Complex dynamics and empirical evidence

Standard macroeconomics, based on a reductionist approach centered on the representative agent, is badly equipped to explain the empirical evidence where heterogeneity and industrial dynamics are the rule. In this paper we show that a simple agent-based model of heterogeneous financially fragile agents is able to replicate a large number of scaling type stylized facts with a remarkable degree of statistical precision.     

Structural control of a masonry vault

Ancient buildings sometimes need to be supplied with reinforcing structures. Active reinforcements can be the right answer to quite complex, and widely unknown working conditions. Their design requires, in particular, the choice of a control policy and the optimal design of sensors-processors-actuators. The vault of the Maggior Consiglio Hall in the Duke's Palace of Genoa, although presently supported by an auxiliary truss, undergoes relatively large displacements, probably due to temperature variations; the use of stiffer links to reduce these displacements may result into high thermal stresses. This problem is studied here as an example of the design of a control system. A numerical model of the structure is proposed, and a performance function is considered; a feedback loop is designed and the corresponding algorithm is given. The inverse problem of determining the actuating forces following variable external condition to achieve the best performance is solved. Results show the feasibility of the method.     

Fast, robust and efficient 2D pattern recognition for re-assembling fragmented images

We discuss the realization of a fast, robust and accurate pattern matching algorithm for comparison of digital images implemented by discrete Circular Harmonic expansions based on sampling theory. The algorithm and its performance for re-assembling fragmented digital images are described in detail and illustrated by examples and data from the experimentation on an art fresco real problem. Because of the huge database of patterns and the large-scale dimension, the results of the experimentation are relevant to describe the power of discrimination and the efficiency of such method.     

“Closure to Reliability as Tool for Hydraulic Network Planning” by Rudy Gargano and Domenico Pianese

The writers would like to thank the discussers who, with their very precise and pertinent observations, will enable the writers to better define certain aspects of the methodology proposed in their paper.     

Innovative extraction procedure for obtaining high pure lycopene from tomato

Many researchers have studied the biological effects of carotenoids and the more appropriate procedure for extracting them from vegetable sources. In this work we propose a rapid and low-cost procedure to extract lycopene from tomato in order to by-pass the problems related to the high cost of this molecule. Following this procedure we have obtained over 95% pure all-trans-lycopene checked by DAD-HPLC coupled with mass-spectrometer equipped with APCI source and by UV–Vis spectroscopy. Moreover, in order to evaluate the effectiveness of this procedure, we have assayed the capacity of the extracted lycopene to inhibit proliferation in T-lymphocyte jurkat J32 cells in comparison with authentic standard all-trans-lycopene. On this cellular line both standard lycopene and extracted lycopene tended to be dose-dependent but this latter seems to be more active even at lowest concentration.     

Ochratoxin A in cereal-based baby foods: occurrence and safety evaluation

Ochratoxin A is a typical cereal contaminant with strong nephrotoxic activity. To estimate the quantity of ochratoxin A that can be taken in by a child in the weaning period, several samples of cereal-based baby foods were analysed. Although most samples analysed contained ochratoxin A in undetectable amounts or below the Italian legal limit of 0.5 μg kg -1 , some irregular products were found. In particular, the analyses of the 119 batches (338 samples) of baby foods considered indicated that: 20 batches (16.8%) contained detectable quantities of ochratoxin A and four of these (3.4% of the total) contained ochratoxin A above the Italian permitted value. All samples coming from agricultural practices based on integrated pest management contained undetectable amounts of ochratoxin A, while ~5% of batches coming from conventional and organic agricultural practices were above the legal limit. On the basis of the established provisional tolerable weekly intake (PTWI), there is no significant toxicological risk for a child who occasionally consumes a formula with ochratoxin concentration slightly above the permitted level. However, stricter controls have to be applied to reject the batches containing irregular concentrations of ochratoxin A.     

On the reliability of ZrO2 films for VLSI applications

In this paper we present a systematic investigation of the effects of electrical stress on reliability of zirconium oxide films. In particular, we monitored stress-induced leakage current, high-field conduction and capacitance curves as function of the applied voltage and the injected charge. Defect density in the bulk oxide have been extracted from measurements by means of literature models. As a result, a square root time dependence of the stress-induced defects has been found.     

A novel approach for characterizing multimedia 3D video streams by means of quasiperiodic processes

This work proposes a novel methodology to describe the low-frequency behaviour of compressed 3D video streams, i.e., their average fluctuations on longer timescales. This study is innovative for two reasons. First, it proves that the low-frequency behaviour of the video data belongs to the class of quasiperiodic processes. Second, it proposes an innovative approach to describe the long-term behaviour through a set of parameters directly derived from the quasiperiodic analysis. Reported results show that the proposed approach is effective in a wide variety of simulation scenarios. Furthermore, it can be easily generalized to other kinds of compressed two-dimensional (2D) streams, whatever be the adopted algorithm, the compression degree, video resolution and format. This opens new unexplored possibilities in the field of 3D video characterization, identification and classification.     

Xanthomonas citri pv. citri Pathotypes: LPS Structure and Function as Microbe‐Associated Molecular Patterns

Xanthomonas citri pv. citri is the pathogen responsible for Asiatic citrus canker, one of the most serious citrus diseases worldwide. The lipopolysaccharide (LPS) molecule has been demonstrated to be involved in X. citri pv. citri virulence. Despite enormous progress in investigations of the molecular mechanisms for bacterial pathogenicity, determination of the detailed LPS structure–activity relationship is limited, as the current knowledge is mainly based on structural determination of one X. citri pv. citri strain. As X. citri pv. citri strains are distinguished into three main pathogenicity groups, we characterized the full structure of the LPS from two pathotypes that differ in their host‐range specificity. This revealed an intriguing difference in LPS O‐chain structure. We also tested the LPSs and isolated lipid A moieties for their ability to act as microbe‐associated molecular patterns in Arabidopsis thaliana. Both LPS/lipid As induced ROS accumulation, but no difference was observed between the two pathotypes.     

67 GHz three‐spiral transformer CMOS oscillator

This paper presents a 67GHz LC oscillator exploiting a three‐spiral transformer and implemented in 65nm bulk complementary metal–oxide–semiconductor technology by STMicroelectronics. The three‐spiral transformer allows operating with a lower voltage supply, still obtaining good phase noise performance, and achieving a compact design. Measured performances when supplied with 1.2 V are: oscillation frequency of 67 GHz, phase noise (PN) equal to ?96 dBc/Hz at 1 MHz frequency offset from the carrier, power consumption (P_C) equal to 19.2 mW and figure of merit (FOM) equal to ?179.7 dB/Hz. Measured performances when supplied with 0.6 V are: oscillation frequency of 67 GHz; PN equal to ?88.7 dBc/Hz at a 1 MHz frequency offset from the carrier; P_C equal to 3.6 mW and FOM equal to ?179.7 dB/Hz. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.