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Be X t a random walk. We study its span S, i.e. the size of the domain visited up to time t. We want to know the probability that S reaches 1 for the first time, as well as the density of the span given t. Analytical results are presented, and checked against numerical simulations. We then generalize this to include drift, and one or two reflecting boundaries. We also derive the joint probability of the maximum and minimum of a process. Our results are based on the diffusion propagator with reflecting or absorbing boundaries, for which a set of useful formulas is derived. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We propose a new model of episodic memory. It consists of a hierarchy of partial sequences of events, blended for consistency across space and time by feedforward/feedback links to concepts expressing their shared information. This blended concept hierarchy is acquired and represented incrementally through synaptic or connection-weighted adaptation in a neural network with episodic memory capability. We derive this model through argumentation, explain its derivation within a category-theoretic model of representation, and discuss the capabilities we propose for this model. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Rough Sets provide a mathematical tool to handle decision making under uncertainty. One major domain that can be characterized with inherent ambiguity is natural language texts which often leads to uncertainty in understanding the intent and relative importance of a sentence with respect to its context in the whole text. As a consequence, the process of sentence selection for generation of extractive summary can logically be considered as a process of decision making under uncertainty. In this paper we use rough set based techniques to deal with this uncertainty. This paper's contribution is two-fold. Firstly, this paper proposes a novel Rough Set based uncertainty measure called span and define special Rough subsets of universe called spanning sets. Span is Rough Set based measure for salience of a subset of universe and spanning set is the subset that maximizes the span. This corresponds to the key elements representing a problem and can be used to solve various real-life applications. Secondly, the concepts are applied to determine extracts of text documents. The idea behind the present work is to determine the most suitable subset(s) of the universe of sentences under consideration. An optimization problem is formulated to generate the extract for the text under consideration using the proposed uncertainty measure of span and is solved using Particle Swarm Optimization. The experimental results on DUC2001, DUC2002 single document data sets and Enron Email datasets establish the effectiveness of the proposed technique. There has been substantial work on Rough Sets though considering a stochastic Rough-subset of the universe and determining its aptness as a representative of the universe is still unexplored. The proposed technique is a novel effort to fill this gap. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Any space homeomorphic to one of the standard subcontinua of the Stone-Čech remainder of the real half-line is called an ultra-arc. Alternatively, an ultra-arc may be viewed as an ultracopower of the real unit interval via a free ultrafilter on a countable set. It is known that any continuum of weight ≤ ℵ 1 is a continuous image of any ultra-arc; in this paper we address the problem of which continua are continuous images under special maps. Here are some of the results we present. • Every nondegenerate locally connected chainable continuum of weight ≤ ℵ 1 is a co-elementary monotone image of any ultra-arc. • Every nondegenerate chainable metric continuum is a co-existential image of any ultra-arc. • Every chainable continuum of weight ℵ 1 is a co-existential image of any ultra-arc whose indexing ultrafilter is a Fubini product of two free ultrafilters. • There is a family of continuum-many topologically distinct nonchainable metric continua, each of which is a co-existential image of any ultra-arc. • A nondegenerate continuum which is either a monotone or a co-existential image of an ultra-arc cannot be aposyndetic–let alone locally connected–without being a generalized arc. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The sum of distances between all pairs of vertices (denoted by σ (⋅) and called the Wiener index) and the number of subtrees (denoted by F (⋅) and called the subtree index) of a graph G are two representative graph invariants that have been extensively studied. The "local" version of these graph invariants (i.e. sum of distances from a given vertex, called the distance of the vertex, and the number of subtrees containing such a vertex, called the local subtree index of the vertex) have been studied. The distance of a vertex v in a tree T , denoted by σ T (v) , attains its minimum at one or two adjacent vertices called the centroid while the maximum σ T (v) occurs at one or more leaves. On the other hand, the local subtree index, denoted by F T (v) , attains its maximum at one or two adjacent vertices called the subtree core and the minimum F T (v) occurs at one ore more leaves. In this paper we study the difference between the values of σ T (v) at a centroid vertex and a leaf, called the σ -span, and similarly the F -span for the difference in values of the local subtree index at the subtree core and at a leaf. Among trees and full binary trees (trees in which each vertex has degree 1 or 3) on a given number of vertices we study the maximum and minimum possible values of the σ -span and F -span. The extremal structures corresponding to some of these extremal values are also presented. Some unsolved problems are also discussed and proposed as open questions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The load capabilities of 45# steel V-notched