3,714 research outputs found
Fuzzy cognitive mapping to support multi-agent decisions in development of urban policymaking
The awareness about environmental complexity involves real-time knowledge and demands urban planning initiatives. Knowledge is multiform, multi-agent and mirrors environmental complexity. Problems characterizing urban sustainability particularly claim non-expert knowledge, being informal, puzzling, uncertain, incomplete, hard to be handled, formalized, modelled. This study utilizes Fuzzy cognitive maps to explore such complexity and support multiagent decisions. It concerns the scenario-building process of the new plan of Taranto (Italy), a paradigmatic example of decaying industrial area, heavily characterized by social fragmentation and environment degradation. This approach aims at structuring environmental problems, modelling future strategies and contributing to build a multi-agent decision support system for complex urban planning contexts
Giant enchondroma recurrence of the proximal phalanx of the fifth finger: A case report
Enchondroma (EC) is a benign and cartilage-forming tumor that causes intramedullary lesions. Moreover, EC is the most common bone tumor in the phalanges and metacarpal bones of the hand, deforming the structure and causing pain and functional limitation. The management of this neoplasia is the surgical treatment and the approach that is well-accepted consists in the curettage followed by the void augmentation with biological or synthetic fillers. The results from surgery are usually good and the recurrence rate is low (2-15%). In this article we report a case of EC recurrence of the proximal phalanx of the fifth finger of the hand after curettage and grafting. The patient was treated with the amputation of the fifth ray according to the Tsuge technique, obtaining a satisfying clinical result
Dynamical Bar-Mode Instability in Differentially Rotating Magnetized Neutron Stars
This paper presents a numerical study over a wide parameter space of the
likelihood of the dynamical bar-mode instability in differentially rotating
magnetized neutron stars. The innovative aspect of this study is the
incorporation of magnetic fields in such a context, which have thus far been
neglected in the purely hydrodynamical simulations available in the literature.
The investigation uses the Cosmos++ code which allows us to perform three
dimensional simulations on a cylindrical grid at high resolution. A sample of
Newtonian magneto-hydrodynamical simulations starting from a set of models
previously analyzed by other authors without magnetic fields has been
performed, providing estimates of the effects of magnetic fields on the
dynamical bar-mode deformation of rotating neutron stars. Overall, our results
suggest that the effect of magnetic fields are not likely to be very
significant in realistic configurations. Only in the most extreme cases are the
magnetic fields able to suppress growth of the bar mode.Comment: 12 pages, 16 figures. References added and minor edits made to match
published versio
Virulence-associated genes in Avian Pathogenic Escherichia coli of turkey
50 Escherichia coli (APEC-Avian Pathogenic Escherichia coli) strains and 15 E. coli (AFEC-Avian Faecal Escherichia coli) from turkeys affected by colibacillosis and from healthy turkeys were tested for the presence of eight different virulence-associated genes. Besides, APEC were serotyped. O78 has been the most detected serotyped. The presence of the tested virulence genes was prevalently related to the APEC isolates. With reference to serogroup, all the tested O78 resulted iss and irp2 positive. Besides, tsh e cva/cvi were respectively present in 88.9 and 83.3% of O78. Nevertheless, the finding of a not typeable strains equipped with all the eight tested virulence genes among the APEC isolates suggest the importance of a careful and complete characterisation of the isolate to evaluate the real potential pathogenic attitude of the bacterium
Diffuse soil CO2 degassing from Linosa island
Herein, we present and discuss the result of 148 measurements of soil
CO2 flux performed for the first time in Linosa island (Sicily Channel,
Italy), a Plio-Pleistocene volcanic complex no longer active but still of interest
owing to its location within a seismically active portion of the Sicily
Channel rift system. The main purpose of this survey was to assess the
occurrence of CO2 soil degassing, and compare flux estimations from this
island with data of soil degassing from worldwide active volcanic as well
as non-volcanic areas. To this aim soil CO2 fluxes were measured over a
surface of about 4.2 km2 covering ~80% of the island. The soil CO2 degassing
was observed to be mainly concentrated in the eastern part of the
island likely due to volcano-tectonic lineaments, the presence of which is
in good agreement with the known predominant regional faults system.
Then, the collected data were interpreted using sequential Gaussian simulation
that allowed estimating the total CO2 emissions of the island.
