Definition of wind blowers for vehicles testing at chassis-dyno facilities using a CFD approach

[EN] The need to increase measurement accuracy of fuel consumption and pollutant emissions in vehicles is forcing the market to develop chassis-dyno test cells that reproduce on-road conditions realistically. Air-cooling is key to vehicle performance. It is therefore critical that the design of a test cell guarantees realistic cooling of all vehicle components, as important errors in fuel consumption and emissions measurements may otherwise arise. In a test-room, a blower placed in front of the vehicle supplies the cooling air. While there are some guidelines in the literature for the selection of fans required for emissions measurements for standard driving cycles, the information for designing the air supply system for specific tests in other areas is scarce. New Real Driving Emissions (RDE) legislation will force manufacturers to perform onroad measurements of pollutants. This represents a significant challenge due to the variability of conditions coming from non-controlled parameters. In order to optimize vehicles, different tests are performed in cells equipped with a chassis-dyno where the on-road flow field around the vehicle is reproduced as closely as possible. This work provides some guidelines for the definition of the airflow supply system of chassis-dyno facilities for vehicle optimization tests, based on a CFD analysis of the flow characteristics around the vehicle. By comparison with the solution obtained for a vehicle in real road driving conditions, the exit section of the blower and the distance between the blower exit and the car that best reproduce realistic on-road flow conditions in a test room are determined. 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.Broatch, A.; Margot, X.; Gil, A.; Galindo, E.; Soler, R. (2017). Definition of wind blowers for vehicles testing at chassis-dyno facilities using a CFD approach. Transportation Research Part D Transport and Environment. 55:99-112. doi:10.1016/j.trd.2017.06.029S991125

Platelet-derived microvesicles isolated from type-2 diabetes mellitus patients harbour an altered miRNA signature and drive MDA-MB-231 triple-negative breast cancer cell invasion

The underlying causes of breast cancer are diverse, however, there is a striking association between type 2 diabetes and poor patient outcomes. Platelet activation is a common feature of both type 2 diabetes and breast cancer and has been implicated in tumourigenesis through a multitude of pathways. Here transcriptomic analysis of type 2 diabetes patient-derived platelet microvesicles revealed an altered miRNA signature compared with normoglycaemic control patients. Interestingly, interrogation of these data identifies a shift towards an oncogenic signature in type 2 diabetes-derived platelet microvesicles, with increased levels of miRNAs implicated in breast cancer progression and poor prognosis. Functional studies demonstrate that platelet microvesicles isolated from type 2 diabetes patient blood are internalised by triple-negative breast cancer cells in vitro, and that co-incubation with type 2 diabetes patient-derived platelet microvesicles led to significantly increased expression of epithelial to mesenchymal transition markers and triple-negative breast cancer cell invasion compared with platelet microvesicles from healthy volunteers. Together, these data suggest that circulating PMVs in type 2 diabetes patients may contribute to the progression of triple-negative breast cancer

A prospective survey in European Society of Cardiology member countries of atrial fibrillation management: baseline results of EURO bservational Research Programme Atrial Fibrillation (EORP-AF) Pilot General Registry

Aims: Given the advances in atrial fibrillation (AF) management and the availability of new European Society of Cardiology (ESC) guidelines, there is a need for the systematic collection of contemporary data regarding the management and treatment of AF in ESC member countries. Methods and results: We conducted a registry of consecutive in- and outpatients with AF presenting to cardiologists in nine participating ESC countries. All patients with an ECG-documented diagnosis of AF confirmed in the year prior to enrolment were eligible. We enroled a total of 3119 patients from February 2012 to March 2013, with full data on clinical subtype available for 3049 patients (40.4% female; mean age 68.8 years). Common comorbidities were hypertension, coronary disease, and heart failure. Lone AF was present in only 3.9% (122 patients). Asymptomatic AF was common, particularly among those with permanent AF. Amiodarone was the most common antiarrhythmic agent used (~20%), while beta-blockers and digoxin were the most used rate control drugs. Oral anticoagulants (OACs) were used in 80% overall, most often vitamin K antagonists (71.6%), with novel OACs being used in 8.4%. Other antithrombotics (mostly antiplatelet therapy, especially aspirin) were still used in one-third of the patients, and no antithrombotic treatment in only 4.8%. Oral anticoagulants were used in 56.4% of CHA 2DS2-VASc = 0, with 26.3% having no antithrombotic therapy. A high HAS-BLED score was not used to exclude OAC use, but there was a trend towards more aspirin use in the presence of a high HAS-BLED score. Conclusion: The EURObservational Research Programme Atrial Fibrillation (EORP-AF) Pilot Registry has provided systematic collection of contemporary data regarding the management and treatment of AF by cardiologists in ESC member countries. Oral anticoagulant use has increased, but novel OAC use was still low. Compliance with the treatment guidelines for patients with the lowest and higher stroke risk scores remains suboptimal. © The Author 2013

Robust estimation of bacterial cell count from optical density

Optical density (OD) is widely used to estimate the density of cells in liquid culture, but cannot be compared between instruments without a standardized calibration protocol and is challenging to relate to actual cell count. We address this with an interlaboratory study comparing three simple, low-cost, and highly accessible OD calibration protocols across 244 laboratories, applied to eight strains of constitutive GFP-expressing E. coli. Based on our results, we recommend calibrating OD to estimated cell count using serial dilution of silica microspheres, which produces highly precise calibration (95.5% of residuals <1.2-fold), is easily assessed for quality control, also assesses instrument effective linear range, and can be combined with fluorescence calibration to obtain units of Molecules of Equivalent Fluorescein (MEFL) per cell, allowing direct comparison and data fusion with flow cytometry measurements: in our study, fluorescence per cell measurements showed only a 1.07-fold mean difference between plate reader and flow cytometry data

