Measurement of residual stress by using focused ion beam and digital image correlation method in thin-sized wires used for steel cords

Residual stress in the axial direction of the steel wires has been measured by using a method based on the combination of the focused ion beam (FIB) milling and digital image correlation software. That is, the residual stress was calculated from the measured displacement field before and after the introduction of a slot along the steel wires. The displacement was obtained by the digital correlation analysis of high-resolution scanning electron micrographs, while the slot was introduced by FIB milling with low energy beam. The fitting of the experimental results to an analytical model with the independent Young's modulus determined allows us to find the residual stress. The complete experimental procedures are described and its feasibilities are also evaluated for the thin-sized steel wires.open112sciescopu

A Review of Vacuum Degradation Research and the Experimental Outgassing Research of the Core Material- Pu foam on Vacuum Insulation Panels

AbstractVacuum Insulation Panels(VIPs) have been regarded as a super thermal insulation material with a thermal resistance of about 5-8 times higher than that of equally thick conventional polyurethane boards. In this paper, the researches on factors influencing interior pressure in VIPs, including gas and water vapor permeation through the barrier and outgassing of the core materials, were reviewed respectively. Following this, aiming at the outgassing from open cell PU foam, the specific outgassing rate of the core material is tested not only at room temperature but also at low and high temperatures by an orifice known-conductance method

Optimal Portfolio Allocation under a Probabilistic Risk Constraint and the Incentives for Financial Innovation

We derive, in a complete markets environment, an investor's optimal portfolio allocation subject to both a budget constraint and a probabilistic risk constraint. We demonstrate that the set of feasible portfolios need not be connected or convex, while the number of local optima increases exponentially with the number of securities implying that finding the optimal portfolio is computationally complex (NP hard). The resulting optimal portfolio allocation may not be monotonic in the state-price density. A novel type of financial innovation, which splits states of nature, is shown to weakly enhance welfare, restore monotonicity in the state-price density, and may reduce complexity

Conjugated linoleic acid production and probiotic assessment of Lactobacillus plantarum isolated from Pico cheese

peer-reviewedLactic acid bacteria isolated from a traditional Azorean cheese were screened for their ability to convert free linoleic acid to conjugated linoleic acid (CLA). Two strains of Lactobacillus plantarum were recognized as potential CLA producers. GC analysis identified cis-9, trans-11 C18:2 as the predominant isomer (10–14 μg/mL), followed by trans-9, trans-11 C18:2 (4–6 μg/mL). The CLA producing strains demonstrated strong biofilm capacity, high cell surface hydrophobicity and good auto-aggregation ability. These strains were capable of surviving in the presence of bile salts (0.3%) and pancreatin (0.1%), but only the highest CLA producer (L3C1E8) was able to resist low pH (2.5). Moreover, the CLA-producers showed good adhesion capacity to intestinal human cells (Caco-2 and HT-29) and were able to prevent colonization of Escherichia coli. Of the two strains, Lactobacillus plantarum L3C1E8 revealed superior probiotic properties and great potential for producing food products enriched in the two CLA isomers, cis-9, trans-11 C18:2 (60%) and trans-9, trans-11 C18:2 (25%)

Dissociation between two subgroups of the suprachiasmatic nucleus affected by the number of damped oscillated neurons

Circadian clocks in health and diseas

A dedicated haem lyase is required for the maturation of a novel bacterial cytochrome c with unconventional covalent haem binding

In bacterial c-type cytochromes, the haem cofactor is covalently attached via two cysteine residues organized in a haem c-binding motif. Here, a novel octa-haem c protein, MccA, is described that contains only seven conventional haem c-binding motifs (CXXCH), in addition to several single cysteine residues and a conserved CH signature. Mass spectrometric analysis of purified MccA from Wolinella succinogenes suggests that two of the single cysteine residues are actually part of an unprecedented CX15CH sequence involved in haem c binding. Spectroscopic characterization of MccA identified an unusual high-potential haem c with a red-shifted absorption maximum, not unlike that of certain eukaryotic cytochromes c that exceptionally bind haem via only one thioether bridge. A haem lyase gene was found to be specifically required for the maturation of MccA in W. succinogenes. Equivalent haem lyase-encoding genes belonging to either the bacterial cytochrome c biogenesis system I or II are present in the vicinity of every known mccA gene suggesting a dedicated cytochrome c maturation pathway. The results necessitate reconsideration of computer-based prediction of putative haem c-binding motifs in bacterial proteomes

Finite reduction and Morse index estimates for mechanical systems

A simple version of exact finite dimensional reduction for the variational setting of mechanical systems is presented. It is worked out by means of a thorough global version of the implicit function theorem for monotone operators. Moreover, the Hessian of the reduced function preserves all the relevant information of the original one, by Schur's complement, which spontaneously appears in this context. Finally, the results are straightforwardly extended to the case of a Dirichlet problem on a bounded domain.Comment: 13 pages; v2: minor changes, to appear in Nonlinear Differential Equations and Application

Cumulative hydropathic topology of a voltage-gated sodium channel at atomic resolution

Voltage-gated sodium channels (NavChs) are biological pores that control the ow of sodium ions through the cell membrane. In humans, mutations in genes encoding NavChs can disrupt physiological cellular activity thus leading to a wide spectrum of diseases. Here, we present a topological connection between the functional architecture of a NavAb bacterial channel and accumulation of atomic hydropathicity around its pore. This connection is established via a scaling analysis methodology that elucidates how intrachannel hydropathic density variations translate into hydropathic dipole field configurations along the pore. Our findings suggest the existence of a non random cumulative hydropathic topology that is organized parallel to the membrane surface so that pore's stability, as well as, gating behavior are guaranteed. Given the biophysical significance of the hydropathic effect, our study seeks to provide a computational framework for studying cumulative hydropathic topological properties of NavChs and pore-forming proteins in general. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved

Late Holocene isotope hydrology of Lake Qinghai, NE Tibetan Plateau: effective moisture variability and atmospheric circulation changes

A sub-centennial-resolution record of lacustrine carbonate oxygen isotopes (δ<sup>18</sup>O<sub>C</sub>) from the closed-basin Lake Qinghai on the NE Tibetan Plateau shows pronounced variability over the past 1500 years. Changes in δ<sup>18</sup>O<sub>C</sub> in hydrologically closed lakes are often interpreted in terms of changing effective moisture. Under this interpretation our record would imply increasing effective moisture during the Little Ice Age (LIA) compared to the Medieval Warm Period (MWP). However, independent evidence from other archives strongly suggests the Asian summer monsoon was stronger during the MWP and weakened during the LIA. Controls other than effective moisture (the balance of water inputs over evaporative loss) must therefore have contributed to the δ<sup>18</sup>O<sub>C</sub> values. We propose the LIA signal in Lake Qinghai resulted from a reduction in evaporation caused by colder air temperatures, coupled with a decrease in oxygen isotope composition of input waters as a result of an increase in the relative importance of westerly-derived precipitation. Our results caution against simplistic interpretations of carbonate oxygen isotope records from hydrologically closed lakes and suggest all possible controlling factors must be taken into account in order to avoid misleading palaeoclimatic reconstructions