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Since 2015, there has been a legal obligation in Germany for the districts and cities to collect biowastes separately, which are then treated in a composting plant or fermentation plant. However, in both aerobic and anaerobic biowaste treatment, a large part of the carbon contained in the waste is released in the form of carbon dioxide (CO2) without using the raw material potential it contains. Against the background of efforts to save climate-relevant gases and the scarcity of natural resources, the aim of biological waste treatment should be to make better use of the potential of bio-waste through innovations in the known treatment processes. These innovative processes should make better use of the carbon contained in the biomass and obtain higher-quality and economically profitable bio-based products from it, to substitute primary raw materials. In a first step, the anaerobic process of dark fermentation initially produced short-chain carboxylic acids from organic waste streams. This process also produces a hydrogen-containing biogas that can be used for energy. In a secondary fermentation, the carboxylic acids are then to be lengthened and separated using a non-polar extractant. The extended carboxylic acids then serve as platform chemicals for the manufacture of various bio-based products.

As Crash Imminent Braking (CIB) systems have been introduced to the passenger vehicle market segment, there is an immediate need to develop a standardized performance scoring system which enables an objective comparison of similar CIB systems implemented across various vehicle platforms. It is desirable that this standard is adopted by the entire automotive industry to further advance CIB technologies. It is also a valuable reference for consumers to compare the safety of different vehicles. This paper describes an approach for the establishment of such a standard to evaluate and compare the performance of CIB systems. A set of testing scenarios is proposed for the performance evaluation of CIB systems. Subjective and arguable test scenarios are avoided as much as possible. The applicability of the proposed scoring system is demonstrated with the data collected from some proposed testing scenarios in the evaluation of a 2011 model-year passenger vehicle equipped with a CIB system.

Bonded-in steel rods are very efficient in withstanding high forces applied to timber members. Investigations of bonded-in rods started in the late eighties of the last century and several design models were published since. By comparing these approaches on base of an extensive literature review a certain degree of discrepancy and partly even contradiction can be found. The paper describes a test program which aimed to study the influence of timber density and of geometric parameters on the pull-out strength of single axially loaded steel rods. Following the GSA®-procedure, which is a well established glued-in rods joint in Switzerland, rods with metric thread were bonded in glulam made of Norway spruce lamellas using an epoxy-type adhesive. The tests showed that the influence of the timber density can be quantified by a power function of ρ with an exponent of 0.6. The parameters length of the glued zone l and diameter of the hole d H can be summarized in the slenderness ratio λ = l/d H, which itself is related to the mean shear strength in the anchoring zone by an exponent of approximately −1/3. In order to prevent the specimens from premature splitting, distances between the axis of the rod and the edge of the specimen of 2.3 times the diameter of the rod have been used.

The INCOSE Corporate Advisory Board has set a high priority on the generation of a skills and knowledge taxonomy aligned with the EIA/IS 731–1 Systems Engineering Capability Model (SECM). For an organization to grow in systems engineering capability when implementing the EIA/IS 731-1 SECM, individuals within that organization must also grow in increasing levels of competency. This paper describes the establishment within the INCOSE Technical Board of a special team to generate the needed taxonomy and presents preliminary results of their efforts. A brief account is provided on the general importance of capability models, which establishes a background for this high priority task. Key features of the EIA/IS 731-1 SECM, to which the taxonomy is to be aligned, are summarized. The development approach for the taxonomy is described. A foundation is presented for the taxonomy's architecture, which is comprised of three highly congruent models. The paper closely ties the taxonomy to elements of the EIA/IS 731-1 SECM. An example demonstrates the application of the taxonomy to the development of a set of enabling skills for the conduct of risk management per the EIA/IS 731-1 SECM. The paper concludes with a description of future activities. The completed document will be entitled The Taxonomy Of Systems Engineering Competency, with subtitle Enabling Growth In Systems Engineering Capability Aligned With The EIA/IS 731-1 Systems Engineering Capability Model.

