Stress Relaxation Behavior of Additively Manufactured Polylactic Acid (PLA)

In this work, the stress relaxation behavior of 3D printed PLA was experimentally investigated and analytically modeled. First, a quasi-static tensile characterization of additively manufactured samples was conducted by considering the effect of printing parameters like the material infill orientation and the outer wall presence. The effect of two thermal conditioning treatments on the material tensile properties was also investigated. Successively, stress relaxation tests were conducted, on both treated and unconditioned specimens, undergoing three different strains levels. Analytical predictive models of the viscous behavior of additive manufactured material were compared, highlighting and discussing the effects of considered printing parameters

From test data to FE code: a straightforward strategy for modelling the structural bonding interface

A straightforward methodology for modelling the cohesive zone (CZM) of an adhesively bonded joint is developed, by using a commercial finite element code and experimental outcomes from standard fracture tests, without defining a damage law explicitly. The in-house developed algorithm implements a linear interpolated cohesive relationship, obtained from literature data, and calculates the damage at each step increment. The algorithm is applicable both to dominant mode I or dominant mode II debonding simulations. The hypothesis of unloading stages occurrence is also considered employing an irreversible behaviour with elastic damaged reloading. A case study for validation is presented, implementing the algorithm in the commercial finite element method (FEM) software Abaqus®. Numerical simulation of dominant mode I fracture loading provides with satisfactory results

Morphological, Gene, and Hormonal Changes in Gonads and In-Creased Micrococcal Nuclease Accessibility of Sperm Chromatin Induced by Mercury

Mercury is one of the most dangerous environmental pollutants. In this work, we analysed the effects of exposure of Mytilus galloprovincialis to 1, 10 and 100 pM HgCl2 for 24 h on the gonadal morphology and on the expression level of three stress genes: mt10, hsp70 and πgst. In this tissue we also evaluated the level of steroidogenic enzymes 3β-HSD and 17β-HSD and the expression of PL protein genes. Finally, we determined difference in sperm chromatin accessibility to micrococcal nuclease. We found alterations in gonadal morphology especially after exposure to 10 and 100 pM HgCl2 and hypo-expression of the three stress genes, particularly for hsp70. Furthermore, decreased labelling with both 3β-HSD and 17β-HSD antibodies was observed following exposure to 1 and 10 pM HgCl2 and complete absence at 100 pM HgCl2 exposure. Gonads of mussels exposed to all HgCl2 doses showed decreased expression of PL protein genes especially for PLIII. Finally, micrococcal nuclease digestions showed that all doses of HgCl2 exposure resulted in increased sperm chromatin accessibility to this enzyme, indicative of improper sperm chromatin structure. All of these changes provide preliminary data of the potential toxicity of mercury on the reproductive health of this mussel

The three years MOOC Experience of the University

Le numerose esperienze di alta formazione online, accanto allo sviluppo delle tecnologie e dei media digitali a supporto della didattica, hanno reso indispensabili una serie di azioni volte a sostenere le pratiche didattiche nelle università. A partire dalle raccomandazioni internazionali, dal 2016 l’Università di Foggia ha intrapreso una serie di azioni volte a promuovere un processo di rinnovamento delle pratiche e dei servizi, in risposta alle esigenze dei docenti universitari e degli studenti. All’interno del portale Eduopen, l’Ateneo foggiano ha erogato diversi corsi con l’obiettivo di innovare e riprogettare gli ambienti di apprendimento e sperimentare nuove tecnologie e metodologie, incoraggiando la partecipazione di tutti gli attori coinvolti. Tali aspetti sono strettamente collegati alla qualità della didattica, alla progettazione di percorsi di apprendimento in presenza e online, alla gestione di piattaforme e di risorse destinate non soltanto agli studenti iscritti ai singoli atenei, ma pensati per un pubblico globale. In questo primo triennio, l’Università di Foggia ha erogato circa 30 corsi MOOC rivolti ad una utenza piuttosto variegata e composta per lo più da studenti universitari, docenti, professionisti o semplici “curiosi”. Lo studio qui presentato, si configura come un primo tentativo di analisi descrittiva volta a fornire una accurata rappresentazione del fenomeno del dropout che si è verificato all’interno dei corsi MOOC offerti dall’ateneo foggiano. L’analisi parte da una lettura preliminare che aggrega i dati dell’offerta formativa MOOC considerando cinque variabili, limitatamente a 28 corsi dei 32 totali poiché sono stati esclusi i 4 Courseware. In questa fase, la lettura dei dati ha unicamente lo scopo di descrivere dropout al fine di prevedere la probabilità di abbandono e quindi attivare strategie di retention che saranno oggetto della fase successiva dello studio

Dati demografici degli studenti e selezione dei MOOC su Eduopen. Uno studio esplorativo sui MOOC erogati da UniFg

