先进低成本的铸件浇注和补缩系统设计方法

用实例介绍了一项用于铸造生产的三维模拟技术,通过对金属液充型和凝固过程的数值模拟进行铸造工艺设计,从而在计算机上实现可视铸造过程,能保证既快又省地设计一个优化的铸造工艺.与传统的模数法,经验和试错的工艺设计不同,本模型是用铸件的凝固时间计算补缩系统.从一个铸件凝固模拟开始,根据凝固时间和被补缩的体积,计算冒口和冒口颈的尺寸和数量,再进行铸件加冒口的模拟计算,做必要的修正,直到获得满意的结果,最后根据铸件的临界壁厚、体积、充型速度和浇注温度等参数计算浇注系统.当整个系统设计完成后,模拟计算整个充型和凝固过程以验证设计,做必要的修正,直到获得一个能生产无铸造缺陷铸件的铸造工艺,即保证一次成功生产出合格铸件,节约了时间和成本.     

Modellversuche zum Verhalten der schwefligen S?ure bei oxydativen Prozessen II. Mitteilung Bindung von schwefliger S?ure an Oxydationsprodukte der Ascorbins?ure

Zusammenfassung Unter Anwendung polarographischer Methoden wurde die Assoziation von schwefliger Säure und Dehydroascorbinsäure im Bereich von pH 3–5 untersucht. Es konnten in diesem Bereich die Dissoziationskonstanten und die Geschwindigkeitskonstanten von Assoziation und Dissoziation bestimmt Werden. Aus den ermittelten Daten geht hervor, daß derartige Messungen nur mit Hilfe der polarographischenRapid-Technik durchgeführt Werden können. Die Fehlerquellen bei titrimetrischen Bestimmungen von freier, neben gebundener schwefliger Säure werden diskutiert und quantitativ erfaßt.Von den widersprüchlichen Literaturangaben über das Dissoziationsverhalten der schwefligen säure konnte die vonJoslyn u.Braverman bestätigt werden.Einfache Versuche zeigen, daß Bräunung durch Produkte aus dem nichtoxydativen Abbau der Dehydroascorbinsäure bei Anwesenheit von schwefliger Säure nicht auftritt; eine Erklärung wird gegeben.

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About the reaction of sulfurous acid during oxidation II. Binding of sulfurous acid with oxidation-products of ascorbic acid

Summary By using new polarographic methods, the association of sulfurous acid and dehydroascorbic acid Were studied in the range of pH 3–5. In this range it Was possible to determine the dissociation and the velocity constants of association and dissociation. From the results it is concluded that measurements of this kind only can be made by the polarographic rapid technique. The sources of error in using the titrimetric method are discussed and quantitatively determined.From the controversial results in the literature on the dissociation reaction of sulfurous acid, the findings ofJoslyn andBraverman could be confirmed.Simple results show that browning caused by products from non-oxidative decompostion of dehydroascorbic acid did not show up if sulfurous acid is present; an explanation for this is given.

     

Brominated flame retardants in Belgian home-produced eggs: levels and contamination sources

The extent and the sources of contamination with brominated flame retardants (BFRs), such as polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs) and hexabromocyclododecane (HBCD), in home-produced eggs from free-foraging chicken of Belgian private owners were investigated. Various factors, such as seasonal variability, exposure of chickens through diet (kitchen waste) and soil, and elimination of BFRs through eggs and faeces were assessed. PBDEs were more important than HBCD in terms of concentrations and detection frequency. Concentrations of PBDEs and HBCD in Belgian home-produced eggs were relatively low and comparable with reported levels from other European countries and the US. The concentrations of PBDEs (sum of 13 congeners, including BDE 209) ranged between not detected and 32 ng/g lipid weight (lw), with medians of 3.0 and < 2.0 ng/g lw for the autumn 2006 and spring 2007 campaigns, respectively. When present, BDE 209 was the major PBDE congener (45% of sum PBDEs). When BDE 209 was not detected, the PBDE profile was composed of PentaBDE (BDE 99 and BDE 47), with, in some cases, higher contribution of OctaBDE (BDE 183 and BDE 153). HBCD was also detected (< 0.4 and 2.9 ng/g lw for the autumn 2006 and spring 2007 campaigns, respectively), but at lower detection frequency. The highest HBCD value was 62 ng/g lw. The similarity between profiles and seasonal variations in the concentrations of BFRs in soil and eggs indicate that soil is an important source, but not the sole source, for eggs laid by free-foraging chicken. The contamination of eggs with PBDEs and HBCD appears to be of low concern for public health and the contribution of eggs to the total daily intake of PBDEs appears to be limited (10% for chicken owners and 5% for the average Belgian consumer).     

Improving Product Quality and Reliability with Customer Experience Data

Advance technology development and wide use of the World Wide Web have made it possible for new product development organizations to access multi‐sources of data‐related customer complaints. However, the number of customer plaints of highly innovative consumer electronic products is still increasing; that is, product quality and reliability is at risk. This article aims to understand why existing solutions from literature as well as from industry to deal with these increasingly complex multiple data sources are not able to manage product quality and reliability. Three case studies in industry are discussed. On the basis of the case study results, this article also identifies a new research agenda that is needed to improve product quality and reliability under this circumstance. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Distorted symptom perception in patients with medically unexplained symptoms.

