The integration of quantitative big data from microbial consortia: what is there to gain?

Scientific Conference (2018, August)

Experimental and numerical investigation into the softening Behavior of a packed bed of iron ore pellets

in Powder Technology (2018), 339

In this contribution, the softening process of a packed bed of pre-reduced pellets is investigated numerically and experimentally. For this purpose, pellets were reduced to different reduction degrees in ... [more ▼]

In this contribution, the softening process of a packed bed of pre-reduced pellets is investigated numerically and experimentally. For this purpose, pellets were reduced to different reduction degrees in a reduction apparatus. The range of reduction degree (RD) was selected 50 − 80%, which is an acceptable range for iron-bearing materials reaching the cohesive zone. Then, softening experiments under load for a packed bed of pre-reduced pellets in a lab-scale furnace at a temperature range of 800oC to initial melt formation point were carried out. For the modeling part, the newly developed eXtended Discrete Element Method (XDEM) is used. This method is able to predict the deformation of particles over temperature which needs an extension to include heat transfer to DEM. Heat transfer between particle-particle, particle-wall, and particle-gas is considered. To validate the XDEM results with the measurements, an appropriate relationship between Young's modulus of the pellet versus temperature has been estimated. The effect of load on the bed shrinkage is also discussed. FactSage version 7.0 software was used to compute the initial melt point with the phase equilibrium for a 5-component FeO − SiO2 − CaO − MgO − Al2O3 system. [less ▲]

Combining Cultural Policy History and Public History: Clearing epistemological blind spots?

Poster (2018, August)

Ab initio and semiempirical modeling of excitons and trions in monolayer TiS3

in Physical Review. B, Condensed Matter (2018), 98

We explore the electronic and the optical properties of monolayer TiS3, which shows in-plane anisotropy and is composed of a chain-like structure along one of the lattice directions. Together with its ... [more ▼]

We explore the electronic and the optical properties of monolayer TiS3, which shows in-plane anisotropy and is composed of a chain-like structure along one of the lattice directions. Together with its robust direct band gap, which changes very slightly with stacking order and with the thickness of the sample, the anisotropic physical prop- erties of TiS3 make the material very attractive for various device applications. In this study, we present a detailed investigation on the effect of the crystal anisotropy on the excitons and the trions of the TiS3 monolayer. We use many-body perturbation theory to calculate the absorption spectrum of anisotropic TiS3 monolayer by solving the Bethe-Salpeter equation. In parallel, we implement and use a Wannier-Mott model for the excitons that takes into account the anisotropic effective masses and Coulomb screening, which are obtained from ab initio calculations. This model is then extended for the investigation of trion states of monolayer TiS3. Our calculations indicate that the absorption spectrum of monolayer TiS3 drastically depends on the polarization of the incoming light, which excites different excitons with distinct binding energies. In addition, the binding energies of positively and the negatively charged trions are observed to be distinct and they exhibit an anisotropic probability density distribution. [less ▲]

TEI Transviewer

Software (2018)

TEI Transviewer is an interface intended to the exploration of primary and secondary sources, at the document level, in historical or other types of digital editions involving the representation of ... [more ▼]

TEI Transviewer is an interface intended to the exploration of primary and secondary sources, at the document level, in historical or other types of digital editions involving the representation of original material. Its name comes from the combination of the terms transformation and viewing, supposing the transformation of documents in XML-TEI format (directly in the browser or by means of a server/dedicated editor) so that they can be viewed in the browser. [less ▲]

Blockchain-Based, Decentralized Access Control for IPFS

in The 2018 IEEE International Conference on Blockchain (Blockchain-2018) (2018, July 30)

Large files cannot be efficiently stored on blockchains. On one hand side, the blockchain becomes bloated with data that has to be propagated within the blockchain network. On the other hand, since the ... [more ▼]

