Thin ply carbon/glass hybrid laminates to activate new damage mechanisms under indentation

Low velocity impacts on composite laminates can cause a significant amount of delamination that is often referred to as barely visible impact damage (BVID). This damage can cause significant degradation of structural properties, especially the compressive strength after impact. The aim of this work was to utilise thin ply carbon/glass hybrid laminates to activate new types of damage mechanisms under indentation (quasi-static impact) that are more gradual and easier to detect. Therefore, 3 different types of hybrid composite plates fabricated from novel hybrid architectures of thin ply high modulus carbon (HS40) and standard thickness S-glass laminates were investigated. For comparison, a laminate containing only S-glass plies was investigated as well. The investigated specimens were interrupted at different load-levels and a detailed assessment of the damage evolution was carried out using X-ray Computed Tomography (CT). For all the hybrid configurations, a larger damage area was observed mostly under the indenter and the delaminations were smaller in the middle plies compared to the upper plies. In contrast, for the Glass laminates the delaminations were larger in the middle plies compared to the upper plies. For the hybrid laminates, the percentage of the first load drop in the global load-displacement curves was lower whereas the percentage of the stiffness reduction after the first load drop was higher, compared to the Glass laminate. Overall the hybrid results showed some different damage mechanisms, i.e. carbon ply fibre fracture and delamination under the indenter, with a gradual failure behaviour and less damage to the inner layers. The degradation mechanisms were visually detectable from the indented face from the early stage of the loading for some of the hybrid configurations, which can act as impact damage indicator

Iranome: A catalogue of genomic variations in the Iranian population

Considering the application of human genome variation databases in precision medicine, population-specific genome projects are continuously being developed. However, the Middle Eastern population is underrepresented in current databases. Accordingly, we established Iranome database (www.iranome.com) by performing whole exome sequencing on 800 individuals from eight major Iranian ethnic groups representing the second largest population of Middle East. We identified 1,575,702 variants of which 308,311 were novel (19.6%). Also, by presenting higher frequency for 37,384 novel or known rare variants, Iranome database can improve the power of molecular diagnosis. Moreover, attainable clinical information makes this database a good resource for classifying pathogenicity of rare variants. Principal components analysis indicated that, apart from Iranian-Baluchs, Iranian-Turkmen, and Iranian-Persian Gulf Islanders, who form their own clusters, rest of the population were genetically linked, forming a super-population. Furthermore, only 0.6% of novel variants showed counterparts in "Greater Middle East Variome Project", emphasizing the value of Iranome at national level by releasing a comprehensive catalog of Iranian genomic variations and also filling another gap in the catalog of human genome variations at international level. We introduce Iranome as a resource which may also be applicable in other countries located in neighboring regions historically called Greater Iran (Persia)

Panel 6 : Vaccines

Objective. To review the literature on progress regarding (1) effectiveness of vaccines for prevention of otitis media (OM) and (2) development of vaccine antigens for OM bacterial and viral pathogens. Data Sources. PubMed database of the National Library of Science. Review Methods. We performed literature searches in PubMed for OM pathogens and candidate vaccine antigens, and we restricted the searches to articles in English that were published between July 2011 and June 2015. Panel members reviewed literature in their area of expertise. Conclusions. Pneumococcal conjugate vaccines (PCVs) are somewhat effective for the prevention of pneumococcal OM, recurrent OM, OM visits, and tympanostomy tube insertions. Widespread use of PCVs has been associated with shifts in pneumococcal serotypes and bacterial pathogens associated with OM, diminishing PCV effectiveness against AOM. The 10-valent pneumococcal vaccine containing Haemophilus influenzae protein D (PHiD-CV) is effective for pneumococcal OM, but results from studies describing the potential impact on OM due to H influenzae have been inconsistent. Progress in vaccine development for H influenzae, Moraxella catarrhalis, and OM-associated respiratory viruses has been limited. Additional research is needed to extend vaccine protection to additional pneumococcal serotypes and other otopathogens. There are likely to be licensure challenges for protein-based vaccines, and data on correlates of protection for OM vaccine antigens are urgently needed. Implications for Practice. OM continues to be a significant health care burden globally. Prevention is preferable to treatment, and vaccine development remains an important goal. As a polymicrobial disease, OM poses significant but not insurmountable challenges for vaccine development.Peer reviewe

