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The regression rate performance and flow physics of a lab-scale hybrid rocket motor are numerically and experimentally investigated in this paper. The motor burns gaseous oxygen and a paraffin fuel based on a commercial microcrystalline wax. The oxygen is fed to the combustion chamber through a swirl injector allowing optical access to the burning grain. A long prechamber and postchamber allow, respectively, to limit injection swirl effects and to favor propellants mixing. Tested specimens feature grain length of 50 mm, with external diameter of 30 mm and initial port diameter in the range 5 to 20 mm. Firing tests were conducted varying oxygen mass flow rate from 5 to 10 g/s, obtaining average oxidizer mass fluxes in the range 20-60 kg/(m2 s) and regression rates in the range 0.5 to 2.5 mm/s. Regression rates obtained by classical thickness-over-time (TOT) averaging procedure are compared to fuel time-resolved ballistics. Time-resolved data are obtained by an optical method enabling port diameter tracking. A numerical rebuilding of the experimental data is performed with Reynolds-averaged NavierStokes simulations. Sub-models accounting for the effects of turbulence, chemistry, radiation, fluid/surface interaction and entrainment, which were previously validated through rebuilding of other higher scale firing tests with axial injection, are not sufficient to satisfactorily rebuild the current data based on swirl injection. The model, in fact, yields regression rates which severely underpredict the experimental ones. Since the radiation contribution is modest for the small diameters and low pressures investigated, and uncertainties on thermophysical properties of paraffin do not strongly affect regression rate values, the reason for the underestimation has been identified in factors affecting convective heat transfer modelling. Indeed, it has been found that introducing an axisymmetric swirling flow strongly increases the numerically obtained regression rate, yielding a more favorable comparison with experimental data. In the final manuscript, experimental results and numerical predictions will be presented and thoroughly discussed to highlight the benefits, limitations, and future evolution of this approach as well as the gained insight into the various driving mechanisms. Acknowledgements This work is funded by the Italian Space Agency in the framework of the Hybrid Paraffin Propulsion RD Activities Programme.

Il motivo già omerico della "spoglia immemore" dell'eroe caduto trova importante riscontro nella poesia italiana moderna, in particolare in A. Manzoni ("Il Cinque maggio"), che probabilmente usufrui di un intermediario di eccezione quale Vincenzo Monti, nella sua traduzione dell'"Iliade". The homeric commonplace of the "immemory corpse" of the fallen hero finds important echoes in modern Italian Literature, especially in Alessandro Manzoni, who problably used tha Iliadic translatio by Vincenzo Monti.

Background: Smart Aging is a serious game (SG) platform that generates a 3D virtual reality environment in which users perform a set of screening tasks designed to allow evaluation of global cognition. Each task replicates activities of daily living performed in a familiar environment. The main goal of the present study was to ascertain whether Smart Aging could differentiate between different types and levels of cognitive impairment in patients with neurodegenerative disease. Methods: Ninety-one subjects (mean age = 70.29 ± 7.70 years)-healthy older adults (HCs, n = 23), patients with single-domain amnesic mild cognitive impairment (aMCI, n = 23), patients with single-domain executive Parkinson's disease MCI (PD-MCI, n = 20), and patients with mild Alzheimer's disease (mild AD, n = 25)-were enrolled in the study. All participants underwent cognitive evaluations performed using both traditional neuropsychological assessment tools, including the Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE), Montreal Overall Cognitive Assessment (MoCA), and the Smart Aging platform. We analyzed global scores on Smart Aging indices (i.e., accuracy, time, distance) as well as the Smart Aging total score, looking for differences between the four groups. Results: The findings revealed significant between-group differences in all the Smart Aging indices: accuracy (p < 0.001), time (p < 0.001), distance (p < 0.001), and total Smart Aging score (p < 0.001). The HCs outperformed the mild AD, aMCI, and PD-MCI patients in terms of accuracy, time, distance, and Smart Aging total score. In addition, the mild AD group was outperformed both by the HCs and by the aMCI and PD-MCI patients on accuracy and distance. No significant differences were found between aMCI and PD-MCI patients. Finally, the Smart Aging scores significantly correlated with the results of the neuropsychological assessments used. Conclusion: These findings, although preliminary due to the small sample size, suggest the validity of Smart Aging as a screening tool for the detection of cognitive impairment in patients with neurodegenerative diseases.

