60419 research outputs found
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Calibrating Friction Coefficients in Discrete Element Method Simulations with Shear-Cell Experiments
No full textDiscrete Element Method (DEM) simulations coupled with shear cell experimental results have been
used to investigate the flow behaviour of a dry particle assembly of glass beads in the quasi-static regime.
10 Experimental studies have been undertaken using an FT4 powder shear cell apparatus, in parallel with
extensive DEM simulations of both homogeneous simple shear and the FT4 shear cell itself. The findings
show that it is not possible to accurately predict the bulk friction coefficient with homogeneous simple shear
simulations unless both rolling and sliding friction are considered. There are, however, multiple pairs of
sliding and rolling friction coefficients which can reproduce the experimental bulk friction coefficient. Sliding
15 test experiments were conducted to yield the coefficient of sliding friction, and hence minimise the set of
potentially correct pairs. Simulations of the full FT4 shear cell with two different calibration pairs, along
with a pair without rolling friction, were then undertaken to understand the effect of their selection on
realistic wall-bounded shearing conditions. Discrepancies were mainly found in the obtained radial contact
number and velocity profiles, with increasing friction coefficients - particularly sliding friction - found to in20
hibit packing and particle velocity in the shear deformation zone. Comparison between homogeneous simple
shear and shear cell simulation results showed a significant effect of the wall on the obtained force network,
with almost a complete absence of the weakest structures which were seen supporting the strong structures
in the simple shear scenario
Less is more: Consumer education in a closed-loop supply chain with remanufacturing
No full textDifferent stakeholders are educating consumers about the benefits of remanufacturing. By increasing the number of consumers who are willing to purchase remanufactured products, consumer education has been expected to facilitate the advancement of the remanufacturing sector. We formally validate the condition under which consumer education is indeed beneficial from a social planner's perspective. We develop a game-theoretical model to examine the implications of consumer education upon a closed-loop supply chain consisting of one manufacturer and one supplier. The manufacturer can perform remanufacturing at the component level. The direct effect of consumer education is that more consumers are willing to pay for the remanufactured product. Although the optimal remanufactured product quantity, in general, increases in the presence of consumer education, surprisingly, our analysis identifies a consumer education paradox, that is, as more consumers are willing to pay for the remanufactured product, the manufacturer switches the choice from remanufacturing to no remanufacturing. Moreover, consumer education could be detrimental to the supply chain, consumers, and the environment because of the paradox. Fortunately, temperate consumer education might be all-around desirable if and only if ex-ante few consumers are willing to purchase remanufactured products; that is, from the social planner's perspective, temperate consumer education should be conducted to foster the remanufacturing sector in its infancy
ZHEN: A directional parallel corpus of Chinese source texts and English translations
No full textMost Chinese-English parallel corpora consist of English source texts translated into Chinese. This chapter discusses the need for corpora representative of the under-resourced Chinese into English translation direction. After a brief overview of the current Chinese-English translation scenario and an analysis of existing parallel corpora for this language pair, we discuss problems in mining contemporary Chinese to English translations and issues in Chinese to English parallel text alignment. We then introduce ZHEN, a corpus of circa one-million characters of contemporary simplified Chinese source texts (ZH) from a range of text types aligned with authentic translations into English (EN). Its aim is to contribute to our understanding of Chinese to English translation norms and of features of English translated from Chinese
The environmental impact of rearing crickets for live pet food in the UK, and implications of a transition to a hybrid business model combining production for live pet food with production for human consumption.
No full textPurpose: Rearing crickets in the UK for the live pet food market is already a well-established industry. However, there is interest in also producing food for human consumption. This paper presents a life cycle assessment (LCA) of a current live pet food business. Using results from this LCA, the papers explores how current business practices could be improved to reduce environmental impacts, and discusses the potential benefits of a hybrid live pet food/human consumption business model.
Methods: An attributional, cradle-to-farm-gate life cycle assessment was conducted on rearing crickets for the live pet food market, with data collected on-site at a case study business. Results are reported in multiple impact categories from the ILCD 2011 Midpoint+ method. Comparison is made to the only other similar study: an LCA of rearing crickets in Thailand for human consumption (Halloran et al. 2017). The sources of the different environmental impacts between the two studies are explored and inefficiencies in the live pet food rearing process identified. Subsequently, scenarios are used to explore how the inefficiencies may be mitigated, and environmental impact of the live pet food production process reduced through adoption of a hybrid live pet food/human food production model.
