Seismic Demand Evaluation for a 4-Story Steel Frame Structure Damaged in the Northridge Earthquake

This paper summarizes results and conclusions from a case study concerned with the prediction of seismic demands and correlation of these demands with connection fractures discovered after the Northbridge earthquake. Two adjacent buildings are used for this purpose. One is a 4-storey building that experienced many connection fractures in a N–S perimeter frame. The other is a 2-storey building that did not exhibit visible connection fractures. The discussion focuses on analytical modeling issues and the interpretation of analytical results obtained from eight series of static (pushover) and dynamic (time history and spectral) analysis. The analytical models are different in each analysis series, ranging from a simple elastic centerline analysis model to inelastic models that incorporate the contributions of the floor slab to the lateral strangth and stiffness of moment resisting and simple frames. Two of the models are preliminary attempts to model the post-fracture behavior of one of the frame structures.     

The Inhibitory Response to PI3K/AKT Pathway Inhibitors MK-2206 and Buparlisib Is Related to Genetic Differences in Pancreatic Ductal Adenocarcinoma Cell Lines

The aberrant activation of the phosphoinositide 3-kinase (PI3K)/ protein kinase B (AKT) pathway is common in pancreatic ductal adenocarcinomas (PDAC). The application of inhibitors against PI3K and AKT has been considered as a therapeutic option. We investigated PDAC cell lines exposed to increasing concentrations of MK-2206 (an AKT1/2/3 inhibitor) and Buparlisib (a pan-PI3K inhibitor). Cell proliferation, metabolic activity, biomass, and apoptosis/necrosis were evaluated. Further, whole-exome sequencing (WES) and RNA sequencing (RNA-seq) were performed to analyze the recurrent aberrations and expression profiles of the inhibitor target genes and the genes frequently mutated in PDAC (Kirsten rat sarcoma virus (KRAS), Tumor protein p53 (TP53)). MK-2206 and Buparlisib demonstrated pronounced cytotoxic effects and limited cell-line-specific effects in cell death induction. WES revealed two sequence variants within the direct target genes (PIK3CA c.1143C > G in Colo357 and PIK3CD c.2480C > G in Capan-1), but a direct link to the Buparlisib response was not observed. RNA-seq demonstrated that the expression level of the inhibitor target genes did not affect the efficacy of the corresponding inhibitors. Moreover, increased resistance to MK-2206 was observed in the analyzed cell lines carrying a KRAS variant. Further, increased resistance to both inhibitors was observed in SU.86.86 carrying two TP53 missense variants. Additionally, the presence of the PIK3CA c.1143C > G in KRAS-variant-carrying cell lines was observed to correlate with increased sensitivity to Buparlisib. In conclusion, the present study reveals the distinct antitumor effects of PI3K/AKT pathway inhibitors against PDAC cell lines. Aberrations in specific target genes, as well as KRAS and TP53, individually or together, affect the efficacy of the two PI3K/AKT pathway inhibitors.     

Influence of temperature on the confinement effects of micro and nano level graphite filled poly(isoprene-co-isobutylene) composites

Electrically conducting elastomer composites using nanocarbon fillers have utmost significance in the current scenario of flexible electronics. Though a large number of reports have come out in this topic, the influence of temperature on the nano reinforcement is little addressed. Here we aim at deducing the confinement effects occurring in the micro and nano composites of poly(isobutylene-co-isoprene) rubber (IIR) under different temperatures. For this various composite samples of IIR were prepared with expanded graphite (micro-sized) and reduced graphene oxide (nano-sized) fillers and the structure and morphology were characterized by Raman spectroscopy, X-ray diffraction studies and scanning electron microscopy. We could observe greater influence of temperature on the properties of rubber nanocomposites compared to the micro and anticipate the applicability of such materials in temperature sensors. With 25–45 °C rise in temperature, the current increases and the sample shows deviations from the non-linear behavior. However at 45 °C, non-linear property is seen as the conducting particles gap increases with temperature. The temperature variation influences the modulus (stiffness) of the polymeric material as well. Finally a correlation is drawn between their electrical and dielectric characteristics and the molecular level interactions from Payne effect at different temperatures.     

