Decision by the Principle Board of the Polish Allergy Society

A review of isolates of Neisseria meningitidis and other laboratory evidence of meningococcal infection was carried out for the period 1990-1995. Thirty-three patients with evidence of meningococcal disease were identified over the six year period. Group B organisms were the most commonly identified, but an increase in Group C has occurred and is almost equal in number. Data from clinical, laboratory and public health sources should be centralized in a National Surveillance Centre.     

离子液体体系下纤维素酶降解壳聚糖

合成氨基酸类离子液体甘氨酸氟硼酸盐-[Gly]BF4,构建该离子液体与壳聚糖的均相体系,在此体系下采用纤维素酶对壳聚糖进行降解。研究发现该离子液体在溶解壳聚糖的过程中可以有效破坏壳聚糖中氢键,并且增加纤维素酶与壳聚糖之间可及度,促进降解效果。考察不同条件对反应的影响,确定最佳条件:质量分数2%离子液体水溶液与壳聚糖组成均相体系,pH 5.0,反应时间3h,反应温度50℃,壳聚糖1.0g,酶用量0.1g,所得降解产物平均相对分子质量可达2 000左右,具有良好水溶性,较常规体系下酶解反应有很大改善。同时,离子液体具有良好重复使用性。     

Identification of ductile damage and fracture parameters from the small punch test using neural networks

This paper presents a method for the identification of deformation, damage and fracture properties of ductile materials. The small punch test is used to obtain the material response under loading. The resulting load displacement curve contains information about the deformation and failure behavior of the tested material. The finite element method is used to compute the load displacement curve depending on the parameters of the Gurson-Tvergaard-Needleman damage law. Via a systematic variation of the material parameters a data base is built up, which is used to train neural networks. This neural network can be used to predict the load displacement curve of the SPT for a given material parameter set. The identification of the material parameters is done by using a conjugate directions algorithm, which minimizes the error between an experimental load displacement curve and one predicted by the network function. The identified material parameters are validated by independent tests on notched tensile specimens. Furthermore, these parameters can be used to compute the crack growth in fracture specimens, which finally leads to a prediction of classical fracture toughness parameters.     

Identification of material parameters of the Gurson–Tvergaard–Needleman model by combined experimental and numerical techniques

To identify material parameters from suitable experiments it is prevalent to use global informations like force–displacement or force–necking curves. The quality of accordance between measured and calculated forces at given displacements can be expressed by a least-squares functional. In this contribution a non-linear optimization method will be presented, which minimizes the least-squares functional by use of a gradient based method. The gradient of this functional is calculated in a semi-analytical sensitivity analysis. To determine the derivatives of the force with respect to the material parameters, the local sensitivities on an intersection will be added together. On this intersection, the total nodal force and the external force have to be equal and the normal displacements have to be independent on the material parameters. The parameter identification is embedded in the finite element code SPC-PMHP for solving non-linear boundary and initial value problems on parallel computers. The Gurson–Tvergaard–Needleman model is used to describe the plastic deformation and damage behaviour of the ductile structural steel StE 690. The developed algorithm is applied to tensile tests with notched cylindrical bars.     

Peanut varieties with reduced Ara h 1 content indicating no reduced allergenicity

Peanut allergy is a major cause of food‐induced severe anaphylactic reactions. To date, no medical care is available to prevent and treat peanut allergy and therefore hypoallergenic peanut varieties are of considerable health political and economic interest. Major allergens that induce IgE‐responses in peanut‐sensitive patients are Ara h 1, Ara h 2 and Ara h 3/4. In order to identify hypoallergenic peanuts, commercially locally available peanut varieties were screened for their allergen content. Ara h 1‐deficient peanuts from Southeast Asia were identified by SDS‐PAGE, immunoblotting, inhibition assays and ELISA. 2‐D PAGE analyses demonstrated the different compositions of the tested extracts and revealed a number of variations of the allergen patterns of peanuts from different varieties. Mediator release experiments of these peanut extracts demonstrated similar allergenicities as compared with standard peanut extract. These results indicate that the allergenicity of peanuts with reduced Ara h 1 content might be compensated by the other allergens, and thus do not necessarily cause a reduction of allergenicity.     