Robust estimation of bacterial cell count from optical density

Optical density (OD) is widely used to estimate the density of cells in liquid culture, but cannot be compared between instruments without a standardized calibration protocol and is challenging to relate to actual cell count. We address this with an interlaboratory study comparing three simple, low-cost, and highly accessible OD calibration protocols across 244 laboratories, applied to eight strains of constitutive GFP-expressing E. coli. Based on our results, we recommend calibrating OD to estimated cell count using serial dilution of silica microspheres, which produces highly precise calibration (95.5% of residuals &lt;1.2-fold), is easily assessed for quality control, also assesses instrument effective linear range, and can be combined with fluorescence calibration to obtain units of Molecules of Equivalent Fluorescein (MEFL) per cell, allowing direct comparison and data fusion with flow cytometry measurements: in our study, fluorescence per cell measurements showed only a 1.07-fold mean difference between plate reader and flow cytometry data

Investigation of cast and annealed Ti25Nb10Zr alloy as material for orthopedic devices

In the present work, we report the preparation of a novel titanium-based alloy, namely Ti25Nb10Zr, by cold crucible levitation melting technique. The cast alloy consists of a complex microstructure with large Beta phase grains (54%, 50-150 μm) with a regularly connected net of Alpha′ (orthorhombic, 46%) phase running along boundaries and across the grains and keeping a regular misorientation with respect to the Beta phase. An intermeshed 51% Alpha and 49% Beta phases with lamellar microstructure were found by annealing. The electrochemical tests showed that both alloys were affected by the corrosion process. A good corrosion resistance in SBF at 37 °C was found for the cast form. The cast alloy is more resistant when immersed into solutions with pH2 and pH7, while the annealed one is resistant in pH5 solution. Surface potential of both alloys is negative, with the annealing process leading to a slight decrease of that property. Collectively, the biological results indicate a more favorable viability on cast form as compared to annealed one, suggesting that the cast alloy is promising for biomedical applications.Fil: Bolmaro, Raul Eduardo. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Rosario. Instituto de Física de Rosario. Universidad Nacional de Rosario. Instituto de Física de Rosario; ArgentinaFil: Parau, Anca C.. National Institute of Research and Development for Optoelectronics; RumaniaFil: Pruna, Vasile. Romanian Academy. Institute of Cellular Biology and Pathology Nicolae Simionescu; RumaniaFil: Surmeneva, Maria A.. National Research Tomsk Polytechnic University; RusiaFil: Constantin, Lidia R.. National Institute of Research and Development for Optoelectronics; RumaniaFil: Avalos, Martina Cecilia. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Rosario. Instituto de Física de Rosario. Universidad Nacional de Rosario. Instituto de Física de Rosario; ArgentinaFil: Cotrut, Cosmin M.. National Research Tomsk Polytechnic University; Rusia. University Politehnica of Bucharest; RumaniaFil: Tutuianu, Raluca. Romanian Academy. Institute of Cellular Biology and Pathology Nicolae Simionescu; RumaniaFil: Braic, Mariana. National Institute of Research and Development for Optoelectronics; RumaniaFil: Cojocaru, Danut V.. National Research Tomsk Polytechnic University; RusiaFil: Dan, Ioan. SC R&D Consulting and Services; RumaniaFil: Croitoru, Sorin. Tehnomed Impex Co; RumaniaFil: Surmenev, Roman A.. Romanian Academy. Institute of Cellular Biology and Pathology Nicolae Simionescu; RumaniaFil: Vladescu, Alina. National Institute of Research and Development for Optoelectronics; Rumania. Romanian Academy. Institute of Cellular Biology and Pathology Nicolae Simionescu; Rumani

Building multisite science services for the European Multidisciplinary Seafloor and water column Observatory (EMSO) Research Infrastructure

American Geophysical Union (AGU) Fall Meeting, 9-13 December 2019, San FranciscoEMSO is a European Research Infrastructure Consortium (ERIC) with 8 member countries. It is coordinated by a central management office and promotes monitoring services offered by 11 fixed-point deep-sea and water column observatories around Europe, from the Atlantic, through the Mediterranean, and to the anoxic Black Sea. EMSO aims are to advance marine science and technologies in the frame of sustainable development policies concerning ocean health, biodiversity, climate, and environmental changes. EMSO provides Science Services, in the form of data and/or access to the regional distributed observatory locations for experiments or testing of new equipment. EMSO ERIC is in its second year of operation, and its challenge is to turn the diversity of technical approaches and science priorities of each regional distributed observatory locations into a strength for building robust network-scale best practices, labels, and science services. This presentation reports on collaborative work initiated in recent months by EMSO, primarily within the Science Service Group, focusing on 3 practical goals: 1) offer online access, Quality Control (QC) and adequate data management tools for deep-water salinity and temperature data from five EMSO sites; 2) develop and promote a standard sampling and analytical procedure for microplastic pollution assessments to be performed at each EMSO site during maintenance cruises; and 3) explore the needs of the growing group of users of marine acoustics data (e.g. geohazards, marine mammals, sound pollution, marine transport) and design online access, QC and suitable scan-visualisation tools for acoustic data records. Our goal is, through and beyond EMSO Science Services, to help build smart ocean observation systems that meet the growing knowledge needs on natural and anthropogenic processes in the oce