Microstructural characterisation and mechanical properties of dissimilar AA5083-copper joints produced by friction stir welding

This work aims to study the influence of the tool rotational speed and tool traverse speed on dissimilar friction stir butt welds on 3 mm thick AA5083 to commercially pure copper plates. Complex microstructures were formed in the thermo-mechanically affected zone, in which a vortex-like pattern and lamellar structures were found. Several intermetallic compounds were identified in this region, such as Al2Cu, Al4Cu9 and these developed an inhomogeneous hardness distribution. The highest ultimate tensile strength of 203 MPa and joint efficiency of 94.8% were achieved at 1400 rpm tool rotational speed and 120 mm/min traverse speed. Placing the softer material (aluminium) on the advancing side produced an excellent metallurgical bond with no requirement for tool offsetting

A novel fault diagnosis method for rotating machinery based on S transform and morphological pattern spectrum

With the continuing expansion of the applications of rotating machinery, an earlier and more accurate fault diagnosis method is required. In this paper, a novel characterization method based on S transform and morphological pattern spectrum (ST-MPS) was put forward. In order to verify the application of the method, ST-MPS was applied to a set of experimental signals obtained in a bearing test bench, and the results verified that the proposed feature extraction method is an effective approach to accurately classify the types of bearing fault

Coupled Eulerian-Lagrangian (CEL) simulation for modelling of chip formation in AA2024-T3

Aluminium alloys are of the most used alloys in the aeronautic industry. Increasing knowledge in machining and prediction of chip formation in these materials is crucially important to design better components with enhanced functional performance. To achieve this, a new finite element modelling strategy is developed to incorporate material damage and softening in the Coupled Eulerian-Lagrangian (CEL) formulation for the machining of AA2024 alloy. The CEL modelling technique is adopted to simulate chip formation at high cutting speeds. An orthogonal cutting setup is used to compare the modelling predictions with experimentally measured cutting forces and chips sections. The proposed model shows a good ability to reproduce the experimental results and to predict the trends induced by variations in the cutting conditions

Reporting of Financial and Non-financial Conflicts of Interest in Systematic Reviews on Health Policy and Systems Research: A Cross Sectional Survey

Background Systematic reviews are increasingly used to inform health policy-making. The conflicts of interest (COI) of the authors of systematic reviews may bias their results and influence their conclusions. This may in turn lead to misguided public policies and systems level decisions. In order to mitigate the adverse impact of COI, scientific journals require authors to disclose their COIs. The objective of this study was to assess the frequency and different types of COI that authors of systematic reviews on health policy and systems research (HSPR) report. Methods We conducted a cross sectional survey. We searched the Health Systems Evidence (HSE) database of McMaster Health Forum for systematic reviews published in 2015. We extracted information regarding the characteristics of the systematic reviews and the associated COI disclosures. We conducted descriptive analyses. Results Eighty percent of systematic reviews included authors’ COI disclosures. Of the 160 systematic reviews that included COI disclosures, 15% had at least one author reporting at least one type of COI. The two most frequently reported types of COI were individual financial COI and individual scholarly COI (11% and 4% respectively). Institutional COIs were less commonly reported than individual COIs (3% and 15% respectively) and non-financial COIs were less commonly reported than financial COIs (6% and 14% respectively). Only one systematic review reported the COI disclosure by editors, and none reported disclosure by peer reviewers. All COI disclosures were in the form of a narrative statement in the main document and none in an online document. Conclusion A fifth of systematic reviews in HPSR do not include a COI disclosure statement, highlighting the need for journals to strengthen and/or better implement their COI disclosure policies. While only 15% of identified disclosure statements report any COI, it is not clear whether this indicates a low frequency of COI versus an underreporting of COI, or both

Reporting of Financial and Non-financial Conflicts of Interest in Systematic Reviews on Health Policy and Systems Research: A Cross Sectional Survey

Abstract Background: Systematic reviews are increasingly used to inform health policy-making. The conflicts of interest (COI) of the authors of systematic reviews may bias their results and influence their conclusions. This may in turn lead to misguided public policies and systems level decisions. In order to mitigate the adverse impact of COI, scientific journals require authors to disclose their COIs. The objective of this study was to assess the frequency and different types of COI that authors of systematic reviews on health policy and systems research (HSPR) report. Methods: We conducted a cross sectional survey. We searched the Health Systems Evidence (HSE) database of McMaster Health Forum for systematic reviews published in 2015. We extracted information regarding the characteristics of the systematic reviews and the associated COI disclosures. We conducted descriptive analyses. Results: Eighty percent of systematic reviews included authors’ COI disclosures. Of the 160 systematic reviews that included COI disclosures, 15% had at least one author reporting at least one type of COI. The two most frequently reported types of COI were individual financial COI and individual scholarly COI (11% and 4% respectively). Institutional COIs were less commonly reported than individual COIs (3% and 15% respectively) and non-financial COIs were less commonly reported than financial COIs (6% and 14% respectively). Only one systematic review reported the COI disclosure by editors, and none reported disclosure by peer reviewers. All COI disclosures were in the form of a narrative statement in the main document and none in an online document. Conclusion: A fifth of systematic reviews in HPSR do not include a COI disclosure statement, highlighting the need for journals to strengthen and/or better implement their COI disclosure policies. While only 15% of identified disclosure statements report any COI, it is not clear whether this indicates a low frequency of COI versus an underreporting of COI, or both

DOCK8 deficiency impairs CD8 T cell survival and function in humans and mice

As shown by analysis of mice and humans bearing DOCK8-inactivating mutations, DOCK8 plays a cell-autonomous role in survival of naive CD8 T cells, LFA-1 polarization toward the immune synapse, and CD8 T cell memory and recall responses following viral infection

Nck adapter proteins: functional versatility in T cells

Nck is a ubiquitously expressed adapter protein that is almost exclusively built of one SH2 domain and three SH3 domains. The two isoproteins of Nck are functionally redundant in many aspects and differ in only few amino acids that are mostly located in the linker regions between the interaction modules. Nck proteins connect receptor and non-receptor tyrosine kinases to the machinery of actin reorganisation. Thereby, Nck regulates activation-dependent processes during cell polarisation and migration and plays a crucial role in the signal transduction of a variety of receptors including for instance PDGF-, HGF-, VEGF- and Ephrin receptors. In most cases, the SH2 domain mediates binding to the phosphorylated receptor or associated phosphoproteins, while SH3 domain interactions lead to the formation of larger protein complexes. In T lymphocytes, Nck plays a pivotal role in the T cell receptor (TCR)-induced reorganisation of the actin cytoskeleton and the formation of the immunological synapse. However, in this context, two different mechanisms and adapter complexes are discussed. In the first scenario, dependent on an activation-induced conformational change in the CD3ε subunits, a direct binding of Nck to components of the TCR/CD3 complex was shown. In the second scenario, Nck is recruited to the TCR complex via phosphorylated Slp76, another central constituent of the membrane proximal activation complex. Over the past years, a large number of putative Nck interactors have been identified in different cellular systems that point to diverse additional functions of the adapter protein, e.g. in the control of gene expression and proliferation