47 CFR 76.111 - Cable sports blackout.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-10-01

... 47 Telecommunication 4 2010-10-01 2010-10-01 false Cable sports blackout. 76.111 Section 76.111... CABLE TELEVISION SERVICE Network Non-duplication Protection, Syndicated Exclusivity and Sports Blackout § 76.111 Cable sports blackout. (a) No community unit located in whole or in part within the specified...

47 CFR 76.111 - Cable sports blackout.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-10-01

... 47 Telecommunication 4 2011-10-01 2011-10-01 false Cable sports blackout. 76.111 Section 76.111... CABLE TELEVISION SERVICE Network Non-duplication Protection, Syndicated Exclusivity and Sports Blackout § 76.111 Cable sports blackout. (a) No community unit located in whole or in part within the specified...

47 CFR 76.127 - Satellite sports blackout.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-10-01

... 47 Telecommunication 4 2010-10-01 2010-10-01 false Satellite sports blackout. 76.127 Section 76... Sports Blackout § 76.127 Satellite sports blackout. (a) Upon the request of the holder of the broadcast rights to a sports event, or its agent, no satellite carrier shall retransmit to subscribers within the...

47 CFR 76.127 - Satellite sports blackout.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-10-01

... 47 Telecommunication 4 2011-10-01 2011-10-01 false Satellite sports blackout. 76.127 Section 76... Sports Blackout § 76.127 Satellite sports blackout. (a) Upon the request of the holder of the broadcast rights to a sports event, or its agent, no satellite carrier shall retransmit to subscribers within the...

Alcohol-induced blackouts, subjective intoxication, and motivation to decrease drinking: Prospective examination of the transition out of college.

PubMed

Marino, Elise N; Fromme, Kim

2018-05-01

We prospectively examined whether subjective intoxication serves as a risk factor for experiencing alcohol-induced blackouts. We then examined whether subjective intoxication and/or blackouts predicted motivation to decrease their drinking, and whether this motivation to change would promote future changes in drinking behavior. Participants (N=1854, 62.1% female, 53.2% Caucasian, M age =21.8) were recruited the summer prior to matriculating into a large, public university to complete a 6-year longitudinal study. Self-reported motivation to decrease their drinking behavior, their frequency of blackouts, quantity of alcohol consumption, and subjective intoxication (i.e., feeling drunk) were assessed annually during the transition out of college (Years 4-6). In a cross-lagged model, subjective intoxication (i.e., feeling drunk) prospectively predicted experiencing blackouts (p<0.001). Controlling for both objective (e.g., quantity) and subjective intoxication, blackouts at Year 4 predicted greater motivation to decrease drinking behavior at Year 5 (p<0.01), but this motivation did not predict less quantity of alcohol use by Year 6 (p=0.076). Subjective intoxication is a robust predictor of blackouts across time. Additionally, blackouts are modest, developmentally-limited predictors of motivation to change drinking behavior, but blackouts do not predict future behavior change. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Alcohol-induced memory blackouts as an indicator of injury risk among college drinkers.

PubMed

Mundt, Marlon P; Zakletskaia, Larissa I; Brown, David D; Fleming, Michael F

2012-02-01

An alcohol-induced memory blackout represents an amnesia to recall events but does not involve a loss of consciousness. Memory blackouts are a common occurrence among college drinkers, but it is not clear if a history of memory blackouts is predictive of future alcohol-related injury above and beyond the risk associated with heavy drinking episodes. To determine whether baseline memory blackouts can prospectively identify college students with alcohol-related injury in the next 24 months after controlling for heavy drinking days. Data were analysed from the College Health Intervention Project Study (CHIPS), a randomised controlled trial of screening and brief physician intervention for problem alcohol use among 796 undergraduate and 158 graduate students at four university sites in the USA and one in Canada, conducted from 2004 to 2009. Multivariate analyses used generalised estimating equations with the logit link. The overall 24-month alcohol-related injury rate was 25.6%, with no significant difference between men and women (p=0.51). Alcohol-induced memory blackouts at baseline exhibited a significant dose-response on odds of alcohol-related injury during follow-up, increasing from 1.57 (95% CI 1.13 to 2.19) for subjects reporting 1-2 memory blackouts at baseline to 2.64 (95% CI 1.65 to 4.21) for students acknowledging 6+ memory blackouts at baseline. The link between memory blackouts and injury was mediated by younger age, prior alcohol-related injury, heavy drinking, and sensation-seeking disposition. Memory blackouts are a significant predictor of future alcohol-related injury among college drinkers after adjusting for heavy drinking episodes.

Health Impact in New York City During the Northeastern Blackout of 2003

PubMed Central

Lin, Shao; Fletcher, Barbara A.; Luo, Ming; Chinery, Robert; Hwang, Syni-An

2011-01-01

Objective This study assessed the health effects of the 2003 Northeastern blackout, the largest one in history, on mortality and hospital admissions due to respiratory, cardiovascular, and renal diseases in New York City (NYC), and compared the disease patterns and sociodemographic profiles of cases during the blackout with those on control days. Method We investigated the effects of the blackout on health using incidence rate ratios to compare the disease on blackout days (August 14 and 15, 2003) with those on normal and comparably hot days (controls). Normal days were defined as summer days (June–August) between the 25th and 75th percentiles of maximum temperature during 1991–2004. Comparably hot days were days with maximum temperatures in the same range as that of the blackout days. We evaluated the interactive effects of demographics and the blackout using a case-only design. Results We found that mortality and respiratory hospital admissions in NYC increased significantly (two- to eightfold) during the blackout, but cardiovascular and renal hospitalizations did not. The most striking increases occurred among elderly, female, and chronic bronchitis admissions. We identified stronger effects during the blackout than on comparably hot days. In contrast to the pattern observed for comparably hot days, higher socioeconomic status groups were more likely to be hospitalized during the blackout. Conclusions This study suggests that power outages may have important health impacts, even stronger than the effects of heat alone. The findings provide some direction for future emergency planning and public health preparedness. PMID:21553667

Prevention for College Students Who Suffer Alcohol-Induced Blackouts Could Deter High-Cost Emergency Department Visits

PubMed Central

Mundt, Marlon P.; Zakletskaia, Larissa I.

2012-01-01

Fifty percent of college students who drink report alcohol-induced blackouts, and alcohol abusers in general put a heavy burden on the medical care system. Using data drawn from a randomized, controlled alcohol intervention trial at five university sites, our study quantified the costs of visits to emergency departments by college students who experienced blackouts from drinking alcohol. Of 954 students in the study, 52 percent of males and 50 percent of females at the outset of the study had experienced an alcohol-induced blackout in the past year. Of 404 emergency department visits among the study participants over a two-year observation period, about one in eight were associated with blackout drinking. Injuries ranged from broken bones to head and brain injuries requiring computed tomography. We calculate that on a large university campus having more than 40,000 students, blackout-associated emergency department visit costs would range from $469,000 to $546,000 per year. We conclude that blackouts are a strong predictor of emergency department visits for college drinkers and that prevention efforts aimed at students with a history of blackouts might reduce injuries and emergency department costs. PMID:22422503

Sex and Drugs and Starting School: Differences in Precollege Alcohol-Related Sexual Risk Taking by Gender and Recent Blackout Activity.

PubMed

Haas, Amie L; Barthel, Jennifer M; Taylor, Stephanie

2017-01-01

Research has demonstrated a link between alcohol use and multiple forms of risky sexual behavior, particularly among college-age individuals. Studies have also linked heavy alcohol use to other problems, such as impaired consciousness resulting from an alcohol-induced blackout, which may impact sexual decision making. However, research has rarely examined sexual risk taking (SRT) in relation to blackouts, nor has it examined this construct during the precollege transition (i.e., the interval of time between high school graduation and college matriculation). This study examined the intersection between alcohol-involved SRT, blackouts, and gender in a sample of precollege individuals with prior alcohol use (N = 229; 54% male, 63% White). Results indicated that, despite drinking less per occasion, women reporting recent blackouts were at increased risk for experiencing unwanted, unsafe, and regretted sexual behaviors compared to men with recent blackouts and their peers with no recent blackouts. Women with recent blackouts also reported differences in alcohol expectancies that may increase their risk for experiencing negative consequences while drinking, including higher social expectancies and lower negative expectancies of danger. Future directions for research and implications for precollege interventions are discussed.

Blackouts

MedlinePlus

Blackouts Before the blackout... - If you have an electric garage door opener, locate the manual release lever and learn how to operate it. - Keep your car’s gas tank at least half full; gas stations ...

Blackouts as a Moderator of Young Adult Veteran Response to Personalized Normative Feedback for Heavy Drinking.

PubMed

Miller, Mary Beth; DiBello, Angelo M; Carey, Kate B; Pedersen, Eric R

2018-06-01

Blackouts-or periods of alcohol-induced amnesia for all or part of a drinking event-have been identified as independent predictors of alcohol-related harm that may be used to identify individuals who would benefit from intervention. However, little is known about the prevalence and impact of blackouts among Veterans. This study examined blackouts as a moderator of young adult veteran response to a brief, online personalized normative feedback (PNF) intervention for heavy drinking. Veterans scoring ≥3/4 (women/men) on the Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test completed a baseline and 1-month assessment as part of a larger intervention trial (N = 571; 83% male; age M = 28.9, SD = 3.3). Participants were randomized to alcohol PNF (n = 285) or a video game attention control (n = 286). Hierarchical regression was used to examine the interaction between intervention condition and blackouts on alcohol-related outcomes at 1-month follow-up. At baseline, 26% of participants reported loss of memory for drinking events in the past 30 days. The interaction between condition and blackouts was significant, such that PNF participants who had experienced blackouts at baseline reported greater decreases in drinking quantity at 1 month than those who had not, and only PNF participants who had experienced baseline blackouts reported a decrease in alcohol problems at follow-up. PNF appears to be particularly effective for individuals who have experienced alcohol-induced blackout, perhaps because blackouts prime them for feedback on their alcohol use. While other negative consequences may also prime individuals for behavior change, blackouts are posited as a particularly useful screening tool because they are prevalent among young adults, have a strong association with alcohol-related harm, and are assessed in widely used clinical measures. Copyright © 2018 by the Research Society on Alcoholism.

Atypical Neural Activity during Inhibitory Processing in Substance-Naïve Youth Who Later Experience Alcohol-Induced Blackouts

PubMed Central

Wetherill, Reagan R.; Castro, Norma; Squeglia, Lindsay M.; Tapert, Susan F.

2012-01-01

BACKGROUND Alcohol-induced blackouts are associated with the development of alcohol abuse and dependence, so it is important to consider potential neurobiological risk factors for experiencing this problem prior to the onset of substance use. This study examines whether neural activity during inhibitory processing might be atypical in substance-naïve youth who later experience alcohol-induced blackouts. METHODS We examined inhibitory processing during fMRI with a go/no-go task that requires withholding a prepotent response in substance-naïve youth who would later transition into heavy drinking (n=40) and youth who remain abstinent (n=20). After approximately 5 years of annual follow-up assessments, youth were classified as nondrinkers (n=20), and heavy drinking youth were classified as having experienced an alcohol-induced blackout (blackout+; n=20) or not (blackout−; n=20). Groups were matched on demographic variables, and youth who experienced blackouts were matched on follow-up substance use. RESULTS Prior to initiating substance use, blackout+ youth showed greater activation during inhibitory processing than nondrinkers and blackout− youth in frontal and cerebellar brain regions. Mean activation during correct inhibitory responses relative to go responses in the left and right middle frontal gyri at baseline predicted future blackout experience, after controlling for follow-up externalizing behaviors and lifetime alcohol consumption. CONCLUSIONS Substance-naïve adolescents who later experience alcohol-induced blackouts show increased neural effort during inhibitory processing, as compared to adolescents who go on to drink at similar levels but do not experience blackouts and healthy, nondrinking controls, suggesting a neurobiological vulnerability to alcohol-induced memory impairments. PMID:23021773

Alcohol-Induced Memory Blackouts as an Indicator of Injury Risk among College Drinkers

PubMed Central

Mundt, Marlon P.; Zakletskaia, Larissa I.; Brown, David D.; Fleming, Michael F.

2011-01-01

Objective An alcohol-induced memory blackout represents an amnesia to recall events but does not involve a loss of consciousness. Memory blackouts are a common occurrence among college drinkers, but it is not clear if a history of memory blackouts is predictive of future alcohol-related injury above and beyond the risk associated with heavy drinking episodes. This analysis sought to determine if baseline memory blackouts can prospectively identify college students with alcohol-related injury in the next 24 months after controlling for heavy drinking days. Methods Data were analyzed from the College Health Intervention Project Study (CHIPS), a randomized controlled trial of screening and brief physician intervention for problem alcohol use among 796 undergraduate and 158 graduate students at four university sites in the US and one in Canada, conducted from 2004 to 2009. Multivariate analyses used generalized estimating equations (GEE) with the logit link. Results The overall 24-month alcohol-related injury rate was 25.6%, with no significant difference between males and females (p=.51). Alcohol-induced memory blackouts at baseline exhibited a significant dose-response on odds of alcohol-related injury during follow-up, increasing from 1.57 (95% CI: 1.13–2.19) for subjects reporting 1–2 memory blackouts at baseline to 2.64 (95% CI: 1.65–4.21) for students acknowledging 6+ memory blackouts at baseline. The link between memory blackouts and injury was mediated by younger age, prior alcohol-related injury, heavy drinking, and sensation-seeking disposition. Conclusions Memory blackouts are a significant predictor of future alcohol-related injury among college drinkers after adjusting for heavy drinking episodes. PMID:21708813

Eye movements as a function of response contingencies measured by blackout technique1

PubMed Central

Doran, Judith; Holland, James G.

1971-01-01

A program may have a low error rate but, at the same time, require little of the student and teach him little. A measure to supplement error rate in evaluating a program has recently been developed. This measure, called the blackout ratio, is the percentage of material that may be deleted without increasing the error rate. In high blackout-ratio programs, obtaining a correct answer is contingent upon only a small portion of the item. The present study determined if such low response-contingent material is read less thoroughly than programmed material that is heavily response-contingent. Eye movements were compared for two versions of the same program that differed only in the choice of the omitted words. The alteration of the required responses resulted in a version with a higher blackout ratio than the original version, which had a low blackout ratio. Eighteen undergraduates received half their material from the high and half their material from the low blackout-ratio version. The order was counterbalanced. Location and duration of all eye fixations in each item were recorded by a Mackworth Eye Marker Camera. On high blackout-ratio material, subjects used fewer fixations, shorter fixation time, and shorter scanning time. High blackout-ratio material failed to evoke the students' attention. PMID:16795275

Applications of the RELAP5 code to the station blackout transients at the Browns Ferry Unit One Plant

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Schultz, R.R.; Wagoner, S.R.

1983-01-01

As a part of the charter of the Severe Accident Sequence Analysis (SASA) Program, station blackout transients have been analyzed using a RELAP5 model of the Browns Ferry Unit 1 Plant. The task was conducted as a partial fulfillment of the needs of the US Nuclear Regulatory Commission in examining the Unresolved Safety Issue A-44: Station Blackout (1) the station blackout transients were examined (a) to define the equipment needed to maintain a well cooled core, (b) to determine when core uncovery would occur given equipment failure, and (c) to characterize the behavior of the vessel thermal-hydraulics during the stationmore » blackout transients (in part as the plant operator would see it). These items are discussed in the paper. Conclusions and observations specific to the station blackout are presented.« less

Alcohol-induced blackouts as predictors of other drinking related harms among emerging young adults

PubMed Central

Hingson, Ralph; Zha, Wenxing; Simons-Morton, Bruce; White, Aaron

2016-01-01

Background Alcohol-related blackouts are periods of amnesia that reflect the failure of the brain to record memories of what transpires while drinking. This paper examined the incidence, predictors, and behavioral correlates of blackouts among emerging adults and examined whether questions about blackouts could serve as better markers of risk for other alcohol related harms than questions about levels of consumption. Methods In 2012-2013, 1,463 (68%) of 2,140 respondents one-year past high school reported having consumed alcohol. They were asked whether, in the past six months because of drinking, they forgot where they were or what they did. The survey also explored demographics, substance use behaviors, and other alcohol-related problems in the past six months. Chi square and logistic regression analyses explored bivariate and multivariate predictors of blackouts and other alcohol-related problems. Results Twenty percent of respondents who ever drank alcohol reported a blackout in the past six months. Blackouts were more prevalent among females and those who, in the past 30 days, used multiple drugs, more frequently binged, were drunk, smoked, had lower body weight, and lived in college dorms. After controlling for drinking levels, having a blackout was the strongest independent predictor of most other alcohol problems examined, including in the past six months because of drinking, missing class or work, getting behind in work or school, doing something respondents later regretted, arguing with friends, experiencing an overdose, and total number of alcohol problems reported. It was also an independent predictor of hangovers, damaging property, getting hurt, and trouble with police. Conclusion Because blackouts indicate drinking at levels that result in significant cognitive and behavioral impairment, questions about blackouts could serve as important, simple screeners for the risk of experiencing other alcohol related harms. Additional work on this subject is warranted. PMID:27012148

Alcohol-Induced Blackouts as Predictors of Other Drinking Related Harms Among Emerging Young Adults.

PubMed

Hingson, Ralph; Zha, Wenxing; Simons-Morton, Bruce; White, Aaron

2016-04-01

Alcohol-related blackouts are periods of amnesia that reflect the failure of the brain to record memories of what transpires while drinking. This paper examined the incidence, predictors, and behavioral correlates of blackouts among emerging adults and examined whether questions about blackouts could serve as better markers of risk for other alcohol related harms than questions about levels of consumption. In 2012 to 2013, 1,463 (68%) of 2,140 respondents 1-year past high school reported having consumed alcohol. They were asked whether, in the past 6 months because of drinking, they forgot where they were or what they did. The survey also explored demographics, substance use behaviors, and other alcohol-related problems in the past 6 months. Chi-square and logistic regression analyses explored bivariate and multivariate predictors of blackouts and other alcohol-related problems. Twenty percent of respondents who ever drank alcohol reported a blackout in the past 6 months. Blackouts were more prevalent among females and those who, in the past 30 days, used multiple drugs, more frequently binged, were drunk, smoked, had lower body weight, and lived in college dorms. After controlling for drinking levels, having a blackout was the strongest independent predictor of most other alcohol problems examined, including in the past 6 months because of drinking, missing class or work, getting behind in work or school, doing something respondents later regretted, arguing with friends, experiencing an overdose, and total number of alcohol problems reported. It was also an independent predictor of hangovers, damaging property, getting hurt, and trouble with police. Because blackouts indicate drinking at levels that result in significant cognitive and behavioral impairment, questions about blackouts could serve as important, simple screeners for the risk of experiencing other alcohol related harms. Additional work on this subject is warranted. Published 2016. This article is a U.S. Government work and is in the public domain in the USA.

Alcohol-Induced Blackouts and Other Negative Outcomes During the Transition Out of College

PubMed Central

Wilhite, Emily R.; Fromme, Kim

2015-01-01

Objective: There is considerable debate about the prospective association between alcohol-dependence symptoms and alcohol-related blackouts. The goal of this study was to examine the associations among alcohol-dependence symptoms, blackouts, and social and emotional consequences during the transition out of college. Method: Participants (N = 829; 66% female) were part of a 6-year longitudinal study designed to explore alcohol use and risky behaviors during and after college. Data for these analyses were from Years 4 and 5 of data collection, which most closely corresponded to the transition out of college. Using cross-lagged models, we tested the prospective associations of alcohol-dependence symptoms, blackout frequency, and social and emotional consequences. Results: Alcohol-dependence symptoms in Year 4 predicted increased frequency of blackouts and social and emotional consequences during the subsequent year. Blackouts during Year 4 also significantly predicted increased alcohol-related social and emotional consequences, but not dependence symptoms, in Year 5. Conclusions: Although blackouts do not predict the development of alcohol-dependence symptoms, they increase the risk for less severe alcohol-related consequences during the transition out of college. This may result from the cognitive reconciliation of negative behaviors that occur during these episodes of amnesia. PMID:26098026

Hypersonic Cruise and Re-Entry Radio Frequency Blackout Mitigation: Alleviating the Communications Blackout Problem

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Manning, Robert M.

2017-01-01

The work presented here will be a review of a NASA effort to provide a method to transmit and receive RF communications and telemetry through a re-entry plasma thus alleviating the classical RF blackout phenomenon.

Alcohol-induced blackouts and maternal family history of problematic alcohol use.

PubMed

Marino, Elise N; Fromme, Kim

2015-06-01

Consequences of heavy drinking include alcohol-induced blackouts, which are periods of amnesia for all or part of a drinking event. One risk factor for blackouts is family history of problematic alcohol use (FH+); however, research rarely distinguishes maternal from paternal FH+. The objective of this study was to examine whether maternal or paternal FH+ better predicts likelihood of experiencing blackouts than a general measure of overall FH+, and whether gender moderates this association. Participants (N=1164; 65.4% are female) were first-time college freshmen (age range=17-19) who participated in a 6-year, 10-assessment, longitudinal study in the United States. Alcohol-induced blackouts, the dependent measure, were dichotomized (yes/no) based on endorsement of memory problems after drinking using a single item during Years 4-6. FH+, captured at baseline, was coded if participants self-reported that their mother, father, or any of their four grandparents were a possible or definite problem drinker. Overall, 773 (66.4%) participants reported experiencing blackouts during Years 4-6. Women were more likely to report blackouts than men; however, compared with women with a maternal FH+, men with a maternal FH+ were more than twice as likely to report blackouts. Men appear to be more susceptible than women to the effects of a maternal FH+. Genetic and environmental explanations for this finding are discussed. In sum, these findings are an important step toward understanding a significant yet understudied negative consequence of heavy alcohol use. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

76 FR 75920 - Proposed Collection; Comment Request

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2011-12-05

... (1,230 blackout period x 5 notices x 5 minutes) for a total reporting burden of 512 hours. The... Management and Budget for extension and approval. Regulation Blackout Trade Restriction (``Regulation BTR..., selling or otherwise acquiring or transferring any equity security of the issuer during any blackout...

17 CFR 245.101 - Prohibition of insider trading during pension fund blackout periods.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-04-01

... 17 Commodity and Securities Exchanges 3 2011-04-01 2011-04-01 false Prohibition of insider trading... SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION (CONTINUED) REGULATION BLACKOUT TRADING RESTRICTION § 245.101 Prohibition of insider trading during pension fund blackout periods. (a) Except to the extent otherwise provided...

47 CFR 76.120 - Network non-duplication protection, syndicated exclusivity and sports blackout rules for...

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-10-01

... 47 Telecommunication 4 2011-10-01 2011-10-01 false Network non-duplication protection, syndicated... CABLE TELEVISION SERVICE Network Non-duplication Protection, Syndicated Exclusivity and Sports Blackout § 76.120 Network non-duplication protection, syndicated exclusivity and sports blackout rules for...

47 CFR 76.120 - Network non-duplication protection, syndicated exclusivity and sports blackout rules for...

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-10-01

... 47 Telecommunication 4 2010-10-01 2010-10-01 false Network non-duplication protection, syndicated... CABLE TELEVISION SERVICE Network Non-duplication Protection, Syndicated Exclusivity and Sports Blackout § 76.120 Network non-duplication protection, syndicated exclusivity and sports blackout rules for...

17 CFR 245.101 - Prohibition of insider trading during pension fund blackout periods.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

2013-04-01

... 17 Commodity and Securities Exchanges 3 2013-04-01 2013-04-01 false Prohibition of insider trading... SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION (CONTINUED) REGULATION BLACKOUT TRADING RESTRICTION § 245.101 Prohibition of insider trading during pension fund blackout periods. (a) Except to the extent otherwise provided...

17 CFR 245.101 - Prohibition of insider trading during pension fund blackout periods.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

2014-04-01

... 17 Commodity and Securities Exchanges 4 2014-04-01 2014-04-01 false Prohibition of insider trading... SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION (CONTINUED) REGULATION BLACKOUT TRADING RESTRICTION § 245.101 Prohibition of insider trading during pension fund blackout periods. (a) Except to the extent otherwise provided...

17 CFR 245.101 - Prohibition of insider trading during pension fund blackout periods.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

2012-04-01

... 17 Commodity and Securities Exchanges 3 2012-04-01 2012-04-01 false Prohibition of insider trading... SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION (CONTINUED) REGULATION BLACKOUT TRADING RESTRICTION § 245.101 Prohibition of insider trading during pension fund blackout periods. (a) Except to the extent otherwise provided...

Separating the effects of interreinforcement time and number of interreinforcement responses1

PubMed Central

Neuringer, Allen J.; Schneider, Bruce A.

1968-01-01

The relative importance of interreinforcement time and interreinforcement responses was evaluated by varying each independently. To do this, a blackout was presented after each nonreinforced response under both fixed-ratio and fixed-interval schedules of reinforcement. Manipulating the blackout duration under the fixed-ratio schedule caused interreinforcement time to vary without affecting the number of interreinforcement responses. Pigeons' post-reinforcement and post-blackout response latencies were found to increase linearly with interreinforcement time. Under the fixed-interval schedule, the same blackout manipulations changed the number of interreinforcement responses without affecting interreinforcement time. Post-reinforcement and post-blackout response latencies under this condition were approximately constant. These results suggest that responding is controlled by interreinforcement time and is not influenced by the number of responses emitted between reinforcements. PMID:16811313

77 FR 6152 - Submission for OMB Review; Comment Request

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2012-02-07

... estimated 5 minutes per notice (1,230 blackout period x 5 notices x 5 minutes) for a total reporting burden... Blackout Trade Restriction (``Regulation BTR'') (17 CFR 245.100-245.104) clarifies the scope and... executive officers and to the Commission of the imposition of a blackout period that would trigger the...

GRID BLACKOUT IN VACUUM TUBES

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Hardin, K.D.

1961-06-01

A method which gives quantitative data is presented which allows for characterization of the grid blackout effect and is applicable to calculation of circuit degradation. Data are presented for several tube types which show developed bias and discharge time constants as a function of pulse input conditions. Blackout can seriously change the performance of any vacuum tube circuit which utilizes the tube in positive grid operation. The effects on CW oscillators and UHF mixers are discussed. An equivalent circuit which simulates some portions of the blackout phenomenon is presented and used to calculate effective capacitance and resistance associated with themore » grid surface. (auth)« less

Quasi-reinforcement: control of responding by a percentage-reinforcement schedule1

PubMed Central

Neuringer, Allen J.; Chung, Shin-Ho

1967-01-01

When a variable-interval schedule of reinforcement was segmented into small fixed-interval components, with reinforcements following some components and brief blackouts following the others, rate of responding doubled and a positively accelerated pattern within each component was obtained. Presented according to this percentage reinforcement paradigm, the blackouts approximated the functions of a food reinforcer. These effects occurred only when the behavior sequence required to produce reinforcement was identical to that required to produce blackout. The quasi-reinforcing effects of these blackout stimuli suggest that a neutral stimulus need not occasion or accompany a primary reinforcer to acquire reinforcing properties. PMID:16811304

Signal functions in delayed reinforcement

PubMed Central

Lattal, Kennon A.

1984-01-01

Three experiments were conducted with pigeons to examine the role of the signal in delay-of-reinforcement procedures. In the first, a blackout accompanying a period of nonreinforcement increased key-peck response rates maintained by immediate reinforcement. The effects of dissociating the blackout from the delay interval were examined in the second experiment. In three conditions, blackouts and unsignaled delays were negatively correlated or occurred randomly with respect to one another. A signaled delay and an unsignaled delay that omitted the blackouts were studied in two other conditions. All delay-of-reinforcement conditions generally produced response rates lower than those produced by immediate reinforcement. Signaled delays maintained higher response rates than did any of the various unsignaled-delay conditions, with or without dissociated blackouts. The effects of these latter conditions did not differ systematically from one another. The final experiment showed that response rates varied as a function of the frequency with which a blackout accompanied delay intervals. By eliminating a number of methodological difficulties present in previous delay-of-reinforcement experiments, these results suggest the importance of the signal in maintaining responding during delay-of-reinforcement procedures and, conversely, the importance of the delay interval in decreasing responding. PMID:16812387

Evaluating the effect of a campus-wide social norms marketing intervention on alcohol-use perceptions, consumption, and blackouts.

PubMed

Su, Jinni; Hancock, Linda; Wattenmaker McGann, Amanda; Alshagra, Mariam; Ericson, Rhianna; Niazi, Zackaria; Dick, Danielle M; Adkins, Amy

2018-04-01

To evaluate the effect of a campus-wide social norms marketing intervention on alcohol-use perceptions, consumption, and blackouts at a large, urban, public university. 4,172 college students (1,208 freshmen, 1,159 sophomores, 953 juniors, and 852 seniors) who completed surveys in Spring 2015 for the Spit for Science Study, a longitudinal study of students' substance use and emotional health. Participants were e-mailed an online survey that queried campaign readership, perception of peer alcohol use, alcohol consumption, frequency of consumption, and frequency of blackouts. Associations between variables were evaluated using path analysis. We found that campaign readership was associated with more accurate perceptions of peer alcohol use, which, in turn, was associated with self-reported lower number of drinks per sitting and experiencing fewer blackouts. This evaluation supports the use of social norms marketing as a population-level intervention to correct alcohol-use misperceptions and reduce blackouts.

Fixed-ratio discrimination: effects of response-produced blackouts1

PubMed Central

Lydersen, Tore; Crossman, E. K.

1974-01-01

For three pigeons, reinforcement depended upon a left side-key response after execution of a fixed ratio 10 on the center key, and upon a right side-key response after fixed ratio 20. Each response during the fixed ratios produced a 0.5-sec blackout. The time between the first and last response in fixed ratio 10 was then equated with the time between the first and last response in fixed ratio 20 by increasing the blackout duration. The accuracy of side-key choice was disrupted, thereby suggesting that time, rather than number of responses, controlled choice responding. When the time between the first and last response was equated during both ratios, asymptotic accuracy was approximately equal to (two birds) or somewhat higher than (one bird) that obtained previously. The results of probes with intermediate fixed ratios and blackouts suggested that control of side-key choice had transferred from the time between the first and last response in ratios to blackout duration. PMID:16811819

Acute Alcohol Effects on Narrative Recall and Contextual Memory: An Examination of Fragmentary Blackouts

PubMed Central

Wetherill, Reagan R.; Fromme, Kim

2011-01-01

The present study examined the effects of alcohol consumption on narrative recall and contextual memory among individuals with and without a history of fragmentary blackouts in an attempt to better understand why some individuals experience alcohol-induced memory impairments whereas others do not, even at comparable blood alcohol concentrations (BACs). Standardized beverage (alcohol, no alcohol) administration procedures and neuropsychological assessments measured narrative recall and context memory performance before and after alcohol consumption in individuals with (n = 44) and without (n = 44) a history of fragmentary blackouts. Findings indicate acute alcohol intoxication led to impairments in free recall, but not next-day cued recall. Further, participants showed similar memory performance when sober, but individuals who consumed alcohol and had a positive history of fragmentary blackouts showed greater contextual memory impairments than those who had not previously experienced a fragmentary blackout. Thus, it appears that some individuals may have an inherent vulnerability to alcohol-induced memory impairments due to alcohol’s effects on contextual memory processes. PMID:21497445

Investigations into the Properties, Conditions, and Effects of the Ionosphere.

DTIC Science & Technology

1988-01-15

Innovative Approaches to Direct Measurement of N e 28 ]- J FEASIBILITY OF RADIO BLACKOUT MITIGATION IN THE BRAKING PHASE 28 OF AOTV OPERATIONS 1. Brief...Cell could be tested under simulated flight conditions in the SAIC plasma laboratory facility. AJ. FEASIBILITY OF RADIO BLACKOUT MITIGATION IN THE...enable calculation of chemical modification techniques ,. on phenomena of radio blackout during re-entry of orbiting spacecraft . * ,1. Brief

Public Health Concerns Associated with the New York City Blackout of 1977.

PubMed

Imperato, Pascal James

2016-08-01

The 1977 New York City blackout began at 9:36 p.m. on 13 July and lasted some 25 h until 10:39 p.m. on 14 July. The New York City Department of Health rapidly set up a Blackout Contingency Plan, established priorities, and mobilized its staff to address remedial interventions. Top priorities included water supplies, sewage disposal, perishable food supplies, hospital and emergency room services, solid waste disposal, beach contamination with untreated sewage , and assisting those on electrically powered home life support systems. The 1977 blackout occurred during an extended heat wave. An analysis of total deaths and deaths due to pulmonary and cardiovascular/renal diseases by day correlated with temperatures. However, there was no direct correlation with the blackout itself, in part perhaps because of the confounding influence of high temperatures. The increase of deaths on very hot days outside of the blackout period lends strong support to the relationship between increased deaths and high ambient temperatures. The 1977 New York City blackout was distinguished from those of 1965 and 2003 by violence, arson, and looting that occurred in several areas. These acts resulted in 204 civilian injuries, 436 police injuries, 80 firefighter injuries, and 1037 fires. The violence, arson, and looting caused extensive long-term physical and functional damage to certain areas of two boroughs of the city, Brooklyn and the Bronx. Although the New York City Department of Health had not previously established a disaster preparedness plan, its professionals quickly rose to the occasion because they were able to draw upon vast public health practice experience and ingenuity.

47 CFR 76.130 - Substitutions.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

2013-10-01

... CABLE TELEVISION SERVICE Network Non-duplication Protection, Syndicated Exclusivity and Sports Blackout..., syndicated program exclusivity, or sports blackout rules, a satellite carrier is required to delete a...

47 CFR 76.130 - Substitutions.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

2014-10-01

... CABLE TELEVISION SERVICE Network Non-duplication Protection, Syndicated Exclusivity and Sports Blackout..., syndicated program exclusivity, or sports blackout rules, a satellite carrier is required to delete a...

47 CFR 76.130 - Substitutions.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-10-01

... CABLE TELEVISION SERVICE Network Non-duplication Protection, Syndicated Exclusivity and Sports Blackout..., syndicated program exclusivity, or sports blackout rules, a satellite carrier is required to delete a...

The effect of the blackout method on acquisition and generalization1

PubMed Central

Wildemann, Donald G.; Holland, James G.

1973-01-01

In discrimination training with the Lyons' blackout method, pecks to the negative stimulus are prevented by darkening the chamber each time the subject approaches the negative stimulus. Stimulus generalization along a stimulus dimension was measured after training with this method. For comparison, generalization was also measured after reinforced responding to the positive stimulus without discrimination training, and after discrimination training by extinction of pecks to the negative stimulus. The blackout procedure and the extinction of pecks to the negative stimulus both produced a peak shift in the generalization gradients. The results suggest that after discrimination training in which the positive and negative stimulus are on the same continuum, the blackout method produces extinction-like effects on generalization tests. PMID:16811655

Altered anterior cingulate neurochemistry in emerging adult binge drinkers with a history of alcohol-induced blackouts

PubMed Central

Silveri, Marisa M.; Cohen-Gilbert, Julia; Crowley, David J.; Rosso, Isabelle M.; Jensen, J. Eric; Sneider, Jennifer T.

2015-01-01

Background Binge alcohol consumption is associated with multiple neurobiological consequences, including altered neurophysiology, brain structure and functional activation. Magnetic resonance spectroscopy (MRS) studies have demonstrated neurochemical alterations in the frontal lobe of alcohol users, although most studies focused on older, alcohol dependent subjects. Methods In this study, neurochemical data were acquired using MRS at 4T from emerging adults (18–24 years old) who were binge alcohol drinkers (BD, n=23) or light drinkers (LD, n=31). Since binge drinking is also associated with increased prevalence of experiencing an alcohol-induced blackout, BD were stratified into alcohol-induced blackout (BDBO) and non-blackout groups (BDN). Results Overall, BD had significantly lower gamma amino-butyric acid (GABA) and N-acetyl-aspartate (NAA) in the anterior cingulate cortex (ACC) than LD. When stratified by blackout history, BDBO also had lower ACC glutamate (Glu) than LD. No group differences in MRS metabolites were observed in the parietal-occipital cortex. Lower ACC GABA and glutamate remained significant after accounting for lower grey matter content in BD, however NAA differences were no longer evident. In addition, low ACC GABA levels were associated with greater alcohol use consequences, and worse response inhibition and attention/mental flexibility in BD. Conclusions These data indicate that binge drinking affects frontal lobe neurochemistry, more so in those who had experienced an alcohol-induced blackout. Characterization of the neurochemical profiles associated with binge alcohol consumption and blackout history may help identify unique risk factors for the later manifestation of alcohol abuse and dependence, in young individuals who are heavy, frequent drinkers, but who do not meet the criteria for alcohol use disorders. PMID:24512596

The association of alcohol-induced blackouts and grayouts to blood alcohol concentrations.

PubMed

Perry, Paul J; Argo, Tami R; Barnett, Mitchell J; Liesveld, Jill L; Liskow, Barry; Hernan, Jillian M; Trnka, Michael G; Brabson, Mary A

2006-07-01

The primary aim of this study was to investigate the association between measured blood alcohol concentration (BAC) and the presence and degree of amnesia (no amnesia, grayout, or blackout) in actively drinking subjects. A secondary aim was to determine potential factors other than BAC that contribute to the alcohol-induced memory loss. An interview questionnaire was administered to subjects regarding a recent alcohol associated arrest with a documented BAC greater than 0.08 g/dL for either public intoxication, driving under the influence, or under age drinking was administered. Demographic variables collected included drinking history, family history of alcoholism, presence of previous alcohol-related memory loss during a drinking episode, and drinking behavior during the episode. Memory of the drinking episode was evaluated to determine if either an alcohol-induced grayout (partial anterograde amnesia) or blackout (complete anterograde amnesia) occurred. Differences in (1) mean total number of drinks ingested before arrest, (2) gulping of drinks, and (3) BAC at arrest were found for those having blackouts compared with no amnesia; while differences in drinking more than planned were found between the no amnesia and grayout groups. A strong linear relationship between BAC and predicted probability of memory loss, particularly for blackouts was obvious. This finding clinically concludes that subjects with BAC of 310 g/dL or greater have a 0.50 or greater probability of having an alcoholic blackout.

Acute alcohol effects on narrative recall and contextual memory: an examination of fragmentary blackouts.

PubMed

Wetherill, Reagan R; Fromme, Kim

2011-08-01

The present study examined the effects of alcohol consumption on narrative recall and contextual memory among individuals with and without a history of fragmentary blackouts in an attempt to better understand why some individuals experience alcohol-induced memory impairments whereas others do not, even at comparable blood alcohol concentrations (BACs). Standardized beverage (alcohol and no alcohol) administration procedures and neuropsychological assessments measured narrative recall and context memory performance before and after alcohol consumption in individuals with (n=44) and without (n=44) a history of fragmentary blackouts. Findings indicate that acute alcohol intoxication led to impairments in free recall, but not next-day cued recall. Further, participants showed similar memory performance when sober, but individuals who consumed alcohol and had a positive history of fragmentary blackouts showed greater contextual memory impairments than those who had not previously experienced a fragmentary blackout. Thus, it appears that some individuals may have an inherent vulnerability to alcohol-induced memory impairments due to alcohol's effects on contextual memory processes. Copyright © 2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Matched Filtering of Visual Evoked Potentials to Detect Acceleration (+Gz) Induced Blackout

DTIC Science & Technology

1985-01-03

FILTERING OF VISUAL EVOKED POTENTIALS rO DETECT ACCELERATION ( + Gz) INDUCED BLACKOUT John Q. Nelson, Leonid Hrebien and Joseph P. Cammarota Aircraft...8217: , r .,.V -. 1-». .v. IE •> _"->.-"*« A^V :j% _"«;_"V X~«. _~»^"V.i.~» iuTtuTii i."»..-^. .-*._> r /; NOTICES REPORT NUMBERING SYSTEM - The...Potentials to Detect Acceleration (+G2) Induced Blackout 12 PERSONAL AUTHOR(S) John G. Nelson, Leonid Hrebien, Joseph P. Cammarota 13* TYPE OF REPORT

Control and prediction for blackouts caused by frequency collapse in smart grids.

PubMed

Wang, Chengwei; Grebogi, Celso; Baptista, Murilo S

2016-09-01

The electric power system is one of the cornerstones of modern society. One of its most serious malfunctions is the blackout, a catastrophic event that may disrupt a substantial portion of the system, playing havoc to human life and causing great economic losses. Thus, understanding the mechanisms leading to blackouts and creating a reliable and resilient power grid has been a major issue, attracting the attention of scientists, engineers, and stakeholders. In this paper, we study the blackout problem in power grids by considering a practical phase-oscillator model. This model allows one to simultaneously consider different types of power sources (e.g., traditional AC power plants and renewable power sources connected by DC/AC inverters) and different types of loads (e.g., consumers connected to distribution networks and consumers directly connected to power plants). We propose two new control strategies based on our model, one for traditional power grids and another one for smart grids. The control strategies show the efficient function of the fast-response energy storage systems in preventing and predicting blackouts in smart grids. This work provides innovative ideas which help us to build up a robuster and more economic smart power system.

Mitigating reentry radio blackout by using a traveling magnetic field

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zhou, Hui; Li, Xiaoping; Xie, Kai; Liu, Yanming; Yu, Yuanyuan

2017-10-01

A hypersonic flight or a reentry vehicle is surrounded by a plasma layer that prevents electromagnetic wave transmission, which results in radio blackout. The magnetic-window method is considered a promising means to mitigate reentry communication blackout. However, the real application of this method is limited because of the need for strong magnetic fields. To reduce the required magnetic field strength, a novel method that applies a traveling magnetic field (TMF) is proposed in this study. A mathematical model based on magneto-hydrodynamic theory is adopted to analyze the effect of TMF on plasma. The mitigating effects of the TMF on the blackout of typical frequency bands, including L-, S-, and C-bands, are demonstrated. Results indicate that a significant reduction of plasma density occurs in the magnetic-window region by applying a TMF, and the reduction ratio is positively correlated with the velocity of the TMF. The required traveling velocities for eliminating the blackout of the Global Positioning System (GPS) and the typical telemetry system are also discussed. Compared with the constant magnetic-window method, the TMF method needs lower magnetic field strength and is easier to realize in the engineering field.

Control and prediction for blackouts caused by frequency collapse in smart grids

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wang, Chengwei; Grebogi, Celso; Baptista, Murilo S.

2016-09-01

The electric power system is one of the cornerstones of modern society. One of its most serious malfunctions is the blackout, a catastrophic event that may disrupt a substantial portion of the system, playing havoc to human life and causing great economic losses. Thus, understanding the mechanisms leading to blackouts and creating a reliable and resilient power grid has been a major issue, attracting the attention of scientists, engineers, and stakeholders. In this paper, we study the blackout problem in power grids by considering a practical phase-oscillator model. This model allows one to simultaneously consider different types of power sources (e.g., traditional AC power plants and renewable power sources connected by DC/AC inverters) and different types of loads (e.g., consumers connected to distribution networks and consumers directly connected to power plants). We propose two new control strategies based on our model, one for traditional power grids and another one for smart grids. The control strategies show the efficient function of the fast-response energy storage systems in preventing and predicting blackouts in smart grids. This work provides innovative ideas which help us to build up a robuster and more economic smart power system.

Blackout 2003: preparedness and lessons learned from the perspectives of four hospitals.

PubMed

Klein, Kelly R; Rosenthal, Marc S; Klausner, Howard A

2005-01-01

The blackout in North America of August 2003 was one of the worst on record. It affected eight US states and parts of Canada for >24 hours. Additionally, two large US cities, Detroit, Michigan and Cleveland, Ohio, suffered from a loss of water pressure and a subsequent ban on the use of public supplies of potable water that lasted four days. A literature review revealed a paucity of literature that describes blackouts and how they may affect the medical community. This paper includes a review of after-action reports from four inner-city, urban hospitals supplemented accounts from the authors' hospital's emergency operations center (EOC). Some of the problems encountered, included: (1)lighting; (2) elevator operations; (3) supplies of water; (4) communication operations; (5) computer failure; (6) lack of adequate supplies of food; (7) mobility to obtain X-ray studies; (8) heating, air condition, and ventilation; (9) staffing; (10) pharmacy; (11) registration of patients; (12) hospital EOC; (13) loss of isolation facilities; (14) inadequate supplies of paper; (15) impaired ability to provide care for non-emergency patients; (16) sanitation; and (17) inadequate emergency power. The blackout of 2003 uncovered problems within the US hospital system, ranging from staffing to generator coverage. This report is a review of the effects that the blackout and water ban of 2003 had on hospitals in a large inner-city area. Also discussed are solutions utilized at the time and recommendations for the future. The blackout of 2003 was an excellent test of disaster/emergency planning, and produced many valuable lessons to be used in future events.

Causes and mitigation of radio frequency (RF) blackout during reentry of reusable launch vehicles

DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

2007-01-26

The Aerospace Corporation was tasked to assess radio frequency (RF) blackout phenomena caused by plasma generation around vehicles during reentry and presently known methodologies for mitigation of this condition inhibiting communications. The purpos...

77 FR 16175 - Station Blackout

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2012-03-20

... not have access to ADAMS or if there are problems in accessing the documents located in ADAMS, contact... with turbine trip and unavailability of the onsite emergency ac power system). Station blackout does... powered, such as turbine- or diesel-driven pumps. Thus, the reliability of such components, dc battery...

Effects of catastrophic events on transportation system management and operations : August 2003 northeast blackout, New York City

DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

2004-04-01

This report documents the actions taken by transportation agencies in response to the August 14, 2003, Blackout throughout the Northeast. It is part of a larger effort to examine the impacts of catastrophic events on transportation system facilities ...

Station blackout transient at the Browns Ferry Unit 1 Plant: a severe accident sequence analysis (SASA) program study

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Schultz, R.R.

1982-01-01

Operating plant transients are of great interest for many reasons, not the least of which is the potential for a mild transient to degenerate to a severe transient yielding core damage. Using the Browns Ferry (BF) Unit-1 plant as a basis of study, the station blackout sequence was investigated by the Severe Accident Sequence Analysis (SASA) Program in support of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission's Unresolved Safety Issue A-44: Station Blackout. A station blackout transient occurs when the plant's AC power from a comemrcial power grid is lost and cannot be restored by the diesel generators. Under normal operating conditions, fmore » a loss of offsite power (LOSP) occurs (i.e., a complete severance of the BF plants from the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) power grid), the eight diesel generators at the three BF units would quickly start and power the emergency AC buses. Of the eight diesel generators, only six are needed to safely shut down all three units. Examination of BF-specific data show that LOSP frequency is low at Unit 1. The station blackout frequency is even lower (5.7 x 10/sup -4/ events per year) and hinges on whether the diesel generators start. The frequency of diesel generator failure is dictated in large measure by the emergency equipment cooling water (EECW) system that cools the diesel generators.« less

17 CFR 245.102 - Exceptions to definition of blackout period.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-04-01

... 17 Commodity and Securities Exchanges 3 2010-04-01 2010-04-01 false Exceptions to definition of blackout period. 245.102 Section 245.102 Commodity and Securities Exchanges SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE... not purchase, sell or otherwise acquire or transfer an interest in any equity security of an issuer...

Effects of catastrophic events on transportation system management and operations : August 2003 northeast blackout, Great Lakes region

DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

2004-05-01

This report documents the actions taken by transportation agencies in response to the August 14, 2003 blackout that affected the Northeastern United States. It is part of a larger effort to examine the impacts of catastrophic events on transportation...

17 CFR 245.100 - Definitions.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

2012-04-01

... BLACKOUT TRADING RESTRICTION § 245.100 Definitions. As used in Regulation BTR (§§ 245.100 through 245.104... blackout period: (1) With respect to the equity securities of any issuer (other than a foreign private... temporary suspension exceeds 15% of the total number of employees of the issuer and its consolidated...

Station blackout calculations for Browns Ferry

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Ott, L.J.; Weber, C.F.; Hyman, C.R.

1985-01-01

This paper presents the results of calculations performed with the ORNL SASA code suite for the Station Blackout Severe Accident Sequence at Browns Ferry. The accident is initiated by a loss of offsite power combined with failure of all onsite emergency diesel generators to start and load. The Station Blackout is assumed to persist beyond the point of battery exhaustion (at six hours) and without DC power, cooling water could no longer be injected into the reactor vessel. Calculations are continued through the period of core degradation and melting, reactor vessel failure, and the subsequent containment failure. An estimate ofmore » the magnitude and timing of the concomitant fission product releases is also provided.« less

Engaging Honors Students through Newspaper Blackout Poetry

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Ladenheim, Melissa

2014-01-01

This article describes the author's attempt to convince her students that poetry can be "their thing," and also show them how much it can shape the way they think about the world and their place in it. In this article Melissa Ladenheim describes the technique known as "newspaper blackout" poetry. The exciting thing about this…

77 FR 24989 - Agency Information Collection Activities; Submission for OMB Review; Comment Request; Notice of...

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2012-04-26

... for OMB Review; Comment Request; Notice of Blackout Period Under ERISA ACTION: Notice. SUMMARY: The... information collection request (ICR) titled, ``Notice of Blackout Period Under ERISA,'' to the Office of... likely respondents, proposed frequency of response, and estimated total burden may be obtained from the...

10 CFR 50.63 - Loss of all alternating current power.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-01-01

..., Limitations, and Conditions of Licenses and Construction Permits § 50.63 Loss of all alternating current power... manufacturing license under part 52 of this chapter must be able to withstand for a specified duration and recover from a station blackout as defined in § 50.2. The specified station blackout duration shall be...

Communications Blackout Prediction for Atmospheric Entry of Mars Science Laboratory

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Morabito, David; Edquist, Karl

2005-01-01

When a supersonic spacecraft enters a planetary atmosphere with v >> v(sub sound), a shock layer forms in the front of the body. An ionized sheath of plasma develops around the spacecraft, which results from the ionization of the atmospheric constituents as they are compressed and heated by the shock or heated within the boundary layer next to the surface. When the electron density surrounding the spacecraft becomes sufficiently high, communications can be disrupted (attenuation/blackout). During Mars Science Laboratory's (MSL's) atmospheric entry there will likely be a communication outage due to charged particles on the order of 60 to 100 seconds using a UHF link frequency looking out the shoulders of the wake region to orbiting relay asset. A UHF link looking out the base region would experience a shorter duration blackout, about 35 seconds for the stressed trajectory and possibly no blackout for the nominal trajectory. There is very little likelihood of a communications outage using X-band (however, X-band is not currently planned to be used during peak electron density phase of EDL).

An electromagnetic method for removing the communication blackout with a space vehicle upon re-entry into the atmosphere

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Cheng, Jianjun; Jin, Ke; Kou, Yong; Hu, Ruifeng; Zheng, Xiaojing

2017-03-01

When a hypersonic vehicle travels in the Earth and Mars atmosphere, the surface of the vehicle is surrounded by a plasma layer, which is an envelope of ionized air, created from the compression and heat of the atmosphere by the shock wave. The vehicles will lose contact with ground stations known as the reentry communication blackout. Based on the magnetohydrodynamic framework and electromagnetic wave propagation theory, an analytical model is proposed to describe the effect of the effectiveness of electromagnetic mitigation scheme on removing the reentry communication blackout. C and Global Positioning System (GPS) bands, two commonly used radio bands for communication, are taken as the cases to discuss the effectiveness of the electromagnetic field mitigation scheme. The results show that the electron density near the antenna of vehicles can be reduced by the electromagnetic field, and the required external magnetic field strength is far below the one in the magnetic window method. The directions of the external electric field and magnetic field have a significant impact on the effectiveness of the mitigation scheme. Furthermore, the effect of electron collisions on the required applied electromagnetic field is discussed, and the result indicates that electron collisions are a key factor to analyze the electromagnetic mitigation scheme. Finally, the feasible regions of the applied electromagnetic field for eliminating blackout are given. These investigations could have a significant benefit on the design and optimization of electromagnetic mitigation scheme for the blackout problem.

A Case Report of Dissociative Neurosis (Depersonalization Disorder) in an Adolescent Treated with Family Therapy and Behavior Modification.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Dollinger, Stephen J.

1983-01-01

Describes the use of behavioral procedures as part of systems-oriented family therapy for the treatment of an adolescent girl's functional blackouts. Treatment successfully eliminated blackouts without directly addressing clear psychosexual issues. Discusses the case in terms of conceptualizing etiology and treatments and advocates working with…

29 CFR 2520.101-3 - Notice of blackout periods under individual account plans.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-07-01

... paragraph 4. of the model notice in paragraph (e)(2) of this section will satisfy this requirement); (v) In.... of the model notice in paragraph (e)(2) of this section will satisfy this requirement), and (B) An... three consecutive business days. (ii) Exclusions. The term “blackout period” does not include a...

The AP1000{sup R} nuclear power plant innovative features for extended station blackout mitigation

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Vereb, F.; Winters, J.; Schulz, T.

2012-07-01

Station Blackout (SBO) is defined as 'a condition wherein a nuclear power plant sustains a loss of all offsite electric power system concurrent with turbine trip and unavailability of all onsite emergency alternating current (AC) power system. Station blackout does not include the loss of available AC power to buses fed by station batteries through inverters or by alternate AC sources as defined in this section, nor does it assume a concurrent single failure or design basis accident...' in accordance with Reference 1. In this paper, the innovative features of the AP1000 plant design are described with their operation inmore » the scenario of an extended station blackout event. General operation of the passive safety systems are described as well as the unique features which allow the AP1000 plant to cope for at least 7 days during station blackout. Points of emphasis will include: - Passive safety system operation during SBO - 'Fail-safe' nature of key passive safety system valves; automatically places the valve in a conservatively safe alignment even in case of multiple failures in all power supply systems, including normal AC and battery backup - Passive Spent Fuel Pool cooling and makeup water supply during SBO - Robustness of AP1000 plant due to the location of key systems, structures and components required for Safe Shutdown - Diverse means of supplying makeup water to the Passive Containment Cooling System (PCS) and the Spent Fuel Pool (SFP) through use of an engineered, safety-related piping interface and portable equipment, as well as with permanently installed onsite ancillary equipment. (authors)« less

Communications Blackout Predictions for Atmospheric Entry of Mars Science Laboratory

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Morabito, David D.; Edquist, Karl T.

2005-01-01

The Mars Science Laboratory (MSL) is expected to be a long-range, long-duration science laboratory rover on the Martian surface. MSL will provide a significant milestone that paves the way for future landed missions to Mars. NASA is studying options to launch MSL as early as 2009. There are three elements to the spacecraft; carrier (cruise stage), entry vehicle, and rover. The rover will have a UHF proximity link as the primary path for EDL communications and may have an X-band direct-to-Earth link as a back-up. Given the importance of collecting critical event telemetry data during atmospheric entry, it is important to understand the ability of a signal link to be maintained, especially during the period near peak convective heating. The received telemetry during entry (or played back later) will allow for the performance of the Entry-Descent-Landing technologies to be assessed. These technologies include guided entry for precision landing, a new sky-crane landing system and powered descent. MSL will undergo an entry profile that may result in a potential communications blackout caused by ionized particles for short periods near peak heating. The vehicle will use UHF and possibly X-band during the entry phase. The purpose of this rep0rt is to quantify or bound the likelihood of any such blackout at UHF frequencies (401 MHz) and X-band frequencies (8.4 GHz). Two entry trajectory scenarios were evaluated: a stressful entry trajectory to quantify an upper-bound for any possible blackout period, and a nominal trajectory to quantify likelihood of blackout for such cases.

Blackout cloth for dormancy induction

Treesearch

Tom Jopson

2007-01-01

The use of blackout cloth to create long night photoperiods for the induction of dormancy in certain conifer species has been an established practice for a long time. Its use was suggested by Tinus and McDonald (1979) as an effective technique, and the practice has been commonly used in Canadian forest nurseries for a number of years. Cal-Forest Nursery installed its...

Evaluating the Effect of a Campus-Wide Social Norms Marketing Intervention on Alcohol-Use Perceptions, Consumption, and Blackouts

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Su, Jinni; Hancock, Linda; Wattenmaker McGann, Amanda; Alshagra, Mariam; Ericson, Rhianna; Niazi, Zackaria; Dick, Danielle M.; Adkins, Amy

2018-01-01

Objective: To evaluate the effect of a campus-wide social norms marketing intervention on alcohol-use perceptions, consumption, and blackouts at a large, urban, public university. Participants: 4,172 college students (1,208 freshmen, 1,159 sophomores, 953 juniors, and 852 seniors) who completed surveys in Spring 2015 for the Spit for Science…

Effects of catastrophic events on transportation system management and operations : executive summary of the August 2003 northeast blackout, Great Lakes and New York City regions

DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

2004-05-01

On Thursday, August 14, 2003, a series of seemingly small events, happening in concert, produced the largest blackout in American history. Shortly after 2:00 p.m. on August 14, a brush fire caused a transmission line south of Columbus, Ohio, to go ou...

Review of Leading Approaches for Mitigating Hypersonic Vehicle Communications Blackout and a Method of Ceramic Particulate Injection Via Cathode Spot Arcs for Blackout Mitigation

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Gillman, Eric D.; Foster, John E.; Blankson, Isaiah M.

2010-01-01

Vehicles flying at hypersonic velocities within the atmosphere become enveloped in a "plasma sheath" that prevents radio communication, telemetry, and most importantly, GPS signal reception for navigation. This radio "blackout" period has been a problem since the dawn of the manned space program and was an especially significant hindrance during the days of the Apollo missions. An appropriate mitigation method must allow for spacecraft to ground control and ground control to spacecraft communications through the reentry plasma sheath. Many mitigation techniques have been proposed, including but not limited to, aerodynamic shaping, magnetic windows, and liquid injection. The research performed on these mitigation techniques over the years will be reviewed and summarized, along with the advantages and obstacles that each technique will need to overcome to be practically implemented. A unique approach for mitigating the blackout communications problem is presented herein along with research results associated with this method. The novel method involves the injection of ceramic metal-oxide particulate into a simulated reentry plasma to quench the reentry plasma. Injection of the solid ceramic particulates is achieved by entrainment within induced, energetic cathode spot flows.

Investigation of plasma-surface interaction effects on pulsed electrostatic manipulation for reentry blackout alleviation

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Krishnamoorthy, S.; Close, S.

2017-03-01

The reentry blackout phenomenon affects most spacecraft entering a dense planetary atmosphere from space, due to the presence of a plasma layer that surrounds the spacecraft. This plasma layer is created by ionization of ambient air due to shock and frictional heating, and in some cases is further enhanced due to contamination by ablation products. This layer causes a strong attenuation of incoming and outgoing electromagnetic waves including those used for command and control, communication and telemetry over a period referred to as the ‘blackout period’. The blackout period may last up to several minutes and is a major contributor to the landing error ellipse at best, and a serious safety hazard in the worst case, especially in the context of human spaceflight. In this work, we present a possible method for alleviation of reentry blackout using electronegative DC pulses applied from insulated electrodes on the reentry vehicle’s surface. We study the reentry plasma’s interaction with a DC pulse using a particle-in-cell (PIC) model. Detailed models of plasma-insulator interaction are included in our simulations. The absorption and scattering of ions and electrons at the plasma-dielectric interface are taken into account. Secondary emission from the insulating surface is also considered, and its implications on various design issues is studied. Furthermore, we explore the effect of changing the applied voltage and the impact of surface physics on the creation and stabilization of communication windows. The primary aim of this analysis is to examine the possibility of restoring L- and S-band communication from the spacecraft to a ground station. Our results provide insight into the effect of key design variables on the response of the plasma to the applied voltage pulse. Simulations show the creation of pockets where electron density in the plasma layer is reduced three orders of magnitude or more in the vicinity of the electrodes. These pockets extend to distances up to three times the electrode length normal to the vehicle surface. Based on our results, we postulate that pulsed electrostatic manipulation (PEM) may be a viable candidate for reentry blackout alleviation in the future.

Communications Blackout Predictions for Atmospheric Entry of Mars Science Laboratory

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Morabito, David D.; Edquist, Karl

2005-01-01

The Mars Science Laboratory (MSL) is expected to be a long-range, long-duration science laboratory rover on the Martian surface. MSL will provide a significant milestone that paves the way for future landed missions to Mars. NASA is studying options to launch MSL as early as 2009. MSL will be the first mission to demonstrate the new technology of 'smart landers', which include precision landing and hazard avoidance in order to -land at scientifically interesting sites that would otherwise be unreachable. There are three elements to the spacecraft; carrier (cruise stage), entry vehicle, and rover. The rover will have an X-band direct-to-Earth (DTE) link as well as a UHF proximity link. There is also a possibility of an X-band proximity link. Given the importance of collecting critical event telemetry data during atmospheric entry, it is important to understand the ability of a signal link to be maintained, especially during the period near peak convective heating. The received telemetry during entry (or played back later) will allow for the performance of the Entry-Descent-Landing technologies to be assessed. These technologies include guided entry for precision landing, hazard avoidance, a new sky-crane landing system and powered descent. MSL will undergo an entry profile that may result in a potential communications blackout caused by ionized plasma for short periods near peak heating. The vehicle will use UHF and possibly X-band during the entry phase. The purpose of this report is to quantify or bound the likelihood of any such blackout at UHF frequencies (401 MHz) and X-band frequencies (8.4 GHz). Two entry trajectory scenarios were evaluated: a stressful entry trajectory to quantify an upper-bound for any possible blackout period, and a nominal likely trajectory to quantify likelihood of blackout for such cases.

Effects of the August 2003 blackout on the New York City healthcare delivery system: a lesson for disaster preparedness.

