Defining Distinction,or Four Good Reasons for Success: The Extraordinary Career of Renzo Piano

For 30 years, Renzo Piano has been producing distinguished buildings and delighting the world with his innovation and sensitivity. Here, Livio Sacchi attempts to tease out some of the reasons behind Piano's sustained success. Having gained an almost unparalleled international profile during the last couple of decades, a period that has been notoriously difficult for Italian architects, Piano's career has an almost mythic quality. It boasts one of the most unlikely competition wins of all time that ceded one of the most prestigious sites in the world, the Centre Pompidou in Paris, to two completely unknown architects in their late 20s. Copyright © 2007 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Light-Induced Activation of a Specific Type-5 Metabotropic Glutamate Receptor Antagonist in the Ventrobasal Thalamus Causes Analgesia in a Mouse Model of Breakthrough Cancer Pain

Breakthrough cancer pain (BTcP) refers to a sudden and transient exacerbation of pain, which develops in patients treated with opioid analgesics. Fast-onset analgesia is required for the treatment of BTcP. Light-activated drugs offer a novel potential strategy for the rapid control of pain without the typical adverse effects of systemic analgesic drugs. mGlu5 metabotropic glutamate receptor antagonists display potent analgesic activity, and light-induced activation of one of these compounds (JF-NP-26) in the thalamus was found to induce analgesia in models of inflammatory and neuropathic pain. We used an established mouse model of BTcP based on the injection of cancer cells into the femur, followed, 16 days later, by systemic administration of morphine. BTcP was induced by injection of endothelin-1 (ET-1) into the tumor, 20 min after morphine administration. Mice were implanted with optic fibers delivering light in the visible spectrum (405 nm) in the thalamus or prelimbic cortex to locally activate systemically injected JF-NP-26. Light delivery in the thalamus caused rapid and substantial analgesia, and this effect was specific because light delivery in the prelimbic cortex did not relieve BTcP. This finding lays the groundwork for the use of optopharmacology in the treatment of BTcP.     

Thermodynamic and dynamic fragility in metallic glass-formers

This paper focuses on the study of glasses using models of thermodynamic and transport properties (e.g. heat capacity, viscosity and liquid fragility) for various alloys in comparison with organic and inorganic substances. The work attempts to identify possible correlations and trends in these properties which can relate to indicators of melt fragility for metallic glasses. The ratio of the specific heat integral between selected temperatures gives only a rough indication of the fragility behaviour. More insight is gained by considering the thermodynamic fragility index derived from the potential energy landscape model having either a hyperbolic or Gaussian distribution of energy minima. The Wang–Angell–Richert correlation holds for some metallic glasses. Deviations from it help in identifying hidden transitions in the liquid state.     

Surface tension and viscosity of industrial alloys from parabolic flight experiments — Results of theThermoLab project

The surface tension and the viscosity of a series of industrial alloys have been measured by the oscillating drop technique with an electromagnetic levitation device under reduced gravity conditions in several parabolic flights. It was demonstrated that the 20 seconds of reduced gravity available in a parabola were sufficient for melting, heating into the liquid phase, and cooling to solidification of typically 7 mm diameter metallic specimen. The surface tension and the viscosity were obtained from the frequency and the damping time constant of the oscillation which were evaluated from the temperature signal of a highresolution pyrometer. Alloys processed included steels, Ni-based superalloys, and Ti-alloys which were supplied by industrial partners to the project. Three to four parabolas were sufficient to obtain the surface tension and the viscosity over a large range in temperature.     

