Cyanoresin, cyanoresin/cellulose triacetate blends for thin film, dielectric capacitors

Non brittle dielectric films are formed by blending a cyanoresin such as cyanoethyl, hydroxyethyl cellulose (CRE) with a compatible, more crystalline resin such as cellulose triacetate. The electrical breakdown strength of the blend is increased by orienting the films by uniaxial or biaxial stretching. Blends of high molecular weight CRE with high molecular weight cyanoethyl cellulose (CRC) provide films with high dielectric constants

Birational geometry of hypersurfaces in products of projective spaces

We study the birational properties of hypersurfaces in products of projective spaces. In the case of hypersurfaces in Pm x Pn, we describe their nef, movable and e ective cones and determine when they are Mori dream spaces. Using this, we give new simple examples of non-Mori dream spaces and analogues of Mumford's example of a strictly nef line bundle which is not ample.This is the author accepted manuscript. The final version is available from Springer via http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s00209-015-1415-

Uncertainty analysis in the 1996 performance assessment for the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant

The appropriate treatment of uncertainty is now widely recognized as an essential component of performance assessments (PAs) for complex systems. When viewed at a high-level, the uncertainty in such analyses can typically be partitioned into two types: (1) stochastic uncertainty, which arises because the system can behave in many different ways and is thus a property of the system itself, and (2) subjective uncertainty, which arises from a lack of knowledge about quantities that are believed to have (or, at least, are assumed to have) fixed values and is thus a property of the analysts carrying out the study. The 1996 PA for the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant (WIPP) carried out at Sandia National Laboratories (SNL) will be used to illustrate the treatment of these two types of uncertainty in a real analysis. In particular, this PA supported a compliance certification application (CCA) by the US Department of Energy (DOE) to the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) for the certification of the WIPP for the geologic disposal of transuranic waste. Insights on the conceptual and computational structure of PAs for complex systems gained from these and other analyses are being incorporated into a new software system under development at SNL to facilitate the performance of analyses that maintain a separation between stochastic and subjective uncertainty

Evaluation of severe accident risks, Peach Bottom, Unit 2: Main report

In support of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission's (NRC's) assessment of the risk from severe accidents at commercial nuclear power plants in the US reported NUREG-1150, the Severe Accident Risk Reduction Program (SARRP) has completed a revised calculation of the risk to the general public from severe accidents at the Peach Bottom Atomic Power Station, Unit 2. This power plant, located in southeastern Pennsylvania, is operated by the Philadelphia Electric Company. The emphasis in this risk analysis was not on determining a so-called'' point estimate of risk. Rather, it was to determine the distribution of risk, and to discover the uncertainties that account for the breadth of this distribution. Off-site risk initiated by events both internal and external to the power station were assessed. 39 refs., 174 figs., 133 tabs

A Global SU(5) F-theory model with Wilson line breaking

We engineer compact SU(5) Grand Unified Theories in F-theory in which GUT-breaking is achieved by a discrete Wilson line. Because the internal gauge field is flat, these models avoid the high scale threshold corrections associated with hypercharge flux. Along the way, we exemplify the `local-to-global' approach in F-theory model building and demonstrate how the Tate divisor formalism can be used to address several challenges of extending local models to global ones. These include in particular the construction of G-fluxes that extend non-inherited bundles and the engineering of U(1) symmetries. We go beyond chirality computations and determine the precise (charged) massless spectrum, finding exactly three families of quarks and leptons but excessive doublet and/or triplet pairs in the Higgs sector (depending on the example) and vector-like exotics descending from the adjoint of SU(5)_{GUT}. Understanding why vector-like pairs persist in the Higgs sector without an obvious symmetry to protect them may shed light on new solutions to the mu problem in F-theory GUTs.Comment: 95 pages (71 pages + 1 Appendix); v2 references added, minor correction

Data incongruence and the problem of avian louse phylogeny

Recent studies based on different types of data (i.e. morphological and molecular) have supported conflicting phylogenies for the genera of avian feather lice (Ischnocera: Phthiraptera). We analyse new and published data from morphology and from mitochondrial (12S rRNA and COI) and nuclear (EF1-) genes to explore the sources of this incongruence and explain these conflicts. Character convergence, multiple substitutions at high divergences, and ancient radiation over a short period of time have contributed to the problem of resolving louse phylogeny with the data currently available. We show that apparent incongruence between the molecular datasets is largely attributable to rate variation and nonstationarity of base composition. In contrast, highly significant character incongruence leads to topological incongruence between the molecular and morphological data. We consider ways in which biases in the sequence data could be misleading, using several maximum likelihood models and LogDet corrections. The hierarchical structure of the data is explored using likelihood mapping and SplitsTree methods. Ultimately, we concede there is strong discordance between the molecular and morphological data and apply the conditional combination approach in this case. We conclude that higher level phylogenetic relationships within avian Ischnocera remain extremely problematic. However, consensus between datasets is beginning to converge on a stable phylogeny for avian lice, at and below the familial rank