New Wave Italian Style

An investigation of the long controversy around the definition of an Italian New Wave cinema of the 1960s, this essay engages (and takes issue) with the reasons behind the critics’ reluctance to recognise its existence. After establishing a theoretical and historical framework for a transnational under- standing of the phenomenon of the European and World New Waves, it offers a reasoned analysis of the multiple industrial and artistic attempts at a generational renewal of Italian cinema that were made in Italy during the 1960s. Ultimately, the essay suggests that it would not only be appropriate, but also highly productive to reconsider the vibrant and heterogeneous young Italian cinema of the 1960s under the generational and transnational New Wave label, instead of continuing to approach the decade exclusively in the light of Neorealism.

Electrochemical ammonia gas sensing in nonaqueous systems: A comparison of propylene carbonate with room temperature ffonc liquids

First, the direct and indirect electrochemical oxidation of ammonia has been studied by cyclic voltammetry at glassy carbon electrodes in propylene carbonate. In the case of the indirect oxidation of ammonia, its analytical utility of indirect for ammonia sensing was examined in the range from 10 and 100 ppm by measuring the peak current of new wave resulting from reaction between ammonia and hydroquinone, as function of ammonia concentration, giving a sensitivity 1.29 x 10(-7) A ppm(-1) (r(2)=0.999) and limit-of-detection 5 ppm ammonia. Further, the direct oxidation of ammonia has been investigated in several room temperature ionic liquids (RTILs), namely 1-butyl-3-methylimidazolium tetrafluoroborate ([C(4)mim] [BF4]), 1-butyl-3-methylimiclazolium trifluoromethylsulfonate ([C4mim] [OTf]), 1-Ethyl -3-methylimidazolium bis(trifluoromethylsulfonyl)imide ([C(2)mim] [NTf2]), 1-butyl-3-methylimidazolium bis(tritluoromethylsulfonyl)imide ([C4mim] [NTf2]) and 1-butyl-3-methylimidazolium hexafluorophosphate ([C4mim] [PF6]) on a 10 put diameter Pt microdisk electrode. In four of the RTILs studied, the cyclic voltammetric analysis suggests that ammonia is initially oxidized to nitrogen, N-2, and protons, which are transferred to an ammonia molecule, forming NH4+ via the protonation of the anion(s) (A(-)). However, in [C4mim] [PF6], the protonated anion was formed first, followed by NH4+. In all five RTILs, both HA and NH4+ are reduced at the electrode surface, forming hydrogen gas, which is then oxidized. The analytical ability of this work has also been explored further, giving a limit-of-detection close to 50 ppm in [C(2)mim] [NTf2], [C(4)mim] [OTf], [C(4)mim] [BF4], with a sensitivity of ca. 6 x 10(-7) A ppm(-1) (r(2) = 0.999) for all three ionic liquids, showing that the limit of detection was ca. ten times larger than that in propylene carbonate since ammonia in propylene carbonate might be more soluble in comparison with RTILs when considering the higher viscosity of RTILs.

Determination of ammonia based on the electro-oxidation of hydroquinone in dimethylformamide or in the room temperature ionic liquid, 1-ethyl-3-methylimidazolium bis(trifluoromethylsulfonyl)imide

The results detail a novel methodology for the electrochemical determination of ammonia based on its interaction with hydroquinone in DMF. It has been shown that ammonia reversibly removes protons from the hydroquinone molecules, thus facilitating the oxidative process with the emergence of a new wave at less positive potentials. The analytical utility of the proposed methodology has been examined with a linear range from 10 to 95 ppm and corresponding limit-of-detection of 4.2 ppm achievable. Finally, the response of hydroquinone in the presence of ammonia has been examined in the room temperature ionic liquid 1-ethyl-3-methylimidazolium bis(trifluormethylsulfonyl)imide, [EMIM][N(Tf)(2)]. Analogous voltammetric waveshapes to that observed in DMF were obtained, thereby confirming the viability of the method in either DMF or [EMIM][N(Tf)(2)] as solvent. (C) 2003 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Full-Wave Analysis of Layered Aperture Arrays

The new rigorous numerical-analytical technique based upon Galerkin method with the entire domain basis functions has been developed and applied to the study of the periodic aperture arrays containing multiple dissimilar apertures of complex shapes in stratified medium. The rapid uniform convergence of the solutions has enabled a comprehensive parametric study of complex array arrangements. The developed theory has revealed new effects of the aperture shape and layout on the array performance. The physical mechanisms underlying the TM wave resonances and Luebbers' anomaly have been explained for the first time.

