EmanTake: Aplicación Web para facilitar el contacto entre personas interesadas en el aprendizaje de idiomas

Este proyecto se basa en desarrollar una aplicación web llamada Emantake y su finalidad es facilitar la búsqueda de personas para el aprendizaje de idiomas.Para realizarlo se han utilizado diferentes lenguajes, entornos y tecnologías propios de este tipo de aplicaciones las cuales se han estudiado con detenimiento para la realización del proyecto.

A Finite Element Analysis of a Crack Penetrating or Deflecting into an Interface in a Thin Laminate

The crack tip driving force of a crack growing from a pre-crack that is perpendicular to and terminating at an interface between two materials is investigated using a linear fracture mechanics theory. The analysis is performed both for a crack penetrating the interface, growing straight ahead, and for a crack deflecting into the interface. The results from finite element calculations are compared with asymptotic solutions for infinitesimally small crack extensions. The solution is found to be accurate even for fairly large amounts of crack growth. Further, by comparing the crack tip driving force of the deflected crack with that of the penetrating crack, it is shown how to control the path of the crack by choosing the adhesion of the interface relative to the material toughness.

The Effect of the Thickness of Fe2 Al5 Phase Layer at Fe/Al Interface on the Mechanics Behavior of Hot Dip Aluminizing Coating

Hot Dip Aluminized Coatings with different thickness were prepared on Q235 steel in aluminum solutions with different temperature for certain time. Through tensile tests and in-situ SEM observations, the effect of the coating's microstructure on the tensile strength of the samples was studied. It was disclosed at certain aluminum solution temperature,transaction layers mainly composed of Fe2 Al5 phase got thicker with time prolonging, and this changed initial crack's extending direction from parallel with to vertical with stretching direction. The change in crack direction decreased tensile strength of samples, thus made the coating easy to break. It was concluded that the existence of thick Fe2 Al5 phase layer was the basic reason for the lowering of tensile strength of the coating.

Arte y escena multimedia: la web 2.0 como herramienta artística

Ponencia leída en el Foro de Comunicaciones IkasArt II (BEC Barakaldo, 2010.06.18)

Investigations of cohesive zone properties of the interface between metal film and ceramic substrate at nano- and micro-scales

Cohesive zone characterizations of the interface between metal film and ceramic substrate at micro- and nano-scales are performed in the present research. At the nano-scale, a special potential for special material interface (Ag/MgO) is adopted to investigate the interface separation mechanism by using MD simulation, and stress-separation relationship will be obtained. At the micro-scale, peeling experiment is performed for the Al film/Al2O3 substrate system with an adhesive layer at the interface. Adhesive is a mixture of epoxy and polyimide with mass ratio 1:1, by which a brittle cohesive property is obtained. The relationships between energy release rate, the film thickness and the adhesive layer thickness are measured during the steady-state peeling. The experimental result has a similar trend as modeling result for a weak adhesion interface case.

Subsonic interface crack with crack face contact

A steady-state subsonic interface crack propagating between an elastic solid and a rigid substrate with crack face contact is studied. Two cases with respective to the contact length are considered, i.e., semi-infinite and finite crack face contact. Different from a stationary or an open subsonic interface crack, stress singularity at the crack tip in the present paper is found to be non-oscillatory. Furthermore, in the semi-infinite contact case, the singularity of the stress field near the crack tip is less than 1/2. In the finite contact case, no singularity exists near the crack tip, but less than 1/2 singularity does at the end of the contact zone. In both cases, the singularity depends on the linear contact coefficient and the crack speed. Asymptotic solutions near the crack tip are given and analyzed. In order to satisfy the contact conditions, reasonable region of the linear contact coefficient is found. In addition, the solution predicts a non-zero-energy dissipation rate due to crack face contact.

Interface cracking and particulate size effect in particle-reinforced metal-matrix composites

The mechanical behaviors of the ceramic particle-reinforced metal matrix composites are modeled based on the conventional theory of mechanism-based strain gradient plasticity presented by Huang et al. Two cases of interface features with and without the effects of interface cracking will be analyzed, respectively. Through comparing the result based on the interface cracking model with experimental result, the effectiveness of the present model can be evaluated. Simultaneously, the length parameters included in the strain gradient plasticity theory can be obtained.

Ongoing monitoring of Tortugas Ecological Reserve: Assessing the consequences of reserve designation

Over the past five years, a biogeographic characterization of Tortugas Ecological Reserve(TER) has been carried out to measure the post-implementation effects of TER as a refuge for exploited species. Our results demonstrate that there is substantial microalgal biomass at depths between 10 and 30 m in the soft sediments at the coral reef interface, and that this community may play an important role in the food web supporting reef organisms. In addition, preliminary stable isotope data, in conjunction with prior results from the west Florida shelf, suggest that the shallow water benthic habitats surrounding the coral reefs of TER will prove to be an important source of the primary production ultimately fueling fish production throughout TER. The majority of the fish analyzed so far have exhibited a C isotope signature consistent with a food web which relies heavily on benthic primary production. Fish counts indicate a marked increase in the abundance of large fish (>20 cm) within the Reserve relative to the Out and Park strata, across years. Faunal collections from open and protected soft bottom habitat near the northern boundary of Tortugas North strongly suggest that relaxation of trawling pressure has increased benthic biomass and diversity in this area of TER. These data, employing an integrated Before - After Control Impact (BACI) design at multiple spatial scales, will allow us to continue to document and quantify the post-implementation effects of TER. (PDF contains 58 pages)

Using resource discovery techniques to create a user friendly web presence

Implementing resource discovery techniques at the Museum of English Rural Life and Special Collections, University of Reading Using resource discovery techniques to create a user friendly web presence

Open Personalization: Involving Third Parties in Improving the User Experience of Websites

Traditional software development captures the user needs during the requirement analysis. The Web makes this endeavour even harder due to the difficulty to determine who these users are. In an attempt to tackle the heterogeneity of the user base, Web Personalization techniques are proposed to guide the users’ experience. In addition, Open Innovation allows organisations to look beyond their internal resources to develop new products or improve existing processes. This thesis sits in between by introducing Open Personalization as a means to incorporate actors other than webmasters in the personalization of web applications. The aim is to provide the technological basis that builds up a trusty environment for webmasters and companion actors to collaborate, i.e. "an architecture of participation". Such architecture very much depends on these actors’ profile. This work tackles three profiles (i.e. software partners, hobby programmers and end users), and proposes three "architectures of participation" tuned for each profile. Each architecture rests on different technologies: a .NET annotation library based on Inversion of Control for software partners, a Modding Interface in JavaScript for hobby programmers, and finally, a domain specific language for end-users. Proof-of-concept implementations are available for the three cases while a quantitative evaluation is conducted for the domain specific language.