Hard and soft acids and bases: atoms and atomic ions.

Science.gov (United States)

Reed, James L

2008-07-07

The structural origin of hard-soft behavior in atomic acids and bases has been explored using a simple orbital model. The Pearson principle of hard and soft acids and bases has been taken to be the defining statement about hard-soft behavior and as a definition of chemical hardness. There are a number of conditions that are imposed on any candidate structure and associated property by the Pearson principle, which have been exploited. The Pearson principle itself has been used to generate a thermodynamically based scale of relative hardness and softness for acids and bases (operational chemical hardness), and a modified Slater model has been used to discern the electronic origin of hard-soft behavior. Whereas chemical hardness is a chemical property of an acid or base and the operational chemical hardness is an experimental measure of it, the absolute hardness is a physical property of an atom or molecule. A critical examination of chemical hardness, which has been based on a more rigorous application of the Pearson principle and the availability of quantitative measures of chemical hardness, suggests that the origin of hard-soft behavior for both acids and bases resides in the relaxation of the electrons not undergoing transfer during the acid-base interaction. Furthermore, the results suggest that the absolute hardness should not be taken as synonymous with chemical hardness but that the relationship is somewhat more complex. Finally, this work provides additional groundwork for a better understanding of chemical hardness that will inform the understanding of hardness in molecules.

Soft systems methodology as a potential approach to understanding non-motorised transport users in South Africa

CSIR Research Space (South Africa)

Van Rooyen, CE

2016-07-01

Full Text Available of this paper is to show the potential of using systems thinking and more particularly Soft Systems Methodology (SSM) as a practical and beneficial instrument that will guide BEPDPs with the ongoing learning process of understanding NMT users and their specific...

Soft x-ray spectroscopy for probing electronic and chemical states of battery materials

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Yang Wanli; Qiao Ruimin

2016-01-01

The formidable challenge of developing high-performance battery system stems from the complication of battery operations, both mechanically and electronically. In the electrodes and at the electrode–electrolyte interfaces, chemical reactions take place with evolving electron states. In addition to the extensive studies of material synthesis, electrochemical, structural, and mechanical properties, soft x-ray spectroscopy provides unique opportunities for revealing the critical electron states in batteries. This review discusses some of the recent soft x-ray spectroscopic results on battery binder, transition-metal based positive electrodes, and the solid-electrolyte-interphase. By virtue of soft x-ray’s sensitivity to electron states, the electronic property, the redox during electrochemical operations, and the chemical species of the interphases could be fingerprinted by soft x-ray spectroscopy. Understanding and innovating battery technologies need a multimodal approach, and soft x-ray spectroscopy is one of the incisive tools to probe the chemical and physical evolutions in batteries. (topical review)

Teacher Trainers' and Trainee Teachers' Understanding towards the Curriculum Philosophy Regarding Soft Skills Embedment in the Malaysian Institute of Teacher Education

Science.gov (United States)

Hassan, Aminuddin; Maharoff, Marina; Abiddin, Norhasni Zainal; Ro'is, Ihsan

2016-01-01

The embedment of soft skills into education programs in higher education is closely related to the curriculum philosophy brought by the respective institutions. The soft skills are embedded through understanding belief systems and practices among the teacher trainers. Furthermore it provides an insight into the curriculum philosophy on how to…

Control of soft machines using actuators operated by a Braille display.

Science.gov (United States)

Mosadegh, Bobak; Mazzeo, Aaron D; Shepherd, Robert F; Morin, Stephen A; Gupta, Unmukt; Sani, Idin Zhalehdoust; Lai, David; Takayama, Shuichi; Whitesides, George M

2014-01-07

One strategy for actuating soft machines (e.g., tentacles, grippers, and simple walkers) uses pneumatic inflation of networks of small channels in an elastomeric material. Although the management of a few pneumatic inputs and valves to control pressurized gas is straightforward, the fabrication and operation of manifolds containing many (>50) independent valves is an unsolved problem. Complex pneumatic manifolds-often built for a single purpose-are not easily reconfigured to accommodate the specific inputs (i.e., multiplexing of many fluids, ranges of pressures, and changes in flow rates) required by pneumatic systems. This paper describes a pneumatic manifold comprising a computer-controlled Braille display and a micropneumatic device. The Braille display provides a compact array of 64 piezoelectric actuators that actively close and open elastomeric valves of a micropneumatic device to route pressurized gas within the manifold. The positioning and geometries of the valves and channels in the micropneumatic device dictate the functionality of the pneumatic manifold, and the use of multi-layer soft lithography permits the fabrication of networks in a wide range of configurations with many possible functions. Simply exchanging micropneumatic devices of different designs enables rapid reconfiguration of the pneumatic manifold. As a proof of principle, a pneumatic manifold controlled a soft machine containing 32 independent actuators to move a ball above a flat surface.

Interval-Valued Vague Soft Sets and Its Application

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Khaleed Alhazaymeh

2012-01-01

Full Text Available Molodtsov has introduced the concept of soft sets and the application of soft sets in decision making and medical diagnosis problems. The basic properties of vague soft sets are presented. In this paper, we introduce the concept of interval-valued vague soft sets which are an extension of the soft set and its operations such as equality, subset, intersection, union, AND operation, OR operation, complement, and null while further studying some properties. We give examples for these concepts, and we give a number of applications on interval-valued vague soft sets.

Extreme Mechanics in Soft Pneumatic Robots and Soft Microfluidic Electronics and Sensors

Science.gov (United States)

Majidi, Carmel

2012-02-01

In the near future, machines and robots will be completely soft, stretchable, impact resistance, and capable of adapting their shape and functionality to changes in mission and environment. Similar to biological tissue and soft-body organisms, these next-generation technologies will contain no rigid parts and instead be composed entirely of soft elastomers, gels, fluids, and other non-rigid matter. Using a combination of rapid prototyping tools, microfabrication methods, and emerging techniques in so-called ``soft lithography,'' scientists and engineers are currently introducing exciting new families of soft pneumatic robots, soft microfluidic sensors, and hyperelastic electronics that can be stretched to as much as 10x their natural length. Progress has been guided by an interdisciplinary collection of insights from chemistry, life sciences, robotics, microelectronics, and solid mechanics. In virtually every technology and application domain, mechanics and elasticity have a central role in governing functionality and design. Moreover, in contrast to conventional machines and electronics, soft pneumatic systems and microfluidics typically operate in the finite deformation regime, with materials stretching to several times their natural length. In this talk, I will review emerging paradigms in soft pneumatic robotics and soft microfluidic electronics and highlight modeling and design challenges that arise from the extreme mechanics of inflation, locomotion, sensor operation, and human interaction. I will also discuss perceived challenges and opportunities in a broad range of potential application, from medicine to wearable computing.

Soft optics in intelligent optical networks

Science.gov (United States)

Shue, Chikong; Cao, Yang

2001-10-01

In addition to the recent advances in Hard-optics that pushes the optical transmission speed, distance, wave density and optical switching capacity, Soft-optics provides the necessary intelligence and control software that reduces operational costs, increase efficiency, and enhances revenue generating services by automating optimal optical circuit placement and restoration, and enabling value-added new services like Optical VPN. This paper describes the advances in 1) Overall Hard-optics and Soft-optics 2) Layered hierarchy of Soft-optics 3) Component of Soft-optics, including hard-optics drivers, Management Soft-optics, Routing Soft-optics and System Soft-optics 4) Key component of Routing and System Soft-optics, namely optical routing and signaling (including UNI/NNI and GMPLS signaling). In summary, the soft-optics on a new generation of OXC's enables Intelligent Optical Networks to provide just-in-time service delivery and fast restoration, and real-time capacity management that eliminates stranded bandwidth. It reduces operational costs and provides new revenue opportunities.

Public University Educators’ Understanding and Conception of Soft Skills for Educators

OpenAIRE

Md-Ali, Ruzlan; Shaffie, Fuziah; Yusof, Fahainis Mohd

2016-01-01

There is still no formally agreed upon, universal set of soft skills. The lack of soft skills competence among graduates from public universities (PUs) is an issue and a reason for unsuccessful job applications. Students in PUs need to be guided to acquire the relevant soft skills and need to have role models to be professionally and socially competent. They can actually learn much from their lecturers or educators as role models. In a recent exploratory study, educators selected from PUs we...

Pre-operative radiotherapy in soft tissue tumors: Assessment of response by static post-contrast MR imaging compared to histopathology

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Einarsdottir, H.; Wejde, J.; Bauer, H.C.F.

2000-01-01

To evaluate if static post-contrast MR imaging was adequate to assess tumor viability after pre-operative radiotherapy in soft tissue sarcoma. Post-contrast MR imaging of 36 soft tissue sarcomas performed 0 - 54 days (median 13 days) after pre-operative radiotherapy, were retrospectively reviewed and compared to post-operative histopathology reports. The contrast enhancement of the tumor was visually graded as minor, moderate or extensive. From the post-operative histopathology reports, three types of tumor response to radiotherapy were defined: Poor, intermediate or good. The size of the tumors before and after radiation was compared. Even if most viable tumors enhanced more than non-viable tumors, there was major overlapping and significant contrast enhancement could be seen in tumors where histopathological examination revealed no viable tumor tissue. Based on histopathology, there were 12 good responders; 8 of these showed minor, 3 moderate and 1 extensive contrast enhancement on MR imaging. Sixteen tumors had an intermediate response; 3 showed minor, 8 moderate and 5 extensive enhancement. Eight tumors had poor response; none showed minor enhancement, 3 moderate and 5 extensive enhancement. Both increase and Decrease in tumor size was seen in lesions with a good therapy response. Static post-contrast MR imaging cannot reliably assess tumor viability after pre-operative radiotherapy in soft tissue sarcoma. In tumors with no viable tumor tissue, moderate and extensive contrast enhancement can be seen

Soft theorems from conformal field theory

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Lipstein, Arthur E.

2015-01-01

Strominger and collaborators recently proposed that soft theorems for gauge and gravity amplitudes can be interpreted as Ward identities of a 2d CFT at null infinity. In this paper, we will consider a specific realization of this CFT known as ambitwistor string theory, which describes 4d Yang-Mills and gravity with any amount of supersymmetry. Using 4d ambtwistor string theory, we derive soft theorems in the form of an infinite series in the soft momentum which are valid to subleading order in gauge theory and sub-subleading order in gravity. Furthermore, we describe how the algebra of soft limits can be encoded in the braiding of soft vertex operators on the worldsheet and point out a simple relation between soft gluon and soft graviton vertex operators which suggests an interesting connection to color-kinematics duality. Finally, by considering ambitwistor string theory on a genus one worldsheet, we compute the 1-loop correction to the subleading soft graviton theorem due to infrared divergences.

A study on generalized hesitant intuitionistic Fuzzy soft sets

Science.gov (United States)

Nazra, A.; Syafruddin; Wicaksono, G. C.; Syafwan, M.

2018-03-01

By combining the concept of hesitant intuitionistic fuzzy sets, fuzzy soft sets and fuzzy sets, we extend hesitant intuitionistic fuzzy soft sets to a generalized hesitant intuitionistic fuzzy soft sets. Some operations on generalized hesitant intuitionistic fuzzy soft sets, such as union, complement, operations “AND” and “OR”, and intersection are defined. From such operations the authors obtain related properties such as commutative, associative and De Morgan's laws. The authors also get an algebraic structure of the collection of all generalized hesitant intuitionistic fuzzy soft sets over a set.

Co-operation of digital nonlinear equalizers and soft-decision LDPC FEC in nonlinear transmission.

Science.gov (United States)

Tanimura, Takahito; Oda, Shoichiro; Hoshida, Takeshi; Aoki, Yasuhiko; Tao, Zhenning; Rasmussen, Jens C

2013-12-30

We experimentally and numerically investigated the characteristics of 128 Gb/s dual polarization - quadrature phase shift keying signals received with two types of nonlinear equalizers (NLEs) followed by soft-decision (SD) low-density parity-check (LDPC) forward error correction (FEC). Successful co-operation among SD-FEC and NLEs over various nonlinear transmissions were demonstrated by optimization of parameters for NLEs.

Mapping on complex neutrosophic soft expert sets

Science.gov (United States)

Al-Quran, Ashraf; Hassan, Nasruddin

2018-04-01

We introduce the mapping on complex neutrosophic soft expert sets. Further, we investigated the basic operations and other related properties of complex neutrosophic soft expert image and complex neutrosophic soft expert inverse image of complex neutrosophic soft expert sets.

Key electronic states in lithium battery materials probed by soft X-ray spectroscopy

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Yang, Wanli; Liu, Xiaosong; Qiao, Ruimin; Olalde-Velasco, Paul; Spear, Jonathan D.; Roseguo, Louis; Pepper, John X.; Chuang, Yi-de; Denlinger, Jonathan D.; Hussain, Zahid

2013-01-01

Highlights: •Key electronic states in battery materials revealed by soft X-ray spectroscopy. •Soft X-ray absorption consistently probes Mn oxidation states in different systems. •Soft X-ray absorption and emission fingerprint battery operations in LiFePO 4 . •Spectroscopic guidelines for selecting/optimizing polymer materials for batteries. •Distinct SEI formation on same electrode material with different crystal orientations. -- Abstract: The formidable challenges for developing a safe, low-cost, high-capacity, and high-power battery necessitate employing advanced tools that are capable of directly probing the key electronic states relevant to battery performance. Synchrotron based soft X-ray spectroscopy directly measures both the occupied and unoccupied states in the vicinity of the Fermi level, including transition-metal-3d and anion-p states. This article presents the basic concepts on how fundamental physics in electronic structure could provide valuable information for lithium-ion battery applications. We then discuss some of our recent studies on transition-metal oxide based cathodes, silicon based anode, and solid-electrolyte-interphase through soft X-ray absorption and emission spectroscopy. We argue that spectroscopic results reveal the evolution of electronic states for fingerprinting, understanding, and optimizing lithium-ion battery operations

Soft X-ray spectroscopic investigation of a plasma focus operated in pure neon

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Presura, R; Zoita, V; Paraschiv, I [Inst. of Physics and Technology of Radiation Devices, Bucharest (Romania)

1997-12-31

The soft X-ray emission of the medium-energy plasma focus device IPF-2/20 operated in pure neon was studied with spectral resolution. The spectra of H- and He-like Ne ions were recorded by means of a de Broglie spectrograph for initial filling pressures in the range 1.3 to 7 torr. Both the soft X-ray emission characteristics and the plasma parameters are strongly dependent on the working gas pressure. The intensity of the He-like neon ions lines increases when the working gas pressure is raised, while for the H-like ions it has a maximum for about 5 torr filling. The electron density has values of the order of 10{sup 20} cm{sup -3}. The electron temperature ranges between 300 and 350 eV. Both the plasma density and the plasma temperature decrease when the initial gas pressure is increased. (author). 2 figs., 9 refs.

Soft X-ray spectroscopic investigation of a plasma focus operated in pure neon

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Presura, R.; Zoita, V.; Paraschiv, I.

1996-01-01

The soft X-ray emission of the medium-energy plasma focus device IPF-2/20 operated in pure neon was studied with spectral resolution. The spectra of H- and He-like Ne ions were recorded by means of a de Broglie spectrograph for initial filling pressures in the range 1.3 to 7 torr. Both the soft X-ray emission characteristics and the plasma parameters are strongly dependent on the working gas pressure. The intensity of the He-like neon ions lines increases when the working gas pressure is raised, while for the H-like ions it has a maximum for about 5 torr filling. The electron density has values of the order of 10 20 cm -3 . The electron temperature ranges between 300 and 350 eV. Both the plasma density and the plasma temperature decrease when the initial gas pressure is increased. (author). 2 figs., 9 refs

Holiday fun with soft gluons

CERN Multimedia

CERN. Geneva

2017-01-01

Emissions of soft gluons from energetic particles play an important role in collider processes. While the basic physics of soft emissions is simple, it gives rise to a variety of interesting and intricate phenomena (non-global logs, Glauber phases, super-leading logs, factorization breaking). After an introduction, I will review progress in resummation methods such as Soft-Collinear Effective Theory driven by a better understanding of soft emissions. I will also show some new results for computations of soft-gluon effects in gap-between-jets and isolation-cone cross sections.

Study on supporting system for operator's comprehensive understanding

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Yoshikawa, Shinji

1996-01-01

Power Reactor and Nuclear Fuel Development Corp. has participated in the development of a system to support the process of operator's plant understanding by the use of information processing techniques such as artificial intelligence since 1994. Analysis and model formation of the process leading to operator's comprehensive understanding of plant (mental model) are undertaken attempting to determine the basic structure of the mental model available for the description of knowledge using the precedent survey and to observe how to utilize operator's own knowledge. After consideration of the way by which plant operators utilize their physical knowledges and the knowledges of physical observation in practice, a basic structure composed of 3 components a qualitative causal network, a hierarchical function model and 3 links joining the two was proposed for the mental model. A questionnaire survey on operator's statements was made and the contents were assigned in several categories for objective analysis. An unified form usable to make a data base was established. Further, we have a plan to develop the first proto-type system to promote operator's understanding by 1998. (M.N.)

Spectator interactions in soft-collinear effective theory

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hill, Richard J.; Neubert, Matthias

2003-01-01

Soft-collinear effective theory is generalized to include soft massless quarks in addition to collinear fields. This extension is necessary for the treatment of interactions with the soft spectator quark in a heavy meson. The power counting of the relevant fields and the construction of the effective Lagrangian are discussed at leading order in Λ/m b . Several novel effects occur in the matching of full-theory amplitudes onto effective-theory operators containing soft light quarks, such as the appearance of an intermediate mass scale and large non-localities of operators on scales of order 1/Λ. Important examples of effective-theory operators with soft light quarks are studied and their renormalization properties explored. The formalism presented here forms the basis for a systematic analysis of factorization and power corrections for any exclusive B-meson decay into light particles

Spectator Interactions in Soft-Collinear Effective Theory

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hill, Richard J

2002-01-01

Soft-collinear effective theory is generalized to include soft massless quarks in addition to collinear fields. This extension is necessary for the treatment of interactions with the soft spectator quark in a heavy meson. The power counting of the relevant fields and the construction of the effective Lagrangian are discussed at leading order in Λ/m b . Several novel effects occur in the matching of full-theory amplitudes onto effective-theory operators containing soft light quarks, such as the appearance of an intermediate mass scale and large non-localities of operators on scales of order 1/Λ. Important examples of effective-theory operators with soft light quarks are studied and their renormalization properties explored. The formalism presented here forms the basis for a systematic analysis of factorization and power corrections for any exclusive B-meson decay into light particles

Benefits analysis of Soft Open Points for electrical distribution network operation

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Cao, Wanyu; Wu, Jianzhong; Jenkins, Nick; Wang, Chengshan; Green, Timothy

2016-01-01

Highlights: • An analysis framework was developed to quantify the operational benefits. • The framework considers both network reconfiguration and SOP control. • Benefits were analyzed through both quantitative and sensitivity analysis. - Abstract: Soft Open Points (SOPs) are power electronic devices installed in place of normally-open points in electrical power distribution networks. They are able to provide active power flow control, reactive power compensation and voltage regulation under normal network operating conditions, as well as fast fault isolation and supply restoration under abnormal conditions. A steady state analysis framework was developed to quantify the operational benefits of a distribution network with SOPs under normal network operating conditions. A generic power injection model was developed and used to determine the optimal SOP operation using an improved Powell’s Direct Set method. Physical limits and power losses of the SOP device (based on back to back voltage-source converters) were considered in the model. Distribution network reconfiguration algorithms, with and without SOPs, were developed and used to identify the benefits of using SOPs. Test results on a 33-bus distribution network compared the benefits of using SOPs, traditional network reconfiguration and the combination of both. The results showed that using only one SOP achieved a similar improvement in network operation compared to the case of using network reconfiguration with all branches equipped with remotely controlled switches. A combination of SOP control and network reconfiguration provided the optimal network operation.

Hesitant fuzzy soft sets with application in multicriteria group decision making problems.

Science.gov (United States)

Wang, Jian-qiang; Li, Xin-E; Chen, Xiao-hong

2015-01-01

Soft sets have been regarded as a useful mathematical tool to deal with uncertainty. In recent years, many scholars have shown an intense interest in soft sets and extended standard soft sets to intuitionistic fuzzy soft sets, interval-valued fuzzy soft sets, and generalized fuzzy soft sets. In this paper, hesitant fuzzy soft sets are defined by combining fuzzy soft sets with hesitant fuzzy sets. And some operations on hesitant fuzzy soft sets based on Archimedean t-norm and Archimedean t-conorm are defined. Besides, four aggregation operations, such as the HFSWA, HFSWG, GHFSWA, and GHFSWG operators, are given. Based on these operators, a multicriteria group decision making approach with hesitant fuzzy soft sets is also proposed. To demonstrate its accuracy and applicability, this approach is finally employed to calculate a numerical example.

Nasal Soft-Tissue Triangle Deformities.

Science.gov (United States)

Foda, Hossam M T

2016-08-01

The soft-tissue triangle is one of the least areas attended to in rhinoplasty. Any postoperative retraction, notching, or asymmetries of soft triangles can seriously affect the rhinoplasty outcome. A good understanding of the risk factors predisposing to soft triangle deformities is necessary to prevent such problems. The commonest risk factors in our study were the wide vertical domal angle between the lateral and intermediate crura, and the increased length of intermediate crus. Two types of soft triangle grafts were described to prevent and treat soft triangle deformities. The used soft triangle grafts resulted in an excellent long-term aesthetic and functional improvement. Thieme Medical Publishers 333 Seventh Avenue, New York, NY 10001, USA.

Applications of systems thinking and soft operations research in managing complexity from problem framing to problem solving

CERN Document Server

2016-01-01

This book captures current trends and developments in the field of systems thinking and soft operations research which can be applied to solve today's problems of dynamic complexity and interdependency. Such ‘wicked problems’ and messes are seemingly intractable problems characterized as value-laden, ambiguous, and unstable, that resist being tamed by classical problem solving. Actions and interventions associated with this complex problem space can have highly unpredictable and unintended consequences. Examples of such complex problems include health care reform, global climate change, transnational serious and organized crime, terrorism, homeland security, human security, disaster management, and humanitarian aid. Moving towards the development of solutions to these complex problem spaces depends on the lens we use to examine them and how we frame the problem. It will be shown that systems thinking and soft operations research has had great success in contributing to the management of complexity. .

Laboratory soft x-ray microscopy and tomography

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Bertilson, Michael

2011-01-01

Soft x-ray microscopy in the water-window (λ = 2.28 nm - 4.36 nm) is based on zone-plate optics and allows high-resolution imaging of, e.g., cells and soils in their natural or near-natural environment. Three-dimensional imaging is provided via tomographic techniques, soft x-ray cryo tomography. However, soft x-ray microscopes with such capabilities have been based on large-scale synchrotron x-ray facilities, thereby limiting their accessibility for a wider scientific community. This Thesis describes the development of the Stockholm laboratory soft x-ray microscope to three-dimensional cryo tomography and to new optics-based contrast mechanisms. The microscope relies on a methanol or nitrogen liquid-jet laser-plasma source, normal-incidence multilayer or zone-plate condenser optics, in-house fabricated zone-plate objectives, and allows operation at two wavelengths in the water-window, λ = 2.48 nm and λ = 2.48 nm. With the implementation of a new state-of-the-art normal-incidence multilayer condenser for operation at λ = 2.48 nm and a tiltable cryogenic sample stage the microscope now allows imaging of dry, wet or cryo-fixed samples. This arrangement was used for the first demonstration of laboratory soft x-ray cryo microscopy and tomography. The performance of the microscope has been demonstrated in a number of experiments described in this Thesis, including, tomographic imaging with a resolution of 140 nm, cryo microscopy and tomography of various cells and parasites, and for studies of aqueous soils and clays. The Thesis also describes the development and implementation of single-element differential-interference and Zernike phase-contrast zone-plate objectives. The enhanced contrast provided by these optics reduce exposure times or lowers the dose in samples and are of major importance for harder x-ray microscopy. The implementation of a high-resolution 50 nm compound zone-plate objective for sub-25-nm resolution imaging is also described. All experiments

Possibility Fuzzy Soft Set

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Shawkat Alkhazaleh

2011-01-01

Full Text Available We introduce the concept of possibility fuzzy soft set and its operation and study some of its properties. We give applications of this theory in solving a decision-making problem. We also introduce a similarity measure of two possibility fuzzy soft sets and discuss their application in a medical diagnosis problem.

Recognising triggers for soft-sediment deformation: Current understanding and future directions

Science.gov (United States)

Owen, Geraint; Moretti, Massimo; Alfaro, Pedro

2011-04-01

Most of the 16 papers in this special issue were presented at a session entitled "The recognition of trigger mechanisms for soft-sediment deformation" at the 27th IAS Meeting of Sedimentology in Alghero, Sardinia, Italy, which took place from 20th-23rd September 2009. They describe soft-sediment deformation structures that range widely in morphology, age, depositional environment and tectonic setting. In their interpretations, the authors have been asked to focus on identifying the agent that triggered deformation. Our aims in this introductory overview are to: (1) review the definition and scope of soft-sediment deformation; (2) clarify the significance and role of the trigger; (3) set the contributions in context and summarise their findings; and (4) discuss strategies for reliably identifying triggers and make recommendations for future study of this widespread and significant category of sedimentary structures. We recommend a three-stage approach to trigger recognition, combining the assessment of facies, potential triggers, and available criteria. This focus on the trigger for deformation distinguishes this collection of papers on soft-sediment deformation from other important collections, notably those edited by Jones and Preston (1987), Maltman (1994), Maltman et al. (2000), Shiki et al. (2000), Ettensohn et al. (2002b), Van Rensbergen et al. (2003) and Storti and Vannucchi (2007).

A compact scanning soft X-ray microscope

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Trail, J.A.

1989-01-01

Soft x-ray microscopes operating at wavelengths between 2.3 nm and 4.4 nm are capable of imaging wet biological cells with a resolution many times that of a visible light microscope. Several such soft x-ray microscopes have been constructed. However, with the exception of contact microscopes, all use synchrotrons as the source of soft x-ray radiation and Fresnel zone plates as the focusing optics. These synchrotron based microscopes are very successful but have the disadvantage of limited access. This dissertation reviews the construction and performance of a compact scanning soft x-ray microscope whose size and accessibility is comparable to that of an electron microscope. The microscope uses a high-brightness laser-produced plasma as the soft x-ray source and normal incidence multilayer-coated mirrors in a Schwarzschild configuration as the focusing optics. The microscope operates at a wavelength of 14 nm, has a spatial resolution of 0.5 μm, and has a soft x-ray photon flux through the focus of 10 4 -10 5 s -1 when operated with only 170 mW of average laser power. The complete system, including the laser, fits on a single 4' x 8' optical table. The significant components of the compact microscope are the laser-produced plasma (LPP) source, the multilayer coatings, and the Schwarzschild objective. These components are reviewed, both with regard to their particular use in the current microscope and with regard to extending the microscope performance to higher resolution, higher speed, and operation at shorter wavelengths. Measurements of soft x-ray emission and debris emission from our present LPP source are presented and considerations given for an optimal LPP source. The LPP source was also used as a broadband soft x-ray source for measurement of normal incidence multilayer mirror reflectance in the 10-25 nm spectral region

Mathematical models of soft tissue injury repair : towards understanding musculoskeletal disorders

OpenAIRE

Dunster, Joanne L.

2012-01-01

The process of soft tissue injury repair at the cellular lew I can be decomposed into three phases: acute inflammation including coagulation, proliferation and remodelling. While the later phases are well understood the early phase is less so. We produce a series of new mathematical models for the early phases coagulation and inflammation. The models produced are relevant not only to soft tissue injury repair but also to the many disease states in which coagulation and inflammation play a rol...

Final Summary of On-Orbit ADR Operation on Hitomis Soft X-Ray Spectrometer Instrument

Science.gov (United States)

Shirron, Peter

2016-01-01

The Soft X-ray Spectrometer (SXS) on the Astro-H observatory contains a 6x6 array of x-ray microcalorimeters that are cooled to 50 mK by an adiabatic demagnetization refrigerator (ADR). The ADR consists of three stages in order to provide stable detector cooling using either a 1.2 K superfluid helium bath or a 4.5 K Joule-Thomson (JT) cryocooler as its heat sink. Astro-H was renamed Hitomi after it was successfully launched in February 2016. The SXS carried approximately 36 liters of helium into orbit, and by day 5 the helium had cooled sufficiently (1.4 K) to allow operation of the ADR. This paper summarizes the ADRs performance during the 38 days that the satellite was operational.

Soft Matter Characterization

CERN Document Server

Borsali, Redouane

2008-01-01

Progress in basic soft matter research is driven largely by the experimental techniques available. Much of the work is concerned with understanding them at the microscopic level, especially at the nanometer length scales that give soft matter studies a wide overlap with nanotechnology. This 2 volume reference work, split into 4 parts, presents detailed discussions of many of the major techniques commonly used as well as some of those in current development for studying and manipulating soft matter. The articles are intended to be accessible to the interdisciplinary audience (at the graduate student level and above) that is or will be engaged in soft matter studies or those in other disciplines who wish to view some of the research methods in this fascinating field. Part 1 contains articles with a largely (but, in most cases, not exclusively) theoretical content and/or that cover material relevant to more than one of the techniques covered in subsequent volumes. It includes an introductory chapter on some of t...

Modeling Human Error Mechanism for Soft Control in Advanced Control Rooms (ACRs)

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Aljneibi, Hanan Salah Ali [Khalifa Univ., Abu Dhabi (United Arab Emirates); Ha, Jun Su; Kang, Seongkeun; Seong, Poong Hyun [KAIST, Daejeon (Korea, Republic of)

2015-10-15

To achieve the switch from conventional analog-based design to digital design in ACRs, a large number of manual operating controls and switches have to be replaced by a few common multi-function devices which is called soft control system. The soft controls in APR-1400 ACRs are classified into safety-grade and non-safety-grade soft controls; each was designed using different and independent input devices in ACRs. The operations using soft controls require operators to perform new tasks which were not necessary in conventional controls such as navigating computerized displays to monitor plant information and control devices. These kinds of computerized displays and soft controls may make operations more convenient but they might cause new types of human error. In this study the human error mechanism during the soft controls is studied and modeled to be used for analysis and enhancement of human performance (or human errors) during NPP operation. The developed model would contribute to a lot of applications to improve human performance (or reduce human errors), HMI designs, and operators' training program in ACRs. The developed model of human error mechanism for the soft control is based on assumptions that a human operator has certain amount of capacity in cognitive resources and if resources required by operating tasks are greater than resources invested by the operator, human error (or poor human performance) is likely to occur (especially in 'slip'); good HMI (Human-machine Interface) design decreases the required resources; operator's skillfulness decreases the required resources; and high vigilance increases the invested resources. In this study the human error mechanism during the soft controls is studied and modeled to be used for analysis and enhancement of human performance (or reduction of human errors) during NPP operation.

Modeling Human Error Mechanism for Soft Control in Advanced Control Rooms (ACRs)

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Aljneibi, Hanan Salah Ali; Ha, Jun Su; Kang, Seongkeun; Seong, Poong Hyun

2015-01-01

To achieve the switch from conventional analog-based design to digital design in ACRs, a large number of manual operating controls and switches have to be replaced by a few common multi-function devices which is called soft control system. The soft controls in APR-1400 ACRs are classified into safety-grade and non-safety-grade soft controls; each was designed using different and independent input devices in ACRs. The operations using soft controls require operators to perform new tasks which were not necessary in conventional controls such as navigating computerized displays to monitor plant information and control devices. These kinds of computerized displays and soft controls may make operations more convenient but they might cause new types of human error. In this study the human error mechanism during the soft controls is studied and modeled to be used for analysis and enhancement of human performance (or human errors) during NPP operation. The developed model would contribute to a lot of applications to improve human performance (or reduce human errors), HMI designs, and operators' training program in ACRs. The developed model of human error mechanism for the soft control is based on assumptions that a human operator has certain amount of capacity in cognitive resources and if resources required by operating tasks are greater than resources invested by the operator, human error (or poor human performance) is likely to occur (especially in 'slip'); good HMI (Human-machine Interface) design decreases the required resources; operator's skillfulness decreases the required resources; and high vigilance increases the invested resources. In this study the human error mechanism during the soft controls is studied and modeled to be used for analysis and enhancement of human performance (or reduction of human errors) during NPP operation

Dynamics of Soft Matter

CERN Document Server

García Sakai, Victoria; Chen, Sow-Hsin

2012-01-01

Dynamics of Soft Matter: Neutron Applications provides an overview of neutron scattering techniques that measure temporal and spatial correlations simultaneously, at the microscopic and/or mesoscopic scale. These techniques offer answers to new questions arising at the interface of physics, chemistry, and biology. Knowledge of the dynamics at these levels is crucial to understanding the soft matter field, which includes colloids, polymers, membranes, biological macromolecules, foams, emulsions towards biological & biomimetic systems, and phenomena involving wetting, friction, adhesion, or micr

Soft errors in modern electronic systems

CERN Document Server

Nicolaidis, Michael

2010-01-01

This book provides a comprehensive presentation of the most advanced research results and technological developments enabling understanding, qualifying and mitigating the soft errors effect in advanced electronics, including the fundamental physical mechanisms of radiation induced soft errors, the various steps that lead to a system failure, the modelling and simulation of soft error at various levels (including physical, electrical, netlist, event driven, RTL, and system level modelling and simulation), hardware fault injection, accelerated radiation testing and natural environment testing, s

Soft thermal contributions to 3-loop gauge coupling

Science.gov (United States)

Laine, M.; Schicho, P.; Schröder, Y.

2018-05-01

We analyze 3-loop contributions to the gauge coupling felt by ultrasoft ("magnetostatic") modes in hot Yang-Mills theory. So-called soft/hard terms, originating from dimension-six operators within the soft effective theory, are shown to cancel 1097/1098 of the IR divergence found in a recent determination of the hard 3-loop contribution to the soft gauge coupling. The remaining 1/1098 originates from ultrasoft/hard contributions, induced by dimension-six operators in the ultrasoft effective theory. Soft 3-loop contributions are likewise computed, and are found to be IR divergent, rendering the ultrasoft gauge coupling non-perturbative at relative order O({α}s^{3/2}) . We elaborate on the implications of these findings for effective theory studies of physical observables in thermal QCD.

Bipolar soft connected, bipolar soft disconnected and bipolar soft compact spaces

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Muhammad Shabir

2017-06-01

Full Text Available Bipolar soft topological spaces are mathematical expressions to estimate interpretation of data frameworks. Bipolar soft theory considers the core features of data granules. Bipolarity is important to distinguish between positive information which is guaranteed to be possible and negative information which is forbidden or surely false. Connectedness and compactness are the most important fundamental topological properties. These properties highlight the main features of topological spaces and distinguish one topology from another. Taking this into account, we explore the bipolar soft connectedness, bipolar soft disconnectedness and bipolar soft compactness properties for bipolar soft topological spaces. Moreover, we introduce the notion of bipolar soft disjoint sets, bipolar soft separation, and bipolar soft hereditary property and study on bipolar soft connected and disconnected spaces. By giving the detailed picture of bipolar soft connected and disconnected spaces we investigate bipolar soft compact spaces and derive some results related to this concept.

Neutrosophic Parametrized Soft Set Theory and Its Decision Making

OpenAIRE

Said Broumi; Irfan Deli; Florentin Smarandache

2014-01-01

In this work, we present definition of neutrosophic parameterized (NP) soft set and its operations. Then we define NP-aggregation operator to form NP-soft decision making method which allows constructing more efficient decision processes. We also dive an example which shows that they can be successfully applied to problem that contain indeterminacy.

On Some Nonclassical Algebraic Properties of Interval-Valued Fuzzy Soft Sets

Science.gov (United States)

2014-01-01

Interval-valued fuzzy soft sets realize a hybrid soft computing model in a general framework. Both Molodtsov's soft sets and interval-valued fuzzy sets can be seen as special cases of interval-valued fuzzy soft sets. In this study, we first compare four different types of interval-valued fuzzy soft subsets and reveal the relations among them. Then we concentrate on investigating some nonclassical algebraic properties of interval-valued fuzzy soft sets under the soft product operations. We show that some fundamental algebraic properties including the commutative and associative laws do not hold in the conventional sense, but hold in weaker forms characterized in terms of the relation =L. We obtain a number of algebraic inequalities of interval-valued fuzzy soft sets characterized by interval-valued fuzzy soft inclusions. We also establish the weak idempotent law and the weak absorptive law of interval-valued fuzzy soft sets using interval-valued fuzzy soft J-equal relations. It is revealed that the soft product operations ∧ and ∨ of interval-valued fuzzy soft sets do not always have similar algebraic properties. Moreover, we find that only distributive inequalities described by the interval-valued fuzzy soft L-inclusions hold for interval-valued fuzzy soft sets. PMID:25143964

On Some Nonclassical Algebraic Properties of Interval-Valued Fuzzy Soft Sets

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Xiaoyan Liu

2014-01-01

Full Text Available Interval-valued fuzzy soft sets realize a hybrid soft computing model in a general framework. Both Molodtsov’s soft sets and interval-valued fuzzy sets can be seen as special cases of interval-valued fuzzy soft sets. In this study, we first compare four different types of interval-valued fuzzy soft subsets and reveal the relations among them. Then we concentrate on investigating some nonclassical algebraic properties of interval-valued fuzzy soft sets under the soft product operations. We show that some fundamental algebraic properties including the commutative and associative laws do not hold in the conventional sense, but hold in weaker forms characterized in terms of the relation =L. We obtain a number of algebraic inequalities of interval-valued fuzzy soft sets characterized by interval-valued fuzzy soft inclusions. We also establish the weak idempotent law and the weak absorptive law of interval-valued fuzzy soft sets using interval-valued fuzzy soft J-equal relations. It is revealed that the soft product operations ∧ and ∨ of interval-valued fuzzy soft sets do not always have similar algebraic properties. Moreover, we find that only distributive inequalities described by the interval-valued fuzzy soft L-inclusions hold for interval-valued fuzzy soft sets.

On some nonclassical algebraic properties of interval-valued fuzzy soft sets.

Science.gov (United States)

Liu, Xiaoyan; Feng, Feng; Zhang, Hui

2014-01-01

Interval-valued fuzzy soft sets realize a hybrid soft computing model in a general framework. Both Molodtsov's soft sets and interval-valued fuzzy sets can be seen as special cases of interval-valued fuzzy soft sets. In this study, we first compare four different types of interval-valued fuzzy soft subsets and reveal the relations among them. Then we concentrate on investigating some nonclassical algebraic properties of interval-valued fuzzy soft sets under the soft product operations. We show that some fundamental algebraic properties including the commutative and associative laws do not hold in the conventional sense, but hold in weaker forms characterized in terms of the relation = L . We obtain a number of algebraic inequalities of interval-valued fuzzy soft sets characterized by interval-valued fuzzy soft inclusions. We also establish the weak idempotent law and the weak absorptive law of interval-valued fuzzy soft sets using interval-valued fuzzy soft J-equal relations. It is revealed that the soft product operations ∧ and ∨ of interval-valued fuzzy soft sets do not always have similar algebraic properties. Moreover, we find that only distributive inequalities described by the interval-valued fuzzy soft L-inclusions hold for interval-valued fuzzy soft sets.

Soft modes and structural phase transitions

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Venkataraman, G [Reactor Research Centre, Kalpakkam (India)

1979-12-01

A survey of soft modes and their relationship to structural phase transitions is presented. After introducing the concept of a soft mode, the origin of softening is considered from a lattice-dynamical point. The Landau theory approach to structural transitions is then discussed, followed by a generalisation of the soft-mode concept through the use of the dynamic order-parameter susceptibility. The relationship of soft modes to broken symmetry is also examined. Experimental results for several classes of crystals are next presented, bringing out various features such as the co-operative Jahn-Teller effect. The survey concludes with a discussion of the central peak, touching upon both the experimental results and the theoretical speculations.

The mechanics of soft biological composites.

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Nguyen, Thao D. (Sandia National Laboratories, Livermore, CA); Grazier, John Mark; Boyce, Brad Lee; Jones, Reese E. (Sandia National Laboratories, Livermore, CA)

2007-10-01

Biological tissues are uniquely structured materials with technologically appealing properties. Soft tissues such as skin, are constructed from a composite of strong fibrils and fluid-like matrix components. This was the first coordinated experimental/modeling project at Sandia or in the open literature to consider the mechanics of micromechanically-based anisotropy and viscoelasticity of soft biological tissues. We have exploited and applied Sandia's expertise in experimentation and mechanics modeling to better elucidate the behavior of collagen fibril-reinforced soft tissues. The purpose of this project was to provide a detailed understanding of the deformation of ocular tissues, specifically the highly structured skin-like tissue in the cornea. This discovery improved our knowledge of soft/complex materials testing and modeling. It also provided insight into the way that cornea tissue is bio-engineered such that under physiologically-relevant conditions it has a unique set of properties which enhance functionality. These results also provide insight into how non-physiologic loading conditions, such as corrective surgeries, may push the cornea outside of its natural design window, resulting in unexpected non-linear responses. Furthermore, this project created a clearer understanding of the mechanics of soft tissues that could lead to bio-inspired materials, such as highly supple and impact resistant body armor, and improve our design of human-machine interfaces, such as micro-electrical-mechanical (MEMS) based prosthetics.

Hydraulic Soft Yaw System Load Reduction and Prototype Results

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Stubkier, Søren; Pedersen, Henrik C.; Markussen, Kristian

2013-01-01

Introducing a hydraulic soft yaw concept for wind turbines leads to significant load reductions in the wind turbine structure. The soft yaw system operates as a shock absorption system on a car, hence absorbing the loading from turbulent wind conditions instead of leading them into the stiff wind...... turbine structure. Results presented shows fatigue reductions of up to 40% and ultimate load reduction of up to 19%. The ultimate load reduction increases even more when the over load protection system in the hydraulic soft yaw system is introduced and results show how the exact extreme load cut off...... operates. Further it is analyzed how the soft yaw system influence the power production of the turbine. It is shown that the influence is minimal, but at larger yaw errors the effect is possitive. Due to the implemeted functions in the hydraulic soft yaw system such as even load distribution on the pinions...

SCHEME (Soft Control Human error Evaluation MEthod) for advanced MCR HRA

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Jang, Inseok; Jung, Wondea; Seong, Poong Hyun

2015-01-01

The Technique for Human Error Rate Prediction (THERP), Korean Human Reliability Analysis (K-HRA), Human Error Assessment and Reduction Technique (HEART), A Technique for Human Event Analysis (ATHEANA), Cognitive Reliability and Error Analysis Method (CREAM), and Simplified Plant Analysis Risk Human Reliability Assessment (SPAR-H) in relation to NPP maintenance and operation. Most of these methods were developed considering the conventional type of Main Control Rooms (MCRs). They are still used for HRA in advanced MCRs even though the operating environment of advanced MCRs in NPPs has been considerably changed by the adoption of new human-system interfaces such as computer-based soft controls. Among the many features in advanced MCRs, soft controls are an important feature because the operation action in NPP advanced MCRs is performed by soft controls. Consequently, those conventional methods may not sufficiently consider the features of soft control execution human errors. To this end, a new framework of a HRA method for evaluating soft control execution human error is suggested by performing the soft control task analysis and the literature reviews regarding widely accepted human error taxonomies. In this study, the framework of a HRA method for evaluating soft control execution human error in advanced MCRs is developed. First, the factors which HRA method in advanced MCRs should encompass are derived based on the literature review, and soft control task analysis. Based on the derived factors, execution HRA framework in advanced MCRs is developed mainly focusing on the features of soft control. Moreover, since most current HRA database deal with operation in conventional type of MCRs and are not explicitly designed to deal with digital HSI, HRA database are developed under lab scale simulation

Soft skill appraisal for dentistry: a tool for positive practice management.

Science.gov (United States)

Jawale, Bhushan Arun; Bendgude, Vikas; Husain, Nadeem; Thosar, Nilima; Tandon, Piyush

2011-11-01

Soft skills adoption is a learning experience for every practitioner and every academician. Author has expressed his opinion for success through educational and real values of soft skill. Soft skills behavior of individual and institution help in achieving desirable goals in general and specialty practices. Author also focused on some realistic soft skill methods for improvisation of practices for all doctor. These skills indulge positive energy in human relationship for working in symbiosis and explore infinite capabilities at institutional and doctoral level. Here, some optimistic suggestions are given for improving dental practices and academic fulfillments. These soft skills help to organize, plan and manage, and track changes during the course of the growing dental practices. However, understanding of the soft skills in practice management, its simplicity and complexity and also, its contributing factors, helps practitioners to understand the dynamic, social and complex contexts of practices. It is really helpful to all practitioners to grow their practices using soft skills.

Soft-Collinear Effective Theory

CERN Multimedia

CERN. Geneva

2017-01-01

I will review the basic principles about Soft-Collinear Effective Theory. I will focus on how it can be used to understand factorization properties and how one can resum large logarithms arising from infrared physics using the renormalization group evolution.

A cable-driven soft robot surgical system for cardiothoracic endoscopic surgery: preclinical tests in animals.

Science.gov (United States)

Wang, Hesheng; Zhang, Runxi; Chen, Weidong; Wang, Xiaozhou; Pfeifer, Rolf

2017-08-01

Minimally invasive surgery attracts more and more attention because of the advantages of minimal trauma, less bleeding and pain and low complication rate. However, minimally invasive surgery for beating hearts is still a challenge. Our goal is to develop a soft robot surgical system for single-port minimally invasive surgery on a beating heart. The soft robot described in this paper is inspired by the octopus arm. Although the octopus arm is soft and has more degrees of freedom (DOFs), it can be controlled flexibly. The soft robot is driven by cables that are embedded into the soft robot manipulator and can control the direction of the end and middle of the soft robot manipulator. The forward, backward and rotation movement of the soft robot is driven by a propulsion plant. The soft robot can move freely by properly controlling the cables and the propulsion plant. The soft surgical robot system can perform different thoracic operations by changing surgical instruments. To evaluate the flexibility, controllability and reachability of the designed soft robot surgical system, some testing experiments have been conducted in vivo on a swine. Through the subxiphoid, the soft robot manipulator could enter into the thoracic cavity and pericardial cavity smoothly and perform some operations such as biopsy, ligation and ablation. The operations were performed successfully and did not cause any damage to the surrounding soft tissues. From the experiments, the flexibility, controllability and reachability of the soft robot surgical system have been verified. Also, it has been shown that this system can be used in the thoracic and pericardial cavity for different operations. Compared with other endoscopy robots, the soft robot surgical system is safer, has more DOFs and is more flexible for control. When performing operations in a beating heart, this system maybe more suitable than traditional endoscopy robots.

Mesoscopic modelling and simulation of soft matter.

Science.gov (United States)

Schiller, Ulf D; Krüger, Timm; Henrich, Oliver

2017-12-20

The deformability of soft condensed matter often requires modelling of hydrodynamical aspects to gain quantitative understanding. This, however, requires specialised methods that can resolve the multiscale nature of soft matter systems. We review a number of the most popular simulation methods that have emerged, such as Langevin dynamics, dissipative particle dynamics, multi-particle collision dynamics, sometimes also referred to as stochastic rotation dynamics, and the lattice-Boltzmann method. We conclude this review with a short glance at current compute architectures for high-performance computing and community codes for soft matter simulation.

3D printing for soft robotics - a review.

Science.gov (United States)

Gul, Jahan Zeb; Sajid, Memoon; Rehman, Muhammad Muqeet; Siddiqui, Ghayas Uddin; Shah, Imran; Kim, Kyung-Hwan; Lee, Jae-Wook; Choi, Kyung Hyun

2018-01-01

Soft robots have received an increasing attention due to their advantages of high flexibility and safety for human operators but the fabrication is a challenge. Recently, 3D printing has been used as a key technology to fabricate soft robots because of high quality and printing multiple materials at the same time. Functional soft materials are particularly well suited for soft robotics due to a wide range of stimulants and sensitive demonstration of large deformations, high motion complexities and varied multi-functionalities. This review comprises a detailed survey of 3D printing in soft robotics. The development of key 3D printing technologies and new materials along with composites for soft robotic applications is investigated. A brief summary of 3D-printed soft devices suitable for medical to industrial applications is also included. The growing research on both 3D printing and soft robotics needs a summary of the major reported studies and the authors believe that this review article serves the purpose.

Soft-collinear factorization in effective field theory

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Bauer, Christian W.; Pirjol, Dan; Stewart, Iain W.

2002-01-01

The factorization of soft and ultrasoft gluons from collinear particles is shown at the level of operators in an effective field theory. Exclusive hadronic factorization and inclusive partonic factorization follow as special cases. The leading-order Lagrangian is derived using power counting and gauge invariance in the effective theory. Several species of gluons are required, and softer gluons appear as background fields to gluons with harder momenta. Two examples are given: the factorization of soft gluons in B→Dπ and the soft-collinear convolution for the B→X s γ spectrum

Terrestrial neutron-induced soft errors in advanced memory devices

CERN Document Server

Nakamura, Takashi; Ibe, Eishi; Yahagi, Yasuo; Kameyama, Hideaki

2008-01-01

Terrestrial neutron-induced soft errors in semiconductor memory devices are currently a major concern in reliability issues. Understanding the mechanism and quantifying soft-error rates are primarily crucial for the design and quality assurance of semiconductor memory devices. This book covers the relevant up-to-date topics in terrestrial neutron-induced soft errors, and aims to provide succinct knowledge on neutron-induced soft errors to the readers by presenting several valuable and unique features. Sample Chapter(s). Chapter 1: Introduction (238 KB). Table A.30 mentioned in Appendix A.6 on

Update on VUV and soft X-ray facilities at SSRL

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Waldhauer, A.

1988-01-01

The number of experimental stations at SSRL devoted to the VUV and soft X-ray region is increasing rapidly. In 1986 there were five VUV/soft X-ray beam lines in regular operation. These consisted of two grasshopper lines, a Seya-Namioka line, a white light lithography line, and the UHV double crystal line, Jumbo. By 1988 ten beam lines, including two with insertion devices, covering the spectral range 5-4000 eV in five overlapping ranges will be operational. With the addition of these new stations, SSRL will have increased dramatically its facilities for performing VUV and soft X-ray research. (orig.)

Hard and soft acids and bases: structure and process.

Science.gov (United States)

Reed, James L

2012-07-05

Under investigation is the structure and process that gives rise to hard-soft behavior in simple anionic atomic bases. That for simple atomic bases the chemical hardness is expected to be the only extrinsic component of acid-base strength, has been substantiated in the current study. A thermochemically based operational scale of chemical hardness was used to identify the structure within anionic atomic bases that is responsible for chemical hardness. The base's responding electrons have been identified as the structure, and the relaxation that occurs during charge transfer has been identified as the process giving rise to hard-soft behavior. This is in contrast the commonly accepted explanations that attribute hard-soft behavior to varying degrees of electrostatic and covalent contributions to the acid-base interaction. The ability of the atomic ion's responding electrons to cause hard-soft behavior has been assessed by examining the correlation of the estimated relaxation energies of the responding electrons with the operational chemical hardness. It has been demonstrated that the responding electrons are able to give rise to hard-soft behavior in simple anionic bases.