In the past few years, several models have been developed to measure systems engineering process or capability maturity. Two models, the INCOSE SECAM and EPIC SE-CMM, have gained a great deal of attention and have been used as source models, along with their application methods, to create a US standard, comprised of a single “merged” model and application method, for measuring and improving systems engineering capability. The “merger” effort has been conducted by the EIA SECM Working Group, which has representation from the EIA, INCOSE, and EPIC and was formed under the auspices of the Electronic Industries Association (EIA). This paper provides key features of the “merged” model, a synopsis of each of the two source models, and relationships between the “merged” model and its two source models. A description is provided of some significant factors affecting the merger effort. The information provided should assist in gaining an understanding of, and in transitioning to, the “merged” model, which is the EIA/IS 731–1 Systems Engineering Capability Model (SECM).

The INCOSE SECAM and EPIC SE-CMM have been used to measure systems engineering process or capability maturity within industry and Government. Both models have been the subject of a “merger” effort that resulted in the release in August 1997 of EIA/IS 731–1 Systems Engineering Capability Model (SECM), draft Version 0.5; Version 1.0 is expected to be released in the first half of 1998. The “standard” methods of conducting assessments using the first two models (the “merged” model assessment method has not yet been released) is usually of four or five days duration, depending upon the model selected. This length of time presents an economic hardship to many business entities and perturbs the activities of the programs involved for approximately a week. This paper describes a structured, economical approach to conducting assessments in two days. Specific cost savings are presented based upon previously conducted “standard” assessments and more recently conducted “mini-assessments”, termed “Progress Measures”, using this economical approach. The “mini-assessment” method, termed a “Progress Measure Assessment Method”, can be used with any of the above three models of systems engineering capability, or concurrently with two or more of them should a business entity desire to assess their systems engineering capability in different ways.

This review from the Commission on Rock Grouting seeks to provide a better basis for the optimal selection of grouting materials and methods to meet specific needs and conditions. It examines current worldwide experience of grouting under a variety of conditions and using all available techniques and materials. The review is presented under the following sections: rock properties; properties of the grouts; planning of grouting operations; installation at the construction site; review of the success of grouting. Appendices deal with the characterisation of jointed rock; synthetic resins and chemical grouts; and methods for determining grout properties.

In September 1995, a second systems engineering process assessment (SEPA) was conducted at the Westinghouse Hanford Company (WHC) using the INCOSE Systems Engineering Capability Assessment Model (SECAM) and supporting documents. This SEPA, like the first at WHC in February 1995, was facilitated by the INCOSE CAWG, which developed the INCOSE SECAM and supporting documents (assessment method). The Capability Assessment Working Group (CAWG) is one of four working groups that comprise the Measurement Technical Committee of the Technical Board of the International Council on Systems Engineering (INCOSE). This paper presents detailed information about the SEPA with emphasis on: (1) background events leading up to the SEPA; (2) planning undertaken to ensure the success of the SEPA, including tailoring of the INCOSE SECAM and supporting documents; (3) conduct of the SEPA; (4) post-SEPA activities, including observations on the ability to mature using the INCOSE SECAM as a vector for growth; and (5) observations from the SEPA, including lessons learned and recommendations for improvement and subsequent impact on the INCOSE SECAM and supporting documents. The SEPA is noteworthy since it is the first time that a complex model developed for measuring systems engineering capability was applied twice to the same organization. This offers the potential of beginning the validation of the model.

The parameters of an adaptable cruise control system may change considerably during the course of operation. The addition of passengers, the increased friction as parts wear and the reduction in mass as fuel is consumed all provided changes to the load of the system. These variations and many others may be modeled as a non-perfect plant, called an uncertain or corrupted plant. In initial control analysis, the adaptive cruise control systems are assumed to have a perfect plant; that is to say, the plant always behaves as commanded. Plant corruption may come from a variation in performance through use or misuse, or from noise or imperfections in the sensor signal data. A model for plant corruption is applied and methods for analysis and compensation are explored. To facilitate analysis, system identification has been employed to produce a reduced-order model.

As active safety system features are being introduced to the passenger vehicle market segment, there is an immediate need to develop a standardized testing protocol and scoring mechanism which enables an objective comparison of similar active safety system performance as implemented across various vehicle platforms. It is desirable that this standard is adopted by the entire automotive industry to further advance active safety technologies. This paper describes a proposal for the establishment of such a standard to evaluate and compare the performance of Crash Imminent Braking (CIB) systems. The operation of CIB system is described as a three-state state machine. A standardized scoring matrix is proposed to assess the performance of the system in each state. This standard ensures that every CIB system operates in one and only one state of the state machine at any given time. Subjective and arguable test scenarios are avoided as much as possible in this standard. The proposed scoring system is implemented based on track testing data in the evaluation of a 2011 model year passenger vehicle equipped with a CIB system.

