[en] New methods for enhancing the Lumped Parameter nodalization of a nuclear reactor containment are applied to a model of the integral code MELCOR. Hydrogen distributions calculated by MELCOR and the 3D-CFD code GASFLOW are compared. The enhanced nodalization increases the accuracy significantly.

No abstract available

[en] Assessment of suicide enzyme activity would have considerable impact on the planning and the individualization of suicide gene therapy of malignant tumors. This may be done by determining the pharmacokinetics of specific substrates. We generated ganciclovir (GCV)-sensitive human mammary carcinoma cell lines after transfection with a retroviral vector bearing the herpes simplex virus thymidine kinase (HSV-tk) gene. Thereafter, uptake measurements and HPLC analyses were performed up to 48 h in an HSV-tk-expressing cell line and in a wild-type cell line using tritiated GCV. HSV-tk-expressing cells showed higher GCV uptake and phosphorylation than control cells, whereas in wild-type MCF7 cells no phosphorylated GCV was detected. In bystander experiments the total GCV uptake was related to the amount of HSV-tk-expressing cells. Furthermore, the uptake of GCV correlated closely with the growth inhibition (r=0.92). Therefore, the accumulation of specific substrates may serve as an indicator of the HSV-tk activity and of therapy outcome. Inhibition and competition experiments demonstrated slow transport of GCV by the nucleoside carriers. The slow uptake and low affinity to HSV-tk indicate that GCV is not an ideal substrate for the nucleoside transport systems or for HSV-tk. This may be the limiting factor for therapy success, necessitating the search for better substrates of HSV-tk

[en] Highlights: • Methods of sizing a hybrid wind–photovoltaic–diesel–battery system is described. • The hybrid system components are modelled using empirical data. • Twenty years lifecycle cost of the hybrid system is considered. • The trade-offs between battery storage capacity and diesel fuel usage is studied. • A hybrid system sizing tool has been developed as a graphical user interface (GUI). - Abstract: The concept of off-grid hybrid wind energy system is financially attractive and more reliable than stand-alone power systems since it is based on more than one electricity generation source. One of the most expensive components in a stand-alone wind-power system is the energy storage system as very often it is oversized to increase system autonomy. In this work, we consider a hybrid system which consists of wind turbines, photovoltaic panels, diesel generator and battery storage. One of the main challenges experienced by project managers is the sizing of components for different sites. This challenge is due to the variability of the renewable energy resource and the load demand for different sites. This paper introduces a sizing model that has been developed and implemented as a graphical user interface, which predicts the optimum configuration of a hybrid system. In particular, this paper focuses on seeking the optimal size of the batteries and the diesel generator usage. Both of these components are seen to be trade-offs from each other. The model simulates real time operation of the hybrid system, using the annual measured hourly wind speed and solar irradiation. The benefit of using time series approach is that it reflects a more realistic situation; here, the peaks and troughs of the renewable energy resource are a central part of the sizing model. Finally, load sensitivity and hybrid system performance analysis are demonstrated.

[en] Highlights: • Diesel generator’s operation is optimised in a hybrid wind-diesel-battery system. • Optimisation is performed using wind speed and load demand forecasts. • The objective is to maximise wind energy utilisation with limited battery storage. • Physical modelling approach (Simscape) is used to verify mathematical model. • Sensitivity analyses are performed with synthesised wind and load forecast errors. - Abstract: In an off-grid hybrid wind-diesel-battery system, the diesel generator is often not utilised efficiently, therefore compromising its lifetime. In particular, the general rule of thumb of running the diesel generator at more than 40% of its rated capacity is often unmet. This is due to the variation in power demand and wind speed which needs to be supplied by the diesel generator. In addition, the frequent start-stop of the diesel generator leads to additional mechanical wear and fuel wastage. This research paper proposes a novel control algorithm which optimises the operation of a diesel generator, using genetic algorithm. With a given day-ahead forecast of local renewable energy resource and load demand, it is possible to optimise the operation of a diesel generator, subjected to other pre-defined constraints. Thus, the utilisation of the renewable energy sources to supply electricity can be maximised. Usually, the optimisation studies of a hybrid system are being conducted through simple analytical modelling, coupled with a selected optimisation algorithm to seek the optimised solution. The obtained solution is not verified using a more realistic system model, for instance the physical modelling approach. This often led to the question of the applicability of such optimised operation being used in reality. In order to take a step further, model-based design using Simulink is employed in this research to perform a comparison through a physical modelling approach. The Simulink model has the capability to incorporate the electrical and mechanical (Simscape) physical characteristics into the simulation, which are often neglected by other authors when performing such study. Therefore, hybrid system simulation models are built according to the system proposed in the work. Finally, sensitivity analyses are performed as a mean of testing the designed hybrid system’s robustness against wind and load forecast errors.

[en] Many condensed matter experiments explore the finite temperature dynamics of systems near quantum critical points. Often, there are no well-defined quasiparticle excitations, and so quantum kinetic equations do not describe the transport properties completely. The theory shows that the transport coefficients are not proportional to a mean free scattering time (as is the case in the Boltzmann theory of quasiparticles), but are completely determined by the absolute temperature and by equilibrium thermodynamic observables. Recently, explicit solutions of this quantum critical dynamics have become possible via the anti-de Sitter/conformal field theory duality discovered in string theory. This shows that the quantum critical theory provides a holographic description of the quantum theory of black holes in a negatively curved anti-de Sitter space, and relates its transport coefficients to properties of the Hawking radiation from the black hole. We review how insights from this connection have led to new results for experimental systems: (i) the vicinity of the superfluid-insulator transition in the presence of an applied magnetic field, and its possible application to measurements of the Nernst effect in the cuprates, (ii) the magnetohydrodynamics of the plasma of Dirac electrons in graphene and the prediction of a hydrodynamic cyclotron resonance.

