A Correlation Between the Intrinsic Brightness and Average Decay Rate of Gamma-ray Burst X-ray Afterglow Light Curves

We present a correlation between the average temporal decay ({\alpha}X,avg,>200s) and early-time luminosity (LX,200s) of X-ray afterglows of gamma-ray bursts as observed by Swift-XRT. Both quantities are measured relative to a rest frame time of 200 s after the {\gamma}-ray trigger. The luminosity average decay correlation does not depend on specific temporal behavior and contains one scale independent quantity minimizing the role of selection effects. This is a complementary correlation to that discovered by Oates et al. (2012) in the optical light curves observed by Swift-UVOT. The correlation indicates that on average, more luminous X-ray afterglows decay faster than less luminous ones, indicating some relative mechanism for energy dissipation. The X-ray and optical correlations are entirely consistent once corrections are applied and contamination is removed. We explore the possible biases introduced by different light curve morphologies and observational selection effects, and how either geometrical effects or intrinsic properties of the central engine and jet could explain the observed correlation.Comment: Accepted for Publication in ApJ; 16 pages, 15 figures, 2 table

GRB Flares: UV/Optical Flaring (Paper I)

We present a new algorithm for the detection of flares in gamma-ray burst (GRB) light curves and use this algorithm to detect flares in the UV/optical. The algorithm makes use of the Bayesian Information Criterion (BIC) to analyze the residuals of the fitted light curve, removing all major features, and to determine the statistically best fit to the data by iteratively adding additional `breaks' to the light curve. These additional breaks represent the individual components of the detected flares: T_start, T_stop, and T_peak. We present the detection of 119 unique flaring periods detected by applying this algorithm to light curves taken from the Second Swift Ultraviolet/Optical Telescope (UVOT) GRB Afterglow Catalog. We analyzed 201 UVOT GRB light curves and found episodes of flaring in 68 of the light curves. For those light curves with flares, we find an average number of ~2 flares per GRB. Flaring is generally restricted to the first 1000 seconds of the afterglow, but can be observed and detected beyond 10^5 seconds. More than 80% of the flares detected are short in duration with Delta t/t of < 0.5. Flares were observed with flux ratios relative to the underlying light curve of between 0.04 to 55.42. Many of the strongest flares were also seen at greater than 1000 seconds after the burst.Comment: Submitted to ApJ. 20 pages (including 8 figures and 1 table

Tricalcium phosphate endosseous implants in dentistry: ultrastructural findings

β-Tricalcium phosphate magnesium substitued (β-TCMP), consisting of one part small unsintered and one part large sintered granules was placed in upper and lower jaw surgical cavities of monkeys. At light and transmission electron microscope the biopsies taken at 2, 4, 8 and 24 weeks showed that both sintered and unsintered granules were well tolerated by the host tissue and result biodegradable over time.β-TCMP may stimulate the direction of bone growth enhancing osteoblasts activity and new bone deposition in direct contact and in the micropores of the biomaterial. β-TCMP containing Mg ions reabsorbs slowly when in sintered granules form and rapidly as unsintered granules. When it is placed in bone cavities, if bone reabsorption is biologically necessary, the biomaterial can be reabsorbed with bone, while if osteogenesis is required β-TCMP provides a more durable matrix to support new bone growth.Le β-phosphate tricalcique contenant à ions Mg (β-TCMP) et constitué à parts égales de fins granules non frittés et de larges granules frittés, est introduit dans des cavités chirurgicales pratiquées dans les maxillaires supérieurs et inférieurs de singes.Des biopsies pratiquées à 2, 4, 8 et 24 semaines ont été examinées au microscope optique et électronique à transmission.Les granules frittés et non frittés sont bien tolérés par les tissus hôtes et sont biodégradés avec le temps.Les observations histologiques montrent aussi que le β-TCMP peut orienter la direction de la croissance osseuse en stimulant l’activité des ostéoblastes et le dépôt d’os nouveau aussi bien autour des biomatériaux que dans leur micropores. Le β-TCMP contenant les ions Mg est réabsorbé lentement lorsqu’il se présente sous la forme de granules frittés, et rapidement lorsqu’il est sous la forme de granules non frittés.Lorsqu’il est introduit dans les cavités osseuses, si la réabsorption osseuse est biologiquement nécessaire, le biomatériau peut être réabsorbé avec l’os, tandis que si c’est l’ostéogenèse qui est sollicitée, β-TCMP fournit une matrice durable comme support à la croissance d’os nouveau

