1,721,122 research outputs found
Nasal disinfection for the prevention and control of COVID-19: A scoping review on potential chemo-preventive agents
Full text linkBackground: Neither pre-exposure nor post-exposure chemo-prophylaxis agents are currently available to prevent COVID-19. On the other hand, high loads of SARS-CoV-2 are shed from the nasal cavity before and after symptoms onset. Objective: To conduct a scoping review on the available evidence on tolerable nasal disinfectants with encouraging health outcomes against SARS-CoV-2, i.e., agents effective against at least two different viruses beyond SARS-CoV-2. Methods: Online databases were searched to identify papers published during 2010–2020. Publications were selected if they were relevant to the scoping review. The review was narrative, describing for each treatment the mechanism(s) of action, tolerability, in vitro and in vivo evidence of the effects against SARS-CoV-2 and whether the product had been marketed. Results: Eight treatments were scrutinized: hypothiocyanite, lactoferrin, N-chlorotaurine, interferon-alpha, povidone-iodine, quaternary ammonium compounds, alcohol-based nasal antiseptics and hydroxychloroquine. In vitro viricidal effect against SARS-CoV-2 was reported for ethanol, alcohol-based hand sanitizers and povidone-iodine. Inhibition of other coronaviruses was described for lactoferrin, hydroxychloroquine and quaternary ammonium compound. No treatment has been tested against SARS-CoV-2 in randomized controlled clinical trials thus far. However, interferon-alpha, lactoferrin and hydroxychloroquine were tested in one-arm open label uncontrolled clinical trial. Oxidant activity (hypothiocyanite, N-chlorotaurine and povidone-iodine), enhancement of endocytic and lysosomal pH (quaternary ammonium compounds and hydroxychloroquine) and destruction of the viral capsid (quaternary ammonium compounds, alcohol-based nasal antiseptics) were the main mechanisms of action. Lactoferrin and interferon-alpha have subtle biological mechanisms. With the exception of N-chlorotaurine, all other products available on the market. Conclusions: Effective and safe chemo-prophylactic drugs against SARS-CoV-2 do not exist yet but most eligible candidates are already in the market. Whilst the human nasal cavity is the port of entry for SARS-CoV-2, the mouth is involved as exit site through emission of respiratory droplets. The well-known hand-to-nose-to-hand cycle of contamination requires appropriate additional strategies for infection control. To narrow down the subsequent laboratory and clinical investigations, a case-control approach could be employed to compare the use of candidate drugs among individuals testing positive and negative to COVID-19 swabs
Surface layer effect on high pressure phase growth in a bicrystal: phase field model and simulations
No full textEffect of the external surface layer on the phase transition (PT) between the low pressure phase and high pressure phase (HPP) in a NiAl bicrystal is investigated. Using a phase field model, the external surface layer is included, within which the elastic properties and surface energy are properly distributed. After resolving a stationary layer, the coupled phase field and elasticity equations are solved to capture the HPP evolution. Residual stress concentrator is included as a shear band representing an inelastic shear strain. Due to the small grain size, the surface layer can influence the stress distribution and consequently, the critical inelastic shear strain γcr for the HPP growth. Above a certain applied pressure, the surface layer width Δξ shows no effect on γcr, e.g., P=10 GPa for the grain size of L = 20 nm. For lower pressures, γcr increases as pressure reduces. Due to the interplay of size addition by the surface layer and size reduction by the transformation strain, γcr reduces versus Δξ and then increases for larger Δξ. For smaller grain sizes, the surface layer effect is promoted as it is imposed to a larger transformation work. The lowest γcr is obtained for P=19 GPa, in good agreement with the theoretical pressure of 20 GPa. Combining the external shear on pressure adds an extra shear term to the transformation work, which allows for the relaxation of the shear band and results in a nonlinear reduction of the PT pressure versus applied shear
The effect of a pre-existing nanovoid on martensite formation and interface propagation: a phase field study
