306 research outputs found
âItâs the Bureaucracy, Stupidâ: the implementation of the Acquis Communautaire in EU candidate countries; 1999-2003
The Central and East European (CEE) countries that had applied for membership in the European Union were confronted with far-reaching requirements in order to bring domestic policies in line with EU standards. Notwithstanding these rather uniform pressures emerging from conditionality, there is considerable variety in alignment performance across the candidate countries and over time. To account for this, we use time series cross-sectional data on the implementation performance of 13 EU candidate countries between 1999 and 2003. Our results indicate that the bureaucratic strength and effectiveness of a country positively influence its ability to adjust domestic arrangements to EU requirements. By contrast, we find no support for veto-player theories of political constraints on legislative change. We hence conclude that the implementation of the acquis communautaire in candidate countries prior to accession has been a question of bureaucratic problems rather than of political veto-manoeuvres
Locking-Free Mixed Finite Element Methods and Their Spurious Hourglassing Patterns
We present the five field mixed finite element formulation introduced by Armero and extend it to 3D problems. It combines the nonlinear mixed pressure element with an enhanced assumed strain (EAS) method based on the transposed Wilson modes. The well-known mixed pressure element arises from a Hu-Washizu-like variational principle, where dilatation and pressure are independent variables. This functional is further modified using the EAS framework to get the mixed formulation presented in this work. The element is compared to several mixed pressure and EAS element formulations showing its great performance in alleviating volumetric and shear locking in large deformation problems. The main focus of the present work is spurious hourglassing of mixed finite elements that arise in hyperelastic and elasto-plastic simulations
Asymmetry in shape causing absolute negative mobility
We propose a simple classical concept of nanodevices working in an absolute
negative mobility (ANM) regime: The minimal spatial asymmetry required for ANM
to occur is embedded in the geometry of the transported particle, rather than
in the channel design. This allows for a tremendous simplification of device
engineering, thus paving the way towards practical implementations of ANM.
Operating conditions and performance of our model device are investigated, both
numerically and analytically.Comment: 6 pages; accepted for publication in PR
Valorization of organic carbon in primary sludge via semi-continuous dark fermentation: First step to establish a wastewater biorefinery
In this study, lab-scale, bench-scale, and pilot-scale experiments were carried out to optimize short-chain fatty acids production from primary sludge. Batch tests showed the requirement of short retention times and semi-continuous operation mode showed a plateau of maximum daily productivity at 36-hours hydraulic retention time with minimal methanation. Optimization from pH 5 to pH 10 at 36 h-hydraulic retention time under long-term semi-continuous operating mode revealed that production of short-chain fatty acids was pH dependent and highest yields could be achieved at pH 7 by establishing optimum redox conditions for fermentation. Pilot-scale experiments at 32 °C showed that daily productivity (3.1 gâLâd) and yields (150 mgâg; OLR = 21 gâLâd; pH 7) of short-chain fatty acids could be significantly improved, specifically for acetic and propionic acids. From these results, a robust dark fermentation step for recovery of valuable products from the solids treatment step in a biorefinery can be achieved
Psychoeducation:perspectives from individuals on sick leave who are at risk of having a mental disorder
O6-methylguanine-DNA methyltransferase (MGMT) Promoter methylation is a rare event in soft tissue sarcoma
BACKGROUND: Gene silencing of O6-methylguanineâDNA methyltransferase (MGMT) by promoter methylation improves the outcome of glioblastoma patients after combined therapy of alkylating chemotherapeutic agents and radiation. The purpose of this study was to assess the frequency of MGMT promoter methylation in soft tissue sarcoma to identify patients eligible for alkylating agent chemotherapy such as temozolomide. FINDINGS: Paraffin tumor blocks of 75 patients with representative STS subtypes were evaluated. The methylation status of the MGMT promoter was assessed by methylation-specific polymerase-chain-reaction analysis (PCR). Furthermore, immunohistochemistry was applied to verify expression of MGMT. MGMT gene silencing was assumed if MGMT promoter methylation was present and the fraction of tumor cells expressing MGMT was 20% or less. Methylation specific PCR detected methylated MGMT promoter in 10/75 cases. Immunohistochemical staining of nuclear MGMT was negative in 15/75 cases. 6/75 tumor samples showed MGMT promoter methylation and negative immunohistochemical nuclear staining of MGMT. In none of the tested STS subtypes we found a fraction of tumors with MGMT silencing exceeding 22%. CONCLUSION: MGMT gene silencing is a rare event in soft tissue sarcoma and cannot be recommended as a selection criterion for the therapy of STS patients with alkylating agents such as temozolomide
Non-Markovian Stochastic Resonance
The phenomenological linear response theory of non-Markovian Stochastic
Resonance (SR) is put forward for stationary two-state renewal processes. In
terms of a derivation of a non-Markov regression theorem we evaluate the
characteristic SR-quantifiers; i.e. the spectral power amplification (SPA) and
the signal-to-noise ratio (SNR), respectively. In clear contrast to Markovian
SR, a characteristic benchmark of genuine non-Markovian SR is its distinctive
dependence of the SPA and SNR on small (adiabatic) driving frequencies;
particularly, the adiabatic SNR becomes strongly suppressed over its Markovian
counterpart. This non-Markovian SR theory is elucidated for a fractal gating
dynamics of a potassium ion channel possessing an infinite variance of closed
sojourn times.Comment: 4 pages, 1 figur
RELATIONSHIP OF INCIDENT ATRIAL FIBRILLATION TO RENAL FUNCTION IN HYPERTENSIVE PATIENTS WITH ELECTROCARDIOGRAPHIC LEFT VENTRICULAR HYPERTROPHY: THE LIFE STUDY
A novel mixed and energyâmomentum consistent framework for coupled nonlinear thermoâelectroâelastodynamics
A novel mixed framework and energy-momentum consistent integration scheme in the field of coupled nonlinear thermo-electro-elastodynamics is proposed. The mixed environment is primarily based on a framework for elastodynamics in the case of polyconvex strain energy functions. For this elastodynamic framework, the properties of the so-called tensor cross product are exploited to derive a mixed formulation via a Hu-Washizu type extension of the strain energy function. Afterwards, a general path to incorporate nonpotential problems for mixed formulations is demonstrated. To this end, the strong form of the mixed framework is derived and supplemented with the energy balance as well as Maxwell\u27s equations neglecting magnetic and time dependent effects. By additionally choosing an appropriate energy function, this procedure leads to a fully coupled thermo-electro-elastodynamic formulation which benefits from the properties of the underlying mixed framework. In addition, the proposed mixed framework facilitates the design of a new energy-momentum consistent time integration scheme by employing discrete derivatives in the sense of Gonzalez. A one-step integration scheme of second-order accuracy is obtained which is shown to be stable even for large time steps. Eventually, the performance of the novel formulation is demonstrated in several numerical examples
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