Development of a whole life cycle cost model for electrification options on the UK rail system

Projects to deliver Overhead Line Equipment (OLE) electrification on the UK rail infrastructure system presents technical challenges which the rail industry in Britain have not traditionally had to consider. Whole Life Cycle assessment provides decision makers with cost estimates for the installation phase and over the entire service life of the system, including disposal. The OLE projects face a particular problem when analysing the best option for overbridges. Much of the rail infrastructure has not traditionally had to consider overhead clearances and therefore many of the bridges are only a little taller than the rolling stock. In addition to the difficulties in assessing the Life-Cycle costs of assets that have historically been used in very limited scales, the Whole Life Cycle assessment must consider the various engineering options that are available for projects. The three competing options (bridge rebuild, track lowering, reduced clearance) are all going to have very different capital expenditure (CAPEX) and operating expenditure (OPEX) costs. This work presents a model created to predict these costs over the anticipated assessment period. The developed model predicts capital expenditures, maintenance and service disruption costs and links them to the three major assets options involved in OLE underbridges

A quantum computational semantics for epistemic logical operators. Part I: epistemic structures

Some critical open problems of epistemic logics can be investigated in the framework of a quantum computational approach. The basic idea is to interpret sentences like “Alice knows that Bob does not understand that π is irrational” as pieces of quantum information (generally represented by density operators of convenient Hilbert spaces). Logical epistemic operators (to understand, to know. . .) are dealt with as (generally irreversible) quantum operations, which are, in a sense, similar to measurement-procedures. This approach permits us to model some characteristic epistemic processes, that concern both human and artificial intelligence. For instance, the operation of “memorizing and retrieving information” can be formally represented, in this framework, by using a quantum teleportation phenomenon

Paper Session II-A - A New Commercial Space Furnace- Developed on the Fast Track

A new space payload was recently developed which provides the capability for processing advanced metals and alloys. This payload features a high temperature sintering furnace which has successfully flown on the first two missions of the commercial SPACEHAB payload carrier (STS Mission 57 and 60), This paper describes the technical and programmatic approaches used to deliver the rack-mounted equipment in less than ten months from program initiation, and at a cost of less than $3,000/pound (compared to some$100,000/pound for comparable astronaut-rated payloads). A key to the efficient and cost-effective approach was the use of the Universal Small Experiment Container or USEC developed by Wyle Laboratories. This commercially-developed product was used to incorporate the furnace, vacuum system, computer/controller, power conditioning, cooling system, pressurized gas purge system, gravity sensor, and other elements into a compact 220-pound package. The project has established a new milestone by demonstrating how more cost-effective payloads can be developed and flown on the Space Shuttle

Short‐term effects of a modified A lt‐ RAMEC protocol for early treatment of C lass III malocclusion: a controlled study

Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/109361/1/ocr12051.pd

Treatment and posttreatment effects induced by the Forsus appliance: A controlled clinical study.

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate treatment and posttreatment dentoskeletal effects induced by the Forsus device (FRD) in growing patients with Class II malocclusion in a retrospective controlled clinical study. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Thirty-six Class II patients (mean [SD] age 12.3 [1.2] years) were treated consecutively with the FRD protocol and compared with a sample of 20 subjects with untreated Class II malocclusion (mean [SD] age 12.2 [0.9] years). Lateral cephalograms were taken at the beginning of treatment, at the end of comprehensive treatment (after 2.3 ± 0.4 years), and at a postretention period (after 2.3 ± 1.1 years from the end of comprehensive treatment). Statistical comparisons were carried out with the unpaired t-test and Benjamini-Hochberg correction (P < .05). RESULTS: After comprehensive treatment, the FRD sample showed a significant restriction of the sagittal maxillary growth together with a significant correction in overjet, overbite, and molar relationship. During the overall observation interval, the FRD group exhibited no significant sagittal or vertical skeletal changes, while significant improvements were recorded in overjet (−3.8 mm), overbite (−1.5 mm), and molar relationship (+3.7 mm). CONCLUSION: The FRD protocol was effective in correcting Class II malocclusion mainly at the dentoalveolar level when evaluated 2 years after the end of comprehensive treatment

Glenoid fossa position in Class II malocclusion associated with mandibular retrusion

Abstract Objective: To assess the position of the glenoid fossa in subjects with Class II malocclusion associated with mandibular retrusion and normal mandibular size in the mixed dentition. Materials and Methods: A sample of 30 subjects (16 male, 14 female), age 9 years ± 6 months, with skeletal and dental Class II malocclusion associated with mandibular retrusion, normal skeletal vertical relationships, and normal mandibular dimensions, was compared with a matched group of 37 subjects (18 male, 19 female) with skeletal and dental Class I relationships. The comparisons between the Class II group and the control group on the cephalometric measures for the assessment of glenoid fossa position were performed by means of a nonparametric test for independent samples (Mann-Whitney U-test, P &lt; .05). Results: Subjects with Class II malocclusion presented with a significantly more distal position of the glenoid fossa, when compared with the control group as measured by means of three parameters (GF-S on FH, GF-Ptm on FH, and GF-FMN). Conclusions: A posteriorly displaced glenoid fossa is a possible diagnostic feature of Class II malocclusion associated with mandibular retrusion. An effective cephalometric measurement to evaluate glenoid fossa position is the distance from the glenoid fossa to the frontomaxillonasal suture (GF-FMN)

Native NIR-emitting single colour centres in CVD diamond

Single-photon sources are a fundamental element for developing quantum technologies, and sources based on colour centres in diamonds are among the most promising candidates. The well-known NV centres are characterized by several limitations, thus few other defects have recently been considered. In the present work, we characterize in detail native efficient single colour centres emitting in the near infra-red in both standard IIa single-crystal and electronic-grade polycrystalline commercial CVD diamond samples. In the former case, a high-temperature annealing process in vacuum is necessary to induce the formation/activation of luminescent centres with good emission properties, while in the latter case the annealing process has marginal beneficial effects on the number and performances of native centres in commercially available samples. Although displaying significant variability in several photo physical properties (emission wavelength, emission rate instabilities, saturation behaviours), these centres generally display appealing photophysical properties for applications as single photon sources: short lifetimes, high emission rates and strongly polarized light. The native centres are tentatively attributed to impurities incorporated in the diamond crystal during the CVD growth of high-quality type IIa samples, and offer promising perspectives in diamond-based photonics.Comment: 27 pages, 10 figures. Submitted to "New Journal of Phsyics", NJP-100003.R