Stochastic analysis of a radial-inflow turbine in the presence of parametric uncertainties

This paper presents an uncertainty quantification study of the performance analysis of the high pressure ratio single stage radial-inflow turbine used in the Sundstrand Power Systems T-100 Multi-purpose Small Power Unit. A deterministic 3D volume-averaged Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) solver is coupled with a non-statistical generalized Polynomial Chaos (gPC) representation based on a pseudo-spectral projection method. One of the advantages of this approach is that it does not require any modification of the CFD code for the propagation of random disturbances in the aerodynamic and geometric fields. The stochastic results highlight the importance of the blade thickness and trailing edge tip radius on the total-to-static efficiency of the turbine compared to the angular velocity and trailing edge tip length. From a theoretical point of view, the use of the gPC representation on an arbitrary grid also allows the investigation of the sensitivity of the blade thickness profiles on the turbine efficiency. The gPC approach is also applied to coupled random parameters. The results show that the most influential coupled random variables are trailing edge tip radius coupled with the angular velocity.

Comparison of IQS and verbal-performance IQ discrepancies estimated from two seven-subtest short forms of the WAIS-R

The present study compared IQs and Verbal-Performance IQ discrepancies estimated from two seven-subtest short forms of the Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale-Revised (WAIS-R) in a sample of 100 subjects referred for neuropsychological assessment. The short forms of Warrington, James, and Maciejewski (1986) and Ward (1990) yielded similar correlation coefficients and absolute error rates with respect to WAIS-R IQs, although the Warrington short form requires more time to administer and score. Both short forms were able to detect significant Verbal-Performance IQ discrepancies 70% of the time. However, they incorrectly yielded significant discrepancies for approximately 25% of the sample who did not have significant differences on the full WAIS-R. The results do not support reporting and interpreting significant Verbal-Performance IQ discrepancies estimated from these short forms.

STEM learning through engineering design: fourth-grade students' investigations in aerospace

Background: Internationally, there is a growing concern for developing STEM education to prepare students for a scientifically and technologically advanced society. Despite educational bodies lobbying for an increased focus on STEM, there is limited research on how engineering might be incorporated especially in the elementary school curriculum. A framework of five comprehensive core engineering design processes (problem scoping, idea generation, design and construction, design evaluation, redesign), adapted from the literature on design thinking in young children, served as a basis for the study. We report on a qualitative study of fourth-grade students’ developments in working an aerospace problem, which took place during the first year of a 3-year longitudinal study. Students applied design processes together with their mathematics and science knowledge to the design and redesign of a 3-D model plane. Results: The study shows that through an aerospace engineering problem, students could complete initial designs and redesigns of a model plane at varying levels of sophistication. Three levels of increasing sophistication in students’ sketches were identified in their designs and redesigns. The second level was the most prevalent involving drawings or templates of planes together with an indication of how to fold the materials as well as measurements linked to the plane’s construction. The third level incorporated written instructions and calculations. Students’ engagement with each of the framework’s design processes revealed problem scoping components in their initial designs and redesigns. Furthermore, students’ recommendations for improving their launching techniques revealed an ability to apply their mathematics knowledge in conjunction with their science learning on the forces of flight. Students’ addition of context was evident together with an awareness of constraints and a consideration of what was feasible in their design creation. Interestingly, students’ application of disciplinary knowledge occurred more frequently in the last two phases of the engineering framework (i.e., design evaluation and redesign), highlighting the need for students to reach these final phases to enable the science and mathematics ideas to emerge. Conclusions: The study supports research indicating young learners’ potential for early engineering. Students can engage in design and redesign processes, applying their STEM disciplinary knowledge in doing so. An appropriate balance is needed between teacher input of new concepts and students’ application of this learning in ways they choose. For example, scaffolding by the teacher about how to improve designs for increased detail could be included in subsequent experiences. Such input could enhance students’ application of STEM disciplinary knowledge in the redesign process. We offer our framework of design processes for younger learners as one way to approach early engineering education with respect to both the creation of rich problem experiences and the analysis of their learning.

