General Unifier Research Articles

Large displacement models for composites based on Murakami's Zig-Zag Function, Green-Lagrange Strain Tensor, and Generalized Unified Formulation

Abstract Murakami's Zig-Zag Function in conjunction of Green-Lagrange Strain- and Second-Piola Kirchhoff Stress-tensors and Generalized Unified Formulation are introduced for the first time to present a class of Zig-Zag theories for composite structures. Transverse strain effects are retained and modeled, making the present approach also suitable for thick structures. Each displacement variable is independently represented with user-selected order of expansion. The stress recovery is achieved with a special procedure in which combination of deformation gradient and Second-Piola Kichhoff transverse stresses are integrated along the thickness of the undeformed geometry. Comparison with available data and commercial codes indicate the effectiveness of the proposed framework for variable kinematics Zig-Zag theories in the presence of large displacements.

Bayesian inference of a dynamical model evaluating Deltamethrin effect on Daphnia survival

The toxicokinetic and toxicodynamic models (TK-TD) are very well-known for their ability, at both the individual and the population level, toВ accurately describe life cycles such as the growth, reproduction and survival of sentinel organisms under the influence of an ecological biomarker.В Being dynamics, the consistent inference of life history and environmental traits parameters that engender them is sometimes very complexВ numerically, especially as these parameters vary from oneВ individual to another. In this paper, we estimate the parameters of a survival modelВ TK-TD already applied and validated by the implementation of the R package GUTS (the General Unified Threshold Model of Survival) by anotherВ coding applied to another very recent implementation of Bayesian inference with the R package deBInfer in order to evaluate the survival effectsВ of our ecotoxicological biomarker called Deltamethrin on our Daphnia sample.В The study allowed us to evaluate from a population point of viewВ especially the threshold concentration not to be exceeded to observe a survival effect commonly known NEC (No effect Concentration) and possiblyВ determine the correlations between different variables of life history and the environment traits.

Short-term to long-term extrapolation of lethal effects of an herbicide on the marine mysid shrimp Americamysis Bahia by use of the General Unified Threshold Model of Survival (GUTS).

Risk assessments for plant protection products and their active ingredients that are based on standard laboratory tests performed under constant exposure conditions may result in an overestimation of risks because exposure in the environment is often characterized by a few short peaks. Here, the General Unified Threshold Model of Survival (GUTS) was used to conduct a refined risk assessment for the herbicide tembotrione and its effects on the marine invertebrate Americamysis bahia, for which the standard chronic effect assessment failed. The GUTS model was first calibrated with time-to-effect and concentration-response data from 2 independent acute experiments with A. bahia. Model parameters for both toxicodynamic assumptions of stochastic death (SD) and individual tolerance (IT) were estimated with the reduced GUTS model (GUTS-RED) using the scaled internal concentration as a dose metric. Both the calibrated GUTS-RED-SD and GUTS-RED-IT models described survival dynamics well. Model validation using datasets of 2 independent chronic tests yielded robust predictions of long-term toxicity of tembotrione on A. bahia, with GUTS-RED-IT being more reliable than GUTS-RED-SD. The validated model was subsequently used to predict survival from time-variable exposure profiles, as derived from the FOrum for Co-ordination of pesticide fate models and their USe (FOCUS). Because ecotoxicological independence of peaks had not been empirically verified, the link between exposure and effects was assessed with complete exposure profiles. Effect thresholds resulting from different peak exposure concentrations and durations were determined with GUTS and directly compared with the exposure concentrations from the FOCUS surface water scenarios. The derived values were higher than the predicted FOCUS critical concentrations. Additionally, comparing the areas under the curve (AUCs) derived with GUTS for multiple peak exposure profiles to those from FOCUS revealed significant additional safety margins, demonstrating that only unrealistically high exposure concentrations would produce significant effects. In conclusion, no unacceptable effects of tembotrione on aquatic invertebrates under realistic environmental exposure conditions are expected. Integr Environ Assess Manag 2019;15:29-39. © 2018 SETAC.

Scientific Opinion on the state of the art of Toxicokinetic/Toxicodynamic (TKTD) effect models for regulatory risk assessment of pesticides for aquatic organisms.

