Observation and its History

Recenze: Lorraine DASTON - Elizabeth LUNBECK, E., Histories of Scientific Observation. Chicago - London: University of Chicago Press 2011, 460 pp

Institutions and Dissent: Historical Geology in the Early Royal Society

The paper aims to ques- tion the traditional view of the early Royal Society of London, the oldest scientific institution in continuous existence. According to that view, the institutional life of the Society in the early decades of activity was characterized by a strictly Baconian methodology. But the re- construction of the discussions about fossils and natural history within the Society shows that this monolithic image is far from being correct. Despite the persistent reference to the Baconian Solomon House, the Society did not impose or support a common programme of research in the field of the natural history of the Earth

7. A Matter of Method: British Aristotelianism and the New Science. Essay Review

Essay Review of Steffen Ducheyne, The Main Business of Natural Philosophy: Isaac Newton’s Natural-Philosophical Methodology, Dordrecht: Springer, 2012, p. XXV+354 (ISBN 9789400721258, € 259); Marco Sgarbi, The Aristotelian Tradition and the Rise of British Empiricism: Logic and Epistemology in British Isles (1570-1689), Dordrecht: Springer, 2013, XII + 260 pp. (ISBN 9789400749504, € 209).

Ricostruzione e Conflitto nell'Afghanistan post-2001. Lo Strumento dei Provincial Reconstruction Team e il Caso Italiano

La tesi analizza e valuta caratteristiche, missioni e operato dei Provincial Reconstruction Team (PRTs), squadre a composizione mista civile-militare introdotte in Afghanistan a partire dal 2003. La loro ratio di fondo è stimolare la sicurezza mediante attività umanitarie e di ricostruzione, nonché coadiuvare il governo di Kabul ad estendere la sua autorità nelle aree periferiche del Paese. L’opera procede per gradi successivi di approfondimento analitico. L’Introduzione fornisce un inquadramento generale dell’intervento in Afghanistan, alla luce delle nuove teorie degli Stati falliti, delle operazioni di stabilizzazione e ricostruzione, del nation-building e della “global Nato”. Il Capitolo 1 si sofferma sullo scenario di ricostruzione del Paese, i cui progressi limitati sono ascrivibili alla scarsa volontà politica di coordinamento dei numerosi attori presenti in teatro, alla previsione di fondi insufficienti e alla loro gestione inefficiente. Scelte politiche poco oculate hanno caratterizzato tanto i progetti infrastrutturali quanto la Security Sector Reform. Il Capitolo 2, dopo un accenno al percorso “storico” di formazione dei PRTs, procede alla trattazione dei loro aspetti più “tecnici”. Da essa traspare, come tratto centrale, l’assenza di sistematicità quanto a mandati, priorità e modi operandi, in particolare per quanto attiene la gestione delle componenti militari e civili, essenzialmente a causa dell’approccio della “nazione-guida”. Il Capitolo 3 esamina le attività dei PRTs sul campo, facendo salva la ripartizione “classica” dei programmi generali per l’Afghanistan in tre grandi ambiti: sicurezza, ricostruzione e sviluppo, governance. Ciò include i controversi rapporti tra i PRTs e le altre organizzazioni civili e umanitarie operanti sul territorio, specialmente le ONG. Il Capitolo 4, dopo avere illustrato gli assetti e le strategie del contingente italiano, si dedica all’analisi del PRT di Herat, con un occhio di riguardo nei confronti delle metodologie di programmazione e delle tipologie di progetti svolti. Con l’ausilio di testimonianze dirette raccolte dall’autore emerge l’esperienza interessante, a livello operativo, di un “modello italiano” di PRT che funge da esempio per gli altri. Le scelte di livello strategico, tuttavia, appaiono tese piuttosto a marginalizzare tale realtà sul fronte afghano ed a strumentalizzarla politicamente su quello interno. In definitiva, l’esperienza dei PRTs è troppo variegata affinché se ne possa trarre un bilancio univoco e conclusivo. Le sue innumerevoli “aree grigie” sono compatibili con il più generale contesto di ricostruzione dell’Afghanistan, rivelatosi molto deficitario. Stante il rischio reale di fallimento dell’intervento internazionale, anche per quanto concerne i PRTs si impone una riflessione accurata e un profondo ripensamento dei loro mandati, configurazioni e modalità operative

A Multiscale Thermo-Fluid Computational Model for a Two-Phase Cooling System

In this paper, we describe a mathematical model and a numerical simulation method for the condenser component of a novel two-phase thermosyphon cooling system for power electronics applications. The condenser consists of a set of roll-bonded vertically mounted fins among which air flows by either natural or forced convection. In order to deepen the understanding of the mechanisms that determine the performance of the condenser and to facilitate the further optimization of its industrial design, a multiscale approach is developed to reduce as much as possible the complexity of the simulation code while maintaining reasonable predictive accuracy. To this end, heat diffusion in the fins and its convective transport in air are modeled as 2D processes while the flow of the two-phase coolant within the fins is modeled as a 1D network of pipes. For the numerical solution of the resulting equations, a Dual Mixed-Finite Volume scheme with Exponential Fitting stabilization is used for 2D heat diffusion and convection while a Primal Mixed Finite Element discretization method with upwind stabilization is used for the 1D coolant flow. The mathematical model and the numerical method are validated through extensive simulations of realistic device structures which prove to be in excellent agreement with available experimental data

Post vaccinal temporary sensorineural hearing loss

In our systematic research we identified four studies concerning the onset of neurological adverse events following vaccination and two excluding this association. A 33-year-old Italian man, belonging to the Italian Army was hospitalized because he suffered from vertigo, nausea and sudden right hearing loss not classified (NDD), that set in 24 h after the administration of tetanus-diphtheria and meningococcal vaccines. Some neurological events arising after vaccination are very difficult to treat. In our case, the functional recovery on low and medium frequencies was possible about 6 months after the morbid event

Dynamics and evolution of Turbulent Taylor rolls

In many shear- and pressure-driven wall-bounded turbulent flows secondary motions spontaneously develop and their interaction with the main flow alters the overall large-scale features and transfer properties. Taylor-Couette flow, the fluid motion developing in the gap between two concentric cylinders rotating at different angular velocity, is not an exception, and toroidal Taylor rolls have been observed from the early development of the flow up to the fully turbulent regime. In this manuscript we show that under the generic name of ``Taylor rolls'' there is a wide variety of structures that differ for the vorticity distribution within the cores, the way they are driven and their effects on the mean flow. We relate the rolls at high Reynolds numbers not to centrifugal instabilities, but to a combination of shear and anti-cyclonic rotation, showing that they are preserved in the limit of vanishing curvature and can be better understood as a pinned cycle which shows similar characteristics as the self-sustained process of shear flows. By analyzing the effect of the computational domain size, we show that this pinning is not a product of numerics, and that the position of the rolls is governed by a random process with the space and time variations depending on domain size.Comment: Submitted to JF

Proper Respirators Use Is Crucial for Protecting Both Emergency First Aid Responder and Casualty from COVID-19 and Airborne-Transmitted Infections

We read with great interest the paper by Barycka et al. [...