A versatile signal flow graph realization of a general transfer function by using CDBA

A general synthesis procedure is given for a versatile signal flow graph realization of a general transfer function by using current differencing buffered amplifier (CDBA). The proposed configuration uses n+1 CDBAs, n capacitors and at most 2n+4 resistors. This number of resistors can be reduced to n+1 for special cases. The circuit is eligible to obtain a variety of transfer characteristics with the same common denominator polynomial, and it is easily converted to different modes of operations. It is straightforward to find the values of the passive elements from the coefficients of the transfer function to be realized. Simulations results are obtained by using commercially available active component AD844 and CMOS technology as well. All of these make the proposed circuit attractive.     

Is hepcidin‐25 a predictor of atherosclerosis in hemodialysis patients?

Atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease is an important cause of mortality and morbidity in hemodialysis patients. Iron accumulation in arterial wall macrophages is increased in atherosclerotic lesions. Hepcidin is a key hepatic hormone regulating iron balance. It inhibits iron release from macrophages and iron absorption from enterocytes by binding and inactivating the cellular iron exporter ferroportin. The aim of this study is to investigate the relation of hepcidin‐25, iron parameters, and atherosclerosis measured by carotid intima media thickness (CIMT) in hemodialysis patients. Eighty‐two hemodialysis patients were enrolled in this cross‐sectional study. Predialysis blood samples were centrifuged at 1500 g and 4°C for 10 minutes and stored at ?80°C for the measurement of hepcidin‐25. DRG hepcidin enzyme‐linked immunosorbent assay kit was used for the measurement of hepcidin‐25. Ultrasonographical B‐mode imaging of bilateral carotid arteries was performed with a high‐resolution real‐time ultrasonography (Mindray DC7). Mean age of the study population was 57.90 ± 16.08 years and 43.9% were men. Total study population was grouped into two according to median value of hepcidin‐25. There was no difference between groups with respect to age, dialysis vintage, and C‐reactive protein. CIMT was found to be statistically significantly higher in low hepcidin‐25 group. In correlation analysis, CIMT was found to be correlated with age (P < 0.01, R = 0.33) and hepcidin‐25 (P < 0.01, R = 0.46). In linear regression analysis, age (β = 0.31) and hepcidin‐25 (β = 0.44) were found to be the determinants of CIMT in hemodialysis patients. Our results implicate that hepcidin may take part in pathophysiology of atherosclerosis and cardiovascular disease in hemodialysis patients.     

A COMPARATIVE STUDY ON PARTICLE SWARM OPTIMIZATION AND GENETIC ALGORITHMS FOR TRAVELING SALESMAN PROBLEMS

This article deals with a performance evaluation of particle swarm optimization (PSO) and genetic algorithms (GA) for traveling salesman problem (TSP). This problem is known to be NP-hard, and consists of the solution containing N! permutations. The objective of the study is to compare the ability to solve the large-scale and other benchmark problems for both algorithms. All simulation has been performed using a software program developed in the Delphi environment. As yet, overall results show that genetic algorithms generally can find better solutions compared to the PSO algorithm, but in terms of average generation it is not good enough.     

Optimizing decomposition of software architecture for local recovery

The increasing size and complexity of software systems has led to an amplified number of potential failures and as such makes it harder to ensure software reliability. Since it is usually hard to prevent all the failures, fault tolerance techniques have become more important. An essential element of fault tolerance is the recovery from failures. Local recovery is an effective approach whereby only the erroneous parts of the system are recovered while the other parts remain available. For achieving local recovery, the architecture needs to be decomposed into separate units that can be recovered in isolation. Usually, there are many different alternative ways to decompose the system into recoverable units. It appears that each of these decomposition alternatives performs differently with respect to availability and performance metrics. We propose a systematic approach dedicated to optimizing the decomposition of software architecture for local recovery. The approach provides systematic guidelines to depict the design space of the possible decomposition alternatives, to reduce the design space with respect to domain and stakeholder constraints and to balance the feasible alternatives with respect to availability and performance. The approach is supported by an integrated set of tools and illustrated for the open-source MPlayer software.     

