Characterization of Metal Aggregates by Scanning Microscopy: Particle Sizes and Space Distribution in Intermetallic Particles

Various metal aggregates prepared using ionizing radiation were studied by microscopy techniques. A metal deposit onto a carbon felt obtained from solutions containing Pt and Ru was shown to consist of nanometric particles containing both metals. Another study deals with a subnanometric silver aggregate. The nuclearity of the aggregate was studied by scanning tunneling microscopy (STM). Additional information from pulse radiolysis experiments allowed the determination of the Ag73+ stoichiometry. The third material consisted of Ag/Pd submicron powders (70/30 or 75/25% w/w) used in electronics, and made of spherical bimetallic grains; X-ray diffraction showed segregation. The spatial distribution of each metal was obtained by combining space-resolved X-ray microanalysis in the transmission electron microscope, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy and secondary ion mass spectrometry. Each grain was shown to be core/rind structured (core: pure Ag; rind: 10-15 nm thick 11% Ag/89% Pd w/w alloy)

A Metric Framework for quantifying Data Concentration

Poor performance of artificial neural nets when applied to credit-related classification problems is investigated and contrasted with logistic regression classification. We propose that artificial neural nets are less successful because of the inherent structure of credit data rather than any particular aspect of the neural net structure. Three metrics are developed to rationalise the result with such data. The metrics exploit the distributional properties of the data to rationalise neural net results. They are used in conjunction with a variant of an established concentration measure that differentiates between class characteristics. The results are contrasted with those obtained using random data, and are compared with results obtained using logistic regression. We find, in general agreement with previous studies, that logistic regressions out-perform neural nets in the majority of cases. An approximate decision criterion is developed in order to explain adverse results

CeLAND: search for a 4th light neutrino state with a 3 PBq 144Ce-144Pr electron antineutrino generator in KamLAND

The reactor neutrino and gallium anomalies can be tested with a 3-4 PBq (75-100 kCi scale) 144Ce-144Pr antineutrino beta-source deployed at the center or next to a large low-background liquid scintillator detector. The antineutrino generator will be produced by the Russian reprocessing plant PA Mayak as early as 2014, transported to Japan, and deployed in the Kamioka Liquid Scintillator Anti-Neutrino Detector (KamLAND) as early as 2015. KamLAND's 13 m diameter target volume provides a suitable environment to measure the energy and position dependence of the detected neutrino flux. A characteristic oscillation pattern would be visible for a baseline of about 10 m or less, providing a very clean signal of neutrino disappearance into a yet-unknown, sterile neutrino state. This will provide a comprehensive test of the electron dissaperance neutrino anomalies and could lead to the discovery of a 4th neutrino state for Delta_m^2 > 0.1 eV^2 and sin^2(2theta) > 0.05.Comment: 67 pages, 50 figures. Th. Lasserre thanks the European Research Council for support under the Starting Grant StG-30718

The fingerprint of the summer 2018 drought in Europe on ground-based atmospheric CO2 measurements

During the summer of 2018, a widespread drought developed over Northern and Central Europe. The increase in temperature and the reduction of soil moisture have influenced carbon dioxide (CO2) exchange between the atmosphere and terrestrial ecosystems in various ways, such as a reduction of photosynthesis, changes in ecosystem respiration, or allowing more frequent fires. In this study, we characterize the resulting perturbation of the atmospheric CO2 seasonal cycles. 2018 has a good coverage of European regions affected by drought, allowing the investigation of how ecosystem flux anomalies impacted spatial CO2 gradients between stations. This density of stations is unprecedented compared to previous drought events in 2003 and 2015, particularly thanks to the deployment of the Integrated Carbon Observation System (ICOS) network of atmospheric greenhouse gas monitoring stations in recent years. Seasonal CO2 cycles from 48 European stations were available for 2017 and 2018.The UK sites were funded by the UK Department of Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (formerly the Department of Energy and Climate Change) through contracts TRN1028/06/2015 and TRN1537/06/2018. The stations at the ClimaDat Network in Spain have received funding from the ‘la Caixa’ Foundation, under agreement 2010-002624

Hydroxyapatite-TiO2-SiO2-Coated 316L Stainless Steel for Biomedical Application

This study investigated the effectiveness of titania (TiO2) as a reinforcing phase in the hydroxyapatite (HAP) coating and silica (SiO2) single-layer as a bond coat between the TiO2-reinforced hydroxyapatite (TiO2/HAP) top layer and 316L stainless steel (316L SS) substrate on the corrosion resistance and mechanical properties of the underlying 316L SS metallic implant. Single-layer of SiO2 film was first deposited on 316L SS substrate and studied separately. Water contact angle measurements, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) and Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectrophotometer analysis were used to evaluate the hydroxyl group reactivity at the SiO2 outer surface. The microstructural and morphological results showed that the reinforcement of HAP coating with TiO2 and SiO2 reduced the crystallite size and the roughness surface. Indeed, the deposition of 50 vol. % TiO2-reinforced hydroxyapatite layer enhanced the hardness and the elastic modulus of the HAP coating, the introduction of SiO2 inner-layer on the surface of the 316L SS allowed the improvement of the bonding strength and the corrosion resistance as confirmed by scratch studies, nanoindentation and cyclic voltammetry tests

