Tension and compression fatigue response of unnotched 3D braided composites

The unnotched compression and tension fatigue response of a 3-D braided composite was measured. Both gross compressive stress and tensile stress were plotted against cycles to failure to evaluate the fatigue life of these materials. Damage initiation and growth was monitored visually and by tracking compliance change during cycle loading. The intent was to establish by what means the strength of a 3-D architecture will start to degrade, at what point will it degrade beyond an acceptable level, and how this material will typically fail

La misura del desiderio: corpi danza movimento nell’era digitale

Intervista a Stamatia Portanova, che espone gli esiti della sua ricerca, in cui ha indagato il rapporto tra le nuove tecnologie e la danza, per mostrare come le più recenti sperimentazioni delle tecnologie digitali dischiudano nuovi orizzonti in campo coreografico

Soft thought (in architecture and choreography)

This article is an introduction to and exploration of the concept of ‘soft thought’. What we want to propose through the definition of this concept is an aesthetic of digital code that does not necessarily presuppose a relation with the generative aspects of coding, nor with its sensorial perception and evaluation. Numbers do not have to produce something, and do not need to be transduced into colours and sounds, in order to be considered as aesthetic objects. Starting from this assumption, our main aim will be to reconnect the numerical aesthetic of code with a more ‘abstract’ kind of feeling, the feeling of numbers indirectly felt as conceptual contagions’, that are ‘conceptually felt but not directly sensed. The following pages will be dedicated to the explication and exemplification of this particular mode of feeling, and to its possible definition as ‘soft thought’

Grades 4-5 Volume and Capacity

This is a science lesson for grades four through five on volume and capacity. Through this lesson, students will be able to understand what capacity and volume are and how to measure them, as well as how to distinguish which one they are measuring. The lesson is tiered in three levels based on ability. Within each tier the student will complete a shape contract where they choose tasks based on interest and ability

Comparison of impact results for several polymeric composites over a wide range of low impact velocities

Static indentation, falling weight, and ballistic impact tests were conducted in clamped plates made of AS4/3501-6 and IM7/8551-7 prepreg tape. The transversely isotropic plates were nominally 7-mm thick. Pendulum and ballistic tests were also conducted on simply supported plates braided with Celion 12000 fibers and 3501-6 epoxy. The 20 degree braided plates were about 5-mm thick. The impactors had spherical or hemispherical shapes with a 12.7 mm diameter. Residual compression strength and damage size were measured. For a given kinetic energy, damage size was least for IM7/8551-7 and greatest for the braided material. Strengths varied inversely with damage size. For a given damage size, strength loss as a fraction of original strength was least for the braided material and greatest for AS4/3501-6 and IM7/8551-7. Strength loss for IM7/8551-7 and AS4/3501-6 was nearly equal. No significant differences were noticed between damage sizes and residual compression strengths for the static indentation, falling weight, and ballistic tests of AS4/3501-6 and IM7/8551-7. For the braided material, sizes of damage were significantly less and compression strengths were significantly more for the falling weight tests than for the ballistic tests

OC47 – NICUs and family-centred care, from the leadership to the design, the results of a survey in Italy (by FCC Italian NICU study group)

Introduction: Family-centered care (FCC) in NICUs is related to staff culture and the organization of the unit. Aim: To describe the organizational characteristics and services for families in Italian NICUs. Methods: This survey involved 105 NICUs in Italy. The Italian version of the ‘FCC in the NICUs: A Self-Assessment Inventory’ developed by the Institute for FCC was sent to the nurse managers in January 2015. Results: Forty-seven NICUs answered (49%). The means of the NICU characteristics are number of beds: 20; newborns discharged/year: 331, of which very low birth weight infant: 68; unit’s rooms: 3.7). The total mean score of the 10 areas explored by questionnaire was 2.6 (on 5 points Likert scale) for the ‘status’ and of 2.3 (on 3 points scale) for priority for change. Conclusion: The results show an organizational lack, but also the consciousness of the need of change. Sharing new organizational strategies could be an important issue for the future

Synthesis, structural characterisation and biological studies of new mononuclear platinum(II) complexes with sterically hindered heterocyclic ligands

