This work presents the theory and a numerical validation study in support to a novel method for a priori identification of fatigue critical regions, with the aim to accelerate durability design in ...large FEM problems. The investigation is placed in the context of modern full-body structural durability analysis, where a computationally intensive dynamic solution could be required to identify areas with potential for fatigue damage initiation. The early detection of fatigue critical areas can drive a simplification of the problem size, leading to sensible improvement in solution time and model handling while allowing processing of the critical areas in higher detail. The proposed technique is applied to a real life industrial case in a comparative assessment with established practices. Synthetic damage prediction quantification and visualization techniques allow for a quick and efficient comparison between methods, outlining potential application benefits and boundaries.
Capillary electrophoresis has emerged as a powerful approach for carbohydrate analyses since 2014. The method provides high resolution capable of separating carbohydrates by charge-to-size ratio. ...Principle applications are heavily focused on N-glycans, which are highly relevant to biological therapeutics and biomarker research. Advances in techniques used for N-glycan structural identification include migration time indexing and exoglycosidase and lectin profiling, as well as mass spectrometry. Capillary electrophoresis methods have been developed that are capable of separating glycans with the same monosaccharide sequence but different positional isomers, as well as determining whether monosaccharides composing a glycan are alpha or beta linked. Significant applications of capillary electrophoresis to the analyses of N-glycans in biomarker discovery and biological therapeutics are emphasized with a brief discussion included on carbohydrate analyses of glycosaminoglycans and mono-, di-, and oligosaccharides relevant to food and plant products. Innovative, emerging techniques in the field are highlighted and the future direction of the technology is projected based on the significant contributions of capillary electrophoresis to glycoscience from 2014 to the present as discussed in this review.
A compton spectrometer to monitor the ELI-NP gamma beam energy Borgheresi, R.; Adriani, O.; Albergo, S. ...
Nuclear instruments & methods in physics research. Section A, Accelerators, spectrometers, detectors and associated equipment,
08/2019, Volume:
936
Journal Article
Peer reviewed
The ELI-NP facility (Extreme Light Infrastructure-Nuclear Physics) will deliver an intense and almost monochromatic gamma beam for frontier research in nuclear physics. Peculiar devices and ...techniques have been developed to measure and monitor the beam parameters during the commissioning and the operational phase. In this work we will present the Compton Spectrometer, designed to reconstruct the γ beam energy spectrum, by measuring the energy and the position of Compton scattered electrons. The energy and the angle of the scattered electron are measured by a High Purity Germanium detector and a double sided silicon strip detector. The associated photon is detected in coincidence with the electron by barium fluoride (BaF2) crystals for trigger purpose. In this work we report the status of the characterization carried out on the detectors composing the spectrometer.
•Compton spectrometer, designed to reconstruct the ELI-NP γ beam energy spectrum.•Energy of the scattered e− measured with a High Purity Germanium detector.•Scattered angle determined by a double sided silicon strip detector.•Scattered photon detected in coincidence by BaF2 crystals for trigger purpose.•Tests carried out on the components of the spectrometer are presented.
Background
Worldwide, stomas represent a medical and social problem. Data from the literature on stoma management are extensive but not homogeneous. In Italy, no guidelines exist for this topic. ...Thus, clear and comprehensive clinical guidelines based on evidence-based data and best practice are need. In 2018, the Multidisciplinary Italian Study group for STOmas, called MISSTO, was founded. The aim was to elaborate guidelines for practice management of enteral and urinary stomas in adults.
Methods
A systematic review of the literature was performed using PubMed, National Guideline Clearinghouse, and other databases. The research included guidelines, systematic reviews, meta-analyses, randomized clinical trials, cohort studies, and case reports. Five main topics were identified: “stoma preparation”, “stoma creation”, “stoma complications”, “stoma care”, and “stoma reversal”. The systematic review was performed for each topic, and studies were evaluated according to the GRADE system, AGREE II tool.
Results
Recommendations were elaborated in the form of statements with an established grade of recommendation for each statement. For low levels of scientific evidence statements, a consensus conference composed of expert members of the major Italian scientific societies in the field of stoma management and care was held. After discussing, correcting, validating, or eliminating the statements by the experts, the final version of the guidelines was elaborated and prepared for publication. This manuscript is focused on statements on the surgical management of enteral stomas.
Conclusions
These guidelines are the first Italian guidelines on multidisciplinary management of enteral stomas with the aim of assisting surgeons during stoma management and care.
Monte Carlo study of a 3D Compton imaging device with GEANT4 Lenti, M.; Veltri, M.
Nuclear instruments & methods in physics research. Section A, Accelerators, spectrometers, detectors and associated equipment,
10/2011, Volume:
654, Issue:
1
Journal Article
Peer reviewed
Open access
In this paper we investigate, with a detailed Monte Carlo simulation based on Geant4, the novel approach of Lenti (2008)
1 to 3D imaging with photon scattering. A monochromatic and well collimated ...gamma beam is used to illuminate the object to be imaged and the photons Compton scattered are detected by means of a surrounding germanium strip detector. The impact position and the energy of the photons are measured with high precision and the scattering position along the beam axis is calculated. We study as an application of this technique the case of brain imaging but the results can be applied as well to situations where a lighter object, with localized variations of density, is embedded in a denser container. We report here the attainable sensitivity in the detection of density variations as a function of the beam energy, the depth inside the object and size and density of the inclusions. Using a 600
keV gamma beam, for an inclusion with a density increase of 30% with respect to the surrounding tissue and thickness along the beam of 5
mm, we obtain at midbrain position a resolution of about 2
mm and a contrast of 12%. In addition the simulation indicates that for the same gamma beam energy a complete brain scan would result in an effective dose of about 1
mSv.
