Bahavior and Analysis of an Integral Abutment Bridge

In order to quantify the influence of temperature changes on integral abutment bridge movements, thirty-two Sokkia RS30N reflective targets were strategically attached to a bridge along its length. These targets were surveyed every month for twelve consecutive months. These changes in length coincided with restraint conditions between purely fixed and simply supported. Movement of expansion joints was also recorded. The movements of the expansion gaps at opposite corners appear to exhibit similar movements. This behavior indicates a type of twisting motion occurring within the bridge as a result of unequal movements at the east and west sides of each abutment. This motion suggests that the bridge abutments experience forces that incite weak axis bending in the abutments, especially in the north abutment. These quantitative bridge movements were compared to predicted behavior from a finite-element model. A detailed finite-element model of the bridge was created using SAP2000 (Computers and Structures, Inc.) software. The detailed model was developed using solid elements for all components of the bridge except piles and bents. Longitudinal surface springs were placed at the abutment elements in order to simulate the soil-abutment interaction. A typical temperature load was assigned to the bridge deck and girder elements to compare the calculated stress concentrations in the model with the observed cracking on the abutment. The model produced high stress concentrations in the abutment adjacent to the bottom girder flange. This corresponded to the same location of observed cracking. The finite-element model also showed lateral movement of the north abutment. This lateral abutment contributed to the unequal movements of the bridge spans. Once the comparison between the measured bridge behavior of the survey and the findings of the detailed finite element model was completed, a simplified model was used to evaluate the bending moment and stresses in the abutment of the 400 South Street Bridge. The simplified model was also used to perform a parametric study on the influence of skew, span length, and temperature gradient on weak-axis abutment moments

Utilization of urea, ammonia, nitrite, and nitrate by crop plants in a Controlled Ecological Life Support System (CELSS)

The utilization of nitrogen compounds by crop plants is studied. The selection of crop varieties for efficient production using urea, ammonia, nitrite, and nitrate, and the assimilation of mixed nitrogen sources by cereal leaves and roots are discussed

Optical properties of Southern Hemisphere aerosols: Report of the joint CSIRO/NASA study

This study was made in support of the LAWS and GLOBE programs, which aim to design a suitable Doppler lidar system for measuring global winds from a satellite. Observations were taken from 5 deg S to 45 deg S along and off the E and SE Australian coast, thus obtaining representative samples over a large latitude range. Observations were made between 0 and 6 km altitude of aerosol physical and chemical properties in situ from the CSIRO F-27 aircraft; of lidar backscatter coefficients at 10.6 micron wavelength from the F-27 aircraft; of lidar backscatter profiles at 0.694 microns at Sale, SE Australia; and of lidar backscatter profiles at 0.532 microns at Cowley Beach, NE Australia. Both calculations and observations in the free troposphere gave a backscatter coefficient of 1-2 x 10 to the -11/m/sr at 10.6 microns, although the accuracies of the instruments were marginal at this level. Equivalent figures were 2-8 x 10 to the -9/m/sr (aerosol) and 9 x 10 to the -9 to 2 x 10 to the -8/m/sr (lidar) at 0.694 microns wavelength at Sale; and 3.7 x 10 to the -9/m/sr (aerosol) and 10 to the -8 to 10 to the -7/m/sr (lidar) at 0.532 microns wavelength at Cowley Beach. The measured backscatter coefficients at 0.694 and 0.532 microns were consistently higher than the values calculated from aerosol size distributions by factors of typically 2 to 10

Wind measurement system

A system for remotely measuring vertical and horizontal winds present in discrete volumes of air at selected locations above the ground is described. A laser beam is optically focused in range by a telescope, and the output beam is conically scanned at an angle about a vertical axis. The backscatter, or reflected light, from the ambient particulates in a volume of air, the focal volume, is detected for shifts in wavelength, and from these, horizontal and vertical wind components are computed

Amplitude dependent frequency, desynchronization, and stabilization in noisy metapopulation dynamics

The enigmatic stability of population oscillations within ecological systems is analyzed. The underlying mechanism is presented in the framework of two interacting species free to migrate between two spatial patches. It is shown that that the combined effects of migration and noise cannot account for the stabilization. The missing ingredient is the dependence of the oscillations' frequency upon their amplitude; with that, noise-induced differences between patches are amplified due to the frequency gradient. Migration among desynchronized regions then stabilizes a "soft" limit cycle in the vicinity of the homogenous manifold. A simple model of diffusively coupled oscillators allows the derivation of quantitative results, like the functional dependence of the desynchronization upon diffusion strength and frequency differences. The oscillations' amplitude is shown to be (almost) noise independent. The results are compared with a numerical integration of the marginally stable Lotka-Volterra equations. An unstable system is extinction-prone for small noise, but stabilizes at larger noise intensity

