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1
Hu, Wen, and Jessica B. Cicchino. "Lowering the speed limit from 30 mph to 25 mph in Boston: effects on vehicle speeds." Injury Prevention 26, no. 2 (January 13, 2019): 99–102. http://dx.doi.org/10.1136/injuryprev-2018-043025.
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IntroductionEffective 9 January 2017, the default speed limit on Boston streets was reduced from 30 mph to 25 mph. This study evaluated the effects of the speed limit reduction on speeds in Boston.MethodVehicle speeds were collected at sites in Boston where the speed limit was lowered, and at control sites in Providence, Rhode Island, where the speed limit remained unchanged, before and after the speed limit change in Boston. A log-linear regression model estimated the change in vehicle speeds associated with the speed limit reduction. Separate logistic regression models estimated changes in the odds of vehicles exceeding 25 mph, 30 mph and 35 mph associated with the lower speed limit.ResultsThe speed limit reduction was associated with a 0.3 % reduction in mean speeds (p=0.065), and reductions of 2.9%, 8.5% and 29.3 % in the odds of vehicles exceeding 25 mph, 30 mph and 35 mph, respectively. All these reductions were statistically significant.ConclusionsLocal communities should consider lowering speed limits to reduce speeds and improve safety for all road users. The current practice of setting speed limits according to the 85th percentile free-flow speeds, without consideration of other characteristics of the roadway, can be a hurdle for local communities looking to lower speed limits. Updated state laws that allow municipalities to set lower speed limits on urban streets without requiring costly engineering studies can provide flexibility to municipalities to set speed limits that are safe for all road users.
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Liu, Hanbing, Xin He, Yubo Jiao, and Xirui Wang. "Reliability Assessment of Deflection Limit State of a Simply Supported Bridge using vibration data and Dynamic Bayesian Network Inference." Sensors 19, no. 4 (February 18, 2019): 837. http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/s19040837.
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Structural health monitoring (SHM) has been widely used in all kinds of bridges. It is significant to accurately assess the serviceability and reliability of bridge subjected to severe conditions by SHM technique. Bridge deflection as an essential evaluation index can reflect structural condition perfectly. In this study, an approach for deflection calculation and reliability assessment of simply supported bridge is presented. Firstly, a bridge deflection calculation method is proposed based on modal flexibility and Kriging method improved by artificial bee colony algorithm. Secondly, a dynamic Bayesian network is employed to evaluate the deflection reliability combined with monitoring results which include modal frequency, mode shape, environmental temperature, and humidity. A linear regression model is established to analyze the relationship between modal parameters and environmental factors. Thirdly, a simply supported bridge is constructed and monitored to verify the effectiveness of the proposed method. The results reveal that the proposed method can precisely calculate the bridge deflection. Finally, the time-dependent reliabilities of two cases are computed and the effects of monitoring factors on bridge deflection reliability are analyzed by sensitivity parameter. It indicates that the reliability is negatively correlated with temperature and more sensitive to mode shape than other three factors.
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Zhao, Xin, Wei Ping Zhao, and Song Xiang. "Controller Optimization of Quadrotor UAV." Applied Mechanics and Materials 709 (December 2014): 237–40. http://dx.doi.org/10.4028/www.scientific.net/amm.709.237.
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Adjusting method of traditional PID controller is complicated. The controller obtained by adjusting method of traditional PID may be not optimal. Therefore, present paper utilized the genetic algorithm to optimize the PID controller parameter of roll channel of quadrotor UAV. According to the feature of lateral stability control model of quadrotor UAV, ascend time of system, steady state error, and weighted overshoot are chosen as objective function. In order to obtain the better control effect, penalty function is used to limit the oscillation of system. Simulation results show that PID controller designed by the genetic algorithm possess the excellent flexibility, adaptability and can produce the better control effect.
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Stianson, J. R., D. G. Fredlund, and D. Chan. "Three-dimensional slope stability based on stresses from a stress-deformation analysis." Canadian Geotechnical Journal 48, no. 6 (June 2011): 891–904. http://dx.doi.org/10.1139/t11-006.
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A procedure is developed where stresses from a finite element analysis are incorporated into a limit equilibrium framework to evaluate the stability of three-dimensional slopes. An independent stress-deformation analysis is performed to calculate the internal stress state for the slope. The stress distribution is imported into the three-dimensional slope stability analysis in the form of a regular grid. The slip surfaces considered in the limit equilibrium analysis are ellipsoidal and discretized using a series of triangular planes. The normal and shear force acting at the centroid of individual triangular planes can be computed from the internal stress distribution. Subsequently, the factor of safety of a selected slip surface can be calculated directly without using an iterative procedure. A series of verification examples are presented to confirm that the proposed method provides the required accuracy and flexibility to assess the stability of slopes typically encountered in practice. Sensitivity analyses are presented to show how the procedure used to compute the forces acting on each triangular plane, the number of planes used to discretize the slip surface, and Poisson’s ratio influence the computed factors of safety, but do not limit the successful application of the methodology.
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Lima, Jacob Carlos, and Aline Suelen Pires. "YOUTH AND THE NEW CULTURE OF WORK: CONSIDERATIONS DRAWN FROM DIGITAL WORK." Sociologia & Antropologia 7, no. 3 (September 2017): 773–97. http://dx.doi.org/10.1590/2238-38752017v735.
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Abstract This article discusses how the "new culture of work," which is characterized by the entrepreneurial discourse of flexible work and the demand that workers be mobile, adaptable, creative, innovative, autonomous and self-entrepreneurs, among other subjective attributes, holds "young people" as its ideal model. "Generation Y," as presented by business literature and media, embodies all the "qualities" that companies deem to be desirable in a worker whose flexibility is pushed to the limit. Based on research with Information Technology (IT) professionals in the state of São Paulo, we try to demonstrate that the construction of a positive ideal of creative and innovative youth obscures the intense nature of the work with these technologies, defined by "projectification" and instability.
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Ubertini, F., F. Comodini, A. Fulco, and M. Mezzi. "A Simplified Parametric Study on Occupant Comfort Conditions in Base Isolated Buildings under Wind Loading." Advances in Civil Engineering 2017 (2017): 1–13. http://dx.doi.org/10.1155/2017/3524975.
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Vibrations in buildings can cause occupant discomfort in the form of annoyance, headache, or sickness. While occupant comfort is considered in international standards regarding the design of high rise buildings against wind loading, it is neglected in the design of buildings with seismic protective base isolation systems. Nevertheless, due to their low flexibility, base isolated buildings can be prone to wind-induced vibrations, which makes occupant discomfort a potentially significant serviceability limit state. This paper presents a study on occupant comfort conditions in wind-excited base isolated buildings. A numerical simplified parametric procedure is proposed in order to evaluate the return period of wind events causing human discomfort. A parametric investigation is then presented to evaluate the effects of salient parameters on comfort conditions. The procedure is based on (i) the nonlinear dynamic analysis of the structure modeled as a single-degree-of-freedom oscillator with hysteretic base isolators, (ii) the digital generation of time histories of turbulent wind velocity, and (iii) comfort evaluations based on international standards. Results demonstrate that discomfort conditions can occur a few times in a year, depending upon the wind-exposure of the site, what suggests considering this serviceability limit state in the design of base isolated buildings.
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Hermann, Daniel, Manfred Wirsum, Douglas Robinson, and Philipp Jenny. "Operating Range Extension of an Open Impeller Centrifugal Compressor Stage Utilising 3D Diffuser End Wall Contouring." International Journal of Turbomachinery, Propulsion and Power 5, no. 1 (February 7, 2020): 4. http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/ijtpp5010004.
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State-of-the-art centrifugal compressor units utilised in pipeline and in energy storage applications face the challenge of flexible and highly efficient operation. Geometric contouring on the hub side near a vaned diffuser affects the flow in a way which increases operational flexibility by delaying the incipience of instability and thereby increases compressor operating range. In the present paper, a hub-side wall contouring is applied within the vaneless space and the vaned diffuser of an open impeller centrifugal compressor stage. The performance characteristic of the novel hub contouring is evaluated in a scale-model test rig and compared against a baseline design. A stable operating range increase of 8% is achieved for the contoured design at Mu 2 = 1.16. 5-hole probe measurements covering a complete diffuser blade-to-blade passage are performed upstream the diffuser and compared both against CFD simulations and against the measurements of the baseline design for an operating point near the stability limit.
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Lan, Peng, Teng Fei Wang, and Nian Li Lu. "Out-of-Plane Stability Analysis for Crane Jib with Single Cable Considering Lateral Flexibility of the Cable Fixed Joint." Applied Mechanics and Materials 685 (October 2014): 240–44. http://dx.doi.org/10.4028/www.scientific.net/amm.685.240.
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The out-of-plane stability of crane jib is studied considering the lateral flexibility of the fixed joint. The analytical expression of the out-of-plane buckling characteristic equation for the crane jib with single cable is obtained by establishing the bending deflection differential equation of jib under the instability critical state with the method of differential equation. The equilibrium equation of the fixed point in the lateral direction is introduced to solve the differential equation besides the boundary conditions. The analytical results obtained agree very well with the finite element method (FEM) results. To consider the lateral flexibility of the cable fixed joint, a dimensionless stiffness coefficient measuring the lateral constraint was introduced to derive the out-of-plane buckling characteristic equation. The degeneration forms of the characteristic equation under the limit cases of zero lateral stiffness, infinite lateral stiffness are further discussed. And the influence of the lateral stiffness of fixed joint on the stability of jib is investigated. It is shown that the increase of the lateral stiffness will significantly improve the buckling load of the crane jib especially when the lateral stiffness is very small.
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Arad, Avigdor D., Fred J. DiMenna, Naketa Thomas, Jacqueline Tamis-Holland, Richard Weil, Allan Geliebter, and Jeanine B. Albu. "High-intensity interval training without weight loss improves exercise but not basal or insulin-induced metabolism in overweight/obese African American women." Journal of Applied Physiology 119, no. 4 (August 15, 2015): 352–62. http://dx.doi.org/10.1152/japplphysiol.00306.2015.
