energy band structure and optical absorption and reflection properties under high pressure are calculated. By comparing the changes of the energy band structure, we obtained AIN phase transition pressure for 16.7 GPa, which is a direct band structure transforming to an indirect band structure. Meanwhile, according to the density of states distribution and energy band structure, we analyzed the optical properties of AIN under high-pressure, the results showed that the absorption spectra moved from low-energy to high-energy. (authors)

Holographic analysis of diffraction structure factors

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Marchesini, S.; Bucher, J.J.; Shuh, D.K.; Fabris, L.; Press, M.J.; West, M.W.; Hussain, Z.; Mannella, N.; Fadley, C.S.; Van Hove, M.A.; Stolte, W.C.

2002-01-01

We combine the theory of inside-source/inside-detector x-ray fluorescence holography and Kossel lines/ x ray standing waves in kinematic approximation to directly obtain the phases of the diffraction structure factors. The influence of Kossel lines and standing waves on holography is also discussed. We obtain partial phase determination from experimental data obtaining the sign of the real part of the structure factor for several reciprocal lattice vectors of a vanadium crystal

Factor structure and gender stability in the multidimensional condom attitudes scale.

Science.gov (United States)

Starosta, Amy J; Berghoff, Christopher R; Earleywine, Mitch

2015-06-01

Sexually transmitted infections continue to trouble the United States and can be attenuated through increased condom use. Attitudes about condoms are an important multidimensional factor that can affect sexual health choices and have been successfully measured using the Multidimensional Condom Attitudes Scale (MCAS). Such attitudes have the potential to vary between men and women, yet little work has been undertaken to identify if the MCAS accurately captures attitudes without being influenced by underlying gender biases. We examined the factor structure and gender invariance on the MCAS using confirmatory factor analysis and item response theory, within-subscale differential item functioning analyses. More than 770 participants provided data via the Internet. Results of differential item functioning analyses identified three items as differentially functioning between the genders, and removal of these items is recommended. Findings confirmed the previously hypothesized multidimensional nature of condom attitudes and the five-factor structure of the MCAS even after the removal of the three problematic items. In general, comparisons across genders using the MCAS seem reasonable from a methodological standpoint. Results are discussed in terms of improving sexual health research and interventions. © The Author(s) 2014.

Competition between intermolecular interaction and configuration entropy as the structure-determining factor for inclusion compounds

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Subbotin, O.; Belosludov, V.; Adamova, T. [Russian Academy of Science, Novosibirsk (Russian Federation). Nikolaev Inst. of Inorganic Chemistry; Belosludov, R.; Kawazoe, Y. [Tohoku Univ., Aoba-ku, Sendai (Japan). Inst. for Materials Research; Kudoh, J.I. [Tohoku Univ., Aoba-ku, Sendai (Japan). Center for Northeast Asia Studies

2008-07-01

This paper presented a newly developed method to accurately predict the thermodynamic properties of clathrate hydrates, particularly their structural phase transitions under pressure. The method is based on the theory of Van-der-Waals and Platteeuw with some modifications that include the influence of guest molecules on the host lattice. The model was used to explain the exception from the established rule that small guest molecules form structure s1 and large molecules form structure s2 hydrates. In this study, the thermodynamic properties of argon (Ar) hydrate and methane hydrate, each in both cubic structure s1 and s2 were modelled. The model showed that two competing factors play a role in the formation of inclusions, notably the intermolecular interaction of guest molecules with water molecules, and the configuration entropy. Competition of these 2 factors determines the structure of hydrate formed at different pressures. The model provides an accurate description of the thermodynamic properties of gas hydrates and how they behave under pressure. For the argon hydrates, the structural phase transition from structure s2 to s1 at high pressure was predicted, while methane hydrates were predicted to be metastable in the s2 structure. The model can be used for other inclusion compounds with the same type of composition such as clathrate silicon, zeolites, and inclusion compounds of semiconductor elements. 17 refs., 5 figs.

The importance of building construction materials relative to other factors affecting structure survival during wildfire

Science.gov (United States)

Syphard, Alexandra D.; Brennan, Teresa J.; Keeley, Jon E.

2017-01-01

Structure loss to wildfire is a serious problem in wildland-urban interface areas across the world. Laboratory experiments suggest that fire-resistant building construction and design could be important for reducing structure destruction, but these need to be evaluated under real wildfire conditions, especially relative to other factors. Using empirical data from destroyed and surviving structures from large wildfires in southern California, we evaluated the relative importance of building construction and structure age compared to other local and landscape-scale variables associated with structure survival. The local-scale analysis showed that window preparation was especially important but, in general, creating defensible space adjacent to the home was as important as building construction. At the landscape scale, structure density and structure age were the two most important factors affecting structure survival, but there was a significant interaction between them. That is, young structure age was most important in higher-density areas where structure survival overall was more likely. On the other hand, newer-construction structures were less likely to survive wildfires at lower density. Here, appropriate defensible space near the structure and accessibility to major roads were important factors. In conclusion, community safety is a multivariate problem that will require a comprehensive solution involving land use planning, fire-safe construction, and property maintenance.

Structural studies on leukaemia inhibitory factor

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Norton, R.S.; Maurer, T.; Smith, D.K. [Biomolecular Research Institute, Parville (Australia); Nicola, N.A. [Institute of Medical Research, Melbourne (Australia)

1994-12-01

Leukaemia Inhibitory Factor (LIF) is a pleiotropic cytokine that acts on a wide range of target cells, including mega-karyocytes, osteoblasts, hepatocytes, adipocytes, neurons, embryonic stem cells, and primordial germ cells. Many of its activities are shared with other cytokines, particularly interleukin-6, oncostatin-M, ciliary neurotrophic factor, and granulocyte colony-stimulating factor (G-CSF). Although secreted in vivo as a glycoprotein, nonglycosylated recombinant protein expressed in E. coli is fully active and has been used in our nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) studies of the three-dimensional structure and structure-function relationships of LIF. With 180 amino acids and a molecular mass of about 20 kDa, OF is too large for direct structure determination by two-dimensional and three-dimensional {sup 1}HNMR. It is necessary to label the protein with the stable isotopes {sup 15}N and {sup 13}C and employ heteronuclear three-dimensional NMR in order to resolve and interpret the spectral information required for three-dimensional structure determination. This work has been undertaken with both human LIF and a mouse-human chimaera that binds to the human LIF receptor with the same affinity as the human protein and yet expresses in E. coli at much higher levels. Sequence-specific resonance assignments and secondary structure elements for these proteins will be presented and progress towards determination of their three-dimensional structures described.

Pragmatics fragmented: the factor structure of the Dutch children's communication checklist (CCC).

Science.gov (United States)

Geurts, Hilde M; Hartman, Catharina; Verté, Sylvie; Oosterlaan, Jaap; Roeyers, Herbert; Sergeant, Joseph A

2009-01-01

A number of disorders are associated with pragmatic difficulties. Instruments that can make subdivisions within the larger construct of pragmatics could be important tools for disentangling profiles of pragmatic difficulty in different disorders. The deficits underlying the observed pragmatic difficulties may be different for different disorders. To study the construct validity of a pragmatic language questionnaire. The construct of pragmatics is studied by applying exploratory factor analysis (EFA) and confirmatory factor analysis to the parent version of the Dutch Children's Communication Checklist (CCC; Bishop 1998 ). Parent ratings of 1589 typically developing children and 481 children with a clinical diagnosis were collected. Four different factor models derived from the original CCC scales and five different factor models based on EFA were compared with each other. The models were cross-validated. The EFA-derived models were substantively different from the originally proposed CCC factor structure. EFA models gave a slightly better fit than the models based on the original CCC scales, though neither provided a good fit to the parent data. Coherence seemed to be part of language form and not of pragmatics, which is in line with the adaptation of the CCC, the CCC-2 (Bishop 2003 ). Most pragmatic items clustered together in one factor and these pragmatic items also clustered with items related to social relationships and specific interests. The nine scales of the original CCC do not reflect the underlying factor structure. Therefore, scale composition may be improved on and scores on subscale level need to be interpreted cautiously. Therefore, in interpreting the CCC profiles, the overall measure might be more informative than the postulated subscales as more information is needed to determine which constructs the suggested subscales are actually measuring.

Quantifying credit portfolio losses under multi-factor models

NARCIS (Netherlands)

G. Colldeforns-Papiol (Gemma); L. Ortiz Gracia (Luis); C.W. Oosterlee (Kees)

2018-01-01

textabstractIn this work, we investigate the challenging problem of estimating credit risk measures of portfolios with exposure concentration under the multi-factor Gaussian and multi-factor t-copula models. It is well-known that Monte Carlo (MC) methods are highly demanding from the computational

Structural assessment of TAPS core shroud under accident loads

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Bhasin, Vivek; Kushwaha, H.S.; Mahajan, S.C.; Kakodkar, A.

1996-09-01

Over the last few years, the Core Shroud of Boiling Water Reactors (BWRs) operating in foreign countries, have developed cracks at weld locations. As a first step for assessment of structural safety of Tarapur Atomic Power Station (TAPS) core shroud, its detailed stress analysis was done for postulated accident loads. This report is concerned with structural assessment of core shroud, of BWR at TAPS, subjected to loads resulting from main steam line break (MSLB), recirculation line break (RLB) and safe shut down earthquake. The stress analysis was done for core shroud in healthy condition and without any crack since, visual examination conducted till now, do not indicate presence of any flaw. Dynamic structural analysis for MSLB and RLB events was done using dynamic load factor (DLF) method. The complete core shroud and its associated components were modelled and analysed using 3D plate/shell elements. Since, the components of core shroud are submerged in water, hence, hydrodynamic added mass was also considered for evaluation of natural frequencies. It was concluded that from structural point of view, adequate safety margin is available under all the accident loads. Nonlinear analysis was done to evaluate buckling/collapse load. The collapse/buckling load have sufficient margin against the allowable limits. The displacements are low hence, the insertion of control rod may not be affected. (author)

Family structure and risk factors for schizophrenia: case-sibling study

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Lönnqvist Jouko

2004-11-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background Several family structure-related factors, such as birth order, family size, parental age, and age differences to siblings, have been suggested as risk factors for schizophrenia. We examined how family-structure-related variables modified the risk of schizophrenia in Finnish families with at least one child with schizophrenia born from 1950 to 1976. Methods We used case-sibling design, a variant of the matched case-control design in the analysis. Patients hospitalized for schizophrenia between 1969 and 1996 were identified from the Finnish Hospital Discharge Register, and their families from the Population Register Center. Only families with at least two children (7914 sibships and 21059 individuals were included in the analysis. Conditional logistic regression with sex, birth cohort, maternal schizophrenia status, and several family-related variables as explanatory variables was used in the case-sibling design. The effect of variables with the same value in each sibship was analyzed using ordinary logistic regression. Results Having a sibling who was less than five years older (OR 1.46, 95% CI 1.29–1.66, or being the firstborn (first born vs. second born 1.62, 1.87–1.4 predicted an elevated risk, but having siblings who were more than ten years older predicted a lower risk (0.66, 0.56–0.79. Conclusions Several family-structure-related variables were identified as risk factors for schizophrenia. The underlying causative mechanisms are likely to be variable.

Structural Integrity Assessment of VVER-1000 RPV under Accidental Cool down Transients

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Shrivastav, V.; Sen, R.N.; Yadav, R.S.

2012-01-01

Corrosion, Fatigue and Irradiation embrittlement are the major degradation mechanisms responsible for ageing of RPV (and its internals) of a Pressurized Water Reactor. While corrosion and fatigue can generate cracks, irradiation damage can lead to brittle fracture initiating from these cracks. Ageing in nuclear power plants needs to be managed so as to ensure that design functions remain available throughout the life of the plant. From safety perspective, this implies that ageing degradation of systems, structures and components important to safety remain within acceptable limits. Reactor Pressure Vessel has been identified as the highest priority key component in plant life management for Pressurized Water Reactors. Therefore special attention is required to ensure its structural integrity during its lifetime. In this paper, structural integrity assessment for typical VVER-1000 RPV is carried out under severe accidental cool down transients using the Finite Element Method. Three different accidental scenarios are postulated and safety of the vessel is conservatively assessed under these transients using the Linear Elastic Fracture Mechanics approach. Transient thermo mechanical stress analysis of the core belt region of the RPV is carried out in presence of postulated cracks and stress intensity factors are calculated and compared with the material fracture toughness to assess the structural integrity of the vessel. The paper also include some parametric analyses to justify the methodology. (author)

Estimation of structural reliability under combined loads

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Shinozuka, M.; Kako, T.; Hwang, H.; Brown, P.; Reich, M.

1983-01-01

For the overall safety evaluation of seismic category I structures subjected to various load combinations, a quantitative measure of the structural reliability in terms of a limit state probability can be conveniently used. For this purpose, the reliability analysis method for dynamic loads, which has recently been developed by the authors, was combined with the existing standard reliability analysis procedure for static and quasi-static loads. The significant parameters that enter into the analysis are: the rate at which each load (dead load, accidental internal pressure, earthquake, etc.) will occur, its duration and intensity. All these parameters are basically random variables for most of the loads to be considered. For dynamic loads, the overall intensity is usually characterized not only by their dynamic components but also by their static components. The structure considered in the present paper is a reinforced concrete containment structure subjected to various static and dynamic loads such as dead loads, accidental pressure, earthquake acceleration, etc. Computations are performed to evaluate the limit state probabilities under each load combination separately and also under all possible combinations of such loads

Structural fabrication quality as a factor of industrial facilities safety

Science.gov (United States)

Tishkov, E. V.; Kardaev, E. M.; Stolbova, S. Yu; Shishova, O. S.

2018-04-01

In the conditions of industrial facilities high wear degree, it is very important to ensure the possibility of their safe operation in order to avoid various kinds of accidents and catastrophes. As practice shows, industrial plant collapses can occur suddenly under normal operating conditions. Usually, such accidents can take place at different stages of structures life cycle. One of the reasons for this is the initially low quality of reinforced concrete structures fabrication. The article considers the factors contributing to the collapse of reinforced concrete structures of water purification tanks located on the territory of the Omsk Region. The main surveys results on tank structures after collapse with the use of ultrasonic and physical methods of investigation are presented. On the basis of the obtained data analysis, it was found that the main cause of the accidents was the insufficient load-bearing capacity of typical reinforced concrete structures, caused by defects in their fabrication in the factory conditions because of exceeding the standard displacement from the design position of the working reinforcement. Recommendations are given on the identification of defective structures and the prevention of similar accidents when operating similar tanks at manufacturing plants constructed from standard designs.

Quasi-static structural optimization under the seismic loads

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Choi, W. S.; Lee, K. M.; Kim, T. W.

2001-01-01

For preliminaries to optimization of SMART under the seismic loads, a quasi-static structural optimization for elastic structures under dynamic loads is presented. An equivalent static load (ESL) set is defined as a static load set, which generates the same displacement field as that from a dynamic load at a certain time. Multiple ESL sets calculated at all the time intervals are employed to represent the various states of the structure under the dynamic load. They can cover all the critical states that might happen at arbitrary times. The continuous characteristics of a dynamic load are considered by multiple static load sets. The calculated sets of ESLs are utilized as a multiple loading condition in the optimization process. A design cycle is defined as a circulated process between an analysis domain and a design domain. The analysis domain gives the loading condition needed in the design domain. The design domain gives a new updated design to be verified by the analysis domain in the next design cycle. The design cycles are iterated until the design converges. Structural optimization with dynamic loads is tangible by the proposed method. Standard example problems are solved to verify the validity of the method

Facial first impressions and partner preference models: Comparable or distinct underlying structures?

Science.gov (United States)

South Palomares, Jennifer K; Sutherland, Clare A M; Young, Andrew W

2017-12-17

Given the frequency of relationships nowadays initiated online, where impressions from face photographs may influence relationship initiation, it is important to understand how facial first impressions might be used in such contexts. We therefore examined the applicability of a leading model of verbally expressed partner preferences to impressions derived from real face images and investigated how the factor structure of first impressions based on potential partner preference-related traits might relate to a more general model of facial first impressions. Participants rated 1,000 everyday face photographs on 12 traits selected to represent (Fletcher, et al. 1999, Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 76, 72) verbal model of partner preferences. Facial trait judgements showed an underlying structure that largely paralleled the tripartite structure of Fletcher et al.'s verbal preference model, regardless of either face gender or participant gender. Furthermore, there was close correspondence between the verbal partner preference model and a more general tripartite model of facial first impressions derived from a different literature (Sutherland et al., 2013, Cognition, 127, 105), suggesting an underlying correspondence between verbal conceptual models of romantic preferences and more general models of facial first impressions. © 2017 The British Psychological Society.

A confirmatory test of the underlying factor structure of scores on the collective self-esteem scale in two independent samples of Black Americans.

Science.gov (United States)

Utsey, Shawn O; Constantine, Madonna G

2006-04-01

In this study, we examined the factor structure of the Collective Self-Esteem Scale (CSES; Luhtanen & Crocker, 1992) across 2 separate samples of Black Americans. The CSES was administered to a sample of Black American adolescents (n = 538) and a community sample of Black American adults (n = 313). Results of confirmatory factor analyses (CFAs), however, did not support the original 4-factor model identified by Luhtanen and Crocker (1992) as providing an adequate fit to the data for these samples. Furthermore, an exploratory CFA procedure failed to find a CSES factor structure that could be replicated across the 2 samples of Black Americans. We present and discuss implications of the findings.

High-pressure crystal structure of elastically isotropic CaTiO3 perovskite under hydrostatic and non-hydrostatic conditions.

Science.gov (United States)

Zhao, Jing; Ross, Nancy L; Wang, Di; Angel, Ross J

2011-11-16

The structural evolution of orthorhombic CaTiO3 perovskite has been studied using high-pressure single-crystal x-ray diffraction under hydrostatic conditions up to 8.1 GPa and under a non-hydrostatic stress field formed in a diamond anvil cell (DAC) up to 4.7 GPa. Under hydrostatic conditions, the TiO6 octahedra become more tilted and distorted with increasing pressure, similar to other 2:4 perovskites. Under non-hydrostatic conditions, the experiments do not show any apparent difference in the internal structural variation from hydrostatic conditions and no additional tilts and distortions in the TiO6 octahedra are observed, even though the lattice itself becomes distorted due to the non-hydrostatic stress. The similarity between the hydrostatic and non-hydrostatic cases can be ascribed to the fact that CaTiO3 perovskite is nearly elastically isotropic and, as a consequence, its deviatoric unit-cell volume strain produced by the non-hydrostatic stress is very small; in other words, the additional octahedral tilts relevant to the extra unit-cell volume associated with the deviatoric unit-cell volume strain may be totally neglected. This study further addresses the role that three factors--the elastic properties, the crystal orientation and the pressure medium--have on the structural evolution of an orthorhombic perovskite loaded in a DAC under non-hydrostatic conditions. The influence of these factors can be clearly visualized by plotting the three-dimensional distribution of the deviatoric unit-cell volume strain in relation to the cylindrical axis of the DAC and indicates that, if the elasticity of a perovskite is nearly isotropic as it is for CaTiO3, the other two factors become relatively insignificant.

High-pressure crystal structure of elastically isotropic CaTiO3 perovskite under hydrostatic and non-hydrostatic conditions

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Zhao Jing; Ross, Nancy L; Wang, Di; Angel, Ross J

2011-01-01

The structural evolution of orthorhombic CaTiO 3 perovskite has been studied using high-pressure single-crystal x-ray diffraction under hydrostatic conditions up to 8.1 GPa and under a non-hydrostatic stress field formed in a diamond anvil cell (DAC) up to 4.7 GPa. Under hydrostatic conditions, the TiO 6 octahedra become more tilted and distorted with increasing pressure, similar to other 2:4 perovskites. Under non-hydrostatic conditions, the experiments do not show any apparent difference in the internal structural variation from hydrostatic conditions and no additional tilts and distortions in the TiO 6 octahedra are observed, even though the lattice itself becomes distorted due to the non-hydrostatic stress. The similarity between the hydrostatic and non-hydrostatic cases can be ascribed to the fact that CaTiO 3 perovskite is nearly elastically isotropic and, as a consequence, its deviatoric unit-cell volume strain produced by the non-hydrostatic stress is very small; in other words, the additional octahedral tilts relevant to the extra unit-cell volume associated with the deviatoric unit-cell volume strain may be totally neglected. This study further addresses the role that three factors-the elastic properties, the crystal orientation and the pressure medium-have on the structural evolution of an orthorhombic perovskite loaded in a DAC under non-hydrostatic conditions. The influence of these factors can be clearly visualized by plotting the three-dimensional distribution of the deviatoric unit-cell volume strain in relation to the cylindrical axis of the DAC and indicates that, if the elasticity of a perovskite is nearly isotropic as it is for CaTiO 3 , the other two factors become relatively insignificant. (paper)

Biology of Bone Tissue: Structure, Function, and Factors That Influence Bone Cells.

Science.gov (United States)

Florencio-Silva, Rinaldo; Sasso, Gisela Rodrigues da Silva; Sasso-Cerri, Estela; Simões, Manuel Jesus; Cerri, Paulo Sérgio

2015-01-01

Bone tissue is continuously remodeled through the concerted actions of bone cells, which include bone resorption by osteoclasts and bone formation by osteoblasts, whereas osteocytes act as mechanosensors and orchestrators of the bone remodeling process. This process is under the control of local (e.g., growth factors and cytokines) and systemic (e.g., calcitonin and estrogens) factors that all together contribute for bone homeostasis. An imbalance between bone resorption and formation can result in bone diseases including osteoporosis. Recently, it has been recognized that, during bone remodeling, there are an intricate communication among bone cells. For instance, the coupling from bone resorption to bone formation is achieved by interaction between osteoclasts and osteoblasts. Moreover, osteocytes produce factors that influence osteoblast and osteoclast activities, whereas osteocyte apoptosis is followed by osteoclastic bone resorption. The increasing knowledge about the structure and functions of bone cells contributed to a better understanding of bone biology. It has been suggested that there is a complex communication between bone cells and other organs, indicating the dynamic nature of bone tissue. In this review, we discuss the current data about the structure and functions of bone cells and the factors that influence bone remodeling.

Structural pounding of concrete frame structure with masonry infill wall under seismic loading

Science.gov (United States)

Ismail, Rozaina; Hasnan, Mohd Hafizudin; Shamsudin, Nurhanis

2017-10-01

Structural pounding is additional problem than the other harmful damage that may occurs due to the earthquake vibrations. A lot of study has been made by past researcher but most of them did not include the walls. The infill masonry walls are rarely involved analysis of structural systems but it does contribute to earthquake response of the structures. In this research, a comparison between adjacent building of 10-storey and 7-storey concrete frame structure without of masonry infill walls and the same dynamic properties of buildings. The diagonal strut approach is adopted for modeling masonry infill walls. This research also focused on finding critical building separation in order to prevent the adjacent structures from pounding. LUSAS FEA v14.03 software has been used for modeling analyzing the behavior of structures due to seismic loading and the displacement each floor of the building has been taken in order to determine the critical separation distance between the buildings. From the analysis that has been done, it is found that masonry infill walls do affect the structures behavior under seismic load. Structures without masonry infill walls needs more distance between the structures to prevent structural pounding due to higher displacement of the buildings when it sways under seismic load compared to structures with masonry infill walls. This shows that contribution of masonry infill walls to the analysis of structures cannot be neglected.

Inelastic response of PCRV structure model with star-type support under horizontal loads

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Suzuki, T.; Yamaguchi, T.; Takeda, T.

1978-01-01

The report presents the test results of scaled models for prestressed concrete reactor vessel (PCRV) structure with star-shaped support under horizontal loads. A scale factor of 1 / 70 to a proto-type PCRV structure for large HTGR is used for both static and dynamic loading test models, while a 1 / 15 scaled model is used for static loading tests. The static behaviors such as a load-deflection envelope of the 1 / 70 model are predicted well by an inelastic analysis in consideration with appearance of concrete cracks and reinforcing bar yielding. It is also ascertained by the test results of the 1 / 15 model under static alternative loads that the same analysis procedure can be applicable to the evaluation of the elastic and inelastic behaviors of PCRV structure with support. Based on the static loading test results of both scaled models, a tri-linearized load-deflection envelope and an equivalent linearized mathematical model for hysteresis loop are assumed in a dynamic analysis. A dynamic response analysis of the 1 / 70 model subjected to earthquake-like base motion is conducted by the similar manner above-mentioned and the calculated results show a good correlation with the test results

Production Of Some Virulence Factors Under Different Growth ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

Production Of Some Virulence Factors Under Different Growth Conditions And Antibiotic Susceptibility Pattern Of ... Animal Research International ... Keywords: Virulence, Haemolytic activity, Susceptibility, Antibiotics, Aeromonas hydrophila

Primary yield and multitranche structure in securitization issues: Explicative factors. A review

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Miguel Á. Peña-Cerezo

2016-09-01

Full Text Available The reasons for the strong rise in the securitization phenomenon up until the start of the “subprime crisis” need to be analysed. According to many authors, they mainly stem from its offering the possibility of generating fixed yield securities with the highest rating and a low risk premium, thanks to the issues being structured in differentiated bond series, so that certain series absorb most of the risk, thus facilitating the safer or “senior” tranches having a higher rating. Accordingly, this paper reviews the literature on the factors underlying the generation of differentiated tranches in this type of issues and regarding the determining factors of the yield offered by securitization issues. It concludes that the search for more complete markets, along with the reducing of problems associated to the moral hazard, are the main reasons for the multi-tranche structuring. And given the strong influence of the number of tranches on the yield offered by the issues, the paper likewise concludes that the multitranche structures has been an efficient tool to place securitization issues with more competitive yields.

Structural Fingerprints of Transcription Factor Binding Site Regions

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Peter Willett

2009-03-01

Full Text Available Fourier transforms are a powerful tool in the prediction of DNA sequence properties, such as the presence/absence of codons. We have previously compiled a database of the structural properties of all 32,896 unique DNA octamers. In this work we apply Fourier techniques to the analysis of the structural properties of human chromosomes 21 and 22 and also to three sets of transcription factor binding sites within these chromosomes. We find that, for a given structural property, the structural property power spectra of chromosomes 21 and 22 are strikingly similar. We find common peaks in their power spectra for both Sp1 and p53 transcription factor binding sites. We use the power spectra as a structural fingerprint and perform similarity searching in order to find transcription factor binding site regions. This approach provides a new strategy for searching the genome data for information. Although it is difficult to understand the relationship between specific functional properties and the set of structural parameters in our database, our structural fingerprints nevertheless provide a useful tool for searching for function information in sequence data. The power spectrum fingerprints provide a simple, fast method for comparing a set of functional sequences, in this case transcription factor binding site regions, with the sequences of whole chromosomes. On its own, the power spectrum fingerprint does not find all transcription factor binding sites in a chromosome, but the results presented here show that in combination with other approaches, this technique will improve the chances of identifying functional sequences hidden in genomic data.

Habitat and landscape characteristics underlying anuran community structure along an urban-rural gradient.

Science.gov (United States)

Pillsbury, Finn C; Miller, James R

2008-07-01

Urbanization has been cited as an important factor in worldwide amphibian declines, and although recent work has illustrated the important influence of broad-scale ecological patterns and processes on amphibian populations, little is known about the factors structuring amphibian communities in urban landscapes. We therefore examined amphibian community responses to wetland habitat availability and landscape characteristics along an urban-rural gradient in central Iowa, USA, a region experiencing rapid suburban growth. We conducted call surveys at 61 wetlands to estimate anuran calling activity, and quantified wetland habitat structure and landscape context. We used canonical correspondence analysis (CCA) to examine patterns in anuran community structure and identify the most important variables associated with those patterns. Urban density at the landscape scale had a significant negative influence on overall anuran abundance and diversity. While every species exhibited a decrease in abundance with increasing urban density, this pattern was especially pronounced for species requiring post-breeding upland habitats. Anurans most affected by urbanization were those associated with short hydroperiods, early breeding activity, and substantial upland habitat use. We suggest that broad-scale landscape fragmentation is an important factor underlying anuran community structure in this region, possibly due to limitations on the accessibility of otherwise suitable habitat in fragmented urban landscapes. This study underscores the importance of a regional approach to amphibian conservation in urban and urbanizing areas; in fragmented landscapes, a network of interconnected wetland and upland habitats may be more likely to support a successful, diverse anuran community than will isolated sites.

Verrucomicrobial community structure and abundance as indicators for changes in chemical factors linked to soil fertility.

Science.gov (United States)

Navarrete, Acacio Aparecido; Soares, Tielle; Rossetto, Raffaella; van Veen, Johannes Antonie; Tsai, Siu Mui; Kuramae, Eiko Eurya

2015-09-01

Here we show that verrucomicrobial community structure and abundance are extremely sensitive to changes in chemical factors linked to soil fertility. Terminal restriction fragment length polymorphism fingerprint and real-time quantitative PCR assay were used to analyze changes in verrucomicrobial communities associated with contrasting soil nutrient conditions in tropical regions. In case study Model I ("Slash-and-burn deforestation") the verrucomicrobial community structures revealed disparate patterns in nutrient-enriched soils after slash-and-burn deforestation and natural nutrient-poor soils under an adjacent primary forest in the Amazonia (R = 0.819, P = 0.002). The relative proportion of Verrucomicrobia declined in response to increased soil fertility after slash-and-burn deforestation, accounting on average, for 4 and 2 % of the total bacterial signal, in natural nutrient-poor forest soils and nutrient-enriched deforested soils, respectively. In case study Model II ("Management practices for sugarcane") disparate patterns were revealed in sugarcane rhizosphere sampled on optimal and deficient soil fertility for sugarcane (R = 0.786, P = 0.002). Verrucomicrobial community abundance in sugarcane rhizosphere was negatively correlated with soil fertility, accounting for 2 and 5 % of the total bacterial signal, under optimal and deficient soil fertility conditions for sugarcane, respectively. In nutrient-enriched soils, verrucomicrobial community structures were related to soil factors linked to soil fertility, such as total nitrogen, phosphorus, potassium and sum of bases, i.e., the sum of calcium, magnesium and potassium contents. We conclude that community structure and abundance represent important ecological aspects in soil verrucomicrobial communities for tracking the changes in chemical factors linked to soil fertility under tropical environmental conditions.

Effects of phosphate limestone on structure and quality under sugarcane vertisoles

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Pedro Cairo Cairo

2017-10-01

Full Text Available The work was developed in sugarcane areas of cuban vertisols of the north coast of the province of Villa Clara municipality of Sagua la Grande, with the aim of evaluating the effectiveness of phosphate limestone and their combinations with fertilizers and organic manure on the structure and quality of vertisols under sugarcane cultivation. An experiment with phosphate limestone levels and combinations with organic manure (compost, filter cake and fertilizers (NPK was carried out on a wasstrip-block design. A soil analysis was performedat the depth of 0-20 and 20 -40 cm 36 months after the application of treatments. Organic matter, stable aggregates, factor structure, permeability, T value, exchangeable cations, index soil quality and productivity of sugarcane were evaluated. Phosphate limestone and there combinations with organic manures manifested significant effects on soil structure both in the surface layer and subsurface with residual impact over time to 36 months. The results show the close relationship between phosphate limestone and there combinations with organic manures on soil quality index additive, yield of sugarcane and economic impact.

Further insights on the French WISC-IV factor structure through Bayesian structural equation modeling.

Science.gov (United States)

Golay, Philippe; Reverte, Isabelle; Rossier, Jérôme; Favez, Nicolas; Lecerf, Thierry

2013-06-01

The interpretation of the Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children--Fourth Edition (WISC-IV) is based on a 4-factor model, which is only partially compatible with the mainstream Cattell-Horn-Carroll (CHC) model of intelligence measurement. The structure of cognitive batteries is frequently analyzed via exploratory factor analysis and/or confirmatory factor analysis. With classical confirmatory factor analysis, almost all cross-loadings between latent variables and measures are fixed to zero in order to allow the model to be identified. However, inappropriate zero cross-loadings can contribute to poor model fit, distorted factors, and biased factor correlations; most important, they do not necessarily faithfully reflect theory. To deal with these methodological and theoretical limitations, we used a new statistical approach, Bayesian structural equation modeling (BSEM), among a sample of 249 French-speaking Swiss children (8-12 years). With BSEM, zero-fixed cross-loadings between latent variables and measures are replaced by approximate zeros, based on informative, small-variance priors. Results indicated that a direct hierarchical CHC-based model with 5 factors plus a general intelligence factor better represented the structure of the WISC-IV than did the 4-factor structure and the higher order models. Because a direct hierarchical CHC model was more adequate, it was concluded that the general factor should be considered as a breadth rather than a superordinate factor. Because it was possible for us to estimate the influence of each of the latent variables on the 15 subtest scores, BSEM allowed improvement of the understanding of the structure of intelligence tests and the clinical interpretation of the subtest scores. PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2013 APA, all rights reserved.

Band structure of CdTe under high pressure

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Jayam, Sr. Gerardin; Nirmala Louis, C.; Amalraj, A.

2005-01-01

The band structures and density of states of cadmium telluride (CdTe) under various pressures ranging from normal to 4.5 Mbar are obtained. The electronic band structure at normal pressure of CdTe (ZnS structure) is analyzed and the direct band gap value is found to be 1.654 eV. CdTe becomes metal and superconductor under high pressure but before that it undergoes structural phase transition from ZnS phase to NaCl phase. The equilibrium lattice constant, bulk modulus and the phase transition pressure at which the compounds undergo structural phase transition from ZnS to NaCl are predicted from the total energy calculations. The density of states at the Fermi level (N(E F )) gets enhanced after metallization, which leads to the superconductivity in CdTe. In our calculation, the metallization pressure (P M = 1.935 Mbar) and the corresponding reduced volume ((V/V 0 ) M = 0.458) are estimated. Metallization occurs via direct closing of band gap at Γ point. (author)

Crystal Structure of Human Factor VIII: Implications for the Formation of the Factor IXa-Factor VIIIa Complex

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Ngo, J.C.; Huang, M.; Roth, D.A.; Furie, B.C.; Furie, B. (Wyeth); (MBL)

2008-06-03

Factor VIII is a procofactor that plays a critical role in blood coagulation, and is missing or defective in hemophilia A. We determined the X-ray crystal structure of B domain-deleted human factor VIII. This protein is composed of five globular domains and contains one Ca{sup 2+} and two Cu{sup 2+} ions. The three homologous A domains form a triangular heterotrimer where the A1 and A3 domains serve as the base and interact with the C2 and C1 domains, respectively. The structurally homologous C1 and C2 domains reveal membrane binding features. Based on biochemical studies, a model of the factor IXa-factor VIIIa complex was constructed by in silico docking. Factor IXa wraps across the side of factor VIII, and an extended interface spans the factor VIII heavy and light chains. This model provides insight into the activation of factor VIII and the interaction of factor VIIIa with factor IXa on the membrane surface.

Crystal Structure of Human Factor VIII: Implications for the Formation of the Factor IXa-Factor VIIIa Complex

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Chi Ki Ngo,J.; Huang, M.; Roth, D.; Furie, B.; Furie, B.

2008-01-01

Factor VIII is a procofactor that plays a critical role in blood coagulation, and is missing or defective in hemophilia A. We determined the X-ray crystal structure of B domain-deleted human factor VIII. This protein is composed of five globular domains and contains one Ca(2+) and two Cu(2+) ions. The three homologous A domains form a triangular heterotrimer where the A1 and A3 domains serve as the base and interact with the C2 and C1 domains, respectively. The structurally homologous C1 and C2 domains reveal membrane binding features. Based on biochemical studies, a model of the factor IXa-factor VIIIa complex was constructed by in silico docking. Factor IXa wraps across the side of factor VIII, and an extended interface spans the factor VIII heavy and light chains. This model provides insight into the activation of factor VIII and the interaction of factor VIIIa with factor IXa on the membrane surface.

Structural phase transitions in boron carbide under stress

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Korotaev, P; Pokatashkin, P; Yanilkin, A

2016-01-01

Structural transitions in boron carbide B 4 C under stress were studied by means of first-principles molecular dynamics in the framework of density functional theory. The behavior depends strongly on degree of non-hydrostatic stress. Under hydrostatic stress continuous bending of the three-atom C–B–C chain was observed up to 70 GPa. The presence of non-hydrostatic stress activates abrupt reversible chain bending, which is displacement of the central boron atom in the chain with the formation of weak bonds between this atom and atoms in the nearby icosahedra. Such structural change can describe a possible reversible phase transition in dynamical loading experiments. High non-hydrostatic stress achieved in uniaxial loading leads to disordering of the initial structure. The formation of carbon chains is observed as one possible transition route. (paper)

Contaminant deposition building shielding factors for US residential structures.

Science.gov (United States)

Dickson, Elijah; Hamby, David; Eckerman, Keith

2017-10-10

This paper presents validated building shielding factors designed for contemporary US housing-stock under an idealized, yet realistic, exposure scenario from contaminant deposition on the roof and surrounding surfaces. The building shielding factors are intended for use in emergency planning and level three probabilistic risk assessments for a variety of postulated radiological events in which a realistic assessment is necessary to better understand the potential risks for accident mitigation and emergency response planning. Factors are calculated from detailed computational housing-units models using the general-purpose Monte Carlo N-Particle computational code, MCNP5, and are benchmarked from a series of narrow- and broad-beam measurements analyzing the shielding effectiveness of ten common general-purpose construction materials and ten shielding models representing the primary weather barriers (walls and roofs) of likely US housing-stock. Each model was designed to scale based on common residential construction practices and include, to the extent practical, all structurally significant components important for shielding against ionizing radiation. Calculations were performed for floor-specific locations from contaminant deposition on the roof and surrounding ground as well as for computing a weighted-average representative building shielding factor for single- and multi-story detached homes, both with and without basement as well for single-wide manufactured housing-unit. © 2017 IOP Publishing Ltd.

Contaminant deposition building shielding factors for US residential structures

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Dickson, E D; Hamby, D M; Eckerman, K F

2015-01-01

This paper presents validated building shielding factors designed for contemporary US housing-stock under an idealized, yet realistic, exposure scenario from contaminant deposition on the roof and surrounding surfaces. The building shielding factors are intended for use in emergency planning and level three probabilistic risk assessments for a variety of postulated radiological events in which a realistic assessment is necessary to better understand the potential risks for accident mitigation and emergency response planning. Factors are calculated from detailed computational housing-units models using the general-purpose Monte Carlo N-Particle computational code, MCNP5, and are benchmarked from a series of narrow- and broad-beam measurements analyzing the shielding effectiveness of ten common general-purpose construction materials and ten shielding models representing the primary weather barriers (walls and roofs) of likely US housing-stock. Each model was designed to scale based on common residential construction practices and include, to the extent practical, all structurally significant components important for shielding against ionizing radiation. Calculations were performed for floor-specific locations from contaminant deposition on the roof and surrounding ground as well as for computing a weighted-average representative building shielding factor for single- and multi-story detached homes, both with and without basement as well for single-wide manufactured housing-unit. (paper)

Cloud immersion building shielding factors for US residential structures

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Dickson, E D; Hamby, D M

2014-01-01

This paper presents validated building shielding factors designed for contemporary US housing-stock under an idealized, yet realistic, exposure scenario within a semi-infinite cloud of radioactive material. The building shielding factors are intended for use in emergency planning and level three probabilistic risk assessments for a variety of postulated radiological events in which a realistic assessment is necessary to better understand the potential risks for accident mitigation and emergency response planning. Factors are calculated from detailed computational housing-units models using the general-purpose Monte Carlo N-Particle computational code, MCNP5, and are benchmarked from a series of narrow- and broad-beam measurements analyzing the shielding effectiveness of ten common general-purpose construction materials and ten shielding models representing the primary weather barriers (walls and roofs) of likely US housing-stock. Each model was designed to scale based on common residential construction practices and include, to the extent practical, all structurally significant components important for shielding against ionizing radiation. Calculations were performed for floor-specific locations as well as for computing a weighted-average representative building shielding factor for single- and multi-story detached homes, both with and without basement, as well for single-wide manufactured housing-units. (paper)

Factor Structure in Commodity Futures Return and Volatility

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Christoffersen, Peter; Lunde, Asger; Olesen, Kasper Vinther

Using data on more than 750 million futures trades during 2004-2013, we analyze eight stylized facts of commodity price and volatility dynamics in the post financialization period. We pay particular attention to the factor structure in returns and volatility and to commodity market integration...... with the equity market. We find evidence of a factor structure in daily commodity futures returns. However, the factor structure in daily commodity futures volatility is even stronger than in returns. When computing model-free realized commodity betas with the stock market we find that they were high during 2008......-2010 but have since returned to the pre-crisis level close to zero. The common factor in commodity volatility is nevertheless clearly related to stock market volatility. We conclude that, while commodity markets appear to again be segmented from the equity market when only returns are considered, commodity...

Biology of Bone Tissue: Structure, Function, and Factors That Influence Bone Cells

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Rinaldo Florencio-Silva

2015-01-01

Full Text Available Bone tissue is continuously remodeled through the concerted actions of bone cells, which include bone resorption by osteoclasts and bone formation by osteoblasts, whereas osteocytes act as mechanosensors and orchestrators of the bone remodeling process. This process is under the control of local (e.g., growth factors and cytokines and systemic (e.g., calcitonin and estrogens factors that all together contribute for bone homeostasis. An imbalance between bone resorption and formation can result in bone diseases including osteoporosis. Recently, it has been recognized that, during bone remodeling, there are an intricate communication among bone cells. For instance, the coupling from bone resorption to bone formation is achieved by interaction between osteoclasts and osteoblasts. Moreover, osteocytes produce factors that influence osteoblast and osteoclast activities, whereas osteocyte apoptosis is followed by osteoclastic bone resorption. The increasing knowledge about the structure and functions of bone cells contributed to a better understanding of bone biology. It has been suggested that there is a complex communication between bone cells and other organs, indicating the dynamic nature of bone tissue. In this review, we discuss the current data about the structure and functions of bone cells and the factors that influence bone remodeling.

Assessing diabetes support in adolescents: factor structure of the modified Diabetes Social Support Questionnaire (DSSQ-Friends)

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Malik, J.A.; Koot, H.M.

2012-01-01

Aims To determine the underlying factor structure of friends' enacted support behaviours for adolescents with Type 1 diabetes, confirm it in a second sample, delineate distinctive aspects of friends' support and test the reliability of resulting scale. Methods The study included a total of 434

Performance of Sweet Pepper under Protective Structure in Gazipur of Bangladesh

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

GMA Halim

2013-08-01

Full Text Available Evaluation of sweet pepper cultivation under different protective structures was made in two consecutive seasons of 2007-08 and 2008-09 at the experimental field of Horticulture Research Center of BARI, Gazipur. One popular commercial capsicum variety California Wonder was included in the study with four protective structures (low height poly tunnel, polytunnel with side open, poly tunnel with side closed and poly house including control (open field. Protective structures had remarkable and significant influence on plant growth and yield of sweet pepper. The plants grown under protective structures had higher plant height compared to that of plants grown in open field. The highest individual fruit weight (65.2g was recorded form the plants grown under poly house condition while it was the lowest from open field grown plant (3.34 g. More than five fruits were harvested when the plants were grown under poly tunnel (side closed or poly house. The maximum fruit yield per plant (334.0g was recorded from poly house, which was 160.4% higher than that of plants grown under open field condition. The second highest yield was recorded from the plants of poly tunnel (212.5 indicating bright scope for sweet pepper cultivation under protective structures.

The integrity of cracked structures under thermal loading

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Townley, C.H.A.

1976-01-01

Previous work by Dowling and Townley on the load-carrying capacity of a cracked structure is extended so that quantitative predictions can be made about failure under thermal loading. Residual stresses can be dealt with in the same way as thermal stresses. It is shown that the tolerance of the structure to thermal stress can be quantified in terms of a parameter which defines the state of the structure. This state parameter can be deduced from the calculated performance of the structure when subjected to an external load. (author)

Lack of congruence in species diversity indices and community structures of planktonic groups based on local environmental factors.

Science.gov (United States)

Doi, Hideyuki; Chang, Kwang-Hyeon; Nishibe, Yuichiro; Imai, Hiroyuki; Nakano, Shin-ichi

2013-01-01

The importance of analyzing the determinants of biodiversity and community composition by using multiple trophic levels is well recognized; however, relevant data are lacking. In the present study, we investigated variations in species diversity indices and community structures of the plankton taxonomic groups-zooplankton, rotifers, ciliates, and phytoplankton-under a range of local environmental factors in pond ecosystems. For each planktonic group, we estimated the species diversity index by using linear models and analyzed the community structure by using canonical correspondence analysis. We showed that the species diversity indices and community structures varied among the planktonic groups and according to local environmental factors. The observed lack of congruence among the planktonic groups may have been caused by niche competition between groups with similar trophic guilds or by weak trophic interactions. Our findings highlight the difficulty of predicting total biodiversity within a system, based upon a single taxonomic group. Thus, to conserve the biodiversity of an ecosystem, it is crucial to consider variations in species diversity indices and community structures of different taxonomic groups, under a range of local conditions.

Eating disorder examination: Factor structure and norms in a clinical female pediatric eating disorder sample.

Science.gov (United States)

O'Brien, Amy; Watson, Hunna J; Hoiles, Kimberley J; Egan, Sarah J; Anderson, Rebecca A; Hamilton, Matthew J; Shu, Chloe; McCormack, Julie

2016-01-01

The factor structure of the eating disorder examination (EDE) has never been tested in a clinical pediatric sample, and no normative data exist. The factor structure of an adapted EDE was examined in a clinical sample of 665 females aged 9-17 years with anorexia nervosa spectrum (70%), bulimia nervosa spectrum (12%), purging disorder (3%), and unspecified feeding and eating disorders (15%). The original four-factor model was a good fit in a confirmatory factor analysis as well a higher order model with three dimensions of restraint, eating concern, and combined weight concern/shape concern. Normative data are reported for clinicians to identify the percentiles in which their patients' score. The findings support dimensions of restraint, eating concern, weight concern, and shape concern in a clinical pediatric sample. This supports the factorial validity of the EDE, and the norms may assist clinicians to evaluate symptoms in females under 18 years. © 2015 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Survivability of systems under multiple factor impact

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Korczak, Edward; Levitin, Gregory

2007-01-01

The paper considers vulnerable multi-state series-parallel systems operating under influence of external impacts. Both the external impacts and internal failures affect system survivability, which is determined as the probability of meeting a given demand. The external impacts are characterized by several destructive factors affecting the system or its parts simultaneously. In order to increase the system's survivability a multilevel protection against the destructive factors can be applied to its subsystems. In such systems, the protected subsystems can be destroyed only if all of the levels of their protection are destroyed. The paper presents an algorithm for evaluating the survivability of series-parallel systems with arbitrary configuration of multilevel protection against multiple destructive factor impacts. The algorithm is based on a composition of Boolean and the Universal Generating Function techniques. Illustrative examples are presented

Factor structure of the Tomimatsu-Sato metrics

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Perjes, Z.

