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CD20 es una proteína transmembranal expresada en la superficie del linfocito B y desempeña un papel muy importante en su desarrollo y diferenciación. Se expresa en la gran mayoría de neoplasias de células B, como en la leucemia linfoblástica aguda (LLA). Se recopiló información sobre la estructura biológica y molecular del marcador CD20 y su mecanismo de regulación, para mejorar el entendimiento sobre su función dentro de la célula, el efecto que ejerce como marcador de mal pronóstico cuando se encuentra expresado en pacientes adultos diagnosticados con LLA y las ventajas de ser utilizado como blanco terapéutico en esta patología.

La microbiota humana está conformada por una amplia diversidad de microorganismos que habitan nuestro cuerpo, desempeñando roles muy importantes en el mantenimiento de la homeostasis. Sin embargo, cada vez existe más evidencia que relaciona estados conformacionales de la microbiota con la etiología y fisiopatología de distintas enfermedades en el ser humano entre ellas el cáncer. En esta revisión se detallan algunas interacciones moleculares a través de las cuales la microbiota incide en la fisiopatología del cáncer, el papel del virioma y su posible aplicación como un potente tratamiento. Finalmente, entender la relación entre la microbiota y el cáncer, permitirá tanto una mejor comprensión de la carcinogénesis como el desarrollo de nuevas estrategias médicas y enfoques dirigidos a la prevención, tratamiento y diagnóstico de esta enfermedad de manera mucho más precisa.

It is shown that a compound elastic structure, which displays a dynamic instability, may be designed as the union (or 'fusion') of two structures which are stable when separately analyzed. The compound elastic structure has two degrees of freedom and is made up of a rigid rod connected with two springs to a smooth support, which evidences a jump in the curvature at the equilibrium configuration. Instability is proven in a linearized context and is related to the application of a non-conservative load of the follower type, so that the instability disappears under dead loads. In the fully nonlinear range, the instability is also confirmed through numerical simulations. The obtained results may be useful in the design of new mechanical sensors, or devices for energy harvesting, or architected materials. In addition, our findings have conceptual implications on piecewise-linear theories of mechanics such as for instance plasticity or frictional contact., 39 pages, 19 figures; post-print version; added Journal reference

A circular elastic disk is coated with an elastic beam, absorbing shear and normal forces without deformation and linearly reacting to a bending moment with a change in curvature. The inexstensibility of the elastic beam introduces an isoperimetric constraint, so that the length of the initial circumference of the disk is constrained to remain fixed during the loading of the disk/coating system. The mechanical model for this system is formulated, solved for general loading, and particularized to the case of two equal and opposite traction distributions, each applied on a small boundary segment (thus modelling indentation of a coated fiber). The stress fields, obtained via complex potentials, are shown to evidence a nice correspondence with photoelastic experiments, ad hoc designed and performed. The presented results are useful for the design of coated fibers at the micro and nano scales., Comment: 35 pages, 15 figures

Positive definiteness and symmetry of the constitutive tensors describing a second-gradient elastic (SGE) material, which is energetically equivalent to a hexagonal planar lattice made up of axially deformable bars, are analyzed by exploiting the closed form-expressions obtained in part I of the present study in the \lq condensed' form. It is shown that, while the first-order approximation leads to an isotropic Cauchy material, a second-order identification procedure provides an equivalent model exhibiting non-locality, non-centrosymmetry, and anisotropy. The derivation of the constitutive properties for the SGE from those of the \lq condensed' one (obtained by considering a quadratic remote displacement which generates stress states satisfying equilibrium) is presented. Comparisons between the mechanical responses of the periodic lattice and of the equivalent SGE material under simple shear and uniaxial strain show the efficacy of the proposed identification procedure and therefore validate the proposed constitutive model. This model reveals that, at higher-order, a lattice material can be made equivalent to a second-gradient elastic material exhibiting an internal length, a finding which is now open for applications in micromechanics., Comment: 25 pages, 11 figures

