Design and numerical evaluation of full-authority flight control systems for conventional and thruster-augmented helicopters employed in NOE operations

The development and methodology is presented for development of full-authority implicit model-following and explicit model-following optimal controllers for use on helicopters operating in the Nap-of-the Earth (NOE) environment. Pole placement, input-output frequency response, and step input response were used to evaluate handling qualities performance. The pilot was equipped with velocity-command inputs. A mathematical/computational trajectory optimization method was employed to evaluate the ability of each controller to fly NOE maneuvers. The method determines the optimal swashplate and thruster input histories from the helicopter's dynamics and the prescribed geometry and desired flying qualities of the maneuver. Three maneuvers were investigated for both the implicit and explicit controllers with and without auxiliary propulsion installed: pop-up/dash/descent, bob-up at 40 knots, and glideslope. The explicit controller proved to be superior to the implicit controller in performance and ease of design

A cross-sectional study on prevalence and predictors of burnout among a sample of pharmacists employed in pharmacies in Central Italy

Burnout is defined as an occupational phenomenon linked to chronic workplace stress that has not been successfully managed and included among the factors influencing health status or contact with health services. Although several studies were performed for assessing this phenomenon, there is a lack of data on the prevalence of burnout and associated predictors, due to different definitions of the syndrome and heterogeneity of assessment methods. One of the well-known evidences on burnout is related to the highest risk professions, which include policemen, firemen, teachers, psychologists, medical students, nurses, physicians, and other health professionals, such as pharmacists. Objective. The aims of the present study were to (1) assess the occurrence of burnout syndrome among a sample of pharmacists employed in public and private pharmacies located in Rome province (Latium Region; central Italy); (2) evaluate the role of some potential predictors for the development of the syndrome. Materials and Methods. A questionnaire elaborated ad hoc was administered online to 2,000 members of the Association of Professional Pharmacists of Rome and its province and employed in public or private pharmacies. The questionnaire included the 14-item Shirom-Melamed Burnout Measure (SMBM) tool and questions on demographic characteristics and working conditions. Results. Physical exhaustion was the burnout dimension with the highest score; besides, approximately 11% of the studied pharmacists were categorized as having clinically relevant burnout levels (≥4.40). Several of the investigated variables significantly influenced the single burnout dimensions at the univariate analyses; multivariate analyses demonstrated that alcohol consumption and workplace location have a significant independent role on the overall SMBM index, while working time significantly influences clinically relevant burnout level. Conclusions. The results revealed that pharmacists are at risk of burnout, and thus, it is necessary to perform specific preventive intervention for managing this occupational threat

Famennian (Upper Devonian) conodont zonation: revised global standard

The revision of the Famennian part of the \u201cLate Devonian Standard Conodont Zonation\u201d is based on the inequivalence between biozones and time, and the rejection of the presumed single phyletic concept on which the previous zonation was based. It is also intended to simplify the zonation, eliminating the zonal groups named after only one taxon, and biozones that are defined by a Last Appearance Datum (LAD). The proposed revision is largely based on the zonation proposed by Ziegler and Sandberg (1990) and is for the most part correlatable using the same zonal markers. Modifications have only been made when strictly necessary, as the aim of the proposal is to maintain the stability of over 50 years of studies. The 22 zones constituting the revised zonation are defined by the First Appearance Datum (FAD) of species or subspecies that have a well-established stratigraphic range and wide geographic distribution. Each zone is named after the taxon for which the FAD defines the lower boundary. For each zone an association of other species useful for its identification is listed

ASTRI SST-2M prototype and mini-array simulation chain, data reduction software, and archive in the framework of the Cherenkov Telescope Array

The Cherenkov Telescope Array (CTA) is a worldwide project aimed at building the next-generation ground-based gamma-ray observatory. Within the CTA project, the Italian National Institute for Astrophysics (INAF) is developing an end-to-end prototype of the CTA Small-Size Telescopes with a dual-mirror (SST-2M) Schwarzschild-Couder configuration. The prototype, named ASTRI SST-2M, is located at the INAF "M.C. Fracastoro" observing station in Serra La Nave (Mt. Etna, Sicily) and is currently in the scientific and performance validation phase. A mini-array of (at least) nine ASTRI telescopes has been then proposed to be deployed at the Southern CTA site, by means of a collaborative effort carried out by institutes from Italy, Brazil, and South-Africa. The CTA/ASTRI team is developing an end-to-end software package for the reduction of the raw data acquired with both ASTRI SST-2M prototype and mini-array, with the aim of actively contributing to the global ongoing activities for the official data handling system of the CTA observatory. The group is also undertaking a massive Monte Carlo simulation data production using the detector Monte Carlo software adopted by the CTA consortium. Simulated data are being used to validate the simulation chain and evaluate the ASTRI SST-2M prototype and mini-array performance. Both activities are also carried out in the framework of the European H2020-ASTERICS (Astronomy ESFRI and Research Infrastructure Cluster) project. A data archiving system, for both ASTRI SST-2M prototype and mini-array, has been also developed by the CTA/ASTRI team, as a testbed for the scientific archive of CTA. In this contribution, we present the main components of the ASTRI data handling systems and report the status of their development.Comment: Proceedings of the 35th International Cosmic Ray Conference (ICRC 2017), Bexco, Busan, Korea. All CTA contributions at arXiv:1709.0348

