Correlations of in situ modulus of deformation with elastic modulus of intact core specimens and RMR values of andesitic rocks: a case study of the İzmir subway line

Bulletin of Engineering Geology and the Environment - The main purpose of this paper is to obtain the rock mass rating (RMR) from different methods considering either the elastic modulus of intact...     

In situ evaluation of recommender systems: Framework and instrumentation

This paper deals with the evaluation of the recommendation functionality inside a connected consumer electronics product in prototype stage. This evaluation is supported by a framework to access and analyze data about product usage and user experience. The strengths of this framework lie in the collection of both objective data (i.e., “What is the user doing with the product?”) and subjective data (i.e., “How is the user experiencing the product?”), which are linked together and analyzed in a combined way. The analysis of objective data provides insights into how the system is actually used in the field. Combined with the subjective data, personal opinions and evaluative judgments on the product quality can be then related to actual user behavior. In order to collect these data in a most natural context, remote data collection allows for extensive user testing within habitual environments. We have applied our framework to the case of an interactive TV recommender system application to illustrate that the user experience of recommender systems can be evaluated in real-life usage scenarios.     

Synthesis, characterization, electrochemistry and spectroelectrochemistry of novel soluble porphyrazines bearing unsaturated functional groups

Metalloporphyrazines with a 2-methyl-2-pentenyl group fused to each pyrrole unit were synthesized starting with the corresponding unsaturated dicarbonitrile derivative. The new compounds were characterized by elemental analysis together with FTIR, ¹H-NMR, and UV-Vis spectroscopy and via voltammetric and spectrochemical methods. Electrochemical and spectroelectrochemical measurements demonstrate that while metal-free and magnesium porphyrazines gave common porphyrazine (Pz) ring-based electron-transfer reactions, incorporating redox active metal center, Co^II, into the porphyrazine core extended the redox activity of the ring system with reversible metal-based reduction and oxidation couples of the metal center in addition to the common Pz ring-based electron transfer processes. The unsaturated functional groups of the porphyrazines did not alter the common electrochemical behavior of the complexes. An in situ electrocolorimetric method, based on the 1931 CIE (Commission Internationale de l’Eclairage) system of colorimetry, was applied to investigate the color of the electro-generated anionic and cationic forms of the complexes for possible electrochromatic applications.     

Synthesis, electrochemistry and in situ spectroelectrochemistry of soluble lead phthalocyanines

The synthesis, characterization and voltammetric and spectroelectrochemical properties of newly synthesized lead phthalocyanines bearing tetra-(1,1-(dicarbpenthoxy)-2-(4-biphenyl)-ethyl), tetra-(1,1-(dicarbpenthoxy)-2-(1-naphthyl)-ethyl and tetra-((1,1,2-(tricarbopentoxyethyl)) substituents have been presented in this work for the first time. The characterization of the complexes was made by elemental analysis, ¹H NMR, FT-IR, UV-vis and Maldi-TOF. The solution redox properties and spectroelectrochemical investigation of the complexes are studied using various electrochemical techniques in DCM on a platinum electrode. Cyclic voltammetry and differential pulse voltammetry studies show that the complexes give three one-electron ligand-based reductions and two one-electron oxidation couples having diffusion-controlled mass transfer character. Assignments of the redox couples were confirmed by spectroelectrochemical measurements. Spectroelectrochemical studies reveal that all complexes are demetallized during the spectroelectrochemical measurement under the applied potentials at the first reduction and oxidation potentials of the complexes. Different ring substituents of the complexes affect the easy demetallization processes of the complexes.     

Forecasting of entropy production due to buoyant convection using support vector machines (SVM) in a partially cooled square cross-sectional room

Forecasting of entropy generation of laminar natural convection in a partially cooled square cross-sectional room has been performed using support vector machines (SVM). The two-dimensional room was modeled as floor heating story with a window. Values of temperature and velocities were obtained by solving governing equations of natural convection with finite difference technique and using these values entropy generation was calculated with its definition. Forecasting of entropy generation due to fluid friction irreversibility (FFI) and heat transfer irreversibility (HTI) were made with known values for unknown parameters using SVM. Thus, calculation time was extremely reduced and values were obtained even for non-convergence cases. It was observed that the SVM was a strong method to predict the entropy generation without computational fluid dynamic analysis for all cases.     

Analysis of the reaction mechanism and substrate specificity of haloalkane dehalogenases by sequential and structural comparisons

Haloalkane dehalogenases catalyse environmentally importantdehalogenation reactions. These microbial enzymes representobjects of interest for protein engineering studies, attemptingto improve their catalytic efficiency or broaden their substratespecificity towards environmental pollutants. This paper presentsthe results of a comparative study of haloalkane dehalogenasesoriginating from different organisms. Protein sequences andthe models of tertiary structures of haloalkane dehalogenaseswere compared to investigate the protein fold, reaction mechanismand substrate specificity of these enzymes. Haloalkane dehalogenasescontain the structural motifs of /ß-hydrolases and epoxidaseswithin their sequences. They contain a catalytic triad withtwo different topological arrangements. The presence of a structurallyconserved oxyanion hole suggests the two-step reaction mechanismpreviously described for haloalkane dehalogenase from Xanthobacterautotrophicus GJ10. The differences in substrate specificityof haloalkane dehalogenases originating from different speciesmight be related to the size and geometry of an active siteand its entrance and the efficiency of the transition stateand halide ion stabilization by active site residues. Structurallyconserved motifs identified within the sequences can be usedfor the design of specific primers for the experimental screeningof haloalkane dehalogenases. Those amino acids which were predictedto be functionally important represent possible targets forfuture site-directed mutagenesis experiments.     

