Distortional buckling of simple lipped channel in bending results of the experimental analysis versus direct strength methods

Cold-formed steel members are subject to failure caused by buckling, normally under loads smaller than those corresponding to partial or total yielding of the cross section. The buckling of members in bending can be classified as local or global, and the occurrence of one or the other type is expected by the members' geometric characteristics and by the constraints and load conditions. One of the local instability modes that can characterize a member's failure is distortional buckling of the cross section occurring on its own plane and involving lateral displacements and rotations. This paper presents and discusses the procedures and results obtained from experimental tests of cold-formed steel members under bending. Forty-eight beams were carried out on members in simple lipped channel, in pairs, with 6-meter spans and loads applied by concentrated forces at every 1/3 of the span. The thickness, width and dimensions, of the stiffeners were chosen so that the instability by distortion buckling of the cross section was the principal failure mode expected. The experimental results are compared with the obtained results by using the direct strength method.

Effect of light-curing method and indirect veneering materials on the Knoop hardness of a resin cement

This study evaluated the Knoop hardness of a dual-cured resin cement (Rely-X ARC) activated solely by chemical reaction (control group) or by chemical / physical mode, light-cured through a 1.5 mm thick ceramic (HeraCeram) or composite (Artglass) disc. Light curing was carried out using conventional halogen light (XL2500) for 40 s (QTH); light emitting diodes (Ultrablue Is) for 40 s (LED); and Xenon plasma arc (Apollo 95E) for 3 s (PAC). Bovine incisors had their buccal face flattened and hybridized. On this surface a rubber mold (5 mm in diameter and 1 mm in height) was bulk filled with the resin cement. A polyester strip was seated for direct light curing or through the discs of veneering materials. After dry storage in the dark (24 h 37°C), the samples (n = 5) were sectioned for hardness (KHN) measurements, taken in a microhardness tester (50 gF load 15 s). The data were statistically analyzed by ANOVA and Tukey's test (α = 0.05). The cement presented higher Knoop hardness values with Artglass for QTH and LED, compared to HeraCeram. The control group and the PAC/Artglass group showed lower hardness values compared to the groups light-cured with QTH and LED. PAC/HeraCeram resulted in the worst combination for cement hardness values. © 2009 Sociedade Brasileira de Pesquisa Odontológica.

Candida spp.: manual identification (reference method) and automated identification (Vitek system platform)

Yeasts are becoming a common cause of nosocomial fungal infections that affect immunocompromised patients. Such infections can evolve into sepsis, whose mortality rate is high. This study aimed to evaluate the viability of Candida species identification by the automated system Vitek-Biomerieux (Durham, USA). Ninety-eight medical charts referencing the Candida spp. samples available for the study were retrospectively analyzed. The system Vitek-Biomerieux with Candida identification card is recommended for laboratory routine use and presents 80.6% agreement with the reference method. By separate analysis of species, 13.5% of C. parapsilosis samples differed from the reference method, while the Vitek system wrongly identified them as C. tropicalis, C. lusitaneae or as Candida albicans. C. glabrata presented a discrepancy of only one sample (25%), and was identified by Vitek as C. parapsilosis. C. guilliermondii also differed in only one sample (33.3%), being identified as Candida spp. All C. albicans, C. tropicalis and C. lusitaneae samples were identified correctly.

Performance of IFAT, ELISA, direct parasitological examination and PCR on lymph node aspirates for canine visceral leishmaniasis diagnosis

Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo (FAPESP)

Alteration of blue pigment in artificial iris in ocular prosthesis: Effect of paint, drying method and artificial aging

The artificial iris is the structure responsible for the dissimulation and aesthetics of ocular prosthesis. The objective of the present study was to evaluate the color stability of artificial iris of microwaveable polymerized ocular prosthesis, as a function of paint type, drying method and accelerated aging. A total of 40 discs of microwaveable polymerized acrylic resin were fabricated, and divided according to the blue paint type ( n = 5): hydrosoluble acrylic, nitrocellulose automotive, hydrosoluble gouache and oil paints. Paints where dried either at natural or at infrared light bulb method. Each specimen was constituted of one disc in colorless acrylic resin and another colored with a basic sclera pigment. Painting was performed in one surface of one of the discs. The specimens were submitted to an artificial aging chamber under ultraviolet light, during 1008 h. A reflective spectrophotometer was used to evaluate color changes. Data were evaluated by 3-way repeated-measures ANOVA and the Tukey HSD test (alpha = 0.05). All paints suffered color alteration. The oil paint presented the highest color resistance to artificial aging regardless of drying method. (C) 2010 British Contact Lens Association. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

The cross-entropy method and its application to minimize the ripple of magnetic levitation forces of a maglev system

This paper explores firstly the potential of a new evolutionary method - the Cross-Entropy (CE) method in solving continuous inverse electromagnetic problems. For this purpose, an adaptive updating formula for the smoothing parameter, some mutation operation, and a new termination criterion are proposed. The proposed CE based metaheuristics is applied to reduce the ripple of the magnetic levitation forces of a prototype Maglev system. The numerical results have shown that the ripple of the magnetic levitation forces of the prototype system is reduced significantly after the design optimization using the proposed algorithm.

