Low-Speed Aeroelastic Modeling of Very Flexible Slender Wings with Deformable Airfoils

Published versio

Microfluidic generation of networked droplet collections and lipid membrane constructs

We report on microfluidic strategies to generate several multi-compartment membrane-based structures, including droplet interface bilayer networks and multi-compartment vesicles. These developments allow the current status quo— where microdroplets are used as isolated vessels— to be changed. By linking droplets together with lipid membranes, higher order systems can be generated, with particular ramifications for bottom-up synthetic biology and for functional droplet-based microreactors and biodevices

The Influence of high pressure on the bending rigidity of model membranes

Curvature is a fundamental lipid membrane property that influences many membrane-mediated biological processes and dynamic soft materials. One of the key parameters that determines the energetics of curvature change is the membrane bending rigidity. Understanding the intrinsic effect of pressure on membrane bending is critical to understanding the adaptation and structural behavior of biomembranes in deep-sea organisms as well as soft material processing. However, it has not previously been possible to measure the influence of high hydrostatic pressure on membrane bending energetics, and this bottleneck has primarily been due to a lack of technology platforms for performing such measurements. We have developed a new high-pressure microscopy cell which, combined with vesicle fluctuation analysis, has allowed us to make the first measurements of membrane bending rigidity as a function of pressure. Our results show a significant increase in bending rigidity at pressures up to 40 MPa. Above 40 MPa, the membrane mechanics become more complex. Corresponding small and wide-angle X-ray diffraction shows an increase in density and thickness of the bilayer with increasing pressure which correlates with the micromechanical measurements. These results are consistent with recent theoretical predictions of the bending rigidity as a function of hydrocarbon chain density. This technology has the potential to transform our quantitative understanding of the role of pressure in soft material processing, the structural behavior of biomembranes, and the adaptation mechanisms employed by deep-sea organisms

Structural Models for Flight Dynamic Analysis of Very Flexible Aircraft

Dissimilar analysis models are considered for the large structural deformations of aircraft with high-aspect-ratio composite wings. The different approaches include displacement-based, strain-based, and intrinsic geometrically-nonlinear beam models. Comparisons are made in terms of numerical efficiency and simplicity for integration of full aircraft flexibility in flight dynamics models. An analysis procedure is proposed based on model substructuring with a (linear) modal representation of both fuselage and tail and (nonlinear) intrinsic beam elements for the flexible wings. Copyright © 2009 by Rafael Palacios and Carlos E. S. Cesnik.Published versio

La denuncia de las víctimas mujeres inmigrantes en los casos de violencia de género

[RESUMEN] En la actualidad existe una elevada cifra de mujeres que mueren a manos de sus agresores y, a pesar de ello, el número de denuncias es relativamente bajo, siendo la mayoría de las mismas presentadas por la propia víctima[. Ahora bien, resulta interesante resaltar que hay una estrecha vinculación entre la inmigración y la violencia de género, puesto que esta afecta, en proporción, de modo mucho más apreciable a la comunidad inmigrante que al conjunto de la ciudadanía española. A este respecto, se constata como necesario analizar por qué las mujeres que han sido víctimas de violencia de género, en numerosos casos, no denuncian esa situación e, igualmente, examinar los motivos por los que éstas presentan una denuncia contra su agresor y, posteriormente, la retiran. Asimismo, ante la observancia de un considerable incremento de denuncias por parte de mujeres inmigrantes, deviene preciso investigar las causas que han llevado a estas mujeres a denunciar y por qué la mayor parte de ellas, finalmente, son falsas. La situación que atraviesan las mujeres víctimas de violencia de género es cuanto menos complicada y, en especial, si nos hallamos en presencia de la comunidad inmigrante. A fin de obtener unos resultados reales, es ineludible estudiar tanto los supuestos que son denunciados como la situación que rodea a este colectivo de mujeres que, en muchas ocasiones, las empuja a denunciar falsamente. En definitiva, todas estas mujeres se encuentran con múltiples dificultades para seguir con el proceso penal una vez que han denunciado, lo que motiva la retirada de esta denuncia o la negación de declarar contra su agresor

Establishment and yield ofminisetts of yam (Dioscorea rotundata Poir) as influenced by size and position of minisett on mother tuber and by staking in the field

Two experiments were conducted in 1985 and 1986. Yam vines emerged earlier from the head and tail minisetts than the middle minisetts. Higher percent plant establishment recorded in bigger minisetts occurred only in those setls that originated from the head and tail positions of the mother tuber (head, middle and tail). However, there was no difference between treatments in the final percent plant establishment at 12 weeks after transplanting (WA TP), In the 1985 experiment, effect of staking on yield of yam plants derived from minisetts was significant. Yields of seed yam were, however, higher from plants derived from bigger (25-35 g) than smaller (10-20 g) setts, In 1986, this pattern was maintained. Seed yams produeed by head minisetts weighed significantly more (314.7 g/plant) than those produeed by the middle minisetts (265.8 g/plant), Tuber yield per hectare followed the same pattern. The percent yield of marketable tubers (200 g or more per tuber) from the. head minisetts (68.8 %) was similar to that from the tail (61.7 %) but differed significantly (P 0.01) from that of the middle minisetts (49.3 %), Higher percentage of marketable tubers was obtained with increase in minisett size