Design and characterization of the balloon-borne Michelson Interferometer for Passive Atmospheric Sounding (MIPAS-B2)

MIPAS-B2 is a balloon-borne limb-emission sounder for atmospheric research. The heart of the instrument is a Fourier spectrometer that covers the mid-infrared spectral range (4-14 microns) and operates at cryogenic temperatures. Essential for this application is the sophisticated line-of-sight stabilization system, which is based on an inertial navigation system and is supplemented with an additional star reference system. The major scientific benefit of the instrument is the simultaneous detection of complete trace gas families in the stratosphere without restrictions concerning the time of day and viewing directions. The specifications, the design considerations, the actual realization of the instrument, and the results of characterization measurements that have been performed are described.     

Indirect measuring of crack growth by means of a key-curve-method in pre-cracked Charpy specimens made of nodular cast iron

The determination of dynamic crack resistance curves from single specimen fracture tests requires information about the crack advance during the experiment. Here, attention is focused on crack resistance curves for nodular cast iron based on experimental data from instrumented Charpy tests. In order to estimate the actual crack length a key curve method (KCM) is employed. On the other hand, the Charpy impact tests were realized numerically using finite element calculations in conjunction with a continuum damage model (CDM) to simulate ductile crack growth. The parameters of the CDM model were determined from the experimental data of single specimen fracture tests. Equivalence between the experimental and the numerical realization of a fracture test was ensured by validating the predictions of the numerical simulations by means of low blow fracture tests. Comparison between the crack advance predicted by the numerical simulations and the results obtained using the proposed KCM shows a sufficiently well agreement with the actual crack length. Furthermore, crack resistance curves obtained from single specimen tests using either standard estimation schemes in conjunction with the KCM or numerical simulations are compared with the predictions based on low blow fracture tests.     

Pore bifurcation, growth and pore termination in nanoporous alumina with concave and convex surfaces

The growth of nanoporous alumina on concave or convex aluminium surfaces has been investigated. The number of pores during anodic oxidation increases or decreases almost linearly with the thickness of the oxide which is due to bifurcation or termination of single pores during alumina growth. The anodic oxidation has been constantly conducted in oxalic acid at 40 V. Therefore the average interpore distance has not changed during alumina growth. In earlier papers it has been shown that a bifurcation of pores is the result of the change of voltage and the electrolyte. In this work we have demonstrated that a termination or a bifurcation of pores is also possible by structuring the aluminium to a curved surface with concave or convex properties before oxidation. Those results do not depend on the substrate characteristics or on the alumina preparation techniques.     

Intercomparison of the Realizations of the ITS-90 from 83.8058 K to 692.677 K among European NMIs

The EUROMET.T-K3 comparison is the regional extension of CCT-K3. The comparison involved the six European national metrology institutes (NMIs) previously involved in CCT-K3 (LNE-INM/CNAM, SMU, INRiM, NMi-VSL, NPL, PTB) and 18 additional European national laboratories. The comparison was divided into five different loops, each coordinated by a co-pilot chosen from the laboratories having participated in the CCT-K3 comparison. LNE-INM/CNAM played the role of pilot in linking the five loops. In each loop, an artifact in the form of a standard platinum resistance thermometer (SPRT, 25 Ω) was circulated among the participating laboratories. To have sufficient information about the possible drift of the SPRTs, the co-pilots performed a calibration over the full temperature range at the beginning and at the end of the loop. A EUROMET reference value (ERV), taking into account the whole comparison, was defined, and the differences (T _Lab − T _ERV) were calculated with the associated uncertainties. The method for establishing the link between the participants in CCT-K3 and in EUROMET.T-K3 is described. Institut National de Métrologie (BNM-INM/CNAM at the time of the comparison, LNE-INM/CNAM since 1 January 2005), Paris, France.