Kinetostatic Analysis and Solution Classification of a Planar Tensegrity Mechanism

Tensegrity mechanisms have several interesting properties that make them suitable for a number of applications. Their analysis is generally challenging because the static equilibrium conditions often result in complex equations. A class of planar one-degree-of-freedom (dof) tensegrity mechanisms with three linear springs is analyzed in detail in this paper. The kinetostatic equations are derived and solved under several loading and geometric conditions. It is shown that these mechanisms exhibit up to six equilibrium configurations, of which one or two are stable. Discriminant varieties and cylindrical algebraic decomposition combined with Groebner base elimination are used to classify solutions as function of the input parameters.Comment: 7th IFToMM International Workshop on Computational Kinematics, May 2017, Poitiers, France. 201

Dynamical Masses of Low Mass Stars in the Taurus and Ophiuchus Star Forming Regions

We report new dynamical masses for 5 pre-main sequence (PMS) stars in the L1495 region of the Taurus star-forming region (SFR) and 6 in the L1688 region of the Ophiuchus SFR. Since these regions have VLBA parallaxes these are absolute measurements of the stars' masses and are independent of their effective temperatures and luminosities. Seven of the stars have masses $<0.6$ solar masses, thus providing data in a mass range with little data, and of these, 6 are measured to precision $< 5 \%$. We find 8 stars with masses in the range 0.09 to 1.1 solar mass that agree well with the current generation of PMS evolutionary models. The ages of the stars we measured in the Taurus SFR are in the range 1-3 MY, and $<1$ MY for those in L1688. We also measured the dynamical masses of 14 stars in the ALMA archival data for Akeson~\&~Jensen's Cycle 0 project on binaries in the Taurus SFR. We find that the masses of 7 of the targets are so large that they cannot be reconciled with reported values of their luminosity and effective temperature. We suggest that these targets are themselves binaries or triples.Comment: 20 page

Melting of tantalum at high pressure determined by angle dispersive x-ray diffraction in a double-sided laser-heated diamond-anvil cell

The high pressure and high temperature phase diagram of Ta has been studied in a laser-heated diamond-anvil cell (DAC) using x-ray diffraction measurements up to 52 GPa and 3800 K. The melting was observed at nine different pressures, being the melting temperature in good agreement with previous laser-heated DAC experiments, but in contradiction with several theoretical calculations and previous piston-cylinder apparatus experiments. A small slope for the melting curve of Ta is estimated (dTm/dP = 24 K/GPa at 1 bar) and a possible explanation for this behaviour is given. Finally, a P-V-T equation of states is obtained, being the temperature dependence of the thermal expansion coefficient and the bulk modulus estimated.Comment: 31 pages, 8 figures, to appear in J.Phys.:Cond.Matte

Grüneisen parameter of hcp‐Fe to 171 GPa

We measured the phonon density of states (DOS) of hexagonal close-packed iron (ɛ-Fe) with high statistical quality using nuclear resonant inelastic X-ray scattering and in situ X-ray diffraction experiments between pressures of 30 GPa and 171 GPa and at 300 K, with a neon pressure medium up to 69 GPa. The shape of the phonon DOS remained similar at all compression points, while the maximum (cutoff) energy increased regularly with decreasing volume. As a result, we present a generalized scaling law to describe the volume dependence of ɛ-Fe's total phonon DOS which, in turn, is directly related to the ambient temperature vibrational Grüneisen parameter (γ_(vib)). Fitting our individual γ_(vib) data points with γ_(vib) = γ_(vib),0(V/V0)^q, a common parameterization, we found an ambient pressure γ_(vib,0) = 2.0 ± 0.1 for the range q = 0.8 to 1.2. We also determined the Debye sound velocity (v_D) from the low-energy region of the phonon DOS and our in situ measured volumes, and used the volume dependence of v_D to determine the commonly discussed Debye Grüneisen parameter (γ_D). Comparing our γ_(vib)(V) and γ_D(V), we found γ_(vib) to be ∼10% larger than γ_D at any given volume. Finally, applying our γ_(vib)(V) to a Mie-Grüneisen type relationship and an approximate form of the empirical Lindemann melting criterion, we predict the vibrational thermal pressure and estimate the high-pressure melting behavior of ɛ-Fe at Earth's core pressures