Cruciate-retaining TKA Is an Option in Patients With Prior Patellectomy

The recommendation for using posterior-stabilized (PS) implants in patellectomy patients undergoing total knee arthroplasty (TKA) is based on older case series with heterogeneous patient populations. The use of cruciate-retaining implants in these patients has not been evaluated with more contemporary implant designs. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the survivorship and functional outcomes (Knee Society score, presence of an extensor lag, and range of motion) of cruciate-retaining (CR) TKA in patients with prior patellectomy. Between 1986 and 2012, we performed 27 CR TKAs in 25 patients after patellectomy. Of those, 23 CR TKAs in 21 patients were available for followup at a minimum of 2 years (mean, 11.2 years; range, 2.3-25.1 years). In this retrospective study, we queried a prospectively maintained database to assess functional outcomes and survivorship. Aseptic loosening-free survival was 100% at 5 and 10 years, and survival with revision for any reason as the outcome was 96% at 5 years (95% confidence interval [CI], 87.7%-100%) and 84% at 10 years (95% CI, 69.5%-100%). One patient was revised for aseptic loosening at 10.2 years postoperatively. Mean Knee Society scores improved from 36 +/- A 13 preoperatively to 92 +/- A 9.6 at followup. Extensor lag was present in seven patients preoperatively and only three at followup. Average knee flexion at followup was 112A degrees A A +/- A 12.5A degrees. In this study we found good long-term survivorship and functional outcomes with a CR implant design in patients following patellectomy. Earlier studies have favored PS over CR implants for patients with patellectomies. We believe this series suggests that CR TKA is indeed an option in patients with patellectomy. Level IV, therapeutic study. See Guidelines for Authors for a complete description of levels of evidence

Review Article: Molecular Beam Epitaxy of Lattice-Matched InAlAs and InGaAs Layers on InP (111)A, (111)B, and (110)

For more than 50 years, research into III–V compound semiconductors has focused almost exclusively on materials grown on (001)-oriented substrates. In part, this is due to the relative ease with which III–Vs can be grown on (001) surfaces. However, in recent years, a number of key technologies have emerged that could be realized, or vastly improved, by the ability to also grow high-quality III–Vs on (111)- or (110)-oriented substrates These applications include: next-generation field-effect transistors, novel quantum dots, entangled photon emitters, spintronics, topological insulators, and transition metal dichalcogenides. The first purpose of this paper is to present a comprehensive review of the literature concerning growth by molecular beam epitaxy (MBE) of III–Vs on (111) and (110) substrates. The second is to describe our recent experimental findings on the growth, morphology, electrical, and optical properties of layers grown on non-(001) InP wafers. Taking InP(111)A, InP(111)B, and InP(110) substrates in turn, the authors systematically discuss growth of both In0.52Al0.48As and In0.53Ga0.47As on these surfaces. For each material system, the authors identify the main challenges for growth, and the key growth parameter–property relationships, trends, and interdependencies. The authors conclude with a section summarizing the MBE conditions needed to optimize the structural, optical and electrical properties of GaAs, InAlAs and InGaAs grown with (111) and (110) orientations. In most cases, the MBE growth parameters the authors recommend will enable the reader to grow high-quality material on these increasingly important non-(001) surfaces, paving the way for exciting technological advances

Structural and luminescence characteristics of cycled submonolayer InAs/GaAs quantum dots with room-temperature emission at 1.3 μm

Quantum dots were grown by molecular beam epitaxy on GaAs substrates using a cycled submonolayer InAs/GaAs deposition technique. Their structural and luminescence characteristics have been compared with conventional self-organized dots. The room-temperature luminescence spectra are characterized by a ground state transition at 1.3 μm and additional transitions corresponding to excited states. Cross-sectional transmission electron microscopy indicates that no dislocations are formed if the total InAs thickness is less than 5–6 monolayers. Temperature dependence of the photoluminescence indicates that both types of quantum dots may have nonradiative defects, caused by segregation and related phenomena. © 1999 American Institute of Physics.Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/70897/2/JAPIAU-86-11-6135-1.pd