Theoretical calculations and performance results of a PZT thin film actuator

High piezoelectric coupling coefficients of PZT-based material systems can be employed for actuator functions in micro-electro-mechanical systems (MEMS) offering displacements and forces which outperform standard solutions. This paper presents simulation, fabrication, and development results of a stress-compensated, PZT-coated cantilever concept in which a silicon bulk micromachining process is used in combination with a chemical solution deposition (CSD) technique. Due to an analytical approach and a finite element method (FEM) simulation for a tip displacement of 10 /spl mu/m, the actuator was designed with a cantilever length of 300 /spl mu/m to 1000 /spl mu/m. Special attention was given to the Zr/Ti ratio of the PZT thin films to obtain a high piezoelectric coefficient. For first characterizations X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), hysteresis-, current-voltage I(V)and capacitance-voltage C(V)-measurements were carried out.     

Customer order management in service oriented holonic manufacturing

One of the most important problems when considering the design of manufacturing systems based on SOA paradigms is the integration of shop floor devices in the business processes at the enterprise level. This paper presents the design and implementation of the Customer Order Management (COM) module based on SOA architecture in the context of holonic manufacturing systems. The COM module is integrating with SOA enabled shop floor devices using industry standards. The implementation leverages a multi agent system suited for industrial applications integrated in a SOA environment capable of dynamic BPEL workflow generation and execution. The prototype consists in a SCA application for core COM module functionality and an extension for NetLogo MAS platform for SOA integration. The COM module interacts with the MES layer using real time events handled by the BPEL process implementation in the execution stage. A web based portal frontend for the COM module has been developed to allow real time tracking of customer orders, providing data about product batch execution and individual progress of each product on the production line.     

Fire behaviour of steel‐PU foam panels

The combustibility ratings in different countries of steel skin panels with rigid polyurethane foam cores are outlined. The author then argues that, though such panels may be classified as combustible because of the core material, what matters is the actual fire behaviour of the sandwich panels in practice, illustrated by examples. The general conclusion is that the panels neither maintain nor spread fire. His paper is based on a report by the West German association for furthering the use of steel components in building, IVBS, of Dusseldorf — Industrie‐verband zur Förderung des Bauens mit Stahlblech.     

Blast-resistant structural concrete and steel connections

A series of numerical studies were conducted on the behavior of structural concrete and structural steel connection subjected to blast loads. These studies gradually enhanced the understanding of the role that structural details play in affecting the behavior. Observations from those studies highlighted possible safety concerns with current blast design procedures. Conclusions and recommendations are provided for correcting the observed problems.     

MS Binding Assays for D1 and D5 Dopamine Receptors

MS Binding Assays are a label‐free alternative to radioligand binding assays. They provide basically the same capabilities as the latter, but an unlabeled reporter ligand is used instead of a radioligand. The study presented herein describes the development of MS Binding Assays that address D₁ and D₅ dopamine receptors. A highly sensitive, rapid and robust LC–ESI‐MS/MS quantification method for the selective D₁ dopamine receptor antagonist SCH23390 ((5R)‐8‐chloro‐3‐methyl‐5‐phenyl‐1,2,4,5‐tetrahydro‐3‐benzazepin‐7‐ol) was established and validated, using its 8‐bromo analogue SKF83566 as an internal standard. This quantification method proved to be suitable for the characterization of SCH23390 binding to human D₁ and D₅ receptors. Following the concept of MS Binding Assays, saturation experiments for D₁ and D₅ receptors were performed, as well as competition experiments for D₁ receptors. The results obtained are in good agreement with results from radioligand binding assays and therefore indicate that the established MS Binding Assays addressing D₁ and D₅ receptors are well‐suited substitutes for radioligand binding assays, the technique that has so far dominated affinity determinations toward these targets.     

Probing first-order spatial coherence of a Bose-Einstein condensate

Abstract

We probe the spatial coherence properties of a magnetically trapped Bose gas. Two matter wave beams are extracted from two spatially separated regions of the trap and overlap outside the trapping region. The visibility of the resulting interference pattern measures the phase coherence between the regions of extraction. By varying the spatial separation between the two regions the first-order spatial correlation function of the trapped Bose gas can be measured. The location of the minima of the interference pattern is reproducible, which experimentally confirms that the trapped Bose-Einstein condensate is not fragmented into individual condensates.     

Seeing the Objects Behind the Dots: Recognition in Videos from a Moving Camera

Category-level object recognition, segmentation, and tracking in videos becomes highly challenging when applied to sequences from a hand-held camera that features extensive motion and zooming. An additional challenge is then to develop a fully automatic video analysis system that works without manual initialization of a tracker or other human intervention, both during training and during recognition, despite background clutter and other distracting objects. Moreover, our working hypothesis states that category-level recognition is possible based only on an erratic, flickering pattern of interest point locations without extracting additional features. Compositions of these points are then tracked individually by estimating a parametric motion model. Groups of compositions segment a video frame into the various objects that are present and into background clutter. Objects can then be recognized and tracked based on the motion of their compositions and on the shape they form. Finally, the combination of this flow-based representation with an appearance-based one is investigated. Besides evaluating the approach on a challenging video categorization database with significant camera motion and clutter, we also demonstrate that it generalizes to action recognition in a natural way. Electronic Supplementary Material  The online version of this article () contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users. This work was supported in part by the Swiss national science foundation under contract no. 200021-107636.     

Analysis of the DNA content in Bowen''s disease

Marketing of medicinal plants and phytotherapeutic products is spreading all over the world. In order to assess the commercialization of medicinal plants and phytotherapeutic products in the State of Minas Gerais, we identified and tested for the presence of adulterants and active ingredients in 27 samples of chamomile. All the samples consisted of Matricaria recutita flowers, but they were badly fragmented, a result of excessive handling and poor preservation. All samples contained contaminants, and insects were observed in 63% of the samples sold in drugstores. Only 50% of the samples in each group had the essential oils needed to produce antiinflammatory activity. Flavonoids and other phenolic constituents with a spasmolytic effect were detected in only 20% of the samples from each group. Results with chamomile indicated the poor quality with which medicinal plants and phytotherapeutic products are marketed and confirm the need for surveillance of such products in Brazil.     

Munich dark matter search

We plan a dark matter search using cryogenic calorimetric detectors with superconducting phase transition thermometers. We discuss such an experiment, compare its estimated sensitivity range with other dark matter searches, and discuss its planned realization.