Interaction of nanodiamonds with water: Impact of surface chemistry on hydrophilicity, aggregation and electrical properties

In recent decades, nanodiamonds (NDs) have earned increasing interest in a wide variety of research fields, thanks to their excellent mechanical, chemical, and optical properties, together with the possibility of easily tuning their surface chemistry for the desired purpose. According to the application context, it is essential to acquire an extensive understanding of their interaction with water in terms of hydrophilicity, environmental adsorption, stability in solution, and impact on electrical properties. In this paper, we report on a systematic study of the effects of reducing and oxidizing thermal processes on ND surface water adsorption. Both detonation and milled NDs were analyzed by combining different techniques. Temperature-dependent infrared spectroscopy was employed to study ND surface chemistry and water adsorption, while dynamic light scattering allowed the evaluation of their behavior in solution. The influence of water adsorption on their electrical properties was also investigated and correlated with structural and optical information obtained via Raman/photoluminescence spectroscopy. In general, higher oxygen-containing surfaces exhibited higher hydrophilicity, better stability in solution, and higher electrical conduction, although for the latter the surface graphitic contribution was also crucial. Our results provide in-depth information on the hydrophilicity of NDs in relation to their surface chemical and physical properties, by also evaluating the impacts on their aggregation and electrical conductance

HOW TO EXTRACT USEFUL INFORMATION ABOUT THE DECAY OF BASS RELIEVES IN ARCHAEOLOGICAL AREA

Abstract. Cultural Heritage goods represent the memory and the history of the civilization. Notwithstanding, there are not sufficient public resources to guarantee their preservation and maintenance. Nowadays between several geomatic techniques available, the pillar for the preservation of mankinds heritage is the low cost close photogrammetric acquisition. The advantages of virtual reconstructions based on Multi View Stereo (MVS) and Structure from Motion (SfM) algorithms is extended from the heritage documentation to its virtualization or modelling. The digital preservation of archaeological sites is committed in more agile and friendly procedures that give automatic extraction of information to perform in depth analysis over ancient artefacts. In the field of CH research, the characterization and classification of the conservation state of the materials composing the surface of the artefacts are essential to study their damage. The first step for conservation state of a goods is the study of the changes in different times. The possibility to automatically study this time modification due to different factor represents a key point for the archaeologists' work. With this in mind, the aim of this work is to propose a completely automatic methods for change detection between three data set acquired in different époques. The work flow applied is based on the unsupervised clustering techniques applied on a combination of two type of differences images. The results, unlike the objective, demonstrate that the unsupervised methods are not effectiveness in the CH study, instead of the supervised methods that outperforms in terms of reliability of results.</p

Implementation of Radio-Frequency Deflecting Devices for Comprehensive High-Energy Electron Beam Diagnosis

In next-generation light sources, high-brightness electron beams are used in a free-electron laser configuration to produce light for use by scientists and engineers in numerous fields of research. High-brightness beams are described for such light sources as having low transverse and longitudinal emittances, high peak currents, and low slice emittance and energy spread. The optimal generation and preservation of such high-brightness electron beams during the acceleration process and propagation to and through the photon-producing element is imperative to the quality and performance of the light source. To understand the electron beam's phase space in the accelerating section of a next-generation light source machine, we employed radio-frequency cavities operating in a deflecting mode in conjunction with a magnetic spectrometer and imaging system for both low (250 MeV) and high (1.2 GeV) electron energies. This high-resolution, high-energy system is an essential diagnostic for the optimization and control of the electron beam in the FERMI light source generating fully transversely and longitudinally coherent light in the VUV to soft x-ray wavelength regimes. This device is located at the end of the linear accelerator in order to provide the longitudinal phase space nearest to the entrance of the photon-producing beam-lines. Here, we describe the design, fabrication, characterization, commissioning, and operational implementation of this transverse deflecting cavity structure diagnostic system for the high-energy (1.2 GeV) regime