PHONETIC AND ANTHROPOMETRIC CONDITIONING OF MSA-KST COGNITIVE IMPAIRMENT CHARACTERIZATION SYSTEM

We explore the impact of speech- and speaker-specific modeling onto the Modulation Spectrum Analysis – Kolmogorov- Smirnov feature Testing (MSA-KST) characterization method in the task of automated prediction of the cognitive impairment diagnosis, namely dysphasia and pervasive development disorder. Phoneme-synchronous capturing of speech dynamics is a reasonable choice for a segmental speech characterization system as it allows comparing speech dynamics in the similar phonetic contexts. Speaker-specific modeling aims at reducing the “within-the-class” variability of the characterized speech or speaker population by removing the effect of speaker properties that should have no relation to the characterization. Specifically the vocal tract length of a speaker has nothing to do with the diagnosis attribution and, thus, the feature set shall be normalized accordingly. The resulting system compares favorably to the baseline system of the Interspeech’2013 Computational Paralinguistics Challenge

Thin Ply Carbon/ Glass Hybrid Laminates to Activate New Damage Mechanisms Under Indentation

No abstract available

Green synthesis and chemical characterization of copper nanoparticles using Allium saralicum leaves and assessment of their cytotoxicity, antioxidant, antimicrobial, and cutaneous wound healing properties

In recent decades, nanotechnology is growing rapidly owing to its widespread application in science and industry. The aim of the experiment was the green synthesis of copper nanoparticles using Allium saralicum R.M. Fritsch aqueous extract and assessment of their cytotoxicity, antioxidant, antibacterial, antifungal, and cutaneous wound healing effects under in vitro and in vivo conditions. These nanoparticles were characterized by Fourier transformed infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR), UV–visible spectroscopy, field emission scanning electron microscopy (FE-SEM), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), and atomic force microscopy (AFM). DPPH free radical scavenging test was done to assess the antioxidant properties, which indicated similar antioxidant potentials for CuNPs@Allium and butylated hydroxytoluene. Minimum Inhibitory Concentration (MIC), Minimum Bactericidal Concentration (MBC), and Minimum Fungicidal Concentration (MFC) were specified by macro-broth dilution assay. CuNPs@Allium indicated higher antibacterial and antifungal effects than all standard antibiotics (p ≤ 0.01). Also, CuNPs@Allium inhibited the growth of all bacteria at 1–8 mg/ml concentrations and removed them at 2–8 mg/ml concentrations (p ≤ 0.01). In the case of antifungal properties of CuNPs@Allium, they prevented the growth of all fungi at 1–4 mg/ml concentrations and destroyed them at 2–8 mg/ml concentrations (p ≤ 0.01). In vivo experiment, after creating the cutaneous wound, the rats were randomly divided into six groups (n = 10): untreated control, treatment with Eucerin basal ointment, treatment with 3 tetracycline ointment, treatment with 0.2 CuSO4 ointment, treatment with 0.2 A. saralicum ointment, and treatment with 0.2 CuNPs@Allium ointment. Use of CuNPs@Allium ointment in the treatment groups substantially reduced (p ≤ 0.01) the wound area, total cells, neutrophil, macrophage, and lymphocyte and remarkably raised (p ≤ 0.01) the wound contracture, hydroxyl proline, hexosamine, hexuronic acid, fibrocyte, and fibrocytes/fibroblast rate compared to other groups. The synthesized CuNPs@Allium had high cell viability dose-dependently (Investigating the effect of the plant on HUVEC cell line) and revealed this method was nontoxic. The results revealed the useful non-cytotoxic, antioxidant, antibacterial, antifungal, and cutaneous wound healing effects of CuNPs@Allium. © 2019 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd

Thin Ply Carbon/ Glass Hybrid Laminates to Activate New Damage Mechanisms Under Indentation

No abstract available

Chemical characterization and antioxidant, cytotoxic, antibacterial, and antifungal properties of ethanolic extract of Allium Saralicum RM Fritsch leaves rich in linolenic acid, methyl ester

