Optimization of mono- and anti-symmetrical I-sections of cold-formed thin-walled beams

Subject of the study includes mono- and anti-symmetrical open I-sections of cold-formed thin-walled beams with double flanges. The beams under uniformly distributed vertical load are simply supported at both ends. Geometric properties of each of the I-sections are separately described by dimensionless parameters. Strength, global and local buckling conditions are defined for these beams. A dimensionless objective function is assumed and formulated on the grounds of the optimization criterion. Numerical study of a family of thin-walled beams is carried out. Results of the study are presented graphically.     

Aluminum Gallium Nitride Alloys Grown via Metalorganic Vapor-Phase Epitaxy Using a Digital Growth Technique

This work investigates the use of a digital growth technique as a viable method for achieving high-quality aluminum gallium nitride (Al _x Ga_1−x N) films via metalorganic vapor-phase epitaxy. Digital alloys are superlattice structures with period thicknesses of a few monolayers. Alloys with an AlN mole fraction ranging from 0.1 to 0.9 were grown by adjusting the thickness of the AlN layer in the superlattice. High-resolution x-ray diffraction was used to determine the superlattice period and c-lattice parameter of the structure, while reciprocal-space mapping was used to determine the a-lattice parameter and evaluate growth coherency. A comparison of the measured lattice parameter with both the nominal value and also the underlying buffer layer is discussed.     

Suspended aluminum nitride structures grown via metal organic vapor phase epitaxy

The development of III-Nitride suspended structures for Micro-Electro Mechanical Systems (MEMS) and Nano-Electro Mechanical Systems (NEMS) is challenging due to lack of selective etching techniques. Recent efforts have focused on the removal of sacrificial layers based on material properties, such as crystalline quality, bandgap, polarity, doping, etc. These techniques require several processing steps in addition to precise control over the sacrificial and functional layer properties. In this work, conditions have been identified for the growth of etch-resistant polycrystalline AlN films via Metal Organic Vapor Phase Epitaxy (MOVPE) on silicon oxide surfaces, thus allowing silicon oxide to be used as a sacrificial layer in a surface micro-machining process. The MOVPE growth conditions reported result in a well oriented crystal with superior mechanical strength demonstrated by the fabrication of unsupported AlN structures with widths from 5 μm to 110 μm and air gaps ranging from 200 nm to 800 nm. This technique simplifies the fabrication process of AlN suspended structures and is well suited for achieving group III-Nitride heteroepitaxial MEMS/NEMS systems.     

Parasympathetic neurons in the cranial medial ventricular fat pad on the dog heart selectively decrease ventricular contractility

The present study examined the performance of rats with neurotoxic lesions centred in the thalamic nucleus medialis dorsalis on standard and modified versions of the eight arm radial maze test. In Experiment 1, the thalamic lesions produced a borderline deficit in acquisition of the standard task, but subsequently had no effect when a delay was interposed after the first four arms had been entered. The same lesions had no effect on T-maze alternation, but they did impair radial-arm maze performance when intramaze and extramaze cues were set against each other. In Experiment 2, lesions of the dorsomedial thalamus impaired acquisition of the standard radial-arm maze task, but combining the results from Experiments 1 and 2 showed that this acquisition deficit was confined to those animals in which bilateral damage extended into the adjacent anterior thalamic nuclei. In addition, lesions of the dorsomedial thalamus disrupted radial-arm maze performance when the task was modified to compare working memory and reference memory and increased activity and exploration. These changes were not associated with anterior thalamic damage. Finally, the thalamic lesions did not affect performance on a test of spontaneous object recognition. It is concluded that lesions of medialis dorsalis do not disrupt spatial memory but do affect other processes that can interact with task performance. These include a failure of extramaze cues to overshadow intramaze cues, a change in activity and exploration levels and deficits in with-holding spatial responses.     

