scholarly journals Strengthening the SSTC NRS Scientific and Technical Potential through Participation in the IAEA Coordinated Research Projects

2021 ◽  
pp. 5-13
Author(s):  
Yu. Balashevska ◽  
D. Gumenyuk ◽  
Iu. Ovdiienko ◽  
O. Pecherytsia ◽  
I. Shevchenko ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Best Practices ◽  
Safety Assessment ◽  
Radiation Safety ◽  
Research Projects ◽  
Spent Fuel ◽  
Research Activities ◽  
Technical Potential ◽  
Technical Issues ◽  
Fuel Characterization ◽  
Definition Of

The State Scientific and Technical Center for Nuclear and Radiation Safety (SSTC NRS), a Ukrainian enterprise with a 29-year experience in the area of scientific and technical support to the national nuclear regulator (SNRIU), has been actively involved in international research activities. Participation in the IAEA coordinated research activities is among the SSTC NRS priorities. In the period of 2018–2020, the IAEA accepted four SSTC NRS proposals for participation in respective Coordinated Research Projects (CRPs). These CRPs address scientific and technical issues in different areas such as: 1) performance of probabilistic safety assessment for multi-unit/multi-reactor sites; 2) use of dose projection tools to ensure preparedness and response to nuclear and radiological emergencies; 3) phenomena related to in-vessel melt retention; 4) spent fuel characterization. This article presents a brief overview of the abovementioned projects with definition of scientific contributions by the SSTC NRS (participation in benchmarks, development of methodological documents on implementing research stages and of IAEA technical documents (TECDOC) for demonstration of best practices and results of research carried out by international teams).

Promoting Research in Clinical Practice

2008 ◽  
Vol 19 (2) ◽  
pp. 155-163
Author(s):  
Ruth M. Kleinpell
Keyword(s):  
Clinical Practice ◽  
Best Practices ◽  
Clinical Settings ◽  
Positive Outcomes ◽  
Research Projects ◽  
Essential Component ◽  
Research Activities

Promoting the use and conduct of research in clinical practice is an essential component in ensuring best practices and promoting positive outcomes for patients. Yet, it is often difficult for nurses in clinical practice to devote time to research activities because the daily demands of practice often take precedence. This article reviews key strategies for implementing research in clinical practice. Examples of ongoing initiatives being conducted at a variety of clinical settings are highlighted to showcase strategies for implementing clinically focused research projects.

scholarly journals Overview of Post-Closure Criticality Safety – RD&D Topics in Switzerland

2021 ◽  
Vol 1 ◽  
pp. 111-112
Author(s):  
Madalina Wittel ◽  
Susanne Pudollek
Keyword(s):  
Safety Assessment ◽  
Spent Nuclear Fuel ◽  
Current Phase ◽  
General Context ◽  
Spent Fuel ◽  
Research Topics ◽  
Regulatory Requirement ◽  
Research Activities ◽  
National Cooperative ◽  
Criticality Safety

Abstract. The demonstration of post-closure criticality safety of spent nuclear fuel in a deep geological repository is a regulatory requirement in Switzerland and many other countries. One of the main challenges stems from the very long timescale (1 million years in Switzerland) that has to be considered. Nagra, the Swiss National Cooperative for the Disposal of Radioactive Waste, is presently elaborating the technical and scientific foundation of the criticality safety assessment in view of the upcoming general licence application for the Swiss Spent Fuel and HLW repository. In this context, Nagra supports and pursues a focussed RD&D programme in collaboration with several renowned research institutes. Nagra's safety concept relies on natural and technical barriers. For the initial thermal phase of the repository, a steel canister assures complete containment of the spent fuel. The canisters are foreseen to remain intact for approximately 10 000 years; however, the subcriticality of the system has to be ensured for a much longer period. In this context, an important part of the research activities pursued by Nagra address the nearfield evolution and the formulation of scenarios for the corresponding evolution of the canister and spent fuel system. The role that variations in the canister design and material composition have on the system's reactivity are also investigated. Other research topics focus on developing a reliable methodology for carrying out the criticality safety assessment. This symposium contribution gives an overview of the post-closure criticality RD&D activities pursued and envisioned by Nagra. The general context and Nagra's fundamental approach to elaborating the current phase of the criticality safety assessment are presented first. Following this, the current RD&D landscape and the most important technical considerations underpinning Nagra's technical basis for the post-closure criticality safety assessment in particular are discussed. Future planned research topics and points of interest are also presented as an outlook of this presentation.

