Role of the deposition parameters and aging on the optical and photoluminescence properties of C70 films

We have investigated the influence of the growth parameters (substrate temperature and deposition rate) and the aging process on the optical properties of C₇₀ thin films, by means of absorption and photoluminescence spectra. The Urbach energy, obtained from the absorption spectra, indicates that the substrate temperature influences the film optical properties more than the deposition rate. The luminescence spectra suggest the important role of the disorder in the radiative efficiency. The main structures of the emission spectra have been assigned to an intramolecular polaron-exciton. The analysis of the temperature dependence of the photoluminescence spectra of the as-deposited samples shows that the vibronic transitions are dominant at low temperature, whereas the singlet purely electronic recombination (due to Frenkel-type exciton) is visible at a sufficiently high temperature. On the contrary, in the aged samples this purely electronic transition is well resolved from low to high temperature. This anomalous behaviour is discussed and attributed to the disorder introduced in the film.     

Insights into Intra-Tumoral Heterogeneity: Transcriptional Profiling of Chemoresistant MPM Cell Subpopulations Reveals Involvement of NFkB and DNA Repair Pathways and Contributes a Prognostic Signature

Chemoresistance is a hallmark of malignant pleural mesothelioma (MPM) management and the expression of ALDH1A3 is responsible for the survival and activity of MPM chemoresistant cell subpopulations (ALDH^bright cells). We enriched mesothelioma ALDH^bright cells to near homogeneity by FACS sorting and an Aldefluor assay and performed unbiased Affymetrix gene expression profiling. Viability and ELISA assays were used to rule out significant apoptosis in the sorted cell subpopulations and to assess target engagement by butein. Statistical analysis of the results, pathway enrichment and promoter enrichment were employed for the generation of the data. Q-RTPCR was used to validate a subset of the identified, modulated mRNAs In this work, we started from the observation that the mRNA levels of the ALDH1A3 isoform could prognostically stratify MPM patients. Thus, we purified MPM ALDH^bright cells from NCI-H2595 cells and interrogated their gene expression (GES) profile. We analyzed the GES of the purified cells at both a steady state and upon treatment with butein (a multifunctional tetrahydroxy-chalcone), which abates the ALDH^bright cell number, thereby exerting chemo-sensitizing effects in vitro and in vivo. We identified 924 genes modulated in a statistically significant manner as a function of ALDH status and of the response to the inhibitor. Pathway and promoter enrichment identified the molecular determinant of high ALDH status and how butein treatment altered the molecular portrait of those chemoresistant cell subpopulations. Further, we unraveled an eighteen-gene signature with high prognostic significance for MPM patients, and showed that most of the identified prognostic contributors escaped the analysis of unfractionated samples. This work proves that digging into the unexplored field of intra-tumor heterogeneity (ITH) by working at the cell subpopulation level may provide findings of prognostic relevance, in addition to mechanistic insights into tumor resistance to therapy.     

A Birkhoff interpolation problem and application

A Birkhoff interpolation problem is studied. The explicit solution and estimation of remainder is given. The cases of equidistant and Chebyshev nodes are considered. This problem is of interest in collocation methods of boundary value problem (Costabile and Napoli in Far East J. Appl. Math. 25(3):289–305, 2006; Costabile and Longo in Applied and Industrial Mathematics in Italy III, 2009, in press). In addition an application to quadrature is given.     

A comprehensive investigation of dye–chitosan blended films for green chemistry applications

In this paper, the ability of chitosan film to remove dyestuff from wastewater was evaluated for environmental applications, using three commercial direct azo dyes. Two chitosan films were adopted: the standard one prepared following a well‐known procedure to form it, and a novel one, with a weakly acidic character. Moreover, to improve the adsorption process, the hydrophobic character of the films was investigated. The pH of the dye solutions was also changed, showing an excellent ability in dye removal at pH 12. The films were characterized by means of spectroscopic and morphologic methods to better understand the nature of interactions between dyes and chitosan chains. Swelling ratio measurements were also performed. All analyses suggest that all dyes showed a strong affinity to chitosan polymer chains, with the presence of extended hydrogen bonds and Van der Waals forces perturbing the chitosan network. Interestingly, very good results were obtained in recycling experiments related to the dyeing capacities of chitosan blended films in the presence of textiles. An ecofriendly application is thus presented in this paper. © 2017 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Appl. Polym. Sci. 2018 , 135, 45945.     

