Mechanical behaviour with temperatures of aluminum matrix composites with CNTs

Aluminum is a very useful structural metal employed in different industrial sectors, in particular it is used in large quantities in automotive, aeronautic and nautical industries. The main reasons of its wide use are: a very good oxidation resistance, excellent ductility, low melting temperature (660 °C) and low density (2.71 g/cm3). However, in order to reduce the emissions and fuel consumption is necessary to reduce the overall weight of vehicles by increasing mechanical properties of the structural material. The improvement of mechanical properties is normally achieved through use of reinforcement in materials, used like matrix, in order to improve some specific characteristics. In this work composites of carbon nanotubes (CNTs) dispersed in aluminum were made. The most difficulties in the preparation of this type of composite are represented by the low wettability between metallic matrix and fillers and the possibility of the oxidation of metal during melting with consequent decreasing of mechanical proprieties. The composite was obtained by three consecutive step: the first one is the functionalization of fillers surface to improve the fillers dispersion, the second one is the dispersion of fillers in the matrix by powder mixing and the third one is the melting and casting of the mix prepared. In particular, fillers used are multi walled carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs) with functionalized surface by treatment with a solfonitric solution. Melting and casting are carried out with the aid of an induction furnace with a controlled atmosphere system and centrifugal casting. Argon is the inert gas used to prevent the oxidation of aluminium during fusion. Young’s modulus was evaluated at different temperature and correlated with the different CNTs percentage. The dispersion rate of fillers and the microstructure of the sample were evaluated by FESEM micrograph

Clinical potential of necitumumab in non-small cell lung carcinoma

Despite significant progress, new therapeutic approaches for advanced non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) are highly needed, particularly for the treatment of patients with squamous cell carcinoma. The epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) is often overexpressed in NSCLC and represents a relevant target for specific treatments. Although EGFR mutations are more frequent in non-squamous histology, the receptor itself is more often overexpressed in squamous NSCLC. Necitumumab is a human monoclonal antibody that is able to inhibit the EGFR pathway and cause antibody-dependent cell cytotoxicity. This drug has been studied in combination with first-line chemotherapy for advanced NSCLC in two Phase III trials, and a significant survival benefit was reported in squamous NSCLC (SQUIRE trial); by contrast, necitumumab did not prove itself beneficial in non-squamous histotype (INSPIRE trial). On the basis of the SQUIRE results, necitumumab was approved in combination with cisplatin and gemcitabine as a first-line treatment for advanced squamous NSCLC, both in the US and Europe, where its availability is limited to patients with EGFRexpressing tumors. The aim of this review is to describe the tolerability and the efficacy of necitumumab by searching the available published data and define its potential role in the current landscape of NSCLC treatment

First genome-wide CNV mapping in FELIS CATUS using next generation sequencing data

BackgroundCopy Number Variations (CNVs) have becoming very significant variants, representing a major source of genomic variation. CNVs involvement in phenotypic expression and different diseases has been widely demonstrated in humans as well as in many domestic animals. However, genome wide investigation on these structural variations is still missing in Felis catus. The present work is the first CNV mapping from a large data set of Next Generation Sequencing (NGS) data in the domestic cat, performed within the 99 Lives Consortium.ResultsReads have been mapped on the reference assembly_6.2 by Maverix Biomics. CNV detection with cn.MOPS and CNVnator detected 592 CNVs. These CNVs were used to obtain 154 CNV Regions (CNVRs) with BedTools, including 62 singletons. CNVRs covered 0.26% of the total cat genome with 129 losses, 19 gains and 6 complexes. Cluster Analysis and Principal Component Analysis of the detected CNVRs showed that breeds tend to cluster together as well as cats sharing the same geographical origins. The 46 genes identified within the CNVRs were annotated.ConclusionThis study has improved the genomic characterization of 14 cat breeds and has provided CNVs information that can be used for studies of traits in cats. It can be considered a sound starting point for genomic CNVs identification in this species.Peer reviewe

Precise pose estimation of the NASA Mars 2020 Perseverance rover through a stereo-vision-based approach

Visual Odometry (VO) is a fundamental technique to enhance the navigation capabilities of planetary exploration rovers. By processing the images acquired during the motion, VO methods provide estimates of the relative position and attitude between navigation steps with the detection and tracking of two-dimensional (2D) image keypoints. This method allows one to mitigate trajectory inconsistencies associated with slippage conditions resulting from dead-reckoning techniques. We present here an independent analysis of the high-resolution stereo images of the NASA Mars 2020 Perseverance rover to retrieve its accurate localization on sols 65, 66, 72, and 120. The stereo pairs are processed by using a 3D-to-3D stereo-VO approach that is based on consolidated techniques and accounts for the main nonlinear optical effects characterizing real cameras. The algorithm is first validated through the analysis of rectified stereo images acquired by the NASA Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity, and then applied to the determination of Perseverance's path. The results suggest that our reconstructed path is consistent with the telemetered trajectory, which was directly retrieved onboard the rover's system. The estimated pose is in full agreement with the archived rover's position and attitude after short navigation steps. Significant differences (~10–30 cm) between our reconstructed and telemetered trajectories are observed when Perseverance traveled distances larger than 1 m between the acquisition of stereo pairs

