Analysis of adhesive bonded composite lap joints with transverse stitching

The effect of transverse stitching on the stresses in the adhesive is investigated using an adhesive sandwich model with nonlinear adhesive properties and a transverse stitching model for adhesive bonded composite single-lap and double-lap joints. Numerical results indicate that, among all stitching parameters, thread pretension and stitch density have significant effect on the peel stresses in the adhesive; increase in the thread pretension and the stitch density leads to a decrease in peel stress in the adhesive, while an increase in other parameters generally results in a negligible reduction in peel stress. The effect of stitching was found to be negligible on the shear stresses in the adhesive. Thus it is concluded that stitching is effective for the joints where peel stresses are critical and ineffective for those where shear stresses are critical.     

Parallelism and the perception of illusory contours

The role of symmetry in the perception of illusory contours has been a subject of controversy ever since Kanizsa proposed his theory of illusory contours based on Gestalt principles. Today it is widely agreed that illusory contours do not necessarily occur more readily with inducers that can be 'amodally' completed to symmetrical objects than with inducers that cannot. But the question of whether symmetrical inducers produce weaker illusory contours than do unsymmetrical ones is still controversial. A novel determinant of illusory contour strength, parallelism, is proposed. Experiments are reported which indicate that illusory contours induced by 'blobs' which have boundaries that are nearby and parallel to the illusory contour are weaker than illusory contours induced by blobs that do not have this property. It is suggested that the display that has been most widely used by researchers to support their claims for a weakening of illusory contours with symmetrical inducers is weak primarily because of parallelism.     

Glucagon-like peptide I enhances the insulinotropic effect of glibenclamide in NIDDM patients and in the perfused rat pancreas

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the acute effects of glibenclamide and glucagon-like peptide I (GLP-I) and their combination in perfused isolated rat pancreas and in patients with secondary failure to sulfonylureas. RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODS: Rat islets were perfused with 10 nmol/l GLP-I in combination with 2 mumol/l glibenclamide. In human experiments, GLP-I (0.75 pmol. kg-1.min-1) was given as a continuous infusion during 240 min, while glibenclamide (3.5 mg) was administered orally. Eight patients participated in the study (age 57.6 +/- 2.7 years, BMI 28.7 +/- 1.5 kg/m2, mean +/- SE). In all subjects, blood glucose was first normalized by insulin infusion administered by an artificial pancreas (Biostator). RESULTS: GLP-I increased the insulinotropic effect of glibenclamide fourfold in the perfused rat pancreas. In human experiments, treatment with GLP-I alone and in combination with glibenclamide significantly decreased basal glucose levels (5.1 +/- 0.4 and 4.5 +/- 0.1 vs. 6.0 +/- 0.3 mmol/l, P < 0.01), while with only glibenclamide, glucose concentrations remained unchanged. GLP-I markedly decreased total integrated glucose response to the meal (353 +/- 60 vs. 724 +/- 91 mmol.l-1. min-1, area under the curve [AUC] [-30-180 min], P < 0.02), whereas glibenclamide had no effect (598 +/- 101 mmol.l-1. min-1, AUC [-30-180 min], NS). The combined treatment further enhanced the glucose lowering effect of GLP-I (138 +/- 24 mmol. l-1.min, AUC [-30-180 min], P < 0.001). GLP-I, glibenclamide, and combined treat-stimulated meal-induced insulin release as reflected by insulinogenic indexes (control 1.44 +/- 0.4; GLP-I 6.3 +/- 1.6, P < 0.01; glibenclamide 6.8 +/- 2.1, P < 0.01; combination 20.7 +/- 5.0, P < 0.001). GLP-I inhibited basal but not postprandial glucagon responses. Using paracetamol as a marker for gastric emptying rate of the test meal, treatment with GLP-I decreased gastric emptying at 180 min by approximately 50% compared with the control subjects (P < 0.01). CONCLUSIONS: In acute experiments on overweight patients with NIDDM, GLP-I exerted a marked antidiabetogenic action on the basal and postprandial state. The peptide stimulated insulin, suppressed basal glucagon release, and prolonged gastric emptying. The glucose-lowering effect of GLP-I was further enhanced by glibenclamide. This action may be at least partially accounted for by a synergistic effect of these two compounds on insulin release. Glibenclamide per se enhanced postprandial but not basal insulin release and exerted a less pronounced antidiabetogenic effect compared with GLP-I.     

BONSAI: 3D object recognition using constrained search

BONSAI, a model-based 3D object recognition system, is described. It identifies and localizes 3D objects in range images of one or more parts that have been designed on a computer-aided-design (CAD) system. Recognition is performed via constrained search of the interpretation tree, using unary and binary constraints (derived automatically from the CAD models) to prune the search space. Attention is focused on the recognition procedure, but the model-building, image acquisition, and segmentation procedures are also outlined. Experiments with over 200 images demonstrate that the constrained search approach to 3D object recognition has an accuracy comparable to that of previous systems