9,963 research outputs found
Physical effects of the Immirzi parameter
The Immirzi parameter is a constant appearing in the general relativity
action used as a starting point for the loop quantization of gravity. The
parameter is commonly believed not to show up in the equations of motion,
because it appears in front of a term in the action that vanishes on shell. We
show that in the presence of fermions, instead, the Immirzi term in the action
does not vanish on shell, and the Immirzi parameter does appear in the
equations of motion. It determines the coupling constant of a four-fermion
interaction. Therefore the Immirzi parameter leads to effects that are
observable in principle, even independently from nonperturbative quantum
gravity.Comment: 3 pages. Substantial revision from the first versio
Monolithic zirconia and digital impression: case report
The aim of this study is to present a clinical case of a full arch prosthetic rehabilitation on natural teeth, combining both digital work-flow and monolithic zirconi
On a self-sustained process at large scale in the turbulent channel flow
Large-scale motions, important in turbulent shear flows, are frequently
attributed to the interaction of structures at smaller scale. Here we show
that, in a turbulent channel at Re_{\tau} \approx 550, large-scale motions can
self-sustain even when smaller-scale structures populating the near-wall and
logarithmic regions are artificially quenched. This large-scale self-sustained
mechanism is not active in periodic boxes of width smaller than Lz ~ 1.5h or
length shorter than Lx ~ 3h which correspond well to the most energetic large
scales observed in the turbulent channel
Cluster of legionnaires’ disease in an Italian prison
Background: Legionella pneumophila (Lp) is the most common etiologic agent causing Legionnaires’ Disease (LD). Water systems offer the best growth conditions for Lp and support its spread by producing aerosols. From 2015 to 2017, the Regional Reference Laboratory of Clinical and Environmental Surveillance of Legionellosis of Palermo monitored the presence of Lp in nine prisons in Western Sicily. During this investigation, we compared Lp isolates from environmental samples in a prison located in Palermo with isolates from two prisoners in the same prison. Methods: We collected 93 water samples from nine Sicilian prisons and the bronchoalveolar lavages (BALs) of two prisoners considered cases of LD. These samples were processed following the procedures described in the Italian Guidelines for the Prevention and Control of Legionellosis of 2015. Then, genotyping was performed on 19 Lp colonies (17 from water samples and 2 from clinical samples) using the Sequence-Based Typing (SBT) method, according to European Study Group for Legionella Infections (ESGLI) protocols. Results: Lp serogroup (sg) 6 was the most prevalent serogroup isolated from the prisons analyzed (40%), followed by Lp sg 1 (16%). Most of all, in four penitentiary institutions, we detected a high concentration of Lp >104 Colony Forming Unit/Liter (CFU/L). The environmental molecular investigation found the following Sequence Types (STs) in Lp sg 6: ST 93, ST 292, ST 461, ST 728, ST 1317 and ST 1362, while most of the isolates in sg 1 belonged to ST 1. We also found a new ST that has since been assigned the number 2451 in the ESGLI-SBT database. From the several Lp sg 1 colonies isolated from the two BALs, we identified ST 2451. Conclusions: In this article, we described the results obtained from environmental and epidemiological investigations of Lp isolated from prisons in Western Sicily. Furthermore, we reported the first cluster of Legionnaires’ in an Italian prison and the molecular typing of Lp sg 1 from one prison’s water system and two BALs, identified the source of the contamination, and discovered a new ST
Muon spin rotation/relaxation measurements of the non-centrosymmetric superconductor Mg10Ir19B16
We have searched for time-reversal symmetry breaking fields in the
non-centrosymmetric superconductor MgIrB via muon spin
relaxation in zero applied field, and we measured the temperature dependence of
the superfluid density by muon spin rotation in transverse field to investigate
the superconducting pairing symmetry in two polycrystalline samples of
signficantly different purities. In the high purity sample, we detected no
time-reversal symmetry breaking fields greater than 0.05 G. The superfluid
density was also found to be exponentially-flat as T0, and so can be fit
to a single-gap BCS model. In contrast, the lower purity sample showed an
