Discovering Miss Puff: a new method of communication in China

In recent years animation has been considered of one of the pillars ofthe creative industry by the Chinese government. For this reason both the central and local government has been investing and supporting this sector, effectively becoming the first manufacturer. In parallel with the industrial production there is another kind of production, totally independent, that tries to find its audience on theInternet, creating many interesting animations absolutely different from the traditional ones. This study will attempt to explain one of these famous animations using the case study approach and it will focus on one of the most representative products of these years, that is Miss Puff. The Director of this animation is Pi San who is considered, in China, both the master of animation created with Flash and a revolutionary, because of his innovative ideas. This article is based on an interview to the Director Pi San. The interview wasconducted in the study Hutoon of Beijing in July 2012

The effects of the initial mass function on the chemical evolution of elliptical galaxies

We describe the use of our chemical evolution model to reproduce the abundance patterns observed in a catalogue of elliptical galaxies from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey Data Release 4. The model assumes ellipticals form by fast gas accretion, and suffer a strong burst of star formation followed by a galactic wind, which quenches star formation. Models with fixed initial mass function (IMF) failed in simultaneously reproducing the observed trends with the galactic mass. So, we tested a varying IMF; contrary to the diffused claim that the IMF should become bottom heavier in more massive galaxies, we find a better agreement with data by assuming an inverse trend, where the IMF goes from being bottom heavy in less massive galaxies to top heavy in more massive ones. This naturally produces a downsizing in star formation, favouring massive stars in largest galaxies. Finally, we tested the use of the integrated Galactic IMF, obtained by averaging the canonical IMF over the mass distribution function of the clusters where star formation is assumed to take place. We combined two prescriptions, valid for different SFR regimes, to obtain the Integrated Initial Mass Function values along the whole evolution of the galaxies in our models. Predicted abundance trends reproduce the observed slopes, but they have an offset relative to the data. We conclude that bottom-heavier IMFs do not reproduce the properties of the most massive ellipticals, at variance with previous suggestions. On the other hand, an IMF varying with galactic mass from bottom heavier to top heavier should be preferred

"Media in China": la storia e i modelli di produzione e diffusione dell’animazione in Cina

During the last decade China has experienced a moment of great commercial expansion into international markets. In this context of constant growth there are also the creative industries and in particular the animation sector that has significantly evolved over the years. The Chinese animation industry is able to produce contents for both the domestic and abroad market for job orders coming from Japanese, American and European big companies. Today China has become the first producer of animation in the world because it considers this industry as one of its most important productive sectors and thus it has promoted policy actions supporting both training schools for employees of the sector and the world production and distribution. According to many scholars, the government implements these policies to secure not only economic but also cultural benefits. In fact it encourages the ideological education of young people in order to strengthen their national identity (Qing 2006, Tan 2006, Lu Bin 2013). This research starts from the beginning of the Chinese animation industry until the current situation which marks its major presence in foreign markets. The aim of this work is to identify the main variables and the contradictions that characterize the current state of the Chinese animation as well as the problems related to the domestic and international market and the relationship between domestic and imported products.Durante l'ultimo decennio la Cina ha vissuto un momento di grande espansione commerciale nei mercati internazionali. In questo contesto di costante crescita si inseriscono anche le industrie creative e in particolare il settore dell’animazione che ha subito una profonda evoluzione col passare degli anni. Il settore dell’animazione cinese riesce a produrre dei contenuti destinati sia al mercato interno sia estero su commessa dei grandi produttori giapponesi, americani ed europei. Oggi la Cina è diventata il primo produttore al mondo di animazione perché considera questo tipo di industria come uno dei suoi più importanti settori produttivi e perciò ha promosso delle azioni politiche volte a sostenere le scuole di formazione per gli addetti al settore e il mondo della produzione e distribuzione. Secondo molti studiosi il governo attua queste politiche per garantirsi non solo profitti economici ma anche culturali. Di fatto incentiva la formazione ideologica dei giovani al fine di rafforzare la propria identità nazionale (Qing 2006, Tan 2006, Lu Bin 2013). Il presente lavoro di ricerca parte dalle origini dell’industria dell’animazione cinese per arrivare alla situazione attuale che vede la sua importante presenza nei mercati esteri. L’obiettivo della tesi è quello di individuare le variabili principali e le contraddizioni che caratterizzano la situazione attuale dell’animazione cinese nonché i problemi relativi al mercato interno e internazionale e al rapporto tra i prodotti nazionali e prodotti di importazione

