Stability analysis of stiffened plates by finite strips

The stability analysis of stiffened plates by means of the finite strip method is presented. The studies are based on the thin shallow theory, giving nonlinear strain displacement relations, but linear curvature displacement relations. The nonlinear equilibrium equations are obtained by the principle of incremental virtual work, using finite strip discretization. The higher order strip with one internal nodal line is applied. It is shown that considerable improvements can be obtained using this kind of strip. It is especially true for the postbuckling analysis. Numerical examples of the strength of stiffened plates in compression are carried out, covering a range of plate and stiffener slenderness.     

Chemistry towards Biology—Instruct: Snapshot

The knowledge of interactions between different molecules is undoubtedly the driving force of all contemporary biomedical and biological sciences. Chemical biology/biological chemistry has become an important multidisciplinary bridge connecting the perspectives of chemistry and biology to the study of small molecules/peptidomimetics and their interactions in biological systems. Advances in structural biology research, in particular linking atomic structure to molecular properties and cellular context, are essential for the sophisticated design of new medicines that exhibit a high degree of druggability and very importantly, druglikeness. The authors of this contribution are outstanding scientists in the field who provided a brief overview of their work, which is arranged from in silico investigation through the characterization of interactions of compounds with biomolecules to bioactive materials.     

Porous ion-exchange membranes, 2. Effect of adhesion promoters

The previously described preparation of porous ion-exchange membranes (PIEM's) from the ternary blends of polyethylene interpolymer with poly(styrene-co-divinylbenzene) and polypropylene and calcium carbonate filler has been supplemented with the use of stearic acid and dibutyl phthalate as adhesion promoters. It was noted that both promoters govern the huge increase of pore diameter without any significant disturbances in the other PIEM's properties. The facilitating effect of chlorosulfonic acid diffusion toward calcium carbonate grains and large amounts of carbon dioxide volatilization was concluded. This is the basic point of pore creation to be discussed in this paper.     

Classification in a fuzzy environment

In this paper a method of designing a pattern classifier in the presence of fuzzy data (patterns represented in a linguistic manner) is provided. The classifier formulas are studied in a general setting of fuzzy relation equations. Special attention is focused on feature ordering while coping with fuzziness.     

Mariposa: a wide-area distributed database system

The requirements of wide-area distributed database systems differ dramatically from those of local-area network systems. In a wide-area network (WAN) configuration, individual sites usually report to different system administrators, have different access and charging algorithms, install site-specific data type extensions, and have different constraints on servicing remote requests. Typical of the last point are production transaction environments, which are fully engaged during normal business hours, and cannot take on additional load. Finally, there may be many sites participating in a WAN distributed DBMS. In this world, a single program performing global query optimization using a cost-based optimizer will not work well. Cost-based optimization does not respond well to site-specific type extension, access constraints, charging algorithms, and time-of-day constraints. Furthermore, traditional cost-based distributed optimizers do not scale well to a large number of possible processing sites. Since traditional distributed DBMSs have all used cost-based optimizers, they are not appropriate in a WAN environment, and a new architecture is required. We have proposed and implemented an economic paradigm as the solution to these issues in a new distributed DBMS called Mariposa. In this paper, we present the architecture and implementation of Mariposa and discuss early feedback on its operating characteristics. Edited by Henry F. Korth and Amith Sheth. Received November 1994 / Revised June 1995 / Accepted September 14, 1995     

Prediction of thermodynamic properties of ternary liquid solutions including metal alloys

The free-volume theory of liquid solutions formulated by Flory and also by Patterson for binary systems, has been extended to ternary systems. Numerical calculations have been performed to test the validity of the approach, for a system of organic liquids, for a system of condensed gases, and also for a system of liquid metal alloys. Satisfactory results have been obtained in all cases. Thus, prediction of properties of ternary solutions from a limited number of data concerning pure components and binary mixtures was found possible.     

Drag reduction and mechanical degradation in polymer solutions in flow

A list of conclusions from experimental studies of drag reduction (DR) and mechanucal degradation in flow (MDF) is made. A statistical-mechanical model of chain conformations developed by the author⁹ is used, and its consequences for DR and MDF established. Experimental findings are explained in terms of the model, including those considered to be puzzling and contrary to expectations. A relation between the extent of mechanical degradation and flow time is derived. The equation obtained for relative drag reduction in function of time reproduces perfectly the experimental data for polystyrene+toluene solutions reported by Hunston and Zakin¹². Some predictions from the present model have yet to be tested experimentally.     

Synthesis of passive networks containing periodically operated thyristors

This paper gives a new approach to the designing of power electronic networks. A method for the determination of passive time-varying networks is given when time functions of the excitation and response are given. These time functions are periodic. the period is divided into intervals. the network is linear and time-invariant in each interval. A sequence of the linear time-invariant networks is realized using switches. Switched windings of a multiport transformer are defined. Such elements enable one to realize the sequence of the linear time-invariant networks. Conditions for the substitution switches for thyristors are formulated. A structure of a thyristor converter is presented as an example.