A method of the analysis of the thermal field dynamics in a core and insulation of a DC lead with convectional heat abstraction

A method of the analysis of dynamics of the thermal field in a DC lead is presented in this article. The cooling of the system is modeled by the convectional boundary condition. Field functions are determined analytically by the method of states superposition and the separation of variables. The coefficients of field functions and eigenvalues of the boundary–initial problem are computed by the numerical method. The coefficients are the solution of the respective systems of equations. Those systems are the result of scalar products of the functions non-orthogonal in the region of the core and insulation. On the other hand, the eigenvalues are determined with the aid of the original algorithm, which, among others, takes advantage of field properties and the method of golden partition. Consequentially, the spatial–temporal distribution of a temperature is computed, as well as the averaged time constant of the system and the admissible long-lasting ampacity. The influence of the heat transfer coefficient and thickness of insulation is discussed. The obtained results have been verified with the aid of a finite element method.     

Usability assessment of selected methods of optimization for some measurement task in coordinate measurement technique

This paper presents the comparison of selected methods of optimization on the example of some measurement task in coordinate measurement technique. The task consists in the computation of coordinates of the center and radius of a circle which approximates some set of measured points using least squares. The application of the least squares method follows an approach used in conventional analysis of an associated element in coordinate measurement technique. The coordinates of points are measured on a CNC machine tool equipped with a measuring probe.     

Controlled synthesis of amphiphilic siloxane-siloxane block copolymers with carboxyl functions

Summary Poly[2-(carboxymethylthio)ethyl]methylsiloxane-block-polydimethylsiloxane, 1, and poly{[2-(carboxymethylthio)ethyl]methylsiloxane-co-dimethylsiloxane}-block-polydimethylsiloxane, 2, were synthesized by ene-thiol addition of mercaptoacetic acid to respective precopolymers 3 and 4, containing vinyl groups bound to silicon. The precopolymers 3 and 4 were obtained by sequential anionic copolymerization of hexamethylcyclotrisiloxane, D₃, with 2,4,6-trimethyl-2,4,6-trivinyl-cyclotrisiloxane, 5, and D₃ with 2,4,4,6,6,-pentamethyl-2-vinylcyclotrisiloxane, 6, respectively. The method permits to synthesise the block copolymers with a narrow molecular weight distribution and a high block purity. The ene-thiol addition was performed on free radical route, using AIBN as initiator. The reaction proceeds selectively, leading to the transformation of vinyl groups in the precopolymers into the β-adducts. Received: 15 December 1999/Revised version: 25 February 2000/Accepted: 24 March 2000     

DFT Study of the Silyl Esters of Thiophosphorus Acids

Quantum mechanical DFT calculations of the model methyl and silyl esters of simple thiophosphorus acids are presented which help to predict some structural features and reactivity aspects of these reactants. Their applicability in organophosphorus chemistry is discussed.     

Preparation and properties of new lactose-based surfactants

A new group of nonionic saccharide-based surfactants, N-alkanoyl-N-methyllactitolamines (alkanoyl: decanoyl, lauroyl, myristoyl, palmitoyl, stearoyl), were synthesized and characterized. Surface properties such as critical micelle concentration, standard free energy of adsorption, standard free energy of micellization, surface tension reduction efficiency, effectiveness of surface tension reduction, surface excess concentration, and surface area demand per molecule as well as foaming properties (i.e., foam volume and foam stability), contact angle, antiraicrobial activity, and biodegradability were determined. The selected performance properties were evaluated in relation to commercially available alkyl polyglucosides (Glukopon 600 EC(HH)-a Henkel product), and oligooxyethylenated decyl (C₁₀E₄) and dodecyl (E₁₂E₅) alcohols. The foaming-stabilizing effect and contact angle suggest that the lactose-derived surfactants that were studied share some common properties with alkyl polyglucosides that are different from those with an oligooxyethylene grouping. All tested N-alkanoyl-N-methyllactitolamines were practically nontoxic to bacteria and yeasts. These compounds are readily biodegradable in the Closed Bottle test inoculated with activated sludge. N-Alkanoyl-N-methyllactitolamines with lower chain lengths (C₁₀–C₁₄) biodegraded at a slightly faster rate. Biological properties showed that this class of compounds fulfills all requirements needed for environmental acceptance.     

A Proposed Molecular Mechanism of High-Dose Vitamin D3 Supplementation in Prevention and Treatment of Preeclampsia

A randomized prospective clinical study performed on a group of 74 pregnant women (43 presenting with severe preeclampsia) proved that urinary levels of 15-F_2t-isoprostane were significantly higher in preeclamptic patients relative to the control (3.05 vs. 2.00 ng/mg creatinine). Surprisingly enough, plasma levels of 25-hydroxyvitamin D₃ in both study groups were below the clinical reference range with no significant difference between the groups. In vitro study performed on isolated placental mitochondria and placental cell line showed that suicidal self-oxidation of cytochrome P450scc may lead to structural disintegration of heme, potentially contributing to enhancement of oxidative stress phenomena in the course of preeclampsia. As placental cytochrome P450scc pleiotropic activity is implicated in the metabolism of free radical mediated arachidonic acid derivatives as well as multiple Vitamin D₃ hydroxylations and progesterone synthesis, we propose that Vitamin D₃ might act as a competitive inhibitor of placental cytochrome P450scc preventing the production of lipid peroxides or excess progesterone synthesis, both of which may contribute to the etiopathogenesis of preeclampsia. The proposed molecular mechanism is in accord with the preliminary clinical observations on the surprisingly high efficacy of high-dose Vitamin D₃ supplementation in prevention and treatment of preeclampsia.     

Dynamic Characteristic of the Medium Span Concrete Footbridges

Concrete footbridges, due to their mass, stiffness and damping, are perceived as strucaires more resistant to vibration caused by dynamic action of the users. In order to verify the dynamic behaviour of concrete footbridges, a series of field tests and numerical analyses have been carried out. In the paper, the results of the dynamic field tests of three medium span concrete footbridges with different structural systems （frame, beam and arch footbridges） and their dynamic characteristics （mass, stiffness and damping） are presented. The field tests were carried out for different types of vibration excitation caused by walking, running and jumping persons. Furthermore, the vibrational comfort criteria for footbridges are shortly described and verified for examined structures. The study were supplemented by numerical calculation of natural mode shapes and frequencies of the structures using the 3D FEA （finite element analysis） models with elastic supports elements in order to ensure the compatibility of the calculated and measured mode shapes of the footbridges.     

Induction and selection of the most interesting Gene Ontology based multiattribute rules for descriptions of gene groups

A rules induction algorithm dedicated to describe groups of genes with similar expression profiles by means of Gene Ontology terms is discussed in the paper. The presented algorithm takes into consideration information contained in the Gene Ontology graph. A huge number of created rules requires defining the rules quality and similarity measures, thus the paper presents such measures and proposes a new method of the most interesting rules selection. Features reduction method based on the rough sets theory is adopted and applied in order to reduce the number of Gene Ontology terms occurring in rules. The paper presents results of performed experiments and describes shortly the internet application RuleGO in which the proposed methods were implemented.