Linear combinations of iterates of Bernstein polynomials exponentially converging to the Lagrange interpolating polynomial are given. The results are applied in CAGD to get an exponentially fast weighted progressive iterative approximation technique to fit data with finer and finer precision.

On the occasion of the 140th anniversary of the birth of the famous Italian mathematician Beppo Levi (1875-1961), we publish an interview with his daughter Emilia. We also recall his brother Eugenio Elia Levi, a well-known and brilliant mathematician whose life was cut short at the front during World War I. A brief outline of Beppo Levi's life is followed by an introduction to a letter that he wrote to the periodical Israel in 1919, in part regarding the foundation of the state of Israel. Finally, we publish an English translation of the letter in its entirety.

In questo rapporto viene presentato un nuovo algoritmo per il calcolo di flussi a superficie libera con forte deformazione e frammentazione. L'algoritmo è ottenuto accoppiando un classico schema ai Volumi Finiti (FV), in cui le equazioni di Navier-Stokes sono discretizzate su una griglia Euleriana, con un approccio basato su un metodo Lagrangiano, basato sulla Smoothed Particle Hydrodynamics (SPH). L'algoritmo è formulato in modo da sfruttare al meglio le caratteristiche di ogni schema nella maniera più efficiente e accurata: lo schema ai Volumi Finiti è usato per risolvere la zona del flusso lontana dalla superficie libera e i flussi a parete, mentre il solutore SPH è implementato solo nella regione con superficie libera, al fine di catturare i dettagli della evoluzione del fronte. I risultati discussi provano che l'uso combinato dei due solutori è conveniente sia dal punto di vista dell'accuratezza che da quello del tempo di calcolo.

In this short communication we present an original way to couple the Brownian motion and the heat equation. More in general, we suggest a way for coupling the Langevin equation for a particle, which describes a single realization of its trajectory, with the associated Fokker-Planck equation, which instead describes the evolution of the particle's probability density function. Numerical results show that it is indeed possible to obtain a regularized Brownian motion and a Brownianized heat equation still preserving the global statistical properties of the solutions. The results also suggest that the more macroscale leads the dynamics the more one can reduce the microscopic degrees of freedom.

Presentazione a convegno

The SAP4PRISMA project research activities aimed at supporting the Italian hyperspectral PRISMA mission by developing preliminary processing chains suitable for PRISMA to obtain high level hyperspectral data products for agriculture, land degradation, natural and human hazards.

Additive partial linear models with nonparametric additive components of heterogeneous smoothness are studied. To achieve optimal rates in large sample situations we use block wavelet penalisation techniques combined with adaptive (group) LASSO procedures for selecting the variables in the linear part and the the additive components in the nonparametric part of the models. Numerical implementations of our procedures for proximal like algorithms are discussed. Large sample properties of the estimates and of the model selection are presented and the results are illustrated with simulated examples and a real data analysis.

In transportation networks with limited capacities and travel times on the arcs, a class of problems attracting a growing scientific interest is represented by the optimal routing and scheduling of given amounts of flow to be transshipped from the origin points to the specific destinations in minimum time. Such problems are of particular concern to emergency transportation where evacuation plans seek to minimize the time evacuees need to clear the affected area and reach the safe zones. Flows over time approaches are among the most suitable mathematical tools to provide a modelling representation of these problems from a macroscopic point of view. Among them, the Quickest Path Problem (QPP), requires an origin-destination flow to be routed on a single path while taking into account inflow limits on the arcs and minimizing the makespan, namely, the time instant when the last unit of flow reaches its destination. In the context of emergency transport, the QPP represents a relevant modelling tool, since its solutions are based on unsplittable dynamic flows that can support the development of evacuation plans which are very easy to be correctly implemented, assigning one single evacuation path to a whole population. This way it is possible to prevent interferences, turbulence, and congestions that may affect the transportation process, worsening the overall clearing time. Nevertheless, the current state-of-the-art presents a lack of studies on multicommodity generalizations of the QPP, where network flows refer to various populations, possibly with different origins and destinations. In this paper we provide a contribution to fill this gap, by considering the Multicommodity Quickest Path Problem (MCQPP), where multiple commodities, each with its own origin, destination and demand, must be routed on a capacitated network with travel times on the arcs, while minimizing the overall makespan and allowing the flow associated to each commodity to be routed on a single path. For this optimization problem, we provide the first mathematical formulation in the scientific literature, based on mixed integer programming and encompassing specific features aimed at empowering the suitability of the arising solutions in real emergency transportation plans. A computational experience performed on a set of benchmark instances is then presented to provide a proof-of-concept for our original model and to evaluate the quality and suitability of the provided solutions together with the required computational effort. Most of the instances are solved at the optimum by a commercial MIP solver, fed with a lower bound deriving from the optimal makespan of a splittable-flow relaxation of the MCQPP.

In an attempt to study the accuracy and utility of 'coarse grained' models for methane-clathrate systems, molecular-dynamics simulations were run for three different potential models. One was fully atomistic of TIP4P water and fully atomistic methane, the next model was atomistic SPC water and coarse-grained UA methane, whilst the final model was the fully coursed-grained mW model. All models were run at two different sizes (8 and 64 fully-occupied sI clathrate unit cells) at 250 K and 60 bar. It was found that the coarse-grained models had a high level of accuracy in recreating structural properties, such as density or radial distribution functions (RDFs), with the obvious exception of not being able to create RDFs for atoms which are neglected by the model. More coarse grained models were shown to have lower accuracy for time-dependent phenomena, such as identifying the density or velocity fluctuations' frequencies.

We present the calculation of the gradients of the profiles to be passed to ORM MTR to define the initial guess and the assumed profiles for the interfering species.

