Metal/fiber laminate and fabrication using a porous metal/fiber preform

A metal/fiber laminate has a plurality of adjacent layers. Each layer is porous and includes an arrangement of fibers. At least one of the layers has its fibers coated with a metal. A polymer matrix permeates each such arrangement

Nanoparticle Hybrid Composites by RF Plasma Spray Deposition

A method of fabricating a composite material includes utilizing a radio frequency plasma process to form a plasma plume comprising nanoparticles. The nanoparticles may comprise boron nitride nanoparticles, silicon carbide nanoparticles, beryllium oxide nanoparticles, or carbon nanoparticles. The nanoparticles may comprise nanotubes or other particles depending on the requirements of a particular application. The nanoparticles are deposited on a substrate by directing a plasma plume towards the substrate. The nanoparticles are formed in the plasma plume immediately prior to being deposited on the substrate. The nanoparticles may form a mechanical bond with the fibers in addition to a chemical bond in the absence of a catalyst. The substrate may comprise a fiber fabric that may optionally be coated with a thin layer of metal. Alternatively, the substrate may comprise a solid material such as a metal sheet or plate

Fiber Metal Laminates Made by the VARTM Process

Fiber metal laminates (FMLs) are multi-component materials utilizing metals, fibers and matrix resins. Tailoring their properties is readily achievable by varying one or more of these components. Established FMLs like GLARE utilize aluminum foils, glass fibers and epoxy matrices and are manufactured using an autoclave. Two new processes for manufacturing FMLs using vacuum assisted resin transfer molding (VARTM) have been developed at the NASA Langley Research Center (LaRC). A description of these processes and the resulting FMLs are presented

Sex-specific associations of a ferroalloy metal mixture with motor function in Italian adolescents.

BACKGROUND: Motor function is critical for childrens health, yet remains an understudied neurodevelopmental domain. Exposure to metals has been linked with motor function, but no study has examined the joint effects of metal mixtures. METHODS: We evaluated cross-sectional associations between a metal mixture and motor function among 569 adolescents (10-14 years old) living near the ferroalloy industry. Concentrations of blood lead, hair manganese, hair copper, and hair chromium were quantified using inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry. Neuropsychologists administered multiple fine motor function assessments: pursuit aiming, finger tapping, visual reaction time (VRT), and subtests from the Luria Nebraska battery. We estimated associations between motor function and the metal mixture using quantile-based g-computation and multivariable linear regression, adjusting for child age, sex, and socioeconomic status. We explored sex-specific associations in stratified models. RESULTS: Associations between the metal mixture and motor function were mostly null but were modified by sex. We observed a beneficial association among females: a quartile increase in all metals in the mixture was associated with a 2.6% faster average response time on the VRT (95% confidence interval [CI] = -4.7%, -0.5%), driven by Cu and Cr. In contrast, this association was adverse among males (ß = 1.5% slower response time [95% CI = -0.7%, 3.9%]), driven by Cu and Mn. CONCLUSIONS: Results suggest that males may be more susceptible to the adverse effects of metal exposure on motor function during adolescence than females. Future studies, particularly prospective study designs, are warranted to further understand the associations of metal mixtures with motor function

East Bay Coalition for the Homeless: Branding Study and Marketing Strategy

There are a number of potential positioning strategies. The two which make the most sense for the EBCH are to “position the EBCH away from others in the category” and to “position the EBCH as unique.” These strategies have the advantage of setting the EBCH apart from the other organizations that address homelessness. Occupying its own “position” in the minds of potential and current donors is not only an effective communications/marketing strategy but also a less costly one because it avoids head-to-head competition and comparisons

Spectroscopic Constraints on the Buildup of Intracluster Light in the Coma Cluster

The stellar content of the intracluster light (ICL) provides unique insight into the hierarchical assembly process of galaxy clusters. We present optical spectra of three ICL regions (μg ≈25.3-26.2 mag arcsec-²) in the Coma cluster, located between 100 and 180 kpc from their nearest brightest cluster galaxies (BCGs): NGC 4889 and NGC 4874. Integral-field unit (IFU) spectroscopy with 13.5 hr on-source integration was acquired in an ancillary program within the Sloan Digital Sky Survey-IV MaNGA survey. We stacked the 127 individual fiber spectra in each IFU to achieve a 1σ limiting surface brightness of 27.9 mag arcsec-², corresponding to a mean signal-to-noise ratio in the optical of 21.7, 9.0, and 11.7 Å−1, for each ICL region. We apply stellar population models to the stacked spectra. Our results show that the velocity dispersions of ICL regions are very high (σ ~ 630 km s-¹), indicating the stars in these regions are tracing the gravitational potential of the cluster, instead of any individual galaxy. The line-of-sight velocities are different from each other by ~700 km s-¹, while the velocity of each region is similar to the closest BCG. This suggests that the ICL regions are associated with two distinct subclusters centered on NGC 4889 and NGC 4874. The stellar populations of these regions are old and metal-poor, with ages of ${12.7}_{-3.4}^{+1.0}$, ${6.7}_{-2.0}^{+2.9}$, and ${9.7}_{-3.5}^{+3.5}$ Gyr, and [Fe/H] of $-{1.0}_{-0.3}^{+0.2}$, $-{0.6}_{-0.5}^{+0.3}$, and $-{0.8}_{-0.4}^{+0.3}$. From the derived age and metallicity, the buildup of ICL in Coma is likely to be through the accretion of low-mass galaxies or the tidal stripping of the outskirts of massive galaxies that have ended their star formation early on, instead of directly from major mergers of massive galaxies

