Methodological developments and practice in characterisation of unconventional and legacy waste

Radioactive waste management requires planned and systematic actions to provide confidence that the entire system, processes and final products will satisfy given requirements for quality. The characterisation process is dependent on setting clear characterisation objectives and gathering the right information to underpin the decisions that need to be taken to manage the waste safely. This paper reviews experience of characterisation of waste generated from past nuclear activities that were not conducted in compliance consistent with current criteria, or from unexpected situations that were not planned for. This experience shows that the development of a reliable and efficient characterisation and categorisation methodology is a common challenge for such wastes, referred to here as unconventional and legacy (UL) waste. Through the activites of the Nuclear Energy Agency Expert Group on the Characterisation of Unconventional and Legacy Waste (EGCUL), consideration has been given to widely used waste stream characterisation procedures and methods that were originally developed primarily for application in conventional decommissioning work. Although they provide a substantial basis for characterisation, there are various additional factors that commonly need to be taken into account in the case of UL waste. By analysing the challenges and lessons learned from a variety of case studies and other international experience, it has been possible to identify opportunities for adaptations and enhancements to these characterisation methologies, and these are set out and explained. The need for integration of waste characterisation with other aspects of strategic planning for UL waste management is discussed, including characterisation to address any non-radiological hazards.The analysed case studies have also highlighted the importance of developing a robust legislative and regulatory framework in parallel with an appropriate waste infrastructure to treat, store and dispose of UL waste. Finally, the basic features of a UL waste characterisation roadmap are presented, including the interactions within a wider UL waste management programme and key areas for further consideration and possible development. It is anticipated such work can be supported by continued international cooperation.

Role of Time Scales in the Coupled Epidemic-Opinion Dynamics on Multiplex Networks

Modelling the epidemic’s spread on multiplex networks, considering complex human behaviours, has recently gained the attention of many scientists. In this work, we study the interplay between epidemic spreading and opinion dynamics on multiplex networks. An agent in the epidemic layer could remain in one of five distinct states, resulting in the SIRQD model. The agent’s attitude towards respecting the restrictions of the pandemic plays a crucial role in its prevalence. In our model, the agent’s point of view could be altered by either conformism mechanism, social pressure, or independent actions. As the underlying opinion model, we leverage the q-voter model. The entire system constitutes a coupled opinion–dynamic model where two distinct processes occur. The question arises of how to properly align these dynamics, i.e., whether they should possess equal or disparate timescales. This paper highlights the impact of different timescales of opinion dynamics on epidemic spreading, focusing on the time and the infection’s peak.

Single Stage Active Power Factor Correction Circuit for Street LED Light with Battery Backup

This paper introduces and uses a single-phase, high-power LED driver with a battery backup. The buck–boost converter and reverse converter are both combined to achieve optimal performance. In the first part of the integrated circuit, the buck–boost converter is simply used to adjust the power when operating in the non-continuous operating mode. The reverse converter provides free voltage to the LEDs when released as a remote DC–DC converter. The battery backup cycle directly charges the battery at the same power as the LED driver required and provides charging power when there is no electricity. This paper demonstrates the functionality of the entire system and proves that it is an effective solution for new lighting applications.

La Educación Artística del estudiante superior de Música: Diagnóstico mediante un estudio de revisión

The understanding of the cultural and social dimension of the work of art is indispensable in a music professional, artistic disciplines coexist and create synergies throughout history. The aim is to determine the current situation of the Spanish centers of higher artistic education in music and the student's contact with the arts that surround him, knowing that in his professional future he will have to coexist and participate in them. The research methodology is based on a systematic review of the curricula of the higher conservatories of music in Spain. In the entire system of higher institutions analyzed, only 44 subjects related to art are offered, of which 63.6% are optional. The study concludes that we are facing a compartmentalization of knowledge, where instrumental practice is the center of the curriculum, leaving aside the spaces of confluence between the arts.

Особенности применения теоремы вириала для магнитных систем с квазибессиловыми обмотками

The article shows that in a magnetic system with a thin-walled balanced winding close to a force-free one, a significant increase in the parameter θ=WM γ/M σМ , is possible, which, according to the virial theorem, characterizes the ratio of the energy of the magnetic system WM to the weight of equipment with a material density γ, where under the action of electromagnetic forces there appears a mechanical stress σМ. In a quasi-force-free magnetic system, the main part of the winding is in a state of local equilibrium, and only a relatively small part of the equipment is subject to stress. This part determines the weight of the entire system, and this weight can be minimized. The configurations of balanced thin-walled windings are developed, at the boundaries two boundary conditions are fulfilled simultaneously - the absence of the induction component normal to the boundary and the constancy of the product of induction and radius. The authors consider an example of a system consisting of a main part - a sequence of balanced "transverse" modules in the form of flat discs and end parts, consisting of a combination of "transverse" modules and "longitudinal" ones, having the form of rings elongated along the axis with balanced end parts. It is shown that in the system under consideration, the characteristic dimensionless parameter θ with an unlimited increase in the number of elements of the main part can reach a value of about 24, and when the number of these elements changes within 20 - 40, it changes from 6 to 9.

