EXPERIMENTAL DETERMINATION OF THE ELASTIC EQUILIBRIUM RESPONSE OF CARBON BLACK FILLED RUBBERS

The experimental determination of the pure elastic response of filled rubbers remains a major challenge due to the very long times required for the viscoelastic effects to dissipate. Starting from an expedient proposed in 1930, we deal with an experimental procedure capable of dissipating viscoelastic effects in reasonably short times, to obtain a point-wise estimation of the intrinsic elastic response of the material

I religiosi

Le popolazioni europee della prima età moderna condividono un sistema di valori e una mentalità permeati dalla fede in un unico dio, fonte di norme, comportamenti, ideali che guidano e regolano la loro vita, le loro scelte, le loro preoccupazioni. A metà ‘400 ancora non guardano a ovest e non immaginano il mondo strabiliante degli indigeni americani, con il loro paganesimo fuori tempo, fuori luogo, fuori ragione, capace di mettere a repentaglio le loro convinzioni plurisecolari, la stessa veridicità del testo su cui si fondano i loro saperi: la Bibbia. Ed è ancora di là da venire l’impegno missionario nel lontano oriente: India, Cina, Giappone ... Ma a partire dal XVI secolo, proprio il confronto con genti e culture profondamente diverse diventerà il principale motore del loro sviluppo, oltre che economico e sociale, culturale, costringendole a mettere in campo strategie contraddittorie, metodi di conquista violenti e coercitivi accanto a più sofisticate tecniche di assimilazione e conversione, in un incontro-scontro con l’”altro” che dura tuttora. In tale quadro si configura l’avventurosa esperienza – fatta di conflitti, rotture, collaborazioni – che determina la crisi dei vecchi ordini religiosi e la nascita di nuove congregazioni, maschili e femminili, protagonisti di un’esperienza religiosa con una forte impronta educativa, missionaria e politica su scala globale

IN BETWEEN THE LINES OF RIVER CONTRACTS Analysing a water governance tool through the lens of the Rooted Water Collectives framework

The article, based on action-research, analyses the water management tool known as a ‘River Contract’ (RC) – as conceptualised and implemented in Italy – through a lens of political ecology. The objective is to understand whether, and under what conditions, RCs can be conceived as an example of societal response and as a potential form of ‘river defense movement’ for the care of water bodies, rather than as a mainstream participatory water management tool. The Rooted Water Collectives’ (RWCs’) analytical framework (Vos et al., 2020) is applied to investigate the case of RCs implemented in the Friuli Venezia Giulia Region (Northeast Italy). The framework allows for a clearer examination of the inconsistencies between what RCs should be, considering the official principles and guidelines, and what they are in their reality, identifying some ‘gray zones’ in their implementation, their criticalities and weaknesses, as well as their potentialities. Furthermore, the article suggests some possible improvements and aspects that could be integrated into the RWC framework

The Origin of Quantum Mechanical Statistics: Some Insights from Research on Human Language

Identical systems, or `entities', are `indistinguishable' in quantum mechanics (QM), and the `symmetrization postulate' rules the possible statistical distributions of a large number of identical quantum entities. However, a thorough analysis on the historical development of QM attributes the origin of quantum statistics, in particular, `Bose–Einstein statistics', to a lack of statistical independence of the micro-states of identical quantum entities. We have recently identified Bose–Einstein statistics in the combination of words in large texts, as a consequence of the `entanglement' created by the meaning carried by words when they combine in human language. Relying on this investigation, we put forward the hypothesis that entanglement, hence the lack of statistical independence, is due to a `mechanism of contextual updating’, which provides deeper reasons for the appearance of Bose–Einstein statistics in human language. However, this investigation also contributes to a better understanding of the origin of quantum mechanical statistics in physics. Finally, we provide new insights into the `intrinsically random behaviour of microscopic entities' that is generally assumed within classical statistical mechanics

How to use Kepler’s first and second laws in a geo-heliocentric system? Ask G.B. Riccioli

Kepler’s laws provided sufficient geometry and kinematics to strengthen astronomers’ preference for heliocentrism. While Kepler outlined some dynamic arguments, they were not rigorous enough to turn his laws into kinematic tools. As a result, some astronomers found ways to reconcile Kepler’s findings with geo-heliocentrism. One of these was the Jesuit astronomer Giovanni Battista Riccioli, who proposed a method known as the “epic-epicycle” (Riccioli, Almagestum novum, 1651). This paper will explore how Riccioli received and interpreted Kepler’s first and second laws within his own astronomical framework. This analysis will include a discussion of how Riccioli understood the concept of “physics” in his work, beginning with a study of the Sun’s motion (Riccioli, Astronomia reformata, 1665)

Drop laden flows

Drops play a pivotal role in both environmental systems and industrial processes, where their physical properties, dynamics, and interactions have far-reaching implications across diverse domains. In environmental contexts, water droplets are central to critical phenomena such as carbon dioxide exchange at the ocean-atmosphere interface, cloud formation, and precipitation—all of which are essential to agriculture, climate regulation, and ecosystem sustainability. In industrial applications, drops underpin technologies such as spray systems, coatings, inkjet printing, and fuel injection systems. Their behavior governs key processes like heat transfer, material deposition, and combustion efficiency, offering opportunities for innovation and enhanced performance across various sectors. The multiscale nature of drop-laden flows — ranging from molecular-scale interfacial dynamics to macroscale phenomena — poses significant challenges for numerical or experimental approaches. This necessitates the development of models capable of bridging these disparate scales effectively. This paper provides a concise overview of the current state of the art in drop-laden flow research, reviewing experimental and computational techniques. Additionally, it outlines key challenges and proposes strategic guidelines to shape future investigations, emphasizing the need for interdisciplinary efforts to address unresolved questions and drive progress in this multifaceted field

