157 research outputs found
Initial Penetration of an Elastic Axially Symmetric Indenter into a Rigid-Perfectly-Plastic Half-Space
This paper is concerned with the axially symmetric plastic flow of a rigid perfectly-plastic nonhardening halfspace. The initial penetration of the elastic indenter is studied based on Haar and von Karman hypothesis. The analytical distribution of contact stress and the approximate penetration depth of the indenter are obtained
Replicating Nanostructures on Silicon by Low Energy Ion Beams
We report on a nanoscale patterning method on Si substrates using
self-assembled metal islands and low-energy ion-beam irradiation. The Si
nanostructures produced on the Si substrate have a one-to-one correspondence
with the self-assembled metal (Ag, Au, Pt) nanoislands initially grown on the
substrate. The surface morphology and the structure of the irradiated surface
were studied by high-resolution transmission electron microscopy (HRTEM). TEM
images of ion-beam irradiated samples show the formation of sawtooth-like
structures on Si. Removing metal islands and the ion-beam induced amorphous Si
by etching, we obtain a crystalline nanostructure of Si. The smallest
structures emit red light when exposed to a UV light. The size of the
nanostructures on Si is governed by the size of the self-assembled metal
nanoparticles grown on the substrate for this replica nanopatterning. The
method can easily be extended for tuning the size of the Si nanostructures by
the proper choice of the metal nanoparticles and the ion energy in
ion-irradiation. It is suggested that off-normal irradiation can also be used
for tuning the size of the nanostructures.Comment: 12 pages, 7 figures, regular paper submitted to Nanotechnolog
Tunable magnetic properties of arrays of Fe(110) nanowires grown on kinetically-grooved W(110) self-organized templates
We report a detailed magnetic study of a new type of self-organized nanowires
disclosed briefly previously [B. Borca et al., Appl. Phys. Lett. 90, 142507
(2007)]. The templates, prepared on sapphire wafers in a kinetically-limited
regime, consist of uniaxially-grooved W(110) surfaces, with a lateral period
here tuned to 15nm. Fe deposition leads to the formation of (110) 7 nm-wide
wires located at the bottom of the grooves. The effect of capping layers (Mo,
Pd, Au, Al) and underlayers (Mo, W) on the magnetic anisotropy of the wires was
studied. Significant discrepancies with figures known for thin flat films are
evidenced and discussed in terms of step anisotropy and strain-dependent
surface anisotropy. Demagnetizing coeffcients of cylinders with a triangular
isosceles cross-section have also been calculated, to estimate the contribution
of dipolar anisotropy. Finally, the dependence of magnetic anisotropy with the
interface element was used to tune the blocking temperature of the wires, here
from 50K to 200 K
Nonalcoholic fatty liver disease and increased risk of 1-year all-cause and cardiac hospital readmissions in elderly patients admitted for acute heart failure
Nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) is an emerging risk factor for heart failure (HF). Although some progress has been made in improving survival among patients admitted for HF, the rates of hospital readmissions and the related costs continue to rise dramatically. We sought to examine whether NAFLD and its severity (diagnosed at hospital admission) was independently associated with a higher risk of 1-year all-cause and cardiac re-hospitalization in patients admitted for acute HF. We studied 212 elderly patients who were consecutively admitted with acute HF to the Hospital of Negrar (Verona) over a 1-year period. Diagnosis of NAFLD was based on ultrasonography, whereas the severity of advanced NAFLD fibrosis was based on the fibrosis (FIB)-4 score and other non-invasive fibrosis scores. Patients with acute myocardial infarction, severe valvular heart diseases, endstage renal disease, cancer, known liver diseases or decompensated cirrhosis were excluded. Cox regression was used to estimate hazard ratios (HR) for the associations between NAFLD and the outcome(s) of interest. The cumulative rate of 1-year all-cause re-hospitalizations was 46.7% (n = 99, mainly due to cardiac causes). Patients with NAFLD (n = 109; 51.4%) had remarkably higher 1-year all-cause and cardiac re-hospitalization rates compared with their counterparts without NAFLD. Both event rates were particularly increased in those with advanced NAFLD fibrosis. NAFLD was associated with a 5-fold increased risk of 1-year all-cause re-hospitalization (adjusted-hazard ratio 5.05, 95% confidence intervals 2.78-9.10, p<0.0001) after adjustment for established risk factors and potential confounders. Similar results were found for 1-year cardiac re-hospitalization (adjusted-hazard ratio 8.05, 95% confidence intervals 3.77-15.8, p<0.0001). In conclusion, NAFLD and its severity were strongly and independently associated with an increased risk of 1-year all-cause and cardiac re-hospitalization in elderly patients admitted with acute HF
Slowing and cooling molecules and neutral atoms by time-varying electric field gradients
A method of slowing, accelerating, cooling, and bunching molecules and
neutral atoms using time-varying electric field gradients is demonstrated with
cesium atoms in a fountain. The effects are measured and found to be in
agreement with calculation. Time-varying electric field gradient slowing and
cooling is applicable to atoms that have large dipole polarizabilities,
including atoms that are not amenable to laser slowing and cooling, to Rydberg
atoms, and to molecules, especially polar molecules with large electric dipole
moments. The possible applications of this method include slowing and cooling
thermal beams of atoms and molecules, launching cold atoms from a trap into a
fountain, and measuring atomic dipole polarizabilities.Comment: 13 pages, 10 figures. Scheduled for publication in Nov. 1 Phys. Rev.
