A Note on Fractional KdV Hierarchies

We introduce a hierarchy of mutually commuting dynamical systems on a finite number of Laurent series. This hierarchy can be seen as a prolongation of the KP hierarchy, or a ``reduction'' in which the space coordinate is identified with an arbitrarily chosen time of a bigger dynamical system. Fractional KdV hierarchies are gotten by means of further reductions, obtained by constraining the Laurent series. The case of sl(3)^2 and its bihamiltonian structure are discussed in detail.Comment: Final version to appear in J. Math. Phys. Some changes in the order of presentation, with more emphasis on the geometrical picture. One figure added (using epsf.sty). 30 pages, Late

Debris-flow susceptibility assessment through cellular automata modeling: an example from 15?16 December 1999 disaster at Cervinara and San Martino Valle Caudina (Campania, southern Italy)

International audienceOn 15?16 December 1999, heavy rainfall severely stroke Campania region (southern Italy), triggering numerous debris flows on the slopes of the San Martino Valle Caudina-Cervinara area. Soil slips originated within the weathered volcaniclastic mantle of soil cover overlying the carbonate skeleton of the massif. Debris slides turned into fast flowing mixtures of matrix and large blocks, downslope eroding the soil cover and increasing their original volume. At the base of the slopes, debris flows impacted on the urban areas, causing victims and severe destruction (Vittori et al., 2000). Starting from a recent study on landslide risk conditions in Campania, carried out by the Regional Authority (PAI ?Hydrogeological setting plan, in press), an evaluation of the debris-flow susceptibility has been performed for selected areas of the above mentioned villages. According to that study, such zones would be in fact characterised by the highest risk levels within the administrative boundaries of the same villages ("HR-zones"). Our susceptibility analysis has been performed by applying SCIDDICA S3?hex ? a hexagonal Cellular Automata model (von Neumann, 1966), specifically developed for simulating the spatial evolution of debris flows (Iovine et al., 2002). In order to apply the model to a given study area, detailed topographic data and a map of the erodable soil cover overlying the bedrock of the massif must be provided (as input matrices); moreover, extent and location of landslide source must also be given. Real landslides, selected among those triggered on winter 1999, have first been utilised for calibrating SCIDDICA S3?hex and for defining "optimal" values for parameters. Calibration has been carried out with a GIS tool, by quantitatively comparing simulations with actual cases: optimal values correspond to best simulations. Through geological evaluations, source locations of new phenomena have then been hypothesised within the HR-zones. Initial volume for these new cases has been estimated by considering the actual statistics of the 1999 landslides. Finally, by merging the results of simulations, a deterministic susceptibility zonation of the considered area has been obtained. In this paper, aiming at illustrating the potential for debris-flow hazard analyses of the model SCIDDICA S3?hex, a methodological example of susceptibility zonation of the Vallicelle HR-zone is presented

Occupational Safety and Health Program: Foundation of Technology Management in SUCs

Ergonomics and other technology to reduce risk or prevent accidents must be effectively used and managed for SUC to become competitive locally and in the region. The research evaluated the association of Occupational Safety, Health and Social Environment to the health condition of teachers of State Colleges and Universities (SUCs) in the Philippines as the basis for crafting the Occupation Safety and Health Program for SUCs. The descriptive-quantitative- correlational method was used in this study using survey questionnaires that were administered to 84 teachers across the three identified SUCs. Findings revealed a relationship between Occupational safety, level of occupational health, and social environment to the teachers' health status. Health and safety conditions included work environment, housekeeping, and health and medical services provided by the concerned institutions to their faculty. On the other hand, productivity consisted of outputs in instructions, research, community and extension services, and creative productions. The different occupational and non-occupational illnesses were taken into consideration. Afterward, provisions on occupational safety and health for faculty productivity were proposed by the researchers to help school administrators maintain a safe and healthful atmosphere in the academe, thereby increasing the productivity of the faculty

Three Li-rich K giants: IRAS 12327-6523, IRAS 13539-4153, and IRAS 17596-3952

We report on spectroscopic analyses of three K giants previously suggested to be Li-rich: IRAS 12327-6523, IRAS 13539-4153, and IRAS 17596-3952. High-resolution optical spectra and the LTE model atmospheres are used to derive the stellar parameters: ($T_{\rm eff}$, log $g$, [Fe/H]), elemental abundances, and the isotopic ratio $^{12}$C/$^{13}$C. IRAS 13539-4153 shows an extremely high Li abundance of $\log\epsilon$(Li) $\approx$ 4.2, a value ten times more than the present Li abundance in the local interstellar medium. This is the third highest Li abundance yet reported for a K giant. IRAS 12327-6523 shows a Li abundances of $\log\epsilon$(Li)$\approx$ 1.4. IRAS 17596-3952 is a rapidly rotating ($V{\sin i}$ $\approx$ 35 km s$^{-1}$) K giant with $\log\epsilon$(Li) $\approx$ 2.2. Infrared photometry which shows the presence of an IR excess suggesting mass-loss. A comparison is made between these three stars and previously recognized Li-rich giants.Comment: 17 pages, 6 figures, accepted for A

