pinecone/core-2020-05-10-deduplication huggingface dataset:
Impact of activation cross-section uncertainties on the tritium production in the HFTM specimen cells

The prediction of the tritium production is required for handling procedures of samples, safety & maintenance and licensing of the International Fusion Materials Irradiation Facility (IFMIF). A comparison of the evaluated tritium production cross-sections with available experimental data from the EXFOR data base has shown insufficient validation. And significant discrepancies in evaluated cross-section libraries, including lack of tritium production reactions for some important elements, were found.\ud
Here, we have addressed an uncertainty analysis to draw conclusions on the reliability of the tritium prediction under the potential impact of activation cross-section uncertainties. We conclude that there is not sufficient experimental validation of the evaluated tritium production cross-sections, especially for iron and sodium. Therefore a dedicated experimental validation program for those elements should be desirable
Symmetry breaking between statistically equivalent, independent channels in few-channel chaotic scattering

We study the distribution function P(ω) of the random variable ω = τ1/(τ1 +· · ·+τN), where τk ’s are\ud
the partial Wigner delay times for chaotic scattering in a disordered system with N independent, statistically\ud
equivalent channels. In this case, τk’s are independent and identically distributed random variables with a\ud
distribution (τ ) characterized by a “fat” power-law intermediate tail ∼1/τ 1+μ, truncated by an exponential (or\ud
a log-normal) function of τ. For N = 2 and N = 3, we observe a surprisingly rich behavior of P(ω), revealing\ud
a breakdown of the symmetry between identical independent channels. For N = 2, numerical simulations of the\ud
quasi-one-dimensional Anderson model confirm our findings
The estimation of truncation error by tau-estimation revisited

The aim of this paper was to accurately estimate the local truncation error of partial differential equations, that are numerically solved using a finite difference or finite volume approach on structured and unstructured meshes. In this work, we approximated the local truncation error using the @t-estimation procedure, which aims to compare the residuals on a sequence of grids with different spacing. First, we focused the analysis on one-dimensional scalar linear and non-linear test cases to examine the accuracy of the estimation of the truncation error for both finite difference and finite volume approaches on different grid topologies. Then, we extended the analysis to two-dimensional problems: first on linear and non-linear scalar equations and finally on the Euler equations. We demonstrated that this approach yields a highly accurate estimation of the truncation error if some conditions are fulfilled. These conditions are related to the accuracy of the restriction operators, the choice of the boundary conditions, the distortion of the grids and the magnitude of the iteration error
Functional connectivity measured with magnetoencephalography identifies persons with HIV disease

There is need for a valid and reliable biomarker for HIV Associated Neurocognitive Disorder (HAND). The purpose of the present study was to provide preliminary evidence of the potential utility of neuronal functional connectivity measures obtained using magnetoencephalography (MEG) to identify HIV-associated changes in brain function. Resting state, eyes closed, MEG data from 10 HIV-infected individuals and 8 seronegative controls were analyzed using mutual information (MI) between all pairs of MEG sensors to ..
Seismic stratigraphic record of the Amundsen Sea Embayment shelf from pre-glacial to recent times: Evidence for a dynamic West Antarctic ice sheet

Studies of the sedimentary architecture and characteristics of the Antarctic continental margin provide clues about past ice sheet advance-retreat cycles and help improve constraints for paleo-ice dynamic models since early glacial periods. A first seismostratigraphic analysis of the Amundsen Sea Embayment shelf and slope of West Antarctica reveals insights into the structural architecture of the continental margin and shows stages of sediment deposition, erosion and transport reflecting the history from pre-glacial times to early glaciation and to the late Pleistocene glacial-interglacial cycles. The shelf geometry consists of a large pre- and syn-rift basin in the middle shelf region between basement cropping out on the inner shelf and buried basement ridge and highs on the outer shelf. A subordinate basin within the large basin on the mid-shelf may be associated with motion along an early West Antarctic Rift System branch. At least 4 km of pre-glacial strata have been eroded from the present inner shelf and coastal hinterland by glacial processes. Six major sedimentary units (ASS-1 to ASS-6) separated by five major erosional unconformities (ASS-u1 to ASS-u5) are distinguished from bottom to top. Unconformity ASS-u4 results from a major truncational event by glacial advance to the middle and outer shelf, which was followed by several episodes of glacial advance and retreat as observed from smaller-scale truncational unconformities within the units above ASS-u4. Some of the eroded sediments were deposited as a progradional wedge that extends the outer shelf by 25 to 65 km oceanward of the pre-glacial shelf-break. We compare the observed seismic characteristics with those of other Antarctic shelf sequences and assign an Early Cretaceous age to bottom sedimentary unit ASS-1, a Late Cretaceous to Oligocene age to unit ASS-2, an Early to Mid-Miocene age to unit ASS-3, a Mid-Miocene age to unit ASS-4, a Late Miocene to Early Pliocene age to unit ASS-5, and a Pliocene to Pleistocene age to the top unit ASS-6. Buried grounding zone wedges in the upper part of unit ASS-5 on the outer shelf suggest pronounced warming phases and ice sheet retreats during the early Pliocene as observed for the Ross Sea shelf and predicted by paleo-ice sheet models. Our data also reveal that on the middle and outer shelf the flow-path of the Pine Island-Thwaites paleo-ice stream system has remained stationary in the central Pine Island Trough since the earliest glacial advances, which is different from the Ross Sea shelf where glacial troughs shifted more dynamically. This study and its stratigraphic constraints will serve as a basis for future drilling operations required for an improved understanding of processes and mechanisms leading to change in the West Antarctic Ice Sheet, such as the contemporary thinning and grounding line retreat in the Amundsen Sea drainage sector
Measurement of laser absorptivity for operating parameters characteristic of laser drilling regime

