Multiple-toughening behaviour in SiC platelet-reinforced TZP/Al2O3 ceramic composites

Abstracts are not published in this journal     

Venous lesions in Beh?et''s disease

This study examined 117 patients with mild cervical atypia or atypical squamous cells of uncertain significance; it was found that 25% had histologically proven CIN lesions by colposcopically-directed punch biopsy or cone biopsy. 18% were found to have at least CIN 2 lesions and there was 1 case of invasive cancer. These data strongly support the recommendation of early colposcopic referral in patients with mild cervical atypia.     

A lighting coordinate database for 3D art objects

Artists making three-dimensional art objects have an idea in their minds about how to illuminate their creations. For museums and galleries to illuminate these objects successfully according to the ideas of the artist, the types of light sources and their locations must be known. To fulfil this requirement, we propose a lighting coordinate database (LCD) to establish the coordinates of light sources. We describe two possible methods of obtaining data for this database: a computer software method and a hardware method. The head of Michelangelo's David is used to test the applicability of the two methods. In the software method, the scanned image of David's head is illuminated on the computer screen and data for the location of light sources are created. In the hardware method, a second set of data is created by illuminating a scale model of David using light emitting diodes (LED).     

Studies on synthesis,characterization, and metal adsorption of mimosa and valonia tannin resins

A few thermosetting wood adhesive tannin resin system from formaldehyde reaction with both condensed and hydrolysable tannin has been developed. Polymerization of formaldehyde with mimosa tannin and valonia tannin was carried out at optimal conditions obtained from literature to establish the adhesive resin formulation. Formed reaction products were characterized by FTIR spectroscopy. The possible adsorption mechanisms for the adsorption of various metal ions onto tannin‐formaldehyde resins were proposed. Also, thermal analysis were studied and discussed by differential scanning calorimetry and thermogravimetry. © 2006 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci 102: 786–797, 2006     

Effects of hue,saturation, and brightness on preference

A study was done to investigate preference responses for foreground–background color relationships. To do this, 123 university undergraduates in Ankara, Turkey, were asked to view eight background colors selected from HSB color space on which color squares of differing hues, saturations, and brightnesses were presented. Subjects were asked to show the color square they preferred on the presented background color. Findings showed that colors having maximum saturation and brightness were most preferred. Blue was the most preferred hue regardless of background. The findings for preferences for foreground–background color relationships are also included in this article. © 2002 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Col Res Appl, 27, 199–207, 2002; Published online in Wiley InterScience (www.interscience.wiley.com). DOI 10.1002/col.10051     

Reflex sympathetic dystrophy syndrome due to arteriovenous fistula

A patient with end-stage renal disease presented with reflex sympathetic dystrophy syndrome (RSDS) on her left hand 1 month after arteriovenous fistula (AVF) surgery. Magnetic resonance angiography revealed steal syndrome at the AVF level. Bone scintigraphy revealed early-stage RSDS. We considered that arterial insufficiency because of steal phenomenon following AVF surgery and underlying occlusive arterial disease triggered RSDS development.     

A Practical Space-Code Correlator Receiver for DSP Based Software Radio Implementation in CDMA2000

Development of practical algorithms for beamforming in 3G CDMA systems and their software radio implementations are still a challenging task, which will facilitate upgrading of traditional base stations into smart antenna capable 3G base stations. In this paper, we propose a practical space-code correlator (SCC) receiver structure for its software radio implementation a DSP. SCC’s advantage comes from the fact that it doesn’t require any training sequence or learning parameter as in other algorithms (LMS or CM). DSP implementations of the SCC are performed using Texas Instruments C67xx family platforms. In the simulations, reverse link base band signal format of CDMA2000 is used and the effects of different array topologies (uniform linear array-ULA or uniform circular array-UCA) are considered. The implementation results regarding beamforming accuracy, weight vector computation time (execution time), search resolution effect on DOA estimation accuracy, DSP resource utilization, and received SINR are presented. The results show that DSP based SCC beamformer can estimate weight vectors within less than 10 ms with DOA search resolution of 2° especially when C6713 DSP is used. With faster DSPs and larger search resolutions, execution time could be significantly reduced as well. It provides comparable SINR performance with LMS and CM algorithms.

