Coriolis effects in the dynamics of a rotating elastic structure

Summary Small oscillations of a rotating elasticum with a mass at the free end are investigated with Poincaré-Lindstedt series. It is shown that the mass moves on a figure-eight shaped curve in a direction determined by the sign of the angular velocity and hence that the Coriolis force influences the motion.     

Fibrinolytic variables and cardiovascular prognosis in patients with stable angina pectoris treated with verapamil or metoprolol. Results from the Angina Prognosis study in Stockholm

BACKGROUND: Disturbed fibrinolytic function may influence the progression of coronary atherosclerosis and contribute to thrombotic cardiovascular (CV) events. METHODS AND RESULTS: In the Angina Prognosis Study in Stockholm (APSIS), patients with stable angina pectoris were studied prospectively during double-blind treatment with metoprolol or verapamil. Various measures of fibrinolytic function were studied in 631 (of 809) patients. During a median follow-up time of 3.2 years (2132 patient-years), 32 patients suffered a CV death, 21 had a nonfatal myocardial infarction (MI), and 77 underwent revascularization. Plasma levels of tissue plasminogen activator (TPA) activity and antigen (ag), plasminogen activator inhibitor (PAI-1) activity at test, and TPA responses to exercise were determined at baseline and after 1 month's treatment and were related to subsequent fatal and nonfatal CV events. Univariate Cox regression analysis revealed that elevated levels of TPA-ag at rest (P < .05), high PAI-1 activity (P < .05), and low TPA-ag responses to exercise (P < .05) were associated with increased risk of subsequent CV death. After adjustment for baseline risk factors, TPA-ag independently predicted CV death or MI. In addition, PAI-1 activity independently predicted CV death or MI in male patients. Verapamil treatment was associated with a 10% decrease of TPA-ag levels and metoprolol treatment with a 2% increase (P < .001 for treatment difference). CONCLUSIONS: Plasma TPA-ag levels at rest, and among male patients PAI-1 activity as well, independently predict subsequent CV death or MI in patients with stable angina pectoris.     

Disappearing subdural hematomas in children

Serum glucose and plasma C-peptide response to i.v. glucagon administration was evaluated in 24 healthy dogs, 12 dogs with untreated diabetes mellitus, 30 dogs with insulin-treated diabetes mellitus, and 8 dogs with naturally acquired hyperadrenocorticism. Serum insulin response also was evaluated in all dogs, except 20 insulin-treated diabetic dogs. Blood samples for serum glucose, serum insulin, and plasma C-peptide determinations were collected immediately before and 5, 10, 20, 30, and (for healthy dogs) 60 minutes after i.v. administration of 1 mg glucagon per dog. In healthy dogs, the patterns of glucagon-stimulated changes in plasma C-peptide and serum insulin concentrations were identical, with single peaks in plasma C-peptide and serum insulin concentrations observed approximately 15 minutes after i.v. glucagon administration. Mean plasma C-peptide and serum insulin concentrations in untreated diabetic dogs, and mean plasma C-peptide concentration in insulin-treated diabetic dogs did not increase significantly after i.v. glucagon administration. The validity of serum insulin concentration results was questionable in 10 insulin-treated diabetic dogs, possibly because of anti-insulin antibody interference with the insulin radioimmunoassay. Plasma C-peptide and serum insulin concentrations were significantly increased (P < .001) at all blood sampling times after glucagon administration in dogs with hyperadrenocorticism, compared with healthy dogs, and untreated and insulin-treated diabetic dogs. Five-minute C-peptide increment, C-peptide peak response, total C-peptide secretion, and, for untreated diabetic dogs, insulin peak response and total insulin secretion were significantly lower (P < .00l) in diabetic dogs, compared with healthy dogs, whereas these same parameters were significantly increased (P < .01) in dogs with hyperadrenocorticism, compared with healthy dogs, and untreated and insulin-treated diabetic dogs. Although not statistically significant, there was a trend for higher plasma C-peptide concentrations in untreated diabetic dogs compared with insulin-treated diabetic dogs during the glucagon stimulation test. Baseline C-peptide concentrations also were significantly higher (P < .05) in diabetic dogs treated with insulin for less than 6 months, compared with diabetic dogs treated for longer than 1 year. Finally, 7 of 42 diabetic dogs had baseline plasma C-peptide concentrations greater than 2 SD (ie, > 0.29 pmol/mL) above the normal mean plasma C-peptide concentration; values that were significantly higher, compared with the results in healthy dogs (P < .001) and with the other 35 diabetic dogs (P < .001). In summary, measurement of plasma C-peptide concentration during glucagon stimulation testing allowed differentiation among healthy dogs, dogs with impaired beta-cell function (ie, diabetes mellitus), and dogs with increased beta-cell responsiveness to glucagon (ie, insulin resistance). Plasma C-peptide concentrations during glucagon stimulation testing were variable in diabetic dogs and may represent dogs with type-1 and type-2 diabetes or, more likely, differences in severity of beta-cell loss in dogs with type-1 diabetes.     

