Effects of seat slope and hip flexion on spinal angles in sitting

Lumbar and thoracic spinal angles of 25 male and 25 female subjects were measured in four sitting postures, with standing angles used as reference. Subjects sat with either 90 deg or 65 deg of hip flexion on either flat or forward-sloping seats. Lumbar kyphosis was greatest when the flat seat/90-deg posture was adopted and least when the sloping seat/65-deg posture was adopted. The opposite was observed for the thoracic angles, and intermediate results were observed for the other two sitting postures. No statistically significant interactions were observed among seat slope, hip flexion, and subject sex. The findings are discussed with reference to the anatomy of sitting and factors influencing pelvic tilt and the implications for the ergonomic design of chairs.     

Measurement of the delayed-neutron yields in the fission of233U,236U,237Np,240Pu,and241Pu by neutrons from the spectrum of a fast reactor

Translated from Atomnaya Énergiya, Vol. 66, No. 2, pp. 100–103, February, 1989.     

Structural proteins of the cytoskeleton as markers for determining tumor histogenesis

The data of literature about the structure of cytoskeleton proteins in the normal and malignant cells are analyzed. The possibilities of using a specific polyclonal serum and a monoclonal antibody for a more precise ascertainment of the origin and diagnostic of tumours are discussed. The intermediate and active filaments may be used as a new class of histochemical markers. Laminin, the protein of basement membranes, probably, plays an important role in metastatic spreading.     

The incremental stiffness of an assembly of particles

Summary The problem of fairly densily packed particles with rate independent though otherwise arbitrary interaction is investigated in two dimensions. It is shown that slow changes in a statistically uniform medium in the pre-failure deformation state can be described by a stiffness tensor. An approximate expression for this tensor is obtained from first principles. The connection with the perfectly random heterogeneous medium is established. A simple example for round rough particles in an isotropic packing of four contacts is given.With 8 Figure     

PCR-based procedures in detection and DNA-fingerprinting of Salmonella from samples of animal origin

The usefulness of selected PCR-protocols for the detection of Salmonella in 117 samples of animal origin (17 raw minced meat, 27 raw chicken meat, 8 raw sausages, and 25 egg samples, as well as 18 poultry faecal, and caecal swabs samples) and DNA-fingerprinting typing is shown. To establish an accurate PCR-procedure for Salmonella detection the following parameters were evaluated: two pre-PCR concentration procedures, centrifugation and immunomagnetic separation (IMS) using Dynabeads anti- Salmonella; the specificity and sensitivity of 10 sets of primers; and different conditions of the amplification reaction. In light of the results obtained from the use of PCR-based procedures alone or in combination with conventional methods, the following findings can be underlined: First, IMS is more efficient than centrifugation in the recovery of Salmonella. Second, the selected IMS/PCR-detection protocol is less time-consuming (45 h) than the IMS/culture procedure (90 h), and a good concordance between them was found when the Kappa coefficient was calculated (0·87). Third, PCR-ribotyping technique showed a very low discrimination power, being able to differentiate only three profiles. Fourth, RAPD technique using specific primers supports previous works in which it was proposed as a simple and useful tool for discriminating isolates between and within serotypes. Fifth, The efficiency, rapidity, and flexibility of the PCR-protocols applied were high, and they can be performed using two PCR-programs and the same basic equipment.     

Some Regularities of Heat and Mass Transfer in the Case of Fire Within a Building

Results of a numerical investigation of heat and mass transfer at the initial stage of fire within a building in combustion of kerosene, carried out with the use of a three-dimensional mathematical field model, are presented. A comparison of the distribution of the averaged temperatures and velocities along the vertical axis of the convective column and of the mass rates of gas flows through an open opening with the experimental data has been made. Substantial three-dimensional inhomogeneities of the velocities and the temperatures in the near-ceiling layer have been revealed. It has been established that near the opening there is a critical separation zone which influences significantly the parameters of natural gas transfer.     

Coarse filters for shape matching

This article describes the coarse shape filters that support the 3D, Internet-based search engine ShapeSifter, which aims to locate parts already in production that have a shape similar to a desired new part. The search engine analyzes the target model's shape characteristics and performs a similarity match on the database's contents. Our main challenge is identifying shape metrics that produce effective characterizations of 3D models for similarity comparison. We focus on using three novel convex hull-based indices to carry out a preliminary coarse filtering of candidates prior to more detailed analysis. We also describe the crucial role played by two databases of benchmark objects. Unlike other shape-matching systems, we chose ShapeSifter's architecture (multistep query), 3D representation (triangulated mesh), and implementation (Java3D) to allow deployment online once it matures     

Mixed mode fatigue crack growth predictions

This work is aimed at developing a predictive capability for the quantitative assessment of crack growth under fatigue loadings. The crack growth rate relation, $\text{Δa}\text{ΔN}$, may involve all three stress intensity factors k₁-k₃ such that the direction of crack growth may not be known in advance and must be predicted from a preassumed criterion. In principle, both the stress amplitude and the mean stress level should be included in the original expression for $\text{Δa}\text{ΔN}$.The strain energy density factor range, ΔS, is found to be a convenient parameter for predicting fatigue crack growth and can be applied expediently to examine the combined influence of crack geometry, complex loadings and material properties. Assumed is the accumulation of energy, $\text{ΔW}\text{ΔV}$, stored in an element ahead of the crack which triggers subcritical crack growth upon reaching a number of loading cycle, say ΔN. The proposed $\text{δa}\text{ΔN}$ relationship includes both the stress amplitude and mean stress effects.