Implementation and Analysis for APR1400 Soft Control System

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

2015-01-01

Due to the rapid advancement of digital technology, the definite technical advantages of digital control system compared to analog control system are accelerating the implementation of advanced distributed digital control system in the nuclear power plant. One of the major advantages of digital control system is the capability of Soft Control System. The design of Soft Control System for Advanced Power Reactor 1400 (APR1400) plant of Man-Machine Interface System (MMIS) is based on full digital technologies to enhance reliability, operability and maintainability. Computer-based compact workstation has been adopted in the APR1400 Main Control Room (MCR) to provide convenient working environment. This paper introduces the approaches and methodologies of Soft Control System for the Advanced Control Room (ACR). This paper also explains major design features for operation and display of the Soft Control System and its implementation to cope with regulatory requirements. (authors)

MicroRNAs in the Tumor Biology of Soft Tissue Sarcomas

NARCIS (Netherlands)

C.M.M. Gits (Caroline)

2013-01-01

markdownabstract__Abstract__ Soft tissue sarcomas represent a rare, heterogeneous group of mesenchymal tumors. In sarcomas, histological classification, prediction of clinical behaviour and prognosis, and targeted treatment is often a challenge. A better understanding of the biology of soft

Soft x-ray lasers

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Matthews, D.L.; Rosen, M.D.

1988-01-01

One of the elusive dreams of laser physicists has been the development of an x-ray laser. After 25 years of waiting, the x-ray laser has at last entered the scientific scene, although those now in operation are still laboratory prototypes. They produce soft x rays down to about five nanometers. X-ray lasers retain the usual characteristics of their optical counterparts: a very tight beam, spatial and temporal coherence, and extreme brightness. Present x-ray lasers are nearly 100 times brighter that the next most powerful x-ray source in the world: the electron synchrotron. Although Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) is widely known for its hard-x-ray laser program which has potential applications in the Strategic Defense Initiative, the soft x-ray lasers have no direct military applications. These lasers, and the scientific tools that result from their development, may one day have a place in the design and diagnosis of both laser fusion and hard x-ray lasers. The soft x-ray lasers now in operation at the LLNL have shown great promise but are still in the primitive state. Once x-ray lasers become reliable, efficient, and economical, they will have several important applications. Chief among them might be the creation of holograms of microscopic biological structures too small to be investigated with visible light. 5 figs

3D printing for soft robotics – a review

Science.gov (United States)

Gul, Jahan Zeb; Sajid, Memoon; Rehman, Muhammad Muqeet; Siddiqui, Ghayas Uddin; Shah, Imran; Kim, Kyung-Hwan; Lee, Jae-Wook; Choi, Kyung Hyun

2018-01-01

Abstract Soft robots have received an increasing attention due to their advantages of high flexibility and safety for human operators but the fabrication is a challenge. Recently, 3D printing has been used as a key technology to fabricate soft robots because of high quality and printing multiple materials at the same time. Functional soft materials are particularly well suited for soft robotics due to a wide range of stimulants and sensitive demonstration of large deformations, high motion complexities and varied multi-functionalities. This review comprises a detailed survey of 3D printing in soft robotics. The development of key 3D printing technologies and new materials along with composites for soft robotic applications is investigated. A brief summary of 3D-printed soft devices suitable for medical to industrial applications is also included. The growing research on both 3D printing and soft robotics needs a summary of the major reported studies and the authors believe that this review article serves the purpose. PMID:29707065

Soft X-ray Foucault test: A path to diffraction-limited imaging

Science.gov (United States)

Ray-Chaudhuri, A. K.; Ng, W.; Liang, S.; Cerrina, F.

1994-08-01

We present the development of a soft X-ray Foucault test capable of characterizing the imaging properties of a soft X-ray optical system at its operational wavelength and its operational configuration. This optical test enables direct visual inspection of imaging aberrations and provides real-time feedback for the alignment of high resolution soft X-ray optical systems. A first application of this optical test was carried out on a Mo-Si multilayer-coated Schwarzschild objective as part of the MAXIMUM project. Results from the alignment procedure are presented as well as the possibility for testing in the hard X-ray regime.

Multiattribute Grey Target Decision Method Based on Soft Set Theory

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Xia Wang

2014-01-01

Full Text Available With respect to the Multiattribute decision-making problems in which the evaluation attribute sets are different and the evaluating values of alternatives are interval grey numbers, a multiattribute grey target decision-making method in which the attribute sets are different was proposed. The concept of grey soft set was defined, and its “AND” operation was assigned by combining the intersection operation of grey number. The expression approach of new grey soft set of attribute sets considering by all decision makers were gained by applying the “AND” operation of grey soft set, and the weights of synthesis attribute were proved. The alternatives were ranked according to the size of distance of bull’s eyes of each alternative under synthetic attribute sets. The green supplier selection was illustrated to demonstrate the effectiveness of proposed model.

[Experimental investigation of laser plasma soft X-ray source with gas target].

Science.gov (United States)

Ni, Qi-liang; Gong, Yan; Lin, Jing-quan; Chen, Bo; Cao, Jian-lin

2003-02-01

This paper describes a debris-free laser plasma soft X-ray source with a gas target, which has high operating frequency and can produce strong soft X-ray radiation. The valve of this light source is drived by a piezoelectrical ceramic whose operating frequency is up to 400 Hz. In comparison with laser plasma soft X-ray sources using metal target, the light source is debris-free. And it has higher operating frequency than gas target soft X-ray sources whose nozzle is controlled by a solenoid valve. A channel electron multiplier (CEM) operating in analog mode is used to detect the soft X-ray generated by the laser plasma source, and the CEM's output is fed to to a charge-sensitive preamplifier for further amplification purpose. Output charges from the CEM are proportional to the amplitude of the preamplifier's output voltage. Spectra of CO2, Xe and Kr at 8-14 nm wavelength which can be used for soft X-ray projection lithography are measured. The spectrum for CO2 consists of separate spectral lines originate mainly from the transitions in Li-like and Be-like ions. The Xe spectrum originating mainly from 4d-5f, 4d-4f, 4d-6p and 4d-5p transitions in multiply charged xenon ions. The spectrum for Kr consists of separate spectral lines and continuous broad spectra originating mainly from the transitions in Cu-, Ni-, Co- and Fe-like ions.

Understanding to requirements for educational level in qualification of reactor operators

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Zhang Chi; Yang Di; Zhou Limin

2007-01-01

Requirements for qualification of reactor operators in nuclear safety regulations were discussed in this paper. The new issue was described in the confirmation of education level of reactor operators. The understanding to the requirements for Educational Level in Qualification of Reactor Operators was provided according to Higher Education Law of the People's Republic of China. It was proposed to improve the confirmation of qualification of reactor operators as soon as possible. (authors)

Revisiting the soft security debate: From European progress to ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

Given the extended scope of security sectors falling within the ambit of soft security regional co-operation is indispensable – a phenomenon most visible in European security architecture and that of Northern Europe in particular. Not only European decision-makers, however, pursue the soft security option. As Africa entered ...

A Systematic Approach for Soft Sensor Development

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Lin, Bao; Recke, Bodil; Renaudat, Philippe

2007-01-01

This paper presents a systematic approach based on robust statistical techniques for development of a data-driven soft sensor, which is an important component of the process analytical technology (PAT) and is essential for effective quality control. The data quality is obviously of essential...... significance for a data-driven soft sensor. Therefore, preprocessing procedures for process measurements are described in detail. First, a template is defined based on one or more key process variables to handle missing data related to severe operation interruptions. Second, a univariate, followed...... reveal the effectiveness of the systematic framework in deriving data-driven soft sensors that provide reasonably reliable one-step-ahead predictions....

Nursing students' perceptions of soft skills training in Ghana.

Science.gov (United States)

Laari, Luke; Dube, Barbara M

2017-09-22

The quality of nursing care rendered today is markedly reducing and the amount of time spent with patients listening to and explaining issues concerning their conditions is gradually diminishing. The therapeutic touch and the listening ear of the nurse are no longer accessible to the patient. Understanding what non-technical skills are and their relevance for healthcare practitioners has become a new area of consideration. Although recent literature has highlighted the necessity of introducing soft skills training and assessment within medical education, nursing education is yet to fully embrace this skills training. The aim of this study was to explore nursing students' understanding of the concept of soft skills and to acquire their perception on the need for soft skills training to promote quality nursing care. A quantitative research design with descriptive and explorative strategies was used. One hundred and ten nursing students were sampled after permission to conduct the study was requested and obtained from the University of KwaZulu-Natal Ethics Committee. The results indicated that a majority (68.8%) of respondents understood the concept of soft skills and agreed with the definition of 'soft skills'. They furthermore agreed that soft skills should be part of the training that student nurses receive during their professional training. The study revealed that there is a need for nursing students to be educated in soft skills and that this will enhance their job performances in the clinical environment and improve the way in which they communicate with their clients.

The Topologies Research of a Soft Switching Bidirectional DC/DC Converter

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Zhang, Qi; Zhang, Yongping; Sun, Xiangdong

2017-01-01

A soft-switching solution implemented to the traditional bidirectional DC/DC converter is developed. The soft-switching cell, which composed of three auxiliary switches, one resonant capacitor and one resonant inductor, is equipped in the traditional bidirectional DC/DC converter to realize circuit...... circle. And the proposed topology of bidirectional soft-switching dc-dc converter(TASBC) performs ideal soft switching at boost operations. The characteristics of the proposed converter has been verified by MATLAB simulations and experimental results....

Twitter web-service for soft agent reporting in persistent surveillance systems

Science.gov (United States)

Rababaah, Haroun; Shirkhodaie, Amir

2010-04-01

Persistent surveillance is an intricate process requiring monitoring, gathering, processing, tracking, and characterization of many spatiotemporal events occurring concurrently. Data associated with events can be readily attained by networking of hard (physical) sensors. Sensors may have homogeneous or heterogeneous (hybrid) sensing modalities with different communication bandwidth requirements. Complimentary to hard sensors are human observers or "soft sensors" that can report occurrences of evolving events via different communication devices (e.g., texting, cell phones, emails, instant messaging, etc.) to the command control center. However, networking of human observers in ad-hoc way is rather a difficult task. In this paper, we present a Twitter web-service for soft agent reporting in persistent surveillance systems (called Web-STARS). The objective of this web-service is to aggregate multi-source human observations in hybrid sensor networks rapidly. With availability of Twitter social network, such a human networking concept can not only be realized for large scale persistent surveillance systems (PSS), but also, it can be employed with proper interfaces to expedite rapid events reporting by human observers. The proposed technique is particularly suitable for large-scale persistent surveillance systems with distributed soft and hard sensor networks. The efficiency and effectiveness of the proposed technique is measured experimentally by conducting several simulated persistent surveillance scenarios. It is demonstrated that by fusion of information from hard and soft agents improves understanding of common operating picture and enhances situational awareness.

Factors that influence soft tissue thickness over the greater trochanter: application to understanding hip fractures.

Science.gov (United States)

Levine, Iris C; Minty, Lauren E; Laing, Andrew C

2015-03-01

Fall-related hip injuries are a concern for the growing population of older adults. Evidence suggests that soft tissue overlying the greater trochanter attenuates the forces transmitted to the proximal femur during an impact, reducing mechanical risk of hip fracture. However, there is limited information about the factors that influence trochanteric soft tissue thickness. The current study used ultrasonography and electromyography to determine whether trochanteric soft tissue thickness could be quantified reproducibly and whether it was influenced by: (1) gender; (2) hip postures associated with potential falling configurations in the sagittal plane (from 30° of extension to 60° of flexion, at 15° intervals), combined adduction-flexion, and combined adduction-extension; and (3) activation levels of the tensor fascia lata (TFL) and gluteus medius (GM) muscles. Our results demonstrated that soft tissue thickness can be measured reliably in nine hip postures and three muscle activation conditions (for all conditions, ICC >0.98). Mean (SD) thickness in quiet stance was 2.52 cm. Thickness was 27.0% lower for males than females during quiet stance. It was 16.4% greater at maximum flexion than quiet standing, 27.2% greater at maximum extension, and 12.5% greater during combined adduction-flexion. However, there was no significant difference between combined adduction-extension and quiet standing. Thickness was not affected by changes in muscle activity. Forces applied to the femoral neck during a lateral fall decrease as trochanteric soft tissue thickness increases; gender and postural configuration at impact could influence the loads applied to the proximal femur (and thus hip fracture risk) during falls on the hip. © 2014 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Electroweak radiative corrections to Higgs production via vector boson fusion using soft-collinear effective theory

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Fuhrer, Andreas; Manohar, Aneesh V.; Waalewijn, Wouter J.

2011-01-01

Soft-collinear effective theory (SCET) is applied to compute electroweak radiative corrections to Higgs production via gauge boson fusion, qq→qqH. There are several novel features which make this process an interesting application of SCET: The amplitude is proportional to the Higgs vacuum expectation value, and so is not a gauge singlet amplitude. Standard resummation methods require a gauge singlet operator and do not apply here. The SCET analysis requires operators with both collinear and soft external fields, with the Higgs vacuum expectation value being described by an external soft φ field. There is a scalar soft-collinear transition operator in the SCET Lagrangian which contributes to the scattering amplitude, and is derived here.

First images from the Stanford tabletop scanning soft x-ray microscope

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Trail, J.A.; Byer, R.L.

1988-01-01

The authors have constructed a scanning soft x-ray microscope which uses a laser-produced plasma as the soft x-ray source and normal incidence multilayer coated mirrors in a Schwarzschild configuration as the focusing optics. The microscope operates at a wavelength of 140 angstrom, has a spatial resolution of 0.5 μm, and has a soft x-ray photon flux through the focus of 10 4 s -1 when operated with only 170 mW of average laser power. The microscope is compact; the complete system, including the laser, fits on a single optical table. In this paper they describe the microscope and present images of metallic microstructures

Soft Ultrathin Electronics Innervated Adaptive Fully Soft Robots.

Science.gov (United States)

Wang, Chengjun; Sim, Kyoseung; Chen, Jin; Kim, Hojin; Rao, Zhoulyu; Li, Yuhang; Chen, Weiqiu; Song, Jizhou; Verduzco, Rafael; Yu, Cunjiang

2018-03-01

Soft robots outperform the conventional hard robots on significantly enhanced safety, adaptability, and complex motions. The development of fully soft robots, especially fully from smart soft materials to mimic soft animals, is still nascent. In addition, to date, existing soft robots cannot adapt themselves to the surrounding environment, i.e., sensing and adaptive motion or response, like animals. Here, compliant ultrathin sensing and actuating electronics innervated fully soft robots that can sense the environment and perform soft bodied crawling adaptively, mimicking an inchworm, are reported. The soft robots are constructed with actuators of open-mesh shaped ultrathin deformable heaters, sensors of single-crystal Si optoelectronic photodetectors, and thermally responsive artificial muscle of carbon-black-doped liquid-crystal elastomer (LCE-CB) nanocomposite. The results demonstrate that adaptive crawling locomotion can be realized through the conjugation of sensing and actuation, where the sensors sense the environment and actuators respond correspondingly to control the locomotion autonomously through regulating the deformation of LCE-CB bimorphs and the locomotion of the robots. The strategy of innervating soft sensing and actuating electronics with artificial muscles paves the way for the development of smart autonomous soft robots. © 2018 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.

A New parallel Resonant DC-Link Inverter for Soft Switched PWM

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Cho, J G; Kim, H S; Cho, G H [Korea Advanced Energy Research Inst., Daeduk-Danji (Korea, Republic of). Korea Nuclear Safety Center

1993-03-01

A novel soft switching PWM converter for high frequency AC/DC power conversion is presented by using a new parallel resonant dc-link(PRDCL) and by adopting single phase soft switching(SPSS) technique. The new PRDCL provides variable link pulse position as well as variable link pulse width, which is quite different feature from the other resonant dc-links and thus the PWM capability can be remarkably increased. The SPSS technique is also adopted for further enhancement of PWM capability. Moderate combination of two soft switching operations enables the conventional space vector PWM technique to be used. Due to distinctive advantages including true PWM capability, minimum device voltage stresses(all Vs) and reasonable additional device count(3 devices), the proposed converter can be operated in a wide power range(20-200 KW). Operational principles, analyses and the realization of a space vector PWM of the proposed converter are presented. Simulation results are also shown to verify the operational principle. (author). 15 refs., 14 figs.

Radionuclide imaging of soft tissue neoplasms

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Chew, F.S.; Hudson, T.M.; Enneking, W.F.

1981-01-01

Two classes of radiopharmaceuticals may be used for imaging tumors of the musculoskeletal system. The first is comprised of soft tissue or tumor specific agents such as gallium-67, bleomycin, and radionuclide-labeled antibodies, which may be useful for detecting and localizing these tumors. The other class of tracer is comprised of those with avidity for bone. The 99mTc-labeled-phosphate skeletal imaging compounds have been found to localize in a variety of soft tissue lesions, including benign and malignant tumors. In 1972, Enneking began to include bone scans in the preoperative evaluation of soft tissue masses. Later, he and his associates reported that these scans were useful in planning operative treatment of sarcomas by detecting involvement of bone by the tumors. Nearly all malignant soft tissue tumors take up bone-seeking radiopharmaceuticals, and bone involvement was indicated in two-thirds of the scans we reviewed. About half of benign soft tissue lesions had normal scans, but the other half showed uptake within the lesion and a few also showed bone involvement. Careful, thorough imaging technique is essential to proper evaluation. Multiple, high-resolution static gamma camera images in different projections are necessary to adequately demonstrate the presence or absence of soft tissue abnormality and to define the precise relationship of the tumor to the adjacent bone

Parental attitudes towards soft drink vending machines in high schools.

Science.gov (United States)

Hendel-Paterson, Maia; French, Simone A; Story, Mary

2004-10-01

Soft drink vending machines are available in 98% of US high schools. However, few data are available about parents' opinions regarding the availability of soft drink vending machines in schools. Six focus groups with 33 parents at three suburban high schools were conducted to describe the perspectives of parents regarding soft drink vending machines in their children's high school. Parents viewed the issue of soft drink vending machines as a matter of their children's personal choice more than as an issue of a healthful school environment. However, parents were unaware of many important details about the soft drink vending machines in their children's school, such as the number and location of machines, hours of operation, types of beverages available, or whether the school had contracts with soft drink companies. Parents need more information about the number of soft drink vending machines at their children's school, the beverages available, the revenue generated by soft drink vending machine sales, and the terms of any contracts between the school and soft drink companies.

Biological Soft Robotics.

Science.gov (United States)

Feinberg, Adam W

2015-01-01

In nature, nanometer-scale molecular motors are used to generate force within cells for diverse processes from transcription and transport to muscle contraction. This adaptability and scalability across wide temporal, spatial, and force regimes have spurred the development of biological soft robotic systems that seek to mimic and extend these capabilities. This review describes how molecular motors are hierarchically organized into larger-scale structures in order to provide a basic understanding of how these systems work in nature and the complexity and functionality we hope to replicate in biological soft robotics. These span the subcellular scale to macroscale, and this article focuses on the integration of biological components with synthetic materials, coupled with bioinspired robotic design. Key examples include nanoscale molecular motor-powered actuators, microscale bacteria-controlled devices, and macroscale muscle-powered robots that grasp, walk, and swim. Finally, the current challenges and future opportunities in the field are addressed.

Effective action of softly broken supersymmetric theories

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Groot Nibbelink, S.; Nyawelo, T.S

2006-12-01

We study the renormalization of (softly) broken supersymmetric theories at the one loop level in detail. We perform this analysis in a superspace approach in which the supersymmetry breaking interactions are parameterized using spurion insertions. We comment on the uniqueness of this parameterization. We compute the one loop renormalization of such theories by calculating superspace vacuum graphs with multiple spurion insertions. To preform this computation efficiently we develop algebraic properties of spurion operators, that naturally arise because the spurions are often surrounded by superspace projection operators. Our results are general apart from the restrictions that higher super covariant derivative terms and some finite effects due to non-commutativity of superfield dependent mass matrices are ignored. One of the soft potentials induces renormalization of the Kaehler potential. (author)

Microscale soft robotics motivations, progress, and outlook

CERN Document Server

Kim, Jaeyoun (Jay)

2017-01-01

This book presents the technological basics and applications of small-scale (mm to sub-mm in length-scales) soft robots and devices, written for researchers in both academia and industry. Author Jaeyoun Kim presents technological motivations, enabling factors, and examples in an inter-linked fashion, making it easy for readers to understand and explore how microscale soft robots are a solution to researchers in search of technological platforms for safe, human-friendly biomedical devices. A compact and timely introduction, this book summarizes not only the enabling factors for soft robots and MEMS devices, but also provides a survey of progress in the field and looks to the future in terms of the material, design, and application aspects this new technology demonstrates.

Implementation of cooperative learning through collaboration with foreign lecturer to improve students' understanding and soft skills in the course of drug delivery system

Science.gov (United States)

Syukri, Yandi; Nugroho, Bambang Hernawan

2017-03-01

The course of Drug Delivery Systems is an elective that supports the development of new products in pharmaceutical industry. The existing learning process has been in the form of one-direction face-to-face lecturing. During the lecture, students find it difficult to follow or understand the materials, so they become passive. Also, class effectiveness is low because it cannot develop students' active participation during the learning process. To improve the learning outcomes and to achieve the desired competence, innovations in the learning process should be attempted. This learning model aimed to improve students' understanding of and soft skills in the course of Drug Delivery Systems through a cooperative learning method and collaboration with foreign lecturers. The order of cooperative learning included explaining the desired learning outcomes of each topic, providing reading materials for students to learn when preparing their papers, instructing students to work on group assignments and to help each other to master the lesson through question-answer sessions and discussions among group members, encouraging group presentations, and evaluating through quizzes. The foreign lecturers played a role in enriching teaching materials and providing an international class atmosphere. The students' hard skills assessed from the quiz, midterm exam, and final semester exam showed a minimum score of 70 > 80% in the quiz and final semester exam components, while the midterm exam value with a minimum of 70 > 80% was only 6%. The assessment of soft skills obtained from the students' independence in constructing knowledge to complete assignments and resolve problems indicated such outcomes as each group's better ability to access relevant journals, their active participation in group discussions, discipline to submit assignments, discipline to be punctual, and good communication skills. It can be concluded that cooperative learning method could improve the soft skills of students

Levitation properties of maglev systems using soft ferromagnets

Science.gov (United States)

Huang, Chen-Guang; Zhou, You-He

2015-03-01

Soft ferromagnets are widely used as flux-concentration materials in the design of guideways for superconducting magnetic levitation transport systems. In order to fully understand the influence of soft ferromagnets on the levitation performance, in this work we apply a numerical model based on the functional minimization method and the Bean’s critical state model to study the levitation properties of an infinitely long superconductor immersed in the magnetic field created by a guideway of different sets of infinitely long parallel permanent magnets with soft ferromagnets between them. The levitation force, guidance force, magnetic stiffness and magnetic pole density are calculated considering the coupling between the superconductor and soft ferromagnets. The results show that the levitation performance is closely associated with the permanent magnet configuration and with the location and dimension of the soft ferromagnets. Introducing the soft ferromagnet with a certain width in a few configurations always decreases the levitation force. However, for most configurations, the soft ferromagnets contribute to improve the levitation performance only when they have particular locations and dimensions in which the optimized location and thickness exist to increase the levitation force the most. Moreover, if the superconductor is laterally disturbed, the presence of soft ferromagnets can effectively improve the lateral stability for small lateral displacement and reduce the degradation of levitation force.

Decay constants in soft wall AdS/QCD revisited

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Nelson R.F. Braga

2016-12-01

We show here that a modified framework of soft wall AdS/QCD involving an additional dimensionfull parameter, associated with an ultraviolet energy scale, provides decay constants decreasing with radial excitation level. In this version of the soft wall model the two point function of gauge theory operators is calculated at a finite position of the anti-de Sitter space radial coordinate.

Soft Robotics Week

CERN Document Server

Rossiter, Jonathan; Iida, Fumiya; Cianchetti, Matteo; Margheri, Laura

2017-01-01

This book offers a comprehensive, timely snapshot of current research, technologies and applications of soft robotics. The different chapters, written by international experts across multiple fields of soft robotics, cover innovative systems and technologies for soft robot legged locomotion, soft robot manipulation, underwater soft robotics, biomimetic soft robotic platforms, plant-inspired soft robots, flying soft robots, soft robotics in surgery, as well as methods for their modeling and control. Based on the results of the second edition of the Soft Robotics Week, held on April 25 – 30, 2016, in Livorno, Italy, the book reports on the major research lines and novel technologies presented and discussed during the event.

Tunnelling in Soft Soil : Tunnel Boring Machine Operation and Soil Response

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Festa, D.; Broere, W.; Bosch, J.W.

2013-01-01

Constructing tunnels in soft soil with the use of Tunnel Boring Machines may induce settlements including soil movements ahead of the face, soil relaxation into the tail void, possible heave due to grouting, long lasting consolidation processes, and potentially several other mechanisms. A

Understanding Fish Linear Acceleration Using an Undulatory Biorobotic Model with Soft Fluidic Elastomer Actuated Morphing Median Fins.

Science.gov (United States)

Wen, Li; Ren, Ziyu; Di Santo, Valentina; Hu, Kainan; Yuan, Tao; Wang, Tianmiao; Lauder, George V

2018-04-10

Although linear accelerations are an important common component of the diversity of fish locomotor behaviors, acceleration is one of the least-understood aspects of propulsion. Analysis of acceleration behavior in fishes with both spiny and soft-rayed median fins demonstrates that fin area is actively modulated when fish accelerate. We implemented an undulatory biomimetic robotic fish model with median fins manufactured using multimaterial three-dimensional printing-a spiny-rayed dorsal fin, soft-rayed dorsal/anal fins, and a caudal fin-whose stiffnesses span three orders of magnitude. We used an array of fluidic elastomeric soft actuators to mimic the dorsal/anal inclinator and erector/depressor muscles of fish, which allowed the soft fins to be erected or folded within 0.3 s. We experimentally show that the biomimetic soft dorsal/anal fin can withstand external loading. We found that erecting the soft dorsal/anal fins significantly enhanced the linear acceleration rate, up to 32.5% over the folded fin state. Surprisingly, even though the projected area of the body (in the lateral plane) increased 16.9% when the median fins were erected, the magnitude of the side force oscillation decreased by 24.8%, which may have led to significantly less side-to-side sway in the robotic swimmer. Visualization of fluid flow in the wake of median fins reveals that during linear acceleration, the soft dorsal fin generates a wake flow opposite in direction to that of the caudal fin, which creates propulsive jets with time-variant circulations and jet angles. Erectable/foldable fins provide a new design space for bioinspired underwater robots with structures that morph to adapt to different locomotor behaviors. This biorobotic fish model is also a potentially promising system for studying the dynamics of complex multifin fish swimming behaviors, including linear acceleration, steady swimming, and burst and coast, which are difficult to analyze in freely swimming fishes.

From Soft Sculpture to Soft Robotics: Retracing a Physical Aesthetics of Bio-Morphic Softness

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Jørgensen, Jonas

2017-01-01

Soft robotics has in the past decade emerged as a growing subfield of technical robotics research, distinguishable by its bio-inspired design strategies, interest in morphological computation, and interdisciplinary combination of insights from engineering, computer science, biology and material...... science. Recently, soft robotics technology has also started to make its way into art, design, and architecture. This paper attempts to think an aesthetics of softness and the life-like through an artistic tradition deeply imbricated with an interrogation of softness and its physical substrates, namely...... the soft sculpture that started proliferating in the late 1960s. Critical descriptions of these works, interestingly, frequently emphasize their similarities with living organisms and bodies as a central tenet of their aesthetics. The paper seeks to articulate aspects of a contiguity between softness...

The Political Context for Transnational Actor Soft Power

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Bertelsen, Rasmus Gjedssø

2015-01-01

There is growing awareness and understanding of the role of non-state actors for the smart power of states. However, there is not yet a clear understanding of the impact of the political context and the state for non-state actors and their soft power. We look at American missionary universities...

The unique and shared contributions of arithmetic operation understanding and numerical magnitude representation to children's mathematics achievement.

Science.gov (United States)

Wong, Terry Tin-Yau

2017-12-01

The current study examined the unique and shared contributions of arithmetic operation understanding and numerical magnitude representation to children's mathematics achievement. A sample of 124 fourth graders was tested on their arithmetic operation understanding (as reflected by their understanding of arithmetic principles and the knowledge about the application of arithmetic operations) and their precision of rational number magnitude representation. They were also tested on their mathematics achievement and arithmetic computation performance as well as the potential confounding factors. The findings suggested that both arithmetic operation understanding and numerical magnitude representation uniquely predicted children's mathematics achievement. The findings highlight the significance of arithmetic operation understanding in mathematics learning. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Cluster-Assembled Soft Magnets for Power Electronics Applications

National Research Council Canada - National Science Library

Leslie-Pelecky, Diandra L

2006-01-01

This project used inert-gas condensation (IGC) to fabricate model nanostructured systems with the goal of better understanding the mechanisms responsible for decreasing the coercivity in soft magnetic materials...

Diode laser soft-tissue surgery: advancements aimed at consistent cutting, improved clinical outcomes.

Science.gov (United States)

Romanos, Georgios E

2013-01-01

Laser dentistry and soft-tissue surgery, in particular, have become widely adopted in recent years. Significant cost reductions for dental lasers and the increasing popularity of CADCAM, among other factors, have contributed to a substantial increase in the installed base of dental lasers, especially soft-tissue lasers. New development in soft-tissue surgery, based on the modern understanding of laser-tissue interactions and contact soft-tissue surgery mechanisms, will bring a higher quality and consistency level to laser soft-tissue surgery. Recently introduced diode-laser technology enables enhanced control of side effects that result from tissue overheating and may improve soft-tissue surgical outcomes.

Operational Research: A multidisciplinary discipline

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Vidal, Rene Victor Valqui

2005-01-01

This paper is focusing on the following question: What is Operational Research (OR)? We will show that there is not a single and simple answer. Epistemological assumptions and practical traditions define different types of OR. We have identified three: The technical or hard OR, the practical...... or soft OR, and the critical OR. Following a historical perspective we will present these three schools. Habermas' theory about the three cognitive interests will provide a framework to understand this development. Finally, some final remarks about the future of OR will be outlined....

Generalized dynamics of soft-matter quasicrystals mathematical models and solutions

CERN Document Server

Fan, Tian-You

2017-01-01

The book systematically introduces the mathematical models and solutions of generalized hydrodynamics of soft-matter quasicrystals (SMQ). It provides methods for solving the initial-boundary value problems in these systems. The solutions obtained demonstrate the distribution, deformation and motion of the soft-matter quasicrystals, and determine the stress, velocity and displacement fields. The interactions between phonons, phasons and fluid phonons are discussed in some fundamental materials samples. Mathematical solutions for solid and soft-matter quasicrystals are compared, to help readers to better understand the featured properties of SMQ.

Unified Research on Network-Based Hard/Soft Information Fusion

Science.gov (United States)

2016-02-02

3.2.1 Hard +Soft Data Association Data gathered during various Counterinsurgency (or COIN) operations is in different formats . For example, the...characteristic, observation time, and related data. Figure 45: Sample snapshot frame from hard sensor data TML formats were developed and...160 Figure 54: Penn State components of overall hard and soft fusion process Summary of Year 1 Accomplishments • Team formation • Initial

The Research about Embedded Soft PLC Running System Based on ARM

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Fang Ding

2014-09-01

Full Text Available The paper discusses the overall construction and operational principle of soft PLC. Considering the real time request of the system, we use Linux+RTAI dual core system as software platform. In this platform, the implementation method of soft PLC operational system is introduced. Especially, the design of instruction analysis module is emphasized. On the basis of energy flow concept, the logic algorithm is established, aligning to the left bus. Finally, the system is tested to evaluate the desired control behavior.

Soft ideal topological space and mixed fuzzy soft ideal topological space

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Manash Borah

2019-01-01

Full Text Available In this paper we introduce fuzzy soft ideal and mixed fuzzy soft ideal topological spaces and some properties of this space. Also we introduce fuzzy soft $I$-open set, fuzzy soft $\\alpha$-$I$-open set, fuzzy soft pre-$I$-open set, fuzzy soft semi-$I$-open set and fuzzy soft $\\beta$-$I$-open set and discuss some of their properties.

SoftAR: visually manipulating haptic softness perception in spatial augmented reality.

Science.gov (United States)

Punpongsanon, Parinya; Iwai, Daisuke; Sato, Kosuke

2015-11-01

We present SoftAR, a novel spatial augmented reality (AR) technique based on a pseudo-haptics mechanism that visually manipulates the sense of softness perceived by a user pushing a soft physical object. Considering the limitations of projection-based approaches that change only the surface appearance of a physical object, we propose two projection visual effects, i.e., surface deformation effect (SDE) and body appearance effect (BAE), on the basis of the observations of humans pushing physical objects. The SDE visualizes a two-dimensional deformation of the object surface with a controlled softness parameter, and BAE changes the color of the pushing hand. Through psychophysical experiments, we confirm that the SDE can manipulate softness perception such that the participant perceives significantly greater softness than the actual softness. Furthermore, fBAE, in which BAE is applied only for the finger area, significantly enhances manipulation of the perception of softness. We create a computational model that estimates perceived softness when SDE+fBAE is applied. We construct a prototype SoftAR system in which two application frameworks are implemented. The softness adjustment allows a user to adjust the softness parameter of a physical object, and the softness transfer allows the user to replace the softness with that of another object.

Sensorless soft starters for loaded induction motors

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Chrisanov, V.I.; Konovalov, Y.N. [Power Plearonics Department, State University of Telecommunication, St. Petersburg (Russian Federation)

1997-12-31

The paper is devoted to the research and design of sensorless thyristor soft starters for loaded induction motors (IM) with short circuited squirrel case rotors. It is shown that the applied direct converter topology depends on the output power and consists of a small number of thyristors with special algorithm of switching to realize voltage - frequency control of IM drive systems at low speeds of starting. Sensorless control is realized from the both sides when neither direct converter nor drive system consists of any additional transducers for soft starting operation. (orig.) 4 refs.

An improved soft switched PWM interleaved boost AC-DC converter

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Genc, Naci; Iskender, Ires

2011-01-01

In this paper, an improved soft switched two cell interleaved boost AC/DC converter with high power factor is proposed and investigated. A new auxiliary circuit is designed and added to two cell interleaved boost converter to reduce the switching losses. The proposed auxiliary circuit is implemented using only one auxiliary switch and a minimum number of passive components without an important increase in the cost and complexity of the converter. The main advantage of this auxiliary circuit is that it not only provides zero-voltage-transition (ZVT) for the main switches but also provides soft switching for the auxiliary switch and diodes. Though all semiconductor devices operate under soft switching, they do not have any additional voltage and current stresses. The proposed converter operates successfully in soft switching operation mode for a wide range of input voltage level and the load. In addition, it has advantages such as fewer structure complications, lower cost and ease of control. In the study, the transition modes for describing the behavior of the proposed converter in one switching period are described. A prototype with 600 W output power, 50 kHz/cell switching frequency, input line voltage of 110-220 V rms and an output voltage of 400 V dc has been implemented. Analysis, design and the control circuitry are also presented in the paper.

Estimating patient-specific soft-tissue properties in a TKA knee.

Science.gov (United States)

Ewing, Joseph A; Kaufman, Michelle K; Hutter, Erin E; Granger, Jeffrey F; Beal, Matthew D; Piazza, Stephen J; Siston, Robert A

2016-03-01

Surgical technique is one factor that has been identified as critical to success of total knee arthroplasty. Researchers have shown that computer simulations can aid in determining how decisions in the operating room generally affect post-operative outcomes. However, to use simulations to make clinically relevant predictions about knee forces and motions for a specific total knee patient, patient-specific models are needed. This study introduces a methodology for estimating knee soft-tissue properties of an individual total knee patient. A custom surgical navigation system and stability device were used to measure the force-displacement relationship of the knee. Soft-tissue properties were estimated using a parameter optimization that matched simulated tibiofemoral kinematics with experimental tibiofemoral kinematics. Simulations using optimized ligament properties had an average root mean square error of 3.5° across all tests while simulations using generic ligament properties taken from literature had an average root mean square error of 8.4°. Specimens showed large variability among ligament properties regardless of similarities in prosthetic component alignment and measured knee laxity. These results demonstrate the importance of soft-tissue properties in determining knee stability, and suggest that to make clinically relevant predictions of post-operative knee motions and forces using computer simulations, patient-specific soft-tissue properties are needed. © 2015 Orthopaedic Research Society. Published by Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Towards a New Framework for Soft Power: An Observation of China’s Confucius Institute

OpenAIRE

LEE, Kyoungtaek

2010-01-01

There are many controversial and differing opinions concerning Nye’s concept of soft power which have lead to some confusion in our understanding of what soft power actually is. By analyzing a given governmental agency, i.e. China’s Confucius Institute, I will show the problem inherent in Nye’s term soft power. I will analyze the concept of soft power as a combination of two meanings: ‘soft’ and ‘power’. I believe this research could offer a new perspective on the concept of soft power and co...

Development of soft magnetic materials with special properties

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Mager, A.

1979-01-01

New steps in the development of soft magnetic alloys are based on a better understanding of the magnetizing processes in close connection with the development of magnetic forms and components for different applications. New result on the influence of crystal grains, inclusions, and mechanical stresses on the soft magnetic properties of Ni-Fe-alloys with ca. 50 to 75% Nickel-contents are given. Special soft magnetic alloys were developed and improved for low temperature applications, for small temperature coefficients, for different shapes of hysteresis loops, or for high wear resistance - and moreover forms, components, and basic designs of chokes for RFI suppression, of transformers for electronic power supplies, of transformers for ground-fault interrupters, and for magnetic shielding equipments. (orig.) 891 GSC/orig. 892 AV [de

Data mining in soft computing framework: a survey.

Science.gov (United States)

Mitra, S; Pal, S K; Mitra, P

2002-01-01

The present article provides a survey of the available literature on data mining using soft computing. A categorization has been provided based on the different soft computing tools and their hybridizations used, the data mining function implemented, and the preference criterion selected by the model. The utility of the different soft computing methodologies is highlighted. Generally fuzzy sets are suitable for handling the issues related to understandability of patterns, incomplete/noisy data, mixed media information and human interaction, and can provide approximate solutions faster. Neural networks are nonparametric, robust, and exhibit good learning and generalization capabilities in data-rich environments. Genetic algorithms provide efficient search algorithms to select a model, from mixed media data, based on some preference criterion/objective function. Rough sets are suitable for handling different types of uncertainty in data. Some challenges to data mining and the application of soft computing methodologies are indicated. An extensive bibliography is also included.

Soft Neutrosophic Bi-LA-semigroup and Soft Neutrosophic N-LA-seigroup

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Mumtaz Ali

2014-09-01

Full Text Available Soft set theory is a general mathematical tool for dealing with uncertain, fuzzy, not clearly defined objects. In this paper we introduced soft neutrosophic biLA-semigroup,soft neutosophic sub bi-LA-semigroup, soft neutrosophic N -LA-semigroup with the discuission of some of their characteristics. We also introduced a new type of soft neutrophic bi-LAsemigroup, the so called soft strong neutrosophic bi-LAsemigoup which is of pure neutrosophic character. This is also extend to soft neutrosophic strong N-LA-semigroup. We also given some of their properties of this newly born soft structure related to the strong part of neutrosophic theory.

The Transferability of Soft Skills of Women Veterans to Corporate America

Science.gov (United States)

Clay, Chanty Bradley

2017-01-01

The purpose of this study was to explore the transfer of soft skills of women veterans to their post military career in corporate America in order to support their career success by helping them market and utilize their soft skills and experience in their post military career, and to better understand the employability issues of women veterans.…

Unpacking developmental local government using Soft Systems ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

Unpacking developmental local government using Soft Systems Methodology and MCDA tools. L Scott. Abstract. This paper presents two different analytical approaches that may be useful in developing an understanding of developmental local government (DLG). DLG implies a significant commitment with respect to ...

Infrared Supercontinuum Generation in Soft-glass Fibers

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Agger, Christian

This Ph.D.-project presents numerical simulations of supercontinuum (SC) generation in optical fiber laser systems based on various soft-glass materials. Extensive numerical modeling is performed in order to understand and characterize the generated SC. This includes a review of the generalized...

Soft Sensors - Modern Chemical Engineering Tool

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

N. Bolf

2011-04-01

Full Text Available Control systems and optimization procedures require regular and reliable measurements at the appropriate frequency. At the same time, legal regulations dictate strict product quality specifications and refinery emissions. As a result, a greater number of process variables need to be measured and new expensive process analyzers need to be installed to achieve efficient process control. This involves synergy between plant experts, system analysts and process operators. One of the common problems in industrial plants is the inability of the real time and continuous measurement of key process variables.Absence of key value measurement in a timely manner aggravates control, but it does not mean that it is always an impossible step. As an alternative, the use of soft sensors as a substitute for process analyzers and laboratory testing is suggested. With the soft sensors, the objective is to develop an inferential model to estimate infrequently measured variables and laboratory assays using the frequently measured variables. By development of soft sensors based on measurement of continuous variables (such as flow, temperature, pressure it is possible to estimate the difficult- -to-measure variables as well as product quality and emissions usually carried by laboratory assays.Software sensors, as part of virtual instrumentation, are focused on assessing the system state variables and quality products by applying the model, thus replacing the physical measurement and laboratory analysis. Multiple linear/nonlinear regression methods and artificial intelligence methods (such as neural network, fuzzy logic and genetic algorithms are usually applied in the design of soft sensor models for identification of nonlinear processes.Review of published research and industrial application in the field of soft sensors is given with the methods of soft sensor development and nonlinear dynamic model identification. Based on soft sensors, it is possible to estimate

First application experiments with the Stockholm compact soft x-ray microscope

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Bertilson, M; Hofsten, O von; Lindblom, M; Holmberg, A; Takman, P; Vogt, U; Hertz, H; Thieme, J

2009-01-01

Most soft x-ray microscopes operating in the water window (λ = 2.3 - 4.4 nm) rely on synchrotron radiation sources. In the future we believe scientists will use soft x-ray microscopes as one imaging tool among others in their own laboratory. For this purpose we have developed a full field soft x-ray microscope with a laser-plasma source compact enough to fit on an optical table. In this contribution we describe the current status of this microscope now featuring stable operation at λ = 3.37 nm or λ 2.48 nm. In-house fabricated single element zone plates offering the possibility to perform phase contrast imaging have been implemented. We also report on the first application experiments for compact soft x-ray microscopy, including results from studies of clay minerals and colloids existing in nature and results from phase optics experiments. Planned upgrades of the microscope include increasing the source brightness, implementing more efficient condenser optics, and installing a cryo sample stage for tomography. These improvements will open up for further applications, especially in the field of biological imaging.

The Interval-Valued Triangular Fuzzy Soft Set and Its Method of Dynamic Decision Making

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Xiaoguo Chen

2014-01-01

Full Text Available A concept of interval-valued triangular fuzzy soft set is presented, and some operations of “AND,” “OR,” intersection, union and complement, and so forth are defined. Then some relative properties are discussed and several conclusions are drawn. A dynamic decision making model is built based on the definition of interval-valued triangular fuzzy soft set, in which period weight is determined by the exponential decay method. The arithmetic weighted average operator of interval-valued triangular fuzzy soft set is given by the aggregating thought, thereby aggregating interval-valued triangular fuzzy soft sets of different time-series into a collective interval-valued triangular fuzzy soft set. The formulas of selection and decision values of different objects are given; therefore the optimal decision making is achieved according to the decision values. Finally, the steps of this method are concluded, and one example is given to explain the application of the method.

Interfacial structure of soft matter probed by SFG spectroscopy.

Science.gov (United States)

Ye, Shen; Tong, Yujin; Ge, Aimin; Qiao, Lin; Davies, Paul B

2014-10-01

Sum frequency generation (SFG) vibrational spectroscopy, an interface-specific technique in contrast to, for example, attenuated total reflectance spectroscopy, which is only interface sensitive, has been employed to investigate the surface and interface structure of soft matter on a molecular scale. The experimental arrangement required to carry out SFG spectroscopy, with particular reference to soft matter, and the analytical methods developed to interpret the spectra are described. The elucidation of the interfacial structure of soft matter systems is an essential prerequisite in order to understand and eventually control the surface properties of these important functional materials. Copyright © 2014 The Chemical Society of Japan and Wiley-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.

3D printing of soft-matter to open a new era of soft-matter MEMS/robotics (Conference Presentation)

Science.gov (United States)

Furukawa, Hidemitsu

2017-04-01

3D printing technology is becoming useful and applicable by the progress of information and communication technology (ICT). It means 3D printer is a kind of useful robot for additive manufacturing and is controlled by computer with human-friendly software. Once user starts to use 3D printing of soft-matter, one can immediately understand computer-aided design (CAD) and engineering (CAE) technology will be more important and applicable for soft-matter systems. User can easily design soft-matter objects and 3D-print them. User can easily apply 3D-printed soft-matter objects to develop new research and application on MEMS and robotics. Here we introduce the recent progress of 3D printing (i.e. additive manufacturing), especially focusing on our 3D gel printing. We are trying to develop new advanced research and applications of 3D gel printer, including GEL-MECHANICS, GEL-PHOTONICS, and GEL-ROBOTICS. In the gel-mechanics, we are developing new gel materials for mechanical engineering. Some gels have high-mechanical strength and shape memory properties. In the gel-photonics. We are applying our original characterizing system, named `Scanning Microscopic Light Scattering (SMILS)', to analyze 3D printed gel materials. In the gel-robotics, we focus on 3D printing of soft parts for soft-robotics made form gel materials, like gel finger. Also we are challenging to apply 3D gel printing to start new company, to innovate new businesses in county side, and to create new 3D-printed foods.

Soft rot erwiniae: from genes to genomes.

Science.gov (United States)

Toth, Ian K; Bell, Kenneth S; Holeva, Maria C; Birch, Paul R J

2003-01-01

SUMMARY The soft rot erwiniae, Erwinia carotovora ssp. atroseptica (Eca), E. carotovora ssp. carotovora (Ecc) and E. chrysanthemi (Ech) are major bacterial pathogens of potato and other crops world-wide. We currently understand much about how these bacteria attack plants and protect themselves against plant defences. However, the processes underlying the establishment of infection, differences in host range and their ability to survive when not causing disease, largely remain a mystery. This review will focus on our current knowledge of pathogenesis in these organisms and discuss how modern genomic approaches, including complete genome sequencing of Eca and Ech, may open the door to a new understanding of the potential subtlety and complexity of soft rot erwiniae and their interactions with plants. The soft rot erwiniae are members of the Enterobacteriaceae, along with other plant pathogens such as Erwinia amylovora and human pathogens such as Escherichia coli, Salmonella spp. and Yersinia spp. Although the genus name Erwinia is most often used to describe the group, an alternative genus name Pectobacterium was recently proposed for the soft rot species. Ech mainly affects crops and other plants in tropical and subtropical regions and has a wide host range that includes potato and the important model host African violet (Saintpaulia ionantha). Ecc affects crops and other plants in subtropical and temperate regions and has probably the widest host range, which also includes potato. Eca, on the other hand, has a host range limited almost exclusively to potato in temperate regions only. Disease symptoms: Soft rot erwiniae cause general tissue maceration, termed soft rot disease, through the production of plant cell wall degrading enzymes. Environmental factors such as temperature, low oxygen concentration and free water play an essential role in disease development. On potato, and possibly other plants, disease symptoms may differ, e.g. blackleg disease is associated

Soft, embodied, situated & connected: enriching interactions with soft wearbles

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Tomico Plasencia, O.; Wilde, D.

2016-01-01

Soft wearables include clothing and textile-based accessories that incorporate smart textiles and soft electronic interfaces to enable responsive and interactive experiences. When designed well, soft wearables leverage the cultural, sociological and material qualities of textiles, fashion and dress;

Soft electronics for soft robotics

Science.gov (United States)

Kramer, Rebecca K.

2015-05-01

As advanced as modern machines are, the building blocks have changed little since the industrial revolution, leading to rigid, bulky, and complex devices. Future machines will include electromechanical systems that are soft and elastically deformable, lending them to applications such as soft robotics, wearable/implantable devices, sensory skins, and energy storage and transport systems. One key step toward the realization of soft systems is the development of stretchable electronics that remain functional even when subject to high strains. Liquid-metal traces embedded in elastic polymers present a unique opportunity to retain the function of rigid metal conductors while leveraging the deformable properties of liquid-elastomer composites. However, in order to achieve the potential benefits of liquid-metal, scalable processing and manufacturing methods must be identified.

Three-dimensional CT imaging of soft-tissue anatomy

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Fishman, E.K.; Ney, D.R.; Magid, D.; Kuhlman, J.E.

1988-01-01

Three-dimensional display of computed tomographic data has been limited to skeletal structures. This was in part related to the reconstruction algorithm used, which relied on a binary classification scheme. A new algorithm, volumetric rendering with percentage classification, provides the ability to display three-dimensional images of muscle and soft tissue. A review was conducted of images in 35 cases in which muscle and/or soft tissue were part of the clinical problem. In all cases, individual muscle groups could be clearly identified and discriminated. Branching vessels in the range of 2.3 mm could be identified. Similarly, lymph nodes could be clearly defined. High-resolution three-dimensional images were found to be useful both in providing an increased understanding of complex muscle and soft tissue anatomy and in surgical planning

Soft-contact-lenses-induced complications

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Suvajac Gordana

2008-01-01

Full Text Available Background/Aim. Soft contact lenses occupy significant place in ophthalmology, both in the correction of refraction anomalies and in the treatment of many eye diseases. The number of patients that wear soft contact lenses for the purpose of correcting ametropia is constantly increasing. Due to the increasing number of wearers, the percentage of complications that can lead to serious eye damage and serious vision loss is also increasing. The aim of this study was to point out the most common complications related to soft contact lens use. Methods. In the period from 1995−2004 this prospective study included 510 patients wearing soft contact lenses for correcting ametropia. None of the patients wore contact lenses before and none suffered from any system or local diseases that could affected the development of eventual complications. The study took seven years with the patients who wore conventional lenses and three years with those who wore replacement contact lenses. All the necessary ophthalmologic examinations were done (visual acuity, refractokeratometry, the quantity of tear film, biomicroscopic examination of anterior eye segment. All the complications were filmed by video camera. Results. Of all the patients, 19 had blepharitis, 73 suffered from “dry eye”, 57 had conjunctival hyperemia, 12 had conjunctivitis, 34 had gigantopapillary conjunctivitis (GPC, 93 had punctiform epitheliopathy, 20 had corneal infiltration, one patient had keratitis, 91 had corneal vascularisation, and 95 patients had corneal deposits. Conclusion. Both the type and frequency of complications related to soft contact lens use in our group of patients, proved to be significant. Some of this complications (keratitis can significantly damage vision and lead to loss of vision and sometimes can require operative treatment.

