The Complex of Experimental Facilities for the Cosmic Ray Investigation at the Tien Shan Mountain Station

The study describes the experimental complex of the station located in the Tien Shan mountains at an elevation of 3340 m above sea level. The complex consists of detectors of different types scattered across the station area, such as scintillation particles detectors, Cherenkov detectors, radio emission detectors for the measurement of the electron component of extensive air showers (EAS) created by the (1–1000) PeV cosmic ray particles, an ionization calorimeter and neutron detectors for the study of the nuclear-active component of EAS cores, and the underground particle detectors for the detection of cosmic ray muons. The data acquisition system allows the simultaneous recording of parameters from various stand-alone detectors registering an EAS, and storage of the acquired data in the database. As an illustration of research capability, the results of the EAS study are presented here which were obtained during the last few years at the different experimental set-ups constituting the Tien Shan complex.

Influence of the measurement configuration on the results of Raman microspectroscopy of human hair

Increasing interest in spectroscopic studies of human hair raises the question about the accuracy of measurement of their spectra and requires optimisation of experimental facilities. An original method of obtaining transverse hair sections without using a microtome and chemical influence is proposed. The results obtained by confocal Raman microspectroscopy of human hair differently oriented with respect to the optical axis of the measuring setup are compared. It is shown that, in addition to expected changes in the spectra measured at different distances from the hair periphery in the direction to its centre, the spectra measured in the case of hair excitation perpendicular and parallel to its axis are also considerably different.

Yield dynamics of natural pine stands in the Forest Experimental Station of the Timiryazev Agricultural Academy with 1860

Due to the longevity of forest vegetation, the problem of its age-related changes remains the least studied and most urgent. For 150 years, the Forest Experimental Station has been an experimental testing ground for a number of generations of foresters who have created experimental facilities to solve a number of pressing problems. On the example of natural pine stands with 1860, it was shown that in an urbanized environment, the life cycle of stands is accelerated, and their durability is reduced. At the same time, under the influence of negative factors (emissions from transport, enterprises, recreational load, etc.), a decrease in yield is observed.

Species introductions through coconut fibre

Based on plant material collected in the forest nursery of the Balearic Island Forestry Center (CEFOR) for autochthonous plant production and the University of the Balearic Islands experimental facilities, two new plant records are presented for the Mediterranean island of Mallorca. Dactyloctenium aegyptium, an invasive grass previously recorded in other areas of the Mediterranean basin, and Glinus oppositifolius, a new record for the European flora. In both cases the species are presumed to have arrived through contaminated batches of the coconut fibre substrate used in both facilities.

Ethernet-based monitoring systems for renewable energy-hydrogen microgrids

The digitization of power systems has given birth to the rise of challenging scenarios like Smart Grids and Smart Microgrids. These infrastructures are mainly based in decentralized energy generation as well as in the intelligent management of the energy flows and data communications. For their successful implementation, a communication network is imposed for the proper data transmission between the vast amount of sensors, controllers and supervisory nodes involved. Ethernet-based networks have become the prevalent means for communications in office environments and are being increasingly applied also for industrial facilities. Consequently, Smart Grids and Smart Microgrids are also being equipped with Ethernet communication. This paper presents an Ethernetbased monitoring system architecture where monitoring software, proprietary automation hardware and open-source equipment share data over an Ethernet network. A set of experimental facilities are reported in order to prove the validity of the proposal.

Analysis of Release Model Effect in the Transport of Fission Products Simulating the FPT3 Test Using MELCOR 2.1 and MELCOR 2.2

The severe accident integral codes such as Methods for Estimation of Leakages and Consequences of Releases (MELCOR) are complex tools used to simulate and analyse the progression of a severe accident from the onset of the accident up to the release from the containment. For this reason, these tools are developed in order to simulate different phenomena coupling models which can simulate simultaneously the ThermoHydraulic (TH), the physics and the chemistry. In order to evaluate the performance in the prediction of those complicated phenomena, several experimental facilities were built in Europe and all around the world. One of these facilities is the PHEBUS built by Institut de Radioprotection et de Sûrete Nucléaire (IRSN) in Cadarache. The facility reproduces the severe accident phenomena for a pressurized water reactor (PWR) on a volumetric scale of 1:5000. This paper aims to continue the assessment of the MELCOR code from version 2.1 up to version 2.2 underlying the difference in the fission product transport. The assessment of severe accident is an important step to the sustainability of the nuclear energy production in this period where the old nuclear power plants are more than the new reactors. The analyses presented in this paper focuses on models assessment with attention on the influence of B4C oxidation on the release and transport of fission products. Such phenomenon is a concern point in the nuclear industry, as was highlighted during the Fukushima Daiichi accident. Simulation of the source term is a key point to evaluate the severe accident hazard along with other safety aspects.

Passage of heavy quarks through the fluctuating hot QCD medium

The change in the energy of the moving heavy (charm and bottom) quarks due to field fluctuations present in the hot QCD medium has been studied. A finite quark chemical potential has been considered while modeling the hot QCD medium counting the fact that the upcoming experimental facilities such as Facility for Anti-proton and Ion Research (FAIR) and Nuclotron-based Ion Collider fAcility (NICA) are expected to operate at finite baryon density and moderate temperature. The effective kinetic theory approach has been adopted where the collisions have been incorporated using the well-defined collisional kernel, known as Bhatnagar–Gross–Krook (BGK). To incorporate the non-ideal equations of state (EoSs) effects/medium interaction effects, an extended effective fugacity model has been adopted. The momentum dependence of the energy change due to fluctuation for the charm and bottom quark has been investigated at different values of collision frequency and chemical potential. The results are exciting as the heavy quarks are found to gain energy due to fluctuations while moving through the produced medium at finite chemical potential and collision frequency.