Quantitative isoperimetric inequalities for log-convex probability measures on the line

The purpose of this paper is to analyze the isoperimetric inequality for symmetric log-convex probability measures on the line. Using geometric arguments we first re-prove that extremal sets in the isoperimetric inequality are intervals or complement of intervals (a result due to Bobkov and Houdr\'e). Then we give a quantitative form of the isoperimetric inequality, leading to a somehow anomalous behavior. Indeed, it could be that a set is very close to be optimal, in the sense that the isoperimetric inequality is almost an equality, but at the same time is very far (in the sense of the symmetric difference between sets) to any extremal sets! From the results on sets we derive quantitative functional inequalities of weak Cheeger type

Feasibility of predicting performance degradation of airfoils in heavy rain

The heavy rain aerodynamic performance penalty program is detailed. This effort supported the design of a fullscale test program as well as examined the feasibility of estimating the degradation of performance of airfoils from first principles. The analytic efforts were supplemented by a droplet splashback test program in an attempt to observe the physics of impact and generation of ejecta. These tests demonstrated that the interaction of rain with an airfoil is a highly complex phenomenon and this interaction is not likely to be analyzed analytically with existing tools

Towards an efficient segmentation of small rodents brain: a short critical review

One of the most common tasks in small rodents MRI pipelines is the voxel-wise segmentation of the volume in multiple classes. While many segmentation schemes have been developed for the human brain, fewer are available for rodent MRI, often by adaptation from human neuroimaging. Common methods include atlas-based and clustering schemes. The former labels the target volume by registering one or more pre-labeled atlases using a deformable registration method, in which case the result depends on the quality of the reference volumes, the registration algorithm and the label fusion approach, if more than one atlas is employed. The latter is based on an expectation maximization procedure to maximize the variance between voxel categories, and is often combined with Markov Random Fields and the atlas based approach to include spatial information, priors, and improve the classification accuracy. Our primary goal is to critically review the state of the art of rat and mouse segmentation of neuro MRI volumes and compare the available literature on popular, readily and freely available MRI toolsets, including SPM, FSL and ANTs, when applied to this task in the context of common pre-processing steps. Furthermore, we will briefly address the emerging Deep Learning methods for the segmentation of medical imaging, and the perspectives for applications to small rodents

Doomed to fail. The adoption of gendered party finance in Italy at an inhospitable time

Italy stands out as one of the few countries in Europe to have introduced policies linking public funding for political parties to measures to enhance women’s political representation. However, such policies have proved to be flawed, failing to meet the objectives that they aimed to address. Starting from these observations, this paper opens the ‘black box’ of the policy cycle and analyses the stage of policy formulation that led to gendered party finance, to understand why such ill-defined measures were introduced in the first place. In order to do so we retrace, first, the ‘support structure’ for the adoption of gender representation policies, and identify the relevant elite arena in which the policy was initiated. Then, by analysing parliamentary votes and speeches, we analyse the alliances and the conflict that originated around the policy. We find that, if structural conditions prevented the adoption of a more intrusive policy, its poor design seems to have been the result of the weakness of the support structure for the introduction of feminist policies and of the lack of cross-party alliances among women MPs that might otherwise have promoted the legitimacy of affirmative action

Medicinal plants and phytotherapy in traditional medicine of Paruro Province, Cusco department, Peru

Medicinal plants constitute a very important resource in Peru both in culture and health-care systems, and a deep knowledge about the curative properties of plants has been developed, namely in rural areas. An ethnobotanical investigation was carried out in Paruro Province, Peru, with the aim to producing a census of medicinal plants utilized in traditional medical practices. Collection of information was performed in the field, by interwievig 118 traditional healers and collecting data on therapuetical uses of plant. The use of two hundred fifty five plants belonging to 73 families is reported. For each species the following data are provided: latin binomial, vernacular name(s), medicinal uses and preparation of the remedy. Data reported confirms the fundamental importance of medicinal plants in care-health systems and the deep knowledge about the curative properties of vegetal species in the studied area, which may potentially constitute a source of new pharmaceuticals

Gendered patterns in candidates’ campaign fundraising : the case of Italy

The lack of financial resources is an often-cited hurdle for women pursuing political careers. However, empirical analysis of the dynamics of the private funding of women candidates and its potential implications for their political careers is still scant, particularly for countries outside the anglophone regions. This paper contributes to the scholarly debate by focusing on the gendered patterns in campaign fundraising in Italy, where radical changes to the party funding regime and multiple reforms to the electoral laws may have changed the structure of opportunity for fundraising by women candidates. We analyse patterns of private funding for men and women candidates in four national elections between 1996 and 2018. Our analysis, triangulated with semi-structured interviews with women candidates, shows that differences exist in fundraising patterns between male and female candidates in Italy. It reveals differences in the quality of candidates’ fundraising networks and confirms that political affiliation (to right-wing parties) and incumbency have an effect on the amount of donations received, thus granting women candidates greater access to private donations

Monte Carlo simulation of SU(2) Yang-Mills theory with light gluinos

In a numerical Monte Carlo simulation of SU(2) Yang-Mills theory with light dynamical gluinos the low energy features of the dynamics as confinement and bound state mass spectrum are investigated. The motivation is supersymmetry at vanishing gluino mass. The performance of the applied two-step multi-bosonic dynamical fermion algorithm is discussed.Comment: latex, 48 pages, 16 figures with epsfi

A COMBINED APPROACH FOR SURVEYING COMPLEX COASTAL SITES

Abstract. This study presents an integrated approach for reading coastal sites. A process aimed at protecting and enhancing these sites must be developed alongside a targeted interdisciplinary strategy, closely linked to the fields of archaeology, survey, landscape reading, morphology of the territory and geology. These must no longer be managed as individual cognitive elements, but within a single comprehensive analytical interpretation model.The experiment activity carried out along the rocky area of Aci Castello, on the eastern coast of Sicily, was developed using a methodological approach based on the integration of 3D data coming from various survey technologies &amp;ndash; 3D laser scanning, mobile mapping and echo sounder systems. The aim of the experiment was to create a complete three-dimensional model of the studied area, focused on obtaining a dynamic understanding, that is punctual and comprehensive, of the site's value and fragility.</p