Wide-Area Imaging of Ultrasonic Fields by Digital Phase-Stepping Shearography

Shearography, introduced in 1973 by both Hung & Taylor [1] and Leendertz & Butters [2], was developed from speckle pattern interferometry. Both methods are full- field optical techniques which generate interference patterns by combining a reference beam with the reflected light from a diffusive surface. However, a significant difference exists between the manner in which these two methods form their resulting interferograms. Shearography is a common path intereferometer; the reference beam is derived from the same beam as that used to probe the object. This distinction has a number of advantages including tolerance to rigid body motions, reduced laser coherence requirements, compact design, convenient sensitivity adjustment, and direct measurement of differential displacement. The advent of modern video cameras has allowed designers to build upon these intrinsic advantages producing a portable low-cost sensor. In this configuration, (electronic) shearography has gained acceptance as a nondestructive inspection technique [3–5], which is commonly used on aerospace structures and materials [6–10]

Student perception of workplace-based assessment.

Workplace-based assessment (WPBA) is key to medical education, providing a framework through which the trainee can be assessed and receive feedback in the clinical setting. WPBA was introduced in 2008-2009 to students in year 4 at University College London Medical School (UCLMS). Students raised concerns about the lack of standardisation in grading. As a result, white-space areas were introduced on WPBA forms. The aim of this was to permit assessors to expand their feedback, thereby enhancing its developmental potential. The aim of the project was to assess student perception of WPBA at UCLMS, and to determine whether re-designing the form had altered this perception

Scaling Behaviour and Complexity of the Portevin-Le Chatelier Effect

The plastic deformation of dilute alloys is often accompanied by plastic instabilities due to dynamic strain aging and dislocation interaction. The repeated breakaway of dislocations from and their recapture by solute atoms leads to stress serrations and localized strain in the strain controlled tensile tests, known as the Portevin-Le Chatelier (PLC) effect. In this present work, we analyse the stress time series data of the observed PLC effect in the constant strain rate tensile tests on Al-2.5%Mg alloy for a wide range of strain rates at room temperature. The scaling behaviour of the PLC effect was studied using two complementary scaling analysis methods: the finite variance scaling method and the diffusion entropy analysis. From these analyses we could establish that in the entire span of strain rates, PLC effect showed Levy walk property. Moreover, the multiscale entropy analysis is carried out on the stress time series data observed during the PLC effect to quantify the complexity of the distinct spatiotemporal dynamical regimes. It is shown that for the static type C band, the entropy is very low for all the scales compared to the hopping type B and the propagating type A bands. The results are interpreted considering the time and length scales relevant to the effect.Comment: 35 pages, 6 figure

Inhibition of RNA polymerase II transcription in human cells by synthetic DNA-binding ligands

Sequence-specific DNA-binding small molecules that can permeate human cells potentially could regulate transcription of specific genes. Multiple cellular DNA-binding transcription factors are required by HIV type 1 for RNA synthesis. Two pyrrole-imidazole polyamides were designed to bind DNA sequences immediately adjacent to binding sites for the transcription factors Ets-l, lymphoid-enhancer binding factor 1, and TATA-box binding protein. These synthetic ligands specifically inhibit DNA-binding of each transcription factor and HIV type 1 transcription in cell-free assays. When used in combination, the polyamides inhibit virus replication by >99% in isolated human peripheral blood lymphocytes, with no detectable cell toxicity, The ability of small molecules to target predetermined DNA sequences located within RNA polymerase II promoters suggests a general approach for regulation of gene expression, as well as a mechanism for the inhibition of viral replication

Ovarian hormones and pituitary responsiveness to gonadotrophin releasing hormone in mice

In the present study the role of progesterone and oestradiol in modulating the responsiveness at the anterior pituitary gland to gonadotrophin releasing hormone (GN-RH) was investigated by measuring the release of luteinizing hormone (LH) in ovariectomised mice which had been pretreated with these steroids.A significant release of LH was seen in the animals receiving GN-RH. Pretreatment with oestrogen and progesterone depressed LH levels in the animals which did not receive GN-RH, and resulted in a larger release of LH in the animals receiving GN-RH in comparison with the control group pretreated with oil