Study on the Effect of Preheating Temperatures on Melt Pool Stability in Inconel 718 Components Processed by Laser Powder Bed Fusion

Laser Powder Bed Fusion (L-PBF) is one of the most widespread, versatile, and promising metal Additive Manufacturing (AM) techniques. L-PBF allows for the manufacturing of geometrically complex parts with good surface characteristics. In this process, in order to minimize the heat loss in the first layers of printing, the building platform is preheated to a temperature ranging between 80 and 250 °C. This aspect turns out to be very critical, and further investigation is needed for situations where the part to be printed is only a few layers high, as is the case in sensor printing. This work aims to investigate the melt pool stability under a variation in the preheating temperatures. We investigate the distance from the building platform, considering the number of layers printed. This is where the melt pool reaches its stability in terms of depth and width. This aspect turns out to be of remarkable importance for ensuring the structural integrity of parts with a few layers of height that are processed through L-PBF, such as sensors, which are proliferating in different industries. Thus, two case studies were carried out on IN718 superalloys at 40 and 60 microns of layer thickness and a preheating temperature of 170 °C on the machine. The results obtained show that after 1.2 mm of distance from the building platform, the melt pool reached its stability in terms of width and depth dimensions and consequently for the melting regime

Redox activity of melanin from the ink sac of Sepia officinalis by means of colorimetric oxidative assay

The redox properties of natural extract from cuttlefish ink sac (Sepia officinalis) and synthetic melanin used as a biomimetic in melanin structural investigation were determined by comparison of this phenol-based heterogeneous pigment with gallic acid used as a standard in Folinâ Ciocalteu colorimetric assay widely employed for characterisation of oxidative properties of biomaterials. Reactivity of sepia melanin reported here is much higher than previously indicated and this protocol should allow the redox characterisation of all melanins irrespective of their origin and composition.European Union’s Seventh Framework Programme (FP7/2007-2013) [grant agreement number REGPOT-CT2012-316331-POLARIS

Application of field surveys and multitemporal in-SAR interferometry analysis in the recognition of deep-seated gravitational slope deformation of an urban area of Southern Italy

The analysis of 4 year In-SAR Interferometry images and a detailed geomorphological survey have been carried out to detect a large Deep-Seated Gravitational Slopes (DSGSD) affecting the urban area of the Episcopia village, in Southern Italy. The DSGSD largely develops within phyllites of the Liguride Units and, in the upper slope, within Pleistocene sand and conglomerate deposits of the Sant'Arcangelo Basin. Field survey has shown trenches at the top and an evident bulge at the base of the DSGSD, corresponding to the Talweg of the Sinni River. Geological and geomorphological field surveys allowed us to hypothesize a listric geometry of the DSGSD subsurface plane reaching about 700 m of depth. Furthermore, the multi-temporal In-SAR Interferometry analysis collected from November 2014 to May 2017 revealed that a ground deformation of ±30 mm was occurred, and the process is still active in the whole area

Effect of Protein Restriction During Mid-to Late Gestation of Beef Cows on Female Offspring Fertility, Lactation Performance and Calves Development

Cow calf operation in Argentina are managed under extensive grazing condition and the quality of forages is often poor during second half of gestation. Protein restriction in bovine gestation affects production traits in progeny. The present work investigated the effects of two levels of crude protein (CP) provided to mature dams during late gestation on subsequent heifer’s growth postweaning, reproductive performance, milk production and grand offspring evolution. At 121 d prepartum, 68 multiparous Angus cows were randomly assigned to low protein (LP, 6% CP) or high protein (HP, 12% CP) at 12 pens per treatment group. Following calving, all cow/calf pairs were housed together until weaning, then female progeny were removed and maintained on pasture as a single group. At puberty (P = 0.01) and pregnancy determination (P = 0.05) the HP heifers were heavier than LP heifers. The LM area was greater at 20 mo of age in HP compared to LP heifers (P = 0.01) and the HP heifers had greater 12th rib fat thickness at 30 and 35 mo of age (P = 0.02). Serum IGF-1 concentration was greater in HP heifers compared to LP heifers (P = 0.05). No dam nutrition effects were found on offspring age at puberty (P = 0.98), final pregnancy rate (P = 0.28) or milk yield (P = 0.76) but heifers born to LP dams had greater milk protein percentage (P = 0.04) and tended to produce increased milk fat percentage (P = 0.08) compared with HP heifers. The LP grand offspring grew faster from birth until weaning compared with HP grand offspring (P < 0.01) with reduced insulin concentrations (P = 0.03) and tended to have increased glucose concentrations than HP calves (P = 0.09). Protein supplementation during late gestation does not affect reproductive performance of the offspring heifers but did impact their BW evolution, milk quality and grand offspring performance. Implications: The use of diet with low amount of protein which the female fetus is exposed in utero can affect her subsequent development and ability to nourish subsequent generations.EEA Cuenca del SaladoFil: Lopez Valiente, Sebastian. Instituto Nacional de Tecnología Agropecuaria (INTA). Estación Experimental Agropecuaria Cuenca del Salado; ArgentinaFil: Maresca, Sebastian. Instituto Nacional de Tecnología Agropecuaria (INTA). Estación Experimental Agropecuaria Cuenca del Salado; ArgentinaFil: Rodriguez, Alejandro Martin. Instituto Nacional de Tecnología Agropecuaria (INTA). Estación Experimental Agropecuaria Cuenca del Salado; ArgentinaFil: Long, Nathan M. Clemson University. Department of Animal and Veterinary Sciences; Estados UnidosFil: Quintans, Graciela I. Instituto Nacional de Investigación Agropecuaria (INIA); UruguayFil: Palladino, Rafael Alejandro. Universidad Nacional de Lomas de Zamora. Facultad de Ciencias Agrarias; ArgentinaFil: Palladino, Rafael Alejandro. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; Argentin

