A new host record for Euthera fascipennis (Diptera: Tachinidae)

Dolycoris baccarum (Linnaeus) (Heteroptera: Pentatomidae) is reported for the first time as a host of Euthera fascipennis (Loew) (Diptera: Tachinidae). A single specimen of E. fascipennis was reared from an adult of D. baccarum collected in northern Italy (Crevalcore, Bologna, Emilia Romagna Region). This is the first host record for E. fascipennis in Italy and the first distributional record of this tachinid in northern Italy

Native preimaginal parasitism of Harmonia axyridis: New record of association with Phalacotrophora fasciata in Italy

Since 1988 Harmonia axyridis (Pallas) (Coleoptera Coccinellidae) has been established in more of 50 countries in the world, where concern has been aroused by its invasiveness and the possible negative effects on indigenous aphidophagous species. This study was focused on the research of a new association with indigenous parasitoids of ladybirds and this exotic host. Field samples of H. axyridis larvae and pupae were collected during 2013 and 2014 seasons and maintained under observation until emergence of adult ladybirds or parasitoids. Some larvae of Phalacrotophora fasciata (Fallen) (Diptera Phoridae) emerged from the collected pupae of H. axyridis, the first record of this new association for Italy. Samples of Dinocampus coccinellae (Schrank) (Hymenoptera Braconidae) emerged from adult ladybird collected as larvae

On the Existence and Uniqueness of the ODE Solution and Its Approximation Using the Means Averaging Approach for the Class of Power Electronic Converters

Power electronic converters are mathematically represented by a system of ordinary differential equations discontinuous right-hand side that does not verify the conditions of the Cauchy-Lipschitz Theorem. More generally, for the properties that characterize their discontinuous behavior, they represent a particular class of systems on which little has been investigated over the years. The purpose of the paper is to prove the existence of at least one global solution in Filippov's sense to the Cauchy problem related to the mathematical model of a power converter and also to calculate the error in norm between this solution and the integral of its averaged approximation. The main results are the proof of this theorem and the analytical formulation that provides to calculate the cited error. The demonstration starts by a proof of local existence provided by Filippov himself and already present in the literature for a particular class of systems and this demonstration is generalized to the class of electronic power converters, exploiting the non-chattering property of this class of systems. The obtained results are extremely useful for estimating the accuracy of the averaged model used for analysis or control of the effective system. In the paper, the goodness of the analytical proof is supported by experimental tests carried out on a converter prototype representing the class of power electronics converter

Analysis and Field Monitoring of Slope Stability in Unsaturated Pyroclastic Soil Slopes in Napoli, Italy

The hills rising in the urban area of Napoli (Italy ) are the products of eruptive activity in the volcanic areas of Campi Flegrei and Somma Vesuvio. The unsaturated pyroclastic cover, weathered and interbedded with paleosols , is frequently affected by instabilityphenomena that have slight thickness and extension. The observed landslides can be classified as complex phenomena: the movements start as a translational or rotational sliding or as a rock-fall and evolve as the debris flows. 90% of the cases occur during or after severe rainfalls. As is well known , the stability of slopes is affected by climatic conditions, such as rainfall and evapotranspiration, which affect the matric suction near the ground surface. A slope analysis requires that an in situ matric suction profile be measured or predicted. A monitoring system was therefore developed to collect data on suction profiles in pyroclastic soils. Four slopes, chosen as representative of morphological, geological and geotechnical triggering conditions in the studied area, were outfitted with rain gauges, vacuum tensiometers, psychrometers, tiltmeters and TDR gauges

Preconditioned iterative methods for optimal control problems with time-dependent PDEs as constraints

