Identifying the Criteria Set for Multicriteria Decision Making Based on SWOT/PESTLE Analysis: A Case Study of Reconstructing A Water Intake Structure

This paper proposes an approach for defining the criteria set required for multicriteria decision making. An approach is developed for a specific class of water management problems, and a SWOT/PESTLE analysis is recommended for identifying the internal and external factors that influence a given water system. The factors are grouped into six categories: political, economic/financial, social, technical, legal, and environmental (PESTLE), and separated afterwards according to their positive or negative influence on the system. All factors are filtered by a proposed elimination algorithm to identify the non-inferior factors and declare them as candidates for inclusion into the criteria set. An approach is applied to the real-life problem of how to define the criteria set and enable the selection of the optimal reconstruction solution of a water intake structure within a regional hydro-system in Vojvodina Province, Serbia. To verify the developed approach, an independent expert is invited to asses all factors identified by the SWOT/PESTLE analysis using the analytic hierarchy process (AHP) and to rank factors by order of preference. The outcome is satisfactory because the seven top-ranked factors from AHP completely matched the list of factors derived from the elimination algorithm.     

Uranium-zirconium hydride fuel properties

Properties of the two-phase hydride U_0.3ZrH_1.6 pertinent to performance as a nuclear fuel for LWRs are reviewed. Much of the available data come from the Space Nuclear Auxiliary Power (SNAP) program of 4 decades ago and from the more restricted data base prepared for the TRIGA research reactors some 3 decades back. Transport, mechanical, thermal and chemical properties are summarized. A principal difference between oxide and hydride fuels is the high thermal conductivity of the latter. This feature greatly decreases the temperature drop over the fuel during operation, thereby reducing the release of fission gases to the fraction due only to recoil. However, very unusual early swelling due to void formation around the uranium particles has been observed in hydride fuels. Avoidance of this source of swelling limits the maximum fuel temperature to ∼650 °C (the design limit recommended by the fuel developer is 750 °C). To satisfy this temperature limitation, the fuel-cladding gap needs to be bonded with a liquid metal instead of helium. Because the former has a thermal conductivity ∼100 times larger than the latter, there is no restriction on gap thickness as there is in helium-bonded fuel rods. This opens the possibility of initial gap sizes large enough to significantly delay the onset of pellet-cladding mechanical interaction (PCMI). The large fission-product swelling rate of hydride fuel (3× that of oxide fuel) requires an initial radial fuel-cladding gap of ∼300 m if PCMI is to be avoided. The liquid-metal bond permits operation of the fuel at current LWR linear-heat-generation rates without exceeding any design constraint. The behavior of hydrogen in the fuel is the source of phenomena during operation that are absent in oxide fuels. Because of the large heat of transport (thermal diffusivity) of H in ZrH_x, redistribution of hydrogen in the temperature gradient in the fuel pellet changes the initial H/Zr ratio of 1.6 to ∼1.45 at the center and ∼1.70 at the periphery. Because the density of the hydride decreases with increasing H/Zr ratio, the result of H redistribution is to subject the interior of the pellet to a tensile stress while the outside of the pellet is placed in compression. The resulting stress at the pellet periphery is sufficient to overcome the tensile stress due to thermal expansion in the temperature gradient and to prevent radial cracking that is a characteristic of oxide fuel. Several mechanisms for reduction of the H/Zr ratio during irradiation are identified. The first is transfer of impurity oxygen in the fuel from Zr to rare-earth oxide fission products. The second is the formation of metal hydrides by these same fission products. The third is by loss to the plenum as H₂.The review of the fabrication method for the hydride fuel suggests that its production, even on a large scale, may be significantly higher than the cost of oxide fuel fabrication.     

Detecting Regular Visit Patterns

We are given a trajectory T\mathcal{T} and an area A\mathcal{A} . T\mathcal{T} might intersect A\mathcal{A} several times, and our aim is to detect whether T\mathcal{T} visits A\mathcal{A} with some regularity, e.g. what is the longest time span that a GPS-GSM equipped elephant visited a specific lake on a daily (weekly or yearly) basis, where the elephant has to visit the lake most of the days (weeks or years), but not necessarily on every day (week or year).     

An electrospray ionization source for integration with microfluidics

We have demonstrated a new electrospray ionization (ESI) device incorporating a tip made from a shaped thin film, bonded to a microfluidic channel, and interfaced to a time-of-flight mass spectrometer (TOFMS). A triangular-shaped thin polymer tip was formed by lithography and etching. A microfluidic channel, 20 microm wide and 10 microm deep, was embossed in a cyclo olefin substrate using a silicon master. The triangular tip was aligned with the channel and bonded between the channel plate and a flat plate to create a microfluidic channel with a wicking tip protruding from the end. This structure aided the formation of a stable Taylor cone at the apex of the tip, forming an electrospray ionization source. This source was tested by spraying several solutions for mass spectrometric analysis. Because the components are all made by lithographic approaches with high geometrical fidelity, an integrated array system with multiple channels can be formed with the same method and ease as a single channel. We tested a multichannel system in a multiplexed manner and showed reliable operation with no significant cross contamination between closely spaced channels.     