Construction of a multi-vender fieldbus system for PC-based control using soft PLC

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Park, J. H.; Park, Y. J.; Choi, J. M.; Park, J. S. [Hankyong National Univ., Ansung (Korea)

2000-12-01

The relationship between the IEC 61131-3 programming language and the fieldbus application that became necessary as an outcome of the recent automation technology was described.An educational text for the field users on the integration of the Input/Output (I/O) modules and on the IEC 61131-3 programming language was prepared. An attempt was made to include description of the various kind of the fieldbuses and promote understanding of the CAN and the AS-I bus using a practical approach. The profibus is most widely used in the world, and thus is an important and a standardized tool in the area of the process control. A method of integrating the profibus with the most commonly used I/O modules in the field was suggested. The most essential characteristics of the IEC 61131-3 programming language was also described. A method for the construction of the multi-vender I/O modules by the Soft PLC 4C of the softings was suggested. Various technical steps are necessary for the integration of the I/O modules by the soft PLC. An additional software is needed for the more intelligent devises possessing complex technical functions, such as the control valve, the AC driver among others. The 4C control by the softing which is an important industrial solution for the soft PLC was specifically designed for the profibus. So, an OPC server is needed to exchange between the other fieldbuses while the optimum performance is only achieved by using the profibus card by softing. This implies that the business aspect has played a major role for developing the profibus by softing and the domestic users need to pay careful attention to this point additional software tools, such as the PDM or the comuwinn II, are necessary in the process control area to operate a complex and instruments using the DP/PA segment coupler. 13 refs., 46 figs., 12 tabs. (Author)

A taxing problem: the complementary use of hard and soft OR in public policy

OpenAIRE

Cooper, C; Brown, J; Pidd, M

2004-01-01

A review of the UK personal taxation system used a combination of hard and soft OR approaches in a complementary way. The hard OR was based on data mining to increase understanding of individual taxpayers and their changing needs within the personal tax system. The soft OR was based on soft systems methodology with two aims in mind. First, to guide the review and, secondly, as an auditable approach for collecting the views of key internal and external stakeholders. The soft and hard OR were u...

Tailoring superelasticity of soft magnetic materials

Science.gov (United States)

Cremer, Peet; Löwen, Hartmut; Menzel, Andreas M.

2015-10-01

Embedding magnetic colloidal particles in an elastic polymer matrix leads to smart soft materials that can reversibly be addressed from outside by external magnetic fields. We discover a pronounced nonlinear superelastic stress-strain behavior of such materials using numerical simulations. This behavior results from a combination of two stress-induced mechanisms: a detachment mechanism of embedded particle aggregates and a reorientation mechanism of magnetic moments. The superelastic regime can be reversibly tuned or even be switched on and off by external magnetic fields and thus be tailored during operation. Similarities to the superelastic behavior of shape-memory alloys suggest analogous applications, with the additional benefit of reversible switchability and a higher biocompatibility of soft materials.

DYSTOCIA DUE TO SOFT TISSUE

Science.gov (United States)

DeCarle, Donald W.

1954-01-01

In dystocia caused by abnormal conditions of the soft parts, the etiologic changes may be either in the genital tissues or in adjacent soft structures. Broadly, the conditions causing the difficulty may be grouped as follows: (1) anomalies or congenital modifications; (2) tumors; (3) modifications due to age, accident or surgical operations; (4) modification of the expulsive forces; (5) abnormalities of the products of conception. Often in such circumstances cesarean section is necessary. Sometimes when tumor is present it can be removed before it interferes with delivery, but decision to excise the growth must be guided by such factors as the location of the lesion and the stage of gestation. This would determine to what extent the maintenance of pregnancy would be jeopardized by surgical intervention before term. PMID:13190430

Electron-confinement studies on EBT-S using soft-x-ray techniques

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hillis, D.L.; Haste, G.R.; Berry, L.A.

1982-08-01

Soft x-ray bremsstrahlung measurements have been performed on the ELMO Bumpy Torus (EBT-S) plasma to determine the electron temperature T/sub e/ and electron density n/sub e/ using a calibrated Si(Li) detector over a wide range of operating conditions. The purpose of this paper is to outline the necessary assumptions and essential x-ray techniques that are inherent in soft x-ray measurements in order to investigate the electron heating and confinement properties of EBT-S. In addition, by utilizing the electron density as determined by the soft x-ray measurements, the previous EBT-S confinement analyses have been extended. The steady-state plasma of EBT-S is heated by microwaves using a cw gyrotron that can operate up to power levels of 200 kW. From the soft x-ray measurements, both the electron temperature and density are found to increase at higher microwave power levels. For operation at microwave power levels of 200 kW, T/sub e/ approaches 1 keV while n/sub e/ approaches 1.2 x 10 12 cm -3 . In general, confinement properties are found to improve with increased microwave power. The data are compared with neoclassical transport scaling and the electron transport is found to be collisionless (nu/Ω < 1) as well as neoclassical

Multidisciplinary ''limb salvage'' treatment of soft tissue and skeletal sarcomas

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Weisenburger, T.H.; Eilber, F.R.; Grant, T.T.; Morton, D.L.; Mirra, J.J.; Steinberg, M.; Rickles, D.

1984-01-01

The goal of treating primary bone and soft tissue tumors, as with most other malignancies, is to control the disease locally and systematically while preserving as much function as possible. For soft tissue sarcomas the results following radical excision and post-operative radiation therapy with preservation of the limb have equaled the control rates of amputation. However, local recurrence rates of approximately 25-30% are reported for high-grade lesions of the proximal lower extremity. Amputations provides excellent local control for osteosarcoma but the functional results may be less than optimal. In an attempt to achieve limb salvage for these tumors, a multidisciplinary protocol was developed using intra-arterial doxorubicin, pre-operative radiation therapy and limb-sparing radical wide excision followed by post-operative chemotherapy for presumed micro-metastatic disease

Neutrosophic Soft Matrix and its application to Decision Making

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Tuhin Bera

2017-12-01

Full Text Available The motivation of this paper is to extend the concept of Neutrosophic soft matrix (NSM theory. Some basic definitions of classical matrix theory in the parlance of neutrosophic soft set theory have been presented with proper examples. Then, a theoretical studies of some traditional operations of NSM have been developed. Finally, a decision making theory has been proposed by developing an appropriate solution algorithm, namely, score function algorithm and it has been illustrated by suitable examples.

Soft leptogenesis

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

D'Ambrosio, Giancarlo; Giudice, Gian F.; Raidal, Martti

2003-01-01

We study 'soft leptogenesis', a new mechanism of leptogenesis which does not require flavour mixing among the right-handed neutrinos. Supersymmetry soft-breaking terms give a small mass splitting between the CP-even and CP-odd right-handed sneutrino states of a single generation and provide a CP-violating phase sufficient to generate a lepton asymmetry. The mechanism is successful if the lepton-violating soft bilinear coupling is unconventionally (but not unnaturally) small. The values of the right-handed neutrino masses predicted by soft leptogenesis can be low enough to evade the cosmological gravitino problem

Soft computing for fault diagnosis in power plants

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ciftcioglu, O.; Turkcan, E.

1998-01-01

Considering the advancements in the AI technology, there arises a new concept known as soft computing. It can be defined as the processing of uncertain information with the AI methods, that refers to explicitly the methods using neural networks, fuzzy logic and evolutionary algorithms. In this respect, soft computing is a new dimension in information processing technology where linguistic information can also be processed in contrast with the classical stochastic and deterministic treatments of data. On one hand it can process uncertain/incomplete information and on the other hand it can deal with non-linearity of large-scale systems where uncertainty is particularly relevant with respect to linguistic information and incompleteness is related to fault tolerance in fault diagnosis. In this perspective, the potential role of soft computing in power plant operation is presented. (author)

Treatment of oral soft tissues benign tumors using laser

Science.gov (United States)

Crisan, Bogdan; Baciut, Mihaela; Crisan, Liana; Bran, Simion; Rotar, Horatiu; Dinu, Cristian; Moldovan, Iuliu; Baciut, Grigore

2014-01-01

The present study aimed to assess the efficacy and indications of surgical laser therapy in the treatment of oral soft tissues benign tumors compared to classic surgery. A controlled clinical study was conducted in a group of 93 patients presenting various forms of oral soft tissues benign tumors. These patients were examined pre-and postoperatively and the oral benign tumors were measured linearly and photographed. The surgery of laser-assisted biopsy excision of oral benign tumors was carried out using a diode laser device of 980 nm. In patients who received surgical laser treatment, therapeutic doses of laser to biostimulate the operated area were administered on the first day after the surgery. The interventions of conventional excision of oral soft tissues benign tumors consisted in removing them using scalpel. In patients who have received therapeutic doses of laser for biostimulation of the operated area, a faster healing of wound surfaces and tumor bed was observed during the first days after surgery. Two weeks after the surgical treatment, good healing without scarring or discomfort in the area of excision was documented. Surgical treatment of oral soft tissues benign tumors with laser assisted postoperative therapy confirms the benefits of this surgical procedure. A faster healing process of the excision area due to laser biostimulation of low intensity has been observed in patients with surgical laser assisted treatment in the postoperative period.

Progress and Opportunities in Soft Photonics and Biologically Inspired Optics.

Science.gov (United States)

Kolle, Mathias; Lee, Seungwoo

2018-01-01

Optical components made fully or partially from reconfigurable, stimuli-responsive, soft solids or fluids-collectively referred to as soft photonics-are poised to form the platform for tunable optical devices with unprecedented functionality and performance characteristics. Currently, however, soft solid and fluid material systems still represent an underutilized class of materials in the optical engineers' toolbox. This is in part due to challenges in fabrication, integration, and structural control on the nano- and microscale associated with the application of soft components in optics. These challenges might be addressed with the help of a resourceful ally: nature. Organisms from many different phyla have evolved an impressive arsenal of light manipulation strategies that rely on the ability to generate and dynamically reconfigure hierarchically structured, complex optical material designs, often involving soft or fluid components. A comprehensive understanding of design concepts, structure formation principles, material integration, and control mechanisms employed in biological photonic systems will allow this study to challenge current paradigms in optical technology. This review provides an overview of recent developments in the fields of soft photonics and biologically inspired optics, emphasizes the ties between the two fields, and outlines future opportunities that result from advancements in soft and bioinspired photonics. © 2017 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.

Stretchable and Soft Electronics using Liquid Metals.

Science.gov (United States)

Dickey, Michael D

2017-07-01

The use of liquid metals based on gallium for soft and stretchable electronics is discussed. This emerging class of electronics is motivated, in part, by the new opportunities that arise from devices that have mechanical properties similar to those encountered in the human experience, such as skin, tissue, textiles, and clothing. These types of electronics (e.g., wearable or implantable electronics, sensors for soft robotics, e-skin) must operate during deformation. Liquid metals are compelling materials for these applications because, in principle, they are infinitely deformable while retaining metallic conductivity. Liquid metals have been used for stretchable wires and interconnects, reconfigurable antennas, soft sensors, self-healing circuits, and conformal electrodes. In contrast to Hg, liquid metals based on gallium have low toxicity and essentially no vapor pressure and are therefore considered safe to handle. Whereas most liquids bead up to minimize surface energy, the presence of a surface oxide on these metals makes it possible to pattern them into useful shapes using a variety of techniques, including fluidic injection and 3D printing. In addition to forming excellent conductors, these metals can be used actively to form memory devices, sensors, and diodes that are completely built from soft materials. The properties of these materials, their applications within soft and stretchable electronics, and future opportunities and challenges are considered. © 2017 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.

What is Soft Computing? Bridging Gaps for 21st Century Science!

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Rudolf Seising

2010-06-01

Full Text Available This contribution serves historical and philosophical reflecting cognitions on the role of Soft Computing in the 21st century. Referring to Magdalena's article in this issue, this paper considers the aspects of mixtures of techniques, the opposite pair qHard Computingq and qSoft Computingq, and Computational Intelligence. From the historical perspective the paper goes back to three articles by Warren Weaver that appeared after World War II. A concentrated study of these papers helps to understand that Soft Computing will be able to play a key role in the future development of science and technology.

Soft power as part of China's strategy for national image cultivation

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Overgaard, Signe

In recent years soft power has become a key issue at the highest political level in China, focusing especially on cultural soft power. This is reflected in important political documents, such as five year plans, plenum meeting summaries, as well as speeches by Hu Jintao and other politicians...... at the highest level. This interest in soft power is generally seen as part of an important foreign policy shift, and the huge amounts of money spent by the government on cultural diplomacy testify to the importance attached to it. Understanding what might be the goal of China’s soft power strategy is however...... difficult. The question can be analysed from various perspectives focusing on the use of power, the peaceful development discourse, or national image cultivation, and finding a straight forward answer is therefore difficult. If we go deeper and see the soft power discourse in the context of the worries...

Soft Robotics.

Science.gov (United States)

Whitesides, George M

2018-04-09

This description of "soft robotics" is not intended to be a conventional review, in the sense of a comprehensive technical summary of a developing field. Rather, its objective is to describe soft robotics as a new field-one that offers opportunities to chemists and materials scientists who like to make "things" and to work with macroscopic objects that move and exert force. It will give one (personal) view of what soft actuators and robots are, and how this class of soft devices fits into the more highly developed field of conventional "hard" robotics. It will also suggest how and why soft robotics is more than simply a minor technical "tweak" on hard robotics and propose a unique role for chemistry, and materials science, in this field. Soft robotics is, at its core, intellectually and technologically different from hard robotics, both because it has different objectives and uses and because it relies on the properties of materials to assume many of the roles played by sensors, actuators, and controllers in hard robotics. © 2018 Wiley-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.

PENGEMBANGAN PERANGKAT PEMBELAJARAN BERBASIS MASALAH UNTUK MENINGKATKAN SOFT SKILL DAN PEMAHAMAN KONSEP

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Faizah -

2013-10-01

Full Text Available Penelitian ini bertujuan untuk menganalisis kevalidan perangkat pembelajaran, peningkatan soft skill dan pemahaman konsep, serta respon siswa. Metode penelitian ini adalah Research and Development (R & D. Hasil menunjukkan bahwa perangkat pembelajaran berbasis masalah pada materi hidrolisis garam yang dikembangkan memiliki kriteria valid dengan rata-rata skor sebesar 3,57, adanya peningkatan soft skill siswa dengan N-Gain sebesar 0,46 dalam kategori sedang, sebanyak 72,72% siswa mencapai ketuntasan soft skill dengan kriteria tinggi atau sangat tinggi, pemahaman konsep siswa juga meningkat dengan perolehan N-Gain sebesar 0,69 dalam kategori sedang, sebanyak 84,85% siswa mencapai ketuntasan belajar dengan KKM ≥ 76, serta siswa memberikan respon positif. This study aimed to analyze learning tools validity, soft skills improvement, concept understanding and students’ responses. The metode of this research is Research and Development (R & D. The results show that problem-based learning tools categorized valid with an average score of 3,57, the improvement of students’ soft skills was available with N-Gain of 0.46, the number of 72, 72% students whom achieving mastery of soft skills with a high or very high criteria, the concept understanding of students also increased by providing N-Gain of 0.69, the number of 84.85% students whom achieving score completeness KKM ≥ 76, this study also obtained student positive responses.

Direct comparison of soft x-ray images of organelles with optical fluorescence images

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ishino, Masahiko; Kado, Masataka; Kishimoto, Maki; Nishikino, Masaharu; Ohba, Toshiyuki; Kaihori, Takeshi; Kawachi, Tetsuya; Tamotsu, Satoshi; Yasuda, Keiko; Mikata, Yuji; Shinohara, Kunio

2011-01-01

Soft x-ray microscopes operating in the water window region are capable of imaging living hydrated cells. Up to now, we have been able to take some soft x-ray images of living cells by the use of a contact x-ray microscope system with laser produced plasma soft x-ray source. Since the soft x-ray images are different from the optical images obtained with an ordinary microscope, it is very important to identify what is seen in the x-ray images. Hence, we have demonstrated the direct comparison between the images of organelles obtained with a fluorescence microscope and those with a soft x-ray microscope. Comparing the soft x-ray images to the fluorescence images, the fine structures of the organelles could be identified and observed. (author)

The Design and Realization of Virtual Machine of Embedded Soft PLC Running System

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Qingzhao Zeng

2014-11-01

Full Text Available Currently soft PLC has been the focus of study object for many countries. Soft PLC system consists of the developing system and running system. A Virtual Machine is an important part in running system even in the whole soft PLC system. It explains and performs intermediate code generated by the developing system and updates I/O status of PLC in order to complete its control function. This paper introduced the implementation scheme and execution process of the embedded soft PLC running system Virtual Machine, and mainly introduced its software implementation method, including the realization of the input sampling program, the realization of the instruction execution program and the realization of output refresh program. Besides, an operation code matching method was put forward in the instruction execution program design. Finally, the test takes PowerPC/P1010 (Freescale as the hardware platform and Vxworks as the operating system, the system test result shows that accuracy, the real-time performance and reliability of Virtual Machine.

Soft X-ray resonant scattering from magnetic heterostructures

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Grabis, J.

2005-01-01

Heterogenous magnetic multilayers are of great interest both because of their relevance for technological applications and since they provide model systems to understand magnetic behavior and interactions. Soft x-ray resonant magnetic scattering (XRMS) allows to determine element-specific and depth-resolving information of the local magnetic order of such systems. Within the framework of the present thesis the diffractometer ALICE for soft XRMS has been constructed. XRMS measurements of two different physical systems are presented in this thesis: The antiferromagnetic and ferromagnetic order in interlayer exchange-coupled Fe/Cr(001) superlattices are studied as a function of the applied field by measuring the reflected intensity at different positions in reciprocal space. Thin films and multilayers of the Heusler compound Co 2 MnGe are studied by means of soft x-ray absorption spectroscopy, magnetic circular dichroism and resonant magnetic scattering

Neutron-induced soft errors in CMOS circuits

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hazucha, P.

1999-01-01

The subject of this thesis is a systematic study of soft errors occurring in CMOS integrated circuits when being exposed to radiation. The vast majority of commercial circuits operate in the natural environment ranging from the sea level to aircraft flight altitudes (less than 20 km), where the errors are caused mainly by interaction of atmospheric neutrons with silicon. Initially, the soft error rate (SER) of a static memory was measured for supply voltages from 2V to 5V when irradiated by 14 MeV and 100 MeV neutrons. Increased error rate due to the decreased supply voltage has been identified as a potential hazard for operation of future low-voltage circuits. A novel methodology was proposed for accurate SER characterization of a manufacturing process and it was validated by measurements on a 0.6 μm process and 100 MeV neutrons. The methodology can be applied to the prediction of SER in the natural environment

Brand Strategy and Japan’s Soft Power

Institute of Scientific and Technical Information of China (English)

Xing; YAN

2015-01-01

The 21st century is the time of brand strategy showing its position and importance in operation of enterprises.Rapid rise of the brand strategy in operation and management of enterprises has profound social and operation background.The development process of brand strategy also reflects evolution of market economy.A country’s cultural influence power depends on its brand equity.An essential task of brand promotion for a county is to narrow the gap between original image and target image,change the past or one-sided image of the public to products of the country,and implement effective communication and propaganda with the aid of related resource system in the country’s soft power,and accept new excellent image.Fundamentally,lifting national soft power is to set up distinct and charming national brand or national image.The influence power with culture and communication as core is the direct manifestation of a country’s core competitiveness.Brand is an outstanding feature of a country’s strength.Brand stretching can promote liftoff of national economy.In expanding international market,famous brands will play a more and more important role.

Vibrio cholerae Colonization of Soft-Shelled Turtles.

Science.gov (United States)

Wang, Jiazheng; Yan, Meiying; Gao, He; Lu, Xin; Kan, Biao

2017-07-15

investigations, no experimental studies have demonstrated the colonization by V. cholerae on soft-shelled turtles. The present studies will benefit our understanding of the interaction between V. cholerae and the soft-shelled turtle. We demonstrated the colonization by V. cholerae on the soft-shelled turtle's body surface and in the intestine and revealed the different roles of major V. cholerae factors for colonization on the body surface and in the intestine. Our work provides experimental evidence for the role of soft-shelled turtles in cholera transmission. In addition, this study also shows the possibility for the soft-shelled turtle to serve as a new animal model for studying the interaction between V. cholerae and aquatic hosts. Copyright © 2017 American Society for Microbiology.

SUPRA SOFT SEPARATION AXIOMS AND SUPRA IRRESOLUTENESS BASED ON SUPRA B-SOFT SETS

OpenAIRE

Abd El-latif, Alaa Mohamed; Hosny, Rodyna Ahmed

2016-01-01

This paper introduces supra soft b-separation axioms based on the supra b-open soft sets which are more general than supra open soft sets. We investigate the relationships between these supra soft separation axioms. Furthermore, with the help of examples it is established that the converse does not hold. We show that, a supra soft topological space (X; t;E) is supra soft b-T1-space, if xE is supra b-closed soft set in for each x 2 X. Also, we prove that xE is supra b-closed soft set for each ...

Soft Regulation with Crowd Recommendation: Coordinating Self-Interested Agents in Sociotechnical Systems under Imperfect Information.

Science.gov (United States)

Luo, Yu; Iyengar, Garud; Venkatasubramanian, Venkat

2016-01-01

Regulating emerging industries is challenging, even controversial at times. Under-regulation can result in safety threats to plant personnel, surrounding communities, and the environment. Over-regulation may hinder innovation, progress, and economic growth. Since one typically has limited understanding of, and experience with, the novel technology in practice, it is difficult to accomplish a properly balanced regulation. In this work, we propose a control and coordination policy called soft regulation that attempts to strike the right balance and create a collective learning environment. In soft regulation mechanism, individual agents can accept, reject, or partially accept the regulator's recommendation. This non-intrusive coordination does not interrupt normal operations. The extent to which an agent accepts the recommendation is mediated by a confidence level (from 0 to 100%). Among all possible recommendation methods, we investigate two in particular: the best recommendation wherein the regulator is completely informed and the crowd recommendation wherein the regulator collects the crowd's average and recommends that value. We show by analysis and simulations that soft regulation with crowd recommendation performs well. It converges to optimum, and is as good as the best recommendation for a wide range of confidence levels. This work sheds a new theoretical perspective on the concept of the wisdom of crowds.

Soft Regulation with Crowd Recommendation: Coordinating Self-Interested Agents in Sociotechnical Systems under Imperfect Information

Science.gov (United States)

2016-01-01

Regulating emerging industries is challenging, even controversial at times. Under-regulation can result in safety threats to plant personnel, surrounding communities, and the environment. Over-regulation may hinder innovation, progress, and economic growth. Since one typically has limited understanding of, and experience with, the novel technology in practice, it is difficult to accomplish a properly balanced regulation. In this work, we propose a control and coordination policy called soft regulation that attempts to strike the right balance and create a collective learning environment. In soft regulation mechanism, individual agents can accept, reject, or partially accept the regulator’s recommendation. This non-intrusive coordination does not interrupt normal operations. The extent to which an agent accepts the recommendation is mediated by a confidence level (from 0 to 100%). Among all possible recommendation methods, we investigate two in particular: the best recommendation wherein the regulator is completely informed and the crowd recommendation wherein the regulator collects the crowd’s average and recommends that value. We show by analysis and simulations that soft regulation with crowd recommendation performs well. It converges to optimum, and is as good as the best recommendation for a wide range of confidence levels. This work sheds a new theoretical perspective on the concept of the wisdom of crowds. PMID:26977699

Progress toward a soft X-ray FEL

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Pellegrini, C.

1988-01-01

We review the FEL physics and obtain scaling laws for the extension of its operation to the soft X-ray region. We also discuss the properties of an electron beam needed to drive such an FEL, and the present state of the art for the beam production. (orig.)

Soft lubrication

Science.gov (United States)

Skotheim, Jan; Mahadevan, Laksminarayanan

2004-11-01

We study the lubrication of fluid-immersed soft interfaces and show that elastic deformation couples tangential and normal forces and thus generates lift. We consider materials that deform easily, due to either geometry (e.g a shell) or constitutive properties (e.g. a gel or a rubber), so that the effects of pressure and temperature on the fluid properties may be neglected. Four different system geometries are considered: a rigid cylinder moving tangentially to a soft layer coating a rigid substrate; a soft cylinder moving tangentially to a rigid substrate; a cylindrical shell moving tangentially to a rigid substrate; and finally a journal bearing coated with a thin soft layer, which being a conforming contact allows us to gauge the influence of contact geometry. In addition, for the particular case of a soft layer coating a rigid substrate we consider both elastic and poroelastic material responses. Finally, we consider the role of contact geometry in the context of the journal bearing, a conforming contact. For all these cases we find the same generic behavior: there is an optimal combination of geometric and material parameters that maximizes the dimensionless normal force as a function of the softness.

Note on soft theorems and memories in even dimensions

Science.gov (United States)

Mao, Pujian; Ouyang, Hao

2017-11-01

Recently, it has been shown that the Weinberg's formula for soft graviton production is essentially a Fourier transformation of the formula for gravitational memory which provides an effective way to understand how the classical calculation arises as a limiting case of the quantum result. In this note, we propose a general framework that connects the soft theorems to the radiation fields obtained from classical computation for different theories in even dimensions. We show that the latter is nothing but Fourier transformation of the former. The memory formulas can be derived from radiation fields explicitly.

The Interval-Valued Triangular Fuzzy Soft Set and Its Method of Dynamic Decision Making

OpenAIRE

Xiaoguo Chen; Hong Du; Yue Yang

2014-01-01

A concept of interval-valued triangular fuzzy soft set is presented, and some operations of “AND,” “OR,” intersection, union and complement, and so forth are defined. Then some relative properties are discussed and several conclusions are drawn. A dynamic decision making model is built based on the definition of interval-valued triangular fuzzy soft set, in which period weight is determined by the exponential decay method. The arithmetic weighted average operator of interval-valued triangular...

Soft Congruence Relations over Rings

Science.gov (United States)

Xin, Xiaolong; Li, Wenting

2014-01-01

Molodtsov introduced the concept of soft sets, which can be seen as a new mathematical tool for dealing with uncertainty. In this paper, we initiate the study of soft congruence relations by using the soft set theory. The notions of soft quotient rings, generalized soft ideals and generalized soft quotient rings, are introduced, and several related properties are investigated. Also, we obtain a one-to-one correspondence between soft congruence relations and idealistic soft rings and a one-to-one correspondence between soft congruence relations and soft ideals. In particular, the first, second, and third soft isomorphism theorems are established, respectively. PMID:24949493

Soft Tissue Sarcoma

Science.gov (United States)

... muscles, tendons, fat, and blood vessels. Soft tissue sarcoma is a cancer of these soft tissues. There ... have certain genetic diseases. Doctors diagnose soft tissue sarcomas with a biopsy. Treatments include surgery to remove ...

Design of a Soft Robot with Multiple Motion Patterns Using Soft Pneumatic Actuators

Science.gov (United States)

Miao, Yu; Dong, Wei; Du, Zhijiang

2017-11-01

Soft robots are made of soft materials and have good flexibility and infinite degrees of freedom in theory. These properties enable soft robots to work in narrow space and adapt to external environment. In this paper, a 2-DOF soft pneumatic actuator is introduced, with two chambers symmetrically distributed on both sides and a jamming cylinder along the axis. Fibers are used to constrain the expansion of the soft actuator. Experiments are carried out to test the performance of the soft actuator, including bending and elongation characteristics. A soft robot is designed and fabricated by connecting four soft pneumatic actuators to a 3D-printed board. The soft robotic system is then established. The pneumatic circuit is built by pumps and solenoid valves. The control system is based on the control board Arduino Mega 2560. Relay modules are used to control valves and pressure sensors are used to measure pressure in the pneumatic circuit. Experiments are conducted to test the performance of the proposed soft robot.

On soft singularities at three loops and beyond

CERN Document Server

Dixon, Lance J; Magnea, Lorenzo

2010-01-01

We report on further progress in understanding soft singularities of massless gauge theory scattering amplitudes. Recently, a set of equations was derived based on Sudakov factorization, constraining the soft anomalous dimension matrix of multi-leg scattering amplitudes to any loop order, and relating it to the cusp anomalous dimension. The minimal solution to these equations was shown to be a sum over color dipoles. Here we explore potential contributions to the soft anomalous dimension that go beyond the sum-over-dipoles formula. Such contributions are constrained by factorization and invariance under rescaling of parton momenta to be functions of conformally invariant cross ratios. Therefore, they must correlate the color and kinematic degrees of freedom of at least four hard partons, corresponding to gluon webs that connect four eikonal lines, which first appear at three loops. We analyze potential contributions, combining all available constraints, including Bose symmetry, the expected degree of transcen...

Soft Robotics: Biological Inspiration, State of the Art, and Future Research

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Deepak Trivedi

2008-01-01

Full Text Available Traditional robots have rigid underlying structures that limit their ability to interact with their environment. For example, conventional robot manipulators have rigid links and can manipulate objects using only their specialised end effectors. These robots often encounter difficulties operating in unstructured and highly congested environments. A variety of animals and plants exhibit complex movement with soft structures devoid of rigid components. Muscular hydrostats (e.g. octopus arms and elephant trunks are almost entirely composed of muscle and connective tissue and plant cells can change shape when pressurised by osmosis. Researchers have been inspired by biology to design and build soft robots. With a soft structure and redundant degrees of freedom, these robots can be used for delicate tasks in cluttered and/or unstructured environments. This paper discusses the novel capabilities of soft robots, describes examples from nature that provide biological inspiration, surveys the state of the art and outlines existing challenges in soft robot design, modelling, fabrication and control.

Soft Robotic Actuators

Science.gov (United States)

Godfrey, Juleon Taylor

In this thesis a survey on soft robotic actuators is conducted. The actuators are classified into three main categories: Pneumatic Artificial Muscles (PAM), Electronic Electroactive Polymers (Electric EAP), and Ionic Electroactive Polymers (Ionic EAP). Soft robots can have many degrees and are more compliant than hard robots. This makes them suitable for applications that are difficult for hard robots. For each actuator background history, build materials, how they operate, and modeling are presented. Multiple actuators in each class are reviewed highlighting both their use and their mathematical formulation. In addition to the survey the McKibben actuator was chosen for fabrication and in-depth experimental analysis. Four McKibben actuators were fabricated using mesh sleeve, barbed hose fittings, and different elastic bladders. All were actuated using compressed air. Tensile tests were performed for each actuator to measure the tension force as air pressure increased from 20 to 100 psi in 10 psi increments. To account for material relaxation properties eleven trials for each actuator were run for 2-3 days. In conclusion, the smallest outer diameter elastic bladder was capable of producing the highest force due to the larger gap between the bladder and the sleeve.

Soft sensor development and optimization of the commercial petrochemical plant integrating support vector regression and genetic algorithm

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

S.K. Lahiri

2009-09-01

Full Text Available Soft sensors have been widely used in the industrial process control to improve the quality of the product and assure safety in the production. The core of a soft sensor is to construct a soft sensing model. This paper introduces support vector regression (SVR, a new powerful machine learning methodbased on a statistical learning theory (SLT into soft sensor modeling and proposes a new soft sensing modeling method based on SVR. This paper presents an artificial intelligence based hybrid soft sensormodeling and optimization strategies, namely support vector regression – genetic algorithm (SVR-GA for modeling and optimization of mono ethylene glycol (MEG quality variable in a commercial glycol plant. In the SVR-GA approach, a support vector regression model is constructed for correlating the process data comprising values of operating and performance variables. Next, model inputs describing the process operating variables are optimized using genetic algorithm with a view to maximize the process performance. The SVR-GA is a new strategy for soft sensor modeling and optimization. The major advantage of the strategies is that modeling and optimization can be conducted exclusively from the historic process data wherein the detailed knowledge of process phenomenology (reaction mechanism, kinetics etc. is not required. Using SVR-GA strategy, a number of sets of optimized operating conditions were found. The optimized solutions, when verified in an actual plant, resulted in a significant improvement in the quality.

Numerical experiments on plasma focus for soft x-ray yield scaling laws derivation using Lee model

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Akel, M.

2012-09-01

The required plasma parameters of krypton and xenon at different temperatures were calculated, the x-ray emission properties of plasmas were studied, and based on the corona model the suitable temperature range for generating H-like and He-like ions (therefore soft x-ray emissions) of different gases plasma were found. The code is applied to characterize the plasma focus in different plasma focus devices, and for optimizing the nitrogen, oxygen, neon, argon, krypton and xenon soft x-ray yields based on bank, tubes and operating parameters. It is found that the soft x-ray yield increases with changing pressure until it reaches the maximum value for each plasma focus device. Keeping the bank parameters, operational voltage unchanged but systematically changing other parameters, numerical experiments were performed finding the optimum combination of P o , Z o and 'a' for the maximum soft x-ray yield. Thus we expect to increase the soft x-ray yield of plasma focus device several-fold from its present typical operation; without changing the capacitor bank, merely by changing the electrode configuration and the operating pressure. The Lee model code was also used to run numerical experiments on plasma focus devices for optimizing soft x-ray yield with reducing L o , varying L o and 'a' to get engineering designs with maximum soft x-ray yield for these devices at different experimental conditions and gases. Numerical experiments showed the influence of the gas used in plasma focus and its properties on soft x-ray emission and its properties and then on its applications. Scaling laws for soft x-ray of nitrogen, oxygen, neon, argon, krypton and xenon plasma focus, in terms of energy, peak discharge current and focus pinch current were found. Radiative cooling effects are studied indicating that radiative collapse may be observed for heavy noble gases (Ar, Kr, Xe) for pinch currents even below 100 kA. The results show that the line radiation emission and tube voltages have

Numerical experiments on plasma focus for soft x-ray yield scaling laws derivation using Lee model

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Akel, M.

2015-01-01

The required plasma parameters of krypton and xenon at different temperatures were calculated, the x-ray emission properties of plasmas were studied, and based on the corona model the suitable temperature range for generating H-like and He-like ions (therefore soft x-ray emissions) of different gases plasma were found. The code is applied to characterize the plasma focus in different plasma focus devices, and for optimizing the nitrogen, oxygen, neon, argon, krypton and xenon soft x-ray yields based on bank, tubes and operating parameters. It is found that t he soft x-ray yield increases with changing pressure until it reaches the maximum value for each plasma focus device. Keeping the bank parameters, operational voltage unchanged but systematically changing other parameters, numerical experiments were performed finding the optimum combination of Po, z0 and 'a' for the maximum soft x-ray yield. Thus we expect to increase the soft x-ray yield of plasma focus device several-fold from its present typical operation; without changing the capacitor bank, merely by changing the electrode configuration and the operating pressure. The Lee model code was also used to run numerical experiments on plasma focus devices for optimizing soft x-ray yield with reducing Lo, varying z0 and 'a' to get engineering designs with maximum soft x-ray yield for these devices at different experimental conditions and gases. Numerical experiments showed the influence of the gas used in plasma focus and its propor ties on soft x-ray emission and its propor ties and then on its applications. Scaling laws for soft x-ray of nitrogen, oxygen, neon, argon, krypton and xenon plasma focus in terms of energy, peak discharge current and focus pinch current were found. Radiative cooling effects are studied indicating that radiative collapse may be observed for heavy noble gases (Ar, Kr, Xe) for pinch currents even below 100 k A. The results show that the line radiation emission and

Scandium/carbon filters for soft x rays

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Artioukov, IA; Kasyanov, YS; Kopylets, IA; Pershin, YP; Romanova, SA

2003-01-01

This Note deals with thin-film soft x-ray filters for operation at the wavelengths near carbon K edge (similar to4.5 nm). The filters were fabricated by magnetron sputtering deposition of thin layers of scandium (total thickness 0.1-0.2 mum) onto films of polypropylene (thickness 1.5 mum) and

Soft Budgets And Highway Franchising

OpenAIRE

Eduardo Engel; Ronald Fischer; Alexander Galetovic

2004-01-01

Latin American governments progressively substituted build–operate–and–transfer (BOT) contracts for government–provided highways during the nineties. Because under BOT a private franchise holder finances and operates the road in exchange for tolls, it is often claimed that BOT represents a privatization of highways. We argue that, as currently applied, the BOT model is an imperfect and incomplete privatization, because the franchise holders’ budget constraint has been soft, with losses being ...

The role of soft computing in intelligent machines.

Science.gov (United States)

de Silva, Clarence W

2003-08-15

An intelligent machine relies on computational intelligence in generating its intelligent behaviour. This requires a knowledge system in which representation and processing of knowledge are central functions. Approximation is a 'soft' concept, and the capability to approximate for the purposes of comparison, pattern recognition, reasoning, and decision making is a manifestation of intelligence. This paper examines the use of soft computing in intelligent machines. Soft computing is an important branch of computational intelligence, where fuzzy logic, probability theory, neural networks, and genetic algorithms are synergistically used to mimic the reasoning and decision making of a human. This paper explores several important characteristics and capabilities of machines that exhibit intelligent behaviour. Approaches that are useful in the development of an intelligent machine are introduced. The paper presents a general structure for an intelligent machine, giving particular emphasis to its primary components, such as sensors, actuators, controllers, and the communication backbone, and their interaction. The role of soft computing within the overall system is discussed. Common techniques and approaches that will be useful in the development of an intelligent machine are introduced, and the main steps in the development of an intelligent machine for practical use are given. An industrial machine, which employs the concepts of soft computing in its operation, is presented, and one aspect of intelligent tuning, which is incorporated into the machine, is illustrated.

Facial soft tissue changes after orthodontic treatment | Aksakalli ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

Objectives: To successfully meet expectations on facial esthetics, it is important to understand normal craniofacial growth and the impact of orthodontic treatment thereon. To date, there have been few studies documenting changes in facial esthetics through photography. The objective of this study was to compare facial soft ...

RNA secondary structure prediction using soft computing.

Science.gov (United States)

Ray, Shubhra Sankar; Pal, Sankar K

2013-01-01

Prediction of RNA structure is invaluable in creating new drugs and understanding genetic diseases. Several deterministic algorithms and soft computing-based techniques have been developed for more than a decade to determine the structure from a known RNA sequence. Soft computing gained importance with the need to get approximate solutions for RNA sequences by considering the issues related with kinetic effects, cotranscriptional folding, and estimation of certain energy parameters. A brief description of some of the soft computing-based techniques, developed for RNA secondary structure prediction, is presented along with their relevance. The basic concepts of RNA and its different structural elements like helix, bulge, hairpin loop, internal loop, and multiloop are described. These are followed by different methodologies, employing genetic algorithms, artificial neural networks, and fuzzy logic. The role of various metaheuristics, like simulated annealing, particle swarm optimization, ant colony optimization, and tabu search is also discussed. A relative comparison among different techniques, in predicting 12 known RNA secondary structures, is presented, as an example. Future challenging issues are then mentioned.

Failure mechanism and supporting measures for large deformation of Tertiary deep soft rock

Institute of Scientific and Technical Information of China (English)

Guo Zhibiao; Wang Jiong; Zhang Yuelin

2015-01-01

The Shenbei mining area in China contains typical soft rock from the Tertiary Period. As mining depths increase, deep soft rock roadways are damaged by large deformations and constantly need to be repaired to meet safety requirements, which is a great security risk. In this study, the characteristics of deformation and failure of typical roadway were analyzed, and the fundamental reason for the roadway deformation was that traditional support methods and materials cannot control the large deformation of deep soft rock. Deep soft rock support technology was developed based on constant resistance energy absorption using constant resistance large deformation bolts. The correlative deformation mechanisms of surrounding rock and bolt were analyzed to understand the principle of constant resistance energy absorption. The new technology works well on-site and provides a new method for the excavation of roadways in Tertiary deep soft rock.

Classification of soft and hard impacts-Application to aircraft crash

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Koechlin, Pierre; Potapov, Serguei

2009-01-01

Before modeling an aircraft crash on a shield building of a nuclear power plant, it is very important to understand the physical phenomena and the structural behavior associated with this kind of impact. In the scientific literature, aircraft crash is classified as a soft impact, or as an impact of deformable missile. Nevertheless the existing classifications are not precise enough to be able to predict 'a priori' the structural response mode. The aim of this paper is to characterize very precisely what is a soft and a hard impact in the frame of aircraft crash on nuclear power plant. First the existing qualitative definition of soft and hard impact is quickly reviewed in order to introduce a new criterion to make a quantitative distinction between soft and hard impact. Then the experimental tests carried out during the last thirty years in the research field of aircraft crash are presented in the light of the new classification. The authors show that this characterization of soft and hard impacts has a real physical interest because it is linked to the failure mode for perforation: for soft impacts, perforation is the consequence of a shear plug breaking away and for hard impact it comes from local failure and projectile penetration. Moreover the boundary between soft and hard impact is the limit for the use of an impact force in an uncoupled computation of the impact

The Design of Universal Soft Control for Advanced Power Reactor

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ye, Song Hae; Shin, Yeong Cheol; Kang, Sung Kon; Lyou, Joon

2011-01-01

Highly-Integrated Control Room (HICR) has been adopted for APR+. APR+ is being developed as the evolutionary improvement of APR1400. In HICR, the traditional control panels, with their assorted gauges, indicating lights, control switches, annunciators, etc., are replaced by computer-driven consolidated operator workstations. Soft control plays a key role in consolidating control in the workstation. Universal Soft Control (USC) has the ability to control plant functions and components in multiple divisions of safety systems and non-safety systems from a single operator workstation. The USC further contribute to the level of consolidation in the workstation and provide better human machine interface with reduced operational burden. However, the implementation of USC poses challenges to the independence among safety divisions and between safety system and non-safety system. This paper presents design features and approach to prevent adverse affects of the safety systems and to minimize the potential for spurious actuations by USC

The Design of Universal Soft Control for Advanced Power Reactor

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Ye, Song Hae; Shin, Yeong Cheol; Kang, Sung Kon [Korea Hydro and Nuclear Power Co., Daejeon (Korea, Republic of); Lyou, Joon [Chungnam National University, Daejeon (Korea, Republic of)

2011-08-15

Highly-Integrated Control Room (HICR) has been adopted for APR+. APR+ is being developed as the evolutionary improvement of APR1400. In HICR, the traditional control panels, with their assorted gauges, indicating lights, control switches, annunciators, etc., are replaced by computer-driven consolidated operator workstations. Soft control plays a key role in consolidating control in the workstation. Universal Soft Control (USC) has the ability to control plant functions and components in multiple divisions of safety systems and non-safety systems from a single operator workstation. The USC further contribute to the level of consolidation in the workstation and provide better human machine interface with reduced operational burden. However, the implementation of USC poses challenges to the independence among safety divisions and between safety system and non-safety system. This paper presents design features and approach to prevent adverse affects of the safety systems and to minimize the potential for spurious actuations by USC.

Differential diagnosis between benign and malignant soft tissue tumors utilizing ultrasound parameters.

Science.gov (United States)

Morii, Takeshi; Kishino, Tomonori; Shimamori, Naoko; Motohashi, Mitsue; Ohnishi, Hiroaki; Honya, Keita; Aoyagi, Takayuki; Tajima, Takashi; Ichimura, Shoichi

2018-01-01

Preoperative discrimination between benign and malignant soft tissue tumors is critical for the prevention of excess application of magnetic resonance imaging and biopsy as well as unplanned resection. Although ultrasound, including power Doppler imaging, is an easy, noninvasive, and cost-effective modality for screening soft tissue tumors, few studies have investigated reliable discrimination between benign and malignant soft tissue tumors. To establish a modality for discrimination between benign and malignant soft tissue tumors using ultrasound, we extracted the significant risk factors for malignancy based on ultrasound information from 40 malignant and 56 benign pathologically diagnosed soft tissue tumors and established a scoring system based on these risk factors. The maximum size, tumor margin, and vascularity evaluated using ultrasound were extracted as significant risk factors. Using the odds ratio from a multivariate regression model, a scoring system was established. Receiver operating characteristic analyses revealed a high area under the curve value (0.85), confirming the accuracy of the scoring system. Ultrasound is a useful modality for establishing the differential diagnosis between benign and malignant soft tissue tumors.

Soft matter interactions at the molecular scale: interaction forces and energies between single hydrophobic model peptides.

Science.gov (United States)

Stock, Philipp; Utzig, Thomas; Valtiner, Markus

2017-02-08

In all realms of soft matter research a fundamental understanding of the structure/property relationships based on molecular interactions is crucial for developing a framework for the targeted design of soft materials. However, a molecular picture is often difficult to ascertain and yet essential for understanding the many different competing interactions at play, including entropies and cooperativities, hydration effects, and the enormous design space of soft matter. Here, we characterized for the first time the interaction between single hydrophobic molecules quantitatively using atomic force microscopy, and demonstrated that single molecular hydrophobic interaction free energies are dominated by the area of the smallest interacting hydrophobe. The interaction free energy amounts to 3-4 kT per hydrophobic unit. Also, we find that the transition state of the hydrophobic interactions is located at 3 Å with respect to the ground state, based on Bell-Evans theory. Our results provide a new path for understanding the nature of hydrophobic interactions at the single molecular scale. Our approach enables us to systematically vary hydrophobic and any other interaction type by utilizing peptide chemistry providing a strategic advancement to unravel molecular surface and soft matter interactions at the single molecular scale.

Recent progress of soft X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy studies of uranium compounds

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Fujimori, Shin-ichi; Takeda, Yukiharu; Okane, Tetsuo; Saitoh, Yuji [Condensed Matter Science Divisions, Japan Atomic Energy Agency, Sayo, Hyogo (Japan); Fujimori, Atsushi [Condensed Matter Science Divisions, Japan Atomic Energy Agency, Sayo, Hyogo (Japan); Department of Physics, University of Tokyo, Hongo, Tokyo 113-0033 (Japan); Yamagami, Hiroshi [Condensed Matter Science Divisions, Japan Atomic Energy Agency, Sayo, Hyogo (Japan); Department of Physics, Faculty of Science, Kyoto Sangyo University, Kyoto 603-8555 (Japan); Yamamoto, Etsuji; Haga, Yoshinori [Advanced Science Research Center, Japan Atomic Energy Agency, Tokai, Ibaraki 319-1195 (Japan); Ōnuki, Yoshichika [Advanced Science Research Center, Japan Atomic Energy Agency, Tokai, Ibaraki 319-1195 (Japan); Faculty of Science, University of the Ryukyus, Nishihara, Okinawa 903-0213 (Japan)

2016-04-15

Recent progresses in the soft X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (PES) studies (hν ≳ 100 eV) for uranium compounds are briefly reviewed. The soft X-ray PES has enhanced sensitivities for the bulk U 5f electronic structure, which is essential to understand the unique physical properties of uranium compounds. In particular, the recent remarkable improvement in energy resolutions from an order of 1 eV to 100 meV made it possible to observe fine structures in U 5f density of states. Furthermore, soft X-ray ARPES becomes available due to the increase of photon flux at beamlines in third generation synchrotron radiation facilities.The technique made it possible to observe bulk band structures and Fermi surfaces of uranium compounds and therefore, the results can be directly compared with theoretical models such as band-structure calculations. The core-level spectra of uranium compounds show a systematic behavior depending on their electronic structures, suggesting that they can be utilized to determine basic physical parameters such as the U 5f-ligand hybridizations or Comlomb interaction between U 5f electrons. It is shown that soft X-ray PES provides unique opportunities to understand the electronic structures of uranium compounds.

Fully Soft 3D-Printed Electroactive Fluidic Valve for Soft Hydraulic Robots.

Science.gov (United States)

Zatopa, Alex; Walker, Steph; Menguc, Yigit

2018-06-01

Soft robots are designed to utilize their compliance and contortionistic abilities to both interact safely with their environment and move through it in ways a rigid robot cannot. To more completely achieve this, the robot should be made of as many soft components as possible. Here we present a completely soft hydraulic control valve consisting of a 3D-printed photopolymer body with electrorheological (ER) fluid as a working fluid and gallium-indium-tin liquid metal alloy as electrodes. This soft 3D-printed ER valve weighs less than 10 g and allows for onboard actuation control, furthering the goal of an entirely soft controllable robot. The soft ER valve pressure-holding capabilities were tested under unstrained conditions, cyclic valve activation, and the strained conditions of bending, twisting, stretching, and indentation. It was found that the max holding pressure of the valve when 5 kV was applied across the electrodes was 264 kPa, and that the holding pressure deviated less than 15% from the unstrained max holding pressure under all strain conditions except for indentation, which had a 60% max pressure increase. In addition, a soft octopus-like robot was designed, 3D printed, and assembled, and a soft ER valve was used to stop the fluid flow, build pressure in the robot, and actuate six tentacle-like soft bending actuators.

Soft matter physics

CERN Document Server

Doi, Masao

2013-01-01

Soft matter (polymers, colloids, surfactants and liquid crystals) are an important class of materials in modern technology. They also form the basis of many future technologies, for example in medical and environmental applications. Soft matter shows complex behaviour between fluids and solids, and used to be a synonym of complex materials. Due to the developments of the past two decades, soft condensed matter can now be discussed on the same sound physical basis as solid condensedmatter. The purpose of this book is to provide an overview of soft matter for undergraduate and graduate students

Review of soft tissue augmentation in the face

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

James Newman

2009-08-01

Full Text Available James NewmanFacial Plastic Surgery, Stanford University Medical Center, Palo Alto, CAFacial Plastic Surgery, Stanford University Medical Center, Palo Alto, CA, USAAbstract: A primary pillar of facial rejuvenation is the replacement of soft tissue atrophy via a variety of augmentation techniques. The techniques can be classified into three categories, skeletal onlay grafts, subcutaneous volumizers, and dermal fillers. While onlay grafts and subcutaneous volumizers have the most persistent results, the emergence of improved dermal fillers in the past 5 years has become increasingly popular. An accurate diagnosis of the level(s of soft tissue atrophy in the face needs to be made prior to selection of the category or combination of techniques. In the younger patient, the selection of a dermal filler or combination of fillers can be adequate for treatment. A comparison of the composition and characteristics of the available dermal fillers are discussed in detail to assist the clinician in understanding the actual mechanism of soft tissue augmentation. In the more advanced aging face, a combination of the three categories may be necessary to produce optimal results. Just as dermal fillers have become more differentiated to increase their longevity, the non-injectible long-lasting implants are becoming more developed to mimic accurate viscoelastic properties of the facial soft tissues. All three classes of augmentation techniques can provide patients with very satisfactory results as part of overall facial rejuvenation.Keywords: soft tissue, dermal fillers, facial implants, facial augmentation

A Role for Soft Systems Methodology in ELT Projects.

Science.gov (United States)

Holliday, Adrian

1990-01-01

Discusses the uses for soft systems methodology (SSM) in English language training (ELT) projects. It is suggested that ethnographic techniques may help in achieving the understanding needed to start an ELT project while SSM may provide a useful means for structuring ethnographic findings. (Author/VWL)

Soft buckling actuators

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Yang, Dian; Whitesides, George M.

2017-12-26

A soft actuator is described, including: a rotation center having a center of mass; a plurality of bucklable, elastic structural components each comprising a wall defining an axis along its longest dimension, the wall connected to the rotation center in a way that the axis is offset from the center of mass in a predetermined direction; and a plurality of cells each disposed between two adjacent bucklable, elastic structural components and configured for connection with a fluid inflation or deflation source; wherein upon the deflation of the cell, the bucklable, elastic structural components are configured to buckle in the predetermined direction. A soft actuating device including a plurality of the soft actuators and methods of actuation using the soft actuator or soft actuating device disclosed herein are also described.

A Case for Soft Error Detection and Correction in Computational Chemistry.

Science.gov (United States)

van Dam, Hubertus J J; Vishnu, Abhinav; de Jong, Wibe A

2013-09-10

High performance computing platforms are expected to deliver 10(18) floating operations per second by the year 2022 through the deployment of millions of cores. Even if every core is highly reliable the sheer number of them will mean that the mean time between failures will become so short that most application runs will suffer at least one fault. In particular soft errors caused by intermittent incorrect behavior of the hardware are a concern as they lead to silent data corruption. In this paper we investigate the impact of soft errors on optimization algorithms using Hartree-Fock as a particular example. Optimization algorithms iteratively reduce the error in the initial guess to reach the intended solution. Therefore they may intuitively appear to be resilient to soft errors. Our results show that this is true for soft errors of small magnitudes but not for large errors. We suggest error detection and correction mechanisms for different classes of data structures. The results obtained with these mechanisms indicate that we can correct more than 95% of the soft errors at moderate increases in the computational cost.

