IoT sensors for modern structural health monitoring. A new frontier

The problem of determining the structural safety level of buildings and civil engineering infrastructures (CEIs) is raising growing concern worldwide. Most of the reinforced concrete constructions have a design life not greater than 100 years, and today it is necessary to face the problem of assessing their level of safety and structural integrity. Such problem is even more pressing when a construction is subjected to extreme environmental conditions. The long-term goal of this study is the realization of wireless low- cost devices, and a data management software, for the structural health monitoring of buildings and CEIs, with remotely controlled sensors embedded in, or installed on, the structural elements, to measure stresses together with accelerations. Once equipped with such system, each construction can become part of the Internet of Things, permitting users and authorities to be alerted in case structural safety is diminished or compromised. A crucial aspect is the unaltered preservation of measurement data over time, which cannot just rely on third parties, and for which it is necessary the exploitation of suitable data-protection technologies. This study have been carried out by experimental testing and validation, both in lab and on site, of the monitoring devices designed and realized. Results show that it is possible to realize low-cost monitoring systems, and related installation techniques, for integration in every new or existing buildings and CEIs

Optimal finite-time heat engines under constrained control

This is the final version. Available on open access from the American Physical Society via the DOI in this recordWe optimize finite-time stochastic heat engines with a periodically scaled Hamiltonian under experimentally motivated constraints on the bath temperature T and the scaling parameter λ. We present a general geometric proof that maximum-efficiency protocols for T and λ are piecewise constant, alternating between the maximum and minimum allowed values. When λ is restricted to a small range and the system is close to equilibrium at the ends of the isotherms, a similar argument shows that this protocol also maximizes output power. These results are valid for arbitrary dynamics. We illustrate them for an overdamped Brownian heat engine, which can experimentally be realized using optical tweezers with stiffness λ.China Scholarship CouncilFundational Questions InstituteCaixa FoundationGovernment of SpainFundacio CellexFundacio Mir-PuigGeneralitat de Catalunya (CERCA)Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC)Royal SocietySwiss National Science FoundationHumboldt foundationCzech Science Foundatio

Thermodynamics and optimal protocols of multidimensional quadratic Brownian systems

This is the final version. Available on open access from IOP Publishing via the DOI in this recordData availability statement; All data that support the findings of this study are included within the article (and any supplementary files).We characterize finite-time thermodynamic processes of multidimensional quadratic overdamped systems. Analytic expressions are provided for heat, work, and dissipation for any evolution of the system covariance matrix. The Bures-Wasserstein metric between covariance matrices naturally emerges as the local quantifier of dissipation. General principles of how to apply these geometric tools to identify optimal protocols are discussed. Focusing on the relevant slow-driving limit, we show how these results can be used to analyze cases in which the experimental control over the system is partial.Humboldt FoundationCzech Science Foundation'la Caixa' FoundationGovernment of SpainSevero OchoaFundacio CellexFundacio Mir-PuigGeneralitat de CatalunyaFundational Questions Institute FundEngineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC)China Scholarship CouncilSwiss National Science Foundatio

Curcumin effects on Leydig cell functions and potential therapeutic uses

Curcumin has been ascribed with countless therapeutic effects, but its impact on testicular function has been scarcely researched. Leydig cells comprise the androgen-secreting population of the testis and may give rise to Leydig cell tumours (LCTs). Due to their steroid-secreting nature, LCTs entail endocrine, reproductive, and psychological disorders. Approximately 10% are malignant and do not respond to chemotherapy and radiotherapy. The aim of this study was to assess curcumin’s impact on Leydig cells’ functions and its potential effect on LCT growth. In vitro assays on MA-10 Leydig cells showed that curcumin (20–80 μmol/L) stimulates acute steroidogenesis, both in the presence and absence of db-cAMP. This effect is accompanied by an increase in StAR expression. Regarding curcumin’s in vitro cytostatic capacity, we show that 40–80 μmol/L curcumin reduces MA-10 Leydig cells’ proliferative capacity, which could be explained by the arrest in G2/M and the reduced viability due to the activation of the apoptotic pathway. Finally, CB6F1 mice were inoculated with MA-10 cells to generate ectopic LCT in both flanks. They received i.p. injections of 20 mg/kg curcumin or vehicle every other day for 15 days. We unveiled curcumin’s capacity to inhibit LCT growth as evidenced by reduced tumour volume, weight, and area under the growth curves. No detrimental effects on general health parameters or testicular integrity were observed. These results provide novel evidence of curcumin’s effects on the endocrine cell population of the testis and propose this natural compound as a therapeutic agent for LCT

