Niccolo' Isouard

L-awtur jagħti tagħrif bijografiku dwar il-mużiċist u l-kompożistur Nicolò Isouard.N/

New Multiphase CP and DP 1000 MPa strength level grades for improved performance after hot forming

Pure martensitic steels have after hot forming limited performance in terms of rest ductility which limits the application in crash relevant parts. New steel grades were designed in the EU project HOTFORM including the corresponding process routes. These steel grades have ferritic-martensitic dual phase (DP) and martensitic-bainitic complex phase (CP) microstructures after hot forming process. The laboratory tests show an improved formability after hot forming. The basic concepts of the new alloys are explained. Furthermore, for validation of upscaling purposes a semi-industrial test is carried out and the results are discussed. The main application is for vehicle safety. This is evaluated by comparing the crash performance of these hot formed grades with cold rolled DP1000 and CP1000 for crash cans in a drop tower test.The research leading to these results was carried out in the framework of HOTFORM project with a financial grant of the Research Programme RFCS (Research Funds for Coal and Steel) under grant agreement (RFSR-CT-2015-00017)

Accretion and photodesorption of CO ice as a function of the incident angle of deposition

Non-thermal desorption of inter- and circum-stellar ice mantles on dust grains, in particular ultraviolet photon-induced desorption, has gained importance in recent years. These processes may account for the observed gas phase abundances of molecules like CO toward cold interstellar clouds. Ice mantle growth results from gas molecules impinging on the dust from all directions and incidence angles. Nevertheless, the effect of the incident angle for deposition on ice photo-desorption rate has not been studied. This work explores the impact on the accretion and photodesorption rates of the incidence angle of CO gas molecules with the cold surface during deposition of a CO ice layer. Infrared spectroscopy monitored CO ice upon deposition at different angles, ultraviolet-irradiation, and subsequent warm-up. Vacuum-ultraviolet spectroscopy and a Ni-mesh measured the emission of the ultraviolet lamp. Molecules ejected from the ice to the gas during irradiation or warm-up were characterized by a quadrupole mass spectrometer. The photodesorption rate of CO ice deposited at 11 K and different incident angles was rather stable between 0 and 45$^{\circ}$. A maximum in the CO photodesorption rate appeared around 70$^{\circ}$-incidence deposition angle. The same deposition angle leads to the maximum surface area of water ice. Although this study of the surface area could not be performed for CO ice, the similar angle dependence in the photodesorption and the ice surface area suggests that they are closely related. Further evidence for a dependence of CO ice morphology on deposition angle is provided by thermal desorption of CO ice experiments

Phasing diffuse scattering. Application of the SIR2002 algorithm to the non-crystallographic phase problem

A new phasing algorithm has been used to determine the phases of diffuse elastic X-ray scattering from a non-periodic array of gold balls of 50 nm diameter. Two-dimensional real-space images, showing the charge-density distribution of the balls, have been reconstructed at 50 nm resolution from transmission diffraction patterns recorded at 550 eV energy. The reconstructed image fits well with scanning electron microscope (SEM) image of the same sample. The algorithm, which uses only the density modification portion of the SIR2002 program, is compared with the results obtained via the Gerchberg-Saxton-Fienup HIO algorithm. In this way the relationship between density modification in crystallography and the HiO algorithm used in signal and image processing is elucidated.Comment: 7 pages, 12 figure

Expression of the endocannabinoid receptors in human fascial tissue.

