Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Texas at Austin, 2009. / Title from PDF title page (University of Texas Digital Repository, viewed on Sept. 9, 2009). Vita. Includes bibliographical references.

O sucesso do tratamento com implantes depende do conhecimento teórico-prático do profissional, das condições biológicas do paciente, e também das propriedades mecânicas dos componentes protéticos e cirúrgicos. A complicação mecânica mais comum é a mobilidade da prótese relacionada ao afrouxamento ou fratura dos parafusos protéticos. Dois testes de fadiga podem avaliar as propriedades mecânicas destes materiais: ensaios monotônicos unidirecionais e testes de flexão rotacional. As vantagens dos dispositivos de flexão rotacional são: baixo custo, ensaios mais rápidos, permite gerar dados relevantes e fornece uma previsão mais realista da longevidade clínica. Desta forma, o objetivo deste trabalho foi avaliar o funcionamento do dispositivo de flexão rotacional desenvolvido por Ferreira (2010) e os seus efeitos em dois sistemas de implante de hexágono externo (Munhão Personalizável-Neodent e Pilar Cônico-Neodent). A amostra foi composta por 2 grupos: A- 5 implantes com munhão; B- 5 implantes com Pilar Cônico. Os pilares protéticos foram adaptados para o dispositivo e instalados com torque recomendado pelo fabricante. A carga cíclica de 29,4 N foi aplicada em ângulo de 45 º sobre o eixo longitudinal dos espécimes a uma frequência de 18Hz. O número de ciclos para falhar foi registrado e estabelecido um limite máximo de 5x106. Após a ciclagem, o torque de remoção foi mensurado eletronicamente e os componentes da interface implante-intermediário foram analisados através de um microscópio eletrônico de varredura (MEV). Na configuração escolhida para os testes, nenhuma das amostras sofreu falhas críticas (fratura ou soltura) durante 5x106 ciclos. Os grupos apresentaram redução no torque de pelo menos 10 NCm nos parafusos de fixação. As imagens do MEV demonstraram nível reduzido de deformação e desgastes das amostras. Componentes do dispositivo precisam ser revistos para assegurar melhor fixação do implante, controle adequado de temperatura, estabelecimento da frequência e carga ideais, visando também possibilitar aumento do momento de força aplicado aos espécimes. O dispositivo de Ferreira (2010) demonstrou ser um aparelho portátil, resistente e versátil, mas necessita de adaptações para se tornar apto a realizar quaisquer ensaios de flexão rotativa. / Implant treatment success depends on theoretical and practical knowledge, biological conditions of the patient, and also mechanical properties of surgical and prosthetic components. The most common mechanical complications are prosthesis mobility related to abutment and/or prosthetic screw fracture or loosening. Two fatigue tests can study mechanical properties of these materials: Unidirectional bend-release fatigue testing and rotational fatigue testing. The advantages of rotational bending devices include lower cost, faster tests, can generate relevant data and provide more realistic prediction of clinical performance. Thus, the aim of this study was evaluate the performance of a rotating bending device developed by Ferreira (2010) and its effects on two external hex implant systems (conical abutment-Neodent and personalized abutment-Neodent). The sample comprised two groups: A-5 with Munhão system B-5 with Conical abutment. The abutments were adapted to the device and installed with recommended torque by manufacturer. A cyclic load of 29,4 N was applied 45º angled on the long axis of the specimens at a rate of 18 Hz. The number of cycles to failure was recorded. A cutoff of 5x106 cycles was applied as an upper limit. After cycling, torque force was electronically measured and components of implant-abutment interface were analyzed using a scanning electron microscope (SEM). In chosen test configurations, none of specimens suffered critical failures (fracture/loosening) for 5x106 cycles. Both groups had torque reduction at least 10 Ncm in abutment screws. SEM images showed a low level deformation and wear of samples. Testing machine components must be reviewed to ensure better implant fixation, adequate temperature control, establish ideal frequency and load, also aiming to increase bending force moment applied to specimens. Ferreira (2010) devices proved to be a portable, rugged and versatile, but require adaptations to become able to perform any rotational bending tests.

