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Simple Summary: Cats are a common sight across Australia, freely roaming not only through urban areas but also within natural habitats, including protected areas like national parks. This unrestricted movement raises concerns due to potential impacts on native wildlife populations. North Head, Manly, located in New South Wales, serves as a prime example, boasting a rich biodiversity that includes endangered populations of Long-nosed Bandicoots and Little Penguins. Recent observations by wildlife officers within Sydney Harbour National Park and the North Head Sanctuary highlighted the presence of cats, prompting a deeper investigation into their spatial and temporal distribution. Cameras were installed across the headland over a five-week period to capture cat and native fauna activity. Cats were frequently observed at the interface with the urban area of Manly. Moreover, cat activity primarily occurred during the night, coinciding with periods of heightened native mammal activity. These findings underscore the potential for direct and indirect interactions between cats and native wildlife within the headland, with implications for species conservation efforts. This study emphasises the importance of implementing proactive management strategies to mitigate the potential impact of feline predation on local biodiversity while also highlighting the need for further research in this area. Cats (Felis catus) are widespread across Australia, including within natural and protected areas, and in many areas, cats, including owned domestic cats, are not restricted in where or when they can roam. In Australia, cats have contributed to the decline of many native species and continue to be a problem for governments. North Head, Manly, is home to an endangered population of Long-nosed Bandicoot (Perameles nasuta) and the only mainland breeding colony of Little Penguin (Eudyptula minor) in New South Wales (NSW). Camera traps were installed for a 5-week period across North Head to determine the spatial and temporal distribution of cat activity. As well as capturing instances of cats, the cameras detected native animals such as birds, possums, Long-nosed Bandicoots and other small mammals. An analysis of the camera images showed cats could be found within protected areas of the headland (where cats are prohibited) and along the boundary with the adjacent suburban area of Manly. Cats were mostly detected during the night. There were high occurrences of overlap between cats and Long-nosed Bandicoots (Dhat 0.82), possums (Dhat 0.88) and other small mammals (Dhat 0.67). These findings indicate that cats are active across the Manly headland at the same time as native animals, both within protected areas where cats are prohibited and in adjacent residential areas, and this could have implications for these populations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

China is the single largest state-based international actor that is a major threat to the continued hegemony of the United States’ unipolar order. As such, a campaign of obstructive foreign policy is being waged against China through the obstructive marketing of China as a sinister threat and unreliable actor against the ‘rules-based order.’ By attempting to undermine China’s soft power potential, it is hoped that China’s global rise can be constrained and contained. Drawing on an integrative type of literature review, this article examines attempts at ‘knowledge production’ through geopolitically subjective interpretations and representations by the U.S. and its allies of the modern type of geopolitically-influenced international conflicts - hybrid warfare. In the English language imagination, hybrid warfare is a politically charged and loaded term that assumes ill intent by the user upon the intended victim. According to the research estimates by foreign experts, the current foreign policy of international activities by China displays a hybrid character. The country is publicly accused of carrying out operations in the economic, cybernetic, geographical, geopolitical, psychological, information and ideological spaces. Currently, the notion of “Chinese hybrid warfare” is starting to become an increasingly popular mass communicated trope. However, the aggravation of Sino-American relations against the backdrop of the South China Sea, the Taiwan issue and the Russian special military operation gives us an opportunity to predict that China will increasingly be projected as an increasingly dangerous source of hybrid threat in the Western-centric discourse to contain its global rise and by default to try to preserve US global hegemony through a negative information campaign.

The condensation heat transfer of steam containing non-condensable gases is crucial for safety analysis in the event of severe accidents in the containment vessel. Previous studies have focused more on the heat transfer characteristics of condensation containing air, while less attention has been paid to the hydrogen-air conditions. The mechanism by which hydrogen migration affects condensation heat transfer is not yet clear. Numerical simulation methods were used to investigate the applicability of the multi-component diffusion coefficient equation under condensation phase change conditions in the paper. Based on experimental data, an effective steam diffusion correction model suitable for hydrogen-air conditions was proposed. Through the validation of experimental data from different scholars, 97% of predicted values have a relative deviation from experimental values maintained within ± 20%. Based on this, the hydrogen migration characteristics near the wall of the heat transfer tube and its effect on the condensation heat transfer coefficient were studied. The results indicate that there are three flow patterns of gas near the condensation surface, namely gravity flow, separation flow, and buoyancy flow. As the relative concentration of hydrogen increases, the gas flow pattern gradually changes from gravity flow to separation flow and buoyancy flow. The change in gas flow pattern will significantly affect the convective mass transfer rate of gas near the condensation surface, which has a stronger impact on condensation heat transfer than diffusion mass transfer. Ultimately, the condensation heat transfer coefficient shows a pattern of first decreasing and then increasing with the increase of relative hydrogen concentration. When the flow pattern of gravity flow is formed near the condensation surface, and an increase in the relative concentration of hydrogen gas will reduce the convective mass transfer rate of the gas near the condensation surface, while also increasing the diffusion mass transfer rate of steam in the mixed gas. The change in convective mass transfer rate plays a dominant role. Therefore, the condensation heat transfer coefficient will exhibit a negative correlation with the relative concentration of hydrogen gas. The condensation heat transfer coefficient is the lowest under the separated flow pattern. When a buoyancy flow is formed near the condensation surface, the convective and diffusive mass transfer rates of gas will increase with the relative concentration of hydrogen, and the heat transfer coefficient shows a positive correlation with the relative concentration of hydrogen. The study results are of great significance for evaluating the heat transfer characteristics of steam condensation after hydrogen release in serious accidents.

