Analysis of PACTEL small break LOCA experiment using TRACE

A small break loss-of-coolant accident (SBLOCA) is one of problems investigated in an NPP operation. Such accident can be analyzed using an experiment facility and TRACE thermal-hydraulic system code. A series of SBLOCA experiments was carried out on Parallel Channel Test Loop (PACTEL) facility, exploited together with Technical Research Centre of Finland VTT Energy and Lappeenranta University of Technology (LUT), in order to investigate two-phase phenomena related to a VVER-type reactor. The experiments and a TRACE model of the PACTEL facility are described in the paper. In addition, there is the TRACE code description with main field equations. At the work, calculations of a SBLOCA series are implemented and after the calculations, the thesis discusses the validation of TRACE and concludes with an assessment of the usefulness and accuracy of the code in calculating small breaks.

Analysis of Phase Separator Design Criteria Using Computational Fluid Dynamics

Gravitational phase separation is a common unit operation found in most large-scale chemical processes. The need for phase separation can arise e.g. from product purification or protection of downstream equipment. In gravitational phase separation, the phases separate without the application of an external force. This is achieved in vessels where the flow velocity is lowered substantially compared to pipe flow. If the velocity is low enough, the denser phase settles towards the bottom of the vessel while the lighter phase rises. To find optimal configurations for gravitational phase separator vessels, several different geometrical and internal design features were evaluated based on simulations using OpenFOAM computational fluid dynamics (CFD) software. The studied features included inlet distributors, vessel dimensions, demister configurations and gas phase outlet configurations. Simulations were conducted as single phase steady state calculations. For comparison, additional simulations were performed as dynamic single and two-phase calculations. The steady state single phase calculations provided indications on preferred configurations for most above mentioned features. The results of the dynamic simulations supported the utilization of the computationally faster steady state model as a practical engineering tool. However, the two-phase model provides more truthful results especially with flows where a single phase does not determine the flow characteristics.

Analysis of testicular cell populations using flow cytometry

Studying testis is complex, because the tissue has a very heterogeneous cell composition and its structure changes dynamically during development. In reproductive field, the cell composition is traditionally studied by morphometric methods such as immunohistochemistry and immunofluorescence. These techniques provide accurate quantitative information about cell composition, cell-cell association and localization of the cells of interest. However, the sample preparation, processing, staining and data analysis are laborious and may take several working days. Flow cytometry protocols coupled with DNA stains have played an important role in providing quantitative information of testicular cells populations ex vivo and in vitro studies. Nevertheless, the addition of specific cells markers such as intracellular antibodies would allow the more specific identification of cells of crucial interest during spermatogenesis. For this study, adult rat Sprague-Dawley rats were used for optimization of the flow cytometry protocol. Specific steps within the protocol were optimized to obtain a singlecell suspension representative of the cell composition of the starting material. Fixation and permeabilization procedure were optimized to be compatible with DNA stains and fluorescent intracellular antibodies. Optimization was achieved by quantitative analysis of specific parameters such as recovery of meiotic cells, amount of debris and comparison of the proportions of the various cell populations with already published data. As a result, a new and fast flow cytometry method coupled with DNA stain and intracellular antigen detection was developed. This new technique is suitable for analysis of population behavior and specific cells during postnatal testis development and spermatogenesis in rodents. This rapid protocol recapitulated the known vimentin and γH2AX protein expression patterns during rodent testis ontogenesis. Moreover, the assay was applicable for phenotype characterization of SCRbKO and E2F1KO mouse models.