specimens under the spans of the supporters and the offsets between the punch and the mid-span of the specimens are studied by the self-made in-situ three-point bending device. Firstly, the relationship of load-delection curves and offsets and spans are analyzed theoretically. Secondly, the simulated minimum plastic zone radius of von Mises stress is applied to estimate the initiation direction of the crack. Then the experimental threepoint bending loading-deflection curves under various offsets and spans are achieved and analyzed by in-situ TPB tests with 12 groups of V-notched specimens. Finally, according to the differences among the load-deflection curves, combining the in-situ images of specimen micro-structures, the initiation and propagation of the cracks due to bending loads are analyzed in real time. The relationship between macro-mechanical properties and micro-mechanical properties are established by in-situ observation. The difference of the load capabilities of materials under different three-point bending test parameters is analyzed from the perspective of damage mechanism. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Highlights • Injecting liquid KNa alloy into sandwich-like carbon felt at room temperature. • Synthesizing nano-scale SPAN via a one-step facile solid state reaction. • The new battery presents good cycle stability (capacity retention 95.5%/100 cycles). Abstract Considering high earth abundance and low cost of potassium resource, potassium ion batteries are very promising candidates for energy storage devices due to its similar electrochemical performance to lithium ion batteries and more negative potential than sodium anode. K–Na alloy extending from 41.8 to 90.8 wt% potassium is liquid at ambient temperature. It was used as anode for a rechargeable potassium–sulfur battery in this work because of its high capacity and dendrite-free when charging and discharging. Sulfurized polyacrylonitrile (SPAN) nanocomposites were synthesized and adopted as cathode in the novel battery within good performance. The novel battery presented better cycling stability than K–SPAN battery. We obtained a highly reversible capacity of 513 mAh g−1 and excellent cycling performance of 490 mAh g−1 retention after 100 cycles at a current density of 35 mA g−1, in addition the coulombic efficiency approximately approached to 100% in successive cycles. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract Global environmental concerns on the production, usage and disposal of multiple human-made products have encouraged the study and development of new more ecological materials based on or inspired by biomolecules that may ultimately replace the current existing options. These efforts include the development of sugar-based surfactants. They have been increasingly adopted in selected applications to replace conventional surfactants. Sorbitan ester is a good example of a sugar-based surfactant already in use in the food industry as an emulsifier agent. However, in aqueous solution, the use of this type of surfactants is highly limited as nanocompartments due to their low water solubility. This problem can be overcome by using the alcohol injection method (AIM), where a small amount of alcohol is mixed with the surfactant in water to produce dispersed vesicles. Since the formation of sorbitan ester vesicles are of enormous interest for the nanoencapsulation of active substances for various applications, from food to cosmetics and pharmaceuticals, it is crucial to develop efficient ways to produce these aggregates via the alcohol injection method. The present work reports a study of the role of the alcohol structure on the formation of nanostructures of sorbitan ester. Methanol, ethanol and 2-propanol were selected to evaluate the influence of the alcohol alkyl chain length on the formation and stabilization of the vesicles. Some of the alcohol solutions were evaporated in order to probe the stability of the aggregates even after alcohol removal. Analysis by dynamic light scattering (DLS) and 1H NMR have shown a direct relation between the size of the alcohol's alkyl chain and the size of the formed sugar-based vesicles. Additionally, it is clear that the alcohol molecules remain in the vesicle, even after the evaporation process. The obtained results demonstrate that it is possible to control the size of the sugar-based sorbitan ester vesicles using the alcohol injection method. Hopefully, this research will encourage and enable the use of nanocompartments in a wider range of applications. Graphical abstract Unlabelled Image Highlights • Sugar-based vesicles can be produced by alcohol injection method. • The injected solvent promotes the selfassembly of the amphiphiles. • Vesicle size can be controlled by alcohol structure. • Lipophilic character of Span surfactants can be reverted by alcohol injection method. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract Air classifier mill (ACM) is widely used in powder coating and mineral comminution process. One of the problems typically presenting in ACM is over-grinding, which leads to high energy consumption and broad particle size distribution (PSD). To decrease the excessive amount of fine particles in the products, 6 configurations of grinding pins with ditches in the impact surface were used in the experiments. The width and depth of ditches varied from 1.35 mm and 1 mm to 4.75 mm and 3 mm, respectively, while the interior angles in the ditches are the same. The particle size and PSD show that the ditches on the grinding pins have significant effect on the D 10 values and the particle size span. The deepest and widest ditches (P4) result in largest D 10 and smallest span in this study. The D 10 s of products ground by P4 increase by 24.1% for fine powder (D 50 = 25 μm) and 16.0% for coarse powder (D 50 = 33 μm), while the span decreases by 6.9% (D 50 = 25 μm) and 6.4% (D 50 = 33 μm) compared to regular cylindrical pins (PC), respectively. Meanwhile, it is found that the P4 configuration improves the energy utilization efficiency by 7.6% (D 50 = 25 μm) and 3.4% (D 50 = 33 μm), compared to that of the original PC pins. Graphical abstract Unlabelled Image Highlights • The paper presents an efficient way to reduce over-grinding of ACM. • The method involves modification of ACM pin, especially the impact surface. • The method increases the D 10 and decrease the span of the ground powder. • The modification leads to the reduction of the average specific energy consumption. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Due to the rapid growth in the use of wireless communication services and the corresponding scarcity and the high cost of radio spectrum bandwidth, Channel assignment problem (CAP) is becoming highly important. Radio k -coloring of graphs is a variation of CAP. For a positive integer k , a radio k -coloring of a simple connected graph G = (V , E) is a mapping f from the vertex set V (G) to the set { 0 , 1 , 2 , ... } of non-negative integers such that | f (u) − f (v) | ≥ k + 1 − d (u , v) for each pair of distinct vertices u and v of G , where d (u , v) is the distance between u and v in G. The span of a radio k -coloring f , denoted by span (f) , is defined as max v ∈ V (G) f (v) and the radio k -chromatic number of G , denoted by r c k (G) , is min f { span (f) } where the minimum is taken over all radio k -coloring of G. In this paper, we present two radio k -coloring algorithms for general graphs which will produce radio k -colorings with their spans. For an n -vertex simple connected graph the time complexity of the both algorithm is of O (n 4). Implementing these algorithms we get the exact value of r c k (G) for several graphs (for example, C n , C n × P 2 , C 4 × C n , some circulant graph etc.) and many values of k , especially for k = diam (G). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A general analysis of inextensible perfectly flexible cables of negligible weight and a prescribed length, loaded by an arbitrary number of concentrated loads, or by a uniformly distributed load per unit horizontal length, is presented. A catenary cable under its own weight, with or without a concentrated force, is also considered. The sags under loads and tensions in all segments of the cable are determined. The results are derived in closed-form, apart from a numerical solution of a single nonlinear algebraic equation for a suitably introduced parameter in the last step of the analysis. The study complements the treatment of cables under concentrated forces available in undergraduate textbooks, which omit the consideration of cables whose length is prescribed in advance. The general analysis may be found appealing for a senior or graduate structural mechanics course, while its specialization to cables with two or three loads only is well suited for an introductory mechanics course. Expressions for a catenary cable subjected to a concentrated load at its midpoint are also derived, with only one nonlinear transcendental equation for the introduced load parameter needing to be solved numerically. Three student projects are suggested which address the existence and uniqueness of the cable configuration under a concentrated force with a specified sag and length of the cable, the lifting of two symmetrically hung loads by an upward force, and the determination of the deformed shape and tension in a catenary cable subjected to a concentrated force at an arbitrary point of the cable. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

There are infinitely many pretzel links with the same Alexander polynomial (actually with trivial Alexander polynomial). By contrast, in this note we revisit the Jones polynomial of pretzel links and prove that, given a natural number S , there is only a finite number of pretzel links whose Jones polynomials have span S. More concretely, we provide an algorithm useful for deciding whether or not a given knot is pretzel. As an application we identify all the pretzel knots up to nine crossings, proving in particular that 8 12 is the first non-pretzel knot. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As an organic photochromic material, spiropyran (SP) has attracted extensive attention due to its rapid and reversible color switching under specific wavelength irradiation. However, the molecular packing during SP isomerization and the influence of external solvents lead to unstable photochromic properties, limiting its practical applications. In this study, the novel photochromic polyurethane nanoparticles were prepared by environmentally friendly materials, isophorone diisocyanate (IPDI) and sorbitan fatty acid esters (Span), through one-step miniemulsion polymerization. The nanoparticles exhibit sensitive photochromic process under UV irradiation, and after 20 UV–vis cycles, these nanoparticles retained the initial photochromic properties. Furthermore, the influence of polyurethane polymer matrix structure on the photochromic properties of SP and the decolorization rate of MC→SP isomerization process was investigated. The prepared polyurethane photochromic nanoparticles demonstrated outstanding photochromic performance and showed great potential for applications in UV-resistant fabrics, surface coatings, and photoelectric signal conversion. [Display omitted] • Polyurethane nanoparticles containing SP were prepared with Span and IPDI via one-step miniemulsion polymerization. • The photochromic PU nanoparticles exhibit excellent photochromic performance and photodegradation resistance. • The effect of Span with various structure on photochromic properties of PU nanoparticles was investigated. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We prove that many important weak double categories can be `represented' by spans, using the basic higher limit of the theory: the tabulator. Dually, representations by cospans via cotabulators are also frequent.

