An approach in modeling the temperature effect in thermo-stamping of woven composites

Made with high-strength continuous fibers, textile composites are of increasing interest in automotive and aerospace industries due to their high-strength/weight performance as compared to sheet metals. Nevertheless, significant reduction in manufacturing cost is required to use textile composites for mass production applications. Highly efficient thermo-stamping operations possess the potential to substantially reduce fabrication time and cost compared to the much slower autoclave forming process. In this paper, thermo-forming of woven fabric-reinforced thermo-plastic composites is simulated using a non-orthogonal material model. The temperature effect is taken into account by modifying the equivalent material properties for the composite sheet based on the contact status between the tooling and the blank. The approach is exemplified on the hemispherical thermo-stamping of a plain weave composite sheet.     

Adjustable modules for high-power (over 7.5-mW CS) coupling of diode lasers to single-mode fibers

Single-mode (SM) fiber output power of over 7.5-mW CW has been obtained in unique adjustable coupling modules. These are the highest powers ever reported coupled between diode lasers and single-mode fibers. Coupling efficiencies over 30 percent were obtained in simple butt-coupling by taking advantage of the large mode size available from RCA constricted-double-heterojunction large-optical cavity (CDH-LOC) lasers. We also observed peak fiber power of over 9 mW with 100-ns 50-percent duty cycle pulses. The minature modules provide relative transverse and lateral motion between fiber and laser with 2000-Å resolution, allowing fine tuning against long-term drifts. The coupling, while adjustable, is still stable against moderate acceleration of module and motion of fiber pigtail. The adjustments may be adapted to servo control.     

Constitution of tars from the flash pyrolysis of Australian coals: 2. Structural study of Millmerran coal-tar resins by hydrogenolysis

The structures of the acid, base, polyfunctional and neutral resin fractions of Millmerran coal tar have been studied by high-pressure catalytic hydrogenolysis followed by g.c.-m.s. analysis of the volatile products. n-Alkanes from C₉ to C₃₂ constitute 4–24% of the organic products. Each fraction shows a characteristic n-alkane distribution. The alkanes are considered to be an integral part of the coal-tar resin structure. The results show that 40–70% of the coal-tar resin fractions consist of 1- or 2-ring aromatic units substituted or linked by long methylene chains.     

Coping Skills Training and 12-Step Facilitation for Women Whose Partner Has Alcoholism: Effects on Depression, the Partner's Drinking, and Partner Physical Violence.

Women (N = 171), distressed from their partners' untreated alcoholism, received either coping skills training (CST), 12-step facilitation (TSF), or delayed treatment (DTC). CST and TSF resulted in lower depression levels than DTC but did not differ from one another. Skill acquisition mediated the treatment effects of CST; Al-Anon attendance did not mediate the TSF effect. Lower depression levels were maintained at 12 months with no differences between groups. Partner drinking decreased from pretreatment to follow-up in the CST and TSF conditions. However, for partners with a history of relationship violence, drinking improved across follow-up in the CST condition but worsened in the TSF condition. Partner relationship violence was less in the CST condition. CST may be particularly useful for women experiencing physical violence from a partner with alcoholism. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Method for purification of krypton from environmental samples for analysis of radiokrypton isotopes

Radiokrypton isotopes ((81)Kr and (85)Kr) are ideal tracers and chronometers of various environmental processes. Atom trap trace analysis (ATTA) is capable of determining the ultralow isotopic abundances of radiokryptons (<10(-12)) provided that 50 microL of pure Kr is available. The analysis by using ATTA of (81)Kr in naturally occurring gases of interest, e.g., dissolved gases in hydrological reservoirs, requires separation of parts-per-million (ppm) level Kr from chemically airlike bulk gas. A newly developed Kr purification system is based on conventional cryogenic distillation and gas chromatography to which continuous monitoring of gas effluent composition using a quadrupole mass spectrometer brings significant advantages. Simple cryogenic distillation is controlled based on the evolution of N2/Ar ratio that is relatively constant in naturally occurring, inorganic gas. Gas chromatographic separation of parts-per-million by volume (ppmv) level Kr from up to a few liters of bulk gas can be achieved by concentrating the Kr under the chromatographic tails of major components. The system described here is capable of extracting Kr of >98% purity from 5-125 L STP (standard temperature and pressure) of bulk gas with >90% yield within several hours. This system is generally useful for separation of microliter amounts of unreactive trace volatile compounds from large-volume gas samples.     

Interpreting top-down mass spectra using spectral alignment

Recent advances in mass spectrometry instrumentation, such as FTICR and OrbiTrap, have made it possible to generate high-resolution spectra of entire proteins. While these methods offer new opportunities for performing "top-down" studies of proteins, the computational tools for analyzing top-down data are still scarce. In this paper we investigate the application of spectral alignment to the problem of identifying protein forms in top-down mass spectra (i.e., identifying the modifications, mutations, insertions, and deletions). We demonstrate how spectral alignment efficiently discovers protein forms even in the presence of numerous modifications and how the algorithm can be extended to discover positional isomers from spectra of mixtures of isobaric protein forms.     

Directed assembly of functional light harvesting antenna complexes onto chemically patterned surfaces

We report the directed assembly of the photosynthetic membrane proteins LH1 and LH2 isolated from the purple bacterium Rhodobacter sphaeroides onto chemically patterned substrates. Nanoimprint lithography was used to pattern discrete regions of amino-?and fluoro-terminated or poly(ethylene glycol) self-assembled monolayers onto a glass substrate. Densely packed layers of assembled protein complexes were observed with atomic force microscopy. The protein complexes attached selectively to the amino-terminated regions by electrostatic interactions. Spectral images generated with a hybrid scanning probe and fluorescence microscope confirmed that the patterned proteins retained their native optical signatures.     

Pre-clinical evaluation of the Cambridge acetabular cup

It is postulated that the stiffness of current acetabular designs compromises long-term component stability. We present a novel acetabular component design that is horseshoe shaped and has a large diameter bearing. It is made from composite materials and is designed to match the stiffness of subchondral bone. It is intended that stress shielding will be minimised and that the distribution of stress will be improved. The mechanical and biological suitability of the composite has been confirmed. A range of standard and non-standard, pre-clinical, tests have established the robustness and safety of the new component. The efficacy of the new design has been evaluated by clinical trial on 50 patients. Optimal results were obtained using the hydroxyapatite (HA) coated cups. Our results support the new design concept, with the caveat that biological fixation is imperative. Minor design modifications are recommended.     

Multiple confidence estimates as indices of eyewitness memory.

Eyewitness identification decisions are vulnerable to various influences on witnesses' decision criteria that contribute to false identifications of innocent suspects and failures to choose perpetrators. An alternative procedure using confidence estimates to assess the degree of match between novel and previously viewed faces was investigated. Classification algorithms were applied to participants' confidence data to determine when a confidence value or pattern of confidence values indicated a positive response. Experiment 1 compared confidence group classification accuracy with a binary decision control group's accuracy on a standard old-new face recognition task and found superior accuracy for the confidence group for target-absent trials but not for target-present trials. Experiment 2 used a face mini-lineup task and found reduced target-present accuracy offset by large gains in target-absent accuracy. Using a standard lineup paradigm, Experiments 3 and 4 also found improved classification accuracy for target-absent lineups and, with a more sophisticated algorithm, for target-present lineups. This demonstrates the accessibility of evidence for recognition memory decisions and points to a more sensitive index of memory quality than is afforded by binary decisions. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)