Conformational analyses and docking studies of a series of 5-nitrofuran- and 5-nitrothiophen-semicarbazone derivatives in three possible binding sites of trypanothione and glutathione reductases

To explore three possible binding sites of trypanothione and glutathione reductase, namely, the active, the dimer interface and the coenzyme NADPH binding site, a series of eight compounds, nitrofurans and nitrothiophenes derivatives, were docked, using their crystallographic and modeled conformations. Docking results showed that, for both families and both enzymes, compounds are more likely to bind in the interface site, even though there is some probability of binding in the active site. These studies are in agreement with experimental data, which suggest that these class of compounds can act either as uncompetitive or mixed type inhibitors, and also with the finding that there is an alpha-helix which connects the active with the interface site, thus allowing charge transference between them. (c) 2005 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Automation and cybernetics: Control of a flexible one-link manipulator

States that control is of the essence in cybernetics. Summarizes the dynamic equations for a flexible one-link manipulator moving in the horizontal plane. Employs the finite element method, based on elementary beam theory, during the process of formulation. Develops and instruments a one-link flexible manipulator in order to control its vibration modes. Uses a simple second-order vibration model which permits vibrations on the rod to be estimated using the hub angle. The validation of the dynamic model and the structural analysis of the flexible manipulator is reached using proper infrared cameras and active light sources for determining actual positions of objects in space. Shows that the performance of the control is satisfactory, even under perturbation action.

Dynamic modeling and simulation of a flexible robotic manipulator

This work focuses on the dynamic modeling of a flexible robotic manipulator with two flexible links and two revolute joints, which rotates in the horizontal plane. The dynamic equations are derived using the Newton-Euler formulation and the finite element method, based on elementary beam theory. Computer simulation results are presented to illustrate this study. The dynamic model becomes necessary for use in future design and control applications.

Bacterial cellulose membrane as flexible substrate for organic light emitting devices

Bacterial cellulose (BC) membranes produced by gram-negative, acetic acid bacteria (Gluconacetobacter xylinus), were used as flexible substrates for the fabrication of Organic Light Emitting Diodes (OLED). In order to achieve the necessary conductive properties indium tin oxide (ITO) thin films were deposited onto the membrane at room temperature using radio frequency (r.f) magnetron sputtering with an r.f. power of 30 W, at pressure of 8 mPa in Ar atmosphere without any subsequent thermal treatment. Visible light transmittance of about 40% was observed. Resistivity, mobility and carrier concentration of deposited ITO films were 4.90 x 10(-4) Ohm cm, 8.08 cm(2)/V-s and -1.5 x 10(21) cm(-3), respectively, comparable with commercial ITO substrates. In order to demonstrate the feasibility of devices based on BC membranes three OLEDs with different substrates were produced: a reference one with commercial ITO on glass, a second one with a SiO(2) thin film interlayer between the BC membrane and the ITO layer and a third one just with ITO deposited directly on the BC membrane. The observed OLED luminance ratio was: 1; 0.5; 0.25 respectively, with 2400 cd/m(2) as the value for the reference OLED. These preliminary results show clearly that the functionalized biopolymer, biodegradable, biocompatible bacterial cellulose membranes can be successfully used as substrate in flexible organic optoelectronic devices. (C) 2008 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Application of a model updating technique for health condition monitoring and damage detection of flexible structures

This paper discusses the application of a damage detection methodology to monitor the location and extent of partial structural damage. The methodology combines, in an iterative way, the model updating technique based on frequency response functions (FRF) with monitoring data aiming at identifying the damage area of the structure. After the updating procedure reaches a good correlation between the models, it compares the parameters of the damage structure with those of the undamaged one to find the deteriorated area. The influence of the FEM mesh size on the evaluation of the extent of the damage has also been discussed. The methodology is applied using real experimental data from a spatial frame structure.

A flexible curriculum for computer science undergraduate major

This paper describes an innovative approach to establish a CS curriculum, aiming flexibility and minimization of the time spent in the classrooms. This approach has been developed at the Paulista State University - Unesp - at São José do Rio Preto, and is producing very interesting results. The load reduction is achieved through a series of fundamental core and breadth courses that precede depth courses in specific areas. The flexibility comes as a side effect of the depth courses, which can be adapted without any changes in the core courses. In the following pages we fully describe our motivations, actions and results.

Identification of structural damage in flexible structures using system norm and neural networks

Nowadays there is great interest in damage identification using non destructive tests. Predictive maintenance is one of the most important techniques that are based on analysis of vibrations and it consists basically of monitoring the condition of structures or machines. A complete procedure should be able to detect the damage, to foresee the probable time of occurrence and to diagnosis the type of fault in order to plan the maintenance operation in a convenient form and occasion. In practical problems, it is frequent the necessity of getting the solution of non linear equations. These processes have been studied for a long time due to its great utility. Among the methods, there are different approaches, as for instance numerical methods (classic), intelligent methods (artificial neural networks), evolutions methods (genetic algorithms), and others. The characterization of damages, for better agreement, can be classified by levels. A new one uses seven levels of classification: detect the existence of the damage; detect and locate the damage; detect, locate and quantify the damages; predict the equipment's working life; auto-diagnoses; control for auto structural repair; and system of simultaneous control and monitoring. The neural networks are computational models or systems for information processing that, in a general way, can be thought as a device black box that accepts an input and produces an output. Artificial neural nets (ANN) are based on the biological neural nets and possess habilities for identification of functions and classification of standards. In this paper a methodology for structural damages location is presented. This procedure can be divided on two phases. The first one uses norms of systems to localize the damage positions. The second one uses ANN to quantify the severity of the damage. The paper concludes with a numerical application in a beam like structure with five cases of structural damages with different levels of severities. The results show the applicability of the presented methodology. A great advantage is the possibility of to apply this approach for identification of simultaneous damages.

