An experimental investigation of the natural frequency statistics of a beam with spatially correlated random masses

Experimental investigations into the dynamic response of structures with material or geometrical random fields usually depend upon an initial characterization of this variability, with very little control over the statistics at its early manufacturing stage. This provides the need of a minimal number of samples to generate an ensemble of dynamic responses, making such experimental data scarcely found in the literature. In this work, a cantilever beam with small masses attached along its length according to a given discrete random field has an ensemble of natural frequencies measured for a number of correlation lengths. The results can be used to investigate the effects of the correlation length on the subsequent natural frequency statistics. The experimental results are compared with a wave approximation for flexural waves using a continuous random field for the mass density, in order to approximate the mass distribution. Issues concerning this approximation are discussed. In addition, results are also compared with a simple added mass approximation with assumed modes from a FE solution

The Design Development of Solar Box Cooker on Wheels as an Alternative for Philippine Rural Households

Cooking accounts for a significant share of the worldwide energy consumption issue. Solar box cookers are a good alternative in mitigating fossil fuels and biomass use, especially for tropical developing nations like the Philippines. Still, their broad acceptance is limited by their high dependence on sufficient sunlight for better performance. Thus, this research aims to develop a thermal-efficient, portable solar box cooker with sand-sensible heat storage materials, coconut coir (Cocos nucifera) agricultural waste insulators, and locally sourced building materials. The designed and constructed cooker was evaluated using three thermal performance tests: the Stagnation Temperature test from the Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS), the Cooking Power test from the American Societal of Agricultural Engineer (ASAE) Standards, and a rice cooking test. Data obtained from the three-day trials of each test were used to determine the first figure of merit (F1), the single measure of performance (Ps(50)), and its ability to cook 300 g of NFA rice with 500 mL of water, respectively. It was found that the cooker achieved an F1 of 0.06 Km2/w, a Ps(50) of 6.651 W, and cooked rice for one-third of the tests. Obtained experimental findings showed that the device is marked as a Grade-B solar cooker. Results indicated that the solar box cooker is capable of pasteurizing water and cooking rice

Humoral and T-Cell Mediated Response after the Third Dose of mRNA Vaccines in Patients with Systemic Lupus Erythematosus on Belimumab

Objective: To evaluate humoral and T-cell cellular-mediated immune response after three doses of SARS-CoV-2 mRNA vaccines in patients with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) under Belimumab. Patients and methods: 12 patients on Belimumab and 13 age-matched healthy volunteers were recruited. Patients were in remission or in low disease activity, and they were taking no corticosteroids or only low doses. None of the patients and controls had detectable anti-SARS-CoV-2 antibodies due to previous exposure to the virus. All the patients received three doses of mRNA anti-SARS-CoV-2 vaccines and the humoral and cellular-mediated response were tested 4 weeks after the second dose (T0), 6 months after the second dose (T1) and 4 weeks after the third dose (T2). Comparison with the control group was performed at time T0 (i.e., 4 weeks after the second dose). Total anti-SARS-CoV-2 RBD antibodies were analyzed using a diagnostic assay, while cellular-mediated response was evaluated using the interferon-gamma release assay (IGRA). Results: A humoral response was documented in all the patients at T0 (median 459; IQR 225.25–758.5), but the antibody titer significantly declined from T0 to T1 (median 44.7; IQR: 30.3–202; p = 0.0066). At T2, the antibody titer significantly increased from T1 (median 2500; IQR: 2500–2500), and it was not different from T0 (respectively p < 0.0001, p = 0.66). Cellular-mediated response significantly declined from T0 to T1 (p = 0.003) but not from T0 to T2 (p = 0.3). No differences were found between patients and controls at T0 as regards both humoral and cellular responses (p = 1.0 and p = 0.09 for humoral and cellular responses, respectively). Conclusion: The third dose of mRNA COVID-19 vaccine can restore both humoral and cellular immune response in SLE patients on Belimumab

Production and evaluation of leukocyte- and thrombocyte-rich fibrin membranes in birds

The aim of this study was the preparation and histological evaluation of Leukocyte- and Thrombocyte-Rich Fibrin (L-TRF) membranes obtained from the blood of four bird species. Forty adult healthy birds were divided into four groups of equal size: G1 – macaws, G2 – domestic chickens, G3 – parrots, G4 – toco toucans. A total of 0.5 mL of blood was collected from each bird, put into a glass tube without anticoagulant and centrifuged at 3000 rpm for 10 min. L-TRF membranes produced after compression of the clot were processed for histological analysis. The ratio of thrombocytes/area was not significantly different among Groups G2, G3 and G4, but a significant difference was found between Groups G1 and G2 with the highest thrombocyte concentration/area in G1. The groups did not differ statistically in the number of leukocytes/area. The fibrin-to-cells ratio did not vary statistically among Groups G1, G2 and G3, but this ratio was significantly higher in Group G4 than in the other groups. The thrombocyte-to-leukocyte ratio was the highest in Group G1, but it did not differ among Groups G2, G3 and G4. In conclusion, the centrifugation protocol allowed the production of L-TRF membranes in the four bird species studied. Histologically, cell ratios were analogous in domestic chickens and parrots, and macaws had the highest ratio of thrombocytes