Dynamic Competitor Analysis Model Of Welding Quality Management Software

Tämä diplomityö arvioi hitsauksen laadunhallintaohjelmistomarkkinoiden kilpailijoita. Kilpailukenttä on uusi ja ei ole tarkkaa tietoa siitä minkälaisia kilpailijoita on markkinoilla. Hitsauksen laadunhallintaohjelmisto auttaa yrityksiä takaamaan korkean laadun. Ohjelmisto takaa korkean laadun varmistamalla, että hitsaaja on pätevä, hän noudattaa hitsausohjeita ja annettuja parametreja. Sen lisäksi ohjelmisto kerää kaiken tiedon hitsausprosessista ja luo siitä vaadittavat dokumentit. Diplomityön teoriaosuus muodostuu kirjallisuuskatsauksesta ratkaisuliike-toimintaan, kilpailija-analyysin ja kilpailuvoimien teoriaan sekä hitsauksen laadunhallintaan. Työn empiriaosuus on laadullinen tutkimus, jossa tutkitaan kilpailevia hitsauksen laadunhallintaohjelmistoja ja haastatellaan ohjelmistojen käyttäjiä. Diplomityön tuloksena saadaan uusi kilpailija-analyysimalli hitsauksen laadunhallintaohjelmistoille. Mallin avulla voidaan arvostella ohjelmistot niiden tarjoamien primääri- ja sekundääriominaisuuksien perusteella. Toiseksi tässä diplomityössä analysoidaan nykyinen kilpailijatilanne hyödyntämällä juuri kehitettyä kilpailija-analyysimallia.

A performance analysis of conventional and fundamental exchange traded funds: ETFs and their risk-return characteristics in relation to building institutional investor’s passive portfolio

An exchange traded fund (ETF) is a financial instrument that tracks some predetermined index. Since their initial establishment in 1993, ETFs have grown in importance in the field of passive investing. The main reason for the growth of the ETF industry is that ETFs combine benefits of stock investing and mutual fund investing. Although ETFs resemble mutual funds in many ways, also many differences occur. In addition, ETFs not only differ from mutual funds but also differ among each other. ETFs can be divided into two categories, i.e. market capitalisation ETFs and fundamental (or strategic) ETFs, and further into subcategories depending on their fundament basis. ETFs are a useful tool for diversification especially for a long-term investor. Although the economic importance of ETFs has risen drastically during the past 25 years, the differences and risk-return characteristics of fundamental ETFs have yet been rather unstudied area. In effect, no previous research on market capitalisation and fundamental ETFs was found during the research process. For its part, this thesis seeks to fill this research gap. The studied data consist of 50 market capitalisation ETFs and 50 fundamental ETFs. The fundaments, on which the indices that the fundamental ETFs track, were not limited nor segregated into subsections. The two types of ETFs were studied at an aggregate level as two different research groups. The dataset ranges from June 2006 to December 2014 with 103 monthly observations. The data was gathered using Bloomberg Terminal. The analysis was conducted as an econometric performance analysis. In addition to other econometric measures, the methods that were used in the performance analysis included modified Value-at-Risk, modified Sharpe ratio and Treynor ratio. The results supported the hypothesis that passive market capitalisation ETFs outperform active fundamental ETFs in terms of risk-adjusted returns, though the difference is rather small. Nevertheless, when taking into account the higher overall trading costs of the fundamental ETFs, the underperformance gap widens. According to the research results, market capitalisation ETFs are a recommendable diversification instrument for a long-term investor. In addition to better risk-adjusted returns, passive ETFs are more transparent and the bases of their underlying indices are simpler than those of fundamental ETFs. ETFs are still a young financial innovation and hence data is scarcely available. On future research, it would be valuable to research the differences in risk-adjusted returns also between the subsections of fundamental ETFs.

Power Electronic Converters in Low-Voltage Direct Current Distribution – Analysis and Implementation