<strong>Chapter 1</strong> introduces the concept of spin, how spins interact, and how the spin state in a radical pair can affect the outcome of a chemical reaction between the unpaired electrons. The computational methodology for simulating such radical pairs is also discussed. <strong>Chapter 2</strong> discusses anisotropy in the singlet recombination yield of a radical pair in a carotenoid-porphyrin-fullerene triad, containing many hyperfine couplings. The singlet yield was calculated as a function of the direction of an applied magnetic field, using symmetry in the molecule to reduce the size of the problem. The symmetry reduction was partially successful, however it was not possible to include all the hyperfine couplings in the molecule. <strong>Chapter 3</strong> introduces a radical pair located on a flavin ligand and a tryptophan residue in the protein cryptochrome, and discusses the spin-relaxation mechanism of singlet-triplet dephasing. Magnetic field effect curves, describing the formation of a secondary radical pair as a function of applied magnetic field, were found to be broader in longer-lived radical pairs, due to dephasing caused by spin-selective recombination to the singlet ground state. Additional singlet-triplet dephasing may occur due to hopping of one of the unpaired electrons, between a zone of strong exchange interaction and a zone of negligible exchange interaction, although this is an incomplete description of the spin-relaxation. <strong>Chapter 4</strong> discusses the effect of rotational tumbling on spin-relaxation in the flavin-tryptophan radical pair in cryptochrome. Simulations indicated that the resulting modulation of anisotropic hyperfine couplings contributed modestly to spinrelaxation during transient absorption measurements, but was insufficient to explain the lack of an experimental low-field effect, or to explain the width of the experimental magnetic field effect curves as a function of magnetic field strength. <strong>Chapter 5</strong> discusses magnetic field effects on the mutual annihilation of a pair of triplet excitons in tetracene and anthracene crystals. The experimental singlet recombination yield was found, for the first time, to be modulated as a function of the direction of a applied magnetic field as weak as 2 mT. Simulations indicated that this anisotropy arose due to the zero field splitting of the electronic state in each triplet exciton. The direction of the external magnetic field altered the singlet component of the eigenstates of the Hamiltonian, and therefore altered the timeaverage of the singlet probability of a triplet exciton pair. This is different to the already established mechanism under a strong magnetic field, where the anisotropy arises from level crossings of eigenstates.

In this thesis, an experimental and theoretical study of two and three vector correlations in the inelastic scattering of NO(X) with various rare gas atoms is presented. Vector correlations for a selection of rare gas systems were determined experimentally, and the observations were interpreted using a variety of classical and quantum mechanical models. The experiment is able to provide state-to-state resolution of the dynamics by means of an electrostatic hexapole and 1+1' resonantly enhanced multi-photon ionisation (REMPI). The simplest vector correlation of interest is the differential cross section (DCS), given by the <b>k</b>-<b>k</b>' correlation. The DCSs were determined experimentally for the NO(X)--Kr and NO(X)--Xe collision systems, both characterised by the relatively deep (&asymp;140cm^-1) attractive well and large extent of the attractive potential. The agreement between the experimental angular distributions and quantum mechanical DCS is very good for both systems. Classical calculations fail to correctly reproduce the form and magnitude of the DCS for either system, reflecting the inherently quantum mechanical nature of the collision. The classical calculations do however provide mechanistic insight into regions where the attractive part of the potential plays an important role in determining the dynamics. In order to investigate narrow angular features in the forward scattered direction, several experimental improvements to molecular beams and the detection ion-optic stack were made. Investigation into these structures revealed a strong contribution from molecular diffraction into the classical shadow of the NO(X), and the simple Fraunhofer model revealed a preference for scattering from an individual m&rarr;m' sub-state. Such measurements are in a region of the DCS where scattering is forbidden classically, and reveal the purely quantum nature of the collision interaction in the forward scattered direction. The low order <b>k</b>-<b>k</b>' correlation was then extended by using linearly or circularly polarised laser excitation. The interaction of the light with the molecular dipole allows the measurement of the <b>k</b>-<b>k</b>'-<b>j</b>' correlation. When linearly polarised light was used for the excitation laser, two of the rank two p^{2}_q(&theta;) renormalised polarisation dependent differential cross sections (PDDCSs), which describe rotational alignment, were obtained. With circularly polarised light, the rank one p^{1}_1-(&theta;) renormalised PDDCSs describing rotational orientation were determined. The collision induced alignment in NO(X)--Xe scattering was found to be well reproduced by classical and impulsive theories, highlighting the fact that the alignment is dominated by the propensity for the projection of <b>j</b> onto the kinematic apse to be conserved. The attractive part of the potential does augment the alignment renormalised PDDCSs, and this is most evident in states with strong features of the attractive part of the potential such as ℓ-type rainbows. The orientation is more strongly influenced by the attractive part of the potential and is also influenced by parity. In addition to the parity effect, there exist two limiting classical mechanisms which govern the orientation, one caused by attraction and the other repulsion. Finally, the bond axis of the NO(X) can be oriented by means of hexapole state selection combined with adiabatic orientation using a set of guiding rods. The integral steric effect, an <b>r</b>-<b>k</b> correlation, was measured for the NO(X)--Kr and NO(X)--Ar spin-orbit changing systems. There are large oscillations in the sign of the steric asymmetry which occur for scattering with the various rare gases. There are also large differences between the rare gases as the potentials become more attractive, and more isotropic. The steric asymmetry is well reproduced by quantum mechanics, however, a classical mechanism becomes dominant at high &Delta;j.

