Is organic diet really necessary for children?

The presentation focuse on the impact of pesticides on growing organisms, such as infants and young childre

Exploring Locally to Grow Globally: A Community Excursion-based Elective for Intensive English Programs

The community excursion-based elective course (CE) has been designed for the Intensive English Program (IEP) at the International Language Institute (ILI) in Northampton, Massachusetts. The class provides access and information to international adult learners who are interested in learning more about the local community and culture for academic, professional and personal purposes. CE students will be exposed to various businesses, organizations, institutions and services in the community while being fully supported by a qualified teacher. The types of excursions identified in this Capstone project differ in several ways from the extra-curricular activities and cultural exchanges that are commonly offered by most IEPs. First of all, these excursions are designed to focus on the everyday routines and practices of each hosting site. Secondly, students will participate in site tours and have discussions with each hosting community representative with the purpose of developing intercultural competency and language acquisition. Finally, students will spend a third of the elective reflecting upon their authentic experiences for the purpose of gaining a deeper understanding of their host community

ELASTICITY of SHORT FIBRE REINFORCED POLYAMIDE: MORPHOLOGICAL AND NUMERICAl ANALYSIS OF FIBRE ORIENTATION EFFECTS

The fatigue behaviour of injection moulded short fibre reinforced polymers depends upon fibre orientation, as shown in experiments conducted with notched specimens injected through different injection gates. The different fatigue behaviour is mainly related to the different local elastic properties, as determined by the different fibre orientation patterns, resulting into different strain distributions. In order to quantify the relationship between fibre orientation and elastic constants, the Cell Method was applied to volumes extracted from the specimens, reconstructed by micro-tomography

How do we decide what to do? Resting-state connectivity patterns and components of self-generated thought linked to the development of more concrete personal goals

Human cognition is not limited to the available environmental input but can consider realities that are different to the here and now. We describe the cognitive states and neural processes linked to the refinement of descriptions of personal goals. When personal goals became concrete, participants reported greater thoughts about the self and the future during mind-wandering. This pattern was not observed for descriptions of TV programmes. Connectivity analysis of participants who underwent a resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging scan revealed neural traits associated with this pattern. Strong hippocampal connectivity with ventromedial pre-frontal cortex was common to better-specified descriptions of goals and TV programmes, while connectivity between hippocampus and the pre-supplementary motor area was associated with individuals whose goals were initially abstract but became more concrete over the course of the experiment. We conclude that self-generated cognition that arises during the mind-wandering state can allow goals to be refined, and this depends on neural systems anchored in the hippocampus

ANALYSIS OF CRACK PROPAGATION DURING FATIGUE TESTS IN INJECTION MOULDED NOTCHED SPECIMENS MADE OF SHORT GLASS FIBRE REINFORCED POLYAMIDE

In this work, we present the results of fatigue tests on injection moulded, notched specimens made of short glass fibre reinforced polyamide 66, containing 50%w of fibres. Specimens have three different notch radii (2 mm, 1 mm and 0.5 mm). The local fibre orientation was assessed by analysing the fibre orientation distribution using the optical method. Crack nucleation and propagation was monitored during fatigue tests by microscope observations in back light conditions. This technique allowed for observing and measuring the crack length. The role of propagation was quantified and discussed, by comparison with data previously obtained using a lower amount of reinforcing fibres and PA 6 matrix. It appears that with a higher content of fibres, most of the fatigue test is spent in nucleating the cracks, while propagation takes places over the last few cycles. In previous tests, with 30% glass fibres and PA6 matrix, crack propagation was dominant (more than 50% of total fatigue life), particularly for a small notch root radius

Monitoring of fatigue crack growth in composite adhesively bonded joints using Fiber Bragg Gratings

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Studio del danneggiamento mediante tomografia in luce del sincrotrone: impatto di un cono d’ombra sulla qualità finale delle ricostruzioni

Un’accurata osservazione della geometria tridimensionale di cricche e difetti è necessaria per lostudio dei meccanismi alla base del processo di danneggiamento. I metodi convenzionali utilizzati a questoscopo sono distruttivi o non possiedono una sufficiente risoluzione. Le tecniche di imaging che utilizzano laluce di sincrotrone, ed in particolare la microtomografia (micro-CT) a raggi X, invece, uniscono i vantaggi di unatecnica non distruttiva ad un’elevata risoluzione spaziale e risultano quindi particolarmente interessanti. Unlimite all’applicazione di questa tecnica è costituito dalla propensione della cricca a richiudersi una volta rimossoil carico che ha provocato il danneggiamento, superabile attraverso l’impiego di un dispositivo in grado diesercitare un carico di trazione durante l’acquisizione dei dati. Facendo riferimento al set-up sperimentale dellalinea SYRMEP di Elettra, il sincrotrone di Trieste, e tralasciando per il momento i vincoli legati a pesi eingombri, è possibile pensare di inserire tra camera di ionizzazione e CCD una macchina per prove di trazionemono-colonna commerciale, in grado di mantenere aperto il difetto per tutta la durata della tomografia. Inquesto lavoro viene valutato l’impatto di questo vincolo sulla qualità finale delle ricostruzioni

CONFRONTO NUMERICO E SPERIMENTALE TRA LA VERSIONE RIVETTATA E INCOLLATA DI UNA GIUNZIONE MECCANICA

Le giunzioni metalliche incollate offrono diversi vantaggi nei confronti dei tradizionali collegamenti meccanici (rivettatura, bullonatura, ecc.), tuttavia richiedono un’estensiva caratterizzazione meccanica al fine di garantire un’adeguata affidabilità delle strutture in cui vengono inserite. In questo lavoro si presentano i risultati delle prove sperimentali e delle simulazioni numeriche condotte nell’ambito della riprogettazione di una giunzione rivettata di un componente reale, sfruttando la tecnologia dell’incollaggio. L’adesivo usato è una resina epossidica bicomponente, caratterizzata attraverso una campagna di prove sperimentali e simulazioni numeriche, su provini di tipo single-lap e T-peel. Si presenta quindi un confronto, sia numerico che sperimentale, delle prestazioni meccaniche della giunzione rivettata con l’analoga giunzione incollata. I risultati hanno evidenziato un sostanziale miglioramento in termini di rigidezza e resistenza con l’uso della tecnica dell’incollaggio