Over the recent years, smart grids have received great public attention. Many proposed functionalities rely on power electronics, which play a key role in the smart grid, together with the communication network. However, “smartness” is not the driver that alone motivates the research towards distribution networks based on power electronics; the network vulnerability to natural hazards has resulted in tightening requirements for the supply security, set both by electricity end-users and authorities. Because of the favorable price development and advancements in the field, direct current (DC) distribution has become an attractive alternative for distribution networks. In this doctoral dissertation, power electronic converters for a low-voltage DC (LVDC) distribution system are investigated. These include the rectifier located at the beginning of the LVDC network and the customer-end inverter (CEI) on the customer premises. Rectifier topologies are introduced, and according to the LVDC system requirements, topologies are chosen for the analysis. Similarly, suitable CEI topologies are addressed and selected for study. Application of power electronics into electricity distribution poses some new challenges. Because the electricity end-user is supplied with the CEI, it is responsible for the end-user voltage quality, but it also has to be able to supply adequate current in all operating conditions, including a short-circuit, to ensure the electrical safety. Supplying short-circuit current with power electronics requires additional measures, and therefore, the short-circuit behavior is described and methods to overcome the high-current supply to the fault are proposed. Power electronic converters also produce common-mode (CM) and radio-frequency (RF) electromagnetic interferences (EMI), which are not present in AC distribution. Hence, their magnitudes are investigated. To enable comprehensive research on the LVDC distribution field, a research site was built into a public low-voltage distribution network. The implementation was a joint task by the LVDC research team of Lappeenranta University of Technology and a power company Suur-Savon S¨ahk¨o Oy. Now, the measurements could be conducted in an actual environment. This is important especially for the EMI studies. The main results of the work concern the short-circuit operation of the CEI and the EMI issues. The applicability of the power electronic converters to electricity distribution is demonstrated, and suggestions for future research are proposed.

Bioimage informatics in STED super-resolution microscopy

Optical microscopy is living its renaissance. The diffraction limit, although still physically true, plays a minor role in the achievable resolution in far-field fluorescence microscopy. Super-resolution techniques enable fluorescence microscopy at nearly molecular resolution. Modern (super-resolution) microscopy methods rely strongly on software. Software tools are needed all the way from data acquisition, data storage, image reconstruction, restoration and alignment, to quantitative image analysis and image visualization. These tools play a key role in all aspects of microscopy today – and their importance in the coming years is certainly going to increase, when microscopy little-by-little transitions from single cells into more complex and even living model systems. In this thesis, a series of bioimage informatics software tools are introduced for STED super-resolution microscopy. Tomographic reconstruction software, coupled with a novel image acquisition method STED< is shown to enable axial (3D) super-resolution imaging in a standard 2D-STED microscope. Software tools are introduced for STED super-resolution correlative imaging with transmission electron microscopes or atomic force microscopes. A novel method for automatically ranking image quality within microscope image datasets is introduced, and it is utilized to for example select the best images in a STED microscope image dataset.

Vaakatasossa toimivan modulaarisen pakkausyksikön prässin suunnittelu kartonkipakkauksille

Kartonkivuokien käyttö elintarviketeollisuudessa on kasvanut vuosi vuodelta ja kuluttajat ovat löytäneet kartonkipakkaukset niiden ekologisuuden, graafisen ulkoasun sekä turvallisuuden ansiosta. Vuokien valmistus mekaanisella prässäyksellä kehittyy jatkuvasti ja uusi teknologia mahdollistaa täysin uudentyyppisten prässien valmistuksen. Työn tavoitteena on tutkia voidaanko mekaaninen prässäys toteuttaa vaakatasossa uutta teknologiaa hyödyntämällä kustannustehokkaasti. Lisäksi tavoitteena on selvittää, millä voimantuottomenetelmällä prässiltä vaadittava voimantuotto on edullisinta toteuttaa. Suunnittelussa otetaan huomioon olemassa olevat työkalut, modulaarisuus, EU:n elintarvikelainsäädäntö sekä muut kriittiset tekijät. Työssä sovelletaan metodisen konstruoinnin mukaisesti systemaattista ongelmanratkaisua (VDI 2221). Lisäksi työssä käydään läpi kilpaileva menetelmä arvoanalyysi. Suunnittelua ja komponenttivalintoja analysoidaan SWOT- sekä pisteanalyysien avulla. Suunnittelussa syntyneiden ratkaisujen lujuusominaisuuksia tarkastellaan FEM-analyysillä. Tuloksista havaittiin, että vaakatasossa suoritettava prässäyksen voimantuotto on edullisinta ja yksinkertaisinta toteuttaa sähkömekaniikalla, että halutut ominaisuudet voidaan saavuttaa ja rakenne pitää mahdollisimman kompaktina. Kustannustehokkuuden saavuttamiseksi hankinnat on syytä kilpailuttaa huolellisesti. Työn lopussa esitetään mahdollisia jatkokehityskohteita, joita syntyi tämän diplomityön aikana.

