Background
The aims of this study were to compare the diagnostic accuracy of blood smear review criteria, by means of three different panel rules, those proposed by: the International Consensus Group ...for Hematology 41‐ICGH rules, the Italian Survey IS rules and the Working Group on Hematology‐SIBioC (WGH) consensus rules (WGH rules).
Methods
This study is based on 2707 peripheral blood (PB) samples referred for routine hematological testing to the WGH‐associated laboratories displaced all over the Italian territory. The PB samples were processed on seven different hematology analyzers (HAs): Advia 2120i, XE‐2100, BC‐6800, ABX Pentra, XN‐1000, Cell‐DYN Sapphire, and DxH800, respectively. All the results provided by the HAs were analyzed through the application of three different blood smear review criteria: that is, the 41‐ICGH, IS, and WGH rules. Finally, data were compared with those obtained by optical microscopy (OM), as the current gold standard.
Results
The overall the agreement OM classification with ICGH, IS, and WGH panel rules is 0.83, 0.83, and 0.85, respectively. The false negatives are 2.1%, 3.0%, and 2.9%, while false positives are 15.1%, 13.7%, and 11.7%, respectively. All the seven HAs showed variable interinstrument performance, as three different criteria for OM review were adopted on each of them from time to time.
Conclusion
These results presented show that the customization of validation rules is necessary for enhancing the quality of hematological testing and optimizing workflow.
A survey about history of non-fatal suicidal behaviour was performed on 1,171 subjects in the waiting room of general practitioners’ practices in the territory of Rovigo (Northern Italy). The mean ...age of interviewed subjects was 52.9 ± 17.0, with a majority of female individuals. Two and two percent admitted previous experience of non-suicidal self-injury, 4.7 % admitted having had serious suicidal thoughts/plans, and 1.8 % reported at least one suicide attempt. Compared to the rest of the sample, people with history of suicidal behaviours resulted to be of younger age (
p
< .05), whilst their level of well-being was poorer (
p
< .001). When compared to the results of the Italian arm of the European Study of the Epidemiology of Mental Disorders, carried out on general population samples, the present study produces higher rates of suicidality, despite the much higher mean age of the interviewed subjects compared to the general population.
We designed, produced, and tested RSD (Resistive AC-Coupled Silicon Detectors) devices, an evolution of the standard LGAD (Low-Gain Avalanche Diode) technology where a resistive n-type implant and a ...coupling dielectric layer have been implemented. The first feature works as a resistive sheet, freezing the multiplied charges, while the second one acts as a capacitive coupling for readout pads. We succeeded in the challenging goal of obtaining very fine pitch (50, 100, and 200 μm) while maintaining the signal waveforms suitable for high timing and 4D-tracking performances, as in the standard LGAD-based devices.
4D tracking: present status and perspectives Cartiglia, N.; Arcidiacono, R.; Costa, M. ...
Nuclear instruments & methods in physics research. Section A, Accelerators, spectrometers, detectors and associated equipment,
10/2022, Letnik:
1040
Journal Article
Recenzirano
Odprti dostop
The past ten years have seen the advent of silicon-based precise timing detectors for charged particle tracking. The underlying reason for this evolution is a design innovation: the Low-Gain ...Avalanche Diode (LGAD). In its simplicity, the LGAD design is an obvious step with momentous consequences: low gain leads to large signals maintaining sensors stability and low noise, allowing sensor segmentation. Albeit introduced for a different reason, to compensate for charge trapping in irradiated silicon sensors, LGAD found fertile ground in the design of silicon-based timing detectors. Spurred by this design innovation, solid-state-based timing detectors for charged particles are going through an intense phase of R&D, and hybrid and monolithic sensors, with or without internal gain, are being explored. This contribution offers a review of this booming field.
UHV/XHV users are increasingly demanding vacuum pumps with high performances with smaller package and weight. This requires a more efficient combination/integration of the currently available pumping ...technologies and, possibly, the development of new approaches in vacuum pumping systems. Non Evaporable Getter (NEG) pumps represent one of the most appealing option to UHV/XHV pumping, thanks to his large pumping speed and sorption capacity for several active gases (H2, H2O, CO, O2, N2, ...). NEG pumps can also reduce the pump down and bake-out time and can keep a stable pressure level in UHV conditions even if the other pumping systems are switched off. However, NEG pumps are unable to sorb, in UHV/XHV systems, the small amount of noble gases and methane which, on the other hand, can be removed by sputter ion pump (SIP). For this reason, extensive studies have been carried out to combine NEG and SIP technologies. Some results of the vacuum characterization of such combination are discussed in this work and compared with traditional pumping approaches based on large SIP. A further step forward is the NEXTorr®3 pump which is an integration of a NEG pump (pumping speed ranging between 100 to 500 l/s for hydrogen) with a SIP (pumping speed of 6 and 10 l/s for Ar and CH4 respectively) into a single small package unit. Examples of applications of this new approach in vacuum technology will be given to demonstrate the simplification of the design and operation of UHV/XHV systems.
