Propagation and deposition of stony debris flows at channel confluences

The fluid dynamics of stony debris flows generated in two small tributaries adjacent to each other and flowing into a main receiving channel was analyzed experimentally at a laboratory scale. The analysis on the propagation along the tributaries and deposition in the main channel provide information about sediment-water mobility, dangerous damming, and potential hazard. Debris flows were generated by releasing a preset water discharge over an erodible layer of saturated gravels material. As a consequence, the debris flow sediment concentration varied accordingly to the entrainment rate which, in turn, was strongly controlled by the tributary slope. The data collected by acoustic level sensors, pore fluid pressure transducers, and a load cell were used to characterize the evolution of bulk density and solid concentration of the sediment-water mixture. These two parameters were relevant to assess the stony debris flow mobility which contributes to determine the shape of sediment deposits in the main channel. The detailed bed topography surveys carried out in the main channel at the end of each experiment provided information on the morphology of these deposits and on the interplay of adjacent confluences. The influences of conflu- ence angle, tributary slopes, and triggering conditions have been investigated, for a total of 18 different configurations. Within the investigated range of parameters, the slope angle was the parameter that mainly influences the stony debris flow mobility while, for adjacent confluences, the degree of obstruction within the receiving channel was strongly influenced by the triggering scenario

Study of ttH production at sqrt(s) = 13 TeV in the all-jets channel with CMS

Measuring the associated production of the Higgs boson and a top quark-antiquark pair is one of the major goals for the Run 2 of the LHC. The aim of this thesis is to report on a first search for t ̄tH, using pp collision recorded with the CMS detector in the whole 2016, at a centre-of-mass energy of 13 TeV, and corresponding to an integrated luminosity L = 36 fb^−1. In particular, the analysis is performed and optimised on 2015 data, corresponding to an integrated luminosity L = 2.63 fb−1 , and then a projection of the results on the full data set is given. Candidate t ̄tH events are selected with criteria which enhance the all-jets decay channels of the t ̄t system and the decay of the Higgs boson into a bottom quark-antiquark pair (H -> bb). Despite being the channel with the highest branching ratio and potentially fully reconstructable, such decay mode is particularly challenging, due to the completely dominating background contributions. In order to refine the selection, signal and background events are separated using a multivariate approach, using a Boosted Decision Tree. A first estimation of the BDT sensitivity is performed. Such estimate is presented as an upper limit at 95% confidence level on the t ̄tH production cross section, with respect to the SM expectations, through the signal strength (μ), and results in μ = 8.2^{+3.4}_{−2.4}. The projection of the result on the full data set is μ = 2.1^{+2.1}_{−1.6}

THE ARTS APPROACH BASED ON THE PRINCIPLES OF DIFFERENTIATED TEACHING AND THE PROJECT METHOD AS A MEANS OF UNIVERSAL DESIGN OF PRESCHOOL EDUCATION. LINKING THEORY TO PRACTICE

The diverse and rapidly evolving society at political, social and technological levels makes Universal Education Planning based on the principles of Differentiated Instruction and the Project method a necessary condition. In accordance with the recommendation of the European Parliament and UNESCO, inclusive education needs to be consolidated. This paper attempts to show that a holistic approach to the Arts can be a main instrument for a pluralistic education space that responds to the wide range of diversity of children. The purpose of this paper is twofold. Firstly, to explore through a literature review the contribution of Arts to the development of a holistic approach to Early Childhood Education for all children without exception. Subsequently, a survey will be examined whether Preschool Educators are aware of and implement Art programs based on the modern pedagogical practice of Universal Educational Planning. The method used is quantitative data analysis using SPSS with random sampling after the distribution of a questionnaire after approval of the Ethics Committee of the Educators regardless of their level of study working in Primary Kindergartens in different regions of Attica. The conclusions that will emerge from the analysis of the data will be useful for the field of Early Childhood Education, because they will be the trigger for further investigation in order to ensure the implementation of effective teaching practices, such as Differentiated Instruction & the Project Method and, by extension, Universal Design for Learning in the field of Early Childhood Education.  Article visualizations

Evaluation of porosity and degree of saturation from seismic and electrical data

The characterisation of unsaturated intermediate and coarse-grained soils faces some practical difficulties because undisturbed sampling is not easy. Geophysical methods provide useful information as they can be applied on site for testing geo-materials in their natural state. Moreover their repeated application over time is effective and efficient for monitoring purposes. A procedure for evaluating porosity and degree of saturation on the basis of electrical resistivity and wave velocities measurements is proposed. The approach is based on an electro-seismic model that utilises Archie's law to describe the electrical behaviour of soils and a recent formulation of elastic wave propagation in unsaturated soils. The proposed procedure is applied to laboratory data, and shows promising result

AMDA: an R package for the automated microarray data analysis

BACKGROUND: Microarrays are routinely used to assess mRNA transcript levels on a genome-wide scale. Large amount of microarray datasets are now available in several databases, and new experiments are constantly being performed. In spite of this fact, few and limited tools exist for quickly and easily analyzing the results. Microarray analysis can be challenging for researchers without the necessary training and it can be time-consuming for service providers with many users. RESULTS: To address these problems we have developed an automated microarray data analysis (AMDA) software, which provides scientists with an easy and integrated system for the analysis of Affymetrix microarray experiments. AMDA is free and it is available as an R package. It is based on the Bioconductor project that provides a number of powerful bioinformatics and microarray analysis tools. This automated pipeline integrates different functions available in the R and Bioconductor projects with newly developed functions. AMDA covers all of the steps, performing a full data analysis, including image analysis, quality controls, normalization, selection of differentially expressed genes, clustering, correspondence analysis and functional evaluation. Finally a LaTEX document is dynamically generated depending on the performed analysis steps. The generated report contains comments and analysis results as well as the references to several files for a deeper investigation. CONCLUSION: AMDA is freely available as an R package under the GPL license. The package as well as an example analysis report can be downloaded in the Services/Bioinformatics section of the Genopoli

