Object-Oriented Approach in Design for Lift Installation of Offshore Structures

Abstract: A consistent representation of offshore structures and barges that is appropriate for computer processing is essential for the development of an efficient design system for offshore heavy lift installation. This paper outlines the representation of conceptual and physical entities in the preliminary design for lift installation through an object-oriented approach. The spatial and topologic abstractions of physical entities are illustrated. These abstractions, together with the locational dependency concept for an assembly, form the backbone for geometric reasoning in the top-down approach for lift installation design. An object-oriented prototype system for lift evaluation, C-LIFT, using the knowledge-based development tool kit ART_*Enterprise is described. A liftability study involving the installation of offshore modules and the associated lift sequence is then presented to illustrate the advantages of this approach.     

Investigation into mechanical properties of austempered ductile cast iron (ADI) in accordance with austempering temperature

This work concerns mechanical properties of an austempered ductile cast iron (ADI). Samples alloyed with copper and molybdenum were austenitized at 910 °C for 90 min and subsequently austempered in a salt bath over a range of temperatures from 350 °C to 410 °C to obtain favorable mechanical properties such as tensile strength, elongation, and fracture toughness. Those properties were compared from various austempering heat treatments.     

Effects of microstructure on flexural strength of biomorphic C/SiC composites

Biomorphic C/SiC composites were fabricated from different kinds of wood by liquid silicon infiltration (LSI) following a two-step process. In the first-step, the wood is converted into carbon preforms by pyrolysis in a nitrogen atmosphere. The carbon preforms are then infiltrated by silicon melt at 1,560°C under vacuum to fabricate C/SiC composites. The mechanical properties of the C/SiC composites were characterized by flexural tests at ambient temperature, 1,000, and 1,300°C, and the relationship between mechanical properties and microstructure was analyzed. The flexural strength of the biomorphic composites was strongly dependent on the properties of the carbon preforms and the degree of silicon infiltration. The flexural strength increased with increasing SiC content and bulk density of composite, and with decreasing porosity in the C/SiC composite. An analysis of fractographs of fractured C/SiC composites showed a cleavage type fracture, indicating brittle fracture behavior.     

Intercalating dye as an acceptor in quantum-dot-mediated FRET

Fluorescence resonance energy transfer (FRET) is a popular tool to study intermolecular distances and characterize structural or conformational changes of biological macromolecules. We investigate a novel inorganic/organic FRET pair with quantum dots (QDs) as donors and DNA intercalating dyes, BOBO-3, as acceptors by using DNA as a linker. Typically, FRET efficiency increases with the number of stained DNA linked to a QD. However, with the use of intercalating dyes, we demonstrate that FRET efficiency at a fixed DNA:QD ratio can be further enhanced by increasing the number of dyes stained to a DNA strand through the use of an increased staining dye/bp ratio. We exploit this flexibility in the staining ratio to maintain a high FRET efficiency of >0.90 despite a sixfold decrease in DNA concentration. Having characterized this new QD-mediated FRET system, we test this system in a cellular environment using nanocomplexes generated by encapsulating DNA with commercial non-viral gene carriers. Using this novel FRET pair, we are able to monitor the configuration changes and fate of the DNA nanocomplexes during intracellular delivery, thereby providing an insight into the mechanistic study of gene delivery.     

A dual-colored bio-marker made of doped ZnO nanocrystals

Bio-compatible ZnO nanocrystals doped with Co, Cu and Ni cations, surface capped with two types of aminosilanes and titania are synthesized by a soft chemical process. Due to the small particle size (2-5?nm), surface functional groups and the high photoluminescence emissions at the UV and blue-violet wavelength ranges, bio-imaging on human osteosarcoma (Mg-63) cells and histiocytic lymphoma U-937 monocyte cells showed blue emission at the nucleus and bright turquoise emission at the cytoplasm simultaneously. This is the first report on dual-color bio-images labeled by one semiconductor nanocrystal colloidal solution. Bright green emission was detected on mung bean seedlings labeled by all the synthesized ZnO nanocrystals. Cytotoxicity tests showed that the aminosilanes capped nanoparticles are non-toxic. Quantum yields of the nanocrystals varied from 79% to 95%. The results showed the potential of the pure ZnO and Co-doped ZnO nanocrystals for live imaging of both human cells and plant systems.     