Studi sulla presenza del dio Pan e del Panismo nell'opera del pitttore elevetico Arnold Boecklin Essay on the presence of Pan and of the "Panism" in the work of Swiss painter Arnold Boecklin

Nell'opera di Pavese ricorrono alcune parole-chiave, legate alla vita dei campi e alle paure ancestrali dei contadini. Sono anche presenti richiami all'opera di Saffo, "protomartire della solitudine", con cui lo scrittore tendeva a identificarsi. Nell'immaginario mitico di Pavese grande rilievo ha l'immagine della 'serpe', che egli ritrova in Saffo e ancor più in Esiodo, protagonisti di due importanti dialoghi della raccolta "Dialoghi con Leucò". In Pavese's work we can find some keywords, tied with the countrylife and wirh the ancestral fears of countrymen. There are some links with the poetry of Sappho, to whom Pavese loved to compare himself. A great importance must be attributed to the image of the "snake", that Pavese can identify both in Sappho's and in Hesiod's poetry, and then transfer into his "Dialoghi con Leucò".

Older adults perform worse than younger adults when applying decision rules to choose between options that vary along multiple attributes. Although previous studies have shown that general fluid cognitive abilities contribute to the accurate application of decision rules, relatively little is known about which specific cognitive abilities play the most important role. We examined the independent roles of working memory, verbal fluency, semantic knowledge, and components of executive functioning. We found that age-related decline in applying decision rules was statistically mediated by age-related decline in working memory and verbal fluency. Our results have implications for theories of aging and decision-making.

Prospect Theory predicts that people tend to be more risk seeking if their reference point is perceived as a loss and more risk averse when the reference point is perceived as a gain. In line with this prediction, Franken, Georgieva, Muris and Dijksterhuis (2006) showed that young adults who had a prior experience of monetary gains make more safe choices on subsequent decisions than subjects who had an early experience of losses. There are no experimental studies on how experiencing prior gains and losses differently influences young and older adults on a subsequent decision-making task (the Iowa Gambling Task). Hence, in the current paper, adapting the methodology employed by Franken et al.’s (2006), we intended to test the generality of their effect across the life span. Overall, we found that subjects who experienced prior monetary gains or prior monetary losses did not display significant differences in safe/risky choices on subsequent performance in the Iowa Gambling task. Furthermore, the impact of prior gains and losses on risky/safe card selection did not significantly differ between young and older adults. These results showed that the effect found in the Franken et al.’s study (2006) is limited in its generality.

These findings demonstrate the validity of Smart Aging for assessing cognitive functions in normal aging. Future studies will validate this platform also in the clinical aging populations.

The start-up represents a very critical phase during the whole operational life of solid rocket motors. This paper provides a detailed study of the eects on the ignition transient of the main design parameters of solid propellant motors. The analysis is made with the use of a Q1D unsteady model of solid rocket ignition transient, extensively validated in the frame of the VEGA program, for ignition transient predictions and reconstructions, during the last ten years. Two baseline solid rocket motor configurations are selected for the parametric analysis: a big-booster with a three-segments propellant grain shape, similar to Ariane 5, and a small-booster/solid stage with an aft-finocyl grain shape, similar to VEGA solid rocket motors. The discussion of the results is particularly addressed on the possible onset of pressure oscillations during the start-up of the two solid rocket motor configurations, pointing out the design parameters which aect them in terms of occurrence and amplitude ispartof: Aerospace Science and Technology vol:2014 issue:1 pages:1-16 status: published

