The use of an electrothermal plasma gun to simulate the extremely high heat flux conditions of a tokamak disruption

Disruption damage conditions for future large tokamaks like ITER are nearly impossible to simulate on current tokamaks. The electrothermal plasma source SIRENS has been designed, constructed, and operated to produce high density (> 10²⁵/m³), low temperature (1–3 eV) plasma formed by the ablation of the insulator with currents of up to 100 kA (100 s pulse length) and energies up to 15 kJ. The source heat fluence (variable from 0.2 to 7 MJ/m²) is adequate for simulation of the thermal quench phase of plasma disruption in future fusion tokamaks. Different materials have been exposed to the high heat flux in SIRENS, where comparative erosion behavior was obtained. Vapor shield phenomena has been characterized for different materials, and the energy transmission factor through the shielding layer is obtained. The device is also equipped with a magnet capable of producing a parallel magnetic field (up to 16 T) over a 8 msec pulse length. The magnetic field is produced to decrease the turbulent energy transport through the vapor shield, which provides further reduction of surface erosion (magnetic vapor shield effect).     

ASCE Journal of Management in Engineering: Review of the years 1985–2002

This study considers the content of the papers published by ASCE’s Journal of Management in Engineering, which has witnessed a growth in number of papers and breadth of participation, particularly of international origin, during the 1985–2002 period. The content is analyzed in two main dimensions: the type of subject and its composing topics, and the type of contributors to the journal. The analysis shows the evolution of the engineering management discipline as represented in the journal. Over the years the discipline has been enriched by an increasing number of contributions on corporate strategies and programs, organizational change, and cultures issues, as well as a growing interest in project management topics, such as quality planning and evaluation of alternative project delivery systems. The number of papers by practitioners, initially the largest contributing group to the journal, has declined significantly over the years.     

Interface Characteristics and Laboratory Constructability Tests of Novel Fiber-Reinforced Polymer/Concrete Piles

Conventional pile materials such as steel, concrete, and timber are prone to deterioration for many reasons. Fiber-reinforced polymer (FRP) concrete composites represent an alternative construction material for deep foundations that can eliminate many of the performance disadvantages of traditional piling materials. However, FRP composites present several difficulties related to constructability, and the lack of design tools for their implementation as a foundation element. This paper describes the results of an experimental study on frictional FRP/dense sand interface characteristics and the constructability of FRP–concrete composite piles. An innovative toe driving technique is developed to install the empty FRP shells in the soil and self-consolidating concrete is subsequently cast in them. The experimental program involves interface shear tests on small FRP samples and uplift load tests on large-scale model piles. Two different FRP pile materials with different roughness and a reference steel pile are examined. Static uplift load tests are conducted on different piles installed in soil samples subjected to different confining pressures in the pressure chamber. The results showed that the interface friction for FRP materials compared favorably with conventional steel material. It was shown that toe driving is suitable for installation of FRP piles in dense soils.     

Reactions with 2,3,4,5-Tetrahydro-benzo[b]thiepin-5-one and its Derivatives

2,3,4,5-Tetrahydro-benzo[b]thiepin-5-one, its 7-methyl derivative, and their S, S-dioxides condense with aromatic aldehydes to give the corresponding 4-arylidene derivatives 3 and 4 . Compounds 4 react with hydrazine and phenylhydrazine to yield 3, 3a, 4, 5-tetrahydro-2 H-benzo-[b]thiepino[4, 5-c]pyrazole S, S-dioxide derivatives 5 and 6 . Some of the arylidene derivatives 4 add GRIGNARD reagents to give 7 . The IR spectra of representative examples are discussed.     

Reactions with 5-substituted 4-arylimino-2-thiazolidinones

The reaction of 5-arylidene-4-arylimino-2-thiazolidinones 4 with GRIGNARD reagents effected 1,4-addition to the exocyclic  CC bond with the formation of 5 . Alkylation of the arylidene derivatives 4 with diazomethane or methyl iodide results in the formation of the N-methyl derivatives 6 . Treatment of 6 with phenylmagnesium bromide effects addition of the reagent to the double bond of the lateral chain to yield products, proved to have structure 8 . The 5-arylazo derivatives 9 of 4-arylimino-2-thiazolidinones were obtained by coupling 4 with aromatic diazonium chlorides. Compounds 9 were N-methylated with diazomethane to yield 10 .     

