Design of Wireless Sensor Nodes for Structural Health Monitoring applications

Enabling low-cost distributed monitoring, wireless sensor networks represents an interesting solution for the implementation of structural health monitoring systems. This work deals with the design of wireless sensor networks for health monitoring of civil structures, specifically focusing on node design in relation to the requirements of different structural monitoring application classes. Design problems are analysed with specific reference to a large-scale experimental setup (the long-term structural monitoring of the Basilica S. Maria di Collemaggio, L’Aquila, Italy). Main limitations emerged are highlighted, and adopted solution strategies are outlined, both in the case of commercial sensing platform and of full custom solutions

Recreational Drug Use and Impulsivity in a Population of Canadian Undergraduate Drinkers

The consumption of drugs during young adulthood may be particularly detrimental given important neurodevelopmental changes occurring during this period. As impulsivity may lead to substance use and substance use to the commission of seemingly impulsive acts, an improved understanding of the relationship between alcohol use, other substance use and impulsivity in young adults is important. We gathered information on self-reported impulsivity, recreational drug use, and drinking habits of 205 (105 female) undergraduate students. Results showed that 64% of the students reported using marijuana at least once and these individuals were more likely to report binge drinking. Polysubstance use, defined as using marijuana and at least one other illicit substance, was reported by 20% of students. These individuals reported more drinking occasions per month and had higher levels of trait impulsivity. Rates of recreational drug use were similar to those reported in recent national surveys, suggesting an increase in experimentation with specific illicit drugs. Given that a majority of undergraduate drinkers reported marijuana use and its association with binge drinking, future research should clarify the relationship between marijuana use and binge consumption of alcohol and prevention efforts should consider the conjoint targeting of marijuana and binge drinking. The associations between polysubstance use, binge-level alcohol consumption and elevated self-reported impulsivity suggests that perceived trait impulsivity across multiple domains may predispose to excessive use of multiple substances. Longitudinal studies should examine the contribution of impulsivity to the initiation and experimentation with illicit drugs and the influence of specific substances on impulsivity

Avaliação de antibiose e não-preferência em cultivares de milho selecionados com resistência a lagarta-do-cartucho.

Dentre os fatores que contribuem para reduzir a produtividade das lavouras de milho estao as pragas, destacando-se a lagarta-do-cartucho, Spodoptera frugiperda, a qual pode reduzir a producao em ate 34%. Um dos metodos de controle de pragas, cujo custo e reduzido e nao causa efeitos indesejaveis ao ambiente, e o desenvolvimento de cultivares resistentes. Diversas fontes de resistencia foram identificadas, linhagens desenvolvidas, registradas e liberadas ao publico; entretanto, pouca informacao tem sido veiculada a respeito dos mecanismos e causas dessa resistencia. O objetivo do presente trabalho foi estudar os mecanismos de resistencia, nao-preferencia e antibiose em genotipos de milho selecionados, com resistencia a S. frugiperda. Os ensaios foram conduzidos em laboratorio e em casa de vegetacao da EMBRAPA/CNPMS. O genotipo CMS 14C apresentou antibiose influindo negativamente na biologia de S. frugiperda. 'CMS 24' e 'CMS 23' apresentaram tambem esses mecanismo, porem em menor intensidade. Foi constatada nao-preferencia alimentar das lagartas para 'Zapalote Chico' e 'BR 201'. Nao-preferencia para oviposicao foi constatada em 'CMS 14C' e 'Zapalote Chico'

Competing symmetries and broken bonds in superconducting vortex-antivortex molecular crystals

Hall probe microscopy has been used to image vortex-antivortex molecules induced in superconducting Pb films by the stray fields from square arrays of magnetic dots. We have directly observed spontaneous vortex-antivortex pairs and studied how they interact with added free (anti)fluxons in an applied magnetic field. We observe a variety of phenomena arising from competing symmetries which either drive added antivortices to join antivortex shells around dots or stabilize the translationally symmetric antivortex lattice between the dots. Added vortices annihilate antivortex shells, leading first to a stable “nulling state” with no free fluxons and then, at high densities, to vortex shells around the dots stabilized by the asymmetric antipinning potential. Our experimental findings are in good agreement with Ginzburg-Landau calculations

Three dimensional imaging of short pulses

We exploit a slightly noncollinear second-harmonic cross-correlation scheme to map the 3D space-time intensity distribution of an unknown complex-shaped ultrashort optical pulse. We show the capability of the technique to reconstruct both the amplitude and the phase of the field through the coherence of the nonlinear interaction down to a resolution of 10 $\mu$m in space and 200 fs in time. This implies that the concept of second-harmonic holography can be employed down to the sub-ps time scale, and used to discuss the features of the technique in terms of the reconstructed fields.Comment: 16 pages, 6 figure

Cytarabine-related lung infiltrates on high resolution computerized tomography: a possible complication with benign outcome in leukemic patients.

Potentially fatal lung toxicity occurs in 12-20% of leukemic patients treated with cytarabine especially at intermediate to high doses, usually presenting as noncardiogenic pulmonary edema (NCPE). Anecdotally the association between cytarabine and the onset of bronchiolitis obliterans organizing pneumonia (BOOP) has been reported. We describe here three cases of patients affected by acute myeloid leukemia (AML) treated with chemotherapeutic regimens including high dose cytarabine, who developed early onset of fever, mild dyspnea, moderate hypoxemia on arterial blood gas analysis and lung infiltrates documented by high-resolution computerized tomography (HRCT), with a more indolent behaviour and a benign clinical outcome, compared with similar cases previously reported in the literature. Our cases widen the spectrum of clinical features of cytarabine-related toxicity in leukemic patients

Erratum to: 23 November 1980 Irpinia–Basilicata earthquake (Southern Italy): towards a full knowledge of the seismic effects

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Dynamic heterodyne near field scattering

The technique heterodyne near field scattering (HNFS), originally developed for low-angle static light scattering, has also been implemented for carrying out dynamic light scattering. While the classical dynamic light scattering method measures the intensity-intensity correlation function, dynamic HNFS gives directly the field-field correlation function, without any assumption on the statistical properties of the sample, as the ones required by the Siegert relation. The technique has been tested with calibrated Brownian particles and its performances compared to those of the classical dynamic light scattering method.The technique heterodyne near field scattering (HNFS), originally developed for low-angle static light scattering, has also been implemented for carrying out dynamic light scattering. While the classical dynamic light scattering method measures the intensity-intensity correlation function, dynamic HNFS gives directly the field-field correlation function, without any assumption on the statistical properties of the sample, as the ones required by the Siegert relation. The technique has been tested with calibrated Brownian particles and its performances compared to those of the classical dynamic light scattering method. \ua9 2008 American Institute of Physics