Coarse Grained Liouville Dynamics of piecewise linear discontinuous maps

We compute the spectrum of the classical and quantum mechanical coarse-grained propagators for a piecewise linear discontinuous map. We analyze the quantum - classical correspondence and the evolution of the spectrum with increasing resolution. Our results are compared to the ones obtained for a mixed system.Comment: 11 pages, 8 figure

A bone marrow-on-a-chip that maintains hematopoietic regenerative capacity in vitro

Thesis (Ph.D.)--Boston UniversityThe bone marrow niche is composed of a complex set of cellular, chemical, structural and physical cues that are required to maintain viability and function of the hematopoietic system. [1-5]. The source of all differentiated blood cells, the hematopoietic stem cell (HSC), is housed within the protective confines of the bone marrow where the complex microenvironment regulates its ability to undergo self-renewal or to differentiate into all of the mature functional blood cell types that constitute the hematopoietic system [4-7]. Engineering an artificial bone marrow that reconstitutes the critical inductive cues of naturally occurring bone marrow in vivo that maintains them in vitro could lead to new models of hematopoietic diseases, as well as enable expansion of bone marrow for therapeutic transplantation and manufacturing of differentiated blood cell replacements. It has proven difficult, however, to identify or combine the correct set of biomaterials and biological signals necessary to recreate the complex bone marrow microenvironment or to maintain functional, multi-potent, self-renewing HSCs in culture [8-13]. Here, we describe a microfluidic bone marrow-on-a-chip created in vivo by combining microsystems and tissue engineering strategies to produce bone that contains a complex bone marrow niche. The hematopoietic compartment of the engineered bone marrow (eBM) has a distribution of HSCs, hematopoietic progenitor cells, and differentiated blood cell types that is virtually identical to natural marrow. Moreover, these hematopoietic populations are retained in normal proportions and the HSCs maintain their full regenerative capacity when the eBM is explanted and cultured in the microfluidic bone marrow chip in vitro. After four days of culture on-chip, hematopoietic cells isolated from the eBM engrafted a lethally-irradiated mouse, reconstituted the compromised bone marrow, and fully restored all differentiated blood cell lineages. Preliminary work with human umbilical cord blood (hCB) suggests that the bone marrow-on-a-chip platform may be extended beyond the mouse to support human HSCs and hematopoietic progenitors in vitro. This ability to engineer a complex bone marrow niche that is capable of maintaining functional HSCs offers new tools for expansion of cells for transplantation, manufacturing. differentiated blood cells, evaluation of drug efficacy and toxicities, and study of hematopoietic diseases

The Fate of $15

The Fight for $15 is reinvigorating the labor moment in ways people never thought possible. In just over three years it spanned the nation and won increased minimum wages in major cites across the country. Governor Cuomo now prepares to pass the nation\u27s first state wide$15 minimum wage in New York, but not without strong opposition

Weyl law for fat fractals

It has been conjectured that for a class of piecewise linear maps the closure of the set of images of the discontinuity has the structure of a fat fractal, that is, a fractal with positive measure. An example of such maps is the sawtooth map in the elliptic regime. In this work we analyze this problem quantum mechanically in the semiclassical regime. We find that the fraction of states localized on the unstable set satisfies a modified fractal Weyl law, where the exponent is given by the exterior dimension of the fat fractal.Comment: 8 pages, 4 figures, IOP forma

Ultra-low thermal conductivity in organic-inorganic hybrid perovskite CH3NH3PbI3

We report on the temperature dependence of thermal conductivity of single crystalline and polycrystalline organometallic perovskite CH3NH3PbI3. The comparable absolute values and temperature dependence of the two sample's morphologies indicate the minor role of the grain boundaries on the heat transport. Theoretical modelling demonstrates the importance of the resonant scattering in both specimens. The interaction between phonon waves and rotational degrees of freedom of CH3NH3+ sub-lattice emerges as the dominant mechanism for attenuation of heat transport and for ultralow thermal conductivity of 0.5 W/(Km) at room temperature

IDF relationships for short duration rainfall

The intensity-duration-frequency (IDF) relationships bound rainfall intensity to duration and return period. These relationships are commonly used as an input in design of many hydraulic structures and drainage systems. Empirical IDF are estimated on the basis of recorded maximum annual precipitation of given durations, often ranging from 1 h to 24 h. For shorter durations, extrapolations are applied. In this paper, maximum annual precipitation for durations shorter than 1 h (namely, 30 min and 10 min) are evaluated using a rainfall disaggregation model and then used for the evaluation of the IDF relationship. A comparison of values obtained with the extrapolated values is then performed, and the results are discussed. Keywords: intensity-duration-frequency curves, rainfall disaggregation, entropy. © 2013 AIP Publishing LLC

Kernel estimates for nonautonomous Kolmogorov equations with potential term

Using time dependent Lyapunov functions, we prove pointwise upper bounds for the heat kernels of some nonautonomous Kolmogorov operators with possibly unbounded drift and diffusion coefficients and a possibly unbounded potential term