Wakefield benchmarking at a single-pass high brightness electron linac

Collective effects such as wakefields affect the dynamics of high brightness electron beams in linear accelerators (linacs) and can degrade the performance of short wavelength free-electron lasers (FELs). If a reliable model of wakefields is made available, the accelerator can be designed and configured with parameters that minimize their disrupting effect. In this paper, the simulated effect of geometric (diffractive) wakefields and of coherent synchrotron radiation on the electron beam energy distribution at the FERMI FEL is benchmarked with measurements, so quantifying the accuracy of the model. Wakefield modeling is then extended to the undulator line, where particle tracking confirms the limited impact of the resistive wall wakefield on the lasing process. The study reveals an overall good understanding of collective effects in the facility

Improving spherical photogrammetry using 360°OMNI-Cameras: Use cases and new applications

During the last few years, there has been a growing exploitation of consumer-grade cameras allowing one to capture 360 images. Each device has different features and the choice should be entrusted on the use and the expected final output. The interest on such technology within the research community is related to its use versatility, enabling the user to capture the world with an omnidirectional view with just one shot. The potential is huge and the literature presents many use cases in several research domains, spanning from retail to construction, from tourism to immersive virtual reality solutions. However, the domain that could the most benefit is Cultural Heritage (CH), since these sensors are particularly suitable for documenting a real scene with architectural detail. Following the previous researches conducted by Fangi, which introduced its own methodology called Spherical Photogrammetry (SP), the aim of this paper is to present some tests conducted with the omni-camera Panono 360 which reach a final resolution comparable with a traditional camera and to validate, after almost ten years from the first experiment, its reliability for architectural surveying purposes. Tests have been conducted choosing as study cases Santa Maria della Piazza and San Francesco alle scale Churches in Ancona, Italy, since they were previously surveyed and documented with SP methodology. In this way, it has been possible to validate the accuracy of the new survey, performed by means an omni-camera, compared with the previous one for both outdoor and indoor scenario. The core idea behind this work is to validate if this new sensor can replace the standard image collection phase, speeding up the process, assuring at the same time the final accuracy of the survey. The experiment conducted demonstrate that, w.r.t. the SP methodology developed so far, the main advantage in using 360 omni-directional cameras lies on increasing the rapidity of acquisition and panorama creation phases. Moreover, in order to foresee the implications that a wide adoption of fast and agile tools of acquisition could bring within the CH domain, points cloud have been generated with the same panoramas and visualized in a WEB application, to allow a result dissemination between the users

High Energy RF Deflectors for the FERMI@Elettra project

Measuring and controlling the longitudinal phase space and the time-slice emittance of the electron bunch entering at 1.2 GeV in the undulator beam-lines, are crucial to obtain high FEL performances. In the FERMI@Elettra machine, two RF deflecting cavities have been installed at the end of the linac, in order to stretch the electron bunch horizontally and vertically, respectively. The two cavities are individually powered by the same klystron and a switch system is used to choose the deflection plane. This paper reports the RF measurements carried out during the acceptance test and the RF conditioning including the breakdown rate measurements

From Artificial Intelligence and Databases to Cognitive Computing: Past and Future Computer Engineering Research at UNIVPM

In the last decades, Computer Engineering has shown an impressive development and has become a pervasive protagonist in daily life and scientific research. Databases and Artificial Intelligence represent two of the major players in this development. Today, they are quickly converging towards a new, much more sophisticated and inclusive, paradigm, namely Cognitive Computing. This paradigm leverages Big Data and Artificial Intelligence to design approaches and build systems capable of (at least partially) reproducing human brain behavior. In this paradigm, an important role can be also played by Mathematical Programming. Cognitive systems are able to autonomously learn, reason, understand and process a huge amount of extremely varied data. Their ultimate goal is the capability of interacting naturally with their users. In the last 50 years, UNIVPM has played a leading role in scientific research in Databases and Artificial Intelligence, and, thanks to the acquired expertise, is going to play a key role in Cognitive Computing research in the future