Guided acoustic waves, such as Lamb waves, are widely applied for material characterization, sensing of liquids and the generation of streaming in liquids. There are numerical simulation tools for the prediction of their propagation near a solid-liquid boundary but a demand for complementary measurement techniques for the validation of the simulation results remains. In this contribution it is demonstrated that light refractive vibrometry is a suitable approach for the visualization of the interaction of guided acoustic waves with liquids. For this purpose Lamb waves were excited by piezoelectric transducers on copper plates partially immersed in water. There the fundamental symmetric and antisymmetric modes are converted to compressional waves and quasi-Scholte plate waves below a frequency-thickness product of 1?MHz?mm. From the vibrometry scans the wavelengths, radiation angles and pressure amplitudes of the involved modes could be determined and thus theoretical predictions of the attenuation of the Lamb modes and the energy distribution of quasi-Scholte plate waves between the solid substrate and the liquid environment could be confirmed.

Background The study of resilient traits (RT) including self-compassion, self-forgiveness, forgiveness of others, and gratitude has garnered the attention of investigators involved in health and healthcare research (1, 2). Little is known about such RT in patients with AS, RA, and FM.Objectives To examine patient group differences in levels and mental and physical health correlates of self-compassion, self-forgiveness, forgiveness of others, and gratitude.Methods We conducted an online survey with patients attending the Gastein Healing Galleries in Bad Gastein, Austria. In this health facility, approximately 12,000 patients suffering from different diseases are treated annually. Of those, 6,465 patients were invited by email to participate anonymously. Socio-demographics and health-related variables including depression, pain, and current health status were measured in all respondents. Also measures of self-compassion, self-forgiveness, forgiveness of others, and gratitude were administered in a subset of participants.Results In total 2,017 patients responded (=31%) of which a subset of 562 patients with AS (44%), FM (38%), and RA (18%) completed measures of RT. Sex ratio (male/female) was 52%/48%, mean age 57 (SD=11) and level of education was: Elementary School 28%, Junior High School 22%, High School 20%, College 13%, and University 17%. Across patient groups, no differences emerged in levels of self-forgiveness, forgiveness of others, or gratitude (ps>.30), although FM patients reported lower levels of self-compassion compared to patients with AS and RA (p<.05). Self-compassion, self-forgiveness, forgiveness of others, and gratitude were related to depression in all three patient groups, but gratitude was the only RT that was related to depression, pain, and health across all three patient groups.Conclusion We found that only self-compassion varied across patient groups, with FM patients reporting lower levels. All RT were consistently related to depression across the three patient groups, but gratitude was also related consistently across groups to both pain and health. RT may well vary according to patient diagnoses with some traits offering more support and resilience-building to the patient than other traits. An important key for treatment support and management may be to identify which traits are most useful to encourage the development of resilience and health in specific patient groups.References [1] Sirois, F. M., Molnar, D. S., & Hirsch, J. K. (2015). Self-compassion, stress, and coping in the context of chronic illness. Self and Identity, 14(3), 334-347.[2] Liu L, Xu X, Xu N, Wang L. Disease activity, resilience and health-related quality of life in Chinese patients with rheumatoid arthritis: a multi-center, cross-sectional study. Health Qual Life Outcomes. 2017Jul24;15(1):149.Disclosure of Interests None declared

The present study examined differences between fibromyalgia patients and healthy controls on anger rumination, mental health and quality of life and tested anger rumination as a mediator of patient-control differences in mental health and quality of life. Participants were a propensity score-matched sample of 58 fibromyalgia patients and 58 healthy controls. Participants completed measures of anger rumination, depression and anxiety and quality of life. Patients were higher than controls on all anger rumination scales and depression and anxiety and lower on quality of life. All anger rumination scales were related to poorer mental health and quality of life. Patient-control differences on mental health and quality of life were mediated by anger rumination. In multiple mediator models, the only subscale with unique mediating effects was anger memories. Anger rumination has potent associations with mental health and quality of life, and differences between patients and controls on mental health and quality of life are partially mediated by differences in anger rumination. Addressing tendencies to ruminate on anger experiences in the care of fibromyalgia patients may offer an important avenue to improved health and quality of life. © 2019 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

The development of visible-light-mediated allylation of unactivated sp3 C-H bonds is reported. The remote allylation was directed by the amidyl radical, which was generated by photocatalytic fragmentation of a pre-functionalized amide precursor. Both aromatic and aliphatic amide derivatives could successfully deliver the remote C-H allylation products in good yields. A variety of electron deficient allyl sulfone systems could be used as d-carbon radical acceptor.

What Americas Cup and a heritage building have in common They both aim at innovative technologies and cutting-edge solutions. The owner of the project, an ex-crew member of the most famous sailing match race in the world, pushed the planning team to develop extraordinary solutions for his house. The house, Villa Castelli, is an historical listed building located on the Como lake. During its history, it has been transformed many times, giving as results a non-uniform structure composed by different construction technologies. The aims of the owner were: an overall refurbishment particularly focused on energy efficiency, the exploitation of renewable energy sources based on-site production and a fixed budget. To reach these goals, the energy needs have been reduced improving the performance of the thermal envelope. Then, the building’s technical systems have been re-developed in order to exploit as much as possible available renewable energy sources. From the very beginning, it was clear that, for finding optimal solutions, a multidisciplinary approach was necessary. The design approach should be the result of a shared approach integrating different fields, such as creative design, technology, knowledge of material properties, building physics. The great synergy among building envelope retrofitting, innovative technological solutions and the deployment of renewable energy sources allows the transformation of this historical listed building into an outstanding example of a nearly zero energy building (nZEB).

Research and development of high thermal insulation materials for the construction sector requires an accurate characterization of the wall's performance, since that is the main causes of thermal exchanges between the internal and external boundaries. This paper presents a test procedure developed within the EU Project EFFESUS for evaluating the steady-state thermal performance of a masonry wall. A large-scale mock-up of the inhomogeneous wall was tested in a guarded hot box (GHB) apparatus before and after the application of an aerogel-based material. The methodology proposed in this paper is structured in the following steps: (i) definition of the wall geometry and the percentage of stone and mortar, using walls’ photographic records and geometrical surveys; (ii) precise thermal characterization of the material used; (iii) hygrothermal assessment procedure based on infrared technology (IRT) survey, gravimetric test, and monitoring of the internal relative humidity (RH); (iv) steady-state and dynamic thermal simulation; and (v) detailed set-up of the test using the data retrieved from the thermal surveys and simulations. According to the results of IRT surveys and the dynamic simulations, the mock-up was divided into thermal homogeneous parts, verifying the uniformity of the surface temperature and the heat flux in an isothermal area. This approach was validated both for low and high energy performance walls. Results show that the thermal flux was reduced to one third after the application of the aerogel.