Contact stresses calculated for miniature slip rings

Using mathematical formulations to plot the graphs of the contact preload versus the Hertzian load, calculations of unit loading of the preloaded brushes on slip rings can be made. This optimizes the design of contact brushes and miniature slip rings

Origin of Lagrangian Intermittency in Drift-Wave Turbulence

The Lagrangian velocity statistics of dissipative drift-wave turbulence are investigated. For large values of the adiabaticity (or small collisionality), the probability density function of the Lagrangian acceleration shows exponential tails, as opposed to the stretched exponential or algebraic tails, generally observed for the highly intermittent acceleration of Navier-Stokes turbulence. This exponential distribution is shown to be a robust feature independent of the Reynolds number. For small adiabaticity, algebraic tails are observed, suggesting the strong influence of point-vortex-like dynamics on the acceleration. A causal connection is found between the shape of the probability density function and the autocorrelation of the norm of the acceleration

Fall prevention in the community: what older people say they need

Original article can be found at: http://www.bjcn.co.uk/ Copyright MA HealthcareUptake of and adherence to fall prevention interventions is often poor and we know little about how older people’s perceptions of and beliefs about fall prevention interventions affect uptake. This study aimed to explore older people’s perceptions of the facilitators and barriers to participation in fall prevention interventions. We undertook a qualitative study with older people who had taken part in, declined to participate or adhere to fall prevention interventions using semi-structured interviews (n=65), and 17 focus groups (n=122) with older people (including 32 South Asian and 30 Chinese older people) in primary and community care settings in the South of England. A number of factors acted as either barriers or facilitators to uptake of interventions. Older people also made recommendations for improving access to interventions. Community nurses are ideally placed to screen older people, identify those at risk of falling and refer them to appropriate interventions as well as providing health promotion and education.Peer reviewe

Effective use of ERTS multisensor data in the Northern Great Plains

The author has identified the following significant results. ERTS imagery was used as a tool in the identification and refinement of soil association areas; to classify land use patterns between crop and fallow fields; to identify corn, soybeans, and oats; and to identify broad generalized range ecosystems. Various data handling techniques were developed and applied to accomplish these tasks. A map outlining soil associations and relative land values was completed on a base mosaic of ERTS imagery and is included as an appendix to the report

Crop Residue Effects on Surface Radiation and Energy Balance - Review

Crop residues alter the surface properties of soils. Both shortwave albedo and longwave emissivity are affected. These are linked to an effect of residue on surface evaporation and water content. Water content influences soil physical properties and surface energy partitioning. In summary, crop residue acts to soil as clothing acts to skin. Compared to bare soil, crop residues can reduce extremes of heat and mass fluxes at the soil surface. Managing crop residues can result in more favorable agronomic soil conditions. This paper reviews research results of the quantity, quality, architecture, and surface distribution of crop residues on soil surface radiation and energy balances, soil water content, and soil temperature

The agrin gene codes for a family of basal lamina proteins that differ in function and distribution

We isolated two cDNAs that encode isoforms of agrin, the basal lamina protein that mediates the motor neuron-induced aggregation of acetylcholine receptors on muscle fibers at the neuromuscular junction. Both proteins are the result of alternative splicing of the product of the agrin gene, but, unlike agrin, they are inactive in standard acetylcholine receptor aggregation assays. They lack one (agrin-related protein 1) or two (agrin-related protein 2) regions in agrin that are required for its activity. Expression studies provide evidence that both proteins are present in the nervous system and muscle and that, in muscle, myofibers and Schwann cells synthesize the agrin-related proteins while the axon terminals of motor neurons are the sole source of agrin

Extended methodology for determining wetting properties of porous media

[1] Because most methods for assessing the wettability of porous materials are restricted in their applicability, we developed two new methods for measuring contact angles and particle surface energy. The proposed methods (the Wilhelmy plate method (WPM) and the modified capillary rise method (MCRM)) were tested on 24 soils. For comparison, the water drop penetration time test (WDPTT) and the sessile drop method (SDM) were also applied. It was found that advancing contact angles, measured either with WPM or MCRM, agreed well in the range of 0° to 142°. Sessile drop contact angles were within the domain enclosed by the range of advancing and receding contact angles as determined with WPM. WDPTT, however, was only sensitive in the narrow range of 85° to 115°. We conclude that both WPM and MCRM are reliable methods for determining contact angles and particle surface energy over a wide range of porous material wettabilities

