2,532 research outputs found
Absolute calibration and beam reconstruction of MITO (a ground-based instrument in the millimetric region)
An efficient sky data reconstruction derives from a precise characterization
of the observing instrument. Here we describe the reconstruction of
performances of a single-pixel 4-band photometer installed at MITO (Millimeter
and Infrared Testagrigia Observatory) focal plane. The strategy of differential
sky observations at millimeter wavelengths, by scanning the field of view at
constant elevation wobbling the subreflector, induces a good knowledge of beam
profile and beam-throw amplitude, allowing efficient data recovery. The
problems that arise estimating the detectors throughput by drift scanning on
planets are shown. Atmospheric transmission, monitored by skydip technique, is
considered for deriving final responsivities for the 4 channels using planets
as primary calibrators.Comment: 14 pages, 6 fiugres, accepted for pubblication by New Astronomy (25
March
Transition to a greener fashion:how and why main brands are moving towardsa more sustainable business
The fashion industry has long been identified as a main driver of systemic
environmental damage. Especially for so-called “fast fashion” giants that operate on a strategic
model based on both overproduction and overconsumption. As environmental concerns become
ever more relevant in public discourse, several key corporate players have taken steps to reduce
their environmental impact and make their supply chains more sustainable.
In order to investigate on this matter, we readapt existing research frameworks to measure the
economic and sustainability performance, and their correlation, of eight-company sample selected
among the great fast-fashion “giants” and evaluate their commitment to sustainability issues
Italy, Garibaldi and Goldoni Give Lady Gregory ‘a Room with a Different View’
This paper analyses the complex influence of Italy on Lady Gregory’s imagination. On the one hand she considered the Italian fight for independencea good example for Ireland. Reading Garibaldi’s Defence of the Roman Republic was “comforting” to her. On the other, she looked at Eleonora Duse’s efforts to create a national theatre with sympathy and with pride as she succeeded where the Italian actress had failed. She had a wide knowledge of Italian literature which she could read in the original. In her youth she even translated passages from Dante’s Commedia, but what is more important and revealing is that, at the height of her own creative career, with the intention of providing a more international repertory for the Abbey Theatre, she translated Goldoni’s La Locandiera. The choice of this play and the technique adopted for the translation cast new light on her view of life and on her work.This paper analyses the complex influence of Italy on Lady Gregory’s imagination. On the one hand she considered the Italian fight for independencea good example for Ireland. Reading Garibaldi’s Defence of the Roman Republic was “comforting” to her. On the other, she looked at Eleonora Duse’s efforts to create a national theatre with sympathy and with pride as she succeeded where the Italian actress had failed. She had a wide knowledge of Italian literature which she could read in the original. In her youth she even translated passages from Dante’s Commedia, but what is more important and revealing is that, at the height of her own creative career, with the intention of providing a more international repertory for the Abbey Theatre, she translated Goldoni’s La Locandiera. The choice of this play and the technique adopted for the translation cast new light on her view of life and on her work
Exploring bonding interactions of biochemical relevance in silicon, platinum(II) and iron(III) positively charged species
Elements playing a biological role that are present in nature or in synthetic drugs, such as silicon, platinum(II) and iron(III) usually appear coordinated to ligands in more or less composite molecular architectures. This notion is particularly true when a metal ion is placed in the active center of an enzyme or otherwise integrated into simple biomolecules and proteins. Whereas multifaceted factors affect a charged (metal) centre in a biological environment, the gas-phase provides an interesting medium for elucidating intrinsic interactions between metal ions and biological targets. The idea underlying this doctoral thesis is to highlight how state of the art techniques combining mass spectrometry, IR spectroscopy and computational chemistry can be applied to the study of ionic complexes in an isolated state. In a first section the reactivity behavior of gaseous complexes from the (CH3)3Si+ addition to acetylene has been fully explored by FT-ICR mass spectrometry and ab initio calculations. In this way the C5H11Si+ potential energy surface has been elucidated and the computational results nicely account for the experimental evidence showing an isomerization process from a primarily formed complex (a β-silyl-substituted vinyl cation acquiring an asymmetric cyclic geometry) to CH2=C(CH3)-Si(CH3)2+ silyl cation. The computational methods tested in dealing with the C5H11Si+ ion problem have been further applied to more challenging systems. In a second and third section a comprehensive investigation of the structural features of the key intermediates which are formed from cisplatin by replacement of chloro ligands by water or methionine is described. Here the experimental approach has involved vibrational spectroscopy carried out with a recently designed and assembled apparatus. The NH/OH stretching region has been found highly structurally diagnostic in the aqua complexes where hydrogen bonding interactions are crucial in determining relative conformer stability. The infrared characterization of the monofunctional adducts of platinum(II) drugs with methionine has led to identify distinct modes of interaction with cisplatin and transplatin derived species. In fact, the preferred ligand atom (S or N) seems to be depending on the specific isomer (cis- or trans-) that is reacting with the metal. Cisplatin and transplatin derived species have been sampled both experimentally and computationally, taking into account relativistic effects in the heavy metal. In a fourth task the binding properties of azole ligands toward ferric heme have been examined. Starting from simple ligands such as pyridine, 1-methylimidazole and 1H-1,2,4-triazole, the focus was then directed to imidazole- and triazole-based antifungal drugs. These drugs are known to act as inhibitors of CYP51enzyme, through binding to the heme prosthetic group. Relative binding energies were determined experimentally by energy variable collision induced dissociation experiments performed on the selected ionic complexes and evaluated theoretically by Car-Parrinello molecular dynamics calculations. To this end, theoretical investigations were carried out during a training period spent at the “Parc Cientific de Barcelona”, under the supervision of Research Professor Carme Rovira. Imidazole-based drugs consistently display higher dissociation energies when compared to triazole-based drugs
Atmospheric monitoring in the mm and sub-mm bands for cosmological observations: CASPER2
Cosmological observations from ground at millimetre and sub-millimetre
wavelengths are affected by atmospheric absorption and consequent emission. The
low and high frequency (sky noise) fluctuations of atmospheric performance
imply careful observational strategies and/or instrument technical solutions.
