Implementation of piezoelectric coupled electro-mechanica behavior for damage detection in engineering structures

Assessment of the structural condition plays an important role in determining structural reliability. Development of systems which can monitor structural condition should lead to improved structural safety and reliability. Damage detection is a crucial issue in structural health monitoring and represents therefore an important focus of the research interest over the past years. In this work we present the methodology based on implementation of active piezoelectric materials embedded in or attached to engineering structures, which can successfully be implemented for detection of possible damages owing to their coupled electro-mechanical behavior. Here particularly we are focused on piezoelectrically induced wave propagation through concrete structures, with the aim of damage detection. The method presented here is based on determination of damage indices which reflect the energy variations of the output piezoelectric sensor signals. Due to wave energy change in directions between actuators and sensors in the presence of a damage it is possible to locate the damage by overlaying the images of the damage indices in different directions. Implementation of the method is documented by examples

The interpretation of the fifth cello suite BWV 1011 by Johann Sebastian Bach [1685-1750]

Masteroppgave i klassisk musikk- Universitetet i Agder 2009The interpretation of the fifth cello suite BWV 1011 by Johan Sebastian Bach (1685- 1750) deals with the interpretation of a baroque suite for solo cello on modern instrument and in the modern age. It is a master thesis from the Agder University, Faculty of fine arts, the classical department, written in English language by Nemanja Markovic. Keywords are: Baroque style, interpretation, the modern cello. Trough these studies on interpretation seen from my point of view and made through current literature, recent research within the early music field and my own experience of performing the suite, I have tried to explore how much and even in what manner we have distanced from the original meaning (if there is a certain original meaning) of these suites. The first section is an introduction with my aim for writing the thesis and displaying the methods I will use. The second section is an overview of the Baroque style and Baroque suite form. The third section is an analysis of the fifth cello suite BWV1011 by Bach. The fourth section is about the interpretation and approaches to the material. It consists of a difference between baroque and modern instrument and the bow, a comparison of the recordings and I will express my point of view regarding the interpretation. The fifth section consists of note examples that I am using in my thesis. The sixth section shows the literature I have applied in my thesis

Efficient production of highly purified Late Embryogenesis Abundant (LEA) protein from Arabidopsis thaliana by recombinant DNA technology

Late embryogenesis abundant (LEA) proteins are induced in cellular dehydration, such as freezing, drought, or desiccation. They can be involved in antioxidative defense, ion sequestration, and structural stabilization of both membranes and enzymes during freezing or drying, while by forming intracellular proteinaceous condensates they increase structural integrity and intracellular viscosity of cells during desiccation 1. The genome of the model plant Arabidopsis thaliana contains 51 genes encoding LEA proteins2. The majority of these LEA proteins (35%) belongs to Pfam LEA_4 (PF02987) family. In silico analysis suggested that these proteins are highly hydrophilic proteins with significant intrinsically disordered protein (IDP) properties. In order to evaluate structural properties and possible functions of LEA_4 protein family under different water content, a representative AtLEA25 protein (At2g42560, 635 aa), naturally located in the cytoplasm of seeds3 was obtained in Escherichia coli by recombinant DNA technology. Although this technology has been traditionally used to over-express and purify various globular proteins, numerous reports have shown that the IDPs, due to their structural plasicity are naturally highly susceptible to proteolytic cleavage. To conduct structural and functional studies we developed a robust method to produce highly purified (>95% pure) AtLEA25 with no detectable amount of protein breakdown products.Abstract: Serbian Biochemical Society, 10th Conference, Kragujevac, Serbia, 24.09.202

Prediction of Cervical Lymph Node Metastasis in Clinically Node-Negative T1 and T2 Papillary Thyroid Carcinoma Using Supervised Machine Learning Approach