This paper presents the principles of operation of Resistive AC-Coupled Silicon Detectors (RSDs) and measurements of the temporal and spatial resolutions using a combined analysis of laser and beam ...test data. RSDs are a new type of n-in-p silicon sensor based on the Low-Gain Avalanche Diode (LGAD) technology, where the n+ implant has been designed to be resistive, and the read-out is obtained via AC-coupling. The truly innovative feature of RSD is that the signal generated by an impinging particle is shared isotropically among multiple read-out pads without the need for floating electrodes or an external magnetic field. Careful tuning of the coupling oxide thickness and the n+ doping profile is at the basis of the successful functioning of this device. Several RSD matrices with different pad width-pitch geometries have been extensively tested with a laser setup in the Laboratory for Innovative Silicon Sensors in Torino, while a smaller set of devices have been tested at the Fermilab Test Beam Facility with a 120 GeV/c proton beam. The measured spatial resolution ranges between 2.5μm for 70–100 pad-pitch geometry and 17μm with 200–500 matrices, a factor of 10 better than what is achievable in binary read-out (binsize∕12). Beam test data show a temporal resolution of ∼40ps for 200 μm pitch devices, in line with the best performances of LGAD sensors at the same gain.
Gas sensors based on hybrid ZnPc–TiO
2 nanostructures, produced by molecules and clusters both deposited by supersonic beams, demonstrate enhanced properties in terms of sensitivity, stability and ...recovery times with respect to pure ZnPc. The hybrid sensors produced by successive deposition of the molecules and the TiO
2 clusters show the ability to detect reducing gases, such as methanol, to which the response of metal-phthalocyanines is quite poor. A mechanism based on the formation of chemical bonding, activated by the kinetic energy of the molecules and the strong reactivity of the inorganic clusters, is proposed as being at the basis of electron transfer occurring between the inorganic nanostructure and the molecule. This mechanism would explain the rise of new gas sensing properties of this novel class of nano-hybrid materials.
Mobile elements are widely present in eukaryotic genomes. They are repeated DNA segments that are able to move from one locus to another within the genome. They are divided into two main categories, ...depending on their mechanism of transposition, involving RNA (class I) or DNA (class II) molecules. The mariner-like elements are class II transposons. They encode their own transposase, which is necessary and sufficient for transposition in the absence of host factors. They are flanked by a short inverted terminal repeat and a TA dinucleotide target site, which is duplicated upon insertion. The transposase consists of two domains, an N-terminal inverted terminal repeat binding domain and a C-terminal catalytic domain. We identified a transposable element with molecular characteristics of a mariner-like element in Atta sexdens rubropilosa genome. Identification started from a PCR with degenerate primers and queen genomic DNA templates, with which it was possible to amplify a fragment with mariner transposable-element homology. Phylogenetic analysis demonstrated that this element belongs to the mauritiana subfamily of mariner-like elements and it was named Asmar1. We found that Asmar1 is homologous to a transposon described from another ant, Messor bouvieri. The predicted transposase sequence demonstrated that Asmar1 has a truncated transposase ORF. This study is part of a molecular characterization of mobile elements in the Atta spp genome. Our finding of mariner-like elements in all castes of this ant could be useful to help understand the dynamics of mariner-like element distribution in the Hymenoptera.
Organic-inorganic nano-hybrids, synthesized by supersonic molecular beams of TiO2 clusters and copper-phthalocyanine (CuPc) molecules, have been used to develop gas-sensing devices. This approach ...allows tailoring the properties of the synthesized materials and the interface between clusters and organic molecules so that new functional materials with interesting sensing properties are obtained. Two-layer hybrid devices with different architectures have been realized on alumina substrates with gold interdigitated electrodes. The hybrid films show an increase in conductivity up to a factor 6 compared to the pure CuPc depending on the architecture used. The response in terms of changes in conductivity towards non-oxidizing (methanol) species has been tested at different working temperatures. The hybrids show much higher sensitivity and stability with respect to CuPc grown with the same technique and they are already quite responsive at temperatures (75 deg C) where the nanostructured TiO2 sensors are not at all functional. We ascribe these promising performances to the contribution coming from the n-TiO2-CuPc interfaces generated by the deposition process and we envisage the ability of the supersonic beam approach to produce novel classes of nano-hybrids in a variety of functional nanostructures.
In vacuum technology, capture pumps based on Non Evaporable Getters are commonly applied to ultra-high vacuum systems. Recent improvements in the absorption of hydrogenic species, with the ...introduction of Zr–V–Ti–Al alloys (ZAO®), make them an appealing and viable solution for the application in fusion research, and in particular for the vacuum system of neutral beam injectors (hydrogen pumping speed of thousands of m3/s, pressure of tens of mPa). This paper describes the characterization of the new NEG material in pumps of increasing dimensions, including the development, construction and test of a large mockup pump of modular design, to demonstrate the scalability of the technology. Effective pumping speeds of the order of 14 m3/s or higher at a concentration of 130 Pa m3/kg were achieved by the mockup pump, for an installed getter mass of about 16 kg, and a stability within 10% up to 1300 Pa m3/kg The measured effective pumping speed per unit area of sintered disks is of the order of 3.5 m/s, corresponding to 4.9 m/s at the disk surfaces as derived from numerical simulations. General guidelines for the design of large NEG pumps for hydrogen are discussed, including thermal aspects and duty cycle of the pump.
•We give practical methodologies to predict performances of NEG material ZAO to pump large hydrogen quantities.•Role of temperature, pressure, isotope, other gases, ventings, on pumping speed are discussed.•Hydrogen regeneration is examined including role of temperature, auxiliary pumping, concentration.•Performances of modular pumps of increasing size are correlared by numerical simulations.•Design and construction of large NEG vacuum pumps for fusion is reviewed discussing key parameters.
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