Analytical prediction of ultimate moment and curvature of RC rectangular sections in compression

This paper presents closed form expressions linking the ultimate bearing capacity to the ultimate curvature of rectangular RC sections subjected to axial load and bending moment acting in one of the two symmetry planes of the section. With respect to possible simplified formulations the following effects are also considered: confinement of the concrete, hardening of the longitudinal reinforcement, and presence of reinforcing bars distributed orthogonally to the neutral axis. The formulation is proposed in dimensional terms after a preliminary definition of the geometrical and mechanical parameters governing the structural response of the class of sections considered. The analytical expressions derived using the proposed approach also allow one to determine the compression level that makes the ultimate bending moment maximum as well as to evaluate the curvature corresponding to the first yielding of the principal reinforcement in tension. Comparing this value of curvature with the ultimate one, an approximate estimation of the available ductility of curvature of the section can be made. The analytical procedure is validated by comparing the results with those obtained using a typical numerical approach. Some experimental results are also considered.     

Data reconstruction and homogenization for reducing uncertainties in high-resolution climate analysis in Alpine regions

Analysis of climatic series needs pre-processing to attain spatial- and time-consistent homogeneity. The latter, in high-resolution investigations, can rely on the strong correlations among series, which in turn requires a strict fulfilment of the quality standard in terms of completeness. Fifty-nine daily precipitation and temperature series of 50?years from Trentino, northern Italy, were pre-processed for climatic analysis. This study describes: (1) the preliminary gap-filling protocol for daily series, based on geostatistical correlations on both horizontal and vertical domains; (2) an algorithm to reduce inhomogeneity owing to the systematic snowfall underestimation of rain gauges; and (3) the processing protocol to take into account any source of undocumented inhomogeneity in series. This was performed by application of the t test and F-test of R code RHtestV2. This pre-processing shows straightforward results; correction of snowfall measurements re-evaluates attribution of patterns of altitudinal trends in time trends; homogenization increases the strength of the climatic signal and reduces the scattering of time trends, assessed over a few decades, of a factor of 2.     

Size increment of jumbo flying squid Dosidicus gigas mature females in Peruvian waters, 1989–2004

Changes in population structure of the jumbo flying squid Dosidicus gigas in Peruvian waters were studied based on size-at-maturity from 1989 to 2004. From 1989 to 1999, mature squid belonging to the medium-sized group prevailed, but from 2001 on, mature squids were larger. This change is not related to the changes in sea surface temperature and we hypothesized that it was caused by the population increase of mesopelagic fishes as prey.     

Kinematics of hypervelocity stars in the triaxial halo of the Milky Way

Hypervelocity stars (HVSs) ejected by the massive black hole at the Galactic Centre have unique kinematic properties compared to other halo stars. Their trajectories will deviate from being exactly radial because of the asymmetry of the Milky Way potential produced by the flattened disc and the triaxial dark matter halo, causing a change of angular momentum that can be much larger than the initial small value at injection. We study the kinematics of HVSs and propose an estimator of dark halo triaxiality that is determined only by instantaneous position and velocity vectors of HVSs at large Galactocentric distances ( r ≳ 50 kpc). We show that, in the case of a substantially triaxial halo, the distribution of deflection angles (the angle between the stellar position and velocity vector) for HVSs on bound orbits is spread uniformly over the range 10°–180°. Future astrometric and deep wide-field surveys should measure the positions and velocities of a significant number of HVSs, and provide useful constraints on the shape of the Galactic dark matter halo.     

Strong Chaos in N-body problem and Microcanonical Thermodynamics of Collisionless Self Gravitating Systems

An effective Microcanonical Thermodynamics of self gravitating systems(SGS) is proposed, analyzing the well known obstacles thought to prevent the formulation of a rigorous Statistical Mechanics (SM), as those due to the formal unboundedness of available phase space and to the unscreened, long range, nature of the interaction. The latter feature entails the well known inequivalence of statistical ensembles, puts clearly into question the meaning, for these systems, of the Thermodynamic Limit, and rules out the use of canonical and grand-canonical ensembles. As to the first obstacle, we argue nevertheless that a hierarchy of timescales exist such that, at any finite time, the volume of the effectively available region of phase space is indeed finite, and that the dynamics satisfies a strong chaos criterion, leading to a fast, increasingly uniform, spreading of orbits over an effectively invariant subset of the constant (N,V,E) surface; thus leading to the definition of a secularly evolving, generalized microcanonical ensemble, which allows to define an (almost extensive) effective entropy and to derive self-consistent definitions for other thermodynamic variables, giving thus an orthode for SGS. Moreover, a Second Law-like criterion allows to single out the hierarchy of secular equilibria describing, for any finite time, the macroscopic behaviour of SGS. This revised version was published online in July 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

