This paper investigates the influence of the fuel injector nozzle geometry on the liquid fuel contraction coefficient and Reynolds number. The main three fuel injector nozzle geometry parameters: nozzle diameter (d), nozzle length (l) and nozzle inlet radius (r) have a strong influence on the liquid fuel contraction coefficient and Reynolds number. The variation of the nozzle geometry variables at different liquid fuel pressures, temperatures and injection rates was analyzed. The liquid fuel contraction coefficient and Reynolds number increase with an increase in the nozzle diameter, regardless of the fuel injection rate. An increase in the r/d ratio causes an increase in the fuel contraction coefficient, but the increase is not significant after r/d = 0.1. A nozzle length increase causes a decrease in the fuel contraction coefficient. Increase in the nozzle length of 0.5 mm causes an approximately similar decrease in the contraction coefficient at any fuel pressure and any nozzle length. Fuel injectors should operate with minimal possible nozzle lengths in order to obtain higher fuel contraction coefficients.

Aim To explore the spatial and temporal expression patterns of DAB1 and Reelin in the developing and postnatal healthy human kidneys as potential determinants of kidney development. Methods Paraffin-embedded fetal kidney tissue between the 13/14th and 38th developmental weeks (dw) and postnatal tissue at 1.5 and 7 years were stained with DAB1 and Reelin antibodies by double immunofluorescence. Results During the fetal kidney development and postnatal period, DAB1 and Reelin showed specific spatial expression pattern and diverse fluorescence intensity. During the fetal period, DAB1 was strongly expressed in the distal convoluted tubules (DCT), with strong reactivity, and diversely in the proximal convoluted tubules (PCT) and glomeruli. In the postnatal period, DAB1 expression decreased. The strongest Reelin expression in early fetal stages was observed in the PCT. In the postnatal period, Reelin expression decreased dramatically in all observed structures. These two markers were colocalized during early developmental stages, mostly in PCT, DCT, and podocytes. Conclusion The appearance of DAB1 and Reelin during fetal kidney development confirms their potential significant role in the formation of kidney structure or function. High DAB1 expression in the DCT implies its regulatory role in tubular formation or function maintenance during development. Reelin was highly expressed in human kidneys at early fetal stages, mostly in the PCT, while at later fetal stages and postnatal period its expression decreased.

Introduction: Cognitive impairment is common finding in individuals with PTSD. Dysfunctional metacognitions in variety of anxiety disorders can represent generic vulnerability for anxiety disorders, as well as elements that contribute to maintaining the disorder. There is little empirical information about metacognition in war veterans with PTSD, and its relation to cognitive and/or social, occupational and psychological functioning. Aim: to determine the values and reciprocal correlations of different aspects of metacognition, with cognitive and global functioning in outpatient war veterans with PTSD. Methods: The study was conducted on 25 war veterans (24 male), with confirmed diagnosis of PTSD by a trained psychiatrist, average age 48,5±6,2 (38-63) years, with average duration of symptoms of 9,9±4,7 (0,5-16) years. We used the Metacognitions questionnaire, Mini Mental Status Examination, and Global Assessment of Functioning Scale to assess metacognition, cognitive impairment, and global functioning. Median values of Metacognitions questionnaire subcomponents, Global Assessment of Functioning Scale and Mini Mental Status Examination were determined, and also reciprocal correlations of all parameters expressed with Spearman Rank Correlation. Results: 12 patients (48%) had impaired cognitive function. Significant negative correlation of score on Mini Mental Status Examination, and negative beliefs about worry is observed (r=-0,4278, p=0,034), as well as non significant correlations between rest of metacognition subscales and score on Mini Mental Status Examination. Cognitive self-consciousness showed high positive correlation with Global Assessment of Functioning Scale (r =0,7436, p<0,0001). Conclusion: Follow up of metacognitions, cognitive and global functioning, and its relations, may have an important role in assessment of war veterans with posttraumatic stress disorder.

Introduction. Trichinellosis is a cosmopolitan anthropozoonosis, and is a group of systemic diseases caused by larval forms of Trichinella. This is one of the oldest and most controversial parasitic zoonoses that has been in the forefront of veterinary, medical and biological research for many years. Parasites from the genus Trichinella were diagnosed in more than one hundred species of domestic and wild mammals and birds. The aim of this study was economic evaluation of a program for monitoring and controlling Trichinella in pigs. Materials and Methods. A systematic pest rodent control program deemed suitable for monitoring and controlling Trichinella in pigs was implemented in a representative test zone. The results of the pest rodent control program were analyzed using cost-benefit analysis to determine if a similar program would be suitable for a larger land area. Results and Conclusions. Prior to pest control, the incidence of Trichinella in pigs living in the test zone increased annually, while after systematic pest rodent control, the incidence of Trichinella-positive pigs decreased. These results, as well as relevant economic indicators, enabled us to design two mathematical models describing the control and monitoring of Trichinella in a larger land area. In this area, Srem Region, Serbia, a suitable Trichinella control program in pigs is clearly justified because the profit to cost ratio was positive for both models.

This paper provides an overview of the combined auxiliary cohorts that were settled at camp on Humac during the period of Principate (1-3 century). After the end of the Great Illyrian revolt (AD 6-9), some of the cohorts that participated in its suppression remained at this camp. Combined Hispanic cohorts (cohors I Lucensiumequitata and cohors I Bracaraugustanorum equitata) and cohors III Alpinorum equitata, that probably played a major role in the building of the camp on Humac, which served as a permanent base for Roman military forces, were among them. Cohors I Belgarum equitata took permanent garrison in the camp at the beginning of the 2nd century. Monuments left by this cohort serve as evidence about the increased participation of local young men in the Roman auxiliary troops, while officers originated from the western parts of the Empire. Also, we discussed the monuments of cohors VIII voluntariorum civium Romanorum in the Ljubuški area, which has not yet been determined with certainty as cohorts equitatae. We dedicated special attention to the issue of marriage between local girls and Roman auxiliary soldiers and officers that, in our opinion, wasn’t adequately treated in current literature. In connection with this, the case of Iulia B, the wife of decurion Flavius Aurelianus, is particularly interesting. She served as an example of Romanization, or how local girls married auxiliaries which were settled in the camp on Humac. Through careful analysis of epigraphic records with their names, we found that previous interpretations of these monuments are not scientifically justified, and that Iulia B[---] is probably from Pannonia, as well as her husband.

Most extremum-seeking control approaches focus solely on the problem of finding the extremum of some unknown, steady-state performance map. However, many industrial applications also have to deal with constraints on operating conditions due to, e.g., actuator limitations, limitations on design or tunable system parameters, or constraints on measurable signals. These constraints, which can be unknown a-priori, may conflict with the otherwise optimal operational condition, and should be taken into account in performance optimization. In this work, we propose a sampled-data extremum-seeking approach for optimization of constrained dynamical systems using barrier function methods, where both the objective function and the constraint function are available through measurement only. We show that, under the assumption that initialization does not violate constraints, the interconnection between a constrained dynamical system and optimization algorithms that employ barrier function methods is stable, the constraints are satisfied, and optimization is achieved. We illustrate the results by means of a numerical example.

We propose a novel triggering policy to implement state-feedback controllers for nonlinear systems via packet-based communication networks. The idea is to generate transmissions between the plant and the controller only when a state-dependent rule has been satisfied for a given amount of time. We refer to this new paradigm as event-holding control, in which a clock variable is thus only running when a state-dependent criterion is verified. This is different from time-regularized event-triggered control, where the clock variable keeps running after each transmission instant until it is reset to zero at the moment a state-based condition is verified. We approach the problem of designing an event-holding controller via emulation. We first synthesize a state-feedback law, which stabilizes the closed-loop system in the absence of the communication network. We then design the event-holding triggering mechanism under a set of general assumptions. The results are applied to two case studies consisting of linear systems and a class of nonlinear systems controlled by backstepping. We also provide a numerical backstepping control example, which demonstrates that the event-holding behaviour can reduce the number of transmissions.