A Unifying Principle for a Researcher Learning Safety: Reduce Uncertainty!

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Camilla Kao ◽  
Russell Furr
Keyword(s):  
Decision Making ◽  
Best Practices ◽  
Mission Statement ◽  
Safety Information ◽  
Health And Safety ◽  
Mission Statements ◽  
Definition Of ◽  
Physical And Chemical

Conveying safety information to researchers is challenging. A list of rules and best practices often is not remembered thoroughly even by individuals who want to remember everything. Researchers in science thinking according to principles: mathematical, physical, and chemical laws; biological paradigms. They use frameworks and logic, rather than memorization, to achieve the bulk of their work. Can safety be taught to researchers in a manner that matches with how they are trained to think? Is there a principle more defined than "Think safety!" that can help researchers make good decisions in situations that are complex, new, and demanding?<div><br></div><div>Effective trainings in other professions can arise from the use of a mission statement that participants internalize as a mental framework or model for future decision-making. We propose that mission statements incorporating the concept of <b>reducing uncertainty</b> could provide such a framework for learning safety. This essay briefly explains the definition of <b>uncertainty</b> in the context of health and safety, discusses the need for an individual to <b>personalize</b> a mission statement in order to internalize it, and connects the idea of <b>greater control</b> over a situation with less uncertainty with respect to safety. The principle of reducing uncertainty might also help <b>non-researchers</b> think about safety. People from all walks of life should be able to understand that more control over their situations provides more protection for them, their colleagues, and the environment.</div>

scholarly journals WORCS: A workflow for open reproducible code in science

Data Science ◽  
2021 ◽  
pp. 1-21
Author(s):  
Caspar J. Van Lissa ◽  
Andreas M. Brandmaier ◽  
Loek Brinkman ◽  
Anna-Lena Lamprecht ◽  
Aaron Peikert ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Best Practices ◽  
Source Code ◽  
R Package ◽  
Open Science ◽  
Research Projects ◽  
Tabular Data ◽  
Step Procedure ◽  
Starting Point ◽  
Conducting Research ◽  
And Training

Adopting open science principles can be challenging, requiring conceptual education and training in the use of new tools. This paper introduces the Workflow for Open Reproducible Code in Science (WORCS): A step-by-step procedure that researchers can follow to make a research project open and reproducible. This workflow intends to lower the threshold for adoption of open science principles. It is based on established best practices, and can be used either in parallel to, or in absence of, top-down requirements by journals, institutions, and funding bodies. To facilitate widespread adoption, the WORCS principles have been implemented in the R package worcs, which offers an RStudio project template and utility functions for specific workflow steps. This paper introduces the conceptual workflow, discusses how it meets different standards for open science, and addresses the functionality provided by the R implementation, worcs. This paper is primarily targeted towards scholars conducting research projects in R, conducting research that involves academic prose, analysis code, and tabular data. However, the workflow is flexible enough to accommodate other scenarios, and offers a starting point for customized solutions. The source code for the R package and manuscript, and a list of examplesof WORCS projects, are available at https://github.com/cjvanlissa/worcs.

Digital competences of the workforce – a research topic?

2017 ◽  
Vol 23 (3) ◽  
pp. 721-734 ◽  
Author(s):  
Matthias Murawski ◽  
Markus Bick
Keyword(s):  
Research Topic ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Digital Competence ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Research Activities ◽  
Starting Point ◽  
Pros And Cons ◽  
Definition Of ◽  
The Individual ◽  
Practical Implications

