Conductor development for a wide bore 10 T Nb3Sn model dipole magnet

An 87.8 mm bore single aperture 10 T Nb3Sn model dipole magnet is under development as a next step in the realization of high-field Nb3Sn dipole magnets. The magnet is a 2 layer cos(&thetas;)-dipole model as an alternative for the proposed NbTi D1 beam separator magnets for the LHC. After completion of the general magnetic and mechanical design, all attention is focused on the manufacturing and cabling of a novel powder-in-tube Nb3Sn conductor. This Nb3Sn conductor is characterized by a high non-Cu Jc of 2680 A/mm2 at 10 T with an effective filament size of about 20 ¿m. Cabling should result in a Rutherford type of cable exhibiting a moderate Jc degradation due to the cabling process itself, a low transverse stress sensitivity and a controllable minimum value of Rc. The conductor development program is presented and the results are evaluated. Progress on the actual realization of the coils is briefly describe

A decision support system for tomato growers based on plant responses and energy consumption

The importance of plant water status for a good production and quality of tomato fruits (Solanum lycopersicum L.) has been emphasized by many authors. Currently, different new energy-saving technologies and growing strategies are under investigation to cope with the increasing fossil fuel prices. However, these technologies and growing strategies typically alter the greenhouse climate, thereby affecting the plants' response. Hence, the question arises how to adapt the microclimate to reduce the energy consumption of greenhouse tomato cultivation without compromising fruit yield or quality. Nowadays, the use of plant-based methods to steer the climate is of high interest and it was demonstrated that monitoring of stem diameter variations and fruit growth provides crucial information on both the plant water and carbon status. However, interpretation of these data is not straightforward and, hence, mechanistic modelling is necessary for an unambiguous interpretation of the dynamic plant response. During a 4-year research period, we investigated the response of different plant processes of tomato to dynamic microclimatic greenhouse conditions. The final aim was to develop a decision support system that helps growers to find an optimal balance between energy consumption, plant response and fruit yield. To this end, an integrated plant model, including stem, leaves, roots and fruits, was developed in which the various plant processes are mechanistically described. The plant model was calibrated and extensively validated on datasets collected throughout the different growing seasons in different research facilities in Flanders. This plant model was finally integrated into an existing greenhouse climate model and validated with data from the greenhouse climate and energy consumption. After validation, this integrated model was used to run scenarios on growing strategies and their impact on energy consumption, plant photosynthesis and fruit growth

Effect of stem age on the response of stem diameter variations to plant water status in tomato

Plant water status plays a major role in glasshouse cultivation of tomato (Solanum lycopersicum L.). New climate control technologies alter the glasshouse climate and make it less dependent on solar radiation. However, irrigation strategies are still often based on solar radiation sums. In order to maintain a good plant water status, it is interesting to use plant-based methods such as monitoring sap flow (F) or stem diameter variations (SDV). Though SDV give important information about plant water status, an unambiguous interpretation might be difficult because other factors such as stem age, fruit load and sugar content of the stem also affect SDV. In this study, an analysis of the effect of stem age on the response of SDV to water status was performed by calibration of a mechanistic flow and storage model. This allowed us to determine how parameter values changed across the growing season. Tissue extensibility decreased over the growing season resulting in a lower growth rate potential, whereas daily cycles of shrinking and swelling of the stem became more pronounced towards the end of the growing season. Parameters were then adapted to time-dependent variables and implemented in the model, allowing long term simulation and interpretation of SDV. Sensitivity analysis showed that model predictions were very sensitive to initial sucrose content of the phloem tissue and the parameters related to plastic growth

Plasma membrane cholesterol is required for efficient pseudorabies virus entry

AbstractAlphaherpesviruses comprise closely related viruses of man and animal, including herpes simplex virus, varicella-zoster virus and pseudorabies virus (PRV). Here, using methyl-beta-cyclodextrin and fluorescently tagged PRV, we directly show that depletion of cholesterol from the plasma membrane of host cells significantly reduces PRV entry. Cholesterol depletion did not reduce PRV attachment, but stalled virus particles at the plasma membrane before penetration of the cell. Cholesterol depletion results in destabilization of lipid raft microdomains in the plasma membrane, which have been shown before to be involved in efficient entry of different viruses. A significant fraction of PRV virions appears to localize juxtaposed to GM1, a lipid raft marker, during entry. Together, these data indicate that cholesterol and possibly cholesterol-rich lipid rafts may be important during PRV entry

The impact of a managed care obesity intervention on clinical outcomes and costs: A prospective observational study

Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/100261/1/oby20597.pd

Are corporate climate efforts genuine? An empirical analysis of the climate ‘talk–walk’ hypothesis

This study conducts machine-aided textual analysis on 725 corporate sustainability reports and empirically tests whether climate ‘talk’ within the sampled reports translates into performance ‘walk’, proxied by changes in greenhouse gas emissions over a 10-year period. We find mixed results for the ‘talk–walk’ hypothesis, depending on the type of talk and the associated climate change actors involved. Indeed, our empirical models show that while some climate commitments are genuine, many constitute little more than ‘greenwashing’—producing symbolic rather than substantive action. We attribute this result to false signalling of climate transitioning in order to mislead due to misaligned incentives. An unexpected positive finding of the study is that talk about operational improvements is a significant predictor of climate performance improvement. On the other hand, reactive strategies are consistent with poor climate performance. Our findings highlight the significance of corporate climate strategies other than emissions reductions in assessing the effective contribution of business to the climate transition

Development of an electrochemical procedure for monitoring hydrogen sorption/desorption in steel

Hydrogen embrittlement leads to mechanical degradation of metals. Hence, hydrogen sorption/desorption properties of metals need to be characterized. An electrochemical procedure based on cyclic voltammetry (CV) and potentiostatic polarization is elaborated on plain-carbon steel. The procedure consists of first two consecutive CV cycles (pretreatment and reference CV), followed by cathodic H-charging, and subsequent CV scans to study and quantify the H-sorption/desorption. Best practice in this procedure is to perform all steps consecutively without interruption or sample manipulations between steps to avoid spontaneous H-loss. The H-related interaction with the steel is clearly identified in the CV and can be differentiated from the electrolyte contribution coming from thiourea. The study confirms the role of thiourea as H-recombination poison in alkaline solution, and also demonstrates that it contributes to the CV response. Additionally, various charging times are investigated to study the time to H-saturation, and also the scan rate during the CV procedure is varied to study time-related phenomena. Dedicated discharging experiments were included in the study to complement the CV data, giving additional insights in the H-steel interaction. Moreover, hydrogen related findings are successfully verified by using a complimentary method, i.e. hot extraction. The better understanding of the peaks in the CV and the continuous procedure result in a reliable methodology to characterize the H-sorption/desorption in steel