A New View of Relationships of the N–N Bond Dissociation Energies of Cyclic Nitramines. Part II. Relationships with Impact Sensitivity

The values of bond dissociation energies, BDE, of the weakest N–N bonds and total energies, E_total, of molecules have been calculated for 14 cyclic nitramines by means of the UB3LYP/6-31G? and UB3LYP/6-31 + G? // PM3 methods. The relationships found between the BDE values and logarithms of impact sensitivity of these nitramines, expressed as drop energy, E_dr, are not unambiguous. Replacement of these BDE values by the BDE/E_total ratio has not resulted in any simplification of the said relationships, but their quality improved, particularly with application of the UB3LYP/6-31 + G? // PM3 (UHF) method. The reason of ambiguity of the relationships found mainly lies in real conformation of the respective molecules and intermolecular force effects in real molecular crystals, which are included in neither of the two calculation methods.     

A model of energy management analysis,case study of a sugar factory in Turkey

This study presents a case study of energy management in a sugar factory in Turkey. The main idea of the study is to analyse energy consumption, the quantity of material production, and figure out a suitable energy efficiency for the case study of a sugar factory subsequently. Firstly, a material production and energy consumption audit were performed for the sugar factory. Secondly, energy efficiency was calculated from the energy data. The SPSS (Statistical Package for the Social Sciences) statistical software was used to ensure the accuracy of the data. The factory’s energy consumption was calculated as 43,590.25 toe (tons of oil equivalent) over the last year. These results were used for CUSUM (Cumulative Sum Deviation Method) graphics. This research poses the consumption of energy, cost of energy and the relationship between energy usage and material production of sugar. The unit of energy cost was 688.22 [$/toe] for the last year. This result showed that the factory decreased the unit of energy by optimisation. The results indicated that the investigated sugar factory should pay attention to the energy management issue in order to comply with the Energy Efficiency of Turkish Law and Directives.     

High-temperature abrasive wear testing of potential tool materials for thixoforming of steels

High temperature abrasive wear performance of Inconel 617, Stellite 6 alloys and X32CrMoV33 hot work tool steel was investigated. The wear resistance of the latter is degraded at 750 °C due to its inferior oxidation resistance. Extensive oxidation co-occuring with abrasive wear at 750 °C leads to substantial material loss due to the lack of a protective oxide scale, sufficiently ductile to sustain the abrasion without extensive spalling. The wear resistance of the Inconel 617 and Stellite 6 alloys, on the other hand, improves at 750 °C owing to protective oxides that sustain the abrasion without spalling.     

Impact of non-normal random effects on inference by multiple imputation: A simulation assessment

Multivariate extensions of well-known linear mixed-effects models have been increasingly utilized in inference by multiple imputation in the analysis of multilevel incomplete data. The normality assumption for the underlying error terms and random effects plays a crucial role in simulating the posterior predictive distribution from which the multiple imputations are drawn. The plausibility of this normality assumption on the subject-specific random effects is assessed. Specifically, the performance of multiple imputation created under a multivariate linear mixed-effects model is investigated on a diverse set of incomplete data sets simulated under varying distributional characteristics. Under moderate amounts of missing data, the simulation study confirms that the underlying model leads to a well-calibrated procedure with negligible biases and actual coverage rates close to nominal rates in estimates of the regression coefficients. Estimation quality of the random-effect variance and association measures, however, are negatively affected from both the misspecification of the random-effect distribution and number of incompletely-observed variables. Some of the adverse impacts include lower coverage rates and increased biases.     

Recurrent osteoblastoma of the mandible: a case report

Amiodarone decreases plasma and tissue triiodothyronine (T3) and increases plasma cholesterol levels resembling changes seen during hypothyroidism. To elucidate the mechanism of amiodarone-induced hypercholesterolemia we investigated gene expression of three key proteins in cholesterol metabolism (cholesterol 7 alpha-hydroxylase, LDL receptor, HMG-CoA reductase) in livers of rats. Animals were treated with amiodarone or propylthiouracil (to induce mild hypothyroidism). The LDL receptor mRNA was downregulated (approximately 50%) in both amiodarone-treated and hypothyroid animals, while the other mRNA remained unchanged after 14-day treatment. The results suggest that amiodarone-induced hypercholesterolemia is associated with decreased LDL receptor mRNA levels.     

