A structured marketplace for arbitrary services

Creating simple marketplaces with common rules, that enable the dynamic selection and consumption of functionality, is the missing link to allow small businesses to enter the cloud, not only as consumers, but also as vendors. In this paper, we present the concepts behind a hybrid service and process repository that can act as the foundation for such a marketplace, as well as a prototype that allowed us to test various real-world scenarios. The advantage of a hybrid service and process repository is that, it not only holds a flat list of services, but also exposes a generic set of use cases, that it obtains information on how specific services can be used to implement the use cases as well as information to select services at run-time according to customer’s goal functions.     

Influence of calcination temperature on structural and optical properties of TiO2-SiO2 thin films prepared by sol-gel dip coating

We prepared TiO₂-SiO₂ thin films with various TiO₂/SiO₂ ratios by sol-gel dip coating method and explored the dependence of their structural and optical properties on calcination temperature. The absorption peaks relevant to Si—O, Si—O—Ti and Ti—O bonds appeared in the FTIR spectra. With increasing TiO₂ content, the intensity of Si—O bond peaks decreases and that of Ti—O bond peaks increases. The XRD results show that the temperature of transformation from amorphous to anatase phase is lowered as TiO₂ content increases. The crystallite size of anatase phase in composite thin films increases with increasing TiO₂ content and calcination temperature. At 1000°C, the mixed phase of anatase and rutile appears in the pure TiO₂ thin films. The rutile films are denser than the anatase films. The increase in refractive index of composite thin films with calcination temperature is related to the decreased thickness and increased density as a result of evaporation of water and organic matters below 400°C. On the other hand, it is related to the change in the crystal phase and crystallite size of the films over 400°C.     

Classic NSAID and selective cyclooxygenase (COX)-1 and COX-2 inhibitors in healing of chronic gastric ulcers

Prostaglandins (PG) derived from COX-1 are essential for the maintenance of mucosal integrity but COX-2 isoform synthesizes PG at a site of inflammation. Recently, COX-2 mRNA expression was demonstrated at the ulcer edge during healing of chronic gastric ulcers but the role for expression of COX-2 and its products such as PGE(2) and cytokines including interleukin (IL-1beta) and tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNFalpha) in ulcer healing remains unknown. In this study, Wistar rats with gastric ulcers produced by serosal application of acetic acid (ulcer area 28 mm(2)) received daily treatment either with: (1) vehicle (saline); (2) NS-398 (10 mg/kg-d i.g.) and Vioxx (5 mg/kg-d i.g.), both, highly specific COX-2 inhibitors; (3) meloxicam (5 mg/kg-d i.g.), a preferential inhibitor of COX-2; (4) resveratrol (10 mg/kg-d i.g.), a specific COX-1 inhibitor; (5) indomethacin (5 mg/kg-d i.g); and (6) aspirin (ASA; 50 mg/kg-d i.g.), non-selective inhibitors of both COX-1 and COX-2. At day 3, 7, and 14 after ulcer induction, the animals were sacrificed and the area of gastric ulcers was determined by planimetry and histology, gastric blood flow (GBF) at ulcer base and margin was measured by H(2) clearance technique, and blood was withdrawn for measurement of plasma IL-1beta and TNFalpha levels. The mucosal biopsy samples were taken for the determination of PGE(2) generation by RIA and expression of COX-1, COX-2, IL-1beta, and TNFalpha mRNA by RT-PCR. In vehicle-treated rats, gastric ulcers healed progressively and at day 14 the healing was completed, accompanied by a significant rise in the GBF at ulcer margin. The IL-1beta, TNFalpha, and COX-1 mRNA were detected in intact and ulcerated gastric mucosa, whereas COX-2 mRNA were upregulated only in ulcerated mucosa with peak observed at day 3 after ulcer induction. The plasma IL-1beta level was significantly increased at day 3 and 7 but then declined at day 14 to that measured in vehicle-controls. Indomethacin and ASA, which suppressed PGE(2) generation both in the non-ulcerated and ulcerated gastric mucosa, significantly delayed the rate of ulcer healing and this was accompanied by the fall in GBF at ulcer margin and further elevation of plasma IL-1beta and TNFalpha levels, which was sustained up to the end of the study. Treatment with NS-398 and Vioxx, which caused only a moderate decrease in the PGE(2) generation in the non-ulcerated gastric mucosa, delayed ulcer healing and attenuated significantly the GBF at ulcer margin and PGE(2) generation in the ulcerated tissue, while raising the plasma IL-1beta and TNFalpha similarly to those observed in indomethacin- and ASA-treated rats. Resveratrol, which suppressed the PGE(2) generation in both non-ulcerated and ulcerated gastric mucosa, prolonged ulcer healing and this was accompanied by the fall in the GBF at the ulcer margin and a significant increase in plasma IL-1beta and TNFalpha levels. We conclude that (1) classic NSAID delay ulcer healing due to suppression of endogenous PG, impairment in GBF at ulcer area, and excessive cytokine expression and release, and (2) this deleterious effect of classic NSAID on the healing of pre-existing ulcers can be reproduced by selective COX-1 and COX-2 inhibitors, suggesting that both COX isoforms are important sources of PG that appear to contribute to ulcer healing.     

