Optical and Electronic NOx Sensors for Applications in Mechatronics

Current production and emerging NOx sensors based on optical and nanomaterials technologies are reviewed. In view of their potential applications in mechatronics, we compared the performance of: i) Quantum cascade lasers (QCL) based photoacoustic (PA) systems; ii) gold nanoparticles as catalytically active materials in field-effect transistor (FET) sensors, and iii) functionalized III-V semiconductor based devices. QCL-based PA sensors for NOx show a detection limit in the sub part-per-million range and are characterized by high selectivity and compact set-up. Electrochemically synthesized gold-nanoparticle FET sensors are able to monitor NOx in a concentration range from 50 to 200 parts per million and are suitable for miniaturization. Porphyrin-functionalized III-V semiconductor materials can be used for the fabrication of a reliable NOx sensor platform characterized by high conductivity, corrosion resistance, and strong surface state coupling

How future surgery will benefit from SARS-COV-2-related measures: a SPIGC survey conveying the perspective of Italian surgeons

COVID-19 negatively affected surgical activity, but the potential benefits resulting from adopted measures remain unclear. The aim of this study was to evaluate the change in surgical activity and potential benefit from COVID-19 measures in perspective of Italian surgeons on behalf of SPIGC. A nationwide online survey on surgical practice before, during, and after COVID-19 pandemic was conducted in March-April 2022 (NCT:05323851). Effects of COVID-19 hospital-related measures on surgical patients' management and personal professional development across surgical specialties were explored. Data on demographics, pre-operative/peri-operative/post-operative management, and professional development were collected. Outcomes were matched with the corresponding volume. Four hundred and seventy-three respondents were included in final analysis across 14 surgical specialties. Since SARS-CoV-2 pandemic, application of telematic consultations (4.1% vs. 21.6%; p < 0.0001) and diagnostic evaluations (16.4% vs. 42.2%; p < 0.0001) increased. Elective surgical activities significantly reduced and surgeons opted more frequently for conservative management with a possible indication for elective (26.3% vs. 35.7%; p < 0.0001) or urgent (20.4% vs. 38.5%; p < 0.0001) surgery. All new COVID-related measures are perceived to be maintained in the future. Surgeons' personal education online increased from 12.6% (pre-COVID) to 86.6% (post-COVID; p < 0.0001). Online educational activities are considered a beneficial effect from COVID pandemic (56.4%). COVID-19 had a great impact on surgical specialties, with significant reduction of operation volume. However, some forced changes turned out to be benefits. Isolation measures pushed the use of telemedicine and telemetric devices for outpatient practice and favored communication for educational purposes and surgeon-patient/family communication. From the Italian surgeons' perspective, COVID-related measures will continue to influence future surgical clinical practice

Supplement: "Localization and broadband follow-up of the gravitational-wave transient GW150914" (2016, ApJL, 826, L13)

This Supplement provides supporting material for Abbott et al. (2016a). We briefly summarize past electromagnetic (EM) follow-up efforts as well as the organization and policy of the current EM follow-up program. We compare the four probability sky maps produced for the gravitational-wave transient GW150914, and provide additional details of the EM follow-up observations that were performed in the different bands

Search for gravitational-lensing signatures in the full third observing run of the LIGO-Virgo network

Gravitational lensing by massive objects along the line of sight to the source causes distortions of gravitational wave-signals; such distortions may reveal information about fundamental physics, cosmology and astrophysics. In this work, we have extended the search for lensing signatures to all binary black hole events from the third observing run of the LIGO--Virgo network. We search for repeated signals from strong lensing by 1) performing targeted searches for subthreshold signals, 2) calculating the degree of overlap amongst the intrinsic parameters and sky location of pairs of signals, 3) comparing the similarities of the spectrograms amongst pairs of signals, and 4) performing dual-signal Bayesian analysis that takes into account selection effects and astrophysical knowledge. We also search for distortions to the gravitational waveform caused by 1) frequency-independent phase shifts in strongly lensed images, and 2) frequency-dependent modulation of the amplitude and phase due to point masses. None of these searches yields significant evidence for lensing. Finally, we use the non-detection of gravitational-wave lensing to constrain the lensing rate based on the latest merger-rate estimates and the fraction of dark matter composed of compact objects

