Transient dynamics of cylinders under wave slamming

Large diameter slender cylindrical shells used as buoyancy chambers and support legs for compliant marine structures experience a variety of impact loadings which could induce significant levels of dynamic response. By examining the response of a typical range of cylindrical shell geometries to a simulation of the impact loading typical of wave slamming, the paper examines the likely levels and practical significance of the transient dynamic response. It shows that the levels of dynamic response are sufficiently severe to have important implications for the triggering of buckling and fatigue collapse characteristics. It is suggested that this phenomenon requires additional more-detailed consideration, including the provision of reliable predictions of transient slam pressure distributions and the levels and forms of hydrodynamic damping, as well as the effects of more practical shell and stiffening geometries, and ambient stress levels.     

Perfluorocarbons are effective oxygen carriers in cardiopulmonary bypass

Intravascular perfluorochemical (PFC) emulsions together with a high oxygen (O2) tension may increase the delivery of dissolved O2 to useful levels. A severely anemic model of cardiopulmonary bypass (CPB) was used to test the hypothesis that a novel PFC emulsion (PFCE; Oxygent [Alliance Pharmaceutical Corp., San Diego, CA] 90% w/v perflubron) used at a high PO2 during bypass delivers sufficient O2 to ameliorate hypoxic myocardial contractile dysfunction. Acutely anemic dogs (N = 42; hematocrit = 15.8 +/- 0.6% [mean +/- SEM] before CPB and 10.9 +/- 0.1% during CPB) were divided into four groups. Group 1 was a control (n = 12). As CPB was initiated, groups 2 (n = 10), 3 (n = 10), and 4 (n = 10) had 1.35 g PFC.kg-1, 2.7 g PFC.kg-1, or 5.4 g PFC.kg-1 added via the venous return cannula. Pre-CPB and post-CPB cardiac function was measured by the first derivative of left ventricular pressure (dP/dtmax). The dP/dtmax on separation from CPB was: group 1, 619 +/- 96; group 2, 738 +/- 56; group 3, 782 +/- 101; and group 4, 828 +/- 100 (p < 0.05 groups 3 and 4 versus group 1). Mortality during the first hour after separation from CPB was higher in group 1 than in PFCE treated dogs; however, this trend did not attain statistical significance (p < 0.065). The PFC dose was higher in survivors than in nonsurvivors (2.6 +/- 0.4 g PFC.kg-1 versus 1.2 +/- 0.5 g PFC.kg-1; p < 0.05). A PFCE used at a high PO2 provides sufficient physically dissolved O2 to relieve myocardial hypoxic injury in a severely anemic model of CPB. Current PFCEs are effective O2 carriers. This finding suggests that they can be used as a temporary erythrocyte substitute to diminish the need for allogeneic transfusions during cardiac operations.     

Urban design and conflicting city images of Brazil: Rio de Janeiro and Curitiba

Imageability of places, cities and countries is strongly influenced by tourist and political portraits in the media. As human cognition relies on inferential perception and contrasting categories, marketing strategies exploit partial truths and conflicting city images to direct public perceptions. This article addresses the relationship between international perception, image building and urban design in the case of Brazil and the cities of Rio de Janeiro and Curitiba. Their contrasting images as exploited by the international media expose only partial truths. In fact, these images represent complementary development contradictions that co-exist in any major city today.     

Preparation and characterisation of vanadium catalysts supported over alumina-pillared clays

Supported vanadium-containing catalysts were prepared by impregnation of Al-pillared clays with NaVO₃ precursor aqueous solutions. A montmorillonite and a saponite, both natural as well as previously pillared with Al₁₃-Keggin polycations, were used as supports, being impregnated with solutions of the precursor by means of the incipient wetness technique. The layered structure of the supports is maintained after impregnation, and even after calcination of the impregnated solids at 500 °C, although with a significant worsening of the textural properties of the solids, in particular, a loss of specific surface area. Three crystalline vanadium-containing phases were identified in the impregnated solids, namely, NaV₃O₈, AlVO₄ and V₂O₅ (shcherbinaite). The reduction of these phases to V³⁺ species was observed as wide processes in the 450–750 °C range, all of them centred at ca. 600 °C.     

