Simulation of Microstructurally Controlled Short Crack Propagation

A model for the simulation of stage I fatigue crack propagation is presented. The model considers the barrier effect of grain boundaries and phase boundaries on short crack propagation rate and the crack path deflection due to the microstructure. The plastic zones in front of the crack tip are modelled as yield strips. The mechanical boundary value problem is solved numerically by a boundary element method. The method was applied based on a statistical model of duplex microstructures, generated by a special Voronoi‐algorithm, so that the influence of the distribution of phases on crack propagation can be analysed.     

Numerical Assessment of the Influence of End Conditions on Constitutive Behavior of Geomaterials

In this paper, we investigate the behavior of elastic–plastic specimens during testing in a triaxial apparatus. In particular, an investigation of the influence of a number of imperfections on the observed behavior of a specimen is performed. To this end, we present influences of end platen friction, end platen inclinations, and the shape of specimen on what we broadly understand by “constitutive behavior.” We investigate the issues related to the constitutive as opposed to boundary value behavior or elastic–plastic specimens. We present a number of examples to illustrate the differences between different types of response, which are usually, and wrongly, just called the constitutive behavior.     

Edge-enhancement postprocessing using artificial dissipation.

We present a method to enhance, by postprocessing, the performance of gradient-based edge detectors. It improves the performance of the edge detector by adding terms which are similar to the artificial dissipation that appear in the numerical solution of hyperbolic PDEs. This term is added to the output of the edge detector. The edges that are missed or blurred by the edge detector are reconstructed through the addition of the artificial dissipation terms. Edges that are detected correctly by the edge detector are preserved. We present the theory of the artificial dissipation and its improvement of the quality of the detected edges. We demonstrate the performance of the algorithm on diverse images.     

“Condon” and “non-Condon” Nonlinear Spectroscopy of Polyatomic Molecules in Solutions: Solvation Dynamics Study

A theoretical basis for the solvation dynamics study of complex molecules in solutions by resonance four-photon spectroscopy has been developed. A non-Markovian theory of four-photon spectroscopy of electronic transitions in complex molecules has been generalized for the “non-Condon” tensor case. It has been shown that for definite conditions the cubic susceptibility χ⁽³⁾, describing four-photon interaction, can be expressed as a product of “Condon” and non-Condon parts. The latter describes the mixing effect of different electronic molecular states by nuclear motions (Herzberg-Teller effects). The Condon part depends on the excitation frequency, and the non-Condon one depends on the polarization state of the pump and the probe beams. It has been shown that the Condon resonance transient grating spectroscopy is a good method for the investigation of ultrafast solvation dynamics. The dependence of the non-Condon part of χ⁽³⁾ on the polarizations of the interacting beams permits one to formulate the principles of a new method for the investigation of Herzberg-Teller effects on electronic molecular transitions by transient polarization four-photon spectroscopy.     

Selecting distances in the plane

We present a randomized algorithm for computing the kth smallest distance in a set ofn points in the plane, based on the parametric search technique of Megiddo [Mel]. The expected running time of our algorithm is O(n^4/3 log^8/3 n). The algorithm can also be made deterministic, using a more complicated technique, with only a slight increase in its running time. A much simpler deterministic version of our procedure runs in time O(n^3/2 log^5/2 n). All versions improve the previously best-known upper bound ofO(@#@ n^9/5 log^4/5 n) by Chazelle [Ch]. A simpleO(n logn)-time algorithm for computing an approximation of the median distance is also presented.Part of this work was done while the first two authors were visting DIMACS, Rutgers University, New Brunswick, NJ. Work by the first three authors has been partly supported by Office of Naval Research Grant N00014-87-K-0129, by National Science Foundation Grant DCR-83-20085, and by DIMACS (Center for Discrete Mathematics and Theoretical Computer Science), a National Science Foundation Science and Technology Center-NSF-STC88-09648. Work by the second author has also been supported by National Security Agency Grant MDA 904-89-H-2030. Work by the third author has also been supported by National Science Foundation Grant CCR-89-01484, and by grants from the U.S.-Israeli Binational Science Foundation, and the Fund for Basic Research administered by the Israeli Academy of Sciences.     