Mutant U2AF1-expressing cells are sensitive to pharmacological modulation of the spliceosome

Somatic mutations in spliceosome genes are detectable in ∼50% of patients with myelodysplastic syndromes (MDS). We hypothesize that cells harbouring spliceosome gene mutations have increased sensitivity to pharmacological perturbation of the spliceosome. We focus on mutant U2AF1 and utilize sudemycin compounds that modulate pre-mRNA splicing. We find that haematopoietic cells expressing mutant U2AF1(S34F), including primary patient cells, have an increased sensitivity to in vitro sudemycin treatment relative to controls. In vivo sudemycin treatment of U2AF1(S34F) transgenic mice alters splicing and reverts haematopoietic progenitor cell expansion induced by mutant U2AF1 expression. The splicing effects of sudemycin and U2AF1(S34F) can be cumulative in cells exposed to both perturbations—drug and mutation—compared with cells exposed to either alone. These cumulative effects may result in downstream phenotypic consequences in sudemycin-treated mutant cells. Taken together, these data suggest a potential for treating haematological cancers harbouring U2AF1 mutations with pre-mRNA splicing modulators like sudemycins

Tributa ya

En la actualidad las empresas están en constante crecimiento y necesitan del apoyo de herramientas tecnológicas para actualizarse y seguir vigentes en el mercado. Al respecto, hemos identificado que el proceso de declaración de impuestos es la columna vertebral de casi todas las empresas formales y constituidas, las cuales están obligadas a esta clase de tributación y muchas de ellas son las microempresas que no cuentan con mucha experiencia, por ello surge la necesidad de poder realizar esta delegación a un personal capacitado. Sin embargo, en su gran mayoría esto no suele suceder, ya que no se contrata a este tipo de personal por falta de tiempo o dinero. Para solucionar esta problemática, se creó Tributa.Ya, un aplicativo móvil que ayudará a los microempresarios a declarar y pagar impuestos de una manera rápida y sencilla. Además, Tributa.Ya te brinda las opciones de cronogramas de pagos y asesorías con el propósito de hacer crecer los emprendimientos. Al culminar el periodo operacional de Tributa.Ya Va ser rentable, ya que, en base a los indicadores analizados como el VAN, TIR y PRD, se sabe que el valor actual neto es de S/. 419,649, el periodo de recupero de la inversión de tres años y una tasa interna de retorno de 146%. En base a estos indicadores nos permiten afirmar que nuestro proyecto es viable y dará una alta rentabilidad a los inversionistas, por lo que concluimos que va ser recomendable invertir en Tributa.Ya.Currently, companies are constantly growing and need the support of technological tools to update themselves and remain current in the market. In this regard, we have identified that the tax filing process is the backbone of almost all formal and incorporated companies, which are obliged to this type of taxation and many of them are micro-companies that do not have much experience, therefore The need arises to be able to carry out this delegation to a trained staff. However, for the most part this does not usually happen, since this type of staff is not hired due to lack of time or money. To solve this problem, Tributa.Ya was created, a mobile application that will help micro entrepreneurs to declare and pay taxes quickly and easily. In addition, Tributa.Ya already offers you the options of payment schedules and consultancies with the purpose of making businesses grow. At the end of Tributa.Ya operational period, it will already be profitable, since, based on the indicators analyzed such as the NPV, IRR and PRD, it is known that the net present value is S/ 437,921.06. the payback period of the investment of two years and an internal rate of return of 131.22%. Based on these indicators, they allow us to affirm that our project is viable and will give investors a high return, so we conclude that it will be advisable to invest in Tributa.Ya.Trabajo de investigació

Standalone vertex finding in the ATLAS muon spectrometer

A dedicated reconstruction algorithm to find decay vertices in the ATLAS muon spectrometer is presented. The algorithm searches the region just upstream of or inside the muon spectrometer volume for multi-particle vertices that originate from the decay of particles with long decay paths. The performance of the algorithm is evaluated using both a sample of simulated Higgs boson events, in which the Higgs boson decays to long-lived neutral particles that in turn decay to bbar b final states, and pp collision data at √s = 7 TeV collected with the ATLAS detector at the LHC during 2011