High numerical aperture holographic microscopy reconstruction with extended z range

An holographic microscopy reconstruction method compatible with high numerical aperture microscope objective (MO) up to NA=1.4 is proposed. After off axis and reference field curvature corrections, and after selection of the +1 grating order holographic image, a phase mask that transforms the optical elements of the holographic setup into an afocal device is applied in the camera plane. The reconstruction is then made by the angular spectrum method. The field is first propagated in the image half space from the camera to the afocal image of the MO optimal plane (plane for which MO has been designed) by using a quadratic kernel. The field is then propagated from the MO optimal plane to the object with the exact kernel. Calibration of the reconstruction is made by imaging a calibrated object like an USAF resolution target for different positions along $z$. Once the calibration is done, the reconstruction can be made with an object located in any plane $z$. The reconstruction method has been validated experimentally with an USAF target imaged with a NA=1.4 microscope objective. Near-optimal resolution is obtained over an extended range ($\pm 50~\mu$m) of $z$ locations

Drying of Porous Media. The Case of Cotton Fabrics.

The focus of this PhD thesis is on clothes drying in home laundry, an energy-intensive operation of high societal impact due the high associated costs and carbon footprint. The main goal of this work is to improve the basic understanding of drying of cotton fabrics by combining classical thermal analysis with microscopy techniques. In particular, the proposed approach is to regard cotton fabrics as a porous medium where water can penetrate at different spatial scales. The well-known constant rate (CRP) and falling rate (FRP) phases of the drying process were related to cotton fabric porosity and our results show that drying is faster in a cotton fabric as compared to a dish filled with water with the same area of the fabric, during the CRP. Drying rate in fabrics can be enhanced by surfactants in diluted regime, in a concentration-dependent way. These effects were correlated with an increase of the interfacial area due to a decrease of the contact angle induced by the surfactant, by a single capillary model. All the drying curves overlap in the FRP, showing negligible effects of surfactants on drying rate. Both CRP and FRP can be qualitatively explained by considering the fiber as the base element of a multi-scale porous medium. Moreover, a single capillary model is proposed to study the evaporation process

Dynamic behaviour of Multilamellar Vesicles under Poiseuille flow

Surfactant solutions exhibit multilamellar surfactant vesicles (MLVs) under flow conditions and in concentration ranges which are found in a large number of industrial applications. MLVs are typically formed from a lamellar phase and play an important role in determining the rheological properties of surfactant solutions. Despite the wide literature on the collective dynamics of flowing MLVs, investigations on the flow behavior of single MLVs are scarce. In this work, we investigate a concentrated aqueous solution of linear alkylbenzene sulfonic acid (HLAS), characterized by MLVs dispersed in an isotropic micellar phase. Rheological tests show that the HLAS solution is a shear-thinning fluid with a power law index dependent on the shear rate. Pressure-driven shear flow of the HLAS solution in glass capillaries is investigated by high-speed video microscopy and image analysis. The so obtained velocity profiles provide evidence of a power-law fluid behaviour of the HLAS solution and images show a flow-focusing effect of the lamellar phase in the central core of the capillary. The flow behavior of individual MLVs shows analogies with that of unilamellar vesicles and emulsion droplets. Deformed MLVs exhibit typical shapes of unilamellar vesicles, such as parachute and bullet-like. Furthermore, MLV velocity follows the classical Hetsroni theory for droplets provided that the power law shear dependent viscosity of the HLAS solution is taken into account. The results of this work are relevant for the processing of surfactant-based systems in which the final properties depend on flow-induced morphology, such as cosmetic formulations and food products.Comment: 11 pages, 7 figures. Accepted for publication in Soft Matte

From Injury to Silence: Metaphors for Language in the Work of Herta Muller

Herta Müller represents physical suffering and repression in her works, often reflecting on the regime of Nicolae Ceaușescu, and her constant interest in language and reflexivity towards writing have led her to develop sophisticated metaphors that she uses to illuminate language and its functioning under such subjugation. With reference to her fiction and non-fiction, I demonstrate how she uses concrete ideas to understand linguistic phenomena. She evokes injury, destruction, force, life, space, touch, silence, and other bodily experiences to make sense of language in the condition of suffering from social oppression. Drawing on conceptual metaphor theory within the framework of cognitive literary studies, I argue that Müller both relies on and estranges the ways in which people speak and think about language. Language is imagined differently depending on the circumstances and in close relationship with various sensory experiences. The complexity of the relationship between language and thought problematises the process of metaphor building and makes it difficult to identify its key aspects across different contexts and sensory modalities. Müller’s tropes are easy to experience, but difficult to analyse. The idea of language does not exist as a stable concept and is regularly reimagined in her texts; but its meaning is not arbitrary and depends on bodily experience. While Müller evokes such experience to understand language in the condition of suffering, she can also use linguistic concepts to elucidate more abstract ideas. Language can be regarded as an abstract or concrete phenomenon depending on the relevant bodily, linguistic, and cultural contexts. This project contributes to the study of Müller’s poetics as well as to the literary critical interpretation of embodied cognition, and develops the use of conceptual metaphor theory for literary analysis. It also seeks to develop understanding of the role of bodily experience in the metaphorical conceptualisation of language.Cambridge Commonwealth, European and International Trust (Cambridge International Scholarship

