Taxonomic revision of extant Doras Lacepede, 1803 (Siluriformes: Doradidae) with descriptions of three new species

Extant Doras are newly diagnosed among Doradidae by the unique combination of maxillary barbels long and fimbriate; mesethmoid with anterior lateral margins converging towards narrow tip; single anterior cranial fontanel contained largely within frontals and anteriorly by mesethmoid (posterior cranial fontanel occluded); anterior nuchal plate wide, pentaganol or roughly hexagonal, sharing distinct lateral suture with epioccipital and isolating supraoccipital from middle nuchal plate; nuchal foramina absent; coracoid process short, posterior tip falling well short of that of postcleithral process; dentary with acicular teeth; and skin immediately ventral to postcleithral process perforated with conspicuous pores. One fossil species, dagger D. dioneae, and two nominal extant species, D. carinatus and D. micropoeus, are recognized as valid and the latter two redescribed. Three additional extant species, D. phlyzakion, D. higuchii and D. zuanoni, are newly described from the middle Amazon and tributaries, lower Amazon tributaries and rio Araguaia (Tocantins drainage), respectively. Doras phlyzakion and D. zuanoni form a monophyletic group that is found in lowland, lentic habitats, and is characterized by multiple conspicuous pores in skin on breast and abdomen, a trait unique among doradids and rare if not unique among all catfishes. The remaining extant species, D. carinatus, D. higuchii and D. micropoeus, with uncertain relationships, are found in upland, lotic habitats. The occurrence of D. carinatus in the Orinoco basin suggests a historical link between right-bank tributaries of the lower Orinoco (e.g., Caroni) draining the western Guiana Shield and more eastern rivers (e.g., Cuyuni-Essequibo) that drain the Shield directly into the Atlantic Ocean. A key to extant species is provided, a neotype is designated for Silurtis carinatus Linnaeus 1766, and Mormyropsis Miranda Ribeiro, 1911, is placed in the synonymy of Doras Lacepede, 1803.

Evaluation of perforated steel plates as connection in glulam-concrete composite structures

This paper shows the results of an experimental investigation carried out on a connection element of glulam and concrete composite structures, through double-sided push-out shear tests. The connection system was composed of perforated steel plates glued with epoxy adhesive. Five specimens were made and tested under shear forces. This innovative connection system showed an average initial slip modulus equivalent to 339.4 kN/mm. In addition, the connection system was evaluated by means of numerical simulations and the software ANSYS was used for this purpose. The numerical simulations demonstrated good agreement with the experimental data, especially in the regime of elastic-linear behavior of materials. (C) 2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Buccal Bone Plate Remodeling After Immediate Implant Placement With and Without Synthetic Bone Grafting and Flapless Surgery: Radiographic Study in Dogs

Recent studies in animals have shown pronounced resorption of the buccal bone plate after immediate implantation. The use of flapless surgical procedures prior to the installation of immediate implants, as well as the use of synthetic bone graft in the gaps represent viable alternatives to minimize buccal bone resorption and to favor osseointegration. The aim of this study was to evaluate the healing of the buccal bone plate following immediate implantation using the flapless approach, and to compare this process with sites in which a synthetic bone graft was or was not inserted into the gap between the implant and the buccal bone plate. Lower bicuspids from 8 dogs were bilaterally extracted without the use of flaps, and 4 implants were installed in the alveoli in each side of the mandible and were positioned 2.0 mm from the buccal bone plate (gap). Four groups were devised: 2.0-mm subcrestal implants (3.3 x 8 mm) using bone grafts (SCTG), 2.0-mm subcrestal implants without bone grafts (SCCG), equicrestal implants (3.3 x 10 mm) with bone grafts (EGG), and equicrestal implants without bone grafts (ECCG). One week following the surgical procedures, metallic prostheses were installed, and within 12 weeks the dogs were sacrificed. The blocks containing the individual implants were turned sideways, and radiographic imaging was obtained to analyze the remodeling of the buccal bone plate. In the analysis of the resulting distance between the implant shoulder and the bone crest, statistically significant differences were found in the SCTG when compared to the ECTG (P = .02) and ECCG (P = .03). For mean value comparison of the resulting linear distance between the implant surface and the buccal plate, no statistically significant difference was found among all groups (P > .05). The same result was observed in the parameter for presence or absence of tissue formation between the implant surface and buccal plate. Equicrestally placed implants, in this methodology, presented little or no loss of the buccal bone. The subcrestally positioned implants presented loss of buccal bone, even though synthetic bone graft was used. The buccal bone, however, was always coronal to the implant shoulder.