1989-02-01

Based on an earlier result stating that δ = 3 Tomimatsu-Sato (TS) metrics can be factored over the field of integers, an analogous representation for higher TS metrics was sought. It is shown that the factoring property of TS metrics follows from the structure of special Hankel determinants. A set of linear algebraic equations determining the factors was defined, and the factors of the first five TS metrics were tabulated, together with their primitive factors. (R.P.) 4 refs.; 2 tabs

Anatomical Thin Titanium Mesh Plate Structural Optimization for Zygomatic-Maxillary Complex Fracture under Fatigue Testing

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Yu-Tzu Wang

2018-01-01

Full Text Available This study performs a structural optimization of anatomical thin titanium mesh (ATTM plate and optimal designed ATTM plate fabricated using additive manufacturing (AM to verify its stabilization under fatigue testing. Finite element (FE analysis was used to simulate the structural bending resistance of a regular ATTM plate. The Taguchi method was employed to identify the significance of each design factor in controlling the deflection and determine an optimal combination of designed factors. The optimal designed ATTM plate with patient-matched facial contour was fabricated using AM and applied to a ZMC comminuted fracture to evaluate the resting maxillary micromotion/strain under fatigue testing. The Taguchi analysis found that the ATTM plate required a designed internal hole distance to be 0.9 mm, internal hole diameter to be 1 mm, plate thickness to be 0.8 mm, and plate height to be 10 mm. The designed plate thickness factor primarily dominated the bending resistance up to 78% importance. The averaged micromotion (displacement and strain of the maxillary bone showed that ZMC fracture fixation using the miniplate was significantly higher than those using the AM optimal designed ATTM plate. This study concluded that the optimal designed ATTM plate with enough strength to resist the bending effect can be obtained by combining FE and Taguchi analyses. The optimal designed ATTM plate with patient-matched facial contour fabricated using AM provides superior stabilization for ZMC comminuted fractured bone segments.

Long-wavelength behaviour of charge-charge structure factor in insulating and metallic ground state of condensed hydrogen under pressure

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Amato, M.A.; March, N.H.

1988-09-01

Using the quantum Monte Carlo charge-charge structure factor S qq (k) it is argued that (i) in the metallic phase the small k expasion is non-analytic at order k 5 , reflecting plasmon dispersion, while in the insulating phase the non-analyticity occurs at O(k 3 ), due to van der Waals interaction between the protons. (author) [pt

Why are you draining your brain? Factors underlying decisions of graduating Lebanese medical students to migrate.

Science.gov (United States)

Akl, Elie A; Maroun, Nancy; Major, Stella; Afif, Claude; Chahoud, Bechara; Choucair, Jacques; Sakr, Mazen; Schünemann, Holger J

2007-03-01

In the context of a worldwide physician brain drain phenomenon, Lebanon has the highest emigration factor in the Middle East and North Africa. In this manuscript we aim to identify and develop a conceptual framework for the factors underlying the decisions of graduating Lebanese medical students to train abroad. We conducted two focus groups and seven semi-structured individual interviews with 23 students. In the deductive analysis (based on the push-pull theory), students reported push factors in Lebanon and pull factors abroad related to five dimensions. They focused predominantly on how training abroad provides them with a competitive advantage in an oversaturated Lebanese job market. An inductive analysis revealed the following emerging concepts: repel factors abroad and retain factors locally; societal expectations that students should train abroad; marketing of abroad training; and an established culture of migration. The marketing of abroad training and the culture of migration are prevalent in the academic institutions.

Automated processing of first-pass radionuclide angiocardiography by factor analysis of dynamic structures.

Science.gov (United States)

Cavailloles, F; Bazin, J P; Capderou, A; Valette, H; Herbert, J L; Di Paola, R

1987-05-01

structure (underlying physiological components), and the associated factor images are estimates of the spatial distribution of each factor. The aim of this study was to assess the reliability of FADS in first pass RNA and compare the results to those obtained by the ROI method which is generally considered as the routine procedure.

NUTRITIONAL STATUS AND ASSOCIATED FACTORS IN UNDER-FIVE CHILDREN OF RAWALPINDI.

Science.gov (United States)

Mahmood, Shafaq; Nadeem, Sehrish; Saif, Tayyaba; Mannan, Mavra; Arshad, Urooj

2016-01-01

Malnutrition is a serious child health issue throughout the developing world. Pakistan has the second highest infant and child mortality rate in South Asia. This study was carried out to assess the nutritional status of children under 5 years of age and to determine the frequency and association of malnutrition with various demographic variables in the study group. A multi-centre, cross sectional study was conducted at the immunization centres of the 3 allied hospitals of Rawalpindi Medical College during March-May 2014. Healthy children of under 5 years of age without confirmed diagnosis of any disease/ailment were included. Guardians of 100 children were interviewed using a structured questionnaire. Demographic variables include age, gender, family size, family income, breastfeeding, maternal education, presence of a family member with special needs and presence of siblings under 5 years in family. Weight (kg) was measured and malnutrition was assessed by weight for age. Malnutrition was found to be present in 32% of children. Adequately nourished children were 68%, while moderately and severely malnourished children were 14% and 18% respectively. Our study indicated malnutrition to be significantly associated with maternal illiteracy (p = 0.01) and presence of a family member with special needs (p = 0.05). No significant association was found between malnutrition and gender, family size, family income, breast feeding and presence of siblings under 5 years of age. There is a need to plan composite interventions to elucidate the factors that place children at greater risk for malnutrition.

Calculation of coupling factor for double-period accelerating structure

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Bian Xiaohao; Chen Huaibi; Zheng Shuxin

2005-01-01

In the design of the linear accelerating structure, the coupling factor between cavities is a crucial parameter. The error of coupling factor accounts for the electric or magnetic field error mainly. To accurately design the coupling iris, the accurate calculation of coupling factor is essential. The numerical simulation is widely used to calculate the coupling factor now. By using MAFIA code, two methods have been applied to calculate the dispersion characteristics of the single-period structure, one method is to simulate the traveling wave mode by the period boundary condition; another method is to simulate the standing wave mode by the electrical boundary condition. In this work, the authors develop the two methods to calculate the coupling factor of double-period accelerating structure. Compared to experiment, the results for both methods are very similar, and in agreement with measurement within 15% deviation. (authors)

Investigation of R-Factor for steel moment frame combined with cold-formed steel structures under different load patterns using pushover analysis

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Siavash Sadeghi

2017-08-01

Full Text Available The use of Lightweight Steel Frames (LSF has grown considerably in recent years all over the world due to its unique advantages such as being cost-effective and light-weight, easy and quick installment. Another application is to use them in order to increase the number of new floors on the existing buildings. But since the behavior of the combined structure is not clear, there is no possibility of increasing new floors with Lightweight Steel Frames. Therefore, through selecting and modeling three buildings of three, five and seven floors with steel moment frames in SAP2000 software and adding one or two new floors using Lightweight Steel Frames (LSF and conducting a non-linear static analysis with three different lateral load pattern, we dealt with the seismic behavior and determined the behavior coefficient of each of the combined structures. The results indicated that the use of cold-formed structures in order to add story do not have a significant impact on R-factor. In addition, R-factor depends on the type of the side loading pattern.

Factor structure of the Body Appreciation Scale among Malaysian women.

Science.gov (United States)

Swami, Viren; Chamorro-Premuzic, Tomas

2008-12-01

The present study examined the factor structure of a Malay version of the Body Appreciation Scale (BAS), a recently developed scale for the assessment of positive body image that has been shown to have a unidimensional structure in Western settings. Results of exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses based on data from community sample of 591 women in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, failed to support a unidimensional structure for the Malay BAS. Results of a confirmatory factor analysis suggested two stable factors, which were labelled 'General Body Appreciation' and 'Body Image Investment'. Multi-group analysis showed that the two-factor structure was invariant for both Malaysian Malay and Chinese women, and that there were no significant ethnic differences on either factor. Results also showed that General Body Appreciation was significant negatively correlated with participants' body mass index. These results are discussed in relation to possible cross-cultural differences in positive body image.

Adaptive under relaxation factor of MATRA code for the efficient whole core analysis

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kwon, Hyuk; Kim, S. J.; Seo, K. W.; Hwang, D. H.

2013-01-01

Such nonlinearities are handled in MATRA code using outer iteration with Picard scheme. The Picard scheme involves successive updating of the coefficient matrix based on the previously calculated values. The scheme is a simple and effective method for the nonlinear problem but the effectiveness greatly depends on the under-relaxing capability. Accuracy and speed of calculation are very sensitively dependent on the under-relaxation factor in outer-iteration updating the axial mass flow using the continuity equation. The under-relaxation factor in MATRA is generally utilized with a fixed value that is empirically determined. Adapting the under-relaxation factor to the outer iteration is expected to improve the calculation effectiveness of MATRA code rather than calculation with the fixed under-relaxation factor. The present study describes the implementation of adaptive under-relaxation within the subchannel code MATRA. Picard iterations with adaptive under-relaxation can accelerate the convergence for mass conservation in subchannel code MATRA. The most efficient approach for adaptive under relaxation appears to be very problem dependent

Chronic irradiation as an ecological factor affecting genetic population structure

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kal'chenko, V.A.; Kalabushkin, B.A.; Rubanovich, A.V.

1991-01-01

Genetic structure of two Centaurea scabiosa L. populations was studied by frequency distribution of leucine aminopeptidase (LAP) locus genotypes. The experimental population has been growing under conditions of chronic irradiation, with the dose per generation amounting to 1.2 to 25.5 Gy. In it, mutational variants are observed with a frequency of 5.4.10(-3)-4.5.10(-2) per generation (as compared to control population frequency at 5.4.10(-4)). Indexes for heterozygosity, mean number of genotypes, and effective number of alleles were higher in the experimental population. Segregation analysis revealed no differences in viability in the control population, and all genotypic combinations were found to be nearly neutral. In the experimental population, however, significant differences in relative viability of the genotypes were disclosed. The relative viability of heterozygotes for mutant allele C' was nearly maximum, while heterozygotes for other mutant alleles showed minimum viability. We reach the conclusion that the differences in genetic structure of the populations under investigation can be explained by the chronic irradiation factor that brought out differences in adaptability of both normal and mutant genotypes. The suggestion is that intra-locus interactions of the C' allele with normal alleles determine plant resistance to a wide range of unfavorable environmental conditions

An introduction to partial structure factors in the nineties

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Egelstaff, P.A.

1993-01-01

The idea of a partial structure factor has proved to be a very useful scientific concept in the discussion of disordered systems. After a general introduction comments on the experiments, some specific examples are given: heteronuclear diatomic fluids and static structure factors for molecular systems, development of dynamic structure factors. With the development of new techniques on neutron and synchrotron sources, spectrometers and samples, the development of improved theories and methods of computer simulation for simple liquids, it is expected that this field will continue to have a significant and growing scientific impact through the 90's. 6 figs., 3 tabs., 16 refs

Factor Structure of the Exercise Self-Efficacy Scale

Science.gov (United States)

Cornick, Jessica E.

2015-01-01

The current study utilized exercise self-efficacy ratings from undergraduate students to assess the factor structure of the Self-Efficacy to Regulate Exercise Scale (Bandura, 1997, 2006). An exploratory factor analysis (n = 759) indicated a two-factor model solution and three separate confirmatory factor analyses (n = 1,798) supported this…

Fatigue in Steel Structures under Random Loading

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Agerskov, Henning

1999-01-01

types of welded plate test specimens and full-scale offshore tubular joints. The materials that have been used are either conventional structural steel with a yield stress of ~ 360-410 MPa or high-strength steel with a yield stress of ~ 810-1010 MPa. The fatigue tests and the fracture mechanics analyses......Fatigue damage accumulation in steel structures under random loading is studied. The fatigue life of welded joints has been determined both experimentally and from a fracture mechanics analysis. In the experimental part of the investigation, fatigue test series have been carried through on various...... have been carried out using load histories, which are realistic in relation to the types of structures studied, i.e. primarily bridges, offshore structures and chimneys. In general, the test series carried through show a significant difference between constant amplitude and variable amplitude fatigue...

Analysis of flexible structures under lateral impact

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ramirez, D. F.; Razavi, H.

2012-01-01

Three methods for analysis of flexible structures under lateral impact are presented. The first proposed method (Method A) consists of: (1) modifying an available deceleration on a rigid target with conservation principles to account for structural flexibility; and (2) transient nonlinear analysis of the structure with the corrected forcing function. The second proposed method (Method B) is similar to Method A in obtaining the forcing function but it solves the equations of motion of an idealized two-degree-of-freedom system instead of directly using conservation principles. The last method simply provides the maximum force in the structure using the conservation of energy and linear momentum. A coupled simulation is also performed in LS-DYNA and compared against the proposed methods. A case study is presented to illustrate the applicability of all three methods and the LS-DYNA simulation. (authors)

The structure factor of primes

Science.gov (United States)

Zhang, G.; Martelli, F.; Torquato, S.

2018-03-01

Although the prime numbers are deterministic, they can be viewed, by some measures, as pseudo-random numbers. In this article, we numerically study the pair statistics of the primes using statistical-mechanical methods, particularly the structure factor S(k) in an interval M ≤slant p ≤slant M + L with M large, and L/M smaller than unity. We show that the structure factor of the prime-number configurations in such intervals exhibits well-defined Bragg-like peaks along with a small ‘diffuse’ contribution. This indicates that primes are appreciably more correlated and ordered than previously thought. Our numerical results definitively suggest an explicit formula for the locations and heights of the peaks. This formula predicts infinitely many peaks in any non-zero interval, similar to the behavior of quasicrystals. However, primes differ from quasicrystals in that the ratio between the location of any two predicted peaks is rational. We also show numerically that the diffuse part decays slowly as M and L increases. This suggests that the diffuse part vanishes in an appropriate infinite-system-size limit.

Structure of Vibrio cholerae ribosome hibernation promoting factor

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

De Bari, Heather; Berry, Edward A.

2013-01-01

The X-ray crystal structure of ribosome hibernation promoting factor from V. cholerae has been determined at 2.0 Å resolution. The crystal was phased by two-wavelength MAD using cocrystallized cobalt. The X-ray crystal structure of ribosome hibernation promoting factor (HPF) from Vibrio cholerae is presented at 2.0 Å resolution. The crystal was phased by two-wavelength MAD using cocrystallized cobalt. The asymmetric unit contained two molecules of HPF linked by four Co atoms. The metal-binding sites observed in the crystal are probably not related to biological function. The structure of HPF has a typical β–α–β–β–β–α fold consistent with previous structures of YfiA and HPF from Escherichia coli. Comparison of the new structure with that of HPF from E. coli bound to the Thermus thermophilus ribosome [Polikanov et al. (2012 ▶), Science, 336, 915–918] shows that no significant structural changes are induced in HPF by binding

Structural Integrity Evaluation of Containment Vessel under Severe Accident for PGSFR

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Lee, Seong-Hyeon; Koo, Gyeong-Hoi; Kim, Sung-Kyun

2016-01-01

This paper provides structural integrity evaluation results of CV of the PGSFR(Prototype Gen-IV Sodium Fast Reactor) under severe accident through transient analysis. The evaluation was carried out according to ASME B and PV Code Sec. III-Subsection NH rule. Structural integrity of CV was evaluated through transient analysis of structure in case of severe accident. Stress evaluation results for selected evaluation sections satisfy design criteria of ASME B and PV Code Sec. III Subsection NH. The transient load condition of normal operation will considered in the future work. The purpose of RVCS is to maintain the integrity of concrete structure during normal power operation. Therefore RVCS should be designed to keep the temperature of concrete surface under design limit and to minimize heat loss through CV(Containment Vessel). And in case of severe accident, the integrity of reactor structure and concrete structure should be maintained. Therefore RVCS should be designed to satisfy ASME Level D service limits. When RVCS works with breakdown of DHRS after severe accident, the temperature change of inner and outer surface of CV over time can affect structural integrity of CV. To verify the structural integrity, it is necessary to perform transient analysis of CV structure under changing temperature over time

Social and psychological factors under realization of radiation risk

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Sushko, S.N.; Malenchenko, S.A.

2001-01-01

In the experiments with mice of Af line, irradiated by gamma-radiation with doses of up to 1.0 Gy and subjected to psycho-emotional effect (the model of 'the provoked aggression') have been investigated the processes of tumour formation. The index of cariogenic efficiency of effects is the number of the induced adenomas in lungs. It has been shown that under separate effect of these factors the frequency of adenomas increases. Under the combined effect the additional number of adenomas per mouse is registered, which exceeds theoretically the expected value assuming additivity of effects, the synergism coefficient was 1.57 (for females). It has been marked that the character of tumour reaction on separate and the combined effect of radiation, as well as the stress-factor has sex distinctions. It has been shown that that real assessment of the radiation risk and the development of the measures system on minimization of medical and biological consequences of the accident should take into account not only the radiation factor, but also a psychological one, especially in those cases when realization of the risk of combined effect of radiation and non-radiation factors can manifest synergism

Assessing Protective Factors for Violence Risk in U.K. General Mental Health Services Using the Structured Assessment of Protective Factors.

Science.gov (United States)

Haines, Alina; Brown, Andrew; Javaid, Syed Fahad; Khan, Fayyaz; Noblett, Steve; Omodunbi, Oladipupo; Sadiq, Khurram; Zaman, Wahid; Whittington, Richard

2017-12-01

Violence risk assessment and management are key tasks in mental health services and should be guided by validated instruments covering both risk and protective factors. This article is part of an international effort to validate the Structured Assessment of Protective Factors (SAPROF) for violence. The SAPROF, Historical, Clinical, Risk Management-20 (HCR-20) and the Psychopathy Checklist-Screening Version (PCL-SV) were administered in a sample of 261 patients in U.K. forensic, general inpatient, and community mental health settings. There was significant variation between these groups on SAPROF scores with fewer protective factors in the forensic group. The prospective validity of the SAPROF for nonviolence in the general inpatient and community samples was moderate (area under the curve [AUC] = .60). Adoption of the SAPROF or similar instruments as a supplement to risk-focused assessments has the potential to improve awareness of protective factors and enhance therapeutic engagement in a range of mental health services.

Investigations on the Mechanical Properties of Conducting Polymer Coating-Substrate Structures and Their Influencing Factors

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Xin Hua

2009-12-01

Full Text Available This review covers recent advances and work on the microstructure features, mechanical properties and cracking processes of conducting polymer film/coatingsubstrate structures under different testing conditions. An attempt is made to characterize and quantify the relationships between mechanical properties and microstructure features. In addition, the film cracking mechanism on the micro scale and some influencing factors that play a significant role in the service of the film-substrate structure are presented. These investigations cover the conducting polymer film/coating nucleation process, microstructure-fracture characterization, translation of brittle-ductile fractures, and cracking processes near the largest inherent macromolecule defects under thermal-mechanical loadings, and were carried out using in situ scanning electron microscopy (SEM observations, as a novel method for evaluation of interface strength and critical failure stress.

Estimation of structural reliability under combined loads

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Shinozuka, M.; Kako, T.; Hwang, H.; Brown, P.; Reich, M.

1983-01-01

For the overall safety evaluation of seismic category I structures subjected to various load combinations, a quantitative measure of the structural reliability in terms of a limit state probability can be conveniently used. For this purpose, the reliability analysis method for dynamic loads, which has recently been developed by the authors, was combined with the existing standard reliability analysis procedure for static and quasi-static loads. The significant parameters that enter into the analysis are: the rate at which each load (dead load, accidental internal pressure, earthquake, etc.) will occur, its duration and intensity. All these parameters are basically random variables for most of the loads to be considered. For dynamic loads, the overall intensity is usually characterized not only by their dynamic components but also by their static components. The structure considered in the present paper is a reinforced concrete containment structure subjected to various static and dynamic loads such as dead loads, accidental pressure, earthquake acceleration, etc. Computations are performed to evaluate the limit state probabilities under each load combination separately and also under all possible combinations of such loads. Indeed, depending on the limit state condition to be specified, these limit state probabilities can indicate which particular load combination provides the dominant contribution to the overall limit state probability. On the other hand, some of the load combinations contribute very little to the overall limit state probability. These observations provide insight into the complex problem of which load combinations must be considered for design, for which limit states and at what level of limit state probabilities. (orig.)

Nutritional status and associated factors in under five children of rawalpindi

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Mahmood, S.; Nadeem, S.; Saif, T.; Mannan, M.; Arshad, U.

2016-01-01

Background: Malnutrition is a serious child health issue throughout the developing world. Pakistan has the second highest infant and child mortality rate in South Asia. This study was carried out to assess the nutritional status of children under 5 years of age and to determine the frequency and association of malnutrition with various demographic variables in the study group. Methods: A multi-centre, cross sectional study was conducted at the immunization centres of the 3 allied hospitals of Rawalpindi Medical College during March-May 2014. Healthy children of under 5 years of age without confirmed diagnosis of any disease/ailment were included. Guardians of 100 children were interviewed using a structured questionnaire. Demographic variables include age, gender, family size, family income, breast feeding, maternal education, presence of a family member with special needs and presence of siblings under 5 years in family. Weight (kg) was measured and malnutrition was assessed by weight for age. Results: Malnutrition was found to be present in 32 percentage of children. Adequately nourished children were 68 percentage, while moderately and severely malnourished children were 14 percentage and 18 percentage respectively. Our study indicated malnutrition to be significantly associated with maternal illiteracy (p=0.01) and presence of a family member with special needs (p=0.05). No significant association was found between malnutrition and gender, family size, family income, breast feeding and presence of siblings under 5 years of age. Conclusion: There is a need to plan composite interventions to elucidate the factors that place children at greater risk for malnutrition. (author)

Confirmatory factor analysis reveals a latent cognitive structure common to bipolar disorder, schizophrenia, and normal controls.

Science.gov (United States)

Schretlen, David J; Peña, Javier; Aretouli, Eleni; Orue, Izaskun; Cascella, Nicola G; Pearlson, Godfrey D; Ojeda, Natalia

2013-06-01

We sought to determine whether a single hypothesized latent factor structure would characterize cognitive functioning in three distinct groups. We assessed 576 adults (340 community controls, 126 adults with bipolar disorder, and 110 adults with schizophrenia) using 15 measures derived from nine cognitive tests. Confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) was conducted to examine the fit of a hypothesized six-factor model. The hypothesized factors included attention, psychomotor speed, verbal memory, visual memory, ideational fluency, and executive functioning. The six-factor model provided an excellent fit for all three groups [for community controls, root mean square error of approximation (RMSEA) schizophrenia, RMSEA = 0.06 and CFI = 0.98]. Alternate models that combined fluency with processing speed or verbal and visual memory reduced the goodness of fit. Multi-group CFA results supported factor invariance across the three groups. Confirmatory factor analysis supported a single six-factor structure of cognitive functioning among patients with schizophrenia or bipolar disorder and community controls. While the three groups clearly differ in level of performance, they share a common underlying architecture of information processing abilities. These cognitive factors could provide useful targets for clinical trials of treatments that aim to enhance information processing in persons with neurological and neuropsychiatric disorders. © 2013 John Wiley & Sons A/S. Published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

The factor structure of the self-directed learning readiness scale | de ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

The factor structure of the Self-Directed Learning Readiness Scale (SDLRS) was investigated for Afrikaans and English-speaking first-year university students. Five factors were extracted and rotated to oblique simple structure for both groups. Four of the five factors were satisfactorily replicated. The fifth factor appeared to ...

Submerged Fixed Floating Structure under the Action of Surface Current

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Zhen Cui

2018-01-01

Full Text Available The implementation of floating structures has increased with the construction of new sluices for flood control. The overturning moment of floating structure and its influencing factors are the important parameters that determine the structural safety. It is essential to understand the overturning characteristics of these structures in currents. Based on hydrodynamic theory and equilibrium analysis, the hydraulic characteristics of a floating structure are discussed by means of theoretical analysis and experiments. A formula for the overturning moment is developed in terms of the time-averaged pressure on the structure. The corresponding parametric study aims to assess the effects of flow velocities, vertical positions, shape ratios and water levels on the overturning moment. The experimental results show that hydrodynamic factors have a significant influence on the overturning of the structure. Furthermore, a relationship is obtained between the overturning moment and the contributing parameters according to dimensional analysis and the linear fitting method of multidimensional ordinary least squares (OLS. The results predicted by the formula agree with the experimental results, demonstrating the potential for general applicability.

FACTOR STRUCTURE OF THE BRIEF NEGATIVE SYMPTOM SCALE

OpenAIRE

Strauss, Gregory P.; Hong, L. Elliot; Gold, James M.; Buchanan, Robert W.; McMahon, Robert P.; Keller, William R.; Fischer, Bernard A.; Catalano, Lauren T.; Culbreth, Adam J.; Carpenter, William T.; Kirkpatrick, Brian

2012-01-01

The current study examined the factor structure of the Brief Negative Symptom Scale (BNSS), a next-generation negative symptom rating instrument developed in response to the NIMH-sponsored Consensus Development Conference on Negative Symptoms. Participants included 146 individuals with a DSM-IV diagnosis of schizophrenia or schizoaffective disorder. Principal axis factoring indicated two distinct factors explaining 68.7% of the variance. Similar to previous findings, the factors reflected mot...

Empirical Analysis of Farm Credit Risk under the Structure Model

Science.gov (United States)

Yan, Yan

2009-01-01

The study measures farm credit risk by using farm records collected by Farm Business Farm Management (FBFM) during the period 1995-2004. The study addresses the following questions: (1) whether farm's financial position is fully described by the structure model, (2) what are the determinants of farm capital structure under the structure model, (3)…

Employee motivation in Ghana: A factor structure and measurement tool

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

B. B. Puplampu

2007-12-01

Full Text Available Purpose: This paper reports research on the factor structure of employee motivation as well as provides a tool for measuring the level of employee motivation in Ghanaian organisations. Methodology: The study was designed as exploratory, comparative and cross-sectional. 260 respondents drawn from across the gender, status and job grade hierarchy of 19 organisations participated. The organisations were matched in terms of tenure (over 5years, number of employees (50 or more and geographic location (headquartered in Accra. A 41-item questionnaire on the Level of Motivation (LoM; Characteristics of Employee Motivation (CEM; aspects of Organisational Citizenship Behaviour (OCB; Managerial Assumptions about employee behaviour (MA; Contextual Institutional Analysis (IAN and Organisational Leadership Issues (Le was developed and used. The instrument combined fixed response format on a 3-point scale with open-ended responses. Findings: Exploratory Factor Analyses (Varimax Rotation, converging in 26 iterations yielded 6 factors, which account for 60% of the variance. Thematic analyses of both interview and open-ended questionnaire data support the emergent factor structure, providing some tentative indication that employee motivation in the Ghanaian (or indeed African context should be looked at more in an integrated manner rather than in terms of the limiting confines of any one theory of motivation. The 3 items hypothesised to constitute the measure of level of employee motivation loaded neatly onto Factor 6. One-way ANOVA demonstrated no differences in the level of motivation across the organisational samples; this was confirmed by the interview data. Implications/Originality/Value: The implications and value of this research are: that motivation research in Africa does need to focus more on developing an integrated model of employee motivation; also, a simple 3-item but novel tool for measuring the level of employee motivation as well as its

Detection and analysis of unusual features in the structural model and structure-factor data of a birch pollen allergen

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Rupp, Bernhard

2012-01-01

The structure factors deposited with PDB entry 3k78 show properties inconsistent with experimentally observed diffraction data, and without uncertainty represent calculated structure factors. The refinement of the model against these structure factors leads to an isomorphous structure different from the deposited model with an implausibly small R value (0.019). Physically improbable features in the model of the birch pollen structure Bet v 1d are faithfully reproduced in electron density generated with the deposited structure factors, but these structure factors themselves exhibit properties that are characteristic of data calculated from a simple model and are inconsistent with the data and error model obtained through experimental measurements. The refinement of the model against these structure factors leads to an isomorphous structure different from the deposited model with an implausibly small R value (0.019). The abnormal refinement is compared with normal refinement of an isomorphous variant structure of Bet v 1l. A variety of analytical tools, including the application of Diederichs plots, Rσ plots and bulk-solvent analysis are discussed as promising aids in validation. The examination of the Bet v 1d structure also cautions against the practice of indicating poorly defined protein chain residues through zero occupancies. The recommendation to preserve diffraction images is amplified

Wear of resin composites: Current insights into underlying mechanisms, evaluation methods and influential factors

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Akimasa Tsujimoto

2018-05-01

Full Text Available Summary: The application of resin composites in dentistry has become increasingly widespread due to the increased aesthetic demands of patients, improvements in the formulation of resin composites, and the ability of these materials to bond to tooth structures, together with concerns about dental amalgam fillings. As resistance to wear is an important factor in determining the clinical success of resin composite restoratives, this review article defines what constitutes wear and describes the major underlying phenomena involved in this process. Insights are further included on both in vivo and in vitro tests used to determine the wear resistance of resin composite and the relationships between these tests. The discussion focuses on factors that contribute to the wear of resin composite. Finally, future perspectives are included on both clinical and laboratory tests and on the development of resin composite restorations. Keywords: Resin composites, Wear resistance, Wear testing

NAC transcription factors: structurally distinct, functionally diverse

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Olsen, Addie Nina; Ernst, Heidi A; Leggio, Leila Lo

2005-01-01

level and localization, and to the first indications of NAC participation in transcription factor networks. The recent determination of the DNA and protein binding NAC domain structure offers insight into the molecular functions of the protein family. Research into NAC transcription factors has......NAC proteins constitute one of the largest families of plant-specific transcription factors, and the family is present in a wide range of land plants. Here, we summarize the biological and molecular functions of the NAC family, paying particular attention to the intricate regulation of NAC protein...

Structural Analysis of Cabinet Support under Static and Seismic Loads

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Jung, Kwangsub; Lee, Sangjin; Oh, Jinho

2014-01-01

The cabinet support consists of frames including steel channels and steel square tubes. Four tap holes for screw bolts are located on the support frame of a steel channel to fix the cabinet on the support. The channels and square tubes are assembled by welded joints. The cabinet supports are installed on the outer walls of the reactor concrete island. The KEPIC code, MNF, is used for the design of the cabinet support. In this work, the structural integrity of the cabinet support is analyzed under consideration of static and seismic loads. A 3-D finite element model of the cabinet support was developed. The structural integrity of the cabinet support under postulated service loading conditions was evaluated through a static analysis, modal analysis, and response spectrum analysis. From the structural analysis results, it was concluded that the structural integrity of the cabinet support is guaranteed

An exploration of the factor structure of the nursing work index.

Science.gov (United States)

Slater, Paul; McCormack, Brendan

2007-01-01

The nurse shortage is increasing in the developed world. Organisational context is important in determining issues associated with nurse shortages, such as retention, recruitment, and job satisfaction. Recent research has utilised the Nursing Work Index-Revised (NWI-R) as a measure of organisational context traits. Within the NWI-R a four-factor model has been reported as being important in determining good organisational context, yet researchers have recently questioned the stability of the four-factor structure. No known study has attempted to replicate the four-factor structure reported in the NWI-R. The aim of this research is to examine the factor structure of the 15 items that comprise the four factors of the NWI-R. The NWI-R is an instrument that is focused on capturing organisational attributes that characterise professional nursing environments. A random sample of 172 (50%) acute care hospital nurses completed the NWI-R as part of a larger research project. The sample was diverse concerning nursing grade and specialty. Data were analysed using SPSS.11.0 to extract factors' structures (principal component and maximum likelihood), measures of homogeneity and descriptive statistics were generated from the findings. The four-factor structure of the NWI-R was not replicated in the data analysis. Instead a modified three-factor structure was identified accounting for 57% of the variance. Measures of internal consistency were acceptable. Previous research utilised the four factors of the NWI-R as a method to identify supportive organisational context and practice. The three-factor model raises questions regarding the stability of the findings using the NWI-R. This research shows the synthesis of the two models in light of previous findings. The findings might have far reaching implications for research that has utilised the NWI-R as a measure of organisational context. Further research is required to examine this study's findings and literature.

Concrete structures under impact and impulsive loading

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Plauk, G.

1982-05-01

This book contains papers contributed to the RILEM/CEB/IABSE/IASS-Interassociation Symposium on 'Concrete Structures under Impact and Impulsive Loading'. The essential aim of this symposium is to provide an international forum for the exchange of information on existing and current research relating to impact problems as well as to identify areas to which further research activities should be directed. The subject of the symposium is far ranging. Fifty five papers were proposed and arranged in six technical sessions, a task which sometimes posed difficulties for the Organization Committee and the Advisory Group, because some of the papers touched several topics and were difficult to integrate. However, we are confident that these minor difficulties were solved to the satisfaction of everyone involved. Each session of the symposium is devoted to a major subject area and introduced by a distinguished Introductory Reporter. The large international attendance, some 21 countries are represented, and the large number of excellent papers will certainly produce a lively discussion after each session and thus help to further close the gaps in our knowledge about the behaviour of structures and materials under impact and impulsive loading. (orig./RW)

Thermomechanics of composite structures under high temperatures

CERN Document Server

Dimitrienko, Yu I

2016-01-01

This pioneering book presents new models for the thermomechanical behavior of composite materials and structures taking into account internal physico-chemical transformations such as thermodecomposition, sublimation and melting at high temperatures (up to 3000 K). It is of great importance for the design of new thermostable materials and for the investigation of reliability and fire safety of composite structures. It also supports the investigation of interaction of composites with laser irradiation and the design of heat-shield systems. Structural methods are presented for calculating the effective mechanical and thermal properties of matrices, fibres and unidirectional, reinforced by dispersed particles and textile composites, in terms of properties of their constituent phases. Useful calculation methods are developed for characteristics such as the rate of thermomechanical erosion of composites under high-speed flow and the heat deformation of composites with account of chemical shrinkage. The author expan...

Selecting the "Best" Factor Structure and Moving Measurement Validation Forward: An Illustration.

Science.gov (United States)

Schmitt, Thomas A; Sass, Daniel A; Chappelle, Wayne; Thompson, William

2018-04-09

Despite the broad literature base on factor analysis best practices, research seeking to evaluate a measure's psychometric properties frequently fails to consider or follow these recommendations. This leads to incorrect factor structures, numerous and often overly complex competing factor models and, perhaps most harmful, biased model results. Our goal is to demonstrate a practical and actionable process for factor analysis through (a) an overview of six statistical and psychometric issues and approaches to be aware of, investigate, and report when engaging in factor structure validation, along with a flowchart for recommended procedures to understand latent factor structures; (b) demonstrating these issues to provide a summary of the updated Posttraumatic Stress Disorder Checklist (PCL-5) factor models and a rationale for validation; and (c) conducting a comprehensive statistical and psychometric validation of the PCL-5 factor structure to demonstrate all the issues we described earlier. Considering previous research, the PCL-5 was evaluated using a sample of 1,403 U.S. Air Force remotely piloted aircraft operators with high levels of battlefield exposure. Previously proposed PCL-5 factor structures were not supported by the data, but instead a bifactor model is arguably more statistically appropriate.

Portfolio optimization with structured products under return constraint

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Baweja Meena

2015-01-01

Full Text Available A new approach for optimizing risk in a portfolio of financial instruments involving structured products is presented. This paper deals with a portfolio selection model which uses optimization methodology to minimize conditional Value-at-Risk (CVaR under return constraint. It focuses on minimizing CVaR rather than on minimizing value-at-Risk VaR, as portfolios with low CVaR necessarily have low VaR as well. We consider a simple investment problem where besides stocks and bonds, the investor can also include structured products into the investment portfolio. Due to possible intermediate payments from structured product, we have to deal with a re-investment problem modeled as a linear optimization problem.

On R factors for dynamic structure crystallography

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Coppens, Philip; Kaminski, Radoslaw; Schmøkel, Mette Stokkebro

2010-01-01

In studies of dynamic changes in crystals in which induced metastable species may have lifetimes of microseconds or less, refinements are most sensitive if based on the changes induced in the measured intensities. Agreement factors appropriate for such refinements, based on the ratios of the inte...... of the intensities before and after the external perturbation is applied, are discussed and compared with R factors commonly applied in static structure crystallography....

Placental growth factor expression is reversed by antivascular endothelial growth factor therapy under hypoxic conditions.

Science.gov (United States)

Zhou, Ai-Yi; Bai, Yu-Jing; Zhao, Min; Yu, Wen-Zhen; Huang, Lv-Zhen; Li, Xiao-Xin

2014-08-01

Clinical trials have revealed that the antivascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) therapies are effective in retinopathy of prematurity (ROP). But the low level of VEGF was necessary as a survival signal in healthy conditions, and endogenous placental growth factor (PIGF) is redundant for development. The purpose of this study was to elucidate the PIGF expression under hypoxia as well as the influence of anti-VEGF therapy on PIGF. CoCl2-induced hypoxic human umbilical vein endothelial cells (HUVECs) were used for an in vitro study, and oxygen-induced retinopathy (OIR) mice models were used for an in vivo study. The expression patterns of PIGF under hypoxic conditions and the influence of anti-VEGF therapy on PIGF were evaluated by quantitative reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RTPCR). The retinal avascular areas and neovascularization (NV) areas of anti-VEGF, anti-PIGF and combination treatments were calculated. Retina PIGF concentration was evaluated by ELISA after treatment. The vasoactive effects of exogenous PIGF on HUVECs were investigated by proliferation and migration studies. PIGF mRNA expression was reduced by hypoxia in OIR mice, in HUVECs under hypoxia and anti-VEGF treatment. However, PIGF expression was reversed by anti-VEGF therapy in the OIR model and in HUVECs under hypoxia. Exogenous PIGF significantly inhibited HUVECs proliferation and migration under normal conditions, but it stimulated cell proliferation and migration under hypoxia. Anti-PIGF treatment was effective for neovascular tufts in OIR mice (P<0.05). The finding that PIGF expression is iatrogenically up-regulated by anti-VEGF therapy provides a consideration to combine it with anti-PIGF therapy.

Structural Evaluation on HIC Transport Packaging under Accident Conditions

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Chung, Sung Hwan; Kim, Duck Hoi; Jung, Jin Se; Yang, Ke Hyung; Lee, Heung Young

2005-01-01

HIC transport packaging to transport a high integrity container(HIC) containing dry spent resin generated from nuclear power plants is to comply with the regulatory requirements of Korea and IAEA for Type B packaging due to the high radioactivity of the content, and to maintain the structural integrity under normal and accident conditions. It must withstand 9 m free drop impact onto an unyielding surface and 1 m drop impact onto a mild steel bar in a position causing maximum damage. For the conceptual design of a cylindrical HIC transport package, three dimensional dynamic structural analysis to ensure that the integrity of the package is maintained under all credible loads for 9 m free drop and 1 m puncture conditions were carried out using ABAQUS code.

Socio-Demographic Factors in Under Five Children with Acute ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

Objective: To determine the socio-demographic factors in under five children with acute diarrhoea. Design: A prospective cross-sectional study. Setting: Children's Emergency Room and Children's Outpatient Clinic of the University of Nigeria Teaching Hospital, Enugu, Nigeria. Subjects: One hundred and seventy-four ...

Are familial factors underlying the association between socioeconomic position and prescription medicine?

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Madsen, Mia; Andersen, Per Kragh; Gerster, Mette

2013-01-01

OBJECTIVES: Although well established, the association between socioeconomic position and health and health behaviour is not clearly understood, and it has been speculated that familial factors, for example, dispositional factors or exposures in the rearing environment, may be underlying the asso......OBJECTIVES: Although well established, the association between socioeconomic position and health and health behaviour is not clearly understood, and it has been speculated that familial factors, for example, dispositional factors or exposures in the rearing environment, may be underlying...... and the Danish Registry of Medicinal Product statistics. A total of 8582 monozygotic (MZ) and 15 788 dizygotic same sex (DZSS) twins were included. OUTCOME MEASURES: Number of prescription fillings during follow-up (1995-2005) was analysed according to education and income. Results of unpaired and intrapair...

Factor Structure of Autistic Traits in Children with ADHD

Science.gov (United States)

Martin, Joanna; Hamshere, Marian L.; O'Donovan, Michael C.; Rutter, Michael; Thapar, Anita

2014-01-01

Attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and autism spectrum disorder (ASD) often co-occur. Factor analyses of ASD traits in children with and without ASD indicate the presence of social and restrictive-repetitive behaviour (RRB) factors. This study used exploratory factor analyses to determine the structure of ASD traits (assessed using…

Looking under the Bonnet: Factors Affecting Student Adoption of E-Learning Systems in Jordan

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Muneer Mahmood Abbad, David Morris, Carmel de Nahlik

2009-04-01

Full Text Available The primary questions addressed in this paper are the following: what are the factors that affect students’ adoption of an e-learning system and what are the relationships among these factors?This paper investigates and identifies some of the major factors affecting students’ adoption of an e-learning system in a university in Jordan. E-learning adoption is approached from the information systems acceptance point of view. This suggests that a prior condition for learning effectively using e-learning systems is that students must actually use them. Thus, a greater knowledge of the factors that affect IT adoption and their interrelationships is a pre-cursor to a better understanding of student acceptance of e-learning systems. In turn, this will help and guide those who develop, implement, and deliver e-learning systems.In this study, an extended version of the Technology Acceptance Model (TAM was developed to investigate the underlying factors that influence students’ decisions to use an e-learning system. The TAM was populated using data gathered from a survey of 486 undergraduate students using the Moodle based e-learning system at the Arab Open University. The model was estimated using Structural Equation Modelling (SEM. A path model was developed to analyze the relationships between the factors to explain students’ adoption of the e-learning system. Whilst findings support existing literature about prior experience affecting perceptions, they also point to surprising group effects, which may merit future exploration.

Assessing vulnerability to drought: identifying underlying factors across Europe

Science.gov (United States)

Urquijo, Julia; Gonzalez Tánago, Itziar; Ballesteros, Mario; De Stefano, Lucia

2015-04-01

Drought is considered one of the most severe and damaging natural hazards in terms of people and sectors affected and associated losses. Drought is a normal and recurrent climatic phenomenon that occurs worldwide, although its spatial and temporal characteristics vary significantly among climates. In the case of Europe, in the last thirty years, the region has suffered several drought events that have caused estimated economic damages over a €100 billion and have affected almost 20% of its territory and population. In recent years, there has been a growing awareness among experts and authorities of the need to shift from a reactive crisis approach to a drought risk management approach, as well as of the importance of designing and implementing policies, strategies and plans at country and river basin levels to deal with drought. The identification of whom and what is vulnerable to drought is a central aspect of drought risk mitigation and planning and several authors agree that societal vulnerability often determines drought risk more than the actual precipitation shortfalls. The final aim of a drought vulnerability assessment is to identify the underlying sources of drought impact, in order to develop policy options that help to enhance coping capacity and therefore to prevent drought impact. This study identifies and maps factors underlying vulnerability to drought across Europe. The identification of factors influencing vulnerability starts from the analysis of past drought impacts in four European socioeconomic sectors. This analysis, along with an extensive literature review, led to the selection of vulnerability factors that are both relevant and adequate for the European context. Adopting the IPCC model, vulnerability factors were grouped to describe exposure, sensitivity and adaptive capacity. The aggregation of these components has resulted in the mapping of vulnerability to drought across Europe at NUTS02 level. Final results have been compared with

Honorary Authorship Practices in Environmental Science Teams: Structural and Cultural Factors and Solutions.

Science.gov (United States)

Elliott, Kevin C; Settles, Isis H; Montgomery, Georgina M; Brassel, Sheila T; Cheruvelil, Kendra Spence; Soranno, Patricia A

2017-01-01

Overinclusive authorship practices such as honorary or guest authorship have been widely reported, and they appear to be exacerbated by the rise of large interdisciplinary collaborations that make authorship decisions particularly complex. Although many studies have reported on the frequency of honorary authorship and potential solutions to it, few have probed how the underlying dynamics of large interdisciplinary teams contribute to the problem. This article reports on a qualitative study of the authorship standards and practices of six National Science Foundation-funded interdisciplinary environmental science teams. Using interviews of the lead principal investigator and an early-career member on each team, our study explores the nature of honorary authorship practices as well as some of the motivating factors that may contribute to these practices. These factors include both structural elements (policies and procedures) and cultural elements (values and norms) that cross organizational boundaries. Therefore, we provide recommendations that address the intersection of these factors and that can be applied at multiple organizational levels.

The Cannabis Abuse Screening Test and the DSM-5 in the general population: Optimal thresholds and underlying common structure using multiple factor analysis.

Science.gov (United States)

Legleye, Stéphane

2017-11-10

The Cannabis Abuse Screening Test (CAST) aims at screening the problematic use of cannabis. It has never been validated against the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM)-5 and its relationships with this latter have never been studied. We used a probabilistic telephone survey collected in 2014 (1351 past-year cannabis users aged 15-64) implementing the CAST and a DSM-5 adaptation of the Munich Composite International Diagnostic Interview assessing cannabis use disorders. Data were weighted, and CAST items were considered categorical. Factorial structures were assessed with confirmatory factor analyses; the relationships between the instruments were studied with multiple factor analysis (MFA). One factor for the DSM-5 and two correlated factors for the CAST were the best confirmatory factor analyses solutions. The CAST thresholds for screening moderate/severe and severe cannabis use disorders were 5 (sensitivity = 78.2% and specificity = 79.6%) and 8 (sensitivity = 86.0% and specificity = 86.7%), respectively. The MFA identified two orthogonal dimensions: The first was equally shared by both instruments; the second was the second CAST dimension (extreme frequencies of use before midday and alone, memory problems, and reproaches from friends/family). The CAST structure and screening properties were confirmed. The MFA explains its screening performances by its first dimension and identified the problematic patterns (the second dimension) that are not captured by the DSM-5. Copyright © 2017 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Lesion Mapping the Four-Factor Structure of Emotional Intelligence

Science.gov (United States)

Operskalski, Joachim T.; Paul, Erick J.; Colom, Roberto; Barbey, Aron K.; Grafman, Jordan

2015-01-01

Emotional intelligence (EI) refers to an individual’s ability to process and respond to emotions, including recognizing the expression of emotions in others, using emotions to enhance thought and decision making, and regulating emotions to drive effective behaviors. Despite their importance for goal-directed social behavior, little is known about the neural mechanisms underlying specific facets of EI. Here, we report findings from a study investigating the neural bases of these specific components for EI in a sample of 130 combat veterans with penetrating traumatic brain injury. We examined the neural mechanisms underlying experiential (perceiving and using emotional information) and strategic (understanding and managing emotions) facets of EI. Factor scores were submitted to voxel-based lesion symptom mapping to elucidate their neural substrates. The results indicate that two facets of EI (perceiving and managing emotions) engage common and distinctive neural systems, with shared dependence on the social knowledge network, and selective engagement of the orbitofrontal and parietal cortex for strategic aspects of emotional information processing. The observed pattern of findings suggests that sub-facets of experiential and strategic EI can be characterized as separable but related processes that depend upon a core network of brain structures within frontal, temporal and parietal cortex. PMID:26858627

Studies on Pounding Response Considering Structure-Soil-Structure Interaction under Seismic Loads

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Peizhen Li

2017-12-01

Full Text Available Pounding phenomena considering structure–soil–structure interaction (SSSI under seismic loads are investigated in this paper. Based on a practical engineering project, this work presents a three-dimensional finite element numerical simulation method using ANSYS software. According to Chinese design code, the models of adjacent shear wall structures on Shanghai soft soil with the rigid foundation, box foundation and pile foundation are built respectively. In the simulation, the Davidenkov model of the soil skeleton curve is assumed for soil behavior, and the contact elements with Kelvin model are adopted to simulate pounding phenomena between adjacent structures. Finally, the dynamic responses of adjacent structures considering the pounding and SSSI effects are analyzed. The results show that pounding phenomena may occur, indicating that the seismic separation requirement for adjacent buildings of Chinese design code may not be enough to avoid pounding effect. Pounding and SSSI effects worsen the adjacent buildings’ conditions because their acceleration and shear responses are amplified after pounding considering SSSI. These results are significant for studying the effect of pounding and SSSI phenomena on seismic responses of structures and national sustainable development, especially in earthquake prevention and disaster reduction.