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The purpose of this randomized controlled clinical trial was to determine the effect of a 14-week high-intensity interval training (HIIT) intervention with weight stability on metabolic flexibility, insulin sensitivity, and cardiorespiratory fitness in sedentary, premenopausal, nondiabetic, overweight/obese African American women. Twenty-eight subjects were allocated to one of two groups: HIIT, which performed three sessions per week of four high-intensity cycling intervals, or a control group (CON), which maintained their normal level of physical activity. Diet was controlled for all subjects to ensure weight stability. Pre- and postintervention (pre/post), subjects completed an incremental cycling test to limit of tolerance and, following a 10-day high-fat controlled feeding period, a euglycemic-hyperinsulinemic clamp to determine insulin sensitivity and substrate oxidation. Nine members of HIIT (age, 29 ± 4 yr; body mass, 90.1 ± 13.8 kg) and eleven members of CON (age, 30 ± 7 yr; body mass, 85.5 ± 10.7 kg) completed the study. HIIT experienced an increased limit of tolerance (post, 1,124 ± 202 s; pre, 987 ± 146 s; P < 0.05), gas exchange threshold (post, 1.29 ± 0.34 liters/min; pre, 0.97 ± 0.23 liters/min; P < 0.05), and fat oxidation at the same absolute submaximal work rate compared with CON ( P < 0.05 for group-by-time interaction in all cases). However, changes in peak oxygen consumption (V̇o2peak), insulin sensitivity, free fatty acid suppression during insulin stimulation, and metabolic flexibility were not different in HIIT compared with CON. High-intensity interval training with weight stability increased exercise fat oxidation and tolerance in subjects at risk for diabetic progression, but did not improve insulin sensitivity or fat oxidation in the postabsorptive or insulin-stimulated state.
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Reisert, Michael, Ashish Aphale, and Prabhakar Singh. "Solid Oxide Electrochemical Systems: Material Degradation Processes and Novel Mitigation Approaches." Materials 11, no. 11 (November 2, 2018): 2169. http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/ma11112169.
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Solid oxide electrochemical systems, such as solid oxide fuel cells (SOFC), solid oxide electrolysis cells (SOEC), and oxygen transport membranes (OTM) enable clean and reliable production of energy or fuel for a range of applications, including, but not limited to, residential, commercial, industrial, and grid-support. These systems utilize solid-state ceramic oxides which offer enhanced stability, fuel flexibility, and high energy conversion efficiency throughout operation. However, the nature of system conditions, such as high temperatures, complex redox atmosphere, and presence of volatile reactive species become taxing on solid oxide materials and limit their viability during long-term operation. Ongoing research efforts to identify the material corrosion and degradation phenomena, as well as discover possible mitigation techniques to extend material efficiency and longevity, is the current focus of the research and industrial community. In this review, degradation processes in select solid oxide electrochemical systems, system components, and comprising materials will be discussed. Overall degradation phenomena are presented and certain degradation mechanisms are discussed. State-of-the-art technologies to mitigate or minimize the above-mentioned degradation processes are presented.
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Woodward, Susan L. "Orthodoxy and solidarity: competing claims and international adjustment in Yugoslavia." International Organization 40, no. 2 (1986): 505–45. http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/s0020818300027223.
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Yugoslav policies of domestic adjustment to world economic changes during 1973–85 are the result of two sets of constraints imposed by the strategy of the ruling communist party for retaining its power:(1) an open international strategy for economic growth and national autonomy, chosen in the 1940s, that includes extensive use of foreign capital resources, and (2) the coalition of competing political and economic interests gathered within the party, which has been maintained by granting autonomy to producers, limits on the economic role of the state, and successive devolution of financial and administrative authority. The first imposes external budget constraints, the terms of which are defined by foreign creditors and supported by domestic economic liberals; the second imposes domestic political constraints that narrow the policy alternatives, limit their effective implementation, and require compromises that encourage further borrowing and political reform. The policy result is central party determination of policy orientation; macroeconomic stabilization policies that have continually given priority to maintaining the external balance and that combine orthodox deflation with administrative controls; periodic alternation in structural adjustment policies between a developmental, redistributive emphasis and an exportoriented, liberal, market emphasis, depending on the external constraints; and political and institutional flexibility in response to each policy shift and in order to maintain political order.
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Cheekatamarla, Praveen, and Ahmad Abu-Heiba. "A Comprehensive Review and Qualitative Analysis of Micro-Combined Heat and Power Modeling Approaches." Energies 13, no. 14 (July 11, 2020): 3581. http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/en13143581.
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Concurrent production of electrical and thermal energy from a Combined Heat and Power (CHP) device is an attractive tool to address the growing energy needs of the planet. Micro CHP (µCHP) systems can reduce a building’s primary energy consumption, reduce carbon footprint, and enhance resiliency. Modeling of the µCHP helps understand the system from multiple perspectives and helps discover errors earlier, improves impact analysis and simulation of system solutions for ease of integration with the building. Consequently, there is a need for analysis of the impact of µCHP modeling approach on its reliability and flexibility. The primary objective of this paper is to review the state-of-the art models in the µCHP space with a focus towards internal combustion engine as the primary mover (PM) and limit the study to system modeling, calibration, and validation methodologies. Based on the analysis, recommendations for further model considerations and refinements are presented.
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Roncari, Andrea, Filippo Gobbi, and Cristiano Loss. "Nonlinear Static Seismic Response of a Building Equipped with Hybrid Cross-Laminated Timber Floor Diaphragms and Concentric X-Braced Steel Frames." Buildings 11, no. 1 (December 24, 2020): 9. http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/buildings11010009.
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Simplified seismic design procedures mostly recommend the adoption of rigid floor diaphragms when forming a building’s lateral force-resisting structural system. While rigid behavior is compatible with many reinforced concrete or composite steel-concrete floor systems, the intrinsic stiffness properties of wood and ductile timber connections of timber floor slabs typically make reaching a such comparable in-plane response difficult. Codes or standards in North America widely cover wood-frame construction, with provisions given for both rigid and flexible floor diaphragms designs. Instead, research is ongoing for emerging cross-laminated-timber (CLT) and hybrid CLT-based technologies, with seismic design codification still currently limited. This paper deals with a steel-CLT-based hybrid structure built by assembling braced steel frames with CLT-steel composite floors. Preliminary investigation on the performance of a 3-story building under seismic loads is presented, with particular attention to the influence of in-plane timber diaphragms flexibility on the force distribution and lateral deformation at each story. The building complies with the Italian Building Code damage limit state and ultimate limit state design requirements by considering a moderate seismic hazard scenario. Nonlinear static analyses are performed adopting a finite-element model calibrated based on experimental data. The CLT-steel composite floor in-plane deformability shows mitigated effects on the load distribution into the bracing systems compared to the ideal rigid behavior. On the other hand, the lateral deformation always rises at least 17% and 21% on average, independently of the story and load distribution along the building’s height.
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Ghasemikaram, Amir Hossein, Abbas Mazidi, Mohammad Reza Fazel, and Seyed Ahmad Fazelzadeh. "Flutter suppression of an aircraft wing with a flexibly mounted mass using magneto-rheological damper." Proceedings of the Institution of Mechanical Engineers, Part G: Journal of Aerospace Engineering 234, no. 3 (November 17, 2019): 827–39. http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/0954410019887039.
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Flutter analysis and suppression of an aircraft wing with a flexibly mounted external store using a magneto-rheological damper are investigated. The wing performs as a cantilever beam and the structural model, which incorporates bending-torsion flexibility, is used. A modified Bouc–Wen model is utilized in order to model the elastic connection between the store and the wing. The modified Peter’s finite-state loading is also considered to simulate the aerodynamic force and moment. The governing equations are obtained via Hamilton’s principle and assumed modes method is subsequently applied to transform the resulting partial differential equations into a set of ordinary differential equations. Numerical simulations are validated against several previously published papers by using a clean Goland wing. In order to control the vertical and rotational vibrations of the store and the wing, a state feedback controller and a compensator with full-order observer are designed. The performance of these controllers is compared together in several situations. Eventually, the performances are treated when disturbance is applied to the system. The results show that magneto-rheological damper’s performance is suitable for controlling the limit cycle oscillations of the wing and external store, in flutter condition.
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Lombardi, Pio, Bartlomiej Arendarski, Konstantin Suslov, Natalia Shamarova, Polina Sokolnikova, Antonio Marco Pantaleo, and Przemyslaw Komarnicki. "A Net-Zero Energy System Solution for Russian Rural Communities." E3S Web of Conferences 69 (2018): 01013. http://dx.doi.org/10.1051/e3sconf/20186901013.
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The COP 21 agreement state that the reduction of CO2 emissions will limit the rise of global temperatures and thus the impacts of global warming. Since the energy sector is one of the biggest CO2 emitters, greening it is one of the actions selected to achieve COP 21 targets. Increased generation from renewable sources, however, should entail an increase of flexibility options for integrating renewable energy in the system. The volatility of renewable sources such as wind and sun requires flexible storage units, energy conversion and management techniques as well as active consumer participation to ensure the power system is balanced. In multi-energy systems, the electricity generated by renewables is converted into other energy forms such heat or gas. Rural areas result to be attractive test bench in which multi-energy system could be developed. The objective of this study is to analyze the potential for the development of multi-energy systems in remote Russian communities.
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Cheremnykh, Stepan V., and Sergei A. Sokolov. "A solution to the problem of stability of thin-walled steel cylindrical shells." Vestnik MGSU, no. 5 (May 2021): 577–86. http://dx.doi.org/10.22227/1997-0935.2021.5.577-586.
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Introduction. It is necessary to improve methods of analysis of the limit states, occurring when a thin-walled shell is in the elastoplastic domain, to use these cylindrical shells as elements of heavily loaded products of construction and machine building industries. Materials and methods. The problem of stability of a circular thin-walled cylindrical shell, made of steel 45 GOST 1050-2013, that takes the load induced by pure compression and axial torsion, has been studied. Besides, experimental and theoretical components of the problem have been analyzed. Experimental facility SN-EVM was applied to perform an experiment test and analyze its findings in terms of different versions of the theory of plasticity used to solve shell stability problems beyond the elastic limit. The co-authors emphasize the unavailability of any definition of the criterion of stability loss under combined loading based on experimental dependences that were identified earlier. The results of the experiment were compared with the results of the theoretical study. The analysis of the shell stability in the case of complex subcritical loading are based on the A.A. Ilyushin theory of stability, in which plasticity functions are taken according to V.G. Zubchaninov’s approximations. Results. The problem was solved using the software programme, developed by the co-authors. The software solves the bifurcation problem of a cylindrical shell with regard for the complex nature of deformations at the moment of stability loss in the case of exposure to complex subcritical loading, commensurable processes and the trajectory that has the form of circular arcs. It has been shown that the proposed method of analysis and approximations describe the real stress-strain state of shells that feature low flexibility in respect of a complex pattern of deformation and characterize a stable state of the material beyond the elastic limit. Conclusions. The theoretical strength and deformability analysis of a cylindrical shell and its experimental studies demonstrate sufficient convergence which proves their reliability. This conclusion will allow to improve the process of design of structural elements made of materials that have complex mechanical properties.
