Leveraging Large Language Models to Detect Influence Campaigns in Social Media

Social media influence campaigns pose significant challenges to public discourse and democracy. Traditional detection methods fall short due to the complexity and dynamic nature of social media. Addressing this, we propose a novel detection method using Large Language Models (LLMs) that incorporates both user metadata and network structures. By converting these elements into a text format, our approach effectively processes multilingual content and adapts to the shifting tactics of malicious campaign actors. We validate our model through rigorous testing on multiple datasets, showcasing its superior performance in identifying influence efforts. This research not only offers a powerful tool for detecting campaigns, but also sets the stage for future enhancements to keep up with the fast-paced evolution of social media-based influence tactics

On the peak strength of 7050 aluminum alloy: mechanical and corrosion resistance

This work consists of an experimental study on the ageing response and resulting properties of AA7050 plate material. New heat treatments are investigated for achieving a peak-aged temper, as a T6 temper may be said to be, that achieves yield and tensile strengths superior to those of the documented T7 treatments. For this alloy, the Standard establishes T7X tempers which were developed to obtain a very good compromise between mechanical strength and corrosion resistance. Nevertheless, for all those applications in which the environment is not considered critical for corrosion behaviour, the peak strength condition could be beneficial. In this experimental work, the authors use standard hardness testing to investigate mechanical response as a function of ageing time at several ageing temperatures, all applied immediately after solution. Upon identifying specific times and temperatures of interest, specimens aged under the selected treatments were subjected to tensile testing and intergranular corrosion testing. The results show that a single-step ageing heat treatment is able to produce a significantly high both yield and ultimate tensile strength. Moreover, the corrosion test data indicates that this new heat treatment produces corrosion resistance similar to that of the T76 heat treatment

A simplified formula to estimate the load history due to ballistic impacts with bullet splash. Development and validation for finite element simulation of 9x21mm full metal jacket bullets

An original simplified formula is proposed to estimate the load history caused by ballistic impacts characterized by the so-called bullet splash phenomenon, consisting in the complete bullet fragmentation with no penetration of the target. The formula is based on the progressive momentum variation of the mass of the bullet impacting on a planar plate normal to the impact direction. The method aims at creating a simplified approach to assess the response of structures by means of explicit finite element simulations without the need of modelling the interaction between impactor and target. The results demonstrate that the proposed method can be used to estimate the forces generated by bullet-splash phenomena of 9x21mm full metal jacket bullets and effectively applied to finite element simulations allowing significant reductions in computational cost

Smoking habit in parents and exposure to environmental tobacco smoke in elementary school children of Milan

Children with smoking parents are potentially exposed to Environmental Tobacco Smoke (ETS). The aims of this study were: 1) to assess ETS exposure in Milan schoolchildren, by measuring urinary cotinine (COT-U), 2) to compare the parents' perception of children ETS exposure, with the actual ETS exposure measured by COT-U, 3) to explore the factors influencing COT-U, including smoking bans at home, the season, and children characteristics.One-hundred school children (7-11 years) and their parents were recruited for the study in Spring 2018 (n = 81) and in Winter 2019 (n = 94), 75 children participated to both campaigns, for a sum of 175 observations. A questionnaire was submitted to parents to collect information about smoking habits in the house. COT-U was measured by LC-MS/MS in spot urine sample collected in the morning from children.Detectable COT-U levels were found in 42% and 57% of children, in spring and winter, in contrast with 17% and 13% of parents acknowledging ETS exposure. Children living with smokers or e-cigarette users (vapers) (30% of the participants) had higher COT-U levels than children not living with smokers or vapers (median 0.67, 0.46, and0.1 μg/L in spring, and 0.98, 0.85, and 0.11 μg/L in winter, respectively). Increasingly higher COT-U levels were observed in children living in homes where smoking was completely banned, allowed in the external parts of the home, or allowed in some rooms. The multiple regression analysis confirmed the positive significant effect of living with smokers, a partial smoking ban and absence of smoking ban at home, the winter season, and BMI as determinants of COT-U.ETS exposure resulted in measurable urinary cotinine in children. Smoking parents underestimate exposure to ETS of their children. Living with smokers is a determinant of COT-U, only slightly mitigated by adopting partial smoking ban

Phosphorus recovery from a pilot-scale grate furnace: influencing factors beyond wet chemical leaching conditions

