Computational Schemes for Flexible,Nonlinear Multi-Body Systems

This paper deals with the development of computational schemes for the dynamic analysis of flexible, nonlinear multi-body systems. The focus of the investigation is on the derivation of unconditionally stable time integration schemes for these types of problem. At first, schemes based on Galerkin and time discontinuous Galerkin approximations applied to the equations of motion written in the symmetric hyperbolic form are proposed. Though useful, these schemes require casting the equations of motion in the symmetric hyperbolic form, which is not always possible for multi-body applications. Next, unconditionally stable schemes are proposed that do not rely on the symmetric hyperbolic form. Both energy preserving and energy decaying schemes are derived that both provide unconditionally stable schemes for nonlinear multi-body systems. The formulation of beam and flexible joint elements, as well as of the kinematic constraints associated with universal and revolute joints. An automated time step selection procedure is also developed based on an energy related error measure that provides both local and global error levels. Several examples of simulation of realistic multi-body systems are presented which illustrate the efficiency and accuracy of the proposed schemes, and demonstrate the need for unconditional stability and high frequency numerical dissipation.     

Reduction by cefodizime of the pulmonary inflammatory response induced by heat-killed Streptococcus pneumoniae in mice

It has recently become apparent that overwhelming inflammatory reactions contribute to the high mortality rate associated with pneumococcal infection in immunocompetent hosts. Cefodizime (CEF) is an antibiotic that seems to be endowed with immunomodulating properties. To investigate the influence of CEF on the pulmonary inflammatory response induced by Streptococcus pneumoniae, we infected mice with repeated intranasal inoculations of 10(7) CFU of heat-killed fluorescein isothiocyanate-labeled bacteria, which are insensitive to the killing properties of the drug. CEF downregulated but did not abolish the strong polymorphonuclear leukocyte (PMN) recruitment induced by S. pneumoniae. PMN recruitment was not primarily mediated by leukotriene B4 in this model. The drug did not interfere with intrinsic mechanisms of phagocytosis by PMNs and alveolar macrophages. CEF totally abrogated the pneumococcus-induced tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNF-alpha) and interleukin-6 (IL-6) secretion in bronchoalveolar lavage fluid. The drug also prevented IL-6 release in lung homogenates and partly inhibited TNF-alpha, but it did not interfere with IL-1alpha secretion in the lungs of infected mice. The fractional and selective downregulation of inflammatory cells and cytokines by CEF suggests cell-specific and intracellular specific mechanisms of interaction of the drug. The immunomodulatory properties of CEF may help restrain excessive inflammatory reactions, thus contributing to the reported good clinical efficacy of the drug against lower respiratory tract infections.     

Using time-driven activity-based costing to manage digital forensic readiness in large organisations

A digital forensic readiness (DFR) programme consists of a number of activities that should be chosen and managed with respect to cost constraints and risk. Traditional cost systems, however, can not provide the cost of individual activities. This makes it difficult or impossible for organisations to consider cost when making decisions about specific activities. In this paper we show that the relatively new cost system, time-driven activity-based costing (TDABC), can be used to determine the cost of implementing and managing activities required for DFR. We show through analysis and simulation that the cost information from a TDABC model can be used for such decisions. We also discuss some of the factors that ought to be considered when implementing or managing the use of TDABC in a large organisation.     

A theory of self-calibration of a moving camera

There is a close connection between the calibration of a single camera and the epipolar transformation obtained when the camera undergoes a displacement. The epipolar transformation imposes two algebraic constraints on the camera calibration. If two epipolar transformations, arising from different camera displacements, are available then the compatible camera calibrations are parameterized by an algebraic curve of genus four. The curve can be represented either by a space curve of degree seven contained in the intersection of two cubic surfaces, or by a curve of degree six in the dual of the image plane. The curve in the dual plane has one singular point of order three and three singular points of order two.If three epipolar transformations are available, then two curves of degree six can be obtained in the dual plane such that one of the real intersections of the two yields the correct camera calibration. The two curves have a common singular point of order three.Experimental results are given to demonstrate the feasibility of camera calibration based on the epipolar transformation. The real intersections of the two dual curves are found by locating the zeros of a function defined on the interval [0, 2]. The intersection yielding the correct camera calibration is picked out by referring back to the three epipolar transformations.     