Analysis on conservation of disulphide bonds and their structural features in homologous protein domain families

Background: Disulphide bridges are well known to play key roles in stability, folding and functions of proteins. Introduction or deletion of disulphides by site-directed mutagenesis have produced varying effects on stability and folding depending upon the protein and location of disulphide in the 3-D structure. Given the lack of complete understanding it is worthwhile to learn from an analysis of extent of conservation of disulphides in homologous proteins. We have also addressed the question of what structural interactions replaces a disulphide in a homologue in another homologue. Results: Using a dataset involving 34,752 pairwise comparisons of homologous protein domains corresponding to 300 protein domain families of known 3-D structures, we provide a comprehensive analysis of extent of conservation of disulphide bridges and their structural features. We report that only 54% of all the disulphide bonds compared between the homologous pairs are conserved, even if, a small fraction of the non-conserved disulphides do include cytoplasmic proteins. Also, only about one fourth of the distinct disulphides are conserved in all the members in protein families. We note that while conservation of disulphide is common in many families, disulphide bond mutations are quite prevalent. Interestingly, we note that there is no clear relationship between sequence identity between two homologous proteins and disulphide bond conservation. Our analysis on structural features at the sites where cysteines forming disulphide in one homologue are replaced by non-Cys residues show that the elimination of a disulphide in a homologue need not always result in stabilizing interactions between equivalent residues. Conclusion: We observe that in the homologous proteins, disulphide bonds are conserved only to a modest extent. Very interestingly, we note that extent of conservation of disulphide in homologous proteins is unrelated to the overall sequence identity between homologues. The non-conserved disulphides are often associated with variable structural features that were recruited to be associated with differentiation or specialisation of protein function.

Hybrid stiff-string-polynomial basis functions for vibration analysis of high speed rotating beams

A new finite element is developed for free vibration analysis of high speed rotating beams using basis functions which use a linear combination of the solution of the governing static differential equation of a stiff-string and a cubic polynomial. These new shape functions depend on rotation speed and element position along the beam and account for the centrifugal stiffening effect. The natural frequencies predicted by the proposed element are compared with an element with stiff-string, cubic polynomial and quintic polynomial shape functions. It is found that the new element exhibits superior convergence compared to the other basis functions.

Structure and magnetotransport properties of the layered manganites REl.2Srl.8Mn,07(R E = La, Pr, Nd)

We have examined the magnetotransport properties and the structure, by Rietveld refinement of powder X-ray data, of the phases RE(1.2)Sr(1.8)Mn(2)O(7) (RE = La, Pr, Nd). We find that on cooling, La1.2Sr1.8Mn2O7 undergoes a transition to a nearly perfect ferromagnet with 90% magnetization at 1.45 T, as reported by earlier workers, but the Pr and Nd phases show only a small magnetization that grows gradually as the temperature is decreased. There seems to be significant correlation between electrical transport and the Jahn-Teller elongation of the apical Mn-O bonds in these systems. The elongation of the apical Mn-O bonds forces the nine-coordinate rock-salt site to be occupied preferentially by the smaller rare-earth-metal cations. This preferential occupation is reliably obtained from the X-ray refinement. All three title phases show a magnetoresistance ratio of about 4(corresponding to a magnetoresistance, [R(0)-R(H)]/R(0), of about 75%) at a field of 7 T and temperatures around 100 K.

Èto i to v povesti Staruha Daniila Harmsa

This dissertation focuses on the short story Starukha (The Old Woman), one of the last works of the Russian writer Daniil Kharms (1905-1942). The story, written in 1939, is analysed using the Kharmsian concepts èto and to (this and that) as a heuristic interpretative model. The first chapter gives a detailed analysis of this model, as well as a survey of the critical work done to date on Kharms and Starukha. In the second chapter the model is applied to study the different states of consciousness of the male protagonist. This is significant, because he is the "I" of the work, from whose point of view everything is being told. The third chapter takes a closer look at the reality of the world that exists independently of the consciousness of the protagonist. Physical objects can be said to bear - besides their everyday meaning - a hidden symbolic meaning. Similarly, the characters can be considered as representatives of everyday reality and otherworldliness. The fourth chapter deals with the narrative devices of Starukha. The problematics of the relation between fact and fiction plays an essential role in the story. Kharms's use of Ich-Erzählung and different tenses, which contributes to achieving a complicated elaboration of this kind of problematics, is examined in detail. The fifth chapter provides an intertextual reading of Starukha, based on its allusions to the Bible and the Christian tradition. As a result, the whole story can be seen as a kind of meditation on the Passion of Christ. The final chapter examines how the important Kharmsian concepts of the grotesque and the absurd manifest themselves in Starukha. The old woman represents in a grotesque way two opposite systems: the religious and the totalitarian. The absurdity of Starukha can be claimed to be illusory. Therefore, it is better to speak about paradoxicality. Starukha itself is a kind of paradox, in the sense that it tries to say something of the ultimate truth of reality, which inevitably remains ineffable.

