Finite Element Analysis of Multipass Effects of Vehicles on Soil Compaction

Finite element procedure was used to simulate multiple wheel loading and to predict its effect on soil compaction. Results of nonlinear analysis, conducted using an incremental loading procedure, show effects of tire size, soil type, and number of passes on soil compaction. The results of the study also demonstrate the potential use of the procedure in compaction related studies. However, experimental verification of the model is necessary before the procedure can be recommended for wider use

Modelling the Effects of Intangible Capabilities on ERP Implementation

Enterprise resource planning (ERP) system is well recognised as a key technological infrastructure that facilitates business operations and growth in a dynamic business environment. Implementation of ERP system however is mirrored by numerous problems, a fact well cited in many academic studies. Research addressing the reasons for ERP implementation problems has identified a plethora of success factors. Following a similar research direction, we leveraged on the resource based view (RBV) to investigate the effects of firms’ capacity to deploy intangible resources with valuable and inimitable characteristics (termed as intangible capabilities) on successful ERP implementation. Three intangible capabilities were assessed, i.e. governance, knowledge and relationships. Using data collected from a survey with service firms in Malaysia, we found evidence that relationships capability effect towards successful ERP implementation was direct and significant. Further analysis revealed that governance capability reinforces the effects of knowledge and relationship capabilities toward successful ERP implementation. The empirical findings suggest that successful ERP implementation lie at the firms’ capacity to deploy and reconfigure their intangible capabilities of valuable and inimitable characteristics to create reinforcing superseding effects. We conclude that governance capability plays the antecedent platform role to strengthen the effects of knowledge and relationships capabilities on ERP project’s success

Switch Bandwidth Congestion Prediction in Cloud Environment

AbstractCloud environment is mainly used to store and analyze large volumes of data .The major benefits of hosting the applications using cloud environment are storing large volume of data and performing live data analytics. Cloud systems have switches, which serves as an interface connecting and sharing the data with each other. Network bandwidth congestion is caused when large volumes of data are moved to node or cluster in the cloud environment which in- turn creates Service Level Agreement (SLA) violation for the cloud application service. The result of SLA violation includes impact on working of the entire cloud service .The proposed Network Bandwidth Congestion Prediction framework (NBCPF) predicts the bandwidth congestion using weighted random early detection, to avoids the SLA violation for applications services. NBCPF arrests the bandwidth congestion in cloud environment by prediction of switches in cloud environment resulting in accurately identifying the exact task involved in creation of jobs or services

Supplemental Oxygen Protects Heart Against Acute Myocardial Infarction

Myocardial infarction (MI), which occurs often due to acute ischemia followed by reflow, is associated with irreversible loss (death) of cardiomyocytes. If left untreated, MI will lead to progressive loss of viable cardiomyocytes, deterioration of cardiac function, and congestive heart failure. While supplemental oxygen therapy has long been in practice to treat acute MI, there has not been a clear scientific basis for the observed beneficial effects. Further, there is no rationale for the amount or duration of administration of supplemental oxygenation for effective therapy. The goal of the present study was to determine an optimum oxygenation protocol that can be clinically applicable for treating acute MI. Using EPR oximetry, we studied the effect of exposure to supplemental oxygen cycling (OxCy) administered by inhalation of 21–100% oxygen for brief periods (15–90 min), daily for 5 days, using a rat model of acute MI. Myocardial oxygen tension (pO2), cardiac function and pro-survival/apoptotic signaling molecules were used as markers of treatment outcome. OxCy resulted in a significant reduction of infarct size and improvement of cardiac function. An optimal condition of 30-min OxCy with 95% oxygen + 5% CO2 under normobaric conditions was found to be effective for cardioprotection

Crops For the Future (CFF): an overview of research efforts in the adoption of underutilised species