Value iteration is a method to generate optimal control inputs for generic nonlinear systems and cost functions. Its implementation typically leads to approximation errors, which may have a major impact on the closed-loop system performance. We talk in this case of approximate value iteration (AVI). In this paper, we investigate the stability of systems for which the inputs are obtained by AVI. We consider deterministic discrete-time nonlinear plants and a class of general, possibly discounted, costs. We model the closed-loop system as a family of systems parameterized by tunable parameters, which are used for the approximation of the value function at different iterations, the discount factor and the iteration step at which we stop running the algorithm. It is shown, under natural stabilizability and detectability properties as well as mild conditions on the approximation errors, that the family of closed-loop systems exhibit local practical stability properties. The analysis is based on the construction of a Lyapunov function given by the sum of the approximate value function and the Lyapunov-like function that characterizes the detectability of the system. By strengthening our conditions, asymptotic and exponential stability properties are guaranteed.

We study a class of distributed optimization problems of minimizing the sum of potentially non-differentiable convex objective functions (without requiring strong convexity). A novel approach to the analysis of asynchronous distributed optimization is developed. An iterative algorithm based on dual decomposition and block coordinate ascent is implemented in an edge based manner. We extend available results in the literature by allowing multiple and potentially overlapping blocks to be updated at the same time with non-uniform probabilities assigned to different blocks. Sublinear convergence with probability one is proved for the algorithm under the aforementioned weak assumptions. A numerical example is provided to illustrate the effectiveness of the algorithm.

Most emulation-based results in networked control systems rely on a bound on the maximal allowable transmission interval (MATI) under which stability is preserved. However, having only such a MATI condition can lead to conservative results, as large values of transmission intervals may only occur sporadically, while the typical transmission interval is much smaller. In this paper, we therefore propose, in addition to the existence of a MATI, to also impose a bound on the average allowable transmission interval, expressed in terms of a reverse average dwell-time (RADT) condition on the transmission intervals. We provide joint conditions on the RADT and the MATI such that stability of the NCS can still be guaranteed, which can, in addition, lead to significant higher values of the MATI itself. The strengths of these new results are illustrated on a numerical example, showing a 484% improvement of the MATI, while still guaranteeing stability.

geopolitical the definitions. The concept of the book consists of seven chapters: Introduction , Model and Theory , Several Geopolitical Approaches in the Recent Past , Classical Geopolitical Assumptions , Classical Geopolitical Theories, Applications of the Model, Setting the Course for a Rejuvenated Geopolitics , and Annex: Classical Geopolitical Concepts / Theories , Notes and Index . Following an overview of the development of geopolitics, the book introduces us to the history of geopolitics, but also its directions and scholars along two lines. The first line would be an organic, reflected by German concern about scientific laws, which contributed to the survival of states in an increasingly volatile world, with his two scholars Friedrich Ratzel and Rudolf Kjellén. Another would be the geostrategic British and North American interest, through the depicted geographical position of states and regions as a condition of foreign action with Alfred Thayer Mahan, Halford Mackinder, and Nicholas Spykman as their standard bearers. After World War II, these classical directions were exposed to great influence by the alleged connection with General Karl Haushofer and his geopolitical school in Munich as well as the aggression of Adolf Hitler, both directions in promoting war and racism. The book is structured to follow three main goals: first, purpose; constructed classical geopolitical model, second, objective; by its construction it outlines the usefulness and legitimacy of classical geopolitics as an important model of international relations, third, access; listed three ways that will show the benefit of classical geopolitics. Phil Kelly separates the model from theory and its application. Theory and the model are different, first, the theory is part of the second, the model. It lists sixty theories in our geopolitical model. These theories can be used to interpret actions and policies in the field of international relations