Intelligent Machining Systems

Machining is one of the most widespread manufacturing processes and plays a critical role in industries. As a matter of fact, machine tools are often called mother machines as they are used to produce other machines and production plants. The continuous development of innovative materials and the increasing competitiveness are two of the challenges that nowadays manufacturing industries have to cope with. The increasing attention to environmental issues and the rising costs of raw materials drive the development of machining systems able to continuously monitor the ongoing process, identify eventual arising problems and adopt appropriate countermeasures to resolve or prevent these issues, leading to an overall optimization of the process. This work presents the development of intelligent machining systems based on in-process monitoring which can be implemented on production machines in order to enhance their performances. Therefore, some cases of monitoring systems developed in different fields, and for different applications, are presented in order to demonstrate the functions which can be enabled by the adoption of these systems. Design and realization of an advanced experimental machining testbed is presented in order to give an example of a machine tool retrofit aimed to enable advanced monitoring and control solutions. Finally, the implementation of a data-driven simulation of the machining process is presented. The modelling and simulation phases are presented and discussed. So, the model is applied to data collected during an experimental campaign in order to tune it. The opportunities enabled by integrating monitoring systems with simulation are presented with preliminary studies on the development of two virtual sensors for the material conformance and cutting parameter estimation during machining processes

The tectonic puzzle of the Messina area (Southern Italy): Insights from new seismic reflection data

The Messina Strait, that separates peninsular Italy from Sicily, is one of the most seismically active areas of the Mediterranean. The structure and seismotectonic setting of the region are poorly understood, although the area is highly populated and important infrastructures are planned there. New seismic reflection data have identified a number of faults, as well as a crustal scale NE-trending anticline few km north of the strait. These features are interpreted as due to active right-lateral transpression along the north-eastern Sicilian offshore, coexisting with extensional and right-lateral transtensional tectonics in the southern Messina Strait. This complex tectonic network appears to be controlled by independent and overlapping tectonic settings, due to the presence of a diffuse transfer zone between the SE-ward retreating Calabria subduction zone relative to slab advance in the western Sicilian side

Systemic lupus erythematosus: one year in review 2023

Systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) is a chronic autoimmune disease with a wide range of clinical manifestations and a relapsing-remitting course. New data regarding pathogenic pathways, biomarkers and clinical manifestations of SLE are emerging, and new drugs and therapeutic protocols have been proposed to improve the control of disease activity. Furthermore, new insights into comorbidities and reproductive health in SLE patients are constantly emerging.This annual review aims to summarise the most relevant data on SLE that was published in 2022

Transient acceleration events in LISA Pathfinder data: properties and possible physical origin

We present an in depth analysis of the transient events, or glitches, detected at a rate of about one per day in the differential acceleration data of LISA Pathfinder. We show that these glitches fall in two rather distinct categories: fast transients in the interferometric motion readout on one side, and true force transient events on the other. The former are fast and rare in ordinary conditions. The second may last from seconds to hours and constitute the majority of the glitches. We present an analysis of the physical and statistical properties of both categories, including a cross-analysis with other time series like magnetic fields, temperature, and other dynamical variables. Based on these analyses we discuss the possible sources of the force glitches and identify the most likely, among which the outgassing environment surrounding the test-masses stands out. We discuss the impact of these findings on the LISA design and operation, and some risk mitigation measures, including experimental studies that may be conducted on the ground, aimed at clarifying some of the questions left open by our analysis.Peer ReviewedPostprint (author's final draft

Similarities and differences between younger and older disease onset patients with newly diagnosed systemic lupus erythematosus

Objectives: Several studies show that age at onset has an impact on the clinical-serological presentation, comorbidities and disease course of patients with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE). We evaluated whether, in patients with recent onset SLE, the age at onset correlates with clinical-serological manifestations and with comorbidities. Methods: We analysed 171 patients with a SLE diagnosis obtained within 12 months of diagnosis enrolled in the Early Lupus project. Based on the age of onset of the first disease symptom, they were stratified into 2 groups: early onset (18-45 years) and late onset (>45 years). The analysis was replicated by stratifying patients based on age at diagnosis (fulfillment of ACR classification criteria). Each comparison was made at baseline and at 36 months of follow-up. Results: Baseline: patients with late onset displayed comorbidities (hypertension, dyslipidemia and osteoporosis) more frequently than early onset group. 11.4% of late onset patients had a malignancy in medical history, not recorded in the early onset cohort. The two groups differed neither in organ involvement (domain BILAG) nor in disease activity (ECLAM). Patients with early onset showed a disease with signs of higher serologic activity (higher frequency of anti-dsDNA positivity and lower mean C3 and C4 levels) and had malar rash more frequently than the late onset group (36.2% vs. 18.2%, p=0.042). Similar results were obtained by stratifying patients by age of diagnosis (18-45 years and >45 years), except for the higher frequency of discoid rash in the group with age at diagnosis >45 years (18% vs. 6.6%, p=0.045). 36 months: the 2 groups of patients independently of the stratification applied did not differ in the accumulation of damage, but showed a different pattern of 8 organ involvement. Musculoskeletal involvement was more frequent both in the late onset group (18.6% vs. 7.3%, p=0.043) and in the group with age at diagnosis >45 years (20.4% vs. 5.9%, p=0.009) compared to their counterparts, while renal involvement was more frequent in the group with age at diagnosis 18-45 years (21.4% vs. 6.1%, p=0.03).A sub analysis at 36 months on patients without hypertension and osteoporosis at enrollment showed that patients with older age at onset had a higher frequency of these comorbidities, compared to their counterparts. Conclusions: In our cohort, younger disease SLE onset seems to correlate with a more active immunological profile, while late onset with a higher incidence of comorbidities