Rietveld analysis of electron powder diffraction data from nanocrystalline anatase, TiO2

The structure of nanocrystalline anatase (TiO2) was successfully refined from electron powder diffraction data using the Rietveld technique. A polycrystalline sample (average crystal size about 70 A) was characterised by selected area electron diffraction in a conventional transmission electron microscope operated at 300 kV. Radially integrated intensities were extracted from digitised photographic films and used in the course of structure refinements by a standard program for Rietveld analysis. The structure was refined in space group I4(1)/amd (#141) with lattice parameters a = 3.7710(9) A and c = 9.430(2) A. The reliability factors of the refinement are Rwp = 5.2% and R(B) = 2.6%. The close agreement of the refined structural parameters with previous results obtained from neutron diffraction on coarse-grained powders proves the applicability of the method for characterising nanocrystalline powders. The present study shows that Rietveld analysis on electron powder data is a good compliment to the existing methods for accurate structural investigations on nanocrystalline materials and thin films.     

Frictional anisotropy of oriented carbon nanotube surfaces

This report examines highly anisotropic tribological behavior of multi-walled nanotube films oriented in mutually orthogonal directions. The average values of coefficient of friction varied from extremely high values (=0.795) for vertically aligned nanotubes grown on rigid substrates to very low values (=0.090) for nanotubes dispersed flat on the same substrates. The results were insensitive to humidity, in contrast to graphite materials, and indicate that nanotubes could be utilized as both low and high frictional surfaces.     

The high-energy physicistʼs guide to MathLink

MathLink is Wolfram Research?s protocol for communicating with the Mathematica Kernel and is used extensively in their own Notebook Frontends. The Mathematica Book insinuates that linking C programs with MathLink is straightforward but in practice there are quite a number of stumbling blocks, in particular in cross-language and cross-platform usage. This write-up tries to clarify the main issues and hopefully makes it easier for software authors to set up Mathematica interfacing in a portable way.     

Electrically Tunable Nanoporous Carbon Hybrid Actuators

A novel nanoporous carbon/electrolyte hybrid material is reported for use in actuation. The nanoporous carbon matrix provides a 3D network that combines mechanical strength, light weight, and low cost with an extremely high surface area. In contrast to lower dimensional nanomaterials, the nanoporous carbon matrix can be prepared in the form of macroscopic monolithic samples that can be loaded in compression. The hybrid material is formed by infiltrating the free internal pore volume of the carbon with an electrolyte. Actuation is prompted by polarizing the internal interfaces via an applied electric bias. It is found that the strain amplitude is proportional to the Brunauer‐Emmett‐Teller (BET) mass specific surface area, with reversible volume strain amplitudes up to the exceptionally high value of 6.6%. The mass‐specific strain energy density compares favorably to reported values for piezoceramics and for nanoporous metal actuators.     

A semi‐adaptive control approach to closed‐loop medication infusion

This paper presents a semi‐adaptive control approach to closed‐loop medication infusion problems. The rationale underlying this approach is to design a controller that can adapt model parameters with a large impact on the model's fidelity while fixing the remaining parameters at nominal values. In this paper, a control‐oriented model for this purpose is derived via system identification and sensitivity analysis of a low‐order model capturing the direct dose‐response relationship Using the model thus derived, a model‐reference adaptive controller and a composite adaptive controller are designed and compared with each other. In‐silico simulation results using remifentanil's effect on respiratory rate as an example indicate that both controllers can regulate the output at commanded set points. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.