Search results for "Forming"

Influence of expressive versus mechanical musical performance on short-term memory for musical excerpts

2012

Recognition memory for details of musical phrases (discrimination between targets and similar lures) improves for up to 15 s following the presentation of a target, during continuous listening to the ongoing piece. This is attributable to binding of stimulus features during that time interval. The ongoing-listening paradigm is an ecologically valid approach for investigating short-term memory, but previous studies made use of relatively mechanical MIDI-produced stimuli. The present study assessed whether expressive performances would modulate the previously reported finding. Given that expressive performances introduced slight differences between initially presented targets and their target…

Neural Network Techniques for Metal Forming Design

1993

Neural networks are computing structures able to predict the behaviour of a system on the basis of the knowledge of facts; main characteristic of a network is the capability to find a rule in a very complex environment. In the paper a neural network, based on the results of FEM simulations, is utilized to predict the occurrence of defects in a forward extrusion metal forming process. In particular a three layers neural network, relating the operative parameters with the failure or the success of the working process, has been used and the back-propagation algorithm has been employed to train the network. Few experimental data were enough to train the neural network allowing to achieve better…

H and P Mesh Refinement in the Metal-Forming F.E.M. Analysis

1988

In this paper a comparison between H and P refinement techniques in the metal-forming F.E.M. analysis is carried out in order to evaluate their computational efficiency. The results are compared using a particular error estimator which locally allows determining the workpiece zones where the refinement is necessary.

Forming Processes Design Oriented to Prevent Ductile Fractures

1996

During cold forming processes ductile fractures are sometimes encountered, depending on the operating parameters and on the material properties and determining the production of defective components to be discarded; for this reason the development of a general approach for the prediction of this type of defects is particularly suitable and this aim has been pursued by a large number of researchers in the last two decades. In the paper the most important and diffused models are described and analysed in order to outline the advantages offered by each of them. Some applications to typical metal forming processes are presented, carrying out a comparison between the numerical predictions and th…

Mitochondrial dynamics in type 2 diabetes: Pathophysiological implications

2017

Mitochondria play a key role in maintaining cellular metabolic homeostasis. These organelles have a high plasticity and are involved in dynamic processes such as mitochondrial fusion and fission, mitophagy and mitochondrial biogenesis. Type 2 diabetes is characterised by mitochondrial dysfunction, high production of reactive oxygen species (ROS) and low levels of ATP. Mitochondrial fusion is modulated by different proteins, including mitofusin-1 (MFN1), mitofusin-2 (MFN2) and optic atrophy (OPA-1), while fission is controlled by mitochondrial fission 1 (FIS1), dynamin-related protein 1 (DRP1) and mitochondrial fission factor (MFF). PARKIN and (PTEN)-induced putative kinase 1 (PINK1) partici…

Transmission studies of a European Sindbis virus in the floodwater mosquito Aedes vexans (Diptera: Culicidae)

2002

Abstract Sindbis viruses are arthropod-borne viruses, which are maintained in nature in a Culex mosquitobird associated transmission cycle, but Aedes species have been suspected as playing a role in infecting humans. In this study, we addressed the question whether or not Germany's most abundant floodwater mosquito species Aedes vexans (Diptera, Culicidae) can serve as an efficient vector for Sindbis viruses. Firstly, the overall susceptibility of Ae. vexans was tested by intrathoracic inoculation of 40 plaque forming units (PFU) Karelian fever virus (KFV, an European Sindbis virus isolate) per female mosquito. Viral titres rose after inoculation reaching a maximum (about a 350-fold increas…

The Independent Biological Activity of Bacillus thuringiensis Cry23Aa Protein Against Cylas puncticollis

2020

The Cry23Aa/Cry37Aa proteins from Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt) have been described toxic to Cylas puncticollis larvae. In general, it is believed that Cry23Aa and Cry37Aa act jointly to exert the insecticidal activity, while there is no evidence of their toxicity individually. Therefore, in the present study, the contribution of each protein in the insecticidal activity toward C. puncticollis larvae has been assessed. The results showed that both proteins were toxic for C. puncticollis larvae when tested individually. Contrary to what was claimed previously, our results suggest that the presence of both proteins is not necessary to exert toxicity against C. puncticollis larvae. Also, the bin…

Activation induced by pore-forming bacterial toxins

2001

Staphylococcus aureus α-Toxin’s Close Contacts Ensure the Kill

2018

The membrane pore-forming α-toxin is an important virulence factor of Staphylococcus aureus. Target cells can remove pores from their surface, but recent work shows that α-toxin may undermine this self-defense by clinging to epithelial cell junctions. The findings could lead to the development of novel remedies against S. aureus infections.

A guide to the use of pore-forming toxins for controlled permeabilization of cell membranes

1993

Depending on the size of the pores one wishes to produce in plasma membranes, the choice will probably fall on one of the three toxins discussed above. S. aureus alpha-toxin should be tried first when pores of 1-1.5 nm diameter are required. This is generally the case when Ca2+ and nucleotide dependence of a given process is being studied. If alpha-toxin does not work, this is probably due to the fact that the toxin either does not produce pores, or that the pores are too small. In this case, high concentrations of alpha-toxin should be tried. If this still does not work, we recommend the use of HlyA. When very large pores are to be created, e.g. for introduction of antibodies into the cell…