16 research outputs found
A simultaneous dual-parameter optical fibre single sensor embedded in a glass fibre/epoxy composite
No full textA simultaneous two-parameter single sensor based on weakly tilted Fibre Bragg Grating (TFBG), embedded in a 1 mm glass fibre/epoxy composite plate, is demonstrated to measure independently the temperature and strain variations induced in the material by the exposure to heating lamps. The spectrum of weakly TFBGs is composed of several peaks that can be used for different sensing purposes. Here, the shifting of the Bragg and the Ghost peaks are considered to calculate the strain and temperature variations through thermomechanical sensitivity coefficients of the selected peaks. To prove the reliability of the TFBG measurements, the resulting strain values were compared with the strain measurements obtained from the TFBG when compensated by a K-thermocouple embedded close to the optical fibre sensor. Furthermore, the numerical simulation of the full Finite Element Model (FEM) (composite + TFBG) and partial FEM (composite only) models were carried out by assuming a 3-D Gaussian temperature profile. This allowed the TFBG experimental measurements to be compared with the simulated results. A study focused on the strain deviation showed a good match between the full FEM and the TFBG measurements with an average error of ~5% in the case of the dual-parameter sensor and ~2% for the compensated TFBG.</p
Simultaneous temperature-strain measurement in a thin composite panel with embedded tilted Fibre Bragg Grating sensors (PPT)
No full textPowerPoint presentationStructural Integrity & Composite
Contribution of IBD5 locus to clinical features of IBD patients
No full textAIM: The aim of this study was to investigate the influence of the IBD5 locus on clinical features of inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) patients, and its possible interaction with the CARD15 gene.
PATIENTS AND METHODS: A cohort of 1,199 IBD patients (570 with CD and 629 with ulcerative colitis [UC]), and 357 healthy subjects were investigated. Information on clinical features was fully available for 855 IBD patients. Two SNPs in the IBD5 locus (IGR2198a_1 and IGR2096a_1) and the three major variants of CARD15 gene were genotyped in patients and controls.
RESULTS: Homozygous carriers of risk alleles were significantly more frequent in CD (22.6% for IGR2198a_1, OR = 1.6, p= 0.015; 21.9% for IGR2096a_1, OR = 1.6, p= 0.012) compared to controls (16.8% and 15.7%, respectively). The homozygote frequency was also increased in UC patients, but not significantly. No significant gene-gene interaction was detected between IBD5 and CARD15. A univariate analysis detected association between IBD5 and steno/fistulizing behavior in CD patients (OR = 1.9; p= 0.004), and presence of more extensive colitis in UC patients (OR = 1.7; p= 0.01). Results from multiple logistic regression, after correction for covariates, showed that the influence of IBD5 on clinical outcome of CD was completely masked by that of CARD15, while the influence on more extensive colitis in UC patients was confirmed.
CONCLUSIONS: Our study shows that presence of the IBD5 risk alleles, particularly in the homozygous state, is associated with IBD and especially with CD, without a significant epistasis with CARD15. The contribution of CARD15 risk alleles to CD clinical features is prominent on that of IBD5
Traumatic Injury and Identity: Incorporating Traumatic Episodes into the Life Story
No full textWith an increasing number of traumatic injury survivors, a better understanding of post-trauma meaning-making processes is needed, including improvement in our understanding of post-trauma narrative reconstruction. This project aimed to identify emergent themes within the life story narratives of spinal cord injured veterans and to both generate and test hypotheses regarding how emergent themes related to an indicator of post-trauma wellness. Seven themes were revealed within two specific sections of the life story interview. Findings revealed that individuals who author their life narratives in such a way as to demonstrate altruism and generativity showed significantly higher wellness. Further, narratives with a greater mention of faith, as well as those with imagined futures reflecting a more affirming tone, tended to be authored by individuals with higher levels of wellness. Results help to further our understanding of how those who have been traumatically injured construct their post-injury identity and inform our understanding of resiliency in a traumatic injury population
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Multichannel digital voltmeter using the LM3S8962 evaluation board
No full textThis project is a proof of concept and prototype in both hardware and software, which demonstrates a useful and flexible 4-channel voltmeter using an LM3S8962 Evaluation Board, and commodity electronic components to serve as a shield circuit. The shield circuit protects the evaluation board from over/under voltage damage, and biases the incoming voltages to provide usable input voltages for the LM3S8962 ADC inputs. The report begins with an explanation of the goals of the project, and research of what current products exist on the commercial market to meet the needs of multichannel voltage measurement. In the interest of cost savings, and in the interest of an academic exploration of the capabilities of the inexpensive evaluation boards on the market, the author explores how the ADC inputs of the LM3S8962 can serve some of the same needs of much more expensive commercial products in voltage measurement. Several obstacles were encountered in the design and construction stages. A description of the obstacles, and how they were overcome is described. The end design of both the shield circuit and software is then detailed end-to-end, along with an explanation of how to use the end product. Finally, the accuracy of the project is assessed and demonstrated.Electrical and Computer Engineerin
Public Interventions Supporting Innovation in Small and Medium-Size Firms. Successes or Failures? A Probit Analysis
