256 research outputs found

    On the simulation of the seismic energy transmission mechanisms

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    In recent years, considerable attention has been paid to research and development methods able to assess the seismic energy propagation on the territory. The seismic energy propagation is strongly related to the complexity of the source and it is affected by the attenuation and the scattering effects along the path. Thus, the effect of the earthquake is the result of a complex interaction between the signal emitted by the source and the propagation effects. The purpose of this work is to develop a methodology able to reproduce the propagation law of seismic energy, hypothesizing the "transmission" mechanisms that preside over the distribution of seismic effects on the territory, by means of a structural optimization process with a predetermined energy distribution. Briefly, the approach, based on a deterministic physical model, determines an objective correction of the detected distributions of seismic intensity on the soil, forcing the compatibility of the observed data with the physical-mechanical model. It is based on two hypotheses: (1) the earthquake at the epicentre is simulated by means of a system of distortions split into three parameters; (2) the intensity is considered coincident to the density of elastic energy. The optimal distribution of the beams stiffness is achieved, by reducing the difference between the values of intensity distribution computed on the mesh and those observed during four regional events historically reported concerning the Campania region (Italy)

    Physiology and physical chemistry of bile acids

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    Bile acids (BAs) are facial amphiphiles synthesized in the body of all vertebrates. They undergo the enterohepatic circulation: they are produced in the liver, stored in the gallbladder, released in the intestine, taken into the bloodstream and lastly re-absorbed in the liver. During this pathway, BAs are modified in their molecular structure by the action of enzymes and bacteria. Such transformations allow them to acquire the chemical–physical properties needed for fulling several activities including metabolic regulation, antimicrobial functions and solubilization of lipids in digestion. The versatility of BAs in the physiological functions has inspired their use in many bioapplications, making them important tools for active molecule delivery, metabolic disease treatments and emulsification processes in food and drug industries. Moreover, moving over the borders of the biological field, BAs have been largely investigated as building blocks for the construction of supramolecular aggregates having peculiar structural, mechanical, chemical and optical properties. The review starts with a biological analysis of the BAs functions before progressively switching to a general overview of BAs in pharmacology and medicine applications. Lastly the focus moves to the BAs use in material science

    Strength hierarchy provisions for transverse confinement systems of shell structural elements

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    Through-the-thickness (TT) confinement of masonry and concrete panels by composite or steel reinforcements, aiming at seismic retrofit of existing structures, has recently growth in popularity. However, structural design of transversal reinforcements, modeled as an homogeneized material, is often performed by neglecting the cyclic nature of seismic actions and by using static approaches. For this reason, a proper strength hierarchy between the confined core material and the confining devices should be accounted for in order to ensure that the retrofit system remains effective until the crisis of the core material is attained. This research introduces strength hierarchy conditions for TT-confinement systems, made of materials exhibiting a nonlinear behavior, aiming at determining the minimum strength required for uniaxial confining devices. The relevant relationships, theoretically derived by assuming a Drucker Prager constitutive model for the confined material and by enforcing equilibrium and compatibility conditions between the core and the confining devices, are characterized by simple mechanical parameters, usually available in common practice applications, familiar to most of the designers. Numerical examples confirm the effectiveness of the proposed provisions

    Ordinal analysis of lexical patterns

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    Words are fundamental linguistic units that connect thoughts and things through meaning. However, words do not appear independently in a text sequence. The existence of syntactic rules induces correlations among neighboring words. Using an ordinal pattern approach, we present an analysis of lexical statistical connections for 11 major languages. We find that the diverse manners that languages utilize to express word relations give rise to unique pattern structural distributions. Furthermore, fluctuations of these pattern distributions for a given language can allow us to determine both the historical period when the text was written and its author. Taken together, our results emphasize the relevance of ordinal time series analysis in linguistic typology, historical linguistics and stylometry.Comment: 9 pages, 12 figures, 2 tables; v2: the section on universality has been removed because previous results were affected by spurious correlations. Published versio

    Equipamiento revitalizador: centro multimodal de transporte

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    Este trabajo tiene por objetivo renovar y revitalizar el vacío urbano de la estación Tolosa, procurando el mejoramiento de la accesibilidad y la integración de programas alternativos en el área de influencia del centro de transferencia a proponer. La propuesta urbana del predio busca responder a las necesidades de una sociedad que se encuentra constantemente haciendo énfasis en las relaciones espaciales, comprendiendo para ello diferentes usos y espacios de diversas características. El principal desafío consistía en brindar diversas soluciones urbanas, arquitectónicas y sociales que respondan a las necesidades concretas del barrio y de los actores involucrados, logrando así poder hacer que la sociedad se apropie de esos espacios y de uso constante. Evitando de esta forma, la disgregación de los diferentes factores, a fin de no tener que lidiar a futuro con la aparición de los no lugares. Para la elaboración de la propuesta nos centraremos en entender como se relacionan los diferentes tipos de espacios públicos con diversidad funcional, logrando racionalizar sus dimensiones en función de lo esencial para el sector, diferenciando los lugares de transición de los lugares estancos, con la finalidad de entender el predio como un solo lugar compuesto de diversas funciones, en definitiva lograr una fluidez y continuidad de todas estas actividades dentro del sector urbano, logrando espacios flexibles con dimensiones acordes a las necesidades de la localidad.Facultad de Arquitectura y Urbanism

