Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Gen-III/III+ Reactors: Solving the Future Energy Supply Shortfall - The SWR-1000 Option

Deficiency of non-renewable energy sources, growing demand for electricity and primary energy, increase in population, raised concentration of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere and global warming are the facts which make nuclear energy currently the most realistic option to replace fossil fuels and satisfy global demand. The nuclear power industry has been developing and improving reactor technology for almost five decades and is now ready for the next generation of reactors which should solve the future energy supply shortfall. The advanced Gen-III/III+ (Generation III and/or III+) reactor designs incorporate passive or inherent safety features which require no active controls or operational intervention to manage accidents in the event of system malfunction. The passive safety equipment functions according to basic laws of physics such as gravity and natural convection and is automatically initiated. By combining these passive systems with proven active safety systems, the advanced reactors can be considered to be amongst the safest equipment ever made. Since the beginning of the 90’s AREVA NP has been intensively engaged in the design of two advanced Gen-III+ reactors: (i) PWR (Pressurized Water Reactor) EPR (Evolutionary Power Reactor), and (ii) BWR (Boiling Water Reactor) SWR-1000. The SWR-1000 reactor design marks a new era in the successful tradition of BWR technology. It meets the highest safety standards, including control of a core melt accident. This is achieved by supplementing active safety systems with passive safety equipment of diverse design for accident detection and control and by simplifying systems needed for normal plant operation. A short construction period, flexible fuel cycle lengths and a high fuel discharge burn-up contribute towards meeting economic goals. The SWR-1000 completely fulfils international nuclear regulatory requirements.
Power-supply voltage impact on circuit performance for half and lower submicrometer CMOS LSI

Based on theoretical understanding, the concept that the lower power supply voltage limit can be simply expressed by 1.1E/sub c/L/sub eff/, where E/sub c/ is the critical electric field necessary to cause carrier velocity saturation and L/sub eff/ is the effective channel length, is introduced. Experimental results confirmed that 1.1E/sub c/L/sub eff/ predicts a good guideline for power-supply voltage for CMOS devices over a wide range of gate oxide thickness (7-45 nm) and design rule (0.3-2.0 mu m). On the basis of theoretical models and experimental results, trends for power-supply voltage with MOS device scaling are demonstrated. It is shown that 1.1E/sub c/L/sub eff/ can be regarded as the lower power-supply voltage limit in order to maintain the improvement in delay time for below 0.6- mu m channel length at reduced power supply. The transconductance behavior for a MOSFET under high electric fields was investigated in order to explain the physical meaning of 1.1E/sub c/L/sub eff/. >
A Prospective Study on the Association between Oxidative Stress and Duration of Symptoms in Allergic Rhinitis

Oxidative stress has been known to play an important role in inflammatory responses of allergic rhinitis. We investigated the association between degree of oxidative stress and severity of allergic rhinitis. A total 226 allergic rhinitis students were classified by a history of allergic rhinitis into groups according to number and duration of symptoms within the previous year. The total antioxidant status (TAS) and total oxidant status (TOS) levels were compared among groups. Mean TAS level (14.03 ± 9.09 mmol/L) in the group with more than six months of symptoms had a tendency to be higher (p = 0.068) than that of the group with fewer than six months (12.33 ± 8.83 mmol/L). There was no statistically significant difference in mean TAS or TOS level with number of symptoms (nasal congestion, itching, sneezing and watery rhinorrhea). A multivariate logistic regression showed that the adjusted odds ratio of TAS was 1.655 and the adjusted odds ratio of TOS was 0.972 in more than a six-month duration group. The TAS level was significantly associated with a more than six-month symptom duration (p = 0.034). Our results suggest that antioxidant activity increased when allergic rhinitis became chronic and further research will be needed considering the disease severity.
Does the Internet Make the World Worse? Depression, Aggression and Polarization in the Social Media Age

