3,571 research outputs found
Theory of activated-rate processes under shear with application to shear-induced aggregation of colloids
Using a novel approximation scheme within the convective diffusion (two body
Smoluchowski) equation framework, we unveil the shear-driven aggregation
mechanism at the origin of structure-formation in sheared colloidal systems.
The theory, verified against numerics and experiments, explains the induction
time followed by explosive (irreversible) rise of viscosity observed in
charge-stabilized colloidal and protein systems under steady shear. The
Arrhenius-type equation with shear derived here, extending Kramers theory in
the presence of shear, is the first analytical result clearly showing the
important role of shear-drive in activated-rate processes as they are
encountered in soft condensed matter
Self-efficacy and medicine use for headache among adolescents in Italy: results from the Italian HBSC 2010 study
This article aims first to investigate gender patterns in medicine use, and corresponding
headache complaints, in Italian adolescents; second, to examine the association
between self-efficacy and medicine use for headache. This study used data from
23,941 15-year-old students participating in the 2009/2010 Health Behaviour in
School-aged Children (HBSC) Survey. Self-complete questionnaires devised by the
HBSC international group were administered in classrooms. Logistic regression models
(controlling demographics: age, gender, and FAS) were used to investigate the
association between medicine use for the associated health complaint, and perceived
self-efficacy. Overall, prevalence of students reporting medicine use for headache (at
least once a month) was 40.1%. Medicine use was significantly more common among
girls than among boys for that somatic symptom. The use of medicines was significantly
associated with the frequency of the corresponding health complaint. Selfefficacy
was associated with a lower use of medicine for headache just for the group
with low frequency of headache. In conclusion, self-efficacy may reduce the tendency
to use medicines when adolescents report infrequent headaches
Semantic Support for Log Analysis of Safety-Critical Embedded Systems
Testing is a relevant activity for the development life-cycle of Safety
Critical Embedded systems. In particular, much effort is spent for analysis and
classification of test logs from SCADA subsystems, especially when failures
occur. The human expertise is needful to understand the reasons of failures,
for tracing back the errors, as well as to understand which requirements are
affected by errors and which ones will be affected by eventual changes in the
system design. Semantic techniques and full text search are used to support
human experts for the analysis and classification of test logs, in order to
speedup and improve the diagnosis phase. Moreover, retrieval of tests and
requirements, which can be related to the current failure, is supported in
order to allow the discovery of available alternatives and solutions for a
better and faster investigation of the problem.Comment: EDCC-2014, BIG4CIP-2014, Embedded systems, testing, semantic
discovery, ontology, big dat
Peginterferon maintenance therapy in patients with advanced hepatitis C to prevent hepatocellular carcinoma: The plot thickens
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Proteomics for Cerebrospinal Fluid Biomarker Identification in Parkinsons Disease: Methods and Critical Aspects
Parkinson's disease (PD), similar with other neurodegenerative disorders, would benefit from the identification of early biomarkers for differential diagnosis and prognosis to address prompt clinical treatments. Together with hypothesis driven approaches, PD has been investigated by high-throughput differential proteomic analysis of cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) protein content. The principal methodologies and techniques utilized in the proteomics field for PD biomarker discovery from CSF are presented in this mini review. The positive aspects and challenges in proteome-based biomarker research are also discussed
Tracking the Political Scope of Ultraconservative Christian-Right Movements in Italy: Strategies, Mobilizations, and Narratives
The purpose of this chapter is to shed light on the strategies that ultra-conservative Christian-Right movements have been using in recent years. In the first section we focus on the new path of Italian ultraconservative Catholic activism and the emergence of the anti-gender issue and its politicization. In the second and third sections, we briefly highlight the main frame of the dis-courses mobilized by the actors in both the religious and political fields. We conclude by examining the political effect of the Christian Right in Italy, indicating the particular relation that this particular kind of religious-based move-ment seems to have with the Catholic Church in Italy and, of course, with the Vatican
Confining properties of QCD at finite temperature and density
A disorder parameter detecting dual superconductivty of the vacuum is used as
a probe to characterize the confining properties of the phase diagram of two
color QCD at finite temperature and density. We obtain evidence for the
disappearing of dual superconductivity (deconfinement) induced by a finite
density of baryonic matter, as well as for a coincidence of this phenomenon
with the restoration of chiral symmetry both at zero and finite density. The
saturation transition induced by Pauli blocking is studied as well, and a
general warning is given about the possible effects that this unphysical
transition could have on the study of the QCD phase diagram at strong values of
the gauge coupling.Comment: 13 pages, 23 figure
On the Identification of Machine Settings for Gear Surface Topography Corrections
In this paper we set out to investigate the performances of some algorithms proposed in the gear literature for
identifying the machine-tool settings required to obtain predesigned gear tooth surface topographies, or needed to
compensate for flank form deviations of real teeth. For ease of comparison, the problem is formulated as a nonlinear
least squares problem, and the most widely employed algorithms are derived as special cases. The algorithms
included in the analysis are: (i) one-step methods, (ii) iterative methods, (iii) iterative methods with step control.
The performance index is devised in their ability of returning practical solutions in the presence of: (i) strong model
nonlinearities, (ii) ill-conditioning of the sensitivity matrix, (iii) demanding topographic shapes. Instrumental here
is an original classification of topographic modifications as either “simple” or “complex”, based on the SVD
analysis of the sensitivity matrix. Some selected numerical examples demonstrate that iterative techniques with step
control are the most convenient in terms of reliability and robustness of the obtained solutions. The generation
process considered here is face-milling of hypoid gears, although the methodology is general enough to cope with
any gear cutting/grinding method
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