Publisher version : http://iopscience.iop.org/0022-3727/41/15/155502/Laser drilling in the percussion regime is commonly used in the aircraft industry to drill sub-millimetre holes in metallic targets. Characteristic laser intensities in the range of 10 MW cm−2 are typically employed for drilling metallic targets. With these intensities the temperature of the irradiated matter is above the vaporization temperature and the drilling process is led by hydrodynamic effects. Although the main physical processes involved are identified, this process is not correctly understood or completely controlled. A major characteristic coefficient of laser–matter interaction for this regime, which is the absorptivity of the laser on the irradiated surface, is still unknown, because of the perturbing effects due to laser beam geometrical trapping inside the drilled hole. So, by using time resolved experiments, this study deals with the direct measurement of the variation of the intrinsic absorption of aluminium, nickel and steel materials, as a function of the incident laser intensity up to 20 MW cm−2. We observe that for this incident intensity, the absorptivity can reach up to 80%. This very high and unexpected value is discussed by considering the microscopic behaviour of the heated matter near the vapour–liquid interface that undergoes possible Rayleigh–Taylor instability or volume absorptio
Integration of data uncertainty in linear regression and process optimization

Data uncertainties provide important information that should be taken into account along with the actual data. In fact, with the development of measurement instrumentation methods and metrology, one is very often able to rigorously specify the uncertainty associated with each measured value. The use of this piece of information, together with raw measurements, should - in principle - lead to more sound ways of performing data analysis, empirical modeling, and subsequent decision making. In this paper, we address the issues of using data uncertainty in the task of model estimation and, when it is already available, we show how the integration of measurement and actuation uncertainty can be achieved in the context of process optimization. Within the scope of the first task (model estimation), we make reference to several methods designed to take into account data uncertainties in linear multivariate regression (multivariate least squares, maximum likelihood principal component regression), and others whose potential to deal with noisy data is well known (partial least squares, principal component regression, and ridge regression), as well as modifications of previous methods that we developed, and compare their performance. MLPCR2 tends to achieve better predictive performance than all the other tested methods. The potential benefits of including measurement and actuation uncertainties in process optimization are also illustrated. © 2005 American Institute of Chemical Engineers AIChE J, 2005http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/aic.1054
Optimization of a complex flexible multibody systems with composite materials

Abstract   The paper presents a general optimization methodology for flexible multibody systems which is demonstrated to find optimal layouts of fiber composite structures components. The goal of the optimization process is to minimize the structural deformation and, simultaneously, to fulfill a set of multidisciplinary constraints, by finding the optimal values for the fiber orientation of composite structures. In this work, a general formulation for the computation of the first order analytical sensitivities based on the use of automatic differentiation tools is applied. A critical overview on the use of the sensitivities obtained by automatic differentiation against analytical sensitivities derived and implemented by hand is made with the purpose of identifying shortcomings and proposing solutions. The equations of motion and sensitivities of the flexible multibody system are solved simultaneously being the accelerations and velocities of the system and the sensitivities of the accelerations and of the velocities integrated in time using a multi-step multi-order integration algorithm. Then, the optimal design of the flexible multibody system is formulated to minimize the deformation energy of the system subjected to a set of technological and functional constraints. The methodologies proposed are first discussed for a simple demonstrative example and applied after to the optimization of a complex flexible multibody system, represented by a satellite antenna that is unfolded from its launching configuration to its functional state.http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s11044-007-9086-
Electrochemical RNase A Detection Using an Electrode with Immobilized Ferrocenyl Deoxyribooligonucleotide Containing Cytidine Residue

