Influence of cathodic polarity during electrocleaning process on the brown stain defect formation after skin pass on cold-rolled close annealed steel

Skin pass rolling is considered as the final forming stage in cold-rolled close annealed steel. Surface properties and flatness are the key attributes for automotive customers. Efficient skin pass rolling overcomes surface defects that lead to material rejection. This study portrays a brown stain defect with higher defect severity. The brown stain defect is observed in a few coils that are processed through alkaline electrocleaning (ECL). Coils bypassing ECL do not show such defect. Defect characterization through scanning electron microscopy, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, and Raman spectroscopy shows initiation of oxidation of steel substrate. The presence of skin pass fluid residues in the defected area is the root cause for the stain formation. Techniques such as glow discharge optical emission spectroscopy, Kelvin probe, Raman spectroscopy, and electrochemical tests emphasize the role of final electrode polarity in ECL with the nature of passive oxide film formed when skin pass fluid is applied on the steel surface. This study reveals that skin pass fluid applied on anodically cleaned coils provides a uniform passive surface that restricts the defect formation.     

Cancer Development,Progression, and Therapy: An Epigenetic Overview

Carcinogenesis involves uncontrolled cell growth, which follows the activation of oncogenes and/or the deactivation of tumor suppression genes. Metastasis requires down-regulation of cell adhesion receptors necessary for tissue-specific, cell–cell attachment, as well as up-regulation of receptors that enhance cell motility. Epigenetic changes, including histone modifications, DNA methylation, and DNA hydroxymethylation, can modify these characteristics. Targets for these epigenetic changes include signaling pathways that regulate apoptosis and autophagy, as well as microRNA. We propose that predisposed normal cells convert to cancer progenitor cells that, after growing, undergo an epithelial-mesenchymal transition. This process, which is partially under epigenetic control, can create a metastatic form of both progenitor and full-fledged cancer cells, after which metastasis to a distant location may occur. Identification of epigenetic regulatory mechanisms has provided potential therapeutic avenues. In particular, epigenetic drugs appear to potentiate the action of traditional therapeutics, often by demethylating and re-expressing tumor suppressor genes to inhibit tumorigenesis. Epigenetic drugs may inhibit both the formation and growth of cancer progenitor cells, thus reducing the recurrence of cancer. Adopting epigenetic alteration as a new hallmark of cancer is a logical and necessary step that will further encourage the development of novel epigenetic biomarkers and therapeutics.     

Sb-doped CuAlO<Subscript>2</Subscript>: widening of band gap and nonlinear <Emphasis Type="Italic">J</Emphasis>–<Emphasis Type="Italic">E</Emphasis> characteristics

The effect of antimony doping on the optical and electrical properties of copper aluminum oxide synthesized by solid state reaction technique was investigated. Formation of single phase CuAlO₂ was confirmed by x-ray diffraction studies. Variation of strain, particle size, and preferred orientation of the crystallites with Sb doping concentrations were analyzed by x-ray diffraction. Using the x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy trivalent state of Sb ions was confirmed. A blue shift in the energy band gap with Sb doping was observed, and it was supported by ab initio calculation based on density functional theory. A nonlinear current–voltage characteristic was observed for the Sb-doped CuAlO₂ samples whereas the same was linear for the undoped samples. The nonlinearity of the current–voltage characteristics changed significantly at higher temperature, and this behavior was explained.     

Introduction to Loss-Hedging Financial Transmission Rights

In order to guard forward contracts from the locational marginal price (LMP) volatility, financial transmission rights (FTRs) are issued in the centralized power markets. However, the current FTR system can provide hedge only against the congestion components of LMP differentials. Consequently, the loss components remain unhedged. To bridge the gap, a framework is developed in this paper to implement an FTR system that will provide hedge against the loss prices. The availability of loss-hedging FTRs in addition to the congestion hedging FTRs further reduces the exposure of the forward market participants to the LMP volatility. The loss-hedging framework developed is carefully designed to fit the practical environment. All the primary issues for the implementation of loss-hedging FTRs, such as the revenue adequacy test, auction, and auction revenue rights, are carefully addressed. Revenue adequacy of loss-hedging FTRs can be ensured by means of a test called as the offset capacity test. Some efficient policies are also designed for the successful functioning of loss-hedging FTRs. At the end of the paper, a case study is carried out to assess the effectiveness of the methodology developed.     

