Modular experimental setup for real‐time analysis of emergent behavior in networks of Chua's circuits

This paper describes the design, realization and use of an analogical, fully reconfigurable experimental setup to analyze the complex dynamics of networks of chaotic circuits. It reports details of the implementation and characterization of the setup, together with representative results, showing its flexibility and potential. The setup allows to choose arbitrarily the coupling strength and interconnection structure among the circuits, the type of link and to select the parameters of the node dynamics. It has a modular structure, and it can accommodate up to 32 nodes interconnected by at most 32 links. The collective dynamics of a relatively large set of different network structures and configurations has been investigated using the setup. Synchronization, pattern formation and other interesting collective phenomena were observed experimentally, their evidence being reported here as an illustration of the potential of the proposed setup. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Ultrasonic Guided Wave Inspection of Bonded Lap Joints: Noncontact Method and Photoelastic Visualization

Abstract

The main topic of this paper is the nondestructive inspection of adhesively bonded lap joints by using ultrasonic guided (plate) waves. A noncontact, couplant-free method that employs capacitive air-coupled transducers is demonstrated for the inspection of thin aluminum joints with dimensions typical of aircraft fuselage and wing panels. Two types of bond defects, disbonded regions and regions of poorly cured (low-cohesive-strength) adhesive, are successfully detected by measuring the amplitude decrease of selected plate waves leaking from one adherend to the other one through the bondline. It is shown that proper choice of the vibrating mode structure, in terms of cross-sectional displacement distributions, is needed in order to maximize the sensitivity of the inspection to the presence of the low-cohesive-strength bond.

Results from a dynamic photoelasticity study are also presented to visualize fundamental behavior of propagating plate waves and study their interaction with bond defects in glass lap joints. The photoelastic results confirm in a clear, pictorial manner certain assumptions on plate wave leakage through the bond, including the influence of vibrating mode structure on the detection of low-strength bonds.     

化工专业《试验设计与数据处理》教学方法探讨

经过几十年的发展与实践,试验设计与数据处理在我国经济发展中的重要性有目共睹。目前,大多数高校化学相关专业的本科生和研究生均开设了这门工具课。本文从教材的选择、教学内容、教学方式和课程考查方式等几方面进行了探讨。探讨该课程的教学方法,有利于激发学生的学习热情和学习兴趣,从而提高教学质量。     

Symmetrical craniofacial hypertrophy in patients with tertiary hyperparathyroidism and high‐dose cinacalcet exposure

We are reporting on a series of two patients with end‐stage renal disease on hemodialysis, presented for surgical parathyroidectomy secondary refractory hyperparathyroidism. Both patients had failed maximized medical managements, including higher‐than‐usual doses of the calcimimetic cinacalcet (270 and 180 mg/day, respectively). On physical exam, both patients had marked symmetrical craniofacial hypertrophy with coarse distortion of facial features, similar in appearance to past reports of Sagliker syndrome. On X‐ray and computed tomographic exam, they had peculiar areas of bone absorption on the skull, imitating the radiologic appearance of multiple myeloma. Bone biopsy of the maxilla, however, did not show the expected brown tumor, but rather described only fibrosis and reactive bone formations. This phenotype developed while being on cinacalcet, progressed despite escalation of therapy, and improved only after parathyroidectomy. Both patients developed massive “hungry bone syndrome” after parathyroidectomy necessitating prolonged IV calcium infusion. This pattern of severe facial distortion likely represented an adverse consequence of severe tertiary hyperparathyroidism, along with supraphysiologic dose of cinacalcet administration and 25‐hydroxy vitamin D deficiency in sensitive individuals. The genetic base of this observation remained unexplained.     

Magnum photos

Abstract

For over fifty years, since Magnum's birth in 1947, the history of this remarkable photographic cooperative has been awash in myth and legend. The gifted, colourful, principled, and often disorderly members of the agency created some of the twentieth century's most memorable still images. These photographs, appearing on the pages of magazines like LIFE, Picture Post and the Ladies' Home Journal, pricked and provoked the consciences of millions worldwide. In the process, Magnum photographers bridged that illdefined, vexatious gap between photojournalism and art. Readers interested in learning more about this phenomenon now have two new choices. One is to reach for a copy of Russell Miller's Magnum: Fifty Years at the Front Line of History. This unauthorized biography, by an outsider, examines the operation ‘of a large, unruly and highly talented family which, by some miracle has stayed together for 50 years ... (with an) aim simply to tell a cracking good story as impartially and truthfully and entertainingly as was within my capabilities, and to disregard the notoriously fragile sensibilities of the participants’. The book fulfils the criteria. Illustrated by lively quotes, twenty-six photos, and numerous anecdotes from members such as Ernst Haas, Robert Capa and Eve Arnold, the book conveys a sense of energy and excitement. The volume concludes with a look towards the future of the agency and the crucial structural importance of maintaining hannony in the union of its practitioners. Russell Miller is perceptive and his treatment of the subject comprehensive.     

