Perturbative analysis of disordered Ising models close to criticality

We consider a two-dimensional Ising model with random i.i.d. nearest-neighbor ferromagnetic couplings and no external magnetic field. We show that, if the probability of supercritical couplings is small enough, the system admits a convergent cluster expansion with probability one. The associated polymers are defined on a sequence of increasing scales; in particular the convergence of the above expansion implies the infinite differentiability of the free energy but not its analyticity. The basic tools in the proof are a general theory of graded cluster expansions and a stochastic domination of the disorder

Análisis de Ciclo de Vida para el ecodiseño del sistema Intemper TF de cubierta ecológica aljibe

The construction industry is one of the less sustainable activities on the planet: with a consumption of 40% of the materials entering the global economy and the generation of 40–50% of the global output of greenhouse gases. The biggest environmental impact caused by buildings is generated during their use phase due to the energy consumption for thermal conditioning. Addition of green elements to buildings is used to improve energy efficiency of buildings. In this study Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) methodology has been applied to quantify the environmental impact of the green roofs materials to analyze its environmental profile. The identification of hot spots of the system permits an ecodesign strategy that effectively reduces environmental burdens associated with roof construction, optimizing the environmental performance. The results identify the high environmental impact associated to the structure, the important contribution of the felt wick irrigation system and the extruded polystyrene thermal insulation.El sector de la construcción representa una de las actividades menos sostenibles del planeta: consume el 40% de los materiales de la economía global y genera el 40-50% de las emisiones de gases de efecto invernadero. El mayor impacto ambiental de los edificios se genera durante su fase de uso, debido al gasto energético de su acondicionamiento térmico. El uso de elementos vegetales es una de las estrategias empleadas para aumentar la eficiencia energética. En este trabajo se ha empleado la metodología de Análisis de Ciclo de Vida (ACV) para cuantificar el impacto ambiental de los materiales de la cubierta vegetal. Se han identificado los puntos críticos del sistema para establecer una estrategia de ecodiseño y reducir eficazmente las cargas ambientales. Los resultados obtenidos muestran la importancia del impacto ambiental del soporte estructural, la elevada contribución de la mecha de riego de fieltro y del aislamiento de poliestireno extrudido

Calibration Measurements of the LHC Beam Dumping System Extraction Kicker Magnets

The LHC beam dumping system must protect the LHC machine from damage by reliably and safely extracting and absorbing the circulating beams when requested. Two sets of 15 extraction kicker magnets form the main active part of this system. They have been produced, tested and calibrated by measuring the integrated magnetic field and the magnet current at different beam energies. The calibration data have been analysed, and the critical parameters are compared with the specifications. Implications for the configuration, control and operation of the beam dumping system are discussed

Polydatin beneficial effects in zebrafish larvae undergoing multiple stress types

none8noPolydatin is a polyphenol, whose beneficial properties, including anti-inflammatory and antioxidant activity, have been largely demonstrated. At the same time, copper has an important role in the correct organism homeostasis and alteration of its concentration can induce oxidative stress. In this study, the efficacy of polydatin to counteract the stress induced by CuSO4 exposure or by caudal fin amputation was investigated in zebrafish larvae. The study revealed that polydatin can reduced the stress induced by a 2 h exposure to 10 µM CuSO4 by lowering the levels of il1b and cxcl8b.1 and reducing neutrophils migration in the head and along the lateral line. Similarly, polydatin administration reduced the number of neutrophils in the area of fin cut. In addition, polydatin upregulates the expression of sod1 mRNA and CAT activity, both involved in the antioxidant response. Most of the results obtained in this study support the working hypothesis that polydatin administration can modulate stress response and its action is more effective in mitigating the effects rather than in preventing chemical damages.openPessina A.; Di Vincenzo M.; Maradonna F.; Marchegiani F.; Olivieri F.; Randazzo B.; Gioacchini G.; Carnevali O.Pessina, A.; Di Vincenzo, M.; Maradonna, F.; Marchegiani, F.; Olivieri, F.; Randazzo, B.; Gioacchini, G.; Carnevali, O

Abrupt Convergence and Escape Behavior for Birth and Death Chains

We link two phenomena concerning the asymptotical behavior of stochastic processes: (i) abrupt convergence or cut-off phenomenon, and (ii) the escape behavior usually associated to exit from metastability. The former is characterized by convergence at asymptotically deterministic times, while the convergence times for the latter are exponentially distributed. We compare and study both phenomena for discrete-time birth-and-death chains on Z with drift towards zero. In particular, this includes energy-driven evolutions with energy functions in the form of a single well. Under suitable drift hypotheses, we show that there is both an abrupt convergence towards zero and escape behavior in the other direction. Furthermore, as the evolutions are reversible, the law of the final escape trajectory coincides with the time reverse of the law of cut-off paths. Thus, for evolutions defined by one-dimensional energy wells with sufficiently steep walls, cut-off and escape behavior are related by time inversion.Comment: 2 figure

