An approach to multidimensional equivalent fatigue loadings

In the automotive industry, temporal, financial and human constraints require continuous improvements in the design process of new vehicles, by delivering relevant specifications and providing reliability and robustness in design. In order to analyze factors like behaviors of drivers and types of roads and guarantee the reliability of car components, measurements of forces from wheels are stored when the vehicle is tested on tracks and used by customers. The measurements represent the time history of multi-dimensional forces on the four wheels in the longitudinal, vertical and transversal directions. They are applied on structures (suspensions or motoring for instance) during the design life of the vehicles. The context of this paper is the fatigue analysis of multi-input loadings. The study will be focused on random and possibly correlated multi-input processes, representing multidimensional forces. The goal of this paper is to present an approach to generate simple multi-input loadings equivalent to measurements In terms of damage. The simple loadings have to be equivalent for any arbitrary structure, satisfying the reliability requirements imposed by the car manufacturer. Copyright κ 2005 by ASME

Size characterization of airborne SiO2 nanoparticles with on-line and off-line measurement techniques: an interlaboratory comparison study

Results of an interlaboratory comparison on size characterization of SiO2 airborne nanoparticles using on-line and off-line measurement techniques are discussed. This study was performed in the framework of Technical Working Area (TWA) 34\u2014\u2018\u2018Properties of Nanoparticle Populations\u2019\u2019 of the Versailles Project on Advanced Materials and Standards (VAMAS) in the project no. 3 \u2018\u2018Techniques for characterizing size distribution of airborne nanoparticles\u2019\u2019. Two types of nano-aerosols, consisting of (1) one population of nanoparticles with a mean diameter between 30.3 and 39.0 nm and (2) two populations of non-agglomerated nanoparticles with mean diameters between, respectively, 36.2\u201346.6 nm and 80.2\u201389.8 nm, were generated for characterization measurements. Scanning mobility particle size spectrometers (SMPS) were used for on-line measurements of size distributions of the produced nano-aerosols. Transmission electron microscopy, scanning electron microscopy, and atomic force microscopy were used as off-line measurement techniques for nanoparticles characterization. Samples were deposited on appropriate supports such as grids, filters, andmica plates by electrostatic precipitation and a filtration technique using SMPS controlled generation upstream. The results of the main size distribution parameters (mean and mode diameters), obtained from several laboratories, were compared based on metrological approaches including metrological traceability, calibration, and evaluation of the measurement uncertainty. Internationally harmonized measurement procedures for airborne SiO2 nanoparticles characterization are proposed

Prediction of Esophageal Varices by Liver Stiffness and Platelets in Persons with HIV infection and Compensated Advanced Chronic Liver Disease

Human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)-infected individuals are at increased risk of cirrhosis and esophageal varices. Baveno VI criteria, based on liver stiffness measurement (LSM) and platelet count, have been proposed to avoid unnecessary esophagogastroduodenoscopy (EGD) screening for esophageal varices needing treatment (EVNT). This approach has not been validated in HIV-infected patients

Childhood cancer survival in Europe.

BACKGROUND: EUROCARE-3 collected data from 45 population-based cancer registries in 20 countries on 24 620 European children aged from 0 to 14 years diagnosed with malignancy in the period 1990-1994. METHODS: Five-year survival between countries was compared for all malignancies and for the major diagnostic categories, adjusting for age, and estimated average European survival weighting for differences in childhood populations. RESULTS: For all cancers combined, survival variation was large (45% in Estonia to 90% in Iceland), and was generally low (60-70%) in eastern Europe and high (> or =75%) in Switzerland, Germany and the Nordic countries (except Denmark). The Nordic countries had the highest survival for four of the seven major tumour types: nephroblastoma (92%), acute lymphoid leukaemia (85%), CNS tumours (73%) and acute non-lymphocytic leukaemia (62%). The eastern countries had lowest survival: 89% for Hodgkin's disease, 71% for nephroblastoma, 68% for acute lymphoid leukaemia, 61% for non-Hodgkin's lymphoma, 57% for central nervous system (CNS) tumours and 29% for acute non-lymphocytic leukaemia. CONCLUSIONS: The Nordic countries represent a survival gold standard to which other countries can aspire. Since most childhood cancers respond well to treatment, survival differences are attributable to differences in access (including referral and timely diagnosis) and use of modern treatments; however, the obstacles to access and application of standard treatments probably vary markedly with country

EUROCARE-3 summary: cancer survival in Europe at the end of the 20th century.