The complex morphology of the young disk MWC 758: Spirals and dust clumps around a large cavity

We present Atacama Large Millimeter Array (ALMA) observations at an angular resolution of 0.1-0.2" of the disk surrounding the young Herbig Ae star MWC 758. The data consist of images of the dust continuum emission recorded at 0.88 millimeter, as well as images of the 13CO and C18O J = 3-2 emission lines. The dust continuum emission is characterized by a large cavity of roughly 40 au in radius which might contain a mildly inner warped disk. The outer disk features two bright emission clumps at radii of about 47 and 82 au that present azimuthal extensions and form a double-ring structure. The comparison with radiative transfer models indicates that these two maxima of emission correspond to local increases in the dust surface density of about a factor 2.5 and 6.5 for the south and north clumps, respectively. The optically thick 13CO peak emission, which traces the temperature, and the dust continuum emission, which probes the disk midplane, additionally reveal two spirals previously detected in near-IR at the disk surface. The spirals seen in the dust continuum emission present, however, a slight shift of a few au towards larger radii and one of the spirals crosses the south dust clump. Finally, we present different scenarios in order to explain the complex structure of the disk.Comment: 15 pages, 11 figures. The paper has been published in ApJ. References added and typos correcte

Donor and recipient treatment with the Lazaroid U-74006F do not improve post-transplant lung function in swine

Objective: U-74006F is the only Lazaroid which is currently in clinical use. A number of experimental studies demonstrate that Lazaroids reduce ischemia/reperfusion injury in various organ systems. We evaluated the effect of U-74006F on reperfusion injury in a large animal model of lung allo-transplantation. Methods: Two different treatment modalities were evaluated and compared with corresponding control groups. Unilateral left lung transplantation was performed in 21 weight-matched pigs (24-31 kg). Donor lungs were flushed with 1.5 l cold (1°C) LPD solution and preserved for 20 h. In group I (n=5), donor animals were pretreated with U-74006F (10 mg/kg i.v.) 20 min before harvest. In addition U-74006F was added to the flush solution (10 mg/l). In group III (n=6), the Lazaroid was given to the donor before flush and to the recipient before reperfusion (3 mg/kg i.v.). Group II and IV (n=5) served as control. One hour after reperfusion, the recipient contralateral right pulmonary artery and bronchus were ligated to assess graft function only. Extravascular lung water index (EVLWI), mean pulmonary artery pressure, cardiac output, and gas exchange were assessed during a 5 h observation period. Lipid peroxidation (TBARS) and neutrophil migration (MPO activity) were measured at the end of the assessment in lung allograft tissue. Results: A significant change of TBARS concentration was shown in group III (group III 78.7±4.6 pmol/g vs. group IV 120.8±7.2 pmol/g (P=0.0065) normal lung tissue 41.3±4.2 pmol/g). MPO activity was reduced in group III 3.74±0.25 δOD/mg per min vs. group IV 4.97±0.26 δOD/mg per min (P=0.027), normal lung tissue 1.04±0.27 δOD/mg per min). Pulmonary hemodynamics and gas exchange after reperfusion did not differ between groups. In group I and III, a tendency towards a reduced EVLWI was noted. Conclusion: We conclude that combined treatment of donor and recipient with U-74006F reduces free radical mediated injury in the allograft. However, this intervention did not result in a significant reduction of post-transplant lung edema or improvement of pulmonary hemodynamics. Donor pretreatment alone did not improve lung allograft reperfusion injury. These results indicate that the benefit of U-74006F is too small to consider clinical application in lung transplantatio

Actively controlled release of Dexamethasone from neural microelectrodes in a chronic in vivo study

