544 research outputs found
Development of a Digital Twin Model for Real-Time Assessment of Collisione Hazards
The AEC industry is nowadays one of the most hazardous industries in the world. The construction sector employees about 7% of the world’s work force but is responsible for 30-40% of fatalities. As statistics demonstrate, interferences between workers-on-foot and moving vehicles have caused several injuries and fatalities over the years. Despite safety organizational measures, passive safety devices imposed by regulations and efforts from training procedures, scarce improvements have been recorded. Recent research studies propose technology driven approaches as the key solutions to integrate standard health and safety management practices. This is motivated by the evidence that the dynamics of complex systems can hardly be predicted; rather a proactive approach to health and safety is more effective. Current technologies installed on construction equipment can usually react according to a strict logic, such as sending proximity alerts when workers and equipment are too close. Nevertheless, these approaches barely do make informed decisions in real-time, e.g. including the level of reactiveness of the endangered worker. In similar circumstances a digital twin of the construction site, updated by real-time data from sensors and enriched by artificial intelligence, can pro-actively support activities, forecasting dangerous scenarios on the base of several factors. In this paper a laboratory mock-up has been assumed as the test case, supported by a game engine, which is able to replicates the job site for the execution of bored piles. In such a scenario populated by an avatar of a sensor-equipped worker and a virtual driller, a Bayesian network, implemented within the game engine and fed in runtime by sensor data, works out collision probability in real-time in order to send warnings and avoid fatal accidents
Further evidence of antibunching of two coherent beams of fermions
We describe an experiment confirming the evidence of the antibunching effect
on a beam of non interacting thermal neutrons. The comparison between the
results recorded with a high energy-resolution source of neutrons and those
recorded with a broad energy-resolution source enables us to clarify the role
played by the beam coherence in the occurrence of the antibunching effect.Comment: 4 pages, 3 figure
(Y-Er)-Ba-Cu-O superconducting thin films obtained ex-situ: toward submicrometric patterning by electron beam lithography
u-RANIA: a neutron detector based on \mu -RWELL technology
In the framework of the ATTRACT-uRANIA project, funded by the European
Community, we are developing an innovative neutron imaging detector based on
micro-Resistive WELL ( -RWELL) technology. The -RWELL, based on the
resistive detector concept, ensuring an efficient spark quenching mechanism, is
a highly reliable device. It is composed by two main elements: a readout-PCB
and a cathode. The amplification stage for this device is embedded in the
readout board through a resistive layer realized by means of an industrial
process with DLC (Diamond-Like Carbon). A thin layer of BC on the copper
surface of the cathode allows the thermal neutrons detection through the
release of Li and particles in the active volume. This technology
has been developed to be an efficient and convenient alternative to the He
shortage. The goal of the project is to prove the feasibility of such a novel
neutron detector by developing and testing small planar prototypes with readout
boards suitably segmented with strip or pad read out, equipped with existing
electronics or readout in current mode. Preliminary results from the test with
different prototypes, showing a good agreement with the simulation, will be
presented together with construction details of the prototypes and the future
steps of the project.Comment: Prepared for the INSTR20 Conference Proceeding for JINS
Antifungal Activity and DNA Topoisomerase Inhibition of Hydrolysable Tannins from Punica granatum L
Punica granatum L. (pomegranate) fruit is known to be an important source of bioactive phenolic compounds belonging to hydrolysable tannins. Pomegranate extracts have shown antifungal activity, but the compounds responsible for this activity and their mechanism/s of action have not been completely elucidated up to now. The aim of the present study was the investigation of the inhibition ability of a selection of pomegranate phenolic compounds (i.e., punicalagin, punicalin, ellagic acid, gallic acid) on both plant and human fungal pathogens. In addition, the biological target of punicalagin was identified here for the first time. The antifungal activity of pomegranate phenolics was evaluated by means of Agar Disk Diffusion Assay and minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) evaluation. A chemoinformatic analysis predicted for the first time