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Fu, Chunjiang, Yasuyuki Suzuki, Ken Kiyono, Pietro Morasso, and Taishin Nomura. "An intermittent control model of flexible human gait using a stable manifold of saddle-type unstable limit cycle dynamics." Journal of The Royal Society Interface 11, no. 101 (December 6, 2014): 20140958. http://dx.doi.org/10.1098/rsif.2014.0958.
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Stability of human gait is the ability to maintain upright posture during walking against external perturbations. It is a complex process determined by a number of cross-related factors, including gait trajectory, joint impedance and neural control strategies. Here, we consider a control strategy that can achieve stable steady-state periodic gait while maintaining joint flexibility with the lowest possible joint impedance. To this end, we carried out a simulation study of a heel-toe footed biped model with hip, knee and ankle joints and a heavy head-arms-trunk element, working in the sagittal plane. For simplicity, the model assumes a periodic desired joint angle trajectory and joint torques generated by a set of feed-forward and proportional-derivative feedback controllers, whereby the joint impedance is parametrized by the feedback gains. We could show that a desired steady-state gait accompanied by the desired joint angle trajectory can be established as a stable limit cycle (LC) for the feedback controller with an appropriate set of large feedback gains. Moreover, as the feedback gains are decreased for lowering the joint stiffness, stability of the LC is lost only in a few dimensions, while leaving the remaining large number of dimensions quite stable: this means that the LC becomes saddle-type, with a low-dimensional unstable manifold and a high-dimensional stable manifold. Remarkably, the unstable manifold remains of low dimensionality even when the feedback gains are decreased far below the instability point. We then developed an intermittent neural feedback controller that is activated only for short periods of time at an optimal phase of each gait stride. We characterized the robustness of this design by showing that it can better stabilize the unstable LC with small feedback gains, leading to a flexible gait, and in particular we demonstrated that such an intermittent controller performs better if it drives the state point to the stable manifold, rather than directly to the LC. The proposed intermittent control strategy might have a high affinity for the inverted pendulum analogy of biped gait, providing a dynamic view of how the step-to-step transition from one pendular stance to the next can be achieved stably in a robust manner by a well-timed neural intervention that exploits the stable modes embedded in the unstable dynamics.
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Mohammadzadeh Osalu, Sahar, and Hamzeh Shakib. "The Effect of Foundation Flexibility on Probabilistic Seismic Performance of Plan-Asymmetric Buildings with Different Strength Distributions." Advances in Civil Engineering 2020 (August 5, 2020): 1–23. http://dx.doi.org/10.1155/2020/5191508.
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In this research, the probabilistic seismic performance of asymmetric reinforced concrete wall-frame buildings with different strength distributions incorporating foundation flexibility effects is examined. By using probability-based performance evaluation approach, it is possible to provide a more accurate prediction of the different strength distribution effect on the seismic performance of asymmetric buildings and find the most efficient strength distribution for meeting each performance level. These efficient distributions can be adopted in the performance-based design of asymmetric buildings. For this purpose, first, the regression analysis and the concepts of efficiency and sufficiency were used to determine an optimal intensity measure (IM) for incremental dynamic analysis and evaluating the seismic response of the considered building models. Then, the proper magnitude of interstory drift capacity for this type of buildings in each limit state was estimated using the damage index concept. Finally, the effects of different strength distributions and the flexibility of foundation were studied on the seismic performance of the asymmetric buildings by investigating the mean annual frequencies of exceeding structural performance levels and confidence levels to satisfy performance objectives. It is concluded that irregular distributions of stiffness and strength in the plan of a building highly affect the seismic performance of buildings. Also, the results show that the optimum strength distribution is a function of the objective performance level and these optimum strength distributions are the same for both fixed- and flexible-base conditions. Meanwhile, the flexible effect of foundation increases the mean annual frequencies of exceedance within the range of 10% to 45% and significantly decreases the confidence levels in most cases.
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Lerner, Hanna. "Permissive Constitutions, Democracy, and Religious Freedom in India, Indonesia, Israel, and Turkey." World Politics 65, no. 4 (October 2013): 609–55. http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/s0043887113000208.
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The article addresses the question of what role formal constitutions play in mitigating intense conflicts over the religious character of the state. In contrast to common views in constitutional and political scholarship, it demonstrates that the ideal of liberal constitutionalism is not compatible with the political reality and types of conflicts that characterize religiously divided societies. Analyzing four processes of constitution drafting in which issues of religious law and religious identity were at the heart of the debate—India, Indonesia, Israel, and Turkey—it argues that under deep disagreement over the state's religious character, the drafters adopt either a permissive or a restrictive constitutional approach. While the former implies strategies of constitutional ambiguity, ambivalence, and avoidance in order to allow the political system greater flexibility in future decision making on religion-state relations, the latter approach uses repressive constitutional constraints designed to limit the range of possibilities available to future decision makers. The article further explores the long-term consequences of the two approaches and argues that (1) permissive constitutional arrangements, more than restrictive arrangements, are likely to promote the democratic functioning of future governments; and that (2) permissive constitutional arrangements may facilitate greater freedom of religion, but they are also likely to lead to greater restrictions on freedom from religion, compared with restrictive constitutions.
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Benedetti, Pier A., Valter Evangelista, Dante Guidarini, and Stefano Vestri. "Video-Confocal Microscopy: An “Electronic-Pinhole” Method using Narrow-Field Illumination and Wide-Field Image Detection." Microscopy and Microanalysis 5, S2 (August 1999): 470–71. http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/s1431927600015671.
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State of the art in optical microscopyOptical microscopy is still and increasingly one of the most valuable tools in biological investigation. In particular, confocal microscopies are capable of achieving best performances in the study of three-dimensional fluorescent and reflecting specimens. Nevertheless, current techniques adopted in confocal microscopy present some drawbacks and limitations that stimulate to devise and set-up further techniques, suited to a wider range of applications.Advantages of confocal microscopes mainly correspond to an improved spatial resolution, especially in the axial direction. Depending on the narrow-field scanning approach used, there are two main forms of confocal microscopes: single-point (SP) and multi-point (MP) ones. Unfortunately, SP confocal microscopes require the use of lasers as illumination sources with consequent high costs and scarce spectral flexibility. Moreover, specimen photo-damage due to relatively high instantaneous irradiation doses involved, can often limit their investigative capabilities. On the other hand, proposed MP confocal microscopes still rely on the revolving-disk approach and exhibit a relatively low luminous efficiency, substantial constructional complexity, and limited contrast in the study of thick fluorescent objects.
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Sefriani, Sefriani. "The Urgency of Non-Precluded Measures Clause in Indonesian Bilateral Investment Treaty." PADJADJARAN Jurnal Ilmu Hukum (Journal of Law) 06, no. 02 (August 2019): 233–53. http://dx.doi.org/10.22304/pjih.v6n2.a2.
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The legitimacy crisis of the Bilateral Investment Treaty (BIT) within the international community was caused by the increasing regulatory disputes before the Investor-State Dispute Settlement (ISDS) forum. It encourages Indonesia to discontinue several BITs, to review and to make new BIT models for Indonesia. This article aims to analyze the urgency of the non-precluding measures (NPM) clause in the new BIT Model of Indonesia to balance the interests of investors and the interests of Indonesia as the host state, considering that to date the existing BIT content is not balanced. The BIT provides so much protection to investors and, vice versa, weighty obligations to the host country. This study employed descriptive analytical method. The study concludes that the NPM Clause is very important in the new Indonesian BIT Model. At least, can be based on five arguments. First, the NPM clause will transfer risk from the country to foreign investors in situations of extraordinary threats. Second, the NPM clause will limit investor protection in certain situations. Third, the NPM clause will provide greater flexibility to Indonesia as the host to regulate its investment policy to achieve sustainable development to realize the people’s welfare, labor rights, public health, safety environment, public morals, and order. Fourth, the NPM clause is important for self-recovery during international financial crisis. Fifth, lastly, the NPM clause will balance the protection of both investors and Indonesia as the host state.
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Sefriani, Sefriani. "The Urgency of Non-Precluded Measures Clause in Indonesian Bilateral Investment Treaty." PADJADJARAN Jurnal Ilmu Hukum (Journal of Law) 06, no. 02 (August 2019): 233–53. http://dx.doi.org/10.22304/pjih.v6n2.a2.
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The legitimacy crisis of the Bilateral Investment Treaty (BIT) within the international community was caused by the increasing regulatory disputes before the Investor-State Dispute Settlement (ISDS) forum. It encourages Indonesia to discontinue several BITs, to review and to make new BIT models for Indonesia. This article aims to analyze the urgency of the non-precluding measures (NPM) clause in the new BIT Model of Indonesia to balance the interests of investors and the interests of Indonesia as the host state, considering that to date the existing BIT content is not balanced. The BIT provides so much protection to investors and, vice versa, weighty obligations to the host country. This study employed descriptive analytical method. The study concludes that the NPM Clause is very important in the new Indonesian BIT Model. At least, can be based on five arguments. First, the NPM clause will transfer risk from the country to foreign investors in situations of extraordinary threats. Second, the NPM clause will limit investor protection in certain situations. Third, the NPM clause will provide greater flexibility to Indonesia as the host to regulate its investment policy to achieve sustainable development to realize the people’s welfare, labor rights, public health, safety environment, public morals, and order. Fourth, the NPM clause is important for self-recovery during international financial crisis. Fifth, lastly, the NPM clause will balance the protection of both investors and Indonesia as the host state.
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Alshrari, Abdullah. "Changes from AFDC to TANF in the welfare reform." International Journal of ADVANCED AND APPLIED SCIENCES 8, no. 8 (August 2021): 118–22. http://dx.doi.org/10.21833/ijaas.2021.08.015.