Following a request from EFSA, the Panel on Plant Protection Products and their Residues (PPR) developed an opinion on the state of the art of Toxicokinetic/Toxicodynamic (TKTD) models and their use in prospective environmental risk assessment (ERA) for pesticides and aquatic organisms. TKTD models are species‐ and compound‐specific and can be used to predict (sub)lethal effects of pesticides under untested (time‐variable) exposure conditions. Three different types of TKTD models are described, viz., (i) the ‘General Unified Threshold models of Survival’ (GUTS), (ii) those based on the Dynamic Energy Budget theory (DEBtox models), and (iii) models for primary producers. All these TKTD models follow the principle that the processes influencing internal exposure of an organism, (TK), are separated from the processes that lead to damage and effects/mortality (TD). GUTS models can be used to predict survival rate under untested exposure conditions. DEBtox models explore the effects on growth and reproduction of toxicants over time, even over the entire life cycle. TKTD model for primary producers and pesticides have been developed for algae, Lemna and Myriophyllum. For all TKTD model calibration, both toxicity data on standard test species and/or additional species can be used. For validation, substance and species‐specific data sets from independent refined‐exposure experiments are required. Based on the current state of the art (e.g. lack of documented and evaluated examples), the DEBtox modelling approach is currently limited to research applications. However, its great potential for future use in prospective ERA for pesticides is recognised. The GUTS model and the Lemna model are considered ready to be used in risk assessment.

Calibration and validation of toxicokinetic-toxicodynamic models for three neonicotinoids and some aquatic macroinvertebrates

Exposure patterns in ecotoxicological experiments often do not match the exposure profiles for which a risk assessment needs to be performed. This limitation can be overcome by using toxicokinetic-toxicodynamic (TKTD) models for the prediction of effects under time-variable exposure. For the use of TKTD models in the environmental risk assessment of chemicals, it is required to calibrate and validate the model for specific compound–species combinations. In this study, the survival of macroinvertebrates after exposure to the neonicotinoid insecticide was modelled using TKTD models from the General Unified Threshold models of Survival (GUTS) framework. The models were calibrated on existing survival data from acute or chronic tests under static exposure regime. Validation experiments were performed for two sets of species-compound combinations: one set focussed on multiple species sensitivity to a single compound: imidacloprid, and the other set on the effects of multiple compounds for a single species, i.e., the three neonicotinoid compounds imidacloprid, thiacloprid and thiamethoxam, on the survival of the mayfly Cloeon dipterum. The calibrated models were used to predict survival over time, including uncertainty ranges, for the different time-variable exposure profiles used in the validation experiments. From the comparison between observed and predicted survival, it appeared that the accuracy of the model predictions was acceptable for four of five tested species in the multiple species data set. For compounds such as neonicotinoids, which are known to have the potential to show increased toxicity under prolonged exposure, the calibration and validation of TKTD models for survival needs to be performed ideally by considering calibration data from both acute and chronic tests.

Nominal unification with atom-variables

The problem of nominal unification where variables are allowed for atoms, and computing a complete set of unifiers is considered. The complexity is shown to be NP-complete, while for special cases there are polynomial time algorithms. The main result is a novel algorithm to compute a complete set of unifiers which performs lazy guessing of equality or disequality of atom-variables, runs in NP time, and the collecting variant has more chances to keep the complete set of unifiers small. Applications of this algorithm are in reasoning about program transformations in higher order functional languages. We also present a variant of the unification algorithm that delays guessing and checking solvability, and produces a single most general unifier.

How to Evaluate the Quality of Toxicokinetic-Toxicodynamic Models in the Context of Environmental Risk Assessment.

Environmental risk assessment (ERA) of chemicals relies on the combination of exposure and effects assessment. Exposure concentrations are commonly estimated using mechanistic fate models, but the effects side is restricted to descriptive statistical treatment of toxicity data. Mechanistic effect models are gaining interest in a regulatory context, which has also sparked discussions on model quality and good modeling practice. Proposals for good modeling practice of effect models currently focus very much on population and community models, whereas effects models also exist at the individual level, falling into the category of toxicokinetic-toxicodynamic (TKTD) models. In contrast to the higher-level models, TKTD models are usually completely parameterized by fitting them to experimental data. In fact, one of their explicit aims is to replace descriptive methods for data analysis. Furthermore, the construction of these models does not fit into an orderly modeling cycle, given that most TKTD models have been under continuous development for decades and are being applied by many different research groups, for many different purposes. These aspects have considerable consequences for the application of frameworks for model evaluation. For example, classical sensitivity analysis becomes rather meaningless when all model parameters are fitted to a data set. We illustrate these issues with the General Unified Threshold model for Survival (GUTS), relate them to the quality issues for currently used models in ERA, and provide recommendations for the evaluation of TKTD models and their analyses. Integr Environ Assess Manag 2018;14:604-614. ©2018 SETAC.

