3,984 research outputs found
Simplified modelling of chiral lattice materials with local resonators
A simplified model of periodic chiral beam-lattices containing local
resonators has been formulated to obtain a better understanding of the
influence of the chirality and of the dynamic characteristics of the local
resonators on the acoustic behavior. The simplified beam-lattices is made up of
a periodic array of rigid heavy rings, each one connected to the others through
elastic slender massless ligaments and containing an internal resonator made of
a rigid disk in a soft elastic annulus. The band structure and the occurrence
of low frequency band-gaps are analysed through a discrete Lagrangian model.
For both the hexa- and the tetrachiral lattice, two acoustic modes and four
optical modes are identified and the influence of the dynamic characteristics
of the resonator on those branches is analyzed together with some properties of
the band structure. By approximating the generalized displacements of the rings
of the discrete Lagrangian model as a continuum field and through an
application of the generalized macro-homogeneity condition, a generalized
micropolar equivalent continuum has been derived, together with the overall
equation of motion and the constitutive equation given in closed form. The
validity limits of the micropolar model with respect to the dispersion
functions are assessed by comparing the dispersion curves of this model in the
irreducible Brillouin domain with those obtained by the discrete model, which
are exact within the assumptions of the proposed simplified model
Multiscale asymptotic homogenization analysis of thermo-diffusive composite materials
In this paper an asymptotic homogenization method for the analysis of
composite materials with periodic microstructure in presence of thermodiffusion
is described. Appropriate down-scaling relations correlating the microscopic
fields to the macroscopic displacements, temperature and mass concentration are
introduced. The effects of the material inhomogeneities are described by
perturbation functions derived from the solution of recursive cell problems.
Exact expressions for the overall elastic and thermodiffusive constants of the
equivalent first order thermodiffusive continuum are derived. The proposed
approach is applied to the case of a two-dimensional bi-phase orthotropic
layered material, where the effective elastic and thermodiffusive properties
can be determined analytically. Considering this illustrative example and
assuming periodic body forces, heat and mass sources acting on the medium, the
solution performed by the first order homogenization approach is compared with
the numerical results obtained by the heterogeneous model.Comment: 40 pages, 13 figure
Effective elastic properties of planar SOFCs: A non-local dynamic homogenization approach
The focus of the article is on the analysis of effective elastic properties
of planar Solid Oxide Fuell Cell (SOFC) devices. An ideal periodic
multi-layered composite (SOFC-like) reproducing the overall properties of
multi-layer SOFC devices is defined. Adopting a non-local dynamic
homogenization method, explicit expressions for overall elastic moduli and
inertial terms of this material are derived in terms of micro-fluctuation
functions. These micro-fluctuation function are then obtained solving the cell
problems by means of finite element techniques. The effects of the temperature
variation on overall elastic and inertial properties of the fuel cells are
studied. Dispersion relations for acoustic waves in SOFC-like multilayered
materials are derived as functions of the overall constants, and the results
obtained by the proposed computational homogenization approach are compared
with those provided by rigorous Floquet-Boch theory. Finally, the influence of
the temperature and of the elastic properties variation on the Bloch spectrum
is investigated
Contribution of galectin-1, a glycan-binding protein, to gastrointestinal tumor progression
Gastrointestinal cancer is a group of tumors that affect multiple sites of the digestive system, including the stomach, liver, colon and pancreas. These cancers are very aggressive and rapidly metastasize, thus identifying effective targets is crucial for treatment. Galectin-1 (Gal-1) belongs to a family of glycan-binding proteins, or lectins, with the ability to cross-link specific glycoconjugates. A variety of biological activities have been attributed to Gal-1 at different steps of tumor progression. Herein, we summarize the current literature regarding the roles of Gal-1 in gastrointestinal malignancies. Accumulating evidence shows that Gal-1 is drastically up-regulated in human gastric cancer, hepatocellular carcinoma, colorectal cancer and pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma tissues, both in tumor epithelial and tumor-associated stromal cells. Moreover, Gal-1 makes a crucial contribution to the pathogenesis of gastrointestinal malignancies, favoring tumor development, aggressiveness, metastasis, immunosuppression and angiogenesis. We also highlight that alterations in Gal-1-specific glycoepitopes may be relevant for gastrointestinal cancer progression. Despite the findings obtained so far, further functional studies are still required. Elucidating the precise molecular mechanisms modulated by Gal-1 underlying gastrointestinal tumor progression, might lead to the development of novel Gal-1-based diagnostic methods and/or therapies.Fil: Bacigalupo, Maria Lorena. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones CientĂficas y TĂ©cnicas. Oficina de CoordinaciĂłn Administrativa Houssay. Instituto de QuĂmica y FĂsico-QuĂmica BiolĂłgicas ; ArgentinaFil: Carabias, Pablo. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones CientĂficas y TĂ©cnicas. Oficina de CoordinaciĂłn Administrativa Houssay. Instituto de QuĂmica y FĂsico-QuĂmica BiolĂłgicas ; ArgentinaFil: Troncoso, MarĂa Fernanda. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones CientĂficas y TĂ©cnicas. Oficina de CoordinaciĂłn Administrativa Houssay. Instituto de QuĂmica y FĂsico-QuĂmica BiolĂłgicas ; Argentin
