Carrier Transport in Magnesium Diboride: Role of Nano-inclusions

Anisotropic-gap and two-band effects smear out the superconducting transition (Tc) in literature reported thermal conductivity of MgB2, where large electronic contributions also suppress anomaly-manifestation in their negligible phononic-parts. Present thermal transport results on scarcely explored specimens featuring nano-inclusions exhibit a small but clear Tc-signature, traced to relatively appreciable phononic conduction, and its dominant electronic-scattering. The self-formed MgO as extended defects strongly scatter the charge carriers and minutely the phonons with their longer-mean-free-path near Tc. Conversely, near room temperature, the shorter-dominant-wavelength phonon's transport is hugely affected by these nanoparticles, undergoing ballistic to diffusive crossover and eventually entering the Ioffe-Regel mobility threshold regime.Comment: 14 pages, 4 figures, 28 reference

Planck LFI flight model feed horns

this paper is part of the Prelaunch status LFI papers published on JINST: http://www.iop.org/EJ/journal/-page=extra.proc5/jinst The Low Frequency Instrument is optically interfaced with the ESA Planck telescope through 11 corrugated feed horns each connected to the Radiometer Chain Assembly (RCA). This paper describes the design, the manufacturing and the testing of the flight model feed horns. They have been designed to optimize the LFI optical interfaces taking into account the tight mechanical requirements imposed by the Planck focal plane layout. All the eleven units have been successfully tested and integrated with the Ortho Mode transducers.Comment: This is an author-created, un-copyedited version of an article accepted for publication in JINST. IOP Publishing Ltd is not responsible for any errors or omissions in this version of the manuscript or any version derived from it. The definitive publisher authenticated version is available online at 10.1088/1748-0221/4/12/T1200

Improving cuff-less continuous blood pressure estimation with linear regression analysis

In this work, the authors investigate the cuff-less estimation of continuous BP through pulse transit time (PTT) and heart rate (HR) using regression techniques, which is intended as a first step towards continuous BP estimation with a low error, according to AAMI guidelines. Hypertension (the 'silent killer') is one of the main risk factors for cardiovascular diseases (CVDs), which are the main cause of death worldwide. Its continuous monitoring can offer a valid tool for patient care, as blood pressure (BP) is a significant indicator of health and, using it together with other parameters, such as heart and breath rates, could strongly improve prevention of CVDs. The novelties introduced in this work are represented by the implementation of pre-processing and by the innovative method for features research and features processing to continuously monitor blood pressure in a non-invasive way. Currently, invasive methods are the only reliable methods for continuous monitoring, while non-invasive techniques measure the values every few minutes. The proposed approach can be considered the first step for the integration of these types of algorithms on wearable devices, in particular on those developed for the SINTEC project

PSMA-Specific CAR-Engineered T Cells Eradicate Disseminated Prostate Cancer in Preclinical Models.

Immunology-based interventions have been proposed as a promising curative chance to effectively attack postoperative minimal residual disease and distant metastatic localizations of prostate tumors. We developed a chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) construct targeting the human prostate-specific membrane antigen (hPSMA), based on a novel and high affinity specific mAb. As a transfer method, we employed last-generation lentiviral vectors (LV) carrying a synthetic bidirectional promoter capable of robust and coordinated expression of the CAR molecule, and a bioluminescent reporter gene to allow the tracking of transgenic T cells after in vivo adoptive transfer. Overall, we demonstrated that CAR-expressing LV efficiently transduced short-term activated PBMC, which in turn were readily stimulated to produce cytokines and to exert a relevant cytotoxic activity by engagement with PSMA+ prostate tumor cells. Upon in vivo transfer in tumor-bearing mice, CAR-transduced T cells were capable to completely eradicate a disseminated neoplasia in the majority of treated animals, thus supporting the translation of such approach in the clinical setting

Dilute acid-hydrolized cotton cellulose : An electron diffraction study

A comparative morphological investigation by electron diffraction analysis was carried out on samples of cotton cellulose from different stages of dilute-acid-catalysed hydrolytic degradation reactions. Within the range from $\overline {DP_n }$ 13000 (native material) to 500 only a gentle decrease of the relative crystallinity was observed. For $\overline {DP_n }$ below 500 the crystallinity decreases much faster, together with a simultaneous marked increase in paracrystalline lattice distortion and the show up of crystallographic evidence for a new cellulose phase which became better defined as degradation proceeded. A clearly defined parallel can be established between the different kinetic stages of the degradation reaction and the degree-of-polymerization dependence of the morphological features. The resulting evidence is at odds with the traditionally held views about the effects of acid hydrolysis of cellulose on its morphological fine structure.Instituto de Investigaciones Fisicoquímicas Teóricas y Aplicada

On the crystalline nature of poly(di-isopropyl fumarate)

Molecular order of poly(di-isopropylfumarate) (PDIPF), obtain ed by free-radical initiation, is investigated by calorimetric measurements and X-ray diffraction analysis. It is found that the polymer decomposes without melting at temperatures above 200°C while displaying two endothermic transitions, probably of the solid-solid type, at 65 and 126°C respectively. Further evidence of crystalline order and orientability is provided by the X-ray experiments which show one equatorial (11.16 A) and two meridional (4.81 and 2.40 A) reflections respectively. The corresponding stereoselective nature of the polymerization reaction is interpreted as resulting from the steric influence of the bulky isopropyl substituents of the monomer.Instituto de Investigaciones Fisicoquímicas Teóricas y Aplicada

Improving strain diagnosis of prion disease by diffusion MRI and biophysical modelling

Sporadic Creutzfeldt–Jakob disease (sCJD) is the most common form of prion disease, characterized by five different strains, presenting intracellular vacuoles with different diameter/distribution. Unfortunately, no reliable non-invasive method for strain identification currently exists. Here we provide the first quantitative maps of MR-measured vacuolar diameter/density in five sCJD patients, using multishell diffusion MRI and biophysical modelling. Results show distribution of small and larger vacuoles in the brain lesions of each patient, presumably corresponding to different sCJD strains, and absence of vacuoles in five age-matched healthy controls. If validated, this method would be extremely valuable for non-invasive diagnosis of sCJD strain