Examination of Silica Sol-Gels and Aerogels Containing Silver Nanoparticles and 4-Mercaptobenzoic Acid Using Surface-Enhanced Raman Spectroscopy

Sol-gels and aero-gels containing silver nanoparticles have been investigated for use as substrates in surface-enhanced Raman spectroscopy (SERS). 4-Mercaptobenzoic acid (4-MBA) was chosen as the target molecule in this study, as it has been well-characterized using SERS. The orientation of the 4-MBA at different coverages in gels, and at differing concentrations of silver colloid, has not been well studied. For both base and acid-catalyzed sol-gels, xerogels, and aerogels, the concentration of 4-MBA was varied with a constant silver colloid concentration in the silica gels and the effects were measured with SERS. The effect of varying silver colloid concentration against a constant 4-MBA concentration was also investigated. The results of each process were compared

Network Based Educational Environment: How Libraries and Librarians Become Organizers of Knowledge Access and Resources

In this paper we will highlight some important issues which will influence the redefinition of roles and duties of libraries and librarians in a networked based educational environment. Although librarians will also keep their traditional roles of faculty support services as well as reference service and research assistance, we identify the participation in the instructional design process, the support in the evaluation, development and use of a proper authoring system and the customization of information access, as being the domains where libraries and librarians should mainly involve themselves in the next future and make profit of their expertise in information and knowledge organization in order to properly and effectively support the institutions in the use of Information Technology in education

Correlazione tra anomalie flussimetriche ed outcome in feti con IUGR

Il ritardo di crescita intrauterino (IUGR, Intrauterine Growth Restriction) (peso fetale <10° percentile) è una condizione patologica che complica la gravidanza in circa il 15% dei casi (1). La flussimetria Doppler dei vasi fetali e il profilo biofisico fetale rappresentano a tutt’oggi la metodica più efficace nonché l’unica disponibile per la sorveglianza del feto con IUGR (5). Abbiamo monitorizzato 33 gravide con IUGR comparso dopo la 27ª settimana; le pazienti sono state divise in 3 gruppi a seconda della settimana di comparsa del ritardo. Tutte le pazienti sono state sottoposte ad intervalli regolari a: valutazione biometrica, flussimetria arteriosa e venosa, calcolo AFI, CTG. L’outcome neonatale peggiore si è avuto nel 3° gruppo. Scopo del nostro studio è stato quello di verificare la correlazione tra anomalie della flussimetria fetale e outcome neonatale in feti con IUGR (CA < 10° percentile). Da quanto emerso dai risultati si può comprendere come l’epoca di comparsa del ritardo di crescita sia di grande rilevanza per la prognosi neonatale (8)

Achilles Tendon Rupture: Mechanisms of Injury, Principles of Rehabilitation and Return to Play

The Achilles tendon is the thickest, strongest and largest tendon in the human body, but despite its size and tensile strength, it frequently gets injured. Achilles tendon ruptures (ATRs) mainly occur during sports activities, and their incidence has increased over the last few decades. Achilles tendon tears necessitate a prolonged recovery time, sometimes leaving long-term functional limitations. Treatment options include conservative treatment and surgical repair. There is no consensus on which is the best treatment for ATRs, and their management is still controversial. Limited scientific evidence is available for optimized rehabilitation regimen and on the course of recovery after ATRs. Furthermore, there are no universally accepted outcomes regarding the return to play (RTP) process. Therefore, the aim of this narrative review is to give an insight into the mechanism of injuries of an ATR, related principles of rehabilitation, and RTP

Quantizing three-spin string solution in AdS_5 x S^5

As was recently found in hep-th/0304255, there exists a simple non-supersymmetric classical solution describing a closed string rotating in S^5 and located at the center of AdS_5. It is parametrized by the angular momentum J of the center of mass and two equal SO(6) angular momenta J' in the two other orthogonal rotation planes. The dual N=4 SYM operators should be scalar operators in SU(4) representations [0,J-J',2J'] or [J'-J,0,J'+J]. This solution is stable if J' > 3/2 J and for large J + 2 J' its classical energy admits an expansion in positive powers of g_eff = \lambda/(J + 2 J')^2: E= J + 2 J' + g_eff J' + ... . This suggests a possibility of a direct comparison with perturbative SYM results for the corresponding anomalous dimensions in the sector with g_eff << 1, by analogy with the BMN case. We conjecture that all quantum sigma model string corrections are then subleading at large J', so that the classical formula for the energy is effectively exact to all orders in \lambda. It could then be interpolated to weak coupling, representing a prediction for the anomalous dimensions on the SYM side. We test this conjecture by computing the 1-loop superstring sigma model correction to the classical energy.Comment: 25 pages, harvmac. v5: minor misprints in eqs (2.6),(2.16),(2.20),(2.21) correcte