Domain wall displacement in Py square ring for single nanometric magnetic bead detection

A new approach based on the domain wall displacement in confined ferromagnetic nanostructures for attracting and sensing a single nanometric magnetic particles is presented. We modeled and experimentally demonstrated the viability of the approach using an anisotropic magnetoresistance device made by a micron-size square ring of Permalloy designed for application in magnetic storage. This detection concept can be suitable to biomolecular recognition, and in particular to single molecule detection.Comment: 8pages, 3figure

Molecular characterization of a phytoplasma causing phyllody in clover and other herbaceous hosts in northern Italy

Red clover (Trifolium pratense) and Ladino clover (Trifolium repens) plants showing phytoplasma-associated symptoms (yellowing/reddening, virescence and phyllody) have been recovered in Friuli-Venezia Giulia, Italy. Using AluI RFLP analysis of PCR amplified 16S rDNA we showed that the disease can be caused independently by two phylogenetically distinct phytoplasmas. One of them showed the very typical 16S rDNA RFLP pattern of the agent of Clover Phyllody in Canada (CCPh). The 16S rDNA of the other phytoplasma (Italian Clover Phyllody phytoplasma, ICPhp) has been PCR amplified, cloned and sequenced. The sequence revealed high similarity (>98%) with phytoplasmas belonging to the X disease cluster, which includes organisms not reported to cause phyllody on their hosts. The analysis by AluI RFLP of the PCR amplified pathogen 16S rDNA from other herbaceous plants (Crepis biennis, Taraxacum officinale, Leucanthemum vulgare) collected nearby with phytoplasma-associated symptoms showed similar patterns. Southern blot hybridization of their EcoRI digested total DNA revealed identical RFLP patterns, suggesting that the causative agent may be the same organism

Vertically resolved aerosol properties by multi-wavelength lidar measurements

An approach based on the graphical method of Gobbi and co-authors (2007) is introduced to estimate the dependence on altitude of the aerosol fine mode radius (<i>R</i>_f) and of the fine mode contribution (η) to the aerosol optical thickness (AOT) from three-wavelength lidar measurements. The graphical method of Gobbi and co-authors (2007) was applied to AERONET (AErosol RObotic NETwork) spectral extinction observations and relies on the combined analysis of the Ångstrom exponent (<i>å</i>) and its spectral curvature Δ<i>å</i>. Lidar measurements at 355, 532 and 1064 nm were used in this study to retrieve the vertical profiles of <i>å</i> and Δ<i>å</i> and to estimate the dependence on altitude of <i>R</i>_f and η(532 nm) from the <i>å</i>–Δ<i>å</i> combined analysis. Lidar measurements were performed at the Department of Mathematics and Physics of the Universita' del Salento, in south-eastern Italy. Aerosol from continental Europe, the Atlantic, northern Africa, and the Mediterranean Sea are often advected over south-eastern Italy and as a consequence, mixed advection patterns leading to aerosol properties varying with altitude are dominant. The proposed approach was applied to ten measurement days to demonstrate its feasibility in different aerosol load conditions. The selected days were characterized by AOTs spanning the 0.26–0.67, 0.15–0.39, and 0.04–0.27 range at 355, 532, and 1064 nm, respectively. Mean lidar ratios varied within the 31–83, 32–84, and 11–47 sr range at 355, 532, and 1064 nm, respectively, for the high variability of the aerosol optical and microphysical properties. <i>å</i> values calculated from lidar extinction profiles at 355 and 1064 nm ranged between 0.1 and 2.5 with a mean value &pm; 1 standard deviation equal to 1.3 ± 0.7. Δ<i>å</i> varied within the −0.1–1 range with mean value equal to 0.25 ± 0.43. <i>R</i>_f and η(532 nm) values spanning the 0.05–0.3 μm and the 0.3–0.99 range, respectively, were associated with the <i>å</i>–&Delta;<i>å</i> data points. <i>R</i>_f and η values showed no dependence on the altitude. 60% of the data points were in the &Delta;<i>å</i>–<i>å</i> space delimited by the &eta; and <i>R</i>_f curves varying within 0.80–0.99 and 0.05–0.15 μm, respectively, for the dominance of fine-mode particles in driving the AOT over south-eastern Italy. Vertical profiles of the linear particle depolarization ratio retrieved from lidar measurements, aerosol products from AERONET sun photometer measurements collocated in space and time, analytical back trajectories, satellite true colour images, and dust concentrations from the BSC–DREAM (Barcelona Super Computing Center-Dust REgional Atmospheric Model) model were used to demonstrate the robustness of the proposed method

