Natural frequency analysis of lattice boom crane theoretically and experimentally

International Journal of Steel Structures - Having knowledge of dynamic properties named as natural frequency and mode shapes during the design process is important to determine proper design...     

An intelligent multimedia information system for multimodal content extraction and querying

Multimedia Tools and Applications - This paper introduces an intelligent multimedia information system, which exploits machine learning and database technologies. The system extracts semantic...     

Influences of sex and seasons on levels of heavy metals in tissues of green tiger shrimp (Penaeus semisulcatus de Hann, 1844)

Seasonal changes in heavy metal (Ag, Cr, Ni, Pb, Cu, Fe, Zn) concentrations in muscle, gill, hepatopancreas and gonad tissues of both male and female green tiger shrimp (Penaeus semisulcatus) from Iskenderun Bay (Northern East Mediterranean Sea, Turkey) were measured for a year period by using ICP-AES. The relationships in various heavy metal concentrations in organs were compared according to sex and seasons. Heavy metal content varied with type of metals, seasons and sex. Accumulations also differed significantly in certain organs. Metal concentrations (as μg g⁻¹ w.w.) were highest in male gonads whereas lowest in the muscle of all shrimp species. From the human consumption point of view, heavy metal concentrations except for copper in male and female green tiger shrimp’s muscle were below the admissible limits. Thus, precautions should be taken on account of higher content of heavy metals as well as in other organs that could be affected by industrial pollution.     

Phenolic resin binder for the production of metallurgical quality briquettes from coke breeze: Part II the effect of the type of the basic catalyst used in the resol production on the tensile strength of the formed coke briquettes

In order to develop a new and cost effective formed coke production process which does not require higher temperature carbonization stage, coke breeze was briquetted with resol binders and the change in the tensile strength of the briquettes with the amount and the type of the alkaline metal hydroxides, alkaline earth metal oxides, their carbonates and amine catalysts were studied. It was recognized that carbonates of alkaline or alkaline earth metals have a modifying effect on the properties of resol binders which results in briquettes of higher tensile strength than the resol produced with hydroxide or oxides of these metals. The average tensile strength of the briquettes was found to be much higher with the sodium carbonates catalyzed resol used as binder comparing with sodium hydroxide catalyzed resoles. The former was 45.40 MPa while the latter was 33.72 MPa. Although triethanolamine catalyzed resol, resulted in the briquettes of the highest tensile strength (53.43 MPa), among the catalyst studied in this work, due to flammability caused by triethanolamine, it was found unsuitable for this purpose.     

A systematic literature review on the applications of Bayesian networks to predict software quality

Bayesian networks (BN) have been used for decision making in software engineering for many years. In other fields such as bioinformatics, BNs are rigorously evaluated in terms of the techniques that are used to build the network structure and to learn the parameters. We extend our prior mapping study to investigate the extent to which contextual and methodological details regarding BN construction are reported in the studies. We conduct a systematic literature review on the applications of BNs to predict software quality. We focus on more detailed questions regarding (1) dataset characteristics, (2) techniques used for parameter learning, (3) techniques used for structure learning, (4) use of tools, and (5) model validation techniques. Results on ten primary studies show that BNs are mostly built based on expert knowledge, i.e. structure and prior distributions are defined by experts, whereas authors benefit from BN tools and quantitative data to validate their models. In most of the papers, authors do not clearly explain their justification for choosing a specific technique, and they do not compare their proposed BNs with other machine learning approaches. There is also a lack of consensus on the performance measures to validate the proposed BNs. Compared to other domains, the use of BNs is still very limited and current publications do not report enough details to replicate the studies. We propose a framework that provides a set of guidelines for reporting the essential contextual and methodological details of BNs. We believe such a framework would be useful to replicate and extend the work on BNs.     

GaAs m.a.o.s.f.e.t. memory transistor

A new non-volatile memory device is reported. This device is a GaAs m.o.s.f.e.t. with charge storage in the gate in which is a double oxide structure of aluminium oxide and GaAs native oxide, both oxides are grown anodically. The fabrication of the device is described and the results of initial measurements on the charging and charge retention properties are presented.     

Experience with continuous venovenous hemodiafiltration in four newborns: A case series and review of the literature

When conventional methods for treating complicated problems such as acute and chronic renal failure or metabolic diseases fail, the therapy of choice is peritoneal dialysis (PD) in neonatal period. However, in cases that involve technical difficulties, such as bulky lesions in the abdomen or complications from previous abdominal surgeries, it is not always possible to place a peritoneal catheter. In such situations, continuous venovenous hemodiafiltration (CVVHDF) can be effective. This case series presents our experience in 2013 with the administration of CVVHDF to four patients in our neonatal intensive care unit who could not undergo PD for various reasons.     

Possibility of producing lightweight,heat insulating bricks from pumice and H3PO4- or NH4NO3-hardened molasses binder

This investigation is based on the production of lightweight, heat-insulating, water-resistant or water-repellent materials from lightweight aggregates, such as pumice and/or expanded perlite, without using cement or plaster as a binder. The results of this investigation reveal that a H₃PO₄- or NH₄NO₃-hardened molasses binder with the addition of 2.5% borax could be an alternative binder for the production of lightweight, heat-insulating materials with moderate tensile strength. When these bricks were exposed to temperatures up to 825 °C, they did not lose their strength but, rather gained strength. Therefore, molasses binder could be an alternative to cement or plaster binder for construction and building materials with specific properties.