PubMed

Prezant, David J; Clair, John; Belyaev, Stanislav; Alleyne, Dawn; Banauch, Gisela I; Davitt, Michelle; Vandervoorts, Kathy; Kelly, Kerry J; Currie, Brian; Kalkut, Gary

2005-01-01

On August 14, 2003, the United States and Canada suffered the largest power failure in history. We report the effects of this blackout on New York City's healthcare system by examining the following: 1) citywide 911 emergency medical service (EMS) calls and ambulance responses; and 2) emergency department (ED) visits and hospital admissions to one of New York City's largest hospitals. Citywide EMS calls and ambulance responses were categorized by 911 call type. Montefiore Medical Center (MMC) ED visits and hospital admissions were categorized by diagnosis and physician-reviewed for relationship to the blackout. Comparisons were made to the week pre- and postblackout. Citywide EMS calls numbered 5,299 on August 14, 2003, and 5,021 on August 15, 2003, a 58% increase (p < .001). During the blackout, there were increases in "respiratory" (189%; p < .001), "cardiac" (68%; p = .016), and "other" (40%; p < .001) EMS call categories, but when expressed as a percent of daily totals, "cardiac" was no longer significant. The MMC-ED reflected this surge with only "respiratory" visits significantly increased (expressed as percent of daily total visits; p < .001). Respiratory device failure (mechanical ventilators, positive pressure breathing assist devices, nebulizers, and oxygen compressors) was responsible for the greatest burden (65 MMC-ED visits, with 37 admissions) as compared with 0 pre- and postblackout. The blackout dramatically increased EMS and hospital activity, with unexpected increases resulting from respiratory device failures in community-based patients. Our findings suggest that current capacity to respond to public health emergencies could be easily overwhelmed by widespread/prolonged power failure(s). Disaster preparedness planning would be greatly enhanced if fully operational, backup power systems were mandated, not only for acute care facilities, but also for community-based patients dependent on electrically powered lifesaving devices.

Real-Time Smart Grids Control for Preventing Cascading Failures and Blackout using Neural Networks: Experimental Approach for N-1-1 Contingency

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zarrabian, Sina; Belkacemi, Rabie; Babalola, Adeniyi A.

2016-12-01

In this paper, a novel intelligent control is proposed based on Artificial Neural Networks (ANN) to mitigate cascading failure (CF) and prevent blackout in smart grid systems after N-1-1 contingency condition in real-time. The fundamental contribution of this research is to deploy the machine learning concept for preventing blackout at early stages of its occurrence and to make smart grids more resilient, reliable, and robust. The proposed method provides the best action selection strategy for adaptive adjustment of generators' output power through frequency control. This method is able to relieve congestion of transmission lines and prevent consecutive transmission line outage after N-1-1 contingency condition. The proposed ANN-based control approach is tested on an experimental 100 kW test system developed by the authors to test intelligent systems. Additionally, the proposed approach is validated on the large-scale IEEE 118-bus power system by simulation studies. Experimental results show that the ANN approach is very promising and provides accurate and robust control by preventing blackout. The technique is compared to a heuristic multi-agent system (MAS) approach based on communication interchanges. The ANN approach showed more accurate and robust response than the MAS algorithm.

Performance Evaluation of Target Detection with a Near-Space Vehicle-Borne Radar in Blackout Condition.

PubMed

Li, Yanpeng; Li, Xiang; Wang, Hongqiang; Deng, Bin; Qin, Yuliang

2016-01-06

Radar is a very important sensor in surveillance applications. Near-space vehicle-borne radar (NSVBR) is a novel installation of a radar system, which offers many benefits, like being highly suited to the remote sensing of extremely large areas, having a rapidly deployable capability and having low vulnerability to electronic countermeasures. Unfortunately, a target detection challenge arises because of complicated scenarios, such as nuclear blackout, rain attenuation, etc. In these cases, extra care is needed to evaluate the detection performance in blackout situations, since this a classical problem along with the application of an NSVBR. However, the existing evaluation measures are the probability of detection and the receiver operating curve (ROC), which cannot offer detailed information in such a complicated application. This work focuses on such requirements. We first investigate the effect of blackout on an electromagnetic wave. Performance evaluation indexes are then built: three evaluation indexes on the detection capability and two evaluation indexes on the robustness of the detection process. Simulation results show that the proposed measure will offer information on the detailed performance of detection. These measures are therefore very useful in detecting the target of interest in a remote sensing system and are helpful for both the NSVBR designers and users.

Performance Evaluation of Target Detection with a Near-Space Vehicle-Borne Radar in Blackout Condition

PubMed Central

Li, Yanpeng; Li, Xiang; Wang, Hongqiang; Deng, Bin; Qin, Yuliang

2016-01-01

Radar is a very important sensor in surveillance applications. Near-space vehicle-borne radar (NSVBR) is a novel installation of a radar system, which offers many benefits, like being highly suited to the remote sensing of extremely large areas, having a rapidly deployable capability and having low vulnerability to electronic countermeasures. Unfortunately, a target detection challenge arises because of complicated scenarios, such as nuclear blackout, rain attenuation, etc. In these cases, extra care is needed to evaluate the detection performance in blackout situations, since this a classical problem along with the application of an NSVBR. However, the existing evaluation measures are the probability of detection and the receiver operating curve (ROC), which cannot offer detailed information in such a complicated application. This work focuses on such requirements. We first investigate the effect of blackout on an electromagnetic wave. Performance evaluation indexes are then built: three evaluation indexes on the detection capability and two evaluation indexes on the robustness of the detection process. Simulation results show that the proposed measure will offer information on the detailed performance of detection. These measures are therefore very useful in detecting the target of interest in a remote sensing system and are helpful for both the NSVBR designers and users. PMID:26751445

Asystole and increased serum myoglobin levels associated with 'packing blackout' in a competitive breath-hold diver.

PubMed

Andersson, Johan P A; Linér, Mats H; Jönsson, Henrik

2009-11-01

Many competitive breath-hold divers use 'glossopharyngeal insufflation', also called 'lung packing', to overfill their lungs above normal total lung capacity. This increases intrathoracic pressure, decreases venous return, compromises cardiac pumping, and reduces arterial blood pressure, possibly resulting in a syncope breath-hold divers call 'packing blackout'. We report a case with a breath-hold diver who inadvertently experienced a packing blackout. During the incident, an electrocardiogram (ECG) and blood pressure were recorded, and blood samples for determinations of biomarkers of cardiac muscle perturbation (creatine kinase-MB isoenzyme (CK-MB), cardiac troponin-T (TnT), and myoglobin) were collected. The ECG revealed short periods of asystole during the period of 'packing blackout', simultaneous with pronounced reductions in systolic, diastolic, and pulse pressures. Serum myoglobin concentration was elevated 40 and 150 min after the incident, whereas there were no changes in CK-MB or TnT. The ultimate cause of syncope in this diver probably was a decrease in cerebral perfusion following glossopharyngeal insufflation. The asystolic periods recorded in this diver could possibly indicate that susceptible individuals may be put at risk of a serious cardiac incident if the lungs are excessively overinflated by glossopharyngeal insufflation. This concern is further substantiated by the observed increase in serum myoglobin concentration after the event.

A Study of the Impact of Peak Demand on Increasing Vulnerability of Cascading Failures to Extreme Contingency Events

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Vyakaranam, Bharat GNVSR; Vallem, Mallikarjuna R.; Nguyen, Tony B.

The vulnerability of large power systems to cascading failures and major blackouts has become evident since the Northeast blackout in 1965. Based on analyses of the series of cascading blackouts in the past decade, the research community realized the urgent need to develop better methods, tools, and practices for performing cascading-outage analysis and for evaluating mitigations that are easily accessible by utility planning engineers. PNNL has developed the Dynamic Contingency Analysis Tool (DCAT) as an open-platform and publicly available methodology to help develop applications that aim to improve the capabilities of power planning engineers to assess the impact and likelihoodmore » of extreme contingencies and potential cascading events across their systems and interconnections. DCAT analysis will help identify potential vulnerabilities and allow study of mitigation solutions to reduce the risk of cascading outages in technically sound and effective ways. Using the DCAT capability, we examined the impacts of various load conditions to identify situations in which the power grid may encounter cascading outages that could lead to potential blackouts. This paper describes the usefulness of the DCAT tool and how it helps to understand potential impacts of load demand on cascading failures on the power system.« less

Radiation Characteristics of Antennas Embedded in a Layer with Two-Temperature Electron Population

DTIC Science & Technology

2013-10-01

high that the microwave signals are completely cut off. This is the famous `` communication blackout’’ encountered during the Apollo missions in the...1960s. Indeed issues with communication with reentry vehicles were studied even before Apollo missions [3]. Such communication blackout problems are...during Apollo missions [24], [25]. Although there are now other means to communicate (via satellite) the sensor needs for modern hypersonic vehicles

Blast and Penetration Resistant Tactical Shelters

DTIC Science & Technology

1979-07-01

2. Hardened Wall Material Properties 32 3. S-280 Shelter Panal Properties 33 4. Results Zor Dynamic Response of Complete S-280 Shelters 32 £-". In...insulation from a -6501 low to a 120 0F high plus a solar heating load 7. Corrosion resistance including salt fog 8. Blackout capability 9. Fungus...65 0 F), high temperature (120 0 F) plus a solar heating (BTU) load. g. Corrosion resistance (salt fog). 19 h. Blackout capability. i. Fungus

Enhancing sexual desire and experience: an investigation of the sexual correlates of gamma-hydroxybutyrate (GHB) use.

PubMed

Kapitány-Fövény, Máté; Mervó, Barbara; Corazza, Ornella; Kökönyei, Gyöngyi; Farkas, Judit; Urbán, Róbert; Zacher, Gábor; Demetrovics, Zsolt

2015-07-01

Various studies have dealt with gamma-hydroxybutyrate's (GHB) potential role in sexual assaults, while the sexual correlates of intentional recreational GHB use have not well been highlighted. Our study aims to explore GHB's sexual effects, the patterns of choice of sexual partners, the frequency of experienced blackouts, and endured sexual or acquisitory crimes as a result of GHB use. Sixty recreational GHB users filled out a questionnaire on experienced subjective, somatic, and sexual effects of GHB, the frequency of blackouts due to their GHB use, and items on their sexual experiences in relation to GHB use. Of the sample, 25.9% reported increased sexual arousal as well as more intense attraction towards their sexual partners and increased sexual openness when using GHB; 34.8% had sexual intercourse with strangers, or with others, but not with their partners when using GHB; and 8.6% were victims of acquisitory crimes, whereas 3.4% were victims of a sexual assault. Furthermore, 24.6% typically experienced blackouts when using GHB. Gamma-hydroxybutyrate seems to be a potential substitute for both stimulant and depressant substances. Increased sexual desire and disinhibition may lead to a more frequent and potentially more riskful sexual activity. Experienced blackouts need to be considered as risk factors for suffering sexual or acquisitory crimes. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

What Happened to Our Environment and Mental Health as a Result of Hurricane Sandy?

PubMed

Lin, Shao; Lu, Yi; Justino, John; Dong, Guanghui; Lauper, Ursula

2016-06-01

This study describes findings of the impacts of Hurricane Sandy on environmental factors including power outages, air quality, water quality, and weather factors and how these affected mental health during the hurricane. An ecological study was conducted at the county level to describe changes in environmental factors-especially power outages-and their relationships to emergency department (ED) visits for mental health problems by use of a Poisson regression model. We found that many environmental hazards occurred as co-exposures during Hurricane Sandy in addition to flooding. Mental health ED visits corresponded with the peak of maximum daily power blackouts, with a 3-day lag, and were positively associated with power blackouts in Bronx (prevalence ratio [PR]: 8.82, 95% confidence interval [CI]: 1.27-61.42) and Queens (PR: 2.47, 95% CI: 1.05-5.82) counties. A possible dose-response relationship was found between the quantile of maximum blackout percentage and the risk of mental health in the Bronx. We found that multiple co-environmental hazards occurred during Hurricane Sandy, especially power blackouts that mediated this disaster's impacts. The effects of power outage on mental health had large geographic variations and were substantial, especially in communities with low sociodemographic status. These findings may provide new insights for future disaster response and preparedness efforts. (Disaster Med Public Health Preparedness. 2016;10:314-319).

Shuttle communications design study

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Cartier, D. E.

1975-01-01

The design and development of a space shuttle communication system are discussed. The subjects considered include the following: (1) Ku-band satellite relay to shuttle, (2) phased arrays, (3) PN acquisition, (4) quadriplexing of direct link ranging and telemetry, (5) communications blackout on launch and reentry, (6) acquisition after blackout on reentry, (7) wideband communications interface with the Ku-Band rendezvous radar, (8) aeroflight capabilities of the space shuttle, (9) a triple multiplexing scheme equivalent to interplex, and (10) a study of staggered quadriphase for use on the space shuttle.

Adapting an Agent-Based Model of Socio-Technical Systems to Analyze Security Failures

DTIC Science & Technology

2016-10-17

total number of non-blackouts differed from the total number in the baseline data to a statistically significant extent with a p- valueɘ.0003...the total number of non-blackouts differed from the total number in the baseline data to a statistically significant extent with a p-valueɘ.0003...I. Nikolic, and Z. Lukszo, Eds., Agent-based modelling of socio-technical systems. Springer Science & Business Media, 2013, vol. 9. [12] A. P. Shaw

Effects of nonequilibrium ablation chemistry on Viking radio blackout.

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Evans, J. S.; Schexnayder, C. J., Jr.; Grose, W. L.

1973-01-01

The length of the entry blackout period during descent of the Viking Lander into the Mars atmosphere is predicted from calculated profiles of electron density in the shock layer over the aeroshell. Nonequilibrium chemistry plays a key role in the calculation, both in the inviscid flow and in the boundary layer. This is especially true in the boundary layer contaminated with ablation material, for which nonequilibrium chemistry predicts electron densities two decades lower than the same case calculated with equilibrium chemistry.

Application of Advanced Wide Area Early Warning Systems with Adaptive Protection

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Blumstein, Carl; Cibulka, Lloyd; Thorp, James

2014-09-30

Recent blackouts of power systems in North America and throughout the world have shown how critical a reliable power system is to modern societies, and the enormous economic and societal damage a blackout can cause. It has been noted that unanticipated operation of protection systems can contribute to cascading phenomena and, ultimately, blackouts. This project developed and field-tested two methods of Adaptive Protection systems utilizing synchrophasor data. One method detects conditions of system stress that can lead to unintended relay operation, and initiates a supervisory signal to modify relay response in real time to avoid false trips. The second methodmore » detects the possibility of false trips of impedance relays as stable system swings “encroach” on the relays’ impedance zones, and produces an early warning so that relay engineers can re-evaluate relay settings. In addition, real-time synchrophasor data produced by this project was used to develop advanced visualization techniques for display of synchrophasor data to utility operators and engineers.« less

Early postnatal exposure to methylphenidate alters stress reactivity and increases hippocampal ectopic granule cells in adult rats

PubMed Central

Torres-Reveron, Annelyn; Gray, Jason D.; Melton, Jay T.; Punsoni, Michael; Tabori, Nora E.; Ward, Mary J.; Frys, Kelly; Iadecola, Costantino; Milner, Teresa A.

2009-01-01

To mimic clinical treatment with methylphenidate (MPH; Ritalin) for attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), rat pups were injected with MPH (5 mg/kg, I.P.) or placebo twice daily during their nocturnal active phase from postnatal day (PND) 7 to 35. Thirty-nine days after the last MPH administration (PND76), four litters of rats experienced stressful conditions during the 2003 New York City blackout. MPH-treated rats that endured the blackout lost more weight and regained it at a slower pace than controls (p<0.05; N=7–11/group). Furthermore, MPH-treated rats had elevated systolic arterial blood pressure (from 115.6 ± 1.2 to 126 ± 1.8 mmHg; p<0.05), assessed on PND130 by tail cuff plethysmography. Immunocytochemical studies of transmitter systems in the brain demonstrated rearrangements of catecholamine and neuropeptide Y fibers in select brain regions at PND135, which did not differ between blackout and control groups. However, MPH-treated rats that endured the blackout had more ectopic granule cells in the hilus of the dorsal hippocampal dentate gyrus compared to controls at PND 135 (p<0.05; N=6/group). These findings indicate that early postnatal exposure to high therapeutic doses of MPH can have long lasting effects on the plasticity of select brain regions and can induce changes in the reactivity to stress that persist into adulthood. PMID:19100815

Characterization of weakly ionized argon flows for radio blackout mitigation experiments

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Steffens, L.; Koch, U.; Esser, B.; Gülhan, A.

2017-06-01

For reproducing the so-called E × B communication blackout mitigation scheme inside the L2K arc heated facility of the DLR in weakly ionized argon §ows, a §at plate model has been equipped with a superconducting magnet, electrodes, and a setup comprising microwave plasma transmission spectroscopy (MPTS). A thorough characterization of the weakly ionized argon §ow has been performed including the use of microwave interferometry (MWI), Langmuir probe measurements, Pitot probe pro¦les, and spectroscopic methods like diode laser absorption spectroscopy (DLAS) and emission spectroscopy.

Behavioral contrast with timeout, blackout, or extinction as the negative condition1

PubMed Central

Sadowsky, Stephen

1973-01-01

When either a timeout period (darkening the response key) or a blackout period (darkening both chamber and response key) was alternated with a stimulus associated with variable-interval reinforcement, behavioral contrast was obtained. Either peck contrast or maintained contrast occurred, depending on whether or not responding was evidenced during the negative condition. These results are contrary to recent accounts emphasizing the role of non-reinforced responding in the production of contrast, but are consistent with interpretations emphasizing the aversiveness of the negative condition. PMID:16811680

Comparison of MELCOR and SCDAP/RELAP5 results for a low-pressure, short-term station blackout at Browns Ferry

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Carbajo, J.J.

1995-12-31

This study compares results obtained with two U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC)-sponsored codes, MELCOR version 1.8.3 (1.8PQ) and SCDAP/RELAP5 Mod3.1 release C, for the same transient - a low-pressure, short-term station blackout accident at the Browns Ferry nuclear plant. This work is part of MELCOR assessment activities to compare core damage progression calculations of MELCOR against SCDAP/RELAP5 since the two codes model core damage progression very differently.

A quantitative analysis of sensitivity to the conditioned reinforcing value of terminal-link stimuli in a concurrent-chains schedule.

PubMed Central

Omino, T

1993-01-01

Pigeons were exposed to a concurrent-chains schedule in which a single variable-interval 30-s schedule was used in the initial links and fixed-time schedules were used in the terminal links. Three types of keylight conditions were used in the terminal links. In the first condition, different delays were associated with different keylight stimuli (cued condition). In the second condition, different delays were associated with the same stimulus, either a blackout (uncued blackout condition) or a white key (uncued white condition). Paired values of terminal-link fixed-time schedules differed by a constant ratio of 3:1, while the absolute value of delays was varied from 3 s to 54 s. The results showed that choice proportions for the shorter of two delays increased when the absolute size of the delays was increased for all keylight conditions. Further, the choice proportions for the shorter delay increased from the uncued blackout condition, to the uncued white condition, to the cued condition. A modified version of Fantino's (1969) delay-reduction model (expressed as a function relating the response ratio to the delay-reduction ratio) can be applied to these data by showing that sensitivity to delay reduction increased from the uncued blackout condition, to the uncued white condition, to the cued condition. Thus, the present study demonstrated that a modified version of the delay-reduction model can be used to assess quantitative differences in the terminal-link keylight condition in terms of sensitivity to delay reduction (i.e., the conditioned reinforcing value of the terminal-link keylight stimuli). PMID:8283150

Quantifying the daily economic impact of extreme space weather due to failure in electricity transmission infrastructure

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Oughton, Edward J.; Skelton, Andrew; Horne, Richard B.; Thomson, Alan W. P.; Gaunt, Charles T.

2017-01-01

Extreme space weather due to coronal mass ejections has the potential to cause considerable disruption to the global economy by damaging the transformers required to operate electricity transmission infrastructure. However, expert opinion is split between the potential outcome being one of a temporary regional blackout and of a more prolonged event. The temporary blackout scenario proposed by some is expected to last the length of the disturbance, with normal operations resuming after a couple of days. On the other hand, others have predicted widespread equipment damage with blackout scenarios lasting months. In this paper we explore the potential costs associated with failure in the electricity transmission infrastructure in the U.S. due to extreme space weather, focusing on daily economic loss. This provides insight into the direct and indirect economic consequences of how an extreme space weather event may affect domestic production, as well as other nations, via supply chain linkages. By exploring the sensitivity of the blackout zone, we show that on average the direct economic cost incurred from disruption to electricity represents only 49% of the total potential macroeconomic cost. Therefore, if indirect supply chain costs are not considered when undertaking cost-benefit analysis of space weather forecasting and mitigation investment, the total potential macroeconomic cost is not correctly represented. The paper contributes to our understanding of the economic impact of space weather, as well as making a number of key methodological contributions relevant for future work. Further economic impact assessment of this threat must consider multiday, multiregional events.

Preventing Blackouts by Building a Better Power Grid

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Huang, Henry

America’s power grid is undergoing significant change. New mixes of electricity generation, as well as evolving consumer demand, make it even more challenging to manage. Moment-to-moment changes in electricity supply and demand can vary drastically, challenging power grid operators who must maintain a balance—in real time—to avoid disruptions and blackouts. Enter Senior Power Engineer Zhenyu (Henry) Huang. Henry leads PNNL’s initiative to develop technologies that will shape the future of the power grid, and he’s part of a team that is determined to make our nation’s grid more reliable and secure.

Assessing the Cost of Large-Scale Power Outages to Residential Customers.

PubMed

Baik, Sunhee; Davis, Alexander L; Morgan, M Granger

2018-02-01

Residents in developed economies depend heavily on electric services. While distributed resources and a variety of new smart technologies can increase the reliability of that service, adopting them involves costs, necessitating tradeoffs between cost and reliability. An important input to making such tradeoffs is an estimate of the value customers place on reliable electric services. We develop an elicitation framework that helps individuals think systematically about the value they attach to reliable electric service. Our approach employs a detailed and realistic blackout scenario, full or partial (20 A) backup service, questions about willingness to pay (WTP) using a multiple bounded discrete choice method, information regarding inconveniences and economic losses, and checks for bias and consistency. We applied this method to a convenience sample of residents in Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, finding that respondents valued a kWh for backup services they assessed to be high priority more than services that were seen as low priority ($0.75/kWh vs. $0.51/kWh). As more information about the consequences of a blackout was provided, this difference increased ($1.2/kWh vs. $0.35/kWh), and respondents' uncertainty about the backup services decreased (Full: $11 to $9.0, Partial: $13 to $11). There was no evidence that the respondents were anchored by their previous WTP statements, but they demonstrated only weak scope sensitivity. In sum, the consumer surplus associated with providing a partial electric backup service during a blackout may justify the costs of such service, but measurement of that surplus depends on the public having accurate information about blackouts and their consequences. © 2017 Society for Risk Analysis.

Investigations on optimization of accident management measures following a station blackout accident in a VVER-1000 pressurized water reactor

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Tusheva, P.; Schaefer, F.; Kliem, S.

2012-07-01

The reactor safety issues are of primary importance for preserving the health of the population and ensuring no release of radioactivity and fission products into the environment. A part of the nuclear research focuses on improvement of the safety of existing nuclear power plants. Studies, research and efforts are a continuing process at improving the safety and reliability of existing and newly developed nuclear power plants at prevention of a core melt accident. Station blackout (loss of AC power supply) is one of the dominant accidents taken into consideration at performing accident analysis. In case of multiple failures of safetymore » systems it leads to a severe accident. To prevent an accident to turn into a severe one or to mitigate the consequences, accident management measures must be performed. The present paper outlines possibilities for application and optimization of accident management measures following a station blackout accident. Assessed is the behaviour of the nuclear power plant during a station blackout accident without accident management measures and with application of primary/secondary side oriented accident management measures. Discussed are the possibilities for operators ' intervention and the influence of the performed accident management measures on the course of the accident. Special attention has been paid to the effectiveness of the passive feeding and physical phenomena having an influence on the system behaviour. The performed simulations show that the effectiveness of the secondary side feeding procedure can be limited due to an early evaporation or flashing effects in the feed water system. The analyzed cases show that the effectiveness of the accident management measures strongly depends on the initiation criteria applied for depressurization of the reactor coolant system. (authors)« less

Reproducing continuous radio blackout using glow discharge plasma

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Xie, Kai; Li, Xiaoping; Liu, Donglin

2013-10-15

A novel plasma generator is described that offers large-scale, continuous, non-magnetized plasma with a 30-cm-diameter hollow structure, which provides a path for an electromagnetic wave. The plasma is excited by a low-pressure glow discharge, with varying electron densities ranging from 10{sup 9} to 2.5 × 10{sup 11} cm{sup −3}. An electromagnetic wave propagation experiment reproduced a continuous radio blackout in UHF-, L-, and S-bands. The results are consistent with theoretical expectations. The proposed method is suitable in simulating a plasma sheath, and in researching communications, navigation, electromagnetic mitigations, and antenna compensation in plasma sheaths.

Station blackout at Browns Ferry Unit One: iodine and noble-gas distribution and release

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Wichner, R.P.; Weber, C.F.; Lorenz, R.A.

1982-08-01

This is the second volume of a report describing the predicted response of Unit 1 at the Browns Ferry Nuclear Plant to a postulated Station Blackout, defined as a loss of offsite power combined with failure of all onsite emergency diesel-generators to start and load. The Station Blackout is assumed to persist beyond the point of battery exhaustion and the completely powerless state leads to core uncovery, meltdown, reactor vessel failure, and failure of the primary containment by overtemperature-induced degradation of the electrical penetration assembly seals. The sequence of events is described in Volume 1; the material in this volumemore » deals with the analysis of fission product noble gas and iodine transport during the accident. Factors which affect the fission product movements through the series of containment design barriers are reviewed. For a reactive material such as iodine, proper assessment of the rate of movement requires determination of the chemical changes along the pathway which alter the physical properties such as vapor pressure and solubility and thereby affect the transport rate. A methodology for accomplishing this is demonstrated in this report.« less

Resonant interaction of electromagnetic wave with plasma layer and overcoming the radiocommunication blackout problem

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bogatskaya, A. V.; Klenov, N. V.; Tereshonok, M. V.; Adjemov, S. S.; Popov, A. M.

2018-05-01

We present an analysis of the possibility of penetrating electromagnetic waves through opaque media using an optical-mechanical analogy. As an example, we consider the plasma sheath surrounding the vehicle as a potential barrier and analyze the overcoming of radiocommunication blackout problem. The idea is to embed a «resonator» between the surface on the vehicle and plasma sheath which is supposed to provide an effective tunneling of the signal to the receiving antenna. We discuss the peculiarities of optical mechanical analogy applicability and analyze the radio frequency wave tunneling regime in detail. The cases of normal and oblique incidence of radiofrequency waves on the vehicle surface are studied.

Blackout Drinking Predicts Sexual Revictimization in a College Sample of Binge-Drinking Women

PubMed Central

Valenstein-Mah, Helen; Larimer, Mary; Zoellner, Lori; Kaysen, Debra

2016-01-01

Sexual victimization is prevalent on U.S. college campuses. Some women experience multiple sexual victimizations with heightened risk among those with prior victimization histories. One risk factor for sexual revictimization is alcohol use. Most research has focused on associations between alcohol consumption and revictimization. The current study’s objective was to understand potential mechanisms by which drinking confers risk for revictimization. We hypothesized that specific drinking consequences would predict risk for revictimization above and beyond the quantity of alcohol consumed. There were 162 binge-drinking female students (mean age = 20.21 years, 71.3% White, 36.9% juniors) from the University of Washington who were assessed for baseline victimization (categorized as childhood vs. adolescent victimization), quantity of alcohol consumed, and drinking consequences experienced, then assessed 30 days later for revictimization. There were 40 (24.6%) women who were revictimized in the following 30 days. Results showed that blackout drinking at baseline predicted incapacitated sexual revictimization among women previously victimized as adolescents, after accounting for quantity of alcohol consumed (OR = 1.79, 95% CI [1.07, 3.01]). Other drinking consequences were not strongly predictive of revictimization. Adolescent sexual victimization was an important predictor of sexual revictimization in college women; blackout drinking may confer unique risk for revictimization. PMID:26401899

Station Blackout at Browns Ferry Unit One - accident sequence analysis. Volume 1

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Cook, D.H.; Harrington, R.M.; Greene, S.R.

1981-11-01

This study describes the predicted response of Unit 1 at the Browns Ferry Nuclear Plant to Station Blackout, defined as a loss of offsite power combined with failure of all onsite emergency diesel-generators to start and load. Every effort has been made to employ the most realistic assumptions during the process of defining the sequence of events for this hypothetical accident. DC power is assumed to remain available from the unit batteries during the initial phase and the operator actions and corresponding events during this period are described using results provided by an analysis code developed specifically for this purpose.more » The Station Blackout is assumed to persist beyond the point of battery exhaustion and the events during this second phase of the accident in which dc power would be unavailable were determined through use of the MARCH code. Without dc power, cooling water could no longer be injected into the reactor vessel and the events of the second phase include core meltdown and subsequent containment failure. An estimate of the magnitude and timing of the concomitant release of the noble gas, cesium, and iodine-based fission products to the environment is provided in Volume 2 of this report. 58 refs., 75 figs., 8 tabs.« less

Research on Resilience of Power Systems Under Natural Disasters—A Review

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Wang, Yezhou; Chen, Chen; Wang, Jianhui

2016-03-01

Natural disasters can cause large blackouts. Research into natural disaster impacts on electric power systems is emerging to understand the causes of the blackouts, explore ways to prepare and harden the grid, and increase the resilience of the power grid under such events. At the same time, new technologies such as smart grid, micro grid, and wide area monitoring applications could increase situational awareness as well as enable faster restoration of the system. This paper aims to consolidate and review the progress of the research field towards methods and tools of forecasting natural disaster related power system disturbances, hardening andmore » pre-storm operations, and restoration models. Challenges and future research opportunities are also presented in the paper.« less

47 CFR 76.110 - Substitutions.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

2012-10-01

... CABLE TELEVISION SERVICE Network Non-duplication Protection, Syndicated Exclusivity and Sports Blackout... carried under the Commission's rules, such community unit may, consistent with these rules and the sports...

47 CFR 76.110 - Substitutions.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

2014-10-01

... CABLE TELEVISION SERVICE Network Non-duplication Protection, Syndicated Exclusivity and Sports Blackout... carried under the Commission's rules, such community unit may, consistent with these rules and the sports...

47 CFR 76.110 - Substitutions.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

2013-10-01

... CABLE TELEVISION SERVICE Network Non-duplication Protection, Syndicated Exclusivity and Sports Blackout... carried under the Commission's rules, such community unit may, consistent with these rules and the sports...

47 CFR 76.110 - Substitutions.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-10-01

... CABLE TELEVISION SERVICE Network Non-duplication Protection, Syndicated Exclusivity and Sports Blackout... carried under the Commission's rules, such community unit may, consistent with these rules and the sports...

47 CFR 76.110 - Substitutions.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-10-01

... CABLE TELEVISION SERVICE Network Non-duplication Protection, Syndicated Exclusivity and Sports Blackout... carried under the Commission's rules, such community unit may, consistent with these rules and the sports...

The Threshold of the State: Civil Defence, the Blackout and the Home in Second World War Britain.

PubMed

Greenhalgh, James

2017-06-01

This article reconsiders the way that the British state extended its control of the home during the Second World War, using the implementation of air raid precautions and the blackout as a lens through which to view the state's developing attitudes to domestic space. Presented here is not the familiar story of pitch-dark, dangerous streets or altered cityscapes of fear and destruction; instead, by examining personal testimony the article inverts traditional treatments of the blackout to look at the interior of dwellings, demonstrating how the realities of total warfare impinged upon the psychological elements that constituted the home. What emerges not only expands historical understandings of the wartime experience of civilians, it also shows civil defence measures as highly visible points on an often antagonistic trajectory of state interactions with citizens concerning the privacy and security of the dwelling in the modern city. The requirements of civil defence, I argue, were not merely the product of exceptional wartime circumstances, but symptomatic of long-standing attempts to open up dwellings to state scrutiny. These attempts had both a significant pre-war lineage and, crucially, implications beyond the end of the war in private homes and on social housing estates. © The Author [2017]. Published by Oxford University Press. All rights reserved. For Permissions, please email: journals.permissions@oup.com.

47 CFR 76.95 - Exceptions.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

2012-10-01

... CABLE TELEVISION SERVICE Network Non-duplication Protection, Syndicated Exclusivity and Sports Blackout... priority station for one hour following the scheduled time of completion of the broadcast of a live sports...

47 CFR 76.95 - Exceptions.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

2013-10-01

... CABLE TELEVISION SERVICE Network Non-duplication Protection, Syndicated Exclusivity and Sports Blackout... priority station for one hour following the scheduled time of completion of the broadcast of a live sports...

47 CFR 76.95 - Exceptions.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

2014-10-01

... CABLE TELEVISION SERVICE Network Non-duplication Protection, Syndicated Exclusivity and Sports Blackout... priority station for one hour following the scheduled time of completion of the broadcast of a live sports...

47 CFR 76.95 - Exceptions.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-10-01

... CABLE TELEVISION SERVICE Network Non-duplication Protection, Syndicated Exclusivity and Sports Blackout... priority station for one hour following the scheduled time of completion of the broadcast of a live sports...

47 CFR 76.95 - Exceptions.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-10-01

... CABLE TELEVISION SERVICE Network Non-duplication Protection, Syndicated Exclusivity and Sports Blackout... priority station for one hour following the scheduled time of completion of the broadcast of a live sports...

77 FR 23161 - Onsite Emergency Response Capabilities

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2012-04-18

... entire facility. The emergency diesel generators started at all six units, providing alternating current... known as station blackout (SBO). One diesel generator remained functional on Unit 6. Despite the actions...

78 FR 44035 - Station Blackout Mitigation Strategies

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2013-07-23

... the actions stemming from the NRC's lessons- learned efforts associated with the March 2011 Fukushima..., 2011, Fukushima Dai-ichi accident in Japan. By making these documents publicly available, the NRC seeks...

48 CFR 14.402-3 - Postponement of openings.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-10-01

....g., flood, fire, accident, weather conditions, strikes, or Government equipment blackout or... preclude amendment of the solicitation as prescribed in 14.208, the time specified for opening of bids will...

48 CFR 14.402-3 - Postponement of openings.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

2014-10-01

....g., flood, fire, accident, weather conditions, strikes, or Government equipment blackout or... preclude amendment of the solicitation as prescribed in 14.208, the time specified for opening of bids will...

78 FR 21275 - Station Blackout Mitigation Strategies

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2013-04-10

... stemming from the NRC's lessons-learned efforts associated with the March 2011 Fukushima Dai-ichi Nuclear Power Plant accident in Japan. DATES: Submit comments by May 28, 2013. Comments received after this date...

An adaptive reentry guidance method considering the influence of blackout zone

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wu, Yu; Yao, Jianyao; Qu, Xiangju

2018-01-01

Reentry guidance has been researched as a popular topic because it is critical for a successful flight. In view that the existing guidance methods do not take into account the accumulated navigation error of Inertial Navigation System (INS) in the blackout zone, in this paper, an adaptive reentry guidance method is proposed to obtain the optimal reentry trajectory quickly with the target of minimum aerodynamic heating rate. The terminal error in position and attitude can be also reduced with the proposed method. In this method, the whole reentry guidance task is divided into two phases, i.e., the trajectory updating phase and the trajectory planning phase. In the first phase, the idea of model predictive control (MPC) is used, and the receding optimization procedure ensures the optimal trajectory in the next few seconds. In the trajectory planning phase, after the vehicle has flown out of the blackout zone, the optimal reentry trajectory is obtained by online planning to adapt to the navigation information. An effective swarm intelligence algorithm, i.e. pigeon inspired optimization (PIO) algorithm, is applied to obtain the optimal reentry trajectory in both of the two phases. Compared to the trajectory updating method, the proposed method can reduce the terminal error by about 30% considering both the position and attitude, especially, the terminal error of height has almost been eliminated. Besides, the PIO algorithm performs better than the particle swarm optimization (PSO) algorithm both in the trajectory updating phase and the trajectory planning phases.

Air ingression calculations for selected plant transients using MELCOR

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Kmetyk, L.N.

1994-01-01

Two sets of MELCOR calculations have been completed studying the effects of air ingression on the consequences of various severe accident scenarios. One set of calculations analyzed a station blackout with surge line failure prior to vessel breach, starting from nominal operating conditions; the other set of calculations analyzed a station blackout occurring during shutdown (refueling) conditions. Both sets of analyses were for the Surry plant, a three-loop Westinghouse PWR. For both accident scenarios, a basecase calculation was done, and then repeated with air ingression from containment into the core region following core degradation and vessel failure. In addition tomore » the two sets of analyses done for this program, a similar air-ingression sensitivity study was done as part of a low-power/shutdown PRA, with results summarized here; that PRA study also analyzed a station blackout occurring during shutdown (refueling) conditions, but for the Grand Gulf plant, a BWR/6 with Mark III containment. These studies help quantify the amount of air that would have to enter the core region to have a significant impact on the severe accident scenario, and demonstrate that one effect, of air ingression is substantial enhancement of ruthenium release. These calculations also show that, while the core clad temperatures rise more quickly due to oxidation with air rather than steam, the core also degrades and relocates more quickly, so that no sustained, enhanced core heatup is predicted to occur with air ingression.« less

47 CFR 76.94 - Notification.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

2013-10-01

... 47 Telecommunication 4 2013-10-01 2013-10-01 false Notification. 76.94 Section 76.94 Telecommunication FEDERAL COMMUNICATIONS COMMISSION (CONTINUED) BROADCAST RADIO SERVICES MULTICHANNEL VIDEO AND CABLE TELEVISION SERVICE Network Non-duplication Protection, Syndicated Exclusivity and Sports Blackout...

47 CFR 76.94 - Notification.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

2014-10-01

... 47 Telecommunication 4 2014-10-01 2014-10-01 false Notification. 76.94 Section 76.94 Telecommunication FEDERAL COMMUNICATIONS COMMISSION (CONTINUED) BROADCAST RADIO SERVICES MULTICHANNEL VIDEO AND CABLE TELEVISION SERVICE Network Non-duplication Protection, Syndicated Exclusivity and Sports Blackout...

47 CFR 76.106 - Exceptions.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

2014-10-01

... 47 Telecommunication 4 2014-10-01 2014-10-01 false Exceptions. 76.106 Section 76.106 Telecommunication FEDERAL COMMUNICATIONS COMMISSION (CONTINUED) BROADCAST RADIO SERVICES MULTICHANNEL VIDEO AND CABLE TELEVISION SERVICE Network Non-duplication Protection, Syndicated Exclusivity and Sports Blackout...

47 CFR 76.106 - Exceptions.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

2012-10-01

... 47 Telecommunication 4 2012-10-01 2012-10-01 false Exceptions. 76.106 Section 76.106 Telecommunication FEDERAL COMMUNICATIONS COMMISSION (CONTINUED) BROADCAST RADIO SERVICES MULTICHANNEL VIDEO AND CABLE TELEVISION SERVICE Network Non-duplication Protection, Syndicated Exclusivity and Sports Blackout...

47 CFR 76.94 - Notification.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

2012-10-01

... 47 Telecommunication 4 2012-10-01 2012-10-01 false Notification. 76.94 Section 76.94 Telecommunication FEDERAL COMMUNICATIONS COMMISSION (CONTINUED) BROADCAST RADIO SERVICES MULTICHANNEL VIDEO AND CABLE TELEVISION SERVICE Network Non-duplication Protection, Syndicated Exclusivity and Sports Blackout...

47 CFR 76.106 - Exceptions.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

2013-10-01

... 47 Telecommunication 4 2013-10-01 2013-10-01 false Exceptions. 76.106 Section 76.106 Telecommunication FEDERAL COMMUNICATIONS COMMISSION (CONTINUED) BROADCAST RADIO SERVICES MULTICHANNEL VIDEO AND CABLE TELEVISION SERVICE Network Non-duplication Protection, Syndicated Exclusivity and Sports Blackout...

47 CFR 76.106 - Exceptions.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-10-01

... 47 Telecommunication 4 2010-10-01 2010-10-01 false Exceptions. 76.106 Section 76.106 Telecommunication FEDERAL COMMUNICATIONS COMMISSION (CONTINUED) BROADCAST RADIO SERVICES MULTICHANNEL VIDEO AND CABLE TELEVISION SERVICE Network Non-duplication Protection, Syndicated Exclusivity and Sports Blackout...

47 CFR 76.106 - Exceptions.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-10-01

... 47 Telecommunication 4 2011-10-01 2011-10-01 false Exceptions. 76.106 Section 76.106 Telecommunication FEDERAL COMMUNICATIONS COMMISSION (CONTINUED) BROADCAST RADIO SERVICES MULTICHANNEL VIDEO AND CABLE TELEVISION SERVICE Network Non-duplication Protection, Syndicated Exclusivity and Sports Blackout...

47 CFR 76.94 - Notification.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-10-01

... 47 Telecommunication 4 2011-10-01 2011-10-01 false Notification. 76.94 Section 76.94 Telecommunication FEDERAL COMMUNICATIONS COMMISSION (CONTINUED) BROADCAST RADIO SERVICES MULTICHANNEL VIDEO AND CABLE TELEVISION SERVICE Network Non-duplication Protection, Syndicated Exclusivity and Sports Blackout...

47 CFR 76.94 - Notification.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-10-01

... 47 Telecommunication 4 2010-10-01 2010-10-01 false Notification. 76.94 Section 76.94 Telecommunication FEDERAL COMMUNICATIONS COMMISSION (CONTINUED) BROADCAST RADIO SERVICES MULTICHANNEL VIDEO AND CABLE TELEVISION SERVICE Network Non-duplication Protection, Syndicated Exclusivity and Sports Blackout...

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Mills, Evan; Jones, Richard B.

Large yet infrequent disruptions of electrical power can impact tens of millions of people in a single event, triggering significant economic damages, portions of which are insured. Small and frequent events are also significant in the aggregate. This article explores the role that insurance claims data can play in better defining the broader economic impacts of grid disruptions in the U.S. context. We developed four case studies, using previously unpublished data for specific actual grid disruptions. The cases include the 1977 New York City blackout, the 2003 Northeast blackout, multi-year national annual lightning-related electrical damage and multi-year national line-disturbance events.more » Insured losses represent between 3 and 64 per cent of total loss costs across the case studies. Here, the household sector emerges as a larger locus of costs than indicated in previous studies, and short-lived events emerge as important sources of loss costs.« less

Amnesia for violent offenses: factors underlying memory loss and recovery.

PubMed

Pyszora, Natalie M; Fahy, Tom; Kopelman, Michael D

2014-01-01

Amnesia for violent offenses is common, but little is known about underlying causes or whether memory can recover. In this study, 50 violent offenders were interviewed with neuropsychological and psychometric measures, to determine the factors that underlie amnesia and the recovery of memory in these cases. The results showed that amnesia for a violent offense was associated with crimes of passion and dissociative symptoms at the time, but not with impaired neuropsychological functioning. Long amnesic gaps were associated with a state of dissociation surrounding the offense and with previous blackouts (whether alcoholic or dissociative). Memory often recovered, either partially or completely, especially where there was a history of blackouts or a lengthy amnesic gap. Brief amnesic gaps were likely to persist, perhaps as a consequence of faulty encoding during a period of extreme emotional arousal (or red-out). © 2014 American Academy of Psychiatry and the Law.

An insurance perspective on U.S. electric grid disruption costs

DOE PAGES

Mills, Evan; Jones, Richard B.

2016-10-12

Large yet infrequent disruptions of electrical power can impact tens of millions of people in a single event, triggering significant economic damages, portions of which are insured. Small and frequent events are also significant in the aggregate. This article explores the role that insurance claims data can play in better defining the broader economic impacts of grid disruptions in the U.S. context. We developed four case studies, using previously unpublished data for specific actual grid disruptions. The cases include the 1977 New York City blackout, the 2003 Northeast blackout, multi-year national annual lightning-related electrical damage and multi-year national line-disturbance events.more » Insured losses represent between 3 and 64 per cent of total loss costs across the case studies. Here, the household sector emerges as a larger locus of costs than indicated in previous studies, and short-lived events emerge as important sources of loss costs.« less

A matching approach to communicate through the plasma sheath surrounding a hypersonic vehicle

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Gao, Xiaotian; Jiang, Binhao, E-mail: jiangbh@hit.edu.cn

2015-06-21

In order to overcome the communication blackout problem suffered by hypersonic vehicles, a matching approach has been proposed for the first time in this paper. It utilizes a double-positive (DPS) material layer surrounding a hypersonic vehicle antenna to match with the plasma sheath enclosing the vehicle. Analytical analysis and numerical results indicate a resonance between the matched layer and the plasma sheath will be formed to mitigate the blackout problem in some conditions. The calculated results present a perfect radiated performance of the antenna, when the match is exactly built between these two layers. The effects of the parameters ofmore » the plasma sheath have been researched by numerical methods. Based on these results, the proposed approach is easier to realize and more flexible to the varying radiated conditions in hypersonic flight comparing with other methods.« less

Business interruption impacts of a terrorist attack on the electric power system of Los Angeles: customer resilience to a total blackout.

PubMed

Rose, Adam; Oladosu, Gbadebo; Liao, Shu-Yi

2007-06-01

Regional economies are highly dependent on electricity, thus making their power supply systems attractive terrorist targets. We estimate the largest category of economic losses from electricity outages-business interruption-in the context of a total blackout of electricity in Los Angeles. We advance the state of the art in the estimation of the two factors that strongly influence the losses: indirect effects and resilience. The results indicate that indirect effects in the context of general equilibrium analysis are moderate in size. The stronger factor, and one that pushes in the opposite direction, is resilience. Our analysis indicates that electricity customers have the ability to mute the potential shock to their business operations by as much as 86%. Moreover, market resilience lowers the losses, in part through the dampening of general equilibrium effects.

Space shuttle entry and landing navigation analysis

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Jones, H. L.; Crawford, B. S.

1974-01-01

A navigation system for the entry phase of a Space Shuttle mission which is an aided-inertial system which uses a Kalman filter to mix IMU data with data derived from external navigation aids is evaluated. A drag pseudo-measurement used during radio blackout is treated as an additional external aid. A comprehensive truth model with 101 states is formulated and used to generate detailed error budgets at several significant time points -- end-of-blackout, start of final approach, over runway threshold, and touchdown. Sensitivity curves illustrating the effect of variations in the size of individual error sources on navigation accuracy are presented. The sensitivity of the navigation system performance to filter modifications is analyzed. The projected overall performance is shown in the form of time histories of position and velocity error components. The detailed results are summarized and interpreted, and suggestions are made concerning possible software improvements.

The Rising Frequency of IT Blackouts Indicates the Increasing Relevance of IT Emergency Concepts to Ensure Patient Safety

PubMed Central

Sax, U.; Lipprandt, M.

2016-01-01

Summary Introduction As many medical workflows depend vastly on IT support, great demands are placed on the availability and accuracy of the applications involved. The cases of IT failure through ransomware at the beginning of 2016 are impressive examples of the dependence of clinical processes on IT. Although IT risk management attempts to reduce the risk of IT blackouts, the probability of partial/total data loss, or even worse, data falsification, is not zero. The objective of this paper is to present the state of the art with respect to strategies, processes, and governance to deal with the failure of IT systems. Methods This article is conducted as a narrative review. Results Worst case scenarios are needed, dealing with methods as to how to survive the downtime of clinical systems, for example through alternative workflows. These workflows have to be trained regularly. We categorize the most important types of IT system failure, assess the usefulness of classic counter measures, and state that most risk management approaches fall short on exactly this matter. Conclusion To ensure that continuous, evidence-based improvements to the recommendations for IT emergency concepts are made, it is essential that IT blackouts and IT disasters are reported, analyzed, and critically discussed. This requires changing from a culture of shame and blame to one of error and safety in healthcare IT. This change is finding its way into other disciplines in medicine. In addition, systematically planned and analyzed simulations of IT disaster may assist in IT emergency concept development. PMID:27830241

The Rising Frequency of IT Blackouts Indicates the Increasing Relevance of IT Emergency Concepts to Ensure Patient Safety.

PubMed

Sax, Ulrich; Lipprandt, M; Röhrig, R

2016-11-10

As many medical workflows depend vastly on IT support, great demands are placed on the availability and accuracy of the applications involved. The cases of IT failure through ransomware at the beginning of 2016 are impressive examples of the dependence of clinical processes on IT. Although IT risk management attempts to reduce the risk of IT blackouts, the probability of partial/total data loss, or even worse, data falsification, is not zero. The objective of this paper is to present the state of the art with respect to strategies, processes, and governance to deal with the failure of IT systems. This article is conducted as a narrative review. Worst case scenarios are needed, dealing with methods as to how to survive the downtime of clinical systems, for example through alternative workflows. These workflows have to be trained regularly. We categorize the most important types of IT system failure, assess the usefulness of classic counter measures, and state that most risk management approaches fall short on exactly this matter. To ensure that continuous, evidence-based improvements to the recommendations for IT emergency concepts are made, it is essential that IT blackouts and IT disasters are reported, analyzed, and critically discussed. This requires changing from a culture of shame and blame to one of error and safety in healthcare IT. This change is finding its way into other disciplines in medicine. In addition, systematically planned and analyzed simulations of IT disaster may assist in IT emergency concept development.

Two New R&D 100 Awards Uphold NREL Winning Streak - Continuum Magazine |

Science.gov Websites

-effective and meet the demand for power. Solution: NREL, in partnership with Solar Junction, a manufacturer escalating power costs, brownouts, and rolling blackouts. Solution: NREL and its partners, AILR Research, Inc

47 CFR 76.107 - Exclusivity contracts.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

2012-10-01

... 47 Telecommunication 4 2012-10-01 2012-10-01 false Exclusivity contracts. 76.107 Section 76.107 Telecommunication FEDERAL COMMUNICATIONS COMMISSION (CONTINUED) BROADCAST RADIO SERVICES MULTICHANNEL VIDEO AND CABLE TELEVISION SERVICE Network Non-duplication Protection, Syndicated Exclusivity and Sports Blackout...

47 CFR 76.107 - Exclusivity contracts.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

2014-10-01

... 47 Telecommunication 4 2014-10-01 2014-10-01 false Exclusivity contracts. 76.107 Section 76.107 Telecommunication FEDERAL COMMUNICATIONS COMMISSION (CONTINUED) BROADCAST RADIO SERVICES MULTICHANNEL VIDEO AND CABLE TELEVISION SERVICE Network Non-duplication Protection, Syndicated Exclusivity and Sports Blackout...

47 CFR 76.107 - Exclusivity contracts.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

2013-10-01

... 47 Telecommunication 4 2013-10-01 2013-10-01 false Exclusivity contracts. 76.107 Section 76.107 Telecommunication FEDERAL COMMUNICATIONS COMMISSION (CONTINUED) BROADCAST RADIO SERVICES MULTICHANNEL VIDEO AND CABLE TELEVISION SERVICE Network Non-duplication Protection, Syndicated Exclusivity and Sports Blackout...

As Blood Alcohol Content (BAC) Increases, So Does Impairment | NIH MedlinePlus the Magazine

MedlinePlus

... Impairment – 0.16 - 0.30% Speech, memory, coordination, attention, reaction time, balance significantly impaired All driving-related skills dangerously impaired Judgement and decision making dangerously impaired Blackouts (amnesia) Vomiting and other signs ...

47 CFR 76.107 - Exclusivity contracts.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-10-01

... 47 Telecommunication 4 2010-10-01 2010-10-01 false Exclusivity contracts. 76.107 Section 76.107 Telecommunication FEDERAL COMMUNICATIONS COMMISSION (CONTINUED) BROADCAST RADIO SERVICES MULTICHANNEL VIDEO AND CABLE TELEVISION SERVICE Network Non-duplication Protection, Syndicated Exclusivity and Sports Blackout...

47 CFR 76.107 - Exclusivity contracts.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-10-01

... 47 Telecommunication 4 2011-10-01 2011-10-01 false Exclusivity contracts. 76.107 Section 76.107 Telecommunication FEDERAL COMMUNICATIONS COMMISSION (CONTINUED) BROADCAST RADIO SERVICES MULTICHANNEL VIDEO AND CABLE TELEVISION SERVICE Network Non-duplication Protection, Syndicated Exclusivity and Sports Blackout...

Chemical Safety Alert: Chemical Accidents from Electric Power Outages

EPA Pesticide Factsheets

Incident data from the National Response Center (NRC) shows that during 2000 there were about 240 chemical releases reported due to an electric power interruption, as well as resumption/restart; only a few were related to planned rolling blackouts.

Bed Bug (Hemiptera: Cimicidae) Detection in Low-Income, High-Rise Apartments Using Four or Fewer Passive Monitors.

PubMed

Vail, K M; Chandler, J G

2017-06-01

Bed bug, Cimex lectularius L., management in low-income, high-rise housing for the elderly and disabled can be difficult. Early detection is key to slowing their spread, and reducing management cost and time needed for control. To determine the minimum number of passive monitors needed to detect low-level bed bug infestations in this environment, we evaluated three monitors placed one, two, or four per apartment in a 3 by 3 experimental design. One sticky monitor, The Bedbug Detection System, and the two pitfall monitors, ClimbUp Insect Interceptors BG and BlackOut BedBug Detectors, were evaluated. Bed bugs were trapped by the ClimbUp Insect Interceptors BG and the BlackOut BedBug Detector in 88% and 79% of apartments, respectively, but only in 39% of the apartments monitored with The Bedbug Detection System. The Bedbug Detection System required significantly longer time to detect bed bugs than either the ClimbUp Insect Interceptor BG or the BlackOut BedBug Detector. With the less effective Bedbug Detection System data removed from analyses, detection rates ranged from 80 to 90%, with no significant differences among one, two, or four monitors per apartment. Results indicate it is especially important to include a bed placement when only placing a few monitors. Future work should compare the combination of cursory visual inspections with various monitor numbers and placements per apartment to determine the most efficient, cost-effective system that will be accepted and implemented in low-income housing. © The Authors 2017. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of Entomological Society of America. All rights reserved. For Permissions, please email: journals.permissions@oup.com.

Demonstration of fully coupled simplified extended station black-out accident simulation with RELAP-7

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Zhao, Haihua; Zhang, Hongbin; Zou, Ling

2014-10-01

The RELAP-7 code is the next generation nuclear reactor system safety analysis code being developed at the Idaho National Laboratory (INL). The RELAP-7 code develop-ment effort started in October of 2011 and by the end of the second development year, a number of physical components with simplified two phase flow capability have been de-veloped to support the simplified boiling water reactor (BWR) extended station blackout (SBO) analyses. The demonstration case includes the major components for the primary system of a BWR, as well as the safety system components for the safety relief valve (SRV), the reactor core isolation cooling (RCIC)more » system, and the wet well. Three scenar-ios for the SBO simulations have been considered. Since RELAP-7 is not a severe acci-dent analysis code, the simulation stops when fuel clad temperature reaches damage point. Scenario I represents an extreme station blackout accident without any external cooling and cooling water injection. The system pressure is controlled by automatically releasing steam through SRVs. Scenario II includes the RCIC system but without SRV. The RCIC system is fully coupled with the reactor primary system and all the major components are dynamically simulated. The third scenario includes both the RCIC system and the SRV to provide a more realistic simulation. This paper will describe the major models and dis-cuss the results for the three scenarios. The RELAP-7 simulations for the three simplified SBO scenarios show the importance of dynamically simulating the SRVs, the RCIC sys-tem, and the wet well system to the reactor safety during extended SBO accidents.« less

Investigation of the possibility of using residual heat reactor energy

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Aminov, R. Z.; Yurin, V. E.; Bessonov, V. N.

2017-11-01

The largest contribution to the probable frequency of core damage is blackout events. The main component of the heat capacity at each reactor within a few minutes following a blackout is the heat resulting from the braking of beta-particles and the transfer of gamma-ray energy by the fission fragments and their decay products, which is known as the residual heat. The power of the residual heat changes gradually over a long period of time and for a VVER-1000 reactor is about 15-20 MW of thermal power over 72 hours. Current cooldown systems increase the cost of the basic nuclear power plants (NPP) funds without changing the amount of electricity generated. Such systems remain on standby, accelerating the aging of the equipment and accordingly reducing its reliability. The probability of system failure increases with the duration of idle time. Furthermore, the reactor residual heat energy is not used. A proposed system for cooling nuclear power plants involves the use of residual thermal power to supply the station’s own needs in emergency situations accompanied by a complete blackout. The thermal power of residual heat can be converted to electrical energy through an additional low power steam turbine. In normal mode, the additional steam turbine generates electricity, which makes it possible to ensure spare NPP and a return on the investment in the reservation system. In this work, experimental data obtained from a Balakovo NPP was analyzed to determine the admissibility of cooldown of the reactors through the 2nd circuit over a long time period, while maintaining high-level parameters for the steam generated by the steam generators.

Effect of a blackout in pediatric patients with home medical devices during the 2011 eastern Japan earthquake.

PubMed

Nakayama, Tojo; Tanaka, Soichiro; Uematsu, Mitsugu; Kikuchi, Atsuo; Hino-Fukuyo, Naomi; Morimoto, Tetsuji; Sakamoto, Osamu; Tsuchiya, Shigeru; Kure, Shigeo

2014-02-01

during the eastern Japan earthquake in 2011 and the following prolonged blackout, pediatric patients with home medical devices sought electricity at the pediatric department. We retrospectively studied the effect of this earthquake and the following blackout. we hand-reviewed pediatric admission records in Tohoku University Hospital for new inpatients attributed to the earthquake from March 11, 2011 to April 12, 2011. A survey by questionnaire regarding the situation during the earthquake was performed for parents of technology-assisted patients. during the study period, 24 pediatric patients were admitted to the pediatric department. Eighteen technology-assisted pediatric patients, including those with home respirators, accounted for 75% of new pediatric admissions. Patients who were admitted for electricity shortage stayed in the hospital for a mean of 11.0days (3-25days). The questionnaire survey showed that 55% of technology-assisted patients were admitted to medical centers for evacuation. The majority of patients (89%) with ventilators were eventually admitted to medical centers during the earthquake. Most of the parents of technology-assisted patients experienced a prolonged petrol shortage and difficulty in communications with medical centers. the current study suggests that technology-assisted pediatric patients with neurological disorders as the primary disease can overwhelm the capacity of hospital inpatient facilities in certain situations. Disaster preparedness should consider assuring power requirements in healthcare facilities and preparing backup power generators lasting for at least 24h for these patients. Preparing alternative measures for emergent electricity and communications could remedy serious conditions during a disaster. Copyright © 2013 The Japanese Society of Child Neurology. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Alcohol Problems in Alaska Natives: Lessons from the Inuit

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Seale, J. Paul; Shellenberger, Sylvia; Spence, John

2006-01-01

In this Alaska Native study, cultural "insiders" analyzed problems associated with increased alcohol availability, factors which have reduced alcohol-related problems, and ideas for improving treatment in an Inuit community. Participants described frequent bingeing, blackouts, family violence, suicide, loss of child custody, and feelings…

47 CFR 76.122 - Satellite network non-duplication.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-10-01

... 47 Telecommunication 4 2010-10-01 2010-10-01 false Satellite network non-duplication. 76.122... MULTICHANNEL VIDEO AND CABLE TELEVISION SERVICE Network Non-duplication Protection, Syndicated Exclusivity and Sports Blackout § 76.122 Satellite network non-duplication. (a) Upon receiving notification pursuant to...

47 CFR 76.122 - Satellite network non-duplication.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-10-01

... 47 Telecommunication 4 2011-10-01 2011-10-01 false Satellite network non-duplication. 76.122... MULTICHANNEL VIDEO AND CABLE TELEVISION SERVICE Network Non-duplication Protection, Syndicated Exclusivity and Sports Blackout § 76.122 Satellite network non-duplication. (a) Upon receiving notification pursuant to...

76 FR 28168 - Securities of Nonmember Insured Banks

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2011-05-16

... November 30, 2010. The final rule adopts amendments to the FDIC's securities disclosure regulations... bonuses and profits), 306 (insider trades during blackout periods), 401(b) (disclosure of pro forma... financial officers), and 407 (disclosure of audit committee financial experts) of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act...

Lights out: Impact of the August 2003 power outage on mortality in New York, NY

PubMed Central

Anderson, G. Brooke; Bell, Michelle L.

2012-01-01

Background Little is known about how power outages affect health. We investigated mortality effects of the largest US blackout to date, August 14–15, 2003 in New York, NY. Methods We estimated mortality risk in New York, NY, using a generalized linear model with data from 1987–2005. We incorporated possible confounders, including weather and long-term and seasonal mortality trends. Results During the blackout, mortality increased for accidental deaths (122% [95% confidence interval = 28%–287%]) and non-accidental (i.e., disease-related) deaths (25% [12%–41%]), resulting in approximately 90 excess deaths. Increased mortality was not from deaths being advanced by a few days; rather, mortality risk remained slightly elevated through August 2003. Discussion To our knowledge, this is the first analysis of power outages and non-accidental mortality. Understanding the impact of power outages on human health is relevant, given that increased energy demand and climate change are likely to put added strain on power grids. PMID:22252408

47 CFR 76.93 - Parties entitled to network non-duplication protection.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-10-01

... 47 Telecommunication 4 2010-10-01 2010-10-01 false Parties entitled to network non-duplication... RADIO SERVICES MULTICHANNEL VIDEO AND CABLE TELEVISION SERVICE Network Non-duplication Protection, Syndicated Exclusivity and Sports Blackout § 76.93 Parties entitled to network non-duplication protection...

