Analysis of adiabatic shear banding in orthogonal cutting of Ti alloy

This work is focused on the numerical analysis of adiabatic shear banding in orthogonal cutting of Ti6Al4V alloy. Segmented chip results from adiabatic shear banding, depending on the competition of thermal softening and strain and strain rate hardening. The influence of cutting velocity and feed in the chip segmentation is studied. Also the role of friction at the tool-chip interface and the effect of rheological parameters of the constitutive equation are analyzed. Experimental tests obtained from previous work of the authors [Molinari A, Musquar C, Sutter G, Adiabatic shear banding in high speed machining of Ti-6Al-4V experiments and modeling, Int J Plast, vol. 18, 2002, p. 443-4591 and others were used as a reference to validate the models. Cutting forces and the mechanism of plastic flow localization are analyzed in terms of frequency of segmentation and shear band width and compared to experimental data.The financial support of this work to the Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness of Spain with the project DPI2011-25999 and to the Universidad Carlos III de Madrid —Banco de Santander for the program "Chair ofExcellence". This work was also supported by the French State through the program “Investmentin the future” operated by the NationalResearch Agency (ANR) and referenced byLabEx DAMAS.Publicad

A systematic review of a polyvagal perspective on embodied contemplative practices as promoters of cardiorespiratory coupling and traumatic stress recovery for ptsd and ocd: Research methodologies and state of the art

Baseline respiratory sinus arrhythmia (RSA) has been proposed as a transdiagnostic biomarker of stress vulnerability across psychopathologies, and a reliable association between PTSD, OCD and lower resting RSA was found. Contemplative practices have been linked to the activation of the vagus as well as to an increased RSA that, according to the polyvagal theory, reflects the activation of the ventral vagal complex (VVC) and may promote PTSD and OCD recovery. PubMed and Scopus databases were selected to conduct a search following the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Review and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) 2020 guidelines, and A MeaSurement Tool to Assess systematic Reviews-2 (AMSTAR-2) was used to appraise the methodological quality for this systematic review. Six articles met the inclusion criteria (one cross-sectional study, one study with pre-post measurements, two cohort studies and two RCT studies). Mindfulness-related interventions promoted parasympathetic activity, an increased vagal tone and improvements in PTSD and OCD symptoms. According to the polyvagal theory, mindfulness-related and compassion-related meditations would be conceptualized as neural exercises expanding the capacity of the ventral vagal complex to regulate the present state and to promote resilience. Clinical and methodological issues are discussed

High-intensity exercise training induces morphological and biochemical changes in skeletal muscle

Skeletal muscle shows an elevated plasticity and can adapt its metabolic and contractile properties in response to a variety of stimuli such as physical exercise. This implies a series of biochemical and morphological changes in the recruited muscle, in order to produce the more appropriate functional response dependent on the specific stimulation. To determine the effective role of physical exercise in the muscle plasticity, in the present study we investigated the effect of two different exercise protocols on fiber composition and metabolism of two specific muscles of mice: the quadriceps -a fast-twitch muscle- and the gastrocnemius -a typical slow-twitch muscle. Mice were run daily on a motorized treadmill for 8 weeks, at a velocity corresponding to 60% (low-intensity exercise) or 90% (high-intensity exercise) of the maximal running velocity previously determined by an incremental exercise test. We found that at the end of training the body weight was significantly increased in highintensity exercise mice (18.2 ± 1.4 %) compared to low-intensity exercise (8.7 ± 0.6 %) and control (12.7 ± 0.5 %) groups, and it was lesser in low-intensity exercise mice compared to controls. In contrast, the food intake of both exercise training mice was greater compared to control group. Whereas low-intensity exercise mice, despite consumed significantly more food compared to control mice, increased the weight lesser, the weight increase of high-intensity exercise mice, that consumed significantly more food compared to other experimental groups, was significantly greater. These effects were accompanied by a progressive reduction in blood lactate levels at the end of training in both the exercised mice compared with controls; in particular, blood lactate levels after highintensity exercise were significantly lower than those measured in low-intensity exercise mice. Moreover, in the present study we demonstrated that high-intensity exercise training produced a significant increase in the expression of mitochondrial complex enzymes (significant for the enzymes corresponding to the Complex IV, II and I of mitochondrial chain) both in gastrocnemius and quadriceps muscle, compared with controls. These changes were associated with an increase in the amount of slow fibers in both these muscle of high-intensity exercise mice. No changing in the expression of mitochondrial enzymes and in the percentage of slow fibers were found in low-intensity exercise mice

