Technical Knowledge Base Research Articles

Automating ADC Manufacturing with Electricity

Combining the specificity and stability of antibodies with the potency of small molecules has always been at the core of the antibody-drug conjugate (ADC) field. The technological challenge to this therapeutic approach is in bringing two disparate molecules in union with one another. Once this was achieved, the next technological hurdle was, in essence, automation. Early versions of an ADC were the product of technical skill which also required trial and error. Bioconjugation experts investigated many combinations of antibodies, small molecule drugs, conditions, and reaction times to produce stable and efficacious final drugs. This work serves as a technical knowledge base from which to convert new antibodies into ADCs. Even with compendium textbooks like Bioconjugate Techniques, trial and error is still required especially to manufacture an ADC at clinical scale.

Factors Influencing Interest in Post-Secondary Agricultural International Travel Experiences

International travel experiences (ITE) are high-impact practices that allow post-secondary agricultural students the opportunity to engage with production processes and commodities in other countries. In addition to adding tremendous value to their technical knowledge base students are also able to learn about new cultures. Prior research has focused on factors influencing students’ decision to participate in ITE programs. This study builds on research using best-worst scaling to quantitatively analyze motivations or obstacles impacting students’ intention to participate in an ITE. This approach provides a preference share which can be directly compared to other motivations or obstacles in a manner that Likert scales cannot. Students majoring in agriculture at two comprehensive regional universities were surveyed on their motivations or hesitancy in participating in an ITE. Use of the best-worst scaling method reveals that the opportunity for personal growth and earning academic credit are the two primary reasons generating interest in an ITE while cost and concerns about not earning academic credit are the primary reasons for students’ hesitancy in participating. The results of this study can be used by university coordinators in utilization of their limited resources to improve ITE and overcome hesitancy of students.

Technical aspects of peanut butter production processes: Roasting and grinding processes review

A concise understanding of technical aspects underpinning successful peanut butter production is critical for the peanut butter industry. This paper reviews the critical technical drivers of quality peanut butter production. The synergetic relationship between roasting, grinding and stabilization processes and corresponding physiochemical changes and their influence on peanut butter color, flavor, texture, storage stability, shelf life, and overall consumer product acceptance is discussed. Potential of promising novel technologies like infrared, microwave roasting, and some novel peanut butter stabilization methods is evaluated. Quality of peanut butter is by far determined by temperature–time profile used in roasting, fineness of grind, type(s) and amount of added ingredients. The synergistic relationships between production technical aspects and resultant quality of peanut butter are more complex than what is usually assumed. Further research on the novel technologies like infrared and microwave roasting is still required for them to be fully adopted in the peanut butter industry. Practical applications Far from the general erroneous assumptions that peanut butter production is a simple process that does not require much technical and scientific rigor, successful and high-quality peanut butter production is informed by a solid technical and scientific knowledge base. The problems of poor peanut butter quality can be easily addressed by tapping from this scientific base. This study provides a single point, comprehensive reference source material on the technical drivers of peanut butter quality attributes from a processing perspective. Researchers, process, and production engineers can use this base knowledge in designing and optimization of peanut butter production processes. A clear understanding of the link between processes and physiochemical changes that are influential on peanut butter quality can be a key technical enabler to the peanut butter industry.

What Is Our "Epistemic Responsibility"? Reflections on Social Work's Orientation in Yoga Therapy Research.

The purpose of this article is to explore how the social work discipline could provide a complementary lens through which yoga therapy can be analyzed and evaluated by engaging in knowledge-creation practices and procedures that prioritize the "epistemic responsibility" described by philosopher Lorraine Code. More specifically, by seeking to strategically include often-subjugated types of knowledge and by focusing on redistributing epistemic power to agents that typically have been excluded from epistemic participation in contemporary yoga therapy research, the social work discipline, with its strong commitment to social justice, has the potential to contribute to filling an important gap in scientific literature. We begin by presenting the relevance of the social work perspective in relation to the field of yoga therapy. We next offer a reserved critical analysis of the dominant technical knowledge base that currently informs yoga therapy practice. This analysis highlights the social parameters that may be rendered invisible or left aside when adopting a positivist epistemological lens and justifies how the conceptual apparatus of epistemic responsibility serves as a potential platform for rethinking social work's position and future contributions to the field of yoga therapy. Finally, we mobilize the concept of cultural appropriation to illustrate how striving for epistemic responsibility provides an entry point for addressing the multilevel, complex social processes embedded in yoga therapy practice and research while aiming to capture the many voices-and hence the various truths-implicated in a democratic, reflexive, and inclusive research process.

What is it to be a pharmacist? Reflecting upon symbolism

What is it to be a pharmacist? Reflecting upon symbolism

Research and Application of Agricultural Intelligent Standardized Production Management Platform

In order to implement the standardization of greenhouse production management model and intelligent early warning mechanism, in this paper, the greenhouse crops such as cabbage and tomato in Beijing Tianjin Hebei region were studied, By studying the standardized process suitable for the safe and efficient production of greenhouse crops cabbage and tomato, a technical knowledge base were established. Combined with the IOT perception system, the author designed the agricultural intelligent standardized production management platform based on the MVC framework. The applicability and practicability of this management platform in the large-scale agricultural park were preliminarily verified, which would help to improve the standardization and scientificity of the production and management of the greenhouse vegetables. The design method of the management platform closely integrated with production management activities has great popularization value.

Upper secondary school students' difficulties with mathematical modelling

This article reports on a combined quantitative and in-depth qualitative study of 315 Danish upper secondary (grades 10–12) mathematics students’ answers to six modelling tasks that place emphasis on the early phases of the so-called modelling cycle. In order to focus attention on the extra-mathematical aspects of modelling, the technical mathematical requirements of the tasks designed were reduced as much as possible. The article analytically and empirically identifies the most significant ‘stumbling blocks’ in modelling with particular regard to the learning difficulties that the population considered experienced and displayed in getting started on relatively idealised mathematical modelling tasks. The results show that a significant number of students have difficulty in accepting or understanding modelling tasks that seem to breach the standard didactical contract in Danish upper secondary mathematics education, and that – more than acknowledged in previous research – pre-mathematisation is a significant stumbling block in modelling, which is also co-responsible for the better known fact that mathematisation, too, is a crucial stumbling block in mathematical modelling. The study further shows that insufficient or missing so-called implemented anticipation is a major factor in these difficulties. It is finally concluded that since there was no evidence of students having severe problems with the technical mathematical knowledge base (e.g. pure mathematical concepts and formulae) in dealing with the six tasks, the stumbling blocks reside in the fundamentals of subjecting extra-mathematical situations to mathematical modelling.

Effectiveness of a Transesophageal Echocardiography Course.

Transesophageal echocardiography has important applications for the management of the critically ill patient. There is a need to develop effective training programs for the critical care community in acquiring skill at critical care transesophageal echocardiography. We studied the effectiveness of a 1-day simulation-based course that focused on the acquisition of skill in the performance of critical care transesophageal echocardiography. Learners received training in image acquisition with a transesophageal simulator and training in image interpretation in small group sessions. Skill at image acquisition and image interpretation was assessed at the beginning and at the completion of the course. There were 27 learners who attended the course. Pre and post knowledge scores were 55 (19; mean [SD]) and 88 (9; P < .0005), respectively. Pre and post image acquisition scores were 3.6 (3.7) and 9.9 (0.3; P < .0001), respectively. A 1-day course in critical care transesophageal echocardiography that combined case-based image interpretation with image acquisition training using a simulator improved technical skills and knowledge base.

Conceptions of teaching and educational knowledge requirements

This paper scrutinises the educational knowledge requirements of craft, technical, and reflective professional conceptions of teaching, as recently outlined by Winch, Oancea, and Orchard. Drawing on Bernsteinian sociology of knowledge we identify the different requirements each conception makes of educational knowledge, and how it is envisaged that this knowledge will be used in educational practice. While craft conceptions dismiss the value of educational knowledge per se, they nevertheless value other forms of disciplined knowledge. Arguing that technical conceptions of teaching may be either narrowly instrumental or autonomous, we suggest that an advanced technical knowledge base requires a disciplinary aspect, while knowledge for purely instrumental purposes offers a reductive view of educational practice. Moreover, the varying notions of reflection suggested by reflective professional conceptions require certain forms of engagement with educational knowledge, which are challenged by contemporary reforms in teacher education globally. It is suggested that there are often interdependencies between forms of educational knowledge and conceptions of teaching, with potential implications for the trajectories of educational reforms. The argument is briefly illustrated with reference to the national contexts of Germany, England, and Finland.

Creating More-Representative Type Wells

Summary This paper presents original research on how to improve the predictive ability of type wells used in evaluating unconventional-resource-drilling programs by extending traditional Monte Carlo calculations. The paper addresses three critical questions engineers must answer before constructing a type well: which well to use in the construction, the relative importance (weighting) appropriate for each well, and how to adapt the results to reflect certainty (e.g., P10, P50, or P90). The proposed method involves determining the aggregated distribution of estimated ultimate recovery (EUR) for the specified number of wells by running a statistically significant number of Monte Carlo trials. From this distribution, one can determine mean EURs for the desired type-well certainties, such as P50 or P90. Additional Monte Carlo trials yielding the desired mean EUR will help determine which wells to average. Monte Carlo sampling results in several hundred trials that match the desired EURs. The relative frequency of well selection from these trials defines the weighting factor and thus the relative importance of each well. Type wells result from a weighted averaging of history and production from the selected wells. Engineers can use this new methodology to prepare production-profile forecasts for the evaluation of multiwell unconventional-resource-drilling programs. They can also gain an understanding of the effect that aggregation will have on their evaluation work. Our research concludes that current type-well-construction practices may not be appropriate for evaluating future drilling because the production profiles for the wells used to build the type well may differ from the production profiles of the planned wells. This paper presents a new method to obtain more-representative type wells. The method permits defining any uncertain parameters, such as EUR, net present value (NPV), or payout time, and then building a type well for various measures of probability of attaining that parameter. This paper presents new concepts that contribute to the technical knowledge base. We present a method to calculate probabilistic type wells dependent on the likelihood of drilling wells that make up the distribution of EUR (or other parameters). The method combines the concepts of aggregation and Monte Carlo simulation to calculate weighting factors for use when averaging rate/time profiles. We introduce the paradigm that one can build probabilistic type wells from distributions of parameters other than EUR. EUR is only suitable for determining reserves. When conducting an evaluation, one may want a more-relevant type well; for instance, one that examines the ability to self-finance by representing the probability of recovering a percentage of capital expenditure (Capex) in the first year. We present a method to scale rate/time profiles from representative wells to the fracture geometry and reservoir quality of future drilling prospects. These scaled wells are for use in building type wells. The scaling algorithms also prove useful in estimating fracture geometry and reservoir quality where it is unknown.

Operative Variability Among Residents Has Increased Since Implementation of the 80-Hour Workweek

The ACGME instituted duty hour restrictions in 2003. This presents a challenge for surgical residents who must acquire a medical and technical knowledge base during their training. Although the effect of work hour limitations on operative volume has been examined, no study has examined whether duty hour reform has had an effect on operative volume variability. The ACGME operative log data of graduating general surgery residents from 1992 to 2015 were examined. Residents with the most and fewest total major cases were identified and case logs, learning styles, and evaluations were analyzed. Statistical analysis was performed using linear regression analysis, chi-square test, Student's t-test, and Wilcoxon rank sum test. Significance was defined as p < 0.05. One hundred and thirty-five residents graduated from 1992 to 2015. No change in overall operative volume was seen after the 2003 duty hour reform, however, there was an increase in operative variability. In addition, there was an increase in the variability of total major cases between the resident completing the most and fewest cases per class (183.3; p= 0.02) after the start of work hour restrictions. The residents who graduated with the highest operative volume were more likely to be action-based learners (odds ratio= 6.81; 95% CI, 2.84-16.34; p < 0.001) and received superior evaluation scores. After the implementation of the 80-hour workweek, we found a significant increase in operative variability. This might suggest a growing disparity in the operative experience among surgical residents and, consequently, a varying quality of graduating residents. Programs should therefore consider using learning styles and developing competency-based training curricula to ensure equitable training among all trainees.