Safety margins associated with containment structures under dynamic loading

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Lu, S.C.

1978-01-01

A technical basis for assessing the true safety margins of containment structures involved with MARK I boiling water reactor reevaluation activities is presented. It is based on the results of a plane-strain, large displacement, elasto-plastic, finite-element analysis of a thin cylindrical shell subjected to external and internal pressure pulses. An analytical procedure is presented for estimating the ultimate load capacity of the thin shell structure, and subsequently, for quantifying the design margins of safety for the type of loads under consideration. For defining failure of structures, a finite strain failure criterion is derived that accounts for multiaxiality effects

Factor structure of the Brief Negative Symptom Scale.

Science.gov (United States)

Strauss, Gregory P; Hong, L Elliot; Gold, James M; Buchanan, Robert W; McMahon, Robert P; Keller, William R; Fischer, Bernard A; Catalano, Lauren T; Culbreth, Adam J; Carpenter, William T; Kirkpatrick, Brian

2012-12-01

The current study examined the factor structure of the Brief Negative Symptom Scale (BNSS), a next-generation negative symptom rating instrument developed in response to the NIMH-sponsored Consensus Development Conference on Negative Symptoms. Participants included 146 individuals with a DSM-IV diagnosis of schizophrenia or schizoaffective disorder. Principal axis factoring indicated two distinct factors explaining 68.7% of the variance. Similar to previous findings, the factors reflected motivation and pleasure and emotional expressivity. These findings provide further support for the construct validity of the BNSS, and for the existence of these two negative symptom factors. Copyright © 2012 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Evaluating the factor structure, item analyses, and internal consistency of hospital anxiety and depression scale in Iranian infertile patients

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Payam Amini

2017-09-01

Full Text Available Background: The hospital anxiety and depression scale (HADS is a common screening tool designed to measure the level of anxiety and depression in different factor structures and has been extensively used in non-psychiatric populations and individuals experiencing fertility problems. Objective: The aims of this study were to evaluate the factor structure, item analyses, and internal consistency of HADS in Iranian infertile patients. Materials and Methods: This cross-sectional study included 651 infertile patients (248 men and 403 women referred to a referral infertility Center in Tehran, Iran between January 2014 and January 2015. Confirmatory factor analysis was used to determine the underlying factor structure of the HADS among one, two, and threefactor models. Several goodness of fit indices were utilized such as comparative, normed and goodness of fit indices, Akaike information criterion, and the root mean squared error of approximation. In addition to HADS, the Satisfaction with Life Scale questionnaires as well as demographic and clinical information were administered to all patients. Results: The goodness of fit indices through CFAs exposed that three and onefactor model provided the best and worst fit to the total, male and female datasets compared to the other factor structure models for the infertile patients. The Cronbach’s alpha for anxiety and depression subscales were 0.866 and 0.753 respectively. The HADS subscales significantly correlated with SWLS, indicating an acceptable convergent validity. Conclusion: The HADS was found to be a three-factor structure screening instrument in the field of infertility.

factors associated with malnutrition among under- five children in ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

Global Journal

Malnutrition is a consequence of consumption of dietary nutrient either ... The aim of this study was to carry out a review of malnutrition-dependent factors among ... observed that an estimated 60 million under-five children in developing .... adults (Etim et al., 2017). .... appetite, and this may be common among terminally ill.

Factor Structure and Validity of the Body Parts Satisfaction Scale: Results from the 1972 Psychology Today Survey

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David Frederick

2014-07-01

Full Text Available In 1972, the first major national study on body image was conducted under the auspices of Psychology Today. Body image was assessed with the Body Parts Satisfaction Scale, which examined the dissatisfaction people experienced with 24 aspects of their bodies. Despite the continued reliance on this scale and reference to the study, data on the factor structure of this measure in a sample of adults have never been published, and citations of the original scale have relied on an unpublished manuscript (Bohrnstedt, 1977. An exploratory factor analysis conducted on 2,013 adults revealed factors for men (Face, Sex Organ, Height, Lower Body, Mid Torso, Upper Torso, Height and women (Face, Sex Organ, Height, Lower Torso, Mid Torso, Extremities, Breast. The factors were weakly to moderately intercorrelated, suggesting the scale can be analyzed by items, by subscales, or by total score. People who reported more dissatisfaction with their body also tended to report lower self-esteem and less comfort interacting with members of the other sex. The analyses provide a useful comparison point for researchers looking to examine gender differences in dissatisfaction with specific aspects of the body, as well as the factor structures linking these items.

Factor structure of functional state of primary school age children

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Davidenko O.V.

2011-02-01

Full Text Available The examination of primary school children to determine the ranking of significant factors that determine the structure of their functional state depending on the level of physical health. It is shown that the main factor in the structure of the functional state of younger schoolchildren in low-and lower-middle level of physical fitness is selected morpho-functional status, which characterizes the functions of the body at rest. For children with average or above average level of physical fitness is a leading factor in physical fitness of schoolchildren.

Assessing the performance of reinforced concrete structures under impact loads

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Sharma, Akanshu; Reddy, G.R.; Vaze, K.K.; Ozbolt, Josko; Hofmann, J.

2011-01-01

Reinforced concrete (RC) structures housing nuclear facilities must qualify against much stringent requirements of operating and accidental loads than conventional structures. One such accidental load that must be considered while assessing the performance of safety related RC structures is impact load. It is known that the behavior of concrete/reinforced concrete structures is strongly influenced by the loading rate. The RC structural members subjected to impact loads behave quite differently as compared to the same subjected to quasi-static loading due to the strain-rate influence on strength, stiffness, and ductility as well as to the activation of inertia forces. Moreover, for concrete structures, which exhibit damage and fracture phenomena, the failure mode and cracking pattern depend significantly on loading rate. In general, there is a tendency that with the increase of loading rate the failure mode changes from mode-I to mixed mode. In order to assess the performance of existing structures against impact loads that may be generated mainly due to man-made accidental conditions, it is important to have models that can realistically predict the impact behavior of concrete structures. The present paper focuses on a relatively new approach for 3D finite element analysis of RC structures under impact loads. The approach uses rate sensitive micro-plane model as constitutive law for concrete, while the strain-rate influence is captured by the activation energy. Inertia forces are implicitly accounted for through dynamic finite element analysis. It is shown with the help of different examples that the approach can very well simulate the behavior of RC structural elements under high rate loading. (author)

Oriented matroids—combinatorial structures underlying loop quantum gravity

Science.gov (United States)

Brunnemann, Johannes; Rideout, David

2010-10-01

We analyze combinatorial structures which play a central role in determining spectral properties of the volume operator (Ashtekar A and Lewandowski J 1998 Adv. Theor. Math. Phys. 1 388) in loop quantum gravity (LQG). These structures encode geometrical information of the embedding of arbitrary valence vertices of a graph in three-dimensional Riemannian space and can be represented by sign strings containing relative orientations of embedded edges. We demonstrate that these signature factors are a special representation of the general mathematical concept of an oriented matroid (Ziegler G M 1998 Electron. J. Comb.; Björner A et al 1999 Oriented Matroids (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press)). Moreover, we show that oriented matroids can also be used to describe the topology (connectedness) of directed graphs. Hence, the mathematical methods developed for oriented matroids can be applied to the difficult combinatorics of embedded graphs underlying the construction of LQG. As a first application we revisit the analysis of Brunnemann and Rideout (2008 Class. Quantum Grav. 25 065001 and 065002), and find that enumeration of all possible sign configurations used there is equivalent to enumerating all realizable oriented matroids of rank 3 (Ziegler G M 1998 Electron. J. Comb.; Björner A et al 1999 Oriented Matroids (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press)), and thus can be greatly simplified. We find that for 7-valent vertices having no coplanar triples of edge tangents, the smallest non-zero eigenvalue of the volume spectrum does not grow as one increases the maximum spin jmax at the vertex, for any orientation of the edge tangents. This indicates that, in contrast to the area operator, considering large jmax does not necessarily imply large volume eigenvalues. In addition we give an outlook to possible starting points for rewriting the combinatorics of LQG in terms of oriented matroids.

Nucleon structure functions, resonance form factors, and duality

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Davidovsky, V.V.; Struminsky, B.V.

2003-01-01

The behavior of nucleon structure functions in the resonance region is explored. For form factors that describe resonance production, expressions are obtained that are dependent on the photon virtuality Q 2 , which have a correct threshold behavior, and which take into account available experimental data on resonance decay. Resonance contributions to nucleon structure functions are calculated. The resulting expressions are used to investigate quark-hadron duality in electron-nucleon scattering by taking the example of the structure function F 2

Factor Structure of the Conflict Tactics Scale 1

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Kaori Baba

2017-07-01

Full Text Available Background: The Conflict Tactics Scale 1 (CTS1 is a widely used self-report measure of abusive attitudes of parents towards children. The factor structure of the CTS1 still remains to be clarified. The aim of this study was to examine the factor structure of the Japanese version of the CTS1 for postpartum women in community settings. Method: The data in this study came from the Okayama and Kumamoto’s study. These were part of a larger survey using longitudinal questionnaire studies conducted in Japan from 2001 to 2002 and in 2011, respectively. In both study sites, the participant mothers were asked to fill in the CTS1 one month after delivery when they attended for check-up at the out-patient clinic. Results: A total of 1,150 questionnaires were collected, excluding the participants with missing values in the CTS1. Finally, 1,078 were included in the statistical analyses. Data of 1,078 women were divided into two parts. In the first halved sample (n=578, an exploratory factor analysis was conducted for the CTS1 items after exluding nine items with extremely low prevalence. It revealed 2-factor or 3-factor models. Then, we conducted a model comparison with the second halved sample (n=500, using confirmatory factor analysis. In terms of goodness-of-fit indeces, the 2-factor model was superior. Its subscales were Reasoning and Psycholosical Aggression. Conclusion: The 2-factor model of the CTS1 consisting of Reasoning and Psychological Aggression was superior to the 3-factor model. This is not inconsistent with the original authors’ theoretical model.

Reliability analysis of structures under periodic proof tests in service

Science.gov (United States)

Yang, J.-N.

1976-01-01

A reliability analysis of structures subjected to random service loads and periodic proof tests treats gust loads and maneuver loads as random processes. Crack initiation, crack propagation, and strength degradation are treated as the fatigue process. The time to fatigue crack initiation and ultimate strength are random variables. Residual strength decreases during crack propagation, so that failure rate increases with time. When a structure fails under periodic proof testing, a new structure is built and proof-tested. The probability of structural failure in service is derived from treatment of all the random variables, strength degradations, service loads, proof tests, and the renewal of failed structures. Some numerical examples are worked out.

Term Structure of Credit Spreads of A Firm When Its Underlying Assets are Discontinuous

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Budhi Arta Surya

2012-01-01

Full Text Available We revisit the previous works of Leland [12], Leland and Toft [11] andHilberink and Rogers [7] on optimal capital structure and show that thecredit spreads of short-maturity corporate bonds can have nonzero valueswhen the underlying of the firm’s assets value has downward jumps. We givean analytical treatment of this fact under a general Levy process and discusssome numerical examples under pure jump processes.Keywords: Optimal capital structure, credit risk, term structure of creditspread

Structure factors for the alternating Heisenberg chain

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hamer, C.J.; Zheng, W.

2004-01-01

Full text: We develop a linked cluster method to calculate the spectral weights of many-particle excitations at zero temperature. The dynamical structure factor, which is measured in neutron scattering experiments, is expressed as a sum of 'exclusive' structure factors, each representing the contribution of a specific excited state. We apply these methods to the alternating Heisenberg chain, where complete wave-vector and frequency dependent spectral weights for one- and two-particle excitations (continuum and bound states) are calculated near the dimerized limit (λ = O). We also examine the variation of the spectral weights as the uniform chain (λ = 1) is approached. In agreement with Schmidt and Uhrig, we find that the spectral weight is dominated by 2-triplet states, even at λ 1, which implies that a description in terms of triplet-pair excitations remains a good quantitative description even for the uniform, undimerized chain

Factor-structure of economic growth in E-commerce

Institute of Scientific and Technical Information of China (English)

吴隽; 刘洪久; 栾天行

2003-01-01

In order to analyze the factors having effect on economic growth of E-commerce, the economic growthprocess of E-commerce is divided into three stages; growth stage, stabilization stage and re-growth stage. Thesethree different stages are analysed using several economic growth theories, a set of factor-structure is proposedfor each stage of the economic growth process of E-commerce.

Evaluating response modification factor (R for some types of steel structure

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Doralba Valencia Restrepo

2008-01-01

Full Text Available Response modification factor (R, tabulated in the Colombian Design Code as NSR-98, is used in this paper for eva-luating internal member forces produced by design earthquake action on steel structures and the inconsistencies pre-sent when designing structures when 1% drift limits must be complied with. The article presents the design of 45 frames corresponding to the seismic resistance system of 5 buildings: 15 special moment frames (SMF, 15 special concentrically-braced frames (CBF and 15 eccentrically-braced frames (EBF. External loads and their combination were used in estimating internal loads and rigidity demands (1% drift were evaluated in line with NSR-98 requi-rements. Member strength requirements were evaluated by using the AISC-2005 seismic provisions for steel structu-red buildings. Modal pushover analysis was used for evaluating the response modification factor for the 45 given frames at different structural performance levels. It was found that this factor was not constant for any of the three structural systems (SMF, CBF and EBF suggested by NSR-98 and that the values of the response modification factor found in the present investigation were smaller than those tabulated in this design code governing everyday structural design. This would lead to significant errors being made in evaluating design forces, not only in the structures but in the support elements (base-plates, foundations, shear walls and any structures attached to buildings constructed in line with the seismic resistance system.

Underwound DNA under Tension: Structure, Elasticity, and Sequence-Dependent Behaviors

Science.gov (United States)

Sheinin, Maxim Y.; Forth, Scott; Marko, John F.; Wang, Michelle D.

2011-09-01

DNA melting under torsion plays an important role in a wide variety of cellular processes. In the present Letter, we have investigated DNA melting at the single-molecule level using an angular optical trap. By directly measuring force, extension, torque, and angle of DNA, we determined the structural and elastic parameters of torsionally melted DNA. Our data reveal that under moderate forces, the melted DNA assumes a left-handed structure as opposed to an open bubble conformation and is highly torsionally compliant. We have also discovered that at low forces melted DNA properties are highly dependent on DNA sequence. These results provide a more comprehensive picture of the global DNA force-torque phase diagram.

Structural Evolution of Human Recombinant alfaB-Crystallin under UV Irradiation

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Sugiyama, Masaaki; Fujii, Noriko; Morimoto, Yukio

2008-01-01

External stresses cause certain proteins to lose their regular structure and aggregate. In order to clarify this abnormal aggregation process, a structural evolution of human recombinant aB-crystallin under UV irradiation was observed with in situ small-angle neutron scattering. The abnormal...

Tissue factor-expressing tumor cells can bind to immobilized recombinant tissue factor pathway inhibitor under static and shear conditions in vitro.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Sara P Y Che

Full Text Available Mammary tumors and malignant breast cancer cell lines over-express the coagulation factor, tissue factor (TF. High expression of TF is associated with a poor prognosis in breast cancer. Tissue factor pathway inhibitor (TFPI, the endogenous inhibitor of TF, is constitutively expressed on the endothelium. We hypothesized that TF-expressing tumor cells can bind to immobilized recombinant TFPI, leading to arrest of the tumor cells under shear in vitro. We evaluated the adhesion of breast cancer cells to immobilized TFPI under static and shear conditions (0.35 - 1.3 dyn/cm2. We found that high-TF-expressing breast cancer cells, MDA-MB-231 (with a TF density of 460,000/cell, but not low TF-expressing MCF-7 (with a TF density of 1,400/cell, adhered to recombinant TFPI, under static and shear conditions. Adhesion of MDA-MB-231 cells to TFPI required activated factor VII (FVIIa, but not FX, and was inhibited by a factor VIIa-blocking anti-TF antibody. Under shear, adhesion to TFPI was dependent on the TFPI-coating concentration, FVIIa concentration and shear stress, with no observed adhesion at shear stresses greater than 1.0 dyn/cm2. This is the first study showing that TF-expressing tumor cells can be captured by immobilized TFPI, a ligand constitutively expressed on the endothelium, under low shear in vitro. Based on our results, we hypothesize that TFPI could be a novel ligand mediating the arrest of TF-expressing tumor cells in high TFPI-expressing vessels under conditions of low shear during metastasis.

A Parametric Factor Model of the Term Structure of Mortality

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Haldrup, Niels; Rosenskjold, Carsten Paysen T.

The prototypical Lee-Carter mortality model is characterized by a single common time factor that loads differently across age groups. In this paper we propose a factor model for the term structure of mortality where multiple factors are designed to influence the age groups differently via...... on the loading functions, the factors are not designed to be orthogonal but can be dependent and can possibly cointegrate when the factors have unit roots. We suggest two estimation procedures similar to the estimation of the dynamic Nelson-Siegel term structure model. First, a two-step nonlinear least squares...... procedure based on cross-section regressions together with a separate model to estimate the dynamics of the factors. Second, we suggest a fully specified model estimated by maximum likelihood via the Kalman filter recursions after the model is put on state space form. We demonstrate the methodology for US...

Morphogenetic, structural and productive traits of buffel grass under different irrigation regimes

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Maria Janiele Ferreira Coutinho

2015-06-01

Full Text Available The water restriction conditions in the Brazilian semiarid region are one of the most limiting factors to the establishment and yield of forage grasses. This study aimed to evaluate the effect of different irrigation regimes on morphogenetic, structural and productive traits of buffel grass. Arandomized blocks design, with five treatments and six replications, was used. Treatments consisted of five irrigation regimes, corresponding to the intervals of 2, 4, 6, 8 and 10 days. The traits analyzed were: leaf emergence rate, phyllochron, leaf and stem elongation rate, leaf senescence rate, final leaf length, number of green leaves per tiller, number of tillers, stem height, leaf/stem ratio, leaf area index, dry mass of green leaf and stem, dry mass of green, dead and total forage, root dry mass, dry mass and green dry mass/dead dry mass ratio. The final leaf length and dead forage dry mass were not affected by the irrigation regimes. The leaf/stem ratio followed a quadratic model, maintaining the value of 0.51 up to the irrigation regime of four days. The other morphological, structural and productive traits decreased linearly with increasing irrigation frequencies. The irrigation intervals promoted reductions in the morphological, structural and productive parameters of buffel grass, when grown under greenhouse conditions. The irrigation regime of 2 days stands out as the least restrictive to the development of buffel grass.

Frequency-restrained structure-factor refinement. Pt. 1

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Lunin, V.Yu.; Skovoroda, T.P.

1991-01-01

An analysis of the frequencies of different values encountered in protein electron-density syntheses reveals characteristic shapes for their distributions (histograms). This property can be used to refine ill-defined phases (and, perhaps, some of the moduli) of structure factors, and thus to obtain more-interpretable electron-density maps. A simple empirical model is designed which can predict the histogram for a protein with an undetermined structure provided its unit-cell volume and charge are known. The parameters of the histogram model are derived from a set of proteins with known spatial structures. The application of the simulated histogram is illustrated by an improved electron-density map for the 'dry' form of the protein γ-crystallin IIIb. (orig.)

Factors associated with asthma among under-fives in Mulago hospital, Kampala Uganda

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Nantanda, Rebecca; Ostergaard, Marianne S; Ndeezi, Grace

2013-01-01

Asthma is the most common chronic childhood illness, with rapidly increasing prevalence in low-income countries. Among young children, asthma is often under-diagnosed.We investigated the factors associated with asthma among under-fives presenting with acute respiratory symptoms at Mulago hospital...

Pair potentials and structure factors of liquid alkali metals

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kumaravadivel, R.; Tosi, M.P.

1984-03-01

Measured structure factors of liquid alkali metals are examined in the framework of screened-pair-potentials theory. Information on the main attractive well in the effective pair potential is obtained from the structural data by an approximate method stemming from an optimized random phase treatment of the indirect ion-ion attraction. The results are compared with a variety of theoretical pair potentials in the cases of sodium and potassium, after a test of the method against computer simulation data on a model for rubidium. Results for the other alkali metals are also given and discussed. The small-angle scattering region is then examined in considerable detail, with special attention to the possibility of a linear term in a series expansion of the structure factor at very small momentum transfer. Although sensitivity to both the bare electron-ion coupling and the local field factor in the screening function is demonstrated and analyzed, no linear term of the magnitude reported in recent X-ray diffraction experiments is found in the present theoretical framework. (author)

Factor structure and clinical utility of the Beck depression inventory in patients with binge eating disorder and obesity.

Science.gov (United States)

Udo, Tomoko; McKee, Sherry A; Grilo, Carlos M

2015-01-01

The Beck Depression Inventory (BDI) is often used to assess depression symptoms, but its factor structure and its clinical utility have not been evaluated in patients with binge eating disorder (BED) and obesity. A total of 882 treatment-seeking obese patients with BED were administered structured interviews (Structured Clinical Interview for Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fourth Edition Axis I Disorders) and completed self-report questionnaires. Exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses supported a brief 16-item BDI version with a three-factor structure (affective, attitudinal and somatic). Both 21- and 16-item versions showed excellent internal consistency (both α=0.89) and had significant correlation patterns with different aspects of eating disorder psychopathology; three factors showed significant but variable associations with eating disorder psychopathology. Area under the curves (AUC) for both BDI versions were significant in predicting major depressive disorder (MDD; AUC=0.773 [16-item], 73.5% sensitivity/70.2% specificity, AUC=0.769 [21-item], 79.5% sensitivity/64.1% specificity) and mood disorders (AUC=0.763 [16-item], 67.1% sensitivity/71.5% specificity, AUC=0.769 [21-item], 84.2% sensitivity/55.7% specificity). The 21-item BDI (cutoff score ≥16) showed higher negative predictive values (94.0% vs. 93.0% [MDD]; 92.4% vs. 88.3% [mood disorders]) than the brief 16-item BDI (cutoff score ≥13). Both BDI versions demonstrated moderate performance as a screening instrument for MDD/mood disorders in obese patients with BED. Advantages and disadvantages for both versions are discussed. A three-factor structure has potential to inform the conceptualization of depression features. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Numerical Flexural Strength Analysis of Thermally Stressed Delaminated Composite Structure under Sinusoidal Loading

Science.gov (United States)

Hirwani, C. K.; Biswash, S.; Mehar, K.; Panda, S. K.

2018-03-01

In this article, we investigate the thermomechanical deflection characteristics of the debonded composite plate structure using an isoparametric type of higher-order finite element model. The current formulation is derived using higher-order kinematic theory and the displacement variables described as constant along the thickness direction whereas varying nonlinearly for the in-plane directions. The present mid-plane kinematic model mainly obsoletes the use of shear correction factor as in the other lower-order theories. The separation between the adjacent layers is modeled via the sub-laminate technique and the intermittent continuity conditions imposed to avoid the mathematical ill conditions. The governing equation of equilibrium of the damaged plate structure under the combined state of loading are obtained using the variational principle and solved numerically to compute the deflection values. Further, the convergence test has been performed by refining the numbers of elements and validated through comparing the present results with available published values. The usefulness of the proposed formulation has been discussed by solving the different kind of numerical examples including the size, location and position of delamination.

Communication: Dynamical and structural analyses of solid hydrogen under vapor pressure

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Hyeon-Deuk, Kim, E-mail: kim@kuchem.kyoto-u.ac.jp [Department of Chemistry, Kyoto University, Kyoto 606-8502 (Japan); Japan Science and Technology Agency, PRESTO, 4-1-8 Honcho, Kawaguchi, Saitama 332-0012 (Japan); Ando, Koji [Department of Chemistry, Kyoto University, Kyoto 606-8502 (Japan)

2015-11-07

Nuclear quantum effects play a dominant role in determining the phase diagram of H{sub 2}. With a recently developed quantum molecular dynamics simulation method, we examine dynamical and structural characters of solid H{sub 2} under vapor pressure, demonstrating the difference from liquid and high-pressure solid H{sub 2}. While stable hexagonal close-packed lattice structures are reproduced with reasonable lattice phonon frequencies, the most stable adjacent configuration exhibits a zigzag structure, in contrast with the T-shape liquid configuration. The periodic angular distributions of H{sub 2} molecules indicate that molecules are not a completely free rotor in the vapor-pressure solid reflecting asymmetric potentials from surrounding molecules on adjacent lattice sites. Discrete jumps of librational and H–H vibrational frequencies as well as H–H bond length caused by structural rearrangements under vapor pressure effectively discriminate the liquid and solid phases. The obtained dynamical and structural information of the vapor-pressure H{sub 2} solid will be useful in monitoring thermodynamic states of condensed hydrogens.

Reliability-Based Calibration of Load Duration Factors for Timber Structures

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Sørensen, John Dalsgaard; Svensson, Staffan; Stang, Birgitte Friis Dela

2005-01-01

John Dalsgaard Sørensen, Staffan Svensson, Birgitte Dela Stang : Reliability-Based Calibration of Load Duration Factors for Timber Structures     Abstract :   The load bearing capacity of timber structures decrease with time depending on the type of load and timber. Based on representative limit...... states and stochastic models for timber structures, load duration factors are calibrated using probabilistic methods. Load duration e.ects are estimated on basis of simulation of realizations of wind, snow and imposed loads in accordance with the load models in the Danish structural codes. Three damage...... accumulation models are considered, namely Gerhards model, Barrett and Foschi _ s model and Foschi and Yao _ s model. The parameters in these models are .tted by the Maximum Likelihood Method using data relevant for Danish structural timber and the statistical uncertainty is quanti .ed. The reliability...

Ultrastructural analysis of volutin-acidocalciumosomes formation in some species of bacteria, spirochetes, yeast and protozoa during morphogenesis and under environment different factors action

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hovnanyan, K.O.; Hovnanyan, M.K.; Navasardyan, L.A.; Trchounian, A.A.

2012-01-01

Ultrastructure organization of volutin granules in some species of bacteria, spirochetes, yeast and protozoa cellular architecture was studied during morphogenesis and under environment different factors action leading to pathological changes. As the result of complex electron microscopic studies of morphogenesis in some species of prokaryotes and eukaryotic organisms the formation of new structures of volutin-acidocal-ciumosomes has been established within cell cytoplasm. In addition, under the ionizing roentgen and irradiation as well as some antibiotics action morphometric changes and changes in optical properties were also shown. Electron microscopic identification of volutin granules changes in structural organization in bacteria, spirochetes, yeast and protozoa might serve as appropriate express-method for visual evaluation of damage and reparation processes during environment

Nonlinear system identification of smart structures under high impact loads

Science.gov (United States)

Sarp Arsava, Kemal; Kim, Yeesock; El-Korchi, Tahar; Park, Hyo Seon

2013-05-01

The main purpose of this paper is to develop numerical models for the prediction and analysis of the highly nonlinear behavior of integrated structure control systems subjected to high impact loading. A time-delayed adaptive neuro-fuzzy inference system (TANFIS) is proposed for modeling of the complex nonlinear behavior of smart structures equipped with magnetorheological (MR) dampers under high impact forces. Experimental studies are performed to generate sets of input and output data for training and validation of the TANFIS models. The high impact load and current signals are used as the input disturbance and control signals while the displacement and acceleration responses from the structure-MR damper system are used as the output signals. The benchmark adaptive neuro-fuzzy inference system (ANFIS) is used as a baseline. Comparisons of the trained TANFIS models with experimental results demonstrate that the TANFIS modeling framework is an effective way to capture nonlinear behavior of integrated structure-MR damper systems under high impact loading. In addition, the performance of the TANFIS model is much better than that of ANFIS in both the training and the validation processes.

Peplau's Theory of Interpersonal Relations: An Alternate Factor Structure for Patient Experience Data?

Science.gov (United States)

Hagerty, Thomas A; Samuels, William; Norcini-Pala, Andrea; Gigliotti, Eileen

2017-04-01

A confirmatory factor analysis of data from the responses of 12,436 patients to 16 items on the Consumer Assessment of Healthcare Providers and Systems-Hospital survey was used to test a latent factor structure based on Peplau's middle-range theory of interpersonal relations. A two-factor model based on Peplau's theory fit these data well, whereas a three-factor model also based on Peplau's theory fit them excellently and provided a suitable alternate factor structure for the data. Though neither the two- nor three-factor model fit as well as the original factor structure, these results support using Peplau's theory to demonstrate nursing's extensive contribution to the experiences of hospitalized patients.

Numerical Simulation for the Soil-Pile-Structure Interaction under Seismic Loading

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Lifeng Luan

2015-01-01

Full Text Available Piles are widely used as reinforcement structures in geotechnical engineering designs. If the settlement of the soil is greater than the pile, the pile is pulled down by the soil, and negative friction force is produced. Previous studies have mainly focused on the interaction of pile-soil under static condition. However, many pile projects are located in earthquake-prone areas, which indicate the importance of determining the response of the pile-soil structure under seismic load. In this paper, the nonlinear, explicit, and finite difference program FLAC3D, which considers the mechanical behavior of soil-pile interaction, is used to establish an underconsolidated soil-pile mode. The response processes of the pile side friction force, the pile axial force, and the soil response under seismic load are also analyzed.

Factor Structure and Psychometric Properties of the Injection Phobia Scale-Anxiety

Science.gov (United States)

Olatunji, Bunmi O.; Sawchuk, Craig N.; Moretz, Melanie W.; David, Bieke; Armstrong, Thomas; Ciesielski, Bethany G.

2010-01-01

The present investigation examined the factor structure and psychometric properties of the Injection Phobia Scale-Anxiety (IPS-Anx). Principal components analysis of IPS-Anx items in Study 1 (n = 498) revealed a 2-factor structure consisting of Distal Fear and Contact Fear. However, CFA results in Study 2 (n = 567) suggest that a 1-factor…

Physical factors underlying the association between lower walking performance and falls in older people: a structural equation model.

Science.gov (United States)

Shimada, Hiroyuki; Tiedemann, Anne; Lord, Stephen R; Suzukawa, Megumi; Makizako, Hyuma; Kobayashi, Kumiko; Suzuki, Takao

2011-01-01

The purpose of this study was to determine the interrelationships between lower limb muscle performance, balance, gait and falls in older people using structural equation modeling. Study participants were two hundred and thirteen people aged 65 years and older (mean age, 80.0 ± 7.1 years), who used day-care services in Japan. The outcome measures were the history of falls three months retrospectively and physical risk factors for falling, including performance in the chair stand test (CST), one-leg standing test (OLS), tandem walk test, 6m walking time, and the timed up-and-go (TUG) test. Thirty-nine (18.3%) of the 213 participants had fallen at least one or more times during the preceding 3 months. The fall group had significantly slower 6m walking speed and took significantly longer to undertake the TUG test than the non-fall group. In a structural equation model, performance in the CST contributed significantly to gait function, and low gait function was significantly and directly associated with falls in older people. This suggests that task-specific strength exercise as well as general mobility retraining should be important components of exercise programs designed to reduce falls in older people. Copyright © 2010 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.

Sum rules for four-spinon dynamic structure factor in XXX model

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Si Lakhal, B.; Abada, A.

2005-01-01

In the context of the antiferromagnetic spin 12 Heisenberg quantum spin chain (XXX model), we estimate the contribution of the exact four-spinon dynamic structure factor S 4 by calculating a number of sum rules the total dynamic structure factor S is known to satisfy exactly. These sum rules are: the static susceptibility, the integrated intensity, the total integrated intensity, the first frequency moment and the nearest-neighbor correlation function. We find that the contribution of S 4 is between 1% and 2.5%, depending on the sum rule, whereas the contribution of the exact two-spinon dynamic structure factor S 2 is between 70% and 75%. The calculations are numerical and Monte Carlo based. Good statistics are obtained

Followee recommendation in microblog using matrix factorization model with structural regularization.

Science.gov (United States)

Yu, Yan; Qiu, Robin G

2014-01-01

Microblog that provides us a new communication and information sharing platform has been growing exponentially since it emerged just a few years ago. To microblog users, recommending followees who can serve as high quality information sources is a competitive service. To address this problem, in this paper we propose a matrix factorization model with structural regularization to improve the accuracy of followee recommendation in microblog. More specifically, we adapt the matrix factorization model in traditional item recommender systems to followee recommendation in microblog and use structural regularization to exploit structure information of social network to constrain matrix factorization model. The experimental analysis on a real-world dataset shows that our proposed model is promising.

Applying total interpretive structural modeling to study factors affecting construction labour productivity

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Sayali Shrikrishna Sandbhor

2014-03-01

Full Text Available Construction sector has always been dependent on manpower. Most of the activities carried out on any construction site are labour intensive. Since productivity of any project depends directly on productivity of labour, it is a prime responsibility of the employer to enhance labour productivity. Measures to improve the same depend on analysis of positive and negative factors affecting productivity. Major attention should be given to factors that decrease the productivity of labour. Factor analysis thus is an integral part of any study aiming to improve productivity.  Interpretive structural modeling is a methodology for identifying and summarizing relationships among factors which define an issue or problem. It provides a means to arrange the factors in an order as per their complexity. This study attempts to use the latest version of interpretive structural modeling i.e. total interpretive structural modeling to analyze factors negatively affecting construction labour productivity. It establishes interpretive relationship among these factors facilitating improvement in the overall productivity of construction site.

The Fatigue Behavior of Steel Structures under Random Loading

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Agerskov, Henning

2009-01-01

of the investigation, fatigue test series with a total of 540 fatigue tests have been carried through on various types of welded plate test specimens and full-scale offshore tubular joints. The materials that have been used are either conventional structural steel or high-strength steel. The fatigue tests......Fatigue damage accumulation in steel structures under random loading has been studied in a number of investigations at the Technical University of Denmark. The fatigue life of welded joints has been determined both experimentally and from a fracture mechanics analysis. In the experimental part...... and the fracture mechanics analyses have been carried out using load histories, which are realistic in relation to the types of structures studied, i.e. primarily bridges, offshore structures and chimneys. In general, the test series carried through show a significant difference between constant amplitude...

Factors underlying male and female use of violent video games

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Hartmann, T.; Möller, I.; Krause, C.

2015-01-01

Research has consistently shown that males play violent video games more frequently than females, but factors underlying this gender gap have not been examined to date. This approach examines the assumption that males play violent video games more because they anticipate more enjoyment and less

Donation to disaster relief campaigns: underlying social cognitive factors exposed

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Oosterhof, Liesbeth; Heuvelman, A.; Peters, O.

2009-01-01

number of very serious natural disasters have put an enormous pressure on relief organizations in the last few years. The present study exposes underlying social cognitive factors for donation to relief campaigns. A causal model was constructed, based on social cognitive theory, research on

The Fatigue Behavior of Steel Structures under Random Loading

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Agerskov, Henning

2008-01-01

Fatigue damage accumulation in steel structures under random loading has been studied in a number of investigations at the Technical University of Denmark. The fatigue life of welded joints has been determined both experimentally and from a fracture mechanics analysis. In the experimental part...... and variable amplitude fatigue test results. Both the fracture mechanics analysis and the fatigue test results indicate that Miner’s rule, which is normally used in the design against fatigue in steel structures, may give results, which are unconservative, and that the validity of the results obtained from...

Dynamical load factor of impact loaded shell structures

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hammel, J.

1977-01-01

Dynamical loaded structures can be analysed by spectral representations, which usually lead to an enormous computational effort. If it is possible to find a fitting dynamical load factor, the dynamical problem can be reduced to a statical one. The computation of this statical problem is much simpler. The disadvantage is that the dynamical load factor usually leads to a very rough approximation. In this paper it will be shown, that by combination of these two methods, the approximation of the dynamical load factor can be improved and the consumption of computation time can be enormously reduced. (Auth.)

Evaluation of structural reliability for vacuum vessel under external pressure and electromagnetic force

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Minato, Akio

1983-08-01

Static and dynamic structural analyses of the vacuum vessel for a Swimming Pool Type Tokamak Reactor (SPTR) have been conducted under the external pressure (hydraulic and atmospheric pressure) during normal operation or the electromagnetic force due to plasma disruption. The reactor structural design is based on the concept that the adjacent modules of the vacuum vessel are not connected mechanically with bolts in the torus inboard region each other, so as to save the required space for inserting the remote handling machine for tightenning and untightenning bolts in the region and to simplify the repair and maintenance of the reactor. The structural analyses of the vacuum vessel have been carried out under the external pressure and the electromagnetic force and the structural reliability against the static and dynamic loads is estimated. The several configurations of the lip seal between the modules, which is required to make a plasma vacuum boundary, have been proposed and the structural strength under the forced displacements due to the deformation of the vacuum vessel is also estimated. (author)

Structural modifications of spinels under radiation

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Quentin, A.

2010-12-01

This work is devoted to the study of spinel structure materials under radiation. For that purpose, samples of polycrystalline ZnAl 2 O 4 and monocrystalline MgAl 2 O 4 were irradiated by different heavy ions with different energies. Samples of ZnAl 2 O 4 were studied par electron transmission microscopy, and by grazing incidence X-Ray diffraction and Rietveld analysis. Samples of MgAl 2 O 4 were studied by optical spectroscopy. Most of the results concern amorphization and crystalline structure modification of ZnAl 2 O 4 especially the inversion. We were able to determine a stopping power threshold for amorphization, between 11 keV/nm and 12 keV/nm, and also the amorphization process, which is a multiple impacts process. We studied the evolution of the amorphous phase by TEM and showed a nano-patterning phenomenon. Concerning the inversion, we determined that it did happen by a single impact process, and the saturation value did not reach the random cation distribution value. Inversion and amorphization have different, but close, stopping power threshold. However, amorphization seems to be conditioned by a pre-damage of the material which consists in inversion. (author)

Calculation of coupling factor for the heterogeneous accelerating structure

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Bian Xiaohao; Chen Huaibi; Zheng Shuxin

2006-01-01

The converging part of electron accelerator is designed to converge the phase of injecting electrons, improving the beam quality of the accelerator. It is very crucial to calculate the coupling factor between cavities and to design the geometry structure of the coupling irises. By the E module of code MAFIA, the authors calculate the frequency of every single resonant cavity and the two eigenfrequencies of two-cavitiy line. Then we get the coupling factor between the two cavities. This method can be used to design the geometry structure of the coupling isises between every two cavities. Compared to experiment, the results of the method is very accurate. (authors)

Static reliability of concrete structures under extreme temperature, radiation, moisture and force loading

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Stepanek, P.; Stastnik, S.; Salajka, V.; Hradil, P.; Skolar, J.; Chlanda, V.

2003-01-01

The contribution presents some aspects of the static reliability of concrete structures under temperature effects and under mechanical loading. The mathematical model of a load-bearing concrete structure was performed using the FEM method. The temperature field and static stress that generated states of stress were taken into account. A brief description of some aspects of evaluation of the reliability within the primary circuit concrete structures is stated. The knowledge of actual physical and mechanical characteristics and chemical composition of concrete were necessary for obtaining correct results of numerical analysis. (author)

Hardware-Based Non-Optimum Factors for Launch Vehicle Structural Design

Science.gov (United States)

Wu, K. Chauncey; Cerro, Jeffrey A.

2010-01-01

During aerospace vehicle conceptual and preliminary design, empirical non-optimum factors are typically applied to predicted structural component weights to account for undefined manufacturing and design details. Non-optimum factors are developed here for 32 aluminum-lithium 2195 orthogrid panels comprising the liquid hydrogen tank barrel of the Space Shuttle External Tank using measured panel weights and manufacturing drawings. Minimum values for skin thickness, axial and circumferential blade stiffener thickness and spacing, and overall panel thickness are used to estimate individual panel weights. Panel non-optimum factors computed using a coarse weights model range from 1.21 to 1.77, and a refined weights model (including weld lands and skin and stiffener transition details) yields non-optimum factors of between 1.02 and 1.54. Acreage panels have an average 1.24 non-optimum factor using the coarse model, and 1.03 with the refined version. The observed consistency of these acreage non-optimum factors suggests that relatively simple models can be used to accurately predict large structural component weights for future launch vehicles.

Wettability, soil organic matter and structure-properties of typical chernozems under the forest and under the arable land

Science.gov (United States)

Bykova, Galina; Umarova, Aminat; Tyugai, Zemfira; Milanovskiy, Evgeny; Shein, Evgeny

2017-04-01

Intensive tillage affects the properties of soil: decrease in content of soil organic matter and in hydrophobicity of the soil's solid phase, the reduction of amount of water stable aggregates - all this leads to deterioration of the structure of the soil and affects the process of movement of moisture in the soil profile. One of the hypotheses of soil's structure formation ascribes the formation of water stable aggregates with the presence of hydrophobic organic substances on the surface of the soil's solid phase. The aim of this work is to study the effect of tillage on properties of typical chernozems (pachic Voronic Chernozems, Haplic Chernozems) (Russia, Kursk region), located under the forest and under the arable land. The determination of soil-water contact angle was performed by a Drop Shape Analyzer DSA100 (Krüss GmbH, Germany) by the static sessile drop method. For all samples the content of total and organic carbon by dry combustion in oxygen flow and the particle size distribution by the laser diffraction method on the device Analysette 22 comfort, FRITCH, Germany were determined. The estimation of aggregate composition was performed by dry sieving (AS 200, Retsch, Germany), the content of water stable aggregates was estimated by the Savvinov method. There was a positive correlation between the content of organic matter and soil's wettability in studied soils, a growth of contact angle with the increasing the content of organic matter. Under the forest the content of soil organic matter was changed from 6,41% on the surface up to 1,9% at the depth of 100 cm. In the Chernozem under the arable land the organic carbon content in arable horizon is almost two times less. The maximum of hydrophobicity (78.1o) was observed at the depth of 5 cm under the forest. In the profile under the arable land the contact angle value at the same depth was 50o. The results of the structure analysis has shown a decrease in the content of agronomically valuable and water

Success factors of an enterprise under crisis

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Yaroslava V Danilina

2017-06-01

Full Text Available Objective to analyze the impact of economic crisis in Russia on the enterprisesrsquo access to productive resources as well as on the level of their competencies. Methods historical abstractlogical. Results the article states that despite the influence of external factors the main activities of the company are internal capabilities and resources of the firm. It is shown that under crisis a company must adapt to the limited resources i.e. change the competences of using them. Under modern conditions the competitive advantage can be based on two components ndash access to resources and internal ability of the company to use them. Therefore under the resource constraints such competencies should be generated as 1 ability to use a smaller amount of resources 2 more efficient use of available resources 3 search for the new resources development of own resources. The study determined that the acquisition of new competencies by the company will be associated with the use and improvement of its cognitive capabilities which are a function of organizational and individual knowledge possessed by the enterprise i.e. its intellectual capital. The article analyses the experience of development of new competencies under crisis by the example of reorganization of quotPrompriborquot plant and activities of quotGalogenquot JSC. Analysis of the experience of these companies which not only survived during the crisis but also acquired new competences and skills have led to the conclusion that the key role in this process was played by working with the main part of a company39s intellectual capital i.e. human capital. Thus a conclusion is made about the value of people and their common interests during the transformations within the enterprise. Scientific novelty for the first time the cognitive aspects of the enterprisesrsquo modernization system are considered from the viewpoint of the new resource and competence theory of the enterprise. Practical significance the

The joint probability distribution of structure factors incorporating anomalous-scattering and isomorphous-replacement data

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Peschar, R.; Schenk, H.

1991-01-01

A method to derive joint probability distributions of structure factors is presented which incorporates anomalous-scattering and isomorphous-replacement data in a unified procedure. The structure factors F H and F -H , whose magnitudes are different due to anomalous scattering, are shown to be isomorphously related. This leads to a definition of isomorphism by means of which isomorphous-replacement and anomalous-scattering data can be handled simultaneously. The definition and calculation of the general term of the joint probability distribution for isomorphous structure factors turns out to be crucial. Its analytical form leads to an algorithm by means of which any particular joint probability distribution of structure factors can be constructed. The calculation of the general term is discussed for the case of four isomorphous structure factors in P1, assuming the atoms to be independently and uniformly distributed. A main result is the construction of the probability distribution of the 64 triplet phase sums present in space group P1 amongst four isomorphous structure factors F H , four isomorphous F K and four isomorphous F -H-K . The procedure is readily generalized in the case where an arbitrary number of isomorphous structure factors are available for F H , F K and F -H-K . (orig.)

