Fabrication of bronze components by metal injection moulding using powders with different particle characteristics

The aim of this work is to fabricate bronze components by metal injection moulding (MIM) studying the possibility of changing partially or totally the gas atomised powder by water atomised ones that are cheaper than the former. In order to carry out this study, a bronze 90/10 gas atomised spherical powder (usual MIM powder <22 μm) and two water atomised irregular powders (particle size <35 μm and <140 μm) were mixed in different proportions. As received powders and their mixtures were used to fabricate feedstocks and processed by MIM to evaluate the influence of powder particle size and morphology on debinding and sintering stages. Finally, both mechanical properties hardness and maximum flexural stress were determined to characterize the sintered materials. The addition of irregular fine and coarse powders was found to affect the moulding process, although densities and mechanical properties close to values of gas atomised one were obtained after sintering. Therefore, the use of water atomised bronze powders could be a promising way to diminish production costs in this technology.     

Toxoplasma gondii infection and food consumption: A systematic review and meta-analysis of case-controlled studies

ABSTRACT

Background: Toxoplasmosis is a zoonotic disease causing severe symptoms in pregnant women and immunocompromised individuals. On average, worldwide, around 30% of people are seropositive. The oral transmission route is of great significance and food, particularly meat, is an important transmission vehicle for T. gondii. However, the role of different food matrices is debated. Objectives: The aim of this review was to assess the risk of humans developing acute T. gondii infection via the foodborne route. Study eligibility criteria: Case-control studies including acute cases of T. gondii infection were included after literature searches, without time limits, in several databases. All studies estimating the risk of acquiring T. gondii infection after consumption of specific food categories were included. Results: Three risk factors proved to be significantly associated with acute T. gondii infection in humans: consumption of raw/undercooked meat, Odds Ratio (OR) 3.44 (1.29–9.16), consumption of raw/undercooked beef, OR 2.22 (1.57–3.12), and consumption of raw/undercooked sheep meat, OR 3.85 (1.85–8.00). Consumption of raw/undercooked pork, raw eggs, and unpasteurized milk proved to be non-significant risk factors. Limitations: Limitations in the present review and meta-analysis are due to the low number of case-control studies available for analysis and the lack of a search strategy targeting gray literature. Conclusion: Consumption of raw/undercooked beef and sheep meat are important risk factors for T. gondii infection. Their consumption should be avoided in order to prevent toxoplasmosis, particularly by those in at-risk categories, including pregnant women. The review protocol is registered in PROSPERO database (CRD42016043295).     

Stress Analysis of Elastic-Plastic Contact Damage in Ceramic Coatings on Metal Substrates

An elastic-plastic analysis of damage in ceramic coatings on metal substrates from contacts with spherical indenters is made using finite element modeling. Computations are carried out specifically for plasma-sprayed alumina:titania on a soft steel. The algorithm assumes an elastic sphere with frictionless contact on a flat elastic-plastic layered specimen, and incrementally evaluates the expanding contact field as a function of applied load. Two key aspects of the contact field are examined: (i) the indentation stress-strain curve; (ii) the damage zone geometry. Composite coating/substrate indentation stress-strain curves are computed for two coating thicknesses, using input material parameters from iterative fits to data from control tests on free-standing coating and substrate materials. Contours of principal shear stresses, most notably those contours corresponding to yield zone boundaries in both the softer substrate and the harder coating, are mapped out in the fully plastic region. Corresponding distributions of tensile stresses are also mapped out, and are shown to correlate with the locations of transverse fractures in the coating. General implications concerning material and geometrical design of ceramic-based layer structures are discussed.     

Synthesis and Biopharmaceutical Evaluation of Imatinib Analogues Featuring Unusual Structural Motifs

A convenient synthesis of imatinib, a potent inhibitor of ABL1 kinase and widely prescribed drug for the treatment of a variety of leukemias, was devised and applied to the construction of a series of novel imatinib analogues featuring a number of non‐aromatic structural motifs in place of the parent molecule's phenyl moiety. These analogues were subsequently evaluated for their biopharmaceutical properties (e.g., ABL1 kinase inhibitory activity, cytotoxicity). The bicyclo[1.1.1]pentane‐ and cubane‐containing analogues were found to possess higher themodynamic solubility, whereas cubane‐ and cyclohexyl‐containing analogues exhibited the highest inhibitory activity against ABL1 kinase and the most potent cytotoxicity values against cancer cell lines K562 and SUP‐B15. Molecular modeling was employed to rationalize the weak activity of the compounds against ABL1 kinase, and it is likely that the observed cytotoxicity of these agents arises through off‐target effects.     

Integration of “Components” to Test Software Components

We present an ongoing research project aimed at developing a framework for component-based testing, in which we re-use and suitably combine some existing tools: the system architecture and the components are specified by the UML, and specifically the recently proposed UML Components methodology; the test cases are derived by applying the Cow_Suite, an environment for UML-based testing, previously conceived for the integration testing of OO systems; and the tests are codified and executed within the CDT, a framework under development, allowing for the decoupling between the abstract specification of tests, which is made against an architectural model, and their concrete execution, which needs to take into account the component implementations.     

A note on the Gamma test

This note describes a simple technique, the Gamma (or Near Neighbour) test, which in many cases can be used to considerably simplify the design process of constructing a smooth data model such as a neural network. The Gamma test is a data analysis routine, that (in an optimal implementation) runs in time O(MlogM)as M,where Mis the number of sample data points, and which aims to estimate the best Mean Squared Error (MSError) that can be achieved by any continuous or smooth (bounded first partial derivatives) data model constructed using the data.First presented at NCAF seminar, Portsmouth, UK on 20 September 1995     

From embedded sensors to sensorial materials—The road to function scale integration

Ubiquitous computing is about to become part of our everyday lives by integrating hundreds of “invisible” to us computing devices in our environment, so that they can unobtrusively and constantly assist us. This will imply more and smaller “invisible” sensors, homogeneously distributed and at the same time densely packed in host materials, responding to various stimuli and immediately delivering information. In order to reach this aim, the embedded sensors should be integrated within the host material, heading towards sensorial materials. The first step is to omit all parts that are not needed for the sensorial task and to find new solutions for a gentle integration. This is what we call function scale integration. The paper discusses sensor embedding in the human hand as an example of integration in nature, new technological applications and main challenges associated with this approach.     

Network views for personalized medicine

Clinical Proteomics has traveled a long way pinpointing potential biomarkers for a variety of diseases. However, the absence of clinical implementation of proteomics findings has led to a frank evaluation and reconsideration of applied practices in biomarker discovery, recruitment of technological tools for biomarker verification and generation of new guidelines for data reporting. Nevertheless, considering the need for vast clinical resources for biomarker validation, the frequent lack of clear definitions of contexts of use, in combination to the biomarker “high offer,” progress toward biomarker implementation will even more require the adoption of an extensive open-minded approach: disease-focused networks are needed to ensure rapid exchange of information, initiation of appropriate studies, parallel validation of multiple biomarkers and sharing of valuable clinical resources. This viewpoint article targets to reflect on these issues and advocates the added value of multidisciplinary networks in biomarker development using bladder cancer as a paradigm.