Flood hazards for nuclear power plants

Flooding hazards for nuclear power plants may be caused by various external geophysical events. In this paper the hydrologic hazards from flash floods, river floods and heavy rain at the plant site are considered. Depending on the mode of analysis, two types of hazard evaluation are identified: (a) design hazard which is the probability of flooding over an expected service period, and (b) operational hazard which deals with real-time forecasting of the probability of flooding of an incoming event. Hazard evaluation techniques using flood frequency analysis can only be used for type (a) design hazard. Evaluation techniques using rainfall-runoff simulation or multi-station correlation can be used for both types of hazard prediction.     

Sustained Release Suppository of Sodium Diclofenac: use of Water Absorbable Polymer

The investigation on the usefulness of water absorbable polymer (Poys® SA-20) for the preparation of sustained release suppository was performed. To prepare the sustained release suppository, sodium diclofenac solution is absorbed into the sphere polymer, and the particles of the polymer after dryness are suspended in the melted triglyceride suppository base, followed by solidification. The sustained release of sodium diclofenac from the suppository was confirmed by the in vitro release study with slow release of sodium diclofenac and by the in vivo absorption study in dogs with an avoidance of transient high plasma diclofenac concentration and a prolong of plasma diclofenac concentration.     

Study of the interfacial adhesive strength of a heat-shrinkable multilayer film

A heat-shrinkable multilayer film is widely employed as labels of plastic bottles. A new heat-shrinkable multilayer film without an adhesive layer was designed in this study. The interfacial adhesive strength between the layers was controlled to avoid layer separation. We assumed a polyethylene terephthalate glycol-modified (PETG)/styrene-co-butadiene block copolymer/PETG shrinkable film substitute as the general poly(ethylene terephthalate) (PET)/polystyrene/PET shrinkable film. The interlayer adhesive strength between the layers was retained for industrial utilization even after drawing. Additional polybutadiene (PB) infiltrated the butadiene layer in the microphase-separated structure. Further addition of PB could not infiltrate the butadiene layer. The excessive PB contents coexisted with the interface between the layers, as observed by transmission electron microscopy (TEM). The segregated PB enhanced the interfacial adhesive strength. We concluded that the selective distribution of adhesive functional materials along the interface could appropriately retain its adhesive strength.     

Changes in physicochemical properties and microstructure of dried squid during softening treatment

Dried squid were prepared at 4 or 40 °C and softened first in water and then in alkaline solution. The physicochemical and structural changes in the dried squid during the softening treatment were examined. A significantly higher wet weight was observed for the 4 °C‐dried squid during the softening treatment compared with the 40 °C‐dried squid. The rupture stress and rupture energy of the 40 °C‐dried squid were significantly higher than those of the 4 °C‐dried squid during the softening treatment. The sodium dodecyl sulphate polyacrylamide slab gel electrophoresis (SDS‐PAGE) pattern of the 4 °C‐dried squid was almost the same as that of raw squid. The SDS‐PAGE pattern of the 40 °C‐dried squid showed many fragments of lower molecular weight. After soaking in distilled water the SDS‐PAGE pattern of the 40 °C‐dried squid did not change significantly; however, the SDS‐PAGE pattern of the 4 °C‐dried squid became the same as that of the 40 °C‐dried squid. Histological analysis by light microscopy showed the formation of muscle fibre bundles in the 40 °C‐dried squid. A higher water permeation was observed among the muscle fibres of the alkali‐softened 4 °C‐dried squid when compared with the alkali‐softened 40 °C‐dried squid. Copyright © 2003 Society of Chemical Industry     

Real-time observation of coil-to-globule transition in thermosensitive poly(N-isopropylacrylamide) brushes by quartz crystal microbalance

Thermosensitive poly(N-isopropylacrylamide) (PNIPAm) brushes grafted on SiO₂-coated quartz crystal surface were prepared by the surface initiated radical polymerization. Using X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) and atomic force microscopy (AFM), about 50 nm thickness of PNIPAm brushes were successfully formed. Quartz crystal microbalance with dissipation (QCM-D) is employed to investigate the collapse and swelling behavior of the PNIPAm brushes in water in real time. Both frequency and dissipation of PNIPAm layer were found to change gradually over the temperature range 15-50 °C, indicating that the brushes undergo a continuous transition. This continuous change is attributed to the nonuniformity and stretching of PNIPAm brushes as well as the cooperativity between collapse and dehydration transition.     

Open-Channel Capacity Determination Using Hydraulic Performance Graph

A method for determining the flow carrying capacity of a channel system, capable of accounting for the interacting backwater effect among channel reaches and incoming lateral flow, is presented here. The method makes use of hydraulic performance graphs—a new tool for dealing with open-channel-flow problems. The hydraulic performance graph summarizes all the backwater profile information for a channel reach. As an illustration, the method is applied to evaluate the channel capacities of a portion of Boneyard Creek in the city of Urbana, Ill. The example demonstrates that the channel flow capacity is a function of the exit water level, of which the maximum normal flow capacity and the absolute maximum carrying capacity are special cases.     

Universal time provisioning in a distributed seismic-acoustic system for rock mass geomechanical monitoring

A structure of hardware-software universal time provisioning in a seismic-acoustic system for rock mass geomechanical monitoring is described. The structure was tested at a mine in the Chitinskaya Region. A measure of inaccuracy of universal time counting is analyzed and calculated.     

Automatic form filling on mobile devices

Filling out forms for web based services on mobile devices is a very time consuming and frustrating task for users because of the limited text input capabilities. This is a critical bottleneck to obtaining a wide acceptance of such services, especially mobile commerce that often requires filling user data. We developed an architecture based on a local proxy on a mobile device and a lightweight algorithm for a comprehensive analysis of forms, which leads to the most probable user data to be filled in, driven by an initial rule set [Chie Noda, John Hamard, Enrico Rukzio, Alexander De Luca, Method and Apparatus for Automatic Form Filling on Mobile Devices, Patent. Publication number EP1777629, Publication date 2007-04-25]. We further discuss our implementation and the evaluation results for the algorithm as well as the usability of the prototype.     

Open Channel Flow Resistance

In 1965, Rouse critically reviewed hydraulic resistance in open channels on the basis of fluid mechanics. He pointed out the effects of cross-sectional shape, boundary nonuniformity, and flow unsteadiness, in addition to viscosity and wall roughness that are commonly considered. This paper extends that study by discussing the differences between momentum and energy resistances, between point, cross-sectional and reach resistance coefficients, as well as compound/composite channel resistance. Certain resistance phenomena can be explained with the inner and outer laws of boundary layer theory. The issue of linear-separation approach versus nonlinear approach to alluvial channel resistances also is discussed. This review indicates the need for extensive further research on the subject.