David Hull

Journal of Optimization Theory and Applications -     

A novel programmed shrinkage dilatometer for optimized sintering of powder ceramics

A fast-firing shrinkage rate controlled dilatometer was developed as a tool for optimizing sintering of powder compacts. The instrument described in this work features an infrared imaging radiation furnace and a low thermal mass dilatometer assembly which allowed controlled heating and cooling rates of up to 500°C min^?1. Shrinkage control was accomplished using a computer interfaced PID control algorithm. Adjustments were made to hardware and software which reduced specimen creep under dilatometer pushrod load, eliminated non-uniform pushrod expansion, fostered reproducible specimen temperature determination, accounted for thermal expansion during sintering, and generated instantaneous termination of sintering at the specified end of RCS. Tests performed on ZnO samples demonstrated very rapid thermal response and excellent shrinkage control.     

George Leitmann

Journal of Optimization Theory and Applications -     

Dedication

Journal of Optimization Theory and Applications -     

The mechanism of nucleation and growth from CdGeAs2 glass

Distinctively different microstructures were obtained depending on the heating rate to which CdGeAs₂ glasses were exposed during the devitrification process. Differential scanning calorimetry showed that under very slow heating rates, the single crystallization peak splits into three superimposed exotherms. Quenching from the temperature at which selected features appear on the DSC trace and using X-ray diffraction and transmission electron microscopy interactively, demonstrated the initial formation of a metastable doped precursor germanium crystalline phase. This crystalline structure continued to grow until it could no longer accommodate the impurities, and the transformation terminated. These regions then acted as heterogeneous nucleation sites for the growth of chalcopyrite structured CdGeAs₂ with a spherulitic microstructure. The spherulites grew as stacked plates from the nucleation site. At higher temperatures, the metastable germanium structure converted, growing backwards toward the center of each precursor, into the stable chalcopyrite structure, permitted by appropriate ionic diffusion shifting composition toward stoichiometry. At faster heating rates, less of these germanium precursors formed, creating a visually bimodal grain size distribution in the microstructure, as compared to slower heating rates. Using the simplex algorithm, the mechanism and activation energy of each reaction are reported as well as the deconvoluted enthalpies of each transformation.     

A matroid invariant via the K-theory of the Grassmannian

Let G(d,n) denote the Grassmannian of d-planes in Cn and let T be the torus n(C^∗)/diag(C^∗) which acts on G(d,n). Let x be a point of G(d,n) and let be the closure of the T-orbit through x. Then the class of the structure sheaf of in the K-theory of G(d,n) depends only on which Plücker coordinates of x are nonzero - combinatorial data known as the matroid of x. In this paper, we will define a certain map of additive groups from K^○(G(d,n)) to Z[t]. Letting gx(t) denote the image of , gx behaves nicely under the standard constructions of matroid theory, such as direct sum, two-sum, duality and series and parallel extensions. We use this invariant to prove bounds on the complexity of Kapranov's Lie complexes [M. Kapranov, Chow quotients of Grassmannians I, Adv. Soviet Math. 16 (2) (1993) 29-110], Hacking, Keel and Tevelev's very stable pairs [P. Hacking, S. Keel, E. Tevelev, Compactification of the moduli space of hyperplane arrangements, J. Algebraic Geom. 15 (2006) 657-680] and the author's tropical linear spaces when they are realizable in characteristic zero [D. Speyer, Tropical linear spaces, SIAM J. Discrete Math. 22 (4) (2008) 1527-1558]. Namely, in characteristic zero, a Lie complex or the underlying (d−1)-dimensional scheme of a very stable pair can have at most strata of dimensions n−i and d−i, respectively. This prove the author's f-vector conjecture, from [D. Speyer, Tropical linear spaces, SIAM J. Discrete Math. 22 (4) (2008) 1527-1558], in the case of a tropical linear space realizable in characteristic 0.     

Documentation of progress in voice therapy: perceptual, acoustic, and laryngostroboscopic findings pretherapy and posttherapy

The effect of voice therapy in a group of chronically dysphonic patients with diverse diagnoses was studied according to the normal clinical procedure. The results were evaluated by perceptual rating, acoustic analysis, and the assessment of laryngostroboscopic recordings. Although the group effects for the differences between posttherapy and pretherapy data were clearly significant, the effects of voice therapy for the individual patients were divergent. For each of the three evaluation methods, a significant improvement was found for about 40% to 50% of the patients. The diversity of the therapy outcome among the patients could not be explained by the pretherapy status nor by age, gender, or diagnosis groups. In general, the perceptual ratings and the acoustic parameters from the baseline data were clearly correlated. However, these characterizations of the voice were only moderately correlated with the visual evaluation of the vocal fold vibrations. Relations among the three evaluation tools for the changes caused by voice therapy were very weak. The low correlation among the three methods suggests that a multidimensional evaluation of the voice is necessary to give a complete picture of the therapy outcome.     

Prevalence and Relative Risk of Dysphonia in Rheumatoid Arthritis

SUMMARY: Laryngeal involvement in rheumatoid arthritis is not uncommon and may include cricoarytenoid arthritis or vocal fold lesions such as vocal fold rheumatoid nodules or bamboo nodes. Dysphonia or voicing problems can be the result of such laryngeal involvement. This cohort study investigates the prevalence and the relative risk of dysphonia when suffering from rheumatoid arthritis compared to that of healthy subjects. One hundred and sixty-six subjects with rheumatic arthritis and 148 healthy control subjects completed two quality-of-life questionnaires: the Voice Handicap Index and a three-item outcome scale. Both instruments measure the quality of the voice itself and the extent of impairment resulting from dysphonia as experienced by the patient in social and occupational settings. Patients proved to have statistically significant higher prevalence and relative risk of dysphonia. Depending on the questionnaire being used, prevalence data of dysphonia in patients varied between 12% and 27%, whereas the healthy subjects showed prevalence data varying from about 3% to 8%. A patient's relative risk varied from about 3 to 4 when compared to healthy subjects. Patients suffering from rheumatoid arthritis have a clearly higher risk of dysphonia compared to healthy subjects.