47 CFR 76.92 - Cable network non-duplication; extent of protection.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-10-01

... 47 Telecommunication 4 2011-10-01 2011-10-01 false Cable network non-duplication; extent of... RADIO SERVICES MULTICHANNEL VIDEO AND CABLE TELEVISION SERVICE Network Non-duplication Protection, Syndicated Exclusivity and Sports Blackout § 76.92 Cable network non-duplication; extent of protection. (a...

47 CFR 76.93 - Parties entitled to network non-duplication protection.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-10-01

... 47 Telecommunication 4 2011-10-01 2011-10-01 false Parties entitled to network non-duplication... RADIO SERVICES MULTICHANNEL VIDEO AND CABLE TELEVISION SERVICE Network Non-duplication Protection, Syndicated Exclusivity and Sports Blackout § 76.93 Parties entitled to network non-duplication protection...

47 CFR 76.92 - Cable network non-duplication; extent of protection.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-10-01

... 47 Telecommunication 4 2010-10-01 2010-10-01 false Cable network non-duplication; extent of... RADIO SERVICES MULTICHANNEL VIDEO AND CABLE TELEVISION SERVICE Network Non-duplication Protection, Syndicated Exclusivity and Sports Blackout § 76.92 Cable network non-duplication; extent of protection. (a...

ESBWR response to an extended station blackout/loss of all AC power

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Barrett, A. J.; Marquino, W.

2012-07-01

U.S. federal regulations require light water cooled nuclear power plants to cope with Station Blackouts for a predetermined amount of time based on design factors for the plant. U.S. regulations define Station Blackout (SBO) as a loss of the offsite electric power system concurrent with turbine trip and unavailability of the onsite emergency AC power system. According to U.S. regulations, typically the coping period for an SBO is 4 hours and can be as long as 16 hours for currently operating BWR plants. Being able to cope with an SBO and loss of all AC power is required by internationalmore » regulators as well. The U.S. licensing basis for the ESBWR is a coping period of 72 hours for an SBO based on U.S. NRC requirements for passive safety plants. In the event of an extended SBO (viz., greater than 72 hours), the ESBWR response shows that the design is able to cope with the event for at least 7 days without AC electrical power or operator action. ESBWR is a Generation III+ reactor design with an array of passive safety systems. The ESBWR primary success path for mitigation of an SBO event is the Isolation Condenser System (ICS). The ICS is a passive, closed loop, safety system that initiates automatically on a loss of power. Upon Station Blackout or loss of all AC power, the ICS begins removing decay heat from the Reactor Pressure Vessel (RPV) by (i) condensing the steam into water in heat exchangers located in pools of water above the containment, and (ii) transferring the decay heat to the atmosphere. The condensed water is then returned by gravity to cool the reactor again. The ICS alone is capable of maintaining the ESBWR in a safe shutdown condition after an SBO for an extended period. The fuel remains covered throughout the SBO event. The ICS is able to remove decay heat from the RPV for at least 7 days and maintains the reactor in a safe shutdown condition. The water level in the RPV remains well above the top of active fuel for the duration of the SBO event. Beyond 7 days, only a few simple actions are needed to cope with the SBO for an indefinite amount of time. The operation of the ICS as the primary success path for mitigation of an SBO, allows for near immediate plant restart once power is restored. (authors)« less

You're Distracted. This Professor Can Help

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Parry, Marc

2013-01-01

The e-mail drill was one of numerous mind-training exercises in a unique class designed to raise students' awareness about how they use their digital tools. Colleges have experimented with short-term social-media blackouts in the past. But Ms. Hill's course, "Information and Contemplation," goes way further. Participants scrutinize their…

17 CFR 245.100 - Definitions.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

2014-04-01

... 17 Commodity and Securities Exchanges 4 2014-04-01 2014-04-01 false Definitions. 245.100 Section... BLACKOUT TRADING RESTRICTION § 245.100 Definitions. As used in Regulation BTR (§§ 245.100 through 245.104... issuer), means any period of more than three consecutive business days during which the ability to...

17 CFR 245.100 - Definitions.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-04-01

... 17 Commodity and Securities Exchanges 3 2011-04-01 2011-04-01 false Definitions. 245.100 Section... BLACKOUT TRADING RESTRICTION § 245.100 Definitions. As used in Regulation BTR (§§ 245.100 through 245.104... issuer), means any period of more than three consecutive business days during which the ability to...

17 CFR 245.100 - Definitions.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

2013-04-01

... 17 Commodity and Securities Exchanges 3 2013-04-01 2013-04-01 false Definitions. 245.100 Section... BLACKOUT TRADING RESTRICTION § 245.100 Definitions. As used in Regulation BTR (§§ 245.100 through 245.104... issuer), means any period of more than three consecutive business days during which the ability to...

The Blackout of Native American Cultural Achievements.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Vogel, Virgil J.

1987-01-01

Notes that American Indian achievements are overlooked and even specifically denied in the face of overwhelming evidence of their reality. Examines the denials of Indian originality in three specific matters that have been controversial in recent decades: medicine, the manufacture of maple syrup, and the use of fertilizer. (JHZ)

Do Conditional Reinforcers Count?

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Davison, Michael; Baum, William M.

2006-01-01

Six pigeons were trained on a procedure in which seven components arranged different food-delivery ratios on concurrent variable-interval schedules each session. The components were unsignaled, lasted for 10 food deliveries, and occurred in random order with a 60-s blackout between components. The schedules were arranged using a switching-key…

A QUANTITATIVE MEASURE FOR PROGRAMMED INSTRUCTION.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

HOLLAND, JAMES G.

IN AN ATTEMPT TO PROVIDE AN OBJECTIVE MEANS FOR IDENTIFYING THE DEGREE TO WHICH MATERIAL CAN BE TECHNICALLY TERMED "PROGRAMMED", THE SO-CALLED "BLACKOUT" TECHNIQUE HAS BEEN DEVELOPED. ALL WORDS IN A PROGRAM WHICH ARE NOT DIRECTLY NEEDED IN ORDER TO PROVIDE THE REQUIRED ANSWERS ARE COVERED WITH BLACK CRAYON, AND THIS EDITED…

Quantifying Improbability: An Analysis of the Lloyd’s of London Business Blackout Cyber Attack Scenario

DTIC Science & Technology

Scenarios that describe cyber attacks on the electric grid consistently predict significant disruptions to the economy and citizens quality of life...phenomena that deserve further investigation, such as the importance of some individual power plants in influencing the adversarys probability of

Tents and Shelters

DTIC Science & Technology

2010-07-15

Electromagnetic Interference ( EMI ), Transportability, Environmental, Human Factors Engineering (HFE), Reliability, Availability and Maintainability (RAM), and...vehicles and trailers to store, protect, and secure equipment, tools, and other theft-prone items. CBCs are designed not to interfere with the carrier’s...Transportability Test Facility. d. Electromagnetic Interference ( EMI ) Test Facility. e. Areas capable of conducting Blackout, Sound, Sand and Dust tests

47 CFR 76.128 - Application of sports blackout rules.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

2012-10-01

... stations within whose specified zone the community of the community unit or the community within which the... other than major markets as defined in § 76.51, television broadcast stations within whose Grade B... specified zone. [65 FR 68101, Nov. 14, 2000, as amended at 67 FR 68951, Nov. 14, 2002] ...

47 CFR 76.128 - Application of sports blackout rules.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

2014-10-01

... stations within whose specified zone the community of the community unit or the community within which the... other than major markets as defined in § 76.51, television broadcast stations within whose Grade B... specified zone. [65 FR 68101, Nov. 14, 2000, as amended at 67 FR 68951, Nov. 14, 2002] ...

Non-iterative Voltage Stability

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Makarov, Yuri V.; Vyakaranam, Bharat; Hou, Zhangshuan

2014-09-30

This report demonstrates promising capabilities and performance characteristics of the proposed method using several power systems models. The new method will help to develop a new generation of highly efficient tools suitable for real-time parallel implementation. The ultimate benefit obtained will be early detection of system instability and prevention of system blackouts in real time.

17 CFR 245.101 - Prohibition of insider trading during pension fund blackout periods.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-04-01

... equity securities in connection with a merger, acquisition, divestiture or similar transaction occurring... from section 306(a)(1) of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002: (1) Any acquisition of equity securities... acquisition is made pursuant to a plan providing for the regular reinvestment of dividends or interest and the...

Blackouts to Lifelong Memories: Digital Storytelling and the College Alcohol Habitus

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Burnett, Audrey J.; Walter, Katherine Ott; Baller, Stephanie L.

2016-01-01

Digital stories (N = 71) were created in partial fulfillment of undergraduate coursework at a large mid-Atlantic university. Based on the alcohol habitus, two major themes emerged: the content present (e.g., dissonance between visual and narrative representations) and the content conspicuously absent from the stories (e.g., first-person…

49 CFR 583.7 - Procedure for determining major foreign sources of passenger motor vehicle equipment.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

2014-10-01

..., oil, blackout, phosphate rinse, windshield washer fluid, fasteners, tire assembly fluid, rivets... equipment, and the U.S. and Canada are treated together. (d) Determination of the percentage of the total... basis by— (1) Adding up the total value of all of the passenger motor vehicle equipment (regardless of...

49 CFR 583.7 - Procedure for determining major foreign sources of passenger motor vehicle equipment.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

2013-10-01

..., oil, blackout, phosphate rinse, windshield washer fluid, fasteners, tire assembly fluid, rivets... equipment, and the U.S. and Canada are treated together. (d) Determination of the percentage of the total... basis by— (1) Adding up the total value of all of the passenger motor vehicle equipment (regardless of...

49 CFR 583.7 - Procedure for determining major foreign sources of passenger motor vehicle equipment.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

2012-10-01

..., oil, blackout, phosphate rinse, windshield washer fluid, fasteners, tire assembly fluid, rivets... equipment, and the U.S. and Canada are treated together. (d) Determination of the percentage of the total... basis by— (1) Adding up the total value of all of the passenger motor vehicle equipment (regardless of...

49 CFR 583.7 - Procedure for determining major foreign sources of passenger motor vehicle equipment.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-10-01

..., oil, blackout, phosphate rinse, windshield washer fluid, fasteners, tire assembly fluid, rivets... equipment, and the U.S. and Canada are treated together. (d) Determination of the percentage of the total... basis by— (1) Adding up the total value of all of the passenger motor vehicle equipment (regardless of...

Terminal Blackout: Critical Electric Infrastructure Vulnerabilities and Civil-Military Resiliency

DTIC Science & Technology

2013-10-01

William R. Graham, Robert J. Hermann, Henry M. Kluepfel, Richard L. Lawson, Gordon K. Soper , Lowell L. Wood, Jr., and Joan B. Woodard, Report of the...R. Graham, Robert J. Hermann, Henry M. Kluepfel, Richard L. Lawson, Gordon K. Soper , Lowell L. Wood, Jr., and Joan B. Woodard, Report of the

BWR station blackout: A RISMC analysis using RAVEN and RELAP5-3D

DOE PAGES

Mandelli, D.; Smith, C.; Riley, T.; ...

2016-01-01

The existing fleet of nuclear power plants is in the process of extending its lifetime and increasing the power generated from these plants via power uprates and improved operations. In order to evaluate the impact of these factors on the safety of the plant, the Risk-Informed Safety Margin Characterization (RISMC) project aims to provide insights to decision makers through a series of simulations of the plant dynamics for different initial conditions and accident scenarios. This paper presents a case study in order to show the capabilities of the RISMC methodology to assess impact of power uprate of a Boiling Watermore » Reactor system during a Station Black-Out accident scenario. We employ a system simulator code, RELAP5-3D, coupled with RAVEN which perform the stochastic analysis. Furthermore, our analysis is performed by: 1) sampling values from a set of parameters from the uncertainty space of interest, 2) simulating the system behavior for that specific set of parameter values and 3) analyzing the outcomes from the set of simulation runs.« less

Constraining response output on conjunctive fixed-ratio 1 fixed-time reinforcement schedules: Effects on the postreinforcement pause.

PubMed

Lopez, F; Pereira, C

1985-03-01

Two experiments used response-restriction procedures in order to test the independence of the factors determining response rate and the factors determining the size of the postreinforcement pause on interval schedules. Responding was restricted by response-produced blackout or by retracting the lever. In Experiment 1 with a Conjunctive FR 1 FT schedule, the blackout procedure reduced the postreinforcement pause more than the lever-retraction procedure did, and both procedures produced shorter pauses than did the schedule without response restriction. In Experiment 2 the interreinforcement interval was also manipulated, and the size of the pause was an increasing function of the interreinforcement interval, but the rate of increase was lower than that produced by fixed interval schedules of comparable interval durations. The assumption of functional independence of the postreinforcement pause and terminal rate in fixed interval schedules is questioned since data suggest that pause reductions resulted from constraining variation in response number compared to equivalent periodic schedules in which response number was allowed to vary. Copyright © 1985. Published by Elsevier B.V.

Our Lyrics Will Not Be on Lockdown: An Arts Collective's Response to an Incarceration Nation

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Green, Keisha

2010-01-01

Recognizing the unprecedented proliferation of prisons in the United States, Blackout Arts Collective (BAC), a grassroots organization working to empower communities of color through the arts, education, and activism, launched a national tour--"Lyrics on Lockdown (LOL): Slamming the Prison Industrial Complex." As a BAC member, I participated in…

Priority One: Environment. The Energy Challenge.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Augis, Lynne; And Others

This unit is one of a series in environmental education for grades 1-12. The unit is designed to be used with secondary school students and includes the following sections: (1) Preface; (2) Foods, Fuels, and You; (3) Blackout in the City; (4) Conservation and Efficiency; (5) Our Present Sources; (6) The Oil Crisis; (7) The Nculear Controversy; (8)…

77 FR 53886 - February 2011 Southwest Cold Weather Event Follow-up Technical Conference; Notice of Technical...

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2012-09-04

... Southwest Cold Weather Event Follow-up Technical Conference; Notice of Technical Conference Take notice that... August 16, 2011 Report on Outages and Curtailments During the Southwest Cold Weather Event of February 1... severe cold weather issues that led to rolling blackouts affecting over 4 million customers and natural...

Maternal Nutrition and Four-Alternative Choice

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Davison, Michael; Krageloh, Christian U.; Fraser, Mhoyra; Breier, Bernhard H.

2007-01-01

Two groups of 10 male rats were trained to nose poke for food pellets at four alternatives that provided differing rates of pellet delivery on aperiodic schedules. After a fixed number of pellets had been delivered, 5, 10 or 20 in different conditions of the experiment, a 10-s blackout occurred, and the locations of the differing rates of pellet…

77 FR 66641 - In the Matter of Entergy Nuclear Operations, Inc.; Entergy Nuclear Indian Point 2, LLC; Entergy...

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2012-11-06

... Unit 1 structure. However, neither the diesel generator fire zone nor any OMAs related to the Unit 2 station blackout diesel generator were included in the licensee's request for exemptions. As a result, the... ``However, neither the diesel generator fire [DELETED (area)] zone * * *'' Response Fire zones are subsets...

Seizure, Fit or Attack? The Use of Diagnostic Labels by Patients with Epileptic or Non-Epileptic Seizures

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Plug, Leendert; Sharrack, Basil; Reuber, Markus

2010-01-01

We present an analysis of the use of diagnostic labels such as "seizure", "attack", "fit", and "blackout" by patients who experience seizures. While previous research on patients' preferences for diagnostic terminology has relied on questionnaires, we assess patients' own preferences and their responses to a doctor's use of different labels…

Pearl Harbor and America's Homefront Children: First Fears, Blackouts, Air Raid Drills, and Nightmares.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Tuttle, William M., Jr.

In conducting research about U.S. homefront children during the Second World War, a professor of history wrote to the 100 largest-circulation newspapers in the United States as well as 75 African-American, Hispanic American, and Jewish-American newspapers and magazines seeking letters from people who experienced the War as children. More than…

Research Program Review. Aircrew Physiology.

DTIC Science & Technology

1982-06-01

15 Visual and Auditory LocaizationrNormal and Abnormal Relation Leonard Detection of Retinal Ischemia Prior to Blackout by Electrical Evoked...parameters and provision of auditory or tactile feedback to the subject, all promise some improvement. Measurement of the separate responses at 01...Work in Progress A centrifuge program designed to evaluate two different electrode placements and four different frequencies of stimulation is now in

Dominican Republic: Political and Economic Conditions and Relations with the United States

DTIC Science & Technology

2005-03-08

Killed in Dominican Republic Prison Fire,” The New York Times, March 8, 2008. 8 See Gerardo Reyes, “Esclavos en Paraíso,”El Nuevo Herald, Jan. 9... Perez , “Widespread Blackouts Leave President Scrambling to Boost Power,” Agence France-Presse, Feb. 8, 2000. 13 Jose de Cordoba, “Caribbean Cloud,”Wall

The Mini Dark Room from Holywell High

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Lane, Frank

2011-01-01

The mini dark room from Holywell High School costs nothing to make and has a construction time of 10 min. In spite of progress, or perhaps because of it, light experiments often have to be performed without blackout. Put this idea into practice and each pupil can have a dark room--and best of all, it's free. In this article, the author describes…

Space Science

NASA Image and Video Library

2001-04-02

The largest solar flare ever recorded occurred at 4:51 p.m. EDT, on Monday, April 2, 2001. as Observed by the Solar and Heliospheric Observatory (SOHO) satellite. Solar flares, among the solar systems mightiest eruptions, are tremendous explosions in the atmosphere of the Sun capable of releasing as much energy as a billion megatons of TNT. Caused by the sudden release of magnetic energy, in just a few seconds, solar flares can accelerate solar particles to very high velocities, almost to the speed of light, and heat solar material to tens of millions of degrees. The recent explosion from the active region near the sun's northwest limb hurled a coronal mass ejection into space at a whopping speed of roughly 7.2 million kilometers per hour. Luckily, the flare was not aimed directly towards Earth. Second to the most severe R5 classification of radio blackout, this flare produced an R4 blackout as rated by the NOAA SEC. This classification measures the disruption in radio communications. Launched December 2, 1995 atop an ATLAS-IIAS expendable launch vehicle, the SOHO is a cooperative effort involving NASA and the European Space Agency (ESA). (Image courtesy NASA Goddard SOHO Project office)

Largest Solar Flare on Record

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

2001-01-01

The largest solar flare ever recorded occurred at 4:51 p.m. EDT, on Monday, April 2, 2001. as Observed by the Solar and Heliospheric Observatory (SOHO) satellite. Solar flares, among the solar systems mightiest eruptions, are tremendous explosions in the atmosphere of the Sun capable of releasing as much energy as a billion megatons of TNT. Caused by the sudden release of magnetic energy, in just a few seconds, solar flares can accelerate solar particles to very high velocities, almost to the speed of light, and heat solar material to tens of millions of degrees. The recent explosion from the active region near the sun's northwest limb hurled a coronal mass ejection into space at a whopping speed of roughly 7.2 million kilometers per hour. Luckily, the flare was not aimed directly towards Earth. Second to the most severe R5 classification of radio blackout, this flare produced an R4 blackout as rated by the NOAA SEC. This classification measures the disruption in radio communications. Launched December 2, 1995 atop an ATLAS-IIAS expendable launch vehicle, the SOHO is a cooperative effort involving NASA and the European Space Agency (ESA). (Image courtesy NASA Goddard SOHO Project office)

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Smith, Curtis; Mandelli, Diego; Prescott, Steven

The existing fleet of nuclear power plants is in the process of extending its lifetime and increasing the power generated from these plants via power uprates. In order to evaluate the impact of these factors on the safety of the plant, the Risk Informed Safety Margin Characterization (RISMC) project aims to provide insight to decision makers through a series of simulations of the plant dynamics for different initial conditions (e.g., probabilistic analysis and uncertainty quantification). This report focuses, in particular, on the application of a RISMC detailed demonstration case study for an emergent issue using the RAVEN and RELAP-7 tools.more » This case study looks at the impact of a couple of challenges to a hypothetical pressurized water reactor, including: (1) a power uprate, (2) a potential loss of off-site power followed by the possible loss of all diesel generators (i.e., a station black-out event), (3) and earthquake induces station-blackout, and (4) a potential earthquake induced tsunami flood. The analysis is performed by using a set of codes: a thermal-hydraulic code (RELAP-7), a flooding simulation tool (NEUTRINO) and a stochastic analysis tool (RAVEN) – these are currently under development at the Idaho National Laboratory.« less

Experimental and code simulation of a station blackout scenario for APR1400 with test facility ATLAS and MARS code

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Yu, X. G.; Kim, Y. S.; Choi, K. Y.

2012-07-01

A SBO (station blackout) experiment named SBO-01 was performed at full-pressure IET (Integral Effect Test) facility ATLAS (Advanced Test Loop for Accident Simulation) which is scaled down from the APR1400 (Advanced Power Reactor 1400 MWe). In this study, the transient of SBO-01 is discussed and is subdivided into three phases: the SG fluid loss phase, the RCS fluid loss phase, and the core coolant depletion and core heatup phase. In addition, the typical phenomena in SBO-01 test - SG dryout, natural circulation, core coolant boiling, the PRZ full, core heat-up - are identified. Furthermore, the SBO-01 test is reproduced bymore » the MARS code calculation with the ATLAS model which represents the ATLAS test facility. The experimental and calculated transients are then compared and discussed. The comparison reveals there was malfunction of equipments: the SG leakage through SG MSSV and the measurement error of loop flow meter. As the ATLAS model is validated against the experimental results, it can be further employed to investigate the other possible SBO scenarios and to study the scaling distortions in the ATLAS. (authors)« less

Blackout detection as a multiobjective optimization problem.

PubMed

Chaudhary, A M; Trachtenberg, E A

1991-01-01

We study new fast computational procedures for a pilot blackout (total loss of vision) detection in real time. Their validity is demonstrated by data acquired during experiments with volunteer pilots on a human centrifuge. A new systematic class of very fast suboptimal group filters is employed. The utilization of various inherent group invariancies of signals involved allows us to solve the detection problem via estimation with respect to many performance criteria. The complexity of the procedures in terms of the number of computer operations required for their implementation is investigated. Various classes of such prediction procedures are investigated, analyzed and trade offs are established. Also we investigated the validity of suboptimal filtering using different group filters for different performance criteria, namely: the number of false detections, the number of missed detections, the accuracy of detection and the closeness of all procedures to a certain bench mark technique in terms of dispersion squared (mean square error). The results are compared to recent studies of detection of evoked potentials using estimation. The group filters compare favorably with conventional techniques in many cases with respect to the above mentioned criteria. Their main advantage is the fast computational processing.

Station Blackout: A case study in the interaction of mechanistic and probabilistic safety analysis

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Curtis Smith; Diego Mandelli; Cristian Rabiti

2013-11-01

The ability to better characterize and quantify safety margins is important to improved decision making about nuclear power plant design, operation, and plant life extension. As research and development (R&D) in the light-water reactor (LWR) Sustainability (LWRS) Program and other collaborative efforts yield new data, sensors, and improved scientific understanding of physical processes that govern the aging and degradation of plant SSCs needs and opportunities to better optimize plant safety and performance will become known. The purpose of the Risk Informed Safety Margin Characterization (RISMC) Pathway R&D is to support plant decisions for risk-informed margin management with the aim tomore » improve economics, reliability, and sustain safety of current NPPs. In this paper, we describe the RISMC analysis process illustrating how mechanistic and probabilistic approaches are combined in order to estimate a safety margin. We use the scenario of a “station blackout” wherein offsite power and onsite power is lost, thereby causing a challenge to plant safety systems. We describe the RISMC approach, illustrate the station blackout modeling, and contrast this with traditional risk analysis modeling for this type of accident scenario.« less

SOARCA Peach Bottom Atomic Power Station Long-Term Station Blackout Uncertainty Analysis: Knowledge Advancement.

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Gauntt, Randall O.; Mattie, Patrick D.; Bixler, Nathan E.

2014-02-01

This paper describes the knowledge advancements from the uncertainty analysis for the State-of- the-Art Reactor Consequence Analyses (SOARCA) unmitigated long-term station blackout accident scenario at the Peach Bottom Atomic Power Station. This work assessed key MELCOR and MELCOR Accident Consequence Code System, Version 2 (MACCS2) modeling uncertainties in an integrated fashion to quantify the relative importance of each uncertain input on potential accident progression, radiological releases, and off-site consequences. This quantitative uncertainty analysis provides measures of the effects on consequences, of each of the selected uncertain parameters both individually and in interaction with other parameters. The results measure the modelmore » response (e.g., variance in the output) to uncertainty in the selected input. Investigation into the important uncertain parameters in turn yields insights into important phenomena for accident progression and off-site consequences. This uncertainty analysis confirmed the known importance of some parameters, such as failure rate of the Safety Relief Valve in accident progression modeling and the dry deposition velocity in off-site consequence modeling. The analysis also revealed some new insights, such as dependent effect of cesium chemical form for different accident progressions. (auth)« less

Optimal Management and Design of Energy Systems under Atmospheric Uncertainty

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Anitescu, M.; Constantinescu, E. M.; Zavala, V.

2010-12-01

The generation and distpatch of electricity while maintaining high reliability levels are two of the most daunting engineering problems of the modern era. This was demonstrated by the Northeast blackout of August 2003, which resulted in the loss of 6.2 gigawatts that served more than 50 million people and which resulted in economic losses on the order of $10 billion. In addition, there exist strong socioeconomic pressures to improve the efficiency of the grid. The most prominent solution to this problem is a substantial increase in the use of renewable energy such as wind and solar. In turn, its uncertain availability—which is due to the intrinsic weather variability—will increase the likelihood of disruptions. In this endeavors of current and next-generation power systems, forecasting atmospheric conditions with uncertainty can and will play a central role, at both the demand and the generation ends. User demands are strongly correlated to physical conditions such as temperature, humidity, and solar radiation. The reason is that the ambient temperature and solar radiation dictate the amount of air conditioning and lighting needed in residential and commercial buildings. But these potential benefits would come at the expense of increased variability in the dynamics of both production and demand, which would become even more dependent on weather state and its uncertainty. One of the important challenges for energy in our time is how to harness these benefits while “keeping the lights on”—ensuring that the demand is satisfied at all times and that no blackout occurs while all energy sources are optimally used. If we are to meet this challenge, accounting for uncertainty in the atmospheric conditions is essential, since this will allow minimizing the effects of false positives: committing too little baseline power in anticipation of demand that is underestimated or renewable energy levels that fail to materialize. In this work we describe a framework for the optimal management and design of energy systems, such as the power grid or building systems, under atmospheric conditions uncertainty. The framework is defined in terms of a mathematical paradigm called stochastic programming: minimization of the expected value of the decision-makers objective function subject to physical and operational constraints, such as low blackout porbability, that are enforced on each scenario. We report results on testing the framework on the optimal management of power grid systems under high wind penetration scenarios, a problem whose time horizon is in the order of days. We discuss the computational effort of scenario generation which involves running WRF at high spatio-temporal resolution dictated by the operational constraints as well as solving the optimal dispatch problem. We demonstrate that accounting for uncertainty in atmospheric conditions results in blackout prevention, whereas decisions using only mean forecast does not. We discuss issues in using the framework for planning problems, whose time horizon is of several decades and what requirements this problem would entail from climate simulation systems.

Securing the Heavens: A Perspective on Space Control

DTIC Science & Technology

1999-06-01

transmission , command and control, as well as their supporting infrastructure—which should all be considered potential targets. The appeal of physically ...to 64 exposure to x - rays , gamma rays and neutrons (as well as trapped radiation that lingers above the atmosphere) include electronic upset...data links due to the associated scintillation (distortion of radio waves) and absorption/ blackout (denial of communications ) effects. High-altitude

Margin and sensitivity methods for security analysis of electric power systems

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Greene, Scott L.

Reliable operation of large scale electric power networks requires that system voltages and currents stay within design limits. Operation beyond those limits can lead to equipment failures and blackouts. Security margins measure the amount by which system loads or power transfers can change before a security violation, such as an overloaded transmission line, is encountered. This thesis shows how to efficiently compute security margins defined by limiting events and instabilities, and the sensitivity of those margins with respect to assumptions, system parameters, operating policy, and transactions. Security margins to voltage collapse blackouts, oscillatory instability, generator limits, voltage constraints and line overloads are considered. The usefulness of computing the sensitivities of these margins with respect to interarea transfers, loading parameters, generator dispatch, transmission line parameters, and VAR support is established for networks as large as 1500 buses. The sensitivity formulas presented apply to a range of power system models. Conventional sensitivity formulas such as line distribution factors, outage distribution factors, participation factors and penalty factors are shown to be special cases of the general sensitivity formulas derived in this thesis. The sensitivity formulas readily accommodate sparse matrix techniques. Margin sensitivity methods are shown to work effectively for avoiding voltage collapse blackouts caused by either saddle node bifurcation of equilibria or immediate instability due to generator reactive power limits. Extremely fast contingency analysis for voltage collapse can be implemented with margin sensitivity based rankings. Interarea transfer can be limited by voltage limits, line limits, or voltage stability. The sensitivity formulas presented in this thesis apply to security margins defined by any limit criteria. A method to compute transfer margins by directly locating intermediate events reduces the total number of loadflow iterations required by each margin computation and provides sensitivity information at minimal additional cost. Estimates of the effect of simultaneous transfers on the transfer margins agree well with the exact computations for a network model derived from a portion of the U.S grid. The accuracy of the estimates over a useful range of conditions and the ease of obtaining the estimates suggest that the sensitivity computations will be of practical value.

Observing power blackouts from space - A disaster related study

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Aubrecht, C.; Elvidge, C. D.; Ziskin, D.; Baugh, K. E.; Tuttle, B.; Erwin, E.; Kerle, N.

2009-04-01

In case of emergency disaster managers worldwide require immediate information on affected areas and estimations of the number of affected people. Natural disasters such as earthquakes, hurricanes, tornados, wind and ice storms often involve failures in the electrical power generation system and grid. Near real time identification of power blackouts gives a first impression of the area affected by the event (Elvidge et al. 2007), which can subsequently be linked to population estimations. Power blackouts disrupt societal activities and compound the difficulties associated with search and rescue, clean up, and the provision of food and other supplies following a disastrous event. Locations and spatial extents of power blackouts are key considerations in planning and execution of the primary disaster missions of emergency management organizations. To date only one satellite data source has been used successfully for the detection of power blackouts. Operated by NOAA's National Geophysical Data Center (NGDC) the U.S. Air Force Defense Meteorological Satellite Program (DMSP) Operational Linescan System (OLS) offers a unique capability to observe lights present at the Earth's surface at night. Including a pair of visible and thermal spectral bands and originally designed to detect moonlit clouds, this sensor enables mapping of lights from cities and towns, gas flares and offshore platforms, fires, and heavily lit fishing boats. The low light imaging of the OLS is accomplished using a photomultiplier tube (PMT) which intensifies the visible band signal at night. With 14 orbits collected per day and a 3.000 km swath width, each OLS is capable of collecting a complete set of images of the Earth every 24 hours. NGDC runs the long-term archive for OLS data with the digital version extending back to 1992. OLS data is received by NGDC in near real time (1-2 hours from acquisition) and subscription based services for the near real time data are provided for users all over the world. Elvidge et al. (1998) first demonstrated that under certain conditions a detection of power outages is possible using OLS data. A standard procedure for visual detection of power outages has been developed. The procedure is based on identifying locations where consistently observed lighting is missing or reduced following a disaster event. Visible and thermal spectral bands of the event-related OLS data are compared to a recent cloud-free composite of nighttime lights by producing a color (RGB) composite image. For the cloud-free nighttime lights composite serving as reference information both monthly and annual composites can be used, depending on the respective availability and suitability of OLS data. The RGB color composite uses the reference lights as red (R), the current visible band as green (G) and the current thermal band as blue (B). The thermal band is typically inverted to make clouds appear bright. As clouds are typically colder than the surface of the Earth, in the thermal band higher values are observed on cloud-free areas, which thus appear brighter in standard visualization modes. The resulting color composite is visually interpreted to identify power outages, which show up as red lights on a dark (cloud-free) background. Red color stands for high values in the reference data (red band of the RGB composite) compared to low values in the event data (green and blue bands of the RGB composite), thus showing the disaster-related absence or reduction of lighting. Heavy cloud cover also obscures lights, resulting in red lights on a blue background. Yellow color in the RGB composite indicates areas where the lights are on, i.e. both red and green band (reference composite and visible band of the event image) feature high values with no cloud cover present (low values in the blue band). Under ideal conditions the presented procedure detects individual cities and towns where power has been lost or has been reduced. Conditions reducing or eliminating the capability of detecting power blackouts in OLS data have been identified (e.g. sunlight, heavy cloud cover and bright moonlight). Furthermore, the change detection procedure only works when power blackouts happen or still persist at night at the time of an OLS overpass. In some cases (e.g. Hurricane Katrina) it has been possible to track the gradual recovery of power by repeating the procedure on nights following a disaster event. In this paper several examples of successful power blackout detection following natural disasters including hurricanes (e.g. Isabel 2003 and Wilma 2005 in the USA) and earthquakes (e.g. Gujarat Earthquake 2001 in India) will be presented, whereas overlaid hurricane paths and earthquake epicenters serve as landmarks and indicate locations around the potential highest impact. Disaster impact assessment and post-disaster research is strongly related to impacts on population, related infrastructure and activities (Kerle et al. 2005, Zhang and Kerle 2008). In particular in the case of emergency management and response humans are the main actors and first-pass assessment of affected population and locations of affected areas are essential. Space-based power blackout detection, as described above, has the potential to delineate the spatial extent of the disaster impact. Overlaying the respective OLS data with regional population data such as LandScan (Dobson et al. 2000) or Gridded Population of the World (CIESIN and CIAT 2005) allows estimating a potential number of affected people. Without a doubt such estimates comprise a considerable number of uncertainties. However, the capability of providing the information in near-real time as offered by using DMSP-OLS makes the presented approach very valuable for emergency and disaster managers worldwide. REFERENCES Center for International Earth Science Information Network CIESIN at Columbia University, and Centro Internacional de Agricultura Tropical CIAT (2005). Gridded Population of the World Version 3 (GPWv3). Palisades, NY: Socioeconomic Data and Applications Center (SEDAC), Columbia University. Available at http://sedac.ciesin.columbia.edu/gpw (last visited 01/08/2009). Dobson, J.E., E.A. Bright, P.R. Coleman, R.C. Durfee, and B.A. Worley (2000) LandScan: A Global Population Database for Estimating Populations at Risk. Photogrammetric Engineering & Remote Sensing 66(7), 849-857. Elvidge, C.D., K.E. Baugh, V.R. Hobson, E.A. Kihn, and H.W. Kroehl (1998) Detection of Fires and Power Outages Using DMSP-OLS Data. In: Lunetta, R.S., and Elvidge, C.D. (eds.) Remote Sensing Change Detection: Environmental Monitoring Methods and Applications. Ann Arbor Press, pp 123-135. Elvidge, C.D., C. Aubrecht, K. Baugh, B. Tuttle, and A.T. Howard (2007) Satellite detection of power outages following earthquakes and other events. 3rd International Geohazards Workshop. GEO & IGOS Geohazards. Proceedings. ESA/ESRIN, Frascati (Rome), Italy, November 6-9, 2007. Kerle, N., R. Stekelenburg, F. van den Heuvel, and B.G.H. Gorte (2005) Near - real time post - disaster damage assessment with airborne oblique video data. In: van Oosterom, P.J.M., Zlatanova, S., and Elfriede, M. (eds.) Geo-information for disaster management Gi4DM : Proceedings of the 1st International Symposium on Geo-Information for Disaster Management. Berlin: Springer, pp 337-353. Zhang, Y., and N. Kerle (2008) Satellite remote sensing for near-real time data collection. In: Zlatanova, S., Li, J. (eds.) Geospatial information technology for emergency response. Berlin: Springer, pp 75-102.

High-Tech, Low-Tech, No-Tech: Communications Strategies During Blackouts

DTIC Science & Technology

2013-12-01

share radiation measurements; it was created within a week of the Fukushima nuclear disaster . More than 3.5 million data readings have already been...national nuclear crisis, especially as the extent of the disaster at the Fukushima Daiichi plant became known. This is where hyper-local communication...accompany major crises, particularly natural disasters such as severe weather events. Thus, during crises, communications are often severely hampered

Aids for the Study of Electromagnetic Blackout

DTIC Science & Technology

1975-02-25

to gamma rays, 1-MT burst at 20 km 5-32 5-23B One-way absorption due to gamma rays. o-MT hurst at ’O km 5-32 5-23C One-way absorption due to ga’ma...0 2- F ( n)z I I L -I 0. 0.2L.~ INTEGRAL VALUES OF EXPONENT n Figure 6-13. Multiplying factors for refraction and range errors in a spherically

Cerebral-Body Perfusion Model

DTIC Science & Technology

1990-07-01

to simulate flow and pressure interaction between the cerebral and the body systems. its objective is to study the dynamic interaction between the...single model. The objective is to enable the study of the dynamic interaction between these two systems. In this model, relevant parts of the brain and of...34blackout, can also be investigated. For example, the effect can be studied of different inhale/exhale and/or different relative positioning betwoen head-body

Graphical Contingency Analysis for the Nation's Electric Grid

ScienceCinema

Zhenyu (Henry) Huang

2017-12-09

PNNL has developed a new tool to manage the electric grid more effectively, helping prevent blackouts and brownouts--and possibly avoiding millions of dollars in fines for system violations. The Graphical Contingency Analysis tool monitors grid performance, shows prioritized lists of problems, provides visualizations of potential consequences, and helps operators identify the most effective courses of action. This technology yields faster, better decisions and a more stable and reliable power grid.

RELAP5/MOD2 analysis of a postulated cold leg SBLOCA'' simultaneous to a total black-out'' event in the Jose Cabrera Nuclear Station

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Rebollo, L.

1992-04-01

Several beyond-design bases cold leg small-break LOCA postulated scenarios based on the lessons learned'' in the OECD-LOFT LP-SB-3 experiment have been analyzed for the Westinghouse single loop Jose Cabrera Nuclear Power Plant belonging to the Spanish utility UNION ELECTRICA FENOSA, S.A. The analysis has been done by the utility in the Thermal-Hydraulic Accident Analysis Section of the Engineering Department of the Nuclear Division. The RELAP5/MOD2/36.04 code has been used on a CYBER 180/830 computer and the simulation includes the 6 in. RHRS charging line, the 2 in. pressurizer spray, and the 1.5 in. CVCS make-up line piping breaks. The assumptionmore » of a total black-out condition'' coincident with the occurrence of the event has been made in order to consider a plant degraded condition with total active failure of the ECCS. As a result of the analysis, estimates of the time to core overheating startup'' as well as an evaluation of alternate operator measures to mitigate the consequences of the event have been obtained. Finally a proposal for improving the LOCA emergency operating procedure (E-1) has been suggested.« less

RELAP5/MOD2 analysis of a postulated ``cold leg SBLOCA`` simultaneous to a ``total black-out`` event in the Jose Cabrera Nuclear Station

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Rebollo, L.

1992-04-01

Several beyond-design bases cold leg small-break LOCA postulated scenarios based on the ``lessons learned`` in the OECD-LOFT LP-SB-3 experiment have been analyzed for the Westinghouse single loop Jose Cabrera Nuclear Power Plant belonging to the Spanish utility UNION ELECTRICA FENOSA, S.A. The analysis has been done by the utility in the Thermal-Hydraulic & Accident Analysis Section of the Engineering Department of the Nuclear Division. The RELAP5/MOD2/36.04 code has been used on a CYBER 180/830 computer and the simulation includes the 6 in. RHRS charging line, the 2 in. pressurizer spray, and the 1.5 in. CVCS make-up line piping breaks. Themore » assumption of a ``total black-out condition`` coincident with the occurrence of the event has been made in order to consider a plant degraded condition with total active failure of the ECCS. As a result of the analysis, estimates of the ``time to core overheating startup`` as well as an evaluation of alternate operator measures to mitigate the consequences of the event have been obtained. Finally a proposal for improving the LOCA emergency operating procedure (E-1) has been suggested.« less

Effect of prolonged bedrest and plus Gz acceleration on peripheral visual response time

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Haines, R. F.

1973-01-01

Peripheral visual response time changes during +G sub z acceleration following fourteen days of bedrest are considered as well as what effect prolonged bedrest has upon this response. Eighteen test lights, placed 10 deg are apart along the horizontal meridian of the subject's field of view, were presented in a random sequence. The subject was instructed to press a button as soon as a light appeared. Response time testing occurred periodically during bedrest and continuously during centrifugation testing. The results indicate that: (1) mean response time is significantly longer to stimuli imaged in the far periphery than to stimuli imaged closer to the line of sight; (2) mean response time at each stimulus position tends to be longer at plateau g than during the preacceleration baseline period; (3) mean response time tends to lengthen as the g level is increased; (4) peripheral visual response time during +G sub x acceleration at 2, 3.2, and 3.8 g was not a reliable advanced indicator that blackout was going to occur; and (5) the subject's field of view collapsed rapidly just before blackout. Bedrest data showed that the distribution of response times to stimuli imaged across the subject's horizontal retinal meridian remained remarkably constant from day to day during both the bedrest and recovery periods.

NASA's Best-Observed X-Class Flare of All Time

NASA Image and Video Library

2014-05-07

On March 29, 2014 the sun released an X-class flare. It was observed by NASA's Interface Region Imaging Spectrograph, or IRIS; NASA's Solar Dynamics Observatory, or SDO; NASA's Reuven Ramaty High Energy Solar Spectroscopic Imager, or RHESSI; the Japanese Aerospace Exploration Agency's Hinode; and the National Solar Observatory's Dunn Solar Telescope located at Sacramento Peak in New Mexico. To have a record of such an intense flare from so many observatories is unprecedented. Such research can help scientists better understand what catalyst sets off these large explosions on the sun. Perhaps we may even some day be able to predict their onset and forewarn of the radio blackouts solar flares can cause near Earth - blackouts that can interfere with airplane, ship and military communications. Read more: 1.usa.gov/1kMDQbO Join our Google+ Hangout on May 8 at 2:30pm EST: go.nasa.gov/1mwbBEZ Credit: NASA Goddard NASA image use policy. NASA Goddard Space Flight Center enables NASA’s mission through four scientific endeavors: Earth Science, Heliophysics, Solar System Exploration, and Astrophysics. Goddard plays a leading role in NASA’s accomplishments by contributing compelling scientific knowledge to advance the Agency’s mission. Follow us on Twitter Like us on Facebook Find us on Instagram

Analysis of the FeCrAl Accident Tolerant Fuel Concept Benefits during BWR Station Blackout Accidents

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Robb, Kevin R

2015-01-01

Iron-chromium-aluminum (FeCrAl) alloys are being considered for fuel concepts with enhanced accident tolerance. FeCrAl alloys have very slow oxidation kinetics and good strength at high temperatures. FeCrAl could be used for fuel cladding in light water reactors and/or as channel box material in boiling water reactors (BWRs). To estimate the potential safety gains afforded by the FeCrAl concept, the MELCOR code was used to analyze a range of postulated station blackout severe accident scenarios in a BWR/4 reactor employing FeCrAl. The simulations utilize the most recently known thermophysical properties and oxidation kinetics for FeCrAl. Overall, when compared to the traditionalmore » Zircaloy-based cladding and channel box, the FeCrAl concept provides a few extra hours of time for operators to take mitigating actions and/or for evacuations to take place. A coolable core geometry is retained longer, enhancing the ability to stabilize an accident. Finally, due to the slower oxidation kinetics, substantially less hydrogen is generated, and the generation is delayed in time. This decreases the amount of non-condensable gases in containment and the potential for deflagrations to inhibit the accident response.« less

Transmission properties and physical mechanisms of X-ray communication for blackout mitigation during spacecraft reentry

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Liu, Yunpeng; Li, Huan; Li, Yanlong; Hang, Shuang; Tang, Xiaobin

2017-11-01

Recent advances in X-ray science have witnessed the X-ray communication (XCOM), a new revolutionary technology first proposed by NASA since 2007. In combination with the advanced modulated X-ray source, XCOM shows a promising prospect for helping to alleviate the occurrence of inevitable blackout communication by using the regular radio frequency (RF) signal, paving the way towards realizing real-time communication during spacecraft reentry into atmosphere. Here, we acquired the detailed information of electron density distribution of plasma sheath encountered during vehicle reentry through Computational Fluid Dynamics simulation. Based on these derived parameters, Finite-difference Time-domain method was employed to investigate the transmission properties of X-rays through the plasma sheath, and the results indicated that X-ray transmission was not influenced by the reentry plasma sheath at different reentry altitudes and spacecraft surface positions compared with RF signal. In addition, 2D Particle-In-Cell simulation was also adopted to provide deeper insight into the transmission properties and physical mechanisms of X-ray carrier propagating through the plasma sheath, and results showed that the transmission coefficient was over 0.994 and the observation of plasma channel effect was also an important signature, which was of great importance to X-ray propagating through the plasma sheath.

Analyzing simulation-based PRA data through traditional and topological clustering: A BWR station blackout case study

DOE PAGES

Maljovec, D.; Liu, S.; Wang, B.; ...

2015-07-14

Here, dynamic probabilistic risk assessment (DPRA) methodologies couple system simulator codes (e.g., RELAP and MELCOR) with simulation controller codes (e.g., RAVEN and ADAPT). Whereas system simulator codes model system dynamics deterministically, simulation controller codes introduce both deterministic (e.g., system control logic and operating procedures) and stochastic (e.g., component failures and parameter uncertainties) elements into the simulation. Typically, a DPRA is performed by sampling values of a set of parameters and simulating the system behavior for that specific set of parameter values. For complex systems, a major challenge in using DPRA methodologies is to analyze the large number of scenarios generated,more » where clustering techniques are typically employed to better organize and interpret the data. In this paper, we focus on the analysis of two nuclear simulation datasets that are part of the risk-informed safety margin characterization (RISMC) boiling water reactor (BWR) station blackout (SBO) case study. We provide the domain experts a software tool that encodes traditional and topological clustering techniques within an interactive analysis and visualization environment, for understanding the structures of such high-dimensional nuclear simulation datasets. We demonstrate through our case study that both types of clustering techniques complement each other for enhanced structural understanding of the data.« less

A Passive System Reliability Analysis for a Station Blackout

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Brunett, Acacia; Bucknor, Matthew; Grabaskas, David

2015-05-03

The latest iterations of advanced reactor designs have included increased reliance on passive safety systems to maintain plant integrity during unplanned sequences. While these systems are advantageous in reducing the reliance on human intervention and availability of power, the phenomenological foundations on which these systems are built require a novel approach to a reliability assessment. Passive systems possess the unique ability to fail functionally without failing physically, a result of their explicit dependency on existing boundary conditions that drive their operating mode and capacity. Argonne National Laboratory is performing ongoing analyses that demonstrate various methodologies for the characterization of passivemore » system reliability within a probabilistic framework. Two reliability analysis techniques are utilized in this work. The first approach, the Reliability Method for Passive Systems, provides a mechanistic technique employing deterministic models and conventional static event trees. The second approach, a simulation-based technique, utilizes discrete dynamic event trees to treat time- dependent phenomena during scenario evolution. For this demonstration analysis, both reliability assessment techniques are used to analyze an extended station blackout in a pool-type sodium fast reactor (SFR) coupled with a reactor cavity cooling system (RCCS). This work demonstrates the entire process of a passive system reliability analysis, including identification of important parameters and failure metrics, treatment of uncertainties and analysis of results.« less

Rolling blackout is required for synaptic vesicle exocytosis.

PubMed

Huang, Fu-De; Woodruff, Elvin; Mohrmann, Ralf; Broadie, Kendal

2006-03-01

Rolling blackout (RBO) is a putative transmembrane lipase required for phospholipase C-dependent phosphatidylinositol 4,5-bisphosphate-diacylglycerol signaling in Drosophila neurons. Conditional temperature-sensitive (TS) rbo mutants display complete, reversible paralysis within minutes, demonstrating that RBO is acutely required for movement. RBO protein is localized predominantly in presynaptic boutons at neuromuscular junction (NMJ) synapses and throughout central synaptic neuropil, and rbo TS mutants display a complete, reversible block of both central and peripheral synaptic transmission within minutes. This phenotype appears limited to adults, because larval NMJs do not manifest the acute blockade. Electron microscopy of adult rbo TS mutant boutons reveals an increase in total synaptic vesicle (SV) content, with a concomitant shrinkage of presynaptic bouton size and an accumulation of docked SVs at presynaptic active zones within minutes. Genetic tests reveal a synergistic interaction between rbo and syntaxin1A TS mutants, suggesting that RBO is required in the mechanism of N-ethylmaleimide-sensitive factor attachment protein receptor (SNARE)-mediated SV exocytosis, or in a parallel pathway necessary for SV fusion. The rbo TS mutation does not detectably alter SNARE complex assembly, suggesting a downstream requirement in SV fusion. We conclude that RBO plays an essential role in neurotransmitter release, downstream of SV docking, likely mediating SV fusion.

Deterrence Without Escalation:A Case for the Arctic in 2040

DTIC Science & Technology

2015-04-08

electromagnetic pulse (EMP) from a nuclear blast.69 Typical shielding used to protect an asset from an EMP generated by a nuclear blast is...weapons could travel at hypersonic speeds, but the beam must propagate through a plasma field—the same plasma field that causes the ‘radio blackout...Blechman and Stephen S Kaplan, Force Without War: U.S. Armed Forces as a Political Instrument. (Washington, DC: The Brookings Institution, 1978), 4

Proceedings of the Annual ONR/CADRC Decision-Support Workshop (6th), Held in Quantico, Virginia, on 8-9 Sep 2004. Interoperability

DTIC Science & Technology

2004-11-01

fixed schedule checkups and overhauls), Underway Replenishment (the goal being operation in sea states 3 and higher via technical improvements to...determine whether sufficient local resources are available to deal with current conditions. Scheduling Agent: Assists the Emergency Operations Bureau to...will commence per predefined schedule within 15 minutes) and subsequently alerts its subscribers that the rolling power blackout has commenced. The

The Personal and Health Service Impact of Falls in 85 Year Olds: Cross-Sectional Findings from the Newcastle 85+ Cohort Study

PubMed Central

Collerton, Joanna; Kingston, Andrew; Bond, John; Davies, Karen; Eccles, Martin P.; Jagger, Carol; Kirkwood, Thomas B. L.; Newton, Julia L.

2012-01-01

Introduction Falls are common in older people and increase in prevalence with advancing old age. There is limited knowledge about their impact in those aged 85 years and older, the fastest growing age group of the population. We investigated the prevalence and impact of falls, and the overlap between falls, dizziness and blackouts, in a population-based sample of 85 year olds. Methods Design: Cross-sectional analysis of baseline data from Newcastle 85+ Cohort Study. Setting: Primary care, North-East England. Participants: 816 men and women aged 85 years. Measurements: Structured interview with research nurse. Cost-consequence analysis of fall-related healthcare costs. Results Over 38% (313/816) of participants had fallen at least once in the previous 12 months and of these: 10.6% (33/312) sustained a fracture, 30.1% (94/312) attended an emergency department, and 12.8% (40/312) were admitted to hospital. Only 37.2% (115/309) of fallers had specifically discussed their falls problem with their general practitioner and only 12.7% (39/308) had seen a falls specialist. The average annual healthcare cost per faller was estimated at £202 (inter-quartile range £174–£231) or US$329 ($284–$377). ‘Worry about falling’ was experienced by 42.0% (128/305) of fallers, ‘loss of confidence’ by 40.0% (122/305), and ‘going out less often’ by 25.9% (79/305); each was significantly more common in women, odds ratios (95% confidence interval) for women: men of 2.63 (1.45–4.55), 4.00 (2.27–7.14), and 2.86 (1.54–5.56) respectively. Dizziness and blackouts were reported by 40.0% (318/796) and 6.4% (52/808) of participants respectively. There was marked overlap in the report of falls, dizziness and blackouts. Conclusions Falls in 85 year olds are very common, associated with considerable psychological and physical morbidity, and have high impact on healthcare services. Wider use of fall prevention services is needed. Significant expansion in acute and preventative services is required in view of the rapid growth in this age group. PMID:22427954

Blood Pressure Control

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

1986-01-01

Engineering Development Laboratory developed a system for the cardiovascular study of weightless astronauts. This was designed to aid people with congestive heart failure and diabetes. While in space, astronauts' blood pressure rises, heart rate becomes unstable, and there are sometimes postflight lightheadedness or blackouts. The Baro-Cuff studies the resetting of blood pressure. When a silicone rubber chamber is strapped to the neck, the Baro-Cuff stimulates the carotid arteries by electronically controlled pressure application. Blood pressure controls in patients may be studied.

NASA's Best-Observed X-Class Flare of All Time

NASA Image and Video Library

2014-05-07

Zoom in on the flare in ultraviolet (SDO/AIA), X-rays (Hinode) and gamma-rays (RHESSI) -- On March 29, 2014 the sun released an X-class flare. It was observed by NASA's Interface Region Imaging Spectrograph, or IRIS; NASA's Solar Dynamics Observatory, or SDO; NASA's Reuven Ramaty High Energy Solar Spectroscopic Imager, or RHESSI; the Japanese Aerospace Exploration Agency's Hinode; and the National Solar Observatory's Dunn Solar Telescope located at Sacramento Peak in New Mexico. To have a record of such an intense flare from so many observatories is unprecedented. Such research can help scientists better understand what catalyst sets off these large explosions on the sun. Perhaps we may even some day be able to predict their onset and forewarn of the radio blackouts solar flares can cause near Earth - blackouts that can interfere with airplane, ship and military communications. Read more: 1.usa.gov/1kMDQbO Join our Google+ Hangout on May 8 at 2:30pm EST: go.nasa.gov/1mwbBEZ Credit: NASA Goddard NASA image use policy. NASA Goddard Space Flight Center enables NASA’s mission through four scientific endeavors: Earth Science, Heliophysics, Solar System Exploration, and Astrophysics. Goddard plays a leading role in NASA’s accomplishments by contributing compelling scientific knowledge to advance the Agency’s mission. Follow us on Twitter Like us on Facebook Find us on Instagram

Station Blackout Analysis of HTGR-Type Experimental Power Reactor

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Syarip; Zuhdi, Aliq; Falah, Sabilul

2018-01-01

The National Nuclear Energy Agency of Indonesia has decided to build an experimental power reactor of high-temperature gas-cooled reactor (HTGR) type located at Puspiptek Complex. The purpose of this project is to demonstrate a small modular nuclear power plant that can be operated safely. One of the reactor safety characteristics is the reliability of the reactor to the station blackout (SBO) event. The event was observed due to relatively high disturbance frequency of electricity network in Indonesia. The PCTRAN-HTR functional simulator code was used to observe fuel and coolant temperature, and coolant pressure during the SBO event. The reactor simulated at 10 MW for 7200 s then the SBO occurred for 1-3 minutes. The analysis result shows that the reactor power decreases automatically as the temperature increase during SBO accident without operator’s active action. The fuel temperature increased by 36.57 °C every minute during SBO and the power decreased by 0.069 MW every °C fuel temperature rise at the condition of anticipated transient without reactor scram. Whilst, the maximum coolant (helium) temperature and pressure are 1004 °C and 9.2 MPa respectively. The maximum fuel temperature is 1282 °C, this value still far below the fuel temperature limiting condition i.e. 1600 °C, its mean that the HTGR has a very good inherent safety system.

NASA's Best-Observed X-Class Flare of All Time

NASA Image and Video Library

2014-05-07

A combination of many (but not all) of the datasets which observed this flare. -- On March 29, 2014 the sun released an X-class flare. It was observed by NASA's Interface Region Imaging Spectrograph, or IRIS; NASA's Solar Dynamics Observatory, or SDO; NASA's Reuven Ramaty High Energy Solar Spectroscopic Imager, or RHESSI; the Japanese Aerospace Exploration Agency's Hinode; and the National Solar Observatory's Dunn Solar Telescope located at Sacramento Peak in New Mexico. To have a record of such an intense flare from so many observatories is unprecedented. Such research can help scientists better understand what catalyst sets off these large explosions on the sun. Perhaps we may even some day be able to predict their onset and forewarn of the radio blackouts solar flares can cause near Earth - blackouts that can interfere with airplane, ship and military communications. Read more: 1.usa.gov/1kMDQbO Join our Google+ Hangout on May 8 at 2:30pm EST: go.nasa.gov/1mwbBEZ Credit: NASA Goddard NASA image use policy. NASA Goddard Space Flight Center enables NASA’s mission through four scientific endeavors: Earth Science, Heliophysics, Solar System Exploration, and Astrophysics. Goddard plays a leading role in NASA’s accomplishments by contributing compelling scientific knowledge to advance the Agency’s mission. Follow us on Twitter Like us on Facebook Find us on Instagram

Rolling blackout is required for bulk endocytosis in non-neuronal cells and neuronal synapses

PubMed Central

Vijayakrishnan, Niranjana; Woodruff, Elvin A.; Broadie, Kendal

2009-01-01

Summary Rolling blackout (RBO) is a Drosophila EFR3 integral membrane lipase. A conditional temperature-sensitive (TS) mutant (rbots) displays paralysis within minutes following a temperature shift from 25°C to 37°C, an impairment previously attributed solely to blocked synaptic-vesicle exocytosis. However, we found that rbots displays a strong synergistic interaction with the Syntaxin-1A TS allele syx3-69, recently shown to be a dominant positive mutant that increases Syntaxin-1A function. At neuromuscular synapses, rbots showed a strong defect in styryl-FM-dye (FM) endocytosis, and rbots;syx3-69 double mutants displayed a synergistic, more severe, endocytosis impairment. Similarly, central rbots synapses in primary brain culture showed severely defective FM endocytosis. Non-neuronal nephrocyte Garland cells showed the same endocytosis defect in tracer-uptake assays. Ultrastructurally, rbots displayed a specific defect in tracer uptake into endosomes in both neuronal and non-neuronal cells. At the rbots synapse, there was a total blockade of endosome formation via activity-dependent bulk endocytosis. Clathrin-mediated endocytosis was not affected; indeed, there was a significant increase in direct vesicle formation. Together, these results demonstrate that RBO is required for constitutive and/or bulk endocytosis and/or macropinocytosis in both neuronal and non-neuronal cells, and that, at the synapse, this mechanism is responsive to the rate of Syntaxin-1A-dependent exocytosis. PMID:19066280

Rolling blackout is required for bulk endocytosis in non-neuronal cells and neuronal synapses.

PubMed

Vijayakrishnan, Niranjana; Woodruff, Elvin A; Broadie, Kendal

2009-01-01

Rolling blackout (RBO) is a Drosophila EFR3 integral membrane lipase. A conditional temperature-sensitive (TS) mutant (rbo(ts)) displays paralysis within minutes following a temperature shift from 25 degrees C to 37 degrees C, an impairment previously attributed solely to blocked synaptic-vesicle exocytosis. However, we found that rbo(ts) displays a strong synergistic interaction with the Syntaxin-1A TS allele syx(3-69), recently shown to be a dominant positive mutant that increases Syntaxin-1A function. At neuromuscular synapses, rbo(ts) showed a strong defect in styryl-FM-dye (FM) endocytosis, and rbo(ts);syx(3-69) double mutants displayed a synergistic, more severe, endocytosis impairment. Similarly, central rbo(ts) synapses in primary brain culture showed severely defective FM endocytosis. Non-neuronal nephrocyte Garland cells showed the same endocytosis defect in tracer-uptake assays. Ultrastructurally, rbo(ts) displayed a specific defect in tracer uptake into endosomes in both neuronal and non-neuronal cells. At the rbo(ts) synapse, there was a total blockade of endosome formation via activity-dependent bulk endocytosis. Clathrin-mediated endocytosis was not affected; indeed, there was a significant increase in direct vesicle formation. Together, these results demonstrate that RBO is required for constitutive and/or bulk endocytosis and/or macropinocytosis in both neuronal and non-neuronal cells, and that, at the synapse, this mechanism is responsive to the rate of Syntaxin-1A-dependent exocytosis.

