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A novel heterogeneous model of concrete for numerical modelling of ground penetrating radar
PublicationThe ground penetrating radar (GPR) method has increasingly been applied in the non-destructive testing of reinforced concrete structures. The most common approach to the modelling of radar waves is to consider concrete as a homogeneous material. This paper proposes a novel, heterogeneous, numerical model of concrete for exhaustive interpretation of GPR data. An algorithm for determining the substitute values of the material constants...
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Variable-Fidelity Simulation Models and Sparse Gradient Updates for Cost-Efficient Optimization of Compact Antenna Input Characteristics
PublicationDesign of antennas for the Internet of Things (IoT) applications requires taking into account several performance figures, both electrical (e.g., impedance matching) and field (gain, radiation pattern), but also physical constraints, primarily concerning size limitation. Fulfillment of stringent specifications necessitates the development of topologically complex structures described by a large number of geometry parameters that...
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Zero-knowledge convincing protocol on quantum bit is impossible
PublicationIt is one of fundamental features of quantum formalism that o n one hand it provides a new infor- mation processing resources and on the other hand puts funda mental constraints on the processing of quantum information implying “no-go” theorems for cloni ng [1–3], bit commitment [4, 5] and deleting [6] in quantum theory. Here we ask about possibilit y of “zero knowledge” scenario which, for its simplicity, can be considered as...
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The Impact of Direct Normal Irradiation on the Solar Tower Power Plant Performance based on Real and Satellite Data: Analysis on Algerian Regions
PublicationThe present paper presents a deep study on the possibility of implementing Concentrated Solar Power (CSP) plants in Algeria for the production of the electrical energy. Indeed, this paper focusses mainly on the main parameters, which can have an important impact on the choice of the location, the dimension and the available thermal energy storage system. In this study, three main parameters are investigate...
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Decision support system for design of long distance heat transportation system
PublicationDistrict Heating (DH) systems are commonly supplied using local heat sources. Nowadays, modern insulation materials allow for effective and economically viable heat transportation over long distances (over 20 km). The paper proposes a Decision Support System (DSS) for optimized selection of design and operating parameters of a long distance Heat Transportation System (HTS). The method allows for evaluation of feasibility and effectiveness...
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Dynamic coloring of graphs
PublicationDynamics is an inherent feature of many real life systems so it is natural to define and investigate the properties of models that reflect their dynamic nature. Dynamic graph colorings can be naturally applied in system modeling, e.g. for scheduling threads of parallel programs, time sharing in wireless networks, session scheduling in high-speed LAN's, channel assignment in WDM optical networks as well as traffic scheduling. In...
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Context sensitive privacy management in a distributed environment
PublicationArtykuł przedstawia mechanizm zarządzania prywatnością stworzony dla systemu rozproszonego z założeniem, że węzły systemu mają ograniczone zasoby (moc procesora, pamięć). Podstawowy pomysł zakłada, że prywatne dane są filtrowane zgodnie z polityką prywatności użytkowników przed ich ujawnieniem innym użytkownikom. Te decyzje są silnie umiejscowione, co ogranicza narzut związany z zarządzaniem prywatnością na węzłach systemu. Sam...
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Pose-Configurable Generic Tracking of Elongated Objects
PublicationElongated objects have various shapes and can shift, rotate, change scale, and be rigid or deform by flexing, articulating, and vibrating, with examples as varied as a glass bottle, a robotic arm, a surgical suture, a finger pair, a tram, and a guitar string. This generally makes tracking of poses of elongated objects very challenging. We describe a unified, configurable framework for tracking the pose of elongated objects, which...
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Dominant Pathways of Adenosyl Radical-Induced DNA Damage Revealed by QM/MM Metadynamics
PublicationBrominated nucleobases sensitize double stranded DNA to hydrated electrons, one of the dominant genotoxic species produced in hypoxic cancer cells during radiotherapy. Such radiosensitizers can therefore be administered locally to enhance treatment efficiency within the solid tumor while protecting the neighboring tissue. When a solvated electron attaches to 8-bromoadenosine, a potential sensitizer, the dissociation of bromide...
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Preference-based evolutionary multi-objective optimization in ship weather routing
PublicationIn evolutionary multi-objective optimization (EMO) the aim is to find a set of Pareto-optimal solutions. Such approach may be applied to multiple real-life problems, including weather routing (WR) of ships. The route should be optimal in terms of passage time, fuel consumption and safety of crew and cargo while taking into account dynamically changing weather conditions. Additionally it must not violate any navigational constraints...
