Exploring novel designs of NLP solvers: Architecture and Implementation of WORHP

Mathematical Optimization in general and Nonlinear Programming in particular, are applied by many scientific disciplines, such as the automotive sector, the aerospace industry, or the space agencies. With some established NLP solvers having been available for decades, and with the mathematical community being rather conservative in this respect, many of their programming standards are severely outdated. It is safe to assume that such usability shortcomings impede the wider use of NLP methods; a representative example is the use of static workspaces by legacy FORTRAN codes. This dissertation gives an account of the construction of the European NLP solver WORHP by using and combining software standards and techniques that have not previously been applied to mathematical software to this extent. Examples include automatic code generation, a consistent reverse communication architecture and the elimination of static workspaces. The result is a novel, industrial-grade NLP solver that overcomes many technical weaknesses of established NLP solvers and other mathematical software

Rhythmic Auditory Stimulation and its Effects on Gait Asymmetries and Function in a Patient with Young-Onset Parkinson’s Disease: A Case Report with 2-month Follow up

Award Winne

Charge transport through image charged stabilized states in a single molecule single electron transistor device

The present paper gives an elaborate theoretical description of a new molecular charge transport mechanism applying to a single molecule trapped between two macroscopic electrodes in a solid state device. It is shown by a Hubbard type model of the electronic and electrostatic interactions, that the close proximity of metal electrodes may allow electrons to tunnel from the electrode directly into a very localized image charge stabilized states on the molecule. Due to this mechanism, an exceptionally large number of redox states may be visited within an energy scale which would normally not allow the molecular HOMO-LUMO gap to be transversed. With a reasonable set of parameters, a good fit to recent experimental values may be obtained. The theoretical model is furthermore used to search for the physical boundaries of this effect, and it is found that a rather narrow geometrical space is available for the new mechanism to be effective: In the specific case of oligophenylenevinylene molecules recently explored in such devices several atoms in the terminal benzene rings need to be at van der Waal's distance to the electrode in order for the mechanism to be effective. The model predicts, that chemisorption of the terminal benzene rings too gold electrodes will impede the image charge effect very significantly because the molecule is pushed away from the electrode by the covalent thiol-gold bond.Comment: 9 pages, 5 figue

Synthesis of Certain Aminooxy Compounds

The research described herein is concerned with the synthesis of certain organic compounds which have the amino-oxy grouping and are related in structure to the naturally occurring amines, putrescine, spermidine and spermine

Association Between APOL1 Genotypes and Risk of Cardiovascular Disease in MESA (Multi-Ethnic Study of Atherosclerosis).

BACKGROUND:APOL1 genetic variants confer an increased risk for kidney disease. Their associations with cardiovascular disease (CVD) are less certain. We aimed to compare the prevalence of subclinical CVD and incidence of atherosclerotic CVD and heart failure by APOL1 genotypes among self-identified black participants of MESA (Multi-Ethnic Study of Atherosclerosis). METHODS AND RESULTS:Cross-sectional associations of APOL1 genotypes (high-risk=2 alleles; low-risk=0 or 1 allele) with coronary artery calcification, carotid-intimal media thickness, and left ventricular mass were evaluated using logistic and linear regression. Longitudinal associations of APOL1 genotypes with incident myocardial infarction, stroke, coronary heart disease, and congestive heart failure were examined using Cox regression. We adjusted for African ancestry, age, and sex. We also evaluated whether hypertension or kidney function markers explained the observed associations. Among 1746 participants with APOL1 genotyping (mean age 62 years, 55% women, mean cystatin C-based estimated glomerular filtration rate 89 mL/min per 1.73 m2, 12% with albuminuria), 12% had the high-risk genotypes. We found no difference in prevalence or severity of coronary artery calcification, carotid-intimal media thickness, or left ventricular mass by APOL1 genotypes. The APOL1 high-risk group was 82% more likely to develop incident heart failure compared with the low-risk group (95% confidence interval, 1.01-3.28). Adjusting for hypertension (hazard ratio, 1.80; 95% confidence interval, 1.00-3.24) but not markers of kidney function (hazard ratio, 1.86; 95% confidence interval, 1.03-3.35) slightly attenuated this association. The APOL1 high-risk genotypes were not significantly associated with other clinical CVD outcomes. CONCLUSIONS:Among blacks without baseline CVD, the APOL1 high-risk variants may be associated with increased risk for incident heart failure but not subclinical CVD or incident clinical atherosclerotic CVD

Action Learning in the neighbourhood of Benicalap (Valencia): an innovative teaching and learning experience in an International Development Master

[EN] This article aims to analyze an innovative teaching and learning experience carried out by  the “Development Cooperation Master’s Degree” taught at the Politechnical University of València (UPV), Spain. During two weeks, the students of the Master carried out an Action Learning process in the neighborhood of Benicalap (Valencia), with the aim to explore how the housing conditions in the neighborhood influence on the youth’s learning and aspirations. The process was developed with the participation of three local organization. As outputs of this research, some proposals for improving the neighbourhood were presented to several actors from Benicalap. University exercised then a part of its social responsibility, moving lessons from the classroom to the street. In turn, UPV students acquired social and technical skills for their personal and professional development.http://ocs.editorial.upv.es/index.php/HEAD/HEAD18Pellicer-Sifres, V.; Boni, A.; Leivas Vargas, M.; Wassel Antich, V. (2018). Action Learning in the neighbourhood of Benicalap (Valencia): an innovative teaching and learning experience in an International Development Master. Editorial Universitat Politècnica de València. 1457-1464. https://doi.org/10.4995/HEAD18.2018.8224OCS1457146

Scaling Up Manufacturing of Edible Coatings for Food

One of the most important methods for prolonging the shelf life of fruits and vegetables is edible coatings. The manufacture of the edible coating was tested in the laboratory before being scaled up to the industrial scale which is a procedure for applying, which applies the same process to different output volumes. One of the most crucial processes in the manufacturing of edible coatings is mixing. The equipment needed to scale up the production of edible solutions for food coating was also assessed. The results of the measurements revealed that scaling up mixing is based upon constant power/volume, equal blend duration, and adjusting the impeller/tank (D/T) diameter ratio was possible. A four-blade impeller was utilized to homogenize 1% carrageenan solutions at 70°C. Also, mixing parameters (Power number, Blend number, and Pumping number) were determined at different D/T ratios. Cost-effective pipe diameter and optimum pipe diameter per unit length were also determined