This paper studies the solution behavior of a system of two coupled elastic beams connected vertically by springs. With the viscous damping collocated with the ends of the springs, the system energy decays exponentially. Our goal is to find the optimal spring-damper location which yields the best energy decay rate of the beam-spring system.

Joanne Brown Program Leader, Alcohol Tobacco and othe Drugs Service, Queensland Health, Cairns. Ernest Hunter Regional Psychiatrist, Queensland Health, Cairns. Kate Conigrave Associate Professor, The University of Sydney. Peter d’Abbs Associate Professor, James Cook University, Cairns. John Boffa Public Health Medical Officer, Central Australian Aboriginal Congress, Alice Springs. Craig Gallagh...

Ureibacillus thermosphaericus strain Thermo-BF is an aerobic, thermophilic bacillus which has been characterized to biosynthesize gold nanoparticles. Here we present the draft genome sequence of Ureibacillus thermosphaericus strain Thermo-BF which consists of a 2,864,162-bp chromosome. This is the first report of a shotgun sequenced draft genome of a species in the Ureibacillus genus.

— The spring condition hypothesis (SCH) states that the current decline of the North American scaup population (Lesser [ Aythya affinis ] and Greater Scaup [ A. marila ] combined) is due to a decline in quality or availability of scaup foods on wintering, spring migration, or breeding areas that has caused a reduction in female body condition and subsequent reproductive success. Our previous re...

Springs and seeps occur in the spaces around Po Hing Fong Street in the Mid-Levels area, Hong Kong. Most of the springs occur through the drainage weepholes on retaining walls at the street. This paper first examines the geology and history of the springs. The paper then reports the findings from a 1-year comprehensive spring monitoring programme. The temporal variations of flow rate, physioche...

To survive cold winter periods most, if not all, Florida manatees rely on warm-water refuges in the southern two-thirds of the Florida peninsula. Most refuges are either warm-water discharges from power plant and natural springs, or passive thermal basins that temporarily trap relatively warm water for a week or more. Strong fidelity to one or more refuges has created four relatively discrete F...

We have developed a method to quantify the dynamic interaction between fingertip force magnitude (strength) and directional control (dexterity) during pinch with a novel strength-dexterity (S-D) test based on the principle of buckling of compression springs. The test consists of asking participants to use key and opposition pinch to attempt to fully compress springs, in random order, with a wid...

There is a requirement in the current space industry (due to recent technological advances) for small satellite, area deployment devices. Such devices are used to deploy antennae and solar arrays, and demand the usual requirements of low mass, low cost and high reliability that are needed for space missions. Due to the mass reduction of small satellite missions, new systems are required to achi...

There have been 5 confirmed cases of Murray Valley encephalitis virus (MVE) infection in the Alice Springs region during the high rainfall years of 1999/00 and 2000/01, compared with one case in the preceding 9 years. There also appeared to be an increased prevalence of Ross River virus (RR) infection in the Alice Springs and Tennant Creek regions associated with high rainfall. This paper prese...

Gravity balancing is often used in industrial machines to decrease the required actuator efforts during motion. In the literature, a number of methods have been proposed for gravity balancing that include counterweights, springs, and auxiliary parallelograms that determine the center of mass. This paper describes the underlying theory of gravity balanced spatial robotic manipulators through a h...