Early warning system for the prevention and control of unauthorized accesses to air navigation services infrastructures

Early warning systems are fundamental instruments for the management of critical situations since they are able to signal in advance any anomaly with respect to ordinary situations. The purpose of this paper is to present an early warning system, based on artificial neural networks, for the prevention and control of unauthorized accesses to the air navigation services infrastructure in Italy

CT-based tumour response criteria compared after combined treatment for liver metastases of colorectal cancer

open6noPurpose: The aim of this analysis is to compare different tumour response criteria (TRC) after chemotherapy combined with bevacizumab in liver metastases from colorectal cancer (mCRC) to ascertain the best early prognostic indicator of response. Methods and Materials: 103 target liver metastases from 65 mCRC patients treated with chemoterapy plus bevacizumab were examined at the Istituto Oncologico Veneto IOV-IRCSS (March 2008-January 2013). All patients had baseline CT and at least one follow-up scan. Tumour response was retrospectively analyzed by two radiologists using RECIST1.1, modified Choi, and Chun morphologic criteria. Tumour response, classified as good (complete or partial response) or poor (stable or progressive disease), was compared with progression-free survival (PFS) at first follow-up (t1) and time of best response. Interobserver agreement and concordance between TRC were measured. Results: At t1, 32.31% showed a good response according to RECIST1.1 (median PFS 11.1), 84.62% according to Choi (median PFS 10.8). These percentages rose to 49.23% (median PFS 12.1) and 87.69% (median PFS 10.8), respectively, at the time of best response. According to Chun, 67.69% showed a good response at the time of best response (median PFS 10.8). The Choi criteria detected a higher proportion of good responders at t1, showing a better correlation with PFS; all methods correlated with PFS at the time of best response. Conclusion: The Choi criteria proved more consistent in the early detection of response in mCRC treated with chemotherapy plus bevacizumab, underscoring the importance of using these criteria in the early assessment of response to combined treatment.openopenVarotto, A.; Di Grazia, L.; Aliberti, C.; Bergamo, F.; Nardin, M.; Pomerri, F.Varotto, A.; Di Grazia, L.; Aliberti, C.; Bergamo, F.; Nardin, M.; Pomerri, Fabi

The natural pseudo-distance as a quotient pseudo-metric, and applications

The natural pseudo-distance is a similarity measure conceived for the purpose of comparing shapes. In this paper we revisit this pseudo-distance from the point of view of quotients. In particular, we show that the natural pseudo-distance coincides with the quotient pseudo-metric on the space of continuous functions on a compact manifold, endowed with the uniform convergence metric, modulo self-homeomorphisms of the manifold. As applications of this result, the natural pseudo-distance is shown to be actually a metric on a number of function subspaces such as the space of topological embeddings, of isometries, and of simple Morse functions on surfaces

Evolution of Large Scale Curvature Fluctuations During the Perturbative Decay of the Inflaton

We study the evolution of cosmological fluctuations during and after inflation driven by a scalar field coupled to a perfect fluid through afriction term. During the slow-roll regime for the scalar field, the perfect fluid is also frozen and isocurvature perturbations are generated. After the end of inflation, during the decay of the inflaton, we find that a change in the observationally relevant large scale curvature fluctuations is possible.Comment: 9 pages, 2 figures; v2: version published in PR

Assessing radiative transfer models trained by numerical weather forecasts using sun-tracking radiometric measurements for satellite link characterization up to W band

Radio communications, and in particular Earth-to-satellite links, are worldwide used for delivering digital services. The bandwidth demand of such services is increasing accordingly to the advent of more advanced applications (e.g., multimedia services, deep-space explorations, etc.) thus pushing the scientific community toward the investigation of channel carriers at higher frequencies. When using carrier frequencies above X band, the main drawback is how to tackle the impact of tropospheric processes (i.e., rain, cloud, water vapor). This work assesses the joint use of weather forecast models, radiative transfer models and Sun-tracking radiometric measurements to explore their potential benefits in predicting path attenuation and sky noise temperature for slant paths at frequencies between K and W band, thus paving the way to the optimization of satellite link-budgets

Contributo alla flora del Parco Nazionale della Majella

Viene presentato un ulteriore contributo alla ricca flora del Parco Nazionale della Majella. In particolare, 15 nuove entità vengono segnalate per la prima volta ed una viene confermata nell’area protetta. Per altre entità, rare sul territorio regionale, vengono segnalate nuove stazioni all’interno del Parco. Il contributo conferma come la ricerca sul campo sia di fondamentale importanza per approfondire le conoscenze sul patrimonio naturale, anche nel caso di territori abbastanza ben conosciuti come quello del Parco Nazionale della Majella.A further contribution to the rich flora of the Majella National Park is presented. In particular, 15 entities are reported for the first time and one is confirmed in the protected area. New localities are also indicated, inside the Park, for some plant species that are very rare in the Abruzzo region. It is confirmed that field research is of crucial importance in expanding our knowledge of the natural heritage, even in a fairly well known territory as that of the Majella National Park

