Nano-enabled synthetic biology

Biological systems display a functional diversity, density and efficiency that make them a paradigm for synthetic systems. In natural systems, the cell is the elemental unit and efforts to emulate cells, their components, and organization have relied primarily on the use of bioorganic materials. Impressive advances have been made towards assembling simple genetic systems within cellular scale containers. These biological system assembly efforts are particularly instructive, as we gain command over the directed synthesis and assembly of synthetic nanoscale structures. Advances in nanoscale fabrication, assembly, and characterization are providing the tools and materials for characterizing and emulating the smallest scale features of biology. Further, they are revealing unique physical properties that emerge at the nanoscale. Realizing these properties in useful ways will require attention to the assembly of these nanoscale components. Attention to systems biology principles can lead to the practical development of nanoscale technologies with possible realization of synthetic systems with cell-like complexity. In turn, useful tools for interpreting biological complexity and for interfacing to biological processes will result

Dynamic instance generation for few-shot handwritten document layout segmentation (short paper)

Historical handwritten document analysis is an important activity to retrieve information about our past. Given that this type of process is slow and time-consuming, the humanities community is searching for new techniques that could aid them in this activity. Document layout analysis is a branch of machine learning that aims to extract semantic informations from digitised documents. Here we propose a new framework for handwritten document layout analysis that differentiates from the current state-of-the-art by the fact that it features few-shot learning, thus allowing for good results with little manually labelled data and the dynamic instance generation process. Our results were obtained using the DIVA - HisDB dataset

Investigation of fiber/matrix adhesion: test speed and specimen shape effects in the cylinder test

The cylinder test, developed from the microdroplet test, was adapted to assess the interfacial adhesion strength between fiber and matrix. The sensitivity of cylinder test to pull-out speed and specimen geometry was measured. It was established that the effect of test speed can be described as a superposition of two opposite, simultaneous effects which have been modeled mathematically by fitting two parameter Weibull curves on the measured datas. Effects of the cylinder size and its geometrical relation on the measured strength values have been analyzed by finite element method. It was concluded that the geometry has a direct influence on the stress formation. Based on the results achieved, recommendations were given on how to perform the novel single fiber cylinder test

The LuGRE project: a scientific opportunity to study GNSS signals at the Moon

The Lunar GNSS Receiver Experiment (LuGRE) is a joint NASA-Italian Space Agency (ASI) payload on the Firefly Blue Ghost Mission 1 with the goal to demonstrate GNSS-based positioning, navigation, and timing at the Moon. When launched, LuGRE will collect GPS and Galileo measurements in transit between Earth and the Moon, in lunar orbit, and on the lunar surface, and will conduct onboard and ground-based navigation experiments using the collected data. These investigations will be based on the observation of the data collected by a custom development performed by the company Qascom, based on the Qascom QN400-Space GNSS receiver. The receiver is able to provide, PVT solutions, the GNSS raw observables obtained by the real time operation, as well as snapshots of IF digital samples collected by the RF front-end at frequencies L1/E1 and L5/E5. These data will be the input for the different science investigations, that require then the development of proper analysis tools that will be the core of the ground segment during the mission. The current work done by the science team of NASA and ASI, which is supported by a research team at Politecnico di Torino, is planning the data acquisitions during the time windows dedicated to the LuGRE payload in the checkout, transit and surface mission phases

Drive-in torque for self-tapping screws into timber

Self-tapping screws have been widely used in timber constructions nowadays. Current practice considers self tapping screws perform best in connecting two members when they are fully threaded, however the drive-in resistance caused by the friction between woods and screws can potentially damage the screw and reduce the effectiveness of its applications. The relationship between their thread configuration and the drive-in torque force has not been investigated, and how would knots in the member affect the drive-in force remains in question. This study conducted a series of tests aiming to demonstrate the influence of thread configuration on the drive-in torque of screws. Two types of self-tapping screws and three different thread configurations were studied. The drive-in torque for partially threaded screws was found to be significantly slower than that of the fully threaded ones. The results showed knots can significantly influence the positioning of screw and increase the drive-in torque. The application of pre-drilled hole was found to be an effective way to minimise the influence of knots. This article points out that with appropriate consideration of thread configuration, partially threaded self-tapping screws can not only achieve the same efficiency with fully-threaded ones, they will also benefit from reduced drive-in torque force

Steel-concrete-composite beams with precast hollow-core slabs: A sustainable solution

Industrialization of construction makes building operation more environmental friendly and sustainable. This change is necessary as it is an industry that demands large consumption of water and energy, as well as being responsible for the disposal of a high volume of waste. However, the transformation of the construction sector is a big challenge worldwide. It is also well known that the largest proportion of the material used in multistory buildings, and thus its carbon impact, is attributed to their slabs being the main contributor of weight. Steel-concrete-composite beams with precast hollow-core slabs (PCHCSs) were developed due to their technical and economic benefits, owing to their high strength and concrete self-weight reduction, making this system economical and with lower environmental footprint, thus reducing carbon emissions. Significant research has been carried out on deep hollow-core slabs due to the need to overcome larger spans that resist high loads. The publication SCI P401, in accordance with Eurocode 4, is however limited to hollow-core slabs with depths from 150 to 250 mm, with or without a concrete topping. This paper aims to investigate hollow-core slabs with a concrete topping to understand their effect on the flexural behavior of steel-concrete-composite beams, considering the hollow-core-slab depth is greater than the SCI P401 recommendation. Consequently, 150 mm and 265 mm hollow-core units with a concrete topping were considered to assess the increase of the hollow core unit depth. A comprehensive computational parametric study was conducted by varying the in situ infill concrete strength, the transverse reinforcement rate, the shear connector spacing, and the cross-section of steel. Both full and partial interaction models were examined, and in some cases similar resistances were obtained, meaning that the same strength can be obtained for a smaller number of shear studs, i.e., less energy consumption, thus a reduction in the embodied energy. The calculation procedure, according to Eurocode 4 was in favor of safety for the partial-interaction hypothesis

The Basics of Water Waves Theory for Analogue Gravity

This chapter gives an introduction to the connection between the physics of water waves and analogue gravity. Only a basic knowledge of fluid mechanics is assumed as a prerequisite.Comment: 36 pages. Lecture Notes for the IX SIGRAV School on "Analogue Gravity", Como (Italy), May 201

The Cerenkov effect revisited: from swimming ducks to zero modes in gravitational analogs

We present an interdisciplinary review of the generalized Cerenkov emission of radiation from uniformly moving sources in the different contexts of classical electromagnetism, superfluid hydrodynamics, and classical hydrodynamics. The details of each specific physical systems enter our theory via the dispersion law of the excitations. A geometrical recipe to obtain the emission patterns in both real and wavevector space from the geometrical shape of the dispersion law is discussed and applied to a number of cases of current experimental interest. Some consequences of these emission processes onto the stability of condensed-matter analogs of gravitational systems are finally illustrated.Comment: Lecture Notes at the IX SIGRAV School on "Analogue Gravity" in Como, Italy from May 16th-21th, 201