Magnetically quantized continuum distorted-wave theory in atomic and molecular collisions

The continuum distorted-wave eikonal initial-state (CDW-EIS) theory of Crothers and McCann (J Phys B 1983, 16, 3229) used to describe ionization in ion-atom collisions is generalized (G) to GCDW-EIS to incorporate the azimuthal angle dependence of each CDW in the final-state wave function. This is accomplished by the analytic continuation of hydrogenic-like wave functions from below to above threshold, using parabolic coordinates and quantum numbers including magnetic quantum numbers, thus providing a more complete set of states. At impact energies lower than 25 keVu(-1), the total ionization cross-section falls off, with decreasing energy, too quickly in comparison with experimental data. The idea behind and motivation for the GCDW-EIS model is to improve the theory with respect to experiment by including contributions from nonzero magnetic quantum numbers. We also therefore incidentally provide a new derivation of the theory of continuum distorted waves for zero magnetic quantum numbers while simultaneously generalizing it. (C) 2004 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

The application of a Trous wave filtering and Monte Carlo analysis on secis 2001 solar eclipse observations

Eight thousand images of the solar corona were captured during the June 2001 total solar eclipse. New software for the alignment of the images and an automated technique for detecting intensity oscillations using multi-scale wavelet analysis were developed. Large areas of the images covered by the Moon and the upper corona were scanned for oscillations and the statistical properties of the atmospheric effects were determined. The a Trous wavelet transform was used for noise reduction and Monte Carlo analysis as a significance test of the detections. The effectiveness of those techniques is discussed in detail.

Submillimeter wave frequency selective surface with polarisation independent spectral responses

This paper reports the design, construction and electromagnetic performance of a new freestanding frequency selective surface (FSS) structure which generates coincident spectral responses for dual polarisation excitation at oblique angles of incidence. The FSS is required to allow transmission of 316.5 - 325.5 GHz radiation with a loss = 0.6 dB and to achieve = 30 dB rejection from 349.5 - 358.5 GHz. It should also exhibit crosspolarisation levels below -25 dB, all criteria being satisfied simultaneously for TE and TM polarisations at 45° incidence. The filter consists of two identical, 30 mm diameter, 12.5 ?m thick, optically flat, perforated metal screens separated by 450 ?m. Each of the ˜5000 unit cells contains two nested, short circuited, rectangular loop slots and a rectangular dipole slot. The nested elements provide a passband spectral response centred at 320 GHz in the TE and TM planes; the dipole slot increases the filter roll-off above resonance. The FSS was fabricated from silicon-on-insulator wafers using precision micromachining and plating processes including the use of Deep Reactive Ion Etching (DRIE) to pattern the individual slots and remove the substrate under the periodic arrays. Quasi–optical transmission measurements in the 250 – 360 GHz range yielded virtually identical copolarised spectral responses, with the performance meeting or exceeding the above specifications. Experimental results are in excellent agreement with numerical predictions.

Laïcité is what Laïcité does: Rethinking the French cult controversy

France’s distinctive reaction towards “cults” is generally described as a result of laïcité’s consubstantial problems with religious diversity. The aim of this article is to present an alternative way of thinking about the French cult controversy and, ultimately, about the concept of “laïcité” as an explanatory framework for France’s response to religious diversity. It draws on empirical data to look at how notions such as “laïcité” and “cults” are used in official discourses and translated into administrative practice. This approach will underline that laïcité is not a driving force that predetermines a unilateral response to “cults”, but that laïcité is as laïcité does, in other words a highly claimed and contested value, reflecting divergent political and administrative approaches of the cult phenomenon. The framework “laïcité versus religious diversity” is also undermined by another crucial observation. While it sees the cult controversy as primarily a religious issue, it seems that the recent revitalisation of the combat against “cults” was made possible by its partial dissociation from the religious sphere and its extension to a wide range of practices and new areas.