Facile synthesis of highly faceted multioctahedral Pt nanocrystals through controlled overgrowth

Highly faceted Pt nanocrystals with a large number of interconnected arms in a quasi-octahedral shape were synthesized simply by reducing H2PtCl6 precursor with poly(vinyl pyrrolidone) in aqueous solutions containing a trace amount of FeCl3. The iron species (Fe(3+) or Fe(2+)) play a key role in inducing the formation of the multioctahedral structure by decreasing the concentration of Pt atoms and keeping a low concentration for the Pt seeds during the reaction. This condition favors the overgrowth of Pt seeds along their corners and thus the formation of multiarmed nanocrystals. Electron microscopy studies revealed that the multioctahedral Pt nanocrystals exhibit a large number of edge, corner, and surface step atoms. The size of the multioctahedral Pt nanocrystals can be controlled by varying the concentration of FeCl3 added to the reaction and/or the reaction temperature. These multioctahedral Pt nanocrystals were tested as electrocatalysts for the oxygen reduction reaction in a proton exchange membrane fuel cell and exhibited improved specific activity and durability compared to commercial Pt/C catalyst.     

Facile synthesis of bimetallic nanoplates consisting of Pd cores and Pt shells through seeded epitaxial growth

Pd-Pt core-shell nanoplates with hexagonal and triangular shapes were synthesized through the heterogeneous, epitaxial growth of Pt on Pd nanoplates. The Pd nanoplates were synthesized by reducing Na2PdCl4 precursor with PVP as a reducing agent, which then served as seeds for the nucleation of Pt atoms formed by reducing H2PtCl6 with citric acid. Characterization of the as-prepared Pd-Pt nanoplates by scanning transmission electron microscopy and high-resolution transmission electron microscopy reveals that a thin, uniform Pt shell was formed around the Pd nanoplate, demonstrating the layer-by-layer epitaxial growth of Pt on Pd surface in this approach. The close lattice match between Pd and Pt (lattice mismatch of only 0.77%) and the slow reduction rate associated with the mild reducing power of citric acid play key roles in achieving the epitaxial growth of Pt shells on Pd nanoplates.     

TCP-friendly congestion control for streaming real-time applications over wireless networks

Congestion control for streaming real-time applications, which need smoothness of the transmission rate, should be transmission control protocol (TCP)-friendly. Moreover, in wireless networks, TCP-friendly congestion control should be based on differentiation of packet losses due to congestion and wireless link error to improve network utilisation. The authors propose a TCP-friendly congestion control algorithm based on explicit congestion notification over the wireless networks. The simulation results show that the proposed algorithm utilises the link bandwidth efficiently, providing smoothness of the transmission rate.     

Affective learning increases sensitivity to graded emotional faces.

How does the affective significance of emotional faces affect perceptual decisions? We manipulated affective significance by pairing 100% fearful faces with aversive electrical stimulation and hypothesized that increasing the significance of a stimulus via its prior history would lead to enhanced processing. After fear conditioning, participants viewed graded emotional faces that ranged from neutral to fearful. Faces were shown either in a color that was previously paired with shock or a color not paired with shock during conditioning. Increases in the frequency of "fearful" responses for faces shown in the shock-paired color were most robust for faces at intermediate intensity levels (40-60% fearful). Psychometric fits to the data revealed significant increased sensitivity for shock-paired relative to unpaired faces. Thus, despite identical physical features for shock-paired and unpaired stimuli (aside from the color, which was counterbalanced), more frequent (and faster) "fearful" responses were made when participants viewed affectively significant stimuli. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)