Statistical quality control applied to a telemetry system acceptance prodedure Technical report no. 13

Statistical quality control applied to telemetry system acceptance procedur

Quasars: a supermassive rotating toroidal black hole interpretation

A supermassive rotating toroidal black hole (TBH) is proposed as the fundamental structure of quasars and other jet-producing active galactic nuclei. Rotating protogalaxies gather matter from the central gaseous region leading to the birth of massive toroidal stars whose internal nuclear reactions proceed very rapidly. Once the nuclear fuel is spent, gravitational collapse produces a slender ring-shaped TBH remnant. These events are typically the first supernovae of the host galaxies. Given time the TBH mass increases through continued accretion by several orders of magnitude, the event horizon swells whilst the central aperture shrinks. The difference in angular velocities between the accreting matter and the TBH induces a magnetic field that is strongest in the region of the central aperture and innermost ergoregion. Due to the presence of negative energy states when such a gravitational vortex is immersed in an electromagnetic field, circumstances are near ideal for energy extraction via non-thermal radiation including the Penrose process and superradiant scattering. This establishes a self-sustaining mechanism whereby the transport of angular momentum away from the quasar by relativistic bi-directional jets reinforces both the modulating magnetic field and the TBH/accretion disk angular velocity differential. Quasar behaviour is extinguished once the BH topology becomes spheroidal. Similar mechanisms may be operating in microquasars, SNe and GRBs when neutron density or BH tori arise. In certain circumstances, long-term TBH stability can be maintained by a negative cosmological constant, otherwise the classical topology theorems must somehow be circumvented. Preliminary evidence is presented that Planck-scale quantum effects may be responsible.Comment: 26 pages, 14 figs, various corrections and enhancements, final versio

Analysis of high vacuum systems using SINDA'85

The theory, algorithms, and test data correlation analysis of a math model developed to predict performance of the Space Station Freedom Vacuum Exhaust System are presented. The theory used to predict the flow characteristics of viscous, transition, and molecular flow is presented in detail. Development of user subroutines which predict the flow characteristics in conjunction with the SINDA'85/FLUINT analysis software are discussed. The resistance-capacitance network approach with application to vacuum system analysis is demonstrated and results from the model are correlated with test data. The model was developed to predict the performance of the Space Station Freedom Vacuum Exhaust System. However, the unique use of the user subroutines developed in this model and written into the SINDA'85/FLUINT thermal analysis model provides a powerful tool that can be used to predict the transient performance of vacuum systems and gas flow in tubes of virtually any geometry. This can be accomplished using a resistance-capacitance (R-C) method very similar to the methods used to perform thermal analyses

Principles of Stakes Fairness in Sport

Fairness in sport is not just about assigning the top prizes to the worthiest competitors. It is also about the way the prize structure itself is organised. For many sporting competitions, although it may be acceptable for winners to receive more than losers, it can seem unfair for winners to take everything and for losers to get nothing. Yet this insight leaves unanswered some difficult questions about what stakes fairness requires and which principles of stakes fairness are appropriate for particular competitions. In this article I specify a range of different principles of stakes fairness (ten in total) that could regulate sporting competitions. I also put forward a theoretical method for pairing up appropriate principles of stakes fairness with given sporting competitions. Specifically, I argue that the underlying rationales for holding sporting competitions can provide useful guides for identifying appropriate principles of stakes fairness. I then seek to clarify and work through some of the implications of this method for a sample of real world controversies over sporting prize structures. I also attempt to refine the method in response to two possible objections from indeterminacy and relativism. Finally, I compare and contrast my conclusions with more general philosophical debates about justice

Biliary Bicarbonate Secretion Constitutes a Protective Mechanism against Bile Acid-Induced Injury in Man

Background: Cholangiocytes expose a striking resistance against bile acids: while other cell types, such as hepatocytes, are susceptible to bile acid-induced toxicity and apoptosis already at micromolar concentrations, cholangiocytes are continuously exposed to millimolar concentrations as present in bile. We present a hypothesis suggesting that biliary secretion of HCO(3)(-) in man serves to protect cholangiocytes against bile acid-induced damage by fostering the deprotonation of apolar bile acids to more polar bile salts. Here, we tested if bile acid-induced toxicity is pH-dependent and if anion exchanger 2 (AE2) protects against bile acid-induced damage. Methods: A human cholangiocyte cell line was exposed to chenodeoxycholate (CDC), or its glycine conjugate, from 0.5 mM to 2.0 mM at pH 7.4, 7.1, 6.7 or 6.4, or after knockdown of AE2. Cell viability and apoptosis were determined by WST and caspase-3/-7 assays, respectively. Results: Glycochenodeoxycholate (GCDC) uptake in cholangiocytes is pH-dependent. Furthermore, CDC and GCDC (pK(a) 4-5) induce cholangiocyte toxicity in a pH-dependent manner: 0.5 mM CDC and 1 mM GCDC at pH 7.4 had no effect on cell viability, but at pH 6.4 decreased viability by >80% and increased caspase activity almost 10- and 30-fold, respectively. Acidification alone had no effect. AE2 knockdown led to 3- and 2-fold enhanced apoptosis induced by 0.75 mM CDC or 2 mM GCDC at pH 7.4. Discussion: These data support our hypothesis of a biliary HCO(3)(-) umbrella serving to protect human cholangiocytes against bile acid-induced injury. AE2 is a key contributor to this protective mechanism. The development and progression of cholangiopathies, such as primary biliary cirrhosis, may be a consequence of genetic and acquired functional defects of genes involved in maintaining the biliary HCO(3)(-) umbrella. Copyright (C) 2011 S. Karger AG, Base

