The elliptic paraboloid failure criterion for cellular solids and brittle foams

Summary Cellular solids and brittle foams are increasingly finding application in constructions mainly as core materials for loaded sandwich structures where the loading of the structure generates multiaxial stress states on them. It has been established that the principal mechanism of deformation is based on the cell-wall bending and closed-cell as well as open-cell foams present similar stiffnesses. Therefore simple relations are found for their tensile, compressive and shear strengths and their elastic properties.It has been established in this paper that the modes of failure of such materials can be satisfactorily described by the elliptic paraboloid failure criterion for the general orthotropic body. Then, as soon as the yield or failure stresses in simple tension and compression are measured along the three principal stress directions of the material the failure locus is unequivocally defined and all the properties of the material under any complicated load can be accurately established. However, since these materials fail in the compression-compression-compression octant of the principal stress space by elastic buckling, the EPFS-criterion is cut-off by an ellipsoid surface, with intercepts along the principal axes the respective compressive failure stresses.The criterion thus established yields satisfactory results. It has been tested among others in a reticulated vitreous carbon foam as well as in an aluminium foam. The experimental results for these foams existing in the literature are fitting better with this universal criterion than any other considered, thus indicating the validity of the elliptic paraboloid failure criterion also for this type of materials.     

The glass fibre-polymer interface: II—Work of fracture and shear stresses

Pull-out experiments have been carried out on single production fibres under carefully controlled conditions. Four parameters were determined. The interfacial yield stresses, of about 9–14 MPa, were very much smaller than the shear strengths of the bulk polymers in the case of an epoxy, whether post-cured or not, and a non-post-cured polyester. Values for the work of fracture of the interface varied from 140 to 300 Jm^?2, and again were less than those of the polymer. Interface failure sometimes took place in the epoxy rather than at the fibre surface, whereas with the polyester it always took place at the fibre surface. After interface failure, pull-out was governed by friction, with maximum shear stresses of 7–10 MPa for polyester, and 21–34 MPa for epoxy, the higher values being obtained for the post-cured resins. Average frictional shear stresses were sometimes less than a half of the maximum shear stress, indicating that the fibre Poisson's shrinkage was playing an important role in the pull-out process. A silicone release agent reduced the frictional shear stresses to 2·5 MPa, with both resins.     

Modelling and analysis of 3-D arrangements of particles by point processes with examples of application to biological data obtained by confocal scanning light microscopy

Within the concept of point processes, a review is presented of quantities which can be used in studies of three-dimensional (3-D) aggregates of particles. Suitable characteristics and estimators are given for both unmarked and marked point processes. To demonstrate the feasibility of such quantitative approaches, an application in histology, dealing with 3-D arrangements of cell nuclei in rat liver, is described. Using a confocal scanning light microscope, 3-D images are recorded and image analysis used to obtain the coordinates of the centroid, together with the volume and DNA content, of each cell nucleus. Examples of results are given, using both unmarked and marked point processes. In the latter case, cell type, nuclear volume and ploidy group are suitable marks.     

Heat shock induces thermotolerance and inhibition of lysis in a lysogenic strain of Lactococcus lactis.

In this preliminary work, the heat shock response of lactic acid bacteria was investigated and characterized. Log-phase Lactococcus lactis cells pre-incubated at 40 degrees C before heat challenge at 52 degrees C for 30 min demonstrated increased thermotolerance as compared with cells pre-incubated at 30 degrees C. The response persisted for at least 60 min. Additionally, we demonstrated that: (i) the physiological expression of the heat shock response is temperature dependent; (ii) ethanol 4.0% (v/v) caused, to a lesser extent, a response similar to the heat shock; and (iii) hydrogen peroxide failed to induce a detectable response. Furthermore, we suggest that the induction of the heat shock response increases the resistance of a lysogenic strain of L. lactis, treated by mitomycin C (1.25 micrograms/ml), to lysis by the bacteriophage.     

Equalization with oversampling in multiuser CDMA systems

Some of the major challenges in the design of new-generation wireless mobile systems are the suppression of multiuser interference (MUI) and inter-symbol interference (ISI) within a single user created by the multipath propagation. Both of these problems were addressed successfully in a recent design of A Mutually Orthogonal Usercode-Receiver (AMOUR) for asynchronous or quasisynchronous code division multiple access (CDMA) systems. AMOUR converts a multiuser CDMA system into parallel single-user systems regardless of the multipath and guarantees ISI mitigation, irrespective of the channel locations. However, the noise amplification at the receiver can be significant in some multipath channels. In this paper, we propose to oversample the received signal as a way of improving the performance of AMOUR systems. We design Fractionally Spaced AMOUR (FSAMOUR) receivers with integral and rational amounts of oversampling and compare their performance with the conventional method. An important point that is often overlooked in the design of zero-forcing channel equalizers is that sometimes, they are not unique. This becomes especially significant in multiuser applications where, as we will show, the nonuniqueness is practically guaranteed. We exploit this flexibility in the design of AMOUR and FSAMOUR receivers and achieve noticeable improvements in performance.     

