Adsorption effects and NMR properties: Continuous chain approach

The NMR properties of nuclei linked to long linear polymer molecules are sensitive to the influence of hard walls. In this context, the residual energy of tensorial spin-spin interactions is calculated using a path integral approach. Several thermodynamic quantities of the polymer system (free energy, equation of state,...) are also expressed, taking chain stiffness effects and the presence of two repulsive walls into consideration.     

Semi‐analytical integration of the 8‐node plane element stiffness matrix using symbolic computation

The semi‐analytical integration of an 8‐node plane strain finite element stiffness matrix is presented in this work. The element is assumed to be super‐parametric, having straight sides. Before carrying out the integration, the integral expressions are classified into several groups, thus avoiding duplication of calculations. Symbolic manipulation and integration is used to obtain the basic formulae to evaluate the stiffness matrix. Then, the resulting expressions are postprocessed, optimized, and simplified in order to reduce the computation time. Maple symbolic‐manipulation software was used to generate the closed expressions and to develop the corresponding Fortran code. Comparisons between semi‐analytical integration and numerical integration were made. It was demonstrated that semi‐analytical integration required less CPU time than conventional numerical integration (using Gaussian‐Legendre quadrature) to obtain the stiffness matrix. © 2005 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Numer Methods Partial Differential Eq, 2006     

多弹簧串联系统能量计算

在弹簧质量不能忽略的情况下,推导了n个弹簧串联系统的动能和弹性势能具体表达式,结果表明:n个串联弹簧系统的动能与每个弹簧自身质量、劲度系数密切相关;系统的弹性势能由n个串联弹簧的等效劲度系数和串联弹簧的总伸长量决定.     

平台框架部件刚度的简化计算

利用卡氏定理,对惯性平台框架部件的刚度进行简化计算。通过微机编程获得数据,为结构设计初期合理选取结构参数提供参考。     

Plastic multipliers as driving variables of numerical simulation in elastoplasticity

Statics of elasto-plastic media is stated in terms of eigenstrains acting upon a background elastic problem with fixed (initial) stiffness. In order to minimize the number of unknowns and to provide computationally cheap algorithms plastic multipliers are used as main driving variables. Fixed-point type iterations are suggested for computing plastic multipliers within the load increment. Numerical experiments results are shown to be in good correlation with other software results. A range of problems is outlined where the usage of the proposed algorithms can be advantageous.     

Glass transition measurements of asphalts by DSC

The glass transition temperature (T_g), measured by Modulated Differential Scanning Calorimetry (MDSC), is related to the flow characteristics of asphalt at low temperatures as is the rate of change of the creep stiffnessm. This study compared the glass transition temperature of different asphalts (neat, chemically modified, and crumb rubber modified asphalts) with the creep stiffness, the rate of change of creep stiffness, and the low specification temperature of the continuous PG grading of those asphalts.From the rheological data (BBR) and the thermal data (MDSC) for the virgin and the modified asphalts, the modified products had the same variations of values ofm, S, and T_g at lower temperatures as those of their corresponding virgin asphalts. A correlation between the T_g andm value was observed for both the modified and unmodified asphalts. Since DSC measurements for asphalt low temperature properties use less operator time, less sample, and have less measurement and operator error than rheological methods, T_g has promise to be considered as a fast and easy laboratory method to obtain the low temperature useful range of asphalts in pavements.The authors would like to acknowledge Susan P. Needham for her work in conducting rheological testing for the modified and unmodified asphalts.     

Prostaglandin D2 synthase and its post-translational modifications in neurological disorders

Prostaglandin D2 synthase (PGDS) (beta-trace protein) is a highly abundant cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) glycoprotein. A number of studies have been performed to determine the potential value of this protein for the diagnosis of various neurological disorders. The measurement of total PGDS levels in CSF has proved marginally useful for this purpose, but promising results were obtained while investigating changes in the posttranslational modifications (PTM) pattern. Using 2-DE analysis, we previously showed that PGDS is differentially expressed in ante- and post mortem CSF samples. In the present study, we examined whether the PGDS isoforms may help to distinguish stroke and neurodegenerative disease patients from healthy subjects. The pattern of PGDS PTM was analyzed in CSF from patients with various neurological disorders (n = 44) using IEF/immunoblotting techniques. Strong alterations of this pattern were detected in patients with different forms of degenerative dementia. These findings are consistent with PGDS being altered in some neurological diseases and provide new opportunities for clinical applications.     

Multiple polypeptide forms observed in two-dimensional gels of Methylococcus capsulatus (Bath) polypeptides are generated during the separation procedure

We have examined two-dimensional electrophoresis (2-DE) gel maps of polypeptides from the Gram-negative bacterium Methylococcus capsulatus (Bath) and found the same widespread trains of spots as often reported in 2-DE gels of polypeptides of other Gram-negative bacteria. Some of the trains of polypeptides, both from the outer membrane and soluble protein fraction, were shown to be generated during the separation procedure of 2-DE, and not by covalent post-translational modifications. The trains were found to be regenerated when rerunning individual polypeptide spots. The polypeptides analysed giving this type of trains were all found to be classified as stable polypeptides according to the instability index of Guruprasad et al. (Protein Eng. 1990, 4, 155-161). The phenomenon most likely reflects conformational equilibria of polypeptides arising from the experimental conditions used, and is a clear drawback of the standard 2-DE procedure, making the gel picture unnecessarily complex to analyse.     

Lattice dynamical study of body-centred tetragonal indium

The phonon dispersion curves, phonon frequency distribution function as well as the lattice specific heat of body-centred tetragonal indium have been deduced using a lattice dynamical model which includes central, angular and volume forces. Six elastic constants, four zone boundary frequencies and an equilibrium condition were used in the evaluation of the force constants. It is shown that this model is elastically consistent and satisfies the symmetry requirements of the lattice, the phonon frequencies of indium deduced from it are in very good agreement with the experimental values of Reichardt and Smith and the theoretical values of Garrett and Swihart, and theθ _D values compare well with the experimental values over a wide temperature range. The apparent discrepancies in the phonon dispersion curves and theθ _D-T curves obtained from deficient models, importance of umklapp processes and the significance of angular forces in the lattice dynamical models are discussed.     

Wave mixing in coupled phononic crystals via a variable stiffness mechanism

We investigate wave mixing effects in a phononic crystal that couples the wave dynamics of two channels – primary and control ones – via a variable stiffness mechanism. We demonstrate analytically and numerically that the wave transmission in the primary channel can be manipulated by the control channel's signal. We show that the application of control waves allows the selection of a specific mode through the primary channel. We also demonstrate that the mixing of two wave modes is possible whereby a modulation effect is observed. A detailed study of the design parameters is also carried out to optimize the switching capabilities of the proposed system. Finally, we verify that the system can fulfill both switching and amplification functionalities, potentially enabling the realization of an acoustic transistor.