Invariant integrals applied to nematic liquid crystals with small Ericksen number and topological defects

Invariant integrals are derived for nematic liquid crystals and applied to materials with small Ericksen number and topological defects. The nematic material is confined between two infinite plates located at y = -h and y = h (h is an element of R+) with a semi-infinite plate at y = 0 and x < 0. Planar and homeotropic strong anchoring boundary conditions to the director field are assumed at these two infinite and semi-infinite plates, respectively. Thus, a line disclination appears in the system which coincides with the z-axis. Analytical solutions to the director field in the neighbourhood of the singularity are obtained. However, these solutions depend on an arbitrary parameter. The nematic elastic force is thus evaluated from an invariant integral of the energy-momentum tensor around a closed surface which does not contain the singularity. This allows one to determine this parameter which is a function of the nematic cell thickness and the strength of the disclination. Analytical solutions are also deduced for the director field in the whole region using the conformal mapping method. (C) 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Playing Newtonian Games with Modellus

This article is a short introduction on how to use Modellus (a computer package that is freely available on the Internet and used in the IOP Advancing Physics course) to build physics games using Newton’s laws, expressed as differential equations. Solving systems of differential equations is beyond most secondary-school or first-year college students. However, with Modellus, the solution is simply the output of the usual physical reasoning: define the force law, compute its magnitude and components, use it to obtain the acceleration components, then the velocity components and, finally, use the velocity components to find the coordinates.

Reactivity of bulky tris(Phenylpyrazolyl) methanesulfonate copper(I) complexes towards small unsaturated molecules

Reaction of the tris(3-phenylpyrazolyl)methane sulfonate species (Tpms(Ph))Li with the copper(I) complex [Cu(MeCN)(4)][PF6] affords [Cu(Tpms(Ph))(MeCN)] 1. The latter, upon reaction with equimolar amounts of cyclohexyl-(CyNC) or 2,6-dimethylphenyl (XylNC) isocyanides, or excess CO, furnishes the corresponding Cu(I)complexes [Cu(Tpms(Ph))(CNR)] (R = Cy 2, Xyl 3) or [Cu(Tpms(Ph))(CO)] 4. The ligated isocyanide in 2 or 3 (or the acetonitrile ligand in 1)is displaced by 3-iminoisoindolin-1-one to afford 5, the first copper(I) complex containing an 3-iminoisoindolin-1-one ligand. The ligated acetonitrile in 1 undergoes nucleophilic attack by methylamine to give the amidine complex [Cu(Tpms(Ph)){MeC(NH)NHMe}] 6, whereas only the starting materials were recovered from the attempted corresponding reactions of 2 and 3 with methylamine. Complexes 1 or 6 form the trinuclear hydroxo-copper(II)species [(mu-Cu){Cu(mu-OH) (2)(Tpms(Ph))}(2)] 7 upon air oxidation in moist methanol. In all the complexes the scorpionate ligand facially caps the metal in the N,N,O-coordination mode.

An overview of the higher level classification of Pucciniomycotina based on combined analyses of nuclear large and small subunit rDNA sequences

Mycologia, Vol. 98, nº6

Share GFS – Games, Films & Series: sistema de recomendação

Esta dissertação incide sobre o estudo e análise de uma solução para a criação de um sistema de recomendação para uma comunidade de consumidores de media e no consequente desenvolvimento da mesma cujo âmbito inicial engloba consumidores de jogos, filmes e/ou séries, com o intuito de lhes proporcionar a oportunidade de partilharem experiências, bem como manterem um registo das mesmas. Com a informação adquirida, o sistema reúne condições para proceder a sugestões direcionadas a cada membro da comunidade. O sistema atualiza a sua informação mediante as ações e os dados fornecidos pelos membros, bem como pelo seu feedback às sugestões. Esta aprendizagem ao longo do tempo permite que as sugestões do sistema evoluam juntamente com a mudança de preferência dos membros ou se autocorrijam. O sistema toma iniciativa de sugerir mediante determinadas ações, mas também pode ser invocada uma sugestão diretamente pelo utilizador, na medida em que este não precisa de esperar por sugestões, podendo pedir ao sistema que as forneça num determinado momento. Nos testes realizados foi possível apurar que o sistema de recomendação desenvolvido forneceu sugestões adequadas a cada utilizador específico, tomando em linha de conta as suas ações prévias. Para além deste facto, o sistema não forneceu qualquer sugestão quando o histórico destas tinha provado incomodar o utilizador.

