Surface Photometry of Early-type Galaxies in the Hubble Deep Field

The detailed surface photometry of a sample of early-type galaxies in the Hubble Deep Field is presented as part of a long-term project aimed to settle strong observational constraints to the theories modelling the evolution of elliptical galaxies from the early stages. The sample has been extracted, in the V_606 band, from the catalog by Couch (1996). The analysis of the luminosity and geometrical profiles, carried out on 162 candidates obeying our provisional selection criteria, resulted in a list of 99 'bona fide' early-type galaxies, for which accurate total magnitudes and effective radii were computed. The comparison with the magnitudes given by Williams et al.(1996) indicates that the automated photometry tends to underestimate the total luminosity of the ellipticals. The luminosity profiles of most of galaxies in our sample follow fairly well the deVaucouleurs law (`Normal' profiles). However, a relevant fraction of galaxies, even following the deVaucouleurs law in the main body light distribution, exhibit in the inner region a flattening of the luminosity profile not attributable to the PSF (`Flat' profiles) or, in some cases, a complex (multi-nucleus) structure (`Merger' profiles). The average ellipticity of galaxies belonging to the `Flat' and `Merger' classes is found to be significantly higher than that of the `Normal' galaxies. Moreover, even taken into account the relevant uncertainty of the outer position angle profiles, the amount of isophotal twisting of HDF ellipticals turns out to be significantly larger with respect to that of the local samples.Comment: 22 pages, LaTeX with laa.sty and psfig.sty macros + 28 embedded postscript figures. To appear in Astronomy and Astrophysics Supp

Preliminary validation of an indirect method for discharge evaluation of Pertuso Spring (Central Italy)

This paper deals with the results of the first year of the Environmental Monitoring Plan, related to the catchment project of Pertuso Spring, which is going to be exploited to supply an important water network in the South part of Roma district. The study area is located in the Upper Valley of the Aniene River (Latium, Central Italy), in the outcrop of Triassic-Cenozoic carbonate rocks, and belong to an important karst aquifer. Pertuso Spring is the main outlet of this karst aquifer and is the one of the most important water resource in the southeast part of Latium Region, used for drinking, agriculture and hydroelectric supplies. Karst aquifer feeding Pertuso Spring is an open hydrogeological system aquifer characterized by complex interactions and exchanges between groundwater and surface water which influence the aquifer water budget. Thus, evaluation of groundwater discharge from this karst spring can be affected by difficulties in performing measurements because of the insufficient knowledge about water transfer processes in the hydrological cycle and geometry of drainage conduits. The aim of this paper is to assess the interactions between karst aquifer feeding Pertuso Spring and Aniene River based on stream discharge measurements and water geochemical tracer data in order to validate an indirect method for karst spring discharge evaluation. As a matter of fact, in this paper, there are presented the results of the application of Magnesium as a reliable tracer of karst spring discharge. This indirect method is based on the elaboration of surface water discharge measurements in relationship with Mg2+ concentration values, determined as for groundwater, coming from Pertuso Spring, as for surface water sample, collected upstream and downstream of Pertuso Spring, along Aniene River streamflow. The application of Magnesium as an environmental tracer provides a means to evaluate discharge of Pertuso Spring, as it came up to be a marker of the mixing of surface water and groundwater. On the other hand, the Magnesium ion concentration provides information for the identification of groundwater flow systems and the main hydrogeochemical processes affecting the composition of water within the karst aquifers

Competing mechanisms of stress-assisted diffusivity and stretch-activated currents in cardiac electromechanics

We numerically investigate the role of mechanical stress in modifying the conductivity properties of the cardiac tissue and its impact in computational models for cardiac electromechanics. We follow a theoretical framework recently proposed in [Cherubini, Filippi, Gizzi, Ruiz-Baier, JTB 2017], in the context of general reaction-diffusion-mechanics systems using multiphysics continuum mechanics and finite elasticity. In the present study, the adapted models are compared against preliminary experimental data of pig right ventricle fluorescence optical mapping. These data contribute to the characterization of the observed inhomogeneity and anisotropy properties that result from mechanical deformation. Our novel approach simultaneously incorporates two mechanisms for mechano-electric feedback (MEF): stretch-activated currents (SAC) and stress-assisted diffusion (SAD); and we also identify their influence into the nonlinear spatiotemporal dynamics. It is found that i) only specific combinations of the two MEF effects allow proper conduction velocity measurement; ii) expected heterogeneities and anisotropies are obtained via the novel stress-assisted diffusion mechanisms; iii) spiral wave meandering and drifting is highly mediated by the applied mechanical loading. We provide an analysis of the intrinsic structure of the nonlinear coupling using computational tests, conducted using a finite element method. In particular, we compare static and dynamic deformation regimes in the onset of cardiac arrhythmias and address other potential biomedical applications

Planning for real: ICT as a tool in urban regeneration

One of the major worldwide issues in the informal settlements has been spotted in the absence or weakness of community awareness. The problem can be analysed through different perspectives, related to security and social behaviours, environmental care and energy consumption. In such a complex scenario, it has been considered that one of the biggest difficulties for the planning units of municipalities in metropolitan areas, who deal with illegal and marginal settlements upgrading projects, is to face with frictions and resistances in some degree to their decisions, projects and actions. In order to increase the awareness of citizenship, ICT can be considered as a revolutionary support in this context. Low cost and friendly tools could help to upgrade the educational level of low incoming people, opening the communities and increasing the sense of belonging to a urban context as well as a neighbourhood. Digital democracy through digital inclusion and e-learning can be aimed in order to let citizen know, participate, share, improve or criticise projects and actions

Characterization of self-injected electron beams from LWFA experiments at SPARC_LAB

The plasma-based acceleration is an encouraging technique to overcome the limits of the accelerating gradient in the conventional RF acceleration. A plasma accelerator is able to provide accelerating fields up to hundreds of $GeV/m$, paving the way to accelerate particles to several MeV over a short distance (below the millimetre range). Here the characteristics of preliminary electron beams obtained with the self-injection mechanism produced with the FLAME high-power laser at the SPARC_LAB test facility are shown. In detail, with an energy laser on focus of $1.5\ J$ and a pulse temporal length (FWHM) of $40\ fs$, we obtained an electron plasma density due to laser ionization of about $6 \times 10^{18}\ cm^{-3}$, electron energy up to $350\ MeV$ and beam charge in the range $(50 - 100)\ pC$.Comment: 6 pages, 11 figures, conference EAAC201