928 research outputs found
Radio-X-ray Synergy to discover and Study Jetted Tidal Disruption Events
Observational consequences of tidal disruption of stars (TDEs) by
supermassive black holes (SMBHs) can enable us to discover quiescent SMBHs,
constrain their mass function, study formation and evolution of transient
accretion disks and jet formation. A couple of jetted TDEs have been recently
claimed in hard X-rays, challenging jet models, previously applied to
-ray bursts and active galactic nuclei. It is therefore of paramount
importance to increase the current sample. In this paper, we find that the best
strategy is not to use up-coming X-ray instruments alone, which will yield
between several (e-Rosita) and a couple of hundreds (Einstein Probe) events per
year below redshift one. We rather claim that a more efficient TDE hunter will
be the Square Kilometer Array (SKA) operating {\it in survey mode} at 1.4 GHz.
It may detect up to several hundreds of events per year below with
a peak rate of a few tens per year at . Therefore, even if the
jet production efficiency is {\it not } as assumed here, the predicted
rates should be large enough to allow for statistical studies. The
characteristic TDE decay of , however, is not seen in radio, whose
flux is quite featureless. {\it Identification} therefore requires localization
and prompt repointing by higher energy instruments. If radio candidates would
be repointed within a day by future X-ray observatories (e.g. Athena and
LOFT-like missions), it will be possible to detect up to X-ray
counterparts, almost up to redshift . The shortcome is that only for
redshift below the trigger times will be less than 10 days from
the explosion. In this regard the X-ray surveys are better suited to probe the
beginning of the flare, and are therefore complementary to SKA.Comment: Astrophysical Journal (revised version
Bedding control on landslides: A methodological approach for computer-aided mapping analysis
Litho-structural control on the spatial and temporal evolution of landslides is one of the major typical aspects on slopes constituted of structurally complex sequences. Mainly focused on instabilities of the earth flow type, a semi-quantitative analysis has been developed with the purpose of identifying and characterizing litho-structural control exerted by bedding on slopes and its effects on landsliding. In quantitative terms, a technique for azimuth data interpolation, Non-continuous Azimuth Distribution Methodological Approach (NADIA), is presented by means of a GIS software application. In addition, processed by NADIA, two indexes have been determined: (i) Δ, aimed at defining the relationship between the orientation of geological bedding planes and slope aspect, and (ii) C, which recognizes localized slope sectors in which the stony component of structurally complex formations is abundant and therefore operates an evolutive control of landslide masses. Furthermore, some Litho-Structural Models (LSMs) of slopes are proposed aiming at characterizing recurrent forms of structural control in the source, channel and deposition areas of gravitational movements. In order to elaborate evolutive models controlling landslide scenarios, LSMs were qualitatively related and compared with Δ and C; quantitative indexes. The methodological procedure has been applied to a lithostructurally complex area of Southern Italy where data about azimuth measurements and landslide mapping were known. It was found that the proposed methodology enables the recognition of typical control conditions on landslides in relation to the LSMs. Different control patterns on landslide shape and on style and distribution of the activity resulted for each LSM. This provides the possibility for first-order identification to be made of the spatial evolution of landslide bodies. © Author(s) 2011
LOFT as a discovery machine for jetted Tidal Disruption Events
This is a White Paper in support of the mission concept of the Large
Observatory for X-ray Timing (LOFT), proposed as a medium-sized ESA mission. We
discuss the potential of LOFT for the study of jetted tidal disruption events.
For a summary, we refer to the paper.Comment: White Paper in Support of the Mission Concept of the Large
Observatory for X-ray Timin
Design and Validation of Dynamic Positioning for Marine Systems: a Case Study
The design of a DP-system is a challenging task with several technical fields involved in the problem solution.
Numerical simulation is a powerful tool in order to aid the designer during the system development and to
speed up the design process. This paper presents the simulation methodology adopted to design and test the
dynamic positioning system for a vessel with a standard propulsion configuration. Simulation results and sea trial
measurements are compared to illustrate the reliability of the proposed simulation platform
Performance Simulation of Marine Cycloidal Propellers: A Both Theoretical and Heuristic Approach
open4The importance of mathematical and numerical simulation in marine engineering is growing together with the complexity of the designed systems. In general, simulation a makes it possible to improve the engineering design, reducing working time and costs of production as well. In this respect, the implementation of a simulation model for cycloidal propellers is presented. Cycloidal thrusters are being increasingly used in marine applications. Their best performance concerns low-speed applications, due to their ability to steer thrust in any direction. The proposed simulator is able to assess the performance of cycloidal propellers in terms of the generated thrust and torque, without resorting to consuming and demanding computational tools, such as CFD methods. This feature makes the presented model particularly suitable for the simulation in the time domain of the maneuverability of surface units, equipped with cycloidal propellers. In this regard, after embodying the implemented model in an already existing simulation platform for maneuverability, we show the most significant outputs concerning some simulated maneuvers, performed at cruise speed.openMarco Altosole, Silvia Donnarumma, Valentina Spagnolo, Stefano VignoloAltosole, Marco; Donnarumma, Silvia; Spagnolo, Valentina; Vignolo, Stefan
Channel Selection for Optimal EEG Measurement in Motor Imagery-Based Brain-Computer Interfaces
A method for selecting electroencephalographic (EEG) signals in motor imagery-based brain-computer interfaces (MI-BCI) is proposed for enhancing the online interoperability and portability of BCI systems, as well as user comfort. The attempt is also to reduce variability and noise of MI-BCI, which could be affected by a large number of EEG channels. The relation between selected channels and MI-BCI performance is therefore analyzed. The proposed method is able to select acquisition channels common to all subjects, while achieving a performance compatible with the use of all the channels. Results are reported with reference to a standard benchmark dataset, the BCI competition IV dataset 2a. They prove that a performance compatible with the best state-of-the-art approaches can be achieved, while adopting a significantly smaller number of channels, both in two and in four tasks classification. In particular, classification accuracy is about 77-83% in binary classification with down to 6 EEG channels, and above 60% for the four-classes case when 10 channels are employed. This gives a contribution in optimizing the EEG measurement while developing non-invasive and wearable MI-based brain-computer interfaces
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