Regularized numerical integration of multibody dynamics with the generalized alpha method*

This paper discusses the consistent regularization property of the generalized α method when applied as an integrator to an initial value high index and singular differential-algebraic equation model of a multibody system. The regularization comes from within the discretization itself and the discretization remains consistent over the range of values the regularization parameter may take. The regularization involves increase of the smallest singular values of the ill-conditioned Jacobian of the discretization and is different from Baumgarte and similar techniques which tend to be inconsistent for poor choice of regularization parameter. This regularization also helps where pre-conditioning the Jacobian by scaling is of limited effect, for example, when the scleronomic constraints contain multiple closed loops or singular configuration or when high index path constraints are present. The feed-forward control in Kane's equation models is additionally considered in the numerical examples to illustrate the effect of regularization. The discretization presented in this work is adopted to the first order DAE system (unlike the original method which is intended for second order systems) for its A-stability and same order of accuracy for positions and velocities.

Polarization switching in radiation damaged ferroelectric crystals

The polarization switching processes in radiation damaged ferroelectrics were studied by the Merz method. In irradiated triglycine sulphate and sodium nitrite, the switching time depends exponentially on the applied electric field. Irradiation increases the importance of nucleation and sideways motion of the domain walls in polarization switching.

Use of phosphorus fertiliser for increased productivity of legume-based sown pastures in the Brigalow Belt region – a review

The Brigalow Belt bioregion of southern and central Queensland supports a large percentage of northern Australia's sown pastures and beef herd. The Brigalow soils were widely thought to have adequate phosphorus (P) for cropping, sown pastures and grazing animals, which has led to almost no use of P fertiliser on sown pastures. The majority of pastures established in the region were sown with tropical grasses only (i.e. no legumes were sown). Under grass-only pastures, nitrogen (N) mineralisation rates decline with time since establishment as N is 'tied-up' in soil organic matter. This process leads to a significant decline in pasture and animal productivity and is commonly called 'pasture rundown'. Incorporating pasture legumes has been identified as the best long-term solution to improve the productivity of rundown sown grass pastures. Pasture legumes require adequate P to grow well and fix large amounts of N to increase the productivity of rundown sown grass pastures. Producers and farm advisors have traditionally thought that P fertiliser is not cost-effective for legume-based improved pastures growing on inland areas of Queensland despite there being little, if any, data on production responses or their economic outcomes. Recent studies show large and increasing areas of low plant available soil P and large responses by pasture legumes to P fertiliser on Brigalow soils. The economic analysis in this scoping study indicates potential returns of 9–15% on extra funds invested from the application of P fertiliser, when establishing legumes into grass pastures on low P soils (i.e. lower than the critical P requirement of the legume grown). Higher returns of 12–24% may be possible when adding P fertiliser to already established grass/legume pastures on such soils. As these results suggest potential for significant returns from applying P fertiliser on legume pastures, it is recommended that research be conducted to better quantify the impacts of P fertiliser on productivity and profit. Research priorities include: quantifying the animal production and economic impact of fertilising legume-based pastures in the sub-tropics for currently used legumes; quantifying the comparative P requirements and responses of available legume varieties; understanding clay soil responses to applied P fertiliser; testing the P status of herds grazing in the Brigalow Belt; and quantifying the extent of other nutrient deficiencies (e.g. sulphur and potassium) for legume based pastures. Development and extension activities are required to demonstrate the commercial impacts of applying P fertiliser to legume based pastures.

Comprehensive view of the combustion models of composite solid propellants

Abstrat is not available.

Nonspecifically bound proteins spin while diffusing along DNA

It is known that DNA-binding proteins can slide along the DNA helix while searching for specific binding sites, but their path of motion remains obscure. Do these proteins undergo simple one-dimensional (1D) translational diffusion, or do they rotate to maintain a specific orientation with respect to the DNA helix? We measured 1D diffusion constants as a function of protein size while maintaining the DNA-protein interface. Using bootstrap analysis of single-molecule diffusion data, we compared the results to theoretical predictions for pure translational motion and rotation-coupled sliding along the DNA. The data indicate that DNA-binding proteins undergo rotation-coupled sliding along the DNA helix and can be described by a model of diffusion along the DNA helix on a rugged free-energy landscape. A similar analysis including the 1D diffusion constants of eight proteins of varying size shows that rotation-coupled sliding is a general phenomenon. The average free-energy barrier for sliding along the DNA was 1.1 +/- 0.2 k(B)T. Such small barriers facilitate rapid search for binding sites.