The present study investigated differences in symptom perception between a clinical sample with medically unexplained symptoms (MUS) and a matched healthy control group. Participants (N = 58, 29 patients) were told that they would inhale different gas mixtures that might induce symptoms. Next, they went through 2 subsequent rebreathing trials consisting of a baseline (60 s room air breathing), a rebreathing phase (150 s, which gradually increased ventilation, PCO2 in the blood, and perceived dyspnea), and a recovery phase (150 s, returning to room air breathing). Breathing behavior was continuously monitored, and dyspnea was rated every 10 s. The within-subject correlations between dyspnea on the one hand and end-tidal CO2 and minute ventilation on the other were used to index the degree to which perceived dyspnea was related to specific relevant respiratory changes. The results showed that perceived symptoms were less strongly related to relevant physiological parameters in MUS patients than in healthy persons, specifically when afferent physiological input was relatively weak. This suggests a stronger role for top-down psychological processes in the symptom perception of patients with MUS. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Virtual analysis of influence of a filter on mould filling

Ceramic filters are used to avoid slag and impurities in foundry applications. When not properly applied, the presence of these filters may have a significant influence on mould filling. 3-D casting simulation has been applied to study the effects of the use of a ceramic filter on the metal flow in a gating system. Instead of using a pressure drop model to represent the behaviour of a fluid metal flow passing through a filter, a real exact filter geometry, which is created by a high resolution CT-scan and a non-destructive imaging technique, in the gating system is applied in the simulation. In this research, nodular cast iron is poured into a block casting. A depressurized gating system is used. After a choke, a filter with different orientations is placed in the system. Mould filling coupled with temperature is simulated. Geometries using different orientations of the filter, and without the filter have been researched. The simulated results show that the filter has no influence on the pouring time of the casting if the choke section is small enough compared to the effective section of the filter. Although the filter has no significant influence on the flow patterns in the block casting itself, the flow patterns in the filter zone are different. When the liquid metal passes a horizontal filter, it will be broken into many small streams and show a shower effect. After the part under the filter is full, the shower effect disappears. When the filter is located at the vertical position, due to the gravity, the shower effect is less. If no filter presents on the system, the liquid metal passes through the filter zone with a high speed and causes surface turbulence.     

Optimal control of (bio-)chemical reactors: generic properties of time and space dependent optimization

This paper deals with the optimal control (OC) in the space domain of (bio-)chemical reactors. As an example, the determination of optimal heat exchanger temperature profiles of exothermic tubular reactors under the assumption of steady-state and plug flow characteristics is investigated. To enable a trade-off between process performance and energy loss a weighted cost criterion is defined. Application of the Minimum Principle of Pontryagin leads to extremal control profile structures which are very similar to those obtained during optimization (in the time domain) of well mixed bioreactors. The latter problem has been analyzed in detail over the last two decades. The analogy is reflected at various levels during analytical optimal control computations.     

Immunogenicity of the Envelope Surface Unit of Human Endogenous Retrovirus K18 in Mice

The triggers for the development of multiple sclerosis (MS) have not been fully understood to date. One hypothesis proposes a viral etiology. Interestingly, viral proteins from human endogenous retroviruses (HERVs) may play a role in the pathogenesis of MS. Allelic variants of the HERV-K18 env gene represent a genetic risk factor for MS, and the envelope protein is considered to be an Epstein–Barr virus-trans-activated superantigen. To further specify a possible role for HERV-K18 in MS, the present study examined the immunogenicity of the purified surface unit (SU). HERV-K18(SU) induced envelope-specific plasma IgG in immunized mice and triggered proliferation of T cells isolated from these mice. It did not trigger phenotypic changes in a mouse model of experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis. Further studies are needed to investigate the underlying mechanisms of HERV-K18 interaction with immune system regulators in more detail.     

Multicellular Modelling of Difficult-to-Treat Gastrointestinal Cancers: Current Possibilities and Challenges

Cancers affecting the gastrointestinal system are highly prevalent and their incidence is still increasing. Among them, gastric and pancreatic cancers have a dismal prognosis (survival of 5–20%) and are defined as difficult-to-treat cancers. This reflects the urge for novel therapeutic targets and aims for personalised therapies. As a prerequisite for identifying targets and test therapeutic interventions, the development of well-established, translational and reliable preclinical research models is instrumental. This review discusses the development, advantages and limitations of both patient-derived organoids (PDO) and patient-derived xenografts (PDX) for gastric and pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC). First and next generation multicellular PDO/PDX models are believed to faithfully generate a patient-specific avatar in a preclinical setting, opening novel therapeutic directions for these difficult-to-treat cancers. Excitingly, future opportunities such as PDO co-cultures with immune or stromal cells, organoid-on-a-chip models and humanised PDXs are the basis of a completely new area, offering close-to-human models. These tools can be exploited to understand cancer heterogeneity, which is indispensable to pave the way towards more tumour-specific therapies and, with that, better survival for patients.