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This study seeks to present a conceptual framework on the importance of the federal government increase the funds for child care programs. United States Congress passed an act: “Aid to Families with Dependent Children (AFDC)” and was signed by President Bill Clinton and in 1997, the Aid to Families with Dependent Children Act become the “Temporary Assistance for Needy Families Act (TANF). In 1996, the grants were no dependent on state spending on welfare and were earmarked to provide time-limited benefits to a border range of low-income families. The AFDC was replaced by TANF. TANF changes the time limit to five years for receiving cash assistant and required most recipients to work. AFDC was a program that entitled. So that any family meets the federal and the state requirement should receive cash assistance. TANF is funded by the federal government and individual states, TANF provides support to low-income families with children. Also, one biological parent must be absent. TANF replaced the Aid to Families with Dependent Children (AFDC) program which began in 1935 in order to support widows and orphans. The purpose of welfare reform is to increase state flexibility, keeping the children in their homes and parents depending on themselves rather than the government. The federal government should increase the funds for the child care program. This study has reached an understanding of the necessity of reconsidering the rules of Welfare care programs.
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Loring, Philip A., S. Craig Gerlach, David E. Atkinson, and Maribeth S. Murray. "Ways to Help and Ways to Hinder: Governance for Effective Adaptation to an Uncertain Climate." ARCTIC 64, no. 1 (March 9, 2011): 73. http://dx.doi.org/10.14430/arctic4081.
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<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman';">This paper compares two case studies in Alaska, one on commercial fishers of the Bering Sea and Aleutian Islands region and the other on moose hunters of Interior Alaska, to identify how governance arrangements and management strategies enhance or limit people’s ability to respond effectively to changing climatic and environmental conditions. The two groups face similar challenges regarding the impacts of a changing climate on wild fish and game, but they tell very different stories regarding how and under what conditions these impacts challenge their harvest activities. In both regions, people describe dramatic changes in weather, land, and seascape conditions, and distributions of fish and game. A key finding is that the “command-and-control” model of governance in the Alaska Interior, as implemented through state and federal management tools such as registration hunts and short open seasons, limits effective local responses to environmental conditions, while the more decentralized model of governance created by the Limited Access Privilege systems of the Bering Sea allows fishers great flexibility to respond. We discuss ways to implement aspects of a decentralized decision-making model in the Interior that would benefit hunters by increasing their adaptability and success, while also improving conservation outcomes. Our findings also demonstrate the usefulness of the diagnostic framework employed here for facilitating comparative crossregional analyses of natural resource use and management. </span></p>
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Beuthe, Mikael. "Isostasy with Love – I: elastic equilibrium." Geophysical Journal International 225, no. 3 (February 19, 2021): 2157–93. http://dx.doi.org/10.1093/gji/ggab073.
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SUMMARY Isostasy explains why observed gravity anomalies are generally much weaker than what is expected from topography alone, and why planetary crusts can support high topography without breaking up. On Earth, it is used to subtract from gravity anomalies the contribution of nearly compensated surface topography. On icy moons and dwarf planets, it constrains the compensation depth which is identified with the thickness of the rigid layer above a soft layer or a global subsurface ocean. Classical isostasy, however, is not self-consistent, neglects internal stresses and geoid contributions to topographical support, and yields ambiguous predictions of geoid anomalies. Isostasy should instead be defined either by minimizing deviatoric elastic stresses within the silicate crust or icy shell, or by studying the dynamic response of the body in the long-time limit. In this paper, I implement the first option by formulating Airy isostatic equilibrium as the linear response of an elastic shell to a combination of surface and internal loads. Isostatic ratios are defined in terms of deviatoric Love numbers which quantify deviations with respect to a fluid state. The Love number approach separates the physics of isostasy from the technicalities of elastic-gravitational spherical deformations, and provides flexibility in the choice of the interior structure. Since elastic isostasy is invariant under a global rescaling of the shell shear modulus, it can be defined in the fluid shell limit, which is simpler and reveals the deep connection with the asymptotic state of dynamic isostasy. If the shell is homogeneous, minimum stress isostasy is dual to a variant of elastic isostasy called zero deflection isostasy, which is less physical but simpler to compute. Each isostatic model is combined with general boundary conditions applied at the surface and bottom of the shell, resulting in one-parameter isostatic families. At long wavelength, the thin shell limit is a good approximation, in which case the influence of boundary conditions disappears as all isostatic families members yield the same isostatic ratios. At short wavelength, topography is supported by shallow stresses so that Airy isostasy becomes similar to either pure top loading or pure bottom loading. The isostatic ratios of incompressible bodies with three homogeneous layers are given in analytical form in the text and in complementary software.
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Phan, Hoang Nam, Fabrizio Paolacci, Rocco Di Filippo, and Oreste S. Bursi. "Seismic vulnerability of above-ground storage tanks with unanchored support conditions for Na-tech risks based on Gaussian process regression." Bulletin of Earthquake Engineering 18, no. 15 (October 8, 2020): 6883–906. http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s10518-020-00960-7.
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AbstractThis paper aims to investigate the seismic vulnerability of an existing unanchored steel storage tank ideally installed in a refinery in Sicily (Italy), along the lines of performance-based earthquake engineering. Tank performance is estimated by means of component-level fragility curves for specific limit states. The assessment is based on a framework that relies on a three-dimensional finite element (3D FE) model and a low-fidelity demand model based on Gaussian process regression, which allows for cheaper simulations. Moreover, to approximate the system response corresponding to the random variation of both peak ground acceleration and liquid filling level, a second-order design of experiments method is adopted. Hence, a parametric investigation is conducted on a specific existing unanchored steel storage tank. The relevant 3D FE model is validated with an experimental campaign carried out on a shaking table test. Special attention is paid to the base uplift due to significant inelastic deformations that occur at the baseplate close to the welded baseplate-to-wall connection, offering extensive information on both capacity and demand. As a result, the tank performance is estimated by means of component-level fragility curves for the aforementioned limit state which are derived through Monte Carlo simulations. The flexibility of the proposed framework allows fragility curves to be derived considering both deterministic and random filling levels. The comparison of the seismic vulnerability of the tank obtained with probabilistic and deterministic mechanical models demonstrates the conservatism of the latter. The same trend is also exhibited in terms of risk assessment.
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Dziemianowicz, Ryta Iwona, and Aneta Kargol-Wasiluk. "The Influence of Fiscal Rules on the Fiscal Stability in the EU Member States." European Journal of Economics and Business Studies 8, no. 1 (May 19, 2017): 212. http://dx.doi.org/10.26417/ejes.v8i1.p212-224.
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Due to the rapid increase of the budget deficit and public debt in many the EU countries after 2008, fiscal policy has faced a significant challenge for developing an appropriate tools to strengthen fiscal discipline and thereby improve the quality of public finance. Institutional mechanisms such as among others numerical fiscal rules play an important role in maintaining the fiscal discipline and support fiscal credibility of the state. Fiscal rules are most often defined as permanent constraints on fiscal policy, expressed by indicators introducing a limit for a particular fiscal aggregate, such as a budget deficit (real or structural), public debt, public expenditure or public revenue. The theoretical objective of the article is to analyze the institutional dimension of numerical fiscal rules (their type, legal basis, transparency, complexity, flexibility, adequacy and coherence). The empirical purpose, on the other hand, is to conduct a statistical analysis and to examine the relationship between the value of the fiscal rules index and the level of budget deficit and public debt in 28 Member States of the European Union. Examining the effectiveness of applied fiscal rules, at both European and national level seems to be the most valuable part of the analysis.
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Alkoby, Shani, Zihe Wang, David Sarne, and Pingzhong Tang. "Making Money from What You Know - How to Sell Information?" Proceedings of the AAAI Conference on Artificial Intelligence 33 (July 17, 2019): 2421–28. http://dx.doi.org/10.1609/aaai.v33i01.33012421.
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Information plays a key role in many decision situations. The rapid advancement in communication technologies makes information providers more accessible, and various information providing platforms can be found nowadays, most of which are strategic in the sense that their goal is to maximize the providers’ expected profit. In this paper, we consider the common problem of a strategic information provider offering prospective buyers information which can disambiguate uncertainties the buyers have, which can be valuable for their decision making. Unlike prior work, we do not limit the information provider’s strategy to price setting but rather enable her flexibility over the way information is sold, specifically enabling querying about specific outcomes and the elimination of a subset of non-true world states alongside the traditional approach of disclosing the true world state. We prove that for the case where the buyer is self-interested (and the information provider does not know the true world state beforehand) all three methods (i.e., disclosing the true worldstate value, offering to check a specific value, and eliminating a random value) are equivalent, yielding the same expected profit to the information provider. For the case where buyers are human subjects, using an extensive set of experiments we show that the methods result in substantially different outcomes. Furthermore, using standard machine learning techniques the information provider can rather accurately predict the performance of the different methods for new problem settings, hence substantially increase profit.
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Barooah, Adrita, and Pamela Nadash. "ADMISSION AND CARE OF INDIVIDUALS WITH MENTAL ILLNESS IN MASSACHUSETTS NURSING HOMES: A PILOT STUDY." Innovation in Aging 3, Supplement_1 (November 2019): S341. http://dx.doi.org/10.1093/geroni/igz038.1237.
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Abstract Due to the rising prevalence of mental illness in nursing homes (NHs), the US Congress passed the 1987 Pre-Admission Screening and Resident Review (PASRR) mandate, which aims both to limit inappropriate institutionalization of people with mental illness and to ensure that they are served appropriately when living in NHs. Although the PASRR is a federal mandate, states have considerable flexibility in implementing it, resulting in considerable variation across states. This study explores the Commonwealth of Massachusetts’ policies on admission and care of individuals with mental illness in NHs, focusing on implementation of PASRR regulations. Semi-structured phone interviews were conducted with key informants identified through purposive snowball sampling (N=8). Key informants included representatives from NHs, the State Mental Health Authority, state Medicaid office, and independent contractors and an academic expert. Data were analyzed using qualitative content analysis. Participants agreed that the PASRR tools efficiently identified and screened people with mental illness -- thus achieving PASRR’s first aim, but that the regulations did not successfully ensure appropriate services. Interviewees also identified a lack of services and options for diversion of people with mental illness into the community. Nursing home informants noticed a disconnect between the various supervising departments and felt instructions were unclear on the administration of the tool. This work builds a case for a national study to understand how PASRR implementation varies across states, resulting in variations in the proportion of people with mental illness admitted and served in NHs.
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Naji, Hamood, Noureddine Harid, and Huw Griffiths. "Enhancement of DUBAL Network Operational Performance Using Resistive High Temperature Superconducting Fault Current Limiter." Energies 12, no. 15 (August 4, 2019): 3007. http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/en12153007.
