Implementation of a safe-by-design approach in the development of new open pilot lines for the manufacture of carbon nanotube-based nano-enabled products

The project PLATFORM (H2020, GA 646307) aims to develop three new pilot lines (PPLs) for the manufacture of carbon nanotube-based nano-enabled products (buckypapers, treated prepregs, doped veils), for the European aeronautics and automotive industries (a Technology Readiness Level 6 - TRL6 -is expected at the end of the project). The Machinery Directive 2006/42/EC (MD) - transposed into the respective national legislations -is the European regulatory framework for the design and construction of new machinery, as the future PPLs. PPLs are not required to comply with the provisions of the MD until they are put into service - expected in 2020, after project completion - but then, the MD will be fully applicable. In this regulatory context, the project PLATFORM is aligning the design of the PPLs according to the MD requirements, in order to facilitate the CE marking in 2020 (TRL9) and avoid potential economic costs associated with future re-adaptations or modifications needed to ensure compliance with the MD. This paper discusses the methodological approach followed by the project PLATFORM to integrate all the nanosafety aspects in the design of the PPLs, in order to achieve safe designs in conformity with the relevant Essential Health and Safety Requirements (EHSRs) of the MD. Since machinery must be designed and constructed taking into account the results of the risk assessment (RA), this paper describes the systematic and iterative approach for RA and risk reduction followed to eliminate hazards as far practicable and to adequately reduce risks by the implementation of protective measures. This process has been guided by the harmonized standards EN ISO 12100 and EN ISO 14123, taking the relevant phases of life cycle, expected uses and operation modes of the PPLs into account. A specific tool to guide the safe design of the PPLs and facilitate the RA process has also been produced by the project (PLATFORM -SbD toolkit).The project PLATFORM has received funding from the European Union's Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme, under grant agreement No 646307

HYDRA: Macroscopic modeling of hybrid ablative thermal protection system

In the framework of HYDRA, an European funded program, technological solutions of hybrid Thermal Protection System (TPS) are developed. This advanced shielding relies on the hybridization of upper lightweight porous ablative material and inner Ceramic Matrix Composite (CMC) bonded together with a novel high temperature adhesive. The aerial mass optimization of the full TPS requires a controlled reduction in the ablative material thickness to reach high operating temperature configuration of the CMC. Therefore, radiative heat transfer takes place in a thin layer of ablator and becomes a major contributor to the elevation of the interface temperature. In this paper we develop an high fidelity radiative transfer in porous carbon fibers charring and ablative material. Specific elementary characterization, plasma test campaign and numerical simulation are scheduled to feed this radiative heat transfer model

High frequency impedance based fault location in distribution system with DGs

Distributed generations (DGs) in the distribution systems are connected into the buses using power electronic converters. During fault, it is challenging to provide a constant impedance model for DGs in the system frequency due to the variable converter control strategies. System frequency impedance measurement based fault locations can be influenced by the converters’ fault behaviour. This study addresses this problem by proposing a wide-area high-frequency impedance comparison based fault location technique. The high-frequency impedance model of DG is provided. Based on the constant DG impedance model in high-frequency range, the faulted line sections can be distinguished by comparing the measured impedance differences without requiring the exact distribution system parameters. Simulation results show that the proposed wide-area transient measurements based fault location method can provide accurate faulted sections in the distribution systems with DGs regardless of the load and DG output variations, measurement noise, unbalanced loads and islanding operations

Canine Leishmaniasis progression is associated with vitamin D deficiency

The relationship between vitamin D deficiency and the risk of suffering from a plethora of health disorders, ranging from autoimmune processes to infectious diseases has been widely described. Nonetheless, the potential role of vitamin D in visceral leishmaniasis remains uncharacterized. In the Mediterranean basin, where the dog is leishmania's main peri-domestic reservoir, control measures against the canine disease have shown beneficial effects on the incidence of human leishmaniasis. In this study, we measured the vitamin D levels in serum samples from a cohort of 68 healthy and disease dogs from a highly endemic area and we have also studied the relationship of these levels with parasitological and immunological parameters. The sick dogs presented significantly lower (P<0.001) vitamin D levels (19.6ng/mL) than their non-infected (31.8ng/mL) and the asymptomatic counterparts (29.6ng/mL). In addition, vitamin D deficiency correlated with several parameters linked to leishmaniasis progression. However, there was no correlation between vitamin D levels and the Leishmania-specific cellular immune response. Moreover, both the leishmanin skin test and the IFN-γ levels displayed negative correlations with serological, parasitological and clinical signs. Further studies to determine the functional role of vitamin D on the progression and control of canine leishmaniasis are needed

Search for the standard model Higgs boson decaying into two photons in pp collisions at sqrt(s)=7 TeV

A search for a Higgs boson decaying into two photons is described. The analysis is performed using a dataset recorded by the CMS experiment at the LHC from pp collisions at a centre-of-mass energy of 7 TeV, which corresponds to an integrated luminosity of 4.8 inverse femtobarns. Limits are set on the cross section of the standard model Higgs boson decaying to two photons. The expected exclusion limit at 95% confidence level is between 1.4 and 2.4 times the standard model cross section in the mass range between 110 and 150 GeV. The analysis of the data excludes, at 95% confidence level, the standard model Higgs boson decaying into two photons in the mass range 128 to 132 GeV. The largest excess of events above the expected standard model background is observed for a Higgs boson mass hypothesis of 124 GeV with a local significance of 3.1 sigma. The global significance of observing an excess with a local significance greater than 3.1 sigma anywhere in the search range 110-150 GeV is estimated to be 1.8 sigma. More data are required to ascertain the origin of this excess.Comment: Submitted to Physics Letters

