Modeling and analysis of pooled stepped chutes

We consider an application of pooled stepped chutes where the transport in each pooled step is described by the shallow--water equations. Such systems can be found for example at large dams in order to release overflowing water. We analyze the mathematical conditions coupling the flows between different chutes taken from the engineering literature. We present the solution to a Riemann problem in the large and also a well--posedness result for the coupled problem. We finally report on some numerical experiments.Comment: 17 pages, 31 figure

Balance laws with integrable unbounded sources

We consider the Cauchy problem for a $n\times n$ strictly hyperbolic system of balance laws $$\{{array}{c} u_t+f(u)_x=g(x,u), x \in \mathbb{R}, t>0 u(0,.)=u_o \in L^1 \cap BV(\mathbb{R}; \mathbb{R}^n), | \lambda_i(u)| \geq c > 0 {for all} i\in \{1,...,n\}, \|g(x,\cdot)\|_{\mathbf{C}^2}\leq \tilde M(x) \in L1, {array}.$$ each characteristic field being genuinely nonlinear or linearly degenerate. Assuming that the $\mathbf{L}^1$ norm of $\|g(x,\cdot)\|_{\mathbf{C}^1}$ and \|u_o\|_{BV(\reali)} are small enough, we prove the existence and uniqueness of global entropy solutions of bounded total variation extending the result in [1] to unbounded (in $L^\infty$) sources. Furthermore, we apply this result to the fluid flow in a pipe with discontinuous cross sectional area, showing existence and uniqueness of the underlying semigroup.Comment: 26 pages, 4 figure

Preventive strategies in oral health for special needs patients

As regards to the most common oral disease in pediatric patients, intellectual disability is not a risk factor for caries disease itself, but it rather reduces the individual capability to self-care and therefore to his own oral care. Children suffering of systemic pathologies and/or with different stages of disability are to be considered at high risk for dental caries development. According to recent guidelines for oral health prevention in childhood, individual additional strategies for a preventive care should be applied for these patients. All the health providers, family and caregivers should be involved with the aim of being aware, motivated and informed on oral health issues, and a better access system to the dental care structure, both logistic, professional and economical should be assured

Effect of biofilm removal from the occlusal tooth surfaces on fluorescence measurements. A clinical study

Aim: Early diagnosis and monitoring of caries lesions are the most important issues of primary and secondary prevention policies.The intraoral VistaCamiX(DurrDental, Bietigheim‐Bissingen,Germany) uses the fluorescence phenomenon for a non‐invasive, quantitative caries diagnosis. In order to make a precise evaluation the tooth surface must be completely cleaned and without biofilm. The current study aimed to evaluate the effects of biofilm removal, using air‐polishing device (Combi,MectronSpA) with glycine, on fluorescence VistaCam iX camera quantitative measurements of caries. Methods: Patients with complete permanent dentition without any kind of restorative treatments in the lateral and posterior section of upper and lower dental arches were enrolled. The occlusal surfaces of molars and premolars were photographed using the fluorescence terminal Proof of the intraoral camera VistaCam iX before and after air polishing glycine procedures, registering the highest value gained for each occlusal surface. Results:133cuspidate permanent teeth of patients aged between 13 and 25 were analyzed. Descriptive analysis showed an average of 0.82 (SD=0.65; Min=0.00; Max=1.80; Median=1.20) and of 0.93 (SD=0.60; Min=0.00; Max=1.70; Median=1.20) for values before and after treatment, respectively.The scores assigned by VistaCam iX Proof fluorescence based camera to the occlusal surfaces, after the air‐polishing treatment, are averagely higher than those before treatment, especially in the diagnosis of initial tooth decay. Conclusion: Biofilm removal with glycine air‐polishing improves the VistaCam camera accuracy in recognizing healthy tissue from the decayed one, due to the fact that air-polishing treatment increases the decayed tissue reaction to the fluorescence

Novelty Detection with Autoencoders for System Health Monitoring in Industrial Environments

Predictive Maintenance (PdM) is the newest strategy for maintenance management in industrial contexts. It aims to predict the occurrence of a failure to minimize unexpected downtimes and maximize the useful life of components. In data-driven approaches, PdM makes use of Machine Learning (ML) algorithms to extract relevant features from signals, identify and classify possible faults (diagnostics), and predict the components’ remaining useful life (prognostics). The major challenge lies in the high complexity of industrial plants, where both operational conditions change over time and a large number of unknown modes occur. A solution to this problem is offered by novelty detection, where a representation of the machinery normal operating state is learned and compared with online measurements to identify new operating conditions. In this paper, a systematic study of autoencoder-based methods for novelty detection is conducted. We introduce an architecture template, which includes a classification layer to detect and separate the operative conditions, and a localizer for identifying the most influencing signals. Four implementations, with different deep learning models, are described and used to evaluate the approach on data collected from a test rig. The evaluation shows the effectiveness of the architecture and that the autoencoders outperform the current baselines

Long-term comparative analysis of no evidence of disease activity (NEDA-3) status between multiple sclerosis patients treated with natalizumab and fingolimod for up to 4 years

Comparative effectiveness of natalizumab and fingolimod over a follow-up longer than 2 years has been not addressed yet

A note on the Guerra and Talagrand theorems for Mean Field Spin Glasses: the simple case of spherical models

The aim of this paper is to discuss the main ideas of the Talagrand proof of the Parisi Ansatz for the free-energy of Mean Field Spin Glasses with a physicist's approach. We consider the case of the spherical $p$-spin model, which has the following advantages: 1) the Parisi Ansatz takes the simple ``one step replica symmetry breaking form'', 2) the replica free-energy as a function of the order parameters is simple enough to allow for numerical maximization with arbitrary precision. We present the essential ideas of the proof, we stress its connections with the theory of effective potentials for glassy systems, and we reduce the technically more difficult part of the Talagrand's analysis to an explicit evaluation of the solution of a variational problem.Comment: 20 pages, 5 figures. Added references and minor language correction

Green façades for urban comfort improvement. Implementation in a extreme Continental Mediterranean climate

Green façades constitute constructive technologies with a positive influence on sustainability in cities and several urban climate parameters such as thermal comfort, air quality and water management. According to the current research, the implementation of urban greenery contributes to increase the cooling effect and mitigate the urban heat island (UHI) phenomenon. This paper focuses on the role of vegetation in improving the urban environment of Madrid (Spain). The simulation results show that green walls could be more effective in urban morphologies with narrow streets. During overheated periods, the streets with green walls have a higher relative humidity in the surrounding areas than those with trees. The air temperature is found to be a little lower. The reduction of wind speed means a positive effect on urban hygrothermal comfort. Therefore, green walls could be taken into account as suitable tools to modify the outdoor thermal environment in cities with an extreme Continental Mediterranean climate

La trasformazione dell’assistenza territoriale e gli spazi di autonomia locali: quali variabili strategiche?

Lo studio analizza il DM77/22 per evidenziare gli spazi di indeterminatezza e i conseguenti trade-off decisionali che i decisori regionali e aziendali devono affrontare per ripianificare i servizi territoriali. La ricerca evidenzia quattro spazi di indeterminatezza che riguardano le modalità di gestione della sanità di iniziativa, le forme di accesso e CRM, il modello organizzativo del territorio, i modelli di presa in carico della cronicità e alcuni trade-off che ne derivano. Per rispondere ai trade-off si propongono alcune prospettive di analisi che riguardano le tecniche di stratificazione dei pazienti, l’interpretazione del concetto di prossimità, l’incidenza del digitale nei servizi, il ruolo e l’organizzazione delle professioni sanitarie