COVID-19 in rheumatic diseases in Italy: first results from the Italian registry of the Italian Society for Rheumatology (CONTROL-19)

OBJECTIVES: Italy was one of the first countries significantly affected by the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) epidemic. The Italian Society for Rheumatology promptly launched a retrospective and anonymised data collection to monitor COVID-19 in patients with rheumatic and musculoskeletal diseases (RMDs), the CONTROL-19 surveillance database, which is part of the COVID-19 Global Rheumatology Alliance. METHODS: CONTROL-19 includes patients with RMDs and proven severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) updated until May 3rd 2020. In this analysis, only molecular diagnoses were included. The data collection covered demographic data, medical history (general and RMD-related), treatments and COVID-19 related features, treatments, and outcome. In this paper, we report the first descriptive data from the CONTROL-19 registry. RESULTS: The population of the first 232 patients (36% males) consisted mainly of elderly patients (mean age 62.2 years), who used corticosteroids (51.7%), and suffered from multi-morbidity (median comorbidities 2). Rheumatoid arthritis was the most frequent disease (34.1%), followed by spondyloarthritis (26.3%), connective tissue disease (21.1%) and vasculitis (11.2%). Most cases had an active disease (69.4%). Clinical presentation of COVID-19 was typical, with systemic symptoms (fever and asthenia) and respiratory symptoms. The overall outcome was severe, with high frequencies of hospitalisation (69.8%), respiratory support oxygen (55.7%), non-invasive ventilation (20.9%) or mechanical ventilation (7.5%), and 19% of deaths. Male patients typically manifested a worse prognosis. Immunomodulatory treatments were not significantly associated with an increased risk of intensive care unit admission/mechanical ventilation/death. CONCLUSIONS: Although the report mainly includes the most severe cases, its temporal and spatial trend supports the validity of the national surveillance system. More complete data are being acquired in order to both test the hypothesis that RMD patients may have a different outcome from that of the general population and determine the safety of immunomodulatory treatments

One year in review 2022: systemic lupus erythematosus

: Systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) is a chronic multisystem auto-immune disease with extremely varied clinical manifestations and a complex pathogenesis. New insights in SLE about pathogenetic pathways, biomarkers, and data on clinical manifestations are progressively emerging, and new drugs and new therapeutic strategies have been proposed to improve the control of disease activity. Thus, this review is aimed to summarise the most relevant data about SLE emerged during 2021, following the previous annual review of this series

Scambio termico durante la condensazione in tubi a superficie intensificata: R22, R134a e R407C a confronto

In questo lavoro sono riportati i risultati sperimentali di prove di scambio termico effettuate in un tubo microalettato di diametro interno pari a circa 8 mm, durante la condensazione dei refrigeranti alogenati R22, R134a, e R407C. Le prove sono state eseguite con valori di portata specifica di massa variabili tra 100 e 800 kg m-2 s-1, con valori del titolo di vapore tra 0.8 e 0.2, e con valori di temperatura di saturazione pari a 40 \ub0C. I risultati sono stati confrontati con le prestazioni di un equivalente tubo liscio, ad identiche condizioni operative, per evidenziare e valutare l\u2019incremento di scambio termico offerto da un tubo microalettato rispetto ad un tubo liscio. Si \ue8 trovato che questo incremento \ue8 fortemente dipendente dal valore della portata specifica di massa, ed \ue8 influenzato dalle caratteristiche di zeotropicit\ue0 della miscela R407C. \uc8 stato eseguito un confronto tra i dati sperimentali e i risultati di previsioni eseguite con il modello proposto da Cavallini et al. (1999). Con la miscela zeotropica R407C \ue8 stata utilizzata un\u2019opportuna correzione (Bell e Ghaly, 1973) alle procedure di calcolo per fluidi puri

Transfer zones in an oblique back-arc basin setting. Insights from the Latium-Campania segmented margin (Tyrrhenian Sea)

New multichannel seismic reflection profiles were acquired to unravel the structure of a portion of the eastern margin of the Tyrrhenian basin. This extensional feature is part of an Oligocene to Present back-arc basin in the hangingwall of the west directed Apennines subduction system. The basin provides excellent conditions to investigate the early stage processes leading to the development of rifted passive margins and to the emplacement of oceanic crust in an oblique setting. The interpreted post-stack-migrated seismic profiles highlight the geometry and kinematics of the Pontine escarpment that connects the Latium-Campania continental margin to the Vavilov basin. The latter is the main feature of the area, related to the early Pliocene extension of the Tyrrhenian Sea. Several morphological variations are pointed out along strike, mirroring different structural settings of the margin itself: a steeper margin to the north corresponds to high-angle possibly transtensional faults, whereas a smooth slope in the southern portion corresponds to several more distributed listric faults. This work contributes to the understanding of the interplay between extensional and transtensional tectonics along the margins of an oblique back-arc basin