Development of technology-neutral safety requirements for the regulation of future nuclear power reactors: Back to basics

This paper explores the current trends as regards the development of technology-neutral safety requirements to be used in the regulation of future nuclear power reactors and the role of the quantitative safety goals in the design of reactor safety systems. The use of the recommendations of the International Commission on Radiological Protection (ICRP) on protection against potential exposure could form the basis of a technology-neutral framework for safety requirements on new reactor designs and could contribute to international harmonisation of nuclear safety assessment practices as part of the licensing processes for future nuclear power plants.     

The magnitude of client and therapist working alliance ratings.

Researchers studying the working alliance frequently comment that clients and therapists tend to rate the alliance highly. The authors conducted this study to determine the accuracy of these comments by examining of the magnitude of adult client and therapist working alliance ratings in 63 refereed articles published between 1990 and 2007. The authors wondered if clients and therapists generally tend to use just the higher points of rating scales for measures of working alliance. The 63 articles used 9 different measures of the working alliance and provided working alliance ratings by 6,441 clients and 6,359 therapists. Results indicate that clients tend to use only the top 20% of rating points and therapists tend to use only the top 30% of rating points on alliance measures. Implications of the findings include the possibility that clients and therapists do not differentiate among lower rating points on the scales, tend to rate the alliance according to a social desirability or dissonance-reducing response set, or provide ratings that accurately reflect the alliance. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Electrosynthesis and electrochemical characterisation of phenazine polymers for application in biosensors

A comparative investigation has been undertaken of the electrosynthesis and electrochemical properties of three different electroactive polymers on carbon film electrode substrates: poly(neutral red) from the phenazine dye neutral red, and poly(methylene green) and poly(methylene blue), from the corresponding phenothiazine dyes. The formation of the radical cation at different potentials and the chemical structures of the monomers both influence the electropolymerisation process of the three polyaromatic dyes. Of the three, poly(neutral red) is shown to have the best adhesion at carbon film electrodes. The influence of the electrolyte and pH on film growth and on electrochemical properties was investigated. The formal potential decreased linearly with increase in pH, in the pH range from 1 to 7 for all three polymers. The modified electrodes were also characterised by electrochemical impedance spectroscopy. The bulk and interfacial characteristics of the two phenothiazine polymers were similar and oxygen-dependent, but different to those of the phenazine polymer, poly(neutral red), which were not significantly influenced by the presence of oxygen in solution. Perspectives for use in electrochemical biosensors are indicated.