Penggunaan Teknik Analisis Dalam Pengembangan Sistem Informasi Menggunakan Soft System Methodology (SSM)

OpenAIRE

Sumadyo, Malikus

2016-01-01

Soft Systems Methodology (SSM) is a systematic method of information system development using a structured approach to understanding an issue, building a conceptual mode, getting the feasibility and the desired changes and to be implemented. The system being developed using Soft Systems Methodology aimed at addressing organizational, which is used to respond to the symptoms caused by an underlying problem that has not been previously known. Organizations can be regarded as an open system so...

The Elusive Soft Emission from Hard X-ray Symbiotic System RT Cru

Science.gov (United States)

Karovska, Margarita

2014-09-01

RT Cru is a fascinating member of a new class of hard X-ray emitting symbiotic binaries showing X-ray emission extending to over 50keV. While its hard X-ray emission has been studied in detail, the soft component of the spectrum, including flares, remains elusive, since previous observations have focused on the high-energy regime. We propose Chandra HRC-S/LETG observations to determine the spatial, spectral, and temporal characteristics of the source of the soft X-ray emission with a goal to establish the origin of the soft component, and determine whether and how it is tied to the hard component. Determining the origin of the soft emission is a crucial piece of the puzzle to understanding the geometry, energetics, and the environment of WD accretion in this class of symbiotic systems.

When soft controls get slippery: User interfaces and human error

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Stubler, W.F.; O'Hara, J.M.

1998-01-01

Many types of products and systems that have traditionally featured physical control devices are now being designed with soft controls--input formats appearing on computer-based display devices and operated by a variety of input devices. A review of complex human-machine systems found that soft controls are particularly prone to some types of errors and may affect overall system performance and safety. This paper discusses the application of design approaches for reducing the likelihood of these errors and for enhancing usability, user satisfaction, and system performance and safety

Strategy and Culture: Hidden Secrets and Soft Skills in Supply Chain Best Practices from Africa

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Esther Kibuka-Sebitosi

2015-06-01

Full Text Available The paper identifies strategy and cultural hidden secrets and soft skills pertaining to supply chain management in African contexts that are pertinent to supply chain and operations management. Africa is increasingly becoming attractive for not only multi-nationals but supply chain businesses that either want to diversify or expand their foot print. The market is complex, turbulent and highly competitive (Porter, 1986 and requires significant knowledge and understanding of the local context but also culture (Johnson, 1987; 1992; 2000, diversity and institutional dynamics (Ogbonna et al., 2002. Due to the complex nature of the emerging markets, the paper draws from multiple-disciplines (Sociology, Business, Management and theoretical approaches namely: culture and strategy; Ubuntu, stakeholder theory and systems thinking, to elicit best practices. Utilizing qualitative methods comprising case study, interviews, focus group discussions and extensive document analysis, the study covers a variety of management practices ranging from strategy, culture to hyper market management. This paper highlights lessons from successful supermarket chains in Africa particularly the hidden secrets and soft skills that are often ignored in mainstream operations and supply chain management or strategy research. Findings underscore the lessons of understanding strategy and culture implementation through practicing cultural values, treating the customer as a queen/king, knowing political skills, being a learning organisation and implementing continuous improvement. It contributes to management theory for academics, researchers & managers through strategy and culture, proposing inclusion of the cultural diversity into strategy implementation as a critical force affecting the behaviour of people inside the organization. Managers should take into account the cultural context and use it to promote organizational business excellence. These lessons for business excellence

Synchronous motor with soft start element formed between the motor rotor and motor output shaft to successfully synchronize loads that have high inertia and/or high torque

Science.gov (United States)

Umans, Stephen D; Nisley, Donald L; Melfi, Michael J

2014-10-28

A line-start synchronous motor has a housing, a rotor shaft, and an output shaft. A soft-start coupling portion is operatively coupled to the output shaft and the rotor shaft. The soft-start coupling portion is configurable to enable the synchronous motor to obtain synchronous operation and to drive, at least near synchronous speed during normal steady state operation of the motor, a load having characteristics sufficient to prevent obtaining normal synchronous operation of the motor when the motor is operatively connected to the load in the absence of the soft-start coupling. The synchronous motor is sufficiently rated to obtain synchronous operation and to drive, at least near synchronous speed during normal steady state operation of the motor, a load having characteristics sufficient to prevent obtaining normal synchronous operation of the motor when the motor is operatively connected to the load in the absence of the soft-start coupling.

“Lost in translation”. Soft skills development in European countries

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Maria Cinque

2016-05-01

Full Text Available The world of work is changing profoundly, at a time when the global economy is not creating a sufficient number of jobs. Many documents issued by the EU and various researches, carried out by companies and human resources experts, point out that the so-called “soft” skills are closely connected with employability, particularly for young people entering the labour market. At present, EU countries have different methodologies and approaches to the teaching and assessment of soft skills. Another obstacle is represented by the absence of a common language. There are different ways of naming ‘soft skills’, different definitions of them, different manners of classifying and clustering them. The article explores some classifications of soft skills and presents a collection of best practices and methods for teaching and learning them at University level, taking into account different perspectives and basing on the results of two European projects focused on this topic. The final goal is to provide an analysis aimed at the identification of the most important soft skills needed for a successful transition from University education to the labour market. The analysis includes a brief chronological excursus on relevant studies on the subject, a review of current literature on employability skills, quantitative (surveys and qualitative (focus groups researches from Europe and Third Countries, identifying the range of soft skills relevant for newly graduates. The aim of this overview is to enhance understanding of soft skills and to indicate key areas for soft skill development at University level.

A contribution to the better understanding of swelling in soils and soft rocks

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ana Petkovšek

2010-12-01

Full Text Available Swelling and shrinkage of sediments rich with clay belong to geologically conditioned risk factors. Economicloss as the consequence of volume changes in the geological catchment area of buildings and infrastructuralobjects is immense. Untimely detected swelling causes higher prices and unnecessary delays during the construction.In those cases when deep cuts and underground spaces are used as intervention into highly preconsolidatedsoils and soft rock with clay contents, failures of embankments and improperly designed supporting measures dueto swelling are not infrequent. Also periodic appearance of landslides at certain areas can be the consequence ofswelling. Some countries, such as the USA, introduced the guidelines and standards for the detection, assessmentand handling with swellable geological materials decades ago. Due to some other more urgent geologically conditionedrisks, such as landslides, earthquakes and constructions on soft ground, in Slovenia the development ofknowledge in the area of swelling soils was several years behind the knowledge in the rest of the world. With theconstruction of the Slovenian-Hungarian railway connection after 1998, motorways and the introduction of newknowledge about soil suction, also Slovenian experts were introduced to a different dimension of the problem ofswelling soils, as well as some important experiences were learned and new possibilities for the investigation andunderstanding of volume behaviour of swelling soils were opened. This is especially important for the predictedweather extremes, as only adequate knowledge will allow us to adequately explain any new phenomena in theground and prepare appropriate protection.

Soft color interactions and diffractive hard scattering at the Tevatron

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Enberg, R.; Timneanu, N.; Ingelman, G.; Uppsala Univ.

2001-06-01

An improved understanding of nonperturbative QCD can be obtained by the recently developed soft color interaction models. Their essence is the variation of color string-field topologies, giving a unified description of final states in high energy interactions, e.g., diffractive and nondiffractive events in ep and pp. Here we present a detailed study of such models (the soft color interaction model and the generalized area law model) applied to pp, considering also the general problem of the underlying event including beam particle remnants. With models turned to HERA ep data, we find a good description also of Tevatron data on production of W, bottom and jets in diffractive events defined either by leading antiprotons or by one or two rapidity gaps in the forward or backward regions. We also give predictions for diffractive J/ψ production where the soft exchange mechanism produces both a gap and a color singlet cc state in the same event. This soft color interaction approach is also compared with Pomeron-based models for diffraction, and some possibilities to experimentally discriminate between these different approaches are discussed. (orig.)

Implications of QCD for soft hadronic and nuclear processes

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hwa, R.C.

1981-01-01

Physical implications of QCD for strong forces in soft processes are discussed. Topics include long-range force, Van der Waals force, nuclear force, hadron and quark structures. In the absence of a reliable calculational scheme, phenomenological models have been built that incorporate QCD ideas as far as possible. In the framework of those models calculations have been made that provide an understanding of the soft processes in terms of quarks and gluons. We review recent work on nuclear potential, form factors at low Q 2 , pion decay constant, inclusive distribution of low p/sub T/, and radiation length of fast quark in nuclear matter

A-Soft Separation Axioms in Soft Topological Space

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Luay Abd –Al-Hani Al-Sweedi

2018-01-01

Full Text Available The important science tools in a different kinds and  specialties , that considered the basic mainstay of ( the set theory and because of  huge development in all life fields. This causes great problems , that need solution and parallel tools for those developments , so the scientis become responsible to work on the development of number theory and open new horizons , that a new science had appeared  which is  ( soft figures theory which is considered the important tool to solve most difficult problems or overcome them ,in these sciences and their specific life specialization, economy, medicine , geometry and others. Also the theory of soft numbers had entered in general topology in power full and active way. The last years a new science has appeared is (soft topological space.              The main idea of this research is to define the separation axioms in  (soft topological space  and practically in certain point , and to study the most important  properties and results of it .

Characterization of diffraction gratings by use of a tabletop soft-x-ray laser

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Seminario, Max; Rocca, Jorge J.; Depine, Ricardo A.; Bach, Benny; Bach, Bernie

2001-01-01

We have demonstrated the use of a high-repetition-rate 46.9-mm tabletop laser to characterize diffraction gratings designed for grazing-incidence operation in the soft-x-ray spectral region. The efficiencies for various diffraction orders were measured as a function of angle of incidence and compared with the results of model simulations. This measurement technique provides benchmarks with which to improve electromagnetic codes used in the design of soft-x-ray diffraction gratings. The results illustrate the potential of compact tabletop soft-x-ray lasers for use as a new tool for characterization of short-wavelength optics at the manufacturer's site

Understanding Colds: Anatomy of the Nose

Science.gov (United States)

... Complications Special Features References Common Cold Understanding Colds Anatomy of the Nose The nose contains shelf-like ... white). Soft tissue, such as the eye, is gray. The maxillary sinus of adults has a volume ...

Organizing to Understand: How to Operate Effectively in the Human Domain

Science.gov (United States)

2015-05-21

was both entering and creating when it overthrew Saddam Hussein and dismantled the Iraqi government and security forces. The research examines the...sponsored initiative to help tactical and operational level commanders understand the human terrain, the “social, ethnographic , cultural, economic, and...as an intelligence function within TRADOC “as the primary and enduring social science-based human domain research , analysis, and training capability

Preservice Elementary Teachers' Understanding of Operations for Fraction Multiplication and Division

Science.gov (United States)

Whitehead, Ashley; Walkowiak, Temple A.

2017-01-01

This study examined preservice elementary teachers' change in their understanding of fraction operations while taking a mathematics methods course focused on grades 3-5. The preservice teachers (n = 48) completed an assessment before and after the course's unit on the teaching and learning of fractions. Specifically, the preservice teachers were…

Assessment of Process Capability: the case of Soft Drinks Processing Unit

Science.gov (United States)

Sri Yogi, Kottala

2018-03-01

The process capability studies have significant impact in investigating process variation which is important in achieving product quality characteristics. Its indices are to measure the inherent variability of a process and thus to improve the process performance radically. The main objective of this paper is to understand capability of the process being produced within specification of the soft drinks processing unit, a premier brands being marketed in India. A few selected critical parameters in soft drinks processing: concentration of gas volume, concentration of brix, torque of crock has been considered for this study. Assessed some relevant statistical parameters: short term capability, long term capability as a process capability indices perspective. For assessment we have used real time data of soft drinks bottling company which is located in state of Chhattisgarh, India. As our research output suggested reasons for variations in the process which is validated using ANOVA and also predicted Taguchi cost function, assessed also predicted waste monetarily this shall be used by organization for improving process parameters. This research work has substantially benefitted the organization in understanding the various variations of selected critical parameters for achieving zero rejection.

Study on a new framework of Human Reliability Analysis to evaluate soft control execution error in advanced MCRs of NPPs

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Jang, Inseok; Kim, Ar Ryum; Jung, Wondea; Seong, Poong Hyun

2016-01-01

Highlights: • The operation environment of MCRs in NPPs has changed by adopting new HSIs. • The operation action in NPP Advanced MCRs is performed by soft control. • New HRA framework should be considered in the HRA for advanced MCRs. • HRA framework for evaluation of soft control execution human error is suggested. • Suggested method will be helpful to analyze human reliability in advance MCRs. - Abstract: Since the Three Mile Island (TMI)-2 accident, human error has been recognized as one of the main causes of Nuclear Power Plant (NPP) accidents, and numerous studies related to Human Reliability Analysis (HRA) have been carried out. Most of these methods were developed considering the conventional type of Main Control Rooms (MCRs). However, the operating environment of MCRs in NPPs has changed with the adoption of new Human-System Interfaces (HSIs) that are based on computer-based technologies. The MCRs that include these digital technologies, such as large display panels, computerized procedures, and soft controls, are called advanced MCRs. Among the many features of advanced MCRs, soft controls are a particularly important feature because operating actions in NPP advanced MCRs are performed by soft control. Due to the differences in interfaces between soft control and hardwired conventional type control, different Human Error Probabilities (HEPs) and a new HRA framework should be considered in the HRA for advanced MCRs. To this end, a new framework of a HRA method for evaluating soft control execution human error is suggested by performing a soft control task analysis and the literature regarding widely accepted human error taxonomies is reviewed. Moreover, since most current HRA databases deal with operation in conventional MCRs and are not explicitly designed to deal with digital HSIs, empirical analysis of human error and error recovery considering soft controls under an advanced MCR mockup are carried out to collect human error data, which is

Review of soft x-ray lasers and their applications

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Skinner, C.H.

1991-03-01

The emerging technology of soft x-ray lasers is in a transition phase between the first laboratory demonstrations of gain and the acceptance of soft x-ray lasers as practical tools for novel applications. Current research is focused on several fronts. The operational wavelength range has been extended to the ''water window'', important for applications in the life sciences. Gain has also been generated with substantially simpler technology (such as a 6J laser) and this augurs well for the commercially availability in the near future of soft x-ray lasers for a variety of applications. Advanced soft x-ray laser concepts are being developed from investigations into ultra-high intensity laser/matter interactions. The first paper a brief historical perspective of x-ray microscopy and holography have begun. In this paper a brief historical perspective of x-ray laser development will be followed by a review of recent advances in recombination, collisional and photo-pumped systems and applications. A summary of current gain-length performance achieved in laboratories worldwide is presented. Near term prospects for applications to novel fields are discussed. 81 refs., 9 figs., 1 tab

Assessing the quality of force feedback in soft tissue simulation.

Science.gov (United States)

Basafa, Ehsan; Sefati, Shahin; Okamura, Allison M

2011-01-01

Many types of deformable models have been proposed for simulation of soft tissue in surgical simulators, but their realism in comparison to actual tissue is rarely assessed. In this paper, a nonlinear mass-spring model is used for realtime simulation of deformable soft tissues and providing force feedback to a human operator. Force-deformation curves of real soft tissue samples were obtained experimentally, and the model was tuned accordingly. To test the realism of the model, we conducted two human-user experiments involving palpation with a rigid probe. First, in a discrimination test, users identified the correct category of real and virtual tissue better than chance, and tended to identify the tissues as real more often than virtual. Second, users identified real and virtual tissues by name, after training on only real tissues. The sorting accuracy was the same for both real and virtual tissues. These results indicate that, despite model limitations, the simulation could convey the feel of touching real tissues. This evaluation approach could be used to compare and validate various soft-tissue simulators.

Evolution in students' understanding of thermal physics with increasing complexity

Science.gov (United States)

Langbeheim, Elon; Safran, Samuel A.; Livne, Shelly; Yerushalmi, Edit

2013-12-01

We analyze the development in students’ understanding of fundamental principles in the context of learning a current interdisciplinary research topic—soft matter—that was adapted to the level of high school students. The topic was introduced in a program for interested 11th grade high school students majoring in chemistry and/or physics, in an off-school setting. Soft matter was presented in a gradual increase in the degree of complexity of the phenomena as well as in the level of the quantitative analysis. We describe the evolution in students’ use of fundamental thermodynamics principles to reason about phase separation—a phenomenon that is ubiquitous in soft matter. In particular, we examine the impact of the use of free energy analysis, a common approach in soft matter, on the understanding of the fundamental principles of thermodynamics. The study used diagnostic questions and classroom observations to gauge the student’s learning. In order to gain insight on the aspects that shape the understanding of the basic principles, we focus on the responses and explanations of two case-study students who represent two trends of evolution in conceptual understanding in the group. We analyze changes in the two case studies’ management of conceptual resources used in their analysis of phase separation, and suggest how their prior knowledge and epistemological framing (a combination of their personal tendencies and their prior exposure to different learning styles) affect their conceptual evolution. Finally, we propose strategies to improve the instruction of these concepts.

Prosthetic Jamming Terminal Device: A Case Study of Untethered Soft Robotics.

Science.gov (United States)

Cheng, Nadia; Amend, John; Farrell, Todd; Latour, Debra; Martinez, Carlos; Johansson, Jen; McNicoll, Anthony; Wartenberg, Marek; Naseef, Samuel; Hanson, William; Culley, William

2016-12-01

This article illuminates the major and often overlooked challenge of untethering soft robotic systems through the context of recent work, in which soft robotic gripper technology enabled by jamming of granular media was applied to a prosthetic jamming terminal device (PJTD). The PJTD's technical and market feasibility was evaluated in a pilot study with two upper-limb amputees. A PJTD prototype was tested against a commercial device (Motion Control electric terminal service with a one degree-of-freedom pinching mechanism) using two existing hand function tests: the first quantified the device's speed in picking and placing small blocks and the second evaluated a person's ability to perform activities of daily living (ADLs). The PJTD prototype performed slightly slower than its commercial counterpart in the first test. While both participants successfully completed all the ADLs with both devices in the second test, the commercial device scored marginally higher. Results suggested that PJTD can have potential benefits over existing terminal devices, such as providing the capability to firmly grasp tools due to the ability of PJTD to conform to arbitrary surfaces and reducing compensatory shoulder movements due to its axisymmetric design. Some downsides were that users reported fatigue while operating the PJTD, as most operations require pushing the PJTD against target objects to adequately conform to them. The greatest drawback for the PJTD is also a major roadblock preventing a number of soft robotic research projects from making an impact in real-world applications: pneumatic technology required for operating the PJTD is currently too large and heavy to enable compact untethered operation.

Ischiogluteal bursitis mimicking soft-tissue metastasis from a renal cell carcinoma

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Voelk, M.; Gmeinwieser, J.; Manke, C.; Strotzer, M.; Hanika, H.

1998-01-01

We report a case of ischiogluteal bursitis mimicking a soft-tissue metastasis from a renal cell carcinoma. A 66-year-old woman suffered from pain over the left buttock 6 months after she was operated on for renal cell carcinoma of the left kidney. CT of the abdomen and pelvis revealed a tumor-like lesion adjacent to the left os ischii, which was suspected to be a soft-tissue metastasis. Percutaneous biopsy revealed no evidence of malignancy, but the histopathological diagnosis of chronic bursitis. (orig.)

Operating Modes and Cooling Capabilities of the 3-Stage ADR Developed for the Soft-X-Ray Spectrometer Instrument on Astro-H

Science.gov (United States)

Shirron, Peter J.; Kimball, Mark O.; James, Bryan L.; Muench, Theo; DiPirro, Michael J.; Letmate, Richard V.; Sampson, Michael A.; Bialas, Tom G.; Sneiderman, Gary A.; Porter, Frederick S.;

Mappings on Neutrosophic Soft Classes

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Shawkat Alkhazaleh

2014-03-01

Full Text Available In 1995 Smarandache introduced the concept of neutrosophic set which is a mathematical tool for handling problems involving imprecise, indeterminacy and inconsistent data. In 2013 Maji introduced the concept of neutrosophic soft set theory as a general mathematical tool for dealing with uncertainty. In this paper we define the notion of a mapping on classes where the neutrosophic soft classes are collections of neutrosophic soft set. We also define and study the properties of neutrosophic soft images and neutrosophic soft inverse images of neutrosophic soft sets.

SoftLab: A Soft-Computing Software for Experimental Research with Commercialization Aspects

Science.gov (United States)

Akbarzadeh-T, M.-R.; Shaikh, T. S.; Ren, J.; Hubbell, Rob; Kumbla, K. K.; Jamshidi, M

1998-01-01

SoftLab is a software environment for research and development in intelligent modeling/control using soft-computing paradigms such as fuzzy logic, neural networks, genetic algorithms, and genetic programs. SoftLab addresses the inadequacies of the existing soft-computing software by supporting comprehensive multidisciplinary functionalities from management tools to engineering systems. Furthermore, the built-in features help the user process/analyze information more efficiently by a friendly yet powerful interface, and will allow the user to specify user-specific processing modules, hence adding to the standard configuration of the software environment.

Physics of soft impact and cratering

CERN Document Server

Katsuragi, Hiroaki

2016-01-01

This book focuses on the impact dynamics and cratering of soft matter to describe its importance, difficulty, and wide applicability to planetary-related problems. A comprehensive introduction to the dimensional analysis and constitutive laws that are necessary to discuss impact mechanics and cratering is first provided. Then, particular coverage is given to the impact of granular matter, which is one of the most crucial constituents for geophysics. While granular matter shows both solid-like and fluid-like behaviors, neither solid nor fluid dynamics is sufficient to fully understand the physics of granular matter. In order to reveal its fundamental properties, extensive impact tests have been carried out recently. The author reveals the findings of these recent studies as well as what remains unsolved in terms of impact dynamics. Impact crater morphology with various soft matter impacts also is discussed intensively. Various experimental and observational results up to the recent Itokawa asteroid’s terrain...

Soft collinear effective theory for gravity

Science.gov (United States)

Okui, Takemichi; Yunesi, Arash

2018-03-01

We present how to construct a soft collinear effective theory (SCET) for gravity at the leading and next-to-leading powers from the ground up. The soft graviton theorem and decoupling of collinear gravitons at the leading power are manifest from the outset in the effective symmetries of the theory. At the next-to-leading power, certain simple structures of amplitudes, which are completely obscure in Feynman diagrams of the full theory, are also revealed, which greatly simplifies calculations. The effective Lagrangian is highly constrained by effectively multiple copies of diffeomorphism invariance that are inevitably present in gravity SCET due to mode separation, an essential ingredient of any SCET. Further explorations of effective theories of gravity with mode separation may shed light on Lagrangian-level understandings of some of the surprising properties of gravitational scattering amplitudes. A gravity SCET with an appropriate inclusion of Glauber modes may serve as a powerful tool for studying gravitational scattering in the Regge limit.

Hills and valleys: Understanding the under-eye

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Milind N Naik

2016-01-01

Full Text Available Soft tissue deflation and descent have long been implicated in the pathogenesis of facial aging. In the periorbital area, the upper orbital region is thought to change by descent of the eyebrow, as well as deflation of brow fat. While the understanding of the aging changes in the upper eyelid region are relatively simple, the lower eyelid poses a myriad of aging changes, each demanding a specific management plan. These can be best described in terms of elevations, or 'Hills' and hollows, or 'Valleys'. This article simplifies the understanding of the lower eyelid in the light of anatomical knowledge, and available literature. It forms a basis of easy diagnosis and treatment of the soft tissue changes in the lower eyelid and malar region.

Soft segmented inchworm robot with dielectric elastomer muscles

Science.gov (United States)

Conn, Andrew T.; Hinitt, Andrew D.; Wang, Pengchuan

2014-03-01

Robotic devices typically utilize rigid components in order to produce precise and robust operation. Rigidity becomes a significant impediment, however, when navigating confined or constricted environments e.g. search-and-rescue, industrial pipe inspection. In such cases adaptively conformable soft structures become optimal. Dielectric elastomers (DEs) are well suited for developing such soft robots since they are inherently compliant and can produce large musclelike actuation strains. In this paper, a soft segmented inchworm robot is presented that utilizes pneumatically-coupled DE membranes to produce inchworm-like locomotion. The robot is constructed from repeated body segments, each with a simple control architecture, so that the total length can be readily adapted by adding or removing segments. Each segment consists of a soft inflatable shell (internal pressure in range of 1.0-15.9 mBar) and a pair of antagonistic DE membranes (VHB 4905). Experimental testing of a single body segment is presented and the relationship between drive voltage, pneumatic pressure and active displacement is characterized. This demonstrates that pneumatic coupling of DE membranes induces complex non-linear electro-mechanical behaviour as drive voltage and pneumatic pressure are altered. Locomotion of a two-segment inchworm robot prototype with a passive length of 80 mm is presented. Artificial setae are included on the body shell to generate anisotropic friction for locomotion. A maximum locomotion speed of 4.1 mm/s was recorded at a drive frequency of 1.5 Hz, which compares favourably to biological counterparts. Future development of the soft inchworm robot are discussed including reflexive low-level control of individual segments.

Soft X-ray beam induced current technique

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Watts, B; Ade, H [Department of Physics, North Carolina State University, Raleigh, NC 27695 (United States); Queen, D; Hellman, F [Department of Physics, University of California, Berkeley, CA 94720 (United States); Kilcoyne, A L D; Tyliszczak, T, E-mail: benjamin.watts@gmail.co [Advanced Light Source, Lawrence Berkeley Nat. Lab., Berkeley, CA 94720 (United States)

2009-09-01

Direct mapping of the charge transport efficiency of polymer solar cell devices using a soft X-ray beam induced current (SoXBIC) method is described. By fabricating a polymer solar cell on an x-ray transparent substrate, we demonstrate the ability to map polymer composition and nanoscale structure within an operating solar cell device and to simultaneously measure the local charge transport efficiency via the short-circuit current. A simple model is calculated and compared to experimental SoXBIC data of a PFB:F8BT bulk-heterojunction device in order to gain greater insight into the device operation and physics.

Necrotizing soft tissue infections - a multicentre, prospective observational study (INFECT)

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Madsen, M.B.; Skrede, S.; Bruun, T.; Arnell, P.; Rosén, A.; Nekludov, M.; Karlsson, Y.; Bergey, F.; Saccenti, E.; Martins dos Santos, V.A.P.; Perner, A.; Norrby-Teglund, A.; Hyldegaard, O.

2018-01-01

Background: The INFECT project aims to advance our understanding of the pathophysiological mechanisms in necrotizing soft tissue infections (NSTIs). The INFECT observational study is part of the INFECT project with the aim of studying the clinical profile of patients with NSTIs and correlating

The clinical study of the early soft tissue healing and marginal bone resorption after non-submerged implants

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Xu Anchen; Yang Desheng; Hu Bei; Leng Bin; Zhang Li

2009-01-01

Objective: To compare the amount of early marginal bone resorption in the first three months after non-submerged implants and to explore the relationship between the amount of early marginal bone resorption and the soft tissue healing in the first month. Method: ITI with non-submerged implants were implanted in 33 patients. Digital panoramic radiographs were taken during the operation, one month and three months later. The amount of marginal bone resorption was measured in the first, second and the third month after implant operation. The soft tissue healing was observed after 10 days. Results: There was significant difference (P<0.01) in the amount of early marginal bone resorption between one month and three months later. The early marginal bone resorption in the first month after implantation kept correlation with the soft tissue healing on 10th day(r=0.794, P<0.01). Conclusion: The amount of early marginal bone resorption in the first month exceeds that in the second and the third months after implant operation, and the soft tissue healing affects the amount of early marginal bone resorption in the first month. Biological seal is the critical factor influencing the early marginal bone resorption. (authors)

Radiological and pathological response following pre-operative radiotherapy for soft-tissue sarcoma

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Roberge, David; Skamene, Tanya; Nahal, Ayoub; Turcotte, Robert E.; Powell, Tom; Freeman, Carolyn

2010-01-01

Purpose: To report radiological and pathological response to neo-adjuvant radiotherapy for extremity and trunk soft-tissue sarcomas. Materials/methods: Fifty patients were identified retrospectively. All patients had MRI imaging pre and post neo-adjuvant external beam radiotherapy. Tumor volumes were measured in 3D on T1 Gadolinium enhanced sequences. Pathological treatment response was quantified in terms of percentage of treatment-related necrosis for each case. Results: Histopathologic responses to treatment varied from 0% to 100%. The median pathological treatment response was 67.5% for low-grade sarcomas and 50% for high-grade sarcomas. The median decrease in tumor volume was 13.8% for non-myxoid low-grade sarcomas, 82.1% for myxoid liposarcomas and <1% for high-grade sarcomas. A partial response on MRI (volume reduction ≥ 50%) was highly predictive of a good pathological response (p < 0.001). Patients with stable disease on imaging or volumetric progression had wide ranging pathological responses. Conclusions: Soft-tissue sarcomas show significant pathological treatment responses in the form of hyaline fibrosis, necrosis and granulation tissue. Despite this, there is minimal early volumetric response to radiation, especially for high-grade tumors. Although radiological partial response was predictive of pathological response, the significance of radiological progression was unclear. Myxoid liposarcoma tumor type was predictive of both pathological and radiological tumor response.

Surgical considerations when reporting MRI studies of soft tissue sarcoma of the limbs

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

De la Hoz Polo, Marcela [Kings College Hospital, Radiology Department, London, Brixton (United Kingdom); Dick, Elizabeth [St Mary' s Hospital, Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust, Radiology Department, London (United Kingdom); Bhumbra, Rej [Newham and The Royal London Hospitals, Trauma and Orthopaedic Department, Barts Health Orthopaedic Centre, London, Whitechapel (United Kingdom); Pollock, Rob [Royal National Orthopaedic Hospital, Trauma and Orthopaedic Department, Stanmore (United Kingdom); Sandhu, Ranbir [University Hospitals Birmingham, Radiology Department, Queen Elizabeth Hospital, Birmingham (United Kingdom); Saifuddin, Asif [Royal National Orthopaedic Hospital, Radiology Department, Stanmore (United Kingdom)

2017-12-15

Soft tissue sarcomas (STS) are rare tumours that require prompt diagnosis and treatment at a specialist centre. Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) has become the modality of choice for identification, characterisation, biopsy planning and staging of soft tissue masses. MRI enables both the operating surgeon and patient to be optimally prepared prior to surgery for the likelihood of margin-negative resection and to anticipate possible sacrifice of adjacent structures and consequent loss of function. The aim of this review is to aid the radiologist in performing and reporting MRI studies of soft tissue sarcomas, with particular reference to the requirements of the surgical oncologist. (orig.)

[Inconformity between soft tissue defect and bony defect in incomplete cleft palate].

Science.gov (United States)

Zhou, Xia; Ma, Lian

2014-12-01

To evaluate the inconformity between soft tissue defect and bony defect by observing the cleft extent of palate with complete secondary palate bony cleft in incomplete cleft palate patient. The patients with incomplete cleft palate treated in Hospital of Stomatology Peking University from July 2012 to June 2013 were reviewed, of which 75 cases with complete secondary palate bony cleft were selected in this study. The CT scan and intraoral photograph were taken before operation. The patients were classified as four types according to the extent of soft tissue defect. Type 1: soft tissue defect reached incisive foremen region, Type 2 was hard and soft cleft palate, Type 3 soft cleft palate and Type 4 submucous cleft palate. Type 1 was defined as conformity group (CG). The other three types were defined as inconformity group (ICG) and divided into three subgroups (ICG-I), (ICG-II) and (ICG-III). Fifty-seven patients were in ICG group, and the rate of inconformity was 76% (57/75). The percentage of ICG-I, ICG-II and ICG-III was 47% (27/57), 23% (13/57) and 30% (17/57), respevtively. There are different types of soft tissue deformity with complete secondary palate bony cleft. The inconformity between soft tissue and hard tissue defect exits in 3/4 of isolated cleft palate patients.

A Magnetic Resonance Compatible Soft Wearable Robotic Glove for Hand Rehabilitation and Brain Imaging.

Science.gov (United States)

Hong Kai Yap; Kamaldin, Nazir; Jeong Hoon Lim; Nasrallah, Fatima A; Goh, James Cho Hong; Chen-Hua Yeow

2017-06-01

In this paper, we present the design, fabrication and evaluation of a soft wearable robotic glove, which can be used with functional Magnetic Resonance imaging (fMRI) during the hand rehabilitation and task specific training. The soft wearable robotic glove, called MR-Glove, consists of two major components: a) a set of soft pneumatic actuators and b) a glove. The soft pneumatic actuators, which are made of silicone elastomers, generate bending motion and actuate finger joints upon pressurization. The device is MR-compatible as it contains no ferromagnetic materials and operates pneumatically. Our results show that the device did not cause artifacts to fMRI images during hand rehabilitation and task-specific exercises. This study demonstrated the possibility of using fMRI and MR-compatible soft wearable robotic device to study brain activities and motor performances during hand rehabilitation, and to unravel the functional effects of rehabilitation robotics on brain stimulation.

Ischiogluteal bursitis mimicking soft-tissue metastasis from a renal cell carcinoma

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Voelk, M.; Gmeinwieser, J.; Manke, C.; Strotzer, M. [Department of Radiology, University Hospital, Regensburg (Germany); Hanika, H. [Department of Urology, St. Josef Hospital, Regensburg (Germany)

1998-09-01

We report a case of ischiogluteal bursitis mimicking a soft-tissue metastasis from a renal cell carcinoma. A 66-year-old woman suffered from pain over the left buttock 6 months after she was operated on for renal cell carcinoma of the left kidney. CT of the abdomen and pelvis revealed a tumor-like lesion adjacent to the left os ischii, which was suspected to be a soft-tissue metastasis. Percutaneous biopsy revealed no evidence of malignancy, but the histopathological diagnosis of chronic bursitis. (orig.) With 2 figs., 8 refs.

Soft mode of lead zirconate

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Pan'ko, G.F.; Prisedskij, V.V.; Klimov, V.V.

1983-01-01

Anisotropic diffusional scattering of electrons on PbZrO 3 crystal in the temperature range of phase transition has been recorded. As a result of its analysis it has been established that in lead zirconate the rotational vibrational mode G 25 plays the role of soft mode. The experiment is carried out using PbZrO 3 monocrystals in translucent electron microscope EhM-200, operating in the regime of microdiffraction at accelerating voltage of 150 kV and beam current 50 μA; sample preparation is realized using the method of shearing and fragmentation

Soft biometrics in conjunction with optics based biohashing

Science.gov (United States)

Saini, Nirmala; Sinha, Aloka

2011-02-01

Biometric systems are gaining importance because of increased reliability for authentication and identification. A biometric recognition technique has been proposed earlier, in which biohashing code has been generated by using a joint transform correlator. The main drawback of the base biohashing method is the low performance of the technique when an "impostor" steals the pseudo-random numbers of the genuine and tries to authenticate as genuine. In the proposed technique, soft biometrics of the same person has been used to improve the discrimination between the genuine and the impostor populations. The soft biometrics are those characteristics that provide some information about the individual, but lack the distinctiveness and permanence to sufficiently differentiate between any two individuals. In the enrolment process, biohash code of the target face images has been integrated with the different soft biometrics of the same person. The obtained code has been stored for verification. In the verification process, biohash code of the face image to be verified is again diffused with the soft biometric of the person. The obtained code is matched with the stored code of the target. The receiving operating characteristic (ROC) curve and the equal error rate (EER) have been used to evaluate the performance of the technique. A detailed study has been carried out to find out the optimum values of the weighting factor for the diffusion process.

Introduction to soft-collinear effective theory

CERN Document Server

Becher, Thomas; Ferroglia, Andrea

2015-01-01

Among resummation techniques for perturbative QCD in the context of collider and flavor physics, soft-collinear effective theory (SCET) has emerged as both a powerful and versatile tool, having been applied to a large variety of processes, from B-meson decays to jet production at the LHC.  This book provides a concise, pedagogical introduction to this technique. It discusses the expansion of Feynman diagrams around the high-energy limit, followed by the explicit construction of the effective Lagrangian - first for a scalar theory, then for QCD. The underlying concepts are illustrated with the quark vector form factor at large momentum transfer, and the formalism is applied to compute soft-gluon resummation and to perform transverse-momentum resummation for the Drell-Yan process utilizing renormalization group evolution in SCET. Finally, the infrared structure of n-point gauge-theory amplitudes is analyzed by relating them to effective-theory operators. This text is suitable for graduate students and non-spe...

Electron confinement studies on the EBT-S Bumpy Torus Experiment using soft x-ray techniques

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hillis, D.L.; Haste, G.R.; Berry, L.A.

1983-01-01

Soft x-ray bremsstrahlung measurements have been performed on the ELMO Bumpy Torus (EBT-S) plasma to determine the electron temperature T/sub e/ and electron density density n/sub e/ using a calibrated Si(Li) detector over a wide range of operating conditions. The purpose of this paper is to outline the necessary assumptions and essential x-ray techniques that are inherent in soft x-ray measurements in order to investigate the electron heating and confinement properties of EBT-S. In addition, by utilizing the electron density as determined by the soft x-ray measurements, the previous EBT-S confinement analyses have been extended. The steady-state plasma of EBT-S is heated by microwaves using a continuous wave (cw) gyrotron that can operate up to power levels of 200 kW. From the soft x-ray measurements, both the electron temperature and density are found to increase at higher microwave power levels. For operation at microwave power levels of 200 kW, T/sub e/ approaches 1 keV while n/sub e/ approaches 1.2 x 10 12 cm - 3 . In general, confinement properties are found to improve with increased microwave power. The data are compared with neoclassical transport scaling and the electron transport is found to be collisionless (#betta#/Ω<1) as well as neoclassical

Soft Neutrosophic Loops and Their Generalization

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Mumtaz Ali

2014-06-01

Full Text Available Soft set theory is a general mathematical tool for dealing with uncertain, fuzzy, not clearly defined objects. In this paper we introduced soft neutrosophic loop,soft neutosophic biloop, soft neutrosophic N -loop with the discuission of some of their characteristics. We also introduced a new type of soft neutrophic loop, the so called soft strong neutrosophic loop which is of pure neutrosophic character. This notion also found in all the other corresponding notions of soft neutrosophic thoery. We also given some of their properties of this newly born soft structure related to the strong part of neutrosophic theory.

Soft System Methodology as a Tool to Understand Issues of Governmental Affordable Housing Programme of India: A Case Study Approach

Science.gov (United States)

Ghosh, Sukanya; Roy, Souvanic; Sanyal, Manas Kumar

2016-09-01

With the help of a case study, the article has explored current practices of implementation of governmental affordable housing programme for urban poor in a slum of India. This work shows that the issues associated with the problems of governmental affordable housing programme has to be addressed to with a suitable methodology as complexities are not only dealing with quantitative data but qualitative data also. The Hard System Methodologies (HSM), which is conventionally applied to address the issues, deals with real and known problems which can be directly solved. Since most of the issues of affordable housing programme as found in the case study are subjective and complex in nature, Soft System Methodology (SSM) has been tried for better representation from subjective points of views. The article explored drawing of Rich Picture as an SSM approach for better understanding and analysing complex issues and constraints of affordable housing programme so that further exploration of the issues is possible.

Fundamentals of soft robot locomotion.

Science.gov (United States)

Calisti, M; Picardi, G; Laschi, C

2017-05-01

Soft robotics and its related technologies enable robot abilities in several robotics domains including, but not exclusively related to, manipulation, manufacturing, human-robot interaction and locomotion. Although field applications have emerged for soft manipulation and human-robot interaction, mobile soft robots appear to remain in the research stage, involving the somehow conflictual goals of having a deformable body and exerting forces on the environment to achieve locomotion. This paper aims to provide a reference guide for researchers approaching mobile soft robotics, to describe the underlying principles of soft robot locomotion with its pros and cons, and to envisage applications and further developments for mobile soft robotics. © 2017 The Author(s).

Soft-Material Robotics

OpenAIRE

Wang, L; Nurzaman, SG; Iida, Fumiya

2017-01-01

There has been a boost of research activities in robotics using soft materials in the past ten years. It is expected that the use and control of soft materials can help realize robotic systems that are safer, cheaper, and more adaptable than the level that the conventional rigid-material robots can achieve. Contrary to a number of existing review and position papers on soft-material robotics, which mostly present case studies and/or discuss trends and challenges, the review focuses on the fun...

A Modular, Reconfigurable Mold for a Soft Robotic Gripper Design Activity

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Jiawei Zhang

2017-09-01

Full Text Available Soft robotics is an emerging field with strong potential to serve as an educational tool due to its advantages such as low costs and shallow learning curves. In this paper, we introduce a modular and reconfigurable mold for flexible design of pneumatic soft robotic grippers. By using simple assembly kits, students at all levels are able to design and construct soft robotic grippers that vary in function and performance. The process of constructing the modular mold enables students to understand how design choices impact system performance. Our unique modular mold allows students to select the number and length of fingers in a gripper, as well as to adjust the internal geometry of the pneumatic actuator cavity, which dictates how and where bending of a finger occurs. In addition, the mold may be deconstructed and reconfigured, which allows for fast iterative design and lowers material costs (since a new mold does not need to be made to implement a design change. We further demonstrate the feasibility of the modular mold by implementing it in a soft robot design activity in classrooms and showing a sufficiently high rate of student success in designing and constructing a functional soft robotic gripper.

Teaching Soft Skills Employers Need

Science.gov (United States)

Ellis, Maureen; Kisling, Eric; Hackworth, Robbie G.

2014-01-01

This study identifies the soft skills community colleges teach in an office technology course and determines whether the skills taught are congruent with the soft skills employers require in today's entry-level office work. A qualitative content analysis of a community college office technology soft skills course was performed using 23 soft skills…

Evolution in students’ understanding of thermal physics with increasing complexity

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Elon Langbeheim

2013-11-01

Full Text Available We analyze the development in students’ understanding of fundamental principles in the context of learning a current interdisciplinary research topic—soft matter—that was adapted to the level of high school students. The topic was introduced in a program for interested 11th grade high school students majoring in chemistry and/or physics, in an off-school setting. Soft matter was presented in a gradual increase in the degree of complexity of the phenomena as well as in the level of the quantitative analysis. We describe the evolution in students’ use of fundamental thermodynamics principles to reason about phase separation—a phenomenon that is ubiquitous in soft matter. In particular, we examine the impact of the use of free energy analysis, a common approach in soft matter, on the understanding of the fundamental principles of thermodynamics. The study used diagnostic questions and classroom observations to gauge the student’s learning. In order to gain insight on the aspects that shape the understanding of the basic principles, we focus on the responses and explanations of two case-study students who represent two trends of evolution in conceptual understanding in the group. We analyze changes in the two case studies’ management of conceptual resources used in their analysis of phase separation, and suggest how their prior knowledge and epistemological framing (a combination of their personal tendencies and their prior exposure to different learning styles affect their conceptual evolution. Finally, we propose strategies to improve the instruction of these concepts.

Soft x-ray tomography on the Alcator C tokamak

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Camacho, J.F.

1985-06-01

A soft x-ray tomography experiment has been performed on the Alcator C tokamak. An 80-chord array of detectors consisting of miniature PIN photodiodes was used to obtain tomographic reconstructions of the soft x-ray emissivity function's poloidal cross-section. The detectors are located around the periphery of the plasma at one toroidal location (top and bottom ports) and are capable of yielding useful information over a wide range of plasma operating parameters and conditions. The reconstruction algorithm employed makes no assumption whatsoever about plasma rotation, position, or symmetry. Its performance was tested, and it was found to work well and to be fairly insensitive to estimated levels of random and systematic errors in the data

Human soft tissue analysis using x-ray or gamma-ray techniques

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Theodorakou, C; Farquharson, M J

2008-01-01

This topical review is intended to describe the x-ray techniques used for human soft tissue analysis. X-ray techniques have been applied to human soft tissue characterization and interesting results have been presented over the last few decades. The motivation behind such studies is to provide improved patient outcome by using the data obtained to better understand a disease process and improve diagnosis. An overview of theoretical background as well as a complete set of references is presented. For each study, a brief summary of the methodology and results is given. The x-ray techniques include x-ray diffraction, x-ray fluorescence, Compton scattering, Compton to coherent scattering ratio and attenuation measurements. The soft tissues that have been classified using x-rays or gamma rays include brain, breast, colon, fat, kidney, liver, lung, muscle, prostate, skin, thyroid and uterus. (topical review)

«Soft Power»: the Updated Theoretical Concept and Russian Assembly Model

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Владимир Сергеевич Изотов

2011-12-01

Full Text Available The article is dedicated to critically important informational and ideological aspects of Russia's foreign policy. The goal is to revise and specify the notion soft power in the context of rapidly changing space of global politics. During the last years international isolation of Russia, including informational and ideological sphere is increasing. The way to overcome this negative trend is modernization of foreign policy strategy on the basis of updating of operational tools and ideological accents. It's becoming obvious that the real foreign policy success in the global world system is achieved by the use of soft power. The author tries to specify and conceptualize the phenomenon of Russia's soft power as a purposeful external ideology facing the urgent need of updating.

Spin waves in the soft layer of exchange-coupled soft/hard bilayers

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Xiong, Zheng-min; Ge, Su-qin; Wang, Xi-guang; Li, Zhi-xiong; Xia, Qing-lin; Wang, Dao-wei; Nie, Yao-zhuang; Guo, Guang-hua, E-mail: guogh@mail.csu.edu.cn [School of Physics and Electronics, Central South University, Changsha 410083 (China); Tang, Wei [School of Physics and Electronics, Central South University, Changsha 410083 (China); Suzhou Institute of Nano-tech and Nano-bionics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Suzhou 215123 (China); Zeng, Zhong-ming [Suzhou Institute of Nano-tech and Nano-bionics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Suzhou 215123 (China)

2016-05-15

The magnetic dynamical properties of the soft layer in exchange-coupled soft/hard bilayers have been investigated numerically using a one-dimensional atomic chain model. The frequencies and spatial profiles of spin wave eigenmodes are calculated during the magnetization reversal process of the soft layer. The spin wave modes exhibit a spatially modulated amplitude, which is especially evident for high-order modes. A dynamic pinning effect of surface magnetic moment is observed. The spin wave eigenfrequency decreases linearly with the increase of the magnetic field in the uniformly magnetized state and increases nonlinearly with field when spiral magnetization configuration is formed in the soft layer.

Spin waves in the soft layer of exchange-coupled soft/hard bilayers

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Zheng-min Xiong

2016-05-01

Full Text Available The magnetic dynamical properties of the soft layer in exchange-coupled soft/hard bilayers have been investigated numerically using a one-dimensional atomic chain model. The frequencies and spatial profiles of spin wave eigenmodes are calculated during the magnetization reversal process of the soft layer. The spin wave modes exhibit a spatially modulated amplitude, which is especially evident for high-order modes. A dynamic pinning effect of surface magnetic moment is observed. The spin wave eigenfrequency decreases linearly with the increase of the magnetic field in the uniformly magnetized state and increases nonlinearly with field when spiral magnetization configuration is formed in the soft layer.

Influences of Dam Operations in Groundwater-Surface Water Mixing Zones: Towards Multiscale Understanding

Science.gov (United States)

Stegen, J.; Scheibe, T. D.; Chen, X.; Huang, M.; Arntzen, E.; Garayburu-Caruso, V. A.; Graham, E.; Johnson, T. C.; Strickland, C. E.

2017-12-01

The installation and operation of dams have myriad influences on ecosystems, from direct effects on hydrographs to indirect effects on marine biogeochemistry and terrestrial food webs. With > 50000 existing and > 3700 planned large dams world-wide there is a pressing need for holistic understanding of dam impacts. Such understanding is likely to reveal unrecognized opportunities to modify dam operations towards beneficial outcomes. One of the most dramatic influences of daily dam operations is the creation of `artificial intertidal zones' that emerge from short-term increases and decreases in discharge due to hydroelectric power demands; known as hydropeaking. There is a long history of studying the influences of hydropeaking on macrofauna such as fish and invertebrates, but only recently has significant attention been paid to the hydrobiogeochemical effects of hydropeaking. Our aim here is to develop an integrated conceptual model of the hydrobiogeochemical influences of hydropeaking. To do so we reviewed available literature focusing on hydrologic and/or biogeochemical influences of hydropeaking. Results from these studies were collated into a single conceptual model that integrates key physical (e.g., sediment transport, hydromorphology) and biological (e.g., timescale of microbiome response) processes. This conceptual model highlights non-intuitive impacts of hydropeaking, the presence of critical thresholds, and strong interactions among processes. When examined individually these features suggest context dependency, but when viewed through an integrated conceptual model, common themes emerge. We will further discuss a critical next step, which is the local to regional to global evaluation of this conceptual model, to enable multiscale understanding. We specifically propose a global `hydropeaking network' of researchers using common methods, data standards, and analysis techniques to quantify the hydrobiogeochemical effects of hydropeaking across biomes. We

Multiple cerebral metastasis of alveolar soft-part sarcoma in the retroperitoneum

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ishizaka, Hiroaki; Mori, Kazuo; Moroki, Jiro; Miyake, Hitoshi; Kamei, Toshiaki.

1987-01-01

Alveolar soft-part sarcoma is a rare disease which has thus for been recognized as a malignant soft tissue tumor only with much uncertainty. This report describes a 29-year-old man with multiple cerebral metastasis of alveolar soft-part sarcoma, presumably originating in the retroperitoneum. He was admitted to our hospital with complaints of severe headache, nausea, and left homonymous hemianopsia. A CT scan showed a slight high-density area, with a marked peritumoral low density in the right occipital lobe. Vertebral angiography showed a tumor stain which appeared in the early arterial phase and lasted to the late venous one. Arteriovenous shunting was also remarkable. In the enhanced CT, a small high-density area was also noted in the left frontal lobe. Right occipital craniotomy was carried out, and a total removal was performed. Specimens of the tumor showed typical features of alveolar soft-part sarcoma histologically. Whole-brain radiotherapy-chemotherapy did not show any definite effect. A second operation for the left frontal tumor was carried out five months later. Histological and electron-microscopical examination again showed typical features of alveolar soft-part sarcoma. Regarding the choice of the treatment of this tumor, we recommended total removal of the tumor as the best management. (author)

Satellite based Ocean Forecasting, the SOFT project

Science.gov (United States)

Stemmann, L.; Tintoré, J.; Moneris, S.

2003-04-01

The knowledge of future oceanic conditions would have enormous impact on human marine related areas. For such reasons, a number of international efforts are being carried out to obtain reliable and manageable ocean forecasting systems. Among the possible techniques that can be used to estimate the near future states of the ocean, an ocean forecasting system based on satellite imagery is developped through the Satelitte based Ocean ForecasTing project (SOFT). SOFT, established by the European Commission, considers the development of a forecasting system of the ocean space-time variability based on satellite data by using Artificial Intelligence techniques. This system will be merged with numerical simulation approaches, via assimilation techniques, to get a hybrid SOFT-numerical forecasting system of improved performance. The results of the project will provide efficient forecasting of sea-surface temperature structures, currents, dynamic height, and biological activity associated to chlorophyll fields. All these quantities could give valuable information on the planning and management of human activities in marine environments such as navigation, fisheries, pollution control, or coastal management. A detailed identification of present or new needs and potential end-users concerned by such an operational tool is being performed. The project would study solutions adapted to these specific needs.

Soft x-ray spectroscopy studies of novel electronic materials using synchrotron radiation

Science.gov (United States)

Newby, David, Jr.

