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Micro components have been demanded increasingly due to the global trend of miniaturization of products and devices. Micro milling is one of the most promising processes for micro-scale production and differs from conventional milling due to the size effect introducing phenomena like the minimum chip thickness, making the prediction of micro milling process hard. Among challenges in micro milling, tool life and tool wear can be highlighted. Understanding tool wear and modelling in micro milling is challenging and essential to maintaining the quality and geometric tolerances of workpieces. This work investigates how to model the diameter reduction of a tool caused by tool wear for micro milling of H13 tool steel. Machining experiments were carried out in order to obtain cutting parameters affecting tool wear by considering the diameter reduction. Dry full slot milling with TiAlN (titanium aluminium nitride)-coated micro tools of diameter d = 400 μm was performed. Three levels of feed per tooth ( f z = 2 μm, 4 μm and 5 μm) and two spindle speed levels ( n = 30,000 rpm and 46,000 rpm) were used and evaluated over a cutting length of l c = 1182 mm. The results show that lower levels of feed per tooth and spindle speed lead to higher tool wear with a total diameter reduction over 22%. The magnitude of the cutting parameters affecting tool wear was determined by ANOVA (analysis of variance), and the model validation meets the statistical requirements with a coefficient of determination R 2 = 83.5% showing the feasibility of the approach to predict tool wear using diameter reduction modelling in micro milling.

Micromilling allows for the high precision machining of different types of materials and thus promotes the manufacturing of micro-components for various technological applications. Evaluating tool wear in micromilling poses challenges not yet fully researched, more specifically the widely known size effect of micromilling processes contributes to an intricate cause-and-effect mechanism, and its research requires an understanding of the relationship of machining parameters in order to improve the process control. Thus, this paper researches the relationship between flank wear, feed, and specific cutting forces and roughness for the tool steel H13. Experiments with different levels of feed per tooth and spindle speed were carried out to measure and analyze tool flank wear, cutting forces, and the roughness of the workpiece. The lowest roughness value (Rz < 200 nm) was obtained for the feed per tooth of 2 μm at the beginning of the cut. However, this parameter also presented the highest flank wear, which led to the highest roughness value (Rz = 423 nm) at the final cutting length. Moreover, the interaction between the parameters feed per tooth and spindle speed occurs only at the maximum feed per tooth level. Increasing the feed per tooth to 5 μm and the spindle speed to 46,000 rpm significantly reduces flank wear. This behavior shows that not only increased feed rate but also increased spindle speed provided a combined reduction in plowing and improved shear mechanism.

Equestrian sports require precise animal welfare and health evaluations. To test the hypothesis that horses maintain their welfare when subjected to two three-barrel (3TB) races with 2 min intervals, an experiment was designed to evaluate their surface temperature using infrared thermography (IRT) in regions of interest (barrel, flank, neck, jaw, corner of the mouth, and ocular caruncle) and also measure blood biomarkers (hemogram, total plasma protein, fibrinogen, urea, creatinine, GGT, CK, cortisol, IL-6, and IL-1β). Ten Quarter Horses were monitored through thermography (pre-race, +1, +4, and +24 h post-race) and blood sampling (pre-race, +1, +4, and +24 h post-race). ANOVA and Tukey test at 5% were used. IRT in six regions of interest (Left/Right—barrel, flank, neck muscles) increased at +, with no differences between values recorded at +1 and +4 when compared to those measured pre-race (p > 0.05). Plasma protein, RBC count, hemoglobin, hematocrit, WBC count, neutrophils, and lymphocytes (p < 0.05) increased immediately after the races, with recovery at +1 h. Other biomarkers did not change, including cortisol, IL-6, and IL-1β (p > 0.05). Results indicate that well-conditioned 3TB horses subjected to two races at short intervals do not show changes that could be related to impaired health or welfare.

