Planetary ephemerides approximation for radar astronomy

The planetary ephemerides approximation for radar astronomy is discussed, and, in particular, the effect of this approximation on the performance of the programmable local oscillator (PLO) used in Goldstone Solar System Radar is presented. Four different approaches are considered and it is shown that the Gram polynomials outperform the commonly used technique based on Chebyshev polynomials. These methods are used to analyze the mean square, the phase error, and the frequency tracking error in the presence of the worst case Doppler shift that one may encounter within the solar system. It is shown that in the worst case the phase error is under one degree and the frequency tracking error less than one hertz when the frequency to the PLO is updated every millisecond

On sampling band-pass signals

Four techniques for uniform sampling of band-bass signals are examined. The in-phase and quadrature components of the band-pass signal are computed in terms of the samples of the original band-pass signal. The relative implementation merits of these techniques are discussed with reference to the Deep Space Network (DSN)

Bis(4-methyl-3,5-diphenyl-1H-pyrazole-κN 2)silver(I) nitrate

In the title complex, [Ag(C16H14N2)2]NO3, the geometry around the AgI ion is T-shaped with two short Ag—N bonds to the pyrazole ligand and one long Ag—O bond to the nitrate anion. The crystal structure is stabilized by inter­molecular N—H⋯O, C—H⋯O and C—H⋯π inter­actions

A variational model for stress analysis in cracked laminates with arbitrary symmetric lay-up under general in-plane loading

AbstractThe present research work presents a variational approach for stress analysis in a general symmetric laminate, having a uniform distribution of ply cracks in a single orientation, subject to general in-plane loading. Using the principle of minimum complementary energy, an optimal admissible stress field is derived that satisfies equilibrium, boundary and traction continuity conditions. Natural boundary conditions have been derived from the variational principle to overcome the limitations of the existing methodology on the analysis of general symmetric laminates. Thus, a systematic way to formulate boundary value problem for general symmetric laminates containing many cracked and un-cracked plies has been derived, and appropriate mathematical tools can then be employed to solve them. The obtained results are in excellent agreement with the available results in the literature. In the field of matrix cracks analysis for symmetric laminates, the present formulation is the most complete variational model developed so far

Stiffness reduction of cracked general symmetric laminates using a variational approach

AbstractIn this paper, stiffness reduction of general symmetric laminates containing a uniform distribution of matrix cracks in a single orientation is analyzed. An admissible stress field is considered, which satisfies equilibrium and all the boundary and continuity conditions. This stress field has been used in conjunction with the principle of minimum complementary energy to get the effective stiffness matrix of a cracked general symmetric laminate. Natural boundary conditions have been derived from the variational principle to overcome the limitations of the existing variational methods on the analysis of general symmetric laminates. Therefore, the capability of analyzing cracked symmetric laminates using the variational approach has been enhanced significantly. It has been shown that the method provides a rigorous lower bound for the stiffness matrix of a cracked laminate, which is very important for practical applications. Results derived from the developed method for the properties of the cracked laminates showed an excellent agreement with experimental data and with those obtained from McCartney’s stress transfer model. The differences of the developed model with McCartney’s model are discussed in detail. It can be emphasized that the current approach is simpler than McCartney’s model, which needs an averaging procedure to obtain the governing equations. Moreover, it has been shown that the existing variational models are special cases of the current formulation

Vasopressin attenuates ischemia-reperfusion injury via reduction of oxidative stress and inhibition of mitochondrial permeability transition pore opening in rat hearts

Aim of this study was to investigate the involvement of the mitochondrial permeability transition pore (MPTP) and oxidative stress in the cardioprotective effect of vasopressin (AVP) on ischemia/reperfusion (I/R) injury. Anesthetized male wistar rats were subjected to regional 30 min ischemia and 120 min reperfusion and randomly divided into nine groups: (1) Control; saline was administered intravenously before ischemia, (2) vasopressin was administrated 10 min prior to ischemia, (3, 4) Atractyloside as MPTP opener, was injected 5 min prior to reperfusion without and with vasopressin, (5, 6) Cyclosporine A as a MPTP closer, was injected 5 min prior to reperfusion without and with vasopressin, (7) mitochondria were isolated from control group and CaCl2 was added as MPTP opener and swelling inducer, (8) isolated mitochondria from Control hearts was incubated with Cyclosporine A before adding the CaCl2 (9) CaCl2 was added to isolated mitochondria from vasopressin group. Infusion of vasopressin decreased infarct size (18.6±1.7% vs. control group 37.6±2.4%), biochemical parameters [LDH (Lactate Dehydrogenase), CK-MB (Creatine Kinase-MB) and MDA (Malondialdehyde) plasma levels, PAB (Prooxidant-antioxidant balance)] compared to control group. Atactyloside suppressed the cardioprotective effect of vasopressin (32.5±1.9% vs. 18.6±1.7%) but administration of the Cyclosporine A without and with vasopressin significantly reduced infarct size to 17.7±4% (P<0.001) and 22.7±3% (P<0.01) respectively, vs. 37.6±2.4% in control group. Also, vasopressin, similar to Cyclosporine A, led to decrease in CaCl2-induced swelling. It seems that vasopressin through antioxidant effect and MPTP inhibition has created a cardioprotection against ischemia/reperfusion injuries. © 2015 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved