125 research outputs found
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Three-dimensional computational fluid dynamics for the Spallation Neutron Source liquid mercury target
The Spallation Neutron Source (SNS) is a high-power accelerator-based pulsed spallation source being designed by a multilaboratory team led by Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) to achieve high fluxes of neutrons for scientific experiments. Computational fluid dynamics (CFD) is being used to analyze the SNS design. The liquid-mercury target is subjected to the neutronic (internal) heat generation that results from the proton collisions with the mercury nuclei. The liquid mercury simultaneously serves as the neutronic target medium, transports away the heat generated within itself, and cools the metallic target structure. Recirculation and stagnation zones within the target are of particular concern because of the likelihood that they will result in local hot spots. These zones exist because the most feasible target designs include a complete U-turn flow redirection. Although the primary concern is that the target is adequately cooled, the pressure drop from inlet to outlet must also be considered because pressure drop directly affects structural loading and required pumping power. Based on the current design, a three-dimensional CFD model has been developed that includes the stainless steel target structure, the liquid-mercury target flow, and the liquid-mercury cooling jacket that wraps around the nose of the target
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Thermal-hydraulic analysis of the liquid mercury target for the national spallation neutron source
The National Spallation Neutron Source (NSNS) is a high-energy, accelerator-based spallation neutron source being designed by a multi-laboratory team led by Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) to achieve very high fluxes of neutrons for scientific experiments. The NSNS is proposed to have a 1 MW beam of high-energy ({approximately}1 GeV) protons upgradable to 5 MW and operating at 60 Hz with a pulse duration of 0.5 {mu}s. Peak steady-state power density in the target is about 640 MW/m{sup 3} for 1 MW, whereas the pulse instantaneous peak power density is as high as 22,000 GW/m{sup 3}. The local peak temperature rise for a single pulse over it`s time-averaged value is only 6{degrees}C, but the rate of this temperature rise during the pulse is extremely fast ({approximately}12 million {degrees}C/s). In addition to the resulting thermal shock and materials compatibility concerns, key feasibility issues for the target are related to its thermal-hydraulic performance. These include proper flow distribution, flow reversals and stagnation zones, possible {open_quotes}hot spots{close_quotes}, cooling of the beam {open_quotes}window{close_quotes}, and the challenge of mitigating the effects of thermal shock through possible injection of helium bubbles. An analytic approach was used on the PC spreadsheet EXCEL to evaluate target design options and to determine the global T/H parameters in the current concept. The general computational fluid dynamics (CFD) code CFX was used to simulate the detailed time-averaged two-dimensional thermal and flow distributions in the liquid mercury. In this paper, an overview of the project and the results of this preliminary work are presented. Heat transfer characteristics of liquid mercury under wetting and non-wetting conditions are discussed, and future directions of the program in T/H analysis and R&D are outlined
The use of epitope arrays in immunodiagnosis of infectious disease: Hepatitis C virus, a case study
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Experimental study of static flow instability in subcooled flow boiling in parallel channels
Experimental data for static flow instability or flow excursion (FE) at conditions applicable to the Advanced Neutron Source Reactor are very limited. A series of FE tests with light water flowing vertically upward was completed covering a local exit heat flux range of 0.7--18 MW/m{sup 2}, exit velocity range of 2.8--28.4 m/s, exit pressure range of 0.117--1.7 MPa, and inlet temperature range of 40-- 50{degrees}C. Most of the tests were performed in a ``stiff`` (constant flow) system where the instability threshold was detected through the minimum of the pressure-drop curve. A few tests were also conducted using as ``soft`` (constant pressure drop) a system as possible to secure a true FE phenomenon (actual secondary burnout). True critical heat flux experiments under similar conditions were also conducted using a stiff system. The FE data reported in this study considerably extend the velocity range of data presently available worldwide, most of which were obtained at velocities below 10 m/s. The Saha and Zuber correlation had the best fit with the data out of the three correlations compared. However, a modification was necessary to take into account the demonstrated dependence of the St and Nu numbers on subcooling levels, especially in the low subcooling regime. Comparison of Thermal Hydraulic Test Loop (THTL) data, as well as extensive data from other investigators, led to a proposed modification to the Saha and Zuber correlation for onset of significant void, applied to FE prediction. The mean and standard deviation of the THTL data were 0.95 and 15%, respectively, when comparing the THTL data with the original Saha and Zuber correlation, and 0.93 and 10% when comparing them with the modification. Comparison with the worldwide database showed a mean and standard deviation of 1.37 and 53%, respectively, for the original Saha and Zuber correlation and 1.0 and 27% for the modification