One-dimensional pattern of Au nanodots by ion-beam-sputtering: formation and mechanism
Highly ordered one-dimensional arrays of nanodots, or nanobeads, are
fabricated by forming nanoripples and nanodots in sequence, entirely by
ion-beamsputtering (IBS) of Au(001). This demonstrates the capability of IBS
for the fabrication of sophisticated nanostructures via hierarchical
self-assembly. The intricate nanobead pattern ideally serves to identify the
governing mechanisms for the pattern formation: Non-linear effects, especially
local redeposition and surface-confined transport, are essential both for the
formation and the preservation of the pattern order
Safety profile of enhanced thromboprophylaxis strategies for critically ill COVID-19 patients during the first wave of the pandemic: observational report from 28 European intensive care units
Introduction: Critical illness from SARS-CoV-2 infection (COVID-19) is associated with a high burden of pulmonary embolism (PE) and thromboembolic events despite standard thromboprophylaxis. Available guidance is discordant, ranging from standard care to the use of therapeutic anticoagulation for enhanced thromboprophylaxis (ET). Local ET protocols have been empirically determined and are generally intermediate between standard prophylaxis and full anticoagulation. Concerns have been raised in regard to the potential risk of haemorrhage associated with therapeutic anticoagulation. This report describes the prevalence and safety of ET strategies in European Intensive Care Unit (ICUs) and their association with outcomes during the first wave of the COVID pandemic, with particular focus on haemorrhagic complications and ICU mortality. Methods: Retrospective, observational, multi-centre study including adult critically ill COVID-19 patients. Anonymised data included demographics, clinical characteristics, thromboprophylaxis and/or anticoagulation treatment. Critical haemorrhage was defined as intracranial haemorrhage or bleeding requiring red blood cells transfusion. Survival was collected at ICU discharge. A multivariable mixed effects generalised linear model analysis matched for the propensity for receiving ET was constructed for both ICU mortality and critical haemorrhage. Results: A total of 852 (79% male, age 66 [37\u201385] years) patients were included from 28 ICUs. Median body mass index and ICU length of stay were 27.7 (25.1\u201330.7) Kg/m2 and 13 (7\u201322) days, respectively. Thromboembolic events were reported in 146 patients (17.1%), of those 78 (9.2%) were PE. ICU mortality occurred in 335/852 (39.3%) patients. ET was used in 274 (32.1%) patients, and it was independently associated with significant reduction in ICU mortality (log odds = 0.64 [95% CIs 0.18\u20131.1; p = 0.0069]) but not an increased risk of critical haemorrhage (log odds = 0.187 [95%CI 12 0.591 to 12 0.964; p = 0.64]). Conclusions: In a cohort of critically ill patients with a high prevalence of thromboembolic events, ET was associated with reduced ICU mortality without an increased burden of haemorrhagic complications. This study suggests ET strategies are safe and associated with favourable outcomes. Whilst full anticoagulation has been questioned for prophylaxis in these patients, our results suggest that there may nevertheless be a role for enhanced / intermediate levels of prophylaxis. Clinical trials investigating causal relationship between intermediate thromboprophylaxis and clinical outcomes are urgently needed
Role of surface composition in morphological evolution of GaAs nano-dots with low-energy ion irradiation
Medicina e classificazione delle scienze
Nell'articolo si esamina il problema della collocazione della medicina nella classificazione delle scienze tra Seicento e Ottocento. Sono prese in considerazione le proposte di organizzazione del sapere, e del posto in esse assegnato alla medicina, da parte dei filosofi F. Bacon, R. Descartes, Chr. Wolff, dello scienziato A.-M. Amp\ue8re, del medico H. Boerhaave con riferimento alla classificazione della medicina, e dalle sistemazioni presentate nell'Encyclopaedia di J.H. Alsted e nell'Encyclop\ue9die curata da D. Diderot e J. D'Alembert. Si precisa che sono stati scritti da A. Moretto l'Introduzione e i \ua7\ua7 3, 4
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