A ferrocenyl deoxyribooligonucleotide (FcODN(rC)) with contiguous cytosine bases and a single ribonucleotide, cytidine, was immobilized on a gold electrode, and this electrode was used to detect RNase A. RNase A activity in a solution was assessed using cyclic voltammetry, and it was found that the current response of the sensor electrode decreased with increasing enzyme concentration. An extremely low detection limit of 1.0×10−11 g mL−1 RNase A was observed, with 15–90 % changes in the current signal. RNase activity can be an indicator of a number of diseases; therefore, this probe has great potential for applications in medical diagnostics
A systems process lifecycle standard for very small entities: development and pilot trials

Very small entities, organizations with up to 25 people, are very important to the worldwide economy. The products they develop are either developed specifically for a customer or are integrated into products made by larger enterprises. To address the needs of Very small entities, a set of standards and guides have been developed using the systems engineering lifecycle standard ISO/IEC/IEEE 15288 as the main framework. The systems engineering handbook, developed by the International Council on Systems Engineering (INCOSE), is used as the reference for the development of a set of systems engineering deployment packages. Two pilot projects, using the new ISO/IEC 29110 guide for systems engineering, are presented as well as a cost and savings analysis. Finally, the certification scheme is discussed as well as the future developments
Blair disease? Business careers of the former democratic heads of state and government

Examining the careers of democratic heads of state and government from 1960–2010, we find that one in every seven turns to the private sector after office. Distinguishing between the factors that attract leaders to business and those that render leaders attractive, we find that the global CEO compensation rates, cultural norms, having served in office in Anglo-Saxon countries as well as their personal background matter. We also find that certain economic outcomes and policies in office such as economic growth and reduction in state spending are often associated with post-tenure business careers. We do not find evidence, however, that leaders are able to implement policies with future careers in mind, which would in turn raise concerns over accountability
A Mixed Self: The Role of Symbiosis in Development

Since the 1950s, the common view of development has been internalist: development is seen as the result of the unfolding of potentialities already present in the egg cell. In this paper I show that this view is incorrect, because of the crucial influence of the environment on development. I focus on a fascinating example, that of the role played by symbioses in development, especially bacterial symbioses, a phenomenon found in virtually all organisms (plants, invertebrates, vertebrates). I claim that we must consequently modify our conception of the boundaries of the developing entity, and I show how immunology can help us in accomplishing this task. I conclude that the developing entity encompasses many elements traditionally seen as “foreign”, while I reject the idea that there is no possible distinction between the organism and its environment
Computer Vision Onboard UAVs for Civilian Tasks

Computer visión is much more than a technique to sense and recover environmental information from an UAV. It should play a main role regarding UAVs' functionality because oí the big amount oí information that can be extracted, its possible uses and applications, and its natural connection to human driven tasks, taking into account that visión is our main interface to world understanding. Our current research's focus lays on the development of techniques that allow UAVs to maneuver in spaces using visual information as their main input source. This task involves the creation of techniques that allow an UAV to maneuver towards features of interest whenever a GPS signal is not reliable or sufficient, e.g. when signal dropouts occur (which usually happens in urban áreas, when flying through terrestrial urban canyons or when operating on remote planetary bodies), or when tracking or inspecting visual targets—including moving ones—without knowing their exact UMT coordinates. This paper also investigates visual servoing control techniques that use velocity and position of suitable image features to compute the references for flight control. This paper aims to give a global view of the main aspects related to the research field of computer visión for UAVs, clustered in four main active research lines: visual servoing and control, stereo-based visual navigation, image processing algorithms for detection and tracking, and visual SLAM. Finally, the results of applying these techniques in several applications are presented and discussed: this study will encompass power line inspection, mobile target tracking, stereo distance estimation, mapping and positioning
Increases of Corporal Temperature as a Risk Factor of Atherosclerotic Plaque Instability