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The Optimal Location of Ground-Based GNSS Augmentation Transceivers
PublicationModern Global Navigation Satellite Systems (GNSS) allow for positioning with accuracies ranging from tens of meters to single millimeters depending on user requirements and available equipment. A major disadvantage of these systems is their unavailability or limited availability when the sky is obstructed. One solution is to use additional range measurements from ground-based nodes located in the vicinity of the receiver. The highest...
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Reduced-cost optimization-based miniaturization of microwave passives by multi-resolution EM simulations for internet of things and space-limited applications
PublicationStringent performance specifications along with constraints imposed on physical dimensions, make the design of contemporary microwave components a truly onerous task. In recent years, the latter demand has been growing in importance, with the innovative application areas such as Internet of Things coming into play. The need to employ full-wave electromagnetic (EM) simu-lations for response evaluation, reliable yet CPU heavy, only...
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Novel Versatile Topologies and Design Optimization of Wide-Bandstop Frequency Selective Surfaces for X-Band, Ku-Band and Millimeter-Wave Applications
PublicationNovel designs of frequency selective surface (FSS) are presented for wideband applications in X, Ku and mmWave (millimeter Wave) bands. Two identical metallic layers of FSS are imprinted on both sides of the RO4003 substrate. The geometry parameters are optimized to maximize the bandstop at the specified in-band maximum transmission level of –10 dB; satisfaction of the latter condition is enforced through appropriate formulation...
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Computational Methods for Liver Vessel Segmentation in Medical Imaging: A Review
PublicationThe segmentation of liver blood vessels is of major importance as it is essential for formulating diagnoses, planning and delivering treatments, as well as evaluating the results of clinical procedures. Different imaging techniques are available for application in clinical practice, so the segmentation methods should take into account the characteristics of the imaging technique. Based on the literature, this review paper presents...
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Thermal Image Processing for Respiratory Estimation from Cubical Data with Expandable Depth
PublicationAs healthcare costs continue to rise, finding affordable and non-invasive ways to monitor vital signs is increasingly important. One of the key metrics for assessing overall health and identifying potential issues early on is respiratory rate (RR). Most of the existing methods require multiple steps that consist of image and signal processing. This might be difficult to deploy on edge devices that often do not have specialized...
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Reduction of CO2 Emissions from Offshore Combined Cycle Diesel Engine-Steam Turbine Power Plant Powered by Alternative Fuels
PublicationDiverse forms of environmental pollution arise with the introduction of materials or energy that exert adverse effects on human health, climate patterns, ecosystems, and beyond. Rigorous emission regulations for gases resulting from fuel combustion are being enforced by the European Union and the International Maritime Organization (IMO), directed at maritime sectors to mitigate emissions of SOx, NOx, and CO2. The IMO envisions...
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Kriging-assisted hybrid reliability design and optimization of offshore wind turbine support structure based on a portfolio allocation strategy
PublicationIn recent years, offshore wind power generation technology has developed rapidly around the world, making important contributions to the further development of renewable energy. When designing an Offshore Wind Turbine (OWT) system, the uncertainties in parameters and different types of constraints need to be considered to find the optimal design of these systems. Therefore, the Reliability-Based Design Optimization (RBDO) method...
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Local variability in snow concentrations of chlorinated persistent organic pollutants as a source of large uncertainty in interpreting spatial patterns at all scales
PublicationSingle point sampling, a widespread practice in snow studies in remote areas, due to logistical constraints, can present an unquantified error to the final study results. The low concentrations of studied chemicals, such as chlorinated persistent organic pollutants, contribute to the uncertainty. We conducted a field experiment in the Arctic to estimate the error stemming from differences in the composition of snow at short distances...
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A Single-Carrier-Based Pulse-Width Modulation Template for Cascaded H-Bridge Multilevel Inverters
PublicationMultiplicity of the triangular carrier signals is a criterion for the extension of sinusoidal pulsewidth modulation, SPWM, to a number of output voltage levels per phase-leg in cascaded H-bridge (CHB) multilevel inverter (MLI). Considering medium and high voltage applications where appreciable number of output voltage levels from CHB MLI is needed, commensurate high number of carrier signals in either classical level- or phase-shifted...
