Explosive Welding of Aluminum, Titanium and Zirconium to Copper Sheet Metal

The main material properties affecting the explosive weldability of a certain metal combination are the yield strength, the ductility, the density and the sonic velocity of the two metals. Successful welding of the metal combination depends mainly on the correct choice of the explosive welding parameters; i.e., the stand off distance, the weight of the explosive charge relative to the weight of the flyer plate and the detonation velocity of the explosive. Based on the measured and the handbook values of the properties of interest, the explosive welding parameters were calculated and the arrangements for the explosive welding of the Al alloy 6061-T6, titanium and zirconium to OFHC copper were determined. The relatively small sheet metal thickness (1/8") and the fact that the thickness of the explosive layer must exceed a certain minimum value were considered during the determination of the explosive welding conditions. The results of the metallographic investigations and the measurements of the shear strength at the interface demonstrate the usefulness of these calculations to minimize the number of experimental trials

Systematic review of brucellosis in the Middle East: disease frequency in ruminants and humans and risk factors for human infection

This paper considers the problem of finding global states incoming to a specified global state in a Boolean network, which may be useful for pre-processing of finding a sequence of control actions for a Boolean network and for identifying the basin of attraction for a given attractor, We show that this problem is NP-hard in general along with related theoretical results, On the other hand, we present algorithms that are much faster than the naive exhaustive search-based algorithm. ©2007 IEEE.link_to_subscribed_fulltex

Driven Pile Capacity in Clay and Drilled Shaft Capacity in Rock from Field Load Tests

In this study, two case histories of deep foundations are discussed, including driven piles and drilled shafts. The first case history is an assessment of driven pile capacity in clay. As part of selecting the deep foundation system, steel pipe, concrete, and timber piles were driven at the site. Static compression and uplift load tests were performed on the concrete and timber piles, while only static compression tests were performed on the steel pipe piles. Measured pile capacities from the static load tests were compared to predicted pile capacities, which were obtained from empirical design methods employing laboratory and in-situ test results. The data demonstrate that the traditional alpha method results in somewhat conservative predictions for the test piles, regardless of whether the values of undrained shear strength (su) are obtained directly from the unconfined compression (UC) test or are inferred from a correlation with the CPTU as equivalent direct simple shear (DSS) values of su. The second case study involves an evaluation of the axial and lateral capacities of drilled shafts in rock to support a concrete gated dam. The test drilled shafts were step-tapered from 5.5-ft diameter through the soil zone to 5-ft diameter in the rock socket. Axial and lateral load tests were performed on drilled shafts embedded in soft to medium hard clayey shale and claystone overlain by granular alluvium. The data demonstrate that longstanding methods of determining ultimate side resistance are conservative relative to the measured values, as are customary presumptive values, but that predictions using one evolving method can be unconservative in the absence of field verification. In addition, the shafts performed satisfactorily under the applied design load, exhibiting minimal lateral deflection within the rock socket

Temporal Analysis and Costs of Ruminant Brucellosis Control Programme in Egypt Between 1999 and 2011

Data for the prevalence of brucellosis in ruminants in Egypt are scarce; recent studies suggest the disease is endemic, with a high prevalence. The aim of this study was to assess the financial costs and the impact of the current control programme on the pattern of brucellosis among ruminants between 1999 and 2011. A univariate binary logistic regression model was used to compare between seropositive proportions for different years for each species. The proportion of seropositive cattle was significantly increased from 2000 to 2004 then significantly decreased from 2005 to 2011. The proportion of seropositive buffalo fluctuated year to year; however, there was a significant increase in 2008 (OR 3.13, 95% CI 2.69–3.66, P < 0.001). There was a decrease in the proportion of seropositive sheep during the study period except in 2001 and 2009 in which there was a significant increase. The proportion of seropositive goats increased in 2000 and 2001, and then decreased from 2002 to 2007. In 2008, there was a significant increase in the seropositive proportion of goats (OR 2.53, 95% CI 2.21–2.90, P < 0.001). The average annual cost for the control programme including testing and compensation was more than US$3 million. The total cost for the control programme including testing and compensation for the period (13 years) between 1999 and 2011 was more than US$40 million, from which more than 56% for cattle. Further studies are required for the effectiveness of the current control strategies and alternative strategies should be considered. The socio-economic impact of brucellosis and its control measures should be investigated

Efficient Flatness Based Energy Management Strategy for Hybrid Supercapacitor/Lithium-ion Battery Power System

This article offers a flatness theory-based energy management strategy (FEMS) for a hybrid power system consisting of a supercapacitor (SC) and lithium-ion battery. The proposed FEMS intends to allocate the power reference for the DC/DC converters of both the battery and SC while attaining higher effciency and stable DC bus voltage. First, the entire system model is analyzed theoretically under the differential flatness approach to reduce the model order as a at system. Second, the proposed FEMS is validated under different load conditions using MATLAB/Simulink. Thus, this FEMS provides high-quality energy to the load and reduces the fluctuations in the bus voltage. Moreover, the performance of the FEMS is compared with the load following (LF) strategy. The obtained results show that the proposed FEMS meet the real load power under fast variations with good power quality compared to the classical LF strategy, where the maximum overshoot of the bus voltage is 5%

A sulfoximine-based inhibitor of human asparagine synthetase kills l-asparaginase-resistant leukemia cells.

