ER--Regina style. Interview by Pamela Cowan

Two hundred and fifteen patients with pulmonary involvement of lobar (regional, segmental) extent were examined. The examination procedure included clinical and laboratory tests, X-ray tomographic study, and computed tomography, bronchoscopy with biopsy, cyto- and histological studies. The nosological diagnosis was established in 96.5% of cases. Differential diagnosis was found to be difficult in 3.5% of cases.     

Accuracy assessment of methods for determining hip movement in seated cycling

The goal of this research was to examine the accuracy of three methods used to indicate the hip joint center (HJC) in seated steady-state cycling. Two of the methods have been used in previous studies of cycling biomechanics and included tracking a marker placed over the superior aspect of the greater trochanter, a location that estimates the center of rotation of the hip joint, and assuming that the hip is fixed. The third method was new and utilized an anthropometric relationship to determine the hip joint location from a marker placed over the anterior-superior iliac spine. To perform a comparative analysis of errors inherent in the three methods, a standard method which located the true hip joint center was developed. The standard method involved establishing a pelvis-fixed coordinate system using a triad of video markers attached to an intracortical pin. Three-dimensional motion analysis quantified the true hip joint center position coordinates. To provide data for the comparative analysis, the intracortical pin was anchored to a single subject who pedaled at nine cadence-workrate combinations while data for all four methods were simultaneously recorded. At all cadence-workrate combinations the new method was more accurate than the trochanter method with movement errors lower by a factor of 2 in the vertical direction and a factor of 3 in the horizontal direction. Relative to the errors introduced by the fixed hip assumption, the new method was also generally more accurate by at least a factor of 2 in the horizontal direction and had comparable accuracy in the vertical direction. For computed kinetic quantities, the new method most accurately indicated hip joint force power but the fixed hip method most accurately indicated the work produced by the hip joint force over the crank cycle.     

Mixed-mode fracture of composites using Iosipescu shear test

Finite element analysis is used to determine the influence of elastic properties on the stress distribution in the Iosipescu shear test specimen. Two different boundary conditions are used which assume either the application of force couples or specified displacements. The effect of orthotropy ratio is investigated with E ₁₁/E ₂₂ranging from 1 to 14.2. The analysis is extended to partially cracked specimens and used to calculate the basic fracture parameters in aligned composite materials. In particular, the failure of specimens with two axial splits, nucleated at the roots of the notches, and extended in the fibre direction is analysed. It is shown that the stress distribution is strongly dependent on both the elastic properties and boundary conditions. The mixed mode stress intensity factors K _Iand K _IIat the crack tips tend to increase with orthotropy ratio. The analysis is discussed with respect to the limited experimental data available for this test geometry. From the numerical and experimental results the mixed mode toughness is estimated in terms of the critical stress intensity factors and the critical energy release rate.Résumé On recourt à une analyse par éléments finis pour déterminer l'influence des propriétés élastiques du matériau sur la distribution des contraintes dans l'éprouvette de l'essai de cisaillement de Iosipescu. Deux conditions aux limites sont considérées: l'application de couples de forces ou de déplacements imposés. L'effet du rapport d'orthotropie est étudié, pour des valeurs de E ₁₁/E ₂₂comprises entre 1 et 14,2. L'analyse est étendue au cas d'éprouvettes partiellement fissurées, et est utilisée pour le calcul des paramètres fondamentaux de rupture dans des matériaux composites à fibres alignées. On analyse en particulier la rupture d'éprouvette comportant deux séparations axiales, prenant naissance aux racines ds entailles et s'étendant dans la direction de la fibrosité.On montre que la distribution des containtes dépend fortement des propriétés élastiques du matériaux et des conditions aux limites. Les facteurs d'intensité de contrainte correspondant au mode mixte K _Iet K _IIde rupture aux extrémités de la fissure tendant à croître avec le rapport d'orthotropie.Une discussion sur cette analyse tient compte du nombre limité de données expérimentales disponibles pour cette géométrie d'éprouvettes. On peut estimer la ténacité sous mode mixte à partir des résultats numériques et expérimentaux, et l'exprimer par les facteurs critiques d'intensité de contraintes et la vitesse critique de relaxation de l'énergie.     

