On fiber dispersion models: exclusion of compressed fibers and spurious model comparisons

Fiber dispersion in collagenous soft tissues has an important influence on the mechanical response, and the modeling of the collagen fiber architecture and its mechanics has developed significantly over the last few years. The purpose of this paper is twofold, first to develop a method for excluding compressed fibers within a dispersion for the generalized structure tensor (GST) model, which several times in the literature has been claimed not to be possible, and second to draw attention to several erroneous and misleading statements in the literature concerning the relative values of the GST and the angular integration (AI) models. For the GST model we develop a rather simple method involving a deformation dependent dispersion parameter that allows the mechanical influence of compressed fibers within a dispersion to be excluded. The theory is illustrated by application to simple extension and simple shear in order to highlight the effect of exclusion. By means of two examples we also show that the GST and the AI models have equivalent predictive power, contrary to some claims in the literature. We conclude that from the theoretical point of view neither of these two models is superior to the other. However, as is well known and as we now emphasize, the GST model has proved to be very successful in modeling the data from experiments on a wide range of tissues, and it is easier to analyze and simpler to implement than the AI approach, and the related computational effort is much lower

Investigation of plasma-slag processes in special and ladle electrometallurgy of steel

Theoretical analysis made it possible to consider advantages of the progressive technology of steelmaking and determine specificity of main processes of the plasma-slag metallurgy, calculate partial pressure of the components and composition of the vapor-gaseous phase above slag of the fluorite--lime and lime--alumina--silicate systems. Experimental investigations allowed specifying some peculiarities of pyrometallurgical reactions in the gas (plasma)--slag--metal system in melting of ball bearing and stainless steels, low carbon iron, high carbon ferrochromium, and alloying of iron by chromium in case of application of the plasma-arc models as heat sources.Теоретический анализ дал возможность рассмотреть достоинства прогрессивной технологии сталеплавильного производства, определить специфику основных процессов плазменно-шлаковой металлургии, рассчитать парциальное давление компонентов и состав парогазовой фазы над шлаками флюорито-известковой и известково-глиноземно-силикатной систем. Экспериментальные исследования позволили уточнить некоторые особенности пирометаллургических реакций в системе газ (плазма)-шлак-металл при выплавке шарикоподшипниковой и нержавеющих сталей, низкоуглеродистого железа, высокоуглеродистого феррохрома и легирования железа хромом при использовании в качестве источника теплоты плазменно-дуговых моделей

Addressing global wheat issues one-grain-at-a-time, based on gliadin alleles

For decades, electrophoretic analysis of wheat‐gliadin composition has been a valuable approach to elucidating the genetic constitution of a grain sample, providing this information even at the single‐grain level. An early example was the characterisation of the mix of wheat varieties in a truckload of wheat suspected of being stolen from a country wheat silo in north‐western NSW. Much wider uses of gliadin composition have included tests of genetic non‐uniformity (the presence of biotypes) to study the reasons for variations in grain quality for specific varieties.In the global picture, Australian varieties were found to have considerable non‐homogeneity, but not so great as for some countries. However, it can be argued that a degree of genetic non‐homogeneity can offer some advantages. In parallel with these studies, we examined the global range of cultivars for possible genetic erosion during the twentieth century; no general narrowing of genetic polymorphism was found throughout this period. The analysis of gliadin alleles for many wheat cultivars revealed important relationships at country and regional levels. For example, the cultivars of certain Australian states showed closer relatedness than for other combinations of states. Internationally, Australian wheats were more closely related to varieties from Mexico than to cultivars of many other countries, based on a global set of 290 cultivars bred throughout the twentieth century

Modelling the lava dome extruded at Soufriere Hills Volcano, Montserrat, August 2005-May 2006. Part 1, dome shape and internal structure

Lava domes comprise core, carapace, and clastic talus components. They can grow endogenously by inflation of a core and/or exogenously with the extrusion of shear bounded lobes and whaleback lobes at the surface. Internal structure is paramount in determining the extent to which lava dome growth evolves stably, or conversely the propensity for collapse. The more core lava that exists within a dome, in both relative and absolute terms, the more explosive energy is available, both for large pyroclastic flows following collapse and in particular for lateral blast events following very rapid removal of lateral support to the dome. Knowledge of the location of the core lava within the dome is also relevant for hazard assessment purposes. A spreading toe, or lobe of core lava, over a talus substrate may be both relatively unstable and likely to accelerate to more violent activity during the early phases of a retrogressive collapse. Soufrière Hills Volcano, Montserrat has been erupting since 1995 and has produced numerous lava domes that have undergone repeated collapse events. We consider one continuous dome growth period, from August 2005 to May 2006 that resulted in a dome collapse event on 20th May 2006. The collapse event lasted 3 h, removing the whole dome plus dome remnants from a previous growth period in an unusually violent and rapid collapse event. We use an axisymmetrical computational Finite Element Method model for the growth and evolution of a lava dome. Our model comprises evolving core, carapace and talus components based on axisymmetrical endogenous dome growth, which permits us to model the interface between talus and core. Despite explicitly only modelling axisymmetrical endogenous dome growth our core–talus model simulates many of the observed growth characteristics of the 2005–2006 SHV lava dome well. Further, it is possible for our simulations to replicate large-scale exogenous characteristics when a considerable volume of talus has accumulated around the lower flanks of the dome. Model results suggest that dome core can override talus within a growing dome, potentially generating a region of significant weakness and a potential locus for collapse initiation

Rank-based Decision Fusion for 3D Shape-based Face Recognition

Abstract. In 3D face recognition systems, 3D facial shape information plays an important role. Various shape representations have been proposed in the literature. The most popular techniques are based on point clouds, surface normals, facial profiles, and statistical analysis of depth images. The contribution of the presented work can be divided into two parts: In the first part, we have developed face classifiers which use these popular techniques. A comprehensive comparison of these representation methods are given using 3D RMA dataset. Experimental results show that the linear discriminant analysis-based representation of depth images and point cloud representation perform best. In the second part of the paper, two different multiple-classifier architectures are developed to fuse individual shape-based face recognizers in parallel and hierarchical fashions at the decision level. It is shown that a significant performance improvement is possible when using rank-based decision fusion in ensemble methods.

Directions automating the process of close protection mechanized units

На основе анализа и обобщения опыта применения современных систем наблюдения за полем боя, новых технологий защиты военных баз, лагерей и охраны военных объектов предлагаются основные направления автоматизации процессов выполнения задач непосредственным охранением механизированных подразделений Сухопутных войск Вооруженных Сил Украины.На основі аналізу та узагальнення досвіду застосування сучасних систем спостереження за полем бою, нових технологій захисту військових баз, таборів та охорони військових об’єктів пропонуються основні напрямки автоматизації процесів виконання завдань безпосередньою охороною механізованих підрозділів Сухопутних військ Збройних Сил України.On the basis of analysis and generalization of the experience of the use of modern surveillance systems for the battlefield, new technologies and materials to protect military bases, camps and military installations of protection offered the main directions of process automation tasks directly Saving mechanized units of the Land Forces of the Armed Forces of Ukraine