Use of Two-Way Time Transfer Measurements to Improve Geostationary Satellite Navigation

DTIC Science & Technology

2007-03-01

lo ck E rro r ( m et er s...clock measurement blackouts. 2 4 6 8 10 12 14 16 18 20 22 -100 -50 0 50 100 GEO Clock Bias Error Time (hours) C lo ck E rro r ( m et er s...20 GEO Clock Bias Error Time (hours) C lo ck E rro r ( m et er s) Filter-Computed Covariance 0 5 10 15 20 -20 -15 -10 -5 0 5 10 15 20 GEO

Foul WX Underground: The Dynamics of Resistance and the Analog Logic of Communication during a Digital Blackout

DTIC Science & Technology

2009-05-21

32 Sigmund Freud , Civilization and Its Discontents (New York: W.W. Norton, 1962) and Abraham Maslow, ―Theory of Human...Recognizing and Avoiding Error in Complex Situations. New York: Basic Books, 1996. Freud , Sigmund . Civilization and Its Discontents. New York: W.W...better than a one-to-one scale map? Return to the factor of change over time and even a stable model of human behavior, whether from Freud or Maslow

Adapting an Agent-Based Model of Socio-Technical Systems to Analyze System and Security Failures

DTIC Science & Technology

2016-05-09

statistically significant amount, which it did with a p-valueɘ.0003 on a simulation of 3125 iterations; the data is shown in the Delegation 1 column of...Blackout metric to a statistically significant amount, with a p-valueɘ.0003 on a simulation of 3125 iterations; the data is shown in the Delegation 2...Proceedings of the 9th International Conference on Autonomous Agents and Multiagent Systems: volume 1-Volume 1, pp. 1007- 1014 . International Foundation

Development and Field Test of Task-Based MOS-Specific Criterion Measures. Volume 1. Appendixes A-E

DTIC Science & Technology

1988-04-01

WOUND 081-831-1033 APPLY A DRESSING TO AN OPEN HEAD WOUND 081-831-1005 PREVENT SHOCK 081-831-1034 SPLINT A SUSPECTED FRACTURE 081-831-1007 GTVE FIRST...Check seat belts and shoulder harnesses Check unit vehicle/trailer blackout system Service refrigeration unit Check and clean cab interior/exterior...DRESSING TO AN OPEN HEAD WOUND 081-831-1040 TRANSPORT A CASUALTY USING A ONE MAN CARRY 081-831-1041 TRANSPORT A CASUALTY USING A TWO MAN CARRY OR

The Coast Artillery Journal. Volume 82, Number 1, January-February 1939

DTIC Science & Technology

1939-02-01

commerce has been created , assisted and jealously guarded by a powerful fleet, and history shows that England has alw~vs resorted to war whenever her...p3rt in modern warfare. Creating 3n inrerest in w3rning nets and blackouts directed the public mind roward the entire subject of passive defense...causes of currem events in Palestine, which h,l\\’e created a condition that borders on anarch\\’ and h.ls forced the introduction of martial law, lie in

CFD Analysis of the Anti-Surge Effects by Water Hammering

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kim, Tae-oh; Jeong, Hyo-min; Chung, Han-shik; Lee, Sin-il; Lee, Kwang-sung

2015-09-01

Water hammering occurs due to the surge effect that comes from operating the pump, sudden stop during the operating due to a blackout and rapid open and close of the valve. By the water hammering of the pipeline and the pump, the valve are damaged. In this paper, transient analysis is conducted by CFD (Computational Fluid Dynamics). The purpose of this paper is to provide the research data about the change of the pressure and flow in the pipe that caused by the water hammering.

Naturalistic Decision Making For Power System Operators

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Greitzer, Frank L.; Podmore, Robin; Robinson, Marck

2009-06-23

Abstract: Motivation -- As indicated by the Blackout of 2003, the North American interconnected electric system is vulnerable to cascading outages and widespread blackouts. Investigations of large scale outages often attribute the causes to the three T’s: Trees, Training and Tools. A systematic approach has been developed to document and understand the mental processes that an expert power system operator uses when making critical decisions. The approach has been developed and refined as part of a capability demonstration of a high-fidelity real-time power system simulator under normal and emergency conditions. To examine naturalistic decision making (NDM) processes, transcripts of operator-to-operatormore » conversations are analyzed to reveal and assess NDM-based performance criteria. Findings/Design -- The results of the study indicate that we can map the Situation Awareness Level of the operators at each point in the scenario. We can also identify clearly what mental models and mental simulations are being performed at different points in the scenario. As a result of this research we expect that we can identify improved training methods and improved analytical and visualization tools for power system operators. Originality/Value -- The research applies for the first time, the concepts of Recognition Primed Decision Making, Situation Awareness Levels and Cognitive Task Analysis to training of electric power system operators. Take away message -- The NDM approach provides an ideal framework for systematic training management and mitigation to accelerate learning in team-based training scenarios with high-fidelity power grid simulators.« less

Wide-area measurement system-based supervision of protection schemes with minimum number of phasor measurement units.

PubMed

Gajare, Swaroop; Rao, J Ganeswara; Naidu, O D; Pradhan, Ashok Kumar

2017-08-13

Cascade tripping of power lines triggered by maloperation of zone-3 relays during stressed system conditions, such as load encroachment, power swing and voltage instability, has led to many catastrophic power failures worldwide, including Indian blackouts in 2012. With the introduction of wide-area measurement systems (WAMS) into the grids, real-time monitoring of transmission network condition is possible. A phasor measurement unit (PMU) sends time-synchronized data to a phasor data concentrator, which can provide a control signal to substation devices. The latency associated with the communication system makes WAMS suitable for a slower form of protection. In this work, a method to identify the faulted line using synchronized data from strategic PMU locations is proposed. Subsequently, a supervisory signal is generated for specific relays in the system for any disturbance or stressed condition. For a given system, an approach to decide the strategic locations for PMU placement is developed, which can be used for determining the minimum number of PMUs required for application of the method. The accuracy of the scheme is tested for faults during normal and stressed conditions in a New England 39-bus system simulated using EMTDC/PSCAD software. With such a strategy, maloperation of relays can be averted in many situations and thereby blackouts/large-scale disturbances can be prevented.This article is part of the themed issue 'Energy management: flexibility, risk and optimization'. © 2017 The Author(s).

Drosophila Rolling Blackout Displays Lipase Domain-Dependent and Independent Endocytic Functions Downstream of Dynamin

PubMed Central

Vijayakrishnan, Niranjana; Phillips, Scott E.; Broadie, Kendal

2010-01-01

Drosophila temperature-sensitive rolling blackout (rbots) mutants display a total block of endocytosis in non-neuronal cells and a weaker, partial defect at neuronal synapses. RBO is an integral plasma membrane protein and is predicted to be a serine esterase. To determine if lipase activity is required for RBO function, we mutated the catalytic serine 358 to alanine in the G-X-S-X-G active site, and assayed genomic rescue of rbo mutant non-neuronal and neuronal phenotypes. The rboS358A mutant is unable to rescue rbo null 100% embryonic lethality, indicating that the lipase-domain is critical for RBO essential function. Likewise, the rboS358A mutant cannot provide any rescue of endocytic blockade in rbots Garland cells, demonstrating that the lipase-domain is indispensable for non-neuronal endocytosis. In contrast, rbots conditional paralysis, synaptic transmission block and synapse endocytic defects are all fully rescued by the rboS358A mutant, showing that the RBO lipase-domain is dispensable in neuronal contexts. We identified a synthetic lethal interaction between rbots and the well-characterized dynamin GTPase conditional shibire (shits1) mutant. In both non-neuronal cells and neuronal synapses, shits1;rbots phenocopies shits1 endocytic defects, indicating that dynamin and RBO act in the same pathway, with dynamin functioning upstream of RBO. We conclude that RBO possesses both lipase-domain dependent and scaffolding functions with differential requirements in non-neuronal versus neuronal endocytosis mechanisms downstream of dynamin GTPase activity. PMID:21029287

Implementing renewable energy in Cuba

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Hawthorne, W.; Stone, L.; Perez, V.B.H.

Since the collapse of the Soviet Union and the tightening of the US embargo, Cuba has found itself in an energy crisis of enormous magnitude. Faced with this energy crisis and its ensuing black-outs and productivity reductions, Cuba has developed a national energy plan which focuses on energy self-sufficiency and sustainability. Energy efficiency, solar energy, wind power, micro-hydro, and biomass are each included in the plan. Implementation of renewable energy projects in each of these areas has begun throughout the country with the enthusiastic support of Cubasolar, the Cuban renewable energy professional association.

Battery Electric Vehicles can reduce greenhouse has emissions and make renewable energy cheaper in India

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Gopal, Anand R; Witt, Maggie; Sheppard, Colin

India's National Mission on Electric Mobility (NMEM) sets a countrywide goal of deploying 6 to 7 million hybrid and electric vehicles (EVs) by 2020. There are widespread concerns, both within and outside the government, that the Indian grid is not equipped to accommodate additional power demand from battery electric vehicles (BEVs). Such concerns are justified on the grounds of India's notorious power sector problems pertaining to grid instability and chronic blackouts. Studies have claimed that deploying BEVs in India will only

Measurement of Exhaust Emissions from Diesel-Powered Forklifts during Operations in Ammunition Storage Magazines.

DTIC Science & Technology

1984-05-01

to CO over a work period can cause central nervous system depression , blackouts, coma, and eventual death at the concentrations that could be reached...Camel, Jr., Eds., National Cancer Institute Monograph No. 9, p. 225, 1962. 11.6 Sawicki, E., R. C. Corey, A. E. Dooley,J. B. Gisclard, J. L. Monkman, R...tum wmammmmm ~m mamas aB-mm7 B-27 1K PEDCO INVIRONMENTAL. INC ARMY DIESEL FORKLIFT STUDY Location THREE TOt Description TEST SI Date: DECEMIER 6. 1103

A Smoothed Eclipse Model for Solar Electric Propulsion Trajectory Optimization

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Aziz, Jonathan D.; Scheeres, Daniel J.; Parker, Jeffrey S.; Englander, Jacob A.

2017-01-01

Solar electric propulsion (SEP) is the dominant design option for employing low-thrust propulsion on a space mission. Spacecraft solar arrays power the SEP system but are subject to blackout periods during solar eclipse conditions. Discontinuity in power available to the spacecraft must be accounted for in trajectory optimization, but gradient-based methods require a differentiable power model. This work presents a power model that smooths the eclipse transition from total eclipse to total sunlight with a logistic function. Example trajectories are computed with differential dynamic programming, a second-order gradient-based method.

Use of artificial intelligence in severe accident diagnosis for PWRs

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Wu, Zheng; Okrent, D.; Kastenberg, W.E.

1995-12-31

A combination approach of an expert system and neural networks is used to implement a prototype severe accident diagnostic system which would monitor the progression of the severe accident and provide necessary plant status information to assist the plant staff in accident management during the accident. The station blackout accident in a pressurized water reactor (PWR) is used as the study case. The current phase of research focus is on distinguishing different primary system failure modes and following the accident transient before and up to vessel breach.

Steam plant startup and control in system restoration

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Mello, F.P. de; Westcott, J.C.

1994-02-01

The IEEE Working Group on Power System Restoration developed a panel session for the Summer Power Meeting on July 14, 1992 on Special Considerations in Power System Restoration. One of the contributions to this session is presented in this paper dealing with aspects of steam plant startup and control in scenarios of system restoration. The topics addressed include the complexity of a steam plant, the contrast between normal plant startups and shutdowns and those following major system blackouts including the effects of plant design, automatic controls, bypass valving and operator training.

Optimal Black Start Resource Allocation

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Qiu, Feng; Wang, Jianhui; Chen, Chen

The restoration of the bulk power system after a partial or complete blackout relies on black-start (BS) resources. To prepare for system restoration, it is important to procure the right amount of BS resources at the right locations in the grid so that the total restoration time can be minimized. Achieving this goal requires that resource procurement planning takes the restoration process into account. In this study, we integrate the BS resource procurement decision with a restoration planning model and develop an optimization model that produces a minimal cost procurement plan that satisfies the restoration time requirement.

Drinking game play among first-year college student drinkers: an event-specific analysis of the risk for alcohol use and problems.

PubMed

Ray, Anne E; Stapleton, Jerod L; Turrisi, Rob; Mun, Eun-Young

2014-09-01

College students who play drinking games (DGs) more frequently report higher levels of alcohol use and experience more alcohol-related harm. However, the extent to which they are at risk for increased consumption and harm as a result of DG play on a given event after accounting for their typical DG participation, and typical and event drinking, is unclear. We examined whether first-year students consumed more alcohol and were more likely to experience consequences on drinking occasions when they played DGs. Participants (n = 336) completed up to six web-based surveys following weekend drinking events in their first semester. Alcohol use, DG play, and consequences were reported for the Friday and Saturday prior to each survey. Typical DG tendencies were controlled in all models. Typical and event alcohol use were controlled in models predicting risk for consequences. Participants consumed more alcohol on DG versus non-DG events. All students were more likely to experience blackout drinking consequences when they played DGs. Women were more likely to experience social-interpersonal consequences when they played DGs. DG play is an event-specific risk factor for increased alcohol use among first-year students, regardless of individual DG play tendencies. Further, event DG play signals increased risk for blackout drinking consequences for all students, and social-interpersonal consequences for women, aside from the amount of alcohol consumed on those occasions as well as typical drinking behaviors. Prevention efforts to reduce high-risk drinking may be strengthened by highlighting both event- and person-specific risks of DG play.

NASA's Best-Observed X-Class Flare of All Time

NASA Image and Video Library

2014-05-07

IBIS can focus in on different wavelengths of light, and so reveal different layers at different heights in the sun's lower atmosphere, the chromosphere. This image shows a region slightly higher than the former one. Credit: Lucia Kleint (BAER Institute), Paul Higgins (Trinity College Dublin, Ireland) -- On March 29, 2014 the sun released an X-class flare. It was observed by NASA's Interface Region Imaging Spectrograph, or IRIS; NASA's Solar Dynamics Observatory, or SDO; NASA's Reuven Ramaty High Energy Solar Spectroscopic Imager, or RHESSI; the Japanese Aerospace Exploration Agency's Hinode; and the National Solar Observatory's Dunn Solar Telescope located at Sacramento Peak in New Mexico. To have a record of such an intense flare from so many observatories is unprecedented. Such research can help scientists better understand what catalyst sets off these large explosions on the sun. Perhaps we may even some day be able to predict their onset and forewarn of the radio blackouts solar flares can cause near Earth - blackouts that can interfere with airplane, ship and military communications. Read more: 1.usa.gov/1kMDQbO Join our Google+ Hangout on May 8 at 2:30pm EST: go.nasa.gov/1mwbBEZ Credit: NASA Goddard NASA image use policy. NASA Goddard Space Flight Center enables NASA’s mission through four scientific endeavors: Earth Science, Heliophysics, Solar System Exploration, and Astrophysics. Goddard plays a leading role in NASA’s accomplishments by contributing compelling scientific knowledge to advance the Agency’s mission. Follow us on Twitter Like us on Facebook Find us on Instagram

The propagation characteristics of electromagnetic waves through plasma in the near-field region of low-frequency loop antenna

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Liu, DongLin, E-mail: donglinliu@stu.xidian.edu.cn; Li, XiaoPing; Xie, Kai

2015-10-15

A high-speed vehicle flying through the atmosphere between 100 and 20 km may suffer from a “communication blackout.” In this paper, a low frequency system with an on-board loop antenna to receive signals is presented as a potential blackout mitigation method. Because the plasma sheath is in the near-field region of the loop antenna, the traditional scattering matrix method that is developed for the far-field region may overestimate the electromagnetic (EM) wave's attenuation. To estimate the EM wave's attenuation in the near-field region, EM interference (EMI) shielding theory is introduced. Experiments are conducted, and the results verify the EMI shielding theory'smore » effectiveness. Simulations are also conducted with different plasma parameters, and the results obtained show that the EM wave's attenuation in the near-field region is far below than that in the far-field region. The EM wave's attenuation increases with the increase in electron density and decreases with the increase in collision frequency. The higher the frequency, the larger is the EM wave's attenuation. During the entire re-entry phase of a RAM-C module, the EM wave's attenuations are below 10 dB for EM waves with a frequency of 1 MHz and below 1 dB for EM waves with a frequency of 100 kHz. Therefore, the low frequency systems (e.g., Loran-C) may provide a way to transmit some key information to high-speed vehicles even during the communication “blackout” period.« less

Drosophila rolling blackout displays lipase domain-dependent and -independent endocytic functions downstream of dynamin.

PubMed

Vijayakrishnan, Niranjana; Phillips, Scott E; Broadie, Kendal

2010-12-01

Drosophila temperature-sensitive rolling blackout (rbo(ts) ) mutants display a total block of endocytosis in non-neuronal cells and a weaker, partial defect at neuronal synapses. RBO is an integral plasma membrane protein and is predicted to be a serine esterase. To determine if lipase activity is required for RBO function, we mutated the catalytic serine 358 to alanine in the G-X-S-X-G active site, and assayed genomic rescue of rbo mutant non-neuronal and neuronal phenotypes. The rbo(S358A) mutant is unable to rescue rbo null 100% embryonic lethality, indicating that the lipase domain is critical for RBO essential function. Likewise, the rbo(S358A) mutant cannot provide any rescue of endocytic blockade in rbo(ts) Garland cells, showing that the lipase domain is indispensable for non-neuronal endocytosis. In contrast, rbo(ts) conditional paralysis, synaptic transmission block and synapse endocytic defects are all fully rescued by the rbo(S358A) mutant, showing that the RBO lipase domain is dispensable in neuronal contexts. We identified a synthetic lethal interaction between rbo(ts) and the well-characterized dynamin GTPase conditional shibire (shi(ts1)) mutant. In both non-neuronal cells and neuronal synapses, shi(ts1); rbo(ts) phenocopies shi(ts1) endocytic defects, indicating that dynamin and RBO act in the same pathway, with dynamin functioning upstream of RBO. We conclude that RBO possesses both lipase domain-dependent and scaffolding functions with differential requirements in non-neuronal versus neuronal endocytosis mechanisms downstream of dynamin GTPase activity. © 2010 John Wiley & Sons A/S.

Comparison of the Media Coverage of the Vietnam War to the Media Coverage of the Invasions of Grenada and Panama: A Question of Legacies

DTIC Science & Technology

1991-01-01

Applying lessons learned from the Vietnam experience, the media blackout was thought to be in Washington’s and the Pentagon’s best interest. But cries of...can be learned through the study of past actions. And interpretations of current affairs often become clearer after historical scrutiny. However, when...only one portion of the war. Part of the problem may be related to the economic motives of the media. "So deep is the fascination in war and all things

Development and Validation of Accident Models for FeCrAl Cladding

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Gamble, Kyle Allan Lawrence; Hales, Jason Dean

2016-08-01

The purpose of this milestone report is to present the work completed in regards to material model development for FeCrAl cladding and highlight the results of applying these models to Loss of Coolant Accidents (LOCA) and Station Blackouts (SBO). With the limited experimental data available (essentially only the data used to create the models) true validation is not possible. In the absence of another alternative, qualitative comparisons during postulated accident scenarios between FeCrAl and Zircaloy-4 cladded rods have been completed demonstrating the superior performance of FeCrAl.

Systems-level study of a nonsurvivable Jupiter turbopause probe. Volume 1: Summary

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Wiltshire, R. S.

1972-01-01

The design of a space probe to explore the atmosphere of the planet Jupiter is discussed. Five major areas were considered: (1) definition of science requirements, (2) mission evaluation, (3) definition of probe system, (4) definition of spacecraft support requirements, and (5) nonequilibrium flow field analysis for communications blackout evaluation. The overall mission and system design are emphasized. The integration of the various technologies into complete systems designs is described. Results showed that a nonsurvivable turbopause probe mission to Jupiter with adequate data return to meet the science objectives is feasible and practical.

Space Shuttle orbiter entry heating and TPS response: STS-1 predictions and flight data

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Ried, R. C.; Goodrich, W. D.; Li, C. P.; Scott, C. D.; Derry, S. M.; Maraia, R. J.

1982-01-01

Aerothermodynamic development flight test data from the first orbital flight test of the Space Transportation System (STS) transmitted after entry blackout is given. Engineering predictions of boundary layer transition and numerical simulations of the orbiter flow field were confirmed. The data tended to substantiate preflight predictions of surface catalysis phenomena. The thermal response of the thermal protection system was as expected. The only exception is that internal free convection was found to be significant in limiting the peak temperature of the structure in areas which do not have internal insulation.

Faster Finances

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

1976-01-01

TRW has applied the Apollo checkout procedures to retail-store and bank-transaction systems, as well as to control systems for electric power transmission grids -- reducing the chance of power blackouts. Automatic checkout equipment for Apollo Spacecraft is one of the most complex computer systems in the world. Used to integrate extensive Apollo checkout procedures from manufacture to launch, it has spawned major advances in computer systems technology. Store and bank credit system has caused significant improvement in speed and accuracy of transactions, credit authorization, and inventory control. A similar computer service called "Validata" is used nationwide by airlines, airline ticket offices, car rental agencies, and hotels.

Planning and Execution for an Autonomous Aerobot

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Gaines, Daniel M.; Estlin, Tara A.; Schaffer, Steven R.; Chouinard, Caroline M.

2010-01-01

The Aerial Onboard Autonomous Science Investigation System (AerOASIS) system provides autonomous planning and execution capabilities for aerial vehicles (see figure). The system is capable of generating high-quality operations plans that integrate observation requests from ground planning teams, as well as opportunistic science events detected onboard the vehicle while respecting mission and resource constraints. AerOASIS allows an airborne planetary exploration vehicle to summarize and prioritize the most scientifically relevant data; identify and select high-value science sites for additional investigation; and dynamically plan, schedule, and monitor the various science activities being performed, even during extended communications blackout periods with Earth.

The X-33 Extended Flight Test Range

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Mackall, Dale A.; Sakahara, Robert; Kremer, Steven E.

1998-01-01

Development of an extended test range, with range instrumentation providing continuous vehicle communications, is required to flight-test the X-33, a scaled version of a reusable launch vehicle. The extended test range provides vehicle communications coverage from California to landing at Montana or Utah. This paper provides an overview of the approaches used to meet X-33 program requirements, including using multiple ground stations, and methods to reduce problems caused by reentry plasma radio frequency blackout. The advances used to develop the extended test range show other hypersonic and access-to-space programs can benefit from the development of the extended test range.

Geomagnetic storms: Potential economic impacts on electric utilities

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Barnes, P. R.; Vandyke, J. W.

1991-03-01

Geomagnetic storms associated with sunspot and solar flare activity can disturb communications and disrupt electric power. A very severe geomagnetic storm could cause a major blackout with an economic impact of several billion dollars. The vulnerability of electric power systems in the northeast United States will likely increase during the 1990s because of the trend of transmitting large amounts of power over long distance to meet the electricity demands of this region. A comprehensive research program and a warning satellite to monitor the solar wind are needed to enhance the reliability of electric power systems under the influence of geomagnetic storms.

Final Report: Assessment of Combined Heat and Power Premium Power Applications in California

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Norwood, Zack; Lipman, Tim; Marnay, Chris

2008-09-30

This report analyzes the current economic and environmental performance of combined heat and power (CHP) systems in power interruption intolerant commercial facilities. Through a series of three case studies, key trade-offs are analyzed with regard to the provision of black-out ridethrough capability with the CHP systems and the resutling ability to avoid the need for at least some diesel backup generator capacity located at the case study sites. Each of the selected sites currently have a CHP or combined heating, cooling, and power (CCHP) system in addition to diesel backup generators. In all cases the CHP/CCHP system have a smallmore » fraction of the electrical capacity of the diesel generators. Although none of the selected sites currently have the ability to run the CHP systems as emergency backup power, all could be retrofitted to provide this blackout ride-through capability, and new CHP systems can be installed with this capability. The following three sites/systems were used for this analysis: (1) Sierra Nevada Brewery - Using 1MW of installed Molten Carbonate Fuel Cells operating on a combination of digestor gas (from the beer brewing process) and natural gas, this facility can produce electricty and heat for the brewery and attached bottling plant. The major thermal load on-site is to keep the brewing tanks at appropriate temperatures. (2) NetApp Data Center - Using 1.125 MW of Hess Microgen natural gas fired reciprocating engine-generators, with exhaust gas and jacket water heat recovery attached to over 300 tons of of adsorption chillers, this combined cooling and power system provides electricity and cooling to a data center with a 1,200 kW peak electrical load. (3) Kaiser Permanente Hayward Hospital - With 180kW of Tecogen natural gas fired reciprocating engine-generators this CHP system generates steam for space heating, and hot water for a city hospital. For all sites, similar assumptions are made about the economic and technological constraints of the power generation system. Using the Distributed Energy Resource Customer Adoption Model (DER-CAM) developed at the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, we model three representative scenarios and find the optimal operation scheduling, yearly energy cost, and energy technology investments for each scenario below: Scenario 1 - Diesel generators and CHP/CCHP equipment as installed in the current facility. Scenario 1 represents a baseline forced investment in currently installed energy equipment. Scenario 2 - Existing CHP equipment installed with blackout ride-through capability to replace approximately the same capacity of diesel generators. In Scenario 2 the cost of the replaced diesel units is saved, however additional capital cost for the controls and switchgear for blackout ride-through capability is necessary. Scenario 3 - Fully optimized site analysis, allowing DER-CAM to specify the number of diesel and CHP/CCHP units (with blackout ride-through capability) that should be installed ignoring any constraints on backup generation. Scenario 3 allows DER-CAM to optimize scheduling and number of generation units from the currently available technologies at a particular site. The results of this analysis, using real data to model the optimal schedulding of hypothetical and actual CHP systems for a brewery, data center, and hospital, lead to some interesting conclusions. First, facilities with high heating loads will typically prove to be the most appropriate for CHP installation from a purely economic standpoint. Second, absorption/adsorption cooling systems may only be economically feasible if the technology for these chillers can increase above current best system efficiency. At a coefficient of performance (COP) of 0.8, for instance, an adsorption chiller paired with a natural gas generator with waste heat recovery at a facility with large cooling loads, like a data center, will cost no less on a yearly basis than purchasing electricity and natural gas directly from a utility. Third, at marginal additional cost, if the reliability of CHP systems proves to be at least as high as diesel generators (which we expect to be the case), the CHP system could replace the diesel generator at little or no additional cost. This is true if the thermal to electric (relative) load of those facilities was already high enough to economically justify a CHP system. Last, in terms of greenhouse gas emissions, the modeled CHP and CCHP systems provide some degree of decreased emissions relative to systems with less CHP installed. The emission reduction can be up to 10% in the optimized case (Scenario 3) in the application with the highest relative thermal load, in this case the hospital. Although these results should be qualified because they are only based on the three case studies, the general results and lessons learned are expected to be applicable across a broad range of potential and existing CCHP systems.« less

NASA's Best-Observed X-Class Flare of All Time

NASA Image and Video Library

2014-05-07

This combined image shows the March 29, 2014, X-class flare as seen through the eyes of different observatories. SDO is on the bottom/left, which helps show the position of the flare on the sun. The darker orange square is IRIS data. The red rectangular inset is from Sacramento Peak. The violet spots show the flare's footpoints from RHESSI. -- On March 29, 2014 the sun released an X-class flare. It was observed by NASA's Interface Region Imaging Spectrograph, or IRIS; NASA's Solar Dynamics Observatory, or SDO; NASA's Reuven Ramaty High Energy Solar Spectroscopic Imager, or RHESSI; the Japanese Aerospace Exploration Agency's Hinode; and the National Solar Observatory's Dunn Solar Telescope located at Sacramento Peak in New Mexico. To have a record of such an intense flare from so many observatories is unprecedented. Such research can help scientists better understand what catalyst sets off these large explosions on the sun. Perhaps we may even some day be able to predict their onset and forewarn of the radio blackouts solar flares can cause near Earth - blackouts that can interfere with airplane, ship and military communications. Read more: 1.usa.gov/1kMDQbO Join our Google+ Hangout on May 8 at 2:30pm EST: go.nasa.gov/1mwbBEZ Credit: NASA Goddard NASA image use policy. NASA Goddard Space Flight Center enables NASA’s mission through four scientific endeavors: Earth Science, Heliophysics, Solar System Exploration, and Astrophysics. Goddard plays a leading role in NASA’s accomplishments by contributing compelling scientific knowledge to advance the Agency’s mission. Follow us on Twitter Like us on Facebook Find us on Instagram

Resistance to reinforcement change in multiple and concurrent schedules assessed in transition and at steady state.

PubMed

McLean, A P; Blampied, N M

1995-01-01

Behavioral momentum theory relates resistance to change of responding in a multiple-schedule component to the total reinforcement obtained in that component, regardless of how the reinforcers are produced. Four pigeons responded in a series of multiple-schedule conditions in which a variable-interval 40-s schedule arranged reinforcers for pecking in one component and a variable-interval 360-s schedule arranged them in the other. In addition, responses on a second key were reinforced according to variable-interval schedules that were equal in the two components. In different parts of the experiment, responding was disrupted by changing the rate of reinforcement on the second key or by delivering response-independent food during a blackout separating the two components. Consistent with momentum theory, responding on the first key in Part 1 changed more in the component with the lower reinforcement total when it was disrupted by changes in the rate of reinforcement on the second key. However, responding on the second key changed more in the component with the higher reinforcement total. In Parts 2 and 3, responding was disrupted with free food presented during intercomponent blackouts, with extinction (Part 2) or variable-interval 80-s reinforcement (Part 3) arranged on the second key. Here, resistance to change was greater for the component with greater overall reinforcement. Failures of momentum theory to predict short-term differences in resistance to change occurred with disruptors that caused greater change between steady states for the richer component. Consistency of effects across disruptors may yet be found if short-term effects of disruptors are assessed relative to the extent of change observed after prolonged exposure.

SOARCA Peach Bottom Atomic Power Station Long-Term Station Blackout Uncertainty Analysis: Convergence of the Uncertainty Results

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Bixler, Nathan E.; Osborn, Douglas M.; Sallaberry, Cedric Jean-Marie

2014-02-01

This paper describes the convergence of MELCOR Accident Consequence Code System, Version 2 (MACCS2) probabilistic results of offsite consequences for the uncertainty analysis of the State-of-the-Art Reactor Consequence Analyses (SOARCA) unmitigated long-term station blackout scenario at the Peach Bottom Atomic Power Station. The consequence metrics evaluated are individual latent-cancer fatality (LCF) risk and individual early fatality risk. Consequence results are presented as conditional risk (i.e., assuming the accident occurs, risk per event) to individuals of the public as a result of the accident. In order to verify convergence for this uncertainty analysis, as recommended by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission’s Advisorymore » Committee on Reactor Safeguards, a ‘high’ source term from the original population of Monte Carlo runs has been selected to be used for: (1) a study of the distribution of consequence results stemming solely from epistemic uncertainty in the MACCS2 parameters (i.e., separating the effect from the source term uncertainty), and (2) a comparison between Simple Random Sampling (SRS) and Latin Hypercube Sampling (LHS) in order to validate the original results obtained with LHS. Three replicates (each using a different random seed) of size 1,000 each using LHS and another set of three replicates of size 1,000 using SRS are analyzed. The results show that the LCF risk results are well converged with either LHS or SRS sampling. The early fatality risk results are less well converged at radial distances beyond 2 miles, and this is expected due to the sparse data (predominance of “zero” results).« less

Predictors of Patterns of Alcohol-Related Blackouts Over Time in Youth From the Collaborative Study of the Genetics of Alcoholism: The Roles of Genetics and Cannabis

PubMed Central

Schuckit, Marc A.; Smith, Tom L.; Shafir, Alexandra; Clausen, Peyton; Danko, George; Gonçalves, Priscila Dib; Anthenelli, Robert M.; Chan, Grace; Kuperman, Samuel; Hesselbrock, Michie; Hesselbrock, Victor; Kramer, John; Bucholz, Kathleen K.

2017-01-01

Objective: Alcohol-related blackouts (ARBs) are anterograde amnesias related to heavy alcohol intake seen in about 50% of drinkers. Although a major determinant of ARBs relates to blood alcohol concentrations, additional contributions come from genetic vulnerabilities and possible impacts of cannabis use disorders (CUDs). We evaluated relationships of genetics and cannabis use to latent class trajectories of ARBs in 829 subjects from the Collaborative Study of the Genetics of Alcoholism (COGA). Method: The number of ARBs experienced every 2 years from subjects with average ages of 18 to 25 were entered into a latent class growth analysis in Mplus, and resulting class membership was evaluated in light of baseline characteristics, including CUDs. Correlations of number of ARBs across assessments were also compared for sibling pairs versus unrelated subjects. Results: Latent class growth analysis identified ARB-based Classes 1 (consistent low = 42.5%), 2 (moderate low = 28.3%), 3 (moderate high = 22.9%), and 4 (consistent high = 6.3%). A multinomial logistic regression analysis within latent class growth analysis revealed that baseline CUDs related most closely to Classes 3 and 4. The number of ARBs across time correlated .23 for sibling pairs and -.10 for unrelated subjects. Conclusions: Baseline CUDs related to the most severe latent ARB course over time, even when considered along with other trajectory predictors, including baseline alcohol use disorders and maximum number of drinks. Data indicated significant roles for genetic factors for alcohol use disorder patterns over time. Future research is needed to improve understanding of how cannabis adds to the ARB risk and to find genes that contribute to risks for ARBs among drinkers. PMID:27936363

Drinking game play among first-year college student drinkers: An event-specific analysis of the risk for alcohol use and problems

PubMed Central

Ray, Anne E.; Stapleton, Jerod L.; Turrisi, Rob; Mun, Eun-Young

2014-01-01

Background College students who play drinking games (DGs) more frequently report higher levels of alcohol use and experience more alcohol-related harm. However, the extent to which they are at risk for increased consumption and harm as a result of DG play on a given event after accounting for their typical DG participation, and typical and event drinking, is unclear. Objectives We examined whether first-year students consumed more alcohol and were more likely to experience consequences on drinking occasions when they played DGs. Methods Participants (N = 336) completed up to six web-based surveys following weekend drinking events in their first semester. Alcohol use, DG play, and consequences were reported for the Friday and Saturday prior to each survey. Typical DG tendencies were controlled in all models. Typical and event alcohol use were controlled in models predicting risk for consequences. Results Participants consumed more alcohol on DG versus non-DG events. All students were more likely to experience blackout drinking consequences when they played DGs. Women were more likely to experience social-interpersonal consequences when they played DGs. Conclusion DG play is an event-specific risk factor for increased alcohol use among first-year students, regardless of individual DG play tendencies. Further, event DG play signals increased risk for blackout drinking consequences for all students, and social-interpersonal consequences for women, aside from the amount of alcohol consumed on those occasions as well as typical drinking behaviors. Prevention efforts to reduce high-risk drinking may be strengthened by highlighting both event- and person-specific risks of DG play. PMID:25192202

An uncertainty analysis of the hydrogen source term for a station blackout accident in Sequoyah using MELCOR 1.8.5

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Gauntt, Randall O.; Bixler, Nathan E.; Wagner, Kenneth Charles

2014-03-01

A methodology for using the MELCOR code with the Latin Hypercube Sampling method was developed to estimate uncertainty in various predicted quantities such as hydrogen generation or release of fission products under severe accident conditions. In this case, the emphasis was on estimating the range of hydrogen sources in station blackout conditions in the Sequoyah Ice Condenser plant, taking into account uncertainties in the modeled physics known to affect hydrogen generation. The method uses user-specified likelihood distributions for uncertain model parameters, which may include uncertainties of a stochastic nature, to produce a collection of code calculations, or realizations, characterizing themore » range of possible outcomes. Forty MELCOR code realizations of Sequoyah were conducted that included 10 uncertain parameters, producing a range of in-vessel hydrogen quantities. The range of total hydrogen produced was approximately 583kg 131kg. Sensitivity analyses revealed expected trends with respected to the parameters of greatest importance, however, considerable scatter in results when plotted against any of the uncertain parameters was observed, with no parameter manifesting dominant effects on hydrogen generation. It is concluded that, with respect to the physics parameters investigated, in order to further reduce predicted hydrogen uncertainty, it would be necessary to reduce all physics parameter uncertainties similarly, bearing in mind that some parameters are inherently uncertain within a range. It is suspected that some residual uncertainty associated with modeling complex, coupled and synergistic phenomena, is an inherent aspect of complex systems and cannot be reduced to point value estimates. The probabilistic analyses such as the one demonstrated in this work are important to properly characterize response of complex systems such as severe accident progression in nuclear power plants.« less

NASA's Best-Observed X-Class Flare of All Time

NASA Image and Video Library

2014-05-07

Like almost all solar observatories, NASA's IRIS can provide images of different layers of the sun's atmosphere, which together create a whole picture of what's happening. This image shows light at a wavelength of 1400 Angstrom, which highlights material some 650 miles above the sun's surface. The vertical line in the middle shows the slit for IRIS's spectrograph, which can separate light into its many wavelengths to provide even more information about the temperature and velocity of material during a flare. Credit: NASA/IRIS/Goddard Space Flight Center -- On March 29, 2014 the sun released an X-class flare. It was observed by NASA's Interface Region Imaging Spectrograph, or IRIS; NASA's Solar Dynamics Observatory, or SDO; NASA's Reuven Ramaty High Energy Solar Spectroscopic Imager, or RHESSI; the Japanese Aerospace Exploration Agency's Hinode; and the National Solar Observatory's Dunn Solar Telescope located at Sacramento Peak in New Mexico. To have a record of such an intense flare from so many observatories is unprecedented. Such research can help scientists better understand what catalyst sets off these large explosions on the sun. Perhaps we may even some day be able to predict their onset and forewarn of the radio blackouts solar flares can cause near Earth - blackouts that can interfere with airplane, ship and military communications. Read more: 1.usa.gov/1kMDQbO Join our Google+ Hangout on May 8 at 2:30pm EST: go.nasa.gov/1mwbBEZ Credit: NASA Goddard NASA image use policy. NASA Goddard Space Flight Center enables NASA’s mission through four scientific endeavors: Earth Science, Heliophysics, Solar System Exploration, and Astrophysics. Goddard plays a leading role in NASA’s accomplishments by contributing compelling scientific knowledge to advance the Agency’s mission. Follow us on Twitter Like us on Facebook Find us on Instagram

NASA's Best-Observed X-Class Flare of All Time

NASA Image and Video Library

2014-05-07

The March 29, 2014, X-class flare appears as a bright light on the upper right in this image from SDO, showing light in the 304 Angstrom wavelength. This wavelength shows material on the sun in what's called the transition region, where the chromosphere transitions into the upper solar atmosphere, the corona. Some light of the flare is clearly visible, but the flare appears brighter in other images that show hotter temperature material. Credit: NASA/SDO/AIA -- On March 29, 2014 the sun released an X-class flare. It was observed by NASA's Interface Region Imaging Spectrograph, or IRIS; NASA's Solar Dynamics Observatory, or SDO; NASA's Reuven Ramaty High Energy Solar Spectroscopic Imager, or RHESSI; the Japanese Aerospace Exploration Agency's Hinode; and the National Solar Observatory's Dunn Solar Telescope located at Sacramento Peak in New Mexico. To have a record of such an intense flare from so many observatories is unprecedented. Such research can help scientists better understand what catalyst sets off these large explosions on the sun. Perhaps we may even some day be able to predict their onset and forewarn of the radio blackouts solar flares can cause near Earth - blackouts that can interfere with airplane, ship and military communications. Read more: 1.usa.gov/1kMDQbO Join our Google+ Hangout on May 8 at 2:30pm EST: go.nasa.gov/1mwbBEZ NASA image use policy. NASA Goddard Space Flight Center enables NASA’s mission through four scientific endeavors: Earth Science, Heliophysics, Solar System Exploration, and Astrophysics. Goddard plays a leading role in NASA’s accomplishments by contributing compelling scientific knowledge to advance the Agency’s mission. Follow us on Twitter Like us on Facebook Find us on Instagram

Effects of drinking patterns on prospective memory performance in college students.

PubMed

Zamroziewicz, Marta; Raskin, Sarah A; Tennen, Howard; Austad, Carol S; Wood, Rebecca M; Fallahi, Carolyn R; Dager, Alecia D; Sawyer, Broderick; Leen, Samantha; Pearlson, Godfrey D

2017-02-01

Traditional college students are at a critical juncture in the development of prospective memory (PM). Their brains are vulnerable to the effects of alcohol. There were 123 third and fourth year college students, 19-23 years old, who completed the Self-Rating Effects of Alcohol (SREA), Modified Timeline Follow-back (TFLB), Brief Young Adult Alcohol Consequences Scale (BYAACS), and Alcohol Effects Questionnaire (AEQ) once per month on a secure online database, as reported elsewhere (Dager et al., 2013). Data from the 6 months immediately before memory testing were averaged. In a single testing session participants were administered the Mini International Neuropsychiatric Interview-Diagnostic and Statistical Manual for Mental Disorders-Fourth Edition-Text Revision (MINI-DSM-IV-TR), measures of PM (event-based and time-based), and retrospective memory (RM). Based on the average score of six consecutive monthly responses to the SREA, TLFB, and AEQ, students were classified as nondrinkers, light drinkers, or heavy drinkers (as defined previously; Dager et al., 2013). Alcohol-induced amnesia (blackout) was measured with the BYAACS. We found a relationship between these alcohol use classifications and time-based PM, such that participants who were classified as heavier drinkers were more likely to forget to perform the time-based PM task. We also found that self-reported alcohol-induced amnesia (blackouts) during the month immediately preceding memory testing was associated with lower performance on the event-based PM task. Participants' ability to recall the RM tasks suggested the PM items were successfully encoded even when they were not carried out, and we observed no relationship between alcohol use and RM performance. Heavy alcohol use in college students may be related to impairments in PM. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2017 APA, all rights reserved).

Havana: A Bike-Friendly City?

PubMed

Coyula, Miguel

2016-07-01

The abrupt breakup of the USSR and socialist bloc in the early 1990s dealt a devastating blow to the island's economy. Almost overnight, beneficial aid and trade provided by the Council for Mutual Economic Assistance ground to a halt, including 80% of foreign trade previously conducted as barter and sales of 13 million tons of oil per year at preferential prices. When the Cuban economy bottomed out in 1993, oil imports had dropped from 13 to 4 million tons annually. At the time, Cuba depended almost entirely on imported oil and the dramatic decline in imports created massive blackouts, leaving most Cuban homes without electricity 12 hours a day.

Temporal characteristic analysis of laser-modulated pulsed X-ray source for space X-ray communication

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hang, Shuang; Liu, Yunpeng; Li, Huan; Tang, Xiaobin; Chen, Da

2018-04-01

X-ray communication (XCOM) is a new communication type and is expected to realize high-speed data transmission in some special communication scenarios, such as deep space communication and blackout communication. This study proposes a high-speed modulated X-ray source scheme based on the laser-to-X-ray conversion. The temporal characteristics of the essential components of the proposed laser-modulated pulsed X-ray source (LMPXS) were analyzed to evaluate its pulse emission performance. Results show that the LMPXS can provide a maximum modulation rate up to 100 Mbps which is expected to significantly improve the data rate of XCOM.

Adolescence: booze, brains, and behavior.

PubMed

Monti, Peter M; Miranda, Robert; Nixon, Kimberly; Sher, Kenneth J; Swartzwelder, H Scott; Tapert, Susan F; White, Aaron; Crews, Fulton T

2005-02-01

This article represents the proceedings of a symposium at the 2004 Research Society on Alcoholism meeting in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, organized and chaired by Peter M. Monti and Fulton T. Crews. The presentations and presenters were (1) Introduction, by Peter M. Monti; (2) Adolescent Binge Drinking Causes Life-Long Changes in Brain, by Fulton T. Crews and Kim Nixon; (3) Functional Neuroimaging Studies in Human Adolescent Drinkers, by Susan F. Tapert; (4) Abnormal Emotional Reactivity as a Risk Factor for Alcoholism, by Robert Miranda, Jr.; (5) Alcohol-Induced Memory Impairments, Including Blackouts, and the Changing Adolescent Brain, by Aaron M. White and H. Scott Swartzwelder; and (6) Discussion, by Kenneth Sher.

Objective measurement of human tolerance to +G sub z acceleration stress. Ph.D. Thesis - Univ. of N. Indiana

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Rositano, S. A.

1980-01-01

The efficacy of a new objective technique using a transcutaneous Doppler flowmeter to monitor superficial temporal artery blood flow velocity during acceleration was investigated. The results were correlated with current objective and subjective G tolerance end points. In over 1300 centrifuge runs, retrograde eye level blood flow leading to total flow cessation was consistently recorded and preceded visual field deterioration leading to blackout by 3 to 23 seconds. The new method was successfully applied as an objective indication of tolerance in a variety of test situations including evaluation of g-suits, straining maneuvers, and 13 deg, 45 deg and 65 deg set back angles.

Childhood Trauma and Dissociative Intimate Partner Violence.

PubMed

Webermann, Aliya R; Murphy, Christopher M

2018-04-01

The present study assesses childhood abuse/neglect as a predictor of dissociative intimate partner violence (IPV) among 118 partner-abusive men. One third (36%) endorsed dissociative IPV, most commonly losing control (18%), surroundings seeming unreal (16%), feeling someone other than oneself is aggressing (16%), and seeing oneself from a distance aggressing (10%). Childhood physical abuse/neglect predicted IPV-specific derealization/depersonalization, aggressive self-states, and flashbacks to past violence. Childhood emotional abuse/neglect predicted derealization/depersonalization, blackouts, and flashbacks. Childhood sexual abuse uniquely predicted amnesia. Other potential traumas did not predict dissociative IPV, suggesting dissociative IPV is influenced by trauma-based emotion dysregulation wherein childhood abuse/neglect survivors disconnect from their abusive behavior.

Major Solar Flare

NASA Image and Video Library

2017-09-11

A large sunspot was the source of a powerful solar flare (an X 9.3) and a coronal mass ejection (Sept. 6, 2017). The flare was the largest solar flare of the last decade. For one thing, it created a strong shortwave radio blackout over Europe, Africa and the Atlantic Ocean. Sunspot 2673 has been also the source of several other smaller to medium-sized solar flares over the past few days. Data from the SOHO spacecraft shows the large cloud of particles blasting into space just after the flare. Note: the bright vertical line and the other rays with barred lines are aberrations in our instruments caused by the bright flash of the flare. https://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA21949

Verification of voltage/frequency requirement for emergency diesel generator in nuclear power plant using dynamic modeling

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hur, Jin-Suk; Roh, Myung-Sub

2014-02-01

One major cause of the plant shutdown is the loss of electrical power. The study is to comprehend the coping action against station blackout including emergency diesel generator, sequential loading of safety system and to ensure that the emergency diesel generator should meet requirements, especially voltage and frequency criteria using modeling tool. This paper also considered the change of the sequencing time and load capacity only for finding electrical design margin. However, the revision of load list must be verified with safety analysis. From this study, it is discovered that new load calculation is a key factor in EDG localization and in-house capability increase.

Challenges Concerning the Energy-Dependency of the Telecom Infrastructure

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Fickert, Lothar; Malleck, Helmut; Wakolbinger, Christian

Industry worldwide depends on Information and Communication Technology (ICT). Through large-scale blackouts of the public electricity supply telephone services and Internet connections are massively reduced in their functions, leading to cascading effects. Following analysis of selected, typical failure situations counter-measures to re-establish the public electricity supply in Austria to consumers are identified. This can serve also as an example for other countries. Based on the existing public electricity supply system, a sensitivity analysis both in power and in the ICT sector for the mobile and the fixed network is carried out. As a new possible solution ”smart grid” or ”microgrids” and the controlled operation of decentralized stable islands are investigated.

NASA's Best-Observed X-Class Flare of All Time

NASA Image and Video Library

2014-05-07

This close-up of the sunspot underneath the March 29, 2014, flare shows incredible detail. The image was captured by the G-band camera at Sacramento Peak in New Mexico. This instrument can focus on only a small area at once, but provide very high resolution. Ground-based telescope data can be hindered by Earth's atmosphere, which blocks much of the sun's ultraviolet and X-ray light, and causes twinkling even in the light it does allow through. As it happens, the March 29 flare occurred at a time of day in New Mexico that often results in the best viewing times from the ground. Credit: Kevin Reardon (National Solar Observatory), Lucia Kleint (BAER Institute) -- On March 29, 2014 the sun released an X-class flare. It was observed by NASA's Interface Region Imaging Spectrograph, or IRIS; NASA's Solar Dynamics Observatory, or SDO; NASA's Reuven Ramaty High Energy Solar Spectroscopic Imager, or RHESSI; the Japanese Aerospace Exploration Agency's Hinode; and the National Solar Observatory's Dunn Solar Telescope located at Sacramento Peak in New Mexico. To have a record of such an intense flare from so many observatories is unprecedented. Such research can help scientists better understand what catalyst sets off these large explosions on the sun. Perhaps we may even some day be able to predict their onset and forewarn of the radio blackouts solar flares can cause near Earth - blackouts that can interfere with airplane, ship and military communications. Read more: 1.usa.gov/1kMDQbO Join our Google+ Hangout on May 8 at 2:30pm EST: go.nasa.gov/1mwbBEZ Credit: NASA Goddard NASA image use policy. NASA Goddard Space Flight Center enables NASA’s mission through four scientific endeavors: Earth Science, Heliophysics, Solar System Exploration, and Astrophysics. Goddard plays a leading role in NASA’s accomplishments by contributing compelling scientific knowledge to advance the Agency’s mission. Follow us on Twitter Like us on Facebook Find us on Instagram

Modernizing Distribution System Restoration to Achieve Grid Resiliency Against Extreme Weather Events: An Integrated Solution

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Chen, Chen; Wang, Jianhui; Ton, Dan

Recent severe power outages caused by extreme weather hazards have highlighted the importance and urgency of improving the resilience of the electric power grid. As the distribution grids still remain vulnerable to natural disasters, the power industry has focused on methods of restoring distribution systems after disasters in an effective and quick manner. The current distribution system restoration practice for utilities is mainly based on predetermined priorities and tends to be inefficient and suboptimal, and the lack of situational awareness after the hazard significantly delays the restoration process. As a result, customers may experience an extended blackout, which causes largemore » economic loss. On the other hand, the emerging advanced devices and technologies enabled through grid modernization efforts have the potential to improve the distribution system restoration strategy. However, utilizing these resources to aid the utilities in better distribution system restoration decision-making in response to extreme weather events is a challenging task. Therefore, this paper proposes an integrated solution: a distribution system restoration decision support tool designed by leveraging resources developed for grid modernization. We first review the current distribution restoration practice and discuss why it is inadequate in response to extreme weather events. Then we describe how the grid modernization efforts could benefit distribution system restoration, and we propose an integrated solution in the form of a decision support tool to achieve the goal. The advantages of the solution include improving situational awareness of the system damage status and facilitating survivability for customers. The paper provides a comprehensive review of how the existing methodologies in the literature could be leveraged to achieve the key advantages. The benefits of the developed system restoration decision support tool include the optimal and efficient allocation of repair crews and resources, the expediting of the restoration process, and the reduction of outage durations for customers, in response to severe blackouts due to extreme weather hazards.« less

Enhancement of NRC station blackout requirements for nuclear power plants

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

McConnell, M. W.

2012-07-01

The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) established a Near-Term Task Force (NTTF) in response to Commission direction to conduct a systematic and methodical review of NRC processes and regulations to determine whether the agency should make additional improvements to its regulatory system and to make recommendations to the Commission for its policy direction, in light of the accident at the Fukushima Dai-ichi Nuclear Power Plant. The NTTF's review resulted in a set of recommendations that took a balanced approach to defense-in-depth as applied to low-likelihood, high-consequence events such as prolonged station blackout (SBO) resulting from severe natural phenomena. Part 50,more » Section 63, of Title 10 of the Code of Federal Regulations (CFR), 'Loss of All Alternating Current Power,' currently requires that each nuclear power plant must be able to cool the reactor core and maintain containment integrity for a specified duration of an SBO. The SBO duration and mitigation strategy for each nuclear power plant is site specific and is based on the robustness of the local transmission system and the transmission system operator's capability to restore offsite power to the nuclear power plant. With regard to SBO, the NTTF recommended that the NRC strengthen SBO mitigation capability at all operating and new reactors for design-basis and beyond-design-basis external events. The NTTF also recommended strengthening emergency preparedness for prolonged SBO and multi-unit events. These recommendations, taken together, are intended to clarify and strengthen US nuclear reactor safety regarding protection against and mitigation of the consequences of natural disasters and emergency preparedness during SBO. The focus of this paper is on the existing SBO requirements and NRC initiatives to strengthen SBO capability at all operating and new reactors to address prolonged SBO stemming from design-basis and beyond-design-basis external events. The NRC initiatives are intended to enhance core and spent fuel pool cooling, reactor coolant system integrity, and containment integrity. (authors)« less

Use of VIIRS DNB Data to Monitor Power Outages and Restoration for Significant Weather Events

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Jedlovec, Gary; Molthan, Andrew

2008-01-01

NASA fs Short-term Prediction Research and Transition (SPoRT) project operates from NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama. The team provides unique satellite data to the National Weather Service (NWS) and other agencies and organizations for weather analysis. While much of its work is focused on improving short-term weather forecasting, the SPoRT team supported damage assessment and response to Hurricane Superstorm Sandy by providing imagery that highlighted regions without power. The team used data from the Visible Infrared Imaging Radiometer Suite (VIIRS) on the Suomi National Polar-orbiting Partnership (Suomi NPP) satellite. The VIIRS low-light sensor, known as the day-night-band (DNB), can detect nighttime light from wildfires, urban and rural communities, and other human activity which emits light. It can also detect moonlight reflected from clouds and surface features. Using real time VIIRS data collected by our collaborative partner at the Space Science and Engineering Center of the University of Wisconsin, the SPoRT team created composite imagery to help detect power outages and restoration. This blackout imagery allowed emergency response teams from a variety of agencies to better plan and marshal resources for recovery efforts. The blackout product identified large-scale outages, offering a comprehensive perspective beyond a patchwork GIS mapping of outages that utility companies provide based on customer complaints. To support the relief efforts, the team provided its imagery to the USGS data portal, which the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) and other agencies used in their relief efforts. The team fs product helped FEMA, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, and U.S. Army monitor regions without power as part of their disaster response activities. Disaster responders used the images to identify possible outages and effectively distribute relief resources. An enhanced product is being developed and integrated into a web mapping service (WMS) for dissemination and use by a broader end user community.

Evaluation of earthquake and tsunami on JSFR

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Chikazawa, Y.; Enuma, Y.; Kisohara, N.

2012-07-01

Evaluation of earthquake and tsunami on JSFR has been analyzed. For seismic design, safety components are confirmed to maintain their functions even against recent strong earthquakes. As for Tsunami, some parts of reactor building might be submerged including component cooling water system whose final heat sink is sea water. However, in the JSFR design, safety grade components are independent from component cooling water system (CCWS). The JSFR emergency power supply adopts a gas turbine system with air cooling, since JSFR does not basically require quick start-up of the emergency power supply thanks to the natural convection DHRS. Even in casemore » of long station blackout, the DHRS could be activated by emergency batteries or manually and be operated continuously by natural convection. (authors)« less

Intelligent decision support algorithm for distribution system restoration.

PubMed

Singh, Reetu; Mehfuz, Shabana; Kumar, Parmod

2016-01-01

Distribution system is the means of revenue for electric utility. It needs to be restored at the earliest if any feeder or complete system is tripped out due to fault or any other cause. Further, uncertainty of the loads, result in variations in the distribution network's parameters. Thus, an intelligent algorithm incorporating hybrid fuzzy-grey relation, which can take into account the uncertainties and compare the sequences is discussed to analyse and restore the distribution system. The simulation studies are carried out to show the utility of the method by ranking the restoration plans for a typical distribution system. This algorithm also meets the smart grid requirements in terms of an automated restoration plan for the partial/full blackout of network.

Towards designing robust coupled networks

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Schneider, Christian M.; Yazdani, Nuri; Araújo, Nuno A. M.; Havlin, Shlomo; Herrmann, Hans J.

2013-06-01

Natural and technological interdependent systems have been shown to be highly vulnerable due to cascading failures and an abrupt collapse of global connectivity under initial failure. Mitigating the risk by partial disconnection endangers their functionality. Here we propose a systematic strategy of selecting a minimum number of autonomous nodes that guarantee a smooth transition in robustness. Our method which is based on betweenness is tested on various examples including the famous 2003 electrical blackout of Italy. We show that, with this strategy, the necessary number of autonomous nodes can be reduced by a factor of five compared to a random choice. We also find that the transition to abrupt collapse follows tricritical scaling characterized by a set of exponents which is independent on the protection strategy.

The construction of power grid operation index system considering the risk of maintenance

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Tang, Jihong; Wang, Canlin; Jiang, Xinfan; Ye, Jianhui; Pan, Feilai

2018-02-01

In recent years, large-scale blackout occurred at home and abroad caused widespread concern about the operation of the grid in the world, and the maintenance risk is an important indicator of grid safety. The barrier operation of the circuit breaker exists in the process of overhaul of the power grid. The operation of the different barrier is of great significance to the change of the power flow, thus affecting the safe operation of the system. Most of the grid operating status evaluation index system did not consider the risk of maintenance, to this end, this paper from the security, economy, quality and cleanliness of the four angles, build the power grid operation index system considering the risk of maintenance.

Physiologic bases of G-induced loss of consciousness (G-LOC).

PubMed

Werchan, P M

1991-07-01

Exposure of pilots to high sustained +Gz (head to feet) or rapid onset of +Gz can produce a variety of pathophysiologic effects ranging from the loss of peripheral vision to total blackout and, finally, G-induced loss of consciousness (G-LOC). A G-LOC research program divided into four phases has been organized at USAFSAM/Crew Technology Division. In contrast to previous studies in acceleration, this program will focus exclusively on the ultimate problem in G-LOC; namely, inadequate cerebral perfusion leading to impaired brain energy metabolism, structure and function. The primary objective of this research program is to identify and arrange chronologically the numerous physiological and biochemical alterations in the brain that comprise the mechanism of G-LOC.

Three-dimensional time-dependent STAR reactor kinetics analyses coupled with RETRAN and MCPWR system response

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Feltus, M.A.

1989-11-01

The operation of a nuclear power plant must be regularly supported by various reactor dynamics and thermal-hydraulic analyses, which may include final safety analysis report (FSAR) design-basis calculations, and conservative and best-estimate analyses. The development and improvement of computer codes and analysis methodologies provide many advantages, including the ability to evaluate the effect of modeling simplifications and assumptions made in previous reactor kinetics and thermal-hydraulic calculations. This paper describes the results of using the RETRAN, MCPWR, and STAR codes in a tandem, predictive-corrective manner for three pressurized water reactor (PWR) transients: (a) loss of feedwater (LOF) anticipated transient without scrammore » (ATWS), (b) station blackout ATWS, and (c) loss of total reactor coolant system (RCS) flow with a scram.« less

The USGS geomagnetism program and its role in space weather monitoring

USGS Publications Warehouse

Love, Jeffrey J.; Finn, Carol A.

2011-01-01

Magnetic storms result from the dynamic interaction of the solar wind with the coupled magnetospheric-ionospheric system. Large storms represent a potential hazard for the activities and infrastructure of a modern, technologically based society [Baker et al., 2008]; they can cause the loss of radio communications, reduce the accuracy of global positioning systems, damage satellite electronics and affect satellite operations, increase pipeline corrosion, and induce voltage surges in electric power grids, causing blackouts. So while space weather starts with the Sun and is driven by the solar wind, it is on, or just above, the surface of the Earth that the practical effects of space weather are realized. Therefore, ground-based sensor networks, including magnetic observatories [Love, 2008], play an important role in space weather monitoring.

The USGS Geomagnetism Program and its role in Space-Weather Monitoring

USGS Publications Warehouse

Love, Jeffrey J.; Finn, Carol A.

2011-01-01

Magnetic storms result from the dynamic interaction of the solar wind with the coupled magnetospheric-ionospheric system. Large storms represent a potential hazard for the activities and infrastructure of a modern, technologically based society [Baker et al., 2008]; they can cause the loss of radio communications, reduce the accuracy of global positioning systems, damage satellite electronics and affect satellite operations, increase pipeline corrosion, and induce voltage surges in electric power grids, causing blackouts. So while space weather starts with the Sun and is driven by the solar wind, it is on, or just above, the surface of the Earth that the practical effects of space weather are realized. Therefore, ground-based sensor networks, including magnetic observatories [Love, 2008], play an important role in space weather monitoring.

Vulnerability and cosusceptibility determine the size of network cascades

DOE PAGES

Yang, Yang; Nishikawa, Takashi; Motter, Adilson E.

2017-01-27

In a network, a local disturbance can propagate and eventually cause a substantial part of the system to fail in cascade events that are easy to conceptualize but extraordinarily difficult to predict. Furthermore, we develop a statistical framework that can predict cascade size distributions by incorporating two ingredients only: the vulnerability of individual components and the cosusceptibility of groups of components (i.e., their tendency to fail together). Using cascades in power grids as a representative example, we show that correlations between component failures define structured and often surprisingly large groups of cosusceptible components. Aside from their implications for blackout studies,more » these results provide insights and a new modeling framework for understanding cascades in financial systems, food webs, and complex networks in general.« less

Identifying Factors That Increase the Likelihood for Alcohol-Induced Blackouts in the Prepartying Context

PubMed Central

LaBrie, Joseph W.; Hummer, Justin; Kenney, Shannon; Lac, Andrew; Pedersen, Eric

2015-01-01

The present study examined risk factors related to “blacking out” (e.g., temporary periods of memory loss during drinking) during preparty drinking events (i.e., pregaming, predrinking). Participants were students from two universities on the West Coast who reported past month prepartying (N = 2,546) in online surveys administered in the fall of 2008. Among these students, 25% (n = 636) reported blacking out during at least one occasion in which they prepartied in the past month. A logistic regression model underscored that Greek student affiliation, family history of alcohol abuse, frequency of prepartying, and both playing drinking games and consuming shots of liquor while prepartying increased the likelihood of blacking out. Limitations and implications for future research and collegiate prevention strategies are discussed. PMID:21222521

Parametric and experimentally informed BWR Severe Accident Analysis Utilizing FeCrAl - M3FT-17OR020205041

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Ott, Larry J.; Howell, Michael; Robb, Kevin R.

