Sharpening our axes [systems engineering application]

To improve a company's 'chopping' power it is necessary to apply systems engineering principles to 'project systems' and take the time to plan effectively, to reflect upon what it is that is being done and thereby improve the way things are done. This article takes a systems view of the project and applies systems engineering principles to project management. Projects (complex systems) are needed to create deliverables (which are also complex systems) and investing in the former will be more than paid back in the latter. It is our aim here to clear up some misunderstandings about systems engineering and its role within a complex project and to highlight the need for businesses to take time to improve their processes in the context of good systems engineering practice.     

Adjuvant arthritis: influence of the adjuvant volume and composition on the non-specific inflammation

Adjuvant-induced arthritis is an animal model of chronic inflammatory disease widely used in anti-inflammatory and immunosuppressive drugs testing. When the development and the inhibition of the induced arthritis are measured by the injected paw oedema, it is difficult to delineate the immunological contribution from the persistent non-specific primary section. To study the influence of volume and composition of the injected adjuvant upon the primary non-specific inflammation, we devised a 3X4 factorial experiment on a strain of inbred rats with a low susceptibility to adjuvant-induced arthritis. The injection of mineral oil alone produces a persistent oedema. The injection of mycobacteriae in suspension in saline induces a rapid inflammatory response followed by a fast decrease of the oedema. When complete adjuvant is used, there is always a very strong interaction between the effects of the two components of the adjuvant, i.e. the measured oedemas are much greater than the calculated values, For a given injected volume, the inflammation is maximum when the concentration of mycobacteriae is 2.5 mg/ml. All the rats injected with complete adjuvant present a transient oedema of the non-injected hind paw. This oedema is very small and proportional to the amount of mycobacteria injected.     

Role of boundary conditions in four-wave mixing in photorefractive materials

The exact solution to the boundary value problem for a simple model of photorefractive phase conjugate mirror is presented. The slowly varying envelope approximation (SVEA) is not made. In this way in the derivation of the formula describing reflection of a plane incident wave reflections from the boundaries of the conjugator are taken into account.     

The effect of additives on the thermal stability of poly(vinyl chloride)

The effect of a range of organic additives on the thermal stability of poly(vinyl chloride), both with and without a chloroparaffin extender, was studied using a number of experimental techniques. Of the additives used the best overall balance was provided by pentaerythritol, which increased stability when the extender was present and had no effect when it was absent. The congo red test emerged as the most suitable technique, being consistent and inexpensive and able to screen several additives simultaneously. Isothermal differential thermal analysis correlated with the congo red test but required more expensive equipment, was time-consuming and demanded good mixing of the poly(vinyl chloride) compound to give reproducible results. Thermogravimetry was not sufficiently sensitive and the heat stability test was the least useful of all.     

Characterization of GaAs layers grown on polycrystalline GaAs by LPE and current controlled LPE

It is the purpose of this paper to investigate the suitability and effectiveness of growth of thin GaAs layers on polycrystalline GaAs substrates by liquid phase epitaxy (LPE) and current controlled LPE (CCLPE). During each growth run LPE and CCLPE were used to grow thin GaAs layers on two large-grain polycrystalline GaAs substrates cut from the same wafer and simultaneously placed in the same growth system. The grain boundary was exposed by cleaving the samples perpendicular to the grain boundary. Notnarski contrast, SEM, C-V and Hall measurements were performed in order to determine the surface morphology, discontinuity of epilayer at the grain boundary, epilayer thickness unform-ity, resistivity (in directions parallel and perpendicular to the grain boundary), and dopant concentration. The CCLPE system was carefully designed so that growth would take place only by electrotransport in the absence of convection or Peltier cooling. The results indicate that CCLPE yields layers with improved surface morphology and thickness uniformity as compared to those grown by LPE. In some samples the epilayer was discontinuous at certain grain boundaries. Results are presented on CCLPE growth rate dependence upon grain orientation, current density, and continuity of the epilayer at the grain boundary.     

Latest Developments in the Batchwise Application of Hot-dyeing Reactive Dyes to Cellulosic Knitwear

A dyeing profile for a range of reactive dyes suitable for application to cellulosic knitwear is defined. Such a profile shows good level-dyeing, reproducibility and fastness properties together with potential for simplified dyeing processes.     

Analysis of self-similar laminar flows in slot channels with one permeable wall

An analysis is made of the fluid flows in a plane slot permeable channel. It is shown that for large numbers R (suction) self-similar solutions exist.Translated from Inzhenerno-Fizicheskii Zhurnal, Vol. 49, No. 3, pp. 432–436, September, 1985.     

Measuring errors of amplitude and phase for vibratory accelerations when testing objects

Measurement Techniques -