Search results for "r process"

Preparation and Characterization of Gold Nanorods Coated with Gellan Gum and Lipoic Acid

2020

Gold nanorods (AuNRs) can combine therapeutic hyperthermia with diagnostic features, representing a smart choice to address personalized cancer treatments. In this regard, a crucial quest is the selection of the right biocompatible coating agent able to stabilize them in the physiological environment, further endowing the possibility to load bioactive molecules and/or targeting moieties. Therefore, AuNRs optical properties can be successfully merged with advantageous materials features to obtain selective photothermal therapy (PTT) systems. Here, the natural materials lipoic acid (LA) and the polysaccharide gellan gum (GG) were chosen to prepare three types of stabilized gold nanorods, usin…

Novel Methodologies to Model Charge Transport in Metal-Air Batteries

2018

A Simplified Analytical Approach for Optimal Planning of Distributed Generation in Electrical Distribution Networks

2019

DG-integrated distribution system planning is an imperative issue since the installing of distributed generations (DGs) has many effects on the network operation characteristics, which might cause significant impacts on the system performance. One of the most important characteristics that mostly varies because of the installation of DG units is the power losses. The parameters affecting the value of the power losses are number, location, capacity, and power factor of the DG units. In this paper, a new analytical approach is proposed for optimally installing DGs to minimize power loss in distribution networks. Different parameters of DG are considered and evaluated in order to achieve a hig…

Energy planning methodology of net-zero energy solar neighborhoods in the Mediterranean basin

2016

The article proposes a simplified methodology to optimize solar energy gains at district level in the Mediterranean area toward the achievement of the net-zero energy district target, to be applicable as well in similar hot climates. The approach includes a wide use of parametric analysis to explore the most impactful aspects of the design of solar net-zero energy districts: single unit shape, building mutual distances, road shape, building orientation, photovoltaics area availability to identify the optimal design solution. Thirty-two different district configurations are explored: results show that in the Mediterranean context, it is possible to reach the net-zero energy district target i…

Assessment of the Pressure Level over Lentic Waterbodies through the Estimation of Land Uses in the Catchment and Hydro-Morphological Alterations: Th…

2021

The features of lentic waterbodies largely depend on the surrounding environment. Mediterranean coastal lagoons have been historically altered, with their catchment being highly modified for agricultural, livestock, or urban uses. Changes in land uses induce pressures that impact the waterbodies and alter their ecological status. The objectives of this paper were: to develop a methodological approach (LUPLES: Land Uses for estimating Pressure Levels to approach the Ecological Status), to quantify the main pressures on the waterbodies and to forecast the possible impacts of these pressures on their ecological status. Corine-Land Cover maps and Geographic Information System technics were used…

Application of minidisk infiltrometer to estimate water repellency in Mediterranean pine forest soils

2017

Assessment of soil water repellency (SWR) was conducted in the decomposed organic floor layer (duff) and in the mineral soil layer of two Mediterranean pine forests, one in Italy and the other in Spain, by the widely-used water drop penetration time (WDPT) test and alternative indices derived from infiltration experiments carried out by the minidisk infiltrometer (MDI). In particular, the repellency index (RI) was calculated as the adjusted ratio between ethanol and water soil sorptivities whereas the water repellency cessation time (WRCT) and the specifically proposed modified repellency index (RIm) were derived from the hydrophobic and wettable stages of a single water infiltration experi…

Model calculations of ion transport against its concentration gradient when the driving force is a pH difference across a charged membrane

1997

Model calculations of the steady-state ion transport against its external concentration gradient when the driving force of this transport is a pH difference across a charged membrane are presented. We have solved numerically the exact Nernst-Planck equations without any additional simplifying approximation, such as the Goldman constant field assumption within the membrane. The validity of this assumption for a broad range of pH values, and salt and membrane fixed charge concentrations was analyzed critically. The membrane characteristics studied are the ionic fluxes and the membrane potential. Special attention is paid to the physical mechanism which leads to the ion transport against the c…

A Sensitive Nanosensor for the In Situ Detection of the Cannibal Drug.

2020

[EN] A bio-inspired nanodevice for the selective and sensitive fluorogenic detection of 3,4- methylenedioxypyrovalerone (MDPV), usually known as Cannibal drug, is reported. The sensing nanodevice is based on mesoporous silica nanoparticles (MSNs), loaded with a fluorescent reporter (rhodamine B) and functionalized on their external surface with a dopamine derivative (3), which specifically interacts with the recombinant human dopamine transporter (DAT), capping the pores. In the presence of MDPV, DAT detaches from the MSNs consequently causing rhodamine B release and allowing drug detection. The nanosensor shows a detection limit of 5.2 µM and it is able to detect the MDPV drug both in sali…

FLUCTUATIONS IN LIPID BILAYERS: ARE THEY UNDERSTOOD?

2013

We review recent computer simulation studies of undulating lipid bilayers. Theoretical interpretations of such fluctuating membranes are most commonly based on generalized Helfrich-type elastic models, with additional contributions of local "protrusions" and/or density fluctuations. Such models provide an excellent basis for describing the fluctuations of tensionless bilayers in the fluid phase at a quantitative level. However, this description is found to fail for membranes in the gel phase and for membranes subject to high tensions. The fluctuations of tilted gel membranes show a signature of the modulated ripple structure, which is a nearby phase observed in the pretransition regime betw…

The Effect of Pesticides on the Tomato Bacterial Speck Disease Pathogen Pseudomonas Syringae pv. Tomato

2020

A significant part of the used pesticides does not reach the target organisms and, while remaining in the agrophytocenosis, influences all living organisms in it. Having a toxic and often mutagenic effect, pesticides induce morphological and physiological changes in the cells of microorganisms and are the cause of phenotypic heterogeneity of their populations. However, the effect of pesticides on phytopathogenic bacteria as non-target microorganisms remains out of the field of view for most researchers. However, the use of pesticides can lead to expansion of the diversity of existing phytopathogens and, as a consequence, complications of identification of the pathogens, loss of resistance b…