The rate of corrosion of concrete reinforcement and possibilities of its mathematical modelling

The paper describes a method for the mathematical modelling of steel reinforcement corrosion rate. This method is based exclusively on experimental results and expression of the influence of significant corrosion factors in the form of functional relations. The method takes into account the reality of the effects of corrosion factors, their contigency and complexity, and various circumstances occurring in practice. It represents one way towards the development of methods for the prediction of service life of reinforced concrete and structures.     

Subsecond thermophysics research at the Boris Kidrich Institute Vincha

In the early eighties, at the Boris Kidrich Institute Vincha, a method for measuring specific heat and electrical resistivity of electrical conductors in the millisecond resolution range was developed for measurements from room temperature to 1900 K. Over a period of nearly 10 years, the method was applied to different materials, including pure metals, ferrous, and nickel/ chromium alloys, and to the characterization of candidate materials for thermophysical property reference standards. This paper describes the method and reviews the results obtained in specific heat and electrical resistivity studies of ferromagnetic and other materials. The paper also demonstrates capabilities of the method for describing phase transitions or anomalies in pure metals (Fe, Co, Ni) or alloys (Nichrome, austenitic stainless steel).Paper presented at the Second Workshop on Subsecond Thermophysics, September 20–21, 1990, Torino, Italy.     

Application of substituted N-arylpyrroles in the corrosion protection of aluminium in hydrochloric acid

The inhibiting action of N-arylpyrroles on aluminium in 0.17 mol dm^–3 hydrochloric acid solution, in the temperature range 20–60 °C, was studied using potentiodynamic and electrochemical impedence spectroscopy techniques. The inhibiting efficiency of both investigated compounds 1-(2-fluorophenyl)-2,5-dimethylpyrrole (compound A) and 1-(2-fluorophenyl)-2,5-dimethylpyrrole-3-carbaldehyde (compound B) slightly increases with increasing temperature of the corrosive solution. Inhibitor adsorption on the elecrode surface decreases the apparent activation energy of the hydrogen evolution reaction. Compound A follows the Temkin adsorption isotherm, while its carbaldehyde derivative follows the Langmuir isotherm. The results of the apparent energy of activation and the standard free energy of adsorption point to stronger chemisorption of the compound A. However, due to additional condensation of molecules with carbaldehyde groups on the electrode surface, the carbaldehyde derivative exhibits even better inhibiting efficiency than compound A. The kinetic corrosion parameters, analysed in terms of the impedance data, show a satisfactory agreement with those obtained by the potentiodynamic method.     

On some interval methods for algebraic,exponential and trigonometric polynomials

New inclusion methods for the simultaneous determination of the zeros of algebraic, exponential and trigonometric polynomials are presented. These methods are realized in real interval arithmetic and do not use any derivatives. Using Weierstrass' correction some modified methods with the increased convergence rate are constructed. Convergence analysis and numerical example are included.     

An approach to emulating separable graphs

A technique foremulating multicomputer interconnection networks that are based onseparable graphs (graphs having bounded degree and sublinear multicolor recursive bisectors) is presented. Efficient emulations among interconnection networks are necessary for porting programs designed for one network to another.Emulations are formalized asgraph embeddings, where the nodes (processors) of theguest graph (emulated network) are assigned to nodes of thehost graph (emulator), while the edges (communication links) of the guest are routed via paths in the host. The communication slowdown in an emulation depens on thedilation (length of the longest routing path) and thecongestion (number of paths that contend for a host edge) of the embedding. Theexpansion of the embedding (the ratio of the sizes of the host to guest) determines the inefficiency of processor utilization. Cell trees are introduced as interconnection networks whose special communication properties enable them to serve as intermediate devices in these emulations. Nodes in cell trees are organized into equinumerous parts calledcells; the cells are labeled by nodes of a complete binary tree. Communication in cell trees is restricted to two specific and distinct primitives:cell communication is confined within cells, whiletransfer communication occurs between adjacent cells. Rather than solved directly, the emulation problem for the original guest-host pair is decomposed into two independent parts: emulating the guest by the cell tree, and emulating the cell tree by the host.In emulations of separable graphs by cell trees, the node assignment that ensures small dilation is derived from the separator-based decomposition of guest graphs. The congestion-free edge routing is achieved by coordinatingglobal andlocal phases, which are based on two characteristic cell-tree communication primitives.The technique is instantiated by emulating cell trees on specific host graphs. Withshuffle-like hypercube-derivative networks as hosts new constant-expansion emulations are obtained that have both dilation and congestion logarithmic in the size of the multicolor bisector of guest graphs. These emulations are the first such to have optimal (up to constants)congestion; they provide the firstoptimal algorithm for emulating arbitrary separable graphs on shuffle-like networks. The application of the technique tohypercubes as hosts also produces optimal emulations that differ from those previously known by having smaller expansion constants.This research was supported in part by NSF Grants CCR-88-12567 and CCR-90-13184, and by the University of Massachusetts Graduate School Fellowship for the academic year 1991-92. A preliminary version of this paper was presented at the 3rd ACM Symposium on Parallel Algorithms and Architectures, July 22–24, 1991, in Hilton Head, South Carolina, USA.     

