Characterizing Pixel and Point Patterns with a Hyperuniformity Disorder Length

We introduce the concept of a hyperuniformity disorder length that controls the variance of volume fraction fluctuations for randomly placed windows of fixed size. In particular, fluctuations are determined by the average number of particles within a distance $h$ from the boundary of the window. We first compute special expectations and bounds in $d$ dimensions, and then illustrate the range of behavior of $h$ versus window size $L$ by analyzing three different types of simulated two-dimensional pixel pattern - where particle positions are stored as a binary digital image in which pixels have value zero/one if empty/contain a particle. The first are random binomial patterns, where pixels are randomly flipped from zero to one with probability equal to area fraction. These have long-ranged density fluctuations, and simulations confirm the exact result $h=L/2$. Next we consider vacancy patterns, where a fraction $f$ of particles on a lattice are randomly removed. These also display long-range density fluctuations, but with $h=(L/2)(f/d)$ for small $f$. For a hyperuniform system with no long-range density fluctuations, we consider Einstein patterns where each particle is independently displaced from a lattice site by a Gaussian-distributed amount. For these, at large $L$, $h$ approaches a constant equal to about half the root-mean-square displacement in each dimension. Then we turn to grayscale pixel patterns that represent simulated arrangements of polydisperse particles, where the volume of a particle is encoded in the value of its central pixel. And we discuss the continuum limit of point patterns, where pixel size vanishes. In general, we thus propose to quantify particle configurations not just by the scaling of the density fluctuation spectrum but rather by the real-space spectrum of $h(L)$ versus $L$. We call this approach Hyperuniformity Disorder Length Spectroscopy

GIS-based multi-criteria territorial suitability assessment for insect farms: a case study for North Italy

Although environmental sustainability and economic feasibility frameworks have been developed to evaluate the impact of insect farms, significant studies on the development of territorial suitability methods specifically tailored to insect production have not yet been performed. This work proposes a GIS-based multi criteria decision making analysis to evaluate the suitability of a territory to the installation of insect farms. A case study developed specifically for black soldier fly Hermetia illucens (HI) insect farms in Emilia-Romagna region (North Italy) is presented. This is an area which, due to its agro-industrial nature and the consequent large production of related waste and by-products, is an optimal candidate for the installation of insect farms. Nine physical, environmental, and economic criteria were assessed. A raster spatial layer for each criterion was obtained, and their values were standardised. The criteria were weighted using the analytical hierarchical process, based on expert opinion recorded via an online questionnaire. The resulting weights were used to combine the single criterion maps using a weighted linear combination procedure and generate, after reclassification, the final suitability map. This map indicates the areas suitable for insect farms at the local level and provides indications for estimating suitability at regional and provincial level. The results showed that 56.2% of the study area was deemed unsuitable, and 43.8% was determined suitable for an HI insect farm; best locations were found around the main agro-industrial centres of the Po valley. The proposed methodology can be easily adapted to other breeding models, insects or study areas and adds valuable information in the development of guidelines for industrial-scale insect farms

A simply solvable model capturing the approach to statistical self-similarity for the diffusive coarsening of bubbles, droplets, and grains

Aqueous foams and a wide range of related systems are believed to coarsen by gas diffusion between neighboring domains into a statistically self-similar scaling state, after the decay of initial transients, such that dimensionless size and shape distributions become time independent and the average grows as a power law. Partial integrodifferential equations for the time evolution of the size distribution for such phase separating systems can be formulated for arbitrary initial conditions, but these are cumbersome for analyzing data on non-scaling state preparations. Here we show that essential features of the approach to the scaling state can be captured by an exactly-solvable ordinary differential equation for the evolution of the average bubble size. The key ingredient is to characterize the the bubble size distribution approximately, using the average size of all bubbles and the average size of the critical bubbles, which instantaneously neither grow nor shrink. The difference between these two averages serves as a proxy for the width of the size distribution. To test our model, we compare with data for quasi-two dimensional dry foams created with three different initial amounts of polydispersity. This allows us to readily identify the critical radius from the average area of six-sided bubbles, whose growth rate is zero by the von~Neumann law. The growth of the average and critical radii agree quite well with exact solution, though the most monodisperse sample crosses over to the scaling state faster than expected. A simpler approximate solution of our model performs equally well. Our approach is applicable to 3d foams, which we demonstrate by re-analyzing prior data, as well as to froths of dilute droplets and to phase separation kinetics for more general systems such as emulsions, binary mixtures, and alloys

Lavoro e responsabilità solidale negli appalti: dalla legge Bersani alla Finanziaria 2007 = Work and joint responsibility in contracts: from the Bersani law to the 2007 Budget. WP C.S.D.L.E. "Massimo D'Antona" .IT - 52/2007

