Electric-pulse-induced reversible resistance in doped zinc oxide thin films

Nonvolatile, electric-pulse-induced resistance switching is reported on S and Co doped ZnO thin films deposited on different substrates using magnetron sputtering and laser ablation. Two resistance states were obtained by applying voltage pulses of different polarity. The switching was observed regardless of the substrate, dopant species, or microstructure of the samples. In the Co doped ZnO samples, the two resistance states are remarkably stable and uniform

Microzooplankton grazing and phytoplankton growth in marine mesocosms with increased CO2 levels

Microzooplankton grazing and algae growth responses to increasing pCO2 levels (350, 700 and 1050 μatm) were investigated in nitrate and phosphate fertilized mesocosms during the PeECE III experiment 2005. Grazing and growth rates were estimated by the dilution technique combined with taxon specific HPLC pigment analysis. Microzooplankton composition was determined by light microscopy. Despite a range of up to 3 times the present CO2 levels, there were no clear differences in any measured parameter between the different CO2 treatments. During days 3–9 of the experiment the algae community standing stock, measured as chlorophyll a (Chl-a), showed the highest instantaneous grow rates (k=0.37–0.99 d−1) and increased from ca. 2–3 to 6–12 μg l−1, in all mesocosms. Afterwards the phytoplankton standing stock decreased in all mesocosms until the end of the experiment. The microzooplankton standing stock, that was mainly constituted by dinoflagellates and ciliates, varied between 23 and 130 μg C l−1 (corresponding to 1.9 and 10.8 μmol C l−1), peaking on day 13–15, apparently responding to the phytoplankton development. Instantaneous Chl-a growth rates were generally higher than the grazing rates, indicating only a limited overall effect of microzooplankton grazing on the most dominant phytoplankton. Diatoms and prymnesiophytes were significantly grazed (12–43% of the standing stock d−1) only in the pre-bloom phase when they were in low numbers, and in the post-bloom phase when they were already affected by low nutrients and/or viral lysis. The cyanobacteria populations appeared more affected by microzooplankton grazing which generally removed 20–65% of the standing stock per day

Evaluation of Donor and Recipient Characteristics Involved in Descemet Stripping Automated Endothelial Keratoplasty Outcomes

Aims: To evaluate both donor and recipient features involved in visual acuity restoring and complication insurgence in eyes that have undergone Descemet stripping automated endothelial keratoplasty (DSAEK). Methods: In this retrospective study, charts of 111 eyes of 96 patients (mean age 70.25 ± 8.58 years) that underwent DSAEK were evaluated. Only Fuch's Distrophy (FD) or Bullous Keratopathy (BK) due to cataract surgery eyes were included. A complete ophthalmic check with endothelial cell density (ECD) and central corneal thickness (CCT) measurement was performed before surgery and at 1, 3, 6, and 12 months follow-up. Each DSAEK was performed by the same well-trained surgeon; only pre-cut lenticules, provided by same Eye Bank, were implanted. Results: A total of 48 (43%) complications have been observed (most of them were 22 partial graft detachments and 17 IOP spikes). At the last follow-up (mean: 8.58 ± 4.09 months), a significant increase (p < 0.05) of best corrected visual acuity (BCVA) was detected. Overall mean BCVA of the eyes evaluated was 0.40 ± 0.43 LogMAR with BK eyes showing a significantly higher improvement (p < 0.05) compared to FD eyes. The only factor showing a significant correlation (p < 0.05) with visual acuity enhancement was the implant of a lenticule thinner than 100 μm. Recipient features significantly (p < 0.05) associated with complications observed after surgery were glaucoma and diabetes mellitus. Conclusion: The use of a graft thinner than 100 μm can provide better visual acuity recovery while recipients affected by glaucoma or diabetes mellitus are more prone to develop complications after surgery

Past&Present at Tarchna&Tarquinia: a flexible approach to make visible the invisible