With the development of advanced pressurized water reactor technology, the thermal-hydraulic coupling effect between the containment and the primary system becomes increasingly tight. In order to meet the demand for integrated safety analysis between the containment and the primary system, this paper investigates a direct coupling method between the best-estimate system code Advanced Reactor Safety Analysis Code and the containment analysis program ATHROC (Analysis of Thermal Hydraulic Response Of Containment). The feasibility of this direct coupling method and the applicability of the coupled program for overall safety analysis are demonstrated using Marviken two-phase flow release experiments. The ATHROC/ARSAC coupled program is employed to analyze the impact of the pressure relief function of the CPR1000 nuclear power plant pressurizer on the behavior of the primary system and containment during the TMLB' accident. The calculation results indicate that these measures can reduce the pressure of the primary system to the level acceptable by the low-pressure injection system, but at the same time, they cause the pressure in the containment to rise to nearly 0.4 MPa. Therefore, to ensure the structural integrity of the containment, it is necessary for the non-passive hydrogen recombiner to effectively reduce the hydrogen concentration, thereby avoiding additional pressure increase in the containment due to hydrogen deflagration, which could lead to overpressure failure. The findings of this study are of significant reference value for improving the safety performance of thermal-hydraulic systems in operational Gen-II and advanced Gen-III pressurized water reactor nuclear power plants. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the present study with a novel two-chamber setup (TCS) for dustiness investigations, the relationship between pressure differences as well as air velocities and the resulting dust emissions is investigated. The dust emissions of six particle size fractions of acetaminophen at pressure differences between 0 and 12 Pa are examined. The results show that both simulated and measured air velocities increase with increasing pressure difference. Dust emissions decrease significantly with increasing pressure difference and air velocity. Fine particles cause higher dust emissions than coarse particles. A high goodness of fit is obtained with exponential and quadratic functions to describe the relationship between pressure difference and dust emission, indicating that even moderate increases in pressure may lead to a reduction in the emission. Average air velocities within the TCS simulated with Computational Fluid Dynamics are between 0.09 and 0.37 m/s, whereas those measured experimentally are between 0.09 and 0.41 m/s, both ranges corresponding to the recommended values for effective particle separation in containment systems. These results underline the ability of the novel TCS to control pressure and airflow, which is essential for reliable dust emission measurements and thus provide support for further scientific and industrial applications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A prestressed concrete containment is the enclosure structure of a nuclear reactor that serves as the last physical barrier of a nuclear power plant (NPP) safety defense system. It plays a key role in the prestress time-limited aging analysis (TLAA) required for operating license extensions for NPPs. Considering prestress containment systems without long-term monitoring tendons in a nuclear power plant, the technical route for prestress TLAAs involves analyzing operating license extension regulations and in-service monitoring technical requirements for prestressed tendons performance. Using tendons based on theoretical calculations of prestress loss in a nuclear power plant and the minimum required value of prestress determined by numerical simulation, the theoretical predictive value can be compared with the minimum required value for prestressed steel tendons. This comparison can be used to evaluate the 20-year life extension of the prestress system and provide a reference for aging and life management of NPPs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Atomic Energy Science & Technology is the property of Editorial Board of Atomic Energy Science & Technology and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

The Scarlet Letter, Hawthorne’s highly political magnum opus, is concerned with the struggle of its heroine against the overarching Puritan patriarchy, and it relates her resistance, denial and, finally, her reconciliation to the society that had cast her out and defamed her. This paper examines religious transformation in The Scarlet Letter, particularly in terms of its protagonist, Hester Prynne, according to the dialectic of subversion and containment. While Puritan society condemns her acts, Hester subverts aspects of this religious theocracy, throwing new light on their interpretation in order to contain them. These points of subversion and containment, as espoused by new historicist Stephen Greenblatt and cultural materialist Jonathan Dollimore, are the critical focus of this study. Hester’s subversions include her resilience against the presumption that she has committed a sin, her consecration of her actions and her criticism of predestination and the doctrine of grace. Alternatively, her containments present the reader with an alternative political vision that embraces freedom of conscience and the individual religion of the heart. Ultimately, this essay argues that Hester, by the end of the tale, displaces the Puritan theocracy and envisions a secular society in which a privatized sphere of activity is granted to individuals in order for them to exercise their political and religious liberties. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Pakistan, with its diverse points of entry, faced several challenges with implementing the International Health Regulations (IHR) ethically during the COVID-19 pandemic. Aim: To explore the perceptions of point of entry health workers regarding the ethics challenges in implementing the IHR during the COVID-19 pandemic. Methods: From December 2022 to March 2023, this qualitative study conducted 10 focused group discussions and key informant interviews with 40 participants from 10 points of entry in Pakistan and reviewed COVID-19 containment guidelines. The data generated were transcribed, translated into English and analysed manually. The thematic analysis focused on the core ethics principles, including optimization of population health versus autonomy, distributive justice versus equity, trustworthiness versus privacy and confidentiality, and the impact of sanctions and restrictions on vulnerable populations. Results: The study identified ethics challenges relating to containment policies, public health measures (testing, quarantine and isolation), travel restrictions, equitable resource distribution, and emergency operations. These challenges were grouped under 3 main categories, according to the IHR thematic areas: prevent, detect and respond. Respondents said it was difficult to balance between the public health measures and individual rights, address discrimination and stigmatization, and ensure fairness and justice in vaccine distribution and travel restrictions. Conclusion: Navigating ethics challenges relating to IHR implementation during health emergencies requires transparent communication, cultural sensitivity, and a commitment to equity and justice. It is important to incorporate ethics considerations into national emergency response plans to guide decision-making, safeguard individual rights and promote collective wellbeing. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

International expert agencies and the nuclear industry concur that nuclear technology is necessary to solve both energy and climate crises. This argument is based on the still-alive ideology of containment, a set of discursive and material practices that aim at isolating nuclear technology from the environment. Based on a brief discussion of recent nuclear decommissioning cases, the article argues that containment is a myth invented to expand commercial nuclear applications. It describes the emergence of containment strategies through the illustration of three strategic regulatory turns in the US: the Price-Anderson Act, the development of siting criteria, and the establishment of radioprotection standards.