Since the 1990s, the influence of the internet and social media in daily communication has skyrocketed. This has brought both remarkable opportunities and perceived perils. Recent years have seen increases in suicide and mental health concerns, political polarization, and online aggression. Can such phenomenon be connected causally to communication via social media? This article reviews the evidence for perceived deleterious effects of social media on several areas of human welfare, including political polarization, depression and suicide, aggression, and cyberbullying. In addition to examining contemporary evidence from psychological studies, a historical analysis is included to examine whether we truly live in a uniquely difficult time or whether similar patterns of social behavior can be witnessed in other, pre-internet times. It is concluded that evidence may link social media to some negative social outcomes but in ways that are nuanced and complicated, often interacting with user motivations and personalities and situational variables. An increased focus on preregistered, standardized scientific methods and cautious interpretation of effect sizes can help clarify real versus phantom effects of social media.
Prophylactic effect of ethyl pyruvate on renal ischemia/reperfusion injury in rats

Background: Following our hypothesis that oxidative stress might play a primary role in renal ischemia/reperfusion injury (RIRI), we investigated if ethyl pyruvate (EPy) with potent antioxidant activity might prevent or alleviate RIRI induced in rats. Methods: Sprague-Dawley rats were randomly divided into four groups: (A) Sham, (B) renal ischemia/reperfusion (RIR), (C) RIR with EPy supplement (RIR+EPy), and (D) RIR with Mann supplement (RIR+Mann). Mannitol (Mann), a preoperative agent being clinically used, was tested for comparison with EPy. Rats were subjected to 40-min ischemia, followed by 24-h reperfusion. Either EPy or Mann was given to rats 30 min prior to ischemia and immediately before the reperfusion period. Results: The RIR and RIR+Mann groups showed palpable kidney injuries with the ~5-fold elevated blood urea nitrogen (BUN) and creatinine (Cr) levels, indicating renal dysfunction. However, the kidneys in the RIR+EPy group appeared merely normal (similar to the Sham’s) with the basal BUN/Cr levels, indicating normal renal function. No effects on histology, BUN or Cr were yet seen with Mann. Moreover, specific kidney injury markers were up-regulated and oxidative stress was also ~2.1-fold severer in the RIR group, whereas little changes in those markers and oxidative stress were seen with EPy supplement (RIR+EPy). Conclusions: Although oxidative stress feasibly plays a key role in RIRI, EPy with antioxidant activity is capable of protecting the kidneys from such an assault. Thus, EPy (not Mann) should be considered as an effective perioperative renoprotective agent that could be used clinically.
Optically-Controlled Braking Responses to Variable Deceleration Magnitudes in a Car-Following Task

This study sought to identify which braking strategies are more often used in a car-following task when only optical cues to deceleration are available (no brake lights). Previous research identified three braking strategies for stopping to a stationary obstruction: regulation (deceleration at a near-constant magnitude), slam-on-the-brakes (increasing magnitude of deceleration), and bang-bang (initial high deceleration followed by a less deceleration). We used a car-following task with braking profiles which included variable decelerations to examine which of these strategies is most often used when drivers are not presented with brake lights warning of the deceleration of the lead vehicle. Results showed that individuals tend to use the slam-on-the-brakes approach (soft-then-hard braking) more than regulated (constant braking) or a bang-bang approach (hard-then-soft braking) when following vehicles without brake lights. These data form an important baseline of behavior for evaluating the effects of brake lights and other deceleration displays on braking behavior.
Untersuchungen zum vertikalen Tragverhalten von Spundwänden

Spundwände werden im Wesentlichen auf Biegung infolge einer Belastung durch Erd‐ und Wasserdrücke beansprucht. Sie können aber auch zum Abtrag von Vertikallasten dienen. Das Tragverhalten von Spundwänden ist bei genauer Betrachtung äußerst komplex, da diesem eine räumlich und zeitlich gekoppelte Boden‐Bauwerk‐Interaktion zugrunde liegt. Für die praktische Bemessung muss das Tragverhalten daher stark idealisiert werden. Die Rechtfertigung der dafür notwendigen Modellvorstellungen sowie deren Vereinfachungen und Annnahmen sind, wie häufig in der Geotechnik, hauptsächlich durch Erfahrung begründet.
Performance of New turbines for Geothermal Power Plants

