358 research outputs found
Evidence of diffusive fractal aggregation of TiO2 nanoparticles by femtosecond laser ablation at ambient conditions
The specific mechanisms which leads to the formation of fractal
nanostructures by pulsed laser deposition remain elusive despite intense
research efforts, motivated mainly by the technological interest in obtaining
tailored nanostructures with simple and scalable production methods. Here we
focus on fractal nanostructures of titanium dioxide, , a strategic
material for many applications, obtained by femtosecond laser ablation at
ambient conditions. We model the fractal formation through extensive Monte
Carlo simulations based on a set of minimal assumptions: irreversible sticking
and size independent diffusion. Our model is able to reproduce the fractal
dimensions and the area distributions of the nanostructures obtained in the
experiments for different densities of the ablated material. The comparison of
theory and experiment show that such fractal aggregates are formed after
landing of the ablated material on the substrate surface by a diffusive
mechanism. Finally we discuss the role of the thermal conductivity of the
substrate and the laser fluence on the properties of the fractal
nanostructures. Our results represent an advancement towards controlling the
production of fractal nanostructures by pulsed laser deposition.Comment: 21 page
Anomalous spectral weight in photoemission spectra of the hole doped Haldane chain Y2-xSrxBaNiO5
In this paper, we present photoemission experiments on the hole doped Haldane
chain compound . By using the photon energy dependence of
the photoemission cross section, we identified the symmetry of the first
ionisation states (d type). Hole doping in this system leads to a significant
increase in the spectral weight at the top of the valence band without any
change in the vicinity of the Fermi energy. This behavior, not observed in
other charge transfer oxides at low doping level, could result from the
inhomogeneous character of the doped system and from a Ni 3d-O 2p hybridization
enhancement due to the shortening of the relevant Ni-O distance in the
localized hole-doped regions.Comment: 5 pages, 4 figure
Influence of steps on the tilting and adsorption dynamics of ordered Pn films on vicinal Ag(111) surfaces
Here we present a structural study of pentacene (Pn) thin films on vicinal
Ag(111) surfaces by He atom diffraction measurements and density functional
theory (DFT) calculations supplemented with van der Waals (vdW) interactions.
Our He atom diffraction results suggest initial adsorption at the step edges
evidenced by initial slow specular reflection intensity decay rate as a
function of Pn deposition time. In parallel with the experimental findings, our
DFT+vdW calculations predict the step edges as the most stable adsorption site
on the surface. An isolated molecule adsorbs as tilted on the step edge with a
binding energy of 1.4 eV. In addition, a complete monolayer (ML) with
pentacenes flat on the terraces and tilted only at the step edges is found to
be more stable than one with all lying flat or tilted molecules, which in turn
influences multilayers. Hence our results suggest that step edges can trap Pn
molecules and act as nucleation sites for the growth of ordered thin films with
a crystal structure similar to that of bulk Pn.Comment: 4 pages, 4 figures, 1 tabl
Silagem de soja no enriquecimento de dietas compostas por silagem de ponta de cana-de-açĂșcar. 1 - Consumo de nutrientes.