Pre-lift Valve Actuation Strategy for the Performance Improvement of a DISI VVA Turbocharged Engine

Abstract Modern internal combustion engines (ICEs) are becoming more and more complex in order to achieve not only better power and torque performance, but also to respect the pollutant emissions and the fuel consumption (CO 2 ) limits. The turbocharger, advanced valve actuation systems (VVA) and the EGR circuit allow the ICE's load control together with the traditional throttle valve and spark advance. Thus, an higher number of operating parameters are available for the calibration engineer to achieve the required performance target (minimum fuel consumption at part load, maximum power and torque at full load, etc.). On the other hand, the increased degrees of freedom may frustrate the potentialities of so complex systems because of the effort needed to identify the optimal engine control strategies. The development of proper numerical models may assist and direct the experimental activity in order to reduce the related times and costs. Although VVA solutions could bring a reduction in the specific fuel consumption thanks to an important de-throttling of the intake system, unfortunately they can simultaneously lead to higher noise levels radiated by the intake mouth. In fact, in this case, the pressure waves travelling through the intake ducts are not properly damped by the throttle valve. In this paper a numerical methodology is developed to define the engine calibration and the intake valve lift profile that simultaneously minimize the BSFC and the noise at part load. The engine object of the study is a turbocharged Spark-Ignition Direct Injection (SIDI) ICE equipped by a lost motion valve actuation system for the intake valves. In this study, the commercial 1D thermo fluid-dynamic code GT-PowerTM is provided with user routines for the description of the combustion process and the handing of variable valve lift profiles. The engine model is thus integrated with a commercial optimization code (modeFRONTIERTM) to identify the optimized load control strategies to achieve the set objectives. The proposed methodology is also used for the definition of unconventional valve lift profiles. Particularly, the advantages related to the use of a small pre-lift before the main valve lift profile are estimated compared to a conventional EIVC strategy

Is the IMF in ellipticals bottom-heavy? Clues from their chemical abundances

© 2018 The Author(s). Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the Royal Astronomical Society.We tested the implementation of different initial mass functions (IMFs) in our model for the chemical evolution of ellipticals, with the aim of reproducing the observed relations of [Fe/H] and [Mg/Fe] abundances with galaxy mass in a sample of early-type galaxies selected from the SPIDER-SDSS catalogue. Abundances in the catalogue were derived from averaged spectra, obtained by stacking individual spectra according to central velocity dispersion, as a proxy of galaxy mass. We tested IMFs already used in a previous work, as well as two new models, based on low-mass tapered (‘bimodal’) IMFs, where the IMF becomes either (1) bottom-heavy in more massive galaxies, or (2) is time-dependent, switching from top-heavy to bottom-heavy in the course of galactic evolution. We found that observations could only be reproduced by models assuming either a constant, Salpeter IMF, or a time-dependent distribution, as other IMFs failed. We further tested the models by calculating their M/L ratios. We conclude that a constant, time-independent bottom-heavy IMF does not reproduce the data, especially the increase of the [α/Fe] ratio with galactic stellar mass, whereas a variable IMF, switching from top to bottom-heavy, can match observations. For the latter models, the IMF switch always occurs at the earliest possible considered time, i.e. tswitch = 0.1 Gyr.Peer reviewe

Automated Sensing System for Monitoring of Road Surface Quality by Mobile Devices

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Anticancer activities of anthocyanin extract from genotyped Solanum tuberosum L. "Vitelotte"

