D4.2 Evaluation of cycle 1 pilots

This report describes the efforts in cycle 1 pilots to evaluate the concept of TENCompetence and its first-release system implementation. Cycle 1 pilots are framed in two different domains: Digital Cinema and ICT Teacher Training. Both pilots are preceded by two preliminary experiences, which are very useful for planning the actual cycle 1 implementation, deployment and evaluation. The first results from cycle 1 pilots are encouraging and indicate that learners using the first-release of the TENCompetence infrastructure feel more in control of their own learning.The work on this publication has been sponsored by the TENCompetence Integrated Project that is funded by the European Commission's 6th Framework Programme, priority IST/Technology Enhanced Learning. Contract 027087 [http://www.tencompetence.org

Appraisal of non-destructive in situ techniques to determine moisture- and salt crystallization-induced damage in dolostones

The characterisation of both surface and subsurface pathologies (position, depth, width, …) that affects the porous materials used in building constructions, once in service, is important to establish the most suitable intervention strategy. In this sense, the use of non-destructive techniques allows the analysis of different properties without affecting the material. The present study shows the accuracy of different non-destructive in situ techniques, such as: electrical conductivity and capacitance, infrared thermography, ultrasonic pulse velocity, sound absorption, and electrical resistivity tomography, applied on dolostone ashlar stones outer façade of a sixteenth-century belltower, affected by moisture and salt induced decay. The joint analysis of the results obtained with different techniques substantially improves the interpretation and characterisation of the detected pathologies, as they complement each other perfectly. Electrical resistivity tomography, which delivers resistivity cross-sections, yields very good results in detecting subsurface pathologies, and sound absorption is particularly useful for stone surfaces. In both cases, the frequency of the electric field and that of the acoustic emission to detect the extent of damage must be established in advance. The joint study of electrical conductivity and capacitance determines the degree of moisture/salts, both at the surface and subsurface, in the materials tested, one of the main causes of scaling and flaking in stony materials. However, the petrological characteristics of the materials used and the identification of the saline phases present must be known in advance to make a correct interpretation of the results

Galvanically isolated differential data transmission using capacitive coupling and a modified Manchester algorithm for smart power converters

In this paper, a method for encoding and decoding digital data signals using a modified form of the standard Manchester code for the application in galvanically isolated data transmission in smart power electronics is described. The method includes a modified encoder circuit and a matching decoder circuit that is able to rebuild the original clock and data signal without a separate transmission of the clock signal. A capacitive coupling element with a corresponding signal conditioning circuit was placed between the encoder and decoder circuit to achieve a galvanic isolation between the primary side that processes the data signals and the secondary side that is responsible for the processing of power in smart power devices. After a description of basic principles of the transmission of data over a galvanic isolation and the state-of-the-art of Manchester code based data transmission, the encoding and decoding process of the modified Manchester code is elaborated and experimental results are presented

Morphological transformation of Syrian hamster embryo cells by low doses of fission neutrons delivered at different dose rates

Both induction of cell transformation and killing were examined with Syrian hamster embryo (SHE) fibroblasts exposed to low doses of JANUS fission-spectrum neutrons delivered at high (10.3 cGy/min) and low (0.43 and 0.086 cGy/min) dose rates. Second-passage cells were irradiated in mass cultures, then cloned over feeder cells. Morphologically transformed colonies were identified 8-10 days later. Cell killing was independent of dose rate, but the yield of transformation was greater after low-dose-rate irradiations. Decreasing the neutron dose-rate from 10.3 to 0.086 cGy/min resulted in a two- to threefold increase in the yield of transformation for neutron exposures below 50 cGy, and enhancement which was consistently observed in repetitive experiments in different radiosensitive SHE cell preparations. 43 refs., 5 figs., 1 tab