On infinitesimal and local rigidity of harmonic maps between spheres defined by spherical harmonics

Sunto Si studia la deformabilità infinitesimale e locale di mappe armoniche in sfere dimostrando che le immersioni minime standard f: S² Sⁿ (in particolare, la superficie di Veronese) sono localmente rigide. Si dà un esempio in cui la rigidità locale non implica la rigidità infinitesimale.

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During the preparation of this paper the second-named author was supported by the C.N.R. and enjoyed the hospitality of the Università di Cagliari, Istituto Matematico     

Total synthesis of lansiumamides A and B and alatamide

The total syntheses of lansiumamide A, lansiumamide B and alatamide have been completed taking advantage of the dihalo-olefination of N-formylimides. The syntheses are convergent, flexible and allow for the generation of analogues not accessible through other routes.     

A Multi‐Addressable Switch Based on the Dimethyldihydropyrene Photochrome with Remarkable Proton‐Triggered Photo‐opening Efficiency

A series of photochromic derivatives based on the trans‐10b,10c‐dimethyl‐10b,10c‐dihydropyrene (DHP, “closed form”) skeleton has been synthesized and their photoisomerization leading to the corresponding cyclophanediene (CPD, “open form”) isomers has been investigated by UV/Vis and ¹H NMR spectroscopies. Substitution of the DHP core with electron‐withdrawing pyridinium groups was found to have major effects on the photoisomerization efficiency, the most remarkable examples being to enhance the quantum yield of the opening reaction and to allow fast and quantitative conversions at much lower radiant energies. This effect was rationalized by theoretical calculations. We also show that the reverse reaction, that is, going from the open form to the closed form, can be electrochemically triggered by oxidation of the CPD unit and that the photo‐opening properties of pyridine‐substituted DHPs can be efficiently tuned by protonation, the system behaving as a multi‐addressable molecular switch. These multi‐addressable photochromes show promise for the development of responsive materials.     

A distributed combustion solver for engine simulations on grids

Multi-dimensional models for predictive simulations of modern engines are an example of multi-physics and multi-scale mathematical models, since lots of thermofluiddynamic processes in complex geometrical configurations have to be considered. Typical models involve different submodels, including turbulence, spray and combustion models, with different characteristic time scales. The predictive capability of the complete models depends on the accuracy of the submodels as well as on the reliability of the numerical solution algorithms. In this work we propose a multi-solver approach for reliable and efficient solution of the stiff Ordinary Differential Equation (ODE) systems arising from detailed chemical reaction mechanisms for combustion modeling. Main aim was to obtain high-performance parallel solution of combustion submodels in the overall procedure for simulation of engines on distributed heterogeneous computing platforms. To this aim we interfaced our solver with the CHEMKIN-II package and the KIVA3V-II code and carried out multi-computer simulations of realistic engines. Numerical experiments devoted to test reliability of the simulation results and efficiency of the distributed combustion solver are presented and discussed.     

On the Dynamics of Dark Energy with Higher Time Derivatives of Hubble Parameter in El-Nabulsi Fractional Action Cosmology

In this work, we discussed a new dark energy density model which contains one term proportional to the Hubble parameter H squared, one to the first and one to second time derivative of the Hubble parameter H based on El-Nabulsi fractional action cosmology (FAC). Some cosmological parameters, like the Hubble parameter, the Equation of State (EoS) parameter ω _DE and the deceleration parameter q have been reconstructed and studied. Finally, through a test made using the squared speed of sound $v_{s}^{2}$ , the proposed reconstruction model results to be classically unstable.     

High‐performance liquid chromatography/electrospray ionization tandem mass spectrometric investigation of stilbenoids in cell cultures of Vitis vinifera L., cv. Malvasia

Cell suspension cultures of Vitis vinifera L., particularly after elicitation, have shown the ability to biosynthesize several stilbenoids. In this work the application of specific tandem mass spectrometry (MS/MS) experiments and the integration with data from UV‐vis spectra, available only for the main compounds of the extract, allowed the detection of over 20 different stilbenoids. Up to eight monoglicosides, both monomers and dimers, a high number of dimer forms (up to 17), belonging to the group of viniferins and to their oxidized derivatives, were identified in the extract of Malvasia cell cultures. Moreover, the selectivity and sensitivity of the method allowed detection also of a few cis derivatives (up to 3) present in very low concentrations and presumably produced by the light exposure during treatment of the sample. To the best of the authors' knowledge, there are no literature data on MS/MS experiments targeted to simultaneously study monomeric and dimeric stilbenoids, both as free and glycosilated forms, in a complex mixture from V. vinifera cell suspension cultures. Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

A Study on the New Agegraphic Dark Energy Model in the Framework of Generalized Uncertainty Principle for Different Scale Factors

In this paper, we consider the New Agegraphic Dark Energy (NADE) model interacting with pressureless Dark Matter (DM) in the framework of generalized uncertainty principle. We consider different expressions of the scale factor a(t) pertaining to the emergent, the intermediate and the logamediate scenarios of the universe. We have derived the expressions for various cosmological parameters in all the three cases and plotted the equation of state (EoS) parameter ω _D and squared speed of the sound $v_{s}^{2}$ to check the stability of the model in each case. We have observed that for emergent and intermediate cases, the EoS parameter has a quintom-like behavior and in the logamediate case it has quintessence-like behavior. The negative squared speed of sound in all of the three cases has indicated that the model is classically unstable for each choice of scale factor.     

Anthocyanins and flavan-3-ols from grapes and wines of Vitis vinifera cv. Cesanese d'Affile

The objective of the present study was to evaluate the amount of some potential health-promoting phenols in the grape of Vitis vinifera cv. Cesanese d'Affile and in wines made from these grapes. The analyses were performed using HPLC/DAD/MS. The accumulation of anthocyanins in the skin and flavan-3-ols in the seed was determined at different stages of ripening of the grape (i.e. green, veraison, middle stage of ripening, and complete ripening). Thirteen anthocyanins were identified in the skin at all stages of ripening, except the green stage. With regard to flavan-3-ols, (+)-catechin, (-)-epicatechin, and (-)-epicatechin gallate were detected in all of the seed samples. The highest (+)-catechin content was found in the seeds of the green grape (2 mg g(-1) DW), whereas in the seeds from the completely ripe grape the content was more than ten times lower. The highest catechin content in the seed was correlated with the lowest anthocyanin content in the skin. The wines produced in the years 2004 and 2005 showed, at wavelengths of 520 and 280 nm, almost identical quali-quantitative chromatographic profiles, with high concentrations of anthocyanin 3-O-glucosides, low concentrations of acylated anthocyanins, and trace amounts of (+)-catechin and (-)-epicatechin.