Exponential dichotomies of evolution operators in Banach spaces

This paper considers three dichotomy concepts (exponential dichotomy, uniform exponential dichotomy and strong exponential dichotomy) in the general context of non-invertible evolution operators in Banach spaces. Connections between these concepts are illustrated. Using the notion of Green function, we give necessary conditions and sufficient ones for strong exponential dichotomy. Some illustrative examples are presented to prove that the converse of some implication type theorems are not valid

Wettability of Nanostructured Surfaces

There are many studies in literature concerning contact angle measurements on different materials/substrates. It is documented that textiles can be coated with multifunctional materials in form of thin films or nanoparticles to acquire characteristics that can improve the protection and comfort of the wearer. The capacity of oxide nanostructures to inhibit fungal development and neutralize bacteria is a direct consequence of their wetting behavior [1–6]. Moreover, the radical modification of wetting behavior of nanostructures from hydrophilic to hydrophobic when changing the pulsed laser deposition (PLD) ambient will be thoroughly discussed

Comparisons of log-normal mixture and Pareto tails, GB2 or log-normal body of Romania's all cities size distribution

Modeling demographic data has been on the agenda of statisticians for many years. Some of the distributions used are Pareto, reverse Pareto, q-exponential and log-normal models. An approach to this problem is to consider three statistical models: one for the upper tail, one for the middle range, and another for the lower tail. This paper deals with the size distribution of urban and rural agglomerations in Romania for the 1992–2017 period, by comparing the recently introduced three log-normal mixture (3LN), Pareto tails log-normal (PTLN), and threshold double Pareto Generalized Beta of second kind (tdPGB2) models. The tdPGB2 statistical model has the PTLN distribution as a limiting case. The maximum likelihood estimates of the distributions are computed, and goodness-of-fit tests are performed using the Kolmogorov–Smirnov (KS), Cramér–von Mises (CM) and Anderson–Darling (AD) statistics. Also, we use the Vuong and Bayes factor log-likelihood tests. Using both graphical and formal statistical tests, our results rigorously confirm that the 3LN model is statistically equivalent to PTLN and tdPGB2 distributions, the preferred model being the PTLN probability law. Both the PTLN and tdPGB2 distributions have Pareto tails but the 3LN model does not. All the three models prove to be very well suited parameterizations of Romania's city size data

Imaging of mandibular fractures: a pictorial review

Mandibular fractures are among the most common maxillofacial fractures observed in emergency rooms and are mainly caused by road accidents. The clinical features of mandibular fractures include malocclusion and loss of mandibular function. Panoramic radiography is usually limited to isolated lesions, whereas computed tomography is the tool of choice for all other facial traumatic events. No reference standard classification system for the different types of mandibular fractures is defined. Therapeutic options include a conservative approach or surgical treatment based on the anatomic area and the severity of fracture. The main purpose of this pictorial review is to illustrate a practical description of the pathophysiology of mandibular fractures and describe both the imaging techniques to recognise them and the therapeutic indications

Laser surgery of early glottic cancer in elderly

Aim of this retrospective study is to evaluate the impact of transoral laser surgery of early glottic cancer in elderly patients in terms of feasibility, disease-free survival, overall survival and organ preservation, in a single Institute (European Institute of Oncology). A total of 122 patients (male/female ratio 113/9), over 70s with untreated early stage glottic cancer, were consecutively evaluated and treated at the European Institute of Oncology from 2000 to 2008. None had contraindications to general anaesthesia and all patients signed informed consent to this surgical treatment. The severity of pre-operative comorbidities and the intra-operative risk were evaluated according to the American Society of Anaesthesiologists Grading classification. All patients underwent laser cordectomies according to the European Laryngological Society classification. Histopathological examination demonstrated no evidence of tumour (pT0) in 19 patients (calculated only in patients with a previous vocal cord biopsy positive for squamous cell carcinoma), pTis in 18, pT1a in 53, pT1b in 16, pT2 in 14 and pT3 in 2, respectively. A 10-year overall survival, a tumour specific survival and a laryngeal tumour-specific survival were, respectively, 64.9%, 84.8% and 94.3%. In conclusion, transoral laser surgery is feasible in elderly patients with early stage glottic cancer, providing good results in terms of disease-free survival, organ preservation and quality of life. Our group of elderly patients had no intra-operative or post-surgical complications and resumed normal activities the day after discharge from hospital. Considering these factors, we can assess, that transoral laser surgery, therefore, represents a modern treatment that should be offered as an alternative to conventional radiotherapy in elderly patients with early glottic cancer referred to medical centres with expertise for this surgical procedure

