A Four-Way Interaction Model: A Holistic Approach to the Group Decision Support Systems

This study adopts the general systems theory and proposes a four-way interaction model which uses nth logic function to represent interactions of a Group Decision Support System (GDSS) to examine the interaction issues when designing a GDSS. Task type and decision guidance are used to illustrate the application of the proposed model

Lamp reliability studies for improved satellite rubidium frequency standard

In response to the premature failure of Rb lamps used in Rb atomic clocks onboard NAVSTAR GPS satellites experimental and theoretical investigations into their failure mechanism were initiated. The primary goal of these studies is the development of an accelerated life test for future GPS lamps. The primary failure mechanism was identified as consumption of the lamp's Rb charge via direct interaction between Rb and the lamp's glass surface. The most effective parameters to accelerate the interaction between the Rb and the glass are felt to be RF excitation power and lamp temperature. Differential scanning calorimetry is used to monitor the consumption of Rb within a lamp as a function of operation time. This technique yielded base line Rb consumption data for GPS lamps operating under normal conditions

Trends in the lifetime risk of developing cancer in Great Britain: comparison of risk for those born from 1930 to 1960

BACKGROUND: Typically, lifetime risk is calculated by the period method using current risks at different ages. Here, we estimate the probability of being diagnosed with cancer for individuals born in a given year, by estimating future risks as the cohort ages. METHODS: We estimated the lifetime risk of cancer in Britain separately for men and women born in each year from 1930 to 1960. We projected rates of all cancers (excluding non-melanoma skin cancer) and of all cancer deaths forwards using a flexible age-period-cohort model and backwards using age-specific extrapolation. The sensitivity of the estimated lifetime risk to the method of projection was explored. RESULTS: The lifetime risk of cancer increased from 38.5% for men born in 1930 to 53.5% for men born in 1960. For women it increased from 36.7 to 47.5%. Results are robust to different models for projections of cancer rates. CONCLUSIONS: The lifetime risk of cancer for people born since 1960 is >50%. Over half of people who are currently adults under the age of 65 years will be diagnosed with cancer at some point in their lifetime

Magnetostriction and elasticity of body centered cubic Fe100−xBex alloys

Magnetostriction measurements from 77 K to room temperature on oriented (100) and (110) disk samples of Fe93.9Be6.1 and Fe88.7Be11.3 reveal substantial increases in λ100compared to iron. For the 11.3% alloy, λ100=110 ppm, a sixfold increase above that of α-Fe. For the 6.1% alloy, λ100=81 ppm, ∼40% and ∼170% greater than λ100 of comparable Fe–Ga and Fe–Al alloys, respectively, for H=15 kOe. Large differences exist between the values of λ100 and λ111 (λ100\u3e0, λ111\u3c0) and their temperature dependencies. Elastic constants, c11, c12, and c44, from 4 to 300 K were obtained on the same Fe–Be alloys. From these measurements, the magnetoelastic energy coefficients b1 and b2 were calculated. While the magnitudes of the magnetostrictions λ100 and λ111 are widely different, the magnitudes of b1 and b2 are within a factor of 2. The Fe–Be alloys are highly anisotropic magnetostrictively, elastically, and magnetoelastically. For Fe88.7Be11.3 at room temperature λ100/λ111, 2c44/(c11−c12), and b1/b2 are −6.6, 3.55, and −1.86, respectively

Temperature dependence of the magnetostriction and magnetoelastic coupling in Fe100−xAlx (x = 14.1,16.6,21.5,26.3) and Fe50Co50

In this paper, we report magnetostriction measurements, (λ100) on Fe-rich Fe–Al alloys and Fe50Co50 as functions of temperature from 77 K to room temperature (RT). From these measurements and elastic constant (c′) measurements, the tetragonal magnetoelastic coupling constants (b1’s) were calculated. Significant differences were found between our RT measurements and earlier magnetostriction measurements for the higher Al concentration alloys (16.6%, 21.5%, 26.3% Al) and the Fe50Co50 alloy. Reminiscent of the temperature dependence of λ100 for pure Fe, magnetostriction changes with temperature are minimal for Fe–Al alloys having the disordered bcc (A2)structure (x\u3c19% Al). In contrast, the alloy possessing the ordered (D03) structure shows an anomalous decrease in magnetostriction in λ100 with decreasing temperature. For the Fe–Al alloy system, the magnetoelastic coupling constant, ∣b1∣, exhibits a peak at room temperature maximizing at 16.6% Al with a value of 12.3 MJ/m3. For Fe50Co50, ∣b1∣ was calculated to be ∼ 34 MJ/m3 at room temperature

