Multi-disciplinary shape optimization of an entry capsule integrated with custom neural network approximation and multi-delity approach

This paper describes a new integrated approach for the multi-disciplinary optimization of a entry capsule’s shape. Aerothermodynamics, Flight Mechanics and Thermal Protection System behaviour of a reference spaceship when crossing Martian atmosphere are considered, and several analytical, semi-empirical and numerical models are used. The multi-objective and multi-disciplinary optimization process implemented in Isight software environment allows finding a Pareto front of best shapes. The optimization process is integrated with a set of artificial neural networks, trained and updated by a multi-fidelity evolution control approach, to approximate the objective and constraint functions. Results obtained by means of the integrated approach with neural networks approximators are described and compared to the results obtained by a different optimization process, not using the approximators. The comparison highlights advantages and possible drawbacks of the proposed method, mainly in terms of calls to the true model and precision of the obtained Pareto front

Nuclear and mitochondrial data on Trichuris from Macaca fuscata support evidence of host specificity

Whipworms are parasitic intestinal nematodes infecting mammals, and traditionally humans and other primates that have so far been considered infected by Trichuris trichiura. Recent molecular studies report a more complex scenario suggesting the presence of a species complex with several Trichuris taxa specifically infecting only one primate species as well as taxa able to infect a range of primate species. The systematics of the group is important for taxonomic inference, to estimate the relative zoonotic potential, and for conservation purposes. In fact, captive animals living in zoological gardens are usually infected by persistent monoxenous intestinal parasites. Here, two Japanese macaques living in the Bioparco Zoological Garden of Rome were found infected by Trichuris sp. Nematodes were characterized at the molecular level using nuclear (btub and 18S) and mitochondrial (16S and cytb) markers and then compared to Trichuris collected previously in the same location, and to other Trichuris infecting primates. Evidences from mitochondrial and nuclear markers allowed for the identification of Trichuris sp. specific to Macaca fuscata. Results obtained here also described a uniform taxonomic unit of Trichuris, separated but closely related to Trichuris trichiura, thus, emphasizing its zoonotic potential for workers and visitors

Comparative economical analysis of a small scale trigenerative plant: a case study

Abstract -In this paper a mixed integer linear model is proposed to solve the problem of the optimal energy management of a system composed by several kind of loads (electrical, thermal, cooling) and energy sources (external network, CHPs, boilers, chillers). The optimizer manages on/off status of CHPs and boilers and their level of power production and power rate of chillers. A realistic scenario of trigenerative plant is studied focusing the attention to the economical analysis of different CHP size

Effetti di tipologie di suolo e colture foraggere sulle perdite per ruscellamento di azoto, fosforo e potassio in differenti areali italiani