No full textThe aim of this work is to investigate the probability of success or failure of public interventions, made to support the development of some Italian firms. The great number of small and medium-size enterprises, placed in the Canavese area, north of Turin, Italy, has suffered, in the nineties, of a gap in technological innovation in their production. The Consortium for the Canavese Technological District (CCTD), a public local association established in 1993 specifically to support the firms of the area, has supplied them with some technological, innovative services, sustaining their growth. More exactly, some research centres, named Centres of Competence, were created, with the pre-existing structures of the Polytechnic of Turin and of the firm RTM (placed in Vico Canavese, Province of Turin): their targets were to supply innovative services to the local firms and to place technical machineries at the disposal of the local units, to support their innovation and competitiveness. The present research analyzes a central point: which has been the impact of these services? Which is the probability that a public o private intervention to innovate has success and brings economic growth to the involved firms? This objective is achieved with a Probit Model, built on a panel of 103 firms, that covers a 6-year range (from 1999 to 2004) and contains their balance-sheets data and the technical information regarding their collaborations with the Centres; the results highlight the role of a solid patrimonial stability, of the choice of the right innovations to apply to the production processes as well as the importance of a high previous technological status of the involved enterprises.Innovation probability, Public interventions, Firms growth, Qualitative choice models
The phenomenon of vehicle park brake rollaway
No full textWhen a vehicle is parked on a slope with hot brakes, what appears to be a sufficient parking brake action can sometimes become insufficient. When the brakes cool
down, the braking force reduces due to relaxation of the entire parking brake system, and the vehicle may start to move, leading to obvious catastrophic consequences. This phenomenon is known as vehicle rollaway. This thesis describes the problem in detail and postulates a mechanism that accounts for the occurrence of the rollaway event on vehicles using integrated rear callipers.
Different testing methods are presented that are used to investigate the propensity of a vehicle's parking brake system to rollaway. These include on-vehicle evaluations
and laboratory based measurements. A description is given of a novel dynamometer facility that was developed for this research that is capable of testing vehicle parking
brake systems for rollaway.
Two mathematical modelling techniques are presented that demonstrate how the parking brake system parameters influence the likelihood of rollaway occurring. A
finite element model was used to simulate the change in contact pressure at the frictional interface during a rollaway event. A numerical model was also used to
predict the change in torque developed by a parking brake system cooling from an initial elevated temperature. The change in clamp load at the frictional interface was
modelled using an essentially I-D quasi-static system that showed how the stiffness and the thermal properties of the system qualitatively affect the phenomenon.
The research found that rollaway does not always start with a uniform motion, but with a stick/slip motion. The likelihood of rollaway occurring was found to be directly linked to the temperature of the brake when the vehicle is parked. Rollaway can be reduced by lowering the initial temperature of the brake prior to parking. Rollaway can also be reduced by increasing the input load to the system when applying the parking brake. The research identifies the key design parameters of the brake system components whose values require close control within the real system
if rollaway is to be avoided
Metrics for driving political economy of energy and growth
No full textEnergy metrics is the development of a whole new theoretical framework for the conception and measurement of energy and economic performances, energy efficiency and productivity improvements with important political economy implications consistent with the best use of all natural and economic resources. The purpose of this research is to present some vital energy indicators based on magnitude and scale of energy weakness, GDP per barrel that is an indicator of energy productivity and barrels per capita that is an indicator of energy efficiency. Energy metrics can support policy maker to monitor energy system of countries in order to design effective strategy and political economy focused to increase the competitive advantage of countries in modern economies.Energy metrics, Energy productivity, Energy efficiency, Energy systems
Correction : The ArcAB two-component regulatory system promotes resistance to reactive oxygen species and systemic infection by Salmonella Typhimurium (PLoS ONE (2018) 13: 9 (e0203497) DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0203497)
No full textPublisher Copyright: © 2019 Pardo-Esté et al. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.Dr. Ana Inostroza should be included in the author byline. They should be listed as the fourth author, and their affiliation is 1: Laboratorio de Microbiología Molecular, Departamento de Ciencias Biológicas, Facultad de Ciencias de la Vida, Universidad Andres Bello, Santiago, Chile. The contributions of this author are as follows: acquisition of data, analysis and interpretation of data, the development of methodology, and making a critical review. The correct citation is: Pardo-Esté C, Hidalgo AA, Aguirre C, Inostroza A, Briones AC, Cabezas CE, et al. (2018) The ArcAB two-component regulatory system promotes resistance to reactive oxygen species and systemic infection by Salmonella Typhimurium. PLoS ONE 13 (9): e0203497. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.020349
Possible technological determinants and primary energy resources of future long waves
No full textThe purpose of this paper is to conjecture the possible underlying technological determinants of future long waves, based on prominent studies of scholars and leading forecasting companies; in particular, this research assumes the converging of nano-bio-info-cogno technologies to be the foundation of 5th and 6th economic cycles, whereas the future technological revolution that may underpin the 7th long wave is assumed to be Faster-Than-Light technologies. The positive effects of these future technological revolutions on worldwide economic system are a high increase of productivity, employment rate, consumption and economic growth that lead to longer, happier, and healthier living as well as general well-being.Long Waves, Technological Revolution, Forecasting, Foresight
