Constraints on Extragalactic Point Source Flux from Diffuse Neutrino Limits

We constrain the maximum flux from extragalactic neutrino point sources by using diffuse neutrino flux limits. We show that the maximum flux from extragalactic point sources is E^2(dN/dE) < 1.4 x 10^-9 (L_nu/2x10^43 erg/s)^1/3 GeV cm-^2 s^-1 from individual point sources with average neutrino luminosity per decade, L_nu. It depends only slightly on factors such as the inhomogeneous matter density distribution in the local universe, the luminosity distribution, and the assumed spectral index. The derived constraints are at least one order of magnitude below the current experimental limits from direct searches. Significant constraints are also derived on the number density of neutrino sources and on the total neutrino power density.Comment: 7 pages, 3 figures, and 2 table

Push & Pull: autonomous deployment of mobile sensors for a complete coverage

Mobile sensor networks are important for several strategic applications devoted to monitoring critical areas. In such hostile scenarios, sensors cannot be deployed manually and are either sent from a safe location or dropped from an aircraft. Mobile devices permit a dynamic deployment reconfiguration that improves the coverage in terms of completeness and uniformity. In this paper we propose a distributed algorithm for the autonomous deployment of mobile sensors called Push&Pull. According to our proposal, movement decisions are made by each sensor on the basis of locally available information and do not require any prior knowledge of the operating conditions or any manual tuning of key parameters. We formally prove that, when a sufficient number of sensors are available, our approach guarantees a complete and uniform coverage. Furthermore, we demonstrate that the algorithm execution always terminates preventing movement oscillations. Numerous simulations show that our algorithm reaches a complete coverage within reasonable time with moderate energy consumption, even when the target area has irregular shapes. Performance comparisons between Push&Pull and one of the most acknowledged algorithms show how the former one can efficiently reach a more uniform and complete coverage under a wide range of working scenarios.Comment: Technical Report. This paper has been published on Wireless Networks, Springer. Animations and the complete code of the proposed algorithm are available for download at the address: http://www.dsi.uniroma1.it/~novella/mobile_sensors

A holistic approach to care for women struggling after mastectomy: an interpretative phenomenological analysis

Background: Breast cancer is the most prevalent type of cancer among women worldwide today. Although the number of diagnosed cases continues to increase, the efficacy of treatment has also been improving, allowing survival rates to rise. Breast cancer treatment and surgery often involve a variety of changes in women’s appearance, altered sense of identity and relational challenges. A limited amount of research has been found in connection to the subjective embodied experience of women after mastectomy and during rehabilitation. Purpose: The aim of the present study was to conduct an idiographic exploration of the participants’ perceptions of physical and psychological struggles after mastectomy relating to identity change, self-image and sexual intimacy and how these were embodied in the context of overall wellbeing after illness. Method: This research sought to explore in depth participants’ subjective experiences of femininity and sexuality after mastectomy using Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis (IPA) through semi-structured individual interviews. Results: Three major themes emerged from the data: (1) the ‘Ill Self’, (2) the ‘Vulnerable Self’ and (3) the ‘Coping Self’. Nine sub-themes emerged from the data: (1) ‘shock’, ‘pain’, ‘body-changes’, (2) ‘control’, ‘uncertainty’, ‘other’s gaze’, (3) ‘warrior’, ‘comparing losses’ and ‘recovering’. The themes illustrate a linear but complex experience of women losing their healthy status and functioning to becoming breast cancer patients, and through to recovery. The first major theme ‒ ‘Ill Self’ ‒ includes participants’ responses to physical and psychological experiences in the context of illness. Participants expressed the difficulties faced in this first stage of diagnosis and how that seemed to have shifted their position from being healthy to becoming a patient. This major theme reflects participants’ views on interactions with their bodies and how these are expressed through self-image as they lose/gain body parts (mastectomy and/or reconstruction). The second major theme ‒ ‘Vulnerable Self’ ‒ was identified through participants’ exposed vulnerability in relational dynamics but also vulnerability to the challenges presented by illness. Participants revealed conflicts with others and themselves in surrendering and taking power. The ‘Vulnerable Self’ also illustrates women’s concerns about the uncertainties regarding the recovery process and their feelings of exposure to the other’s gaze during rehabilitation. The third major theme - ‘Coping Self’ ‒ is the final identity recognised in the data. I identified the participants’ need to gather their remaining emotional resources following a phase of high vulnerability and to continue their journey into recovery and the reestablishment of wellbeing. My findings explicitly show the need to create a strong professional network of support between counselling psychologists and other relevant healthcare professionals. This network of support relies on the close involvement of clients during assessment and formulation. Designing a holistic treatment plan which is based on individual client needs (identity, relationships, sexual recovery, body image, etc.) but which also accounts for the physical and psychological needs of service users is paramount for the recovery of quality of life after breast cancer. Conclusion: The findings of this study add to the body of research regarding women’s struggles after mastectomy and the embodiment of illness. Participants reported their perceptions and reactions regarding identity change, self-image and sexual intimacy after mastectomy. The participants’ desire for a holistic approach to care from specialised services during treatment and recovery was noted. A shortcoming in terms of the provision of psychotherapeutic services to facilitate sensitive communication and follow up on the recovery of breast cancer patients was identified within medical teams, at times of extreme physical and psychological struggle for participants