Measurements of atmospheric emission spectra are necessary for accurate
calibration procedures as well as for site testing statistics. CASPER2, an
instrument to explore the 90-450 GHz (3-15 1/cm) spectral region, was developed
and verified its operation in the Alps. A Martin-Puplett Interferometer (MPI)
operates comparing sky radiation, coming from a field of view (fov) of 28
arcminutes (FWHM) collected by a 62-cm in diameter Pressman-Camichel telescope,
with a reference source. The two output ports of the interferometer are
detected by two bolometers cooled down to 300 mK inside a wet cryostat. Three
different and complementary interferometric techniques can be performed with
CASPER2: Amplitude Modulation (AM), Fast-Scan (FS) and Phase Modulation (PM).
An altazimuthal mount allows the sky pointing, possibly co-alligned to the
optical axis of the 2.6-m in diameter telescope of MITO (Millimetre and
Infrared Testagrigia Observatory, Italy). Optimal timescale to average acquired
spectra is inferred by Allan variance analysis at 5 fiducial frequencies. We
present the motivation for and design of the atmospheric spectrometer CASPER2.
The adopted procedure to calibrate the instrument and preliminary performance
of the instrument are described. Instrument capabilities were checked during
the summer observational campaign at MITO in July 2010 by measuring atmospheric
emission spectra with the three different procedures.Comment: 11 pages, 9 figures, 2 tables, Accepted for publication in MNRA
Una nuova Germania per una nuova Europa? Le elezioni per il Bundestag del 24 settembre 2017 tra riassetto politico interno e necessario riequilibrio europeo
Il voto parlamentare del 24 settembre 2017 è stato definito come un momento di passaggio, una cesura
tra un’epoca storica ed un’altra. Secondo alcuni, dalle urne sarebbe uscita una Germania inedita rispetto
al passato, con equilibri partitici, politici, istituzionali e forse persino culturali diversi da quelli finora
conosciuti.
E’ innegabile che il risultato delle elezioni per il Bundestag contenga elementi di assoluta novità, sia da un
punto di vista quantitativo che qualitativo, ed è altrettanto palese che dal giorno successivo al voto gli
esponenti politici tedeschi, a cominciare dalla pur riconfermata Cancelliera Angela Merkel, dovranno
affrontare un contesto completamente diverso da quello nel quale avevano operato fino al giorno prima.
Al tempo stesso, gli attori politici della RFT saranno impegnati nelle prossime settimane a verificare quali
possibilità sussistano per formare un nuovo Esecutivo, possibilmente in grado di guidare il Paese per
tutta la legislatura, fornendo risposte adeguate alle tante domande che il voto parlamentare ha sollevato.
Il presente lavoro si articola in sei parti: nella prima e nella seconda si darà conto l’esito della consultazione
elettorale, evidenziando nel dettaglio i risultati conseguiti da ciascun partito e quali possibili alleanze
politiche si profilano per la formazione del prossimo Gabinetto di Governo, ed analizzando le condizioni
in cui versano le singole formazioni politiche all’indomani del voto, e come ciascuna di esse potrà profilarsi nel dibattito politico ed istituzionale che verrà; nella terza parte verranno descritti i temi che
maggiormente hanno condizionato le scelte degli elettori nella consultazione; nella quarta si analizzeranno
le caratteristiche del voto per il partito di estrema destra xenofoba Alternative für Deutschland (AfD), mentre
nella quinta parte si verificheranno le ragioni che hanno determinato la composizione in termini numerici
del futuro Bundestag; nella sesta ed ultima parte, infine, si descriveranno quali influenze potrà produrre
l’esito della consultazione sulle posizioni e le strategie che la Germania adotterà in ambito nazionale,
europeo ed internazionale nei mesi a venire.The parliamentary vote of 24 September 2017 was defined as a passing moment, a break
between a historical era and another. According to some, the odds would leave an unprecedented Germany respect
to the past, with political, institutional, and perhaps even cultural equilibriums different from those so far
known.
