Estimation of automobile-driver describing function from highway tests using the double steering wheel

The automobile-driver describing function for lateral position control was estimated for three subjects from frequency response analysis of straight road test results. The measurement procedure employed an instrumented full size sedan with known steering response characteristics, and equipped with a lateral lane position measuring device based on video detection of white stripe lane markings. Forcing functions were inserted through a servo driven double steering wheel coupling the driver to the steering system proper. Random appearing, Gaussian, and transient time functions were used. The quasi-linear models fitted to the random appearing input frequency response characterized the driver as compensating for lateral position error in a proportional, derivative, and integral manner. Similar parameters were fitted to the Gabor transformed frequency response of the driver to transient functions. A fourth term corresponding to response to lateral acceleration was determined by matching the time response histories of the model to the experimental results. The time histories show evidence of pulse-like nonlinear behavior during extended response to step transients which appear as high frequency remnant power

Potential Effects of Industrial Air Pollution and Wood-Product Supply and Demand, and Structure of the Wood-Products Industry, in Poland

This study aimed to determine potential changes in the production structure of the wood-processing industry up to 2020, resulting from unfavorable impact of industrial pollutants upon forests in Poland. The paper consists of four chapters. In the first section, forecasts of consumer demand for forest products, based on patterns of actual demand, are presented. The structure of industrial demand for wood assortments, and the degree to which it is met, are the topics of the second chapter. In the third chapter, we present forecasts of the possibilities of wood-raw-material consumption by industry with regard to the unfavorable impact of industrial pollution. The last chapter contains forecasts of production regarding foreseen changes in the structure of the wood-processing industry, taking into account qualitative changes in wood raw-material and expected changes in techniques and technology. Our results show that, up to 2020, negative effects of industrial pollutants on forests will have a significant influence on the degree of meeting consumer demands for wood products

WNT5A gene and protein expression in endometrial cancer

Introduction. WNT5A (Wnt family member 5A) belongs to the WNT family of secreted signaling glycoproteins that play essential role in developmental, physiological and pathological processes. WNT5A was shown to take part in carcinogenesis process playing both oncogenic and suppressor functions in various types of human malignancies. This study aimed to assess the expression of the WNT5A gene at the mRNA and protein levels in the specimens derived from endometrial cancer (EC) or unchanged control endometrium. The associations between the WNT5A expression levels and clinicopathological characteristics and survival of EC patients were evaluated. Materials and methods. Total RNA was isolated in order to assess the relative amounts of WNT5A mRNA by quantitative polymerase chain reaction (QPCR) in samples of unchanged endometrial control (n = 8) and tumor samples of EC patients (n = 28). Immunohistochemistry (IHC) was used to determine the presence of WNT5A protein in the sections of formalin-fixed, paraffin-embedded tissue specimens derived from unchanged endome­trial controls (n = 6) and EC tumors (n = 19). Significance of differences in WNT5A expression levels between the studied groups of EC patients and correlations between the WNT5A and demographic data, pathological features, hematological parameters and overall survival of the patients were evaluated by statistical analysis. Results. The level of WNT5A mRNA was decreased in EC in comparison to unchanged endometrium. WNT5A expression was associated with primary tumor invasion status exhibiting reduced level of transcripts in EC that involved organs beyond the uterus when compared to the uterus-confined cancers. WNT5A immunoreactivity was visualized in the cytoplasm and nuclei of EC cells as well as in the luminal and glandular epithelial cells of unchanged endometrium. WNT5A mRNA expression levels correlated negatively with cytoplasmic, and positively with nuclear immunoreactivity of the WNT5A protein in the EC cells. In addition, the relationships between blood leucocyte count (in particular granulocytes and lymphocytes) of patients with EC and their WNT5A mRNA and protein expression levels were established. A positive correlation between the nuclear immunoexpression of WNT5A protein in the cancer cells in cell nuclei and mean platelet volume in blood was also found. Conclusions. The results of the first study of WNT5A expression at the transcript and protein levels indicate that it could be considered as a potential marker of molecular changes that take place during EC development

Study of W± boson in the ALICE muon spectrometer: considerations and analysis using the HLT tool

W± bosons produced in proton-proton collisions can be observed in the ALICE muon spectrometer via their decay into single muons at a transverse momentum, pt ~ Mw/2 40 GeV/c. However the identification of these single muons is complicated by a large amount of muonic background, especially in the low pt region. Therefore, it is necessary to apply precise pt cuts below the region of interest. This can be done by means of the High Level Trigger (HLT). In this paper we present the performance of detecting high pt muons at the HLT level. In order to improve the momentum resolution of the L0 trigger, fast clusterization of the tracking chambers together with L0 trigger matching and fast tracking reconstruction is applied. This will reduce the background in the high pt muon analysis

Phase Polymorphism of [Cd(DMSO) 6 ](ClO 4 ) 2 Studied by Differential Scanning Calorimetry

Five phase transitions of [Cd(DMSO) 6 ](ClO 4 ) 2 have been detected by differential scanning calorimetry, namely the three reversible transitions: stable KIa ↔ stable KIb at T C4 = 242 K, due to a change of the crystal structure, metastable KII ↔ metastable KIII at T C3 = 318 K, and metastable KII ↔ overcooled K0 at T C2 = 347 K, one irreversible transition: KIa → K0 at T C1 = 376 K, and melting at T t = 465 K. From the enthalpy changes of these transitions it can be concluded that K0 is a solid rotational phase and KII and KIII are most probably solid phases with a high degree of orientational disorder. The phases K0, KII, and KIII form an enantiotropic system, but they are metastable in relation to the phases KIa and KIb in the whole temperature range, so they form the monotropic system with them

Systems chemistry: all in a spin

The authors thank the Leverhulme Trust for an award (RPG-2013-343) to support LC.A fundamental challenge in supramolecular systems chemistry is to engineer the emergence of complex behaviour. The collective structures of metal cyanide chains have now been interpreted in the same manner as the myriad of magnetic phases displayed by frustrated spin systems, highlighting a symbiotic approach between systems chemistry and magnetism.PostprintPeer reviewe

Selection for Replicases in Protocells

PMCID: PMC3649988This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited

On RAF Sets and Autocatalytic Cycles in Random Reaction Networks

The emergence of autocatalytic sets of molecules seems to have played an important role in the origin of life context. Although the possibility to reproduce this emergence in laboratory has received considerable attention, this is still far from being achieved. In order to unravel some key properties enabling the emergence of structures potentially able to sustain their own existence and growth, in this work we investigate the probability to observe them in ensembles of random catalytic reaction networks characterized by different structural properties. From the point of view of network topology, an autocatalytic set have been defined either in term of strongly connected components (SCCs) or as reflexively autocatalytic and food-generated sets (RAFs). We observe that the average level of catalysis differently affects the probability to observe a SCC or a RAF, highlighting the existence of a region where the former can be observed, whereas the latter cannot. This parameter also affects the composition of the RAF, which can be further characterized into linear structures, autocatalysis or SCCs. Interestingly, we show that the different network topology (uniform as opposed to power-law catalysis systems) does not have a significantly divergent impact on SCCs and RAFs appearance, whereas the proportion between cleavages and condensations seems instead to play a role. A major factor that limits the probability of RAF appearance and that may explain some of the difficulties encountered in laboratory seems to be the presence of molecules which can accumulate without being substrate or catalyst of any reaction.Comment: pp 113-12