Synthesis and annealing effects on microstructure and optical properties of wide-bandgap polycrystalline ferro-pseudobrookite FeTi2O5 sol-gel layers

Wide bandgap (WBG) and high thermal stability pseudobrookite compounds, Fe1+xTi2−xO5 (0 ≤ x ≤ 1), are promising materials for photocatalysis, high-temperature thermoelectric applications, green production of hydrogen by water splitting, fabrication of power electronics, and optoelectronic devices. Here, we report on WBG, polycrystalline, ferropseudobrookite, FeTi2O5, coatings, stable at high temperature, prepared by an optimized sol-gel route on fused silica and silicon substrates. The chemical composition, the amorphous-to-crystalline phase transformation, and the influence of the annealing temperature and atmosphere (air and argon) on the formation and evolution of the crystalline phases were investigated in detail by combining thermogravimetric and differential scanning calorimetry analysis with Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy and X-ray diffraction. The experimental results clearly show that orthorhombic FeTi2O5 single phase develops in the interval 500–560 °C (crystalline domain size about 16 nm at 560 °C). The coatings remain in a single FeTi2O5 phase up to a temperature of about 590 °C. At higher temperatures, a rutile-TiO2 secondary phase is formed, both in an oxidizing and inert atmosphere, while the ferropseudobrookite phase remains unchanged. The results suggest that the secondary phase arises from the presence of superficial Ti-O- dangling bonds that at temperatures above 590 °C begin to arrange themselves to form polycrystalline rutile-TiO2 (crystalline domain size ≈8 nm at 620 °C). The results also show that the average energy required to break the Ti-O-Ti molecular bonds of the FeTi2O5 phase increases with temperature, improving its thermal stability. Optical absorption spectroscopy measurements carried out on coatings heated at 560 °C, yield an optical bandgap of about 2.25 eV, a refractive index of about 1.84 at 550 nm, and a weak UVC positive band, peaked at about 5.9 eV, on transmittance that disappears when the samples are annealed at 750 °C

GEO-6 assessment for the pan-European region

Through this assessment, the authors and the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) secretariat are providing an objective evaluation and analysis of the pan-European environment designed to support environmental decision-making at multiple scales. In this assessment, the judgement of experts is applied to existing knowledge to provide scientifically credible answers to policy-relevant questions. These questions include, but are not limited to the following:• What is happening to the environment in the pan-European region and why?• What are the consequences for the environment and the human population in the pan-European region?• What is being done and how effective is it?• What are the prospects for the environment in the future?• What actions could be taken to achieve a more sustainable future?<br/

Neutron irradiation test on ATLAS MDT chambers

Abstract The Monitored Drift Tubes (MDT) chambers of the ATLAS muon spectrometer are crucial for the identification of high-momentum final-state muons, which represent very promising and robust signatures of physics at the LHC. They will operate in a high rate and high background environment and therefore their performances should not significantly degrade for the whole ATLAS data taking. The maximum expected total flux, mainly consisting of neutrons and photons in the MeV range, is of the order of 5 kHz/cm 2 for the barrel MDTs, while at SLHC, with machine working at higher luminosity, fluxes can be 10 times higher. To test detector robustness, a MDT test chamber was exposed to intensive neutron irradiation at the TAPIRO ENEA-Casaccia Research Center facility

Reconstruction of primary vertices at the ATLAS experiment in Run 1 proton–proton collisions at the LHC

This paper presents the method and performance of primary vertex reconstruction in proton–proton collision data recorded by the ATLAS experiment during Run 1 of the LHC. The studies presented focus on data taken during 2012 at a centre-of-mass energy of √s=8 TeV. The performance has been measured as a function of the number of interactions per bunch crossing over a wide range, from one to seventy. The measurement of the position and size of the luminous region and its use as a constraint to improve the primary vertex resolution are discussed. A longitudinal vertex position resolution of about 30μm is achieved for events with high multiplicity of reconstructed tracks. The transverse position resolution is better than 20μm and is dominated by the precision on the size of the luminous region. An analytical model is proposed to describe the primary vertex reconstruction efficiency as a function of the number of interactions per bunch crossing and of the longitudinal size of the luminous region. Agreement between the data and the predictions of this model is better than 3% up to seventy interactions per bunch crossing

Enhancing cardiovascular health monitoring: Simultaneous multi-artery cardiac markers recording with flexible and bio-compatible AlN piezoelectric sensors

