Use of ultrasonic surface waves for studying the properties of the human tibia

A method of determining the ultrasonic surface-wave velocity by means of exponential concentrators is proposed for determining the properties of human tibia in vitro. The effect of the radiation frequency and the thickness of the surface layer of bone tissue on the surface-wave propagation velocity is studied. For measurement purposes the tibia is divided into 24–28 vertical levels and six to seven horizontal zones. The variation of the surface-wave velocity with the measuring point is investigated. Relations are established between the distribution of surface-wave velocities and the statistical parameters characterizing the dispersion of the results, on the one hand, and biological age and the source of the bone (right or left leg), on the other.     

Growth Rates for Semiflows on Hausdorff Spaces

In this paper, we present a theory of vector-valued growth rates for discrete- and continuous-time semiflows on Hausdorff spaces. For a given compact flow-invariant set M and an associated growth rate, we introduce the uniform growth spectrum over M, and associated real-valued spectra via projections of the vector-valued spectrum onto one-dimensional subspaces. We show that these real-valued spectra are closed intervals if M is additionally connected. We also define the Morse spectrum associated with a growth rate by evaluating the growth rate along chains. Moreover, we relate the uniform growth spectrum to the Morse spectrum and we analyze the meaning of limit sets for the long-time behavior of growth rates.     

Enantio- and Diastereoswitchable C−H Arylation of Methylene Groups in Cycloalkanes

A complementary set of chiral N,N-ligands enables the Pd-catalyzed β-C−H arylation of unbiased internal methylene groups in good yield and with high levels of enantio- and diastereoinduction. Both the dia- and enantioselectivity can be reversed, thus allowing the selective arylation of any of the four β-C−H bonds in cycloalkanecarboxamides of various ring sizes. The method is applicable to a broad range of aryl iodides with electron-withdrawing and -donating substituents in the o-, m-, or p-position.     

GC-MS-based urine metabolic profiling of autism spectrum disorders

Autism spectrum disorders (ASD) are a group of neurodevelopmental disorders resulting from multiple factors. Diagnosis is based on behavioural and developmental signs detected before 3 years of age, and there is no reliable biological marker. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the value of gas chromatography combined with mass spectroscopy (GC-MS) associated with multivariate statistical modeling to capture the global biochemical signature of autistic individuals. GC-MS urinary metabolic profiles of 26 autistic and 24 healthy children were obtained by liq/liq extraction, and were or were not subjected to an oximation step, and then were subjected to a persilylation step. These metabolic profiles were then processed by multivariate analysis, in particular orthogonal partial least-squares discriminant analysis (OPLS-DA, R ²Y(cum) = 0.97, Q ²(cum) = 0.88). Discriminating metabolites were identified. The relative concentrations of the succinate and glycolate were higher for autistic than healthy children, whereas those of hippurate, 3-hydroxyphenylacetate, vanillylhydracrylate, 3-hydroxyhippurate, 4-hydroxyphenyl-2-hydroxyacetate, 1H-indole-3-acetate, phosphate, palmitate, stearate, and 3-methyladipate were lower. Eight other metabolites, which were not identified but characterized by a retention time plus a quantifier and its qualifier ion masses, were found to differ between the two groups. Comparison of statistical models leads to the conclusion that the combination of data obtained from both derivatization techniques leads to the model best discriminating between autistic and healthy groups of children.     

Spatially localized vibrations in a rotor subjected to flutter

The current push toward lightweight structures in aerospace and aeronautical engineering is leading to slender design airfoils, which are more likely to undergo large deformation, hence experiencing geometrical nonlinearities. The problem of vibration localization in a rotor constituted by N coupled airfoils with plunge and pitch degrees of freedom subjected to flutter instability is considered. For a single airfoil, it is shown that depending on the system parameters, multiple static and dynamic equilibria coexist which may be a fixed point, a limit cycle, or irregular motion. By elastically coupling N airfoils, a simplified rotor model is obtained. The nonlinear dynamical response of the rotor is studied via time integration with particular attention to the emergence of localized vibrating solutions, which have been classified introducing a localization coefficient. Finally, the concept of basin stability is exploited to ascertain the likelihood of the system to converge to a certain localized state as a function of the airstream velocity. We found that homogeneous and slightly localized states are more likely to appear with respect to strongly localized states.

     

STUDIES ON PHYTOCHROME PHOTOCONVERSIONS IN VITRO WITH LASER-INDUCED OPTOACOUSTIC SPECTROSCOPY*

After excitation at room temperature with a 15 ns dye laser pulse, phytochrome (60 kDalton) from etiolated oat seedlings was studied by optoacoustic spectroscopy, which records the heat emission caused by non-radiative deactivation processes of the photoexcited molecule. The action spectrum for the heat emitted by P_r deviates from the absorption spectrum around 610 and 695 nm, indicating the build-up of photoproduct(s) within 15 ns after excitation. It is proposed that the 695 nm product is identical with I₇₀₀ and lumi-R known to be the first intermediate on the P_r× P_fr pathway, and that the photochemical back reaction of I₇₀₀ to P_r occurs on the same time scale. About 90% of the absorbed light energy was lost by radiationless deactivation. Values for the rate constants of excited state deactivation of P_r and for the internal energy content difference of the primary photoproducts are calculated.     

Electroweak form factors of non-strange baryons

We compute electroweak form factors of the nucleon and photon transition form factors of non-strange baryon resonances up to the third resonance region in a model with instanton-induced interaction. The calculation is based on the Bethe-Salpeter equation for three light constituent quarks and is fully relativistic (U. L?ring et al., Eur. Phys. J. A 10, 309 (2001)). Static nucleon properties and photon resonance couplings are in good agreement with experiment and the Q² behaviour of the experimentally known form factors up to large momentum transfer is accounted for. Received: 4 April 2002 / Accepted: 2 May 2002