A second-gradient elastic (SGE) material is identified as the homogeneous solid equivalent to a periodic planar lattice characterized by a hexagonal unit cell, which is made up of three different linear elastic bars ordered in a way that the hexagonal symmetry is preserved and hinged at each node, so that the lattice bars are subject to pure axial strain while bending is excluded. Closed form-expressions for the identified non-local constitutive parameters are obtained by imposing the elastic energy equivalence between the lattice and the continuum solid, under remote displacement conditions having a dominant quadratic component. In order to generate equilibrated stresses, in the absence of body forces, the applied remote displacement has to be constrained, thus leading to the identification in a \lq condensed' form of a higher-order solid, so that imposition of further constraints becomes necessary to fully quantify the equivalent continuum. The identified SGE material reduces to an equivalent Cauchy material only in the limit of vanishing side length of hexagonal unit cell. The analysis of positive definiteness and symmetry of the equivalent constitutive tensors, the derivation of the second-gradient elastic properties from those of the higher-order solid in the \lq condensed' definition, and a numerical validation of the identification scheme are deferred to Part II of this study., Comment: 23 pages, 5 figures

Configurational, or Eshelby-like, forces are shown to strongly influence the nonlinear dynamics of an elastic rod constrained with a frictionless sliding sleeve at one end and with an attached mass at the other end. The configurational force, generated at the sliding sleeve constraint and proportional to the square of the bending moment realized there, has been so far investigated only under quasi-static setting and is now confirmed (through a variational argument) to be present within a dynamic framework. The deep influence of configurational forces on the dynamics is shown both theoretically (through the development of a dynamic nonlinear model in which the rod is treated as a nonlinear spring, obeying the Euler elastica, with negligible inertia) and experimentally (through a specifically designed experimental set-up). During the nonlinear dynamics, the elastic rod may slip alternatively in and out from the sliding sleeve, becoming a sort of nonlinear oscillator displaying a motion eventually ending with the rod completely injected into or completely ejected from the sleeve. The present results may find applications in the dynamics of compliant and extensible devices, for instance, to guide the movement of a retractable and flexible robot arm.

A 3-D porous apatite scaffold (B-HA), recently obtained through biomorphic transformation of a natural wood, is investigated on its multi-scale porous structure determining superior mechanical properties and biological behaviour. B-HA shows hierarchical pore architecture with wide aligned channels interconnected with smaller tubules, thus recapitulating in detail the lymphatic network of the original wood template. As induced by its biomimetic architecture, B-HA displays values of compression and tensile strength and stiffness, higher than the values usually measured in sintered ceramics with isotropic porosity. Furthermore, B-HA shows a ductility not common for a pure ceramic body and a tensile strength higher than its compression strength, thus occupying a zone in the Ashby chart where ceramics are usually not present. Cell co-culture tests in bioreactor report encouraging results in enhancing the complex tissue regeneration process, thus making B-HA very promising as a scaffold able to promote bone regeneration, particularly for large bone defects., 16 pages, 12 figures

Background: Cognitive Remediation (CR) is designed to halt the pathological neural systems that characterize major psychotic disorders (MPD), and its main objective is to improve cognitive functioning. The magnitude of CR-induced cognitive gains greatly varies across patients with MPD, with up to 40% of patients not showing gains in global cognitive performance. This is likely due to the high degree of heterogeneity in neural activation patterns underlying cognitive endophenotypes, and to inter-individual differences in neuroplastic potential, cortical organization and interaction between brain systems in response to learning. Here, we review studies that used neuroimaging to investigate which biomarkers could potentially serve as predictors of treatment response to CR in MPD. Methods: This systematic review followed the PRISMA guidelines. An electronic database search (Embase, Elsevier; Scopus, PsycINFO, APA; PubMed, APA) was conducted in March 2021. peer-reviewed, English-language studies were included if they reported data for adults aged 18+ with MPD, reported findings from randomized controlled trials or single-arm trials of CR; and presented neuroimaging data. Results: Sixteen studies were included and eight neuroimaging-based biomarkers were identified. Auditory mismatch negativity (3 studies), auditory steady-state response (1), gray matter morphology (3), white matter microstructure (1), and task-based fMRI (7) can predict response to CR. Efference copy corollary/discharge, resting state, and thalamo-cortical connectivity (1) require further research prior to being implemented. Conclusions: Translational research on neuroimaging-based biomarkers can help elucidate the mechanisms by which CR influences the brain's functional architecture, better characterize psychotic subpopulations, and ultimately deliver CR that is optimized and personalized.