Objectives: This study aimed at assessing the clinical outcome of narrow diameter implants in the treatment of knife‐edge edentulous maxillas of adequate bone height but inadequate width (class IV of ...Cawood and Howell).
Material and methods: Twelve consecutive patients (eight women and four men, mean age 58 years) with class IV atrophic edentulous maxillas were included in the study. Seventy‐three microthreaded TiO2‐blasted implants were placed and the resonance frequency measured. All the implants had a diameter of 3.5 mm. After 6 months of submerged healing, fixed implant‐supported prostheses were delivered to the patients and resonance frequency and radiographic examinations performed. After the first year of loading, the implant outcome was again evaluated clinically, radiographically and with resonance frequency analysis.
Results: All the implants were followed up to 1 year of loading and their survival rate was 100%. Bone loss after 1 year of loading was (mean±SD) 0.30±0.13 mm. Stability values were (mean±SD) 63±5.8 ISQ at placement, 60±4.7 ISQ at the abutment connection and 61±5 ISQ after 1 year of loading. A significant difference resulted between placement and abutment connection values (P=0.03).
Conclusions: According to the present study, narrow implants may be used to restore edentulous maxillas with atrophies of class IV of Cawood and Howell. When planning the treatment of edentulous maxillas with such a resorption pattern, this possibility has to be considered as an alternative to more demanding grafting techniques.
•A phospholipid-CTAB coating is developed for anionic and cationic protein separations.•The importance of the hydrophobic tail of CTAB to coating formation is established.•The electroosmotic flow is ...similar for separations at pH ranging from 4 to 8.•The coating is stable when subjected to extensive flushing and repeated protein injections.•Separations are tuned using pH to distinguish isoforms with slight mobility differences.
Capillary electrophoresis has been used extensively for protein separations, but interactions of proteins with the negative charge on the surface of fused silica capillary create band broadening and diminish the separation efficiency. Coatings developed to mask the negative charge of the capillary affect the electroosmotic flow. The method presented in this work addresses these concerns through the use of a two-layer coating of a semi-permanent phospholipid substrate and cetyltrimethylammonium bromide (CTAB). When used alone, phospholipid coating suppresses the electroosmotic flow but cannot be used to simultaneously separate anionic and cationic proteins. When used alone, CTAB creates a dynamic coating that facilitates the separation of cationic proteins with good efficiency, but reduces the separation efficiency of anionic proteins. The use of a hybrid phospholipid-CTAB surface coating alleviates protein adsorption, as demonstrated through a comparison of protein separations obtained with a bare fused silica capillary. The hybrid phospholipid-CTAB surface enables high efficiency separations of cationic and anionic proteins simultaneously. This work verifies the role of the hydrophobic tail of CTAB in developing a stable coating with an electroosmotic flow of 3.14 × 10−4 cm2V-1s-1 (n = 10) from the cathode to the anode at a pH of 7. The coating yields a stable electroosmotic flow even after 2 h of flushing with background electrolyte devoid of CTAB (n = 3) and six consecutive protein injections with no flush sequence between runs. The coating can be used with background electrolytes with pH values ranging from 4 to 8 while maintaining 1% RSD (n = 10) in the electroosmotic flow for each background electrolyte. Six model proteins, lysozyme, ribonuclease A, α-chymotrypsinogen A, enolase, transferrin, and α-1-antitrypsin, with pI values ranging from 4.4 to 11 were used to demonstrate the stability of the phospholipid-CTAB coating, the lack of protein interaction with the wall, and the utility of the coating for the separation of proteins of similar isoelectric points and of protein isoforms.
•A separation-based assay enables detection of product in the presence of substrate.•Capillary electrophoresis is suitable for analysis of enzyme in limited quantities.•Basic principles of capillary ...electrophoresis and enzyme analysis are covered.•KM determinations from 2012 to 2017 are summarized.
Capillary electrophoresis provides a rapid, cost-effective platform for enzyme and substrate characterization. The high resolution achievable by capillary electrophoresis enables the analysis of substrates and products that are indistinguishable by spectroscopic techniques alone, while the small volume requirement enables analysis of enzymes or substrates in limited supply. Furthermore, the compatibility of capillary electrophoresis with various detectors makes it suitable for KM determinations ranging from nanomolar to millimolar concentrations. Capillary electrophoresis fundamentals are discussed with an emphasis on the separation mechanisms relevant to evaluate sets of substrate and product that are charged, neutral, and even chiral. The basic principles of Michaelis-Menten determinations are reviewed and the process of translating capillary electrophoresis electropherograms into a Michaelis-Menten curve is outlined. The conditions that must be optimized in order to couple off-line and on-line enzyme reactions with capillary electrophoresis separations, such as incubation time, buffer pH and ionic strength, and temperature, are examined to provide insight into how the techniques can be best utilized. The application of capillary electrophoresis to quantify enzyme inhibition, in the form of KI or IC50 is detailed. The concept and implementation of the immobilized enzyme reactor is described as a means to increase enzyme stability and reusability, as well as a powerful tool for screening enzyme substrates and inhibitors. Emerging techniques focused on applying capillary electrophoresis as a rapid assay to obtain structural identification or sequence information about a substrate and in-line digestions of peptides and proteins coupled to mass spectrometry analyses are highlighted.
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