Orientador: Juliano Carlos Calonego / Banca: Nídia Raquel Costa / Banca: Carlos Alexandre Costa Crusciol / Banca: Carlos Sergio Tiritan / Banca: Gustavo Pavan Mateus / Resumo: O uso de Sistemas Integrados de Produção Agropecuários (SIPA) contribui ativamente para aumentar e diversificar o aporte de material vegetal orgânico ao solo, importantes para suprir a demanda energética dos organismos presentes no sistema solo-planta. O objetivo dessa pesquisa foi avaliar a influência de diferentes SIPA sob Sistema de Semeadura Direta (SSD), na qualidade dos atributos físicos e químicos do solo, na produção de silagem e de massa seca para cobertura do solo e no desenvolvimento de raízes. O experimento foi conduzido durante dois anos agrícolas (2013/14 e 2014/15) na Fazenda Experimental Lageado, pertencente à Faculdade de Ciências Agronômicas (FCA/UNESP) no município de Botucatu/SP em um Latossolo Vermelho distrófico. O delineamento experimental foi em blocos casualizados, com quatro tratamentos e quatro repetições. Os tratamentos foram: i) consórcio de milho×capim-marandu seguido de sobressemeadura de aveia a lanço (MB+ALA); ii) consórcio de milho×capim-marandu seguido de sobressemeadura de aveia em linha (MB+ALI); iii) consórcio de milho×capim-marandu×feijão-guandu seguido de sobressemeadura de aveia a lanço (MBG+ALA) e iv) consórcio de milho×capim-marandu×feijão-guandu seguido de sobressemeadura de aveia em linha (MBG+ALI). Foram realizadas coletas de solo e raiz nas camadas de 0,0-0,05; 0,05-0,1; 0,1-0,2; 0,2-0,4 m e de matéria vegetal, ambos ao longo do tempo de 2 anos de condução do experimento. O uso de sobressemadura de aveia a lanço com uso de gradag... (Resumo completo, clicar acesso eletrônico abaixo) / Abstract: The use of Integrated Croplivestock System (ICS) actively contributes to increase and diversify the contribution of vegetable matter in the soil, important to supply the energy demand of the organisms being in the soil-plant system. The aim of this research was to evaluate the influence of different types of ICS under No-tillage System (NTS), on soil physical and chemical atributes quality, silage production and dry matter for soil cover and root development. The experiment was conducted during two agricultural years (2013/14 and 2014/15) in a Dystrophic Red Latosol, at Lageado Experimental Farm, belonging to the College of Agricultural Sciences (FCA/UNESP) - Botucatu / SP. The experimental was randomized block design, with four treatments and four replications. The crop systems consisted of: i) maize intercropping×marandu grass followed by oat oversowing in line (MG+OLI); ii) maize intercropping×marandu grass followed by oat broadcast oversown (MG+OBO); (iv) maize intercropping×marandu grass×pigeon pea followed by oat oversowing in line (MGP+OLI); (iv) maize intercropping×marandu grass×pigeon pea, followed by oat broadcast oversown (MGP+OBO). Soil and root collections were performed in the layers of 0.0-0.05; 0.05-0.1; 0.1-0.2; 0.2-0.4 m and vegetable matter, both over the course of 2 years of conducting the experiment. The use of broadcast oversown with the leveling harrow for seed incorporation after silage production under ICS in NTS increased total porositi (TP) and macroporisit (MA) reflecting in improvement in water retention curve (WRC) and S index at 24 months in all evaluated layers. Mechanized operations decreased the geometric mean diameter (GMD), weighted average diameter (WAD), percentage of aggregates larger than 2.0 mm (AGR>2) and index of stability of aggregates (ASI). The use of pigeon pea intercropping with marandu grass and maize for silage under NTS increased TP and MA ... / Doutor

Measurement of the line width parameters of a molecule is of interest because collision diameters can be calculated from them. This gives an effective size of the molecule when it is involved in interactions with other molecules. Further, specific types of interactions can be inferred from detailed information about the dependence of the line width upon pressure. In this paper, an experiment for measuring line width parameters for methyl cyanide is described and the results of the experiment are analyzed. This investigation was successful in obtaining precise values for the line width parameter for the J-J' = 0-1, J-J'= 1-2, and J-J' = 2-3 transitions of methyl cyanide which agree with experimental values of other researchers where available. It was found that standing waves were the dominant effect in the measurement of center frequency shift.