Iron-chromium-aluminum (FeCrAl) alloys are being considered as advanced fuel cladding concepts with enhanced accident tolerance. At high temperatures, FeCrAl alloys have slower oxidation kinetics and higher strength compared with zirconium-based alloys. FeCrAl could be used for fuel cladding and spacer or mixing vane grids in light water reactors and/or as channel box material in boiling water reactors (BWRs). There is a need to assess the potential gains afforded by the FeCrAl accident-tolerant-fuel (ATF) concept over the existing zirconium-based materials employed today. To accurately assess the response of FeCrAl alloys under severe accident conditions, a number of FeCrAl properties and characteristicsmore » are required. These include thermophysical properties as well as burst characteristics, oxidation kinetics, possible eutectic interactions, and failure temperatures. These properties can vary among different FeCrAl alloys. Oak Ridge National Laboratory has pursued refined values for the oxidation kinetics of the B136Y FeCrAl alloy (Fe-13Cr-6Al wt %). This investigation included oxidation tests with varying heating rates and end-point temperatures in a steam environment. The rate constant for the low-temperature oxidation kinetics was found to be higher than that for the commercial APMT FeCrAl alloy (Fe-21Cr-5Al-3Mo wt %). Compared with APMT, a 5 times higher rate constant best predicted the entire dataset (root mean square deviation). Based on tests following heating rates comparable with those the cladding would experience during a station blackout, the transition to higher oxidation kinetics occurs at approximately 1,500°C. A parametric study varying the low-temperature FeCrAl oxidation kinetics was conducted for a BWR plant using FeCrAl fuel cladding and channel boxes using the MELCOR code. A range of station blackout severe accident scenarios were simulated for a BWR/4 reactor with Mark I containment. Increasing the FeCrAl low-temperature oxidation rate constant (3 times and 10 times that of the rate constant for APMT) had a negligible impact on the early stages of the accident and minor impacts on the accident progression after the first relocation of the fuel. At temperatures below 1,500°C, increasing the rate constant for APMT by a factor of 10 still resulted in only minor FeCrAl oxidation. In general, the gains afforded by the FeCrAl enhanced ATF concept with respect to accident sequence timing and combustible gas generation are consistent with previous efforts. Compared with the traditional Zircaloy-based cladding and channel box system, the FeCrAl concept could provide a few extra hours of time for operators to take mitigating actions and/or for evacuations to take place. A coolable core geometry is retained longer, enhancing the ability to stabilize an accident. For example, a station blackout was simulated in which cooling water injection was lost 36 hours after shutdown. The timing to first fuel relocation was delayed by approximately 5 h for the FeCrAl ATF concept compared with that of the traditional Zircaloy-based cladding and channel box system.« less

Human Factors for Situation Assessment in Grid Operations

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Guttromson, Ross T.; Schur, Anne; Greitzer, Frank L.

2007-08-08

Executive Summary Despite advances in technology, power system operators must assimilate overwhelming amounts of data to keep the grid operating. Analyses of recent blackouts have clearly demonstrated the need to enhance the operator’s situation awareness (SA). The long-term objective of this research is to integrate valuable technologies into the grid operator environment that support decision making under normal and abnormal operating conditions and remove non-technical barriers to enable the optimum use of these technologies by individuals working alone and as a team. More specifically, the research aims to identify methods and principles to increase SA of grid operators in themore » context of system conditions that are representative or common across many operating entities and develop operationally relevant experimental methods for studying technologies and operational practices which contribute to SA. With increasing complexity and interconnectivity of the grid, the scope and complexity of situation awareness have grown. New paradigms are needed to guide research and tool development aimed to enhance and improve operations. In reviewing related research, operating practices, systems, and tools, the present study established a taxonomy that provides a perspective on research and development surrounding power grid situation awareness and clarifies the field of human factors/SA for grid operations. Information sources that we used to identify critical factors underlying SA included interviews with experienced operational personnel, available historical summaries and transcripts of abnormal conditions and outages (e.g., the August 14, 2003 blackout), scientific literature, and operational policies/procedures and other documentation. Our analysis of August 2003 blackout transcripts and interviews adopted a different perspective than previous analyses of this material, and we complemented this analysis with additional interviews. Based on our analysis and a broad literature review, we advocate a new perspective on SA in terms of sensemaking, also called situated or ecological decision making, where the focus of the investigation is to understand why the decision maker(s) experienced the situation the way they did, or why what they saw made sense to them at the time. This perspective is distinct from the traditional branch of human factors research in the field which focuses more on ergonomics and the transactional relationship between the human operator and the systems. Consistent with our findings from the literature review, we recognized an over-arching need to focus SA research on issues surrounding the concept of shared knowledge; e.g., awareness of what is happening in adjacent areas as well as one’s own area of responsibility. Major findings were: a) Inadequate communication/information sharing is pervasive, b) Information is available, but not used. Many tools and mechanisms exist for operators to build awareness of the physical grid system, yet the transcripts reveal that they still need to call and exchange information with operators of neighboring areas to improve or validate their SA. The specific types of information that they request are quite predictable and, in most cases, cover information that could be available to both operators and reliability coordinators through readily available displays or other data sources, c) Shared Knowledge is Required on Operations/Actions as Well as Physical Status. In an ideal, technologically and organizationally perfect world, every control room and every reliability coordinator may have access to complete data across all regional control areas and yet, there would still be reason for the operators to call each other to gain and improve their SA of power grid operations, and d) Situation Awareness as sensemaking and shared knowledge.« less

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Sarrao, J.; Kwok, W-K; Bozovic, I.

As an energy carrier, electricity has no rival with regard to its environmental cleanliness, flexibility in interfacing with multiple production sources and end uses, and efficiency of delivery. In fact, the electric power grid was named ?the greatest engineering achievement of the 20th century? by the National Academy of Engineering. This grid, a technological marvel ingeniously knitted together from local networks growing out from cities and rural centers, may be the biggest and most complex artificial system ever built. However, the growing demand for electricity will soon challenge the grid beyond its capability, compromising its reliability through voltage fluctuations thatmore » crash digital electronics, brownouts that disable industrial processes and harm electrical equipment, and power failures like the North American blackout in 2003 and subsequent blackouts in London, Scandinavia, and Italy in the same year. The North American blackout affected 50 million people and caused approximately $6 billion in economic damage over the four days of its duration. Superconductivity offers powerful new opportunities for restoring the reliability of the power grid and increasing its capacity and efficiency. Superconductors are capable of carrying current without loss, making the parts of the grid they replace dramatically more efficient. Superconducting wires carry up to five times the current carried by copper wires that have the same cross section, thereby providing ample capacity for future expansion while requiring no increase in the number of overhead access lines or underground conduits. Their use is especially attractive in urban areas, where replacing copper with superconductors in power-saturated underground conduits avoids expensive new underground construction. Superconducting transformers cut the volume, weight, and losses of conventional transformers by a factor of two and do not require the contaminating and flammable transformer oils that violate urban safety codes. Unlike traditional grid technology, superconducting fault current limiters are smart. They increase their resistance abruptly in response to overcurrents from faults in the system, thus limiting the overcurrents and protecting the grid from damage. They react fast in both triggering and automatically resetting after the overload is cleared, providing a new, self-healing feature that enhances grid reliability. Superconducting reactive power regulators further enhance reliability by instantaneously adjusting reactive power for maximum efficiency and stability in a compact and economic package that is easily sited in urban grids. Not only do superconducting motors and generators cut losses, weight, and volume by a factor of two, but they are also much more tolerant of voltage sag, frequency instabilities, and reactive power fluctuations than their conventional counterparts. The challenge facing the electricity grid to provide abundant, reliable power will soon grow to crisis proportions. Continuing urbanization remains the dominant historic demographic trend in the United States and in the world. By 2030, nearly 90% of the U.S. population will reside in cities and suburbs, where increasingly strict permitting requirements preclude bringing in additional overhead access lines, underground cables are saturated, and growth in power demand is highest. The power grid has never faced a challenge so great or so critical to our future productivity, economic growth, and quality of life. Incremental advances in existing grid technology are not capable of solving the urban power bottleneck. Revolutionary new solutions are needed ? the kind that come only from superconductivity.« less

Natural hazard impact on the technosphere: "blackouts

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Petrova, E. G.

2012-04-01

In recent years, natural-technological accidents (NTA) and disasters are increasing in their number and severity all over the world. The term "natural-technological accident (disaster)" applies for an accident (disaster) in the technosphere triggered by any natural process or phenomenon. Their growth is caused, on the one hand, by observed increasing in the frequency and intensity of some natural hazards and hazardous events due to climate change and, on the other hand, by a growing complication of the modern technosphere exposed to natural impacts and advancement of economic activities into the area at natural risk. The most large-scaled natural-technological disaster happened on March 11, 2011 in Japan, as a result of a massive earthquake and tsunami that caused a number of serious technological accidents, including accidents at "Fukushima-1" nuclear power plant, etc. Severe social, ecological and economic consequences of large-scaled NTA make investigation of these events especially important. The most frequent among NTA occurring in Russia are breakdowns in electric power supply systems that lead to so-called "blackouts" (accidental power outages). They are mainly caused by strong winds, snowstorms, deposition of ice, sleet, and snow, rainfalls, floods, and hailstones. Among other triggers earthquakes, hard frost, fierce heat, thunderstorms, landslides, snow avalanches, and debris flows should be mentioned. The great part of transmission facilities in Russia falls on overhead lines that are especially vulnerable to natural impacts. In general, natural triggers are responsible for more than 70 percent of all accidents in power supply systems. They occur more often in Far East, in the Southern and North-Western federal districts, and in some regions of the Central Russia, which are prone to hurricanes, cyclones, snowstorms, and heavy rainfalls accompanying by hailstones, icing, and sleet. A distinctive feature of these events is their synergistic nature, as power outages can cause a chain of other accidents at heat- and water supply, industrial plants, transport and communication facilities, producing so-called "domino effect". A modernization of facilities, replacement of overhead lines by underground cables and protection from falling trees can reduce the problem.

Comparison of five video-assisted intubation devices by novice and expert laryngoscopists for use in the aeromedical evacuation environment.

PubMed

Wallace, Matthew C; Britton, SSgt Tyler; Meek, Robbie; Walsh-Hart, Sharon; Carter, Col Todd E; Lisco, Steven J

2017-01-01

The critically ill or injured patient undergoing military medical evacuation may require emergent intubation. Intubation may be life-saving, but it carries risks. The novice or infrequent laryngoscopist has a distinct disadvantage because experience is critical for the rapid and safe establishment of a secured airway. This challenge is compounded by the austere environment of the back of an aircraft under blackout conditions. This study determined which of five different video-assisted intubation devices (VAIDs) was best suited for in-flight use by U.S. Air Force Critical Care Air Transport Teams by comparing time to successful intubation between novice and expert laryngoscopists under three conditions, Normal Airway Lights on (NAL), Difficult Airway Lights on (DAL) and Difficult Airway Blackout (DAB), using manikins on a standard military transport stanchion and the floor with a minimal amount of setup time and extraneous light emission. A convenience sample size of 40 participants (24 novices and 16 experts) attempted intubation with each of the 5 different video laryngoscopic devices on high-fidelity airway manikins. Time to tracheal intubation and number of optimization maneuvers used were recorded. Kruskal-Wallis testing determined significant differences between the VAIDs in time to intubation for each particular scenario. Devices with significant differences underwent pair-wise comparison testing using rank-sum analysis to further clarify the difference. Device assembly times, startup times and the amount of light emitted were recorded. Perceived ease of use was surveyed. Novices were fastest with the Pentax AWS in all difficult airway scenarios. Experts recorded the shortest median times consistently using 3 of the 5 devices. The AWS was superior overall in 4 of the 6 scenarios tested. Experts and novices subjectively judged the GlideScope Ranger as easiest to use. The light emitted by all the devices was less than the USAF-issued headlamp. Novices intubated fastest with the Pentax AWS in all difficult airway scenarios. The GlideScope required the shortest setup time, and participants judged this device as the easiest to use. The GlideScope and AWS exhibited the two fastest total setup times. Both devices are suitable for in-flight use by infrequent and seasoned laryngoscopists.

Solar energy estimated from geostationary satellites and its application on the energy management system

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Nakajima, T. Y.; Takamatsu, T.; Funayama, T.; Yamamoto, Y.; Takenaka, H.; Nakajima, T.; Irie, H.; Higuchi, A.

2017-12-01

Recently, estimating and forecasting the solar radiation in terms of the electric power generation by photovoltaic (PV) systems is needed for the energy management system (EMS). The estimation technique depends on the latest atmospheric sciences. For instance, when one like to estimate solar radiation reached to ground surface, one will focus on the existence of clouds and their properties, because clouds exert an important influence to the radiative transfer. Visible-to-infared imaging radiometer aboard the geostationary satellites, Himawari, GOES, and Meteosat are useful for such objective, since they observe clouds for full disk of the Earth with high temporal frequency and moderately spatial resolution. Estimation of solar radiation at the ground surface from satellite imagery consists of two steps. The first step is retrieval of cloud optical and microphysical properties by use of the multispectral imaging data. Indeed, we retrieve cloud optical thickness, cloud particle sizes, and cloud top height from visible, near-infrared, and thermal infrared wavelength of the satellite imageries, respectively. The second step is the radiative transfer calculation. We will obtain solar radiation reached to the ground surface, using cloud properties retrieved from the first step, and radiative transfer calculations. We have built a system for near-real time estimation of solar radiation for global scale, named the AMATERASS system, under the support of JST (Japan Science and Technology Agency), CREST/EMS (Energy Management System). The AMATERASS dataset has been used for several researches. For example, Waseda University group applied the AMATERASS data in the electric power system, considering accidental blackout in the electric system for local scale. They made it clear that when AMATERASS data exists the chance of electric voltage deviancy is mitigated when the blackout is over. We have supported a solar car race in Australia, named World Solar Challenge (WSC) 2013, 2015, and 2017, by suppling the AMATERASS solar radiation and some meteorological data along the race track, dynamically following the location of the solar car. This experience is important because the era of electric vehicles equippe with PV panels will come soon.

Alcohol-Related Blackouts, Negative Alcohol-Related Consequences, and Motivations for Drinking Reported by Newly Matriculating Transgender College Students

PubMed Central

Tupler, Larry A.; Zapp, Daniel; DeJong, William; Ali, Maryam; O’Rourke, Sarah; Looney, John; Swartzwelder, H. Scott

2017-01-01

Background Many transgender college students struggle with identity formation and other emotional, social, and developmental challenges associated with emerging adulthood. A potential maladaptive coping strategy employed by such students is heavy drinking. Prior literature has suggested greater consumption and negative alcohol-related consequences (ARCs) in transgender students compared with their cisgender peers, but little is known about their differing experiences with alcohol-related blackouts (ARBs). We examined the level of alcohol consumption, the frequency of ARBs and other ARCs, and motivations for drinking reported by the largest sample of transgender college students to date. Methods A Web survey from an alcohol-prevention program, AlcoholEdu for College™, assessed student demographics and drinking-related behaviors, experiences, and motivations of newly matriculating first-year college students. A self-reported drinking calendar was used to examine each of the following measures over the previous 14 days: number of drinking days, total number of drinks, and maximum number of drinks on any single day. A 7-point Likert scale was used to measure ARCs, ARBs, and drinking motivations. Transgender students of both sexes were compared with their cisgender peers. Results 989 of 422,906 students (0.2%) identified as transgender. Over a 14-day period, transgender compared with cisgender students were more likely to consume alcohol over more days, more total drinks, and a greater number of maximum drinks on a single day. Transgender students (36%) were more likely to report an ARB than cisgender students (25%) as well as more negative academic, confrontation-related, social, and sexual ARCs. Transgender respondents more often cited stress reduction, social anxiety, self-esteem issues, and the inherent properties of alcohol as motivations for drinking. For nearly all measures, higher values were yielded by male-to-female than female-to-male transgender students. Conclusions Transgender compared with cisgender first-year students engage in higher-risk drinking patterns and experience more ARBs and other negative ARCs. Broad institutional efforts are required to address the unique circumstances of transgender men and women and to reduce negative ARCs in college students, regardless of their sex or gender identity. PMID:28324915

Four Essays on Applied Energy Economics and Policy

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Buenestado, Raul Bajo

This thesis is divided in two parts. The first part (chapters 1 and 2) studies capacity payments in the electricity sector. The second part (chapter 3 and 4) is on gasoline retail markets. The first chapter explores welfare implications of capacity markets in the electricity sector. We propose a theoretical model with cost heterogeneous firms, for which price and quantity equilibria are obtained both with and without a capacity market. The consequences for consumers are assessed using three different measures: consumer surplus, probability of blackout and price volatility. We conclude that a capacity market is able to reduce extreme events. Under some circumstances, we show that a capacity market is also efficiency enhancing. In the second chapter, we use data from the Texas ERCOT to study the impact of capacity payments in a stylized wholesale electricity market. We find that the introduction of capacity payments has two countervailing effects. On the one hand, it increases consumers' bills. On the other hand, it reduces price volatility and blackout probability. We find that the net impact on consumer surplus is negative both in a perfectly competitive market and in the presence of market power. In the third chapter, we use monthly data from the Spanish gasoline retail market to explore asymmetries in consumers' responses to changes in gasoline prices and taxes. We investigate whether an increase in taxes has a more negative impact on the demand than an increase in the "pre-tax" price of gasoline. We estimate consumers' behavioral responses using a rich set of robust models. We find evidence of asymmetric responses for the demand of unleaded fuels and agricultural diesel fuel. In the final chapter we study a game of spatial competition in prices. We focus on the linear city duopoly model to see what we can learn about the distribution of consumers, which is approximated using variation in equilibrium prices and costs. We apply our methodology to a dataset on prices of a pair of gas stations in a straight highway. Using our approximation, we are able to calculate where should be located an entrant gas station to maximize welfare.

About the Power Generation Confirmation of the Induction Motor and the Influence on the Islanding Detection Device

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Igarashi, Hironobu; Sato, Takashi; Miyamoto, Kazunori; Kurokawa, Kousuke

The photovoltaic generation system must have protection device and islanding detection devices to connect with utility line of the electric power company. It is regulated in the technological requirement guideline and the electric equipment technology standard that the country provides. The islanding detection device detected purpose install for blackout due to the accident occurrence of the earth fault and the short-circuit in the utility line. When the islanding detection device detects the power blackout, it is necessary to stop the photovoltaic generation system immediately. If the photovoltaic generation system is not stopped immediately, electricity comes to charge the utility power line very at risk. We had already known that the islanding detection device can't detect the islanding phenomenon, if is there the induction motor in the loads. Authors decided to investigate the influence that the induction motors gave to the islanding detection device. The result was the load condition that the induction motors changed generator the voltage is restraining. Moreover, it was clarified that the time of the islanding was long compared with the load condition of not changing into the state of the generator. The value changes into the reactance of the induction motors according to the frequency change after the supply of electric power line stops. The frequency after the supply of electric power line stops changes for the unbalance the reactive power by the effect of the power rate constancy control with PLL of the power conditioner. However, the induction motors is also to the changing frequency, makes amends for the amount of reactive power, and the change in the frequency after the supply of electric power line stops as a result is controlled. When the frequency changed after the supply of electric power line stopped, it was clarified of the action on the direction where it made amends from the change of the constant for the amount of an invalid electric power, and the possession of the characteristic in which the continuance of the individual operation was promoted.

Alcohol-Related Blackouts, Negative Alcohol-Related Consequences, and Motivations for Drinking Reported by Newly Matriculating Transgender College Students.

PubMed

Tupler, Larry A; Zapp, Daniel; DeJong, William; Ali, Maryam; O'Rourke, Sarah; Looney, John; Swartzwelder, H Scott

2017-05-01

Many transgender college students struggle with identity formation and other emotional, social, and developmental challenges associated with emerging adulthood. A potential maladaptive coping strategy employed by such students is heavy drinking. Prior literature has suggested greater consumption and negative alcohol-related consequences (ARCs) in transgender students compared with their cisgender peers, but little is known about their differing experiences with alcohol-related blackouts (ARBs). We examined the level of alcohol consumption, the frequency of ARBs and other ARCs, and motivations for drinking reported by the largest sample of transgender college students to date. A Web survey from an alcohol-prevention program, AlcoholEdu for College™, assessed student demographics and drinking-related behaviors, experiences, and motivations of newly matriculating first-year college students. A self-reported drinking calendar was used to examine each of the following measures over the previous 14 days: number of drinking days, total number of drinks, and maximum number of drinks on any single day. A 7-point Likert scale was used to measure ARCs, ARBs, and drinking motivations. Transgender students of both sexes were compared with their cisgender peers. A total of 989 of 422,906 students (0.2%) identified as transgender. Over a 14-day period, transgender compared with cisgender students were more likely to consume alcohol over more days, more total drinks, and a greater number of maximum drinks on a single day. Transgender students (36%) were more likely to report an ARB than cisgender students (25%) as well as more negative academic, confrontation-related, social, and sexual ARCs. Transgender respondents more often cited stress reduction, social anxiety, self-esteem issues, and the inherent properties of alcohol as motivations for drinking. For nearly all measures, higher values were yielded by male-to-female than female-to-male transgender students. Transgender compared with cisgender first-year students engage in higher-risk drinking patterns and experience more ARBs and other negative ARCs. Broad institutional efforts are required to address the unique circumstances of transgender men and women and to reduce negative ARCs in college students, regardless of their sex or gender identity. Copyright © 2017 by the Research Society on Alcoholism.

TDRS-1 Going Strong at 20

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

2003-01-01

This video presents an overview of the first Tracking and Data Relay Satellite (TDRS-1) in the form of text, computer animations, footage, and an interview with its program manager. Launched by the Space Shuttle Challenger in 1983, TDRS-1 was the first of a network of satellites used for relaying data to and from scientific spacecraft. Most of this short video is silent, and consists of footage and animation of the deployment of TDRS-1, written and animated explanations of what TDRS satellites do, and samples of the astronomical and Earth science data they transmit. The program manager explains in the final segment of the video the improvement TDRS satellites brought to communication with manned space missions, including alleviation of blackout during reentry, and also the role TDRS-1 played in providing telemedicine for a breast cancer patient in Antarctica.

Binge Drinking.

PubMed

Siqueira, Lorena; Smith, Vincent C

2015-09-01

Alcohol is the substance most frequently abused by children and adolescents in the United States, and its use is associated with the leading causes of death and serious injury at this age (ie, motor vehicle accidents, homicides, and suicides). Among youth who drink, the proportion who drink heavily is higher than among adult drinkers, increasing from approximately 50% in those 12 to 14 years of age to 72% among those 18 to 20 years of age. In this clinical report, the definition, epidemiology, and risk factors for binge drinking; the neurobiology of intoxication, blackouts, and hangovers; genetic considerations;and adverse outcomes are discussed. The report offers guidance for the pediatrician. As with any high-risk behavior, prevention plays a more important role than later intervention and has been shown to be more effective. In the pediatric office setting, it is important to ask every adolescent about alcohol use.

Visceral predictors of cardiovascular deconditioning in late middle-aged men

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Goldwater, D. J.; De Roshia, C.; Natelson, B. H.; Levin, B. E.

1985-01-01

A number of visceral and behavioral factors connected with cardiovascular deconditioning were investigated, in order to identify a method for predicting the degree of orthostatic intolerance to spaceflight in several late-middle-aged men (55-65 years). Preliminary measurements were made of: mean arterial blood pressure plasma cortisol levels; and norepinephrine levels. Measurements of core temperature; plasma epinephrine level and subjective arousal from sleep were also obtained. Pairwise correlations were found for each of the variables and the time-to-blackout due centrifugal acceleration of up to +3 Gz. It is shown that the men with relatively low resting blood pressure were at greater risk of developing the clinical signs of cardiovascular deconditioning than were the men with higher basal blood pressure. Some applications of the experimental results to the development of selection criteria for Shuttle crews are discussed.

Nonlinear unbiased minimum-variance filter for Mars entry autonomous navigation under large uncertainties and unknown measurement bias.

PubMed

Xiao, Mengli; Zhang, Yongbo; Fu, Huimin; Wang, Zhihua

2018-05-01

High-precision navigation algorithm is essential for the future Mars pinpoint landing mission. The unknown inputs caused by large uncertainties of atmospheric density and aerodynamic coefficients as well as unknown measurement biases may cause large estimation errors of conventional Kalman filters. This paper proposes a derivative-free version of nonlinear unbiased minimum variance filter for Mars entry navigation. This filter has been designed to solve this problem by estimating the state and unknown measurement biases simultaneously with derivative-free character, leading to a high-precision algorithm for the Mars entry navigation. IMU/radio beacons integrated navigation is introduced in the simulation, and the result shows that with or without radio blackout, our proposed filter could achieve an accurate state estimation, much better than the conventional unscented Kalman filter, showing the ability of high-precision Mars entry navigation algorithm. Copyright © 2018 ISA. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Recurrent syncope and chronic ear pain

PubMed Central

Clegg, Andrew; Daverede, Luis; Wong, Winson; Loney, Elizabeth; Young, John

2010-01-01

An elderly gentleman presented to hospital with recurrent blackout episodes consistent with syncope and a 3-month history of right ear pain. Significant postural hypotension was recorded. White cell count and C reactive protein were elevated. MRI of the head and neck revealed a soft tissue abnormality in the right nasopharynx and base of skull. Tissue biopsies were obtained and microbiology specimens revealed a mixed growth of pseudomonas and diphtheroids. There was no histological evidence of malignancy. A diagnosis of skull base infection was made. Infective involvement of the carotid sinus was considered to be the cause of the recurrent syncope and postural hypotension. The patient responded well to a 12-week course of intravenous meropenem. Inflammatory markers returned to normal and a repeat MRI after 3 months of treatment showed significant resolution of infection. The syncopal episodes and orthostatic hypotension resolved in parallel with treatment of infection. PMID:22791782

SIADH and partial hypopituitarism in a patient with intravascular large B-cell lymphoma: a rare cause of a common presentation

PubMed Central

Akhtar, Simeen; Cheesman, Edmund; Jude, Edward B

2013-01-01

Hyponatraemia is a very common electrolyte abnormality with varied presenting features depending on the underlying cause. The authors report the case of a 75-year-old, previously fit, gentleman who presented with weight loss, lethargy and blackouts. He required four admissions to the hospital over an 8-month period. Investigations revealed persistent hyponatraemia consistent with a diagnosis of syndrome of inappropriate antidiuretic hormone secretion, macrocytic anaemia and partial hypopituitarism. Unfortunately, all other investigations that were performed failed to identify the underlying cause and a diagnosis of intravascular large B-cell lymphoma was only confirmed following postmortem studies. The authors recommend that endocrinologists should be involved at the outset in the management of patients with persistent hyponatraemia and that intravascular large B-cell lymphoma should be considered in the differential diagnosis of hyponatraemia. PMID:23362070

A flooding induced station blackout analysis for a pressurized water reactor using the RISMC toolkit

DOE PAGES

Mandelli, Diego; Prescott, Steven; Smith, Curtis; ...

2015-05-17

In this paper we evaluate the impact of a power uprate on a pressurized water reactor (PWR) for a tsunami-induced flooding test case. This analysis is performed using the RISMC toolkit: the RELAP-7 and RAVEN codes. RELAP-7 is the new generation of system analysis codes that is responsible for simulating the thermal-hydraulic dynamics of PWR and boiling water reactor systems. RAVEN has two capabilities: to act as a controller of the RELAP-7 simulation (e.g., component/system activation) and to perform statistical analyses. In our case, the simulation of the flooding is performed by using an advanced smooth particle hydrodynamics code calledmore » NEUTRINO. The obtained results allow the user to investigate and quantify the impact of timing and sequencing of events on system safety. The impact of power uprate is determined in terms of both core damage probability and safety margins.« less

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Tan, Jin; Zhang, Yingchen; Krad, Ibrahim

Power system frequency needs to be maintained close to its nominal value at all times to avoid machine damage, under-frequency load-shedding and even blackouts. Adequate primary frequency response and secondary frequency response are the primary forces to correct an energy imbalance at the second to minute level. As wind energy becomes a larger portion of the world's energy portfolio, there are greater oppotunities for wind to provide frequency response services. This paper addresses one area of frequency control that has been missing in previous work - the reliabilty impacts and interactions between primary and secondary frequency control. The lack ofmore » a commercially available tools to simulate the interaction of these two responses has limited the energy industry's understanding of when the depletion of primary control reserve will impact the performance of secondary conrol response or vice versa. To investigate this issue, in this paper we develop a multi-area frequency response integration model with combined primary and secondary frequency control capabilities.« less

The particular use of PIV methods for the modelling of heat and hydrophysical processes in the nuclear power plants

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sergeev, D. A.; Kandaurov, A. A.; Troitskaya, Yu I.

2017-11-01

In this paper we describe PIV-system specially designed for the study of the hydrophysical processes in large-scale benchmark setup of promising fast reactor. The system allows the PIV-measurements for the conditions of complicated configuration of the reactor benchmark, reflections and distortions section of the laser sheet, blackout, in the closed volume. The use of filtering techniques and method of masks images enabled us to reduce the number of incorrect measurement of flow velocity vectors by an order. The method of conversion of image coordinates and velocity field in the reference model of the reactor using a virtual 3D simulation targets, without loss of accuracy in comparison with a method of using physical objects in filming area was released. The results of measurements of velocity fields in various modes, both stationary (workers), as well as in non-stationary (emergency).

We Detect Blue Light Phenomena Correlating with Environmental and Weather Changes, and Historic Native Americans or Their Place Names.

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ochs, Michael Ann; Mc Leod, Roger D.; Mc Leod, Edward M.

2003-10-01

Katahdin (Christ Cathar Spirit-signal stronghold) in Maine is sacred to the Penobscot Indian Nation. That mountain complex, and areas like Ellis Pond, ME and Penley Hill/Anasagunticook (adherent of Jesus Christ Spirit-signal doctor church) of the Mexico/Rumford/Mountain Valley region, also in Maine, have an association with historic Native Americans like the medicine woman Molocket/Molly Ockett. We have observed that these and other regions generate electromagnetic field (EMF) signals, which we can detect visually and in other ways. Such signals have sometimes been associated with significant and dynamic weather phenomena. Ohio's Serpent Mound and associated regions, or those now occupied by the Hopi Indian Nation, formerly an ancient Anasazi site, or areas of the current and earlier Mayan Nations, or the Nazca Plateau of Peru, may generate signals correlating with climate change, that may impact our technology, as in major power blackouts.

Voltage collapse in complex power grids

PubMed Central

Simpson-Porco, John W.; Dörfler, Florian; Bullo, Francesco

2016-01-01

A large-scale power grid's ability to transfer energy from producers to consumers is constrained by both the network structure and the nonlinear physics of power flow. Violations of these constraints have been observed to result in voltage collapse blackouts, where nodal voltages slowly decline before precipitously falling. However, methods to test for voltage collapse are dominantly simulation-based, offering little theoretical insight into how grid structure influences stability margins. For a simplified power flow model, here we derive a closed-form condition under which a power network is safe from voltage collapse. The condition combines the complex structure of the network with the reactive power demands of loads to produce a node-by-node measure of grid stress, a prediction of the largest nodal voltage deviation, and an estimate of the distance to collapse. We extensively test our predictions on large-scale systems, highlighting how our condition can be leveraged to increase grid stability margins. PMID:26887284

Fifty years of pacemaker advancements.

PubMed

Steinhaus, David

2008-12-01

A 1957 power blackout in Minnesota prompted C. Walton Lillehei, MD, a pioneer in open heart surgery, to ask Earl Bakken, the co-founder of Medtronic, Inc., to create a battery-operated pacemaker for pediatric patients. That conversation led to the development of the first external battery-operated pacemaker. That first bulky device is far removed from the tiny implantable computers available to heart patients today. Now, the size of two silver dollars stacked on top of one another, a pacemaker is prescribed for a person whose heart beats too slowly or pauses irregularly. Slightly larger devices have more recently evolved from pacing and regulating the heartbeat to being able to provide therapeutic high voltage shocks when needed to stop runaway fast heart rates, recording heart activity, and other physiologic functions, even resynchronizing the heart's chambers-all while providing information on the patient's condition and device performance to the doctor remotely or in the office.

Resilient off-grid microgrids: Capacity planning and N-1 security

DOE PAGES

Madathil, Sreenath Chalil; Yamangil, Emre; Nagarajan, Harsha; ...

2017-06-13

Over the past century the electric power industry has evolved to support the delivery of power over long distances with highly interconnected transmission systems. Despite this evolution, some remote communities are not connected to these systems. These communities rely on small, disconnected distribution systems, i.e., microgrids to deliver power. However, as microgrids often are not held to the same reliability standards as transmission grids, remote communities can be at risk for extended blackouts. To address this issue, we develop an optimization model and an algorithm for capacity planning and operations of microgrids that include N-1 security and other practical modelingmore » features like AC power flow physics, component efficiencies and thermal limits. Lastly, we demonstrate the computational effectiveness of our approach on two test systems; a modified version of the IEEE 13 node test feeder and a model of a distribution system in a remote community in Alaska.« less

The equal load-sharing model of cascade failures in power grids

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Scala, Antonio; De Sanctis Lucentini, Pier Giorgio

2016-11-01

Electric power-systems are one of the most important critical infrastructures. In recent years, they have been exposed to extreme stress due to the increasing power demand, the introduction of distributed renewable energy sources, and the development of extensive interconnections. We investigate the phenomenon of abrupt breakdown of an electric power-system under two scenarios: load growth (mimicking the ever-increasing customer demand) and power fluctuations (mimicking the effects of renewable sources). Our results indicate that increasing the system size causes breakdowns to become more abrupt; in fact, mapping the system to a solvable statistical-physics model indicates the occurrence of a first order transition in the large size limit. Such an enhancement for the systemic risk failures (black-outs) with increasing network size is an effect that should be considered in the current projects aiming to integrate national power-grids into ;super-grids;.

Abruptness of Cascade Failures in Power Grids

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Pahwa, Sakshi; Scoglio, Caterina; Scala, Antonio

2014-01-01

Electric power-systems are one of the most important critical infrastructures. In recent years, they have been exposed to extreme stress due to the increasing demand, the introduction of distributed renewable energy sources, and the development of extensive interconnections. We investigate the phenomenon of abrupt breakdown of an electric power-system under two scenarios: load growth (mimicking the ever-increasing customer demand) and power fluctuations (mimicking the effects of renewable sources). Our results on real, realistic and synthetic networks indicate that increasing the system size causes breakdowns to become more abrupt; in fact, mapping the system to a solvable statistical-physics model indicates the occurrence of a first order transition in the large size limit. Such an enhancement for the systemic risk failures (black-outs) with increasing network size is an effect that should be considered in the current projects aiming to integrate national power-grids into ``super-grids''.

The relation between tilt table and acceleration-tolerance and their dependence on stature and physical fitness

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Klein, K. E.; Backhausen, F.; Bruner, H.; Eichhorn, J.; Jovy, D.; Schotte, J.; Vogt, L.; Wegman, H. M.

1980-01-01

A group of 12 highly trained athletes and a group of 12untrained students were subjected to passive changes of position on a tilt table and positive accelerations in a centrifuge. During a 20 min tilt, including two additional respiratory maneuvers, the number of faints and average cardiovascular responses did not differ significantly between the groups. During linear increase of acceleration, the average blackout level was almost identical in both groups. Statistically significant coefficients of product-moment correlation for various relations were obtained. The coefficient of multiple determination computed for the dependence of acceleration tolerance on heart-eye distance and systolic blood pressure at rest allows the explanation of almost 50% of the variation of acceleration tolerance. The maximum oxygen uptake showed the expected significant correlation to the heart rate at rest, but not the acceleration tolerance, or to the cardiovascular responses to tilting.

Abruptness of cascade failures in power grids.

PubMed

Pahwa, Sakshi; Scoglio, Caterina; Scala, Antonio

2014-01-15

Electric power-systems are one of the most important critical infrastructures. In recent years, they have been exposed to extreme stress due to the increasing demand, the introduction of distributed renewable energy sources, and the development of extensive interconnections. We investigate the phenomenon of abrupt breakdown of an electric power-system under two scenarios: load growth (mimicking the ever-increasing customer demand) and power fluctuations (mimicking the effects of renewable sources). Our results on real, realistic and synthetic networks indicate that increasing the system size causes breakdowns to become more abrupt; in fact, mapping the system to a solvable statistical-physics model indicates the occurrence of a first order transition in the large size limit. Such an enhancement for the systemic risk failures (black-outs) with increasing network size is an effect that should be considered in the current projects aiming to integrate national power-grids into "super-grids".

Culture in the Courtroom: Ethnocentrism and Juror Decision-Making

PubMed Central

Maeder, Evelyn M.; Yamamoto, Susan

2015-01-01

The purpose of this study was to investigate whether a culturally-based argument in a non-insane automatism defense would be detrimental or beneficial to the defendant. We also examined how juror ethnocentrism might affect perceptions of such a defense. Participants read a fictional filicide homicide case in which the defendant claimed to have blacked out during the crime; we manipulated whether culture was used as an explanation for what precipitated the defendant’s blackout. We conducted path analyses to assess the role of ethnocentrism in predicting lower defendant credibility, and harsher verdict decisions. Results revealed an interaction between ethnocentrism and defense type, such that ethnocentrism related to lower perceived defendant credibility in the cultural condition, but not in the standard automatism condition. This study marks a starting point for empirically investigating the role of culture in the courtroom, which may aid scholars in discussing the merits of a standalone cultural defense. PMID:26353122

The Burden of Alcohol Use

PubMed Central

White, Aaron; Hingson, Ralph

2014-01-01

Research shows that multiple factors influence college drinking, from an individual’s genetic susceptibility to the positive and negative effects of alcohol, alcohol use during high school, campus norms related to drinking, expectations regarding the benefits and detrimental effects of drinking, penalties for underage drinking, parental attitudes about drinking while at college, whether one is member of a Greek organization or involved in athletics, and conditions within the larger community that determine how accessible and affordable alcohol is. Consequences of college drinking include missed classes and lower grades, injuries, sexual assaults, overdoses, memory blackouts, changes in brain function, lingering cognitive deficits, and death. This article examines recent findings about the causes and consequences of excessive drinking among college students relative to their non-college peers and many of the strategies used to collect and analyze relevant data, as well as the inherent hurdles and limitations of such strategies. PMID:24881329

Entry trajectory, entry environment, and analysis of spacecraft motion for the RAM C-3 flight experiment

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Weaver, W. L.; Bowen, J. T.

1972-01-01

The RAM C-3 flight experiment was launched to study the problem of radiofrequency blackout at an entry velocity of 24,300 ft/sec. The flight is described, and data for the entry trajectory and environment, which include the effects of actual temperature measured the day of launch, are presented. An analysis of entry spacecraft motions was performed. This analysis included the determination of wind angles from measured accelerations and estimates of wind angles at high altitudes from gyro-measured rotation rates. The maximum wind angles were found to be less than 5 deg to the point of pitch-roll resonance where the total wind angle increased to 8.5 deg and the roll rate started decreasing. A plausible cause for the decrease in roll rate was shown to be a combination of trim angle and an offset center of gravity.

Profound hypoglycemia-ınduced by vaccinium corymbosum juice and laurocerasus fruit

PubMed Central

Aktan, Ahmet Hamdi; Ozcelik, Abdullah; Cure, Erkan; Cure, Medine Cumhur; Yuce, Suleyman

2014-01-01

An emergency intervention was performed in a 75-year-old male patient with hypoglycemic attack and blackout. Although he was diagnosed with prediabetes before 2 years, he did not take any anti-diabetic drug or follow dietary advice. He drank Vaccinium corymbosum L (VC) juice daily with a belief that it increases sexual potency. Before the development of hypoglycemia, the patient had consumed about 500 ml VC juice in addition to eating 200-300 gram of Laurocerasus officinalis (LO) fruit. The measured plasma glucose (PG) level during loss of consciousness was 30 mg/dl. The profound hypoglycemia may be an unexpected side effect of an interaction between the chemical compositions of the two plants, occurred as a result of LO fruit intake that may have a strong PG-lowering effect or related to excessive intake of VC juice. Both plants may be considered in the alternative treatment of diabetes. PMID:25097289

Profound hypoglycemia-ınduced by vaccinium corymbosum juice and laurocerasus fruit.

PubMed

Aktan, Ahmet Hamdi; Ozcelik, Abdullah; Cure, Erkan; Cure, Medine Cumhur; Yuce, Suleyman

2014-01-01

An emergency intervention was performed in a 75-year-old male patient with hypoglycemic attack and blackout. Although he was diagnosed with prediabetes before 2 years, he did not take any anti-diabetic drug or follow dietary advice. He drank Vaccinium corymbosum L (VC) juice daily with a belief that it increases sexual potency. Before the development of hypoglycemia, the patient had consumed about 500 ml VC juice in addition to eating 200-300 gram of Laurocerasus officinalis (LO) fruit. The measured plasma glucose (PG) level during loss of consciousness was 30 mg/dl. The profound hypoglycemia may be an unexpected side effect of an interaction between the chemical compositions of the two plants, occurred as a result of LO fruit intake that may have a strong PG-lowering effect or related to excessive intake of VC juice. Both plants may be considered in the alternative treatment of diabetes.

Self-perceived motivation for benzodiazepine use and behavior related to benzodiazepine use among opiate-dependent patients.

PubMed

Fatséas, Mélina; Lavie, Estelle; Denis, Cécile; Auriacombe, Marc

2009-12-01

Clinical observations have shown a high prevalence of benzodiazepine use among opiate-dependent patients. Our objective was to identify if distinct patterns of behavior could be associated with three different self-perceived motivations for benzodiazepine use: (a) exclusive self-therapeutic motivation, (b) exclusive hedonic motivation, and (c) combined self-therapeutic and hedonic motivation. Data were collected through a self-administered questionnaire in 92 opiate users in treatment in France (Aquitaine). The behaviors associated with exclusive self-therapeutic motivation included the search for an anxiolytic effect, oral administration, use within the context of a medical prescription, and use without other substances. The behaviors associated with exclusive hedonic motivation were use in combination with other substances, the obtaining of benzodiazepines by the black market, and use of other routes of administration in search of a "blackout." Among patients who reported both motivations, there were distinct trends of behavior according to motivation.

Comparison of a Traditional Probabilistic Risk Assessment Approach with Advanced Safety Analysis

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Smith, Curtis L; Mandelli, Diego; Zhegang Ma

2014-11-01

As part of the Light Water Sustainability Program (LWRS) [1], the purpose of the Risk Informed Safety Margin Characterization (RISMC) [2] Pathway research and development (R&D) is to support plant decisions for risk-informed margin management with the aim to improve economics, reliability, and sustain safety of current NPPs. In this paper, we describe the RISMC analysis process illustrating how mechanistic and probabilistic approaches are combined in order to estimate a safety margin. We use the scenario of a “station blackout” (SBO) wherein offsite power and onsite power is lost, thereby causing a challenge to plant safety systems. We describe themore » RISMC approach, illustrate the station blackout modeling, and contrast this with traditional risk analysis modeling for this type of accident scenario. We also describe our approach we are using to represent advanced flooding analysis.« less

Monitoring Space Weather Hazards caused by geomagnetic disturbances with Space Hazard Monitor (SHM) systems

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Xu, Z.; Gannon, J. L.; Peek, T. A.; Lin, D.

2017-12-01

One space weather hazard is the Geomagnetically Induced Currents (GICs) in the electric power transmission systems, which is naturally induced geoelectric field during the geomagnetic disturbances (GMDs). GICs are a potentially catastrophic threat to bulk power systems. For instance, the Blackout in Quebec in March 1989 was caused by GMDs during a significant magnetic storm. To monitor the GMDs, the autonomous Space Hazard Monitor (SHM) system is developed recently. The system includes magnetic field measurement from magnetometers and geomagnetic field measurement from electrodes. In this presentation, we introduce the six sites of SHMs which have been deployed in the US continental regions. The data from the magnetometers are processed with the Multiple Observatory Geomagnetic Data Analysis Software (MOGDAS). And the statistical results are presented here. It reveals not only the impacts of space weather over US continental region but also the potential of improving instrumentation development to provide better space weather monitor.

Spatial correlation analysis of cascading failures: Congestions and Blackouts

PubMed Central

Daqing, Li; Yinan, Jiang; Rui, Kang; Havlin, Shlomo

2014-01-01

Cascading failures have become major threats to network robustness due to their potential catastrophic consequences, where local perturbations can induce global propagation of failures. Unlike failures spreading via direct contacts due to structural interdependencies, overload failures usually propagate through collective interactions among system components. Despite the critical need in developing protection or mitigation strategies in networks such as power grids and transportation, the propagation behavior of cascading failures is essentially unknown. Here we find by analyzing our collected data that jams in city traffic and faults in power grid are spatially long-range correlated with correlations decaying slowly with distance. Moreover, we find in the daily traffic, that the correlation length increases dramatically and reaches maximum, when morning or evening rush hour is approaching. Our study can impact all efforts towards improving actively system resilience ranging from evaluation of design schemes, development of protection strategies to implementation of mitigation programs. PMID:24946927

Resilient off-grid microgrids: Capacity planning and N-1 security

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Madathil, Sreenath Chalil; Yamangil, Emre; Nagarajan, Harsha

Over the past century the electric power industry has evolved to support the delivery of power over long distances with highly interconnected transmission systems. Despite this evolution, some remote communities are not connected to these systems. These communities rely on small, disconnected distribution systems, i.e., microgrids to deliver power. However, as microgrids often are not held to the same reliability standards as transmission grids, remote communities can be at risk for extended blackouts. To address this issue, we develop an optimization model and an algorithm for capacity planning and operations of microgrids that include N-1 security and other practical modelingmore » features like AC power flow physics, component efficiencies and thermal limits. Lastly, we demonstrate the computational effectiveness of our approach on two test systems; a modified version of the IEEE 13 node test feeder and a model of a distribution system in a remote community in Alaska.« less

Abruptness of Cascade Failures in Power Grids

PubMed Central

Pahwa, Sakshi; Scoglio, Caterina; Scala, Antonio

2014-01-01

Electric power-systems are one of the most important critical infrastructures. In recent years, they have been exposed to extreme stress due to the increasing demand, the introduction of distributed renewable energy sources, and the development of extensive interconnections. We investigate the phenomenon of abrupt breakdown of an electric power-system under two scenarios: load growth (mimicking the ever-increasing customer demand) and power fluctuations (mimicking the effects of renewable sources). Our results on real, realistic and synthetic networks indicate that increasing the system size causes breakdowns to become more abrupt; in fact, mapping the system to a solvable statistical-physics model indicates the occurrence of a first order transition in the large size limit. Such an enhancement for the systemic risk failures (black-outs) with increasing network size is an effect that should be considered in the current projects aiming to integrate national power-grids into “super-grids”. PMID:24424239

Estimates of outage costs of electricity in Pakistan

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Ashraf, J.; Sabih, F.

1993-12-31

This article estimates outage costs of electricity for each of the four provinces in Pakistan (Punjab, North-West Frontier Province, Baluchistan, and Sind). The term {open_quotes}power outage{close_quotes} refers to all problems associated with electricity supply, such as voltage drops (brownouts), power failures (blackouts), and load shedding. The most significant of these in Pakistan is load shedding when power supply to different consumers is shut off during different times of the day, especially during peak hours when the pressure on the system is the highest. Power shortages mainly arise during the low-water months when the effective capacity of hydropower plants drops significantly.more » This decline in power supplied by hydro plants cannot be made up by operating thermal power plants because of the limited availability of gas and the high cost of alternative fuels required for the operation of gas turbines.« less

Thermal-hydraulic simulation of natural convection decay heat removal in the High Flux Isotope Reactor using RELAP5 and TEMPEST: Part 1, Models and simulation results

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Morris, D.G.; Wendel, M.W.; Chen, N.C.J.

A study was conducted to examine decay heat removal requirements in the High Flux Isotope Reactor (HFIR) following shutdown from 85 MW. The objective of the study was to determine when forced flow through the core could be terminated without causing the fuel to melt. This question is particularly relevant when a station blackout caused by an external event is considered. Analysis of natural circulation in the core, vessel upper plenum, and reactor pool indicates that 12 h of forced flow will permit a safe shutdown with some margin. However, uncertainties in the analysis preclude conclusive proof that 12 hmore » is sufficient. As a result of the study, two seismically qualified diesel generators were installed in HFIR. 9 refs., 4 figs.« less

Astronomy Week in Madeira, Portugal

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Augusto, P.; Sobrinho, J. L.

2012-05-01

The outreach programme Semanas da Astronomia (Astronomy Weeks) is held in late spring or summer on the island of Madeira, Portugal. This programme has been attracting enough interest to be mentioned in the regional press/TV/radio every year and is now, without doubt, the astronomical highlight of the year on Madeira. We believe that this programme is a good case study for showing how to attract the general public to astronomy in a small (population 250 000, area 900 km2) and fairly isolated place such as Madeira. Our Astronomy Weeks have been different each year and have so far included exhibitions, courses, talks, a forum, documentaries, observing sessions (some with blackouts), music and an astro party. These efforts may contribute towards putting Madeira on the map with respect to observational astronomy, and have also contributed to the planned installation of two observatories in the island.

City of Hoboken Energy Surety Analysis: Preliminary Design Summary

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Stamp, Jason Edwin; Baca, Michael J.; Munoz-Ramos, Karina

2014-09-01

In 2012, Hurricane Sandy devastated much of the U.S. northeast coastal areas. Among those hardest hit was the small community of Hoboken, New Jersey, located on the banks of the Hudson River across from Manhattan. This report describes a city-wide electrical infrastructure design that uses microgrids and other infrastructure to ensure the city retains functionality should such an event occur in the future. The designs ensure that up to 55 critical buildings will retain power during blackout or flooded conditions and include analysis for microgrid architectures, performance parameters, system control, renewable energy integration, and financial opportunities (while grid connected). Themore » results presented here are not binding and are subject to change based on input from the Hoboken stakeholders, the integrator selected to manage and implement the microgrid, or other subject matter experts during the detailed (final) phase of the design effort.« less

Understanding the response of commercial and institutional organizations to the California energy crisis. A report to the California Energy Commission - Sylvia Bender, Project Manager

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Lutzenhiser, Loren; Janda, Kathryn; Kunkle, Rick

2002-07-24

Beginning in the summer of 2000, California experienced serious energy supply problems, sharp increases in wholesale (and retail) electricity and natural gas prices, and isolated blackouts. In response to the rapidly worsening electricity situation in California in late 2000, the state set, as an initial goal, the reduction of the state's peak demand for the summer of 2001 by 5,000 megawatts. To meet this goal, the governor and legislature took a variety of steps to enhance supply, encourage rapid voluntary reductions in demand, and provide incentives for actions that would result in load reductions. Three bills-Assembly Bill 970, Senate Billmore » X1 5 and Assembly Bill X1 29-allocated roughly $950 million for consumption and demand reduction programs. The governor also enacted a variety of additional measures, including the ''Flex Your Power'' (media awareness and direct business involvement) campaign, requirements for retail sector outdoor lighting reductions, and toughening of energy efficiency building codes. There were, in fact, significant reductions in electricity demand in California during the summer of 2001 and the large number of expected supply disruptions was avoided. To understand the nature of these demand reductions and the motivations for consumer response, Washington State University (WSU) undertook a study for the California Energy Commission (CEC) focusing on conservation behavior in the residential, commercial, and agricultural sectors. The research presented in this report represents an exploration of the response of commercial and institutional organizations to the California energy situation and the unique set of influences that existed during this time. These influences included informational messages and media attention, program interventions, price changes, and external triggering events (e.g., blackouts). To better understand the effects of these influences on organizational response to the energy situation, we conducted 84 semi-structured inter views with members of commercial and institutional organizations (many of which participated in three different California Energy Commission Programs) and with 21 key informants representing program managers, administrators, and aggregators as well as a small number of energy service providers and utilities. Separate reports examine the consumer response in the residential and agricultural sectors.« less

Demonstration of a Novel Synchrophasor-based Situational Awareness System: Wide Area Power System Visualization, On-line Event Replay and Early Warning of Grid Problems

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Rosso, A.

Since the large North Eastern power system blackout on August 14, 2003, U.S. electric utilities have spent lot of effort on preventing power system cascading outages. Two of the main causes of the August 14, 2003 blackout were inadequate situational awareness and inadequate operator training In addition to the enhancements of the infrastructure of the interconnected power systems, more research and development of advanced power system applications are required for improving the wide-area security monitoring, operation and planning in order to prevent large- scale cascading outages of interconnected power systems. It is critically important for improving the wide-area situation awarenessmore » of the operators or operational engineers and regional reliability coordinators of large interconnected systems. With the installation of large number of phasor measurement units (PMU) and the related communication infrastructure, it will be possible to improve the operators’ situation awareness and to quickly identify the sequence of events during a large system disturbance for the post-event analysis using the real-time or historical synchrophasor data. The purpose of this project was to develop and demonstrate a novel synchrophasor-based comprehensive situational awareness system for control centers of power transmission systems. The developed system named WASA (Wide Area Situation Awareness) is intended to improve situational awareness at control centers of the power system operators and regional reliability coordinators. It consists of following main software modules: • Wide-area visualizations of real-time frequency, voltage, and phase angle measurements and their contour displays for security monitoring. • Online detection and location of a major event (location, time, size, and type, such as generator or line outage). • Near-real-time event replay (in seconds) after a major event occurs. • Early warning of potential wide-area stability problems. The system has been deployed and demonstrated at the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) and ISO New England system using real-time synchrophasor data from openPDC. Apart from the software product, the outcome of this project consists of a set of technical reports and papers describing the mathematical foundations and computational approaches of different tools and modules, implementation issues and considerations, lessons learned, and the results of lidation processes.« less

The geomagnetic blitz of September 1941

USGS Publications Warehouse

Love, Jeffrey J.; Coisson, Pierdavide

2016-01-01

Seventy-five years ago, on 18–19 September 1941, the Earth experienced a great magnetic storm, one of the most intense ever recorded. It arrived at a poignant moment in history, when radio and electrical technology was emerging as a central part of daily life and when much of the world was embroiled in World War II, which the United States had not yet officially entered.Auroras danced across the night sky as voltage surged in power grid lines. A radio blackout interrupted fan enjoyment of a baseball game, while another radio program was interrupted by private phone conversations. Citizens, already on edge, wondered if neon lights were some sort of antiaircraft signal. And far away in the North Atlantic, the illuminated night sky exposed an Allied convoy to German attack.These effects raised awareness within the scientific community and among the public of the societal significance of the effects that the Sun and outer space can have on the Earth—what we now call space weather.

Optimal placement of fast cut back units based on the theory of cellular automata and agent

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Yan, Jun; Yan, Feng

2017-06-01

The thermal power generation units with the function of fast cut back could serve power for auxiliary system and keep island operation after a major blackout, so they are excellent substitute for the traditional black-start power sources. Different placement schemes for FCB units have different influence on the subsequent restoration process. Considering the locality of the emergency dispatching rules, the unpredictability of specific dispatching instructions and unexpected situations like failure of transmission line energization, a novel deduction model for network reconfiguration based on the theory of cellular automata and agent is established. Several indexes are then defined for evaluating the placement schemes for FCB units. The attribute weights determination method based on subjective and objective integration and grey relational analysis are combinatorically used to determine the optimal placement scheme for FCB unit. The effectiveness of the proposed method is validated by the test results on the New England 10-unit 39-bus power system.

Con Edison power failure of July 13 and 14, 1977. Final staff report

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

None

1978-06-01

On July 13, 1977 the entire electric load of the Con Edison system was lost, plunging New York City and Westchester County into darkness. The collapse resulted from a combination of natural events, equipment malfunctions, questionable system-design features, and operating errors. An attempt is made in this report to answer the following: what were the specific causes of the failure; if equipment malfunctions and operator errors contributed, could they have been prevented; to what extent was Con Edison prepared to handle such an emergency; and did Con Edison plan prudently reserve generation, for reserve transmission capability, for automatic equipment tomore » protect its system, and for proper operator response to a critical situation. Following the introductory and summary section, additional sections include: the Consolidated Edison system; prevention of bulk power-supply interruptions; the sequence of failure and restoration; analysis of the July 1977 power failure; restoration sequence and equipment damage assessment; and other investigations of the blackout. (MCW)« less

Profitability Analysis of Residential Wind Turbines with Battery Energy Storage

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

She, Ying; Erdem, Ergin; Shi, Jing

Residential wind turbines are often accompanied by an energy storage system for the off-the-grid users, instead of the on-the-grid users, to reduce the risk of black-out. In this paper, we argue that residential wind turbines with battery energy storage could actually be beneficial to the on-the-grid users as well in terms of monetary gain from differential pricing for buying electricity from the grid and the ability to sell electricity back to the grid. We develop a mixed-integer linear programming model to maximize the profit of a residential wind turbine system while meeting the daily household electricity consumption. A case study is designed to investigate the effects of differential pricing schemes and sell-back schemes on the economic output of a 2-kW wind turbine with lithium battery storage. Overall, based on the current settings in California, a residential wind turbine with battery storage carries more economical benefits than the wind turbine alone.

The impact of a natural disaster on altruistic behaviour and crime.

PubMed

Lemieux, Frederic

2014-07-01

Institutional altruism in the form of a public-sector intervention and support for victims and social altruism generated by mutual aid and solidarity among citizens constitute a coming together in a crisis. This coming together and mutual support precipitate a decrease in crime rates during such an event. This paper presents an analysis of daily fluctuations in crime during the prolonged ice storms in Quebec, Canada, in January 1998 that provoked an electrical blackout. Of particular interest are the principal crisis-related influences on daily crime patterns. A first series of analyses examines the impact of altruistic public-sector mobilisation on crime. A significant decline in property crime rates was noticed when cheques were distributed to crisis victims in financial need in Montérégie, and hence they were attributable to public intervention (institutional altruism). Moreover, the rate of social altruism (financial donations), which was more substantial in adjoining rather than distant regions, was inversely proportional to crime rates. © 2014 The Author(s). Disasters © Overseas Development Institute, 2014.

Effects of hyper +Gz acceleration on cardiovascular function, visual evoked potentials and cerebral blood flow in anesthetized rats.

PubMed

Matsunami, K; Satake, H; Konishi, T

1998-07-01

Sustained hyper-gravity acceleration, particularly along the long axis of the body of animals or man (Gz), produces significant mal-effects on subjects, and hence it has been well studied, The most common syndromes of Gz application were cardio-vascular de-conditioning, and black-out, red-out, and loss of consciousness, which finally lead subjects into death. However, in most previous studies, the duration of applied Gz was rather short. In the present experiments, we can use longer duration of 1000 seconds. In addition, recent technological innovation make it possible to record directly local cerebral blood flow at a target cortical area with a Laser Doppler flow meter. We used this innovated method to measure local cerebral blood flow of rats in relation to visual evoked potentials (VEPs) under hyper-Gz acceleration. Also we recorded cardio-vascular parameters like heart rate from ECG, systolic and diastolic blood pressure and correlated them with cerebral blood flow and VEPs.

Enabling Efficient, Responsive, and Resilient Buildings: Collaboration Between the United States and India

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Basu, Chandrayee; Ghatikar, Girish

The United States and India have among the largest economies in the world, and they continue to work together to address current and future challenges in reliable electricity supply. The acceleration to efficient, grid-responsive, resilient buildings represents a key energy security objective for federal and state agencies in both countries. The weaknesses in the Indian grid system were manifest in 2012, in the country’s worst blackout, which jeopardized the lives of half of India’s 1.2 billion people. While both countries are investing significantly in power sector reform, India, by virtue of its colossal growth rate in commercial energy intensity andmore » commercial floor space, is better placed than the United States to integrate and test state-of-art Smart Grid technologies in its future grid-responsive commercial buildings. This paper presents a roadmap of technical collaboration between the research organizations, and public-private stakeholders in both countries to accelerate the building-to-grid integration through pilot studies in India.« less

Combining Agile and Traditional: Customer Communication in Distributed Environment

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Korkala, Mikko; Pikkarainen, Minna; Conboy, Kieran

Distributed development is a radically increasing phenomenon in modern software development environments. At the same time, traditional and agile methodologies and combinations of those are being used in the industry. Agile approaches place a large emphasis on customer communication. However, existing knowledge on customer communication in distributed agile development seems to be lacking. In order to shed light on this topic and provide practical guidelines for companies in distributed agile environments, a qualitative case study was conducted in a large globally distributed software company. The key finding was that it might be difficult for an agile organization to get relevant information from a traditional type of customer organization, even though the customer communication was indicated to be active and utilized via multiple different communication media. Several challenges discussed in this paper referred to "information blackout" indicating the importance of an environment fostering meaningful communication. In order to evaluate if this environment can be created a set of guidelines is proposed.

AP1000{sup R} severe accident features and post-Fukushima considerations

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Scobel, J. H.; Schulz, T. L.; Williams, M. G.

2012-07-01

The AP1000{sup R} passive nuclear power plant is uniquely equipped to withstand an extended station blackout scenario such as the events following the earthquake and tsunami at Fukushima without compromising core and containment integrity. The AP1000 plant shuts down the reactor, cools the core, containment and spent fuel pool for more than 3 days using passive systems that do not require AC or DC power or operator actions. Following this passive coping period, minimal operator actions are needed to extend the operation of the passive features to 7 days using installed equipment. To provide defense-in-depth for design extension conditions, themore » AP1000 plant has engineered features that mitigate the effects of core damage. Engineered features retain damaged core debris within the reactor vessel as a key feature. Other aspects of the design protect containment integrity during severe accidents, including unique features of the AP1000 design relative to passive containment cooling with water and air, and hydrogen management. (authors)« less

Analysis of Electromagnetic Wave Propagation in a Magnetized Re-Entry Plasma Sheath Via the Kinetic Equation

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Manning, Robert M.

2009-01-01

Based on a theoretical model of the propagation of electromagnetic waves through a hypersonically induced plasma, it has been demonstrated that the classical radiofrequency communications blackout that is experienced during atmospheric reentry can be mitigated through the appropriate control of an external magnetic field of nominal magnitude. The model is based on the kinetic equation treatment of Vlasov and involves an analytical solution for the electric and magnetic fields within the plasma allowing for a description of the attendant transmission, reflection and absorption coefficients. The ability to transmit through the magnetized plasma is due to the magnetic windows that are created within the plasma via the well-known whistler modes of propagation. The case of 2 GHz transmission through a re-entry plasma is considered. The coefficients are found to be highly sensitive to the prevailing electron density and will thus require a dynamic control mechanism to vary the magnetic field as the plasma evolves through the re-entry phase.