Le colture foraggere svolgono un ruolo importante in molti areali italiani. Per una corretta pianificazione del territorio agricolo è necessario approfondire la conoscenza non solo delle caratteristiche produttive di queste colture, ma anche dei loro rapporti con l'ambiente. Questo lavoro prende in considerazione le perdite di azoto, fosforo e potassio dovute al ruscellamento in colture foraggere a diverso livello di intensificazione (dal pascolo alla coltura di erba medica, dal mais al doppio ciclo di mais e loiessa) in tre ambienti italiani: la Pianura Padana nord-occidentale, l'Appennino Toscano e la pianura sarda, con suoli varianti da franco-sabbioso a franco-argilloso. Il monitoraggio quanti-qualitativo del ruscellamento è stato fatto per periodi variabili da due a sei anni. La pendenza era dello 0,5% per gli appezzamenti in Piemonte e Sardegna e del 10% in Toscana. Per quanto riguarda l'azoto i rilasci sono risultati più bassi nei terreni più pianeggianti, anche per i ridotti volumi di ruscellamento registrati, non superando mai 15 kg di N ha -1 anno -1. Nei terreni in pendenza si sono invece registrati valori più elevati, con un massimo annuale di circa 30 kg ha -1 anno -1 di azoto, in relazione anche all'elevato ruscellamento ed erosione di un evento eccezionale. Per il fosforo solo in pochi casi si sono raggiunte perdite di 5 kg ha -1 anno -1, mentre nella maggior parte dei casi non sono stati superati 2 kg ha -1 anno -1. In Sardegna i rilasci di tale elemento sono da considerarsi pressoché trascurabili. Le perdite di potassio sono risultate minime in Sardegna e massime in Piemonte, dove si sono registrati valori dell' ordine di 10 kg ha -1 anno -1. Ove era possibile il confronto, si è verificato che le colture prative riducono il rilascio di elementi nutritivi rispetto alla coltura del mais e che la qualità delle acque di superficie appare legata piuttosto alle tecniche colturali che alla tipologia di suolo. Fodder crops play an important role in many Italian environments. The knowledge of the main productive characteristics of these crops is as important as their relationships with the environment, expecially for a proper territorial management. This paper compares nitrogen, phosphorous and potassium contents in runoff of some forage crops of different intensity (pasture, lucerne, silage maize, Italian ryegrass/maize double cropping) in different ltalian environments (north-western plain of Piemonte, Apennines hills of Tuscany and Mediterranean plain of Sardegna) on different typology of soils. Runoff data have been collected for periods ranging between two and six year, from plots of different extension and slope (0,5% in the plains, 10% in Apennine hills). Nitrogen losses, for the small amount of runoff, have been qui te low from ilat fields, being always less than 15 kg ha -1 year-1. Losses from slope fields have been higher, with a maximum of 30 kg ha -1 year-1, due to very high level of runoff and erosion in a conspicuous episode. Phosphorous losses only in a few cases were higher than 5 kg ha -I year -I, while mostly they have b>!en less than 2 kg ha -1 year-1. In the Mediterranean plain such losses have been quite insignificant. Minimum potassium 10sses were recorded in the Mediterranean plain, while in north-western plain they reached about 10 kg-1 year-1. Maize was, on average, the crop with highest nutrient losses, while quality of the runoff water was more related to agricultural practices than to soil types

Modellizzazione della lisciviazione dei nitrati: calibrazione e validazione del modello LEACHN in diversi suoli e colture foraggere

The LEACHN model calibration and validation was realized in three Italian enviroments (Piedmont, Tuscany and Sardinia), using nitrate losses by drainage from 4 soil types ranging from sandy-loam to day-loam. A set of large drainage lysimeters were used to obtain leaching data. In each location one lysimeter was cultivated with lucerne, while the others were cropped with widespread crops in the area (maize for silage in Piedmont and Sardinia and permanent pasture in Tuscany). Measured leaching losses ranged from l to 68 kg ha-1 year-1. The calibration parameters were humus mineralization rate and nitrification rate. The calibration was realized on a not nitrogen fixing crop, while the validation was executed on lucerne, even if there is not a specific N-fixation subroutine in LEACHN. After calibration, the prediction of nitrate losses cumulated over the whole period (two years) or over each month resulted acceptable for all crops, while the single event prediction was totally inadequate. The LEACHN model seems to be applicable for the nitrate leaching prediction on a territorial scale. In tre areali italiani (pianura piemontese, conca interappenninica toscana, pianura irrigua sarda) e su quattro diversi tipi di terreno si è calibrato e validato il modello LEACHN relativamente alla previsione della lisciviazione dei nitrati. Si è operato con lisimetri a drenaggio di grandi dimensioni. In tutte le situazioni un lisimetro era coltivato a erba medica, mentre altri con colture di ampia diffusione nell'arcale: mais da trinciato integrale in Piemonte, doppio ciclo colturale di loiessa e mais da granella in Sardegna e pascolo in Toscana e Sardegna. Le perdite per lisciviazione misurate sono risultate comprese tra l e 68 kg ha-1 anno-1 di NO-3-N. Come parametri di calibrazione si sono usati il tasso di mineralizzazione dell'humus e il tasso di nitrificazione dello ione ammonio, calibrati sulla coltura non azotofissatrice. Sull'erba medica, per la quale non è prevista alcuna routine per l'azotofissazione, è stata invece condotta la validazione. Dopo la calibrazione, la simulazione della lisciviazione cumulata e dei totali mensili lisciviati è risultata accettatile, anche su erba medica, mentre quella dei singoli eventi è stata del tutto insufficiente. Il modello nel complesso è apparso applicabile per la predizione delle perdite di nitrati anche su scala territoriale

Gestión y transferencia del conocimiento en una universidad pública del conurbano bonaerense.