Soft x-ray spectroscopy can provide a wealth of information on the electronic structure of solids. In this work, a suite of soft x-ray spectroscopies is applied to organic and inorganic materials with potential applications in electronic and energy generation devices. Using the techniques of x-ray absorption (XAS), x-ray emission spectroscopy (XES), and x-ray photoemission spectroscopy (XPS), the fundamental properties of these different materials are explored. Cycloparaphenylenes (CPPs) are a recently synthesized family of cyclic hydrocarbons with very interesting properties and many potential applications. Unusual UV/Visible fluorescence trends have spurred a number of theoretical investigations into the electronic properties of the CPP family, but thus far no comprehensive electronic structure measurements have been conducted. XPS, XAS, and XES data for two varieties, [8]- and [10]-CPP, are presented here, and compared with the results of relevant DFT calculations. Turning towards more application-centered investigations, similar measurements are applied to two materials commonly used in solid oxide fuel cell (SOFC) cathodes: La1-xSrxMnO 3 (LSMO) and La1-xSr1- xCo1-yFe yO3 (LSCF). Both materials are structurally perovskites, but they exhibit strikingly different electronic properties. SOFC systems very efficiently produce electricity by catalyzing reactions between oxygen and petroleum-based hydrocarbons at high temperatures (> 800 C). Such systems are already utilized to great effect in many industries, but more widespread adoption could be had if the cells could operate at lower temperatures. Understanding the electronic structure and operational evolution of the cathode materials is essential for the development of better low-temperature fuel cells. LSCF is a mixed ion-electron conductor which holds promise for low-temperature SOFC applications. XPS spectra of LSCF thin films are collected as the films are heated and gas-dosed in a controlled environment. The

Fixing soft margins

NARCIS (Netherlands)

P. Kofman (Paul); A. Vaal, de (Albert); C.G. de Vries (Casper)

1993-01-01

textabstractNon-parametric tolerance limits are employed to calculate soft margins such as advocated in Williamson's target zone proposal. In particular, the tradeoff between softness and zone width is quantified. This may be helpful in choosing appropriate margins. Furthermore, it offers

Gaseous electron multiplier-based soft x-ray plasma diagnostics development: Preliminary tests at ASDEX Upgrade

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Chernyshova, M., E-mail: maryna.chernyshova@ipplm.pl; Malinowski, K.; Czarski, T.; Kowalska-Strzęciwilk, E. [Institute of Plasma Physics and Laser Microfusion, Hery 23, 01-497 Warsaw (Poland); Wojeński, A.; Poźniak, K. T.; Kasprowicz, G.; Krawczyk, R.; Kolasiński, P.; Zabołotny, W.; Zienkiewicz, P. [Institute of Electronic Systems, Warsaw University of Technology, Nowowiejska 15/19, 00-665 Warsaw (Poland); Vezinet, D.; Herrmann, A. [Max Planck Institute for Plasma Physics, Boltzmannstr. 2, 85748 Garching (Germany); Mazon, D.; Jardin, A. [CEA, IRFM, F-13108 Saint-Paul-lez-Durance (France)

2016-11-15

A Gaseous Electron Multiplier (GEM)-based detector is being developed for soft X-ray diagnostics on tokamaks. Its main goal is to facilitate transport studies of impurities like tungsten. Such studies are very relevant to ITER, where the excessive accumulation of impurities in the plasma core should be avoided. This contribution provides details of the preliminary tests at ASDEX Upgrade (AUG) with a focus on the most important aspects for detector operation in harsh radiation environment. It was shown that both spatially and spectrally resolved data could be collected, in a reasonable agreement with other AUG diagnostics. Contributions to the GEM signal include also hard X-rays, gammas, and neutrons. First simulations of the effect of high-energy photons have helped understanding these contributions.

MANAGEMENT APPROACH BETWEEN BUSINESS CLUSTER SUCCESS AND SOFT LEADER CHARACTERISTICS

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Robert Lippert

2014-05-01

Full Text Available One of the potential aspects of economic growth lies in focusing on furtherance the development of business clusters. By linking the complementary competencies of profit oriented enterprises, NGO-s, universities, research institutes and local authorities, the innovation potential and the productivity are significantly increased. The present study investigates a specific and challenging managerial activity, the role of the cluster manager. The aim of the research is to reveal the intrinsic motivation of cluster operations and to demonstrate the importance of the manager in the efficient and sustainable operation. An empirical research has been conducted involving cluster managers and member organisations through an extensive questionnaire survey in Hungary. First, determinant factors of cluster success have been identified. By using these factors, as the operational activity of the cluster, as well as the satisfaction of the members in the field of innovation and productivity, a new continuous three-dimensional maturity model has been introduced to evaluate the cluster success. Mapping the soft factors, organisational culture and leadership roles have been assessed by applying Competing Values Framework method. The results of the research depict the correlation found between soft leader characteristics and cluster success.

Advances in Soft Matter Mechanics

CERN Document Server

Li, Shaofan

2012-01-01

"Advances in Soft Matter Mechanics" is a compilation and selection of recent works in soft matter mechanics by a group of active researchers in the field. The main objectives of this book are first to disseminate the latest developments in soft matter mechanics in the field of applied and computational mechanics, and second to introduce soft matter mechanics as a sub-discipline of soft matter physics. As an important branch of soft matter physics, soft matter mechanics has developed rapidly in recent years. A number of the novel approaches discussed in this book are unique, such as the coarse grained finite element method for modeling colloidal adhesion, entropic elasticity, meshfree simulations of liquid crystal elastomers, simulations of DNA, etc. The book is intended for researchers and graduate students in the field of mechanics, condensed matter physics and biomaterials. Dr. Shaofan Li is a professor of the University of California-Berkeley, U.S.A; Dr. Bohua Sun is a professor of Cape Peninsula Universit...

Control of three different continuous pharmaceutical manufacturing processes: Use of soft sensors.

Science.gov (United States)

Rehrl, Jakob; Karttunen, Anssi-Pekka; Nicolaï, Niels; Hörmann, Theresa; Horn, Martin; Korhonen, Ossi; Nopens, Ingmar; De Beer, Thomas; Khinast, Johannes G

2018-05-30

One major advantage of continuous pharmaceutical manufacturing over traditional batch manufacturing is the possibility of enhanced in-process control, reducing out-of-specification and waste material by appropriate discharge strategies. The decision on material discharge can be based on the measurement of active pharmaceutical ingredient (API) concentration at specific locations in the production line via process analytic technology (PAT), e.g. near-infrared (NIR) spectrometers. The implementation of the PAT instruments is associated with monetary investment and the long term operation requires techniques avoiding sensor drifts. Therefore, our paper proposes a soft sensor approach for predicting the API concentration from the feeder data. In addition, this information can be used to detect sensor drift, or serve as a replacement/supplement of specific PAT equipment. The paper presents the experimental determination of the residence time distribution of selected unit operations in three different continuous processing lines (hot melt extrusion, direct compaction, wet granulation). The mathematical models describing the soft sensor are developed and parameterized. Finally, the suggested soft sensor approach is validated on the three mentioned, different continuous processing lines, demonstrating its versatility. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

[Update on soft tissue sarcomas].

Science.gov (United States)

Bui, Binh Nguyen; Tabrizi, Reza; Dagada, Corinne; Trufflandier, Nathalie; St ckle, Eberhard; Coindre, Jean-Michel

2002-01-01

Important refinements have taken place in the diagnosis of soft tissue sarcoma with extensive use of immuno-histochemistry. New entities have been described, while malignant histiocytofibroma, the most diagnosed sarcoma type during the last two decades, has been dismembered. As for prognosis, the new UICC classification is effectively more discriminating in the definition of prognostic groups; but the usefullness of new biological or genetic markers remains to be assessed. Several breakthrough have taken place in the last years in the treatment of soft tissue sarcoma. Isolated limb perfusion with TNF, hyperthermia and melphalan have proven its efficacy, and is now an alternative to preoperative chemotherapy and/or radiotherapy for limb sparing treatment of the primary tumor site or to amputation. For systemic treatments, novel cytostatic drugs have been shown to be active in sarcomas, including ecteinascidine (ET743) and Glivec (STI571). This last drug has been shown to be remarkably active in c-kit+ stromal sarcoma of the gastro-intestinal tract. It can hopefully regarded as an example for targeted therapies, which may come with a better understanding of the molecular mechanisms triggered by the fundamental, specific genetic alterations shown in sarcoma.

Bipolar fracture dislocation of clavicle: A report of osteosynthesis and early soft tissue reconstruction

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Renaldi Prasetia

Full Text Available Introduction: Bipolar dislocation of the clavicle, also called bifocal or pan-articular dislocation or floating clavicle, is an uncommon traumatic injury. The injury of this case is also concomitant with distal third clavicle and coracoid fracture. This article aimed to report the experience of performing osteosynthesis and early soft tissue reconstruction on these injuries. Case report: We reported a case of bipolar clavicle fracture-dislocation in concomitant with coracoid fracture in a man, aged 32 years old, successfully treated 24 days after accident by fixation of both fractures and early simultaneous reconstruction of sternoclavicular- acromioclavicular-coracoclavicular joints. Discussion: These injuries are rare and capable of causing many complications if they are treated improperly. It is compulsory to carefully assess any fractured clavicle along its whole length, both clinically and radiologically. Various options, from non-operative to operative, have been reported to manage such of these cases. Early bony fixation and soft tissue reconstruction can correct the alignment of clavicle and recover the function of sterno-clavicular and acromio-clavicular- joints promptly. Conclusion: Fracture osteosynthesis and early soft tissue reconstruction can be regarded as an option treatment for bipolar fracture-dislocation of the clavicle to facilitate prompt treatment and early rehabilitation. Keywords: Bipolar dislocation, Floating clavicle, Early reconstruction, Soft tissue reconstruction

Studies of ZVS soft switching of dual-active-bridge isolated bidirectional DC-DC converters

Science.gov (United States)

Xu, Fei; Zhao, Feng; Shi, Qibiao; Wen, Xuhui

2018-05-01

To operate dual-active-bridge isolated bidirectional dc- dc converter (DAB) at high efficiency, the two bridge switches must operate with Zero-Voltage-Switching (ZVS) over as wide an operating range as possible. This paper proposes a new perspective on realizing ZVS in dead-time. An exact theoretical analysis and mathematical mode is built to explain the process of ZVS switching in dead-time under Single Phase Shift (SPS) control strategy. In order to assure the two bridge switches operate on soft switching, every SPS switching point is analyzed. Generally, dead-time will be determined when the power electronic devices is selected. The key factor to realizing ZVS is the size of the end time of resonance comparing to dead-time. Through detailed analysis, it can obtain the conditions of all switches achieving ZVS turn-on and turn-off. Finally, simulation validates the theoretical analysis and some advice are given to realize the ZVS soft switching.

Clinical management of soft tissue sarcomas

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Pinedo, H.M.; Verweij, J.

1986-01-01

This book is concerned with the clinical management of soft tissue sarcomas. Topics covered include: Radiotherapy; Pathology of soft tissue sarcomas; Surgical treatment of soft tissue sarcomas; and Chemotherapy in advanced soft tissue sarcomas

Soft x-ray streak camera for laser fusion applications

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Stradling, G.L.

1981-04-01

This thesis reviews the development and significance of the soft x-ray streak camera (SXRSC) in the context of inertial confinement fusion energy development. A brief introduction of laser fusion and laser fusion diagnostics is presented. The need for a soft x-ray streak camera as a laser fusion diagnostic is shown. Basic x-ray streak camera characteristics, design, and operation are reviewed. The SXRSC design criteria, the requirement for a subkilovolt x-ray transmitting window, and the resulting camera design are explained. Theory and design of reflector-filter pair combinations for three subkilovolt channels centered at 220 eV, 460 eV, and 620 eV are also presented. Calibration experiments are explained and data showing a dynamic range of 1000 and a sweep speed of 134 psec/mm are presented. Sensitivity modifications to the soft x-ray streak camera for a high-power target shot are described. A preliminary investigation, using a stepped cathode, of the thickness dependence of the gold photocathode response is discussed. Data from a typical Argus laser gold-disk target experiment are shown

Comparison of a CCD and an APS for soft X-ray diffraction

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Stewart, Graeme; Bates, R; Blue, A; Maneuski, D; Clark, A; Turchetta, R; Dhesi, S S; Marchal, J; Steadman, P; Tartoni, N

2011-01-01

We compare a new CMOS Active Pixel Sensor (APS) to a Princeton Instruments PIXIS-XO: 2048B Charge Coupled Device (CCD) with soft X-rays tested in a synchrotron beam line at the Diamond Light Source (DLS). Despite CCDs being established in the field of scientific imaging, APS are an innovative technology that offers advantages over CCDs. These include faster readout, higher operational temperature, in-pixel electronics for advanced image processing and reduced manufacturing cost. The APS employed was the Vanilla sensor designed by the MI3 collaboration and funded by an RCUK Basic technology grant. This sensor has 520 x 520 square pixels, of size 25 μm on each side. The sensor can operate at a full frame readout of up to 20 Hz. The sensor had been back-thinned, to the epitaxial layer. This was the first time that a back-thinned APS had been demonstrated at a beam line at DLS. In the synchrotron experiment soft X-rays with an energy of approximately 708 eV were used to produce a diffraction pattern from a permalloy sample. The pattern was imaged at a range of integration times with both sensors. The CCD had to be operated at a temperature of -55°C whereas the Vanilla was operated over a temperature range from 20°C to -10°C. We show that the APS detector can operate with frame rates up to two hundred times faster than the CCD, without excessive degradation of image quality. The signal to noise of the APS is shown to be the same as that of the CCD at identical integration times and the response is shown to be linear, with no charge blooming effects. The experiment has allowed a direct comparison of back thinned APS and CCDs in a real soft x-ray synchrotron experiment.

Comparison of a CCD and an APS for soft X-ray diffraction

Science.gov (United States)

Stewart, Graeme; Bates, R.; Blue, A.; Clark, A.; Dhesi, S. S.; Maneuski, D.; Marchal, J.; Steadman, P.; Tartoni, N.; Turchetta, R.

2011-12-01

We compare a new CMOS Active Pixel Sensor (APS) to a Princeton Instruments PIXIS-XO: 2048B Charge Coupled Device (CCD) with soft X-rays tested in a synchrotron beam line at the Diamond Light Source (DLS). Despite CCDs being established in the field of scientific imaging, APS are an innovative technology that offers advantages over CCDs. These include faster readout, higher operational temperature, in-pixel electronics for advanced image processing and reduced manufacturing cost. The APS employed was the Vanilla sensor designed by the MI3 collaboration and funded by an RCUK Basic technology grant. This sensor has 520 x 520 square pixels, of size 25 μm on each side. The sensor can operate at a full frame readout of up to 20 Hz. The sensor had been back-thinned, to the epitaxial layer. This was the first time that a back-thinned APS had been demonstrated at a beam line at DLS. In the synchrotron experiment soft X-rays with an energy of approximately 708 eV were used to produce a diffraction pattern from a permalloy sample. The pattern was imaged at a range of integration times with both sensors. The CCD had to be operated at a temperature of -55°C whereas the Vanilla was operated over a temperature range from 20°C to -10°C. We show that the APS detector can operate with frame rates up to two hundred times faster than the CCD, without excessive degradation of image quality. The signal to noise of the APS is shown to be the same as that of the CCD at identical integration times and the response is shown to be linear, with no charge blooming effects. The experiment has allowed a direct comparison of back thinned APS and CCDs in a real soft x-ray synchrotron experiment.

Soft tissue augmentation 2006: filler fantasy.

Science.gov (United States)

Klein, Arnold William

2006-01-01

As an increasing number of patients seek esthetic improvement through minimally invasive procedures, interest in soft tissue augmentation and filling agents is at an all-time high. One reason for this interest is the availability of botulinum toxin type A, which works superbly in the upper face. The rejuvenation of the upper face has created much interest in injectable filling agents and implant techniques that work equally well in the restoration of the lower face. One of the central tenets of soft tissue augmentation is the concept of the three-dimensional face. The youthful face has a soft, full appearance, as opposed to the flat, pulled, two-dimensional look often achieved by more traditional surgical approaches. Injectable filling agents can augment and even at times, replace pulling. Additionally, with the lip as the focal center of the lower face, subtle lip enhancement is here to stay, and is in fact, the number one indication for injectable fillers. Moreover, minimally invasive soft tissue augmentation offers cosmetic enhancement without the cost and recovery time associated with more invasive procedures. As more and more physicians take interest in minimally invasive surgery, courses in cosmetic surgery techniques are becoming increasingly popular at the medical meetings of many specialties. Today, physicians have a much larger armamentarium of techniques and materials with which to improve facial contours, ameliorate wrinkles, and provide esthetic rejuvenation to the face. For a substance or device to be amenable for soft tissue augmentation in the medical community, it must meet certain criteria. It must have both a high "use" potential, producing cosmetically pleasing results with a minimum undesirable reactions, and have a low abuse potential in that widespread or incorrect or indiscriminate use would not result in significant morbidity. It must be nonteratogenic, noncarcinogenic, and nonmigratory. In addition, the agent must provide predictable

CHARACTERIZATIONS OF FUZZY SOFT PRE SEPARATION AXIOMS

OpenAIRE

El-Latif, Alaa Mohamed Abd

2015-01-01

− The notions of fuzzy pre open soft sets and fuzzy pre closed soft sets were introducedby Abd El-latif et al. [2]. In this paper, we continue the study on fuzzy soft topological spaces andinvestigate the properties of fuzzy pre open soft sets, fuzzy pre closed soft sets and study variousproperties and notions related to these structures. In particular, we study the relationship betweenfuzzy pre soft interior fuzzy pre soft closure. Moreover, we study the properties of fuzzy soft pre regulars...

Soft Hair on Black Holes

Science.gov (United States)

Hawking, Stephen W.; Perry, Malcolm J.; Strominger, Andrew

2016-06-01

It has recently been shown that Bondi-van der Burg-Metzner-Sachs supertranslation symmetries imply an infinite number of conservation laws for all gravitational theories in asymptotically Minkowskian spacetimes. These laws require black holes to carry a large amount of soft (i.e., zero-energy) supertranslation hair. The presence of a Maxwell field similarly implies soft electric hair. This Letter gives an explicit description of soft hair in terms of soft gravitons or photons on the black hole horizon, and shows that complete information about their quantum state is stored on a holographic plate at the future boundary of the horizon. Charge conservation is used to give an infinite number of exact relations between the evaporation products of black holes which have different soft hair but are otherwise identical. It is further argued that soft hair which is spatially localized to much less than a Planck length cannot be excited in a physically realizable process, giving an effective number of soft degrees of freedom proportional to the horizon area in Planck units.

Soft Hair on Black Holes.

Science.gov (United States)

Hawking, Stephen W; Perry, Malcolm J; Strominger, Andrew

2016-06-10

It has recently been shown that Bondi-van der Burg-Metzner-Sachs supertranslation symmetries imply an infinite number of conservation laws for all gravitational theories in asymptotically Minkowskian spacetimes. These laws require black holes to carry a large amount of soft (i.e., zero-energy) supertranslation hair. The presence of a Maxwell field similarly implies soft electric hair. This Letter gives an explicit description of soft hair in terms of soft gravitons or photons on the black hole horizon, and shows that complete information about their quantum state is stored on a holographic plate at the future boundary of the horizon. Charge conservation is used to give an infinite number of exact relations between the evaporation products of black holes which have different soft hair but are otherwise identical. It is further argued that soft hair which is spatially localized to much less than a Planck length cannot be excited in a physically realizable process, giving an effective number of soft degrees of freedom proportional to the horizon area in Planck units.

Soft skills and dental education.

Science.gov (United States)

Gonzalez, M A G; Abu Kasim, N H; Naimie, Z

2013-05-01

Soft skills and hard skills are essential in the practice of dentistry. While hard skills deal with technical proficiency, soft skills relate to a personal values and interpersonal skills that determine a person's ability to fit in a particular situation. These skills contribute to the success of organisations that deal face-to-face with clients. Effective soft skills benefit the dental practice. However, the teaching of soft skills remains a challenge to dental schools. This paper discusses the different soft skills, how they are taught and assessed and the issues that need to be addressed in their teaching and assessment. The use of the module by the Faculty of Dentistry, University of Malaya for development of soft skills for institutions of higher learning introduced by the Ministry of Higher Education, Malaysia. © 2013 John Wiley & Sons A/S. Published by Blackwell Publishing Ltd.

Indentation and Observation of Anisotropic Soft Tissues Using an Indenter Device

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Parinaz ASHRAFI

2015-01-01

Full Text Available Soft tissues of human body have complex structures and different mechanical behaviors than those of traditional engineering materials. There is a great urge to understand tissue behavior of human body. Experimental data is needed for improvement of soft tissue modeling and advancement in implants and prosthesis, as well as diagnosis of diseases. Mechanical behavior and responses change when tissue loses its liveliness and viability. One of the techniques for soft tissue testing is indentation, which is applied on live tissue in its physiological environment. Indentation affords several advantages over other types of tests such as uniaxial tension, biaxial tension, and simple shear and suction, thus it is of interest to develop new indentation techniques from which more valid data can be extracted. In this study a new indenter device was designed and constructed. Displacement and force rate cyclic loading, and relaxation experiments were conducted on human arm. The in-vivo force rate controlled cyclic loading test method which is novel is compared with the traditional displacement controlled cyclic loading tests. Anisotropic behavior of tissue cannot be determined by axisymmetric tips, therefore ellipsoid tips were used for examining anisotropy and inplane material direction of bulk soft tissues

Operating Systems

Indian Academy of Sciences (India)

areas in which this type is useful are multimedia, virtual reality, and advanced scientific projects such as undersea exploration and planetary rovers. Because of the expanded uses for soft real-time functionality, it is finding its way into most current operating systems, including major versions of Unix and Windows NT OS.

Hard and Soft Selection Revisited: How Evolution by Natural Selection Works in the Real World.

Science.gov (United States)

Reznick, David

2016-01-01

The modern synthesis of evolutionary biology unified Darwin's natural selection with Mendelian genetics, but at the same time it created the dilemma of genetic load. Lewontin and Hubby's (1966) and Harris's (1966) characterization of genetic variation in natural populations increased the apparent burden of this load. Neutrality or near neutrality of genetic variation was one mechanism proposed for the revealed excessive genetic variation. Bruce Wallace coined the term "soft selection" to describe an alternative way for natural selection to operate that was consistent with observed variation. He envisioned nature as presenting ecological vacancies that could be filled by diverse genotypes. Survival and successful reproduction was a combined function of population density, genotype, and genotype frequencies, rather than a fixed value of the relative fitness of each genotype. My goal in this review is to explore the importance of soft selection in the real world. My motive and that of my colleagues as described here is not to explain what maintains genetic variation in natural populations, but rather to understand the factors that shape how organisms adapt to natural environments. We characterize how feedbacks between ecology and evolution shape both evolution and ecology. These feedbacks are mediated by density- and frequency-dependent selection, the mechanisms that underlie soft selection. Here, I report on our progress in characterizing these types of selection with a combination of a consideration of the published literature and the results from my collaborators' and my research on natural populations of guppies. © The American Genetic Association. 2015. All rights reserved. For permissions, please e-mail: journals.permissions@oup.com.

Automated knowledge acquisition - an aid to understanding the actions of a skilled operator

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Wright, R.M.

1990-01-01

The operator of an accelerator experiment often appears to be a highly skilled magician. The diagnostics used, such as oscilloscope traces, may be only indirectly related to the state of the accelerator. The operator adjusts the knobs so that the experiment runs well, but is not always able to describe in words exactly what is happening. The tool described in this paper, acc-plot-tool, was developed as a supplement to note-taking while attempting to develop an expert system that might function as an apprentice operator. During an experiment, a historical record is made of all operator actions and the resulting changes in the state of the equipment, including digitized records of the oscilloscope traces used to make decisions. These records are transformed into a set of graphical objects in the knowledge engineering environment (KEE). A flexible set of KEE functions has been developed, allowing both graphical and numerical manipulation of the data. The acc-plot-tool is not only useful in helping to understand the operator's actions, but also in discovering correlations between operator actions and system-parameter changes, in detecting equipment failures and in the mathematical modeling of the system. Examples will be given from ion-source operation. (orig.)

Soft Manipulators and Grippers: A Review

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Josie Hughes

2016-11-01

Full Text Available Soft robotics is a growing area of research which utilises the compliance and adaptability of soft structures to develop highly adaptive robotics for soft interactions. One area in which soft robotics has the ability to make significant impact is in the development of soft grippers and manipulators. With an increased requirement for automation, robotics systems are required to perform task in unstructured and not well defined environments; conditions which conventional rigid robotics are not best suited. This requires a paradigm shift in the methods and materials used to develop robots such that they can adapt to and work safely in human environments. One solution to this is soft robotics, which enables soft interactions with the surroundings whilst maintaining the ability to apply significant force. This review paper assess the current materials and methods, actuation methods and sensors which are used in the development of soft manipulators. The achievements and shortcomings of recent technology in these key areas are evaluated, and this paper concludes with a discussion on the potential impacts of soft manipulators on industry and society.

Critical issues in soft rocks

OpenAIRE

Milton Assis Kanji

2014-01-01

This paper discusses several efforts made to study and investigate soft rocks, as well as their physico-mechanical characteristics recognized up to now, the problems in their sampling and testing, and the possibility of its reproduction through artificially made soft rocks. The problems in utilizing current and widespread classification systems to some types of weak rocks are also discussed, as well as other problems related to them. Some examples of engineering works in soft rock or in soft ...

Soft skills and dental education

OpenAIRE

Gonzalez, M. A. G.; Abu Kasim, N. H.; Naimie, Z.

2014-01-01

Soft skills and hard skills are essential in the practice of dentistry. While hard skills deal with technical proficiency, soft skills relate to a personal values and interpersonal skills that determine a person's ability to fit in a particular situation. These skills contribute to the success of organisations that deal face-to-face with clients. Effective soft skills benefit the dental practice. However, the teaching of soft skills remains a challenge to dental schools. This paper discusses ...

MANAGEMENT SOFT-FACTORS IN INDUSTRIES

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

L. V. Fatkin

2012-01-01

Full Text Available No proper attention is given in existing management theories and concepts to systematization and analysis of non-material management factors, so-called «soft-factors». In industries, management soft-factors may be treated in a broader way. An example of a broader treatment of management soft-factors is given for the system of state regulation of foreign trade activities in industries along with specification, determination and rating of organizational and administrative management soft-factors.

Soft switching PWM isolated boost converter for fuel cell application

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Rezaei, M.; Adib, E. [Isfahan Univ. of Technology, Isfahan (Iran, Islamic Republic of)

2009-07-01

This presentation introduced a newly developed soft switching, isolated boost type converter for fuel cell applications. With a simple PWM control circuit, the converter achieves zero voltage switching the main switch. Since the auxiliary circuit is soft switched, the converter can operate at high powers which make it suitable for fuel cell applications. In particular, the converter is suitable for the interface of fuel cell and inverters because of its high voltage gain and isolation between input and output sources. In addition, the input current of the converter (current drained from the fuel cell) is almost constant since it is a boost type converter. The converter was analyzed and the simulation results validate the theoretical analysis.

Soft Clouding

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Søndergaard, Morten; Markussen, Thomas; Wetton, Barnabas

2012-01-01

Soft Clouding is a blended concept, which describes the aim of a collaborative and transdisciplinary project. The concept is a metaphor implying a blend of cognitive, embodied interaction and semantic web. Furthermore, it is a metaphor describing our attempt of curating a new semantics of sound...... archiving. The Soft Clouding Project is part of LARM - a major infrastructure combining research in and access to sound and radio archives in Denmark. In 2012 the LARM infrastructure will consist of more than 1 million hours of radio, combined with metadata who describes the content. The idea is to analyse...... the concept of ‘infrastructure’ and ‘interface’ on a creative play with the fundamentals of LARM (and any sound archive situation combining many kinds and layers of data and sources). This paper will present and discuss the Soft clouding project from the perspective of the three practices and competencies...

Validity of a manual soft tissue profile prediction method following mandibular setback osteotomy.

Science.gov (United States)

Kolokitha, Olga-Elpis

2007-10-01

The aim of this study was to determine the validity of a manual cephalometric method used for predicting the post-operative soft tissue profiles of patients who underwent mandibular setback surgery and compare it to a computerized cephalometric prediction method (Dentofacial Planner). Lateral cephalograms of 18 adults with mandibular prognathism taken at the end of pre-surgical orthodontics and approximately one year after surgery were used. To test the validity of the manual method the prediction tracings were compared to the actual post-operative tracings. The Dentofacial Planner software was used to develop the computerized post-surgical prediction tracings. Both manual and computerized prediction printouts were analyzed by using the cephalometric system PORDIOS. Statistical analysis was performed by means of t-test. Comparison between manual prediction tracings and the actual post-operative profile showed that the manual method results in more convex soft tissue profiles; the upper lip was found in a more prominent position, upper lip thickness was increased and, the mandible and lower lip were found in a less posterior position than that of the actual profiles. Comparison between computerized and manual prediction methods showed that in the manual method upper lip thickness was increased, the upper lip was found in a more anterior position and the lower anterior facial height was increased as compared to the computerized prediction method. Cephalometric simulation of post-operative soft tissue profile following orthodontic-surgical management of mandibular prognathism imposes certain limitations related to the methods implied. However, both manual and computerized prediction methods remain a useful tool for patient communication.

Management and prognosis of patients with high-grade soft tissue sarcomas

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Alvegaard, T.A.

1989-01-01

Doxorubicin is one of the most active single agents in metastatic soft tissue sarcoma. This was the rationale for the evaluation og doxorubicin in an adjuvant situation for patients with high-grade soft tissue sarcoma in a randomized, Scandinavian, multicenter joint care program, which was carried out from January 1981 to February 1986, and included 240 patients. These patients comprised the base series for the investigations of the importance of the surgical margin and radiotherapy for local tumor control; the accuracy of malignancy grading and tumor typing; prognostic factors, including DNA content; and epidemiologic risk factors. The results showed that the use of doxorubicin as adjuvant chemotherapy did not have clinical benefit in patients with high-grade soft tissue sarcoma. The overall local tumor control was high (94 %) for radically operated on extremity-located tumors due to strict classification of surgical margins. The only risk factor for local recurrence was marginal surgery without radiotherapy with a four times higher risk than after compartmental or wide surgery. Twelve percent of the operations reported as radical were classified as marginal, demonstrating the importance of reevaluation of surgical margins, and in these patients the local recurrence rate was 37 %. The 5-year metastasis-free survival for the whole patients series was 55 %, with the extremes 79 % for the patients with no or only one risk factor and 0 % for those with four or five risk factors. The five prognostic factors found could be used for selection of high-risk patients for adjuvant chemotherapy in the future. The epidemiologic study gave limited support for an association between occupational phenoxy-acid exposure and soft tissue sarcoma development. (98 refs.)

Biomarkers of necrotising soft tissue infections

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Hansen, Marco Bo; Simonsen, Ulf; Garred, Peter

2015-01-01

INTRODUCTION: The mortality and amputation rates are still high in patients with necrotising soft tissue infections (NSTIs). It would be ideal to have a set of biomarkers that enables the clinician to identify high-risk patients with NSTI on admission. The objectives of this study are to evaluate...... and mortality in patients with NSTI and that HBOT reduces the inflammatory response. METHODS AND ANALYSIS: This is a prospective, observational study being conducted in a tertiary referral centre. Biomarkers will be measured in 114 patients who have been operatively diagnosed with NSTI. On admission, baseline...

PREFACE: International Symposium on Non-Equilibrium Soft Matter 2010 International Symposium on Non-Equilibrium Soft Matter 2010

Science.gov (United States)

Kawakatsu, T.; Matsuyama, A.; Ohta, T.; Tanaka, H.; Tanaka, S.

2011-07-01

Soft matter is a rapidly growing interdisciplinary research field covering a range of subject areas including physics, chemistry, biology, mathematics and engineering. Some of the important universal features of these materials are their mesoscopic structures and their dynamics. Due to the existence of such large-scale structures, which nevertheless exhibit interactions of the order of the thermal energy, soft matter can readily be taken out of equilibrium by imposing a weak external field such as an electric field, a mechanical stress or a shear flow. The importance of the coexistence of microscopic molecular dynamics and the mesoscopic/macroscopic structures and flows requires us to develop hierarchical approaches to understand the nonlinear and nonequilibrium phenomena, which is one of the central issues of current soft matter research. This special section presents selected contributions from the 'International Symposium on Non-Equilibrium Soft Matter 2010' held from 17-20 August 2010 in Nara, Japan, which aimed to describe recent advances in soft matter research focusing especially on its nonequilibrium aspects. The topics discussed cover statics and dynamics of a wide variety of materials ranging from traditional soft matter like polymers, gels, emulsions, liquid crystals and colloids to biomaterials such as biopolymers and biomembranes. Among these studies, we highlighted the physics of biomembranes and vesicles, which has attracted great attention during the last decade; we organized a special session for this active field. The work presented in this issue deals with (1) structure formation in biomembranes and vesicles, (2) rheology of polymers and gels, (3) mesophases in block copolymers, (4) mesoscopic structures in liquid crystals and ionic liquids, and (5) nonequilibrium dynamics. This symposium was organized as part of a research project supported by the Grant-in-Aid for the priority area 'Soft Matter Physics' (2006-2010) from the Ministry of Education

The softness of an atom in a molecule and a functional group softness definition; an LCAO scale

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Giambiagi, M.; Giambiagi, M.S. de; Pires, J.M.; Pitanga, P.

1987-01-01

We introduce a scale for the softness of an atom in different molecules and we similarly define a functional group softness. These definitions, unlike previous ones, are not tied to the finite difference approximation neither, hence, to valence state ionization potentials and electron affinities; they result from the LCAO calculation itself. We conclude that a) the softness of an atom in a molecule shows wide variations; b) the geometric average of the softnesses of the atoms in the molecule gives the most consistent results for the molecular softnesses; c) the functional group softness is transferable within a homologous series. (Author) [pt

Int-Soft Interior Hyperideals of Ordered Semihypergroups

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Asghar Khan

2017-07-01

Full Text Available The main theme of this paper is to study ordered semihypergroups in the context of int-soft interior hyperideals. In this paper, the notion of int-soft interior hyperideals are studied and their related properties are discussed. We present characterizations of interior hyperideals in terms of int-soft interior hyperideals. The concepts of int-soft hyperideals and int-soft interior hyperideals coincide in a regular as well as in intra-regular ordered semihypergroups. We prove that every int-soft hyperideal is an int-soft interior hyperideal but the converse is not true which is shown with help of an example. Furthermore we characterize simple ordered semihypergroups by means of int-soft hyperideals and int-soft interior hyperideals.

Study on algorithm of process neural network for soft sensing in sewage disposal system

Science.gov (United States)

Liu, Zaiwen; Xue, Hong; Wang, Xiaoyi; Yang, Bin; Lu, Siying

2006-11-01

A new method of soft sensing based on process neural network (PNN) for sewage disposal system is represented in the paper. PNN is an extension of traditional neural network, in which the inputs and outputs are time-variation. An aggregation operator is introduced to process neuron, and it makes the neuron network has the ability to deal with the information of space-time two dimensions at the same time, so the data processing enginery of biological neuron is imitated better than traditional neuron. Process neural network with the structure of three layers in which hidden layer is process neuron and input and output are common neurons for soft sensing is discussed. The intelligent soft sensing based on PNN may be used to fulfill measurement of the effluent BOD (Biochemical Oxygen Demand) from sewage disposal system, and a good training result of soft sensing was obtained by the method.

Beyond metrics? Utilizing 'soft intelligence' for healthcare quality and safety.

Science.gov (United States)

Martin, Graham P; McKee, Lorna; Dixon-Woods, Mary

2015-10-01

Formal metrics for monitoring the quality and safety of healthcare have a valuable role, but may not, by themselves, yield full insight into the range of fallibilities in organizations. 'Soft intelligence' is usefully understood as the processes and behaviours associated with seeking and interpreting soft data-of the kind that evade easy capture, straightforward classification and simple quantification-to produce forms of knowledge that can provide the basis for intervention. With the aim of examining current and potential practice in relation to soft intelligence, we conducted and analysed 107 in-depth qualitative interviews with senior leaders, including managers and clinicians, involved in healthcare quality and safety in the English National Health Service. We found that participants were in little doubt about the value of softer forms of data, especially for their role in revealing troubling issues that might be obscured by conventional metrics. Their struggles lay in how to access softer data and turn them into a useful form of knowing. Some of the dominant approaches they used risked replicating the limitations of hard, quantitative data. They relied on processes of aggregation and triangulation that prioritised reliability, or on instrumental use of soft data to animate the metrics. The unpredictable, untameable, spontaneous quality of soft data could be lost in efforts to systematize their collection and interpretation to render them more tractable. A more challenging but potentially rewarding approach involved processes and behaviours aimed at disrupting taken-for-granted assumptions about quality, safety, and organizational performance. This approach, which explicitly values the seeking out and the hearing of multiple voices, is consistent with conceptual frameworks of organizational sensemaking and dialogical understandings of knowledge. Using soft intelligence this way can be challenging and discomfiting, but may offer a critical defence against the

Soft qualities in healthcare. Method and tools for soft qualities design in hospitals' built environments.

Science.gov (United States)

Capolongo, S; Bellini, E; Nachiero, D; Rebecchi, A; Buffoli, M

2014-01-01

The design of hospital environments is determined by functional requirements and technical regulations, as well as numerous protocols, which define the structure and system characteristics that such environments need to achieve. In order to improve people's well-being and the quality of their experience within public hospitals, design elements (soft qualities) are added to those 'necessary' features. The aim of this research has been to experiment a new design process and also to create health care spaces with high environmental quality and capable to meet users' emotional and perceptual needs. Such needs were investigated with the help of qualitative research tools and the design criteria for one of these soft qualities - colour - were subsequently defined on the basis of the findings. The colour scheme design for the new San Paolo Hospital Emergency Department in Milan was used as case study. Focus groups were fundamental in defining the project's goals and criteria. The issues raised have led to believe that the proper procedure is not the mere consultation of the users in order to define the goals: users should rather be involved in the whole design process and become co-agents of the choices that determine the environment characteristics, so as to meet the quality requirements identified by the users themselves. The case study has shown the possibility of developing a designing methodology made by three steps (or operational tools) in which users' groups are involved in the choices, loading to plan the environments where compliance with expectations is already implied and verified by means of the process itself. Thus, the method leads to the creation of soft qualities in Healthcare.

Soft error modeling and analysis of the Neutron Intercepting Silicon Chip (NISC)

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Celik, Cihangir; Unlue, Kenan; Narayanan, Vijaykrishnan; Irwin, Mary J.

2011-01-01

Soft errors are transient errors caused due to excess charge carriers induced primarily by external radiations in the semiconductor devices. Soft error phenomena could be used to detect thermal neutrons with a neutron monitoring/detection system by enhancing soft error occurrences in the memory devices. This way, one can convert all semiconductor memory devices into neutron detection systems. Such a device is being developed at The Pennsylvania State University and named Neutron Intercepting Silicon Chip (NISC). The NISC is envisioning a miniature, power efficient, and active/passive operation neutron sensor/detector system. NISC aims to achieve this goal by introducing 10 B-enriched Borophosphosilicate Glass (BPSG) insulation layers in the semiconductor memories. In order to model and analyze the NISC, an analysis tool using Geant4 as the transport and tracking engine is developed for the simulation of the charged particle interactions in the semiconductor memory model, named NISC Soft Error Analysis Tool (NISCSAT). A simple model with 10 B-enriched layer on top of the lumped silicon region is developed in order to represent the semiconductor memory node. Soft error probability calculations were performed via the NISCSAT with both single node and array configurations to investigate device scaling by using different node dimensions in the model. Mono-energetic, mono-directional thermal and fast neutrons are used as the neutron sources. Soft error contribution due to the BPSG layer is also investigated with different 10 B contents and the results are presented in this paper.

Preparing soft-bodied arthropods for microscope examination: Soft Scales (Insecta: Hemiptera: Coccidae)

Science.gov (United States)

Proper identification of soft scales (Hemiptera:Coccidae) requires preparation of the specimen on a microscope slide. This training video provides visual instruction on how to prepare soft scale specimens on microscope slides for examination and identification. Steps ranging from collection, speci...

A Novel Soft-Switching Synchronous Buck Converter for Portable Applications

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Anup Kumar Panda

2008-01-01

Full Text Available This paper proposes a zero-voltage-transition (ZVT pulse-width-modulated (PWM synchronous buck converter, which is designed to operate at low voltage and high efficiency typically required for portable systems. A new passive auxiliary circuit that allows the main switch to operate with zero-voltage switching has been incorporated in the conventional PWM synchronous buck converter. The operation principles and a detailed steady-state analysis of the ZVT-PWM synchronous converter implemented with the auxiliary circuit are presented. Besides, the main switch and all of the semiconductor devices operate under soft-switching conditions. Thus, the auxiliary circuit provides a larger overall efficiency. The feasibility of the auxiliary circuit is confirmed by simulation and experimental results.

Case report 393: Extraskeletal chondroma of the soft tissue of the wrist

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Perri, G.; Tripi, D.

1986-10-01

An interesting case of extraskeletal intra-articular chondroma is described. The radiological appearance was that of a soft tissue mass of the wrist on the ulnar side, together with osteopenia and erosions of the pisiform and triquetrum bones. No calcification was noted. The most likely diagnosis was pigmented villonodular synovitis; synovial osteochondromatosis was also considered. However, at operation a single cartilaginous intra-articular nodule, firmly attached to the synovium, proved to be an extraskeletal chondroma. The authors offer speculative theories about the origins of such lesions and describe the various radiological and pathological features of a chondroma of soft tissues.

Case report 393: Extraskeletal chondroma of the soft tissue of the wrist

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Perri, G.; Tripi, D.

1986-01-01

An interesting case of extraskeletal intra-articular chondroma is described. The radiological appearance was that of a soft tissue mass of the wrist on the ulnar side, together with osteopenia and erosions of the pisiform and triquetrum bones. No calcification was noted. The most likely diagnosis was pigmented villonodular synovitis; synovial osteochondromatosis was also considered. However, at operation a single cartilaginous intra-articular nodule, firmly attached to the synovium, proved to be an extraskeletal chondroma. The authors offer speculative theories about the origins of such lesions and describe the various radiological and pathological features of a chondroma of soft tissues. (orig.)

An empirical study on the human error recovery failure probability when using soft controls in NPP advanced MCRs

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Jang, Inseok; Kim, Ar Ryum; Jung, Wondea; Seong, Poong Hyun

2014-01-01

Highlights: • Many researchers have tried to understand human recovery process or step. • Modeling human recovery process is not sufficient to be applied to HRA. • The operation environment of MCRs in NPPs has changed by adopting new HSIs. • Recovery failure probability in a soft control operation environment is investigated. • Recovery failure probability here would be important evidence for expert judgment. - Abstract: It is well known that probabilistic safety assessments (PSAs) today consider not just hardware failures and environmental events that can impact upon risk, but also human error contributions. Consequently, the focus on reliability and performance management has been on the prevention of human errors and failures rather than the recovery of human errors. However, the recovery of human errors is as important as the prevention of human errors and failures for the safe operation of nuclear power plants (NPPs). For this reason, many researchers have tried to find a human recovery process or step. However, modeling the human recovery process is not sufficient enough to be applied to human reliability analysis (HRA), which requires human error and recovery probabilities. In this study, therefore, human error recovery failure probabilities based on predefined human error modes were investigated by conducting experiments in the operation mockup of advanced/digital main control rooms (MCRs) in NPPs. To this end, 48 subjects majoring in nuclear engineering participated in the experiments. In the experiments, using the developed accident scenario based on tasks from the standard post trip action (SPTA), the steam generator tube rupture (SGTR), and predominant soft control tasks, which are derived from the loss of coolant accident (LOCA) and the excess steam demand event (ESDE), all error detection and recovery data based on human error modes were checked with the performance sheet and the statistical analysis of error recovery/detection was then

Job satisfaction or production? How staff and leadership understand operating room efficiency: a qualitative study.

Science.gov (United States)

Arakelian, E; Gunningberg, L; Larsson, J

2008-11-01

How to increase efficiency in operating departments has been widely studied. However, there is no overall definition of efficiency. Supervisors urging staff to work efficiently may meet strong reactions due to staff believing that demands for efficiency means just stress at work. Differences in how efficiency is understood may constitute an obstacle to supervisors' efforts to promote it. This study aimed to explore how staff and leadership understand operating room efficiency. Twenty-one members of staff and supervisors in an operating department in a Swedish county hospital were interviewed. The analysis was performed with a phenomenographic approach that aims to discover the variations in how a phenomenon is understood by a group of people. Six categories were found in the understanding of operation room efficiency: (A) having the right qualifications; (B) enjoying work; (C) planning and having good control and overview; (D) each professional performing the correct tasks; (E) completing a work assignment; and (F) producing as much as possible per time unit. The most significant finding was that most of the nurses and assistant nurses understood efficiency as individual knowledge and experience emphasizing the importance of the work process, whereas the supervisors and physicians understood efficiency in terms of production per time unit or completing an assignment. The concept 'operating room efficiency' is understood in different ways by leadership and staff members. Supervisors who are aware of this variation will have better prerequisites for defining the concept and for creating a common platform towards becoming efficient.

Effects of a Co-operative Learning Strategy on Ninth-Graders' Understanding of Human Nutrition.

Science.gov (United States)

Soyibo, Kola; Evans, Hermel G.

2002-01-01

Looks at the effect of teaching strategies on a group's attitude toward biology and understanding human nutrition. Used an experimental group that participated in co-operative learning and a control group taught using the lecture method. Involves ninth graders (n=156) from two high schools in Jamaica. (Author/YDS)

Neon soft x-ray emission studies from the UNU-ICTP plasma focus operated with longer than optimal anode length

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Mohammadi, M A; Verma, R; Sobhanian, S; Wong, C S; Lee, S; Springham, S V; Tan, T L; Lee, P; Rawat, R S

2007-01-01

The UNU-ICTP plasma focus with a significantly longer than conventional anode can still be a reasonably good neon soft x-ray (SXR) source. The highest average neon SXR yield of 3.3 J was achieved at 3 mbar. The time difference between the two first peaks of the voltage probe signal at the radial collapse phase was found to be inversely related to the SXR yield, i.e. the smaller the time difference, the higher the yield and vice versa. The estimation of average current sheath speeds using the shadowgraphic method coupled with laser and focus peak timing signals showed that the average axial rundown speed is similar to the one obtained for the optimal anode length but the average radial compression speed is decreased significantly. The range of pressure for a good neon SXR yield, however, has become much narrower, making efficient plasma focus operation a very sensitive function of the filling gas pressure for longer than the optimal anode length

Reconstruction of soft tissue after complicated calcaneal fractures.

Science.gov (United States)

Koski, E Antti; Kuokkanen, Hannu O M; Koskinen, Seppo K; Tukiainen, Erkki J

2004-01-01

A total of 35 flap reconstructions were done to cover exposed calcaneal bones in 31 patients. All patients had calcaneal fractures, 19 of which were primarily open. Soft tissue reconstruction for the closed fractures was indicated by a postoperative wound complication. A microvascular flap was used for reconstruction in 21 operations (gracilis, n = 11; anterolateral thigh, n = 5; rectus abdominis, n = 3; and latissimus dorsi, n = 2). A suralis neurocutaneous flap was used in eight, local muscle flaps in three, and local skin flaps in three cases. The mean follow-up time was 14 months (range 3 months-4 years). One suralis flap failed and was replaced by a latissimus dorsi flap. Necrosis of the edges that required revision affected three flaps. Deep infection developed in two patients and delayed wound healing in another four. During the follow-up the soft tissues healed in all patients and there were no signs of calcaneal osteitis. Flaps were considered too bulky in five patients. Soft tissues heal most rapidly with microvascular flaps. In the long term, gracilis muscle covered with free skin grafts gives a good contour to the foot. The suralis flap is reliable and gives a good final aesthetic outcome. Local muscles can be transposed for reconstruction in small defects.

Analytic theory of soft x-ray diffraction by lamellar multilayer gratings

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Kozhevnikov, I.V.; van der Meer, R.; Bastiaens, Hubertus M.J.; Boller, Klaus J.; Bijkerk, Frederik

2011-01-01

An analytic theory describing soft x-ray diffraction by Lamellar Multilayer Gratings (LMG) has been developed. The theory is derived from a coupled waves approach for LMGs operating in the single-order regime, where an incident plane wave can only excite a single diffraction order. The results from

Soft tissue sparganosis

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Park, Ki Soon; Lee, Yul; Chung, Soo Young; Park, Choong Ki; Lee, Kwan Sup [Hallym University College of Medicine, Seoul (Korea, Republic of); Cho, In Hwan; Suh, Hyoung Sim [Daelin S. Mary' s Hospital, Seoul (Korea, Republic of)

1993-11-15

Sparganosis is a rare tissue-parasitic infestation caused by a plerocercoid tapeworm larva(sparganum), genus Spirometra. The most common clinical presentation of sparganosis is a palpable subcutaneous mass or masses. Fifteen simple radiographs and 10 ultrasosnograms of 17 patients with operatively verified subcutaneous sparganosis were retrospectively analyzed to find its radiologic characteristics for preoperative diagnosis of sparganosis. The location of the subcutaneous sparganosis were lower extremity, abdominal wall, breast, inguinal region and scrotum in order of frequency. The simple radiographs showed linear or elongated calcification with or without nodular elongated shaped soft tissue mass shadows in 8 patients, soft tissue mass shadow only in 2 patients and lateral abdominal wall thickening in 1 patient. But no specific findings was noted in 4 patients with small abdominal and inguinal masses. We could classify the subcutaneous sparganosis by ultrasound into 2 types: one is long band-like hypoechoic structures, corresponding to the subcutaneous tunnel-like tracks formed by migration of sparganum larva and the order is elongated or ovoid hyperechoic nodules, representing granulomas. Long band-like hypoechoic structures within or associated with mixed echoic granulomatous masses were noted in 6 patients and elongated or ovoid hypoechoic mass or masses were noted in 4 patients. In conclusion, sparganosis should be considered when these radiologic findings-irregular linear calcifications on simple radiograph and long band-like hypoechoic structures on ultrasonography, corresponding to the subcutaneous tunnel-like tracks formed by migration of sparganum larva are noted in the patients who have subcutaneous palpable mass or masses. And radiologic examination especially ultrasonography is very helpful to diagnose sparganosis.

Can a Soft Robotic Probe Use Stiffness Control Like a Human Finger to Improve Efficacy of Haptic Perception?

Science.gov (United States)

Sornkarn, Nantachai; Nanayakkara, Thrishantha

2017-01-01

When humans are asked to palpate a soft tissue to locate a hard nodule, they regulate the stiffness, speed, and force of the finger during examination. If we understand the relationship between these behavioral variables and haptic information gain (transfer entropy) during manual probing, we can improve the efficacy of soft robotic probes for soft tissue palpation, such as in tumor localization in minimally invasive surgery. Here, we recorded the muscle co-contraction activity of the finger using EMG sensors to address the question as to whether joint stiffness control during manual palpation plays an important role in the haptic information gain. To address this question, we used a soft robotic probe with a controllable stiffness joint and a force sensor mounted at the base to represent the function of the tendon in a biological finger. Then, we trained a Markov chain using muscle co-contraction patterns of human subjects, and used it to control the stiffness of the soft robotic probe in the same soft tissue palpation task. The soft robotic experiments showed that haptic information gain about the depth of the hard nodule can be maximized by varying the internal stiffness of the soft probe.

