An innovative numerical approach for railway rolling noise forecast

In recent years there has been a growing worldwide development of rail transport, mainly due to technological innovations both on armaments and on rail vehicles. Such technological issue focused almost parallel on two main fronts: on one hand the performance enhancement and on the other side the internal comfort. This technology advancement has been driven mainly by the need to move goods and passengers over long distances in a short time, making it the safest transportation system in the world thanks also to the latest monitoring systems, of which European Community is undoubtedly one of the major leaders. The passenger transport has introduced problems related to comfort: traveling so fast is the main goal so long as it is comfortable and safe. One of the requirements that mostly turned out to be significant and sometimes more difficult to satisfy is that regarding acoustic comfort and environmental impact. As known, the regulations become with the passage of time more and more stringent, and every company that wants to operate in this area is required to respect them. The acoustic comfort improvement implies the intervention as much as possible focused on noise sources, which in this case are constituted by: electric motor, pantograph, wheel-rail contact. In such research framework, the authors focused on determination of a simple, but at the same time reliable, method for radiated sound power assessment in the wheel-rail contact due to combined wheel-rail roughness in order to reduce the environmental impact of this type of transmission system. Targeted analysis were implemented in an efficient numerical investigation in MSC NASTRAN® and ACTRAN® environments providing the necessary vibro-acoustic parameters as input data for the further definition of the wheel-rail interaction force by a MATLAB® customized tool, once known the roughness profile

Acoustic performance assessment of innovative blankets for aeronautical applications

Polyurethane blankets are increasingly used for many aeronautical NVH applications. These foams, generally available in various thickness and density, are great sound absorber, therefore suitable in the aircraft interior. These foams are used as replacement to traditional combination of mineral wools / rock wool along with perforated panels, which require labor and also health hazardous. Polyurethane foams are generally available in various densities and thickness. The acoustic performance of sound absorbing poroelastic materials is characterized by intrinsic physical parameters like flow resistivity, and absorption coefficient. This paper presents a detailed discussion on measurement of flow resistivity as well as acoustic absorption coefficient of PU foam samples. Such numerical database of examined samples has been then validated through other laboratories activities, which shows the good accuracy of the methodology implemented within

Tradução e adaptação cultural do Duke activity status index para a língua portuguesa

INTRODUCTION: The limited number of valid and reliable questionnaires for the evaluation of exercise tolerance has stimulated the development of simple international assessment tools for this purpose, one of the most widely used of which is the Duke Activity Status Index (DASI). However, this index has not yet been translated and adapted to the Portuguese language. OBJECTIVE: To develop a Brazilian version of the DASI and cross-culturally adapt it for the evaluation of cardiorespiratory fitness among patients with cardiovascular disease in Brazil. MATERIALS AND METHODS: The translation process involved four stages: initial translation, back-translation, multidisciplinary committee review and pre-test with 16 subjects (8 cardiac patients and 8 healthy individuals). Patients were screened from outpatient Cardiac Surgery, São Paulo Hospital. The Mann-Whitney and chi-square tests were employed to determine differences between controls and individuals with heart disease. RESULTS: The sample was characterized by individuals aged ≥ 50 years who were mainly from the southeastern region of Brazil (62.5%) and were non-smokers (56.2%). Less than half of the cohort was considered physically active (43.75%). The level of non-understanding was less than 10% of the sample. Doubts were prevalent among individuals with heart disease (75%) regarding the level of fatigue caused when performing a task. CONCLUSION: The present findings demonstrate that the DASI was successfully translated and adapted to Brazilian Portuguese.INTRODUÇÃO: A limitação quanto ao uso rotineiro e em escala populacional dos métodos de maior acurácia para avaliação da capacidade incentivou o desenvolvimento de questionários de estimativa. O questionário Duke Activity Status Index (DASI) é um dos mais utilizados, no entanto ainda não traduzido e adaptado para língua portuguesa. OBJETIVO: Desenvolver uma versão brasileira do DASI e adaptá-lo culturalmente para avaliação da capacidade cardiorrespiratória de cardiopatas no Brasil. MATERIAIS E MÉTODOS: Foram realizadas quatro etapas metodologicamente recomendadas para esta finalidade: tradução inicial, tradução reversa, revisão por comitê multidisciplinar e pré-teste de verificação com 16 indivíduos (oito cardiopatas e oito saudáveis). Os pacientes foram triados no ambulatório da Cirurgia Cardíaca do Hospital São Paulo. Para verificar as possíveis diferenças entre os indivíduos saudáveis e cardiopatas foram utilizados os testes α Mann-Whitney ou qui-quadrado. RESULTADOS: A amostra foi caracterizada por indivíduos procedentes da região Sudeste (62,5%), não tabagistas (56,2%), ativos (43,75%) e com idade ≥ 50 anos. O nível de não compreensão aceitável foi de até 10% dos entrevistados. As dúvidas foram predominantes nos cardiopatas (75%) em relação ao grupo saudável (12,5%), sendo concentradas na consideração ou não do nível de cansaço para realizar a tarefa. CONCLUSÃO: Os resultados demonstram que o DASI foi satisfatoriamente traduzido e adaptado para a lingua portuguesa.Brasília UniversityFederal University of São Paulo Sector of Cardiovascular SurgeryNove de Julho UniversityUniversity of Illinois Chicago College of Applied Health Sciences University of Illinois ChicagoBrasília University Physical Therapy CourseUNIFESP, Sector of Cardiovascular SurgerySciEL

The Phenotypic Analysis of Lactobacillus plantarum shsp Mutants Reveals a Potential Role for hsp1 in Cryotolerance