No abstract availabl

Planck intermediate results. VIII. Filaments between interacting clusters

About half of the baryons of the Universe are expected to be in the form of filaments of hot and low-density intergalactic medium. Most of these baryons remain undetected even by the most advanced X-ray observatories, which are limited in sensitivity to the diffuse low-density medium. Aims. The Planck satellite has provided hundreds of detections of the hot gas in clusters of galaxies via the thermal Sunyaev-Zel\u2019dovich (tSZ) effect and is an ideal instrument for studying extended low-density media through the tSZ effect. In this paper we use the Planck data to search for signatures of a fraction of these missing baryons between pairs of galaxy clusters. Methods. Cluster pairs are good candidates for searching for the hotter and denser phase of the intergalactic medium (which is more easily observed through the SZ effect). Using an X-ray catalogue of clusters and the Planck data, we selected physical pairs of clusters as candidates. Using the Planck data, we constructed a local map of the tSZ effect centred on each pair of galaxy clusters. ROSAT data were used to construct X-ray maps of these pairs. After modelling and subtracting the tSZ effect and X-ray emission for each cluster in the pair, we studied the residuals on both the SZ and X-ray maps. Results. For the merging cluster pair A399-A401 we observe a significant tSZ effect signal in the intercluster region beyond the virial radii of the clusters. A joint X-ray SZ analysis allows us to constrain the temperature and density of this intercluster medium. We obtain a temperature of kT = 7.1 \ub1 0.9 \u2009 keV (consistent with previous estimates) and a baryon density of (3.7 \ub1 0.2) 7 10-4 \u2009cm-3. Conclusions. The Planck satellite mission has provided the first SZ detection of the hot and diffuse intercluster gas

Planck intermediate results. II. Comparison of Sunyaev-Zeldovich measurements from Planck and from the Arcminute Microkelvin Imager for 11 galaxy clusters

A comparison is presented of Sunyaev-Zeldovich measurements for 11 galaxy clusters as obtained by Planck and by the ground-based interferometer, the Arcminute Microkelvin Imager. Assuming a universal spherically-symmetric Generalised Navarro, Frenk and White (GNFW) model for the cluster gas pressure profile, we jointly constrain the integrated Compton-Y parameter (Y500) and the scale radius (\u3b8500) of each cluster. Our resulting constraints in the Y500 - \u3b8500 2D parameter space derived from the two instruments overlap significantly for eight of the clusters, although, overall, there is a tendency for AMI to find the Sunyaev-Zeldovich signal to be smaller in angular size and fainter than Planck. Significant discrepancies exist for the three remaining clusters in the sample, namely A1413, A1914, and the newly-discovered Planck cluster PLCKESZ G139.59+24.18. The robustness of the analysis of both the Planck and AMI data is demonstrated through the use of detailed simulations, which also discount confusion from residual point (radio) sources and from diffuse astrophysical foregrounds as possible explanations for the discrepancies found. For a subset of our cluster sample, we have investigated the dependence of our results on the assumed pressure profile by repeating the analysis adopting the best-fitting GNFW profile shape which best matches X-ray observations. Adopting the best-fitting profile shape from the X-ray data does not, in general, resolve the discrepancies found in this subset of five clusters. Though based on a small sample, our results suggest that the adopted GNFW model may not be sufficiently flexible to describe clusters universally

Planck intermediate results IV. The XMM-Newton validation programme for new Planck galaxy clusters

We present the final results from the XMM-Newton validation follow-up of new Planck galaxy cluster candidates. We observed 15 new candidates, detected with signal-to-noise ratios between 4.0 and 6.1 in the 15.5-month nominal Planck survey. The candidates were selected using ancillary data flags derived from the ROSAT All Sky Survey (RASS) and Digitized Sky Survey all-sky maps, with the aim of pushing into the low SZ flux, high-z regime and testing RASS flags as indicators of candidate reliability. Fourteen new clusters were detected by XMM-Newton, ten single clusters and two double systems. Redshifts from X-ray spectroscopy lie in the range 0.2 to 0.9, with six clusters at z > 0.5. Estimated masses (M500) range from 2.5 7 1014 to 8 7 1014 M 99. We discuss our results in the context of the full XMM-Newton validation programme, in which 51 new clusters have been detected. This includes four double and two triple systems, some of which are chance projections on the sky of clusters at different redshifts. We find thatassociation with a source from the RASS-Bright Source Catalogue is a robust indicator of the reliability of a candidate, whereas association with a source from the RASS-Faint Source Catalogue does not guarantee that the SZ candidate is a bona fide cluster. Nevertheless, most Planck clusters appear in RASS maps, with a significance greater than 2\u3c3 being a good indication that the candidate is a real cluster. Candidate validation from association with SDSS galaxy overdensity at z > 0.5 is also discussed. The full sample gives a Planck sensitivity threshold of Y500 ~ 4 7 10-4 arcmin2, with indication for Malmquist bias in the YX-Y500 relation below this threshold. The corresponding mass threshold depends on redshift. Systems with M500 > 5 7 1014 M 99 at z > 0.5 are easily detectable with Planck. The newly-detected clusters follow the YX-Y500 relation derived from X-ray selected samples. Compared to X-ray selected clusters, the new SZ clusters have a lower X-ray luminosity on average for their mass. There is no indication of departure from standard self-similar evolution in the X-ray versus SZ scaling properties. In particular, there is no significant evolution of the YX / Y500 ratio

Erratum to: Guidelines for the use and interpretation of assays for monitoring autophagy (3rd edition) (Autophagy, 12, 1, 1-222, 10.1080/15548627.2015.1100356

No abstract available