The crystal structure of the amino-terminal pentapeptide of suzukacillin. Occurrence of a four-fold peptide helix

The monohydrate of the protected amino-terminal pentapeptide of suzukacillin, t-butoxycarbonyl--aminoisobutyryl-L-prolyl-L-valyl--aminoisobutyryl-L-valine methyl ester, C29H51N5O8, crystallizes in the orthorhombic space group P212121 with a= 10.192, b= 10.440, c= 32.959 Å, and Z= 4. The structure has been solved by direct methods and refined to an R value of 0.101 for 1 827 observed reflections. The molecule exists as a four-fold helix with a pitch of 5.58 Å. The helix is stabilised by N–H O hydrogen bonds, two of the 51 type (corresponding to the -helix) and the third of the 41 type (310 helix). The carbonyl oxygen of the amino-protecting group accepts two hydrogen bonds, one each from the amide NH groups of the third (41) and fourth (51) residues. The remaining 51 hydrogen bond is between the two terminal residues. The lone water molecule in the structure is hydrogen bonded to carbonyl oxygens of the prolyl residue in one molecule and the non-terminal valyl residue in a symmetry-related molecule.

Mifopoètika Andreja Platonova v romane Sčastlivaja Moskva

This dissertation focuses on the mythopoetics of the Soviet writer Andrej Platonov (1899-1951) in his late novel Schastlivaja Moskva (Happy Moscow), written in 1932 1936. The purpose of the work is to reveal the mythopoetic world model in the novel, to characterize the most significant features of Platonov's mythopoetics and finally, to reconstruct the author's myth in the novel by placing the novel in the context of Platonov's oeuvre and Russian literature and culture as a whole. The first chapter provides a representation of the problem and methodology of the work, a short overview of the history of creating and publishing the novel, and a survey of critical work on Platonov done to date. The study utilizes a structuralistic-semiotic approach devised by Tarto-Moscow scholars for analyzing mythopoetic texts and applies the methodology of a conceptual analysis of the mythology of language. The second chapter examines the peculiarities of Platonov's mythopoetics, and its relation to the neomythological paradigm of Russian literature. Some special consideration is given to the character of the scientific utopism of Platonov's myth, to the relation of Platonov's mythopoetic world model with mythopoetic thinking and to the syntagmatical, and paradigmatical aspects of Platonov's myth, in particular to the mythopoetical metasjuzhet and the ambivalent binary structure of myth. The third chapter presents a close examination of the mythopoetics of the novel by discerning the motif structure of the novel, analyzing the characters and main thematic oppositions of Platonov's myth in the novel. It is contended that in every textual level Platonov strives for ambivalency which provides an opportunity to discern his poetics as both utopian and antiutopian. The analysis in the fourth chapter of the key Platonovian ideological concepts revoljucia, kommunizm and socializm confirms this observation. The study concludes that Platonov's myth in the novel is based on the mythologema of his early prose, but reflect the gradual transition from early utopian themes to the intimate "humble" prose of the late 1930's.

