Performance testing of a multiservice synthetic grease for industrial and automotive use

This paper describes Grease A, a high drop point PAO type grease with multiservice capability, developed to fill the performance/cost gap which has existed in industrial and automotive applications between mineral-based multiservice greases and synthetic greases, either specialised, or with multiservice capability orientated towards military applications, and usually expensive. It also briefly gives details on Grease B and Grease C, two other greases based on the same chemistry as Grease A, developed for very specialised and severe applications which cannot be covered by a multiservice grease, even synthetic, such as Grease A.     

A PCR assay and PCR-restriction fragment length polymorphism combination identifying the 3 primary Mycoplasma species causing mastitis

The focus of the current research was to develop real-time PCR assays with improved sensitivity and the capacity to simultaneously speciate the 3 most common mycoplasma mastitis agents: Mycoplasma bovis, Mycoplasma californicum, and Mycoplasma bovigenitalium. Real-time PCR was chosen because it provides rapid results. Partial 16S rRNA gene sequencing was used as the gold standard for evaluating candidate real-time PCR assays. To ascertain the real-time PCR assay specificity, reference strains of Mycoplasma species, Acholeplasma axanthum, and common gram-positive and gram-negative mastitis pathogens were tested. No cross-reactions were observed. Mycoplasma spp. isolated from bovine milk samples (n=228) and other organ sites (n=40) were tested by the real-time PCR assays and the partial 16S rRNA gene sequencing assay. Overall accuracy of this novel real-time PCR was 98.51%; 4 of 228 isolates identified as M. bovis by the partial 16S rRNA gene sequencing assay were identified as both M. bovis and M. californicum by real-time PCR. Subsequent amplicon sequencing suggested the presence of both M. bovis and M. californicum in these 4 samples. Using a cycle threshold of 37, the detection limits for real-time PCR were 10 copies of DNA template for both M. bovis and M. bovigenitalium, and 1 copy for M. californicum. This real-time PCR assay is a diagnostic technique that may be used as a screening tool or as a confirmation test for mycoplasma mastitis.     

Reflections on the role of the school psychologist in Israel.

Outlines principles that guided the author in directing the school psychological service in a small community in Israel. Some guidelines are presented for new psychologists working in school or community settings. (12 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Calculation of theJ=3 roton spectrum of solid hydrogen and deuterium

A model for collective rotational excitations (rotons) with angular momentumJ=3 in solid ortho-hydrogen and para-deuterium at low temperatures is proposed. The theory is an extension of previous Bloch-type models of librons in orthohydrogen and rotons in para-hydrogen. The present model gives fairly good agreement with the positions and relative intensities of the observed Raman lines. As is the case for the libron spectrum, a discrepancy between theory and experiment is found. Improvements of the theory, which may give better agreement with the observed Raman spectra, are discussed.Supported by NSF Grant GP-9042.     

Multi‐objective Optimization of Sensor and Excitation Layouts for Frequency Response Function‐Based Structural Damage Identification

Abstract: The accuracy of many damage identification methods depends significantly on the quality of measurements collected by sensors, such as accelerometers, concerning the response characteristics of a structure. Often the number of sensors used to collect measurements is limited due to available funds, equipment, and access. In addition, the excitation location can significantly affect a sensor's ability to collect quality measurement information. Therefore, both the location and number of sensors and the location of the excitation must be optimized to maximize the quality of information collected. A multi‐objective optimization approach is presented that minimizes the number of sensors specified while maximizing the sensitivity of the frequency response functions (FRFs) collected at each specified sensor location with respect to all possible damaged structural elements. The multiple Pareto‐optimal sensor/excitation layouts obtained aid in determining the number of sensors required to obtain an effective level of measurement information. The benefit of using Pareto‐optimal sensor/excitation layouts is investigated by using the optimized layouts to collect measurement information for a FRF‐based structural damage identification method. Trial results confirm that an increase in damage identification accuracy and efficiency is achieved when Pareto‐optimal sensor/excitation layouts are used instead of nonoptimal layouts. In addition, the Pareto‐optimal layouts improved damage identification accuracy in noisy measurement environments due to increasing the quality of measurements collected.     

Consistency of pupils' attributions regarding success and failure.

191 6th graders attending schools in 3 socioeconomic areas were asked to attribute to causes their success or failure on examinations administered in 3 subjects in the course of a trimester. The extent of consistency was measured between attributional patterns obtained from 2 tests in the same subject and between two tests in different subjects. Results show consistency in Ss' attributional patterns. It was found that consistency of attributional patterns was significantly greater when Ss received the same outcomes on the 2 tests (success or failure) than when different outcomes were received (success–failure or failure–success). (17 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The benefits of a graduated training program for security officers on physical performance in stressful situations.

This study examined the benefits of a graduated training program for security officers on physical performance in stressful situations and identified predictors of effective coping with stress. In addition, a comprehensive model was developed to present the relationship between physical and psychological performance. Training effectiveness was determined by comparing the differences between performance under normal conditions and under conditions of stress in preintervention and postintervention phases. Measures included a battery of physical and psychological tests. Findings showed that training had a significant effect on performance. Stress had a negative effect only on performance of complex tasks, and this effect disappeared by the end of the course. The authors concluded that security forces can be trained to deal effectively with stressful situations. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Creating a consensus ranking of proposals from reviewers’ partial ordinal rankings

Peer review of research proposals and articles is an essential element in R&D processes worldwide. In most cases, each reviewer evaluates a small subset of the candidate proposals. The review board is then faced with the challenge of creating an overall “consensus” ranking on the basis of many partial rankings. In this paper we propose a branch-and-bound model to support the construction of an aggregate ranking from the partial rankings provided by the reviewers. In a recent paper we proposed ways to allocate proposals to reviewers so as to achieve the maximum possible overlap among the subsets of proposals allocated to different reviewers. Here, we develop a special branch-and-bound algorithm that utilizes the overlap generated through our earlier methods to enable discrimination in ranking the competing proposals. The effectiveness and efficiency of the algorithm is demonstrated with small numerical examples and tested through an extensive simulation experiment.