Effect of precyclic loading on stress-corrosion-cracking initiation in an X-65 pipeline steel exposed to near-neutral pH soil environment

A study was carried out to understand the effect of precyclic loading on stress-corrosion-crack initiation in an X-65 pipeline steel exposed to a near-neutral-pH soil environment. The test specimens were precyclically loaded before corrosion exposure to represent a service history of up to about 20 years, depending on the severity of pressure fluctuation. Microcracks had initiated on the polished surface of the X-65 pipeline steel after long-time exposure at open-circuit potential (OCP) in a near-neutral-pH synthetic soil solution. These microcracks were mostly initiated from pits at metallurgical discontinuities such as grain boundaries, pearlitic colonies, and banded phases in the steel. Strong preferential dissolution was observed along planes of the banded structures in the steel. The selective corrosion attack at these metallurgical discontinuities is attributed to the galvanic nature of those areas to their neighbors. Cyclic loading prior to corrosion exposure had significant effects on microcrack initiation and propagation during subsequent corrosion exposure. Cyclic loading prior to corrosion exposure either reduced or increased the probability of crack initiation and the rate of crack propagation, depending upon the magnitude of the stress cycles. The largest reduction was seen at a peak cyclic stress of about 0.8 of the yield strength. This cyclic-loading-dependent cracking behavior might be related to the alteration of the substructures and the residual stress in the steel as a result of precyclic loading.     

Web-based systems design: a study of contemporary practices and an explanatory framework based on “method-in-action”

This paper reports the findings of a detailed study of Web-based systems design (WBSD) practices in Ireland based on data collected over a 3-year period (2002–2005), the objectives of which were to (1) contribute towards a richer understanding of the current “real-world” context of WBSD by characterising the profile of a typical project (team size, timeframe, nature of requirements, etc.) and identifying the key challenges, constraints, and imperatives (i.e. “mediating factors”) faced by Web-based system designers, and (2) understand how those contextual parameters and mediating factors influence the activity of WBSD as regards the selection and enactment of whatever design practices are therefore engaged (i.e. the use of methods, procedures, etc.). Data was gathered through a survey which yielded 165 usable responses, and later through a series of semi-structured qualitative interviews. Using grounded theory, an explanatory conceptual framework is derived, based on an extension of the “method-in-action” model, the application of which to WBSD has not been previously investigated in depth. It is proposed that this framework of WBSD issues is valuable in a number of ways to educators, researchers, practitioners, and method engineers.     

Renal R2 chemoreceptor activity is attenuated after back heating in the rat

The aim of the present study was to determine the afferent connections of the nucleus accumbens in snakes, in particular its catecholaminergic input. For that purpose, in vitro and in vivo applications of retrograde tracers in the nucleus accumbens of Elaphe guttata were combined with tyrosine hydroxylase (TH) immunohistochemistry. Both techniques revealed telencephalic inputs to the nucleus accumbens originating from the diagonal band of Broca, ventral pallidum, amygdaloid complex, and dorsal cortex. Major diencephalic inputs arise from the dorsomedial thalamic nucleus and the hypothalamus. In the brainstem, a few retrogradely labeled cells were observed in the raphe nucleus and the locus coeruleus. Considerably more cells were found in the midbrain tegmentum. Within the confines of the locus coeruleus and, in particular, the midbrain tegmentum, retrogradely labeled cells stained also for TH suggesting that those areas constitute the major catecholaminergic input to the nucleus accumbens of snakes. The experimental approach used in the present study, in particular the in vitro technique, seems to be very suited for studying the development of basal ganglia organization of reptiles in the near future.     

Observation of atomic steps on CaCO3 crystal surface

By using scanning polarization force microscopy,the deliquescence process and the atomic steps on the cleavage surface of CaCO3 in air were studied in situ.Under an exposure to medium umidity(-57%),the sloiw step movement has been observed.     

Multimedia Signal Processors: An Architectural Platform with Algorithmic Compilation

Novel algorithmic features of multimedia applications and advances in VLSI technologies are driving forces behind the new multimedia signal processors. We propose an architecture platform which could provide high performance and flexibility, and would require less external I/O and memory access. It is comprised of array processors to be used as the hardware accelerator and RISC cores to be used as the basis of the programmable processor. It is a hierarchical and scalable architecture style which facilitates the hardware-software codesign of multimedia signal processing circuits and systems. While some control-intensive functions can be implemented using programmable CPUs, other computation-intensive functions can rely on hardware accelerators.To compile multimedia algorithms, we also present an operation placement and scheduling scheme suitable for the proposed architectural platform. Our scheme addresses data reusability and exploits local communication in order to avoid the memory/communication bandwidth bottleneck, which leads to faster program execution. Our method shows a promising performance: a linear speed-up of 16 times can be achieved for the block-matching motion estimation algorithm and the true motion tracking algorithm, which have formed many multimedia applications (e.g., MPEG-2 and MPEG-4).     

Broadcast digital subscriber lines

The adoption of asymmetrical digital subscriber lines (ADSL) technology in conjunction with the broadcast digital subscriber lines (BDSL) proposed in this paper could provide a cost effective solution for the introduction of digital video services in the near term. BDSL provides the same digital broadcast video programs to all subscribers through existing twisted pair telephone loops. In this paper, the basics of telephone loop-based digital subscriber lines are first discussed. Then the potential of BDSL is explored in the twisted pair loop plant near end crosstalk (NEXT), far end crosstalk (FEXT), and white noise environment. The capability of BDSL is examined with different serving areas and transmit power levels. The possibility of using orthogonal quadrature amplitude modulation (QAM) to implement a zero guard-band BDSL system is studied. Computer BDSL performance simulations are then presented. The combination of high-bit-rate digital subscriber lines (HDSL), ADSL, and BDSL can provide telephone subscribers many digital broadband services     

A soft switching active snubber optimized for IGBT's in singleswitch unity power factor three-phase diode rectifiers

This paper describes a soft switching active snubber for an IGBT operating in a single switch unity power factor three-phase diode rectifier. The soft switching snubber circuit provides zero-voltage turn-off for the main switch. The high turn-off losses of the IGBT due to current tailing are reduced by zero-voltage switching. This allows the circuit to be operated at very high switching frequencies with regulated DC output voltage, high quality input current and unity input power factor. Simulation and experimental results are included