Fatigue behaviour of tensile steel/CFRP joints

In this paper the fatigue performance of tensile steel/CFRP (Carbon Fibre Reinforced Polymer) double shear lap joints is discussed. Joints were realized with two steel plates and two CFRP strips bonded using epoxy adhesive. Fatigue tests were performed on 16 specimens under constant stress range loading cycles. Two stress ratios (R = 0.1 and R = 0.4) were considered to investigate their influence on the fatigue lifetime. Debonding was observed to occur at stress concentration zones and propagate along the CFRP/adhesive interfaces. The stiffness degradation of the steel joint due to progressive debonding of the adhesive represents an index for the subsequent and progressive global failure. S–N curves are defined and compared to the fatigue resistance of welded detail categories of the Eurocode 3. The tests showed that the stress ratio, R, has a marginal influence on the fatigue lifetime of the steel/CFRP double shear lap joints. Finally, a fatigue limit corresponding to a stress range in the steel plate equal to 75 MPa was conservatively estimated during the tests. The fatigue limit seems to be insensitive to the stress ratio R.     

No Time to Die: How Kidney Cancer Evades Cell Death

The understanding of the pathogenesis of renal cell carcinoma led to the development of targeted therapies, which dramatically changed the overall survival rate. Nonetheless, despite innovative lines of therapy accessible to patients, the prognosis remains severe in most cases. Kidney cancer rarely shows mutations in the genes coding for proteins involved in programmed cell death, including p53. In this paper, we show that the molecular machinery responsible for different forms of cell death, such as apoptosis, ferroptosis, pyroptosis, and necroptosis, which are somehow impaired in kidney cancer to allow cancer cell growth and development, was reactivated by targeted pharmacological intervention. The aim of the present review was to summarize the modality of programmed cell death in the pathogenesis of renal cell carcinoma, showing in vitro and in vivo evidence of their potential role in controlling kidney cancer growth, and highlighting their possible therapeutic value.     

Bacteria sorting by field-flow fractionation. Application to whole-cell Escherichia coil vaccine strains

Sorting and quantification of deactivated bacteria is an important way of quality control for whole-cell bacterial vaccines. In general, surface features of deactivated bacteria used for whole-cell bacterial vaccines affect the immunoresponse to bacteria-associated antigens. Enumeration of bacteria is also an important process development parameter for these vaccines. Field-flow fractionation (FFF) was previously applied to the separation of bacteria. For the first time, FFF is used for sorting bacteria strains of the same species on the basis of differences in bacterial membrane characteristics. Two FFF techniques, gravitational FFF (GrFFF) and asymmetrical flow FFF (AsFIFFF), are shown to be able to fractionate, distinguish, and quantify different deactivated Escherichia coli strains used for vaccines. E. coli can differ in the presence of fimbriae on the bacterial membrane. Fimbriae affect E. coli pathology and thus the use of E. coli for vaccines. GrFFF and AsFIFFF are able to fractionate fimbriated/ nonfimbriated cells in mixtures of different strains. While GrFFF is characterized by low cost and simplicity, As-FIFFF shows a higher performance in size fractionation with a high-speed separation. Coupled, on-line UV/visible turbidimetry yields the relative numbers of fractionated cells and sample recovery. Scanning electron microscopy and quasi-elastic light scattering are employed as uncorrelated techniques for size and morphology analysis of the E. coli strains.     

Linear MMSE estimation of time-frequency variant channels for MIMO-OFDM systems

This paper proposes two low-complexity two-dimensional channel estimators for MIMO-OFDM systems derived from a joint time-frequency channel estimator. The estimators exploit both time and frequency correlations of the wireless channel via use of Slepian-basis expansions. The computational saving comes from replacing a two-dimensional Slepian-basis expansion with two serially concatenated one-dimensional Slepian-basis expansions. Performance in terms of normalized mean square error (NMSE) vs. signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) is analyzed via numerical simulations and compared with the original estimator. The analysis of the performance takes into account the impact of both system and channel parameters. The estimators are finally tested when used within the loop of an iterative receiver for MIMO-OFDM systems.     

