FRACTURE ASSESSMENT FOR SECONDARY LOADS

The fracture assessment of structures subjected to secondary loading systems was studied by FEM-analysis of a few illustrative two-dimensional examples. The first example is an edge-cracked plate with a thermal gradient. The FEM-calculations revealed that a purely elastic analysis yielded J-values that are in most cases considerably more conservative than the ones calculated from an elastic-plastic analysis. The results were further compared with different engineering type non-linear estimates. As a second example a crack emanating from a semi-circular notch in a rectangular plate was chosen. The plate was subjected to uniaxial tension along its boundaries. It turned out that for the cases considered the J-values were fairly close to those elastically predicted.     

Menstrual cycle and age: influence on parenchymal contrast medium enhancement in MR imaging of the breast

PURPOSE: To quantify how frequently mesenteric adenitis clinically mimics appendicitis and to determine its appearance at computed tomography (CT). MATERIALS AND METHODS: The medical records of 651 consecutive patients with an admission diagnosis of appendicitis were reviewed to determine how often mesenteric adenitis was the discharge diagnosis. The CT scans of a separate group of 18 patients with a discharge diagnosis of mesenteric adenitis were reviewed. These patients were part of a group of 100 consecutive patients prospectively evaluated with CT of the appendix for clinically suspected appendicitis. RESULTS: Fifty of 651 patients (7.7%) with an admission diagnosis of appendicitis had a discharge diagnosis of mesenteric adenitis. Mesenteric adenitis constituted 50 of the 252 (19.8%) discharge diagnoses other than appendicitis. All 18 CT scans of mesenteric adenitis showed three or more nodes that measured at least 5 mm in shortest axis clustered in the right lower quadrant, with a normal appendix identified. Eight patients had associated ileal or ileocecal wall thickening. CONCLUSION: Mesenteric adenitis is an important clinical mimic of appendicitis. It appears at CT as clustered, enlarged mesenteric lymph nodes with a normal appendix, and there may be associated ileitis or ileocolitis noted.     

Co-Channel Operation of Macro- and Femtocells in a Hierarchical Cell Structure

In this paper, the feasibility of user-deployed femtocells in the same frequency band as an existing macrocell network is investigated. Key requirements for co-channel operation of femtocells such as auto-configuration and public access are discussed. Methods for femtocell power auto-configuration that ensure a constant cell radius in the downlink, and a low pre-definable interference impact on co-channel macrocells in the uplink are proposed. The theoretical performance of randomly deployed femtocells in such a hierarchical cell structure and the resulting impact on existing co-channel macrocells is analysed for a cellular UMTS network using system level simulations.     

X-ray Fluorescence Uptake Measurement of Functionalized Gold Nanoparticles in Tumor Cell Microsamples

Quantitative cellular in vitro nanoparticle uptake measurements are possible with a large number of different techniques, however, all have their respective restrictions. Here, we demonstrate the application of synchrotron-based X-ray fluorescence imaging (XFI) on prostate tumor cells, which have internalized differently functionalized gold nanoparticles. Total nanoparticle uptake on the order of a few hundred picograms could be conveniently observed with microsamples consisting of only a few hundreds of cells. A comparison with mass spectroscopy quantification is provided, experimental results are both supported and sensitivity limits of this XFI approach extrapolated by Monte-Carlo simulations, yielding a minimum detectable nanoparticle mass of just 5 pg. This study demonstrates the high sensitivity level of XFI, allowing non-destructive uptake measurements with very small microsamples within just seconds of irradiation time.     

Rapid solidification in the Al2O3ZrO2 system

Eutectic compositions of Al₂O₃ and ZrO₂ have been melted and rapidly solidified by shock-wave quenching, flame-pressure atomization and high-pressure water atomization. Quenching rates > 10⁴ K/s resulted in amorphous particles which, on annealing, crystallized at 1310°C. Microcrystalline particles with tetragonal ZrO₂ distributed in an ?-Al₂O₃ matrix formed at lower quenching rates. ?-Al₂O₃ transformed into α-Al₂O₃ on annealing at 953°C.     

Phase Stability of Fine-Grained (Mg,Y)-PSZ

A fine-grained zirconia, which has been costabilized with yttria and magnesia, has been prepared. Its stability during subeutectoid annealing at 1100^deg;C, and its hydrothermal stability during hydrothermal treatment at 180^deg;C, have been determined and they are compared to those of Y-TZP and Mg-PSZ materials .     

Friction of linerboard based on recycled fiber

The purpose of this investigation was to study the origin of the differences in paper‐to‐paper friction of linerboards based on old corrugated containers (OCC). The sheets were subjected to two extraction stages and analyzed with respect to, surface roughness, and their content of low‐molecular‐mass lipophilic compounds (LLC). Friction was measured using a friction tester based on the horizontal plane principle. The surface roughness was measured using a Perthometer profiler and the low molecular mass lipophilic constituent of the paper sheets was determined by gas chromatography‐mass spectroscopy. The sheets were imaged using environmental scanning electron microscopy (ESEM), and the relative compositions of inorganic ions on the paper surfaces were determined by energy dispersive X‐ray spectroscopy (EDS). The results showed that a high amount of LLC in the sheets lead to low friction, due to lubrication. It was also observed that large CaCO₃ particles on the surface had a friction‐increasing effect, and that there was no relationship between the surface roughness and the friction. © 2002 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci 85: 1511–1520, 2002     

Comparing variants of strategic ability: how uncertainty and memory influence general properties of games

Alternating-time temporal logic (ATL) is a modal logic that allows to reason about agents’ abilities in game-like scenarios. Semantic variants of ATL are usually built upon different assumptions about the kind of game that is played, including capabilities of agents (perfect vs. imperfect information, perfect vs. imperfect memory, etc.). ATL has been studied extensively in previous years; however, most of the research focused on model checking. Studies of other decision problems (e.g., satisfiability) and formal meta-properties of the logic (like axiomatization or expressivity) have been relatively scarce, and mostly limited to the basic variant of ATL where agents possess perfect information and perfect memory. In particular, a comparison between different semantic variants of the logic is largely left untouched. In this paper, we show that different semantics of ability in ATL give rise to different validity sets. The issue is important for several reasons. First, many logicians identify a logic with its set of true sentences. As a consequence, we prove that different notions of ability induce different strategic logics. Secondly, we show that different concepts of ability induce different general properties of games. Thirdly, the study can be seen as the first systematic step towards satisfiability-checking algorithms for ATL with imperfect information. We introduce sophisticated unfoldings of models and prove invariance results that are an important technical contribution to formal analysis of strategic logics.     

ExoPranayama: a biofeedback-driven actuated environment for supporting yoga breathing practices

Both breathing and internal self-awareness are an integral part of any yoga practice. We describe and discuss the development of ExoPranayama, an actuated environment that physically manifests users’ breathing in yoga. Through a series of trials with yoga practitioners and expert teachers, we explore its role in the practice of yoga. Our interview results reveal that biofeedback through the environment supported teaching and improved self-awareness, but it impacted group cohesion. Two practical uses of the technology emerged for supporting breath control in yoga: (1) biofeedback can provide new information about users’ current internal states; (2) machine-driven feedback provides users with a future state or goal and leads to improved cohesiveness.