Distortion Minimization: A Framework for the Design of Plane Geometric Anamorphosis

Anamorphosis, as a drawing, represents shapes on a surface such that they appear in their natural form only under specific viewing conditions. Although anamorphoses are mainly studied in a historical context, they are currently experiencing a revival. Plane geometric anamorphoses are a specific sub-type of anamorphic drawings. Some practical problems may arise during the design and realization of plane geometric anamorphosis causing the 3D illusionistic effect to be impaired. The aim of this paper is to identify and analyze these problems. In the paper we use parametric analysis to quantify the distortion that may appear because the point of view is offset from the preferred point of view, and to simulate the deviations that can appear because of the errors in onsite realization. The analysis leads to a framework for the design of plane geometric anamorphosis that minimizes the impairment of the anamorphic illusion.     

Mechanochemical and Low‐Temperature Synthesis of Nanocrystalline Fluorohydroxyapatite/Fluorapatite

Low‐temperature synthesis of fluorapatite/fluorohydroxyapatite with precursor mixture previously mechanochemically treated is described in this article. Ethylene vinylacetate/versatate copolymer as a surface active substance was mechanically treated to obtain a core‐shell system with strongly controlled grain size. Despite usual behavior of mechanically activated systems, only an amorphous phase formed from precursor ions present in the mixture composed of β‐Ca₂P₂O₇, CaCO₃, CaF₂, and unreacted Ca(OH)₂ was obtained during milling for 5 min to 8 h. The mixture contained depots of labile F^? ions conserved in micelles cages, which are useful for teeth protection from carries. For transformation of these amorphous phases into fluorapatite, an additional low thermal treatment was necessary. The mechanism of the precursor mixture transformation into fluorapatite during milling and thermal treatment was investigated using FTIR spectroscopy and X‐ray diffraction. The morphology and size distribution of the obtained powders was studied using SEM and TEM.     

From Suitable Weak Solutions to Entropy Viscosity

This paper focuses on the notion of suitable weak solutions for the three-dimensional incompressible Navier-Stokes equations and discusses the relevance of this notion to Computational Fluid Dynamics. The purpose of the paper is twofold (i) to recall basic mathematical properties of the three-dimensional incompressible Navier-Stokes equations and to show how they might relate to LES (ii) to introduce an entropy viscosity technique based on the notion of suitable weak solution and to illustrate numerically this concept.     

Data transmission over GSM voice channel using digital modulation technique based on autoregressive modeling of speech production

This paper presents a novel digital data modulation and demodulation algorithm ARDMA based on the principles of autoregressive modeling (AR) of speech production. In the first step a sustained voiced speech signal characteristics are analyzed using autoregressive modeling principle and then the two sets of linear prediction (LPC) coefficients are obtained and converted to linear spectrum frequencies (LSF). The input binary data stream drives the selection mechanism of LSF coefficients which are then applied as filter coefficients of the modulation signal synthesis filter. This filter is excited with specially designed excitation signal which corresponds to the basic characteristics of typical excitation signal of human vocal tract. Finally, a speech-alike modulation signal is produced. This modulation signal is then sent through the voice channel of the GSM system. The demodulator analyzes the incoming modulation signal using autoregressive modeling. The most likely LSF vector which modulated the particular symbol was determined by the demodulation process and converted to the respective string of binary data. The performance of proposed modulation scheme was compared to the regular frequency shift keying method (FSK). The performance improvement of ARDMA against FSK is observed at higher bit-rates in the case of three compared GSM speech coders.     

Three-Dimensional Green’s Functions for a Multilayered Half-Space in Displacement Potentials

To advance the mathematical and computational treatments of mixed boundary value problems involving multilayered media, a new derivation of the fundamental Green’s functions for the elastodynamic problem is presented. By virtue of a method of displacement potentials, it is shown that there is an elegant mathematical structure underlying this class of three-dimensional elastodynamic problems which warrant further attention. Constituted by proper algebraic factorizations, a set of generalized transmission-reflection matrices and internal source fields that are free of any numerically unstable exponential terms common in past solution formats are proposed for effective computations of the potential solution. To encompass both elastic and viscoelastic cases, point-load Green’s functions for stresses and displacements are generalized into complex-plane line-integral representations. An accompanying rigorous treatment of the singularity of the fundamental solution for arbitrary source-receiver locations via an asymptotic decomposition of the transmission-reflection matrices is also highlighted.     

A comparative analysis of hardware and software fault tolerance: Impact on software reliability engineering

Today's digital systems are growing increasingly complex, and are being used in increasingly critical functions. The first premise makes them more prone to contain faults, and the second premise makes their failure less tolerable. This widening gap highlights the need for fault tolerant techniques, which make provisions for reliable operation of digital systems despite the presence and occasional manifestation of faults. In this paper we present a brief comparative survey of fault tolerance as it arises in hardware systems and software systems. We discuss logical models as well as statistical models of fault tolerance, and use these models to analyze design tradeoffs of fault tolerant systems. This revised version was published online in June 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.