Results and Discussions: The environmental impact was found to be larger across all impact categories than the only known comparable study, which is for rearing crickets in Thailand for human consumption (Halloran et al. 2017). Some of this difference is due to the heating required for rearing crickets in a climate such as the UK, and some is due to the requirements of the live pet food market being much more demanding on resources than the human food model. The current study identifies improvements in practices that would make this contrast less stark, such as optimizing feeding practices, and the benefits of moving to a hybrid live pet food/human consumption business model.
Conclusions: This is the first LCA of crickets reared in the UK. The results highlight inefficiencies in the rearing process that are now being addressed by the case study business. The study also shows the potential co-benefits of a hybrid business model, in which crickets for human consumption are produced alongside crickets for the live pet food market
COVID-19: pandemic poses tests of nursing leadership, courage and compassion
No full textThe compassionate application of nursing science during an evolving COVID-19 pandemic deserves recognition, says RCN Nurses in Management and Leadership Forum
Intelligent Translation Memory Matching and Retrieval with Sentence Encoders
No full textMatching and retrieving previously
translated segments from a Translation
Memory is the key functionality in
Translation Memories systems. However
this matching and retrieving process
is still limited to algorithms based on
edit distance which we have identified
as a major drawback in Translation
Memories systems. In this paper we
introduce sentence encoders to improve
the matching and retrieving process
in Translation Memories systems - an
effective and efficient solution to replace
edit distance based algorithms
Regression of atherosclerosis in ApoE-/- mice via modulation of monocyte recruitment and phenotype, induced by weekly dosing of a novel ‘cytotopic’ anti thrombin without prolonged anticoagulation.
No full textBackground: Coagulation proteases play an important role in atherogenesis. Accordingly,
anticoagulants can induce regression in animal models of atherosclerosis, but exploiting this
clinically has been limited by major bleeding events that occur after systemic anticoagulation.
Here we test a novel thrombin inhibitor, PTL060, that comprises hirulog covalently linked to a
synthetic myristoyl electrostatic switch to tether it to cell membranes.
Methods and Results: ApoE-/- mice, fed either chow or high fat diets were used.
Transplantation of congenic aortic segments was used to demonstrate the impact of
expressing anticoagulants on endothelium. PTL060, parental hirulog or controls were tested
to assess suppression of vessel wall chemokine gradients, impact on plaque development
and regression of existing plaques. Adoptive transfer of labelled CD11b positive cells was
used to assess recruitment of monocytes and inform on how PTL060 influenced monocyte
phenotype.
Transgenic expression of anticoagulant fusion proteins based on TFPI or hirudin on EC led
to complete suppression of MIF and CCL2 expression throughout the vessel wall and
segments of aorta transplanted into ApoE-/- mice did not develop atherosclerosis. A single IV
injection of PTL060, but not parental (unmanipulated) hirulog inhibited the same chemokines
for >1 week and atheroma formation was reduced by >50% compared to controls when
assessed 4 weeks later. Mice had prolonged bleeding times for only 1/7th of the time that
PTL060 was biologically active. Repeated weekly injections of PTL060 but not parental
hirulog caused regression of atheroma in ApoE-/- mice fed either chow or high fat diets.
Mechanistically, 100% of circulating monocytes quickly became coated with PTL060 after the
first dose, following which >70% of CCR2+ monocytes recruited into plaques expressed
CCR7, ABCA1 and IL-10, a phenotype associated with regression, compared to <20% of
CCR2+ recruits in control mice.. Multiple doses caused a significant reduction in the number
of monocytes recruited, and a switch to recruitment of CCR2-negative cells, the majority of which (>90%) had a similar regression-associated phenotype. The impact of PTL060 on circulating monocytes appeared 1 dominant, as regression equivalent to that induced by IV PTL060 was induced by adoptive transfer of CD11b+ cells pre-coated with PTL060.