The purpose of the recent research was to assess the chemical characterization and antioxidant, cytotoxic, antibacterial, and antifungal effects of Allium Saralicum R.M. Fritsch leaves. After identification of the plant, its ethanolic extract was obtained using Soxhlet extractor without leaving any chemicals in it. Gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC/MS) was performed to detect the percentage, retention index, and time of A. Saralicum compounds. Agar diffusion tests were applied to determine the antibacterial and antifungal characteristics. In agar disk diffusion test, dimethyl sulfoxide (DMSO) was used as negative control, while antibacterial (Difloxacin, Chloramphenicol, Streptomycin, Gentamicin, Oxytetracycline, Ampicillin, and Amikacin) and antifungal (Fluconazole, Itraconazole, Miconazole, Amphotericin B, and Nystatin) antibiotics were used as positive controls. Macro broth tube test was run to determine Minimum Inhibitory Concentration (MIC). The findings indicated that linolenic acid, methyl ester was the most frequent constituent found in A. Saralicum. Indeed, A. Saralicum showed higher antibacterial and antifungal properties than all standard antibiotics (p <= 01). Also, A. Saralicum prevented the growth of all bacteria and fungi at 15-125 mg/mL concentrations and destroyed them at 15-250 mg/mL concentrations (p <= 01). DPPH free radical scavenging test was carried out to examine the antioxidant effect, which indicated similar antioxidant activity with butylated hydroxy toluene (BHT) as a positive control. The synthesized ethanolic extract had great cell viability dose-dependently and demonstrated this method was nontoxic for synthesizing A. Saralicum. In conclusion, the findings showed the useful antioxidant, non-cytotoxic, antibacterial, and antifungal effects of A. Saralicum ethanolic extract

Developing an interesting electrochemical biosensing system from an enzyme inhibition study: Binding, inhibition and determination of catalase by ascorbate

By this article, we are going to report results of one of works which has been performed on investigation of the binding and inhibition of catalase (CAT) by ascorbate (ASC). To achieve this goal, different electrochemical experiments have been performed and their data have been analyzed by conventional and chemometric methods. Conventional methods were including direct analysis of the electrochemical data by observation of them and using simple mathematical equations while chemometric analyses of the electrochemical data helped us to obtain more information which completed the previous information and gave us a new insight to the binding of the ASC with CAT. The next step of our study was devoted to the investigation of the binding of ASC with CAT by molecular docking methods which gave us new information about binding and inhibition of the CAT by ASC. All the steps gave specific information which not only confirmed each other but also gave new information which helped us to better understanding the mechanism of the binding and inhibition of the CAT by ASC. Finally, based on inhibition of the CAT by ASC, we have developed a novel impedimetric method for determination of the CAT. © 2020 The Author(s

Coupling of digital image processing and three-way calibration to assist a paper-based sensor for determination of nitrite in food samples

In this work, a novel and very interesting analytical methodology based on coupling of digital image processing and three-way calibration has been developed for determination of nitrite in food samples. Nitrite in contact with Griess reagent is able to produce a red-colored azo dye whose color intensity is correlated with nitrite concentration and here, a piece of Whatman filter paper impregnated with Griess reagent was used as the platform of the sensor and a SONY Xperia Z5 cell phone was used for image capturing from the sensor surface. To generate second-order data, the F-number of the camera's sensor was changed as an instrumental parameter. Two calibration models were constructed by unfolded partial least squares-residual bilinearization (U-PLS/RBL) and multiway-PLS/RBL (N-PLS/RBL) and then, their performance for prediction of nitrite concentration in test samples was evaluated and the results confirmed a good performance for U-PLS/RBL (REP = 3.25 ppm, RMSEP = 8.82 ppm, RMSEC = 4.62 ppm, Q(2) = 0.99, gamma(-1) = 0.05 and LOD = 0.1 ppm) which was better than that for N-PLS/RBL (REP = 13.98 ppm, RMSEP = 37.86 ppm, RMSEC = 6.46 ppm, Q(2) = 0.98, gamma(-1) = 0.07 and LOD = 0.15 ppm) in predicting concentration of nitrite in test samples which motivated us to choose it for the analysis of cabbage, carrot, lettuce, watermelon, onion, potato, kielbasa and sausage as real samples