This contribution falls within the topic of the “development of guidelines and best practices” and deals with the study case of the ancient Etruscan city of Tarchna (Tarquinia, central Italy). The “Tarquinia Project” started here in 1982 with the investigations carried out by the Università degli Studi di Milano in two sacred areas and along the fortifications. The Project was endowed since its beginnings with the collaboration of several experts in disciplines other than Archaeology which number has increased in the past years. Their aim is to find out as much as possible about the material aspects of Archaeology to decode their relationship with the invisibility of ancient life. This contribution aims at presenting our approach addressed to put scholars in the condition to handle data according to their own procedures, within the same environment, through an ecosystem of benchmarks and references in ways close to the individual practices, supported by ICTs. This is meant to avoid the use of predetermined terminologies and categories, enhancing the proper methods of every single discipline involved in a multidisciplinary environment, beyond the current work of every individual scholar. We propose a radical change of perspective, starting from the collection of raw data in several fields (material aspects of Archaeology, Geoarchaeology, Architecture, Topography) to grasp the underlining model, thanks to the assessment of recurrent associations among different categories of evidence, instead of starting from preconceived theoretic models and using data to confirm them. Distinct small, medium and large scale investigation methods are integrated for the first time to produce a significant interdisciplinary cognitive tool to shift from the materiality of the leftovers of Ancient Past, to its integrity, to what lies behind at a metaphysical level and is, therefore, invisible to us. This is related to the materiality of rituals, based on the recurrence of cultic practices in the above-mentioned sacred areas, whose gestures might also be revealed by sediments and organic remains, in addition to other archaeological and epigraphic issues. Tarquinia strongly challenges researchers to be open to unconventional and unexploited issues due to the complexity of the site. It is the ideal place to create awareness among the general public about the results of Archaeological research and to disseminate and make visible its acquirements, according to the European Charter for Researchers. The support of Environmental Psychologists helps to ensuring outreach entails initiatives directed to the local population, in order to introduce them to an equilibrated connection between their invisible Past and the local present culture. In this framework students from high school are involved in the Archaeological field activities, since 2012. Our best practices are therefore addressed to give back to the ancient Etruscan city its value of prominent cultural and natural landmark in the Past, to make it possible for the modern community to assess it in the same way. According to current theories of “place identity” and "place attachment" the modern community is in the condition to feeling and experiencing the continuity between past, present and future

Bimagnon studies in cuprates with Resonant Inelastic X-ray Scattering at the O K edge. I - An assessment on La2CuO4 and a comparison with the excitation at Cu L3 and Cu K edges

We assess the capabilities of magnetic Resonant Inelastic X-ray Scattering (RIXS) at the O $K$ edge in undoped cuprates by taking La_{2}CuO_{4} as a benchmark case, based on a series of RIXS measurements that we present here. By combining the experimental results with basic theory we point out the fingerprints of bimagnon in the O $K$ edge RIXS spectra. These are a dominant peak around 450 meV, the almost complete absence of dispersion both with $\pi$ and $\sigma$ polarization and the almost constant intensity vs. the transferred momentum with $\sigma$ polarization. This behavior is quite different from Cu $L_3$ edge RIXS giving a strongly dispersing bimagnon tending to zero at the center of the Brillouin zone. This is clearly shown by RIXS measurements at the Cu $L_3$ edge that we present. The Cu $L_3$ bimagnon spectra and those at Cu $K$ edge - both from the literature and from our data - however, have the same shape. These similarities and differences are understood in terms of different sampling of the bimagnon continuum. This panorama points out the unique possibilities offered by O $K$ RIXS in the study of magnetic excitations in cuprates near the center of the BZ

Copepod feeding and reproduction in relation to phytoplankton development during the PeECE III mesocosm experiment

International audienceWithin the frame of the Pelagic Ecosystem CO2 Enrichment (PeECE III) experiment, reproduction and feeding of the copepod Calanus finmarchicus was monitored in relation to phytoplankton development in two mesocosms, at present 1× (350 ?atm) and ca 3× present (1050 ?atm) CO2 concentrations, respectively. Both mesocosms showed rapid phytoplankton growth after the initial nutrient additions and reached maximum chlorophyll (Chl) a concentrations around day 10. Flow-cytometry and specific pigment analysis (HPLC-CHEMTAX), showed that diatoms and prymnesiophyceae (Emiliania huxleyi (Ehux) and other nanoplankton) dominated the biomass. Feeding and egg production rates of C. finmarchicus developed similarly in both mesocosms, and were positively correlated with Chla, Ehux, diatom and prymnesiophyceae concentrations. Although the total number of copepod nauplii recruited during the experiment was similar in 1× and 3×, significantly less nauplii were recruited in 3× during the peak of the bloom compared to in 1×. We conclude that the algae responsible for the higher biomass in 3× during the peak of the bloom (diatoms and Ehux), may have been relatively inferior food for C. finmarchicus naupliar recruitment, possibly due to a high C:N ratio (>8). Nevertheless, the 3 fold increase in CO2 concentration did not show any clear overall effect on bulk phytoplankton or zooplankton development over the whole experiment, suggesting a more complex coupling between increased CO2 and the nutritional status of the system