Kraft pulping of Eucalyptus nitens wood chips biotreated by Ceriporiopsis subvermispora

Eucalyptus nitens and E. globulus are wood species used in kraft pulping in Chile and Australia. Although E. nitens adapts very well to cold regions it requires more severe cooking conditions to produce bleachable kraft pulps. An attempt was made to find out whether a pre‐treatment with Ceriporiopsis subvermispora would improve its performance during kraft pulping and the pulp properties. The biotreatment of the chips carried out for a period of 15 days resulted in 13.3% lignin loss and a limited glucan degradation (2%). The pulping of biotreated samples required lower active alkali charge to reach the target kappa number compared to the control untreated sample and exhibited better pulping selectivity. The pulp yield increased by 3% and 1.5% for the pulps of 22 and 16 kappa numbers, respectively. The biotreated pulp's strength properties were improved and were similar to those of E. globulus reference pulp. Copyright © 2006 Society of Chemical Industry     

Preliminary Experimental Analysis of a CHP Hydromethane System

The aim of this paper is to present the preliminary experimental analysis results carried out on the commercial internal combustion engine set in a CHP （combined heat and power） mode, fueled by renewable hydrogen and methane mixtures. The hydrogen is produced by an alkaline electrolyser fed by a 5.8 kWp grid connected PV （photovoltaic） plant. The acceptance test conducted with hydrogen percentages ranging from 0%-10% has been carried out at partial load： 45 kW~l instead of the full power of 60 kWe~. In order to evaluate the CHP energy consumption and environmental performance （NOx and CO）, the analysis was conducted for 240 h, using a portable flue gas analyser and two mass flow meters for hydrogen and methane. Without engine parameters optimization--relative equivalence ratio （2） and spark advance--increasing hydrogen addition rate, a slight enhancement in electrical efficiency occurs. Furthermore, due to the engine control system and lower blends LHV （lower heating value）, the methane consumption decreases disproportionately to the hydrogen amount in the mixture. Finally, referring to standard operating condition, the environmental results show that using enrichment of 10%, running the engine with 18 degrees spark advance and 2 of 1.4, CO and NOx emissions are reduced by 6.3% and 27% respectively.     

An entropy driven phase transformation in a Au43.3Cu31.8Al24.9 shape-memory alloy

The 18-karat Au_43.3Cu_31.8Al_24.9 alloy displays shape memory effect. The parent phase has L2₁ structure which transforms to B2 at high temperature. The B2 phase is retained in metastable state by quenching from the B2 field. It then transforms irreversibly with an endothermic peak in Differential Scanning Calorimetry (DSC) to the stable L2₁ structure in the temperature range between 407 K and 435 K as a function of heating rate. The transformation is, therefore, entropy-driven. Details are reported on the enthalpy of transformation and its temperature dependence. The transformation is discussed with reference to the entropy content of phases as a function of temperature which counteracts austenite stability. The role of vacancy motion is outlined. A comparison is made with analogous transitions occurring in molecular substances and metallic materials.     

Soybean germ oil inhibits oxidosqualene cyclase in 3T3 fibroblasts

Soybean germ oil (SGO) could take an important place among nutraceuticals if the finding were confirmed that a daily intake of SGO helps to maintain a normal level of serum cholesterol. Adapting the rice milling technology to the soybean refining process, we achieved a rapid and efficient separation of soybean bran and cotyledon from the hypocotyle. Our soybean germ was no less than 95% hypocotyle. SGO obtained from it by typical hexane extraction was very rich in tocopherols (total content 4.35 g/kg) and phytosterols (β‐sitosterol 57.4%, Δ‐7‐stigmastenol 20.2%, Δ‐7‐avenasterol 6.8%, stigmasterol 6.2%, campesterol 5.4%, Δ‐7‐campesterol 1.2%, Δ‐5‐avenasterol 0.95%, etc.; total sterols 44.3 g/kg). The most prominent fatty acids were linoleic (56.2%), linolenic (15.5%) and oleic acid (10.6%). Although isoflavones abound in soybean germ (17.7 g/kg), only traces of them passed into the hexane extract (7 mg/kg). In murine 3T3 fibroblasts, SGO was found to reduce the incorporation of [¹⁴C]acetate into sterols, by inhibiting oxidosqualene cyclase.