Effect of AlN and Al2O3 additions on the phase relationships and morphology of SiC Part I Compositions and properties

X-ray diffraction was utilized to follow the transformation from -SiC (3C) to the various -SiC polytypes in the presence of AlN and Al₂O₃ additives after hot pressing from 1700 to 2100°C. The 2H- and 6H-polytypes of -SiC were the predominate polytypes with additions of only AlN or Al₂O₃, respectively. The amount of 2H- and 6H-polytypes, and subsequently the microstructural morphology of the SiC materials, were found to be controlled by varying the amount of AlN and Al₂O₃. Improvements in fracture toughness to 9 MPa-m were achieved with flexural strengths ranging from 600 to 900 MPa. These results suggest that accurate control of the polytypic make-up of SiC-based materials, along with their mechanical properties, can be achieved through AlN and Al₂O₃ additions.     

Involvement of heme components in sterol metabolism ofSaccharomyces cerevisiae

There is an intimate association between sterol biosynthesis in yeast and aerobicity. Besides the requirement for molecular oxygen for the epoxidation of squalene, cytochrome hemoproteins are involved in demethylation and desaturation steps. Regulatory effects of hemes on sterol formation have been demonstrated using specifically defective mutants of yeast. Heme competency participates in a mechanism whereby wild-type cells are prevented from taking exogenous sterols from the growth media. The multiple interactions of hemes and sterols appear to be associated with the variously defined functions for sterols in the yeast cells. Based on a paper presented at the Symposium on Plant and Fungal Sterols: Biosynthesis, Metabolism and Function, held at the AOCS Annual Meeting, Baltimore, MD, April 1990.     

A resolution comparison of several time-frequency representations

Two signal components are considered resolved in a time-frequency representation when two distinct peaks can be observed. The time-frequency resolution limit of two Gaussian components, alike except for their time and frequency centers, is determined for the Wigner distribution, the pseudo-Wigner distribution, the smoother Wigner distribution, the squared magnitude of the short-time Fourier transform, and the Choi-Williams distribution. The relative performance of the various distributions depends on the signal. The pseudo-Wigner distribution is best for signals of this class with only one frequency component at any one time, the Choi-Williams distribution is most attractive for signals in which all components have constant frequency content, and the matched filter short-time Fourier transform is best for signal components with significant frequency modulation. A relationship between the short-time Fourier transform and the cross-Wigner distribution is used to argue that, with a properly chosen window, the short-time Fourier transform of the cross-Wigner distribution must provide better signal component separation that the Wigner distribution     

Pathogenesis of oleic acid-induced lung injury in the rat: Distribution of oleic acid during injury and early endothelial cell changes

Oleic acid-induced lung injury, a well-described laboratory model for acute pulmonary injury in the rat and other species, causes morphologic and cellular changes similar to human adult respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS). Experiments were performed to test the hypothesis that the initial event of oleic acid lung injury is damage of the pulmonary vascular endothelium by oleic acid, with subsequent pulmonary damage and inflammation. Oleic acid levels were followed in the lung and other tissues by measuring accumulation of¹⁴C-oleic acid; the direct effects of oleic acid and other fatty acids on rat endothelial cells, alveolar type II cells, and hepatocytes in culture were determined. Lung tissue from treated rats was also examined by light and electron microscopy for evidence of endothelial cell damage. At 30 min after injury, oleic acid reached high concentrations in lung tissue as demonstrated by presence of radiolabel (3.24×10⁻⁶ moles per gram of tissue), with counts in the lung nearly an order of magnitude greater than in any other organ measured. Oleic acid was present in the lung mostly as free fatty acid (85%), and was also present in the alveolar fluid supernatans, rather than being cell-associated (1.7×10⁻⁷ moles vs. 1.1×10⁻⁸ moles at 30 min). Oleic acid was toxic to endothelial cells after one minute of exposure at concentrations of 5×10⁻⁴M and above. Electron microscopy showed endothelial cell changes as early as 10 min after induction of injuryin vivo, including the presence of endothelial cell blebbing. The results of these studies suggest that the initial event in oleic acid lung injury is damage to the pulmonary vascular endothelial cell.     

New words from old: A formalism for word-formation

Many languages make use of word-formation devices to allow speakers or writers to create new words when the existing vocabulary proves inadequate. In this paper we consider how these devices can be expressed formally, allowing them to be used in word- and sentence-generation, for dictionary expansion, and the like. The paper begins with some typical word-formation rules drawn mostly from French. Attention is drawn to some features of these rules which must be captured in any formal representation. The formal representation of a basic lexical transformation is presented in some detail, along with a number of examples. A computer implementation of the transformation system is described, together with a range of applications. A discussion of static and dynamic generation leads to the concept of an inverted transformation.Michael Levison is Professor and Head of the Department of Computing and Information Science at Queen's University at Kingston. His research interests currently centre on natural language generation and editing systems. He has written many articles on computer applications in literary and linguistic studies.Greg Lessard is an Associate Professor in the Department of French Studies at Queen's University. A linguist, his research interests include computational modelling of natural language performance (including second language learner French and linguistic humour) and computer-aided textual analysis (including repeated string and complex textual structures.)     