MICROWAVE INDUCED CONVERSION OF HYDROGEN SULFIDE

The reaction of hydrogen sulfide with trona and calcium oxide in the presence of char started as soon as microwave energy was applied. However, with conventional heating, the reaction started only when the bed temperature reached approximately 540^°c. char absorbing microwave energy is rapidly heated to very high temperatures, enhancing the H₂S reaction with oxides contained in char or oxides added to char in the reaction. A 100% conversion of trona was achieved but the maximum conversion of calcium oxide was only 79%. The minimum content of char required to induce the reaction of H₂S with trona using microwave energy was 20% of char-trona mixture. When the trona content in the mixture of char-trona mixture was greater than 50%, an additional conversion of H₂S occurred to produce some amount of elemental sulfur that was deposited in the bed. This clearly demonstrates that char combined with microwave induces H₂S reaction with mineral oxides.     

The septuagenerian as child psychotherapist: A change in career orientation at the end of the stream.

The writer describes his experiences when, at an advanced age, he became therapist to severely disturbed, disorganized, nonverbal children. The therapeutic approaches evolved and the personality changes that occurred in him as a result of the therapeutic interchanges with his young patients are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

A mixed-variable continuously deforming finite element method for parabolic evolution problems. Part II: The coupled problem of phase-change in porous media

The conceptual framework of a least squares rate variational approach to the formulation of continuously deforming mixed-variable finite element computational scheme for a single evolution equation was presented in Part I.¹ In this paper (Part II), we extend these concepts and present an adaptively deforming mixed variable finite element method for solving general two-dimensional transport problems governed by a system of coupled non-linear partial differential evolution equations. In particular, we consider porous media problems that involve coupled heat and mass transport processes that yield steep continuous moving fronts, and abrupt, discontinuous, moving phase-change interfaces. In this method, the potentials, such as the temperature, pressure and species concentration, and the corresponding fluxes, are permitted to jump in value across the phase-change interfaces. The equations, and the jump conditions, governing the physical phenomena, which were specialized from a general multiphase, multiconstituent mixture theory, provided the basis for the development and implementation of a two-dimensional numerical simulator. This simulator can effectively resolve steep continuous fronts (i.e. shock capturing) without oscillations or numerical dispersion, and can accurately represent and track discontinuous fronts (i.e. shock fitting) through adaptive grid deformation and redistribution. The numerical implementation of this simulator and numerical examples that demonstrate the performance of the computational method are presented in Part III² of this paper.     

Adherence of human vaginal lactobacilli to vaginal epithelial cells and interaction with uropathogens

Three strains of Lactobacillus, identified as Lactobacillus acidophilus, Lactobacillus gasseri, and Lactobacillus jensenii, were selected from among 70 isolates from the vaginas of healthy premenopausal women for properties relevant to mucosal colonization or antagonism. All three self-aggregated and adhered to epithelial vaginal cells, displacing well-known vaginal pathogens, such as G. vaginalis, and inhibiting the growth in vitro of Escherichia coli and Streptococcus agalactiae. The surface components involved in self-aggregation appeared to be proteins for L. gasseri and lipoproteins for L. acidophilus and L. jensenii, as judged by susceptibility to treatment with appropriate degrading enzymes. The factors responsible for adherence to epithelial vaginal cells seemed to be glycoproteins (L. acidophilus and L. gasseri) and carbohydrate (L. jensenii). The receptors of the vaginal cells were glycolipids, which presumably were the targets of the competition observed between the lactobacilli and the pathogenic microbes.     

Microstructure of GaN deposited by lateral confined epitaxy on patterned Si (111)

Lateral confined epitaxy (LCE) is an epitaxial growth method on substrates patterned to form uniform mesas separated by trenches for laterally restricting growth area. In this work, plan view and cross-sectional transmission electron microscopy (TEM) were used in order to characterize the microstructure of GaN films grown by metal-organic chemical vapor deposition on patterned Si (111) using the LCE method. Two kinds of propagation modes of the dislocations were observed. The dislocations in the center of the mesa mainly propagate vertically to the surface. On the other hand, dislocations close (1–2 μm) to the mesa edges tend to bend laterally, allowing dislocation reactions that result in a lower dislocation density. This suggests that the overall material quality improves with decreasing mesa size, which is consistent with the observed increase in photoluminescence band edge peak intensity.