Application of Air Coupled Acoustic Thermography (ACAT) for Inspection of Honeycomb Sandwich Structures

The application of a noncontact air coupled acoustic heating technique is investigated for the inspection of advanced honeycomb composite structures. A weakness in the out of plane stiffness of the structure, caused by a delamination or core damage, allows for the coupling of acoustic energy and thus this area will have a higher temperature than the surrounding area. Air coupled acoustic thermography (ACAT) measurements were made on composite sandwich structures with damage and were compared to conventional flash thermography. A vibrating plate model is presented to predict the optimal acoustic source frequency. Improvements to the measurement technique are also discussed

Still Three Different Status for Aliens, Citizens and Human Persons?

In this chapter it is submitted that going beyond the distinction between citizens, aliens and human persons is not appropriate, with a view to promoting inclusive societies, pursuant the 2030 Agenda for sustainable development. Although such a distinction appears to be outdated to a certain extent (because of an increasing shift from nationality to residence occurred within several regional contexts), it should not be neglected that nationality continues to play a significant role, both as an autonomous individual right and a basis for the enjoyment of (other) human rights. At the same time, some recent and troubling developments of the legal dimension of nationality in the broad sense\u2014i.e., the increasing recourse to nationality as a means to adopt discriminatory policies against aliens, and the resurgent recourse to a sort of \u201clegal nationalism\u201d when dealing with legal issues concerning aliens\u2014suggest a more cautious approach. Such an approach could turn around the principle of non-discrimination, seen as an autonomous right; namely, the right of every human being not to be subjected to any factual or legal discrimination by public authorities (Art. 26 of the UN Covenant on Civil and Political Rights so as interpreted by the UN Human Rights Committee)

SARS-CoV-2 infection triggers profibrotic macrophage responses and lung fibrosis

COVID-19-induced ‘acute respiratory distress syndrome’ (ARDS) is associated with prolonged respiratory failure and high mortality, but the mechanistic basis of lung injury remains incompletely understood. Here, we analyzed pulmonary immune responses and lung pathology in two cohorts of patients with COVID-19 ARDS using functional single cell genomics, immunohistology and electron microscopy. We describe an accumulation of CD163-expressing monocyte-derived macrophages that acquired a profibrotic transcriptional phenotype during COVID-19 ARDS. Gene set enrichment and computational data integration revealed a significant similarity between COVID-19-associated macrophages and profibrotic macrophage populations identified in idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis. COVID-19 ARDS was associated with clinical, radiographic, histopathological, and ultrastructural hallmarks of pulmonary fibrosis. Exposure of human monocytes to SARS-CoV-2, but not Influenza A virus or viral RNA analogs, was sufficient to induce a similar profibrotic phenotype in vitro. In conclusion, we demonstrate that SARS-CoV-2 triggers profibrotic macrophage responses and pronounced fibroproliferative ARDS