Ionic electrospray thrusters are promising candidates for CubeSat propulsion systems in space, due to their low power requirement and small form factor. Current technology has demonstrated thrust levels of 10 40pN, enabling station keeping and attitude adjustment maneuvers. Densification of emitter arrays could increase the thrust density and potentially expand the application space for electro...

Brass-matrix composites reinforced with 40 and 60 vol.% of Ni59Zr20Ti16Si2Sn3 glassy particles were produced by powder metallurgy. The crystallization behavior and the temperature dependence of the viscosity of the glass reinforcement were studied in detail to select the proper sintering parameters in order to avoid crystallization of the glassy phase during consolidation. The brass-glass powde...

Despite its widespread use, the Coale–Demeny model life table system does not capture the extensive variation in age-specific mortality patterns observed in contemporary populations, particularly those of the countries of Eastern Europe and populations affected by HIV/AIDS. Although relational mortality models, such as the Brass logit system, can identify these variations, these models show sys...

Clinical isolates of meticillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA), Klebsiella pneumoniae, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Acinetobacter baumannii, Candida albicans and Mycobacterium tuberculosis (MTB) were tested against copper (Cu) and its alloys. Stainless steel and polyvinylchloride (PVC) were used as controls. The amount of Cu required to inhibit test isolates at room temperature (24 degrees C...

The capacity of a brass instrument to generate sounds with strong high-frequency components is dependent on the extent to which its bore profile supports nonlinear sound propagation. At high dynamic levels some instruments are readily sounded in a "cuivré" (brassy) manner: this phenomenon is due to the nonlinear propagation of sound in ducts of the proportions typical of labrosones (lip-reed ae...

The microstructure and phase composition of the high-content Al2O3-Y2O3-doped spark plasma-sintered silicon nitride were investigated. Fully dense silicon nitride ceramics with a typical α-Si3N4 equiaxed structure with average grain size from 200 to 530 nm, high elastic modulus of 288 GPa, and high hardness of 2038 HV were spark plasma sintered (SPSed) at 1550 °C. Silicon nitride with elongated...

Dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSCs) utilize high surface area metal oxide sintered particle networks to absorb molecular dyes and transport injected charge carriers. While this sintered particle architecture allows liquid electrolyte DSSCs to achieve efficiencies up to 11%, slow charge transport through the semiconductor network limits the amount of modification that can be made to the electroly...

The purpose of the present work was to clarify the effects of parameters of porous ceramics on the characteristics of composites fabricated by high-pressure infiltration. Alumina with different porosity (15–70 vol%) and pore morphology was successfully fabricated by gelate-freezing and the partial-sintering, respectively. Alumina/aluminum composites were made by squeeze casting, the aluminum in...

We propose a system, called BRASS (BRowsing and Administration of Sound Sources), which provides an interactive digital score environment for assisting the users browse and explore the global structure of music in a flexible manner. When making cooperative performances, it is important to learn the global structure to deepen understanding of the piece. The score visualization of our system can ...

Computer optimization of brass wind instruments combines knowledge in several different areas. Usually the performance of those instruments is described by musical terms. Characteristics like intonation, response, pitch variability, sound timbre or efficiency have first to be objectified and mapped to acoustical properties which can be measured and properly predicted by computer simulation.