In this paper, the fully distributed containment problem is investigated for a class of second-order nonlinear multi-agent systems (MASs) with disturbance and uncertain control coefficient. In the dynamics of the multi-agent systems, the nonlinear term of the multi-agent systems is Lipshitz, the leaders are subject to bounded inputs, and the disturbances are also bounded. But, the Lipshitz constant, the upper bounds of the disturbances and the leaders' control inputs are unknown; thus, they cannot be used for the design of feedback control. To overcome the difficulty from such unknown bounds and uncertain coefficient, a new fully distributed adaptive protocol is proposed by combining the Lyapunov analysis and adaptive control technique, which based only on relative states of neighboring agents without using any global information, such that the states of the followers converge to the convex hull formed by the states of the leaders. Compared with the existing works, one main contribution is that only one adaptive gain is adopted in the fully distributed adaptive protocol to deal with containment problem of second-order nonlinear MASs, where four unknown parameters are involved. Two simulation examples are given to show the performance of the proposed protocol. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

CILRT is an important work in the overhaul of nuclear power plants. VOCs from paints and cleaners used in the containment during the overhaul will migrate inside the containment, and the numerous rooms and compartments inside the containment make the air flow impeded, and the VOCs may be enriched to bring combustion risk. The complete fire risk analysis method includes volatilization kinetics of chemicals, mixture explosion limits, and numerical simulation of VOCs diffusion and migration. The volatilization rate at the lowest room temperature of 20°C is used as a conservative input, the complement of CAITA realistic model is used as the flow domain, and the geometry is appropriately simplified, and the steady ventilation process, the internal flow and the laws of diffusion and agglomeration of 12 kinds of VOCs gases in the 9-h pressure-holding process are investigated by Computational Fluid Dynamics. The simulation results of steady ventilation show that the VOCs gases are almost uniformly carried by the air to all spaces inside the containment, and the explosion risk is low. The concentration field of the steady ventilation process was taken as the initial boundary condition and unsteady state simulation of the 9-h holding pressure process was performed. The results show that the gas flow inside the containment basically stops after 3456 s of pressure holding. With the extension of time, the VOCs gases accumulate at the bottoms of the three lower layers of the containment under the effect of laminar diffusion and gravitational settling, where the total concentration of the mixed gases reaches the highest at the bottom of the lowest layer. The total concentration of the VOCs gas mixture was below the lower explosion limit throughout the 9-h pressure-holding process, and the explosion risk was low. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Using individual‐level panel data from India, we show that income inequality between high‐skilled and low‐skilled workers increased following COVID‐19 lockdown. Integrating a susceptible, infected, recovered, dead epidemiological model into a general equilibrium framework with high‐skilled and low‐skilled workers, working either from their offices (onsite) or from their homes (remote), we can explain between 24 and 59 percent of the observed increase in inequality. We also find that disease incidence is higher among low‐skilled workers as they choose to work more onsite compared to their high‐skilled counterparts. Direct transfers for low‐skilled workers reverses this increase in inequality and improves the effectiveness of containment policies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

With the development of advanced pressurized water reactor technology, the thermal-hydraulic coupling effect between the containment and the primary system becomes increasingly tight. In order to meet the demand for integrated safety analysis between the containment and the primary system, this paper investigates a direct coupling method between the best-estimate system code Advanced Reactor Safety Analysis Code and the containment analysis program ATHROC (Analysis of Thermal Hydraulic Response Of Containment). The feasibility of this direct coupling method and the applicability of the coupled program for overall safety analysis are demonstrated using Marviken two-phase flow release experiments. The ATHROC/ARSAC coupled program is employed to analyze the impact of the pressure relief function of the CPR1000 nuclear power plant pressurizer on the behavior of the primary system and containment during the TMLB’ accident. The calculation results indicate that these measures can reduce the pressure of the primary system to the level acceptable by the low-pressure injection system, but at the same time, they cause the pressure in the containment to rise to nearly 0.4 MPa. Therefore, to ensure the structural integrity of the containment, it is necessary for the non-passive hydrogen recombiner to effectively reduce the hydrogen concentration, thereby avoiding additional pressure increase in the containment due to hydrogen deflagration, which could lead to overpressure failure. The findings of this study are of significant reference value for improving the safety performance of thermal-hydraulic systems in operational Gen-II and advanced Gen-III pressurized water reactor nuclear power plants.

Background At the start of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic, in the absence of pharmaceutical interventions, countries resorted to containment measures to stem the spread of the disease. In this paper, we have conducted a global study using a sample of 46 countries to evaluate whether these containment measures resulted inunemployment.Methods We use a difference-in-differences (DID) specification with a heterogenous intervention to show the varying intensity effect of containment measures on unemployment, on a sample of 46 countries. We explain variations in unemployment from January-June 2020 using stringency of containment measures, controlling for gross domestic product (GDP) growth, inflation rate, exports, cases of COVID-19 per million, COVID-19-specific fiscal spending, time fixed effects, region fixed effects, and region trends. We conduct further subset analyses by COVID-cases quintiles and gross national income (GNI) per capita quintiles.Results The median level of containment stringency in our sample was 43.7. Our model found that increasing stringency to this level would result in unemployment increasing by 1.87 percentage points (or 1.67 pp, after controlling for confounding). For countries with below median COVID-19 cases and below median GNI per capita, this effect is larger.Conclusion Containment measures have a strong impact on unemployment. This effect is larger in poorer countries and countries with low COVID-19 cases. Given that unemployment has profound effects on mortality and morbidity, this consequence of containment measures may compound the adverse health effects of the pandemic for the most vulnerable groups. It is necessary for governments to consider this in future pandemic management, and to attempt to alleviate the impact of containment measures via effective fiscal spending.

Abstract This comparative scoping review presents two cases widely considered as spaces of transit: the state of Chiapas, Mexico, and the Canary Islands archipelago, Spain. Following sampling and screening, 92 records from academic literature were included in this review. We found that this body of mostly descriptive research has largely focused on changes in migration policy, migrant routes, and border enforcement. In this, we have found a striking comparability between both cases, where increased containment, securitization, and criminalization of migration at the macro-level - and specifically in the United States and European Union - has trickled down within these micro-level spaces, putting into question the ‘transit character’ of these geographies.

