Techniques for intergranular crack formation and assessment in alloy 600 base and alloy 182 weld metals

Background: A technique developed to produce artificial intergranular stress corrosion cracks in structural components was applied to thick, forged alloy 600 base and alloy 182 weld metals for use in the qualification of nondestructive examination techniques for welded components in nuclear power plants. Methods: An externally controlled procedure was demonstrated to produce intergranular stress corrosion cracks that are comparable to service-induced cracks in both the base and weld metals. During the process of crack generation, an online direct current potential drop method using array probes was used to measure and monitor the sizes and shapes of the cracks. Results: A microstructural characterization of the produced cracks revealed realistic conformation of the crack faces unlike those in machined notches produced by an electrodischarge machine or simple fatigue loading using a universal testing machine. Conclusion: A comparison with a destructive metallographic examination showed that the characteristics, orientations, and sizes of the intergranular cracks produced in this study are highly reproducible. ??? 2015, Published by Elsevier Korea LLC on behalf of Korean Nuclear Societyclose0

Reliability of a 2-Bout exercise test on a Wattbike cycle ergometer

Purpose: To determine the intraday and interday reliability of a 2 × 4-min performance test on a cycle ergometer (Wattbike) separated by 30 min of passive recovery (2 × 4MMP). Methods: Twelve highly trained cyclists (mean ± SD; age = 20 ± 2 y, predicted VO2max = 59.0 ± 3.6 mL · kg–1 · min–1) completed six 2 × 4MMP cycling tests on a Wattbike ergometer separated by 7 d. Mean power was measured to determine intraday (test 1 [T1] to test 2 [T2]) and interday reliability (weeks 1–6) over the repeated trials. Results: The mean intraday reliabilities of the 2 × 4MMP test, as expressed by the typical error of measurement (TEM, W) and coefficient of variation (CV, %) over the 6 wk, were 10.0 W (95% confidence limits [CL] 8.2–11.8), and 2.6% (95%CL 2.1–3.1), respectively. The mean interday reliability TEM and CV for T1 over the 6 wk were 10.4 W (95%CL 8.7–13.3) and 2.7% (95%CL 2.3–3.5), respectively, and 11.7 W (95%CL 9.8–15.1) and 3.0% (95%CL 2.5–3.9) for T2. Conclusion: The testing protocol performed on a Wattbike cycle ergometer in the current study is reproducible in highly trained cyclists. The high intraday and interday reliability make it a reliable method for monitoring cycling performance and for investigating factors that affect performance in cycling events

Holistic debugging - enabling instruction set simulation for software quality assurance

We present holistic debugging, a novel method for observing execution of complex and distributed software. It builds on an instruction set simulator, which provides reproducible experiments and non-intrusive probing of state in a distributed system. Instruction set simulators, however, only provide low-level information, so a holistic debugger contains a translation framework that maps this information to higher abstraction level observation tools, such as source code debuggers. We have created Nornir, a proof-of-concept holistic debugger, built on the simulator Simics. For each observed process in the simulated system, Nornir creates an abstraction translation stack, with virtual machine translators that map machine-level storage contents (e.g. physical memory, registers) provided by Simics, to application-level data (e.g. virtual memory contents) by parsing the data structures of operating systems and virtual machines. Nornir includes a modified version of the GNU debugger (GDB), which supports non-intrusive symbolic debugging of distributed applications. Nornir's main interface is a debugger shepherd, a programmable interface that controls multiple debuggers, and allows users to coherently inspect the entire state of heterogeneous, distributed applications. It provides a robust observation platform for construction of new observation tools

Reliability and Validity of Ratings of Perceived Exertion in Persons With Multiple Sclerosis

Objective: To test the reliability and validity of using the Borg rating of perceived exertion (RPE) scale (ratings 6e20) in persons with multiple sclerosis (PwMS). Design: Nonrandomized repeated measures. Setting: Research laboratory. Participants: Volunteer sample (N=27) comprised of 16 PwMS (10 women) and 11 age-matched persons without multiple sclerosis (MS) (6 women). Clinical measures included symptomatic fatigue, depression, and MS functional capacity. Interventions: A submaximal cycling test was performed to estimate maximal capacity. Participants then pedaled for 2 minutes at 50% and 60% of predicted maximal oxygen consumption per unit time (V̇O2), and physiological measures and RPE were obtained (week 1: response protocol). One week later, participants replicated the prescribed V̇O2 using the RPE range from week 1 (week 2: reproduction protocol). V̇O2, heart rate, and respiratory quotient were measured continuously; RPE and workload were measured every minute; and blood lactate and mean arterial pressure were measured after exercise. Main Outcome Measures: RPE, workload, V̇O2, and heart rate from week 1 to week 2. Results: PwMS had greater fatigue (P2, and heart rate were similar between groups. Both groups had an intraclass correlation coefficient \u3e.86 for RPE, workload, and V̇O2. The intraclass correlation coefficient was comparatively lower for heart rate for both groups (MS group: .72, non-MS group: .83). RPE was highly correlated with V̇O2(rZ.691, P Conclusions: Results suggest that RPE can be reliably reproduced, is valid, and may be used in exercise prescription in mildly to moderately impaired PwMS during cycling exercise