Continuous monitoring of cardiovascular parameters like pulse wave velocity (PWV), blood pressure wave (BPW), stiffness index (SI), reflection index (RI), mean arterial pressure (MAP), and cardio-ankle vascular index (CAVI) has significant clinical importance for the early diagnosis of cardiovascular diseases (CVDs). Standard approaches, including echocardiography, impedance cardiography, or hemodynamic monitoring, are hindered by expensive and bulky apparatus and accessibility only in specialized facilities. Moreover, noninvasive techniques like sphygmomanometry, electrocardiography, and arterial tonometry often lack accuracy due to external electrical interferences, artifacts produced by unreliable electrode contacts, misreading from placement errors, or failure in detecting transient issues and trends. Here, we report a bio-compatible, flexible, noninvasive, low-cost piezoelectric sensor for continuous and real-time cardiovascular monitoring. The sensor, utilizing a thin aluminum nitride film on a flexible Kapton substrate, is used to extract heart rate, blood pressure waves, pulse wave velocities, and cardio-ankle vascular index from four arterial pulse sites: carotid, brachial, radial, and posterior tibial arteries. This simultaneous recording, for the first time in the same experiment, allows to provide a comprehensive cardiovascular patient’s health profile. In a test with a 28-year-old male subject, the sensor yielded the SI = 7.1 ± 0.2 m/s, RI = 54.4 ± 0.5 %, MAP = 86.2 ± 1.5 mmHg, CAVI = 7.8 ± 0.2, and seven PWVs from the combination of the four different arterial positions, in good agreement with the typical values reported in the literature. These findings make the proposed technology a powerful tool to facilitate personalized medical diagnosis in preventing CVDs

The PDE4 Inhibitor Tanimilast Restrains the Tissue-Damaging Properties of Human Neutrophils

: Neutrophils, the most abundant subset of leukocytes in the blood, play a pivotal role in host response against invading pathogens. However, in respiratory diseases, excessive infiltration and activation of neutrophils can lead to tissue damage. Tanimilast-international non-proprietary name of CHF6001-is a novel inhaled phosphodiesterase 4 (PDE4) inhibitor in advanced clinical development for the treatment of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), a chronic inflammatory lung disease where neutrophilic inflammation plays a key pathological role. Human neutrophils from healthy donors were exposed to pro-inflammatory stimuli in the presence or absence of tanimilast and budesonide-a typical inhaled corticosteroid drug-to investigate the modulation of effector functions including adherence to endothelial cells, granule protein exocytosis, release of extracellular DNA traps, cytokine secretion, and cell survival. Tanimilast significantly decreased neutrophil-endothelium adhesion, degranulation, extracellular DNA traps casting, and cytokine secretion. In contrast, it promoted neutrophil survival by decreasing both spontaneous apoptosis and cell death in the presence of pro-survival factors. The present work suggests that tanimilast can alleviate the severe tissue damage caused by massive recruitment and activation of neutrophils in inflammatory diseases such as COPD

Search for dark matter produced in association with bottom or top quarks in √s = 13 TeV pp collisions with the ATLAS detector

A search for weakly interacting massive particle dark matter produced in association with bottom or top quarks is presented. Final states containing third-generation quarks and miss- ing transverse momentum are considered. The analysis uses 36.1 fb−1 of proton–proton collision data recorded by the ATLAS experiment at √s = 13 TeV in 2015 and 2016. No significant excess of events above the estimated backgrounds is observed. The results are in- terpreted in the framework of simplified models of spin-0 dark-matter mediators. For colour- neutral spin-0 mediators produced in association with top quarks and decaying into a pair of dark-matter particles, mediator masses below 50 GeV are excluded assuming a dark-matter candidate mass of 1 GeV and unitary couplings. For scalar and pseudoscalar mediators produced in association with bottom quarks, the search sets limits on the production cross- section of 300 times the predicted rate for mediators with masses between 10 and 50 GeV and assuming a dark-matter mass of 1 GeV and unitary coupling. Constraints on colour- charged scalar simplified models are also presented. Assuming a dark-matter particle mass of 35 GeV, mediator particles with mass below 1.1 TeV are excluded for couplings yielding a dark-matter relic density consistent with measurements

Measurement of the muon flux in the tunnels of Doss Trento hill

In the context of astroparticle physics, nuclear astrophysics and quantum computing projects, it is important identifying underground laboratories where the cosmogenic background is suppressed. Located about 500 m far from the center of Trento (Italy) the Piedicastello tunnels are covered by 100 m limestone rock of the Doss Trento hill. The site exceeds 6000m2 surface and is currently hosting events, temporary exhibitions, and educational activities. The cosmogenic background was measured in different locations within the Piedicastello tunnels with three portable scintillator telescopes having different geometrical acceptances. The muon flux measured in the deepest part was found to be about two orders of magnitude lower than the surface flux. This preliminary measurement suggests the use of the site as a facility in which a low environmental background is required