Light emission enhancement using randomly distributed plasmonic nanoparticle arrays

We have fabricated and characterised the optical properties of solution processed randomly distributed gold nanoparticle plasmonic arrays that are coated with a thin-film fluorescent dye. Three times enhancement in the emission intensity of the fluorescent dye Pyridine 2 has been observed. Our results are further supported by finite difference time domain simulations that predicted up to 7 times enhancements in the emission intensity as a result of the coupling between the molecular dipoles and the confined field in the underlying plasmonic array. Our results demonstrate the potential of using such structures in organic light emitting devices and chemical and bio-sensing applications

Assessment of antioxidant activity of carotenoid-enriched extracts from peach fruits using the new LOX/RNO method

Peach (Prunus persica L.) fruits contain several health-promoting phytochemicals. Among these, carotenoids, in addition to being involved in determining flesh color, play a relevant role in cell protection against oxidative stress. Nevertheless, antioxidant activity (AA) of peach carotenoids so far has not been investigated in as much detail as phenols. In the present study, for the first time, AA of peach carotenoid extracts was evaluated using the innovative lipoxygenase/4-nitroso-N,N-dimethylaniline (LOX/RNO) method, able to simultaneously detect different antioxidant mechanisms and synergistic antioxidant interactions, as well as using the well-known ORAC and TEAC assays. In particular, extracts were obtained from fruits collected in S4 development stage from two yellow-fleshed (Armking and Redhaven) and three white-fleshed (Silverking, Caldesi 2000, IFF331) varieties. The LOX/RNO method gave high AA values (10-150 μmol eq. Trolox/g f.w.), about 85-1900-fold higher than ORAC and TEAC methods. Moreover, the ratio between AA values, measured by the LOX/RNO method, of yellow- and white-fleshed peaches resulted equal to 14, but only 2.6 and 3.6 for ORAC and TEAC, respectively. Results of this study indicate that the LOX/RNO method, measuring high AA values and easily discriminating among samples, is an advisable tool to assess the AA of the carotenoid component in peach

The World-Class Multiversity: Global commonalities and national characteristics

World-Class Universities (WCUs) are nationally embedded comprehensive higher education institutions (HEIs) that are closely engaged in the global knowledge system. The article reviews the conditions of possibility and evolution of WCUs. Three interpretations are used to explain worldwide higher education: neoliberal theory, institutional theory, and critical political economy, which give greater recognition than the other theories to the role of the state and variations between states. World higher education is evolving under conditions of globalization, organizational modernization (the New Public Management), and in some countries, marketization. These larger conditions have become manifest in higher education in three widespread tendencies: massification, the WCU movement, and organizational expansion. The last includes the strengthening of the role of the large multi-disciplinary multi-purpose HEIs ("multiversities"), in the form of both research-intensive WCUs with significant global presence, and other HEIs. The role of binary sector and specialist HEIs has declined. Elite WCUs gain status and strategic advantage in both quantity and quality: through growth and the expansion of scope, and through selectivity and research concentration. The balance between quantity and quality is now resolved at larger average size and broader scope than before. The final section of the article reviews WCUs in China and considers whether they might constitute a distinctive university model

Development of offshore grid: state of the art of technology and solutions

The growing interest in offshore-located energy generation has led to the improvement of high voltage transmission technology for the connection of generating sites to shore. In particular, offshore wind farms seem to show the main advantages in terms of efficiency. In this paper an overview of the state-of-the-art for offshore transmission technology is provided and major issues concerning DC and AC connections are explored. Hints are also made to the possible development of an HVDC offshore grid

Diagnosi di sarcoidosi polmonare: solo biopsia?

La sarcoidosi ? una malattia granulomatosa multi-organo dall'eziologia ancora non nota. Il 90% dei pazienti presenta un interessamento polmonare con o senza coinvolgimento dei linfonodi mediastinici ed ilari. Riferiamo di un paziente con modesta sintomatologia respiratoria ed artralgica che presentava il solo dato di linfoadenopatie mediastiniche essendo negativi tutti gli altri segni presenti, con varia frequenza, in letteratura. Solo con la biopsia per via mediastinoscopica ? stata raggiunta la diagnosi di sarcoidosi