Sensitivity and specificity of infrared thermography in detection of subclinical mastitis in dairy cows

The objectives of this experiment were to determine interrelationships among mastitis indicators and evaluate the subclinical mastitis detection ability of infrared thermography (IRT) in comparison with the California Mastitis Test (CMT). Somatic cell count (SCC), CMT, and udder skin surface temperature (USST) data were compiled from 62 Brown Swiss dairy cows (days in milk = 117 ± 51, milk yield = 14.7 ± 5.2 kg; mean ± SD). The CORR, REG, and NLIN procedures of Statistical Analysis System (SAS Institute Inc., Cary, NC) were employed to attain interrelationships among mastitis indicators. The diagnostic merit of IRT as an indirect measure of subclinical mastitis was compared with CMT using the receiver operating characteristics curves. The udder skin surface temperature was positively correlated with the CMT score (r = 0.86) and SCC (r = 0.73). There was an exponential increase in SCC (SCC, ×10³ cells/mL = 22.35 × e^{1.31 × CMT score}; R² = 0.98) and a linear increase in USST (USST, °C = 33.45 + 1.08 × CMT score; R² = 0.75) as the CMT score increased. As SCC increased, USST increased logarithmically [USST, °C = 28.72 + 0.49 × ln(SCC, ×10³ cells/mL); R² = 0.72]. The USST for healthy quarters (SCC ≤400,000 cells/mL; n = 94) was different from that for subclinical mastitic quarters (SCC >400,000 cells/mL; n = 135) (mean ± SE; 33.45 ± 0.09 vs. 35.80 ± 0.08°C). The sensitivity, specificity, positive likelihood ratio, negative likelihood ratio, positive predictive value, and negative predictive value were 95.6, 93.6, 14.97, 0.05, 95.0, and 93.6, respectively, for IRT and 88.9, 98.9, 83.56, 0.11, 99.2, and 86.1, respectively, for CMT. The area under the receiver operating characteristics curve for IRT and CMT was not different. In conclusion, as a noninvasive and quick tool, IRT can be employed for screening subclinical mastitis via measuring USST, with a high predictive diagnostic ability similar to CMT when microbiological culturing is unavailable. However, the reliability of IRT among cows with different characteristics and those living under various environmental conditions remains to be determined.     

Flocculation of fine particles in ceramic wastewater using new types of polymeric flocculants

It appears to be quite a few national and international studies were reported regarding flocculation and settling properties of ceramic industry wastewater containing various mineral matters. Cleaning of ceramic industry wastewaters with ever increasing environmental standards needs effective and economical solid–liquid separation processes. In this study, quantity and type of optimum flocculant concentration were investigated for solid–liquid separation of Umpac ceramic plant (located at Usak, Turkey) wastewaters. A new generation of flocculants namely unique molecular architecture (UMA) are used to obtain high settling velocity along with high solid content waste and circulation water with low turbidity values. Zeta potential of the tailings including quartz, feldspar, clorite, and mica was also measured at different pH values. The flocculation tests were performed in the presence of different types of polymers at different polymer dosages. It seems that Magnafloc 5250 shows higher performance than the anionic flocculant SPK 508 and other anionic UMA flocculants Magnafloc 6260 and Magnafloc 3230. © 2009 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci, 2009     

A new method for the simultaneous determination of Fe(III), Cu(II), Pb(II), Zn(II), Cd(II), and Ni(II) in wine using differential pulse polarography

A new and simple differential pulse polarographic method for the analysis of wine has been established. With this method, it was possible to determine simultaneously six trace elements in wine. There was no need for time consuming extraction and separation procedures with danger of contamination. The polarogram of wet digested wine was taken initially in pH 2 acetate buffer and Pb, Cd, and Zn were determined by standard additions. Ethylene diamine tetraacetic acid (EDTA) was added and pH was increased to six by addition of NaOH. Fe and Cu were determined subsequently. The ammonia buffer, pH 9.5, was identified as the best medium for separation and determination of Ni and Zn. The quantities of trace elements were found as Cu 290 ± 20 μg L⁻¹, Fe 8960 ± 50 μg L⁻¹, Pb 148 ± 17 μg L⁻¹, Cd 16 ± 8 μg L⁻¹, Zn 460 ± 25 μg L⁻¹, and Ni 78 ± 17 μg L⁻¹.