Structure and viscosity of a transformer oil-based ferrofluid under an external electric field

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Rajnak, M., E-mail: rajnak@saske.sk [Institute of Experimental Physics SAS, Watsonova 47, 04001 Košice (Slovakia); Faculty of Electrical Engineering and Informatics, Technical University of Košice, Letná 9, 04200 Košice (Slovakia); Timko, M.; Kopcansky, P.; Paulovicova, K. [Institute of Experimental Physics SAS, Watsonova 47, 04001 Košice (Slovakia); Tothova, J.; Kurimsky, J.; Dolnik, B.; Cimbala, R. [Faculty of Electrical Engineering and Informatics, Technical University of Košice, Letná 9, 04200 Košice (Slovakia); Avdeev, M.V. [Joint Institute for Nuclear Research, Joliot-Curie 6, Moscow region, 141980 Dubna (Russian Federation); Petrenko, V.I. [Joint Institute for Nuclear Research, Joliot-Curie 6, Moscow region, 141980 Dubna (Russian Federation); Taras Shevchenko Kyiv National University, Volodymyrska Street 64, 01601 Kyiv (Ukraine); Feoktystov, A. [Jülich Centre for Neutron Science (JCNS) at Heinz Maier-Leibnitz Zentrum (MLZ), Forschungszentrum Jülich GmbH, Lichtenbergstr. 1, 85748 Garching (Germany)

2017-06-01

Various structural changes of ferrofluids have been intensively studied under external magnetic fields. In this work we present an experimental evidence of similar changes induced by an electric field. In the context of the electric field effect on ferrofluids structure, we studied a simple ferrofluid consisting of iron oxide nanoparticles coated with oleic acid and dispersed in transformer oil. The structural changes have been observed both on macroscopic and microscopic scale. We also demonstrate a remarkable impact of the electric field on the ferrofluid viscosity in relation to the reported structural changes. It was found that the electric field induced viscosity changes are analogous to the magnetoviscous effect. These changes and the electroviscous effect are believed to stem from the dielectric permittivity contrast between the iron oxide nanoparticles and transformer oil, giving rise to the effective electric polarization of the nanoparticles. It is highlighted that this electrorheological effect should be considered in studies of ferrofluids for high voltage engineering applications, as it can have impact on the thermomagnetic convection or the dielectric breakdown performance. - Highlights: • An experimental evidence of the electric field induced structural changes in a ferrofluid is presented. • An electroviscous effect in the transformer oil-based ferrofluid is shown. • The dielectric contrast between the particles and the carrier fluid is the key factor. • The potential impact on the thermomagnetic convection of ferrofluids in power transformers is highlighted.

Structure factor of dimyristoylphosphatidylcholine unilamellar vesicles: small-angle x-ray scattering study

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kiselev, M.A.; Aksenov, V.L.; Lombardo, D.; Kisselev, A.M.; Lesieur, P.

2003-01-01

Small-angle X-ray scattering (SAXS) experiments have been performed on dimyristoylphosphatidylcholine (DMPC) unilamellar vesicles in 40% aqueous sucrose solution. Model of separated form factors was applied for the evaluation of SAXS curves from large unilamellar vesicles. For the first time vesicle structure factor, polydispersity, average radius and membrane thickness were calculated simultaneously from the SAXS curves at T=30 deg C for DMPC concentrations in the range from 15 to 75 mM (1-5% w/w). Structure factor correction to the scattering curve was shown to be negligibly small for the lipid concentration of 15 mM (1% w/w). It was proved to be necessary to introduce structure factor correction to the scattering curves for lipid concentrations ≥ 30 mM (2% w/w)

Structure Factor of Dimyristoylphosphatidylcholine Unilamellar Vesicles Small-Angle X-Ray Scattering Study

CERN Document Server

Kiselev, M A; Kisselev, A M; Lesieur, P; Aksenov, V L

2003-01-01

Small-angle X-ray scattering (SAXS) experiments have been performed on dimyristoylphosphatidylcholine (DMPC) unilamellar vesicles in 40 % aqueous sucrose solution. Model of separated form factors was applied for the evaluation of SAXS curves from large unilamellar vesicles. For the first time vesicle structure factor, polydispersity, average radius and membrane thickness were calculated simultaneously from the SAXS curves at T=306{\\circ}C for DMPC concentrations in the range from 15 to 75 mM (1-5 % w/w). Structure factor correction to the scattering curve was shown to be negligibly small for the lipid concentration of 15 mM (1 % w/w). It was proved to be necessary to introduce structure factor correction to the scattering curves for lipid concentrations {\\ge}30 mM (2 % w/w).

26 CFR 157.5891-1 - Imposition of excise tax on structured settlement factoring transactions.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-04-01

... settlement factoring transactions. 157.5891-1 Section 157.5891-1 Internal Revenue INTERNAL REVENUE SERVICE... SETTLEMENT FACTORING TRANSACTIONS Tax on Structured Settlement Factoring Transactions § 157.5891-1 Imposition of excise tax on structured settlement factoring transactions. (a) In general. Section 5891 imposes...

Method of Factor Extraction and Simple Structure of Data from Diverse Scientific Areas.

Science.gov (United States)

Thorndike, Robert M.

To study the applicability of simple structure logic for factorial data from scientific disciplines outside psychology, four correlation matrices from each of six scientific areas were factor analyzed by five factoring methods. Resulting factor matrices were compared on two objective criteria of simple structure before and after rotation.…

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

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

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

2013-01-01

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

The factor structure of six salutogenic constructs

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Marita Breed

2006-10-01

Full Text Available The aim of this research was to investigate the factor structure of six salutogenic constructs, namely sense of coherence, hardiness, learned resourcefulness, potency, internal locus of control and self-efficacy. Measurement with a sample of 935 part-time students did not fit the conceptualisation of salutogenesis. A different factor structure for Whites versus Others occurred. For Whites, all six constructs more or less contributed towards the general salutogenic factor and for Others all but learned resourcefulness contributed. For Whites, salutogenesis consisted of two clear dimensions (a global positive orientation; specific behavioural skills and for Others one dimension (an optimistic life view. Confirmatory factor analysis performed on the data for both groups, indicated a weak fit. It was recommended that salutogenesis be further explored within an overall personality theory. Opsomming Die doel van hierdie navorsing was om die faktorstruktuur van ses salutogeniese konstrukte te ondersoek, naamlik sin vir koherensie, gehardheid, aangeleerde vindingrykheid, potensie, interne lokus van beheer en selfgenoegsaamheid. Meting met ‘n steekproef van 935 deeltydse studente het nie ‘n passing getoon met die konseptualisering van salutogenese nie. ‘n Eiesoortige faktorstruktuur vir Wit studente versus Ander studente het voorgekom. Vir Wittes, het al ses die konstrukte meer of minder bygedra tot die algemene salutugeniese faktor en vir Andere het almal behalwe aangeleerde vindingrykheid bygedra. Vir Wittes bestaan salutogenese uit twee duidelike dimensies (‘n globale positiewe lewensorientasie; spesifieke gedrags vaardighede en vir Andere uit een dimensie (‘n optimistiese lewensbeskouing. Bevestigende faktor ontleding uitgevoer op die data van beide groepe, het ‘n swak passing getoon. Daar is aanbeveel dat salutogenese verder ondersoek word binne ‘n oorkoepelende persoonlikheidsteorie.

Study of capillary experiments and hydrologic factors under subsurface drip irrigation with fractal theory

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Zhou, W; Cao, L

2012-01-01

Soil spatial variability is one of the primary environmental factors that influences the hydraulic factors and technical indicators of subsurface drip irrigation (SDI), whose emitters are buried in the soil. This paper aimed at evaluating these effects of soil spatial variability on hydrologic factors under SDI. And some SDI emitter and capillary experiments were designed to obtain test data and distribution of pressure and emitter discharge. First, The results of labyrinth non-turbulent mosaic drip emitter test and fractal theory were used to research the fractal and quantitative relationship between single emitter hydrologic factors and soil physical parameters; and then, the capillary experiments and the relationship among hydrologic factors of capillary were used to analyze the fractal and quantitative relationship between hydrologic factors of capillary and soil physical parameters, which explained the inner relationship between spatial variability of soil and hydrologic factors of filed pipeline network under SDI, and provide theory support for the plan, design, management and production of SDI.

Spin structure factors of Heisenberg spin chain in the presence of anisotropy and magnetic field

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Rezania, H., E-mail: rezania.hamed@gmail.com

2017-02-01

We have theoretically studied the spin structure factors of spin chain in the presence of longitudinal field and transverse anisotropy. The possible effects of easy axis magnetization are investigated in terms of anisotropy in the Heisenberg interactions. This anisotropy is considered for exchange coupling constants perpendicular to magnetic field direction. The original spin model hamiltonian is mapped to a bosonic model via a hard core bosonic transformation where an infinite hard core repulsion is imposed to constrain one boson occupation per site. Using Green's function approach, the energy spectrum of quasiparticle excitation has been obtained. The spectrum of the bosonic gas has been implemented in order to obtain two particle propagator which corresponds to spin structure factor of original Heisenberg chain model Hamiltonian. The results show the position of peak in the longitudinal structure factor at fixed value for anisotropy moves to higher frequency with magnetic field. Also the intensity of dynamical structure factor decreases with magnetic field. A small dependence of longitudinal dynamical spin structure factor on the anisotropy is observed for fixed value of magnetic field. Our results show longitudinal static structure factor is found to be monotonically increasing with magnetic field due to increase of spins aligning along magnetic field. Furthermore the dispersion behaviors of static longitudinal and transverse structure factors for different magnetic fields and anisotropy parameters are addressed. - Highlights: • Theoretical calculation of spin structure factors of Heisenberg chain. • The investigation of the effect of anisotropy spin structure factors of Heisenberg chain. • The investigation of the effect of magnetic field on spin structure factors of Heisenberg chain.

Spin structure factors of Heisenberg spin chain in the presence of anisotropy and magnetic field

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Rezania, H.

2017-01-01

We have theoretically studied the spin structure factors of spin chain in the presence of longitudinal field and transverse anisotropy. The possible effects of easy axis magnetization are investigated in terms of anisotropy in the Heisenberg interactions. This anisotropy is considered for exchange coupling constants perpendicular to magnetic field direction. The original spin model hamiltonian is mapped to a bosonic model via a hard core bosonic transformation where an infinite hard core repulsion is imposed to constrain one boson occupation per site. Using Green's function approach, the energy spectrum of quasiparticle excitation has been obtained. The spectrum of the bosonic gas has been implemented in order to obtain two particle propagator which corresponds to spin structure factor of original Heisenberg chain model Hamiltonian. The results show the position of peak in the longitudinal structure factor at fixed value for anisotropy moves to higher frequency with magnetic field. Also the intensity of dynamical structure factor decreases with magnetic field. A small dependence of longitudinal dynamical spin structure factor on the anisotropy is observed for fixed value of magnetic field. Our results show longitudinal static structure factor is found to be monotonically increasing with magnetic field due to increase of spins aligning along magnetic field. Furthermore the dispersion behaviors of static longitudinal and transverse structure factors for different magnetic fields and anisotropy parameters are addressed. - Highlights: • Theoretical calculation of spin structure factors of Heisenberg chain. • The investigation of the effect of anisotropy spin structure factors of Heisenberg chain. • The investigation of the effect of magnetic field on spin structure factors of Heisenberg chain.

Factor structure of self-reported clinical disorders and personality disorders : A review of the existing literature and a factor analytical study

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Bachrach, N.; Croon, M.A.; Bekker, M.H.J.

2012-01-01

Objectives The aim of this research is to add to the current understanding of the latent factor structure of personality disorders by performing a review of the existing literature (Study 1) and a factor analytical study on the factor structure and the relationship between self-reported Axis I and

Moving Aerospace Structural Design Practice to a Load and Resistance Factor Approach

Science.gov (United States)

Larsen, Curtis E.; Raju, Ivatury S.

2016-01-01

Aerospace structures are traditionally designed using the factor of safety (FOS) approach. The limit load on the structure is determined and the structure is then designed for FOS times the limit load - the ultimate load. Probabilistic approaches utilize distributions for loads and strengths. Failures are predicted to occur in the region of intersection of the two distributions. The load and resistance factor design (LRFD) approach judiciously combines these two approaches by intensive calibration studies on loads and strength to result in structures that are efficient and reliable. This paper discusses these three approaches.

Structure of rat acidic fibroblast growth factor at 1.4 Å resolution

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kulahin, Nikolaj; Kiselyov, Vladislav; Kochoyan, Arthur; Kristensen, Ole; Kastrup, Jette Sandholm; Berezin, Vladimir; Bock, Elisabeth; Gajhede, Michael

2007-01-01

The structure of rat acidic fibroblast growth factor was determined and compared with those of human, bovine and newt origin. The rat and human structures were found to be very similar. Fibroblast growth factors (FGFs) constitute a family of 22 structurally related heparin-binding polypeptides that are involved in the regulation of cell growth, survival, differentiation and migration. Here, a 1.4 Å resolution X-ray structure of rat FGF1 is presented. Two molecules are present in the asymmetric unit of the crystal and they coordinate a total of five sulfate ions. The structures of human, bovine and newt FGF1 have been published previously. Human and rat FGF1 are found to have very similar structures

Structural transformations in Ge{sub 2}Sb{sub 2}Te{sub 5} under high pressure and temperature

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Mio, A. M.; Privitera, S., E-mail: stefania.privitera@imm.cnr.it; D' Arrigo, G.; Rimini, E. [IMM-CNR, Istituto per la Microelettronica e Microsistemi, Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche, Strada VIII 5, Zona Industriale, I-95121 Catania (Italy); Ceppatelli, M. [ICCOM-CNR, Istituto di Chimica dei Composti OrganoMetallici, Via Madonna del Piano 10, I-50019 Sesto Fiorentino (Italy); LENS, European Laboratory for Non-Linear Spectroscopy, Via Nello Carrara 1, I-50019 Sesto Fiorentino (Italy); Gorelli, F.; Santoro, M. [LENS, European Laboratory for Non-Linear Spectroscopy, Via Nello Carrara 1, I-50019 Sesto Fiorentino (Italy); INO-CNR, Istituto Nazionale di Ottica, Via Nello Carrara 1, I-50019 Sesto Fiorentino (Italy); Miritello, M. [MATIS-IMM-CNR, via S. Sofia 64, I-95123 Catania (Italy); Bini, R. [LENS, European Laboratory for Non-Linear Spectroscopy, Via Nello Carrara 1, I-50019 Sesto Fiorentino (Italy); Università degli Studi di Firenze, Via della Lastruccia 3, I-50019 Sesto Fiorentino (Italy)

2015-08-14

The structural transformations occurring in Ge{sub 2}Sb{sub 2}Te{sub 5} films heated at temperature up to 400 °C, and under hydrostatic pressure up to 12 GPa, have been investigated through in-situ X ray diffraction measurements. The adopted experimental conditions are close to those experienced by the phase change material during the SET (crystallization)/RESET (amorphization) processes in a nonvolatile memory device. The compression enhances the thermal stability of the amorphous phase, which remains stable up to 180 °C at 8 GPa and to 230 °C at 12 GPa. The structure of the crystalline phases is also modified, with the formation of a CsCl-type structure instead of rock-salt and of a GeS-type structure at the temperature at which usually the trigonal stable phase is formed. Overall, the stability of the stable phase appears to be more affected by the compression. We argue that the presence of weak bonds associated to the van der Waals gaps is a determining factor for the observed reduced stability.

Structural Health Monitoring under Nonlinear Environmental or Operational Influences

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Jyrki Kullaa

2014-01-01

Full Text Available Vibration-based structural health monitoring is based on detecting changes in the dynamic characteristics of the structure. It is well known that environmental or operational variations can also have an influence on the vibration properties. If these effects are not taken into account, they can result in false indications of damage. If the environmental or operational variations cause nonlinear effects, they can be compensated using a Gaussian mixture model (GMM without the measurement of the underlying variables. The number of Gaussian components can also be estimated. For the local linear components, minimum mean square error (MMSE estimation is applied to eliminate the environmental or operational influences. Damage is detected from the residuals after applying principal component analysis (PCA. Control charts are used for novelty detection. The proposed approach is validated using simulated data and the identified lowest natural frequencies of the Z24 Bridge under temperature variation. Nonlinear models are most effective if the data dimensionality is low. On the other hand, linear models often outperform nonlinear models for high-dimensional data.

SOIL STRUCTURE INTERACTION EFFECTS ON MULTISTOREY R/C STRUCTURES

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Muberra ESER AYDEMIR

2013-01-01

Full Text Available This paper addresses the behavior of multistorey structures considering soil structure interaction under earthquake excitation. For this purpose, sample 3, 6, 9 storey RC frames are designed based on Turkish Seismic Design Code and analyzed in time domain with incremental dynamic analysis. Strength reduction factors are investigated for generated sample plane frames for 64 different earthquake motions recorded on different site conditions such as rock, stiff soil, soft soil and very soft soil. According to the analysis result, strength reduction factors of sample buildings considering soil structure interaction are found to be almost always smaller than design strength reduction factors given in current seismic design codes, which cause an unsafe design and nonconservative design forces.

Structural changes and intermolecular interactions of filled ice Ic structure for hydrogen hydrate under high pressure

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Machida, S; Hirai, H; Kawamura, T; Yamamoto, Y; Yagi, T

2010-01-01

High-pressure experiments of hydrogen hydrate were performed using a diamond anvil cell under conditions of 0.1-44.2 GPa and at room temperature. Also, high pressure Raman studies of solid hydrogen were performed in the pressure range of 0.1-43.7 GPa. X-ray diffractometry (XRD) for hydrogen hydrate revealed that a known high-pressure structure, filled ice Ic structure, of hydrogen hydrate transformed to a new high-pressure structure at approximately 35-40 GPa. A comparison of the Raman spectroscopy of a vibron for hydrogen molecules between hydrogen hydrate and solid hydrogen revealed that the extraction of hydrogen molecules from hydrogen hydrate occurred above 20 GPa. Also, the Raman spectra of a roton revealed that the rotation of hydrogen molecules in hydrogen hydrate was suppressed at around 20 GPa and that the rotation recovered under higher pressure. These results indicated that remarkable intermolecular interactions in hydrogen hydrate between neighboring hydrogen molecules and between guest hydrogen molecules and host water molecules might occur. These intermolecular interactions could produce the stability of hydrogen hydrate.

Corporate financial structure, misallocation and total factor productivity

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Uras, R.B.

2014-01-01

This paper studies the quantitative relevance of the cross-sectional dispersion of corporate financial structure in explaining the intra-industry allocation efficiency of productive factors. I solve a heterogeneous firms model with financial constraints and distortions to the marginal rental-rate of

Local structures of ionic liquids in the presence of gold under high pressures

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Hai-Chou Chang

2013-03-01

Full Text Available The interactions between ionic liquid ([EMI][TFS] and gold surfaces have been investigated via the application of pressures up to ca. 2 GPa. Comparing the spectral features of [EMI][TFS]/gold with those of pure [EMI][TFS], no appreciable changes of C-H bands in the presence of gold powders were observed under ambient pressure. Nevertheless, the imidazolium C-H bands display red shifts in frequency as the [EMI][TFS] / Au mixture was compressed to the pressure above 1.4 GPa and a new alkyl C-H band at ca. 3016 cm−1 was also revealed. These spectral changes, being related to the addition of gold powders and pressure elevation, should be attributed to the local structural changes of C-H groups caused by pressure-enhanced interfacial interactions between [EMI][TFS] and Au. Gold powders tend to induce the changes in hydrogen bonding structures of imidazolium C2-H group under high pressures. The pressure-dependent spectral features in the asymmetric SO3 stretching region display band-narrowing and minor local structural changes induced by the presence of gold particles under high pressures. These observations suggest that Au powders perturb structural equilibrium of C-H groups of cations under high pressures.

Numerical Analysis of Vibrations of Structures under Moving Inertial Load

CERN Document Server

Bajer, Czeslaw I

2012-01-01

Moving inertial loads are applied to structures in civil engineering, robotics, and mechanical engineering. Some fundamental books exist, as well as thousands of research papers. Well known is the book by L. Frýba, Vibrations of Solids and Structures Under Moving Loads, which describes almost all problems concerning non-inertial loads. This book presents broad description of numerical tools successfully applied to structural dynamic analysis. Physically we deal with non-conservative systems. The discrete approach formulated with the use of the classical finite element method results in elemental matrices, which can be directly added to global structure matrices. A more general approach is carried out with the space-time finite element method. In such a case, a trajectory of the moving concentrated parameter in space and time can be simply defined. We consider structures described by pure hyperbolic differential equations such as strings and structures described by hyperbolic-parabolic differential equations ...

A regularized matrix factorization approach to induce structured sparse-low-rank solutions in the EEG inverse problem

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Montoya-Martinez, Jair; Artes-Rodriguez, Antonio; Pontil, Massimiliano

2014-01-01

We consider the estimation of the Brain Electrical Sources (BES) matrix from noisy electroencephalographic (EEG) measurements, commonly named as the EEG inverse problem. We propose a new method to induce neurophysiological meaningful solutions, which takes into account the smoothness, structured...... sparsity, and low rank of the BES matrix. The method is based on the factorization of the BES matrix as a product of a sparse coding matrix and a dense latent source matrix. The structured sparse-low-rank structure is enforced by minimizing a regularized functional that includes the ℓ21-norm of the coding...... matrix and the squared Frobenius norm of the latent source matrix. We develop an alternating optimization algorithm to solve the resulting nonsmooth-nonconvex minimization problem. We analyze the convergence of the optimization procedure, and we compare, under different synthetic scenarios...

The unique structural parameters of the underlying host galaxies in blue compact dwarfs

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Janowiecki, Steven; Salzer, John J.

2014-01-01

The nature of possible evolutionary pathways between various types of dwarf galaxies is still not fully understood. Blue compact dwarf galaxies (BCDs) provide a unique window into dwarf galaxy formation and evolution and are often thought of as an evolutionary stage between different classes of dwarf galaxies. In this study we use deep optical and near-infrared observations of the underlying hosts of BCDs in order to study the structural differences between different types of dwarf galaxies. When compared with dwarf irregular galaxies of similar luminosities, we find that the underlying hosts of BCDs have significantly more concentrated light distributions, with smaller scale lengths and brighter central surface brightnesses. We demonstrate here that the underlying hosts of BCDs are distinct from the broad continuum of typical dwarf irregular galaxies, and that it is unlikely that most dwarf irregular galaxies can transform into a BCD or vice versa. Furthermore, we find that the starburst in a BCD only brightens it on average by ∼0.8 mag (factor of two), in agreement with other studies. It appears that a BCD is a long-lived and distinct type of dwarf galaxy that exhibits an exceptionally concentrated matter distribution. We suggest that it is this compact mass distribution that enables the strong star formation events that characterize this class of dwarf galaxy, that the compactness of the underlying host can be used as a distinguishing parameter between BCDs and other dwarf galaxies, and that it can also be used to identify BCDs which are not currently experiencing an intense starburst event.

Atomic and electronic structure transformations of silver nanoparticles under rapid cooling conditions.

Science.gov (United States)

Lobato, I; Rojas, J; Landauro, C V; Torres, J

2009-02-04

The structural evolution and dynamics of silver nanodrops Ag(2869) (4.4 nm in diameter) under rapid cooling conditions have been studied by means of molecular dynamics simulations and electronic density of state calculations. The interaction of silver atoms is modelled by a tight-binding semiempirical interatomic potential proposed by Cleri and Rosato. The pair correlation functions and the pair analysis technique are used to reveal the structural transition in the process of solidification. It is shown that Ag nanoparticles evolve into different nanostructures under different cooling processes. At a cooling rate of 1.5625 × 10(13) K s(-1) the nanoparticles preserve an amorphous-like structure containing a large amount of 1551 and 1541 pairs which correspond to icosahedral symmetry. For a lower cooling rate (1.5625 × 10(12) K s(-1)), the nanoparticles transform into a crystal-like structure consisting mainly of 1421 and 1422 pairs which correspond to the face centred cubic and hexagonal close packed structures, respectively. The variations of the electronic density of states for the differently cooled nanoparticles are small, but in correspondence with the structural changes.

Differences in within- and between-person factor structure of positive and negative affect: analysis of two intensive measurement studies using multilevel structural equation modeling.

Science.gov (United States)

Rush, Jonathan; Hofer, Scott M

2014-06-01

The Positive and Negative Affect Schedule (PANAS) is a widely used measure of emotional experience. The factor structure of the PANAS has been examined predominantly with cross-sectional designs, which fails to disaggregate within-person variation from between-person differences. There is still uncertainty as to the factor structure of positive and negative affect and whether they constitute 2 distinct independent factors. The present study examined the within-person and between-person factor structure of the PANAS in 2 independent samples that reported daily affect over 7 and 14 occasions, respectively. Results from multilevel confirmatory factor analyses revealed that a 2-factor structure at both the within-person and between-person levels, with correlated specific factors for overlapping items, provided good model fit. The best-fitting solution was one where within-person factors of positive and negative affect were inversely correlated, but between-person factors were independent. The structure was further validated through multilevel structural equation modeling examining the effects of cognitive interference, daily stress, physical symptoms, and physical activity on positive and negative affect factors.

Factors correlating with significant differences between X-ray structures of myoglobin

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Rashin, Alexander A.; Domagalski, Marcin J.; Zimmermann, Michael T.; Minor, Wladek; Chruszcz, Maksymilian; Jernigan, Robert L.

2014-01-01

Conformational differences between myoglobin structures are studied. Most structural differences in whale myoglobin beyond the uncertainty threshold can be correlated with a few specific structural factors. There are always exceptions and a search for additional factors is needed. The results might have serious implications for biological insights from conformational differences. Validation of general ideas about the origins of conformational differences in proteins is critical in order to arrive at meaningful functional insights. Here, principal component analysis (PCA) and distance difference matrices are used to validate some such ideas about the conformational differences between 291 myoglobin structures from sperm whale, horse and pig. Almost all of the horse and pig structures form compact PCA clusters with only minor coordinate differences and outliers that are easily explained. The 222 whale structures form a few dense clusters with multiple outliers. A few whale outliers with a prominent distortion of the GH loop are very similar to the cluster of horse structures, which all have a similar GH-loop distortion apparently owing to intermolecular crystal lattice hydrogen bonds to the GH loop from residues near the distal histidine His64. The variations of the GH-loop coordinates in the whale structures are likely to be owing to the observed alternative intermolecular crystal lattice bond, with the change to the GH loop distorting bonds correlated with the binding of specific ‘unusual’ ligands. Such an alternative intermolecular bond is not observed in horse myoglobins, obliterating any correlation with the ligands. Intermolecular bonds do not usually cause significant coordinate differences and cannot be validated as their universal cause. Most of the native-like whale myoglobin structure outliers can be correlated with a few specific factors. However, these factors do not always lead to coordinate differences beyond the previously determined uncertainty

Factors correlating with significant differences between X-ray structures of myoglobin

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Rashin, Alexander A., E-mail: alexander-rashin@hotmail.com [BioChemComp Inc., 543 Sagamore Avenue, Teaneck, NJ 07666 (United States); Iowa State University, 112 Office and Lab Bldg, Ames, IA 50011-3020 (United States); Domagalski, Marcin J. [University of Virginia, 1340 Jefferson Park Avenue, Jordan Hall, Room 4223, Charlottesville, VA 22908 (United States); Zimmermann, Michael T. [Iowa State University, 112 Office and Lab Bldg, Ames, IA 50011-3020 (United States); Minor, Wladek [University of Virginia, 1340 Jefferson Park Avenue, Jordan Hall, Room 4223, Charlottesville, VA 22908 (United States); Chruszcz, Maksymilian [University of Virginia, 1340 Jefferson Park Avenue, Jordan Hall, Room 4223, Charlottesville, VA 22908 (United States); University of South Carolina, 631 Sumter Street, Columbia, SC 29208 (United States); Jernigan, Robert L. [Iowa State University, 112 Office and Lab Bldg, Ames, IA 50011-3020 (United States); BioChemComp Inc., 543 Sagamore Avenue, Teaneck, NJ 07666 (United States)

2014-02-01

Conformational differences between myoglobin structures are studied. Most structural differences in whale myoglobin beyond the uncertainty threshold can be correlated with a few specific structural factors. There are always exceptions and a search for additional factors is needed. The results might have serious implications for biological insights from conformational differences. Validation of general ideas about the origins of conformational differences in proteins is critical in order to arrive at meaningful functional insights. Here, principal component analysis (PCA) and distance difference matrices are used to validate some such ideas about the conformational differences between 291 myoglobin structures from sperm whale, horse and pig. Almost all of the horse and pig structures form compact PCA clusters with only minor coordinate differences and outliers that are easily explained. The 222 whale structures form a few dense clusters with multiple outliers. A few whale outliers with a prominent distortion of the GH loop are very similar to the cluster of horse structures, which all have a similar GH-loop distortion apparently owing to intermolecular crystal lattice hydrogen bonds to the GH loop from residues near the distal histidine His64. The variations of the GH-loop coordinates in the whale structures are likely to be owing to the observed alternative intermolecular crystal lattice bond, with the change to the GH loop distorting bonds correlated with the binding of specific ‘unusual’ ligands. Such an alternative intermolecular bond is not observed in horse myoglobins, obliterating any correlation with the ligands. Intermolecular bonds do not usually cause significant coordinate differences and cannot be validated as their universal cause. Most of the native-like whale myoglobin structure outliers can be correlated with a few specific factors. However, these factors do not always lead to coordinate differences beyond the previously determined uncertainty

Factor Structure of the Eating Disorder Examination Interview in Patients With Binge-eating Disorder

Science.gov (United States)

Grilo, Carlos M.; Crosby, Ross D.; Peterson, Carol B.; Masheb, Robin M.; White, Marney A.; Crow, Scott J.; Wonderlich, Stephen A.; Mitchell, James E.

2013-01-01

Despite the widespread use of the Eating Disorder Examination (EDE) as a primary assessment instrument in studies of eating and weight disorders, little is known about the psychometric aspects of this interview measure. The primary purpose of this study was to evaluate the factor structure of the EDE interview in a large series of patients with binge-eating disorder (BED). Participants were 688 treatment-seeking patients with BED who were reliably administered the EDE interview by trained research clinicians at three research centers. Exploratory factor analysis (EFA) performed on EDE interview data from a random split-half of the study group suggested a brief 7-item 3-factor structure. Confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) performed on the second randomly selected half of the study group supported this brief 3-factor structure of the EDE interview. The three factors were interpreted as Dietary Restraint, Shape/Weight Overvaluation, and Body Dissatisfaction. In this series of patients with BED, factor analysis of the EDE interview did not replicate the original subscales but revealed an alternative factor structure. Future research must further evaluate the psychometric properties, including the factor structure, of the EDE interview in this and other eating-disordered groups. The implications of these factor analytic findings for understanding and assessing the specific psychopathology of patients with BED are discussed. PMID:19798064

Structure factors for tunneling ionization rates of molecules

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Madsen, L.B.; Jensen, F.; Tolstikhin, O.I.

2013-01-01

Within the weak-field asymptotic theory, the dependence of the tunneling ionization rate of a molecule in a static electric field on its orientation with respect to the field is determined by the structure factor for the highest occupied molecular orbital (HOMO). An accurate determination...

Enzyme That Makes You Cry-Crystal Structure of Lachrymatory Factor Synthase from Allium cepa.

Science.gov (United States)

Silvaroli, Josie A; Pleshinger, Matthew J; Banerjee, Surajit; Kiser, Philip D; Golczak, Marcin

2017-09-15

The biochemical pathway that gives onions their savor is part of the chemical warfare against microbes and animals. This defense mechanism involves formation of a volatile lachrymatory factor (LF) ((Z)-propanethial S-oxide) that causes familiar eye irritation associated with onion chopping. LF is produced in a reaction catalyzed by lachrymatory factor synthase (LFS). The principles by which LFS facilitates conversion of a sulfenic acid substrate into LF have been difficult to experimentally examine owing to the inherent substrate reactivity and lability of LF. To shed light on the mechanism of LF production in the onion, we solved crystal structures of LFS in an apo-form and in complex with a substrate analogue, crotyl alcohol. The enzyme closely resembles the helix-grip fold characteristic for plant representatives of the START (star-related lipid transfer) domain-containing protein superfamily. By comparing the structures of LFS to that of the abscisic acid receptor, PYL10, a representative of the START protein superfamily, we elucidated structural adaptations underlying the catalytic activity of LFS. We also delineated the architecture of the active site, and based on the orientation of the ligand, we propose a mechanism of catalysis that involves sequential proton transfer accompanied by formation of a carbanion intermediate. These findings reconcile chemical and biochemical information regarding thioaldehyde S-oxide formation and close a long-lasting gap in understanding of the mechanism responsible for LF production in the onion.

Structure of rapidity divergences in multi-parton scattering soft factors

Science.gov (United States)

Vladimirov, Alexey

2018-04-01

We discuss the structure of rapidity divergences that are presented in the soft factors of transverse momentum dependent (TMD) factorization theorems. To provide the discussion on the most general level we consider soft factors for multi-parton scattering. We show that the rapidity divergences are result of the gluon exchanges with the distant transverse plane, and are structurally equivalent to the ultraviolet divergences. It allows to formulate and to prove the renormalization theorem for rapidity divergences. The proof is made with the help the conformal transformation which maps rapidity divergences to ultraviolet divergences. The theorem is the systematic form of the factorization of rapidity divergences, which is required for the definition of TMD parton distributions. In particular, the definition of multi parton distributions is presented. The equivalence of ultraviolet and rapidity divergences leads to the exact relation between soft and rapidity anomalous dimensions. Using this relation we derive the rapidity anomalous dimension at the three-loop order.

Radiography simulation based on exposure buildup factors for multilayer structures

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Marinkovic, Predrag; Pesic, Milan

2009-01-01

Monte Carlo techniques were usually used to study the effect of scattered photons on a radiographic X-ray image. Such approach is accurate, but computer time consuming. On the other hand, the exposure buildup factors can be used as approximate and efficient assessment to account for the scattering of X-rays. This method uses the known radiography parameters to find the resulting detector exposure due to both scattered and un-collided photons. A model for radiography simulation, based on X-ray dose buildup factor, is proposed. This model includes non-uniform attenuation in voxelized object of imaging (patient body tissue). Composition of patient body is considered as a multi-layer structure. Various empirical formulas exist for multi-layer structure calculations and they all calculate multi-layer buildup factors by combining single-layer buildup factors. The proposed model is convenient in cases when more exact techniques (like Monte Carlo) are not economical. (author)

Structure discrimination for the C-terminal domain of Escherichia coli trigger factor in solution

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Yao Yong; Bhabha, Gira; Kroon, Gerard; Landes, Mindy; Dyson, H. Jane

2008-01-01

NMR measurements can give important information on solution structure, without the necessity for a full-scale solution structure determination. The C-terminal protein binding domain of the ribosome-associated chaperone protein trigger factor is composed of non-contiguous parts of the polypeptide chain, with an interpolated prolyl isomerase domain. A construct of the C-terminal domain of Escherichia coli trigger factor containing residues 113-149 and 247-432, joined by a Gly-Ser-Gly-Ser linker, is well folded and gives excellent NMR spectra in solution. We have used NMR measurements on this construct, and on a longer construct that includes the prolyl isomerase domain, to distinguish between two possible structures for the C-terminal domain of trigger factor, and to assess the behavior of the trigger factor C-terminal domain in solution. Two X-ray crystal structures, of intact trigger factor from E. coli (Ferbitz et al., Nature 431:590-596, 2004), and of a truncated trigger factor from Vibrio cholerae (Ludlam et al., Proc Natl Acad Sci USA 101:13436-13441, 2004) showed significant differences in the structure of the C-terminal domain, such that the two structures could not be superimposed. We show using NMR chemical shifts and long range nuclear Overhauser effects that the secondary and tertiary structure of the E. coli C-terminal domain in solution is consistent with the crystal structure of the E. coli trigger factor and not with the V. cholerae protein. Given the similarity of the amino acid sequences of the E. coli and V. cholerae proteins, it appears likely that the structure of the V. cholerae protein has been distorted as a result of truncation of a 44-amino acid segment at the C-terminus. Analysis of residual dipolar coupling measurements shows that the overall topology of the solution structure is completely inconsistent with both structures. Dynamics analysis of the C-terminal domain using T 1 , T 2 and heteronuclear NOE parameters show that the protein is

Behaviour of cellular structures with fluid fillers under impact loading

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Matej Vesenjak

2007-03-01

Full Text Available The paper investigates the behaviour of closed- and open-cell cellular structures under uniaxial impact loading by means of computational simulations using the explicit nonlinear finite element code LS-DYNA. Simulations also consider the influence of pore fillers and the base material strain rate sensitivity. The behaviour of closed-cell cellular structure has been evaluated with use of the representative volume element, where the influence of residual gas inside the closed pores has been studied. Open- cell cellular structure was modelled as a whole to properly account for considered fluid flow through the cells, which significantly influences macroscopic behaviour of the cellular structure. The fluid has been modelled by applying a meshless Smoothed Particle Hydrodynamics (SPH method. Parametric computational simulations provide grounds for optimization of cellular structures to satisfy different requirements, which makes them very attractive for use in general engineering applications.

Constitutive model and electroplastic analysis of structures under cyclic loading

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Wang, X.; Lei, Y; Du, Q.

1989-01-01

Many engineering structures in nuclear reactors, thermal power stations, chemical plants and aerospace vehicles are subjected to cyclic mechanic-thermal loading, which is the main cause of structural fatigue failure. Over the past twenty years, designers and researchers have paid great attention to the research on life prediction and elastoplastic analysis of structures under cyclic loading. One of the key problems in elastoplastic analysis is to construct a reasonable constitutive model for cyclic plasticity. In the paper, the constitutive equations are briefly outlined. Then, the model is implemented in a finite element code to predict the response of cyclic loaded structural components such as a double-edge-notched plate, a grooved bar and a nozzle in spherical shell. Numerical results are compared with those from other theories and experiments

Tracking of Nuclear Cable Insulation Polymer Structural Changes using the Gel Fraction and Uptake Factor Method

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Correa, Miguel; Huang, Qian; Fifield, Leonard S.

2018-04-11

Cross-linked polyethylene (XLPE) cable insulation samples were exposed to heat and gamma radiation at a series of temperatures, dose rates, and exposure times to evaluate the effects of these variables on material degradation. The samples were tested using the solvent incubation method to collect gel fraction and uptake factor data in order to assess the crosslinking and chain scission occurring in polymer samples with aging. Consistent with previous reports, gel fraction values were observed to increase and uptake factor values to decrease with radiation and thermal exposure. The trends seen were also more prominent as exposure time increased, suggesting this to be a viable method of tracking structural changes in the XLPE-insulated cable material over extended periods. For the conditions explored, the cable insulation material evaluated did not indicate signs of anomalous aging such as inverse temperature effect in which radiation-induced aging is more severe at lower temperature. Ongoing aging under identical radiation conditions and at lower temperature will further inform conclusions regarding the importance of inverse temperature effects for this material under these conditions.

Validity and factor structure of the bodybuilding dependence scale

OpenAIRE

Smith, D; Hale, B

2004-01-01

Objectives: To investigate the factor structure, validity, and reliability of the bodybuilding dependence scale and to investigate differences in bodybuilding dependence between men and women and competitive and non-competitive bodybuilders.

Exploring the Underlying Factor Structure of the Home Literacy Environment (HLE) in the English and Spanish Versions of the Familia Inventory: A Cautionary Tale

Science.gov (United States)

Gonzalez, Jorge E.; Taylor, Aaron B.; McCormick, Anita S.; Villareal, Victor; Kim, Minjung; Perez, Erica; Darensbourg, Alicia; Haynes, Rebekah

2011-01-01

Few research-based measures of the family literacy environment are commercially available, especially in Spanish. One exception is the Familia Inventory (Taylor, 1995). The present study investigated the 10 subscales of this instrument and the factor structure they imply, using data from a low-socioeconomic (SES), largely Hispanic population.…

Stress intensity factor analyses of surface cracks in three-dimensional structures

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Miyazaki, Noriyuki; Shibata, Katsuyuki; Watanabe, Takayuki; Tagata, Kazunori.

1983-11-01

The stress intensity factor analyses of surface cracks in various three-dimensional structures were performed using the finite element computer program EPAS-J1. The results obtained by EPAS-J1 were compared with other finite element solutions or results obtained by the simplified estimation methods. Among the simplified estimation methods, the equations proposed by Newman and Raju give the distributions of the stress intensity factor along a crack front, which were compared with the result obtained by EPAS-J1. It was confirmed by comparing the results that EPAS-J1 gives reasonable stress intensity factors of surface cracks in three-dimensional structures. (author)

Experimental Study on Temperature Behavior of SC Structures under Pure Bending

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ham, K. W.; Lee, K. J.; Park, D. S.; Jeon, J. H.

2006-01-01

SC(Steel plate Concrete) module method uses steel plate instead of reinforcing bar and mold in existing RC structure. Steel plate modules are fabricated in advance, installed and poured with concrete in construction field, so construction period is remarkably shortened by SC module technique. In case of existence of temperature gap between internal and external structure surface such as spent fuel storage pool, thermal stress is taken place and as a result of it, structural strength is deteriorated. In this study, we designed three test specimens and several tests with or without temperature heating were conducted to evaluate temperature behavior of SC structures under pure bending loading condition

Structural behavior of supercritical fluids under confinement

Science.gov (United States)

Ghosh, Kanka; Krishnamurthy, C. V.

2018-01-01

The existence of the Frenkel line in the supercritical regime of a Lennard-Jones (LJ) fluid shown through molecular dynamics (MD) simulations initially and later corroborated by experiments on argon opens up possibilities of understanding the structure and dynamics of supercritical fluids in general and of the Frenkel line in particular. The location of the Frenkel line, which demarcates two distinct physical states, liquidlike and gaslike within the supercritical regime, has been established through MD simulations of the velocity autocorrelation (VACF) and radial distribution function (RDF). We, in this article, explore the changes in the structural features of supercritical LJ fluid under partial confinement using atomistic walls. The study is carried out across the Frenkel line through a series of MD simulations considering a set of thermodynamics states in the supercritical regime (P =5000 bar, 240 K ≤T ≤1500 K ) of argon well above the critical point. Confinement is partial, with atomistic walls located normal to z and extending to "infinity" along the x and y directions. In the "liquidlike" regime of the supercritical phase, particles are found to be distributed in distinct layers along the z axis with layer spacing less than one atomic diameter and the lateral RDF showing amorphous-like structure for specific spacings (packing frustration) and non-amorphous-like structure for other spacings. Increasing the rigidity of the atomistic walls is found to lead to stronger layering and increased structural order. For confinement with reflective walls, layers are found to form with one atomic diameter spacing and the lateral RDF showing close-packed structure for the smaller confinements. Translational order parameter and excess entropy assessment confirms the ordering taking place for atomistic wall and reflective wall confinements. In the "gaslike" regime of the supercritical phase, particle distribution along the spacing and the lateral RDF exhibit features

Structural Changes of International Trade Flows under the Impact of Globalization

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Anca Dachin

2006-08-01

Full Text Available Structural changes of international trade flows indicate modifications in competitiveness of countries, in terms of production, technological upgrading and exports under the pressure of globalization. The paper aims to point out sources of competitive advantages especially in manufacturing exports of different groups of countries. The focus is on the shifts in the structure of manufacturing in the European Union and their effects on international rankings in export performances. An important issue refers to the opportunities given by the enlargement of the European Union and their impact on EU trade structures.

Structural factors affecting prosthodontic decision making in Japan

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Noriyuki Wakabayashi

2015-11-01

Full Text Available Prosthodontic treatment strategies, prosthetic designs and materials, and treatment procedures are not determined solely by the diagnosis. We discuss the major effect of structural factors surrounding prosthodontic care on treatment decisions in Japan. These structural factors are related to the dentist, such as the dentist's education, postgraduate courses, and access to the latest research, and to the health care support system, including the social insurance system. Education content from schools of dentistry has clear effects on dentists’ treatment decisions, and the specific modalities taught depend highly on the school faculty. The use of research, especially clinical studies, in treatment decisions is currently limited. Regarding the health care support system factors, the public health insurance system has a strong effect on the actual prosthodontic treatments performed in Japan. To maintain the current piecework payment system, efforts should be encouraged to preclude both overtreatment and undertreatment. New perspectives on treatment decisions associated with technological advancement and changes in health care needs should be established to ensure that the Japanese population can enjoy high-quality prosthodontic treatment that meets international standards. The development of a clinical pathway and decision-making model that adheres to academic-based clinical guidelines and the insurance system will be necessary.

Structure design of human factor data management system for Daya Bay NPP

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Zhang Li; Zhang Ning; Guo Jianbing; Huang Weigang; Zhu Minhong; Wang Jin

2000-01-01

Collection, analysis and quantification of human factor data are important compositions of human reliability analysis (HRA) and probabilistic risk assessment (PRA). Various human factor databases have been set up, but there are comparatively little human factor data management systems which can be uses for collection, classification, analysis, calculation and predication of the human factor data. Therefore, the human factor data management system for Daya Bay NPP is developed, with the following three modules and four databases: original data module, computing module, introduced data module, and basic database, other data source of the plant, external database and introduced database. The foundational problems about human factor data and the systemic structure and function are described. The data structure in the database is also discussed, because it is of the most importance in the system

Factor structure of cognition and functional capacity in two studies of schizophrenia and bipolar disorder: Implications for genomic studies.

Science.gov (United States)

Harvey, Philip D; Aslan, Mihaela; Du, Mengtian; Zhao, Hongyu; Siever, Larry J; Pulver, Ann; Gaziano, J Michael; Concato, John

2016-01-01

Impairments in cognition and everyday functioning are common in schizophrenia and bipolar disorder (BPD). In this article, we present factor analyses of cognitive and functional capacity (FC) measures based on 2 studies of schizophrenia (SCZ) and bipolar I disorder (BPI) using similar methods. The overall goal of these analyses was to determine whether performance-based assessments should be examined individually, or aggregated on the basis of the correlational structure of the tests, as well as to evaluate the similarity of factor structures of SCZ and BPI. Veterans Affairs Cooperative Studies Program Study #572 (Harvey et al., 2014) evaluated cognitive and FC measures among 5,414 BPI and 3,942 SCZ patients. A 2nd study evaluated similar neuropsychological (NP) and FC measures among 368 BPI and 436 SCZ patients. Principal components analysis, as well as exploratory and CFAs, were used to examine the data. Analyses in both datasets suggested that NP and FC measures were explained by a single underlying factor in BPI and SCZ patients, both when analyzed separately or as in a combined sample. The factor structure in both studies was similar, with or without inclusion of FC measures; homogeneous loadings were observed for that single factor across cognitive and FC domains across the samples. The empirically derived factor model suggests that NP performance and FC are best explained as a single latent trait applicable to people with SCZ and BPD. This single measure may enhance the robustness of the analyses relating genomic data to performance-based phenotypes. (c) 2015 APA, all rights reserved).

Capital Structure Arbitrage under a Risk-Neutral Calibration

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Peter J. Zeitsch

2017-01-01

Full Text Available By reinterpreting the calibration of structural models, a reassessment of the importance of the input variables is undertaken. The analysis shows that volatility is the key parameter to any calibration exercise, by several orders of magnitude. To maximize the sensitivity to volatility, a simple formulation of Merton’s model is proposed that employs deep out-of-the-money option implied volatilities. The methodology also eliminates the use of historic data to specify the default barrier, thereby leading to a full risk-neutral calibration. Subsequently, a new technique for identifying and hedging capital structure arbitrage opportunities is illustrated. The approach seeks to hedge the volatility risk, or vega, as opposed to the exposure from the underlying equity itself, or delta. The results question the efficacy of the common arbitrage strategy of only executing the delta hedge.

Dynamic structure factor on liquid Pb

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Padureanu, I.; Rapeanu, S.; Rotarascu, G.; Craciun, C.

