Information diffusion in distributed OSN: The impact of trusted relationships

Distributed Online Social Networks (DOSN) are a valid alternative to OSN based on peer-to-peer communications. Without centralised data management, DOSN must provide the users with higher level of control over their personal information and privacy. Thus, users may wish to restrict their personal network to a limited set of peers, depending on the level of trust with them. This means that the effective social network (used for information exchange) may be a subset of the complete social network, and may present different structural patterns, which could limit information diffusion. In this paper, we estimate the capability of DOSN to diffuse content based on trust between social peers. To have a realistic representation of a OSN friendship graph, we consider a large-scale Facebook network, from which we estimate the trust level between friends. Then, we consider only social links above a certain threshold of trust, and we analyse the potential capability of the resulting graph to spread information through several structural indices. We test four possible thresholds, coinciding with the definition of personal social circles derived from sociology and anthropology. The results show that limiting the network to “active social contacts” leads to a graph with high network connectivity, where the nodes are still well-connected to each other, thus information can potentially cover a large number of nodes with respect to the original graph. On the other hand, the coverage drops for more restrictive assumptions. Nevertheless the re-insertion of a single excluded friend for each user is sufficient to obtain good coverage (i.e., always higher than 40 %) even in the most restricted graphs. We also analyse the potential capability of the network to spread information (i.e., network spreadability), studying the properties of the social paths between any pairs of users in the graph, which represent the effective channels traversed by information. The value of contact frequency between pairs of users determines a decay of trust along the path (the higher the contact frequency the lower the decay), and a consequent decay in the level of trustworthiness of information traversing the path. We show that selecting the link to re-insert in the network with probability proportional to its level of trust is the best re-insertion strategy, as it leads to the best connectivity/spreadability combination.     

Improving query performance on dynamic graphs

Software and Systems Modeling - Querying large models efficiently often imposes high demands on system resources such as memory, processing time, disk access or network latency. The situation...     

Classification of solid dispersions: correlation to (i) stability and solubility (ii) preparation and characterization techniques

Solid dispersion has been a topic of interest in recent years for its potential in improving oral bioavailability, especially for poorly water soluble drugs where dissolution could be the rate-limiting step of oral absorption. Understanding the physical state of the drug and polymers in solid dispersions is essential as it influences both the stability and solubility of these systems. This review emphasizes on the classification of solid dispersions based on the physical states of drug and polymer. Based on this classification, stability aspects such as crystallization tendency, glass transition temperature (T_g), drug polymer miscibility, molecular mobility, etc. and solubility aspects have been discussed. In addition, preparation and characterization methods for binary solid dispersions based on the classification have also been discussed.     

Der Einfluß von Cer,Zirkonium und Bor auf die Oxidationsbeständigkeit hitzebeständiger Stähle an Luft

Influence of cerium, zirconium and boron on the oxidation resistance of heat-resistant steels in air Isothermal and cyclic oxidation experiments were carried out in air to investigate the influence of the minor elements such as Cerium, Zirkonium and Boron on the oxidation resistance of heat resistant ferritic and austenitic steels like X 10Cr 18, X 10CrAl 18 and X 15 CrNiSi 20 12. In the case of cyclic experiments samples were exposed at constant temperatures for 100 h and then cooled to R. T. This cycle was repeated 10 times. The corrosion was determined as weight change and was continuously measured by a thermo-balance. The distribution of the alloying elements on the phase boundary scale/steel was examined by Scanning-Electron-Microscope. Addition of small amounts of Ce (0.3 wt-% max.) could reduce the oxidation rate in the case of isothermal and cyclic conditions. Zirkonium concentrations below 0.1 wt-% could have a beneficial effect, but at higher concentrations the oxidation rate increases with increasing amounts of Zr. Small Boron concentrations of 0.02 wt-% lead to catastrophic oxidation at temperatures above 1000°C.     