Search for a W' boson decaying to a bottom quark and a top quark in pp collisions at sqrt(s) = 7 TeV

Results are presented from a search for a W' boson using a dataset corresponding to 5.0 inverse femtobarns of integrated luminosity collected during 2011 by the CMS experiment at the LHC in pp collisions at sqrt(s)=7 TeV. The W' boson is modeled as a heavy W boson, but different scenarios for the couplings to fermions are considered, involving both left-handed and right-handed chiral projections of the fermions, as well as an arbitrary mixture of the two. The search is performed in the decay channel W' to t b, leading to a final state signature with a single lepton (e, mu), missing transverse energy, and jets, at least one of which is tagged as a b-jet. A W' boson that couples to fermions with the same coupling constant as the W, but to the right-handed rather than left-handed chiral projections, is excluded for masses below 1.85 TeV at the 95% confidence level. For the first time using LHC data, constraints on the W' gauge coupling for a set of left- and right-handed coupling combinations have been placed. These results represent a significant improvement over previously published limits.Comment: Submitted to Physics Letters B. Replaced with version publishe

Measurement of the Lambda(b) cross section and the anti-Lambda(b) to Lambda(b) ratio with Lambda(b) to J/Psi Lambda decays in pp collisions at sqrt(s) = 7 TeV

The Lambda(b) differential production cross section and the cross section ratio anti-Lambda(b)/Lambda(b) are measured as functions of transverse momentum pt(Lambda(b)) and rapidity abs(y(Lambda(b))) in pp collisions at sqrt(s) = 7 TeV using data collected by the CMS experiment at the LHC. The measurements are based on Lambda(b) decays reconstructed in the exclusive final state J/Psi Lambda, with the subsequent decays J/Psi to an opposite-sign muon pair and Lambda to proton pion, using a data sample corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 1.9 inverse femtobarns. The product of the cross section times the branching ratio for Lambda(b) to J/Psi Lambda versus pt(Lambda(b)) falls faster than that of b mesons. The measured value of the cross section times the branching ratio for pt(Lambda(b)) > 10 GeV and abs(y(Lambda(b))) < 2.0 is 1.06 +/- 0.06 +/- 0.12 nb, and the integrated cross section ratio for anti-Lambda(b)/Lambda(b) is 1.02 +/- 0.07 +/- 0.09, where the uncertainties are statistical and systematic, respectively.Comment: Submitted to Physics Letters

Search for new physics in events with opposite-sign leptons, jets, and missing transverse energy in pp collisions at sqrt(s) = 7 TeV

A search is presented for physics beyond the standard model (BSM) in final states with a pair of opposite-sign isolated leptons accompanied by jets and missing transverse energy. The search uses LHC data recorded at a center-of-mass energy sqrt(s) = 7 TeV with the CMS detector, corresponding to an integrated luminosity of approximately 5 inverse femtobarns. Two complementary search strategies are employed. The first probes models with a specific dilepton production mechanism that leads to a characteristic kinematic edge in the dilepton mass distribution. The second strategy probes models of dilepton production with heavy, colored objects that decay to final states including invisible particles, leading to very large hadronic activity and missing transverse energy. No evidence for an event yield in excess of the standard model expectations is found. Upper limits on the BSM contributions to the signal regions are deduced from the results, which are used to exclude a region of the parameter space of the constrained minimal supersymmetric extension of the standard model. Additional information related to detector efficiencies and response is provided to allow testing specific models of BSM physics not considered in this paper.Comment: Replaced with published version. Added journal reference and DO

Measurement of isolated photon production in pp and PbPb collisions at sqrt(sNN) = 2.76 TeV

Isolated photon production is measured in proton-proton and lead-lead collisions at nucleon-nucleon centre-of-mass energies of 2.76 TeV in the pseudorapidity range |eta|<1.44 and transverse energies ET between 20 and 80 GeV with the CMS detector at the LHC. The measured ET spectra are found to be in good agreement with next-to-leading-order perturbative QCD predictions. The ratio of PbPb to pp isolated photon ET-differential yields, scaled by the number of incoherent nucleon-nucleon collisions, is consistent with unity for all PbPb reaction centralities.Comment: Submitted to Physics Letters

Genetic research: the role of citizens, public health and international stakeholders

Background: Genetic research has become an indispensable instrument for medical research, and the subjects involved have both divergent and convergent interests. Objective: The possibility of having more detailed genetic information undoubtedly offers benefits for the health of the subject, but could also pose risks and make the subject vulnerable to discrimination. Methods: The scientific community has viewed very favorably the public health utility of family history, in which data from a family whose members suffer from chronic pathologies is collected and filed, in order to develop a sort of “stratification of family risk.” Even though in the last decade the scientific and juridical literature has contributed greatly to the topic of biobanks, the perplexities that continue to surround this theme give the idea that current ethical protocols on research are inadequate. Results: Researchers, citizens, International stakeholders, mass media, Public Health and Governments play a key role in genetic research. It is obvious that the methods used for genetic research do not present intrinsic risks; they are much less dangerous than other activities of diagnosis and research. Before authorizing a research project, it is important to reflect on the responsibility and transparency of the studies to be conducted, and on the impact they may have on the interests of public health. Conclusion: We believe that the highest priority need is to develop a common language on the theme, as is the case in the sphere of clinical experimentation where rules of good clinical practice, albeit at times conflicting, have led to uniform convergences in the scientific world on the points to be actuated