• School Mathematics
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• v.16 no.1
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• pp.111-133
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• 2014

This study aims to explore mathematical belief system and core belief factors to be found. The mathematical belief system becomes an auto regulation device for students' using mathematical knowledge in mathematical situations and provides them with the context to perceive and understand mathematics. They have individual mathematical beliefs for each of mathematics subject, mathematical problem solving, mathematical teaching and learning and self-concept, and these beliefs of students construct mathematical belief system according to mutual relationships among the mathematical beliefs. Using correlation analysis and multiple regression, mathematical belief system was structuralized and core belief factors were found. Mathematical belief system is structuralized and, as a result the core belief factors that are psychological centrality of high school students' mathematical belief system are found to be persistence, challenge, confidence and enjoyment. These core belief factors are formed on the basis of personal experiences and they are personal primitive beliefs that cannot be changed with ease and cannot be shared with other people but they are related with many other beliefs influencing them.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• v.37 no.1
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• pp.79-90
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• 2005

In this paper are reviewed the current status of nuclear fuel management and reactor operational aid tools. In addition, we indicate deficiencies in current capabilities and what future research is judged warranted. For the nuclear fuel management review the focus is on light water reactors and the utilization of stochastic optimization methods applied to the lattice, fuel bundle, core loading pattern, and for BWRs the control rod pattern/core flow design decision making problems. Significant progress in addressing separately each of these design problems on a single cycle basis is noted; however, the outstanding challenge of addressing the integrated design problem over multiple cycles under conditions of uncertainty remains to be addressed. For the reactor operational aid tools review the focus is on core simulators, used to both process core instrumentation signals and as an operator aid to predict future core behaviors under various operational strategies. After briefly reviewing the current status of capabilities, a more in depth review of adaptive core simulation capabilities, where core simulator input data are adjusted within their known uncertainties to improved agreement between prediction and measurement, is presented. This is done in support of the belief that further development of adaptive core simulation capabilities is required to further significantly advance the utility of core simulators in support of reactor operational aid tools.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• v.46 no.1
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• pp.11-26
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• 2014

The analyses carried out within the Seismic Probabilistic Risk Assessments (SPRAs) of Nuclear Power Plants (NPPs) are affected by significant aleatory and epistemic uncertainties. These uncertainties have to be represented and quantified coherently with the data, information and knowledge available, to provide reasonable assurance that related decisions can be taken robustly and with confidence. The amount of data, information and knowledge available for seismic risk assessment is typically limited, so that the analysis must strongly rely on expert judgments. In this paper, a Dempster-Shafer Theory (DST) framework for handling uncertainties in NPP SPRAs is proposed and applied to an example case study. The main contributions of this paper are two: (i) applying the complete DST framework to SPRA models, showing how to build the Dempster-Shafer structures of the uncertainty parameters based on industry generic data, and (ii) embedding Bayesian updating based on plant specific data into the framework. The results of the application to a case study show that the approach is feasible and effective in (i) describing and jointly propagating aleatory and epistemic uncertainties in SPRA models and (ii) providing 'conservative' bounds on the safety quantities of interest (i.e. Core Damage Frequency, CDF) that reflect the (limited) state of knowledge of the experts about the system of interest.

• International Journal of Advanced Culture Technology
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• v.12 no.2
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• pp.386-401
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• 2024

The study introduces and validates a model of post-traumatic growth among parents of children with special needs. The model incorporates cognitive processes, coping strategies, and sociocultural factors as intra-personal variables. The statistical analysis unveiled significant pathways that connect the factors, explaining 71% of the variance associated with post-traumatic growth. The study highlighted intentional reflection and robust decentralization skills as crucial factors that predict post-traumatic growth. Deliberate rumination functioned as a mediating factor, reducing the impact of trauma and facilitating post-traumatic growth, while social support played a crucial role in initiating purposeful rumination. The study findings indicate that the effect of self-disclosure on post-traumatic growth is not direct but rather indirect, as it is mediated by its influence on social support and deliberate rumination. The study underscores the significance of examining particular characteristics of social support networks and suggests integrating additional variables for future research, such as gender, types of traumatic events, and the age of children with disabilities.