Scientometric analysis of the research activities of chemists from the “Rugjer Bošković” Institute (Yugoslavia), 1976–1985

The research activity of chemists from the Rugjer Bokovi Institute (RBI, Zagreb, Yugoslavia) was analyzed for the period 1976–1985, covering 2018 research years of scientific work, and 1149 SCI registered papers (0.57 publications per research year). At the average, one paper was published by 3.05 scientists. The papers were published in 235 different journals, most frequently is the nationalCroatica Chemica Acta (171 papers). The publications were divided into two groups: for the periods 1976–1980 and 1981–1985, and for each paper citations were collected in the respective time period. An average publication had 2.58 citations. Chemical papers from the second period had 2.73 citations per paper, which is 85% of the expected value, and this was considerably more than for Yugoslav papers (66%) in general. The papers were classified according to the subfields used in theJournal Citation Reports, and the results compared with the data published bySchubert, Glänzel andBraun. The distribution of citations was also analyzed.     

Challenges and opportunities of multimodal data in human learning: The computer science students' perspective

Multimodal data have the potential to explore emerging learning practices that extend human cognitive capacities. A critical issue stretching in many multimodal learning analytics (MLA) systems and studies is the current focus aimed at supporting researchers to model learner behaviours, rather than directly supporting learners. Moreover, many MLA systems are designed and deployed without learners' involvement. We argue that in order to create MLA interfaces that directly support learning, we need to gain an expanded understanding of how multimodal data can support learners' authentic needs. We present a qualitative study in which 40 computer science students were tracked in an authentic learning activity using wearable and static sensors. Our findings outline learners' curated representations about multimodal data and the non-technical challenges in using these data in their learning practice. The paper discusses 10 dimensions that can serve as guidelines for researchers and designers to create effective and ethically aware student-facing MLA innovations.     

Local Binary Pattern based features for sign language recognition

In this paper we focus on appearance features particularly the Local Binary Patterns describing the manual component of Sign Language. We compare the performance of these features with geometric moments describing the trajectory and shape of hands. Since the non-manual component is also very important for sign recognition we localize facial landmarks via Active Shape Model combined with Landmark detector that increases the robustness of model fitting. We test the recognition performance of individual features and their combinations on a database consisting of 11 signers and 23 signs with several repetitions. Local Binary Patterns outperform the geometric moments. When the features are combined we achieve a recognition rate up to 99.75% for signer dependent tests and 57.54% for signer independent tests.     

A case of using the Semantic Interoperability Framework for custom orthopedic implants manufacturing

The efficiency and effectiveness of the daily practice in orthopedic surgery depend on the availability, interoperability and unique access to a wide set of information, related to the patient’s medical record and diagnosis, domain knowledge and available resources and staff. The most important of the tangible resources, needed for the therapeutic or preventive actions are orthopedic implants. In some cases, the implants may be highly complex and customized products, which need to be manufactured (assembled) on basis of the above information in a shortest possible timeframe. In this paper, the case of the custom orthopedic implants manufacturing is described from the perspective of the collaborative enterprising, with special consideration of the interoperability issues of the involved enterprise collaboration. It is shown how the previously developed Semantic Interoperability Framework can be used to improve the efficiency of the manufacturing and other relevant processes.