FEM-analysis of transverse vibrations of an axially moving membrane immersed in ideal fluid

Transverse vibrations of an axially moving (travelling in its own plane) membrane submerged in ideal fluid are analysed using the FEM. The discrete equations differ from the equations of the common coupled problem in that there appear two additional inertia terms due to the convective acceleration. The effect of the density of the element mesh, the effect of the truncation distance and the effect of various lumping techniques on the accuracy of the results are studied. The FEM-results are compared with available analytical and experimental results. The agreement seems to be rather good.     

The publication and citation output of German Faculties of Economics and Social Sciences - a comparison of faculties and disciplines based upon SSCI data

Summary The purpose of this study is to quantify and compare the publication and citation output of the biggest faculties of economics and social sciences in Germany. Various publication and citation measures based upon Social Science Citation Index (SSCI) data are used to explore the comparative strengths and weaknesses of ten academic fields at the named faculties. To reflect the varying size of the fields and faculties, output measures as well as productivity measures are explicitly considered. From a bibliometric perspective empirical results demonstrate that various measures are necessary to adequately identify the comparative strengths and weaknesses of entire faculties and of selected disciplines within faculties.     

Incremental constraint modelling in a feature modelling system

The techniques of constraint propagation have recently been successfully applied to feature-based design. Because of their speed, constraint propagation methods allow incremental design and rapid local modifcations of the part. However, cyclic constraints cause serious problems to current constraint propagation algorithms. Variational geometric design systems can, in principle, manage these cases. Unfortunately, this typically requires complete re-evaluation of the underlying set of constraint equations, making the method unsuitable for interactive use. The proposed system aims to localize the problem of constraint solving and maintenance. The constraint graph of the part or assembly is divided into several independent partial graphs, subsystems. Afterwards, each subsystem is handled separately using a selected constraint solving technique for the subsystem.     

Cross-cultural differences in the perception of the emotional content of speech: A study of the development of sensitivity in Canadian and Mexican children.

Examined and compared the ability of Canadian and Mexican children to identify the emotional content of vocal expressions. Ss were 10 males from each country at each age 6-11 yrs. 10 male Canadian and 10 male Mexican undergraduates also served as Ss. Canadian and Mexican actresses, speaking any words they wished in their respective languages, simulated the emotions of happiness, sadness, love, and anger. After the initial recording, speech samples were arranged in random order and then rendered unintelligible by means of an electronic filtering device (which removed semantic content while leaving intact the tonal qualities of speech). When the filtered vocal expressions were played to Ss, a progressive increase with age in ability to identify correctly the emotions expressed was found. Further, the Mexican Ss overall were significantly more sensitive than the Canadian Ss. However, Ss from both countries judged the speech samples from Mexican actresses more accurately than those from Canadian actresses. (17 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Synovial-type (group II) phospholipase A2 human seminal plasma

Phospholipase A2 (PLA2) was analysed in seminal plasma of fertile, subfertile, and vasectomized men as well as in prostatic secretion and tissue. Immunological cross-reactivity was observed between synovial-type PLA2 antiserum and the enzyme present in seminal plasma. There was a highly significant correlation between the concentration of the synovial-type PLA2, as measured by a time-resolved fluoroimmunoassay and the catalytic activity of the PLA2. The results show that the PLA2 content in human seminal plasma is very high (approximately 1000 times of that present in blood plasma) and that the enzyme belongs to the synovial-type group II phospholipase A2. The results also indicate that the enzyme is secreted by the prostate.     

Depressive vulnerability in parents and their 5-year-old child's temperament: A family system perspective.

The actor-partner interdependence model was used to test whether one parent's depressive vulnerability (self-criticism and dependency) was associated with the same parent's own (an intraparental association) and the other parent's (a cross-parental association) ratings of their 5-year-old child's temperament (536 parents, 268 dyads). The more vulnerable the parents were, the more the children showed negative affectivity and lack of effortful control. Significant interactions with the parent's gender and between the spouses' depressive vulnerabilities were found, highlighting the fact that child outcomes are dependent on family processes. All associations were independent of maternal and paternal depressive symptoms. The influence of personality-based depressive traits on child temperamental outcomes and effective parenting is discussed with reference to between-dyad family dynamics. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Hot electron-induced cathodic electrochemiluminescence of rhodamine B at disposable oxide-coated aluminum electrodes

Rhodamine B (RhB) exhibits strong cathodic electrogenerated chemiluminescence (ECL) in aqueous solutions during high-amplitude pulse polarization at thin oxide film-coated aluminum electrodes. This method allows the detection of RhB below nanomolar concentration level and provides linear calibration plots spanning over several orders of magnitude of concentration. In addition, a relatively long ECL lifetime of RhB provides a basis for time-resolved detection. Thus, widely used RhB-based labels can also be suggested to be usable as electrochemiluminescent labels in fully aqueous solutions in bioaffinity assays such as in immunoassays and DNA-probing assays. Support was obtained for the chemiluminescence generation mechanism to be essentially the same as that of radiochemiluminescence in aqueous solution.     