O PISA é uma metodologia apresentada pelo MAPA para fomento e difusão de tecnologias de produção sustentável para propriedades rurais. Seus principais pilares são o uso de boas práticas de produção como o plantio direto, a diversificação e a rotação de culturas, a integração lavoura-pecuária. A hipótese desse estudo foi de que a aplicação da metodologia PISA é capaz de promover a intensificação sustentável da produção em sistemas leiteiros do RS. O estudo foi realizado nas Missões, nos municípios de Guarani das Missões, São Paulo das Missões, Santo Antônio das Missões, Pirapó e São Nicolau, localizados no noroeste do RS. Foram avaliadas 54 propriedades rurais que participaram do PISA e que tem a produção de leite como atividade principal. O Projeto teve início em dezembro de 2011 com a realização do diagnóstico da situação inicial de cada propriedade e se estendeu até novembro de 2014. As informações utilizadas para o presente trabalho foram capturadas em uma base de dados referente às entrevistas realizadas com os produtores no início do projeto, após o primeiro, segundo e terceiro ano, respectivamente. Os dados levantados referem-se às variáveis de produção, de ocupação do uso do solo e de manejo empregado pelos produtores, como número de vacas em lactação, média de produção por vaca, dieta ofertada, área de cada cultivo, formas de manejo das pastagens e sistemas de cultivo. A média da produção de leite diária teve um aumento significativo de 33,7% (P<0,001). O aumento da produção total de leite (L.propriedade-1.dia-1) foi relacionado ao aumento do número de vacas em lactação (P<0.001, R2=0.41), que ocorreu em 76% das propriedades. Foi observado incremento na produção de leite em 89% das propriedades avaliadas, houve modificação nas práticas utilizadas pelos produtores tanto no critério relacionado ao manejo do pasto como na forma de plantio das culturas, onde a grande maioria dos produtores (96,1%), passou a adotar o controle da altura como principal critério de manejo da pastagem. As ações de intervenção propostas pela metodologia PISA promoveram impactos positivos nas propriedades avaliadas. Os principais fatores determinantes dos aumentos produtivos foram a organização de uso das áreas e a adoção do método de pastoreio “rotatínuo”. A adoção da prática do plantio direto e do manejo adequado das pastagens constituíram as principais ferramentas utilizadas pelo PISA para promoção da qualidade dos ambientes de produção, conservação de recursos naturais e otimização do uso de nutrientes na interface solo-planta-animal. / The PISA program is a method from MAPA for promotion and diffusion of sustainable production technologies in rural area. This method lies on conservationist production technics like no-till, diversification and rotation of the crop or integrated crop-livestock systems. This study questions the success of the PISA program to promote sustainable intensification in dairy farm from the Rio Grande do Sul. We analysed data from 54 dairy farms situated that participate in the PISA program in the Missões region, North-Este of the state, including the city areas of Guarani das Missões, São Paulo das Missões, Santo Antônio das Missões, Pirapó e São Nicolau. The Project started in 2011 with a diagnostic of the initial situation of the farms and extended until November 2014. We based the present study on interviews and milk production reports conducted at the beginning of the study, two and three year later. Main variables refer to milk production (total, per head and number of animals in production), soil use (e.g. no-till vs. tillage, area for each cultivate, system of rotation) and resource management (e.g. pasture management, quantity of feed and silage offered). Between 2011 and 2014, milk mean daily production increased in 89% of the farms resulting in a significantly mean increased of 33,7% (P<0.001). This increase was significantly related to an increase in the number of dairy cattle (P<0.001, R2=0.41) that occurred in 76% of the farms. Farmers significantly change their management practices. No-till management increasing from 19 to over 70% of the cultivated areas, and grazing management based on sward height increase from one third to 96,1%. The PISA program, by successfully implementing sustainable management practices, resulted in highly significant positive result regarding milk productivity. Main practices that resulted in this success were no-till practices, a better organisation in the use of the area and rigorous grazing management based on low intensity/high frequency rotational grazing (i.e. “rotatíno"). Through these changes in management practices, the PISA program promoted more sustainable and more productive farm systems, better conservation of soil natural resources and optimisation of nutrient uses at the soil-plant-animal interface.

