A simplified modal-based method to quantify delamination in carbon fibre-reinforced plastic beam

This study contributes to our knowledge about the detection and recognition of carbon fibre-reinforced plastic (CFRP) composites by using a modal analysis technique. Delamination was artificially induced during the manufacturing process of CFRP beams so that the dimension and location of the artificial delamination were known. The first three longitudinal bending modes were considered for detecting, locating, and evaluating the delamination. Contrary to what is commonly practised, the sensor placed on the CFRP structure had a large mass in order to contribute actively to restricting the delamination and hence modifying the structure’s natural frequencies, thus making it much easier to monitor its health condition. The technique was implemented on a beam with a delamination gap of 9% of the beam’s length, positioned within the span of the beam. The results demonstrate that the proposed technique can be effective not only to locate the delamination but also to measure its extent accurately.Scopu

The effectiveness of interventions on nutrition social behaviour change communication in improving child nutritional status within the first 1000 days : evidence from a systematic review and meta-analysis

This systematic review and meta-analysis aimed to assess the robustness of designs and tools used in nutrition social behaviour change communication (NSBCC) interventions and establish their effectiveness. EBSCOhost as an umbrella database including Medline (Ovid) and CINAHL, EMBASE, and ProQUEST databases were searched for peer-reviewed articles from January 1960 to October 2018. Additional sources were searched to identify all relevant studies including grey literature. Studies' biases were assessed according to Cochrane handbook. Pooled estimate of effectiveness of interventions on infant and young child feeding (IYCF) practices and child nutritional status with 95% confidence intervals were measured using random-effects models. Eighty studies were included in this review: Fifty-one (64%) were cluster randomised controlled trials (RCTs), 13 (16%) were RCTs and 16 (20%) quasi-experimental. Of the included studies, 22 (27%) measured early initiation of breastfeeding, 38 (47%) measured exclusive breastfeeding, 29 (36%) measured minimum dietary diversity, 21 (26%) measured minimum meal frequency, 26 (32%) measured height for age z-scores (HAZ), 23 (29%) measured weight for height z-scores (WHZ), 27 (34%) measured weight for age z-scores (WAZ), 20 (25%) measured stunting, 14 (17%) measured wasting, and 11 (14%) measured underweight. The overall intervention's effect was significant for exclusive breastfeeding (EBF) (odds ratio = 1.73; 95% confidence interval [CI]: 1.35–2.11, p < 0.001), HAZ (standardized mean differences [SMD] = 0.19; 95% CI: 0.17–0.21; p < 0.001), WHZ (SMD = 0.02; 95% CI: 0.004–0.04; p < 0.001), and WAZ (SMD = 0.04; 95% CI: 0.02–0.06; p < 0.001). Evidence shows the effectiveness of NSBCC in improving EBF and child anthropometric outcomes. Further research should test the impact on child nutritional status with clearly specified and detailed NSBCC interventions

New Thiazole Derivatives: Potent Antifungal against Candida albicans, with silico Docking Unveiling Key Protein Interactions

While bacterial superbugs have garnered much attention, the rise of antifungal resistance poses a growing threat. This study explores the potential of newly synthesized 2,5-Bis(3,4 Dialkoxy Phenyl) Thiazolo[5,4-d] Thiazoles (DATTn compounds) as antifungal agents. Notably, DATTn compounds demonstrated significant fungicidal activity against Candida albicans, a major fungal pathogen, whereas remaining largely ineffective against common bacterial strains, such as Staphylococcus aureus and Escherichia coli. In silico docking simulations using Schrödinger suites unveiled the molecular basis for this selectivity, revealing strong interactions between DATTn molecules and a crucial fungal protein (Portion Data Bank ID: 8JZN) in C. albicans. These findings highlight the potential of DATTn compounds as promising leads for the development of novel antifungal therapies, particularly in light of escalating drug resistance concerns

Non-Abelian Monopole and Dyon Solutions in a Modified Einstein-Yang-Mills-Higgs System

We have studied a modified Yang-Mills-Higgs system coupled to Einstein gravity. The modification of the Einstein-Hilbert action involves a direct coupling of the Higgs field to the scalar curvature. In this modified system we are able to write a Bogomol'nyi type condition in curved space and demonstrate that the positive static energy functional is bounded from below. We then investigate non-Abelian sperically symmetric static solutions in a similar fashion to the `t Hooft-Polyakov monopole. After reviewing previously studied monopole solutions of this type, we extend the formalism to included electric charge and we present dyon solutions.Comment: 18 pages LaTeX, 7 eps-figure