Surgical resident learning styles have changed with work hours

BackgroundThe Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education instituted the 80-h workweek for residency programs in 2003. This presented a unique challenge for surgery residents who must acquire a medical and technical knowledge base during training. Therefore, learning should be delivered in an environment congruent with an individual's learning style. In this study, we evaluated the learning styles of general surgery residents to determine how learning styles changed after the implementation to the 80-h workweek. Materials and methodsKolb learning style inventory was taken by general surgery residents at the University of Cincinnati's Department of Surgery, and results from 1999–2012 were analyzed. Statistical analysis was performed using the chi-squared, logistic regression and Wilcoxon rank-sum test. Significance was defined as a P value of <0.05. ResultsA total of 411 responses were obtained from 115 residents. Surgical residents were primarily converging (59.0%) and assimilating (19.1%) learners before 2003. However, there was a shift in predominate learning styles after the institution of the 80-h workweek to converging (43.9%) and accommodating (40.4%, P < 0.001). Surgical residents were also more likely to be team-based learners after the start of the 80-h workweek (odds ratio = 2.13, P = 0.0016). ConclusionsAfter the institution of the 80-h workweek, most general surgery residents remained action-based learners. However, there was a shift within this majority toward a preference for team-based learning. This change paralleled the transition to a more team-based approach to patient care with the implementation of the 80-h workweek. These findings are important for surgical educators to consider in the development of surgical resident curriculum.

River Flows Onward

Having reached the end of my 4-year tenure as Chief Editor of the ASCE Journal of Hydraulic Engineering (JHE), I am pleased to welcome the new Chief Editor, Dr. Thanos Papanicolaou. Dr. Papanicolaou has recently taken the position of Professor and Henry Goodrich Chair of Civil and Environmental Engineering at the University of Tennessee at Knoxville. He previously served as Professor and Donald E. Bently Faculty Fellow of Engineering at the University of Iowa. Before that, he was a member of the faculty at Washington State University. Dr. Papanicolaou earned a B.S. with honors in civil engineering from Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Greece, and an M.S. and Ph.D. in civil and environmental engineering from Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University. He is a past Chair of the Hydraulics and Waterways Council of the Environmental and Water Resources Institute of ASCE, an ASCE Walter Huber Award Fellow, and a Distinguished Member of the Iowa Academy of Sciences. He has served as an Associate Editor of JHE, the Journal of Hydrologic Engineering, the Soil and Water Conservation Journal, the Journal of Sediment Research, andWater Resources Research. I am confident that the Journal is in good hands as we move forward to meet the challenges facing peer-reviewed journals. I want to take this opportunity to express my appreciation and admiration of the JHE Associate Editors with whom I have worked closely over the past 4 years. Their dedicated, diligent work has created a journal of which we can all be proud. I have derived great satisfaction from experiencing the mutual respect and camaraderie of a group of committed professionals who share a vision of excellence for the Journal. No peer-reviewed journal can survivewithout the tireless labor of reviewers who toil anonymously to help authors produce the best papers possible. During my tenure as Chief Editor, I have been continuously awed by the outstanding technical quality of manuscript reviews for the Journal. There is no higher service to the profession, inmymind, than these selfless contributions of individuals dedicated to advancing the technical knowledge base for hydraulic engineers. To the authors and potential authors of articles in JHE, and in particular to young people just beginning in the profession of hydraulic engineering, I remain steadfastly convinced that it is an extraordinary time to be a hydraulic engineer. We have a significant role to play in solving the problems of global warming, resource sustainability, and infrastructure renewal. I would submit that we are making progress on those fronts. In the past 4 years, we have seen significant advancements in computational fluid dynamics and in both field and laboratory instrumentation techniques to solve hydraulic engineering problems with a new level of fundamental understanding of the fluid mechanics associated with, for example, hydraulic structures, fish passage, dense jets, dam breaks, sediment transport, flow-through vegetation, scour of sediment, and pipe networks. These topics are all covered in the most recent issue of JHE (March 2014 as of this writing). I am very grateful for the able assistance of the ASCE journals staff over the past 4 years. Their encouragement and guidance through some complex situations have been invaluable. Finally, I want to thank my wife for patiently waiting for me to emerge from my total immersion in the Journal for the past 4 years. Looking ahead, I plan to continue my teaching, research, and writing activities. Hopefully, we will meet at a conference in the future, albeit without me having to answer the inevitable question, “Where is my paper?”!

