Weak nodes detection in urban transport systems: Planning for resilience in Singapore

The availability of massive data-sets describing human mobility offers the possibility to design simulation tools to monitor and improve the resilience of transport systems in response to traumatic events such as natural and man-made disasters (e.g. floods terroristic attacks, etc...). In this perspective, we propose ACHILLES, an application to model people's movements in a given transport system mode through a multiplex network representation based on mobility data. ACHILLES is a web-based application which provides an easy-to-use interface to explore the mobility fluxes and the connectivity of every urban zone in a city, as well as to visualize changes in the transport system resulting from the addition or removal of transport modes, urban zones, and single stops. Notably, our application allows the user to assess the overall resilience of the transport network by identifying its weakest node, i.e. Urban Achilles Heel, with reference to the ancient Greek mythology. To demonstrate the impact of ACHILLES for humanitarian aid we consider its application to a real-world scenario by exploring human mobility in Singapore in response to flood prevention.Comment: 9 pages, 6 figures, IEEE Data Science and Advanced Analytic

Particle Flow with a Hybrid Segmented Crystal and Fiber Dual-Readout Calorimeter

In the reconstruction of physics events at future e$^+$e$^-$ colliders the calorimeter design has a crucial role in the overall detector performance. The reconstruction of events with many jets in their final state sets stringent requirements on the jet energy and angular resolutions. The energy resolution for jets with energy of about 45 GeV is required to be at the 4-5\% level to enable an efficient separation of the W and Z boson invariant masses. We demonstrate in this paper how such a performance can be achieved by exploiting a particle flow algorithm tailored for a hybrid dual-readout calorimeter made of segmented crystals and fibers. The excellent energy resolution and linearity of such calorimeter for both photons and neutral hadrons ($3\%/\sqrt{E}$ and $26\%/\sqrt{E}$, respectively), inherent to the homogeneous crystals and dual-readout technological choices, provides a powerful handle for the development of a new approach for particle identification and jet reconstruction. While the dual-readout particle flow algorithm (DR-PFA) presented in this paper is at its early stage of development, it already demonstrates the potential of a hybrid dual-readout calorimeter for jet reconstruction by improving the jet energy resolution with respect to a calorimeter-only reconstruction from 6.0\% to about 4.5\% for 45 GeV jets

Modeling Ignition and Premixed Combustion Including Flame Stretch Effects

Objective of this work is the incorporation of the flame stretch effects in an Eulerian-Lagrangian model for premixed SI combustion in order to describe ignition and flame propagation under highly inhomogeneous flow conditions. To this end, effects of energy transfer from electrical circuit and turbulent flame propagation were fully decoupled. The first ones are taken into account by Lagrangian particles whose main purpose is to generate an initial burned field in the computational domain. Turbulent flame development is instead considered only in the Eulerian gas phase for a better description of the local flow effects. To improve the model predictive capabilities, flame stretch effects were introduced in the turbulent combustion model by using formulations coming from the asymptotic theory and recently verified by means of DNS studies. Experiments carried out at Michigan Tech University in a pressurized, constant-volume vessel were used to validate the proposed approach. In the vessel, a shrouded fan blows fresh mixture directly at the spark-gap generating highly inhomogeneous flow and turbulence conditions close to the ignition zone. Experimental and computed data of gas flow velocity profiles and flame radius were compared under different turbulence, air/fuel ratio and pressure conditions

Prolactin Changes as a Consequence of Chemical Exposure

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CFD modelling of flame stretch in SI engines

AbstractThe flame stretch is a phenomenon that affects the combustion initial stage in premixed charge Spark-Ignition (SI) engines with consequences on the laminar burning velocity, so its correct description is fundamental to predict the further turbulent flame development.In the context of a Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) investigation, two different flame stretch models were implemented. The first one is obtained starting from the equations and assumptions proposed by Bradley, Lau and Lawes. The result is a flame stretch expression that takes into account the influence of flame curvature, turbulence intensity, thermal and fresh mixture diffusivity (Lewis number), activation energy of the overall combustion reaction and flame thickness. The second one is already proposed by Herweg and Maly and takes into account the same parameters mentioned before. To assess the behaviour of these two models numerical simulations on combustion inside a simplified chamber were performed at different equivalence ratios and turbulence intensities. All simulations are carried out with the open-source platform OpenFOAM, involving a 3-D finite volume discretization using RANS turbulence modelling.Although no comparisons with experimental findings were performed, the achieved results show a good response of both stretch models with respect to theoretical considerations

Temporal clustering of social interactions trades-off disease spreading and knowledge diffusion

Non-pharmaceutical measures such as preventive quarantines, remote working, school and workplace closures, lockdowns, etc. have shown effectivenness from an epidemic control perspective; however they have also significant negative consequences on social life and relationships, work routines, and community engagement. In particular, complex ideas, work and school collaborations, innovative discoveries, and resilient norms formation and maintenance, which often require face-to-face interactions of two or more parties to be developed and synergically coordinated, are particularly affected. In this study, we propose an alternative hybrid solution that balances the slowdown of epidemic diffusion with the preservation of face-to-face interactions. Our approach involves a two-step partitioning of the population. First, we tune the level of node clustering, creating "social bubbles" with increased contacts within each bubble and fewer outside, while maintaining the average number of contacts in each network. Second, we tune the level of temporal clustering by pairing, for a certain time interval, nodes from specific social bubbles. Our results demonstrate that a hybrid approach can achieve better trade-offs between epidemic control and complex knowledge diffusion. The versatility of our model enables tuning and refining clustering levels to optimally achieve the desired trade-off, based on the potentially changing characteristics of a disease or knowledge diffusion process

Electron and ion spectroscopy of Azobenzene in the valence and core shells

Azobenzene is a prototype and building block of a class of molecules of extreme technological interest as molecularphoto-switches. We present a joint experimental and theoretical study of its response to irradiation with light across theUV to X-ray spectrum. The study of valence and inner shell photo-ionization and excitation processes, combined withmeasurement of valence photoelectron-photoion coincidence (PEPICO) and of mass spectra across the core thresholdsprovides a detailed insight onto the site- and state-selected photo-induced processes. Photo-ionization and excita-tion measurements are interpreted via the multi-configurational restricted active space self-consistent field (RASSCF)method corrected by second order perturbation theory (RASPT2). Using static modelling, we demonstrate that thecarbon and nitrogen K edges of Azobenzene are suitable candidates for exploring its photoinduced dynamics thanks tothe transient signals appearing in background-free regions of the NEXAFS and XP