Purpose Considering working in the digital age, questions on the consequences for the individual workers are, so far, often neglected. The purpose of this paper is to deal with the question of whether the digital competences of the workforce is a research topic. The authors argue for the thesis that it is indeed a research topic. Design/methodology/approach In addition to a literature analysis of the top IS, HR, and learning publications, non-scientific sources, as well as the opinions of the authors, are included. The authors’ thesis is challenged through a debate of corresponding pros and cons. Findings The definition of digital competences lacks scientific depth. Focussing on the workforce is valid, as a “lifelong” perspective is not mandatory for research. Digital competence research is a multidisciplinary task to which the IS field can make a valuable contribution. Research limitations/implications Although relevant references are included, some aspects are mainly driven by the opinions of the authors. The theoretical implications encompass a call for a scientific definition of digital competences. Furthermore, scholars should focus on the competences of the workforce, including occupations, roles, or industries. The authors conclude by providing a first proposal of a research agenda. Practical implications The practical implications include the alignment of multiple stakeholders for the design of “digital” curricula and the integration by HR departments of the construct of digital competences, e.g. for compensation matters and job requirements. Originality/value This paper is one of very few contributions in the area of the digital competences of the workforce, and it presents a starting point for future research activities.

Development and Evaluation of Enhanced Airfield Signage for Temporary Information

2017 ◽  
Vol 2626 (1) ◽  
pp. 66-73
Author(s):  
Gaël Le Bris
Keyword(s):  
Human Factors ◽  
Situational Awareness ◽  
Weak Link ◽  
Advisory Council ◽  
Parallel Study ◽  
Research Projects ◽  
Charles De Gaulle ◽  
Definition Of ◽  
De Gaulle ◽  
Construction Works

The aviation community has faced several accidents and incidents on infrastructures and procedures temporarily modified for the purpose of construction works. The analysis of these events shows that usual means of communication to the air crews are the weak link of the safety chain. To address the key challenge of situational awareness during construction works, the Airport Construction Advisory Council of FAA and Paris–Charles de Gaulle Airport (Paris-CDG) developed and evaluated with the airfield community, from 2011 to 2016, an innovative aviation signage. Parallel and complementary studies in human factors led to the definition of specifications for a temporary information signage, also called orange construction sign. Paris-CDG focused on the development of specific messages for each one of the major hazards that could require an increased situational awareness of the air crews during taxiing and takeoff. The results of the evaluation conducted by FAA were published in September 2015. The purpose of this paper is to present the parallel study performed by the author at Paris-CDG with the coalition of the airside operations stakeholders. Both research projects are convergent and confirm the relevance of the orange sign concept for increasing the situational awareness and preventing safety events during airfield construction.

From Academic to Practitioner: Tips for Increasing Engagement With Your Research (Essay on Best Practices)

2021 ◽  
Vol 37 (2) ◽  
pp. 244-256
Author(s):  
Ava T. Carcirieri
Keyword(s):  
Domestic Violence ◽  
Best Practices ◽  
Lessons Learned ◽  
Family Court ◽  
Academic Training ◽  
Research Projects ◽  
Data Analyst ◽  
Systemic Improvement

Academics and practitioners all too often have little or no contact with each other; the practitioner does not know what research exists that can inform their practices, and the academic does not know enough about the institutions they primarily study to make recommendations that are specific enough to inform a concrete practice or policy. I leverage my experiences both as an academic and as a data analyst and domestic violence coordinator at Family Court to outline lessons learned in the field. I detail how my academic training hindered my work as a practitioner, and how practitioners differ in terms of conducting internal research and presenting data and findings. I use my lessons learned and subsequently list several concrete practices that academics can begin to work into their work to increase communication with important stakeholders, and tailor their work to practical systemic improvement. Bridging the gap between academics and practitioners will lead to better research projects, and findings that will be able to actively enact changes within systems that academics focus on.

Study on Radiation Dose Calculation of PWR Spent Fuel Storage and Transportation

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Wen Yang ◽  
Xing Li ◽  
Jinrong Qiu ◽  
Lun Zhou
Keyword(s):  
Radiation Dose ◽  
Normal Condition ◽  
Radiation Safety ◽  
Spent Fuel ◽  
Dose Rates ◽  
Storage Pool ◽  
Transport Container ◽  
Photon Dose ◽  
Spent Fuel Storage ◽  
Fuel Storage