Providing Limited Local Electric Service During a Major Grid Outage: A First Assessment Based on Customer Willingness to Pay.

PubMed

Baik, Sunhee; Morgan, M Granger; Davis, Alexander L

2018-02-01

While they are rare, widespread blackouts of the bulk power system can result in large costs to individuals and society. If local distribution circuits remain intact, it is possible to use new technologies including smart meters, intelligent switches that can change the topology of distribution circuits, and distributed generation owned by customers and the power company, to provide limited local electric power service. Many utilities are already making investments that would make this possible. We use customers' measured willingness to pay to explore when the incremental investments needed to implement these capabilities would be justified. Under many circumstances, upgrades in advanced distribution systems could be justified for a customer charge of less than a dollar a month (plus the cost of electricity used during outages), and would be less expensive and safer than the proliferation of small portable backup generators. We also discuss issues of social equity, extreme events, and various sources of underlying uncertainty. © 2017 Society for Risk Analysis.

NASA Sun Earth

NASA Image and Video Library

2017-12-08

CME blast and subsequent impact at Earth -- This illustration shows a CME blasting off the Sun’s surface in the direction of Ea CME blast and subsequent impact at Earth -- This illustration shows a CME blasting off the Sun’s surface in the direction of Earth. This left portion is composed of an EIT 304 image superimposed on a LASCO C2 coronagraph. Two to four days later, the CME cloud is shown striking and beginning to be mostly deflected around the Earth’s magnetosphere. The blue paths emanating from the Earth’s poles represent some of its magnetic field lines. The magnetic cloud of plasma can extend to 30 million miles wide by the time it reaches earth. These storms, which occur frequently, can disrupt communications and navigational equipment, damage satellites, and even cause blackouts. (Objects in the illustration are not drawn to scale.) Credit: NASA/GSFC/SOHO/ESA To learn more go to the SOHO website: sohowww.nascom.nasa.gov/home.html To learn more about NASA's Sun Earth Day go here: sunearthday.nasa.gov/2010/index.php

Occurrence and countermeasures of urban power grid accident

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wei, Wang; Tao, Zhang

2018-03-01

With the advance of technology, the development of network communication and the extensive use of power grids, people can get to know power grid accidents around the world through the network timely. Power grid accidents occur frequently. Large-scale power system blackout and casualty accidents caused by electric shock are also fairly commonplace. All of those accidents have seriously endangered the property and personal safety of the country and people, and the development of society and economy is severely affected by power grid accidents. Through the researches on several typical cases of power grid accidents at home and abroad in recent years and taking these accident cases as the research object, this paper will analyze the three major factors that cause power grid accidents at present. At the same time, combining with various factors and impacts caused by power grid accidents, the paper will put forward corresponding solutions and suggestions to prevent the occurrence of the accident and lower the impact of the accident.

The impact of the topology on cascading failures in a power grid model

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Koç, Yakup; Warnier, Martijn; Mieghem, Piet Van; Kooij, Robert E.; Brazier, Frances M. T.

2014-05-01

Cascading failures are one of the main reasons for large scale blackouts in power transmission grids. Secure electrical power supply requires, together with careful operation, a robust design of the electrical power grid topology. Currently, the impact of the topology on grid robustness is mainly assessed by purely topological approaches, that fail to capture the essence of electric power flow. This paper proposes a metric, the effective graph resistance, to relate the topology of a power grid to its robustness against cascading failures by deliberate attacks, while also taking the fundamental characteristics of the electric power grid into account such as power flow allocation according to Kirchhoff laws. Experimental verification on synthetic power systems shows that the proposed metric reflects the grid robustness accurately. The proposed metric is used to optimize a grid topology for a higher level of robustness. To demonstrate its applicability, the metric is applied on the IEEE 118 bus power system to improve its robustness against cascading failures.

Effects of a reentry plasma sheath on the beam pointing properties of an array antenna

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bai, Bowen; Liu, Yanming; Lin, Xiaofang; Li, Xiaoping

2018-03-01

The reduction in the gain of an on-board antenna caused by a reentry plasma sheath is an important effect that contributes to the reentry "blackout" problem. Using phased array antenna and beamforming technology could provide higher gain and an increase in the communication signal intensity. The attenuation and phase delay of the electromagnetic (EM) waves transmitting through the plasma sheath are direction-dependent, and the radiation pattern of the phased array antenna is affected, leading to a deviation in the beam pointing. In this paper, the far-field pattern of a planar array antenna covered by a plasma sheath is deduced analytically by considering both refraction and mutual coupling effects. A comparison between the analytic results and the results from an electromagnetic simulation is carried out. The effect of the plasma sheath on the radiation pattern and the beam pointing errors of the phased array antenna is studied systematically, and the derived results could provide useful information for the correction of pointing errors.

Transequatorial Propagation and Depletion Precursors

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Miller, E. S.; Bust, G. S.; Kaeppler, S. R.; Frissell, N. A.; Paxton, L. J.

2014-12-01

The bottomside equatorial ionosphere in the afternoon and evening sector frequently evolves rapidly from smoothly stratified to violently unstable with large wedges of depleted plasma growing through to the topside on timescales of a few tens of minutes. These depletions have numerous practical impacts on radio propagation, including amplitude scintillation, field-aligned irregularity scatter, HF blackouts, and long-distance transequatorial propagation at frequencies above the MUF. Practical impacts notwithstanding, the pathways and conditions under which depletions form remain a topic of vigorous inquiry some 80 years after their first report. Structuring of the pre-sunset ionosphere---morphology of the equatorial anomalies and long-wavelength undulations of the isodensity contours on the bottomside---are likely to hold some clues to conditions that are conducive to depletion formation. The Conjugate Depletion Experiment is an upcoming transequatorial forward-scatter HF/VHF experiment to investigate pre-sunset undulations and their connection with depletion formation. We will present initial results from the Conjugate Depletion Experiment, as well as a companion analysis of a massive HF propagation data set.

Unitization of oil and gas fields in Texas. A study of legislative, administrative, and judicial policies

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Weaver, J.L.

1986-01-01

In the 1970s, the long lines of cars at gasoline stations, the blackouts, and the school and factory closings announced to the public that the United States had an ''energy crisis.'' In response, an outpouring of state and federal legislation sought to lessen the effects of the oil and gas shortages and to prevent their recurrence. By 1985, every oil- and gas-producing state but Texas has passed a compulsory unitization statute. ''Unitization'' is the joint, coordinated operation of all, or at least a large part, of an oil or gas reservoir by the owners of the separate tracts overlying themore » reservoir; only by such joint endeavors can the many owners of interests in oil and gas fields operate efficiently to recover as much as possible at the lowest cost. In this book, Jacqueline Lang Weaver explains why Texas failed to enact such a statute--and how Texas has achieved a substantial degree of unitization nonetheless.« less

Operational G-induced loss of consciousness: something old; something new.

PubMed

Burton, R R; Whinnery, J E

1985-08-01

Loss of consciousness (LOC) during exposure to +Gz occurs in aircrew flying high-performance aircraft. This phenomenon is responsible for several USAF aircraft losses with accompanying loss of life. It has been recognized as a potential flying problem since 1938. Acceleration-induced LOC results in 15-to 20-s periods of aircrew total incapacitation, amnesia, and clonic spasms. It can occur at relatively low G levels and without symptoms of loss of light (blackout). Operational anti-G equipment and methods are not completely effective in preventing LOC. Considering the present status of G protection, a deficiency in the anti-G straining maneuver is considered to be the primary cause of G-induced LOC. This deficiency usually can be corrected with proper centrifuge training. Our present understanding of G protection suggests that the elimination of LOC as a serious problem for USAF high-performance aircraft operations must include the supination of aircrew to a minimum seat back angle of 60 degrees to 65 degrees.

Four cases of vertebrobasilar insufficiency.

PubMed

Inui, H; Yoneyama, K; Kitaoku, Y; Nakane, M; Ohue, S; Yamanaka, T; Ueda, T; Fujita, N; Miyahara, H; Matsunaga, T

1998-01-01

Four cases of vertebrobasilar insufficiency are reported. Case 1 was a 38-year-old man who felt a sudden onset of dizziness when he turned his head to the back. An abnormal positional nystagmus was observed when he rotated his head to the left. A magnetic resonance angiogram (MRA) demonstrated total occlusion of the left vertebral artery (VA). Case 2 was a 31-year-old woman who had a total occlusion of her left VA as observed in the MRA. Case 3 was a 68-year-old man who noted dizziness. The systolic blood pressure change on his Schellong test was 28 mmHg. On his MRA, severe displacement of the basilar and the vertebral arteries was visible. Case 4 was a 76-year-old woman who noted a blackout-like sensation. Optokinetic nystagmus was noted with a hyponystagmus pattern, and an eye tracking test showed a saccadic pattern. On her MRA, the vertebrobasilar system was narrowed. The arterial architecture and any stenosis of the blood vessels could be detected non-invasively by MRA.

Provisional report on diving-related fatalities in Australian waters 2003.

PubMed

Walker, Douglas; Lippmann, John

2009-03-01

An individual case review of the diving-related deaths that were reported to have occurred in Australia in 2003 was conducted as part of the combined Project Stickybeak/DAN Asia-Pacific dive fatality reporting project. The case studies were compiled using reports from witnesses, the police and coroners. In each case, the particular circumstances of the accident are provided, as well as details from the post mortem examination, where available. In total there were 22 reported fatalities, 18 men and four women. Twelve deaths occurred while snorkelling and/or breath-hold diving, nine while scuba diving and one while using surface-supply breathing apparatus. Cardiac-related issues were thought to have contributed to the deaths of six snorkel divers (50%) and four scuba divers (44%) in this series. There were three deaths in breath-hold divers likely to have been associated with apnoeic hypoxia blackout. Inexperience, time away from diving and lack of common sense were features in several scuba deaths.

Provisional report on diving-related fatalities in Australian waters 2005.

PubMed

Walker, Douglas; Lippmann, John; Lawrence, Chris; Fock, Andrew; Wodak, Thomas; Jamieson, Scott

2010-09-01

An individual case review of diving-related deaths reported as occurring in Australia in 2005 was conducted as part of the DAN Asia-Pacific dive fatality reporting project. The case studies were compiled using reports from witnesses, the police and coroners. In each case, the particular circumstances of the accident and details from the post-mortem examination, where available, are provided. In total, there were 24 reported fatalities, comprising four females and 20 males. Fourteen deaths occurred while snorkelling and/or breath-hold diving, nine while scuba diving, and one while using surface-supply breathing apparatus. Four deaths from large marine animal attacks were recorded. Once again, cardiac-related issues were thought to have contributed to some deaths: five snorkel divers and at least two but possibly up to four scuba divers. Three of the deaths in breath-hold divers were likely to have been associated with apnoeic hypoxia blackout. Pre-existing medical conditions, trauma from marine creatures and snorkelling or diving alone were features in several deaths in this series.

Ethanol Forensic Toxicology.

PubMed

Perry, Paul J; Doroudgar, Shadi; Van Dyke, Priscilla

2017-12-01

Ethanol abuse can lead to negative consequences that oftentimes result in criminal charges and civil lawsuits. When an individual is suspected of driving under the influence, law enforcement agents can determine the extent of intoxication by measuring the blood alcohol concentration (BAC) and performing a standardized field sobriety test. The BAC is dependent on rates of absorption, distribution, and elimination, which are influenced mostly by the dose of ethanol ingested and rate of consumption. Other factors contributing to BAC are gender, body mass and composition, food effects, type of alcohol, and chronic alcohol exposure. Because of individual variability in ethanol pharmacology and toxicology, careful extrapolation and interpretation of the BAC is needed, to justify an arrest and assignment of criminal liability. This review provides a summary of the pharmacokinetic properties of ethanol and the clinical effects of acute intoxication as they relate to common forensic questions. Concerns regarding the extrapolation of BAC and the implications of impaired memory caused by alcohol-induced blackouts are discussed. © 2017 American Academy of Psychiatry and the Law.

A STRONGLY COUPLED REACTOR CORE ISOLATION COOLING SYSTEM MODEL FOR EXTENDED STATION BLACK-OUT ANALYSES

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Zhao, Haihua; Zhang, Hongbin; Zou, Ling

2015-03-01

The reactor core isolation cooling (RCIC) system in a boiling water reactor (BWR) provides makeup cooling water to the reactor pressure vessel (RPV) when the main steam lines are isolated and the normal supply of water to the reactor vessel is lost. The RCIC system operates independently of AC power, service air, or external cooling water systems. The only required external energy source is from the battery to maintain the logic circuits to control the opening and/or closure of valves in the RCIC systems in order to control the RPV water level by shutting down the RCIC pump to avoidmore » overfilling the RPV and flooding the steam line to the RCIC turbine. It is generally considered in almost all the existing station black-out accidents (SBO) analyses that loss of the DC power would result in overfilling the steam line and allowing liquid water to flow into the RCIC turbine, where it is assumed that the turbine would then be disabled. This behavior, however, was not observed in the Fukushima Daiichi accidents, where the Unit 2 RCIC functioned without DC power for nearly three days. Therefore, more detailed mechanistic models for RCIC system components are needed to understand the extended SBO for BWRs. As part of the effort to develop the next generation reactor system safety analysis code RELAP-7, we have developed a strongly coupled RCIC system model, which consists of a turbine model, a pump model, a check valve model, a wet well model, and their coupling models. Unlike the traditional SBO simulations where mass flow rates are typically given in the input file through time dependent functions, the real mass flow rates through the turbine and the pump loops in our model are dynamically calculated according to conservation laws and turbine/pump operation curves. A simplified SBO demonstration RELAP-7 model with this RCIC model has been successfully developed. The demonstration model includes the major components for the primary system of a BWR, as well as the safety system components such as the safety relief valve (SRV), the RCIC system, the wet well, and the dry well. The results show reasonable system behaviors while exhibiting rich dynamics such as variable flow rates through RCIC turbine and pump during the SBO transient. The model has the potential to resolve the Fukushima RCIC mystery after adding the off-design two-phase turbine operation model and other additional improvements.« less

Medical System Concept of Operations for Mars Exploration Missions

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Urbina, Michelle; Rubin, D.; Hailey, M.; Reyes, D.; Antonsen, Eric

2017-01-01

Future exploration missions will be the first time humanity travels beyond Low Earth Orbit (LEO) since the Apollo program, taking us to cis-lunar space, interplanetary space, and Mars. These long-duration missions will cover vast distances, severely constraining opportunities for emergency evacuation to Earth and cargo resupply opportunities. Communication delays and blackouts between the crew and Mission Control will eliminate reliable, real-time telemedicine consultations. As a result, compared to current LEO operations onboard the International Space Station, exploration mission medical care requires an integrated medical system that provides additional in-situ capabilities and a significant increase in crew autonomy. The Medical System Concept of Operations for Mars Exploration Missions illustrates how a future NASA Mars program could ensure appropriate medical care for the crew of this highly autonomous mission. This Concept of Operations document, when complete, will document all mission phases through a series of mission use case scenarios that illustrate required medical capabilities, enabling the NASA Human Research Program (HRP) Exploration Medical Capability (ExMC) Element to plan, design, and prototype an integrated medical system to support human exploration to Mars.

The effects of signalled and unsignalled lick-dependent delays on the development of schedule-induced drinking in rats.

PubMed

Pellon, R; Blackman, D E

1991-02-01

Food pellets were programmed to be delivered to rats every 60 sec (Fixed Time 60-sec schedule), and the development of schedule-induced drinking was measured in terms of the amount of water consumed and the number of licks per inter-pellet interval. For some rats (masters) 10-sec delays in food delivery were dependent on licks. Yoked-control rats received food at the same time as their masters and independently of their own behaviour. In Experiment 1, in which the delays were signalled by a blackout, the master rats began to drink, but this schedule-induced behaviour then decreased to levels lower than those shown by the yoked controls. When the signalled delays were discontinued, the drinking of the master rats recovered. In Experiment 2, in which the delays were not signalled, the master rats did not develop as much schedule-induced drinking as the yoked controls, and discontinuing the delays led to only small increases in drinking. These results support the view that schedule-induced drinking is subject to control by its consequences.

Portable exothermal energy source for disaster relief operations

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zimbeck, Walter R.

1994-03-01

This manuscript describes an example of transfer technology from a U.S. Government Laboratory to commercial products that meet national needs in the public safety and health care sectors. Funded by the U.S. Army, the first project is the development of a portable, non-powered food warming device for serving meals to soldiers in the field. The second project is being funded by the National Institutes of Health for development of a heat therapy device for relief from rheumatoid arthritis discomfort in the hands and other affected joints. Both of these heating devices are portable, reusable heat pack products that can be regenerated in a microwave oven or in boiling water. The knowledge developed during these two projects will be applied to many other related products. Applications in support of natural and manmade disaster relief include food warming heat packs for food service to victims and rescue workers in sustained black-out conditions, and heat pack warming blankets for emergency medical situations in which patients are in traumatic shock and the onset of hypothermia is imminent.

Wide-Area Situational Awareness of Power Grids with Limited Phasor Measurements

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Zhou, Ning; Huang, Zhenyu; Nieplocha, Jarek

Lack of situational awareness has been identified as one of root causes for the August 14, 2003 Northeast Blackout in North America. To improve situational awareness, the Department of Energy (DOE) launched several projects to deploy Wide Area Measurement Systems (WAMS) in different interconnections. Compared to the tens of thousands of buses, the number of Phasor Measurement Units (PMUs) is quite limited and not enough to achieve the observability for the whole interconnections. To utilize the limited number of PMU measurements to improve situational awareness, this paper proposes to combine PMU measurement data and power flow equations to form amore » hybrid power flow model. Technically, a model which combines the concept of observable islands and modeling of power flow conditions, is proposed. The model is called a Hybrid Power Flow Model as it has both PMU measurements and simulation assumptions, which describes prior knowledge available about whole power systems. By solving the hybrid power flow equations, the proposed method can be used to derive power system states to improve the situational awareness of a power grid.« less

Living with systemic lupus erythematosus: A patient engagement perspective.

PubMed

Mazzoni, Davide; Cornet, Alain; van Leeuw, Bernadette; Myllys, Kirsi; Cicognani, Elvira

2018-03-01

Patient engagement is recognized as a crucial component of high-quality healthcare services. Among rheumatic diseases, systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) appears particularly challenging for the engagement of patients in their own care. According to the patient health engagement (PHE) model, patient engagement is a dynamic phenomenon that proceeds through four experiential positions (blackout, arousal, adhesion and eudaimonic project). The aim of the present study was to describe the engagement process from the point of view and the experiences of SLE patients. Ten in-depth interviews and four focus groups were conducted with an international sample of SLE patients from different European countries. Transcripts were analysed through thematic content analysis. Findings showed that a fully engaged patient results from reframing emotional, cognitive and behavioural dimensions. The advances along the process depends on how the patient succeeds in each position. In conclusion, PHE represents an appropriate model by which to understand the engagement process of SLE patients. In order to meet patients' needs, healthcare providers and patient support groups should consider the specific position of SLE patients, providing adequate and tailored support. Copyright © 2017 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Dust Tsunamis, Blackouts and 50 deg C: Teaching MATLAB in East Africa

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Trauth, M. H.

2016-12-01

MATLAB is the tool of choice when analyzing earth and environmental data from East Africa. The software and companion toolboxes helps to process satellite images and digital elevation models, to detect trends, cycles, and recurrent, characteristic types of climate transitions in climate time series, and to model the hydrological balance of ancient lakes. The advantage of MATLAB is that the user can do many different types of analyses with the same software, making the software very attractive for young scientists at African universities. Since 2009 we are organizing summer schools on the subject of data analysis with various tools including MATLAB in Ethiopia, Kenya and Tanzania. Throughout the summerschool, participants are instructed by teams of senior researchers, together with young scientists, some of which were participants of an earlier summerschool. The participants are themselves integrated in teaching, depending on previous knowledge, so that the boundary between teachers and learners constantly shifts or even dissolves. From the extraordinarily positive experience, but also the difficulties in teaching data analysis methods with MATLAB in East Africa is reported.

Computing Earthquake Probabilities on Global Scales

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Holliday, James R.; Graves, William R.; Rundle, John B.; Turcotte, Donald L.

2016-03-01

Large devastating events in systems such as earthquakes, typhoons, market crashes, electricity grid blackouts, floods, droughts, wars and conflicts, and landslides can be unexpected and devastating. Events in many of these systems display frequency-size statistics that are power laws. Previously, we presented a new method for calculating probabilities for large events in systems such as these. This method counts the number of small events since the last large event and then converts this count into a probability by using a Weibull probability law. We applied this method to the calculation of large earthquake probabilities in California-Nevada, USA. In that study, we considered a fixed geographic region and assumed that all earthquakes within that region, large magnitudes as well as small, were perfectly correlated. In the present article, we extend this model to systems in which the events have a finite correlation length. We modify our previous results by employing the correlation function for near mean field systems having long-range interactions, an example of which is earthquakes and elastic interactions. We then construct an application of the method and show examples of computed earthquake probabilities.

The HVAC Challenges of Upgrading an Old Lab for High-end Light Microscopes

PubMed Central

Richard, R.; Martone, P.; Callahan, L.M.

2014-01-01

The University of Rochester Medical Center forms the centerpiece of the University of Rochester's health research, teaching, patient care, and community outreach missions. Within this large facility of over 5 million square feet, demolition and remodeling of existing spaces is a constant activity. With more than $145 million in federal research funding, lab space is frequently repurposed and renovated to support this work. The URMC Medical Center Facilities Organization supporting small to medium space renovations is constantly challenged and constrained by the existing mechanical infrastructure and budgets to deliver a renovated space that functions within the equipment environmental parameters. One recent project, sponsored by the URMC Shared Resources Laboratory, demonstrates these points. The URMC Light Microscopy Shared Resource Laboratory requested renovation of a 121 sq. ft. room in a 40 year old building which would enable placement of a laser capture microdissection microscope and a Pascal 5 laser scanning confocal microscope with the instruments separated by a blackout curtain. This poster discusses the engineering approach implemented to bring an older lab into the environmental specifications needed for the proper operation of the high-end light microscopes.

On synchronization in power-grids modelled as networks of second-order Kuramoto oscillators

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Grzybowski, J. M. V.; Macau, E. E. N.; Yoneyama, T.

2016-11-01

This work concerns analytical results on the role of coupling strength in the phenomenon of onset of complete frequency locking in power-grids modelled as a network of second-order Kuramoto oscillators. Those results allow estimation of the coupling strength for the onset of complete frequency locking and to assess the features of network and oscillators that favor synchronization. The analytical results are evaluated using an order parameter defined as the normalized sum of absolute values of phase deviations of the oscillators over time. The investigation of the frequency synchronization within the subsets of the parameter space involved in the synchronization problem is also carried out. It is shown that the analytical results are in good agreement with those observed in the numerical simulations. In order to illustrate the methodology, a case study is presented, involving the Brazilian high-voltage transmission system under a load peak condition to study the effect of load on the syncronizability of the grid. The results show that both the load and the centralized generation might have concurred to the 2014 blackout.

NASA Pioneer: Venus reverse playback telemetry program TR 78-2

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Modestino, J. W.; Daut, D. G.; Vickers, A. L.; Matis, K. R.

1978-01-01

During the entry of the Pioneer Venus Atmospheric Probes into the Venus atmosphere, there were several events (RF blackout and data rate changes) which caused the ground receiving equipment to lose lock on the signal. This caused periods of data loss immediately following each one of these disturbing events which lasted until all the ground receiving units (receiver, subcarrier demodulator, symbol synchronizer, and sequential decoder) acquired lock once more. A scheme to recover these data by off-line data processing was implemented. This scheme consisted of receiving the S band signals from the probes with an open loop reciever (requiring no lock up on the signal) in parallel with the closed loop receivers of the real time receiving equipment, down converting the signals to baseband, and recording them on an analog recorder. The off-line processing consisted of playing the analog recording in the reverse direction (starting with the end of the tape) up, converting the signal to S-band, feeding the signal into the "real time" receiving system and recording on digital tape, the soft decisions from the symbol synchronizer.

Does social approval stimulate prosocial behavior? Evidence from a field experiment in the residential electricity market

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Yoeli, Erez

At least since Veblen (1899), economists have proposed that people do good because they desire "social approval" and want to look good in front of others. Evidence from the laboratory supports this claim, but is difficult to generalize due to the unrealistic degree of scrutiny in a laboratory environment. I administer a field experiment to test the potency of social approval in a realistic and policy relevant setting. In the experiment I solicit 7893 customers of a large electric utility for a program that helps prevent blackouts. I vary whether their decision to participate in the program is revealed to their neighbors. Customers whose decision is revealed are 1.5% more likely to sign up than those whose decision is anonymous when their decision is framed as a contribution to a public good. Social approval increases participation more than offering subjects a $25 incentive, and its effect is large relative to the mean sign-up rate of 4.1%. I explore whether social approval contributes to crowding out and conditionally cooperative behavior, but the evidence is inconclusive.

An analysis of the synoptic and dynamical characteristics of hurricane Sandy (2012)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Varlas, George; Papadopoulos, Anastasios; Katsafados, Petros

2018-01-01

Hurricane Sandy affected the Caribbean Islands and the Northeastern United States in October 2012 and caused 233 fatalities, severe rainfalls, floods, electricity blackouts, and 75 billion U.S. dollars in damages. In this study, the synoptic and dynamical characteristics that led to the formation of the hurricane are investigated. The system was driven by the interaction between the polar jet displacement and the subtropical jet stream. In particular, Sandy was initially formed as a tropical depression system over the Caribbean Sea and the unusually warm sea drove its intensification. The interaction between a rapidly approaching trough from the northwest and the stagnant ridge over the Atlantic Ocean drove Sandy to the northeast coast of United States. To better understand the dynamical characteristics and the mechanisms that triggered Sandy, a non-hydrostatic mesoscale model has been used. Model results indicate that the surface heat fluxes and the moisture advection enhanced the convective available potential energy, increased the low-level convective instability, and finally deepened the hurricane. Moreover, the upper air conditions triggered the low-level frontogenesis and increased the asymmetry of the system which finally affected its trajectory.

Provisional report on diving-related fatalities in Australian waters 2004.

PubMed

Walker, Douglas; Lippmann, John; Lawrence, Chris; Huston, John; Fock, Andrew

2009-09-01

An individual case review of diving-related deaths reported to have occurred in Australia in 2004 was conducted as part of the DAN Asia-Pacific dive fatality reporting project. The case studies were compiled using reports from witnesses, the police and coroners. In each case, the particular circumstances of the accident are provided, and also details from the post-mortem examination, where available. In total, there were 22 reported fatalities, all male. Nine deaths occurred while snorkelling and/or breath-hold diving, 10 while scuba diving, one just prior to scuba diving, one while using surface-supply breath apparatus and one while diving with a rebreather. In this series, cardiac-related issues were thought to have contributed to the deaths of five snorkel divers and three scuba divers, and in one person who was about to go diving. Three of the deaths in breath-hold divers were likely to have been associated with apnoeic hypoxia blackout. Pre-existing medical conditions, inexperience, time away from diving, inadequate supervision, and diving without appropriate training were features in several scuba deaths in this series.

Student Nurse in the War Zone.

PubMed

2016-12-01

: Editor's note: From its first issue in 1900 through to the present day, AJN has unparalleled archives detailing nurses' work and lives over more than a century. These articles not only chronicle nursing's growth as a profession within the context of the events of the day, but they also reveal prevailing societal attitudes about women, health care, and human rights. Today's nursing school curricula rarely include nursing's history, but it's a history worth knowing. To this end, From the AJN Archives highlights articles selected to fit today's topics and times.In this month's article, from the September 1942 issue, senior nursing student Frances Carr writes vividly about life and work in Honolulu after Pearl Harbor. "Students… have had seared into their memories scenes of such horror as cannot be imagined…. When night fell, the nursing staff faced its first test of caring for hundreds of patients in a blackout that had to be absolute." And in this issue, see "Remembering Pearl Harbor at 75 Years," which tells the stories of five nurses from the Army and Navy Nurse Corps who were stationed nearby at the time of the attack.

Branch-and-Bound algorithm applied to uncertainty quantification of a Boiling Water Reactor Station Blackout

DOE PAGES

Nielsen, Joseph; Tokuhiro, Akira; Hiromoto, Robert; ...

2015-11-13

Evaluation of the impacts of uncertainty and sensitivity in modeling presents a significant set of challenges in particular to high fidelity modeling. Computational costs and validation of models creates a need for cost effective decision making with regards to experiment design. Experiments designed to validate computation models can be used to reduce uncertainty in the physical model. In some cases, large uncertainty in a particular aspect of the model may or may not have a large impact on the final results. For example, modeling of a relief valve may result in large uncertainty, however, the actual effects on final peakmore » clad temperature in a reactor transient may be small and the large uncertainty with respect to valve modeling may be considered acceptable. Additionally, the ability to determine the adequacy of a model and the validation supporting it should be considered within a risk informed framework. Low fidelity modeling with large uncertainty may be considered adequate if the uncertainty is considered acceptable with respect to risk. In other words, models that are used to evaluate the probability of failure should be evaluated more rigorously with the intent of increasing safety margin. Probabilistic risk assessment (PRA) techniques have traditionally been used to identify accident conditions and transients. Traditional classical event tree methods utilize analysts’ knowledge and experience to identify the important timing of events in coordination with thermal-hydraulic modeling. These methods lack the capability to evaluate complex dynamic systems. In these systems, time and energy scales associated with transient events may vary as a function of transition times and energies to arrive at a different physical state. Dynamic PRA (DPRA) methods provide a more rigorous analysis of complex dynamic systems. Unfortunately DPRA methods introduce issues associated with combinatorial explosion of states. This study presents a methodology to address combinatorial explosion using a Branch-and-Bound algorithm applied to Dynamic Event Trees (DET), which utilize LENDIT (L – Length, E – Energy, N – Number, D – Distribution, I – Information, and T – Time) as well as a set theory to describe system, state, resource, and response (S2R2) sets to create bounding functions for the DET. The optimization of the DET in identifying high probability failure branches is extended to create a Phenomenological Identification and Ranking Table (PIRT) methodology to evaluate modeling parameters important to safety of those failure branches that have a high probability of failure. The PIRT can then be used as a tool to identify and evaluate the need for experimental validation of models that have the potential to reduce risk. Finally, in order to demonstrate this methodology, a Boiling Water Reactor (BWR) Station Blackout (SBO) case study is presented.« less

Risk Analysis and Forecast Service for Geomagnetically Induced Currents in Europe

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wik, Magnus; Pirjola, Risto; Viljanen, Ari; Lundstedt, Henrik

Geomagnetically induced currents (GIC), occurring during magnetic storms, pose a widespread natural disaster risk to the reliable operation of electric power transmission grids, oil and gas pipelines, telecommunication cables and railway systems. The solar magnetic activity is the cause of GIC. Solar coronal holes can cause recurrent inter-vals of raised geomagnetic activity, and coronal mass ejections (CME) at the Sun, sometimes producing very high speed plasma clouds with enhanced magnetic fields and particle densities, can cause the strongest geomagnetic storms. When the solar wind interacts with the geomag-netic field, energy is transferred to the magnetosphere, driving strong currents in the ionosphere. When these currents change in time a geoelectric field is induced at the surface of the Earth and in the ground. Finally, this field drives GIC in the ground and in any technological conductor systems. The worst consequence of a severe magnetic storm within a power grid is a complete blackout, as happened in the province of Québec, Canada, in March 1989, and in the city of Malmü, Sweden, in October 2003. Gas and oil pipelines are not regarded as vulnerable to the immediate impact of GIC, but the corrosion rate of buried steel pipes can increase due to GIC, which may thus shorten the lifetime of a pipe. European Risk from Geomagnetically Induced Currents (EURISGIC) is an EU project, that, if approved, will produce the first European-wide real-time prototype forecast service of GIC in power systems, based on in-situ solar wind observations and comprehensive simulations of the Earth's magnetosphere. This project focuses on high-voltage power transmission networks, which are probably currently the most susceptible to GIC effects. Geomagnetic storms cover large geographical regions, at times the whole globe. Consequently, power networks are rightly described as being European critical infrastructures whose disruption or destruction could have a significant impact. The project includes six research institutes and one SME, within Europe and US. The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), the Swedish civil contingencies agency (MSB), and representatives from the European Commission are collaborating with the NOAA National Weather Service and other research institutes on various space weather scenarios -geomagnetic storms with widespread blackouts and disruptions in communications. The aim of this new project is to conduct a risk analysis from GIC on critical infrastructure. Large amounts of natural gas are transported from Russia to Central Europe. Those long pipelines are prone to GIC impacts, which should also be evaluated quantitatively. We will use the EURISGIC project to inform the pipeline community of present European capability in GIC modelling, forecasting and in developing mitigation measures.

Hurdling barriers through market uncertainty: Case studies ininnovative technology adoption

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Payne, Christopher T.; Radspieler Jr., Anthony; Payne, Jack

The crisis atmosphere surrounding electricity availability in California during the summer of 2001 produced two distinct phenomena in commercial energy consumption decision-making: desires to guarantee energy availability while blackouts were still widely anticipated, and desires to avoid or mitigate significant price increases when higher commercial electricity tariffs took effect. The climate of increased consideration of these factors seems to have led, in some cases, to greater willingness on the part of business decision-makers to consider highly innovative technologies. This paper examines three case studies of innovative technology adoption: retrofit of time-and-temperature signs on an office building; installation of fuel cellsmore » to supply power, heating, and cooling to the same building; and installation of a gas-fired heat pump at a microbrewery. We examine the decision process that led to adoption of these technologies. In each case, specific constraints had made more conventional energy-efficient technologies inapplicable. We examine how these barriers to technology adoption developed over time, how the California energy decision-making climate combined with the characteristics of these innovative technologies to overcome the barriers, and what the implications of hurdling these barriers are for future energy decisions within the firms.« less

Space weather effects on ground based technology

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Clark, T.

Space weather can affect a variety of forms of ground-based technology, usually as a result of either the direct effects of the varying geomagnetic field, or as a result of the induced electric field that accompanies such variations. Technologies affected directly by geomagnetic variations include magnetic measurements made d ringu geophysical surveys, and navigation relying on the geomagnetic field as a direction reference, a method that is particularly common in the surveying of well-bores in the oil industry. The most obvious technology affected by induced electric fields during magnetic storms is electric power transmission, where the example of the blackout in Quebec during the March 1989 magnetic storm is widely known. Additionally, space weather effects must be taken into account in the design of active cathodic protection systems on pipelines to protect them against corrosion. Long-distance telecommunication cables may also have to be designed to cope with space weather related effects. This paper reviews the effects of space weather in these different areas of ground-based technology, and provides examples of how mitigation against hazards may be achieved. (The paper does not include the effects of space weather on radio communication or satellite navigation systems).

Visual Occlusion Decreases Motion Sickness in a Flight Simulator.

PubMed

Ishak, Shaziela; Bubka, Andrea; Bonato, Frederick

2018-05-01

Sensory conflict theories of motion sickness (MS) assert that symptoms may result when incoming sensory inputs (e.g., visual and vestibular) contradict each other. Logic suggests that attenuating input from one sense may reduce conflict and hence lessen MS symptoms. In the current study, it was hypothesized that attenuating visual input by blocking light entering the eye would reduce MS symptoms in a motion provocative environment. Participants sat inside an aircraft cockpit mounted onto a motion platform that simultaneously pitched, rolled, and heaved in two conditions. In the occluded condition, participants wore "blackout" goggles and closed their eyes to block light. In the control condition, participants opened their eyes and had full view of the cockpit's interior. Participants completed separate Simulator Sickness Questionnaires before and after each condition. The posttreatment total Simulator Sickness Questionnaires and subscores for nausea, oculomotor, and disorientation in the control condition were significantly higher than those in the occluded condition. These results suggest that under some conditions attenuating visual input may delay the onset of MS or weaken the severity of symptoms. Eliminating visual input may reduce visual/nonvisual sensory conflict by weakening the influence of the visual channel, which is consistent with the sensory conflict theory of MS.

Nuclear Power - Post Fukushima

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Reyes, Jose, Jr.

2011-10-01

The extreme events that led to the prolonged power outage at the Fukushima Daiicchi nuclear plant have highlighted the importance of assuring a means for stable long term cooling of the nuclear fuel and containment following a complete station blackout. Legislative bodies, regulatory agencies and industry are drawing lessons from those events and considering what changes, if any, are needed to nuclear power, post Fukushima. The enhanced safety of a new class of reactor designed by NuScale Power is drawing significant attention in light of the Fukushima events. During normal operation, each NuScale containment is fully immersed in a water-filled stainless steel lined concrete pool that resides underground. The pool, housed in a Seismic Category I building, is large enough to provided 30 days of core and containment cooling without adding water. After 30 days, the decay heat generations coupled with thermal radiation heat transfer is completely adequate to remove core decay heat for an unlimited period of time. These passive power systems can perform their function without requiring an external supply of water of power. An assessment of the NuScale passive systems is being performed through a comprehensive test program that includes the NuScale integral system test facility at Oregon State University

[Operating room during natural disaster: lessons from the 2011 Tohoku earthquake].

PubMed

Fukuda, Ikuo; Hashimoto, Hiroshi; Suzuki, Yasuyuki; Satomi, Susumu; Unno, Michiaki; Ohuchi, Noriaki; Nakaji, Shigeyuki

2012-03-01

Objective of this study is to clarify damages in operating rooms after the 2011 Tohoku Earthquake. To survey structural and non-structural damage in operating theaters, we sent questionnaires to 155 acute care hospitals in Tohoku area. Questionnaires were sent back from 105 hospitals (70.3%). Total of 280 patients were undergoing any kinds of operations during the earthquake and severe seismic tremor greater than JMA Seismic Intensity 6 hit 49 hospitals. Operating room staffs experienced life-threatening tremor in 41 hospitals. Blackout occurred but emergency electronic supply unit worked immediately in 81 out of 90 hospitals. However, emergency power plant did not work in 9 hospitals. During earthquake some materials fell from shelves in 44 hospitals and medical instruments fell down in 14 hospitals. In 5 hospitals, they experienced collapse of operating room wall or ceiling causing inability to maintain sterile operative field. Damage in electric power and water supply plus damage in logistics made many operating rooms difficult to perform routine surgery for several days. The 2011 Tohoku earthquake affected medical supply in wide area of Tohoku district and induced dysfunction of operating room. Supply-chain management of medical goods should be reconsidered to prepare severe natural disaster.

The atmospheric implications of radiation belt remediation

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Rodger, C. J.; Clilverd, M. A.; Ulich, Th.; Verronen, P. T.; Turunen, E.; Thomson, N. R.

2006-08-01

High altitude nuclear explosions (HANEs) and geomagnetic storms can produce large scale injections of relativistic particles into the inner radiation belts. It is recognised that these large increases in >1 MeV trapped electron fluxes can shorten the operational lifetime of low Earth orbiting satellites, threatening a large, valuable population. Therefore, studies are being undertaken to bring about practical human control of the radiation belts, termed "Radiation Belt Remediation" (RBR). Here we consider the upper atmospheric consequences of an RBR system operating over either 1 or 10 days. The RBR-forced neutral chemistry changes, leading to NOx enhancements and Ox depletions, are significant during the timescale of the precipitation but are generally not long-lasting. The magnitudes, time-scales, and altitudes of these changes are no more significant than those observed during large solar proton events. In contrast, RBR-operation will lead to unusually intense HF blackouts for about the first half of the operation time, producing large scale disruptions to radio communication and navigation systems. While the neutral atmosphere changes are not particularly important, HF disruptions could be an important area for policy makers to consider, particularly for the remediation of natural injections.

Calibrating Parameters of Power System Stability Models using Advanced Ensemble Kalman Filter

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Huang, Renke; Diao, Ruisheng; Li, Yuanyuan

With the ever increasing penetration of renewable energy, smart loads, energy storage, and new market behavior, today’s power grid becomes more dynamic and stochastic, which may invalidate traditional study assumptions and pose great operational challenges. Thus, it is of critical importance to maintain good-quality models for secure and economic planning and real-time operation. Following the 1996 Western Systems Coordinating Council (WSCC) system blackout, North American Electric Reliability Corporation (NERC) and Western Electricity Coordinating Council (WECC) in North America enforced a number of policies and standards to guide the power industry to periodically validate power grid models and calibrate poor parametersmore » with the goal of building sufficient confidence in model quality. The PMU-based approach using online measurements without interfering with the operation of generators provides a low-cost alternative to meet NERC standards. This paper presents an innovative procedure and tool suites to validate and calibrate models based on a trajectory sensitivity analysis method and an advanced ensemble Kalman filter algorithm. The developed prototype demonstrates excellent performance in identifying and calibrating bad parameters of a realistic hydro power plant against multiple system events.« less

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Kolaczkowski, A.M.; Lambright, J.A.; Ferrell, W.L.

This document contains the internal event initiated accident sequence analyses for Peach Bottom, Unit 2; one of the reference plants being examined as part of the NUREG-1150 effort by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission. NUREG-1150 will document the risk of a selected group of nuclear power plants. As part of that work, this report contains the overall core damage frequency estimate for Peach Bottom, Unit 2, and the accompanying plant damage state frequencies. Sensitivity and uncertainty analyses provided additional insights regarding the dominant contributors to the Peach Bottom core damage frequency estimate. The mean core damage frequency at Peach Bottom wasmore » calculated to be 8.2E-6. Station blackout type accidents (loss of all ac power) were found to dominate the overall results. Anticipated Transient Without Scram accidents were also found to be non-negligible contributors. The numerical results are largely driven by common mode failure probability estimates and to some extent, human error. Because of significant data and analysis uncertainties in these two areas (important, for instance, to the most dominant scenario in this study), it is recommended that the results of the uncertainty and sensitivity analyses be considered before any actions are taken based on this analysis.« less

Deep convolutional neural network processing of aerial stereo imagery to monitor vulnerable zones near power lines

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Qayyum, Abdul; Saad, Naufal M.; Kamel, Nidal; Malik, Aamir Saeed

2018-01-01

The monitoring of vegetation near high-voltage transmission power lines and poles is tedious. Blackouts present a huge challenge to power distribution companies and often occur due to tree growth in hilly and rural areas. There are numerous methods of monitoring hazardous overgrowth that are expensive and time-consuming. Accurate estimation of tree and vegetation heights near power poles can prevent the disruption of power transmission in vulnerable zones. This paper presents a cost-effective approach based on a convolutional neural network (CNN) algorithm to compute the height (depth maps) of objects proximal to power poles and transmission lines. The proposed CNN extracts and classifies features by employing convolutional pooling inputs to fully connected data layers that capture prominent features from stereo image patches. Unmanned aerial vehicle or satellite stereo image datasets can thus provide a feasible and cost-effective approach that identifies threat levels based on height and distance estimations of hazardous vegetation and other objects. Results were compared with extant disparity map estimation techniques, such as graph cut, dynamic programming, belief propagation, and area-based methods. The proposed method achieved an accuracy rate of 90%.

Extremely Severe Space Weather and Geomagnetically Induced Currents in Regions with Locally Heterogeneous Ground Resistivity

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Fujita, Shigeru; Kataoka, Ryuho; Pulkkinen, Antti; Watari, Shinichi

2016-01-01

Large geomagnetically induced currents (GICs) triggered by extreme space weather events are now regarded as one of the serious natural threats to the modern electrified society. The risk is described in detail in High-Impact, Low-Frequency Event Risk, A Jointly-Commissioned Summary Report of the North American Electric Reliability Corporation and the US Department of Energy's November 2009 Workshop, June 2010. For example, the March 13-14,1989 storm caused a large-scale blackout affecting about 6 million people in Quebec, Canada, and resulting in substantial economic losses in Canada and the USA (Bolduc 2002). Therefore, European and North American nations have invested in GIC research such as the Solar Shield project in the USA (Pulkkinen et al. 2009, 2015a). In 2015, the Japanese government (Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry, METI) acknowledged the importance of GIC research in Japan. After reviewing the serious damages caused by the 2011 Tohoku-Oki earthquake, METI recognized the potential risk to the electric power grid posed by extreme space weather. During extreme events, GICs can be concerning even in mid- and low-latitude countries and have become a global issue.

Research for the Cable Layout Way of the Bypass Operation System in Agricultural Power Supply Network

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Niu, Jie; Li, Jinliang; Zou, Dehua; Yang, Qi; Li, Xu; Yan, Yu; Li, Tang

2017-05-01

Non-blackout working of agricultural power supply network is significant to shorten the outage time, decrease the outage loss, and improve the supply reliability and safety. It is impossible to hang the wire rope first and then suspend the cable because of the poor bearing ability of the pole in agricultural power supply network. A kind of new cable arrangement way, its matching tools and the flexible cable that can bear the tension by itself are needed to be put forward and developed. It is necessary to calculate the electric field intensity of the flexible cable to verify that the electric field intensity meets the insulation demand. In this new design, the fiber layer is added into the flexible cable and its maximum tension force is measured to reach to 4000 N. Based on the features of live working in the agricultural power supply network, the new layout way of the cable is proposed; the matching tools and the new flexible cable that can bear the tension by itself are developed as well in this paper. All of the research achievements can give references for the live working of the agricultural power supply network.

The Hazards of Our Star

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Klimchuk, James A.

2011-01-01

The Sun's magnetic field permeates its atmosphere - ranging from the solar photosphere (the visible "surface") to the corona above. Think of this field as a collection of invisible rubber bands that are slowly stretched and twisted until they eventually reach a breaking point, When the field breaks, it releases a small amount of energy, known as a nanoflare. Millions of nanoflares occur every second, and the combined effect heats the solar corona to more than 1 million kelvins, hundreds of times hotter than the photosphere. The super-heated gas emits X-ray and ultraviolet radiation; Earth's upper atmosphere absorbs it, which changes our atmosphere's properties. This can disrupt communication, navigation, and surveillance systems, and also alter the orbits of satellites. On much larger scales, huge sections of the corona explosively erupt in coronal mass ejections (CMEs) and solar flares. CMEs directed toward Earth cause geomagnetic storms, which can wreck havoc on electrical power grids and produce widespread blackouts. Highly energetic particles can damage or even disable critical spacecraft components. Intense radiation from flares has the same effects as nanoflares, but to a greater degree. The need to understand how solar phenomena impact Earth has led to an important science field called space weather.

Optimizing the robustness of electrical power systems against cascading failures.

PubMed

Zhang, Yingrui; Yağan, Osman

2016-06-21

Electrical power systems are one of the most important infrastructures that support our society. However, their vulnerabilities have raised great concern recently due to several large-scale blackouts around the world. In this paper, we investigate the robustness of power systems against cascading failures initiated by a random attack. This is done under a simple yet useful model based on global and equal redistribution of load upon failures. We provide a comprehensive understanding of system robustness under this model by (i) deriving an expression for the final system size as a function of the size of initial attacks; (ii) deriving the critical attack size after which system breaks down completely; (iii) showing that complete system breakdown takes place through a first-order (i.e., discontinuous) transition in terms of the attack size; and (iv) establishing the optimal load-capacity distribution that maximizes robustness. In particular, we show that robustness is maximized when the difference between the capacity and initial load is the same for all lines; i.e., when all lines have the same redundant space regardless of their initial load. This is in contrast with the intuitive and commonly used setting where capacity of a line is a fixed factor of its initial load.

Dynamic instability of cooperation due to diverse activity patterns in evolutionary social dilemmas

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Xia, Cheng-Yi; Meloni, Sandro; Perc, Matjaž; Moreno, Yamir

2015-03-01

Individuals might abstain from participating in an instance of an evolutionary game for various reasons, ranging from lack of interest to risk aversion. In order to understand the consequences of such diverse activity patterns on the evolution of cooperation, we study a weak prisoner's dilemma where each player's participation is probabilistic rather than certain. Players that do not participate get a null payoff and are unable to replicate. We show that inactivity introduces cascading failures of cooperation, which are particularly severe on scale-free networks with frequently inactive hubs. The drops in the fraction of cooperators are sudden, while the spatiotemporal reorganization of compact cooperative clusters, and thus the recovery, takes time. Nevertheless, if the activity of players is directly proportional to their degree, or if the interaction network is not strongly heterogeneous, the overall evolution of cooperation is not impaired. This is because inactivity negatively affects the potency of low-degree defectors, who are hence unable to utilize on their inherent evolutionary advantage. Between cascading failures, the fraction of cooperators is therefore higher than usual, which lastly balances out the asymmetric dynamic instabilities that emerge due to intermittent blackouts of cooperative hubs.

Integration of Human Reliability Analysis Models into the Simulation-Based Framework for the Risk-Informed Safety Margin Characterization Toolkit

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Boring, Ronald; Mandelli, Diego; Rasmussen, Martin

2016-06-01

This report presents an application of a computation-based human reliability analysis (HRA) framework called the Human Unimodel for Nuclear Technology to Enhance Reliability (HUNTER). HUNTER has been developed not as a standalone HRA method but rather as framework that ties together different HRA methods to model dynamic risk of human activities as part of an overall probabilistic risk assessment (PRA). While we have adopted particular methods to build an initial model, the HUNTER framework is meant to be intrinsically flexible to new pieces that achieve particular modeling goals. In the present report, the HUNTER implementation has the following goals: •more » Integration with a high fidelity thermal-hydraulic model capable of modeling nuclear power plant behaviors and transients • Consideration of a PRA context • Incorporation of a solid psychological basis for operator performance • Demonstration of a functional dynamic model of a plant upset condition and appropriate operator response This report outlines these efforts and presents the case study of a station blackout scenario to demonstrate the various modules developed to date under the HUNTER research umbrella.« less

Second-order schedules: comparison of different procedures for scheduling paired and nonpaired brief stimuli.

PubMed

Stubbs, D A; Cohen, S L

1972-11-01

Pigeons performed on a second-order schedule in which fixed-interval components were maintained under a variable-interval schedule. Completion of each fixed-interval component resulted in a brief-stimulus presentation and/or food. The relation of the brief stimulus and food was varied across conditions. Under some conditions, the brief stimulus was never paired with food. Under other conditions, the brief stimulus was paired with food; three different pairing procedures were used: (a) a response produced the simultaneous onset of the stimulus and food; (b) a response produced the stimulus before food with the stimulus remaining on during food presentation; (c) a response produced the stimulus and the offset of the stimulus was simultaneous with the onset of the food cycle. The various pairing and nonpairing operations all produced similar effects on performance. Under all conditions, response rates were positively accelerated within fixed-interval components. Total response rates and Index of Curvature measures were similar across conditions. In one condition, a blackout was paired with food; with this different stimulus in effect, less curvature resulted. The results suggest that pairing of a stimulus is not a necessary condition for within-component patterning under some second-order schedules.

Second-order schedules: comparison of different procedures for scheduling paired and nonpaired brief stimuli

PubMed Central

Stubbs, D. Alan; Cohen, Steven L.

1972-01-01

Pigeons performed on a second-order schedule in which fixed-interval components were maintained under a variable-interval schedule. Completion of each fixed-interval component resulted in a brief-stimulus presentation and/or food. The relation of the brief stimulus and food was varied across conditions. Under some conditions, the brief stimulus was never paired with food. Under other conditions, the brief stimulus was paired with food; three different pairing procedures were used: (a) a response produced the simultaneous onset of the stimulus and food; (b) a response produced the stimulus before food with the stimulus remaining on during food presentation; (c) a response produced the stimulus and the offset of the stimulus was simultaneous with the onset of the food cycle. The various pairing and nonpairing operations all produced similar effects on performance. Under all conditions, response rates were positively accelerated within fixed-interval components. Total response rates and Index of Curvature measures were similar across conditions. In one condition, a blackout was paired with food; with this different stimulus in effect, less curvature resulted. The results suggest that pairing of a stimulus is not a necessary condition for within-component patterning under some second-order schedules. PMID:16811634

A Green Prison: The Santa Rita Jail Campus Microgrid

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Marnay, Chris; DeForest, Nicholas; Lai, Judy

2012-01-22

A large microgrid project is nearing completion at Alameda County’s twenty-two-year-old 45 ha 4,000-inmate Santa Rita Jail, about 70 km east of San Francisco. Often described as a green prison, it has a considerable installed base of distributed energy resources (DER) including an eight-year old 1.2 MW PV array, a five-year old 1 MW fuel cell with heat recovery, and considerable efficiency investments. A current US$14 M expansion adds a 2 MW-4 MWh Li-ion battery, a static disconnect switch, and various controls upgrades. During grid blackouts, or when conditions favor it, the Jail can now disconnect from the grid andmore » operate as an island, using the on-site resources described together with its back-up diesel generators. In other words, the Santa Rita Jail is a true microgrid, or μgrid, because it fills both requirements, i.e. it is a locally controlled system, and it can operate both grid connected and islanded. The battery’s electronics includes Consortium for Electric Reliability Technology (CERTS) Microgrid technology. This enables the battery to maintain energy balance using droops without need for a fast control system.« less

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Kuruganti, Phani Teja

The smart grid is a combined process of revitalizing the traditional power grid applications and introducing new applications to improve the efficiency of power generation, transmission and distribution. This can be achieved by leveraging advanced communication and networking technologies. Therefore the selection of the appropriate communication technology for different smart grid applications has been debated a lot in the recent past. After comparing different possible technologies, a recent research study has arrived at a conclusion that the 3G cellular technology is the right choice for distribution side smart grid applications like smart metering, advanced distribution automation and demand response managementmore » system. In this paper, we argue that the current 3G/4G cellular technologies are not an appropriate choice for smart grid distribution applications and propose a Hybrid Spread Spectrum (HSS) based Advanced Metering Infrastructure (AMI) as one of the alternatives to 3G/4G technologies. We present a preliminary PHY and MAC layer design of a HSS based AMI network and evaluate their performance using matlab and NS2 simulations. Also, we propose a time hierarchical scheme that can significantly reduce the volume of random access traffic generated during blackouts and the delay in power outage reporting.« less

Keeping Communications Flowing During Large-Scale Disasters: Leveraging Amateur Radio Innovations for Disaster Medicine

PubMed Central

Cid, Victor H.; Mitz, Andrew R.; Arnesen, Stacey J.

2017-01-01

Medical facilities may struggle to maintain effective communications during a major disaster. Natural and man-made disasters threaten connectivity by degrading or crippling Internet, cellular/mobile, and landline telephone services across wide areas. Communications among staff, between facilities, and to resources outside the disaster area may be lost for an extended time. A prototype communications system created by the National Library of Medicine (NLM) provides basic communication services that ensure essential connectivity in the face of widespread infrastructure loss. It leverages Amateur Radio to provide resilient email service to local users, enabling them to reach intact communications networks outside the disaster zone. Because Amateur Radio is inexpensive, always available, and sufficiently independent of terrestrial telecommunications infrastructure, it has often augmented telecommunications capabilities of medical facilities. NLM’s solution is unique in that it provides end-user to end-user direct email communications, without requiring the intervention of a radio operator in the handling of the messages. Medical staff can exchange email among themselves and with others outside the communications blackout zone. The technology is portable, deployable on short notice, and can be powered in a variety of ways to adapt to the crisis’ circumstances. PMID:28944749

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Gevorgian, Vahan; Zhang, Yingchen

The electrical frequency of an interconnected power system must be maintained close its nominal level at all times. Excessive under- and overfrequency excursions can lead to load shedding, instability, machine damage, and even blackouts. There is a rising concern in the electric power industry in recent years about the declining amount of inertia and primary frequency response (PFR) in many interconnections. This decline may continue due to increasing penetrations of inverter-coupled generation and the planned retirements of conventional thermal plants. Inverter-coupled variable wind generation is capable of contributing to PFR and inertia with a response that is different from thatmore » of conventional generation. It is not yet entirely understood how such a response will affect the system at different wind power penetration levels. The modeling work presented in this paper evaluates the impact of wind generation's provision of these active power control strategies on a large, synchronous interconnection. All simulations were conducted on the U.S. Western Interconnection with different levels of instantaneous wind power penetrations (up to 80%). The ability of wind power plants to provide PFR - and a combination of synthetic inertial response and PFR - significantly improved the frequency response performance of the system.« less

Placement of Synchronized Measurements for Power System Observability during Cascaded Outages

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Thirugnanasambandam, Venkatesh; Jain, Trapti

2017-11-01

Cascaded outages often result in power system islanding followed by a blackout and therefore considered as a severe disturbance. Maintaining the observability of each island may help in taking proper control actions to preserve the stability of individual islands thus, averting system collapse. With this intent, a strategy for placement of synchronized measurements, which can be obtained from phasor measurement units (PMU), has been proposed in this paper to keep the system observable during cascaded outages also. Since, all the cascaded failures may not lead to islanding situations, therefore, failures leading to islanding as well as non-islanding situations have been considered. A topology based algorithm has been developed to identify the islanding/non-islanding condition created by a particular cascaded event. Additional contingencies such as single line loss and single PMU failure have also been considered after the occurrence of cascaded events. The proposed method is further extended to incorporate the measurement redundancy, which is desirable for a reliable state estimation. The proposed scheme is tested on IEEE 14-bus, IEEE 30-bus and a practical Indian 246-bus networks. The numerical results ensure the observability of the power system under system intact as well as during cascaded islanding and non-islanding disturbances.

Biggest Solar Flare on Record

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

2002-01-01

View an animation from the Extreme ultraviolet Imaging Telescope (EIT). At 4:51 p.m. EDT, on Monday, April 2, 2001, the sun unleashed the biggest solar flare ever recorded, as observed by the Solar and Heliospheric Observatory (SOHO) satellite. The flare was definitely more powerful than the famous solar flare on March 6, 1989, which was related to the disruption of power grids in Canada. This recent explosion from the active region near the sun's northwest limb hurled a coronal mass ejection into space at a whopping speed of roughly 7.2 million kilometers per hour. Luckily, the flare was not aimed directly towards Earth. Solar flares, among the solar system's mightiest eruptions, are tremendous explosions in the atmosphere of the Sun capable of releasing as much energy as a billion megatons of TNT. Caused by the sudden release of magnetic energy, in just a few seconds flares can accelerate solar particles to very high velocities, almost to the speed of light, and heat solar material to tens of millions of degrees. Solar ejections are often associated with flares and sometimes occur shortly after the flare explosion. Coronal mass ejections are clouds of electrified, magnetic gas weighing billions of tons ejected from the Sun and hurled into space with speeds ranging from 12 to 1,250 miles per second. Depending on the orientation of the magnetic fields carried by the ejection cloud, Earth-directed coronal mass ejections cause magnetic storms by interacting with the Earth's magnetic field, distorting its shape, and accelerating electrically charged particles (electrons and atomic nuclei) trapped within. Severe solar weather is often heralded by dramatic auroral displays, northern and southern lights, and magnetic storms that occasionally affect satellites, radio communications and power systems. The flare and solar ejection has also generated a storm of high-velocity particles, and the number of particles with ten million electron-volts of energy in the space near Earth is now 10,000 times greater than normal. The increase of particles at this energy level still poses no appreciable hazard to air travelers, astronauts or satellites, and the NOAA SEC rates this radiation storm as a moderate S2 to S3, on a scale that goes to S5. Monday's solar flare produced an R4 radio blackout on the sunlit side of the Earth. An R4 blackout, rated by the NOAA SEC, is second to the most severe R5 classification. The classification measures the disruption in radio communications. X-ray and ultraviolet light from the flare changed the structure of the Earth's electrically charged upper atmosphere (ionosphere). This affected radio communication frequencies that either pass through the ionosphere to satellites or are reflected by it to traverse the globe. The SOHO mission is being conducted collaboratively between the European Space Agency and NASA. Images courtesy SOHO Project, NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center

Keeping Communications Flowing During Large-scale Disasters: Leveraging Amateur Radio Innovations for Disaster Medicine.

PubMed

Cid, Victor H; Mitz, Andrew R; Arnesen, Stacey J

2018-04-01

Medical facilities may struggle to maintain effective communications during a major disaster. Natural and man-made disasters threaten connectivity by degrading or crippling Internet, cellular/mobile, and landline telephone services across wide areas. Communications among staff, between facilities, and to resources outside the disaster area may be lost for an extended time. A prototype communications system created by the National Library of Medicine (NLM) provides basic communication services that ensure essential connectivity in the face of widespread infrastructure loss. It leverages amateur radio to provide resilient email service to local users, enabling them to reach intact communications networks outside the disaster zone. Because amateur radio is inexpensive, always available, and sufficiently independent of terrestrial telecommunications infrastructure, it has often augmented telecommunications capabilities of medical facilities. NLM's solution is unique in that it provides end-user to end-user direct email communications, without requiring the intervention of a radio operator in the handling of the messages. Medical staff can exchange email among themselves and with others outside the communications blackout zone. The technology is portable, is deployable on short notice, and can be powered in a variety of ways to adapt to the circumstances of each crisis. (Disaster Med Public Health Preparedness. 2018;12:257-264).

Smart Ultrasound Remote Guidance Experiment (SURGE) Preliminary Findings

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Hurst, Victor; Dulchavsky, Scott; Garcia, Kathleen; Sargsyan, Ashot; Ebert, Doug

2009-01-01

To date, diagnostic quality ultrasound images were obtained aboard the International Space Station (ISS) using the ultrasound of the Human Research Facility (HRF) rack in the Laboratory module. Through the Advanced Diagnostic Ultrasound in Microgravity (ADUM) and the Braslet-M Occlusion Cuffs (BRASLET SDTO) studies, non-expert ultrasound operators aboard the ISS have performed cardiac, thoracic, abdominal, vascular, ocular, and musculoskeletal ultrasound assessments using remote guidance from ground-based ultrasound experts. With exploration class missions to the lunar and Martian surfaces on the horizon, crew medical officers will necessarily need to operate with greater autonomy given communication delays (round trip times of up to 5 seconds for the Moon and 90 minutes for Mars) and longer periods of communication blackouts (due to orbital constraints of communication assets). The SURGE project explored the feasibility and training requirements of having non-expert ultrasound operators perform autonomous ultrasound assessments in a simulated exploration mission outpost. The project aimed to identify experience, training, and human factors requirements for crew medical officers to perform autonomous ultrasonography. All of these aims pertained to the following risks from the NASA Bioastronautics Road Map: 1) Risk 18: Major Illness and Trauna; 2) Risk 20) Ambulatory Care; 3) Risk 22: Medical Informatics, Technologies, and Support Systems; and 4) Risk 23: Medical Skill Training and Maintenance.

