Filling of mater-BI with nanoclays to enhance the biofilm rigidity

We investigated the efficacy of several nanoclays (halloysite, sepiolite and laponite) as nanofillers for Mater-Bi, which is a commercial bioplastic extensively used within food packaging applications. The preparation of Mater-Bi/nanoclay nanocomposite films was easily achieved by means of the solvent casting method from dichloroethane. The prepared bio-nanocomposites were characterized by dynamic mechanical analysis (DMA) in order to explore the effect of the addition of the nanoclays on the mechanical behavior of the Mater-Bi-based films. Tensile tests found that filling Mater-Bi with halloysite induced the most significant improvement of the mechanical performances under traction force, while DMA measurements under the oscillatory regime showed that the polymer glass transition was not affected by the addition of the nanoclay. The tensile properties of the Mater-Bi/halloysite nanotube (HNT) films were competitive compared to those of traditional petroleum plastics in terms of the elastic modulus and stress at the breaking point. Both the mechanical response to the temperature and the tensile properties make the bio-nanocomposites appropriate for food packaging and smart coating purposes. Here, we report a preliminary study of the development of sustainable hybrid materials that could be employed in numerous industrial and technological applications within materials science and pharmaceutics

Stability of halloysite, imogolite, and boron nitride nanotubes in solvent media

Inorganic nanotubes are attracting the interest of many scientists and researchers, due to their excellent application potential in different fields. Among them, halloysite and imogolite, two naturally-occurring aluminosilicate mineral clays, as well as boron nitride nanotubes have gained attention for their proper shapes and features. Above all, it is important to reach highly stable dispersion in water or organic media, in order to exploit the features of this kind of nanoparticles and to expand their applications. This review is focused on the structural and morphological features, performances, and ratios of inorganic nanotubes, considering the main strategies to prepare homogeneous colloidal suspensions in various solvent media as special focus and crucial point for their uses as nanomaterials

Automated detection of extended sources in radio maps: progress from the SCORPIO survey

Automated source extraction and parameterization represents a crucial challenge for the next-generation radio interferometer surveys, such as those performed with the Square Kilometre Array (SKA) and its precursors. In this paper we present a new algorithm, dubbed CAESAR (Compact And Extended Source Automated Recognition), to detect and parametrize extended sources in radio interferometric maps. It is based on a pre-filtering stage, allowing image denoising, compact source suppression and enhancement of diffuse emission, followed by an adaptive superpixel clustering stage for final source segmentation. A parameterization stage provides source flux information and a wide range of morphology estimators for post-processing analysis. We developed CAESAR in a modular software library, including also different methods for local background estimation and image filtering, along with alternative algorithms for both compact and diffuse source extraction. The method was applied to real radio continuum data collected at the Australian Telescope Compact Array (ATCA) within the SCORPIO project, a pathfinder of the ASKAP-EMU survey. The source reconstruction capabilities were studied over different test fields in the presence of compact sources, imaging artefacts and diffuse emission from the Galactic plane and compared with existing algorithms. When compared to a human-driven analysis, the designed algorithm was found capable of detecting known target sources and regions of diffuse emission, outperforming alternative approaches over the considered fields.Comment: 15 pages, 9 figure

Exploring the multifaceted circumstellar environment of the luminous blue variable HR Carinae

Indexación: Web of Science; Scopus.We present a multiwavelength study of the Galactic luminous blue variable HR Carinae, based on new high-resolution mid-infrared (IR) and radio images obtained with the Very Large Telescope (VLT) and the Australia Telescope Compact Array (ATCA), which have been complemented by far-infrared Herschel-Photodetector Array Camera and Spectrometer (PACS) observations and ATCA archive data. The Herschel images reveal the large-scale distribution of the dusty emitting nebula, which extends mainly to the north-east direction, up to 70 arcsec from the central star, and is oriented along the direction of the space motion of the star. In the mid-infrared images, the brightness distribution is characterized by two arcshaped structures, tracing an inner envelope surrounding the central star more closely. At radio wavelengths, the ionized gas emission lies on the opposite side of the cold dust with respect to the position of the star, as if the ionized front were confined by the surrounding medium in the north-south direction. Comparison with previous data indicates significant changes in the radio nebula morphology and in the mass-loss rate from the central star, which has increased from 6.1 × 10-6M⊙ yr-1 in 1994-1995 to 1.17 × 10-5M⊙ yr-1 in 2014. We investigate possible scenarios that could have generated the complex circumstellar environment revealed by our multiwavelength data.https://academic.oup.com/mnras/article-lookup/doi/10.1093/mnras/stw307

The MAGNEX spectrometer: results and perspectives

This article discusses the main achievements and future perspectives of theMAGNEX spectrometer at the INFN-LNS laboratory in Catania (Italy). MAGNEX is alarge acceptance magnetic spectrometer for the detection of the ions emitted innuclear collisions below Fermi energy. In the first part of the paper anoverview of the MAGNEX features is presented. The successful application to theprecise reconstruction of the momentum vector, to the identification of the ionmasses and to the determination of the transport efficiency is demonstrated byin-beam tests. In the second part, an overview of the most relevant scientificachievements is given. Results from nuclear elastic and inelastic scattering aswell as from transfer and charge exchange reactions in a wide range of massesof the colliding systems and incident energies are shown. The role of MAGNEX insolving old and new puzzles in nuclear structure and direct reaction mechanismsis emphasized. One example is the recently observed signature of the longsearched Giant Pairing Vibration. Finally, the new challenging opportunities touse MAGNEX for future experiments are briefly reported. In particular, the useof double charge exchange reactions toward the determination of the nuclearmatrix elements entering in the expression of the half-life of neutrinolessdouble beta decay is discussed. The new NUMEN project of INFN, aiming at theseinvestigations, is introduced. The challenges connected to the major technicalupgrade required by the project in order to investigate rare processes underhigh fluxes of detected heavy ions are outlined

Support Vector Motion Clustering

This work was supported in part by the Erasmus Mundus Joint Doctorate in Interactive and Cognitive Environments (which is funded by the EACEA Agency of the European Commission under EMJD ICE FPA n 2010-0012) and by the Artemis JU and the UK Technology Strategy Board through COPCAMS Project under Grant 332913

A view of recent results and perspectives on nuclear structure with MAGNEX at the INFN-LNS laboratory

An intense activity in the field of experimental, as well as theoretical, nuclear structure is ongoing at the INFN-LNS laboratory in Catania. A short overview of the main recent results is reported

Exploring how to use virtual tours to create an interactive customer remote experience

This paper investigates the use of Virtual Reality (VR) to develop virtual tour applications for marketing purposes. The aim is to explore how virtual technologies can support the creation of knowledge about a specific food product and the achievement of user engagement by a multi-sensory virtual tour of the real production site. The study provides design guidelines to create a valuable, multisensory experience by VR tours and demonstrate how the adoption of a user-driven approach, instead of a technology-driven approach, allows to achieve a positive intention to buy. The case study was represented by one of the excellences among Italian food products, the Parmigiano Reggiano (PR) cheese. The PR virtual tour was validated by a user testing campaign, involving more than 70 users: users' reactions and feedback were collected by human physiological data monitoring and questionnaires' administration. The research results demonstrated how virtual technologies could effectively help people to create a solid knowledge about a food product to support the marketing process and to form an intention to buy thanks to a better understanding of the quality of the local and traditional productions