Contributory Liability for Access Providers: Solving the Conundrum Digitalization Has Placed on Copyright Laws

Courts should not rely upon a standard of vicarious liability to hold service providers responsible for copyright infringement. Rather, courts should rely on a contributory liability standard which will not undermine the growth of the Internet

Prognostics of transformer paper insulation using statistical particle filtering of on-line data

Prognostics of transformer remaining life can be achieved through a statistical technique called particle filtering, which gives a more accurate prediction than standard methods by quantifying sources of uncertainty

Application of a model-based rainfall-runoff database as efficient tool for flood risk management

A framework for a comprehensive synthetic rainfall-runoff database was developed to study catchment response to a variety of rainfall events. The framework supports effective flood risk assessment and management and implements simple approaches. It consists of three flexible components, a rainfall generator, a continuous rainfallrunoff model, and a database management system. The system was developed and tested at two gauged river sections along the upper Tiber River (central Italy). One of the main questions was to investigate how simple such approaches can be applied without impairing the quality of the results. The rainfall-runoff model was used to simulate runoff on the basis of a large number of rainfall events. The resulting rainfallrunoff database stores pre-simulated events classified on the basis of the rainfall amount, initial wetness conditions and initial discharge. The real-time operational forecasts follow an analogue method that does not need new model simulations. However, the forecasts are based on the simulation results available in the rainfall-runoff database (for the specific class to which the forecast belongs). Therefore, the database can be used as an effective tool to assess possible streamflow scenarios assuming different rainfall volumes for the following days. The application to the study site shows that magnitudes of real flood events were appropriately captured by the database. Further work should be dedicated to introduce a component for taking account of the actual temporal distribution of rainfall events into the stochastic rainfall generator and to the use of different rainfall-runoff models to enhance the usability of the proposed procedure

In Situ Characterisation of Permanent Magnetic Quadrupoles for focussing proton beams

High intensity laser driven proton beams are at present receiving much attention. The reasons for this are many but high on the list is the potential to produce compact accelerators. However two of the limitations of this technology is that unlike conventional nuclear RF accelerators lasers produce diverging beams with an exponential energy distribution. A number of different approaches have been attempted to monochromise these beams but it has become obvious that magnetic spectrometer technology developed over many years by nuclear physicists to transport and focus proton beams could play an important role for this purpose. This paper deals with the design and characterisation of a magnetic quadrupole system which will attempt to focus and transport laser-accelerated proton beams.Comment: 20 pages, 42 figure

A model-based analysis method for evaluating the grid impact of EV and high harmonic content sources

The impact on the distribution grid when Electric Vehicles are connected is an im-portant technical question in the development of new smart grids. This paper looks in detail at the predictive capability of a model, calculating harmonic voltage and current levels, in the situation where an electric vehicle is being charged by an in-ductive charging plate which acts as a substantial source of harmonic distortion. The method described in this paper models distortion at the LV side of the distribution grid by reconstructing the HV harmonic distortion levels seen at a typical LV sub-station. Additional LV connected harmonic-rich current sources can then be added, allowing a quantitative analysis of the impact of such sources on the distribution grid in terms of measurable harmonics magnitude and phase angle with respect to the fundamental

Smart streetlights for smart cities

Streetlights are a key asset in any city as they provide a sense of safety and security to the public, especially pedestrians, and increase the quality of life by artificially extending the day. Streetlights that are smart and operate intelligently and autonomously can provide added benefits of additional lower energy consumption and lower carbon emissions. Such an asset can also provide the extra connectivity and sensor data flows required to allow algorithms centrally or locally deployed to act on relevant information to optimise asset energy usage and provide a degree of automation of operation. This article will discuss a smart street lighting system developed by Autonomous-IoT, a UK-based SME

Brg1 chromatin remodeling factor is involved in cell growth arrest, apoptosis and senescence of rat mesenchymal stem cells.

Self-renewal, proliferation and differentiation properties of stem cells are controlled by key transcription factors. However, their activity is modulated by chromatin remodeling factors that operate at the highest hierarchical level. Studies on these factors can be especially important to dissect molecular pathways governing the biology of stem cells. SWI/SNF complexes are adenosine triphosphate (ATP)-dependent chromatin remodeling enzymes that have been shown to be required for cell cycle control, apoptosis and cell differentiation in several biological systems. The aim of our research was to investigate the role of these complexes in the biology of mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs). To this end, in MSCs we caused a forced expression of the ATPase subunit of SWI/SNF (Brg1 – also known as Smarca4) by adenoviral transduction. Forced Brg1 expression induced a significant cell cycle arrest of MSCs in culture. This was associated with a huge increase in apoptosis that reached a peak 3 days after transduction. In addition, we observed signs of senescence in cells having ectopic Brg1 expression. At the molecular level these phenomena were associated with activation of Rb- and p53-related pathways. Inhibition of either p53 or Rb with E1A mutated proteins allowed us to hypothesize that both Rb and p53 are indispensable for Brg1-induced senescence, whereas only p53 seems to play a role in triggering programmed cell death. We also looked at the effects of forced Brg1 expression on canonical MSC differentiation in adipocytes, chondrocytes and osteocytes. Brg1 did not induce cell differentiation per se; however, this protein could contribute, at least in part, to the adipocyte differentiation process. In conclusion, our results suggest that whereas some ATP-dependent chromatin remodeling factors, such as ISWI complexes, promote stem cell self-renewal and conservation of an uncommitted state, others cause an escape from ‘stemness’ and induction of differentiation along with senescence and cell death phenomena