Visualization of hydrogen injection in a scramjet engine by simultaneous PLIF imaging and laser holographic imaging

Flowfield characterization has been accomplished for several fuel injector configurations using simultaneous planar laser induced fluorescence (PLIF) and laser holographic imaging (LHI). The experiments were carried out in the GASL-NASA HYPULSE real gas expansion tube facility, a pulsed facility with steady test times of about 350 microsec. The tests were done at simulated Mach numbers 13.5 and 17. The focus of this paper is on the measurement technologies used and their application in a research facility. The HYPULSE facility, the models used for the experiments, and the setup for the LHI and PLIF measurements are described. Measurement challenges and solutions are discussed. Results are presented for experiments with several fuel injector configurations and several equivalence ratios

La Carta UE in condominio fra Corte costituzionale e giudici comuni. Conflitto armato, coabitazione forzosa o armonico m\ue9nage?

Si tratta di risposte sintetiche a domande relative all'uso giurisprudenziale della Carta dei diritti fondamentali dell'Unione europe

Rosatellum-bis e la forma di governo \u201cleadercratica\u201d sul far del nascere della XVIII Legislatura

The present essay examines the impact of the parliamentary electoral system (the so called Rosatell um - bis ) on the Italian form of government. The attention is first brought to the voting system and then to the polling station, noting the attitude of the mechanisms to facilitate the winning parties and their leaders. In particular, the analysis shows that the electoral system contributes to strengthen the role of the two majority leaders, both with regard to the Chambers and in the determination of the general policy of the Government, according to a form which is defined as \u201cleadercrazia\u201d

Audizione in merito al d.d.l. S. 881 su \u201cLegge elettorale: per una determinazione dei collegi indipendente dal numero dei parlamentari\u201d

Hearing on the d.d.l. n. 881 on "Electoral law: for a determination of the colleges independent of the number of parliamentarians" (Constitutional Affairs Commission of the Senate - Thursday 29 November 2018) The Author focuses on draft law S. 881, dealing with the establishment of constituencies independently from the number of the members of Parliaments (hereinafter, MPs). This bill, read together with the project of constitutional reform (draft const. law S.805), aims at replacing the currently fixed number of constituencies and seats with a varying ratio. The resulting legislation, in case the number of MPs were not reduced, would not affect the number of uninominal seats for the Camera dei Deputati and Senato della Repubblica. However, if the number of MPs would decrease, the representativeness of the Parliament would be prejudiced. At the same time, the power of party secretariats and the majority effect of the electoral system would grow. The Author also notes that there is a strong risk of escalation of the gap between the ex ante number of seats and average population. Finally, the Author argues that the combination of the two draft laws (the one amending electoral legislation and the other aiming at changing the Constitution) would be able to solve the problem consisting of vacant seats with a number of candidates for each list equal to the average number of seats to be assigned, although the outcome would be mitigated by the unchanged possibility for each candidate to run for more than one constituency

Magnetic resonance and ultrasound contrast imaging of polymer-shelled microbubbles loaded with iron oxide nanoparticles

Dual-mode contrast agents (CAs) have great potential for improving diagnostics. However, the effectiveness of CAs is strictly related to both the solution adopted to merge the two agents into a single probe unit, and the ratio between the two agents. In this study, two dual-mode CAs for simultaneous magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and ultrasound imaging (UI) were assessed. For this purpose, different densities of superparamagnetic iron oxide nanoparticles (SPIONs) were anchored to the external surface of polymer-shelled microbubbles (MBs) or were physically entrapped into the shell. In vitro static and dynamic experiments were carried out with a limited concentration of modified MBs (106 bubbles ml 121) by avoiding destruction during UI (performed at a peak pressure lower than 320 kPa) and by using a lowfield MRI system (with a magnetic flux density equal to 0.25 T). Under these conditions, different imaging techniques, set-up parameters and SPION densities were used to achieve satisfactory detection of the CAs by using both UI and MRI. However, when the SPION density was increased, the MRI contrast improved, whereas the UI contrast worsened due to the reduced elasticity of the MB shell. For both UI and MRI, MBs with externally anchored SPIONs provided better performance than MBs with SPIONs entrapped into the shell. In particular, a SPION density of 29% with respect to the mass of the MBs was successfully tested

