Optimal multi-dimensional vector bin packing using simulated evolution

The use of the evolutionary heuristic simulated evolution for the optimization of the multi-dimensional vector bin packing problem, which is encountered in several industrial applications, is described. These applications range from production planning and steel fabrication to assignment of virtual machines (VMs) onto physical hosts at cloud-based data centers. The dimensions of VMs can include demands of CPU, memory, bandwidth, disk space etc. The generalized goodness functions that aid traversing the search space in an intelligent manner are designed to cater to the multidimensional nature of items (VMs). The efficiency of heuristics is tested by considering phase transition in the generation of difficult test cases. The quality of the heuristics is judged by determining how close the solution is to the estimated lower bound. A new implementation of a tighter lower bound is proposed. Experiments show that superior quality results are obtained by employing the proposed strategy.     

Research, protection and restoration studies on the historical fabric of Isparta, using Aya Baniya Church as an example

Turkey is a country that bears the tracks of many civilizations because of its geographic location and its characteristics that come from its deeply rooted history. So it contains historical and cultural items of value that are quite rich and can be characterized as intensely universal. Thanks to these valuable items, it has always drawn the attention of the world. Isparta is a city that houses quite a few historical, archaeological and cultural items of value in its structure. Protecting the historical buildings that carry the cultural and historical traces of a period and making a contribution to its reuse for the future of all humanity are a truth of international importance. In this connection, with this study, essential work was carried out and certain suggestions made about St. Baniya Church, which is one of the most important structures of the historically, archaeologically and culturally valuable items that make up the historical fabric of Isparta and especially, the historical and cultural potential of Isparta.     

Hierarchical Order Statistics Filtering for Fast Bi‐Dimensional Empirical Mode Decomposition

A hierarchical approach for fast bi‐dimensional empirical mode decomposition (B‐EMD) is proposed. The presented approach utilizes an efficient window size determination scheme that enables the multi‐level computation of the order statistics filter (OSF). Our detailed experiments show that the proposed OSF computation approach allows a significantly faster computation of an EMD without degrading the decomposition accuracy.     

The use of Bacillus subtilis immobilized on Amberlite XAD-4 as a new biosorbent in trace metal determination

The present work proposes the use of Bacillus subtilis immobilized on Amberlite XAD-4 as new biosorbent in trace metal determination. The procedure is based on the biosorption of Cu and Cd ions on a column of Amberlite XAD-4 resin loaded with dried, dead bacterial components prior to their determination by flame AAS. Various parameters such as pH, amount of adsorbent, eluent type and volume, flow rate of solution and matrix interference effect on the retention of the metal ions have been studied. The optimum pH values of quantitative sorption for Cu and Cd were found to be 7.0 and 7.5, respectively. These metal ions can be desorbed with 1M HCl (recovery, 96-100%). The sorption capacity of the resin was 0.0297 and 0.035 mmol g(-1) for Cu(2+) and Cd(2+), respectively. The tolerance limit of some electrolytes were also studied. This procedure was applied to Cu(2+) and Cd(2+) determination in aqueous solutions, including river and well water systems. In order to evaluate the accuracy of the proposed procedure, the certified reference materials, NRCC-SLRS-4 Riverine water and LGC7162 Strawberry leaves were analyzed.     

A radial infusion model for transverse permeability measurements of fiber reinforcement in composite materials

The goal of this article was to develop a method for simultaneously determining the principal values of an unsaturated permeability tensor for fibrous reinforcements which accounts for finite dimension of the inlet gate, when its diameter is comparable or larger than thickness of a fabric preform. An analytic solution for the direct problem of liquid spreading in a transversely orthotropic fabric preform is derived and analyzed. This solution is compared with a point source approximate solution used by other authors. Algorithms for evaluating the principal components of transverse and equivalent in-plane permeability are proposed. POLYM. COMPOS., 2009. © 2008 Society of Plastics Engineers     

Gabapentin-induced coma in a patient with renal failure

We describe a 60-year-old woman who became comatose after a single dose of gabapentin for right-sided sciatalgia. The patient was improved by hemodialysis. Gabapentin toxicity should be considered when mental status changes develop in patients with renal failure after even a single dose.     

Improving Interoperability by Incorporating UnitsML Into Markup Languages

Maintaining the integrity of analytical data over time is a challenge. Years ago, data were recorded on paper that was pasted directly into a laboratory notebook. The digital age has made maintaining the integrity of data harder. Nowadays, digitized analytical data are often separated from information about how the sample was collected and prepared for analysis and how the data were acquired. The data are stored on digital media, while the related information about the data may be written in a paper notebook or stored separately in other digital files. Sometimes the connection between this “scientific meta-data” and the analytical data is lost, rendering the spectrum or chromatogram useless. We have been working with ASTM Subcommittee E13.15 on Analytical Data to create the Analytical Information Markup Language or AnIML—a new way to interchange and store spectroscopy and chromatography data based on XML (Extensible Markup Language). XML is a language for describing what data are by enclosing them in computer-useable tags. Recording the units associated with the analytical data and metadata is an essential issue for any data representation scheme that must be addressed by all domain-specific markup languages. As scientific markup languages proliferate, it is very desirable to have a single scheme for handling units to facilitate moving information between different data domains.At NIST, we have been developing a general markup language just for units that we call UnitsML. This presentation will describe how UnitsML is used and how it is being incorporated into AnIML.     

A study of indoor radon levels in rural dwellings of Ezine (Canakkale, Turkey) using solid-state nuclear track detectors

Indoor radon activity level and radon effective dose (ED) rate have been carried out in the rural dwellings of Ezine (Canakkale) during the summer season using Radosys-2000, a complete set suitable to radon concentration measurements with CR-39 plastic alpha track detectors. The range of radon concentration varied between 9 and 300 Bq m(-3), with an average of 67.9 (39.9 SD) Bq m(-3). Assuming an indoor occupancy factor of 0.8 and 0.4 for the equilibrium factor of radon indoors, it has been found that the 222Rn ED rate in the dwellings studied ranges from 0.4 to 5.2 mSv y(-1), with an average value of 1.7 (1.0) mSv y(-1). There is a possibility that low radon concentrations exist indoors during the summer season in the study area because of relatively high ventilation rates in the dwellings. A winter survey will be needed for future estimation of the annual ED.     

High-Performance Liquid Chromatography Analysis and Assessment of Benzoic Acid in Yogurt, Ayran, and Cheese in Turkey

Among food sources, particular attention is paid to milk and dairy products, due to its nutritional importance. Benzoic acid is extensively used in the preservation of foods. A reliable method for the determination of benzoic acid in some dairy products, such as yogurt, ayran, and cheese using high-performance liquid chromatography and UV detection was validated. The peak of benzoic acid was measured at a wavelenght of 226 nm. Samples were purchased from supermarkets in Turkey in the period 2009–2010. All dairy product samples were produced from cow’s milk. The levels of benzoic acid in cheese, yogurt, and ayran samples were in the range of 3.17 to 56.77 mg kg⁻¹, 8.94 to 28.30 mg kg⁻¹, and 1.54 to 16.57 mg L⁻¹, respectively. The results show that benzoic acid widely occurs in milk products in Turkey at the low levels.