Conduziu-se o estudo com o objetivo de avaliar o desempenho de ovinos alimentados com dietas compostas por silagem da ponta de cana-de-açĂșcar enriquecida com silagem de soja. Foram utilizados 24 cordeiros da raça Morada Nova com idade mĂ©dia de 75 dias e peso vivo mĂ©dio de 16,98 kg ± 2,62 kg. Avaliaram-se as seguintes dietas: T1= 20% de silagem da ponta de cana + 80% de concentrado; T2= 20% de silagem da ponta de cana + 30% de silagem de soja + 50% de concentrado; T3= 20% de silagem da ponta de cana + 60% de silagem de soja + 20% de concentrado. O delineamento experimental foi o de blocos completos casualizados, com oito repetiçÔes. Foram avaliados os consumos de matĂ©ria seca, proteĂna bruta, nitrogĂȘnio contido na fibra em detergente neutro (nFDN) e na fibra em detergente ĂĄcido (nFDA). Dietas compostas por silagem de ponta de cana-de-açĂșcar enriquecida com silagem de soja + concentrado proporcionam maior consumo de nutrientes. A utilização de silagem de soja para enriquecer o teor protĂ©ico de dietas compostas por silagem de ponta de cana-de-açĂșcar fica na dependĂȘncia do custo para aquisição de concentrado protĂ©ico ou produção de proteĂna na propriedade por meio da ensilagem da planta de soja
Hpv-specific systemic antibody responses and memory b cells are independently maintained up to 6 years and in a vaccine-specific manner following immunization with cervarix and gardasil in adolescent and young adult women in vaccination programs in Italy
Human papillomavirus (HPV) persistent infections are associated with cervical cancer and other HPV-related diseases and tumors. Thus, the characterization of long lasting immunity to currently available HPV vaccines is important. A total of 149 female subjects vaccinated with Cervarix or Gardasil participated to the study and they were stratified according to age (10â12-year-old and 16â20-year-old). Humoral immune responses (IgG and neutralizing antibody titers, antibody avidity) and circulating memory B cells were analyzed after an average of 4â6 years from the third immunization. The humoral responses against HPV-16 and HPV-18 (and HPV-6 and HPV- 11 for Gardasil) were high in both age groups and vaccines up to six years from the third dose. However, Cervarix induced significantly higher and more persistent antibody responses, while the two vaccines were rather equivalent in inducing memory B cells against HPV-16 and HPV-18. Moreover, the percentage of subjects with vaccine-specific memory B cells was even superior among Gardasil vaccinees and, conversely, Cervarix vaccinated individuals with circulating antibodies, but undetectable memory B cells were found. Finally, a higher proportion of Cervarix-vaccinated subjects displayed cross-neutralizing responses against non-vaccine types HPV-31 and HPV-45. Gardasil and Cervarix may, thus, differently affect long-lasting humoral immunity from both the quantitative and qualitative point of view
A new strategy to prevent biofilm and clot formation in medical devices: the use of atmospheric non-thermal plasma assisted deposition of silver-based nanostructured coatings
In industrialized countries, health care associated infections, the fourth leading cause of dis- ease, are a major health issue. At least half of all cases of nosocomial infections are associ- ated with medical devices. Antibacterial coatings arise as an important approach to restrict the nosocomial infection rate without side effects and the development of antibiotic resis- tance. Beside nosocomial infections, clot formation affects cardiovascular medical devices and central venous catheters implants. In order to reduce and prevent such infection, we develop a plasma-assisted process for the deposition of nanostructured functional coatings on flat substrates and mini catheters. Silver nanoparticles (Ag NPs) are synthesized exploit- ing in-flight plasma-droplet reactions and are embedded in an organic coating deposited through hexamethyldisiloxane (HMDSO) plasma assisted polymerization. Coating stability upon liquid immersion and ethylene oxide (EtO) sterilization is assessed through chemical and morphological analysis carried out by means of Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) and scanning electron microscopy (SEM). In the perspective of future clinical appli- cation, an in vitro analysis of anti-biofilm effect has been done. Moreover, we employed a murine model of catheter-associated infection which further highlighted the performance of Ag nanostructured films in counteract biofilm formation. The anti-clot performances coupled by haemo- and cytocompatibility assays have also been performed
Mechanical properties of nanoporous metallic ultrathin film: A paradigmatic case
Nanoporous ultrathin films, constituted by a slab less than 100 nm thick and a certain void volume fraction provided by nanopores, are emerging as a new class of systems with a wide range of possible applications, including electrochemistry, energy storage, gas sensing and supercapacitors. The film porosity and morphology strongly affect nanoporous films mechanical properties, the knowledge of which is fundamental for designing films for specific applications. To unveil the relationships among the morphology, structure and mechanical response, a comprehensive and nondestructive investigation of a model system was sought. In this review, we examined the paradigmatic case of a nanoporous, granular, metallic ultrathin film with comprehensive bottom-up and top-down approaches, both experimentals and theoreticals. The granular film was made of Ag nanoparticles deposited by gas-phase synthesis, thus providing a solvent-free and ultrapure nanoporous system at room temperature. The results, bearing generality beyond the specific model system, are discussed for several applications specific to the morphological and mechanical properties of the investigated films, including bendable electronics, membrane separation and nanofluidic sensing
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