Performance with and without inlet radial distortion of a transonic fan stage designed for reduced loading in the tip region

A transonic compressor stage designed for a reduced loading in the tip region of the rotor blades was tested with and without inlet radial distortion. The rotor was 50 cm in diameter and designed for an operating tip speed of 420 m/sec. Although the rotor blade loading in the tip region was reduced to provide additional operating range, analysis of the data indicates that the flow around the damper appears to be critical and limited the stable operating range of this stage. For all levels of tip and hub radial distortion, there was a large reduction in the rotor stall margin

Performance and boundary-layer evaluation of a sonic inlet

Tests were conducted to determine the boundary layer characteristics and aerodynamic performance of a radial vane sonic inlet with a length/diameter ratio of 1 for several vane configurations. The sonic inlet was designed with a slight wavy wall type of diffuser geometry, which permits operation at high inlet Mach numbers (sufficiently high for good noise suppression) without boundary layer flow separation and with good total pressure recovery. A new method for evaluating the turbulent boundary layer was developed to separate the boundary layer from the inviscid core flow, which is characterized by a total pressure variation from hub to tip, and to determine the experimental boundary layer parameters

Detecting and explaining unfairness in consumer contracts through memory networks

Recent work has demonstrated how data-driven AI methods can leverage consumer protection by supporting the automated analysis of legal documents. However, a shortcoming of data-driven approaches is poor explainability. We posit that in this domain useful explanations of classifier outcomes can be provided by resorting to legal rationales. We thus consider several configurations of memory-augmented neural networks where rationales are given a special role in the modeling of context knowledge. Our results show that rationales not only contribute to improve the classification accuracy, but are also able to offer meaningful, natural language explanations of otherwise opaque classifier outcomes

Effect of the dispersion of the chromophore on the optical performances of polarizers from polyethylene and 5”-thio-(3-butyl)nonyl-2,2’:5’,2”-terthiophene

A new polyethylene-compatible terthiophene chromophore, 5"-thio-(3-butyl) nonyl-2,2':5',2"-terthiophene, with melting point lower than 0degreesC was prepared and used for linear polarizers based on ultra-high-molecular-weight polyethylene (UHMWPE). Differential scanning calorimetry and scanning electron microscopy indicate that the new chromophore is dispersed uniformly in films of UHMWPE obtained by casting from solution. The films show excellent dichroic properties (dichroic ratio 30) at rather low drawing ratio (approximate to20). Moreover, qualitative agreement is observed with the Ward pseudo-affine deformation schem

Data analytics for profiling low‐voltage customers with smart meter readings

The energy transition for decarbonization requires consumers’ and producers’ active par-ticipation to give the power system the necessary flexibility to manage intermittency and non‐pro-grammability of renewable energy sources. The accurate knowledge of the energy demand of every single customer is crucial for accurately assessing their potential as flexibility providers. This topic gained terrific input from the widespread deployment of smart meters and the continuous development of data analytics and artificial intelligence. The paper proposes a new technique based on advanced data analytics to analyze the data registered by smart meters to associate to each customer a typical load profile (LP). Different LPs are assigned to low voltage (LV) customers belonging to nominal homogeneous category for overcoming the inaccuracy due to non‐existent coincident peaks, arising by the common use of a unique LP per category. The proposed methodology, starting from two large databases, constituted by tens of thousands of customers of different categories, clusters their consumption profiles to define new representative LPs, without a priori preferring a specific clustering technique but using that one that provides better results. The paper also proposes a method for associating the proper LP to new or not monitored customers, considering only few features easily available for the distribution systems operator (DSO)

First-line erlotinib and fixed dose-rate gemcitabine for advanced pancreatic cancer

AIM: To investigate activity, toxicity, and prognostic factors for survival of erlotinib and fixed dose-rate gemcitabine (FDR-Gem) in advanced pancreatic cancer. METHODS: We designed a single-arm prospective, multicentre, open-label phase II study to evaluate the combination of erlotinib (100 mg/d, orally) and weekly FDR-Gem (1000 mg/m2, infused at 10 mg/m2per minute) in a population of previously untreated patients with locally advanced, inoperable, or metastatic pancreatic cancer. Primary endpoint was the rate of progression-free survival at 6 mo (PFS-6); secondary endpoints were overall response rate (ORR), response duration, tolerability, overall survival (OS), and clinical benefit. Treatment was not considered to be of further interest if the PFS-6 was < 20% (p0 = 20%), while a PFS-6 > 40% would be of considerable interest (p1 = 40%); with a 5% rejection error (α = 5%) and a power of 80%, 35 fully evaluable patients with metastatic disease were required to be enrolled in order to complete the study. Analysis of prognostic factors for survival was also carried out. RESULTS: From May 2007 to September 2009, 46 patients were enrolled (male/female: 25/21; median age: 64 years; median baseline carbohydrate antigen 19-9 (CA 19-9): 897 U/mL; locally advanced/metastatic disease: 5/41). PFS-6 and median PFS were 30.4% and 14 wk (95%CI: 10-19), respectively; 1-year and median OS were 20.2% and 26 wk (95%CI: 8-43). Five patients achieved an objective response (ORR: 10.9%, 95%CI: 1.9-19.9); disease control rate was 56.5% (95%CI: 42.2-70.8); clinical benefit rate was 43.5% (95%CI: 29.1-57.8). CA 19-9 serum levels were decreased by > 25% as compared to baseline in 14/23 evaluable patients (63.6%). Treatment was well-tolerated, with skin rash being the most powerful predictor of both longer PFS (P < 0.0001) and OS (P = 0.01) at multivariate analysis (median OS for patients with or without rash: 42 wk vs 15 wk, respectively, Log-rank P = 0.03). Additional predictors of better outcome were: CA 19-9 reduction, female sex (for PFS), and good performance status (for OS). CONCLUSION: Primary study endpoint was not met. However, skin rash strongly predicted erlotinib efficacy, suggesting that a pharmacodynamic-based strategy for patient selection deserves further investigation