The Political Rationale of the EU Constitutional Treaty: Hegemonic Consideration for the Core Member States

The constitutional draft of the EU represents remarkable progress compared with the current Treaty of Nice. From a political perspective, the proposed Constitutional Treaty has the attributes more of an international treaty than a constitution, and reflects rather incomplete constitutionalism. The EU constitution is regarded as a carefully contrived compromise between the supranational federalist and intergovernmentalist positions. The proposed EU Constitution has grown out of constitutional politics strategically constructed by the core Member States, whose national governments have driven the process of EU constitution-making. We argue here that it is the major Member State-led constitutional politics underlying hegemonic intergovernmental governance that will continue to prevail, and that the concept of EU constitutional federalism seems, at present, to be a rather far off goal

Baseline Models for Bridge Performance Monitoring

A baseline model is essential for long-term structural performance monitoring and evaluation. This study represents the first effort in applying a neural network-based system identification technique to establish and update a baseline finite element model of an instrumented highway bridge based on the measurement of its traffic-induced vibrations. The neural network approach is particularly effective in dealing with measurement of a large-scale structure by a limited number of sensors. In this study, sensor systems were installed on two highway bridges and extensive vibration data were collected, based on which modal parameters including natural frequencies and mode shapes of the bridges were extracted using the frequency domain decomposition method as well as the conventional peak picking method. Then an innovative neural network is designed with the input being the modal parameters and the output being the structural parameters of a three-dimensional finite element model of the bridge such as the mass and stiffness elements. After extensively training and testing through finite element analysis, the neural network became capable to identify, with a high level of accuracy, the structural parameter values based on the measured modal parameters, and thus the finite element model of the bridge was successfully updated to a baseline. The neural network developed in this study can be used for future baseline updates as the bridge being monitored periodically over its lifetime

Quality characteristics of rice inoculated with Inonotus obliquus mycelia and incubated under different cultivating conditions

This study was performed to investigate the quality characteristics of Inonotus obliquus mycelia rice incubated with I. obliquus (KCTC 256152). Different volumes of mycelial culture of I. obliquus were used for production of I. obliquus mycelia rice. Twenty percent of the mycelial culture was added to rice and designated as IOR-20, 30% as IOR-30 and 40% as IOR-40. Using the I. obliquus mycelia rice, the contents of β-1,3-glucan, betulin, total polyphenol and 1,1-diphenyl-2-picrylhydrazol (DPPH) radical scavenging activity, Hunter`s color values, free amino acid content, and mineral content were investigated. The β-1,3-glucan content in I. obliquus mycelia rice were in the order of IOR-30(729.7 μg/g) > IOR-20(716.0 μg/g) > IOR-40(690.5 μg/g) and those of betulin content were OR-30(1273.7 μg/g) > IOR-40 (1247.81 μg/g) > IOR-20 (1209.82 μg/g). The highest content of total polyphenols (353.6 μg/g) and activity of DPPH radical scavenging were observed in the IOR-30. The higher contents for β-1,3-glucan, betulin, polyphenol, and DPPH radical scavenging were found in 30% mycelial culture treatment, showing the best condition for the production of I. obliquus mycelia. Aspartic acid (10.28 to 29.44 μg/100 g), threonine (5.43 to 11.00 μg/100 g), serine (8.84 to 14.53 μg/100 g), glutamic acid (31.01 to 53.61 μg/100 g), glycine (4.77 to 10.26 μg/100 g), valine (2.93 to 6.57 μg/100 g), and lysine (5.20 to 14.41 μg/100 g) contents were determined in the I. obliquus mycelia rice and the order was as follows; IOR-20>IOR-30>IOR-40. The IOR-30 sample exhibited the highest levels of K(899.1±8.1 mg/kg), Mg(427.3±9.3 mg/kg), Ca(480.2±6.9 mg/kg), Na(296.1±9.2 mg/kg).Keywords: Rice, Inonotus obliquus (KCTC 256152), β-1,3-glucan, betulin, quality characteristicsAfrican Journal of Biotechnology Vol. 12(33), pp. 5131-513

Eco-Friendly Synthesis of Water-Glass-Based Silica Aerogels via Catechol-Based Modifier

Silica aerogels have attracted much attention owing to their excellent thermal insulation properties. However, the conventional synthesis of silica aerogels involves the use of expensive and toxic alkoxide precursors and surface modifiers such as trimethylchlorosilane. In this study, cost-effective water-glass silica aerogels were synthesized using an eco-friendly catechol derivative surface modifier instead of trimethylchlorosilane. Polydopamine was introduced to increase adhesion to the SiO2 surface. The addition of 4-tert-butyl catechol and hexylamine imparted hydrophobicity to the surface and suppressed the polymerization of the polydopamine. After an ambient pressure drying process, catechol-modified aerogel exhibited a specific surface area of 377 m(2)/g and an average pore diameter of approximately 21 nm. To investigate their thermal conductivities, glass wool sheets were impregnated with catechol-modified aerogel. The thermal conductivity was 40.4 mWm(-1)K(-1), which is lower than that of xerogel at 48.7 mWm(-1)K(-1). Thus, by precisely controlling the catechol coating in the mesoporous framework, an eco-friendly synthetic method for aerogel preparation is proposed

Crystal structure of hyperthermophilic esterase EstE1 and the relationship between its dimerization and thermostability properties

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>EstE1 is a hyperthermophilic esterase belonging to the hormone-sensitive lipase family and was originally isolated by functional screening of a metagenomic library constructed from a thermal environmental sample. Dimers and oligomers may have been evolutionally selected in thermophiles because intersubunit interactions can confer thermostability on the proteins. The molecular mechanisms of thermostabilization of this extremely thermostable esterase are not well understood due to the lack of structural information.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Here we report for the first time the 2.1-Å resolution crystal structure of EstE1. The three-dimensional structure of EstE1 exhibits a classic α/β hydrolase fold with a central parallel-stranded beta sheet surrounded by alpha helices on both sides. The residues Ser154, Asp251, and His281 form the catalytic triad motif commonly found in other α/β hydrolases. EstE1 exists as a dimer that is formed by hydrophobic interactions and salt bridges. Circular dichroism spectroscopy and heat inactivation kinetic analysis of EstE1 mutants, which were generated by structure-based site-directed mutagenesis of amino acid residues participating in EstE1 dimerization, revealed that hydrophobic interactions through Val274 and Phe276 on the β8 strand of each monomer play a major role in the dimerization of EstE1. In contrast, the intermolecular salt bridges contribute less significantly to the dimerization and thermostability of EstE1.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>Our results suggest that intermolecular hydrophobic interactions are essential for the hyperthermostability of EstE1. The molecular mechanism that allows EstE1 to endure high temperature will provide guideline for rational design of a thermostable esterase/lipase using the lipolytic enzymes showing structural similarity to EstE1.</p