Two high efficiency turbines have enabled the economic use of novel geothermal power cycles, the Variable Phase cycle and the Kalina cycle. Utilizing the Variable Phase Turbine and the Euler Turbine, respectively, the net power production can be increased by 30-50% from enhanced geothermal and sensible resources relative to commercially available organic Rankine cycles. These technologies were introduced at the GRC 2009 in the paper “New Turbines to Enable Efficient Geothermal Power Plants. ” 1 An outline of the technology and thermodynamic cycles as well as updates on the design and start-up process of a number of projects will be presented. The Variable Phase Turbine consists of discrete two-phase nozzles impinging upon an axial impulse rotor. The turbine achieves high isentropic efficiency while also allowing for direct drive of the generator with no gearbox, thus avoiding the efficiency loss while eliminating the need for a lube oil system and reducing capital cost. The Variable Phase cycle consists of a pump, liquid heat exchanger, Variable Phase Turbine, and condenser. Besides reducing complexity and cost, this cycle can produce between 30 and 50% more power from a given resource than a standard ORC, leveraging the total cost of the geothermal project. The design of a 1 MW geothermal Variable Phase cycle pilot project is currently underway. Details of the design are presented. The Euler Turbine is a radial outflow turbine with numerous
A New Parameter-Extraction Method for DGS and its Application to the Low-Pass Filter

A new and simple parameter-extraction method for the equivalent circuit of defected ground structure (DGS) is presented. Using this method, circuit simulation, based on the DGS equivalent-circuit model, show excellent agreements with the electromagnetic (EM) simulation. Further, our method is applied effectively to design a low-pass filter (LPF) with DGS. Comparison between simulation and measurement confirm the validity of the LPF configuration and design procedure. Simple structure and high power handling capability are obtained from the proposed LPF.
Monte Carlo evaluation of particle interactions within the patient-dependent part of Elekta 6 MV photon beam applying IAEA phase space data

Background This work aims to provide a simulated method to be used by designers of medical accelerators and in clinical centers to manage and minimize particles’ interaction in the patient-dependent part of a 6 MV X-Ray Beam generated by the Elekta linear accelerator system, based on the latest GATE software version 9.0 Monte Carlo simulation, IAEA phase space data, and the last version of “Slurm” computing cluster. Materials and methods The experimental results are obtained using the Elekta 6 MV accelerator. The simulation MC developed includes the majority of the patient-dependent segments, such as Multi-Leaf Collimator (MLC), Tongue and Groove T&G, Rounded leaf Part, including the Jaws (XY). This model is used, with a simulated Iba Blue Phantom 2 homogeneous water phantom with dimensions 480 × 480 × 410 mm3, positioned at a Source-to-Surface-Distance (SSD) of 100 cm, all of the interactions of the mega voltage 6 MV radiations in water are simulated. The IAEA phase space (PS) provided by the International Atomic Energy Agency database and cluster computing (Slurm HPC-MARWAN, CNRST, Morocco) are employed to reduce our simulation time. Results The results confirm that there are many interactions in all areas and the patient-dependent part’s internal structures. Thus, electrons and positrons participation appear in the generated field previously designed to be an X-ray beam. Besides, to validate our implementation geometry, the PDD’s and transverse profiles, at a depth ranging from 1.5 to 20 cm, for a field size of 10 × 10 cm2, the beam quality such as D10%, dmax (cm), d80 (cm), TPR(20/10), the two relative differences in dose were derived on σi and σi,max are calculated, respectively. Additionally, gamma index formalism for 2%/2 mm criteria is used. Once and for all, we typically take a good agreement between simulation MC GATE 9.0 and the experiment data with an error less than 2%/2 mm. Conclusions In the field of X-ray photons, a significant contribution of electrons and positrons has been found. This contribution could be enough to be essential or affect the delivered dose. A good agreement of 98% between this new approach of simulation MC GATE 9.0 software based on IAEA phase space and experimental dose distributions is observed regarding the validation tests used in this task.
Validation of an Inverse Analytical Technique to Educe Liner Impedance with Grazing Flow

