2,321 research outputs found
Estimating fuel channel bore from fuel grab load trace data
Detailed measurements of the graphite core fuel channels are made by specialist inspection equipment during planned outages, typically every 18 months to 3 years. The bores of the graphite fuel bricks are obtained during these inspections and are used to provide important information about the health of the core. Additionally, less detailed online monitoring data is obtained much more frequently during refuelling events, called the fuel grab load trace (FGLT), which can be also used to infer the health of the graphite core. This paper describes the process of creating a model which isolates a component of the refuelling data and maps it directly to dimensional measurements of fuel channel bore. The model is created from a combination of the theoretical understanding of the physical interactions of the fuel stringer during refuelling events and several years of refuelling and inspection data to estimate suitable model parameters. Initially the model created was a coarse estimation of FGLT to fuel bore dimension but through refinements a much more accurate model has been created. An application of this model is shown through a case study of a recent outage where estimations were made on refuelling data and were compared to previously unseen inspection data
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A New Calibration Of Galactic Cepheid Period-Luminosity Relations From B To K Bands, And A Comparison To LMC Relations
Context. The universality of the Cepheid period-luminosity (PL) relations has been under discussion since metallicity effects were assumed to play a role in the value of the intercept and, more recently, of the slope of these relations. Aims. The goal of the present study is to calibrate the Galactic PL relations in various photometric bands (from B to K) and to compare the results to the well-established PL relations in the LMC. Methods. We use a set of 59 calibrating stars, the distances of which are measured using five different distance indicators: Hubble Space Telescope and revised Hipparcos parallaxes, infrared surface brightness and interferometric Baade-Wesselink parallaxes, and classical Zero-Age-Main-Sequence-fitting parallaxes for Cepheids belonging to open clusters or OB stars associations. A detailed discussion of absorption corrections and projection factor to be used is given. Results. We find no significant difference in the slopes of the PL relations between LMC and our Galaxy. Conclusions. We conclude that the Cepheid PL relations have universal slopes in all photometric bands, not depending on the galaxy under study (at least for LMC and Milky Way). The possible zero-point variation with metal content is not discussed in the present work, but an upper limit of 18.50 for the LMC distance modulus can be deduced from our data.McDonald Observator
Interferometric Astrometry of Proxima Centauri and Barnard's Star Using Hubble Space Telescope Fine Guidance Sensor 3: Detection Limits for sub-Stellar Companions
We report on a sub-stellar companion search utilizing interferometric
fringe-tracking astrometry acquired with Fine Guidance Sensor 3 (FGS 3) on the
Hubble Space Telescope. Our targets were Proxima Centauri and Barnard's Star.
We obtain absolute parallax values for Proxima Cen pi_{abs} = 0.7687 arcsecond
and for Barnard's Star pi_{abs} = 0.5454 arcsecond.
Once low-amplitude instrumental systematic errors are identified and removed,
our companion detection sensitivity is less than or equal to one Jupiter mass
for periods longer than 60 days for Proxima Cen. Between the astrometry and the
radial velocity results we exclude all companions with M > 0.8M_{Jup} for the
range of periods 1 < P < 1000 days. For Barnard's Star our companion detection
sensitivity is less than or equal to one Jupiter mass for periods long er than
150 days. Our null results for Barnard's Star are consistent with those of
Gatewood (1995).Comment: 35 pages, 13 figures, to appear in August 1999 A
Photometry of Proxima Centauri and Barnard's Star Using HST Fine Guidance Sensor 3: A Search for Periodic Variations
We have observed Proxima Centauri and Barnard's Star with Hubble Space
Telescope Fine Guidance Sensor 3. Proxima Centauri exhibits small-amplitude,
periodic photometric variations. Once several sources of systematic photometric
error are corrected, we obtain 2 milli-magnitude internal photometric
precision. We identify two distinct behavior modes over the past four years:
higher amplitude, longer period; smaller amplitude, shorter period. Within the
errors one period (P ~ 83d) is twice the other. Barnard's Star shows very weak
evidence for periodicity on a timescale of approximately 130 days. If we
interpret these periodic phenomena as rotational modulation of star spots, we
identify three discrete spots on Proxima Cen and possibly one spot on Barnard's
Star. We find that the disturbances change significantly on time scales as
short as one rotation period.Comment: 39 pages, 17 figure
The Extrasolar Planet epsilon Eridani b - Orbit and Mass
Hubble Space Telescope observations of the nearby (3.22 pc), K2 V star
epsilon Eridani have been combined with ground-based astrometric and radial
velocity data to determine the mass of its known companion. We model the
astrometric and radial velocity measurements simultaneously to obtain the
parallax, proper motion, perturbation period, perturbation inclination, and
perturbation size. Because of the long period of the companion, \eps b, we
extend our astrometric coverage to a total of 14.94 years (including the three
year span of the \HST data) by including lower-precision ground-based
astrometry from the Allegheny Multichannel Astrometric Photometer. Radial
velocities now span 1980.8 -- 2006.3. We obtain a perturbation period, P = 6.85
+/- 0.03 yr, semi-major axis, alpha =1.88 +/- 0.20 mas, and inclination i =
30.1 +/- 3.8 degrees. This inclination is consistent with a previously measured
dust disk inclination, suggesting coplanarity. Assuming a primary mass M_* =
0.83 M_{\sun}, we obtain a companion mass M = 1.55 +/- 0.24 M_{Jup}. Given the
relatively young age of epsilon Eri (~800 Myr), this accurate exoplanet mass
and orbit can usefully inform future direct imaging attempts. We predict the
next periastron at 2007.3 with a total separation, rho = 0.3 arcsec at position
angle, p.a. = -27 degrees. Orbit orientation and geometry dictate that epsilon
Eri b will appear brightest in reflected light very nearly at periastron.