30 citazioni su Scopus. L'articolo è il risultato di uno studio multicentrico di cui G. Benassai è un autore (membro Proinf-Aisp Study Group). RE: Missing Author Name Scopus nlinfo@elsevier.com; Dear Prof. Giacomo Benassai, Thank you very much for your detailed explanation. You have made the issue perfectly clear to me. Please be informed that I have escalated the issue to our Content Department for investigation and they will rectify the issue accordingly. As soon as I receive an answer, I am happy to contact you back. If I, or one of my colleagues, can assist you with another matter please do let us know. Kind Regards, Jeroen Hulsmann E-Helpdesk EMEA Coordinator Regional Sales Office - EMEA Elsevier B.V. [THREAD ID:1-1J7YLX6] -----Original Message----- From: gbenassa@unina.it Sent: 12/09/2012 14:52:37 To: nlinfo@elsevier.com Subject: Re: FW: Author's name correction Distinct Mr. Hulsmann Thank you for the sollicit interest about my query.This question it's very important for my career evaluation and also for the University 's department in which i belong. I have participated as a researcher in the 3 papers reported in my previous email,all of them were multicentric,so as of definition they involve diverse Institutions and Authors.In the list of Authors reported,members of the ProINF-AISP study group are citated under the voice "the members of the ProInf-AISP Study Group" who obviously do not correspond to a single unit.The single members of the citated group,amongst them the writer,are citated singularly on the last page's appendix ("G. Mosella, G. Benassai Policlinico Universitario Federico II") Napoli. The non citation of this partecipation of the Naples University Federico II comes with a problem regarding the financiation of the department,and also a discrimination on the evaluation of my personal profile as a researcher about the calculation of the citations in the H index. Furthermore in other circumstances i was citated as a participant in group studies of multicenter works,such as "Imipenem/cilastatina (1,5gr/die) versus meropenem (3,0gr/die) in pazienti con infezioni intra-addominali:risultati di uno studio clinico multicentrico,randomizzato,prospettico" publicated on Scandinavian Journal of Infectious Diseases 29:503-508,1997.I believe you have an original PDF file of this work and not a copy,therefore i result citated on scopus as a participant of the group study "Gruppo di studio Italiano" Thank you for your courtesy and interest,given the importance of the query. Trustfully yours, Prof. Giacomo Benassai Elsevier B.V. Registered Office: Radarweg 29, 1043 NX Amsterdam, The Netherlands, Registration No. 33156677 (The Netherlands) http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/17602904 http://www.scopus.com/record/display.url?eid=2-s2.0-34547668852&origin=resultslist&sort=plf-f&src=s&st1=a+prospective+multicentre+survey+on+the+treatment+of+acute&sid=oNVoDQG_UHipYnJz9G131SP%3a630&sot=q&sdt=b&sl=78&s=TITLE-ABS-KEY-AUTH%28a+prospective+multicentre+survey+on+the+treatment+of+acute%29&relpos=9&relpos=9&searchTerm=TITLE-ABS-KEY-AUTH(a prospective multicentre survey on the treatment of acute) BACKGROUND: The Italian Association for the Study of the Pancreas released a diagnostic and therapeutic algorithm for acute pancreatitis in 1999. AIM: This study focused on the analysis of the therapeutic approach for the treatment of acute pancreatitis in Italy. PATIENTS: One thousand, one hundred and seventy-three patients were recruited: 1006 patients (85.8%) had mild acute pancreatitis (MAP) and 167 (14.2%) had the severe acute pancreatitis (SAP); 161 patients showed pancreatic necrosis at computed tomography; 121 patients (10.3%) had sequelae and 36 (3.1%) died. RESULTS: Non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs and tramadol were used more frequently in patients with the MAP whereas opioids and the association schedules were used more frequently in patients with the SAP (P

ispartof: EUCASS proceedings ispartof: 5TH EUROPEAN CONFERENCE FOR AERONAUTICS AND SPACE SCIENCES (EUCASS) location:Munich, Germany status: published

We explore the potential of the immersed boundary (IB) method to predict pressure oscillations in solid rocket motors (SRM) by performing three-dimensional, high-fidelity simulations of two different configurations, including a small, laboratory-scale motor (ONERA C1xb) and a large-scale aft-finocyl SRM with a star grain geometry, inspired to real motors used in space launch vehicles. The implicit large-eddy simulation (ILES) approach is adopted to capture the coupling between vortex shedding and the acoustic chamber modes. The C1xb SRM is studied at its configuration with 3mm burned grain, close to the ignition phase of the motor. The unsteady wall-pressure signal analysis is employed to characterize turbulence effects on the pressure fluctuations. The results are compared with experimental data available in literature. This test case is used to assess the capability of the IB method to simulate the SRM flow. Then, a large-scale aft-finocyl motor is studied at the initial phase of the burning. The flowfield obtained with the IB approach is characterized by parietal vortex shedding (PVS) and the pressure fluctuations sampled at the head-end of the motor are similar to that obtained by flight data of similar SRMs.