This paper is based on a previously developed analytical technique to educe the acoustic impedance of a liner sample, placed inside a rectangular duct in grazing incidence. This technique uses the measurement of complex acoustic pressure at four positions inside the duct, upstream and downstream the lined section, and educing the result using the mode matching method. In the mode matching code, the flow was simplified to be uniform, which is not usually the actual case. This technique was opposed by several doubts regarding the mean flow assumption and the possible pressure discontinuity at the hard-soft and soft-hard steps. It was believed that the pressure field away from this discontinuity is representative of the real case, and the code would be capable to educe the correct liner impedance. In this paper, the code is validated against benchmark data from NASA. First the code was tested to be able to reproduce the pressure field for a given impedance. Second, it was tested to educe the correct impedance for a given pressure distribution. The results of the mode matching code were in excellent agreement with the experimental data. The effect of shear flow was investigated and found out that the differences are quite small for the chosen duct size and frequency of interest. On the other hand, the mode matching formulation was re-written based on the pressure instead of the velocity potential.
A General Approach to Sampled-Data Modeling for Ripple-Based Control—Part I: Peak/Valley Current Mode and Peak/Valley Voltage Mode

This article is aiming to unify the modeling methods for various ripple-based control schemes. It is divided into two parts, and the first part presents a sampled-data modeling method for the peak/valley current mode (PCM/VCM) control and the peak/valley voltage mode (PVM/VVM) control. It is pointed out that due to the high bandwidth of the dc–dc converter under PCM/VCM or PVM/VVM control, the sideband effect cannot be ignored in the modeling process. Meanwhile, with the small-signal assumption, the feedback perturbation signal has a discontinuity of the first kind at each sampling instant, so the perturbation value at this instant should be obtained according to the Dirichlet conditions, which is equal to half of the sum of the limit values on the left and right sides of the signal. Then, by using Shannon's sampling theorem, the transfer functions of the modulator and the loop gain are derived, and they are used to analyze the influence of the sideband components on the converter stability. Finally, the experimental results from a PCM controlled buck converter validate the proposed modeling technique.
Probabilistic Estimation and Allocation of Project Time Contingency

Project managers implement the concept of time contingency to consider uncertainty in duration estimates and prevent project completion delays. Some project managers also build a distribution of the project time contingency into the project activities to create a more manageable schedule. Generally, both the estimation and distribution of the project time contingency are conducted by using subjective approaches. Because the project schedule feasibility mainly depends on the variable behavior of the project activities, the estimate of project time contingency and its allocation at the activity level should be obtained by considering the performance variability of each activity rather than basing on human judgment. In this paper, the stochastic allocation of project allowances method, which is based on Monte Carlo simulation, is proposed to estimate the project time contingency and allocate it among the project activities. The application of this method to a three-span bridge project results in a fair alloc.
Using ECOSTRESS to Observe and Model Diurnal Variability in Water Temperature Conditions in the San Francisco Estuary

The San Francisco Estuary and Sacramento–San Joaquin River Delta (Bay Delta) is a highly sensitive and critical habitat for the Delta Smelt, an endangered endemic fish, with water temperature being a key determinant of habitat suitability. This study investigates the relationship between open water surface and subsurface conditions from spaceborne thermal measurements (ECOsystem Spaceborne Thermal Radiometer Experiment on Space Station (ECOSTRESS) and Landsat-8) and <italic>in situ</italic> sensor data from the California Data Exchange Center (CDEC) to produce estimates of spatially continuous bulk temperature in the Bay Delta. We found that ECOSTRESS and Landsat-8 surface temperature measurements are well-correlated with bulk water temperatures (<inline-formula> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">$N =236$ </tex-math></inline-formula> and <inline-formula> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">$r = 0.907$ </tex-math></inline-formula> and <inline-formula> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">$N = 226$ </tex-math></inline-formula> and <inline-formula> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">$r = 0.976$ </tex-math></inline-formula>, respectively). For the ECOSTRESS-<italic>in situ</italic> comparison, accounting for time of day improved the correlation between surface and subsurface conditions (<inline-formula> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">$r = 0.946$ </tex-math></inline-formula>, 0.881, and 0.944 for morning, midday, and evening, respectively). We found that ECOSTRESS surface temperatures were warmer than bulk temperatures in the midday period (2 °C peak at 2 P.M.) and cooler in the morning and evening periods (−1°C peak at 6 A.M.). We also found that a simple harmonic regression model can capture the diurnal variability of the skin effect to predict bulk water temperature (root-mean-square error (RMSE) = 0.809°C). With ECOSTRESS, we found that across the Bay Delta, including open waters and pelagic bays, temperature conditions causing stress and mortality for the Delta Smelt were persistent throughout the day during summer months. ECOSTRESS is a unique dataset capable of informing conservation efforts in the Bay Delta.
A reconfigurable low noise amplifier for a multi-standard receiver

