Electrochemical behavior of a new <Emphasis Type="Italic">s</Emphasis>-triazine-based dendrimer

The electrochemical behavior of a new G-2-s-triazine-based dendrimer, 2,4,6-tris-{4-{4,6-bis-{4-{4,6-bis-[(1S,2S)-1,3-dihydroxy-1-(4-nitrophenyl)-prop-2-ylamino]-s-triazin-2-yl}-piperazin-1-yl}-s-triazin-2-yl}-piperazin-1-yl}-s-triazine, (I), was studied in dimethylsulfoxide solution by cyclic voltammetry, on platinum and graphite electrodes. The electrochemical properties of I were compared with that of one of its precursor, N-{4,6-bis{4-{4,6-bis[(1S,2S)-1,3-dihydroxy-1-(4-nitrophenyl)-prop-2-ylamino]-s-triazin-2-yl}-piperazin-1-yl}-triazin-2-yl}-piperazine), (II), together with that of the starting material, (1S,2S)-2-amino-1-(4-nitrophenyl)-propane-1,3-diol (“p-nitrophenylserinol”), (III).     

Comparison of the Switching Behaviour of Electrodeposited Silver and Silver-Cadmium Alloys Contact Materials

The quality of contact materials depends on their physical properties, such as density, hardness and conductivity, as well as on their contact characteristics (contact resistance, weldability and erosion). An instrumentation system is described here, which measures the most important attributes of contact materials simultaneously. The measurements are taken under simulated service conditions. The rated electrical current is passed through contacts of reference and test materials in a relay controlled by an electronic module; the contact resistance, weldability and arc erosion are monitored. In this system two pairs of contact elements—one pair made of the test material, and the other made of reference material—are compared. The relay is an actual electrical device wich would use the test material as its contact elements in normal operation. The test material is silver-cadmium alloy electrodeposited from an iodide bath; and the reference material is electrodeposited silver from a cyanide bath.     

The Small Project Observatory: Visualizing software ecosystems

Software evolution research has focused mostly on analyzing the evolution of single software systems. However, it is rarely the case that a project exists as standalone, independent of others. Rather, projects exist in parallel within larger contexts in companies, research groups or even the open-source communities. We call these contexts software ecosystems. In this paper, we present the Small Project Observatory, a prototype tool which aims to support the analysis of software ecosystems through interactive visualization and exploration. We present a case study of exploring an ecosystem using our tool, we describe the architecture of the tool, and we distill lessons learned during the tool-building experience.     

THE ENERGETIC STABILITY OF TORI AND SINGLE-WALL TUBES

Tessellated tori, generated here from square-like tiled lattices, are closely related to cylinders and capped tubes. This way of building them enables the orientation of their bonds, and so the geometric proportions of the torus, to be specified for molecular mechanics calculations and, along with their transformation into capped tubes this is illustrated and discussed in the light of their energetic stability.     

FEM modelling and experimental characterization of microbeams in presence of residual stress

Out-of-plane bending tests are here used to experimentally validate some numerical models of microbeams actuated by the electric field. Out-of-plane bending microcantilevers and clamped–clamped microbeams often suffer the presence of residual strain and stress, respectively, which affect their static and dynamic behaviour and pull-in voltage. In case of microcantilever an accurate modelling has to include the effect of an initial curvature due to microfabrication process, while in double clamped microbeams constraints may impose a pre-loading caused by a tensile stress. So-called geometrical nonlinearity sometimes occurs, when microcantilever exhibits large displacement, or because of the mechanical coupling between axial and flexural behaviours in double clamped microbeams. Modelling this kind of nonlinearity is an additional goal of this study. Experiments demonstrated a good agreement with results of FEM approaches proposed. In the case of microbridges numerical models are used to identify the residual stress. A reverse analysis is implemented, the axial pre-stress is calculated by means of the measured pull-in voltage.     

Quantum circuit’s reliability assessment with VHDL-based simulated fault injection

This paper presents a VHDL-based simulated fault injection (SFI) methodology for quantum circuits. The main objective is to attain a high error modeling capability at a technology independent level. For this purpose, gate level simulation models for quantum circuits have been developed using VHDL. The proposed methodology relies on specific techniques inspired from the simulated fault injection techniques developed for classical CMOS circuits: saboteurs and mutants. In order to perform the simulation campaigns, a library of quantum gates and simulated fault injection components has been developed. The simulation results show that a wide range of quantum faults and error models has been addressed. Furthermore, a comparison between the two SFI techniques is presented.     

On a simplified system for steam production in nuclear power plants with pressurized water reactors

The paper develops the idea of a new system of steam production (Simplified System for Steam Production, SSSP) in nuclear power plants (NPPs) with PWR reactors, which is simplified as compared to the system used in the classical NPP of this type where steam is produced by steam generators (SGs). With the SSSP, expanders are used instead of SGs. The particularities of a NPP with a SSSP are analyzed in comparison to the classical NPP equipped with PWR and BWR reactors, which are used almost exclusively at present to produce electric energy at the industrial level.     

Promising Therapies for Atrial Fibrillation and Ventricular Tachycardia

Sudden cardiac death due to arrhythmias, such as atrial fibrillation or ventricular tachycardia, account for 15–20% of all deaths. Myocardial infarction increases the burden of atrial fibrillation and ventricular tachycardia by structural and electrical remodeling of the heart. The current management of new-onset atrial fibrillation includes electric cardioversion with very high conversion rates and pharmacologic cardioversion, with less a than 50% conversion rate. If atrial fibrillation cannot be converted, the focus becomes the control of the symptoms ensuring a constant rhythm and rate control, without considering other contributory factors such as autonomic imbalance. Recently, a huge success was obtained by developing ablation techniques or addressing the vagal nerve stimulation. On the other hand, ventricular tachycardia is more sensitive to drug therapies. However, in cases of non-responsiveness to drugs, the usual therapeutic choice is represented by stereotactic ablative therapy or catheter ablation. This review focuses on these newly developed strategies for treatment of arrhythmias in clinical practice, specifically on vernakalant and low-level tragus stimulation for atrial fibrillation and stereotactic ablative therapy for drug-refractory ventricular tachycardia. These therapies are important for the significant improvement of the management of atrial fibrillation and ventricular tachycardia, providing: (1) a safer profile than current therapies, (2) higher success rate than current solutions, (3) low cost of delivery.