Decay constants in soft wall AdS/QCD revisited

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Braga, Nelson R.F., E-mail: braga@if.ufrj.br [Instituto de Física, Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro, Caixa Postal 68528, RJ 21941-972 (Brazil); Diles, Saulo, E-mail: smdiles@if.ufrj.br [Instituto de Física, Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro, Caixa Postal 68528, RJ 21941-972 (Brazil); Contreras, M.A. Martin, E-mail: ma.martin41@uniandes.edu.co [High Energy Group, Department of Physics, Universidad de los Andes, Carrera 1, No 18A-10, Bloque Ip, ZIP 111711, Bogotá (Colombia)

2016-12-10

Phenomenological AdS/QCD models, like hard wall and soft wall, provide hadronic mass spectra in reasonable consistency with experimental and (or) lattice results. These simple models are inspired in the AdS/CFT correspondence and assume that gauge/gravity duality holds in a scenario where conformal invariance is broken through the introduction of an energy scale. Another important property of hadrons: the decay constant, can also be obtained from these models. However, a consistent formulation of an AdS/QCD model that reproduces the observed behavior of decay constants of vector meson excited states is still lacking. In particular: for radially excited states of heavy vector mesons, the experimental data lead to decay constants that decrease with the radial excitation level. We show here that a modified framework of soft wall AdS/QCD involving an additional dimensionfull parameter, associated with an ultraviolet energy scale, provides decay constants decreasing with radial excitation level. In this version of the soft wall model the two point function of gauge theory operators is calculated at a finite position of the anti-de Sitter space radial coordinate.

Multiple-scale structures: from Faraday waves to soft-matter quasicrystals

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Samuel Savitz

2018-05-01

Full Text Available For many years, quasicrystals were observed only as solid-state metallic alloys, yet current research is now actively exploring their formation in a variety of soft materials, including systems of macromolecules, nanoparticles and colloids. Much effort is being invested in understanding the thermodynamic properties of these soft-matter quasicrystals in order to predict and possibly control the structures that form, and hopefully to shed light on the broader yet unresolved general questions of quasicrystal formation and stability. Moreover, the ability to control the self-assembly of soft quasicrystals may contribute to the development of novel photonics or other applications based on self-assembled metamaterials. Here a path is followed, leading to quantitative stability predictions, that starts with a model developed two decades ago to treat the formation of multiple-scale quasiperiodic Faraday waves (standing wave patterns in vibrating fluid surfaces and which was later mapped onto systems of soft particles, interacting via multiple-scale pair potentials. The article reviews, and substantially expands, the quantitative predictions of these models, while correcting a few discrepancies in earlier calculations, and presents new analytical methods for treating the models. In so doing, a number of new stable quasicrystalline structures are found with octagonal, octadecagonal and higher-order symmetries, some of which may, it is hoped, be observed in future experiments.

Multiple-scale structures: from Faraday waves to soft-matter quasicrystals.

Science.gov (United States)

Savitz, Samuel; Babadi, Mehrtash; Lifshitz, Ron

2018-05-01

For many years, quasicrystals were observed only as solid-state metallic alloys, yet current research is now actively exploring their formation in a variety of soft materials, including systems of macromolecules, nanoparticles and colloids. Much effort is being invested in understanding the thermodynamic properties of these soft-matter quasicrystals in order to predict and possibly control the structures that form, and hopefully to shed light on the broader yet unresolved general questions of quasicrystal formation and stability. Moreover, the ability to control the self-assembly of soft quasicrystals may contribute to the development of novel photonics or other applications based on self-assembled metamaterials. Here a path is followed, leading to quantitative stability predictions, that starts with a model developed two decades ago to treat the formation of multiple-scale quasiperiodic Faraday waves (standing wave patterns in vibrating fluid surfaces) and which was later mapped onto systems of soft particles, interacting via multiple-scale pair potentials. The article reviews, and substantially expands, the quantitative predictions of these models, while correcting a few discrepancies in earlier calculations, and presents new analytical methods for treating the models. In so doing, a number of new stable quasicrystalline structures are found with octagonal, octadecagonal and higher-order symmetries, some of which may, it is hoped, be observed in future experiments.

Evaluating Six Soft Approaches

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Sørensen, Lene Tolstrup; Valqui Vidal, René Victor

2008-01-01

's interactive planning principles to be supported by soft approaches in carrying out the principles in action. These six soft approaches are suitable forsupporting various steps of the strategy development and planning process. These are the SWOT analysis, the Future Workshop, the Scenario methodology......, Strategic Option Development and Analysis, Strategic Choice Approach and Soft Systems Methodology. Evaluations of each methodology are carried out using a conceptual framework in which the organisation, the result, the process and the technology of the specific approach are taken into consideration. Using...

Evaluating six soft approaches

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Sørensen, Lene Tolstrup; Vidal, Rene Victor Valqui

2008-01-01

's interactive planning principles to be supported by soft approaches in carrying out the principles in action. These six soft approaches are suitable forsupporting various steps of the strategy development and planning process. These are the SWOT analysis, the Future Workshop, the Scenario methodology......, Strategic Option Development and Analysis, Strategic Choice Approach and Soft Systems Methodology. Evaluations of each methodology are carried out using a conceptual framework in which the organisation, the result, the process and the technology of the specific approach are taken into consideration. Using...

Applications of Soft Sets in -Algebras

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

N. O. Alshehri

2013-01-01

Full Text Available In 1999, Molodtsov introduced the concept of soft set theory as a general mathematical tool for dealing with uncertainty and vagueness. In this paper, we apply the concept of soft sets to K-algebras and investigate some properties of Abelian soft K-algebras. We also introduce the concept of soft intersection K-algebras and investigate some of their properties.

Transient soft X-ray sources

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hayakawa, S.; Murakami, T.; Nagase, F.; Tanaka, Y.; Yamashita, K.

1976-01-01

A rocket observation of cosmic soft X-rays suggests the existence of transient, recurrent soft X-ray sources which are found variable during the flight time of the rocket. Some of the soft X-ray sources thus far reported are considered to be of this time. These sources are listed and their positions are shown. (Auth.)

On Neutrosophic Soft Topological Space

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Tuhin Bera

2018-03-01

Full Text Available In this paper, the concept of connectedness and compactness on neutrosophic soft topological space have been introduced along with the investigation of their several characteristics. Some related theorems have been established also. Then, the notion of neutrosophic soft continuous mapping on a neutrosophic soft topological space and it’s properties are developed here.

Factorization for the light-jet mass and hemisphere soft function

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Becher, Thomas [Albert Einstein Center for Fundamental Physics,Institut für Theoretische Physik, Universität Bern,Sidlerstrasse 5, CH-3012 Bern (Switzerland); Pecjak, Benjamin D. [Institute for Particle Physics Phenomenology, University of Durham,DH1 3LE Durham (United Kingdom); Shao, Ding Yu [Albert Einstein Center for Fundamental Physics,Institut für Theoretische Physik, Universität Bern,Sidlerstrasse 5, CH-3012 Bern (Switzerland)

2016-12-05

Many collider observables suffer from non-global logarithms not captured by standard resummation techniques. Classic examples are the light-jet mass event shape in the limit of small mass and the related hemisphere soft function. We derive factorization formulas for both of these and explicitly demonstrate that they capture all logarithms present at NNLO. These formulas achieve full scale separation and provide the basis for all-order resummations. A characteristic feature of non-global observables is that the soft radiation is driven by multi-Wilson-line operators, and the ones arising here map onto those relevant for the case of narrow-cone jet cross sections. Numerically, the contributions of non-global logarithms to resummed hemisphere-mass event shapes are sizeable.

Mechanical Spectroscopy: Some Applications On Structural Changes And Relaxation Dynamics In Soft Matter

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Wu Xuebang

2015-09-01

Full Text Available The general trend in soft matter is to study systems of increasing complexity covering a wide range in time and frequency. Mechanical spectroscopy is a powerful tool for understanding the structure and relaxation dynamics of these materials over a large temperature range and frequency scale. In this work, we collect a few recent applications using low-frequency mechanical spectroscopy for elucidating the structural changes and relaxation dynamics in soft matter, largely based on the author’s group. We illustrate the potential of mechanical spectroscopy with three kinds of soft materials: colloids, polymers and granular systems. Examples include structural changes in colloids, segmental relaxations in amorphous polymers, and resonant dissipation of grain chains in three-dimensional media. The present work shows that mechanical spectroscopy has been applied as a necessary and complementary tool to study the dynamics of such complex systems.

Understanding A Special Operations Role: Network Caretakers Of Knowledge-Based Communities Of Practice

Science.gov (United States)

2017-12-01

contextual understanding of an area. In Team of Teams, the landmark doctrinal book describing McChrystalian management styles , the author writes, “Team...4302, and to the Office of Management and Budget, Paperwork Reduction Project (0704-0188) Washington, DC 20503. 1. AGENCY USE ONLY (Leave blank) 2...practice, design, knowledge management , knowledge, learning, Libya, organizational design, SOCAFRICA, Special Operations, strategic arena 15. NUMBER OF

Fuzzy-valued linguistic soft set theory and multi-attribute decision-making application

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Aiwu, Zhao; Hongjun, Guan

2016-01-01

In this work, we propose the theory of fuzzy linguistic soft set (FLSS) to represent the uncertainty and multi-angle of view when decision makers evaluate an object during decision-making. FLSS integrates fuzzy set theory, linguistic variable and soft set theory. It allows decision makers to utilize linguistic variables to evaluate an object and utilize fuzzy values to describe the corresponding grade of their support of their decisions. Meanwhile, because of the flexibility of soft set, decision makers can use more than one pair of fuzzy-linguistic evaluations to express their opinions from multiple perspectives directly, if necessary. Therefore, it is more flexible and practical than traditional fuzzy set or 2-dimension uncertainty linguistic variable. We also develop a generalized weighted aggregation operator for FLSSs to solve corresponding decision-making issues. Finally, we give a numerical example to verify the practicality and effectiveness of the proposed method.

Hard and soft age discrimination: the dual nature of workplace discrimination.

Science.gov (United States)

Stypinska, Justyna; Turek, Konrad

2017-03-01

The paper concentrates on the problem of age discrimination in the labour market and the way it can be conceptualised and measured in a multi-disciplinary way. The approach proposed here combines two understandings of age discrimination-a sociological and legal one, what allows for a fuller and expanded understanding of ageism in the workplace. At the heart of the study is a survey carried out in Poland with a sample of 1000 men and women aged 45-65 years. The study takes a deeper and innovative look into the issue of age discrimination in employment. Confirmatory factor analysis with WLSMV estimation and logistic regressions were used to test the hypotheses. The study shows that age discrimination in labour market can take on different forms: hard and soft, where the hard type of age discrimination mirrors the legally prohibited types of behaviours and those which relate to the actual decisions of employers which can impact on the employee's career development. The soft discrimination corresponds with those occurrences, which are not inscribed in the legal system per se, are occurring predominantly in the interpersonal sphere, but can nevertheless have negative consequences. Soft discrimination was experienced more often (28.6% of respondents) than hard discrimination (15.7%) with higher occurrences among women, persons in precarious job situation or residents of urban areas. The role of education was not confirmed to influence the levels of perceived age discrimination.

An Analysis and Quantification Method of Human Errors of Soft Controls in Advanced MCRs

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Lee, Seung Jun; Kim, Jae Whan; Jang, Seung Cheol

2011-01-01

In this work, a method was proposed for quantifying human errors that may occur during operation executions using soft control. Soft controls of advanced main control rooms (MCRs) have totally different features from conventional controls, and thus they may have different human error modes and occurrence probabilities. It is important to define the human error modes and to quantify the error probability for evaluating the reliability of the system and preventing errors. This work suggests a modified K-HRA method for quantifying error probability

Evaluating six soft approaches

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Sørensen, Lene; Vidal, Rene Victor Valqui

2006-01-01

’s interactive planning principles to be supported by soft approaches in carrying out the principles in action. These six soft approaches are suitable for supporting various steps of the strategy development and planning process. These are the SWOT analysis, the Future Workshop, the Scenario methodology......, Strategic Option Development and Analysis, Strategic Choice Approach and Soft Systems Methodology. Evaluations of each methodology are carried out using a conceptual framework in which the organisation, the result, the process and the technology of the specific approach are taken into consideration. Using...

Soft, Embodied, Situated & Connected

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Tomico, Oscar; Wilde, Danielle

2015-01-01

Soft wearables include clothing and textile-based accessories that incorporate smart textiles and soft electronic interfaces to enable responsive and interactive experiences. When designed well, they leverage the cultural, sociological and material qualities of textiles, fashion and dress; divers...

Soft, embodied, situated & connected

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Tomico Plasencia, O.; Wilde, D.

2015-01-01

Soft wearables include clothing and textile-based accessories that incorporate smart textiles and soft electronic interfaces to enable responsive and interactive experiences. When designed well, they leverage the cultural, sociological and material qualities of textiles, fashion and dress; diverse

Soft tissue modelling with conical springs.

Science.gov (United States)

Omar, Nadzeri; Zhong, Yongmin; Jazar, Reza N; Subic, Aleksandar; Smith, Julian; Shirinzadeh, Bijan

2015-01-01

This paper presents a new method for real-time modelling soft tissue deformation. It improves the traditional mass-spring model with conical springs to deal with nonlinear mechanical behaviours of soft tissues. A conical spring model is developed to predict soft tissue deformation with reference to deformation patterns. The model parameters are formulated according to tissue deformation patterns and the nonlinear behaviours of soft tissues are modelled with the stiffness variation of conical spring. Experimental results show that the proposed method can describe different tissue deformation patterns using one single equation and also exhibit the typical mechanical behaviours of soft tissues.

Series Pneumatic Artificial Muscles (sPAMs) and Application to a Soft Continuum Robot.

Science.gov (United States)

Greer, Joseph D; Morimoto, Tania K; Okamura, Allison M; Hawkes, Elliot W

2017-01-01

We describe a new series pneumatic artificial muscle (sPAM) and its application as an actuator for a soft continuum robot. The robot consists of three sPAMs arranged radially round a tubular pneumatic backbone. Analogous to tendons, the sPAMs exert a tension force on the robot's pneumatic backbone, causing bending that is approximately constant curvature. Unlike a traditional tendon driven continuum robot, the robot is entirely soft and contains no hard components, making it safer for human interaction. Models of both the sPAM and soft continuum robot kinematics are presented and experimentally verified. We found a mean position accuracy of 5.5 cm for predicting the end-effector position of a 42 cm long robot with the kinematic model. Finally, closed-loop control is demonstrated using an eye-in-hand visual servo control law which provides a simple interface for operation by a human. The soft continuum robot with closed-loop control was found to have a step-response rise time and settling time of less than two seconds.

Isolation and identification of bacteria causing blackleg and soft rot of potato

Science.gov (United States)

Both Dickeya and Pectobacterium spp. are important causal agents of blackleg and soft rot of potato. To understand the outbreak of blackleg in the Northeastern U.S. in 2015, samples were collected from symptomatic plants, dormant tubers, and surface water in 2016 and 2017. Diseased plant samples wer...

Comparing the 810nm diode laser with conventional surgery in orthodontic soft tissue procedures.

Science.gov (United States)

Ize-Iyamu, I N; Saheeb, B D; Edetanlen, B E

2013-09-01

To compare the use of the 810nm diode laser with conventional surgery in the management of soft tissue mucogingival problems associated with orthodontic treatment. Orthodontic patients requiring different soft tissue surgical procedures were randomly assigned to receive conventional surgery or soft tissue diode laser, (wavelength 810 nm). Parameters documented include the type of anaesthesia used, intra and post operative pain, bleeding, the use of scalpel and sutures. The chi-squared test was used to test for significance at 95% confidence level. Probability values (p-values) less than 0.05 were regarded as significant. Only 2(16.7%) of the procedures carried out with the soft tissue laser required infiltration anaesthesia compared to 10 (90.9%) with conventional surgery and this was significant (Pdiode laser (Pdiode laser. No sutures were used in all soft tissue cases managed with the diode laser and this was significant (Plaser compared with conventional surgery. Orthodontic patients treated with the diode laser required less infiltration anaesthesia, had reduced bleeding during and after surgery, rapid postoperative haemostasis, elimination of the need for sutures and an improved postoperative comfort and healing.

Learning classification models with soft-label information.

Science.gov (United States)

Nguyen, Quang; Valizadegan, Hamed; Hauskrecht, Milos

2014-01-01

Learning of classification models in medicine often relies on data labeled by a human expert. Since labeling of clinical data may be time-consuming, finding ways of alleviating the labeling costs is critical for our ability to automatically learn such models. In this paper we propose a new machine learning approach that is able to learn improved binary classification models more efficiently by refining the binary class information in the training phase with soft labels that reflect how strongly the human expert feels about the original class labels. Two types of methods that can learn improved binary classification models from soft labels are proposed. The first relies on probabilistic/numeric labels, the other on ordinal categorical labels. We study and demonstrate the benefits of these methods for learning an alerting model for heparin induced thrombocytopenia. The experiments are conducted on the data of 377 patient instances labeled by three different human experts. The methods are compared using the area under the receiver operating characteristic curve (AUC) score. Our AUC results show that the new approach is capable of learning classification models more efficiently compared to traditional learning methods. The improvement in AUC is most remarkable when the number of examples we learn from is small. A new classification learning framework that lets us learn from auxiliary soft-label information provided by a human expert is a promising new direction for learning classification models from expert labels, reducing the time and cost needed to label data.

Soft-tissue tension total knee arthroplasty.

Science.gov (United States)

Asano, Hiroshi; Hoshino, Akiho; Wilton, Tim J

2004-08-01

It is far from clear how best to define the proper strength of soft-tissue tensioning in total knee arthroplasty (TKA). We attached a torque driver to the Monogram balancer/tensor device and measured soft-tissue tension in full extension and 90 degrees flexion during TKA. In our surgical procedure, when we felt proper soft-tissue tension was being applied, the mean distraction force was noted to be 126N in extension and 121N in flexion. There was no significant correlation between soft-tissue tension and the postoperative flexion angle finally achieved. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first study to assess the actual distraction forces in relation to soft-tissue tension in TKA. Further study may reveal the most appropriate forces to achieve proper soft-tissue tension in the wide variety of circumstances presenting at knee arthroplasty.

Flow-Through Free Fibula Osteocutaneous Flap in Reconstruction of Tibial Bone, Soft Tissue, and Main Artery Segmental Defects.

Science.gov (United States)

Li, Zonghuan; Yu, Aixi; Qi, Baiwen; Pan, Zhenyu; Ding, Junhui

2017-08-01

The aim of this report was to present the use of flow-through free fibula osteocutaneous flap for the repair of complex tibial bone, soft tissue, and main artery segmental defects. Five patients with bone, soft tissue, and segmental anterior tibial artery defects were included. The lengths of injured tibial bones ranged from 4 to 7 cm. The sizes of impaired soft tissues were between 9 × 4 and 15 × 6 cm. The lengths of defect of anterior tibial artery segments ranged from 6 to 10 cm. Two patients had distal limb perfusion problems. Flow-through free fibula osteocutaneous flap was performed for all 5 patients. Patients were followed for 12 to 18 months. All wounds healed after 1-stage operation, and all flow-through flaps survived. The distal perfusion after vascular repair was normal in all patients. Superficial necrosis of flap edge was noted in 1 case. After the local debridement and partial thickness skin graft, the flap healed uneventfully, and the surgical operation did not increase injury to the donor site. Satisfactory bone union was achieved in all patients in 2 to 4 months postoperation. Enlargement of fibula graft was observed during follow-up from 12 to 18 months. The functions of adjacent joints were recovered, and all patients were able to walk normally. Flow-through free fibula osteocutaneous flap was shown to be an effective and efficient technique for repairing composite tibial bone, soft tissue, and main artery segmental defects. This 1-stage operation should be useful in clinical practice for the treatment of complex bone, soft tissue, and vessel defects.

Planar Elongation Measurements on Soft Elastomers

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Jensen, Mette Krog; Skov, Anne Ladegaard; Rasmussen, Henrik K.

2009-01-01

A new fixture to the filament stretch rheometer (FSR) has been developed to measure planar elongation of soft polymeric networks. To validate this new technique, soft polymeric networks of poly(propyleneoxide) (PPO) were investigated during deformation.......A new fixture to the filament stretch rheometer (FSR) has been developed to measure planar elongation of soft polymeric networks. To validate this new technique, soft polymeric networks of poly(propyleneoxide) (PPO) were investigated during deformation....

Success of Chemotherapy in Soft Matter

OpenAIRE

Trifonova, I.; Kurteva, G.; Stefanov, S. Z.

2014-01-01

The success of chemotharapy in soft matter as a survival is found in the paper. Therefore, it is found the analogous tumor stretching force in soft matter; ultrasonography is performed for this tumor; restoration in soft matter with such a tumor is found; Bayes estimate of the probability of chemotherapy success is derived from the transferred chemical energy and from soft matter entropy; survival probability is juxtaposed to this probability of success.

A Proof of Factorization Theorem of Drell–Yan Process at Operator Level

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Zhou Gao-Liang

2016-01-01

An alternative proof of factorization theorem for Drell–Yan process that works at operator level is presented in this paper. Contributions of interactions after the hard collision for such inclusive processes are proved to be canceled at operator level according to the unitarity of time evolution operator. After this cancellation, there are no longer leading pinch singular surface in Glauber region in the time evolution of electromagnetic currents. Effects of soft gluons are absorbed into Wilson lines of scalar-polarized gluons. Cancelation of soft gluons is attribute to unitarity of time evolution operator and such Wilson lines. (paper)

Soft Tissue Sarcoma—Health Professional Version

Science.gov (United States)

Soft tissue sarcomas are malignant tumors that arise in any of the mesodermal tissues of the extremities, trunk and retroperitoneum, or head and neck. Soft tissue sarcomas may be heterogeneous. Find evidence-based information on soft tissue sarcoma treatment and research.

Time-dependent nonequilibrium soft x-ray response during a spin crossover

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

van Veenendaal, Michel

2018-03-01

The rapid development of high-brilliance pulsed X-ray sources with femtosecond time resolution has created a need for a better theoretical understanding of the time-dependent soft-X-ray response of dissipative many-body quantum systems. It is demonstrated how soft-X-ray spectroscopies, such as X-ray absorption and resonant inelastic X-ray scattering at transition-metal L-edges, can provide insight into intersystem crossings, such as a spin crossover. The photoinduced doublet-to-quartet spin crossover on cobalt in Fe-Co Prussian blue analogues is used as an example to demonstrate how the X-ray response is affected by the dissipative nonequilibrium dynamics. The time-dependent soft-X-ray spectra provide a wealth of information that reflect the changes in the nonequilibrium initial state via continuously changing spectral lineshapes that cannot be decomposed into initial photoexcited and final metastable spectra, strong broadenings, a collapse of clear selection rules during the intersystem crossing, strong fluctuations in the isotropic branching ratio in X-ray absorption, and crystal-field collapse/oscillations and strongly time-dependent anti-Stokes processes in RIXS.

The value of multislice spiral CT in the pre-operative diagnosis of cleft palate

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Tang Guangxi; Sun Lianfen; Zhang Xiaolin; Yu Chengxin; Lu Ji; Wang Xiaopeng; Li Liya; Yang Cheng; Wang Jun; Tian Yiqing

2004-01-01

Objective: To evaluate the practical value of multislice spiral CT (MSCT) in the preoperative diagnosis of cleft palate. Methods: Twenty patients with cleft palate were examined by using thin-slice (1.25 mm/4i) axial MSCT scanning and CT virtual endoscope (CTVE) imaging before and after operations. The cleft of each lesion was measured in the primary axial images. Results: Of the 20 cases, soft-and-hard cleft palate (grade II) was detected in 10 cases, with the clefts of soft palate between 1.5 cm and 2.2 cm, and the clefts of soft-and-hard palate between 1.2 cm and 2.0 cm. The right utter cleft palates were found in 3 cases with the clefts of soft palate between 2.0 cm and 2.5 cm, the clefts of soft-and-hard palate between 2.0 cm and 2.4 cm, and the clefts of hard palate between 1.8 cm and 2.2 cm. The left utter cleft palates (grade III) were found in 5 cases with the clefts of soft palate between 1.2 cm and 1.8 cm, the clefts of soft-and-hard palate between 0.9 cm and 2.0 cm, and the clefts of hard palate between 0.9 cm and 1.8 cm. The bilateral utter cleft palates (grade III) were detected in 2 cases with the clefts of soft palate between 2.1 cm and 2.3 cm, the clefts of soft-and-hard palate between 1.8 cm and 2.0 cm, and the clefts of hard palate between 1.9 cm and 2.3 cm. Conclusion: MSCT could excellently display the shape of all lesions before operation, especially the splitting degree of hard cleft palates in the axial images. Accurate measurements could be done for the cleft of different lesions in MSCT images. CTVE could clearly and directly show the shape of the lesion's interior surface. The pre-operative and post-operative images of each case could be perfectly compared by the combination of MSCT and CTVE

Microbial community analysis of anaerobic reactors treating soft drink wastewater.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Takashi Narihiro

Full Text Available The anaerobic packed-bed (AP and hybrid packed-bed (HP reactors containing methanogenic microbial consortia were applied to treat synthetic soft drink wastewater, which contains polyethylene glycol (PEG and fructose as the primary constituents. The AP and HP reactors achieved high COD removal efficiency (>95% after 80 and 33 days of the operation, respectively, and operated stably over 2 years. 16S rRNA gene pyrotag analyses on a total of 25 biofilm samples generated 98,057 reads, which were clustered into 2,882 operational taxonomic units (OTUs. Both AP and HP communities were predominated by Bacteroidetes, Chloroflexi, Firmicutes, and candidate phylum KSB3 that may degrade organic compound in wastewater treatment processes. Other OTUs related to uncharacterized Geobacter and Spirochaetes clades and candidate phylum GN04 were also detected at high abundance; however, their relationship to wastewater treatment has remained unclear. In particular, KSB3, GN04, Bacteroidetes, and Chloroflexi are consistently associated with the organic loading rate (OLR increase to 1.5 g COD/L-d. Interestingly, KSB3 and GN04 dramatically decrease in both reactors after further OLR increase to 2.0 g COD/L-d. These results indicate that OLR strongly influences microbial community composition. This suggests that specific uncultivated taxa may take central roles in COD removal from soft drink wastewater depending on OLR.

Radiosensitivity of soft tissue sarcomas

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hirano, Toru; Iwasaki, Katsuro; Suzuki, Ryohei; Monzen, Yoshio; Hombo, Zenichiro

1989-01-01

The correlation between the effectiveness of radiation therapy and the histology of soft tissue sarcomas was investigated. Of 31 cases with a soft tissue sarcoma of an extremity treated by conservative surgery and postoperative radiation of 3,000-6,000 cGy, local recurrence occurred in 12; 5 out of 7 synovial sarcomas, 4 of 9 MFH, one of 8 liposarcomas, none of 4 rhabdomyosarcomas and 2 of 3 others. As for the histological subtyping, the 31 soft tissue sarcomas were divided into spindle cell, pleomorphic cell, myxoid and round cell type, and recurrence rates were 75%, 33.3%, 16.7% and 0%, respectively. From the remarkable difference in recurrent rate, it was suggested that round cell and myxoid type of soft tissue sarcomas showed a high radiosensitivity compared to the spindle cell type with low sensitivity. Clarifying the degree of radiosensitivity is helpful in deciding on the management of limb salvage in soft tissue sarcomas of an extremity. (author)

Too Soft to Stick: Influence of Substrate Modulus on Gecko Adhesion

Science.gov (United States)

Wilson, Michael; Klittich, Mena; Bernard, Craig; Rodrigo, Rochelle; Keith, Austin; Niewiarowski, Peter; Dhinojwala, Ali

The gecko adhesion system fascinates biologists and materials scientists alike for its strong, reversible, glue-free, dry adhesion. Geckos encounter a variety of surfaces in their natural habitats; tropical geckos, such as Gekko gecko, encounter hard rough tree trunks as well as soft flexible leaves. Gecko adhesion on a wide variety of hard surfaces has been extensively studied, however there has been no work focused on adhesion to soft surfaces. Here, we investigate for the first time the influence of substrate modulus on gecko adhesion using two different surfaces (cellulose acetate and polydimethylsiloxane). Understanding the limitations of the gecko system is critical for gecko experimental design as well as for the development of synthetic adhesives, particularly in the biomedical field. National Science Foundation.

Role of radiation therapy in management of patients with sarcoma of soft tissue

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Spiro, Ira J.

1996-01-01

Soft tissue sarcomas (STS) are relatively rare malignant neoplasms arising from the mesenchymal connective tissues. There are some 5600 newly diagnosed patients with STS per year. These tumors occur at all anatomic sites within the body and are of many histologic subtypes. Etiologic factors, including occupational risks, the role of environmental carcinogens, radiation and genetic diseases in the development of these tumors will be mode. The molecular biology of soft tissue sarcomas including the role of several oncogenes and suppressor genes (e.g. Rb, p53, MDM2) will be reviewed. Cytogenetic alternations with an emphasis on molecular diagnostic techniques will be reviewed. The natural history of these tumors will be described with reference to local invasion and spread to regional and distal sites. The evaluation of the patients suspected of having a sarcoma of soft tissue will then be considered including the relative roles of various imaging modalities. The timing and type of biopsy (including FNA, core needle biopsy, incisional biopsy or excisional biopsy) for tumors at various sites and sizes will be addressed. Assessment of histopathologic subtype of the tumor by standard H and E stains, immunohistochemistry, electron microscopy and cytogenetic studies will then be discussed. The principal role for radiation in the management of patients with sarcoma of soft tissue is in combination with surgery. This may be: 1) pre-operative and or post-operative use of external beam photons, electrons, and protons, and 2) intra-operative use of electron beam techniques, or 3) post-operative brachytherapy. Results of these various treatment options with respect to local control, disease-free survival and overall survival will be considered for each of the various techniques with respect to size, grade, histologic type, surgical margin status, anatomic site, primary vs. recurrent disease. Similarly, the factors associated with delay in wound healing are to be considered and

Role of radiation therapy in management of patients with sarcoma of soft tissue

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Spiro, Ira J.; Suit, Herman D.

1997-01-01

Soft tissue sarcomas (STS) are relatively rare malignant neoplasms arising from the mesenchymal connective tissues. There are some 5600 newly diagnosed patients with STS per year. These tumors occur at all anatomic sites within the body and are of many histologic subtypes. Etiologic factors, including occupational risks, the role of environmental carcinogens, radiation and genetic diseases in the development of these tumors will be made. The molecular biology of soft tissue sarcomas including the role of several oncogenes and suppressor genes (e.g. Rb, p53, MDM2) will be reviewed. Cytogenetic alternations with an emphasis on molecular diagnostic techniques will be reviewed. The natural history of these tumors will be described with reference to local invasion and spread to regional and distal sites. The evaluation of the patients suspected of having a sarcoma of soft tissue will then be considered including the relative roles of various imaging modalities. The timing and type of biopsy (including FNA, core needle biopsy, incisional biopsy or excisional biopsy) for tumors at various sites and sizes will be addressed. Assessment of histopathologic subtype of the tumor by standard H and E stains, immunohistochemistry, electron microscopy and cytogenetic studies will then be discussed. The principal role for radiation in the management of patients with sarcoma of soft tissue is in combination with surgery. This may be: 1) pre-operative and or post-operative use of external beam photons, electrons, and protons, and 2) intra-operative use of electron beam techniques, or 3) post-operative brachytherapy. Results of these various treatment options with respect to local control, disease-free survival and overall survival will be considered for each of the various techniques with respect to size, grade, histologic type, surgical margin status, anatomic site, primary vs. recurrent disease. Similarly, the factors associated with delay in wound healing are to be considered and

Architecture design for soft errors

CERN Document Server

Mukherjee, Shubu

2008-01-01

This book provides a comprehensive description of the architetural techniques to tackle the soft error problem. It covers the new methodologies for quantitative analysis of soft errors as well as novel, cost-effective architectural techniques to mitigate them. To provide readers with a better grasp of the broader problem deffinition and solution space, this book also delves into the physics of soft errors and reviews current circuit and software mitigation techniques.

Soft-collinear supersymmetry

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Cohen, Timothy [Institute of Theoretical Science, University of Oregon,Eugene, OR 97403 (United States); Elor, Gilly [Institute of Theoretical Science, University of Oregon,Eugene, OR 97403 (United States); Center for Theoretical Physics, Massachusetts Institute of Technology,Cambridge, MA 02139 (United States); Larkoski, Andrew J. [Physics Department, Reed College,Portland, OR 97202 (United States); Center for Fundamental Laws of Nature, Harvard University,Cambridge, MA 02138 (United States)

2017-03-03

Soft-Collinear Effective Theory (SCET) is a framework for modeling the infrared structure of theories whose long distance behavior is dominated by soft and collinear divergences. This paper demonstrates that SCET can be made compatible with supersymmetry (SUSY). Explicitly, the effective Lagrangian for N=1 SUSY Yang-Mills is constructed and shown to be a complete description for the infrared of this model. For contrast, we also construct the effective Lagrangian for chiral SUSY theories with Yukawa couplings, specifically the single flavor Wess-Zumino model. Only a subset of the infrared divergences are reproduced by the Lagrangian — to account for the complete low energy description requires the inclusion of local operators. SCET is formulated by expanding fields along a light-like direction and then subsequently integrating out degrees-of-freedom that are away from the light-cone. Defining the theory with respect to a specific frame obfuscates Lorentz invariance — given that SUSY is a space-time symmetry, this presents a possible obstruction. The cleanest language with which to expose the congruence between SUSY and SCET requires exploring two novel formalisms: collinear fermions as two-component Weyl spinors, and SCET in light-cone gauge. By expressing SUSY Yang-Mills in “collinear superspace', a slice of superspace derived by integrating out half the fermionic coordinates, the light-cone gauge SUSY SCET theory can be written in terms of superfields. As a byproduct, bootstrapping up to the full theory yields the first algorithmic approach for determining the SUSY Yang-Mills on-shell superspace action. This work paves the way toward discovering the effective theory for the collinear limit of N=4 SUSY Yang-Mills.

Soft behavior of a closed massless state in superstring and universality in the soft behavior of the dilaton

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Vecchia, Paolo Di [The Niels Bohr Institute, University of Copenhagen,Blegdamsvej 17, DK-2100 Copenhagen Ø (Denmark); Nordita, KTH Royal Institute of Technology and Stockholm University, Roslagstullsbacken 23, SE-10691 Stockholm (Sweden); Marotta, Raffaele [Istituto Nazionale di Fisica Nucleare, Sezione di Napoli,Complesso Universitario di Monte S. Angelo ed. 6, via Cintia, 80126, Napoli (Italy); Mojaza, Matin [Max-Planck-Institut für Gravitationsphysik, Albert-Einstein-Institut, Am Mühlenberg 1, 14476 Potsdam (Germany)

2016-12-06

We consider the tree-level scattering amplitudes in the NS-NS (Neveu-Schwarz) massless sector of closed superstrings in the case where one external state becomes soft. We compute the amplitudes generically for any number of dimensions and any number and kind of the massless closed states through the subsubleading order in the soft expansion. We show that, when the soft state is a graviton or a dilaton, the full result can be expressed as a soft theorem factorizing the amplitude in a soft and a hard part. This behavior is similar to what has previously been observed in field theory and in the bosonic string. Differently from the bosonic string, the supersymmetric soft theorem for the graviton has no string corrections at subsubleading order. The dilaton soft theorem, on the other hand, is found to be universally free of string corrections in any string theory.

Soft behavior of a closed massless state in superstring and universality of the soft behavior of the dilaton

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

di Vecchia, Paolo; Marotta, Raffaele; Mojaza, Matin

2016-01-01

We consider the tree-level scattering amplitudes in the NS-NS (Neveu-Schwarz) massless sector of closed superstrings in the case where one external state becomes soft. We compute the amplitudes generically for any number of dimensions and any number and kind of the massless closed states through...... the subsubleading order in the soft expansion. We show that, when the soft state is a graviton or a dilaton, the full result can be expressed as a soft theorem factorizing the amplitude in a soft and a hard part. This behavior is similar to what has previously been observed in field theory and in the bosonic string....... Differently from the bosonic string, the supersymmetric soft theorem for the graviton has no string corrections at subsubleading order. The dilaton soft theorem, on the other hand, is found to be universally free of string corrections in any string theory....

On single and double soft behaviors in NLSM

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Du, Yi-Jian; Luo, Hui

2015-01-01

In this paper, we study the single and double soft behaviors of tree level off-shell currents and on-shell amplitudes in nonlinear sigma model (NLSM). We first propose and prove the leading soft behavior of the tree level currents with a single soft particle. In the on-shell limit, this single soft emission becomes the Adler’s zero. Then we establish the leading and subleading soft behaviors of tree level currents with two adjacent soft particles. With a careful analysis of the on-shell limit, we obtain the double soft behaviors of on-shell amplitudes where the two soft particles are adjacent to each other. By applying Kleiss-Kuijf (KK) relation, we further obtain the leading and subleading behaviors of amplitudes with two nonadjacent soft particles.

Basic human error probabilities in advanced MCRs when using soft control

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Jang, In Seok; Seong, Poong Hyun; Kang, Hyun Gook; Lee, Seung Jun

2012-01-01

In a report on one of the renowned HRA methods, Technique for Human Error Rate Prediction (THERP), it is pointed out that 'The paucity of actual data on human performance continues to be a major problem for estimating HEPs and performance times in nuclear power plant (NPP) task'. However, another critical difficulty is that most current HRA databases deal with operation in conventional type of MCRs. With the adoption of new human system interfaces that are based on computer based technologies, the operation environment of MCRs in NPPs has changed. The MCRs including these digital and computer technologies, such as large display panels, computerized procedures, soft controls, and so on, are called advanced MCRs. Because of the different interfaces, different Basic Human Error Probabilities (BHEPs) should be considered in human reliability analyses (HRAs) for advanced MCRs. This study carries out an empirical analysis of human error considering soft controls. The aim of this work is not only to compile a database using the simulator for advanced MCRs but also to compare BHEPs with those of a conventional MCR database

Leading multi-soft limits from scattering equations

Science.gov (United States)

Zlotnikov, Michael

2017-10-01

A Cachazo-He-Yuan (CHY) type formula is derived for the leading gluon, bi-adjoint scalar ϕ 3, Yang-Mills-scalar and non-linear sigma model m-soft factors S m in arbitrary dimension. The general formula is used to evaluate explicit examples for up to three soft legs analytically and up to four soft legs numerically via comparison with amplitude ratios under soft kinematics. A structural pattern for gluon m-soft factor is inferred and a simpler formula for its calculation is conjectured. In four dimensions, a Cachazo-Svrček-Witten (CSW) recursive procedure producing the leading m-soft gluon factor in spinor helicity formalism is developed as an alternative, and Britto-Cachazo-Feng-Witten (BCFW) recursion is used to obtain the leading four-soft gluon factor for all analytically distinct helicity configurations.

Soft Space Planning in Cities unbound

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Olesen, Kristian

This paper analyses contemporary experiments of building governance capacity in new soft spaces in Denmark through processes of spatial strategy-making. The paper argues that new soft spaces are emerging in Danish spatial planning, which set out to promote more effective forms of strategic spatial...... planning, and how their obsession with promoting economic development at the expense of wider planning responsibilities support contemporary neoliberal transformations of strategic spatial planning....... planning. The Danish case of soft space planning demonstrates how Danish soft spaces at subnational scales fail to fill in the gaps between formal planning structures and provide the glue that binds formal scales of planning together as promised in the soft space literature. This raises a number...

Small scale soft x-ray lasers

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Skinner, C.H.; DiCicco, D.S.; Kim, D.; Voorhees, D.; Suckewer, S.

1990-01-01

The widespread application of soft x-ray laser technology is contingent on the development of small scale soft x-ray lasers that do not require large laser facilities. Progress in the development of soft x-ray lasers pumped by a Nd laser of energy 6-12J is reported below. Application of an existing soft x-ray laser to x-ray microscopy has begun. A soft x-ray laser of output energy 1-3 mJ at 18,2 nm has been used to record high resolution images of biological specimens. The contact images were recorded on photoresist which was later viewed in a scanning electron microscope. The authors present a composite optical x-ray laser microscope design

Soft Decision Analyzer

Science.gov (United States)

Lansdowne, Chatwin; Steele, Glen; Zucha, Joan; Schlesinger, Adam

2013-01-01

We describe the benefit of using closed-loop measurements for a radio receiver paired with a counterpart transmitter. We show that real-time analysis of the soft decision output of a receiver can provide rich and relevant insight far beyond the traditional hard-decision bit error rate (BER) test statistic. We describe a Soft Decision Analyzer (SDA) implementation for closed-loop measurements on single- or dual- (orthogonal) channel serial data communication links. The analyzer has been used to identify, quantify, and prioritize contributors to implementation loss in live-time during the development of software defined radios. This test technique gains importance as modern receivers are providing soft decision symbol synchronization as radio links are challenged to push more data and more protocol overhead through noisier channels, and software-defined radios (SDRs) use error-correction codes that approach Shannon's theoretical limit of performance.

Soft pneumatic grippers embedded with stretchable electroadhesion

Science.gov (United States)

Guo, J.; Elgeneidy, K.; Xiang, C.; Lohse, N.; Justham, L.; Rossiter, J.

2018-05-01

Current soft pneumatic grippers cannot robustly grasp flat materials and flexible objects on curved surfaces without distorting them. Current electroadhesive grippers, on the other hand, are difficult to actively deform to complex shapes to pick up free-form surfaces or objects. An easy-to-implement PneuEA gripper is proposed by the integration of an electroadhesive gripper and a two-fingered soft pneumatic gripper. The electroadhesive gripper was fabricated by segmenting a soft conductive silicon sheet into a two-part electrode design and embedding it in a soft dielectric elastomer. The two-fingered soft pneumatic gripper was manufactured using a standard soft lithography approach. This novel integration has combined the benefits of both the electroadhesive and soft pneumatic grippers. As a result, the proposed PneuEA gripper was not only able to pick-and-place flat and flexible materials such as a porous cloth but also delicate objects such as a light bulb. By combining two soft touch sensors with the electroadhesive, an intelligent and shape-adaptive PneuEA material handling system has been developed. This work is expected to widen the applications of both soft gripper and electroadhesion technologies.

Soft timing closure for soft programmable logic cores: The ARGen approach

OpenAIRE

Bollengier , Théotime; Lagadec , Loïc; Najem , Mohamad; Le Lann , Jean-Christophe; Guilloux , Pierre

2017-01-01

International audience; Reconfigurable cores support post-release updates which shortens time-to-market while extending circuits’ lifespan. Reconfigurable cores can be provided as hard cores (ASIC) or soft cores (RTL). Soft reconfigurable cores outperform hard reconfigurable cores by preserving the ASIC synthesis flow, at the cost of lowering scalability but also exacerbating timing closure issues. This article tackles these two issues and introduces the ARGen generator that produces scalable...

Neutrosophic Parameterized Soft Relations and Their Applications

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Irfan Deli

2014-06-01

Full Text Available The aim of this paper is to introduce the concept of relation on neutrosophic parameterized soft set (NP- soft sets theory. We have studied some related properties and also put forward some propositions on neutrosophic parameterized soft relation with proofs and examples. Finally the notions of symmetric, transitive, reflexive, and equivalence neutrosophic parameterized soft set relations have been established in our work. Finally a decision making method on NP-soft sets is presented.

learning and soft skills

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Rasmussen, Lauge Baungaard

2000-01-01

Learning of soft skills are becoming more and more necessary due to the complexe development of modern companies and their environments. However, there seems to be a 'gap' between intentions and reality regarding need of soft skills and the possiblities to be educated in this subject in particular...

Engineered skeletal muscle tissue for soft robotics: fabrication strategies, current applications, and future challenges.

Science.gov (United States)

Duffy, Rebecca M; Feinberg, Adam W

2014-01-01

Skeletal muscle is a scalable actuator system used throughout nature from the millimeter to meter length scales and over a wide range of frequencies and force regimes. This adaptability has spurred interest in using engineered skeletal muscle to power soft robotics devices and in biotechnology and medical applications. However, the challenges to doing this are similar to those facing the tissue engineering and regenerative medicine fields; specifically, how do we translate our understanding of myogenesis in vivo to the engineering of muscle constructs in vitro to achieve functional integration with devices. To do this researchers are developing a number of ways to engineer the cellular microenvironment to guide skeletal muscle tissue formation. This includes understanding the role of substrate stiffness and the mechanical environment, engineering the spatial organization of biochemical and physical cues to guide muscle alignment, and developing bioreactors for mechanical and electrical conditioning. Examples of engineered skeletal muscle that can potentially be used in soft robotics include 2D cantilever-based skeletal muscle actuators and 3D skeletal muscle tissues engineered using scaffolds or directed self-organization. Integration into devices has led to basic muscle-powered devices such as grippers and pumps as well as more sophisticated muscle-powered soft robots that walk and swim. Looking forward, current, and future challenges include identifying the best source of muscle precursor cells to expand and differentiate into myotubes, replacing cardiomyocytes with skeletal muscle tissue as the bio-actuator of choice for soft robots, and vascularization and innervation to enable control and nourishment of larger muscle tissue constructs. © 2013 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Soft Mobility and Urban Transformation

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Rosa Anna La Rocca

2010-04-01

Full Text Available This paper examines some European cases referred to promotion of soft mobility as a new lifestyle aimed to improve benefits on environment and urban liveability. Soft mobility includes any non-motorized transport (human powered mobility. According to this, soft mobility refers to pedestrian, bicycle, roller skate and skateboard transfers. It could be indented as “zeroimpact” mobility too. As a matter of fact, the words to define this way of moving have not been codified yet, therefore mobilitè douce, soft mobility, slow traffic are synonymous in referring mainly to pedestrians and cyclists to indicate alternative to car use. Soft mobility, indeed, can be defined as a special form of sustainable mobility able to optimize urban liveability, by keeping the individual right to move. At present, cities are engaged in defining policies, procedures and interventions to further “slow traffic”, both to relieve the traffic congestion, and to work for regeneration and environmental improvements. This asks for an in-depth cooperation between different political and administrative levels to achieve common objectives of development more attentive to environmental concerns. Despite this increasing attention, the idea of a “network” for soft mobility has not been yet achieved and the supply of integrated facilities and services as an alternative to the car use seems to be still difficult of accomplishment. High disparity characterizes European countries in promoting soft mobility: despite a prolific production of laws and roles referred to emergency of adopting alternative ways of moving to minimize negatives impacts (especially air and noise pollution as very threat to health due to car dependence for urban short distance too. And yet, soft mobility could represent a real occasion of urban and territorial regeneration aimed to rehabilitate some disused paths and routes (greenways. Some successful European cases show how it is possible to

Fundamentals of soft robot locomotion

OpenAIRE

Calisti, M.; Picardi, G.; Laschi, C.

2017-01-01

Soft robotics and its related technologies enable robot abilities in several robotics domains including, but not exclusively related to, manipulation, manufacturing, human���robot interaction and locomotion. Although field applications have emerged for soft manipulation and human���robot interaction, mobile soft robots appear to remain in the research stage, involving the somehow conflictual goals of having a deformable body and exerting forces on the environment to achieve locomotion. This p...

Computed tomography in soft-tissue lesions of the hand and forearm

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Schmitt, R.; Warmuth-Metz, M.; Lucas, D.; Feyerabend, T.; Schindler, G.; Lanz, U.

1990-01-01

Computed tomography was carried out in 32 patients with clinically equivocal soft-tissue lesions of the hand (24 times) and forearm (8 times). The CT scans were performed with the patients in standard positions; thin slices and zoom technique were used. All soft-tissue tumors were correctly diagnosed with regard to localization, size and infiltration of the surrounding tissue. The histological diagnosis was correct in tendon-sheath proliferations, deposits caused by metabolic disorders, epithelial and ganglion cysts, hemangiomas, lipomas and in one schwannoma. A malignancy was suspected and was proven to be correct in two cases. False-positive diagnoses of a malignant soft-tissue tumor were made in one case of an aggressive fibromatosis, in a rapidly progressive, ossifying myositis, and three times in the presence of postoperative scar tissue following the resection of a sarcoma. Finally, a case of proliferative myositis regarded as semimalignant was underrated by CT. The hand surgeon considered CT diagnostics to be very helpful in planning operations in an anatomically complex organ such as the hand. (orig.) [de

Imaging of musculoskeletal soft tissue infections

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Turecki, Marcin B.; Taljanovic, Mihra S.; Holden, Dean A.; Hunter, Tim B.; Rogers, Lee F. [University of Arizona HSC, Department of Radiology, Tucson, AZ (United States); Stubbs, Alana Y. [Southern Arizona VA Health Care System, Department of Radiology, Tucson, AZ (United States); Graham, Anna R. [University of Arizona HSC, Department of Pathology, Tucson, AZ (United States)

2010-10-15

Prompt and appropriate imaging work-up of the various musculoskeletal soft tissue infections aids early diagnosis and treatment and decreases the risk of complications resulting from misdiagnosis or delayed diagnosis. The signs and symptoms of musculoskeletal soft tissue infections can be nonspecific, making it clinically difficult to distinguish between disease processes and the extent of disease. Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) is the imaging modality of choice in the evaluation of soft tissue infections. Computed tomography (CT), ultrasound, radiography and nuclear medicine studies are considered ancillary. This manuscript illustrates representative images of superficial and deep soft tissue infections such as infectious cellulitis, superficial and deep fasciitis, including the necrotizing fasciitis, pyomyositis/soft tissue abscess, septic bursitis and tenosynovitis on different imaging modalities, with emphasis on MRI. Typical histopathologic findings of soft tissue infections are also presented. The imaging approach described in the manuscript is based on relevant literature and authors' personal experience and everyday practice. (orig.)

Imaging of musculoskeletal soft tissue infections

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Turecki, Marcin B.; Taljanovic, Mihra S.; Holden, Dean A.; Hunter, Tim B.; Rogers, Lee F.; Stubbs, Alana Y.; Graham, Anna R.

2010-01-01

Prompt and appropriate imaging work-up of the various musculoskeletal soft tissue infections aids early diagnosis and treatment and decreases the risk of complications resulting from misdiagnosis or delayed diagnosis. The signs and symptoms of musculoskeletal soft tissue infections can be nonspecific, making it clinically difficult to distinguish between disease processes and the extent of disease. Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) is the imaging modality of choice in the evaluation of soft tissue infections. Computed tomography (CT), ultrasound, radiography and nuclear medicine studies are considered ancillary. This manuscript illustrates representative images of superficial and deep soft tissue infections such as infectious cellulitis, superficial and deep fasciitis, including the necrotizing fasciitis, pyomyositis/soft tissue abscess, septic bursitis and tenosynovitis on different imaging modalities, with emphasis on MRI. Typical histopathologic findings of soft tissue infections are also presented. The imaging approach described in the manuscript is based on relevant literature and authors' personal experience and everyday practice. (orig.)

High average power, highly brilliant laser-produced plasma source for soft X-ray spectroscopy.

Science.gov (United States)

Mantouvalou, Ioanna; Witte, Katharina; Grötzsch, Daniel; Neitzel, Michael; Günther, Sabrina; Baumann, Jonas; Jung, Robert; Stiel, Holger; Kanngiesser, Birgit; Sandner, Wolfgang

2015-03-01

In this work, a novel laser-produced plasma source is presented which delivers pulsed broadband soft X-radiation in the range between 100 and 1200 eV. The source was designed in view of long operating hours, high stability, and cost effectiveness. It relies on a rotating and translating metal target and achieves high stability through an on-line monitoring device using a four quadrant extreme ultraviolet diode in a pinhole camera arrangement. The source can be operated with three different laser pulse durations and various target materials and is equipped with two beamlines for simultaneous experiments. Characterization measurements are presented with special emphasis on the source position and emission stability of the source. As a first application, a near edge X-ray absorption fine structure measurement on a thin polyimide foil shows the potential of the source for soft X-ray spectroscopy.

