Neutron activation analysis for determination of metal ions in biological fluids of patients after CoCrMo arthroplasty

Determination of metals and trace elements in patients with total knee or hip arthroplasty with CoCrMo alloy was performed. Blood, urine and cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) samples were analyzed and compared with samples from healthy people. Levels of Co, Cr as well as Na, Ca, Fe, Zn, Se, Rb, Sb and Br were determined by means of neutron activation analysis. The values of Cr and Co of the blood and urine measurements were elevated in patients with replacement, and according to the statistical analysis, significant differences of the elements Zn, Br, Co and Sb were found in the CSF (p?<?0.05).

     

Derivatives of (2R)-N-Glyoxylbornane-10,2-sultam and Their Use as auxiliaries in the diastereoselective spirocyclization of 2-substituted tryptamines

A crude hydrate 6 and a crystalline hemiacetal 7 of glyoxylamide 4 were prepared from crotonamide 5 (Scheme 2). Particularly hemiacetal 7 , but also 6 and the ‘dimer’ 8 (obtained from 7 ) may serve as homochiral auxiliaries. The structure of 8 was determined by X-ray analysis. By arenesulfonyl halides, tryptimines 12–14 of 4 were diastereoselectively transformed into spirotricycles 15–17 and 19 .     

On the pivot structure for the weighing matrix W(12,11)

In the present article we concentrate our study on the growth problem for the weighing matrix W(12,11) and show that the unique W(12,11) has three pivot structures. An improved algorithm for extending a k × k (0,+,-) matrix to a W(n,n-1), if possible, has been developed to simplify the proof. For the implementation of the algorithm special emphasis is given to the notions of data structures and parallel processing.     

Reducing structural changes in van Emde Boas' data structure to the lower bound for the dynamic predecessor problem

We consider the problem of maintaining a dynamic ordered set of n integers in a universe U under the operations of insertion, deletion and predecessor queries. The computation model used is a unit-cost RAM, with a word length of w bits, and the universe size is |U|=2^w. We present a data structure that uses O(|U|/log|U|+n) space, performs all the operations in O(loglog|U|) time and needs O(loglog|U|/logloglog|U|) structural changes per update operation. The data structure is a simplified version of the van Emde Boas' tree introducing, in its construction and functioning, new concepts, which help to keep the important information for searching along the path of the tree, in a more compact and organized way.     

Automotive disc brake squeal

Disc brake squeal remains an elusive problem in the automotive industry. Since the early 20th century, many investigators have examined the problem with experimental, analytical, and computational techniques, but there is as yet no method to completely suppress disc brake squeal. This paper provides a comprehensive review and bibliography of works on disc brake squeal. In an effort to make this review accessible to a large audience, background sections on vibrations, contact and disc brake systems are also included.     

On path lengths modulo three

We show that between any two nodes of a cubic, planar, three-connected graph there are three paths whose lengths are 0, 1, and 2 modulo 3, respectively. The proof is by a rather extensive case analysis. Counterexamples show that all three hypotheses (i.e., planarity, degree-three, and three-connectivity) are necessary.     

Cross sections for multi-particle final states at a linear collider

In this paper total cross sections for signals and backgrounds of top- and Higgs-production channels in e ⁺ e^- collisions at a future linear collider are presented. All channels considered are characterized by the emergence of six-particle final states. The calculation takes into account the full set of tree-level amplitudes in each process. Two multi-purpose parton level generators, HELAC/PHEGAS and AMEGIC + + , are used, and their results are found to be in perfect agreement.Received: 26 November 2003, Revised: 15 January 2004, Published online: 3 March 2004