Water allocation policies for the Dong Nai River Basin in Vietnam: an integrated perspective

Recent water sector reforms, increased scarcity and vulnerability of existing water resources, combined with declining public funding available for large-scale infrastructure investment in the sector have led to an increased awareness by the Government of Vietnam for the need to analyze water resource allocation and use in an integrated fashion, at the basin scale, and from an economic efficiency perspective. This paper presents the development, application, and results from an integrated economic-hydrologic river basin model for the Dong Nai River Basin in southern Vietnam that attempts to address these issues. The model framework takes into account the sectoral structure of water users (agriculture, industry, hydropower, households, and the environment), the location of water-using regions, and the institutions for water allocation in the basin. Water benefit functions are developed for the major water uses subject to physical, system control, and policy constraints. Based on this modeling framework, policies that can affect water allocation and use at the basin level, including both basin-specific and general macroeconomic policies, are analyzed.River basin model, water allocation policy, integrated assessment, Vietnam, Dong Nai basin, Water resources Economic aspects,

Advancement and applications of the template matching approach to indexing electron backscatter patterns

Electron backscatter diffraction is a well-established characterisation technique used to determine the orientation and crystal phase of a crystalline material. A pattern is formed by dynamical interaction of elections with the crystal lattice, which can be understood and simulated by using Bloch wave theory. The conventional method of indexing a diffraction pattern is to use a Hough transform to convert the lines of the pattern to points that are easily accessible to a computer. As the bands of the pattern are direct projections of the crystal planes, the interplanar angles can then be computed and compared to a look up table to determine phase and orientation. This method works well for most examples, however, is not well suited to more complex unit cells, due to the fact it ignores more subtle features of the patterns. This thesis proposes a refined template matching approach which uses efficient pattern matching algorithms, such as those used in the field of computer vision, for phase determination and orientation analysis. This thesis introduces the method and demonstrates its efficacy, as well as introducing advanced methods for pseudosymmetry analysis and phase mapping. A new metric for phase confidence is also proposed and the refined method is shown to be able to correctly determine phases and pseudosymmetric orientations. Finally, preliminary work on a direct electron detector stage is presented. Work on the development, testing the pattern centre reliability, modulation transfer and an example map is shown.Open Acces

Final design report of a personnel launch system and a family of heavy lift launch vehicles

The objective was to design both a Personnel Launch System (PLS) and a family of Heavy Lift Launch Vehicles (FHLLVs) that provide low cost and efficient operation in missions not suited for the Shuttle. The PLS vehicle is designed primarily for space station crew rotation and emergency crew return. The final design of the PLS vehicle and its interior is given. The mission of the FHLLVs is to place large, massive payloads into Earth orbit with payload flexibility being considered foremost in the design. The final design of three launch vehicles was found to yield a payload capacity range from 20 to 200 mt. These designs include the use of multistaged, high thrust liquid engines mounted on the core stages of the rocket

Optimization and performance of an optical cardio-magnetometer

Cardiomagnetometry is a growing field of noninvasive medical diagnostics that has triggered a need for affordable high-sensitivity magnetometers. Optical pumping magnetometers are promising candidates satisfying that need since it was demonstrated that they can map the heart magnetic field. For the optimization of such devices theoretical limits on the performance as well as an experimental approach is presented. The promising result is a intrinsic magnetometric sensitivity of 63 fT / Hz^1/2 a measurement bandwidth of 140 Hz and a spatial resolution of 28 mm

Solar energy and conservation at St. Mark's School

This report is a result of a request to investigate the possibility of employing solar energy at a residential secondary school to reduce energy costs. Our approach was to explore this possibility in the context of a more general survey of opportunities to conserve energy (in particular, fuel) at the school. Our purpose was more to illustrate how to go about an appraisal of conservation opportunities plus implementation and evaluation of the most productive conservation measures, than a rigorous examination of the facility with detailed instructions on how to take care of specific problems. A large number of actions that would result in net energy cost savings considerably greater than could be realized from solar systems were discovered. For a solar application, a domestic hot water system,supplementing that heated bytankless coils in oil burning furnaces,has the greatest potential for significant return on investment. The school's total utility system (total energy, co-generation) meets all electrical and steam needs with the exception of the electric power required for one building. A heat recovery system on the diesel engines for the electric generators furnishes a sizeable portion of the steam. Areas discussed in detail are: (1) optimization of the efficiency of oil fueled residential heating furnaces; (2) optimized operation of a total energy system; (3) lighting, insulation, air infiltration control; (4) heat management, scheduling and control. A methodology for preparing energy audits, energy flow charts and procedures for the evaluation of the need for the amounts of energy consumed for each individual purpose are also given. The importance of considering the application of solar energy in the broader conservation context is emphasized

Will the Last Archivist in Seattle Please Turn Out the Lights: Value and the National Archives

With the abrupt announcement in late January 2020 that the National Archives at Seattle–placed on 10 acres in the Sand Point neighborhood since 1963–would be eventually closed and the records moved to facilities in Riverside, California and Kansas City, Missouri, the surprised dismay from state archivists, researchers, and Native American tribal leaders and Alaska Natives who see their ancestors and heritage directly depicted in the records was quick and loud. The facility holds one million cubic feet of federal records which are accessed by over 700 people visiting its research rooms, and which grow by about 1300 cubic feet annually. In this examination of the National Archives at Seattle\u27s collections use–integrating staff perspectives with data from recent reports, budgets, and the accounting framework that informed the decision–we contribute an analysis of the digitization work proposed to replace in-person viewership, and an Indigenous and land-development view on the archival value assessments within the decision

Laser Shock Peening Pressure Impulse Determination via Empirical Data-Matching with Optimization Software

Laser shock peening (LSP) is a form of work hardening by means of laser induced pressure impulse. LSP imparts compressive residual stresses which can improve fatigue life of metallic alloys for structural use. The finite element modeling (FEM) of LSP is typically done by applying an assumed pressure impulse, as useful experimental measurement of this pressure impulse has not been adequately accomplished. This shortfall in the field is a current limitation to the accuracy of FE modeling, and was addressed in the current work. A novel method was tested to determine the pressure impulse shape in time and space by optimization driven data-matching. FE model development and material model verification was completed in Abaqus. A 2D and 3D model type study was conducted. A proof of concept data-matching optimization tool was developed and verified. This data-matching optimization tool, using the Hooke-Jeeves optimization algorithm, was then applied to match experimentally collected residual stress measurements from single LSP treated spots in 2024-T351 aluminum specimens. Validation of this “best-fit” pressure impulse was attempted in a 6Al-4V titanium material model for the same LSP treatment process. A combination Johnson-Cook viscoplasticity and Mie-Grüneisen equation of state (EOS) material model was shown to be amply sufficient for modeling the highly dynamic LSP event. A 2D axisymmetric FE model was shown to adequately represent a square LSP treatment process, in terms of residual stress field results with the use of a linear adjustment factor. The Hooke-Jeeves optimization algorithm proved highly successful at working through a FE model “black box” to match a target residual stress outcome. Further, this method was successful in matching the residual stress field of experimentally collected data. The validation of the best-fit pressure impulse in titanium was not a perfect match, but exhibited enough accuracy to be useful to design engineers in certain cases, and further shows potential for improvement and implementation toward this impulse matching goal