Multi-agent quality of experience control

International Journal of Control, Automation and Systems - In the framework of the Future Internet, the aim of the Quality of Experience (QoE) Control functionalities is to track the personalized...     

Anelastic reorganisation of fibre-reinforced biological tissues

In this work, we contribute to the study of the structural reorganisation of biological tissues in response to mechanical stimuli. We specialise our investigation to a class of hydrated soft tissues, whose internal structure features reinforcing fibres. These are oriented statistically within the tissue, and their pattern of orientation is such that, at each material point, the tissue is anisotropic. From its natural, stress-free state, the tissue can be distorted anelastically into a global reference configuration, and then deformed under the action of external mechanical loads. The anelastic distortions are responsible for changing irreversibly the internal structure of the tissue, which, in the present context, occurs through both the rearrangement of the bonds among the tissue cells and the deformation-driven reorientation of the fibres. The anelastic strains, in addition, are assumed to model the onset and evolution of microcracks in the tissue, which may be triggered by the mechanical loads applied to the tissue in the case of traumatic events, or diseases. For our purposes, we formulate an anisotropic model of remodelling and we consider a fully isotropic model of structural reorganisation for comparison, with the aim to study if, how, and to what extent the evolution of anelastic distortions is influenced by the tissue’s anisotropy.

     

Cranberry and Recurrent Cystitis: More than Marketing?

Epidemiologic studies indicate that millions of people suffer from recurrent cystitis, a pathology requiring antibiotic prophylaxis and entailing high social costs. Cranberry is a traditional folk remedy for cystitis and, which, in the form of a variety of products and formulations has over several decades undergone extensive evaluation for the management of urinary tract infections (UTI). The aim of this retrospective study is to summarize and review the most relevant and recent preclinical and clinical studies on cranberries for the treatment of UTIs. The scientific literature selected for this review was identified by searches of Medline via PubMed. A variety of recent experimental evidence has shed light on the mechanism underlying the anti-adhesive properties of proanthrocyanidins, their structure–activity relationships, and pharmacokinetics. Analysis of clinical studies and evaluation of the cranberry efficacy/safety ratio in the prevention of UTIs strongly support the use of cranberry in the prophylaxis of recurrent UTIs in young and middle-aged women. However, evidence of its clinical use among other patients remains controversial.     

Triple diffusive convection in porous media

The presence of more than one chemical dissolved in fluid mixtures is very often requested for describing natural phenomena (contaminant transport, underground water flow, acid rain effects, worming of the stratosphere). In the present paper, a triple convective-diffusive fluid mixture saturating a porous horizontal layer, heated from below and salted from above and below, is studied. In closed forms, conditions sufficient for (i) inhibiting the onset of convection and (ii) guaranteeing the global nonlinear stability of the thermal conduction solution and the absence of subcritical instabilities are obtained.     

ECT benchmark results for 3D defect signatures in industrial applications

This paper is focused on the Eddy Current Testing (ECT) method applied to important industrial applications such as the inspection of tubes in nuclear power plants and the inspection of planar surface from aeronautical industry. Specifically, we consider the prediction of the signatures produced by small defects through two fully three-dimensional numerical models developed for ECT. In particular we consider the responses to small defects described in two experimental benchmarks from nuclear power industry and one experimental benchmark from aeronautical applications. Despite of the small size of the defects that, in some cases, is of the order of few millimetres, the numerical models reproduce correctly the experimental responses provided in the benchmarks, including the challenging case of a defect (in a tube) close to the support plate.     

Processing effects on in-flight particle state and functional coating properties of plasma-sprayed manganese zinc ferrite

Magnetic properties of manganese zinc ferrite (MZF) coatings deposited by atmospheric dc plasma spraying largely depend on zinc and oxygen loss during particle flight. The temperature and velocity of in-flight MZF particles were widely varied by changing plasma spray conditions to examine these chemistry changes and resultant magnetic properties. Zn loss increases with increased particle temperature or decreased particle velocity. Meanwhile, wüstite (FeO) formation, related to the oxygen loss, is more complicated, partly because oxygen, which is lost during flight in the high-temperature zone of the plasma jet, can be recovered at longer spray distances. As a result, the saturation magnetization of MZF coatings decreases and the coercivity increases with increased particle temperature or decreased particle velocity.     

