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Reverse engineering applied to architectural restoration for the reconstruction of structural surfaces depends on metric precision. Sometimes there are elements on these surfaces whose value is even higher than the building itself. This is the case for many churches whose ceilings have pictorial works of art. Reconstruction requires the existence of some identifiable remainder and/or a surface geometry that enables mathematical development. In our case, the vault has an irregular hemispherical geometry (without possible mathematical development), and there are no significant remains of the painting (which was destroyed by a fire). Through the 3D modelling of the irregular vault and two historic frames with a camera of unknown geometry, an inverse methodology is designed to project the original painting without metric deformations. For this, a new methodology to locate the camera positions is developed. After, a 3D virtual mathematical model of the complete image on the vault is calculated, and from it, partial 3D virtual images are automatically calculated depending on the variable unknown positions of the video cannons (distributed along the upper corridor of the apse) that will project them (visually forming a perfect complete 3D image). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper discusses a recent find of a copper alloy light cannon discovered at the Old Castle in Grodno, Belarus. The research aim was to analyse the artefact in all its possible aspects, including archaeological and historical contexts, possible analogies, and the gun's technology of manufacture. This latter was done against a broad comparative background of what is known on manufacturing technologies of late medieval and modern period copper alloy firearms. First, the archaeological and historical contexts of the discovery are dealt with. Then, the morphology and typochronology of the cannon are discussed and relevant analogies are proposed. Next, the technology of manufacture of the cannon is studied on the basis of metallographic examinations and EDS analyses of the metal's elemental composition. It was found out that the artefact had been made of leaded copper. The cannon can be dated with reasonable certainty to the late 14th c., as implied both by the find context, the morphology and the chemical composition of the artefact. Its deposition can be related to fights over the Old Castle in Grodno in this period, waged by Teutonic, Polish and Lithuanian forces. It can tentatively be proposed that the cannon was manufactured in a Teutonic Order's workshop, but further research is necessary to verify this supposition. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The goal of this project was to scan and reverse engineer one of three bronze cannons (41MG86 - 11900-1) recovered from the La Belle excavation, which is currently on exhibit at the Bullock Texas State History Museum in Austin, Texas. A freeform computer aided design (CAD) model was generated based upon the topology of the three-dimensional (3-D) mesh in Geomagic Design X with a desired maximum deviation of 0.1 mm between the model and the mesh. Deviations were calculated in Geomagic Control X using the surface model as the reference data, and the mesh as the measured data. A custom patch network was subsequently designed using a series of iterative revisions until the whole of the surface model met with the specified tolerance. The 3-D surface model of the cannon will be replicated in a variety of media at variable scales for use in exhibits and for educational and promotional material for the Texas Historical Commission, the Republic of France, and their partner museums. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In order to obtain the MEFP with smaller divergence angle for the apply in the destruction of unexploded ordnance, LS-DYNA numerical simulation software was used to simulate the formation process and motion state of the projectile formed by the integrated MEFP warhead. The influence of the parameters of the liner (thickness, radius of curvature) and the initiation mode (single and multi-point initiation) on the formation characteristics of MEFP were studied. After the optimization design of warhead, the simulation model of MEFP interact with shell-covered cylindrical charge was established to estimate the damage power. The optimized MEFP has small divergence angle and can detonate the shell charge with a thickness of 10 mm. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A new innovative cannon puffing technology, called Vac‐Can‐Puff (VCP), consisting of a puffing gun connected to a vacuum pump, was conceived for the production of half‐popped purple corn snacks. This newly designed system was used to achieve a homogenized expansion of corn kernels in bulk. After selecting the soaking, puffing, and roasting methods, response surface methodology (RSM) was used to optimize the response variables: expansion ratio (ER) and general appreciation (GA) of kernels. It aimed at investigating the effects of puffing parameters: pressure of the steam injected (P), treatment time (T), and initial water content of the kernels (W). The central composite design resulted in an empirical model suggesting the following optima: P = 7.7 × 105 Pa, T = 14 s, and W = 32.8%, which are required to maximize desirability of the half‐popped kernels. The response parameters obtained under optimal conditions were 2.18 and 4.2 for ER and GA, respectively. Practical Applications: Establishing an initial vacuum prior to steam injection in a puffing cannon, allowed to bring a solution to a long‐term issue related to the nonhomogeneous treatment in bulk. Whenever a thick layer of product is loaded in the cannon, a heterogeneous distribution of injected steam within the mass occurs, resulting in a dissimilarly expanded end product. Upon coupling the vacuum to the puffing cannon, the product then obtained is uniformly processed, with a well monitored expansion ratio. Half‐popped corn kernels resulting from treatment with Vac‐Can‐Puff (VCP) exhibited high organoleptic qualities in terms of taste, expansion ratio and desirability, without the use of any additives. Moreover, such products have the potential to be shaped as cakes, bars, or even associated with other products or flavors. Vac‐Can‐Puff is a manageable process since it does not require high technicality, and easy to implement in developing countries due to its low‐cost investment, operating and maintenance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