We discuss the items to be modified to introduce the HG in the ORM MTR

We discuss the current status of the modifications to the ESA ORM scientific processor in view of the release of the ORM v8

In order to understand the flow profiles of complex fluids, a crucial issue concerns the emergence of spatial correlations among plastic rearrangements exhibiting cooperativity flow behaviour at the macroscopic level. In this paper, the rate of plastic events in a Poiseuille flow is experimentally measured on a confined foam in a Hele-Shaw geometry. The correlation with independently measured velocity profiles is quantified by looking at the relationship between the localisation length of the velocity profiles and the localisation length of the spatial distribution of plastic events. To complement the cooperativity mechanisms studied in foam with those of other soft glassy systems, we compare the experiments with simulations of dense emulsions based on the lattice Boltzmann method, which are performed both with and without wall friction. Finally, unprecedented results on the distribution of the orientation of plastic events show that there is a non-trivial correlation with the underlying local shear strain. These features, not previously reported for a confined foam, lend further support to the idea that cooperativity mechanisms, originally invoked for concentrated emulsions (Goyon et al., Nature, vol. 454, 2008, pp. 84-87), have parallels in the behaviour of other soft glassy materials.

Background Cell organization is governed and maintained via specific interactions among its constituent macromolecules. Comparison of the experimentally determined protein interaction networks in different model organisms has revealed little conservation of the specific edges linking ortholog proteins. Nevertheless, some topological characteristics of the graphs representing the networks - namely non-random degree distribution and high clustering coefficient - are shared by networks of distantly related organisms. Here we investigate the role of the topological features of the protein interaction network in promoting cell organization. Methods We have used a stochastic model, dubbed ProtNet representing a computer stylized cell to answer questions about the dynamic consequences of the topological properties of the static graphs representing protein interaction networks. Results By using a novel metrics of cell organization, we show that natural networks, differently from random networks, can promote cell self-organization. Furthermore the ensemble of protein complexes that forms in pseudocells, which self-organize according to the interaction rules of natural networks, are more robust to perturbations. Conclusions The analysis of the dynamic properties of networks with a variety of topological characteristics lead us to conclude that self organization is a consequence of the high clustering coefficient, whereas the scale free degree distribution has little influence on this property.

We give a necessary and sufficient condition for the validity of the strong maximum principle in one space dimension.

We consider an initial-boundary value problem for a degenerate pseudoparabolic regularization of a nonlinear forward-backward-forward parabolic equation, with a bounded nonlinearity which is increasing at infinity. We prove existence of suitably defined nonnegative solutions of the problem in a space of Radon measures. Solutions satisfy several monotonicity and regularization properties; in particular, their singular part is nonincreasing and may disappear in finite time. The problem is of intrinsic mathematical interest, but also arises naturally when studying, by time reversal, the spontaneous appearance of singularities in a specific application.

We consider a cell growth model involving a nonlinear system of partial differential equations which describes the growth of two types of cell populations with contact inhibition. Numerical experiments show that there is a parameter regime where, for a large class of initial data, the large time behaviour of the solutions is described by a segregated travelling wave solution with positive wave speed c. Here, the word segregated expresses the fact that the different types of cells are spatially segregated, and that the single densities are discontinuous at the moving interface which separates the two populations. In this paper, we show that, for each wave speed c > c, there exists an overlapping travelling wave solution, whose profile is continuous and no longer segregated. We also show that, for a large class of initial functions, the overlapping travelling wave solutions cannot represent the large time profile of the solutions of the system of partial differential equations. The structure of the travelling wave solutions strongly resembles that of the scalar Fisher-KPP equation, for which the special role played by the travelling wave solution with minimal speed has been extensively studied.

In [Comm. Appl. Math. Comput. Sci., 4 (2009), pp. 153-175], Barenblatt presents a model for partial laminarization and acceleration of shear flows by the presence of suspended particles of different sizes, and provides a formal asymptotic analysis of the resulting velocity equation. In the present paper we revisit the model. In particular we allow for a continuum of particle sizes, rewrite the velocity equation in a form which involves the Laplace transform of a given function or measure, and provide several rigorous asymptotic expansions for the velocity. The model contributes to a better insight to the extreme velocities in hurricanes, fire storms, and dust storms, and the analysis confirms Barenblatt's conclusion that often the smallest suspended particles are responsible for the extreme flow acceleration at large altitudes.

Entropy feedback is reviewed and highlighted as the guiding principle to reach extremely low dissipation. This principle is illustrated through turbulent flow simulations using the entropic lattice Boltzmann scheme.

We investigate the role of hydrodynamic interactions on the decision-making and leader-identification processes within a group of fifty small-size active individuals, immersed in a viscous fluid at very low Reynolds number, . A fraction of the individuals is informed about the spatial location of the target, and moves accordingly along a privileged trajectory. The rest of the group has no access to this information, but may draw indirect benefit by following the trajectory of the informed individuals, through a process of leader-identification. Such process responds to simple behavioral rules ("social" interactions) discussed previously in the literature (Krause and Ruxton in Living in groups, 2002). The above scenario is enriched with two mechanical ingredients: the presence of an obstacle, preventing the informed individuals from following a straight trajectory to the target and hydrodynamic interactions with the surrounding fluid. It is found that hydrodynamic interactions are particularly effective in steering the uninformed individuals towards the target under neutral conditions, i.e. whenever the fraction of informed individuals is around 50 %. At lower fractions, only the informed individuals manage to reach the target, regardless of hydrodynamic interactions. Likewise, at higher fractions, all individuals reach the target, independently of hydrodynamic effects. This shows that, while hydrodynamics is subdominant under most circumstances, it may nonetheless take on a strategic role whenever the informed and uninformed individuals become comparable in number.