MULTITEXCO - high performance smart multifunctional technical textiles for tensile structures

In recent years, the textile industry developed a new generation of advanced textile materials for the construction sector designed to address the needs of one of the largest markets for textile products. Examples of the advanced textiles developed include fabrics for the rehabilitation of buildings, geotextiles for the consolidation of a wide range of soil structures and the high performance technical textiles for tensile structures. When combine with innovative sensors the fabrics provide an useful tool for the constant monitoring of the structures and can be used to record the mechanical performance or detect anomalies in the expected use of the structures by measuring applied loads, deformations, operating temperatures or other important parameters. This work highlights recent advances in sensor embedded textiles for structural health monitoring of tensile structures. Attention is paid on ease of application, integration in the textile and the use of established and relatively low cost sensing methodologies. The real innovation lies therefore in transferring these methods to unexplored technological fields for smart textiles such as tensile structures

High power 405 nm diode laser fiber-coupled single-mode system with high long-term stability

Fiber-coupled 405 nm diode laser systems are rarely used with fiber output powers higher than 50 mW. A quick degradation of fiber-coupled high power modules with wavelengths in the lower range of the visible spectrum is known for several years. Meanwhile, the typical power of single-mode diode lasers around 400 nm is in the order of 100 to 300 mW, leading to single-mode fiber core power densities in the 1 MW/cm² range. This is three magnitudes of order below the known threshold for optical damage. Our profound investigations on the influence of 405 nm laser light irradiation of single-mode fibers found the growth of periodic surface structures in the form of ripples responsible for the power loss. The ripples are found on the proximal and distal fiber end surfaces, negatively impacting power transmission and beam quality, respectively. Important parameters in the generation of the surface structures are power density, surface roughness and polarization direction. A fiber-coupled high-power 405 nm diode laser system with a high long-term stability will be introduced and described

Characteristics of light charged particle emission in the ternary fission of 250Cf and 252Cf at different excitation energies

The emission probabilities and the energy distributions of tritons, α and ^6He particles emitted in the spontaneous ternary fission (zero excitation energy) of ^250Cf and ^252Cf and in the cold neutron induced fission (excitation energy ≈ 6.5 MeV) of ^249Cf and 251Cf are determined. The particle identification was done with suited ΔE-E telescope detectors, at the IRMM (Geel, Belgium) for the spontaneous fission and at the ILL (Grenoble, France) for the neutron induced fission measurements. Hence particle emission characteristics of the fissioning systems ^250Cf and ^252Cf are obtained at zero and at about 6.5 MeV excitation energies. While the triton emission probability is hardly influenced by the excitation energy, the ^4He and ^6He emission probability in spontaneous fission is higher than for neutron induced fission. This can be explained by the strong influence of the cluster preformation probability on the ternary particle emission probability

Interpersonal Antecedents to Selective Disclosure of Lesbian and Gay Identities at Work

Lesbian, gay, and bisexual (LGB) employees' sexual identitymay be considered a concealable stigmatised identity. Disclosing it to others at work could potentially lead to discrimination and rejection, hence threatening their inclusion. Therefore, they may hide their sexual identity instead, which may then come at the cost of, e.g., guilt for not living authentically. However, disclosure is a continuum - rather than a dichotomy - meaning that LGB workers may decide to disclose selectively, i.e., telling some, but not all co‐workers. Most literature on disclosure focuses on the interplay between intrapersonal (e.g., psychological) and contextual (e.g., organisational) characteristics, thereby somewhat overlooking the role of interpersonal (e.g., relational) characteristics. In this article, we present findings from semi‐structured, in‐depth interviews with nine Dutch lesbian and gay employees, conducted in early 2020, to gain a better understanding of interpersonal antecedents to disclosure decisions at work. Through our thematic analysis, we find that LGB workers may adopt a proactive or reactive approach to disclosure, which relates to the salience of their sexual identity at work (high/low) and their concern for anticipated acceptance. Other themes facilitating disclosure include an affective dimension, being in a relationship, and associating with the employee resource group. We demonstrate the importance of studying disclosure at the interpersonal level and reflect on how our findings relate to literature on disclosure, authenticity, belonging, and social inclusion of LGB individuals at work

Fostering European Collaborations: EUFRAT and work done at the accelerator facilities of JRC-IRMM

The European Commission via the General Directorate RTD in its different Framework Programs supported collaborations of member state institutions dealing with nuclear data. The projects EFNUDAT, ERINDA, CHANDA and EUFRAT all have in common Transnational Access Activities (TAA) to partner institutions. Within the past 10 years the collaborations have grown and in CHANDA now 35 partners are involved of which 16 offer TAA to their facilities. Since June 2014 JRC-IRMM, one of the driving forces behind the TAA, launched its own TAA project EUFRAT to foster collaborations with member states institutions. The calls for proposals are open ended with a deadline twice a year. A Project Advisory Committee discusses the proposals and decides on about approval. Financial support is given to approved proposals for two scientists. So far two calls have been evaluated with a request for access totalling more than 5000 h. Examples of proposals at the accelerator facilities at the JRC-IRMM are presented showing the multitude of possibilities using the nuclear facilities at the JRC-IRMM

Encoded physics knowledge in checking codes for nuclear cross section libraries at Los Alamos

Checking procedures for processed nuclear data at Los Alamos are described. Both continuous energy and multi-group nuclear data are verified by locally developed checking codes which use basic physics knowledge and common-sense rules. A list of nuclear data problems which have been identified with help of these checking codes is also given

Polarization Correlations of 1S0 Proton Pairs as Tests of Bell and Wigner Inequalities

In an experiment designed to overcome the loophole of observer dependent reality and satisfying the counterfactuality condition, we measured polarization correlations of 1S0 proton pairs produced in 12C(d,2He) and 1H(d,He) reactions in one setting. The results of these measurements are used to test the Bell and Wigner inequalties against the predictions of quantum mechanics.Comment: 8 pages, 4 figure

SFCOMPO 2.0 – A relational database of spent fuel isotopic measurements, reactor operational histories, and design data

SFCOMPO-2.0 is a database of experimental isotopic concentrations measured in destructive radiochemical analysis of spent nuclear fuel (SNF) samples. The database includes corresponding design description of the fuel rods and assemblies, relevant operating conditions and characteristics of the host reactors necessary for modelling and simulation. Aimed at establishing a thorough, reliable, and publicly available resource for code and data validation of safety-related applications, SFCOMPO-2.0 is developed and maintained by the OECD Nuclear Energy Agency (NEA). The SFCOMPO-2.0 database is a Java application which is downloadable from the NEA website