Designing piezoresistive plate-based sensors with distribution of piezoresistive material using topology optimization

Piezoresistive sensors are commonly made of a piezoresistive membrane attached to a flexible substrate, a plate. They have been widely studied and used in several applications. It has been found that the size, position and geometry of the piezoresistive membrane may affect the performance of the sensors. Based on this remark, in this work, a topology optimization methodology for the design of piezoresistive plate-based sensors, for which both the piezoresistive membrane and the flexible substrate disposition can be optimized, is evaluated. Perfect coupling conditions between the substrate and the membrane based on the `layerwise' theory for laminated plates, and a material model for the piezoresistive membrane based on the solid isotropic material with penalization model, are employed. The design goal is to obtain the configuration of material that maximizes the sensor sensitivity to external loading, as well as the stiffness of the sensor to particular loads, which depend on the case (application) studied. The proposed approach is evaluated by studying two distinct examples: the optimization of an atomic force microscope probe and a pressure sensor. The results suggest that the performance of the sensors can be improved by using the proposed approach.

Exponential stability for a plate equation with p-Laplacian and memory terms

This paper is concerned with the energy decay for a class of plate equations with memory and lower order perturbation of p-Laplacian type, utt+?2u-?pu+?0tg(t-s)?u(s)ds-?ut+f(u)=0inOXR+, with simply supported boundary condition, where O is a bounded domain of RN, g?>?0 is a memory kernel that decays exponentially and f(u) is a nonlinear perturbation. This kind of problem without the memory term models elastoplastic flows.

A uniqueness theorem for the determination of sources in the Germain–Lagrange plate equation

We prove a uniqueness result related to the Germain–Lagrange dynamic plate differential equation. We consider the equation {∂2u∂t2+△2u=g⊗f,in ]0,+∞)×R2,u(0)=0,∂u∂t(0)=0, where uu stands for the transverse displacement, ff is a distribution compactly supported in space, and g∈Lloc1([0,+∞)) is a function of time such that g(0)≠0g(0)≠0 and there is a T0>0T0>0 such that g∈C1[0,T0[g∈C1[0,T0[. We prove that the knowledge of uu over an arbitrary open set of the plate for any interval of time ]0,T[]0,T[, 0

Lamb mode diversity imaging fornon-destructivetesting of plate-likestructures

Several Lamb wave modes can be coupled to a particular structure, depending on its geometry and transducer used to generate the guided waves. Each Lamb mode interacts in a particular form with different types of defects, like notches, delamination, surface defects, resulting in different information which can be used to improve damage detection and characterization. An image compounding technique that uses the information obtained from different propagation modes of Lamb waves for non-destructive testing of plate-like structures is proposed. A linear array consisting of 16 piezoelectric elements is attached to a 1 mm thickness aluminum plate, coupling the fundamental A0 and SO modes at the frequencies of 100 kHz and 360 kHz, respectively. For each mode two images are obtained from amplitude and phase information: one image using the Total Focusing Method (TFM) and one phase image obtained from the Sign Coherence Factor (SCF). Each TFM image is multiplied by the SCF image of the respective mode to improve contrast and reduce side and grating lobes effects. The high dispersive characteristic of the A0 mode is compensated for adequate defect detection. The information in the SCF images is used to select one of the TFM mode images, at each pixel, to obtain the compounded image. As a result, dead zone is reduced, resolution and contrast are improved, enhancing damage detection when compared to the use of only one mode. (C) 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. (AU)