CAIMAN Experiment

Non-acoustic detection systems can be used in combination with Sonar systems to determine the presence of an underwater threat, such as terrorist divers. The goal of the CAIMAN (Coastal Anti Intruders MAgnetometers Network) joint experiment (Italian Navy, NATO Undersea Research Centre and INGV Marine Geophysics) is the application of High Definition Geophysics Magnetic techniques in a port protection scenario, where conventional measurements of very low magnetic sources, like intruder swimmers, are strongly disturbed by ambient, natural and artificial, background noise and other time-variant magnetic anomalies. Two tri-axial fluxgate magnetometers were deployed on the sea bottom and connected to a shore side measurement station. A team of navy divers, wearing both COTS and EOD equipment, performed some coastal approach runs on each magnetometer alternatively. Magnetic signature data were logged and post processed using MATLAB®. Results demonstrated the effectiveness of high definition time reduction techniques using a self-referred integrated array design

The Golgi apparatus is a primary site of intracellular damage after photosensitization with Rose Bengal acetate

The aim of the present investigation was to elucidate whether the Golgi apparatus undergoes photodamage following administration of the fluorogenic substrates Rose Bengal acetate (RBAc) and irradiation at the appropriate wavelength. Human HeLa cells were treated in culture and the changes in the organization of the Golgi apparatus were studied using fluorescence confocal microscopy and electron microscopy, after immunocytochemical labeling. To see whether the cytoskeletal components primarily involved in vescicle traffic (i.e., microtubules) might also be affected, experiments of tubulin immunolabeling were performed. After treatment with RBAc and irradiation, cells were allowed to grow in drug-free medium for different times. 24hr after irradiation, the cisternae of the Golgi apparatus became packed, and after 48-72 hr they appeared more fragmented and scattered throughout the cytoplasm; these changes in the organization of the Golgi cisternae were confirmed at electron microscopy. Interestingly enough, apoptosis was found to occur especially 48-72h after irradiation, and apoptotic cells exhibited a dramatic fragmentation of the Golgi membranes. The immunolabeling with anti-tubulin antibody showed that microtubules were also affected by irradiation in RBAc-treated cells

Component-aware Orchestration of Cloud-based Enterprise Applications, from TOSCA to Docker and Kubernetes

Enterprise IT is currently facing the challenge of coordinating the management of complex, multi-component applications across heterogeneous cloud platforms. Containers and container orchestrators provide a valuable solution to deploy multi-component applications over cloud platforms, by coupling the lifecycle of each application component to that of its hosting container. We hereby propose a solution for going beyond such a coupling, based on the OASIS standard TOSCA and on Docker. We indeed propose a novel approach for deploying multi-component applications on top of existing container orchestrators, which allows to manage each component independently from the container used to run it. We also present prototype tools implementing our approach, and we show how we effectively exploited them to carry out a concrete case study

Anti-intruder port protection “MAC (Magnetic ACoustic) System”: advances in the magnetic component performance

In the following, we report the advances made in the development of a magnetic component for peripheral monitoring of port environments for anti-intruder systems. The project was initiated by the Office of Research and Development, COMFORDRAG, Italian Navy, in 2004, with the aim of improving the detection performance of current acoustic-based anti-intruder systems, in the vicinity of quays or the seabed or in acoustic-shadow zones behind natural or artificial objects. In the five-year period from 2004 to 2008, the system has been subjected to detection-performance tests in experiments involving divers equipped with air tanks and rebreather kits in real port environments and, at the same time, the associated signal processing has been subjected to development, to enhance detection performance. In tests involving simulated diver attacks against a vessel moored alongside a quay in the port of La Spezia, the system has been proved particularly effective by detecting 9 divers out of 9. The processing of the magnetic signal has been enhanced by implementing an amplitude threshold, as a means of filtering the passive energy components, termed Passive Energy Cutting (PEC), that is, the elimination of components that comprise no useful information regarding diver transits. The use of PEC boosts the reliability of the system in terms of detection versus false alarm rate, as evidenced by the comparison of the ROC curves for the system with and without PEC