An adenylated sulfoximine transition-state analogue 1, which inhibits human asparagine synthetase (hASNS) with nanomolar potency, has been reported to suppress the proliferation of an l-asparagine amidohydrolase (ASNase)-resistant MOLT-4 leukemia cell line (MOLT-4R) when l-asparagine is depleted in the medium. We now report the synthesis and biological activity of two new sulfoximine analogues of 1 that have been studied as part of systematic efforts to identify compounds with improved cell permeability and/or metabolic stability. One of these new analogues, an amino sulfoximine 5 having no net charge at cellular pH, is a better hASNS inhibitor (K(I)(∗)=8nM) than 1 and suppresses proliferation of MOLT-4R cells at 10-fold lower concentration (IC(50)=0.1mM). More importantly, and in contrast to the lead compound 1, the presence of sulfoximine 5 at concentrations above 0.25mM causes the death of MOLT-4R cells even when ASNase is absent in the culture medium. The amino sulfoximine 5 exhibits different dose-response behavior when incubated with an ASNase-sensitive MOLT-4 cell line (MOLT-4S), supporting the hypothesis that sulfoximine 5 exerts its effect by inhibiting hASNS in the cell. Our work provides further evidence for the idea that hASNS represents a chemotherapeutic target for the treatment of leukemia, and perhaps other cancers, including those of the prostate

Wettability and osteoblast cell response modulation through UV laser processing of nylon 6,6

With an ageing population the demand for cheap, efficient implants is ever increasing. Laser surface treatment offers a unique means of varying biomimetic properties to determine generic parameters to predict cell responses. This paper details how a KrF excimer laser can be employed for both laser-induced patterning and whole area irradiative processing to modulate the wettability characteristics and osteoblast cell response following 24 hour and 4 day incubation. Through white light interferometry (WLI) it was found that the surface roughness had considerably increased by up to 1.5 µm for the laser-induced patterned samples and remained somewhat constant at around 0.1 µm for the whole area irradiative processed samples. A sessile drop device determined that the wettability characteristics differed between the surface treatments. For the patterned samples the contact angle, θ, increased by up to 25° which can be attributed to a mixed-state wetting regime. For the whole area irradiative processed samples θ decreased owed to an increase in polar component, γP. For all samples θ was a decreasing function of the surface energy. The laser whole area irradiative processed samples gave rise to a distinct correlative trend between the cell response, θ and γP. However, no strong relationship was determined for the laser-induced patterned samples due to the mixed-state wetting regime. As a result, owed to the relationships and evidence of cell differentiation one can deduce that laser whole area irradiative processing is an attractive technology for employment within regenerative medicine to meet the demands of an ageing population

Identification of NeVIII lines in H-deficient (pre-) white dwarfs: a new tool to constrain the temperature of the hottest stars

For the first time, we have identified NeVIII absorption lines in far-UV spectra of the hottest known (Teff>150,000 K) hydrogen-deficient (pre-) white dwarfs of spectral type PG1159. They are of photospheric origin and can be matched by synthetic non-LTE line profiles. We also show that a number of UV and optical emission lines in these stars can be explained as being photospheric NeVIII features and not, as hitherto suspected, as ultrahigh ionised OVIII lines created along shock-zones in the stellar wind. Consequently, we argue that the long-standing identification of the same emission lines in hot [WR]-type central stars as being due to ultrahigh-ionised species (OVII-VIII, CV-VI) must be revised. These lines can be entirely attributed to thermally excited species (NeVII-VIII, NV, OVI). Photospheric NeVIII lines are also identified in the hottest known He-rich white dwarf KPD0005+5106 some of which were also attributed to OVIII previously. This is a surprise because it must be concluded that KPD0005+5106 is much hotter (Teff=200,000 K) than hitherto assumed (Teff=120,000 K). This is confirmed by a re-assessment of the HeII line spectrum. We speculate that the temperature is high enough to explain the mysterious, hard X-ray emission (1 keV) as being of photospheric origin.Comment: Accepted for publication in A&

An Extension and Further Validation of a Community-based Consumer Well-being Measure

Cataloged from PDF version of article.The goal of this study is to extend the research and further validation of Lee and colleagues' measure of community-based consumer well-being. The measure is based on the notion that consumers experience well-being to the extent that they are satisfied with local marketplace experiences related to (1) shopping for desired consumer goods and services in the local area, (2) preparing locally purchased consumer durables for personal use, (3) consuming locally purchased goods and services, (4) owning consumer durables purchased in the local area, (5) using repair and maintenance services in the local area, and (6) using selling, trading-in, and disposal services in the local area. Data were collected from ten localities in nine countries/states (California, Minnesota, Canada, Australia, Spain, Germany, Switzerland, Turkey, Egypt, and China) using the mall intercept method. The data provided support for the predictive/nomological validity of the measure by providing empirical support for the relationship between the consumer well-being construct and other well-being constructs such as life satisfaction

Effect of soiling in CPV systems

The effect of soiling in flat PV modules has been already studied, causing a reduction of the electrical output of 4% on average. For CPV's, as far as soiling produces light scattering at the optical collector surface, the scattered rays should be definitively lost because they cannot be focused onto the receivers again. While the theoretical study becomes difficult because soiling is variable at different sites, it becomes easier to begin the monitoring of the real field performance of concentrators and then raise the following question: how much does the soiling affect to PV concentrators in comparison with flat panels?? The answers allow to predict the PV concentrator electrical performance and to establish a pattern of cleaning frequency. Some experiments have been conducted at the IES-UPM and CSES-ANU sites, consisting in linear reflective concentration systems, a point focus refractive concentrator and a flat module. All the systems have been measured when soiled and then after cleaning, achieving different increases of ISC. In general, results show that CPV systems are more sensitive to soiling than flat panels, accumulating losses in ISC of about 14% on average in three different tests conducted at IESUPM and CSES-ANU test sites in Madrid (Spain) and Canberra (Australia). Some concentrators can reach losses up to 26% when the system is soiled for 4 months of exposure