Microstructure and mechanical properties relations for green bodies compacted from spray dried granules

Alumina granules from three binder systems were spray dried and pressed into bars at varied pressure. Granules are classified as strong, medium and weak as to reflect the different amount of poly(vinyl-butyral) binder and liquid paraffin plasticizer used in the binder system. Mechanical properties of the pressed bars were obtained from a four-point bend test and microstructures were examined using scanning electron microscopy SEM. Strengths and fracture toughnesses are found to increase as a function of compaction pressure, while the calculated effective flaw size is independent of the compaction pressure for all three granule types. Microstructural examination of fracture surfaces revealed that samples compacted at high pressure exhibited more transgranular fracture than samples compacted at low pressure. Evidently, higher pressure had increased the intergranular fracture resistance which correspondingly increased the fracture toughness of the pressed bars. For bars pressed from granules, green body strengths and toughnesses are strongly dependent on the cohesion between pressed granules and not on the effective processing flaw size.     

Effects of quinine on the mechanical frequency response of the cupula in the fish lateral line

Quinine induces changes in the motion of the cupula in the lateral line canal of the African knife-fish in response to sinusoidal water movements. Two different phases in the action of quinine on the cupular frequency response can be discerned. In the first phase the best frequency, i.e., the frequency at which the cupular vibratory displacement is maximal in response to constant-amplitude sinusoidal canal fluid displacement, shifts toward higher frequencies. During this phase, lasting about 70-100 min, the best frequency increases by a factor between 1.3 and 1.5. In the second phase, during roughly the following 90 min, the best frequency decreases gradually to a value 0.3-0.5 times that observed before the application of quinine.     

Structural and functional meta-analytic evidence for fronto-subcortical system deficit in progressive supranuclear palsy

Meta-analytic methods were used to determine the most sensitive indexes to fronto-subcortical deficit in progressive supranuclear palsy (PSP) and to further characterize the neurocognitive and related features of PSP that can provide a basis of comparison to other disorders with prominent subcortical brain lesions. Studies dating back to 1984 were gathered and calibrated to compare the neuropsychological, neuroimaging, and neurophysiological test results from 229 patients with PSP, and 357 healthy controls. The tests most sensitive to fronto-subcortical deficit in PSP were mostly neuropsychological measures that include such tests as the Stroop Task, Trail Making Test Part A, and Purdue pegboard performance. We conclude that although neuropsychological measures may be most sensitive to deficits in PSP, they are also less specific and valid indicators of fronto-subcortical brain system integrity.     

Congenital chylothorax in siblings

We describe two cases of congenital chylothorax in siblings with important differences from previously described familial cases. Our findings support the likelihood of an autosomal recessive inheritance in some cases of this condition, rather than X-linked recessive inheritance, which has also been suggested. Autopsy findings from one of these cases and others previously described suggest that the pathophysiological mechanisms involved may be variable.     

The effect of Pseudomonas aeruginosa infection on clinical parameters in steady-state bronchiectasis

STUDY OBJECTIVE: To investigate the effect of Pseudomonas aeruginosa infection on clinical parameters in Chinese patients with noncystic fibrosis and steady-state bronchiectasis. DESIGN: Prospective, cross-sectional clinicomicrobiological study with informed consent. SETTING: Consecutive outpatient recruitment from a specialist bronchiectasis respiratory clinic. PATIENTS: Outpatients (n = 100; 62 women; 55.1+/-16.7 years old; FEV1/FVC 1.4+/-0.7/2.1+/-0.9 L), who had stable respiratory symptoms for more than 3 weeks. MEASUREMENTS AND RESULTS: Respiratory pathogens isolated from the sputum were: Pseudomonas aeruginosa (33), Haemophilus influenzae (10), Moraxella catarrhalis (2), other Gram-negative bacilli (5), Streptococcus pneumoniae (6), Staphylococcus aureus (5), mycobacteria (3), and yeast (1). Clinical parameters in patients with positive isolation of P aeruginosa were compared with those without the organism in the sputum culture (non-P aeruginosa). In the P aeruginosa group, the FEV1/FVC ratio and sputum volume were lower (p < 0.005) and higher (p < 0.0001), respectively, than those of the non-P aeruginosa group. The FEV1/FVC ratio (< 60%) and sputum volume (grading > 5) were independently associated with a positive sputum isolation of P aeruginosa with odds ratios of 3.1 (confidence interval [CI] 1.2 to 8.4; p < 0.01) and 4.7 (CI 1.6 to 13.3; p < 0.001), respectively. CONCLUSIONS: P aeruginosa is the predominant respiratory pathogen isolated in the sputum of Chinese patients with steady-state bronchiectasis, and its isolation is associated with high sputum output (> or = 75th quartile) and moderately severe airflow obstruction (FEV1/FVC < 60%).     