Doubly Iterative Equalization of Continuous-Phase Modulation

In this paper, a doubly iterative receiver is proposed for joint turbo equalization, demodulation, and decoding of coded binary continuous-phase modulation (CPM) in multipath fading channels. The proposed receiver consists of three soft-input soft-output (SISO) blocks: a front-end soft-information-aided minimum mean square error (MMSE) equalizer followed by a CPM demodulator and a back-end channel decoder. The MMSE equalizer, combined with an a priori soft-interference canceler (SIC) and an a posteriori probability mapper, forms a SISO processor suitable for iterative processing that considers discrete-time CPM symbols which belong to a finite alphabet. The SISO CPM demodulator and the SISO channel decoder are both implemented by the a posteriori probability algorithm. The proposed doubly iterative receiver has a central demodulator coupled with both the front-end equalizer and the back-end channel decoder. A few back-end demodulation/decoding iterations are performed for each equalization iteration so as to improve the a priori information for the equalizer. As presented in the extrinsic information transfer (EXIT) chart analysis and simulation results for different multipath fading channels, this provides not only faster convergence to low bit error rates, but also lower computational complexity.     

Effectiveness of phase I applications for identifying randomly scattered out‐of‐control observations and estimating control chart parameters

Estimation of unknown process parameters with fixed‐size samples are studied in the following. The standard textbook approach for phase I control chart implementation with a Shewhart control chart is evaluated for the case of normally distributed independent observations with random sampling. The charts are simultaneously implemented by generating observations that have a given percentage of randomly scattered out‐of‐control observations. Simulating the phase I steps, where out‐of‐control samples are detected iteratively by determining trial control limits, identifying samples exceeding these limits, and revising the control limits, the standard practice is evaluated in terms of both detection performance and quality of parameter estimates. It is shown that standard phase I control chart implementations with 3‐σ‐limits may perform very poorly in identifying true out‐of‐control observations and providing a reference set of in‐control observations for estimation in some practical settings. A chart design with 2‐σ‐limits is recommended for a successful phase I analysis.     

Electrochemistry, spectroelectrochemistry and electrochemical polymerization of titanylphthalocyanines

Detailed electrochemical characterization of tetrakis(2-dimethylaminoethylsulfanyl phthalocyaninato) oxotitanium(IV) and octakis(2-dimethylaminoethylsulfanyl phthalocyaninato) oxotitanium(IV) derivatives has been carried out by the cyclic voltammetry, differential pulse voltammetry, controlled potential chronocoulometry and spectroelectrochemical measurements. Cyclic and differential pulse voltammograms of both complexes are similar, with two metal-based and one ligand-based reduction couples having diffusion controlled reversible one-electron transfer character. Both complexes are polymerized on the working electrode electrochemically during the positive potential sweeps. Spectroelectrochemical measurements confirm the metal and ligand-based assignments of the redox couples.     

ADSORPTION EQUILIBRIUM OF CARBON TETRACHLORIDE ON DRY SOILS

Vapor phase adsorption equilibrium of carbon tetrachloride, a priority pollutant, on dry soils was studied at 288, 293, and 298 K. Using a gravimetric adsorption apparatus, adsorption /desorption isotherms of carbon tetrachloride were generated on two different soil samples. The effects of temperature and soil characteristics were examined. Isosteric heals of adsorption were calculated and heat curves were constructed.

Adsorption isotherms of carbon tetrachloride on dry soil samples were Type II, indicating formation of multilayers of adsorbate on the soil particle surface. Considerable hysteresis effects, associated with capillary condensation, were observed upon desorption. Thermal data confirmed that the adsorption of carbon tetrachloride vapor on soil was primarily physical adsorption. Heat curves showed that the soil samples had energetically heterogeneous surfaces. A positive correlation between The soil's specific surface area and its sorption capacity was observed. Clay content and pore size were also dominating factors.

The experimental data were correlated by the Polanyi Potential, the BET, and the GAB models in order to provide input lo fate and transport models predicting the degradation or movement of volatile organic pollutants in soil. The BET equation gave accurate data fit, within a deviation range of 2·63-5·40%, for up to 40% of the saturation pressure. The GAB equation provided superior fit of the data for the entire relative pressure range. Absolute error percentages from the GAB model ranged from 1·77 to 5·38%. Results followed the Potential Theory satisfactorily and led to a single temperature-independent characteristic curve.