The AGILE Mission

AGILE is an Italian Space Agency mission dedicated to observing the gamma-ray Universe. The AGILE's very innovative instrumentation for the first time combines a gamma-ray imager (sensitive in the energy range 30 MeV-50 GeV), a hard X-ray imager (sensitive in the range 18-60 keV), a calorimeter (sensitive in the range 350 keV-100 MeV), and an anticoincidence system. AGILE was successfully launched on 2007 April 23 from the Indian base of Sriharikota and was inserted in an equatorial orbit with very low particle background. Aims. AGILE provides crucial data for the study of active galactic nuclei, gamma-ray bursts, pulsars, unidentified gamma-ray sources, galactic compact objects, supernova remnants, TeV sources, and fundamental physics by microsecond timing. Methods. An optimal sky angular positioning (reaching 0.1 degrees in gamma- rays and 1-2 arcmin in hard X-rays) and very large fields of view (2.5 sr and 1 sr, respectively) are obtained by the use of Silicon detectors integrated in a very compact instrument. Results. AGILE surveyed the gamma- ray sky and detected many Galactic and extragalactic sources during the first months of observations. Particular emphasis is given to multifrequency observation programs of extragalactic and galactic objects. Conclusions. AGILE is a successful high-energy gamma-ray mission that reached its nominal scientific performance. The AGILE Cycle-1 pointing program started on 2007 December 1, and is open to the international community through a Guest Observer Program

The evaluation of the CUSP scientific performance by a GEANT4 Monte Carlo simulation

The CUbesat Solar Polarimeter (CUSP) project is a CubeSat mission orbiting the Earth aimed to measure the linear polarization of solar flares in the hard X-ray band by means of a Compton scattering polarimeter. CUSP will allow to study the magnetic reconnection and particle acceleration in the flaring magnetic structures of our star. CUSP is a project in the framework of the Alcor Program of the Italian Space Agency aimed to develop new CubeSat missions. It is approved for a Phase B study. In this work, we report on the accurate simulation of the detector's response to evaluate the scientific performance. A GEANT4 Monte Carlo simulation is used to assess the physical interactions of the source photons with the detector and the passive materials. Using this approach, we implemented a detailed CUSP Mass Model. In this work, we report on the evaluation of the detector's effective area as a function of the beam energy.Comment: Proceeding of SPIE Conference "Astronomical Telescopes+ Instrumentation", Yokohama (Japan), 16-21 June 202

The multi−-physics analysis and design of CUSP, a two CubeSat constellation for Space Weather and Solar flares X-ray polarimetry

The CUbesat Solar Polarimeter (CUSP) project aims to develop a constellation of two CubeSats orbiting the Earth to measure the linear polarization of solar flares in the hard X-ray band by means of a Compton scattering polarimeter on board of each satellite. CUSP will allow to study the magnetic reconnection and particle acceleration in the flaring magnetic structures. CUSP is a project approved for a Phase B study by the Italian Space Agency in the framework of the Alcor program aimed to develop CubeSat technologies and missions. In this paper we describe the a method for a multi-physical simulation analysis while analyzing some possible design optimization of the payload design solutions adopted. In particular, we report the mechanical design for each structural component, the results of static and dynamic finite element analysis, the preliminary thermo-mechanical analysis for two specific thermal cases (hot and cold orbit) and a topological optimization of the interface between the platform and the payload.Comment: Proceeding of SPIE Conference "Astronomical Telescopes+ Instrumentation", Yokohama (Japan), 16-21 June 202

Effectiveness of brodalumab for the treatment of moderate-to-severe psoriasis: a retrospective, real-world multicenter study with a focus on obese and multi-failure patients—IL PSO (Italian Landscape Psoriasis)