Small heat shock proteins (sHSPs) are ubiquitous, low molecular weight (MW) proteins that share a conserved alpha-crystallin domain. sHSPs oligomers exhibit chaperon-like activities by interacting with unfolded substrates, thereby preventing their aggregation and precipitation. Unlike most lactobacilli, which have single shsp genes, three different sHSP-encoding genes, i.e., hsp1, hsp2, and hsp3, were previously identified in the probiotic Lactobacillus plantarum WCFS1. Early studies, including the characterization of the knock out (KO) mutant for hsp2, indicated a different organization and transcriptional regulation of these genes and suggested that the three L. plantarum sHSPs might accomplish different tasks in stress response. To unravel the role of sHSPs, KO mutants of hsp1 and hsp3 were generated using a Cre-lox based system. Mutation of either genes resulted in impaired growth capacity under normal conditions, heat-stress and stresses typically found during host interactions and food technological process. However, survival to heat shock and the level of thermal stabilization of cytoplasmic proteins were similar between mutants and parental strain. Transcriptional analysis revealed that in the mutant genetic backgrounds there is an upregulated basal expression of the un-mutated mate hsps and other stress-related genes, which may compensate for the loss of HSP function, hence possibly accounting for the lack of a remarkable susceptibility to heat challenge. HSP3 seemed relevant for the induction of thermotolerance, while HSP1 was required for improved cryotolerance. Cell surface properties and plasma membrane fluidity were investigated to ascertain the possible membrane association of sHSP. Intriguingly, the loss of hsp1 was associated to a lower level of maximal membrane fluidity upon heat stress. A role for HSP1 in controlling and improving membrane fluidity is suggested which may pertains its cryoprotective function

Derecho y Control 2

This book brings together the work produced within the research group "Law and Control: Specific Problems". These texts are the result of research activities carried out from 2016 to date, carried out within the ambit of the "Centro de Investigaciones Jurídicas y Sociales-UE CONICET" of Córdoba, Argentina. During this period, the group had the support of Secyt-UNC (2016 and 2017, Project "A" 30720150101173CB). The book reunites together eight papers on various specific topics related to law and social control. The first text deals with the use of stereotypes in judicial decisions, the second with the problem of judicial discretion in the determination of sentences in criminal sentences, the third with critical reflections on life imprisonment, the fourth with the right to organize the police, the fifth and sixth with questions related to feminism and gender in law, the seventh with models of mental health and their interference in the criminal process, and the last with control of urban space and land seizures

Characterization of Carbonic Anhydrase IX Interactome Reveals Proteins Assisting Its Nuclear Localization in Hypoxic Cells

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Etest® versus broth microdilution for ceftaroline MIC determination with Staphylococcus aureus: results from PREMIUM, a European multicentre study

Objectives: To compare the concordance of ceftaroline MIC values 24 by reference broth microdilution (BMD) and Etest (BioMérieux, France) for MSSA and MRSA isolates, respectively, in isolates from PREMIUM (D372SL00001), a European multi-centre study.  Methods: Ceftaroline MICs were determined by reference BMD and by Etest for 1,242 MSSA and MRSA from adult patients with community-acquired pneumonia or complicated skin and soft tissue infections collected between February and May 2012; tests were performed across six European laboratories. Selected isolates with ceftaroline resistance in broth (MIC >1 mg/L) were retested in three central laboratories to confirm their behaviour.  Results: Overall concordance between BMD and Etest was good, with >97% essential agreement and >95% categorical agreement. Nevertheless, 12 of the 26 MRSA isolates found resistant by BMD scored as susceptible by Etest, with MICs ≤1 mg/L, thus counting as very major errors, whereas only five of 380 MRSA found ceftaroline susceptible in BMD were mis-categorised as resistant by Etest. Twenty-one of the 26 isolates with MICs of 2 mg/L by BMD were then re-tested twice by each of three central laboratories: BMD MICs of 2 mg/L were consistently found for 19 of the 21 isolates. Among 147 Etest results for these 21 isolates (original plus six repeats per isolate) 112 were >1 mg/L.  Conclusions: BMD and Etest have good overall agreement for ceftaroline against Staphylococcus aureus; nevertheless, reliable Etest-based discrimination of the minority of ceftaroline-resistant (MIC 2 mg/L) MRSA is extremely challenging, requiring careful reading of strips, ideally with duplicate testing

Tamoxifen in treatment of hepatocellular carcinoma: a randomised controlled trial

Background Results from small randomised trials on tamoxifen in the treatment of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) are conflicting, We studied whether the addition of tamoxifen to best supportive care prolongs survival of patients with HCC. Methods Patients with any stage of HCC were eligible, irrespective of locoregional treatment. Randomisation was centralised, with a minimisation procedure accounting for centre, evidence of disease, and time from diagnosis. Patients were randomly allocated best supportive care alone or in addition to tamoxifen, Tamoxifen was given orally, 40 mg per day, from randomisation until death. Results 496 patients from 30 institutions were randomly allocated treatment from January, 1995, to January, 1997. Information was available for 477 patients. By Sept 15, 1997, 119 (50%) of 240 and 130 (55%) of 237 patients had died in the control and tamoxifen arms, respectively. Median survival was 16 months and 15 months (p=0.54), respectively, No differences were found within subgroups defined by prognostic variables. Relative hazard of death for patients receiving tamoxifen was 1.07 (95% CI 0.83-1.39). Interpretation Our findings show that tamoxifen is not effective in prolonging survival of patients with HCC