Gauge techniques in time and frequency domain TLM

Typical features of the Transmission Line Matrix (TLM) algorithm in connection with stub loading techniques and prone to be hidden in common frequency domain formulations are elucidated within the propagator approach to TLM. In particular, the latter reflects properly the perturbative character of the TLM scheme and its relation to gauge field models. Internal 'gauge' degrees of freedom are made explicit in the frequency domain by introducing the complex nodal S-matrix as a function of operators that act on external or internal fields or virtually couple the two. As a main benefit, many techniques and results gained in the time domain thus generalize straight away. The recently developed deflection method for algorithm synthesis, which is extended in this paper, or the non-orthogonal node approximating Maxwell's equations, for instance, become so at once available in the frequency domain. In view of applications in computational plasma physics, the TLM model of a relativistic charged particle current coupled to the Maxwell field is treated as a prototype.Comment: 20 pages; Keywords: Gauge techniques, perturbative schemes, TLM method, propagator approach, plasma physic

Preço de transferência de fundos: um estudo para o mercado financeiro

Companies have increasingly adopted decentralized controls. Consequently, determining Funds Transfer Pricing (FTP) has become an important tool that contributes to better allocation of funds among the subunits of an organization. This study intends to demonstrate how determining the interest rate for an internal transfer of resources can influence performance analysis in a financial institution that considers the activities in their branches or headquarter as profit centers. To fulfill this goal, a numeric simulation employing the referred tool to disclose the main impacts on the performance evaluation will be presented. The simulations show that the results obtained with the use of FTP lead to a better evaluation of the subunits of the bank analyzed when compared to the use of interest rates defined by the market.Cada vez mais empresas adotam tipos de controles descentralizados. Diante disso, a determinação do Preço de Transferência de Fundos (PTF) se torna uma ferramenta importante, contribuindo para uma melhor alocação de fundos entre as subunidades de uma organização. Este estudo tem por objetivo demonstrar como a determinação de uma taxa de juros para a transferência interna de recursos pode influenciar nas análises de desempenho de linhas de negócios dentro de uma instituição financeira que considera como centros de lucros suas agências ou suas atividades na matriz. Para tanto, será apresentada uma simulação numérica com a aplicação da referida ferramenta para se evidenciar os principais impactos na avaliação de desempenho. As simulações mostraram que os resultados alcançados com a aplicação do PTF permitem uma melhor avaliação das duas subunidades do banco analisado quando comparadas à utilização de taxas de juros definidas pelo mercado

The Shifting Origins of International Law

Both state-centrism and Euro-centrism are under challenge in international law today and this double challenge, this work argues, is being fruitfully mirrored back into the study of the history of international law. It examines, in the first section, the effects of the rise of positivism as a method of norm-identification and the role of methodological nationalism over the study of the history of international law in the modern foundational period of international law. This is extended by an examination of how this bequeathed a double exclusionary bias regarding time and space to the study of the history of international law as well as a reiterative focus on a series of canonical events and authors to the exclusion of others such as those related to the Islamic history of international law. In the second section, the analysis turns to address why this state of historiographical affairs is changing, specifically highlighting intra-disciplinary developments within the field of the history of international law and the effects that the “international turn in the writing of history” is having on the writing of a new history of international law for a global age. The conclusion reflects on some of the tasks ahead by providing a series of historiographical signposts for the history of international law as a field of new research

Метод трехмерной триангуляции в задачах кластерного анализа

Представлен метод многомерного шкалирования на основе трехмерной триангуляции. Рассмотрена возможность качественного сохранения геометрической структуры множества объектов при отображении многомерного пространства в трехмерное. Приведены результаты применения метода для решения задачи кластеризации на примере периодической системы элементов Д.И. Менделеева. Экспериментально показано, что по критериям качества кластеризации предложенный метод более эффективен в сравнении с методами k-средних и нейронной сети Кохонена.Представлено метод багатовимірного шкалювання на основі тривимірної тріангуляції. Розглянуто можливість якісного збереження геометричної структури множини об’єктів при відображенні багатовимірного простору в тривимірне. Наведено результати застосування методу для вирішення задачі кластеризації на прикладі періодичної системи елементів Д.І. Менделєєва. Експериментально показано, що за критеріями якості кластеризації запропонований метод більш ефективний у порівнянні з методами k-середніх та нейронної мережі Кохонена.The method of multidimensional scaling on the basis of the 3-D triangulation is presented. The qualitative preservation possibility of geometrical structure of objects by multidimensional space mapping to three- dimensional space is considered. The results of application of the method for clustering problem of the Mendeleyev periodic table are presented. It is experimentally shown, that the presented method is more effective by criteria of clustering quality in comparison with the methods of k-averages and the Kohonen neural network

