A comparison of tensile,compressive and torsional creep in isotropic and oriented polyethylene

An account is given of the creep behaviour, under tensile, compressive and torsional loading conditions, of oriented samples of a linear polyethylene (LPE) which have been produced by the process of hydrostatic extrusion. A comparison is made between the behaviour of oriented and isotropic LPE material and, with biomedical applications in mind, between the performance of the linear LPE polyethylene and the ultra-high molecular weight polyethylene grade commonly used in prostheses.     

Rapid detection of oilfish and escolar in fish steaks: A tool to prevent keriorrhea episodes

The outbreak of keriorrhea caused by the wax ester-rich oilfish and escolar has become a frequent and worldwide concern. To help prevent such episodes, rapid detection of these fishes in the supply chain of the seafood industry and by food and health inspection agencies is essential. Through a combination of DNA, GC–MS and TLC analyses with reference to authentic samples, fish steaks of oilfish and escolar mislabeled as other species could be accurately identified. The TLC method developed is inexpensive and provides a reliable and importantly rapid identification within 30 min.     

Society Magazines Plan Coverage for 2009

In 2009, the Computer Society will offer a slate of 13 magazines covering key topics in computing.     

The engineering aspects of automated prepreg layup: History,present and future

Highly consistent quality and cost-effective manufacture of advanced composites can be achieved through automation. It may therefore open up new markets and applications for composite products in aerospace, automotive, renewable energy, and consumer goods. Automated Tape Laying (ATL) and Automated Fibre Placement (AFP) are the two main technologies used to automate the layup of prepreg. The historical development and past research of both technologies is reviewed; with an emphasis on past issues in application and capability as well as their solution, including both thermoset and thermoplastic material layup. It is shown that past developments have moved away from simply emulating manual layup into the now unique layup procedures for ATL, and into the current AFP technology base. The state of the art for both technologies is discussed and current gaps in the understanding of both processes highlighted. From this, future research needs and developments are derived and discussed.     

Reconstruction of baseline JPEG coded images in error proneenvironments

A two-stage method for the reconstruction of missing data in the transmission of baseline JPEG coded images in error prone environments is proposed. In the first stage, we estimate the values of the missing DC coefficients. As effects of errors in estimating the missing DC values will appear as a number of stripes across the image, a technique for removing such stripes is also developed. In the second stage, the data of missing blocks is reconstructed by exploiting the correlation between adjacent blocks. Simulation results intricate that our reconstruction method performs very well. The two key contributions of our method are that it does not assume nondifferential encoding of the DC coefficients, and that it performs well in the reconstruction of diagonal edges.     

Coherent Optical Recognition and Counting of Reticulated Red Blood Cells

A coherent optical data-processing system for identifying and counting blood cells has been developed. Optical Weiner-Kolmogorov (minimum mean-square error) linear filtering is employed to estimate the density per unit area of a given cell type present in a sample blood smear. The Weiner filter is designed to recognize the characteristics of an ensemble of cells of a type rather than specific individual cells. In this way the system is made insensitive to minor variations in shape, size, or orientation of the cells. A Poisson shot-noise model for blood cells as a spatial random process is employed to calculate the far-field scattering from the cells. Results of experiments in which the percentage of reticulated (immature) red cells present in a smear has been determined are presented. The identification and counting accuracies compare favorably with those obtained by laboratory technicians with a microscope. The potential time saving of instantaneous estimation for the entire smear is significant.     

Writing for Engineering Management Journal

What is the Editorial Advisory Panel of Engineering Management Journal looking for in contributions? If you are a reader you are also a potential writer of articles for the Journal. What follows is guidance on what the Panel is seeking and on a process to follow to be efficient in your writing. Our intention is to motivate you to put pen to paper and to write. With a title as broad as Engineering Management there is scope for a broad range of subjects. Articles describing a current industry sector, an interview with a leading industrialist, the introduction of a management technique and so on, are all valid general subjects. The factors that makes one article acceptable for publication and another unacceptable are discussed     

Psychiatric symptom correlates of the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory (MMPI) Masculinity-Femininity scale.

The Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory (MMPI) was administered to 72 female and 51 male outpatients, and subjects were rated on the Brief Psychiatric Rating Scale. Raw scores on Masculinity–Femininity (Mf) correlated positively with ratings of emotional distress, even with gender effects removed. Male and female patients who scored high (feminine direction) on Mf were rated higher on anxiety, depressed mood, guilt feelings, and tension than were low scorers. Mf was the only MMPI scale to correlate significantly with guilt feelings, and its relationships with anxiety, depressed mood, and tension were largely independent of other MMPI clinical scales. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)