Search for eccentric black hole coalescences during the third observing run of LIGO and Virgo

Despite the growing number of confident binary black hole coalescences observed through gravitational waves so far, the astrophysical origin of these binaries remains uncertain. Orbital eccentricity is one of the clearest tracers of binary formation channels. Identifying binary eccentricity, however, remains challenging due to the limited availability of gravitational waveforms that include effects of eccentricity. Here, we present observational results for a waveform-independent search sensitive to eccentric black hole coalescences, covering the third observing run (O3) of the LIGO and Virgo detectors. We identified no new high-significance candidates beyond those that were already identified with searches focusing on quasi-circular binaries. We determine the sensitivity of our search to high-mass (total mass M>70 M⊙) binaries covering eccentricities up to 0.3 at 15 Hz orbital frequency, and use this to compare model predictions to search results. Assuming all detections are indeed quasi-circular, for our fiducial population model, we place an upper limit for the merger rate density of high-mass binaries with eccentricities 0<e≤0.3 at 0.33 Gpc−3 yr−1 at 90\% confidence level

Ultralight vector dark matter search using data from the KAGRA O3GK run

Among the various candidates for dark matter (DM), ultralight vector DM can be probed by laser interferometric gravitational wave detectors through the measurement of oscillating length changes in the arm cavities. In this context, KAGRA has a unique feature due to differing compositions of its mirrors, enhancing the signal of vector DM in the length change in the auxiliary channels. Here we present the result of a search for U(1)B−L gauge boson DM using the KAGRA data from auxiliary length channels during the first joint observation run together with GEO600. By applying our search pipeline, which takes into account the stochastic nature of ultralight DM, upper bounds on the coupling strength between the U(1)B−L gauge boson and ordinary matter are obtained for a range of DM masses. While our constraints are less stringent than those derived from previous experiments, this study demonstrates the applicability of our method to the lower-mass vector DM search, which is made difficult in this measurement by the short observation time compared to the auto-correlation time scale of DM

Sviluppo di un DSS integrato per il monitoraggio dell’ambiente costiero

Nel presente lavoro si descrivono i primi risultati funzionali del progetto operativo regionale denominato “Implementazione di un sistema di previsione e prevenzione del rischio idraulico” che è parte integrante del più ampio progetto “MATER” - finalizzato allo sviluppo di una Metodologia di Analisi ambientali e TERritoriali connessa allo sfruttamento di risorse naturali. L’obiettivo principale del progetto “MATER”, durante la fase di start-up, è stato quello di definire un sistema di monitoraggio per la previsione e la prevenzione del rischio idraulico-costiero attraverso la strutturazione e l’implementazione di un Decision Support System (DSS) basato sull’elaborazione di dati radar con particolare riferimento alle nuove missioni satellitari, quali Sentinel-1 e COSMOSkyMed che permettono di produrre informazioni territoriali, quali ad esempio la linea di costa, i movimenti delle coste alte e rocciose, la variazione della vegetazione retrodunale, la localizzazione di sversamenti inquinanti sotto costa, di fondamentale importanza per la tutela dell’ambiente costiero e per la salvaguardia delle attività socio-economiche presenti in tale area. Il DSS, realizzato in ambiente GIS open-source, è espandibile, è basato su cataloghi open-data ed è in grado di gestire e visualizzare sia le informazioni di base, ivi compresi i relativi metadati, sia i risultati di elaborazione e processamento con codici open-source di change-detection, di segmentazione e di modellazione idraulica e morfologica. La definizione del DSS ha previsto nel contempo lo sviluppo di metodologie integrative al monitoraggio sistematico e continuo della costa, lo stesso è stato interfacciato in ambiente WebGIS compatibile con il geoportale della Regione Basilicata (RSDI), attraverso l’integrazione dei dati al suolo e in remoto con tecnologie informatiche Open Source per l’analisi di base e la pubblicazione web di dati geografici, orientando l’applicazione ad una consultazione per l’utente finale semplice ed intuitiva.The earliest and functional results of the regional operative project (OP) named “Implementation of hydraulic risk forecast and prevention system” are showed in the present paper. The OP is one of the fundamental components of the project named MATER. The Mater project is aimed to develop a methodology for environmental and territorial analysis related to the exploitation of natural resources. The main target of MATER, during the start-up step of the project, consists of the definition of a monitoring system finalized to coastal-hydraulic risk forecast and prevention by Decision Support System (DSS) implementation. The DSS is based on new satellite radar data Sentinel-1 and COSMOSkyMed which allow to re-produce territorial information such as coastline, rocky shore displacement, retrodunal vegetation variations, oil spill nearshore detection. The aforementioned information are fundamental to protect coastal environment and to safeguard socio-economic activities existing in the coastal region. The DSS is developed by free and open-source geospatial software, it is extensible, based on open-data catalogues and it is able to manage and to visualize both basic information (and the related metadata) and results come from open-source code change-detection processing and morpho-hydraulic modelling. The DSS is interconnected with a friendly and intuitive WebGIS compatible with the Basilicata Region web geo-portal environment

