Evaluation of failure progress in glass- and jute-fibre reinforced polymer laminates by analysis of vibration and noise

The application of contactless and non-destructive methods of measurements and analyses of vibroacoustic signals to evaluate the degradation of composite materials during their bending is proposed in the paper. Stand tests of bending of composite samples based on simultaneous recording of the stress – deflection characteristics were carried out and measurements were performed of their instantaneous vibration velocity and acoustic pressure in their vicinity. Samples of glass- and jute-fibre reinforced polymer (FRP) laminates were subjected to examination. The obtained results have shown that the measurements of vibration and acoustic pressure expand and supplement the mechanical tests, and enable observation of the momentary destructive changes in the investigated materials. It was found that an instantaneous change of signals amplitude corresponds to the occurrence of local failure in the composite material. Spectral analysis of vibration velocity and acoustic pressure signals allowed a selection of the frequency bands in which symptoms of failure occurring in the composite material can be observed. The tests have also shown that the thresholds of point characteristics determined on the basis of the recorded vibration and noise signals may be used as indicators of the beginning of composite material’s degradation when it is loaded

Copper-decorated CNTs as a possible electrode material in supercapacitors

Copper is probably one of the most important metal used in the broad range of electronic applications. It has been developed for many decades, and so it is very hard to make any further advances in its electrical and thermal performance by simply changing the manufacture to even more oxygen-free conditions. Carbon nanotubes (CNTs) due to their excellent electrical, thermal and mechanical properties seem like an ideal component to produce Cu-CNT composites of superior electrochemical performance. In this report we present whether Cu-CNT contact has a beneficial influence for manufacturing of a new type of carbon-based supercapacitor with embedded copper particles. The prepared electrode material was examined in symmetric cell configuration. The specific capacity and cyclability of composite were compared to parent CNT and oxidized CNT

Distinct chemical changes in abdominal but not in thoracic aorta upon atherosclerosis studied using fiber optic Raman spectroscopy

Fiber optic Raman spectroscopy and Raman microscopy were used to investigate alterations in the aorta wall and the surrounding perivascular adipose tissue (PVAT) in the murine model of atherosclerosis (Apoe-/-/Ldlr-/- mice). Both abdominal and thoracic parts of the aorta were studied to account for the heterogenic chemical composition of aorta and its localization-dependent response in progression of atherosclerosis. The average Raman spectra obtained for both parts of aorta cross sections revealed that the chemical composition of intima-media layers along aorta remains relatively homogeneous while the lipid content in the adventitia layer markedly increases with decreasing distance to PVAT. Moreover, our results demonstrate that the increase of the lipid to protein ratio in the aorta wall correlates directly with the increased unsaturation level of lipids in PVAT and these changes occur only in the abdominal, but not in thoracic, aorta. In summary, distinct pathophysiological response in the aortic vascular wall could be uncovered by fiber optic Raman spectroscopy based on simple parameters detecting chemical contents of lipids in PVAT

31st Annual Meeting and Associated Programs of the Society for Immunotherapy of Cancer (SITC 2016) : part two

