EAS Elements for Solid Mechanics - Mesh Distortion Insensitive and Hourglassing-Free Formulations with Increased Robustness

Proposed in the early 1990s, the enhanced assumed strain (EAS) method is one of the probably most successful mixed finite element methods for solid mechanics. This cumulative dissertation gives a comprehensive overview of previous publications on that method and covers recent improvements for EAS elements. In particular, we describe three key issues of standard EAS elements and develop corresponding solutions

Determination of the refractive state of normophakic dogs and cats and pseudophakic dogs by retinoscopy

Titelblatt, Inhaltsverzeichnis, Lebenslauf, Danksagung, Selbststandigkeitserklarung 1\. Einleitung 2\. Literaturubersicht 3\. Eigene Untersuchungen 4\. Ergebnisse 5\. Diskussion 6\. Zusammenfassung 7\. Summary 8\. Literaturverzeichnis 9\. TabellenanhangFur die vorliegende Arbeit wurde bei 398 normophaken Hunden, 85 normophaken Katzen und 21 pseudophaken Hunden mit der Methode der Skiaskopie der Brechungszustand bestimmt. Die normophaken Hunde wurden entsprechend ihrer Nutzform in Haushunde und Polizei-, Jagd- und Schlittenhunde und entsprechend ihrer Kopfform in dolicho-, meso-, und brachyzephale Hunde unterteilt. Die normophaken Hunde und Katzen weisen eine durchschnittlich gering hyperope (weitsichtige) Refraktion auf. Mit zunehmendem Alter ist eine Verschiebung ihrer mittleren Refraktion in Richtung Myopie (Kurzsichtigkeit) zu sehen, die durch das Auftreten sklerotischer Linsenkernveranderungen bedingt ist. Die untersuchten Polizeihunde ohne sklerotische Linsenkernveranderungen sind durchschnittlich weniger hyperop als die Haus- und Jagdhunde ohne Nukleussklerose. Die brachyzephalen Hunde dieser Studie sind bis zu einem Alter von drei Jahren durchschnittlich weitsichtiger als die dolicho- und mesozephalen Hunde. Die untersuchten pseudophaken Hunde, denen eine +41,5 dpt starke Linse in den Kapselsack implantiert wurde, sind durchschnittlich hyperop und demnach unterkorrigiert. Myopie tritt bei einzelnen pseudophaken Hunden jedoch ebenfalls auf.In this study, 398 normophakic dogs, 85 normophakic cats, and 21 pseudophakic dogs were examined by retinoscopy to assess optic refraction. According to her use normophakic dogs were grouped into home dogs, police dogs, hunting dogs, and sled dogs as well as according to her head shape into dolicho-, meso-, and brachycephalic dogs. On average, normophakic dogs and cats showed a slightly hyperopic (far-sighted) refraction. With increasing age, the average refraction is shifted towards myopia (short-sightedness) which is caused by sclerotic changes of the lens nucleus. Police dogs of this study without sclerotic changes of the lens nucleus are on average less hyperopic than home and hunting dogs. The examined brachycephalic dogs of this study are up to an age of three years on average more far-sighted than dolicho- or mesocephalic dogs. The pseudophakic dogs of this study with a +41,5 D intraocular lens implanted into the capsular sack are on average hyperopic and therefore undercorrected. However, in a few dogs, myopia does occur

Liability for Search Engine Triggering of Trademarked Keywords after \u3ci\u3eRescuecom\u3c/i\u3e

“Trademark keying” is the practice of buying and selling trademarked terms as keywords in search engine advertising campaigns. In September 2006, a federal district court in Rescuecom Corp. v. Google, Inc. held that the practice does not constitute trademark use, a threshold criterion in a trademark infringement claim. Since Rescuecom, the focus of trademark keying litigation has shifted, giving some guidance to potential litigants. In addition, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit has diverged from other circuits. While federal courts within the Second Circuit have fashioned the emerging rule that an advertiser’s internal use of trademarked terms as search engine keywords, without more, is not a trademark use within the meaning of the Lanham Act, courts in other circuits have consistently held that such internal use does constitute trademark use. This Article evaluates the diverging lines of recent cases giving rise to these two approaches, explores what implications the split holds for potential litigants, and provides general guidelines for businesses wishing to avoid infringement claims for trademark keying

