Truth Commissions as a tool for consolidating democracy- A case study of the South African Truth and Reconciliation Commission

The thesis examines the truth and reconciliation commission in South Africa and its possibilities to act as a vehicle in the process of consolidating democracy. The norms and values that can be found in the principles and practices of the commission are scrutinized, and the means of presenting this norms to the public is also looked into. The issue of how to deal with the human rights violations of a past regime forms the theoretical framework, and the truth commission is compared with the traditional solution of court proceedings. In particular, the question of whether to grant amnesty or not is in focus. Further, the possibilities to strengthen the rule of law, promoting a human rights culture, promoting accountability, and deterring future return to non-democratic governance are examined. In the study both shortcomings and advantages of a truth commission are displayed

On Plastic Collapse Analysis of KBS-3 Canister Mock-Up

This report describes an in-depth finite element simulation of a spent fuel canister for geological disposal loaded in iso-static pressure until plastic collapse. The canister consists of a copper overpack and a ductile cast iron insert with steel cassettes where the spent fuel is placed. The higgly non-linear finite element analysis is based on the explicit formulation and includes large deformations, non-linear material behaviour and contact between the canister components. The analysis includes comparison between two-and three dimensional models and assessment of the different geometrical features such as corner radius of the cassette, cassette off-set, different bonding/dedonding conditions between insert and steel cassette. The analysis shows that the bonding cassette/insert has a large impact on the collapse load. Two large-scale mock-ups test that had been performed earlier are also simulated by the developed finite element models. There is a very good agreement between measured and computed deformations versus applied load and collapse load.JRC.F.4-Nuclear design safet

Lung cancer and mesothelioma among engine room crew – case reports with risk assessment of previous and ongoing exposure to carcinogens

Objective.The aim of this article is to illustrate, by means of case reports on occupational exposure in four men with cancer, the hazards of previous and ongoing carcinogenic exposures in ships’ engine rooms. Several cases of cancer occurred within a few years among the engine room crew of a passenger ferry. An investigation was undertaken to establish the number of cases, the types of cancers involved, and their possible relation to work. Subjects and Methods. Nine cases of cancer among crew members of the ferry were reported between 2001 and 2006, six of which occurred in crew working in the engine room. During the investigated time period, 65 men had been employed in the engine room (mean age 40, range 16–65, years). Four cases were referred to our department. Medical history, personal risk factors and specific diagnoses were collected by medical examinations and from the medical files. An experienced occupational hygienist evaluated work-related exposure to carcinogens. Results. Two engine room ratings contracted lung cancer at the age of 54 and 61, respectively. Both men had been smokers for many years (33 and 45 years, respectively). One engine room rating and one electrical engineer were diagnosed with mesothelioma at the age of 61 and 63, respectively. All four had started to work in engine rooms between 1959 and 1967. Carcinogenic exposure included asbestos, with an estimated cumulative exposure of 2–5 fibreyears/mL, as well as polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) and nitroarenes from oils, soot and engine exhaust. Conclusions. For the lung cancer cases, smoking and asbestos exposure were considered clear risk factors, and PAHs and nitroarenes possible risk factors. For the mesothelioma cases, former asbestos exposure was considered a causal factor. Asbestos can still be present on ships. Steps should be taken to reduce the exposure to asbestos, PAHs and nitroarenes, and smoking

Kalkonproduktion i fårstall

Målet för det här projektet är att se huruvida lönsamheten inom fårproduktionen kan förbättras genom ett högre utnyttjande av fårstallet. Det görs genom att bedriva omgångsvis uppfödning av kalkoner i halva ”fårstallet” under sommarhalvåret. I den här studien har jag utgått ifrån att köpa fem veckor gamla kalkonkycklingar till produktionen istället för att köpa dagsgamla kycklingarna vilket är det vanliga. De dagsgamla kycklingarna är känsliga och kräver mycket av både stallmiljö och djurskötare. Kalkoner har fram tills att de är tre till fyra veckor gamla stora krav på ventilation och temperatur. Efter att de är fem veckor gamla klarar de sig bra i det svenska vår- och sommarklimatet. Genom hela uppfödningstiden ställs det stora krav på ventilationen. De äldre djuren har ett relativt starkt immunförsvar men kan ändå drabbas av sjukdomar som slår ut stora delar av flocken. Under den ca sex månader långa betessäsongen är det lagom med en omgång kalkontuppar och en omgång kalkonhöns. Kalkontupparna går i stallet fjorton veckor och hönsen går i stallet sex veckor innan de är slaktmogna. Tupparna väger vid slakt ca 20 kg och bör således styckas för att vara kundanpassade, hönsen säljs normalt hela. Fakta till projektet är insamlad genom intervjuer, litteraturstudier och ett studiebesök. Resultatet är intressant då det tydligt framgår att kalkonuppfödningen skulle ge ett ekonomiskt nettoresultat på ca 38 000 kr/år. Jag ser därför goda möjligheter att detta projekt skulle kunna genomföras i praktiken.The vision of this project is to increase the profitability of a large-scale lamb production. The study deals with the possibilities of turkey production in sheep barn during the time that the sheep are grazing. I have examined if the turkey production can provide an economic surplus that would result in reduced barn cost of the lamb production. The stables of the study are based on an uninsulated barn for spring sheep production with room for 400 ewes. Since turkey poults are very sensitive to temperature variations and to a variety of diseases until they are five weeks old, I have assumed that to start with five-week-old turkeys would do well in the Swedish climate. During the six months long grazing season it would do well to produce two sets of turkeys, one set of turkey roosters and one set of turkey hens. The results are interesting and show that a turkey production in the sheep barns can produce a net surplus of about 38 000 SEK / year