Despite never imposing a lockdown, Taiwan achieved COVID-19 zero, with reporting only 56 local coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) cases after testing 126,987 individuals in 2020, and further contained a large outbreak rapidly and successfully in 2021. At the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, our infectious disease modeling results indicated that testing and contact tracing alone would fail to contain the pandemic. However, by supplementing this approach with general public surgical mask-wearing, the reproduction number (R0) could be suppressed to less than 1. This would effectively contain the virus's spread within Taiwan, particularly when combined with strict border control measures to prevent the overwhelming influx of imported COVID-19 cases and ensure the capacity of the medical and public health systems remains resilient. These modeling results became the theoretical basis behind the highly successful Taiwan model against COVID-19 during 2020–2021, supporting by negative excess mortality, seroepidemiological surveys, and molecular epidemiological analyses. This is a public health triumph demonstrating that a democratic and humane approach to the COVID-19 pandemic is not only feasible but highly effective. It also highlights the crucial role of infectious disease modeling in assisting the formulation of a successful national pandemic response. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article aims to analyze, on the one hand, the actions taken by the Mexican government in southern Mexico through its immigration policy, and on the other hand, contrast how the containment, it is hoped, of the population requesting immigration is experienced; refugee status. From an ethnographic approach, we are interested in showing this population's daily life and imaginaries in local spaces, at the work level, and in the construction of social networks. We carried out the field work between 2021 and 2023, we conducted interviews with young people, men and women in transit through Tapachula. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Critical Hermeneutics: Biannual Journal of Philosophy is the property of Universita degli Studi di Cagliari and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

CILRT is an important work in the overhaul of nuclear power plants. VOCs from paints and cleaners used in the containment during the overhaul will migrate inside the containment, and the numerous rooms and compartments inside the containment make the air flow impeded, and the VOCs may be enriched to bring combustion risk. The complete fire risk analysis method includes volatilization kinetics of chemicals, mixture explosion limits, and numerical simulation of VOCs diffusion and migration. The volatilization rate at the lowest room temperature of 20°C is used as a conservative input, the complement of CAITA realistic model is used as the flow domain, and the geometry is appropriately simplified, and the steady ventilation process, the internal flow and the laws of diffusion and agglomeration of 12 kinds of VOCs gases in the 9-h pressure-holding process are investigated by Computational Fluid Dynamics. The simulation results of steady ventilation show that the VOCs gases are almost uniformly carried by the air to all spaces inside the containment, and the explosion risk is low. The concentration field of the steady ventilation process was taken as the initial boundary condition and unsteady state simulation of the 9-h holding pressure process was performed. The results show that the gas flow inside the containment basically stops after 3456 s of pressure holding. With the extension of time, the VOCs gases accumulate at the bottoms of the three lower layers of the containment under the effect of laminar diffusion and gravitational settling, where the total concentration of the mixed gases reaches the highest at the bottom of the lowest layer. The total concentration of the VOCs gas mixture was below the lower explosion limit throughout the 9-h pressure-holding process, and the explosion risk was low.

The United States’ strategic narrative on the rise of the People’s Republic of China (PRC) has evolved throughout a half-century of changing world orders and mutual perceptions of strategic intent. From the early 1970s and during the last two decades of the Cold War, the US saw a bipolar world in which it sought to assist China’s own rise as a partner in Soviet containment and economic globalisation. During its “unipolar moment” in the post-Cold War era, Washington maintained strong economic engagement but increasingly perceived Beijing as an uneasy partner and rising competitor. With the acknowledgement of the transition towards multipolarity, a bipartisan consensus emerged in Washington about the necessity to contain China’s rise as a global political and military power and to blunt its challenge to the “rules-based order” (RBO). The evolution from globalisation “friend” to global “foe” points to three directions of the current US strategic narrative on China’s rise: defending the RBO, de-coupling to secure Western-normed globalisation, and shaping the Indo-Pacific security environment. The paper concludes that while the US has succeeded in aligning the three forms of strategic narrative (system, identity, and policy), it faces considerable challenges, including from China’s counter-narratives.

Since NATO’s establishment and Japan’s incorporation into the community of “liberal democracies” these actors hardly cooperated in the sphere of security and defense. In European part of the collective West, cooperation in the security field, with US participation, was multilateral, while, in the Far East, it was bilateral. But the present-day formation of the new world order and the non-West as its part gives a strong impetus to the rapprochement between NATO and Japan. In the new situation, the USA has begun to promote the idea of integrating the systems of deterring Russia and containing China. This inevitably requires substantial NATO-Japan cooperation. The article explores the difficulties, progress, and perspectives of the process by the early 2020s. For this, the author uses the theory of alliances and the method of comparative analysis. The paper presents the practical military difficulties for European NATO member states’ joining the containment of China at the same time as these countries are fully involved in the process of deterrence of Russia. In this situation, the USA encouraged their partners. Firstly, the military potential of NATO as an organization has been growing more rapidly than the strength of the member states’ national armed forces. This means that the Alliance can take part in two confrontations simultaneously. Secondly, this is the arising strategic interest towards the Far East as the new direction of NATO’s global activity. One of the reasons for this was the hasty evacuation of the NATO mission from Afghanistan (2021), which meant the loss of the Alliance’s strategic influence in the Middle East and the necessity to compensate for this loss. But the growing interest of European actors towards the Indo-Pacific region (IPR) was combined with their activity in their national capacities, without involving the auspices of NATO. Trying to change this tendency, the USA have expanded the system of formats in the sphere of security and defense (the activization of QUAD, the creation of AUKUS and the Partners in the Blue Pacific) with the membership of Anglo-Saxon states and Japan. These actors have not only increased their own involvement in the containment of China, but also stimulated European players’ interest towards this. In 2022–2023, the process of political cooperation between NATO and Japan has adjusted and intensified. The parties have prepared the spill-over effect of the cooperation into the military sphere. The paper shows the variants of this cooperation, primarily in the naval field.

When Russia invaded Ukraine in 2022, many experts claimed that in Europe there has not been such an assault on the principles of state sovereignty and territorial integrity since the end of Cold War.“ Moreover, politicians and researchers urged the U.S. to apply a containment strategy towards Russia once again. Meanwhile, the U.S. president Joe Biden made it clear that the U.S. was moving toward Russia’s containment 2.0: he called Putin’s actions “a naked aggression” and vowed to make Russia pay “economically and strategically.” The article examines Russia‘s containment strategy in Biden‘s administration foreign policy and its implications to the Baltic states. What vision about Russia’s containment strategy does the Biden administration have in terms of goals, instruments, and challenges? How does the administration implement its plans? Has the containment strategy been transformed and adapted to the new circumstances of the 21st century? What role does the Biden administration foresee for the Baltic States in Russia’s containment strategy? What risks and opportunities does this idea present for the Baltic States? These are the questions that the article addresses.

