Analysis of the geometrical dependence of auxetic behavior in reentrant structures by finite elements

Materials with a negative Poisson's ratio(PR)are called auxetics;they are characterized by expansion/contraction when tensioned/compressed.Given this counterintuitive behavior,they present very particular characteristics and mechanical behavior.Geometrical models have been developed to justify and artificiall reproduce such materials' auxetic behavior.The focus of this study is the exploration of a reentrant model by analyzing the variation in the PR of reentrant structures as a function of geometrical and base material parameters.It is shown that,even in the presence of protruding ribs,there may not be auxetic behavior,and this depends on the geometry of each reentrant structure.Values determined for these parameters can be helpful as approximate reference data in the design and fabrication of auxetic lattices using reentrant geometries.     

A Repaid Procedure for Preparing Oxyen-18 Determination in Water Samples

An equipment for the speed δ¹⁸O analysis of water samples is described. It used the equilibrium isotopic exchange reaction between water and CO₂ gas. Outgasing of samples through capillary without freezing down the samples, together with shaking during the equilibrium time, reduced considerably time for sample preparation.

Apparatus is air termostated with hand valves. Measured δ values are not very sensitive to precision of preparation work and reaction conditions, except of temperature. With good temperature control the standard reproducibility of single measurement is better than 0,1‰     

Analysis of a meshless solver for high Reynolds number flow

In this paper, the extension of an upwind least‐square based meshless solver to high Reynolds number flow is explored, and the properties of the meshless solver are analyzed both theoretically and numerically. Existing works have verified the meshless solver mostly with inviscid flows and low Reynolds number flows, and in this work, we are interested in the behavior of the meshless solver for high Reynolds number flow, especially in the near‐wall region. With both theoretical and numerical analysis, the effects of two parameters on the meshless solver are identified. The first one is the misalignment effect caused by the significantly skewed supporting points, and it is found that the meshless solver still yields accurate prediction. It is a very interesting property and is opposite to the median‐dual control volume based vertex‐centered finite volume method, which is known to give degraded result with stretched triangular/tetrahedral cells in the near‐wall region. The second parameter is the curvature, and according to theoretical analysis, it is found in the region with both large aspect ratio and curvature, and the streamwise residual is less affected; however, the wall‐normal counterpart suffers from accuracy degradation. In this paper, an improved method that uses a meshless solver for the streamwise residual and finite difference for wall‐normal residual is developed. This method is proved to be less sensitive to the curvature and provides improved accuracy. This work presents an understanding of the meshless solver for high Reynolds number flow computation, and the analysis in this paper is verified with a series of numerical experiments. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

What can statistical process control show us about ionization chamber stability?

PurposeStatistical process control (SPC) has been shown to be a suitable tool for medical physicists to monitor quality and keep variability low and within specifications. We report our findings regarding ionisation chamber stability in our department when using a radioactive stability check device (RSCD) and we compare them with similar previously published records, including calibration results.MethodsWe retrospectively studied the stability of a PPC 40 parallel-plate chamber, and two Farmer chambers (FC65-G and FC65-P) by checking them with dedicated RSCDs. We analysed the data following SPC methodology which includes plotting I-MR control charts, monitoring out-of-control observations, calculating process capability ratios (C_p), and estimating conformance to specifications. We also estimated the C_p and adherence to specifications of previously published data.ResultsThe PPC40 chamber hardly went out of the control limits over the whole six-year period assessed. However, Farmer chamber verifications drifted in opposite directions in phase II, and the deviations observed did not agree with their calibration records, which only increased by a maximum of 0.5%. In phase I the most unstable chamber was the FC65-P with a C_p equal to 0.9 at a specification level of ±1%. The PPC40 chamber was stable to within a maximum C_p of 1.3. Several sets of analysed data, including ours and those from other authors, fitted well within these limits: within ±1.9% and ±1.5% for a C_p of 1.5 and 1.33 respectively.ConclusionsSPC with constant long-term RSCD checking gave us a meaningful plot of the instability of our ionisation chambers. Although a period of two years between calibrations should not be surpassed, in the interim this check can conform to specifications of ±1.5%.     

