Search results for "Rail"
showing 10 items of 699 documents
Use of bitumen-stabilised ballast for improving railway trackbed conventional maintenance
2018
Despite its many advantages, ballasted track needs frequent maintenance to ensure an adequate quality of service. However, tamping, traditionally used to correct geometry, causes ballast degradation and loosening of the already compacted ballast layer, which quickly returns the track to its pre-maintenance position. Then, other maintenance techniques such as stoneblowing, as well as diverse solutions that reinforce trackbed, have been developed to reduce ballast settlement and particles degradation. Given the need to further advance research in this field, bitumen-stabilised ballast (BSB) has started to be investigated by the authors as a feasible solution thanks to its easy and quick appl…
Digital image analysis technique for measuring railway track defects and ballast gradation
2018
Abstract In order to guarantee safety and driving comfort and to maintain an efficient railway infrastructure, the first step is to carefully monitor the track geometry and wear level of the materials constituting the superstructure. To that end diagnostic trains are widely used on main lines, in that they can detect several geometric track parameters and rail wear, but under no circumstances they can yet detect ballast gradation. Due to the practical implications for the planning of maintenance operations on the railway network, this article presents a “DIP” digital image processing technique for measuring the transverse profile and corrugations of the rails as well as ballast gradation. T…
Effect of temperature and traffic on mix-design of bituminous asphalt for railway sub-ballast layer
2017
A wide integrated research has been carried out to assess the suitability of bituminous mixtures as the sub-ballast layer in railways. The influence of temperature on the mechanical characteristics and thermal susceptibility of the bituminous conglomerate—which forms sub-ballast layer of railway lines—has provided the motivation for carrying out a measurement of the thermal cycles in this layer. The evaluation of the average seasonal temperatures has proven to be well interpolated by sinusoidal functions, of which characteristic parameters are determined. To expand the validity of the study in different weather situations apart from Sicily, where the experiment was held, we proceeded to app…
Dominus qui incepit ipse perficiat: exhortaciones de fray Josep Mercader a las monjas dominicas del monasterio de Montesión en Barcelona (1740-1745)
2016
Resumen: De entre la galeria de personajes interesantes que nos ofrece el convento dominicano de Santa Catalina virgen y martir de Barcelona en el siglo XVIII destaca fray Josep Mercader (profesion 1720-1779). Un apartado importante aunque «intimo» de su obra lo constituyen las once breves exhortaciones que entre los anos 1740-1745 dirigio a las monjas dominicas del monasterio barcelones de Montesion con ocasion de las ceremonias de recepcion y profesion. En estos 20 folios podemos encontrar el discurso que un dominico cualificado dirigio a las monjas de clausura de su orden en dos momentos tan significativos de su trayectoria religiosa. Palabras clave: Josep Mercader, Dominicos (frailes y …
A comparative life-cycle assessment of asphalt mixtures for railway sub-ballast containing alternative materials
2018
Abstract Bituminous sub-ballast in railway track-bed can mitigate the variation of the moisture content in the subgrade and reduce vertical stiffness variations of the track leading to a more durable infrastructure. Nevertheless, durability is only one of the aspects that affects the sustainability of an infrastructure. Other relevant aspects are related to the environmental and economic issues. This research work joins the worldwide effort towards a paradigm shift in civil engineering devoted to assess the sustainability of infrastructures at the design stage. With this in mind, in this study different alternative bituminous sub-ballast mixtures containing recycled materials, namely crumb …
Neredzīgo un vājredzīgo cilvēku lasīšanas paradumi
2017
Maģistra darba „Neredzīgo un vājredzīgo cilvēku lasīšanas paradumi” mērķis ir izpētīt neredzīgo un vājredzīgo cilvēku lasīšanas paradumus, uzzināt kādiem daiļliteratūras žanriem šī mērķauditorija dod priekšroku. Problēma: mūsdienās ir ļoti daudz dažādu grāmatu, kuras nav pārveidotas Braila rakstā vai ierakstītas CD (audiogrāmatās), bet kuras ir vajadzīgas neredzīgajiem un vājredzīgajiem. Maģistra darbā tika izmantotas hermeneitikas-fenomenoloģijas filozofiskās teorijas un vidējā līmeņa nozares teorija – lietošanas un gandarījuma teorija. Anketēts 41 neredzīgs un vājredzīgs cilvēks, kā arī intervēti LNB un LNerB bibliotēkas darbinieki. Rezultāti: daiļliteratūra sniedz cilvēkiem atpūtu, jauna…
Frailty trajectories in community‐dwelling older adults during COVID ‐19 pandemic: The PRESTIGE study
2022
Background Frailty has been recognized as potential surrogate of biological age and relevant risk factor for COVID-19 severity. Thus, it is important to explore the frailty trajectories during COVID-19 pandemic and understand how COVID-19 directly and indirectly impacts on frailty condition. Methods We enrolled 217 community-dwelling older adults with available information on frailty condition as assessed by multidimensional frailty model both at baseline and at one-year follow-up using Multidimensional Prognostic Index (MPI) tools. Pre-frail/frail subjects were identified at baseline as those with MPI score >0.33 (MPI grades 2-3). Frailty worsening was defined by MPI difference between …
Influence of compliance for an elastokinematic model of a proposed rear suspension
2014
The research is carried out to improve passenger’s comfort to increase the vehicles stability in dynamic conditions. The literature available in the automotive engineering considers different topics for studying suspensions. An example represents mechanisms structure and analysis (synthesis, kinematics, and dynamics) under various operating conditions. These aspects have been approached before analytically, numerical. The current paper studies the influence of the lateral force on the contact patch of the wheel and the corresponding variations of vehicle stability parameters, such as camber angle and wheel rear track. The study is performed for a newer innovative rear suspensions mechanism …
Notch inhibition restores TRAIL-mediated apoptosis via AP1-dependent upregulation of DR4 and DR5 TRAIL receptors in MDA-MB-231 breast cancer cells.
2013
Notch is a family of transmembrane receptors whose activation through proteolytic cleavage by γ-secretase targets genes which participate in cell development, differentiation and tumorigenesis. Notch signaling is constitutively activated in various cancers, including breast cancer and its upregulation is usually related with poor clinical outcomes. Therefore, targeting Notch signaling with γ-secretase inhibitors (GSIs) is considered a promising strategy for cancer treatment. We report that the γ-secretase inhibitor-I (GSI-I) sensitizes human breast cancer cells to apoptosis mediated by tumor necrosis factor-related apoptosis-inducing ligand (TRAIL). The antiproliferative GSI-I/TRAIL synergi…
Oligodendroglioma cells shed microvesicles which contain TRAIL as well as molecular chaperones and induce cell death in astrocytes.
2011
Microvesicles (MVs) shed from G26/24 oligodendroglioma cells were previously reported to cause a reproducible, dose-dependent, inhibitory effect on neurite outgrowth, and eventually neuronal apoptosis, when added to primary cultures of rat cortical neurons. These effects were reduced but not abolished by functional monoclonal antibodies against Fas-L. In order to investigate whether MVs contain other factors able to induce cell death, we tested them for TRAIL and found clear evidence of its presence in the vesicles. This finding suggests the possibility that Fas-L and TRAIL cooperate in inducing brain cell death. Aimed at understanding the route through which the vesicles deliver their mess…