An overview of the Telecommunications Information NetworkingArchitecture

The Telecommunications Information Networking Architecture (TINA) Consortium is an international collaboration aiming at defining and validating an open architecture for telecommunication services for the broadband, multimedia, and information era. The architecture is based on distributed computing, object orientation, and other concepts and standards from the telecommunications and computing industries. This paper provides an introduction to TINA. First, it presents an overall view of TINA, followed by a brief introduction to the main parts of the architecture, namely the computing, network, service, and management architectures. This is followed by a brief overview of interworking and migration scenarios for legacy systems. Finally, an overview of a tool-set to aid service specification and design is presented     

Elimination of the halphen response of cottonseed oils in conjunction with deodorization

Two simple but effective pilot-plant processes were developed to produce Halphen-negative cottonseed oil. Both involve treatment of the oil with cottonseed fatty acids in a conventional batch type of deodorizer in conjunction with deodorization. In one process, in which the acids were added to the oil, the cyclopropenoids were inactivated in as short a time as 5 min after the oil reached the maximum temperature of 450–455 F. In the other, in which the acids were generated in situ, the oil did not become Halphennegative until about an hour and 45 min after it reached maximum temperature. The excess acids produced by both methods were readily removed during conventional deodorization. In contrast, deodorization alone reduced the cyclopropenoid content of the oil to a low level (0.02%) but did not render it Halphen-negative even after 3 hr at maximum temperature. These new processes are directly applicable for use by refineries that have the batch type of deodorizers. For refineries that operate continuous or semicontinuous deodorizers, it should be relatively simple to design preheating vessels or heat exchangers to inactivate partially or completely the cyclopropenoids before deodorization. Presented at the AOCS Meeting, New Orleans, May 1967. So. Utiliz. Res. Dev. Div., ARS, USDA.     

Cure kinetics of an epoxy/liquid aromatic diamine modified with poly(ether imide)

The cure kinetics and mechanisms of an epoxy oligomer based on diglycidyl ether of bisphenol A (DGEBA), polymerized with a liquid aromatic diamine based on diethyl toluene diamine (DETDA 80), and its blends with poly(ether imide) (PEI) at concentrations of 0–15 wt % were studied with differential scanning calorimetry under dynamic and isothermal conditions. The kinetic analyses were performed with a phenomenological approach. The reaction mechanism of the blends remained the same as that of the neat epoxy. However, the addition of PEI had a marked effect on the cure kinetics in the DGEBA/DETDA 80 system. The rate of reaction decreased with an increase in the thermoplastic content. Diffusion control was incorporated to describe the cure behavior of the blends in the latter stages. Greater diffusion control was observed as the PEI concentration increased and the cure temperature decreased. Polymer blends based on this epoxy/liquid aromatic diamine had not been previously studied from a kinetic viewpoint. © 2005 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci 96: 660–672, 2005     

Extracting Microfacet‐based BRDF Parameters from Arbitrary Materials with Power Iterations

We introduce a novel fitting procedure that takes as input an arbitrary material, possibly anisotropic, and automatically converts it to a microfacet BRDF. Our algorithm is based on the property that the distribution of microfacets may be retrieved by solving an eigenvector problem that is built solely from backscattering samples. We show that the eigenvector associated to the largest eigenvalue is always the only solution to this problem, and compute it using the power iteration method. This approach is straightforward to implement, much faster to compute, and considerably more robust than solutions based on nonlinear optimizations. In addition, we provide simple conversion procedures of our fits into both Beckmann and GGX roughness parameters, and discuss the advantages of microfacet slope space to make our fits editable. We apply our method to measured materials from two large databases that include anisotropic materials, and demonstrate the benefits of spatially varying roughness on texture mapped geometric models.     

Dietary no-effect level of a dithiocarbamate fungicide, thiram, evaluated from measurement data on rats. I. Choice of the model of the dose-response relationship