Evaluation of thermal compatibility between core and veneer dental ceramics using shear bond strength test and contact angle measurement

Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (CAPES)

The effect of preparation method and Sb content on SnO2-CuO sintering

The sintering behavior of SnO2-CuO system has been investigated for two preparation methods and as a function of antimony concentration. A chemical preparation (Pechini's method) resulted in powders with smaller particle sizes than for a conventional oxide mixture. This led to smaller grain sizes in Pechini's method ceramics. The microstructures were heterogeneous in both systems, showing grain coarsening. The densification was aided by liquid phase formation, due to copper, in both systems, but the temperature of maximum shrinkage rate was larger for the Pechini's method ceramic because copper had to diffuse to the grain surface. Independently of the preparation method, antimony did not aid densification, and increasing its concentration led to a higher densification temperature and lower shrinkage rate. (C) 2003 Kluwer Academic Publishers.

ZnO architectures synthesized by a microwave-assisted hydrothermal method and their photoluminescence properties

Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (CAPES)

Spatial evaluation of larvae of Culicidae (Diptera) from different breeding sites: application of a geospatial method and implications for vector control

Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq)

Comparison between the complete Bayesian method and empirical Bayesian method for ARCH models using Brazilian financial time series

In this work we compared the estimates of the parameters of ARCH models using a complete Bayesian method and an empirical Bayesian method in which we adopted a non-informative prior distribution and informative prior distribution, respectively. We also considered a reparameterization of those models in order to map the space of the parameters into real space. This procedure permits choosing prior normal distributions for the transformed parameters. The posterior summaries were obtained using Monte Carlo Markov chain methods (MCMC). The methodology was evaluated by considering the Telebras series from the Brazilian financial market. The results show that the two methods are able to adjust ARCH models with different numbers of parameters. The empirical Bayesian method provided a more parsimonious model to the data and better adjustment than the complete Bayesian method.

Synthesis and characterization of PLZT (9/65/35) by the Pechini method and partial oxalate

ZrTiO4 (ZT), obtained by the Pechini method, was used as precursor for obtaining PLZT (lead lanthanum zirconium titanate). An aqueous solution of oxalic acid was prepared with particles of ZT, Pb(NO3)(2) and La2O3. After the PbC2O4 and La2O3 precipitate on ZT particles, the materials were calcined and X-ray diffraction (XRD) showed the cubic phase of PLZT. This material was sintered, in two steps, and a density of about 8.0 g/cm(3) was obtained. After the second sintering the XRD pattern showed the occurrence of tetragonal and rhombohedral phases. This was caused by a stoichiometric deviation and the material showed a high optical transparency. (C) 1998 Elsevier B.V. B.V. All rights reserved.

THE REDUCTIVE PERTURBATION METHOD AND THE KORTEWEG-DE VRIES HIERARCHY

By using the reductive perturbation method of Taniuti with the introduction of an infinite sequence of slow time variables tau(1), tau(3), tau(5), ..., we study the propagation of long surface-waves in a shallow inviscid fluid. The Korteweg-de Vries (KdV) equation appears as the lowest order amplitude equation in slow variables. In this context, we show that, if the lowest order wave amplitude zeta(0) satisfies the KdV equation in the time tau(3), it must satisfy the (2n+1)th order equation of the KdV hierarchy in the time tau(2n+1), With n = 2, 3, 4,.... AS a consequence of this fact, we show with an explicit example that the secularities of the evolution equations for the higher-order terms (zeta(1), zeta(2),...) of the amplitude can be eliminated when zeta(0) is a solitonic solution to the KdV equation. By reversing this argument, we can say that the requirement of a secular-free perturbation theory implies that the amplitude zeta(0) satisfies the (2n+1)th order equation of the KdV hierarchy in the time tau(2n+1) This essentially means that the equations of the KdV hierarchy do play a role in perturbation theory. Thereafter, by considering a solitary-wave solution, we show, again with an explicit, example that the elimination of secularities through the use of the higher order KdV hierarchy equations corresponds, in the laboratory coordinates, to a renormalization of the solitary-wave velocity. Then, we conclude that this procedure of eliminating secularities is closely related to the renormalization technique developed by Kodama and Taniuti.