Discussion of “Distribution of residual load and true shaft resistance for a driven instrumented test pile”1Appears in the Canadian Geotechnical Journal,48(4): 583–598 [doi: 10.1139/t10-084

The authors have presented a well-documented case study of the load test interpretation of prestressed high-strength concrete (PHC) piles, which are very popular in the Far East and are often favoured over steel piles on the basis of cost. Despite their popularity, well-analyzed load test case histories are rare and hence the authors’ paper is a valuable contribution to the technical knowledge base. Although the authors’ have considered the geotechnical aspects in detail, the discussers believe that this case study also would benefit from a fuller analysis of the structural conditions of the piles. This is because the authors have identified that the key design aspects for this site are actually the maximum load in the pile and the pile structural strength, but not the pile capacity. Based on the load test results, the authors concluded that the long-term maximum load in the pile will approach the pile structural strength and hence grouting the central void should be considered. The discussers have carried out an assessment of the pile strength using a different approach and compared the results with the current design guidelines. It was found that even with the central void grouted, the PHC piles are still not sufficiently robust and a different pile size or type may need to be considered. The discussers’ assessment and, where appropriate, comparisons with the authors’ results are described as follows.

Entrepreneurial Origin, Technological Knowledge, and the Growth of Spin‐Off Companies

abstractWe contribute to the literature on corporate spin‐offs and university spin‐offs by exploring how different characteristics in the technological knowledge base at start‐up influence spin‐off performance. We investigate how the technological knowledge characteristics endowed at start‐up predict growth, taking into account whether the knowledge/technology is transferred from a corporation or university. We use a novel, hand‐collected dataset involving 48 corporate and 73 university spin‐offs, comprising the population of spin‐offs in Flanders during 1991–2002. We find corporate spin‐offs grow most if they start with a specific narrow‐focused technology sufficiently distinct from the technical knowledge base of the parent company and which is tacit. University spin‐offs benefit from a broad technology which is transferred to the spin‐off. Novelty of the technical knowledge does not play a role in corporate spin‐offs, but has a negative impact in university spin‐offs unless universities have an experienced technology transfer office to support the spin‐off.

Who Succeeds In The Murky Middle?

This exploratory study examines technically educated middle managers performing ad hoc projects in flat organizations and develops a typology for examining the behavioral patterns associated with their effectiveness. Initial findings indicate the greatest success was achieved by “Type 1” managers (the Leaders) who were able to integrate collaborative selling skills and technical expertise within a web of both formal and informal interactions. Moderate success accrued to “Type 2” managers (the Learners) who used collaborative selling skills to develop social networks that allowed them to expand their own technical expertise. “Type 3” managers (the Leapers) primarily relied upon technical expertise as the tool for interacting with others and enjoyed only modest success. Although “Type 4” managers (the Laggards) had the requisite technical knowledge base, they were the least successful because their lack of collaborative selling skills made it difficult to utilize a compensatory social network. Suggestions are provided for leaders seeking to leverage and direct the abilities of key staff.