New Insights to Compare and Choose TKTD Models for Survival Based on an Interlaboratory Study for Lymnaea stagnalis Exposed to Cd.

Toxicokinetic-toxicodynamic (TKTD) models, as the General Unified Threshold model of Survival (GUTS), provide a consistent process-based framework compared to classical dose-response models to analyze both time and concentration-dependent data sets. However, the extent to which GUTS models (Stochastic Death (SD) and Individual Tolerance (IT)) lead to a better fitting than classical dose-response model at a given target time (TT) has poorly been investigated. Our paper highlights that GUTS estimates are generally more conservative and have a reduced uncertainty through smaller credible intervals for the studied data sets than classical TT approaches. Also, GUTS models enable estimating any x% lethal concentration at any time (LCx,t), and provide biological information on the internal processes occurring during the experiments. While both GUTS-SD and GUTS-IT models outcompete classical TT approaches, choosing one preferentially to the other is still challenging. Indeed, the estimates of survival rate over time and LCx,t are very close between both models, but our study also points out that the joint posterior distributions of SD model parameters are sometimes bimodal, while two parameters of the IT model seems strongly correlated. Therefore, the selection between these two models has to be supported by the experimental design and the biological objectives, and this paper provides some insights to drive this choice.

The Ritz – Sublaminate Generalized Unified Formulation approach for piezoelectric composite plates

ABSTRACTThis paper extends to composite plates including piezoelectric plies the variable kinematics plate modeling approach called Sublaminate Generalized Unified Formulation (SGUF). Two-dimensional plate equations are obtained upon defining a priori the through-thickness distribution of the displacement field and electric potential. According to SGUF, independent approximations can be adopted for the four components of these generalized displacements: an Equivalent Single Layer (ESL) or Layer-Wise (LW) description over an arbitrary group of plies constituting the composite plate (the sublaminate) and the polynomial order employed in each sublaminate. The solution of the two-dimensional equations is sought in weak form by means of a Ritz method. In this work, boundary functions are used in conjunction with the domain approximation expressed by an orthogonal basis spanned by Legendre polynomials. The proposed computational tool is capable to represent electroded surfaces with equipotentiality conditions. Free-vibration problems as well as static problems involving actuator and sensor configurations are addressed. Two case studies are presented, which demonstrate the high accuracy of the proposed Ritz-SGUF approach. A model assessment is proposed for showcasing to which extent the SGUF approach allows a reduction of the number of unknowns with a controlled impact on the accuracy of the result.

Dynamic Links between Lipid Storage, Toxicokinetics and Mortality in a Marine Copepod Exposed to Dimethylnaphthalene.

Efficiently assessing and managing the risks of pollution in the marine environment requires mechanistic models for toxic effects. The General Unified Threshold model for Survival (GUTS) provides a framework for deriving toxicokinetic-toxicodynamic (TKTD) models for the end point survival. Two recurring questions in the application of GUTS concern the most appropriate death mechanism, and whether the total body residue is a proper dose metric for toxic effects. We address these questions with a case study for dimethylnaphthalene in the marine copepod Calanus finmarchicus. A detailed analysis revealed that body residues were best explained by representing copepods with two toxicokinetic compartments: separating structural biomass and lipid storage. Toxicity is most likely related to the concentration in structure, which led to identification of "stochastic death" as the most appropriate death mechanism. Interestingly, the parametrized model predicts that lipid content will have only minor influence on short-term toxicity. However, the toxicants stored in lipids may have more substantial impacts in situations not included in our experiments (e.g., during diapause and gonad maturation), and for contaminant transfer to eggs and copepod predators.