AN ABSTRACT OF THE THESIS OF Sujan Shrestha, for the Master of Science degree in Civil Engineering, presented on March 3, 2015, at Southern Illinois University, Carbondale. TITLE: POST BUCKLING RESPONSE OF SWAY COLUMNS UNDER MECHANICAL AND THERMAL (FIRE) LOADS MAJOR PROFESSOR: Dr. Aslam Kassimali, Ph.D. The post-buckling response of sway columns under mechanical and thermal loadings are presented by using the geometrical nonlinear analysis. For thermal analysis, the columns are assumed to be fully restrained in their axial directions. The method of analysis uses Beam-Column theory which is based on an Eulerian (corotational) formulation. Numerical solutions are shown for the post-buckling response of sway columns. The numerical investigations of the geometrically nonlinear analysis of sway columns were carried out with three different boundary conditions of sway columns as suggested by AISC, under mechanical loading and temperature changes. The sway columns considered are the cases `c', `e' and `f' in Table C-A-7.1 of AISC Manual (2011). These were modeled and analyzed to predict the post-buckling response under the mechanical and thermal loads. Furthermore, for each of these support conditions, the effects of slenderness ratios on the post-buckling response were analyzed by considering the slenderness ratios of 50,125 and 200. Also, the effects on post-buckling strength were observed keeping the same slenderness ratios but varying rotational end conditions of sway columns. Many useful conclusions can be drawn from this study. The more important conclusions are: 1) As all unrestrained sway columns undergo excessive deformation under mechanical loading, they do not possess significant post-buckling strength once the loading reaches the buckling load. 2) All restrained sway columns undergo much smaller deformations under thermal loading as compared to mechanical loading; thus significant post-buckling strength is achieved even after reaching the buckling temperature. This post-buckling strength can be considered during the design of structures which will aid in safe and economical structures. 3) Slenderness ratios play an important role on post-buckling strength only in thermal analysis but not in mechanical analysis. Increase in slenderness ratio tends to decrease the post-buckling relative deformation of the columns under thermal loading but has no such effect under mechanical loading. 4) Rotational end conditions also play significant role on post-buckling strength during thermal analysis but not during mechanical analysis. Keeping the slenderness ratio constant and varying the rotational end conditions, the post-buckling strength of all sway columns remains same under mechanical loading but is different under thermal loading.

The purpose of this study is to investigate the footing fixity effect on the lateral deflection of a bridge pier for different types of soil. Generally, the rotational restraint coefficient at top and bottom of pier (degree of fixity of the pier) is used to compute the effective length factor of pier which is in turn used to determine the pier deflection. The magnitude of the deflection is used to determine whether the p-delta force effect should be considered while designing the pier. However, the pier deflection is usually computed by assuming that the pier footing is completely fixed to the ground. In case of soil under footing, rotational restraint coefficient is taken as five for all types of soils. In this study, finite element analysis method was used to determine the pier deflection by providing three actual soil environments and compare the results with the traditional approach. Hence, the rotational restraint coefficient will be modified according to the deflection computed from the finite element analysis.

Magnetic films have gained great attention for decades because of their broad industrial application. Their modern functionality more and more relies on their domain structure. Magnetic films usually form complex domain patterns with unique structures at different length scales due to the competition between short range attractive and long range repulsive interactions. The ensemble of domains is topologically disordered, although each of them possesses orientational spin order. Since simplifying complexity is the key step to understand and transform nature, finding new orders from the ostensible disordered structures would be a fascinating topic. Scattering techniques are well-known powerful tools to detect orders. Coherent soft xray magnetic resonant scattering becomes accessible with the development of synchrotron radiation facilities. We applied the technique to study the domain structure of CoPd/MnIr multilayer films with perpendicular magnetic anisotropy. By tuning incident photon energy to Co 2p&rarr3d transition edge we collected small angle magnetic scattering patterns by a charged coupled device in transmission geometry. Each pattern is an unique fingerprint of the corresponding illuminated domain structure. The patterns were analyzed by an angular correlation method. A variety of striking rotational orders were discovered. Their evolution with applied fields was investigated. The sustainabilities of the orders under the room temperature, exchange biased (EB) state, and non-EB state were compared, which suggests that certain orders can be well manipulated under the EB condition. By simulating magnetic resonant scattering from domain patterns obtained by a direct imaging method, we probed the range of emerging orders and finite size effect. Our study provides a novel approach to characterizing magnetic films and potentially can be extended to any system with a complex microstructure. / 2015-07-11