Results show low levels of CO2 emissions from the soil of the island (~55
ton d-1) compared with CO2 emissions of currently active volcanic areas,
such as Miyakejima (Japan) and Vulcano (Italy). Results from this study
suggest that soil degassing in Linosa is mainly fed by superficial organic
activity with a moderate contribution of a deep CO2 likely driven by NWSE
trending active tectonic structures in the eastern part of the island
Phospholipase activity of yeasts from wild birds and possible implications for human disease
Over the last decades, reports on yeast infections in humans have increased
especially with respect to immunocompromised individuals. Phospholipases
are enzymes which may be associated with pathogenic processes caused by
opportunistic yeasts. Phospholipase activity (ph.a.) was investigated in 163
isolates of 13 species of yeasts. A total of 133 isolates were obtained through
the screening of a total of 768 cloacae of wild birds (Group I: 182 birds of
prey; Group II: 165 passeriformes and Group III: 421 other wild migratory
birds), while 30 isolates were recovered from the droppings of birds housed in 32
distinct aviaries (Group IV). Phospholipase production was evaluated and
quantified at 2 and 5 day pre-incubation (Pr.t) and incubation times (I.t).
Isolates from cloacae (48.1%) and excreta (73.3%) produced ph.a. with the
highest values registered after 5 days of I.t. Candida albicans, C. tropicalis, C.
glabrata, C. lusitaniae, C. pelliculosa, Cryptococcus albidus, C. laurentii, Trichosporon
beigelii, and Saccharomyces cerevisiae displayed the highest ph.a. after
2 days of Pr.t while Candida famata, C. guilliermondii and Cryptococcus
neoformans after 5 days of Pr.t. Ph.a. was never found in Rhodotorula rubra
isolates recovered from the cloacae of wild birds. Isolates (73.3%) from bird
droppings showed a higher ph.a. than those from cloacae thus indicating that
wild birds not only act as carriers but may also spread phospholipase-producing
yeasts in the environment
Self-advancing step-tap tool
Methods and tool for simultaneously forming a bore in a work piece and forming a series of threads in said bore. In an embodiment, the tool has a predetermined axial length, a proximal end, and a distal end, said tool comprising: a shank located at said proximal end; a pilot drill portion located at said distal end; and a mill portion intermediately disposed between said shank and said pilot drill portion. The mill portion is comprised of at least two drill-tap sections of predetermined axial lengths and at least one transition section of predetermined axial length, wherein each of said at least one transition section is sandwiched between a distinct set of two of said at least two drill-tap sections. The at least two drill-tap sections are formed of one or more drill-tap cutting teeth spirally increasing along said at least two drill-tap sections, wherein said tool is self-advanced in said work piece along said formed threads, and wherein said tool simultaneously forms said bore and said series of threads along a substantially similar longitudinal axis
Three Dimensional Distorted Black Holes
We present three-dimensional, {\it non-axisymmetric} distorted black hole
initial data which generalizes the axisymmetric, distorted, non-rotating
[Bernstein93a] and rotating [Brandt94a] single black hole data developed by
Bernstein, Brandt, and Seidel. These initial data should be useful for studying
the dynamics of fully 3D, distorted black holes, such as those created by the
spiraling coalescence of two black holes. We describe the mathematical
construction of several families of such data sets, and show how to construct
numerical solutions. We survey quantities associated with the numerically
constructed solutions, such as ADM masses, apparent horizons, measurements of
the horizon distortion, and the maximum possible radiation loss ().Comment: 23 pages, 12 figures, accepted for publication in Classical and
Quantum Gravit
A general interpolation scheme for thermal fluctuations in superconductors
We present a general interpolation theory for the phenomenological effects of
thermal fluctuations in superconductors. Fluctuations are described by a simple
gauge invariant extension of the gaussian effective potential for the
Ginzburg-Landau static model. The approach is shown to be a genuine variational
method, and to be stationary for infinitesimal gauge variations around the
Landau gauge. Correlation and penetration lengths are shown to depart from the
mean field behaviour in a more or less wide range of temperature below the
critical regime, depending on the class of material considered. The method is
quite general and yields a very good interpolation of the experimental data for
very different materials.Comment: some misprints have been corrected in Eq.(15),(19); more references
and comments have been adde
Symmetry without Symmetry: Numerical Simulation of Axisymmetric Systems using Cartesian Grids
We present a new technique for the numerical simulation of axisymmetric
systems. This technique avoids the coordinate singularities which often arise
when cylindrical or polar-spherical coordinate finite difference grids are
used, particularly in simulating tensor partial differential equations like
those of 3+1 numerical relativity. For a system axisymmetric about the z axis,
the basic idea is to use a 3-dimensional Cartesian (x,y,z) coordinate grid
which covers (say) the y=0 plane, but is only one
finite-difference-molecule--width thick in the y direction. The field variables
in the central y=0 grid plane can be updated using normal (x,y,z)--coordinate
finite differencing, while those in the y \neq 0 grid planes can be computed
from those in the central plane by using the axisymmetry assumption and
interpolation. We demonstrate the effectiveness of the approach on a set of
fully nonlinear test computations in 3+1 numerical general relativity,
involving both black holes and collapsing gravitational waves.Comment: 17 pages, 4 figure
- …