Search results for " CRA"

Comparative morphology of the postpharyngeal gland in the Philanthinae (Hymenoptera, Crabronidae) and the evolution of an antimicrobial brood protect…

2015

Background Hymenoptera that mass-provision their offspring have evolved elaborate antimicrobial strategies to ward off fungal infestation of the highly nutritive larval food. Females of the Afro-European Philanthus triangulum and the South American Trachypus elongatus (Crabronidae, Philanthinae) embalm their prey, paralyzed bees, with a secretion from a complex postpharyngeal gland (PPG). This coating consists of mainly unsaturated hydrocarbons and reduces water accumulation on the prey’s surface, thus rendering it unfavorable for fungal growth. Here we (1) investigated whether a North American Philanthus species also employs prey embalming and (2) assessed the occurrence and morphology of …

Fatigue crack growth through particulate clusters in polycarbonate material

2011

The interaction of a crack with a perfectly bonded inclusion or a cluster of inclusions in polycarbonate matrix was investigated through both numerical simulations and fatigue tests. Stress intensity factors (K(I)) were evaluated by boundary element method for several particle sizes, position and finally for inclusion cluster as a precursor study for the experiments. The numerical simulation has shown the crack tendency to circumvent the inclusions with consequential reduction of the growth rate. Fatigue crack growth tests were carried out on several particle-filled specimens at constant value of the applied stress intensity factor range (Delta K(Iapp)) highlighting the crack delay due to t…

Endoscopic Endonasal Resection of a Schwannoma of the Anterior Cranial Fossa.

2020

The black female slave takes literary revenge: Female gothic motifs against slavery in Hannah Crafts’s "The Bondwoman’s Narrative"

2015

The Bondwoman’s Narrative is a novel that functions as a story made up from Hannah Crafts’s experiences as a bondwoman and thus merges fact and fiction giving a thoroughly new account of slavery both committed to reality and fiction. Following and taking over the Gothic literary genre that spread in Europe as a reaction toward the Romantic spirit, Crafts uses it to denounce the degrading slavery system and, mainly, to scathingly attack the patriarchal roots that stigmatize black women as the ultimate victims. It is my contention that Hannah Crafts uses the female Gothic literary devices both to attack slavery and also to stand as a proper (African) American citizen capable of relating to th…

Designing Dissensual Common Sense: Critical Art, Architecture, and Design in Jacques Rancière’s Political Thought

2021

How can design be socially engaged and politically efficient, as proposed by discourses labeled as critical design? This article introduces a conceptualization and historiography of politically charged design discourse based on philosopher Jacques Rancière’s work on the intersections of politics, aesthetics, and critical artistic practices. By focusing especially on Rancière’s reading of the genealogy of design from Ruskin to constructivism and the Bauhaus, the article aims to show that there is an important connection between design and politics present in Rancière’s thought. Rather than solely revealing the oppressive dimension embedded in designed forms, for Rancière, design is itself a …

Analisi numerico-sperimentale per la determinazione delle tensioni residue in un giunto saldato

2013

La durata di un componente dipende dall’interazione tra le caratteristiche meccaniche del materiale con cui è costruito e gli sforzi a cui esso è sottoposto. Per la determinazione dello stato tensionale agente, oltre agli sforzi dovuti ai carichi imposti durante l’esercizio, è necessario conoscere accuratamente gli stati tensionali residui derivanti dal processo di produzione. Generalmente, le tensioni residue sono indesiderate poiché possono essere di entità elevata e tale da ridurre la resistenza complessiva del componente meccanico. Un aspetto particolarmente insidioso delle tensioni residue è che la loro presenza viene generalmente riconosciuta solo dopo il verificarsi di un malfunziona…

Residual Stresses Induced by Cold Expansion of Adjacent and Cut-Out Holes

2012

Fatigue life of fastener holes can be enhanced via a cold-expansion process to introduce a compressive residual stress field around the hole edge and to reduce crack growth propagation. Considering that aerospace components contain multiple rows of holes, the present investigation focuses on the evaluation of the three-dimensional residual stress distribution in adjacent cold-expanded (CE) holes. The redistribution of residual stresses caused by a cut introduced between two adjacent holes was also investigated. Finite element (FE) analysis and experimental technique were used to assess the residual stress distribution in a 6082-T6 aluminum plate with two adjacent holes expanded sequentially…

Simultaneous measurement of temperature and strain in glass fiber/epoxy composites by embedded fiber optic sensors: II. Post-cure testing

2007

In this paper the use of fiber optic sensors embedded into GFRP laminates for structural health monitoring of thermo-mechanical loads is presented. The proposed sensing system, consisting of two coupled fiber Bragg grating (FBG) sensors, allows the simultaneous measurement of both temperature and strain by decoupling the change in reflected wavelength induced by temperature variations from that induced by either mechanical or apparent strain, with significant advantages either for monitoring the composite cure kinetics, as described in the accompanying paper (Part I), or for assessing the structural response to thermo-mechanical loads. Both thermal ramp and mechanical static/dynamic bending…

The 15 March 2007 explosive crisis at Stromboli Volcano, Italy: assessing physical parameters through a multidisciplinary approach

2011

Basaltic volcanoes are dominated by lava emission and mild explosive activity. Nevertheless, many basaltic systems exhibit, from time to time, poorly documented and little-understood violent explosions. A short-lived, multiblast explosive crisis (paroxysmal explosion) occurred on 15 March 2007 during an effusive eruptive crisis at Stromboli (Italy). The explosive crisis, which started at 20:38:14 UT, had a total duration of ∼5 min. The combined use of multiparametric data collected by the permanent instrumental networks (seismic, acoustic, and thermal records) and a field survey carried out immediately after the event enabled us to constrain the eruptive dynamics and quantify physical param…

TRAIL Triggers CRAC-Dependent Calcium Influx and Apoptosis through the Recruitment of Autophagy Proteins to Death-Inducing Signaling Complex

2021

Tumor necrosis factor-related apoptosis-inducing ligand (TRAIL) selectively kills various cancer cell types, but also leads to the activation of signaling pathways that favor resistance to cell death. Here, we investigated the as yet unknown roles of calcium signaling and autophagy regulatory proteins during TRAIL-induced cell death in leukemia cells. Taking advantage of the Gene Expression Profiling Interactive Analysis (GEPIA) project, we first found that leukemia patients present a unique TRAIL receptor gene expression pattern that may reflect their resistance to TRAIL. The exposure of NB4 acute promyelocytic leukemia cells to TRAIL induces intracellular Ca2+ influx through a calcium rel…