High Resolution Surface Imaging Using a Carbon Nanotube Array with Pointed Height distribution

In this paper we discuss a new technique to image the surfaces of metallic substrates using field emission from a pointed array of carbon nanotubes (CNTs). We consider a pointed height distribution of the CNT array under a diode configuration with two side gates maintained at a negative potential to obtain a highly intense beam of electrons localized at the center of the array. The CNT array on a metallic substrate is considered as the cathode and the test substrate as the anode. Scanning the test Substrate with the cathode reveals that the field emission current is highly sensitive to the surface features with nanometer resolution. Surface features of semi-circular, triangular and rectangular geometries (projections and grooves) are considered for simulation. This surface scanning/mapping technique can be applied for surface roughness measurements with nanoscale accuracy. micro/nano damage detection, high precision displacement sensors, vibrometers and accelerometers. among other applications.

Dynamic programming based optimum non-uniform samples for speech reconstruction and coding

Non-uniform sampling of a signal is formulated as an optimization problem which minimizes the reconstruction signal error. Dynamic programming (DP) has been used to solve this problem efficiently for a finite duration signal. Further, the optimum samples are quantized to realize a speech coder. The quantizer and the DP based optimum search for non-uniform samples (DP-NUS) can be combined in a closed-loop manner, which provides distinct advantage over the open-loop formulation. The DP-NUS formulation provides a useful control over the trade-off between bitrate and performance (reconstruction error). It is shown that 5-10 dB SNR improvement is possible using DP-NUS compared to extrema sampling approach. In addition, the close-loop DP-NUS gives a 4-5 dB improvement in reconstruction error.

Effect of Dilatation on the Elasto-Plastic Response of Bulk Metallic Glasses Under Indentation

Elasto-plastic response of bulk metallic glasses (BMGs) follows closely the response of granular materials through pressure dependent (or normal stress) yield locus and shear stress induced material dilatation. On a micro-structural level, material dilatation is responsible for stress softening and formation of localized shear band, however its influence on the macro-scale flow and deformation is largely unknown. In this work, we systematically analyze the effect of material dilatation on the gross indentation response of Zr-based BMG via finite element simulation. The strengthening/softening effect on the load-depth response and corresponding stress-strain profiles are presented in light of differences in elastic-plastic regimes under common indenters. Through comparison with existing experimental results, we draw conclusions regarding selection of suitable dilatation parameters for accurately predicting the gross response of BMGs

Scale-dependent relationships between tree species richness and ecosystem function in forests

1. The relationship between species richness and ecosystem function, as measured by productivity or biomass, is of long-standing theoretical and practical interest in ecology. This is especially true for forests, which represent a majority of global biomass, productivity and biodiversity. 2. Here, we conduct an analysis of relationships between tree species richness, biomass and productivity in 25 forest plots of area 8-50ha from across the world. The data were collected using standardized protocols, obviating the need to correct for methodological differences that plague many studies on this topic. 3. We found that at very small spatial grains (0.04ha) species richness was generally positively related to productivity and biomass within plots, with a doubling of species richness corresponding to an average 48% increase in productivity and 53% increase in biomass. At larger spatial grains (0.25ha, 1ha), results were mixed, with negative relationships becoming more common. The results were qualitatively similar but much weaker when we controlled for stem density: at the 0.04ha spatial grain, a doubling of species richness corresponded to a 5% increase in productivity and 7% increase in biomass. Productivity and biomass were themselves almost always positively related at all spatial grains. 4. Synthesis. This is the first cross-site study of the effect of tree species richness on forest biomass and productivity that systematically varies spatial grain within a controlled methodology. The scale-dependent results are consistent with theoretical models in which sampling effects and niche complementarity dominate at small scales, while environmental gradients drive patterns at large scales. Our study shows that the relationship of tree species richness with biomass and productivity changes qualitatively when moving from scales typical of forest surveys (0.04ha) to slightly larger scales (0.25 and 1ha). This needs to be recognized in forest conservation policy and management.

