Influence of Powder Morphology and Chemical Composition on Metallic Foams produced by SlipReactionFoamSintering (SRFS)‐ Process

The SlipReactionFoamSintering (SRFS)‐ process is a metallurgical method to produce open‐cell metallic foams of iron based materials, steels and nickel based materials. In this process several chemical reactions take place. Through the most influential parameter, the morphology of the metallic powder, different properties of the foam can be adjusted, such as the viscosity of the slip, the cell structure and the mechanical properties. Several examples are presented in this paper. Moreover, the thermal conductivity of three foams is measured with the transient‐heat‐source‐technique.     

Automatic image annotation using visual content and folksonomies

Automatic image annotation is an important and challenging task, and becomes increasingly necessary when managing large image collections. This paper describes techniques for automatic image annotation that take advantage of collaboratively annotated image databases, so called visual folksonomies. Our approach applies two techniques based on image analysis: First, classification annotates images with a controlled vocabulary and second tag propagation along visually similar images. The latter propagates user generated, folksonomic annotations and is therefore capable of dealing with an unlimited vocabulary. Experiments with a pool of Flickr images demonstrate the high accuracy and efficiency of the proposed methods in the task of automatic image annotation. Both techniques were applied in the prototypical tag recommender “tagr”.     

Designing low-complexity electrical consumer products for ecological use

This study examined the environmental impact of low-complexity electrical consumer products during their use in a domestic context. In the experimental scenario, 48 users were asked to use a kettle under different conditions. On-product information (OPI), task instruction, and kettle design were employed as independent variables in a mixed multi-factorial design to examine their effects on different parameters of ecological performance (e.g., water and electricity consumption). Measures of user variables (environmental concern, knowledge, domestic habits, environmental control beliefs) were also taken to examine their relationship with performance parameters. The results revealed main effects of ecological task instruction, OPI and (partly) kettle design on ecological user behaviour. Habits, environmental concern and control beliefs were found to be related to performance parameters whereas knowledge was not. The implications of the results for product design are discussed against the background of a strong prevalence of habits and low ecological user motivation.     

Cocaprins, β-Trefoil Fold Inhibitors of Cysteine and Aspartic Proteases from Coprinopsis cinerea

We introduce a new family of fungal protease inhibitors with β-trefoil fold from the mushroom Coprinopsis cinerea, named cocaprins, which inhibit both cysteine and aspartic proteases. Two cocaprin-encoding genes are differentially expressed in fungal tissues. One is highly transcribed in vegetative mycelium and the other in the stipes of mature fruiting bodies. Cocaprins are small proteins (15 kDa) with acidic isoelectric points that form dimers. The three-dimensional structure of cocaprin 1 showed similarity to fungal β-trefoil lectins. Cocaprins inhibit plant C1 family cysteine proteases with K_i in the micromolar range, but do not inhibit the C13 family protease legumain, which distinguishes them from mycocypins. Cocaprins also inhibit the aspartic protease pepsin with K_i in the low micromolar range. Mutagenesis revealed that the β2-β3 loop is involved in the inhibition of cysteine proteases and that the inhibitory reactive sites for aspartic and cysteine proteases are located at different positions on the protein. Their biological function is thought to be the regulation of endogenous proteolytic activities or in defense against fungal antagonists. Cocaprins are the first characterized aspartic protease inhibitors with β-trefoil fold from fungi, and demonstrate the incredible plasticity of loop functionalization in fungal proteins with β-trefoil fold.     

A reduced integration solid‐shell finite element based on the EAS and the ANS concept—Large deformation problems

In this paper we address the extension of a recently proposed reduced integration eight‐node solid‐shell finite element to large deformations. The element requires only one integration point within the shell plane and at least two integration points over the thickness. The possibility to choose arbitrarily many Gauss points over the shell thickness enables a realistic and efficient modeling of the non‐linear material behavior. Only one enhanced degree‐of‐freedom is needed to avoid volumetric and Poisson thickness locking. One key point of the formulation is the Taylor expansion of the inverse Jacobian matrix with respect to the element center leading to a very accurate modeling of arbitrary element shapes. The transverse shear and curvature thickness locking are cured by means of the assumed natural strain concept. Further crucial points are the Taylor expansion of the compatible cartesian strain with respect to the center of the element as well as the Taylor expansion of the second Piola–Kirchhoff stress tensor with respect to the normal through the center of the element. Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Job stressors and the pursuit of sport activities: A day-level perspective.

This article addresses the relation between day-specific experiences of job stressors and the pursuit of off-job activities. Following the limited-resources model of self-regulation, the authors proposed that job stressors and long working hours are negatively related to pursuit of sport activities after work because, after stressful days, employees have no resources left for initiating and persisting in effortful behaviors such as sport. Routines for off-job activities were hypothesized to be positively related to the pursuit of sport activities after work. Seventy-eight police employees completed a daily survey over 5 working days and indicated that they perceive sport to be highly useful for recovery. Random coefficient modeling showed that job stressors (particularly situational constraints) encountered on a specific day were negatively related to self-regulatory resources and to the amount of time spent on sport activities after work, whereas the relation with low-effort activities was positive. Thus, after a stressful day when an effective recovery activity such as sport is highly needed, persons tend to engage less in such an activity. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Investigation of injectable drospirenone organogels with regard to their rheology and comparison to non-stabilized oil-based drospirenone suspensions

The objective of this study was to evaluate organogels as potential injectable drug-delivery systems for drospirenone (DRSP). Recently, studies on organogel characterization with focus on the parenteral injection are rarely to find in the literature. DRSP organogels contained the drug suspended in medium-chain triglycerides and were stabilized by various organogelators. The DRSP organogels were assessed in comparison to non-stabilized DRSP microcrystal suspensions (MCSs). Furthermore, rheological properties of the organogels, in particular the elastic modulus (G′), the complex viscosity (η*) and the elasticity, were evaluated with respect to the long-term stability, syringeability/injectability and in vitro release. DRSP organogels showed significantly improved storage stability compared to non-stabilized MCSs with regard to sedimentation and particle growth. Furthermore, all of the DRSP organogels showed shear-thinning behavior. Thus, ejection from syringes was possible by an autoinjector using 23G needles comparable to non-stabilized MCSs. Nevertheless, DRSP organogels exhibited significantly more sustained drug release than non-stabilized MCSs most likely caused by partial recovery of the organogelator structures at 37?°C after destruction. Consequently, DRSP organogels were evaluated to be superior to conventional non-stabilized MCSs. Silica organogels, which provided the highest elasticity, moderate G' and η* and avoided most efficiently particle growth, are slightly more preferable compared to the other DRSP organogels.