Thermal characterization of mixtures of nitrotriazolone with HMX and RDX

Abstract

Thermal characterization of mixtures of nitrotria-zolone (NTO) with octahydro-1,3,5,7-tetranitro-1,3,5,7-tetrazocine (HMX) and hexahydro-1,3,5-trinitro-1,3,5-triazine (RDX) has been carried out by means of differential scanning calorimetry and thermogravimetric analysis. It has been found that HMX decomposition temperature remains constant through the whole composition range. However NTO decomposition temperature decreases as the NTO/HMX ratio decreases. The RDX decomposition temperature keeps constant in all compositions studied. The RDX melting temperature decreases few degrees. The NTO decomposition appears at lower temperatures as the RDX content increases.     

SWTRACK: An intelligent model for cargo tracking based on off-the-shelf mobile devices

Logistics represent the biggest cost for transportation companies. Companies are investing in monitoring and tracking systems aiming at improving services, reducing costs and ensuring the safety in cargos transports. This article presents an intelligent model to obtain the position of vehicles, using off-the-shelf mobile devices named SWTRACK. The proposal allows distributors companies to track loads and to have real-time information about their whereabouts during a travel. SWTRACK presents an automatic travel management to initialize and finish travels without user interaction. Furthermore, it provides a mechanism to monitor detours in planned routes and to send alarms notification through mobile devices. To build that mechanism, we studied the Geofence concept and existing techniques to prepare two solutions based on continuous monitoring. Those solutions were compared and discussed. We also conducted a model evaluation using off-the-shelf mobile devices. Moreover, we provide an impact analysis regarding GPS precision and battery power consumption. In the end, we show that the proposed model generates a reliable system for tracking vehicles.     

City planning in a revolution: Cuba, 1959–61

The general goal of city planning, as a profession and as an academic discipline, is to guide cities through continual conflicts created by the social and economic forces that support or oppose change. These conflicts are magnified during a political revolution, when a primary concern of city leaders and the supporting population is to determine which public policies will be preserved intact, which will be modified (and how), and which no longer serve the new conditions created by the revolution.

The purpose of this paper is to discuss events that took place during the first three years of the Cuban Revolution, 1959–62, in order to identify problems and opportunities that emerged due to the impact of new public policies upon city planning processes in the largest Cuban cities. Because these experiences are related to contemporary issues in education and professional practice, this analysis may be of special interest to institutions and professionals in Hispanic American countries. This paper has been written de memoire. It is my personal review of events in which I took part and of related circumstances. It is, in certain ways, similar to an oral history of events of this period. An annotated bibliography is included for readers interested in specific aspects discussed in the paper.     

The Role of Semiochemicals in Short-Range Location of Aggregation Sites in Adalia bipunctata (Coleoptera, Coccinellidae)

To survive unfavorable periods, ladybird beetles form conspicuous aggregations in specific microsites, with these locations remaining the same year after year. This constancy of location leads to the hypothesis that semiochemicals are involved in the attraction and aggregation of ladybirds to the microsite. In this study, we identified two types of semiochemicals that could play key roles in the attraction and aggregation formation of the two-spotted ladybird, Adalia bipunctata. We first isolated and identified three alkylmethoxypyrazines from A. bipunctata and tested the behavioral responses of diapausing ladybirds to these chemicals in a four-way olfactometer. This revealed that 2-isobutyl-3-methoxypyrazine, on its own or as part of a two-component mixture with 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine, elicited a positive behavioral response, causing arrestment of diapausing A. bipunctata. As ladybirds are in contact with each other in aggregations, we investigated the role of cuticular hydrocarbons (CHCs) in driving the cohesion and maintenance of aggregation. When an extract of CHCs from diapausing ladybirds was deposited near an alkylmethoxypyrazine source, ladybirds spent more time in the vicinity of the source. We identified a set of CHCs specific to diapausing A. bipunctata. Alkylmethoxyyrazines and CHCs thus deliver information to diapausing ladybirds searching for an aggregation site, as well as mediating several other behaviors throughout the ladybird’s life cycle. Chemical parsimony is discussed.     