In the intestinal lumen, excess of oxides and sulfates interfere with the absorption of minerals due to competition from the same absorption site. Amino acids-mineral complexed (AACM) is intended to minimize these problems, which might be absorbed by different absorption sites. Then, a study including Zinc (Zn), Manganese (Mn) and Copper (Cu) from different sources was carried out to evaluate the performance, blood parameters and reproductive organs development of Brown Laying Hens. A total of 800 Lohmann Brown Lite were fed, from one-day-old to 182-days-old, Zn, Mn and Cu from different sources. Measurements were made from 105 to 182-days-old. The laying hens were distributed according to a completely randomized design with 20 replicates and 20 birds per experimental unit. The treatments consisted of a diet supplemented with 70, 70 and 8 mg/kg of Zn, Mn and Cu; respectively, from inorganic sources (IM). The second treatment contained 40, 40 and 2.75 mg/kg of Zn, Mn and Cu, respectively from IM plus 30, 30 and 5.25 mg/kg of Zn, Mn and Cu; respectively, from AACM sources. Performance and reproductive organs development (oviduct and ovary weight), tibia weight, liver weight, egg output and body weight, and blood variables were evaluated. Data were compared by Student's t-test (P < 0.05). Laying hens fed AACM reached 35% of egg output two days earlier and presented heavier tibia bone than the IM group. Those hens also presented greater oviduct weight, greater hematocrit and greater serum concentration of total leukocytes, erythrocytes, eosinophils, monocytes and the hormones T4 and FSH, than the hens fed IM. The supplementation of AACM in laying hens' diets since one-day-old improves the productive performance from the beginning of egg output to peak production, which is justified by better development of bones and oviduct, hormone production and immune system support.

This paper analyses the impact of several factors on the use of renewable energy sources in a set of European Union countries, by applying a quantile regression approach. We find that different factors are effective for different levels of renewable energy commitment and the magnitudes of some effects evolve in accordance with the level of renewable energy sources used. Consequently, some policies that do not take into account the different stages could carry different effects. The results suggest that the lobbying effect of the established industries hampers the development of renewable sources, and that this effect is greater for lower initial level of renewable energy use. The results reveal that environmental concerns have not yet achieved enough pressure to stimulate major developments on renewables. We include two new drivers, geographic area and European Union Directive 2001/77/EC. That Directive was effective in signaling the commitment to renewables, namely for countries with lower renewables use.

A multi-particulate fixed-dose combination product, consisting of a combination of two alkalising salts formulated as prolonged-release granules, ADV7103, was developed to obtain a sustained and prolonged alkalising effect. The specific release of both types of granules was shown in vitro through their dissolution profiles, which indicated that potassium citrate was released within the first 2–3 h and potassium bicarbonate up to 10–12 h after administration. The long-lasting coverage of ADV7103 was confirmed through a randomised, placebo-controlled, double-blind, two-period study, measuring its effect on urine pH in healthy adults (n = 16) at doses of alkalising agent ranging between 0.98 and 2.88 meq/kg/day. A significant increase of urine pH with a positive dose–response in healthy adult subjects was shown. Urine pH above 7 was maintained during 24 h with a dosing equivalent to 1.44 meq/kg twice a day, while urine pH was below 6 most of the time with placebo. The effect observed was non-saturating within the range of doses evaluated and the formulation presented a good safety profile. ADV7103 provided an effective prolonged release of alkalising salts to cover a 12-h effect with adequate tolerability and could afford a twice a day (morning and evening) dosing in patients requiring long-term treatment.