Given and News : Media discourse and the construction of community on national days

National anniversaries such as independence days demand precise coordination in order to make citizens change their routines to forego work and spend the day at rest or at festivities that provide social focus and spectacle. The complex social construction of national days is taken for granted and operates as a given in the news media, which are the main agents responsible for coordinating these planned disruptions of normal routines. This study examines the language used in the news to construct the rather unnatural idea of national days and to align people in observing them. The data for the study consist of news stories about the Fourth of July in the New York Times, sampled over 150 years and are supplemented by material from other sources and other countries. The study is multidimensional, applying concepts from pragmatics (speech acts, politeness, information structure), systemic functional linguistics (the interpersonal metafunction and the Appraisal framework) and cognitive linguistics (frames, metaphor) as well as journalism and communications to arrive at an interdisciplinary understanding of how resources for meaning are used by writers and readers of the news stories. The analysis shows that on national anniversaries, nations tend to be metaphorized as persons having birthdays, to whom politeness should be shown. The face of the nation is to be respected in the sense of identifying the nation's interests as one's own (positive face) and speaking of citizen responsibilities rather than rights (negative face). Resources are available for both positive and negative evaluations of events and participants and the newspaper deftly changes footings (Goffman 1981) to demonstrate the required politeness while also heteroglossically allowing for a certain amount of disattention and even protest - within limits, for state holidays are almost never construed as Bakhtinian festivals, as they tend to reaffirm the hierarchy rather than invert it. Celebrations are evaluated mainly for impressiveness, and for the essentially contested quality of appropriateness, which covers norms of predictability, size, audience response, aesthetics, and explicit reference to the past. Events may also be negatively evaluated as dull ("banal") or inauthentic ("hoopla"). Audiences are evaluated chiefly in terms of their enthusiasm, or production of appropriate displays for emotional response, for national days are supposed to be occasions of flooding-out of nationalistic feeling. By making these evaluations, the newspaper reinforces its powerful position as an independent critic, while at the same time playing an active role in the construction and reproduction of emotional order embodied in "the nation's birthday." As an occasion for mobilization and demonstrations of power, national days may be seen to stand to war in the relation of play to fighting (Bateson 1955). Evidence from the newspaper's coverage of recent conflicts is adduced to support this analysis. In the course of the investigation, methods are developed for analyzing large collections of newspaper content, particularly topical soft news and feature materials that have hitherto been considered less influential and worthy of study than so-called hard news. In his work on evaluation in newspaper stories, White (1998) proposed that the classic hard news story is focused on an event that threatens the social order, but news of holidays and celebrations in general does not fit this pattern, in fact its central event is a reproduction of the social order. Thus in the system of news values (Galtung and Ruge 1965), national holiday news draws on "ground" news values such as continuity and predictability rather than "figure" news values such as negativity and surprise. It is argued that this ground helps form a necessary space for hard news to be seen as important, similar to the way in which the information structure of language is seen to rely on the regular alternation of given and new information (Chafe 1994).

Literaturnaja skazka A.M. Remizova (1900-1920-e gody)

Literary tale of A.M. Remizov (1900’s – 1920’s) The thesis is devoted to a detailed historical-literary description of a tale as a genre tradition in the creative work of Alexei Mikhailovich Remizov (1877-1957), one of the major Russian prose writers of the 20’s century. This very approach allows to specify the place and functional meaning of this genre in literary practice of the writer and to appeal to one of the key problems of the 20-21 century literature history – a specific of modernistic literature composition principle and a role of montage techniques in its formation. Remizov was working on tales during his whole life, though the most productive years of folklore studies fell to 1900’s – 1910’s. During this period he intensively studied folklore materials, narrated several hundreds of folk tales and in 1900’s – 1920’s published eight tale collections which played a significant role in the formation of stylistic and compositional principles of his prose of the 1910’s – 1920’s, especially montage techniques, which in its turn influenced the development of the narrative forms in the Russian post-revolutionary literature. At the same time a tale has specified not only poetics but also problematics of Remizov’s creative work, as when choosing folklore sources the writer always alluded to modern themes and relevant intellectual trends. The current research work, based on various archive materials and a wide spectrum of modern historical-literary data, complies four chapters with a consistent description of creation history, publication and critics’ reviews of Remizov’s tale collections and single tales contributing to his creative evolution characteristic. Furthermore, the work refers to composition and subject of the particular collections. On the whole it enables to follow up genre dynamics. The first chapter of the work is devoted to Posolon’ (Sunwise), the earliest tale collection of Remizov. The main feature of the collection is that its composition is oriented on the agrarian calendar and the subject – on the system of mythological views reflected in the Russian folklore. This very collection to a large extent corresponds to the writer’s views on the myth represented in Pis’mo v redaktsiyu (Letter to the Editor). The history of this manifesto appearing is analyzed in the second chapter. The incident which caused its forthcoming contributed to ‘legitimization’ of Remizov’s narrations as a relevant genre of modern literature and to upgrading the writer in professional hierarchy. The third chapter analyzes Remizov’s collections of 1900’s – early 1920’s, a result of Remizov’s scrupulous work with a specific tale material. He is acting here as a tale repertory researcher and in some cases as a collector as well. The means of such collections’ topical organization is not the myth but the hero of the tale. According to this principle single pieces are grouped into cycles, which then form complicated montage constructs. Texts themselves can be viewed as a sort of hyper-quotations, as they in fact entirely coincide with their original sources. Besides, collections usually have their own ideal patterns. In the fourth chapter a connection of Remizov’s creative work with folk fun culture and a tradition of the folklore noel story is being demonstrated on Zavetnyie skazy (Secret Tales) material. A consistent collections’ history creation analysis convinces us that the tale was a sort of laboratory in which main writer’s prose methods were being worked out.

