High Damping Passive Launch Vibration Isolation System Using Superelastic SMA with Multilayered Viscous Lamina

Whole-spacecraft launch-vibration isolation systems are attractive for achieving the goal of better, faster, cheaper, and lighter small satellites by reducing the design-load and vibration-test specifications for on-board components. In this study, a three-axis passive launch-vibration isolation system, based on superelastic shape memory alloy (SMA) technology, was developed to significantly attenuate the dynamic launch loads transmitted to a small satellite. This provides a superior damping characteristic, achieved by superelastic SMA blades stiffened by multilayered thin plates with viscous lamina adhesive layers of acrylic tape. The basic characteristics of the proposed isolation system with various numbers of viscoelastic multilayers were obtained through a static load test. In addition, the effectiveness of the design was validated through a launch environment simulating sine and random vibration tests.

First international competition on software testing

Tool competitions are a special form of comparative evaluation, where each tool has a team of developers or supporters associated that makes sure the tool is properly configured to show its best possible performance. In several research areas, tool competitions have been a driving force for the development of mature tools that represent the state of the art in their field. This paper describes and reports the results of the 1$$^{\text {st}}$$ st International Competition on Software Testing (Test-Comp 2019), a comparative evaluation of automatic tools for software test generation. Test-Comp 2019 was presented as part of TOOLympics 2019, a satellite event of the conference TACAS. Nine test generators were evaluated on 2 356 test-generation tasks. There were two test specifications, one for generating a test that covers a particular function call and one for generating a test suite that tries to cover the branches of the program.

Do different political connections affect firms' distress risk differently?

PurposeThis paper investigates how different types of corporate political connection, including government-linked investment (GLI), former officials as politically-connected directors (PCD), cronyism (CRO) and government leaders' family ties (FAM), influence financial distress risk in Malaysian firms.Design/methodology/approachWe separate political connections into four distinct categories and investigate their relationship with firm distress risk and compare the results with the one-size-fits-all treatment which is popular in the literature. We apply a battery of sensitivity test to ensure that our inferences are robust to a wide range of test specifications, endogeneity concern and sample selection methods.FindingsThe empirical results show that the effect of political connections on distress risk is strongly heterogeneous. GLI and PCD firms tend to have higher distress risk via increased risk-taking behaviors because of the different incentives of the connections, while this nexus does not directly exhibit in CRO and FAM firms. Further analyses reveal that CRO and FAM firms are more likely to venture into risky international diversification, thus indirectly amplifying their distress risk.Originality/valueOur findings are novel and provide practical implications for financial analysts, investors and portfolio managers operating in the capital markets.

Rational clinical use of near-patient analytical systems for molecular detection of infectious agents

Background Tests for diagnosing infectious diseases (ID-POCT) play a special role among the available point-of-care testing (POCT) methods. Methods A systematic literature search was performed in PubMed. Based on this literature review and our own experience, aspects associated with using molecular biological methods in the diagnostic amplification of pathogen DNA/RNA (nucleic acid testing = NAT) and/or signal amplification were discussed in an interdisciplinary manner. This resulted in the following recommendations for the near-patient use of NAT methods. Results Due to the current rise in the use of near-patient NAT testing (e.g., using disposable cartridges), recommendations are made for their implementation and appropriate clinical use in the hospital setting. Particular emphasis is placed on the analytical quality of the results. Furthermore, internal best-practice rules and selection criteria are proposed to ensure rapid diagnosis. Equally important are a medically valid interpretation of results and compliance with hygiene requirements. These recommendations emphasize that near-patient NAT should always be procured in conjunction with a (preferably) multidisciplinary institution responsible for POCT and knowledge of the test specifications and risks, as well as quality assurance need to be in place before they are carried out. Conclusions These recommendations are intended to improve patient safety and to avoid economically questionable expenditures.

The Influence of Exchange Rate, Inflation, For the Results of the Development Assets of Islamic Banks

This study aims to determine how much influence the exchange rate, inflation, for the results of partial and simultaneous influence on the development of the assets of islamic banks in Indonesia. This study using the technique of regression analysis of panel data, i.e. using data pooling cross section and time series, where this research was conducted by using test specifications model common effect and fixed effect using the test chow test and hausman. The population and sample of this research is financial statement quarter 10 sharia commercial banks and sharia business units that exist in Indonesia. The Model chosen in this study is the Fixed Effect Model (FEM). The results showed that the partial variable exchange rate and inflation have a positive but not significant to the development of the assets of islamic banks, while the variable for the result and significant positive effect on the development of the assets of islamic banks. While simultaneously the variables of exchange rate, inflation, and for the results and significant positive effect on the growth of assets of islamic banks.

Assessment of Recycled Toilet Bowl Wastes as Pozzolanic Materials: Material Characterization and Performance of Mortar Mixtures

The growing demand for finding alternative applications for ceramic products wastes develops their usage as construction materials. The main objective of this paper is to evaluate the feasibility of recycled toilet bowl (RTB) wastes as pozzolanic materials in mortar mixture. The properties of RTB material were examined in terms of chemical composition, particle size distribution (PSD), X-ray diffraction (XRD) analysis, compressive strength, pozzolanic reactivity, sulfate resistance, and alkali-silica reaction according to ASTM C 618 and C 311 test specifications. The results demonstrated that the use of RTB materials as pozzolanic materials positively affects compressive strength development and durability by fully corresponding to all criteria of the ASTM C 618 guideline. Furthermore, chemical composition, PSD, and XRD test results had equivalent values to ASTM class F fly ash analysis.