Beyond drinking: differential effects of demographic and socioeconomic factors on alcohol-related adverse consequences across European countries.

PubMed

Kuendig, Hervé; Plant, Moira L; Plant, Martin A; Kuntsche, Sandra; Miller, Patrick; Gmel, Gerhard; Ahlström, Salme; Bergmark, Karin Helmersson; Olafsdóttir, Hildigunnur; Elekes, Zsuzsanna; Csemy, Ladislav; Knibbe, Ronald

2008-01-01

Evidence underlines the importance of drinking patterns and individual characteristics in experiencing adverse alcohol-related consequences; however, little research has been conducted to explore who does and who does not experience consequences with similar drinking patterns. Using data from seven European countries, this study assesses the association between demographic and socioeconomic characteristics and six adverse consequences. Conditional logistic regression models were estimated, cases (experiencing a consequence) being matched to controls (not experiencing the consequence) by drinking patterns. In general, protective effects with increasing age and being in a partnership were consistent. Gender effects were mixed, but mainly protective for women. Educational achievement and economic status showed consistent effects across countries, but different directions of effect across consequences. Consequences mostly associated with individual drinking pattern (injury, blackout, and loss of control over drinking) exhibited similar patterns of associations, but varying ones arose for consequences additionally influenced by societal reaction to drinking (guilt, role failure, and pressure to cut down drinking). Differences in strengths and directions of effects across consequences pointed to the possibility that the reporting of adverse consequences is not only influenced by alcohol consumption, but also by attributional processes related to demographic and socioeconomic statuses. Copyright 2008 S. Karger AG, Basel.

Integrated DEA models and grey system theory to evaluate past-to-future performance: a case of Indian electricity industry.

PubMed

Wang, Chia-Nan; Nguyen, Nhu-Ty; Tran, Thanh-Tuyen

2015-01-01

The growth of economy and population together with the higher demand in energy has created many concerns for the Indian electricity industry whose capacity is at 211 gigawatts mostly in coal-fired plants. Due to insufficient fuel supply, India suffers from a shortage of electricity generation, leading to rolling blackouts; thus, performance evaluation and ranking the industry turn into significant issues. By this study, we expect to evaluate the rankings of these companies under control of the Ministry of Power. Also, this research would like to test if there are any significant differences between the two DEA models: Malmquist nonradial and Malmquist radial. Then, one advance model of MPI would be chosen to see these companies' performance in recent years and next few years by using forecasting results of Grey system theory. Totally, the realistic data 14 are considered to be in this evaluation after the strict selection from the whole industry. The results found that all companies have not shown many abrupt changes on their scores, and it is always not consistently good or consistently standing out, which demonstrated the high applicable usability of the integrated methods. This integrated numerical research gives a better "past-present-future" insights into performance evaluation in Indian electricity industry.

Space Weather: What is it, and Why Should a Meteorologist Care?

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

SaintCyr, Chris; Murtagh, Bill

2008-01-01

"Space weather" is a term coined almost 15 years ago to describe environmental conditions ABOVE Earth's atmosphere that affect satellites and astronauts. As society has become more dependent on technology, we nave found that space weather conditions increasingly affect numerous commercial and infrastructure sectors: airline operations, the precision positioning industry, and the electric power grid, to name a few. Similar to meteorology where "weather" often refers to severe conditions, "space weather" includes geomagnetic storms, radiation storms, and radio blackouts. But almost all space weather conditions begin at the Sun--our middle-age, magnetically-variable star. At NASA, the science behind space weather takes place in the Heliophysics Division. The Space Weather Prediction Center in Boulder, Colorado, is manned jointly by NCAA and US Air Force personnel, and it provides space weather alerts and warnings for disturbances that can affect people and equipment working in space and on Earth. Organizationally, it resides in NOAA's National Weather Service as one of the National Centers for Environmental Prediction. In this seminar we hope to give the audience a brief introduction to the causes of space weather, discuss some of the effects, and describe the state of the art in forecasting. Our goal is to highlight that meteorologists are increasingly becoming the "first responders" to questions about space weather causes and effects.

Powering up with indirect reciprocity in a large-scale field experiment.

PubMed

Yoeli, Erez; Hoffman, Moshe; Rand, David G; Nowak, Martin A

2013-06-18

A defining aspect of human cooperation is the use of sophisticated indirect reciprocity. We observe others, talk about others, and act accordingly. We help those who help others, and we cooperate expecting that others will cooperate in return. Indirect reciprocity is based on reputation, which spreads by communication. A crucial aspect of indirect reciprocity is observability: reputation effects can support cooperation as long as peoples' actions can be observed by others. In evolutionary models of indirect reciprocity, natural selection favors cooperation when observability is sufficiently high. Complimenting this theoretical work are experiments where observability promotes cooperation among small groups playing games in the laboratory. Until now, however, there has been little evidence of observability's power to promote large-scale cooperation in real world settings. Here we provide such evidence using a field study involving 2413 subjects. We collaborated with a utility company to study participation in a program designed to prevent blackouts. We show that observability triples participation in this public goods game. The effect is over four times larger than offering a $25 monetary incentive, the company's previous policy. Furthermore, as predicted by indirect reciprocity, we provide evidence that reputational concerns are driving our observability effect. In sum, we show how indirect reciprocity can be harnessed to increase cooperation in a relevant, real-world public goods game.

The Planeterrella: an Analog Model for Teaching About the Invisible Electromagnetic Processes Driving Space Weather

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Masongsong, E. V.; Glesener, G. B.; Angelopoulos, V.; Lilensten, J.; Bingley, L.

2015-12-01

The Planeterrella can be used as an analog to help students visualize and understand the electromagnetic processes driving space weather that affect our daily lives. Solar storms and solar wind charged particles (plasma) cause "space weather" via their interaction with Earth's protective magnetic shield, the magnetosphere. The Planeterrella uses magnetized spheres in a vacuum chamber to demonstrate solar wind energy transfer to Earth and planets, with polar localization of aurora due to charged particles traveling along geomagnetic field lines. The Planeterrella provides a unique opportunity to experience and manipulate plasma, the dominant form of matter in our universe, yet seldom observable on Earth. Severe space weather events produce spectacular auroral displays as well as devastating consequences: radiation exposure to air and space travelers, prolonged radio blackouts, and damage to critical GPS and communications satellites. We will (1) discuss ways in which the Planeterrella may be most useful in classroom settings, including large lecture halls, laboratories, and small discussion sessions; (2) provide information on how instructors can produce their own Planeterrella for their courses; and (3) invite meeting attendees to engage in a discussion on how we might be able to improve on the current design of the Planeterrella, and how to reach students in more parts of the world.

Excessive Heat Events and National Security: Building Resilience based on Early Warning Systems

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Vintzileos, A.

2017-12-01

Excessive heat events (EHE) affect security of Nations in multiple direct and indirect ways. EHE are the top cause for morbidity/mortality associated to any atmospheric extremes. Higher energy consumption used for cooling can lead to black-outs and social disorder. EHE affect the food supply chain reducing crop yield and increasing the probability of food contamination during delivery and storage. Distribution of goods during EHE can be severely disrupted due to mechanical failure of transportation equipment. EHE during athletic events e.g., marathons, may result to a high number of casualties. Finally, EHE may also affect military planning by e.g. reducing hours of exercise and by altering combat gear. Early warning systems for EHE allow for building resilience. In this paper we first define EHE as at least two consecutive heat days; a heat day is defined as a day with a maximum heat index with probability of occurrence that exceeds a certain threshold. We then use retrospective forecasts performed with a multitude of operational models and show that it is feasible to forecast EHE at forecast lead of week-2 and week-3 over the contiguous United States. We finally introduce an improved definition of EHE based on an intensity index and investigate forecast skill of the predictive system in the tropics and subtropics.

Gallium poisoning: a rare case report.

PubMed

Ivanoff, Chris S; Ivanoff, Athena E; Hottel, Timothy L

2012-02-01

The authors present a case of a college student who suffered acute gallium poisoning as a result of accidental exposure to gallium halide complexes. This is extremely rare and has never been reported in the literature. Acute symptoms after the incident, which initially presented as dermatitis and appeared relatively not life-threatening, rapidly progressed to dangerous episodes of tachycardia, tremors, dyspnea, vertigo, and unexpected black-outs. Had there been effective emergency medical care protocols, diagnostic testing, treatment and antidotes, the latent manifestations of irreversible cardiomyopathy may have been prevented. Given how quickly exposure led to morbidity, this article aims to raise an awareness of the toxic potential of gallium. This has particular relevance for workers involved in the production of semiconductors where there is a potential for accidental exposure to gallium by-products during device processing. It may also have implications for dentists who use gallium alloys to replace mercury containing amalgam. In the absence of threshold limit values and exposure limits for humans, as well as emergency medical guidelines for treatment of poisoning, the case calls on the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health and the Occupational Safety and Health Administration to establish guidelines and medical management protocols specific for gallium. Copyright © 2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Studies on the transmission of sub-THz waves in magnetized inhomogeneous plasma sheath

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Yuan, Kai; Shen, Linfang; Yao, Ming; Deng, Xiaohua; Chen, Zhou; Hong, Lujun

2018-01-01

There have been many studies on the sub-terahertz (sub-THz) wave transmission in reentry plasma sheaths. However, only some of them have paid attention to the transmission of sub-THz waves in magnetized plasma sheaths. In this paper, the transmission of sub-THz waves in both unmagnetized and magnetized reentry plasma sheaths was investigated. The impacts of temporal evolution of the plasma sheath on the wave transmission were studied. The transmission of "atmospheric window" frequencies in a magnetized plasma sheath was discussed in detail. According to the study, the power transmission rates (Tp) for the left hand circular (LHC) and the right hand circular modes in the magnetized plasma sheath are obviously higher and lower than those in the unmagnetized plasma sheath, respectively. The Tp of LHC mode increases with both wave frequency and external magnetic field strength. Also, the Tp of LHC mode in both magnetized and unmagnetized plasma sheaths varies with time due to the temporal evolution of the plasma sheath. Moreover, the performance of sub-THz waves in magnetized plasma sheath hints at a new approach to the "blackout" problem. The new approach, which is in the capability of modern technology, is to utilize the communication system operating at 140 GHz with an onboard magnet installed near the antenna.

Integrated DEA Models and Grey System Theory to Evaluate Past-to-Future Performance: A Case of Indian Electricity Industry

PubMed Central

Wang, Chia-Nan; Tran, Thanh-Tuyen

2015-01-01

The growth of economy and population together with the higher demand in energy has created many concerns for the Indian electricity industry whose capacity is at 211 gigawatts mostly in coal-fired plants. Due to insufficient fuel supply, India suffers from a shortage of electricity generation, leading to rolling blackouts; thus, performance evaluation and ranking the industry turn into significant issues. By this study, we expect to evaluate the rankings of these companies under control of the Ministry of Power. Also, this research would like to test if there are any significant differences between the two DEA models: Malmquist nonradial and Malmquist radial. Then, one advance model of MPI would be chosen to see these companies' performance in recent years and next few years by using forecasting results of Grey system theory. Totally, the realistic data 14 are considered to be in this evaluation after the strict selection from the whole industry. The results found that all companies have not shown many abrupt changes on their scores, and it is always not consistently good or consistently standing out, which demonstrated the high applicable usability of the integrated methods. This integrated numerical research gives a better “past-present-future” insights into performance evaluation in Indian electricity industry. PMID:25821854

GUMICS-4 Year Run: Ground Magnetic Field Predictions

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Honkonen, I. J.; Viljanen, A.; Juusola, L.; Facsko, G.; Vanhamäki, H.

2013-12-01

Space weather can have severe effects even at ground level when Geomagnetically Induced Currents (GIC) disrupt power transmission networks, the worst case being a complete blackout affecting millions of people. The importance of space weather forecasting as well as the need for model improvement and validation has been recognized internationally. The recently concluded GUMICS-4 one year run, in which solar wind observations obtained from OMNIWeb for the period 2002-01-29 to 2003-02-02 were given as input to the model, will allow GUMICS to be validated against observations on an unprecedented scale. The performance of GUMICS can be quantified statistically, as a function of, for example, the solar wind driver, various geomagnetic indices, magnetic local time and other parameters. Here we concentrate on the ability of GUMICS to predict ground magnetic field observations for one year of simulated results. The ground magnetic field predictions are compared to observations of the mainland IMAGE magnetometer stations located at CGM latitudes 54-68 N. Furthermore the GIC derived from ground magnetic field predictions are compared to observations along the natural gas pipeline at Mäntsälä, South Finland. Various metrics are used to objectively evaluate the performance of GUMICS as a function of different parameters, thereby providing significant insight into the space weather forecasting ability of models based on first principles.

Energetic Particles in the Inner Heliosphere

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Malandraki, Olga

2016-07-01

Solar Energetic Particle (SEP) events are a key ingredient of Solar-Terrestrial Physics both for fundamental research and space weather applications. SEP events are the defining component of solar radiation storms, contribute to radio blackouts in polar regions and are related to many of the fastest Coronal Mass Ejections (CMEs) driving major geomagnetic storms. In addition to CMEs, SEPs are also related to flares. In this work, the current state of knowledge on the SEP field will be reviewed. Key issues to be covered and discussed include: the current understanding of the origin, acceleration and transport processes of SEPs at the Sun and in the inner heliosphere, lessons learned from multi-spacecraft SEP observations, statistical quantification of the comparison of solar events and SEP events of the current solar cycle 24 with previous solar cycles, causes of the solar-cycle variations in SEP fluencies and composition, theoretical work and current SEP acceleration models. Furthermore, the outstanding issues that constitute a knowledge gap in the field will be presented and discussed, as well as future directions and expected advances from the observational and modeling perspective, also in view of the unique observations provided by the upcoming Solar Orbiter and Solar Probe Plus missions. Acknowledgement: This project has received funding from the European Union's Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under grant agreement No 637324.

Pyroelectric Energy Scavenging Techniques for Self-Powered Nuclear Reactor Wireless Sensor Networks

DOE PAGES

Hunter, Scott Robert; Lavrik, Nickolay V; Datskos, Panos G; ...

2014-11-01

Recent advances in technologies for harvesting waste thermal energy from ambient environments present an opportunity to implement truly wireless sensor nodes in nuclear power plants. These sensors could continue to operate during extended station blackouts and during periods when operation of the plant s internal power distribution system has been disrupted. The energy required to power the wireless sensors must be generated using energy harvesting techniques from locally available energy sources, and the energy consumption within the sensor circuitry must therefore be low to minimize power and hence the size requirements of the energy harvester. Harvesting electrical energy from thermalmore » energy sources can be achieved using pyroelectric or thermoelectric conversion techniques. Recent modeling and experimental studies have shown that pyroelectric techniques can be cost competitive with thermoelectrics in self powered wireless sensor applications and, using new temperature cycling techniques, has the potential to be several times as efficient as thermoelectrics under comparable operating conditions. The development of a new thermal energy harvester concept, based on temperature cycled pyroelectric thermal-to-electrical energy conversion, is outlined. This paper outlines the modeling of cantilever and pyroelectric structures and single element devices that demonstrate the potential of this technology for the development of high efficiency thermal-to-electrical energy conversion devices.« less

The Scenario of the Potential Analysis Alternative Energy in Order to Strengthening District's Energy Resilience (The Case Study in South Sumatera Province)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ferry Muhrom, Muhammad; Ronny Rahman Nitibaskara, Tb; Herdiansyah, Herdis; Sari, Ravita

2017-10-01

The current development of fossil energy, which is the driving force of the economy in Indonesia, is a non-renewable energy and is in need to know when it will be exhausted so it may be replaced with renewable energy. Many powerplant systems in Indonesia are still using conventional system that utilizes fossil energy as the primary energy in the process of electricity generation. The occurrence of electrical energy crisis is marked by several electricity blackout phenomenon in some areas in South Sumatera province rotately, which is the proof that the installed power capacity has exceeded the capacity of generation power. Interconnection among several islands, namely Java Island, Sumatera Island, and Bali Island which has been interconnected with closed loop system through transmission network has not been able to overcome the electrical energy crisis. This paper aims to create alternative energy potential scenarios in the province of South Sumatera in sequence/ranking by using quantitative methods with sequential explanatory model formulated in the determination of alternative energy strategies then analyzed by using Analitycal Hierarchy Process(AHP) method. The simulation results from this research indicate that geothermal energy potentials get the highest value so that it becomes the priority of alternative energy strategy in South Sumatera Province.

Pyroelectric Energy Scavenging Techniques for Self-Powered Nuclear Reactor Wireless Sensor Networks

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Hunter, Scott Robert; Lavrik, Nickolay V; Datskos, Panos G

Recent advances in technologies for harvesting waste thermal energy from ambient environments present an opportunity to implement truly wireless sensor nodes in nuclear power plants. These sensors could continue to operate during extended station blackouts and during periods when operation of the plant s internal power distribution system has been disrupted. The energy required to power the wireless sensors must be generated using energy harvesting techniques from locally available energy sources, and the energy consumption within the sensor circuitry must therefore be low to minimize power and hence the size requirements of the energy harvester. Harvesting electrical energy from thermalmore » energy sources can be achieved using pyroelectric or thermoelectric conversion techniques. Recent modeling and experimental studies have shown that pyroelectric techniques can be cost competitive with thermoelectrics in self powered wireless sensor applications and, using new temperature cycling techniques, has the potential to be several times as efficient as thermoelectrics under comparable operating conditions. The development of a new thermal energy harvester concept, based on temperature cycled pyroelectric thermal-to-electrical energy conversion, is outlined. This paper outlines the modeling of cantilever and pyroelectric structures and single element devices that demonstrate the potential of this technology for the development of high efficiency thermal-to-electrical energy conversion devices.« less

Results of a Demonstration Assessment of Passive System Reliability Utilizing the Reliability Method for Passive Systems (RMPS)

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Bucknor, Matthew; Grabaskas, David; Brunett, Acacia

2015-04-26

Advanced small modular reactor designs include many advantageous design features such as passively driven safety systems that are arguably more reliable and cost effective relative to conventional active systems. Despite their attractiveness, a reliability assessment of passive systems can be difficult using conventional reliability methods due to the nature of passive systems. Simple deviations in boundary conditions can induce functional failures in a passive system, and intermediate or unexpected operating modes can also occur. As part of an ongoing project, Argonne National Laboratory is investigating various methodologies to address passive system reliability. The Reliability Method for Passive Systems (RMPS), amore » systematic approach for examining reliability, is one technique chosen for this analysis. This methodology is combined with the Risk-Informed Safety Margin Characterization (RISMC) approach to assess the reliability of a passive system and the impact of its associated uncertainties. For this demonstration problem, an integrated plant model of an advanced small modular pool-type sodium fast reactor with a passive reactor cavity cooling system is subjected to a station blackout using RELAP5-3D. This paper discusses important aspects of the reliability assessment, including deployment of the methodology, the uncertainty identification and quantification process, and identification of key risk metrics.« less

SOLAR COSMIC RAYS AND SOFT RADIATION OBSERVED AT 5,000,000 KILOMETERS FROM EARTH

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Arnoldy, R.L.; Hoffman, R.A.; Winckler, J.R.

1960-09-01

During the period Mar. 27 to Apr. 6, 1960, the integrating ionization chamber and Geiger counter in Pioneer V detected solar cosmic rays and some soft- radiation effects associated with a high level of solar activity. The space probe was 5 x 10/sup 6/ km from the earth, approximately in the plane of the ecliptic, and located somewhat behind the sunearth radius toward the sun. The solar activity was associated with McMath plage region 5615 and was characterized by numerous flares of all sizes, large loops and surge prominences, and strong emission over a wide range of frequencies. On Mar.more » 31 at 0800 UT, a severe geomagnetic storm began on earth accompanied by major earth-current disturbances, a complete blackout of the North Atlantic communications channel, and auroral displays. At the same time, a large Forbush decrease occurred in the galactic cosmic radiation. An intense series of balloon flights was conducted to record the counting-rate increases at high altitudes due to solar cosmic rays and auroral x rays. Explorer VII showed substantial changes in the radiation belts and detected the solar cosmic rays. The observations of Pioneer V are summarized and compared to the findings of Explorer VII for the same period. (B.O.G.)« less

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Bucknor, Matthew; Grabaskas, David; Brunett, Acacia J.

We report that many advanced reactor designs rely on passive systems to fulfill safety functions during accident sequences. These systems depend heavily on boundary conditions to induce a motive force, meaning the system can fail to operate as intended because of deviations in boundary conditions, rather than as the result of physical failures. Furthermore, passive systems may operate in intermediate or degraded modes. These factors make passive system operation difficult to characterize within a traditional probabilistic framework that only recognizes discrete operating modes and does not allow for the explicit consideration of time-dependent boundary conditions. Argonne National Laboratory has beenmore » examining various methodologies for assessing passive system reliability within a probabilistic risk assessment for a station blackout event at an advanced small modular reactor. This paper provides an overview of a passive system reliability demonstration analysis for an external event. Considering an earthquake with the possibility of site flooding, the analysis focuses on the behavior of the passive Reactor Cavity Cooling System following potential physical damage and system flooding. The assessment approach seeks to combine mechanistic and simulation-based methods to leverage the benefits of the simulation-based approach without the need to substantially deviate from conventional probabilistic risk assessment techniques. Lastly, although this study is presented as only an example analysis, the results appear to demonstrate a high level of reliability of the Reactor Cavity Cooling System (and the reactor system in general) for the postulated transient event.« less

The probability of containment failure by direct containment heating in Zion. Supplement 1

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Pilch, M.M.; Allen, M.D.; Stamps, D.W.

1994-12-01

Supplement 1 of NUREG/CR-6075 brings to closure the DCH issue for the Zion plant. It includes the documentation of the peer review process for NUREG/CR-6075, the assessments of four new splinter scenarios defined in working group meetings, and modeling enhancements recommended by the working groups. In the four new scenarios, consistency of the initial conditions has been implemented by using insights from systems-level codes. SCDAP/RELAP5 was used to analyze three short-term station blackout cases with Different lead rates. In all three case, the hot leg or surge line failed well before the lower head and thus the primary system depressurizedmore » to a point where DCH was no longer considered a threat. However, these calculations were continued to lower head failure in order to gain insights that were useful in establishing the initial and boundary conditions. The most useful insights are that the RCS pressure is-low at vessel breach metallic blockages in the core region do not melt and relocate into the lower plenum, and melting of upper plenum steel is correlated with hot leg failure. THE SCDAP/RELAP output was used as input to CONTAIN to assess the containment conditions at vessel breach. The containment-side conditions predicted by CONTAIN are similar to those originally specified in NUREG/CR-6075.« less

Recent plant studies using Victoria 2.0

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

BIXLER,NATHAN E.; GASSER,RONALD D.

2000-03-08

VICTORIA 2.0 is a mechanistic computer code designed to analyze fission product behavior within the reactor coolant system (RCS) during a severe nuclear reactor accident. It provides detailed predictions of the release of radioactive and nonradioactive materials from the reactor core and transport and deposition of these materials within the RCS and secondary circuits. These predictions account for the chemical and aerosol processes that affect radionuclide behavior. VICTORIA 2.0 was released in early 1999; a new version VICTORIA 2.1, is now under development. The largest improvements in VICTORIA 2.1 are connected with the thermochemical database, which is being revised andmore » expanded following the recommendations of a peer review. Three risk-significant severe accident sequences have recently been investigated using the VICTORIA 2.0 code. The focus here is on how various chemistry options affect the predictions. Additionally, the VICTORIA predictions are compared with ones made using the MELCOR code. The three sequences are a station blackout in a GE BWR and steam generator tube rupture (SGTR) and pump-seal LOCA sequences in a 3-loop Westinghouse PWR. These sequences cover a range of system pressures, from fully depressurized to full system pressure. The chief results of this study are the fission product fractions that are retained in the core, RCS, secondary, and containment and the fractions that are released into the environment.« less

Influence of Dust Loading on Atmospheric Ionizing Radiation on Mars

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Norman, Ryan B.; Gronoff, Guillaume; Mertens, Christopher J.

2014-01-01

Measuring the radiation environment at the surface of Mars is the primary goal of the Radiation Assessment Detector on the NASA Mars Science Laboratory's Curiosity rover. One of the conditions that Curiosity will likely encounter is a dust storm. The objective of this paper is to compute the cosmic ray ionization in different conditions, including dust storms, as these various conditions are likely to be encountered by Curiosity at some point. In the present work, the Nowcast of Atmospheric Ionizing Radiation for Aviation Safety model, recently modified for Mars, was used along with the Badhwar & O'Neill 2010 galactic cosmic ray model. In addition to galactic cosmic rays, five different solar energetic particle event spectra were considered. For all input radiation environments, radiation dose throughout the atmosphere and at the surface was investigated as a function of atmospheric dust loading. It is demonstrated that for galactic cosmic rays, the ionization depends strongly on the atmosphere profile. Moreover, it is shown that solar energetic particle events strongly increase the ionization throughout the atmosphere, including ground level, and can account for the radio blackout conditions observed by the Mars Advanced Radar for Subsurface and Ionospheric Sounding instrument on the Mars Express spacecraft. These results demonstrate that the cosmic rays' influence on the Martian surface chemistry is strongly dependent on solar and atmospheric conditions that should be taken into account for future studies.

[When and how is medical teleconsultation to doctors practising in remote areas of developing countries convenient and reliable? About eight clinical cases].

PubMed

Campanella, Nando; Francioni, Orestina; Taus, Marina; Giovagnoli, Moreno; Morosini, Pierpaolo

2004-01-01

A poorly equipped internal medicine doctor (IMD), practising in remote areas of developing countries, can be assisted with expertise teleconsultations by using the common analogical telephone lines. By that way, the clinical cases he challenges became multidisciplinary and the success of the treatment enhanced. Eight cases are reported as examples. The expertise is made up by eight remote-access experts on different medical fields. The effectiveness of the support of the consultants is compared one to the other. In laboratory, dermatology and, partly, cyto-pathology fields the teleconsultations are reliable and not time-consuming, for the key tool is the digital picture sent by e-mailing. In cardiology (heart ultrasound scan) and radiology fields both effectiveness and benefit-cost ratio are disputable. Heart ultrasound scan is a dynamic test and filming is needed to provide the consultant with good records. In radiology field, the upper digestive tract X-ray scan is usually carried out with few shots, due to the unsustainable charges on the patient. That matter impairs the consultant's effectiveness to support. Although the black-outs of the transmission were common throughout IMD-consultant videoconferences, the physical examination of the patient, performed by the IMC under consultant's direct supervision, is highly supportive both in neurology and paediatric fields. The physiotherapist's show of physical rehabilitation exercises by videoconference is highly supportive as well.

Substance use, sexual behaviour and prevention strategies of Vancouver gay and bisexual men who recently attended group sex events.

PubMed

Rich, Ashleigh J; Lachowsky, Nathan J; Cui, Zishan; Sereda, Paul; Lal, Allan; Birch, Robert; Montaner, Julio; Moore, David; Hogg, Robert S; Roth, Eric A

2016-01-01

Group sex events are an epidemiologically important part of some gay and bisexual men's sexual culture in Canada. Associated with condomless anal intercourse and polysubstance use, such events have been cited as disproportionally contributing to HIV infection rates. We analysed questionnaire data from the Momentum Health Study in Vancouver, Canada, to understand substance use, sexual behaviour, psychosocial variables (Sexual Sensation Seeking, Sexual Escape Motivation, Treatment Optimism) and HIV prevention strategies (sero-sorting, strategic positioning, avoiding anal sex, disclosure, treatment as prevention) of men attending such events, which were defined as group (n ≥ 4 partners) sex parties, blackout events and darkrooms. Analysis by multivariable logistic regression compared men attending group sex events within the past six months (n = 180) with non-attendees (n = 539). Results showed that attendees reported: (1) significantly higher use of sex drugs and alcohol consumption, (2) higher scores on the Sexual Sensation Scale, more anal sex partners, greater odds of any condomless anal sex with sero-discordant partners and greater odds of reporting fisting and sex toy use and (3) different prevention practices that varied by HIV-serostatus. Findings are interpreted in light of the importance of pleasure, sociality and HIV/STI prevention strategies associated with group sex events. Findings contribute to the development of appropriate education and intervention for attendees.

Real-time determination of the efficacy of residual disinfection to limit wastewater contamination in a water distribution system using filtration-based luminescence.

PubMed

Lee, Jiyoung; Deininger, Rolf A

2010-05-01

Water distribution systems can be vulnerable to microbial contamination through cross-connections, wastewater backflow, the intrusion of soiled water after a loss of pressure resulting from an electricity blackout, natural disaster, or intentional contamination of the system in a bioterrrorism event. The most urgent matter a water treatment utility would face in this situation is detecting the presence and extent of a contamination event in real-time, so that immediate action can be taken to mitigate the problem. The current approved microbiological detection methods are culture-based plate count methods, which require incubation time (1 to 7 days). This long period of time would not be useful for the protection of public health. This study was designed to simulate wastewater intrusion in a water distribution system. The objectives were 2-fold: (1) real-time detection of water contamination, and (2) investigation of the sustainability of drinking water systems to suppress the contamination with secondary disinfectant residuals (chlorine and chloramine). The events of drinking water contamination resulting from a wastewater addition were determined by filtration-based luminescence assay. The water contamination was detected by luminescence method within 5 minutes. The signal amplification attributed to wastewater contamination was clear-102-fold signal increase. After 1 hour, chlorinated water could inactivate 98.8% of the bacterial contaminant, while chloraminated water reduced 77.2%.

Ionospheric Effects of X-Ray Solar Bursts in the Brazilian Sector

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Becker-Guedes, F.; Takahashi, H.; Costa, J. E.; Otsuka, Y.

2011-12-01

When the solar X-ray flux in the interplanetary medium reaches values above a certain threshold, some undesired effects affecting radio communications are expected. Basically, the magnitudes of these effects depend on the X-ray peak brightness and duration, which drive the intensity of the ionosphere response when the associated electromagnetic wave hit the sunlit side of the Earth atmosphere. An important aspect defining the severity of damages to HF radio communications and LF navigation signals in a certain area is the local time when each event takes place. In order to create more accurate warnings referred to possible radio signal loss or degradation in the Brazilian sector, we analyze TEC maps obtained by a GPS network, formed by dual-frequency receivers spread all over the country, to observe ionospheric local changes during several X-ray events in the 0.1-0.8 nm range measured by GOES satellite. Considering the duration, peak brightness, and local time of the events, the final purpose of this study is to understand and predict the degree of changes suffered by the ionosphere during these X-ray bursts. We intend using these results to create a radio blackout warning product to be offered by the Brazilian space weather program named EMBRACE (Estudo e Monitoramento BRAsileiro do Clima Espacial): Brazilian Monitoring and Study of Space Weather.

Using paid mass media to teach the warning signs of stroke: the long and the short of it.

PubMed

Hodgson, Corinne; Lindsay, Patrice; Rubini, Frank

2009-04-01

Stroke is a major cause of morbidity and mortality and rapid treatment is critical to patient outcomes. This paper looks at the effect of paid television advertising campaigns upon the general public's knowledge of the warning signs of stroke and emergency department (ED) stroke presentations. Data for the study includes results of nine random-digit dialing telephone surveys conducted among Ontario adults aged 45 and over. The mean number of ED presentations for all strokes and for transient ischemic attacks (TIA) were obtained from the Registry of the Canadian Stroke Network (RCSN). Polls indicated that long advertising campaigns were associated with significant increases in the public's knowledge of stroke warning signs, while shorter campaigns were associated with much smaller increases. Time (as represented by month) was the single most important factor determining the mean number of ED presentations for total stroke but was not for TIAs. Campaign status (on or off the air) had a strong and significant effect on ED presentations when the advertising campaigns were long; when the advertising campaigns were shortened, there was no campaign effect. Long, intermittent campaigns are effective in increasing the public's awareness of the warning signs of stroke and may have a significant effect on ED presentations for stroke and TIA. Public awareness of stroke warning signs declines during advertising black-outs, so short campaigns are less effective.

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Makarov, Yuri V.; Du, Pengwei; Etingov, Pavel V.

The document titled “WECC Variable Generation Planning Reference Book”. This book is divided into two volumes; one is the main document (volume 1)and the other is appendices (volume 2). The main document is a collection of the best practices and the information regarding the application and impact of variables generation on power system planning. This volume (appendices) has additional information on the following topics: Probabilistic load flow problems. 2. Additional useful indices. 3. high-impact low-frequency (HILF) events. 4. Examples of wide-area nomograms. 5. Transmission line ratings, types of dynamic rating methods. 6. Relative costs per MW-km of different electric powermore » transmission technologies. 7. Ultra-high voltage (UHV) transmission. 8.High voltage direct current (VSC-HVDC). 9. HVDC. 10. Rewiring of existing transmission lines. 11. High-temperature low sag (HTLS) conductors. 12. The direct method and energy functions for transient stability analysis in power systems. 13.Blackouts caused by voltage instability. 14. Algorithm for parameter continuation predictor-corrector methods. 15. Approximation techniques available for security regions. 16. Impacts of wind power on power system small signals stability. 17. FIDVR. 18. FACTS. 19. European planning standard and practices. 20. International experience in wind and solar energy sources. 21. Western Renewable Energy Zones (WREZ). 22. various energy storage technologies. 23. demand response. 24. BA consolidation and cooperation options. 25. generator power management requirements and 26. European planning guidelines.« less

Comorbid post-traumatic stress disorder in alcohol use disorder: relationships to demography, drinking and neuroimmune profile.

PubMed

Neupane, Sudan Prasad; Bramness, Jørgen G; Lien, Lars

2017-08-29

This study examined how alcohol use disorder (AUD) patients with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) differed from those without PTSD in terms of demography, drinking patterns and C-reactive protein, inflammatory cytokines, tryptophan metabolism parameters, and brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF). A consecutive sample (N = 187) of treatment-receiving AUD individuals were recruited from Nepalese facilities. They underwent fully structured psychiatric interviews. Serum levels of inflammatory cytokines [interleukin (IL)-6, IL-1 Receptor antagonist (IL-1Ra), IL-10, tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-α), and interferon-gamma (IFN-γ)] were determined by a multiplex assay, kynurenine and tryptophan levels by high-performance liquid chromatography, and BDNF by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). The prevalence of exposure to severe trauma and PTSD was 74% and 17%, respectively. PTSD comorbidity was not associated with age, gender, or socioeconomic status, but with co-occurring major depression, history of attempted suicide, earlier peak of drinking problems, higher drinking quantity and withdrawal symptoms, experiencing alcoholic blackouts, and drinking problems among parents. None of the assessed neuroimmune parameters was related to comorbid PTSD. The findings support routine trauma screening in AUD treatment samples and screening for risky drinking in trauma populations to help guide interventions. The expected aberrations in neuroimmune functioning may not be found when examined in a sample with multiple psychiatric morbidities.

Powering up with indirect reciprocity in a large-scale field experiment

PubMed Central

Yoeli, Erez; Hoffman, Moshe; Rand, David G.; Nowak, Martin A.

2013-01-01

A defining aspect of human cooperation is the use of sophisticated indirect reciprocity. We observe others, talk about others, and act accordingly. We help those who help others, and we cooperate expecting that others will cooperate in return. Indirect reciprocity is based on reputation, which spreads by communication. A crucial aspect of indirect reciprocity is observability: reputation effects can support cooperation as long as peoples’ actions can be observed by others. In evolutionary models of indirect reciprocity, natural selection favors cooperation when observability is sufficiently high. Complimenting this theoretical work are experiments where observability promotes cooperation among small groups playing games in the laboratory. Until now, however, there has been little evidence of observability’s power to promote large-scale cooperation in real world settings. Here we provide such evidence using a field study involving 2413 subjects. We collaborated with a utility company to study participation in a program designed to prevent blackouts. We show that observability triples participation in this public goods game. The effect is over four times larger than offering a $25 monetary incentive, the company’s previous policy. Furthermore, as predicted by indirect reciprocity, we provide evidence that reputational concerns are driving our observability effect. In sum, we show how indirect reciprocity can be harnessed to increase cooperation in a relevant, real-world public goods game. PMID:23754399

Did Geomagnetic Activity Challenge Electric Power Reliability During Solar Cycle 23? Evidence from the PJM Regional Transmission Organization in North America

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Forbes, Kevin F.; Cyr, Chris St

2012-01-01

During solar cycle 22, a very intense geomagnetic storm on 13 March 1989 contributed to the collapse of the Hydro-Quebec power system in Canada. This event clearly demonstrated that geomagnetic storms have the potential to lead to blackouts. This paper addresses whether geomagnetic activity challenged power system reliability during solar cycle 23. Operations by PJM Interconnection, LLC (hereafter PJM), a regional transmission organization in North America, are examined over the period 1 April 2002 through 30 April 2004. During this time PJM coordinated the movement of wholesale electricity in all or parts of Delaware, Maryland, New Jersey, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Virginia, West Virginia, and the District of Columbia in the United States. We examine the relationship between a proxy of geomagnetically induced currents (GICs) and a metric of challenged reliability. In this study, GICs are proxied using magnetometer data from a geomagnetic observatory located just outside the PJM control area. The metric of challenged reliability is the incidence of out-of-economic-merit order dispatching due to adverse reactive power conditions. The statistical methods employed make it possible to disentangle the effects of GICs on power system operations from purely terrestrial factors. The results of the analysis indicate that geomagnetic activity can significantly increase the likelihood that the system operator will dispatch generating units based on system stability considerations rather than economic merit.

Residential air-conditioning and climate change: voices of the vulnerable.

PubMed

Farbotko, Carol; Waitt, Gordon

2011-12-01

Decreasing the risk of heat-stress is an imperative in health promotion, and is widely accepted as necessary for successful adaptation to climate change. Less well understood are the vulnerabilities that air-conditioning use exacerbates, and conversely, the need for the promotion of alternative strategies for coping with heat wave conditions. This paper considers these issues with a focus on the role of air-conditioning in the everyday life of elderly public housing tenants living alone, a sector of the population that has been identified as being at high risk of suffering heat stress. A vulnerability analysis of domestic air-conditioning use, drawing on literature and policy on air-conditioning practices and ethnographic research with households. Residential air-conditioning exacerbated existing inequities. Case studies of two specifically selected low-income elderly single person households revealed that such households were unlikely to be able to afford this 'solution' to increasing exposure to heat waves in the absence of energy subsidies. Residential air-conditioning use during heat waves caused unintended side-effects, such as system-wide blackouts, which, in turn, led to escalating electricity costs as power companies responded by upgrading infrastructure to cope with periods of excess demand. Air-conditioning also contributed to emissions that cause climate change. Residential air-conditioning is a potentially maladaptive technology for reducing the risk of heat stress.

Thermographic Inspections Save Skins and Prevent Blackouts

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

2003-01-01

Scanning thermography involves heating a component s surface and subsequently measuring the surface temperature, using an infrared camera to identify structural defects such as corrosion and disbonding. It is a completely noninvasive and noncontacting process. Scans can detect defects in conventional metals and plastics, as well as in bonded aluminum composites, plastic- and resinbased composites, and laminated structures. The apparatus used for scanning is highly portable and can cover the surface of a test material up to six times faster than conventional thermography. NASA scientists affirm that the technology is an invaluable asset to the airlines, detecting potential defects that can cause structural failure.In 1996, ThermTech Services, Inc., of Stuart, Florida, approached NASA in an effort to evaluate the technology for application in the power and process industries, where corrosion is of serious concern. ThermTech Services proceeded to develop the application for inspecting boiler waterwall tubing at fossil-fueled electric-generating stations. In 1999, ThermTech purchased the rights to NASA s patented technology and developed the specialized equipment required to apply the inspecting method to power plant components. The ThermTech robotic system using NASA technology has proved to be extremely successful and cost effective in performing detailed inspections of large structures such as boiler waterwalls and aboveground chemical storage tanks. It is capable of inspecting a waterwall, tank-wall, or other large surfaces at a rate of approximately 10 square feet per minute or faster.

Cellular computational generalized neuron network for frequency situational intelligence in a multi-machine power system.

PubMed

Wei, Yawei; Venayagamoorthy, Ganesh Kumar

2017-09-01

To prevent large interconnected power system from a cascading failure, brownout or even blackout, grid operators require access to faster than real-time information to make appropriate just-in-time control decisions. However, the communication and computational system limitations of currently used supervisory control and data acquisition (SCADA) system can only deliver delayed information. However, the deployment of synchrophasor measurement devices makes it possible to capture and visualize, in near-real-time, grid operational data with extra granularity. In this paper, a cellular computational network (CCN) approach for frequency situational intelligence (FSI) in a power system is presented. The distributed and scalable computing unit of the CCN framework makes it particularly flexible for customization for a particular set of prediction requirements. Two soft-computing algorithms have been implemented in the CCN framework: a cellular generalized neuron network (CCGNN) and a cellular multi-layer perceptron network (CCMLPN), for purposes of providing multi-timescale frequency predictions, ranging from 16.67 ms to 2 s. These two developed CCGNN and CCMLPN systems were then implemented on two different scales of power systems, one of which installed a large photovoltaic plant. A real-time power system simulator at weather station within the Real-Time Power and Intelligent Systems (RTPIS) laboratory at Clemson, SC, was then used to derive typical FSI results. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

The application of mobile satellite services to emergency response communications

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Freibaum, J.

1980-01-01

The application of an integrated satellite/terrestrial emergency response communications system in disaster relief operations is discussed. Large area coverage communications capability, full-time availability, a high degree of mobility, plus reliability, are pointed out as criteria for an effective emergency communications system. Response time is seen as a major factor determining the possible survival and/or protection of property. These criteria, can not be met by existing communications systems and complete blackouts were experienced during the past decades caused by either interruption or destruction of existing power lines, and overload or inadequacy of remaining lines. Several emergency cases, caused by either hurricanes, tornados, or floods, during which communication via satellite was instrumental to inform rescue and relief teams, are described in detail. Seismic Risk Maps and charts of Major Tectonic Plates Earthquake Epicenters are given, and it is noted that, 35 percent of the U.S. population is living in critical areas. National and international agreements for the implementation of a satellite-aided global Search and Rescue Program is mentioned. Technological and economic breakthroughs are still needed in large multibeam antennas, switching circuits, and low cost mobile ground terminals. A pending plan of NASA to initiate a multiservice program in 1982/83, with a Land Mobile Satellite capability operating in the 806 - 890 MHz band as a major element, may help to accelerate the needed breakthroughs.

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Walston, S; Rowland, M; Campbell, K

It is difficult to track to the location of a melted core in a GE BWR with Mark I containment during a beyond-design-basis accident. The Cooper Nuclear Station provided a baseline of normal material distributions and shielding configurations for the GE BWR with Mark I containment. Starting with source terms for a design-basis accident, methods and remote observation points were investigated to allow tracking of a melted core during a beyond-design-basis accident. The design of the GE BWR with Mark-I containment highlights an amazing poverty of expectations regarding a common mode failure of all reactor core cooling systems resulting inmore » a beyond-design-basis accident from the simple loss of electric power. This design is shown in Figure 1. The station blackout accident scenario has been consistently identified as the leading contributor to calculated probabilities for core damage. While NRC-approved models and calculations provide guidance for indirect methods to assess core damage during a beyond-design-basis loss-of-coolant accident (LOCA), there appears to be no established method to track the location of the core directly should the LOCA include a degree of fuel melt. We came to the conclusion that - starting with detailed calculations which estimate the release and movement of gaseous and soluble fission products from the fuel - selected dose readings in specific rooms of the reactor building should allow the location of the core to be verified.« less

Answer to the dynamic (fretting effect) and static (oxide) behavior of electric contact surfaces: based on a five-year infrared thermographic study

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Paez-Leon, Cristobal D.; Patino, Antonio R.; Aguillon, Luis

1991-03-01

This paper describes the results of a five-year study carried out in 38 power substations (230, 115, 34.5 and 13.8 Kv), located in the Western power electric system of CADAFE (Venezuela's national Electric Utility). A total of 154 hot spots were found between 1980 and 1982, a time span considered a reliable source of information in connection with methodology, term and results. The distribution of hot spots found during those years was 77, 33 and 44. The reduction of the spot/substation parameter was found to be 4.1, 3.3 and 3.1, respectively. Every item detected could have been the cause of major interruptions, locally and regionally, or even the system's blackout. The methodology used to determine the major concentration of findings and their location on the equipment, followed the sequence of Pareto's Diagram and Ishikawa's Graphic. Based on the results of the study whose results are presented here, a lubricant and compound-aid connector for Al-Al and bimetallic electric connections was formulated, developed, manufactured, tested (at IREQ laboratories) and traded (CONECTECH CAC- 01). To date, the whole process represents 12 years of work. The connector's behavior and reliability are being tested throughout Venezuela's national electric system (responsible for the supply of around 50,000 Gwh/year) with the use of 12 Tons of CONECTECH CAC-01.

Severe Accident Scoping Simulations of Accident Tolerant Fuel Concepts for BWRs

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Robb, Kevin R.

2015-08-01

Accident-tolerant fuels (ATFs) are fuels and/or cladding that, in comparison with the standard uranium dioxide Zircaloy system, can tolerate loss of active cooling in the core for a considerably longer time period while maintaining or improving the fuel performance during normal operations [1]. It is important to note that the currently used uranium dioxide Zircaloy fuel system tolerates design basis accidents (and anticipated operational occurrences and normal operation) as prescribed by the US Nuclear Regulatory Commission. Previously, preliminary simulations of the plant response have been performed under a range of accident scenarios using various ATF cladding concepts and fully ceramicmore » microencapsulated fuel. Design basis loss of coolant accidents (LOCAs) and station blackout (SBO) severe accidents were analyzed at Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) for boiling water reactors (BWRs) [2]. Researchers have investigated the effects of thermal conductivity on design basis accidents [3], investigated silicon carbide (SiC) cladding [4], as well as the effects of ATF concepts on the late stage accident progression [5]. These preliminary analyses were performed to provide initial insight into the possible improvements that ATF concepts could provide and to identify issues with respect to modeling ATF concepts. More recently, preliminary analyses for a range of ATF concepts have been evaluated internationally for LOCA and severe accident scenarios for the Chinese CPR1000 [6] and the South Korean OPR-1000 [7] pressurized water reactors (PWRs). In addition to these scoping studies, a common methodology and set of performance metrics were developed to compare and support prioritizing ATF concepts [8]. A proposed ATF concept is based on iron-chromium-aluminum alloys (FeCrAl) [9]. With respect to enhancing accident tolerance, FeCrAl alloys have substantially slower oxidation kinetics compared to the zirconium alloys typically employed. During a severe accident, FeCrAl would tend to generate heat and hydrogen from oxidation at a slower rate compared to the zirconium-based alloys in use today. The previous study, [2], of the FeCrAl ATF concept during station blackout (SBO) severe accident scenarios in BWRs was based on simulating short term SBO (STSBO), long term SBO (LTSBO), and modified SBO scenarios occurring in a BWR-4 reactor with MARK-I containment. The analysis indicated that FeCrAl had the potential to delay the onset of fuel failure by a few hours depending on the scenario, and it could delay lower head failure by several hours. The analysis demonstrated reduced in-vessel hydrogen production. However, the work was preliminary and was based on limited knowledge of material properties for FeCrAl. Limitations of the MELCOR code were identified for direct use in modeling ATF concepts. This effort used an older version of MELCOR (1.8.5). Since these analyses, the BWR model has been updated for use in MELCOR 1.8.6 [10], and more representative material properties for FeCrAl have been modeled. Sections 2 4 present updated analyses for the FeCrAl ATF concept response during severe accidents in a BWR. The purpose of the study is to estimate the potential gains afforded by the FeCrAl ATF concept during BWR SBO scenarios.« less

Advanced Reactor Passive System Reliability Demonstration Analysis for an External Event

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Bucknor, Matthew D.; Grabaskas, David; Brunett, Acacia J.

2016-01-01

Many advanced reactor designs rely on passive systems to fulfill safety functions during accident sequences. These systems depend heavily on boundary conditions to induce a motive force, meaning the system can fail to operate as intended due to deviations in boundary conditions, rather than as the result of physical failures. Furthermore, passive systems may operate in intermediate or degraded modes. These factors make passive system operation difficult to characterize within a traditional probabilistic framework that only recognizes discrete operating modes and does not allow for the explicit consideration of time-dependent boundary conditions. Argonne National Laboratory has been examining various methodologiesmore » for assessing passive system reliability within a probabilistic risk assessment for a station blackout event at an advanced small modular reactor. This paper provides an overview of a passive system reliability demonstration analysis for an external event. Centering on an earthquake with the possibility of site flooding, the analysis focuses on the behavior of the passive reactor cavity cooling system following potential physical damage and system flooding. The assessment approach seeks to combine mechanistic and simulation-based methods to leverage the benefits of the simulation-based approach without the need to substantially deviate from conventional probabilistic risk assessment techniques. While this study is presented as only an example analysis, the results appear to demonstrate a high level of reliability for the reactor cavity cooling system (and the reactor system in general) to the postulated transient event.« less

Investigation of Containment Flooding Strategy for Mark-III Nuclear Power Plant with MAAP4

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Su Weinian; Wang, S.-J.; Chiang, S.-C

2005-06-15

Containment flooding is an important strategy for severe accident management of a conventional boiling water reactor (BWR) system. The purpose of this work is to investigate the containment flooding strategy of the Mark-III system after a reactor pressure vessel (RPV) breach. The Kuosheng Power Plant is a typical BWR-6 nuclear power plant (NPP) with Mark-III containment. The Severe Accident Management Guideline (SAMG) of the Kuosheng NPP has been developed based on the BWR Owners Group (BWROG) Emergency Procedure and Severe Accident Guidelines, Rev. 2. Therefore, the Kuosheng NPP is selected as the plant for study, and the MAAP4 code ismore » chosen as the tool for analysis. A postulated specific station blackout sequence for the Kuosheng NPP is cited as a reference case for this analysis. Because of the design features of Mark-III containment, the debris in the reactor cavity may not be submerged after an RPV breach when one follows the containment flooding strategy as suggested in the BWROG generic guideline, and the containment integrity could be challenged eventually. A more specific containment flooding strategy with drywell venting after an RPV breach is investigated, and a more stable plant condition is achieved with this strategy. Accordingly, the containment flooding strategy after an RPV breach will be modified for the Kuosheng SAMG, and these results are applicable to typical Mark-III plants with drywell vent path.« less

VLA telemetry performance with concatenated coding for Voyager at Neptune

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Dolinar, S. J., Jr.

1988-01-01

Current plans for supporting the Voyager encounter at Neptune include the arraying of the Deep Space Network (DSN) antennas at Goldstone, California, with the National Radio Astronomy Observatory's Very Large Array (VLA) in New Mexico. Not designed as a communications antenna, the VLA signal transmission facility suffers a disadvantage in that the received signal is subjected to a gap or blackout period of approximately 1.6 msec once every 5/96 sec control cycle. Previous analyses showed that the VLA data gaps could cause disastrous performance degradation in a VLA stand-alone system and modest degradation when the VLA is arrayed equally with Goldstone. New analysis indicates that the earlier predictions for concatenated code performance were overly pessimistic for most combinations of system parameters, including those of Voyager-VLA. The periodicity of the VLA gap cycle tends to guarantee that all Reed-Solomon codewords will receive an average share of erroneous symbols from the gaps. However, large deterministic fluctuations in the number of gapped symbols from codeword to codeword may occur for certain combinations of code parameters, gap cycle parameters, and data rates. Several mechanisms for causing these fluctuations are identified and analyzed. Even though graceful degradation is predicted for the Voyager-VLA parameters, catastrophic degradation greater than 2 dB can occur for a VLA stand-alone system at certain non-Voyager data rates inside the range of the actual Voyager rates. Thus, it is imperative that all of the Voyager-VLA parameters be very accurately known and precisely controlled.

WHEN MODEL MEETS REALITY – A REVIEW OF SPAR LEVEL 2 MODEL AGAINST FUKUSHIMA ACCIDENT

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Zhegang Ma

The Standardized Plant Analysis Risk (SPAR) models are a set of probabilistic risk assessment (PRA) models used by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) to evaluate the risk of operations at U.S. nuclear power plants and provide inputs to risk informed regulatory process. A small number of SPAR Level 2 models have been developed mostly for feasibility study purpose. They extend the Level 1 models to include containment systems, group plant damage states, and model containment phenomenology and accident progression in containment event trees. A severe earthquake and tsunami hit the eastern coast of Japan in March 2011 and caused significantmore » damages on the reactors in Fukushima Daiichi site. Station blackout (SBO), core damage, containment damage, hydrogen explosion, and intensive radioactivity release, which have been previous analyzed and assumed as postulated accident progression in PRA models, now occurred with various degrees in the multi-units Fukushima Daiichi site. This paper reviews and compares a typical BWR SPAR Level 2 model with the “real” accident progressions and sequences occurred in Fukushima Daiichi Units 1, 2, and 3. It shows that the SPAR Level 2 model is a robust PRA model that could very reasonably describe the accident progression for a real and complicated nuclear accident in the world. On the other hand, the comparison shows that the SPAR model could be enhanced by incorporating some accident characteristics for better representation of severe accident progression.« less

A survey of customers of space weather information

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Schrijver, C. J.; Rabanal, J. P.

2013-09-01

We present an analysis of the users of space weather information based on 2783 responses to an online survey among subscribers of NOAA's Space Weather Prediction Center e-mail services. The survey requested information focused on the three NOAA space weather scales: geomagnetic storms, solar radiation storms, and radio blackouts. Space weather information is most commonly obtained for reasons of human safety and continuity or reliability of operations. The information is primarily used for situational awareness, as aid to understand anomalies, to avoid impacts on current and near-future operations by implementing mitigating strategies, and to prepare for potential near-future impacts that might occur in conjunction with contingencies that include electric power outages or GPS perturbations. Interest in, anticipated impacts from, and responses to the three main categories of space weather are quite uniform across societal sectors. Approximately 40% of the respondents expect serious to very serious impacts from space weather events if no action were taken to mitigate or in the absence of adequate space weather information. The impacts of space weather are deemed to be substantially reduced because of the availability of, and their response to, space weather forecasts and alerts. Current and near-future space weather conditions are generally highly valued, considered useful, and generally, though not fully, adequate to avoid or mitigate societal impacts. We conclude that even among those receiving space weather information, there is considerable uncertainty about the possible impacts of space weather and thus about how to act on the space weather information that is provided.

Maintaining US Space Weather Capabilities after DMSP: Research to Operations

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Machuzak, J. S.; Gentile, L. C.; Burke, W. J.; Holeman, E. G.; Ober, D. M.; Wilson, G. R.

2012-12-01

The first Defense Meteorological Satellite Program (DMSP) spacecraft was launched in 1972; the last is scheduled to fly in 2020. Presently, there is no replacement for the space-weather monitoring sensors that now fly on DMSP. The present suite has provided comprehensive, long-term records that constitute a critical component of the US space weather corporate memory. Evolving operational needs and research accomplishments justify continued collection of space environmental data. Examples include measurements to: (1) Monitor the Dst index in real time as a driver of next-generation satellite drag models; (2) Quantify electromagnetic energy fluxes from deep space to the ionosphere/ thermosphere that heat neutrals, drive disturbance-dynamo winds and degrade precise orbit determinations; (3) Determine strengths of stormtime electric fields at high and low latitudes that lead to severe blackouts and spacecraft anomalies; (4) Specify variability of plasma density irregularities, equatorial plasma bubbles, and the Appleton anomaly to improve reliability of communication, navigation and surveillance links; (5) Characterize energetic particle fluxes responsible for auroral clutter and radar degradation; (6) Map regions of L-Band scintillation for robust GPS applications; and (7) Update the World Magnetic Field Model needed to maintain guidance system superiority. These examples illustrate the utility of continued space environment awareness. Comprehensive assessments of both operational requirements and research advances are needed to make informed selections of sensors and spacecraft that support future capabilities. A proposed sensor set and satellite constellation to provide the needed measurement capabilities will be presented.

Application Of The Iberdrola Licensing Methodology To The Cofrentes BWR-6 110% Extended Power Up-rate

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Mata, Pedro; Fuente, Rafael de la; Iglesias, Javier

Iberdrola (spanish utility) and Iberdrola Ingenieria (engineering branch) have been developing during the last two years the 110% Extended Power Up-rate Project (EPU 110%) for Cofrentes BWR-6. IBERDROLA has available an in-house design and licensing reload methodology that has been approved by the Spanish Nuclear Regulatory Authority. This methodology has been already used to perform the nuclear design and the reload licensing analysis for Cofrentes cycles 12 to 14. The methodology has been also applied to develop a significant number of safety analysis of the Cofrentes Extended Power Up-rate including: Reactor Heat Balance, Core and Fuel performance, Thermal Hydraulic Stability,more » ECCS LOCA Evaluation, Transient Analysis, Anticipated Transient Without Scram (ATWS) and Station Blackout (SBO) Since the scope of the licensing process of the Cofrentes Extended Power Up-rate exceeds the range of analysis included in the Cofrentes generic reload licensing process, it has been required to extend the applicability of the Cofrentes licensing methodology to the analysis of new transients. This is the case of the TLFW transient. The content of this paper shows the benefits of having an in-house design and licensing methodology, and describes the process to extend the applicability of the methodology to the analysis of new transients. The case of analysis of Total Loss of Feedwater with the Cofrentes Retran Model is included as an example of this process. (authors)« less

Testing Realistic Disaster Scenarios for Space Weather: The Economic Impacts of Electricity Transmission Infrastructure Failure in the UK

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Gibbs, M.; Oughton, E. J.; Hapgood, M. A.

2017-12-01

The socio-economic impacts of space weather have been under-researched, despite this threat featuring on the UK's National Risk Register. In this paper, a range of Realistic Disaster Scenarios due to failure in electricity transmission infrastructure are tested. We use regional Geomagnetically Induced Current (GIC) studies to identify areas in the UK high-voltage power system deemed to be high-risk. The potential level of disruption arising from a large geomagnetic disturbance in these `hot spots' on local economic activity is explored. Electricity is a necessary factor of production without which businesses cannot operate, so even short term power loss can cause significant loss of value. We utilise a spatially disaggregated approach that focuses on quantifying employment disruption by industrial sector, and relating this to direct Gross Value Added loss. We then aggregate this direct loss into a set of shocks to undertake macroeconomic modelling of different scenarios, to obtain the total economic impact which includes both direct and indirect supply chain disruption effects. These results are reported for a range of temporal periods, with the minimum increment being a one-hour blackout. This work furthers our understanding of the economic impacts of space weather, and can inform future reviews of the UK's National Risk Register. The key contribution of the paper is that the results can be used in the future cost-benefit analysis of investment in space weather forecasting.

STEREO Superior Solar Conjunction Mission Phase

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Ossing, Daniel A.; Wilson, Daniel; Balon, Kevin; Hunt, Jack; Dudley, Owen; Chiu, George; Coulter, Timothy; Reese, Angel; Cox, Matthew; Srinivasan, Dipak;

Breakdown of interdependent directed networks.

PubMed

Liu, Xueming; Stanley, H Eugene; Gao, Jianxi

2016-02-02

Increasing evidence shows that real-world systems interact with one another via dependency connectivities. Failing connectivities are the mechanism behind the breakdown of interacting complex systems, e.g., blackouts caused by the interdependence of power grids and communication networks. Previous research analyzing the robustness of interdependent networks has been limited to undirected networks. However, most real-world networks are directed, their in-degrees and out-degrees may be correlated, and they are often coupled to one another as interdependent directed networks. To understand the breakdown and robustness of interdependent directed networks, we develop a theoretical framework based on generating functions and percolation theory. We find that for interdependent Erdős-Rényi networks the directionality within each network increases their vulnerability and exhibits hybrid phase transitions. We also find that the percolation behavior of interdependent directed scale-free networks with and without degree correlations is so complex that two criteria are needed to quantify and compare their robustness: the percolation threshold and the integrated size of the giant component during an entire attack process. Interestingly, we find that the in-degree and out-degree correlations in each network layer increase the robustness of interdependent degree heterogeneous networks that most real networks are, but decrease the robustness of interdependent networks with homogeneous degree distribution and with strong coupling strengths. Moreover, by applying our theoretical analysis to real interdependent international trade networks, we find that the robustness of these real-world systems increases with the in-degree and out-degree correlations, confirming our theoretical analysis.

Advanced Reactor Passive System Reliability Demonstration Analysis for an External Event

DOE PAGES

Bucknor, Matthew; Grabaskas, David; Brunett, Acacia J.; ...

