116 research outputs found

    Bargaining Around the TRIPS Agreement: The Case for Ongoing Public-Private Initiatives to Facilitate Worldwide Intellectual Property Transactions. A Comment on the Paper Presented by David Lange and J.H. Reichman

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    Light trapping is an ideal method for surveying nocturnal moths, but in the absence of standardised survey methods effects of confounding factors may impede interpretation of the acquired data. We explored the influence of weather, time of year, and light source on nightly catches of macro moths in light traps, and compared four strategies for sampling by estimating observed species richness using rarefaction. We operated two traps with different light sources for 225 consecutive nights from mid-March to the end of October in eastern Germany in 2011. In total, 49 472 individuals of 372 species were recorded. Species richness and abundance per night were mainly influenced by night temperature, humidity and lamp type. With a limited sample size (less than10 nights) it was slightly better to concentrate sampling on the warmest summer nights, but with more sampling nights it was slightly better to sample during the warmest nights in each month (March to October). By exploiting the higher moth activity during warm nights and an understanding of the species phenology, it is possible to increase the number of species caught and reduce effects of confounding abiotic factors

    Estimating local thickness for finite element analysis

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    Within the development of motor vehicles, crash safety is one of the most important attributes. To comply with the ever increasing requirements of shorter cycle times and costs reduction, car manufacturers keep intensifying the use of virtual development tools, such as, for crash simulations, the explicit finite element method (FEM). The accuracy of the simulation process is highly dependent on the accuracy of the model, including the midplane mesh. One of the roughest approximations typically made is the actual part thickness which, although most frequently modelled as a constant value, can, in reality, vary locally. Availability of per element thickness information, which does not exist explicitly in the FEM model, is one key enabler and can significantly contribute to an improved crash simulation quality, especially regarding fracture prediction. Although not explicitly available, thickness can be inferred from the original CAD geometric model through geometric calculations. This paper proposes and compares two thickness estimation algorithms based on ray tracing and nearest neighbour 3D range searches. A systematic quantitative analysis of the accuracy of both algorithms is presented, as well as a thorough identification of particular geometric arrangements under which their accuracy can be compared. These results enable the identification of each technique’s weaknesses and hint towards a new, integrated, approach to the problem that linearly combines the estimates produced by each algorithm.(undefined

    Revision der Gattung Dichodontium (Musci, Dicranaceae)

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    The eight species so far comprised in the genus Dichodondium are reduced to three. Dichodontium verrucosum Card. is regarded as conspecific with D. pellucidum ( Hedw.) Schimp. Dichodontium opacifolium Dix. is regarded as conspecific with D. brasiliense Broth. The placement of this species in the genus Dichodontium is doubtful. Dichodontium nelsonii Kindb. proved to be Bartramia pomiformis Hedw. Dichodontium debile Broth. and D. integrum Sak. remain dubious species because of a lack of type material and references. Dichodontium pellucidum (Hedw.) Schimp. is lectotypified.Die 8 bisher in der Gattung Dichodontium eingeschlossenen Arten werden auf 3 reduziert. Dichodontium verrucosum Card. ist synonym mit D. pellucidum (Hedw.) Schimp. Dichodontium opacifolium Dix. ist synonym mit D. brasiliense Broth., wobei die Zugehörigkeit dieser Art zur Gattung Dichodontium nicht vollkommen geklärt ist. Dichodontium nelsonii Kindb. stellte sich als Bartramia pomiformis Hedw. heraus. Dichodontium debile Broth. und D. integrum Sak. bleiben aufgrund von fehlendem Typusmaterial unrevidiert. Dichodontium pellucidum (Hedw.) Schimp. wird lektotypifiziert

    Linking mould filling and structural simulations

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    Computer Aided Engineering (CAE) is common standard in the development process within the automotive industry. For thermoplastic components, for example, the manufacturing process is commonly simulated with injection moulding simulation software and passive safety with explicit crash software. Currently both disciplines are only linked within the simulation of fibre reinforced thermoplastics to take into account the fibre orientation from injection moulding simulation within crash simulation due to the significant influence of the fibre orientation on mechanical part properties. This work proposes a methodology that allows consideration of moulding conditions on the mechanical behaviour of unreinforced injection moulded components by coupling injection moulding simulation (Moldflow) and crash simulation (LS-DYNA (R)/RADIOSS (R)). A newly developed dedicated computer application allows to directly consider results from injection simulation within crash simulations. The manufacturing boundary conditions that most influence the mechanical behaviour are combined within the thermomechanical indices (TMI) methodology, and mapped onto each finite element within the crash simulation. Mathematical functions have been used to correlate the TMI to important mechanical properties of the moulded polymer. A user defined material model can read those indices and translate them to local mechanical properties.This work is funded by FEDER funds through the COMPETE 2020 program and National Funds through FCT under project UID/CTM/50025/2013, and grant SFRH/BD/51570/2011

    Improving FEM crash simulation accuracy through local thickness estimation based on CAD data

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    ManuscriptIn this paper, we present a method for estimating local thickness distribution in finite element models, applied to injection molded and cast engineering parts. This method features considerable improved performance compared to two previously proposed approaches, and has been validated against thickness measured by different human operators. We also demonstrate that the use of this method for assigning a distribution of local thickness in FEM crash simulations results in a much more accurate prediction of the real part performance, thus increasing the benefits of computer simulations in engineering design by enabling zero-prototyping and thus reducing product development costs. The simulation results have been compared to experimental tests, evidencing the advantage of the proposed method. Thus, the proposed approach to consider local thickness distribution in FEM crash simulations has high potential on the product development process of complex and highly demanding injection molded and cast parts and is currently being used by Ford Motor Company.FCT – Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia (Portuguese Foundation for Science and Technology) through projects PEst-C/CTM/LA0025/2013 and PEst-OE/EEI/UI0752/201

    Recurrent Lymphocytic Meningitis Positive for Herpes Simplex Virus Type 2

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    We found the prevalence of recurrent lymphocytic meningitis associated with herpes simplex virus type 2 (HSV-2) was 2.2/100,000 population in Finland during 1996–2006, higher than previous estimates. PCR was most sensitive in detecting HSV-2 DNA from cerebrospinal fluid if the sample was taken 2–5 days after symptom onset

    Forward K+ production in subthreshold pA collisions at 1.0 GeV

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    K+ meson production in pA (A = C, Cu, Au) collisions has been studied using the ANKE spectrometer at an internal target position of the COSY-Juelich accelerator. The complete momentum spectrum of kaons emitted at forward angles, theta < 12 degrees, has been measured for a beam energy of T(p)=1.0 GeV, far below the free NN threshold of 1.58 GeV. The spectrum does not follow a thermal distribution at low kaon momenta and the larger momenta reflect a high degree of collectivity in the target nucleus.Comment: 4 pages, 3 figure
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