Review of properties of magnetic shape memory (MSM) alloys and MSM actuator designs

Magnetic shape memory alloys are a new group of "smart" materials that exhibit large strain of 6-12% when subjected to magnetic fields. This indicates their enormous potential to be used in different electromagnetic (EM) devices such as actuators, sensors, energy harvesters and dampers. Shape change in MSM materials is controlled by magnetic field and doesn't involve phase transformation, allowing it to overcome a number of disadvantages of conventional shape memory alloys (SMAs). MSM devices are capable of producing large force and stroke output in considerably small dimensions. At the same time they can have fast response and potentially very long lifetime. This paper discusses different modern designs and approaches to MSM actuator design with their advantages and disadvantages. An overview on characteristics of MSM alloys is also presented in order to highlight how different properties of the material influence the total output of a device

Diversity in seed storage proteins in substituted hexaploid triticale cultivars (× Triticosecale Wittmack)

This study was undertaken to investigate the allelic diversity in seed storage proteins in 11 substituted hexaploid triticale cultivars (all spring). These cultivars were developed at the Cereal Institute of Thessaloniki, Hellas, in the 1970s and 1980s, after selection on segregating material originating from International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT). Seeds from each line were used to determine alleles at the loci for high molecular weight glutenin subunits (HMW-GS) Glu-A1, Glu-B1, Glu-R1 (or Sec-3 ) and gliadins (the loci Gli-A1 and Gli-B1 ). For this to be done, acid polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis for gliadins and SDS-electrophoresis for high molecular weight glutenins (HMW-GS) were applied. Analysis of the electrophoretic patterns obtained from the above-mentioned material revealed that only 5 out of the 11 cultivars were biochemically uniform (cv. ‘Vryto’, ‘Thisvi’, ‘Dada’, ‘Leto’ and ‘Ekate’). On the contrary, the rest of the cultivars, despite they were under seed production process, exhibited heterogeneity. Cv. ‘Dada’, which was found to be uniform, is of special interest, due to its productivity, especially under drought stress conditions

The Way of Learning Preserved in The Structure of Individual Experience Shapes Task-Switching: Implications for Neuroscience and Education

Task switching is a behavioral phenomenon that serves as a tool for assessment of individual cognitive abilities that becomes especially essential in our multitasking milieu. Factors of task-switching include cognitive load and cognitive effort, mostly derived from task difficulty, as well as age and practice. The analysis of brain activity on the level of single neurons shows that the activations that contribute to task performance and switching differ with respect to the protocol of learning the alternated tasks. We argue that task switching is affected by the history of learning and in turn it changes the structure of individual experience. On this basis we outline perspectives of task switching studies in the fundamental field of long-term memory and applied field of education and therapy

The Way of Learning Preserved in The Structure of Individual Experience Shapes Task-Switching: Implications for Neuroscience and Education

Task switching is a behavioral phenomenon that serves as a tool for assessment of individual cognitive abilities that becomes especially essential in our multitasking milieu. Factors of task-switching include cognitive load and cognitive effort, mostly derived from task difficulty, as well as age and practice. The analysis of brain activity on the level of single neurons shows that the activations that contribute to task performance and switching differ with respect to the protocol of learning the alternated tasks. We argue that task switching is affected by the history of learning and in turn it changes the structure of individual experience. On this basis we outline perspectives of task switching studies in the fundamental field of long-term memory and applied field of education and therapy

The prerequisites of prosocial behavior in human ontogeny

Abstract Understanding the development of moral attitudes toward unrelated individuals from different social groups may provide insights into the role of biological and cultural factors in prosocial behavior. Children (3–11 years old, N=80) were presented with moral dilemmas describing a conflict of interests between a con-specific (human) and another species (animals or aliens). Participants were asked to evaluate the behavior of a human in terms of ‘good’ and ‘bad’, and to choose whom they would help: a human aggressor who benefits at the expense of a victim in vital need, or the victim. Results showed that the older children preferred to help non-human victims significantly more often than the younger children. The evaluation of human actions was related to the proportion of such preferences. These findings are discussed from the perspectives of kin selection theory, group selection theory and the system-evolutionary approach. The implications of the study for moral education are suggested

Giant Magnetostrictive Materials

Julkaisun kokoteksti on luettavissa vain Aalto-tunnuksilla.Please note that access to the fulltext is limited to Aalto staff and students.Peer reviewe

Sample Entropy of the Heart Rate Reflects Properties of the System Organization of Behaviour

Cardiac activity is involved in the processes of organization of goal-directed behaviour. Each behavioural act is aimed at achieving an adaptive outcome and it is subserved by the actualization of functional systems consisting of elements distributed across the brain and the rest of the body. This paper proposes a system-evolutionary view on the activity of the heart and its variability. We have compared the irregularity of the heart rate, as measured by sample entropy (SampEn), in behaviours that are subserved by functional systems formed at different stages of individual development, which implement organism-environment interactions with different degrees of differentiation. The results have shown that SampEn of the heart rate was higher during performing tasks that included later acquired knowledge (foreign language vs. native language; mathematical vocabulary vs. general vocabulary) and decreased in the stress and alcohol conditions, as well as at the beginning of learning. These results are in line with the hypothesis that irregularity of the heart rate reflects the properties of a set of functional systems subserving current behaviour, with higher irregularity corresponding to later acquired and more complex behaviour