Aggiunte alla flora vascolare d’Abruzzo e aree limitrofe. IV contributo

Additions to the vascular flora of Abruzzo and surrounding. IV contribution. In this paper new floristic records for 22 units are reported for Central Italy, mainly for Abruzzo. In particular 14 taxa are native and 8 aliens, 16 are new or confirmed to Abruzzo, 1 is new to Marche. In addition new distribution data for 4 rare or interesting in Abruzzo and 1 in Lazio regions have been recorded. Some of these species are particularly interesting from a phytogeographical or conservational point of view as they are very rare in Central Italy (Antirrhinum siculum, Convolvulus pentapetaloides and Vicia melanops)

Effects of macroscopic polarization in III-V nitride multi-quantum-wells

Huge built-in electric fields have been predicted to exist in wurtzite III-V nitrides thin films and multilayers. Such fields originate from heterointerface discontinuities of the macroscopic bulk polarization of the nitrides. Here we discuss the background theory, the role of spontaneous polarization in this context, and the practical implications of built-in polarization fields in nitride nanostructures. To support our arguments, we present detailed self-consistent tight-binding simulations of typical nitride QW structures in which polarization effects are dominant.Comment: 11 pages, 9 figures, uses revtex/epsf. submitted to PR

Effect of pre-partum habituation to milking routine on behaviour and lactation performance of buffalo heifers

The aim of this study was to investigate the effect pre-partum habituation in the milkingparlour on behaviour and lactation performance of buffalo heifers. Sixteen buffalo heifersin late gestation were used for this study. The animals, with an age ranging from 30 to44 months at the start of the study, were equally allocated into two treatments and bal-anced for estimated calving date. Eight animals received pre-partum habituation for 10 daysbefore the estimated calving date (group H), while the eight others received no treatmentand served as the control (group C). During the pre-partum habituation sessions, group Hanimals were moved to the milking parlour and left for 10 min in the milking stall onceeach day, where the udder was thoroughly washed with warm water, wiped with a dis-posable towel and massaged. The behaviours, registered from entrance into the milkingstall to exit, were step and kick. After calving milk flow profiles, milk yield and milk qual-ity variables were determined along with behavioural recordings. The H animals duringthe habituation procedure showed a reduction in the number of steps (P < 0.001) and kicks(P < 0.01). After calving the H animals performed fewer steps than the control animals at 0(P < 0.001), 3 (P < 0.01), 6 (P < 0.01), 13 (P < 0.01) and 20 (P < 0.01) days after calving. Animalsfrom group H also performed fewer kicks than control animals at 0 (P < 0.001), 3 (P < 0.01),6 (P < 0.01) and 13 (P < 0.01) days after calving. In the C group a reduction in the numberof steps (P < 0.001) and kicks (P < 0.001) was observed as lactation proceeded, whereas forgroup H only a tendency for a reduction over lactation was detected. Pre-partum habitu-ation did not significantly affect milk quality or milk flow variables. Milk yield in the first3 min of milking (P < 0.001), and average milk flow (P < 0.001), increased throughout theexperimental period, whereas the duration of the pre-milking phase decreased as lactationproceeded (P < 0.001). This study shows that buffalo heifers exposed to a pre-partum habit-uation programme performed fewer steps and kicks than control animals during milking.Therefore, it is concluded that using this treatment can reduce the level of restlessness inbuffalo heifers during milking

Non-linear macroscopic polarization in III-V nitride alloys

We study the dependence of macroscopic polarization on composition and strain in wurtzite III-V nitride ternary alloys using ab initio density-functional techniques. The spontaneous polarization is characterized by a large bowing, strongly dependent on the alloy microscopic structure. The bowing is due to the different response of the bulk binaries to hydrostatic pressure, and to internal strain effects (bond alternation). Disorder effects are instead minor. Deviations from parabolicity (simple bowing) are of order 10 % in the most extreme case of AlInN alloy, much less at all other compositions. Piezoelectric polarization is also strongly non-linear. At variance with the spontaneous component, this behavior is independent of microscopic alloy structure or disorder effects, and due entirely to the non-linear strain dependence of the bulk piezoelectric response. It is thus possible to predict the piezoelectric polarization for any alloy composition using the piezoelectricity of the parent binaries.Comment: RevTex 7 pages, 7 postscript figures embedde