The Paths to Choreography Extraction

Choreographies are global descriptions of interactions among concurrent components, most notably used in the settings of verification (e.g., Multiparty Session Types) and synthesis of correct-by-construction software (Choreographic Programming). They require a top-down approach: programmers first write choreographies, and then use them to verify or synthesize their programs. However, most existing software does not come with choreographies yet, which prevents their application. To attack this problem, we propose a novel methodology (called choreography extraction) that, given a set of programs or protocol specifications, automatically constructs a choreography that describes their behavior. The key to our extraction is identifying a set of paths in a graph that represents the symbolic execution of the programs of interest. Our method improves on previous work in several directions: we can now deal with programs that are equipped with a state and internal computation capabilities; time complexity is dramatically better; we capture programs that are correct but not necessarily synchronizable, i.e., they work because they exploit asynchronous communication

Linear and Nonlinear Spectroscopy by a Common-Path Birefringent Interferometer

© 1995-2012 IEEE. We introduce a passive common-path interferometer to replace Michelson interferometers in the Fourier-Transform spectroscopy. Our device exploits birefringence to introduce a highly accurate delay between two orthogonal polarization components by continuously varying the material thickness. Due to its inherent delay stability and reproducibility, it can be used even for short wavelengths (down to ∼200 nm) without the need for any active control or position tracking. We first demonstrate its performances in linear spectroscopy, by implementing a spectrometer and a spectrophotometer. We then extend its use to nonlinear spectroscopy and, in combination with lock-in detection at MHz modulation frequencies, illustrate its application to pump-probe spectroscopy with high sensitivity (ΔT/T 500 nm) and to broadband stimulated Raman scattering microscopy in the CH stretching region

Distributed information consensus filters for simultaneous input and state estimation

This paper describes the distributed information filtering where a set of sensor networks are required to simultaneously estimate input and state of a linear discrete-time system from collaborative manner. Our research purpose is to develop a consensus strategy in which sensor nodes communicate within the network through a sequence of Kalman iterations and data diffusion. A novel recursive information filtering is proposed by integrating input estimation error into measurement data and weighted information matrices. On the fusing process, local system state filtering transmits estimation information using the consensus averaging algorithm, which penalizes the disagreement in a dynamic manner. A simulation example is provided to compare the performance of the distributed information filtering with optimal Gillijins–De Moor’s algorithm

Typing and distribution of Plum pox virus isolates in Romania

Plum pox or Sharka, caused by Plum pox virus (PPV) is considered the most destructive disease of plum. Although PPV is widespread in all plum growing areas of Romania and causes serious yield losses, little is known about the variability of its isolates at a country level. For this reason, a large-scale study was performed with the aim of obtaining a picture of the prevalence and distribution of PPV strains in plum. During a three year survey, 200 PPV isolates collected from 23 different plum orchards from Transylvania, Moldavia and Muntenia areas were investigated. DASELISA and IC-RT-PCR were used for PPV detection. PPV strains were serologically determined by TAS-ELISA using PPV-D and PPV-M specific monoclonal antibodies. Molecular strain typing was done by IC/RT-PCR targeting three genomic regions corresponding to (Cter)CP, (Cter)NIb/(Nter)CP and CI. RFLP analysis was used to distinguish D and M strains, based on the RsaI polymorphism located in (Cter)CP. To confirm the presence of PPV-Rec strain, 13 PCR products spanning the (Cter)NIb/(Nter)CP were sequenced. Overall results showed that in Romania the predominant strain is PPV-D (73%), followed, with a much lower frequency, by PPV-Rec (14%). Mixed infections (PPV-D+PPVRec), which might generate additional variation by recombination, are also frequent (13%).Keywords: Romania, PPV strains, DAS/TAS-ELISA, IC/RT-PCR, RFLP, sequencin