1979-01-01

Dinamic structure factor S(Q,hω) in liquid Pb has been measured at 350 deg C and 400 deg C using the inelastic scattering of the slow neutrons. The measurements were performed in the momentum transfer range 0.6 A -1 -1 . The intermediate scattering function F(Q,t) is also calculated from S(Q,hω). Multiple scattering calculation shows that it is very large especially at small scattering angles. The comparison of the experimental data with the theory is made in terms of two theoretical models. (author)

Static structure factor of liquid parahydrogen

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Dawidowski, J.; Bermejo, F.J.; Ristig, M.L.; Faak, B.; Cabrillo, C.; Fernandez-Perea, R.; Kinugawa, K.; Campo, J.

2004-01-01

The single-differential neutron-scattering cross section of liquid parahydrogen has been measured at 15.2 K and 2 bars of applied pressure by means of low-energy neutron diffraction. Our experimental conditions enable the direct observation of the peak of the liquid structure factor and therefore largely improve the signal-to-noise ratio with respect to measurements carried out using higher-energy neutron diffraction. This avoids the need of performing corrections of approximate nature to the measured cross section that is dominated by molecular rotational components if measured by conventional neutron diffraction

Factor structure of PTSD, and relation with gender in trauma survivors from India

Science.gov (United States)

Charak, Ruby; Armour, Cherie; Elklit, Ask; Angmo, Disket; Elhai, Jon D.; Koot, Hans M.

2014-01-01

Background The factor structure of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) has been extensively studied in Western countries. Some studies have assessed its factor structure in Asia (China, Sri Lanka, and Malaysia), but few have directly assessed the factor structure of PTSD in an Indian adult sample. Furthermore, in a largely patriarchal society in India with strong gender roles, it becomes imperative to assess the association between the factors of PTSD and gender. Objective The purpose of the present study was to assess the factor structure of PTSD in an Indian sample of trauma survivors based on prevailing models of PTSD defined in the DSM-IV-TR (APA, 2000), and to assess the relation between PTSD factors and gender. Method The sample comprised of 313 participants (55.9% female) from Jammu and Kashmir, India, who had experienced a natural disaster (N=200) or displacement due to cross-border firing (N=113). Results Three existing PTSD models—two four-factor models (Emotional Numbing and Dysphoria), and a five-factor model (Dysphoric Arousal)—were tested using Confirmatory Factor Analysis with addition of gender as a covariate. The three competing models had similar fit indices although the Dysphoric Arousal model fit significantly better than Emotional Numbing and Dysphoria models. Gender differences were found across the factors of Re-experiencing and Anxious arousal. Conclusions Findings indicate that the Dysphoric Arousal model of PTSD was the best model; albeit the fit indices of all models were fairly similar. Compared to males, females scored higher on factors of Re-experiencing and Anxious arousal. Gender differences found across two factors of PTSD are discussed in light of the social milieu in India. PMID:25413575

Factor structure of PTSD, and relation with gender in trauma survivors from India.

Science.gov (United States)

Charak, Ruby; Armour, Cherie; Elklit, Ask; Angmo, Disket; Elhai, Jon D; Koot, Hans M

2014-01-01

The factor structure of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) has been extensively studied in Western countries. Some studies have assessed its factor structure in Asia (China, Sri Lanka, and Malaysia), but few have directly assessed the factor structure of PTSD in an Indian adult sample. Furthermore, in a largely patriarchal society in India with strong gender roles, it becomes imperative to assess the association between the factors of PTSD and gender. The purpose of the present study was to assess the factor structure of PTSD in an Indian sample of trauma survivors based on prevailing models of PTSD defined in the DSM-IV-TR (APA, 2000), and to assess the relation between PTSD factors and gender. The sample comprised of 313 participants (55.9% female) from Jammu and Kashmir, India, who had experienced a natural disaster (N=200) or displacement due to cross-border firing (N=113). Three existing PTSD models-two four-factor models (Emotional Numbing and Dysphoria), and a five-factor model (Dysphoric Arousal)-were tested using Confirmatory Factor Analysis with addition of gender as a covariate. The three competing models had similar fit indices although the Dysphoric Arousal model fit significantly better than Emotional Numbing and Dysphoria models. Gender differences were found across the factors of Re-experiencing and Anxious arousal. Findings indicate that the Dysphoric Arousal model of PTSD was the best model; albeit the fit indices of all models were fairly similar. Compared to males, females scored higher on factors of Re-experiencing and Anxious arousal. Gender differences found across two factors of PTSD are discussed in light of the social milieu in India.

Factor structure of PTSD, and relation with gender in trauma survivors from India

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ruby Charak

2014-11-01

Full Text Available Background: The factor structure of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD has been extensively studied in Western countries. Some studies have assessed its factor structure in Asia (China, Sri Lanka, and Malaysia, but few have directly assessed the factor structure of PTSD in an Indian adult sample. Furthermore, in a largely patriarchal society in India with strong gender roles, it becomes imperative to assess the association between the factors of PTSD and gender. Objective: The purpose of the present study was to assess the factor structure of PTSD in an Indian sample of trauma survivors based on prevailing models of PTSD defined in the DSM-IV-TR (APA, 2000, and to assess the relation between PTSD factors and gender. Method: The sample comprised of 313 participants (55.9% female from Jammu and Kashmir, India, who had experienced a natural disaster (N=200 or displacement due to cross-border firing (N=113. Results: Three existing PTSD models—two four-factor models (Emotional Numbing and Dysphoria, and a five-factor model (Dysphoric Arousal—were tested using Confirmatory Factor Analysis with addition of gender as a covariate. The three competing models had similar fit indices although the Dysphoric Arousal model fit significantly better than Emotional Numbing and Dysphoria models. Gender differences were found across the factors of Re-experiencing and Anxious arousal. Conclusions: Findings indicate that the Dysphoric Arousal model of PTSD was the best model; albeit the fit indices of all models were fairly similar. Compared to males, females scored higher on factors of Re-experiencing and Anxious arousal. Gender differences found across two factors of PTSD are discussed in light of the social milieu in India.

Electronic band structure and optical properties of antimony selenide under pressure

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Abhijit, B.K.; Jayaraman, Aditya; Molli, Muralikrishna, E-mail: muralikrishnamolli@sssihl.edu.in [Department of Physics, Sri Sathya Sai Institute of Higher Learning, Prasanthinilayam, 515 134 (India)

2016-05-23

In this work we present the optical properties of Antimony Selenide (Sb{sub 2}Se{sub 3}) under ambient conditions and under pressure of 9.2 GPa obtained using first principles calculations. We investigated the electronic band structure using the FP-LAPW method within the sphere of the density functional theory. Optical properties like refractive index, absorption coefficient and optical conductivity are calculated using the WIEN2k code.

Plant cell plasma membrane structure and properties under clinostatting

Science.gov (United States)

Polulakh, Yu. A.; Zhadko, S. I.; Klimchuk, D. A.; Baraboy, V. A.; Alpatov, A. N.; Sytnik, K. M.

Structural-functional organization of plasma membrane of pea roots seedling was investigated by methods of chemiluminescence, fluorescence probes, chromatography and freeze-fracture studies under normal conditions and clinostatting. Phase character of lipid peroxidation intensity was fixed. The initial phase of this process is characterized by lipid peroxidation decreasing with its next induction. The primary changes depending on free-radical mechanisms of lipid peroxidation were excellently revealed by chemiluminescence. Plasmalemma microviscosity increased on the average of 15-20 % under microgravity at the initial stages of its phenomenon. There were major changes of phosphatidilcholine and phosphatidilethanolamine contents. The total quantity of phospholipids remained rather stable. Changes of phosphatide acid concentration point to degradation and phospholipids biosynthesis. There were increases of unsaturated fatty acids mainly at the expense of linoleic and linolenic acids and also a decrease of saturated fatty acid content at the expense of palmitic and stearic acids. Unsaturation index of fatty acids increased as well. On the whole fatty acid composition was variable in comparison with phospholipids. Probably it is one of mechanisms of maintaining of microviscosity within definite limits. Considerable structural changes in organization of plasmalemma protein-lipid complex were not revealed by the freeze-fracture studies.

Structural analysis of reinforced concrete structures under monotonous and cyclic loadings: numerical aspects

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Lepretre, C.; Millard, A.; Nahas, G.

1989-01-01

The structural analysis of reinforced concrete structures is usually performed either by means of simplified methods of strength of materials type i.e. global methods, or by means of detailed methods of continuum mechanics type, i.e. local methods. For this second type, some constitutive models are available for concrete and rebars in a certain number of finite element systems. These models are often validated on simple homogeneous tests. Therefore, it is important to appraise the validity of the results when applying them to the analysis of a reinforced concrete structure, in order to be able to make correct predictions of the actual behaviour, under normal and faulty conditions. For this purpose, some tests have been performed at I.N.S.A. de Lyon on reinforced concrete beams, subjected to monotonous and cyclic loadings, in order to generate reference solutions to be compared with the numerical predictions given by two finite element systems: - CASTEM, developed by C.E.A./.D.E.M.T. - ELEFINI, developed by I.N.S.A. de Lyon

Examining the Impact of Gender on the Factor Structure of the Psychopathic Personality Inventory--Revised

Science.gov (United States)

Anestis, Joye C.; Caron, Kelly M.; Carbonell, Joyce L.

2011-01-01

Research on the factor structure of psychopathy has yielded mixed results, supporting anywhere from one to three factors. Additionally, most of this research has used all-male samples, and the possibility of structural invariance across gender has not been examined. Using a mixed-gender sample of 360 undergraduates, the factor structure of the…

The network structure of human personality according to the NEO-PI-R: matching network community structure to factor structure.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Rutger Goekoop

Full Text Available INTRODUCTION: Human personality is described preferentially in terms of factors (dimensions found using factor analysis. An alternative and highly related method is network analysis, which may have several advantages over factor analytic methods. AIM: To directly compare the ability of network community detection (NCD and principal component factor analysis (PCA to examine modularity in multidimensional datasets such as the neuroticism-extraversion-openness personality inventory revised (NEO-PI-R. METHODS: 434 healthy subjects were tested on the NEO-PI-R. PCA was performed to extract factor structures (FS of the current dataset using both item scores and facet scores. Correlational network graphs were constructed from univariate correlation matrices of interactions between both items and facets. These networks were pruned in a link-by-link fashion while calculating the network community structure (NCS of each resulting network using the Wakita Tsurumi clustering algorithm. NCSs were matched against FS and networks of best matches were kept for further analysis. RESULTS: At facet level, NCS showed a best match (96.2% with a 'confirmatory' 5-FS. At item level, NCS showed a best match (80% with the standard 5-FS and involved a total of 6 network clusters. Lesser matches were found with 'confirmatory' 5-FS and 'exploratory' 6-FS of the current dataset. Network analysis did not identify facets as a separate level of organization in between items and clusters. A small-world network structure was found in both item- and facet level networks. CONCLUSION: We present the first optimized network graph of personality traits according to the NEO-PI-R: a 'Personality Web'. Such a web may represent the possible routes that subjects can take during personality development. NCD outperforms PCA by producing plausible modularity at item level in non-standard datasets, and can identify the key roles of individual items and clusters in the network.

The p Factor: One General Psychopathology Factor in the Structure of Psychiatric Disorders?

Science.gov (United States)

Caspi, Avshalom; Houts, Renate M.; Belsky, Daniel W.; Goldman-Mellor, Sidra J.; Harrington, HonaLee; Israel, Salomon; Meier, Madeline H.; Ramrakha, Sandhya; Shalev, Idan; Poulton, Richie; Moffitt, Terrie E.

2013-01-01

Mental disorders traditionally have been viewed as distinct, episodic, and categorical conditions. This view has been challenged by evidence that many disorders are sequentially comorbid, recurrent/chronic, and exist on a continuum. Using the Dunedin Multidisciplinary Health and Development Study, we examined the structure of psychopathology, taking into account dimensionality, persistence, co-occurrence, and sequential comorbidity of mental disorders across 20 years, from adolescence to midlife. Psychiatric disorders were initially explained by three higher-order factors (Internalizing, Externalizing, and Thought Disorder) but explained even better with one General Psychopathology dimension. We have called this dimension the p factor because it conceptually parallels a familiar dimension in psychological science: the g factor of general intelligence. Higher p scores are associated with more life impairment, greater familiality, worse developmental histories, and more compromised early-life brain function. The p factor explains why it is challenging to find causes, consequences, biomarkers, and treatments with specificity to individual mental disorders. Transdiagnostic approaches may improve research. PMID:25360393

Changes in the Structure of a Nigerian Soil under Different Land Management Practices

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Joshua Olalekan Ogunwole

2015-06-01

Full Text Available Quantification of soil physical quality (SPQ and pore size distribution (PSD can assist understanding of how changes in land management practices influence dynamics of soil structure, and this understanding could greatly improve the predictability of soil physical behavior and crop yield. The objectives of this study were to measure the SPQ index under two different land management practices (the continuous arable cropping system and natural bush fallow system, and contrast the effects of these practices on the structure of PSD using soil water retention data. Soil water retention curves obtained from a pressure chamber were fitted to van Genuchten’s equation, setting m (= 1-1/n. Although values for soil bulk density were high, soils under the continuous arable cropping system had good SPQ, and maintained the capacity to support root development. However, soils under the natural bush fallow system had a worse structure than the continuous arable system, with restrictions in available water capacity. These two management systems had different PSDs. Results showed the inferiority of the natural bush fallow system with no traffic restriction (which is the common practice in relation to the continuous arable cropping system in regard to physical quality and structure.

Surface (glyco-)proteins: primary structure and crystallization under microgravity conditions

Science.gov (United States)

Claus, H.; Akca, E.; Schultz, N.; Karbach, G.; Schlott, B.; Debaerdemaeker, T.; De Clercq, J.-P.; König, H.

2001-08-01

The Archaea comprise microorganisms that live under environmental extremes, like high temperature, low pH value or high salt concentration. Their cells are often covered by a single layer of (glyco)protein subunits (S-layer) in hexagonal arrangement. In order to get further hints about the molecular mechanisms of protein stabilization we compared the primary and secondary structures of archaeal S-layer (glyco)proteins. We found an increase of charged amino acids in the S-layer proteins of the extreme thermophilic species compared to their mesophilic counterparts. Our data and those of other authors suggest that ionic interactions, e.g., salt bridges seem to be played a major role in protein stabilization at high temperatures. Despite the differences in the growth optima and the predominance of some amino acids the primary structures of S-layers revealed also a significant degree of identity between phylogenetically related archaea. These obervations indicate that protein sequences of S-layers have been conserved during the evolution from extremely thermophilic to mesophilic life. To support these findings the three-dimensional structure of the S-layer proteins has to be elucidated. Recently, we described the first successful crystallization of an extreme thermophilic surface(glyco)protein under microgravity conditions.

Structural changes and degradation of Red Latosols under different management systems for 20 years

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

João Tavares Filho

2014-08-01

Full Text Available Soils are the foundation of terrestrial ecosystems and their role in food production is fundamental, although physical degradation has been observed in recent years, caused by different cultural practices that modify structures and consequently the functioning of soils. The objective of this study was to evaluate possible structural changes and degradation in an Oxisol under different managements for 20 years: no-tillage cultivation with and without crop rotation, perennial crop and conventional tillage, plus a forested area (reference. Initially, the crop profile was described and subsequently, 10 samples per management system and forest soil were collected to quantify soil organic matter, flocculation degree, bulk density, and macroporosity. The results indicated structural changes down to a soil depth of 50 cm, with predominance of structural units ∆μ (intermediate compaction level under perennial crop and no-tillage crop rotation, and of structural units ∆ (compacted under conventional tillage and no-tillage. The soil was increasingly degraded in the increasing order: forest => no-tillage crop rotation => perennial crop => no-tillage without crop rotation => conventional tillage. In all managements, the values of organic matter and macroporosity were always below and bulk density always above those of the reference area (forest and, under no-tillage crop rotation and perennial crop, the flocculation degree was proportionally equal to that of the reference area.

The stress and stress intensity factors computation by BEM and FEM combination for nozzle junction under pressure and thermal loads

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Du, Q.; Cen, Z.; Zhu, H.

1989-01-01

This paper reports linear elastic fracture analysis based upon the stress intensity factor evaluation successfully applied to safety assessments of cracked structures. The nozzle junction are usually subjected to high pressure and thermal loads simultaneously. In validity of linear elastic fracture analysis, K can be decomposed into K P (caused by mechanic loads) and K τ (caused by thermal loads). Under thermal transient loading, explicit analysis (say by the FEM or BEM) of K tracing an entire history respectively for a range of crack depth may be much more time consuming. The techniques of weight function provide efficient means for transforming the problem into the stress computation of the uncracked structure and generation of influence function (for the given structure and size of crack). In this paper, a combination of BE-FEM has been used for the analysis of the cracked nozzle structure by techniques of weight function. The influence functions are obtained by coupled BE-FEM and the uncracked structure stress are computed by finite element methods

Panel Data with Cross-Sectional Dependence Characterized by a Multi-Level Factor Structure

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Rodríguez-Caballero, Carlos Vladimir

A panel data model with a multi-level cross-sectional dependence is proposed. The factor structure is driven by top-level common factors as well as non-pervasive factors. I propose a simple method to filter out the full factor structure that overcomes limitations in standard procedures which may...... mix up both levels of unobservable factors and may hamper the identification of the model. The model covers both stationary and non-stationary cases and takes into account other relevant features that make the model well suited to the analysis of many types of time series frequently addressed...

Occupational structure in the Czech lands under the second serfdom

Czech Academy of Sciences Publication Activity Database

Klein, Alexander; Ogilvie, S.

2016-01-01

Roč. 69, č. 2 (2016), s. 493-521 ISSN 0013-0117 R&D Projects: GA ČR GA13-13848S Institutional support: RVO:67985998 Keywords : occupational structure * Czech lands * Bohemia Subject RIV: AH - Economics OBOR OECD: Applied Economics, Econometrics Impact factor: 1.233, year: 2016

In situ structural analysis of calcium aluminosilicate glasses under high pressure.

Science.gov (United States)

Muniz, R F; de Ligny, D; Martinet, C; Sandrini, M; Medina, A N; Rohling, J H; Baesso, M L; Lima, S M; Andrade, L H C; Guyot, Y

2016-08-10

In situ micro-Raman spectroscopy was used to investigate the structural evolution of OH(-)-free calcium aluminosilicate glasses, under high pressure and at room temperature. Evaluation was made of the role of the SiO2 concentration in percalcic join systems, for Al/(Al  +  Si) in the approximate range from 0.9 to 0.2. Under high pressure, the intensity of the main band related to the bending mode of bridging oxygen ([Formula: see text][T-O-T], where T  =  Si or Al) decreased gradually, suggesting that the bonds were severely altered or even destroyed. In Si-rich glasses, compression induced a transformation of Q (n) species to Q (n-1). In the case of Al-rich glass, the Al in the smallest Q (n) units evolved from tetrahedral to higher-coordinated Al (([5])Al and ([6])Al). Permanent structural changes were observed in samples recovered from the highest pressure of around 15 GPa and, particularly for Si-rich samples, the recovered structure showed an increase of three-membered rings in the Si/Al tetrahedral network.

Measurement and evaluation of the summer microclimate in the semi-enclosed space under a membrane structure

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

He, Jiang; Hoyano, Akira [Department of Environmental Science and Technology, Interdisciplinary Graduate School, Tokyo Institute of Technology, 4259-G5-2 Nagatsuta-cho, Midori-ku, Yokohama 226-8502 (Japan)

2010-01-15

This study aims to clarify the summer microclimate in membrane structure buildings with semi-outdoor spaces and develop a computational simulation tool for designing a comfortable urban environment using membrane structures. Field measurements were conducted in a membrane structure building with a semi-outdoor space during a summer period. The present paper describes analysis results of measurement data for vertical distributions of air temperature and velocity under the membrane structure on clear sunny days. The following subjects were also discussed: (1) the effect of solar transmission on the warming of air temperature by the floor under the membrane structure; (2) the temperature reduction effect of ventilation by wind; (3) evaluation of thermal comfort in the living space under the membrane structure in terms of a thermal comfort index (new standard effective temperature: SET*). In order to demonstrate the capability to improve the thermal environment in the test membrane structure building, an evaporative cooling pavement was assumed to be applied to the ground under the membrane structure. The microclimatic modifying effect of this passive cooling strategy was evaluated using a numerical simulation method of coupling computational fluid dynamics (CFD) with a 3D-CAD-based thermal simulation tool developed by the authors' research group. Simulation results show that the proposed simulation method is capable of quantifying spatial distributions of surface temperature, air temperature, air velocity and moisture in the living space under the membrane structure. The thermal comfort index (SET*) can also be estimated using these simulated results. (author)

Multi-walled carbon nanotube structural instability with/without metal nanoparticles under electron beam irradiation

Science.gov (United States)

Khan, Imran; Huang, Shengli; Wu, Chenxu

2017-12-01

The structural transformation of multi-walled carbon nanotubes (MWCNT) under electron beam (e-beam) irradiation at room temperature is studied, with respect to a novel passivation effect due to gold nanoparticles (Au NPs). MWCNT structural evolution induced by energetic e-beam irradiation leads to faster shrinkage, as revealed via in situ transmission electron microscopy, while MWCNT surface modification with Au NPs (Au-MWCNT) slows down the shrinkage by impeding the structural evolution process for a prolonged time under the same irradiation conditions. The new relationship between MWCNT and Au-MWCNT shrinking radii and irradiation time illustrates that the MWCNT shrinkage rate is faster than either theoretical predictions or the same process in Au-MWCNTs. As compared with the outer surface energy (positive curvature), the inner surface energy (negative curvature) of the MWCNT contributes more to the athermal evaporation of tube wall atoms, leading to structural instability and shrinkage under e-beam irradiation. Conversely, Au NPs possess only outer surface energy (positive curvature) compared with the MWCNT. Their presence on MWCNT surfaces retards the dynamics of MWCNT structural evolution by slowing down the evaporation process of carbon atoms, thus restricting Au-MWCNT shrinkage. Au NP interaction and growth evolves athermally on MWCNT surfaces, exhibits increase in their size, and indicates the association of this mechanism with the coalescence induced by e-beam activated electronic excitations. Despite their growth, Au NPs show extreme structural stability, and remain crystalline under prolonged irradiation. It is proposed that the surface energy of MWCNTs and Au NPs, together with e-beam activated soft modes or lattice instability effects, predominantly govern all the above varieties of structural evolution.

Mechanical Q-factor measurements on a test mass with a structured surface

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Nawrodt, R [Institut fuer Festkoerperphysik, Friedrich-Schiller-Universitaet Jena, Helmholtzweg 5, D-07743 Jena (Germany); Zimmer, A [Institut fuer Festkoerperphysik, Friedrich-Schiller-Universitaet Jena, Helmholtzweg 5, D-07743 Jena (Germany); Koettig, T [Institut fuer Festkoerperphysik, Friedrich-Schiller-Universitaet Jena, Helmholtzweg 5, D-07743 Jena (Germany); Clausnitzer, T [Institut fuer Angewandte Physik, Friedrich-Schiller-Universitaet Jena, Max-Wien-Platz 1, D-07743 Jena (Germany); Bunkowski, A [Max-Planck-Institut fuer Gravitationsphysik (Albert-Einstein-Institut) and Institut fuer Gravitationsphysik, Leibniz Universitaet Hannover, Callinstr. 38, D-30167 Hannover (Germany); Kley, E B [Institut fuer Angewandte Physik, Friedrich-Schiller-Universitaet Jena, Max-Wien-Platz 1, D-07743 Jena (Germany); Schnabel, R [Max-Planck-Institut fuer Gravitationsphysik (Albert-Einstein-Institut) and Institut fuer Gravitationsphysik, Leibniz Universitaet Hannover, Callinstr. 38, D-30167 Hannover (Germany); Danzmann, K [Max-Planck-Institut fuer Gravitationsphysik (Albert-Einstein-Institut) and Institut fuer Gravitationsphysik, Leibniz Universitaet Hannover, Callinstr. 38, D-30167 Hannover (Germany); Nietzsche, S [Institut fuer Festkoerperphysik, Friedrich-Schiller-Universitaet Jena, Helmholtzweg 5, D-07743 Jena (Germany); Vodel, W [Institut fuer Festkoerperphysik, Friedrich-Schiller-Universitaet Jena, Helmholtzweg 5, D-07743 Jena (Germany); Tuennermann, A [Institut fuer Angewandte Physik, Friedrich-Schiller-Universitaet Jena, Max-Wien-Platz 1, D-07743 Jena (Germany); Seidel, P [Institut fuer Festkoerperphysik, Friedrich-Schiller-Universitaet Jena, Helmholtzweg 5, D-07743 Jena (Germany)

2007-07-15

We present mechanical Q-factors (quality factors) of a crystalline quartz test mass with a nano-structured surface, measured in the temperature regime from 5 to 300 K. The nano-structure was a grating with a period of 2 {mu}m and a depth of about 0.1 {mu}m. Comparative measurements were performed on the plain substrate and on the structured test mass with different numbers of SiO{sub 2}/Ta{sub 2}O{sub 5} coating layers. The measurements at different stages of the test mass fabrication process show that the surface distortion induced by the nanostructure does not severely lower the mechanical Q-factor of the substrate. Damping due to a multi-layer coating stack was found to be orders of magnitude higher. The results provide vital information concerning the potential usage of low-thermal noise nano-structured test masses in future generations of high-precision laser interferometers and in current attempts to measure quantum effects of macroscopic mirror oscillators.

Risk and contributing factors of ecosystem shifts over naturally vegetated land under climate change in China.

Science.gov (United States)

Yin, Yuanyuan; Tang, Qiuhong; Wang, Lixin; Liu, Xingcai

2016-02-12

Identifying the areas at risk of ecosystem transformation and the main contributing factors to the risk is essential to assist ecological adaptation to climate change. We assessed the risk of ecosystem shifts in China using the projections of four global gridded vegetation models (GGVMs) and an aggregate metric. The results show that half of naturally vegetated land surface could be under moderate or severe risk at the end of the 21(st) century under the middle and high emission scenarios. The areas with high risk are the Tibetan Plateau region and an area extended northeastward from the Tibetan Plateau to northeast China. With the three major factors considered, the change in carbon stocks is the main contributing factor to the high risk of ecosystem shifts. The change in carbon fluxes is another important contributing factor under the high emission scenario. The change in water fluxes is a less dominant factor except for the Tibetan Plateau region under the high emission scenario. Although there is considerable uncertainty in the risk assessment, the geographic patterns of the risk are generally consistent across different scenarios. The results could help develop regional strategies for ecosystem conservation to cope with climate change.

Analytical static structure factor for a two-component system ...

Indian Academy of Sciences (India)

Marwan Al-Raeei

2018-03-29

Mar 29, 2018 ... be useful in studying biomolecular fluids and other soft matter fluids. Keywords. Ornstein–Zernike ... partial structure factor; isothermal compressibility; soft matter. PACS No. 05.20.Jj. 1. ..... computing. Users need to have ...

Factor analysis of the Mayo-Portland Adaptability Inventory: structure and validity.

Science.gov (United States)

Bohac, D L; Malec, J F; Moessner, A M

1997-07-01

Principal-components (PC) factor analysis of the Mayo-Portland Adaptability Inventory (MPAI) was conducted using a sample of outpatients (n = 189) with acquired brain injury (ABI) to evaluate whether outcome after ABI is multifactorial or unifactorial in nature. An eight-factor model was derived which explained 64-4% of the total variance. The eight factors were interpreted as representing Activities of Daily Living, Social Initiation, Cognition, Impaired-Self-awareness/Distress, Social Skills/ Support, Independence, Visuoperceptual, and Psychiatric, respectively. Validation of the Cognition factor was supported when factor scores were correlated with various neuropsychological measures. In addition, 117 patient self-rating total scores were used to evaluate the Impaired Self-awareness/Distress factor. An inverse relationship was observed, supporting this factor's ability to capture the two-dimensional phenomena of diminished self-awareness or enhanced emotional distress. A new subscale structure is suggested, that may allow greater clinical utility in understanding how ABI manifests in patients, and may provide clinicians with a better structure for implementing treatment strategies to address specific areas of impairment and disability for specific patients. Additionally, more precise measurement of treatment outcomes may be afforded by this reorganization.

An examination of the factor structure of DSM-IV Narcissistic Personality Disorder Criteria

Science.gov (United States)

Miller, Joshua D.; Hoffman, Brian J.; Campbell, W. Keith; Pilkonis, Paul A.

2008-01-01

A growing body of research has suggested that narcissistic personality disorder (NPD) contains two factors or types: overt/grandiose and covert/vulnerable. A recent factor analysis of DSM-IV NPD symptoms supported a similar two-factor model. The present research tested this proposed two-factor solution against a one-factor solution (N = 298; 72% patients) using both confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) and an examination of associations between the resultant factors and theoretically relevant criteria (other PDs; depression, anxiety). The results of the CFA supported a one-factor solution. Likewise, the two factors each yielded a similar pattern of correlations with relevant criteria. Together, these results argue against a two-factor structure for the current DSM-IV NPD symptoms. Given the broader research literature suggesting a two-factor structure of narcissism, strategies for assessing both overt/grandiose and covert/vulnerable forms of narcissism in DSM-V are discussed. PMID:18243885

Factor Structure of the Children's Behavior Questionnaire in Children with Williams Syndrome

Science.gov (United States)

Leyfer, Ovsanna; John, Angela E.; Woodruff-Borden, Janet; Mervis, Carolyn B.

2012-01-01

To examine the factor structure of temperament in 5-10-year-olds with Williams syndrome, an exploratory factor analysis was conducted on the responses of parents of 192 children on the children's behavior questionnaire. Four factors were identified. Two corresponded to factors reported for typically developing children: effortful control and…

Risk Factors of Diarrhea in Children Under Five Years in Urban Slums

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Balakrishna Kalakheti

2016-12-01

Full Text Available Introduction: Diarrhea is a leading cause of mortality in children in developing countries and the condition is worse in slums. In order to provide effective preventive and management strategies, it is important to identify factors associated with the disease. This study was carried out to investigate the risk factors of diarrhea in  children under five years of age in urban slums. Methods: Parents of all children under five years from the urban slums of Tansen municipality, Palpa, Nepal were interviewed using a standardized pretested questionnaire and proforma. Parental variables, environmental factors, and presence of diarrhea in those children in past three months were collected by trained enumerators and the data were analyzed with statistical software SPSS-10. Results: A total of 450 under five years children were enrolled in the study. There were 216 (48% male and 234 (52% female children with F:M ratio of 1.08:1. Occurrence of diarrhea was lower if the children were breast-fed for more than six months, well-nourished, used fountain water for drinking, or used boiled or treated water. Similarly, diarrhea prevalence was lower if father had a regular job, daily income in the family was more than one US dollar, there was a toilet in the house, practice of hand washing was followed before feeding or preparing food, or there was no child suffering from diarrhea in the neighborhood. Conclusion: There are a few variables that are significantly related to diarrhea in children under five years of age. In order to decrease the diarrheal episodes in children in the slums of the developing countries, priority could be given in the improvement of those variables.

Examination of the factor structure of the Schizotypal Personality Questionnaire among British and Trinidadian adults.

Science.gov (United States)

Barron, David; Swami, Viren; Towell, Tony; Hutchinson, Gerard; Morgan, Kevin D

2015-01-01

Much debate in schizotypal research has centred on the factor structure of the Schizotypal Personality Questionnaire (SPQ), with research variously showing higher-order dimensionality consisting of two to seven dimensions. In addition, cross-cultural support for the stability of those factors remains limited. Here, we examined the factor structure of the SPQ among British and Trinidadian adults. Participants from a White British subsample (n = 351) resident in the UK and from an African Caribbean subsample (n = 284) resident in Trinidad completed the SPQ. The higher-order factor structure of the SPQ was analysed through confirmatory factor analysis, followed by multiple-group analysis for the model of best fit. Between-group differences for sex and ethnicity were investigated using multivariate analysis of variance in relation to the higher-order domains. The model of best-fit was the four-factor structure, which demonstrated measurement invariance across groups. Additionally, these data had an adequate fit for two alternative models: (a) 3-factor and (b) modified 4-factor model. The British subsample had significantly higher scores across all domains than the Trinidadian group, and men scored significantly higher on the disorganised domain than women. The four-factor structure received confirmatory support and, importantly, support for use with populations varying in ethnicity and culture.

Bed structure (frond bleaching, density and biomass) of the red alga Gelidium corneum under different irradiance levels

Science.gov (United States)

Quintano, E.; Díez, I.; Muguerza, N.; Figueroa, F. L.; Gorostiaga, J. M.

2017-12-01

In recent decades a decline in the foundation species Gelidium corneum (Hudson) J. V. Lamouroux has been detected along the Basque coast (northern Spain). This decline has been attributed to several factors, but recent studies have found a relationship between high irradiance and the biochemical and physiological stress of G. corneum. Since physiological responses to changes in light occur well before variations in morphology, the present study seeks to use a size-class demographic approach to investigate whether shallow subtidal populations of G. corneum off the Basque coast show different frond bleaching, density and biomass under different irradiance conditions. The results revealed that the bleaching incidence and cover were positively related to irradiance, whereas biomass was negatively related. The effect of the irradiance level on frond density was found to vary with size-class, i.e. fronds up to 15 cm showed greater densities under high light conditions (126.6 to 262.2 W m- 2) whereas the number of larger fronds (> 20 cm) per unit area was lower. In conclusion, the results of the present study suggest that irradiance might be a key factor for controlling along-shore bleaching, frond density and biomass in G. corneum. Further research should be carried out on the physiology of this canopy species in relation to its bed structure and on the interaction of irradiance and other abiotic (nutrients, temperature, wave energy) and biotic factors (grazing pressure).

Factor structure of the Japanese Interpersonal Competence Scale.

Science.gov (United States)

Matsudaira, Tomomi; Fukuhara, Taihei; Kitamura, Toshinori

2008-04-01

Assessing social competence is important for clinical and preventive interventions of depression. The aim of the present paper was to examine the factor structure of the Japanese Interpersonal Competence Scale (JICS). Exploratory and confirmatory factor analysis was performed on the survey responses of 730 participants. Simultaneous multigroup analyses were conducted to confirm factor stability across psychological health status and sex differences. Two factors, which represent Perceptive Ability and Self-Restraint, were confirmed to show a moderate correlation. Perceptive Ability involves a more cognitive aspect of social competence, while Self-Restraint involves a more behavioral aspect, both of which are considered to reflect the emotion-based relating style specific to the Japanese people: indulgent dependence (amae) and harmony (wa). In addition, Self-Restraint may be linked to social functioning. Both constructs may confound a respondent's perceived confidence. Despite its shortcomings, the JICS is a unique measure of social competence in the Japanese cultural context.

Structure of high-density amorphous ice under pressure

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Klotz, S.; Hamel, G.; Loveday, J.S.; Nelmes, R.J.; Guthrie, M.; Soper, A.K.

2002-01-01

We report in situ neutron diffraction studies of high-density amorphous ice (HDA) at 100 K at pressures up to 2.2 GPa. We find that the compression is achieved by a strong contraction (∼20%) of the second neighbor coordination shell, so that at 2.2 GPa it closely approaches the first coordination shell, which itself remains intact in both structure and size. The hydrogen bond orientations suggest an absence of hydrogen bonding between first and second shells and that HDA has increasingly interpenetrating hydrogen bond networks under pressure

The design value method and adjusted partial factor approach for existing structures

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Caspeele, R.; Sykora, M.; Allaix, D.L.; Steenbergen, R.D.J.M.

2013-01-01

In contrast to the design of new structures, the assessment of existing structures often relies on the subjective judgement of the investigating engineer. An objective verification format for existing structures based on alternative partial factors is however feasible, enabling a rather simple and

Factors affecting strategic plan implementation using interpretive structural modeling (ISM).

Science.gov (United States)

Bahadori, Mohammadkarim; Teymourzadeh, Ehsan; Tajik, Hamidreza; Ravangard, Ramin; Raadabadi, Mehdi; Hosseini, Seyed Mojtaba

2018-06-11

Purpose Strategic planning is the best tool for managers seeking an informed presence and participation in the market without surrendering to changes. Strategic planning enables managers to achieve their organizational goals and objectives. Hospital goals, such as improving service quality and increasing patient satisfaction cannot be achieved if agreed strategies are not implemented. The purpose of this paper is to investigate the factors affecting strategic plan implementation in one teaching hospital using interpretive structural modeling (ISM). Design/methodology/approach The authors used a descriptive study involving experts and senior managers; 16 were selected as the study sample using a purposive sampling method. Data were collected using a questionnaire designed and prepared based on previous studies. Data were analyzed using ISM. Findings Five main factors affected strategic plan implementation. Although all five variables and factors are top level, "senior manager awareness and participation in the strategic planning process" and "creating and maintaining team participation in the strategic planning process" had maximum drive power. "Organizational structure effects on the strategic planning process" and "Organizational culture effects on the strategic planning process" had maximum dependence power. Practical implications Identifying factors affecting strategic plan implementation is a basis for healthcare quality improvement by analyzing the relationship among factors and overcoming the barriers. Originality/value The authors used ISM to analyze the relationship between factors affecting strategic plan implementation.

Risk Factors for Malnutrition Among Under-Five-Year olds in an ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

Objectives: To identify risk factors associated with the development of malnutrition in the under-five-year olds in a homogeneous inner city community. Design: A community-based, case-control study. Materials and Methods: One hundred and thirty eight children (subjects and controls) aged less than five years living in the ...

Structural integrity of a reinforced concrete structure and a pipe outlet under hydrogen detonation conditions

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Saarenheimo, A.; Silde, A.; Calonius, K.

2002-05-01

Structural integrity of a reinforced concrete wall and a pipe penetration under detonation conditions in a selected reactor building room of Olkiluoto BWR were studied. Hydrogen leakage from the pressurised containment to the sur rounding reactor building is possible during a severe accident. Leaked hydrogen tends to accumulate in the reactor building rooms where the leak is located leading to a stable stratification and locally very high hydrogen concentration. If ignited, a possibility to flame acceleration and detonation cannot be ruled out. The structure may survive the peak detonation transient because the eigenperiod of the structure is considerably longer than the duration of the peak detonation. However, the relatively slowly decreasing static type pressure after a peak detonation damages the wall more severely. Elastic deformations in reinforcement are recoverable and cracks in these areas will close after the pressure decrease. But there will be remarkable compression crushing and the static type slowly decreasing over pressure clearly exceeds the loading capacity of the wall. Structural integrity of a pipe outlet was considered also under detonation conditions. The effect of drag forces was taken into account. Damping and strain rate dependence of yield strength were not taken into consideration. The boundary condition at the end of the pipe line model was varied in order to find out the effect of the stiffness of the pipeline outside the calculation model. The calculation model where the lower pipe end is free to move axially, is conservative from the pipe penetration integrity point of view. Even in this conservative study, the highest peak value for the maximum plastic deformation is 3.5%. This is well below the success criteria found in literature. (au)

Partial safety factors for berthing velocity and loads on marine structures

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Roubos, A.A.; Peters, D.J.; Groenewegen, Leon; Steenbergen, R.

2018-01-01

Design methods for marine structures have evolved into load and resistance factor design, however existing partial safety factors related to berthing velocity and loads have not been verified and validated by measurement campaigns. In this study, field observations of modern seagoing vessels

Partial Safety Factors and Target Reliability Level in Danish Structural Codes

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Sørensen, John Dalsgaard; Hansen, J. O.; Nielsen, T. A.

2001-01-01

The partial safety factors in the newly revised Danish structural codes have been derived using a reliability-based calibration. The calibrated partial safety factors result in the same average reliability level as in the previous codes, but a much more uniform reliability level has been obtained....... The paper describes the code format, the stochastic models and the resulting optimised partial safety factors....

MNE SPECIFIC FACTORS OF CORPORATE CAPITAL STRUCTURE: COMPARATIVE ANALYSIS IN TERMS OF FINANCIAL RESOURCES DEMAND AND SUPPLY

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Sergiy Tsyganov

2015-11-01

Full Text Available This paper investigates corporate capital structure of multinational enterprises. Its core subject is focused on corporate capital structure defining factors that are specific for MNE rather than for domestic corporations. Substantial part of scientific literature concentrates on country specific and firm specific factors of corporate capital structure with most research devoted to domestic corporations. The main goal of our paper is to discover among plenty of corporate capital structure factors those that are specific for MNE and to develop a new approach for analyzing these factors in terms of financial resources demand and supply. There are some corporate capital structure factors that influence directly and some that have indirect influence while there is also another set of factors having both direct and indirect influence on indebtedness. Different theoretical and empirical research confirm different directions. Methodology of our study is based on analysis of two fundamental market driving forces that are demand and supply. Their influence on corporate capital structure is of a primary origin and that is why the suggested approach is to our mind theoretically significant and practically important. Demand factors imply that a corporation creates demand for financial resources and its capital structure is defined internally. Supply factors imply an external capital structure since it is created by external investors’ supply of financial resources. On empirical level, we use the primary data of corporate financial statements to analyze the leverage of MNE based in different countries and representing different industries. The key results of our study show that the main MNE specific factors of capital structure include such demand factors as multinationality level, assets tangibility and political risk. The first two are firm specific factors that can influence corporate capital structure either directly or indirectly according to

Depression Anxiety Stress Scales (DASS-21): Factor Structure in Traumatic Brain Injury Rehabilitation.

Science.gov (United States)

Randall, Diane; Thomas, Matt; Whiting, Diane; McGrath, Andrew

To confirm the construct validity of the Depression Anxiety Stress Scales-21 (DASS-21) by investigating the fit of published factor structures in a sample of adults with moderate to severe traumatic brain injury (posttraumatic amnesia > 24 hours). Archival data from 504 patient records at the Brain Injury Rehabilitation Unit at Liverpool Hospital, Australia. Participants were aged between 16 and 71 years and were engaged in a specialist rehabilitation program. The DASS-21. Two of the 6 models had adequate fit using structural equation modeling. The data best fit Henry and Crawford's quadripartite model, which comprised a Depression, Anxiety and Stress factor, as well as a General Distress factor. The data also adequately fit Lovibond and Lovibond's original 3-factor model, and the internal consistencies of each factor were very good (α = 0.82-0.90). This study confirms the structure and construct validity of the DASS-21 and provides support for its use as a screening tool in traumatic brain injury rehabilitation.

Acquired high titre factor VIII inhibitor with underlying polyarteritis nodosa.

Science.gov (United States)

Snowden, J A; Hutchings, M; Spearing, R; Patton, W N

1997-05-01

We here present the case of a 70-year-old woman referred to our unit for investigation of bleeding. Investigations confirmed a high titre acquired Factor VIII inhibitor. In association there was relapse of systemic illness associated with anti-neutrophil cytoplasmic antibodies (atypical pattern) for which she had been treated five years previously. Immunosuppression was attempted, but it failed to have an impact both on the inhibitor titre and on the underlying disorder. The patient died from multi-organ failure and massive chest hemorrhage. Post-mortem showed necrotizing vasculitis of medium sized vessels at several sites, including the kidney, consistent with a diagnosis of polyarteritis nodosa. Although it is well recognised that Factor VIII inhibitors are found in conjunction with autoimmune disorders, this case is significant in that it is the first associated with histologically proven polyarteritis nodosa type vasculitis. The case illustrates the difficulties in the investigation and management of patients with acquired high titre Factor VIII inhibitors.

Local structure and structural signature underlying properties in metallic glasses and supercooled liquids

Science.gov (United States)

Ding, Jun

Metallic glasses (MGs), discovered five decades ago as a newcomer in the family of glasses, are of current interest because of their unique structures and properties. There are also many fundamental materials science issues that remain unresolved for metallic glasses, as well as their predecessor above glass transition temperature, the supercooled liquids. In particular, it is a major challenge to characterize the local structure and unveil the structure-property relationship for these amorphous materials. This thesis presents a systematic study of the local structure of metallic glasses as well as supercooled liquids via classical and ab initio molecular dynamics simulations. Three typical MG models are chosen as representative candidate, Cu64 Zr36, Pd82Si18 and Mg65Cu 25Y10 systems, while the former is dominant with full icosahedra short-range order and the prism-type short-range order dominate for latter two. Furthermore, we move to unravel the underlying structural signature among several properties in metallic glasses. Firstly, the temperature dependence of specific heat and liquid fragility between Cu-Zr and Mg-Cu-Y (also Pd-Si) in supercooled liquids are quite distinct: gradual versus fast evolution of specific heat and viscosity/relaxation time with undercooling. Their local structural ordering are found to relate with the temperature dependence of specific heat and relaxation time. Then elastic heterogeneity has been studied to correlate with local structure in Cu-Zr MGs. Specifically, this part covers how the degree of elastic deformation correlates with the internal structure at the atomic level, how to quantitatively evaluate the local solidity/liquidity in MGs and how the network of interpenetrating connection of icosahedra determine the corresponding shear modulus. Finally, we have illustrated the structure signature of quasi-localized low-frequency vibrational normal modes, which resides the intriguing vibrational properties in MGs. Specifically, the

Human and organization factors: engineering operating safety into offshore structures

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Bea, Robert G.

1998-01-01

History indicates clearly that the safety of offshore structures is determined primarily by the humans and organizations responsible for these structures during their design, construction, operation, maintenance, and decommissioning. If the safety of offshore structures is to be preserved and improved, then attention of engineers should focus on to how to improve the reliability of the offshore structure 'system,' including the people that come into contact with the structure during its life-cycle. This article reviews and discusss concepts and engineering approaches that can be used in such efforts. Two specific human factor issues are addressed: (1) real-time management of safety during operations, and (2) development of a Safety Management Assessment System to help improve the safety of offshore structures

Structural and electronic properties of carbon nanotubes under hydrostatic pressures

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Zhang Ying; Cao Juexian; Yang Wei

2008-01-01

We studied the structural and electronic properties of carbon nanotubes under hydrostatic pressures based on molecular dynamics simulations and first principles band structure calculations. It is found that carbon nanotubes experience a hard-to-soft transition as external pressure increases. The bulk modulus of soft phase is two orders of magnitude smaller than that of hard phase. The band structure calculations show that band gap of (10, 0) nanotube increases with the increase of pressure at low pressures. Above a critical pressure (5.70GPa), band gap of (10, 0) nanotube drops rapidly and becomes zero at 6.62GPa. Moreover, the calculated charge density shows that a large pressure can induce an sp 2 -to-sp 3 bonding transition, which is confirmed by recent experiments on deformed carbon nanotubes

Latent Factor Structure of DSM-5 Posttraumatic Stress Disorder

Science.gov (United States)

Gentes, Emily; Dennis, Paul A.; Kimbrel, Nathan A.; Kirby, Angela C.; Hair, Lauren P.; Beckham, Jean C.; Calhoun, Patrick S.