Three novel cisplatin analogues were synthesized, designed according to an approach which violates the ‘‘classical’’ structure–activity relationship, by replacing the diamine ligands with a planar N donor heterocycle giving a sterically hindered complex. Moreover, the sterical hindrance of antitumor drug candidates potentially makes them less susceptible to deactivation by sulphur-containing proteins and helping to overcome resistance mechanisms. The resulting mononuclear complexes of sterically hindered polidentate heterocyclic N ligands [PtCl(bbp)]Cl (1) [bbp = 2,6-bis(2-benzimidazolyl)pyridine], [PtCl2(dptdn)](H2O) (2) [dptdn = sodium 5,6-diphenyl-3-(20-pyridyl)-1,2,4-triazine-400,400 0-disulfonate] and [(dptdn)(dpt)Pt]Cl2(H2O) (3) [dpt = 5,6-diphenyl-3-(20-pyridyl)-1,2,4-triazine] have been prepared and structurally characterised. Both neutral and ionic complexes are present, with monofunctional (1) and bifunctional Pt(II) moieties (2) and coordinatively saturated Pt(II) ions in the mixed ligand complex (3), whose size and shape enable them to behave as novel scaffolds for DNA binding. All complexes were tested ‘‘in vitro’’ for their biological activity on human HT29 colorectal carcinoma and HepG2 hepatoma cells. The complexes (1) and (3), endowed with a positive charge, showed a potent cytotoxic activity and reduced cell viability with an efficacy higher than that of cisplatin; whilst the neutral bifunctional compound (2) was inactive. IC50 values have been calculated for the active compounds. The cytotoxic effects were confirmed by the accumulation of treated cells in subG0/G1 phase of cell cycle, by the loss of mitochondrial potential (Dwm) and by the chromatin condensation or fragmentation observed by means of fluorescence microscopy after Hoechst 33258 nuclear staining. A study on intracellular platinum uptake in HT29 cell line has been also performed and data obtained strongly suggest that the cytotoxicity of new tested complexes reported in this work is based on a different pharmacodynamic pattern with respect to cisplatin

New organotin(IV) complexes with L-Arginine,Nα-t-Boc-L-Arginine and L-Alanyl-L-Arginine.Synthesis, structural investigations and cytotoxic activity

Novel diorganotin(IV) derivatives of L-Arginine (HArg), Nα-(tert-Butoxycarbonyl)-L-Arginine (Boc-Arg-OH) and L-Ala-L-Arg (H2Ala-Arg), H2NC(=NH)NH(CH2)3CH(NHR)CO2H, where R = H in HArg, R = C(O)OC(CH3)3 in Boc-Arg-OH, R = H2NCH(CH3)CO in H2Ala-Arg and triorganotin(IV) derivatives of Boc-Arg-OH have been synthesized and structurally characterized. The complexes were investigated by FT-IR and 119Sn Mössbauer in the solid state and by 1H, 13C, 119Sn and 1H-1H COSY NMR spectroscopy, in solution. The spectroscopic characterization leading to the proposed molecular structures was accomplished on the basis of these experiments. L-Arginine appears to behave as a chelating ligand through carboxylate and -NH2 groups in Me2Sn(Arg)2, while in N-t-Boc-L-Arginine complex, the N-protected amino group being exempted from coordination, only the carboxylate groups are effectors of bonding to the organometallic moieties. FT-IR spectra give a clear indication that guanidino groups in all the complexes are not involved in coordination, since (C=N-H) frequency of the terminal guanidino group is fairly constant and unshifted relative to the free ligand. The biological activity of organotin(IV)-complexes was also investigated by use of human HT29 colorectal carcinoma cells. The cytotoxic activity of the compounds was determined by the MTT quantitative colorimetric assay, capable of detecting viable cells in comparison with that exerted by cisplatin. A marked cytotoxic activity for nearly all complexes, is evident being higher than that exerted by cisplatin, while no significant improvement of activity was observed for Me2Sn(Arg)2 and Me2Sn(Ala-Arg), which was confirmed by IC50 values. Then, we assessed whether the cytotoxicity induced by organotin(IV) complexes was associated with the induction of apoptosis. Light microscopy analysis, performed to study the morphological changes induced in HT29 cells, confirmed the results obtained with MTT test. No significant morphological alterations were observed in HT29 cells after treatment with Me2Sn(Ala-Arg) and Me2Sn(L-Arg)2. Cells treated with nBu2Sn(Boc-Arg)2, nBu2Sn(Ala-Arg), nBu3Sn(Boc-Arg) and Me3Sn(Boc-Arg), appeared rounded, isolated and detached from culture substrate, indicating the commitment to apoptotic cell death