A fast analog mean-timer

A circuit is described that determines the average of the transit time of light from an event in a scintillation counter to the two ends of that counter. The design offers superior time resolution and a novel gating scheme that significantly reduces circuit dead-time.     

Bending and torsional fatigue of nylon 66 monofilaments

Using newly developed test equipment, the fatigue behavior of nylon 66 monofilaments was studied under two loading conditions, pure bending or simple torsion. For each mode, results are expressed in terms of the measured decay in stiffness with numbers of cycles over a range of maximum applied strain levels. Fatigue lifetimes are presented in S–N format where the log number of cycles of fatigue for a 40% decay in stiffness (N) is plotted as a function of applied strain (S). The failure mechanism for these fibers in each fatigue mode reflects the morphology of semicrystalline-oriented synthetic fibers. In torsion, many longitudinal cracks form around the perimeter of a fiber as the result of cleavage of the relatively weak interfibrillar bonds in nylon 66. In bending, cracks form within kink band boundaries and grow at an oblique angle to the fiber axis. © 1992 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.     

MANOVA method for analyzing repeated measures designs: An extensive primer.

Contends that tests in repeated-measures designs based on MANOVA are free of sphericity assumptions, and with modern computing software, MANOVA is straightforward to use, even for complex designs and nontraditional hypotheses. A general strategy for implementing MANOVA within statistical computing packages is presented. Regular (preplanned) tests and simultaneous (post hoc) tests are illustrated for a variety of designs and hypotheses. Optimal contrasts for unbalanced repeated measures designs are appended. (33 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Energy-efficient penetration and perforation of targets in the hypervelocity regime

In general, the performance of a KE penetrator against most targets increases with velocity regardless of the particular penetrator-target interaction mode. It is possible to show that there exists an optimum velocity which maximizes the performance of an impacting penetrator for a given expenditure of kinetic energy. Simple graphical methods are described that determine the optimum velocity from general performance-velocity plots. These graphical methods may also be applied to experimental data alone. In addition, simple analytic models which describe the velocity dependent penetration/perforation performance of KE penetrators are examined and extended. These models may be used to explicitly assess the influence of parameters such as target strength and density and penetrator mass, strength and density. For some of the models in this analysis, the explicit relations between the optimum striking velocity for a specific kinetic energy value and the penetrator-target parameters are described.     

Trade secrets in software design and logic

Much of what has been written in Australia about the protection of computer programs has been inspired by high profile cases concerning the boundaries of copyright protection. The Australian law firm Clayton Utz says that there has been little discussion about other types of legal protection for computer programs, and as a consequence, other intellectual property laws should not be overlooked.     

A review of contractor selection practice in the U.K. construction industry

Background, prime influences upon present day methods and current trends in United Kingdom tendering practices are reviewed. Significant weaknesses are identified, confirming the need for some revision of existing contractor selection methods. The findings compliment recommendations of the recent government/industry review of the construction sector headed by Sir Michael Latham. Specifically, that tendering procedure should embrace investigation of contractors' potential to deliver a service of acceptable standard, on time, within budget. Present selection methods often fail in this objective, being inclined to discriminate predominantly on cost.     

Dynamic proteome in enigmatic preeclampsia: an account of molecular mechanisms and biomarker discovery

The coevolution of genomics and proteomics has led to advancements in the field of diagnosis and molecular mechanisms of disease. Proteomics is now stepping into the field of obstetrics, where early diagnosis of pregnancy complication such as preeclampsia (PE) is imperative. PE is a multifactorial disease characterized by hypertension with proteinuria, which is a leading cause of maternal and neonatal morbidity and mortality occurring in 5-7% of pregnancies worldwide. This review discusses the probable molecular mechanisms that lead to PE and summarizes the proteomics research carried out in understanding the pathogenicity of PE, and for identifying the candidate biomarker for diagnosis of the disease.     

Robust pole assignment for incomplete nonlinear decoupling applied to robots

A robustness analysis and synthesis for incomplete nonlinear decoupling for a class of nonlinear systems is discussed. Rigid and elastic-joint robot models belong to this class. For the elastic case, a transformation facilitates the robustness analysis under a weak assumption. Charts with H ₁- and H - norms of closed-loop disturbance transfer functions of the nonlinear-decoupled system are presented for a robust pole assignment.