Scheduling railway traffic at a construction site

We consider the problem of rescheduling trains in the case where one track of a railway section consisting of two tracks in opposing directions is closed due to construction activities. After presenting an appropriate model for this situation we derive a polynomial algorithm for the subproblem of finding an optimal schedule with minimal latenesss if the subsequences of trains for both directions outside the construction site are fixed. Based on this algorithm we propose a local search procedure for the general problem of finding good schedules and report test results for some real world instances. Received: December 8, 1999 / Accepted: May 2, 2001     

Microalloyed Steel Bars and Forgings

This paper examines microalloyed steels—steels which develop their properties in the as-received condition without requiring further heat treatment, such as quenching and tempering. Microalloyed steel bars and forgings offer a clear cut potential for cost reduction and energy savings. The metallurgy for producing high strength microalloyed bars and forgings is in place. However, significant improvement in the notch toughness of these materials is necessary, and the metallurgy required to achieve this toughness improvement exists. With application of the necessary metallurgical techniques in rolling mills and forge shops, the utilization of high strength microalloyed steel bars and forgings will increase greatly.     

A Simple, rapid preparative method for isolating and purifying oxymyoglobin

A simple and rapid procedure was developed to isolate and purify preparative quantities (up to 200 mg) of reduced myoglobin (98% oxy) of high purity (>96%) from beef and pork muscles. This method involved fractional precipitation of a crude myoglobin extract with ammonium sulfate and purification with a single Chromatographic step on a Sephadex G-100 column. The metmyoglobin level of the myoglobin preparation was minimised by using muscle from freshly slaughtered animals (<48h post-mortem), trimming the muscle immediately before use to remove any oxidised myoglobin on the surface and carrying out all procedures at low temperature (0-5 °C) and alkaline pH (8.0-8.5). The purity of the myoglobin preparations was confirmed by ion exchange HPLC and SDS-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis. The method was effective for skeletal muscle of both low myoglobin content (pork) and high myoglobin content (beef). The resulting purified myoglobin was very stable and there was little change in metmyoglobin level or autoxidation rate during 3 months' storage at 0 °C.     

Participatory ergonomics in design processes: the role of boundary objects

The aim of this paper is to introduce the concept of boundary objects in order to better understand the role of objects in participatory ergonomics (PE) design processes. The research question is: What characterizes boundary objects in PE processes? Based on two case studies, we identify eight characteristics of boundary objects and their use, which make them particularly useful in PE design processes. These characteristics go beyond the object itself and extend into the context of their use. We argue that the selection of boundary objects in PE processes is of great importance, since different objects enable workers’ participation and collaborative design in different ways. The framework developed may serve to provide criteria to guide practitioners and intervention researchers in the selection of objects to facilitate a PE process. The paper concludes with a list of recommendations for ergonomic practitioners that are based on the framework.     

Growth condition dependence of unintentional oxygen incorporation in epitaxial GaN

Growth conditions have a tremendous impact on the unintentional background impurity concentration in gallium nitride (GaN) synthesized by molecular beam epitaxy and its resulting chemical and physical properties. In particular for oxygen identified as the dominant background impurity we demonstrate that under optimized growth stoichiometry the growth temperature is the key parameter to control its incorporation and that an increase by 55?°C leads to an oxygen reduction by one order of magnitude. Quantitatively this reduction and the resulting optical and electrical properties are analyzed by secondary ion mass spectroscopy, photoluminescence, capacitance versus voltage measurements, low temperature magneto-transport and parasitic current paths in lateral transistor test structures based on two-dimensional electron gases. At a growth temperature of 665?°C the residual charge carrier concentration is decreased to below 10¹⁵ cm^?3, resulting in insulating behavior and thus making the material suitable for beyond state-of-the-art device applications.     

Living Materials Herald a New Era in Soft Robotics

Living beings have an unsurpassed range of ways to manipulate objects and interact with them. They can make autonomous decisions and can heal themselves. So far, a conventional robot cannot mimic this complexity even remotely. Classical robots are often used to help with lifting and gripping and thus to alleviate the effects of menial tasks. Sensors can render robots responsive, and artificial intelligence aims at enabling autonomous responses. Inanimate soft robots are a step in this direction, but it will only be in combination with living systems that full complexity will be achievable. The field of biohybrid soft robotics provides entirely new concepts to address current challenges, for example the ability to self‐heal, enable a soft touch, or to show situational versatility. Therefore, “living materials” are at the heart of this review. Similarly to biological taxonomy, there is a recent effort for taxonomy of biohybrid soft robotics. Here, an expansion is proposed to take into account not only function and origin of biohybrid soft robotic components, but also the materials. This materials taxonomy key demonstrates visually that materials science will drive the development of the field of soft biohybrid robotics.     

Marine n-3 fatty acids: Basic features and background

There is some evidence from epidemiology that intake of n-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFA) from seafood may protect against coronary artery disease (CAD). This hypothesis is further supported from animal data showing a beneficial effect of n-3 PUFA on thrombosis and atherosclerosis in animals fed fish oils in most, but not all, studies. There are several mechanisms by which an increased intake of marine n-3 PUFA may protect against CAD; the most universal finding is a reduction of plasma triglycerides. It is puzzling, however, that a very low amount of n-3 PUFA, with no known beneficial biochemical effects, seems to be cardioprotective. It has therefore been of paramount interest to perform clinical trials. Such evidence and trials are discussed in later chapters, and the results have been very encouraging.     

用于化学纤维加工的气圈控制系统的发展

在AiF研究项目的(AiF编号:14315)的范围内,通过在邓肯道夫纺织工艺研究所(ITV)对锭子的开发,即应用旋转纱线制动装置和经过优化的钢领钢丝圈系统,研究了改善加工化学纤维的环锭纺设备的性能的可能性.     

精细粗梳工艺生产高档纱

AIF-Nr.14827N是德国联邦工业合作研究会(AIF)的一项研究课题,旨在研发出一种既能提高短纤维排除率又能减少棉结的粗梳工艺,可在生产线密度20tex以上的纱线时省去精梳工艺。