open7noCannabinoid receptors have been localized in the central and peripheral nervous system as well as on cells of the immune system, but recent studies on animal tissue gave evidence for the presence of cannabinoid receptors in different types of tissues. Their presence was supposed also in myofascial tissue, suggesting that the endocannabinoid system may help resolve myofascial trigger points and relieve symptoms of fibromyalgia. However, until now the expression of CBI (cannabinoid receptor I) and CB2 (cannabinoid receptor 2) in fasciae has not yet been established. Small samples of fascia were collected from volunteers patients during orthopedic surgery. For each sample were done a cell isolation, immunohistochemical investigation (CB1 and CB2 antibodies) and real time RT-PCR to detect the expression of CB1 and CB2. Both cannabinoid receptors are expressed in human fascia and in human fascial fibroblasts culture cells. although to a lesser extent than the control gene. We can assume that the expression of mRNA and protein of CBI and CB2 receptors in fascial tissue are concentrated into the fibroblasts This is the first demonstration that the fibroblasts of the muscular fasciae express CBI and CB2. The presence of these receptors could help to provide a description of cannabinoid receptors distribution and to better explain the role of fasciae as pain generator and the efficacy of some fascial treatments. Indeed the endocannabinoid receptors of fascial fibroblasts can contribute to modulate the fascial fibrosis and inflammation.noneopenFede, C; Albertin, G; Petrelli, L; Sfriso, Mm; Biz, C; De Caro, R; Stecco, CFede, C; Albertin, Giovanna; Petrelli, Lucia; Sfriso, MARIA MARTINA; Biz, Carlo; DE CARO, Raffaele; Stecco, Carl

Development and characterization of an amorphous solid dispersion of furosemide in the form of a sublingual bioadhesive film to enhance bioavailability

Administered by an oral route, Furosemide (FUR), a diuretic used in several edematous states and hypertension, presents bioavailability problems, reported as a consequence of an erratic gastrointestinal absorption due to various existing polymorphic forms and low and pH-dependent solubility. A mucoadhesive sublingual fast-dissolving FUR based film has been developed and evaluated in order to optimize the bioavailability of FUR by increasing solubility and guaranteeing a good dissolution reproducibility. The Differential Scanning Calorimetry (DSC) analyses confirmed that the film prepared using the solvent casting method entrapped FUR in the amorphous state. As a solid dispersion, FUR increases its solubility up to 28.36 mg/mL. Drug content, thickness, and weight uniformity of film were also evaluated. The measured Young\ue2\u80\u99s Modulus, yield strength, and relative elongation of break percentage (EB%) allowed for the classification of the drug-loaded film as an elastomer. Mucoadhesive strength tests showed that the force to detach film from mucosa grew exponentially with increasing contact time up to 7667 N/m2. FUR was quickly discharged from the film following a trend well fitted with the Weibull kinetic model. When applied on sublingual mucosa, the new formulation produced a massive drug flux in the systemic compartment. Overall, the proposed sublingual film enhances drug solubility and absorption, allowing for the prediction of a rapid onset of action and reproducible bioavailability in its clinical application

New experimental test of Bell inequalities by the use of a non-maximally entangled photon state

We report on the first realisation of a test of Bell inequalities using non-maximally entangled states. It is based on the superposition of type I parametric down conversion produced in two different non-linear crystals pumped by the same laser, but with different polarisations. We discuss the advantages and the possible developments of this configuration.Comment: accepted for publicatio

Theory of Room Temperature Ferromagnet V(TCNE)_x (1.5 < x < 2): Role of Hidden Flat Bands

Theoretical studies on the possible origin of room temperature ferromagnetism (ferromagnetic once crystallized) in the molecular transition metal complex, V(TCNE)_x (1.5<x<2) have been carried out. For this family, there have been no definite understanding of crystal structure so far because of sample quality, though the effective valence of V is known to be close to +2. Proposing a new crystal structure for the stoichiometric case of x=2, where the valence of each TCNE molecule is -1 and resistivity shows insulating behavior, exchange interaction among d-electrons on adjacent V atoms has been estimated based on the cluster with 3 vanadium atoms and one TCNE molecule. It turns out that Hund's coupling among d orbitals within the same V atoms and antiferromagnetic coupling between d oribitals and LUMO of TCNE (bridging V atoms) due to hybridization result in overall ferromagnetism (to be precise, ferrimagnetism). This view based on localized electrons is supplemented by the band picture, which indicates the existence of a flat band expected to lead to ferromagnetism as well consistent with the localized view. The off-stoichiometric cases (x<2), which still show ferromagnetism but semiconducting transport properties, have been analyzed as due to Anderson localization.Comment: Accepted for publication in J. Phys. Soc. Jpn. Vol.79 (2010), No. 3 (March issue), in press; 6 pages, 8 figure