PVP2008-61009 Temperature Prediction in 3013 Containers in K-Area Material Storage (KAMS) Facility Using Regression Methods

ABSTRACT 3013 containers are designed in accordance with the DOE- STD-3013-2004. These containers are qualified to store plutonium (Pu) bearing materials such as PuO 2 for 50 years. DOT shipping packages such as the 9975 are used to store the 3013 containers in the K-Area Material Storage (KAMS) facility at Savannah River Site (SRS). DOE-STD-3013-2004 requires that a comprehensive surveillance program be set up to ensure that the 3013 container design parameters are not violated during the long term storage. To ensure structural integrity of the 3013 containers, thermal analyses using finite element models were performed to predict the contents and component temperatures for different but well defined parameters such as storage ambient temperature, PuO 2 density, fill heights, weights, and thermal loading. Interpolation is normally used to calculate temperatures if the actual parameter values are different from the analyzed values. A statistical analysis technique using regression methods is proposed to develop simple polynomial relations to predict temperatures for the actual parameter values found in the containers. The analysis shows that regression analysis is a powerful tool to develop simple relations to assess component temperatures

Sensitivity Analysis of the Thermal Response of 9975 Packaging Using Factorial Design Methods

A method is presented for using the statistical design of experiment (2{sup k} Factorial Design) technique in the sensitivity analysis of the thermal response (temperature) of the 9975 radioactive material packaging where multiple thermal properties of the impact absorbing and fire insulating material Celotex and certain boundary conditions are subject to uncertainty. 2{sup k} Factorial Design method is very efficient in the use of available data and is capable of analyzing the impact of main variables (Factors) and their interactions on the component design. The 9975 design is based on detailed finite element (FE) analyses and extensive proof testing to meet the design requirements given in 10CFR71 [1]. However, the FE analyses use Celotex thermal properties that are based on published data and limited experiments. Celotex is an orthotropic material that is used in the home building industry. Its thermal properties are prone to variation due to manufacturing and fabrication processes, and due to long environmental exposure. This paper will evaluate the sensitivity of variations in thermal conductivity of the Celotex, convection coefficient at the drum surface, and drum emissivity (herein called Factors) on the thermal response of 9975 packaging under Normal Conditions of Transport (NCT). Application of this methodology will ascertain the robustness of the 9975 design and it can lead to more specific and useful understanding of the effects of various Factors on 9975 performance

Treatment outcome of tubercular lymphadenopathy cases treated under dots: a five year follow up study

Background: Treatment of tubercular lymphadenopathy consists of at least 6 months of therapy with antitubercular drugs as DOTS in India. Some studies recommend that extension of therapy for some time may lead to lesser recurrence and relapse. This study was planned to assess the outcome of DOTS therapy in lymph node tuberculosis (TB) cases treated under RNTCP and to find out the prevalence of relapse in these patients in southern Rajasthan.Methods: This was a retrospective analysis of 275 cases of lymph node tuberculosis treated with DOTS under RNTCP. An immediate outcome of these cases was recorded and further traceable 81 patients were interviewed for long term outcome.Results: In our study population, treatment completion rate was 93.09%, defaulter rate was 4% and death reported in 3.7% (3/81) cases. We observed relapse rate of 9.1% after treatment completion. A total of 7.04% patients received extended treatment and none of them had relapsed during our follow up.Conclusions: Our study confirms that the efficacy of DOTS treatment is quite good in cases of tubercular lymphadenopathy but still requires review of programmatic strategy. An extension of antitubercular therapy is recommended because patients treated with DOTS had a little higher relapse rate in comparison to whom the treatment extended who had no recurrence and relapse

Immunomodulation and interferon gamma gene expression in sutchi cat fish, Pangasianodon hypophthalmus: effect of dietary fucoidan rich seaweed extract (FRSE) on pre and post challenge period

