This study applies Closed-Loop Combustion Control (CLCC) using Variable Compression Ratio (VCR) and cylinder balancing using variable lambda to solve the problem. Step changes of set points for combustion phasing, Compression Ratio (CR), and load together with ramps of engine speed and inlet air temperature are investigated. Performances of the controllers are investigated by running the engine at

1. The time course and kinetics of force development following activation by opening of L-type Ca2+ channels was investigated using photodestruction of the Ca2+ channel blocker nifedipine in smooth muscle from the guinea-pig taenia coli. 2. In muscles activated using high K+ and Ca2+ and subsequently inhibited with nifedipine, photodestruction of the drug using a strong ultraviolet light flash ini

Benzimidazole units have been grafted onto a polysulfone (PSU) backbone via long alkyl thio–ether chains using a two-step procedure. In the first step, lithiated PSU was reacted with 10-undecenoyl chloride to graft PSU with undecenoyl side chains. The second step involved a free-radical thiol–ene coupling reaction between the C=C bonds of the pendant undecenoyl chains and 2-(2-benzimidazolyl)ethan

Experience curves are used to analyse the prospects for diffusion and adoption of renewable energy technologies, with special emphasis on wind turbines and photovoltaic (PV) modules. The analysis shows that the possibility of cost reductions of renewable energy technologies is greater than for conventional energy technologies. However, large investments are necessary to make wind turbines and PV m

Very-low-density lipoprotein (VLDL) from 10 hemodialysis patients and 10 healthy controls was studied with respect to the substrate characteristics for bovine milk lipoprotein lipase (LPL). Compared with the control subjects, the hemodialysis patients had significantly higher serum triglyceride and apolipoprotein B-associated apolipoprotein CIII concentrations (1.03 +/- 0.31 v 1.98 +/- 0.86 mmol/L

Objective: Glucose degradation products (GDPs) in peritoneal dialysis (PD) fluids are cytotoxic and affect the survival of the peritoneal membrane. One of the most reactive GDPs in PD fluids is 3,4-dideoxyglucosone-3-ene (3,4-DGE). 3,4-DGE has been reported as an intermediate between 3-deoxyglucosone (3-DG) and 5-hydroxymethyl furaldehyde (5-HMF) during degradation of glucose. In PD fluids, 3,4-DG

In a prospective long-term outcome study of a representative sample of teenage-onset anorexia nervosa (AN), 51 individuals with AN, recruited after community screening, were contrasted with 51 matched comparison cases at a mean age of 24 years (10 years after AN onset). All 102 cases had been examined at age 16 and 21 years. At 24 years all probands were interviewed regarding mental and physical h

We present new results on a study of the weak s-process elemental abundances in the M supergiant alpha Ori (M2Iab). We have conducted the abundance analysis through comparison of synthetic with observed spectra in the two infrared spectral regions 0.7 - 1.1 mu m and 2.1 - 2.3 mu m, where the molecular and atomic line densities are less than in the optical region and where many of the relevant elem

We study agents situated in partially observable environments, who do not have sufficient resources to create conformant (complete) plans. Instead, they create plans which are conditional and partial, execute or simulate them, and learn from experience to evaluate their quality. Our agents employ an incomplete symbolic deduction system based on Active Logic and Situation Calculus for reasoning abo

The complete mitochondrial genomes of two reptiles, the common iguana (Iguana iguana) and the caiman (Caiman crocodylus), were sequenced in order to investigate phylogenetic questions of tetrapod evolution. The addition of the two species allows analysis of reptilian relationships using data sets other than those including only fast-evolving species. The crocodilian mitochondrial genomes seem to h

Many small proteins fold in a two-state manner, the rate-limiting step being the passage of the free-energy barrier separating the unfolded state from the native one. The free-energy barrier is, however, weak or absent for the fastest-folding proteins. Here a simple diffusion picture for such proteins is discussed. It is tested on a model protein that makes a three-helix bundle. Assuming the motio