In water-cooled power reactor, hydrogen is generated in case of steam zirconium reaction during severe accident condition and later on in addition to hydrogen; CO is also generated during molten corium concrete interaction after reactor pressure vessel failure. Passive Autocatalytic Recombiners (PARs) are provided in the containment for hydrogen management. The performance of the PARs in presence of hydrogen and carbon monoxide along with air has been evaluated. Depending on the conditions, CO may either react with oxygen to form carbon dioxide (CO2) or act as catalyst poison, reducing the catalyst activity and hence the hydrogen conversion efficiency. CFD analysis has been carried out to determine the effect of CO on catalyst plate temperature for 2 & 4% v/v H2 and 1–4% v/v CO with air at the recombiner inlet for a reported experiment. The results of CFD simulations have been compared with the reported experimental data for the model validation. The reaction at the recombiner plate is modelled based on diffusion theory. The developed CFD model has been used to predict the maximum catalyst temperature and outlet species concentration for different inlet velocity and temperatures of the mixture gas. The obtained results were used to fit a correlation for obtaining removal rate of carbon monoxide inside PAR as a function of inlet velocity and concentrations.

Cats (Felis catus) are widespread across Australia, including within natural and protected areas, and in many areas, cats, including owned domestic cats, are not restricted in where or when they can roam. In Australia, cats have contributed to the decline of many native species and continue to be a problem for governments. North Head, Manly, is home to an endangered population of Long-nosed Bandicoot (Perameles nasuta) and the only mainland breeding colony of Little Penguin (Eudyptula minor) in New South Wales (NSW). Camera traps were installed for a 5-week period across North Head to determine the spatial and temporal distribution of cat activity. As well as capturing instances of cats, the cameras detected native animals such as birds, possums, Long-nosed Bandicoots and other small mammals. An analysis of the camera images showed cats could be found within protected areas of the headland (where cats are prohibited) and along the boundary with the adjacent suburban area of Manly. Cats were mostly detected during the night. There were high occurrences of overlap between cats and Long-nosed Bandicoots (Dhat 0.82), possums (Dhat 0.88) and other small mammals (Dhat 0.67). These findings indicate that cats are active across the Manly headland at the same time as native animals, both within protected areas where cats are prohibited and in adjacent residential areas, and this could have implications for these populations.

In the present study with a novel two-chamber setup (TCS) for dustiness investigations, the relationship between pressure differences as well as air velocities and the resulting dust emissions is investigated. The dust emissions of six particle size fractions of acetaminophen at pressure differences between 0 and 12 Pa are examined. The results show that both simulated and measured air velocities increase with increasing pressure difference. Dust emissions decrease significantly with increasing pressure difference and air velocity. Fine particles cause higher dust emissions than coarse particles. A high goodness of fit is obtained with exponential and quadratic functions to describe the relationship between pressure difference and dust emission, indicating that even moderate increases in pressure may lead to a reduction in the emission. Average air velocities within the TCS simulated with Computational Fluid Dynamics are between 0.09 and 0.37 m/s, whereas those measured experimentally are between 0.09 and 0.41 m/s, both ranges corresponding to the recommended values for effective particle separation in containment systems. These results underline the ability of the novel TCS to control pressure and airflow, which is essential for reliable dust emission measurements and thus provide support for further scientific and industrial applications.

A prestressed concrete containment is the enclosure structure of a nuclear reactor that serves as the last physical barrier of a nuclear power plant (NPP) safety defense system. It plays a key role in the prestress time-limited aging analysis (TLAA) required for operating license extensions for NPPs. Considering prestress containment systems without long-term monitoring tendons in a nuclear power plant, the technical route for prestress TLAAs involves analyzing operating license extension regulations and in-service monitoring technical requirements for prestressed tendons performance. Using tendons based on theoretical calculations of prestress loss in a nuclear power plant and the minimum required value of prestress determined by numerical simulation, the theoretical predictive value can be compared with the minimum required value for prestressed steel tendons. This comparison can be used to evaluate the 20-year life extension of the prestress system and provide a reference for aging and life management of NPPs.