Análisis de la preposición hacia y establecimiento de sus equivalentes en finés

Title of the Master's thesis: Análisis de la preposición hacia y establecimiento de sus equivalentes en finés (trans. Analysis of the Spanish preposition hacia and the finding of its equivalents in Finnish) Abstracts: The aim of this Master thesis is to provide a detailed analysis of the Spanish preposition hacia from a cognitive perspective and to establish its equivalents in Finnish language. In this sense, my purpose is to demonstrate the suitability of both cognitive perspectives and Contrastive Linguistics for semantic analysis. This thesis is divided into five chapters. The first chapter includes a presentation and a critical review of the monolingual lexical processing and semantic analysis of the Spanish preposition hacia in major reference works. Through this chapter it is possible to see both the inadequacies and omissions that are present in all the given definitions. In this sense, this chapter shows that these problems are not but the upper stage of an ontological (and therefore methodological) problem in the treatment of prepositions. The second chapter covers the presentation of the methodological and theoretical perspective adopted for this thesis for the monolingual analysis and definition of the Spanish preposition hacia, following mainly the guidelines established by G. Lakoff (1987) and R. Langacker (2008) in his Cognitive grammar. Taken together, and within the same paradigm, recent analytical and methodological contributions are discussed critically for the treatment of polysemy in language (cf. Tyler ja Evans 2003). In the third chapter, and in accordance with the requirements regarding the use of empirical data from corpora, is my aim to set out a monolingual original analysis of the Spanish preposition hacia in observance of the principles and the methodology spelled out in the second chapter. The main objective of this chapter is to build a full fledged semantic representation of the polysemy of this preposition in order to understand and articulate its meanings with Finnish language (and other possible languages). The fourth chapter, in accordance with the results of chapter 3, examines and describes and establishes the corresponding equivalents in Finnish for this preposition. The results obtained in this chapter are also contrasted with the current bilingual lexicographical definitions found in the most important dictionaries and grammars. Finally, in the fifth chapter of this thesis, the results of this work are discussed critically. In this way, some observations are given regarding both the ontological and theoretical assumptions as well regarding the methodological perspective adopted. I also present some notes for the construction of a general methodology for the semantic analysis of Spanish prepositions to be carried out in further investigations. El objetivo de este trabajo, que caracterizamos como una tarea de carácter comparativo-analítico, es brindar un análisis detallado de la preposición castellana hacia desde una perspectiva cognitiva en tanto y a través del establecimiento de sus equivalentes en finés. Se procura, de esta forma, demostrar la adecuación de una perspectiva cognitiva tanto para el examen como para el establecimiento y articulación de la serie de equivalentes que una partícula, en nuestro caso una preposición, encuentra en otra lengua. De esta forma, y frente a definiciones canónicas que advierten sobre la imposibilidad de una caracterización acabada del conjunto de usos de una preposición, se observa como posible, a través de la aplicación de una metodología teórica-analítica adecuada, la construcción de una definición viable tanto en un nivel jerárquico como descriptivo. La presente tesis se encuentra dividida en cinco capítulos. El primer capítulo comprende una exposición y revisión critica del tratamiento monolingüe lexicográfico y analítico que la preposición hacia ha recibido en las principales obras de referencia, donde se observa que las inadecuaciones y omisiones presentes en la totalidad de las definiciones analizadas representan tan sólo el estadio superior de una problemática de carácter ontológico y, por tanto, metodológico, en el tratamiento de las preposiciones. El capítulo segundo comprende la presentación de la perspectiva teórica metodológica adoptada en esta tesis para el análisis y definición monolingüe de la preposición hacia, teniendo por líneas directrices las propuestas realizadas por G. Lakoff , así como a los fundamentos establecidos por R. Langacker en su propuesta cognitiva para una nueva gramática. En forma conjunta y complementaria, y dentro del mismo paradigma, empleamos, discutimos críticamente y desarrollamos diferentes aportes analítico-metodológicos para el tratamiento de la polisemia en unidades lingüísticas locativas. En el capítulo tercero, y en acuerdo con las exigencias respecto a la utilización de datos empíricos obtenidos a partir de corpus textuales, se expone un análisis original monolingüe de la preposición hacia en observancia de los principios y la metodología explicitada en el capítulo segundo, teniendo por principal objetivo la construcción de una representación semántica de la polisemia de la preposición que comprenda y articule los sentidos prototípicos para ésta especificados. El capítulo cuarto, y en acuerdo con los resultados de nuestro análisis monolingual de la preposición, se examinan, describen y establecen los equivalentes correspondientes en finés para hacia; asimismo, se contrastan en este capítulo los resultados obtenidos con las definiciones lexicográficas bilingües vigentes. Se recogen en el último y quinto capítulo de esta tesis algunas observaciones tanto respecto a los postulados ontológicos y teórico-metodológicos de la perspectiva adoptada, así como algunas notas para la construcción de una metodología general para el análisis semántico preposicional.