Enabling technology for maintenance in a smart factory: A literature review

Industry 4.0 technologies are transforming the factory in an "intelligent" or "smart" factory. In a such context, a greater efficiency and innovative relationship is basically demanded within the whole production chain, including suppliers, producers, and customers. To be more competitive, companies are becoming increasingly aware that maintenance plays a key role during the digital transformation from the perspective of both technology and management. In this work, we perform a literature review of published cases to investigate how maintenance is changing through technologies of Industry 4.0 currently used in maintenance. We found 34 papers in literature involved in analyzing relations between maintenance and Industry 4.0 technology. The analysis of such studies let us to establish the current technology state-of-art and identify the most suited technology that today is employed in maintenance tasks. In particular Industrial Internet of Things and Cloud Computing are more common in the analyzed studies, confirming how these concepts and technologies are at the basis of Industry 4.0

Determinants of travel mode choice in Europe: Results from a survey on routine mobility

Understanding the differences in travel behaviour across different countries underlined by trip and individual characteristics are paramount to develop effective policies to nudge a shift towards sustainable mobility. In this study we present a descriptive analysis of the results of a mobility household survey, collecting information on citizen travel behaviour, travel mode choices and the factors influencing them. The study involves five European countries: Hungary, Italy, Norway, Poland and Spain. Results describe how travel mode choice fluctuates with users’ heterogeneity and that different mobility transition policies receive different support from citizens. Instruments implying a direct financial cost are much less accepted than technology- and infrastructure-based policies. Support to policies such as road expansion is also observed. The transition in mobility should then have to deal with households’ beliefs to make them revise their travel behaviours. But the mobility transition is also closely linked to the city development and the distribution of workplace and grocery shopping in the cit

Changing alignments in the Greek of southern Italy

Abstract This article investigates a peculiar pattern of subject case-marking in the Greek of southern Italy. Recent fieldwork with native speakers, coupled with the consultation of some written sources, reveals that, alongside prototypical nominative subjects, Italo-Greek also licenses accusative subjects, despite displaying a predominantly nominative-accusative alignment. Far from being random replacements within a highly attrited grammar, the distribution of these accusative subjects obeys specific structural principles, revealing similarities with historical attestations of the so-called “extended accusative” in early Indo-European. On the basis of these data, Italo-Greek is argued to be undergoing a progressive shift towards an active-stative alignment, a claim supported by additional evidence from auxiliary selection, adverb agreement and sentential word order.Leverhulme Trus

How Catastrophic Innovation Failure Affects Organizational and Industry Legitimacy: The 2014 Virgin Galactic Test Flight Crash

We examine how catastrophic innovation failure affects organizational and industry legitimacy in nascent sectors by analyzing the interactions between Virgin Galactic and stakeholders in the space community in the aftermath of the firm’s 2014 test flight crash. Following catastrophic innovation failure, we find that industry participants use their interpretations of the failure to either uphold or challenge the legitimacy of the firm while maintaining the legitimacy of the industry. These dynamics yield two interesting effects. First, we show that, in upholding the legitimacy of the industry, different industry participants rhetorically redraw the boundaries of the industry to selectively include players they consider legitimate and exclude those they view as illegitimate: detracting stakeholders constrain the boundaries of the industry by excluding the firm or excluding the firm and its segment, whereas the firm and supporting stakeholders amplify the boundaries of the industry by including firms in adjacent high-legitimacy sectors. Second, we show that, in assessing organizational legitimacy, the firm and its stakeholders differ in the way they approach distinctiveness between the identities of the industry and the firm. Detracting stakeholders differentiate the firm from the rest of the industry and isolate it, whereas the firm and supporting stakeholders reidentify the firm with the industry, embedding the firm within it. Overall, our findings illuminate the effects that catastrophic innovation failure has over high-order dynamics that affect the evolution of nascent industries

P&P protocol: local coordination of mobile sensors for self-deployment

The use of mobile sensors is of great relevance for a number of strategic applications devoted to monitoring critical areas where sensors can not be deployed manually. In these networks, each sensor adapts its position on the basis of a local evaluation of the coverage efficiency, thus permitting an autonomous deployment. Several algorithms have been proposed to deploy mobile sensors over the area of interest. The applicability of these approaches largely depends on a proper formalization of rigorous rules to coordinate sensor movements, solve local conflicts and manage possible failures of communications and devices. In this paper we introduce P&P, a communication protocol that permits a correct and efficient coordination of sensor movements in agreement with the PUSH&PULL algorithm. We deeply investigate and solve the problems that may occur when coordinating asynchronous local decisions in the presence of an unreliable transmission medium and possibly faulty devices such as in the typical working scenario of mobile sensor networks. Simulation results show the performance of our protocol under a range of operative settings, including conflict situations, irregularly shaped target areas, and node failures.Comment: Technical repor