LA SENTENZA COME DECISIONE MOTIVATA. INDAGINE SULLE RAGIONI DELLA MOTIVAZIONE GIUDIZIARIA

La presente tesi propone un\u2019articolata riflessione sui vari modelli di sentenza concretamente rinvenibili nell\u2019esperienza giuridica dell\u2019Europa occidentale, dei quali viene offerta la seguente tipologia: (a) il modello di sentenza come \u201cdecisione parzialmente motivata\u201d, proprio dell\u2019esperienza romana; (b) il modello di sentenza come \u201cdecisione non motivata\u201d, proprio dell\u2019esperienza pre-moderna; (c) il modello di sentenza come \u201cdecisione motivata\u201d, che segna il passaggio dall\u2019et\ue0 pre-moderna a quella moderna; (d) e il suo immediato sviluppo, rappresentato dal modello di sentenza come \u201cdecisione necessariamente motivata\u201d. In particolare, la tesi si sofferma sull\u2019analisi dei due opposti modelli: (b) della sentenza come \u201cdecisione non motivata\u201d e (c) della sentenza come \u201cdecisione motivata\u201d, dei quali vengono indagate le ragioni giustificative (o giustificazioni), corrispondenti, rispettivamente, ad altrettante risposte alle domande: \u201cperch\ue9 non motivare la sentenza?\u201d e \u201cperch\ue9 motivare la sentenza?\u201d. Scopo della tesi \ue8 mostrare che le \u201cragioni per motivare\u201d la sentenza \u2013 che vengono identificate nei principi: (A) di legittimazione \u201ctecnica\u201d del giudice, (B) di sindacabilit\ue0 (o controllabilit\ue0) della sentenza e (C) di separazione dei poteri \u2013 sono opposte e speculari alle \u201cragioni per non motivare\u201d la sentenza \u2013 che vengono invece identificate nei principi: A) di autorit\ue0, B) di in-sindacabilit\ue0 (o in-controllabilit\ue0) della sentenza e C) di concentrazione dei poteri.The subject of the present thesis is an articulated consideration on the various models of Court judgment, concretely identifiable in the juridical experience of Western Europe and of which the following types of sentence models are given: (a) the model of Court judgment where the grounds for the ruling are partially disclosed, specific to the Roman experience; (b) the model of Court judgment where the grounds for the ruling are not disclosed, specific to the pre-modern experience; (c) the model of Court judgment where the grounds for the ruling are disclosed, which points out the transition from pre-modern age to the modern age; (d) and its linked development, represented by the model of Court judgment where the grounds for the ruling are necessarily disclosed. The thesis focuses, in particular, on the analysis of two opposite models of Court judgment: (b) where the grounds for the ruling are not disclosed, specific to the pre-modern experience and (c) where the grounds for the ruling are disclosed. Within this scope, the corresponding reasons will be investigated to answer respectively these questions: \u201cWhy the grounds for the ruling should not be disclosed?\u201d and \u201cWhy the grounds for the ruling should be disclosed?\u201d. The purpose of the thesis is to introduce that the \u201creasons to give the grounds for the ruling\u201d are opposite and specular to the \u201creasons not to give the grounds for the ruling\u201d. In fact, the \u201creasons to give the grounds for the ruling\u201d are identifiable in: (A) the principle of judge\u2019s \u201ctechnical\u201d legitimacy; (B) the principle of the questionable (or controllable) nature of the Court judgment; (C) the principle of separation of powers. On the contrary, the \u201creasons not to give the grounds for the ruling\u201d are identifiable in: (A) the principle of authority; (B) the principle of non-questionable (or non-controllable) nature of the Court judgment; (C) the principle of concentration of powers

Data selection to assess bias in rainfall radar estimates. An entropy-based method

Miscalibration of radar determines a systematic error (i.e., bias) that is observed in radar estimates of rainfall. Although a rain gauge can provide a pointwise rainfall measurement, weather radar can cover an extended area. To compare the two measurements, it is necessary to individuate the weather radar measurements at the same location as the rain gauge. Bias is measured as the ratio between cumulative rain gauge measurements and the corresponding radar estimates. The rainfall is usually cumulated, taking into account all rainfall events registered in the target area. The contribution of this work is the determination of the optimal number of rainfall events that are necessary to calibrate rainfall radar. The proposed methodology is based on the entropy concept. In particular, the optimal number of events must fulfil two conditions, namely, maximisation of information content and minimisation of redundant information. To verify the methodology, the bias values are estimated with 1) a reduced number of events and 2) all available data. The proposed approach is tested on the Polar 55C weather radar located in the borough area of Rome (IT). The radar is calibrated against rainfall measurements of a couple of rain gauges placed in the Roman city centre. Analysing the information content of all data, it is found that it is possible to reduce the number of rainfall events without losing information in evaluating the bias