Simulation of Temperature Distribution in Stored Wheat without Aeration

A neural-deterministic simulation model applied for calculating distributions of temperatures and moisture content in a bed of wheat stored in a steel silo without aeration is presented in the article. The model consists of differential equations of heat and moisture transfer, initial and boundary conditions, and three artificial neural networks used during simulated ambient air conditions. Experiments and computer simulations were carried out in order to determine temperature fields in wheat grain stored in a steel silo for two months. The computer simulations were carried using MATLAB and FEMLAB software. The difference between measured and simulated temperature in grain near the silo wall at a height of 2.5 m from the bottom was less than 3.0°C. On the basis of the analysis performed it was concluded that the temperature distributions obtained with the model were consistent with the measured results obtained for grain stored in a steel silo without aeration.     

Kinetic studies on copolycondensation processes. VI. Influence of copolycondensation temperature on tetrad distribution of the PDT/FT aromatic copolyterephthalate by 1H-NMR spectroscopy

¹H-NMR and Eu(fod)₃ lanthanide shift reagent were used to determine tetrad distribution of comonomer units of the PDT/FT copolyterephthalate obtained from terephthaloyl chloride (intermonomer) and 3,3′-dimethylbisphenol A and phenolphtalein (comonomers). Computer simulations of the terephthalic proton signal split into the lines of compositional tetrads were performed to obtain quantitative data. To characterize the microstructure of the copolymer samples synthesized at different temperatures, the degree of randomness and the degree of alternation were calculated. It was shown that the latter can differentiate the chains which seemed to be identical concerning the diad distribution only.     

Integrating working and enrichment approach learning: a document

Integrating working and learning is seen as a desirable alternative to traditional training regimes. An integrated approach to working and learning is more gradual, contextual, problem oriented and cost effective. Knowledge technology aims to catalyze workplace learning, but requires the right organisational culture and brings additional costs regarding the articulation, representation and transmission of knowledge. Our approach reduces these costs by making articulation a natural part of collaborative working, designing for both informal and formal knowledge, and facilitating the transition of socially situated knowledge through enriched documents. To be successful, our approach has certain prequesites concerning organisational culture, and the nature of shared documents, organisational knowledge and work activities.     

First-order syntactic characterizations of minimal entailment,domain-minimal entailment,and Herbrand entailment

This paper investigates a consistent versioncwa _s of Reiter's closed-world assumptioncwa. It provides a syntactic characterization of minimal entailment ? _min : for every ∨-sentence ? and for every ∨-theory Σ, $$\varphi \varepsilon cwa_S \left( \sum \right)iff\sum \vdash _{min} \varphi .$$ A version of this characterization remains valid if not all relations are subject to minimization. These two characterizations do not use the domain-closure axiom nor the unique-names assumptionuna, although they may be easily modified to ones that incorporateuna. A similar result for Herbrand entailment ? _Her , by means of generalized domain-closure axiomdca _s , is provided: for every ∨-sentence ? and every ∨-theory Σ, $$\varphi \varepsilon dca_S \left( \sum \right)iff\sum \vdash _{Her} \varphi .$$ Finally, a syntactic characterization of domain-minimal entailment ? _dom in terms of a versionmda _s of minimal-domain assumption is shown: for every ∨-sentence ? and for every ∨-theory Σ, $$\varphi \varepsilon mda_S \left( \sum \right)iff\sum \vdash _{dom} \varphi .$$ The proving power of these entailments is then evaluated. In particular, it is shown that (1) neither ? _min nor its versions are strong enough to derive positive sentences from Σ unless they are first-order provable from Σ however, a double application of ? _min has enough power to derive such positive sentences; (2) ? _Her has the strength of infinitary rule of inference but cannot derive existential nor quantifier-free sentences from Σ unless they are first-order provable from Σ (3) ? _Her and ? _dom can derive from Σ certain positive facts about = which are otherwise unprovable from Σ and (4) ? _dom cannot derive from Σ sentences without positive occurrences of = unless they are first-order provable from Σ. Moreover, the paper relatescwa _s to Reiter'scwa and to Minker's generalized closed-world assumptionGCWA and its extension.     