Glucose Starvation Boosts Entamoeba histolytica Virulence
The unicellular parasite, Entamoeba histolytica, is exposed to numerous adverse conditions, such as nutrient deprivation, during its life cycle stages in the human host. In the present study, we examined whether the parasite virulence could be influenced by glucose starvation (GS). The migratory behaviour of the parasite and its capability to kill mammalian cells and to lyse erythrocytes is strongly enhanced following GS. In order to gain insights into the mechanism underlying the GS boosting effects on virulence, we analyzed differences in protein expression levels in control and glucose-starved trophozoites, by quantitative proteomic analysis. We observed that upstream regulatory element 3-binding protein (URE3-BP), a transcription factor that modulates E.histolytica virulence, and the lysine-rich protein 1 (KRiP1) which is induced during liver abscess development, are upregulated by GS. We also analyzed E. histolytica membrane fractions and noticed that the Gal/GalNAc lectin light subunit LgL1 is up-regulated by GS. Surprisingly, amoebapore A (Ap-A) and cysteine proteinase A5 (CP-A5), two important E. histolytica virulence factors, were strongly down-regulated by GS. While the boosting effect of GS on E. histolytica virulence was conserved in strains silenced for Ap-A and CP-A5, it was lost in LgL1 and in KRiP1 down-regulated strains. These data emphasize the unexpected role of GS in the modulation of E.histolytica virulence and the involvement of KRiP1 and Lgl1 in this phenomenon
Exploring the Relationship between Semantics and Space
The asymmetric distribution of human spatial attention has been repeatedly documented in both patients and healthy controls. Biases in the distribution of attention and/or in the mental representation of space may also affect some aspects of language processing. We investigated whether biases in attention and/or mental representation of space affect semantic representations. In particular, we investigated whether semantic judgments could be modulated by the location in space where the semantic information was presented and the role of the left and right parietal cortices in this task. Healthy subjects were presented with three pictures arranged horizontally (one middle and two outer pictures) of items belonging to the same semantic category. Subjects were asked to indicate the spatial position in which the semantic distance between the outer and middle pictures was smaller. Subjects systematically overestimated the semantic distance of items presented in the right side of space. We explored the neural correlates underpinning this bias using rTMS over the left and right parietal cortex. rTMS of the left parietal cortex selectively reduced this rightward bias. Our findings suggest the existence of an attentional and/or mental representational bias in semantic judgments, similar to that observed for the processing of space and numbers. Spatial manipulation of semantic material results in the activation of specialised attentional resources located in the left hemisphere
Age-related differences in selection by visual saliency
We examined the ability of older adults to select local and global stimuli varying in perceptual saliency – a task requiring non-spatial visual selection. Participants were asked to identify in separate blocks a target at either the global or local level of a hierarchical stimulus, while the saliency of each level was varied (across different conditions either the local or the global form was the more salient and relatively easier to identify). Older adults were less efficient than young adults in ignoring distractors that were higher in saliency than targets, and this occurred across both the global and local levels of form. The increased effects of distractor saliency on older adults occurred even when the effects were scaled by overall differences in task performance. The data provide evidence for an age-related decline in non spatial attentional selection of low-salient hierarchical stimuli, not determined by the (global or local) level at which selection was required. We discuss the implications of these results for understanding both the interaction between saliency and hierarchical processing and the effects of aging on non-spatial visual attention
Identification of casein kinase 1, casein kinase 2, and cAMP-dependent protein kinase-like activities in Trypanosoma evansi
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Arousal increases neural gain via the locus coeruleus-norepinephrine system in younger adults but not in older adults
In younger adults, arousal amplifies attentional focus to the most salient or goal-relevant information while suppressing other information. A computational model of how the locus coeruleus-norepinephrine (LC-NE) system can implement this increased selectivity under arousal and an fMRI study comparing how arousal affects younger and older adults’ processing indicate that the amplification of salient stimuli and the suppression of non-salient stimuli are separate processes, with aging affecting suppression without impacting amplification under arousal. In the fMRI study, arousal increased processing of salient stimuli and decreased processing of non-salient stimuli for younger adults. In contrast, for older adults, arousal increased processing of both low and high salience stimuli, generally increasing excitatory responses to visual stimuli. Older adults also showed decline in LC functional connectivity with
frontoparietal networks that coordinate attentional selectivity. Thus, among older adults, arousal
increases the potential for distraction from non-salient stimuli
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