Problem Statement The Chinese authorities’ understanding of the post-Cold War international conditions led to the adoption of a behavioral pattern in order to reduce the power gap, while avoiding international sensitivities about China. Therefore, China has pursued two agendas in the domestic and global spheres to respond to the emerging requirements. This has led scholars to debate the consequences of this balancing model for the decision-making circles of the world states, especially for the US and the international order.Significance and ObjectivesThe present article intended to analyze the prospect of change in the contemporary international order (structural order) by examining whether new poles are emerging in the current international order or not.The Main Question What are the consequences and challenges of China’s behavioral pattern for the United States and the structural international order?Research Hypothesis This research is based on the hypothesis that China’s behavioral pattern presents complex challenges to the US general policy towards China. This points to the uncertainties in predicting the consequences of China’s rise, in which policymakers face challenges in choosing between containment or engagement policy. China’s behavioral pattern is also seen as a reason for changing the structure of the international system and shaping the China–US bipolar order. In this respect, the following two points were suggested and discussed. First, the power gap between China and the United States will become almost equal, resulting in a dual superpower scenario where the United States will lose its superiority over China. Second, the strategic competition between China and the US will be very different from the confrontation between the US and the Soviet Union. China and the US will continue to cooperate in various fields (e.g., economy), while they may have conflicts in political and military domains.Research Method The present research used the historical research method with a descriptive–analytical and explanatory approach.Theoretical Framework This study used defensive structural realism as its theoretical framework in order to analyze the systemic characteristics of the international order, including the distribution and increase of power, and explain their effects on the behavioral priorities of countries. The structure of the international system is considered as the most important variable in the paradigm of structural realism.Kenneth Waltz’s theory of international politics offers a clear example of defensive structural realism. The present article contends that Waltz’s perspective should be taken seriously not only because it is the most accurate or realistic theory, but because it provides useful categories for comprehending reality. For instance, his concept of polarity determination helps to shape the behavioral priorities of countries and structural order of power distribution among units, which can be measured and typically changes in response to shifts in power among major states. Additionally, his focus on some kind of cooperation in the discussion on balance of power is also a valuable analytical category.Article Text Due to the post-Cold War international conditions, China has adopted a macro model of balancing, at domestic and global levels, in its strategic relationships with the US. Domestically, China has focused on building up its internal capabilities, while on the global stage it has pursued soft balancing. China’s balancing strategy in the unipolar world order is a reasonable and pragmatic response to its interests, capabilities, and strategic environment. Like any other government, China seeks to maximize its benefits and minimize losses in the field of foreign relations. Showing a keen awareness of the evolving international system, China has adeptly seized opportunities and confronted challenges. However, this behavioral pattern has important consequences and challenges for the international order, particularly for the US as the dominant pole.The balancing strategy pursued by China has generated complex conditions for decision-makers across the international system, particularly in the US as the superpower. Its most significant impact has been on the mentality of elites and their interpretation of the new realities, which has prompted a need to reassess American foreign policy.China’s behavioral pattern has enabled it to capitalize on broad opportunities and emerge as a decisive player in international politics, with its ongoing quest for power likely to have significant implications for the future of international politics. However, this development is closely tied to America’s position as the dominant pole of the international order, making the strategic relations between the two countries increasingly intertwined. As a result, managing these relations has become the most pressing issue in international politics, with stability and crisis in the global order at stake. As such, analyzing the pattern underlying China’s behavior and its relations with the US is critical for understanding the changing international order and its future trajectory.ConclusionChina is neither an ally nor a partner of the US and does not feel obligated to align its policies with those of America. However, unlike the Soviet Union, China does not adopt an explicitly adversarial stance towards the US. This has created challenges and consequences for the overall US policy towards China, and introduced uncertainties that pose significant challenges for policymakers in choosing between a policy of containment or engagement. An examination of the challenges posed by China’s behavioral pattern suggests that a combination of containment and engagement policies is more effective in serving American interests when dealing with China. While addressing the concerns of proponents of containment, the hybrid policy also attempts to avoid the pitfalls of mutual hostility, which is a major concern of supporters of engagement. This policy reflects the uncertainty in Washington about China’s future goals and capabilities. However, if China were to pursue regional hegemony or launch an attack on Taiwan, the hybrid policy could shift towards containment. Conversely, if China were to democratize and cooperate, this containment-plus-engagement policy could be replaced by a more cooperative relationship between the two countries.

Nuclear safety is the lifeline for the development and application of nuclear energy. In severe accidents of pressurized water reactor (PWR), aerosols, as the main carrier of fission products, are suspended in the containment vessel, posing a potential threat of radioactive contamination caused by leakage into the environment. The gas-phase aerosols suspended in the containment will settle onto the wall or sump water through the natural deposition mechanism, thereby reducing atmospheric radioactivity. Aiming at the low accuracy of the aerosol model in the ISAA code, this paper improves the natural deposition model of aerosol in the containment. The aerosol dynamic shape factor was introduced to correct the natural deposition rate of non-spherical aerosols. Moreover, the gravity, Brownian diffusion, thermophoresis and diffusiophoresis deposition models were improved. In addition, ABCOVE, AHMED and LACE experiments were selected to validate and evaluate the improved ISAA code. According to the calculation results, the improved model can more accurately simulate the peak aerosol mass and respond to the influence of the containment pressure and temperature on the natural deposition rate of aerosols. At the same time, it can significantly improve the calculation accuracy of the residual mass of aerosols in the containment. The performance of improved ISAA can meet the requirements for analyzing the natural deposition behavior of aerosol in containment of advanced PWRs in severe accident. In the future, further optimization will be made to address the problems found in the current aerosol model.

Can image schemas sustain the discourse on Brexit while building up emotional and evaluative dimensions in the process? This paper analyzes the embodied meaning used in the Brexit discourse as seen through the lens of the pro-leave newspaper (The Telegraph). By way of a discourse-based approach, the main goal of this study is to show the persuasive role that two recurrent image schemas (CONTAINMENT AND FORCE) play in the characterization of the Brexit discourse, which were used to evoke strong feelings of fear and anger to mobilize readers into taking a defensive position against the EU at the time of the referendum. Regarding the material to be analyzed, a corpus of 43,576 words was compiled, distributed in 34 opinion articles and 13 leading articles, from May 22 to June 22, 2016. The data were analyzed from the perspective of Conceptual Metaphor Theory, where the embodiment of the mind plays a key role. The analysis reveals that the use of the metaphor scenario ‘take back control’, bringing together the use of image schemas and conceptual metaphor, galvanizes the readership’s support against the EU through the use of this realistic formula in a less cognitively demanding manner. The study of image schemas seems to provide an important avenue for understanding the representation of complex political issues such as that of Brexit, underpinned by the use of highly compressed and simple information with a deliberate emotional load.

Compared with traditional large scale pressurized water reactor, the volume of the containment of small pressurized water reactor is small. During a loss of coolant accident (LOCA), the containment pressure of small pressurized water reactor rises rapidly and measures such as pressure suppression pool should be taken to maintain the containment integrity. The pressure suppression pool can be used to quickly relieve the containment pressure, and the containment spray can be used to continuously relieve the containment pressure. However, the existing research on pressure suppression pool is mainly aimed at large scale reactor and mainly focuses on the thermal-hydraulic phenomenon in the containment, and the design scheme of using both containment spray and pressure suppression pool is rarely discussed. In order to investigate the suppressant characteristics of the pressure suppression pool in the suppression containment, the small pressurized water reactor pressure suppression pool and containment spray system simulation facility were modeled, the containment pressure suppression process with the best estimate system computer code RELAP5 was simulated. Condensation and flash evaporation of water could make it difficult to accurately calculate the containment pressure, RELAP5’s capability to simulate pressure changing under different conditions was assessed. The influence of the trend of break discharge on the simulation and design of the pressure suppression pool was analyzed. The suppressant effect of flow area of pressure suppression pipeline and gas-water ratio in pressure suppression pool was compared under different break flow rates and containment spray mass flow rates. The results show that the flow area of pressure suppression pipeline and gas-water ratio in pressure suppression pool have optimal value, and the optimal value of the flow area of pressure suppression pipeline is generally small. The break flow rate is affected by the area of the break. Under the same conditions of total mass and energy release, the faster the break flow rate, the greater the optimal values for the flow area of pressure suppression pipeline and gas-water ratio in pressure suppression pool. The pressure suppression effect will be weakened more obviously if the flow area of pressure suppression pipeline is lower than the optimal value. The continuous pressure suppression ability will be lost if the gas-water ratio is higher than the optimal value. As the containment spray mass flow rate increases, the optimal value for the flow area of pressure suppression pipeline remains unchanged, but the optimal value for the gas-water ratio increases. The research results can provide reference for the design and analysis of the small suppression containment.