Adrenaline markedly improves thoracic epidural analgesia produced by a low-dose infusion of bupivacaine, fentanyl and adrenaline after major surgery. A randomised, double-blind, cross-over study with and without adrenaline

BACKGROUND: Basic pharmacological research indicates that there are synergistic antinociceptive effects at the spinal cord level between adrenaline, fentanyl and bupivacaine. Our clinical experience with such a mixture in a thoracic epidural infusion after major surgery confirms this. The objectives of the present study were to evaluate the effects on postoperative pain intensity, pain relief and side effects when removing adrenaline from this triple epidural mixture. METHODS: A prospective, randomised, double-blind, cross-over study was carried out in 24 patients after major thoracic or abdominal surgery. Patients with only mild pain when coughing during a titrated thoracic epidural infusion of about 10 ml.h-1 of bupivacaine 1 mg.ml-1, fentanyl 2 micrograms.ml-1, and adrenaline 2 micrograms.ml-1 were included. On the 1st and 2nd postoperative days each patient was given a double-blind epidural infusion, at the same rate, with or without adrenaline. The effect was observed for 4 h or until pain when coughing became unacceptable in spite of a rescue analgesic procedure. Rescue analgesia consisted of up to two epidural bolus injections per hour and i.v. morphine if necessary. All patients received rectal paracetamol 1 g, every 8 h. Fentanyl serum concentrations were measured with a radioimmunoassay technique at the start and end of each study period. Main outcome measures were extent of sensory blockade and pain intensity at rest and when coughing, evaluated by a visual analogue scale, a verbal categorical rating scale, the Prince Henry Hospital pain score, and an overall quality of pain relief score. RESULTS: The number of hypaesthetic dermatomal segments decreased (P < 0.001) and pain intensity at rest and when coughing increased (P < 0.001) when adrenaline was omitted from the triple epidural mixture. This change started within the first hour after removing adrenaline. After 3 h pain intensity when coughing had increased to unacceptable levels in spite of rescue analgesia (epidural bolus injections and i.v. morphine). Within 15-20 min after restarting the triple epidural mixture with adrenaline, pain intensity was again reduced to mild pain when coughing. Serum concentration of fentanyl doubled from 0.22 to 0.45 ng.ml-1 (P < 0.01), and there was more sedation during the period without adrenaline. CONCLUSIONS: Adrenaline increases sensory block and improves the pain-relieving effect of a mixture of bupivacaine and fentanyl infused epidurally at a thoracic level after major thoracic or abdominal surgery. Serum fentanyl concentrations doubled and sedation increased when adrenaline was removed from the epidural infusion, indicating more rapid vascular absorption and systemic effects of fentanyl.     

The effect of reaction conditions on the oxidation of veratryl alcohol catalyzed by cobalt salen-complexes

Cobalt salen-type [salen=N,N′-bis(salicylidene)ethylenediamine] complexes 1–6 were studied as catalysts for dioxygen activation in the oxidation of veratryl alcohol in basic aqueous conditions. The complexes Co(salen) (1), Co(CH₃salen) (2) [CH₃salen=N,N′-bis(methylsalicylidene)ethylenediamine], Co(4OHsalen) (3) [4OHsalen=N,N′-bis(4-hydroxosalicylidene)ethylenediamine], Co(sulfosalen) (4) [sulfosalen=N,N′-bis(5-sulfonatosalicylidene)ethylenediamine], Co(acacen) (5) [acacen=N,N′-bis(acetylacetone)ethylenediamine) and Co(N-Me-salpr) (6) [N-Me-salpr=bis(salicylideniminato-3-propyl)methylamine] were chosen to examine the influence of ligand structure on the catalytic activity. The effect of reaction conditions on the oxidation of veratryl alcohol was studied by varying temperature, pH, time or the nature and amount of the axial base needed to enhance the activity of complexes 1–5. The catalytic behaviour of the studied complexes was shown to be very depended on the applied conditions and distinct differences could be observed among the complexes. In all reactions, veratraldehyde was the only product observed. The unsubstituted complex 1 was the most efficient catalyst in the studied system achieving turnover numbers of up to 28 at 80 °C and pH 12.5.     

Reading long words embedded in sentences: Informativeness of word halves affects eye movements.

The possibility was explored that the informativeness of a specific region within a word can influence eye movements during reading. In Experiment 1, words containing identifying information either toward the beginning or toward the end were displayed asymmetrically around the point of fixation so that the reader was initially presented with either the informative or noninformative zone. Words were read with shorter summed initial fixation time when the reading was started from the informative zone. In Experiments 2 and 3, the target words were presented in sentences that were to be comprehended. More attention was given to the informative endings of words than to redundant endings. The latter were also skipped more often. The duration of the first fixation was not affected by information distribution within the word, whereas the second fixation duration was. The results of these experiments lend good support to the hypothesis of immediate lexical control over fixation behavior and to the notion of a convenient viewing position. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)