Can Bluetooth succeed as a large-scale ad hoc networking technology?

We investigate issues that Bluetooth may face in evolving from a simple wire replacement to a large-scale ad hoc networking technology. We do so by examining the efficacy of Bluetooth in establishing a connected topology, which is a basic requirement of any networking technology. We demonstrate that Bluetooth experiences some fundamental algorithmic challenges in accomplishing this seemingly simple task. Specifically, deciding whether there exists at least one connected topology that satisfies the Bluetooth constraints is NP-hard. Several implementation problems also arise due to the internal structure of the Bluetooth protocol stack. All these together degrade the performance of the network, or increase the complexity of operation. Given the availability of efficient substitute technologies, Bluetooth's use may end up being limited to small ad hoc networks.     

桥板颤振导数的比较和敏感性分析 第一部分：试验数据分析

为评估风载下桥板的性能,通常采用多年来发展的两个独特的方法（自由和强迫振动）,从风洞模型试验中得到桥板气动弹性系数。尽管已有众多的研究者对每个技术优缺点进行分析,但文献中缺少对试验结果的系统比较。本研究的意义在于进行与长期颤振导数试验数据相关的评估,包括分析和解释自由和强迫振动两种方法的异同点。从2002年开始,美国的爱荷华州大学和日本的公立研究所着手进行桥颤振导数的研究。试验包括的截面类型很广,从矩形棱柱到改进型,尤其考虑了当前在大跨桥中采用空气动力学设计梁的趋势。同时系统地分析和比较了两种方法颤振导数的试验结果。在相关的论文中,对敏感性进行分析以研究大跨桥在气动弹性不稳定时颤振导数数据中所隐含的不同点。     

Maxmin fair scheduling in wireless ad hoc networks

We investigate from an algorithmic perspective the maxmin fair allocation of bandwidth in wireless ad hoc networks. We formalize the maxmin fair objective under wireless scheduling constraints, and present a necessary and sufficient condition for maxmin fairness of a bandwidth allocation. We propose an algorithm that assigns weights to the sessions dynamically such that the weights depend on the congestion in the neighborhood, and schedules the sessions that constitute a maximum weighted matching. We prove that this algorithm attains the maxmin fair rates, even though it does not use any information about the statistics of the packet arrival process.     

Selecting malaria interventions: A top-down approach

Malaria continues to be a great burden on both morbidity and mortality as well as economic development across the world. In highly endemic areas, such as Nigeria, malaria can claim hundreds of thousands of lives and millions of dollars yearly. Typically, when selecting intervention strategies to control malaria, research is focused on the cost-effectiveness and general applicability of individual interventions. In separate studies, great care is taken to develop high-fidelity models of malaria's economic and morbidity/mortality burden. In this paper, we take a top-down approach to selecting malaria intervention strategies. Instead of studying each element of the problem separately, we combine models for intervention cost-effectiveness, disease burden, and intervention delivery to create a single large-scale geographic optimization. We illustrate our top-down approach with a case study of malaria in Nigeria. Our optimization produces detailed geographic intervention plans, identifies key budget values and specifies the locations of the supply distribution centers.     

Introduction to Multidimensional Financial Transmission Rights

This paper introduces the concept of multidimensional financial transmission right (MDFTR) which is a generalized group financial transmission right (FTR) concept. An MDFTR allows its owner to hold a total FTR amount over a path group along with multiple choices to distribute this grouped amount among the individual grouping paths. This added flexibility provides forward-market participants with a useful support to overcome the congestion price risk that originates from the uncertainty in their transaction paths. All the fundamental issues regarding the implementation of MDFTRs are addressed in detail in this paper. The practical utility of MDFTRs is judged by analyzing their costs. It is shown with illustration that an MDFTR may be more cost-effective than any given portfolio of individual FTRs that has the ability to give the same risk-hedging benefit.