A dispersion of stiff and thin (‘rigid line’) inclusions (RLIs) in a matrix material may result beneficial for stiffening in the elastic range, but might be detrimental to strength, as material instabilities may be triggered by inclusions when the matrix is brought to a viscoplastic-damaging state. This dual role of RLIs is investigated by means of the embedded reinforcement model. Validated against available analytical predictions, this numerical model is employed to assess the roles of RLIs’ orientation, interaction, volume fraction, and distribution, considering up to 1500 inclusions. When the matrix material deforms inelastically, RLIs produce stress concentrations that promote the nucleation of shear bands. These are characterized at collapse for many distributions of RLIs, showing that their effects range from almost negligible to a disrupting alteration of the dominant failure mechanism. In the latter case, it is shown that the dominant shear bands can be fragmented by RLIs into a mosaic of tiny localization bands. These results offer new insights into energy dissipation mechanisms of reinforced materials, as they are promoted or inhibited by the interactions of rigid line inclusions.

An elastic double pendulum subject to a force acting along a fixed straight line, the so-called "Reut's column problem", is a structure exhibiting flutter and divergence instability, which was never realized in practice and thus debated whether to represent reality or mere speculation. It is shown, both theoretically and experimentally, how to obtain the Reut's loading by exploiting the contact with friction of a rigid blade against a freely-rotating cylindrical constraint, which moves axially at constant speed, an action recalling that of a bow's hair on a violin string. With this experimental set-up, flutter and divergence instabilities, as well as the detrimental effect of viscosity on critical loads, are documented indisputably, thus bringing an end to a long debate. This result opens a new research area, with perspective applications to mechanical actuators, high-precision cutting tools, or energy harvesting devices., 18 pages, 13 figures

In all ancient monuments, stone beams and architraves have unsupported spans that seldom reach 7 m, while ordinary spans are usually much less. These structural elements were and still are believed to be prone to failure, so that several relieving systems (arches, chambers, gaps) were adopted through history to prevent collapse. The perception that stone beams could not exceed a certain span is coherent with the so-called size-effect theory of rock and concrete, which predicts that large elements are proportionally weaker than small ones. While the rest of the world started using architectural design to avoid these problems, in the Fujian region of China (near Xiamen) from the XI to the XII century megalithic stone beam bridges with spans of up to 21 m were being built. These bridges have resisted over the centuries. A spectacular example of these bridges, tending to disprove the size-effect theory and challenging all previous ancient constructions, is the Jiangdong bridge, of which only a part survives, but which should be restored, preserved, and declared human heritage monument.

First International Symposium on Flutter and its Application (May 15-17, 2016. Mielparque-tokyo), Minato-ku, Tokyo, Japan, Flutter and divergence instabilities are theoretically and experimentally analyzed in elastic structures with internal and external damping. Despite of the fact that only the former (and not the latter) was believed to be a destabilizing effect, it is theoretically demonstrated that the external damping plays a role similar to internal damping, so that both yield a pronounced destabilization paradox (in the Ziegler sense). This finding and other features of the Beck and Pfluger columns are substantiated by an experimental campaign in which the follower forces are obtained via dry friction with a newly designed experimental apparatus., 形態: カラー図版あり, Physical characteristics: Original contains color illustrations, 資料番号: AA1630046015, レポート番号: JAXA-SP-16-008E

