Self-actuating grapple automatically engages and releases loads from overhead cranes

Two-piece grapple mechanism consisting of a lift knob secured to the load and a grapple member connected to the crane or lift automatically disengages the load from the overhead lifting device when the load contacts the ground. The key feature is the sliding collar under the lift knob which enables the grapple latch to be stripped off over the lift knob

Comparing Willingness-to-Pay Estimates from Experimental Auctions with Mailed Surveys Incorporating Cheap Talk

Willingness-to-pay (WTP) results from experimental auctions are compared to those from cheap-talk and conventional surveys for branded beef products in Canada. It is found that while the cheap-talk survey appears to mitigate hypothetical bias compared to the conventional survey, cheap-talk survey WTP remains higher than that in experimental auctions.Research Methods/ Statistical Methods,

On Geoplanides from Brazil

O trabalho presente refere-se principalmente a planárias terrestres coligidas nos Estados de Santa Catarina e do Rio Grande do Sul. Entre as espécies já conhecidas são estudadas anatômicamente Geoplana marmorata Fr. Mull., G. mulleri Dies., G. carrièrei Graff e G. ladislavii Graff. G. marginata var. abundans Graff é considerada como espécie distinta, G. abundans

On a collection of brazilian land planarians

Neste trabalho são estudadas taxonômicamente planárias terrrestres coligidas em diversas exrcusões pelo Dr. Otto Schubart. O material incluia 15 espécies, das quais 6 novas. Quase todo material provém do Estado de São Paulo

On the biology of land planarians

Este artigo não contém resumo

Long time motion of NLS solitary waves in a confining potential

We study the motion of solitary-wave solutions of a family of focusing generalized nonlinear Schroedinger equations with a confining, slowly varying external potential, $V(x)$. A Lyapunov-Schmidt decomposition of the solution combined with energy estimates allows us to control the motion of the solitary wave over a long, but finite, time interval. We show that the center of mass of the solitary wave follows a trajectory close to that of a Newtonian point particle in the external potential $V(x)$ over a long time interval.Comment: 42 pages, 2 figure

3D gravity and non-linear cosmology

By the inclusion of an additional term, non-linear in the scalar curvature $R$, it is tested if dark energy could rise as a geometrical effect in 3D gravitational formulations. We investigate a cosmological fluid obeying a non-polytropic equation of state (the van der Waals equation) that is used to construct the energy-momentum tensor of the sources, representing the hypothetical inflaton in gravitational interaction with a matter contribution. Following the evolution in time of the scale factor, its acceleration, and the energy densities of constituents it is possible to construct the description of an inflationary 3D universe, followed by a matter dominated era. For later times it is verified that, under certain conditions, the non-linear term in $R$ can generate the old 3D universe in accelerated expansion, where the ordinary matter is represented by the barotropic limit of the van der Waals constituent.Comment: 7 pages, to appear in Mod. Phys. Let

Non-linear terms in 2D cosmology

In this work we investigate the behavior of two-dimensional (2D) cosmological models, starting with the Jackiw-Teitelboim (JT) theory of gravitation. A geometrical term, non-linear in the scalar curvature $R$, is added to the JT dynamics to test if it could play the role of dark energy in a 2D expanding universe. This formulation makes possible, first, the description of an early (inflationary) 2D universe, when the van der Waals (vdW) equation of state is used to construct the energy-momentum tensor of the gravitational sources. Second, it is found that for later times the non-linear term in $R$ can generate an old 2D universe in accelerated expansion, where an ordinary matter dominated era evolves into a decelerated/accelerated transition, giving to the dark energy effects a geometrical origin. The results emerge through numerical analysis, following the evolution in time of the scale factor, its acceleration, and the energy densities of constituents.Comment: tex file plus figures in two zipped files. To appear in Europhys. Let