Crash-avoidance and pre-crash active safety technologies are both being developed to assist in reducing the number of crashes and minimizing the severity of crashes. The root basis in the development of new and improved active safety technologies should begin with gaining further knowledge about crash kinds and causes.

The rate of leucine incorporation into brain proteins was studied in rats with experimental brain tumors produced by intracerebral transplantation of the glioma clone F98. Incorporation was measured with [14C]leucine using a controlled infusion technique for maintaining constant specific activity of [14C]leucine in plasma, followed by quantitative autoradiography and biochemical tissue analysis. After 45 min the specific activity of free [14C]leucine in plasma was 2.5-3 times higher than in brain and brain tumor, indicating that the precursor pool for protein synthesis was fueled both by exogenous (plasma-derived) and endogenous (proteolysis-derived) amino acids. Endogenous recycling of amino acids amounted to 73% of total free leucine pool in brain tumors and to 60-70% in normal brain. Taking endogenous amino acid recycling into account, leucine incorporation was 78.7 +/- 16.0 nmol/g of tissue/min in brain tumor, and 17.2 +/- 4.2 and 9.7 +/- 3.3 nmol/g/min in normal frontal cortex and striatum, respectively. Leucine incorporation within tumor tissue was markedly heterogeneous, depending on the local pattern of tumor proliferation and necrosis. Our results demonstrate that quantitative measurement of leucine incorporation into brain proteins requires estimation of recycling of amino acids derived from proteolysis and, in consequence, biochemical determination of the free amino acid precursor pool in tissue samples. With the present approach such measurements are possible and provide the quantitative basis for the evaluation of therapeutic interventions.

We consider the numerical approximation of volume integrals over bounded domainsD:={D∈R3:H(x>≤0}, whereH:R3→R is a suitable decidability function. The integrands may be smooth maps or singular maps such as those arising in the volume potentials for boundary integral methods. An adaptive extrapolation method is described which is based on some simple quadrature rules. It utilizes an automatic simplicial subdivision of the domain. The method offers improvements over recently given approaches. A special version is offered for the important application of the numerical computation of volume potentials in boundary integral methods. Several examples illustrate the performance of the method.

Several Intelligent Vehicle applications require knowledge of the presence of objects in the path of the host vehicle. Current approaches to this in-path decision process do not fully utilize the information available from the forward- looking sensor.An earlier paper described a scene tracking path algorithm in which the observed trajectories of preceding vehicles are used to determine the shape of the road in front of the host, along with the orientation of the host with respect to the road, thereby improving the accuracy of object lane determination. This paper reviews that algorithm and presents simulation-based comparisons of the performances of the conventional and scene tracking approaches.

Until now the efficacy of new antidotes against organophosphorus poisoning has been primarily evaluated in animal models. However, the transmission of these results to humans is hampered by species differences. Besides atropine, oximes are considered as main antidotes. The most important effect of these compounds is the reactivation of inhibited acetylcholinesterase (AChE). The reactivating potency of oximes can be investigated with human material in vitro and was evaluated in the present study with human erythrocyte AChE after inhibition by different nerve agents and pesticides.

