Relative pavement performance for dual and wide-based tyre assemblies using a finite element method

There is a need to assess the realistic tire contact pressure created by a tire in contact with a pavement. The contact pressure is a function of tire type, axle loading, and tire inflation pressure (TiP). The research carried out considered dual tire and wide-based tire assemblies across a range of axle loading and TiP. These contact pressures were incorporated into a finite element package (CAPA-3D) and modelled on a simple pavement structure. The strains from this modelling were sorted to produce key strains associated with the mechanisms of surface distress, near surface distress, deep asphalt distress, and the subgrade. The main distress mechanisms were top down cracking, asphalt cracking/rutting, bottom-up fatigue cracking, and subgrade rutting. This gave a method to fairly compare the dual and wide-based tire assemblies with the same axle loading and TiP. The analysis gave interesting results for the different distress mechanisms of the pavement. The wide-based tire gives consistently higher shear strains for all the areas of distress investigated. There is great variation in surface and near surface shear strains due to the different combinations of axle loading and TiP. It is clear that the wide-based tire is a more damaging tire for all combinations of TiP and axle loading. It is also apparent that how these factors interact has a great influence on the damaging potential of a tire

Intrathyroidal Ectopic Thymus: A Case Series

info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Factorization and Nonfactorization in B Decays

Using NLL values for Wilson coefficients and including the contributions from the penguin diagrams, we estimate the amount of nonfactorization in two-body hadronic B decays. Also, we investigate the model dependence of the nonfactorization parameters by performing the calculation using different models for the form factors. The results support the universality of nonfactorizable contributions in both Cabibbo-favored and Cabibbo-suppressed B decays.Comment: 17 pages, 5 figures, revte

The role of inflammation in subventricular zone cancer

The adult subventricular zone (SVZ) stem cell niche has proven vital for discovering neurodevelopmental mechanisms and holds great potential in medicine for neurodegenerative diseases. Yet the SVZ holds a dark side - it can become tumorigenic. Glioblastomas can arise from the SVZ via cancer stem cells (CSCs). Glioblastoma and other brain cancers often have dismal prognoses since they are resistant to treatment. In this review we argue that the SVZ is susceptible to cancer because it contains stem cells, migratory progenitors and unusual inflammation. Theoretically, SVZ stem cells can convert to CSCs more readily than can postmitotic neural cells. Additionally, the robust long-distance migration of SVZ progenitors can be subverted upon tumorigenesis to an infiltrative phenotype. There is evidence that the SVZ, even in health, exhibits chronic low-grade cellular and molecular inflammation. Its inflammatory response to brain injuries and disease differs from that of other brain regions. We hypothesize that the SVZ inflammatory environment can predispose cells to novel mutations and exacerbate cancer phenotypes. This can be studied in animal models in which human mutations related to cancer are knocked into the SVZ to induce tumorigenesis and the CSC immune interactions that precede full-blown cancer. Importantly inflammation can be pharmacologically modulated providing an avenue to brain cancer management and treatment. The SVZ is accessible by virtue of its location surrounding the lateral ventricles and CSCs in the SVZ can be targeted with a variety of pharmacotherapies. Thus, the SVZ can yield aggressive tumors but can be targeted via several strategies

Non-factorizable long distance contributions in color suppressed decays of B mesons

$\bar B \to D\pi$, $D^*\pi$, $J/\psi\bar K$ and $J/\psi\pi$ decays are studied. Their amplitude is given by a sum of factorized and non-factorizable ones. The latter which is estimated by using a hard pion approximation is rather small in color favored $\bar B \to D\pi$ and $D^*\pi$ decays but still can efficiently interfere with the main amplitude given by the factorization. In the color suppressed $\bar B \to J/\psi\bar K$ and $J/\psi\pi$ decays, the non-factorizable contribution is very important. The sum of the factorized and non-factorizable amplitudes can reproduce well the existing experimental data on the branching ratios for the color favored $\bar B \to D\pi$ and $D^*\pi$ and the color suppressed $\bar B \to J/\psi \bar K$ and $J/\psi\pi$ decays by taking reasonable values of unknown parameters involved.Comment: 19 pages, Revte

Antiophidian properties of plant extracts against Lachesis muta venom

Snakebites comprise a serious health problem in several countries due to their global incidence, which exceeds 2.5 million per year, and the elevated number of victim fatalities. To counteract envenomations, antivenoms have been used regularly for more than a century. Apart from side effects including anaphylactic reactions, antivenoms are not able to efficiently neutralize local tissue damage, which contributes to increasing the severity and morbidity observed in patients. This fact, in turn, may be responsible for economic hardship, particularly in rural populations of developing countries. In the present work, we evaluated the antiophidian properties of 12 Brazilian plant extracts against the hemolytic, coagulant, hemorrhagic and proteolytic effects of Lachesis muta venom. Taken together, our data revealed that most of these aqueous products were capable of inhibiting those activities at different levels, except for Sapindus saponaria extract. In contrast, Stryphnodendron barbatiman extract completely neutralized all the analyzed biological activities. Thus, we may conclude that Brazilian flora may also be useful against L. muta accidents.(FAPERJ) Fundacao de Amparo a Pesquisa do Estado do Rio de JaneiroFAPESPCNPqCoordenacao de Aperfeicoamento de Pessoal de Nivel Superior (CAPES)International Foundation for Science (IFS, Sweden

An overview of the Portuguese electricity market

The electricity market in Portugal was recently opened to all consumers. However, it remains highly concentrated in terms of control of production and supply and the long-term power purchase arrangements still coexist with free market. This paper discusses the electricity market restructuring process in Portugal, presenting its main marks over the past years and the present situation. The evolution of the electricity prices in Portugal is analysed, and a comparison with EU-15 is presented. Special attention is given to Spain due to the possibility of cross-border competition in the future arising from the formation of the Iberian electricity market

The Portuguese Severe Asthma Registry: Development, Features, and Data Sharing Policies

The Portuguese Severe Asthma Registry (Registo de Asma Grave Portugal, RAG) was developed by an open collaborative network of asthma specialists. RAG collects data from adults and pediatric severe asthma patients that despite treatment optimization and adequate management of comorbidities require step 4/5 treatment according to GINA recommendations. In this paper, we describe the development and implementation of RAG, its features, and data sharing policies. The contents and structure of RAG were defined in a multistep consensus process. A pilot version was pretested and iteratively improved. The selection of data elements for RAG considered other severe asthma registries, aiming at characterizing the patient's clinical status whilst avoiding overloading the standard workflow of the clinical appointment. Features of RAG include automatic assessment of eligibility, easy data input, and exportable data in natural language that can be pasted directly in patients' electronic health record and security features to enable data sharing (among researchers and with other international databases) without compromising patients' confidentiality. RAG is a national web-based disease registry of severe asthma patients, available at asmagrave.pt. It allows prospective clinical data collection, promotes standardized care and collaborative clinical research, and may contribute to inform evidence-based healthcare policies for severe asthma.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio