Quality control facilities for large optical reflectors at ENEA-Casaccia for physics application

The paper describes the quality control facilities for large optical reflectors available at ENEA-Casaccia. Commercial and custom spectrophotometers allow to measure the reflectance; specular and diffused for flat samples, and specular for the full-size reflector. In the case of spherical shape, the 2f and the pin-hole optical tests give a quick evaluation of the focusing effectiveness and the curvature uniformity, respectively. An optical profilometer allows to accurately measure the reflector profile and its deviations from the project specifications

Radiation and magnetic field effects on new semiconductor power devices for HL-LHC experiments

The radiation hardness of commercial Silicon Carbide and Gallium Nitride power MOSFETs is presented in this paper, for Total Ionizing Dose effects and Single Event Effects, under gamma, neutrons, protons and heavy ions. Similar tests are discussed for commercial DC-DC converters, also tested in operation under magnetic field

Surgical site infection after caesarean section. Space for post-discharge surveillance improvements and reliable comparisons

Surgical site infections (SSI) after caesarean section (CS) represent a substantial health system concern. Surveying SSI has been associated with a reduction in SSI incidence. We report the findings of three (2008, 2011 and 2013) regional active SSI surveillances after CS in community hospital of the Latium region determining the incidence of SSI. Each CS was surveyed for SSI occurrence by trained staff up to 30 post-operative days, and association of SSI with relevant characteristics was assessed using binomial logistic regression. A total of 3,685 CS were included in the study. A complete 30 day post-operation follow-up was achieved in over 94% of procedures. Overall 145 SSI were observed (3.9% cumulative incidence) of which 131 (90.3%) were superficial and 14 (9.7%) complex (deep or organ/space) SSI; overall 129 SSI (of which 89.9% superficial) were diagnosed post-discharge. Only higher NNIS score was significantly associated with SSI occurrence in the regression analysis. Our work provides the first regional data on CS-associated SSI incidence, highlighting the need for a post-discharge surveillance which should assure 30 days post-operation to not miss data on complex SSI, as well as being less labour intensive

Listening to tropical forest soils

Acoustic monitoring has proven to be an effective tool for monitoring biotic soundscapes in the marine, terrestrial, and aquatic realms. Recently it has been suggested that it could also be an effective method for monitoring soil soundscapes, but has been used in very few studies, primarily in temperate and polar regions. We present the first study of soil soundscapes using passive acoustic monitoring in tropical forests, using a novel analytical pipeline allowing for the use of in-situ recording of soundscapes with minimal soil disturbance. We found significant differences in acoustic index values between burnt and unburnt forests and the first indications of a diel cycle in soil soundscapes. These promising results and methodological advances highlight the potential of passive acoustic monitoring for large-scale and long-term monitoring of soil biodiversity. We use the results to discuss research priorities, including relating soil biophony to community structure and ecosystem function, and the use of appropriate hardware and analytical techniques

The CMS ECAL Barrel HV system

The CMS electromagnetic calorimeter (ECAL) comprises 75848 scintillating lead tungstate crystals. 61200 crystals are contained in the ECAL Barrel section and are read out by avalanche photodiode (APD) with internal gain of about 50. This gain is achieved with a high voltage (HV) of about 400 Volts. The gain stability requirement implies a supply voltage stable to within 0.01%. We describe our experience with the installed Barrel HV power supply system, which has been used for data taking since 2008

Metal transfer to sediments, invertebrates and fish following waterborne exposure to silver nitrate or silver sulfide nanoparticles in an indoor stream mesocosm.

