Eddy Current Measurement of Electrical Resistivity in Heat-Treated Zr-2.5%Nb Pressure Tubes.

Zr-2.5%Nb pressure tubes (PTs) house uranium fuel bundles in the fuel channels of CANDU nuclear reactors. Preventing a failure mode caused by contact of the PT with an outer calandria tube (CT) is performed by inspection using eddy current (EC) testing and ultrasonic testing (UT) to measure the PT-CT gap.

Multimodal electrospray thruster for small spacecraft: design and experimental characterization.

Electrospray thrusters are a promising electric micropropulsion technology which could be used to meet the propulsion needs of nanosatellites, or for fine attitude control of larger spacecraft. Multimodal propulsion is the integration of two or more propulsion modes into a system which utilizes a common propellant. Indeed, spacecraft mission simulations and models have shown that this type of multimode propulsion capacity is exciting because of the flexibility and adaptability it provides mission designers and planners.

Modulating the oxygen affinity of porphyrins with metals, ligands, and functional groups: A DFT study.

The interaction between different metals (M), axial ligands (L), and ring substituents (R) in porphyrins was investigated using density functional theory. Different combinations of iron and cobalt as metal centers; imidazole, chlorine, and an n-heterocyclic carbene (NHC) as axial ligands, and unsubstituted, octaethyl-, and tetraphenyl-porphyrins were explored in their low, intermediate, and high-spin states, alongside oxygen affinity. Remarkably, the n-heterocyclic carbene enhanced the affinity of cobalt porphyrins to oxygen, with binding energies on average 4.

Enhanced Surface Plasmon Resonance Sensing via Kramers-Kronig Phase Extraction.

This study introduces a novel approach to enhance surface plasmon resonance (SPR) sensing using Kramers-Kronig (K-K) relations for phase extraction from reflection spectra. By applying the K-K relations, a phase shift sensitivity of 3400°/RIU is achieved improving SPR detection limits to 9 × 10 RIU, which is four times more sensitive than conventional methods for determining SPR peak shifts. This advancement enables more precise detection of refractive index changes in aqueous solutions, making it valuable for biosensing and environmental monitoring with spectrometers.

Physical activity and mental health: a systematic review and best-evidence synthesis of mediation and moderation studies.

Background: While evidence consistently demonstrates that physical activity is beneficial to mental health, it remains relatively unknown how physical activity benefits mental health, and which factors influence the effect of physical activity on mental health. This understanding could vastly increase our capacity to design, recommend, and prescribe physical activity in more optimal ways. The purpose of this study was to systematically review and synthesise evidence of all mediators and moderators of the relationship between physical activity and mental health.

YOLO-I3D: Optimizing Inflated 3D Models for Real-Time Human Activity Recognition.

Human Activity Recognition (HAR) plays a critical role in applications such as security surveillance and healthcare. However, existing methods, particularly two-stream models like Inflated 3D (I3D), face significant challenges in real-time applications due to their high computational demand, especially from the optical flow branch. In this work, we address these limitations by proposing two major improvements.

Updating singular value decomposition for modal analysis of slow-varying non-stationary vibration structures.

This paper proposes a novel method for the modal analysis of slow-varying vibration structures based on vector autoregressive models. The basic idea of this method consists of using a short-time sliding window (STSW) to identify modal parameters for non-stationary vibrations. This method uses the recursive least-squares estimation for multivariable systems with the singular value decomposition (SVD) method to find the solutions within a segment of the data from each time window.

Monte Carlo calculations of target fragments from helium and carbon ion interactions with water.

When high energetic heavy ions interact with any target, short range, high linear energy transfer (LET) target fragments are produced. These target fragments (TFs) can give a significant dose to the healthy tissue during heavy ion cancer therapy, and when cosmic radiation interacts with astronauts. This paper presents Monte Carlo simulations, using the Particle and Heavy Ion Transport code System (PHITS), to characterize target fragments from reactions of helium and carbon ions with water.

Survival and reproduction tests using springtails reveal weathered petroleum hydrocarbon soil toxicity in boreal ecozone.

Survival and reproduction tests were conducted using two native springtail (subclass: Collembola) species to determine the toxicity of a fine-grained (< 0.005 - 0.425 mm) soil from an industrial site located in the Canadian boreal ecozone.

Synthesis, characterization, and stability assessment of sodium and barium heptamolybdates.

The study of complex phases in nuclear fuels is necessary to understand the physicochemical properties of the fuel. NaMoO⋅14HO (1) was prepared via a simplified method and the crystal structure was improved. Upon thermal degradation, 1 decomposes into NaMoO and MoO.

A Bayesian model calibration framework for stochastic compartmental models with both time-varying and time-invariant parameters.

We consider state and parameter estimation for compartmental models having both time-varying and time-invariant parameters. In this manuscript, we first detail a general Bayesian computational framework as a continuation of our previous work. Subsequently, this framework is specifically tailored to the susceptible-infectious-removed (SIR) model which describes a basic mechanism for the spread of infectious diseases through a system of coupled nonlinear differential equations.

Real-Time Plasmonic Strain Sensors Based on Surface Relief Diffraction Gratings.

Large-scale diffraction gratings were fabricated in surface relief on azobenzene thin films and transferred to flexible PDMS substrates using soft lift-off lithography. The PDMS gratings were strained along the grating vector axis and the resulting surface topography was analyzed using diffraction angle measurements, AFM imagery and surface plasmon resonance (SPR) spectra. All measurement methods exhibited a linear response in strain indicating the useability of these sensors in real-world applications.

A Critical Look at Heavy Ion Beam Irradiation for Vaccine Development.