The treatment of poisoning by highly toxic organophosphorus compounds (nerve agents) is unsatisfactory. Until now, the efficacy of new potential antidotes has primarily been evaluated in animals. However, the extrapolation of these results to humans is hampered by species differences. Since oximes are believed to act primarily through reactivation of inhibited acetylcholinesterase (AChE) and erythrocyte AChE is regarded to be a good marker for the synaptic enzyme, the reactivating potency can be investigated with human erythrocyte AChE in vitro. The present study was undertaken to evaluate the ability of various oximes at concentrations therapeutically relevant in humans to reactivate human erythrocyte AChE inhibited by different nerve agents. Isolated human erythrocyte AChE was inhibited with soman, sarin, cyclosarin, tabun or VX for 30 min and reactivated in the absence of inhibitory activity over 5-60 min by obidoxime, pralidoxime, HI 6 or HLo 7 (10 and 30 microM). The AChE activity was determined photometrically. The reactivation of human AChE by oximes was dependent on the organophosphate used. After soman, sarin, cyclosarin, or VX the reactivating potency decreased in the order HLo 7 > HI 6 > obidoxime > pralidoxime. Obidoxime and pralidoxime were weak reactivators of cyclosarin-inhibited AChE. Only obidoxime and HLo 7 reactivated tabun-inhibited AChE partially (20%), while pralidoxime and HI 6 were almost ineffective (5%). Therefore, HLo 7 may serve as a broad-spectrum reactivator in nerve agent poisoning at doses therapeutically relevant in humans.

Regional protein synthesis of brain was measured by quantitative autoradiography in normo- and hypothermic rats submitted to 30 min of four-vessel occlusion. The tracer, [14C]leucine, was applied by controlled intravenous infusion to achieve constant plasma specific activity, and the admixture by proteolysis of unlabeled amino acids to the brain amino acid precursor pool was corrected by measuring the ratio of the labeled-to-unlabeled leucine distribution space in plasma and brain. In normothermic rats preischemic protein synthesis rate was 16.0 +/- 3.2, 9.2 +/- 3.4, 15.5 +/- 2.8, and 15.5 +/- 3.1 nmol of leucine/g/min (mean +/- SD) in the frontal cortex, striatum, hippocampal CA1 sector, and thalamus, respectively. After 30 min of ischemia at a constant brain temperature of 36 degrees C and a recirculation time of 1 h, protein synthesis was reduced in these regions to 6, 9, 8, and 36%, respectively. With ongoing recirculation, protein synthesis gradually returned to normal within 3 days in all areas except in the stratum pyramidale of the hippocampal CA1 sector where inhibition of neuronal protein synthesis was irreversible. Lowering of brain temperature to 30 degrees C during ischemia did not prevent the early global postischemic depression of protein synthesis, but promoted recovery to or above normal within 6 h in all areas including the stratum pyramidale of the CA1 sector. Improvement of protein synthesis in the CA1 sector was associated with improved neuronal survival, which increased from 1% in the normothermic to 69% in the hypothermic animals. These observations suggest that the protective effect of mild hypothermia on ischemic injury of the hippocampal CA1 sector is mediated by the reversal of the postischemic inhibition of protein synthesis.

During brain ischemia temperature spontaneously declines. In animal experiments this decline is frequently prevented by stabilizing the temperature at the pre-ischemic level, using an external heat source. The present study examines whether this procedure influences the severity of ischemic injury. Wistar rats were submitted to 30-min four-vessel occlusion followed by 7 days recirculation. During ischemia and the 1st h of recirculation various systemic and electrophysiological variables were recorded. Seven days after the ischemia brains were perfusion-fixed for light microscopical examination. Three brain temperature profiles were compared: spontaneous decline of brain temperature during ischemia from 36 degrees to 31 degrees C (spontaneous hypothermia; n = 5); constant brain temperature of 30 degrees C induced by selective head cooling (induced hypothermia; n = 5); and constant brain temperature of 36 degrees C induced by selective head heating (normothermia; n = 5). Core temperature was maintained constant at 37 degrees C in all groups. In spontaneous hypothermia, 19% of CA1 neurons survived after 30-min ischemia. Induced hypothermia significantly increased this percentage to 69% (P0.05); maintenance of brain temperature at normothermia decreased neuronal survival to 1%. Normothermia also led to morphological injury outside the vulnerable regions, an increase in mortality, marked loss of body weight and a prolongation of the electroencephalographic suppression. These findings demonstrate that stabilizing brain temperature at a constant normothermic level by an external heart source introduces an aggravating pathological element that may interfere in an unpredictable way with the manifestation or treatment of ischemic injury.