Preliminary results of fast neutron treatments in carcinoma of the pancreas

A group of 30 patients with adenocarcinoma of the pancreas including some patients with very advanced disease, were treated with the so-called mixed beam modality employing photon treatments three times per week and neutron treatments twice a week. Two hundred Rads or equivalent Rads (RBE 3.3) were given in daily fractions aiming at a total dose of 6000 Rads in 6 to 8 weeks. The treatments were well tolerated and significant palliation was achieved in 26 to 30 cases. Twelve months survival was 33 percent with a median survival of 7 months or 210 days. Treatment techniques and localization procedures are discussed

Remote sensing and geologic studies of the orientale basin region

Both visual and near-infrared spectral observations are combined with multispectral imaging to study the Orientale interior and exterior, the Cruger region, Grimaldi Region, the Schiller-Schickard Region, and the Humorum Region of the Moon. It was concluded that anorthosites occur in the Inner Rook Mountains of Orientale, the inner ring of Grimaldi, and the main ring of Humorum. Imaging spectroscopy shows that the entire eastern Inner Rook Mountains are composed of anorthosites. Orientale ejecta are strikingly like the surface materials in the region where Apollo 16 landed. This similarity indicates similar mineralogy, i.e., noritic anorthosite. Thus, Orientile ejecta is more mafic than the Inner Rook Mountains. This situation is also true for the Nectaris, Humorum, and Gramaldi basins. Isolated areas of the Orientale region show the presence of gabbroic rocks, but, in general, Orientale ejecta are noritic anorthosites, which contain much more low-Ca pyroxene than high-Ca pyroxene. Ancient (pre-Orientale) mare volcanism apparently occurred in several areas of the western limb

Middle to late Cenozoic basin evolution in the western Alborz Mountains: Implications for the onset of collisional deformation in northern Iran

Oligocene-Miocene strata preserved in synclinal outcrop belts of the western Alborz Mountains record the onset of Arabia-Eurasia collision-related deformation in northern Iran. Two stratigraphic intervals, informally named the Gand Ab and Narijan units, represent a former basin system that existed in the Alborz. The Gand Ab unit is composed of marine lagoonal mudstones, fluvial and alluvial-fan clastic rocks, fossiliferous Rupelian to Burdigalian marine carbonates, and basalt flows yielding ^(40)Ar/^(39)Ar ages of 32.7 ± 0.3 and 32.9 ± 0.2 Ma. The Gand Ab unit is correlated with the Oligocene–lower Miocene Qom Formation of central Iran and is considered a product of thermal subsidence following Eocene extension. The Narijan unit unconformably overlies the Gand Ab unit and is composed of fluvial-lacustrine and alluvial fan sediments exhibiting contractional growth strata. We correlate the Narijan unit with the middle to upper Miocene Upper Red Formation of central Iran on the basis of lithofacies similarities, stratigraphic position, and an 8.74 ± 0.15 Ma microdiorite dike (^(40)Ar/^(39)Ar) that intruded the basal strata. Deformation timing is constrained by crosscutting relationships and independent thermochronological data. The Parachan thrust system along the eastern edge of the ancestral Taleghan-Alamut basin is cut by dikes dated at 8.74 ± 0.15 Ma to 6.68 ± 0.07 Ma (^(40)Ar/^(39)Ar). Subhorizontal gravels that unconformably overlie tightly folded and faulted Narijan strata are capped by 2.86 ± 0.83 Ma (^(40)Ar/^(39)Ar) andesitic lava flows. These relationships suggest that Alborz deformation had migrated southward into the Taleghan-Alamut basin by late Miocene time and shifted to its present location along the active range front by late Pliocene time. Data presented here demonstrate that shortening in the western Alborz Mountains had started by late middle Miocene time. This estimate is consistent with recent thermochronological results that place the onset of rapid exhumation in the western Alborz at ∼12 Ma. Moreover, nearly synchronous Miocene contraction in the Alborz, Zagros Mountains, Turkish-Iranian plateau, and Anatolia suggests that the Arabia-Eurasia collision affected a large region simultaneously, without a systematic outward progression of mountain building away from the collision zone