Environmental effects on the strength and impact damage resistance of alumina based oxide/oxide ceramic matrix composites

In this study the effects of high temperature and moisture on the impact damage resistance and mechanical strength of Nextel 610/alumina silicate ceramic matrix composites were experimentally evaluated. Composite laminates were exposed to either a 1050°C isothermal furnace-based environment for 30 consecutive days at 6 h a day, or 95% relative humidity environment for 13 consecutive days at 67°C. Low velocity impact, tensile and short beam strength tests were performed on both ambient and environmentally conditioned laminates and damage was characterized using a combination of non-destructive and destructive techniques. High temperature and humidity environmental exposure adversely affected the impact resistance of the composite laminates. For all the environments, planar internal damage area was greater than the back side dent area, which in turn was greater than the impactor side dent area. Evidence of environmental embrittlement through a stiffer tensile response was noted for the high temperature exposed laminates while the short beam strength tests showed greater propensity for interlaminar shear failure in the moisture exposed laminates. Destructive evaluations exposed larger, more pronounced delaminations in the environmentally conditioned laminates in comparison to the ambient ones. External damage metrics of the impactor side dent depth and area directly influenced the post-impact tensile strength of the laminates while no such trend between internal damage area and residual strength could be ascertained.     

Trust for Ubiquitous,Transparent Collaboration

In this paper, trust-based recommendations control the exchange of personal information between handheld computers. Combined with explicit risk analysis, this enables unobtrusive information exchange, while limiting access to confidential information. The same model can be applied to a wide range of mobile computing tasks, such as managing personal address books and electronic diaries, to automatically provide an appropriate level of security. Recommendations add structure to the information, by associating categories with data and with each other, with degrees of trust belief and disbelief. Since categories also in turn confer privileges and restrict actions, they are analogous to rôles in a Rôle-Based Access Control system, while principals represent their trust policies in recommendations. Participants first compute their trust in information, by combining their own trust assumptions with others' policies. Recommendations are thus linked together to compute a considered, local trust assessment. Actions are then moderated by a risk assessment, which weighs up costs and benefits, including the cost of the user's time, before deciding whether to allow or forbid the information exchange, or ask for help. By unifying trust assessments and access control, participants can take calculated risks to automatically yet safely share their personal information.     

RANTES-induced T cell activation correlates with CD3 expression

The chemokine RANTES induces a unique biphasic cytoplasmic Ca2+ signal in T cells. The first phase of this signal, similar to that of other chemokines, is G-protein mediated and chemotaxis associated. The second phase of this signal, unique to RANTES and evident at concentrations greater than 100 nM, is tyrosine kinase linked and results in a spectrum of responses similar to those seen with antigenic stimulation of T cells. We show here that certain jurkat T cells responded to RANTES solely through this latter pathway. A direct correlation between the RANTES-induced second phase response and CD3 expression was demonstrated in these cells. Sorting the Jurkat cells into CD3(high) and CD3(low) populations revealed that only the CD3(high) cells were responsive to RANTES. Furthermore, stimulation of these Jurkat cells with anti-CD3 mAb significantly depresses their subsequent response to RANTES. While a RANTES-specific chemokine receptor is expressed at a low level on these Jurkat cells, the RANTES-induced activation is dependent on the presence of the TCR. Thus, stimulation through TCR may partially account for RANTES' unique pattern of signaling in T cells.     

Primary calibration of ultrasonic hydrophone using optical interferometry

A primary calibration method for ultrasonic hydrophones which uses a Michelson interferometer to determine the particle displacement in an ultrasonic field is discussed. The acoustic pressure is derived from this measurement and used to determine the free-field sensitivity of a hydrophone in the frequency range 0.5-15 MHz. The random uncertainty of the method is typically 1%, whereas the systematic uncertainty varies from 2.3 to 6.6% over the frequency range. To obtain this accuracy, the performance of the system has been carefully examined and appropriate correction factors derived. The greatest difficulty in the method lies in determining the frequency response of the optical detection system, and two different approaches have been used to measure this response. Several acoustical effects have also been studied and the calibration procedure modified to take account of them. The calibration results are in agreement with those of other methods and with the theoretically predicted frequency response of a hydrophone. The method has been used to determine the temporal stability of a hydrophone over a period of two years.     

MobSens: Making Smart Phones Smarter

In this article, we discuss experiences and lessons learned from deploying four mobile sensing applications on off-the-shelf mobile phones within a recreational framework called MobSens that contains elements of health, social, and environmental sensing at both individual and community levels. We describe the main components of our applications, which facilitate logging and external communications. We also outline the challenges faced when building and testing these applications and describe our strategies for overcoming them.     

Microwatt shot-noise measurement

We report a simple scheme for sensitive measurements of optical-noise spectra. Optical noise is separated from electronic noise when the output of an analog spectrum analyzer is real-time squared and then lock-in detected. This method directly yields the desired mean-square noise voltage, i.e., the power spectrum of the optical noise on a linear scale. To demonstrate this technique, the mean-square shot noise of a laser beam is measured and found to vary linearly with the laser power from several milliwatts down to one microwatt, in excellent quantitative agreement with predictions.     

Using a Trust Inference Model for Flexible and Controlled Information Sharing During Crises

The fluid, urgent nature of crises requires flexible, responsive information sharing. Recent studies show, however, that in business catastrophes and other kinds of crises conventional access control mechanisms favor security over flexibility. Our work addresses these seemingly contradictory needs for security and flexibility and designs a trust inference model based on fuzzy logic, a model that can be used with pervasive computing technologies using sensors and mobile devices. Drawing upon research on trust, we design a trust inference model using attributes of affiliation, task performance, and urgency; apply the model to a known crisis; discuss implementation issues; and explore issues for further research. This article is dedicated to Alan Jarman, a founding influence in the Journal of Contingencies and Crisis Management who died in Canberra 15 July 2010. Alan's quantitative, engineering background and his long standing commitment to improving crisis decision making prompted him to encourage our applying fuzzy logic to crisis information sharing. We are grateful for Alan's encouragement and advice.     

A neutron diffraction investigation of some β′-sialons

Neutron diffraction measurements have been made on -sialons having chemical compositions Si₆-zAlzOzN₈-z, where Z=2.0, 2.9 and 4.0. The powder diffraction patterns have been recorded for sample temperatures of 300 K and 4.2 K, and the profile refinement method has been used in the data analysis. The unit-cell dimensions and the atomic co-ordinates were found to vary in a regular way with composition. The values of scattering amplitude per atomic site obtained using the refinement method provide evidence of a preferential replacement of nitrogen by oxygen on specific crystallographic sites, and an indication of a small vacancy concentration on the metal-atom sites.