Development of a novel color inhomogeneity test method for injection molded parts

Abstract Nowadays most research and development concerning injection molded products are focused on their mechanical properties although visual appeal plays an even more important role on the market. There are several standards and recommendations for the testing of mechanical properties, but appearance cannot be quantified easily. The visual aspects are almost completely neglected, and there is not a commonly accepted method for measuring color inhomogeneity. The appearance and color homogeneity of injection molded parts depends on the coloring method itself, the applied technology and several other conditions. The method used nowadays to evaluate color inhomogeneity is based on visual inspection by humans. This research focuses on developing a new and automated method that can replace visual inspection. The functionality and precision of the new method and software have been tested and compared with visual inspection to prove its applicability

Preliminary Thesis on the First and Second Part of the ALLEGRO CFD Benchmark Exercise

At BME (Budapest University of Technology and Economics) NTI (Institute of Nuclear Technics), a 7 pin rod bundle test section has been built in order to investigate the hydraulic behavior of the coolant in such design and to develop CFD models that could properly simulate the flow conditions in the ALLEGRO core. PIROUETTE (PIv ROd bUndlE Test faciliTy at bmE) is a test facility, which was designed to investigate the emerging flow conditions in various nuclear fuel assembly rod bundles. The measurement method is based on Particle Image Velocimetry (PIV) with Matching of Index of Refractory (MIR) method. In the test loop, it was necessary to install a flow straightener that was able to condition the velocity field before the rod bundle. The results of CFD simulations could be used to improve the understanding of the inlet conditions in the rod bundle test section.The second part of the benchmark deals with the 3D CFD modeling of the velocity field within the 7 pin rod bundle placed in the test section. The geometry of the test section will be given to the participants in an easy-to-use 3D format (.obj, .stp or .stl).Comment: 25 pages, 14 Figure, 6 Tables, Ancillary files are online availabl

Earthquake activity and hazard in the Carpathian Basin I

The seismicity and seismic hazard of the Carpathian Basin are studied in this paper based on a recent comprehensive database cataloging over 20 thousands earthquakes between 456 and 1995. The epicentre distributions of these events indicate the geographical positions of the most active tectonic processes in the region. Among them the south-eastern bend of the Carpathians (Háromszék-Vrancea zone, Romania) and the area of south-eastern Alps have the highest seismic activity. The former source area is very specific by its strong seismicity from the intermediate depth domain (70-170 km). The intermediate-depth sources are deepening nearly vertically but in somewhat SW direction and the separation of the crustal earthquakes from the events connected to the lithospheric plate subsiding into the astenosphere is well observed at about 50 km, which is the depth of the Mohorovičić discontinuity (MOHO) in this region. The lithospheric plate subsiding to the depth of 150-200 km is supposed to be disconnected around 50 km. Some weakness of this slab can also be assumable based on the lower seismic activity observed between 100-120 km

Chloroplast remodeling during state transitions in Chlamydomonas reinhardtii as revealed by noninvasive techniques in vivo

International audiencePlants respond to changes in light quality by regulating the absorption capacity of their photosystems. These short-term adaptations use redox-controlled, reversible phosphorylation of the light-harvesting complexes (LHCIIs) to regulate the relative absorption cross-section of the two photosystems (PSs), commonly referred to as state transitions. It is acknowledged that state transitions induce substantial reorganizations of the PSs. However, their consequences on the chloroplast structure are more controversial. Here, we investigate how state transitions affect the chloroplast structure and function using complementary approaches for the living cells of Chlamydomonas reinhardtii. Using small-angle neutron scattering, we found a strong periodicity of the thylakoids in state 1, with characteristic repeat distances of ∼200 Å, which was almost completely lost in state 2. As revealed by circular dichroism, changes in the thylakoid periodicity were paralleled by modifications in the long-range order arrangement of the photosynthetic complexes, which was reduced by ∼20% in state 2 compared with state 1, but was not abolished. Furthermore, absorption spectroscopy reveals that the enhancement of PSI antenna size during state 1 to state 2 transition (∼20%) is not commensurate to the decrease in PSII antenna size (∼70%), leading to the possibility that a large part of the phosphorylated LHCIIs do not bind to PSI, but instead form energetically quenched complexes, which were shown to be either associated with PSII supercomplexes or in a free form. Altogether these noninvasive in vivo approaches allow us to present a more likely scenario for state transitions that explains their molecular mechanism and physiological consequences

Cost-effectiveness analysis alongside the inter-B-NHL ritux 2010 trial:rituximab in children and adolescents with B cell non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma

Objectives: The randomized controlled trial Inter-B-NHL ritux 2010 showed overall survival (OS) benefit and event-free survival (EFS) benefit with the addition of rituximab to standard Lymphomes Malins B (LMB) chemotherapy in children and adolescents with high-risk, mature B cell non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma. Our aim was to assess the cost-effectiveness of rituximab-chemotherapy versus chemotherapy alone in the French setting.Methods: We used a decision-analytic semi-Markov model with four health states and 1-month cycles. Resource use was prospectively collected in the Inter-B-NHL ritux 2010 trial (NCT01516580). Transition probabilities were assessed from patient-level data from the trial (n = 328). In the base case analysis, direct medical costs from the French National Insurance Scheme and life-years (LYs) were computed in both arms over a 3-year time horizon. Incremental net monetary benefit and cost-effectiveness acceptability curve were computed through a probabilistic sensitivity analysis. Deterministic sensitivity analysis and several sensitivity analyses on key assumptions were also conducted, including one exploratory analysis with quality-adjusted life years as the health outcome.Results: OS and EFS benefits shown in the Inter-B-NHL ritux 2010 trial translated into the model by rituximab-chemotherapy being the most effective and also the least expensive strategy over the chemotherapy strategy. The mean difference in LYs between arms was 0.13 [95% CI 0.02; 0.25], and the mean cost difference € − 3 710 [95% CI € − 17,877; € 10,525] in favor of rituximab-chemotherapy group. For a € 50,000 per LY willingness-to-pay threshold, the probability of the rituximab-chemotherapy strategy being cost-effective was 91.1%. All sensitivity analyses confirmed these findings.Conclusion: Adding rituximab to LMB chemotherapy in children and adolescents with high-risk mature B-cell non-Hodgkin's lymphoma is highly cost-effective in France.Trial registration: ClinicalTrials.gov identifier: NCT01516580