Today's generation of Massive Open Online Courses (MOOC) based on Open EducationalResources (OER) is able to offer high quality education to all those who decide touse this new type of online lifelong learning. Students who decide to enroll in thesecourses represent an increasingly diverse audience in terms of age and place of origin.The literature is being enriched with research studies that study the demographic dataof the students in relation to different variables, including the type of course MOOCchosen.17 universities join the Eduopen project, including the University of Foggia, which in thefirst three years has contributed to the growth and development of the platform by designingand delivering various MOOCs, involving numerous teachers and stimulatingan increasing number of students from non-geographical areas. necessarily surrounding.Specifically, in April 2019 Unifg counts:– 34 Mooc Courses;– 4 Pathway;– 45 Lecturers and Tutors.– more than 8000 students.This contribution presents an exploratory study carried out on the demographic data ofthe students enrolled in the courses offered by the University of Foggia. Specifically, thedemographic data of the students were analyzed based on age, educational qualificationsand city of origin and studied the correlations between these data and the choiceof available courses.La generazione odierna di Massive Open Online Courses (MOOC) basati su Open Educational Resources (OER) è in grado di offrire un’istruzione di qualità a tutti coloro che, per varie ragioni, utilizzano questa nuova metodologia di formazione online. Gli studenti che decidono di iscriversi a questi corsi costituiscono un pubblico sempre più diversificato per quanto riguarda età e luogo di provenienza.I ricercatori, educatori, e il pubblico in generale recentemente si è interessato molto su come differisce la provenienza dei corsisti e sulla relazione tra questa variabile e la scelta di un corso MOOC. Al progetto Eduopen aderiscono 17 Atenei, tra cui l’Università di Foggia, che nel primo triennio ha contribuito alla crescita e sviluppo della piattaforma progettando ed erogando diversi MOOC, coinvolgendo numerosi docenti e stimolando un numero sempre più crescente di studenti provenienti da zone geografiche non necessariamente circostanti. Nello specifico, ad aprile 2019 UniFg conta:– 34 Corsi MOOC;– 4 Pathway;– 45 Docenti e Tutor.– più di 8000 studenti.Questo contributo presenta uno studio esplorativo effettuato sui dati demografici degli studenti iscritti ai corsi offerti dall’ateneo foggiano. Nello specifico, sono stati analizzati i dati demografici degli studenti in base a età, titolo di studio e città di provenienza e studiate le correlazioni tra questi dati e la scelta dei corsi disponibili

High-efficiency cross-phase modulation in a gas-filled waveguide

Strong cross-Kerr nonlinearities have been long sought after for quantum information applications. Recent work has shown that they are intrinsically unreliable in traveling-wave configurations: cavity configurations avoid this, but require knowledge of both the nonlinearity and the loss. Here we present a detailed systematic study of cross-phase modulation and absorption in an Rb vapor confined within a hollow-core photonic crystal fiber. Using a two-photon transition, we observe phase modulations of up to pi rad with a signal power of 25 mu W, corresponding to a nonlinear Kerr coefficient, n(2), of 0.8 x 10(-6) cm(2)/W, or 1.3 x 10(-6) rad per photon

Objective Knowledge Mediates the Relationship between the Use of Social Media and COVID-19-Related False Memories

The exposure to relevant social and/or historical events can increase the generation of false memories (FMs). The Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic is a calamity challenging health, political, and journalistic bodies, with media generating confusion that has facilitated the spread of fake news. In this respect, our study aims at investigating the relationships between memories (true memories, TMs vs. FMs) for COVID-19-related news and different individual variables (i.e., use of traditional and social media, COVID-19 perceived and objective knowledge, fear of the disease, depression and anxiety symptoms, reasoning skills, and coping mechanisms). One hundred and seventy-one university students (131 females) were surveyed. Overall, our results suggested that depression and anxiety symptoms, reasoning skills, and coping mechanisms did not affect the formation of FMs. Conversely, the fear of loved ones contracting the infection was found to be negatively associated with FMs. This finding might be due to an empathy/prosociality-based positive bias boosting memory abilities, also explained by the young age of participants. Furthermore, objective knowledge (i) predicted an increase in TMs and decrease in FMs and (ii) significantly mediated the relationships between the use of social media and development of both TMs and FMs. In particular, higher levels of objective knowledge strengthened the formation of TMs and decreased the development of FMs following use of social media. These results may lead to reconsidering the idea of social media as the main source of fake news. This claim is further supported by either the lack of substantial differences between the use of traditional and social media among participants reporting FMs or the positive association between use of social media and levels of objective knowledge. The knowledge about the topic rather than the type of source would make a difference in the process of memory formation