The Competitive Analysis of Selected Biorefineries in Finland

Biorefineries is a perspective field of study that covers many opportunities of a successful business unit with respect to sustainability. The thesis focuses on the following key objective: identification of a competitive biorefineries production process in small and medium segments of the chemical and forest industries in Finland. The scope of the research relates to the selected biorefineries operations in Finland and the use of hemicellulose, as a raw material. The identification of the types of biorefineries and the important technical and process characteristics opens the advantage in the company’s competitive analysis. The study concentrates on the practical approach to the scientific methods of the market and companies research with the help of Quality Function Deployment and House of Quality tool. The thesis’s findings provide mindset version of the expert’s House of Quality application, identification of crucial biorefineries technical and design characteristics’ correlation and their effect on the competitive behavior of a company. The theoretical background helps to build the picture of the problematic issues within the field and provides scientific possible solutions. The analysis of the biorefineries’ market and companies operations bring the practical-oriented aptitude of the research. The results of the research can be used for the following investigations in a field and may be applied as a company’s management analytic and strategic application.

Economic growth, labor and productivity in Brazil and the United States: a comparative analysis

The aim of this paper is to analyze the relation between economic growth and labor market dynamics in Brazil between 1981 and 2009, making a comparison with the United States. Among the findings, one can mention that economic growth in Brazil has been related to a massive incorporation of labor force in labor intensive activities, whereas, in the United States, to a substantial improvement of labor productivity in high-technology activities. Despite the favorable economic context in the 2000s, huge inequalities between these countries have widened since the structure of the Brazilian labor market remained with few or no changes.

Software for Transport Accessibility Analysis: The Case of Moscow

In this thesis the process of building a software for transport accessibility analysis is described. The goal was to create a software which is easy to distribute and simple to use for the user without particular background in the field of the geographical data analysis. It was shown that existing tools do not suit for this particular task due to complex interface or significant rendering time. The goal was accomplished by applying modern approaches in the process of building web applications such as maps based on vector tiles, FLUX architecture design pattern and module bundling. It was discovered that vector tiles have considerable advantages over image-based tiles such as faster rendering and real-time styling.

Isolation and characterization of the female sex pheromone of the sugar beet cyst nematode, heterodera schachtii, and an analysis of male precopulatory behaviour /

The sugar beet cyst nematode, Heterodera schachtii, is a major agricultural pest. The disruption of the mating behaviour of this plant parasite in the field may provide a means of biological control, and a subsequent increase in crop yield. The H. schachtii female sex pheromone, which attracts homospecific males, was collected in an aqueous medium and isolated using high performance liquid chromatography. Characterization of the male-attractive material revealed that it was heat stable and water soluble. The aqueous medium conditioned by female H. schachtii was found to be biologically active and stimulated male behaviour in a concentration dependent manner. The activity of the crude pheromone was specific to males of H. schachtii and did not attract second stage juveniles. Results indicated that vanillic acid, a putative nematode pheromone, is not an active component of the H. schachtii sex pheromone. Male H. schachtii exhibited stylet thrusting, a poorly understood behaviour of the male, upon exposure to the female sex pheromone. This behaviour appeared to be associated with mate-finding and was used as a novel indicator of biological activity in bioassays. Serotonin, thought to be involved in the neural control of copulatory behaviour in nematodes, stimulated stylet thrusting. However, the relationship between stylet thrusting induced by the sex pheromone and stylet thrusting induced by serotonin is not clear. Extracellular electrical activity was recorded fi-om the anterior region of H. schachtii males during stylet thrusting, and appeared to be associated with this behaviour. The isolation of the female sex pheromone of H. schachtii may, ultimately, lead to the structural identification and synthesis of the active substance for use in a novel biological control strategy.