A 45-days feeding trial was conducted to study the immunomodulatory effect and interferon gamma gene expression of dietary fucoidan rich seaweed extract (FRSE) from Sargassum wightii on Pangasianodon hypophthalmus fingerlings. One hundred and eighty fingerlings were distributed into six experimental groups in triplicates. Each group was stocked with 10 fish and fed to satiation with iso-nitrogenous (34.96 � 0.09–35.18 � 0.03 CP%) and iso-caloric (368.65 � 0.86–375.09 � 0.26 Kcal/100 g) purified diets containing either 0% FRSE (control), 1% FRSE (TF1), 2% FRSE (TF2), 3% FRSE (TF3), 3% seaweed powder (TS3) or 6% seaweed powder (TS6) in the feed. After feeding trial the experimental fish were challenged with Aeromonas hydrophila. Immunological parameters like respiratory burst activity, lysozyme activity, phagocytic activity and total leukocyte count (TLC) were increased with the increasing level of dietary FRSE, whereas serum Albumin/ Globulin (A/G) ratio and blood glucose level exhibited decreasing trend (P < 0.05)

Physico Chemical Characteristics of Lakhna Devi Temple Water Tank, Lakhna, Bakewar, Etawah, U.P. with reference to Cyanobacterial Diversity

Fresh water bodies in populated plains of tropical countries face various disturbances in the form of pollutant and nutrient inflow, heavy metal and elemental precipitation (wet or dry) and constant silt inflow (natural or anthropogenic). The physico-chemical characteristics are very much important for any water body. In lentic water bodies these characteristics shows very much variation because in summer they have less and in rains large amount of water. These adverse constrain effectively influence the algal assemblage and can be a good indicator of overall health of the water body. In the study different Physico-chemical characteristics and algal diversity were monthly observed for one year duration (Jun. 2008 to May 2009). Some of 31 species of Cyanobacteria recorded from the study site viz. Microcystis aerughinosa, M. flos-aquae, M. robusta, Chroococcus minor, C.minutes, Gloeocapsa magma, Aphanocapsa littoralis, Aphanothece microscopis, Coelosphaerium kuetzingianum, Merismopedia glauca, M. tenuissima, Arthrospira spriulinoides, Spirulina gigantean, S. major, Oscillatoria formosa, O. subuliformis, O. princeps, Phormidium ambiguum, P. fragile, P. lucidum, Lyngbya contorta, O. epiphytica, O.majuscule, Cylindrospermum minutissimum, Nostoc commune, N. punctiforme, Anabaena oscillarioides, A. oryzae, Calothrix gloeocola, Rivularia aquatic and Gloeotrichia pisum

A Hybrid Approach to Scalable and Robust Spoken Language Understanding in Enterprise Virtual Agents

Spoken language understanding (SLU) extracts the intended mean- ing from a user utterance and is a critical component of conversational virtual agents. In enterprise virtual agents (EVAs), language understanding is substantially challenging. First, the users are infrequent callers who are unfamiliar with the expectations of a pre-designed conversation flow. Second, the users are paying customers of an enterprise who demand a reliable, consistent and efficient user experience when resolving their issues. In this work, we describe a general and robust framework for intent and entity extraction utilizing a hybrid of statistical and rule-based approaches. Our framework includes confidence modeling that incorporates information from all components in the SLU pipeline, a critical addition for EVAs to en- sure accuracy. Our focus is on creating accurate and scalable SLU that can be deployed rapidly for a large class of EVA applications with little need for human intervention

INVESTIGATION ON THE PRODUCTION OF L-GLUTAMINASE FROM PSEUDOMONAS STUTZERI STRAIN UNDER SOLID STATE FERMENTATION USING VARIOUS AGRO RESIDUES

Solid state fermentation was carried out for the production of L-glutaminase by Pseudomonas stutzeri PIMS6 using different agro residues including green gram husk, Bengal gram husk, cattle feed, wheat bran and groundnut oil cake as solid substrates. L-glutaminase has received significant attention in recent years owing to its potential applications in medicine as an anticancer agent, as an efficient anti-retroviral agent and as a biosensor. In food industries it is used as a flavor and aroma enhancing agent. The maximum yield (55.24 U/gds) of L-glutaminase by Pseudomomonas stutzeri PIMS6 was obtained using cattle feed at 75% initial moisture content, initial pH 8.0, supplemented with glucose (1.0%), ammonium sulphate (1.0%),  inoculated with 5% of inoculum and incubated at 37°C for 96 h. Both physico-chemical and nutritional parameters played a significant role in the production of the enzyme L-glutaminase.Keywords: L-glutaminase, Pseudomonas stutzeri PIMS6, Cattle feed, Solid state fermentation