Polymeric seal degradation in nuclear power plants: Determination of physical and mechanical properties

To assess the suitability of different materials as polymeric seals in the Nuclear Industry three commercial samples of nitrile rubber at grades BA40, BA50, and BA60 have been tested. Differential scanning calorimetry was used to find the glass transition temperature (Tg) and a Lloyds Texture Analyser 500 (TA500) was used to find the ratio of energy returned during relaxation against energy applied during compression. The mechanical properties determined from these experiments were then compared against the materials infrared spectra to infer structural characteristics. These were in turn cross-analyzed against the materials ability to swell in a liquid solvent and absorption behavior in a gaseous solvent. From this information, a statement could be made about each material's capacity to perform as a seal. It was thus found that the high energy retention and low absorption characteristics of BA40 made this material the best choice out of those studied for use as a polymeric seal in the nuclear industry. © 2017 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Appl. Polym. Sci. 2017, 135, 45814

Salmonella and Campylobacter spp. in Northern Elephant Seals, California

Campylobacter and Salmonella spp. prevalence and antimicrobial drug sensitivity were determined in northern elephant seals that had not entered the water and seals that were stranded on the California coast. Stranded seals had a higher prevalence of pathogenic bacteria, possibly from terrestrial sources, which were more likely to be resistant

Magnetic Fields in the Milky Way

This chapter presents a review of observational studies to determine the magnetic field in the Milky Way, both in the disk and in the halo, focused on recent developments and on magnetic fields in the diffuse interstellar medium. I discuss some terminology which is confusingly or inconsistently used and try to summarize current status of our knowledge on magnetic field configurations and strengths in the Milky Way. Although many open questions still exist, more and more conclusions can be drawn on the large-scale and small-scale components of the Galactic magnetic field. The chapter is concluded with a brief outlook to observational projects in the near future.Comment: 22 pages, 5 figures, to appear in "Magnetic Fields in Diffuse Media", eds. E.M. de Gouveia Dal Pino and A. Lazaria

Stellar population synthesis at the resolution of 2003

We present a new model for computing the spectral evolution of stellar populations at ages between 100,000 yr and 20 Gyr at a resolution of 3 A across the whole wavelength range from 3200 to 9500 A for a wide range of metallicities. These predictions are based on a newly available library of observed stellar spectra. We also compute the spectral evolution across a larger wavelength range, from 91 A to 160 micron, at lower resolution. The model incorporates recent progress in stellar evolution theory and an observationally motivated prescription for thermally-pulsing stars on the asymptotic giant branch. The latter is supported by observations of surface brightness fluctuations in nearby stellar populations. We show that this model reproduces well the observed optical and near-infrared colour-magnitude diagrams of Galactic star clusters of various ages and metallicities. Stochastic fluctuations in the numbers of stars in different evolutionary phases can account for the full range of observed integrated colours of star clusters in the Magellanic Clouds. The model reproduces in detail typical galaxy spectra from the Early Data Release (EDR) of the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS). We exemplify how this type of spectral fit can constrain physical parameters such as the star formation history, metallicity and dust content of galaxies. Our model is the first to enable accurate studies of absorption-line strengths in galaxies containing stars over the full range of ages. Using the highest-quality spectra of the SDSS EDR, we show that this model can reproduce simultaneously the observed strengths of those Lick indices that do not depend strongly on element abundance ratios [abridged].Comment: 35 pages, 22 figures, to appear in MNRAS; version with full resolution figures available at http://www.iap.fr/~charlot/bc2003/pape

PROFIL WISATAWAN MUSEUM RADYA PUSTAKA SURAKARTA

Anggit Margaret, C9407031 2011. Profil Wisatawan Museum Radya Pustaka Surakarta. Program Studi Diploma III Usaha Perjalanan Wisata Fakultas Sastra Dan Seni Rupa Universitas Sebelas Maret Surakarta. Penelitian tugas akhir ini mengkaji tentang Profil Wisatawan di Museum Radya Pustaka Surakarta. Tujuan dari penelitian ini adalah untuk mengetahui dari daerah mana saja wisatawan yang berkunjung ke Museum Radya Pustaka, bagaimana ciri-ciri wisatawan yang berkunjung ke Museum Radya Pustaka serta harapan-harapan yang diinginkan wisatawan terhadap Museum Radya Pustaka. Penelitian dilakukan dengan metode kualitatif. Pengumpulan data dilakukan melalui wawancara dengan narasumber wisatawan yang berkujung di Museum Radya Pustaka Surakarta tempat penulis melakukan penelitian, serta studi pustaka dan studi dokumen guna menambah sumber data. Hasil penelitian menunjukkan bahwa (1) Sebagian besar wisatawan yang datang berasal dari Semarang sebesar 32%. (2) Mayoritas wisatawan yang berkunjung ke Museum Radya Pustaka berusia antara 17-25 tahun dan kebanyakan dari mereka adalah pelajar atau mahasiswa dengan prosentase 52%. (3) Sebagian besar wisatawan yang datang ke Museum Radya Pustaka adalah bertujuan untuk melakukan penelitian yaitu sebesar 34%. (4) Harapan wisatawan yang berkunjung terhadap kelangsungan Museum Radya Pustaka sebagian besar adalah agar ditingkatkan lagi pengelolaan dan keamanan museum, agar kejadian hilangnya benda-benda koleksi museum tidak terulang lagi dikemudian hari. Kesimpulan dari hasil penelitian ini bahwa wisatawan yang berkujung ke Museum Radya Pustaka Surakarta mayoritas berasal dari Semarang, mayoritas berusia 17-25 tahun dan kebanyakan dari mereka adalah berprofesi sebagai pelajar dan mahasiswa. Kebanyakan wisatawan yang datang bertujuan untuk melakukan penelitian, serta harapan wisatawan terhadap Museum Radya Pustaka adalah supaya lebih ditingkatkan lagi pengelolaan dan keamanan museum

