Local Structure and Magnetism of FeO Maghemite Nanocrystals: The Role of Crystal Dimension.

Here we report on the impact of reducing the crystalline size on the structural and magnetic properties of γ-FeO maghemite nanoparticles. A set of polycrystalline specimens with crystallite size ranging from ~2 to ~50 nm was obtained combining microwave plasma synthesis and commercial samples. Crystallite size was derived by electron microscopy and synchrotron powder diffraction, which was used also to investigate the crystallographic structure.

Magnetic Hysteresis in Nanocomposite Films Consisting of a Ferromagnetic AuCo Alloy and Ultrafine Co Particles.

One fundamental requirement in the search for novel magnetic materials is the possibility of predicting and controlling their magnetic anisotropy and hence the overall hysteretic behavior. We have studied the magnetism of Au:Co films (~30 nm thick) with concentration ratios of 2:1, 1:1, and 1:2, grown by magnetron sputtering co-deposition on natively oxidized Si substrates. They consist of a AuCo ferromagnetic alloy in which segregated ultrafine Co particles are dispersed (the fractions of Co in the AuCo alloy and of segregated Co increase with decreasing the Au:Co ratio).

Current clinical applications of transthoracic three-dimensional echocardiography.

The advent of three-dimensional echocardiography (3DE) has significantly improved the impact of non-invasive imaging on our understanding and management of cardiac diseases in clinical practice. Transthoracic 3DE enables an easier, more accurate and reproducible interpretation of the complex cardiac anatomy, overcoming the intrinsic limitations of conventional echocardiography. The availability of unprecedented views of cardiac structures from any perspective in the beating heart provides valuable clinical information and new levels of confidence in diagnosing heart disease.

From molecular mechanisms of cardiac development to genetic substrate of congenital heart diseases.

Congenital heart disease is one of the most important chapters in medicine because its incidence is increasing and nowadays it is close to 1.2%. Most congenital heart disorders are the result of defects during embryogenesis, which implies that they are due to alterations in genes involved in cardiac development.

Woman, 70 years of age, affected by ALCAPA without surgical repair.

Few cases of anomalous origin of the left coronary artery from the pulmonary artery remain asymptomatic until adolescence, and it is very rare to find a patient with this disease reaching the age of 70 without having undergone any surgery. Up to now, there have been only three other cases of patients, more than 70 years of age, with this congenital heart effect described in medical literature. We report the clinical history and the cardiac morphofunctional findings of 12 years of follow-up after a very late diagnosis of anomalous origin of the left coronary artery from the pulmonary artery.