    Olfaction disorders: retrospective study

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    Introduction:The smell, subjective phenomenon of great importance, is poorly understood and studied in humans. Physicians with more knowledge about smell disorders tend to consider the phenomenon important and to better manage the diagnosis and its treatment.Aims:First to describe a sample of patients presenting with main complaint of disturbances of smell. And second, to show our experience on management and treatment of this disease.Design:Retrospective cross-sectional cohort study.Materials and methods:Sample description and assessment of treatment response in patients with main complaint of hyposmia or anosmia from January 2005 to October 2011.Results:From 38 patients presented with main complaint of an olfactory disorder, 68.4% of the patients were presented with hyposmia and 31,5% with anosmia, with a mean duration of 30.8 months. The main etiologic diagnoses were idiopathic (31.5%), rhinitis (28.9%) and CRS with polyps (10.5%). Responses to treatment with topical steroids and alpha-lipoic acid were variable, as well as in the literature.Conclusion:Greater importance should be given to disorders of smell in practice of otolaryngologists, since its large differential diagnosis and the fact that could increase morbidity to patients, impacting on their quality of life.Introdução:O olfato, fenômeno subjetivo de grande importância, é pouco compreendido e estudado no ser humano. Médicos com maior conhecimento sobre os distúrbios desse sentido tendem a considerar a doença mais importante e manejar melhor o diagnóstico e o tratamento.Objetivo:Descrever a amostra dos pacientes com queixa principal de distúrbios do olfato e mostrar a experiência do serviço no manejo e tratamento.Delineamento:Estudo retrospectivo de coorte histórica com corte transversal.Materiais e métodos:Descrição da amostra e avaliação de resposta ao tratamento de pacientes com queixa principal de hiposmia ou anosmia atendidos no ambulatório de Rinologia no período de janeiro de 2005 a outubro de 2011.Resultados:Dos 38 pacientes com distúrbio da olfação, 68,4% dos pacientes apresentaram queixa de hiposmia e 31,5% de anosmia, com duração média de 30,8 meses. Os diagnósticos etiológicos principais foram idiopática (31,5%), rinopatia alérgica (28,9%) e RSC com pólipos (10,5%). As respostas ao tratamento com corticosteroide tópico e ácido alfa-lipoico foram variáveis, assim como na literatura.Conclusão:Maior importância deve ser dada aos distúrbios do olfato na prática do otorrinolaringologista, uma vez que o diagnóstico diferencial é amplo e pode trazer grande morbidade ao paciente, com impacto na sua qualidade de vida.Universidade Federal de São Paulo (UNIFESP) EPM Departamento de Otorrinolaringologia e Cirurgia de Cabeca e PescocoUNIFESP, EPM, Depto. de Otorrinolaringologia e Cirurgia de Cabeca e PescocoSciEL

    Exploración geológica mediante perforaciones diamantina para la ampliación de reservas en la concesión minera Santa Filomena Sancos – Ayacucho, 2021

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    El presente trabajo de investigación es realizado por motivo de la alta demanda de metales preciosos como el oro y la plata y el paulatino agotamiento de las reservas mundiales han llevado a continuas actividades de exploración encaminadas a ampliar y descubrir nuevos depósitos minerales en zonas tanto inexploradas como conocidas. Los depósitos orogénicos han sido sometidos a perforación diamantina, lo que ha allanado el camino para el descubrimiento de nuevas estructuras de mineralización, distribución de leyes y mayores reservas de depósitos, extendiendo la vida útil de la mina y creando más oportunidades para los residentes de la zona. El estudio comenzó con la recolección de antecedentes, internacionales, nacionales y locales, se realizó la investigación actual, que es de tipo cuantitativo, de descriptivo, correlación, explicativo y de transversal en el tiempo. La geomorfología está compuesta por relieves módicos que consisten en la conformación de Cordillera de la Costa, comprende un área moderadamente ondulada de 20 a 30 km de ancho, formada entre el Océano Pacífico y las estribaciones occidentales de los Andes y que se eleva desde el nivel del mar hasta 1.500 m sobre el nivel del mar. Las Montañas Costeras consisten en una serie de cadenas montañosas de aproximadamente 2.200 metros sobre el nivel del mar y bordean la zona costera. El objetivo principal es realizar la exploración en la unidad minera Santa Filomena mediante sondajes diamantinos para determinar nuevas estructuras mineralizadas rentables para su futura explotación

    Performance of Ground Anchors Built in a Flysch Deposit

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    AbstractThe ultimate pull-out tensile load of ground anchors is strongly dependent onsoil nature,grout injection and effective stress state around the bulb. In this paper, the comparison between the results of conventional pull-out testson instrumented anchors built in a flysch formation and those of small scale pull-out tests performed in the laboratory,on undisturbed soil samples recovered at the depth of the anchor bulb,allowed to closely examine the skin friction that can be mobilizedin undrained conditionsat the soil-structure interface. The experiments highlight a strong scale effect, probably depending on the real size androughness ofthe lateral surface of the bulb. In fact, theirregular bulb profiledue to flysch features strongly contributes to the pull-outstrength

    Interface and Structural Characterization of Buried CoSi2/Si(001) Nanoplatelets

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    The knowledge of the crystal shape and of the CoSi2/Si interface is essential for the theoretical modeling of these systems because these features have important influence on the electronic behavior, in particular the Schottky barrier height. Here is presented a comprehensive high resolution transmission electron microscopy (HRTEM) investigation of buried CoSi2/Si nanostructures unconventionally obtained from a soft-chemistry method. In addition, the HRTEM images were studied by a strain state analysis method (GPA) [3] to calculate the 2D lattice distortion around the nanostructures. These results were compared with predictions as obtained by Finite Element Simulation (FE) to verify the induced 3D strain state.Instituto de Investigaciones Fisicoquímicas Teóricas y Aplicada
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