Small satellites for global coverage: Potential and limits

There is an increasing need for Earth Observation (EO) missions to meet the information requirements in connection with Global Change Studies. Small and cost-effective missions are powerful tools to flexibly react to information requirements with space-borne solutions. Small satellite missions can be conducted relatively quickly and inexpensively by using commercial off-the-shelf-technologies, or they can be enhanced by using advanced technologies. A new class of advanced small satellites, including autonomously operating “intelligent” satellites may be created, opening new fields of application. The increasing number of small satellites and their applications drive developments in the fields of small launchers, small ground station networks, cost-effective data distribution methods, and cost-effective management and quality assurance procedures. There are many advantages of small satellite missions, like more frequent mission opportunities, a faster return of data, larger variety of missions, more rapid expansion of the technical and/or scientific knowledge base, greater involvement of small industry, feasibility by universities and others. This paper deals with general trends in the field of small satellite missions for Earth observation. Special attention is given to the potential of spatial, spectral, and temporal resolution of small satellite based systems. Examples show small satellites offer also the unique possibility to install affordable constellations to provide good daily coverage of the globe and/or allow us to observe dynamic phenomena. The facts and examples given in this paper lead to the conclusion: Small satellites are already powerful tools for monitoring global, regional and local phenomena. In the future, their application spectrum will even broaden based on the ongoing development in many areas of technology and observation techniques.

Editorial: Teaching Professionalism in Psychiatry

Professionalism is defi ned as having a scientifi c or technical knowledge base, skills and altruism, with an emphasis on public good as far as medicine is concerned. The core virtues of a profession are embedded in moral links, fi delity to trust, benevolence and intellectual honesty, along with courage, compassion and truthfulness (Racey, 1990). Racey argues that the central virtue of professionalism is practical wisdom, which unites moral and intellectual virtues. The primacy of patient welfare and advocacy for justice in healthcare are core values of professionalism. In learning about professionalism, various models can be utilized. The most common model in medicine is that of learning by practice and by observation, through mentoring and apprenticeship. There are of course disadvantages to this approach. Cruess (2006) argues that principles for educating trainees in professionalism include structures such as institutional support, environment processes such as experiential learning and role modelling, and individual traits such as cognitive base. He suggests that narrative medicine, spirituality and communication can be used in teaching professionalism. The essential attributes of responsibility to the profession, self-regulation, responsibility to society and teamwork need to be utilized as part of the training needed for professionalism. In an interesting study, Ratanawongsa et al. (2006) presented the American College of Internal Medicine Charter on Professionalism to residents, a vast majority of whom saw professionalism as important, but less than two thirds thought it could be incorporated into clinical practice. They saw time constraints and workload as signifi cant barriers in practising professionalism. They suggested that role modelling, role play and recordings be used in teaching professionalism, with an acknowledgement of duty hour constraints in learning about the subject. Johnston (2006) makes the important point that professionalism is dynamic and responds to change. Encouraging discussion, adapting to different learning styles and ensuring that mentors are available to strengthen the sense of achievement in professionalism are all useful concepts. What is utterly unacceptable in a profession is greed, misrepresentation, abuse of power and position, breaches of confi dentiality and sexual harassment (Page 2006). Of these, almost all can be taught to trainees, even though the personal vices (or values) of greed and abuse of position may not be entirely eliminated. Joyner and Vemulakonda (2007) acknowledged that the profession must be guided by three principles: esoteric knowledge, trained skills and service (along with altruism) to society where fi nancial reward is not a metric for success. Using intervention through teaching, they reported demonstration of various components of professionalism such as respect, compassion, commitment to ethical principles and sensitivity to diversity. Components of professionalism such as caring and compassion may be diffi cult to assess and measure, but communication can easily be studied. Stern (2007) makes some useful suggestions

Condition assessment-An industry perspective

Worldwide, the number of aged (>30 years service) fossil plants is already significant and is increasing. These units still comprise a substantial portion of electric generation capacity and are likely to remain in service for 15 or more years as new generation finally replaces these assets. Critically, these units must still perform safely and reliably during their “golden years” when most would have been expected to have been retired. The good news is that the level of technical understanding of component damage mechanisms, their root causes, and the corrective actions for root cause is far better today than when these plants first entered service. This technical knowledge base now provides the means to operate these aged units safely and reliably well past the nominal design life. The keys, however, are to use the knowledge to avoid or minimize damage accumulation and to use advanced inspection and monitoring tools to detect any damage at earlier stages. This paper will review the recommended processes now available to allow fossil plants to age gracefully and avoid risks of high failure rates and low reliability.