Green Synthesis of Silymarin–Chitosan Nanoparticles as a New Nano Formulation with Enhanced Anti-Fibrotic Effects against Liver Fibrosis

Background: Silymarin (SIL) has long been utilized to treat a variety of liver illnesses, but due to its poor water solubility and low membrane permeability, it has a low oral bioavailability, limiting its therapeutic potential. Aim: Design and evaluate hepatic-targeted delivery of safe biocompatible formulated SIL-loaded chitosan nanoparticles (SCNPs) to enhance SIL’s anti-fibrotic effectiveness in rats with CCl₄-induced liver fibrosis. Methods: The SCNPs and chitosan nanoparticles (CNPs) were prepared by ionotropic gelation technique and are characterized by physicochemical parameters such as particle size, morphology, zeta potential, and in vitro release studies. The therapeutic efficacy of successfully formulated SCNPs and CNPs were subjected to in vivo evaluation studies. Rats were daily administered SIL, SCNPs, and CNPs orally for 30 days. Results: The in vivo study revealed that the synthesized SCNPs demonstrated a significant antifibrotic therapeutic action against CCl₄-induced hepatic injury in rats when compared to treated groups of SIL and CNPs. SCNP-treated rats had a healthy body weight, with normal values for liver weight and liver index, as well as significant improvements in liver functions, inflammatory indicators, antioxidant pathway activation, and lipid peroxidation reduction. The antifibrotic activities of SCNPs were mediated by suppressing the expression of the main fibrosis mediators TGFβR1, COL3A1, and TGFβR2 by boosting the hepatic expression of protective miRNAs; miR-22, miR-29c, and miR-219a, respectively. The anti-fibrotic effects of SCNPs were supported by histopathology and immunohistochemistry (IHC) study. Conclusions: According to the above results, SCNPs might be the best suitable carrier to target liver cells in the treatment of liver fibrosis.     

Selective Recovery of Cadmium,Cobalt, and Nickel from Spent Ni–Cd Batteries Using Adogen® 464 and Mesoporous Silica Derivatives

Spent Ni–Cd batteries are now considered an important source for many valuable metals. The recovery of cadmium, cobalt, and nickel from spent Ni–Cd Batteries has been performed in this study. The optimum leaching process was achieved using 20% H₂SO₄, solid/liquid (S/L) 1/5 at 80 °C for 6 h. The leaching efficiency of Fe, Cd, and Co was nearly 100%, whereas the leaching efficiency of Ni was 95%. The recovery of the concerned elements was attained using successive different separation techniques. Cd(II) ions were extracted by a solvent, namely, Adogen^® 464, and precipitated as CdS with 0.5% Na₂S solution at pH of 1.25 and room temperature. The extraction process corresponded to pseudo-2nd-order. The prepared PTU-MS silica was applied for adsorption of Co(II) ions from aqueous solution, while the desorption process was performed using 0.3 M H₂SO₄. Cobalt was precipitated at pH 9.0 as Co(OH)₂ using NH₄OH. The kinetic and thermodynamic parameters were also investigated. Nickel was directly precipitated at pH 8.25 using a 10% NaOH solution at ambient temperature. FTIR, SEM, and EDX confirm the structure of the products.     

Light Spectral Composition Modifies Polyamine Metabolism in Young Wheat Plants

Although light-emitting diode (LED) technology has extended the research on targeted photomorphogenic, physiological, and biochemical responses in plants, there is not enough direct information about how light affects polyamine metabolism. In this study, the effect of three spectral compositions (referred to by their most typical characteristic: blue, red, and the combination of blue and red [pink] lights) on polyamine metabolism was compared to those obtained under white light conditions at the same light intensity. Although light quality induced pronounced differences in plant morphology, pigment contents, and the expression of polyamine metabolism-related genes, endogenous polyamine levels did not differ substantially. When exogenous polyamines were applied, their roborative effect were detected under all light conditions, but these beneficial changes were correlated with an increase in polyamine content and polyamine metabolism-related gene expression only under blue light. The effect of the polyamines on leaf gene expression under red light was the opposite, with a decreasing tendency. Results suggest that light quality may optimize plant growth through the adjustment of polyamine metabolism at the gene expression level. Polyamine treatments induced different strategies in fine-tuning of polyamine metabolism, which were induced for optimal plant growth and development under different spectral compositions.     

Automatic verification of reduction techniques in Higher Order Logic

In this paper we propose an automatic methodology to verify the soundness of model checking reduction techniques. The idea is to use the consistency of the specifications to verify if the reduced model is faithful to the original one. The user provides the reduction technique, the specification and the system under verification. Then, using Higher Order Logic he verifies automatically if the reduction technique is soundly applied. The method is completely defined in an MDG–HOL special integration platform that combines an automatic high level model checking tool Multiway Decision Graphs (MDGs) within the HOL theorem prover. We provide two case studies, the first one is the reduction using SAT–MDG of an Island Tunnel Controller and the second one is the MDG–HOL assume-guarantee reduction of the Look-Aside Interface. The obtained results of our approach offer a considerable gain in terms of the correctness of heuristics and reduction techniques as applied to commercial model checking, however a small penalty is paid in terms of CPU time and memory usage.