Phase organization of solvent-crystallized syndiotactic polystyrene films

Sorption and diffusion of dichloromethane vapor in the helical forms—that is, δ and γ—of syndiotactic polystyrene were investigated. The thermal transition from the δ to the γ form occurs through an intermediate mesomorphic form, also characterized by chains in helical conformation but lacking true crystalline order. The mesomorphic phase was found impermeable to the vapor at low activity, becoming permeable at higher activities. The presence of a mesomorphic phase, along with the crystalline and the amorphous forms, was suggested in the crystallized samples, too, and its fraction increases greatly going from the δ to the γ form.     

Analysis of cyclic queueing networks with parallelism and vacation

The aim of this paper is to improve the machine interference model with vacation to deal with more recent problems of the communication area. To this scope the model is extended to include parallelism in the vacation station. The underlying Markov process is analyzed and a state arrangement is found that yields an efficient matrix-analytic technique that substantially lowers down the time- and space-complexity of standard methods. A numerical example of the method effectiveness is presented, and an example of resource allocation is introduced that finds applications in the QoS management of wireless networks. The author is thankful to the anonymous referees for the improvements their comments have earned to the quality of the presentation and to the completeness of the paper. The author is thankful to Giuseppe Iazeolla, whose careful reading of the original draft of this paper led to significant improvements in its overall quality. This work was partially supported by funds from the FIRB project “Performance Evaluation of Complex Systems: Techniques Methodologies and Tools” and by the University of Roma TorVergata project on High Performance ICT Platforms.     

Genotoxic potential of TiO2 on bottlenose dolphin leukocytes

Titanium dioxide is extensively used in a variety of products, including industrial materials and cosmetics. Studies mainly performed on human cell lines and in vivo exposure on experimental animals have raised concern about the toxic effects of ultrafine titanium dioxide; however, scarce information is available about its impact on aquatic life. The aim of this article was to assess the genotoxic potential of TiO₂ (anatase and rutile) on bottlenose dolphin leukocytes. Blood samples were obtained from four male and one female specimens reared at the Adriatic SeaWorld “Oltremare” (Riccione, Italy). Leukocytes were isolated by the lyses procedure and in vitro exposed to TiO₂ in RPMI. Experimental solutions were sonicated immediately before dosing the cells. Three exposure times (4, 24 and 48 h) and three doses (20, 50 and 100 μg/ml) were tested. Genotoxicity was detected by the single-cell gel electrophoresis (or comet assay) at pH ≥ 13, assessing single/double-strand breaks and alkali-labile sites. Cytotoxicity was also detected by the Trypan blue exclusion method. Results showed that both the crystalline forms of TiO₂ were genotoxic for bottlenose dolphin leukocytes, with a statistically significant increase of DNA fragmentation after exposure to 50 and 100 μg/ml for 24 and 48 h. Although preliminary, these are the first data regarding the genetic susceptibility of toothed cetaceans toward an “emerging” pollutant, such as TiO₂ particles.     

Immobilized TiO<Subscript>2</Subscript> nanoparticles produced by flame spray for photocatalytic water remediation

Anatase/rutile mixed-phase titanium dioxide (TiO₂) photocatalysts in the form of nanostructured powders with different primary particle size, specific surface area, and rutile content were produced from the gas-phase by flame spray pyrolysis (FSP) starting from an organic solution containing titanium (IV) isopropoxide as Ti precursor. Flame spray-produced TiO₂ powders were characterized by means of X-ray diffraction, Raman spectroscopy, and BET measurements. As-prepared powders were mainly composed of anatase crystallites with size ranging from 7 to 15 nm according to the synthesis conditions. TiO₂ powders were embedded in a multilayered fluoropolymeric matrix to immobilize the nanoparticles into freestanding photocatalytic membranes. The photocatalytic activity of the TiO₂-embedded membranes toward the abatement of hydrosoluble organic pollutants was evaluated employing the photodegradation of rhodamine B in aqueous solution as test reaction. The photoabatement rate of best performing membranes significantly overcomes that of membranes produced by the same method and incorporating commercial P25-TiO₂.     