Phosphorus is a non-renewable resource going to exhaustion in the future. Sewage sludge ash is a promising secondary raw material due to its high phosphorus content. In this work, the distribution of 19 elements in bottom and cyclone ashes from pilot-scale grate furnace have been monitored to determine the suitability for the phosphorus acid extraction. Moreover, the influence of some parameters beyond wet chemical leaching conditions were investigated. Experimental results showed that bottom ash presented lower contamination in comparison to cyclone ash and low co-dissolution of heavy metals (especially Cr, Pb and Ni), while high phosphorus extraction efficiencies (76-86%) were achieved. High Al content in the bottom ash (9.4%) negatively affected the phosphorus extraction efficiency as well as loss on ignition, while the particle size reduction was necessary for ensuring a suitable contact surface. The typology of precipitating agents did not strongly affect the phosphorus precipitation, while pH was the key parameter. At pH 3.5-5, phosphorus precipitation efficiencies higher than 90% were achieved, with a mean phosphorus content in the recovered material equal to 16-17%, comparable to commercial fertilizers. Instead, the co-precipitation of Fe and Al had a detrimental effect on the recovered material, indicating the need for additional treatments

Living Lab Experience in Turin: Lifestyles and Exposure to Black Carbon

State-of-the-art, continuous personal monitoring is a reference point for assessing exposure to air pollution. European air-quality standards for particulate matter (PM) use mass concentration of PM (PM with aerodynamic diameters ≤ 10 µm (PM10) or ≤2.5 µm (PM2.5)) as the metric. It would be desirable to determine whether black carbon (BC) can be used as a better, newer indicator than PM10 and PM2.5. This article discusses the preliminary results of one of the three living laboratories developed in the project “Combination of traditional air quality indicators with an additional traffic proxy: Black Carbon (BC)”. The Living Lab#1 (LL#1) involved 15 users in the city of Turin, Italy. Three portable aethalometers (AE51) were used to detect personal equivalent black carbon (eBC) concentrations in the respiratory area of volunteers at 10-s intervals as they went about their normal daily activities. The Geo-Tracker App and a longitudinal temporal activity diary were used to track users’ movements. The sampling campaign was performed in November for one week. and each user was investigated for 24 h. A total of 8640 eBC measurements were obtained with an average daily personal exposure of 3.1 µg/m3 (±SD 1.3). The change in movement patterns and the variability of microenvironments were decisive determinants of exposure. Preliminary results highlight the potential utility of Living Labs to promote innovative approaches to design an urban-scale air-quality management plan which also includes BC as a new indicator

Origine delle tensioni residue: deformazioni plastiche e lavorazioni meccaniche

I processi di produzione dei componenti meccanici spesso comportano l’insorgere di sforzi residuinel materiale. La causa di questi sforzi è da ricercarsi in una deformazione plastica non omogeneache può essere indotta da fenomeni meccanici, termici o chimici prodotti nel materiale durante le fasidi lavorazione sia per deformazione plastica sia per asportazione di truciolo.La geometria del componente, il rapporto di riduzione, il tipo di lubrificazione e le proprietàdel materiale determinano l’entità e la distribuzione degli sforzi residui prodotti nel caso delle operazioniper deformazione plastica. Nelle lavorazioni meccaniche per asportazione di truciolo, invece, gli effettimeccanici e termici sono influenzati dai parametri di processo e dal tipo di materiale.In entrambi i casi la conoscenza dei meccanismi e delle cause che generano gli sforzi residuiè importante per una buona progettazione del componente e del suo ciclo produttivo

Insight into the Cycling Behaviour of Metal Anodes, Enabled by X-ray Tomography and Mathematical Modelling

This work tackles the methodological challenge of rationalizing symmetric-cell cycling data from a materials-science perspective, through experiment replication, mathematical modelling, and tomographic imaging. Specifically, we address Zn electrode cycling in alkaline electrolyte with and without adding tetrabutylammonium bromide (TBAB). This additive is known from literature, but its practical impact is jeopardized by lack of in-depth understanding of its behaviour. Electrochemical testing was carried out at practically relevant current densities and the effect of variations of operating conditions was taken into account. The physical chemistry underlying cell potential profiles, has been modelled mathematically, accounting for: electrokinetics, mass-transport, electrode shape change and passivation. In particular, we disclosed an unexpected joint effect of TBAB and current density on passivation time: tomography allowed to rationalise this behaviour in terms of precipitate morphology