Radial velocities spanning over 25 years indicate an acceleration consistent
with a Jupiter-mass object with a period in excess of 50 years, possibly
responsible for one feature of the dust morphology, the inner cavity
Wess-Zumino Terms in Supersymmetric Gauge Theories
The Wess-Zumino term is constructed for supersymmetric QCD with two colors
and flavors, and is shown to correctly reproduce the anomalous Ward identities.
Supersymmetric QCD is also shown not to have topologically stable skyrmion
solutions because of baryon flat directions, which allow them to unwind. The
generalization of these results to other supersymmetric theories with quantum
modified constraints is discussed.Comment: 4 pages (revtex
Performance characteristics of next-generation sequencing for the detection of antimicrobial resistance determinants in Escherichia coli genomes and metagenomes
Short-read sequencing can provide detection of multiple genomic determinants of antimicrobial resistance from single bacterial genomes and metagenomic samples. Despite its increasing application in human, animal, and environmental microbiology, including human clinical trials, the performance of short-read Illumina sequencing for antimicrobial resistance gene (ARG) detection, including resistance-conferring single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs), has not been systematically characterized. Using paired-end 2 x 150 bp (base pair) Illumina sequencing and an assembly-based method for ARG prediction, we determined sensitivity, positive predictive value (PPV), and sequencing depths required for ARG detection in an Escherichia coli isolate of sequence type (ST) 38 spiked into a synthetic microbial community at varying abundances. Approximately 300,000 reads or 15x genome coverage was sufficient to detect ARGs in E. coli ST38, with comparable sensitivity and PPV to ~100x genome coverage. Using metagenome assembly of mixed microbial communities, ARG detection at E. coli relative abundances of 1% would require assembly of approximately 30 million reads to achieve 15x target coverage. The minimum sequencing depths were validated using public data sets of 948 E. coli genomes and 10 metagenomic rectal swab samples. A read-based approach using k-mer alignment (KMA) for ARG prediction did not substantially improve minimum sequencing depths for ARG detection compared to assembly of the E. coli ST38 genome or the combined metagenomic samples. Analysis of sequencing depths from recent studies assessing ARG content in metagenomic samples demonstrated that sequencing depths had a median estimated detection frequency of 84% (interquartile range: 30%-92%) for a relative abundance of 1%. IMPORTANCE Systematically determining Illumina sequencing performance characteristics for detection of ARGs in metagenomic samples is essential to inform study design and appraisal of human, animal, and environmental metagenomic antimicrobial resistance studies. In this study, we quantified the performance characteristics of ARG detection in E. coli genomes and metagenomes and established a benchmark of ~15x coverage for ARG detection for E. coli in metagenomes. We demonstrate that for low relative abundances, sequencing depths of ~30 million reads or more may be required for adequate sensitivity for many applications
Astrometry with Hubble Space Telescope: A Parallax of the Fundamental Distance Calibrator RR Lyrae
We present an absolute parallax and relative proper motion for the
fundamental distance scale calibrator, RR Lyr. We obtain these with astrometric
data from FGS 3, a white-light interferometer on HST. We find mas. Spectral classifications and VRIJHKTM and DDO51 photometry of
the astrometric reference frame surrounding RR Lyr indicate that field
extinction is low along this line of sight. We estimate =0.07\pm0.03 for
these reference stars. The extinction suffered by RR Lyr becomes one of the
dominant contributors to the uncertainty in its absolute magnitude. Adopting
the average field absorption, =0.07 \pm 0.03, we obtain M_V^{RR} = 0.61
^{-0.11}_{+0.10}. This provides a distance modulus for the LMC, m-M = 18.38 -
18.53^{-0.11}_{+0.10} with the average extinction-corrected magnitude of RR Lyr
variables in the LMC, , remaining a significant uncertainty. We compare
this result to more than 80 other determinations of the distance modulus of the
LMC.Comment: Several typos corrected. To appear in The Astronomical Journal,
January 200
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Associated reading skills in children with a history of Specific Language Impairment (SLI)
A large cohort of 200 eleven-year-old children with Specific Language Impairment (SLI) were assessed on basic reading accuracy and on reading comprehension as well as language tasks. Reading skills were examined descriptively and in relation to early language and literacy factors. Using stepwise regression analyses in which age and nonverbal IQ were controlled for, it was found that a single word reading measure taken at 7 years was unsurprisingly a strong predictor of the two different types of reading ability. However, even with this measure included, a receptive syntax task (TROG) entered when reading accuracy score was the DV. Furthermore, a test of expressive syntax/narrative and a receptive syntax task completed at 7 years entered into the model for word reading accuracy. When early reading accuracy was excluded from the analyses, early phonological skills also entered as a predictor of both reading accuracy and comprehension at 11 years. The group of children with a history of SLI were then divided into those with no literacy difficulties at 11 and those with some persisting literacy impairment. Using stepwise logistic regression, and again controlling for IQ and age, 7 years receptive syntax score (but not tests of phonology, expressive vocabulary or expressive syntax/narrative) entered as a positive predictor of membership of the âno literacy problemsâ group regardless of whether early reading accuracy was controlled for in step one. The findings are discussed in relation to the overlap of SLI and dyslexia and the long term sequelae of language impairment
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