Modulation of EGFR activity by molecularly imprinted polymer nanoparticles targeting intracellular epitopes

In recent years, molecularly imprinted polymer nanoparticles (nanoMIPs) have proven to be an attractive alternative to antibodies in diagnostic and therapeutic applications. However, several key questions remain: how suitable are intracellular epitopes as targets for nanoMIP binding? And to what extent can protein function be modulated via targeting specific epitopes? To investigate this, three extracellular and three intracellular epitopes of epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) were used as templates for the synthesis of nanoMIPs which were then used to treat cancer cells with different expression levels of EGFR. It was observed that nanoMIPs imprinted with epitopes from the intracellular kinase domain and the extracellular ligand binding domain of EGFR caused cells to form large foci of EGFR sequestered away from the cell surface, caused a reduction in autophosphorylation, and demonstrated effects on cell viability. Collectively, this suggests that intracellular domain-targeting nanoMIPs can be a potential new tool for cancer therapy

Pushouts in software architecture design

A classical approach to program derivation is to progressively extend a simple specification and then incrementally refine it to an implementation. We claim this approach is hard or impractical when reverse engineering legacy software architectures. We present a case study that shows optimizations and pushouts--in addition to refinements and extensions--are essential for practical stepwise development of complex software architectures.NSF CCF 0724979NSF CNS 0509338NSF CCF 0917167NSF DGE-1110007FCT SFRH/BD/47800/2008FCT UTAustin/CA/0056/200

Synthesis of Acrylates and Methacrylates from Coal-Derived Syngas.

Research Triangle Institute (RTI), Eastman Chemical Company, and Bechtel collectively are developing a novel process for the synthesis of methyl methacrylate (MMA) from coal-derived syngas, under a contract from the U.S. Department of Energy/Federal Energy Technology Center (DOE/FETC). This three-step process consists of synthesis of a propionate, its condensation with formaldehyde, and esterification of resulting methacrylic acid (MAA) with methanol to produce MMA. Over the last quarter, RTI carried out activity tests on a pure (99 percent) Nb{sub 2}O{sub 5} catalyst, received from Alfa Aesar, under the following experimental conditions: T=300 C; P=4 atm, 72:38:16:4:220 mmol/h, PA:H{sub 2}0:HCHO:CH{sub 3}0H:N{sub 2}; 5-g catalyst charge. For the pure material, the MAA yields (based on HCHO and PA) were at 8.8 and 1.5 percent, clearly inferior compared to those for a 10-percent Nb{sub 2}O{sub 5}/Si0{sub 2} catalyst (20.1 and 4.5 percent). The X-ray diffraction (XRD) patterns of pure Nb{sub 2}O{sub 5} and 20-percent Nb{sub 2}O{sub 5}/Si0{sub 2} that while pure Nb{sub 2}O{sub 5} is very highly crystalline, Si0{sub 2} support for an amorphous nature of the 20 percent Nb{sub 2}O{sub 5}/Si0{sub 2} catalyst the last quarter, RTI also began research on the use of dimethyl ether (DME), product of methanol dehydrocondensation, as an alternate feedstock in MMA synthesis. As a result, formaldehyde is generated either externally or in situ, from DME, in the process envisaged in the contract extension. The initial work on the DME extension of the contract focuses on a tradeoff analysis that will include a preliminary economic analysis of the DME and formaldehyde routes and catalyst synthesis and testing for DME partial oxidation and condensation reactions. Literature guides exist for DME partial oxidation catalysts; however, there are no precedent studies on catalyst development for DME-methyl propionate (MP) condensation reactions, thereby making DME-MP reaction studies a challenge. The design of a fixed-bed microreactor system for DME feedstock studies was also finalized over the last quarter. The system is designed to be operated either in DME partial oxidation mode (for formaldehyde synthesis) or DME-MP condensation mode (for MMA synthesis)

Requirements modelling and formal analysis using graph operations

The increasing complexity of enterprise systems requires a more advanced analysis of the representation of services expected than is currently possible. Consequently, the specification stage, which could be facilitated by formal verification, becomes very important to the system life-cycle. This paper presents a formal modelling approach, which may be used in order to better represent the reality of the system and to verify the awaited or existing system’s properties, taking into account the environmental characteristics. For that, we firstly propose a formalization process based upon properties specification, and secondly we use Conceptual Graphs operations to develop reasoning mechanisms of verifying requirements statements. The graphic visualization of these reasoning enables us to correctly capture the system specifications by making it easier to determine if desired properties hold. It is applied to the field of Enterprise modelling

Pointfree factorization of operation refinement

The standard operation refinement ordering is a kind of “meet of op- posites”: non-determinism reduction suggests “smaller” behaviour while increase of definition suggests “larger” behaviour. Groves’ factorization of this ordering into two simpler relations, one per refinement concern, makes it more mathe- matically tractable but is far from fully exploited in the literature. We present a pointfree theory for this factorization which is more agile and calculational than the standard set-theoretic approach. In particular, we show that factorization leads to a simple proof of structural refinement for arbitrary parametric types and ex- ploit factor instantiation across different subclasses of (relational) operation. The prospect of generalizing the factorization to coalgebraic refinement is discussedFundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia (FCT) - PURE Project (Program Understanding and Re-engineering: Calculi and Applications), contract POSI/ICHS/44304/2002