Water confined in nanopores: spontaneous formation of microcavities

Molecular Dynamics simulations of water confined in nanometer sized, hydrophobic channels show that water forms localized cavities for pore diameter ~ 2.0 nm. The cavities present non-spherical shape and lay preferentially adjacent to the confining wall inducing a peculiar form to the liquid exposed surface. The regime of localized cavitation appears to be correlated with the formation of a vapor layer, as predicted by the Lum-Chandler-Weeks theory, implying partial filling of the pore

Parameterized partial element equivalent circuit method for sensitivity analysis of multiport systems

This paper presents a new technique to perform parameterized sensitivity analyses of systems that depend on multiple design parameters, such as layout and substrate features. It uses the electromagnetic (EM) method called partial element equivalent circuit to compute state space matrices at a set of design space points. These EM matrices are interpolated as functions of the design parameters. The proposed interpolation scheme allows the computation of the derivatives of the matrices, which are needed to perform the sensitivity analysis. An extensive study of the required stability and passivity properties of the system involved in the parameterized sensitivity analysis is presented. Pertinent numerical results demonstrate the robustness, accuracy, and efficiency of the proposed methodology

A food chain ecoepidemic model: infection at the bottom trophic level

In this paper we consider a three level food web subject to a disease affecting the bottom prey. The resulting dynamics is much richer with respect to the purely demographic model, in that it contains more transcritical bifurcations, gluing together the various equilibria, as well as persistent limit cycles, which are shown to be absent in the classical case. Finally, bistability is discovered among some equilibria, leading to situations in which the computation of their basins of attraction is relevant for the system outcome in terms of its biological implications

Stiffness effects on the dynamics of the bar-mode instability of Neutron Stars in full General Relativity

We present results on the effect of the stiffness of the equation of state on the dynamical bar-mode instability in rapidly rotating polytropic models of neutron stars in full General Relativity. We determine the change in the threshold for the emergence of the instability for a range of the adiabatic $\Gamma$ index from 2.0 to 3.0, including two values chosen to mimic more realistic equations of state at high densities.Comment: 12 pages, 5 figures. arXiv admin note: substantial text overlap with arXiv:1403.806

Magnetar-like activity from the central compact object in the SNR RCW103

The 6.67 hr periodicity and the variable X-ray flux of the central compact object (CCO) at the center of the SNR RCW 103, named 1E 161348-5055, have been always difficult to interpret within the standard scenarios of an isolated neutron star or a binary system. On 2016 June 22, the Burst Alert Telescope (BAT) onboard Swift detected a magnetar-like short X-ray burst from the direction of 1E 161348-5055, also coincident with a large long-term X-ray outburst. Here we report on Chandra, NuSTAR, and Swift (BAT and XRT) observations of this peculiar source during its 2016 outburst peak. In particular, we study the properties of this magnetar-like burst, we discover a hard X-ray tail in the CCO spectrum during outburst, and we study its long-term outburst history (from 1999 to July 2016). We find the emission properties of 1E 161348-5055 consistent with it being a magnetar. However in this scenario, the 6.67 hr periodicity can only be interpreted as the rotation period of this strongly magnetized neutron star, which therefore represents the slowest pulsar ever detected, by orders of magnitude. We briefly discuss the viable slow-down scenarios, favoring a picture involving a period of fall-back accretion after the supernova explosion, similarly to what is invoked (although in a different regime) to explain the "anti-magnetar" scenario for other CCOs.Comment: 6 pages, 3 figures. To be published in the Astrophysical Journal Letters; replaced to match the version accepted for publication on 2016 August 1

Post vaccinal temporary sensorineural hearing loss

In our systematic research we identified four studies concerning the onset of neurological adverse events following vaccination and two excluding this association. A 33-year-old Italian man, belonging to the Italian Army was hospitalized because he suffered from vertigo, nausea and sudden right hearing loss not classified (NDD), that set in 24 h after the administration of tetanus-diphtheria and meningococcal vaccines. Some neurological events arising after vaccination are very difficult to treat. In our case, the functional recovery on low and medium frequencies was possible about 6 months after the morbid event

Energy and thermodynamical study of a small innovative compressed air energy storage system (micro-CAES)

There is a growing interest in the electrical energy storage system, due to the high penetration of the energy produced by renewable sources, the possibility of leveling the absorption peak of the electric network (peak shaving) and the advantage of separating the production phase from the exertion phase (time shift). Compressed air energy storage systems (CAES) are one of the most promising technologies of this field, because they are characterized by a high reliability, low environmental impact and a remarkable energy density. The main disadvantage of big systems is that they depend on geological formations which are necessary to the storage. The micro-CAES system, with a rigid storage vessel, guarantees a high portability of the system and a higher adaptability even with distributed or stand-alone energy productions. This article carries out a thermodynamical and energy analysis of the micro-CAES system, a result of the mathematical model created in a Matlab/Simulink® environment. New ideas will be discussed, as the one concerning the quasi-isothermal compression/expansion, through the exertion of a biphasic mixture, that will increase the total system efficiency and enable a combined production of electric, thermal and refrigeration energies. This is something promising for the development of an experimental devic

The Impact of the Financial Crisis on Earnings Management: Empirical Evidence from the Top 5,000 Non-Listed Stock Italian Companies

Account manipulation has been the subject of accounting discussions not only in the U.S. but across the world, especially during times of financial crises. This paper investigates the impact of the recent financial crisis on account manipulation probability by adopting the Beneish Model (1999, 2013) of eight performance ratios. The analysis has been conducted using the Top 5,000 Non-Listed Stock Italian Companies (Società Per Azioni) ranked by revenues during the time period 2005-2012. We use the AIDA Bureau Van Dijk database. We test the existence of earnings management (EM) within the Top Non-Listed Stock Italian Companies through a comparison between the pre-crisis period (2005-2008) and the crisis period (2009-2012). Our findings show that the number of firms with a higher likelihood of earnings manipulation decreases by 4.53% from the pre-crisis to crisis period. As a consequence, we argue that EM increases when the crisis is weak while EM decreases during the crisis period

Adjuvant radiation therapy in stage I seminoma: 20 years of oncologic results

Aim: To report long term oncologic outcomes after adjuvant radiotherapy (RT) for stage I seminoma. Method: We reviewed the complete data set for all patients treated at our institute between 1988 and 2005 for stage I seminoma with adjuvant RT after radical orchiectomy. Results: A total of 85 patients were included. The median follow-3up was 15 years. The 20-3year overall survival (OS) and relapse free survival (RFS) were 92% and 96.3%, respectively. No severe acute and late complications were recorded. Overall 5.9% of patients had a second unrelated malignancy. Conclusion: Adjuvant RT is an efficacious and safe treatment in stage I seminom