In this paper we provide evidence that the Cassie-to-Wenzel transition, despite its detrimental effects on the wetting properties of superhydrophobic surfaces, can be exploited as an effective ...micro-fabrication strategy to obtain highly ordered arrays of biological objects. To this purpose we fabricated a patterned surface wetted in the Cassie state, where we deposited a droplet containing genomic DNA. We observed that, when the droplet wets the surface in the Cassie state, an array of DNA filaments pinned on the top edges between pillars is formed. Conversely, when the Cassie-to-Wenzel transition occurs, DNA can be pinned at different height between pillars. These results open the way to the realization of tridimensional arrays of biological objects.
GaAs/AlGaAs photonic crystal waveguides with unconventional tilted-square lattices and different filling factors are fully investigated by means of variable angle reflectance spectroscopy, which ...yields the photonic band dispersion, and theoretical calculation of both reflectance spectra and photonic band structure.
Porphyrins coated ZnO is an interesting material where the exposure to light and gas may cooperate to modulate the respective sensitivities. In this work, the gas sensing properties of porphyrins ...functionalized laterally grown ZnO nanorods are introduced. The porphyrin layer incompletely coats the semiconductor surface in order to keep both ZnO and porphyrins in contact with analyte. It is known that UV light may prompt the chemical sensitivity of ZnO replacing the high temperature condition. Here we demonstrate that because of the photo-injection of electrons from porphyrin to the ZnO, the same impact could be acquired with visible light.
To determine the accuracy of the UA-787 oscillometric blood pressure monitor developed by the A&D Company.
Evaluation of the UA-787 was performed using the new protocol of the European Society of ...Hypertension. The performance of the monitor was assessed in relation to the subjects' gender, age, skinfold thickness, arm circumference, body mass index and elasticity index of large (C1) and small (C2) arteries.
The UA-787 monitor was assessed according to European Society of Hypertension requirements, which are based on four zones of accuracy differing from the mercury standard by 5, 10, 15 mmHg, or more. In all subjects (n=33), indices of large-artery elasticity (C1) and small-artery elasticity (C2) were measured with the HDI/Pulsewave CR-2000 Research Cardiovascular Profiling System.
The UA-787 passed all three phases of the protocol for both systolic and diastolic blood pressure. The mean blood pressure difference between device and the observers was 1.0+/-5.3 mmHg for systolic pressure, and 0.7+/-5.3 mmHg for diastolic pressure. In univariate analysis, the discrepancy between device and the observers was related to forearm circumference (P=0.02) for systolic pressure. For diastolic blood pressure, a significant relationship was found only for heart rate (P<0.01). However, in a multivariable regression analysis no clinical variable was an independent predictor of device-observer discrepancy. In particular, the performance of the UA-787 appeared to be uniform across the whole range of C1 and C2.
These data show that the A&D UA-787 device satisfies the new recommended European Society of Hypertension accuracy levels for both systolic and diastolic pressure. Its performance is uniform across sub-groups of subjects with different clinical characteristics.
Progress on the fabrication of zone plates for hard X-rays is reported. The issue of achieving a high aspect ratio for lithographic structures has been addressed by developing a specific fabrication ...protocol based on the combined use of electron beam and proximity X-ray lithography. An example of a 1 mm diameter wide zone plate, optimized for a 23 keV X-ray beam, is presented, showing an aspect ratio of the outermost zone of up to 10. The most critical steps of the fabrication process are discussed on the basis of the results.
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