Methodology. The Dephi process comprised to 2 rounds of online questionnaires, using the website xxxxxxxxxxxx.xxx. The first question consisted of 39 questions. 9 questions on dis- ease progression, 12 questions on surgeries, 2 questions on mortality, 4 questions on quality of life and 12 questions on resource use and costs. The second questionnaire was created based on the results provided from the first round. If consensus had been reached for a question in the first round then that par- ticular question was not asked again in the second round. If consensus was not reached in the first round the results from the first round were provided alongside the second round question which was either repeated to see if the clinicians, provided with their colleague’s anonymous answers, would change their response, or if it was felt to be more appropriate the question was re-worded. Further questions were added into the second round based on some of the responses from the first round questions. The second round questionnaire consisted of 42 questions. There were 11 questions on disease progression, 12 questions on surgeries, 2 questions on mortality, 2 questions on quality of life and 15 questions on resource use and costs. Following the 2 rounds of online questionnaire, clinicians met in a consensus meeting in Birmingham on 3rd December 2013. The answers given in the two questionnaires were presented and participants discussed their answers until consensus was reached.
Methodology. The project will build upon the methodology piloted from 2011-12 where the self-assessment tool for identifying gaps and weaknesses in municipal services delivery from the standpoint of the rule of law principles was applied and tested. This current project will now support the implementation of the self-assessment in 12 cities, along with partner CSOs and other stakeholders, to assist them in development of the action plans based on the findings and recommendations each self-assessment. In order to increase efficiency of the project activities and to disseminate the results, successes, and lessons learned from the self-assessment and further implementation of action plans, the project will support inter-municipal exchange between selected cities. Moreover, the results will take into consideration updating the Users' Guide and developing a training curriculum on rule of law in public administration. An offshoot of this possibly in the manual for newly elected mayors that can become a useful tool on how to ensure application of the rule of law principles in the day-to-day municipal functions and to deal with challenges in this area. The project methodology will be based on the following principles: inclusiveness, openness, impartiality, feasibility, efficiency, and sustainability.
Methodology. In 2005, we refined our “two-band” model of the alloy, where we by assigning the change in sign of the mixing enthalpy to interactions between s-electrons of Fe and Cr, could reproduce the formation energy calculated with ab initio methods over the relevant range of Cr concentration. Thus the many- body contribution to the total energy was written as a sum of functionals of d, and s-electron densities, in line with theoretical understanding of transition metals, which state that while s-electrons contribute with minor parts to the cohesive energy, they provide significant parts of pressure and dominate bulk moduli. This model was applied in molecular dynamics simulation of defect formation energies, and it was shown that the “two-band” set of potentials were capable of reproducing the formation and binding energies of a wide range of interstitial configurations including one or two Cr atoms in bulk Fe. Using the potential in Kinetic Monte Carlo simulations of phase segregation, formation of the alpha-prime phase was observed with cluster characteristics typical for those observed in experiment. Figure X.3 shows the positions of Cr atoms in originally random alloys after simulated ageing at 750 Kelvin.
Methodology. The methodology is similar to traditional noise analysis work, which consists of both evaluation of measurements, and elaborating models of the reactor and its processes to expedite the interpretation of the measurement analysis. Hence both theoretical model development and analysis of measurements is involved. In the analysis part, in contrast to the FFT tool, used in the traditional methods, continuous (CWT) or discrete fast wavelet transform (DWT) is used. A large part of the activity in 2005 concerned developing physical models and investigating their properties as well as comparing them with measurements.
Methodology. The methodology of stochastic methods is based on the so-called master equation technique. The master equation is a balance equation for the temporal and spatial evolution of the probability distribution of the neutrons, precursors and detector counts in a multiplying medium. From the master equation one can derive equations for the moments, out of which the first two, the mean and the variance are used, or some functions of those, such as temporal correlations or power spectra. An analytic expression of some measured quantity, such as the time dependence of the relative variance of the detector counts (Feynman-alpha) or the auto- and cross spectra of the detectors in the Cf-252 method, is then used for fitting the experimental data and extracting the reactivity (through the prompt neutron time constant). The deterministic methods are based on the theory of power reactor noise, using the Langevin equation. This latter is the method to be used in the source modulation technique. What regards the Cf-252 method, both tools are applicable, depending on the depth of the modelling of the case. To understand the significance of the space dependent effects, one needs though to use the Langevin equation for the modelling.
Methodology. The development of the positron annihilation spectroscopy facility requires the following: • Finalizing the physical beam by adding an acceleration stage and a sample chamber. • Optimizing the beam parameters such as parameters for pulsing (chopping, bunching systems), transmission (magnetic field, drift acceleration potential), main acceleration and detection system and data acquisition. • Measurements on irradiated materials. • Developing an algorithm to unfold experimental data with respect to the positron time distribution in the beam • Modelling and interpretation of results.