Stable interconnection to neurons in vivo over long time-periods is critical for the success of future advanced neuroelectronic applications. The inevitable foreign body reaction towards implanted materials challenges the stability and an active intervention strategy would be desirable to treat inflammation locally. Here, we investigate whether controlled release of the anti-inflammatory drug Dexamethasone from flexible neural microelectrodes in the rat hippocampus has an impact on probe-tissue integration over 12 weeks of implantation. The drug was stored in a conducting polymer coating (PEDOT/Dex), selectively deposited on the electrode sites of neural probes, and released on weekly basis by applying a cyclic voltammetry signal in three electrode configuration in fully awake animals. Dex-functionalized probes provided stable recordings and impedance characteristics over the entire chronic study. Histological evaluation after 12 weeks of implantation revealed an overall low degree of inflammation around all flexible probes whereas electrodes exposed to active drug release protocols did have neurons closer to the electrode sites compared to controls. The combination of flexible probe technology with anti-inflammatory coatings accordingly offers a promising approach for enabling long-term stable neural interfaces

High-field fMRI reveals brain activation patterns underlying saccade execution in the human superior colliculus

Background The superior colliculus (SC) has been shown to play a crucial role in the initiation and coordination of eye- and head-movements. The knowledge about the function of this structure is mainly based on single-unit recordings in animals with relatively few neuroimaging studies investigating eye-movement related brain activity in humans. Methodology/Principal Findings The present study employed high-field (7 Tesla) functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) to investigate SC responses during endogenously cued saccades in humans. In response to centrally presented instructional cues, subjects either performed saccades away from (centrifugal) or towards (centripetal) the center of straight gaze or maintained fixation at the center position. Compared to central fixation, the execution of saccades elicited hemodynamic activity within a network of cortical and subcortical areas that included the SC, lateral geniculate nucleus (LGN), occipital cortex, striatum, and the pulvinar. Conclusions/Significance Activity in the SC was enhanced contralateral to the direction of the saccade (i.e., greater activity in the right as compared to left SC during leftward saccades and vice versa) during both centrifugal and centripetal saccades, thereby demonstrating that the contralateral predominance for saccade execution that has been shown to exist in animals is also present in the human SC. In addition, centrifugal saccades elicited greater activity in the SC than did centripetal saccades, while also being accompanied by an enhanced deactivation within the prefrontal default-mode network. This pattern of brain activity might reflect the reduced processing effort required to move the eyes toward as compared to away from the center of straight gaze, a position that might serve as a spatial baseline in which the retinotopic and craniotopic reference frames are aligned

Ganciclovir/valganciclovir prophylaxis decreases cytomegalovirus-related events and bronchiolitis obliterans syndrome after lung transplantation

BACKGROUND: Until recently, cytomegalovirus (CMV) infection represented a major threat to lung transplant recipients. Preliminary studies have shown that antiviral prophylaxis might improve the outcome for these patients. METHODS: We extended our initial pilot trial of prolonged prophylaxis with either oral ganciclovir (1 g 3 times per day) or valganciclovir (450 mg twice per day). The trial included 96 patients who were at risk for CMV-related events. RESULTS: CMV prophylaxis resulted in a significant decrease in CMV-related events (i.e., active infection and disease), from 75% in a control group and for 274 cases from the literature who did not receive prophylaxis to a cumulative incidence of 27% (P < .001). Only 11% of the prophylaxis recipients experienced CMV disease (P = .002). Moreover, at 5 years, there was a significant decrease in the rate of bronchiolitis obliterans syndrome, from 60% to 43% (P = .002), and an improved rate of survival, from 47% to 73% (P= .036), irrespective of the immunosuppressive regimen received. CMV strains with UL97 mutations were recovered from 7 of 12 analyzed cases, but the presence of this mutation had no impact on the severity of CMV disease. CONCLUSIONS: A regimen of prolonged ganciclovir or valganciclovir prophylaxis decreased the rate of active CMV infection and disease, reduced the incidence of bronchiolitis obliterans syndrome, and improved the survival rate. Drug-resistant CMV strains may occur, but such strains appeared to have no impact on the outcome of CMV-related events