In nuclear power plant (NPP) accidents, the containment is subject to high temperatures and high internal pressures, which may further trigger serious chain accidents such as core meltdown and hydrogen explosion, resulting in a significantly higher accident level. Therefore, studying the mechanical performance of a containment under high temperature and high internal pressure is relevant to the safety of NPPs. Based on similarity principles, the 1:3.2 scale model of a prestressed concrete containment vessel (PCCV) of a NPP was designed. The loading method, which considers the thermal-pressure coupling conditions, was used. The mechanical response of the PCCV was investigated with a simultaneous increase in internal pressure and temperature, and the failure mechanism of the PCCV under thermal-pressure coupling conditions was revealed.

Despite never imposing a lockdown, Taiwan achieved COVID-19 zero, with reporting only 56 local coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) cases after testing 126,987 individuals in 2020, and further contained a large outbreak rapidly and successfully in 2021. At the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, our infectious disease modeling results indicated that testing and contact tracing alone would fail to contain the pandemic. However, by supplementing this approach with general public surgical mask-wearing, the reproduction number (R0) could be suppressed to less than 1. This would effectively contain the virus's spread within Taiwan, particularly when combined with strict border control measures to prevent the overwhelming influx of imported COVID-19 cases and ensure the capacity of the medical and public health systems remains resilient. These modeling results became the theoretical basis behind the highly successful Taiwan model against COVID-19 during 2020–2021, supporting by negative excess mortality, seroepidemiological surveys, and molecular epidemiological analyses. This is a public health triumph demonstrating that a democratic and humane approach to the COVID-19 pandemic is not only feasible but highly effective. It also highlights the crucial role of infectious disease modeling in assisting the formulation of a successful national pandemic response.

As the last barrier to preventing nuclear leakage, it is crucial to enhance the load-bearing capacity and cracking resistance of nuclear containment under internal pressure accidents. Currently, fiber-reinforced polymers are widely used in prestressing concrete structures because of their superior performance, but little research has been conducted on fiber-reinforced polymers in the field of nuclear power plants. In this paper, carbon fiber-reinforced polymer (CFRP) is used as a prestressing tendon material instead of traditional steel strands to study the damage mode of the new type of containment under internal pressure and the feasibility of using CFRP as prestressing tendons. In this study, a three-dimensional refinement model is established, employing ABAQUS 2020 software to analyze and quantify the pressure-bearing performance of nuclear containment with CFRP tendons and finally determine the reasonable range of CFRP tendons that can be used as a replacement. The research shows that the containment with CFRP tendons has an obvious strengthening effect in delaying the generation of cracks, restraining the speed of crack development, reducing the plastic damage of the steel liner, and improving the ultimate bearing capacity of the containment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Legg–Calvé–Perthes disease is a self-limiting disorder that develops in children following interruption of the blood supply to the capital femoral epiphysis. This review outlines the current knowledge on the epidemiology, natural evolution, clinical spectrum, and management of the disease. Methods: The literature pertaining to these aspects of the disease were studied and summarized in this review. Results: Epidemiological studies suggest that environmental factors contribute to the causation of the disease. Incidence rates monitored over time indicate that the incidence of Legg–Calvé–Perthes disease is declining. The natural evolution followed on sequential plain radiographs enables division of the disease into Stages Ia, Ib, IIa, IIb, IIIa, IIIb, and IV. Reversible deformation of the capital occurs in Stages Ia–IIa simply on standing while irreversible deformation may occur in Stages IIb and IIIa. Treatment of Legg–Calvé–Perthes disease in Stages Ia–IIa aims to prevent the femoral head from getting deformed by containment and avoidance of weight-bearing. In Stages IIb and IIIa, treatment aims to remedy the effects of early irreversible deformation of the femoral head. In Stage IIIb and IV, treatment is directed to correcting the altered shape of the femoral head. The impression that these treatment methods are helpful is based on poor quality evidence. Conclusion: There is an urgent need to undertake Level I studies to establish the efficacy of currently treatment. Level of evidence: level V. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Family mediation is an alternative conflict resolution process that prioritizes the wellbeing of the family. The mediator is an important figure within mediation, because through a timely process leads to firm steps so that it is productive, through agreement. The general objective of the study was to describe the quality of family mediation processes carried out in mediation centers in Cuenca, Azuay, Ecuador. The study has a quantitative approach, non-experimental, cross-sectional design and descriptive scope. We worked with a population of 31 mediators. The instruments that were applied were the sociodemographic file and the Questionnaire for Evaluation of the Quality of Family Mediation Processes ECAME 2.0. As results, it was found that women were the ones who most carried out family mediation processes, the predominant component in the quality of mediation is the resolution and the dimension was that of participation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The United States' strategic narrative on the rise of the People's Republic of China (PRC) has evolved throughout a half-century of changing world orders and mutual perceptions of strategic intent. From the early 1970s and during the last two decades of the Cold War, the US saw a bipolar world in which it sought to assist China's own rise as a partner in Soviet containment and economic globalisation. During its "unipolar moment" in the post-Cold War era, Washington maintained strong economic engagement but increasingly perceived Beijing as an uneasy partner and rising competitor. With the acknowledgement of the transition towards multipolarity, a bipartisan consensus emerged in Washington about the necessity to contain China's rise as a global political and military power and to blunt its challenge to the "rules-based order" (RBO). The evolution from globalisation "friend" to global "foe" points to three directions of the current US strategic narrative on China's rise: defending the RBO, de-coupling to secure Western-normed globalisation, and shaping the Indo-Pacific security environment. The paper concludes that while the US has succeeded in aligning the three forms of strategic narrative (system, identity, and policy), it faces considerable challenges, including from China's counter-narratives. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In order to effectively control spread of coronavirus 2019 (COVID-19), it is essential that jurisdictions have the capacity to rapidly trace close contacts of each and every case. Best practice guidance on how to implement such programs is urgently needed. We describe the early experience in the City and County of San Francisco (CCSF), where the City's Department of Health expanded contact tracing capability in anticipation of changes in San Francisco's 'shelter in place' order between April and June 2020. Important prerequisites to successful scale-up included a rapid expansion of the COVID-19 response workforce, expansion of testing capability, and other containment resources. San Francisco's scale-up offers a model for how other jurisdictions can rapidly mobilize a workforce. We underscore the importance of an efficient digital case management system, effective training, and expansion of supportive service programs for those in quarantine or isolation, and metrics to ensure continuous performance improvement.