Rats were fed diets containing various amounts of added thiram, a dithiocarbamate fungicide. As thiram feeding resulted in decreased appetite, control rats not receiving thiram were pair-fed to the experimental ones. On d 30 of the experiment the animals were weighed and sacrificed, and the following organs were weighed: liver, kidneys, heart, epididymal and perirenal fat pads, testes, seminal vesicles, tibia, adrenals, and thyroid. Liver concentrations of lactate, pyruvate, beta-hydroxybutyrate, acetoacetate, ATP, and ADP were determined by enzymatic-spectrofluorimetric assay. For each parameter studied and each thiram dosage, values for treated rats were compared to those for control rats and the probability under the null hypothesis was computed. These probabilities were transformed into probits, logits, or "Weibull transforms" and plotted against the logarithms of the respective doses. Models were fitted to the data by linear regression techniques. Finally, the dose inducing the least significant difference (LSD dose), and the dose considered "safe" at P = 0.95, 0.99, and 0.999 were calculated. Significant pesticide-induced changes in the following parameters were found: food intake; weights of the whole body, kidneys, epididymal and perirenal fat pads, testes, and seminal vesicles; and liver beta-hydroxybutyrate/acetoacetate and lactate/pyruvate ratios. As the models did not differ in fit to the experimental data or in computed LSD doses, they were discriminated on the grounds of their underlying theoretical assumptions and their prediction of safe doses in a long-term study. The log-probit model was rejected for the former reason, and it was shown that the Weibull model foresees a nonnegligible risk of change, with thiram feeding at low doses, for too many parameters. The analysis resulted in the selection of the log-probit model for further use. Weight of fatty tissues was the most sensitive parameter and, using the log-probit model, the predicted no-effect dose at the 95 percent confidence level was 38 ppm thiram in the diet.     

Chemometric analysis of combined NIR and MIR spectra to characterize French olives

Chemometric treatment of near‐infrared (NIR) and mid‐infrared (MIR) combined spectra was used firstly to predict oil and water contents in fresh olive fruit samples (n = 223) and secondly to classify these samples into five principal French cultivar origins (Aglandau, Cailletier, Olivière, Salonenque, and Tanche). The study was carried out during four crop years (2005/2006 to 2008/2009) to take into account the seasonal variations. The comparison of the results obtained in the combined range (REP = 2.6% for the water content and 3.5% for the oil content) provides an obvious advantage compared to the NIR and MIR techniques used separately. Fresh olive fruit cultivars were satisfactorily classified with the partial least squares‐discriminant analysis (PLS‐DA) method in the combined range. After use of the K‐means clustering on the PLS‐DA scores, all the samples were well classified into their five groups of origin. The use of infrared combined spectra allows a considerable improvement in estimating olive fruit quality (oil and water contents, varietal origins).     

Characterization of aqueous and solid inclusion complexes of diuron and isoproturon with beta-cyclodextrin

The interaction of diuron and isoproturon herbicides with beta-cyclodextrin is conducive to the formation of inclusion compounds in aqueous solution as well as in the solid state. The physico-chemical study of these complexes was carried out by various analytical techniques such as ultraviolet (UV), Fourier transform infrared (FT-IR), Raman, X-ray diffraction, and 1H-NMR (nuclear magnetic resonance) spectroscopies. The existence of inclusion complexes in water solution between the beta-cyclodextrin and each of the herbicides was revealed by electronic absorption and 1H-NMR spectroscopies. A 1:1 stoichiometry was determined for both complexes in aqueous medium from UV absorption spectra by using the Benesi-Hildebrand method; the relative stability constants at room temperature were calculated at 2700 +/- 300 L mol(-1) and 750 +/- 50 L mol(-1) for isoproturon and diuron, respectively. In the solid state, inclusion processes with beta-cyclodextrin were characterized by means of infrared and Raman techniques and confirmed by X-ray diffraction spectra.     

Gold(I)‐Catalysed Cyclisation of Alkynoic Acids: Towards an Efficient and Eco‐Friendly Synthesis of γ‐, δ‐ and ϵ‐Lactones

The improved synthesis of γ‐, δ‐ and ϵ‐lactones using a dinuclear N‐heterocyclic carbene (NHC)‐gold(I) catalyst is reported. This solvent‐free process provides access to γ‐ and δ‐lactones in high regio‐ and stereoselectivity. Reactions were performed at low catalyst loadings and without the need for any additives. The use of a digold pre‐catalyst provides a new synthetic route to functionalised ϵ‐lactones, poorly accessible using previous methodologies.

     

Droplet–surface impact at high pressures

The present work is a study of droplet–surface collisions at high pressures.A technique adapted from Lagrangian particle tracking is presented. The tracking technique is a hybrid between traditional high-speed, high-resolution photography used for drop studies and particle tracking velocimetry. It is suitable for high pressure systems with very short relaxation distances and with a non-steady background fluid.Collisions of droplets towards dry and wet walls were studied for systems of liquid decane with CO₂ or N₂ as gas phase, and a single component, two phase pure CO₂ system at saturation. At low impact velocities, higher deposition efficiencies were observed for collisions against the dry wall compared to the wet wall. The events are described in terms of micro-scale mechanisms. Additionally, deposition efficiency maps are given, and it is shown how to use these in two different modelling frameworks.