Cancer drug related cardiotoxicity during breast cancer treatment

Introduction: Breast cancer (BC) is the most common cancer in women. Although therapeutic armamentarium like chemotherapy, endocrine and target agents have increased survival, cardiovascular side effects have been observed. A comprehensive risk assessment, early detection and management of cardiac adverse events is therefore needed. Areas covered: In this review we focus on cardiotoxicity data deriving from Phase III randomized trials, systematic reviews and meta-analysis in BC patients. We provide insight into advances that have been made in the molecular mechanisms, clinical presentation and management of such adverse event. Expert opinion: Despite the large number of data from Phase III trials about cardiac events incidence, there are poor evidences for detection, monitoring and management of cardiotoxicity during BC treatment. Future cardiotoxicity-oriented clinical cancer research can help to predict the risk of cardiac adverse events and improve patients’ outcome. Multidisciplinary approach as well as integration of blood biomarkers with imaging will be desirable

PEN: a low energy test of lepton universality

Allowed charged $\pi$ meson decays are characterized by simple dynamics, few available decay channels, mainly into leptons, and extremely well controlled radiative and loop corrections. In that sense, pion decays represent a veritable triumph of the standard model (SM) of elementary particles and interactions. This relative theoretical simplicity makes charged pion decays a sensitive means for testing the underlying symmetries and the universality of weak fermion couplings, as well as for studying pion structure and chiral dynamics. Even after considerable recent improvements, experimental precision is lagging far behind that of the theoretical description for pion decays. We review the current state of experimental study of the pion electronic decay $\pi^+ \to e^+\nu_e(\gamma)$, or $\pi_{e2(\gamma)}$, where the $(\gamma)$ indicates inclusion and explicit treatment of radiative decay events. We briefly review the limits on non-SM processes arising from the present level of experimental precision in $\pi_{e2(\gamma)}$ decays. Focusing on the PEN experiment at the Paul Scherrer Institute (PSI), Switzerland, we examine the prospects for further improvement in the near term.Comment: 11 pages, 5 figures; paper presented at the XIII International Conference on Heavy Quarks and Leptons, 22-27 May 2016, Blacksburg, Virginia, US

Use of Framingham Risk Score as a Clinical Tool for the Assessment of Fitness for Work: Results From a Cohort Study

OBJECTIVE: The aim of this study is to validate the use of the Framingham Risk Score (FRS) as clinical tool to predict the risk of diagnosis of unsuitability for work in a cohort of Italian workers. METHODS: A cohort of workers has been observed from January 2006 to March 2014. FRS was calculated at each visit. Health surveillance diagnosis of unsuitability for work was selected as outcome. RESULTS: Two thousand eight hundred fifty seven workers were observed, 58.9% were men, mean age was 51.6 (±6.7), the mean FRS was 15.1% (±10.7%). Increased values of FRS at baseline were associated with increased rate of diagnosis of unsuitability for work (Hazard ratio [HR], 11.2, 95%CI, 3.3 to 37.8). CONCLUSIONS: FRS is a strong predictor of diagnosis of unsuitability for work and should be used as a clinical tool for the assessment of fitness for work in health surveillance

Effect of melanomal proteins on sepia melanin assembly

Accepted manuscriptMelanins are phenol-based pigments with the potential for widespread applications including bioelectronics and tissue engineering. The concentration-dependent structural transition of sepia melanin in water is analyzed. This biopolymer at high concentration gives the well-known nanospheres, whereas sample dilution gives unforeseen nanofibres exhibiting the structural features of mature amyloid fibrils. We propose a mechanism of pigment self-assembly dependent on the interaction of residual melanosomal protein(s) with eumelanin heteropolymer. Our results contribute to understanding the peculiar physico-chemical properties of this ubiquitous pigmentEuropean Union's Seventh Framework Programme (FP7/2007–2013) under grant agreement No. REGPOT-CT2012–316331-POLARI