Personalized early detection and prevention of breast cancer: ENVISION consensus statement

Abstract: The European Collaborative on Personalized Early Detection and Prevention of Breast Cancer (ENVISION) brings together several international research consortia working on different aspects of the personalized early detection and prevention of breast cancer. In a consensus conference held in 2019, the members of this network identified research areas requiring development to enable evidence-based personalized interventions that might improve the benefits and reduce the harms of existing breast cancer screening and prevention programmes. The priority areas identified were: 1) breast cancer subtype-specific risk assessment tools applicable to women of all ancestries; 2) intermediate surrogate markers of response to preventive measures; 3) novel non-surgical preventive measures to reduce the incidence of breast cancer of poor prognosis; and 4) hybrid effectiveness–implementation research combined with modelling studies to evaluate the long-term population outcomes of risk-based early detection strategies. The implementation of such programmes would require health-care systems to be open to learning and adapting, the engagement of a diverse range of stakeholders and tailoring to societal norms and values, while also addressing the ethical and legal issues. In this Consensus Statement, we discuss the current state of breast cancer risk prediction, risk-stratified prevention and early detection strategies, and their implementation. Throughout, we highlight priorities for advancing each of these areas

The difficulties of childhood tuberculosis diagnosis

Aims and objectives: The WHO estimate that 8.8 millions new cases of tuberculosis occurred in 2010, (between 8.5 and 9.2 millions) linked to 1.45 millions death cases. The load of children tuberculosis is estimated at 10–15 per cent of the total load. In 2014 more than one million children have developed the disease. The children just as adults are exposed to contract and develop the multi resistant forms of the tuberculosis, constituting a major issue for the disease control. The children less than 5 years of age are the most exposed to present the most serious and more often deadly forms of the illness. Further, in many developing countries, the lack of pediatric forms of the tuberculosis drugs makes it difficult to control the problem. The tuberculosis diagnosis among the children is based on a set of arguments: the presence of a tuberculous person excreting bacillus, exposition and receptivity conditions of the child (the level of his immunity, the level of under nutrition, associated pathologies etc…). The diagnosis is also based on the research of the symptoms and other signs suggestive of tuberculosis: tuberculin skin test, thoracic radiography, interferon-gamma test. The aim of this study, is to describe and analyze the features and difficulties of the biological diagnosis of tuberculosis among the children and to find a strategy for the improvement of the results. Methods: It's a retrospective study from 2002 to 2015, dealing with pediatric patients' records from whom a bacteriological diagnosis was requested. We took advantage of the methods used on the laboratory to establish a diagnosis: microscopy, culture, study of the susceptibility to the tuberculosis drugs in solid medium and molecular biology. Results: From 2002 to 2015, only 207 strains were isolated from the children samples, aged from 0 to 15 years predominantly female sex (sex ratio is 0.53) with an average age of 9 years. The detailed results of the diagnosis methods of tuberculosis and the drugs resistance will be presented. Conclusions: Tuberculosis in children is often undiagnosed or difficult to diagnose, most developing countries still using ancient methods which can recognize only the developed tuberculosis. It's necessary to evaluate the issue's importance in order to improve the diagnosis conditions (systematic culture and susceptibility test in children), and to ensure the availability of the effective treatment (the pediatric formulation of the essential drugs)

Electrochemical depositions of fluorohydroxyapatite doped by Cu2+, Zn2+, Ag+ on stainless steel substrates

International audienceFluoridated hydroxyapatite (FHA, Ca-10(PO4)(6)(OH)(2-x)F-x where 0 < x < 2 is the degree of fluoridation) and inorganic ions (Zn2+, Cu2+, Ag+) substituted fluoridated hydroxyapatite coatings (M-FHA) were deposited on the surface of medical grade 316L stainless steel samples by electrochemical deposition technique. The FHA coatings were co-substituted with antibacterial ions (Zn2+, Cu2+ or Ag+) by co-precipitation and ion-exchange methods. Characterization studies of coatings from X-ray diffraction (XRD), Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and Energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDX) showed that the obtained layers are monophase crystals FHA and did not contain any discernible crystalline impurity. The particles of all samples are of nano size that gives thin layers. The surface morphology, microstructure and Ca/P atomic ratio of the FHA coatings can be regulated by varying electrolyte temperature. This later affects the porosity of the coating surface and the chemical compositions of the deposits. Quantitative elemental analysis indicates that the copper, zinc and silver ions are incorporated into the Fluorohydroxyapatite. The antimicrobial effects of doped fluorohydroxyapatite coatings against pathogen bacterial strains Staphylococcus aureus were tested in liquid media. The results are promising and demonstrated that all doped FHA samples exhibit excellent antimicrobial activity "in vitro" against the microorganism, so the antimicrobial properties of the coatings developed are improved