Study of integral logistics in a geological and petrographic laboratory, in the southeast region of Mexico, for the proposal of an integral model

For organizations to have the growth that the global economy demands, they must bet on improvement alternatives that fully involve the entire system. One of these alternatives is to bet on the improvement of integral logistics, since it serves as a connection between production and markets. This research proposes the generation of a model for the improvement of the logistics system in a geological and petrographic laboratory, in the southeaster region of Mexico, with the sole purpose of adding value and providing alternative solutions to current or future problems that arise. It is also proposed to design an instrument that measures the current situation in logistics and provides a comprehensive scenario that serves as a starting point for improvement strategies. This instrument is created tailored to the company and introduces intangible aspects called factors so that with the help of the Likert scale they are transformed into qualitative values, and thus carefully visualize the study problem. The entire study is analysed and interpreted by the researcher, and with the help of the company's experts, it is considered to obtain reliable and secure information.

BASIC PRINCIPLES OF LABOUR LAW – OVERREGULATION OF THE LABOUR CODE OR LEGITIMACY OF THEM BEING SINGLED OUT?

The legislator, guided by the fundamental importance of certain rights in individual and collective employment relationships, decided to formally single out certain principles and separate them from the entire system of labour law principles, giving them the status of basic principles. The singled out principles avoided the fate of other principles, which are the product of doctrine and jurisprudence. The will of the legislator to single out basic principles is the causal reason for their placement in an act of unifying character, having reference to all employees, regardless of their employment model. Only in such a way, taking into account the rules of legislative technique as well as the dualistic model of employment and the mechanism of the interdependence of the general law with special laws (Article 5 of the Labour Code), was it possible to carry out the will of the legislator

Impact of Shared Lanes on Performance of the Combined Flexible Lane Assignment and Reservation-based Intersection Control

Benefiting from opportunities offered by connected and autonomous vehicles (CAVs), a concept called Combined Alternate-Direction Lane Assignment and Reservation-based Intersection Control (CADLARIC) was proposed recently for management of directionally unrestricted traffic flows in urban environments. In CADLARIC, resolution of vehicular conflicts is distributed between links and intersections to prevent intersections from turning into traffic bottlenecks. Although CADLARIC has shown promising results, it has been observed that, once traffic volume on a certain lane reaches “physical capacity,” adding more traffic on that lane degrades performance of the entire system, as each lane is exclusively dedicated to a particular movement. To overcome this problem, Combined Flexible Lane Assignment and Reservation-based Intersection Control (CFLARIC) is proposed, which offers more flexible lane assignment possibilities. While CFLARIC allows left- and right-turning lanes to be shared with through traffic, it is unclear how much through traffic should be assigned to turning lanes. Thus, this study investigates which strategy is the most beneficial when reassigning extra through traffic to the turning lanes. This goal is divided into two objectives: 1. Identify which lanes should be shared, and 2. Find a close-to-optimal amount of through traffic that should be assigned to the identified shared lane. The proposed CFLARIC strategies are compared with Fixed-Time Control (FTC), Full Reservation-based Intersection Control (FRIC), and CADLARIC for multiple demand scenarios. The results show that the best performing CFLARIC strategies outperform FTC, FRIC, and CADLARIC for delay and number of stops, and reduce the number of conflicting situations compared with FRIC and CADLARIC.

Dante’s Models in Romantic Music

Dante’s impact on music has been studied completely enough, but so far mainly in an empirical and descriptive way. The article examines the works of romantic composers of the 19th - early 20th centuries, based on the plot of Dante’s “Divine Comedy”: Liszt’s fantasy-sonata “After reading Dante” and the “Dante-Symphony”, the “Francesca da Rimini” by Tchaikovsky (symphonic fantasy) and Rachmaninoff (opera). The author analyses compositional and stylistic models of the romantic music inspired by Dante’s poetry as a system, which is relevant for modern musicology, in particular, for the theories of musical language, style, and musical meaning. Along with the traditional musicological methods of analysis of form and intonational dramaturgy, an interdisciplinary methodology is applied, associated with the coverage of the entire system of musical compositional prototypes as a structuring of meaning. This has a pronounced narrative poetic nature in romantic music. The results of the study demonstrate a system of structural and semantic invariants (secondary, musical models) conditioned by Dante’s figurative world and manifested in melody, harmony, fret organization, composition. The conclusions of the article reveal the roles of Dante’s models of the world in the works considered in the following aspects: in the process of extreme intensification of the contrasts of romantic music in the semantic coordinates of “Hell – Paradise”; “Love – Death”; in the approval of the concept of Liebestod; in the creation of new, extreme expressive possibilities for the given style, which significantly expanded the idea of the boundaries of beauty and caused transformations in musical sound (harmony, texture, melody); in the formation of stable idioms of romantic music from Liszt to Rachmaninov; in the modification of the structures of a one-part sonata, of the cyclic symphony, and of opera, which have received the quality of a vectorial dramaturgical process and open dramaturgy.

Case Study of Selected Nature Swimming Pools in the South Moravian Region

Nature swimming pools are a sought-after alternative to conventional swimming pools. Their natural water purification system, without the need for chemicals, is beneficial to health and environmentally friendly. Designing such a nature swimming pool is a complex matter because it requires coordination of a number of effects, which can easily cause an imbalance in the entire system. This work uses the case study method to analyse the overall condition of three nature swimming pools in the South Moravian Region during the second half of the swimming pool operation season.