Real-time all-optical quality of service monitoring by use of correlation and a network protocol to exploit it

We propose to use optical correlation to measure the quality of an optical link in real time, staying completely within the optical domain. We transmit a test signal of 010 and correlate the received (degraded) signal with 010. The strength and shape of the output measure dispersion and attenuation in just 3 bit periods (75 ps at 40 Gb/s) compared with minutes by traditional methods. Correlation becomes feasible owing to the recent development of tapped delay lines with very large numbers of taps. We present simulations showing that this technique can detect attenuation, dispersion, noise, and jitter. With this instantaneous quality-of-service information available to all nodes in a network, new protocols will enable the network to select paths based on quality, allowing service providers to take into account the system's physical impairments when selecting new light paths or when restoring existing ones and to guarantee varying levels of service. We present one such protocol.     

Measurement of the enthalpy and specific heat of a Be2C-graphite-UC2 reactor fuel material to 1980 K

The enthalpy and specific heat of a Be₂C-Graphite-UC₂ composite nuclear fuel material have been measured over the temperature range 298–1980 K using both differential scanning calorimetry and liquid argon vaporization calorimetry. The fuel material measured was developed at Sandia National Laboratories for use in pulsed test reactors. The material is a hot-pressed composite consisting of 40 vol% Be₂C, 49.5 vol% graphite, 3.5 vol% UC₂, and 7.0 vol% void. The specific heat was measured with the differential scanning calorimeter over the temperature range 298–950 K, while the enthalpy was measured over the range 1185–1980 K with the liquid argon vaporization calorimeter. The normal spectral emittance at a wavelength of 6.5×10^–5 cm was also measured over the experimental temperature range. The combined experimental enthalpy data were fit using a spline routine and differentiated to give the specific heat. Comparison of the measured specific heat of the composite to the specific heat calculated by summing the contributions of the individual components indicates that the specific heat of the Be₂C component differs significantly from literature values and is approximately 0.56 cal · g^–1 · K ^–1 (2.3×10³J · kg^–1 · K ^–1) for temperatures above 1000 K.     

A decision theoretic approach to an accident sequence: when feedwater and auxiliary feedwater fail in a nuclear power plant

This study applies a decision theoretic perspective on a severe accident management sequence in a processing industry. The sequence contains loss of feedwater and auxiliary feedwater in a boiling water nuclear reactor (BWR), which necessitates manual depressurization of the reactor pressure vessel to enable low pressure cooling of the core. The sequence is fast and is a major contributor to core damage in probabilistic risk analyses (PRAs) of this kind of plant. The management of the sequence also includes important, difficult and fast human decision making. The decision theoretic perspective, which is applied to a Swedish ABB-type reactor, stresses the roles played by uncertainties about plant state, consequences of different actions and goals during the management of a severe accident sequence. Based on a theoretical analysis and empirical simulator data the human error probabilities in the PRA for the plant are considered to be too small. Recommendations for how to improve safety are given and they include full automation of the sequence, improved operator training, and/or actions to assist the operators' decision making through reduction of uncertainties, for example, concerning water/steam level for sufficient cooling, time remaining before insufficient cooling level in the tank is reached and organizational cost-benefit evaluations of the events following a false alarm depressurization as well as the events following a successful depressurization at different points in time. Finally, it is pointed out that the approach exemplified in this study is applicable to any accident scenario which includes difficult human decision making with conflicting goals, uncertain information and with very serious consequences.     

QCM-D analysis of binding mechanism of phage particles displaying a constrained heptapeptide with specific affinity to SiO2 and TiO2

A growing number of peptides capable of specifically recognizing inorganic materials have been reported, incrementally increasing the potential to harness peptides as a biological linker to bridge biomolecules and inorganic materials at nanometer scale. In this study, we identified disulfide bond constrained heptapeptides with specific binding affinity to SiO2 and TiO2 using a phage display technique. Interestingly, two of the phage surface displayed peptides enriched with basic amino acid residues, STB1 (HKKPSKS) and STB2 (TKRNNKR), showed a cross binding affinity to both metal oxides. To understand the underlying binding mechanism, binding behaviors of phage particles harboring the STB1 (a high-frequency heptapeptide exhibiting dual binding affinity to both metal oxides) were investigated in a wide pH range using quartz crystal microbalance with energy dissipation measurement (QCM-D). It was found that the binding of STB1-harboring phages to the two metal oxides was clearly mediated by the peptide moiety displayed on the phage surface in a pH-dependent manner, indicating that the binding is largely governed by electrostatic interaction. Furthermore, the interpretation of QCM-D signals (i.e., frequency shift and dissipation shift), with the aid of AFM image analysis of the phage particles bound on the surface of the two metal oxides, elucidated whether the nature of phage (or the displayed peptide) binding to the metal oxides is largely specific or nonspecific.     

Application of the theory of random processes to combined desiccation and pneumatic transport of solid particles with a turbulent gas stream

The method of mathematical statistics is used for analyzing the desiccation of solid particles during pneumatic transport, with the effect of turbulent gas fluctuations on the motion of particles taken into account.Translated from Inzhenerno-Fizicheskii Zhurnal, Vol. 25, No. 2, pp. 299–308, August, 1973.     

A historical overview of probabilistic risk assessment development and its use in the nuclear power industry: a tribute to the late Professor Norman Carl Rasmussen

This paper reviews the historical development of the probabilistic risk assessment (PRA) methods and applications in the nuclear industry. A review of nuclear safety and regulatory developments in the early days of nuclear power in the United States has been presented. It is argued that due to technical difficulties for measuring and characterizing uncertainties and concerns over legal challenges, safety design and regulation of nuclear power plants has primarily relied upon conservative safety assessment methods derived based on a set of design and safety principles. Further, it is noted that the conservatism adopted in safety and design assessments has allowed the use of deterministic performance assessment methods. This approach worked successfully in the early years of nuclear power epoch as the reactor design proved to be safe enough. However, it has been observed that as the conservative approach to design and safety criteria proved arbitrary, and yielded inconsistencies in the degree to which different safety measures in nuclear power plants protect safety and public heath, the urge for a more consistent assessment of safety became apparent in the late 1960s. In the early 1970s, as a result of public and political pressures, then the US Atomic Energy Commission initiated a new look at the safety of the nuclear power plants through a comprehensive study called ‘Reactor Safety Study’ (WASH-1400, or ‘Rasmussen Study’—after its charismatic study leader Professor Norman Rasmussen of MIT) to demonstrate safety of the nuclear power plants. Completed in October 1975, this landmark study introduced a novel probabilistic, systematic and holistic approach to the assessment of safety, which ultimately resulted in a sweeping paradigm shift in safety design and regulation of nuclear power in the United States in the turn of the Century. Technical issues of historic significance and concerns raised by the subsequent reviews of the Rasmussen Study have been discussed. Effect of major events and developments such as the Three Mile Island accident and the Nuclear Regulatory Commission and the Nuclear Industry sponsored studies on the tools, techniques and applications of the PRA that culminated in the present day risk-informed initiatives has been discussed.