Methodology to determine stresses due to own weight by using residual stresses techniques

Experimental Techniques -     

Is the predictability of emerging and developed stock markets really exploitable?

A number of recent papers have analyzed the degree of predictability of stock markets. In this paper, we firstly study whether this predictability is really exploitable and secondly, if the economic significance of predictability is higher or lower in the emerging stock markets than in the developed ones. We use a variety of linear and nonlinear – Artificial Neural Networks – models and perform a computationally demanding forecasting experiment to assess the predictability of returns. Since we are interested in comparing the predictability in economic terms we also propose a modification in the nets’ loss function for market trading purposes. In addition, we consider both explicit and implicit trading costs for emerging and developed stock markets. Our conclusions suggest that, in contrast to some previous studies, if we consider total trading costs both the emerging as well as the developed stock returns are clearly nonpredictable. Finally, we find that Artificial Neural Networks do not provide superior performance than the linear models.     

Catalytic nanomotors: autonomous movement of striped nanorods

Rod-shaped particles, 370 nm in diameter and consisting of 1 microm long Pt and Au segments, move autonomously in aqueous hydrogen peroxide solutions by catalyzing the formation of oxygen at the Pt end. In 2-3% hydrogen peroxide solution, these rods move predominantly along their axis in the direction of the Pt end at speeds of up to 10 body lengths per second. The dimensions of the rods and their speeds are similar to those of multiflagellar bacteria. The force along the rod axis, which is on the order of 10(-14) N, is generated by the oxygen concentration gradient, which in turn produces an interfacial tension force that balances the drag force at steady state. By solving the convection-diffusion equation in the frame of the moving rod, it was found that the interfacial tension force scales approximately as SR(2)gamma/muDL, where S is the area-normalized oxygen evolution rate, gamma is the liquid-vapor interfacial tension, R is the rod radius, mu is the viscosity, D is the diffusion coefficient of oxygen, and L is the length of the rod. Experiments in ethanol-water solutions confirmed that the velocity depends linearly with the product Sgamma, and scaling experiments showed a strong dependence of the velocity on R and L. The direction of motion implies that the gold surface is hydrophobic under the conditions of the experiment. Tapping-mode AFM images of rods in air-saturated water show soft features that are not apparent in images acquired in air. These features are postulated to be nanobubbles, which if present in hydrogen peroxide solutions, would account for the observed direction of motion.     

A contribution to film coefficient estimation in piston cooling galleries

The need to reduce fuel consumption and exhaust emissions in internal combustion engines has been drastically increased during last years. One of the most important processes affecting these parameters is heat transfer from the in-cylinder gas to the surrounding walls, as this mechanism has a direct influence on the combustion process. Regarding the different walls (liner, cylinder head and piston surfaces), heat flow to the piston is especially important, as it is essential to avoid excessively high temperatures that could result in material damage and/or oil cracking. With this purpose different cooling strategies are used, among which the improvement of the piston cooling system by using oil galleries is preferred. In this work, the heat flow through the oil gallery in a Diesel piston was investigated on a dedicated test bench. This bench consists of a controlled heat source and a piston oil cooling system in which different test conditions were evaluated in order to obtain a correlation for the film coefficient associated with piston oil cooling. These experimental results were then incorporated into a lumped model for engine heat transfer. Finally, in order to evaluate the accuracy of this model and the effects of the correlation for oil gallery coefficient on engine heat flows, results obtained on a conventional engine test bench equipped with a Diesel engine, in which two piston temperatures had been measured, were used. The results show an improvement in piston temperature predictions when compared with those obtained using a previously reported expression for the calculation of the oil film coefficient.     

Rapid and sensitive quantitative analysis of the new antimalarial N4-[2,6-dimethoxy-4-methyl-5-[(3-trifluoromethyl)phenoxy]-8- quinolinyl]-1,4-pentanediamine in plasma by liquid chromatography and electrochemical detection

A rapid, sensitive and simple method was developed for the quantitation of the plasma concentration of N4-[2,6-dimethoxy-4-methyl-5-[(3-trifluoromethyl)phenoxy]-8- quinolinyl]-1,4-pentanediamine, a new antimalarial active against Plasmodium vivax. N4-(5-Hexoxy-6-methoxy-4-methyl-8-quinolinyl)-1,4- pentanediamine diphosphate, a similar 8-aminoquinoline, was used as an internal standard. The method involves sample clean-up by a prepacked cyano solid-phase column followed by reversed-phase liquid chromatography and oxidative electrochemical detection at +0.95 V. The assay has been validated to 5 ng/ml of plasma and is sensitive to 1 ng/ml of plasma. The results of a pilot study assessing the relative oral bioavailability of two different salt forms of the new antimalarial in dogs show the usefulness of the method for animal and human pharmacokinetic studies.