Six sigma methodologies: implementation and impacts on Portuguese small and medium companies (SMES)

Artigo elaborador no âmbito dos trabalhos decorrentes à dissertação de Mestrado do Aluno David Leite, no Mestrado em Gestão Integrada Qualidade, Ambiente e Segurança, ESTGF-IPP, Oreintados pelos Professores Luís Fonseca (ISEP-IPP) e Vanda Lima (ESTGF-IPP).

Rotavírus, adenovírus, astrovírus, calicivírus e "Small Round Virus Particles" em fezes de crianças, com e sem diarréia aguda, no período de 1987 a 1988, na Grande São Paulo

No período de agosto de 1987 a setembro de 1988, 193 amostras de fezes de crianças, com e sem sintomatologia diarréica aguda, foram submetidas às provas diagnósticas do ensaio imunoenzimático (EIE), eletroforese em gel de poliacrilamida (EGPA) e microscopia eletrônica (ME) para a detecção de vírus. A positividade para Rotavírus, Adenovírus, Astrovírus, Calicivírus e "Small Round Virus Particles" (SRVP) foi encontrada nas 97 crianças com diarréia aguda em 11,3%, 3,1%, 2,1%, l,0%e4,l%, respectivamente. Das 96 crianças sem diarréia, 4,2% foram positivas para Rotavírus, 1,0% para Calicivírus e 7,3% para SRVP. Das 15 amostras positivas para Rotavírus, 14 apresentaram perfil eletroforético característico do Grupo A e 1 amostra do Grupo C. A análise dos eletroforotipos demonstrou a grande heterogeneidade de perfis e a predominância do perfil "longo". A associação de vírus, bactéria e parasita foi encontrada tanto em crianças com diarréia como em crianças sem diarréia.

Non-uniform printed antenna array for wireless communications in sports arenas

Wireless communications had a great development in the last years and nowadays they are present everywhere, public and private, being increasingly used for different applications. Their application in the business of sports events as a means to improve the experience of the fans at the games is becoming essential, such as sharing messages and multimedia material on social networks. In the stadiums, given the high density of people, the wireless networks require very large data capacity. Hence radio coverage employing many small sized sectors is unavoidable. In this paper, an antenna is designed to operate in the Wi-Fi 5GHz frequency band, with a directive radiation pattern suitable to this kind of applications. Furthermore, despite the large bandwidth and low losses, this antenna has been developed using low cost, off-the-shelf materials without sacrificing quality or performance, essential to mass production. © 2015 EurAAP.

Aerobic bacteria, Chlamydia trachomatis, Pneumocystis carinii and Cytomegalovirus as agents of severe peneumonia in small infants

The authors studied 58 infants hospitalized for pneumonia in a semi-intensive care unit. Age ranged from 1 complete to 6 incomplete months. The infants were sent from another hospital in 20 cases and from home in a further 38. Pulmonary involvement, which was alveolar in 46 cases and interstitial in 12, was bilateral in 31 children. The investigation was carried out prospectively on the etiological agents associated with respiratory infection to look for evidence of aerobic bacteria (blood cultures), Chlamydia trachomatis and Cytomegalovirus (serology), and Pneumocystis carinii (direct microscopy of tracheal aspirated material). The following infectious agents were diagnosed in 21 children (36.2%): Aerobic bacteria (8), Chlamydia trachomatis (5), Pneumocystis carinii (3), Cytomegalovirus (3), Cytomegalovirus and Chlamydia trachomatis (1), Aerobic bacteria and Cytomegalovirus (1). Seven cases of infection by Chlamydia trachomatis and/or Cytomegalovirus were diagnosed out of the 12 cases with pulmonary interstitial involvement.