Conclusions: PTL060, a novel tethered direct thrombin inhibitor causes regression of atherosclerosis in ApoE-/- mice, via an effect at the endothelial surface but also through a direct effect on monocytes, causing differentiation into macrophages capable of plaque
regression. Covalent linkage of a myristoyl electrostatic switch onto hirulog uncouples the pharmacodynamic effects on haemostasis and atherosclerosis, such that regression is
accompanied by only transient anticoagulation
Digitalization and Government Corruption in Developing Countries: Towards a Framework and Research Agenda
No full textResearch focusing on the nexus between digital technologies and government corruption in developing countries has reported mixed findings and painted an incoherent picture. Through a review of 90 relevant studies published over the last two decades we develop an inductive framework that connects 7 defining themes: (1) the broader socioeconomic context of developing countries (2) anti-corruption strategies and strategizing in developing countries (3) digitalization processes (4) strategic role of digital technologies and modalities of anti-corruption change (5) formative structures of government organizations (6) barriers within government organizations and (7) positive and negative effects of digitalization on corruption. Deriving from this framework, we highlight under-researched concerns and outline a research agenda to (1) clarify the links between anti-corruption strategizing and digitalization interventions (2) explicate the materialization of corruption in specific organizational domains, work systems, and processes in developing countries, their embedded nature in the organizational and broader context, and the modalities by which digitalization comes to affect or be affected by it (3) uncover digitalization enabled capabilities and dynamic capabilities in the fight against corruption and (4) embrace methodological diversity such as more processual and long-term studies; ethnographic studies, and methods that bridge quantitative and qualitative insights by exploring novel measures and evidence sources
Phenolic content, anti-inflammatory properties, and dermal wound repair properties of industrially processed and non-processed acai from the Brazilian Amazon
No full textAcai fruit is recognized for its health promoting properties. However, there is still a need to address the effects of industrial processing on this fruit. In this study, phenolic content, anti-inflammatory properties and dermal wound repair properties of 20 acai samples, before and after industrial processing, from various Amazon regions were investigated. Acai pulp was rich in total phenolics (18.9–58.8 mg g−1) and proanthocyanins (9.8–43.1 mg g−1), but contained trace anthocyanins (up to 0.1 mg g−1). Industrially processed samples lost substantial amounts of proanthocyanidins (up to 83.2%), while the anthocyanins inherently present were greatly enriched after processing (20-fold higher). Non-processed acai pulp extracts protected against early inflammation response which was correlated with proanthocyanidins, by significantly inhibiting nitric oxide production and suppressing pro-inflammatory gene expression including interleukin-1β, cyclooxygenase-2, nitric oxide synthase, and interleukin-6. The promotion of dermal wound repair of acai seed and pulp extracts was mainly contributed by anthocyanins and other bioactive compounds. The anti-inflammatory effect was diminished but wound healing effect was retained after pulp processing, suggesting the processing technology needs to be improved to maintain biological properties of acai fruit
Early chronotype with advanced activity rhythms and dim light melatonin onset in a rural population
No full textStudying communities at different stages of urbanisation and industrialisation can teach us how timing and intensity of light affects the circadian clock under real-life
conditions. We have previously described a strong tendency towards morningness in the Baependi Heart Study, located in a small rural town in Brazil. Here, we tested the
hypothesis that this morningness tendency is associated with early circadian phase based on objective measurements (as determined by dim light melatonin onset,
DLMO, and activity) and light exposure. We also analysed how well the previously collected chronotype questionnaire data was able to predict these DLMO values. The average DLMO observed in 73 participants (40 female) was 20:03±01:21, SD, with an earlier average onset in men (19:38±01:16) than in women (20:24±01:21; p≤0.01). However, men presented larger phase angle between DLMO and sleep onset time as
measured by actigraphy (4.11 hours vs 3.16 hours; p≤0.01). Correlational analysis indicated associations between light exposure, activity rhythms, and DLMO, such that
early DLMO was observed in participants with higher exposure to light, higher activity and earlier light exposure. The strongest significant predictor of DLMO was
morningness-eveningness questionnaire (MEQ) (beta=-0.35, p≤0.05), followed by age(beta=-0.47, p≤0.01). Sex, light exposure, and variables derived from the Munich
Chronotype Questionnaire were not significant predictors. Our observations demonstrate that both early sleep patterns and earlier circadian phase have been retained in this small rural town in spite of availability of electrification, in contrast to metropolitan post-industrial areas
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