Mobile devices are widely used for a vast range of applications such as mobile phones,personal digital assistant, personal computers, video games console, etc. However, the performance of these devices is restricted by the support of the network and the mobile functionality and efficiency. Current applications require high data rates and global mobility which can be satisfied with the co-existence and handover between newly developed third generation (3G) or Universal Mobile Telecommunication System (UMTS) standard and current second generation (2G) standards including: Global Standards for Mobile (GSM), Digital Cellular System (DCS), and Personal Communication Systems (PCS). Therefore, recent research in wireless communication has shifted towards achieving a multi-standard terminal, which can support efficiently multiple standards including GSM/DCS/PCS/3G. In this research, the aim is to design and implement a new LNA for a multi-standard mobile receiver based on reconfigurability concept. This research was carried out in two major parts. The first part is to design and implement wide band multi-standard multiband LNAs for two bands of interest (lower frequency band – 800 to 1000 MHz and upper frequency band – 1800 to 2200 MHz). These two bands should cover most of the 2G and 3G standards currently in use worldwide. In this work, the design of LNA based on IDCS topology using wide band approach has been investigated, designed, implemented and approved by means of simulations, and measurement of fabricated ICs. The second part of this research, to develop a single reconfigurable multi-standard multi-band LNA is based on the design of the multi-standard multi-band LNAs. This LNA has the capability to function in two modes of operation, either at lower band or upper band of the 2G or 3G standards.
An Early Fault Detection Method of Rotating Machines Based on Unsupervised Sequence Segmentation Convolutional Neural Network

Early fault detection (EFD) is vital for mechanical systems to reduce downtime and increase stability. The main challenge of EFD for rotating machines is to extract discriminative features from noisy signals to identify early faults. However, the lack of labels for the whole lifecycle data hinders the application of some powerful supervised deep learning methods in EFD. Besides, many EFD methods have to set a criterion manually, such as a threshold, to judge whether an early fault has occurred. To address these challenges, this article proposes a novel EFD method based on unsupervised sequence segmentation convolutional neural network (USSCNN). At first, frequency-domain features are extracted from raw signals and converted to 2-D gray images. Then, historical lifecycle data are labeled by USSCNN so that a CNN classifier can be trained with these labeled data. The deep features of the historical data learned by the CNN classifier are utilized to train the health index (HI) assessment model. The proposed method is tested on three bearing datasets. The results have shown that the proposed method can detect incipient faults earlier than the comparing methods with lower false alarms. Also, the HIs learned by the HI assessment model shown that the proposed method can extract discriminative features for EFD. More importantly, the proposed method can detect an early fault by the well-trained classifier, which avoids manual criterion-making. Results of comparison demonstrated the effectiveness and the robustness of the proposed method.
Theory and numerical analysis of higher order dispersion effects on ultra‐high‐speed nonlinear optical loop mirror demultiplexer

The effects of higher order dispersion are analyzed for the first time in ultra‐fast signal demultiplexing using a nonlinear optical loop mirror (NOLM). The results show that performance degradation of NOLM can occur when higher order dispersion is not negligible. Therefore, a loop fiber with a higher order dispersion that is as small as possible should be chosen to realize terabit/second operation of the NOLM. © 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. Microwave Opt Technol Lett 30: 124–127, 2001.