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Smart Approach for Glioma Segmentation in Magnetic Resonance Imaging using Modified Convolutional Network Architecture (U-NET)
PublicationSegmentation of a brain tumor from magnetic resonance multimodal images is a challenging task in the field of medical imaging. The vast diversity in potential target regions, appearance and multifarious intensity threshold levels of various tumor types are few of the major factors that affect segmentation results. An accurate diagnosis and its treatment demand strict delineation of the tumor affected tissues. Herein, we focus on...
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Structural properties of foil bearings: a closed-form solution validated with finite element analysis
PublicationFluid film thickness in a compliant foil bearing is greatly influenced by the deflection of the bearing structure. Therefore, in order to properly model performance of a foil bearing, it is mandatory that the deflection of the compliant bearing structure due to the generated hydrodynamic pressure is determined accurately. This article proposes an easy-to-use two-dimensional model, which takes into account detailed geometry of the...
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Prediction of Wastewater Quality at a Wastewater Treatment Plant Inlet Using a System Based on Machine Learning Methods
PublicationOne of the important factors determining the biochemical processes in bioreactors is the quality of the wastewater inflow to the wastewater treatment plant (WWTP). Information on the quality of wastewater, sufficiently in advance, makes it possible to properly select bioreactor settings to obtain optimal process conditions. This paper presents the use of classification models to predict the variability of wastewater quality at...
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What matters most to patients? On the Core Determinants of Patient Experience from Free Text Feedback
PublicationFree-text feedback from patients is increasingly used for improving the quality of healthcare services and systems. A major reason for the growing interest in harnessing free-text feedback is the belief that it provides richer information about what patients want and care about. The use of computational approaches such as structural topic modelling for analysing large unstructured textual data such as free-text feedback from patients...
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Digital Filtering of Railway Track Coordinates in Mobile Multi–Receiver GNSS Measurements
PublicationThe article discusses an important issue in connection with the technique of mobile Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) measurements of railway track coordinates, which is digital filtering performed to precisely determine railway track axes. For this purpose, a measuring technique is proposed which bases on the use of a measuring platform with a number of appropriately distributed GNSS receivers, where two of them determine...
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Comparison and Analysis of Service Selection Algorithms
PublicationIn Service Oriented Architecture, applications are developed by integration of existing services in order to reduce development cost and time. The approach, however, requires algorithms that select appropriate services out of available, alternative ones. The selection process may consider both optimalization requirements, such as maximalization of performance, and constraint requirements, such minimal security or maximum development...
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Computing algebraic transfer entropy and coupling directions via transcripts
PublicationMost random processes studied in nonlinear time series analysis take values on sets endowed with a group structure, e.g., the real and rational numbers, and the integers. This fact allows to associate with each pair of group elements a third element, called their transcript, which is defined as the product of the second element in the pair times the first one. The transfer entropy of two such processes is called algebraic transfer...
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Remote learning among students with and without reading difficulties during the initial stages of the COVID-19 pandemic
PublicationThis article presents the results of a survey on yet under-researched aspects of remote learning and learning difficulties in higher education during the initial stage (March – June 2020) of the COVID-19 pandemic. A total of 2182 students from University of Warsaw in Poland completed a two-part questionnaire regarding academic achievements in the academic year 2019/2020, living conditions and stress related to learning and pandemic,...
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Economic crisis in Croatia
PublicationCroatia is becoming the 28th member of the European Union on July 1st, 2013. Croatia has gone a long way from a socialistic republic to an independent country recognized as one of the economic tigers of the Western Balkans in the first decade of the 21st century. Croatia has been hit by a global crisis which turned out to be a huge external shock for the region of the Western Balkans. Although it does not enter the economy through...
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Age Prediction from Low Resolution, Dual-Energy X-ray Images Using Convolutional Neural Networks
PublicationAge prediction from X-rays is an interesting research topic important for clinical applications such as biological maturity assessment. It is also useful in many other practical applications, including sports or forensic investigations for age verification purposes. Research on these issues is usually carried out using high-resolution X-ray scans of parts of the body, such as images of the hands or images of the chest. In this...
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AC motor feeding cable consequences on EMC performance of ASD
PublicationHigh level of conducted EMI emissions of adjustable speed drives (ASD) is one of the most difficult problems in contemporary applications. Many investigations are carried out in order to find more effective methods allowing to predict this emission at early stage of design, and therefore to predict adequate countermeasures. This paper deals with the method which allows to estimate by simulation the influence of motor feeding cable...