A Prospective Study for Probabilistic Approach of Thermal Fatigue in Mixing Tees

The work performs a prospective study on probabilistic approach of thermal fatigue in mixing tees (Civaux 1 damage case) by means of the limit state function and Monte Carlo simulation. It is based on previous work where a deterministic assessment for thermal fatigue crack growth in high-cycle loadings, under the large nonlinear gradient stress profiles through wall-thickness due to sinusoidal thermal loading, has been done.The probabilistic approach considers variability in initial crack depth and Paris law C scaling parameter by means of specific probability density distributions. The crude Monte Carlo Simulations are performed using specific routines implemented in MATLAB software with Statistics Toolbox, and probabilities of failure are derived using the failure function which is defined based on a limit state given by the critical crack depth. The results were checked against predictions from empirical cumulative distribution and a good agreement was found. An important task was to estimate distribution function for fatigue lives after finding probabilities failure associated with corresponding fatigue lives by means of the failure function approach. Using specific MATLAB functions from Statistic Toolbox, for both axial and circumferential crack growth the pdf, associated mean value of the fatigue life and CoV have been estimated. The log-normal distribution has been found to best fit the results from failure function approach with MCS, for both cases.JRC.F.4-Safety of future nuclear reactor

Assessment of Thermal Fatigue Crack Growth in the High Cycle Domain under Sinusoidal Thermal Loading - An Application - Civaux 1 Case

The assessment of fatigue crack growth due to cyclic thermal loads arising from turbulent mixing presents significant challenges, principally due to the difficulty of establishing the actual loading spectrum. So-called sinusoidal methods represents a simplified approach in which the entire spectrum is replaced by a sine-wave variation of the temperature at the inner pipe surface. The amplitude can be conservatively estimated from the nominal temperature difference between the two flows which are mixing; however a critical frequency value must be determined numerically so as to achieve a minimum predicted life. The need for multiple calculations in this process has lead to the development of analytical solutions for thermal stresses in a pipe subject to sinusoidal thermal loading, described in a companion report. Based on these stress distributions solutions, the present report presents a methodology for assessment of thermal fatigue crack growth life. The critical sine wave frequency is calculated for both axial and hoop stress components as the value that produces the maximum tensile stress component at the inner surface. Using these through-wall stress distributions, the corresponding stress intensity factors for a long axial crack and a fully circumferential crack are calculated for a range of crack depths using handbook K solutions. By substituting these in a Paris law and integrating, a conservative estimate of thermal fatigue crack growth life is obtained. The application of the method is described for the pipe geometry and loadings conditions reported for the Civaux 1 case. Additionally, finite element analyses were used to check the thermal stress profiles and the stress intensity factors derived from the analytical model. The resulting predictions of crack growth life are comparable with those reported in the literature from more detailed analyses and are lower bound, as would be expected given the conservative assumptions made in the model.JRC.F.4-Nuclear design safet

International Workshop: Materials resistant to extreme conditions for future energy systems: Book of Abstracts

This is the third Workshop on Physics-Based Models and Experimental Validation funded by the European Union's Enlargement and Integration Programme with creep and plastic deformation of metals as the focus theme this year. In addition to provide a platform for collaboration and exchange of information between researchers in EU Member States and the target countries, the Workshop also aims to bring together students and international experts, scientists addressing more basic research with code developers and industrial end-users and to provide cross-cutting by involving scientists from different sectors such as nuclear, aerospace and automotive. Material is the key for the development of our future society such as new energy system, transport system and electronic equipment. The material properties, performance of components in different environments and associated material degradation mechanism depend on the microstructure and chemical composition of the material. By "physics-based" we refer to models that address microstructures and associated thermodynamic non-equilibrium mechanisms and processes at different length and time scales. Such models include molecular dynamics, dislocation dynamics and crystal plasticity. The basic foundation for such models were established in the 20th century but the further development and application to industrial problems is of more recent date thanks to the dramatic improvement of computational power. The ultimate goal is to combine several models, including continuum based phenomenological models, into a multi-scale approach to address complex material properties and also application to industrial components. Although one of the drivers for physics-based models is to replace the need for expensive material testing, experiments will be needed to develop, calibrate and validate physics-based and multi-scale models. Thus the integration of physics-based models and innovative experimental techniques are clearly coupled. The physics based models can be used for design of new materials with tailored properties or reducing the cost and time for development of new materials using physics-based models integrated with experiments. This research is therefore singled out as a key priority in broader research programmes. The Workshop consists of ten keynote lectures, 19 oral presentations and a Poster session with over 50 posters. New developments and applications of the various physics-based models as well as some cases for scale bridging will be presented. There are also presentations on specific experimental techniques and on some that address the applicability for industrial applications.JRC.G.I.4-Nuclear Reactor Safety and Emergency Preparednes