Papillary thyroid carcinoma (PTC) is generally considered an indolent cancer. However, patients with cervical lymph node metastasis (LNM) have a higher risk of local recurrence. This study evaluated and compared four machine learning (ML)-based classifiers to predict the presence of cervical LNM in clinically node-negative (cN0) T1 and T2 PTC patients. The algorithm was developed using clinicopathological data from 288 patients who underwent total thyroidectomy and prophylactic central neck dissection, with sentinel lymph node biopsy performed to identify lateral LNM. The final ML classifier was selected based on the highest specificity and the lowest degree of overfitting while maintaining a sensitivity of 95%. Among the models evaluated, the k-Nearest Neighbor (k-NN) classifier was found to be the best fit, with an area under the receiver operating characteristic curve of 0.72, and sensitivity, specificity, positive and negative predictive values, F1 and F2 scores of 98%, 27%, 56%, 93%, 72%, and 85%, respectively. A web application based on a sensitivity-optimized kNN classifier was also created to predict the potential of cervical LNM, allowing users to explore and potentially build upon the model. These findings suggest that ML can improve the prediction of LNM in cN0 T1 and T2 PTC patients, thereby aiding in individual treatment planning

Loess Correlations – Between Myth and Reality

Abstract The correlation of loess sequences across global, hemispheric, regional and local scales is one of the most fundamental aspects to loess research. However, despite recent progress in stratigraphic and chronometric methods, the correlation of many loess sequences is often still based on untested assumptions over loess deposition, preservation, soil type and age. As such, the aim of this overview is to provide an adequate framework for evaluation of the accuracy of loess correlations applied on different temporal and spatial scales across Eurasia. This opens up possibilities for detailed temporal and spatial environmental reconstructions across the huge loess provinces of the Eurasia and provides a framework for future extension of this to North America. Additionally, we evaluate the potential development of appropriate sub-millennial scale loess correlations, as well as essentially important chronological approaches for establishing valid correlations between different loess records, such as current improvements in tephrochronology, 14C and luminescence dating techniques

Palaeogenomic analysis of black rat (Rattus rattus) reveals multiple European introductions associated with human economic history

The distribution of the black rat (Rattus rattus) has been heavily influenced by its association with humans. The dispersal history of this non-native commensal rodent across Europe, however, remains poorly understood, and different introductions may have occurred during the Roman and medieval periods. Here, in order to reconstruct the population history of European black rats, we first generate a de novo genome assembly of the black rat. We then sequence 67 ancient and three modern black rat mitogenomes, and 36 ancient and three modern nuclear genomes from archaeological sites spanning the 1st-17th centuries CE in Europe and North Africa. Analyses of our newly reported sequences, together with published mitochondrial DNA sequences, confirm that black rats were introduced into the Mediterranean and Europe from Southwest Asia. Genomic analyses of the ancient rats reveal a population turnover in temperate Europe between the 6th and 10th centuries CE, coincident with an archaeologically attested decline in the black rat population. The near disappearance and re-emergence of black rats in Europe may have been the result of the breakdown of the Roman Empire, the First Plague Pandemic, and/or post-Roman climatic cooling.Peer reviewe

Implementation of piezoelectric coupled electro-mechanica behavior for damage detection in engineering structures

Assessment of the structural condition plays an important role in determining structural reliability. Development of systems which can monitor structural condition should lead to improved structural safety and reliability. Damage detection is a crucial issue in structural health monitoring and represents therefore an important focus of the research interest over the past years. In this work we present the methodology based on implementation of active piezoelectric materials embedded in or attached to engineering structures, which can successfully be implemented for detection of possible damages owing to their coupled electro-mechanical behavior. Here particularly we are focused on piezoelectrically induced wave propagation through concrete structures, with the aim of damage detection. The method presented here is based on determination of damage indices which reflect the energy variations of the output piezoelectric sensor signals. Due to wave energy change in directions between actuators and sensors in the presence of a damage it is possible to locate the damage by overlaying the images of the damage indices in different directions. Implementation of the method is documented by examples

Electrocatalysis of the HER in acid and alkaline media

Trends in the HER are studied on selected metals (M= Cu, Ag, Au, Pt, Ru, Ir, Ti) in acid and alkaline environments. We found that with the exception of Pt, Ir and Au, due to high coverage by spectator species on non-noble metal catalysts, experimentally established positions of Cu , Ag, Ru and Ti in the observed volcano relations are still uncertain. We also found that while in acidic solutions the M-Hupd binding energy most likely is controlling the activity trends, the trends in activity in alkaline solutions are controlled by a delicate balance between two descriptors: the M-Had interaction as well as the energetics required to dissociate water molecules. The importance of the second descriptor is confirmed by introducing bifunctional catalysts such as M modified by Ni(OH); e.g. while the latter serves to enhance catalytic decomposition of water, the metal sites are required for collecting and recombining the produced hydrogen intermediates