increase in the zero-field SR relaxation rate below T corresponding to
a characteristic field strength of 0.6 G. While the temperature-dependence of
the superfluid density was also found to be consistent with a single-gap BCS
model, the magnitude as T0 was found to be much lower for a given applied
field than in the case of the high purity sample. These findings suggest that
the dominant pairing symmetry in high quality MgIrB
samples corresponds to the spin-singlet channel, while sample quality
drastically affects the superconducting properties of this system.Comment: 6 pages, 5 figures, revised version resubmitted to PR
The microbiota of the bilio-pancreatic system: A cohort, STROBE-compliant study
Background: The gut microbiota play an essential role in protecting the host against pathogenic microorganisms by modulating immunity and regulating metabolic processes. In response to environmental factors, microbes can hugely alter their metabolism. These factors can substantially impact the host and have potential pathologic implications. Particularly pathogenic microorganisms colonizing pancreas and biliary tract tissues may be involved in chronic inflammation and cancer evolution. Purpose: To evaluate the effect of bile microbiota on survival in patients with pancreas and biliary tract disease (PBD). Patients and Methods: We investigated 152 Italian patients with cholelithiasis (CHL), cholangitis (CHA), cholangiocarcinoma (CCA), gallbladder carcinoma (GBC), pancreas head carcinoma (PHC), ampullary carcinoma (ACA), and chronic pancreatitis (CHP). Demographics, bile cultures, therapy, and survival rates were analyzed in cohorts (T1 death <6 months; T2 death <12 months; T3 death <18 months, T3S alive at 18 months). Results: The most common bacteria in T1 were E. coli, K. pneumoniae, andP. aeruginosa. In T2, the most common bacteria were E. coli and P. aeruginosa. InT3, there were no significant bacteria isolated, while in T3S the most common bacteria were like those found in T1. E. coli and K. pneumoniae were positive predictors of survival for PHC and ACA, respectively. E. coli, K. pneumoniae, andP. aeruginosa showed a high percentage of resistant bacteria to 3CGS, aminoglycosides class, and quinolone group especially at T1 and T2 in cancer patients. Conclusions: An unprecedented increase of E. coli in bile leads to a decrease in survival. We suggest that some strains isolated in bile samples may be considered within the group of risk factors in carcinogenesis and/or progression of hepato-biliary malignancy. A better understanding of bile microbiota in patients with PBD should lead to a multifaceted approach to rapidly detect and treat pathogens before patients enter the surgical setting in tandem with the implementation of the infection control policy
A family of filters to search for frequency dependent gravitational wave stochastic backgrounds
We consider a three dimensional family of filters based on broken power law
spectra to search for gravitational wave stochastic backgrounds in the data
from Earth-based laser interferometers. We show that such templates produce the
necessary fitting factor for a wide class of cosmological backgrounds and
astrophysical foregrounds and that the total number of filters required to
search for those signals in the data from first generation laser
interferometers operating at the design sensitivity is fairly smallComment: 4 pages, 4 figures, uses iopart.cls, accepted for publications on
Classical and Quantum Gravity (Special Issue, Proceedings of Amaldi 2003
On the geometry of loop quantum gravity on a graph
We discuss the meaning of geometrical constructions associated to loop
quantum gravity states on a graph. In particular, we discuss the "twisted
geometries" and derive a simple relation between these and Regge geometries.Comment: 6 pages, 1 figure. v2: some typos corrected, references update
Resonant electron heating and molecular phonon cooling in single C junctions
We study heating and heat dissipation of a single \c60 molecule in the
junction of a scanning tunneling microscope (STM) by measuring the electron
current required to thermally decompose the fullerene cage. The power for
decomposition varies with electron energy and reflects the molecular resonance
structure. When the STM tip contacts the fullerene the molecule can sustain
much larger currents. Transport simulations explain these effects by molecular
heating due to resonant electron-phonon coupling and molecular cooling by
vibrational decay into the tip upon contact formation.Comment: Accepted in Phys. Rev. Let
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