Facilitative responses to species-specific calls in cortical FM-FM neurons of the mustached bat

FM-FM neurons in the auditory cortex of the mustached bat are highly specialized for echolocation, responding facilitatively to the combination of frequency modulated (FM) components of biosonar pulse and its echo. Here we propose they are also specialized for processing bat communication calls. FM-FM neurons respond facilitatively to natural call syllable pairs, and exhibit inter-syllable interval tuning to the natural range of intervals. Our results support a role for 'combination-sensitive' neurons in communication, and suggest that cortical neurons can possess multiple distinct specialized modes of response.     

Induced magnetic fields as evidence for subsurface oceans in Europa and Callisto

The Galileo spacecraft has been orbiting Jupiter since 7 December 1995, and encounters one of the four galilean satellites-Io, Europa, Ganymede and Callisto-on each orbit. Initial results from the spacecraft's magnetometer have indicated that neither Europa nor Callisto have an appreciable internal magnetic field, in contrast to Ganymede and possibly Io. Here we report perturbations of the external magnetic fields (associated with Jupiter's inner magnetosphere) in the vicinity of both Europa and Callisto. We interpret these perturbations as arising from induced magnetic fields, generated by the moons in response to the periodically varying plasma environment. Electromagnetic induction requires eddy currents to flow within the moons, and our calculations show that the most probable explanation is that there are layers of significant electrical conductivity just beneath the surfaces of both moons. We argue that these conducting layers may best be explained by the presence of salty liquid-water oceans, for which there is already indirect geological evidence in the case of Europa.     

Delaminations at the free edge of a composite laminate

The concept of a fracture process zone where damage takes place is used to analyse the delaminations at the free edges of angle ply laminates under uniaxial tension. The use of a fracture process zone removes the singularity in the interlaminar stresses and enables the initiation and growth of delaminations to be modelled for a perfect laminate without any assumed prior defects. Two different models for the stress displacement relationship in the fracture process zone are examined: a constant stress up to critical displacement and a linear relationship. Finite element analysis shows that there is little difference in the predictions obtained from the two models. An approximate analysis is presented for the constant stress stress-displacement model which is shown to agree with a finite element solution and experimental data. Hence it is argued that the approximate method using a constant stress model for the fracture process zone is sufficient for accurate prediction of delaminations.     

Positive state‐bounding observer for positive interval continuous‐time systems with time delay

This paper is concerned with the problem of positive observer synthesis for positive systems with both interval parameter uncertainties and time delay. Conventional observers may no longer be applicable for such kind of systems due to the positivity constraint on the observers, and they only provide an estimate of the system state in an asymptotic way. A pair of positive observers with state‐bounding feature is proposed to estimate the state of positive systems at all times in this paper. A necessary and sufficient condition for the existence of desired observers is first established, and the observer matrices can be obtained easily through the solutions of a set of linear matrix inequalities (LMIs). Then, to reduce the error signal between the system state and its estimates, an iterative LMI algorithm is developed to compute the optimized state‐bounding observer matrices. Finally, a numerical example is presented to show the effectiveness and applicability of the theoretical results. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.