Neural control of left ventricular contractility in the dog heart: synaptic interactions of negative inotropic vagal preganglionic neurons in the nucleus ambiguus with tyrosine hydroxylase immunoreactive terminals

Recent physiological evidence indicates that vagal postganglionic control of left ventricular contractility is mediated by neurons found in a ventricular epicardial fat pad ganglion. In the dog this region has been referred to as the cranial medial ventricular (CMV) ganglion [J.L. Ardell, Structure and function of mammalian intrinsic cardiac neurons, in: J.A. Armour, J.L. Ardell (Eds.). Neurocardiology, Oxford Univ. Press, New York, 1994, pp. 95-114; B.X. Yuan, J.L. Ardell, D.A. Hopkins, A.M. Losier, J.A. Armour, Gross and microscopic anatomy of the canine intrinsic cardiac nervous system, Anat. Rec., 239 (1994) 75-87]. Since activation of the vagal neuronal input to the CMV ganglion reduces left ventricular contractility without influencing cardiac rate or AV conduction, this ganglion contains a functionally selective pool of negative inotropic parasympathetic postganglionic neurons. In the present report we have defined the light microscopic distribution of preganglionic negative inotropic neurons in the CNS which are retrogradely labeled from the CMV ganglion. Some tissues were also processed for the simultaneous immunocytochemical visualization of tyrosine hydroxylase (TH: a marker for catecholaminergic neurons) and examined with both light microscopic and electron microscopic methods. Histochemically visualized neurons were observed in a long slender column in the ventrolateral nucleus ambiguus (NA-VL). The greatest number of retrogradely labeled neurons were observed just rostral to the level of the area postrema. TH perikarya and dendrites were commonly observed interspersed with vagal motoneurons in the NA-VL. TH nerve terminals formed axo-dendritic synapses upon negative inotropic vagal motoneurons, however the origin of these terminals remains to be determined. We conclude that synaptic interactions exist which would permit the parasympathetic preganglionic vagal control of left ventricular contractility to be modulated monosynaptically by catecholaminergic afferents to the NA-VL.     

Effect of Compression with Oscillatory Torsion Processing on Structure and Properties of Cu

The results presented in this study were concerned with microstructures and mechanical properties of polycrystalline Cu subjected to plastic deformation by a compression with oscillatory torsion process. Different deformation parameters of the compression with oscillatory torsion process were adopted to study their effects on the microstructure and mechanical properties. The deformed microstructure was characterized quantita- tively by electron backscattered diffraction (EBSD) and scanning transmission electron microscopy (STEM). Mechanical properties were determined on an MTS QTest/10 machine equipped with digital image correlation. From the experimental results, processes performed at high compression speed and high torsion frequency are recommended for refining the grain size. The size of structure elements, such as average grain size (D) and subgrain size (d), reached 0.42 μm and 0.30 μm, respectively, and the fraction of high angle boundaries was 35% when the sample was deformed at a torsion frequency f = 1.6 Hz and compression rate v = 0.04 mm/s. These deformation parameters led to an improvement in the strength properties. The material exhibited an ultimate tensile strength (UTS) of 434 MPa and a yield strength (YS) of 418 MPa. These values were about two times greater than those of the initial state.     

Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy characterization of AlN thin films grown on sacrificial silicon oxide layers via metal organic vapor phase epitaxy

Aluminum nitride (AlN) films were grown using metal organic vapor phase epitaxy techniques on Si (111) substrates patterned with silicon oxide (SiO_x) stripes and the vibrational properties of these films were investigated by Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) techniques. The grown films contained a predominantly wurtzite AlN phase. The AlN film on SiO_x was prone to corrosion when subjected to wet etching in buffered hydrofluoric acid solution thereby changing the material properties of the AlN film on SiO_x. The change in the material properties of the AlN films on SiO_x can be gauged from the decrease in the relative integrated areas under the A1 (TO) and E1 (TO) modes of the AlN film. The analysis shows that FTIR is a viable tool for investigating the material properties of AlN thin film structures with lateral dimensions as low as 100 μm.