topoisomerases I and II as potential biological targets of punicalagin, and this prediction was confirmed by in vitro inhibition assays. Concerning phytopathogens, all the tested compounds were effective, often similarly to the fungicide imazalil at the label dose. Particularly, punicalagin showed the lowest MIC for Alternaria alternata and Botrytis cinerea, whereas punicalin was the most active compound in terms of growth control extent. As for human pathogens, punicalagin was the most active compound among the tested ones against Candida albicans reference strains, as well as against the clinically isolates. UHPLC coupled with HRMS indicated that C. albicans, similarly to the phytopathogen Coniella granati, is able to hydrolyze both punicalagin and punicalin as a response to the fungal attack. Punicalagin showed a strong inhibitory activity, with IC50 values of 9.0 and 4.6 µM against C. albicans topoisomerases I and II, respectively. Altogether, the results provide evidence that punicalagin is a valuable candidate to be further exploited as an antifungal agent in particular against human fungal infections
Antifungal Activity and DNA Topoisomerase Inhibition of Hydrolysable Tannins from Punica granatum L
Punica granatum L. (pomegranate) fruit is known to be an important source of bioactive phenolic compounds belonging to hydrolysable tannins. Pomegranate extracts have shown antifungal activity, but the compounds responsible for this activity and their mechanism/s of action have not been completely elucidated up to now. The aim of the present study was the investigation of the inhibition ability of a selection of pomegranate phenolic compounds (i.e., punicalagin, punicalin, ellagic acid, gallic acid) on both plant and human fungal pathogens. In addition, the biological target of punicalagin was identified here for the first time. The antifungal activity of pomegranate phenolics was evaluated by means of Agar Disk Diffusion Assay and minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) evaluation. A chemoinformatic analysis predicted for the first time topoisomerases I and II as potential biological targets of punicalagin, and this prediction was confirmed by in vitro inhibition assays. Concerning phytopathogens, all the tested compounds were effective, often similarly to the fungicide imazalil at the label dose. Particularly, punicalagin showed the lowest MIC for Alternaria alternata and Botrytis cinerea, whereas punicalin was the most active compound in terms of growth control extent. As for human pathogens, punicalagin was the most active compound among the tested ones against Candida albicans reference strains, as well as against the clinically isolates. UHPLC coupled with HRMS indicated that C. albicans, similarly to the phytopathogen Coniella granati, is able to hydrolyze both punicalagin and punicalin as a response to the fungal attack. Punicalagin showed a strong inhibitory activity, with IC50 values of 9.0 and 4.6 µM against C. albicans topoisomerases I and II, respectively. Altogether, the results provide evidence that punicalagin is a valuable candidate to be further exploited as an antifungal agent in particular against human fungal infections
Limits on light-speed anisotropies from Compton scattering of high-energy electrons
The possibility of anisotropies in the speed of light relative to the
limiting speed of electrons is considered. The absence of sidereal variations
in the energy of Compton-edge photons at the ESRF's GRAAL facility constrains
such anisotropies representing the first non-threshold collision-kinematics
study of Lorentz violation. When interpreted within the minimal Standard-Model
Extension, this result yields the two-sided limit of 1.6 x 10^{-14} at 95%
confidence level on a combination of the parity-violating photon and electron
coefficients kappa_{o+} and c. This new constraint provides an improvement over
previous bounds by one order of magnitude.Comment: 4 pages, 4 figure
A new limit on the light speed isotropy from the GRAAL experiment at the ESRF
When the electrons stored in the ring of the European Synchrotron Radiation
Facility (ESRF, Grenoble) scatter on a laser beam (Compton scattering in
flight) the lower energy of the scattered electron spectra, the Compton Edge
(CE), is given by the two body photon-electron relativistic kinematics and
depends on the velocity of light. A precision measurement of the position of
this CE as a function of the daily variations of the direction of the electron
beam in an absolute reference frame provides a one-way test of Relativistic
Kinematics and the isotropy of the velocity of light. The results of GRAAL-ESRF
measurements improve the previously existing one-way limits, thus showing the
efficiency of this method and the interest of further studies in this
direction.Comment: Proceed. MG12 meeting, Paris, July, 200
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