Guidance Notes for Cloud Research Users
There is a rapidly increasing range of research activities which involve the outsourcing of computing and storage resources to public Cloud Service Providers (CSPs), who provide managed and scalable resources virtualised as a single service. For example Amazon Elastic Computing Cloud (EC2) and Simple Storage Service (S3) are two widely adopted open cloud solutions, which aim at providing pooled computing and storage services and charge users according to their weighted resource usage. Other examples include employment of Google Application Engine and Microsoft Azure as development platforms for research applications. Despite a lot of activity and publication on cloud computing, the term itself and the technologies that underpin it are still confusing to many. This note, as one of deliverables of the TeciRes project1, provides guidance to researchers who are potential end users of public CSPs for research activities. The note contains information to researchers on: âąThe difference between and relation to current research computing models âąThe considerations that have to be taken into account before moving to cloud-aided research âąThe issues associated with cloud computing for research that are currently being investigated âąTips and tricks when using cloud computing Readers who are interested in provisioning cloud capabilities for research should also refer to our guidance notes to cloud infrastructure service providers. This guidance notes focuses on technical aspects only. Readers who are interested in non-technical guidance should refer to the briefing paper produced by the âusing cloud computing for researchâ project
Second-order homogenization of periodic materials based on asymptotic approximation of the strain energy: formulation and validity limits
In this paper a second-order homogenization approach for periodic material is
derived from an appropriate representation of the down-scaling that correlates
the microdisplacement field to the macro-displacement field and the
macro-strain tensors involving unknown perturbation functions. These functions
take into account of the effects of the heterogeneities and are obtained by the
solution of properly defined recursive cell problems. Moreover, the
perturbation functions and therefore the micro-displacement fields result to be
sufficiently regular to guarantee the anti-periodicity of the traction on the
periodic unit cell. A generalization of the macro-homogeneity condition is
obtained through an asymptotic expansion of the mean strain energy at the
micro-scale in terms of the microstructural characteristic size e; the obtained
overall elastic moduli result to be not affected by the choice of periodic
cell. The coupling between the macro- and microstress tensor in the periodic
cell is deduced from an application of the generalised macrohomogeneity
condition applied to a representative portion of the heterogeneous material
(cluster of periodic cell). The correlation between the proposed asymptotic
homogenization approach and the computational second-order homogenization
methods is obtained through an approximation of the macrodisplacement field
based on a second-order Taylor expansion. The form of the overall elastic
moduli obtained through the two homogenization approaches, here proposed, is
analyzed and the differences are highlighted
Analyzing the Non-mainstream Left and Populist-Radical Right: Do Party Promises For Women Actually Translate Into More Women Leaders and Members?
Why are some parties referred to as âMĂ€nnerparteien,â or menâs parties, while other parties are considered to be âfemale women-friendlyâ? This study incorporates a two-part model system to assess whether the ways in which party platforms exhibit gender ideology affects womenâs leadership and membership in non-mainstream left (NML) parties and populist-radical right (PRR) parties. Using content analysis, this study analyzes election manifestos from a variety of parties within Europe in order to characterize the relative woman friendliness of the gender ideology. In turn, the study attempts to discover whether differences in gender ideology lead to differences in womenâs access to power within the party and the legislature. This study ultimately finds that NML and PRR parties do exhibit systematically different gender ideologies, and that the more feminist the gender ideology, the more positive the impact on womenâs leadership and membership within these parties. The findings show that feminist rhetoric and ideological commitment is indeed a wholesome effort for NML parties to empower women, while PRR parties argue that women do not want to be involved in politics, and their party platforms show that these parties tend to protect womenâs traditional roles outside political life
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