SARS-CoV-2 Infection Dysregulates Cilia and Basal Cell Homeostasis in the Respiratory Epithelium of Hamsters

Similar to many other respiratory viruses, SARS-CoV-2 targets the ciliated cells of the respiratory epithelium and compromises mucociliary clearance, thereby facilitating spread to the lungs and paving the way for secondary infections. A detailed understanding of mechanism involved in ciliary loss and subsequent regeneration is crucial to assess the possible long-term consequences of COVID-19. The aim of this study was to characterize the sequence of histological and ultrastructural changes observed in the ciliated epithelium during and after SARS-CoV-2 infection in the golden Syrian hamster model. We show that acute infection induces a severe, transient loss of cilia, which is, at least in part, caused by cilia internalization. Internalized cilia colocalize with membrane invaginations, facilitating virus entry into the cell. Infection also results in a progressive decline in cells expressing the regulator of ciliogenesis FOXJ1, which persists beyond virus clearance and the termination of inflammatory changes. Ciliary loss triggers the mobilization of p73⁺ and CK14⁺ basal cells, which ceases after regeneration of the cilia. Although ciliation is restored after two weeks despite the lack of FOXJ1, an increased frequency of cilia with ultrastructural alterations indicative of secondary ciliary dyskinesia is observed. In summary, the work provides new insights into SARS-CoV-2 pathogenesis and expands our understanding of virally induced damage to defense mechanisms in the conducting airways.     

Byzantine robust trust establishment for mobile ad hoc networks

In a mobile ad hoc network (MANET), the nodes act both as traffic sources and as relays that forward packets from other nodes along multi-hop routes to the destination. Such networks are suited to situations in which a wireless infrastructure is unavailable, infeasible, or prohibitively expensive. However, the lack of a secure, trusted infrastructure in such networks make secure and reliable packet delivery very challenging. A given node acting as a relay may exhibit Byzantine behavior with respect to packet forwarding, i.e., arbitrary, deviant behavior, which disrupts packet transmission in the network. For example, a Byzantine node may arbitrarily choose to drop or misroute a certain percentage of the packets that are passed to it for forwarding to the next hop. In earlier work, we proposed a trust establishment framework, called Hermes, which enables a given node to determine the “trustworthiness” of other nodes with respect to reliable packet delivery by combining first-hand trust information obtained independently of other nodes and second-hand trust information obtained via recommendations from other nodes. A deficiency of the Hermes scheme is that a node can fail to detect certain types of Byzantine behavior, such as packet misforwarding directed at a particular source node. In this paper, we propose new mechanisms to make Hermes robust to Byzantine behavior and introduce a punishment policy that discourages selfish node behavior. We present simulation results that demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed scheme in a variety of scenarios involving Byzantine nodes that are malicious both with respect to packet forwarding and trust propagation.     

Hydrogen-bonded diketopyrrolopyrrole (DPP) pigments as organic semiconductors

Diketopyrrolopyrroles (DPPs) have recently gained attention as building-blocks for organic semiconducting polymers and small molecules, however the semiconducting properties of their hydrogen-bonded (H-bonded) pigment forms have not been explored. Herein we report on the performance of three archetypical H-bonded DPP pigments, which show ambipolar carrier mobilities in the range 0.01–0.06 cm²/V s in organic field-effect transistors. Their semiconducting properties are correlated with crystal structure, where an H-bonded crystal lattice supports close and relatively cofacial π–π stacking. To better understand transport in these systems, density functional theory calculations were carried out, indicating theoretical maximum ambipolar mobility values of ∼0.3 cm²/V s. Based on these experimental and theoretical results, H-bonded DPPs represent a viable alternative to more established DPP-containing polymers and small molecules where H-bonding is blocked by N-alkylation.     

A High-Frequency Field-Programmable Analog Array (FPAA) Part 1: Design

The design of a high-frequency field-programmable analog array (FPAA) is presented. The FPAA is based on a regular pattern of cells interconnected locally for high frequency performance. No switches of any kind are used in the signal path of a cell: programming of the functions, parameters, and interconnections is achieved solely by modifying cells' bias conditions digitally. Limited global signal interconnections are also available for those application circuits which cannot be mapped onto locally-only interconnected structure. Key circuits of the FPAA have been fabricated in a CPI transistor-array bipolar technology.     

Regulation in polish telecommunications: Commitment, incentives, and outcomes

The recent worldwide trend of deregulating monopolies along with a surge of privatization necessitates considering the impact of various regulatory strategies. This paper focuses on sector regulatory models and their relevance to economies in transition. The purpose of the inquiry is to examine the regulatory framework of telecommunications utilities and explore the implications for policy. The regulation is found to be most effective when the regulators institute mechanisms which encourage the firm to employ the mix of incentives and competitive pricing signals and a commitment mechanism, so as to foster both the interests of the firm and those of the consumer.