Permeability spectra of Co2Z hexaferrite compacts produced via a modified aqueous co-precipitation technique

Co₂Z hexaferrite materials possess intrinsically high permeability, zero field ferromagnetic resonance values (∼1 GHz), and have their magnetic orientation in the plane perpendicular to the c-axis. These characteristics make these materials practical for applications in low to mid ultra-high frequency and L-band microwave device designs. Due to the relatively large size of elements operating within these bands, it has become important to produce large amounts of Co₂Z type hexaferrite materials. A modified co-precipitation method has been proposed to produce scalable quantities of high quality Co₂Z hexaferrite particles, at ∼24 g/L. These particles have been thoroughly characterized by vibrating sample magnetometry (VSM) and X-ray diffraction (XRD) with regard to phase purity and magnetic properties. After formation and subsequent ball milling, to achieve single domain particles on the order of 0.5–2 um, particles were oriented and pressed into compacts inside a rotating field to ensure magnetization in plane. Samples then underwent VSM, XRD, and scanning electron microscopy to determine the orientation effect. In addition, the complex permittivity and permeability of these samples were measured as a function of applied field and processing conditions. The results show strong orientation in these compacts making them practical for a variety of device applications.     

Mechanical and transport properties of highly drawn isotactic polypropylene

Quenched films of isotactic polypropylene were drawn at 110°C up to draw ratio λ = 18. The axial elastic modulus was measured as function of λ up to the highest achieved λ. The sorption and diffusion of CH₂Cl₂ at 25°C in the undrawn and drawn samples were studied. Exclusively transparent samples were used for the measurement of the density and transport properties. This reduces the maximum usable draw ratio to 15. The drawing process is inhomogeneous with neck propagation. In the neck the draw ratio increases by about 6. As a consequence of the increasing fraction of taut tie molecules the axial elastic modulus increases faster than the draw ratio. The transport parameters D, S, and λ indicate that the original lamellar morphology is completely transformed into the microfibrillar structure.     

Phytochemical Characterization of Olea europaea L. Cultivars of Cilento National Park (South Italy) through NMR-Based Metabolomics

Olea europaea germplasm is constituted by a huge number of cultivars, each one characterized by specific features. In this context, endemic cultivars evolved for a very long period in a precise local area, developing very specific traits. These characteristics include the production and accumulation of phytochemicals, many of which are also responsible for the nutraceutical value of the drupes and of the oils therefrom. With the aim of obtaining information on the phytochemical profile of drupes of autochthonous cultivars of Cilento, Vallo di Diano and Alburni National Park, a metabolomics-based study was carried out on 19 selected cultivars. Multivariate data analysis of ¹H-NMR data and 2D NMR analyses allowed the rapid identification of metabolites that were qualitatively and/or quantitatively varying among the cultivars. This study allowed to identify the cultivars Racioppella, Guglia, Pizzulella, Oliva amara, and Racioppa as the richest in health-promoting phenolic compounds. Furthermore, it showed a significant variability among the different cultivars, suggesting the possibility of using metabolic fingerprinting approaches for cultivar differentiation, once that further studies aimed at assessing the influence of growing conditions and environmental factors on the chemical profiles of single cultivars are carried out.     

A general framework for the construction of piecewise-polynomial local interpolants of minimum degree

In this paper we consider the problem of designing piecewise polynomial local interpolants of non-uniformly spaced data. We provide a constructive approach that, for any assigned degree of polynomial reproduction, continuity order, and support width, allows for generating the fundamental spline functions of minimum degree having the desired properties. Finally, the proposed construction is extended to handle open sets of data and to the case of multiple knots.     

On network form and function

Moving from the observation that drainage network configurations minimizing total energy dissipation are stationary solutions of the general equation describing landscape evolution, we review theoretical and observational evidence on river patterns and their scale-invariant structure. Exact results complemented by numerical annealing of the basic equation in the presence of additive noise suggest that configurations at (or very close to) the global minimum of energy dissipation differ from dynamically accessible states, which have rather different scaling properties and conform much better to natural forms. Thus we argue that, at least in the fluvial landscape, Nature works through imperfect searches for dynamically accessible optimal configurations. We also show that optimal networks are spanning loopless configurations only under precise physical requirements. This is stated in a form applicable to generic networks, suggesting that other branching structures occurring in Nature (e.g. scale-free and looping) may possibly arise through optimality to selective pressures. Indeed, we show that this is the case.