Effect of interstitial additions on magnetostriction in Fe–Ga alloys

The additions of trace amounts of small interstitial atoms (carbon, boron, and nitrogen) to Fe–Ga (Galfenol) alloys have a small but beneficial effect on the magnetostriction of Fe–Ga alloys especially at high Ga compositions. The saturated magnetostrictions [(3/2)λ100’s] of both slow cooled and quenched single crystal Fe–Ga–C alloys with Ga contents \u3e18 at. % are about 10%–30% higher than those of the comparable binary Fe–Ga alloys. For boron and nitrogen additions, the magnetostrictions of slow cooled alloys with Ga content \u3e18 at. % were approximately 20% higher than those of the binary Fe–Ga alloys. We assume that these small atoms enter interstitially into the octahedral site as in pure α-Fe and inhibit chemical ordering, resulting in increased λ100. Thermal analysis of the Fe–Ga binary alloys and Fe–Ga–C ternary alloys indicates that the addition of C into the Fe–Ga system decreases the formation kinetics of D03 and extends the disordered region beyond the maximum for slow cooled binary samples

Temperature and stress dependencies of the magnetic and magnetostrictive properties of Fe0.81Ga0.19

It was recently reported that the addition of nonmagnetic Ga increased the saturation magnetostriction (λ100) of Fe over tenfold while leaving the rhombohedral magnetostriction (λ111) almost unchanged. To determine the relationship between the magnetostriction and the magnetization we measured the temperature and stress dependence of both the magnetostriction and magnetization from −21 °C to +80 °C under compressive stresses ranging from 14.4 MPa to 87.1 MPa. For this study a single crystal rod of Fe0.81Ga0.19 was quenched from 800 °C into water to insure a nearly random distribution of Ga atoms. Constant temperature tests showed that compressive stresses greater than 14.4 MPa were needed to achieve the maximum magnetostriction. For the case of a 45.3 MPa compressive stress and applied field of 800 Oe, the maximum magnetostriction at 80 °C decreases from its value at −21 °C by 12.9%. This small magnetostrictive decrease is consistent with a correspondingly small 3.6% decrease in magnetization over the same temperature range. This well-behaved temperature response makes this alloy particularly valuable for industrial and military smart actuator, transducer, and active damping applications. The measured value of Young’s modulus is low (∼55±1 GPa) and almost temperature independent. The large magnetostriction over a wide temperature range combined with the nonbrittle nature of the alloy is rare

Magnetostrictive and piezomagnetic properties of Tb1-xDyx Zn at low temperatures

Tb1-xDyxZn(0 axes can be changed to very hard \u3c100\u3e axes by increasing x from 0 to 1. (In fact, the existence of a near zero magnetic anisotropy by the proper choice of x is the origin of the well-known Terfenol-D alloys, Tb1-xDyxFe2). The Tb$1-x)DyxZn system discussed here is particularly attractive because of the simplicity of its crystal structure (CsCl), its relatively high Curie temperatures (for rare earth alloys), and the existence of a large (uv0) phase for T \u3c 50K. A summary of some of the important properties of these three alloy systems is given in Table I. In all these systems, at least one of the magnetostriction constraints is very large

Regulatory T cells resist virus infection-induced apoptosis

Regulatory T (Treg) cells are important in the maintenance of self-tolerance, and the depletion of Treg cells correlates with autoimmune development. It has been shown that type I interferon (IFN) responses induced early in the infection of mice can drive memory (CD44hi) CD8 and CD4 T cells into apoptosis, and we questioned here whether the apoptosis of CD44-expressing Treg cells might be involved in the infection-associated autoimmune development. Instead, we found that Treg cells were much more resistant to apoptosis than CD44hi CD8 and CD4 T cells at days 2 to 3 after lymphocytic choriomeningitis virus infection, when type I IFN levels are high. The infection caused a downregulation of the interleukin-7 (IL-7) receptor, needed for survival of conventional T cells, while increasing on Treg cells the expression of the high-affinity IL-2 receptor, needed for STAT5-dependent survival of Treg cells. The stably maintained Treg cells early during infection may explain the relatively low incidence of autoimmune manifestations among infected patients. IMPORTANCE: Autoimmune diseases are controlled in part by regulatory T cells (Treg) and are thought to sometimes be initiated by viral infections. We tested the hypothesis that Treg may die off at early stages of infection, when virus-induced factors kill other lymphocyte types. Instead, we found that Treg resisted this cell death, perhaps reducing the tendency of viral infections to cause immune dysfunction and induce autoimmunity

Temperature dependence of the magnetic anisotropy and magnetostriction of Fe100−xGax (x = 8.6, 16.6, 28.5)

The temperature dependence of the lowest order magnetic anisotropy constant K1 and the lowest order saturation magnetostriction constant, (3/2)λ100, were measured from 4 K to 300 K for Fe91.4Ga8.6,Fe83.4Ga16.6, and Fe71.5Ga28.5 and were compared to the normalized magnetization power law, ml(l+1)/2. Fe91.4Ga8.6 maintains the magnetostriction anomaly of Fe (dλ100/dT\u3e0) and K1 is a reasonable fit to the ml(l+1)/2power law with K1(0 K) ≅ 90 kJ/m3. Fe83.4Ga16.6 does not show a magnetostriction anomaly, but fits the power law remarkably well. Fe71.5Ga28.5 possesses a small K1( ∼ 1 kJ/m3) at all temperatures and a large temperature dependent magnetostriction, reaching ∼ 800 ppm at low temperature