Physico‐chemical conditions of water in the river Kshipra (India) to determine fish productivity

River Kshipra is a small river supplying water to surrounding areas of the Ujjain district (India) for domestic and industrial use. This very old river has been of a sacred importance and serves for holy dips on certain auspicious festivals like “Kumbha” etc. The main contamination of this sacred river is through the heavily polluted river Khan which joins it in Ujjain. The water quality of the river shows a considerable change throughout the year and indicates the productivity level of aquatic organisms. The data worked out for DO, COD, BOD dissolved CO₂ and trace elements like Ca and Mg indicate an appreciable fall in productivity during the summer months. This directly refers to decrease in fish production in the river and availability of fish seed during the monsoon period. The studies reveal that the decrease in productivity is mainly due to pollutants brought through sewage and industrial discharge from river Khan which mix with river water.     

Accomplishments and challenges of the severe accident research

This paper briefly describes the progress of the severe accident research since 1980, in terms of the accomplishments made so far and the challenges that remain. Much has been accomplished: many important safety issues have been resolved and consensus is near on some others. However, some of the previously identified safety issues remain as challenges, while some new ones have arisen due to the shift in focus from containment to vessel integrity. New reactor designs have also created some new challenges. In general, the regulatory demands for new reactor designs are stricter, thereby requiring much greater attention to the safety issues concerned with the containment design of the new large reactors, and to the accident management procedures for mitigating the consequences of a severe accident. We apologize for not providing references to many fine investigations that contributed to the great progress made so far in the severe accident research.     

On heat transfer characteristics of real and simulant melt pool experiments

This paper presents results of analytical studies on natural convection heat transfer in scaled and/or simulant melt pool experiments related to the pressurized water reactor in-vessel melt retention issue. Specific reactor-scale effects of a large decay-heated core melt pool in the reactor pressure vessel lower plenum are first reviewed, and then the current analytical capability of describing the relevant physical processes in prototypical situations is examined. Experiments and experimental approaches are analyzed by focusing on their ability to represent prototypical situations. Calculations are performed to assess the significance of some selected effects, including variations in melt properties, pool geometry and heating conditions. In the present analysis, Rayleigh numbers are limited to 10¹², where uncertainties in turbulence modelling do not override other uncertainties. Calculations are performed to explore limitations of using side wall heating and direct electrical heating. The need for further experimental and analytical efforts is also discussed.     

Preparation and characterization of collagen coated cholesterol-free liposome nanoparticles matrix for drug carriers and tissue engineering application

The collagen coated cholesterol (CH)-free liposome nanoparticle (CCLNP) matrix has been prepared and characterized for use as therapeutic drug carriers, tissue engineering and regenerative medicinal applications. The CH-free liposome nanoparticle (LNP) was prepared by heating method under the N2 atmosphere and CCLNP matrix was prepared by incubation of bovine Achilles tendon collagen with preformed CH-free LNP. The results indicate that collagen stabilizes the original liposomal structure, and CCLNP are more stable in vitro than control liposome. This mineralized collagen composite matrix could be useful to bone and dental implants.     

A New Low-Brittleness Glass in the Soda-Lime-Silica Glass Family

In the soda-lime-silica glass family, the effect of each constituent of the composition on the brittleness was first investigated. Vickers indentation was employed to estimate the brittleness (ratio of harness ( H ) to fracture toughness ( K _c)) by measuring the C / a ratios (where C and a are the characteristic crack and indentation diagonal lengths, respectively). It was observed that a higher silica content and a lower lime content helped to lower the brittleness. Substitution of potash and magnesia for soda and calcia, respectively, was effective in lowering the brittleness. From these results, a higher molar volume was found to be a key factor for reducing the brittleness. A new low-brittleness glass was then developed with a brittleness as low as 5.1 µm^-1/2 as compared with the brittleness of 7.1 µm^-1/2 for commercial soda-lime-silica glass. The crack initiation load ( P *), measured by the Vickers indentation method, for this new low-brittleness glass was almost 10 times as high as P * of commercial soda-lime-silica glass. The new glass shows lower hardness and higher fracture toughness than the commercial soda-lime-silica glass.     

European expert network for the reduction of uncertainties in severe accident safety issues (EURSAFE)

EURSAFE thematic network was a concerted action in the sixth framework programme of the European Commission. It established a large consensus among the main actors in nuclear safety on the severe accident issues where large uncertainties still subsist. The conclusions were derived from a first-of-kind phenomena identification and ranking tables (PIRT) on all aspects of severe accident also realised in the frame of the project. Starting from a list of all severe accident phenomena containing approximately 1000 entries and established by the twenty partner organisations, 106 phenomena were retained eventually as both important for safety and still lacking sufficient knowledge. Ultimately, 21 research areas for addressing these phenomena regrouped according to their similarities were identified. A networking structure for implementing and executing the necessary research was proposed, which promotes integration and harmonisation of the different national programmes. A severe accident database structure was proposed to ensure preservation of experimental data and enhanced communication for data exchange and use for severe accident codes assessment. The final product, named EURSAFE, is a website network, http://asa2.jrc.it/eursafe, connecting nodes located at partner sites. As the result of an action involving R&D governmental institutions, regulatory bodies, nuclear industry, utilities and universities from six EU Member States (Finland, France, Germany, Spain, Sweden, UK) plus JRC, three European third countries (Czech Republic, Hungary, Switzerland), and USA, EURSAFE represents a significant step towards harmonisation and credibility of the approaches, and resolution of the remaining severe accident issues.     

Seismic behavior of multistory RC building frames with vertical setback irregularity

This paper is the second of two companion papers that aimed to examine the behavior of irregular buildings subjected to seismic excitation. In the present study, seismic response of the building frames with setback irregularity has been determined. To achieve this purpose, building frames with different geometrical configurations of setbacks are modeled and analyzed using nonlinear dynamic analysis by subjecting them to an ensemble of 27 ground motions to generate 21 060 nonlinear dynamic analysis results. These results are compiled to create a seismic response database consisting of parameters such as maximum roof displacement, maximum interstory drift ratio, maximum plastic hinge rotation and collapse risk parameters. Furthermore, nonlinear regression analysis is conducted on this database to propose simple equations to estimate the seismic response parameters. Finally, the proposed equations are validated for two‐dimensional and three‐dimensional building models, and applicability of the proposed equation in performance‐based and displacement‐based designs is briefly discussed. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

5,6-Dichloro-1-Beta-D-ribofuranosylbenzimidazole inhibits initiation of nuclear heterogeneous RNA chains in HeLa cells

The nucleoside analog 5, 6-dichloro-1-beta-d-ribofuranosylbenzimidazole (DRB) at 75 to 150 micromolar concentrations inhibits the synthesis of nuclear heterogeneous RNA (hnRNA) in HeLa cells by 60 to 70 percent. The sedimentation profile of hnRNA labeled with (3H)uridine for 45 seconds after brief treatment (45, 90, or 180 seconds) with DRB showed a progressive decrease in the labeling of shorter hnRNA molecules relative to longer molecules. Prior exposure of the cells to actinomycin D, an inhibitor of RNA chain elongation, did not alter the sedimentation profile of hnRNA. These results suggest that DRB preferentially inhibits the initiation of hnRNA chains so that after exposure to DRB for a brief period the longer nascent chains still remain to be finished and thus incorporate a greater share of the pulse label. By progressively increasing the time of exposure to DRB, and measuring the rate of increase in the average size of the labeled, nascent RNA, it was estimated that the chains were growing at rates between 50 and 100 nucleotides per second.