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Power systems under expansion suffer from escalating fault levels that impact equipment integrity, operational flexibility, and the overall security of the system. The fault current limiter (FCL) is one of approaches used by utilities to limit fault current levels and in Dubai Aluminum (DUBAL) series current limiting reactors are currently used. However, more effective (FCL) topologies are sought and, in this paper, a case study is proposed using resistive high temperature superconducting fault current limiters (HT-SFCLs). The application of HT-SCFLs is aimed here at reducing short-circuit currents, while at the same time enhancing the stability and security of the network. The study involves analysis of three-phase and single-line-to-ground faults, evaluation of the voltage levels and total harmonic distortion (THD) levels at busbars considering different fault scenarios, and demonstrates how the use of HT-SFCLs at various locations improves the plant performance. The ideal HT-SFCL model is adopted for this analysis since the aim is to look at the steady-state performance rather than the transient performance. Comparison with series reactor FCLs which are currently installed in the plant show better performance with the proposed HT-SFCL. Voltage profile values and total harmonic content were also compared with measurement data available at the plant.
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Bue, Brian D., David R. Thompson, Shubhankar Deshpande, Michael Eastwood, Robert O. Green, Vijay Natraj, Terry Mullen, and Mario Parente. "Neural network radiative transfer for imaging spectroscopy." Atmospheric Measurement Techniques 12, no. 4 (May 2, 2019): 2567–78. http://dx.doi.org/10.5194/amt-12-2567-2019.
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Abstract. Visible–shortwave infrared imaging spectroscopy provides valuable remote measurements of Earth's surface and atmospheric properties. These measurements generally rely on inversions of computationally intensive radiative transfer models (RTMs). RTMs' computational expense makes them difficult to use with high-volume imaging spectrometers, and forces approximations such as lookup table interpolation and surface–atmosphere decoupling. These compromises limit the accuracy and flexibility of the remote retrieval; dramatic speed improvements in radiative transfer models could significantly improve the utility and interpretability of remote spectroscopy for Earth science. This study demonstrates that nonparametric function approximation with neural networks can replicate radiative transfer calculations and generate accurate radiance spectra at multiple wavelengths over a diverse range of surface and atmosphere state parameters. We also demonstrate such models can act as surrogate forward models for atmospheric correction procedures. Incorporating physical knowledge into the network structure provides improved interpretability and model efficiency. We evaluate the approach in atmospheric correction of data from the PRISM airborne imaging spectrometer, and demonstrate accurate emulation of radiative transfer calculations, which run several orders of magnitude faster than first-principles models. These results are particularly amenable to iterative spectrum fitting approaches, providing analytical benefits including statistically rigorous treatment of uncertainty and the potential to recover information on spectrally broad signals.
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Munzir, S., L. S. Jennings, and M. T. Koh. "Computational models satisfying relative angle constraints for 2-dimensional segmented bodies." ANZIAM Journal 47, no. 4 (April 2006): 541–54. http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/s1446181100010129.
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AbstractPlanar hinged segmented bodies have been used to represent models of biomechanical systems. One characteristic of a segmented body moving under gravitational acceleration and torques between segments is the possibility that the body's segments spin through more than a revolution or past a natural limit, and a computational mechanism to stop such behaviour should be provided. This could be done by introducing angle constraints between segments, and computational models utilising optimal control are studied here. Three models to maintain angle constraints between segments are proposed and compared. These models are: all-time angle constraints, a restoring torque in the state equations and an exponential penalty model. The models are applied to a 2-D three-segment body to test the behaviour of each model when optimising torques to minimise an objective. The optimisation is run to find torques so that the end effector of the body follows the trajectory of a half-circle. The result shows the behaviour of each model in maintaining the angle constraints. The all-time constraints case exhibits a behaviour of not allowing torques (at a solution) which makes segments move past the constraints, while the other two show a flexibility in handling the angle constraints which is more similar to what occurs in a real biomechanical system.
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MODRZEJEWSKI, Patryk, and Zdzisław IDZIASZEK. "A Research Procedure for Examining the Dynamic Properties of Multi-Wire Springs used in NR-30 Guns." Problems of Mechatronics Armament Aviation Safety Engineering 10, no. 3 (September 30, 2019): 61–78. http://dx.doi.org/10.5604/01.3001.0013.4805.
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The article presents a concept of the procedure for researching the dynamic properties of the multi-wire springs used in NR-30 guns. The aim of the research was to check the possibilities of determining the limit values of the flexibility of the multi-wire springs for the NR-30 gun, as well as to verify the obtained research results using those from range and static tests (after long compression). While verifying the method (selected measurements of 4 springs with varying degrees of wear), static and dynamic compression tests were performed on a spring mounted on a gun on specially prepared testing stations. The description of the data measurement and acquisition method applied should be considered an important element of the description of a testing station. Based on the obtained research results, it has been inferred that, during the striker’s backward movement, wave phenomena likely transpire in the spring. Force value fluctuations taking place during the spring’s movement are visible in the obtained diagrams. The dynamic and static test results (on springs with varying degrees of wear) allowed the authors to evaluate the impact of a multi-wire spring’s wear on the value of its force of interaction with the automation elements of an NR-30. Based on the data obtained, the assumptions for the method of evaluating multi-wire springs’ durability and using it to evaluate the suitability of a given spring type for use according to its technical state, have been elaborated. The final determination of the limit values of the springs’ parameters requires further research using a station with an ammunition belt encumbrance emulator, as well as emulation of the overloads of the kinematic arrangement of the gun while airborne.
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Abdurakhmonov, Amirshokh Kh. "Numerical analysis of stability of an axially-compressed i-beam rod subjected to constrained torsion." Stroitel stvo nauka i obrazovanie [Construction Science and Education], no. 4 (December 30, 2020): 11–27. http://dx.doi.org/10.22227/2305-5502.2020.4.2.
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Introduction. Today thin-walled structures are widely used in the construction industry. The analysis of their rigidity, strength and stability is a relevant task which is of particular practical interest. The article addresses a method for the numerical analysis of stability of an axially-compressed i-beam rod subjected to the axial force and the bimoment. An axially compressed i-beam rod is the subject of the study. Materials and methods. Femap with NX Nastran were chosen as the analysis toolkit. Axially compressed cantilever steel rods having i-beam profiles and different flexibility values were analyzed under the action of the bimoment. The steel class is C245. Analytical data were applied within the framework of the Euler method and the standard method of analysis pursuant to Construction Regulations 16.13330 to determine the numerical analysis method. Results. The results of numerical calculations are presented in geometrically and physically nonlinear settings. The results of numerical calculations of thin-walled open-section rods, exposed to the axial force and the bimoment, are compared with the results of analytical calculations. Conclusions. Given the results of numerical calculations, obtained in geometrically and physically nonlinear settings, recommendations for the choice of a variable density FEM model are provided. The convergence of results is estimated for different diagrams describing the steel behavior. The bearing capacity of compressed cantilever rods, exposed to the bimoment, is estimated for the studied flexibility values beyond the elastic limit. A simplified diagram, describing the steel behaviour pursuant to Construction regulations 16.13330, governing the design of steel structures, is recommended to ensure the due regard for the elastoplastic behaviour of steel. The numerical analysis method, developed for axially-compressed rods, is to be applied to axially-compressed thin-walled open-section rods. National Research Moscow State University is planning to conduct a series of experiments to test the behaviour of axially-compressed i-beams exposed to the bimoment and the axial force. Cantilever i-beams 10B1 will be used in experimental testing.
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Pauli, Victoria, Peter Kleinebudde, and Markus Krumme. "Predictive Model-Based Process Start-Up in Pharmaceutical Continuous Granulation and Drying." Pharmaceutics 12, no. 1 (January 15, 2020): 67. http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/pharmaceutics12010067.
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Continuous manufacturing (CM) is a promising strategy to achieve various benefits in the context of quality, flexibility, safety and cost in pharmaceutical production. One of the main technical challenges of CM is that the process needs to handle transient conditions such as the start-up phase before state of control operation is reached, which can potentially cause out-of-specification (OOS) material. In this context, the presented paper aims to demonstrate that suitable process control strategies during start-up of a continuous granulation and drying operation can limit or even avoid OOS material production and hence can ensure that the provided benefits of CM are not compromised by poor production yields. In detail, heat-up of the drying chamber prior the start of production can lead to thermal energy being stored inside of the stainless-steel housing, acting as an energy buffer that is known to cause over-dried granules in the first few minutes of the drying process. To compensate this issue, an automatic ramping procedure of dryer rotation speed (and hence drying time) was introduced into the plant’s process control system, which counteracts the excessive drying capacity during start-up. As a result, dry granules exiting the dryer complied with the targeted intermediate critical quality attribute loss-on-drying (LOD) from the very beginning of production.
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Maiangwa, Jonathan, Mohd Shukuri Mohamad Ali, Abu Bakar Salleh, Raja Noor Zaliha Raja Abd Rahman, Yahaya M. Normi, Fairolniza Mohd Shariff, and Thean Chor Leow. "Lid opening and conformational stability of T1 Lipase is mediated by increasing chain length polar solvents." PeerJ 5 (May 18, 2017): e3341. http://dx.doi.org/10.7717/peerj.3341.
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The dynamics and conformational landscape of proteins in organic solvents are events of potential interest in nonaqueous process catalysis. Conformational changes, folding transitions, and stability often correspond to structural rearrangements that alter contacts between solvent molecules and amino acid residues. However, in nonaqueous enzymology, organic solvents limit stability and further application of proteins. In the present study, molecular dynamics (MD) of a thermostable Geobacillus zalihae T1 lipase was performed in different chain length polar organic solvents (methanol, ethanol, propanol, butanol, and pentanol) and water mixture systems to a concentration of 50%. On the basis of the MD results, the structural deviations of the backbone atoms elucidated the dynamic effects of water/organic solvent mixtures on the equilibrium state of the protein simulations in decreasing solvent polarity. The results show that the solvent mixture gives rise to deviations in enzyme structure from the native one simulated in water. The drop in the flexibility in H2O, MtOH, EtOH and PrOH simulation mixtures shows that greater motions of residues were influenced in BtOH and PtOH simulation mixtures. Comparing the root mean square fluctuations value with the accessible solvent area (SASA) for every residue showed an almost correspondingly high SASA value of residues to high flexibility and low SASA value to low flexibility. The study further revealed that the organic solvents influenced the formation of more hydrogen bonds in MtOH, EtOH and PrOH and thus, it is assumed that increased intraprotein hydrogen bonding is ultimately correlated to the stability of the protein. However, the solvent accessibility analysis showed that in all solvent systems, hydrophobic residues were exposed and polar residues tended to be buried away from the solvent. Distance variation of the tetrahedral intermediate packing of the active pocket was not conserved in organic solvent systems, which could lead to weaknesses in the catalytic H-bond network and most likely a drop in catalytic activity. The conformational variation of the lid domain caused by the solvent molecules influenced its gradual opening. Formation of additional hydrogen bonds and hydrophobic interactions indicates that the contribution of the cooperative network of interactions could retain the stability of the protein in some solvent systems. Time-correlated atomic motions were used to characterize the correlations between the motions of the atoms from atomic coordinates. The resulting cross-correlation map revealed that the organic solvent mixtures performed functional, concerted, correlated motions in regions of residues of the lid domain to other residues. These observations suggest that varying lengths of polar organic solvents play a significant role in introducing dynamic conformational diversity in proteins in a decreasing order of polarity.
