Synthesis and Characterization of Polyols Derived from Corn Oil by Epoxidation and Ozonolysis

In the present study, epoxidation and ozonolysis led to a decrease of 40.8 and 51.9 % in the degree of unsaturation of corn oil, respectively. Both products were initially characterized by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy and ¹H- and ¹³C-nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopies. The heteronuclear single-quantum correlation spectroscopy (HSQC) analysis of the polyol obtained by epoxidation showed that carbinol hydrogen signals, located between 3.65 and 3.47 ppm, were correlated to carbon signals between 74.4 and 71.7 ppm. HSQC analysis of the polyol obtained by ozonolysis revealed these same chemical shifts at 3.64 and 62.9 ppm, respectively. Compared to pure corn oil, the differential scanning calorimetry of both corn oil-based polyols displayed the absence of any detectable melting peaks. However, the epoxidized derivative had a higher thermal stability than the ozonated sample, as shown by thermogravimetric analysis.     

Stable Oxygen Isotopes for Tracing the Origin of Clogging in Continuous Casting Submerged Entry Nozzles

An approach for tracing the origin of submerged entry nozzle (SEN) clogging that occurs during continuous casting of Al‐killed steel is presented. This approach consists of using stable oxygen isotope ratios. IR laser fluorination in combination with gas mass spectroscopy is performed to determine the oxygen isotope composition of alumina‐rich precipitates (clogging) and possible oxygen sources like refractory materials, slags, process and atmospheric oxygen. Three oxygen sources for clogging are identified. A quantitative model is presented.     

An adaptive meta-heuristic for music plagiarism detection based on text similarity and clustering

Data Mining and Knowledge Discovery - Plagiarism is a controversial and debated topic in different fields, especially in the Music one, where the commercial market generates a huge amount of money....     

Processing strategies for high-resolution GPR concrete inspections

A high-resolution multi-sensor and multi-polarization Ground Penetrating Radar (GPR) dataset was acquired on a concrete retaining wall. This dataset was characterised as a low pass filter with the help of a moving window spectral analysis. In order to examine the benefits and limits of innovative processing strategies, the dataset was processed with three different methods: classical 2-D processing, full 3-D processing followed by data fusion and inverse scattering followed by data fusion. A comparison of the results for two layers of rebar present in the wall shows that the innovative approaches improve the results for near surface structures when compared to classical 2-D processing. For deeper structures, the benefits of the innovative approaches are limited because of the low pass properties of the concrete.     

Key Properties of Ni?Mn?Ga Based Single Crystals Grown with the SLARE Technique

Magnetic shape memory alloys (MSMAs), exhibit large strains and hence are materials, which could substitute giant magnetostrictive and piezoelectrical materials in actuating devices. The actuation stress needed to induce the strain is much lower than in other actuator materials. Since the strain can be induced without phase transformation by a magnetic field, the development of actuators with high working frequencies is possible. However, for reasonable applications, large strains have to be induced with small magnetic fields. Up to now repeatable magnetically induced strains of 5–10% in magnetic fields of less than 500 mT have been achieved only in single crystals. The production of Ni? Mn? Ga based single crystals is difficult and time consuming. The crystal quality is affected by porosity and impurities. With the Bridgeman based method called Slag Remelting and Encapsulation (SLARE) single crystalline ingots of Ni? Mn? Ga, Ni? Mn? Ga? Fe, and Ni? Mn? Ga? Co of high quality were grown and characterized. The results show that MSMA properties depend on the position within the single crystalline rods due to a composition gradient. The influence of surface treatment demonstrates that the decrease of surface roughness leads to a decrease of twinning stress. MSMAs with twinning stresses above 1 MPa show a magnetic field induced strain (MFIS) when tilting is not restricted by constraints. Softer samples can adapt to constraints much better and show large MFIS. Substituting Ni by Fe and Co, shifted the phase transitions successfully to higher temperatures. Ni? Mn? Ga alloyed with up to 6 at.% Co showed three different martensite structures: a non‐modulated tetragonal structure, a modulated tetragonal structure, showing the same behavior as Ni? Mn? Ga with identical structures and a non‐modulated orthorhombic structure with a stress–strain‐behavior explainable by the double twinning mechanism.     

Buprenorphine dose self-selection: Effects of an alternative reinforcer, behavioral economic analysis of demand, and examination of subjective drug effects.