Biofiltration of toluene in the absence and the presence of ethyl acetate under continuous and intermittent loading

BACKGROUND: Two peat biofilters were used for the removal of toluene from air for one year. One biofilter was fed with pure toluene and the other received 1:1 (by weight) ethyl acetate:toluene mixture. RESULTS: The biofilters were operated under continuous loading: the toluene inlet load (IL) at which 80% removal occurred was 116 g m^?3 h^?1 at 57 s gas residence time. Maximum elimination capacity of 360 g m^?3 h^?1 was obtained at an IL of 745 g m^?3 h^?1. The elimination of toluene was inhibited by the presence of ethyl acetate. Intermittent loading, with pollutants supplied for 16 h/day, 5 days/week, did not significantly affect the removal efficiency (RE). Biomass was fully activated in 2 h after night closures, but 6 h were required to recover RE after weekend closures. Live cell density remained relatively constant over the operational period, while the dead cell fraction increased. Finally, a 15 day starvation period was applied and operation then re‐started. Performance was restored with similar re‐acclimatization period to that after weekend closures, and a reduction in dead cell fraction was observed. CONCLUSION: This study demonstrates the capacity of the system to handle intermittent loading conditions that are common in industrial practices, including long‐term starvation. Copyright © 2008 Society of Chemical Industry     

Application of Methyl Cinnamate/Montmorillonite as Ultraviolet Radiation Shelters

The interaction of methyl cinnamate/montmorillonite samples prepared by melting the former onto the second or by joint grinding, has been studied by x-ray diffraction. differential thermal analysis, thermogravimetric analysis and Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy. Formation of an interlayer compound has been observed, leading to an increase of 4.15 or 3.42 A (samples obtained by melting or grinding, respectively) in the basal spacing of the clay. Formation of such a complex leads to a displacement of molecular water from the interlayer space, as concluded from the thermal studies. No chemical change is observed in the methyl cinnamate molecule, as confirmed by infrared spectroscopy. The system prepared improve the shelter properties of the clay and the drug separately, mainly in the C zone of the ultraviolet spectrum (290-190 nm).     

Losses of volatile compounds during fermentation

The ability of fermentative CO₂ to blow off the volatile compounds that are synthesized during fermentation has been studied. Model solutions simulating a fermenting must were purged at different CO₂ flow rates and temperatures, and the amount of volatile compounds blown off by the stream of CO₂ was recorded by high-resolution gas chromatography. Data showed that under normal fermenting conditions, fatty acid ethyl esters and some fusel alcohol acetates are blown off the solution at a high rate. The maximum loss rate was observed for ethyl decanoate. The purging speed is doubled when temperature increases from 17 °C to 27 °C. Losses can be interpreted by a linear model and are a function of the compound and the flow rate of CO₂. These models allow us to reconstruct the volatile synthesis vs time functions through graphic calculus and to estimate the proportion of volatile material retained, hydrolysed and purged. Synthesis takes place during the tumultuous period of fermentation together with CO₂ production that blows off the volatile material. Hydrolysis takes place in the last stages of fermentation. In a 10-1 open fermenter, up to 80% of volatile material can be blown off while an average of 10% is retained. Residual esterase activity accounts for about 20% of the total amount of ester synthesized.     

The operational semantics of user-defined relationships in object oriented database systems

In semantic data models, abstract relationship (e.g. generalization, aggregation, etc.) semantics are defined, specifying how insertion, deletion and modification operations made at a higher level of abstraction can affect the objects abstracted over and vice versa. These semantics, also known as structural constraints, are expressed through so-called update rules. This perspective has been somewhat lost in most object-oriented systems, where user-defined relationships are supported as simple pointers and their semantics are embedded, distributed and replicated within the operations accessing these pointers. This paper inherits and extends the treatment of relationships found in semantic data models to behavioural object-oriented models by presenting an approach to uniformly capture the update rules for user-defined relationships. The stress is not on supporting relationships as first-class objects, but on describing their update rules (or operational semantics) through a set of constructors namely, reaction, anticipation, delegation and exception. The approach has been borne out by an implementation in an active object-oriented database system.     

Mathematical modelling of the alcoholic fermentation of glucose by Zymomonas mobilis mobilis

The kinetics of alcoholic fermentation of a strain of Zymomonas mobilis, isolated from sugarcane juice, has been studied with the objective of determining the constansts of a non-structured mathematical model that represents the fermentation process. Assays in batch and in continuous culture have been carried out with different initial concentrations of glucose. The final concentrations of glucose, ethanol and biomass were determined. The following kinetic parameters were obtained: μ_max, 0·5 h^?1; K_s, 4·64 g dm^?3; P_max, 106 g dm^?3; Y_x/s, 0·0265 g g^?1; m, 1·4 g g^?1 h^?1; α, 17·38 g g^?1; β, 0·69 g g^?1 h^?1.