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Amr, Abde El-Galil E., Ayman H. Kamel, Abdulrahman A. Almehizia, Ahmed Y. A. Sayed, and Hisham S. M. Abd-Rabboh. "Solid-Contact Potentiometric Sensors Based on Main-Tailored Bio-Mimics for Trace Detection of Harmine Hallucinogen in Urine Specimens." Molecules 26, no. 2 (January 10, 2021): 324. http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/molecules26020324.
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All-solid-state potentiometric sensors have attracted great attention over other types of potentiometric sensors due to their outstanding properties such as enhanced portability, simplicity of handling, affordability and flexibility. Herein, a novel solid-contact ion-selective electrode (SC-ISE) based on poly(3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene) (PEDOT) as the ion-to-electron transducer was designed and characterized for rapid detection of harmine. The harmine-sensing membrane was based on the use of synthesized imprinted bio-mimics as a selective material for this recognition. The imprinted receptors were synthesized using acrylamide (AA) and ethylene glycol dimethacrylate (EGDMA) as functional monomer and cross-linker, respectively. The polymerization process was carried out at 70 °C in the presence of dibenzoyl peroxide (DBO) as an initiator. The sensing membrane in addition to the solid-contact layer was applied to a glassy-carbon disc as an electronic conductor. All performance characteristics of the presented electrode in terms of linearity, detection limit, pH range, response time and selectivity were evaluated. The sensor revealed a wide linearity over the range 2.0 × 10−7–1.0 × 10−2 M, with a detection limit of 0.02 µg/mL and a sensitivity slope of 59.2 ± 0.8 mV/hamine concentration decade. A 40 mM Britton–Robinson (BR) buffer solution at pH of 6 was used for all harmine measurements. The electrode showed good selectivity towards harmine over other common interfering ions, and maintained a stable electrochemical response over two weeks. After applying the validation requirements, the proposed method revealed good performance characteristics. Method precision, accuracy, bias, trueness, repeatability, reproducibility, and uncertainty were also evaluated. These analytical capabilities support the fast and direct assessment of harmine in different urine specimens. The analytical results were compared with the standard liquid chromatographic method. The results obtained demonstrated that PEDOT/PSS was a promising solid-contact ion-to-electron transducer material in the development of harmine-ISE. The electrodes manifested enhanced stability and low cost, which provides a wide number of potential applications for pharmaceutical and forensic analysis.
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Amr, Abde, Ayman Kamel, Abdulrahman Almehizia, Ahmed Sayed, and Hisham Abd-Rabboh. "Solid-Contact Potentiometric Sensors Based on Main-Tailored Bio-Mimics for Trace Detection of Harmine Hallucinogen in Urine Specimens." Molecules 26, no. 2 (January 10, 2021): 324. http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/molecules26020324.
Full textAbstract:
All-solid-state potentiometric sensors have attracted great attention over other types of potentiometric sensors due to their outstanding properties such as enhanced portability, simplicity of handling, affordability and flexibility. Herein, a novel solid-contact ion-selective electrode (SC-ISE) based on poly(3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene) (PEDOT) as the ion-to-electron transducer was designed and characterized for rapid detection of harmine. The harmine-sensing membrane was based on the use of synthesized imprinted bio-mimics as a selective material for this recognition. The imprinted receptors were synthesized using acrylamide (AA) and ethylene glycol dimethacrylate (EGDMA) as functional monomer and cross-linker, respectively. The polymerization process was carried out at 70 °C in the presence of dibenzoyl peroxide (DBO) as an initiator. The sensing membrane in addition to the solid-contact layer was applied to a glassy-carbon disc as an electronic conductor. All performance characteristics of the presented electrode in terms of linearity, detection limit, pH range, response time and selectivity were evaluated. The sensor revealed a wide linearity over the range 2.0 × 10−7–1.0 × 10−2 M, with a detection limit of 0.02 µg/mL and a sensitivity slope of 59.2 ± 0.8 mV/hamine concentration decade. A 40 mM Britton–Robinson (BR) buffer solution at pH of 6 was used for all harmine measurements. The electrode showed good selectivity towards harmine over other common interfering ions, and maintained a stable electrochemical response over two weeks. After applying the validation requirements, the proposed method revealed good performance characteristics. Method precision, accuracy, bias, trueness, repeatability, reproducibility, and uncertainty were also evaluated. These analytical capabilities support the fast and direct assessment of harmine in different urine specimens. The analytical results were compared with the standard liquid chromatographic method. The results obtained demonstrated that PEDOT/PSS was a promising solid-contact ion-to-electron transducer material in the development of harmine-ISE. The electrodes manifested enhanced stability and low cost, which provides a wide number of potential applications for pharmaceutical and forensic analysis.
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Schmit, Jennifer M., Michael Riley, Sarah Cummins-Sebree, Laura Schmitt, and Kevin Shockley. "Functional Task Constraints Foster Enhanced Postural Control in Children With Cerebral Palsy." Physical Therapy 96, no. 3 (March 1, 2016): 348–54. http://dx.doi.org/10.2522/ptj.20140425.
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BackgroundPostural instability is a classical characteristic of cerebral palsy (CP), but it has not been examined during functional play activity. Recent work has demonstrated that when motor tasks are made functionally more relevant, performance improves, even in children with movement pathology. It is possible that in a disease state, the underlying control mechanisms that are associated with healthy physiology must be elicited.ObjectiveThe study objective was to explore the utility of the functional play task methodology as a more rich and interpretable approach to the quantification of postural instability in children with CP.DesignPostural stability measures obtained from a cross-sectional cohort of children with CP (n=30) were compared with stability measures taken from children with typical development (n=30) during a single measurement period.MethodsPostural stability data were obtained with a portable force platform system. Postural sway was quantified during a precision manual functional play task. A baseline condition (no task) also was included. Postural sway variability and postural sway regularity were analyzed with analyses of variance.ResultsThere was an apparent difference in postural control (greater irregularity, greater sway variability) during quiet stance between children with CP and peers with typical development; this difference was mitigated during the performance of the precision functional play task.LimitationsA small and nonprobability sample of convenience may limit the findings of this study.ConclusionsThe findings illustrate flexibility and adaptability in the postural control system despite the pathological features associated with CP.
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Palermo, Alessandro, and Mustafa Mashal. "Accelerated Bridge Construction (ABC) and seismic damage resistant technology." Bulletin of the New Zealand Society for Earthquake Engineering 45, no. 3 (September 30, 2012): 123–34. http://dx.doi.org/10.5459/bnzsee.45.3.123-134.
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Although New Zealand bridges performed well structurally during recent Canterbury earthquakes, some critical arterial routes lost their functionality. Life Safety is still our primary objective but nowadays we are moving towards new societal needs which also, at minimum, aim to limit business disruption. Building designers are already moving towards low-damage system technology for both structural and non-structural components. Bridge engineers have to inherit those enhanced concepts and technologies. In fact, in order to protect the economy and save lives, it is vital that bridges remain drivable after a natural disaster, such as an earthquake.
More importantly asset managers and networks’ owners want rapid response, design flexibility, quick construction and limited maintenance costs. This should be possible to be achieved by contractors and designers with limited budgets. In very populated urban centres or a critical network location and moderate-to-high seismicity an Accelerated Bridge Construction (ABC) technology which combines durable materials and low-damage technology, seems to be the only viable solution to minimize traffic disruption during the bridge life.
The American Association of State Highway Transportation Officials (AASHTO) started in 2002 a long-term strategic bridge plan which aims to cover all these issues. Similar research strategy was initiated in Japan, Taiwan and Europe which is slowly going towards adaptation of ABC as a standard bridge practice. The question would be what is New Zealand vision for the next twenty-thirty years?
This paper aims to overview the current international trends and challenges and gives innovative concepts which can be contextualized for New Zealand bridges.
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GÁMIZ, FRANCISCO, CARLOS SAMPEDRO, LUCA DONETTI, and ANDRES GODOY. "MONTE-CARLO SIMULATION OF ULTRA-THIN FILM SILICON-ON-INSULATOR MOSFETs." International Journal of High Speed Electronics and Systems 22, no. 01 (November 2013): 1350001. http://dx.doi.org/10.1142/s0129156413500018.
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State-of-the-Art devices are approaching to the performance limit of traditional MOSFET as the critical dimensions are shrunk. Ultrathin fully depleted Silicon-on-Insulator transistors and multi-gate devices based on SOI technology are the best candidates to become a standard solution to overcome the problems arising from such aggressive scaling. Moreover, the flexibility of SOI wafers and processes allows the use of different channel materials, substrate orientations and layer thicknesses to enhance the performance of CMOS circuits. From the point of view of simulation, these devices pose a significant challenge. Simulations tools have to include quantum effects in the whole structure to correctly describe the behavior of these devices. The Multi-Subband Monte Carlo (MSB-MC) approach constitutes today's most accurate method for the study of nanodevices with important applications to SOI devices. After reviewing the main basis of MSB-MC method, we have applied it to answer important questions which remain open regarding ultimate SOI devices. In the first part of the chapter we present a thorough study of the impact of different Buried OXide (BOX) configurations on the scaling of extremely thin fully depleted SOI devices using a Multi-Subband Ensemble Monte Carlo simulator (MS-EMC). Standard thick BOX, ultra thin BOX (UTBOX) and UTBOX with ground plane (UTBOX+GP) solutions have been considered in order to check their influence on short channel effects (SCEs). The simulations show that the main limiting factor for downscaling is the DIBL and the UTBOX+GP configuration is the only valid one to downscale SGSOI transistors beyond 20 nm channel length keeping the silicon slab thickness above the theoretical limit of 5 nm, where thickness variability and mobility reduction would play an important role. In the second part, we have used the multisubband Ensemble Monte Carlo simulator to study the electron transport in ultrashort DGSOI devices with different confinement and transport directions. Our simulation results show that transport effective mass, and subband redistribution are the main factors that affect drift and scattering processes and, therefore, the general performance of DGSOI devices when orientation is changed
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Guldin, James M., Don C. Bragg, and Andreas Zingg. "Plentern mit Kiefern – Ergebnisse aus den USA." Schweizerische Zeitschrift fur Forstwesen 168, no. 2 (February 1, 2017): 75–83. http://dx.doi.org/10.3188/szf.2017.0075.
