In this paper, the effect of reclaimed rubber modification on the rheological characteristics of asphalt binders is studied. Reclaimed rubber with the extent of 12, 16 and 20 is added to the neat asphalt binder and then shear complex modulus is obtained for neat and modified asphalt binder via Dynamic Shear Rheometer (DSR) test. Using Christensen-Anderson- Marasteanu (CAM) model, master curves ...

In this paper, we extend the definition of transition systems, as well as the definition of elementary net systems, by a notion of final states and provide a solution to the synthesis problem of elementary net systems with final configurations. Furthermore, we present how to simplify complex sets of final configurations of an elementary net system by introducing the notion of neat places. A pla...

OBJECTIVE To evaluate whether male fertility status and/or embryo quality during in vitro fertilization (IVF) therapy can be predicted based on genomewide sperm deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) methylation patterns. DESIGN Retrospective cohort study. SETTING University-based fertility center. PATIENT(S) Participants were 127 men undergoing IVF treatment (where any major female factor cause of ...

A major challenge in computer-generated music is to produce music that sounds natural. This paper introduces NEAT Drummer, which takes steps toward natural creativity. NEAT Drummer evolves a kind of artificial neural network called a Compositional Pattern Producing Network (CPPN) with the NeuroEvolution of Augmenting Topologies (NEAT) method to produce drum patterns. An important motivation for...

A major challenge in computer generated music is breaking the barrier between musical novelty and musical quality. Typically, computer music generators produce either genre-specific patterns that lack innovation or patterns that are given too much freedom and lack cohesion. In an attempt to both constrain the musical search space and produce novel rhythms, a program called NEAT Drummer is intro...

Genetic algorithms can be used to evolve agents that will complete game tasks in a given game environment. In this paper, we discuss our experimental results using NEAT and Novelty to evolve Mario, from the popular game Super Mario Bros, to maximize his coin score. To conduct our experiments, we developed our own Mario simulator, creating a small world and a big world. Each world has an easy an...

BACKGROUND Non-exercise activity thermogenesis (NEAT) is the energy expenditure due to physical activities besides active sports-like exercise and resistance training in daily life. METHODS We studied 45 subjects (22 women and 23 men) with type 2 diabetes who did not take any hypoglycemic, anti-hypertensive, or cholesterol-lowering agents and asked them about physical activity concerned with ...

OBJECTIVE We explored the relationship between the National Emergency Access Target (NEAT) compliance rate, defined as the proportion of patients admitted or discharged from emergency departments (EDs) within 4 hours of presentation, and the risk-adjusted in-hospital mortality of patients admitted to hospital acutely from EDs. DESIGN, SETTING AND PARTICIPANTS Retrospective observational study...

The aim of the present work is to enhance the antifouling properties of polypropylene (PP) membrane based on hydrophilicity improvement. Different contents of neat and modified nanodiamond (0.25, 0.50, 0.75 and 1.00 wt.%) were embedded into PP membranes. Nanodiamond nanoparticles were carboxylated by heat treatment method and the presence of carboxyl functional groups on the surface of nanopart...