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miRandola 2017: a curated knowledge base of non-invasive biomarkers

miRandola (http://mirandola.iit.cnr.it/) is a database of extracellular non-coding RNAs (ncRNAs) that was initially published in 2012, foreseeing the relevance of ncRNAs as non-invasive biomarkers. An increasing amount of experimental evidence shows that ncRNAs are frequently dysregulated in diseases. Further, ncRNAs have been discovered in different extracellular forms, such as exosomes, which circulate in human body fluids. Thus, miRandola 2017 is an effort to update and collect the accumulating information on extracellular ncRNAs that is spread across scientific publications and different databases. Data are manually curated from 314 articles that describe miRNAs, long non-coding RNAs and circular RNAs. Fourteen organisms are now included in the database, and associations of ncRNAs with 25 drugs, 47 sample types and 197 diseases. miRandola also classifies extracellular RNAs based on their extracellular form: Argonaute2 protein, exosome, microvesicle, microparticle, membrane vesicle, high density lipoprotein and circulating. We also implemented a new web interface to improve the user experience

Real-Life Clinical Data of Cabozantinib for Unresectable Hepatocellular Carcinoma

Introduction: Cabozantinib has been approved by the European Medicine Agency (EMA) for hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) previously treated with sorafenib. Cabozantinib is also being tested in combination with immune checkpoint inhibitors in the frontline setting. Real-life clinical data of cabozantinib for HCC are still lacking. Moreover, the prognostic factors for HCC treated with cabozantinib have not been investigated. Methods: We evaluated clinical data and outcome of HCC patients who received cabozantinib in the legal context of named patient use in Italy. Results: Ninety-six patients from 15 centres received cabozantinib. All patients had preserved liver function (Child-Pugh A), mostly with an advanced HCC (77.1%) in a third-line setting (75.0%). The prevalence of performance status (PS) > 0, macrovascular invasion (MVI), extrahepatic spread, and alpha-fetoprotein (AFP) >400 ng/mL was 50.0, 30.2, 67.7, and 44.8%, respectively. Median overall survival (OS) and progression-free survival were 12.1 (95% confidence interval 9.4–14.8) and 5.1 (3.3–6.9) months, respectively. Most common treatment-related adverse events (AEs) were fatigue (67.7%), diarrhoea (54.2%), anorexia (45.8%), HFSR (43.8%), weight loss (24.0%), and hypertension (24.0%). Most common treatment-related Grade 3–4 AEs were fatigue (6.3%), HFSR (6.3%), and increased aminotransferases (6.3%). MVI, ECOG-PS > 0, and AFP >400 ng/mL predicted a worse OS. Discontinuation for intolerance and no new extrahepatic lesions at the progression were associated with better outcomes. Conclusions: In a real-life Western scenario (mostly in a third-line setting), cabozantinib efficacy and safety data were comparable with those reported in its registration trial. Data regarding the prognostic factors might help in patient selection and design of clinical trials

Comparative results on collimation of the SPS beam of protons and Pb ions with bent crystals

New experiments on crystal assisted collimation have been carried out at the CERN SPS with stored beams of 120 GeV/. c protons and Pb ions. Bent silicon crystals of 2 mm long with about 170 μrad bend angle and a small residual torsion were used as primary collimators. In channeling conditions, the beam loss rate induced by inelastic interactions of particles with the crystal nuclei is minimal. The loss reduction was about 6 for protons and about 3 for Pb ions. Lower reduction value for Pb ions can be explained by their considerably larger ionization losses in the crystal. In one of the crystals, the measured fraction of the Pb ion beam halo deflected in channeling conditions was 74%, a value very close to that for protons. The intensity of the off-momentum halo leaking out from the collimation station was measured in the first high dispersion area downstream. The particle population in the shadow of the secondary collimator-absorber was considerably smaller in channeling conditions than for amorphous orientations of the crystal. The corresponding reduction was in the range of 2-5 for both protons and Pb ions.peer-reviewe