Solar pond ground heat loss to a moving water table

An analytical solution is presented that calculates the heat loss from the bottom of a solar pond (or any heated object) to a soil that contains a moving water table. The water table is treated as a fluid slab moving as a slug flow in one dimension. Edge effects and horizontal heat conduction are ignored. Both steady-state and time-dependent solutions are presented. Results are presented in terms of an effectiveness ratio—the actual heat flux divided by the steady-state heat flux resulting from a constant temperature heat sink at the depth of the water table. The only water-table parameter that strongly affects the effectiveness is the fluid capacity rate. Thus, for any potential solar pond site, a measurement of the mass flow rate of the water table combined with knowledge of the soil thermal properties will allow a good estimation of the ground heat loss expected over the lifetime of the pond.     

Evacuated-tube directional-radiating cooling system

A new type of radiative cooling system is described. The radiator makes use of nonimaging optics and evacuated-tube technology to radiate significant amounts of heat to the 3 K environment of outer space. The nonimaging optics are used to direct the radiation overhead, through the most transparent part of the 8–13 μm atmospheric window. The required optical concentration is small, and relatively simple mirror geometries are possible. The evacuated-tube technology is used to attain storage temperatures at or below the freezing point, even when dewpoint temperatures are well above the freezing point.     

Simulation of flow control in the meniscus of a continuous casting mold with opposing alternating current magnetic fields

A numerical simulation was performed for a novel electromagnetic stirring system that employs two rotating magnetic fields. The system controls stirring flow in the meniscus region of a continuous casting mold independently from the stirring induced within the remaining volume of the mold by a main electromagnetic stirring (M-EMS) system. This control is achieved by applying to the meniscus region an alternating current-stirring modifier (AC-SM) whose direction of rotation is opposite to that of the main magnetic field produced by the M-EMS. The model computes values and spatial distributions of electromagnetic parameters and fluid flow in stirred pools of mercury in cylindrical and square pools. Also predicted are the relationships between electromagnetics and fluid flows pertinent to a dynamic equilibrium of the opposing stirring swirls in the meniscus region. Results of the numerical simulation compared well with the measurements obtained from experiments with mercury pools.     

Effect of plasticizers on the thermal decomposition of chlorinated polyvinylchloride

Plasticized samples of chlorinated polyvinylchloride (CPVC) were investigated by using thermogravimetric (TG) analysis and differential scanning calorimetry (DSC). Three different plasticizers were studied, namely, dioctyl phthalate (DOP), alkyldiaryl phosphate ester (Santiciser 2148), and triaryl phosphate ester (Reofos 50). TG experiments in nitrogen showed one major decomposition stage, involving dehydrochlorination, and minor pyrolysis reaction of the hydrocarbon residue. In contrast to the three stages previously reported to occur in the nonplasticized‐stabilized CPVC, TG analyses in air showed two distinctive decomposition stages for the plasticized CPVC samples. The DOP system provided a suggestion of a third stage. The first decomposition stage was due not only to the loss of all the chlorine present, but also to loss of the plasticizer or its decomposition products. The second decomposition stage was mostly due to char oxidation, the char being formed almost exclusively from the DCE and VDC units in CPVC polymer. DSC results showed that in the presence of nitrogen, there was no significant plasticizer effect on the thermal decomposition behavior of CPVC up to about 330°C, while in air the DSC traces also show no significant differences below 400°C. The two phosphate plasticizers showed no significant differences in their effect on the thermal decomposition behavior of CPVC under the same experimental conditions. It is believed that P₂O₅ and polyphosphoric acid are among the main constituents of the residua. These would impart a protective glassy surface to the char. This will facilitate effective flame retardant action. This preliminary conclusion is based on the premise that the more stable the char layers are, the more resilient will be the protective layer, and consequently, the better the flame retardant effect. J. VINYL ADDIT. TECHNOL., 11:21–27, 2005. © 2005 Society of Plastics Engineers     

The effect of mixed mode I/III on crack evolution in brittle solids

A modification of Sommer's classical experiment [4] has been used to fracture rods of a brittle epoxy resin in mixed mode I/III stress conditions. The nucleation and growth of cracks in an increasing K _III/K _I stress field have been investigated, particularly in relation to the formation of river lines and the evolution of multiple cracks between river lines to form smooth helicoid surfaces. The fractographic features associated with the progressive development of river line patterns involving crack bowing at river line steps, interaction between arrays of cracks and the coalescence of river lines are described. As K _III/K _I increases the scale of the river line patterns increases but the patterns remain self similar. Using principles from differential geometry it is shown that helicoid surfaces can be generated entirely by crack evolution involving tilting without twiting.Emeritus Goldsmiths' Professor of Metallurgy, University of Cambridge, U.K.