椭偏光学显微成像系统中的图像采集及处理技术

针对椭偏光学显微成像系统及其成像(简称“椭偏成像”)特点，提出了扩展图像量化等级法、快速采样-时间积分法和多采样点平均法以改善椭偏成像质量和样品表面定量分析的可靠性，并给出理论分析及实验结果。这些图像采集和图像处理技术在椭偏光学显微成像系统中行之有效，同时也适用于类似的图像处理系统。

Evaluación de la sustitucion parcial o total de aceite de palma (Elaeis guinensis) por aceite de fritura como fuente de energía en la ración alimenticia de pollos de engorde

La presente investigación estuvo dirigida a determinar la viabilidad, que sobre el desempeño productivo del pollo de engorde, podía ejercer la sustitución parcial o total del porcentaje de aceite de palma (Elaeís guínensis, Jacq) por aceite de fritura como fuente de energía en la ración alimenticia. La sustitución parcial o total se hizo con base en el 6% de aceite que se incluye en la fórmula alimenticia, ajustada a los requerimientos de los pollos de engorde. El ensayo experimental fue realizado en la granja avícola "La Trinidad", propiedad de la empresa TIP-TOP INDUSTRIAL S.A. Se utilizaron 700 pollos de engorde para producción comercial, del híbrido Peterson-Hubbard, de un día de edad y mantenidos en evaluación durante un periodo de 42 días. Estos fueron distribuidos aleatoriamente en cuatro tratamientos, conformados cada uno de cinco unidades experimentales, y éstas a su vez con 35 pollos cada una, quedando de la forma siguiente: Tratamiento T1 (testigo): 6% aceite de palma; tratamiento T2 : 2% aceite de palma y 4% aceite de fritura; tratamiento T3: 1% aceite de palma y 5% aceite de fritura; tratamiento T4 : 6% aceite de fritura. El resto de los ingredientes que conformó la dieta alimenticia fue igual para todos los tratamientos; así como también el manejo de los pollos se realizó al igual que lo hace la Empresa para toda su producción. Las variables estudiadas fueron consumo de alimento, peso vivo final y conversión de alimento. Los resultados obtenidos a partir de estas variables fueron analizados a través de un Diseño Completamente Aleatorio y sometidos a la Prueba de Tukey, el que proporcionó la superioridad existente entre tratamientos. Se encontraron diferencias significativas (p<0.05) entre tratamientos para la variable conversión alimenticia, con índices de conversión para el final de período experimental, de 1.8050, 1.7829, 1.7550 y 1.7310 para los tratamientos T1, T2, T3 y T4, respectivamente. Las variables consumo acumulado de alimento y peso vivo final no presentaron diferencias estadísticas a un nivel de significancia de p<0.05. El análisis financiero demostró que el tratamiento T4 tiene un menor costo de alimentación, siendo este de C$3.35/kg peso vivo. Encontrándose los tratamientos T1.T2 y T3 con costos de C$3.8210, C$3.5624; y C$3.4527/kg peso vivo, respectivamente. El mayor beneficio neto por kilogramo de peso vivo lo obtuvo el tratamiento T4, con C$0.47. Siendo el beneficio neto para los tratamientos T2 y T3 de C$0.26 y C$ 0.37, respectivamente. La mortalidad presentada por los tratamientos T1, T2, T3, y T4 para el final del período experimental fue de 5.13, 3.99, 2.85 y 3.99 (%), respectivamente.

嗜盐菌紫膜质子转移的非平衡过程分析

本文提出光控制离子通道的开关模型,对嗜盐菌紫膜的质子迁移的不可逆过程进行了定量的分析,紫膜吸收光子使Schiff碱基去质子化,从而打开了离子通道,但当返回bR_(570)时又关闭了通道,给出描述这种模型的一组非线性微分方程组,并讨论了方程的稳定性,对于稳态的数值计算结果和Bakker的实验数据符合得很好。

A evolução das tarifas de energia elétrica e do salário mínimo

Consultoria Legislativa - Área XII - Recursos Minerais, Hídricos e Energéticos.

View of Paraiso Yard showing dredging equipment, Panama Canal. (ca. 1914)

Leonard Carpenter Panama Canal Collection. Photographs: Dredging, Soldiers, and Ships. [Box 1] from the Special Collections & Area Studies Department, George A. Smathers Libraries, University of Florida.