Investigating Fatigue Performance on the Foamed Asphalt Specimens Generated Using Different Foam Properties

An evaluation of fatigue resistance for foamed asphalt mixture is very demanding since the binder is not continuously distributed on the aggregate surface and this mixtures contains water, the content of which dramatically affects the mechanical properties. This paper discusses the results of laboratory fatigue testingon the foamed asphalt mixtures in which the specimens are generated using three different foamed bitumen properties. Foamed bitumen as the binder was produced at three different foaming water content (FWC) at a temperature of 180oC using a 70/100 pen. The aggregates were mechanically mixed with foamed bitumen using a Hobart mixer. The resulting mixtures were then compacted using a gyratory compactor to generatespecimen with diameter of 100 mm. The specimens were fatigue tested at various stress levels at a temperature of 20oC following a curing period of 3 days at 40oC. Overall, fatigue performance of foamed asphalt can be identified based upon both stress and strain for mixtures produced at FWC 1%, 5%, and 10%

The contribution of targeted therapy to the neoadjuvant chemoradiation of rectal cancer.

Neoadjuvant chemoradiation therapy is a commonly used option aimed to make less aggressive surgery approaches and to improve quality of life allowing a high proportion of patients operated with sphincter-sparing surgical techniques in locally advanced rectal cancer (LARC). During the last 5 years a number of studies have tested the efficacy of more intensive chemotherapeutic approaches by combining irinotecan or oxaliplatin with fluoropyrimidines and standard radiation treatments as well as testing combined treatments with targeted agents directed against epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) or angiogenesis. Herein, we review the results and critiques of the published studies based on the introduction of novel targeted agents in neoadjuvant therapy of LARC

A New Method for Structural Simulation

In this paper structural change is defined and a tool to simulate structural changes is introduced which consists of a new simulation language which allows to deal separately with quantitative changes and structural qualitative changes. Two strategies of structural simulation are described. In the first one, the user defines the possible structures and conditions of change. In this case, the simulation process finds the structural paths through successive structures. In the second strategy, the structures are generated by the simulation process based on the model of creative thinking proposed by Poincare and Hadamard. AI and genetic programming techniques are used to implement the model. A simple example is given to illustrate the method of the second strategy

High-cadence spectroscopy of M-dwarfs – II. Searching for stellar pulsations with HARPS

Stellar oscillations appear all across the Hertzsprung–Russell diagram. Recent theoretical studies support their existence also in the atmosphere of M dwarfs. These studies predict for them short periodicities ranging from 20 min to 3 h. Our Cool Tiny Beats (CTB) programme aims at finding these oscillations for the very first time. With this goal, CTB explores the short time domain of M dwarfs using radial velocity data from the High Accuracy Radial velocity Planet Searcher (HARPS)-European Southern Observatory and HARPS-N high-precision spectrographs. Here we present the results for the two most long-term stable targets observed to date with CTB, GJ 588 and GJ 699 (i.e. Barnard's star). In the first part of this work we detail the correction of several instrumental effects. These corrections are especially relevant when searching for subnight signals. Results show no significant signals in the range where M dwarfs pulsations were predicted. However, we estimate that stellar pulsations with amplitudes larger than ∼0.5 m s−1 can be detected with a 90 per cent completeness with our observations. This result, along with the excess of power regions detected in the periodograms, opens the possibility of non-resolved very low amplitude pulsation signals. Next generation more precise instrumentation would be required to detect such oscillations. However, the possibility of detecting pulsating M-dwarf stars with larger amplitudes is feasible due to the short size of the analysed sample. This motivates the need for completeness of the CTB survey

Least Squares Method and Empirical Modeling: A Case Study in a Mexican Manufacturing Firm

Empirical modeling (EM) has been a useful approach for the analysis of different problems across a number of areas/fields of knowledge. As is known, this type of modeling is particularly helpful when parametric models due to a number of reasons cannot be constructed. Based on different methodologies and approaches (e.g., Least Squares Method, LSM), EM allows the analyst to obtain an initial understanding of the relationships that exists among the different variables that belong to a particular system or a process

Paralelización de un algoritmo de cálculo de la rspuesta impulsional de un canal IR difuso en interiores

Peer Reviewe

Ongoing transients in carbonate compensation

Uptake of anthropogenic CO2 is acidifying the oceans. Over the next 2000 years, this will modify the dissolution and preservation of sedimentary carbonate. By coupling new formulas for the positions of the calcite saturation horizon, zsat, the compensation depth, zcc, and the snowline, zsnow, to a biogeochemical model of the oceanic carbonate system, we evaluate how these horizons will change with ongoing ocean acidification. Our model is an extended Havardton-Bear-type box model, which includes novel kinetic descriptions for carbonate dissolution above, between, and below these critical depths. In the preindustrial ocean, zsat and zcc are at 3939 and 4750 m, respectively. When forced with the IS92a CO2 emission scenario, the model forecasts (1) that zsat will rise rapidly (“runaway” conditions) so that all deep water becomes undersaturated, (2) that zcc will also rise and over 1000 years will pass before it will be stabilized by the dissolution of previously deposited CaCO3, and (3) that zsnow will respond slowly to acidification, rising by ∼1150 m during a 2000 year timeframe. A further simplified model that equates the compensation and saturation depths produces quantitatively different results. Finally, additional feedbacks due to acidification on calcification and increased atmospheric CO2 on organic matter productivity strongly affect the positions of the compensation horizons and their dynamics.