The effect of single or repeated episodes of cerebral ischemia on protein biosynthesis and neuronal injury was studied in halothane-anesthetized gerbils by autoradiography of [14C]leucine incorporation into brain proteins and light microscopy. For quantification of the protein synthesis rate, the steady-state precursor pool distribution space for labeled and unlabeled free leucine was determined by clamping the specific activity of [14C]leucine in plasma, and by measuring free tissue leucine in samples taken from various parts of the brain. Control values of protein synthesis were 14.6 ± 2.2, 5.8 ± 2.3, 14.2 ± 3.1, and 10.0 ± 3.8 nmol g−1 min−1 (means ± SD) in the frontal cortex, striatum, CA1 sector, and thalamus, respectively. Following a single episode of 5 or 15 min of ischemia, protein synthesis recovered to normal in all brain regions except the CA1 sector, where it returned to only 50% of control after 6 h and to less than 20% after 3 days of recirculation. After three episodes of 5 min of ischemia spaced at 1 h intervals, protein synthesis remained severely suppressed in all brain regions after both 6 h and 3 days of recirculation. Inhibition of protein synthesis after 6 h predicted histological injury after 3 days of recirculation. In animals submitted to a single episode of 5 or 15 min of ischemia, histological damage was restricted to the CA1 sector but injury occurred throughout the brain after three episodes of 5 min of ischemia. These observations demonstrate that persisting inhibition of protein synthesis following cerebral ischemia is an early manifestation of neuronal injury. Prevention of neuronal injury requires restoration of a normal protein synthesis rate.

Regional [14C]leucine incorporation into brain proteins was studied in gerbils after global ischemia for 5 min and recirculation times of 45 min to 7 days, using a combination of quantitative autoradiography and biochemical analysis. After recirculation for 45 min, incorporated radioactivity was reduced to approximately 20-40% of control values in all ischemic brain regions. Specific activity of the tracer, in contrast, was increased, a finding indicating that the reduced incorporation of radioactivity was not due to reduced tracer influx from plasma or a dilution of the tracer by increased proteolysis. After recirculation for 6 h, [14C]leucine incorporation returned to control levels in all regions except the CA1 sector of the hippocampus, where it amounted to less than 50%. After 1 day, protein synthesis in the CA1 sector returned to approximately 70% of control values, followed by a secondary decline to less than 50% after 3 days and returned to near control values after 7 days. Histological evaluations revealed selective neuronal death in the CA1 sector of the hippocampus after 3 days of recirculation. The complex time course of protein synthesis in the CA1 sector suggests a biphasic mode of injury, which may be related to similar changes of calcium homeostasis. The final return to near normal after CA1 neurons have disappeared is explained by astroglial proliferation and demonstrates that at this time protein synthesis is not a marker of neuronal viability.

Transient forebrain ischemia of the gerbil is a widely used experimental model for the study of the phenomenon of selective vulnerability in the CA1 sector of hippocampus. Despite the fact that detailed studies are available on the time course of various hemodynamic [16], metabolic [5,12,14], and neuropathological alterations [2,6,7], the causal relationship between the pathobiochemical processes and the development of neuronal death is still poorly understood.

Materials and Structures, 40 (8), ISSN:1359-5997, ISSN:0025-5432, ISSN:1871-6873

Runge-Kutta methods have been generalized to procedures with higher derivatives of the right side ofy′=f(t,y) e.g. by Fehlberg 1964 and Kastlunger and Wanner 1972. In the present work some sufficient conditions for the order of consistence are derived for these methods using partially the degree of the corresponding numerical integration formulas. In particular, methods of Gaus, Radau, and Lobatto type are generalized to methods with higher derivatives and their maximum order property is proved. The applied technique was developed by Crouzeix 1975 for classical Runge-Kutta methods. Examples of simple explicit and semi-implicit methods are given up to order 7 and 6 respectively.

Die Gewolbemauer Schlegeis ist das Hauptbauwerk der Zemmkraftwerke im Zillertal (Tirol) und wurde in den Jahren 1967 bis 1971 errichtet (Abb.1). Der Vollstau wurde erstmals im September 1973 erreicht.

Die Gewolbemauer Kolnbrein ist das Hauptbauwerk des Pumpspeicherkraftwerkes Malta in Karnten, Osterreich. Die Projektierung dieser zweistufigen Kraftwerksanlage erstreckte sich uber 20 Jahre und war in diesem Zeitraum naturgemas stark von der Bedarfsentwicklung, der Energieversorgung und der Entwicklung des Sperrenbaues beeinflust.