2015-01-01

The current study examined the latent factor structure of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) based on DSM-5 criteria in a sample of participants (N = 374) recruited for studies on trauma and health. Confirmatory factor analyses (CFA) were used to compare the fit of the previous 3-factor DSM-IV model of PTSD to the 4-factor model specified in DSM-5 as well as to a competing 4-factor “dysphoria” model (Simms, Watson, & Doebbeling, 2002) and a 5-factor (Elhai et al., 2011) model of PTSD. Results indicated that the Elhai 5-factor model (re-experiencing, active avoidance, emotional numbing, dysphoric arousal, anxious arousal) provided the best fit to the data, although substantial support was demonstrated for the DSM-5 4-factor model. Low factor loadings were noted for two of the symptoms in the DSM-5 model (psychogenic amnesia and reckless/self-destructive behavior), which raises questions regarding the adequacy of fit of these symptoms with other core features of the disorder. Overall, the findings from the present research suggest the DSM-5 model of PTSD is a significant improvement over the previous DSM-IV model of PTSD. PMID:26366290

Higher order magnetic modulation structures in rare earth metal, alloys and compounds under extreme conditions

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kawano, S.

2003-01-01

Magnetic materials consisting of rare earth ions form modulation structures such as a helical or sinusoidal structure caused by the oscillating magnetic interaction between rare earth ions due to RKKY magnetic interaction. These modulation structures, in some cases, develop further to higher order modulation structures by additional modulations caused by higher order crystalline electric field, magnetic interactions such as spin-lattice interaction, external magnetic field and pressure. The higher order modulation structures are observed in a spin-slip structure or a helifan structure in Ho, and a tilt helix structure in a TbEr alloy. Paramagnetic ions originated from frustration generate many magnetic phases under applied external magnetic field. KUR neutron diffraction groups have performed the development and adjustment of high-pressure instruments and external magnetic fields for neutron diffraction spectrometers. The studies of 'neutron diffraction under extreme conditions' by the seven groups are described in this report. (Y. Kazumata)

Structural Phase Transitions of Mg(BH4)2 under Pressure

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

George, L.; Drozd, V.; Saxena, S.; Bardaji, E.; Fichtner, M.

2009-01-01

The structural stability of Mg(BH4)2, a promising hydrogen storage material, under pressure has been investigated in a diamond anvil cell up to 22 GPa with combined synchrotron X-ray diffraction and Raman spectroscopy. The analyses show a structural phase transition around 2.5 GPa and again around 14.4 GPa. An ambient-pressure phase of Mg(BH4)2 has a hexagonal structure (space group P61, a = 10.047(3) A, c = 36.34(1) A, and V = 3176(1) A3 at 0.2 GPa), which agrees well with early reports. The structure of high-pressure phase is found to be different from reported theoretical predictions; it also does not match the high-temperature phase. The high-pressure polymorph of Mg(BH4)2 is found to be stable on decompression, similar to the case of the high-temperature phase. Raman spectroscopic study shows a similarity in high-pressure behavior of as-prepared Mg(BH4)2 and its high-temperature phase.

CARIBBEAN OFFSHORE CORPORATE STRUCTURES UNDER A SWOT ANALYSIS

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ana-Maria GEAMÃNU

2015-04-01

Full Text Available Tax havens have long been under the attention of numerous Governments and International Organizations which triggered the concern of an uneven playing field in the taxation area. As a result numerous amendments have been made to both their commercial and tax legislations in order to be in line with the internationally agreed tax standards. The aim of this article is to conduct a SWOT analysis on the offshore corporate structures found in the Caribbean landscape. Based on a selection process of the most commonly recognized tax havens in the Caribbean region and an analysis of their offshore companies at the level of incorporation, administration, activities conducted and costs, a set of frequently met characteristics have been identified which stand at the basis of the SWOT analysis. The results stand to present a comprehensive four dimension framework of the offshore corporate structures in regards to their strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats.

Parametric and Non-Parametric Vibration-Based Structural Identification Under Earthquake Excitation

Science.gov (United States)

Pentaris, Fragkiskos P.; Fouskitakis, George N.

2014-05-01

The problem of modal identification in civil structures is of crucial importance, and thus has been receiving increasing attention in recent years. Vibration-based methods are quite promising as they are capable of identifying the structure's global characteristics, they are relatively easy to implement and they tend to be time effective and less expensive than most alternatives [1]. This paper focuses on the off-line structural/modal identification of civil (concrete) structures subjected to low-level earthquake excitations, under which, they remain within their linear operating regime. Earthquakes and their details are recorded and provided by the seismological network of Crete [2], which 'monitors' the broad region of south Hellenic arc, an active seismic region which functions as a natural laboratory for earthquake engineering of this kind. A sufficient number of seismic events are analyzed in order to reveal the modal characteristics of the structures under study, that consist of the two concrete buildings of the School of Applied Sciences, Technological Education Institute of Crete, located in Chania, Crete, Hellas. Both buildings are equipped with high-sensitivity and accuracy seismographs - providing acceleration measurements - established at the basement (structure's foundation) presently considered as the ground's acceleration (excitation) and at all levels (ground floor, 1st floor, 2nd floor and terrace). Further details regarding the instrumentation setup and data acquisition may be found in [3]. The present study invokes stochastic, both non-parametric (frequency-based) and parametric methods for structural/modal identification (natural frequencies and/or damping ratios). Non-parametric methods include Welch-based spectrum and Frequency response Function (FrF) estimation, while parametric methods, include AutoRegressive (AR), AutoRegressive with eXogeneous input (ARX) and Autoregressive Moving-Average with eXogeneous input (ARMAX) models[4, 5

Factor structure and longitudinal measurement invariance of PHQ-9 for specialist mental health care patients with persistent major depressive disorder: Exploratory Structural Equation Modelling.

Science.gov (United States)

Guo, Boliang; Kaylor-Hughes, Catherine; Garland, Anne; Nixon, Neil; Sweeney, Tim; Simpson, Sandra; Dalgleish, Tim; Ramana, Rajini; Yang, Min; Morriss, Richard

2017-09-01

The Patient Health Questionnaire-9 (PHQ-9) is a widely used instrument for measuring levels of depression in patients in clinical practice and academic research; its factor structure has been investigated in various samples, with limited evidence of measurement equivalence/invariance (ME/I) but not in patients with more severe depression of long duration. This study aims to explore the factor structure of the PHQ-9 and the ME/I between treatment groups over time for these patients. 187 secondary care patients with persistent major depressive disorder (PMDD) were recruited to a randomised controlled trial (RCT) with allocation to either a specialist depression team arm or a general mental health arm; their PHQ-9 score was measured at baseline, 3, 6, 9 and 12 months. Exploratory Structural Equational Modelling (ESEM) was performed to examine the factor structure for this specific patient group. ME/I between treatment arm at and across follow-up time were further explored by means of multiple-group ESEM approach using the best-fitted factor structure. A two-factor structure was evidenced (somatic and affective factor). This two-factor structure had strong factorial invariance between the treatment groups at and across follow up times. Participants were largely white British in a RCT with 40% attrition potentially limiting the study's generalisability. Not all two-factor modelling criteria were met at every time-point. PHQ-9 has a two-factor structure for PMDD patients, with strong measurement invariance between treatment groups at and across follow-up time, demonstrating its validity for RCTs and prospective longitudinal studies in chronic moderate to severe depression. Copyright © 2017. Published by Elsevier B.V.

Pre- and Postintervention Factor Structure of Functional Independence Measure in Patients with Spinal Cord Injury

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Mikhail Saltychev

2017-01-01

Full Text Available Objective. To evaluate the factor structure of Functional Independence Measure (FIM® scale amongst people with spinal cord injury (SCI. Methods. This was a retrospective, register-based cohort study on 155 rehabilitants with SCI. FIM was assessed at the beginning and at the end of multidisciplinary inpatient rehabilitation. The internal consistency of the FIM was assessed with Cronbach’s alpha and exploratory factor analysis was employed to approximate the construct structure of FIM. Results. The internal consistency demonstrated high Cronbach’s alpha of 0.95 to 0.96. For both pre- and postintervention assessments, the exploratory factor analysis resulted in 3-factor structures. Except for two items (“walking or using a wheelchair” and “expression”, the structures of the identified three factors remained the same from the beginning to the end of rehabilitation. The loadings of all items were sufficient, exceeding 0.3. Both pre- and postintervention chi-square tests showed significant p values < 0.0001. The “motor” domain was divided into two factors with this 2-factor structure enduring through the intervention period. Conclusions. Amongst rehabilitants with SCI, FIM failed to demonstrate unidimensionality. Instead, it showed a 3-factor structure that fluctuated only little depending on the timing of measurement. Additionally, when measured separately, also motor score was 2-dimensional, not 1-dimensional. Using a total or subscale FIM, scores seem to be unjustified in the studied population.

A Confirmatory Factor Analysis of the Structure of Abbreviated Math Anxiety Scale

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Farahman Farrokhi

2011-06-01

Full Text Available "nObjective: The aim of this study is to explore the confirmatory factor analysis results of the Persian adaptation of Abbreviated Math Anxiety Scale (AMAS, proposed by Hopko, Mahadevan, Bare & Hunt. "nMethod: The validity and reliability assessments of the scale were performed on 298 college students chosen randomly from Tabriz University in Iran. The confirmatory factor analysis (CFA was carried out to determine the factor structures of the Persian version of AMAS. "nResults: As expected, the two-factor solution provided a better fit to the data than a single factor. Moreover, multi-group analyses showed that this two-factor structure was invariant across sex. Hence, AMAS provides an equally valid measure for use among college students. "nConclusions:  Brief AMAS demonstrates adequate reliability and validity. The AMAS scores can be used to compare symptoms of math anxiety between male and female students. The study both expands and adds support to the existing body of math anxiety literature.

Stress intensity factors of three parallel edge cracks under bending moments

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ismail, A E

2013-01-01

This paper reports the study of stress intensity factors (SIF) of three edge cracks in a finite plate under bending moments. The goal of this paper was to analyze the three edge crack interactions under such loading. Several studies can be found in literature discussing on mode I SIF. However, most of these studies obtained the SIFs using tensile force. Lack of SIF reported discussing on the SIFs obtained under bending moments. ANSYS finite element program was used to develop the finite element model where singular elements were used to model the cracks. Different crack geometries and parameters were utilized in order to characterize the SIFs. According to the present results, crack geometries played a significant role in determining the SIFs and consequently induced the crack interaction mechanisms

Current-voltage characteristics of the semiconductor nanowires under the metal-semiconductor-metal structure

Science.gov (United States)

Wen, Jing; Zhang, Xitian; Gao, Hong; Wang, Mingjiao

2013-12-01

We present a method to calculate the I-V characteristics of semiconductor nanowires under the metal-semiconductor-metal (MSM) structure. The carrier concentration as an important parameter is introduced into the expression of the current. The subband structure of the nanowire has been considered for associating it with the position of the Fermi level and circumventing the uncertainties of the contact areas in the contacts. The tunneling and thermionic emission currents in the two Schottky barriers at the two metal-semiconductor contacts are discussed. We find that the two barriers have different influences on the I-V characteristics of the MSM structure, one of which under the forward bias plays the role of threshold voltage if its barrier height is large and the applied voltage is small, and the other under the reverse bias controls the shapes of I-V curves. Our calculations show that the shapes of the I-V curves for the MSM structure are mainly determined by the barrier heights of the contacts and the carrier concentration. The nearly identical I-V characteristics can be obtained by using different values of the barrier heights and carrier concentration, which means that the contact type conversion can be ascribed not only to the changes of the barrier heights but also that of the carrier concentration. We also discuss the mechanisms of the ohmic-Schottky conversions and clarify the ambiguity in the literature. The possibility about the variation of the carrier concentration under the applied fields has been confirmed by experimental results.

Reinforced concrete structures under impact and impulsive loading: recent development, problems and trends

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Plauk, G.; Herter, J.

1984-01-01

Nuclear plant facilities and other reinforced concrete structures have to be regarded as to their safety in design and construction with respect to impact and impulsive loading in order to avoid serious damage to mankind and environment. The paper gives a survey on theoretical and experimental developments currently in progress, in particular regarding airplane crash. Some new results arising out of several research programs relevant to particular problems of impact loading have been reviewed and are presented. Experimental investigation for determination of material properties of plain concrete, reinforcing steel as well as steel-concrete bond under high strain-rates are treated in this paper including theoretical approaches for the respective material laws. An outline of soft missile impact tests performed on structural members, e.g. beams and plates, to determine the load deformation or fracture behaviour is given. Furthermore, numerical models and calculations to analyse structural components and structures under impact loading were discussed. (Author) [pt

Experimental study of critical heat flux enhancement with hypervapotron structure under natural circulation conditions

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Hou, Fangxin [Institute of Nuclear and New Energy Technology, Tsinghua University, Beijing (China); Chang, Huajian [Institute of Nuclear and New Energy Technology, Tsinghua University, Beijing (China); State Nuclear Power Technology R& D Center (Beijing), Beijing (China); Zhao, Yufeng, E-mail: zhaoyufeng@snptc.com.cn [State Nuclear Power Technology R& D Center (Beijing), Beijing (China); Zhang, Ming; Gao, Tianfang [State Nuclear Power Technology R& D Center (Beijing), Beijing (China); Chen, Peipei [State Power Investment Corporation, Beijing (China)

2017-05-15

Highlights: • Natural circulation tests are performed to study the effect of hypervapotron on CHF. • Hypervapotron structure improves CHF under natural circulation conditions. • Visualization data illustrate vapor blanket behavior under subcooled flow conditions. - Abstract: The enhancement of critical heat flux with a hypervapotron structure under natural circulation conditions is investigated in this study. Subcooled flow boiling CHF experiments are performed using smooth and hypervapotron surfaces at different inclination angles under natural circulation conditions. The experimental facility, TESEC (Test of External Vessel Surface with Enhanced Cooling), is designed to conduct CHF experiments in a 30 mm by 61 mm rectangular flow channel with a 200 mm long heated surface along the flow direction. The two-phase flow of subcooled flow boiling on both smooth and hypervapotron heating plates is observed and analyzed by the high-speed visualization technology. The results show that both smooth surface and hypervapotron surface CHF data exhibit a similar trend against inclination angles compared with the CHF results under forced flow condition on the same facility in earlier studies. However, the CHF enhancement of the hypervapotron structure is evidently more significant than the one under forced flow conditions. The experiments also indicate that the natural flow rates are higher with hypervapotron structure. The initiation of CHF is analyzed under transient subcooling and flow rate conditions for both smooth and hypervapotron heating surfaces. An explanation is given for the significant enhancement effect caused by the hypervapotron surface under natural circulation conditions. The visualization data are exhibited to demonstrate the behavior of the vapor blanket at various inclination angles and on different surfaces. The geometric data of the vapor blanket are quantified by an image post-processing method. It is found that the thickness of the vapor blanket

Factor structure of the Liebowitz Social Anxiety Scale for Children and Adolescents.

Science.gov (United States)

Storch, Eric A; Masia-Warner, Carrie; Heidgerken, Amanda D; Fisher, Paige H; Pincus, Donna B; Liebowitz, Michael R

2006-01-01

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the factor structure of the Liebowitz Social Anxiety Scale for Children and Adolescents (LSAS-CA). The LSAS-CA was administered to 225 children and adolescents as a component of various clinical studies. In addition, other measures of psychopathology and impairment were administered to a subgroup of the sample. Confirmatory factor analyses of the social interaction and performance subscales for the anxiety and avoidance ratings yielded poor fit indices. Exploratory factor analysis supported a two-factor solution with a higher order factor for the LSAS-CA anxiety and avoidance ratings. Based on item content, factors were named Social and School Performance. The internal consistency of the factors was high and the convergent and divergent validity was supported vis-à-vis correlations with measures of depression and social anxiety, and clinician ratings of impairment and functioning. Findings suggest that the anxiety and avoidance ratings are best explained by a two-factor solution that measures social anxiety and avoidance in social and school performance interactions. This factor structure appears to be a reliable and valid framework for assessing childhood social phobia.

Dynamic structure factor of the normal Fermi gas from the collisionless to the hydrodynamic regime

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Watabe, Shohei; Nikuni, Tetsuro

2010-01-01

The dynamic structure factor of a normal Fermi gas is investigated by using the moment method for the Boltzmann equation. We determine the spectral function at finite temperatures over the full range of crossover from the collisionless regime to the hydrodynamic regime. We find that the Brillouin peak in the dynamic structure factor exhibits a smooth crossover from zero to first sound as functions of temperature and interaction strength. The dynamic structure factor obtained using the moment method also exhibits a definite Rayleigh peak (ω∼0), which is a characteristic of the hydrodynamic regime. We compare the dynamic structure factor obtained by the moment method with that obtained from the hydrodynamic equations.

Study on the Reinforcement Measures and Control Effect of the Surrounding Rock Stability Based on the Shield Tunneling Under Overpass Structure

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Qian-cheng Fang

2016-04-01

Full Text Available To study the stability of surrounding rocks for shield tunneling under overpass structures and the safety of existing bridge structures, a practical example of the method was cited through a shield tunneling project under the overpass structure between K1+110 and K1+700 on Line 2 of Shenyang Subway, China. The sub-area reinforcement was proposed according to surrounding rock deformation characteristics during shield tunnel excavation. The bridge foundation (i.e., the clear spacing to the shield tunnel is less than 2 m was reinforced by steel support, the bridge foundation (the clear spacing is about 2~7m used “jet grouting pile” reinforcement, whereas the bridge foundation (the clear spacing is greater than 7 m did not adopt any reinforcement measures for the moment. For this study, the mean value and material heterogeneity models were established to evaluate the reinforcement effect from several aspects, such as surrounding rock deformation, plastic zone development, and safety factor. The simulation results were consistent with those of field monitoring. After reinforcement, the maximum deformation values of the surrounding rock were reduced by 4.9%, 12.2%, and 48.46%, and the maximum values of surface subsidence were decreased by 5.6%, 72.2%, and 88.64%. By contrast, the overall safety factor was increased by 4.1%, 55.46%, and 55.46%. This study posited that this reinforcement method can be adopted to solve tunnel construction problems in engineering-geological conditions effectively. References for evaluating similar projects are provided.

Structural aging program status report

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Naus, D.J.; Oland, C.B.; Ellingwood, B.; Graves, H.L. III

1994-01-01

Research is being conducted at the Oak Ridge National Laboratory under Nuclear Regulatory Commission (USNRC) sponsorship to address aging management of safety-related concrete structures. Documentation is being prepared to provide the USNRC with potential structural safety issues and acceptance criteria for use in continued service evaluations of nuclear power plants. Program accomplishments have included development of the Structural Materials Information Center containing data and information on the time variation of 144 material properties under the influence of pertinent environmental stressors or aging factors, performance assessments of reinforced concrete structures in several United Kingdom nuclear power facilities, evaluation of European and North American repair practices for concrete, an evaluation of factors affecting the corrosion of metals embedded in concrete, and application of the time-dependent reliability methodology to reinforced concrete flexure and shear structural elements to investigate the role of in-service inspection and repair on their probability of failure

Structural characteristics signal-grass under continuois stoking and nitrogen fertilization

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Rodrigo Vieira de Morais

2010-01-01

Full Text Available From February to November 2003, the mass and morphological composition of forage from Brachiaria decumbens cv. Basilisk pastures under four different doses of nitrogen (75, 150, 225 and 300 kg/ha/year were evaluated. The pastures were managed under continuous stocking with growing cattle. The data were grouped within three periods: February to April, May to August and September to November. Randomized block design with subdivided plots and two repetitions was used. The plots correspond to the nitrogen (N doses, while the subplots to the time of the evaluation. In the period from May to August, the forage mass in the B. decumbens pasture increased linearly related to the N dose. The percentage of green leaf blade (GLB was lower in the May/August period if compared to the other periods. The highest percentage values for green stem (GS ocorred February/April. The relation between LFV masses and CV were influenced by the period of evaluation, reaching higher values in September/November. When 75 kg ha-1 of N was applied, the senescent tissue (ST participation in the pasture did not vary throughout the months of the year. However, when whith doses of 150 kg ha-1 of N were applied, the percentage of ST was lower for February/April in comparison to the other periods. The percentages of GFB and GS increased linearly and positively as the N doses increased in the February/April. The structure of the B. decumbens pasture under continuous stocking is influenced interactively by the nitrogen doses and time of the year. Nitrogen fertilization improves the structure of the B. decumbens pasture under continuous stocking managed with the same mean height.

Serviceability design load factors and reliability assessments for reinforced concrete containment structures

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Han Bong Koo

1998-01-01

A reinforced concrete nuclear power plant containment structure is subjected to various random static and stochastic loads during its lifetime. Since these loads involve inherent randomness and other uncertainties, an appropriate probabilistic model for each load must be established in order to perform reliability analysis. The current ASME code for reinforced concrete containment structures are not based on probability concepts. The stochastic nature of natural hazard or accidental loads and the variations of material properties require a probabilistic approach for a rational assessment of structural safety and performance. The paper develops probability-based load factors for the limit state design of reinforced concrete containment structures. The purpose of constructing reinforced concrete containment structure is to protect against radioactive release, and so the use of a serviceability limit state against crack failure that can cause the emission of radioactive materials is suggested as a critical limit state for reinforced concrete containment structures. Load factors for the design of reinforced concrete containment structures are proposed and carried out the reliability assessments. (orig.)

Towards an understanding of structure-function relationships of elongation factor Tu

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Wiborg, O; Andersen, C; Knudsen, Charlotte Rohde

1994-01-01

In light of the recently determined structure of elongation factor Tu, and taking into account chemical studies mapping functional sites, a number of residues have been selected for site-directed mutagenesis studies. Gly94, Gly126, His66, His118, Lys89 and Asp90 have each been point-mutated. Prel......In light of the recently determined structure of elongation factor Tu, and taking into account chemical studies mapping functional sites, a number of residues have been selected for site-directed mutagenesis studies. Gly94, Gly126, His66, His118, Lys89 and Asp90 have each been point...

Perceived Parental Attitudes of Gender Expansiveness: Development and Preliminary Factor Structure of a Self-Report Youth Questionnaire.

Science.gov (United States)

Hidalgo, Marco A; Chen, Diane; Garofalo, Robert; Forbes, Catherine

2017-01-01

Purpose: Parental acceptance of gender identity/expression in lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer/questioning (LGBTQ+) youth moderates the effects of minority stress on mental health outcomes. Given this association, mental health clinicians of gender-expansive adolescents often assess the degree to which these youth perceive their parents/primary caregivers as accepting or nonaffirming of their gender identity and expression. While existing measures may reliably assess youth's perceptions of general family support, no known tool aids in the assessment an adolescent's perceived parental support related to adolescent gender-expansive experiences. Methods: To provide both clinicians and researchers with an empirically derived tool, the current study used factor analysis to explore an underlying factor structure of a brief questionnaire developed by subject-matter experts and pertaining to multiple aspects of perceived parental support in gender-expansive adolescents and young adults. Respondents were gender-expansive adolescents and young adults seeking care in an interdisciplinary gender-health clinic within a pediatric academic medical center in the Midwestern United States. Results: Exploratory factor analysis resulted in a 14-item questionnaire comprised of two subscales assessing perceived parental nonaffirmation and perceived parental acceptance. Internal consistency and construct validity results provided support for this new questionnaire. Conclusion: This study provides preliminary evidence of the factor structure, reliability and validity of the Parental Attitudes of Gender Expansiveness Scale for Youth (PAGES-Y). These findings demonstrate both the clinical and research utility of the PAGES-Y, a tool that can yield a more nuanced understanding of family-related risk and protective factors in gender-expansive adolescents.

'Mum never loved me.' How structural factors influence adolescent ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

Little has been done to understand the nature of parent–child connectedness, the structural factors that impact on connectedness and parents' understanding of how connectedness affects their children's sexual behaviour in sub-Saharan Africa and Tanzania in particular. Ethnographic research involved 30 days of ...

Factors Underlying the Relationship Between Parent and Child Grief.

Science.gov (United States)

Cipriano, David J; Cipriano, Madeline R

2017-01-01

The death of a parent in a child's life is a significant risk factor for later mental and physical health problems. While much has been written about the surviving parent's functioning and its effects on their bereaved children, little work has been done to look into factors underlying this effect such as how the parent copes. The present study recruited 38 parent-child dyads from a community-based grief support center. Parent and child, independently, completed various measures of emotional functioning, including grief symptoms and coping such as social support and locus of control. The results indicated that parental coping did have an impact on children's grief symptoms. This represents a unique view of adaptation in bereaved children: Parental coping strategies can have an impact on the child, independent of the child's coping strategies. By focusing on parent coping, we have highlighted another possible pathway through which parental functioning affects children's grief.

Bodily Experience in Schizophrenia : Factors Underlying a Disturbed Sense of Body Ownership

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Klaver, Maayke; Dijkerman, H Chris

2016-01-01

Emerging evidence is now challenging the view that patients diagnosed with schizophrenia experience a selective deficit in their sense of agency. Additional disturbances seem to exist in their sense of body ownership. However, the factors underlying this disturbance in body ownership remain elusive.

Factors Influencing Implementation of OHSAS 18001 in Indian Construction Organizations: Interpretive Structural Modeling Approach.

Science.gov (United States)

Rajaprasad, Sunku Venkata Siva; Chalapathi, Pasupulati Venkata

2015-09-01

Construction activity has made considerable breakthroughs in the past two decades on the back of increases in development activities, government policies, and public demand. At the same time, occupational health and safety issues have become a major concern to construction organizations. The unsatisfactory safety performance of the construction industry has always been highlighted since the safety management system is neglected area and not implemented systematically in Indian construction organizations. Due to a lack of enforcement of the applicable legislation, most of the construction organizations are forced to opt for the implementation of Occupational Health Safety Assessment Series (OHSAS) 18001 to improve safety performance. In order to better understand factors influencing the implementation of OHSAS 18001, an interpretive structural modeling approach has been applied and the factors have been classified using matrice d'impacts croises-multiplication appliqué a un classement (MICMAC) analysis. The study proposes the underlying theoretical framework to identify factors and to help management of Indian construction organizations to understand the interaction among factors influencing in implementation of OHSAS 18001. Safety culture, continual improvement, morale of employees, and safety training have been identified as dependent variables. Safety performance, sustainable construction, and conducive working environment have been identified as linkage variables. Management commitment and safety policy have been identified as the driver variables. Management commitment has the maximum driving power and the most influential factor is safety policy, which states clearly the commitment of top management towards occupational safety and health.

Structural distortion and electronic properties of NiO under high pressure: an ab initio GGA+U study

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Zhang Weibing; Hu Yulin; Han Keli; Tang Biyu

2006-01-01

The structural distortion and electronic properties of NiO under high pressure are investigated by means of first-principles calculations within the density functional theory (DFT) in the generalized gradient approximation (GGA). The strong electronic correlations are also taken into account in the form of GGA+U. Recent experiments implied that previous local density approximation (LDA) calculations incorrectly predicted structural distortion under high pressure, especially above 60 GPa. The present results show that even GGA calculations do not give a proper description of structural distortion under high pressure, although much improved structural and bulk properties are obtained. When strong correlations are included, overall agreement of the structural distortions of NiO under high pressure is obtained. The lattice constants a and c as well as the axial ratio c/a are in good agreement with experiment over the entire experimental pressure range. The successful prediction of the structural distortion of GGA+U can be attributed to the reasonable description of nearest-neighbour magnetic exchange interactions. In addition, we also analyse the density of states under different pressures. Present results indicate that, with increasing pressure, the bandwidth increases and the bandgap transits from being a mixture of charge-transfer and Mott-Hubbard type towards solely Mott-Hubbard type

Structural stability of the smectite-doped lanthanum under high pressures and high temperatures

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Stefani, Vicente Fiorini

2012-01-01

Smectites are phyllosilicates that have a tetrahedron: octahedron structure ratio of 2:1, with high cation exchange capacity (CEC) in the interlayers. For these and other features, smectites have been used in many parts of the world as secondary barriers with the goal of containing a possible leak of radioactive elements in final disposal facilities for radioactive waste through cation exchange. Our aim in this work is to reach the cation exchange in calcium montmorillonite (smectite dioctahedral) by lanthanum to simulate trivalent radionuclides and to study the stability of this structure under high pressure and high temperature. To achieve high pressure it was used two different technique: DAC (Diamond Anvil Cell), achieving pressures up to 12GPa at room temperature and hydraulic press with a toroidal chamber profile to achieve pressures up to 7,7GPa and temperatures up to 900 degree C. The heating is achieved simultaneously by an electric system coupled in the hydraulic press. The outcomes show that the smectite structure doped with lanthanum remains stable under 12GPa at room temperature and 2.5GPa at 200 degree C. However, above 300 degree C at 2.5GPa the structure becomes a new phase of muscovite-like, rich of La, where it loses its interlayer water and turns out to be irreversible. Furthermore, it is important to point out that the higher temperature the better ordered is the structure and it is still stable under 7.7GPa and 900 degree C. Moreover, after all experiments the structure continues being dioctahedral. The new phase of muscovite-like, rich of La, in contact with a calcium solution remains partially unchanged, whereas the other part returns to the original structure (montmorillonite-Ca). The following analyses were performed: X-ray diffraction (XRD) for evaluating the spatial structure; Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) for getting information about the vibrational modes; scanning electron microscopy with dispersive Xray spectroscopy

Review of parameters influencing the structural response of a submerged body under cavitation conditions

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Escaler, X; De La Torre, O; Farhat, M

2015-01-01

Submerged structures that operate under extreme flows are prone to suffer large scale cavitation attached to their surfaces. Under such conditions the added mass effects differ from the expected ones in pure liquids. Moreover, the existence of small gaps between the structure and surrounding bodies filled with fluid also influence the dynamic response. A series of experiments and numerical simulations have been carried out with a truncated NACA0009 hydrofoil mounted as a cantilever beam at the LMH-EPFL cavitation tunnel. The three first modes of vibration have been determined and analysed under various hydrodynamic conditions ranging from air and still water to partial cavitation and supercavitation. A remote nonintrusive excitation system with piezoelectric patches has been used for the experiments. The effects of the cavity properties and the lateral gap size on the natural frequencies and mode shapes have been determined. As a result, the significance of several parameters in the design of such structures is discussed. (paper)

Review of parameters influencing the structural response of a submerged body under cavitation conditions

Science.gov (United States)

Escaler, X.; De La Torre, O.; Farhat, M.

2015-12-01

Submerged structures that operate under extreme flows are prone to suffer large scale cavitation attached to their surfaces. Under such conditions the added mass effects differ from the expected ones in pure liquids. Moreover, the existence of small gaps between the structure and surrounding bodies filled with fluid also influence the dynamic response. A series of experiments and numerical simulations have been carried out with a truncated NACA0009 hydrofoil mounted as a cantilever beam at the LMH-EPFL cavitation tunnel. The three first modes of vibration have been determined and analysed under various hydrodynamic conditions ranging from air and still water to partial cavitation and supercavitation. A remote nonintrusive excitation system with piezoelectric patches has been used for the experiments. The effects of the cavity properties and the lateral gap size on the natural frequencies and mode shapes have been determined. As a result, the significance of several parameters in the design of such structures is discussed.

Associations between alcohol use, other psychosocial factors, structural factors and antiretroviral therapy (ART) adherence among South African ART recipients.

Science.gov (United States)

Morojele, Neo K; Kekwaletswe, Connie T; Nkosi, Sebenzile

2014-03-01

We examined whether alcohol use is associated with antiretroviral therapy (ART) adherence independently of structural and psychosocial factors among 304 male and female ART recipients in ART sites in Tshwane, South Africa. ART adherence was assessed by the CASE Adherence Index. Independent variables were demographic, structural, psycho-social, and alcohol use (AUDIT score) factors. In hierarchical multiple regression, demographic variables (Step 1) explained 4 % of variance in ART adherence (p ≤ 0.01). Variance explained increased to 16 % (p ≤ 0.001) after entering structural variables (Step 2); 19 % (p ≤ 0.001) after entering psychosocial variables (Step 3); and 24 % (p ≤ 0.001) after entering AUDIT score (Step 4). Alcohol use is independently associated with ART adherence.

The influence of the crust layer on RPV structural failure under severe accident condition

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Mao, Jianfeng, E-mail: jianfeng-mao@163.com [Institute of Process Equipment and Control Engineering, Zhejiang University of Technology Hangzhou, Zhejiang 310032 (China); Engineering Research Center of Process Equipment and Re-manufacturing, Ministry of Education (China); Li, Xiangqing [Institute of Process Equipment and Control Engineering, Zhejiang University of Technology Hangzhou, Zhejiang 310032 (China); Bao, Shiyi [Institute of Process Equipment and Control Engineering, Zhejiang University of Technology Hangzhou, Zhejiang 310032 (China); Engineering Research Center of Process Equipment and Re-manufacturing, Ministry of Education (China); Luo, Lijia [Institute of Process Equipment and Control Engineering, Zhejiang University of Technology Hangzhou, Zhejiang 310032 (China); Gao, Zengliang [Institute of Process Equipment and Control Engineering, Zhejiang University of Technology Hangzhou, Zhejiang 310032 (China); Engineering Research Center of Process Equipment and Re-manufacturing, Ministry of Education (China)

2017-05-15

Highlights: • The crust layer greatly affects the RPV structural behavior. • The RPV failure is investigated in depth under severe accident. • The creep and plastic damage mainly contribute to RPV failure. • An elastic core in RPV wall is essential for ensuring RPV integrity. • The multiaxial state of stress accelerates the total damage evolution. - Abstract: The so called ‘in-vessel retention (IVR)’ is regarded as a severe accident (SA) mitigation strategy, which is widely used in most of advanced nuclear power plants. The effectiveness of IVR strategy is to employ the external water flooding to cool the reactor pressure vessel (RPV). The RPV integrity has to be maintained within a required period during the IVR period. The degraded melting core is assumed to be arrested in the lower head (LH) to form the melting pool that is bounded by upper, side and lower crusts. Consequently, the existence of the crust layer greatly affects the RPV structural behavior as well as failure process. In order to disclose this influence caused by the crust layer, a detailed investigation is conducted by using numerical simulation on the two RPVs with and without crust layer respectively. Taking the RPV without crust layer as a basis for the comparison, the present study assesses the likelihood and potential failure location, time and mode of the LH under the loadings of the critical heat flux (CHF) and slight internal pressure. Due to the high temperature melt on the inside and nucleate boiling on the outside, the RPV integrity is found to be compromised by melt-through, creep, elasticity, plasticity as well as thermal expansion. Through in-depth investigation, it is found that the creep and plasticity are of vital importance to the final structural failure, and the introduction of crust layer results in a significant change on field parameters in terms of temperature, deformation, stress(strain), triaxiality factor and total damage.

The influence of the crust layer on RPV structural failure under severe accident condition

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Mao, Jianfeng; Li, Xiangqing; Bao, Shiyi; Luo, Lijia; Gao, Zengliang

2017-01-01

Highlights: • The crust layer greatly affects the RPV structural behavior. • The RPV failure is investigated in depth under severe accident. • The creep and plastic damage mainly contribute to RPV failure. • An elastic core in RPV wall is essential for ensuring RPV integrity. • The multiaxial state of stress accelerates the total damage evolution. - Abstract: The so called ‘in-vessel retention (IVR)’ is regarded as a severe accident (SA) mitigation strategy, which is widely used in most of advanced nuclear power plants. The effectiveness of IVR strategy is to employ the external water flooding to cool the reactor pressure vessel (RPV). The RPV integrity has to be maintained within a required period during the IVR period. The degraded melting core is assumed to be arrested in the lower head (LH) to form the melting pool that is bounded by upper, side and lower crusts. Consequently, the existence of the crust layer greatly affects the RPV structural behavior as well as failure process. In order to disclose this influence caused by the crust layer, a detailed investigation is conducted by using numerical simulation on the two RPVs with and without crust layer respectively. Taking the RPV without crust layer as a basis for the comparison, the present study assesses the likelihood and potential failure location, time and mode of the LH under the loadings of the critical heat flux (CHF) and slight internal pressure. Due to the high temperature melt on the inside and nucleate boiling on the outside, the RPV integrity is found to be compromised by melt-through, creep, elasticity, plasticity as well as thermal expansion. Through in-depth investigation, it is found that the creep and plasticity are of vital importance to the final structural failure, and the introduction of crust layer results in a significant change on field parameters in terms of temperature, deformation, stress(strain), triaxiality factor and total damage.

Acoustic and Vibration Control for an Underwater Structure under Mechanical Excitation

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Shi-Jian Zhu

2014-01-01

Full Text Available Acoustic and vibration control for an underwater structure under mechanical excitation has been investigated by using negative feedback control algorithm. The underwater structure is modeled with cylindrical shells, conical shells, and circular bulkheads, of which the motion equations are built with the variational approach, respectively. Acoustic property is analyzed by the Helmholtz integration formulation with boundary element method. Based on negative feedback control algorithm, a control loop with a coupling use of piezoelectric sensor and actuator is built, and accordingly some numerical examples are carried out on active control of structural vibration and acoustic response. Effects of geometrical and material parameters on acoustic and vibration properties are investigated and discussed.

Topological representation of the porous structure and its evolution of reservoir sandstone under excavation-induced loads

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ju Yang

2017-01-01

Full Text Available The porous structure of a reservoir rock greatly influences its evolutive deformation and fracture behavior during excavation of natural resources reservoirs. Most numerical models for porous structures have been used to predict the quasi-static mechanical properties, but few are available to accurately characterize the evolution process of the porous structure and its influence on the macroscopic properties of reservoir rocks. This study reports a novel method to characterize the porous structure of sandstone using its topological parameters and to determine the laws that govern the evolutive deformation and failure of the topological structure under various uniaxial compressive loads. A numerical model of the porous sandstone was established based on the pore characteristics that were acquired using computed tomography imaging techniques. The analytical method that integrates the grassfire algorithm and the maximum inscribed sphere algorithm was proposed to create the 3-D topological model of the deformed porous structure, through which the topological parameters of the structure were measured and identified. The evolution processes of the porous structure under various loads were characterized using its equivalent topological model and parameters. This study opens a new way to characterize the dynamic evolution of the pore structure of reservoir sandstone under excavation disturbance.

GIS-based Analysis of LS Factor under Coal Mining Subsidence Impacts in Sandy Region

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

W. Xiao

2014-09-01

Full Text Available Coal deposits in the adjacent regions of Shanxi, Shaanxi, and Inner Mongolia province (SSI account for approximately two-thirds of coal in China; therefore, the SSI region has become the frontier of coal mining and its westward movement. Numerous adverse impacts to land and environment have arisen in these sandy, arid, and ecologically fragile areas. Underground coal mining activities cause land to subside and subsequent soil erosion, with slope length and slope steepness (LS as the key influential factor. In this investigation, an SSI mining site was chosen as a case study area, and 1 the pre-mining LS factor was obtained using a digital elevation model (DEM dataset; 2 a mining subsidence prediction was implemented with revised subsidence prediction factors; and 3 the post-mining LS factor was calculated by integrating the pre-mining DEM dataset and coal mining subsidence prediction data. The results revealed that the LS factor leads to some changes in the bottom of subsidence basin and considerable alterations at the basin’s edges of basin. Moreover, the LS factor became larger in the steeper terrain under subsidence impacts. This integrated method could quantitatively analyse LS changes and spatial distribution under mining impacts, which will benefit and provide references for soil erosion evaluations in this region

Factor structure of the Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children-Fifth Edition: Exploratory factor analyses with the 16 primary and secondary subtests.

Science.gov (United States)

Canivez, Gary L; Watkins, Marley W; Dombrowski, Stefan C

2016-08-01

The factor structure of the 16 Primary and Secondary subtests of the Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children-Fifth Edition (WISC-V; Wechsler, 2014a) standardization sample was examined with exploratory factor analytic methods (EFA) not included in the WISC-V Technical and Interpretive Manual (Wechsler, 2014b). Factor extraction criteria suggested 1 to 4 factors and results favored 4 first-order factors. When this structure was transformed with the Schmid and Leiman (1957) orthogonalization procedure, the hierarchical g-factor accounted for large portions of total and common variance while the 4 first-order factors accounted for small portions of total and common variance; rendering interpretation at the factor index level less appropriate. Although the publisher favored a 5-factor model where the Perceptual Reasoning factor was split into separate Visual Spatial and Fluid Reasoning dimensions, no evidence for 5 factors was found. It was concluded that the WISC-V provides strong measurement of general intelligence and clinical interpretation should be primarily, if not exclusively, at that level. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2016 APA, all rights reserved).

Associated factors of malnutrition among African children under five years old, Bom Jesus, Angola

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ema Cândida Branco FERNANDES

Full Text Available ABSTRACT Objective: To identify the determinants of wasting and stunting in children under five years old in the commune of Bom Jesus, Angola Methods: A population-based cross-sectional study was conducted with 742 children in 2010, and nutritional deficits were defined by World Health Organization criteria. Prevalence ratios and associated factors of wasting and stunting were estimated using Poisson regression with robust variance, using a conceptual hierarchical model Results: For both deficits, there were significant differences in the prevalence ratios according to the children's neighborhood and age. Boys and those children living in households whose water supply came from the river or lake, as well those with recent expulsion of parasites and infections were more likely to present stunting. Children of fathers with higher number of children or that which the fathers were not living at home and whose mothers were 25-34 years old were less likely to have wasting Conclusion: It was identified independent variables from different levels of determination of malnutrition, standing out the basic sanitation conditions and family structure as important predictors of the nutritional deficits. The knowledge of the associated factors of malnutrition may contribute for subside public policies in planning interventions to improve the childhood nutrition status in Bom Jesus and communes with similar characteristics in Angola.

An interactive FORTRAN program for the evaluation of structure factors and pair distribution functions from neutron diffraction experiments

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Abel, W.

1985-02-01

This report describes an interactive program to evaluate neutron diffraction data using the Graphic System (GS) under MVS (TSO). Different evaluation steps may be directed by a CLIST. The present program is limited to cylindrical sample geometry. From the fully corrected static structure factor the pair correlation function g(r) and the radial density function may be calculated from which the mean coordination number can be obtained by numerical integration over the main peak. Producing a hardcopy output on a mechanical plotter is provided. (orig.) [de

Factors underlying male and female use of violent video games

OpenAIRE

Hartmann, T.; Möller, I.; Krause, C.

2015-01-01

Research has consistently shown that males play violent video games more frequently than females, but factors underlying this gender gap have not been examined to date. This approach examines the assumption that males play violent video games more because they anticipate more enjoyment and less guilt from engaging in virtual violence than females. This may be because males are less empathetic, tend to morally justify physical violence more and have a greater need for sensation and aggression ...

Calabi-Yau structures on categories of matrix factorizations

Science.gov (United States)

Shklyarov, Dmytro

2017-09-01

Using tools of complex geometry, we construct explicit proper Calabi-Yau structures, that is, non-degenerate cyclic cocycles on differential graded categories of matrix factorizations of regular functions with isolated critical points. The formulas involve the Kapustin-Li trace and its higher corrections. From the physics perspective, our result yields explicit 'off-shell' models for categories of topological D-branes in B-twisted Landau-Ginzburg models.

Structural Diversity of Streptococcal Mutans Synthesized under Different Culture and Environmental Conditions and Its Effect on Mutanase Synthesis

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Katarzyna Próchniak

2012-10-01

Full Text Available Streptococcal mutans synthesized under different conditions by growing cultures or by their glucosyltransferases were shown to exhibit a great structural and property diversity. Culturing and environmental factors causing structural differences in mutans were specified. All of the obtained biopolymers (76 samples were water-insoluble and most of them (72 had a structure with a predominance of α-(1→3-linked glucose (i.e., the content of α-(1→3-linkages in the glucan was always higher than 50%, but did not exceed 76%. An exception were four glucans containing more than 50% of α-(1→6-sequences. In these structurally unique mutans, the ratio of α-(1→3- to α-(1→6-bonds ranged from 0.75 to 0.97. Aside from one polymer, all others had a heavily branched structures and differed in the number of α-(1→3, α-(1→6, and α-(1→3,6 linkages and their mutual proportion. The induction of mutanase production in shaken flask cultures of Trichoderma harzianum by the structurally diverse mutans resulted in enzyme activities ranging from 0.144 to 1.051 U/mL. No statistical correlation was found between the total percentage content of α-(1→3-linkages in the α-glucan and mutanase activity. Thus, despite biosynthetic differences causing structural variation in the mutans, it did not matter which mutan structures were used to induce mutanase production.

Structural, electronic and elastic properties of the cubic CaTiO3 under pressure: A DFT study

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Saad Tariq

2015-07-01

Full Text Available Using highly accurate FP-LAPW method with GGA approximation structural, electronic and elastic properties of cubic CaTiO3 have been calculated from 0-120 GPa range of pressure. It is observed that lattice constant, bond length and anisotropy factor decrease with increase in pressure. Also the brittle nature and indirect band-gap of the compound become ductile and direct band-gap respectively at 120 GPa. Moduli of elasticity, density of the material, Debye temperature and wave elastic wave velocities increase with increase in pressure. Spin dependent DOS’s plots show invariant anti-ferromagnetic nature of the compound under pressure. Our calculated results are in good agreement with available theoretical and experimental results.

Structural phase transitions in Zn(CN)2 under high pressures

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Poswal, H.K.; Tyagi, A.K.; Lausi, Andrea; Deb, S.K.; Sharma, Surinder M.