Photography in National Galleries of Scotland

Abstract

There is a clearly implied specificity in the title of the Scottish National Portrait Gallery, which is rather misleading as it belies the wider range of its holdings. In addition to its fine collection of portraits by some of Scotland's foremost artists both past and present, it is also home — albeit in rather cramped conditions — to the Scottish National Photography Collection. Set up in 1984 by the National Galleries of Scotland, this lich archive currently comprises some 27 000 images including a critical and worldrenowned portfolio of calotypes by David Octavius Hill and Robert Adamson.     

Assessment of intradialysis calcium mass balance by a single pool variable‐volume calcium kinetic model

Introduction: A reliable method of intradialysis calcium mass balance quantification is far from been established. We herein investigated the use of a single‐pool variable‐volume Calcium kinetic model to assess calcium mass balance in chronic and stable dialysis patients. Methods: Thirty‐four patients on thrice‐weekly HD were studied during 240 dialysis sessions. All patients were dialyzed with a nominal total calcium concentration of 1.50 mmol/L. The main assumption of the model is that the calcium distribution volume is equal to the extracellular volume during dialysis. This hypothesis is assumed valid if measured and predicted end dialysis plasma water ionized calcium concentrations are equal. A difference between predicted and measured end‐dialysis ionized plasma water calcium concentration is a deviation on our main hypothesis, meaning that a substantial amount of calcium is exchanged between the extracellular volume and a nonmodeled compartment. Findings: The difference between predicted and measured values was 0.02 mmol/L (range ?0.08:0.16 mmol/L). With a mean ionized dialysate calcium concentration of 1.25 mmol/L, calcium mass balance was on average negative (mean ± SD ?0.84 ± 1.33 mmol, range ?5.42:2.75). Predialysis ionized plasma water concentration and total ultrafiltrate were the most important predictors of calcium mass balance. A significant mobilization of calcium from the extracellular pool to a nonmodeled pool was calculated in a group of patients. Discussion: The proposed single pool variable‐volume Calcium kinetic model is adequate for prediction and quantification of intradialysis calcium mass balance, it can evaluate the eventual calcium transfer outside the extracellular pool in clinical practice.     

First genetically verified occurrence of Ligula pavlovskii outside its native range and characteristics of its infection in Neogobius fluviatilis

In this study, we provide the first genetically verified distribution record beyond its native range of Ligula pavlovskii, a high-impact endoparasite of Ponto-Caspian gobies. According to parasitological surveys, ligulosis was detected for the first time in monkey goby individuals collected from Lake Balaton in 2004, 34 years after the first record of monkey goby in the lake. During a Lake Balaton survey in 2018, we detected tapeworms in 44.4% of the sampled monkey gobies. This prevalence is about two to ten times higher than it was reported from within the native range of the fish hosts. The same survey revealed an uneven spatial distribution of the ligulosis in the monkey gobies inhabiting different shoreline sections of the lake. We assume that the occurrence and recent distribution data of this high-impact endoparasite may provide useful information for potential biocontrol measures of invasive Ponto-Caspian gobies in the future.     

Muscular synergy classification and myoelectric control using high-order cross-cumulants

High-order statistics (HOS) are well suited for describing non-Gaussian random processes. These techniques are increasingly being employed in myoelectric research, on both time and frequency domain techniques. This work presents HOS-based techniques using only HOS time domain features to classify myoelectric signals. The auto-, cross- and full- (joint) third-order cumulants are evaluated as EMG-signal feature vectors to be compared between them. Four surface EMG signals were processed for classify motions from the upper limbs. Synergy among channels is characterized by the features in both auto and cross modes, and their incidences for classifying five or six movements are analyzed. In contrast to the third-order auto-cumulants, it had been verified that the third-order cross-cumulants have the same classification rate by working with five or six movements. A myoelectric control scheme and its experimental application were executed with normal and disabled subjects, reaching a classification rates of 90%, in average. Accuracy in online experiments was similar to the off-line classification rate.