Suramin inhibits bFGF-induced endothelial cell proliferation and angiogenesis in the chick chorioallantoic membrane

The effects of suramin, an inhibitor of growth factor mitogenic activity, were evaluated on basic fibroblast growth factor (bFGF)-induced proliferation of bovine aortic endothelial cells and on angiogenesis in the chorioallantoic membrane (CAM) of chick embryos. The role of bFGF gene expression in endothelial cell growth was also investigated by using an antisense oligodeoxynucleotide to bFGF. The 4-fold increase in [3H]-thymidine uptake in endothelial cells in vitro upon stimulation with 10 ng ml-1 of bFGF was inhibited by suramin 300 micrograms ml-1. bFGF antisense oligomer (10 microM) reduced [3H]-thymidine incorporation in exponentially growing cells by 76%; this effect was reversed by bFGF 10 ng ml-1. In the CAM of chick embryos suramin 50 micrograms was a more potent inhibitor of angiogenesis than the combination of heparin 60 micrograms/hydrocortisone 50 micrograms; the mean value of the area with reduced vascularity was significantly larger in suramin-treated CAMs (2.4 cm2) than in heparin/hydrocortisone (0.6 cm2), while the reduction of vascular density was similar (- 35 and - 29% compared to controls, respectively), In conclusion, the effects of treatments with bFGF and bFGF antisense oligomer demonstrate that bFGF plays a relevant role in endothelial cell proliferation and may be the target of suramin since the drug is able to suppress basal and bFGF-induced endothelial cell growth; in addition to this, suramin is a more potent angiogenesis inhibitor in the CAM than the combination of heparin/hydrocortisone

Harbour water managment for port structures and sea bottom design, coast proximity navigation managment, water quality control.

Tide is a sea level up-down water motion basically depending on three different phenomena: the Earth-Moon-Sun gravitational relationship, the water surface fluid reaction to atmospheric meteorological dynamic action and the Newtonian vertical adjustment of the sea surface due to atmospheric pressure variations. The first tide component (astro-tide) is periodic and well known in all points of the Earth surface; the second one is directly related to the meteorological phenomenon and then it is foreseeable; the Newtonian component, on the contrary, is not readily predictable by a general hydrostatic law, because the factor “J” that represents the Newtonian transfer (from the atmospheric weight to the consequent sea level) is variable in each harbour area. A statistical study and the related numerical data interpretation of the measurements performed in the Ports of Genoa, La Spezia, Marina di Carrara, Livorno, Piombino, Civitavecchia and Ravenna (belonging to the Italian Newtonian Meteotide Network) show port values of Jph (from 1.4-1.6 cm/hPa to > 2 cm/hPa, on the contrary of the off-shore areas where Jph is about 1 cm/hPa). This phenomenon (hydrobarometric tide wave) produces even double values of harbour sea level fluctuations amplitude in comparison to astronomic tide sea level oscillations, and is characterized by a wavelength from 8-12 h to same days and a 10-25 days/year as mean temporal occurrence in the Northern Tyrrhenian Sea. This is the most relevant ordinary risk factor for our ports activity and structures design. The present note shows a quantitative method to define the values of Jph factor for ports and its use in the Harbour WaterSide Management (HWSM) based on the joined use of barometers, hydrometers and clocks, the preliminary results related to the use of the gravimeters as hydrobarometric predictor in La Spezia Port and two examples of use of Jph factor in the port management: refloating of a landing ship and optimisation of a dock performance as pleasure boats mooring