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Abstract: To help elucidate the mechanisms underlying asthmatic bronchospasm, the goal of our research has been to determine whether airway smooth muscle (ASM) hyperreactivity was the responsible factor. We reported [...]

This paper presents fundamental solutions of an anisotropic elastic thin plate within the context of the Kirchhoff theory. The plate material is inhomogeneous in the thickness direction. Two systems of problems with non-self-equilibrated loads are solved. The first is concerned with in-plane concentrated forces and moments and in-plane discontinuous displacements and slopes, and the second with transverse concentrated forces. Exact closed-form Green's functions for infinite and semi-infinite plates are obtained using the recently established octet formalism by the authors for coupled stretching and bending deformations of a plate. The Green functions for an infinite plate and the surface Green functions for a semi-infinite plate are presented in a real form. The hoop stress resultants are also presented in a real form for a semi-infinite plate. [DOI: 10.1115/1.1533806]

A smart functionally graded plate consists of a plate made of a functionally gradient material and actuators made of an active material. The active material a layer or set of patches, is bonded on the metal-rich surface of the functionally graded plate. When the ceramic-rich surface of the substrate is subjected to thermomechanical loadings, displacements, and stresses may be controlled, and vibration amplitudes may be suppressed by the actuators with supplied electric power. In the attempt towards a basic understanding of the new type of smart structural system, this study considers a benchmark problem, namely, the bending of a functionally graded rectangular plate with an attached piezoelectric actuator. The transfer matrix and asymptotic expansion techniques are employed to obtain a three-dimensional asymptotic solution. In numerical computations, the locally effective material properties of the functionally gradient material are estimated by the Mori-Tanaka scheme. The three-dimensional distributions of displacements and stresses for different volume fractions of the ceramic and metallic constituents could serve as benchmark results to assess approximate theories and numerical methods.

Hereditary properties of strong growth and huge accumulation of biomass in Oryza officinalis exhibit a great potential; however, the genes that code for its high photosynthesis performance are not established. This study screened eight hybrids, using biomass accumulation and photosynthesis analysis, based on the introgression lines constructed by analyzing distant hybridization patterns between Oryza officinalis and cultivars HY-8. We designed 23 primer pairs using transcriptome sequencing of Oryza officinalis and screened two types of photosynthetic enzymes: phosphoenolpyruvate carboxylase (PEPC) and pyruvate orthophosphate dikinase (PPDK), which are two related proteins of ribulose-1,5-biphosphate carboxylase/oxygenase (Rubisco), its binding protein (rubis-subs-bind), and a small subunit (rbcS). Results showed that C4 photosynthetic pathway enzymes, PEPC and PPDK, were highly expressed in hybrids and the source plant, Oryza officinalis. Homology analysis also indicated that the sequences of those two genes were different from those of the C3 and C4 plants investigated. Therefore, a better understanding of the photosynthetic characteristics of Oryza officinalis would provide clues for further isolation of valuable genes from this plant. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Hu's method has been used on Reddy's third-order laminated plate theory so that the relationship between deflections of the classical and shear deformation laminated plate theories can be assessed. Results indicate that an exact differential relationship can be established with both theories. Solutions for the first-order shear deformation of laminated plates are given in terms of Kirchoff's deflection of the classical theory.

Wavelets are used to analyse automobile crash responses. Crash signals are decomposed into a wavelet or wavelet packet basis, which provide an intuitive vision of impact behaviour of the vehicle structure and occupants. The decomposed signals are further divided into segments that represent vibrations occurring in certain time spans. A correlation analysis is then performed on the decomposed and segmented signals in order to determine the dynamic relationship between different parts of the structure or different segments of the body. The structural responses and the occupant responses in a full frontal impact test are analysed. It is shown that when the gross motions of the structural components are superimposed with significant short time vibrations, the occupant forward motion is basically a rigid body motion. Published by Elsevier Science Ltd. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]