Se propone, a través de esta experiencia en ejecución, describir el estado de avance y factibilidad de impacto de un proyecto de investigación denominado “Gestión y Transferencia del Conocimiento”, código 55B PIDC/184, el que integra el Programa de Investigación: “Gestión y Vinculación del Conocimiento en Ciencia y Tecnología en el marco de una universidad pública del conurbano bonaerense, y continúa la línea de investigación iniciada con los proyectos de investigación 55B PIDC/168 “Gestión del Conocimiento” (2012-2013) y 55B PIDC/169 “Vinculación del Conocimiento” (2012- 2013), ejecutados como Proyectos de Investigación con Dependencia Compartida (PIDC) entre el Departamento de Ciencias Económicas y la Secretaría de Ciencia y Tecnología en la misma universidad. El presente proyecto tiene como objetivo general el desarrollo de actividades de investigación en el marco de cuatro áreas centrales de intervención en el diseño de políticas y procedimientos de gestión en Ciencia y Tecnología a saber: I-Gestión de la investigación científica y tecnológica, II-Gestión de la investigación, III-Formación de Recursos Humanos y IV-Transferencia y vinculación del conocimiento. Estas cuatro áreas de intervención y desarrollo en materia de política y gestión de la ciencia y la tecnología formarán parte de un Plan de Desarrollo Institucional de fortalecimiento y mejora permanente del conjunto de actividades que desarrolla la universidad, en pos de una mayor producción y transferencia de conocimiento al conjunto de la Universidad, sector productivo y comunidad universitaria, de parte del conjunto de docentes investigadores, núcleos de investigación, programas y proyectos dedicados a atender las distintas demandas de producción de conocimiento del conjunto de la comunidad universitaria intra y extra universidad. La perspectiva desde la que se realiza esta investigación, integra los aspectos epistemológicos, históricos y sociales, en los que se pondrán en juego criterios científicos, sociales, éticos, pedagógicos y culturales. La meta, desde una perspectiva de gestión y transferencia del conocimiento, es asegurar la pertinencia académica y social de los saberes que se producen y transmiten en la Universidad, y con ello crear una “cultura del conocimiento” que permita subsumir las otras culturas universitarias en un proyecto al servicio de la sociedad. Se comunicará, en el contexto de esta investigación, los alcances logrados en materia de fortalecimiento de la transferencia de conocimiento a partir de la definición y aplicación de políticas de gestión de la ciencia y la tecnología bajo el modelo de “Gestión del Conocimiento”.publishedVersio

Les droits disciplinaires des fonctions publiques : « unification », « harmonisation » ou « distanciation ». A propos de la loi du 26 avril 2016 relative à la déontologie et aux droits et obligations des fonctionnaires

The production of tt‾ , W+bb‾ and W+cc‾ is studied in the forward region of proton–proton collisions collected at a centre-of-mass energy of 8 TeV by the LHCb experiment, corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 1.98±0.02 fb−1 . The W bosons are reconstructed in the decays W→ℓν , where ℓ denotes muon or electron, while the b and c quarks are reconstructed as jets. All measured cross-sections are in agreement with next-to-leading-order Standard Model predictions.The production of $t\overline{t}$, $W+b\overline{b}$ and $W+c\overline{c}$ is studied in the forward region of proton-proton collisions collected at a centre-of-mass energy of 8 TeV by the LHCb experiment, corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 1.98 $\pm$ 0.02 \mbox{fb}^{-1}. The $W$ bosons are reconstructed in the decays $W\rightarrow\ell\nu$, where $\ell$ denotes muon or electron, while the $b$ and $c$ quarks are reconstructed as jets. All measured cross-sections are in agreement with next-to-leading-order Standard Model predictions