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Calculating the Partition Coefficients of Organic Solvents in Octanol/Water and Octanol/Air
PublicationPartition coefficients define how a solute is distributed between two immiscible phases at equilibrium. The experimental estimation of partition coefficients in a complex system can be an expensive, difficult, and time-consuming process. Here a computational strategy to predict the distributions of a set of solutes in two relevant phase equilibria is presented. The octanol/water and octanol/air partition coefficients are predicted...
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Towards Rational Biosurfactant Design—Predicting Solubilization in Rhamnolipid Solutions
PublicationThe efficiency of micellar solubilization is dictated inter alia by the properties of the solubilizate, the type of surfactant, and environmental conditions of the process. We, therefore, hypothesized that using the descriptors of the aforementioned features we can predict the solubilization efficiency, expressed as molar solubilization ratio (MSR). In other words, we aimed at creating a model to find the optimal surfactant and...
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Optical and chemical characterization of thin TiNx films deposited by DC-magnetron sputtering
PublicationThin titanium nitride (tinx) films were deposited on silicon substrates by means of a reactive dc-magnetron plasma. Layers were synthesized under various conditions of discharge power and nitrogen flows in two operation modes of the magnetron (the so-called "balanced" and "unbalanced" modes). The optical constants of the tinx films were investigated by spectroscopic ellipsometry (se). X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (xps) was...
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Introduction of Pro and Its Analogues in the Conserved P1 Position of Trypsin Inhibitor SFTI-1 Retains Its Inhibitory Activity
PublicationA number of monocyclic SFTI-1 analogues modified in the conserved inhibitor P1 position by Pro, its L-hydroxyproline (Hyp) derivative as well as mimetics with different ring size were synthesized by the solid-phase method. Replacement of Ser6 by Pro, Hyp, and a four-member ring, L-azetidine-2-carboxylic acid (Aze), retained trypsin or chymotrypsin inhibitory activity. The determined association equilibrium constants of these analogues...
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Electric Field-Driven Assembly of Sulfonated Polystyrene Microspheres
PublicationA designed assembly of particles at liquid interfaces offers many advantages for development of materials, and can be performed by various means. Electric fields provide a flexible method for structuring particles on drops, utilizing electrohydrodynamic circulation flows, and dielectrophoretic and electrophoretic interactions. In addition to the properties of the applied electric field, the manipulation of particles often depends...
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Mathematical modeling of hydrogen production performance in thermocatalytic reactor based on the intermetallic phase of Ni3Al
PublicationThe main goal of the following work is to adjust mathematical modelling for mass transfer, to specific conditions resulting from presence of chemical surface reactions in the flow of the mixture consisting of helium and methanol. The thermocatalytic devices used for decomposition of organic compounds incorporate microchannels coupled at the ends and heated to 500 oC at the walls regions. The results of the experiment were compared...
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A dual-control strategy based on electrode material and electrolyte optimization to construct an asymmetric supercapacitor with high energy density
PublicationMetal-organic frames (MOFs) are regarded as excellent candidates for supercapacitors that have attracted much attention because of their diversity, adjustability and porosity. However, both poor structural stability in aqueous alkaline electrolytes and the low electrical conductivity of MOF materials constrain their practical implementation in supercapacitors. In this study, bimetallic CoNi-MOF were synthesized to enhance the electrical...
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Modification of structured bio‑carbon derived from spongin-based scaffolds with nickel compounds to produce a functional catalyst for reduction and oxidation reactions: Potential for use in environmental protection
PublicationThree different 3D fibrous-like NiO/Ni(OH)2/Ni‑carbonized spongin-based materials were prepared via a simple sorption–reduction method. Depending on the support used, the catalysts were composed of carbon, nickel oxide, nickel hydroxide and zero-valent nickel, with the surface content of the nickel-containing phase in the range 15.2–26.0 wt%. Catalytic studies showed promising activity in the oxidation of phenolic compounds in water...
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Two-dimensional simulations of concrete fracture at aggregate level with cohesive elements based on X-ray lCT images
PublicationThe paper presents results of two-dimensional meso-scale simulations of fracture in notched concrete beams subjected to three-point bending test. Concrete was assumed as a 4-phase material composed of aggregate grains placed in the cement matrix, interfacial transitional zones (ITZs) and macro-voids. The particle distribution was taken from real concrete beams on the basis of X-ray lCT images. Comprehensive numerical analyses were carried...
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Modeling the Influence of Salts on the Critical Micelle Concentration of Ionic Surfactants
PublicationWe show for the first time that a phenomenological, augmented volume-based thermodynamics (aVBT) model is capable to predict the critical micelle concentrations of ionic surfactants, including ionic liquids, with added salts. The model also adjusts for the type of salt added by including its molecular volume, which might form a connection to the Hofmeister effect. The other physico-chemically relevant quantities included in the...