Overhead high-voltage conductors are the chief components of power lines and their safety has a strong influence on social and daily life. In the recent decade, the airborne laser scanning (ALS) technique has been widely used to capture the three-dimensional (3D) information of power lines and surrounding objects. Most of the existing methods focused on extraction of single conductors or extracted all conductors as one object class by applying machine learning techniques. Nevertheless, power line corridors (PLCs) are built with multi-loop, multi-phase structures (bundle conductors) and exist in intricate environments (e.g., mountains and forests), and thus raise challenges to process ALS data for extraction of individual conductors. This paper proposes an automated method to extract individual subconductors in bundles from complex structure of PLCs using a combined image- and point-based approach. First, the input point cloud data are grouped into 3D voxel grid and PL points and separated from pylon and tree points using the fact that pylons and trees are vertical objects while power lines are non-vertical objects. These pylons are further separated from trees by employing a statistical analysis technique and used to extract span points between two consecutive pylons; then, by using the distribution properties of power lines in each individual span, the bundles located at different height levels are extracted using image-based processing; finally, subconductors in each bundle are detected and extracted by introducing a window that slides over the individual bundle. The orthogonal plane transformation and recursive clustering procedures are exploited in each window position and a point-based processing is conducted iteratively for extraction of complete individual subconductors in each bundle. The feasibility and validity of the proposed method are verified on two Australian sites having bundle conductors in high-voltage transmission lines. Our experiments show that the proposed method achieves a reliable result by extracting the real structure of bundle conductors in power lines with correctness of 100% and 90% in the two test sites, respectively.

In this study, series of non-ionic surfactants from Span and Tween are evaluated for their ability to affect the viscosity profile of cyclopentane hydrate slurry. The surfactants; Span 20, Span 40, Span 80, Tween 20, Tween 40 and Tween 80 were selected and tested to provide different hydrophilic–hydrophobic balance values and allow evaluation their solubility impact on hydrate formation and growth time. The study was performed by using a HAAKE ViscotesterTM 500 at 2 °C and a surfactant concentration ranging from 0.1 wt%–1 wt%. The solubility characteristic of the non-ionic surfactants changed the hydrate slurry in different ways with surfactants type and varying concentration. The rheological measurement suggested that oil-soluble Span surfactants was generally inhibitive to hydrate formation by extending the hydrate induction time. However, an opposite effect was observed for the Tween surfactants. On the other hand, both Span and Tween demonstrated promoting effect to accelerate hydrate growth time of cyclopentane hydrate formation. The average hydrate crystallization growth time of the blank sample was reduced by 86% and 68% by Tween and Span surfactants at 1 wt%, respectively. The findings in this study are useful to understand the rheological behavior of surfactants in hydrate slurry.

The method that allows to specify the vehicle radii of inertia values relative to three coordinate axes on the basis of using the known coordinates of its center of mass is proposed. Using the rule of «three Sigma», there were determined the intervals of the most probable values of the radii of inertia.