Hepatic vein thrombosis. Diagnostic and therapeutic difficulties

Budd Chiari syndrome (liver vein thrombosis) may be a diagnostic and therapeutic problem. On the basis of four different cases we review the major diagnostic and therapeutic principles involved. Imaging techniques are necessary in order to establish the diagnosis. Ultrasound examination with Duplex doppler is usually sufficient, but MR angiography is also useful. Treatment options are thrombolysis, surgery or liver transplantation. What treatment is selected will depend on the clinical situation and the prognosis.     

The Volvo Uddevalla Plant

Volvos plants at Kalmar and, more recently at Uddevalla, have become noted throughout the world for their sociotechnical design and high levels of performance, breaking with mass production norms. Hence the statement from Volvo that both plants are to be closed, in order to meet the competitive threat from Japan, has come as a shock and a disappointment to those who saw them as embodying a viable alternative to lean production. This paper makes the case that Uddevalla had a productive and commercial potential unmatched elsewhere in the Volvo group, and that the decision to close the plant must have been taken on other grounds.     

Mathematical modelling of surface segregation in aluminum DC casting caused by exudation

A mathematical model for the development of a segregated layer of exudated droplets during DC casting of aluminum ingots is established. The model accounts for the metallostatic pressure driven interdendritic melt flow through the mushy zone by a Darcy type equation, the surface segregation due to this melt flow, and the decrease of the total solute concentration in different positions of the mush as a result of the exudation. The solution domain for the governing differential equations is constituted by the mushy zone of the cast. The main physical phenomena included in the model have been studied in a simple one dimensional case study.     

Putting it all together – Formal verification of the VAMP

In the verified architecture microprocessor (VAMP) project we have designed, functionally verified, and synthesized a processor with full DLX instruction set, delayed branch, Tomasulo scheduler, maskable nested precise interrupts, pipelined fully IEEE compatible dual precision floating point unit with variable latency, and separate instruction and data caches. The verification has been carried out in the theorem proving system PVS. The processor has been implemented on a Xilinx FPGA. A shorter version of this article with the title “Instantiating uninterpreted functional units and memory system: functional verification of the VAMP” appeared in [8]. The work reported here was done while all the authors were with Saarland University.     

A new boundary-layer wind tunnel at the Danish Maritime Institute

The paper describes a new boundary-layer wind tunnel at the Danish Maritime Institute in Lyngby. The wind tunnel is of the open-circuit type and is integrated into a building raised for the purpose. The design was constrained by the need to provide a simulation of the atmospheric boundary layer (without thermal stratification) and alternatively a uniform flow without excessive turbulence.The wind tunnel has a working section of principal dimensions: length 20.8 m, width 2.6 m and height 1.8 m (adjustable from 1.8 to 2.3 m). The maximum wind speed in the working section when empty is about 26 m s^?1.Data acquisition, analysis and instrumentation in relation to the new wind tunnel are discussed and, finally, an example of a simulated natural wind is presented.     

On the off-design of a natural gas-fired combined cycle with CO2 capture

During the last 15 years cycles with CO₂ capture have been in focus, due to the growing concern over our climate. Often, a natural gas fired combined cycle with a chemical absorption plant for CO₂ capture from the flue gases have been used as a reference in comparisons between cycles. Neither the integration of the steam production for regeneration of amines in the combined cycle nor the off-design behaviour of such a plant has been extensively studied before.