No full textIn the present work, the effect of a pre-existing nanovoid on martensitic phase transformation (PT) is investigated using the phase field approach. The nanovoid is created as a solution of the coupled Cahn–Hilliard and elasticity equations. The coupled Ginzburg–Landau and elasticity equations are solved to capture the martensitic nanostructure. The above systems of equations are solved using the finite element method and COMSOL code. The austenite (A)–martensite (M) interface propagation is investigated without the nanovoid and with it for different nanovoid misfit strains and different temperatures. With the nanovoid, the evolution of the moving interface is changed even before it reaches the nanovoid surface due to the nanovoid stress concentration. It is also found that for small misfit strains, pre-transformation occurs near the nanovoid. For larger misfit strains, martensite nucleates and grows near the nanovoid surface and coalesces with the moving interface. The nanovoid shows a promotive effect on the PT with an increase in the rate of transformation, which is discussed based on the transformation work distribution. The effect of the nanovoid is more pronounced on a curved interface. The nanovoid-induced martensitic growth is mainly dependent on the transformation strain tensor. Examples for different transformation strains are presented where a stable non-complete transformed sample with no void becomes unstable in the presence of the nanovoid. The presented model and results will help to develop an interaction model between nanovoids and multiphase structures at the nanoscale
Coupled phase field and nonlocal integral elasticity analysis of stress-induced martensitic transformations at the nanoscale: boundary effects, limitations and contradictions
No full textIn this paper, the coupled phase field and local/nonlocal integral elasticity theories are used for stress-induced martensitic phase transformations (MPTs) at the nanoscale to investigate the limitations and contradictions of the nonlocal integral elasticity, which are due to the fact that the support of the nonlocal kernel exceeds the integration domain, i.e., the boundary effect. Different functions for the nonlocal kernel are compared. In order to compensate the boundary effect, a new nonlocal kernel, i.e., the compensated two-phase kernel, is introduced, in which a local part is added to the nonlocal part of the two-phase kernel to account for the boundary effect. In contrast to the previously introduced modified kernel, the compensated two-phase kernel does not lead to a purely nonlocal behavior in the core region, and hence no singular behavior, and consequently, no computational convergence issue is observed. The nonlinear finite element approach and the COMSOL code are used to solve the coupled system of Ginzburg–Landau and local/nonlocal integral elasticity equations. The numerical implementation of the phase field-local elasticity equations and the 2D nonlocal integral elasticity are verified. Boundary effect is investigated for MPT with both homogeneous and nonhomogeneous stress distributions. For the former, in contrast to the local elasticity, a nonhomogeneous phase transformation (PT) occurs in the nonlocal case with the two-phase kernel. Using the compensated two-phase kernel results in a homogeneous PT similar to the local elasticity. For the latter, the sample transforms to martensite except the adjacent region to the boundary for the local elasticity, while for the two-phase kernel, the entire sample transforms to martensite. The solution of the compensated two-phase kernel, however, is very similar to that of the local elasticity. The applicability of boundary symmetry in phase field problems is also investigated, which shows that it leads to incorrect results within the nonlocal integral elasticity. This is because when the symmetric portions of a sample are removed, the corresponding nonlocal effects on the remaining portion are neglected and the symmetric boundaries violate the normalization condition. An example is presented in which the results of a complete model with the two-phase kernel are different from those of its one-fourth model. In contrast, the compensated two-phase kernel can generate similar solutions for both the complete and one-fourth models. However, in general, none of the nonlocal kernels can overcome this issue. Therefore, the symmetrical models are not recommended for nonlocal integral elasticity based phase field simulations of MPTs. The current study helps for a better study of nonlocal elasticity based phase field problems for various phenomena such as various PTs
Investigating the effect of nanovoid inelastic surface stress and the austenite–martensite interface inelastic stress on the martensitic growth at the nanovoid surface
No full textIn this paper, the effect of nanovoid inelastic surface stress and austenite (A)–martensite (M) interface inelastic stress on the martensitic growth at the nanovoid surface is investigated. Within the phase field approach (PFA), the coupled Cahn–Hilliard and elasticity equations involving the nanovoid inelastic surface stress are solved to generate a nanovoid. Then, the coupled Ginzburg–Landau and elasticity equations involving both the A-M interface and nanovoid inelastic surface stresses are solved to capture the evolution of martensite in the presence of the nanovoid. A nanovoid concentration-dependent phase transformation (PT) kinetic coefficient is introduced which, in contrast to previous works, removes the unphysical transformation inside the nanovoid. The FEM implemented in the commercial software COMSOL is used to solve the system of equations. It is found that the nanovoid changes the PT morphology and decreases the transformation rate. Both the A-M interface and nanovoid inelastic surface stresses decrease the transformation rate which amount depends on initial and boundary conditions. The effect of the A-M inelastic interface stress on the total stress is more pronounced in the presence of nanovoid. Nevertheless, the nanovoid inelastic surface stress shows no significant effect on the PT critical stress. Moreover, the study of the PT critical temperature versus the gradient energy coefficient also revealed that both the A-M interface and nanovoid inelastic surface stresses have no significant effect on the PT critical temperature