Development of an Integrated SDSS for Coastal Risks Monitoring and Assessment

The first results of the regional Operative Project (OP) “Implementation of hydraulic risk forecast and prevention system”, as part of the extended operative programme MATER aimed to develop a methodology for environmental and territorial analysis related to the exploitation of natural resources, are shown in the present paper. The main target deals with the development and implementation of a Spatial Decision Support System (SDSS) platform for coastal risk forecasting and prevention through the integration of multisource satellite data (Sentinel-1, Sentinel-2 and COSMO Sky Med) coupled with post processing open source hydrodynamic models. The processing results include the coastline and back-dune vegetation mapping, rocky coast movements detection as well as new landfills, buildings and spills derived by the implementation of innovative images segmentation techniques, multi-band change-detection and PSInSAR (Persistent Scattered Interferometric Synthetic Aperture Radar) typologies. The SDSS provides significant advantage of cyclical production and/or updating in phase with satellite data acquisition frequency. Further, through self-consistent applicative tools, provided with proper graphical interface developed in IDL and integrated in SDSS, it is possible to display and automatically extract the coastline sequence from Sentinel-1 data, compare two shoreline acquisitions, even if multi-sources, and calculate the coastal erosion and aggradation. Finally, some interoperable tools for morpho-hydrodynamic modelling assimilation have been developed and implemented in order to reproduce flooding risk scenarios for the coastal resilience assessment at different return time. For such a purpose, in the start-up phase, Delft3D (Deltares- NL) was employed for storm surge modelling, coastal morphological evolution and coastal inundation analyses. The SDSS is interconnected with a friendly and intuitive WebGIS compatible to the Regional Spatial Data Infrastructure

In vitro antiviral activity of Ficus carica latex against caprine herpesvirus-1

The latex of Ficus carica Linn. (Moraceae) has been shown to possess antiviral properties against some human viruses. To determine the ability of F. carica latex (F-latex) to interfere with the infection of caprine herpesvirus-1 (CpHV-1) in vitro, F- latex was resuspended in culture media containing 1% ethanol and was tested for potential antiviral effects against CpHV-1. Titration of CpHV-1 in the presence or in the absence of F-latex was performed on monolayers of Madin Darby Bovine Kidney (MDBK) cells. Simultaneous addition of F-latex and CpHV-1 to monolayers of MDBK cells resulted in a significant reduction of CpHV-1 titres 3 days post-infection and this effect was comparable to that induced by acyclovir. The study suggests that the F-latex is able to interfere with the replication of CpHV-1 in vitro on MDBK cells and future studies will determine the mechanisms responsible for the observed antiviral activity