Abstract With the rapid development of nuclear energy, spent fuel will accumulate in large quantities. Spent fuel is generally cooled and placed in a storage pool, and then transported to a reprocessing plant at an appropriate time. Because spent fuel is content with a high level of radiation, spent fuel storage and transportation safety play important roles in the nuclear safety. Radiation dose safety are checked and validated using source analysis and Monte Carlo method to establish a radiation dose rate calculation model for PWR spent fuel storage pool and transport container. The calculation results show that the neutron and photon dose rates decrease exponentially with increase of water level under normal condition of storage pool. The attenuation multiples of neutron and photon dose rates are 4.64 and 1.59, respectively. According to radiation dose levels in different water height situations, spent fuel pool under loss of coolant accident can be divides into five workplaces. They are supervision zone, regular zone, intermittent zone, restricted zone and radiation zone. Under normal condition of transport container, the dose rates at the surface of the container and at a distance of 1 m from the surface are 0.1759 mSv/h and 0.0732 mSv/h, respectively. The dose rates decrease with the increasing radius of break accident, and dose rate at the surface of the transport container is 0.278 mSv/h when the break radius is 20 cm. Transport container conforms to the radiation safety standards of International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA). This study can provide some reference for radiation safety analysis of spent fuel storage and transportation.

scholarly journals Are Best Practices Really Best? A Review of the Best Practices Literature in Library and Information Studies

2013 ◽  
Vol 8 (4) ◽  
pp. 110 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jackie Druery ◽  
Nancy McCormack ◽  
Sharon Murphy
Keyword(s):  
Best Practices ◽  
Best Practice ◽  
Information Science ◽  
Library And Information Science ◽  
Science Literature ◽  
Common Definition ◽  
Library And Information Studies ◽  
Information Studies ◽  
The Subject ◽  
Definition Of

Objective - The term “best practice” appears often in library and information science literature, yet, despite the frequency with which the term is used, there is little discussion about what is meant by the term and how one can reliably identify a best practice. Methods – This paper reviews 113 articles that identify and discuss best practices, in order to determine how “best practices” are distinguished from other practices, and whether these determinations are made on the basis of consistent and reliable evidence. The review also takes into account definitions of the term to discover if a common definition is used amongst authors. Results – The “evidence” upon which papers on “best practices” are based falls into one of the following six categories: 1) opinion (n=18, 15%), 2) literature reviews (n=13, 12%), 3) practices in the library in which the author works (n=19, 17%), 4) formal and informal qualitative and quantitative approaches (n=16, 14%), 5) a combination of the aforementioned (i.e., combined approaches) (n=34, 30%), and 6) “other” sources or approaches which are largely one of a kind (n=13, 12%). There is no widely shared or common definition of “best practices” amongst the authors of these papers, and most papers (n=94, 83%) fail to define the term at all. The number of papers was, for the most part, split evenly amongst the six categories indicating that writers on the subject are basing “best practices” assertions on a wide variety of sources and evidence. Conclusions – Library and information science literature on “best practices” is rarely based on rigorous empirical methods of research and therefore is generally unreliable. There is, in addition, no widely held understanding of what is meant by the use of the term.

scholarly journals Good practices in collecting umbilical cord and placental blood

2016 ◽  
Vol 24 (0) ◽  
Author(s):  
Lauren Auer Lopes ◽  
Elizabeth Bernardino ◽  
Karla Crozeta ◽  
Paulo Ricardo Bittencourt Guimarães
Keyword(s):  
Best Practices ◽  
Umbilical Cord ◽  
Management Tool ◽  
Blood Collection ◽  
Placental Blood ◽  
Operational Factors ◽  
Blood Specimens ◽  
Definition Of ◽  
Gathering Data

Abstract Objective: to identify the factors related to the quality of umbilical cord and placental blood specimens, and define best practices for their collection in a government bank of umbilical cord and placental blood. Method: this was a descriptive study, quantitative approach, performed at a government umbilical cord and placental blood bank, in two steps: 1) verification of the obstetric, neonatal and operational factors, using a specific tool for gathering data as non-participant observers; 2) definition of best practices by grouping non-conformities observed before, during and after blood collection. The data was analyzed using descriptive statistics and the following statistical software: Statistica(r) and R(r). Results: while there was a correlation with obstetrical and neonatal factors, there was a larger correlation with operational factors, resulting in the need to adjust the professional practices of the nursing staff and obstetrical team involved in collecting this type of blood. Based on these non-conformities we defined best practices for nurses before, during and after blood collection. Conclusion: the best practices defined in this study are an important management tool for the work of nurses in obtaining blood specimens of high cell quality.

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