Active control in flexible plates with piezoelectric actuators using linear matrix inequalities

The study of algorithms for active vibrations control in flexible structures became an area of enormous interest, mainly due to the countless demands of an optimal performance of mechanical systems as aircraft, aerospace and automotive structures. Smart structures, formed by a structure base, coupled with piezoelectric actuators and sensor are capable to guarantee the conditions demanded through the application of several types of controllers. The actuator/sensor materials are composed by piezoelectric ceramic (PZT - Lead Zirconate Titanate), commonly used as distributed actuators, and piezoelectric plastic films (PVDF-PolyVinyliDeno Floride), highly indicated for distributed sensors. The design process of such system encompasses three main phases: structural design; optimal placement of sensor/actuator (PVDF and PZT); and controller design. Consequently, for optimal design purposes, the structure, the sensor/actuator placement and the controller have to be considered simultaneously. This article addresses the optimal placement of actuators and sensors for design of controller for vibration attenuation in a flexible plate. Techniques involving linear matrix inequalities (LMI) to solve the Riccati's equation are used. The controller's gain is calculated using the linear quadratic regulator (LQR). The major advantage of LMI design is to enable specifications such as stability degree requirements, decay rate, input force limitation in the actuators and output peak bounder. It is also possible to assume that the model parameters involve uncertainties. LMI is a very useful tool for problems with constraints, where the parameters vary in a range of values. Once formulated in terms of LMI a problem can be solved efficiently by convex optimization algorithms.

On the analytical solution for the slewing flexible beam-like system: analysis of the linear part of the perturbed problem

The dynamical system investigated in this work is a nonlinear flexible beam-like structure in slewing motion. Non-dimensional and perturbed governing equations of motion are presented. The analytical solution for the linear part of these perturbed equations for ideal and for non-ideal cases are obtained. This solution is necessary for the investigation of the complete weak nonlinear problem where all nonlinearities are small perturbations around a linear known solution. This investigation shall help the analyst in the modelling of dynamical systems with structure- actuator interactions.

Effect of accelerated aging on the microhardness and color stability of flexible resins for dentures

Acrylic resins have been widely used due to their acceptable esthetics and desirable characteristics such as easy handling, good thermal conductivity, low permeability to oral fluids and color stability. Flexible resins were introduced on the market as an alternative to the use of conventional acrylic resins in the construction of complete and partial removable dentures. Although these resins present advantages in terms of esthetics and comfort, studies assessing chromatic and microhardness alterations of these materials are still scarce in the related literature. The aim of this study was to evaluate the chromatic and microhardness alterations of two commercial brands of flexible resins in comparison to the conventional resin Triplex when submitted to accelerated aging. The resins were manipulated according to manufacturers' instructions and inserted into a silicone matrix to obtain 21 specimens divided into 3 groups: Triplex, Ppflex and Valplast. Triplex presented the highest microhardness value (p < 0.05) for all the aging periods, which was significantly different from that of the other resins, followed by the values of Valplast and Ppflex. Comparison between the flexible resins (Ppflex and Valplast) revealed a statistically significant difference (p < 0.05) as regards color. The flexible resin Ppflex and the conventional resin Triplex presented no statistically significant difference (p < 0.05) as regards aging. The accelerated aging significantly increased the microhardness values of the resins, with the highest values being observed for Triplex. Valplast presented the greatest chromatic alteration after accelerated aging.

Andean exchange-rate regimes, 1994-2003: a brief for stable but flexible" regimes"

Includes bibliography

Flexible labour markets, workers' protection and the security of the wings": a Danish flexicurity solution to the unemployment and social problems in globalized economies"

Includes bibliography

Flexible labour markets, workers' protection and active labour market policies in the Caribbean

Includes bibliography

The fractional and nonlinear magneto-flexible rod

This paper deals with a system involving a flexible rod subjected to magnetic forces that can bend it while simultaneously subjected to external excitations produces complex and nonlinear dynamic behavior, which may present different types of solutions for its different movement-related responses. This fact motivated us to analyze such a mechanical system based on modeling and numerical simulation involving both, integer order calculus (IOC) and fractional order calculus (FOC) approaches. The time responses, pseudo phase portraits and Fourier spectra have been presented. The results obtained can be used as a source for conduct experiments in order to obtain more realistic and more accurate results about fractional-order models when compared to the integer-order models. © Published under licence by IOP Publishing Ltd.