Poly(borosiloxanes) as precursors for carbon fiber ceramic matrix composites

Ceramic matrix composites (CMCs), constituted of a silicon boron oxycarbide (SiBCO) matrix and unidirectional carbon fiber rods as a reinforcement phase, were prepared by pyrolysis of carbon fiber rods wrapped in polysiloxane (PS) or poly(borosiloxane) (PBS) matrices. The preparation of the polymeric precursors involved hydrolysis/condensation reactions of alkoxysilanes in the presence and absence of boric acid, with B/Si atomic ratios of 0.2 and 0.5. Infrared spectra of PBS showed evidence of Si-O-B bonds at 880 cm-1, due to the incorporation of the crosslinker trigonal units of BO3 in the polymeric network. X ray diffraction analyses exhibited an amorphous character of the resulting polymer-derived ceramics obtained by pyrolysis up to 1000 °C under inert atmosphere. The C/SiBCO composites showed better thermal stability than the C/SiOC materials. In addition, good adhesion between the carbon fiber and the ceramic phase was observed by SEM microscopy147151Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq

Il Fenomeno delle Dipendenze nel territorio della ASL MI 1. Dati anno 2009

Report on the state of legal and illegal substances use in the territory of the Local Healthcare Service-MI 1, Province of Milan.Il Report analizza il fenomeno delle dipendenze nella ASL Milano 1. La descrizione del fenomeno si sviluppa intorno all\u27analisi degli indicatori individuati dall\u27Osservatorio Europeo delle Dipendenze di Lisbona (OEDT): 1-uso di sostanze nella popolazione generale (questo indicatore va a rilevare i comportamenti nei confronti di alcol e sostanze psicoattive da parte della popolazione generale); 2-prevalenza d\u27uso problematico delle sostanze psicoattive; 3-domanda di trattamento degli utilizzatori di sostanze; 4-mortalit? degli utilizzatori di sostanze; 5-malattie infettive. Altri due importanti indicatori che si stanno sviluppando, e che vengono qui illustrati, sono l\u27analisi delle Schede di Dimissione Ospedaliera (SDO) e gli indicatori relativi alle conseguenza sociali dell\u27uso di droghe (criminalit? droga correlata). Inoltre sono state applicate diverse metodologie standard di stima sia per quantificare la quota parte sconosciuta di utilizzatori di sostanze che non afferiscono ai servizi, sia per identificarne alcune caratteristiche

Towards an applied metaecology

The complexity of ecological systems is a major challenge for practitioners and decision-makers who work to avoid, mitigate and manage environmental change. Here, we illustrate how metaecology – the study of spatial interdependencies among ecological systems through fluxes of organisms, energy, and matter – can enhance understanding and improve managing environmental change at multiple spatial scales. We present several case studies illustrating how the framework has leveraged decision-making in conservation, restoration and risk management. Nevertheless, an explicit incorporation of metaecology is still uncommon in the applied ecology literature, and in action guidelines addressing environmental change. This is unfortunate because the many facets of environmental change can be framed as modifying spatial context, connectedness and dominant regulating processes - the defining features of metaecological systems. Narrowing the gap between theory and practice will require incorporating system-specific realism in otherwise predominantly conceptual studies, as well as deliberately studying scenarios of environmental change.We thank FAPESP (grants 2014/10470-7 to AM, 2013/04585-3 to DL, 2013/50424-1 to TS and 2015/18790-3to LS), CNPq (Productivity Fellowships 301656/2011-8 to JAFDF,308205/2014-6 to RP, 306183/2014-5 to PIP and 307689/2014-0 to VDP), the National Science Foundation (DEB 1645137 toJGH), the Natural Sciences and Engineering Council of Canada (SJL,PPN), and the Academy of Finland (grants 257686 and 292765 toMC) for support. This work contributes to the Labex OT-Med (no.ANR-11-LABX-0061), funded by the French government throughthe A*MIDEX project (no. ANR-11-IDEX-0001-02)