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Information content of systems as a physical principle
PublicationTo explain the conceptual gap between classical and quantum and other, hypothetical descriptions of the world, several principles have been proposed. So far, all these principles have not explicitly included the uncertainty relation. Here we introduce an information content principle ( ICP ) which represents a constrained uncertainty principle. The principle, by taking into account the encoding and decoding properties of a single physical...
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From Knowledge based Vision Systems to Cognitive Vision Systems: A Review
PublicationComputer vision research and applications have their origins in 1960s. Limitations in computational resources inherent of that time, among other reasons, caused research to move away from artificial intelligence and generic recognition goals to accomplish simple tasks for constrained scenarios. In the past decades, the development in machine learning techniques has contributed to noteworthy progress in vision systems. However,...
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UPDRS tests for diagnosis of Parkinson's disease employing virtual-touchpad
PublicationThis paper presents a new approach to diagnosing Parkinson's disease. The progression of the disease can be measured by the UPDRS (Unified Parkinson Disease Rating Scale) scale which is used to evaluate motor and behavioral symptoms of Parkinson's disease. Hitherto the evaluation of the advancement of the disease in the UPDRS scale was made by a specialist through medical observation. The authors suggest a partial automation of...
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The influences of the information and communication technology on the structural changes of Japanese energy sectors from 1985 through 2005: a statistical analysis
PublicationThe purpose of this study is to analyse the influences of information and communication technology (ICT) on the structural changes of Japanese energy sectors from 1985-2005. In this study, ICT is represented by two explanatory variables, namely: 1) computers, main parts and accessories; 2) telecommunications equipment. We employ a statistical tool in investigating the influences quantitatively, namely constrained multivariate regression...
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Randomly Functionalized Polyethylenes: In Quest of Avoiding Catalyst Deactivation
PublicationWell-defined randomly functionalized polyolefins produced by catalysis form an interesting class of polymers with great potential for various applications. One of the major challenges for the production of these materials forms the incompatibility of the commonly used electrophilic group 4 metal based catalysts and the desired nucleophilic, especially protic functionalities like hydroxyl and carboxylic acid groups. Although pacification...
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Innovative mobile method to determine railway track axis position in global coordinate system using position measurements performed with GNSS and fixed base of the measuring vehicle
PublicationThe shape of the railway track axis and its position in the global coordinate system are essential when defining design parameters of the railway. Correct reconstruction of these quantities is vital for both verifying the compliance of real track parameters with the design and for diagnosing, as all track deformations can also be defined as deviations of real parameters from their design values. The measurements of quantities related...
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Evaluation of the factors influencing business bankruptcy risk in Poland
PublicationThis article is devoted to the issue of assessing the causes of business failure. The presented studies answer two research questions – what are the causes of corporate bankruptcies in Poland and how to more efectively predict the scale of bankruptcies in the country. The author has conducted a study to analyze the specic endogenous and exogenous causes of company bankruptcy depending on the type of the bankruptcy with consideration...
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A Data Driven Model for Predicting RNA-Protein Interactions based on Gradient Boosting Machine
PublicationRNA protein interactions (RPI) play a pivotal role in the regulation of various biological processes. Experimental validation of RPI has been time-consuming, paving the way for computational prediction methods. The major limiting factor of these methods has been the accuracy and confidence of the predictions, and our in-house experiments show that they fail to accurately predict RPI involving short RNA sequences such as TERRA RNA....
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Photovoltaic phenomena in devices with perfluorozincphthalocyanine layer
PublicationThe course of photovoltaic phenomenon in organic photovoltaic cells utilizing thin layers of perfluorozincphthalocyanine was studied in few single and planar bilayer configurations. Mechanisms of photogeneration and recombination of free charge carriers were determined and active interfaces were localized. In case of single layer cells these interfaces were located at the front electrode/F16ZnPc junctions, whereas photogeneration...
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A Generalized Framework Towards Structural Mechanics of Three-layered Composite Structures
PublicationThree-layered composite structures find a broad application. Increasingly, composites are being used whose layer thicknesses and material properties diverge strongly. In the perspective of structural mechanics, classical approaches to analysis fail at such extraordinary composites. Therefore, emphasis of the present approach is on arbitrary transverse shear rigidities and structural thicknesses of the individual layers. Therewith...