Oct analysis in patients with relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis during fingolimod therapy: 2-year longitudinal retrospective study

Many studies have demonstrated the usefulness of some optical coherence tomography (OCT) parameters, like total macular volume (TMV) and retinal nerve fiber layer thickness (RNFL-T), for monitoring patients with multiple sclerosis (MS). However, there are no real-world, long-term studies on patients with relapsing-remitting MS (RR-MS) treated with fingolimod. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to describe retinal changes associated with fingolimod therapy during a two-year follow-up while considering previous episodes of optic neuritis (ON). Patients diagnosed with RR-MS and treated with fingolimod (46 in total) underwent a two-year follow-up. Based on previous ON history, we identified 16 ON+ and 30 ON− patients. The ophthalmological evaluations, including visual field (VF) examination and OCT, were performed at a baseline at 3–6, 12 and 24 months to evaluate the progression rate for each parameter. When analyzing the whole sample, OCT showed no cases of macular edema. Instead, we observed a significant reduction rate in the central retinal thickness (CRT) (p<0.001), TMV (p < 0.001) and RNFL (p < 0.05). Moreover, we observed a significant difference in the progression rate between ON+ and ON− patients, relative to the VF and RNFL (p < 0.05) examinations. OCT highlighted a significant progression rate of retinal damage in MS patients despite fingolimod therapy, especially in MS ON+ patients

Classification tree to analyze factors connected with post operative complications of cataract surgery in a teaching hospital

Background: Artificial intelligence (AI) is becoming ever more frequently applied in medicine and, consequently, also in ophthalmology to improve both the quality of work for physicians and the quality of care for patients. The aim of this study is to use AI, in particular classification tree, for the evaluation of both ocular and systemic features involved in the onset of complications due to cataract surgery in a teaching hospital. Methods: The charts of 1392 eyes of 1392 patients, with a mean age of 71.3 ± 8.2 years old, were reviewed to collect the ocular and systemic data before, during and after cataract surgery, including post-operative complications. All these data were processed by a classification tree algorithm, producing more than 260 million simulations, aiming to develop a predictive model. Results: Postoperative complications were observed in 168 patients. According to the AI analysis, the pre-operative characteristics involved in the insurgence of complications were: ocular comorbidities, lower visual acuity, higher astigmatism and intra-operative complications. Conclusions: Artificial intelligence application may be an interesting tool in the physician’s hands to develop customized algorithms that can, in advance, define the post-operative complication risk. This may help in improving both the quality and the outcomes of the surgery as well as in preventing patient dissatisfaction

Therapy of age-related exudative macular degeneration with anti-vascular endothelial growth factor drugs: An Italian real life study

Aim: To evaluate the real utilization of ranibizumab and aflibercept in the daily management of patients with neovascular age-related macular degeneration (nAMD) treated at the Eye Clinic of Campania University L.Vanvitelli. Background: Therapy with anti-vascular endothelial growth factor represents the gold standard in wet age-related macular degeneration. There are nonreal life italian studies of this therapy in the literature. Objective: To analyze in our sample the post-therapy variations of best-corrected visual acuity (BCVA) and central retinal thickness (CRT) observed at the end of a 12-month follow-up period. Methods: This real-life study analyzes 109 patients that underwent monthly checks for the first 4 months and then every 2 months until the end of the 12-month follow-up. The sample was first analyzed in its entirety, subsequently subdivided into 3 groups based on baseline BCVA, age, and the number of intravitreal injections performed, in order to identify possible predictive elements of the anti-VEGF response. Results: On average, patients underwent 4.16 ± 1.58 intravitreal anti-VEGF injections in 1 year. At the end of the 12-month follow-up, the patients’ average BCVA increased from 33.01 letters to 33.75 letters (+0.74 ± 9,4 letters), while the average CRT decreased from 346.86 µm to 265.39 µm (-81.47 ± 121 µm). Conclusion: The study shows the efficacy of anti-VEGF therapy in the stabilization of BCVA in nAMD, confirming the differences in visual outcomes compared to clinical trials, mainly for economic-organizational reasons