Sequential evacuation strategy for multiple rooms toward the same means of egress

This paper examines different evacuation strategies for systems where several rooms evacuate trough the same means of egress, using microscopic pedestrian simulation.As a case study, a medium-rise office building is considered. It was found that the standard strategy, whereby the simultaneous evacuation of all levels is performed, can be improved by a sequential evacuation, beginning with the lowest floor and continuing successively with each one of the upper floors after a certain delay. The importance of the present research is that it provides the basis for the design and implementation of new evacuation strategies and alarm systems that could significantly improve the evacuation of multiple rooms trough a common means of escape.Comment: 8 pages, 4 figure

Star formation in early-type galaxies: the role of stellar winds and kinematics

Early-type galaxies (ETGs) host a hot ISM produced mainly by stellar winds, and heated by Type Ia supernovae and the thermalization of stellar motions. High resolution 2D hydrodynamical simulations showed that ordered rotation in the stellar component results in the formation of a centrifugally supported cold equatorial disc. In a recent numerical investigation we found that subsequent generations of stars are formed in this cold disc; this process consumes most of the cold gas, leaving at the present epoch cold masses comparable to those observed. Most of the new stellar mass formed a few Gyrs ago, and resides in a disc.Comment: 2 pages, 1 figure, to appear in proceedings of IAU Symposium 315, "From Interstellar Clouds to Star-Forming Galaxies: Universal Processes?", P. Jablonka, F. Van der Tak & P. Andre', ed

The Effect of the AGN Feedback on the Interstellar Medium of Early-Type Galaxies: 2D Hydrodynamical Simulations of the Low-Rotation Case

We present 2D hydrodynamical simulations for the evolution of early-type galaxies containing central massive black holes (MBHs), starting at age 2 Gyr. The code contains accurate and physically consistent radiative and mechanical AGN wind feedback, with parsec-scale central resolution. Mass input comes from stellar evolution; energy input includes Type Ia and II supernova and stellar heating; star-formation is included. Realistic, axisymmetric dynamical models for the galaxies are built solving the Jeans' equations. The lowest mass models (Mstar = 8 10^{10}Msun) develop global outflows sustained by SNIa's heating, ending with a significantly lower amount of hot gas and new stars. In more massive models, nuclear outbursts last to the present epoch, with large and frequent fluctuations in nuclear emission and from the gas (Lx). Each burst last ~ 10^{7.5} yr, during which (for r < 2-3 kpc) cold, inflowing, and hot, outflowing gas phases coexist. The Lx-T relation for the gas matches that of local galaxies. AGN activity causes positive feedback for star formation. Roughly half of the total mass loss is recycled into new stars (DeltaMstar), just ~ 3% of it is accreted on the MBH, the remainder being ejected from the galaxy. The ratio between the mass of gas expelled to that in to new stars, the load factor, is ~0.6. Rounder galaxies shapes lead to larger final MBH masses, DeltaMstar, and Lx. Almost all the time is spent at very low nuclear luminosities, yet one quarter of the total energy is emitted at an Eddington ratio > 0.1. The duty-cycle of AGN activity approximates 4% (Abridged).Comment: 26 pages, 15 figure, submitted to ApJ. Comments welcom

Effect of Al doping on the optical phonon spectrum in Mg(1-x)Al(x)B(2)

Raman and infrared absorption spectra of Mg(1-x)Al(x)B(2) have been collected for 0<x<0.5 in the spectral range of optical phonons. The x-dependence of the peak frequency, the width and the intensity of the observed Raman lines has been carefully analized. A peculiar x-dependence of the optical modes is pointed out for two different Al doping ranges. In particular the onset of the high-doping structural phase previously observed in diffraction measurements is marked by the appearence of new spectral components at high frequencies. A connection between the whole of our results and the observed suppression of superconductivity in the high doping region is established

Ploes: percorsi tra archeologia, storia e tecnologie informatiche

The systematic study of imports from the Orient uncovered in funerary contexts, as part of a research project the purpose of which is the reconstruction of the trade and cultural relations between the Aegean and the oriental basin of the Mediterranean in the Early Iron Age, has been supported by the relational database Ploes carried out in a MsAccess 2000 environment. Ploes represents an example of the possible meeting point between computer science and historical-archaeological research and testifies to the contribution that the computer science technologies can also offer to studies of the traditional school. The digital archives, that have replaced the conventional catalogue, have allowed the management of great amounts of data (1000 imported objects distributed in 300 tomb contexts) in a way that is functional for the purposes of research thanks to the possibility of creating a multiplicity of paths for reading the material. The Ploes database has allowed the storage of data related to individual objects and their discovery contexts in a single archive, thus making it possible to adopt a contextual approach to the analysis of the archaeological documentation. The structure of the digital archives reflects the defined methodological plan at the level of theoretical formulation of the study project: Ploes represents therefore not simply a container of information but an indispensable research instrument

Idmb: a tool for navigating the Inspire data model and generating an Inspire SQL database and WFS Configuration

The Inspire Data Model Browser (IDMB) is a free tool that performs the following functions: (i) it presents the Inspire UML Data Model as a tree-based structure, which is complementary to the UML diagrams; (ii) it generates a Postgis SQL Script for creating an INSPIRE compliant SQL database (Inspire Database) and a configuration file for the Deegree tool that enables the access to the Inspire Database through a Web Feature Service (WFS) producing GML according to the Inspire XML Schemas

Sc substitution for Mg in MgB2: effects on Tc and Kohn anomaly

Here we report synthesis and characterization of Mg_{1-x}Sc_{x}B_{2} (0.12T_{c}>6 K. We find that the Sc doping moves the chemical potential through the 2D/3D electronic topological transition (ETT) in the sigma band where the ``shape resonance" of interband pairing occurs. In the 3D regime beyond the ETT we observe a hardening of the E_{2g} Raman mode with a significant line-width narrowing due to suppression of the Kohn anomaly over the range 0<q<2k_{F}.Comment: 8 pages, 4 EPS figures, to be published in Phys. Rev.

AOIPS 3 User's guide. Volume 1: Overview and software utilization

This is Volume I of the Atmospheric and Oceanographic Information Processing System (AOIPS) User's Guide. AOIPS 3 is the version of the AOIPS software as of April 1989. The AOIPS software was developed jointly by the Goddard Space Flight Center and General Sciences Corporation. Volume 1 is intended to provide the user with an overall guide to the AOIPS system. It introduces the user to AOIPS system concepts, explains how programs are related and the necessary order of program execution, and provides brief descriptions derived from on-line help for every AOIPS program. It is intended to serve as a reference for information such as: program function, inmput/output variable descriptions, program limitations, etc. AOIPS is an interactive meteorological processing system with capabilities to ingest and analyze the many types of meteorological data. AOIPS includes several applications in areas of relevance to meteorological research. AOIPS is partitioned into four applications components: satellite data analysis, radar data analysis, aircraft data analysis, and utilities