scholarly journals Engineering challenges for accelerated fusion demonstrators

Author(s):  
E. Surrey

There are several programmes within the fusion community that are engaged in the design of fusion devices to follow the International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor (ITER), referred to as ‘demonstrators’. These programmes have identified many issues over the past decade, and research now concentrates on optimizing the combination of systems against a set of Key Performance Indicators (KPI) which may vary between programmes. While the return on investment in and experience from ITER is seen as an important factor in this research there are significant differences in the operational conditions and KPI of demonstrators that generate additional problems requiring different solutions. Among these problems are the necessary use of uncommon materials for structural and functional purposes, the impact of the availability KPI on basic machine design, configuration and component lifetime and the integration of the tritium fuel and thermodynamic cycles. These raise issues of component manufacture and standards and of resource availability in the required quantities and quality that are independent of device size and design. Interpreting ‘accelerating fusion’ in a wider sense, the impact of these issues, analysed in respect of developmental timescales, shows that a strategy of early engagement with the industrial supply chain and the development of computational engineering testing and verification will be essential to prevent prolonged timescales to fusion progress. This article is part of a discussion meeting issue ‘Fusion energy using tokamaks: can development be accelerated?’

2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (3) ◽  
pp. 49-58
Author(s):  
Klára Hennyeyová ◽  
◽  
Erik Janšto ◽  
Edita Šilerová ◽  
Peter Stuchlý ◽  
...  

Marketing is one of the key elements of the success of all companies, including the wine sector. Given the importance of wine producers for agriculture, it is important to define and monitor key performance indicators in marketing (KPIs) for a successful stay in the market and a competitive position at home and abroad. Today, the increase in competitive advantage includes mainly marketing, innovation and information and communication technologies. New digital tools and innovations have changed the way we approached data and decisions. A modernly adapted and effective strategic marketing strategy represents for wine companies an understanding mainly of their possibilities as well as the possibilities to influence the customer. This article evaluates the key performance indicators in marketing (KPI) and its relationship and impact on the financial situation of wine producers in Slovakia. The research sample includes 80 respondents. We obtained the primary data through a questionnaire, which was filled in by the leaders of wine companies. We verified the accuracy by means of descriptive statistics and multiple linear regression and Kruskall-Wallis test. We have verified the reliability of the data with the Cronbach alpha test. We have formulated scientific assumptions for in-depth analysis: hypothesis 1 – assumes that key performance indicators have a significant influence on financial situation of selected companies, hypothesis 2 – the use of ICT in marketing is statistically related to the key performance indicators. The results showed a statistically significant impact of KPIs on the financial situation of companies. We have identified significance in customer satisfaction and loyalty, brand awareness and return of investment. However, we were unable to statistically confirm the impact of other indicators (sales growth, market share, gaining new customers). We also identified significant differences in the use of ICT in marketing with key performance indicators in hiring new customers and return on investment. This research contributes positively to the importance of brand building in the eyes of customers as well as customer service, building loyalty and satisfaction, which returns to the loyal approach of customers to the repurchase of wine products and provides advice for professionals. Return on investment helps in more accurate business decisions that can be used when purchasing new equipment (technology), hiring employees, or properly assessing the profitability of marketing strategies.


Author(s):  
Leslie M. Loew

A major application of potentiometric dyes has been the multisite optical recording of electrical activity in excitable systems. After being championed by L.B. Cohen and his colleagues for the past 20 years, the impact of this technology is rapidly being felt and is spreading to an increasing number of neuroscience laboratories. A second class of experiments involves using dyes to image membrane potential distributions in single cells by digital imaging microscopy - a major focus of this lab. These studies usually do not require the temporal resolution of multisite optical recording, being primarily focussed on slow cell biological processes, and therefore can achieve much higher spatial resolution. We have developed 2 methods for quantitative imaging of membrane potential. One method uses dual wavelength imaging of membrane-staining dyes and the other uses quantitative 3D imaging of a fluorescent lipophilic cation; the dyes used in each case were synthesized for this purpose in this laboratory.


