Chandra ACIS-I particle background: an analytical model

Aims: Imaging and spectroscopy of X-ray extended sources require a proper characterisation of a spatially unresolved background signal. This background includes sky and instrumental components, each of which are characterised by its proper spatial and spectral behaviour. While the X-ray sky background has been extensively studied in previous work, here we analyse and model the instrumental background of the ACIS-I detector on-board the Chandra X-ray observatory in very faint mode. Methods: Caused by interaction of highly energetic particles with the detector, the ACIS-I instrumental background is spectrally characterised by the superposition of several fluorescence emission lines onto a continuum. To isolate its flux from any sky component, we fitted an analytical model of the continuum to observations performed in very faint mode with the detector in the stowed position shielded from the sky, and gathered over the eight year period starting in 2001. The remaining emission lines were fitted to blank-sky observations of the same period. We found 11 emission lines. Analysing the spatial variation of the amplitude, energy and width of these lines has further allowed us to infer that three lines of these are presumably due to an energy correction artefact produced in the frame store. Results: We provide an analytical model that predicts the instrumental background with a precision of 2% in the continuum and 5% in the lines. We use this model to measure the flux of the unresolved cosmic X-ray background in the Chandra deep field south. We obtain a flux of $10.2^{+0.5}_{-0.4} \times 10^{13}$ $erg$ $cm^{-2} deg^{-2} s^{-1}$ for the $[1-2]$ keV band and $(3.8 \pm 0.2) \times 10^{12}$ $erg$ $cm^{-2} deg^{-2} s^{-1}$ for the $[2-8]$ keV band

A new robotic exoskeleton system for upper limb rehabilitation by gaze tracking

E' stato condotto lo sviluppo, implementazione e sperimentazione di un sistema innovativo per la riabilitazione dell'arto superiore, basato su un robot esoscheletrico guidato mediante tecniche di gaze tracking. Sono stati ideati, sviluppati e valutati sperimentalmente nuovi algoritmi di controllo per la pianificazione adattiva della traiettoria di un robot esoscheletrico, in grado di fornire all'utente una guida attiva nei compiti di raggiungimento ed afferraggio di oggetti, attraverso la lettura dell'intenzione di movimento del soggetto tramite riconoscimento dello sguardo. Gli algortimi di guida proposti soddisfano i requisiti di sicurezza ed ergonomia dell'applicazione riabilitativa, e sono strutturati per consentire il loro aggiornamento in funzione delle variazioni rilevate nello spazio di lavoro e nel comportamento dell'utente (es. spostamento di target/ostacoli e/o del punto di vista) attraverso un sistema di telecamere ed un dispositivo di eye-tracking indossabile, che sono stati integrati all'interno del sistema robotico

Myzininae from Canary, Madeira, and Cabo Verde Islands (Hymenoptera: Tiphiidae)

Data about knowledge of the Myzinin fauna from Canary, Madeira, and Cabo Verde Islands are given. Description of the insofar-unknown females of Poecilotiphia guichardi (Guiglia, 1967) and Poecilotiphia trichogastra Boni Bartalucci, 2004 are produced

Noise monitoring in Monza (Italy) during COVID-19 pandemic by means of the smart network of sensors developed in the LIFE MONZA project

Abstract As a scientific consequence of the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic, several initiatives have taken place in order to monitor noise levels trends before and after the lock down phase in several Italian and European cities. In Monza (Italy), since June 2017, a new smart noise monitoring system consisting of 10 sensors developed in the frame of the LIFE MONZA project is continuously measuring acoustic data every second and transmitting them hourly to a dedicated server. The sensors are located both along a main street of the Libertà district characterised by high traffic flows and along secondary streets of the district; they are positioned on (preferably sensitive) buildings facades and on streetlamps. In the present paper results of a study concerning changes occurred in noise levels trends before and during the lock down phase for the smart sensors are presented, together with a comparison with noise levels collected by the same sensors in the equivalent months of the previous year. Some preliminary considerations regarding the reliability of the sensors themselves are also provided

LIFE+2010 QUADMAP Project: results obtained from the analysis of data collected during the application of the new methodology to the pilot quiet areas

Since the 90s, quiet areas have commonly been considered as places to be acoustically preserved or where acoustic interventions should be implemented to reduce noise levels. With the enforcement of the Environmental Noise Directive in 2002, a formal definition of a ‘quiet area in agglomeration’ and a ‘quiet area in open country’ was established. However, many Member States complained about the absence of guidelines regarding the identification and management of quiet areas. The LIFE QUiet Areas Definition and Management in Action Plans (QUADMAP) project started in 2011 to contribute to the Directive’s incomplete requirements for quiet areas. The project’s main result has been the introduction of a flexible methodology for the selection, analysis and management of quiet areas in agglomeration in which both acoustic and nonacoustic parameters are evaluated. The current paper illustrates the analyses carried out on the data collected during the application of the selection, analysis and management phases of the developed methodology in the different pilot cases selected during the Project. Mentioned analysis are aimed at verifying the benefits of the proposed complementary selection criteria (‘relative quiet urban areas’ identification criteria and ‘homogeneous urban areas’ subdivision criteria), at defining the measurement periods most representative of the areas and the acoustic and nonacoustic parameters to be considered as the most significant.The authors would like to thank all who sustained this research, specifically the European Commission for its financial contribution to the QUADMAP project into the LIFE+2010 Programme

LoCuSS: Hydrostatic Mass Measurements of the High-LXL_X Cluster Sample -- Cross-calibration of Chandra and XMM-Newton