In elasticity, the design of a cloaking for an inclusion or a void to leave a vibrational field unperturbed by its presence, so to achieve its invisibility, is a thoroughly analyzed, but still unchallenged, mechanical problem. The 'cloaking transformation' concept, originally developed in electromagnetism and optics, is not directly applicable to elastic waves, displaying a complex vectorial nature. Consequently, all examples of elastic cloaking presented so far involve complex design and thick coating skins. These cloakings often work only for problems of unidirectional propagation, within narrow ranges of frequency, and considering only one colaked object. Here, a new method based on the concept of reinforcement, achieved via elastic stiffening and mass redistribution, is introduced to cloak multiple voids in an elastic plate. This simple technique produces invisibility of the voids to flexural waves within an extremely broad range of frequencies and thus surpassing in many aspects all existing cloaking techniques. The proposed design principle is applicable in mechanical problems ranging from the micro-scale to the scale of civil engineering. For instance, our results show how to design a perforated load-bearing building wall, vibrating during an earthquake exactly as the same wall, but unperforated, a new finding for seismic protection., Comment: 16 pages, 5 figures

A common characteristic of cancer types associated with viruses is the dysregulated expression of the CDH1 gene, which encodes E‑cadherin, in general by activation of DNA methyltransferases (Dnmts). In cervical cancer, E7 protein from high risk human papillomaviruses (HPVs) has been demonstrated to interact with Dnmt1 and histone deacetylase type 1 (HDAC1). The present study proposed that E7 may regulate the expression of CDH1 through two pathways: i) Epigenetic, including DNA methylation; and ii) Epigenetic‑independent, including the induction of negative regulators of CDH1 expression, such as Snail family transcriptional repressor Snai1 and Snai2. To test this hypothesis, HPV16‑ and HPV18‑positive cell lines were used to determine the methylation pattern of the CDH1 promoter and its expression in association with its negative regulators. Different methylation frequencies were identified in the CDH1 promoter in HeLa (88.24%) compared with SiHa (17.65%) and Ca Ski (0%) cell lines. Significant differences in the expression of SNAI1 were observed between these cell lines, and an inverse association was identified between the expression levels of SNAI1 and CDH1. In addition, suppressing E7 not only increased the expression of CDH1, but notably decreased the expression of SNAI1 and modified the methylation pattern of the CDH1 promoter. These results suggested that the expression of CDH1 was dependent on the expression of SNAI1 and was inversely associated with the expression of E7. The present results indicated that E7 from HPV16/18 regulated the expression of CDH1 by the two following pathways in which Snai1 is involved: i) Hypermethylation of the CDH1 promoter region and increasing expression of SNAI1, as observed in HeLa; and ii) Hypomethylation of the CDH1 promoter region and expression of SNAI1, as observed in SiHa. Therefore, the suppression of CDH1 and expression of SNAI1 may be considered to be biomarkers of metastasis in uterine cervical cancer., The present study received additional support of the Fundación Miguel Alemán, A.C. to AGC. PRC received a fellowship from Programa de Movilidad Internacional de Estudiantes de la Coordinación de Estudios de Posgrado (CEP‑UNAM) during his doctoral stay at the Universidad Autónoma de Madrid (UAM).