Quantum Physics Literacy Aimed at K12 and the General Public

Educating K12 students and general public in quantum physics represents an evitable must no longer since quantum technologies are going to revolutionize our lives. Quantum literacy is a formidable challenge and an extraordinary opportunity for a massive cultural uplift, where citizens learn how to engender creativity and practice a new way of thinking, essential for smart community building. Scientific thinking hinges on analyzing facts and creating understanding, and it is then formulated with the dense mathematical language for later fact checking. Within classical physics, learners’ intuition may in principle be educated via classroom demonstrations of everyday-life phenomena. Their understanding can even be framed with the mathematics suited to their instruction degree. For quantum physics, on the contrary, we have no experience of quantum phenomena and the required mathematics is beyond non-expert reach. Therefore, educating intuition needs imagination. Without rooting to experiments and some degree of formal framing, educators face the risk to provide only evanescent tales, often misled, while resorting to familiar analogies. Here, we report on the realization of QPlayLearn, an online platform conceived to explicitly address challenges and opportunities of massive quantum literacy. QPlayLearn’s mission is to provide multilevel education on quantum science and technologies to anyone, regardless of age and background. To this aim, innovative interactive tools enhance the learning process effectiveness, fun, and accessibility, while remaining grounded on scientific correctness. Examples are games for basic quantum physics teaching, on-purpose designed animations, and easy-to-understand explanations on terminology and concepts by global experts. As a strategy for massive cultural change, QPlayLearn offers diversified content for different target groups, from primary school all the way to university physics students. It is addressed also to companies wishing to understand the potential of the emergent quantum industry, journalists, and policymakers needing to seize what quantum technologies are about, as well as all quantum science enthusiasts

Quantum Physics Literacy Aimed at K12 and the General Public

Educating K12 students and general public in quantum physics represents an evitable must no longer since quantum technologies are going to revolutionize our lives. Quantum literacy is a formidable challenge and an extraordinary opportunity for a massive cultural uplift, where citizens learn how to engender creativity and practice a new way of thinking, essential for smart community building. Scientific thinking hinges on analyzing facts and creating understanding, and it is then formulated with the dense mathematical language for later fact checking. Within classical physics, learners' intuition may in principle be educated via classroom demonstrations of everyday-life phenomena. Their understanding can even be framed with the mathematics suited to their instruction degree. For quantum physics, on the contrary, we have no experience of quantum phenomena and the required mathematics is beyond non-expert reach. Therefore, educating intuition needs imagination. Without rooting to experiments and some degree of formal framing, educators face the risk to provide only evanescent tales, often misled, while resorting to familiar analogies. Here, we report on the realization of QPlayLearn, an online platform conceived to explicitly address challenges and opportunities of massive quantum literacy. QPlayLearn's mission is to provide multilevel education on quantum science and technologies to anyone, regardless of age and background. To this aim, innovative interactive tools enhance the learning process effectiveness, fun, and accessibility, while remaining grounded on scientific correctness. Examples are games for basic quantum physics teaching, on-purpose designed animations, and easy-to-understand explanations on terminology and concepts by global experts. As a strategy for massive cultural change, QPlayLearn offers diversified content for different target groups, from primary school all the way to university physics students. It is addressed also to companies wishing to understand the potential of the emergent quantum industry, journalists, and policymakers needing to seize what quantum technologies are about, as well as all quantum science enthusiasts.Peer reviewe

Διατροφή και Αντισφαίριση

Σκοπός της παρούσας έρευνας είναι να παρουσιάσει την επίδραση της διατροφής στην αντισφαίριση, καθώς και τις διατροφικές πρακτικές που ακολουθούν οι παίκτες προκειμένου να βελτιώσουν την απόδοσή τους. Η μέθοδος που πραγματοποιείται για την επίτευξη των στόχων της εργασίας στηρίζεται σε βιβλιογραφική έρευνα. Η μέθοδος αφορούσε τη μελέτη της ήδη υπάρχουσας διεθνούς βιβλιογραφίας με στόχο να χρησιμοποιηθεί σε θεωρητικά συμπεράσματα. Τα στοιχεία της εργασίας ανακτήθηκαν από την αναζήτηση αρθρογραφίας από ιστοσελίδες (Google Scholar, Pub Med). Τα άρθρα αφορούσαν τη διατροφή των αθλητών αντισφαίρισης σε επαγγελματικό και αρχάριο επίπεδο, διατροφικές συστάσεις για τη βελτίωση της απόδοσης καθώς και στρατηγικές αποκατάστασης. Τα άρθρα ήταν στην αγγλική γλώσσα. Μεταφράστηκαν και αξιοποιήθηκαν τα στοιχεία που ήταν αναγκαία για τους στόχους της εργασίας. Συνοπτικά από την έρευνα αυτή προέκυψε ότι η διατροφή αποτελεί σημαντικό αρωγό επίτευξης της μέγιστης απόδοσης, σε συνδυασμό με την αρμονική σύσταση σώματος αλλά και την πραγματοποίηση κατάλληλης προπόνησης. Παράλληλα η ισορροπία υγρών και ηλεκτρολυτών σε ένα άθλημα όπως το τένις είναι αξιοσημείωτος παράγοντας απόδοσης εξαιτίας των επαναλαμβανόμενων προσπαθειών σε ζεστά περιβάλλοντα (ACSM,2009).ΟΧ