2009-01-01

High pressure behavior of zinc cyanide (Zn(CN) 2 ) has been investigated with the help of synchrotron-based X-ray diffraction measurements. Our studies reveal that under pressure this compound undergoes phase transformations and the structures of the new phases depend on whether the pressure is hydrostatic or not. Under hydrostatic conditions, Zn(CN) 2 transforms from cubic to orthorhombic to cubic-II to amorphous phases. In contrast, the non-hydrostatic pressure conditions drive the ambient cubic phase to a partially disordered crystalline phase, which eventually evolves to a substantially disordered phase. The final disordered phase in the latter case is distinct from the amorphous phase observed under the hydrostatic pressures. - Graphical abstract: High pressure X-ray diffraction investigations on Zn(CN) 2 show three phase transformations i.e., cubic→orthorhombic→cubic-II→amorphous. However, the results strongly depend upon the nature of stress

Structural integrity and failure mechanisms of a smart piezoelectric actuator under a cyclic bending mode

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Woo, Sung-Choong; Goo, Nam Seo

2008-01-01

Information on the onset and evolution of damage within materials is essential for guaranteeing the integrity of actuator systems. The authors have evaluated the structural integrity and the failure mechanisms of smart composite actuators with a PZT ceramic plate under electric cyclic loading. For this, two kinds of actuators, actuator 1 and actuator 2, were manufactured. Prior to the main testing, performance testing was performed on the actuators to determine their resonant frequencies. Electric cyclic tests were conducted up to twenty million cycles. An acoustic emission technique was used for monitoring the damage evolution in real time. We observed the extent of the damage after testing using scanning electron microscopy and reflected optical microscopy to support characteristics in the acoustic emission behavior that corresponded to specific types of damage mechanisms. It was shown that the initial damage mechanism of the smart composite actuator under electric cyclic loading originated from the transgranular micro-fatigue damage in the PZT ceramic layer. With increasing cycles, a local intergranular crack initiated and developed onto the surface of the PZT ceramic layer or propagated into the internal layer. Finally, short-circuiting led to the electric breakdown of the actuator. These results were different depending on the drive frequencies and the configuration of the actuators. Moreover, we differentiated between the aforementioned damage mechanisms via AE signal pattern analyses based on the primary frequency and the waveform. From our results, we conclude that the drive frequency and the existence of a protecting layer are dominant factors in the structural integrity of the smart composite actuator

Structures under crash and impact continuum mechanics, discretization and experimental characterization

CERN Document Server

Hiermaier, Stefan

2007-01-01

Required reading for those in the relevant areas of work, this book examines the testing and modeling of materials and structures under dynamic loading conditions.Readers get an in-depth analysis of the current mathematical modeling and simulation tools available for a variety of materials, alongside discussions of the benefits and limitations these tools pose in industrial design.The models discussed are also available in commercial codes such as LS-DYNA and AOTODYN.Following a logical and well organized structure, this volume uniquely combines experimental procedures with numerical simulatio

Nonlinear system identification of smart structures under high impact loads

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Sarp Arsava, Kemal; Kim, Yeesock; El-Korchi, Tahar; Park, Hyo Seon

2013-01-01

The main purpose of this paper is to develop numerical models for the prediction and analysis of the highly nonlinear behavior of integrated structure control systems subjected to high impact loading. A time-delayed adaptive neuro-fuzzy inference system (TANFIS) is proposed for modeling of the complex nonlinear behavior of smart structures equipped with magnetorheological (MR) dampers under high impact forces. Experimental studies are performed to generate sets of input and output data for training and validation of the TANFIS models. The high impact load and current signals are used as the input disturbance and control signals while the displacement and acceleration responses from the structure–MR damper system are used as the output signals. The benchmark adaptive neuro-fuzzy inference system (ANFIS) is used as a baseline. Comparisons of the trained TANFIS models with experimental results demonstrate that the TANFIS modeling framework is an effective way to capture nonlinear behavior of integrated structure–MR damper systems under high impact loading. In addition, the performance of the TANFIS model is much better than that of ANFIS in both the training and the validation processes. (paper)

Who is on the primary care team? Professionals' perceptions of the conceptualization of teams and the underlying factors: a mixed-methods study.

Science.gov (United States)

Doekhie, Kirti D; Buljac-Samardzic, Martina; Strating, Mathilde M H; Paauwe, Jaap

2017-12-28

Due to the growing prevalence of elderly patients with multi-morbidity living at home, there is an increasing need for primary care professionals from different disciplinary backgrounds to collaborate as primary care teams. However, it is unclear how primary care professionals conceptualize teams and what underlying factors influence their perception of being part of a team. Our research question is: What are primary care professionals' perceptions of teams and team membership among primary care disciplines and what factors influence their perceptions? We conducted a mixed-methods study in the Dutch primary care setting. First, a survey study of 152 professionals representing 12 primary care disciplines was conducted, focusing on their perceptions of which disciplines are part of the team and the degree of relational coordination between professionals from different disciplinary backgrounds. Subsequently, we conducted semi-structured interviews with 32 professionals representing 5 primary care disciplines to gain a deeper understanding of the underlying factors influencing their perceptions and the (mis)alignment between these perceptions. Misalignments were found between perceptions regarding which disciplines are members of the team and the relational coordination between disciplines. For example, general practitioners were viewed as part of the team by helping assistants, (district) nurses, occupational therapists and geriatric specialized practice nurses, whereas the general practitioners themselves only considered geriatric specialized practice nurses to be part of their team. Professionals perceive multidisciplinary primary care teams as having multiple inner and outer layers. Three factors influence their perception of being part of a team and acting accordingly: a) knowing the people you work with, b) the necessity for knowledge exchange and c) sharing a holistic view of caregiving. Research and practice should take into account the misalignment between

Dynamic structure factor for liquid He4 and quantum lattice model

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Lee, M.H.

1975-01-01

It has been realized for some time now that the quantum lattice model (or the anisotropic Heisenberg antiferromagnetic model) is a useful model for studying the properties of quantum liquids especially near the lambda transition. The static critical values calculated from the quantum lattice model are in good agreement with the observed values. Furthermore, it was shown recently that there are collective modes in the quantum lattice model which are equivalent to the plasmons. Hence, it would seem to be interesting to study the dynamic structure factor for the quantum lattice model and to make a comparison with experiment. Work on the dynamic structure factor is reported here. (Auth.)

Synchronous scattering and diffraction from gold nanotextured surfaces with structure factors

Science.gov (United States)

Gu, Min-Jhong; Lee, Ming-Tsang; Huang, Chien-Hsun; Wu, Chi-Chun; Chen, Yu-Bin

2018-05-01

Synchronous scattering and diffraction were demonstrated using reflectance from gold nanotextured surfaces at oblique (θi = 15° and 60°) incidence of wavelength λ = 405 nm. Two samples of unique auto-correlation functions were cost-effectively fabricated. Multiple structure factors of their profiles were confirmed with Fourier expansions. Bi-directional reflectance function (BRDF) from these samples provided experimental proofs. On the other hand, standard deviation of height and unique auto-correlation function of each sample were used to generate surfaces numerically. Comparing their BRDF with those of totally random rough surfaces further suggested that structure factors in profile could reduce specular reflection more than totally random roughness.

Factors associated with chronic diseases among the elderly receiving treatment under the Family Health Strategy.

Science.gov (United States)

Pimenta, Fernanda Batista; Pinho, Lucinéia; Silveira, Marise Fagundes; Botelho, Ana Cristina de Carvalho

2015-08-01

The profile of a sample population of elderly receiving treatment under the Family Health Strategy in the municipality of Teófilo Otoni, State of Minas Gerais, Brazil, is described, and the factors associated with diseases prevalence examined. Using simple random sampling, 385 elderly were interviewed using Form A and Elderly Form from the Primary Health Care Information System. The majority of the sample (83.1%) self-reported at least one disease, 69.9% had hypertension, and 17.7% had diabetes. Poisson regression analysis showed that the main factors associated with hypertension and other diseases were being non-white, having a low level of education, medication use, dental prosthesis use, and lack of a private health plan. The prevalence of diabetes was greater among women and individuals who depended on other people to live. It can be concluded that this sample population of elderly has a generally low socioeconomic status and are more susceptible to developing diseases, particularly hypertension. Diabetes should be controlled although had relatively low prevalence. It is suggested investments in structuring the health system network to provide adequate care for the elderly and in training health professionals to play an effective role in improving the quality of life of the elderly in Brazil.

Effect of structural factors on mechanical properties of the magnesium alloy Ma2-1 under quasi-static and high strain rate deformation conditions

Science.gov (United States)

Garkushin, G. V.; Razorenov, S. V.; Krasnoveikin, V. A.; Kozulin, A. A.; Skripnyak, V. A.

2015-02-01

The elastic limit and tensile strength of deformed magnesium alloys Ma2-1 with different structures and textures were measured with the aim of finding a correlation between the spectrum of defects in the material and the resistance to deformation and fracture under quasi-static and dynamic loading conditions. The studies were performed using specimens in the as-received state after high-temperature annealing and specimens subjected to equal-channel angular pressing at a temperature of 250°C. The anisotropy of strength characteristics of the material after shock compression with respect to the direction of rolling of the original alloy was investigated. It was shown that, in contrast to the quasi-static loading conditions, under the shock wave loading conditions, the elastic limit and tensile strength of the magnesium alloy Ma2-1 after equal-channel angular pressing decrease as compared to the specimens in the as-received state.

Sub-sequence Factorization-an Effective Approach for Projective Reconstruction under Occlusion

Institute of Scientific and Technical Information of China (English)

LU Le; HU Zhanyi

2001-01-01

Projective reconstruction is a key step for 3D metric reconstruction from a sequence of images captured by an uncalibrated camera. Due to its inherent robustness, the factorization method is widely used in literatures. However, the main shortcoming of the standard factorization method is that it requires the corresponding points to appear across ALL the images. When large changes of view angles occur in the image sequence, or the scene is easy to be self-occluded, nearly it will be very difficult to have some corresponding points visible across all the images. But it is much easier for only several images to have enough correspondences required by factorization method. These images are called as a subsequence in the whole image set. In this paper,a sub-sequence factorization method is proposed to cope with the problem. The basic principle of the sub-sequence factorization method is to divide a long image sequence into several short subsequences according to its spatial continuity, and the standard factorization method is employed for each subsequence.Then, a novel alignment process is invoked to transform different reconstructions under different subsequences into one reference coordinates system. It is more practical as it only demands that there are enough correspondences in each subsequence, not the whole sequence. The proposed sub-sequence factorization method preserves the robustness aspect embedded in the standard factorization method. The experiments on synthetic and real images validate our proposed new method.

Portuguese validation of the Short Health Anxiety Inventory: Factor structure, reliability, and factor invariance.

Science.gov (United States)

Morales, Alexandra; Reis, Sibília; Espada, José P; Orgilés, Mireia

2016-09-01

The Short Health Anxiety Inventory is a brief instrument to assess health anxiety widely used across countries; however, no validated version is available for Portuguese-speaking population. Factorial structure, reliability, and equivalency factor with the Spanish version were analyzed with Portuguese adolescents aged 14-18 years. A Portuguese adolescent cohort ( N = 629) and a comparative Spanish adolescent cohort ( N = 1502) were evaluated. The original two-factor version was the best fitting model for the Portuguese version. The reliability was excellent. Complete measurement invariance across both countries was supported. The Portuguese version of the Short Health Anxiety Inventory is a valid screening inventory to assess health anxiety in adolescents.

Gene structure, expression pattern and interaction of Nuclear Factor-Y family in castor bean (Ricinus communis).

Science.gov (United States)

Wang, Yue; Xu, Wei; Chen, Zexi; Han, Bing; Haque, Mohammad E; Liu, Aizhong

2018-03-01

Nuclear Factor-Y transcription factors, which function in regulating seed development (including storage reservoir accumulation) and responding to abiotic stresses, were identified and characterized in castor bean. Nuclear Factor-Y (NF-Y) transcription factors in plants contain three subunits (NF-YA, NF-YB and NF-YC), and function as a heterodimer or heterotrimer complex in regulating plant growth, development and response to stresses. Castor bean (Ricinus communis, Euphorbiaceae) one of the most economically important non-edible oilseed crops, able to grow in diverse soil conditions and displays high tolerance to abiotic stresses. Due to increasing demands for its seed oils, it is necessary to elucidate the molecular mechanism underlying the regulation of growth and development. Based on the available genome data, we identified 25 RcNF-Y members including six RcNF-YAs, 12 RcNF-YBs and seven RcNF-YCs, and characterized their gene structures. Yeast two-hybrid assays confirmed the protein-protein interactions among three subunits. Using transcriptomic data from different tissues, we found that six members were highly or specifically expressed in endosperms (in particular, two LEC1-type members RcNF-YB2 and RcNF-YB12), implying their involvement in regulating seed development and storage reservoir accumulation. Further, we investigated the expression changes of RcNF-Y members in two-week-old seedlings under drought, cold, hot and salt stresses. We found that the expression levels of 20 RcNF-Y members tested were changed and three RcNF-Y members might function in response to abiotic stresses. This study is the first reported on genomic characterization of NF-Y transcription factors in the family Euphorbiaceae. Our results provide the basis for improved understanding of how NF-Y genes function in the regulation of seed development and responses to abiotic stresses in both castor bean and other plants in this family.

Similarity between community structures of different online social networks and its impact on underlying community detection

Science.gov (United States)

Fan, W.; Yeung, K. H.

2015-03-01

As social networking services are popular, many people may register in more than one online social network. In this paper we study a set of users who have accounts of three online social networks: namely Foursquare, Facebook and Twitter. Community structure of this set of users may be reflected in these three online social networks. Therefore, high correlation between these reflections and the underlying community structure may be observed. In this work, community structures are detected in all three online social networks. Also, we investigate the similarity level of community structures across different networks. It is found that they show strong correlation with each other. The similarity between different networks may be helpful to find a community structure close to the underlying one. To verify this, we propose a method to increase the weights of some connections in networks. With this method, new networks are generated to assist community detection. By doing this, value of modularity can be improved and the new community structure match network's natural structure better. In this paper we also show that the detected community structures of online social networks are correlated with users' locations which are identified on Foursquare. This information may also be useful for underlying community detection.

Hamiltonian structure of isospectral deformation equation and semi-classical approximation to factorized S-matrices

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Chudnovsky, D.V.; Chudnovsky, G.V.

1980-01-01

We consider semi-classical approximation to factorized S-matrices. We show that this new class of matrices, called s-matrices, defines Hamiltonian structures for isospectral deformation equations. Concrete examples of factorized s-matrices are constructed and they are used to define Hamiltonian structure for general two-dimensional isospectral deformation systems. (orig.)

Enzyme That Makes You Cry–Crystal Structure of Lachrymatory Factor Synthase from Allium cepa

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Silvaroli, Josie A. [Department; Pleshinger, Matthew J. [Department; College of Wooster, Wooster, Ohio, United States; Banerjee, Surajit [Department; Northeastern; Kiser, Philip D. [Department; Research; Cleveland; Golczak, Marcin [Department; Cleveland

2017-07-26

The biochemical pathway that gives onions their savor is part of the chemical warfare against microbes and animals. This defense mechanism involves formation of a volatile lachrymatory factor (LF) ((Z)-propanethial S-oxide) that causes familiar eye irritation associated with onion chopping. LF is produced in a reaction catalyzed by lachrymatory factor synthase (LFS). The principles by which LFS facilitates conversion of a sulfenic acid substrate into LF have been difficult to experimentally examine owing to the inherent substrate reactivity and lability of LF. To shed light on the mechanism of LF production in the onion, we solved crystal structures of LFS in an apo-form and in complex with a substrate analogue, crotyl alcohol. The enzyme closely resembles the helix-grip fold characteristic for plant representatives of the START (star-related lipid transfer) domain-containing protein superfamily. By comparing the structures of LFS to that of the abscisic acid receptor, PYL10, a representative of the START protein superfamily, we elucidated structural adaptations underlying the catalytic activity of LFS. We also delineated the architecture of the active site, and based on the orientation of the ligand, we propose a mechanism of catalysis that involves sequential proton transfer accompanied by formation of a carbanion intermediate. These findings reconcile chemical and biochemical information regarding thioaldehyde S-oxide formation and close a long-lasting gap in understanding of the mechanism responsible for LF production in the onion.

The effect of strategic leadership factors of administrators on school effectiveness under the Office of Maha Sarakham Primary Educational Service Area 3

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Thanomwan Prasertcharoensuk

2017-09-01

Full Text Available The main aim of this paper was to examine the effect of strategic leadership factors of administrators on school effectiveness under the Office of Maha Sarakham Primary Educational Service Area 3. The designed research survey was utilized to investigate the strategic leadership behavior of administrators and school effectiveness, followed by comparing both key variables in terms of school size. Further exploration was carried out to validate the goodness-of-fit of a structural equation model of the strategic leadership factors of administrators affecting school effectiveness. Finally, the direct, indirect, and total effect of strategic leadership factors affecting school effectiveness were identified. In total, 510 samples comprised of administrators and teachers were selected as respondents. The research instrument was a 5-point rating scale questionnaire. Data were analyzed using both descriptive and inferential statistics. The results revealed that administrators showed a high level of strategic leadership behavior in their administration but the overall school effectiveness was at the moderate level. In addition, the findings also indicated that all the comparisons of either the strategic leadership of administrators or school effectiveness were significantly different according to school size, respectively. Furthermore, a structural equation model of strategic leadership factors affecting school effectiveness was fitted. Finally, the direct effect, indirect effect, and overall effect of the administrators' strategic leadership had no significant impact on school effectiveness at the .05 level.

The factor structure of the Maslach Burnout Inventory Human ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

kirstam

The factor structure of the Maslach Burnout Inventory. Human Services Survey across a sample of client service employees. C. Steyn. 6ABSTRACT. 12The negative consequences of burnout in the client service environment point to the importance of further research into the manner in which the unique challenges faced by ...

Experimental Study on the Structural Behavior of HSC Slab under out of plane load

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ham, K. W.; Lee, K. J.; Park, D. S.

2009-01-01

HSC(Half Steel plate Concrete) Slab is a kind of SC(Steel plate Concrete) structure, so it has a similar advantage of SC structures (short construction period, lower cost and good quality control compared to RC). To apply HSC to the slab of containment building of NPP, several test with different test condition (shear span ratio, shear bar, loading type) were conducted to verify structural behavior of HSC slab structure under out of plane loading

Molecular dynamics simulations of the structure evolutions of Cu-Zr metallic glasses under irradiation

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Lang, Lin [College of Materials Science and Engineering, Hunan University, Changsha 410082 (China); Department of Applied Physics, School of Physics and Electronics, Hunan University, Changsha 410082 (China); Tian, Zean; Xiao, Shifang [Department of Applied Physics, School of Physics and Electronics, Hunan University, Changsha 410082 (China); Deng, Huiqiu, E-mail: hqdeng@hnu.edu.cn [Department of Applied Physics, School of Physics and Electronics, Hunan University, Changsha 410082 (China); Ao, Bingyun [Science and Technology on Surface Physics and Chemistry Laboratory, Mianyang 621907 (China); Chen, Piheng, E-mail: chenpiheng@caep.cn [Science and Technology on Surface Physics and Chemistry Laboratory, Mianyang 621907 (China); Hu, Wangyu [College of Materials Science and Engineering, Hunan University, Changsha 410082 (China)

2017-02-15

Highlights: • The structural evolution of Cu{sub 64.5}Zr{sub 35.5} MG under irradiation was studied. • The structure clusters were analyzed using the LSCA method. • Most of these radiation damages have been self-recovered quickly. - Abstract: Molecular dynamics simulations have been performed to investigate the structural evolution of Cu{sub 64.5}Zr{sub 35.5} metallic glasses under irradiation. The largest standard cluster analysis (LSCA) method was used to quantify the microstructure within the collision cascade regions. It is found that the majority of clusters within the collision cascade regions are full and defective icosahedrons. Not only the smaller structures (common neighbor subcluster) but also primary clusters greatly changed during the collision cascades; while most of these radiation damages self-recover quickly in the following quench states. These findings indicate the Cu-Zr metallic glasses have excellent irradiation-resistance properties.

Owner and Contractor Perceptions Toward Factors Causing Delays in Structural and Finishing Works

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Loanata V.R.

2010-01-01

Full Text Available A construction project comprises of a number of work packages, which are subjected to delays. These delays may be caused by many on-site factors. The aim of this research is to represent owner and contractors perceptions towards delay factors that frequently occur in structural and finishing works. Data for analysis were gathered by distributing questionnaire. A total of 198 sets of questionnaire were gathered and used for subsequent analyses. In general, design changes during construction are perceived by respondents as the most frequent factor to cause delay in all structural and finishing works. The results also show that there are a number of differences between owner’s and contractor’s perceptions towards the occurrences of the factors. Whilst most contractors concern that information factors related to project design and scope frequently causing delays in construction works, owners consider many contractor originated factors, as most frequent delay causes.

The Three-Dimensional Solution Structure of the Src Homology Domain-2 of the Growth Factor Receptor-Bound Protein-2

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Senior, Mary M.; Frederick, Anne F.; Black, Stuart; Murgolo, Nicholas J.; Perkins, Louise M.; Wilson, Oswald; Snow, Mark E.; Wang Yusen

1998-01-01

A set of high-resolution three-dimensional solution structures of the Src homology region-2 (SH2) domain of the growth factor receptor-bound protein-2 was determined using heteronuclear NMR spectroscopy. The NMR data used in this study were collected on a stable monomeric protein solution that was free of protein aggregates and proteolysis. The solution structure was determined based upon a total of 1439 constraints, which included 1326 nuclear Overhauser effect distance constraints, 70 hydrogen bond constraints, and 43 dihedral angle constraints. Distance geometry-simulated annealing calculations followed by energy minimization yielded a family of 18 structures that converged to a root-mean-square deviation of 1.09 A for all backbone atoms and 0.40 A for the backbone atoms of the central β-sheet. The core structure of the SH2 domain contains an antiparallel β-sheet flanked by two parallel α-helices displaying an overall architecture that is similar to other known SH2 domain structures. This family of NMR structures is compared to the X-ray structure and to another family of NMR solution structures determined under different solution conditions

Endothelial cell capture of heparin-binding growth factors under flow.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Bing Zhao

2010-10-01

Full Text Available Circulation is an important delivery method for both natural and synthetic molecules, but microenvironment interactions, regulated by endothelial cells and critical to the molecule's fate, are difficult to interpret using traditional approaches. In this work, we analyzed and predicted growth factor capture under flow using computer modeling and a three-dimensional experimental approach that includes pertinent circulation characteristics such as pulsatile flow, competing binding interactions, and limited bioavailability. An understanding of the controlling features of this process was desired. The experimental module consisted of a bioreactor with synthetic endothelial-lined hollow fibers under flow. The physical design of the system was incorporated into the model parameters. The heparin-binding growth factor fibroblast growth factor-2 (FGF-2 was used for both the experiments and simulations. Our computational model was composed of three parts: (1 media flow equations, (2 mass transport equations and (3 cell surface reaction equations. The model is based on the flow and reactions within a single hollow fiber and was scaled linearly by the total number of fibers for comparison with experimental results. Our model predicted, and experiments confirmed, that removal of heparan sulfate (HS from the system would result in a dramatic loss of binding by heparin-binding proteins, but not by proteins that do not bind heparin. The model further predicted a significant loss of bound protein at flow rates only slightly higher than average capillary flow rates, corroborated experimentally, suggesting that the probability of capture in a single pass at high flow rates is extremely low. Several other key parameters were investigated with the coupling between receptors and proteoglycans shown to have a critical impact on successful capture. The combined system offers opportunities to examine circulation capture in a straightforward quantitative manner that

Effect of support conditions on structural response under dynamic loading

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Akram, T.; Memon, S.A.

2008-01-01

In design practice, dynamic structural analysis is carried out with base of structure considered as fixed; this means that foundation is placed on rock like soil material. While conducting this type of analyses the role of foundation and soil behaviour is totally neglected. The actions in members and loads transferred at foundation level obtained in this manner do not depict the true structural behaviour. FEM (Finite Element Methods) analysis where both superstructure and foundation soil are coupled together is quite complicated and expensive for design environments. A simplified model is required to depict dynamic response of structures with foundations based on flexible soils. The primary purpose of this research is to compare the superstructure dynamic responses of structural systems with fixed base to that of simple soil model base. The selected simple soil model is to be suitable for use in a design environment to give more realistic results. For this purpose building models are idealized with various heights and structural systems in both 2D (Two Dimensional) and 3D (Three Dimensional) space. These models are then provided with visco-elastic supports representing three soil bearing capacities and the analysis results are compared to that of fixed supports models. The results indicate that fixed support system underestimates natural time period of the structures. Dynamic behavior and force response of visco-elastic support is different from fixed support model. Fixed support models result in over designed base columns and under designed beams. (author)

Relating Education, Brain Structure, and Cognition: The Role of Cardiovascular Disease Risk Factors

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Moyra E. Mortby

2014-01-01

Full Text Available The protective effect of education on cognitive and brain health is well established. While the direct effects of individual cardiovascular disease (CVD risk factors (i.e., hypertension, smoking, diabetes, and obesity on cerebral structure have been investigated, little is understood about the possible interaction between the protective effect of education and the deleterious effects of CVD risk factors in predicting brain ageing and cognition. Using data from the PATH Through Life study (N=266, we investigated the protective effect of education on cerebral structure and function and tested a possible mediating role of CVD risk factors. Higher education was associated with larger regional grey/white matter volumes in the prefrontal cortex in men only. The association between education and cognition was mediated by brain volumes but only for grey matter and only in relation to information processing speed. CVD risk factors did not mediate the association between regional volumes and cognition. This study provides additional evidence in support for a protective effect of education on cerebral structures and cognition. However, it does not provide support for a mediating role of CVD risk factors in these associations.

Operational factors influence on service life characteristics of structural carbon fiber-reinforced plastic

OpenAIRE

Борозенець, Григорій; Павлов, Віктор; Семак, Інна

2013-01-01

The nature of strength changing of aircraft structural carbon fiber-reinforced plastic under influence of water saturation after static preloading and mode changing of structural elements forming process pressure is considered.

An Empirical Examination of the Relationship Between Test Factor Structure and Test Hierarchical Structure.

Science.gov (United States)

Bart, William M.; Airasian, Peter W.

The question of whether test factor structure is indicative of the test item hierarchy was examined. Data from 1,000 subjects on two sets of five bivalued Law School Admission Test items, which were analyzed with latent trait methods of Bock and Lieberman and of Christoffersson in Psychometrika, were analyzed with an ordering-theoretic method to…

Measurement invariance of the Illness Intrusiveness Ratings Scale's three-factor structure in men and women with cancer.

Science.gov (United States)

Mah, Kenneth; Bezjak, Andrea; Loblaw, D Andrew; Gotowiec, Andrew; Devins, Gerald M

2011-02-01

Illness- and treatment-related disruptions to valued activities and interests (illness intrusiveness) are central to quality of life in chronic disease and are captured by three subscales of the Illness Intrusiveness Ratings Scale (IIRS): the Instrumental, Intimacy, and Relationships and Personal Development subscales. Using individual (CFA) and multisample confirmatory factor analyses (MSCFA), we evaluated measurement invariance of the IIRS's 3-factor structure in men and women with cancer. Men (n = 210) and women (n = 206) with 1 of 4 cancer diagnoses (gastrointestinal, head and neck, lymphoma, lung) recruited from outpatient clinics completed the IIRS. In the MSCFA, we applied an analysis of means and covariance structures approach to test increasingly stringent equality constraints on factor structure parameters to evaluate weak, strong, and strict measurement invariance of the 3-factor structure between men and women. Individual CFAs demonstrated fit of the hypothesized 3-factor structure for men and women, although more consistently for men. The 3-factor structure was superior to an alternative 1-factor structure. MSCFA results indicated that parameters of the 3-factor structure could be considered equivalent between the sexes up to the level of strong invariance. Strict invariance was not supported. Overall, IIRS scores can be interpreted similarly for men and women with cancer. Illness intrusiveness can be considered as important in the psychosocial adaptation of people with cancer as it is for people affected by other chronic conditions. (c) 2011 APA, all rights reserved

A general psychopathology factor (P factor) in children: Structural model analysis and external validation through familial risk and child global executive function.

Science.gov (United States)

Martel, Michelle M; Pan, Pedro M; Hoffmann, Maurício S; Gadelha, Ary; do Rosário, Maria C; Mari, Jair J; Manfro, Gisele G; Miguel, Eurípedes C; Paus, Tomás; Bressan, Rodrigo A; Rohde, Luis A; Salum, Giovanni A

2017-01-01

High rates of comorbidities and poor validity of disorder diagnostic criteria for mental disorders hamper advances in mental health research. Recent work has suggested the utility of continuous cross-cutting dimensions, including general psychopathology and specific factors of externalizing and internalizing (e.g., distress and fear) syndromes. The current study evaluated the reliability of competing structural models of psychopathology and examined external validity of the best fitting model on the basis of family risk and child global executive function (EF). A community sample of 8,012 families from Brazil with children ages 6-12 years completed structured interviews about the child and parental psychiatric syndromes, and a subsample of 2,395 children completed tasks assessing EF (i.e., working memory, inhibitory control, and time processing). Confirmatory factor analyses tested a series of structural models of psychopathology in both parents and children. The model with a general psychopathology factor ("P factor") with 3 specific factors (fear, distress, and externalizing) exhibited the best fit. The general P factor accounted for most of the variance in all models, with little residual variance explained by each of the 3 specific factors. In addition, associations between child and parental factors were mainly significant for the P factors and nonsignificant for the specific factors from the respective models. Likewise, the child P factor-but not the specific factors-was significantly associated with global child EF. Overall, our results provide support for a latent overarching P factor characterizing child psychopathology, supported by familial associations and child EF. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2017 APA, all rights reserved).

Research on the influencing factors of reverse logistics carbon footprint under sustainable development.

Science.gov (United States)

Sun, Qiang

2017-10-01

With the concerns of ecological and circular economy along with sustainable development, reverse logistics has attracted the attention of enterprise. How to achieve sustainable development of reverse logistics has important practical significance of enhancing low carbon competitiveness. In this paper, the system boundary of reverse logistics carbon footprint is presented. Following the measurement of reverse logistics carbon footprint and reverse logistics carbon capacity is provided. The influencing factors of reverse logistics carbon footprint are classified into five parts such as intensity of reverse logistics, energy structure, energy efficiency, reverse logistics output, and product remanufacturing rate. The quantitative research methodology using ADF test, Johansen co-integration test, and impulse response is utilized to interpret the relationship between reverse logistics carbon footprint and the influencing factors more accurately. This research finds that energy efficiency, energy structure, and product remanufacturing rate are more capable of inhibiting reverse logistics carbon footprint. The statistical approaches will help practitioners in this field to structure their reverse logistics activities and also help academics in developing better decision models to reduce reverse logistics carbon footprint.

Factor structure and psychometric properties of the General Health ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

Purpose: There is little information about the reliability and validity of the 12-item General Health Questionnaire (GHQ-12) in Ghana. This study sought to examine the reliability and factor structure of the GHQ-12 in Ghanaian adolescents. Methods: High school students (N = 770) completed the GHQ-12 and the Adolescent ...

Factor structure of the autonomy preference index in people with severe mental illness.

Science.gov (United States)

Bonfils, Kelsey A; Adams, Erin L; Mueser, Kim T; Wright-Berryman, Jennifer L; Salyers, Michelle P

2015-08-30

People vary in the amount of control they want to exercise over decisions about their healthcare. Given the importance of patient-centered care, accurate measurement of these autonomy preferences is critical. This study aimed to assess the factor structure of the Autonomy Preference Index (API), used widely in general healthcare, in individuals with severe mental illness. Data came from two studies of people with severe mental illness (N=293) who were receiving mental health and/or primary care/integrated care services. Autonomy preferences were assessed with the API regarding both psychiatric and primary care services. Confirmatory factor analysis was used to evaluate fit of the hypothesized two-factor structure of the API (decision-making autonomy and information-seeking autonomy). Results indicated the hypothesized structure for the API did not adequately fit the data for either psychiatric or primary care services. Three problematic items were dropped, resulting in adequate fit for both types of treatment. These results suggest that with relatively minor modifications the API has an acceptable factor structure when asking people with severe mental illness about their preferences to be involved in decision-making. The modified API has clinical and research utility for this population in the burgeoning field of autonomy in patient-centered healthcare. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.

Evaluation of total and partial structure factors, self-diffusion coefficients, and compressibilities of the cadmium-gallium melt

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Gopala Rao, R.V.; Das, R.

1988-01-01

The three partial structure factors S/sub 11/(K), S/sub 22/(K), and S/sub 12/(K) defined by Ashcroft and Langreth are computed with a square-well potential as a perturbation over a hard-sphere potential for different atomic fractions or concentrations of cadmium for Cd-Ga melt at 296 0 C. Also, the number-number, concentration-concentration, and the cross-term number-concentration structure factors due to Bhatia-Thornton have been calculated for the seven concentrations of Cd-Ga melt at that temperature. From these partial structure factors total structure factors are computed and are compared with the experimental results. The total structure factors so computed are found to be in excellent agreement with the measured values except in the long-wavelength limit of S(0). Using the partial structure factors in the long-wavelength limit the isothermal compressibilities have been calculated. From these partial structure factors and by using the linear-trajectory approximation of Helfand, the self-diffusion coefficients D/sub i/'s have also been calculated for various atomic fractions of Cd for Cd-Ga alloy at 296 0 C. From these D/sub i/'s, an estimate of the mutual diffusion coefficients has been made to a good approximation

Loss factor for short bunches in azimuthally symmetric tapered structures

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

A. Blednykh

2010-06-01

Full Text Available We use the program ECHO to study numerically the loss factor of axisymmetric cavities and collimators with and without tapering. We consider a Gaussian driving bunch of length σ, and structures with inner radius b, outer radius d, cavity gap (or collimator inner length g, and taper length L. In all cases we consider a short bunch with σ≪b. For the untapered structures (L=0, in certain regimes, we describe our numerical results using the known expressions for a step transition and for the diffraction model. In addition, we identify new regimes where gb, we present a phenomenological formula which accurately describes the dependence of the loss factor on the parameters σ, b, d, and L. This formula also holds for a tapered cavity with g>d^{2}/σ and d-b>b.

On the structure factor of a quantum fluid - a new look

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Sridhar, R.; Vasudevan, R.

1980-01-01

An integral equation for the structure factor of a quantum liquid is derived making use of the first and third moment sum rules for the dynamic structure factor s(k,ω). It is assumed that single and two particle intermediate states saturate the sum rules. The solution of the resulting linear integral equation leads to the Bogolyubov result for weak potentials and approaches the classical free particle value if the two particle interaction is switched off. It is further shown that the non-linear equation of Mihara and Puff (1968) when properly linearised taking into account one and two particle intermediate states is similar to the one obtained in the present case. (author)

Research on Safety Factor of Dam Slope of High Embankment Dam under Seismic Condition

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Li Bin

2015-01-01

Full Text Available With the constant development of construction technology of embankment dam, the constructed embankment dam becomes higher and higher, and the embankment dam with its height over 200m will always adopt the current design criteria of embankment dam only suitable for the construction of embankment dam lower than 200m in height. So the design criteria of high embankment dam shall be improved. We shall calculate the stability and safety factors of dam slope of high embankment dam under different dam height, slope ratio and different seismic intensity based on ratio of safety margin, and clarify the change rules of stability and safety factors of dam slope of high embankment dam with its height over 200m. We calculate the ratio of safety margin of traditional and reliable method by taking the stable, allowable and reliability index 4.2 of dam slope of high embankment dam with its height over 200m as the standard value, and conduct linear regression for both. As a result, the conditions, where 1.3 is considered as the stability and safety factors of dam slope of high embankment dam with its height over 200m under seismic condition and 4.2 as the allowable and reliability index, are under the same risk control level.

Fluid-structure interaction dynamic simulation of spring-loaded pressure relief valves under seismic wave

Science.gov (United States)

Lv, Dongwei; Zhang, Jian; Yu, Xinhai

2018-05-01

In this paper, a fluid-structure interaction dynamic simulation method of spring-loaded pressure relief valve was established. The dynamic performances of the fluid regions and the stress and strain of the structure regions were calculated at the same time by accurately setting up the contact pairs between the solid parts and the coupling surfaces between the fluid regions and the structure regions. A two way fluid-structure interaction dynamic simulation of a simplified pressure relief valve model was carried out. The influence of vertical sinusoidal seismic waves on the performance of the pressure relief valve was preliminarily investigated by loading sine waves. Under vertical seismic waves, the pressure relief valve will flutter, and the reseating pressure was affected by the amplitude and frequency of the seismic waves. This simulation method of the pressure relief valve under vertical seismic waves can provide effective means for investigating the seismic performances of the valves, and make up for the shortcomings of the experiment.

Structural response of a nuclear power plant steel containment under H2 detonation

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Maresca, G.; Milella, P.P.; Pino, G.

1993-01-01

To get a better understanding of the containment wall behaviour under a detonation a simple but complete model is analysed in order to study the fluid-structure interaction during the explosion. The structure is represented by a single degree of freedom (SDOF) elastic-plastic system. This system is coupled to a monodimensional model of the containment atmosphere excited by hydrogen bursting. The atmosphere modeling allows to represent the shock propagation and the reflected wave effects. In the model a cylindrical geometry is used as reference. The obtained results are compared with data adopted in Italy to assess the structural integrity of the Alto Lazio NPP steel containment in the case of a severe accident. The limits of the model as well as the possible extensions are discussed in the paper together with a possible application in an experimental program directed to the assessment of failure criteria under severe accident conditions. (orig./HP)

Review of International Research on Factors Underlying Teacher Absenteeism. REL 2015-087

Science.gov (United States)

Lee, Mary; Goodman, Crystal; Dandapani, Nitara; Kekahio, Wendy

2015-01-01

Throughout the U.S.-affiliated Pacific Region, teacher absenteeism has posed a long-standing challenge. This report draws on research literature from international contexts and case studies to identify the underlying factors that may relate to teacher absenteeism. Resources included in this report were selected with a focus on non-U.S. Pacific…

Structure factors for tunneling ionization rates of molecules: General Hartree-Fock-based integral representation

Science.gov (United States)

Madsen, Lars Bojer; Jensen, Frank; Dnestryan, Andrey I.; Tolstikhin, Oleg I.

2017-07-01

In the leading-order approximation of the weak-field asymptotic theory (WFAT), the dependence of the tunneling ionization rate of a molecule in an electric field on its orientation with respect to the field is determined by the structure factor of the ionizing molecular orbital. The WFAT yields an expression for the structure factor in terms of a local property of the orbital in the asymptotic region. However, in general quantum chemistry approaches molecular orbitals are expanded in a Gaussian basis which does not reproduce their asymptotic behavior correctly. This hinders the application of the WFAT to polyatomic molecules, which are attracting increasing interest in strong-field physics. Recently, an integral-equation approach to the WFAT for tunneling ionization of one electron from an arbitrary potential has been developed. The structure factor is expressed in an integral form as a matrix element involving the ionizing orbital. The integral is not sensitive to the asymptotic behavior of the orbital, which resolves the difficulty mentioned above. Here, we extend the integral representation for the structure factor to many-electron systems treated within the Hartree-Fock method and show how it can be implemented on the basis of standard quantum chemistry software packages. We validate the methodology by considering noble-gas atoms and the CO molecule, for which accurate structure factors exist in the literature. We also present benchmark results for CO2 and for NH3 in the pyramidal and planar geometries.

A combined structural dynamics approach identifies a putative switch in factor VIIa employed by tissue factor to initiate blood coagulation

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Olsen, Ole H; Rand, Kasper D; Østergaard, Henrik

2007-01-01

Coagulation factor VIIa (FVIIa) requires tissue factor (TF) to attain full catalytic competency and to initiate blood coagulation. In this study, the mechanism by which TF allosterically activates FVIIa is investigated by a structural dynamics approach that combines molecular dynamics (MD......) simulations and hydrogen/deuterium exchange (HX) mass spectrometry on free and TF-bound FVIIa. The differences in conformational dynamics from MD simulations are shown to be confined to regions of FVIIa observed to undergo structural stabilization as judged by HX experiments, especially implicating activation...... in the presence of TF or an active-site inhibitor. Based on MD simulations, a key switch of the TF-induced structural changes is identified as the interacting pair Leu305{163} and Phe374{225} in FVIIa, whose mutual conformations are guided by the presence of TF and observed to be closely linked to the structural...

Theoretical analysis, infrared and structural investigations of energy dissipation in metals under cyclic loading

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Plekhov, O.A.; Saintier, N.; Palin-Luc, T.; Uvarov, S.V.; Naimark, O.B.

2007-01-01

The infrared and structural investigations of energy dissipation processes in metals subjected to cyclic loading have given impetus to the development of a new thermodynamic model with the capability of describing the energy balance under plastic deformation. The model is based on the statistical description of the mesodefect ensemble evolution and its influence on the dissipation ability of the material. Constitutive equations have been formulated for plastic and structural strains, which allow us to describe the stored and dissipated parts of energy under plastic flow. Numerical results indicate that theoretical predictions are in good agreement with the experimentally observed temperature data

Structural phase stability of ThSb and ThAs under pressure

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Venkatasubramaniam, K.; Rajagopalan, M.; Palanivel, B.; Kalpana, G.

1997-01-01

The high-pressure behaviour of thorium monopnictides is of considerable interest as these systems exhibit structural phase transitions under pressure. At ambient conditions these compounds crystallize in the NaCl-type(B1) structure. Experiments show that with the application of pressure these compounds transform to the CsCl-type (B2) structure. ThSb and ThAs are found to exhibit B1-B2 transition in the pressure range between 9-12 GPa and 1826 GPa respectively. In this work, we present the electronic and high-pressure behaviour of ThAs and ThSb performed using the tight-binding linear muffin-tin orbital method. The total energies within the atomic sphere approximation were calculated as a function of volume for both the B1 and B2 structures. The total energy calculations reveal that both ThSb and ThAs are stable in the B1 structure at ambient conditions and undergo structural transition to the B2 structure at pressures 78 and 240 kbar respectively, which are in good agreement with the experimental values. The calculated values of equilibrium lattice parameter and the transition pressure are found to be in good agreement with the experimental results. (author)

Cell division factors from crown gall tumors: a strategy for structural elucidation

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Manning, K.S.

1985-01-01

Mitogenic compounds present in extracts of Vinca rosea crown gall tumor tissue were investigated. An isolation procedure, consisting of solvent partitions and reverse phase chromatography, has yielded a group of isomeric compounds which show activity in the tobacco pith bioassay. Initial characterizations revealed an unsaturated base, a sugar residue, a β-linked glucose, an allylic alcohol, and two methyl groups. A two part strategy of mass spectrometry (MS) in combination with proton nuclear magnetic resonance ( 1 H NMR) was envisioned. The aglycone structure would be determined by MS and the regiochemical relationships among the structural units would be defined by 1 H NMR data. The utility of this approach was demonstrated by the structure assignment of a specific inhibitor of β-D-glucuronidase, 2(S)-carboxy-3(R),4(R),5(S)-trihydroxypiperidine. The relative stereochemistry of the hydroxyls was revealed by 1 H NMR and the absolute configuration was deduced by a comparison of Cotton effects with a model compound. The use of 1 H NMR to establish regiochemical relationships was investigated. Terpenes containing quaternary carbons and methyl groups were excellent models for the regiochemical problems presented by the mitogenic factors. This 1 H NMR spectroscopy has been applied to the cell division factor structure problem. These data, with information from two dimensional nOe experiments, have defined some of the regio-relationships among the structural units present in the isolated factors

Structure of rat acidic fibroblast growth factor at 1.4 A resolution

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Kulahin, Nikolaj; Kiselyov, Vladislav; Kochoyan, Artur

2007-01-01

Fibroblast growth factors (FGFs) constitute a family of 22 structurally related heparin-binding polypeptides that are involved in the regulation of cell growth, survival, differentiation and migration. Here, a 1.4 A resolution X-ray structure of rat FGF1 is presented. Two molecules are present...

Feelings about culture scales: development, factor structure, reliability, and validity.

Science.gov (United States)

Maffini, Cara S; Wong, Y Joel

2015-04-01

Although measures of cultural identity, values, and behavior exist in the multicultural psychological literature, there is currently no measure that explicitly assesses ethnic minority individuals' positive and negative affect toward culture. Therefore, we developed 2 new measures called the Feelings About Culture Scale--Ethnic Culture and Feelings About Culture Scale--Mainstream American Culture and tested their psychometric properties. In 6 studies, we piloted the measures, conducted factor analyses to clarify their factor structure, and examined reliability and validity. The factor structure revealed 2 dimensions reflecting positive and negative affect for each measure. Results provided evidence for convergent, discriminant, criterion-related, and incremental validity as well as the reliability of the scales. The Feelings About Culture Scales are the first known measures to examine both positive and negative affect toward an individual's ethnic culture and mainstream American culture. The focus on affect captures dimensions of psychological experiences that differ from cognitive and behavioral constructs often used to measure cultural orientation. These measures can serve as a valuable contribution to both research and counseling by providing insight into the nuanced affective experiences ethnic minority individuals have toward culture. (c) 2015 APA, all rights reserved).

Probabilistic analysis of a materially nonlinear structure

Science.gov (United States)

Millwater, H. R.; Wu, Y.-T.; Fossum, A. F.

1990-01-01

A probabilistic finite element program is used to perform probabilistic analysis of a materially nonlinear structure. The program used in this study is NESSUS (Numerical Evaluation of Stochastic Structure Under Stress), under development at Southwest Research Institute. The cumulative distribution function (CDF) of the radial stress of a thick-walled cylinder under internal pressure is computed and compared with the analytical solution. In addition, sensitivity factors showing the relative importance of the input random variables are calculated. Significant plasticity is present in this problem and has a pronounced effect on the probabilistic results. The random input variables are the material yield stress and internal pressure with Weibull and normal distributions, respectively. The results verify the ability of NESSUS to compute the CDF and sensitivity factors of a materially nonlinear structure. In addition, the ability of the Advanced Mean Value (AMV) procedure to assess the probabilistic behavior of structures which exhibit a highly nonlinear response is shown. Thus, the AMV procedure can be applied with confidence to other structures which exhibit nonlinear behavior.

X-Ray structure and biophysical properties of rabbit fibroblast growth factor 1

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Lee, Jihun; Blaber, Sachiko I.; Irsigler, Andre; Aspinwall, Eric; Blaber, Michael; (FSU)

2010-01-14

The rabbit is an important and de facto animal model in the study of ischemic disease and angiogenic therapy. Additionally, fibroblast growth factor 1 (FGF-1) is emerging as one of the most important growth factors for novel pro-angiogenic and pro-arteriogenic therapy. However, despite its significance, the fundamental biophysical properties of rabbit FGF-1, including its X-ray structure, have never been reported. Here, the cloning, crystallization, X-ray structure and determination of the biophysical properties of rabbit FGF-1 are described. The X-ray structure shows that the amino-acid differences between human and rabbit FGF-1 are solvent-exposed and therefore potentially immunogenic, while the biophysical studies identify differences in thermostability and receptor-binding affinity that distinguish rabbit FGF-1 from human FGF-1.

Scalable tensor factorizations for incomplete data

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Acar, Evrim; Dunlavy, Daniel M.; KOlda, Tamara G.

2011-01-01

to factorize data sets with missing values with the goal of capturing the underlying latent structure of the data and possibly reconstructing missing values (i.e., tensor completion). We focus on one of the most well-known tensor factorizations that captures multi-linear structure, CANDECOMP/PARAFAC (CP...... experiments, our algorithm is shown to successfully factorize tensors with noise and up to 99% missing data. A unique aspect of our approach is that it scales to sparse large-scale data, e.g., 1000 × 1000 × 1000 with five million known entries (0.5% dense). We further demonstrate the usefulness of CP...