We present a consistent analysis of Chandra and XMM-Newton observations of an approximately mass-selected sample of 50 galaxy clusters at $0.15<z<0.3$ -- the "LoCuSS High-$L_X$ Sample". We apply the same analysis methods to data from both satellites, including newly developed analytic background models that predict the spatial variation of the Chandra and XMM-Newton backgrounds to $<2\%$ and $<5\%$ precision respectively. To verify the cross-calibration of Chandra and XMM-Newton-based cluster mass measurements, we derive the mass profiles of the 21 clusters that have been observed with both satellites, extracting surface brightness and temperature profiles from identical regions of the respective datasets. We obtain consistent results for the gas and total hydrostatic cluster masses: the average ratio of Chandra- to XMM-Newton-based measurements of $M_{\rm gas}$ and $M_X$ at $r_{500}$ are $0.99\pm0.02$ and $1.02\pm0.05$, respectively with an intrinsic scatter of $\sim3\%$ for gas masses and $\sim8\%$ for hydrostatic masses. Comparison of our hydrostatic mass measurements at $r_{500}$ with the latest LoCuSS weak-lensing results indicate that the data are consistent with non-thermal pressure support at this radius of $\sim7\%$. We also investigate the scaling relation between our hydrostatic cluster masses and published integrated Compton parameter $Y_{sph}$ measurements from the Sunyaev-Zel'dovich Array. We measure a scatter in mass at fixed $Y_{sph}$ of $\sim16\%$ at $\Delta=500$, which is consistent with theoretical predictions of $\sim10-15\%$ scatter.Comment: 21 pages, 11 figure

Analisi dell'influenza della ricarica dei veicoli elettrici su una rete di distribuzione MT

Questa tesi si propone di verificare la sostenibilità di una penetrazione pari al 10 % di veicoli elettrici (VE) per una particolare rete test di distribuzione MT di tipo radiale ed alimentata da un trasformatore AT/MT di Cabina Primaria, con topologia e caratteristiche plausibili in quanto ricavate da reti reali. La struttura in esame presenta inoltre una forte penetrazione di generazione distribuita (GD) che necessita di un sistema di controllo attivo della rete (Smart Grid). Sono stati analizzati profili di carico diversi in cui, mediante indagine sulla letteratura tecnica e nei listini delle case automobilistiche, è stato possibile stimare le potenze necessarie a soddisfare il fabbisogno energetico per la ricarica di suddetti veicoli. Il lavoro è stato svolto mettendo a confronto il caso sia in assenza di VE che in presenza degli stessi; in particolare nella seconda ipotesi sono stati individuati due casi diversi, distinguibili per la modalità con cui viene ripartita la ricarica tra “lenta” (notturna) e “veloce” (diurna), cioè nel caso di 85% della prima e 15% della seconda oppure in quello di 50% e 50%. Lo strumento impiegato per l’analisi è un OPF (AC Optimal Power Flow) di proprietà di RSE, denominato DISCOVER. Esso è un algoritmo concepito per variare i punti di lavoro delle risorse controllabili (generatori, carichi, accumuli) e del commutatore sottocarico presente in Cabina Primaria (anche denominato OLTC, On Load Tap Changer) in tempo reale, al fine di rispettare opportuni vincoli tecnici ed economici. Il software che implementa l’algoritmo richiede un particolare file di ingresso per l’inserimento delle caratteristiche della rete (topologia, profili di carico e generazione, costi), per questo a monte delle simulazioni è stato necessario creare un’applicazione in ambiente MATLAB® che consentisse di raccogliere i dati, elaborarli e formattarli secondo le specifiche di DISCOVER. Nell’elaborato sono descritte le problematiche a livello generale, le procedure per la scrittura del codice MATLAB®, le casistiche delle simulazioni ed i risultati delle stesse, correlate dall’analisi degli andamenti ottenuti per le variabili di interesse (tensioni, potenze relative ai generatori, movimentazione dell’ OLTC ecc.)

Dal Mediterraneo all’Atlantico spagnolo. La corrispondenza mercantile tra un uomo d’affari fiorentino e una compagnia di negozio lucchese a cadice

Through the use of completely unpublished Spanish and Italian documentary material, the article analyzes the correspondence between a Florentine businessman and a Lucca trade company operating in Cadiz in the last quarter of the seventeenth century from 1682 to 1689. As Raimundo de Lantery suggests in his memories, the «Bonfigli - Gualanducci» trade company was among the major Italian ones in Cadiz during the second half of the seventeenth century, whose trade activity is reconstructed here in broad lines. This work is part of the current studies which is re-evaluating the role of Italian economic operators and their contribution to the Spanish economy of the Old Regime, pointing out the importance of the Mediterranean Sea and its integration with the Spanish Atlantic Ocean which helped to expand Iberian trade globally.Utilizando material documental totalmente inédito, español y italiano, el artículo analiza la correspondencia desde 1682 hasta 1689 entre un hombre de negocios florentino y una casa de negocios de Lucca que operaba en Cádiz en ultimo cuarto del siglo XVII. Como Raimundo de Lantery recoge en sus memorias, la compañía «Bonfigli - Gualanducci» fue una de las principales razones italianas en Cádiz durante la segunda mitad del siglo XVII, cuya actividad comercial, en lineas generales, se reconstruye aquí. Este trabajo se inserta en los estudios actuales que reevalúan el papel de los operadores económicos italianos y su contribución a la economía española de Antiguo Régimen, subrayando la importancia del Mediterráneo y su integración con el Atlántico español que ayudó a expandir el comercio ibérico a nivel mundial