Effect of precipitation, sorption and stable of isotope on maximum release rates of radionuclides from engineered barrier system (EBS) in deep repository

The basic function of the engineered barrier system (EBS) in geological disposal is to prevent or limit the release of radionuclides into the underground environment. For this purpose, the vitrified waste is contained in an overpack to isolate it from contact with groundwater for a certain initial period of time. However, it is impossible to ensure complete containment for all time. Therefore, the eventual release of nuclides must be minimized after the overpack fails (AEC, 1984. Radioactive waste processing and disposal measures; JNC, 2000a. Project to establish the scientific and technical basis for HLW disposal in Japan – first progress report-H3. Geological Environment in Japan, JNC TN1410 2000-002; JNC, 2000b. H12: project to establish the scientific and technical basis for HLW disposal in Japan – repository design and engineering technology, JNC TN1410 2000-003.). Low-permeability buffer material is installed between the overpack and the host rock to ensure that radionuclide release from the vitrified waste is limited by diffusive transport rather than advective transport in groundwater. Nuclides released from the waste form precipitate when their concentrations in the porewater result in their elemental solubility limits being exceeded. This limits the concentrations of many nuclides in the buffer and thus limits the release rates to the surrounding rock. High sorption coefficients act to delay the transport of certain nuclides during their migration through the buffer (PNC, development and management of the technical knowledge base for the geological disposal of HLW. Supporting report 2: repository engineering technology). The presence of isotopes of the same element has the effect of reducing the effective solubility of some nuclides; a lower nuclide concentration is required for precipitation to occur if the presence of any isotopes of the same element is taken into account. The calculated release rates of radionuclides from the EBS (per waste package) are shown that the concentrations of the following radionuclides are limited by solubility and precipitate around the waste and buffer: U, Np, Ra, Sm, Zr, Se, Tc, and Pd. The Sensitivity of maximum release rates in case precipitation shows that some nuclides such as Cs-135, Nb-94, Nb-93 m, Zr-93, Sn-126, Th-230, Pu-240, Pu-242, Pu-239, Cm-245, Am-243, Cm-245, U-233, Ac-227, Pb-210, Pa-231 and Th-229 are very little changed in case the maximum release rate from EBS corresponding to eliminate precipitation in buffer material. Some nuclides such as Se-79, Tc-99, Pd-107, Th-232, U-236, U-233, Ra-226, Np-237 U-235, U-234, and U-238 are virtually changed in the maximum release rate compared to case that taking account precipitation. In Sensitivity of maximum release rates in case to taking account stable isotopes (according to the table of inventory) there are only some nuclides with their stable isotopes in the vitrified waste. And calculation shows that Pd-107 and Se-79 are very increase in case eliminate stable isotope. The Sensitivity of maximum release rates in case retardation with sorption shows that some nuclides such as Pu-240, Pu-241, Pu-239, Cm-245, Am-241, Cm-246, and Am-243 are increased in some time in case maximum release rate from EBS corresponding to eliminate retardation in buffer material. Some nuclides such as U-235, U-233 and U-236 have a little decrease in case maximum release because their parents have short live and before decay to their daughter will released from the EBS. If the characteristic time taken for a nuclide to diffuse across the buffer exceeds its half-life, then the release rate of that nuclide from the EBS will be attenuated by radioactive decay. Thus, the retardation of the diffusion process due to sorption tends to reduce the release rates of short-lived nuclides more effectively than for the long-lived ones. For example, release rates of Pu-240, Cm-246 and Am-241, which are relatively short-lived and strongly sorbing, are very small, whereas that of Zr-93, which is also strongly sorbing but long-lived, is significantly higher.