In this work, we study fast and robust solvers for optimal control problems with Partial Differential Equations (PDEs) as constraints. Speci cally, we devise preconditioned iterative methods for time-dependent PDE-constrained optimization problems, usually when a higher-order discretization method in time is employed as opposed to most previous solvers. We also consider the control of stationary problems arising in uid dynamics, as well as that of unsteady Fractional Differential Equations (FDEs). The preconditioners we derive are employed within an appropriate Krylov subspace method. The fi rst key contribution of this thesis involves the study of fast and robust preconditioned iterative solution strategies for the all-at-once solution of optimal control problems with time-dependent PDEs as constraints, when a higher-order discretization method in time is employed. In fact, as opposed to most work in preconditioning this class of problems, where a ( first-order accurate) backward Euler method is used for the discretization of the time derivative, we employ a (second-order accurate) Crank-Nicolson method in time. By applying a carefully tailored invertible transformation, we symmetrize the system obtained, and then derive a preconditioner for the resulting matrix. We prove optimality of the preconditioner through bounds on the eigenvalues, and test our solver against a widely-used preconditioner for the linear system arising from a backward Euler discretization. These theoretical and numerical results demonstrate the effectiveness and robustness of our solver with respect to mesh-sizes and regularization parameter. Then, the optimal preconditioner so derived is generalized from the heat control problem to time-dependent convection{diffusion control with Crank- Nicolson discretization in time. Again, we prove optimality of the approximations of the main blocks of the preconditioner through bounds on the eigenvalues, and, through a range of numerical experiments, show the effectiveness and robustness of our approach with respect to all the parameters involved in the problem. For the next substantial contribution of this work, we focus our attention on the control of problems arising in fluid dynamics, speci fically, the Stokes and the Navier-Stokes equations. We fi rstly derive fast and effective preconditioned iterative methods for the stationary and time-dependent Stokes control problems, then generalize those methods to the case of the corresponding Navier-Stokes control problems when employing an Oseen approximation to the non-linear term. The key ingredients of the solvers are a saddle-point type approximation for the linear systems, an inner iteration for the (1,1)-block accelerated by a preconditioner for convection-diffusion control problems, and an approximation to the Schur complement based on a potent commutator argument applied to an appropriate block matrix. Through a range of numerical experiments, we show the effectiveness of our approximations, and observe their considerable parameter-robustness. The fi nal chapter of this work is devoted to the derivation of efficient and robust solvers for convex quadratic FDE-constrained optimization problems, with box constraints on the state and/or control variables. By employing an Alternating Direction Method of Multipliers for solving the non-linear problem, one can separate the equality from the inequality constraints, solving the equality constraints and then updating the current approximation of the solutions. In order to solve the equality constraints, a preconditioner based on multilevel circulant matrices is derived, and then employed within an appropriate preconditioned Krylov subspace method. Numerical results show the e ciency and scalability of the strategy, with the cost of the overall process being proportional to N log N, where N is the dimension of the problem under examination. Moreover, the strategy presented allows the storage of a highly dense system, due to the memory required being proportional to N

Towards understanding the renewal of ancient song traditions through Garrwa video : an Indigenous story research study

University of Technology Sydney. Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences.Indigenous knowledge journeys involve talk, story, song, dance, dream, being on country. But research carries a legacy of exploitation for oppressed peoples. Indigenous theories and methodologies open up decolonising ways to transform shared meaning making experiences (Smith 1999) (Sherwood 2010). This study explores cultural powers of Garrwa resurgence through story research renewal of Ngabaya and Darrbarrwarra traditions as music videos. Garrwa are under threat from mining in South West Gulf country, Northern Territory. This exegesis focuses on three spheres, sharing how vibrant cultural powers are intergenerational and interrelational, sourced in the Yigan (dreaming creation) and passed down through ancestors, Elders, family, clan (Hoosan 2018). It re-orientates Garrwa video practice into greater resonance with visual/aural sovereignty (Raheja 2010) (Behrendt 2016) and Indigenous storywork where interrelatedness is a “synergistic interaction between storyteller, listener, and story” (Archibald 2008:32). Yarnbar Jarngkurr is described by Elders as voices and stories that shape renewal of the relational world through song, dance, ceremony and ancient land practices (McDinny 2017). In transforming perceptions and understandings we must seek unity in meaning making (Van Leeuwen 2017). Yarnbar Jarngkurr is an Indigenous Theory of Transformation (Pihama 2018) and creative Indigenous methodology for visioning and enacting Garrwa self determination

numerical analysis of zno thin layers having rough surface

In this paper an automated procedure for the analysis of Transparent Conductive Oxides (TCO) layers exhibiting rough surfaces is proposed. The method is based on the interaction between MATLAB and the Sentaurus TCAD and is aimed to the reduction of computational efforts needed for full three dimensional analyses. Experiments performed on CVD deposited ZnO layer, showing the reliability of the method for describing their optical properties, are reported. A semi-empirical technique for the extraction of the TCO refractive index is shown as well

Parallel-in-Time Solver for the All-at-Once Runge--Kutta Discretization

In this article, we derive fast and robust parallel-in-time preconditioned iterative methods for the all-at-once linear systems arising upon discretization of time-dependent PDEs. The discretization we employ is based on a Runge--Kutta method in time, for which the development of parallel solvers is an emerging research area in the literature of numerical methods for time-dependent PDEs. By making use of classical theory of block matrices, one is able to derive a preconditioner for the systems considered. The block structure of the preconditioner allows for parallelism in the time variable, as long as one is able to provide an optimal solver for the system of the stages of the method. We thus propose a preconditioner for the latter system based on a singular value decomposition (SVD) of the (real) Runge--Kutta matrix $A_{\mathrm{RK}} = U \Sigma V^\top$. Supposing $A_{\mathrm{RK}}$ is invertible, we prove that the spectrum of the system for the stages preconditioned by our SVD-based preconditioner is contained within the right-half of the unit circle, under suitable assumptions on the matrix $U^\top V$ (the assumptions are well posed due to the polar decomposition of $A_{\mathrm{RK}}$). We show the numerical efficiency of our SVD-based preconditioner by solving the system of the stages arising from the discretization of the heat equation and the Stokes equations, with sequential time-stepping. Finally, we provide numerical results of the all-at-once approach for both problems, showing the speed-up achieved on a parallel architecture