It is undeniable that the outcome of the Bundestag elections contains elements of absolute novelty, both from a
quantitative and qualitative point of view, and it is equally obvious that from the day following the vote
German political exponents, beginning with the re-affirmed Chancellor Angela Merkel, will have to
to face a completely different context from what they had been up to the day before.
At the same time, the RFT political actors will be engaged in the coming weeks to see which
Possibilities exist to form a new Executive, possibly able to drive the country for
throughout the legislature, providing adequate answers to the many questions raised by the parliamentary vote
Le elezioni regionali in Schleswig-Holstein e in Nordreno-Vestfalia. Tra contingenze regionali, “Effetto Merkel” e suggestioni europee
Nel periodo tra il 7 ed il 14 maggio 2017 in Germania si sono tenute due consultazioni per il rinnovo dei parlamenti regionali, rispettivamente in Schleswig-Holstein e in Nordreno-Vestfalia. Nel caso di questo ultimo Land oltre 13 milioni di cittadini sono stati chiamati alle urne per il rinnovo del parlamento regionale (Landtag) della regione più popolosa e una delle economicamente più forti della Germania. I due appuntamenti rivestivano una rilevanza ancora maggiore del solito, in quanto rappresentavano i due ultimi test elettorali previsti in Germania prima delle elezioni del Bundestag del prossimo 24 settembre. In queste ultime, i tedeschi si troveranno di fronte all’alternativa se rinnovare la fiducia ad nuovo governo guidato dalla cancelliera uscente, Angela Merkel (Unione Cristiano-Democratica – CDU), o dal suo principale sfidante, l’ex presidente del Parlamento europeo, Martin Schulz (Partito Socialdemocratico Tedesco – SPD). Inoltre, insieme alle omologhe elezioni regionali celebrate nella Saar lo scorso 26 marzo, queste elezioni offrivano l’opportunità di verificare la tenuta delle diverse coalizioni di governo formatesi nelle precedenti legislature nei tre Länder, e più in generale di esaminare in quale misura le tematiche locali e quelle di portata nazionale ed europea abbiano effettivamente inciso sugli orientamenti degli elettori nell’occasione
Millimeter and sub-millimeter atmospheric performance at Dome C combining radiosoundings and ATM synthetic spectra
The reliability of astronomical observations at millimeter and sub-millimeter
wavelengths closely depends on a low vertical content of water vapor as well as
on high atmospheric emission stability. Although Concordia station at Dome C
(Antarctica) enjoys good observing conditions in this atmospheric spectral
windows, as shown by preliminary site-testing campaigns at different bands and
in, not always, time overlapped periods, a dedicated instrument able to
continuously determine atmospheric performance for a wide spectral range is not
yet planned. In the absence of such measurements, in this paper we suggest a
semi-empirical approach to perform an analysis of atmospheric transmission and
emission at Dome C to compare the performance for 7 photometric bands ranging
from 100 GHz to 2 THz. Radiosoundings data provided by the Routine
Meteorological Observations (RMO) Research Project at Concordia station are
corrected by temperature and humidity errors and dry biases and then employed
to feed ATM (Atmospheric Transmission at Microwaves) code to generate synthetic
spectra in the wide spectral range from 100 GHz to 2 THz. To quantify the
atmospheric contribution in millimeter and sub-millimeter observations we are
considering several photometric bands in which atmospheric quantities are
integrated. The observational capabilities of this site at all the selected
spectral bands are analyzed considering monthly averaged transmissions joined
to the corresponding fluctuations. Transmission and pwv statistics at Dome C
derived by our semi-empirical approach are consistent with previous works. It
is evident the decreasing of the performance at high frequencies. We propose to
introduce a new parameter to compare the quality of a site at different
spectral bands, in terms of high transmission and emission stability, the Site
Photometric Quality Factor.Comment: accepted to MNRAS with minor revision
Rotation in galaxy clusters from MUSIC simulations with the kinetic Sunyaev-Zel'dovich effect
We propose in this work its application for the detection of possible coherent rotational motions in the hot intra-cluster medium. We select a sample of massive, relaxed and rotating galaxy clusters from Marenostrum-mUltidark SImulations of galaxy Clusters (MUSIC), and we produce mock maps of the temperature distortion produced by the kinetic Sunyaev-Zel'dovich effect by exploring six different lines of sight, in the best observational condition. These maps are compared with the expected signal computed from a suitable theoretical model in two cases: (i) focusing only on the contribution from the rotation, and (ii) accounting also for the cluster bulk motion. We find that the parameters of the model assumed for the radial profile of the rotational velocity, averaged over the considered lines of sight, are in agreement within two standard deviations at most with independent estimates from the simulation data, without being significantly affected by the presence of the cluster bulk term. The amplitude of the rotational signal is, on average, of the order of 23 per cent of the total signal accounting also for the cluster bulk motion, and its values are consistent with the literature. The projected bulk velocity of the cluster is also recovered at the different lines of sight, with values in agreement with the simulation dataASB acknowledges funding from Sapienza Università di Roma - Progetti per Avvio alla Ricerca Anno 2017, prot. AR11715C82402BC
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