The 700 F properties of autoclave cured PMR-2 composites

Studies were conducted to develop autoclave processing parameters for graphite reinforced PMR-2 resin composite materials intended for use in applications at temperatures up to 371 degrees (700 F). The effect of resin composition on autoclaveability was investigated. The effect of various graphite fibers and resin composition on 343 C (650 F) and 371 C (700 F) thermo-oxidative stability and mechanical properties was also investigated. The results of the processing studies show that PMR-2 resin composites can be easily fabricated under autoclave conditions. Autoclaved laminates exposed to 1 atm of air at 343 C (650 F) and 371 C (700 F) exhibited less than 5 percent weight loss after 750 hr exposure to 650 F air and 8 percent weight loss during exposure to 700 F air for 500 hr. After 500 hr exposure, autoclaved laminates exhibited greater than 90 percent retention of initial 650 and 700 F flexural and interlaminar shear strengths. The effect of resin formulated molecular weight and postcure conditions on laminate glass transition temperature is also discussed

Opening the Frontier: the Gubbio – Perugia frontier in the course of history

The frontier between Gubbio (ancient Umbria) and Perugia (ancient Etruria), in the northeast part of the modern region of Umbria, was founded in the late sixth century BC. The frontier endured in different forms, most notably in the late antique and medieval periods, as well as fleetingly in 1944, and is fossilized today in the local government boundaries. Archaeological, documentary and philological evidence are brought together to investigate different scales of time that vary from millennia to single days in the representation of a frontier that captured a watershed of geological origins. The foundation of the frontier appears to have been a product of the active agency of the Etruscans, who projected new settlements across the Tiber in the course of the sixth century BC, protected at the outer limit of their territory by the naturally defended farmstead of Col di Marzo. The immediate environs of the ancient abbey of Montelabate have been studied intensively by targeted, systematic and geophysical survey in conjunction with excavation, work that is still in progress. An overview of the development of the frontier is presented here, employing the data currently available

Continuous dependence estimates for nonlinear fractional convection-diffusion equations

We develop a general framework for finding error estimates for convection-diffusion equations with nonlocal, nonlinear, and possibly degenerate diffusion terms. The equations are nonlocal because they involve fractional diffusion operators that are generators of pure jump Levy processes (e.g. the fractional Laplacian). As an application, we derive continuous dependence estimates on the nonlinearities and on the Levy measure of the diffusion term. Estimates of the rates of convergence for general nonlinear nonlocal vanishing viscosity approximations of scalar conservation laws then follow as a corollary. Our results both cover, and extend to new equations, a large part of the known error estimates in the literature.Comment: In this version we have corrected Example 3.4 explaining the link with the results in [51,59

Monocyte subsets, stanford-A acute aortic dissection, and carotid srtery stenosis. new evidences

Monocytes are a heterogeneous cell population distinguished into three subsets with distinctive phenotypic and functional properties: "classical" (CD14++CD16-), "intermediate" (CD14++CD16+), and "nonclassical" (CD14+CD16++). Monocyte subsets play a pivotal role in many inflammatory systemic diseases including atherosclerosis (ATS). Only a low number of studies evaluated monocyte behavior in patients affected by cardiovascular diseases, and data about their role in acute aortic dissection (AAD) are lacking. Thus, the aim of this study was to investigate CD14++CD16-, CD14++CD16+, and CD14+CD16++ cells in patients with Stanford-A AAD and in patients with carotid artery stenosis (CAS). Methods. 20 patients with carotid artery stenosis (CAS group), 17 patients with Stanford-A AAD (AAD group), and 17 subjects with traditional cardiovascular risk factors (RF group) were enrolled. Monocyte subset frequency was determined by flow cytometry. Results. Classical monocytes were significantly increased in the AAD group versus CAS and RF groups, whereas intermediate monocytes were significantly decreased in the AAD group versus CAS and RF groups. Conclusions. Results of this study identify in AAD patients a peculiar monocyte array that can partly explain depletion of T CD4+ lymphocyte subpopulations observed in patients affected by AAD.Monocytes are a heterogeneous cell population distinguished into three subsets with distinctive phenotypic and functional properties: classical (CD14++CD16-), intermediate (CD14++CD16+), and nonclassical (CD14+CD16++). Monocyte subsets play a pivotal role in many inflammatory systemic diseases including atherosclerosis (ATS). Only a low number of studies evaluated monocyte behavior in patients affected by cardiovascular diseases, and data about their role in acute aortic dissection (AAD) are lacking. Thus, the aim of this study was to investigate CD14++CD16-, CD14++CD16+, and CD14+CD16++ cells in patients with Stanford-A AAD and in patients with carotid artery stenosis (CAS). Methods. 20 patients with carotid artery stenosis (CAS group), 17 patients with Stanford-A AAD (AAD group), and 17 subjects with traditional cardiovascular risk factors (RF group) were enrolled. Monocyte subset frequency was determined by flow cytometry. Results. Classical monocytes were significantly increased in the AAD group versus CAS and RF groups, whereas intermediate monocytes were significantly decreased in the AAD group versus CAS and RF groups. Conclusions. Results of this study identify in AAD patients a peculiar monocyte array that can partly explain depletion of T CD4+ lymphocyte subpopulations observed in patients affected by AAD