Distributed Air-Conditioning Energy Management System within the Smart Grid Context

Air-conditioning (AC) systems are the major energy consumption units in residential and commercial buildings. In the context of smart grid, optimizing AC operations leads to substantial saving in energy consumption, reducing the consumer's bill and contributing to the environment by minimizing carbon emissions from generating stations. This paper presents a distributed AC energy management system for buildings by using networked master-slaves controller architecture. The proposed system was designed, simulated, and experimentally tested by using real AC units in a students' residence hall. Based on the students' class schedules, several operational scenarios were implemented and tested. The proposed system implementation leads to a 40% to 60% saving of the consumed energy by the tested units. The same energy management scheme can be applied and implemented in other commercial and residential buildings.     

A REVIEW OF NON-CONVENTIONAL METHODS FOR THE DESULFURIZATION OF RESIDUAL FUEL OIL

ABSTRACT

Sulfur removal from residual fuel oil has received increasing attention in recent years mainly for the preparation of clean feedstocks for downstream conversion units and to meet the new specifications for petroleum products. This review presents discussion of non-conventional methods of fuel oil desulfurization other than hydrodesulfurization (HDS). These methods include oxidation, electrochemical, sodium, alkali, chemical treatment, and biodesulfurization.     

Input-output analysis of energy requirements : An application to the Scottish economy in 1973

In this paper the author examines the strategic role that the energy sector - coal, refined oil products, gas and electricity - played within the Scottish economy in 1973, and investigates the structure of energy demand in Scotland. Input-output techniques are used. These give greater insight into the breakdown of energy dependency within different sectors and final demand components than more traditional elasticity studies.     

Design and implementation of a low-cost multiple-range digital phase detector

The feasibility of a multiplex system based on the unique properties of solitons hoe been, successfully demonstrated. The system is composed of non-linear LC networks which are equivalent to a one-dimensional anharmonic lattice, and we have investigated experimentally the recurrence phenomena for a pair of soliton trains of which the amplitudes are independently modulated. The recurrence phenomena could be used for secure communications.     

Analysis of laminar flow forced convection heat transfer with uniform heating in the entrance region of a circular tube

A new integral or boundary-layer solution for laminar flow heat transfer in the combined entrance region of a circular tube is presented for the case of constant wall heat flux. The solution is based on the hydrodynamic inlet-filled region concept originally proposed by Ishizawa (1966) and later adopted by Mohanty and Asthana (1978) to hydrodynamically developing flow through a circular tube. Unlike available boundary-layer solutions, the new analysis provides results which join smoothly and asymptotically to the fully developed values. Results for the Nusselt number were found to agree favorably with available numerical solutions.     

Usage of photovoltaics in an automated irrigation system

This study presents the usage of photovoltaic electricity in an automated irrigation system. The experimental setup consists of the controller, control valves, photovoltaic (PV) panels, back up batteries, and sensors. The system is capable of irrigating the fields at a pre-specified time, day/s of the week, and duration. It can also automatically irrigate the field if the soil is dried below a certain specified value. This type of automated system will optimize the quantity of water required for a particular crop and for a specified area. There are few natural springs of water used for irrigation purposes in the Kingdom. This system will also help in conserving water, besides its other advantages.     

Microcontroller-operated anthropomorphic manipulator with haptic feedback

This article presents the design of a cluster-distributed computing system to operate and control an anthropomorphic manipulator with haptic feedback. The system hardware consists of four major building blocks, anthropomorphic manipulator, haptic sensor glove, real-time microcontroller-based cluster distributed computing (CDC) network, and closed-loop controller. The system software architecture consists of three key operation modules, namely, the sensor glove, anthropomorphic manipulator and communication module. It is designed based on a shared file system concept which forms the foundation of the CDC protocol. The key advantages of this system are its novel structure and its comparatively low cost using microcontroller-based distributed cluster networks which allow large-scale expansion/integration.