The Effect of Hot Gas in WMAP's First Year Data

By cross-correlating templates constructed from the 2 Micron All Sky Survey (2MASS) Extended Source (XSC) catalogue with WMAP's first year data, we search for the thermal Sunyaev-Zel'dovich signature induced by hot gas in the local Universe. Assuming that galaxies trace the distribution of hot gas, we select regions on the sky with the largest projected density of galaxies. Under conservative assumptions on the amplitude of foreground residuals, we find a temperature decrement of -35 $\pm$ 7 $\mu$K ($\sim 5\sigma$ detection level, the highest reported so far) in the $\sim$ 26 square degrees of the sky containing the largest number of galaxies per solid angle. We show that most of the reported signal is caused by known galaxy clusters which, when convolved with the average beam of the WMAP W band channel, subtend a typical angular size of 20--30 arcmins. Finally, after removing from our analyses all pixels associated with known optical and X-ray galaxy clusters, we still find a tSZ decrement of -96 $\pm$ 37 $\mu$K in pixels subtending about $\sim$ 0.8 square degrees on the sky. Most of this signal is coming from five different cluster candidates in the Zone of Avoidance (ZoA), present in the Clusters In the ZoA (CIZA) catalogue. We found no evidence that structures less bound than clusters contribute to the tSZ signal present in the WMAP data.Comment: 10 pages, 4 figures, matches accepted version in ApJ Letter

Hierarchical progressive surveys. Multi-resolution HEALPix data structures for astronomical images, catalogues, and 3-dimensional data cubes

Scientific exploitation of the ever increasing volumes of astronomical data requires efficient and practical methods for data access, visualisation, and analysis. Hierarchical sky tessellation techniques enable a multi-resolution approach to organising data on angular scales from the full sky down to the individual image pixels. Aims. We aim to show that the Hierarchical progressive survey (HiPS) scheme for describing astronomical images, source catalogues, and three-dimensional data cubes is a practical solution to managing large volumes of heterogeneous data and that it enables a new level of scientific interoperability across large collections of data of these different data types. Methods. HiPS uses the HEALPix tessellation of the sphere to define a hierarchical tile and pixel structure to describe and organise astronomical data. HiPS is designed to conserve the scientific properties of the data alongside both visualisation considerations and emphasis on the ease of implementation. We describe the development of HiPS to manage a large number of diverse image surveys, as well as the extension of hierarchical image systems to cube and catalogue data. We demonstrate the interoperability of HiPS and Multi-Order Coverage (MOC) maps and highlight the HiPS mechanism to provide links to the original data. Results. Hierarchical progressive surveys have been generated by various data centres and groups for ~200 data collections including many wide area sky surveys, and archives of pointed observations. These can be accessed and visualised in Aladin, Aladin Lite, and other applications. HiPS provides a basis for further innovations in the use of hierarchical data structures to facilitate the description and statistical analysis of large astronomical data sets.Comment: 21 pages, 6 figures. Accepted for publication in Astronomy & Astrophysic

Saturn as a radio source

Magnetospheric radio emissions, Saturn electrostatic discharges, inferred source locations, and emission theories are addressed

Parental Distress and Affective Perception of Hospital Environment after a Pictorial Intervention in a Neonatal Intensive Care Unit

Pictorial humanization is a useful intervention for the improvement of hospitalized patients' affective states. Despite benefits in many hospital wards having been well documented, so far, no attention was paid to the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU). The aim of the present study was to evaluate the levels of distress and the affective perception of the environment experienced by parents of infants hospitalized in a NICU after the implementation of an intervention of pictorial humanization. A sample of 48 parents was recruited, 25 before the intervention was performed (Control Group), and 23 after its implementation (Pictorial Humanization Group). All parents completed the "Rapid Stress Assessment Scale" and "Scales of the Affective Quality Attributed to Place" questionnaires. Despite results showing no significant differences on parental distress, after implementation of pictorial intervention parents reported a perception of the NICU as significantly more pleasant, exciting, and arousing, and less distressing, unpleasant, gloomy, and sleepy. A higher level of distress and a perception of the environment as less relaxing was predicted for the Control Group condition. The present study suggests that the pictorial intervention represents a useful technique to create more welcoming hospital environments and to reduce the negative effects associated with infant hospitalization