Use of Petrifilm(R) 3M to assess coliform numbers on lamb carcasses.

Petrifilm(R) (6410) was used directly on lamb carcasses to enumerate coliforms. 10 sites on 30 carcasses were sampled at each of 4 separate meat processing establishments (works). Coliform counts obtained by this technique were statistically analysed using analysis of variance (ANOVA) to select the optimum sampling sites on the carcass and to assess contamination of the carcass by gut flora at a particular establishment. There was a large variation between sites and between works. In general, works 3 and 4 produced cleaner carcasses than works 2, which in turn was cleaner than works 1. Works 1, 2 and 4 used conventional dressing techniques and works 3 used the inverted dressing method, therefore, the coliform counts found at works 3 and 4 are achievable regardless of dressing technique. Coliform bacteria were most concentrated around the posterior pelvic rim and less prevalent at the carcass extremities. The posterior pelvic rim (sites 3 and 4) had higher (P < 0.05) coliform counts than the exterior ventral flank area (sites 5, 6, 7 and 8), which in turn had higher (P < 0.05) counts than the proximal hind and proximal fore limbs (sites 1, 2, 9 and 10) across all works. With in-line routine testing it is recommended that the majority of carcasses sampled should give coliform counts of <50 cfu/20 cm2 for sites 4 and 8. Reprinted with permission from Journal of Food Protection. Copyright held by the International Association of Food Protection, Des Moines, Iowa, USA. Authors affifiation. J.A.Guthrie & K.J.Dunlop International Food Institute of Queensland, Department of Primary Industries, Rockhampton and G.A.Saunders Veterinary Public Health Division, Livestock and Meat Authority of Queensland, Emerald.

Non-stationary signal analysis by least mean fourth (LMF) adaptive algorithm

A modified least mean fourth (LMF) adaptive algorithm applicable to non-stationary signals is presented. The performance of the proposed algorithm is studied by simulation for non-stationarities in bandwidth, centre frequency and gain of a stochastic signal. These non-stationarities are in the form of linear, sinusoidal and jump variations of the parameters. The proposed LMF adaptation is found to have better parameter tracking capability than the LMS adaptation for the same speed of convergence.