Tech United Eindhoven RoboCup adult size humanoid team description 2012

This document presents the 2012 Tech United Eindhoven adult size humanoid robot team from The Netherlands. The team contributes the adult-size humanoid robot TUlip. Here we present the mechanical design and kinematic structure of the robot. We introduce the walking gait and contribute a controller structure including gravity compensation. Finally, we describe the vision system, self localization and world model, which are used for the attacker and defender strategy in the humanoid robot soccer game

Comparative U, Np and Pu M edge high energy resolution X-ray absorption spectroscopy (HR-XANES) investigations of model and genuine active waste glass

Understanding the long term behavior of vitrified nuclear waste requires a full and detailed characterization of the materials including their characteristics as synthesized and after exposure to groundwater. Genuine radioactive waste glass has a complex chemical composition. Therefore we take a simplified approach by investigating and comparing the oxidation states of U, Pu and Np in high level waste (HLW) glass sampled from the VEK vitrification process (VEK glass) and in model glasses. The model glasses doped with U and Pu have the same borosilicate glass frit composition as the VEK glass, whereas the model glass doped with Np has a base glass composition (R7T7) typically used for vitrification of HLW in France. U/Pu/Np M4/M5 edge high energy resolution X-ray absorption near edge structure (HR-XANES) spectroscopy technique [1] is applied to characterize the An oxidation states in model and genuine VEK HLW glass. The HR-XANES analyses suggest predominant existence of U(VI) and Pu(IV) in the HLW and the model glasses as expected from the oxidative vitrification conditions. Weak changes in U oxidation state as a function of the U loading (1.2 – 5 wt% UO2) are discussed on the basis of U M4 edge HR-XANES and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) results. One significant difference found between the model and the genuine HLW glasses is the strong radiation damage induced in the HLW glass by the soft X-ray beam (position of the U M4 edge: 3.73 keV) which was not observed for the U doped model glasses and the previous L3 edge investigations of the HLW glass sample. The dominant U(VI) oxidation state is reduced almost by 50% to U(IV) within 5 h of measurement. The complex chemical composition of the HLW glass leads to different local U atomic environments compared to the model glass as found by EXAFS investigations. EXAFS results confirm that U in the HLW glass is coordinated by Al/Si neighbors in the second coordination sphere, whereas no neighboring atoms are observed at this distance for the model glass. Differences in results obtained for the Np oxidation state for Np doped asprepared and leached R7T7 borosilicate model glasses and the HLW glass will be presented and discussed

Comparative U, Np and Pu M edge high energy resolution X-ray absorption spectroscopy (HR-XANES) investigations of model and genuine active waste glass

Genuine radioactive glass sampled from the vitrification plant Karlsruhe and actinide doped model 2 glasses  are  investigated  by  U/Pu/Np  M4/M5  high  energy  resolution  X‐ray  absorption near edge structure (HR‐XANES), U L3 EXAFS and XPS spectroscopy techniques to characterize and compare the U, Pu and Np oxidation states and their local atomic environments. The importance of the results will be discussed in terms of the strategy of using simplified simulated waste glasses to understand more complex industrial glass samples. The final goal of these studies is to predict the long term behavior of vitrified nuclear waste stored in a nuclear waste repository. Highly active waste concentrate (HAWC) from nuclear fuel reprocessing is immobilized in borosilicate glass matrices to generate a disposable waste form [1]. Between 2009 and 2010, the vitrification plant Karlsruhe (VEK) was operated for vitrification of liquid process residues left over from operation of the former reprocessing plant Karlsruhe (WAK). About 56 m3 HAWC were processed, resulting in 50 t of waste  glass  [2].  The  long  term  radiotoxicity  of  U,  Np,  Pu  and  other  actinide  elements  (An),  minor constitute of the reprocessed waste, is of great concern in safety assessment studies of nuclear waste repositories. For example, in case of water intrusion and interaction with the glass matrix, corrosion processes will take place which might facilitate the release of radionuclides into the geosphere. The An redox state and bonding characteristics in the glass matrix determine their release mechanisms and retention processes taking place in near and far field of the repository [3]. Understanding the long term behavior of vitrified nuclear waste requires full and detailed characterization of the materials including their characteristics as synthesized and after exposure to  groundwater. Genuine radioactive waste glass has a complex chemical composition. Therefore we take a simplified approach by investigating and comparing the oxidation states of U, Pu and Np in high level waste (HLW) glass sampled from the VEK vitrification process (VEK glass) and in model glasses. The model glasses doped with U and Pu have the same borosilicate glass frit composition as the VEK glass, whereas  the  model  glass  doped  with  Np  has  a  base  glass  composition  (R7T7)  typically  used  for  vitrification of HLW in France. U/Pu/Np  M4/M5  edge  high  energy  resolution  X‐ray  absorption  near  edge  structure  (HR‐XANES)  spectroscopy technique [4] is applied to characterize the An oxidation states