The fate of engineered nanomaterials in ecosystems is unclear. An aquatic stream mesocosm was explored the fate and bioaccumulation of silver sulfide nanoparticles (Ag2S NPs) compared to silver nitrate (AgNO3). The aims were to determine the total Ag in water, sediment and biota, and to evaluate the bioavailable fractions of silver in the sediment using a serial extraction method. The total Ag in the water column from a nominal daily dose of 10 μg L-1 of Ag for the AgNO3 or Ag2S NP treatments reached a plateau of around 13 and 12 μg L-1, respectively, by the end of the study. Similarly, the sediment of both Ag-treatments reached ~380 μg Ag kg-1, and with most of it being acid-extractable/labile. The biota accumulated 4-59 μg Ag g-1 dw, depending on the type of Ag-treatment and organism. The oligochaete worm, Lumbriculus variegatus, accumulated Ag from the Ag2S exposure over time, which was similar to the AgNO3 treatment by the end of the experiment. The planarian, Girardia tigrina, and the chironomid larva, Chironomus riparius, showed much higher Ag concentrations than the oligochaete worms; and with a clearer time-dependent statistically significant Ag accumulation relative to the untreated controls. For the pulmonated snail, Physa acuta, bioaccumulation of Ag from AgNO3 and Ag2S NP exposures was observed, but was lower from the nano treatment. The AgNO3 exposure caused appreciable Ag accumulation in the water flea, Daphnia magna, but accumulation was higher in the Ag2S NP treatment (reaching 59 μg g-1 dw). In the rainbow trout, Oncorhynchus mykiss, AgNO3, but not Ag2S NPs, caused total Ag concentrations to increase in the tissues. Overall, the study showed transfer of total Ag from the water column to the sediment, and Ag bioaccumulation in the biota, with Ag from Ag2S NP exposure generally being less bioavailable than that from AgNO3

The bioaccumulation testing strategy for manufactured nanomaterials: physico-chemical triggers and read across from earthworms in a meta-analysis

Little is known about the bioaccumulation potential of manufactured nanomaterials (MNs). For traditional chemicals, the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) Test Guideline (TG) 305, bioaccumulation in fish is often used. However, for MNs, there are no approved processes to trigger or waive this test, or consider alternatives to vertebrate animals. The aim of the present study was to conduct a meta-analysis of existing data sets on particle properties and bioaccumulation in earthworms to understand what particle metrics could be used as a trigger for bioaccumulation testing. An apparent steady state tissue concentration of metal from MNs exposure in the earthworm (Eisenia fetida) was evident following exposures to Ag nanoparticles (NPs), CuO NPs and CdTe quantum dots (QDs). This allowed the derivation of nano bioaccumulation factors (nBAFs), calculated using soil and earthworm tissue metal concentrations. A prediction equation using all the particle metrics correlated with BAFs was possible. Similarly, nano biomagnification factors (nBMFs) were calculated in the rainbow trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss) tissue, relative to the concentration of total metals in the fish diet. Pearson's correlations were found to be significant, with p < 0.05 for nBMFs for the liver, mid intestine, hind intestine and kidney relative to the earthworm tissue nBAFs. Together these data indicate that bioaccumulation measurements in earthworms for metallic MNs could be predictive of those values in fish, and that there is scope to predict the bioaccumulation potential of MNs with confidence from a few simple particle metrics

Radiation hardness qualification of PbWO4 scintillation crystals for the CMS Electromagnetic Calorimeter

This is the Pre-print version of the Article. The official published version can be accessed from the link below - Copyright @ 2010 IOPEnsuring the radiation hardness of PbWO4 crystals was one of the main priorities during the construction of the electromagnetic calorimeter of the CMS experiment at CERN. The production on an industrial scale of radiation hard crystals and their certification over a period of several years represented a difficult challenge both for CMS and for the crystal suppliers. The present article reviews the related scientific and technological problems encountered

Intercalibration of the barrel electromagnetic calorimeter of the CMS experiment at start-up

Calibration of the relative response of the individual channels of the barrel electromagnetic calorimeter of the CMS detector was accomplished, before installation, with cosmic ray muons and test beams. One fourth of the calorimeter was exposed to a beam of high energy electrons and the relative calibration of the channels, the intercalibration, was found to be reproducible to a precision of about 0.3%. Additionally, data were collected with cosmic rays for the entire ECAL barrel during the commissioning phase. By comparing the intercalibration constants obtained with the electron beam data with those from the cosmic ray data, it is demonstrated that the latter provide an intercalibration precision of 1.5% over most of the barrel ECAL. The best intercalibration precision is expected to come from the analysis of events collected in situ during the LHC operation. Using data collected with both electrons and pion beams, several aspects of the intercalibration procedures based on electrons or neutral pions were investigated