14-Bromo-12-chloro-2,16-dioxapentacyclohenicosa-3(8),10,12,14-tetraene-7,20-dione

In the title compound, C19H16BrClO4, both the fused xanthene rings and one of the cyclohexane rings adopt envelope conformations, while the other cyclohexane ring is in a chair conformation. In the crystal, molecules are linked by C-H...O hydrogen bonds, forming infinite chains running along [10-1] incorporating R22(16) ring motifs. In addition, C-H...[pi] interactions and weak [pi]-[pi] stacking interactions [centroid-centroid distance = 3.768 (3) Å] help to consolidate the packing

Cardiometabolic risk in 10 to 11 year old children : the impacts of physical activity, cardiorespiratory fitness, body composition and lifestyle education

The aim of this thesis was to investigate the impacts of physical activity (PA), cardiorespiratory fitness (CRF), body composition and lifestyle education on cardiometabolic (CM) risk in 10-11 year old children. This broad aim was approached using three studies. Studies 1 and 2 were cross sectional observational studies, and study 3 was a clustered randomised control trial, with intervention effects assessed at post intervention and again at 8 to 10 weeks after the intervention. Initially, in the first cross sectional study (Chapter 4) the relationships between non- invasive (LV Mass, E/A, E'/A', E/E', trunk fat mass, whole body fat mass) and invasive CM risk markers (CRP, HOMA-IR, adiponectin, TC: HDL-C), and between all risk markers and CRF (V02 peak), time spent sedentary, moderate to vigorous intensity PA (MVPA) and vigorous PA (VPA) were investigated in 10-11 year old children (n=62). The key findings were significant but generally weak relationships present between some of the non- invasive and invasive markers of CM risk and risk markers also had significant correlations with measures of CRF and PA. CRP was significantly positively correlated with whole body fat in boys (rho=0.486, p<0.05) and girls (rho = 0.485 ,

Resistive plate chambers for time-of-flight measurements

The applications of Resistive Plate Chambers (RPCs) have recently been extended by the development of counters with time resolution below 100 ps sigma for minimum ionising particles. Applications to HEP experiments have already taken place and many further applications are under study. In this work we address the operating principles of such counters along with some present challenges, with emphasis on counter aging.Comment: Presented at "PSD6 - 6th International Conference on Position Sensitive Detectors", 9-13 September 2002, Leicester, UK. Submitted to Nuclear Instruments and Methods

Preferência de Bemisia tabaci, biótipo B (Hemiptera: aleyrodidae) a genótipos de soja.

O objetivo do trabalho foi avaliar a preferência de B. tabaci a 18 genótipos de soja com chance de escolha, em condições de casa de vegetação. Os genótipos avaliados foram: BRI 04-01668, BRI 04-01685, BRI 04-02770, BRI 04-02855, BRI 04-02935, BRI 04-02983, BRS 7860RR, BRS Barreira, BRS Gisele RR, BRS Juliana, BRS Valiosa RR, BRSGO 7960, BRSGO 8060, CD219, CD 215, Emgopa 302RR, IAC 17 e IAC 19. Os materiais com menores infestações de ovos e ninfas foram: BRI 04-01668, BRI 04-01685, BRI 04-02770 e IAC 17 (padrão de resistência) e os mais infestados foram BRS Juliana RR e Emgopa 302RR Os genótipos BRS 7860RR e BRSGO 8060 apresentaram o mesmo perfil de não preferência que IAC19 (padrão de resistência)