Erosions and gastric ulcers may be present in horses at any age and under different conditions of rearing and handling. In tropical regions, horses can feed on fruits rich in soluble carbohydrates, such as mangoes, but little is known about how these foods interact with their digestive systems. To test the hypothesis that the ingestion of ripe mangoes with peels could cause disturbances in the digestive processes of horses, an experiment was developed to monitor animals that had free access to ripe mangoes in their pasture areas. Horses (purebred Arabians, n = 5; ~340 kg, ~13 years) were evaluated by video gastroscopy and blood analysis. A controlled postprandial glucose curve for mango intake was also performed. Gastroscopies were performed at intervals of 15 days, starting in December, just before the beginning of the harvest, until the beginning of February, and days after the end of the harvest. Blood collection was performed on the same day between November and February for blood analysis. The results were submitted to ANOVA and Tukey’s test, with a significance level of p < 0.05. Gastroscopies indicated that four out of five horses had erosions and ulcers in the squamous region between 15 and 30 days after the start of the season. Biochemical tests indicated a reduction in plasma proteins during the harvest period, and the postprandial glucose curve showed concentrations above 200 mg/dL between 30 and 180 min after ingestion of 5.37 kg mangoes. The animals were not treated and recovered after 15 days of harvest and without ripe mangoes on the ground. It is concluded that the indiscriminate ingestion of mangoes favors the appearance of lesions in the gastric squamous region, to varying degrees, and that animals recover naturally after an average of 15 days from the end of the season when the animals return to their regular feeding with hay and grass pasture.

We model the impact of public and private ownership structures on firms' incentives to invest in innovative projects. We show that it is optimal to go public when exploiting existing ideas and optimal to go private when exploring new ideas. This result derives from the fact that private firms are less transparent to outside investors than are public firms. In private firms, insiders can time the market by choosing an early exit strategy if they receive bad news. This option makes insiders more tolerant of failures and thus more inclined to invest in innovative projects. In contrast, the prices of publicly traded securities react quickly to good news, providing insiders with incentives to choose conventional projects and cash in early.

The current paper addresses relevant network security vulnerabilities introduced by network devices within the emerging paradigm of Internet of Things (IoT) as well as the urgent need to mitigate the negative effects of some types of Distributed Denial of Service (DDoS) attacks that try to explore those security weaknesses. We design and implement a Software-Defined Intrusion Detection System (IDS) that reactively impairs the attacks at its origin, ensuring the “normal operation” of the network infrastructure. Our proposal includes an IDS that automatically detects several DDoS attacks, and then as an attack is detected, it notifies a Software Defined Networking (SDN) controller. The current proposal also downloads some convenient traffic forwarding decisions from the SDN controller to network devices. The evaluation results suggest that our proposal timely detects several types of cyber-attacks based on DDoS, mitigates their negative impacts on the network performance, and ensures the correct data delivery of normal traffic. Our work sheds light on the programming relevance over an abstracted view of the network infrastructure to timely detect a Botnet exploitation, mitigate malicious traffic at its source, and protect benign traffic.

The present study aimed to assess the effectiveness and functional adverse effects of a single and multiple injections of botulinum toxin A (BoNT-A) for masseter hypertrophy (MH). Twenty-six women complaining about lower third facial enlargement due to MH, received 75 U of BoNT-A (abobotulinum toxin) in each masseter muscles. After 3 months, patients were randomly assigned to receive a second treatment session of Saline Solution: (G1; n = 11) or BoNT-A: (G2; n = 12). Muscle thickness (ultrasound), electrical activity (electromyography; EMG), masticatory performance, and subjective perception of MH were evaluated. Follow-up was performed at 1, 3 and 6 months. Muscle thickness, EMG activity, and masticatory performance were analyzed using ANOVA two-way and Sidak test as post-hoc. Masticatory performance was analyzed by the Friedman’s test and Mann–Whitney test. Regarding inter-groups comparisons, there was a significant decrease in the left masseter muscle thickness in the G2 group at the 6 month follow-up (p < 0.02). For EMG, significant differences were evident at the 6 month assessment, with higher masseter activity for G1 (p < 0.05). For masticatory performance, no significant differences were observed throughout the study (p > 0.05) and a higher improvement in subjective perception of MH was observed in the 1 month follow-up for G2 (p < 0.05). In conclusion, BoNT-A is effective for MH, however multiple injections cause functional adverse effects in masseter muscle.