Prototype Development for Fabric Sodium Sensor

This project is designed to refine a process for developing sodium-selective nylon fabric sensors to be used for reading sodium concentrations in sweat from the human body through a series of quality control and on-body testing experiments. The intention is to have a refined process to make reproducible sensors that are turned into consistently working prototypes for future mass production. There are three essential steps in developing a working prototype: sensor synthesis, sensor testing, and sensor validation. Once all three steps are completed, consistent methods will be defined for turning nylon into sensors and then into prototypes, calibrating the prototypes, and using or operating the prototypes. A final prototype would allow Roosense LLC to move forward in mass-producing a dependable product that will be able to monitor athletes\u27 dehydration levels to promote a healthy and safe way to exercise

Development of a rapid, antimicrobial susceptibility test for E. coli based on low-cost, screen-printed electrodes

Antibiotic resistance has been cited by the World Health Organisation (WHO) as one of the greatest threats to public health. Mitigating the spread of antibiotic resistance requires a multipronged approach with possible interventions including faster diagnostic testing and enhanced antibiotic stewardship. This study employs a low-cost diagnostic sensor test to rapidly pinpoint the correct antibiotic for treatment of infection. The sensor comprises a screen-printed gold electrode, modified with an antibiotic-seeded hydrogel to monitor bacterial growth. Electrochemical growth profiles of the common microorganism, Escherichia coli (E. coli) (ATCC 25922) were measured in the presence and absence of the antibiotic streptomycin. Results show a clear distinction between the E. coli growth profiles depending on whether streptomycin is present, in a timeframe of ≈2.5 h (p < 0.05), significantly quicker than the current gold standard of culture-based antimicrobial susceptibility testing. These results demonstrate a clear pathway to a low cost, phenotypic and reproducible antibiotic susceptibility testing technology for the rapid detection of E. coli within clinically relevant concentration ranges for conditions such as urinary tract infections

The development of an electrochemical technique for in situ calibrating of combustible gas detectors

A program to determine the feasibility of performing in situ calibration of combustible gas detectors was successfully completed. Several possible techniques for performing the in situ calibration were proposed. The approach that showed the most promise involved the use of a miniature water vapor electrolysis cell for the generation of hydrogen within the flame arrestor of a combustible gas detector to be used for the purpose of calibrating the combustible gas detectors. A preliminary breadboard of the in situ calibration hardware was designed, fabricated and assembled. The breadboard equipment consisted of a commercially available combustible gas detector, modified to incorporate a water vapor electrolysis cell, and the instrumentation required for controlling the water vapor electrolysis and controlling and calibrating the combustible gas detector. The results showed that operation of the water vapor electrolysis at a given current density for a specific time period resulted in the attainment of a hydrogen concentration plateau within the flame arrestor of the combustible gas detector

Development and reproducibility of a short questionnaire to measure use and usability of custom-made orthopaedic shoes

Objective: To develop a short and easy to use questionnaire to measure use and usability of custom-made orthopaedic shoes, and to investigate its reproducibility.\ud Design: Development of the questionnaire (Monitor Orthopaedic Shoes) was based on a literature search, expert interviews, 2 expert meetings, and exploration and testing of reproducibility. The questionnaire comprises 2 parts: a pre part, measuring expectations; and a post part, measuring experiences.\ud Patients: The pre part of the final version was completed twice by 37 first-time users before delivery of their orthopaedic shoes. The post part of the final version was completed twice by 39 first-time users who had worn their orthopaedic shoes for 2–4 months.\ud Results: High reproducibility scores (Cohen’s kappa > 0.60 or intra class correlation > 0.70) were found in all but one question of both parts of the final version of the Monitor Orthopaedic Shoes questionnaire. The smallest real difference on a visual analogue scale (100 mm) ranged from 21 to 50 mm. It took patients approximately 15 minutes to complete one part.\ud Conclusion: Monitor Orthopaedic Shoes is a practical and reproducible questionnaire that can measure relevant aspects of use and usability of orthopaedic shoes from a patient’s perspective

A DevOps approach to integration of software components in an EU research project

We present a description of the development and deployment infrastructure being created to support the integration effort of HARNESS, an EU FP7 project. HARNESS is a multi-partner research project intended to bring the power of heterogeneous resources to the cloud. It consists of a number of different services and technologies that interact with the OpenStack cloud computing platform at various levels. Many of these components are being developed independently by different teams at different locations across Europe, and keeping the work fully integrated is a challenge. We use a combination of Vagrant based virtual machines, Docker containers, and Ansible playbooks to provide a consistent and up-to-date environment to each developer. The same playbooks used to configure local virtual machines are also used to manage a static testbed with heterogeneous compute and storage devices, and to automate ephemeral larger-scale deployments to Grid5000. Access to internal projects is managed by GitLab, and automated testing of services within Docker-based environments and integrated deployments within virtual-machines is provided by Buildbot