C-reactive protein elevation and subsequent atrial fibrillation detection after ischemic stroke treated with mechanical thrombectomy: An inverse probability weighting analysis

Background and aims: Mechanical thrombectomy (MT) is an effective treatment for acute ischemic stroke due to large vessel occlusion (LVO). Atrial fibrillation (AF) can be known before the stroke (or prevalent AF) or be newly detected after the stroke (post-stroke AF). Inflammation plays a critical role in the pathogenesis of post-stroke AF, making inflammatory markers valuable for early detection of post-stroke AF. This study investigated the predictive value of C-reactive protein (CRP) and other inflammatory biomarkers in predicting post-stroke AF in acute ischemic stroke patients treated with MT. Methods: This observational multicenter retrospective cohort study included 849 patients with anterior circulation LVO treated with MT across four centers from 2016 to 2023. Patients were divided into post-stroke AF and NO-AF groups, excluding those with prevalent AF. Baseline demographics, clinical and procedural variables, and inflammatory biomarkers, including CRP, were collected at admission and 24-h post-procedure. Baseline characteristics were balanced using inverse probability weighting (IPW). Logistic regression and receiver operating characteristic (ROC) analyses assessed the predictive value of CRP for post-stroke AF. Results: The study included 849 patients with a median age of 66 years (interquartile range (IQR) = 54–76) and 477 (56.2%) were female. Post-stroke AF was detected in 186 (21.9%) patients, while 663 (78.1%) did not experience AF during admission. In the weighted population, CRP levels, both admission and 24-h post-procedure, were higher in post-stroke AF patients. In logistic regression analysis, admission and 24-h CRP levels were associated with increased probability of post-stroke AF, respectively (odds ratio (OR) = 1.01; 95% confidence interval (CI) = 1.00–1.03, p < 0.001) and (OR = 1.02, 95% CI = 1.01–1.03, p < 0.001) following MT. We observed that the model combining age, sex, hypertension, heart failure, alcoholism, coronary artery disease, diabetes mellitus, smoking, previous transient ischemic attack (TIA), and ischemic stroke, and admission CRP (area under the curve (AUC) = 0.723, 95% CI = 0.71–0.74) and 24-h CRP (AUC = 0.704, 95% CI = 0.69–0.72) had good predictive accuracy, with optimal cutoff values of 4.25 for admission CRP and 14.69 for 24-h CRP to detect post-stroke AF. Subgroup analysis indicated CRP predictive relevance, particularly in hypertensive patients. Conclusions: Our findings suggest CRP is associated with post-stroke AF in stroke patients due to LVO, highlighting inflammation’s role in AF pathogenesis. Measuring CRP at admission and 24 h may enable early detection and timely anticoagulation. Incorporating CRP into clinical pathways could improve individualized risk assessment, warranting further studies to validate its predictive utility and explore additional markers

Experimental comparison of cycle modifications and ejector control methods using variable geometry and CO2 pump in a multi-evaporator transcritical CO2 refrigeration system

To reduce the direct global warming impact of refrigerants in HVAC&R applications, low-global warming potential (GWP) refrigerants, including natural refrigerants, have been extensively investigated as alternatives to hydrofluorocarbon (HFC) refrigerants. Among the natural refrigerants, Carbon Dioxide (CO2) offers several advantages, such as excellent transport and thermo-physical properties, being neither toxic nor flammable, and having a low price and high availability around the world. However, the high critical pressure and low critical temperature of CO2 often lead to transcritical operation, resulting in lower efficiency due to the additional compressor power necessary to achieve transcritical operation relative to subcritical HFC cycles. Therefore, a number of cycle modifications are used to enhance the coefficient of performance (COP) of transcritical CO2 cycles to meet or surpass those of HFC cycles. This paper provides a systematic experimental investigation of four such cycle architectures by employing the same multi-stage, two-evaporator CO2 refrigeration cycle test stand, 3 of these configurations in transcritical and 1 in subcritical conditions. The four cycles architectures included intercooling, open economization, an internal heat exchanger and two different ejector control approaches. Specifically, a variable-diameter motive nozzle and a variable-speed liquid CO2 pump located directly upstream of the ejector motive nozzle inlet were analyzed. Based on the experimental data, the maximum COP improvements are 4.64 % and 9.47 % when the ejector and the internal heat exchanger are used, respectively. The CO2 pump, once successfully stabilized, can control the ejector, increase its efficiency by up to 15 % and increase the cooling capacity to a maximum of 6.2 %. Nevertheless, a reduction in COP is measured when the pump is in use; however, unlike the other three different configurations, it was only analyzed under subcritical conditions

Lado Kralj i Nikola Petković na suprotnim polovima humora i zazornog

"Lado Kralj and Nikola Petković: Opposite Approaches to Humor and the Abject" The article provides an analysis of two novels, one Slovenian, Ne bom se več drsal na bajerju by Lado Kralj (2022), and one Croatian, Put u Gonars by Nikola Petković (2018), with a special focus on the theme of borders. Both novels deal with the period of the Italian occupation of Yugoslav lands. In the interpretation, the border is understood in three ways: first, in the spatial sense, then as a boundary in relation to the abject (in the sense of Julia Kristeva), and finally as the implicit author’s ideological and ethical principle. The article highlights the differences between the two novels in the use of disgust as a motif, the (lack of) responsibility towards history, and the depiction of the relations between warring sides and ideologies. In line with the literary studies of memory, the analysis aims to contribute to understanding the light in which World War II is remembered in Slovenia and Croatia today, concluding that the memory of the resistance movement in Slovenia has remained an important part of the public sphere even after the 1990s, while in Croatia it has been marginalized and imbued with unease