Adaptive Learning in Games: Defining Profiles of Competitor Players

Artificial Intelligence has been applied to dynamic games for many years. The ultimate goal is creating responses in virtual entities that display human-like reasoning in the definition of their behaviors. However, virtual entities that can be mistaken for real persons are yet very far from being fully achieved. This paper presents an adaptive learning based methodology for the definition of players’ profiles, with the purpose of supporting decisions of virtual entities. The proposed methodology is based on reinforcement learning algorithms, which are responsible for choosing, along the time, with the gathering of experience, the most appropriate from a set of different learning approaches. These learning approaches have very distinct natures, from mathematical to artificial intelligence and data analysis methodologies, so that the methodology is prepared for very distinct situations. This way it is equipped with a variety of tools that individually can be useful for each encountered situation. The proposed methodology is tested firstly on two simpler computer versus human player games: the rock-paper-scissors game, and a penalty-shootout simulation. Finally, the methodology is applied to the definition of action profiles of electricity market players; players that compete in a dynamic game-wise environment, in which the main goal is the achievement of the highest possible profits in the market.

Dynamic Approach and Testbed for Small and Medium Players Simulation in Smart Grid Environments

The Smart Grid environment allows the integration of resources of small and medium players through the use of Demand Response programs. Despite the clear advantages for the grid, the integration of consumers must be carefully done. This paper proposes a system which simulates small and medium players. The system is essential to produce tests and studies about the active participation of small and medium players in the Smart Grid environment. When comparing to similar systems, the advantages comprise the capability to deal with three types of loads – virtual, contextual and real. It can have several loads optimization modules and it can run in real time. The use of modules and the dynamic configuration of the player results in a system which can represent different players in an easy and independent way. This paper describes the system and all its capabilities.

Social Media Integration in Video Games: A Social Overlay for Desktop Games

Simpósio de Informática (INForum 2015), Covilhã, Portugal. Notes: Best paper award nominee.

Multifunctional Biosensor Based on Localized Surface Plasmon Resonance for Monitoring Small Molecule–Protein Interaction

We report an optical sensor based on localized surface plasmon resonance (LSPR) to study small-molecule protein interaction combining high sensitivity refractive index sensing for quantitative binding information and subsequent conformation-sensitive plasmon-activated circular dichroism spectroscopy. The interaction of α-amylase and a small-size molecule (PGG, pentagalloyl glucose) was log concentration-dependent from 0.5 to 154 μM. In situ tests were additionally successfully applied to the analysis of real wine samples. These studies demonstrate that LSPR sensors to monitor small molecule–protein interactions in real time and in situ, which is a great advance within technological platforms for drug discovery.

Efficient Legendre spectral tau algorithm for solving two-sided space-time Caputo fractional advection-dispersion equation

In this paper we present the operational matrices of the left Caputo fractional derivative, right Caputo fractional derivative and Riemann–Liouville fractional integral for shifted Legendre polynomials. We develop an accurate numerical algorithm to solve the two-sided space–time fractional advection–dispersion equation (FADE) based on a spectral shifted Legendre tau (SLT) method in combination with the derived shifted Legendre operational matrices. The fractional derivatives are described in the Caputo sense. We propose a spectral SLT method, both in temporal and spatial discretizations for the two-sided space–time FADE. This technique reduces the two-sided space–time FADE to a system of algebraic equations that simplifies the problem. Numerical results carried out to confirm the spectral accuracy and efficiency of the proposed algorithm. By selecting relatively few Legendre polynomial degrees, we are able to get very accurate approximations, demonstrating the utility of the new approach over other numerical methods.