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Somministrazione, comando, appalto. Le nuove forme di prestazione di lavoro a favore del terzo = Administration, command, contract. The new forms of work provision in favor of the third party. WP C.S.D.L.E. "Massimo D'Antona" .IT - 10/2004

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A preclinical model for the ATLL lymphoma subtype with insights into the role of microenvironment in HTLV-1-mediated lymphomagenesis

Abstract \uef7f View references (83) Adult T cell Leukemia/Lymphoma (ATLL) is a mature T cell malignancy associated with Human T cell Leukemia Virus type 1 (HTLV-1) infection. Among its four main clinical subtypes, the prognosis of acute and lymphoma variants remains poor. The long latency (3-6 decades) and low incidence (3-5%) of ATLL imply the involvement of viral and host factors in full-blown malignancy. Despite multiple preclinical and clinical studies, the contribution of the stromal microenvironment in ATLL development is not yet completely unraveled. The aims of this study were to investigate the role of the host microenvironment, and specifically fibroblasts, in ATLL pathogenesis and to propose a murine model for the lymphoma subtype. Here we present evidence that the oncogenic capacity of HTLV-1-immortalized C91/PL cells is enhanced when they are xenotransplanted together with human foreskin fibroblasts (HFF) in immunocompromised BALB/c Rag2-/-\u3b3c -/-mice. Moreover, cell lines derived from a developed lymphoma and their subsequent in vivo passages acquired the stable property to induce aggressive T cell lymphomas. In particular, one of these cell lines, C91/III cells, consistently induced aggressive lymphomas also in NOD/SCID/IL2R\u3b3c KO (NSG) mice. To dissect the mechanisms linked to this enhanced tumorigenic ability, we quantified 45 soluble factors released by these cell lines and found that 21 of them, mainly pro-inflammatory cytokines and chemokines, were significantly increased in C91/III cells compared to the parental C91/PL cells. Moreover, many of the increased factors were also released by human fibroblasts and belonged to the known secretory pattern of ATLL cells. C91/PL cells co-cultured with HFF showed features reminiscent of those observed in C91/III cells, including a similar secretory pattern and a more aggressive behavior in vivo. On the whole, our data provide evidence that fibroblasts, one of the major stromal components, might enhance tumorigenesis of HTLV-1-infected and immortalized T cells, thus throwing light on the role of microenvironment contribution in ATLL pathogenesis. We also propose that the lymphoma induced in NSG mice by injection with C91/III cells represents a new murine preclinical ATLL model that could be adopted to test novel therapeutic interventions for the aggressive lymphoma subtype

Average Evolution and Size-Topology Relations for Coarsening 2d Dry Foams

Two-dimensional dry foams coarsen according to the von Neumann law as $dA/dt \propto (n-6)$ where $n$ is the number of sides of a bubble with area $A$. Such foams reach a self-similar scaling state where area and side-number distributions are stationary. Combining self-similarity with the von Neumann law, we derive time derivatives of moments of the bubble area distribution and a relation connecting area moments with averages of the side-number distribution that are weighted by powers of bubble area. To test these predictions, we collect and analyze high precision image data for a large number of bubbles squashed between parallel acrylic plates and allowed to coarsen into the self-similar scaling state. We find good agreement for moments ranging from two to twenty.Comment: 8 pages, 7 figure

Accordi FIAT, clausola di pace sindacale e limiti al diritto di sciopero = FIAT agreements, union peace clause and limits to the right to strike. WP C.S.D.L.E. "Massimo D'Antona" .IT - 117/2011

The article explores two innovative contractual clauses introduced in the collective agreements signed between June and December 2010 for employees of Fiat (Pomigliano-NA) and Mirafiori (TO), where there has been the introduction of restrictions on the right of workers to strike. In particular, the first clause takes care of Trade union and illegitimate the consequent inability of the Company to claim rights or to exercise the powers under the Agreement establishing penalties against union signatory. The second clause, instead, deals with the behaviour of individual workers, having as result disciplinary sanctions. Both terms however, establish the indivisibility of all terms of the collective agreement and leave the disciplinary hypothesis in, by workers in violation of the obligation undertaken by trade unions (alias, in violation of the union peace clause). The issue is complex and difficult for two reasons: -the first one is a union reason, because the agreements were not signed by FIOM-CGIL union (which represents the majority among the union workers) even if they have passed the scrutiny of the referendum among the workers concerned. -The second question is purely legal since in Italy the introduction of limits on the right to strike of the individual worker, using the clauses of collective agreements, is subject to conflicting interpretation solutions, notwithstanding the provisions of article 40 of the Constitution. The analysis proposed in the article, aims to demonstrate the limits of the strike introduced by the terms of the agreements in question, even when involving the individual worker effects, not on the level of the individual contract and disciplinary sanctions, but only on trade unions. The latter, in fact are responsible for the behaviour of individual workers in place in breach of the union peace clause