Recent studies offer valuable insights into viral inactivation for vaccine development. Schulze et al. have demonstrated the potential of heavy ion beam irradiation to create effective vaccines, which is particularly relevant in the context of airborne pandemics.

A Reexamination of Peto's Paradox: Insights Gained from Human Adaptation to Varied Levels of Ionizing and Non-ionizing Radiation.

Humans have generally evolved some adaptations to protect against UV and different levels of background ionizing radiation. Similarly, elephants and whales have evolved adaptations to protect against cancer, such as multiple copies of the tumor suppressor gene p53, due to their large size and long lifespan. The difference in cancer protection strategies between humans and elephants/whales depends on genetics, lifestyle, environmental exposures, and evolutionary pressures.

Detecting Near-Surface Sub-Millimeter Voids in Additively Manufactured Ti-5V-5Al-5Mo-3Cr Alloy Using a Transmit-Receive Eddy Current Probe.

Additive Manufacturing (AM) Direct Laser Fabrication (DLF) of Ti-5Al-5V-5Mo-3Cr (Ti5553) is being developed as a method for producing aircraft components. The additive manufacturing process can produce flaws near the surface, such as porosity and material voids, which act as stress raisers, leading to potential component failure. Eddy current testing was investigated to detect flaws on or near the surface of DLF Ti5553 bar samples.

Strength Optimisation of Hybrid Bolted/Bonded Composite Joints Based on Finite Element Analysis.

A finite element analysis (FEA) was conducted to examine the behaviour of single-lap quasi-isotropic (QI) and cross-ply (CP) hybrid bolted/bonded (HBB) configurations subjected to tensile shear loading. Several critical design factors influencing the composite joint strength, failure conditions, and load-sharing mechanisms that would optimise the joining performance were assessed. The study of the stress concentration around the holes and along the adhesive layer highlights the fact that the HBB joints benefit from significantly lower stresses compared to only bolted joints, especially for CP configurations.

Spinal loads during dynamic full flexion and return to standing posture in different age and sex groups: A musculoskeletal model study.

During forward flexion, spine motion varies due to age and sex differences. Previous studies showed that lumbar/pelvis range of flexion (RoF) and lumbo-pelvic ratio (L/P) are age/sex dependent. How variation of these parameters affects lumbar loading in a normal population requires further assessment.

Relations Between Rape Myths, Ambivalent Sexism, Social Dominance Orientation, and Right-Wing Authoritarianism Across Gay and Straight Women and Men: More Similar Than Dissimilar.

Rape myths support and fuel cultural understandings regarding gender roles and deny the victim's rights and strengthen those of the instigator. Little research exists examining the invariance of rape myths measures and models used to explain rape myths across gay and straight samples. Examining correlates of rape myths and determining if the pattern of relations between correlates is similar across gay and straight male and female samples provides insights into socially constant factors that are influencing rape myth acceptance.

Advancing PFAS characterization: Development and optimization of a UV-HO-TOP assay for improved PFCA chain length preservation and organic matter tolerance.

As per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) infiltrate the environment via industrial, commercial, and domestic sources, the demand for robust, cost-effective, and straightforward analytical assays intensifies to enhance PFAS characterization and quantification. To address this demand, this study introduces a novel UV-HO-TOP assay, identifying optimal parameters such as pH (5-9), oxidant concentration (500 mM HO), activation rate (63 mM HO h), and an acceptable total organic carbon (TOC) limit (~1000 mg/L TOC) to achieve maximum PFAA precursor conversion. Additional work was performed further optimizing the UV-TOP assay, by confirming its superiority to heat activation, identifying the effectiveness of different persulfate salts, and investigating different concentrations of sodium persulfate and sodium hydroxide at a 1:2.

The nature and impacts of deployment-related encounters with children among Canadian military Veterans: a qualitative analysis.

As armed conflict grows increasingly complex, the involvement of children in armed violence across diverse roles is rising. Consequently, military personnel are more likely to encounter children during deployment. However, little is known about deployment-related encounters with children and their impact on the mental health of military personnel and Veterans.

Occurrence and mobility of thiolated arsenic in legacy mine tailings.

We studied the occurrence of dissolved thiolated Arsenic (As) in legacy tailings systems in Ontario and Nova Scotia, Canada, and used aqueous and mineralogical speciation analyses to assess its governing geochemical controls. Surface-accessible and inundated tailings in Cobalt, Ontario, contained ∼1 wt-% As mainly hosted in secondary arsenate minerals (erythrite, yukonite, and others) and traces of primary sulfide minerals (cobaltite, gersdorffite and others). Significant fractions of thiolated As (up to 5.

Thwarted belongingness and empathy's relation with organizational culture change.

Introduction: In response to several high-profile cases of senior leaders in the Canadian Armed Forces (CAF) being accused of various forms of sexual and professional misconduct, the organization has committed to culture change. Drawing on the group engagement model and empirical evidence, we propose that CAF members' experience of thwarted belongingness reduces their capacity to show empathy, which in turn affects their support for culture change.

Method: Participants were 139 Naval and Officer Cadets from the Royal Military College of Canada who were predominantly male (61%), between 18 and 21 years old (80%), and not members of a visible minority group (68%).

The Tensile Behavior of Hybrid Bonded Bolted Composite Joints: 3D-Digital Image Correlation versus Finite Element Analysis.

This study examines the behavior of hybrid bolted/bonded (HBB) joints loaded in tensile shear comprising plain weave carbon/epoxy laminates in quasi-isotropic (QI) and cross-ply (CP) layups. It proposes a combined approach of 3D digital image correlation and finite element analysis (FEA) to assess their behavior. To apply the FEA simulation accurately, a single layer of plain fabric was replaced with [0/90]s lamination.