Integrated development of CFRP structures for a topless high performance vehicle

When modern saloon cars are re-engineered as convertibles (or roadsters) it is typical for them to lose 50% or more of the body’s torsional rigidity. Consequently the vehicles rarely handle quite as crisply, nor do they ride as well as the coupes from which they derived. This paper highlights the fundamental contributions of advanced composites in achieving the desired value of handling of the Murcièlago Roadster without penalizing the overall weight of the vehicle. To compensate for the absence of the roof structure, the vehicle was strongly redesigned by introducing new structural members and reinforcing existing critical components. A new all-carbon/epoxy composite sub-frame, which spans the entire engine bay, is comprised of elliptical tubular members, and it is the first of its kind in a production vehicle. Engineering of the sub-frame, from preliminary design to manufacturing decisions, is the focus of this paper, and is achieved through a Building Block approach that sets the program within the Integrated Product Development (IPD) strategy that the Advanced Composites Division of Automobili Lamborghini S.p.A. employs for its technology demonstrators. The strategy consists in a concurrent analytical and experimental development of the product, from the initial conceptual design and coupon testing, through the stages of element and subcomponent engineering, to final component manufacturing.     

Physico-chemical characterisation of the inhalable particulate matter (PM10) in an urban area: an analysis of the seasonal trend

Between October 1998 and February 2000, 11 particulate samplings were conducted in an urban area of Rome to evaluate the seasonal trend of PM10 characteristics: seven samplings were made at ground-level and four 30 m above ground level. The samples were analysed by scanning electron microscopy equipped with an EDS X-ray attachment and by transmission electron microscopy and an electron energy-loss spectrometer. The airborne particulate matter was characterised from a physico-chemical point of view to provide information on the particle composition and on the compounds carried on their surface. The data sets, consisting of the atomic concentrations of the constituent chemical elements of the fine (PM3.3) and of the coarse (PM10-3.3) particulate, were subjected to cluster analysis to determine the principal components of PM10. In the particulate matter, the statistical analysis methods allowed us to identify seven groups (clusters) of particles: C-rich particles; carbonates; silica; silicates; sulfates; Fe-rich particles; and metals. Carbonaceous and silicate particles with a surface coating containing S were observed. This sulfur-enriched coating turned out to be a PM3.3 feature strongly dependent upon season.     

Milk from cows fed a diet with a high forage:concentrate ratio improves inflammatory state,oxidative stress,and mitochondrial function in rats

Excessive energy intake may evoke complex biochemical processes characterized by inflammation, oxidative stress, and impairment of mitochondrial function that represent the main factors underlying noncommunicable diseases. Because cow milk is widely used for human nutrition and in food industry processing, the nutritional quality of milk is of special interest with respect to human health. In our study, we analyzed milk produced by dairy cows fed a diet characterized by a high forage:concentrate ratio (high forage milk, HFM). In view of the low n-6:n-3 ratio and high content of conjugated linoleic acid of HFM, we studied the effects of this milk on lipid metabolism, inflammation, mitochondrial function, and oxidative stress in a rat model. To this end, we supplemented for 4 wk the diet of male Wistar rats with HFM and with an isocaloric amount (82 kJ, 22 mL/d) of milk obtained from cows fed a diet with low forage:concentrate ratio, and analyzed the metabolic parameters of the animals. Our results indicate that HFM may positively affect lipid metabolism, leptin:adiponectin ratio, inflammation, mitochondrial function, and oxidative stress, providing the first evidence of the beneficial effects of HFM on rat metabolism.     

Use of an Online Extraction Technique Coupled to Liquid Chromatography for Determination of Caffeine in Coffee,Tea, and Cocoa

Caffeine is the most widely studied psychoactive molecule in history due to its many pharmacological activities and a high number of biological and physiological effects. In literature, there is a great number of applications that describe extraction, identification, and quantification of caffeine in foods and beverages. For this purpose, an extraction step is followed by an analytical technique for the identification and quantification of caffeine. This work proposes an innovative method in which sample preparation, separation, and detection steps are unified in a single step. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first report on the determination of caffeine in coffee, tea, and cocoa by means of an online extraction coupled to a liquid chromatographic system equipped with a photodiode array detector. The developed methodology was validated in terms of sensitivity, detection limits, accuracy, and precision. The advantages of this technique are (i) a significant reduction of analysis time (more than 70%) and of solvents used (the extraction step is integrated in the chromatographic analysis), (ii) the whole procedure is thus completely automated drastically reducing possible operator errors to occur, and (iii) easily realized by using a conventional monodimensional liquid chromatography system.     

Field determination of total dissolved inorganic carbon (TDIC) in natural waters using an IR analyzer: I. Preliminary laboratory tests

Preliminary laboratory tests carried out on 20 mineral waters indicate that the infrared (IR) method for the determination of total dissolved inorganic carbon (TDIC) is more accurate than the pH-alkalinity method, especially for high-TDIC, naturally sparkling waters and low-TDIC waters. The results of the two analytical methods are similar for mineral waters whose TDIC ranges from 100 to 500 mg/L as HCO₃, suggesting a relative accuracy of 0.3–2.9%. The limit of detection (LOD) of the IR method is close to 10 mg HCO₃/L and independent of pH. This value is comparable with the LOD of the pH-alkalinity method in the pH range 6.5–9 whereas the LOD of the latter increases strongly with decreasing pH below pH 6.5. The IR method is quick, since a run takes a few minutes and, on average, 10 analyses are carried out in an hour, including the time spent for clean up and preparation between samples. It constitutes a sound alternative to the pH-alkalinity technique for the field measurement of TDIC in geothermal and other natural waters.     

The d-index: Discovering dependences among scientific collaborators from their bibliographic data records

The evaluation of the work of a researcher and its impact on the research community has been deeply studied in literature through the definition of several measures, first among all the h-index and its variations. Although these measures represent valuable tools for analyzing researchers?? outputs, they usually assume the co-authorship to be a proportional collaboration between the parts, missing out their relationships and the relative scientific influences. In this work, we propose the d-index, a novel measure that estimates the dependence degree between authors on their research environment along their entire scientific publication history. We also present a web application that implements these ideas and provides a number of visualization tools for analyzing and comparing scientific dependences among all the scientists in the DBLP bibliographic database. Finally, relying on this web environment, we present case and user studies that highlight both the validity and the reliability of the proposed evaluation measure.     

An Adaptive Control System to Deliver Interactive Virtual Environment Content to Handheld Devices

Wireless communication advances have enabled emerging video streaming applications to mobile handheld devices. For example, it is possible to display and interact with complex 3D virtual environments on mobile devices that don’t have enough computational and storage capabilities (e.g. smart phones, PDAs) through remote rendering techniques, where a server renders 3D data and streams the corresponding image flow to the client. However, due to fluctuations in bandwidth characteristics and limited mobile device CPU capabilities, it is extremely challenging to design effective systems for streaming interactive multimedia over wireless networks. This paper presents a novel approach based on a controller that can automatically adjust streaming parameters basing on feedback measures from the client device. Experimental results prove the effectiveness of the proposed solution in coping with bandwidth changes, thus providing high Quality of Service (QoS) in remote visualizations.