5,791 research outputs found
MHD oblique stagnation-point flow of a Newtonian fluid
The steady two-dimensional oblique stagnation-point flow of
an electrically conducting Newtonian fluid in the presence of a uniform
external electromagnetic field (E0,
H0) is analyzed, and some physical
situations are examined. In particular, if E0 vanishes, H0 lies in the
plane of the flow, with a direction not parallel to the boundary, and
the induced magnetic field is neglected, it is proved that the oblique
stagnation-point flow exists if, and only if, the external magnetic field
is parallel to the dividing streamline. In all cases it is shown that the
governing nonlinear partial differential equations admit similarity solutions, and the resulting ordinary differential problems are solved numerically. Finally, the behaviour of the flow near the boundary is analyzed;
this depends on the Hartmann number if H0 is parallel to the dividing
streamline
Parental brain: cerebral areas activated by infant cries and faces. A comparison between different populations of parents and not.
Literature about parenting traditionally focused on caring behaviors and parental representations. Nowadays, an innovative line of research, interested in evaluating the neural areas and hormones implicated in the nurturing and caregiving responses, has developed. The only way to permit a newborn to survive and grow up is to respond to his needs and in order to succeed it is necessary, \ufb01rst of all, that the adults around him understand what his needs are. That is why adults\u2019 capacity of taking care of infants cannot disregard from some biological mechanisms, which allow them to be more responsive to the progeny and to infants in general. Many researches have proved that exist speci\ufb01c neural basis activating in response to infant evolutionary stimuli, such as infant cries and infant emotional facial expression. There is a sort of innate predisposition
in human adults to respond to infants\u2019 signals, in order to satisfy their need and allow them to survive and become young adults capable of taking care of themselves. This article focuses on research that has investigated, in the last decade, the neural circuits underlying parental behavioral responses. Moreover, the paper compares the results of those studies that investigated the neural responses to infant stimuli under different
conditions: familiar versus unknown children, parents versus non-parents and normative versus clinical samples (depression, addiction, adolescence, and PTSD)
MHD THREE-DIMENSIONAL STAGNATION-POINT FLOW OF A MICROPOLAR FLUID
The steady three-dimensional stagnation-point flow of an electrically conducting micropolar fluid in the absence and in the presence of a uniform external electromagnetic field (E0,H0) is analyzed and some physical situations are examined.
In particular, we proved that if we impress an external magnetic field H0, and we neglect the induced magnetic field, then
the steady MHD three-dimensional stagnation-point flow of such a fluid is possible if, and only if, H0 has the direction parallel to
one of the axes.
In all cases it is shown that the governing nonlinear partial differential equations admit similarity solutions. Moreover in the presence of an external magnetic field H0, it is found that the flow of a micropolar fluid has to satisfy
an ordinary differential problem whose solution depend on H0 through the Hartmann number M.
Finally, the skin-friction components along the axes are computed
MHD OBLIQUE STAGNATION-POINT FLOW OF A MICROPOLAR FLUID
The steady two-dimensional oblique stagnation-point flow of an electrically
conducting micropolar fluid in the presence of a uniform external electromagnetic field
(E0,H0) is analyzed and some physical situations are examined. In particular, if E0
vanishes, H0 lies in the plane of the flow, with a direction not parallel to the boundary,
and the induced magnetic field is neglected. It is proved that the oblique stagnationpoint
flow exists if, and only if, the external magnetic field is parallel to the dividing
streamline. In all cases it is shown that the governing nonlinear partial differential
equations admit similarity solutions and the resulting ordinary differential problems are
solved numerically. Finally, the behaviour of the flow near the boundary is analyzed;
this depends on the three dimensionless material parameters, and also on the Hartmann
number if H0 is parallel to the dividing streamline
Estimating effective connectivity in linear brain network models
Contemporary neuroscience has embraced network science to study the complex
and self-organized structure of the human brain; one of the main outstanding
issues is that of inferring from measure data, chiefly functional Magnetic
Resonance Imaging (fMRI), the so-called effective connectivity in brain
networks, that is the existing interactions among neuronal populations. This
inverse problem is complicated by the fact that the BOLD (Blood Oxygenation
Level Dependent) signal measured by fMRI represent a dynamic and nonlinear
transformation (the hemodynamic response) of neuronal activity. In this paper,