[en] Boltzmann equations are often used to describe the nonequilibrium time-evolution of many-body systems in particle physics. Prominent examples are the computation of the baryon asymmetry of the universe and the evolution of the quark-gluon plasma after a relativistic heavy ion collision. However, Boltzmann equations are only a classical approximation of the quantum thermalization process, which is described by so-called Kadanoff-Baym equations. This raises the question how reliable Boltzmann equations are as approximations to the complete Kadanoff-Baym equations. Therefore, we present in this article a detailed comparison of the Boltzmann and the Kadanoff-Baym equations in the framework of a chirally invariant Yukawa-type quantum field theory including fermions and scalars. The obtained numerical results reveal significant differences between both types of equations. Apart from quantitative differences, on a qualitative level the late-time universality respected by the Kadanoff-Baym equations is severely restricted in the case of the Boltzmann equations. Furthermore, the Kadanoff-Baym equations strongly separate the time scales between kinetic and chemical equilibration. In contrast to this standard Boltzmann equations cannot describe the process of quantum-chemical equilibration, and consequently also cannot feature the above separation of time scales

[en] A remarkable feature of quantum theory is non-locality (i.e. the presence of correlations which violate Bell inequalities). However, quantum correlations are not maximally non-local, and it is natural to ask whether there are compelling reasons for rejecting theories in which stronger violations are possible. To shed light on this question, we consider post-quantum theories in which maximally non-local states (non-local boxes) occur. It has previously been conjectured that the set of dynamical transformations possible in such theories is severely limited. We settle the question affirmatively in the case of reversible dynamics, by completely characterizing all such transformations allowed in this setting. We find that the dynamical group is trivial, in the sense that it is generated solely by local operations and permutations of systems. In particular, no correlations can ever be created; non-local boxes cannot be prepared from product states (in other words, no analogues of entangling unitary operations exist), and classical computers can efficiently simulate all such processes.

[en] Superconducting electric propulsion systems, characterized by high power densities and efficiencies, provide a possibility to zero carbon emission for future aviation. Stacks of high temperature superconducting (HTS) coated conductors (CCs) have become an alternative for high field magnets applied to superconducting machines, given their excellent field trapping ability and thermal stability. High-frequency ripple fields always exist in high-speed electric machines. Most research work regarding HTS trapped field stacks (TFSs) was focused on their magnetization methods and amplitude of trapped flux density; however, their performance in the high-frequency environment remains unclear. Despite several numerical models established for flat HTS TFSs, a comprehensive analysis of curved ones is still lacking, which possess geometrical applicability for cylindrical rotating shafts. Aimed at exploring the electromagnetic properties of curved HTS TFSs applied to high-speed rotating machines, a 3D numerical model considering both the multilayer structure and the J_c(B) dependence of HTS CCs has been built. Current and magnetic flux density distributions, as well as loss properties of a curved HTS TFS have been studied in detail, under perpendicular and cross fields with varying frequencies ranging from 50 Hz to 20 kHz. Results have shown that, the widely adopted two-dimensional-axisymmetric models are inapplicable to study the electromagnetic distributions of TFSs because of the emergence of the electromagnetic criss-cross defined in this paper. High-frequency ripple fields can drive induced current towards the periphery of the HTS TFS due to the skin effect, leading to a fast rise of AC loss and even an irreversible demagnetization of the stack. This paper has qualified and quantified the high-frequency electromagnetic behaviours of curved HTS TFSs, providing a useful reference for their loss controlling and anti-demagnetization design in high-speed propulsion machines. (paper)

[en] In a clean Fermi liquid, due to spin up/spin down symmetry, the dc spin current driven by a magnetic field gradient is finite even in the absence of impurities. Hence, the spin conductivity σ_s assumes a well-defined collision-dominated value in the disorder-free limit, providing a direct measure of the inverse strength of electron-electron interactions. In neutral graphene, with Fermi energy at the Dirac point, the Coulomb interactions remain unusually strong, such that the inelastic scattering rate comes close to a conjectured upper bound τ_inel^-1∼< k_BT/ℎ, similar to the case of strongly coupled quantum critical systems. The strong scattering is reflected by a minimum of spin conductivity at the Dirac point, where it reaches σ_s = (0.121)/α² (μ_s²)/ℎ at weak Coulomb coupling α, μ_s∼μ_B being the magnetic moment of the electronic spins. Up to the replacement of quantum units, e²/ℎ→μ_s²/ℎ, this result equals the collision-dominated electrical conductivity obtained previously. This accidental symmetry is, however, broken to higher orders in the interaction strength. For gated graphene and two-dimensional metals in general, we show that the transport time is parametrically smaller than the collision time. We exploit this fact to compute the collision-limited σ_s analytically as σ_s= (1)/C (μ)/T)², with C=4π²α² [2/3 ln(1/2α)-1] for weak Coulomb coupling α.