We study conformal embeddings of a noncompact Riemann surface of finite genus into compact Riemann surfaces of the same genus and show some of the close relationships between the classical theory of univalent functions and our results. Some new problems are also discussed. This article partially intends to introduce our results and to invite the function-theorists on plane domains to the topics on Riemann surfaces. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction. Conducting a comprehensive analysis of methods and tasks for ensuring the effective implementation of innovative thermal compensating devices. Materials and methods. Physical and mathematical modeling of processes, the principles of the theory of automatic control, the theory of fuzzy logic were used. Results and discussion. The compensation of overhead power lines wires sag creates conditions under which it is possible either to increase spans, or to reduce the height of the towers while preserving the existing estimated spans. As a result, the specific consumption of the supports, linear fittings, insulation is reduced, and the time for construction of the power lines is also reduced. Taking into account the existing norms, it is possible to increase the span of the power line of different voltage classes by 7-10%. As a result of the conducted research, a method for calculation and optimization of existing devices for thermal compensation of power lines wires sag has been developed. A multifunctional device for compensation of temperature arcs of sagging of power lines, which allows to optimize both working and projected power lines is proposed. Conclusions. The results of this work should be used in electrical networks with overhead power lines of all voltages. The Ukrainian thermal compensator is a new class of equipment for power lines, which solves the problem of temperature extension of wires, using a material that responds to the temperature changes by changing its geometric shape and size and is more reliable than the American one. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract This study explored the relationship between Working Memory (WM) and discourse production in people with aphasia, based on data from the AphasiaBank. The dataset comprised the children's story “Cinderella” and basic WM measures of span, collected from 45 participants (15 people with nonfluent Broca's aphasia, 15 people with anomic aphasia, 15 people with fluent Wernicke's aphasia). Discourse samples were coded for and analyzed in terms of content, micro- (words and sentences) and macro- (groups of sentences) linguistic components, known to demonstrate multi-level discourse ability. Comparisons were made among the different participant groups to identify differences and/or commonalities in performance. Results showed that WM, as measured by reduced word and sentential span, influences macrolinguistic narrative components and may be sensitive to aphasia type. Findings were interpreted in terms of a potential deficit to Baddeley's episodic buffer, affecting sequential and hierarchical narrative information processing. Highlights • The relationship between Working Memory (WM) and discourse production in people with aphasia was examined. • The dataset comprised the children's story “Cinderella” and basic WM span measures, collected from the AphasiaBank database. • Reduced word and sentential spans influenced macrolinguistic narrative components and may be sensitive to aphasia type. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, we consider T-colorings of directed graphs. In particular, we consider as a T-set the set Tr = {0, 1, 2, . . ., r-1, r+1, . . .}. Exact values and bounds of the Tr-span of directed graphs whose underlying graph is a wheel graph are presented. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Chinese solar greenhouses (CSG), with thin plastic films on the south roof for transmitting the sun’s rays during the daytime and a heavy cover at night over the south roof with large thermal masses in the wall, north roof and soil to retain heat, can be used to produce vegetables and flowers year round without auxiliary heating during the winter. CSG spans can be increased to increase the production area; however, although the effect of increasing the span on the inside climate has been investigated experimentally, there is still no good guidance on selecting a suitable span configuration for growers. This investigation analyzed three groups of span configurations with spans of 10 m, 12 m and 14 m. The first set of designs had all the other dimensions varied in proportion to the span width. The second set had the same dimensions for the north roof and north wall with the other dimensions varied to fit the longer spans. The third set had the same south roof with a longer north roof to fit the longer span. The analyses were based on a 12 m span CSG simulation model validated in a former study with the thermal environments predicted using computational fluid dynamics (CFD) analyses. The results show that, for the CSG with all the dimensions varied in the same proportion, the inside air temperature is highest with the 14 m span and lowest with the 10 m span. For CSG with the same north roof and north wall dimensions, the air temperature is the highest with the 12 m span and lowest with the 14 m span. For the configurations using the same south roof size, the 10 m span with the taller north wall has similar air temperatures as the 12 m span, with temperatures inside both spans being higher than the other 10 m span with the shorter north wall height. Analyses of the solar heat gains, heat losses and temperature distributions for each group give good guidance for span selections for the growers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Power transmission is mainly based on overhead transmission lines with conductors being supported by transmission towers. Transmission lines are subjected to environmental stress (temperature changes, winds, snow etc), have an impact on the surrounding areas (visual pollution, building restrictions) and experience heavy losses due to resistive, magnetic and capacitive effects. Thus, proper modeling and installation of these conductors are necessary. The conductors are generally installed in a catenary shape to minimize the capacitive effects and to balance the tension. This paper presents an investigation on the sag and tension behavior under different