Yielding and post-yield behaviour of closed-cell cellular materials under multiaxial dynamic loading

The paper focuses on characterisation of yielding and post-yield behaviour of metals with closed-cell cellular structure when subjected to multiaxial dynamic loading, considering the influence of the relative density, base material, strain rate and pore gas pressure. Research was conducted by extensive parametric fully-coupled computational simulations using the finite element code LS-DYNA. Results have shown that the macroscopic yield stress of cellular material rises with increase of the relative density, while its dependence on the hydrostatic stress decreases. The yield limit also rises with increase of the strain rate, while the hydrostatic stress influence remains more or less the same at different strain-rates. The macroscopic yield limit of the cellular material is also strongly influenced by the choice of base material since the base materials with higher yield limit contribute also to higher macroscopic yield limit of the cellular material. By increasing the pore gas filler pressure the dependence on hydrostatic stress increases while at the same time the yield surface shifts along the hydrostatic axis in the negative direction. This means that yielding at compression is delayed due to influence of the initial pore pressure and occurs at higher compressive loading, while the opposite is true for tensile loading.     

Natural convection of micropolar fluid in an enclosure with boundary element method

The contribution deals with numerical simulation of natural convection in micropolar fluids, describing flow of suspensions with rigid and underformable particles with own rotation. The micropolar fluid flow theory is incorporated into the framework of a velocity–vorticity formulation of Navier–Stokes equations. The governing equations are derived in differential and integral form, resulting from the application of a boundary element method (BEM). In integral transformations, the diffusion-convection fundamental solution for flow kinetics, including vorticity transport, heat transport and microrotation transport, is implemented. The natural convection test case is the benchmark case of natural convection in a square cavity, and computations are performed for Rayleigh number values up to 10⁷. The results show, which microrotation of particles in suspension in general decreases overall heat transfer from the heated wall and should not therefore be neglected when computing heat and fluid flow of micropolar fluids.     

Physiological profiles relevant for novel alcoholic beverage design among Dekkera bruxellensis strains from different provenances

A selection of D. bruxellensis strains from different geographical and beverage sources were tested for their potential to develop novel alcoholic beverages. Selected strains were initially clustered based on genetic similarities determined by PCR fingerprinting. Physiological profiles were subsequently determined during the fermentation experiments that were carried out in a defined synthetic medium supplemented with glucose and 4‐vinylphenol for 22 days, as static cultures under microaerobic conditions. There were significant differences (p ≤ 0.05) in ethanol, glycerol and acetic acid yields and in the growth rates between the strains. During prolonged fermentation, a reduction in ethanol and acetic acid was observed, ranging from 43 to 54% for ethanol and from 4 to 45% for acetic acid, which was strain or genetic group specific. Consumption of ethanol and acetic acid occurred during the stationary phase, suggesting that ethanol and acetic acid were utilized for processes other than growth and must have had an impact on the formation of the aromatic profile. The conversion of 4‐vinylphenol to 4‐ethylphenol was much more efficient and was completed within 4 days of fermentation. Although further investigation is needed, the results indicate a potential of this previously undesired microorganism to be useful for a wide range of applications. Copyright © 2016 The Institute of Brewing & Distilling     

The Role of MAPK3/1 and AKT in the Acquisition of High Meiotic and Developmental Competence of Porcine Oocytes Cultured In Vitro in FLI Medium

The developmental potential of porcine oocytes cultured in vitro was remarkably enhanced in a medium containing FGF2, LIF and IGF1 (FLI) when compared to a medium supplemented with gonadotropins and EGF (control). We analyzed the molecular background of the enhanced oocyte quality by comparing the time course of MAPK3/1 and AKT activation, and the expression of genes controlled by these kinases in cumulus-oocyte complexes (COCs) cultured in FLI and the control medium. The pattern of MAPK3/1 activation in COCs was very similar in both media, except for a robust increase in MAPK3/1 phosphorylation during the first hour of culture in the FLI medium. The COCs cultured in the FLI medium exhibited significantly higher activity of AKT than in the control medium from the beginning up to 16 h of culture; afterwards a deregulation of AKT activity occurred in the FLI medium, which was not observed in the control medium. The expression of cumulus cell genes controlled by both kinases was also modulated in the FLI medium, and in particular the genes related to cumulus-expansion, signaling, apoptosis, antioxidants, cell-to-cell communication, proliferation, and translation were significantly overexpressed. Collectively, these data indicate that both MAPK3/1 and AKT are implicated in the enhanced quality of oocytes cultured in FLI medium.     