Bandwidth Adaptive Cache Coherence Optimizations for Chip Multiprocessors

Chip Multiprocessors (CMPs) have different technological parameters and physical constraints than earlier multi-processor systems, which should be taken into consideration when designing cache coherence protocols. Also, contemporary cache coherence protocols use invalidate schemes that are known to generate a high number of coherence misses. This is especially true under producer-consumer sharing patterns that can become a performance bottleneck as the number of cores increases. This paper presents two mechanisms to design efficient and scalable cache coherence protocols for CMPs. First, we propose an adaptive hybrid protocol to reduce coherence misses observed in write-invalidate based protocols. The proposed protocol is based on a write-invalidate scheme. However, adaptively, it can push updates to potential consumers based on observed producer-consumer sharing patterns. Secondly, we extend this adaptive protocol with an interconnection resource aware mechanism. Experimental evaluations, conducted on a tiled-CMP via full-system simulation, were used to assess the performance from our proposed dynamic hybrid protocols. Performance analysis is presented on a set of scientific applications from the SPLASH-2 and NAS parallel benchmark suites. Results showed that the proposed mechanisms reduce cache-to-cache sharing misses up to 48 % and speed up application performance up to 34 %. In addition, the proposed interconnection resource aware mechanism is proven to perform well under varying interconnection utilizations.     

In vitro comparison of hepatic metabolism of 9cis-11 trans and 10trans-12cis isomers of CLA in the rat

Hepatic metabolism of the two main isomers of CLA (9cis-11 trans, 10trans-12cisC_18∶2) was compared to that of oleic acid (representative of the main plasma FA) in 16 rats by using the in vitro method of incubated liver slices. Liver tissue samples were incubated at 37°C for 17h under an atmosphere of 95% O₂/5%CO₂ in a medium supplemented with 0.75 mM of FA mixture (representative of circulating nonesterified FA) and with 55 μM [1-¹⁴C]9cis-11 trans C_18∶2, [1-¹⁴C]10trans-12cis C_18∶2, or [1-¹⁴C]oleate. The uptake of CLA by hepatocytes was similar for both isomers (9%) and was three times higher (P<0.01) than for oleate (2.6%). The rate of CLA isomer oxidation was two times higher (49 and 40% of incorporated amounts of 9cis-11 trans and 10trans-12 cis, respectively) than that of oleate (P<0.01). Total oxidation of oleate and CLA isomers into [¹⁴CO₂] was low (2 to 7% of total oxidized FA) compared to the partial oxidation (93 to 98%) leading to the production of [¹⁴C] acid-soluble products. CLA isoemrs escaping from catabolism were both highly desaturated (26.7 and 26.8%) into conjugated 18∶3. Oleate and CLA isomers were mainly esterified into neutral lipids (30%). They were slowly secreted as parts of VLDL particles (<0.4% of FA incorporated into cells), the extent of secretion of oleate and of 10trans-12 cis being 2.2-fold higher than that of 9cis-11 trans (P<0.02). In conclusion, this study clearly showed that both CLA isomers were highly catabolized by hepatocytes, reducing their availability for peripheral tissues. Moreover, more than 25% of CLA escaping from catabolism was converted into conjugated 18∶3, the biological properties of which remain to be elucidated.     

From IP to Start-up： Building a Robust Life Science Incubator

An incubator is an organization that supports new ventures to grow and survive during the early stages. Mainly dedicated to information technology, life science may appear to be the next hot spot for incubators. Are there stabilized good practices？ Are the business models in information technology and in life science comparable when it goes to start-ups＇ incubation？ Leveraging our experience as practitioner in this field and using an inductive methodology, this paper tends to propose simple principles to help build robust incubators in life science, and to contribute to disseminate an entrepreneurial approach through an industry still dominated by blue chips.     

Sol–Gel Processing and Microwave Characteristics of Ba(Mg⅓Ta⅔)O3 Dielectrics

The sol–gel method has been developed for the preparation of pure Ba(Mg_1/3Ta_2/3)O₃ ceramics. This involves the reaction of the heterometallic alkoxide Ta₂Mg(OEt)₁₂ with hydrated barium hydroxide Ba(OH)₂·8H₂O. Complete crystallization of the sol–gel-derived powder is achieved at 600°C, leading to a cubic perovskite type phase. After sintering at 1400°C (2–5 h), a trigonal cell arises from Mg–Ta ordering (the degree of order is greater than 0.9), and about 98.5% of the theoretical density is obtained. Preliminary microwave dielectric measurements show that the dielectric constant and the unloaded Q _u of the ceramics are 24.2 and 6750, respectively, at 7.7 GHz.