A highly polymorphic effector protein promotes fungal virulence through suppression of plant-associated Actinobacteria

Plant pathogens secrete effector proteins to support host colonization through a wide range of molecular mechanisms, while plant immune systems evolved receptors to recognize effectors or their activities to mount immune responses to halt pathogens. Importantly, plants do not act as single organisms, but rather as holobionts that actively shape their microbiota as a determinant of health. The soil-borne fungal pathogen Verticillium dahliae was recently demonstrated to exploit the VdAve1 effector to manipulate the host microbiota to promote vascular wilt disease in the absence of the corresponding immune receptor Ve1. We identify a multiallelic V. dahliae gene displaying c. 65% sequence similarity to VdAve1, named VdAve1-like (VdAve1L), which shows extreme sequence variation, including alleles that encode dysfunctional proteins, indicative of selection pressure to overcome host recognition. We show that the orphan cell surface receptor Ve2, encoded at the Ve locus, does not recognize VdAve1L. Additionally, we demonstrate that the full-length variant VdAve1L2 possesses antimicrobial activity, like VdAve1, yet with a divergent activity spectrum, that is exploited by V. dahliae to mediate tomato colonization through the direct suppression of antagonistic Actinobacteria in the host microbiota. Our findings open up strategies for more targeted biocontrol against microbial plant pathogens

Filamentous pathogen effector functions: of pathogens, hosts and microbiomes

Microorganisms play essential roles in almost every environment on earth. For instance, microbes decompose organic material, or establish symbiotic relationships that range from pathogenic to mutualistic. Symbiotic relationships have been particularly well studied for microbial plant pathogens and have emphasized the role of effectors; secreted molecules that support host colonization. Most effectors characterized thus far play roles in deregulation of host immunity. Arguably, however, pathogens not only deal with immune responses during host colonization, but also encounter other microbes including competitors, (myco)parasites and even potential co-operators. Thus, part of the effector catalog may target microbiome co-inhabitants rather than host physiology

Photoacoustic and optothermal studies of tomato ketchup adulterated by the red beet (Beta vulgaris)

Photoacoustic (PA) spectroscopy and optothermal window (OW) technique were used to explore their potential to detect red beet added as a colorant to tomato ketchup. The associated changes of colour resulting in the changes of absorbance (and hence of PA and OT signals) were monitored in the 500 nm region corresponding to the absorption maximum of lycopene. Both methods were shown capable of quantifying about 1% of red beet (by mass) in the mixture of ketchup and red beet

Tech United Eindhoven RoboCup adult size humanoid team description 2013

This document presents the 2013 Tech United Eindhoven adult size humanoid robot team from the Netherlands. In this description paper we present the model, parameter estimation and simulator of our humanoid robot TUlip. We introduce the walking gait and contribute a feedback controller with feedforward dynamics compensation and iterative learning control. We describe the vision system, localizatio

An innovative Method to study Volatile Fission Products speciation in nuclear fuels under Severe Accident Conditions

International audienceThe development of realistic models for fission products behavior during a severe accident requires experimental data on fission products speciation into the fuel (as irradiated and during the transient) together with thermodynamic predictions. Due to the limitations in terms of experiments and characterization techniques available to study fission products speciation in nuclear irradiated fuels, simulant materials (SIMFUEL manufactured thanks to conventional process) are often used. However, these materials do not allow the study of volatile fission products because they are totally released during the sintering stage. In the case of SIMFUEL with implanted fission products surrogates, the chemical state and the corresponding evolution of the phases during the thermal sequence are not entirely representative of the real case. An innovative method to study volatile fission products speciation in SIMFUEL samples has thus been developed. Spark plasma sintering was used to synthesize dense SIMFUEL samples containing cesium in collaboration with the JRC-Karlsruhe within the frame of the GENTLE program. Thermodynamic calculations made using the TAF-ID v.6 associated with the FACTSage software enabled to determine the conditions in which to perform thermal treatments. In-temperature XAS experiments in conditions representative of a sevre accident are developed in collaboration with FAME-UHD beamline at the ESRF (Grenoble, France). Additional thermal treatments will also be performed to enable further characterizations (ceramography, SEM-EDX...)