Experimental assessment of a new form of scaling law for near-wall turbulence

Scaling laws and intermittency in the wall region of a turbulent flow are addressed by analyzing moderate Reynolds number data obtained by single component hot wire anemometry in the boundary layer of a flat plate. The paper aims in particular at the experimental validation of a new form of refined similarity recently proposed for the shear dominated range of turbulence, where the classical Kolmogorov-Oboukhov inertial range theory is inappropriate. An approach inspired to the extended self-similarity allows for the extraction of the different power laws for the longitudinal structure functions at several wall normal distances. A double scaling regime is found in the logarithmic region, confirming previous experimental results. Approaching the wall, the scaling range corresponding to the classical cascade-dominated range tends to disappear and, in the buffer layer, a single power law is found to describe the available range of scales. The double scaling is shown to be associated with two different forms of refined similarity. The classical form holds below the shear scale L s . The other, originally introduced on the basis of DNS data for a turbulent channel, is experimentally confirmed to set up above L s . Given the experimental diffulties in the evaluation of the instantaneous dissipation rate, some care is devoted to check that its one-dimensional surrogate does not bias the results. The increased intermittency as the wall is approached is experimentally found entirely consistent with the failure of the refined Kolmogorov-Oboukhov similarity and the establishment of its new form near the wall.Comment: 27 pages, 9 figure

Autozygosity islands and ROH patterns in Nellore lineages: evidence of selection for functionally important traits.

Abstract Background The aim of this study was to assess genome-wide autozygosity in a Nellore cattle population and to characterize ROH patterns and autozygosity islands that may have occurred due to selection within its lineages. It attempts also to compare estimates of inbreeding calculated from ROH (FROH), genomic relationship matrix (FGRM), and pedigree-based coefficient (FPED). Results The average number of ROH per animal was 55.15&#8201;±&#8201;13.01 with an average size of 3.24 Mb. The Nellore genome is composed mostly by a high number of shorter segments accounting for 78% of all ROH, although the proportion of the genome covered by them was relatively small. The genome autozygosity proportion indicates moderate to high inbreeding levels for classical standards, with an average value of 7.15% (178.70 Mb). The average of FPED and FROH, and their correlations (&#8722;&#8201;0.05 to 0.26) were low. Estimates of correlation between FGRM-FPED was zero, while the correlation (&#8722;&#8201;0.01 to &#8722;&#8201;0.07) between FGRM-FROH decreased as a function of ROH length, except for FROH&#8201;>&#8201;8Mb (&#8722;&#8201;0.03). Overall, inbreeding coefficients were not high for the genotyped animals. Autozygosity islands were evident across the genome (n&#8201;=&#8201;62) and their genomic location did not largely differ within lineages. Enriched terms (p&#8201;<&#8201;0.01) associated with defense response to bacteria (GO:0042742), immune complex reaction (GO:0045647), pregnancy-associated glycoproteins genes (GO:0030163), and organism growth (GO:0040014) were described within the autozygotic islands. Conclusions Low FPED-FROH correlation estimates indicate that FPED is not the most suitable method for capturing ancient inbreeding when the pedigree does not extend back many generations and FROH should be used instead. Enriched terms (p <&#8201;0.01) suggest a strong selection for immune response. Non-overlapping islands within the lineages greatly explain the mechanism underlying selection for functionally important traits in Nellore cattle

High Temperature Expansions and Dynamical Systems

We develop a resummed high-temperature expansion for lattice spin systems with long range interactions, in models where the free energy is not, in general, analytic. We establish uniqueness of the Gibbs state and exponential decay of the correlation functions. Then, we apply this expansion to the Perron-Frobenius operator of weakly coupled map lattices.Comment: 33 pages, Latex; [email protected]; [email protected]

CC chemokine receptor 5 polymorphism in Italian patients with Behcet's disease.

Objective. To evaluate the potential role of CC chemokine receptor 5 (CCR5)Δ32 polymorphism in the susceptibility to and clinical expression of Behçet's disease (BD) in a cohort of Italian patients.Methods. One hundred and ninety-six consecutive Italian patients satisfying the ISG criteria for BD were followed up for 8 years, and 180 healthy age- and sex-matched blood donors were molecularly genotyped for the CCR5Δ32 polymorphism. A standard microlymphocytotoxicity technique was used to serotype HLA-B51. The patients were subgrouped on the basis of the presence or absence of clinical manifestations.Results. The distribution of the CCR5Δ32 genotype differed between BD patients and controls (P = 0.02). The CCR5Δ32 allele was more common in BD patients than in controls [P = 0.02, odds ratio (OR) 2.28 (95% CI 1.1, 4.8)]. Carriers of the CCR5Δ32 allele (Δ32/Δ32 + CCR5/Δ32) were significantly more common in BD patients than in controls [P = 0.02, OR 2.37 (95% CI 1.1, 5.1)]. Population-attributable risk was 7.1%. In categorizing patients according to gender, the association between CCR5Δ32 polymorphism and BD was similar in females and males (ORs 2.76 and 2.0, respectively). No significant differences were found when the frequencies of clinical manifestations were compared between CC5RΔ32 allele carriers and non-carriers.Conclusion. CCR5Δ32 polymorphism is associated with an increased susceptibility to develop BD. Chemokines may have a role in the pathophysiology of BD