Experiments on paper insulation in a corona environment

Insertion of an insulating paper between point-plane electrodes normally increases the total breakdown potential threshold, except when its position is next to the plane. A series of DC [both (+) and (-)] experiments was designed and conducted to examine this latter distinction. It was found that visual ionic spots on the paper surface are a dominant prebreakdown phenomenon. Local failure at one of such discrete spots ultimately brings about a streamer sparkover in air at a sufficiently high potential. This paper describes the variability and other characteristics of the pattern in a two-dimensional spot distribution. Related experiments reveal that, with double paper layers already in the barrier, the pattern of spots becomes less dense visually but the breakdown potential would increase for the case of (+) point but would decrease further for the case of (-) point if a third sheet is introduced. A sharply defined “dark” band on the double-layer side in which glow spots are absent was always observed to clearly bridge the separate domains of, respectively, single-layer and double-layer spot distributions. Also related were the mechanical agitations of the paper accompanying all phases of the different discharge activities     

EC-EGI: enriched complex EGI for 3D shape registration

Extended Gaussian image (EGI) and complex EGI (CEGI) have been widely used as the representation of 3D shapes for shape recognition and pose estimation. In this work, we extend the representations and present a new representation named enriched complex extended Gaussian image (EC-EGI). The representation follows the same framework of EGI and CEGI, which is to represent each surface patch of the target 3D shape as a weight at the associated spot on the surface of the Gaussian sphere. However, while the original CEGI uses a single complex number as the weight, the new representation uses three complex numbers, which are related to the centroid position of the surface patch in 3D. With the inclusion of more information in the new representation, not only could object pose be determined more accurately, but also some key ambiguities of shape representation that CEGI and EGI have also removed. The translation parameters in the pose estimation application could also be determined in a simpler and more accurate way. In addition, the Gaussian sphere partition problem of CEGI is no longer present. Experimental results on synthetic and real image data are shown to illustrate the performance of the proposed representation in pose estimation.     

Two-phase heuristic algorithms for full truckloads multi-depot capacitated vehicle routing problem in carrier collaboration

Collaborative transportation, as an emerging new mode, represents one of the major developing trends of transportation systems. Focusing on the full truckloads multi-depot capacitated vehicle routing problem in carrier collaboration, this paper proposes a mathematical programming model and its corresponding graph theory model, with the objective of minimizing empty vehicle movements. A two-phase greedy algorithm is given to solve practical large-scale problems. In the first phase, a set of directed cycles is created to fulfil the transportation orders. In the second phase, chains that are composed of cycles are generated. Furthermore, a set of local search strategies is put forward to improve the initial results. To evaluate the performance of the proposed algorithms, two lower bounds are developed. Finally, computational experiments on various randomly generated problems are conducted. The results show that the proposed methods are effective and the algorithms can provide reasonable solutions within an acceptable computational time.     

A Boundary Element Analysis of Quasi-Brittle Solids Containing Cracks

Quasi-brittle solids usually contain many cracks. When numerical methods are used, it is difficult to simulate all the cracks’ behaviors, especially when the crack propagation is included. To surmount the difficulty, a new procedure combining the subdomain boundary element method and the generalized self-consistent scheme is presented. The behavior of a single crack is analyzed first. The obtained information is then used to predict the overall behavior of the cracked solids. The relationship between the overall response of the cracked solids and the growth of wing cracks is established numerically. A cohesive-crack model is used to simulate the fracture process zone of the quasi-brittle solids. Besides, the advancement of the wing crack tip is used as a control variable. An incremental iteration algorithm is developed to trace the growth of the wing (secondary) cracks, which is not known a priori. The influence of the crack angle and the friction coefficient on the effective moduli is also investigated. Finally, a gypsum square plate containing orderly distributed cracks is analyzed to illustrate the adequacy and efficiency of the present procedure.     

Brain abscess in solid organ transplant recipients receiving cyclosporine-based immunosuppression

