The choice of dynamic amplification factors for the ITER generic port plugs during disruptions

Vacas, Christian,Rodriguez, Eduardo,Guirao, Julio,Iglesias, Silvia,Udintsev, Victor,Pak, Sunil,Maquet, Philippe,Roces, Jorge,Casal, Natalia Elsevier 2015 Fusion engineering and design Vol.98 No.-

<P><B>Abstract</B></P> <P>The purpose of this paper is present an overview of the methodology followed to calculate the dynamic amplification factors applied to the electromagnetic loads acting in the ITER generic port plugs.</P> <P>The methodology used for combining an EM transient event with another kind of load is based in the treated of this dynamic EM event as a static load. As first stage a transient dynamic analysis was performed, at the most demanded electromagnetic event [2], to determine the dynamic response of the port plugs. In the same way, have been solved all the time steps of the dynamic event as static loads, it means that the inertial effect has been neglected. The response of each time-step at the dynamic solution has been compared with the same time-step solved as a static load. For this purpose some control points were positioned along the structure at the most representative locations. The key of these calculations is the understanding of the deformed modes affecting the port plug in order to obtain a reasonable dynamic amplification factors that permit the characterization of these loads in a realistic way and does not derive in a too conservative approach. Additionally, the fundamental frequencies and vibration modes of the generic port plug, requested for the characterization of the damping effects at the structure, were calculated in a complementary modal analysis performed for this aim.</P> <P><B>Highlights</B></P> <P> <UL> <LI> Dynamic amplification factor is largely influenced by the DFWs geometry and for the type of bond between DFW and DSM. </LI> <LI> DAF were calculated by analyzing the deformed shape and not just looking at the absolute values of displacements. </LI> <LI> Detailed transient time history non-linear analysis of an MDUP II electro magnetic event has been carried out. </LI> <LI> Cuasi-constant damping ratio of 3% has been considered using a generalized proportional damping model. </LI> </UL> </P>

Mating disruption to control the striped rice stem borer: Pheromone blend, dispensing technology and number of releasing points

Sandra Vacas,Ismael Navarro,Jaime Primo,Vicente Navarro-Llopis 한국응용곤충학회 2016 Journal of Asia-Pacific Entomology Vol.19 No.2

The effect of using low densities of different dispensing technologies on mating disruption of the striped rice stem borer, Chilo suppressalis Walker,was evaluated in the rice-growing area of Valencia (Spain) from 2011 to 2013. The reduction of the current number of release points (30 polymeric dispensers/ha) was investigated by installing 3 aerosol devices per ha (Experiments 1 and 2) or with clusters of hand-applied dispensers (10 or 5 release points/ ha; Experiment 3). The influence of pheromone blend on disruption was also studied by loading aerosol devices with the three-component blend or only the main pheromone compound, Z-11-hexadecenal. Results showed that the installation of 3 aerosol devices/ha or clusters of passive dispensers (total dose: 6.6–7.9 g/ha) proved equally effective as the conventional treatmentwith 30 Selibate®CS dispensers/ha (~5 g/ha), reducing damage below 1% of infested plants. Although the treatment with 3 aerosol devices/ha loaded with Z-11-hexadecenal provided control of damage comparable to the conventionalmating disruption treatment, the higher captures recorded suggest that mating disruption with the incomplete pheromone blend is only slightly effective in the tested conditions. These changes in the number of point sources and pheromone blend could represent important advantages for the implementation of mating disruption against C. suppressalis.

Fracture mechanics analysis approach to assess structural integrity of the first confinement boundaries in ITER Generic Upper Port Plug structure

Guirao, Julio,Iglesias, Silvia,Vacas, Christian,Udintsev, Victor,Pak, Sunil,Maquet, Philippe,Rodriguez, Eduardo,Roces, Jorge Elsevier 2015 Fusion engineering and design Vol.98 No.-

<P><B>Abstract</B></P> <P>This paper demonstrates structural integrity of the first confinement boundary in Generic Upper Port Plug structures against cracking during service. This constitutes part of the justification to demonstrate that the non-aggression to the confinement barrier requirement may be compatible with the absent of a specific in-service inspections (ISI) program in the trapezoidal section. Since the component will be subjected to 100% volumetric inspections it can be assumed that no defects below the threshold of applied Nondestructive Evaluation techniques will be present before its commissioning. Cracks during service would be associated to defects under Code acceptance limit. This limit can be reasonably taken as 2mm. Using elastic–plastic fracture mechanics an initial defect is postulated at the worst location in terms of probability and impact on the confinement boundary. Its evolution is simulated through finite element analysis and final dimension at the end of service is estimated. Applying the procedures in RCC-MR 2007 (App-16) the stability of the crack is assessed. As relative high safety margin was achieved, a complementary assessment postulating an initial defect of 6mm was also conducted. New margin calculated provides a more robust design.</P> <P><B>Highlights</B></P> <P> <UL> <LI> A parametric submodel of the spot under study is developed. </LI> <LI> The associated macro has the capability to successively re-build the submodel implementing the crack with the geometry of the updated crack front as a function of the predicted increments of length in the apexes of the crack from the calculated stress intensity factor at the crack front. </LI> <LI> The analysis incorporates the crack behavior model to predict the evolution of the postulated defect under the application of the different transients. </LI> <LI> The analysis is based on the Elasto-Plastic Fracture Mechanics (EPFM) theory to account for the ductility of the materials (316LN type stainless steel). </LI> </UL> </P>