Solar hydrogen from North Africa to Europe through greenstream: A simulation-based analysis of blending scenarios and production plant sizing

Blending green hydrogen within the gas infrastructure is seen as the first move towards Europe's climate neutrality by 2050. Especially, Europe and North African have privileged role in energy cooperation sharing a woven and complex set of natural resources, knowledge, infrastructure, clear goals towards sustainable development. Developing common projects about hydrogen can mutually help both Europe and North Africa to achieve more sustainable, reliable and modern energy systems.This paper simulates the Greenstream gas corridor (connecting Libya to Italy) under increasing hydrogen blending scenarios using a transient and multi-component fluid-dynamic model of the gas transmission system.The additional compression energy required and the compressors’ operating hours are evaluated under the hypothesis that the energy content of the transported gas is maintained. The hydrogen profiles needed to generate the blends are obtained and used to optimally size a photovoltaic-powered electrolysis system, minimizing the compressed hydrogen storage.The results indicate that the additional energy costs of transporting hydrogen blends are up to 32.5% higher than natural gas transport, while negligibly impacting the overall efficiency of energy transport. The mismatch between solar hydrogen production and pipeline receiving potential highlights a challenge to be tackled to boost intersectoral integration.     

Rosiglitazone,a PPAR-γ Agonist,Fails to Attenuate CLA-Induced Milk Fat Depression and Hepatic Lipid Accumulation in Lactating Mice

Our objective was to investigate the combination of rosiglitazone (ROSI) and conjugated linoleic acid (CLA) on mammary and hepatic lipogenesis in lactating C57Bl/6 J mice. Twenty-four lactating mice were randomly assigned to one of four treatments applied from postpartum day 6 to day 10. Treatments included: (1) control diet, (2) control plus 1.5 % dietary CLA (CLA) substituted for soybean oil, (3) control plus daily intra-peritoneal (IP) rosiglitazone injections (10 mg/kg body weight) (ROSI), and (4) CLA plus ROSI (CLA-ROSI). Dam food intake and milk fat concentration were depressed with CLA. However, no effects were observed with ROSI. The CLA-induced milk fat depression was due to reduced expression for mammary lipogenic genes involved in de-novo fatty acid (FA) synthesis, FA uptake and desaturation, and triacyglycerol synthesis. Liver weight (g/100 g body weight) was increased by CLA due to an increase in lipid accumulation triggering a compensatory reduction in mRNA abundance of hepatic lipogenic enzymes, including acetyl-CoA carboxylase I and stearoyl-CoA desaturase I. On the contrary, no effects were observed with ROSI on hepatic and mammary lipogenic gene and enzyme expression. Overall, feeding CLA to lactating mice induced milk fat depression and increased hepatic lipid accumulation, probably due to the presence of trans-10, cis-12 CLA isomer, while ROSI failed to significantly attenuate both hepatic steatosis and reduction in milk fat content.     

Environmental Kuznets curve and the water footprint: an empirical analysis

Water is an essential element for life, playing an important role in economic development, although it is threatened by negative externalities that do not make it available for everyone. The main purpose of this article is to offer insightful empirical evidence of the nexus between economic growth and water usage. In this article we investigate the Environmental Kuznets Curve (EKC) hypothesis using a country's water footprint as an indicator of water impact. Using linear and nonlinear models we estimate, through the ordinary least square, the relationship between water impact and gross national income (GNI) per capita for 94 Countries. Our study shows an N‐shape curve, which does not confirm the EKC hypothesis, both for the relationship between Water Footprint per capita and GNI per capita and Grey Water Footprint per capita and GNI per capita. From this results, a number of recommendations can be provided to strengthen the water resources policies and management.