There is currently a stark therapeutic void in the treatment of evolving stroke. Although P-selectin is rapidly expressed by hypoxic endothelial cells in vitro, the functional significance of P-selectin expression in stroke remains unexplored. In order to identify the pathophysiological consequences of P-selectin expression and to identify P-selectin blockade as a potential new approach for the treatment of stroke, experiments were performed using a murine model of focal cerebral ischemia and reperfusion. Early P-selectin expression in the postischemic cerebral cortex was demonstrated by the specific accumulation of radiolabeled anti-murine P-selectin IgG, with the increased P-selectin expression localized to the ipsilateral cerebral microvascular endothelial cells by immunohistochemistry. In experiments designed to test the functional significance of increased P-selectin expression in stroke, neutrophil accumulation in the ischemic cortex of mice expressing the P-selectin gene (PS +/+) was demonstrated to be significantly greater than that in homozygous P-selectin-null mice (PS -/-). Reduced neutrophil influx was accompanied by greater postischemic cerebral reflow (measured by laser Doppler) in the PS -/- mice. In addition, PS -/- mice demonstrated smaller infarct volumes (5-fold reduction, P<.05) and improved survival compared with PS +/+ mice (88% versus 44%, P<.05). Functional blockade of P-selectin in PS +/+ mice using a monoclonal antibody directed against murine P-selectin also improved early reflow and stroke outcome compared with control mice, with reduced cerebral infarction volumes noted even when the blocking antibody was administered after occlusion of the middle cerebral artery. These data are the first to demonstrate a pathophysiological role for P-selectin in stroke and suggest that P-selectin blockade may represent a new therapeutic target in the treatment of stroke.     

Experimental Observation of the Relationship Between the Meissner Effect and the ac Magnetic Susceptibility

Meissner diamagnetic effect is a basic criterion for identifying whether a matter is superconducting or not. However, currently one of main methods to measure magnetic property of a superconductor is ac mutual inductance technique by which ac magnetic susceptibility is measured. To investigate the relation between Meissner diamagnetic effect and the diamagnetism measured by ac susceptibility, we designed and performed an ac susceptibility experiment, that is, ac susceptibility of a superconductor as a function of temperature is measured under a constant dc magnetic field. Our experimental result shows that bulk and surface diamagnetism cannot occur in a superconductor simultaneously. This conclusion further proves that the signal of ac magnetic susceptibility gives no evidence for Meissner effect. Microscopic model and analysis on bulk and surface superconducting diamagnetism was given in the present paper.     

Potential adverse outcomes of psychotropic and narcotic drug use in Canadian seniors

Infants who ingest high amounts of fluoride can be at risk of dental fluorosis. The authors analyzed the fluoride concentration of 238 commercially available infant foods. Fluoride concentrations ranged from 0.01 to 8.38 micrograms of fluoride per gram, with the highest fluoride concentrations found in infant foods containing chicken. Infant foods, especially those containing chicken, should be considered when determining total fluoride intake.     

Radar backscatter from a dense discrete random medium

A dense medium phase matrix developed based on the concept of random lattice perturbation is employed in the radiative transfer theory to calculate the coand cross-polarized backscatter from a layer of randomly distributed spherical scatterers. The position randomness properties are characterized by the variance and correlation function of scatterer positions within the medium. The dense medium phase matrix differs from the conventional one in two major aspects, i.e., there is an amplitude and a phase correction. These corrections account for the effects of close spacing and position correlation between scatterers in a dense discrete random medium. This study shows that phase coherency and close-spacing amplitude modifications are two separate corrections necessary for an electrically dense medium. Results indicate that there is a need to distinguish between spatially and electrically dense medium. The phase correction is found to have a greater impact on cross-polarized than like-polarized backscatter coefficients; the converse is true of the amplitude correction. Backscattering calculations from the theory are compared with measurements from controlled microwave experiments on random media consisting of closely packed spheres, and from field measurements of dry snowpack. Predictions from such a theory agree well with the measured data     

G-band (140-220 GHz) and W-band (75-110 GHz) InP DHBT medium power amplifiers

We report common-base medium power amplifiers designed for G-band (140-220 GHz) and W-band (75-110 GHz) in InP mesa double HBT technology. The common-base topology is preferred over common-emitter and common-collector topologies due to its superior high-frequency maximum stable gain (MSG). Base feed inductance and collector emitter overlap capacitance, however, reduce the common-base MSG. A single-sided collector contact reduces C_ce and, hence, improves the MSG. A single-stage common-base tuned amplifier exhibited 7-dB small-signal gain at 176 GHz. This amplifier demonstrated 8.7-dBm output power with 5-dB associated power gain at 172 GHz. A two-stage common-base amplifier exhibited 8.1-dBm output power with 6.3-dB associated power gain at 176 GHz and demonstrated 9.1-dBm saturated output power. Another two-stage common-base amplifier exhibited 11.6-dBm output power with an associated power gain of 4.5 dB at 148 GHz. In the W-band, different designs of single-stage common-base power amplifiers demonstrated saturated output power of 15.1 dBm at 84 GHz and 13.7 dBm at 93 GHz