Finite Element Analysis of Dynamically Loaded Homogeneous Viscous Beams

The paper is concerned with impulsively loaded beams in which the material is treated as homogeneous viscous as an approximation of a rigid-viscoplastic constitutive relation. As opposed to the standard displacement method finite element formulation, where interpolation functions describing the velocity field across elements is given, a mixed formulation is used in which nodal velocities and nodal moments are carried as parameters. At each instant the accelerations (by the Tamuzh principle) and the rates of change of moment (by a virtual velocities formulation) are found, and velocities and moments are integrated forward independently. The properties of the mode solution are also introduced, and the forward integration is carried through only for the difference between the mode solution and the actual solution. This leads to a very efficient scheme for the numerical solution of a cantilever beam problem shown as an illustration.     

Levels of mineral nutrients in fresh- and frozen bulk hydrated biological specimens: A comparison of EDS data collected in the environmental SEM and a conventional cryo-SEM

Energy-dispersive X-ray microanalysis (EDS) was compared in fresh- and frozen bulk hydrated tissues using the Environmental SEM (ESEM) and conventional cryo-SEM, respectively. Analyses of globoid inclusions of Eucalyptus calophylla seed from two soil types demontsrated that higher levels of cations (K, Ca, Mg, Al, Fe, Mn, Cu, Zn) occurred in seeds from soils containing higher levels of Al, while EDS-detectable levels of S and P were dependent upon the techniques utilised. Cumulative changes in ESEM-EDS-detectable levels of S and P were characterised by collecting cumulative spectra from nutrient standards and compared with those for K. Progressive increases in K occurred and were consistent with an enriching effect. Levels of S and P increased during early analysis (40–60 sec live time) and decreased thereafter. The semi-conductive nature of biological samples, the loss of anions and gain of cations from the net negatively-charged electron interaction volume contributed to an electrochemical bias. These local modifications in fluid chemistry were reversible. Dehydration effects also occurred in stable, “wet‘ samples. These differences indicated that EDS in ESEM may be limited to cations rather than anions, and that changes in fluid electrochemistry and dehydration may affect the level and distribution of elements.     

A comparison of quasi-static uniaxial-strain and hugoniot tests for quartz-phenolic composite

The purpose of this paper is to show that, within experimental uncertainty, the change in volume with stress obtained by quasi-static uniaxial-strain tests matches that obtained by hugoniot experiments over the same pressure range for quartz phenolic. The result of these tests shows that comparing the data by both techniques is meaningful. In addition, the use of the relatively simple and inexpensive quasi-static uniaxial-strain test (strain rates of 10^?4/sec) may provide designers and materials engineers a method for rapid surveying of materials for their hugoniot properties.     

Application of rainbow schlieren deflectometry for concentration measurements in an axisymmetric helium jet

 The rainbow schlieren deflectometry technique was used to measure oxygen concentrations in a laminar, isothermal helium jet discharged vertically into ambient air. The concentration distributions were inferred from the color schlieren image by taking into consideration the sampling interval and noise in measurements, especially near the jet center. Excellent quantitative agreement was reached between measurements from schlieren and a continuous sampling probe. This work demonstrates the capability of the schlieren technique for providing accurate, spatially-resolved, nonintrusive, full-field of view measurements of species concentration in an isothermal binary system. Because the basic quantity measured is the refractive index, the present schlieren technique can be extended for quantitative measurements of other scalar flow properties related to the refractive index. Received: 21 April 1997 / Accepted: 14 November 1997     

The Cancer Genetics Network: recruitment results and pilot studies

OBJECTIVE: The National Cancer Institute established the Cancer Genetics Network (CGN) to support collaborative investigations into the genetic basis of cancer susceptibility, explore mechanisms to integrate this new knowledge into medical practice, and identify ways of addressing the associated psychosocial, ethical, legal, and public health issues. SUBJECTS AND METHODS: The CGN has developed the complex infrastructure required to support the projects, including the establishment of guidelines and policies, uniform methods, standard questionnaires to be used by all of the centers, and a standard format for submission of data to the Informatics Center. Cancer patients and their family members have been invited to enroll and be included in a pool of potential study participants. The Information Technology Group is responsible for support of the design, implementation, and maintenance of the multicenter Network-wide research protocols. RESULTS: As of January 2004, the CGN contained data on 23,995 probands (participants) and 425,798 family members. As a resource for cancer genetic studies, the CGN has a large number of probands and first-degree relatives with and without cancer and with multiple ethnicities. Different study designs can be used including case-control, case-case, and family studies. CONCLUSIONS: The unique resources of the CGN are available for studies on cancer genetic susceptibility, translational research, and behavioral research. The CGN is now at a point where approved collaborators may have access to enrolled patients and their families for special studies, as well as to the clinical, environmental and family cancer history data banked in the Informatics Center.     

核磁共振代谢组学数据的尺度归一化新方法

在核磁共振代谢组学数据预处理中,尺度归一化主要目的是提高特征代谢物信息的权重,减小噪声及无关代谢物信息的影响,从而降低后续模式识别分析的难度. 本文提出一种新的尺度归一化方法,该方法不强调各变量在尺度上的归一,而是在原始数据的基础上,通过提高那些稳定性高、且在不同类别样本中具有显著差异性的变量的权重,以增强与特征代谢物相关的信息. 文中分别采用模拟数据和真实代谢组学数据对新归一化方法的性能进行评估,并与单位方差法(Unit Variance)、变量稳定性(Variable Stability)和尺度缩放法(Level Scaling)等常用的尺度归一化方法做比较. 研究结果表明：新归一化方法能够提高多变量统计模型的预测能力,较好地保留核磁共振谱的分子信息,有助于特征代谢物的识别,并使后续的数据分析结果具有更好的可解释性.