In an attempt to mimic the outstanding mechanical properties of wood and bone, a 3D heterogeneous chemistry approach has been used in a biomorphic transformation process (in which sintering is avoided) to fabricate ceramics from rattan wood, preserving its hierarchical fibrous microstructure. The resulting material (called biomorphic apatite ​[BA] henceforth) possesses a highly bioactive composition and is characterised by a multiscale hierarchical pore structure, based on nanotwinned hydroxyapatite lamellae, which is shown to display a lacunar fractal nature. The mechanical properties of BA are found to be exceptional (when compared with usual porous hydroxyapatite and other ceramics obtained from wood through sintering) and unique ​as they occupy a zone in the Ashby map previously free from ceramics, but not far from wood and bone. Mechanical tests show the following: (i) the strength in tension may exceed that in compression, (ii) failure in compression involves complex exfoliation patterns, thus resulting in high toughness, (iii) unlike in sintered porous hydroxyapatite, fracture does not occur ‘instantaneously,’ ​but its growth may be observed, and it exhibits tortuous patterns that follow the original fibrillar structure of wood, thus yielding outstanding toughness, (iv) the anisotropy of the elastic stiffness and strength show unprecedented values when situations of stresses parallel and orthogonal to the main channels are compared. Despite being a ceramic material, BA displays a mechanical behavior similar on the one hand to the ligneous material from which it was produced (therefore behaving as a ‘ceramic with the signature of wood’) and on the other hand to the cortical/spongy osseous complex constituting the structure of compact bone. Keywords: Hydroxyapatite, Mechanical properties, Strength, Fracture, Mechanical tests, Fractal porosity

The antiplane strain Green's functions for an applied concentrated force and moment are obtained for Cosserat elastic solids with extreme anisotropy, which can be tailored to bring the material in a state close to an instability threshold such as failure of ellipticity. It is shown that the wave propagation condition (and not ellipticity) governs the behaviour of the antiplane strain Green's functions. These Green's functions are used as perturbing agents to demonstrate in an extreme material the emergence of localized (single and cross) stress channelling and the emergence of antiplane localized folding (or creasing, or weak elastostatic shock) and faulting (or elastostatic shock) of a Cosserat continuum, phenomena which remain excluded for a Cauchy elastic material. During folding some components of the displacement gradient suffer a finite jump, whereas during faulting the displacement itself displays a finite discontinuity.

An elastic-visco-plastic thermomechanical model for the simulation of cold forming and subsequent sintering of ceramic powders is introduced and based on micromechanical modelling of the compaction process of granulates. Micromechanics leads to an upper-bound estimate of the compaction curve of a granular material, which compares well with other models and finite element simulations. The parameters of the thermomechanical model are determined on the basis of available data and dilatometer experiments. Finally, after computer implementation, validation of the model is performed against experiments developed on specially designed ceramic pieces, characterized by zones of different density. The mechanical model is found to accurately describe forming and sintering of stoneware ceramics and can therefore be used to analyze and optimize industrial processes involving compaction of powders and subsequent firing of the greens., Comment: 34 pages, 13 figues

A plane-strain model of multiple shear bands, arranged in different configurations, is presented in order to investigate the effects of their dynamic interaction. Reference is made to a material stressed to the verge of instability and subject to incoming harmonic waves of small amplitude. It is shown that shear band arrays may be subject to resonance and corresponding shear band growth or, conversely, to shear band annihilation. At the same time, multiple scattering may bring about focusing or, conversely, shielding from waves.

The quest for wave channeling and manipulation has driven a strong research effort on topological and architected materials, capable of propagating localized electromagnetical or mechanical signals. With reference to an elastic structural grid, which elements can sustain both axial and flexural deformations, it is shown that material interfaces can be created with structural properties tuned by prestress states to achieve total reflection, negative refraction, and strongly localized signal channeling. The achievement of a flat lens and topologically localized modes is demonstrated and tunability of the system allows these properties to hold for a broad range of wavelengths. An ingredient to obtain these effects is the use, suggested here and never attempted before, of concentrated pulsating moments. The important aspect of the proposed method is that states of prestress can be easily removed or changed to tune with continuity the propagational characteristics of the medium, so that a new use of vibration channeling and manipulation is envisaged for elastic materials., Comment: 10 pages, 5 figures

A mechanical model for waves impinging different configurations of multiple shear bands already formed in a ductile material, allows to analyze the ways in which dynamic interactions promote failure. It is shown that the presence of more than one shear band may lead to resonance and correspondent growth of a shear band or, conversely, to its annihilation. At the same time, multiple scattering may bring about focusing or, conversely, shielding from waves. The proposed mechanical modelling, represents the only way to analyze the fine micromechanisms governing material collapse, and discloses the complex interplay between dynamics and shear band growth or arrest.