Performance analysis of elite lifesavers during competition: effects related to gender, turn of competition, and age category

The aim of this study was to analyse elite lifesavers' official performances according to specific intermediate times recorded during each speciality, and comparing them in relation to genders, turns of competition (qualifications; finales), and age (seniors; youths) categories. For this purpose, the intermediate times of 825 (female: 423, male: 402) individual performances were recorded by means of the official stopwatch of championship and two video cameras synchronised with the official stopwatch of competition. A linear mixed-effects model was applied to verify subgroup differences (p &lt;= 0.05). For single specialty, differences emerged for each observed variables (p &lt;= 0.001). Differences (p range: &lt;0.001-0.03) were confirmed for the interactions with specific intermediate times, excepting for those in "Manikin Tow with Fins - 100 m" with each variable, in "Manikin Carry with Fins - 100 m" with age, and in "Obstacle Swim - 200 m" with gender and age. Therefore, elite lifesaving coaches will be able to benefit from the results of this study, considering specific performances, avoiding any generalisation, and promoting more aware training sessions

Extended Full Block S-Procedure for Distributed Control of Interconnected Systems

This paper proposes a novel method for distributed controller synthesis of homogeneous interconnected systems consisting of identical subsystems. The objective of the designed controller is to minimize the L2-gain of the performance channel. The proposed method is an extended formulation of the Full Block S-Procedure (FBSP) where we introduce an additional set of variables. This allows relaxing the block-diagonal structural assumptions on the Lyapunov and multiplier matrices required for distributed control design, which reduces conservatism w.r.t most existing approaches. We show how to decompose the proposed extended FBSP into small synthesis conditions, of the size of one individual subsystem

The EEE Project

The new experiment ``Extreme Energy Events'' (EEE) to detect extensive air showers through muon detection is starting in Italy. The use of particle detectors based on Multigap Resistive Plate Chambers (MRPC) will allow to determine with a very high accuracy the direction of the axis of cosmic ray showers initiated by primaries of ultra-high energy, together with a high temporal resolution. The installation of many of such 'telescopes' in numerous High Schools scattered all over the Italian territory will also allow to investigate coincidences between multiple primaries producing distant showers. Here we present the experimental apparatus and its tasks.Comment: 4 pages, 29th ICRC 2005, Pune, Indi

Overall time evolution in phase-ordering kinetics

The phenomenology from the time of the quench to the asymptotic behavior in the phase-ordering kinetics of a system with conserved order parameter is investigated in the Bray-Humayun model and in the Cahn-Hilliard-Cook model. From the comparison of the structure factor in the two models the generic pattern of the overall time evolution, based on the sequence ``early linear - intermediate mean field - late asymptotic regime'' is extracted. It is found that the time duration of each of these regimes is strongly dependent on the wave vector and on the parameters of the quench, such as the amplitude of the initial fluctuations and the final equilibrium temperature. The rich and complex crossover phenomenology arising as these parameters are varied can be accounted for in a simple way through the structure of the solution of the Bray-Humayun model.Comment: RevTeX, 14 pages, 18 figures, to appear in Phys. Rev.

Growth Kinetics in a Phase Field Model with Continuous Symmetry

We discuss the static and kinetic properties of a Ginzburg-Landau spherically symmetric $O(N)$ model recently introduced (Phys. Rev. Lett. {\bf 75}, 2176, (1995)) in order to generalize the so called Phase field model of Langer. The Hamiltonian contains two $O(N)$ invariant fields $\phi$ and $U$ bilinearly coupled. The order parameter field $\phi$ evolves according to a non conserved dynamics, whereas the diffusive field $U$ follows a conserved dynamics. In the limit $N \to \infty$ we obtain an exact solution, which displays an interesting kinetic behavior characterized by three different growth regimes. In the early regime the system displays normal scaling and the average domain size grows as $t^{1/2}$, in the intermediate regime one observes a finite wavevector instability, which is related to the Mullins-Sekerka instability; finally, in the late stage the structure function has a multiscaling behavior, while the domain size grows as $t^{1/4}$.Comment: 9 pages RevTeX, 9 figures included, files packed with uufiles to appear on Phy. Rev.