N=4 Extended MSSM

We investigate a perturbative N=4 sector coupled to the MSSM and show that it allows for a stable vacuum correctly breaking the electroweak symmetry. The particle spectrum of the MSSM is enrichened by several new particles stemming out from the new N=4 sector of the theory, and a new lepton doublet required to cancel global and gauge anomalies of the theory. Even if the conformal invariance of the N=4 sector is explicitly broken, a nontrivial UV behavior of the coupling constants is possible: by studying the renormalization group equations at two loops we find that the Yukawa couplings of the heavy fermionic states flow to a common fixed point at a scale of a few TeVs. The parameter space of the new theory is reduced imposing naturalness of the couplings and soft supersymmetry breaking masses, perturbativity of the model at the EW scale as well as phenomenological constraints. Our preliminary results on the spectrum of the theory suggest that the LHC can rule out a significant portion of the parameter space of this model.Comment: 22 pages, 2 figure

Encouraging persons to visit cultural sites through mini-games

Gamification has been recently proposed as a technique to improve user engagement in different activities, including visits to cultural sites and cultural tourism in general. We present the design, development and initial validation of the NEPTIS Poleis system, which consists of a mobile application and a Web interface for curators, allowing the definition, and subsequent fruition by users, of different minigames suitable for open-air assets

CFD modelling approach for dam break flow studies

Abstract. This paper presents numerical simulations of free surface flows induced by a dam break comparing the shallow water approach to fully three-dimensional simulations. The latter are based on the solution of the complete set of Reynolds-Averaged Navier-Stokes (RANS) equations coupled to the Volume of Fluid (VOF) method. The methods assessment and comparison are carried out on a dam break over a flat bed without friction, a dam break over a triangular bottom sill and a dam break flow over a 90° bend. Experimental and numerical literature data are compared to present results. The results demonstrate that the shallow water approach, even if able to sufficiently reproduce the main aspects of the fluid flows, loses some three-dimensional phenomena, due to the incorrect shallow water idealization that neglects the three-dimensional aspects related to the gravity force

Entropy-driven Monte Carlo simulation method for approximating the survival signature of complex infrastructures

The reliability of critical infrastructures, such as power distribution networks, is of key importance for modern societies. The reliability of such complex systems can, in principle, be assessed by Monte Carlo simulation. However, the size and complexity of these systems, and the rarity of the failure events, can make the calculations quite demanding. Survival signature can help to address this issue, as it allows modelling the structure of the system separately from the probabilistic modelling for the reliability assessment. However, the survival signature calculation of complex, multi-component systems for their reliability assessment suffers from the curse of dimensionality, and both analytical calculation and Monte Carlo Simulation (MCS) are not feasible in practice. Then, in this work, we propose a novel approach to approximate the survival signature of a system, which stands on the use of entropy to drive the sampling by MCS towards non-trivial system structure configurations, so as to save computational cost. The approach is exemplified by calculating the reliability of a generic synthetic multi-component network and the feasibility of its application is shown on a real-world network

I generi della Titanus: modi di produzione, attrazioni e passioni nella commedia e nel melodramma (1949-1963).

Titanus is the longest-living production company in the Italian cinematic panorama. Its more interesting phase dates back to the early 1950s, when Goffredo Lombardo replaced his father Gustavo at the helm of the company. Then Titanus, which was the biggest Italian studio both in terms of industrial facilities and in regard to the width of its film distribution circuit, managed to construct a solid company identity especially through genre films such as melodramas and film comedies, until in 1964 a financial crisis forced it to shut down its productive branch. The aim of my thesis is to outline the company’s profile, by the means of the modes of production theories and of the film genre theories which emerged in the United States in the late 1990s. This theoretical framework was modeled after the Hollywood context, yet I maintain it is suitable also to describe a great Italian company such as Titanus, which in turn was in many ways looking to emulate the American studios model. Moreover, in order to perform my research, I examined the Fondo Titanus preserved in the film archive Cineteca del Comune di Bologna, and also the original production plans of some of the Titanus movies, which are preserved in the Archivio Centrale dello Stato in Rome. After having examined the company profile and its means of production in the first part of the thesis, in the second and in the third one – devoted respectively to the Titanus melodrama and film comedy – I closely analyzed about thirty out of the 120 films produced by Titanus, focusing mostly on the use of what Tom Gunning calls the “cinematic attractions” and the movies pathemic devices, which I examined referring to the greimasian semiotics of passions. I was therefore able to outline the Titanus productive strategies, and also to study how it modeled its company identity through its staple genres

Numerical simulation of water free-surface flows through a front-tracking lattice Boltzmann approach

Three-dimensional (3D) hydraulic modelling of rapidly varying surface flows is a challenging task for practical engineering applications. One example is represented by the fast-moving fronts originating from dam breaches that proceed downstream through artificial channels. In this work, a fully 3D lattice Boltzmann method (LBM) is tested. The numerical model is a front-tracking variant of the LBM, being the free surface tracked through the liquid volume fraction. Model performances are evaluated simulating the effect of dam-break flows on synthetic settings schematically represented by an artificial domain and comparing results with analytical data and experimental laboratory measurements. Obtained results are promising for the use of LBM for practical engineering applications

Intravenous cocaine, morphine and amphetamine preferentially increase extracellular dopamine in the 'shell' as compared to the 'core' of the rat nucleus accumbens.

The nucleus accumbens is considered a critical target of the action of drugs of abuse. In this nucleus a "shell" and a "core" have been distinguished on the basis of anatomical and histochemical criteria. The present study investigated the effect in freely moving rats of intravenous cocaine, amphetamine, and morphine on extracellular dopamine concentrations in the nucleus accumbens shell and core by means of microdialysis with vertically implanted concentric probes. Doses selected were in the range of those known to sustain drug self-administration in rats. Morphine, at 0.2 and 0.4 mg/kg, and cocaine, at 0.5 mg/kg, increased extracellular dopamine selectivity in the shell. Higher doses of cocaine (1.0 mg/kg) and the lowest dose of amphetamine tested (0.125 mg/kg) increased extracellular dopamine both in the shell and in the core, but the effect was significantly more pronounced in the shell compared with the core. Only the highest dose of amphetamine (0.250 mg/kg) increased extracellular dopamine in the shell and in the core to a similar extent. The present results provide in vivo neurochemical evidence for a functional compartmentation within the nucleus accumbens and for a preferential effect of psychostimulants and morphine in the shell of the nucleus accumbens at doses known to sustain intravenous drug self-administration