Technique for in-place welding of aluminum backed up by a combustible material

Welding external aluminum jacket, tightly wrapped around inner layer of wood composition fiberboard, in oxygen free environment prevents combustion and subsequent damage to underlying fiberboard. Technique also applies to metal cutting in similar assemblies without disassembly to remove combustible materials from welding heat proximity

Technique for anchoring fasteners to honeycomb panels

Two-piece fastener bushing provides mounting surface for components on a three-inch thick honeycomb structure. Specially constructed starter drill and sheet metal drill permit drilling without misalignment. Tapered knife-edge cutting tool removes honeycomb core material without tearing the adjacent material

MarsLux: HI-Resolution Illumination Maps Generator for Mars

Illumination simulation codes for the Moon's surface have been thoroughly developed during the last years. Despite works done for the Moon, no studies have investigated the relation between sunlight illumination and the Martian surface applying those codes done for the Moon to Mars. The objective of this work is to describe the development of a surface illumination simulation code, called MarsLux, which allows users to make a detailed investigation of the illumination conditions on Mars, based on its topography and the relative position of the Sun. Our code can derive accurate illumination maps, form topographic data, showing areas that are fully illuminated, areas in total shadow, and areas with partial shade, in short computational times. Although the code does not take into account any atmospheric effect, the results proved to be of high accuracy. The maps generated are useful for geomorphological studies, to study gullies, thermal weathering, or mass wasting processes as well as for producing energy budget maps for future exploration missions.Fil: Spagnuolo, Mauro Gabriel. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Oficina de Coordinación Administrativa Ciudad Universitaria. Instituto de Estudios Andinos "Don Pablo Groeber". Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales. Instituto de Estudios Andinos "Don Pablo Groeber"; ArgentinaFil: Carballo, Federico Daniel. Servicio Geologico Minero Argentino; ArgentinaFil: Marco Figuera, R.. Jacobs University Bremen; AlemaniaFil: Rossi, A. P.. Jacobs University Bremen; Alemani

Contact interactions in complex fibrous metamaterials: a proposal for elastic energy and Rayleigh dissipation potential

In this work, an extension of the strain energy for fibrous metamaterials composed of two families of parallel fibers lying on parallel planes and joined by connective elements is proposed. The suggested extension concerns the possibility that the constituent fibers come into contact and eventually scroll one with respect to the other with consequent dissipation due to friction. The fibers interact with each other in at least three different ways: indirectly, through microstructural connections that could allow a relative sliding between the two families of fibers; directly, as the fibers of a family can touch each other and can scroll introducing dissipation. From a mathematical point of view, these effects are modeled first by introducing two placement fields for the two fiber families and adding a coupling term to the strain energy and secondly by adding two other terms that take into account the interdistance between the parallel fibers and the Rayleigh dissipation potential (to account for friction)

MBOAT7 in liver and extrahepatic diseases

MBOAT7 is a protein anchored to endomembranes by several transmembrane domains. It has a catalytic dyad involved in remodelling of phosphatidylinositol with polyunsaturated fatty acids. Genetic variants in the MBOAT7 gene have been associated with the entire spectrum of non-alcoholic fatty liver (NAFLD), recently redefined as metabolic dysfunction-associated fatty liver disease (MAFLD) and, lately, steatotic liver disease (SLD), and to an increasing number of extrahepatic conditions. In this review, we will (a) elucidate the molecular mechanisms by which MBOAT7 loss-of-function predisposes to MAFLD and neurodevelopmental disorders and (b) discuss the growing number of genetic studies linking MBOAT7 to hepatic and extrahepatic diseases. MBOAT7 complete loss of function causes severe changes in brain development resulting in several neurological manifestations. Lower MBOAT7 hepatic expression at both the mRNA and protein levels, due to missense nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in the locus containing the MBOAT7 gene, affects specifically metabolic and viral diseases in the liver from simple steatosis to hepatocellular carcinoma, and potentially COVID-19 disease. This body of evidence shows that phosphatidylinositol remodelling is a key factor for human health

Phenotypic and Gene Expression Profiles of Embryo Development of the Ascidian Ciona robusta Exposed to Dispersants

Within EU approval policies, most dispersant ecotoxicity testing considers lethal concentrations for marine adult species, overlooking the embryotoxicological effects. Here we studied the ecotoxicity of two commercial dispersant formulations (dispersant A and B) on the embryogenesis of the ascidian Ciona robusta. Embryotoxicity and phenotypic alterations stated that dispersant B resulted more toxic than A (EC50 value of 44.30 and 160 µg mL−1, respectively) and induced severe larvae malformations at lower concentrations. Furthermore, the analysis of genes involved in different cellular response pathways indicated that those belonging to biotransformation were upregulated by dispersant A treatment, likely related to the presence of hydrocarbons. Instead, dispersant B induced cas8 gene downregulation, probably as a result of the prolonged exposure to mixture components. Our preliminary findings support the use of the C. robusta embryotoxicity test as a valuable tool for dispersant approval procedures, by providing sub-lethal responses on marine invertebrates closely related to vertebrates

Preliminary estimates of tritium permeation and retention in the first wall of DEMO due to ion bombardment

Tritium self-sufficiency presents a critical engineering challenge for DEMO, requiring efficient breeding and extraction systems, as well as minimizing tritium losses to the surrounding systems, such as plasma-facing components, vacuum vessel, cooling system, etc. Structural and plasma-facing components will act as a tritium sink, as tritium will be accumulated in the bulk of these components due to energetic particle bombardment and may permeate out of the vacuum system. The design of the plasma-facing components will consequently directly influence the plant lifetime, operational safety and cost of any future power plant. Therefore, modeling of tritium retention and permeation in these components is required for the engineering designs of the tritium breeding and safety systems. In this work, the diffusion-transport code TESSIM-X is benchmarked against the well-established TMAP7 code and a comparison with a simplified DEMO-relevant test case is performed. The use of either code for modeling of DEMO conditions is discussed. Following this, TESSIM-X is used to provide a preliminary assessment of tritium permeation and retention in the DEMO first wall, based on the current WCLL (Water Cooled Lithium Lead) and HCPB (Helium Cooled Pebble Bed) breeding blanket designs