Towards an applied metaecology

The complexity of ecological systems is a major challenge for practitioners and decision-makers who work to avoid, mitigate and manage environmental change. Here, we illustrate how metaecology - the study of spatial interdependencies among ecological systems through fluxes of organisms, energy, and matter - can enhance understanding and improve managing environmental change at multiple spatial scales. We present several case studies illustrating how the framework has leveraged decision-making in conservation, restoration and risk management. Nevertheless, an explicit incorporation of metaecology is still uncommon in the applied ecology literature, and in action guidelines addressing environmental change. This is unfortunate because the many facets of environmental change can be framed as modifying spatial context, connectedness and dominant regulating processes - the defining features of metaecological systems. Narrowing the gap between theory and practice will require incorporating system-specific realism in otherwise predominantly conceptual studies, as well as deliberately studying scenarios of environmental change. (C) 2019 Associacao Brasileira de Ciencia Ecologica e Conservacao. Published by Elsevier Editora Ltda.Peer reviewe

Precise lead isotope ratios measurements on Ebusus coins and on some Campanian imitations

Coin finds in Pompeii are characterised by a large amount of specimens from Ebusus e Massalia and by Campanian coins that imitate the types of those foreign productions.  Using mass spectrometry it was possible to get information useful to understand in a better way the differences between original issue and imitations; furthermore this study highlighted socio-economic reasons: on one hand, the arrival of a great deal of Ebusitan and Massalian coins in the ancient city, on the other, the need to mint imitation coins in ager vesuvianus. Data about the supply of different metals used to obtain alloys were identified and -also thanks to historical reflection- it can be considered important to discover connections between Ebusitan coinage and the people that introduced those foreign specimens and the Campanian imitations

Poly(borosiloxanes) as precursors for carbon fiber ceramic matrix composites

Ceramic matrix composites (CMCs), constituted of a silicon boron oxycarbide (SiBCO) matrix and unidirectional carbon fiber rods as a reinforcement phase, were prepared by pyrolysis of carbon fiber rods wrapped in polysiloxane (PS) or poly(borosiloxane) (PBS) matrices. The preparation of the polymeric precursors involved hydrolysis/condensation reactions of alkoxysilanes in the presence and absence of boric acid, with B/Si atomic ratios of 0.2 and 0.5. Infrared spectra of PBS showed evidence of Si-O-B bonds at 880 cm-1, due to the incorporation of the crosslinker trigonal units of BO3 in the polymeric network. X ray diffraction analyses exhibited an amorphous character of the resulting polymer-derived ceramics obtained by pyrolysis up to 1000 °C under inert atmosphere. The C/SiBCO composites showed better thermal stability than the C/SiOC materials. In addition, good adhesion between the carbon fiber and the ceramic phase was observed by SEM microscop

Fractal analysis: A new method for evaluating fetal heart rate variability

In this report we describe how the technique of "deterministic chaos" can be successfully applied to the study of fetal cardiotocography (CTG). The CTG tracings were analysed, after identification as "normal" or "pathological" by experts and by a computerised system, to evaluate the correlation dimension (D2), and the graphic analysis of the attractors which visualize the phase-space of the system that generated the signal (of the state of the underlying hypothetical system). Thanks to this analysis of the traces, it is possible to detect the existence of chaos in the system that generates a certain signal in this case the fetal heart rate. Normal CTG traces at term (37-41 wks) show a fractal dimension (D2) index ranging from 4.22 to 5.22; highly pathological CTG tracings show a D2 ranging from 2.0 to 3.09. Moreover, we introduced recurrence plots in the study of CTG, as tool for non stationary signals, working in real time. To our knowledge this is one of the first attempts to apply fractal analysis and recurrence plots in the evaluation of fetal heart rate in pregnancy, using very small data sets

SPSS data bank

The de-identified data presented here has been used for the analyses reported in the manuscript "NIGHTTIME INTENSIVE CARE UNIT DISCHARGE AND OUTCOMES: A PROPENSITY MATCHED RETROSPECTIVE COHORT STUDY", including baseline characteristics of study participants and the main clinical outcomes before propensity score matching