Inflammasome activation in neutrophils of patients with severe COVID-19

© The Author(s), 2022. This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License. The definitive version was published in Aymonnier, K., Ng, J., Fredenburgh, L. E., Zambrano-Vera, K., Muenzer, P., Gutch, S., Fukui, S., Desjardins, M., Subramaniam, M., Baron, R. M., Raby, B. A., Perrella, M. A., Lederer, J. A., & Wagner, D. D. Inflammasome activation in neutrophils of patients with severe COVID-19. Blood Advances, 6(7), (2022): 2001–2013, https://doi.org/10.1182/bloodadvances.2021005949.Infection by the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) engages the inflammasome in monocytes and macrophages and leads to the cytokine storm in COVID-19. Neutrophils, the most abundant leukocytes, release neutrophil extracellular traps (NETs), which have been implicated in the pathogenesis of COVID-19. Our recent study shows that activation of the NLRP3 inflammasome is important for NET release in sterile inflammation. However, the role of neutrophil inflammasome formation in human disease is unknown. We hypothesized that SARS-CoV-2 infection may induce inflammasome activation in neutrophils. We also aimed to assess the localization of inflammasome formation (ie, apoptosis-associated speck-like protein containing a CARD [ASC] speck assembly) and timing relative to NETosis in stimulated neutrophils by real-time video microscopy. Neutrophils isolated from severe COVID-19 patients demonstrated that ∼2% of neutrophils in both the peripheral blood and tracheal aspirates presented ASC speck. ASC speck was observed in neutrophils with an intact poly-lobulated nucleus, suggesting early formation during neutrophil activation. Additionally, 40% of nuclei were positive for citrullinated histone H3, and there was a significant correlation between speck formation and nuclear histone citrullination. Time-lapse microscopy in lipopolysaccharide -stimulated neutrophils from fluorescent ASC reporter mice showed that ASC speck formed transiently and at the microtubule organizing center long before NET release. Our study shows that ASC speck is present in neutrophils from COVID-19 patients with respiratory failure and that it forms early in NETosis. Our findings suggest that inhibition of neutrophil inflammasomes may be beneficial in COVID-19.P.M. received an Individual Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions fellowship by the European Commission (796365 - COAGULANT). This work was supported by the National Institutes of Health (NIH)/Research Program Award grant R35 HL135765 (D.W.), by the NIH/National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute grant T32 HL007633-35 (J.N.), and by the NIH/National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases grant U01AI138318 (J.L and M.P); by the Massachusetts Consortium on Pathogen Readiness (MassCPR) Evergrande COVID‐19 Response Fund Award to B.R.; and by a generous gift to D.W. from the Steven Berzin family

Baseline drug treatments as indicators of increased risk of COVID-19 mortality in Spain and Italy

This study aims to identify baseline medications that, as a proxy for the diseases they are dispensed for, are associated with increased risk of mortality in COVID-19 patients from two regions in Spain and Italy using real-world data. We conducted a cross-country, retrospective, observational study including 8570 individuals from both regions with confirmed SARS-CoV-2 infection between 4 March and 17 April 2020, and followed them for a minimum of 30 days to allow sufficient time for the studied event, in this case death, to occur. Baseline demographic variables and all drugs dispensed in community pharmacies three months prior to infection were extracted from the PRECOVID Study cohort (Aragon, Spain) and the Campania Region Database (Campania, Italy) and analyzed using logistic regression models. Results show that the presence at baseline of potassium-sparing agents, antipsychotics, vasodilators, high-ceiling diuretics, antithrombotic agents, vitamin B12, folic acid, and antiepileptics were systematically associated with mortality in COVID-19 patients from both countries. Treatments for chronic cardiovascular and metabolic diseases, systemic inflammation, and processes with increased risk of thrombosis as proxies for the conditions they are intended for can serve as timely indicators of an increased likelihood of mortality after the infection, and the assessment of pharmacological profiles can be an additional approach to the identification of at-risk individuals in clinical practice

Measurement of the cross-section and charge asymmetry of WW bosons produced in proton-proton collisions at s=8\sqrt{s}=8 TeV with the ATLAS detector

This paper presents measurements of the $W^+ \rightarrow \mu^+\nu$ and $W^- \rightarrow \mu^-\nu$ cross-sections and the associated charge asymmetry as a function of the absolute pseudorapidity of the decay muon. The data were collected in proton--proton collisions at a centre-of-mass energy of 8 TeV with the ATLAS experiment at the LHC and correspond to a total integrated luminosity of 20.2~\mbox{fb^{-1}}. The precision of the cross-section measurements varies between 0.8% to 1.5% as a function of the pseudorapidity, excluding the 1.9% uncertainty on the integrated luminosity. The charge asymmetry is measured with an uncertainty between 0.002 and 0.003. The results are compared with predictions based on next-to-next-to-leading-order calculations with various parton distribution functions and have the sensitivity to discriminate between them.Comment: 38 pages in total, author list starting page 22, 5 figures, 4 tables, submitted to EPJC. All figures including auxiliary figures are available at https://atlas.web.cern.ch/Atlas/GROUPS/PHYSICS/PAPERS/STDM-2017-13