The Muselmann at the Water Cooler

"A survivor of concentration camps and the Death March, Eli Pfefferkorn looks back on his Holocaust and post-Holocaust experiences to compare patterns of human behavior in extremis with those of ordinary life. What he finds is that the concentration camp Muselmann, who has lost his hunger for life and is thus shunned by his fellow inmates on the soup line, bears an eerie resemblance to an office employee who has fallen from grace and whose coworkers avoid spending time with him at the water cooler. Though the circumstances are unfathomably far apart, the human response to their situations is triggered by self-preservation rather than by calculated evil. By juxtaposing these two separate worlds, Pfefferkorn demonstrates that ultimately the human condition has not changed significantly since Cain slew Abel and the Athenians sentenced Socrates.

A Little Waltz

Published by the Columbian Conservatory of Music, a score for piano, No. 59.https://digitalcommons.jsu.edu/lib_ac_special_edwardianscores/1002/thumbnail.jp

The Yin and Yang of Amyloids: Insights from alpha-Synuclein and the Pmel17 Repeat Domain

While amyloidogenic proteins are commonly associated with human diseases such as Alzheimer's and Parkinson's disease, it is intriguing that amyloid fibrils also are utilized for essential biological processes. A key question then is why many amyloids are harmful whereas some serve essential functional roles. To begin to address this question, the environmental factors regulating the conformational changes in the Parkinson's disease-related protein, alpha-synuclein (alpha-syn), and a critical polypeptide fragment, the repeat domain (RPT) of Pmel17, the protein required for melanin formation are examined. The role of membranes in modulating alpha-syn conformation is investigated because membranes are ubiquitous in vivo and affect alpha-syn aggregation in vitro. Using single tryptophan-containing alpha-syn variants (F4W, Y39W, F94W, Y125W) as site-specific fluorescent probes, distinct phospholipid vesicle and SDS micelle interactions have been identified and membrane binding equilibria measured. The role of specific N-terminal residues in membrane binding also has been assessed. Specifically, environments of the highly sensitive Trp4 probe in alpha-syn polypeptide fragments (residues: 1 - 4, 1 - 6, 1 - 10, and 1 - 15) upon membrane binding were characterized using steady-state fluorescence and time-resolved anisotropy. The penetration depths of alpha-syn and N-terminal peptides into the lipid bilayer also were determined using brominated lipids as heavy-atom quenchers. To simultaneously monitor alpha-syn and bilayer structure, neutron reflectometry (NR) and a sparsely-tethered bilayer lipid membrane (stBLM) were employed. Using NR and an stBLM, alpha-syn concentration dependent effects on both protein structure and membrane properties were measured. To begin to address biophysical and biochemical differences between pathological and functional amyloid, a systematic investigation of the effects of solution pH (4→7) on RPT aggregation was performed since melanosomes, acidic organelles where Pmel17 fibrils are formed, change pH during maturation. Using intrinsic tryptophan fluorescence, circular dichroism spectroscopy, and transmission electron microscopy, local, secondary, and fibril morphological structure were monitored, respectively. Notably, RPT fibril morphology can be transformed directly by changing solution pH, suggesting that pH is a natural regulatory mechanism for Pmel17 amyloid formation and its subsequent dissolution in vivo

The Muselmann at the Water Cooler

"A survivor of concentration camps and the Death March, Eli Pfefferkorn looks back on his Holocaust and post-Holocaust experiences to compare patterns of human behavior in extremis with those of ordinary life. What he finds is that the concentration camp Muselmann, who has lost his hunger for life and is thus shunned by his fellow inmates on the soup line, bears an eerie resemblance to an office employee who has fallen from grace and whose coworkers avoid spending time with him at the water cooler. Though the circumstances are unfathomably far apart, the human response to their situations is triggered by self-preservation rather than by calculated evil. By juxtaposing these two separate worlds, Pfefferkorn demonstrates that ultimately the human condition has not changed significantly since Cain slew Abel and the Athenians sentenced Socrates.