Artefactual cleavage of E coli H-NS by OmpT

In the bacterium Escherichia coli, H-NS-(H1, H1a) is a heat-stable protein with a molecular mass of 15.5 kDa involved in nucleoid organisation and gene regulation linked to certain signal transduction pathways. We have shown that, following addition of preparations of everted inner membrane vesicles, heat-stable cleavage products of approximately 10 kDa of H-NS are formed in vitro from newly synthesised, radio-labelled H-NS and from purified H-NS. The 15.5 kDa protein and its cleavage products were also recovered from a minicell system. These results raised the possibility that cleavage of H-NS is physiologically significant. However, the cleavage of H-NS observed appears to occur during cell breakage and to depend on the method of protein extraction and the presence of the outer membrane protease, OmpT. Nevertheless, the results indicate that H-NS may contain at least two separate domains with cleavage occurring between these domains at a preferred OmpT site. Failure to take account of H-NS cleavage in sample preparation and analysis can lead to serious underestimation of H-NS levels.     

Thoracic and abdominal SPECT-CT image fusion without external markers in endocrine carcinomas. The Group of Thyroid Tumoral Pathology of Champagne-Ardenne

Superimposition of SPECT and computed tomography (CT) slices from the thoracoabdominal region was achieved without the use of external markers for 14 studies in 13 patients with endocrine carcinoma. Technical feasibility and clinical validation of this retrospective fusion method were assessed. METHODS: Patients had a history of thyroid cancer or of carcinoid tumor. To detect tumor sites, CT scan and dual-isotope tomoscintigraphy were performed, with 99mTc-hydroxymethylene diphosphonate for bone scintigraphy and with 111In-pentetreotide, 131I or 131I-metaiodobenzylguanidine for tumor scintigraphy (TS). A superimposition method previously developed for the pelvic region was adapted to the nonrigid thoraco-abdominal region. CT-bone scintigraphy and CT-TS superimposed images were obtained. Clinical validation of the information obtained from the superimposed images was obtained from surgery or follow-up imaging studies performed after clinical evolution of the disease process. RESULTS: Reliable and reproducible registration was achieved in all patients. CT-TS superimposed images produced accurate localization of abnormal TS foci. Accuracy was limited primarily by variable relative displacements of the thoracoabdominal organs. For 10 sites in 8 patients, localization and/or characterization obtained from CT-TS images was confirmed by a reference technique. Superimposition enabled the localization of tumor sites that otherwise could not have been suspected from CT alone and allowed the characterization of CT suspicious masses and the confirmation of CT positive sites. Nonspecific tumor TS uptake sites were also localized. CONCLUSION: With standard CT and dual-isotope SPECT acquisitions, SPECT-CT fusion is feasible in the thoracoabdominal region without the use of external markers. Fused images were validated in 8 patients for 10 sites. The use of this technique could probably improve the management and care of patients with endocrine carcinoma.     

Involvement of zinc in intracellular oxidant/antioxidant balance

Methods to directly and indirectly identify the central sulcus are presented. In the axial plan, direct method is remarkable but obviously requires good visualization of the sulci in the central region. Sulci are readily visible in 90% of the cases on CT scans and in 50% of the cases on MRI. The method can also be applied when tumoral development erases the cerebral sulci by direct lecture of the controlateral rolandic region and right-left transfer. Within the precision limits of the method, it can be considered that the central sulci are symmetrical. The main signs are: the relative morphologies of the superior frontal sulcus and the precentral sulcus, the hook-shaped aspect of the middle part of the central sulcus, the internal end of the central sulcus projection anteriorly to the pars marginalis, the bifid nature of the internal end of the posterior central sulcus contouring the pars marginalis, and the lesser thickness of the posterior central gyrus compared with the precentral gyrus. The indirect method is less precise and is used when the direct method is unsuccessful. The central sulcus is identified on the sagittal images and, using the lateral view of the skull as a reference image, the topographic information is transferred to the axial images.     

Study of the nutrient distribution in root tips of the tropical forage Brachiaria

A Brachiaria breeding project is being conducted at CIAT, Colombia to combine acid soil adaptation of B. decumbens with other favourable traits of Brachiaria species that are less adapted to acid soils. Micro-PIXE was applied to investigate nutrient uptake and distribution in root tips of different species grown in hydroponic culture under control and simulated acid soil stress conditions. Different sample measurement approaches were evaluated, including: (1) linear scans with single point measurements along the root axis; (2) mapping of whole root tips; and (3) mapping of root cross sections. Different tissue types could be distinguished on the base of differences in nutrient concentrations and/or Al stress. Al, if supplied under nutrient stress conditions, increased P accumulation in the central vascular tissue of the meristematic and elongation zone of B. decumbens and B. brizantha. Furthermore, a negative correlation was found between Al and Cl accumulation in the root cap of B. decumbens.