Phase transitions in a two parameter model of opinion dynamics with random kinetic exchanges

Recently, a model of opinion formation with kinetic exchanges has been proposed in which a spontaneous symmetry breaking transition was reported [M. Lallouache et al, Phys. Rev. E, {\bf 82} 056112 (2010)]. We generalise the model to incorporate two parameters, $\lambda$, to represent conviction and $\mu$, to represent the influencing ability of individuals. A phase boundary given by $\lambda=1-\mu/2$ is obtained separating the symmetric and symmetry broken phases: the effect of the influencing term enhances the possibility of reaching a consensus in the society. The time scale diverges near the phase boundary in a power law manner. The order parameter and the condensate also show power law growth close to the phase boundary albeit with different exponents. Theexponents in general change along the phase boundary indicating a non-universality. The relaxation times, however, become constant with increasing system size near the phase boundary indicating the absence of any diverging length scale. Consistently, the fluctuations remain finite but show strong dependence on the trajectory along which it is estimated.Comment: Version accepted for PRE; text modified, new figures and references adde

The role of proteasome inhibitors in multiple myeloma bone disease and bone metastasis: Effects on osteoblasts and osteocytes

The alterations of bone remodeling are typical of multiple myeloma (MM) patients where the uncoupled and unbalanced bone remodeling caused the onset of osteolytic lesions. Moreover, bone metastasis occurs in the majority of patients with breast and prostate cancer. Skeletal-related events negatively impact on quality of life by increasing the vulnerability to fractures. Several bone-targeting treatments have been developed to control bone pain and pathological fractures, including bisphosphonates and Denosumab. Nevertheless, these agents act by inhibiting osteoclast activity but do not improve bone formation. Proteasome inhibitors (PIs) have shown bone anabolic effects and encouraging results in stimulating osteoblast differentiation and bone healing. Among these, the first-in-class bortezomib and the second-generation PIs, carfilzomib, and ixazomib regulate the bone remodeling process by controlling the degradation of several bone proteins. PIs have been recently proven to also be efficacious in blocking MM-induced osteocyte death providing new possible therapeutic use in the management of bone loss. PIs have significant side effects that limit their use as bone anabolic strategy. Multiple alternative approaches have been made. The conjugation of PIs with bisphosphonates, which can target them to bone, showed good results in terms of bone anabolic activity. However, the clinical implications of these effects require further investigations

Winning the Oil Lottery: The Impact of Natural Resource Extraction on Growth

This paper provides evidence on the causal impact of oil discoveries on local development. Novel data on the drilling of 20,000 oil wells in Brazil allows us to exploit a quasi-experiment: municipalities where oil was discovered constitute the treatment group while municipalities with drilling but no discovery are the control group. The results show that oil discoveries significantly increase per capita GDP and urbanization. We find positive spillovers to non-oil sectors, specifically an increase in services GDP which stems from higher labor productivity. The results are consistent with greater local demand for non-tradable services driven by highly paid oil workers

On the complexity of surface ruptures during normal faulting earthquakes: Excerpts from the 6 April 2009 L'Aquila (central Italy) earthquake (M w 6.3)

Abstract. Over the past few years the assessment of the earthquake potential of large continental faults has increasingly relied on field investigations. State-of-the-art seismic hazard models are progressively complementing the information derived from earthquake catalogs with geological observations of active faulting. Using these observations, however, requires full understanding of the relationships between seismogenic slip at depth and surface deformation, such that the evidence indicating the presence of a large, potentially seismogenic fault can be singled out effectively and unambiguously. We used observations and models of the 6 April 2009, Mw 6.3, L'Aquila, normal faulting earthquake to explore the relationships between the activity of a large fault at seismogenic depth and its surface evidence. This very well-documented earthquake is representative of mid-size yet damaging earthquakes that are frequent around the Mediterranean basin, and was chosen as a paradigm of the nature of the associated geological evidence, along with observational difficulties and ambiguities. Thanks to the available high-resolution geologic, geodetic and seismological data aided by analog modeling, we reconstructed the full geometry of the seismogenic source in relation to surface and sub-surface faults. We maintain that the earthquake was caused by seismogenic slip in the range 3–10 km depth, and that the slip distribution was strongly controlled by inherited discontinuities. We also contend that faulting was expressed at the surface by pseudo-primary breaks resulting from coseismic crustal bending and by sympathetic slip on secondary faults. Based on our results we propose a scheme of normal fault hierarchization through which all surface occurrences related to faulting at various depths can be interpreted in the framework of a single, mechanically coherent model. We stress that appreciating such complexity is crucial to avoiding severe over- or under-estimation of the local seismogenic potential

Seismotectonics of the Southern Apennines and Adriatic foreland: insights on active regional E-W shear zones from analogue modeling