Thaumetopoea Pinivora Treitschke, 1834, Thaumetopoidae nou per a la fauna de Catalunya (Lepidoptera)

Se da cuenta del hallazgo en Cataluña (Els Coms de Das, Baixa Cerdanya, Pirineo oriental) de Thaumetopoea pinivora Treitschke, 1834, Thaumetopoeidae nuevo para la región. Se exponent los aspectos más interesantes de su bionomía y se pone al día la distribución de esta especie en la Península Ibérica.Thaumetopoea pinivora Treitschke, 1834, Thaumetopoidae new for Catalonia (Lepidoptera). In this paper the authors report the found in Catalonia (Els Coms de Das, Baixa Cerdanya, Pirineu oriental) of Thaumetopoea pinivora Treitschke, 1834, Thaumetopoeidae new for the area. We expose the more interesting aspects of its bionomy and actualize its distribution in the lberian fauna

On the design of a high-performance adaptive router for CC-NUMA multiprocessors

Copyright © 2003 IEEEThis work presents the design and evaluation of an adaptive packet router aimed at supporting CC-NUMA traffic. We exploit a simple and efficient packet injection mechanism to avoid deadlock, which leads to a fully adaptive routing by employing only three virtual channels. In addition, we selectively use output buffers for implementing the most utilized virtual paths in order to reduce head-of-line blocking. The careful implementation of these features has resulted in a good trade off between network performance and hardware cost. The outcome of this research is a High-Performance Adaptive Router (HPAR), which adequately balances the needs of parallel applications: minimal network latency at low loads and high throughput at heavy loads. The paper includes an evaluation process in which HPAR is compared with other adaptive routers using FIFO input buffering, with or without additional virtual channels to reduce head-of-line blocking. This evaluation contemplates both the VLSI costs of each router and their performance under synthetic and real application workloads. To make the comparison fair, all the routers use the same efficient deadlock avoidance mechanism. In all the experiments, HPAR exhibited the best response among all the routers tested. The throughput gains ranged from 10 percent to 40 percent in respect to its most direct rival, which employs more hardware resources. Other results shown that HPAR achieves up to 83 percent of its theoretical maximum throughput under random traffic and up to 70 percent when running real applications. Moreover, the observed packet latencies were comparable to those exhibited by simpler routers. Therefore, HPAR can be considered as a suitable candidate to implement packet interchange in next generations of CC-NUMA multiprocessors.Valentín Puente, José-Ángel Gregorio, Ramón Beivide, and Cruz Iz

<b><i>Topoisomerase 1</i></b> Promoter Variants and Benefit from Irinotecan in Metastatic Colorectal Cancer Patients

Objective: Topoisomerase 1 (topo-1) is an important target for the treatment of metastatic colorectal cancer (CRC). The aim of the present study was to evaluate the correlation between topo-1 single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) and clinical outcome in metastatic CRC (mCRC) patients. Methods: With the use of specific software (PROMO 3.0), we performed an in silico analysis of topo-1 promoter SNPs; the rs6072249 and rs34282819 SNPs were included in the study. DNA was extracted from 105 mCRC patients treated with FOLFIRI ± bevacizumab in the first line. SNP genotyping was performed by real-time PCR. Genotypes were correlated with clinical parameters (objective response rate, progression-free survival, and overall survival). Results: No single genotype was significantly associated with clinical variables. The G allelic variant of rs6072249 topo-1 SNP is responsible for GC factor and X-box-binding protein transcription factor binding. The same allelic variant showed a nonsignificant trend toward a shorter progression-free survival (GG, 7.5 months; other genotypes, 9.3 months; HR 1.823, 95% CI 0.8904-3.734; p = 0.1). Conclusion: Further analyses are needed to confirm that the topo-1 SNP rs6072249 and transcription factor interaction could be a part of tools to predict clinical outcome in mCRC patients treated with irinotecan-based regimens

The alignment of the polarization of HAe/Be stars with the interstellar magnetic field

We present a study of the correlation between the direction of the symmetry axis of the circumstellar material around intermediate mass young stellar objects and that of the interstellar magnetic field. We use CCD polarimetric data on 100 Herbig Ae/Be stars. A large number of them shows intrinsic polarization, which indicates that their circumstellar envelopes are not spherical. The interstellar magnetic field direction is estimated from the polarization of field stars. There is an alignment between the position angle of the Herbig Ae/Be star polarization and that of the field stars for the most polarized objects. This may be an evidence that the ambient interstellar magnetic field plays a role in shaping the circumstellar material around young stars of intermediate mass and/or in defining their angular momentum axis.Comment: ApJ accepte