Abstract The rapid urbanization, industrialization, and population growth have led to a considerable rise in solid waste production, highlighting the need for efficient solid waste management and recycling methods. To address the challenge of solid waste production, an alternative solution is to repurpose it in geotechnical engineering. This offers promising benefits as solid waste exhibits various mechanisms that can improve soil's hydromechanical and mechanical behaviors. This review aims to comprehensively analyze the effects and potential application of various solid waste types to stabilize and reinforce soil. The impacts and research trends of industrial waste, such as fly ash, red mud, ground granulated blast-furnace slag, and construction and demolition waste, as well as agricultural and municipal solid wastes, including rice husk ash, press mud, used waste tires, and face masks, on soil properties were identified. The findings contribute to a better understanding of the potential of solid waste as a sustainable and cost-effective solution for improving soil quality, highlighting new research themes in this area. A wide range of innovative methods to stabilize and reinforce soil have also been proposed; however, ingenious and effective containment techniques, as well as addressing the potential impacts of climate change on stabilized and reinforced soils (SRS), still need to be developed for robust field applications. This state-of-the-art review offers useful insights into the reutilization of solid wastes as a promising alternative for improving the hydromechanical and mechanical behaviors of SRS.

The aim of this research was to find out how differences in Chinese and Estonian spatial language influence the way Chinese L1 speakers acquire the Estonian system of expressing static spatial relations. For this purpose, a picture description task was carried out by 22 native Chinese speakers. The main finding was that the Chinese L1 learners of Estonian did not use support through attachment relation (expressed by the postposition küljes) or support by the tip relation (expressed by the postposition otsas) almost at all. Instead, they used simple support relations (expressed by the adessive case or the postposition peal) similarly to their native language, which was in stark contrast with the native Estonian usage. Expressing containment relations did not pose such a problem to Chinese learners of Estonian. Another important finding was that Chinese learners of Estonian had a higher probability of using native-like logic in Estonian in choosing between support and containment relations while describing the pictures when they used case suffixes and a lower probability when they used adpositions. *** Kuidas hiina emakeelega õppurid väljendavad eesti keele staatilisi kohasuhteid? Artikli eesmärk oli uurida, kuidas hiina ja eesti keele vahelised erinevused staatiliste kohasuhete kirjeldamisel mõjutavad hiina emakeelega õppurite staatiliste kohasuhete väljendamist eesti keeles. Eeldati, et hiina emakeelega eesti keele õppurite eesti keele kohasõnade ja -käänete kasutust mõjutab see, et 1) hiina keeles on domineeriv kohasuhete väljendamine toetamissuhte kaudu ning kohasuhteid väljendatakse postpositsioonidega; 2) hiina keeles väljendatakse eri tüüpi toetamissuhteid samade väljendusvahenditega. Hüpoteesi kontrollimiseks vajalike andmete kogumiseks kasutati pildi kirjeldamise ülesannet, mille käigus 22 hiina emakeelega eesti keele õppurit kirjeldasid Bowermani ja Pedersoni (1992) staatiliste kohasuhete pildiseeria 39 pilti. Esiteks eeldati, et hiina keele mõju väljendub selles, et hiina emakeelega eesti keele õppurid kasutavad eesti keeles kõige rohkem postpositsioone, mis väljendavad lihtsat, ilma täpsema liigenduseta, toetamissuhet. Sealjuures peaks kõige rohkem kasutatavaks kaassõnaks olema postpositsioon peal, kuna selle hiinakeelset vastet 上 shang ’peal, -l’ kasutatakse hiina keeles toetamissuhete väljendamiseks väga palju. Andmete analüüsil selgus, et see eeldus peab paika, kuna katseisikud tõepoolest ülekasutasid toetamissuhte väljendusvahendeid (adessiiv, peal) staatiliste kohasuhete kirjeldamisel. Samuti puudusid pea täielikult teist tüüpi toetamissuhete väljendusvahendid, nagu postpositsioon küljes (toetamine kinnitumise kaudu) või postpositsioon otsas (toetamine kinnitamise kaudu objekti tipuossa). Postpositsioon peal oli tõepoolest kõige rohkem kasutatud kaassõna (kuid mitte kõige rohkem kasutatud kohaväljend). Teiseks eeldati, et käänded peaksid olema hiina emakeelega eesti keele õppurite poolt pigem alakasutatud, kuna hiina keeles käänded puuduvad. Eriti peaksid alakasutatud olema need käänded, millega väljendatakse seesolemise suhet, kuna hiina keeles väljendatakse seesolemissuhtega väga väheseid kohasuhteid. Sealjuures peaks kohasuhte väljendamine hiina emakeelega eesti keele õppuritel analoogia tõttu hiina keelega võtma vähem aega siis, kui hiina ja eesti keeles on kohasuhte liik sama. See eeldus ei pidanud paika, kuna tegelikult võis täheldada hoopiski käänete (eriti adessiivi) ülekasutust ning pikemat vastamise aega, kui hiina ja eesti keele kohasuhte liik langes kokku.

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