Heating up the cold bounce

Self-dual string cosmological models provide an effective example of bouncing solutions where a phase of accelerated contraction smoothly evolves into an epoch of decelerated Friedmann--Robertson--Walker expansion dominated by the dilaton. While the transition to the expanding regime occurs at sub-Planckian curvature scales, the Universe emerging after the bounce is cold, with sharply growing gauge coupling. However, since massless gauge bosons (as well as other massless fields) are super-adiabatically amplified, the energy density of the maximally amplified modes re-entering the horizon after the bounce can efficiently heat the Universe. As a consequence the gauge coupling reaches a constant value, which can still be perturbative.Comment: 28 pages, 13 figure

Selective preservation of protein kinase C-ζ in the chemoprevention of azoxymethane-induced colonic tumors by piroxicam

AbstractWhile nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs have been shown to exert preventive effects against the development of colonic tumors in humans and in chemically-induced tumors in animal models, the mechanism(s) involved in this phenomenon is unclear. We have recently demonstrated that one such agent, piroxicam, when supplemented (75 ppm) in the diets of rats administered azoxymethane, reduced the incidence of rats bearing tumors. To date, the effects of piroxicam on protein kinase C, a family of serine/threonine kinases which may be intimately involved in the colonic malignant transformation process, have not been examined. It was, therefore, of interest to determine whether piroxicam altered the expression of one or more isoforms of this kinase in these tumors. The present studies demonstrate that dietary piroxicam selectively preserved the expression of protein kinase C-ζ in azoxymethane-induced tumors; suggesting that this is at least one mechanism involved in this agent's chemopreventive actions in this organ

The Audio Frequency Conductance Study of Some Metal Succinate Salts in Aqueous Medium at Different Temperatures (Part Ii: Zinc, Nickel and Cobalt Succinates)

The electrical conductances of aqueous solutions of zinc, nickel and cobalt succinates have been measured at four temperatures in the temperature range from 298.15K to 313.15K. The limiting molar conductances (Λo), association constants (KA) and the closest distances of approach (a) were calculated using the complete and modified forms of Fouss-Hsia (F/H) and Pitts (P). Quantitative results showed that these salts do not behave as "strong" electrolytes, and that their dissociations are far from complete. The abnormally law conductances of these electrolytes are due to the ion pair formation. The Walden product values, as well as the standard thermodynamic functions (DHo, DGo, DSo) for association reactions have been evaluated

Conversion to sirolimus for chronic renal allograft dysfunction: risk factors for graft loss and severe side effects

We retrospectively reviewed our experience with 45 kidney transplant recipients (KTR) that were switched from CNI to SRL, mainly for chronic allograft dysfunction (CAD) (41/45). The mean serum creatinine at switch was 2.5 ± 0.8 mg/dl. At 1 year, patient survival was 93%. Death-censored graft survival was 67% at 1 year and 54% at 2 years. SRL was stopped because of severe side effects in 15 patients. Among these, eight patients developed ‘de novo’ high-grade proteinuria. Univariate analysis revealed that (1) a higher SRL level at 1 month was a predictor of SRL withdrawal due to severe side effects (P = 0.006), and (2) predictors of graft failure after SRL conversion were low SRL loading dose (P = 0.03) and a higher creatinine level at conversion (P = 0.003)

Chiral spinors and gauge fields in noncommutative curved space-time

The fundamental concepts of Riemannian geometry, such as differential forms, vielbein, metric, connection, torsion and curvature, are generalized in the context of non-commutative geometry. This allows us to construct the Einstein-Hilbert-Cartan terms, in addition to the bosonic and fermionic ones in the Lagrangian of an action functional on non-commutative spaces. As an example, and also as a prelude to the Standard Model that includes gravitational interactions, we present a model of chiral spinor fields on a curved two-sheeted space-time with two distinct abelian gauge fields. In this model, the full spectrum of the generalized metric consists of pairs of tensor, vector and scalar fields. They are coupled to the chiral fermions and the gauge fields leading to possible parity violation effects triggered by gravity.Comment: 50 pages LaTeX, minor corrections and references adde