Testing the gamma-ray burst variability/peak luminosity correlation on a Swift homogeneous sample

We test the gamma-ray burst correlation between temporal variability and peak luminosity of the $\gamma$-ray profile on a homogeneous sample of 36 Swift/BAT GRBs with firm redshift determination. This is the first time that this correlation can be tested on a homogeneous data sample. The correlation is confirmed, as long as the 6 GRBs with low luminosity (<5x10^{50} erg s^{-1} in the rest-frame 100-1000 keV energy band) are ignored. We confirm that the considerable scatter of the correlation already known is not due to the combination of data from different instruments with different energy bands, but it is intrinsic to the correlation itself. Thanks to the unprecedented sensitivity of Swift/BAT, the variability/peak luminosity correlation is tested on low-luminosity GRBs. Our results show that these GRBs are definite outliers.Comment: Accepted for Publication in MNRAS. 10 pages, 5 figures, 3 table

Intentional and automatic measures of specific-category effect in the semantic impairment of patients with Alzheimer's disease

The breakdown of semantic knowledge relative to living and non-living categories was studied in patients with Alzheimer's disease (AD). The same living and non-living items were used in a semantic battery and in a semantic priming paradigm exploring automatic access to the semantic system. Although AD patients showed a semantic deficit on the intentional semantic battery, they demonstrated normal semantic facilitation on the priming task. In the AD group as a whole, the semantic impairment did not preferentially affect the living category either in the intentional or automatic condition. Instead, a prevalent deficit for the living category was found in three AD patients (14% of the group) on the intentional semantic tasks, but not on the automatic one. These findings support the view that the category effect may not be a generalised phenomenon in AD but may be restricted to a limited number of patients. The intentional/automatic dissociation of the semantic breakdown demonstrated by AD patients is discussed in relation to different theories regarding the organisation of semantic memory

The deepest X-ray look at the Universe

The origin of the X-ray background, in particular at hard (2-10 keV) energies, has been a debated issue for more than 30 years. The Chandra deep fields provide the deepest look at the X-ray sky and are the best dataset to study the X-ray background. We searched the Chandra Deep Field South for X-ray sources with the aid of a dedicated wavelet-based algorithm. We are able to reconstruct the Log N-Log S source distribution in the soft (0.5-2 keV) and hard (2-10 keV) bands down to limiting fluxes of 2x10^{-17} erg s^{-1} cm^{-2} and 2x10^{-16} erg s^{-1} cm^{-2}, respectively. These are a factor ~5 deeper than previous investigations. We find that the soft relation continues along the extrapolation from higher fluxes, almost completely accounting for the soft X-ray background. On the contrary, the hard distribution shows a flattening below ~2x10^{-14} erg s^{-1} cm^{-2}. Nevertheless, we can account for >68% of the hard X-ray background, with the main uncertainty being the sky flux itself.Comment: Accepted for publication on ApJL. Two figures, requires emulateapj5 (included

1SXPS: A deep Swift X-ray Telescope point source catalog with light curves and spectra

We present the 1SXPS (Swift-XRT Point Source) catalog of 151,524 X-ray point-sources detected by the Swift-XRT in 8 years of operation. The catalog covers 1905 square degrees distributed approximately uniformly on the sky. We analyze the data in two ways. First we consider all observations individually, for which we have a typical sensitivity of ~3e-13 erg/cm2/s (0.3--10 keV). Then we co-add all data covering the same location on the sky: these images have a typical sensitivity of ~9e-14 erg/cm2/s (0.3--10 keV). Our sky coverage is nearly 2.5 times that of 3XMM-DR4, although the catalog is a factor of ~1.5 less sensitive. The median position error is 5.5" (90% confidence), including systematics. Our source detection method improves on that used in previous XRT catalogs and we report >68,000 new X-ray sources. The goals and observing strategy of the Swift satellite allow us to probe source variability on multiple timescales, and we find ~30,000 variable objects in our catalog. For every source we give positions, fluxes, time series (in four energy bands and two hardness ratios), estimates of the spectral properties, spectra and spectral fits for the brightest sources, and variability probabilities in multiple energy bands and timescales.Comment: 27 pages, 19 figures; accepted for publication in ApJS. The accompanying website, http://www.swift.ac.uk/1SXPS is live; the Vizier entry should be available shortl