GeroPsych ◽  
2011 ◽  
Vol 24 (3) ◽  
pp. 143-154 ◽  
Author(s):  
Elmar Gräßel ◽  
Raffaela Adabbo

The burden of caregivers has been intensively researched for the past 30 years and has resulted in a multitude of individual findings. This review illustrates the significance of the hypothetical construct of perceived burden for the further development and design of the homecare situation. Following explanations regarding the term informal caregiver, we derive the construct burden from its conceptual association with the transactional stress model of Lazarus and Folkman. Once the extent and characteristics of burden have been set forth, we then present the impact of perceived burden as the care situation. The question of predictors of burden will lead into the last section from which implications can be derived for homecare and relief of caregivers.


GeroPsych ◽  
2014 ◽  
Vol 27 (4) ◽  
pp. 171-179 ◽  
Author(s):  
Laurence M. Solberg ◽  
Lauren B. Solberg ◽  
Emily N. Peterson

Stress in caregivers may affect the healthcare recipients receive. We examined the impact of stress experienced by 45 adult caregivers of their elderly demented parents. The participants completed a 32-item questionnaire about the impact of experienced stress. The questionnaire also asked about interventions that might help to reduce the impact of stress. After exploratory factor analysis, we reduced the 32-item questionnaire to 13 items. Results indicated that caregivers experienced stress, anxiety, and sadness. Also, emotional, but not financial or professional, well-being was significantly impacted. There was no significant difference between the impact of caregiver stress on members from the sandwich generation and those from the nonsandwich generation. Meeting with a social worker for resource availability was identified most frequently as a potentially helpful intervention for coping with the impact of stress.


2004 ◽  
Vol 34 (136) ◽  
pp. 339-356
Author(s):  
Tobias Wölfle ◽  
Oliver Schöller

Under the term “Hilfe zur Arbeit” (aid for work) the federal law of social welfare subsumes all kinds of labour disciplining instruments. First, the paper shows the historical connection of welfare and labour disciplining mechanisms in the context of different periods within capitalist development. In a second step, against the background of historical experiences, we will analyse the trends of “Hilfe zur Arbeit” during the past two decades. It will be shown that by the rise of unemployment, the impact of labour disciplining aspects of “Hilfe zur Arbeit” has increased both on the federal and on the municipal level. For this reason the leverage of the liberal paradigm would take place even in the core of social rights.


TAPPI Journal ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 17 (09) ◽  
pp. 519-532 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mark Crisp ◽  
Richard Riehle

Polyaminopolyamide-epichlorohydrin (PAE) resins are the predominant commercial products used to manufacture wet-strengthened paper products for grades requiring wet-strength permanence. Since their development in the late 1950s, the first generation (G1) resins have proven to be one of the most cost-effective technologies available to provide wet strength to paper. Throughout the past three decades, regulatory directives and sustainability initiatives from various organizations have driven the development of cleaner and safer PAE resins and paper products. Early efforts in this area focused on improving worker safety and reducing the impact of PAE resins on the environment. These efforts led to the development of resins containing significantly reduced levels of 1,3-dichloro-2-propanol (1,3-DCP) and 3-monochloropropane-1,2-diol (3-MCPD), potentially carcinogenic byproducts formed during the manufacturing process of PAE resins. As the levels of these byproducts decreased, the environmental, health, and safety (EH&S) profile of PAE resins and paper products improved. Recent initiatives from major retailers are focusing on product ingredient transparency and quality, thus encouraging the development of safer product formulations while maintaining performance. PAE resin research over the past 20 years has been directed toward regulatory requirements to improve consumer safety and minimize exposure to potentially carcinogenic materials found in various paper products. One of the best known regulatory requirements is the recommendations of the German Federal Institute for Risk Assessment (BfR), which defines the levels of 1,3-DCP and 3-MCPD that can be extracted by water from various food contact grades of paper. These criteria led to the development of third generation (G3) products that contain very low levels of 1,3-DCP (typically <10 parts per million in the as-received/delivered resin). This paper outlines the PAE resin chemical contributors to adsorbable organic halogens and 3-MCPD in paper and provides recommendations for the use of each PAE resin product generation (G1, G1.5, G2, G2.5, and G3).