橡树林中的小教堂 智利Junquillos小教堂

这是一个简单而朴实的教堂设计项目,它坐落在智利南部边远地区的一个小树林中。与很多教堂建设项目一样,建造这个小教堂的预算并不多。但幸运的是,接手这个项目的建筑师Claudio Baladron与Diego Grass成功地向我们展示了如何用最小的预算去建造最具有品质的经典项目。小教堂位于一片幽静的橡树林中,地理     

Antioxidant and antiglycation properties of Passiflora alata and Passiflora edulis extracts

The leaves of Passiflora alata Dryander and Passiflora edulis Sims, traditionally used in American countries to treat both anxiety and nervousness by folk medicine, are rich in polyphenols, which have been reported as natural antioxidants. In this study, the antioxidant activities of P. edulis and P. alata hydroalcoholic leaf extracts were verified in in vitro and ex vivo assays. P. alata showed a higher total reactive antioxidant potential than did P. edulis. The antioxidant activities of both extracts were significantly correlated with polyphenol contents. In addition, both extracts attenuated ex vivo iron-induced cell death, quantified by lactate dehydrogenase leakage, and effectively protected against protein damage induced by iron and glucose. These findings demonstrate that the P. alata and P. edulis leaf extracts have potent in vitro and ex vivo antioxidant properties and might be considered as possible new sources of natural antioxidants.     

Psychotherapy in Argentina: Theoretical orientation and clinical practice.

This article focuses on the relationship between theoretical orientation and clinical practice in Argentina. Five hundred twenty-five psychotherapists were surveyed in the city of Buenos Aires and the provinces of Buenos Aires, Santa Fe, La Pampa, Neuquén, Chubut, and Rio Negro. Psychoanalysis was chosen by 53.1% of the psychotherapists as the main theory used in their clinical practice. Integrationists made up 39.8% of the sample and represented the 2nd most important group. Within the integrationist group, psychoanalysis was mentioned by 63.2% as the main or base theory, followed by 12.9% mentioning cognitive theory. A longitudinal analysis shows how the trend toward integration of the different theories has grown over the years. These results reveal the importance of psychoanalysis and the trend toward integration within clinical practice in Argentina. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Hepatic hemangioma. Analysis of 103 cases. Clinical considerations and imaging methods

Hemangiomas are the most common benign vascular tumor found in the liver. In this study, 103 cases of hepatic hemangiomas were analysed in a retrospective manner. Image aspects such as those seen in ultrassonography, computed tomography, nuclear magnetic resonance and arteriography are discussed. The incidence was higher amongst the female sex, between individuals from 40 to 60 years old, which presented predominantly without symptoms (66%) and localized mainly in the right hepatic lobe (74%). The meaning of those aspects, when adopted, permits the clinicians to differentiate benign from malignant nodular lesions in the liver.     

A tuner that accelerates parameters

We propose a tuner, suitable for adaptive control and (in its discrete-time version) adaptive filtering applications, that sets the second derivative of the parameter estimates rather than the first derivative as is done in the overwhelming majority of the literature.     

Quality of Soybean Seeds Undergoing Moving Bed Drying: Countercurrent and Crosscurrent Flows

The present work describes and analyzes Brazilian research related to the quality of soybean seeds dried in moving bed dryers. The main process variables were drying air temperature, relative humidity and velocity, and solid flow rate. The statistical methodology used allowed the achievement of empirical equations for predicting the quality of soybean seeds (germination, vigor, and fissures) in two classical configurations of the moving bed: countercurrent and crosscurrent. The results show that the increase of the seed coat cracking is associated to conditions that lead to a high drying rate. Germination and vigor reduction is also associated to the overdrying conditions.