A comparison of the method of lines to finite difference techniques in solving time-dependent partial differential equations

Steady state solutions to two time dependent partial differential systems have been obtained by the Method of Lines (MOL) and compared to those obtained by efficient standard finite difference methods: (i) Burger's equation over a finite space domain by a forward time—central space explicit method, and (ii) the stream function—vorticity form of viscous incompressible fluid flow in a square cavity by an alternating direction implicit (ADI) method. The standard techniques were far more computationally efficient when applicable. In the second example, converged solutions at very high Reynolds numbers were obtained by MOL, whereas solution by ADI was either unattainable or impractical. With regard to “set up” time, solution by MOL is an attractive alternative to techniques with complicated algorithms, as much of the programming difficulty is eliminated.     

Optimal Time Bounds for Approximate Clustering

Clustering is a fundamental problem in unsupervised learning, and has been studied widely both as a problem of learning mixture models and as an optimization problem. In this paper, we study clustering with respect to the k-median objective function, a natural formulation of clustering in which we attempt to minimize the average distance to cluster centers. One of the main contributions of this paper is a simple but powerful sampling technique that we call successive sampling that could be of independent interest. We show that our sampling procedure can rapidly identify a small set of points (of size just O( $k \log \frac{n}{k}$ )) that summarize the input points for the purpose of clustering. Using successive sampling, we develop an algorithm for the k-median problem that runs in O(nk) time for a wide range of values of k and is guaranteed, with high probability, to return a solution with cost at most a constant factor times optimal. We also establish a lower bound of Ω(nk) on any randomized constant-factor approximation algorithm for the k-median problem that succeeds with even a negligible (say $\frac{1}{{100}}$ ) probability. The best previous upper bound for the problem was Õ(nk), where the Õ-notation hides polylogarithmic factors in n and k. The best previous lower bound of Ω(nk) applied only to deterministic k-median algorithms. While we focus our presentation on the k-median objective, all our upper bounds are valid for the k-means objective as well. In this context our algorithm compares favorably to the widely used k-means heuristic, which requires O(nk) time for just one iteration and provides no useful approximation guarantees.     

Electrochemical coding for multiplexed immunoassays of proteins

An electrochemical immunoassay protocol for the simultaneous measurements of proteins, based on the use of different inorganic nanocrystal tracers is described. The multiprotein electrical detection capability is coupled to the amplification feature of electrochemical stripping transduction (to yield fmol detection limits) and with an efficient magnetic separation (to minimize nonspecific adsorption effects). The multianalyte electrical sandwich immunoassay involves a dual binding event, based on antibodies linked to the nanocrystal tags and magnetic beads. Carbamate linkage is used for conjugating the hydroxyl-terminated nanocrystals with the secondary antibodies. Each biorecognition event yields a distinct voltammetric peak, whose position and size reflects the identity and level, respectively, of the corresponding antigen. The concept is demonstrated for a simultaneous immunoassay of beta(2)-microglobulin, IgG, bovine serum albumin, and C-reactive protein in connection with ZnS, CdS, PbS, and CuS colloidal crystals, respectively. These nanocrystal labels exhibit similar sensitivity. Such electrochemical coding could be readily multiplexed and scaled up in multiwell microtiter plates to allow simultaneous parallel detection of numerous proteins or samples and is expected to open new opportunities for protein diagnostics and biosecurity.     

Effects of fiber-optic probe design and probe-to-target distance on diffuse reflectance measurements of turbid media: an experimental and computational study at 337 nm

Fiber-optic probes are widely used in optical spectroscopy of biological tissues and other turbid media. Only limited information exists, however, on the ways in which the illumination-collection geometry and the overall probe design influence the interrogation of media. We have investigated both experimentally and computationally the effect of probe-to-target distance (PTD) on the diffuse reflectance collected from an isotropically (Lambertian) scattering target and an agar-based tissue phantom. Studies were conducted with three probes characterized by either common (single-fiber) or separate (two bifurcated multifiber probes) illumination and collection channels. This study demonstrates that PTD, probe design, and tissue scattering anisotropy influence the extent of the transport of light into the medium, the light-collection efficiency, and the sampling volume of collected light. The findings can be applied toward optimization of fiber-optic probe designs for quantitative optical spectroscopy of turbid media including biological tissues.     

Brass Powder in Rubber Vulcanizates. The Effect on Adhesion

Brass plating is presently used for promoting the adhesion of rubber to steel cords used in tires. It is generally accepted that the adhesion is due to chemical bonds that are formed between the rubber and brass,¹ although evidence has been obtained indicating that the adhesion is the result of a physical phenomenon.² In addition, a catalytic oxidation theory also has been advanced.¹

Natural rubber vulcanizates loaded with brass powder showed an increase in crosslinking (by swelling measurements), indicating an interaction or bonding between the rubber and brass. Techniques previously employed with reinforcing fillers such as carbon black were used to evaluate the effect of brass on adhesion. The addition of brass powder decreased the scorch time and optimum cure time indicating that the rubber immediately surrounding the brass was being cured at a faster rate. Copper powder, on the other hand, inhibited the cure completely. When exposed to air or oxygen, even small amounts of brass catalyzed oxidation of the rubber.