we consider resting state (rs) fMRI data; building upon a linear population
model of the BOLD signal and a stochastic linear DCM model, the model
parameters are estimated through an EM-type iterative procedure, which
alternately estimates the neuronal activity by means of the Rauch-Tung-Striebel
(RTS) smoother, updates the connections among neuronal states and refines the
parameters of the hemodynamic model; sparsity in the interconnection structure
is favoured using an iteratively reweighting scheme. Experimental results using
rs-fMRI data are shown demonstrating the effectiveness of our approach and
comparison with state of the art routines (SPM12 toolbox) is provided
Climate Mitigation and Adaptation Strategies for Roofs and Pavements. A Case Study at Sapienza University Campus
The progressively emerging concept of urban resilience to climate change highlights the
importance of mitigation and adaptation measures, and the need to integrate urban climatology
in the design process, in order to better understand the multiple effects of combined green and
cool technologies for the transition to climate responsive and thermally comfortable urban open
spaces. This study focuses the attention on selected mitigation and adaptation technologies; two
renovation scenarios were designed and modeled according to the minimal intervention criterion. The
study pays attention to the effect on surface temperature and physiological equivalent temperature
(PET) of vegetation and high albedo materials characterizing the horizontal boundaries of the site.
The Sapienza University campus, a historical site in Rome, is taken as a case study. These results
highlight the importance of treed open spaces and the combination of permeable green pavements
associated with cool roofs as the most effective strategy for the mitigation of summer heatwaves and
the improvement of outdoor thermal comfort
LivDet 2017 Fingerprint Liveness Detection Competition 2017
Fingerprint Presentation Attack Detection (FPAD) deals with distinguishing
images coming from artificial replicas of the fingerprint characteristic, made
up of materials like silicone, gelatine or latex, and images coming from alive
fingerprints. Images are captured by modern scanners, typically relying on
solid-state or optical technologies. Since from 2009, the Fingerprint Liveness
Detection Competition (LivDet) aims to assess the performance of the
state-of-the-art algorithms according to a rigorous experimental protocol and,
at the same time, a simple overview of the basic achievements. The competition
is open to all academics research centers and all companies that work in this
field. The positive, increasing trend of the participants number, which
supports the success of this initiative, is confirmed even this year: 17
algorithms were submitted to the competition, with a larger involvement of
companies and academies. This means that the topic is relevant for both sides,
and points out that a lot of work must be done in terms of fundamental and
applied research.Comment: presented at ICB 201
Emotional availability, neuropsychological functioning, and psychopathology. The context of parental substance use disorder
Parental Substance Use Disorder (SUD) constitutes a high-risk condition for parent-child interactions and child development. Empirical evidence indicates high rates of psychopathology and neuropsychological impairments in individuals with SUD. Despite research indicating that parenting skills are related to psychological well-being and cognitive/neuropsychological functioning, prior studies have not examined the associations between these areas of parental functioning and the quality of parent-child interactions in the context of SUD. Aim(s). The present study adopts an integrated perspective to investigate the way in which maternal neuropsychological functioning and psychopathology are associated with mother-child emotional availability (EA), in the context of parental Substance Use Disorder. Methods. Twenty-nine mothers with SUD were assessed in interaction with their children, as well as with respect to their neuropsychological functioning and psychopathology. Results. In this group, high rates of maternal neuropsychological impairments and psychopathology, as well as generally low levels of EA, were uncovered. Regression analyses showed that maternal neuropsychological functioning was significantly associated with mother-child EA, specifically sensitivity; the role of maternal psychopathology, however, was only marginally significant. Conclusion. In the context of SUD, maternal neuropsychological impairments are significantly associated with mother-child EA. Clinical implications of the findings are discussed
Strange loves: a remarkable case of aberrant copulation in beetles (Coleoptera: Meloidae, Chrysomelidae)
A case of copulation between two mimic and repellent beetle species (a male of Timarcha fracassii, and a female of Meloe autumnalis), belonging to distinct families (Chrysomelidae, Meloidae), is recorded
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