Optical Counterparts of Undetermined Type <Emphasis Type="Italic">γ</Emphasis>-Ray Active Galactic Nuclei with Blazar-Like Spectral Energy Distributions

During its first four years of scientific observations, the Fermi Large Area Telescope (Fermi-LAT) detected 3033 γ-ray sources above a 4 σ significance level. Although most of the extra-galactic sources are active galactic nuclei (AGN) of the blazar class, other families of AGNs are observed too, while a still high fraction of detections (～30%) remains with uncertain association or classification. According to the currently accepted interpretation, the AGN γ-ray emission arises from inverse Compton (IC) scattering of low energy photons by relativistic particles confined in a jet, which, in the case of blazars, is oriented very close to our line-of-sight. Taking advantage of data from radio and X-ray wavelengths, which we expect to be produced together with γ-rays, providing a much better source localization potential, we focused our attention on a sample of γ-ray Blazar Candidates of Undetermined type (BCUs), starting a campaign of optical spectroscopic observations. The main aims of our investigation include a census of the AGN families that contribute to γ-ray emission and a study of their redshift distribution, with the subsequent implications on the intrinsic source power. We furthermore analyze which γ-ray properties can better constrain the nature of the source, thus helping in the study of objects not yet associated with a reliable low frequency counterpart. Here we report on the instruments and techniques used to identify the optical counterparts of γ-ray sources, we give an overview on the status of our work, and we discuss the implications of a large scale study of γ-ray emitting AGNs.     

Modelling the lithospheric rheology control on the Cretaceous rifting in West Antarctica

Small‐scale analogue models were used to investigate the process of Cretaceous orthogonal extension in the West Antarctic Rift System. The models considered the transition from the East Antarctic Craton to a weaker lithosphere, and the results support previous hypotheses about the strong control exerted by lateral variations in lithospheric structures on the process of extension. Strain was mostly accommodated at the boundary between the two types of lithosphere, with a relative uplift of the cratonic block which remained essentially undeformed. Conversely, the weaker lithosphere showed wide‐rifting style geometry, locally associated with core complex‐like structures. In agreement with the natural prototype, this tectonic scenario led to a long‐lasting extension without continental break‐up, and to the absence of relevant surface magmatism.     

Digitization and Scientific Exploitation of the Italian and Vatican Astronomical Plate Archives

There is a widespread interest to digitize the precious information contained in the astronomical plate archives, both for the preservation of their content and for its fast distribution to all interested researchers in order to achieve their better scientific exploitation. This paper presents the first results of our large-scale project to digitize the archive of plates of the Italian Astronomical Observatories and of the Specola Vaticana. Similar systems, composed by commercial flat-bed retro-illuminated scanners plus dedicated personal computers and acquisition and analysis software, have been installed in all participating Institutes. Ad-hoc codes have been developed to acquire the data, to test the suitability of the machines to our scientific needs, and to reduce the digital data in order to extract the astrometric, photometric and spectroscopic content. Two more elements complete the overall project: the provision of high quality BVRI CCD sequences in selected fields with the Campo Imperatore telescopes, and the distribution of the digitized information to all interested researchers via the Web. The methods we have derived in the course of this project have been already applied successfully to plates taken by other Observatories, for instance at Byurakan and at Hamburg.     

Aerosol Measurements in the Atmospheric Surface Layer at L’Aquila,Italy: Focus on Biogenic Primary Particles

Two year measurements of aerosol concentration and size distribution (0.25 μm < d < 30 μm) in the atmospheric surface layer, collected in L’Aquila (Italy) with an optical particle counter, are reported and analysed for the different modes of the particle size distribution. A different seasonal behaviour is shown for fine mode aerosols (largely produced by anthropogenic combustion), coarse mode and large-sized aerosols, whose abundance is regulated not only by anthropogenic local production, but also by remote natural sources (via large scale atmospheric transport) and by local sources of primary biogenic aerosols. The observed total abundance of large particles with diameter larger than 10 μm is compared with a statistical counting of primary biogenic particles, made with an independent technique. Results of these two observational approaches are analysed and compared to each other, with the help of a box model driven by observed meteorological parameters and validated with measurements of fine and coarse mode aerosols and of an atmospheric primary pollutant of anthropogenic origin (NO_x). Except in winter months, primary biogenic particles in the L’Aquila measurement site are shown to dominate the atmospheric boundary layer population of large aerosol particles with diameter larger than 10 μm (about 80 % of the total during summer months), with a pronounced seasonal cycle, contrary to fine mode aerosols of anthropogenic origin. In order to explain these findings, the main mechanisms controlling the abundance and variability of particulate matter tracers in the atmospheric surface layer are analysed with the numerical box-model.