Photochromic Polymers Based on the Photoinduced Opening and Thermal Closing of [1,3]Oxazine Rings

Two macromolecular constructs incorporating a single polymer backbone with multiple photochromic side chains are developed. Both systems are prepared from preformed photochromic [1,3]oxazines after the ring‐opening polymerization of their norbornene appendages. In solution, UV illumination of these polymers opens the [1,3]oxazine rings in their side chains in less than 6 ns and with a quantum yield of 0.09 in both instances. The photogenerated species incorporate a 4‐nitrophenolate chromophore, and hence, their formation is accompanied by the appearance of an intense band in the visible region of the absorption spectrum. The photoproducts revert spontaneously to the original state with first‐order kinetics in microseconds. Furthermore, both photochromic polymers tolerate hundreds of switching cycles with no sign of degradation, even in the presence of molecular oxygen. Thus, this design logic and choice of functional building blocks can translate into the realization of innovative photoresponsive materials with excellent photochromic performance.     

Pervasive Access to MRI Bias Artifact Suppression Service on a Grid

Bias artifact corrupts MRIs in such a way that the image is afflicted by illumination variations. Some of the authors proposed the exponential entropy-driven homomorphic unsharp masking (E²D-HUM) algorithm that corrects this artifact without any a priori hypothesis about the tissues or the MRI modality. Moreover, E²D-HUM does not care about the body part under examination and does not require any particular training task. People who want to use this algorithm, which is Matlab-based, have to set their own computers in order to execute it. Furthermore, they have to be Matlab-skilled to exploit all the features of the algorithm. In this paper, we propose to make such algorithm available as a service on a grid infrastructure, so that people can use it almost from everywhere, in a pervasive fashion, by means of a suitable user interface running on smartphones. The proposed solution allows physicians to use the E²D-HUM algorithm (or any other kind of algorithm, given that it is available as a service on the grid), being it remotely executed somewhere in the grid, and the results are sent back to the user's device. This way, physicians do not need to be aware of how to use Matlab to process their images. The pervasive service provision for medical image enhancement is presented, along with some experimental results obtained using smartphones connected to an existing Globus-based grid infrastructure.     

Theoretical and Experimental Analysis of a Laser Textured Thrust Bearing

In this article, a laser partially textured thrust bearing is theoretically and experimentally analyzed. An adiabatic model is developed in order to theoretically investigate the performances of the bearing. The bearing sample is partially textured both in radial and circumferential direction using the laser texturing process. The performance of the bearing (fluid film thickness and friction torque) is evaluated on a specially adapted test rig and the experimental results are compared with the theoretical model. A good agreement is found between the theoretical model and the experimental data. Also a comparison between a laser textured bearing and a bearing textured using the photolithographic method is presented.     

Morphology and lectin‐binding sites of pyloric caeca epithelium in normal and GnRH‐treated Atlantic bluefin tuna (Thunnus thynnus) Linnaeus 1758

Mucosal epithelium of pyloric caeca was studied in normal and in GnRH‐treated Atlantic bluefin tuna Thunnus thynnus L., using morphological analysis, conventional and lectin glycohistochemistry. The lining epithelium consisted of columnar (absorptive) cells, goblet cells and intraepithelial leucocytes. The epithelium from normal animals was significantly taller than GnRH‐treated samples. Conventional histochemistry displayed the same staining pattern in normal and hormone‐treated specimens which showed a mixture of neutral and sulphated acidic glycoconjugates in the luminal surface and goblet cells, and neutral glycans in apical granules of enterocytes. Lectin histochemistry revealed a different glycoconjugate pattern in normal and GnRH‐treated tunas. In normal specimens the luminal surface expressed sialoglycoconjugates which bound MAL II, SNA, KOH‐sialidase‐PNA, KOH‐sialidase‐SBA as well as asialoglycans stained with HPA, SBA, GSA I‐B₄, LTA. N‐linked glycans were highlighted by Con A and KOH‐sialidase‐WGA. In GnRH‐treated tunas the luminal surface did not react with SNA, SBA and LTA. The columnar cells of normal tunas bound KOH‐sialisase‐PNA in the apical region, KOH‐sialidase‐PNA, KOH‐sialidase‐DBA, HPA, SBA, KOH‐sialidase‐SBA and KOH‐sialidase‐WGA in apical granules, GSA I‐B₄ and LTA in the supranuclear region. GnRH‐treated specimens showed some columnar cells that stained with KOH‐sialidase‐WGA in the apical granules and with GSA I‐B₄ in the supranuclear region. The goblet cells of normal animals produced mucins positive to PNA, HPA, KOH‐sialidase‐DBA, SBA, GSA II. The latter three binding sites lacked in GnRH‐treated tunas. The results suggest that the mucosal epithelium of Thunnus thynnus L. pyloric caeca expresses a complex glycan pattern that is affected by GnRH‐treatment. Microsc. Res. Tech., 2011. © 2010 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.