Creep, Strength and Moisture Absorption of Adhesive Bonded FRP Joints

The effects of the environment on adhesive bonded single lap joints formed using XMC-3 and SMC-R50 composites were investigated. Tests were performed at temperatures of 23C and 93C with test coupons immersed in air, water, and 5% NaCl water mixture. The weight changes of both bonded joints (XMC-3 to SMC-R50 and SMC-R50 to SMC-R50) and unbonded materials were measured. Data were also ob tained showing the effects of moisture, temperature, and applied load on changes in weight, on creep deformation, lap shear strength, and separation modes of the joints.Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/68649/2/10.1177_073168448500400206.pd

Property Tax Lids and the Effect on Kansas

Cross sectional time series data in a partial adjustment model examine local government behavior under an aggregate property tax levy limit and under Truth in Taxation in Kansas. Results indicate that the aggregate levy limit would have continued to restrict property tax revenue and spending had it not been replaced.Public Economics,

Systematic Review Protocol – Final: Have wet meadow restoration projects in the Southwestern U.S. been effective in restoring hydrology, geomorphology, soils, and plant species composition to conditions comparable to wet meadows with minimal human-induced disturbance?

The aim of this review is to evaluate whether wet meadow restoration projects in the Southwestern U.S. have been effective in restoring hydrology, geomorphology, soils, and plant species composition to conditions comparable to wet meadows with minimal human-induced disturbance

Quantum affine Cartan matrices, Poincare series of binary polyhedral groups, and reflection representations

We first review some invariant theoretic results about the finite subgroups of SU(2) in a quick algebraic way by using the McKay correspondence and quantum affine Cartan matrices. By the way it turns out that some parameters (a,b,h;p,q,r) that one usually associates with such a group and hence with a simply-laced Coxeter-Dynkin diagram have a meaningful definition for the non-simply-laced diagrams, too, and as a byproduct we extend Saito's formula for the determinant of the Cartan matrix to all cases. Returning to invariant theory we show that for each irreducible representation i of a binary tetrahedral, octahedral, or icosahedral group one can find a homomorphism into a finite complex reflection group whose defining reflection representation restricts to i.Comment: 19 page

Black holes admitting a Freudenthal dual

The quantised charges x of four dimensional stringy black holes may be assigned to elements of an integral Freudenthal triple system whose automorphism group is the corresponding U-duality and whose U-invariant quartic norm Delta(x) determines the lowest order entropy. Here we introduce a Freudenthal duality x -> \tilde{x}, for which \tilde{\tilde{x}}=-x. Although distinct from U-duality it nevertheless leaves Delta(x) invariant. However, the requirement that \tilde{x} be integer restricts us to the subset of black holes for which Delta(x) is necessarily a perfect square. The issue of higher-order corrections remains open as some, but not all, of the discrete U-duality invariants are Freudenthal invariant. Similarly, the quantised charges A of five dimensional black holes and strings may be assigned to elements of an integral Jordan algebra, whose cubic norm N(A) determines the lowest order entropy. We introduce an analogous Jordan dual A*, with N(A) necessarily a perfect cube, for which A**=A and which leaves N(A) invariant. The two dualities are related by a 4D/5D lift.Comment: 32 pages revtex, 10 tables; minor corrections, references adde

Cultural context and attitudes towards genetically modified food in Greece and West Germany

'Bisherige Untersuchungen haben gezeigt, dass es innerhalb der Europäischen Union zum Teil erhebliche Unterschiede in den Einstellungen zu gentechnisch veränderten Lebensmitteln (GM food) gibt. Die Erklärungen für die gefundenen Einstellungsunterschiede basieren vor allem auf soziodemografische und Wissensvariablen als einstellungsdeterminierende Faktoren der Einstellung gegenüber GM food. Kulturelle Unterschiede werden hingegen als Erklärungsfaktoren kaum in Betracht gezogen. In dem vorliegenden Papier werden Hypothesen über den Einfluss des kulturellen Kontext auf die Ablehnung von GM food formuliert. Diese Hypothesen basieren auf Überlegungen, die sich aus der Kombination des Ansatzes von Hofstede (1997) mit dem Einstellungsmodell von Eagly und Chaiken (1993) ergeben. Die Überlegungen beziehen sich auf Griechenland und Westdeutschland als Länder mit Stellvertreterpotential für einen bestimmten kulturellen Kontext (modern vs. traditional). Als Ergebnis kann festgehalten werden, dass das Wissen über GM food nur in Westdeutschland einen Effekt hat, in Griechenland sind hingegen die negativen Beliefs über GM food von großer Bedeutung für die Einstellung gegenüber GM food. Generell lässt sich festhalten, dass in Westdeutschland eine wesentlich strukturiertere Einstellungsstruktur zu finden ist als dies in Griechenland der Fall ist.' (Autorenreferat)'Although there are strong national differences in people's rejection of in genetical modification in food production (GM food), research mainly examined sociodemographics and knowledge an GM food as general determinants of attitudes towards GM food. Cultural differences seldom are taken into account, usually there are no theoretically founded hypotheses, which can be tested empirically. In the present paper we formulate specific hypotheses an cultural context effects an rejection of GM food by combining Hofstedes (1997) approach with cultural differentiation to a general beliefattitude model as it is represented in the core of Eagly and Chaikens (1993) composite model. Specific hypotheses are formulated for Westgermany and Greece as cases of contrasting cultural contexts (modern vs. traditional pattems of orientation). We find, that knowledge an GM food has an effect an rejecting GM food only in Westgermany, whereas negative beliefs are more important in determining GM food rejection in Greece. Generally, the attitude structure in Westgermany is more differentiated than in Greece, as it is reflected in more variance explained by knowledge, beliefs and sociodemographic status in Westgermany than in Greece.' (author's abstract)

The eclipsing post-common envelope binary CSS21055: a white dwarf with a probable brown-dwarf companion

We report photometric observations of the eclipsing close binary CSS21055 (SDSS J141126+200911) that strongly suggest that the companion to the carbon-oxygen white dwarf is a brown dwarf with a mass between 0.030 and 0.074 Msun. The measured orbital period is 121.73min and the totality of the eclipse lasts 125s. If confirmed, CSS21055 would be the first detached eclipsing WD+BD binary. Spectroscopy in the eclipse could provide information about the companion's evolutionary state and atmospheric structure.Comment: 6 pages, 5 figure

A first step towards on-device monitoring of body sounds in the wild

Body sounds provide rich information about the state of the human body and can be useful in many medical applications. Auscultation, the practice of listening to body sounds, has been used for centuries in respiratory and cardiac medicine to diagnose or track disease progression. To date, however, its use has been confined to clinical and highly controlled settings. Our work addresses this limitation: we devise a chest-mounted wearable for continuous monitoring of body sounds, that leverages data processing algorithms that run on-device. We concentrate on the detection of heart sounds to perform heart rate monitoring. To improve robustness to ambient noise and motion artefacts, our device uses an algorithm that explicitly segments the collected audio into the phases of the cardiac cycle. Our pilot study with 9 users demonstrates that it is possible to obtain heart rate estimates that are competitive with commercial heart rate monitors, with low enough power consumption for continuous use.ER