Large files cannot be efficiently stored on blockchains. On one hand side, the blockchain becomes bloated with data that has to be propagated within the blockchain network. On the other hand, since the blockchain is replicated on many nodes, a lot of storage space is required without serving an immediate purpose, especially if the node operator does not need to view every file that is stored on the blockchain. It furthermore leads to an increase in the price of operating blockchain nodes because more data needs to be processed, transferred and stored. IPFS is a file sharing system that can be leveraged to more efficiently store and share large files. It relies on cryptographic hashes that can easily be stored on a blockchain. Nonetheless, IPFS does not permit users to share files with selected parties. This is necessary, if sensitive or personal data needs to be shared. Therefore, this paper presents a modified version of the InterPlanetary Filesystem (IPFS) that leverages Ethereum smart contracts to provide access controlled file sharing. The smart contract is used to maintain the access control list, while the modified IPFS software enforces it. For this, it interacts with the smart contract whenever a file is uploaded, downloaded or transferred. Using an experimental setup, the impact of the access controlled IPFS is analyzed and discussed. [less ▲]

Response functions as quantifiers of non-Markovianity

in Physical Review Letters (2018)

Quantum non-Markovianity is crucially related to the study of dynamical maps, which are usually derived for initially factorized system-bath states. We here demonstrate that linear response theory also ... [more ▼]

Quantum non-Markovianity is crucially related to the study of dynamical maps, which are usually derived for initially factorized system-bath states. We here demonstrate that linear response theory also provides a way to derive dynamical maps, but for initially correlated (and in general entangled) states. Importantly, these maps are always time-translational invariant and allow for a much simpler quantification of non-Markovianity compared to previous approaches. We apply our theory to the Caldeira-Leggett model, for which our quantifier is valid beyond linear response and can be expressed analytically. We find that a classical Brownian particle coupled to an Ohmic bath can already exhibit non-Markovian behaviour, a phenomenon related to the initial state preparation procedure. Furthermore, for a peaked spectral density we demonstrate that there is no monotonic relation between our quantifier and the system-bath coupling strength, the sharpness of the peak or the resonance frequency in the bath. [less ▲]

Detailed Fluctuation Theorems: A Unifying Perspective

in Entropy (2018)

We present a general method to identify an arbitrary number of fluctuating quantities which satisfy a detailed fluctuation theorem for all times within the framework of time-inhomogeneous Markovian jump ... [more ▼]

We present a general method to identify an arbitrary number of fluctuating quantities which satisfy a detailed fluctuation theorem for all times within the framework of time-inhomogeneous Markovian jump processes. In doing so, we provide a unified perspective on many fluctuation theorems derived in the literature. By complementing the stochastic dynamics with a thermodynamic structure (i.e., using stochastic thermodynamics), we also express these fluctuating quantities in terms of physical observables. [less ▲]

Impact of visa liberalisation on countries of destination

Report (2018)

Historically, Luxembourg has developed during the last 68 years strong links with the Western Balkan countries. In 1970, a labour agreement was signed between the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg and the Former ... [more ▼]