Effects of postharvest UV‐C treatment on carotenoids and phenolic compounds of vine‐ripe tomatoes

Light red tomatoes were exposed to different doses of ultraviolet C (UV‐C) irradiation (1.0, 3.0 and 12.2 kJ m^?2). After treatment, the tomatoes were stored for 2 days at room temperature, and then analysed to determine the effect of irradiation on the main antioxidants, carotenoids and phenolic compounds and the results compared with the control samples. The lycopene content was found to have increased by 14% with respect to the control samples, while β‐carotene decreased. Cis‐isomers from lycopene also increased when the tomatoes were exposed to irradiation for more than 3 h. UV‐C irradiation also had a positive effect on total phenolic compounds; however, the same effect was not observed in the individually analysed phenolic compounds. While chlorogenic and ferulic acids increased in content, naringenin and rutin contents decreased. These results suggest that UV‐C irradiation of tomatoes could improve the beneficial effect of red tomatoes for human health by increasing the levels of certain bioactive compounds; it could also be used to obtain higher content of bioavailability components, such as cis‐isomers from lycopene.     

Kinetik und Mechanismus der Oxydation und Reduktion von Wüstit in Wasserdampf-Wasserstoff-Gemischen

Deuterium-Austausch zwischen Wasserdampf und Wasserstoff an der Wüstitoberfläche. Widerstandsmessungen zur Untersuchung der Sauerstoffübertragung. Nachweis der Teilschritte H₂O = OH(ad) + H(ad) und OH(ad) = O(ad) + H(ad) bei der Sauerstoffübertragung. Geschwindigkeitsgleichungen der Teilschritte. Abhängigkeit von Druck, Sauerstoffaktivität und Temperatur. Kontrolle der Reaktionsgeschwindigkeit durch die Teilreaktionen.     

Electrolytic deposition of copper-aluminium alloys and certain of their properties

The process of electrolytic deposition of copper-aluminium alloys from a nonaqueous ethylbenzenetoluene bath was studied using an electrical system consisting of two independent current circuits to control cathode alloy deposition and anode copper dissolution separately. The influence of electrical parameters on current efficiency and chemical composition of the Cu-Al alloys was determined, as was the phase composition, microhardness and surface morphology. In alloys containing about 10% Al the presence of a martensitic₁ phase was detected. Due to the very fine-grained structure of the electrolytic alloys obtained, no shape memory effect was observed in copper microelements with Cu-10.6%A1 alloy coatings.     

Preparation and study of thermal properties of phase change materials based on paraffin–alumina‐filled polyethylene

Novel phase change materials based on paraffin and alumina‐filled polyethylene (FPE) were prepared using a two‐step process. In the first step, PE is synthesized using metallocene catalyst system. The synthesized PE is subsequently purified, whereas hydrated alumina–PE composites will be formed by the hydrolysis of aluminum organic cocatalyst and dispersion of hydrated alumina in the PE matrix. In the second step, paraffin–alumina‐FPE composites were prepared by using the ex situ technique. Scanning electron microscopy, X‐ray diffraction, Fourier‐transform infrared spectroscopy, thermogravimetric analysis, and differential scanning calorimetry were used to evaluate the structure and thermal properties of the composites. The results show that the incorporation of a suitable amount of alumina into the composites changes their thermal stability. It is also possible to improve the thermophysical properties of the thermal energy storage materials by altering the paraffin ratio to the FPE. © 2010 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci, 2011     

Effect of ink organics on cambering of an Ag-metallized low temperature co-fired ceramics (LTCC)

Ceramic technology has had an important role in microelectronics since 1960s and ceramic seems to be a continuously developing, mature technology. Recently, development of low temperature co-fired ceramic technology (LTCC) has been geared up due to the huge demand of miniaturisation of electronic components. New materials are being developed for extending the demand of wide range of dielectric properties of LTCC, minimization of shrinkage, cambering of LTCC, high quality of conductors and patterning etc. This paper deals with formulation of silver conductor inks for LTCC and the effect of ink organics on the LTCC in particular to cambering/warpage, microstructure development were studied and presented.

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