Biofouling resistant materials based on micro‐structured surfaces with liquid‐repellent properties

Adhesion of contaminants on various polymer-based devices during fluid-substrate interactions is a common problem that can cause biofouling andcorrosion. In this study, hierarchical structures with submicron features onpolypropylene (PP), high-density polyethylene (HDPE), and polycarbonate (PC)are fabricated by femtosecond laser ablation. The effect of the hierarchicalstructures on surface wettability, droplet impact, and bacterial attachment hasbeen examined. Our results demonstrate that the structured polymeric sub-strates facilitate large contact angles and minimal interfacial adhesion, allowingdroplets to roll off at a low angle of inclination below 5◦. Further, rendering thehierarchicalstructureswithalow-surface-energycoatingcanenablethesurfacesto exhibit superamphiphobic properties. The low interfacial adhesion properties,as accounted by the large contact angles and small contact angle hysteresis, ofsuch surfaces prevent bacterial attachment and biofilm formation. The findingsprovide a design principle for creating affordable biofouling resistant surfaceswith a submicron topography hat can be used for engineering and biomedical devices

Gentamicin induces LAMB3 nonsense mutation readthrough and restores functional laminin 332 in junctional epidermolysis bullosa

Herlitz junctional epidermolysis bullosa (H-JEB) is an incurable, devastating, and mostly fatal inherited skin disease for which there is only supportive care. H-JEB is caused by loss-of-function mutations in LAMA3, LAMB3, or LAMC2, leading to complete loss of laminin 332, the major component of anchoring filaments, which mediate epidermal-dermal adherence. LAMB3 (laminin \u3b23) mutations account for 80% of patients with H-JEB, and 3c95% of H-JEB\u2013associated LAMB3 mutations are nonsense mutations leading to premature termination codons (PTCs). In this study, we evaluated the ability of gentamicin to induce PTC readthrough in H-JEB laminin \u3b23-null keratinocytes transfected with expression vectors encoding eight different LAMB3 nonsense mutations. We found that gentamicin induced PTC readthrough in all eight nonsense mutations tested. We next used lentiviral vectors to generate stably transduced H-JEB cells with the R635X and C290X nonsense mutations. Incubation of these cell lines with various concentrations of gentamicin resulted in the synthesis and secretion of full-length laminin \u3b23 in a dose-dependent and sustained manner. Importantly, the gentamicin-induced laminin \u3b23 led to the restoration of laminin 332 assembly, secretion, and deposition within the dermal/epidermal junction, as well as proper polarization of \u3b16\u3b24 integrin in basal keratinocytes, as assessed by immunoblot analysis, immunofluorescent microscopy, and an in vitro 3D skin equivalent model. Finally, newly restored laminin 332 corrected the abnormal cellular phenotype of H-JEB cells by reversing abnormal cell morphology, poor growth potential, poor cell-substratum adhesion, and hypermotility. Therefore, gentamicin may offer a therapy for H-JEB and other inherited skin diseases caused by PTC mutations

Towards a framework for critical citizenship education

Increasingly countries around the world are promoting forms of "critical" citizenship in the planned curricula of schools. However, the intended meaning behind this term varies markedly and can range from a set of creative and technical skills under the label "critical thinking" to a desire to encourage engagement, action and political emancipation, often labelled "critical pedagogy". This paper distinguishes these manifestations of the "critical" and, based on an analysis of the prevailing models of critical pedagogy and citizenship education, develops a conceptual framework for analysing and comparing the nature of critical citizenship