Novel designs of an array of piezoelectric stack actuators using a unique buckling mechanism are presented in this paper. Multiple PZT actuator units with high gain displacement amplification mechanisms are arranged in parallel with spatial phase differences. Having an inherent kinematic singularity, the buckling mechanism provides not only an extremely high gain of displacement amplification, ...

Although the anterior drawer test at the ankle joint is commonly used in routine clinical practice, very little is known about the sharing of load between the individual passive structures and the joint response at different flexion angles.A mathematical model of the ankle joint was devised to calculate ligament fibre recruitment and load/displacement curves at different flexion angles. Ligamen...

Replicative holoenzymes exhibit rapid and processive primer extension DNA synthesis, but inefficient strand displacement DNA synthesis. We investigated the bacteriophage T4 and T7 holoenzymes primer extension activity and strand displacement activity on a DNA hairpin substrate manipulated by a magnetic trap. Holoenzyme primer extension activity is moderately hindered by the applied force. In co...

OBJECTIVE Polyaxial pedicle screws are a safe, useful adjunct to transpedicular fixation. However, the large screw head size can cause soft tissue irritation, high rod positioning, and facet joint injury. However, the mechanical resistance provided by small and low profile pedicle screws is very limited. We therefore developed a novel, low profile pedicle screw using grooving and blasting treat...

The compression during tabletting is a complex and irreversible dynamic process and the study of it with instrumented tablet presses is beneficial for process and formulation optimization. The compaction and ejection cycle provides us suitable signals about the tabletting process. Instrumented presses used in tabletting research and development are normally equipped to measure punch force and d...

Using a panel of 260 Swedish municipalities over the period 1987-1996, this paper investigates the direct displacement e¤ects of active labour market programmes (ALMPs). Compared to earlier studies on this topic, we have more and better data. From our GMM estimations, we ...nd that (i) there are direct displacement e¤ects from those ALMPs that generate subsidised labour (in the order of approxi...

How Destructive Is Creative Destruction? The Costs of Worker Displacement We analyze short and long-term effects of worker displacement. Our focus is on prime-age male workers displaced from Norwegian manufacturing plants. We find that displacement increases the probability of exiting the labor force by about 5 percentage points. This indicates that studies using data that do not incorporate wo...

Aluminum alloys have a high strength-to-weight ratio and proper anti-corrosion properties that are used in the automotive, shipbuilding and aerospace industries. The major problem with forming aluminum sheets is the low formability of aluminum sheets at room temperature. Therefore, in the present study, warm deep drawing (WDD) of AA5052-O aluminum alloy sheets with a thickness of 1mm was invest...

This paper presents the stability analysis of a single degree of freedom elastic system following a rateand state-dependent friction law. Normal force is assumed to depend on the displacement, velocity and acceleration of the sliding interface. The history dependence of friction on normal force is included in the analysis. It is shown that to achieve steady sliding, system sti ness must exceed ...

This paper describes an electrostatic excited microcantilever sensor operating in static mode that is more sensitive than traditional microcantilevers. The proposed sensor comprises a simple microcantilever with electrostatic excitation ability and an optical or piezoresistive detector. Initially the microcantilever is excited by electrostatic force to near pull-in voltage. The nonlinear behavi...