Structural properties and self-activated photoluminescence emissions in hydroxyapatite with distinct particle shapes

The understanding on defect-related photoluminescence (PL) properties of hydroxyapatite (HA) particles has a fundamental importance in the technological field for the development of new non-toxic biomedical and optical devices. However, the mechanisms responsible for this intrinsic PL in HA are not completely elucidated in the literature yet. In the present paper, stoichiometric and calcium-deficient HA nano- and micro-particles were synthesized by chemical precipitation. The influence of structural and morphological features on the intrinsic PL and electronic structure of this material were investigated by varying the addition rate of the phosphate precursor (0.15, 7.00 or 600.00 mL/min) and pH (4.5–5.0 or 9.5–10.0) value adopted in the precipitation. The results indicated that the structural order at long- and short-range varied with the synthesis conditions and particle shapes (rods, needles, plates, and rices). The blue and green PL emissions were attributed to defects (bulk, surface and interface) in the samples. These defects promoted the formation of additional energy levels within the band gap, as revealed by using two distinct excitation wavelengths for photoemission measurements. The energies of these wavelengths (~ 3.54 and ~ 2.98 eV at 350 and 415 nm, respectively) were lower than the band gap energies of HA samples (from 5.59 to 5.72 eV). A general model was proposed to explain the occurrence of self-activated PL in HA structure.     

Thin‐film nanostructure and polymer architecture in semicrystalline syndiotactic poly(p‐methylstyrene)–(cis‐1,4‐polybutadiene) multiblock copolymers

The thin‐film morphology of stereoregular syndiotactic poly(p‐methylstyrene)–(cis‐1,4‐polybutadiene) (sP(pMS–B)) multiblock copolymers has been investigated using tapping mode atomic force microscopy with variation of the polymer composition and monomer block lengths. The morphology of the thin films ranges from isolated circular domains of sP(pMS) embedded into a matrix of polybutadiene (PB) to isolated domains of PB embedded into a matrix of sP(pMS), passing through bicontinuous (jagged) lamellae when the pMS concentration is in the range 20–67 mol%. Multiple folding of the polymer segments, i.e. where reciprocal inclusions of polymer segments to each other phase are able to generate greater domain, has been postulated and validated by considerations on the polymer architecture and the thermal and crystalline behaviour. © 2019 Society of Chemical Industry     

Diesel particulate traps regenerated by catalytic combustion

The development of catalytic means for the regeneration of particulate-laden traps for diesel exhaust cleaning is the main topic of this paper. All the steps of the catalytic trap preparation are dealt with, including: the synthesis and choice of the proper catalyst and trap materials, the development ofin situ catalyst deposition, and the bench testing of the derived catalytic traps. Two different traps were considered (i.e., silicon carbide and cordierite wallflow monoliths operating via a shallow-bed filtration mechanism), whereas the best catalyst selected was the perovskite LaCr_0.9O₃. The filtration efficiency and the pressure drops of the catalytic and non-catalytic monoliths were evaluated on a diesel engine bench under various operating conditions. On the basis of the obtained results the catalysed SiC converter was found to be the most satisfactory converter to be placed on the exhaust line of the modern common rail diesel-engine cars.     

Evaluating an augmented reality interface for sailing navigation: a comparative study with a immersive virtual reality simulator

Sailing navigation is an activity that requires acquiring and processing information from the surrounding environment. The advancement of technology has enabled sailboats to have an increasing number of onboard sensors that make sailing more user-friendly. However, data provided by these sensors are still visualized on 2D digital displays that imitate traditional analog interfaces. Although these displays are strategically placed on the sailboat, the user needs to divert attention from the primary navigation task to look at them, thus spending a significant amount of cognitive resources. AR-based technologies have the potential to overcome these limitations by displaying information registered in the real environment, but there are no studies in the literature for validating the effectiveness of this technology in the field of sailing. Thus, we designed a head-mounted display AR-based interface to assist users in monitoring wind data to avoid user diversion from the primary task of sailing. We conducted a user study involving 45 participants in an Immersive Virtual Reality simulated environment. We collected objective and subjective measures to compare the AR-based interface with a traditional data visualization system. The AR-based interface outperformed the traditional data visualization system regarding reaction time, cognitive load, system usability, and user experience.

     

High-automation proofs for properties of requirements models

We describe an approach and experimental results in the application of mechanized theorem proving to software requirements analysis. Serving as the test article was the embedded controller for SAFER, a backpack propulsion system used as a rescue device by NASA astronauts. SAFER requirements were previously formalized using the prototype verification system (PVS) during a NASA pilot project in formal methods, details of which appear in a NASA guidebook. This paper focuses on the formulation and proof of properties for the SAFER requirements model. To test the prospects for deductive requirements analysis, we used the PVS theorem prover to explore the upper limits of proof automation. A set of property classes was identified, with matching proof schemes later devised. After developing several PVS proof strategies (essentially prover macros), we obtained fully automatic proofs of 42 model properties. These results demonstrate how customized prover strategies can be used to automate moderate-complexity theorem proving for state machine models.