Adsorption characteristics and separation of Cr(III) and Cr(VI) on hydrous titanium(IV) oxide

A hydrous titanium(IV) oxide was prepared to study the adsorption characteristics and the separation of chromium species. Batch sorption studies have been carried out to determine the effect of pH on the sorption of Cr(III) and Cr(VI) on hydrous TiO2. An excellent separation efficiency of Cr(III) and Cr(VI) was obtained at pH 2. The adsorption percentage of Cr(VI) was above 99%, whereas that of the Cr(III) was less than 1% at this pH. The adsorption isotherm of Cr(VI) on hydrous TiO2 at pH 2 was in good agreement with the Langmuir isotherm. The maximum adsorption capacity of Cr(VI) on TiO2 was 5 mg g(-1). The rate of adsorption of Cr(VI) by hydrous TiO2 with average particle diameter 250 and 500 microm has been studied under particle diffusion controlled conditions. The diffusion coefficients of Cr(VI) for both hydrous TiO2 having average particle diameter of 250 and 500 microm was calculated at pH 2 as 3.84 x 10(-10) m2 s(-1) and 8.86 x 10(-10) m2 s(-1), respectively.     

Nearest neighbor weighted average customization for modeling faces

In this paper, we present an anatomically accurate generic wireframe face model and an efficient customization method for modeling human faces. We use a single 2D image for customization of the generic model. We employ perspective projection to estimate 3D coordinates of the 2D facial landmarks in the image. The non-landmark vertices of the 3D model are shifted using the translations of k nearest landmark vertices, inversely weighted by the square of their distances. We demonstrate on Photoface and Bosphorus 3D face data sets that the proposed method achieves substantially low relative error values with modest time complexity.     

A low-cycle fatigue approach to fatigue crack propagation

The damage accumulation hypothesis is used to derive a fatigue crack growth rate equation. The fatigue life of a volume element inside the plastic zone is evaluated by using low-cycle fatigue concepts. Crack growth rate is expressed as a function of cyclic material parameters and plastic zone characteristics. For a given material, crack growth increment, is predicted to be a fraction of the plastic zone size which can be expressed in terms of fracture mechanics parameters,K andJ. Hence, the proposed growth rate equation has a predictive capacity and is not limited to linear elastic conditions.     

Uncertainty in risk of highway bridges assessed for integrated seismic and flood hazards

Probabilistic risk assessment for bridges under natural hazards is of great interest to engineers for the development of risk mitigation strategies and implementation plans. The present study evaluates risk of an existing highway bridge in California, USA, under the integrated impact of regional seismic and flood hazards. A sensitivity study combining tornado diagram and first-order second moment reliability analyses is conducted to screen significant uncertain parameters to which bridge response is mostly sensitive. A rigorous uncertainty analysis, employing random sampling and Monte Carlo simulation techniques, is performed to obtain variations in fragility and risk curves of the bridge. Observed variations in risk curves at various risk levels are quantified through 90% confidence intervals and coefficients of variation (COV) of risk. It is observed that uncertainty in the estimated risk increases due to the presence of flood hazard at the bridge site, although mean risk does not vary with flood hazard level. Research outcome signifies that the variation in risk due to parameter uncertainty and varied flood hazard level should not be ignored to ensure bridge safety under the stated multi-hazard condition.     

风景园林设计项目的经济绩效评估 德克萨斯州案例研究的经验与教训

通过研究德克萨斯州5个项目/案例的经济绩效成果,评估了风景园林与经济活动之间的关系。5个项目/案例分别为:克莱德沃伦公园(Klyde Warren Park)、凯蒂步道(Katy Trail)、德州大学达拉斯分校校园特色景观概念性规划(UT Dallas Campus Identity and Landscape Framework Plan)、阿狄森公园(Addison Circle)和布法罗河湾散步道(Buffalo Bayou Promenade)。研究采用了定量和定性相结合的实证调查法,首先评价了风景园林设计及相关设计领域的经济评估和绩效研究情况。之后重点研究了所选项目的景观类型、过程和结果,以突出在经济绩效研究中,确定统一标准和全面框架的重要性。最后,讨论了通过实证证据和系统性调查对经济活动进行研究的价值,并将经济活动作为景观绩效的一部分。总之,综合标准、方法与案例研究的结果来说明不同城市风景园林设计类型项目的经济影响,还讨论了通过统一标准方法来获得可靠实证结果的价值。结果表明,从案例中可以看到,经济绩效并不总是容易被量化的,同样也并非所有的设计改进均与经济活动直接相关。因此,这项研究强调了记录指定的景观项目中所有直接、间接和连锁的经济效应,并突出其经济价值的重要性。这也表明,未来的风景园林设计将对社会产生更大的经济影响和价值。