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Plentering with pines – results from the United States Until now, scientifically reliable data on plentering of light-demanding tree species in Europe have been lacking. This gap is filled with long-term trials from the USA, among others with southern yellow pines. In the southern state of Arkansas, two plots of 16 hectares were installed in 1936, in the context of a large-scale trial of mixed loblolly pine (Pinus taeda L.) and shortleaf pine (Pinus echinata Miller) stands, in which plentering has been applied using single-tree harvest of predominantly sawtimber-sized trees (dbh >30 cm) with natural regeneration. The aim of the experiment is to investigate the possibilities and limits of uneven-aged silviculture with shade-intolerant tree species, and whether this can be applied in cutover southern yellow pine stands in order to improve the stand structure, to increase growth, and to make periodic harvests possible. The two plots were in different initial states – one more or less fully stocked, the other with poor initial stocking. Since 1936, 18 complete surveys have been conducted where all trees 10 cm and larger were tallied by diameter. During that same time period, 14 plenter harvests have been carried out using the Volume Control-Guiding Diameter Limit method in both plots. In order to check the variability of stand structure within the 16-hectare stands, each was subdivided into four quarters, and the diameter distributions were compared within each quarter. The uneven- aged structure was checked by a sample of tree-ring counts. Both stands retained continuous canopy cover throughout the observation period. The initial differences in the number of stems, the basal area, the standing volume, the proportion of sawtimber, the average basal area and the mean quadratic diameter dg became alike in the course of time, which shows the flexibility of plentering and the tendency to develop stands where the harvest of growth appears to be sustainable. The dg of the harvest was initially slightly more than 20 cm, but is today more than 50 cm. The average total growth is 6 m3/ha and year. The results show that these stands are uneven-aged stands in an advanced stage of the transformation to plentering. We suspect that in the absence of a major natural disturbance event, the plentering approach in southern yellow pines will continue to be promising in the future.
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An, Yanyan, Liping Lu, and Miaoli Zhu. "Three new ZnII coordination polymers constructed from a semi-rigid tricarboxylic acid: structural changes caused by flexibility and luminescence sensing for hexavalent chromate anions." Acta Crystallographica Section C Structural Chemistry 75, no. 9 (August 19, 2019): 1286–98. http://dx.doi.org/10.1107/s2053229619011069.
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Coordination polymers (CPs) with specific structures and functional luminescence have been widely designed as sensors for detecting small molecules and ions. In this study, with or without the help of an N-donor auxiliary linker, three new ZnII CPs, namely, three-dimensional (3D) poly[[pentaaquabis[μ3-5-(4-carboxybenzyloxy)isophthalato]bis[μ6-5-(4-carboxylatobenzyloxy)isophthalato]di-μ3-hydroxido-hexazinc(II)] trihydrate], {[Zn6(C16H10O7)2(C16H9O7)2(OH)2(H2O)5]·3H2O} n or {[Zn6(μ3-HL)2(μ6-L)2(μ3-OH)2(H2O)5]·3H2O} n , (I), one-dimensional (1D) catena-poly[[[aqua(1,10-phenanthroline)zinc(II)]-μ2-5-(4-carboxybenzyloxy)isophthalato] dihydrate], {[Zn(C16H10O7)(C12H8N2)(H2O)]·2H2O} n or {[Zn(μ2-HL)(phen)(H2O)]·2H2O} n (phen is 1,10-phenanthroline), (II), and 3D poly[diaquatetrakis(4,4′-bipyridine)bis[μ6-5-(4-carboxylatobenzyloxy)isophthalato]di-μ3-formato-di-μ3-hydroxido-pentazinc(II)], [Zn5(C16H9O7)2(HCOO)2(OH)2(C10H8N2)4(H2O)2] n or [Zn5(μ4-L)2(bpy)4(μ2-OH)2(μ3-HCOO)2(H2O)2] n (bpy is 4,4′-bipyridine), (III), have been constructed from the semi-rigid tricarboxylic acid 5-(4-carboxybenzyloxy)isophthalic acid (H3 L) under hydrothermal conditions. CP (I) exhibits a twofold interpenetrated 3D+3D→3D skeleton with a 3,5-conn topology constructed from triangular trinuclear [Zn3(COO)4(μ3-OH)] clusters, in which the H3 L ligand adopts three different coordination modes. CP (II) exhibits a 1D infinite chain and stacking that gives a 3D structure mediated by hydrogen bonds and weak interactions. CP (III) is an interesting 3D 3,4,8-conn network including linear tetranuclear [Zn4(μ2-OH)2(HCOO)2(COO)2] clusters with a new {4·62}2{4·64·8}{46·619·83} topological symbol. The influences of the flexible –CH2–O– linker of the H3 L ligand and subtle environmental factors, such as solvent, pH value and auxiliary ligands, on the formation of the final structures are also discussed. The solid-state fluorescence spectra of CPs (I)–(III) were recorded at room temperature and all show better fluorescence performances than H3 L. In particular, (II) can act as a potential multifunctional fluorescent material for sensing hexavalent chromium ions in aqueous solution with high stability, selectivity and sensitivity. Under ultraviolet light of 365 nm from a UV lamp, a signal response of fluorescence from turning on to off can be observed with the naked eye. It was found that the detection for hexavalent chromium (i.e. Cr2O7 2−) by (II) has a high selectivity [K SV = 1.61 × 104 M −1 and limit of detection (LOD) = 0.434 µM] in aqueous solution. Quenching mechanisms were also studied in detail.
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Krishnan, Kalyani, Chieh Li, Louis Kruger, Edward Kimble, Gina Aki, and Rachel Ruah. "Self-regulated learning in English-language learners who are persisting despite failure on a high school exit exam." Journal for Multicultural Education 13, no. 2 (June 10, 2019): 140–54. http://dx.doi.org/10.1108/jme-03-2018-0015.
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Purpose This study aims to explore whether English-language learners (ELLs) who have struggled to pass a high school exit exam (HSEE) self-report that they are able to self-regulate their learning. It is of interest to find out whether, in addition to limited English proficiency, these students are struggling to exert control over their learning. Design/methodology/approach Using semi-structured interviews, the study sought the perspectives of eight ELLs who had repeatedly failed their state-mandated HSEE. Interviews were transcribed using a modified grounded theory approach, and thought units were coded with a focus on the following elements of SRL: self-understanding, goal directedness, flexibility and strategy use. Findings Results indicated that all interviewees demonstrated a greater, more specific awareness of their academic weaknesses than their strengths. Half the interviewees demonstrated an awareness of how they learned. Similarly, half of them verbalized that they approached learning flexibly. None of the interviewees reported using evidence-based strategies. However, all interviewees were goal-oriented. Research limitations/implications This research approach may limit the external validity of the results. The richness of the data may also be limited because interviews were conducted in English. Practical implications The findings from this study have implications for educating ELLs in an era of standards-based education and helping them pass HSEEs. Social implications These results also have implications for advancing social justice through informed educational policy. Originality/value This paper fills a gap in the literature by extending the theory of SRL, which is associated with academic success in diverse students, to ELLs, a rapidly growing demographic in US public schools that is struggling to achieve academic success.
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Gee, J. M. W., V. E. Shaw, S. E. Hiscox, R. A. McClelland, N. K. Rushmere, and R. I. Nicholson. "Deciphering antihormone-induced compensatory mechanisms in breast cancer and their therapeutic implications." Endocrine-Related Cancer 13, Supplement_1 (December 2006): S77—S88. http://dx.doi.org/10.1677/erc.1.01274.
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Breast cancer inhibition by antihormones is rarely complete, and our studies using responsive models reveal the remarkable flexibility of breast cancer cells in recruiting alternative signalling to limit maximal anti-tumour effects of oestrogen receptor α (ER) blockade. The recruited mechanism involves antihormone-induced expression of oestrogen-repressed signalling genes. For example, epidermal growth factor receptor gene (EGFR) is induced by antioestrogens and maintains residual kinase and ER phosphorylation, cell survival genes, and thereby allows incomplete antihormone response and emergence of resistance. Microarrays are revealing the breadth of antihormone-induced genes that may attenuate growth inhibition, including NFκB, Bag1, 14-3-3ζ and tyrosine kinases, such as HER2 and Lyn. Three concepts are emerging: first, some genes are induced exclusively by antioestrogens, while others extend to oestrogen deprivation; secondly, some are transiently induced, while others persist into resistance; finally, some confer additional adverse features when tumour cells are in an appropriate context. Among the latter is CD59 whose antioestrogen induction may permit evasion of immune surveillance in vivo. Also, induction of pro-invasive genes (including NFκB, RhoE and δ-catenin) may underlie our findings that antioestrogens can markedly stimulate migratory behaviour when tumour intercellular contacts are compromised. Based on our promising studies selectively inhibiting EGFR (gefitinib), NFκB (parthenolide) or CD59 (neutralising antibody) together with antioestrogens, we propose that co-targeting strategies could markedly improve anti-tumour activity (notably enhancing cell kill) during the antihormone-responsive phase. Furthermore, subverting those induced signalling genes that are retained into resistance (e.g. EGFR, NFκB, HER2) may prove valuable in this state. Alongside future deciphering and targeting of genes underlying antioestrogen-promoted invasiveness, embracing of intelligent combination strategies could significantly extend patient survival.
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Hill, Jerell B. "Pre-Service Teacher Experiences during COVID 19: Exploring the Uncertainties between Clinical Practice and Distance Learning." Journal of Practical Studies in Education 2, no. 2 (January 29, 2021): 1–13. http://dx.doi.org/10.46809/jpse.v2i2.18.