The leitmotiv of the described research activity is the situation in which an elastic solid or an elastic structure can spontaneously generate complex geometrical patterns, when subjected to extreme deformation. In this context, folding and faulting are described for a three-dimensional elastic solid with extreme anisotropy. The dripping of an elastic rod is presented (as generated by configurational forces) and finally the possibility of a self-oscillating elastic system is introduced, where an elastic structure oscillates with a given frequency when subject to a steady energy input.

Cancer is a widespread worldwide chronic disease. In most cases, the high mortality rate from cancer correlates with a lack of clear symptoms, which results in late diagnosis for patients, and consequently, advanced tumor disease with poor probabilities for cure, since many patients will show chemo- and radio-resistance. Several mechanisms have been studied to explain chemo- and radio-resistance to anti-tumor therapies, including cell signaling pathways, anti-apoptotic mechanisms, stemness, metabolism, and cellular phenotypes. Interestingly, the presence of cancer stem cells (CSCs), which are a subset of cells within the tumors, has been related to therapy resistance. In this review, we focus on evaluating the presence of CSCs in different tumors such as breast cancer, gastric cancer, lung cancer, and hematological neoplasias, highlighting studies where CSCs were identified in patient samples. It is evident that there has been a great drive to identify the cell surface phenotypes of CSCs so that they can be used as a tool for anti-tumor therapy treatment design. We also review the potential effect of nanoparticles, drugs, natural compounds, aldehyde dehydrogenase inhibitors, cell signaling inhibitors, and antibodies to treat CSCs from specific tumors. Taken together, we present an overview of the role of CSCs in tumorigenesis and how research is advancing to target these highly tumorigenic cells to improve oncology patient outcomes.

The theory of flutter instability in structures and solids is presented, starting from the illuminating case of the Ziegler double pendulum, continuing with the Beck and Pfluger columns, and ending with the conditions for flutter in solids, considering in particular nonassociative elastoplastic models for granular and rock-like materials. The role of dissipation, leading to the so-called ‘Ziegler paradox’ is presented in detail. It is explained how to obtain a tangential follower load in a structure by exploiting Coulomb friction and it is shown that structures working in a flutter condition can reach a limit cycle, in which they behave as self-oscillating devices.

In-plane wave propagation in a periodic rectangular grid beam structure, which includes rotational inertia (so-called 'Rayleigh beams'), is analyzed both with a Floquet-Bloch exact formulation for free oscillations and with a numerical treatment (developed with PML absorbing boundary conditions) for forced vibrations (including Fourier representation and energy flux evaluations), induced by a concentrated force or moment. A complex interplay is observed between axial and flexural vibrations (not found in the common idealization of out-of-plane motion), giving rise to several forms of vibration localization: 'X-', 'cross-' and 'star-' shaped, and channel propagation. These localizations are triggered by several factors, including rotational inertia and slenderness of the beams and the type of forcing source (concentrated force or moment). Although the considered grid of beams introduces an orthotropy in the mechanical response, a surprising 'isotropization' of the vibration is observed at special frequencies. Moreover, rotational inertia is shown to 'sharpen' degeneracies related to Dirac cones (which become more pronounced when the aspect ratio of the grid is increased), while the slenderness can be tuned to achieve a perfectly flat band in the dispersion diagram. The obtained results can be exploited in the realization of metamaterials designed to control wave propagation., 25 pages, 20 figures