Interaction between Microalgae P. tricornutum and Bacteria Thalassospira sp. for Removal of Bisphenols from Conditioned Media

We studied the efficiency of three culture series of the microalgae Phaeodactylum tricornutum (P. tricornutum) and bacteria Thalassospira sp. (axenic microalgae, bacterial culture and co-culture of the two) in removing bisphenols (BPs) from their growth medium. Bacteria were identified by 16S ribosomal RNA polymerase chain reaction (16S rRNA PCR). The microorganism growth rate was determined by flow cytometry. Cultures and isolates of their small cellular particles (SCPs) were imaged by scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and cryogenic transmission electron microscopy (Cryo-TEM). BPs were analyzed by gas chromatography coupled with tandem mass spectrometry (GC-MS/MS). Our results indicate that some organisms may have the ability to remove a specific pollutant with high efficiency. P. tricornutum in axenic culture and in mixed culture removed almost all (more than 99%) of BPC2. Notable differences in the removal of 8 out of 18 BPs between the axenic, mixed and bacterial cultures were found. The overall removals of BPs in axenic P. tricornutum, mixed and bacterial cultures were 11%, 18% and 10%, respectively. Finding the respective organisms and creating microbe societies seems to be key for the improvement of wastewater treatment. As a possible mediating factor, numerous small cellular particles from all three cultures were detected by electron microscopy. Further research on the mechanisms of interspecies communication is needed to advance the understanding of microbial communities at the nano-level.     

GRADIENT-DESCENT BASED UNIT-SELECTION OPTIMIZATION ALGORITHM USED FOR CORPUS-BASED TEXT-TO-SPEECH SYNTHESIS

This paper proposes a gradient-descent based unit selection optimization algorithm for the optimization of unit-cost function weights and for improving the overall performance of the unit-selection algorithm, as used in a corpus-based text-to-speech synthesis system. Complex multidimensional and fuzzy-logic based unit-cost functions are used in the presented unit-selection algorithm. The weights used by these unit-cost functions are usually defined by heuristics or by listening tests. This can be very laborious and time consuming, and does not necessarily result in an optimal performance of the unit-selection algorithm because of multidimensional unit-cost function space, within which different database candidates’ features are evaluated. Using heuristics or listening tests is also rather rigid, especially when working with several different databases or voices. It is especially difficult, within this scope, to set up those weights used in unit-cost functions in order to achieve overall optimal performance of the unit-selection algorithm. The proposed unit-selection optimization process consists of several steps. It is fully automatic, flexible, and fast enough to enable the development of a corpus-based text-to-speech (TTS) system that uses many different voices, without any heuristics or listening tests. This optimization process can also be helpful when evaluating the performances of unit-selection cost functions, and the performance of the unit-selection algorithm itself. The obtained results “suggest” those values that the unit-selection cost-function weights should have in order to obtain smoother transitions between selected unit candidates, after the unit-selection process. The obtained results also hint at the performance level that can be achieved with a given set of unit-cost function weights, and suggest what improvements can be gained when using those additional or changed unit-cost functions included within the unit-selection algorithm.     

The Optimal Sizing of HSS Database in IMS

Our paper deals with the architecture and standards of IP the multimedia subsystem from next generation networks point of view. It describes the structure of the home subscriber server database and then derives equations for sizing of its load in the proposed scenarios. We have used two methods for the database sizing—Erlang C formula and Markov chains. Finally, the achieved results and used methods are evaluated and discussed.

     

Low‐cycle fatigue life of thin‐plate auxetic cellular structures made from aluminium alloy 7075‐T651

In the article, the low‐cycle fatigue life durability of thin‐plate auxetic cellular structures is compared with the thin‐plate specimens of standard shape. Both the re‐entrant auxetic cellular structures and the standard specimens were cut from a 2‐mm‐thick strip of aluminium alloy 7075‐T651. First, a fatigue life curve and a cyclic curve were determined for the standard specimens. A special antibuckling device was applied to prevent the bending of the specimens. The same experimental arrangement was then applied to determine the low‐cycle fatigue life of auxetic structures. In the continuation, the most appropriate method was selected to calculate the fatigue life on the basis of the measured fatigue life curves. Abaqus and SIMULIA fe‐safe software were applied for this purpose. The best predictions for the standard specimens were obtained with the Brown‐Miller method. Finally, the selected method was applied to predict the low‐cycle fatigue life of re‐entrant auxetic cellular specimens.     

A ladder to human-comparable intelligence: an empirical metric

ABSTRACT

The field of Artificial General Intelligence needs a simple and understandable measure of progress to aid in passing the difficult Turing Test. The proposed Ladder Metric introduces a sequence of levels that intelligent agents must climb in order to reach the final, Turing indistinguishable, level. Just like the Turing test, the levels can only be defined in terms of general properties and behaviour rather than specific operational requirements. To track the progress and make comparisons one must climb and determine the achieved rung of the proposed ladder.