Inhomogeneous Density in Die Compaction: Experiments and Finite-Element Calculations

X-ray density measurements and two-color powder displacement observations were used to determine the reliability of the cylindrical test cell as a source of data for a plasticity model of granular materials. Calculations with such a model agree well with the experimental density distribution, for the cylindrical test cell itself and for a cylindrical die, compacted from one side by means of a profiled plunger .     

Proline versus charge concept for protein stabilization against proteolytic attack

The virtue of the so-called ‘proline concept’ andthe ‘charge concept’ for stabilizing protease-susceptibleregions of a protein structure was compared on bovine pancreaticribonuclease A. Alanine 20 and serine 21, both of whichare located in a loop that is susceptible to the unspecificproteases subtilisin Carlsberg, subtilisin BPN', proteinaseK and elastase, were replaced with proline or lysine by site-directedmutagenesis. The rate constant of proteolysis was decreasedby up to three orders of magnitude for the proline mutants dependingon the site of the mutation and the protease used. In contrast,substitution by lysine increased the proteolytic resistanceby only one order of magnitude characterizing the ‘prolineconcept’ as superior to the ‘charge concept’.Although the four applied proteases are considered to be unspecific,the degree of stabilization of the ribonuclease molecule variedconsiderably, indicating the impact of individual differencesin their substrate specificity on the proteolytic resistanceand degradation pathway of the target protein. Received May 12, 2003; revised October 23, 2003; accepted October 30, 2003     

A corpus of Schlieren photography of speech production: potential methodology to study aerodynamics of labial,nasal and vocalic processes

Language Resources and Evaluation - This report presents a corpus of articulations recorded with Schlieren photography, a recording technique to visualize aeroflow dynamics for two purposes. First,...     

周志宏对魏氏组织及马氏体的形成和形貌的早期金相研究

关于铁合金中相变的详尽显微组织方面的早期研究之一是由艾伯特·苏佛教授的学生周志宏（哈佛大学博士，１９２８年）完成的。该项研究描述了铁碳合金中魏氏组织和马氏体的形成，所用合金具有宽的碳含量范围，热处理时采用的冷却速率范围也是宽的。还描述了一种独特的汞浴淬火方法。此研究工作从未完全发表过。本文援引该博士论文中的一些原始显微组织照片和部分原文，并试图用我们现今对于铁合金相变的理解来阐明和重新诠释。文中还包括中国引进现代工业和科学的历史背景，以及周志宏对苏佛教授的个人回忆。     

Convergence of generalized-$\boldsymbol{\alpha}$ time integration for nonlinear systems with stiff potential forces

Generalized-\(\alpha\) time integration schemes, originally developed for application in structural dynamics, are increasingly popular throughout many branches of multibody system simulation. Their simple implementation and the opportunity to control the numerical dissipation make them highly appealing for use in broad fields of application.Initially introduced for the solution of linear ordinary differential equations, there have been several extensions to nonlinear structural dynamics and constrained multibody systems in various formulations.In the present paper, we consider the application to systems with very stiff potential forces (singular singularly perturbed systems) whose solution approaches in the limit case that of a constrained system (index-3 differential–algebraic equation). We give a convergence analysis comparing the highly oscillatory solutions of the stiff system to those of the associated constrained one and show that the classical second order convergence result holds for position coordinates as well as for appropriately projected errors on the velocity level.The theoretical results are verified by numerical experiments for a simple test example.     

Hamstrings and psoas lengths during normal and crouch gait: implications for muscle-tendon surgery

OBJECTIVE: To study the relative contribution of the lung and the chest wall on the total respiratory system mechanics, gas exchange, and work of breathing in sedated-paralyzed normal subjects and morbidly obese patients, in the postoperative period. SETTING: Policlinico Hospital, University of Milan, Italy. METHODS: In ten normal subjects (normal) and ten morbidly obese patients (obese), we partitioned the total respiratory mechanics (rs) into its lung (L) and chest wall (w) components using the esophageal balloon technique together with airway occlusion technique, during constant flow inflation. We measured, after abdominal surgery, static respiratory system compliance (Cst,rs), lung compliance (Cst,L), chest wall compliance (Cst,w), total lung (Rmax,L) and chest wall (Rmax,w) resistance. Rmax,L includes airway (Rmin,L) and "additional" lung resistance (DR,L). DR,L represents the component due to viscoelastic phenomena of the lung tissue and time constant inequalities (pendelluft). Functional residual capacity (FRC) was measured by helium dilution technique. RESULTS: We found that morbidly obese patients compared with normal subjects are characterized by the following: (1) reduced Cst,rs (p < 0.01), due to lower Cst,L (55.3 +/- 15.3 mL x cm H2O-1 vs 106.6 +/- 31.7 mL x cm H2O-1; p < 0.01) and Cst,w (112.4 +/- 47.4 mL x cm H2O-1 vs 190.7 +/- 45.1 mL x cm H2O-1; p < 0.01); (2) increased Rmin,L (4.7 +/- 3.1 mL x cm H2O x L-1 x s; vs 1.0 +/- 0.8 mL x cm H2O x L-1 x s; p < 0.01) and DR,L (4.9 +/- 2.6 mL x cm H2O x L-1 x s; vs 1.5 +/- 0.8 mL x cm H2O x L-1 x s; p < 0.01); (3) reduced FRC (0.665 +/- 0.191 L vs 1.691 +/- 0.325 L; p < 0.01); (4) increased work performed to inflate both the lung (0.91 +/- 0.25 J/L vs 0.34 +/- 0.08 J/L; p < 0.01) and the chest wall (0.39 +/- 0.13 J/L vs 0.18 +/- 0.04 J/L; p < 0.01); and (5) a reduced pulmonary oxygenation index (PaO2/PAO2 ratio). CONCLUSION: Sedated-paralyzed morbidly obese patients, compared with normal subjects, are characterized by marked derangements in lung and chest wall mechanics and reduced lung volume after abdominal surgery. These alterations may account for impaired arterial oxygenation in the postoperative period.     

Prediction of the Poisson's ratio of porous materials

An equation is presented for the prediction of the Poisson's ratio of porous materials. The equation is strictly derived for spherical porosity and isotropic materials and it is valid for the whole porosity range. For low porosity, the equation coincides with a published equation, which has been verified in the past by comparison with extensive experimental data. For the high-porosity range, the theoretical variation of the Poisson's ratio exhibits a trend converging to a value _P =0.5, when the porosity increases to P=1, A similar converging trend has been found in other theoretical studies, but a rigorous experimental verification of such variations has still to be carried out.     

Smooth velocity approximation for constrained systems in real-time simulation

The rapidly increasing complexity of multi-body system models in applications like vehicle dynamics, robotics and bio-mechanics requires qualitative new solution methods to slash computing times for the dynamical simulation.