The incremental behaviour of a prestressed, elastic, anisotropic and incompressible material is analyzed in the dynamic regime, under the plain strain condition. Dynamic perturbations of stress/deformation incident wave fields, caused by a shear band of finite length, formed inside the material at a certain stage of continued deformation, are investigated. At the base of the proposed dynamic perturbation approach is the time-harmonic infinite-body Green’s function for incremental displacements obtained by Bigoni and Capuani [5] for small isochoric and plane deformation superimposed upon a nonlinear elastic and homogeneous strain. The integral representation relating the incremental stress at any point of the medium to the incremental displacement jump across the shear band faces, is obtained. Finally, a numerical procedure based on a collocation method is used to solve the boundary integral equation for incident wave scattering by a shear band.

A heterogeneous Cauchy elastic material may display micromechanical effects that can be modeled in a homogeneous equivalent material through the introduction of higher-order elastic continua. Asymptotic homogenization techniques provide an elegant and rigorous route to the evaluation of equivalent higher-order materials, but are often of difficult and awkward practical implementation. On the other hand, identification techniques, though relying on simplifying assumptions, are of straightforward use. A novel strategy for the identification of equivalent second-gradient Mindlin solids is proposed in an attempt to combine the accuracy of asymptotic techniques with the simplicity of identification approaches. Following the asymptotic homogenization scheme, the overall behaviour is defined via perturbation functions, which (differently from the asymptotic scheme) are evaluated on a finite domain obtained as the periodic repetition of cells and subject to quadratic displacement boundary conditions. As a consequence, the periodicity of the perturbation function is satisfied only in an approximate sense, nevertheless results from the proposed identification algorithm are shown to be reasonably accurate.

The coupling of elastic and plastic deformation is introduced in a framework allowing for the inclusion of thermal effects. In this context where high temperatures may be present, many laws governing materials behaviour become nonlinear functions of both temperature and strain. The understanding of this is crucial to model the behaviour of refractories, sintering processes, rocks at great depth and geo-energy. Two equivalent formulations are presented, one in terms of isothermal elastic quantities and the other in terms of adiabatic. In the former approach a Helmholtz free energy density need not be introduced and the contributions to the variations of elastic stiffness of both plastic flow and temperature can be clearly separated and hence a full explanation is given. A simple example using available experiments on sintered alumina shows the capability of the constitutive framework to describe the behaviour of refractories at high temperature.

Analytical models have been developed for fracture propagation over the last several decades and are now considered with renewed interest; the range of their applicability varies for different materials and different loading conditions. Systematic experimental measurements and numerical simulations are presented against an asymptotic prediction for the crack trajectory developing in solids with small voids (of circular and elliptical shape). The experiments also cover the dynamic regime, where new features involving crack kinking and roughness of the fracture surface occur., 13 pages, 8 figures

A shear band of finite length, formed inside a ductile material at a certain stage of a continued homogeneous strain, provides a dynamic perturbation to an incident wave field, which strongly influences the dynamics of the material and affects its path to failure. The investigation of this perturbation is presented for a ductile metal, with reference to the incremental mechanics of a material obeying the J2–deformation theory of plasticity (a special form of prestressed, elastic, anisotropic, and incompressible solid). The treatment originates from the derivation of integral representations relating the incremental mechanical fields at every point of the medium to the incremental displacement jump across the shear band faces, generated by an impinging wave. The boundary integral equations (under the plane strain assumption) are numerically approached through a collocation technique, which keeps into account the singularity at the shear band tips and permits the analysis of an incident wave impinging a shear band. It is shown that the presence of the shear band induces a resonance, visible in the incremental displacement field and in the stress intensity factor at the shear band tips, which promotes shear band growth. Moreover, the waves scattered by the shear band are shown to generate a fine texture of vibrations, parallel to the shear band line and propagating at a long distance from it, but leaving a sort of conical shadow zone, which emanates from the tips of the shear band.