Buprenorphine (BUP)-maintained patients were first exposed to various BUP doses and then chose between BUP doses and money. In the choice phase, they had 10 units exchangeable for units of BUP (constant at 3 mg/unit) or money (varied from $0.30 to $20/unit). They chose BUP exclusively (30 mg) when the money alternative was low. As available money increased, they selected lower daily BUP doses (down to 3 mg). An economic analysis indicated demand for BUP was inelastic; changes in drug intake were proportionally lower than changes in price. Subjective reports of agonist and withdrawal effects increased >200% when high and low BUP doses, respectively, were given during the exposure phase. In the choice phase, subjective drug effects were constant regardless of the BUP dose selected. Thus, BUP dose selection varies with the magnitude of alternative reinforcers, and subjective drug effects depend on whether doses are self- or experimenter-selected. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Mutations of aromatic residues in the first transmembrane helix impair signalling by the secretin receptor.

The secretin amino terminal residues are essential for high affinity binding to the cognate receptor and for the subsequent activation of adenylate cyclase. It has been already established that two basic residues of the receptor TM 2 are involved in the interaction with aspartate 3 of the ligand. The present work investigated the hypothesis that two conserved tyrosine residues of the TM 1 (Tyrosines 124 and 128) could also participate to the positioning of the amino terminus of the ligand. Tyrosines 124 and 128 were mutated into alanine and histidine residues, and the properties of the mutant receptors, expressed in CHO cells, were compared with those of the wild-type receptor. Mutation of tyrosine 124 to Ala or His decreased the affinity of the receptor for secretin, [Glu3]secretin, [Asn3]secretin and the secretin fragment 2-27, and reduced the intrinsic activity of [Asn3]secretin. Mutation of tyrosine 128 to Ala, but not to His reduced 50-fold secretin and [Asn3]secretin affinity but only 3-fold that of [Glu3]secretin. Secretin and [Glu3]Sn were equipotent in that mutant receptor. These results suggested that tyrosine 128 of the secretin receptor interacted directly with the [Asp3] residue of secretin and thus that the amino terminal domain of secretin interacts with amino acids buried in both the TM 1 and TM 2 helices.     

A Rule-based Approach for the Conflation of Attributed Vector Data

In this paper we present a complete approach for the conflation of attributed vector digital mapping data such as the Vector Product Format (VPF) datasets produced and disseminated by the National Imagery and Mapping Agency (NIMA). While other work in the field of conflation has traditionally used statistical techniques based on proximity of features, the approach presented here utilizes all information associated with data, including attribute information such as feature codes from a standardized set, associated data quality information of varying levels, and topology, as well as more traditional measures of geometry and proximity. In particular, we address the issues associated with the problem of matching features and maintaining accuracy requirements. A hierarchical rule-based approach augmented with capabilities for reasoning under uncertainty is presented for feature matching as well as for the determination of attribute sets and values for the resulting merged features. Additionally, an in-depth analysis of horizontal accuracy considerations with respect to point features is given. An implementation of the attribute and geometrical matching phases within the scope of an expert system has proven the efficacy of the approach and is discussed within the context of the VPF data.     

The power of verification for one-parameter agents

We initiate the study of mechanisms with verification for one-parameter agents. We give an algorithmic characterization of such mechanisms and show that they are provably better than mechanisms without verification, i.e., those previously considered in the literature. These results are obtained for a number of optimization problems motivated by the Internet and recently studied in the algorithmic mechanism design literature. The characterization can be regarded as an alternative approach to existing techniques to design truthful mechanisms. The construction of such mechanisms reduces to the construction of an algorithm satisfying certain “monotonicity” conditions which, for the case of verification, are much less stringent. In other words, verification makes the construction easier and the algorithm more efficient (both computationally and in terms of approximability).     

Understanding provenance black boxes

Current provenance stores associated with workflow management systems (WfMSs) capture enough coarse-grained information to describe which datasets were used and which processes were run. While this information is enough to rebuild a workflow run, it is not enough to facilitate user understanding. Because the data is manipulated via a series of black boxes, it is often impossible for a human to understand what happened to the data. In this work, we highlight the missing information that can assist user understanding. Unfortunately, provenance information is already very complex and difficult for a user to comprehend, which can be exacerbated by adding the extra information needed for deeper blackbox understanding. In order to alleviate this, we develop a model of provenance answers that follow a “roll up”, “drill down” strategy. We evaluate these techniques to determine if users have better understanding of provenance information. We show how this information can be captured by workflow management systems, and that the structures and information needed for this model are a negligible addition to standard provenance stores. Finally, we implement these techniques in a real provenance system, and evaluate implementation feasibility.