2017-01-24

We report that many advanced reactor designs rely on passive systems to fulfill safety functions during accident sequences. These systems depend heavily on boundary conditions to induce a motive force, meaning the system can fail to operate as intended because of deviations in boundary conditions, rather than as the result of physical failures. Furthermore, passive systems may operate in intermediate or degraded modes. These factors make passive system operation difficult to characterize within a traditional probabilistic framework that only recognizes discrete operating modes and does not allow for the explicit consideration of time-dependent boundary conditions. Argonne National Laboratory has beenmore » examining various methodologies for assessing passive system reliability within a probabilistic risk assessment for a station blackout event at an advanced small modular reactor. This paper provides an overview of a passive system reliability demonstration analysis for an external event. Considering an earthquake with the possibility of site flooding, the analysis focuses on the behavior of the passive Reactor Cavity Cooling System following potential physical damage and system flooding. The assessment approach seeks to combine mechanistic and simulation-based methods to leverage the benefits of the simulation-based approach without the need to substantially deviate from conventional probabilistic risk assessment techniques. Lastly, although this study is presented as only an example analysis, the results appear to demonstrate a high level of reliability of the Reactor Cavity Cooling System (and the reactor system in general) for the postulated transient event.« less

Interviewing insights regarding the fatalities inflicted by the 2011 Great East Japan Earthquake

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ando, M.; Ishida, M.; Hayashi, Y.; Mizuki, C.; Nishikawa, Y.; Tu, Y.

2013-09-01

One hundred fifty survivors of the 11 March 2011 Great East Japan Earthquake (Tohoku-oki earthquake) (Mw = 9.0) were interviewed to study the causes of deaths from the associated tsunami in coastal areas of Tohoku. The first official tsunami warning underestimated the height of the tsunami and 40% of the interviewees did not obtain this warning due to immediate blackouts and a lack of communication after the earthquake. Many chose to remain in dangerous locations based on the underestimated warning and their experiences with previous smaller tsunamis and/or due to misunderstanding the mitigating effects of nearby breakwaters in blocking incoming tsunamis. Some delayed their evacuation to perform family safety checks, and in many situations, the people affected misunderstood the risks involved in tsunamis. In this area, three large tsunamis have struck in the 115 yr preceding the 2011 tsunami. These tsunamis remained in the collective memory of communities, and numerous measures against future tsunami damage, such as breakwaters and tsunami evacuation drills, had been implemented. Despite these preparedness efforts, approximately 18 500 deaths and cases of missing persons occurred. The death rate with the age of 65 and above was particularly high, four times higher than that with other age groups. These interviews indicate that deaths resulted from a variety of reasons, but if residents had taken immediate action after the major ground motion stopped, most residents might have been saved. Education about the science behind earthquakes and tsunamis could help save more lives in the future.

Time-dependent resilience assessment and improvement of urban infrastructure systems

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ouyang, Min; Dueñas-Osorio, Leonardo

2012-09-01

This paper introduces an approach to assess and improve the time-dependent resilience of urban infrastructure systems, where resilience is defined as the systems' ability to resist various possible hazards, absorb the initial damage from hazards, and recover to normal operation one or multiple times during a time period T. For different values of T and its position relative to current time, there are three forms of resilience: previous resilience, current potential resilience, and future potential resilience. This paper mainly discusses the third form that takes into account the systems' future evolving processes. Taking the power transmission grid in Harris County, Texas, USA as an example, the time-dependent features of resilience and the effectiveness of some resilience-inspired strategies, including enhancement of situational awareness, management of consumer demand, and integration of distributed generators, are all simulated and discussed. Results show a nonlinear nature of resilience as a function of T, which may exhibit a transition from an increasing function to a decreasing function at either a threshold of post-blackout improvement rate, a threshold of load profile with consumer demand management, or a threshold number of integrated distributed generators. These results are further confirmed by studying a typical benchmark system such as the IEEE RTS-96. Such common trends indicate that some resilience strategies may enhance infrastructure system resilience in the short term, but if not managed well, they may compromise practical utility system resilience in the long run.

Time-dependent resilience assessment and improvement of urban infrastructure systems.

PubMed

Ouyang, Min; Dueñas-Osorio, Leonardo

2012-09-01

This paper introduces an approach to assess and improve the time-dependent resilience of urban infrastructure systems, where resilience is defined as the systems' ability to resist various possible hazards, absorb the initial damage from hazards, and recover to normal operation one or multiple times during a time period T. For different values of T and its position relative to current time, there are three forms of resilience: previous resilience, current potential resilience, and future potential resilience. This paper mainly discusses the third form that takes into account the systems' future evolving processes. Taking the power transmission grid in Harris County, Texas, USA as an example, the time-dependent features of resilience and the effectiveness of some resilience-inspired strategies, including enhancement of situational awareness, management of consumer demand, and integration of distributed generators, are all simulated and discussed. Results show a nonlinear nature of resilience as a function of T, which may exhibit a transition from an increasing function to a decreasing function at either a threshold of post-blackout improvement rate, a threshold of load profile with consumer demand management, or a threshold number of integrated distributed generators. These results are further confirmed by studying a typical benchmark system such as the IEEE RTS-96. Such common trends indicate that some resilience strategies may enhance infrastructure system resilience in the short term, but if not managed well, they may compromise practical utility system resilience in the long run.

Crisis management and recovery from the damage to the laboratory animal production facility due to the Great East Japan Earthquake.

PubMed

Ikeda, Takuya

2012-01-01

Charles River Laboratories Japan produces laboratory animals, mainly mice and rats. In its history, we have experienced many crises such as mass food poisoning of staff and contamination of animals. However, we overcame these crises, accomplishing our corporate missions to secure steady supply of healthy animals. Under such circumstances, in 2008, we faced an unprecedented crisis involving a novel influenza possibly becoming pandemic. Therefore, we prepared a Crisis Management Plan (CMP) and Business Continuity Plan (BCP) to avoid the worst case scenario. Fortunately, the novel influenza did not develop into a pandemic and no major problems occurred in production of our laboratory animals. In March 2011, our Tsukuba Breeding Center was struck by the Great East Japan Earthquake. Many cages fell from racks, and consequently, 14,000 mice and rats were euthanized. Moreover, this animal production facility experienced not only blackouts and water outage but also various maintenance problems. After triage of the animals, almost half of the animals kept were eventually lost. However, we recovered and resumed shipment of animals two weeks after the disaster by utilizing the CMP and BCP we initially created as a countermeasure against novel influenza. After two months, our production volume returned to normal except for two strains. I sincerely hope this review, which highlights our experience and related issues, will be a useful resource in regard to crisis management for people who are engaged in laboratory animal care and use.

Development of real-time voltage stability monitoring tool for power system transmission network using Synchrophasor data

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Pulok, Md Kamrul Hasan

Intelligent and effective monitoring of power system stability in control centers is one of the key issues in smart grid technology to prevent unwanted power system blackouts. Voltage stability analysis is one of the most important requirements for control center operation in smart grid era. With the advent of Phasor Measurement Unit (PMU) or Synchrophasor technology, real time monitoring of voltage stability of power system is now a reality. This work utilizes real-time PMU data to derive a voltage stability index to monitor the voltage stability related contingency situation in power systems. The developed tool uses PMU data to calculate voltage stability index that indicates relative closeness of the instability by producing numerical indices. The IEEE 39 bus, New England power system was modeled and run on a Real-time Digital Simulator that stream PMU data over the Internet using IEEE C37.118 protocol. A Phasor data concentrator (PDC) is setup that receives streaming PMU data and stores them in Microsoft SQL database server. Then the developed voltage stability monitoring (VSM) tool retrieves phasor measurement data from SQL server, performs real-time state estimation of the whole network, calculate voltage stability index, perform real-time ranking of most vulnerable transmission lines, and finally shows all the results in a graphical user interface. All these actions are done in near real-time. Control centers can easily monitor the systems condition by using this tool and can take precautionary actions if needed.

Motivational Pathways to Unique Types of Alcohol Consequences

PubMed Central

Merrill, Jennifer E.; Read, Jennifer P.

2010-01-01

Individuals consume alcohol for a variety of reasons (motives), and these reasons may be differentially associated with the types of drinking outcomes that result. The present study examined whether specific affect-relevant motivations for alcohol use (i.e., coping, enhancement) are associated with distinct types of consequences, and whether such associations occur directly, or only as a function of increased alcohol use. It was hypothesized that enhancement motives would be associated with distinct problem types only through alcohol use, whereas coping motives would be linked directly to hypothesized problem types. Regularly drinking undergraduates (N= 192, 93 female) completed self-report measures of drinking motives and alcohol involvement. Using structural equation modeling, we tested direct associations between Coping motives and indirect associations between Enhancement motives and eight unique alcohol problem domains: Risky Behaviors, Blackout Drinking, Physiological Dependence, Academic/Occupational problems, Poor Self-care, Diminished Self-perception, Social/Interpersonal problems, and Impaired Control. We observed direct effects of Coping motives on three unique problem domains (Academic/Occupational problems, Risky Behaviors, and Poor Self-care). Both Coping and Enhancement motives were indirectly associated (through Use) with several problem types. Unhypothesized associations between Conformity motives and unique consequence types also were observed. Findings suggest specificity in the consequences experienced by individuals who drink to cope with negative affect versus to enhance positive affect, and may have intervention implications. Findings depict the coping motivated student as one who is struggling across multiple domains, regardless of levels of drinking. Such students may need to be prioritized for interventions. PMID:20822194

Development and preliminary validation of the young adult alcohol consequences questionnaire.

PubMed

Read, Jennifer P; Kahler, Christopher W; Strong, David R; Colder, Craig R

2006-01-01

A substantial proportion of U.S. college students drink alcoholic beverages and report significant deleterious effects. The present study describes the development and initial validation of a measure designed to capture a broad range of alcohol-related consequences experienced by male and female college students. College students (N=340, 176 women) completed a self-report questionnaire battery consisting of information about demographic characteristics, drinking behaviors, and drinking consequences. Drinking consequences were assessed with a composite measure based on the Drinker Inventory of Consequences, the Young Adult Alcohol Problem Screening Test (YAAPST) and items developed by the researchers. To assess concurrent validity, a subset of the total sample (n=126) also completed the Rutgers Alcohol Problem Index (RAPI). Confirmatory factor analyses supported an eight-factor solution (Social-Interpersonal Consequences, Impaired Control, Self-Perception, Self-Care, Risk Behaviors, Academic/Occupational Consequences, Physical Dependence, and Blackout Drinking), with all factors loading on a single, higher-order factor. YAACQ total scores correlated with alcohol quantity and frequency, and the RAPI. Gender comparisons suggest that the YAACQ assesses constructs of interest equally well for women and men. These results offer preliminary support for this measure. Research and clinical applications include the potential to predict future problems by specific type of consequence and to offer detailed feedback about drinking consequences to students as part of a preventive intervention. As such, the YAACQ may serve as an aid in both the description of and intervention for heavy drinking in college.

When alcohol is only part of the problem: An event-level analysis of negative consequences related to alcohol and other substance use.

PubMed

Mallett, Kimberly A; Turrisi, Rob; Hultgren, Brittney A; Sell, Nichole; Reavy, Racheal; Cleveland, Michael

2017-05-01

While alcohol remains the drug of choice for most college students, national data show that 40% of college students also use other substances (e.g., marijuana, cocaine, etc.). Longitudinal studies indicate that students who report use of both alcohol and other substances experience more consequences (e.g., blackout, arrests). The current study expands upon this research by using a multilevel approach to examine average and event-level alcohol combined with other substance use (ALC+) and its role on consequences experienced. In addition, the research examined which substance combined with alcohol posed the most risk. A total of 461 students reported on alcohol use, substance use, and consequences experienced (e.g., Young Adult Alcohol Consequences Questionnaire [YAACQ]) on 12 weekend nights (Thursday, Friday, Saturday) across 4 weekends in an academic year. Multilevel model analyses revealed a positive association between both average and event-level ALC+ use and the number of consequences experienced. A significant cross-level interaction was also revealed indicating students who typically combine alcohol and other substances experienced more consequences on occasions when they use more substances relative to students who typically use alcohol only. Finally, alcohol plus nicotine, or marijuana, or attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) medications, or cocaine were all significantly positively related to increased consequences. These findings provide consistent evidence that ALC+ use is a highly prevalent behavior among college students that increases risk of problematic consequences. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2017 APA, all rights reserved).

Prevention of needless deaths from drowning.

PubMed

Modell, Jerome H

2010-07-01

To determine whether faulty pool maintenance and substandard lifeguard performance critically delayed retrieval and resuscitation of a significant number of pool drowning victims. One hundred and eighty drowning incidents that resulted in litigation from 1998 to 2008 were studied to determine whether faulty pool maintenance and/or substandard lifeguard performance delayed retrieval and thereby contributed to the death of these persons. A total of 180 swimming pools-commercial and private-were included. Ninety-seven of these pools were manned by lifeguards. Subjects who underwent the drowning process and suffered severe brain injury or death were reviewed to determine the rescue and resuscitation attempts by lifeguards or bystanders at the pool. One hundred and seventy-seven of the 180 persons who underwent the drowning process died. Cases were analyzed as to whether faulty pool maintenance and/or substandard lifeguard performance contributed to their demise. At fault were cloudy or dirty water; drain pipes that created underwater suction to trap victims; inadequate fencing around pools through which small children gained access; permitting small children to be at the pool without adult supervision; permitting dangerous exercises such as hyperventilation while underwater swimming, resulting in shallow water blackout; lifeguards not being attentive, being distracted by other persons, performing nonrelated chores, leaving their positions without proper relief, while failure to enter the water when told persons were submerged. Faculty pool maintenance and substandard lifeguard performance critically delayed retrieval and resuscitation of a significant number of pool drowning victims.

Can mass media influence emergency department visits for stroke?

PubMed

Hodgson, Corinne; Lindsay, Patrice; Rubini, Frank

2007-07-01

Television advertising has been associated with significant increases in the knowledge of the warning signs of stroke among Ontarians aged 45 and older. However, to date there has been little data on the relationship between knowledge of the warning signs of stroke and behavior. Data on presentation to regional and enhanced district stroke center emergency departments were obtained from the Registry of the Canadian Stroke Network for a 31-month period between mid 2003 and the beginning of 2006. Public opinion polling was used to track knowledge of the warning signs of stroke among Ontarians aged 45 and older. The public's awareness of the warning signs of stroke increased during 2003 to 2005, decreasing in 2006 after a 5-month advertising blackout. There was a significant increase in the mean number of emergency department visits for stroke over the study period. A campaign effect independent of year was observed for total presentations, presentation within 5 hours of last seen normal, and presentation within 2.5 hours. For TIAs there was a strong campaign effect but no change in the number of presentations by year. Continuous advertising may be required to build and sustain public awareness of the warning signs of stroke. There are many factors that may influence presentation for stroke and awareness of the warning signs may be only one. However, results of this study suggest there may be an important correlation between the advertising and emergency department presentations with stroke, particularly for TIAs.

Impact of heliogeophysical disturbances on ionospheric HF channels

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Uryadov, V. P.; Vybornov, F. I.; Kolchev, A. A.; Vertogradov, G. G.; Sklyarevsky, M. S.; Egoshin, I. A.; Shumaev, V. V.; Chernov, A. G.

2018-04-01

The article presents the results of the observation of a strong magnetic storm and two X-ray flares during the summer solstice in 2015, and their impact on the HF signals characteristics in ionospheric oblique sounding. It was found that the negative phase of the magnetic storm led to a strong degradation of the ionospheric channel, ultimately causing a long blackout on paths adjacent to subauroral latitudes. On mid-latitude paths, the decrease in 1FMOF reached ∼50% relative to the average values for the quiet ionosphere. It is shown that the propagation conditions via the sporadic Es layer during the magnetic storm on a subauroral path are substantially better than those for F-mode propagation via the upper ionosphere. The delay of the sharp decrease in 1FMOF during the main phase of the magnetic storm allowed us to determine the propagation velocity of the negative phase disturbances (∼100 m/s) from subauroral to mid-latitude ionosphere along two paths: Lovozero - Yoshkar-Ola and Cyprus - Nizhny Novgorod. It is shown that both the LOF and the signal/noise ratio averaged over the frequency band corresponding to the propagation mode via the sporadic Es layer correlate well with the auroral AE index. Using an over-the-horizon chirp radar with a bistatic configuration on the Cyprus - Rostov-on-Don path, we located small-scale scattering irregularities responsible for abnormal signals in the region of the equatorial boundary of the auroral oval.

Extreme events and event size fluctuations in biased random walks on networks.

PubMed

Kishore, Vimal; Santhanam, M S; Amritkar, R E

2012-05-01

Random walk on discrete lattice models is important to understand various types of transport processes. The extreme events, defined as exceedences of the flux of walkers above a prescribed threshold, have been studied recently in the context of complex networks. This was motivated by the occurrence of rare events such as traffic jams, floods, and power blackouts which take place on networks. In this work, we study extreme events in a generalized random walk model in which the walk is preferentially biased by the network topology. The walkers preferentially choose to hop toward the hubs or small degree nodes. In this setting, we show that extremely large fluctuations in event sizes are possible on small degree nodes when the walkers are biased toward the hubs. In particular, we obtain the distribution of event sizes on the network. Further, the probability for the occurrence of extreme events on any node in the network depends on its "generalized strength," a measure of the ability of a node to attract walkers. The generalized strength is a function of the degree of the node and that of its nearest neighbors. We obtain analytical and simulation results for the probability of occurrence of extreme events on the nodes of a network using a generalized random walk model. The result reveals that the nodes with a larger value of generalized strength, on average, display lower probability for the occurrence of extreme events compared to the nodes with lower values of generalized strength.

Composite Flywheels Assessed Analytically by NDE and FEA

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Abdul-Aziz, Ali; Baaklini, George Y.

2000-01-01

As an alternative to expensive and short-lived lead-acid batteries, composite flywheels are being developed to provide an uninterruptible power supply for advanced aerospace and industrial applications. Flywheels can help prevent irregularities in voltage caused by power spikes, sags, surges, burnout, and blackouts. Other applications include load-leveling systems for wind and solar power facilities, where energy output fluctuates with weather. Advanced composite materials are being considered for these components because they are significantly lighter than typical metallic alloys and have high specific strength and stiffness. However, much more research is needed before these materials can be fully utilized, because there is insufficient data concerning their fatigue characteristics and nonlinear behavior, especially at elevated temperatures. Moreover, these advanced types of structural composites pose greater challenges for nondestructive evaluation (NDE) techniques than are encountered with typical monolithic engineering metals. This is particularly true for ceramic polymer and metal matrix composites, where structural properties are tailored during the processing stages. Current efforts involving the NDE group at the NASA Glenn Research Center at Lewis Field are focused on evaluating many important structural components, including the flywheel system. Glenn's in-house analytical and experimental capabilities are being applied to analyze data produced by computed tomography (CT) scans to help assess the damage and defects of high-temperature structural composite materials. Finite element analysis (FEA) has been used extensively to model the effects of static and dynamic loading on aerospace propulsion components. This technique allows the use of complicated loading schemes by breaking the complex part geometry into many smaller, geometrically simple elements.

Modeling of a Flooding Induced Station Blackout for a Pressurized Water Reactor Using the RISMC Toolkit

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Mandelli, Diego; Prescott, Steven R; Smith, Curtis L

2011-07-01

In the Risk Informed Safety Margin Characterization (RISMC) approach we want to understand not just the frequency of an event like core damage, but how close we are (or are not) to key safety-related events and how might we increase our safety margins. The RISMC Pathway uses the probabilistic margin approach to quantify impacts to reliability and safety by coupling both probabilistic (via stochastic simulation) and mechanistic (via physics models) approaches. This coupling takes place through the interchange of physical parameters and operational or accident scenarios. In this paper we apply the RISMC approach to evaluate the impact of amore » power uprate on a pressurized water reactor (PWR) for a tsunami-induced flooding test case. This analysis is performed using the RISMC toolkit: RELAP-7 and RAVEN codes. RELAP-7 is the new generation of system analysis codes that is responsible for simulating the thermal-hydraulic dynamics of PWR and boiling water reactor systems. RAVEN has two capabilities: to act as a controller of the RELAP-7 simulation (e.g., system activation) and to perform statistical analyses (e.g., run multiple RELAP-7 simulations where sequencing/timing of events have been changed according to a set of stochastic distributions). By using the RISMC toolkit, we can evaluate how power uprate affects the system recovery measures needed to avoid core damage after the PWR lost all available AC power by a tsunami induced flooding. The simulation of the actual flooding is performed by using a smooth particle hydrodynamics code: NEUTRINO.« less

Flooding Experiments and Modeling for Improved Reactor Safety

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Solmos, M.; Hogan, K. J.; Vierow, K.

2008-09-14

Countercurrent two-phase flow and “flooding” phenomena in light water reactor systems are being investigated experimentally and analytically to improve reactor safety of current and future reactors. The aspects that will be better clarified are the effects of condensation and tube inclination on flooding in large diameter tubes. The current project aims to improve the level of understanding of flooding mechanisms and to develop an analysis model for more accurate evaluations of flooding in the pressurizer surge line of a Pressurized Water Reactor (PWR). Interest in flooding has recently increased because Countercurrent Flow Limitation (CCFL) in the AP600 pressurizer surge linemore » can affect the vessel refill rate following a small break LOCA and because analysis of hypothetical severe accidents with the current flooding models in reactor safety codes shows that these models represent the largest uncertainty in analysis of steam generator tube creep rupture. During a hypothetical station blackout without auxiliary feedwater recovery, should the hot leg become voided, the pressurizer liquid will drain to the hot leg and flooding may occur in the surge line. The flooding model heavily influences the pressurizer emptying rate and the potential for surge line structural failure due to overheating and creep rupture. The air-water test results in vertical tubes are presented in this paper along with a semi-empirical correlation for the onset of flooding. The unique aspects of the study include careful experimentation on large-diameter tubes and an integrated program in which air-water testing provides benchmark knowledge and visualization data from which to conduct steam-water testing.« less

Inter-satellites x-ray communication system

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Mou, Huan; Li, Bao-quan

2017-02-01

An inter-satellite X-ray communication system is presented in this paper. X-ray has a strong penetrating power without almost attenuation for transmission in outer space when the energy of X-ray photons is more than 10KeV and the atmospheric pressure is lower than 10-1 Pa, so it is convincing of x-ray communication in inter-satellite communication and deep space exploration. Additionally, using X-ray photons as information carriers can be used in some communication applications that laser communication and radio frequency (RF) communication are not available, such as ionization blackout area communication. The inter-satellites X-ray communication system, including the grid modulated X-ray source, the high-sensitivity X-ray detector and the transmitting and receiving antenna, is described explicitly. As the X-ray transmitter, a vacuum-sealed miniature modulated X-ray source has been fabricated via the single-step brazing process in a vacuum furnace. Pulse modulation of X-rays, by means of controlling the voltage value of the grid electrode, is realized. Three focusing electrodes, meanwhile, are used to make the electron beam converge and finally 150μm focusing spot diameter is obtained. The X-ray detector based on silicon avalanche photodiodes (APDs) is chosen as the communication receiver on account of its high temporal resolution and non-vacuum operating environment. Furthermore, considering x-ray emission characteristic and communication distance of X-rays, the multilayer nested rotary parabolic optics is picked out as transmitting and receiving antenna. And as a new concept of the space communication, there will be more important scientific significance and application prospects, called "Next-Generation Communications".

A Low-Pressure Oxygen Storage System for Oxygen Supply in Low-Resource Settings.

PubMed

Rassool, Roger P; Sobott, Bryn A; Peake, David J; Mutetire, Bagayana S; Moschovis, Peter P; Black, Jim Fp

2017-12-01

Widespread access to medical oxygen would reduce global pneumonia mortality. Oxygen concentrators are one proposed solution, but they have limitations, in particular vulnerability to electricity fluctuations and failure during blackouts. The low-pressure oxygen storage system addresses these limitations in low-resource settings. This study reports testing of the system in Melbourne, Australia, and nonclinical field testing in Mbarara, Uganda. The system included a power-conditioning unit, a standard oxygen concentrator, and an oxygen store. In Melbourne, pressure and flows were monitored during cycles of filling/emptying, with forced voltage fluctuations. The bladders were tested by increasing pressure until they ruptured. In Mbarara, the system was tested by accelerated cycles of filling/emptying and then run on grid power for 30 d. The low-pressure oxygen storage system performed well, including sustaining a pressure approximately twice the standard working pressure before rupture of the outer bag. Flow of 1.2 L/min was continuously maintained to a simulated patient during 30 d on grid power, despite power failures totaling 2.9% of the total time, with durations of 1-176 min (mean 36.2, median 18.5). The low-pressure oxygen storage system was robust and durable, with accelerated testing equivalent to at least 2 y of operation revealing no visible signs of imminent failure. Despite power cuts, the system continuously provided oxygen, equivalent to the treatment of one child, for 30 d under typical power conditions for sub-Saharan Africa. The low-pressure oxygen storage system is ready for clinical field trials. Copyright © 2017 by Daedalus Enterprises.

Assessment of Critical Events Corridors through Multivariate Cascading Outages Analysis

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Makarov, Yuri V.; Samaan, Nader A.; Diao, Ruisheng

2011-10-17

Massive blackouts of electrical power systems in North America over the past decade has focused increasing attention upon ways to identify and simulate network events that may potentially lead to widespread network collapse. This paper summarizes a method to simulate power-system vulnerability to cascading failures to a supplied set of initiating events synonymously termed as Extreme Events. The implemented simulation method is currently confined to simulating steady state power-system response to a set of extreme events. The outlined method of simulation is meant to augment and provide a new insight into bulk power transmission network planning that at present remainsmore » mainly confined to maintaining power system security for single and double component outages under a number of projected future network operating conditions. Although one of the aims of this paper is to demonstrate the feasibility of simulating network vulnerability to cascading outages, a more important goal has been to determine vulnerable parts of the network that may potentially be strengthened in practice so as to mitigate system susceptibility to cascading failures. This paper proposes to demonstrate a systematic approach to analyze extreme events and identify vulnerable system elements that may be contributing to cascading outages. The hypothesis of critical events corridors is proposed to represent repeating sequential outages that can occur in the system for multiple initiating events. The new concept helps to identify system reinforcements that planners could engineer in order to 'break' the critical events sequences and therefore lessen the likelihood of cascading outages. This hypothesis has been successfully validated with a California power system model.« less

Concept of Operations Evaluation for Using Remote-Guidance Ultrasound for Exploration Spaceflight.

PubMed

Hurst, Victor W; Peterson, Sean; Garcia, Kathleen; Ebert, Douglas; Ham, David; Amponsah, David; Dulchavsky, Scott

2015-12-01

Remote-guidance (RG) techniques aboard the International Space Station (ISS) have enabled astronauts to collect diagnostic-level ultrasound (US) images. Exploration-class missions will likely require nonformally trained sonographers to operate with greater autonomy given longer communication delays (> 6 s for missions beyond the Moon) and blackouts. Training requirements for autonomous collection of US images by non-US experts are being determined. Novice US operators were randomly assigned to one of three groups to collect standardized US images while drawing expertise from A) RG only, B) a computer training tool only, or C) both RG and a computer training tool. Images were assessed for quality and examination duration. All operators were given a 10-min standardized generic training session in US scanning. The imaging task included: 1) bone fracture assessment in a phantom and 2) Focused Assessment with Sonography in Trauma (FAST) examination in a healthy volunteer. A human factors questionnaire was also completed. Mean time for group B during FAST was shorter (20.4 vs. 22.7 min) than time for the other groups. Image quality scoring was lower than in groups A or C, but all groups produced images of acceptable diagnostic quality. RG produces US images of higher quality than those produced with only computer-based instruction. Extended communication delays in exploration missions will eliminate the option of real-time guidance, thus requiring autonomous operation. The computer program used appears effective and could be a model for future digital US expertise banks. Terrestrially, it also provides adequate self-training and mentoring mechanisms.

Variation of Spirulina maxima biomass production in different depths of urea-used culture medium

PubMed Central

Affan, Md-Abu; Lee, Dae-Won; Al-Harbi, Salim Marzoog; Kim, Han-Jun; Abdulwassi, Najah Ibrahim; Heo, Soo-Jin; Oh, Chulhong; Park, Heung-Sik; Ma, Chae Woo; Lee, Hyeon-Yong; Kang, Do-Hyung

2015-01-01

Fewer studies have assessed the outdoor cultivation of Spirulina maxima compared with S. platensis, although the protein content of S. maxima is higher than S. platensis. Spirulina growth medium requires an increased amount of NaHCO3, Na2CO3, and NaNO3, which increases the production cost. Therefore, the current study used a low-cost but high-efficiency biomass production medium (Medium M-19) after testing 33 different media. The medium depth of 25 cm (group A) was sub-divided into A1 (50% cover with a black curtain (PolyMax, 12 oz ultra-blackout), A2 (25% cover), and A3 (no cover). Similarly the medium depths of 30 and 35 cm were categorized as groups B (B1, B2, and B3) and C (C1, C2, and C3), respectively, and the effects of depth and surface light availability on growth and biomass production were assessed. The highest biomass production was 2.05 g L-1 in group A2, which was significantly higher (p < 0.05) than that in all other groups and sub-groups. Spirulina maxima died in B1 and C1 on the fifth day of culture. The biochemical composition of the biomass obtained from A2 cultures, including protein, carbohydrate, lipid, moisture, and ash, was 56.59%, 14.42%, 0.94%, 5.03%, and 23.02%, respectively. Therefore, S. maxima could be grown outdoors with the highest efficiency in urea-enriched medium at a 25-cm medium depth with 25% surface cover or uncovered. PMID:26691456

A mechanical analysis of woodpecker drumming and its application to shock-absorbing systems.

PubMed

Yoon, Sang-Hee; Park, Sungmin

2011-03-01

A woodpecker is known to drum the hard woody surface of a tree at a rate of 18 to 22 times per second with a deceleration of 1200 g, yet with no sign of blackout or brain damage. As a model in nature, a woodpecker is studied to find clues to develop a shock-absorbing system for micromachined devices. Its advanced shock-absorbing mechanism, which cannot be explained merely by allometric scaling, is analyzed in terms of endoskeletal structures. In this analysis, the head structures (beak, hyoid, spongy bone, and skull bone with cerebrospinal fluid) of the golden-fronted woodpecker, Melanerpes aurifrons, are explored with x-ray computed tomography images, and their shock-absorbing mechanism is analyzed with a mechanical vibration model and an empirical method. Based on these analyses, a new shock-absorbing system is designed to protect commercial micromachined devices from unwanted high-g and high-frequency mechanical excitations. The new shock-absorbing system consists of close-packed microglasses within two metal enclosures and a viscoelastic layer fastened by steel bolts, which are biologically inspired from a spongy bone contained within a skull bone encompassed with the hyoid of a woodpecker. In the experimental characterizations using a 60 mm smoothbore air-gun, this bio-inspired shock-absorbing system shows a failure rate of 0.7% for the commercial micromachined devices at 60 000 g, whereas a conventional hard-resin method yields a failure rate of 26.4%, thus verifying remarkable improvement in the g-force tolerance of the commercial micromachined devices.

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Huang, Zhenyu; Zhou, Ning; Tuffner, Francis K.

Small signal stability problems are one of the major threats to grid stability and reliability in the U.S. power grid. An undamped mode can cause large-amplitude oscillations and may result in system breakups and large-scale blackouts. There have been several incidents of system-wide oscillations. Of those incidents, the most notable is the August 10, 1996 western system breakup, a result of undamped system-wide oscillations. Significant efforts have been devoted to monitoring system oscillatory behaviors from measurements in the past 20 years. The deployment of phasor measurement units (PMU) provides high-precision, time-synchronized data needed for detecting oscillation modes. Measurement-based modal analysis,more » also known as ModeMeter, uses real-time phasor measurements to identify system oscillation modes and their damping. Low damping indicates potential system stability issues. Modal analysis has been demonstrated with phasor measurements to have the capability of estimating system modes from both oscillation signals and ambient data. With more and more phasor measurements available and ModeMeter techniques maturing, there is yet a need for methods to bring modal analysis from monitoring to actions. The methods should be able to associate low damping with grid operating conditions, so operators or automated operation schemes can respond when low damping is observed. The work presented in this report aims to develop such a method and establish a Modal Analysis for Grid Operation (MANGO) procedure to aid grid operation decision making to increase inter-area modal damping. The procedure can provide operation suggestions (such as increasing generation or decreasing load) for mitigating inter-area oscillations.« less

Network Science Based Quantification of Resilience Demonstrated on the Indian Railways Network.

PubMed

Bhatia, Udit; Kumar, Devashish; Kodra, Evan; Ganguly, Auroop R

2015-01-01

The structure, interdependence, and fragility of systems ranging from power-grids and transportation to ecology, climate, biology and even human communities and the Internet have been examined through network science. While response to perturbations has been quantified, recovery strategies for perturbed networks have usually been either discussed conceptually or through anecdotal case studies. Here we develop a network science based quantitative framework for measuring, comparing and interpreting hazard responses as well as recovery strategies. The framework, motivated by the recently proposed temporal resilience paradigm, is demonstrated with the Indian Railways Network. Simulations inspired by the 2004 Indian Ocean Tsunami and the 2012 North Indian blackout as well as a cyber-physical attack scenario illustrate hazard responses and effectiveness of proposed recovery strategies. Multiple metrics are used to generate various recovery strategies, which are simply sequences in which system components should be recovered after a disruption. Quantitative evaluation of these strategies suggests that faster and more efficient recovery is possible through network centrality measures. Optimal recovery strategies may be different per hazard, per community within a network, and for different measures of partial recovery. In addition, topological characterization provides a means for interpreting the comparative performance of proposed recovery strategies. The methods can be directly extended to other Large-Scale Critical Lifeline Infrastructure Networks including transportation, water, energy and communications systems that are threatened by natural or human-induced hazards, including cascading failures. Furthermore, the quantitative framework developed here can generalize across natural, engineered and human systems, offering an actionable and generalizable approach for emergency management in particular as well as for network resilience in general.

Accident Precursor Analysis and Management: Reducing Technological Risk Through Diligence

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Phimister, James R. (Editor); Bier, Vicki M. (Editor); Kunreuther, Howard C. (Editor)

2004-01-01

Almost every year there is at least one technological disaster that highlights the challenge of managing technological risk. On February 1, 2003, the space shuttle Columbia and her crew were lost during reentry into the atmosphere. In the summer of 2003, there was a blackout that left millions of people in the northeast United States without electricity. Forensic analyses, congressional hearings, investigations by scientific boards and panels, and journalistic and academic research have yielded a wealth of information about the events that led up to each disaster, and questions have arisen. Why were the events that led to the accident not recognized as harbingers? Why were risk-reducing steps not taken? This line of questioning is based on the assumption that signals before an accident can and should be recognized. To examine the validity of this assumption, the National Academy of Engineering (NAE) undertook the Accident Precursors Project in February 2003. The project was overseen by a committee of experts from the safety and risk-sciences communities. Rather than examining a single accident or incident, the committee decided to investigate how different organizations anticipate and assess the likelihood of accidents from accident precursors. The project culminated in a workshop held in Washington, D.C., in July 2003. This report includes the papers presented at the workshop, as well as findings and recommendations based on the workshop results and committee discussions. The papers describe precursor strategies in aviation, the chemical industry, health care, nuclear power and security operations. In addition to current practices, they also address some areas for future research.

Night shift preparation, performance, and perception: are there differences between emergency medicine nurses, residents, and faculty?

PubMed

Richards, John R; Stayton, Taylor L; Wells, Jason A; Parikh, Aman K; Laurin, Erik G

2018-04-30

Determine differences between faculty, residents, and nurses regarding night shift preparation, performance, recovery, and perception of emotional and physical health effects. Survey study performed at an urban university medical center emergency department with an accredited residency program in emergency medicine. Forty-seven faculty, 37 residents, and 90 nurses completed the survey. There was no difference in use of physical sleep aids between groups, except nurses utilized blackout curtains more (69%) than residents (60%) and faculty (45%). Bedroom temperature preference was similar. The routine use of pharmacologic sleep aids differed: nurses and residents (both 38%) compared to faculty (13%). Residents routinely used melatonin more (79%) than did faculty (33%) and nurses (38%). Faculty preferred not to eat (45%), whereas residents (24%) preferred a full meal. The majority (>72%) in all groups drank coffee before their night shift and reported feeling tired despite their routine, with 4:00 a.m. as median nadir. Faculty reported a higher rate (41%) of falling asleep while driving compared to residents (14%) and nurses (32%), but the accident rate (3% to 6%) did not differ significantly. All had similar opinions regarding night shift-associated health effects. However, faculty reported lower level of satisfaction working night shifts, whereas nurses agreed less than the other groups regarding increased risk of drug and alcohol dependence. Faculty, residents, and nurses shared many characteristics. Faculty tended to not use pharmacologic sleep aids, not eat before their shift, fall asleep at a higher rate while driving home, and enjoy night shift work less.

Physical comorbidities in men with mood and anxiety disorders: a population-based study

PubMed Central

2013-01-01

Background The mind-body nexus has been a topic of growing interest. Further data are however required to understand the specific relationship between mood and anxiety disorders and individual physical health conditions, and to verify whether these psychiatric disorders are linked to overall medical burden. Methods This study examined data collected from 942 men, 20 to 97 years old, participating in the Geelong Osteoporosis Study. A lifetime history of mood and anxiety disorders was identified using the Structured Clinical Interview for DSM-IV-TR Research Version, Non-patient edition (SCID-I/NP). The presence of medical conditions (lifetime) was self-reported and confirmed by medical records, medication use or clinical data. Anthropometric measurements and socioeconomic status (SES) were determined and information on medication use and lifestyle was obtained via questionnaire. Logistic regression models were used to test the associations. Results After adjustment for age, socioeconomic status, and health risk factors (body mass index, physical activity and smoking), mood disorders were associated with gastro oesophageal reflux disease (GORD), recurrent headaches, blackouts and/or epilepsy, liver disorders and pulmonary disease in older people, whilst anxiety disorders were significantly associated with thyroid, GORD and other gastrointestinal disorders, and psoriasis. Increased odds of high medical burden were associated with both mood and anxiety disorders. Conclusions Our study provides further population-based evidence supporting the link between mental and physical illness in men. Understanding these associations is not only necessary for individual management, but also to inform the delivery of health promotion messages and health care. PMID:23618390

Differential Associations of UPPS-P Impulsivity Traits With Alcohol Problems.

PubMed

McCarty, Kayleigh N; Morris, David H; Hatz, Laura E; McCarthy, Denis M

2017-07-01

The UPPS-P model posits that impulsivity comprises five factors: positive urgency, negative urgency, lack of planning, lack of perseverance, and sensation seeking. Negative and positive urgency are the traits most consistently associated with alcohol problems. However, previous work has examined alcohol problems either individually or in the aggregate, rather than examining multiple problem domains simultaneously. Recent work has also questioned the utility of distinguishing between positive and negative urgency, as this distinction did not meaningfully differ in predicting domains of psychopathology. The aims of this study were to address these issues by (a) testing unique associations of UPPS-P with specific domains of alcohol problems and (b) determining the utility of distinguishing between positive and negative urgency as risk factors for specific alcohol problems. Associations between UPPS-P traits and alcohol problem domains were examined in two cross-sectional data sets using negative binomial regression models. In both samples, negative urgency was associated with social/interpersonal, self-perception, risky behaviors, and blackout drinking problems. Positive urgency was associated with academic/occupational and physiological dependence problems. Both urgency traits were associated with impaired control and self-care problems. Associations for other UPPS-P traits did not replicate across samples. Results indicate that negative and positive urgency have differential associations with alcohol problem domains. Results also suggest a distinction between the type of alcohol problems associated with these traits-negative urgency was associated with problems experienced during a drinking episode, whereas positive urgency was associated with alcohol problems that result from longer-term drinking trends.

Individual and Medical Characteristics of Adults Presenting to an Urban Emergency Department in Ghana.

PubMed

Oteng, R A; Whiteside, L K; Rominski, S D; Amuasi, J H; Carter, P M; Donkor, P; Cunningham, R

2015-09-01

The aims of this study were to characterize the patients seeking acute care for injury and non-injury complaints in an urban Emergency Department in Ghana in order to 1) inform the curriculum of the newly developed Emergency Medicine resident training program 2) improve treatment processes, and 3) direct future community-wide injury prevention policies. A prospective cross-sectional survey of patients 18 years or older seeking care in an urban Accident and Emergency Center (AEC) was conducted between 7/13/2009 and 7/30/2009. Questionnaires were administered by trained research staff and each survey took 10-15 minutes to complete. Patients were asked questions regarding demographics, overall health and chief complaint. 254 patients were included in the sample. Participants' chief complaints were classified as either medical or injury-related. Approximately one third (38%) of patients presented with injuries and 62% presented for medical complaints. The most common injury at presentation was due to a road traffic injury, followed by falls and assault/fight. The most common medical presentation was abdominal pain followed by difficulty breathing and fainting/ blackout. Only 13% arrived to AEC by ambulance and 51% were unable to ambulate at the time of presentation. Approximately one-third of non-fatal adult visits were for acute injury. Future research should focus on developing surveillance systems for both medical and trauma patients. Physicians that are specifically trained to manage both the acutely injured patient and the medical patient will serve this population well given the variety of patients that seek care at the AEC.

Strengthening the fission reactor nuclear science and engineering program at UCLA. Final technical report

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Okrent, D.

1997-06-23

This is the final report on DOE Award No. DE-FG03-92ER75838 A000, a three year matching grant program with Pacific Gas and Electric Company (PG and E) to support strengthening of the fission reactor nuclear science and engineering program at UCLA. The program began on September 30, 1992. The program has enabled UCLA to use its strong existing background to train students in technological problems which simultaneously are of interest to the industry and of specific interest to PG and E. The program included undergraduate scholarships, graduate traineeships and distinguished lecturers. Four topics were selected for research the first year, withmore » the benefit of active collaboration with personnel from PG and E. These topics remained the same during the second year of this program. During the third year, two topics ended with the departure o the students involved (reflux cooling in a PWR during a shutdown and erosion/corrosion of carbon steel piping). Two new topics (long-term risk and fuel relocation within the reactor vessel) were added; hence, the topics during the third year award were the following: reflux condensation and the effect of non-condensable gases; erosion/corrosion of carbon steel piping; use of artificial intelligence in severe accident diagnosis for PWRs (diagnosis of plant status during a PWR station blackout scenario); the influence on risk of organization and management quality; considerations of long term risk from the disposal of hazardous wastes; and a probabilistic treatment of fuel motion and fuel relocation within the reactor vessel during a severe core damage accident.« less

Shining India?: Assessing and addressing the risks from an unsustainable trajectory of climate, water, food, energy and income inequity

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lall, U.

2012-12-01

Climate and demographics are primary drivers of regional resource sustainability. In today's global economy, increasing trade has provided a mechanism to alleviate regional stresses. However, increasing regional income promotes consumption, aggravating regional and global resource pressures. South Asia, has the highest population density at a sub-continent scale. Given its monsoonal climate, and high intensity of agriculture it faces perhaps the most severe population weighted water stress in the world. Rapidly declining groundwater tables and the associated high energy use for pumping for irrigated agriculture translate into unsustainable energy imports and expenditure that contributed to the two largest blackouts in global history in summer 2012. Access to water has been progressively declining for both rural and urban populations for the last 3 decades. The increasing energy imports and poor grid reliability translate into limits to the growth of manufacturing and exports of goods and services. The growing income inequity within the population and across national borders, and the impacts of floods and droughts on access to water, food and energy collectively suggest a very high risk for social unrest and a conflict flashpoint. I present a scenario analysis that establishes this case for the emergence of internal and external strife in the region as an outcome of the current resource and natural disaster management policies in the region. Prospects for strategic policy changes for water and energy management and the design of a food procurement and distribution system that could lead to a better future are discussed.

Network Science Based Quantification of Resilience Demonstrated on the Indian Railways Network

PubMed Central

Bhatia, Udit; Kumar, Devashish; Kodra, Evan; Ganguly, Auroop R.

2015-01-01

The structure, interdependence, and fragility of systems ranging from power-grids and transportation to ecology, climate, biology and even human communities and the Internet have been examined through network science. While response to perturbations has been quantified, recovery strategies for perturbed networks have usually been either discussed conceptually or through anecdotal case studies. Here we develop a network science based quantitative framework for measuring, comparing and interpreting hazard responses as well as recovery strategies. The framework, motivated by the recently proposed temporal resilience paradigm, is demonstrated with the Indian Railways Network. Simulations inspired by the 2004 Indian Ocean Tsunami and the 2012 North Indian blackout as well as a cyber-physical attack scenario illustrate hazard responses and effectiveness of proposed recovery strategies. Multiple metrics are used to generate various recovery strategies, which are simply sequences in which system components should be recovered after a disruption. Quantitative evaluation of these strategies suggests that faster and more efficient recovery is possible through network centrality measures. Optimal recovery strategies may be different per hazard, per community within a network, and for different measures of partial recovery. In addition, topological characterization provides a means for interpreting the comparative performance of proposed recovery strategies. The methods can be directly extended to other Large-Scale Critical Lifeline Infrastructure Networks including transportation, water, energy and communications systems that are threatened by natural or human-induced hazards, including cascading failures. Furthermore, the quantitative framework developed here can generalize across natural, engineered and human systems, offering an actionable and generalizable approach for emergency management in particular as well as for network resilience in general. PMID:26536227

Impact winter and the Cretaceous/Tertiary extinctions: Results of a Chicxulub asteroid impact model

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Pope, Kevin O.; Baines, Kevin H.; Ocampo, Adriana C.; Ivanov, Boris A.

1994-01-01

The Chicxulub impact crater in Mexico is the site of the impact purported to have caused mass extinctions at the Cretaceous/Tertiary (K/T) boundary. 2-D hydrocode modeling of the impact, coupled with studies of the impact site geology, indiate that between 0.4 and 7.0 x 10(exp 17) g of sulfur were vaporized by the impact into anhydrite target rocks. A small portion of the sulfur was released as SO3 or SO4, which converted rapidly into H2SO4 aerosol and fell as acid rain. A radiative transfer model, coupled with a model of coagulation indicates that the aerosol prolonged the initial blackout period caused by impact dust only if the aerosol contained impurities. A larger portion of sulfur was released as SO2, which converted to aerosol slowly, due to the rate-limiting oxidation of SO2. Our radiative transfer calculations, combined with rates of acid production, coagulation, and diffusion indicate that solar transmission was reduced to 10-20% of normal for a period of 8-13 yr. This reduction produced a climate forcing (cooling) of -300 W/sq.m, which far exceeded the +8 W/sq.m greenhouse warming, caused by the CO2 released through the vaporization of carbonates, and therefore produced a decade of freezing and near-freezing temperatures. Several decades of moderate warming followed the decade of severe cooling due to the long residence time of CO2. The prolonged impact winter may have been a major cause of the K/T extinctions.

Epilepsy management in older people: Lessons from National Audit of Seizure management in Hospitals (NASH).

PubMed

Ziso, B; Dixon, P A; Marson, A G

2017-08-01

Epilepsy is the third most common diagnosis in older people, however management in this group remains variable. National Audit of Seizure management in Hospitals (NASH) set out to assess care provided to patients attending hospitals in England following a seizure. 154 Emergency Departments (EDs) across the UK took part. 1256 patients aged 60 years or over were included for analysis (median age 74 years, 54% men). 51% were known to have epilepsy, 17% had history of previous seizure or blackout and 32% presented with a suspected first seizure. 14% of older patients with epilepsy were not on treatment, 59% were on monotherapy. Sodium valproate was the most commonly used antiepileptic, 28%. 35% of patients with epilepsy, aged 60 and over, had a CT during admission compared to only 17% of those under 60. 80% of patients aged 60 and over presenting with a likely first seizure were admitted to hospital, compared to 65% of those under 60. 34% of those with suspected first seizure were referred to a neurologist on discharge compared to 68% of patients under the age of 60. 52% of 60-69year olds with a suspected first seizure were referred to neurology compared to 25% of patients aged 80-89. Older patients presenting with seizures are more likely to be admitted to hospital and have imaging. They are less likely to be referred to specialist services on discharge. There appears to be significant disparity in patient age and rate of referral. Crown Copyright © 2017. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Processing- and product-related causes for food waste and implications for the food supply chain.

PubMed

Raak, Norbert; Symmank, Claudia; Zahn, Susann; Aschemann-Witzel, Jessica; Rohm, Harald

2017-03-01

Reducing food waste is one of the prominent goals in the current research, which has also been set by the United Nations to achieve a more sustainable world by 2030. Given that previous studies mainly examined causes for food waste generation related to consumers, e.g., expectations regarding quality or uncertainties about edibility, this review aims at providing an overview on losses in the food industry, as well as on natural mechanisms by which impeccable food items are converted into an undesired state. For this, scientific literature was reviewed based on a keyword search, and information not covered was gathered by conducting expert interviews with representatives from 13 German food processing companies. From the available literature, three main areas of food waste generation were identified and discussed: product deterioration and spoilage during logistical operations, by-products from food processing, and consumer perception of quality and safety. In addition, expert interviews revealed causes for food waste in the processing sector, which were categorised as follows: losses resulting from processing operations and quality assurance, and products not fulfilling quality demands from trade. The interviewees explained a number of strategies to minimise food losses, starting with alternative tradeways for second choice items, and ending with emergency power supplies to compensate for power blackouts. It became clear that the concepts are not universally applicable for each company, but the overview provided in the present study may support researchers in finding appropriate solutions for individual cases. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

The role of 'jackpot' stimuli in maladaptive decision-making: dissociable effects of D1/D2 receptor agonists and antagonists.

PubMed

Smith, Aaron P; Hofford, Rebecca S; Zentall, Thomas R; Beckmann, Joshua S

2018-05-01

Laboratory experiments often model risk through a choice between a large, uncertain (LU) reward against a small, certain (SC) reward as an index of an individual's risk tolerance. An important factor generally lacking from these procedures are reward-associated cues that may modulate risk preferences. We tested whether the addition of cues signaling 'jackpot' wins to LU choices would modulate risk preferences and if these cue effects were mediated by dopaminergic signaling. Three groups of rats chose between LU and SC rewards for which the LU probability of reward decreased across blocks. The unsignaled group received a non-informative stimulus of trial outcome. The signaled group received a jackpot signal prior to reward delivery and blackout on losses. The signaled-light group received a similar jackpot for wins, but a salient loss signal distinct from the win signal. Presenting win signals decreased the discounting of LU value for both signaled groups regardless of loss signal, while the unsignaled group showed discounting similar to previous research without cues. Pharmacological challenges with D1/D2 agonists and antagonists revealed that D1 antagonism increased and decreased sensitives to the relative probability of reward for unsignaled and signaled groups, respectively, while D2 agonists decreased sensitivities to the relative magnitude of reward. The results highlight how signals predictive of wins can promote maladaptive risk taking in individuals, while loss signals have reduced effect. Additionally, the presence of reward-predictive cues may change the underlying neurobehavioral mechanisms mediating decision-making under risk.

Struck by lightning or slowly suffocating – gendered trajectories into depression

PubMed Central

Danielsson, Ulla; Bengs, Carita; Lehti, Arja; Hammarström, Anne; Johansson, Eva E

2009-01-01

Background In family practice depression is a common mental health problem and one with marked gender differences; women are diagnosed as depressed twice as often as men. A more comprehensive explanatory model of depression that can give an understanding of, and tools for changing, this gender difference is called for. This study explores how primary care patients experience, understand and explain their depression. Methods Twenty men and women of varying ages and socioeconomic backgrounds diagnosed with depression according to ICD-10 were interviewed in-depth. Data were assessed and analyzed using Grounded Theory. Results The core category that emerged from analysis was "Gendered trajectories into depression". Thereto, four categories were identified – "Struck by lightning", "Nagging darkness", "Blackout" and "Slowly suffocating" – and presented as symbolic illness narratives that showed gendered patterns. Most of the men in our study considered that their bodies were suddenly "struck" by external circumstances beyond their control. The stories of study women were more diverse, reflecting all four illness narratives. However, the dominant pattern was that women thought that their depression emanated from internal factors, from their own personality or ways of handling life. The women were more preoccupied with shame and guilt, and conveyed a greater sense of personal responsibility and concern with relationships. Conclusion Recognizing gendered narratives of illness in clinical consultation may have a salutary potential, making more visible depression among men while relieving self-blame among women, and thereby encouraging the development of healthier practices of how to be a man or a woman. PMID:19671133

[Prevalence of processes and pathologies dealt with by the pre-hospital emergency medical services in Spain].

PubMed

Pacheco, Andrés; Burusco, S; Senosiáin, M V

2010-01-01

This study was carried out by contacting 26 Medical Emergency Services (MES), through survey, with final data obtained from 22. Population covered: 42,538,730. Total number of calls: 7,656,768, with 711,228 interventions. Number of operational forces: intensive care units (mobile-ICUs): 329, rapid intervention vehicles (RIV) 20, health ambulances 39 and medical helicopters 39 (4 of them 24 hour: Canary Islands and Castile-La Mancha) and 3 airplanes. mobile-ICUs: 94.3%, medical helicopters: 1.4% and health ambulances: 4.3%. Number of A&E doctors/day: 388, nursing personnel 427. Pathologies dealt with, grouped according to ICE-9-MC: V-psychiatry group: 3.7%, VI-neurological group: 2.7%, VII-cardiovascular group: 9.3%, VIII-respiratory group: 3.2%, XVII-lesions poisonings group: 23.1%, IX-digestive group: 1.3%, X-XI-genital-urinary and gynaecology-obstetrics groups: 1.4%, XVI-group of other ill-defined pathologies: 40.1%. Specifically studied groups (from the MESs that provided them) were: thoracic pain- dyspnea: 3.7%, ictus/acute cerebrovascular accident: 0.9%, alteration in consciousness: 7.7%, syncope-blackout: 2.5%, self-inflicted lesions: 2,654 (0.4%). Total of pathological and syndrome groups: 59.9% and total of other ill-defined pathologies: 40.1%. Of the pathologies considered to be of greater relevance in A&E: acute coronary syndrome: 3.1%, arrhythmias: 3.2%, cardiac arrest: 1.7%, respiratory stoppage: 0.16%, total traumatisms: 34.9%, traumatisms: 1.16%, cranio-encephalic traumatism: 1.77%, intoxications: 5.1%, agressions: 6.9%, burns: 0.26%.

Drinking Motives in the Prospective Prediction of Unique Alcohol-Related Consequences in College Students

PubMed Central

Merrill, Jennifer E.; Wardell, Jeffrey D.; Read, Jennifer P.

2014-01-01

Objective: Although college students experience a diverse range of alcohol consequences, most studies focus on global, rather than distinct, consequence types. One predictor of unique consequences—drinking motives—has been studied only cross-sectionally. We aimed to examine the prediction of unique alcohol consequence domains (social/interpersonal, academic/occupational, risky behavior, impaired control, poor self-care, diminished self-perception, blackout drinking, and physiological dependence) by coping and enhancement motives over the course of one year. We hypothesized that coping motives would directly predict and that enhancement motives would indirectly (through alcohol use) predict unique consequences. Method: Web surveys were administered to a sample of college students (n = 552, 62% female) at the beginning of the fall semester for 2 consecutive academic years. Structural equation modeling was used to test direct and indirect paths from motives to consequences. Results: The data supported hypothesized direct, prospective paths from coping motives to several alcohol consequences (impaired control, diminished self-perception, poor self-care, risky behaviors, academic/occupational, and physiological dependence). These associations were not mediated by alcohol consumption. Enhancement motives were indirectly associated with all eight consequence domains by way of increased alcohol use at follow-up. Models were invariant across gender, year in school, and symptoms of posttraumatic stress. Conclusions: Findings suggest that whether motives act as a final common pathway to problem drinking may depend on which motives and which drinking outcomes are examined. As coping motives demonstrate a direct link to unique alcohol problem types over time, individuals endorsing these motives may need to be prioritized for intervention. PMID:24411801

Variation of Spirulina maxima biomass production in different depths of urea-used culture medium.

PubMed

Affan, Md-Abu; Lee, Dae-Won; Al-Harbi, Salim Marzoog; Kim, Han-Jun; Abdulwassi, Najah Ibrahim; Heo, Soo-Jin; Oh, Chulhong; Park, Heung-Sik; Ma, Chae Woo; Lee, Hyeon-Yong; Kang, Do-Hyung

2015-01-01

Fewer studies have assessed the outdoor cultivation of Spirulina maxima compared with S. platensis, although the protein content of S. maxima is higher than S. platensis. Spirulina growth medium requires an increased amount of NaHCO3, Na2CO3, and NaNO3, which increases the production cost. Therefore, the current study used a low-cost but high-efficiency biomass production medium (Medium M-19) after testing 33 different media. The medium depth of 25 cm (group A) was sub-divided into A1 (50% cover with a black curtain (PolyMax, 12 oz ultra-blackout), A2 (25% cover), and A3 (no cover). Similarly the medium depths of 30 and 35 cm were categorized as groups B (B1, B2, and B3) and C (C1, C2, and C3), respectively, and the effects of depth and surface light availability on growth and biomass production were assessed. The highest biomass production was 2.05 g L-1 in group A2, which was significantly higher (p < 0.05) than that in all other groups and sub-groups. Spirulina maxima died in B1 and C1 on the fifth day of culture. The biochemical composition of the biomass obtained from A2 cultures, including protein, carbohydrate, lipid, moisture, and ash, was 56.59%, 14.42%, 0.94%, 5.03%, and 23.02%, respectively. Therefore, S. maxima could be grown outdoors with the highest efficiency in urea-enriched medium at a 25-cm medium depth with 25% surface cover or uncovered.

NASA/NOAA Electronic Theater: 90 Minutes of Spectacular Visualization

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Hasler, A. F.

2004-01-01

The NASA/NOAA Electronic Theater presents Earth science observations and visualizations from space in a historical perspective. Fly in from outer space to Ashville and the Conference Auditorium. Zoom through the Cosmos to SLC and site of the 2002 Winter Olympics using 1 m IKONOS 'Spy Satellite' data. Contrast the 1972 Apollo 17 'Blue Marble' image of the Earth with the latest US and International global satellite images that allow us to view our Planet from any vantage point. See the latest spectacular images from NASA/NOAA remote sensing missions like Terra, GOES, TRMM, SeaWiFS, & Landsat 7, of storms & fires like Hurricane Isabel and the LA/San Diego Fire Storms of 2003. See how High Definition Television (HDTV) is revolutionizing the way we do science communication. Take the pulse of the planet on a daily, annual and 30-year time scale. See daily thunderstorms, the annual blooming of the northern hemisphere land masses and oceans, fires in Africa, dust storms in Iraq, and carbon monoxide exhaust from global burning. See visualizations featured on Newsweek, TIME, National Geographic, Popular Science covers & National & International Network TV. Spectacular new global visualizations of the observed and simulated atmosphere and Oceans are shown. See the currents and vortexes in the Oceans that bring up the nutrients blooms in response to El Nino/La Nina climate changes. The Etheater will be presented using the latest High Definition TV (HDTV) and video projection technology on a large screen. See the global city lights, and the great NE US blackout of August 2003 observed by the 'night-vision' DMSP satellite.

The NASA/NOAA Electronic Theater

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Hasler, A. F.

2003-01-01

The NASA/NOAA Electronic Theater presents Earth science observations and visualizations from space in a historical perspective. Fly in from outer space to Cambridge and Harvard University. Zoom through the Cosmos to SLC and site of the 2002 Winter Olympics using 1 m IKONOS "Spy Satellite" data. Contrast the 1972 Apollo 17 "Blue Marble" image of the Earth with the latest US and International global satellite images that allow us to view our Planet from any vantage point. See the latest spectacular images from NASA/NOAA remote sensing missions like Terra, GOES, TRMM, SeaWiFS, & Landsat 7, of storms & fires like Hurricane Isabel and the LNSan Diego firestorms of 2003. See how High Definition Television (HDTV) is revolutionizing the way we do science communication. Take the pulse of the planet on a daily, annual and 30-year time scale. See daily thunderstorms, the annual blooming of the northern hemisphere landmasses and oceans, fires in Africa, dust storms in Iraq, and carbon monoxide exhaust from global burning. See visualizations featured on Newsweek, TIME, National Geographic, Popular Science covers & National & International Network TV. Spectacular new global visualizations of the observed and simulated atmosphere & oceans are shown. See the currents and vortexes in the oceans that bring up the nutrients to feed tiny plankton and draw the fish, whales and fishermen. See the how the ocean blooms in response to El Niiioh Niiia climate changes. The Etheater will be presented using the latest High Definition TV (HDTV) and video projection technology on a large screen. See the global city lights, and the great NE US blackout of August 2003 observed by the "night-vision" DMSP satellite.

Does blood pressure variability affect the summer associated symptoms amongst females?

PubMed

Sinha, Pragya; Singh, N P; Taneja, D K; Sah, Renuka

2010-04-01

Blood pressure usually increases in winter and decreases in summer i.e, shows seasonal variation. In a tropical country like India women often complain off prominent symptoms like dizziness, giddiness, fainting and weakness during summer months. The objective was to study the prevalence of above symptoms which are common during summer and its association with variation in blood pressure among normotensive healthy females aged 18-40 years. The present study was carried out on 132 women as a prospective observational study which included 2 home visits to the participants in the two different seasons in the months of May-June (summer) and December-January (winter) based on the data provided by the meteorological department of Government of India. Blood pressure and pulse rate (hemodynamic variables) was measured in these seasons and information was collected on the occurrence of the symptoms in these seasons. There was mean decrease of 11.07 +/- 10.29 mm of Hg in Systolic blood pressure & 6.79 +/-6.88 mm of Hg in diastolic blood pressure in summer as compared to winter. The symptoms in the form of weakness, dizziness and blackout which are generally perceived by women in this area to be due to low blood pressure were observed in 32.6% of the study subjects in summer compared with 2.3% in winter. The difference was statistically highly significant (p < 0.001). There was no significant difference between the mean value of electrolytes, creatinine and urea in the cases and the controls. Thus the seasonal variation in blood pressure rather than electrolytes abnormality may be responsible for these symptoms.