Lubricated sliding contact between soft solids is an interesting topic in biomechanics and for the design of small-scale engineering devices. As a model of this mechanical set-up, two elastic nonlinear solids are considered jointed through a frictionless and bilateral surface, so that continuity of the normal component of the Cauchy traction holds across the surface, but the tangential component is null. Moreover, the displacement can develop only in a way that the bodies in contact do neither detach, nor overlap. Surprisingly, this finite strain problem has not been correctly formulated until now, so that this formulation is the objective of the present paper. The incremental equations are shown to be non-trivial and different from previously (and erroneously) employed conditions. In particular, an exclusion condition for bifurcation is derived to show that previous formulations based on frictionless contact or 'spring-type' interfacial conditions are not able to predict bifurcations in tension, while experiments -- one of which, ad hoc designed, is reported -- show that these bifurcations are a reality and become possible when the correct sliding interface model is used. The presented results introduce a methodology for the determination of bifurcations and instabilities occurring during lubricated sliding between soft bodies in contact., 25 pages, 12 figures

Flutter instability in elastic structures subject to follower load, the most important cases being the famous Beck's and Pfluger's columns (two elastic rods in a cantilever configuration, with an additional concentrated mass at the end of the rod in the latter case), have attracted, and still attract, a thorough research interest. In this field, the most important issue is the validation of the model itself of follower force, a nonconservative action which was harshly criticized and never realized in practice for structures with diffused elasticity. An experimental setup to introduce follower tangential forces at the end of an elastic rod was designed, realized, validated, and tested, in which the follower action is produced by exploiting Coulomb friction on an element (a freely-rotating wheel) in sliding contact against a flat surface (realized by a conveyor belt). It is therefore shown that follower forces can be realized in practice and the first experimental evidence is given for both the flutter and divergence instabilities occurring in the Pfluger's column. In particular, load thresholds for the two instabilities are measured and the detrimental effect of dissipation on the critical load for flutter is experimentally demonstrated, while a slight increase in load is found for the divergence instability. The presented approach to follower forces discloses new horizons for testing self-oscillating structures and for exploring and documenting dynamic instabilities possible when nonconservative loads are applied., 28 pages, 12 figures

Application of a dead compressive load at the free end of an elastic rod (the ‘blade’) induces its penetration into a sliding sleeve ending with a linear elastic spring. Bifurcation and stability analysis of this simple elastic system shows a variety of unexpected behaviors: (i) an increase of buckling load at decreasing of elastic stiffness; (ii) a finite number of buckling loads for a system with infinite degrees of freedom (leading to a non-standard Sturm–Liouville problem); (iii) more than one bifurcation load associated to each bifurcation mode; (iv) a restabilization of the straight configuration after the second bifurcation load associated to the first instability mode; (v) the presence of an Eshelby-like (or configurational) force, deeply influencing stability. Only the first of these behaviors was previously known, the second and third ones disprove common beliefs, the fourth highlights a sort of ‘island of instability’, and the last one shows surprising phenomena and effects on stability.

It is shown that second-order homogenization of a Cauchy-elastic dilute suspension of randomly distributed inclusions yields an equivalent second gradient (Mindlin) elastic material. This result is valid for both plane and three-dimensional problems and extends earlier findings by Bigoni and Drugan [Bigoni, D., Drugan, W.J., 2007. Analytical derivation of Cosserat moduli via homogenization of heterogeneous elastic materials. J. Appl. Mech. 74, 741–753] from several points of view: (i) the result holds for anisotropic phases with spherical or circular ellipsoid of inertia; (ii) the displacement boundary conditions considered in the homogenization procedure is independent of the characteristics of the material; (iii) a perfect energy match is found between heterogeneous and equivalent materials (instead of an optimal bound). The constitutive higher-order tensor defining the equivalent Mindlin solid is given in a surprisingly simple formula. Applications, treatment of material symmetries and positive definiteness of the effective higher-order constitutive tensor are deferred to Part II of the present article.