Preliminary theoretical study about a "Piezoelectric Shingle" for a piezoelectric energy harvesting system in presence of rain

The present work is focused on the proposal of the idea of a "Piezoelectric Shingle" as a new energy harvesting system, based on meteorological precipitations as the rain. It is presented a preliminary analysis about the state of art of energy harvesting systems, based on piezoelectric technology, showing potentiality, limits and other experiences in the field of interest. Besides the paper treats about the main features of rainy phenomena, interesting for an energy harvesting system, reconsidering some theoretical/empirical models. Models are addressed to define the limit velocity of raindrops and a distribution law between dimension of raindrops and the nature of rainfall. After considerations about the annual quantity of water, fallen in a region, the authors propose the ideation of some key patterns for a piezoelectric energy harvesting system from rainy precipitations. Each scheme is analyzed and evaluated for the selection of only one conceptual ide

Organics Captured from Comet Wild 2 by the Stardust Spacecraft

Organics found in Comet Wild 2 samples show a heterogeneous and unequilibrated distribution in abundance and composition. Some are similar, but not identical, to those in interplanetary dust particles (IDPs) and carbonaceous meteorites. A new class of aromatic-poor organic material is also present. The organics are rich in O and N compared to meteoritic organics. Aromatic compounds are present, but the samples tend to be relatively poorer in aromatics than meteorites and IDPs. D and 15N suggest that some organics have an interstellar/protostellar heritage. While the variable extent of modification of these materials by impact capture is not yet fully constrained, a remarkably diverse suite of organic compounds is present and identifiable within the returned samples

HOLOCENE SHORELINES AND TECTONIC UPLIFT OF THE ISLAND OF LIPAN (AEOLIAN ARC, SOUTHERN ITALY)

Two succeeding phases in the evolution of Lipari island have been identified and are discussed in the present paper. At first, eight orders of marine terraces were recognized on the ground of geomorphological, sedimentological and paleontological evidences. The U234/U238 datings of the fossil shells recovered from terraces Ill and V have allowed to set the age of these ancient shorelines. These datings implemented with those from the literature, make the basis for the construction of an uplift/sinking diagram. From this latter it stems that a sinking has occurred approximately during the Eutyrrhenian. The subsequent rise took place at a rate of 0.73-0.33 cm/year

Multi-temporal analysis of ambient noise polarization to characterize site response in the town of Amatrice, shattered by the 2016 Central Italy earthquake

The Mw 6.0 earthquake that hit central Italy on 24 August 2016 caused an abnormally high level of destruction in the town of Amatrice. In order to clarify the role of site response in causing such a disaster, a series of ambient noise recordings acquired in the aftermath of the event are analysed here to identify site resonance properties from the ratios H/V between horizontal and vertical amplitudes of ground motion. Although the noise data acquisition was limited by the emergency management activities, the use of a new analysis technique, which isolates the contribution of Rayleigh waves to the noise wavefield and averages instantaneous estimates of H/V ratios, provided more stable results compared to the standard Nakamura's technique based on mean spectral ratios. The results demonstrated the occurrence of significant resonance phenomena, but without an obvious correlation with the spatial distribution of damage severity. It is apparent that the damage severity was also influenced by some additional local factors related to building vulnerability. Moreover, the time series analysis revealed seasonal variations in the Rayleigh wave ellipticity curves likely related to the water content changes in the surface deposits and their influence on the Poisson coefficient. Finally, the new method proved capable of recognizing time-varying directions of Rayleigh wave propagation. This capability could be exploited to support other passive seismic methods (e.g. ReMi), whose results reliability is limited by the lack of control on wave direction origin