Background/Objectives: Brodalumab is a monoclonal antibody against the anti-IL-17 receptor A, approved for patients with moderate-to-severe psoriasis. This retrospective study investigated patients in clinical practice to assess the impact of body weight and previous treatments with biologics on the effectiveness of brodalumab. Methods: Patients were treated according to clinical practice, and assessed at baseline, 16, 36 and 52 weeks by means of the Psoriasis Area Severity Index (PASI) and DLQI score. Overall, 299 patients were included (147 naïve to biologics). Results: Mean PASI was significantly reduced compared with the baseline in the overall population by week 4 and continued to decrease at each study time point (15.9 ± 7.9 at baseline, 5.4 ± 5.3 at week 4, 1.9 ± 3.6 at week 6, 1.0 ± 2.1 at week 36, and 0.8 ± 2.1 at week 52; p < 0.001 at each control). PASI improved significantly both in bio-naïve and bio-experienced patients (p < 0.001). The proportions of patients achieving PASI 75, PASI 90, and PASI 100 were comparable between the bio-naïve and bio-experienced groups at all time points. The percentages of patients who achieved PASI 75 were similar in obese and non-obese subjects at all determinations except the visit performed after 36 weeks of treatment (94.3% non-obese vs. 83.1% obese, p = 0.005). PASI 90 was achieved more frequently among non-obese patients than obese patients after 36 weeks (80.7% vs. 64.4%, p = 0.008) and 52 weeks of treatment (84.1% vs. 71.7%, 0.027). The probability of achieving PASI 75 and PASI 100 was independent of nutritional status at any time during the study. Conclusions: In conclusion, our results confirm that brodalumab has both rapid and sustained effectiveness in patients with moderate-to-severe psoriasis; our results could be extended to patients with multiple risk factors impairing treatment response, such as multiple biological failure and obesity

Rate and predictors of thromboprophylaxis in internal medicine wards: Results from the AURELIO study

Background: Randomized controlled trials suggest that prophylactic doses of anticoagulants effectively prevent venous thromboembolism (VTE) in hospitalized medical patients with high thromboembolic risk. However, no prospective studies exist regarding the real-world prevalence of prophylactic anticoagulant use. This prospective study aimed to determine the rate and predictors of thromboprophylaxis in an unselected population of patients hospitalized in medical departments. Methods: We conducted a multicenter prospective observational study (AURELIO - rAte of venous thrombosis in acutely iLl patIents hOspitalized) to assess the rate of deep vein thrombosis (DVT) in unselected acutely ill patients hospitalized in medical wards using compression ultrasound (CUS) at admission and discharge. Additionally, we evaluated the rate of pharmacological thromboprophylaxis administration in this population and analyzed the thrombotic risk by assessing RAMs (Risk Assessment Models) such as the IMPROVE-VTE and PADUA scores following the clinician's decision to administer thromboprophylaxis. Patients with IMPROVE-VTE scores ≥3 and/or PADUA scores ≥4 were classified as high thrombotic risk; those with IMPROVE-VTE scores <3 and/or PADUA scores <4 were classified as low risk. Results: We recruited 2371 patients (1233 males [52 %] and 1138 females [48 %]; mean age 72 ± 16 years). The median length of hospitalization was 13 ± 12 days. Overall, 442/2371 (18.6 %) patients received prophylactic parenteral anticoagulants (subcutaneous low weight molecular heparin or fondaparinux once daily) at admission. Assessing the thrombotic risk of the population recruited 1016 (42.9 %) patients were classified as high risk and 1354 (57.1 %) were low risk. Among high-risk patients, 339/1016 (33.4 %) received anticoagulant prophylaxis compared to 103/1354 (7.6 %) low-risk patients. During hospitalization, 9 patients developed DVT, comprising 7 asymptomatic and 2 symptomatic cases of proximal DVT. Of these, 3 patients were on anticoagulant prophylaxis, while 6 were not. Among the high-risk population, 7 out of 1016 patients (0.7 %) experienced proximal DVT during hospitalization, with 2 out of these 7 (28 %) receiving anticoagulant thromboprophylaxis. In the low-risk population, 2 out of 1354 patients (0.2 %) developed DVT, with 1 out of these 2 (50 %) receiving anticoagulant thromboprophylaxis. Age, heart or respiratory failure, pneumonia, active neoplasia, previous VTE, reduced mobility, and absence of kidney failure were more frequent in patients receiving prophylaxis. Multivariable logistic regression identified age (RR 1.010; CI 95 % 1002-1019; p = 0.015), heart/respiratory failure (RR 1.609; CI 95 % 1248-2075; p < 0.0001), active neoplasia (RR 2.041; CI 95 % 1222-2141; p < 0.0001), pneumonia (RR 1.618; CI 95 % 1557-2676; p < 0.0001), previous VTE (RR 1.954; CI 95 % 1222-3125; p < 0.0001), and reduced mobility (RR 4.674; CI 95 % 3700-5905; p < 0.0001) as independent predictors of thromboprophylaxis. Conclusions: This study, conducted without pre-established thromboembolic risk scores, offers a comprehensive view of venous thromboembolism prophylaxis in medical patients with acute conditions hospitalized in internal medicine departments. It reveals that advanced age, heart or respiratory failure, active cancer, pneumonia, previous VTE, and reduced mobility are predictors that may influence the decision to administer thromboprophylaxis in these patients