Privileged Treatment of UMTS Subscribers in GSM Networks

Different user segments have various requirements and expectations towards the performance of mobile networks. Subscribers having experienced the high quality of UMTS networks desire to maintain high speech quality and excellent data throughput also in areas of missing UMTS but existing GSM coverage. In GSM networks a privileged treatment of UMTS subscribers by means of proper resource allocation provides a substantial quality improvement with respect to standard GSM subscribers. This strategy allows network operators to reduce the performance gap between both network areas experienced by UMTS subscribers. A detailed study on the performance of circuit switched speech and packet data services has been performed based on system level simulations. The results show significant speech quality advantages for users with dual-RAT terminals compared to standard GSM users as well as notably higher data throughput rates.     

Das neue Bewehrungssystem; Druckglieder mit hochfestem Betonstahl SAS 670/800

The New Reinforcement System; Compression Members With High Strength Reinforcement SAS 670/800 Part II: Opernturm Frankfurt – Application In Frankfurt am Main, the Opernturm, a sophisticated 46‐storey tower block project, is presently being constructed in the immediate vicinity of the Alte Oper. In designing the 169 m high Opernturm, dimensioning of the highly loaded columns presented a particular challenge. For architectural reasons, the cross sections of the mega‐columns in the Opernturm's 5‐storey high lobby were to be as small as possible. Using standard reinforcement steel this requirement could only have been built by utilizing highstrength concrete. It was however economically more efficient to construct these columns using standard concrete (C50/60) and high‐strength reinforcement steel (SAS 670/800) from the Annahütte Steel Works. Construction of the highly loaded façade columns presented a similar challenge. For architectural reasons and due to building services requirements as well as to increase floor space they too were to have as small cross sections as possible with large slendernesses (λ > 85). Also in this case, reinforcement using standard reinforcement steel would not have been possible without the cost‐intensive use of high‐strength concrete. For this reason, the highly loaded façade columns were also reinforced using SAS 670. Part I of this report published in issue 5/2008 discussed the technical principals of columns using S 670. Part II deals with the design of the Frankfurt Opernturm, the construction of the highstrength columns and the requisite construction approval on an individual basis.     

Volatile N-nitrosamines in meat products: Potential precursors,influence of processing,and mitigation strategies

Meat products can be contaminated with carcinogenic N-nitrosamines, which is ascribed to the reaction between a nitrosating agent, originating from nitrite or smoke, and a secondary amine, derived from protein and lipid degradation. Although in model systems it is demonstrated that many amine containing compounds can be converted to N-nitrosamines, the yield is dependent of reaction conditions (e.g., low pH and high temperature). In this article, the influence of the composition of the meat products (e.g., pH, a_w, spices) and processing (e.g., ageing, ripening, fermentation, smoking, heat treatment and storage) on the presence and availability of the amine precursors and the N-nitrosamine formation mechanism is discussed. In addition, this article explores the current N-nitrosamine mitigation strategies in order to obtain healthier and more natural meat products.     

Reactivate Sarajevo Now— The Regeneration Design for the Historical Museum of Bosnia-Herzegovina

In times of radical change, we need to look into cities as laboratories. A sheer unlikely candidate for such an urban laboratory is the city of Sarajevo. Yet, the city’s turbulent past of alternating periods of construction and destruction and the variety of social, cultural, and political layers in its built environment reveal challenges and potentials relevant to the state of many contemporary cities around the globe. Sarajevo’s discontinuous political, social, and historical development has created a bricolage city. By highlighting the existing local socio-cultural and ecological systems, the Urban-Think Tank’s “Reactivate Sarajevo” project aims not only to contribute to a post-war revitalization of the Bosnian capital but also to produce, from the experience of this extraordinary city, lessons of wider, possibly global significance.     

Modelling of the carbon nanotube bridging effect on the toughening of polymers and experimental verification

The effect of aligned and randomly oriented carbon nanotube (CNT), with respect to the crack growth plane, on the fracture toughness of polymers is modelled in this paper using the Elastic Plastic Fracture Mechanics. According to a critical length, two dominant toughening mechanisms for CNT-modified polymers are presented, i.e. CNT pull-out and CNT rupture. The model is then used to identify the effect of CNTs geometrical and mechanical properties on the enhancement of fracture toughness in CNT-modified polymers. The key CNT properties are the CNT radius, average length, ultimate strength, elongation before failure, interfacial shear strength between CNTs and the polymer and nanotube volume fraction. Finally, experimental results are compared with the model predictions. The correlation shows that processing of long, aligned CNTs remains the main barrier in achieving major fracture toughness enhancement.     

INTERPERSONAL DIAGNOSIS: SOME PROBLEMS OF METHODOLOGY AND VALIDATION.

Seven issues are discussed in this paper. They are: (a) selection of concepts for functional diagnostic research, (b) methods for classifying personality data, (c) the organization of the levels of personality, (d) the level or locus of diagnosis, (e) the purpose of personality diagnosis, (f) the development of an interpersonal diagnostic system, and (g) the problems of validating multidimensional personality patterns. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Antioxidant sensors based on DNA-modified electrodes

TiO2/ITO modified electrodes were developed to quantitatively photooxidize adsorbed ds-DNA and to study the effect of antioxidants as ds-DNA protecting agents. TiO2 films are used for efficient ds-DNA immobilization, for ds-DNA oxidation through photogenerated hydroxyl radicals, and as electrodes for amperometric sensing. The films, prepared by a sol-gel process, are deposited on ITO glass electrodes. Damages occurring after ds-DNA oxidation by ROS are detected by adding MB as an intercalant probe and by monitoring the electrochemical reduction current of the intercalated redox probe. The MB electrochemical signal is found to be sensitive enough to monitor ds-DNA structure changes, and the electrochemical sensor has been applied to the evaluation of the antioxidant properties of glutathione and gallic acid.     

Molecular engineering of octupolar NLO molecules and materials based on bipyridyl metal complexes

Coordination compounds are of particular interest for the design of new chromophores with large nonlinear optical (NLO) susceptibilities. They offer a wide range of metals with different oxidation states and ligands, which can give rise to tunable electronic properties. Metal ions are excellent templates to build 2D and 3D octupolar NLO-phores. Their associations with functionalized bipyridyl ligands give rise to octahedral and tetrahedral metal complexes with large first-order hyperpolarizabilities. The ability to functionalize these octupoles allows their incorporation into macromolecular architectures such as polymers and metallodendrimers, We also show in this Account two approaches to induce noncentrosymmetry at the macroscopic level, either by supramolecular organization or by the all optical poling procedure.     

Toxic and aversive diterpenes of Euphorbia esula

Leafy spurge (Euphorbia esula L.), a plant introduced into the Great Plains of North America from Europe, has become a serious economic and ecological threat to the productivity of agricultural and natural areas. Cattle, the predominant livestock species on the Great Plains, as well as common wild ruminant species in this region appear to consume little if any leafy spurge. This is likely because they experience a toxic response after consuming small amounts of this plant, and they consequently learn to avoid it. Domestic sheep and goats can consume considerable amounts of leafy spurge and are used to help control it, but even these species may suffer a toxic response at high levels of intake. Toxic diterpene ingenols have been isolated from leafy spurge tissues, but compounds in this plant have not been evaluated with respect to their capacity to induce food aversion learning in ruminants. We conducted bioassay-guided fractionations of leafy spurge in an attempt to isolate toxic and aversive compounds. These bioassay-guided fractionations led to identification of ingenol and one of its diesters as two toxic compounds in leafy spurge that are potentially aversive to cattle.