Growth of donor-derived dendritic cells from the bone marrow of murine liver auograft recipients in response to granulocyte/macrophage colony-stimulating factor

Allografts of the liver, which has a comparatively heavy leukocyte content compared with other vascularized organs, are accepted permanently across major histocompatibility complex barriers in many murine strain combinations without immunosuppressive therapy. It has been postulated that this inherent tolerogenicity of the liver may be a consequence of the migration and perpetuation within host lymphoid tissues of potentially tolerogenic donor-derived ("chimeric") leukocytes, in particular, the precursors of chimeric dendritic cells (DC). In this study, we have used granulocyte/macrophage colony-stimulating factor to induce the propagation of progenitors that give rise to DC (CD45+, CDllc+, 33D1+, nonlymphoid dendritic cell 145 +, major histocompatibility complex class II+, B7-1+) in li-tuid cultures of murine bone marrow cells. Using this technique, together with immunocytochemical and molecular methods, we show that, in addition to cells expressing female host (C3H) phenotype (H-2Kk+; I-E+; Y chromosome-), a minor population of male donor (B10)-derived cells (H-2Kb+; I-A+; Y chromosome+) can also be grown in 10-d DC cultures from the bone marrow of liver allograft recipients 14 d after transplant. Highly purified nonlymphoid dendritic cell 145+ DC sorted from these bone marrow-derived cell cultures were shown to comprise ~1-10% cells of donor origin (Y chromosome +) by polymerase chain reaction analysis. In addition, sorted DC stimulated naive, recipient strain T lymphocytes in primary mixed leukocyte cultures. Evidence was also obtained for the growth of donor-derived cells from the spleen but not the thymus. In contrast, donor ceils could not be propagated from the bone marrow or other lymphoid tissues of nonimmunosuppressed C3H mice rejecting cardiac allografrs from the same donor strain (B10). These findings provide a basis for the establishment and perpetuation of cell chimerism after organ transplantation. © 1995, Rockefeller University Press., All rights reserved

The McGill score as a screening test for obstructive sleep disordered breathing in children with co-morbidities

Background: The McGill score is used to stratify severity of oximetry in children referred for investigation of obstructive sleep apnoea (OSA) to identify those with more severe disease and prioritize treatment. We hypothesized that its Positive predictive value (PPV) and Negative predictive value (NPV) in detecting OSA differs significantly between children with medical conditions and otherwise healthy children. / Methods: We performed a two-year retrospective analysis of children referred for investigation of OSA who underwent a cardiorespiratory (CR) polygraphy study. McGill score was calculated from the oximetry trace blinded to polygraphy results. We looked at 2 definitions of OSA: Obstructive Apnoea Hypopnoea Index (oAHI) ≥1 and ≥5. McGill sensitivity, specificity, PPV and NPV were calculated. McGill score=1 was considered normal or inconclusive, >1 abnormal. / Results: We studied 312 children, 190 males (61%), median age 4.5 (2.4-7.9) years. 129 were otherwise healthy and 183 had associated medical conditions. The PPV of the McGill score was significantly lower in children with medical conditions than otherwise healthy children. The NPV was similar in both groups of children. / Conclusions: The higher number of false positives in children with medical conditions may be due to non-obstructive causes such as central apnoeas. Children with underlying lung disease are also more likely to desaturate following a brief apnoea or hypopnoea. Children with co-morbidities who have an abnormal McGill score should not be assumed to have OSA and need more detailed sleep studies to determine the reason for the oxygen desaturations

The stochastic matching problem

The matching problem plays a basic role in combinatorial optimization and in statistical mechanics. In its stochastic variants, optimization decisions have to be taken given only some probabilistic information about the instance. While the deterministic case can be solved in polynomial time, stochastic variants are worst-case intractable. We propose an efficient method to solve stochastic matching problems which combines some features of the survey propagation equations and of the cavity method. We test it on random bipartite graphs, for which we analyze the phase diagram and compare the results with exact bounds. Our approach is shown numerically to be effective on the full range of parameters, and to outperform state-of-the-art methods. Finally we discuss how the method can be generalized to other problems of optimization under uncertainty.Comment: Published version has very minor change