Main conclusion Crops For the Future (CFF), as an entity, has established a broad range of research activities to promote the improvement and adoption of currently underutilised crops. Abstract This paper summarises selected research activities at Crops For the Future (CFF) in pursuit of its mission 'to develop solutions for diversifying future agriculture using underutilised crops'. CFF is a research company focussed on the improvement of underutilised crops, so that they might be grown and consumed more widely with benefits to human food and nutritional security; its founding guarantors were the Government of Malaysia and the University of Nottingham. From its base in Malaysia, it engages in research around the world with a focus on species and system diversification. CFF has adopted a food system approach that adds value by delivering prototype food, feed and knowledge products. Bambara groundnut (Vigna subterranea) was adopted as an exemplar crop around which to develop CFF's food system approach with emphasis on the short-day photoperiod requirement for pod-filling and the hard-to-cook trait. Selective breeding has allowed the development of lines that are less susceptible to photoperiod but also provided a range of tools and approaches that are now being exploited in other crops such as winged bean (Psophocarpus tetragonolobus), amaranth (Amaranthus spp.), mor-inga (Moringa oleifera) and proso (Panicum miliaceum) and foxtail (Setaria italica) millets. CFF has developed and tested new food products and demonstrated that several crops can be used as feed for black soldier fly which can, in turn, be used to feed fish thereby reducing the need for fishmeal. Information about underutilised crops is widely dispersed; so, a major effort has been made to develop a knowledge base that can be interrogated and used to answer practical questions about potential exploitation of plant and nutritional characteristics. Future research will build on the success with Bambara groundnut and include topics such as urban agriculture, rural development and diversification, and the development of novel foods. CFF's remit and research objective

Design and synthesis of short amphiphilic cationic peptidomimetics based on biphenyl backbone as antibacterial agents

© 2017 Elsevier Masson SAS Antimicrobial peptides (AMPs) and their synthetic mimics have received recent interest as new alternatives to traditional antibiotics in attempts to overcome the rise of antibiotic resistance in many microbes. AMPs are part of the natural defenses of most living organisms and they also have a unique mechanism of action against bacteria. Herein, a new series of short amphiphilic cationic peptidomimetics were synthesized by incorporating the 3′-amino-[1,1′-biphenyl]-3-carboxylic acid backbone to mimic the essential properties of natural AMPs. By altering hydrophobicity and charge, we identified the most potent analogue 25g that was active against both Gram-positive Staphylococcus aureus (MIC = 15.6 μM) and Gram-negative Escherichia coli (MIC = 7.8 μM) bacteria. Cytoplasmic permeability assay results revealed that 25g acts primarily by depolarization of lipids in cytoplasmic membranes. The active compounds were also investigated for their cytotoxicity to human cells, lysis of lipid bilayers using tethered bilayer lipid membranes (tBLMs) and their activity against established biofilms of S. aureus and E. coli

A Bioinformatics Resource for TWEAK-Fn14 Signaling Pathway

TNF-related weak inducer of apoptosis (TWEAK) is a new member of the TNF superfamily. It signals through TNFRSF12A, commonly known as Fn14. The TWEAK-Fn14 interaction regulates cellular activities including proliferation, migration, differentiation, apoptosis, angiogenesis, tissue remodeling and inflammation. Although TWEAK has been reported to be associated with autoimmune diseases, cancers, stroke, and kidney-related disorders, the downstream molecular events of TWEAK-Fn14 signaling are yet not available in any signaling pathway repository. In this paper, we manually compiled from the literature, in particular those reported in human systems, the downstream reactions stimulated by TWEAK-Fn14 interactions. Our manual amassment of the TWEAK-Fn14 pathway has resulted in cataloging of 46 proteins involved in various biochemical reactions and TWEAK-Fn14 induced expression of 28 genes. We have enabled the availability of data in various standard exchange formats from NetPath, a repository for signaling pathways. We believe that this composite molecular interaction pathway will enable identification of new signaling components in TWEAK signaling pathway. This in turn may lead to the identification of potential therapeutic targets in TWEAK-associated disorders

Evaluation of bioceramic coated materials for orthopaedic applications

637-644Many surgical metals such as stainless steel, titanium, magnesium and its alloys have been extensively used for the recovery of body structures in human beings. Corrosion is the major reason for failure in metallic implants, when the metal comes in contact with the body fluids it releases metal ions into the surrounding tissues. This may even lead to the second surgery which can be eradicated by the surface modification of the implant with bioceramics using coating techniques. The present work involves the development of coatings on the surface of 316L SS type of stainless steel using a biphasic mixture of bio ceramics HAP/β-TCP in ratio of 7.5:2.5 by electrophoretic deposition (EPD) from a suspension of ethanol. The presence of biphasic coating imparts the property of both bioactivity and bioresorbability to the implant with good adherence of the coatings in body fluids. These coatings provide corrosion resistance and also favour new bone growth. Further, the biocompatibility of these materials can be evaluated by in-vitro assay. This includes cytotoxicity tests carried out with normal cell line (Vero cell line) and cancerous cell line (HEP II cell Line). The coated samples have been tested for their biochemical nature using DPPH (2,2 diphenyl 1 picryl hydrazil compound) activity to confirm whether the coated implant is suitable for cancerous patients with its antioxidant property which helps to trap the free radicals