Estudio de la expresión del receptor de vitamina D en la ontogenia del testículo y en tumores de células de Leydig: posible interacción con el sistema histaminérgico

La vitamina D (VD), un esteroide pleiotrópico, ha sido relacionada con la función reproductiva masculina, pero aún no se ha estudiado la expresión de su receptor (RVD) en el desarrollo testicular. RVD regula la expresión de componentes del sistema histaminérgico, y la histamina (HA) modula la esteroidogénesis en células de Leydig (CL). Se ha relacionado a la deficiencia de VD con múltiples patologías, entre ellas cáncer. Los tumores de células de Leydig (TCL) son los más frecuentes del intersticio testicular, y al malignizar no responden a radio/quimioterapia. VD fue descripta como tratamiento para varios tumores, pero se desconoce su aplicación en TCL. Por lo expuesto, hemos estudiado la expresión de RVD en la ontogenia de testículo de rata, evaluando su correlación con los niveles de testosterona séricos (T) y el contenido de HA; y además evaluamos la expresión de RVD en testículo humano fetal, neonatal, prepuberal, TCL e hiperplasia de CL.En testículo de rata, se observó un aumento en la expresión de RVD en CL con la edad, en línea con el incremento de T, y en contraposición con la disminución del contenido de HA, lo cual fue consistente con la reducción en los niveles de la enzima que cataliza su síntesis, HDC. Esto sugiere que la VD podría ejercer una función en el desarrollo testicular normal, ya sea en forma directa sobre las CL o mediante la regulación de la expresión de componentes del sistema histaminérgico (HDC y/o receptores de HA).Por su parte, el TCL humano presentó sobreexpresión de RVD y HDC. Considerandoque las hormonas esteroideas se encuentran aumentadas en esta patología y funcionan como factores de crecimiento, si el calcitriol pudiera modular la esteroidogénesis podría tener una aplicación terapéutica.Vitamin D (VD) is a steroid hormone traditionally related to bone health. However, several authors have associated VD with reproduction and steroidogenesis in males. The presence of VD receptor (VDR) and the enzymes involved in its activation had been reported in several cell types of the testes. Until now, nobody has studied RVD expression during testicular development. In addition, VDR in association with its coactivators or co-repressors, regulates the expression of several genes, including those related to the histaminergic system. Previously, we demonstrated that histamine (HA) can modulate steroidogenesis in Leydig cells (LC) in a concentration-dependent manner. Also, we observed a decrease in the endogenous HA content, consistent with the previously described decrease of HDC (histidine decarboxylase, the enzyme responsible of HA synthesis) levels, during LC ontogeny. Epidemiologic studies strongly suggest that a relationship exists between VD deficiency and multiple pathologies, particularly cancer. Leydig cell tumors (LCT) are rare endocrine tumors ofunknown etiology, which originate in the testicular interstitium. The incidence worldwide is 1-3% in adults and 4% in prepubertal boys, but recent publications indicate that these figures have been increasing. While usually benign, approximately 10% of LCTin adults become malignant and do not respond to chemo or radiotherapy. It is imperative to deeply investigate the biology of LCT, to identify new therapeutic targets. The potential role of calcitriol (1α,25(OH)2-vitamin-D3) in cancer treatment has been described for several types of tumors, but it remains unexplored in LCT. Thus, as a first step, it is worth evaluating VDR expression in LCT.In view of the aforecited evidence, herein we studied VDR expression during the rat testicular ontogeny, evaluating a possible correlation withserum testosterone (T) levels in blood, endogenous levels of HAand the previously described HDC expression levels. We also analized VDR expression in human testes corresponding to three different stages of development (fetal, neonatal and juvenile), in LCTand in LC hyperplasia. Methods: Rat testes of different ages (7, 21, 35, 90 y 240 days), human fetal, neonatal and pre pubertal testes, a human LCT and a human LC hyperplasia; were used for detection of VDR by immunohistochemistry.Fil: Varela, María Luisa. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Instituto de Biología y Medicina Experimental. Fundación de Instituto de Biología y Medicina Experimental. Instituto de Biología y Medicina Experimental; ArgentinaFil: Abiuso, Adriana María Belén. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Instituto de Biología y Medicina Experimental. Fundación de Instituto de Biología y Medicina Experimental. Instituto de Biología y Medicina Experimental; ArgentinaFil: Berensztein, Esperanza Beatriz. Gobierno de la Ciudad de Buenos Aires. Hospital de Pediatría "Juan P. Garrahan"; ArgentinaFil: Besio Moreno, Marcos Alberto. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Instituto de Biología y Medicina Experimental. Fundación de Instituto de Biología y Medicina Experimental. Instituto de Biología y Medicina Experimental; ArgentinaFil: Belgorosky, Alicia. Gobierno de la Ciudad de Buenos Aires. Hospital de Pediatría "Juan P. Garrahan"; ArgentinaFil: Pignataro, Omar Pedro. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Instituto de Biología y Medicina Experimental. Fundación de Instituto de Biología y Medicina Experimental. Instituto de Biología y Medicina Experimental; ArgentinaFil: Knoblovits, Pablo. Hospital Italiano; ArgentinaFil: Suárez, Sebastián. Hospital Italiano; ArgentinaFil: Costanzo, P. R.. Hospital Italiano; ArgentinaFil: Mondillo, Carolina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Instituto de Biología y Medicina Experimental. Fundación de Instituto de Biología y Medicina Experimental. Instituto de Biología y Medicina Experimental; Argentin