This work explores for the first time the effects of temperature increments on the development of high shear stresses between plaque and arterial wall due to their different dilatational properties. Data from the literature report febrile reactions prior to myocardial infarction in patients with normal coronary arteries and that coronary syndromes seem to be triggered by bacterial and viral infections, being fever the common symptom. Methods The thermo-mechanical behavior of thoracic aortas of New Zealand White rabbits with different degrees of atherosclerosis was measured by means of pressure–diameter tests at different temperatures. In addition, specific measurements of the thermal dilatation coefficient of atheroma plaques and of healthy arterial walls were performed by means of tensile tests at different temperatures. Results Results show a different thermo-mechanical behavior, the dilatation coefficient of atheroma plaque being at least twice that of the arterial wall. The calculation of temperature-induced mechanical stress at the plaque–vessel interface yielded shear stress levels enough to promote plaque rupture. Conclusions Increases of corporal temperature either local—produced by the inflammatory processes associated with atherosclerosis—or systemic—by febrile reactions—can play a role in increasing the risk of acute coronary syndromes, and they deserve a more comprehensive study
A mathematical model for the development of mealiness in apples

Mealiness in apples (Malus domestica Borkh.) is an internal quality defect which is characterised by a dry and crumbly texture. It is related to the relative strength of the cell wall and the middle lamella. A mathematical model has been built to relate changes in the texture attributes juiciness, tensile strength and hardness, which are associated with mealiness, to the development of the turgor pressure of the tissue and the degree of hydrolysis of the middle lamella. The latter, in turn, are described in terms of properties which are meaningful from the physiological point of view, such as starch content, soluble solids content, non-hydrolysed and hydrolysed middle lamella, water in the symplast, and water in the apoplast. Biochemical reactions as well as water transfer processes are incorporated in the model. The parameter values of the model are estimated using experimental data from a storage experiment. The model fits the three texture characteristics adequately. The correlation coefficients between the parameters were below 0.96, which indicates that the model does not overfit the data
A versatile trigger and synchronization module with IEEE1588 capabilities and EPICS support.

Event timing and synchronization are two key aspects to improve in the implementation of distributed data acquisition (dDAQ) systems such as the ones used in fusion experiments. It is also of great importance the integration of dDAQ in control and measurement networks. This paper analyzes the applicability of the IEEE1588 and EPICS standards to solve these problems, and presents a hardware module implementation based in both of them that allow adding these functionalities to any DAQ. The IEEE1588 standard facilitates the integration of event timing and synchronization mechanisms in distributed data acquisition systems based on IEEE 803.3 (Ethernet). An optimal implementation of such system requires the use of network interface devices which include specific hardware resources devoted to the IEE1588 functionalities. Unfortunately, this is not the approach followed in most of the large number of applications available nowadays. Therefore, most solutions are based in software and use standard hardware network interfaces. This paper presents the development of a hardware module (GI2E) with IEEE1588 capabilities which includes USB, RS232, RS485 and CAN interfaces. This permits to integrate any DAQ element that uses these interfaces in dDAQ systems in an efficient and simple way. The module has been developed with Motorola's Coldfire MCF5234 processor and National Semiconductors's PHY DP83640T, providing it with the possibility to implement the PTP protocol of IEEE1588 by hardware, and therefore increasing its performance over other implementations based in software. To facilitate the integration of the dDAQ system in control and measurement networks the module includes a basic Input/Output Controller (IOC) functionality of the Experimental Physics and Industrial Control System (EPICS) architecture. The paper discusses the implementation details of this module and presents its applications in advanced dDAQ applications in the fusion community
Quantitative determination of modal content and morphological properties of  coal sulphides by digital image analysis as a tool to check their flotation behaviour

An efficient depression of coal sulphides in the flotation process means a healthier environment and may be essential for the sustainability of a coal operation. Nitric and ferric oxidative pre-treatment of coal pyrite have been tested to improve pyrite depression, and the results are compared with those from the process of raw, not pre-treated coal. The removal indexes point to nitric pre-treatment as the best, but depression is still low. The microscopic study of feed and products, coupled to Digital Image Analysis (DIA) in all the cases, provide important clues to understand the behaviour of pyrite, which can be related to quantitative parameters, such as the exposition ratio (ER), and to qualified interpretation of the textures. Pyrite shows in the first float an unexpected hydrophobic behaviour, which is due to its occurrence as framboids, or porous particles which may be intergrown with organic matter and behave as coal. In general, the flotation results can be predicted from the DIA-data, e.g. depression of liberated pyrite into the tailings, increased by oxidative pre-treatments by 300% (ferric) or by > 400% (nitric); or concentration of middlings with lower pyrite ER in the floats. DIA is an efficient tool to obtain some important quantitative informations which otherwise would be inaccessible (e.g. the morphological data on > 1,000,000 pyrite particles for this study), and its use should be enhanced to check ore processing