Background The immunological escape of tumors represents one of the main ob- stacles to the treatment of malignancies. The blockade of PD-1 or CTLA-4 receptors represented a milestone in the history of immunotherapy. However, immune checkpoint inhibitors seem to be effective in specific cohorts of patients. It has been proposed that their efficacy relies on the presence of an immunological response. Thus, we hypothesized that disruption of the PD-L1/PD-1 axis would synergize with our oncolytic vaccine platform PeptiCRAd. Methods We used murine B16OVA in vivo tumor models and flow cytometry analysis to investigate the immunological background. Results First, we found that high-burden B16OVA tumors were refractory to combination immunotherapy. However, with a more aggressive schedule, tumors with a lower burden were more susceptible to the combination of PeptiCRAd and PD-L1 blockade. The therapy signifi- cantly increased the median survival of mice (Fig. 7). Interestingly, the reduced growth of contralaterally injected B16F10 cells sug- gested the presence of a long lasting immunological memory also against non-targeted antigens. Concerning the functional state of tumor infiltrating lymphocytes (TILs), we found that all the immune therapies would enhance the percentage of activated (PD-1pos TIM- 3neg) T lymphocytes and reduce the amount of exhausted (PD-1pos TIM-3pos) cells compared to placebo. As expected, we found that PeptiCRAd monotherapy could increase the number of antigen spe- cific CD8+ T cells compared to other treatments. However, only the combination with PD-L1 blockade could significantly increase the ra- tio between activated and exhausted pentamer positive cells (p= 0.0058), suggesting that by disrupting the PD-1/PD-L1 axis we could decrease the amount of dysfunctional antigen specific T cells. We ob- served that the anatomical location deeply influenced the state of CD4+ and CD8+ T lymphocytes. In fact, TIM-3 expression was in- creased by 2 fold on TILs compared to splenic and lymphoid T cells. In the CD8+ compartment, the expression of PD-1 on the surface seemed to be restricted to the tumor micro-environment, while CD4 + T cells had a high expression of PD-1 also in lymphoid organs. Interestingly, we found that the levels of PD-1 were significantly higher on CD8+ T cells than on CD4+ T cells into the tumor micro- environment (p < 0.0001). Conclusions In conclusion, we demonstrated that the efficacy of immune check- point inhibitors might be strongly enhanced by their combination with cancer vaccines. PeptiCRAd was able to increase the number of antigen-specific T cells and PD-L1 blockade prevented their exhaus- tion, resulting in long-lasting immunological memory and increased median survival

Failure Progress of 3D Reinforced GFRP Laminate during Static Bending, Evaluated by Means of Acoustic Emission and Vibrations Analysis

The work aimed to assess the failure progress in a glass fiber-reinforced polymer laminate with a 3D-woven and (as a comparison) plain-woven reinforcement, during static bending, using acoustic emission signals. The innovative method of the separation of the signal coming from the fiber fracture and the one coming from the matrix fracture with the use of the acoustic event’s energy as a criterion was applied. The failure progress during static bending was alternatively analyzed by evaluation of the vibration signal. It gave a possibility to validate the results of the acoustic emission. Acoustic emission, as well as vibration signal analysis proved to be good and effective tools for the registration of failure effects in composite laminates. Vibration analysis is more complicated methodologically, yet it is more precise. The failure progress of the 3D laminate is “safer” and more beneficial than that of the plain-woven laminate. It exhibits less rapid load capacity drops and a higher fiber effort contribution at the moment of the main laminate failure

The ESSnuSB Target Station

International audienceThe ESSνSB project, recently granted by the EU H₂020 programme for a 4-year design study, proposes to use the protons produced by the linac (2 GeV, 5 MW) of the European Spallation Source (ESS) currently in construction in Lund (Sweden) to deliver a neutrino super beam. It follows the studies made by the FP7 Design Study EUROν[1] (2008-2012), regarding future neutrino facilities. The primary proton beam line completing the linear accelerator will consist of one or several accumulator rings and a proton beam switchyard. The secondary beam line producing neutrinos will consist of a four-horn/target station, a decay tunnel and a beam dump. A challenging component of this project is the enormous target heat-load generated by the 5 MW proton beam. In order to reduce this heat-load there will be four targets, which will be hit in sequence by the compressed proton pulses, thereby reducing the beam power on each target to 1.25 MW. Following the EUROν studies, a packed bed of titanium spheres cooled with helium gas has become the baseline design for a Super Beam based on a 2-5 GeV proton beam with a power of up to 1 MW per target, with other targets being considered for comparison. The hadron collection will be performed by four hadron collectors (magnetic horns), one for each target. Each of these target/hadron-collector assemblies will receive proton pulses three times more frequently than in present projects, and by an average beam power of 1.25 MW, which is twice as high as in present neutrino projects. The feasibility of the target/horn station for the ESSνSB project is discussed here