Bending analysis of composite laminated and sandwich structures using sublaminate variable-kinematic Ritz models

This paper presents a novel numerical tool for the bending analysis of thin and thick composite plates, including monolithic and sandwich structures. The formulation is developed within a displacement-based approach, where the Principle of Virtual Displacements (PVD) and the method of Ritz are adopted to derive the governing equations. The approach relies upon the Sublaminate Generalized Unified Formulation (S-GUF) as underlying kinematic theory describing the behavior across the plate thickness. Main idea of the S-GUF is to group the plies into a number of smaller units called sublaminates, each of them characterized by an independent, variable-kinematic theory. Continuity conditions between the sublaminates are enforced in strong form during the assembly procedure of the governing equations. The S-GUF appears particularly useful when theories of different order are needed to approximate the displacement field of different portions of the structure, such as in the case of sandwich panels. A number of test cases from the literature is discussed, and results are validated against exact 3D solutions. The results demonstrate the ability of the approach to obtain accurate results, both in terms of deformed shapes, and intra- and inter-laminar stress distributions. A set of novel results is also presented for future benchmarking purposes.

Modelling survival: exposure pattern, species sensitivity and uncertainty.

The General Unified Threshold model for Survival (GUTS) integrates previously published toxicokinetic-toxicodynamic models and estimates survival with explicitly defined assumptions. Importantly, GUTS accounts for time-variable exposure to the stressor. We performed three studies to test the ability of GUTS to predict survival of aquatic organisms across different pesticide exposure patterns, time scales and species. Firstly, using synthetic data, we identified experimental data requirements which allow for the estimation of all parameters of the GUTS proper model. Secondly, we assessed how well GUTS, calibrated with short-term survival data of Gammarus pulex exposed to four pesticides, can forecast effects of longer-term pulsed exposures. Thirdly, we tested the ability of GUTS to estimate 14-day median effect concentrations of malathion for a range of species and use these estimates to build species sensitivity distributions for different exposure patterns. We find that GUTS adequately predicts survival across exposure patterns that vary over time. When toxicity is assessed for time-variable concentrations species may differ in their responses depending on the exposure profile. This can result in different species sensitivity rankings and safe levels. The interplay of exposure pattern and species sensitivity deserves systematic investigation in order to better understand how organisms respond to stress, including humans.

Computationally Efficient Implementation of a Novel Algorithm for the General Unified Threshold Model of Survival (GUTS).

The General Unified Threshold model of Survival (GUTS) provides a consistent mathematical framework for survival analysis. However, the calibration of GUTS models is computationally challenging. We present a novel algorithm and its fast implementation in our R package, GUTS, that help to overcome these challenges. We show a step-by-step application example consisting of model calibration and uncertainty estimation as well as making probabilistic predictions and validating the model with new data. Using self-defined wrapper functions, we show how to produce informative text printouts and plots without effort, for the inexperienced as well as the advanced user. The complete ready-to-run script is available as supplemental material. We expect that our software facilitates novel re-analysis of existing survival data as well as asking new research questions in a wide range of sciences. In particular the ability to quickly quantify stressor thresholds in conjunction with dynamic compensating processes, and their uncertainty, is an improvement that complements current survival analysis methods.

Stage-dependent and sex-dependent sensitivity to water-soluble fractions of fresh and weathered oil in the marine copepod Calanus finmarchicus.

Acute toxicity differs between species but also varies within a species. Important intraspecific factors are the exposure duration and properties of the animal such as life stage, sex, and physiological status. In the present study, the acute toxicity of water-soluble fractions (WSFs) from fresh and artificially weathered oil was followed over time in different life stages of the calanoid copepod Calanus finmarchicus, including adult males and females. The life stages differ in size but also in lipid content and physiology. To meaningfully compare the sensitivity of the different stages, the authors fitted a toxicokinetic-toxicodynamic (TKTD) model from the framework of the General Unified Threshold Model of Survival (GUTS) to the mortality patterns over time. The oil WSFs could not be treated as single compounds: the rapid effect at high doses could not be reconciled with the slow effect at low doses. Treating the oil as a mixture of 2 component blocks could, however, capture these patterns satisfactorily. Even though the early life stages of animals are generally considered to be the most vulnerable, the adult males of C. finmarchicus turned out to be most sensitive, followed by the early copepodites. Naupliar larvae were equally susceptible to oil toxicity as late copepodites and adult females. The relationship between the GUTS model parameters and the physiological traits for the different life stages remains, however, unclear.

