e-EVN monitoring of M87

M87 is a privileged laboratory for a detailed study of the properties of jets, owing to its proximity (D=16.7 Mpc, 1 mas = 0.080 pc), its massive black hole (~6.0 x 10^9M) and its conspicuous emission at radio wavelengths and above. We started on November 2009 a monitoring program with the e-EVN at 5 GHz, in correspondence of the season of Very High Energy (VHE) observations. Indeed, two episodes of VHE activity have been reported in February and April 2010. We present here the main results of these multi-epoch observations: the inner jet and HST-1 are both detected and resolved in our datasets. We study the apparent velocity of HST-1, which seems to be increasing since 2005, and the flux density variability in the inner jet. All in all, the radio counterpart to this year’s VHE event seems to be different from the ones in 2005 and 2008, opening new scenario for the radio-high energy connection

Oil spill Hazard maps

Release of the Atlantic Oil spill Hazard map Portal for dissemination. This is the reviewed version of deliverable 8.4. This document is not a technical report but a paper version of the oil spill hazard map portal (https://glamor.sincem.unibo.it), since the actual deliverable was the website release

Tools of Engagement: Recasting Mobile Devices in the Classroom

Attendees will learn ways in which teachers can utilize student’s smartphones, tablets and laptops to enhance the classroom experience. Live interactive activities will demonstrate how easy and effective these techniques can be

Billiards and Brains: Cognitive Ability and Behavior in a p-Beauty Contest

"Beauty contests" are well-studied, dominance-solvable games that generate two interesting results. First, most behavior does not conform to the unique Nash equilibrium. Second, there is considerable unexplained heterogeneity in behavior. In this work, we evaluate the relationship between beauty contest behavior and cognitive ability. We find that subjects with high cognitive ability exhibit behavior that is closer to the Nash equlibrium. We examine this finding through the prism of economic and biological theory.beauty contest; rationality; cognitive ability; Nash equlibrium

Oil spill hazard bulletin

Dissemination Method: Web Product weblink: https://glamor.sincem.unibo.it The MSFD, the new Directive on Safety of offshore oil and gas operations (2013) and the European Maritime Safety Agency require robust tools for oil spill hazard mapping, from accidental to operational. In this activity WP7 and Marine Core Service products were coupled to Medslik-II oil spill model in order to produce, on request, an Oil Spill Hazard Bulletin based upon the hazard mapping data generated earlier in the project. This report contains background information and some examples of oil spill hazard bulletins for target Atlantic areas. The web-GIS Portal GLAMOR developed for Task 8.4 “Oil spill hazard mapping and disaster risk reduction best practices” is used to create the information content in the requested bulletins. Please note: bulletins are only produced on a request basis

Endothelial cells, endoplasmic reticulum stress and oxysterols

Oxysterols are bioactive lipids that act as regulators of lipid metabolism, inflammation, cell viability and are involved in several diseases, including atherosclerosis. Mounting evidence linked the atherosclerosis to endothelium dysfunction; in fact, the endothelium regulates the vascular system with roles in processes such as hemostasis, cell cholesterol, hormone trafficking, signal transduction and inflammation. Several papers shed light the ability of oxysterols to induce apoptosis in different cell lines including endothelial cells. Apoptotic endothelial cell and endothelial denudation may constitute a critical step in the transition to plaque erosion and vessel thrombosis, so preventing the endothelial damaged has garnered considerable attention as a novel means of treating atherosclerosis. Endoplasmic reticulum (ER) is the site where the proteins are synthetized and folded and is necessary for most cellular activity; perturbations of ER homeostasis leads to a condition known as endoplasmic reticulum stress. This condition evokes the unfolded protein response (UPR) an adaptive pathway that aims to restore ER homeostasis. Mounting evidence suggests that chronic activation of UPR leads to cell dysfunction and death and recently has been implicated in pathogenesis of endothelial dysfunction. Autophagy is an essential catabolic mechanism that delivers misfolded proteins and damaged organelles to the lysosome for degradation, maintaining basal levels of autophagic activity it is critical for cell survival. Several evidence suggests that persistent ER stress often results in stimulation of autophagic activities, likely as a compensatory mechanism to relieve ER stress and consequently cell death. In this review, we summarize evidence for the effect of oxysterols on endothelial cells, especially focusing on oxysterols-mediated induction of endoplasmic reticulum stress

Oil spill Hazard maps

This report contains the description of the methodology to produce coastal oil spill hazard mapping for the Atlantic Ocean coastlines and the description of the Web Portal used to disseminate the informatio

Quantitative evaluation of emission properties and thermal hysteresis in the mid-infrared for a single thin film of vanadium dioxide on a silicon substrate

We present a comparative study of the emission properties of a vanadium dioxide thin film (approximately 200 nm) deposited on a silicon wafer in different sub-spectral-ranges of the mid-infrared, with particular attention to the windows of transparency of the atmosphere to the infrared radiation (i.e., 3–5 μm, 8–12 μm). The infrared emission properties of the structure are closely related to the well-known phase transition of the first order, from semiconductor to metal, of the vanadium dioxide around the temperature of 68 °C. The characterization of the emissivity in the sub-regions of the mid-infrared was carried out both in the front configuration, that is on the VO2 film side, and in the rear configuration on the silicon wafer side, and showed a strong difference in the hysteresis thermal bandwidth, in particular between the short wave region and the long wave region. The bandwidth is equal to 12 °C for the front and 15 °C for the rear. The emissivity behaviors as a function of temperature during the semiconductor-metal transition in the mid-infrared subregions were analyzed and explained using the theories of the effective medium of Maxwell Garnett and Bruggeman, highlighting the greater functionality of one theory with respect to the other depending on the spectral detection band

Emissivity characterization of different stainless steel textiles in the infrared range

We experimentally investigated the infrared properties of a set of steel textiles, prepared using different type of fabrics. Infrared emission of the textiles was characterized in the mid-infrared range, i.e. 8÷14 mm, by observing their temperature evolution under heating regime with a focal plane array (FPA) infrared camera. Standard test method for measuring and compensating emissivity using infrared imaging radiometers was applied to the set of metallic textiles. The obtained experimental results allowed to retrieve the infrared emissivity at different applied temperatures. Although their infrared emission show some differences depending on the specific fabric, all the investigated textiles composed of steel yarns appear to be suitable for thermal shielding applications. Finally, the measured data were interpreted by means of the finite-difference time-domain (FDTD) numerical simulations as well as using Plank's theory of black-body radiation