Performance limitations of imaging microscopes for soft x-ray applications

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Lewotsky, K.L.; Kotha, A.; Harvey, J.E.

1993-01-01

Recent advances in the fabrication of nanometer-scale multilayer structures have yielded high-reflectance mirrors operating at near-normal incidence for soft X-ray wavelengths. These developments have stimulated renewed interest in high-resolution soft X-ray microscopy. The design of a Schwarzschild imaging microscope for soft X-ray applications has been reported by Hoover and Shealy. Based upon a geometrical ray-trace analysis of the residual design errors, diffraction-limited performance at a wavelength of 100 angstrom was predicted over an object size (diameter) of 0.4 mm. In this paper the authors expand upon the previous analysis of the Schwarzschild X-ray microscope design by determining the total image degradation due to diffraction, geometrical aberrations, alignment errors, and realistic assumptions concerning optical fabrication errors. NASA's Optical Surface Analysis Code (OSAC) is used to model the image degradation effects of residual surface irregularities over the entire range of relevant spatial frequencies. This includes small angle scattering effects due to mid spatial frequency surface errors falling between the traditional figure and finish specifications. Performance predictions are presented parametrically to provide some insight into the optical fabrication and alignment tolerances necessary to meet a particular image quality requirement

Negotiating perspectives and values through soft OR in the context of urban renewal

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Tavella, Elena; Lami, Isabella

2018-01-01

Negotiating perspectives and values is at the core of using PSMs to tackle complex and uncertain problem situations. Exploring how such negotiations evolve at the micro-level of real-time interactions can help grasp communicative behaviours and workshop structures that influence negotiation...... processes, and the achievement of outcomes. This study reports on an exploratory experiment with three MSc student groups engaged in (i) a Soft Systems Methodology, (ii) a Strategic Choice Approach, and (iii) a non-problem structuring method workshop to make progress with a case of urban renewals. Our micro...... to increasing our understanding of the nature of soft OR and its effects on group interactions during workshops....

Not-so-Soft Skills

Science.gov (United States)

Curran, Mary

2010-01-01

Much recent discussion about the skills needed to secure Britain's economic recovery has focused on skills for employability. However, too often, these fundamental skills are understood in narrow functional or vocational terms. So-called "soft skills", what Penelope Tobin, in her 2008 paper "Soft Skills: the hard facts", terms "traits and…

Glass transition in soft-sphere dispersions

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

RamIrez-Gonzalez, P E; Medina-Noyola, M

2009-01-01

The concept of dynamic equivalence among mono-disperse soft-sphere fluids is employed in the framework of the self-consistent generalized Langevin equation (SCGLE) theory of colloid dynamics to calculate the ideal glass transition phase diagram of model soft-sphere colloidal dispersions in the softness-concentration state space. The slow dynamics predicted by this theory near the glass transition is compared with available experimental data for the decay of the intermediate scattering function of colloidal dispersions of soft-microgel particles. Increasing deviations from this simple scheme occur for increasingly softer potentials, and this is studied here using the Rogers-Young static structure factor of the soft-sphere systems as the input of the SCGLE theory, without assuming a priori the validity of the equivalence principle above.

3D printing of soft robotic systems

Science.gov (United States)

Wallin, T. J.; Pikul, J.; Shepherd, R. F.

2018-06-01

Soft robots are capable of mimicking the complex motion of animals. Soft robotic systems are defined by their compliance, which allows for continuous and often responsive localized deformation. These features make soft robots especially interesting for integration with human tissues, for example, the implementation of biomedical devices, and for robotic performance in harsh or uncertain environments, for example, exploration in confined spaces or locomotion on uneven terrain. Advances in soft materials and additive manufacturing technologies have enabled the design of soft robots with sophisticated capabilities, such as jumping, complex 3D movements, gripping and releasing. In this Review, we examine the essential soft material properties for different elements of soft robots, highlighting the most relevant polymer systems. Advantages and limitations of different additive manufacturing processes, including 3D printing, fused deposition modelling, direct ink writing, selective laser sintering, inkjet printing and stereolithography, are discussed, and the different techniques are investigated for their application in soft robotic fabrication. Finally, we explore integrated robotic systems and give an outlook for the future of the field and remaining challenges.

Electroroentgenography in diagnosis of soft tissue tumors

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Vintergal'ter, S.F.; Vishevnik, B.I.

1989-01-01

Clinical, electroroentgenographic and X-ray studies of soft tissues were carried out in 425 patients with malignant (75), benign (246) soft tissue tumors and in cases of such soft tissue pathologies of the extremities and body (104). The paper discusses the technicalities of electroroentgenography which produces on one roentgenogram separate images of all components of soft tissues and bones in a given segment. A comparions of image quality assured by electroroentgeno- and roentgenography did not establish any significant difference in soft tissue tumor semiotics

Soft Robotics: from scientific challenges to technological applications

Science.gov (United States)

Laschi, C.

2016-05-01

Soft robotics is a recent and rapidly growing field of research, which aims at unveiling the principles for building robots that include soft materials and compliance in the interaction with the environment, so as to exploit so-called embodied intelligence and negotiate natural environment more effectively. Using soft materials for building robots poses new technological challenges: the technologies for actuating soft materials, for embedding sensors into soft robot parts, for controlling soft robots are among the main ones. This is stimulating research in many disciplines and many countries, such that a wide community is gathering around initiatives like the IEEE TAS TC on Soft Robotics and the RoboSoft CA - A Coordination Action for Soft Robotics, funded by the European Commission. Though still in its early stages of development, soft robotics is finding its way in a variety of applications, where safe contact is a main issue, in the biomedical field, as well as in exploration tasks and in the manufacturing industry. And though the development of the enabling technologies is still a priority, a fruitful loop is growing between basic research and application-oriented research in soft robotics.

Windchill-201 - Custom Soft-Type Construction

Science.gov (United States)

Jones, Corey; LaPha, Steven

2013-01-01

This presentation will explain Windchill soft-types-what they are, how they work, and how to construct custom ones, configured specifically for your system. The process and particulars of creating and implementing a WTDocument soft-type will be discussed, and the interaction between soft-types and Windchill objects will be shown.

Practical guidelines for ultrasound-guided core needle biopsy of soft-tissue lesions: Transformation from beginner to specialist

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Kim, Sang Yoon; Chung, Hye Won; Oh, Tack Sun; Lee, Jong Seok [University of Ulsan College of Medicine, Asan Medical Center, Seoul (Korea, Republic of)

2017-04-15

Ultrasound-guided core needle biopsy (US-CNB) is an important step in the diagnosis of musculoskeletal soft-tissue lesions. To maximize efficacy and minimize the complications of US-CNB, it is critical to collaborate with a multidisciplinary team and to understand the particular considerations of US-CNB for these lesions. The purpose of this article is to provide a systematic review and step-by-step tips for using US-CNB to diagnose musculoskeletal soft-tissue lesions.

Applications of Friction Stir Processing during Engraving of Soft Materials

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

V. Kočović

2015-12-01

Full Text Available Friction stir processing has extensive application in many technological operations. Application area of friction stir processing can be extended to the processing of non-metallic materials, such as wood. The paper examines the friction stir processing contact between a specially designed hard and temperature-resistant rotating tool and workpiece which is made of wood. Interval of speed slip and temperature level under which the combustion occurs and carbonization layer of soft material was determined. The results of the research can be applied in technological process of wood engraving operations which may have significant technological and aesthetic effects.

Embodying Soft Wearables Research

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Tomico, Oscar; Wilde, Danielle

2016-01-01

of soft wearables. Throughout, we will experiment with how embodied design research techniques might be shared, developed, and used as direct and unmediated vehicles for their own reporting. Rather than engage in oral presentations, participants will lead each other through a proven embodied method...... and knowledge transfer in the context of soft wearables....

TU-B-210-01: MRg HIFU - Bone and Soft Tissue Tumor Ablation

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ghanouni, P.

2015-01-01

MR guided focused ultrasound (MRgFUS), or alternatively high-intensity focused ultrasound (MRgHIFU), is approved for thermal ablative treatment of uterine fibroids and pain palliation in bone metastases. Ablation of malignant tumors is under active investigation in sites such as breast, prostate, brain, liver, kidney, pancreas, and soft tissue. Hyperthermia therapy with MRgFUS is also feasible, and may be used in conjunction with radiotherapy and for local targeted drug delivery. MRI allows in situ target definition and provides continuous temperature monitoring and subsequent thermal dose mapping during HIFU. Although MRgHIFU can be very precise, treatment of mobile organs is challenging and advanced techniques are required because of artifacts in MR temperature mapping, the need for intercostal firing, and need for gated HIFU or tracking of the lesion in real time. The first invited talk, “MR guided Focused Ultrasound Treatment of Tumors in Bone and Soft Tissue”, will summarize the treatment protocol and review results from treatment of bone tumors. In addition, efforts to extend this technology to treat both benign and malignant soft tissue tumors of the extremities will be presented. The second invited talk, “MRI guided High Intensity Focused Ultrasound – Advanced Approaches for Ablation and Hyperthermia”, will provide an overview of techniques that are in or near clinical trials for thermal ablation and hyperthermia, with an emphasis of applications in abdominal organs and breast, including methods for MRTI and tracking targets in moving organs. Learning Objectives: Learn background on devices and techniques for MR guided HIFU for cancer therapy Understand issues and current status of clinical MRg HIFU Understand strategies for compensating for organ movement during MRgHIFU Understand strategies for strategies for delivering hyperthermia with MRgHIFU CM - research collaboration with Philips

TU-B-210-01: MRg HIFU - Bone and Soft Tissue Tumor Ablation

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Ghanouni, P. [Stanford University (United States)

2015-06-15

MR guided focused ultrasound (MRgFUS), or alternatively high-intensity focused ultrasound (MRgHIFU), is approved for thermal ablative treatment of uterine fibroids and pain palliation in bone metastases. Ablation of malignant tumors is under active investigation in sites such as breast, prostate, brain, liver, kidney, pancreas, and soft tissue. Hyperthermia therapy with MRgFUS is also feasible, and may be used in conjunction with radiotherapy and for local targeted drug delivery. MRI allows in situ target definition and provides continuous temperature monitoring and subsequent thermal dose mapping during HIFU. Although MRgHIFU can be very precise, treatment of mobile organs is challenging and advanced techniques are required because of artifacts in MR temperature mapping, the need for intercostal firing, and need for gated HIFU or tracking of the lesion in real time. The first invited talk, “MR guided Focused Ultrasound Treatment of Tumors in Bone and Soft Tissue”, will summarize the treatment protocol and review results from treatment of bone tumors. In addition, efforts to extend this technology to treat both benign and malignant soft tissue tumors of the extremities will be presented. The second invited talk, “MRI guided High Intensity Focused Ultrasound – Advanced Approaches for Ablation and Hyperthermia”, will provide an overview of techniques that are in or near clinical trials for thermal ablation and hyperthermia, with an emphasis of applications in abdominal organs and breast, including methods for MRTI and tracking targets in moving organs. Learning Objectives: Learn background on devices and techniques for MR guided HIFU for cancer therapy Understand issues and current status of clinical MRg HIFU Understand strategies for compensating for organ movement during MRgHIFU Understand strategies for strategies for delivering hyperthermia with MRgHIFU CM - research collaboration with Philips.

Thermal Transport in Soft PAAm Hydrogels

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ni Tang

2017-12-01

Full Text Available As the interface between human and machine becomes blurred, hydrogel incorporated electronics and devices have emerged to be a new class of flexible/stretchable electronic and ionic devices due to their extraordinary properties, such as softness, mechanically robustness, and biocompatibility. However, heat dissipation in these devices could be a critical issue and remains unexplored. Here, we report the experimental measurements and equilibrium molecular dynamics simulations of thermal conduction in polyacrylamide (PAAm hydrogels. The thermal conductivity of PAAm hydrogels can be modulated by both the effective crosslinking density and water content in hydrogels. The effective crosslinking density dependent thermal conductivity in hydrogels varies from 0.33 to 0.51 Wm−1K−1, giving a 54% enhancement. We attribute the crosslinking effect to the competition between the increased conduction pathways and the enhanced phonon scattering effect. Moreover, water content can act as filler in polymers which leads to nearly 40% enhancement in thermal conductivity in PAAm hydrogels with water content vary from 23 to 88 wt %. Furthermore, we find the thermal conductivity of PAAm hydrogel is insensitive to temperature in the range of 25–40 °C. Our study offers fundamental understanding of thermal transport in soft materials and provides design guidance for hydrogel-based devices.

Dissecting soft radiation with factorization

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Stewart, Iain W.; Tackmann, Frank J.; Waalewijn, Wouter J.; Amsterdam Univ.

2014-05-01

An essential part of high-energy hadronic collisions is the soft hadronic activity that underlies the primary hard interaction. It can receive contributions from soft radiation from the primary hard partons, secondary multiple parton interactions (MPI), and factorization violating effects. The invariant mass spectrum of the leading jet in Z+jet and H+jet events is directly sensitive to these effects. We use a QCD factorization theorem to predict the dependence on the jet radius R, jet p T , jet rapidity, and partonic process for both the perturbative and nonperturbative components of primary soft radiation. The nonperturbative contributions involve only odd powers of R, and the linear R term is universal for quark and gluon jets. The hadronization model in PYTHIA8 agrees well with these properties. The perturbative soft initial state radiation (ISR) has a contribution that depends on the jet area in the same way as the underlying event. This degeneracy is broken by the jet p T dependence. The size of this soft ISR contribution is proportional to the color state of the initial partons, yielding the same positive contribution for gg→Hg and gq→Zq, but a negative interference contribution for q anti q→Zg. Hence, measuring these dependencies allows one to separate hadronization, soft ISR, and MPI contributions in the data.

Soft switching buck-boost converter for photovoltaic power generation; Taiyoko hatsuden no tame no soft switching shokoatsu converter

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Lee, H. [Kyungnam University (Korea, Republic of)

1996-10-27

A soft switching method with small switching loss was proposed for the purpose of increasing the efficiency of a DC-DC boost converter which converted a DC current generated by solar cells to a variable DC current. Existing current converters are supplemented by using a snubber circuit around the switch so as to protect the switch by a hard switching action. However, with an increase of the output current, snubber loss is increased, reducing the efficiency. In order to solve this problem, the partial resonant switch method was applied to the converter; with this method of partially forming a resonant circuit only at the time of turning on/off of the switch, the switching loss was reduced through the soft switching, thereby making the proposed converter operate with high efficiency. Moreover, the resonant element of the partial resonant circuit using a snubber condenser, the energy accumulated in the condenser was regenerated on the power supply side without loss of snubber. With the regenerated energy, the proposed converter was provided with a smaller ratio of switching to use than the conventional converter. 4 refs., 7 figs., 1 tab.

A Soft-Inflatable Exosuit for Knee Rehabilitation: Assisting Swing Phase During Walking

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Saivimal Sridar

2018-05-01

Full Text Available In this paper, we present a soft-inflatable exosuit to assist knee extension during gait training for stroke rehabilitation. The soft exosuit is designed to provide 25% of the knee moment required during the swing phase of the gait cycle and is integrated with inertial measurement units (IMUs and smart shoe insole sensors to improve gait phase detection and controller design. The stiffness of the knee joint during level walking is computed using inverse dynamics. The soft-inflatable actuators, with an I cross-section, are mechanically characterized at varying angles to enable generation of the required stiffness outputs. A linear relation between the inflatable actuator stiffness and internal pressure as a function of the knee angle is obtained, and a two-layer stiffness controller is implemented to assist the knee joint by providing appropriate stiffness during the swing phase. Finally, to evaluate the ability of the exosuit to assist in swing motion, surface-electromyography (sEMG sensors are placed on the three muscle groups of the quadriceps and two groups of the hamstrings, on three healthy participants. A reduction in muscle activity of the rectus femoris, vastus lateralis, and vastus medialis is observed, which demonstrates feasibility of operation and potential future usage of the soft inflatable exosuit by impaired users.

Soft computing techniques in engineering applications

CERN Document Server

Zhong, Baojiang

2014-01-01

The Soft Computing techniques, which are based on the information processing of biological systems are now massively used in the area of pattern recognition, making prediction & planning, as well as acting on the environment. Ideally speaking, soft computing is not a subject of homogeneous concepts and techniques; rather, it is an amalgamation of distinct methods that confirms to its guiding principle. At present, the main aim of soft computing is to exploit the tolerance for imprecision and uncertainty to achieve tractability, robustness and low solutions cost. The principal constituents of soft computing techniques are probabilistic reasoning, fuzzy logic, neuro-computing, genetic algorithms, belief networks, chaotic systems, as well as learning theory. This book covers contributions from various authors to demonstrate the use of soft computing techniques in various applications of engineering.  

Energy efficiency of mobile soft robots.

Science.gov (United States)

Shui, Langquan; Zhu, Liangliang; Yang, Zhe; Liu, Yilun; Chen, Xi

2017-11-15

The performance of mobile soft robots is usually characterized by their locomotion/velocity efficiency, whereas the energy efficiency is a more intrinsic and fundamental criterion for the performance evaluation of independent or integrated soft robots. In this work, a general framework is established to evaluate the energy efficiency of mobile soft robots by considering the efficiency of the energy source, actuator and locomotion, and some insights for improving the efficiency of soft robotic systems are presented. Proposed as the ratio of the desired locomotion kinetic energy to the input mechanical energy, the energy efficiency of locomotion is found to play a critical role in determining the overall energy efficiency of soft robots. Four key factors related to the locomotion energy efficiency are identified, that is, the locomotion modes, material properties, geometric sizes, and actuation states. It is found that the energy efficiency of most mobile soft robots reported in the literature is surprisingly low (mostly below 0.1%), due to the inefficient mechanical energy that essentially does not contribute to the desired locomotion. A comparison of the locomotion energy efficiency for several representative locomotion modes in the literature is presented, showing a descending ranking as: jumping ≫ fish-like swimming > snake-like slithering > rolling > rising/turning over > inchworm-like inching > quadruped gait > earthworm-like squirming. Besides, considering the same locomotion mode, soft robots with lower stiffness, higher density and larger size tend to have higher locomotion energy efficiency. Moreover, a periodic pulse actuation instead of a continuous actuation mode may significantly reduce the input mechanical energy, thus improving the locomotion energy efficiency, especially when the pulse actuation matches the resonant states of the soft robots. The results presented herein indicate a large and necessary space for improving the locomotion energy

Wanted: Soft Skills for Today's Jobs

Science.gov (United States)

Hirsch, Barton J.

2017-01-01

Educating high school students for both college and career is difficult. Teaching trade skills seems alien to the academic culture. But new research indicates that soft skills are quite important to judgments of employability and that youth learn many soft skills in traditional academic subjects (e.g., literature). A focus on soft skills allows…

Mechanical Designs for Inorganic Stretchable Circuits in Soft Electronics.

Science.gov (United States)

Wang, Shuodao; Huang, Yonggang; Rogers, John A

2015-09-01

Mechanical concepts and designs in inorganic circuits for different levels of stretchability are reviewed in this paper, through discussions of the underlying mechanics and material theories, fabrication procedures for the constituent microscale/nanoscale devices, and experimental characterization. All of the designs reported here adopt heterogeneous structures of rigid and brittle inorganic materials on soft and elastic elastomeric substrates, with mechanical design layouts that isolate large deformations to the elastomer, thereby avoiding potentially destructive plastic strains in the brittle materials. The overall stiffnesses of the electronics, their stretchability, and curvilinear shapes can be designed to match the mechanical properties of biological tissues. The result is a class of soft stretchable electronic systems that are compatible with traditional high-performance inorganic semiconductor technologies. These systems afford promising options for applications in portable biomedical and health-monitoring devices. Mechanics theories and modeling play a key role in understanding the underlining physics and optimization of these systems.

Bipolar fracture dislocation of clavicle: A report of osteosynthesis and early soft tissue reconstruction.

Science.gov (United States)

Prasetia, Renaldi; Rasyid, Hermawan Nagar

2017-01-01

Bipolar dislocation of the clavicle, also called bifocal or pan-articular dislocation or floating clavicle, is an uncommon traumatic injury. The injury of this case is also concomitant with distal third clavicle and coracoid fracture. This article aimed to report the experience of performing osteosynthesis and early soft tissue reconstruction on these injuries. We reported a case of bipolar clavicle fracture-dislocation in concomitant with coracoid fracture in a man, aged 32 years old, successfully treated 24days after accident by fixation of both fractures and early simultaneous reconstruction of sternoclavicular- acromioclavicular-coracoclavicular joints. These injuries are rare and capable of causing many complications if they are treated improperly. It is compulsory to carefully assess any fractured clavicle along its whole length, both clinically and radiologically. Various options, from non-operative to operative, have been reported to manage such of these cases. Early bony fixation and soft tissue reconstruction can correct the alignment of clavicle and recover the function of sterno-clavicular and acromio-clavicular- joints promptly. Fracture osteosynthesis and early soft tissue reconstruction can be regarded as an option treatment for bipolar fracture-dislocation of the clavicle to facilitate prompt treatment and early rehabilitation. Copyright © 2017 The Author(s). Published by Elsevier Ltd.. All rights reserved.

Development and characterization of femtosecond laser driven soft x-ray lasers

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Bettaibi, I.

2005-06-01

Coherent soft x-ray sources have an important potential for scientific, medical and industrial applications. The development of high intensity laser systems allowed the realization of new coherent and fast soft x-ray sources like high order harmonic generation and soft x-ray lasers. These sources are compact, cheaper than traditional sources such as synchrotrons, and are thus interesting. This thesis presents the study of a new soft x-ray laser pumped by a femto-second laser beam working at 10 Hz. The circularly polarized ultra intense laser is longitudinally focused in a cell filled with xenon or krypton, to obtain the amplification of two lasing lines at 41.8 nm and 32.8 nm in Pd-like xenon and Ni-like krypton respectively. We carry out an experimental and numerical study of the source to understand the importance of different parameters such as the laser intensity and polarization, the gas pressure and the cell length. We have also spatially and temporally characterized the soft x-ray laser beam. To compensate the refraction of the driving laser we have investigated guiding techniques consisting in creating a plasma channel by electric discharge or using the multiple reflections of the driving laser on the internal walls of the dielectric tubes of sapphire or glass. A spectacular improvement of the source performances has been observed in both cases. Finally, we present a preliminary study on a different x-ray scheme: the inner shell photo pumping of neutral atoms. We have developed an optical system, which should create the appropriate conditions for the realisation of short wavelength x-ray amplifier. (author)

New Therapeutic Targets in Soft Tissue Sarcoma

Science.gov (United States)

Demicco, Elizabeth G; Maki, Robert G; Lev, Dina C.; Lazar, Alexander J

2012-01-01

Soft tissue sarcomas are an uncommon and diverse group of more than 50 mesenchymal malignancies. The pathogenesis of many of these is poorly understood, but others have begun to reveal the secrets of their inner workings. With considerable effort over recent years, soft tissue sarcomas have increasingly been classified on the basis of underlying molecular alterations. In turn, this has allowed the development and application of targeted agents in several specific, molecularly defined, sarcoma subtypes. This review will focus the rationale for targeted therapy in sarcoma, with emphasis on the relevance of specific molecular factors and pathways in both translocation-associated sarcomas and in genetically complex tumors. In addition, we will address some of the early successes in sarcoma targeted therapy as well as a few challenges and disappointments in this field. Finally we will discuss several possible opportunities represented by poorly understood, but potentially promising new therapeutic targets, as well as several novel biologic agents currently in preclinical and early phase I/II trials. This will provide the reader with context for understanding the current state this field and a sense of where it may be headed in the coming years. PMID:22498582

Impulsive behavior in solar soft X-radiation

Science.gov (United States)

Hudson, H. S.; Strong, K. T.; Dennis, B. R.; Zarro, D.; Inda, M.; Kosugi, T.; Sakao, T.

1994-01-01

The Yohkoh soft X-ray telescope has observed impulsive, thermal, soft X-ray emission at the footpoints of magnetic loops during solar flares. The soft X-ray (thermal) time profiles at the footpoints closely match the hard X-ray (nonthermal) time profiles, directly demonstrating the heating of the lower solar atmosphere on short timescales during the interval of nonthermal energy release. This phenomenon is the rule, rather than the exception, occurring in the majority of flares that we have examined with the Yohkoh data. We illustrate the impulsive behavior with data from the major flare of 1992 January 26. For this flare, the soft X-ray peak times matched the hard X-ray peak times within the time resolution of the soft X-ray measurements (about 10 s), and the soft and hard X-ray locations match within the resolution of the hard X-ray imager. The impulsive soft X-ray emission clearly has a thermal spectral signature, but not at the high temperature of a 'superhot' source. We conclude that the impulsive soft X-ray emission comes from material heated by precipitating electrons at loop footpoints and evaporating from the deeper atmosphere into the flaring flux tube.

Cyclic Soft Groups and Their Applications on Groups

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Hacı Aktaş

2014-01-01

Full Text Available In crisp environment the notions of order of group and cyclic group are well known due to many applications. In this paper, we introduce order of the soft groups, power of the soft sets, power of the soft groups, and cyclic soft group on a group. We also investigate the relationship between cyclic soft groups and classical groups.

SOFT: a synthetic synchrotron diagnostic for runaway electrons

Science.gov (United States)

Hoppe, M.; Embréus, O.; Tinguely, R. A.; Granetz, R. S.; Stahl, A.; Fülöp, T.

2018-02-01

Improved understanding of the dynamics of runaway electrons can be obtained by measurement and interpretation of their synchrotron radiation emission. Models for synchrotron radiation emitted by relativistic electrons are well established, but the question of how various geometric effects—such as magnetic field inhomogeneity and camera placement—influence the synchrotron measurements and their interpretation remains open. In this paper we address this issue by simulating synchrotron images and spectra using the new synthetic synchrotron diagnostic tool SOFT (Synchrotron-detecting Orbit Following Toolkit). We identify the key parameters influencing the synchrotron radiation spot and present scans in those parameters. Using a runaway electron distribution function obtained by Fokker-Planck simulations for parameters from an Alcator C-Mod discharge, we demonstrate that the corresponding synchrotron image is well-reproduced by SOFT simulations, and we explain how it can be understood in terms of the parameter scans. Geometric effects are shown to significantly influence the synchrotron spectrum, and we show that inherent inconsistencies in a simple emission model (i.e. not modeling detection) can lead to incorrect interpretation of the images.

Soft-sediment mullions

Science.gov (United States)

Ortner, Hugo

2015-04-01

In this contribution I describe the appearance, formation and significance of soft-sediment mullions. I use several examples from synorogenic turbidites of the Alps and the Pyrenees to show their appearance in the field. Soft-sediment mullions are elongate, slightly irregular bulges at the base of coarse-grained clastic beds (sand to conglomerate), separated by narrow, elongate flames of fine-grained material (mud) protruding into the coarse-grained bed. Various processes may lead to the formation of such structures: (1) longitudinal furrows parallel to the sediment transport direction may form by spiral motion in flow rolls during sediment transport (Dzulinski, 1966; Dzulinski & Simpson, 1966). (2) Loading combined with downslope movement can produce elongate structures parallelling the dowslope direction (Anketell et al., 1970). (3) Soft-sediment mullions are oriented perpendicular or oblique to the downslope direction, and show evidence of bedding-parallel shortening. Thus, they resemble cuspate-lobate folds or mullions, which are well-known in ductile structural geology (e.g. Urai et al., 2001). Soft-sediment mullions have been observed in two cases: Either bedding-parallel shortening can be achieved by slump processes, or by active tectonic shortening. Slumping is characterized by an alternation of stretching and shortening (e.g. Ortner, 2007; Alsop & Marco 2014), and therefore mullions do overprint or are overprinted by normal faults. In active depositional systems that are subject to tectonic shortening growth strata will form, but sediments already deposited will be shortened during lithification. In some cases, the formation of soft-sediment mullions predates folding, but the most widespread expression of syn-lithification shortening seems to be soft-sediment mullions, that form in the inner arcs of fold hinges. In the examples documented so far, the size of soft-sediment mullions is dependent on the grain-size of the coarse-grained layer, in which the

Workshop report on new directions in soft x-ray photoabsorption

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Bartlett, R.; Del Grande, N.K.; Lindau, I.; Manson, S.; Merts, A.L.; Pratt, R.

1984-01-01

The Workshop Report integrates what was said at the Workshop on New Directions in Soft X-Ray Photoabsorption, which focused on the region from 100 eV to 10 keV. The report clarifies the current state of theory and experiment and identifies the opportunities which new theoretical methods and experimental facilities could be expected to provide. The understanding of photoabsorption (which requires experimental photoabsorption cross section data) is a key to understanding the properties and behavior of atoms, molecules and solids. The Workshop participants were forty-three physicists and quantum chemists, from twenty-four institutions in four countries, all interested in photoabsorption from different perspectives

Soft x-ray Planetary Imager

Data.gov (United States)

National Aeronautics and Space Administration — The project is to prototype a soft X-ray Imager for planetary applications that has the sensitivity to observe solar system sources of soft  X-ray emission. A strong...

Value of the Strain Ratio on Ultrasonic Elastography for Differentiation of Benign and Malignant Soft Tissue Tumors.

Science.gov (United States)

Hahn, Seok; Lee, Young Han; Lee, Seung Hyun; Suh, Jin-Suck

2017-01-01

The purpose of this study was to evaluate whether the strain ratio provides additional value to conventional visual elasticity scores in the differentiation of benign and malignant soft tissue tumors by ultrasonic elastography. The Institutional Review Board approved the protocol of this retrospective review. Seventy-three patients who underwent elastography and had a soft tissue mass pathologically confirmed by ultrasound-guided core biopsy or surgical excision were enrolled from April 2012 through October 2014. On elastography, elasticity scores were determined with a 5-point visual scale, and the strain ratio to adjacent soft tissue at the same depth was calculated. Tumors were divided into benign and malignant groups according to the pathologic diagnoses. Elasticity scores and strain ratios were compared between benign and malignant groups, and diagnostic performance was evaluated by receiver operating characteristic curves. Of the 73 patients, 40 had benign tumors, and 33 had malignant tumors. Strain ratios (P = .003) and elasticity scores (P = .048) were significantly different between pathologic results. The areas under the receiver operating characteristic curves were 0.700 (95% confidence interval, 0.581-0.802) for the strain ratio and 0.623 (95% confidence interval, 0.515-0.746) for elastography. The strain ratios of malignant soft tissue tumors were lower than those of benign tumors and showed better diagnostic performance than did elasticity scores. The strain ratio can be used as a diagnostic indicator to predict the malignant potential of soft tissue tumors. © 2016 by the American Institute of Ultrasound in Medicine.

Biologically-inspired soft exosuit.

Science.gov (United States)

Asbeck, Alan T; Dyer, Robert J; Larusson, Arnar F; Walsh, Conor J

2013-06-01

In this paper, we present the design and evaluation of a novel soft cable-driven exosuit that can apply forces to the body to assist walking. Unlike traditional exoskeletons which contain rigid framing elements, the soft exosuit is worn like clothing, yet can generate moments at the ankle and hip with magnitudes of 18% and 30% of those naturally generated by the body during walking, respectively. Our design uses geared motors to pull on Bowden cables connected to the suit near the ankle. The suit has the advantages over a traditional exoskeleton in that the wearer's joints are unconstrained by external rigid structures, and the worn part of the suit is extremely light, which minimizes the suit's unintentional interference with the body's natural biomechanics. However, a soft suit presents challenges related to actuation force transfer and control, since the body is compliant and cannot support large pressures comfortably. We discuss the design of the suit and actuation system, including principles by which soft suits can transfer force to the body effectively and the biological inspiration for the design. For a soft exosuit, an important design parameter is the combined effective stiffness of the suit and its interface to the wearer. We characterize the exosuit's effective stiffness, and present preliminary results from it generating assistive torques to a subject during walking. We envision such an exosuit having broad applicability for assisting healthy individuals as well as those with muscle weakness.

Experience with esthetic reconstruction of complex facial soft tissue trauma: application of the pulsed dye laser.

Science.gov (United States)

Ebrahimi, Ali; Kazemi, Hossein Mohammad; Nejadsarvari, Nasrin

2014-08-01

Facial soft tissue injury can be one of the most challenging cases presenting to the plastic surgeon. The life quality and self-esteem of the patients with facial injury may be compromised temporarily or permanently. Immediate reconstruction of most defects leads to better restoration of form and function as well as early rehabilitation. The aim of this study was to present our experience in management of facial soft tissue injuries from different causes. We prospectively studied patients treated by plastic surgeons from 2010 to 2012 suffering from different types of blunt or sharp (penetrating) facial soft tissue injuries to the different areas of the face. All soft tissue injuries were treated primarily. Photography from all patients before, during, and after surgical reconstruction was performed and the results were collected. We used early pulsed dye laser (PDL) post-operatively. In our study, 63 patients including 18 (28.5%) women and 45 (71.5%) men aged 8-70 years (mean 47 years) underwent facial reconstruction due to soft tissue trauma in different parts of the face. Sharp wounds were seen in 15 (23%) patients and blunt trauma lacerations were seen in 52 (77%) patients. Overall, 65% of facial injuries were repaired primary and the remainder were reconstructed with local flaps or skin graft from adjacent tissues. Postoperative PDL therapy done two weeks following surgery for all scars yielded good results in our cases. Analysis of the injury including location, size, and depth of penetration as well as presence of associated injuries can aid in the formulation of a proper surgical plan. We recommend PDL in the early post operation period (two weeks) after suture removal for better aesthetic results.

Double soft theorems in gauge and string theories

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Volovich, Anastasia [Brown University Department of Physics,182 Hope St, Providence, RI, 02912 (United States); Wen, Congkao [I.N.F.N. Sezione di Roma “Tor Vergata”,Via della Ricerca Scientifica, 00133 Roma (Italy); Zlotnikov, Michael [Brown University Department of Physics,182 Hope St, Providence, RI, 02912 (United States)

2015-07-20

We investigate the tree-level S-matrix in gauge theories and open superstring theory with several soft particles. We show that scattering amplitudes with two or three soft gluons of non-identical helicities behave universally in the limit, with multi-soft factors which are not the product of individual soft gluon factors. The results are obtained from the BCFW recursion relations in four dimensions, and further extended to arbitrary dimensions using the CHY formula. We also find new soft theorems for double soft limits of scalars and fermions in N=4 and pure N=2 SYM. Finally, we show that the double-soft-scalar theorems can be extended to open superstring theory without receiving any α{sup ′} corrections.

Nonlinear machine learning in soft materials engineering and design

Science.gov (United States)

Ferguson, Andrew

The inherently many-body nature of molecular folding and colloidal self-assembly makes it challenging to identify the underlying collective mechanisms and pathways governing system behavior, and has hindered rational design of soft materials with desired structure and function. Fundamentally, there exists a predictive gulf between the architecture and chemistry of individual molecules or colloids and the collective many-body thermodynamics and kinetics. Integrating machine learning techniques with statistical thermodynamics provides a means to bridge this divide and identify emergent folding pathways and self-assembly mechanisms from computer simulations or experimental particle tracking data. We will survey a few of our applications of this framework that illustrate the value of nonlinear machine learning in understanding and engineering soft materials: the non-equilibrium self-assembly of Janus colloids into pinwheels, clusters, and archipelagos; engineering reconfigurable ''digital colloids'' as a novel high-density information storage substrate; probing hierarchically self-assembling onjugated asphaltenes in crude oil; and determining macromolecular folding funnels from measurements of single experimental observables. We close with an outlook on the future of machine learning in soft materials engineering, and share some personal perspectives on working at this disciplinary intersection. We acknowledge support for this work from a National Science Foundation CAREER Award (Grant No. DMR-1350008) and the Donors of the American Chemical Society Petroleum Research Fund (ACS PRF #54240-DNI6).

Zur Dialektik von Soft Skills und fachlicher Kompetenz

OpenAIRE

Jendrowiak, Hans-Werner

2010-01-01

[Der Autor stellt folgende Thesen zur Dialektik von Soft Skills und fachlicher Bildung auf:] 1. Soft Skills sind normale Bildungskategorien und Teil einer Allgemeinen Bildung. […] 2. Soft Skills sind als personalgebundene Kriterien auch immer schon Gegenstand bildungstheoretischer Debatten. […] 3. Soft Skills ist eine trendorientierte Bezeichnung für Bildung. […] 4. Soft Skills sind Ausdruck von Vorstellungen, Ideen und Theorien (Schulkultur, Unternehmenskultur, Unternehmensphilosophie). 5. S...

Lateral vibration behavior analysis and TLD vibration absorption design of the soft yoke single-point mooring system

Science.gov (United States)

Lyu, Bai-cheng; Wu, Wen-hua; Yao, Wei-an; Du, Yu

2017-06-01

Mooring system is the key equipment of FPSO safe operation. The soft yoke mooring system is regarded as one of the best shallow water mooring strategies and widely applied to the oil exploitation in the Bohai Bay in China and the Gulf of Mexico. Based on the analysis of numerous monitoring data obtained by the prototype monitoring system of one FPSO in the Bohai Bay, the on-site lateral vibration behaviors found on the site of the soft yoke subject to wave load were analyzed. ADAMS simulation and model experiment were utilized to analyze the soft yoke lateral vibration and it was determined that lateral vibration was resonance behaviors caused by wave excitation. On the basis of the soft yoke longitudinal restoring force being guaranteed, a TLD-based vibration damper system was constructed and the vibration reduction experiments with multi-tank space and multi-load conditions were developed. The experimental results demonstrated that the proposed TLD vibration reduction system can effectively reduce lateral vibration of soft yoke structures.

Light-Triggered Soft Artificial Muscles: Molecular-Level Amplification of Actuation Control Signals.

Science.gov (United States)

Dicker, Michael P M; Baker, Anna B; Iredale, Robert J; Naficy, Sina; Bond, Ian P; Faul, Charl F J; Rossiter, Jonathan M; Spinks, Geoffrey M; Weaver, Paul M

2017-08-23

The principle of control signal amplification is found in all actuation systems, from engineered devices through to the operation of biological muscles. However, current engineering approaches require the use of hard and bulky external switches or valves, incompatible with both the properties of emerging soft artificial muscle technology and those of the bioinspired robotic systems they enable. To address this deficiency a biomimetic molecular-level approach is developed that employs light, with its excellent spatial and temporal control properties, to actuate soft, pH-responsive hydrogel artificial muscles. Although this actuation is triggered by light, it is largely powered by the resulting excitation and runaway chemical reaction of a light-sensitive acid autocatalytic solution in which the actuator is immersed. This process produces actuation strains of up to 45% and a three-fold chemical amplification of the controlling light-trigger, realising a new strategy for the creation of highly functional soft actuating systems.

Design approach of soft control system for implementation of advanced MMI in KNGR

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kim, J. K.; Choi, M. J.; Choe, I. N.

1999-01-01

To overcome the inherent inflexibility of spatially dedicated man-machine interface (MMI) in conventional control room, computer based MMI technologies, along with compact workstation concept, are adopted in KNGR control room target design. In order to achieve the compact workstation design, a large number of spatially dedicated control switches and manual/auto stations in a traditional control room have to be replaced by a few common multi-function devices. These control devices, so called Soft Control System, consist of a personal computer based Flat Panel Display (FPD) device with touch sensitive screen which provides control MMI for the component selected among a number of plant components. Soft Control System is MMI device to allow control of continuous and discrete control device from single panel device. Soft Control System allows a standard interface device to assume the role of numerous control switch and analog control devices via software configuration. This has the advantage of following operator access to all plant control from a single control compact workstation. (author)

Localization of proteins and nucleic acids using soft x-ray microscopy

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Larabell, Carolyn A.; Yager, Deborah; Meyer-Ilse, Werner

2000-01-01

The high-resolution soft x-ray microscope (XM-1) at the Advanced Light Source was used to examine whole, hydrated mammalian cells, both chemically fixed and rapidly frozen and viewed in a cryostage. Using x-ray microscopy, high contrast information about the organization of the cytoplasm and nucleus of these cells was revealed at unsurpassed resolution. It is important to note that cryo-fixed cells have been examined in a state that most closely resembles their natural environment in that the cells were not exposed to chemical fixatives or chemical contrast enhancement reagents. We also used the power of soft x-ray microscopy to examine the localization of proteins and nucleic acids in whole, hydrated cells using silver-enhanced, immunogold labeling techniques. With this approach, we have obtained information about the distribution of such molecules with respect to cellular ultrastructure at five times better resolution than light microscopy. The power of soft x-ray microscopy to provide superb resolution information about the subcellular localization of proteins and nucleic acids places it in a commanding position to contribute to our understanding of the numerous molecules being identified through modern molecular biology techniques

Ambitwistor strings at null infinity and (subleading) soft limits

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Geyer, Yvonne; Lipstein, Arthur E; Mason, Lionel

2015-01-01

The relationship between BMS symmetries at null infinity and Weinberg's soft theorems for gravitons and photons together with their subleading extensions are developed using ambitwistor string theory. Ambitwistor space is the phase space of complex null geodesics in complexified space-time. We show how it can be canonically identified with the cotangent bundle of complexified null infinity. BMS symmetries of null infinity lift to give a Hamiltonian action on ambitwistor space, both in general dimension and in its twistorial four-dimensional representation. General vertex operators arise from Hamiltonians generating diffeomorphisms of ambitwistor space that determine the scattering from past to future null infinity. When a momentum eigenstate goes soft, the diffeomorphism defined by its leading and its subleading part are extended BMS generators realized in the world sheet conformal field theory of the ambitwistor string. More generally, this gives an explicit perturbative correspondence between the scattering of null geodesics and that of the gravitational field via ambitwistor string theory. (paper)

Conservative Soft Power: Liberal soft power bias and the ‘hidden’ attraction of Russia

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Keating, Vincent Charles; Kaczmarska, Katarzyna

2018-01-01

The study of soft power in international relations suffers from a liberal democratic bias. Throughout the literature, liberal concepts and values are assumed to be universal in their appeal. This bias has led scholars to underestimate Russian soft power by instrumentalizing it, that is, to see it...

True Low-Power Self-Locking Soft Actuators.

Science.gov (United States)

Kim, Seung Jae; Kim, Onnuri; Park, Moon Jeong

2018-03-01

Natural double-layered structures observed in living organisms are known to exhibit asymmetric volume changes with environmental triggers. Typical examples are natural roots of plants, which show unique self-organized bending behavior in response to environmental stimuli. Herein, light- and electro-active polymer (LEAP) based actuators with a double-layered structure are reported. The LEAP actuators exhibit an improvement of 250% in displacement and hold an object three times heavier as compared to that in the case of conventional electro-active polymer actuators. Most interestingly, the bending motion of the LEAP actuators can be effectively locked for a few tens of minutes even in the absence of a power supply. Further, the self-locking LEAP actuators show a large and reversible bending strain of more than 2.0% and require only 6.2 mW h cm -2 of energy to hold an object for 15 min at an operating voltage of 3 V. These novel self-locking soft actuators should find wide applicability in artificial muscles, biomedical microdevices, and various innovative soft robot technologies. © 2018 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.

Soft tissue tumors - imaging methods

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Arlart, I.P.

1985-01-01

Soft Tissue Tumors - Imaging Methods: Imaging methods play an important diagnostic role in soft tissue tumors concerning a preoperative evaluation of localization, size, topographic relationship, dignity, and metastatic disease. The present paper gives an overview about diagnostic methods available today such as ultrasound, thermography, roentgenographic plain films and xeroradiography, radionuclide methods, computed tomography, lymphography, angiography, and magnetic resonance imaging. Besides sonography particularly computed tomography has the most important diagnostic value in soft tissue tumors. The application of a recently developed method, the magnetic resonance imaging, cannot yet be assessed in its significance. (orig.) [de

Soft Active Materials for Actuation, Sensing, and Electronics

OpenAIRE

Kramer, Rebecca Krone

2012-01-01

Future generations of robots, electronics, and assistive medical devices will include systems that are soft and elastically deformable, allowing them to adapt their morphology in unstructured environments. This will require soft active materials for actuation, circuitry, and sensing of deformation and contact pressure. The emerging field of soft robotics utilizes these soft active materials to mimic the inherent compliance of natural soft-bodied systems. As the elasticity of robot components ...

Role of radiation therapy in management of patients with sarcoma of soft tissue

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Suit, Herman D.; Spiro, Ira J.

1995-01-01

Soft tissue sarcomas (STS) are malignant neoplasms arising from the mesenchymal connective and supporting tissues. These tumors occur at all anatomic sites within the body and are of many histologic subtypes. There are some 5600 newly diagnosed patients with STS per year. Epidemiological and etiologic factors, including the role of environmental carcinogens and radiation in the development of these tumors will be made. The role of several oncogenes and suppressor genes (e.g. Rb, p53, MDM2) and cytogenetic alterations will be reviewed. Consideration of the epidemiology and role of environmental carcinogens and radiation in the development of these tumors will be made. The natural history of these tumors will be described with reference to local invasion and spread to regional and distal sites. The evaluation of the patients suspected of having a sarcoma of soft tissue will then be considered including the relative roles of CT, MRI, PET, and US. The place of core needle biopsy, incisional biopsy or excisional biopsy for tumors at various sites and sizes will be addressed. The histopathologic subtype assessment of the tumor by standard H and E stains, immunohistochemistry, electron microscopy and cytogenetic studies will then be discussed. The principal role for radiation in the management of patients with sarcoma of soft tissue is in combination with surgery. This may be: 1) pre-operative and or post-operative use of external beam photons, electrons, and protons, and 2) intra-operative use of brachytherapy or intra-operative election beam techniques. Results of treatment with respect to local control, disease-free survival and overall survival will be considered for each of the various techniques with respect to size, grade, histologic type, surgical margin status, anatomic site, primary vs. recurrent disease. Similarly, the factors associated with delay in wound healing are to be considered and strategies to reduce wound morbidity. Functional outcome after limb

New Concepts and Applications in Soft Computing

CERN Document Server

Fodor, János; Várkonyi-Kóczy, Annamária

2013-01-01

              The book provides a sample of research on the innovative theory and applications of soft computing paradigms.             The idea of Soft Computing was initiated in 1981 when Professor Zadeh published his first paper on soft data analysis and constantly evolved ever since. Professor Zadeh defined Soft Computing as the fusion of the fields of fuzzy logic (FL), neural network theory (NN) and probabilistic reasoning (PR), with the latter subsuming belief networks, evolutionary computing including DNA computing, chaos theory and parts of learning theory into one multidisciplinary system. As Zadeh said the essence of soft computing is that unlike the traditional, hard computing, soft computing is aimed at an accommodation with the pervasive imprecision of the real world. Thus, the guiding principle of soft computing is to exploit the tolerance for imprecision, uncertainty and partial truth to achieve tractability, robustness, low solution cost and better rapport with reality. ...

Soft x-ray spectroscopy optimisation for the direct determination of valence

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Wison, N.C.; MacRae, C.M.; Nelson, S.

2002-01-01

Full text: Measuring the valence of elements and mapping their occurrence throughout a sample can give important insights into the chemistry of complex systems. The toxic nature of Cr 6+ gives great concern over its disposal in the environment. Being able to resolve Cr 6+ from Cr 3+ allows us to tackle these important problems. The electron probe micro-analyser (EPMA) is routinely used to provide micron resolution chemical analysis. However it is often possible to resolve changes in soft X-ray peak shape and position that reflect changes in the chemical state and crystal structure. A soft x-rays is usually considered to be one of less than 1.5 keV in energy In this study we have compared a range of Cr containing compounds, and measured the differences in the Cr Lα line. In some samples, the Cr L line can be 'relatively weak, so to maximise its excitation probability, a set of Monte Carlo simulations were performed using the CASINO V2.0 package and the most efficient excitation voltage was determined. We also investigate the soft x-ray spectroscopy using electronic structure calculations to produce theoretical Density of States (DOS) for comparison with the measured spectra. The theoretical calculations can aid in understanding spectrum shape and polarisation of the soft x-ray signal in unknown samples, when a full range of standards is not available. Copyright (2002) Australian Society for Electron Microscopy Inc

Multiple soft limits of cosmological correlation functions

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Joyce, Austin; Khoury, Justin; Simonović, Marko

2015-01-01

We derive novel identities satisfied by inflationary correlation functions in the limit where two external momenta are taken to be small. We derive these statements in two ways: using background-wave arguments and as Ward identities following from the fixed-time path integral. Interestingly, these identities allow us to constrain some of the O(q 2 ) components of the soft limit, in contrast to their single-soft analogues. We provide several nontrivial checks of our identities both in the context of resonant non-Gaussianities and in small sound speed models. Additionally, we extend the relation at lowest order in external momenta to arbitrarily many soft legs, and comment on the many-soft extension at higher orders in the soft momentum. Finally, we consider how higher soft limits lead to identities satisfied by correlation functions in large-scale structure

Estimation of the laser cutting operating cost by support vector regression methodology

Science.gov (United States)

Jović, Srđan; Radović, Aleksandar; Šarkoćević, Živče; Petković, Dalibor; Alizamir, Meysam

2016-09-01

Laser cutting is a popular manufacturing process utilized to cut various types of materials economically. The operating cost is affected by laser power, cutting speed, assist gas pressure, nozzle diameter and focus point position as well as the workpiece material. In this article, the process factors investigated were: laser power, cutting speed, air pressure and focal point position. The aim of this work is to relate the operating cost to the process parameters mentioned above. CO2 laser cutting of stainless steel of medical grade AISI316L has been investigated. The main goal was to analyze the operating cost through the laser power, cutting speed, air pressure, focal point position and material thickness. Since the laser operating cost is a complex, non-linear task, soft computing optimization algorithms can be used. Intelligent soft computing scheme support vector regression (SVR) was implemented. The performance of the proposed estimator was confirmed with the simulation results. The SVR results are then compared with artificial neural network and genetic programing. According to the results, a greater improvement in estimation accuracy can be achieved through the SVR compared to other soft computing methodologies. The new optimization methods benefit from the soft computing capabilities of global optimization and multiobjective optimization rather than choosing a starting point by trial and error and combining multiple criteria into a single criterion.

Investigation of Turkish Higher Education as a Means of Influence in Relation to ‘Soft Power'

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Hilal BÜYÜKGÖZE

2016-05-01

Full Text Available With the realization of soft power's potential in time which was emerged by the canalization of international diplomacy conjuncture directing to new quests after the industrial revolution and cold war, states have been led to apply various ways and methods regarding their foreign policies. Turkey also utilizes soft power, defined generally as the ability to shape the preferences of others through appeal rather than coerce, both through financial co-operations, constructive applications in international policy and through national institutions, foundations and Non-Governmental Organizations for its appearance and perception in international system. Higher education, which has an international characteristic, may also be assessed as a soft power element through international students and academics. Accordingly, in the current study, power and soft power terms were investigated, and the role of soft power in Turkey's foreign policy and Turkish higher education was examined. The findings of the study showed that the strategies toward internationalism in higher education are not sufficient, academics and university students have a certain level of awareness on the issue though. The results were interpreted within the scope of the literature, and managerial and functional characteristics of Turkish higher education as well.

