Effect of complexation of oxidised corn starch with mineral elements on physicochemical properties

The objective of this study was to determine the effect of complexation of oxidised starch with mineral elements on its physicochemical properties. Corn starch was oxidised with sodium hypochlorite and, afterwards, modified with ions of potassium, magnesium and iron. Thus, native and modified starches were analysed for: contents of mineral elements, colour parameters (L*a*b*), water binding capacity and solubility in water at temperature of 60 and 80 °C. Thermodynamic characteristics of gelatinisation by DSC, molecular weight distribution by GPC, intrinsic viscosity and pasting properties by RVA were studied. The efficiency of incorporation of metal ions into oxidised corn starch was about 30%, 20% and 20% for potassium, magnesium and iron ions, respectively. The complexation with potassium ions caused the greatest changes in the molecular weight distribution and the intrinsic viscosity of starches and viscosity of starch pastes. Only modification of starch with iron ions affected the colour parameters of the starch. Incorporation of metal ions into starch resulted also in changes in its water binding capacity and solubility in water.     

Inverse Analysis of Axisymmetrical Compression of HSLA Steel

The objective of the present work is to further explore the problem of selection of the flow stress function which will give the best agreement with experiments for a wide range of the Zener‐Hollomon parameter. Analysis of various flow stress functions was performed, with particular emphasis on the Zerilli‐Armstrong model. Inverse analysis was successfully applied to identify the flow stress model for microalloyed steels deformed in ferrite, two‐phase and austenite regions. Inverse method is applied to interpret the results of the axisymmetrical compression tests performed for HSLA steel samples on a Gleeble 3800 and Split Hopkinson Pressure Bar. Sensitivity analysis is performed based on local and global methods. The objective of the sensitivity analysis in the present study is the evaluation to what extent the selected coefficients in the rheological model influence the result of simulations. In the considered tests this result is represented by two dependent variables, the load and the shape of the sample (barrelling). It is confirmed that the Zerilli‐Armstrong equations should be applied at very high strain rates. Physical meaning is an advantage of this model. Difficulties with identification are the main disadvantage.     

Modelling of plastic flow, heat transfer and microstructural evolution during rolling of eutectoid steel rods

A study was undertaken in an attempt to quantitatively describe the rolling process of eutectoid steel rods. Finite element method was employed to model plastic flow and heat transfer in the deformed material, and heat transfer during cooling to ambient temperature. The numerical calculation gave an assessment of the strain, strain rate and temperature distributions in the work piece. This allowed the prediction of the austenite microstructure evolution during the process. Finally, the relationships describing the microstructure-mechanical properties were used to quantitatively characterize the influence of processing parameters on strength of rods after rolling.     

Multi-contact vertical ladder climbing with an HRP-2 humanoid

We describe the research and the integration methods we developed to make the HRP-2 humanoid robot climb vertical industrial-norm ladders. We use our multi-contact planner and multi-objective closed-loop control formulated as a QP (quadratic program). First, a set of contacts to climb the ladder is planned off-line (automatically or by the user). These contacts are provided as an input for a finite state machine. The latter builds supplementary tasks that account for geometric uncertainties and specific grasps procedures to be added to the QP controller. The latter provides instant desired states in terms of joint accelerations and contact forces to be tracked by the embedded low-level motor controllers. Our trials revealed that hardware changes are necessary, and parts of software must be made more robust. Yet, we confirmed that HRP-2 has the kinematic and power capabilities to climb real industrial ladders, such as those found in nuclear power plants and large scale manufacturing factories (e.g. aircraft, shipyard) and construction sites.     

Influence of nonlinear coupling of pulses on spatio-temporal compression

Abstract

Properties of a novel configuration of an optical (spatio-temporal) pulse compressor, that is based on a Kerr-type planar waveguide into which two pulses are simultaneously launched, are studied. It is assumed that the pulse which is the subject of the compression propagates in the anomalous dispersion regime, while the auxiliary pulse is in normal dispersion. The best parameters of the proposed compressor are obtained when duration of the auxiliary pulse is so large that this dispersion can be neglected, while energy of the second pulse is above the threshold of first-order soliton generation. It is observed that in such a configuration the compression occurs simultaneously with the generation of a soliton-like solution. It is argued that the proposed configuration with two simultaneously propagating pulses has advantages over the configuration with a single pulse, namely the maximal compression factor and the optimal length of the compressor is, respectively, more than 3 times larger and, at least, 10 times greater than the corresponding values of the compressor with a single pulse. It is also demonstrated that such a compressor can be considered as a universal device, since its operation depends only slightly on the initial parameters of the pulse subject to the compression.     

New message based priority buffer insertion ring protocol

A new buffer insertion ring protocol with message based priorities is presented. The overall throughput of the new system matches that of the nonmessage-priority system. Data provide comparisons of number of priority levels, performance of each priority level, effect of operating modes on performance, and the dual impact of implementation of priority sorting and high network load.<>     

Is numerical comparison digital? Analogical and symbolic effects in two-digit number comparison.

Do Ss compare multidigit numbers digit by digit (symbolic model) or do they compute the whole magnitude of the numbers before comparing them (holistic model)? In 4 experiments of timed 2-digit number comparisons with a fixed standard, the findings of J. V. Hinrichs et al (see record 1982-07073-001) were extended with French Ss. Reaction times (RTs) decreased with target-standard distance, with discontinuities at the boundaries of the standard's decade appearing only with standards 55 and 66 but not with 65. The data are compatible with the holistic model. A symbolic interference model that posits the simultaneous comparison of decades and units can also account for the results. To separate the 2 models, the decades and units digits of target numbers were presented asynchronously in Experiment 4. Contrary to the prediction of the interference model, presenting the units before the decades did not change the influence of units on RTs. Pros and cons of the holistic model are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)