temperature and wind of ACSR (Aluminum Conductor-Steel Reinforced) lines. Four different cases of temperature and wind are tested to calculate sag and tension. Simulation setup is done in ETAP (electrical transient and analysis program). Results are recorded and discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A method to design efficient puncture-constrained interleavers for turbo codes (TCs) is introduced. Resulting TCs profit from a joint optimization of puncturing pattern and interleaver to achieve an improved error rate performance. First, the puncturing pattern is selected based on the constituent code Hamming distance spectrum and on the TC extrinsic information exchange under uniform interleaving. Then, the interleaver function is defined via a layered design process taking account of several design criteria, such as minimum span, correlation girth, and puncturing constraints. We show that applying interleaving with a periodic cross connection pattern that can be assimilated to a protograph improves error-correction performance when compared to the state-of-the-art TCs. An application example is elaborated and compared with the long-term evolution standard: a significant gain in performance can be observed. An additional benefit of the proposed technique resides in the important reduction of the search space for the different interleaver parameters. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Peak Model states that each collective action has a life circle, which contains four periods of “prepare”, “outbreak”, “peak”, and “vanish”; and the peak determines the max energy and the whole process. The peak model’s re-simulation indicates that there seems to be a stable ratio between the peak’s timing (TP) and the total span ( T ) or duration of collective actions, which needs further validations through empirical data of collective actions. Therefore, the daily big data of online collective actions is applied to validate the model; and the key is to check the ratio between peak’s timing and the total span. The big data is obtained from online data recording & mining of websites. It is verified by the empirical big data that there is a stable ratio between TP and T ; furthermore, it seems to be normally distributed. This rule holds for both the general cases and the sub-types of collective actions. Given the distribution of the ratio, estimated probability density function can be obtained, and therefore the span can be predicted via the peak’s timing. Under the scenario of big data, the instant span (how long the collective action lasts or when it ends) will be monitored and predicted in real-time. With denser data (Big Data), the estimation of the ratio’s distribution gets more robust, and the prediction of collective actions’ spans or durations will be more accurate. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents new correlations for estimating the surrounding rock pressure of symmetrically shaped tunnels based on a symmetrical numerical model. Surrounding rock pressure is defined as the load acting on the support structure due to the deformation of the surrounding rock after tunnel excavation. Surrounding rock pressure is directly related to the selection of the lining structure and the determination of support parameters. The main challenge in designing and proceeding with the construction process is choosing a calculation method for the surrounding rock pressure for super-large sections, and this has been the focus of research among the tunnel research community. The excavation area of Liantang tunnel of Shenzhen Eastern Transit Expressway (China) is over 400 m2, making it the largest highway tunnel in the world so far. Based on this project, this paper analyses the applicability of various traditional methods of calculating the surrounding rock pressure for super-large section tunnels. In addition, based on the Tunneling Quality Index (Q), the factor of span is introduced into the method of calculating the surrounding rock pressure using the numerical simulation results of super-large symmetrical tunnels with different values of Q and different spans. Additionally, calculated correlations that could quickly estimate the surrounding rock pressure of tunnels are obtained. The comparison of surrounding rock pressures between the estimated and monitoring results of Liantang tunnel and more than 30 projects around the world effectively proves the rationality and universal applicability of the proposed correlations. This method could provide engineers and designers with a quick way to predict the surrounding rock pressure of deep super-large section underground structures during their design and construction stage.

For a topos T, there is a bicategory MonicSp(Csp(T)) whose objects are those of T, morphisms are cospans in T, and 2-morphisms are isomorphism classes of monic spans of cospans in T. Using a result of Shulman, we prove that MonicSp(Csp(T)) is symmetric monoidal, and moreover, that it is compact closed in the sense of Stay. We provide an application which illustrates how to encode double pushout rewrite rules as 2-morphisms inside a compact closed sub-bicategory of MonicSp(Csp(Graph)). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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Economic efficiency of commercial activity of trade enterprise and the degree of the goods buyers' emand satisfaction are predetermined by diversity and the structure of trade assortment of goods, which must be optimal. Optimality of trade assortment of goods is a complex property which combines a few properties of trade assortment of goods, nomenclature which is still under development. It is important that the properties of the range of goods to be separately nominated, defined and uniformly used in commercial practice. In this work are highlighted, nominated, symbolized distinct and defined (revised specified or first time)) an extensive set of properties (characteristics) of the commercial assortment of goods and are developed, symbolized distinct and presents qualitative and quantitative indicators of the properties nominated, as well as the methods and formulas for the establishment and evaluation of quantitative properties (characteristics) of the trading range of goods. The complex includes the following 23 properties (characteristics):coverage (y), span (e), stretch (r), length (l), thickness (u), breadth (m), profoundness (h), plenitude (p), complexity (k), novelty (n), optimality (o), structure (s), stability (c), replacement (z), renewal (Î), expanding (dy), widening (de), stretching (dr), elongation (dl), thickening (du), expansion (dm), deepening (dh), filling (dp). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, a parametric study that investigated geometrical parameters of reinforced concrete box culverts (RCBC) is presented. Dead and live loads, which act on RCBC, and derivation of vehicle load formulas were explained. These formulas were verified by comparison with experimental studies. Span width, culvert height and fill depth effects on RCBC design were investigated by creating a number of 88 2D finite element culvert models. An Excel sheet was developed by using VBA and CSI API to establish SAP2000 models and to generate analysis results. Analysis results revealed that while vehicle load was predominant for fills that did not have a depth value greater than 1 m, vertical earth load was predominant beyond this value. Minimum values of internal forces and base soil pressures occurred at 0.7–1.0 m fill depth range. It is concluded that span width and fill depth parameters have an important effect on internal forces of RCBC models. This research also reveals that using multiple cell RCBC instead of using wider span width in single cell RCBC is more reliable due to much lower internal forces and base soil stresses. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study was dealing with the spray drying of tailored mannitol particles as carriers in dry powder inhalation formulations. A self-constructed spray tower equipped with a laminar rotary atomizer was used to generate very narrow particle-size distributions. A design of experiments with rotation speed and drying temperature as factors was applied for the preparation of a broad set of different mannitol particles. Drying parameters affected particle properties like particle size, particle shape, surface roughness, and flowability significantly. Here, rotation speed was mainly affecting droplet and therefore particle size. Further, it was found that the inner particle temperature, and so the pressure inside the early particle shell, plays an important role during particle formation as emerging water vapor at higher temperatures served for indented particles and rough surface structures. Lower drying temperatures resulted in spherical and smooth particles as the inner temperature remained below the boiling temperature. The occurrence of these particle properties could further be related to mannitol carrier particle flow dynamics as large indented carriers were found to be less flowable than small spherical ones. In general, it was possible to control particle properties by the parameters of the spray drying process. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: To comprehensively evaluate both the acceleration and image-quality impacts of axial compression and its degree of modeling in fully 3D PET image reconstruction. Method: Despite being used since the very dawn of 3D PET reconstruction, there are still no extensive studies on the impact of axial compression and its degree of modeling during reconstruction on the end-point reconstructed image quality. In this work, an evaluation of the impact of axial compression on the image quality is performed by extensively simulating data with span values from 1 to 121. In addition, two methods for modeling the axial compression in the reconstruction were evaluated. The first method models the axial compression in the system matrix, while the second method uses an unmatched projector/backprojector, where the axial compression is modeled only in the forward projector. The different system matrices were analyzed by computing their singular values and the point response functions for small subregions of the FOV. The two methods were evaluated with simulated and real data for the Biograph mMR scanner. Results: For the simulated data, the axial compression with span values lower than 7 did not show a decrease in the contrast of the reconstructed images. For span 11, the standard sinogram size of the mMR scanner, losses of contrast in the range of 5–10 percentage points were observed when measured for a hot lesion. For higher span values, the spatial resolution was degraded considerably. However, impressively, for all span values of 21 and lower, modeling the axial compression in the system matrix compensated for the spatial resolution degradation and obtained similar contrast values as the span 1 reconstructions. Such approaches have the same processing times as span 1 reconstructions, but they permit significant reduction in storage requirements for the fully 3D sinograms. For higher span values, the system has a large condition number and it is therefore difficult to recover accurately the higher frequencies. Modeling the axial compression also achieved a lower coefficient of variation but with an increase of intervoxel correlations. The unmatched projector/backprojector achieved similar contrast values to the matched version at considerably lower reconstruction times, but at the cost of noisier images. For a line source scan, the reconstructions with modeling of the axial compression achieved similar resolution to the span 1 reconstructions. Conclusions: Axial compression applied to PET sinograms was found to have a negligible impact for span values lower than 7. For span values up to 21, the spatial resolution degradation due to the axial compression can be almost completely compensated for by modeling this effect in the system matrix at the expense of considerably larger processing times and higher intervoxel correlations, while retaining the storage benefit of compressed data. For even higher span values, the resolution loss cannot be completely compensated possibly due to an effective null space in the system. The use of an unmatched projector/backprojector proved to be a practical solution to compensate for the spatial resolution degradation at a reasonable computational cost but can lead to noisier images. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Estimation of vegetation covered soil moisture with satellite images is still a challenging task. Several models are available for soil moisture retrieval in which water cloud model (WCM) is most common. But, it requires an estimation of accurate vegetation parameterization. Thus, there is a need to develop such an approach for soil moisture retrieval which minimize these limitations. Therefore, this paper deals with the soil moisture retrieval using fully polarimetric SAR data by fusing the information from different bands. Various polarimetric indices and observables were critically analysed, and found that the index; SPAN (total scattered power) gives better information of vegetation cover as compared to other indices/observables. Based on this, WCM model has been modified using SPAN as parameter and soil moisture content were retrieved. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: The study aimed to examine nutrition label use and dietary behaviours among ethnically diverse middle- and high-school students, in Texas, USA.Design: The School Physical Activity and Nutrition (SPAN) survey is a cross-sectional statewide study using a self-administered questionnaire to assess nutrition and physical activity behaviours. Height and weight measurements were used to determine BMI. Multivariable logistic regression was used to determine associations between nutrition label use and dietary behaviours, with gender, grade, ethnicity, BMI, parent education, socio-economic status and nutrition knowledge as covariates.Setting: Participants from 283 schools, weighted to represent Texas youth.Subjects: SPAN 2009-2011 included 6716 8th and 11th graders (3465 girls and 3251 boys). The study population consisted of 39·83 % White/Other, 14·61 % African-American and 45·56 % Hispanic adolescents; with a mean age of 14·9 years, and 61·95 % at a healthy weight, 15·71 % having overweight and 22·34 % having obesity.Results: Adolescents who did not use nutrition labels had 1·69 times greater odds of consuming ≥1 sugary beverages/d (P<0·05). Adolescents who used nutrition labels had 2·13 times greater odds of consuming ≥1 fruits and vegetables/d (P<0·05). Adolescents who used nutrition labels had significantly higher healthy eating scores than those who did not (P<0·001). For every 1-point increase in nutrition knowledge, adolescents had 1·22 greater odds of using nutrition labels.Conclusions: Nutrition label use is associated with healthier dietary behaviours in adolescents. Intervention strategies for youth should include efforts to teach adolescents to use labels to make healthy food choices. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In Cypriot Greek, the negated future is marked by the element tha, which appears instead of the expected present tense copula and a selected subordinating element. This paper documents the distribution of this item for the first time, and presents an analysis in Distributed Morphology that analyzes tha as a portmanteau morpheme realizing two heads in the context of negation. This analysis requires that spans (or targets of Fusion) can include a verb and the head of its c complement. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The regulatory structure of the Malaysian water services industry is complex as both the state and federal authority manage water supply at the state level. In 2008, the Federal Government restructured the water industry and centralised the water management of the state government by establishing SPAN (National Water Services Commission) and PAAB (Water Asset Management Company). The objective of SPAN and PAAB is to improve the efficiency of water operators in Peninsular Malaysia including Labuan. Therefore, this study aimed to measure the level of efficiency of the state's water operators before and after the restructuring, and also to determine the factors that affect the level of efficiency of the state's water operator. DEA approach (Data Envelopment Analysis), and Malmquist index were used to measure technical efficiency and productivity of the operator over the period 2000-2013. The DEA score showed that the sector's mean technical efficiency was 73%, and only 42% of the state water operator showed an increasing in efficiency score. Penang's water operator was the most efficient with a score of one over the study period. Total Factor Productivity analyses show that the water industry lags in the area of technology and inadequate capital. SPAN and PAAB also need to review their current key performance indicators in order for the latter to improve the efficiency of the operators. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Our project is to design a multirole fighter jet aircraft. A multirole fighter jet aircraft is an aircraft designed to perform different roles in warfare. The air-toair combat role has been normally performed by fighter aircraft. In addition, a multirole fighter jet aircraft has secondary roles such as air-to-surface attack, intercepting, reconnaissance, escorting and air cover. The term multirole has been reserved for aircraft designed with the aim of using a common airframe for multiple tasks where the same basic airframe is adapted to a number of differing roles. The main motivation for developing multirole aircraft is cost reduction in using a common airframe. The project report comprises of a literature survey of about 10 fighter aircrafts. After this an appropriate aerofoil is selected and its important parameters are computed. Then, performance graphs are drawn and a 3-view diagram of the aircraft is drawn. Finally, model is made and tested. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

For masonry bridges with small spans built before 1900, there are often no documents available since such bridges were often built from experience. Surveying is often restricted to the visible parts of the structure. Geometrical assistance in the form of drilling cores is only ever at points, which inevitably have to be interpolated. Large parts of these structures are in the ground (abutments, foundations) and are largely inaccessible for adequate geometrical recording. The constitutive laws for the existing masonry can only be described with reasonable effort through minimum values from regulations. The article describes a procedure with additions to the missing documents from experience to obtain statements about the load-bearing capacity based on approximate models, which permit categorisation into decisive bridge classes based on the regulations for the structural analysis of existing road bridges and also enable usable results for the comparison between the result of categorisation and special load cases for heavy transport. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]