When establishing the steering analysis model of crawler bottom-plate forest fire extinguishing cannon, the ignoring of the problems caused by the offset of the center of mass and the centrifugal force will lead to the failure to more truly reflect the state of the steering moment of the forest fire extinguishing cannon. For this reason, based on the principle of track steering and steering dynamics, this paper makes dynamic analysis and statics analysis of the crawler chassis of forest fire extinguishing cannon, and establishes a more accurate mathematical model of forest fire extinguishing cannon to performance when the model takes into account the steering resistance moment, soil subsidence resistance, track parameters such as ground pressure distribution. Taking a real vehicle as an example, the parameters are calculated by the model and compared with the test results. The results show that the larger the centroid offset caused by centrifugal force is, the larger the turning radius of the track is. The steering performance of forest fire extinguishing cannon is greatly affected by the centrifugal force, the pressure from the track to the ground is not uniformly distributed on the ground surface of the track. The experiment also shows that the error between the results of model analysis and the actual situation is within the acceptable range, which proves the accuracy of the model. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper argues that works of popular culture, specifically horror films, offer valuable insights into dominant and critical perceptions of the sources of violence in ongoing armed conflicts—an issue of concern for scholars of International Relations (IR) scholars, which as yet has not received sufficient attention. Accordingly, we present a new approach that IR scholars can utilize in their analysis of works of popular culture, applying it to two recent horror films from Israel/Palestine: Cannon Fodder (2013, dir. Eitan Gafny) and Freak Out (2015, dir. Boaz Armoni). The analysis of these films, combined with a discussion of films dealing with violence from other contexts, reveals how works of popular culture in general, and horror films in particular, can help address the question of whether violence in armed conflicts is perceived as endogenous or exogenous to the groups involved. This can also shed light on specific issues, such as the connection between social representation and violence, the link between the use of military technology and violence, and the blurred boundaries between endogenous and exogenous sources of violence. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Although stability is relatively well understood in macro‐organisms, much less is known about its drivers in host–microbial systems where processes operating at multiple levels of biological organisation jointly regulate the microbiome.We conducted an experiment to examine the microbiome stability of three Caribbean corals (Acropora cervicornis, Pseudodiploria strigosa and Porites astreoides) by placing them in aquaria and exposing them to a pulse perturbation consisting of a large dose of broad‐spectrum antibiotics before transplanting them into the field.We found that coral hosts harboured persistent, species‐specific microbiomes. Stability was generally high but variable across coral species, with A. cervicornis microbiomes displaying the lowest community turnover in both the non‐perturbed and the perturbed field transplants. Interestingly, the microbiome of P. astreoides was stable in the non‐perturbed field transplants, but unstable in the perturbed field transplants.A mathematical model of host–microbial dynamics helped resolve this paradox by showing that when microbiome regulation is driven by host sanctioning, both resistance and resilience to invasion are low and can lead to instability despite the high direct costs bourne by corals. Conversely, when microbiome regulation is mainly associated with microbial processes, both resistance and resilience to invasion are high and promote stability at no direct cost to corals. We suggest that corals that are mainly regulated by microbial processes can be likened to 'glass cannons' because the high stability they exhibit in the field is due to their microbiome's potent suppression of invasive microbes. However, these corals are susceptible to destabilisation when exposed to perturbations that target the vulnerable members of their microbiomes who are responsible for mounting such powerful attacks against invasive microbes. The differential patterns of stability exhibited by P. astreoides across perturbed and non‐perturbed field transplants suggest it is a 'glass cannon' whose microbiome is regulated by microbial processes, whereas A. cervicornis' consistent patterns of stability suggest that its microbiome is mainly regulated by host‐level processes.Our results show that understanding how processes that operate at multiple levels of biological organisation interact to regulate microbiomes is critical for predicting the effects of environmental perturbations on host–microbial systems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Little has been written about the history of English underwater salvage in the mid-seventeenth century. The navy of the 1650s and the 1660s needed divers and salvagers for their expanded operations, especially during wars against the Dutch. Ships sunk deep at sea were irretrievable, but vessels lost near shore in tidal waters could yield recoverable materials. This article offers new insights into wreck recovery during the period of the Interregnum and the Restoration. It investigates the archival evidence of efforts to recover ordnance from the English naval vessels Liberty (also named Charles) that sank in the North Sea in 1650, and the London that blew up in the Thames in 1665. Despite difficult tidal and weather conditions, Robert Willis and others were able to recover several tons of bronze guns for re-use. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Structured search strategies have been well studied, but consequences of frequently made assumptions can lead to "optimum" recommendations that are far from optimum in that they ignore risks of failure. Common assumptions are many targets that have average sizes and shapes, and are randomly orientated. The effects of common assumptions are examined for parallel and grid line searches. Equations are provided for estimating probabilities of hitting elliptical targets with parallel and square grid lines along with new simplified equations when orientations are random. In a large portion of searches, the probability of missing the largest, most valuable target, dangerous ordnance, or key target is critical to the decision-maker. The risk of missing a target is frequently central to the decision. Where the target is elliptical in shape and has unknown orientation, square grid line search should be considered over line search. Square grid line search has a slightly lower expected probability of detecting an elliptical target with one or more hits than an equal-cost parallel line search, but the probability of missing regardless of orientation in square grid search is significantly lower. Where two or more hits are required, the square grid has a significantly higher probability of hitting and a slightly lower standard deviation than an equal-cost line search. For elliptical targets, the use of a square grid significantly reduces the chances of search failure. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The National Rifle Association (NRA) faces a challenge in its battle to expand the gun culture: incorporating women. While NRA content aimed at women once focused on self-defense, recent communications materials have shifted toward recreational shooting and hunting. How can we understand this shift? How does the NRA use narrative to challenge gender ideologies that discourage women's participation in the gun culture? Drawing on the Narrative Policy Framework, this paper presents a thematic analysis of three NRATV programs. It argues that the gun culture is a source of support that the NRA draws upon to achieve its primary policy goal of expanding access to firearms. The organization mobilizes narratives that frame participation in the gun culture as both enjoyable and empowering for women in order to overcome barriers posed by masculinist norms. This case study has theoretical implications for our understanding of the connection between collective actors, cultures, and policy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The unexploded ordnance (UXO) on the seabed off Northwest Europe poses a hazard to offshore developments such as windfarms. The traditional removal method is through high-order detonation of a donor explosive charge placed adjacent to the UXO, which poses a risk of injury or death to marine mammals and other fauna from the high sound levels produced and is destructive to the seabed. This paper describes a sea-trial in the Danish Great Belt to compare the sound produced by high-order detonations with that produced by deflagration, a low-order disposal method that offers reduced environmental impact from noise. The results demonstrate a substantial reduction over high-order detonation, with the peak sound pressure level and sound exposure level being around 20 dB lower for the deflagration. The damage to the seabed was also considerably reduced for deflagration, although there was some evidence for residues of explosives related chemicals in sediments. [Display omitted] • Underwater deflagration and detonation UXO disposal methods were compared in-situ • Deflagration events are 15-20 dB quieter than detonation of equivalent UXO's • Detonation events can result in significant seabed vibration and seabed damage • Debris field from deflagration events is contained in a few meters of the UXO • The acoustic levels of EOD methods tested can cause impacts at significant distances [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Portable X-Ray Fluorescence (pXRF) was used to analyse five 17th and 18th-century bronze Dutch East India Company (VOC) cannon stored in the Huế Royal Antiquities Museum. They exist at the intersection of different relationships between the Vietnamese Trịnh Lords and the VOC, with analysis revealing variations in manufacturing quality and decoration. One cannon in particular, Cannon 54, exhibits significantly elevated iron content and background readings, suggesting heterogeneity caused by different origins. These standards suggest Cannon 54 was cast in a little-known Southeast Asian foundry rather than in the Dutch Republic. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Revue Académique des Études Sociales et Humaines is the property of Hassif Benbouali University of Chlef and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

In this study, we propose a systematic performance evaluation process based on complex received currents for searching and tracking radars. This process incorporates an approach to simplified geometries of array antennas and cannon platforms that accurately represent the electromagnetic properties of the original geometries. The simplified geometries are used in full-wave electromagnetic simulations to compute the current magnitudes and phases induced in array antenna ports, and the values are saved as complex steering vectors. In addition, we propose a novel metric for evaluating the received performance distortions using the saved complex steering vectors, which were cross-checked with a conventional pattern distortion metric. To verify the feasibility of the proposed process, the optimal placement of array antennas for a commercial searching and tracking radar system was determined. The results demonstrate that average magnitudes and phases distortions of less than 1 mA and 3°, respectively, can be obtained when the array antennas are placed at 0.6- and 1.1-m heights above the platform. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We report on the optimization of a BremsStrahlung Cannon (BSC) design for the investigation of laser-driven fast electron populations in a shock ignition relevant experimental campaign at the Laser Megajoule-PETawatt Acquitaine Laser facility. In this regime with laser intensities of 1015 W/cm2–1016 W/cm2, fast electrons with energies ≤100 keV are expected to be generated through Stimulated Raman Scattering (SRS) and Two Plasmon Decay (TPD) instabilities. The main purpose of the BSC in our experiment is to identify the contribution to x-ray emission from bremsstrahlung of fast electrons originating from SRS and TPD, with expected temperatures of 40 keV and 95 keV, respectively. Data analysis and reconstruction of the distributions of x-ray photons incident on the BSC are described. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Archaeologia Lituana is the property of Vilnius University and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