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Teacher preparation programs assist candidates with the pedagogical, theoretical, and practical application of teaching and learning. This article explored the dialog between a state education agency and teacher preparation programs’ responses to the COVID-19 pandemic. The author presents a research study of current teacher performance expectations (TPEs), online readiness, and the design of distance learning in pre-service teacher clinical practice. The participants are 10 current pre-service teachers. The researcher collected data from fieldwork supervisors, observations, and survey results from participants. Kolb’s experiential theory was used in the analysis of co-requisite policy and observations of field experiences of students in a teacher education program. The article analyzed data that suggested that in-person observations and opportunities to practice classroom instruction contribute to teacher readiness and relationship building in comparison to online learning. Furthermore, states will have to re-assess their teacher certification requirements, quality control efforts, and mandatory exams since COVID-19, which may lead to the reauthorization of the pre-service guidelines. Program learning outcomes and critical assignments that allow candidates to demonstrate content knowledge and instructional delivery are being compromised. The finding were that pre-service candidates did not have the opportunity to demonstrate mastery of specific teacher performance expectations within the distance learning format. This article aims to encourage further research teacher education and distance learning to discuss potential alternatives to certification and creative ways to embed flexibility into teacher preparation. Substantial changes can lower the quality of a program and significantly decrease effectiveness while increasing data misrepresentation. Distance learning can potentially limit quality supervision and teacher mentoring. In addition, pre-service teachers will enter classrooms with substantially fewer clinical practice hours.
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H. El-Shall, Maryam. "Net/working: higher education in the age of neoliberalism, crisis and social media." Education + Training 56, no. 7 (September 2, 2014): 599–612. http://dx.doi.org/10.1108/et-07-2014-0080.
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Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to examines the history and goals of online instruction in higher education by linking them to the neoliberal agenda emerging at the end of the 1980s and early 1990s. Here, the author argues that the move toward more online, socially mediated instruction in higher education is symptomatic of larger socio-political and economic constraints that have been placed upon the academy. Design/methodology/approach – The author demonstrates the practical impact of neoliberal shifts in higher education with the emergence of the online for-profit institution – The University of Phoenix. Here, the author shows the ways in which the advent of the internet, together with the expansion of social – both individual and institutional – networks, come together with neoliberal shifts in government to simultaneously render the university both more and less relevant as an institution. The author limits analysis to the language of connectivity and networking evident in online educational settings to highlight more directly the broader shifts in taking place in the contemporary academy surrounding the tension between professional integrity and institutional marketability produced by the proliferation of online, for-profit colleges and universities. Findings – In part four, the author argues that the institutional response to this state of affairs has been to both expand and limit the mission of the university from a space of formal education to a site of biopolitical production, where students come not merely to earn a degree in anticipation of landing a job, but also, to learn to configure and manage themselves. Practical implications – In the concluding section, the author explores the professional implications of these changes through an analysis of the popular professor rating site – Rate My Professors. Originality/value – The approach the author takes in this paper enables us to more closely exam the ways in which neoliberal mandates for quantifiable measures of institutional “effectiveness” center on a fundamental restructuring of the instructor-student relationship toward a service model wherein the instructor becomes the manager of emotions whose goal is connect with students and so model the kind of affective flexibility and resourcefulness they in turn will requires when joining the workforce.
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Silva, Fernando José, Bernardo Félix Santiago Lana, Francisco Carlos Rodrigues, and Luís Eustáquio Moreira. "Buckling of Bamboo Masts with Interposed Spacers." Key Engineering Materials 634 (December 2014): 389–99. http://dx.doi.org/10.4028/www.scientific.net/kem.634.389.
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A hollow bamboo in its raw state, from the geometrical point of view and language engineering can be defined as an element of tubular bar, not prismatic, approximately circular cross sections, stiff by intermittent internal disks positioned along the bar. The decrease in the diameter and wall thickness usually happens from the bottom up, the basal part may contain some exceptions, with sections of the base with diameters smaller than the second, then to diminish steadily to the top. This architecture has a genetic component that resulted from constant interactions of bamboo with the actions of wind, which stimulated increased local resistance of the most requested points mechanically, not only by concentrated lignification in cellulosic tissues, such as the geometric localized variations. From the viewpoint of composite materials science, bamboo can be defined as a composition of two different materials, a first fiber and vessels oriented and aligned along the internodal stem sections, which connect to another material with fibers and vessels tangled - anastonose - intermittent stiffeners composing the above cited nodes. In both materials vessels and fibers are surrounded by a parenchymathous matrix of hollow cells that store sugars. The mechanical point of view, bamboo, due to the configuration, the rigidity and strength components and a tubular geometry is a flexible structural element with high mechanical resistance. This flexibility makes the long elements have low load capacity in flexion compression, if the goal is the application of bamboo in construction structures. This issue can be circumvented by systemic compositions, called masts, [1,2] which can be applied in a single long bamboo element resistant to relatively high compressive loads. In the present investigation, four parallel bamboos 5.5 meters long, the speciesPhyllostachys pubescensare discontinuously connected by bamboo segments interposed fixed by steel pins, achieving this composition with a load limit of 48 kN in controlled experiments. These experiments were also used and motivated to find the numerical modeling by the MEF, whose results were widely discussed.
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Maniecki, Maciej Bogdan, Mette Munk Lauridsen, Troels Bygum Knudsen, Jesper Stentoft, Bjarne Kuno Møller, Søren Kragh Moestrup, and Holger Jon Møller. "A Macrophage Activation Switch (MAcS)-Index for Assessment of Monocyte/Macrophage Activation." Blood 112, no. 11 (November 16, 2008): 3550. http://dx.doi.org/10.1182/blood.v112.11.3550.3550.
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Abstract BACKGROUND: The monocyte/macrophage system plays important roles in host defense, regulation of immune responses, tissue repair, neovascularization, and inflammation. These diverse roles are performed by specific subpopulations of macrophages that are differently activated by surrounding stimuli, simplified by the M1-M2 dichotomy of classically activated (M1), pro-inflammatory cells and alternatively activated (M2), anti-inflammatory cells. Macrophages, however, display a large degree of flexibility and are able to switch between activation states (1) The hemoglobin scavenger receptor CD163 is expressed exclusively on monocytes and macrophages, and its expression is strongly induced by anti-inflammatory stimuli like IL10 and glucocorticoid, making CD163 an ideal M2 macrophage marker (2) Furthermore a soluble variant of CD163 (sCD163) is shed from the cell surface to plasma by protease mediated cleavage of the receptor. The shedding of sCD163 is dependent on a pro-inflammatory signal such as toll-like receptor (TLR) activation by LPS (3) These unique properties led us to investigate whether an index of combined soluble- and monocyte membrane CD163 could be used as a surrogate marker for macrophage activation. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Blood sample were obtained from 53 patients with malignant hematological disease and 74 healthy individuals. The cellular (mCD163) and soluble (sCD163) CD163 expression were measured by flow cytometry and ELISA respectively. In addition, blood mRNA expression of inflammatory markers (IL-1β, IL-6, IL-8, IL-10, and TNF-α) was determined by RT-qPCR. Normalized values of sCD163 and mCD163 were calculated by dividing each value by the median value of the healthy population. The MAcS-index was then calculated as the ratio between normalized sCD163 and normalized mCD163. A MAcS-index > 1 indicates relative increase in sCD163 as compared to mCD163, suggested to reflect a predominant M1 activation. RESULTS AND DISCUSSION: The MAcS-index of healthy individuals clustered around 1 (2.5–97.5 percentile: 0.28–3.11), whereas the MAcS-index of the patients varied from 0.06 to 5139, with 4% below the 2.5 % limit of healthy individuals, and 60% above the 97.5 upper limit of healthy individuals. The MAcS-index in infected patients (with assumed M1 activation) was clearly elevated: The index was significantly higher in patients with clinical signs of infection (median: 9.01; range: 1.41–3490) and patients in antibiotic therapy (median: 9.74; range: 0.91–5139) compared to non-infected patients (median: 2.53; range: 0.058–551.5, p<0.05) and non-treated patients (median: 0.97; range: 0.058– 450.8, p<0.0001), respectively. In contrast, patients in glucocorticoid treatment (assumed to drive an M2 activation phenotype) had significantly lower index (median: 1.1; range: 0.058–551) than patients without glucocorticoid treatment (median: 9.4; range: 0.57– 3490), p<0.05. mRNA expression analysis revealed that patients with MAcS-index above upper reference limit expressed higher levels of IL-1β, IL-6, IL-8, and TNF-α compared to patients with MAcS-index within reference range. Patients with malignant myeloma (median: 0.89; range: 0.63–1.51) had significantly lower MAcS-index than patients with AML (median: 20.71; range: 0.57–2214) (p<0.005) and lymphoma (median: 4.34; range 0.058–5139) (p<0.01), suggesting a differentiation towards an anti-inflammatory state. CONCLUSION: We present a CD163-derived macrophage activation switch (MAcS)- index, which seems able to differentiate between (predominantly) pro-inflammatory and anti-inflammatory macrophage activation. The index needs further validation, however, may be very useful for monitoring diseases with macrophage involvement and response to therapeutic interventions.
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Mints, Oleksii, and Natalia Markina. "Methods of ensuring flexibility of the budget process at holding enterprises of energy industry." Economics of Development 18, no. 4 (February 24, 2020): 19–27. http://dx.doi.org/10.21511/ed.18(4).2019.03.
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Achieving business success for a company is directly related to financial planning, budgeting and analysis of results. Any system is viable if it includes feedback elements that provide an analysis of what the system has done and current adjustments to the system’s behavior as signals about its state. The article deals with the features of the budget process at energy enterprises as part of vertically oriented holding structures. The system formed by such enterprises is very complex, so it is necessary to take additional measures to maintain the efficiency of the budget process in such conditions. Therefore, an important issue is the organization of effective control in the budget execution system to make operational management decisions, which turns it into an effective tool for managing the enterprise. The essence and importance of budget control of energy companies are revealed. The paper deals with the organization of budget planning at an enterprise of the energy industry. Models for budget development and budget execution processes were built and budget limits were adjusted for enterprises using the IDEF0 methodology. The methods of control over the budget execution of energy industry enterprises are considered. The essence and types of the process of adjusting the budget of enterprises are revealed.