Effects of isometric elbow flexion on electromyographic spike analysis

The main objective of this research was to examine the relationship between surface electromyographic (SEMG) spike activity and force. The secondary objective was to determine to what extent subcutaneous tissue impacts the high frequency component of the signal, as well as, examining the relationship between measures of SEMG spike shape and their traditional time and frequency analogues. A total of96 participants (46 males and 50 females) ranging in age (18-35 years), generated three 5-second isometric step contractions at each force level of 40, 60, 80, and 100 percent of maximal voluntary contraction (MVC). The presentation of the contractions was balanced across subjects. The right arm of the subject was positioned in the sagittal plane, with the shoulder and elbow flexed to 90 degrees. The elbow rested on a support in a neutral position (mid pronation/mid supination) and placed within a wrist cuff, fastened below the styloid process. The wrist cuff was attached to a load cell (JR3 Inc., Woodland, CA) recording the force produced. Biceps brachii activity was monitored with a pair of Ag/AgCI recording electrodes (Grass F-E9, Astro-Med Inc., West Warwick, RI) placed in a bipolar configuration, with an interelectrode distance (lED) of 2cm distal to the motor point. Data analysis was performed on a I second window of data in the middle of the 5-second contraction. The results indicated that all spike shape measures exhibited significant (p < 0.01) differences as force increase~ from 40 to 100% MVC. The spike shape measures suggest that increased motor unit (MU) recruitment was responsible for increasing force up to 80% MVC. The results suggested that further increases in force relied on MU III synchronization. The results also revealed that the subcutaneous tissue (skin fold thickness) had no relationship (r = 0.02; P > 0.05) with the mean number of peaks per spike (MNPPS), which was the high frequency component of the signal. Mean spike amplitude (MSA) and mean spike frequency (MSF) were highly correlated with their traditional measures root mean square (RMS) and mean power frequency (MPF), respectively (r = 0.99; r = 0.97; P < 0.01).

Structural analysis of the Paint Lake Deformation Zone, Northern Ontario /

The Paint Lake Deformation Zone (PLDZ), located within the Superior Province of Canada, demarcates a major structural and lithological break between the Onaman-Tashota Terrane to the north and the Beardmore-Geraldton Belt to the south. The PLDZ is an east-west trending lineament, approximately 50 km in length and up to 1 km in width, comprised of an early ductile component termed the Paint Lake Shear Zone and a late brittle component known as the Paint Lake Fault. Structures associated with PLDZ development including S-, C- and C'-fabrics, stretching lineations, slickensides, C-C' intersection lineations, Z-folds and kinkbands indicate that simple shear deformation dominated during a NW-SE compressional event. Movement along the PLDZ was in a dextral sense consisting of an early differential motion with southside- down and a later strike-slip motion. Although the locus of the PLDZ may in part be lithologically controlled, mylonitization which accompanied shear zone development is not dependent on the lithological type. Conglomerate, intermediate and mafic volcanic units exhibit similar mesoscopic and microscopic structures where transected by the PLDZ. Field mapping, supported by thin section analysis, defines five strain domains increasing in intensity of deformation from shear zone boundary to centre. A change in the dominant microstructural deformation mechanism from dislocation creep to diffusion creep is observed with increasing strain during mylonitization. C'-fabric development is temporally associated with this change. A decrease in the angular relationship between C- and C'-fabrics is observed upon attaining maximum strain intensity. Strain profiling of the PLDZ demonstrates the presence of an outer primary strain gradient which exhibits a simple profile and an inner secondary strain gradient which exhibits a more complex profile. Regionally metamorphosed lithologies of lower greenschist facies outside the PLDZ were subjected to retrograde metamorphism during deformation within the PLDZ.

The vibrational spectra and the normal coordinate analysis of thiocarbonye halides /|nby C. R. Subramaniam. -- 260 St. Catharines, Ont. : [s. n.],

The infrared and the Raman spectra of eSelF has been obtained for the first time and has been analysed to give the in-plane normal vibrational frequencies of the molecule, in the ground state. A normal co-ordinate analysis has been carried out for the molecules CSF2, CSClF and eSel 2 using a Urey-Bradley type of potential function and the elements of the [L] matrix elements, the distribution of the potential energy in Urey-Bradley space, and the displacement vector diagrams for the normal modes of vibration for these molecules, have been obtained. The bond for~e constants obtained through the normal co-ordinate analysis, have given some interesting results. The stretching force constant, Kes ' varies markedly with halogen substitution and the force constants KeF and Keel also vary with substitution.