ECT benchmark results for 3D defect signatures in industrial applications

This paper is focused on the Eddy Current Testing (ECT) method applied to important industrial applications such as the inspection of tubes in nuclear power plants and the inspection of planar surface from aeronautical industry. Specifically, we consider the prediction of the signatures produced by small defects through two fully three-dimensional numerical models developed for ECT. In particular we consider the responses to small defects described in two experimental benchmarks from nuclear power industry and one experimental benchmark from aeronautical applications. Despite of the small size of the defects that, in some cases, is of the order of few millimetres, the numerical models reproduce correctly the experimental responses provided in the benchmarks, including the challenging case of a defect (in a tube) close to the support plate.     

Six-layer lamination of a new dry film negative-tone photoresist for fabricating complex 3D microfluidic devices

We present a new epoxy-based negative-tone dry film photoresist (DFR) for fabricating multilayer microfluidic devices using a lamination process combined with a standard photolithography technology. As proof-of-concept, a complex 3D-hydrodynamic focusing device was produced via a six-layer lamination process of 33 µm-thick DFR layers. The bonding strength of the new DFR was tested on silicon, glass, and titanium substrates, respectively. A maximum bonding strength of 37 MPa was obtained for the dry film photoresist laminated on glass. No leakage was found, and burst tests proved excellent robustness and sealing reliability of the microchannels.     

Collagen scaffolds for orthopedic regenerative medicine

Collagen and collagen-based scaffolds offer distinct advantages when selected as biomaterials for use across a broad spectrum of regenerative medicine applications. However, relatively poor mechanical properties are often perceived to limit their usefulness for orthopedic applications. These problems can be overcome through enhanced crosslinking mechanisms or through the addition of a second, stiffer phase such as hydroxyapatite, thus allowing tailored composite scaffolds to meet specific tissue requirements. This overview will highlight the current state of the art of these scaffolds, and consider the exciting prospects and future directions of collagen-based technologies for orthopedic regenerative medicine.     

Studying physiochemical changes in a new pasta product containing beef heart by vibrational spectroscopy

A new pasta product was developed by partially replacing durum wheat flour with beef heart to enhance its nutritional value. Physiochemical changes of the pasta were investigated by vibrational spectroscopy, namely Fourier transform infrared (FT-IR) and Raman spectroscopy. Relationships between pasta texture and the intensity of vibrational spectra were established. Lipid-protein complex formation, β-sheet arrangement, degree of polysaccharide polymerization, and cysteine thiol group were related to hardness and chewiness of pasta. The lipid portion and β-sheet structure were two significant parameters for explaining pasta adhesiveness, while pasta firmness might be related to β-sheet alignment and the polysaccharide network. Pasta cohesiveness might involve the α-helical structures and hydrogen bonding formation in the gluten network. However, no variable met the p < 0.1 significance level for inclusion into the model to explain pasta springiness. These results reveal that FT-IR and Raman spectroscopy could be employed to evaluate the physical chemistry of pasta and showed a potential use for quality assessment in pasta products.     

Low molecular weight oligo-β-hydroxybutyric acids and 3-hydroxy-N-phenethyl-butyramide – new products from microorganisms

Summary A new group of low-molecular weight channel-forming oligo(hydroxybutyric acids) (cPHBs, 1 with n = 8–30; main component MW ≈ 1300 dalton) was isolated from microorganisms of different origin. Inclusion bodies were electron-microscopically visible in cells in the state of autolysis, not in cells in the exponential phase of growth. cPHB and high-molecular poly(l3-hydroxybutyric acid) (sPHB) is cleaved by phenylethylamine and forms the corresponding monomeric hydroxybutyramide and – under drastic conditions, the crotylamide. One of these compounds, the 3-hydroxy-N-phenethyl-butyramide (5), was isolated as a new natural product now. Received: 28 March 2002/Revised version: 26 July 2002/ Accepted: 26 July 2002 RID="*" ID="*"Marine Bakterien, XVII. XVI: R.P. Maskey, R.N. Asolkar, E. Helmke, and H. Laatsch, Chalcomycin B, a new antibiotic from a marine Streptomyces sp. B7064. J. Antibiot., submitted 2002 Correspondence to Hartmut Laatsch, e-mail: hlaatsc@gwdg.de, Fax: +49-551-399660     

Retrieval of the ultraviolet aerosol optical depth during a spring campaign in the Bavarian Alps

A measurement campaign was organized in March 1999 in the Bavarian Alps as part of the European project, Characteristics of the UV Radiation Field in the Alps (CUVRA), to analyze the effect of altitude, aerosols, and snow cover on ground-level UV spectral irradiance. We present the results of simultaneous measurements of aerosol optical depth (AOD) made at various sites on two cloudless days in March 1999. The two days exhibited different aerosol conditions. Results derived from spectral measurements of UV irradiance are compared with data from filter radiometer measurements made at discrete wavelengths extending from the UV to the near IR. The different methods generated values for the AOD that were in good agreement. This result confirms that one can use either method to retrieve the AOD with an uncertainty of approximately 0.03-0.05. On 18 March, high turbidity was observed at low altitude (400-nm AOD approximately 0.5 at 700 m above sea level), and the AOD decreased regularly with altitude; on 24 March, the turbidity was much less (0.11 at 700 m above sea level). On both days very low AODs (0.05-0.09) were measured at 3000 m above sea level. The spectral dependence of the AOD is often parameterized by the angstrom relationship; the alpha parameter is generally difficult or impossible to retrieve from spectral measurements because of the relatively narrow wavelength range (320-400 nm), and only one of the spectro-radiometers used during the campaign permits this retrieval. In most cases, during this field campaign, alpha was found by filter sunphotometers to be 1.1-1.5.     

Is Sigmund Freud's psychoanalytic edifice relevant to the 21st century?

[Correction Notice: An erratum for this article was reported in Vol 24(3) of Psychoanalytic Psychology (see record 2007-10890-003). The article contains two distorting misprints: (1) On p. 257, in the footnote, the title of the author's academic chair should read: Andrew Mellon Professor of Philosophy of Science; (2) On p. 274, line 2, in the quotation from Marshall Edelson on "Transference Phenomena," the word "on" just before "question-begging evidence" should read negatively as "non."] To warrant the relevance, if any, of Freud's psychoanalytic edifice to the 21st century, its supporters must endeavor, if at all possible, to find genuine evidence for its major pillars or to modify them significantly in response to emerging new evidence. Such a quest must begin with a clear understanding of the range and depth of the failure of Freud's cardinal clinical arguments. I endeavor below to provide such comprehension by laying bare the epistemological gravamen in the case of each of his principal tenets. And I argue that neither the post-Freudian formulations of psychoanalysis nor its so-called "hermeneutic" reconstruction has succeeded in vindicating the psychoanalytic enterprise. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)