True density of soot particles: A comparison of results highlighting the influence of the organic contents

International audienc

Impact of lesion delineation and intensity quantisation on the stability of texture features from lung nodules on ct: A reproducible study

Computer-assisted analysis of three-dimensional imaging data (radiomics) has received a lot of research attention as a possible means to improve the management of patients with lung cancer. Building robust predictive models for clinical decision making requires the imaging features to be stable enough to changes in the acquisition and extraction settings. Experimenting on 517 lung lesions from a cohort of 207 patients, we assessed the stability of 88 texture features from the following classes: first-order (13 features), Grey-level Co-Occurrence Matrix (24), Grey-level Difference Matrix (14), Grey-level Run-length Matrix (16), Grey-level Size Zone Matrix (16) and Neighbouring Grey-tone Difference Matrix (five). The analysis was based on a public dataset of lung nodules and open-access routines for feature extraction, which makes the study fully reproducible. Our results identified 30 features that had good or excellent stability relative to lesion delineation, 28 to intensity quantisation and 18 to both. We conclude that selecting the right set of imaging features is critical for building clinical predictive models, particularly when changes in lesion delineation and/or intensity quantisation are involved

Improved understanding of self-sustained, sub-micrometric multi-composition surface Constantan wires interacting with H2 at high temperatures: experimental evidence of Anomalous Heat Effects

This article is an extension of what presented by our team at 17th International Conference on Cold Fusion, ICCF-17, in Daejon, Korea, in 2012 [1]. It documents the improvements on Constantan-related experiments, started in 2011, in order to study the feasibility of new Nickel based alloys that are able to absorb proper amounts of Hydrogen (H2) and/or Deuterium (D2) and that have, in principle, some possibility to generate anomalous thermal effects at temperatures >100°C. The interest in Ni comes in part because there is the possibility to use also H2 instead of expensive D2. Moreover, cross-comparison of results using H2 instead of D2 can be made and could help the understanding of the phenomena involved (atomic, nuclear, super-chemical origin?) due to the use of such isotopes. Keywords: calorimeter, LENR, Nickel based alloys, sub-micrometric surface

Further progress/developments, on surface/bulk treated Constantan wires, for anomalous heat generation by H2/D2 interaction

In the framework of those studies aimed to analyze anomalous effects (thermal and/or nuclear) due to the interaction among some specific materials (pure and/or alloys) and H2 (or D2), we focused, since 2011, on a specific alloy called Constantan (Cu55-Ni44-Mn1). We selected such material using our own considerations and intuitions and because, according to a scientific paper [1], it has the largest energy value for dissociation of H2 to 2H, i.e. about 3eV. Among others B. Ahern suggested that Ni-Cu-H can be used for heat generation. We improved the preparation procedure of such wire from simple thermal treatments (up to May 2012 [2])to more sophisticated ones, with more tight control of the multilayered (400-700) surface structures. Some of the results were presented at ICCF17, Aug. 2012 [3]. After [3], several groups asked to make their own experiments using such kind of wires ([phi]=200[mu]m, l=100cm) to cross-check (and possibly improve) our results. Some of such Researchers (group of M. Fleischmann Memorial Project; U. Mastromatteo) made public their (positive) results since Dec. 14, 2012 at Ministry of Aeronautics in Rome, Italy. In short, using an (home-made) apparatus integrated with an acquisition system (type PXi) by National Instruments, we made, since September 2012, not mentioning qualitative reconfirmation of previous results, further and unexpected progress and discoveries: a) We developed a new kind of procedure of measurement (about anomalous excess heat) under dynamic vacuum, to avoid the effect of different thermal conductivity, inside the gas cell, due to type of gas and pressure variation: the wire didn't lose, macroscopically, H even at T=600[degrees]C. b) We developed a new, very simple, type of surface coating (2 layers) that is nano-diamandoidslike; c) We observed, at least 2 times, the phenomenon of water splitting due to catalytic effect of surface treated Constantan. Such phenomenon is larger in comparison with what expected just by thermal splitting (wires temperature of about 300-500[degrees]C); d) We observed a very large variation (about a factor 100) of Resistive Thermal Coefficient (RTC) of the wire used (400 layers) as the amount of H (related to the macroscopic value of resistive ratio R/Ro, normalize to empty wire Ro) increased. As example, with "treated" virgin wire (w/o H2) the RTC was about 5*10-6 and increased to6*10-4 when the R/Ro reduced to 0.68; temperature range 20-300[degrees]C. The RTC is larger with D in respect to H. Experiments are in progress also at 77K. e) Overall results are affected by previous operating conditions