SCDAP/RELAP5 independent peer review

The SCDAP/RELAP5 code has been developed for best-estimate transient simulation of light-water-reactor coolant systems during severe accidents. The newest version of the code is SCDAP/RELAP5/MOD3. The US Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) decided that there was a need for a broad technical review of the code by recognized experts to determine overall technical adequacy, even though the code is still under development. For this purpose, an eight-member SCDAP/RELAP5 Peer Review Committee was organized, and the outcome of the review should help the NRC prioritize future code-development activity. Because the code is designed to be mechanistic, the Committee used a higher standard for technical adequacy than was employed in the peer review of the parametric MELCOR code. The Committee completed its review of the SCDAP/RELAP5 code, and the findings are documented in this report. Based on these findings, recommendations in five areas are provided: (1) phenomenological models, (2) code-design objectives, (3) code-targeted applications, (4) other findings, and (5) additional recommendations

Soy isoflavones and their relationship with microflora: beneficial effects on human health in equol producers

The bioavailability of soy isoflavones depends on the composition of the microflora for each subject. Bacteria act on different isoflavones with increased or reduced absorption and cause biotransformation of these compounds into metabolites with higher biological activity. S-equol is the most important metabolite and only 25–65 % of the population have the microflora that produces this compound. The presence of equol-producing bacteria in soy product consumers means that the consumption of such products for prolonged periods leads to lower cardiovascular risk, reduced incidence of prostate and breast cancer, and greater relief from symptoms related to the menopause such as hot flushes and osteoporosis

Parents as Advocates for the Psychosocial Survival of Adolescents and Young Adults with Cancer

Many young people with cancer have a parent or parents who care for them during their hospitalisation and treatment, and remain an important part of their lives after the ‘crisis’ has passed and young people have moved into survivorship. This qualitative study explored the impact of cancer diagnosis, treatment and survival during adolescence and young adulthood on the practice and experiences of parenting. We conducted focus groups with a total of 22 parents of young people diagnosed with various cancers between the ages of 11 and 19 years old. The results indicated that parents advocated for their offspring in different ways at different points of the cancer journey. Parents used their parental knowledge of their offspring to secure a medical diagnosis and treatment, developed medical knowledge to advocate for appropriate treatment within the medical system, and then used parental and medical knowledge to advocate for their offspring’s successful psychosocial survival. In this final point in the journey, parents entered social worlds from which they would normally be absent and some went to great lengths to ensure their offspring were not socially disadvantaged

Habitat Assessment of Non-Wadeable Rivers in Michigan

Habitat evaluation of wadeable streams based on accepted protocols provides a rapid and widely used adjunct to biological assessment. However, little effort has been devoted to habitat evaluation in non-wadeable rivers, where it is likely that protocols will differ and field logistics will be more challenging. We developed and tested a non-wadeable habitat index (NWHI) for rivers of Michigan, where non-wadeable rivers were defined as those of order ≥5, drainage area ≥1600 km 2 , mainstem lengths ≥100 km, and mean annual discharge ≥15 m 3 /s. This identified 22 candidate rivers that ranged in length from 103 to 825 km and in drainage area from 1620 to 16,860 km 2 . We measured 171 individual habitat variables over 2-km reaches at 35 locations on 14 rivers during 2000–2002, where mean wetted width was found to range from 32 to 185 m and mean thalweg depth from 0.8 to 8.3 m. We used correlation and principal components analysis to reduce the number of variables, and examined the spatial pattern of retained variables to exclude any that appeared to reflect spatial location rather than reach condition, resulting in 12 variables to be considered in the habitat index. The proposed NWHI included seven variables: riparian width, large woody debris, aquatic vegetation, bottom deposition, bank stability, thalweg substrate, and off-channel habitat. These variables were included because of their statistical association with independently derived measures of human disturbance in the riparian zone and the catchment, and because they are considered important in other habitat protocols or to the ecology of large rivers. Five variables were excluded because they were primarily related to river size rather than anthropogenic disturbance. This index correlated strongly with indices of disturbance based on the riparian (adjusted R 2 = 0.62) and the catchment (adjusted R 2 = 0.50), and distinguished the 35 river reaches into the categories of poor (2), fair (19), good (13), and excellent (1). Habitat variables retained in the NWHI differ from several used in wadeable streams, and place greater emphasis on known characteristic features of larger rivers.Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/41269/1/267_2004_Article_141.pd