1996 ◽  
Vol 35 (2) ◽  
pp. 189-190
Author(s):  
Mir Annice Mahmood

This book, hereinafter referred to as the Guide, has been developed for those social analysts (e.g., anthropologists, sociologists, and human geographers) who have had little or no practical experience in applying their knowledge as development practitioners. In the past, development projects would be analysed from a narrow financial and economic perspective. But with the evolution of thinking on development, this narrow financial and economic aspect has now been broadened to include the impact on society as the very meaning of development has now come to symbolise social change. Thus, development is not restricted only to plans and figures; the human environment in its entirety is now considered for analysis while designing and implementing development projects.


2020 ◽  
Vol 2020 (66) ◽  
pp. 65-85
Author(s):  
هيثم عبد النبي موسى ◽  
أ .د حيدر نعمة غالي الفريجي

This study dealt with the effect of foreign direct investment on the market value of the company during the period of time (2010-2017). This issue was studied through a sample of oil fields in southern Iraq in which the company operates within the first and second licensing contracts rounds and according to the circumstances and variables of the investment environment as it is. Although this investment often achieves high returns, it is also characterized by a high degree of risk and for the purpose of evaluating the impact of foreign direct investment on the market value of the company's stock prices for the period (2010-2017). The statistical scale (T-TEST) was used to indicate the significance of the correlation hypotheses. Between the return on investment as the independent variable and the market value as the dependent variable, and the use of the coefficient of determination (R2) that measures the effect of the independent variable (foreign direct investment) on the dependent variable (market value) and the F-Test to demonstrate acceptance or rejection of the hypothesis of the return on investing in the market value of the oil company, and if the company achieves a high return in foreign direct investment, the market value of it will be affected positively. The study was based on a set of goals, including determining the attractiveness of Iraq to foreign investments, especially the oil sector, and the study reached a number of conclusions, the most prominent of which is the existence of a strong inverse correlation between the return on investment and the market value of the company. And the existence of a slight impact of the return on investment on the market value of the company, and the study reached a number of recommendations, the most important of which is activating the investment climate through political stability and the clarity and stability of laws and legislation regulating investment, which is one of the most important factors affecting the investment decision.


2014 ◽  
Vol 1 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Turkan Ahmet

The past few decades of ongoing war in Iraq has had a dramatic impact on the health of Iraq’s population. Wars are known to have negative effects on the social and physical environments of individuals, as well as limit their access to the available health care services. This paper explores the personal experiences of my family members, who were exposed to war, as well as includes information that has been reviewed form many academic sources. The data aided in providing recommendations and developing strategies, on both local and international levels, to improve the health status of the populations exposed to war.


2015 ◽  
Vol 6 (1) ◽  
pp. 50-57
Author(s):  
Rizqa Raaiqa Bintana ◽  
Putri Aisyiyah Rakhma Devi ◽  
Umi Laili Yuhana

The quality of the software can be measured by its return on investment. Factors which may affect the return on investment (ROI) is the tangible factors (such as the cost) dan intangible factors (such as the impact of software to the users or stakeholder). The factor of the software itself are assessed through reviewing, testing, process audit, and performance of software. This paper discusses the consideration of return on investment (ROI) assessment criteria derived from the software and its users. These criteria indicate that the approach may support a rational consideration of all relevant criteria when evaluating software, and shows examples of actual return on investment models. Conducted an analysis of the assessment criteria that affect the return on investment if these criteria have a disproportionate effort that resulted in a return on investment of a software decreased. Index Terms - Assessment criteria, Quality assurance, Return on Investment, Software product


Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document