Using Structured Additive Regression Models to Estimate Risk Factors of Malaria: Analysis of 2010 Malawi Malaria Indicator Survey Data

Science.gov (United States)

Chirombo, James; Lowe, Rachel; Kazembe, Lawrence

2014-01-01

Background After years of implementing Roll Back Malaria (RBM) interventions, the changing landscape of malaria in terms of risk factors and spatial pattern has not been fully investigated. This paper uses the 2010 malaria indicator survey data to investigate if known malaria risk factors remain relevant after many years of interventions. Methods We adopted a structured additive logistic regression model that allowed for spatial correlation, to more realistically estimate malaria risk factors. Our model included child and household level covariates, as well as climatic and environmental factors. Continuous variables were modelled by assuming second order random walk priors, while spatial correlation was specified as a Markov random field prior, with fixed effects assigned diffuse priors. Inference was fully Bayesian resulting in an under five malaria risk map for Malawi. Results Malaria risk increased with increasing age of the child. With respect to socio-economic factors, the greater the household wealth, the lower the malaria prevalence. A general decline in malaria risk was observed as altitude increased. Minimum temperatures and average total rainfall in the three months preceding the survey did not show a strong association with disease risk. Conclusions The structured additive regression model offered a flexible extension to standard regression models by enabling simultaneous modelling of possible nonlinear effects of continuous covariates, spatial correlation and heterogeneity, while estimating usual fixed effects of categorical and continuous observed variables. Our results confirmed that malaria epidemiology is a complex interaction of biotic and abiotic factors, both at the individual, household and community level and that risk factors are still relevant many years after extensive implementation of RBM activities. PMID:24991915

Gain-dependent linewidth enhancement factor in the quantum dot structures

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Kim, Kyoung Chan; Han, Il Ki; Lee, Jung Il [Nano Device Research Center, Korea Institute of Science and Technology, Seoul 136-791 (Korea, Republic of); Kim, Tae Geun, E-mail: hikoel@kist.re.kr, E-mail: tgkim1@korea.ac.kr [School of Electrical Engineering, Korea University, Seoul 136-701 (Korea, Republic of)

2010-04-02

We measured the linewidth enhancement factor ({alpha} factor) of InAs quantum dot (QD) laser diodes (LDs) with two different QD structures. One is a normal QD LD with the same energy bandgap for each active QD layer, while the other is chirped with different energy bandgaps. The differential gain of the chirped InAs QD LDs is found to be about five times smaller than that of normal InAs QD LDs, whereas no overall wavelength shift with injection currents is observed in both QD LDs. The {alpha} factor is approximately five times higher in the chirped InAs QD LDs than in the normal InAs QD LDs. This relatively large {alpha} factor in the chirped InAs QD LDs is attributed to the asymmetrical, wide inhomogeneous gain profile.

CVD growth of graphene under exfoliated hexagonal boron nitride for vertical hybrid structures

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Wang, Min [SKKU Advanced Institute of Nanotechnology (SAINT) (Korea, Republic of); Center for Human Interface Nanotechnology (HINT) (Korea, Republic of); Jang, Sung Kyu [SKKU Advanced Institute of Nanotechnology (SAINT) (Korea, Republic of); Song, Young Jae [SKKU Advanced Institute of Nanotechnology (SAINT) (Korea, Republic of); Department of Physics, Sungkyunkwan University (SKKU), Suwon 440-746 (Korea, Republic of); Lee, Sungjoo, E-mail: leesj@skku.edu [SKKU Advanced Institute of Nanotechnology (SAINT) (Korea, Republic of); Center for Human Interface Nanotechnology (HINT) (Korea, Republic of); College of Information and Communication Engineering, Sungkyunkwan University (SKKU), Suwon 440-746 (Korea, Republic of)

2015-01-15

Graphical abstract: We have demonstrated a novel yet simple method for fabricating graphene-based vertical hybrid structures by performing the CVD growth of graphene at an h-BN/Cu interface. Our systematic Raman measurements combined with plasma etching process indicate that a graphene film is grown under exfoliated h-BN rather than on its top surface, and that an h-BN/graphene vertical hybrid structure has been fabricated. Electrical transport measurements of this h-BN/graphene, transferred on SiO2, show the carrier mobility up to approximately 2250 cm{sup 2} V{sup −1} s{sup −1}. The developed method would enable the exploration of the possibility of novel hybrid structure integration with two-dimensional material systems. - Abstract: We have demonstrated a novel yet simple method for fabricating graphene-based vertical hybrid structures by performing the CVD growth of graphene at an h-BN/Cu interface. Our systematic Raman measurements combined with plasma etching process indicate that a graphene film is grown under exfoliated h-BN rather than on its top surface, and that an h-BN/graphene vertical hybrid structure has been fabricated. Electrical transport measurements of this h-BN/graphene, transferred on SiO{sub 2}, show the carrier mobility up to approximately 2250 cm{sup 2} V{sup −1} s{sup −1}. The developed method would enable the exploration of the possibility of novel hybrid structure integration with two-dimensional material systems.

CVD growth of graphene under exfoliated hexagonal boron nitride for vertical hybrid structures

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Wang, Min; Jang, Sung Kyu; Song, Young Jae; Lee, Sungjoo

2015-01-01

Graphical abstract: We have demonstrated a novel yet simple method for fabricating graphene-based vertical hybrid structures by performing the CVD growth of graphene at an h-BN/Cu interface. Our systematic Raman measurements combined with plasma etching process indicate that a graphene film is grown under exfoliated h-BN rather than on its top surface, and that an h-BN/graphene vertical hybrid structure has been fabricated. Electrical transport measurements of this h-BN/graphene, transferred on SiO2, show the carrier mobility up to approximately 2250 cm 2 V −1 s −1 . The developed method would enable the exploration of the possibility of novel hybrid structure integration with two-dimensional material systems. - Abstract: We have demonstrated a novel yet simple method for fabricating graphene-based vertical hybrid structures by performing the CVD growth of graphene at an h-BN/Cu interface. Our systematic Raman measurements combined with plasma etching process indicate that a graphene film is grown under exfoliated h-BN rather than on its top surface, and that an h-BN/graphene vertical hybrid structure has been fabricated. Electrical transport measurements of this h-BN/graphene, transferred on SiO 2 , show the carrier mobility up to approximately 2250 cm 2 V −1 s −1 . The developed method would enable the exploration of the possibility of novel hybrid structure integration with two-dimensional material systems

Industry Efficiency and Total Factor Productivity Growth under Resources and Environmental Constraint in China

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Feng Tao

2012-01-01

Full Text Available The growth of China's industry has been seriously depending on energy and environment. This paper attempts to apply the directional distance function and the Luenberger productivity index to measure the environmental efficiency, environmental total factor productivity, and its components at the level of subindustry in China over the period from 1999 to 2009 while considering energy consumption and emission of pollutants. This paper also empirically examines the determinants of efficiency and productivity change. The major findings are as follows. Firstly, the main sources of environmental inefficiency of China's industry are the inefficiency of gross industrial output value, the excessive energy consumption, and pollutant emissions. Secondly, the highest growth rate of environmental total factor productivity among the three industrial categories is manufacturing, followed by mining, and production and supply of electricity, gas, and water. Thirdly, foreign direct investment, capital-labor ratio, ownership structure, energy consumption structure, and environmental regulation have varying degrees of effects on the environmental efficiency and environmental total factor productivity.

Industry efficiency and total factor productivity growth under resources and environmental constraint in China.

Science.gov (United States)

Tao, Feng; Li, Ling; Xia, X H

2012-01-01

The growth of China's industry has been seriously depending on energy and environment. This paper attempts to apply the directional distance function and the Luenberger productivity index to measure the environmental efficiency, environmental total factor productivity, and its components at the level of subindustry in China over the period from 1999 to 2009 while considering energy consumption and emission of pollutants. This paper also empirically examines the determinants of efficiency and productivity change. The major findings are as follows. Firstly, the main sources of environmental inefficiency of China's industry are the inefficiency of gross industrial output value, the excessive energy consumption, and pollutant emissions. Secondly, the highest growth rate of environmental total factor productivity among the three industrial categories is manufacturing, followed by mining, and production and supply of electricity, gas, and water. Thirdly, foreign direct investment, capital-labor ratio, ownership structure, energy consumption structure, and environmental regulation have varying degrees of effects on the environmental efficiency and environmental total factor productivity.

Industry Efficiency and Total Factor Productivity Growth under Resources and Environmental Constraint in China

Science.gov (United States)

Tao, Feng; Li, Ling; Xia, X. H.

2012-01-01

The growth of China's industry has been seriously depending on energy and environment. This paper attempts to apply the directional distance function and the Luenberger productivity index to measure the environmental efficiency, environmental total factor productivity, and its components at the level of subindustry in China over the period from 1999 to 2009 while considering energy consumption and emission of pollutants. This paper also empirically examines the determinants of efficiency and productivity change. The major findings are as follows. Firstly, the main sources of environmental inefficiency of China's industry are the inefficiency of gross industrial output value, the excessive energy consumption, and pollutant emissions. Secondly, the highest growth rate of environmental total factor productivity among the three industrial categories is manufacturing, followed by mining, and production and supply of electricity, gas, and water. Thirdly, foreign direct investment, capital-labor ratio, ownership structure, energy consumption structure, and environmental regulation have varying degrees of effects on the environmental efficiency and environmental total factor productivity. PMID:23365517

Optical-cell model based on the lasing competition of mode structures with different Q-factors in high-power semiconductor lasers

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Podoskin, A. A., E-mail: podoskin@mail.ioffe.ru; Shashkin, I. S.; Slipchenko, S. O.; Pikhtin, N. A.; Tarasov, I. S. [Russian Academy of Sciences, Ioffe Institute (Russian Federation)

2015-08-15

A model describing the operation of a completely optical cell, based on the competition of lasing of Fabry-Perot cavity modes and the high-Q closed mode in high-power semiconductor lasers is proposed. Based on rate equations, the conditions of lasing switching between Fabry-Perot modes for ground and excited lasing levels and the closed mode are considered in the case of increasing internal optical loss under conditions of high current pump levels. The optical-cell operation conditions in the mode of a high-power laser radiation switch (reversible mode-structure switching) and in the mode of a memory cell with bistable irreversible lasing switching between mode structures with various Q-factors are considered.

Kinetic and energetic approaches to analysis of scabbing fracture of structural steels under thermal shock

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Molitvin, A.M.

2002-01-01

The regularities of the scabbing fracture of nine brands of structural steels under the conditions of the impact of the nuclear explosion X-ray irradiation are studied. The time dependences of the scabbing strength of the structural materials under thermal shock, initiated by the X-ray irradiation, are established within the frames of the approach to the problem on the scabbing fracture. The time dependences of the critical specific energy of the steels fracture under the conditions of the X-ray irradiation effect are determined within the frames of the energetic approach to the problem on the scabbing fracture, based on the comparison of the sample energy reserve and fracture work [ru

Tissue factor activates allosteric networks in factor VIIa through structural and dynamic changes

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Madsen, Jesper Jonasson; Persson, E.; Olsen, O. H.

2015-01-01

that are not likely to be inferred from mutagenesis studies. Furthermore, paths from Met306 to Ile153 (N-terminus) and Trp364, both representing hallmark residues of allostery, are 7% and 37% longer, respectively, in free FVIIa. Thus, there is significantly weaker coupling between the TF contact point and key......Background: Tissue factor (TF) promotes colocalization of enzyme (factorVIIa) and substrate (FX or FIX), and stabilizes the active conformation of FVIIa. Details on how TF induces structural and dynamic changes in the catalytic domain of FVIIa to enhance its efficiency remain elusive. Objective......: To elucidate the activation of allosteric networks in the catalytic domain of the FVIIa protease it is when bound to TF.MethodsLong-timescale molecular dynamics simulations of FVIIa, free and in complex with TF, were executed and analyzed by dynamic network analysis. Results: Allosteric paths of correlated...

Hybrid Structural Reliability Analysis under Multisource Uncertainties Based on Universal Grey Numbers

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Xingfa Yang

2018-01-01

Full Text Available Nondeterministic parameters of certain distribution are employed to model structural uncertainties, which are usually assumed as stochastic factors. However, model parameters may not be precisely represented due to some factors in engineering practices, such as lack of sufficient data, data with fuzziness, and unknown-but-bounded conditions. To this end, interval and fuzzy parameters are implemented and an efficient approach to structural reliability analysis with random-interval-fuzzy hybrid parameters is proposed in this study. Fuzzy parameters are first converted to equivalent random ones based on the equal entropy principle. 3σ criterion is then employed to transform the equivalent random and the original random parameters to interval variables. In doing this, the hybrid reliability problem is transformed into the one only with interval variables, in other words, nonprobabilistic reliability analysis problem. Nevertheless, the problem of interval extension existed in interval arithmetic, especially for the nonlinear systems. Therefore, universal grey mathematics, which can tackle the issue of interval extension, is employed to solve the nonprobabilistic reliability analysis problem. The results show that the proposed method can obtain more conservative results of the hybrid structural reliability.

Structural, electronic and elastic properties of the cubic CaTiO{sub 3} under pressure: A DFT study

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Tariq, Saad, E-mail: saadigi@hotmail.com; Ahmed, Afaq; Tariq, Samar [Centre of Excellence in Solid State Physics, University of Punjab, Lahore, 54000 (Pakistan); Saad, Saher [Centre for High Energy Physics, University of the Punjab, Lahore (Pakistan)

2015-07-15

Using highly accurate FP-LAPW method with GGA approximation structural, electronic and elastic properties of cubic CaTiO{sub 3} have been calculated from 0-120 GPa range of pressure. It is observed that lattice constant, bond length and anisotropy factor decrease with increase in pressure. Also the brittle nature and indirect band-gap of the compound become ductile and direct band-gap respectively at 120 GPa. Moduli of elasticity, density of the material, Debye temperature and wave elastic wave velocities increase with increase in pressure. Spin dependent DOS’s plots show invariant anti-ferromagnetic nature of the compound under pressure. Our calculated results are in good agreement with available theoretical and experimental results.

A stochastic global identification framework for aerospace structures operating under varying flight states

Science.gov (United States)

Kopsaftopoulos, Fotis; Nardari, Raphael; Li, Yu-Hung; Chang, Fu-Kuo

2018-01-01

In this work, a novel data-based stochastic "global" identification framework is introduced for aerospace structures operating under varying flight states and uncertainty. In this context, the term "global" refers to the identification of a model that is capable of representing the structure under any admissible flight state based on data recorded from a sample of these states. The proposed framework is based on stochastic time-series models for representing the structural dynamics and aeroelastic response under multiple flight states, with each state characterized by several variables, such as the airspeed, angle of attack, altitude and temperature, forming a flight state vector. The method's cornerstone lies in the new class of Vector-dependent Functionally Pooled (VFP) models which allow the explicit analytical inclusion of the flight state vector into the model parameters and, hence, system dynamics. This is achieved via the use of functional data pooling techniques for optimally treating - as a single entity - the data records corresponding to the various flight states. In this proof-of-concept study the flight state vector is defined by two variables, namely the airspeed and angle of attack of the vehicle. The experimental evaluation and assessment is based on a prototype bio-inspired self-sensing composite wing that is subjected to a series of wind tunnel experiments under multiple flight states. Distributed micro-sensors in the form of stretchable sensor networks are embedded in the composite layup of the wing in order to provide the sensing capabilities. Experimental data collected from piezoelectric sensors are employed for the identification of a stochastic global VFP model via appropriate parameter estimation and model structure selection methods. The estimated VFP model parameters constitute two-dimensional functions of the flight state vector defined by the airspeed and angle of attack. The identified model is able to successfully represent the wing

The factor structure of posttraumatic stress disorder: a literature update, critique of methodology, and agenda for future research.

Science.gov (United States)

Elhai, Jon D; Palmieri, Patrick A

2011-08-01

We present an update of recent literature (since 2007) exploring the factor structure of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) symptom measures. Research supporting a four-factor emotional numbing model and a four-factor dysphoria model is presented, with these models fitting better than all other models examined. Variables accounting for factor structure differences are reviewed, including PTSD query instructions, type of PTSD measure, extent of trauma exposure, ethnicity, and timing of administration. Methodological and statistical limitations with recent studies are presented. Finally, a research agenda and recommendations are offered to push this research area forward, including suggestions to validate PTSD’s factors against external measures of psychopathology, test moderators of factor structure, and examine heterogeneity of symptom presentations based on factor structure examination.

Structural effect of ferrocenecarboxymethylated polymers on their electrical behavior under the exposure to methanol and acetone vapors

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hachawee, Kosin; Lerdwijitjarud, Wanchai; Sittattrakul, Amnard; Sirivat, Anuvat

2008-01-01

Functionalized ferrocenecarboxymethylated polymers, i.e. poly(vinylbenzyl ferrocenecarboxymethylate) (PVBFCC), poly(vinylbenzyl ferrocenecarboxymethylate-co-ethoxyethylmethacrylate) with the mole ratio between vinylbenzyl ferrocenecarboxymethylate and ethoxyethylmethacrylate of 75:25 (Co-PVBFCC 75/25) and 50:50 (Co-PVBFCC 50/50), and ferrocenecarboxymethylated polysulfone (BPSFCC) were investigated for their electrical behavior under the vapors of methanol and acetone and nitrogen gas. Electrical conductivity responses of the four ferrocenecarboxymethylated polymers in the presence of lithium perchlorate were measured when they were exposed to nitrogen gas, and methanol and acetone vapors. Main factors that affect the electrical conductivity and sensitivity of these electroactive ferrocene polymers originate from the polymer structure and the type of the passing gas or vapor. Ferrocenecarboxymethylated polymers with higher degrees of substitution of ferrocene units possess good electrical conductivity under the atmosphere of mixed N 2 /methanol vapor, while ferrocenecarboxymethylated polymers with more flexible chain and/or larger free volumes give higher electrical conductivity under the atmosphere of mixed N 2 /acetone vapor. The gas or vapor molecule with higher polarity and smaller size enhances the electrical conductivity of the ferrocene polymers. Our results clearly indicate that the synthesized ferrocenecarboxymethylated polymers have potential to be used as methanol or acetone sensor materials

Attractor of Beam Equation with Structural Damping under Nonlinear Boundary Conditions

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Danxia Wang

2015-01-01

Full Text Available Simultaneously, considering the viscous effect of material, damping of medium, and rotational inertia, we study a kind of more general Kirchhoff-type extensible beam equation utt-uxxtt+uxxxx-σ(∫0l‍(ux2dxuxx-ϕ(∫0l‍(ux2dxuxxt=q(x, in  [0,L]×R+ with the structural damping and the rotational inertia term. Little attention is paid to the longtime behavior of the beam equation under nonlinear boundary conditions. In this paper, under nonlinear boundary conditions, we prove not only the existence and uniqueness of global solutions by prior estimates combined with some inequality skills, but also the existence of a global attractor by the existence of an absorbing set and asymptotic compactness of corresponding solution semigroup. In addition, the same results also can be proved under the other nonlinear boundary conditions.

Toward the Rational Design of Novel Noncentrosymmetric Materials: Factors Influencing the Framework Structures.

Science.gov (United States)

Ok, Kang Min

2016-12-20

Solid-state materials with extended structures have revealed many interesting structure-related characteristics. Among many, materials crystallizing in noncentrosymmetric (NCS) space groups have attracted massive attention attributable to a variety of superb functional properties such as ferroelectricity, pyroelectricity, piezoelectricity, and nonlinear optical (NLO) properties. In fact, the characteristics are pivotal to many industrial applications such as laser systems, optical communications, photolithography, energy harvesting, detectors, and memories. Thus, for the past several decades, a great deal of synthetic effort has been vigorously made to realize these technologically important properties by improving the occurrence of macroscopic NCS space groups. A bright approach to increase the incidence of NCS structures was combining local asymmetric units during the initial synthesis process. Although a significant improvement has been achieved in obtaining new NCS materials using this strategy, the majority of solid-state materials still crystallize in centrosymmetric (CS) structures as the locally unsymmetrical units are easily lined up in an antiparallel manner. Therefore, discovering an effective method to control the framework structure and the macroscopic symmetry is an imminent ongoing challenge. In order to more effectively control the overall symmetry of solid-state compounds, it is critical to understand how the backbone and the subsequent centricity are affected during the crystallization. In this Account, several factors influencing the framework structure and centricity of solid-state materials are described in order to more systematically discover novel NCS materials. Recent studies on crystalline solid-state materials suggest three factors affecting the local coordination environment as well as the overall symmetry of the framework structure: (1) size variations of the various template cations, (2) a variable backbone arrangement occurring from

Evaluation of Floor Response Spectrum considering Ductility of Structure

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Park, Junhee; Choi, In-Kil [Korea Atomic Energy Research Institute, Daejeon (Korea, Republic of)

2014-10-15

The FRS (floor response spectrum) is directly influenced by the behavior of structure under the seismic load. If the structure is nonlinear range, the energy dissipation will be occurred by the damage of structure and the maximum force will be reduced. In Zion method, the inelastic energy abortion factor has been used to consider the nonlinearity of structure. This factor was used for the seismic fragility of structure. For the seismic fragility of equipment, the uncertainty of this factor was used differently according to the story level. But this method is not warranted under the strong earthquake leads to the structural damage. Therefore it is needed to evaluate the FRS considering the nonlinear behavior of structure and to assessment the conservatism related to nonlinear behavior of structure in FRS. In this study, the nonlinear analysis was performed for the conservatism of FRS under the damage of structure. The conservatism of FRS by the nonlinear analysis was compared by that proposed by the Zion method. The conservatism of floor acceleration response for the equipment was evaluated by performing the nonlinear analysis. From the nonlinear analysis results, it was showed that the median and β{sub c} of FRSR was increased with the ductility of structure and the response of equipment had the resonance effect between the frequency of equipment and structure. The seismic capacity of equipment by the Zion method can be different from the real seismic capacity of equipment because the inelastic structure response factor has nothing to do with the ductility of structure. Therefore the median and COV for FRSR should be defined considering the ductility of structure and the frequency of equipment for more exactly evaluating the seismic capacity of equipment.

Evaluation of Floor Response Spectrum considering Ductility of Structure

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Park, Junhee; Choi, In-Kil

2014-01-01

The FRS (floor response spectrum) is directly influenced by the behavior of structure under the seismic load. If the structure is nonlinear range, the energy dissipation will be occurred by the damage of structure and the maximum force will be reduced. In Zion method, the inelastic energy abortion factor has been used to consider the nonlinearity of structure. This factor was used for the seismic fragility of structure. For the seismic fragility of equipment, the uncertainty of this factor was used differently according to the story level. But this method is not warranted under the strong earthquake leads to the structural damage. Therefore it is needed to evaluate the FRS considering the nonlinear behavior of structure and to assessment the conservatism related to nonlinear behavior of structure in FRS. In this study, the nonlinear analysis was performed for the conservatism of FRS under the damage of structure. The conservatism of FRS by the nonlinear analysis was compared by that proposed by the Zion method. The conservatism of floor acceleration response for the equipment was evaluated by performing the nonlinear analysis. From the nonlinear analysis results, it was showed that the median and β c of FRSR was increased with the ductility of structure and the response of equipment had the resonance effect between the frequency of equipment and structure. The seismic capacity of equipment by the Zion method can be different from the real seismic capacity of equipment because the inelastic structure response factor has nothing to do with the ductility of structure. Therefore the median and COV for FRSR should be defined considering the ductility of structure and the frequency of equipment for more exactly evaluating the seismic capacity of equipment

Bayes Factor Covariance Testing in Item Response Models.

Science.gov (United States)

Fox, Jean-Paul; Mulder, Joris; Sinharay, Sandip

2017-12-01

Two marginal one-parameter item response theory models are introduced, by integrating out the latent variable or random item parameter. It is shown that both marginal response models are multivariate (probit) models with a compound symmetry covariance structure. Several common hypotheses concerning the underlying covariance structure are evaluated using (fractional) Bayes factor tests. The support for a unidimensional factor (i.e., assumption of local independence) and differential item functioning are evaluated by testing the covariance components. The posterior distribution of common covariance components is obtained in closed form by transforming latent responses with an orthogonal (Helmert) matrix. This posterior distribution is defined as a shifted-inverse-gamma, thereby introducing a default prior and a balanced prior distribution. Based on that, an MCMC algorithm is described to estimate all model parameters and to compute (fractional) Bayes factor tests. Simulation studies are used to show that the (fractional) Bayes factor tests have good properties for testing the underlying covariance structure of binary response data. The method is illustrated with two real data studies.

High duty factor structures for e+e- storage rings

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Allen, M.A.; Karvonen, L.G.

1976-01-01

The next generation of e + e - storage rings will need rf systems similar to those required for a continuous-duty linac of over 50 MeV. For the PEP Storage Ring at 18 GeV, it is presently planned to provide a peak accelerating voltage of 77 MV in 18 aluminum accelerating structures, each structure consisting of five slot-coupled cells operating in the π mode. The power dissipation will be 100 kW per cell for a total of 500 kW per five-cell structure at 353 MHz. A two-cell model was designed and built to dissipate 100 kW per cell or a total of 200 kW. This structure was powered (cw) to over 100 kW per cell, and detailed calorimetric data were taken and compared with the original heat transfer calculations. The power level achieved corresponds to a peak accelerating field (transit-time factor included) in the two-cell model of 0.8 MV per cell or 1.9 MV/meter. Operating experience with the SPEAR five-cell structure is discussed. The four SPEAR structures are each designed to operate with wall losses of 75 kW and up to 50 kW into the stored beam. Power to each structure is provided by a 125-kW high-efficiency four-cavity klystron. No isolation has been used and the resulting interaction between the accelerating structures, klystrons, and the stored beams is discussed

Primer on Durability of Nuclear Power Plant Reinforced Concrete Structures - A Review of Pertinent Factors

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Naus, Dan J [ORNL

2007-02-01

The objective of this study was to provide a primer on the environmental effects that can affect the durability of nuclear power plant concrete structures. As concrete ages, changes in its properties will occur as a result of continuing microstructural changes (i.e., slow hydration, crystallization of amorphous constituents, and reactions between cement paste and aggregates), as well as environmental influences. These changes do not have to be detrimental to the point that concrete will not be able to meet its performance requirements. Concrete, however, can suffer undesirable changes with time because of improper specifications, a violation of specifications, or adverse performance of its cement paste matrix or aggregate constituents under either physical or chemical attack. Contained in this report is a discussion on concrete durability and the relationship between durability and performance, a review of the historical perspective related to concrete and longevity, a description of the basic materials that comprise reinforced concrete, and information on the environmental factors that can affect the performance of nuclear power plant concrete structures. Commentary is provided on the importance of an aging management program.

Primer on Durability of Nuclear Power Plant Reinforced Concrete Structures - A Review of Pertinent Factors

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Naus, Dan J.

2007-01-01

The objective of this study was to provide a primer on the environmental effects that can affect the durability of nuclear power plant concrete structures. As concrete ages, changes in its properties will occur as a result of continuing microstructural changes (i.e., slow hydration, crystallization of amorphous constituents, and reactions between cement paste and aggregates), as well as environmental influences. These changes do not have to be detrimental to the point that concrete will not be able to meet its performance requirements. Concrete, however, can suffer undesirable changes with time because of improper specifications, a violation of specifications, or adverse performance of its cement paste matrix or aggregate constituents under either physical or chemical attack. Contained in this report is a discussion on concrete durability and the relationship between durability and performance, a review of the historical perspective related to concrete and longevity, a description of the basic materials that comprise reinforced concrete, and information on the environmental factors that can affect the performance of nuclear power plant concrete structures. Commentary is provided on the importance of an aging management program

TFpredict and SABINE: sequence-based prediction of structural and functional characteristics of transcription factors.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Johannes Eichner

Full Text Available One of the key mechanisms of transcriptional control are the specific connections between transcription factors (TF and cis-regulatory elements in gene promoters. The elucidation of these specific protein-DNA interactions is crucial to gain insights into the complex regulatory mechanisms and networks underlying the adaptation of organisms to dynamically changing environmental conditions. As experimental techniques for determining TF binding sites are expensive and mostly performed for selected TFs only, accurate computational approaches are needed to analyze transcriptional regulation in eukaryotes on a genome-wide level. We implemented a four-step classification workflow which for a given protein sequence (1 discriminates TFs from other proteins, (2 determines the structural superclass of TFs, (3 identifies the DNA-binding domains of TFs and (4 predicts their cis-acting DNA motif. While existing tools were extended and adapted for performing the latter two prediction steps, the first two steps are based on a novel numeric sequence representation which allows for combining existing knowledge from a BLAST scan with robust machine learning-based classification. By evaluation on a set of experimentally confirmed TFs and non-TFs, we demonstrate that our new protein sequence representation facilitates more reliable identification and structural classification of TFs than previously proposed sequence-derived features. The algorithms underlying our proposed methodology are implemented in the two complementary tools TFpredict and SABINE. The online and stand-alone versions of TFpredict and SABINE are freely available to academics at http://www.cogsys.cs.uni-tuebingen.de/software/TFpredict/ and http://www.cogsys.cs.uni-tuebingen.de/software/SABINE/.

The factor structure of the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ in Greek adolescents

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Rotsika Vasiliki

2009-08-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background The Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ is a practical, economic and user-friendly screening instrument of emotional and behavioural problems in children and adolescents. This study was aimed primarily at evaluating the factor structure of the Greek version of the SDQ. Methods A representative nationwide sample of 1,194 adolescents (11 to 17 years old completed the questionnaire. Confirmatory factor analysis (CFA was conducted to assess the factor structure of the SDQ. Results CFA supported the original five-factor structure. The modification of the model provided some improvements. Internal consistency was acceptable for total difficulties, emotional symptoms and prosocial behaviour scale, moderate for hyperactivity/inattention scale and inadequate for peer and conduct problems scale. Older adolescents (aged 15 to 17 years reported more hyperactivity/inattention and conduct problems than younger ones (aged 11 to 14 years and girls reported more emotional symptoms and less prosocial behaviour problems than boys. Adolescents of low socioeconomic status (SES reported more difficulties than those of medium and high SES. Conclusion The Greek SDQ could be potentially considered as a community-wide screening instrument for adolescents' emotional and behavioural problems.

Collinear factorization for deep inelastic scattering structure functions at large Bjorken xB

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Accardi, Alberto; Qiu, Jian-Wei

2008-01-01

http://dx.doi.org/10.1088/1126-6708/2008/07/090 We examine the uncertainty of perturbative QCD factorization for hadron structure functions in deep inelastic scattering at a large value of the Bjorken variable xB. We analyze the target mass correction to the structure functions by using the collinear factorization approach in the momentum space. We express the long distance physics of structure functions and the leading target mass corrections in terms of parton distribution functions with the standard operator definition. We compare our result with existing work on the target mass correction. We also discuss the impact of a final-state jet function on the extraction of parton distributions at large fractional momentum x.

THE IMPACT OF ORGANIZATIONAL AND TECHNOLOGICAL FACTORS ON THE EXPENSE STRUCTURE OF THE GRAIN STORAGES CONSTRUCTION ENTERPRISE

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

MENEJLYUK A. I.

2016-12-01

Full Text Available Formulation of the problem. The deficit of grain storage capacities in Ukraine is about 15-20 mln. tons. Specific conditions of the realization of grain storage construction projects require systemic research to improve the efficiency of organizational and technological solutions in the management of specialized companies, to reduce costs of construction works and to increase the profit margin. Purpose. Research changes in the structure and the amount of the total production costs of the grain storage construction enterprise under the influence of organizational and technological factors. Conclusion. The account of features of grain storage construction, as well as developed research methodology: have resulted in analysis and the construction of a computer model of the operating activity of the grain storage construction enterprise; have allowed exploring experimental and statistical regularities of indicators changes of such operating activity from the influence of organizational and technological factors.

Risk factors for malnutrition in under-five children: one year after the Yogyakarta earthquake

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Neti Nurani

2011-12-01

Full Text Available Background Malnutrition in children under the age of five remains a major health problem, since half of mortality cases in this age group involve malnutrition. The 2006 earthquake caused destruction of physical, biological and socio-economic environments, potentially leading to malnutrition in Yogyakarta children. Objective To identify the prevalence and risk factors of malnutrition in Yogyakarta children under five years of age, one year after the 2006 earthquake. Methods We conducted a cross-sectional study among children aged 0 to 60 months in the Bambanglipuro Subdistrict, Bantul Regency, Yogyakarta from September to October 2007. Nutritional status was determined using weight for height Z-scores, according to the WHO 2006 Child Growth Standards. Results Out of 666 subjects, we found severe malnutrition, undernutrition, normal weight, and overweight status in 1.7%, 4.8%, 88.6% and 4.8%, respectively. By multivariate analysis, risk factors for malnutrition were not having been weighed during the previous three months (OR 0.35; 95% CI 0.1 to 0.8 and having acute respiratory infection in the previous two weeks (OR 1.99; 95% CI 1.1 to 3.8 Conclusion One year following the 2006 earthquake, acute respiratory infection in the previous two weeks and unmonitored growth in the previous three months were risk factors for malnutrition in children under five years.

A Confirmatory Approach to Examining the Factor Structure of the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ)

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Niclasen, Janni; Skovgaard, Anne Mette; Andersen, Anne-Marie Nybo

2013-01-01

The aim of this study was to examine the factor structure of the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ) using a Structural Confirmatory Factor Analytic approach. The Danish translation of the SDQ was distributed to 71,840 parents and teachers of 5-7 and 10-12-year-old boys and girls from ...

Validity and factor structure of the bodybuilding dependence scale.

Science.gov (United States)

Smith, D; Hale, B

2004-04-01

To investigate the factor structure, validity, and reliability of the bodybuilding dependence scale and to investigate differences in bodybuilding dependence between men and women and competitive and non-competitive bodybuilders. Seventy two male competitive bodybuilders, 63 female competitive bodybuilders, 87 male non-competitive bodybuilders, and 63 non-competitive female bodybuilders completed the bodybuilding dependence scale (BDS), the exercise dependence questionnaire (EDQ), and the muscle dysmorphia inventory (MDI). Confirmatory factor analysis of the BDS supported a three factor model of bodybuilding dependence, consisting of social dependence, training dependence, and mastery dependence (Q = 3.16, CFI = 0.98, SRMR = 0.04). Internal reliability of all three subscales was high (Cronbach's alpha = 0.92, 0.92, and 0.93 respectively). Significant (pbodybuilders scored significantly (pbodybuilders. However, there were no significant sex differences on any of the BDS subscales (p>0.05). The three factor BDS appears to be a reliable and valid measure of bodybuilding dependence. Symptoms of bodybuilding dependence are more prevalent in competitive bodybuilders than non-competitive ones, but there are no significant sex differences in bodybuilding dependence.

Factor Structure, Validity and Reliability of the Revised Version of Skin Picking Scale

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Mehdi Rabiei

2014-09-01

Full Text Available Background: The purpose of this study was to examine the factor structure, validity and reliability of the Skin Picking Scale-Revised Version. Materials and Methods: In this descriptive and validation study, participants were 550 (250 male and 300 female of the University of Isfahan were selected randomly from 15000 students. In order to examine the factor structure of the SPS-R we conducted both exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses and Cronbach's alpha. Results: Convergent validity of SPS-R with YBOCS-BDD, OCI-R and DASS 21-item were r=0.45, r=0.51 and r=0.70 (p<0.001. Exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses revealed two factors, one assessing impairment and the other symptom severity (4 items each. These factors could determine 58.1% of the variance. The Cronbach's alpha for the two factors were above 0.88. Also, results were shown to possess good psychometric properties, as well as discriminant validity and classification accuracy, in both clinical and community populations. Conclusion: It can be concluded that this instrument is a useful measure for assess skin-picking disorder symptoms in clinical assessment.

Dynamical quadrupole structure factor of frustrated ferromagnetic chain

Science.gov (United States)

Onishi, Hiroaki

2018-05-01

We investigate the dynamical quadrupole structure factor of a spin-1/2 J1-J2 Heisenberg chain with competing ferromagnetic J1 and antiferromagnetic J2 in a magnetic field by exploiting density-matrix renormalization group techniques. In a field-induced spin nematic regime, we observe gapless excitations at q = π according to quasi-long-range antiferro-quadrupole correlations. The gapless excitation mode has a quadratic form at the saturation, while it changes into a linear dispersion as the magnetization decreases.

Measurement of deforming mode of lattice truss structures under impact loading

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Zhao H.

2012-08-01

Full Text Available Lattice truss structures, which are used as a core material in sandwich panels, were widely investigated experimentally and theoretically. However, explanation of the deforming mechanism using reliable experimental results is almost rarely reported, particularly for the dynamic deforming mechanism. The present work aimed at the measurement of the deforming mode of lattice truss structures. Indeed, quasi-static and Split Hopkinson Pressure Bar (SHPB tests have been performed on the tetrahedral truss cores structures made of Aluminum 3003-O. Global values such as crushing forces and displacements between the loading platens are obtained. However, in order to understand the deforming mechanism and to explain the observed impact strength enhancement observed in the experiments, images of the truss core element during the tests are recorded. A method based on the edge detection algorithm is developed and applied to these images. The deforming profiles of one beam are extracted and it allows for calculating the length of beam. It is found that these lengths diminish to a critical value (due to compression and remain constant afterwards (because of significant bending. The comparison between quasi-static and impact tests shows that the beam were much more compressed under impact loading, which could be understood as the lateral inertia effect in dynamic bucking. Therefore, the impact strength enhancement of tetrahedral truss core sandwich panel can be explained by the delayed buckling of beam under impact (more compression reached, together with the strain hardening of base material.

B1 to B2 structural phase transition in LiF under pressure

Science.gov (United States)

Jain, Aayushi; Dixit, R. C.

2018-05-01

In the last few decades the alkali halides emerged as crystals with useful applications and their high-pressure behaviour is the most intensively studied subject in high-pressure physics/chemistry, material science, and geosciences. Most alkali halides follow the B1 (NaCl-type)→B2 (CsCl-type) phase-transition route under pressure. In the present paper, we have investigated the characteristics of structural phase transition that occurred in Lithium Florid compound under high pressure. The transition pressure of B1-B2 was calculated using an effective interionic interaction potential (EIOP). The changes of the characteristics of crystals like, Gibbs free energy, cohesive energy, volume collapse, and lattice constant are calculated for the B1 and B2 structures. These data were compared with the available experimental and theoretical data.

Metacognition Assessment Interview: Instrument description and factor structure

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Giovanni Pellecchia

2015-12-01

Full Text Available Objective: Metacognition is a multi-component psychological construct, characterised by the ability to identify and describe one’s own mental states and those of others. Evidence has been found for an association between deficits in metacognitive abilities and poor social functioning, low quality of life, psychopathology, and symptoms in Personality Disorders (PDs. However, to date, there are few psychometrically validated instruments available for assessing the different components of metacognition. A semi-structured interview, the Metacognition Assessment Interview (MAI, has been developed to evaluate different domains of metacognition. In the present study, we investigated the psychometric properties of the MAI in an outpatient clinical sample. Method: The MAI was administered to a clinical population of 306 outpatients attending a private clinical centre. Exploratory factor analysis, confirmatory factor analysis and correlation with instruments assessing alexithymia and interpersonal problems were carried out to examine the dimensionality and validity of the MAI. Result: Explorative and confirmatory factor analyses revealed a good fit for both a two-factor model and a four-factor model of metacognition. The two-factor model yielded two main dimensions, which we named: Self domain, defined as self-reflection, and Other domain, defined as critical distancing from one’s own mental state and that of others. The four-factor solution is composed of four sub-domains: monitoring, integration, differentiation and decentration. Moreover, the MAI showed good convergent validity, with significant correlations with both alexithymia and interpersonal problems. Conclusions: These results confirm that the MAI is a reliable instrument for measuring metacognition and its different sub-domains. In particular, the MAI represents a useful and flexible instrument for the assessment of metacognition impairments in different psychopathologies and it can provide

Pair distribution function and structure factor of spherical particles

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Howell, Rafael C.; Proffen, Thomas; Conradson, Steven D.

2006-01-01

The availability of neutron spallation-source instruments that provide total scattering powder diffraction has led to an increased application of real-space structure analysis using the pair distribution function. Currently, the analytical treatment of finite size effects within pair distribution refinement procedures is limited. To that end, an envelope function is derived which transforms the pair distribution function of an infinite solid into that of a spherical particle with the same crystal structure. Distributions of particle sizes are then considered, and the associated envelope function is used to predict the particle size distribution of an experimental sample of gold nanoparticles from its pair distribution function alone. Finally, complementing the wealth of existing diffraction analysis, the peak broadening for the structure factor of spherical particles, expressed as a convolution derived from the envelope functions, is calculated exactly for all particle size distributions considered, and peak maxima, offsets, and asymmetries are discussed

The numeric visual evaluation of subsoil structure (SubVESS) under agricultural production

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Ball, B.C.; Batey, Tom; Munkholm, Lars Juhl

2015-01-01

penetration and aggregate size and shape using a colour diagnostic flowchart. Use of the method enabled identification of extent and severity of compact transition layers in both well-drained and imperfectly drained soils. Porosity and strength assessments were particularly relevant. Reference soils under......) and/or natural processes (e.g. shrinkage crack formation). The method was also used to identify differences in subsoil structural quality within fields associated with field traffic levels (Oxisol in Brazil) and with moisture status (Luvisol in France). The focus of SubVESS on structure rather than...

Reliability, Validity and Factor Structure of Drug Abuse Screening Test

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Sayed Hadi Sayed Alitabar

2016-05-01

Full Text Available Background and Objective: According to the increasing of substance use in the country, more researches about this phenomenon are necessary. This Study Investigates the Validity, Reliability and Confirmatory Factor Structure of the Drug Abuse Screening test (DAST. Materials and Methods: The Sample Consisted of 381 Patients (143 Women and 238 Men with a Multi-Stage Cluster Sampling of Areas 2, 6 and 12 of Tehran Were Selected from Each Region, 6 Randomly Selected Drug Rehabilitation Center. The DAST Was Used as Instrument. Divergent & Convergent Validity of this Scale Was Assessed with Problems Assessment for Substance Using Psychiatric Patients (PASUPP and Relapse Prediction Scale (RPS.Results: The DAST after the First Time Factor Structure of Using Confirmatory Factor Analysis Was Confirmed. The DAST Had a Good Internal Consistency (Cranach’s Alpha, and the Reliability of the Test Within a Week, 0.9, 0.8. Also this Scale Had a Positive Correlation with Problems Assessment for Substance Using Psychiatric Patients and Relapse Prediction Scale (P<0.01.Conclusion: The Overall Results Showed that the Drug Abuse Screening Test in Iranian Society Is Valid. It Can Be Said that Self-Report Scale Tool Is Useful for Research Purposes and Addiction.

The Factor Structure and Validity of the Persian Version of the Baumrind Parenting Style Inventory

OpenAIRE

اصغر مینائی; سپیده نیک زاد

2017-01-01

In this study, the factor structure and validity of the Persian version of the Baumrind parenting style inventory were evaluated among 576 mothers of elementary school students in Tehran who had been selected through multistage cluster sampling method. This study is, due to its subject and purposes a descriptive study based on psychometric methods. The factor structure of the inventory was tested by AMOS software based on the fitting and modification indicators in the confirmatory factor anal...

Aging management of containment structures in nuclear power plants

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Naus, D.J.; Oland, C.B.; Ellingwood, B.R.; Graves, H.L. III; Norris, W.E.

1996-01-01

Research is being conducted by Oak Ridge National Laboratory under US nuclear regulatory commission (USNRC) sponsorship to address aging management of nuclear power plant containment and other safety-related structures. Documentation is being prepared to provide the USNRC with potential structural safety issues and acceptance criteria for use in continued service evaluations of nuclear power plants. Accomplishments include development of a structural materials information center containing data and information on the time variation of 144 material properties under the influence of pertinent environmental stressors or aging factors, evaluation of models for potential concrete containment degradation factors, development of a procedure to identify critical structures and degradation factors important to aging management, evaluations of non-destructive evaluation techniques, assessments of European and North American repair practices for concrete, review of parameters affecting corrosion of metals embedded in concrete, and development of methodologies for making current condition assessments and service life predictions of new or existing reinforced concrete structures in nuclear power plants. (orig.)

Aging management of containment structures in nuclear power plants

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Naus, D.J.; Oland, C.B.; Ellingwood, B.R.

1994-01-01

Research is being conducted by Oak Ridge National Laboratory under U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission sponsorship to address aging management of nuclear power plant containment and other safety-related structures. Documentation is being prepared to provide the US-NRC with potential structural safety issues and acceptance criteria for use in continued service evaluations of nuclear power plants. Accomplishments include development of a Structural Materials Information Center containing data and information on the time variation of 144 material properties under the influence of pertinent environmental stressors or aging factors, evaluation of models for potential concrete containment degradation factors, development of a procedure to identify critical structures and degradation factors important to aging management, evaluations of nondestructive evaluation techniques, assessments of European and North American repair practices for concrete, review of parameters affecting corrosion of metals embedded in concrete, and development of methodologies for making current condition assessments and service life predictions of new or existing reinforced concrete structures in nuclear power plants. (author). 29 refs., 2 figs

Aging management of containment structures in nuclear power plants

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Naus, D.J.; Oland, C.B.; Ellingwood, B.R.; Graves, H.L. III; Norris, W.E.

1994-01-01

Research is being conducted by ORNL under US Nuclear Regulatory Commission (USNRC) sponsorship to address aging management of nuclear power plant containment and other safety-related structures. Documentation is being prepared to provide the USNRC with potential structural safety issues and acceptance criteria for use in continued service evaluations of nuclear power plants. Accomplishments include development of a Structural Materials Information Center containing data and information on the time variation of 144 material properties under the influence of pertinent environmental stressors or aging factors, evaluation of models for potential concrete containment degradation factors, development of a procedure to identify critical structures and degradation factors important to aging management, evaluations of nondestructive evaluation techniques. assessments of European and North American repair practices for concrete, review of parameters affecting corrosion of metals embedded in concrete, and development of methodologies for making current condition assessments and service life predictions of new or existing reinforced concrete structures in nuclear power plants

Structural-morphological variations in pseudo-barrier films of anode aluminium oxide under irradiation with high-energy particles

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Chernykh, M.A.; Belov, V.T.

1988-01-01

Comparative study of structural-morphological variations under electron beam effect in pseudo-barrier films of anode aluminium oxide, obtained in seven different solutions and proton or X-rays pre-irradiated to determine structure peculiarities of anode aluminium oxides, is presented. Such study is a matter of interest from the solid-phase transformation theory point of view and for anode aluminium films application under radiation. Stability increase of pseudo-barrier films of anode aluminium oxide to the effect of UEhMV-100 K microscope electron beam at standard modes of operation (75 kV) due to proton or X-rays irradiation is found. Difference in structural-monorphological variations obtained in different solutions of anode aluminium films under high-energy particles irradiation is determined. Strucural-phase microinhomogeneity of amorphous pseudo-barrier films of anode aluminium oxide and its influence on solid-phase transformations character under electron bean of maximal intensity are detected