Comparison of scottish firths and Spanish rías

A collaborative programme enables coastal problems in the Cantabrian rías of NW Spain to be compared with those of the firths of the Scottish east coast. Engineers and scientists have studied the problems of the two coastal areas and commenced joint research into problems of coastal stability, with a view to improving protection techniques currently used in the two regions.     

A simple expression for the optimization of spread-spectrum code acquisition detectors operating in the presence of carrier-frequency offset

In this letter, we present a simple expression for the optimization of the threshold detection performance for direct-sequence spread-spectrum code acquisition in the presence of carrier-frequency offset. The proposed scheme divides the total integration time into subintervals, and the results of the coherent integrations performed over these subintervals are noncoherently combined prior to detection. The proposed expression allows obtaining the optimum number of coherent-integration subintervals for a given total integration time.     

Viscoplastic incompressible flow of frictional-cohesive solids

A constitutive equation for the viscoplastic and incompressible flow of solids is presented. The equivalent viscosity includes cohesion, friction and fluidity parameters and is a non-linear function of both pressure and velocity. The model is employed in a steady-state flow formulation which is discretized by means of finite elements with velocities as nodal unknowns. Application is made to axisymmetric and two-dimensional gravity flow in hoppers, and the main parameters affecting the pressure distribution on the walls are identified. Results are compared with experiments and analytical models by other authors and show good agreement.     

Toward a Novel Drug To Target the EGF–EGFR Interaction: Design of Metabolically Stable Bicyclic Peptides

In cancer, proliferation of malignant cells is driven by overactivation of growth‐signalling mechanisms, such as the epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) pathway. Despite its therapeutic relevance, the EGF–EGFR interaction has remained elusive to inhibition by synthetic molecules, mostly as a result of its large size and lack of binding pockets and cavities. Designed peptides, featuring cyclic motifs and other structural constraints, have the potential to modulate such challenging protein–protein interactions (PPIs). Herein, we present the structure‐based design of a series of bicyclic constrained peptides that mimic an interface domain of EGFR and inhibit the EGF–EGFR interaction by targeting the smaller partner (i.e., EGF). This design process was guided by the integrated use of in silico methods and biophysical techniques, such as NMR spectroscopy and surface acoustic wave. The best analogues were able to reduce selectively the viability of EGFR+ human cancer cells. In addition to their efficacy, these bicyclic peptides are endowed with exceptional stability and metabolic resistance—two features that make them suitable candidates for in vivo applications.     

Dynamic Photoswitching of Electron Energy Levels at Hybrid ZnO/Organic Photochromic Molecule Junctions

The functionality of interfaces in hybrid inorganic/organic (opto)electronic devices is determined by the alignment of the respective frontier energy levels at both sides of the heterojunctions. Controlling the interface electronic landscape is a key element for achieving favourable level alignment for energy and charge transfer processes. Here, it is shown that the electronic properties of polar ZnO surfaces can be reversibly modified using organic photochromic switches. By employing a range of surface characterization techniques combined with density functional theory calculations, it is demonstrated that self‐assembled monolayers (SAMs) of photochromic phosphonic acid diarylethenes (PA‐DAEs) can be employed to reversibly change the electronic properties of polar ZnO/SAM structures by light stimuli. The highest occupied molecular orbital level of PA‐DAE is raised by 0.7 eV and the lowest unoccupied one lowered by 0.9 eV, respectively, upon illumination by ultraviolet light and the levels shift back to their original position upon illumination by green light. The results thus provide a pathway to tailor hybrid interface electronic properties in a dynamic manner upon simple light illumination, which can be exploited to reversibly tune the electrical properties of photoswitchable (opto)electronic devices.     

Droplet profiles obtained from the intensity distribution of refraction patterns

A noninterferometric method for obtaining profiles of axially symmetric transparent liquid droplets is described. The drops are illuminated along the symmetry axis by a uniform parallel beam whose intensity distribution is recorded at the focal plane of a lens placed behind the drop. In some conditions and within the geometrical optics approach, it is possible to reconstruct the profile of the drop from this intensity distribution except for the length scale factor, which, if necessary, may be provided by an additional simple measurement. Because of CCD cameras and digital image processing, this method is an interesting alternative technique for measuring drop profile shapes with considerable accuracy when interferometry is unwieldy. We also analyze the diffraction features of the intensity distribution to clarify the extent that they affect the approach that we used and to establish additional information that they may provide.     

A variable-accuracy metamodel-based architecture for global MDO under uncertainty

A method for simulation-based multidisciplinary robust design optimization (MRDO) of problems affected by uncertainty is presented. The challenging aspects of simulation-based MRDO are both algorithmic and computational, since the solution of a MRDO problem typically requires simulation-based multidisciplinary analyses (MDA), uncertainty quantification (UQ) and optimization. Herein, the identification of the optimal design is achieved by a variable-accuracy, metamodel-based optimization, following a multidisciplinary feasible (MDF) architecture. The approach encompasses a variable (i) density of the design of experiments for the metamodel training, (ii) sample size for the UQ analysis by quasi Monte Carlo simulation and (iii) tolerance for the multidisciplinary consistency in MDA. The focus is on two-way steady fluid-structure interaction problem, assessed by partitioned solvers for the hydrodynamic and the structural analysis. Two analytical test problems are shown, along with the design of a racing-sailboat keel fin subject to the stochastic variation of the yaw angle. The method is validated versus a standard MDF approach to MRDO, taken as a benchmark and solved by fully coupled MDA, fully converged UQ, without metamodels. The method is evaluated in terms of optimal design performances and number of simulations required to achieve the optimal solution. For the current application, the optimal configuration shows performances very close to the benchmark solution. The convergence analysis to the optimum shows a promising reduction of the computational cost.     

The use of phenol compounds as parameters for distinguished red and rose wines from pale wines in multivariate analysis

The concentration of different types of phenol compounds and the ratio of such compounds to total phenols was established for red, rosé, and pale (claret) wines. Linear discriminant analysis was applied to these parameters to differentiate the red and rosé wines from the pale wines. Two discriminant functions correctly classified 100% of the red and rosé wines and 93.3% of the pale wines, with classification errors of 0.87% for the red wine-pale wine function and 1.7 × 10^–4% for the rose wine-pale wine function.

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Verwendung der Phenole bei der linearen Diskriminanzanalyse zur Trennung der Rot- und Roseweine yon Klaret-Wein

Zusammenfassung Man hat für Rot-, Rosé- und Klaret-Wein die Konzentration bestimmter Phenolanteile bestimmt und weiterhin ihr Verhältnis zu den gesamten Phenolen. Diese Parameter wurden mit der linearen Diskriminanzanalyse gemessen, mit dem Ziel, die Rot- und Roséweine von den KlaretWeinen zu unterscheiden. Zwei diskriminierende Funktionen reichen aus, um 100% der Rot- und Roséweine und 93,3% der Klaret-Weine zu klassifizieren, bei einer Fehlerquote yon 0,87% für Rot- zu Klaret-Wein und von 1,7 x 10^–4% für Rosé- zu Klaret-Wein.