Impact energy absorber Patent

Impact energy absorber with decreasing absorption rat

Self-protecting solid state isolated switch

Solid state switch has following capabilities: (1) Hybrid or IC from compatible with direct mounting on solar array substrate; (2) Continuous signal is not required to hold it in either on or off state; (3) Separate signal lines for on and off control; (4) Electrically isolated from input signals; and (5) Current surges will not cause switch failure

Distribution of spectral widths and preponderance of spin-0 ground states in nuclei

We use a single j-shell model with random two-body interactions to derive closed expressions for the distribution of and the correlations between spectral widths of different spins. This task is facilitated by introducing two-body operators whose squared spectral widths sum up to the squared spectral width of the random Hamiltonian. The spin-0 width is characterized by a relatively large average value and small fluctuations while the width of maximum spin has the largest average and the largest fluctuations. The approximate proportionality between widths and spectral radii explains the preponderance of spin-0 ground states.Comment: 4 pages, 4 eps figure

IGB grid: User's manual (A turbomachinery grid generation code)

A grid generation code called IGB is presented for use in computational investigations of turbomachinery flowfields. It contains a combination of algebraic and elliptic techniques coded for use on an interactive graphics workstation. The instructions for use and a test case are included

Spectral Properties of H-Reflex Recordings After an Acute Bout of Whole-Body Vibration

Although research supports the use of whole-body vibration (WBV) to improve neuromuscular performance, the mechanisms for these improvements remain unclear. The purpose of this study was to identify the effect ofWBV on the spectral properties of electrically evoked H-reflex recordings in the soleus (SOL) muscle. The H-reflex recordings were measured in the SOL muscle of 20 participants before and after a bout of WBV. The H-reflexes were evoked every 15 seconds for 150 seconds after WBV. A wavelet procedure was used to extract spectral data, which were then quantified with a principle components analysis. Resultant principle component scores were used for statistical analysis. The analysis extracted 1 principle component associated with the intensity of the myoelectric spectra and 1 principle component associated with the frequency. The scores of the principle component that were related to the myoelectric intensity were smaller at 30 and 60 milliseconds after WBV than before WBV. The WBV transiently decreased the intensity of myoelectric spectra during electrically evoked contractions, but it did not influence the frequency of the spectra. The decrease in intensity likely indicates a smaller electrically evoked muscle twitch response, whereas the lack of change in frequency would indicate a similar recruitment pattern of motor units before and after WBV

Instrument for measuring thin-film belt lengths

Instrument consists of base, vernier height gauge, sliding block, and balance-beam assembly with tension weight. Pulley bracket is provided with three pulley mounting holes, 4 inches apart, to accommodate widely different belt lengths. Instrument is accurate to within 0.001 inch and is suitable for commercial production

Exponential clogging time for a one dimensional DLA

When considering DLA on a cylinder it is natural to ask how many particles it takes to clog the cylinder, e.g. modeling clogging of arteries. In this note we formulate a very simple DLA clogging model and establish an exponential lower bound on the number of particles arriving before clogging appears

Pyrolysis of Wastewater Biosolids Significantly Reduces Estrogenicity

Most wastewater treatment processes are not specifically designed to remove micropollutants. Many micropollutants are hydrophobic so they remain in the biosolids and are discharged to the environment through land-application of biosolids. Micropollutants encompass a broad range of organic chemicals, including estrogenic compounds (natural and synthetic) that reside in the environment, a.k.a. environmental estrogens. Public concern over land application of biosolids stemming from the occurrence of micropollutants hampers the value of biosolids which are important to wastewater treatment plants as a valuable by-product. This research evaluated pyrolysis, the partial decomposition of organic material in an oxygen-deprived system under high temperatures, as a biosolids treatment process that could remove estrogenic compounds from solids while producing a less hormonally active biochar for soil amendment. The estrogenicity, measured in estradiol equivalents (EEQ) by the yeast estrogen screen (YES) assay, of pyrolyzed biosolids was compared to primary and anaerobically digested biosolids. The estrogenic responses from primary solids and anaerobically digested solids were not statistically significantly different, but pyrolysis of anaerobically digested solids resulted in a significant reduction in EEQ; increasing pyrolysis temperature from 100 °C to 500 °C increased the removal of EEQ with greater than 95% removal occurring at or above 400 °C. This research demonstrates that biosolids treatment with pyrolysis would substantially decrease (removal \u3e 95%) the estrogens associated with this biosolids product. Thus, pyrolysis of biosolids can be used to produce a valuable soil amendment product, biochar, that minimizes discharge of estrogens to the environment

A study of Kapton degradation under simulated shuttle environment

A system was developed which employs a source of low energy oxygen ion to simulate the shuttle low Earth orbit environment. This source, together with diagnostic tools including surface analysis ans mass spectroscopic capability, was used to measure the dependence of ion energy of the oxygen induced CO signals from pyrolytic graphite and Kapton. For graphite the CO signal was examined at energies ranging form 4.5 to 465 eV and for Kapton from 4.5 to 188 eV. While the relative quantum yields inferred from the data are reasonably precise, there are large uncertainties in the absolute yields because of the assumptions necessary to covert the measured signal strengths to quantum yields. These assumptions are discussed in detail