Engineering requirements due to the ESP/ESPN regulation apply at the port plug for ITER diagnostic system

Giacomin, T.,Delhom, D.,Drevon, J.-M.,Guirao, J.,Iglesias, S.,Jourdan, T.,Loesser, D.,Maquet, P.,Ordieres, J.,Pak, S.,Proust, M.,Smith, M.,Udintsev, V.S.,Vacas, C.,Walsh, M.J.,Zhai, Y. Elsevier 2015 Fusion engineering and design Vol.98 No.-

<P><B>Abstract</B></P> <P>Due to this position close to the plasma, the port plug structure and the diagnostic first wall (DFW) contain water to allow cooling during operation and for heating during bake-out. To remove the heat coming from the plasma due to radiation and neutrons, the pressure inside these structures should be up to 44 bars. On the other hand, the dominant load expected to drive the design of these structures is of electromagnetic origin during the plasma disruption. Description of the loads acting on DFWs and generic port plug structures and the significance of the load due to the water pressure, with implications on the design and inspection, are discussed in this paper.</P> <P><B>Highlights</B></P> <P> <UL> <LI> The ESP/ESPN regulation is applied to all equatorial and upper port-based diagnostic systems. </LI> <LI> The EPP and UPP structure provides a flexible platform for a variety of diagnostics. </LI> <LI> The EPP and UPP structure provide a support the diagnostic shielding module. </LI> </UL> </P>

Area-Level Socioeconomic Inequalities in Intracranial Injury-Related Hospitalization in Korea: A Retrospective Analysis of Data From Korea National Hospital Discharge Survey 2008–2015

박항아,Vaca Federico E.,Jung-Choi Kyunghee,Park Hyesook,박주옥 대한의학회 2023 Journal of Korean medical science Vol.38 No.4

Background: Although inequality in traumatic brain injury (TBI) by individual socioeconomic status (SES) exists, interventions to modify individual SES are difficult. However, as interventions for area-based SES can affect the individual SES, monitoring or public health intervention can be planned. We analyzed the effect of area-based SES on hospitalization for TBI and revealed yearly inequality trends to provide a basis for health intervention. Methods: We included patients who were hospitalized due to intracranial injuries (ICIs) between 2008 and 2015 as a measure of severe TBI with data provided by the Korea National Hospital Discharge Survey. Area-based SES was synthesized using the 2010 census data. We assessed inequalities in ICI-related hospitalization rates using the relative index of inequality and the slope index of inequality for the periods 2008–2009, 2010–2011, 2012–2013, and 2014–2015. We analyzed the trends of these indices for the observation period by age and sex. Results: The overall relative indices of inequality for each 2-year period were 1.82 (95% confidence interval, 1.5–2.3), 1.97 (1.6–2.5), 2.01 (1.6–2.5), and 2.01 (1.6–2.5), respectively. The overall slope indices of inequality in each period were 38.74 (23.5–54.0), 36.75 (21.7–51.8), 35.65 (20.7–50.6), and 43.11 (27.6–58.6), respectively. The relative indices of inequality showed a linear trend for men (P = 0.006), which was most evident in the ≥ 65-year age group. Conclusion: Inequality in hospitalization for ICIs by area-based SES tended to increase during the observation period. Practical preventive interventions and input in healthcare resources for populations with low area-based SES are likely needed.

Non-destructive estimation of leaf area and leaf weight of Cinchona officinalis L. (Rubiaceae) based on linear models

Huaccha-Castillo Annick Estefany,Fernandez-Zarate Franklin Hitler,Pérez-Delgado Luis Jhoseph,Tantalean-Osores Karla Saith,Vaca-Marquina Segundo Primitivo,Sanchez-Santillan Tito,Morales-Rojas Eli,Semin 한국산림과학회 2023 Forest Science And Technology Vol.19 No.1

Non-destructive methods that accurately estimate leaf area (LA) and leaf weight (LW) are simple and inexpensive, and represent powerful tools in the development of physiological and agronomic research. The objective of this research is to generate mathematical models for estimating the LA and LW of Cinchona officinalis leaves. A total of 220 leaves were collected from C. officinalis plants 10months after transplantation. Each leaf was measured for length, width, weight, and leaf area. Data for 80% of leaves were used to form the training set, and data for the remaining 20% were used as the validation set. The training set was used for model fit and choice, whereas the validation set al.lowed assessment of the of the model’s predictive ability. The LA and LW were modeled using seven linear regression models based on the length (L) and width (Wi) of leaves. In addition, the models were assessed based on calculation of the following statistics: goodness of fit (R2), root mean squared error (RMSE), Akaike’s information criterion (AIC), and the deviation between the regression line of the observed versus expected values and the reference line, determined by the area between these lines (ABL). For LA estimation, the model LA¼11.521(Wi) 21.422 (R2¼0.96, RMSE¼28.16, AIC¼3.48, and ABL¼140.34) was chosen, while for LW determination, LW¼0.2419(Wi) 0.4936 (R2¼0.93, RMSE¼0.56, AIC¼37.36, and ABL¼0.03) was selected. Finally, the LA and LW of C. officinalis could be estimated through linear regression involving leaf width, proving to be a simple and accurate tool.

Effect of arbuscular mycorrhiza on germination and initial growth ofCinchona officinalisL. (Rubiaceae)

Franklin Hitler Fernandez-Zarate,Annick Estefany Huaccha-Castillo,Lenin Qui~nones-Huatangari,Segundo Primitivo Vaca-Marquina,Tito Sanchez-Santillan,Eli Morales-Rojas,Alejandro Seminario-Cunya,Marly Gu 한국산림과학회 2022 Forest Science And Technology Vol.18 No.4

Cinchona officinalis, known locally as cascarilla or cinchona, is a plant species native to SouthAmerica. It was used as a source of quinine to combat malaria in the 17th century. The spe-cies is threatened by various anthropogenic activities. Further, the propagation of the spe-cies depends on seed dispersal and its germination capacity. Therefore, it is necessary toconserve and propagate this species. BecauseC. officinalisseeds have a low germinationcapacity, we determined the effect of arbuscular mycorrhizae (AM) on their germination andgrowth. A randomized design was employed with two treatments, one treated with mycor-rhizae (CM) and another without mycorrhizae (SM). For each treatment, three replicates of100 seeds were used. Germination, growth, and fungal characteristics were evaluated. In ger-mination parameters, the CM treatment showed better performance, but the improvementwas statistically insignificant. However, the application of AM significantly improved seedlingheight (cm), root length (cm), leaf area (cm2), and root number by 53.52, 28.72, 29.73, and61.66%, respectively. Likewise, mycorrhization intensity (%), mycorrhization frequency (%),and extraradical mycelium length (cm) in the CM treatment were 37.13, 3.44, and 174.97%higher compared to the SM treatment, respectively. Therefore, the use of AM fungi provesto be advantageous in the propagation ofC. officinalis, and these results provide a basis forthe largescale and sustainable propagation of this species.

Gallibacterium elongation factor-Tu possesses amyloid-like protein characteristics, participates in cell adhesion, and is present in biofilms

Jaqueline López-Ochoa,J. Fernando Montes-García,Candelario Vázquez,Patricia Sánchez-Alonso,Victor M. Pérez-Márquez,Patrick J. Blackall,Sergio Vaca,Erasmo Negrete-Abascal 한국미생물학회 2017 The journal of microbiology Vol.55 No.9

Gallibacterium, which is a bacterial pathogen in chickens, can form biofilms. Amyloid proteins present in biofilms bind Congo red dye. The aim of this study was to characterize the cell-surface amyloid-like protein expressed in biofilms formed by Gallibacterium strains and determine the relationship between this protein and curli, which is an amyloid protein that is commonly expressed by members of the Enterobacteriaceae family. The presence of amyloid-like proteins in outer membrane protein samples from three strains of G. anatis and one strain of Gallibacterium genomospecies 2 was evaluated. A protein identified as elongation factor-Tu (EF-Tu) by mass spectrometric analysis and in silico analysis was obtained from the G. anatis strain F149T. This protein bound Congo red dye, cross-reacted with anti-curli polyclonal serum, exhibited polymerizing properties and was present in biofilms. This protein also reacted with pooled serum from chickens that were experimentally infected with G. anatis, indicating the in vivo immunogenicity of this protein. The recombinant EF-Tu purified protein, which was prepared from G. anatis 12656-12, polymerizes under in vitro conditions, forms filaments and interacts with fibronectin and fibrinogen, all of which suggest that this protein functions as an adhesin. In summary, EF-Tu from G. anatis presents amyloid characteristics, is present in biofilms and could be relevant for the pathogenesis of G. anatis.