The Influence of Age and Sex on Genetic Associations with Adult Body Size and Shape : A Large-Scale Genome-Wide Interaction Study

Genome-wide association studies (GWAS) have identified more than 100 genetic variants contributing to BMI, a measure of body size, or waist-to-hip ratio (adjusted for BMI, WHRadjBMI), a measure of body shape. Body size and shape change as people grow older and these changes differ substantially between men and women. To systematically screen for age-and/or sex-specific effects of genetic variants on BMI and WHRadjBMI, we performed meta-analyses of 114 studies (up to 320,485 individuals of European descent) with genome-wide chip and/or Metabochip data by the Genetic Investigation of Anthropometric Traits (GIANT) Consortium. Each study tested the association of up to similar to 2.8M SNPs with BMI and WHRadjBMI in four strata (men 50y, women 50y) and summary statistics were combined in stratum-specific meta-analyses. We then screened for variants that showed age-specific effects (G x AGE), sex-specific effects (G x SEX) or age-specific effects that differed between men and women (G x AGE x SEX). For BMI, we identified 15 loci (11 previously established for main effects, four novel) that showed significant (FDR= 50y). No sex-dependent effects were identified for BMI. For WHRadjBMI, we identified 44 loci (27 previously established for main effects, 17 novel) with sex-specific effects, of which 28 showed larger effects in women than in men, five showed larger effects in men than in women, and 11 showed opposite effects between sexes. No age-dependent effects were identified for WHRadjBMI. This is the first genome-wide interaction meta-analysis to report convincing evidence of age-dependent genetic effects on BMI. In addition, we confirm the sex-specificity of genetic effects on WHRadjBMI. These results may providefurther insights into the biology that underlies weight change with age or the sexually dimorphism of body shape.Peer reviewe

Reducing the environmental impact of surgery on a global scale: systematic review and co-prioritization with healthcare workers in 132 countries

Background Healthcare cannot achieve net-zero carbon without addressing operating theatres. The aim of this study was to prioritize feasible interventions to reduce the environmental impact of operating theatres. Methods This study adopted a four-phase Delphi consensus co-prioritization methodology. In phase 1, a systematic review of published interventions and global consultation of perioperative healthcare professionals were used to longlist interventions. In phase 2, iterative thematic analysis consolidated comparable interventions into a shortlist. In phase 3, the shortlist was co-prioritized based on patient and clinician views on acceptability, feasibility, and safety. In phase 4, ranked lists of interventions were presented by their relevance to high-income countries and low–middle-income countries. Results In phase 1, 43 interventions were identified, which had low uptake in practice according to 3042 professionals globally. In phase 2, a shortlist of 15 intervention domains was generated. In phase 3, interventions were deemed acceptable for more than 90 per cent of patients except for reducing general anaesthesia (84 per cent) and re-sterilization of ‘single-use’ consumables (86 per cent). In phase 4, the top three shortlisted interventions for high-income countries were: introducing recycling; reducing use of anaesthetic gases; and appropriate clinical waste processing. In phase 4, the top three shortlisted interventions for low–middle-income countries were: introducing reusable surgical devices; reducing use of consumables; and reducing the use of general anaesthesia. Conclusion This is a step toward environmentally sustainable operating environments with actionable interventions applicable to both high– and low–middle–income countries

Diagnostic Pacing Maneuvers for Supraventricular Tachycardia: Part 1

This two-part manuscript reviews diagnostic pacing maneuvers for supraventricular tachycardia (SVT) (PACE 2011; 34:767-782) ablation, electrophysiology-clinical, svt, pacin

Closer insight into the reactivity of TMP-dialkyl zincates in directed ortho-zincation of anisole : experimental evidence of amido basicity and structural elucidation of key reaction intermediates

The new dialkyl(aryl) lithium zincates [(THF)2Li(C6H4−OMe)MeZnMe] (4), [(TMEDA)Li(C6H4−OMe)MeZnMe] (6), [(THF)3Li(C6H4−OMe)tBuZntBu] (7), and [(PMDETA)Li(C6H4−OMe)tBuZntBu] (8) have been prepared by co-complexation reactions of lithiated anisole with the relevant dialkylzinc compound and the relevant Lewis base. These new heterobimetallic compounds have been characterized in solution using 1H, 13C{H}, and 7Li NMR spectroscopy, and the molecular structures of 6 and 8 have been elucidated by X-ray crystallography. In 6 the distinct metals are connected through the anisole ligand which binds in an ambidentate fashion (through carbon−zinc and oxygen−lithium contacts) and also through one of the methyl groups, to close a [LiOCCZnC] six-membered ring; whereas 8 displays an open structure where anisole connects the two metals (in the same mode as in 6) but with the tert-butyl groups exclusively bonded terminally to zinc. Reactivity studies of zincates 4 and 7 with the amine TMP(H) supply experimental evidence that these heterobimetallic compounds are intermediates in the two-step deprotonation reaction of anisole by TMP−dialkyl zincates and show the relevance of the alkyl groups in the efficiency of TMP−dialkyl zincate bases. In addition, important solvent effects have also been evaluated. When hexane is added to THF solutions of compounds 4 or 7, the homoleptic tetraorganozincate [(THF)2Li2Zn(C6H4−OMe)4] (5) is obtained as the result of a disproportionation process. This lithium-rich zincate has also been spectroscopically and crystallographically characterized