Tra Perugia e Gubbio: archeologia di un paesaggio di frontiera

Resoconto preliminare di un progetto di ricerca di archeologia del paesaggio tra Perugia e Gubbio svolto in collaborazione tra l'Università di Roma "Tor Vergata" e l'Università di Cambridge, Department of Archaeology.This paper describes some preliminary data from a research project concerning the area of Montelabate (Comune di Perugia) which was started by the university of Rome Tor Vergata in 2008. Since 2010 the project has continued as a joint collaboration with the university of Cambridge. The project aims to reconstruct the patterns of settlements of the frontier territory between Perugia and Gubbio from the prehistory to the modern age

Anxiolytic-like effects of nociceptin/orphanin FQ in the elevated plus maze and in the conditioned defensive burying test in rats

Different reports suggest that nociceptin/orphanin FQ (N/OFQ) may have either anxiolytic- or anxiogenic-like effect in rodents. Since N/OFQ elicits hypolocomotion, which undergoes rapid tolerance, and hypolocomotion may be associated to emotional consequences, the present study was designed to investigate the effect of N/OFQ on anxiety after development of tolerance to its hypolocomotor effect. The effect of single or double intracerebroventricular (i.c.v.) injection of N/OFQ was evaluated on anxiety-related behaviors in rats, in the elevated plus maze (EPM) and conditioned defensive burying (CDB) tests. After single administration, N/OFQ displayed an anxiogenic-like pattern of response on the elevated plus maze but hypolocomotion was also observed. Conversely, in the CDB test, N/OFQ induced a clear-cut anxiolytic pattern. To produce tolerance to N/OFQ-induced hypolocomotion the peptide was administered by two i.c.v. injections separated by 120 min; in these conditions it decreased the expression of anxiety-related behaviors in both tests without affecting locomotor activity. The nociceptin/orphanin FQ peptide (NOP) receptor antagonist UFP-101 significantly reduced the effects of N/OFQ to control values in either tests. Corticosterone levels were significantly increased after a single N/OFQ administration (not in a dose-dependent manner) but this increase did not reach significance after double administration (1 nmol/rat). Our results support the idea that N/OFQ may act as an anxiolytic-like agent in the rat; the apparent anxiogenic-like effect observed following its single administration in the EPM may be consequent to its, effect on locomotion. (c) 2006 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved

Medial prefrontal cortex neuronal activation and synaptic alterations after stress-induced reinstatement of palatable food seeking: a study using c-fos-GFP transgenic female rats

Relapse to maladaptive eating habits during dieting is often provoked by stress and there is evidence for a role of ovarian hormones in stress responses and feeding. We studied the role of these hormones in stress-induced reinstatement of food seeking and medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC) neuronal activation in c-fos-GFP transgenic female rats, which express GFP in strongly activated neurons. Food-restricted ovariectomized or sham-operated c-fos-GFP rats were trained to lever-press for palatable food pellets. Subsequently, lever-pressing was extinguished and reinstatement of food seeking and mPFC neuronal activation was assessed after injections of the pharmacological stressor yohimbine (0.5-2 mg/kg) or pellet priming (1-4 noncontingent pellets). Estrous cycle effects on reinstatement were also assessed in wild-type rats. Yohimbine- and pellet-priming-induced reinstatement was associated with Fos and GFP induction in mPFC; both reinstatement and neuronal activation were minimally affected by ovarian hormones in both c-fos-GFP and wild-type rats. c-fos-GFP transgenic rats were then used to assess glutamatergic synaptic alterations within activated GFP-positive and nonactivated GFP-negative mPFC neurons following yohimbine-induced reinstatement of food seeking. This reinstatement was associated with reduced AMPA receptor/NMDA receptor current ratios and increased paired-pulse facilitation in activated GFP-positive but not GFP-negative neurons. While ovarian hormones do not appear to play a role in stress-induced relapse of food seeking in our rat model, this reinstatement was associated with unique synaptic alterations in strongly activated mPFC neurons. Our paper introduces the c-fos-GFP transgenic rat as a new tool to study unique synaptic changes in activated neurons during behavio