Improved Incompressible Smoothed Particle Hydrodynamics method for simulating flow around bluff bodies

In this article, we present numerical solutions for flow over an airfoil and a square obstacle using Incompressible Smoothed Particle Hydrodynamics (ISPH) method with an improved solid boundary treatment approach, referred to as the Multiple Boundary Tangents (MBT) method. It was shown that the MBT boundary treatment technique is very effective for tackling boundaries of complex shapes. Also, we have proposed the usage of the repulsive component of the Lennard-Jones Potential (LJP) in the advection equation to repair particle fractures occurring in the SPH method due to the tendency of SPH particles to follow the stream line trajectory. This approach is named as the artificial particle displacement method. Numerical results suggest that the improved ISPH method which is consisting of the MBT method, artificial particle displacement and the corrective SPH discretization scheme enables one to obtain very stable and robust SPH simulations. The square obstacle and NACA airfoil geometry with the angle of attacks between 0° and 15° were simulated in a laminar flow field with relatively high Reynolds numbers. We illustrated that the improved ISPH method is able to capture the complex physics of bluff-body flows naturally such as the flow separation, wake formation at the trailing edge, and the vortex shedding. The SPH results are validated with a mesh-dependent Finite Element Method (FEM) and excellent agreements among the results were observed.     

Mechanical and microstructural properties of low-carbon steel-plate-reinforced gray cast iron

In the present experimental study, strengthening of gray cast iron by reinforcing with steel plates was investigated in the as-cast and normalized conditions. Normalizing heat treatments were applied to the specimens at temperatures of 800 °C and 850 °C. Three-point bend specimens were manufactured from gray cast iron and also from gray cast iron with reinforced steel plates. Flexural strengths of the steel-plate-reinforced cast iron were calculated for four distinct volume fractions (V_r = 0.04, 0.08, 0.12, and 0.16). The current study shows that the steel-plate-reinforced gray cast iron has higher flexural strength and flexural modulus than the cast iron without reinforcement. The flexural strength considerably increases with slight increase in normalization temperature. Optical and scanning electron microscopy analyses were used to examine flake morphology and microstructures of gray cast iron and steel-plate-reinforced gray cast iron. It is noted that carbon diffuses from the gray cast iron to the steel plates. A transition region containing partially dissolved graphite and having high hardness was observed due to the carbon diffusion.     

The effects of immunological castration against GnRH with recombinant OL protein (Ovalbumin-LHRH-7) on carcass and meat quality characteristics,histological appearance of testes and pituitary gland in Kıvırcık male lambs

The aims of the study were to investigate the effects of immunization against GnRH using OL protein (Ovalbumin-LHRH-7) on feedlot performance, carcass, meat quality and some reproductive traits in K?v?rc?k ram lambs. Ram lambs in the immunization (I, n = 7) group were immunized against GnRH using OL protein and boosted 2 weeks later. Control (C, n = 7) group was not treated. The animals were kept at pasture for 6 weeks after the first immunization, subjected to a 70 day fattening program, and then slaughtered. Growth performance, various carcass and meat quality characteristics were not affected from the immunization. GnRH immunization induced GnRH antibody production, suppressed testosterone production and testicular growth (P < 0.01). Testicular structure was negatively affected from the immunization, but not pituitary. These results suggest that immunization against GnRH with OL could be an alternative castration technique in ram lambs without negatively affecting carcass and meat quality characteristics.     

Fast exact linear and non‐linear structural reanalysis and the Sherman–Morrison–Woodbury formulas

Several exact fast static structural reanalysis techniques, introduced by researchers mostly for truss structures and some for frames and plate structures, are reviewed. Most utilize the property that the solution of a system of linear equations can be updated inexpensively when the matrix is changed by a low‐rank increment. This paper shows that these methods are variants of the well‐known Sherman–Morrison and Woodbury (SMW) formulas for the update of the inverse of a matrix. In addition, the paper extends the low‐cost linear reanalysis in the spirit of the SMW formulas to some non‐linear reanalysis problems. For a linear reanalysis, the extension reduces to the SMW formulas. Copyright © 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.