Keyframe Extraction in Endoscopic Video

In medical endoscopy more and more surgeons archive the recorded video streams in a long-term storage. One reason for this development, which is enforced by law in some countries, is to have evidence in case of lawsuits from patients. Another more practical reason is to allow later inspection of previous procedures and also to use parts of such videos for research and for training. However, due to the dramatic amount of video data recorded in a hospital on a daily basis, it is very important to have good preview images for these videos in order to allow for quick filtering of undesired content and for easier browsing through such a video archive. Unfortunately, common shot detection and keyframe extraction methods cannot be used for that video data, because these videos contain unedited and highly similar content, especially in terms of color and texture, and no shot boundaries at all. We propose a new keyframe extraction approach for this special video domain and show that our method is signi�cantly better than a previously proposed approach

Detection of sputum cofilin-1 as indicator of malignancy

Cofilin-1 (CFL1), a small protein of 18 kDa, has been studied as a biomarker due to its involvement in tumor cell migration and invasion. Our aim was to evaluate CFL1 as an indicator of malignancy and aggressiveness in sputum samples. CFL1 was analyzed by ELISA immunoassay in the sputum of 73 lung cancer patients, 13 cancer-free patients, and 6 healthy volunteers. Statistical analyses included ANOVA, ROC curves, Spearman correlation, and logistic regression. Sputum CFL1 levels were increased in cancer patients compared to cancer-free patients and volunteers (P1.475 pg/mL showed augmented chance of death, suggesting lung cancer aggressiveness. CFL1 presented diagnostic value in detecting lung cancer and was associated to tumor aggressiveness.São Paulo Research Foundation (FAPESP No. 2010/11005-5) and the National Council for Scientific and Technological Development (CNPq No. 471939/2010-2 and No. 483005/2012-info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

An RxLR effector from phytophthora infestans prevents re-localisation of two plant NAC transcription factors from the endoplasmic reticulum to the nucleus

The plant immune system is activated following the perception of exposed, essential and invariant microbial molecules that are recognised as non-self. A major component of plant immunity is the transcriptional induction of genes involved in a wide array of defence responses. In turn, adapted pathogens deliver effector proteins that act either inside or outside plant cells to manipulate host processes, often through their direct action on plant protein targets. To date, few effectors have been shown to directly manipulate transcriptional regulators of plant defence. Moreover, little is known generally about the modes of action of effectors from filamentous (fungal and oomycete) plant pathogens. We describe an effector, called Pi03192, from the late blight pathogen Phytophthora infestans, which interacts with a pair of host transcription factors at the endoplasmic reticulum (ER) inside plant cells. We show that these transcription factors are released from the ER to enter the nucleus, following pathogen perception, and are important in restricting disease. Pi03192 prevents the plant transcription factors from accumulating in the host nucleus, revealing a novel means of enhancing host susceptibility

Spin asymmetry A_1^d and the spin-dependent structure function g_1^d of the deuteron at low values of x and Q^2

We present a precise measurement of the deuteron longitudinal spin asymmetry A_1^d and of the deuteron spin-dependent structure function g_1^d at Q^2 < 1 GeV^2 and 4*10^-5 < x < 2.5*10^-2 based on the data collected by the COMPASS experiment at CERN during the years 2002 and 2003. The statistical precision is tenfold better than that of the previous measurement in this region. The measured A_1^d and g_1^d are found to be consistent with zero in the whole range of x.Comment: 17 pages, 10 figure

Gluon polarization in the nucleon from quasi-real photoproduction of high-pT hadron pairs

We present a determination of the gluon polarization Delta G/G in the nucleon, based on the helicity asymmetry of quasi-real photoproduction events, Q^2<1(GeV/c)^2, with a pair of large transverse-momentum hadrons in the final state. The data were obtained by the COMPASS experiment at CERN using a 160 GeV polarized muon beam scattered on a polarized 6-LiD target. The helicity asymmetry for the selected events is = 0.002 +- 0.019(stat.) +- 0.003(syst.). From this value, we obtain in a leading-order QCD analysis Delta G/G=0.024 +- 0.089(stat.) +- 0.057(syst.) at x_g = 0.095 and mu^2 =~ 3 (GeV}/c)^2.Comment: 10 pages, 3 figure