Acoustic emission signal processing framework to identify fracture in aluminum alloys

Acoustic emission (AE) is a common nondestructive evaluation tool that has been used to monitor fracture in materials and structures. The direct connection between AE events and their source, however, is difficult because of material, geometry and sensor contributions to the recorded signals. Moreover, the recorded AE activity is affected by several noise sources which further complicate the identification process. This article uses a combination of in situ experiments inside the scanning electron microscope to observe fracture in an aluminum alloy at the time and scale it occurs and a novel AE signal processing framework to identify characteristics that correlate with fracture events. Specifically, a signal processing method is designed to cluster AE activity based on the selection of a subset of features objectively identified by examining their correlation and variance. The identified clusters are then compared to both mechanical and in situ observed microstructural damage. Results from a set of nanoindentation tests as well as a carefully designed computational model are also presented to validate the conclusions drawn from signal processing

Vibrio parahaemolyticus, enterotoxigenic Escherichia coli, enterohemorrhagic Escherichia coli and Vibrio cholerae

This review highlighted the following: (i) pathogenic mechanism of the thermostable direct hemolysin produced by Vibrio parahaemolyticus, especially on its cardiotoxicity, (ii) heat-labile and heat-stable enterotoxins produced by enterotoxigenic Escherichia coli, especially structure–activity relationship of heat-stable enterotoxin, (iii) RNA N-glycosidase activity of Vero toxins (VT1 and VT2) produced by enterohemorrhagic Escherichia coli O157:H7, (iv) discovery of Vibrio cholerae O139, (v) isolation of new variant of Vibrio cholerae O1 El Tor that carries classical ctxB, and production of high concentration of cholera toxin by these strains, and (vi) conversion of viable but nonculturable (VBNC) Vibrio cholerae to culturable state by co-culture with eukaryotic cells

Maternal death and obstetric care audits in Nigeria: A systematic review of barriers and enabling factors in the provision of emergency care.

Acknowledgements We would like to thank Yutaka Osakabe for co-ordinating the retrieval of full text articles. The John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation supported this study, grant number 12-100074-000-INPPeer reviewedPublisher PD

Questions éthiques, pratiques professionnelles et formation universitaire en journalisme

Communication au colloque international "Nouvelles narrations journalistiques", Arppej, Louvain-la-Neuve. Lecture de cursus journalistiques selon les conceptions professionnalisantes de la déontologie comparées aux approches éthiques de la conception de la fonction journalistique en démocratie

Practices of intimacy in transnational families: care circulation and the re-appropriation of the tension between geographical distance and emotional proximity

In this paper I consider practices of care circulation (Baldassar & Merla, 2014) as “practices of intimacy” (Jamieson 2011) that can be understood, in a transnational context, as mediums for the (re)appropriation of the tension between geographical distance and emotional closeness. This hypothesis is further explored through the mobilisation of a conceptual framework located at the intersection between social sciences and psychology, developed in collaboration with François & Janssen (Merla et al. 2014), which interrogates the dialectical relations between geographical distance and social ties.  I will discuss in particular how technological, cultural-normative, institutional and relational contexts contribute to influence people’s perception of geographical distance as an obstacle – or as a facilitator – for the maintenance of intimate relations.

The global chemistry climate model ECHAM6-HAMMOZ

Atmospheric composition of short-lived gases and aerosols is an important component of the global climate system. Complex processes from emissions, transport, and chemical reactions to heterogeneous loss processes and radiation interactions need to be implemented in climate models to reach an adequate understanding of the role of short-lived climate forcers on the climate system and to allow the assessment of climate impacts on the regional scale. With ECHAM6-HAMMOZ we have developed a comprehensive model of tropospheric and stratospheric aerosols and gas-phase chemistry which is now running successfully on the Jülich supercomputer JURECA.HAMMOZ consortiu

Enhanced performance of SERDES current-mode output driver using 0.13 µm PD SOI CMOS

A current-mode output driver that supports SERDES applications is implemented using 0.13 μm Bulk and PD SOI CMOS technologies. Schematic simulation results confirm the enhanced performance of PD SOI for very high-speed interfaces. The PD SOI current-mode driver shows a 3 times lower data dependent jitter than the Bulk current-mode driver at the same 3.125 Gbps data rate of XAUI standard