A decision making procedure for selection of a weapon system involves different, often contradictory criteria and reaching decisions under conditions of uncertainty. This paper proposes a novel multi-criteria methodology based on D numbers which enables efficient analysis of the information used for decision making. The proposed methodology has been developed in order to enable selection of an efficient weapon system under conditions when a large number of hierarchically structured evaluation criteria has to be processed. A novel D number based Level Based Weight Assessment -- Multi Attributive Border Approximation area Comparison (D LBWA-MABAC) model is used for selection of an automatic cannon for integration into combat vehicles. Criteria weights are determined based on the improved LBWA-D model. The traditional MABAC method has been further developed by integration of interval numbers. A hybrid D LBWA-MABAC framework is used for evaluation of an automatic cannon for integration into combat vehicles. Nine weapon systems used worldwide have been ranked in this paper. This multicriteria approach allows decision makers to assess options objectively and reach a rational decision regarding the selection of an optimal weapon system. Validation of the proposed methodology is performed through sensitivity analysis which studies how changes in the weights of the best criterion and the elasticity coefficient affect the ranking results. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

After manufacturing technology and the use of firearms flowing into the Malay world, the Malay community in the various group’s especially metal experts have produced traditional cannons in its own way based on local wisdom. Thus, the size, design, and motif of cannons are produced by local elements. Based on the observations in the field, the difference in size and design led to the types of traditional Malay cannon. In the process of recording and analyzing the size and design of the traditional cannon, the researcher has used qualitative research methods. Thus, there are several types of traditional Malay cannon that was produced by a group of experts in the Malay world. Each type of cannon is proved to have different functions in which the difference in size and design as key factors to the difference function of each type of Malay traditional cannon. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Archeologia Postmedievale is the property of Edizioni all'Insegna del Giglio and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Verity Lambert's brief period as Director of Production at Thorn-EMI Screen Entertainment (TESE) was responsible for the in-house development of five films: Morons from Outer Space (1985), Restless Natives (1985), Dreamchild (1985), Link (1986) and Clockwise (1986), although she had left the company before the last three were released. There has been limited critical engagement with these productions and Lambert's tenure in general, with the existing literature on this material tending to emphasise the eclectic nature of what were to be TESE's last releases before the company's sale to Cannon (Hill 1999; Moody 2018; Park 1990; Walker 1985; Walker 2004; Wickham and Mettler 2005). Drawing on a series of detailed interviews with former TESE Production Executive, Graham Easton, along with previously unreleased archival documents from the Film Finances archive, this article develops a more detailed textual analysis and production history of these releases, in order more clearly to map TESE's complexities during this period. By engaging more coherently with the themes and aesthetics of TESE's output, the article argues that there is a consistency to Lambert's productions which can be seen at both a thematic and a stylistic level, centred on notions of constraint and obstacles to communication, and that this was nurtured by the environment created by Lambert and the Film Finances completion bond for each film. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The work of the experts of explosive ordnance disposal is very demanding in Hungary. Thousands of explosive remnants of war are still waiting for disarming in the soil. This public duty demands highly trained professionals who are able to meet the requirements of this lethal profession. The statistics are important to receive a complete picture about the background of projectiles and bombs. These military ordnances endanger everybody's live in their close distance. To understand the features of these dangerous devices, first the threats hidden inside their main parts must be identified. This may help us to make the explosive ordnance disposal tasks safer and to understand the possibilities during render safe procedures. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In Italy, as in other European countries, there are constant discoveries of unexploded war-time ordnance, especially during excavation activities in temporary and mobile construction sites. This circumstance has confirmed that activities of war risk assessment and consequent Systematic War Remediation, where appropriate, are absolutely necessary and useful to protect construction sites' workers from the risk of explosion resulting from the accidental activation of explosive ordnance. This work analyses current methods employed in order to achieve this result. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

According to the technical requirements of harsh shock environment test, this paper presents the study on the pneumatic vertical test technology with large load and high-g value. The inspiration of this paper comes from the fact that a compressed air cannon can produce instantaneous and powerful air jets that can be used to drive the tested object to achieve a high initial collision velocity. Then, the principle of shock test technology based on an air cannon and an impact cylinder was put forward, and the idea gas mechanics model was established to theoretically analyze the laws that how the parameters of the air cannon and cylinder influence the initial impact velocities. The test system was built, and the test research was carried out. When the air cannon pressure is 0.5 MPa and 0.65 MPa, respectively, under no-load, the impact acceleration measured is 1990 g (pulse width, 1.26 ms) (1g = 9.8 m/s2) and 4429 g (pulse width, 1.20 ms). It preliminarily validated the effectiveness and feasibility. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]