The active tectonics at the front of the Southern Apennines and in the Adriatic foreland is characterized by E-W striking, right-lateral seismogenic faults, interpreted as reactivated inherited discontinuities. The best studied among these is the Molise-Gondola shear zone (MGsz). The interaction of these shear zones with the Apennines chain is not yet clear. To address this open question we developed a set of scaled analogue experiments, aimed at analyzing: 1) how dextral strike-slip motion along a pre-existing zone of weakness within the foreland propagates toward the surface and affects the orogenic wedge; 2) the propagation of deformation as a function of displacement; 3) any insights on the active tectonics of Southern Italy. Our results stress the primary role played by these inherited structures when reactivated, and confirm that regional E-W dextral shear zones are a plausible way of explaining the seismotectonic setting of the external areas of the Southern Apennines

Ozone in Lombardy: Years 1998-1999

Photochemical pollutants, especially ozone, have reached very high levels in Lombardy in recent years, with peaks of up to 150 ppb in late spring and summer. Lombardy, lying on the Po Plain, supports a large number of cities and industries and these, along with heavy traffic, produce copious amounts of primary pollutants such as nitrogen oxides and numerous volatile organic compounds. Furthermore, the peculiar orography of this region fosters the stagnation of air masses on a basin-scale and the presence of diurnal breezes towards northern areas, along with the evolution of the Mixing Layer, spread the polluted air masses over a large territory. Numerous stations in Lombardy give the concentrations of ozone and of nitrogen oxides. In this paper, ozone measurements carried out at the plain area around Milan and at pre-alpine sites in the spring and summer 1998 and 1999 will be shown and discussed, focusing on the months of May and July. The study of temporal and spatial behaviour of ozone goes hand in hand with the analysis of the Boundary Layer’s evolution. A number of radon stations were operating in Milan and in other sites in Lombardy. Measurements of atmospheric concentrations of radon yield an index of atmospheric stability, of the formation of thermal inversion, of convective turbulence, and of the movement of air masses, and hence they are very relevant to the understanding of the conditions of atmospheric pollutants

Transducer Arrays over A²B Networks in Industrial and Automotive Applications: Clock Propagation Measurements

Advanced automotive applications like Active Noise Cancellation (ANC) and Individual Listening Zones (ILZ) require a high number of transducers (i.e., microphones, accelerometers, and loudspeakers) usually arranged as arrays. Transducer arrays are widely employed in several applications besides automotive field, such as teleconferencing systems, industrial and civil monitoring of noise and vibrations. Automotive Audio Bus ( A2B ) is an audio transport protocol that solves the latest requirements of automotive and industrial fields. A2B allows transporting up to 32 channels in a multi-node daisy chain network and guarantees synchronization and low deterministic latency. This paper aims to develop a clock propagation model of an A2B network composed by transducer arrays. This model will be useful to evaluate the impact of the bus on the array performance. Firstly, a theoretical description of the A2B protocol and jitter analysis is provided. It follows a description of the jitter measures carried out on the clocks distributed along the A2B network. Lastly, latency introduced by nodes of the network is investigated

CHARM facility remotely controlled platform at CERN: A new fault-tolerant redundant architecture

Many power electronics applications require high tolerance to faults such as short circuit or open circuit of the control signals. One such application is the CERN High energy AcceleRator Mixed-field (CHARM) facility, where maintenance may be precluded for long periods of time due to radiation and, therefore, high reliability is necessary. A redundant interconnection architecture for the control signals is proposed, where each signal is individually processed by different CPUs and transmitted through separate interconnection lines. During normal operation, the CPUs are synchronized and produce the same signals. The purpose of the proposed hardware and firmware strategy is to allow the actuator to continue operating even in case of fault; regardless of the fault type (open circuit, short circuit to ground or to positive supply), a fault on one of the parallel lines would not inhibit the correct operation of the remaining line. This solution can be used to control the movements of a target system using a remote joystick in a safe environment. The architecture features reliable transmission of PWM signals driving a half-bridge power converter. Moreover, it is possible to extend it to any type of converter such as three-phase bridges, three-level NPC, or buck-boost converters. Simulations and experimental results show a good agreement, proving the effectiveness of the proposed fault tolerant circuitry

Modes of fault reactivation from analogue modeling experiments: implications for the seismotectonics of the southern Adriatic foreland (Italy)

The active tectonics at the front of the Southern Apennines and in the Adriatic foreland is characterized by E-W striking, right-lateral seismogenic faults, interpreted as reactivated inherited discontinuities. The best studied among these is the Molise-Gondola shear zone (MGsz). The interaction of these shear zones with the Apennines chain is not yet clear. To address this open question we developed a set of scaled analogue experiments, aimed at analyzing: 1) how dextral strike-slip motion along a pre-existing zone of weakness within the foreland propagates toward the surface and affects the orogenic wedge; 2) the propagation of deformation as a function of increasing displacement; 3) any insights on the active tectonics of Southern Italy. Our results stress the primary role played by these inherited structures when reactivated, and confirm that regional EW dextral shear zones are a plausible way of explaining the seismotectonic setting of the external areas of the Southern Apennines