Regulation of Ca2+ channel and phosphatase activities by polyamines in intestinal and vascular smooth muscle - implications for cellular growth and contractility.

Polyamines added extracellularly to intestinal and vascular smooth muscle cells cause relaxation through inhibition of Ca2+ channel activity. Intracellularly applied polyamines also affect Ca2+ channel properties. Polyamines do not readily pass over the plasma membrane because of their positive charges but in permeabilized smooth muscle preparations they have free access to the cytoplasm. In this system they increase sensitivity of the contractile machinery to Ca2+ through inhibition of myosin phosphatase activity. The magnitude of Ca2+ channel and phosphatase inhibition depends on the number of positive charges on the polyamine molecule. Polyamines have an obligatory, but yet undefined, role in regulation of cell growth and proliferation. Several groups of protein kinases, such as tyrosine and mitogen activated protein (MAP)-kinases transmit the growth signal from the plasma membrane to the cell nucleus where mitosis and protein synthesis are initiated. The data reviewed here show that polyamines may affect such signal transmission via inhibition of phosphatase activity

2nd International Workshop on Physics-Based Modelling of Material Properties and Experimental Observations with special focus on Fracture and Damage Mechanics: Book of Abstracts

This report covers the book of abstracts of the 2nd International Workshop on Physics Based Modelling of Material Properties and Experimental Observations, with special focus on Fracture and Damage Mechanics. The workshop is organized in the context of European Commission’s Enlargement and Integration Action, by the Joint Research Centre in collaboration with the TOBB University of Economics and Technology (TOBB ETU) on 15th-17th May 2013 in Antalya, Turkey. The abstracts of the keynote lectures and all the technical presentations are included in the book. This workshop will give an overview of different physics-based models for fracture and degradation of metallic materials and how they can be used for improved understanding and more reliable predictions. Models of interest include cohesive zones to simulate fracture processes, ductile-brittle transition for ferritic steels, ductile fracture mechanisms such as void growth or localized shear, fatigue crack initiation and short crack growth, environmental assisted cracking. Experimental studies that support such models and case studies that illustrate their use are also within the scope. The workshop is also an opportunity for scientists and engineers from EU Member States and target countries to discuss research activities that could be a basis for future collaborations.JRC.F.4-Nuclear Reactor Integrity Assessment and Knowledge Managemen

Approaching the taxonomic affiliation of unidentified sequences in public databases – an example from the mycorrhizal fungi

BACKGROUND: During the last few years, DNA sequence analysis has become one of the primary means of taxonomic identification of species, particularly so for species that are minute or otherwise lack distinct, readily obtainable morphological characters. Although the number of sequences available for comparison in public databases such as GenBank increases exponentially, only a minuscule fraction of all organisms have been sequenced, leaving taxon sampling a momentous problem for sequence-based taxonomic identification. When querying GenBank with a set of unidentified sequences, a considerable proportion typically lack fully identified matches, forming an ever-mounting pile of sequences that the researcher will have to monitor manually in the hope that new, clarifying sequences have been submitted by other researchers. To alleviate these concerns, a project to automatically monitor select unidentified sequences in GenBank for taxonomic progress through repeated local BLAST searches was initiated. Mycorrhizal fungi – a field where species identification often is prohibitively complex – and the much used ITS locus were chosen as test bed. RESULTS: A Perl script package called emerencia is presented. On a regular basis, it downloads select sequences from GenBank, separates the identified sequences from those insufficiently identified, and performs BLAST searches between these two datasets, storing all results in an SQL database. On the accompanying web-service , users can monitor the taxonomic progress of insufficiently identified sequences over time, either through active searches or by signing up for e-mail notification upon disclosure of better matches. Other search categories, such as listing all insufficiently identified sequences (and their present best fully identified matches) publication-wise, are also available. DISCUSSION: The ever-increasing use of DNA sequences for identification purposes largely falls back on the assumption that public sequence databases contain a thorough sampling of taxonomically well-annotated sequences. Taxonomy, held by some to be an old-fashioned trade, has accordingly never been more important. emerencia does not automate the taxonomic process, but it does allow researchers to focus their efforts elsewhere than countless manual BLAST runs and arduous sieving of BLAST hit lists. The emerencia system is available on an open source basis for local installation with any organism and gene group as targets