Historically, Luxembourg has developed during the last 68 years strong links with the Western Balkan countries. In 1970, a labour agreement was signed between the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg and the Former Republic of Yugoslavia to provide for workers to come to work in Luxembourg. This bilateral agreement created a diaspora from the Western Balkans in Luxembourg. Montenegrin nationals represent the largest third-country national population while the Serbians and the Bosnians represents the 3rd and 4th largest nationality groups. There has been a significant number of naturalisations from the West Balkan countries during the last 10 years. This diaspora was a significant “pull factor” during the Yugoslav Wars (1991-1999) and the economic crisis of 2008. This study was unable to verify direct and automatic links between the entering into force of the visa liberalisation agreements with the West Balkans countries and Eastern Partnership countries and an impact for Luxembourg. The large majority of increases, independently if it is legal migration, irregular migration or international protection did not occur during the next year following the entering into force of the agreements. These increases occurred generally during the second year or later. Concerning visa liberalisation agreements with the Western Balkan countries, the first findings are a dramatic increase of international protection applicants from those countries since the agreements came into force. In the international protection field and in the framework of the return decisions, the visa liberalisation agreement had a negative impact generating stress for all the public administrations during 2011 and 2012, which have to deal with international protection and the return mechanism. During 2011, there was a significant increase of applicants from Macedonia and Serbia and in 2012 from Albania and Bosnia-Herzegovina. This situation placed the Luxembourgish authorities under significant stress to deal with this significant inflow of applicants, whose applications were, in the large majority of cases (80%), rejected. However, this situation obliged the Luxembourgish government to take measures in order to deal in a very efficient manner with these inflows of international protection applicants as well as to overhaul the entire international protection procedure. These measures can be divided into two different: procedural measures and implementation measures. The most significant procedural measures are: a) the introduction of the fast track procedure and the implementation of the ultra-expedite procedure; b) the introduction of these countries in the list of safe countries of origin. These measures allow the authorities to deal more efficiently with the massive influx of international protection applicants coming from the region. The implementation measures are: a) No access to social aid for the applicant benefiting from a commitment to cover all expenses by a Luxembourg national, EU citizen or TCN residing in Luxembourg; b) substantial decrease in monthly cash amounts of social aid for adult individuals and households; c) Recruitment and reallocation of staff in the Directorate of Immigration and the Luxembourg Reception and Integration office; d) implementing the Assisted voluntary return Balkans (AVR Balkans) which only covers the return bus ticket; and e) strengthen cooperation with the authorities of the Western Balkan countries. During 2017, there was an increase in the number of international protection applicants from Georgia and Ukraine, even though both countries are included in the list of safe countries of origin. As Luxembourg does not have external borders with the exception of the International Airport, it is not possible to obtain pertinent information concerning the detection of irregular entries in the territory. Nevertheless, there is some evidence that some individuals from these countries have taken advantage of the visa liberalisation agreements to come to work irregularly in Luxembourg, even if it is not possible to quantify the scale of the phenomenon. The findings of this study do not show an increase in the number of applications for authorisation of stay or residence permits (remunerated and study activities), so the EU visa liberalisation agreements did not have any impact in the legal migration field. The increase of application was visible after the second year of entering into force of these agreements but the numbers were not significant in regard with number of applications made by third-country nationals during the same period. However, the short-stay visits (i.e. friends, family, tourism, etc.) seem not only to have been facilitated, but also increased. In some cases, these short-visits have also been used not only to visit family and friends but also to be familiarized with the Luxembourgish society and to explore job opportunities and look for housing. This is probably the only positive impact that the visa liberalization agreements have had. Seen that the visa liberalisation agreements only allow travelling without a visa, but they do not allow working and staying in the country, and based on the data collected there is not possible to establish a link between them and any significant impact with regard to economy and to criminality (especially related to traffic of human beings or smuggling, where the numbers are very low and not directly related in most cases to nationals concerned by this study). [less ▲]

Strain and Damage Self-Sensing of BFRP Laminates Fabricated with CNFs/Epoxy Composites under Tension

in Composites. Part A, Applied Science and Manufacturing (2018)

This study investigated the strain and damage self-sensing capabilities of basalt fiber reinforced polymer (BFRP) laminates fabricated with carbon nanofibers (CNFs)/epoxy composites subjected to tensile ... [more ▼]

This study investigated the strain and damage self-sensing capabilities of basalt fiber reinforced polymer (BFRP) laminates fabricated with carbon nanofibers (CNFs)/epoxy composites subjected to tensile loadings. The conduction mechanisms based on the tunnel conduction and percolation conduction theories as well as the damage evolution were also explored. A compensation circuit with a half-bridge configuration was proposed. The results indicated the resistivity of the CNFs/BFRP laminates and CNFs/epoxy composites exhibited similar change rule, indicating that the conductive networks of CNFs/BFRP laminates were governed by CNFs/epoxy composites. With the increase of strain under monotonic tensile loading, the electrical resistance response could be classified into three stages corresponding to different damage modes. This confirmed CNFs/BFRP laminates have excellent self-sensing abilities to monitor their internal damages. Moreover, stable and repeatable strain self-sensing capacity of the CNFs/BFRP laminates was verified under cyclic tensile loading because the electrical resistance varied synchronously with the applied strain. [less ▲]