Site response characteristics at Amatrice from ambient noise analysis

The 6.0 Mw earthquake that hit central Italy on 24 August 2016 caused at Amatrice damage of unprecedented severity for an earthquake of such a magnitude. The Amatrice’s old town centre was literally razed to the ground, accounting for more than 3/4 of the 300 victims of the earthquake. Different factors could have contributed to such a large amount of fatalities, including building vulnerability and local amplification of ground motion. Therefore, in view of the planning of the post-earthquake rebuilding of the town, it is of the utmost importance to clarify the reasons of this disaster. One of the questions that need to be investigated is the role of site response in aggravating the earthquake damage. A first contribution to shed some light on this aspect can derive from the study of ambient noise, since the employment of single station measurements using a lightweight, compact sensor allows a quick acquisition of data even within the context of an area that has to cope with the problems of emergency management. Hence, a series of campaigns of ambient noise acquisition were arranged, using a set of 3 tromographs “Tromino”. The data were acquired keeping one of the sensor at a “reference” station, where ambient noise was recorded continuously, while the other two tromographs were used for measurement sessions of 30-46 minutes at different sites. In this way, it is possible to check if differences in ambient noise properties acquired by different stations at different times reflect spatial changes in site-specific characteristics of soil dynamic response rather than temporal changes of environmental conditions generating ground vibrations. Furthermore, this configuration of data acquisition offers the possibility of additional types of data processing (e.g. through the analysis of correlation between simultaneous recordings to derive constraints for subsoil velocity models). Noise recordings were acquired on three different dates (October and December 2016, April 2017) at sites located within the most damaged area (known as the “red zone”) and outside it. Ambient noise data acquired in this area were processed following the traditional Nakamura’s approach (Nakamura, 1989) and the one recently proposed by one of us (Del Gaudio, 2017). The traditional Nakamura’s approach calculates the average spectral ratios HVNR between horizontal and vertical component of noise recording. The new approach, through instantaneous polarization analysis, identifies packets of Rayleigh waves within the noise recording and determines their ellipticity (ratio between horizontal H and vertical V component of elliptical particle motion), together with the azimuth of the vertical plane containing the elliptical motion. This method can provide thousands of estimates of H/V ratios from instantaneous polarization properties of ground motion (hereafter named HVIP), isolating the properties of portions of noise recordings where Rayleigh waves are dominant and then inferring curves of Rayleigh wave ellipticity HVIP as function of frequency. Such curves can be related to site response properties like frequency resonance, directivity of site response and impedance contrast between surface layer and bedrock. Our initial results show that, at different sites of Amatrice, both data processing methods consistently pointed out more or less pronounced maxima of H/V ratios at similar frequencies, comprised between 2 and 4 Hz. The frequency upper bound was observed at station Ama1, at the NW limit of the red zone, the lower bound at Ama8, at the SE limit of the same zone, and an intermediate value at the “reference” station Ama2 located about 300 m away from the red zone (Figs. 1-2). The measurements carried out at different dates provided similar results at Ama2, apart from a slight rotation of the H/V maximum direction, whereas evident differences were found in H/V peak amplitude and in directivity at stations within the red zone. Comparatively, the differences appear stronger for the HVNR measurements than for the HVIP ones. This confirms what we had observed in previous tests i.e., within noise recording, the superimposition of different types of waves (Love and body waves) over Rayleigh waves enhances the variability of the results from HVNR calculations, depending on the efficiency with which certain wave types are excited under different environmental conditions. However, the HVIP-derived results show that, even isolating the contribution of Rayleigh waves to the H/V ratios, a certain variability is observed. Our previous study (Del Gaudio et al., 2014) hypothesized that variations could derive from changes of the Poisson ratio of surface layers, related to seasonal changes of water content. The verification of such hypothesis, however, will require further measurement repetitions. At station Ama1, main differences from October 2016 to April 2017 measurements concern the enlargement of the most amplified frequency band and the passage from a more directional character of the H/V peak (oriented in NNW direction at October 2016) to an almost isotropy of the H/V maximum on April 2017. This suggests that the directivity observed in the first campaign at Ama1 might not reflect a property of the site response, being conditioned by changing environmental conditions (e.g., the presence and spatial distribution of sources of more or less polarized noise around the measurement station). More striking appears the variation at the station Ama11, located at the center of the old town, near the clock tower. The results obtained on April 2017 showed a strong generalized reduction of H/V ratios, so that on the basis of this measurement alone, one would totally exclude the presence of site amplification. However, it would appear that evidences of amplification are less pronounced at the sites in the central part of the red zone with respect to those near its limits. At present we do not have a straightforward explanation for these spatial differences in amplification. Nevertheless, in general, the amplification registered at Amatrice can be linked to the local geologic setting and in particular to the presence of the impedance contrast between few tens of meters thick surficial Quaternary alluvial deposits and the underlying flysch-like bedrock. We can speculate that the above-mentioned spatial variations in the amplification could result from local changes in the bedrock lithology, with more rocky (sandstones) flysch sites producing greater impedance contrast than more marly-argillaceous sites. Overall, the extension and repetition of noise measurements are necessary to achieve a better comprehension of the properties of site response in different part of the Amatrice town and to pin point possible correlations with the damage distribution. These additional measurements should help us to better distinguish noise characteristics controlled by site condition peculiarities from those depending on changes of noise sources

Effects of fludarabine and gemcitabine on human acute myeloid leukemia cell line HL 60: Direct comparison of cytotoxicity and cellular Ara-C uptake enhancement

This study was designed to compare the effects of fludarabine and gemcitabine on cytosine arabinoside (Ara-C) uptake and retention, and their specific cytotoxicity on HL 60 human acute myeloid leukemia cells. The leukemic blasts were exposed to either drug at equimolar concentrations (10 μM) for 3 h and further incubated with Ara-C (5 μM), added immediately (day 0) or after an interval of 24 h in which cells were kept in a drug-free medium (day 1). On day 0, leukemic cells exposed to fludarabine 10 μM had a significant ( P < 0.01) increase in Ara-C uptake (297 ± 11 pmol/10 7 cells) with respect to control cells (not pre-treated: 195 ± 10 pmol/10 7 cells). After treatment of leukemic cells with fludarabine, cytoplasmic Ara-C peaked after 180 min of exposure, as well as nuclear bound Ara-C. At the same time, a significant decrease in the number of S-phase leukemic cells, consistent with depressed [ 3H]TdR uptake was observed. Although on day 0 gemcitabine 10 μM did not have potentiating effects on Ara-C uptake, it showed a high degree of intrinsic cytotoxicity as a single agent (clear from cell cycle distribution, [ 3H]TdR uptake, plating efficiency (PE) data and percentage of apoptotic cells). Cells exposed to gemcitabine, on the other hand, showed on day 1 a significant increase in Ara-C uptake (2.4 × control values in the cytoplasmic and 3 × in the nuclear fractions) and a reduced number of S-phase blasts, [ 3H]TdR uptake and PEs, as well as an increased apoptotic cell death. Evidently, it is possible to modulate Ara-C uptake by leukemic cells with gemcitabine. Although this effect is similar to that demonstrated with fludarabine, its kinetics and time of efficacy are different and also, because of its intrinsic higher cytotoxicity and lack of important side effects, gemcitabine could be considered a suitable candidate for Ara-C association therapy in acute leukemia

Daunorubicin Impairs 1-Beta-D-Arabinofuranosylcytosine Uptake

Daunorubicin (DNR) and l-β-D-arabinofuranosylcytosine (Ara-C) act in a schedule-dependent fashion on leukemic cells. The present study was undertaken to determine whether the inhibition exerted by DNR on Ara-C cytotoxicity on HL 60 cells could be accounted for by an impairment of its uptake. After 250 ng/ml DNR treatment for 30 min, the time course of Ara-C uptake was measured, up to 128 min of incubation at 37°C and at 4°C, compared with controls. We found that DNR inhibits Ara-C uptake both at 37 and 4°C, mostly acting on passive diffusion

The mapping competences of the nurse Case/Care Manager in the context of Intensive Care

Since the recent introduction of the Case/Care Manager's professional figure, it is quite difficult to identify properly his/her own particular features, which could be mainly be found revising mainly in American studies. Therefore, the present study intended to identify the Case/Care Manager's skills and professional profile in an Intensive Care Unit experience, taking into consideration the staff's activities, perception and expectations towards the Case/Care Manager. In particular, it has been compared the experience of an Intensive Care Units where the Case/Care Manager's profile is operational to a different Unit where a Case/Care Manager is not yet in force