Benchmark solutions and assessment of variable kinematics models for global and local buckling of sandwich struts

This paper investigates the periodic global buckling and wrinkling of sandwich struts subjected to uniaxial loads. An exact elasticity solution is obtained in the plane strain setting for selected benchmark problems and serves as reference for a systematic assessment of several displacement-based sandwich plate models. The Sublaminate Generalized Unified Formulation is used to generate the algebraic two-dimensional governing equations of the variable kinematics models, for which a Navier-type solution is adopted.

UNIFICATION IN INTERMEDIATE LOGICS

AbstractThis paper contains a proof–theoretic account of unification in intermediate logics. It is shown that many existing results can be extended to fragments that at least contain implication and conjunction. For such fragments, the connection between valuations and most general unifiers is clarified, and it is shown how from the closure of a formula under the Visser rules a proof of the formula under a projective unifier can be obtained. This implies that in the logics considered, for the n-unification type to be finitary it suffices that the m-th Visser rule is admissible for a sufficiently large m. At the end of the paper it is shown how these results imply several well-known results from the literature.

General Unified Integral Controller With Zero Steady-State Error for Single-Phase Grid-Connected Inverters

Current regulation is crucial for operating single-phase grid-connected inverters. The challenge of the current controller is how to fast and precisely track the current with zero steady-state error. This paper proposes a novel feedback mechanism for the conventional proportional integral controller. It allows the steady-state error suppression with no need of additional complex control algorithms such as the synchronous reference frame transformation. Five alternative implementation methods are comparatively evaluated from the viewpoint of the steady-state and dynamic responses. Further, the theoretical analysis done indicates that the widely used P+Resonant control is just a special case of the proposed control solution. The time-domain simulation in MATLAB/Simulink and experimental results from a TMS320F2812 DSP-based laboratory prototypes are in good agreement, which verify the effectiveness of the proposed generalized method.

Effective Power Quality Improvement Using Generalised Unified Power Quality Conditioner

Generalized Unified Power Quality Conditioner (GUPQC) is used to compensate voltage sag and swell by injecting voltage into the feeder. GUPQC consist of voltage source converters, capacitor, injecting transformers and filters. One voltage source converter is connected in shunt to compensate current harmonics and rests of the converters are connected in series to compensate voltage harmonics and they are connected to a common energy storage device. In this paper capacitor is used as energy storage device. Fuzzy controller and PI controller are used to provide the pulses for voltage source converter to inject the voltage and current into the feeder. Results are verified using MATLAB simulink.

A general unified framework to assess the sampling variance of heritability estimates using pedigree or marker-based relationships.

Heritability is a population parameter of importance in evolution, plant and animal breeding, and human medical genetics. It can be estimated using pedigree designs and, more recently, using relationships estimated from markers. We derive the sampling variance of the estimate of heritability for a wide range of experimental designs, assuming that estimation is by maximum likelihood and that the resemblance between relatives is solely due to additive genetic variation. We show that well-known results for balanced designs are special cases of a more general unified framework. For pedigree designs, the sampling variance is inversely proportional to the variance of relationship in the pedigree and it is proportional to 1/N, whereas for population samples it is approximately proportional to 1/N2, where N is the sample size. Variation in relatedness is a key parameter in the quantification of the sampling variance of heritability. Consequently, the sampling variance is high for populations with large recent effective population size (e.g., humans) because this causes low variation in relationship. However, even using human population samples, low sampling variance is possible with high N.

How Does Resolution Works in Propositional Calculus and Predicate Calculus, Introduction to Unification and Substitution

One of the most important rules of interference is resolution. Resolution basically works by using the principle of proof by contradiction. Propositional Resolution works only on expressions in clausal form. Before the rules of resolution can be applied, the premises and conclusions must be converted to this form. First part of this work consists of basic information about resolution like what are literals, clauses, empty clause, predicate, facts, rules, conjunctive normal form etc. What is it used for, what is their aim. One of the aims of this work is differentiating resolution between clauses-when clauses containing variables and When clauses containing no variables. When clauses containing no variables resolution are very easy and simple and then no need to substitution. When clauses containing variables resolution becomes complicated and then need a proper substitution through the cancellation of complementary literals. So substitution is an important role in resolution. Unification has been used in my work for performing resolution in predicate calculus. The unification algorithm tries to find out the Most General Unifier (MGU) between a set of atomic formulae. Theorem proving using resolution has also been included in my work which helps to solve many problems.