Nonlinear buckling analysis of double-layered graphene nanoribbons based on molecular mechanics
No full textDouble-layer graphene nanoribbons promise potential application in nanoelectromechanical systems and optoelectronic devices, and knowledge about mechanical stability is a crucial parameter to flourish the application of these materials at the next generation of nanodevices. In this paper, molecular mechanics is utilized to investigate nonlinear buckling behavior, critical buckling stress, and lateral deflection of double-layered graphene nanoribbons under various configurations of stacking mode and chirality. The implicit arc-length iterative method (modified Riks method) with Ramm’s algorithm is utilized to analyze the nonlinear structural stability problem. The covalent bonds are modeled using three-dimensional beam elements in which elastic moduli are calculated based on molecular structural mechanics technique, and the interlayer van der Waals (vdW) interactions are modeled with nonlinear truss elements. An analytical expression for Young’s modulus of nonlinear truss elements is derived based on the Lennard–Jones potential function and implemented in numerical simulation with a UMAT subroutine based on FORTRAN code to capture the nonlinearity of the vdW interactions during the buckling analysis. The results indicate that the highest critical buckling stress and the minimum lateral deflection occur for armchair and zigzag chirality, both with AB stacking mode, respectively. Moreover, the critical buckling stress is found to be directly dependent on the mode shape number regardless of in-phase or anti-phase deflection direction of layers. Lateral deflection exhibits a similar trend with mode shape in anti-phase mode; however, it is decreasing by increasing mode shape number in in-phase mode
Going Beyond Counting First Authors in Author Co-citation Analysis
Full text linkThe present study examines one of the fundamental aspects of author co-citation analysis (ACA) - the way co-citation
counts are defined. Co-citation counting provides the data on which all subsequent statistical analyses and mappings
are based, and we compare ACA results based on two different types of co-citation counting - the traditional type that
only counts the first one among a cited work's authors on the one hand and a non-traditional type that takes into
account the first 5 authors of a cited work on the other hand. Results indicate that the picture produced through this non-traditional author co-citation counting contains more coherent author groups and is therefore considerably clearer. However, this picture represents fewer specialties in the research field being studied than that produced through the traditional first-author co-citation counting when the same number of top-ranked authors is selected and analyzed. Reasons for these effects are discussed
Variations on the Author
Full text link“Variations on the Author” discusses two of Eduardo Coutinho’s recent films (Um Dia na Vida, from 2010, and Últimas Conversas, posthumously released in 2015) and their contribution to the general question of documentary authorship. The director’s filmography is characterized by a consistent yet self-effacing form of authorial self-inscription: Coutinho often features as an interviewer that rather than express opinions propels discourses; an interviewer that is good at listening. This mode of self-inscription characterizes him as an author who is not expressive but who is nonetheless markedly present on the screen. In Um Dia na Vida, however, Coutinho is completely absent form the image, while Últimas Conversas, on the contrary, includes a confessional prologue that moves the director from the margins to the center of his films. This article examines the ways in which these works stand out in the filmography of a director who offers new insights into the notion of cinematic authorship
Appropriate Similarity Measures for Author Cocitation Analysis
Full text linkWe provide a number of new insights into the methodological discussion about author cocitation analysis. We first argue that the use of the Pearson correlation for measuring the similarity between authors’ cocitation profiles is not very satisfactory. We then discuss what kind of similarity measures may be used as an alternative to the Pearson correlation. We consider three similarity measures in particular. One is the well-known cosine. The other two similarity measures have not been used before in the bibliometric literature. Finally, we show by means of an example that our findings have a high practical relevance.information science;Pearson correlation;cosine;similarity measure;author cocitation analysis
- …