Current concepts in non-gastrointestinal stromal tumor soft tissue sarcomas: A primer for radiologists

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Baheti, Akahay D. [Dept. of Radiology, Tata Memorial Centre, Mumbai (India); Tirumani, Harika [Dept. of Radiology, University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences, Little Rock (United States); O' Neill, Alibhe; Jagannathan, Jyothi P. [Dept. of Imaging, Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, Boston (United States)

2017-01-15

Non-gastrointestinal stromal tumor (GIST) soft tissue sarcomas (STSs) are a heterogeneous group of neoplasms whose classification and management continues to evolve with better understanding of their biologic behavior. The 2013 World Health Organization (WHO) has revised their classification based on new immunohistochemical and cytogenetic data. In this article, we will provide a brief overview of the revised WHO classification of soft tissue tumors, discuss in detail the radiology and management of the two most common adult non-GIST STS, namely liposarcoma and leiomyosarcoma, and review some of the emerging histology-driven targeted therapies in non-GIST STS, focusing on the role of the radiologist.

Current concepts in non-gastrointestinal stromal tumor soft tissue sarcomas: A primer for radiologists

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Baheti, Akahay D.; Tirumani, Harika; O'Neill, Alibhe; Jagannathan, Jyothi P.

2017-01-01

Non-gastrointestinal stromal tumor (GIST) soft tissue sarcomas (STSs) are a heterogeneous group of neoplasms whose classification and management continues to evolve with better understanding of their biologic behavior. The 2013 World Health Organization (WHO) has revised their classification based on new immunohistochemical and cytogenetic data. In this article, we will provide a brief overview of the revised WHO classification of soft tissue tumors, discuss in detail the radiology and management of the two most common adult non-GIST STS, namely liposarcoma and leiomyosarcoma, and review some of the emerging histology-driven targeted therapies in non-GIST STS, focusing on the role of the radiologist

Soft error mechanisms, modeling and mitigation

CERN Document Server

Sayil, Selahattin

2016-01-01

This book introduces readers to various radiation soft-error mechanisms such as soft delays, radiation induced clock jitter and pulses, and single event (SE) coupling induced effects. In addition to discussing various radiation hardening techniques for combinational logic, the author also describes new mitigation strategies targeting commercial designs. Coverage includes novel soft error mitigation techniques such as the Dynamic Threshold Technique and Soft Error Filtering based on Transmission gate with varied gate and body bias. The discussion also includes modeling of SE crosstalk noise, delay and speed-up effects. Various mitigation strategies to eliminate SE coupling effects are also introduced. Coverage also includes the reliability of low power energy-efficient designs and the impact of leakage power consumption optimizations on soft error robustness. The author presents an analysis of various power optimization techniques, enabling readers to make design choices that reduce static power consumption an...

Soft x-ray scattering facility at the Advanced Light Source with real-time data processing and analysis

Science.gov (United States)

Gann, E.; Young, A. T.; Collins, B. A.; Yan, H.; Nasiatka, J.; Padmore, H. A.; Ade, H.; Hexemer, A.; Wang, C.

2012-04-01

We present the development and characterization of a dedicated resonant soft x-ray scattering facility. Capable of operation over a wide energy range, the beamline and endstation are primarily used for scattering from soft matter systems around the carbon K-edge (˜285 eV). We describe the specialized design of the instrument and characteristics of the beamline. Operational characteristics of immediate interest to users such as polarization control, degree of higher harmonic spectral contamination, and detector noise are delineated. Of special interest is the development of a higher harmonic rejection system that improves the spectral purity of the x-ray beam. Special software and a user-friendly interface have been implemented to allow real-time data processing and preliminary data analysis simultaneous with data acquisition.

Soft x-ray scattering facility at the Advanced Light Source with real-time data processing and analysis

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Gann, E.; Collins, B. A.; Ade, H.; Young, A. T.; Nasiatka, J.; Padmore, H. A.; Hexemer, A.; Wang, C.; Yan, H.

2012-01-01

We present the development and characterization of a dedicated resonant soft x-ray scattering facility. Capable of operation over a wide energy range, the beamline and endstation are primarily used for scattering from soft matter systems around the carbon K-edge (∼285 eV). We describe the specialized design of the instrument and characteristics of the beamline. Operational characteristics of immediate interest to users such as polarization control, degree of higher harmonic spectral contamination, and detector noise are delineated. Of special interest is the development of a higher harmonic rejection system that improves the spectral purity of the x-ray beam. Special software and a user-friendly interface have been implemented to allow real-time data processing and preliminary data analysis simultaneous with data acquisition.

Soft X-ray Focusing Telescope Aboard AstroSat: Design, Characteristics and Performance

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Singh, K; Stewart, G.; Westergaard, Niels Jørgen Stenfeldt

2017-01-01

The Soft X-ray focusing Telescope (SXT), India’s first X-ray telescope based on the principle of grazing incidence, was launched aboard the AstroSat and made operational on October 26, 2015. X-rays in the energy band of 0.3–8.0 keV are focussed on to a cooled charge coupled device thus providing ...

Multi-functional dielectric elastomer artificial muscles for soft and smart machines

Science.gov (United States)

Anderson, Iain A.; Gisby, Todd A.; McKay, Thomas G.; O'Brien, Benjamin M.; Calius, Emilio P.

2012-08-01

Dielectric elastomer (DE) actuators are popularly referred to as artificial muscles because their impressive actuation strain and speed, low density, compliant nature, and silent operation capture many of the desirable physical properties of muscle. Unlike conventional robots and machines, whose mechanisms and drive systems rapidly become very complex as the number of degrees of freedom increases, groups of DE artificial muscles have the potential to generate rich motions combining many translational and rotational degrees of freedom. These artificial muscle systems can mimic the agonist-antagonist approach found in nature, so that active expansion of one artificial muscle is taken up by passive contraction in the other. They can also vary their stiffness. In addition, they have the ability to produce electricity from movement. But departing from the high stiffness paradigm of electromagnetic motors and gearboxes leads to new control challenges, and for soft machines to be truly dexterous like their biological analogues, they need precise control. Humans control their limbs using sensory feedback from strain sensitive cells embedded in muscle. In DE actuators, deformation is inextricably linked to changes in electrical parameters that include capacitance and resistance, so the state of strain can be inferred by sensing these changes, enabling the closed loop control that is critical for a soft machine. But the increased information processing required for a soft machine can impose a substantial burden on a central controller. The natural solution is to distribute control within the mechanism itself. The octopus arm is an example of a soft actuator with a virtually infinite number of degrees of freedom (DOF). The arm utilizes neural ganglia to process sensory data at the local "arm" level and perform complex tasks. Recent advances in soft electronics such as the piezoresistive dielectric elastomer switch (DES) have the potential to be fully integrated with actuators

Dental plaque pH variation with regular soft drink, diet soft drink and high energy drink: an in vivo study.

Science.gov (United States)

Jawale, Bhushan Arun; Bendgude, Vikas; Mahuli, Amit V; Dave, Bhavana; Kulkarni, Harshal; Mittal, Simpy

2012-03-01

A high incidence of dental caries and dental erosion associated with frequent consumption of soft drinks has been reported. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the pH response of dental plaque to a regular, diet and high energy drink. Twenty subjects were recruited for this study. All subjects were between the ages of 20 and 25 and had at least four restored tooth surfaces present. The subjects were asked to refrain from brushing for 48 hours prior to the study. At baseline, plaque pH was measured from four separate locations using harvesting method. Subjects were asked to swish with 15 ml of the respective soft drink for 1 minute. Plaque pH was measured at the four designated tooth sites at 5, 10 and 20 minutes intervals. Subjects then repeated the experiment using the other two soft drinks. pH was minimum for regular soft drink (2.65 ± 0.026) followed by high energy drink (3.39 ± 0.026) and diet soft drink (3.78 ± 0.006). The maximum drop in plaque pH was seen with regular soft drink followed by high energy drink and diet soft drink. Regular soft drink possesses a greater acid challenge potential on enamel than diet and high energy soft drinks. However, in this clinical trial, the pH associated with either soft drink did not reach the critical pH which is expected for enamel demineralization and dissolution.

Engineering applications of soft computing

CERN Document Server

Díaz-Cortés, Margarita-Arimatea; Rojas, Raúl

2017-01-01

This book bridges the gap between Soft Computing techniques and their applications to complex engineering problems. In each chapter we endeavor to explain the basic ideas behind the proposed applications in an accessible format for readers who may not possess a background in some of the fields. Therefore, engineers or practitioners who are not familiar with Soft Computing methods will appreciate that the techniques discussed go beyond simple theoretical tools, since they have been adapted to solve significant problems that commonly arise in such areas. At the same time, the book will show members of the Soft Computing community how engineering problems are now being solved and handled with the help of intelligent approaches. Highlighting new applications and implementations of Soft Computing approaches in various engineering contexts, the book is divided into 12 chapters. Further, it has been structured so that each chapter can be read independently of the others.

Multiresource allocation and scheduling for periodic soft real-time applications

Science.gov (United States)

Gopalan, Kartik; Chiueh, Tzi-cker

2001-12-01

Real-time applications that utilize multiple system resources, such as CPU, disks, and network links, require coordinated scheduling of these resources in order to meet their end-to-end performance requirements. Most state-of-the-art operating systems support independent resource allocation and deadline-driven scheduling but lack coordination among multiple heterogeneous resources. This paper describes the design and implementation of an Integrated Real-time Resource Scheduler (IRS) that performs coordinated allocation and scheduling of multiple heterogeneous resources on the same machine for periodic soft real-time application. The principal feature of IRS is a heuristic multi-resource allocation algorithm that reserves multiple resources for real-time applications in a manner that can maximize the number of applications admitted into the system in the long run. At run-time, a global scheduler dispatches the tasks of the soft real-time application to individual resource schedulers according to the precedence constraints between tasks. The individual resource schedulers, which could be any deadline based schedulers, can make scheduling decisions locally and yet collectively satisfy a real-time application's performance requirements. The tightness of overall timing guarantees is ultimately determined by the properties of individual resource schedulers. However, IRS maximizes overall system resource utilization efficiency by coordinating deadline assignment across multiple tasks in a soft real-time application.

Theory of electrostatics and electrokinetics of soft particles

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Hiroyuki Ohshima

2009-01-01

Full Text Available We investigate theoretically the electrostatics and electrokinetics of a soft particle, i.e. a hard particle covered with an ion-penetrable surface layer of polyelectrolytes. The electric properties of soft particles in an electrolyte solution, which differ from those of hard particles, are essentially determined by the Donnan potential in the surface layer. In particular, the Donnan potential plays an essential role in the electrostatics and electrokinetics of soft particles. Furthermore, the concept of zeta potential, which is important in the electrokinetics of hard particles, loses its physical meaning in the electrokinetics of soft particles. In this review, we discuss the potential distribution around a soft particle, the electrostatic interaction between two soft particles, and the motion of a soft particle in an electric field.

PENINGKATAN SOFT SKILLS SISWA SMP MELALUI PEMBELAJARAN GENERATIF

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

La Moma

2015-06-01

Full Text Available Abstrak: Soft skills merupakan faktor yang turut menunjang kesuksesan siswa belajar matematika. Perlu ada upaya untuk menerapkan suatu model pembelajaran yang dapat memicu peningkatan soft skills siswa dalam matematika. Penelitian ini menerapkan model pembelajaran generatif sebagai alternatif pembelajaran yang diperkirakan akan memicu peningkatan ketiga kemampuan tersebut. Tujuan penelitian untuk mengetahui seberapa besar kontribusi penerapan model tersebut terhadap peningkatan kemampuan soft skills pada level sekolah (tinggi, sedang dan rendah. Penelitian menerapkan desain kuasi eksperimen. Sampel terdiri atas 191 orang siswa kelas VIII pada tiga SMP Negeri di Kota Yogyakarta yang mewakili level sekolah. Pengumpulan data dilakukan dengan teknik tes (pretes dan postes, sedang analisis data menggunakan statistik uji-t dan anova dua jalur. Dari hasil analisis data ditemukan bahwa (1 ada perbedaan pencapaian, peningkatan soft skills siswa antara kelas eksperimen dan kelas kontrol; (2 tidak terdapat interaksi antara pembelajaran dan level sekolah terhadap peningkatan soft skills. Kata Kunci: kemampuan soft skills, pembelajaran generatif THE ENHANCEMENT OF JUNIOR HIGH SCHOOL STUDENTS SOFT SKILLS THROUGH GENERATIVE LEARNING Abstract: Soft skills are factors that support students success in learning mathematics. The importance of the students soft skills, unfortunately, are not in line with at the students abilities in these competence. Therefore, we have to implemented a learning model that is expected to lead development soft skills of the students in mathematics. Generative learning model is applied in this study as an alternative learning is predicted to stimulate development soft skills of the students. This study is aimed at determining the contribution of generative learning model of the enhancement of soft skills for difference school levels (high, medium, low.This study is quasi-experimental research involving 191 students of eight

Analysis of appearance of softness for interior plastic parts; Naiso jushi buhin no soft kan kaiseki

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Kubota, T; Wada, T; Matsuda, M [Toyota Central R and D Laboratories Inc., Aichi (Japan); Nagata, M; Maeda, M [Toyoda Gosei Co. Ltd., Aichi (Japan)

1997-10-01

The Appearance of softness was evaluated using the paired comparison method for steering wheel pads. Many kinds of physical quantities of sample pads, such as the depth of wrinkles, surface roughness and gloss, were measured. Correlations between the appearance of softness and the physical quantities were analyzed. As a result, this appearance of softness was found to be characterized by four factors, the depth and slope of wrinkles, gloss and lightness. 3 refs., 4 figs., 4 tabs.

Correlation of morphological variants of the soft palate and Need's ratio in normal individuals: A digital cephalometric study

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Verma, Pradhuman; Verma, Kanika Gupta; Sachdeva, Suresh K; Juneja, Suruchi; Kumaraswam; Kikkeri Lakshminarayana; Basavaraju, Suman

2014-01-01

The present study was aimed to investigate the variation of soft palate morphology in different age and gender groups. The correlations of radiographic velar length (VL), velar width (VW), pharyngeal depth (PD), and Need's ratio with soft palate variants were also studied in the North Indian subpopulation. The study sample consisted of 300 subjects aged between 15 and 45 (mean: 31.32) years. The velar morphology on lateral cephalograms was examined and grouped into six types. The results obtained were subjected to a statistical analysis to find the correlation between variants of the soft palate with gender and different age groups. The most frequent type of soft palate was leaf shaped (48.7%), and the least common was crook shaped (3.0%) among both the genders and various age groups, showing a significant correlation. The mean VL, VW, and PD values were significantly higher in males and significantly correlated with the types of soft palate. A significant correlation was observed between the mean VL, VW, PD, and Need's ratio with various age groups, showing an inconsistent pattern with an increase in age. The types of soft palate, gender, and Need's ratio were also significantly correlated, with an overall higher mean value of the Need's ratio among female subjects and the S-shaped soft palate. The knowledge of a varied spectrum of velar morphology and the variants of the soft palate help in a better understanding of the velopharyngeal closure and craniofacial anomalies.

From Soft Walls to Infrared Branes

CERN Document Server

von Gersdorff, Gero

2010-01-01

Five dimensional warped spaces with soft walls are generalizations of the standard Randall-Sundrum compactifications, where instead of an infrared brane one has a curvature singularity (with vanishing warp factor) at finite proper distance in the bulk. We project the physics near the singularity onto a hypersurface located a small distance away from it in the bulk. This results in a completely equivalent description of the soft wall in terms of an effective infrared brane, hiding any singular point. We perform explicitly this calculation for two classes of soft wall backgrounds used in the literature. The procedure has several advantages. It separates in a clean way the physics of the soft wall from the physics of the five dimensional bulk, facilitating a more direct comparison with standard two-brane warped compactifications. Moreover, consistent soft walls show a sort of universal behavior near the singularity which is reflected in the effective brane Lagrangian. Thirdly, for many purposes, a good approxima...

Stress-driven lithium dendrite growth mechanism and dendrite mitigation by electroplating on soft substrates

Science.gov (United States)

Wang, Xu; Zeng, Wei; Hong, Liang; Xu, Wenwen; Yang, Haokai; Wang, Fan; Duan, Huigao; Tang, Ming; Jiang, Hanqing

2018-03-01

Problems related to dendrite growth on lithium-metal anodes such as capacity loss and short circuit present major barriers to next-generation high-energy-density batteries. The development of successful lithium dendrite mitigation strategies is impeded by an incomplete understanding of the Li dendrite growth mechanisms, and in particular, Li-plating-induced internal stress in Li metal and its effect on Li growth morphology are not well addressed. Here, we reveal the enabling role of plating residual stress in dendrite formation through depositing Li on soft substrates and a stress-driven dendrite growth model. We show that dendrite growth is mitigated on such soft substrates through surface-wrinkling-induced stress relaxation in the deposited Li film. We demonstrate that this dendrite mitigation mechanism can be utilized synergistically with other existing approaches in the form of three-dimensional soft scaffolds for Li plating, which achieves higher coulombic efficiency and better capacity retention than that for conventional copper substrates.

Skin and Soft Tissue Surgery in the Office Versus Operating Room Setting: An Analysis Based on Individual-Level Medicare Data.

Science.gov (United States)

Kantor, Jonathan

2018-03-23

The relative volume of skin and soft tissue excision and reconstructive procedures performed in the outpatient office versus facility (ambulatory surgical center or hospital) differs by specialty, and has major implications for quality of care, outcomes, development of guidelines, resident education, health care economics, and patient perception. To assess the relative volume of surgical procedures performed in each setting (office vs ambulatory surgery center [ASC]/hospital) by dermatologists and nondermatologists. A cross-sectional analytical study was performed using the Medicare public use file (PUF) for 2014, which includes every patient seen in an office, ASC, or hospital in the United States billed to Medicare part B. Data were divided by physician specialty and setting. A total of 9,316,307 individual encounters were included in the Medicare PUF. Dermatologists account for 195,001 (2.1%) of the total. Dermatologists were more likely to perform surgical procedures in an office setting only (odds ratio 5.48 [95% confidence interval 5.05-5.95], p office setting, and dermatologists are more than 5 times as likely as other specialists to operate in an office setting.

Human error and the associated recovery probabilities for soft control being used in the advanced MCRs of NPPs

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Jang, Inseok; Jung, Wondea; Seong, Poong Hyun

2016-01-01

Highlights: • The operation environment of MCRs in NPPs has changed by adopting digital HSIs. • Most current HRA databases are not explicitly designed to deal with digital HSI. • Empirical analysis for new HRA DB under an advanced MCR mockup are carried. • It is expected that the results can be used for advanced MCR HRA. - Abstract: Since the Three Mile Island (TMI)-2 accident, human error has been recognized as one of the main causes of Nuclear Power Plant (NPP) accidents, and numerous studies related to Human Reliability Analysis (HRA) have been carried out. Most of these studies were focused on considering the conventional Main Control Room (MCR) environment. However, the operating environment of MCRs in NPPs has changed with the adoption of new human-system interfaces (HSI) largely based on up-to-date digital technologies. The MCRs that include these digital and computer technologies, such as large display panels, computerized procedures, and soft controls, are called advanced MCRs. Among the many features of advanced MCRs, soft controls are a particularly important because operating actions in advanced MCRs are performed by soft control. Due to the difference in interfaces between soft control and hardwired conventional controls, different HEP should be used in the HRA for advanced MCRs. Unfortunately, most current HRA databases deal with operations in conventional MCRs and are not explicitly designed to deal with digital Human System Interface (HSI). For this reason, empirical human error and the associated error recovery probabilities were collected from the mockup of an advanced MCR equipped with soft controls. To this end, small-scaled experiments are conducted with 48 graduated students in the department of nuclear engineering in Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST) are participated, and accident scenarios are designed with respect to the typical Design Basis Accidents (DBAs) in NPPs, such as Steam Generator Tube Rupture

Generation of attosecond soft X-ray pulses in a longitudinal space charge amplifier

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Dohlus, M.; Schneidmiller, E.A.; Yurkov, M.V. [Deutsches Elektronen-Synchrotron (DESY), Hamburg (Germany)

2011-03-15

A longitudinal space charge amplifier (LSCA), operating in soft X-ray regime, was recently proposed. Such an amplifier consists of a few amplification cascades (focusing channel and chicane) and a short radiator undulator in the end. Broadband nature of LSCA supports generation of few-cycle pulses as well as wavelength compression. In this paper we consider an application of these properties of LSCA for generation of attosecond X-ray pulses. It is shown that a compact and cheap addition to the soft X-ray free electron laser facility FLASH would allow to generate 60 attosecond (FWHM) long X-ray pulses with the peak power at 100 MW level and a contrast above 98%. (orig.)

Generation of attosecond soft X-ray pulses in a longitudinal space charge amplifier

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Dohlus, M.; Schneidmiller, E.A.; Yurkov, M.V.

2011-03-01

A longitudinal space charge amplifier (LSCA), operating in soft X-ray regime, was recently proposed. Such an amplifier consists of a few amplification cascades (focusing channel and chicane) and a short radiator undulator in the end. Broadband nature of LSCA supports generation of few-cycle pulses as well as wavelength compression. In this paper we consider an application of these properties of LSCA for generation of attosecond X-ray pulses. It is shown that a compact and cheap addition to the soft X-ray free electron laser facility FLASH would allow to generate 60 attosecond (FWHM) long X-ray pulses with the peak power at 100 MW level and a contrast above 98%. (orig.)

Self-seeding scheme for the soft X-ray line at the European XFEL

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Geloni, Gianluca; Kocharyan, Vitali; Saldin, Evgeni

2012-02-01

This paper discusses the potential for enhancing the capabilities of the European FEL in the soft X-ray regime. A high longitudinal coherence will be the key to such performance upgrade. In order to reach this goal we study a very compact soft X-ray self-seeding scheme originally designed at SLAC. The scheme is based on a grating monochromator, and can be straightforwardly installed in the SASE3 undulator beamline at the European XFEL. For the European XFEL fully-coherent soft X-ray pulses are particularly valuable since they naturally support the extraction of more FEL power than at saturation by exploiting tapering in the tunable-gap SASE3 undulator. Tapering consists of a stepwise change of the undulator gap from segment to segment. Based on start-to-end simulations we show that soft X-ray FEL power reaches about 800 GW, that is about an order of magnitude higher than the SASE level at saturation (100 GW). The self-seeding setup studied in this work is extremely compact (about 5 m long), and cost-effective. This last characteristic may justify to consider it as a possible addition to the European XFEL capabilities from the very beginning of the operation phase. (orig.)

Dynamic Impacts of Water Droplets onto Icephobic Soft Surfaces at High Weber Numbers

Science.gov (United States)

Ma, Liqun; Liu, Yang; Hu, Hui; Wang, Wei; Kota, Arun

2017-11-01

An experimental investigation was performed to examine the effects of the stiffness of icephobic soft PDMS materials on the impact dynamics of water drops at high weber numbers pertinent to aircraft icing phenomena. The experimental study was performed in the Icing Research Tunnel available at Iowa State University (ISU-IRT). During the experiments, both the shear modulus of the soft PDMS surface and the Weber numbers of the impinging water droplets are controlled for the comparative study. While the shear modulus of the soft PDMS surface was changed by tuning the recipes to make the PDMS materials, the Weber number of the impinging water droplets was altered by adjusting the airflow speed in the wind tunnel. A suite of advanced flow diagnostic techniques, which include high-speed photographic imaging, digital image projection (DIP), and infrared (IR) imaging thermometry, were used to quantify the transient behavior of water droplet impingement, unsteady heat transfer and dynamic ice accreting process over the icephobic soft airfoil surfaces. The findings derived from the icing physics studies can be used to improve current icing accretion models for more accurate prediction of ice formation and accretion on aircraft wings and to develop effective anti-/deicing strategies for safer and more efficient operation of aircraft in cold weather.

Self-seeding scheme for the soft X-ray line at the European XFEL

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Geloni, Gianluca [European XFEL GmbH, Hamburg (Germany); Kocharyan, Vitali; Saldin, Evgeni [Deutsches Elektronen-Synchrotron (DESY), Hamburg (Germany)

2012-02-15

This paper discusses the potential for enhancing the capabilities of the European FEL in the soft X-ray regime. A high longitudinal coherence will be the key to such performance upgrade. In order to reach this goal we study a very compact soft X-ray self-seeding scheme originally designed at SLAC. The scheme is based on a grating monochromator, and can be straightforwardly installed in the SASE3 undulator beamline at the European XFEL. For the European XFEL fully-coherent soft X-ray pulses are particularly valuable since they naturally support the extraction of more FEL power than at saturation by exploiting tapering in the tunable-gap SASE3 undulator. Tapering consists of a stepwise change of the undulator gap from segment to segment. Based on start-to-end simulations we show that soft X-ray FEL power reaches about 800 GW, that is about an order of magnitude higher than the SASE level at saturation (100 GW). The self-seeding setup studied in this work is extremely compact (about 5 m long), and cost-effective. This last characteristic may justify to consider it as a possible addition to the European XFEL capabilities from the very beginning of the operation phase. (orig.)

Soft law as a new mode of governance

OpenAIRE

Peters, Anne

2011-01-01

The paper analyses soft law as a mode of EU governance. European soft law can be qualified as a relatively ‘new’ mode, notably due to its dramatic proliferation and the increasing involvement of private actors. The concept of ‘soft law’ is viable on the premiss that normativity may be graduated (‘the continuum view’). Soft law deploys specific legal effects apart from outright legal bindingness, and not merely political or otherwise factual effects. The legal effects of European soft law flow...

A subleading power operator basis for the scalar quark current

Science.gov (United States)

Chang, Cyuan-Han; Stewart, Iain W.; Vita, Gherardo

2018-04-01

Factorization theorems play a crucial role in our understanding of the strong interaction. For collider processes they are typically formulated at leading power and much less is known about power corrections in the λ ≪ 1 expansion. Here we present a complete basis of power suppressed operators for a scalar quark current at O({λ}^2) in the amplitude level power expansion in the Soft Collinear Effective Theory, demonstrating that helicity selection rules significantly simplify the construction. This basis applies for the production of any color singlet scalar in q\\overline{q} annihilation (such as b\\overline{b}\\to H ). We also classify all operators which contribute to the cross section at O({λ}^2) and perform matching calculations to determine their tree level Wilson coefficients. These results can be exploited to study power corrections in both resummed and fixed order perturbation theory, and for analyzing the factorization properties of gauge theory amplitudes and cross sections at subleading power.

Interaction with Soft Robotic Tentacles

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Jørgensen, Jonas

2018-01-01

Soft robotics technology has been proposed for a number of applications that involve human-robot interaction. In this tabletop demonstration it is possible to interact with two soft robotic platforms that have been used in human-robot interaction experiments (also accepted to HRI'18 as a Late...

A Soft-Switching Inverter for High-Temperature Advanced Hybrid Electric Vehicle Traction Motor Drives

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Lai, Jason [Virginia Polytechnic Inst. and State Univ. (Virginia Tech), Blacksburg, VA (United States); Yu, Wensong [Virginia Polytechnic Inst. and State Univ. (Virginia Tech), Blacksburg, VA (United States); Sun, Pengwei [Virginia Polytechnic Inst. and State Univ. (Virginia Tech), Blacksburg, VA (United States); Leslie, Scott [Powerex, Inc., Harrison, OH (United States); Prusia, Duane [Powerex, Inc., Harrison, OH (United States); Arnet, Beat [Azure Dynamics, Oak Park, MI (United States); Smith, Chris [Azure Dynamics, Oak Park, MI (United States); Cogan, Art [Azure Dynamics, Oak Park, MI (United States)

2012-03-31

The state-of-the-art hybrid electric vehicles (HEVs) require the inverter cooling system to have a separate loop to avoid power semiconductor junction over temperatures because the engine coolant temperature of 105°C does not allow for much temperature rise in silicon devices. The proposed work is to develop an advanced soft-switching inverter that will eliminate the device switching loss and cut down the power loss so that the inverter can operate at high-temperature conditions while operating at high switching frequencies with small current ripple in low inductance based permanent magnet motors. The proposed tasks also include high-temperature packaging and thermal modeling and simulation to ensure the packaged module can operate at the desired temperature. The developed module will be integrated with the motor and vehicle controller for dynamometer and in-vehicle testing to prove its superiority. This report will describe the detailed technical design of the soft-switching inverters and their test results. The experiments were conducted both in module level for the module conduction and switching characteristics and in inverter level for its efficiency under inductive and dynamometer load conditions. The performance will be compared with the DOE original specification.

Mapping quantitative trait loci for a unique 'super soft' kernel trait in soft white wheat

Science.gov (United States)

Wheat (Triticum sp.) kernel texture is an important factor affecting milling, flour functionality, and end-use quality. Kernel texture is normally characterized as either hard or soft, the two major classes of texture. However, further variation is typically encountered in each class. Soft wheat var...

Scalable manufacturing processes with soft materials

OpenAIRE

White, Edward; Case, Jennifer; Kramer, Rebecca

2014-01-01

The emerging field of soft robotics will benefit greatly from new scalable manufacturing techniques for responsive materials. Currently, most of soft robotic examples are fabricated one-at-a-time, using techniques borrowed from lithography and 3D printing to fabricate molds. This limits both the maximum and minimum size of robots that can be fabricated, and hinders batch production, which is critical to gain wider acceptance for soft robotic systems. We have identified electrical structures, ...

Applications of Soft Union Sets in the Ring Theory

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Yongwei Yang

2013-01-01

through discussing quotient soft subsets, an approach for constructing quotient soft union rings is made. Finally, isomorphism theorems of λ,μ-soft union rings related to invariant soft sets are discussed.

The Hard Truth about Soft Skills: What Recruiters Look for in Business Graduates

Science.gov (United States)

Jones, Michael; Baldi, Cindi; Phillips, Carl; Waikar, Avinash

2016-01-01

The purpose of this paper is to better understand what recruiters are looking for in potential job applicants. Past studies tend to be unclear on how GPA ranks in relation to soft skills (traits and social skills important in interacting with others). Also, most of these studies were conducted at either Ivy League colleges, where the admissions…

Soft, smart contact lenses with integrations of wireless circuits, glucose sensors, and displays.

Science.gov (United States)

Park, Jihun; Kim, Joohee; Kim, So-Yun; Cheong, Woon Hyung; Jang, Jiuk; Park, Young-Geun; Na, Kyungmin; Kim, Yun-Tae; Heo, Jun Hyuk; Lee, Chang Young; Lee, Jung Heon; Bien, Franklin; Park, Jang-Ung

2018-01-01

Recent advances in wearable electronics combined with wireless communications are essential to the realization of medical applications through health monitoring technologies. For example, a smart contact lens, which is capable of monitoring the physiological information of the eye and tear fluid, could provide real-time, noninvasive medical diagnostics. However, previous reports concerning the smart contact lens have indicated that opaque and brittle components have been used to enable the operation of the electronic device, and this could block the user's vision and potentially damage the eye. In addition, the use of expensive and bulky equipment to measure signals from the contact lens sensors could interfere with the user's external activities. Thus, we report an unconventional approach for the fabrication of a soft, smart contact lens in which glucose sensors, wireless power transfer circuits, and display pixels to visualize sensing signals in real time are fully integrated using transparent and stretchable nanostructures. The integration of this display into the smart lens eliminates the need for additional, bulky measurement equipment. This soft, smart contact lens can be transparent, providing a clear view by matching the refractive indices of its locally patterned areas. The resulting soft, smart contact lens provides real-time, wireless operation, and there are in vivo tests to monitor the glucose concentration in tears (suitable for determining the fasting glucose level in the tears of diabetic patients) and, simultaneously, to provide sensing results through the contact lens display.

Evaluation of Soft Tissue Reaction to Corundum Ceramic Implants Infiltrated with Colloidal Silver.

Science.gov (United States)

Wnukiewicz, Witold; Rutowski, Roman; Zboromirska-Wnukiewicz, Beata; Reichert, Paweł; Gosk, Jerzy

2016-01-01

Corundum ceramic is a biomaterial used as a bone graft substitute. Silver is a well known antiseptic substance with many practical, clinical applications. The aim of this study was to estimate soft tissue (in vivo) reaction to a new kind of ceramic implants. In our experiment, we examined the soft tissue reaction after implantation of corundum ceramic infiltrated with colloidal silver in the back muscles of 18 Wistar rats. The use of colloidal silver as a coating for the implant was designed to protect it against colonization by bacteria and the formation of bacterial biofilm. In our study, based on the experimental method, we performed implantation operations on 18 Wistar rats. We implanted 18 modified ceramic implants and, as a control group, 18 unmodified implants. As a follow up, we observed the animals operated upon, and did postoperative, autopsy and histopathological examinations 14, 30, 90 and 180 days after implantation. We didn't observe any pathological reactions and significant differences between the soft tissue reaction to the modified implants and the control group. Lack of pathological reaction to the modified implants in the living organism is the proof of their biocompatibility. This is, of course, the first step on the long path to introduce a new kind of biocompatible ceramic implant with antiseptic cottage. Our experiment has an only introductory character and we plan to perform other, more specific, tests of this new kind of implant.

A Soft OR Approach to Fostering Systems Thinking: SODA Maps plus Joint Analytical Process

Science.gov (United States)

Wang, Shouhong; Wang, Hai

2016-01-01

Higher order thinking skills are important for managers. Systems thinking is an important type of higher order thinking in business education. This article investigates a soft Operations Research approach to teaching and learning systems thinking. It outlines the integrative use of Strategic Options Development and Analysis maps for visualizing…

(M,N-Soft Intersection BL-Algebras and Their Congruences

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Xueling Ma

2014-01-01

Full Text Available The purpose of this paper is to give a foundation for providing a new soft algebraic tool in considering many problems containing uncertainties. In order to provide these new soft algebraic structures, we discuss a new soft set-(M, N-soft intersection set, which is a generalization of soft intersection sets. We introduce the concepts of (M, N-SI filters of BL-algebras and establish some characterizations. Especially, (M, N-soft congruences in BL-algebras are concerned.

Phosphorus MRS study in bone and soft-tissue tumors

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Du Xiangke; Jiang Baoguo

2000-01-01

Objective: To study the metabolite changes in bone and soft-tissue tumors using phosphorus MRS for better understanding of the phospholipid metabolite and energy metabolite of tumors, which will provide more information for clinical diagnosis and therapy. Methods: Phosphorus MRS and MRI were performed in 14 bone and soft-tissue tumor patients (benign 6, malignant 8) and 19 healthy volunteers at 2.0 T. The areas under the peak of various metabolite in spectra were measured. The ratios of the other metabolite related to β-ATP, ATP, and Pcr were calculated. Intracellular pH was calculated according to the chemical shift change of Pi relative to Pcr. Results: The ratio of PME/β-ATP, PME/ATP, Pcr/PME in both benign and malignant group, intracellular pH in malignant group and LEP/Pcr in benign group were higher than that of the normal group significantly (P < 0.01). the ratios of Pi/Pcr in benign and malignant group, PDE/ATP, PDE/β-ATP, LET/Pcr, Pi/β-ATP in malignant group and LET/β-ATP in benign group were significantly different from that of the normal group (P < 0.05). Between benign and malignant tumors group, the ratios of Pcr/PME and Intracellular pH were different significantly (P < 0.05). Conclusion: The in vivo phosphorus MRS can non-invasively find abnormal phospholipid metabolite, energy metabolite and pH changes in bone and soft tissue tumors

Soft x-ray scattering facility at the Advanced Light Source with real-time data processing and analysis.

Science.gov (United States)

Gann, E; Young, A T; Collins, B A; Yan, H; Nasiatka, J; Padmore, H A; Ade, H; Hexemer, A; Wang, C

2012-04-01

We present the development and characterization of a dedicated resonant soft x-ray scattering facility. Capable of operation over a wide energy range, the beamline and endstation are primarily used for scattering from soft matter systems around the carbon K-edge (∼285 eV). We describe the specialized design of the instrument and characteristics of the beamline. Operational characteristics of immediate interest to users such as polarization control, degree of higher harmonic spectral contamination, and detector noise are delineated. Of special interest is the development of a higher harmonic rejection system that improves the spectral purity of the x-ray beam. Special software and a user-friendly interface have been implemented to allow real-time data processing and preliminary data analysis simultaneous with data acquisition. © 2012 American Institute of Physics

Soft shoulders ahead: spurious signatures of soft and partial selective sweeps result from linked hard sweeps.

Science.gov (United States)

Schrider, Daniel R; Mendes, Fábio K; Hahn, Matthew W; Kern, Andrew D

2015-05-01

Characterizing the nature of the adaptive process at the genetic level is a central goal for population genetics. In particular, we know little about the sources of adaptive substitution or about the number of adaptive variants currently segregating in nature. Historically, population geneticists have focused attention on the hard-sweep model of adaptation in which a de novo beneficial mutation arises and rapidly fixes in a population. Recently more attention has been given to soft-sweep models, in which alleles that were previously neutral, or nearly so, drift until such a time as the environment shifts and their selection coefficient changes to become beneficial. It remains an active and difficult problem, however, to tease apart the telltale signatures of hard vs. soft sweeps in genomic polymorphism data. Through extensive simulations of hard- and soft-sweep models, here we show that indeed the two might not be separable through the use of simple summary statistics. In particular, it seems that recombination in regions linked to, but distant from, sites of hard sweeps can create patterns of polymorphism that closely mirror what is expected to be found near soft sweeps. We find that a very similar situation arises when using haplotype-based statistics that are aimed at detecting partial or ongoing selective sweeps, such that it is difficult to distinguish the shoulder of a hard sweep from the center of a partial sweep. While knowing the location of the selected site mitigates this problem slightly, we show that stochasticity in signatures of natural selection will frequently cause the signal to reach its zenith far from this site and that this effect is more severe for soft sweeps; thus inferences of the target as well as the mode of positive selection may be inaccurate. In addition, both the time since a sweep ends and biologically realistic levels of allelic gene conversion lead to errors in the classification and identification of selective sweeps. This

Soft Thermal Sensor with Mechanical Adaptability.

Science.gov (United States)

Yang, Hui; Qi, Dianpeng; Liu, Zhiyuan; Chandran, Bevita K; Wang, Ting; Yu, Jiancan; Chen, Xiaodong

2016-11-01

A soft thermal sensor with mechanical adaptability is fabricated by the combination of single-wall carbon nanotubes with carboxyl groups and self-healing polymers. This study demonstrates that this soft sensor has excellent thermal response and mechanical adaptability. It shows tremendous promise for improving the service life of soft artificial-intelligence robots and protecting thermally sensitive electronics from the risk of damage by high temperature. © 2016 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.

The Evolution of Confusion: soft systems methodology and social theory revisited

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L. Houghton

2002-05-01

Full Text Available Soft Systems Methodology (SSM is a potentially powerful tool for improving the management of the complex social systems aspect of Information Systems. Yet if it is to be employed effectively IS managers need to understand the theory of social systems that makes SSM a meaningful practical approach. However finding out about that social theory is not straightforward. It is 20 years since the first discussions of the social reality implied by Soft Systems Methodology (SSM and the area has been given little attention since. Yet SSM itself has progressed dramatically since those first critiques of its underpinning social theory were first developed. This paper revisits the area in order to provide a contemporary perspective and foundation for future development. It reveals apparent weaknesses in the research debate about SSM and social theory, and shows how the evolution of SSM has apparently been affected by that debate. SSM is introduced and examined according to the primary literature and re-evaluated using Burrell and Morgan's four-paradigm matrix of social theory paradigms in order to understand the social reality implied by SSM. The paper examines criticisms of SSM, the recent evolution of SSM, and suggests future directions for development.

Integrating soft sensor systems using conductive thread

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Teng, Lijun; Jeronimo, Karina; Wei, Tianqi; Nemitz, Markus P.; Lyu, Geng; Stokes, Adam A.

2018-05-01

We are part of a growing community of researchers who are developing a new class of soft machines. By using mechanically soft materials (MPa modulus) we can design systems which overcome the bulk-mechanical mismatches between soft biological systems and hard engineered components. To develop fully integrated soft machines—which include power, communications, and control sub-systems—the research community requires methods for interconnecting between soft and hard electronics. Sensors based upon eutectic gallium alloys in microfluidic channels can be used to measure normal and strain forces, but integrating these sensors into systems of heterogeneous Young’s modulus is difficult due the complexity of finding a material which is electrically conductive, mechanically flexible, and stable over prolonged periods of time. Many existing gallium-based liquid alloy sensors are not mechanically or electrically robust, and have poor stability over time. We present the design and fabrication of a high-resolution pressure-sensor soft system that can transduce normal force into a digital output. In this soft system, which is built on a monolithic silicone substrate, a galinstan-based microfluidic pressure sensor is integrated with a flexible printed circuit board. We used conductive thread as the interconnect and found that this method alleviates problems arising due to the mechanical mismatch between conventional metal wires and soft or liquid materials. Conductive thread is low-cost, it is readily wetted by the liquid metal, it produces little bending moment into the microfluidic channel, and it can be connected directly onto the copper bond-pads of the flexible printed circuit board. We built a bridge-system to provide stable readings from the galinstan pressure sensor. This system gives linear measurement results between 500-3500 Pa of applied pressure. We anticipate that integrated systems of this type will find utility in soft-robotic systems as used for wearable

Numerical Evaluation on the Different Shapes of Gravelly Sand Columns to Increase the Loading Capacity of Soft Clay

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Meghzili Sif Allah

2017-01-01

Full Text Available Improvement on soft clay by the installation of stone column is one of the most popular methods followed worldwide. Different analytical and numerical solutions have already been developed for understanding the load transfer mechanism of soft soil reinforced with stone column. This study investigated a bearing capacity of the gravelly sand column, installed in soft clay bed at 15kpa of undrained shear strength. The column variable of length and diameter ratio at 7, 8 and 9 were evaluated. On top of that, the combination of two diameters in single column was tested and the uniform diameter was used as a control. In the numerical analysis, Mohrcoulomb model was adopted in the idealization of the behaviour of the gravelly sand column and soft clay materials. The results revealed that the optimum design that gave the highest loading capacity of the combination 11=12 of column diameter was the length and diameter ratio of 8.

Real-time soft tissue motion estimation for lung tumors during radiotherapy delivery.

Science.gov (United States)

Rottmann, Joerg; Keall, Paul; Berbeco, Ross

2013-09-01

To provide real-time lung tumor motion estimation during radiotherapy treatment delivery without the need for implanted fiducial markers or additional imaging dose to the patient. 2D radiographs from the therapy beam's-eye-view (BEV) perspective are captured at a frame rate of 12.8 Hz with a frame grabber allowing direct RAM access to the image buffer. An in-house developed real-time soft tissue localization algorithm is utilized to calculate soft tissue displacement from these images in real-time. The system is tested with a Varian TX linear accelerator and an AS-1000 amorphous silicon electronic portal imaging device operating at a resolution of 512 × 384 pixels. The accuracy of the motion estimation is verified with a dynamic motion phantom. Clinical accuracy was tested on lung SBRT images acquired at 2 fps. Real-time lung tumor motion estimation from BEV images without fiducial markers is successfully demonstrated. For the phantom study, a mean tracking error real-time markerless lung tumor motion estimation from BEV images alone. The described system can operate at a frame rate of 12.8 Hz and does not require prior knowledge to establish traceable landmarks for tracking on the fly. The authors show that the geometric accuracy is similar to (or better than) previously published markerless algorithms not operating in real-time.

Soft and Hard Tissue Management in Implant Therapy—Part I: Surgical Concepts

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Antonio D'Addona

2012-01-01

Full Text Available Implant therapy has become a reliable and predictable treatment alternative for the replacement of missing teeth with conventional removable and fixed partial dentures. Recently though, in the pursuit for improved esthetics, the literature has dedicated a considerable amount of its research on the successful maintenance and regeneration of the surrounding gingiva and bone, which are lost following extraction of a tooth. Thoroughly analyzing the anatomic situation and well-planned treatment has become a requirement, because incorrectly planned and positioned implants may jeopardize long-term esthetic and functional prognosis. In addition, many types of biocompatible materials, autogenous hard and soft tissue grafts, and different surgical techniques have been developed, and their viability has been investigated. As a result, implant specialists have gained a greater understanding of the dynamics and anatomical and biological concepts of the periodontium and peri-implant tissues both at the surgical and prosthetic phases of treatment, which contributes to better soft and hard tissue management (SHTM. This may further contribute to achieving a superior final result which is obtained by having a harmonious soft tissue profile, a correctly placed and contoured final restoration, and the reestablishment of masticatory function and phonetics.

Scaling in soft spheres: fragility invariance on the repulsive potential softness

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Michele, Cristiano De; Sciortino, Francesco; Coniglio, Antonio

2004-01-01

We address the question of the dependence of the fragility of glass forming supercooled liquids on the 'softness' of an interacting potential by performing numerical simulation of a binary mixture of soft spheres with different power n of the interparticle repulsive potential. We show that the temperature dependence of the diffusion coefficients for various n collapses onto a universal curve, supporting the unexpected view that fragility is not related to the hard core repulsion. We also find that the configurational entropy correlates with the slowing down of the dynamics for all studied n. (letter to the editor)

"Soft-shelled" monothalamid foraminifers as a modern analogue of early life

Science.gov (United States)

Kitazato, Hiroshi; Ohkawara, Nina; Gooday, Andrew

2017-04-01

According to the fossil record, the earliest undoubted foraminifers are found in the Early Cambrian, where they are represented by tubular agglutinated forms, thought to be the most primitive foraminiferal morphotypes. The numerous foraminifers with single-chambered, organic-walled tests (i.e. 'soft-shelled' monothalamids) exist in the deep sea and are difficult to preserve as fossils. Molecular phylogenetic data tell us that these 'primitive' taxa include the deepest foraminiferal clades, originating around 600 - 900 Ma. We found many soft-shelled monothalamids in sediment samples from deep trenches, including the Challenger Deep (Marianas Trench) and the Horizon Deep (Tonga Trench). Both deeps exceed 10,000 m water depth, well below the carbonate compensation depth, which represents an environmental barrier for calcareous foraminifera. The foraminifera at these extreme hadal sites include tubular and globular forms with organic walls, among which species of the genera Nodellum and Resigella are particularly abundant. Some forms selectively agglutinate minute flakes of clay minerals on the surface of the organic test. Many soft-shelled monothalamids, including most of those in deep tranches, contain stercomata, the function of which is currently unknown. Gromiids (a rhizarian group related to foraminifera) also accumulate stercomata in their sack-shaped tests. This suggests the possibility that the function of these waste particles is to add bulk, like the filling of soft bags or pillows. We suggest that the monothalamid foraminifera that dominate small-sized eukaryotes in extreme hadal settings may provide clues to understanding the biology and ecology of early life in Neoproterozoic sedimented habitats.

4th World Conference on Soft Computing

CERN Document Server

Abbasov, Ali; Yager, Ronald; Shahbazova, Shahnaz; Reformat, Marek

2016-01-01

This book reports on advanced theories and cutting-edge applications in the field of soft computing. The individual chapters, written by leading researchers, are based on contributions presented during the 4th World Conference on Soft Computing, held May 25-27, 2014, in Berkeley. The book covers a wealth of key topics in soft computing, focusing on both fundamental aspects and applications. The former include fuzzy mathematics, type-2 fuzzy sets, evolutionary-based optimization, aggregation and neural networks, while the latter include soft computing in data analysis, image processing, decision-making, classification, series prediction, economics, control, and modeling. By providing readers with a timely, authoritative view on the field, and by discussing thought-provoking developments and challenges, the book will foster new research directions in the diverse areas of soft computing. .

Soft Computing Applications : Proceedings of the 5th International Workshop Soft Computing Applications

CERN Document Server

Fodor, János; Várkonyi-Kóczy, Annamária; Dombi, Joszef; Jain, Lakhmi

2013-01-01

                This volume contains the Proceedings of the 5thInternational Workshop on Soft Computing Applications (SOFA 2012).                                The book covers a broad spectrum of soft computing techniques, theoretical and practical applications employing knowledge and intelligence to find solutions for world industrial, economic and medical problems. The combination of such intelligent systems tools and a large number of applications introduce a need for a synergy of scientific and technological disciplines in order to show the great potential of Soft Computing in all domains.                   The conference papers included in these proceedings, published post conference, were grouped into the following area of research: ·         Soft Computing and Fusion Algorithms in Biometrics, ·         Fuzzy Theory, Control andApplications, ·         Modelling and Control Applications, ·         Steps towa...

Q-Neutrosophic Soft Relation and Its Application in Decision Making

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Majdoleen Abu Qamar

2018-03-01

Full Text Available Q-neutrosophic soft sets are essentially neutrosophic soft sets characterized by three independent two-dimensional membership functions which stand for uncertainty, indeterminacy and falsity. Thus, it can be applied to two-dimensional imprecise, indeterminate and inconsistent data which appear in most real life problems. Relations are a suitable tool for describing correspondences between objects. In this study we introduce and discuss Q-neutrosophic soft relations, which can be discussed as a generalization of fuzzy soft relations, intuitionistic fuzzy soft relations, and neutrosophic soft relations. Q-neutrosophic soft relation is a sub Q-neutrosophic soft set of the Cartesian product of the Q-neutrosophic soft sets, in other words Q-neutrosophic soft relation is Q-neutrosophic soft sets in a Cartesian product of universes. We also present the notions of inverse, composition of Q-neutrosophic soft relations and functions along with some related theorems and properties. Reflexivity, symmetry, transitivity as well as equivalence relations and equivalence classes of Q-neutrosophic soft relations are also defined. Some properties of these concepts are presented and supported by real life examples. Finally, an algorithm to solve decision making problems using Q-neutrosophic soft relations is developed and verified by an example to show the efficiency of this method.

An electromechanical based deformable model for soft tissue simulation.

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Zhong, Yongmin; Shirinzadeh, Bijan; Smith, Julian; Gu, Chengfan

2009-11-01

Soft tissue deformation is of great importance to surgery simulation. Although a significant amount of research efforts have been dedicated to simulating the behaviours of soft tissues, modelling of soft tissue deformation is still a challenging problem. This paper presents a new deformable model for simulation of soft tissue deformation from the electromechanical viewpoint of soft tissues. Soft tissue deformation is formulated as a reaction-diffusion process coupled with a mechanical load. The mechanical load applied to a soft tissue to cause a deformation is incorporated into the reaction-diffusion system, and consequently distributed among mass points of the soft tissue. Reaction-diffusion of mechanical load and non-rigid mechanics of motion are combined to govern the simulation dynamics of soft tissue deformation. An improved reaction-diffusion model is developed to describe the distribution of the mechanical load in soft tissues. A three-layer artificial cellular neural network is constructed to solve the reaction-diffusion model for real-time simulation of soft tissue deformation. A gradient based method is established to derive internal forces from the distribution of the mechanical load. Integration with a haptic device has also been achieved to simulate soft tissue deformation with haptic feedback. The proposed methodology does not only predict the typical behaviours of living tissues, but it also accepts both local and large-range deformations. It also accommodates isotropic, anisotropic and inhomogeneous deformations by simple modification of diffusion coefficients.

[Soft contactlenses in general practice (author's transl)].

Science.gov (United States)

Miller, B

1975-07-01

In contrast to the hard lenses the soft lens has enough permeability for oxygen and water-soluble substances, whereas high molecular substances, bacteria and virus cannot penetrate the soft lenses, so long as their surfaces are intact. The two principal production methods, the spin cast method and the lathe-turned method are compared. The duration of wearing of the soft lens depends on the deposits of proteins from the tears on the surface of the lens and the desinfection method. The daily boiling of the lenses shortens their useful life, while chemical desinfection causes besides bacteriolysis, damage of the corneal cell protein. The new cleaners on the base of proteolytic plant enzymes promise good results. For the optical correction of astigmatism with more than 1 cyl, soft lenses with conic outer surface are used or combinations of a soft and a hard lens (Duosystem). The therapeutic use of soft lenses has as aim: protection of the cornea against mechanical irritation, release of pain, protracted administration output of medicaments. Further indications for use: aseptic corneal inflammation and corneal defects.