Optimal Cycles for Low-Dissipation Heat Engines

We consider the optimization of a finite-time Carnot engine characterized by small dissipations. We bound the power with a simple inequality and show that the optimal strategy is to perform small cycles around a given working point, which can be thus chosen optimally. Remarkably, this optimal point is independent of the figure of merit combining power and efficiency that is being maximized. Furthermore, for a general class of dynamics the power output becomes proportional to the heat capacity of the working substance. Since the heat capacity can scale supra-extensively with the number of constituents of the engine, this enables us to design optimal many-body Carnot engines reaching maximum efficiency at finite power per constituent in the thermodynamic limit.Comment: Accepted in PRL. 5 pages +16 Supp.Ma

Turbulent heating in an inhomogeneous magnetized plasma slab

Observational evidence in space and astrophysical plasmas with a long collisional mean free path suggests that more massive charged particles may be preferentially heated. One possible mechanism for this is the turbulent cascade of energy from injection to dissipation scales, where the energy is converted to heat. Here we consider a simple system consisting of a magnetized plasma slab of electrons and a single ion species with a cross-field density gradient. We show that such a system is subject to an electron drift wave instability, known as the universal instability, which is stabilized only when the electron and ion thermal speeds are equal. For unequal thermal speeds, we find from quasilinear analysis and nonlinear simulations that the instability gives rise to turbulent energy exchange between ions and electrons that acts to equalize the thermal speeds. Consequently, this turbulent heating tends to equalize the component temperatures of pair plasmas and to heat ions to much higher temperatures than electrons for conventional mass-ratio plasmas

Turbulent heating in an inhomogeneous magnetized plasma slab

Observational evidence in space and astrophysical plasmas with a long collisional mean free path suggests that more massive charged particles may be preferentially heated. One possible mechanism for this is the turbulent cascade of energy from injection to dissipation scales, where the energy is converted to heat. Here we consider a simple system consisting of a magnetized plasma slab of electrons and a single ion species with a cross-field density gradient. We show that such a system is subject to an electron drift wave instability, known as the universal instability, which is stabilized only when the electron and ion thermal speeds are equal. For unequal thermal speeds, we find from quasilinear analysis and nonlinear simulations that the instability gives rise to turbulent energy exchange between ions and electrons that acts to equalize the thermal speeds. Consequently, this turbulent heating tends to equalize the component temperatures of pair plasmas and to heat ions to much higher temperatures than electrons for conventional mass-ratio plasmas

Maximum-power heat engines and refrigerators in the fast-driving regime

We study the optimization of the performance of arbitrary periodically driven thermal machines. Within the assumption of fast modulation of the driving parameters, we derive the optimal cycle that universally maximizes the extracted power of heat engines, the cooling power of refrigerators, and in general any linear combination of the heat currents. We denote this optimal solution as "generalized Otto cycle"since it shares the basic structure with the standard Otto cycle, but it is characterized by a greater number of fast strokes. We bound this number in terms of the dimension of the Hilbert space of the system used as working fluid. The generality of these results allows for a widespread range of applications, such as reducing the computational complexity for numerical approaches, or obtaining the explicit form of the optimal protocols when the system-baths interactions are characterized by a single thermalization scale. In this case, we compare the thermodynamic performance of a collection of optimally driven noninteracting and interacting qubits. Remarkably, for refrigerators the noninteracting qubits perform almost as well as the interacting ones, while in the heat engine case there is a many-body advantage both in the maximum power, and in the efficiency at maximum power. Additionally, we illustrate our general results studying the paradigmatic model of a qutrit-based heat engine. Our results strictly hold in the semiclassical case in which no coherence is generated by the driving, and finally we discuss the noncommuting case