Instant Controlled Pressure Drop technology: From a new fundamental approach of instantaneous transitory thermodynamics to large industrial applications on high performance–high controlled quality unit operations

Solvent extraction processes have been largely used in various industries. They recently were improved through new physical concepts such as CO₂ Supercritical Fluid Extraction, Ultrasound assisted process, Microwave-assisted extraction, Instant Controlled Pressure Drop DIC-assisted extraction… Systematically, a pretreatment stage of grinding takes place in order to improve the exchange surface increasing the starting accessibility. Swelling of the material structure implies an increase of the porosity thus leading to higher solvent diffusivity within the solid matrix. A new concept of expanded granule powder has recently been defined using Instant Controlled Pressure Drop DIC technology. Whatever the type of solvent is (even CO₂-SFE), such a swelled structure dramatically intensifies the kinetics through a higher specific exchange surface thanks to the open pores, while improving the solution solvent–solute diffusivity within the solid. Coupled to ultrasound, the internal transfer of solute within the pore solvent can likewise be intensified by replacing molecular diffusion within the pores by an effective convection transfer. In this work, we carried out a first approach of modeling of solvent extraction kinetics of expanded granules involving higher exchange surface and greater internal diffusion process.     

Study of Ganga River – Groundwater Interaction Using Environmental Oxygen-18

The influent and effluent characteristics of river Ganga in the Hardwar-Narora sector in Uttar Pradesh, India was studied using environmental oxygen-18. δ¹⁸O of river water and also of groundwater close to the river course was monitored at 8 stations along the 220 km stretch for a period of ten months. δ¹⁸O of the river during the monsoon months (June to September) was about – 10 at all the stations. However, during the dry months from October to April, the δ¹⁸O of the river was enriched progressively from Hardwar to Narora. The enrichment indicated groundwater contribution to the river during the non-monsoon months. The contribution was comuted using the principle of isotope balance.     

Lower bound for the ratios of eigenvalues of Schrödinger with nonpositive single‐barrier potentials

Horváth and Kiss (Proc. Amer. Math. Soc., 2005) proved the upper bound estimate for Dirichlet eigenvalue ratios of the Schrödinger problem ?y^′′ + q(x)y = λy with nonnegative and single‐well potential q. In this paper, we prove that if q(x) is a nonpositive, continuous, and single‐barrier potential, then for λ_n > λ_m≥ ? 2q^?, where . In particular, if q(x) satisfies the additional condition , then λ₁ > 0 and for n > m ≥ 1. For this result, we develop a new approach to study the monotonicity of the modified Prüfer angle function.     

Stereoselective analysis of flecainide enantiomers using reversed‐phase liquid chromatography for assessing CYP2D6 activity

Stereoselective analyses of flecainide enantiomers were performed using reversed‐phase high‐performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) equipped with a polysaccharide‐based chiral column (Chiralpak AS‐RH) and fluorescence detector. Excitation and emission wavelengths were set at 300 and 370 nm, respectively. Flecainide enantiomers in serum and urine were extracted using diethyl ether. The mobile phase solution, comprising 0.1 m potassium hexafluorophosphate and acetonitrile (65:35, v/v), was pumped at a flow rate of 0.5 mL/min. The recoveries of flecainide enantiomers were greater than 94%, with the coefficients of variation (CVs) <6%. The calibration curves of flecainide enantiomers in serum and urine were linear in the concentration range 5–500 ng/mL and 0.75–15 µg/mL (r > 0.999), respectively. CVs in intra‐day and inter‐day assays were 1.8–5.8 and 3.4–7.5%, respectively. In a pharmacokinetic study, the ratios of (S)‐ to (R)‐flecainide (S/R ratio) in the area under the curve and the amount of flecainide enantiomers excreted in urine were lower in a subject carrying CYP2D6*10/*10 than in subjects carrying CYP2D6*1/*2. The S/R ratio of trough serum flecainide concentration ranged from 0.79 to 1.16 in patients receiving oral flecainide. The present HPLC method can be used to assess hepatic flecainide metabolism in a pharmacokinetic study and therapeutic drug monitoring. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.