831 research outputs found
Dynamics of Entanglement and the Schmidt Gap in a Driven Light-Matter System
The ability to modify light-matter coupling in time (e.g. using external
pulses) opens up the exciting possibility of generating and probing new aspects
of quantum correlations in many-body light-matter systems. Here we study the
impact of such a pulsed coupling on the light-matter entanglement in the Dicke
model as well as the respective subsystem quantum dynamics. Our dynamical
many-body analysis exploits the natural partition between the radiation and
matter degrees of freedom, allowing us to explore time-dependent
intra-subsystem quantum correlations by means of squeezing parameters, and the
inter-subsystem Schmidt gap for different pulse duration (i.e. ramping
velocity) regimes -- from the near adiabatic to the sudden quench limits. Our
results reveal that both types of quantities indicate the emergence of the
superradiant phase when crossing the quantum critical point. In addition, at
the end of the pulse light and matter remain entangled even though they become
uncoupled, which could be exploited to generate entangled states in
non-interacting systems.Comment: 15 pages, 4 figures, Accepted for publication in Journal of Physics
B, special issue Correlations in light-matter interaction
Application of semidefinite programming to maximize the spectral gap produced by node removal
The smallest positive eigenvalue of the Laplacian of a network is called the
spectral gap and characterizes various dynamics on networks. We propose
mathematical programming methods to maximize the spectral gap of a given
network by removing a fixed number of nodes. We formulate relaxed versions of
the original problem using semidefinite programming and apply them to example
networks.Comment: 1 figure. Short paper presented in CompleNet, Berlin, March 13-15
(2013
From modular to centralized organization of synchronization in functional areas of the cat cerebral cortex
Recent studies have pointed out the importance of transient synchronization
between widely distributed neural assemblies to understand conscious
perception. These neural assemblies form intricate networks of neurons and
synapses whose detailed map for mammals is still unknown and far from our
experimental capabilities. Only in a few cases, for example the C. elegans, we
know the complete mapping of the neuronal tissue or its mesoscopic level of
description provided by cortical areas. Here we study the process of transient
and global synchronization using a simple model of phase-coupled oscillators
assigned to cortical areas in the cerebral cat cortex. Our results highlight
the impact of the topological connectivity in the developing of
synchronization, revealing a transition in the synchronization organization
that goes from a modular decentralized coherence to a centralized synchronized
regime controlled by a few cortical areas forming a Rich-Club connectivity
pattern.Comment: 24 pages, 8 figures. Final version published in PLoS On
Optimal network topologies for local search with congestion
The problem of searchability in decentralized complex networks is of great
importance in computer science, economy and sociology. We present a formalism
that is able to cope simultaneously with the problem of search and the
congestion effects that arise when parallel searches are performed, and obtain
expressions for the average search cost--written in terms of the search
algorithm and the topological properties of the network--both in presence and
abscence of congestion. This formalism is used to obtain optimal network
structures for a system using a local search algorithm. It is found that only
two classes of networks can be optimal: star-like configurations, when the
number of parallel searches is small, and homogeneous-isotropic configurations,
when the number of parallel searches is large.Comment: 4 pages. Final version accepted in PR
Efficacy and safety of the combination of pravastatin and sorafenib for the treatment of advanced hepatocellular carcinoma (ESTAHEP clinical trial)
Pravastatin has demonstrated anti-tumor activity in preclinical and clinical studies. This multicentric randomized double-blind placebo-controlled phase II study (NCT01418729) investigated the efficacy and safety of sorafenib + pravastatin combination on the overall survival (OS) and time to progression (TTP) of patients with advanced hepatocellular carcinoma (aHCC). A total of 31 patients were randomized. Median OS did not differ between both groups (12.4 months for the sorafenib + pravastatin group vs. 11.6 months for the control group). Of note, however, the radiological TTP was higher in patients treated with sorafenib + pravastatin than in the control group (9.9 months vs. 3.2 months; p = 0.008). Considering all the study population, the presence of portal vein thrombosis (PVT) was associated with worse OS, being lower in patients with PVT compared to patients without PVT (6.3 months vs. 14.8 months; p = 0.026). Data also showed a decrease in OS in patients with vascular invasion (VI) compared to patients who did not present it (6.3 months vs. 14.8 months; p = 0.041). The group of patients without dermatological events (DE) showed lower OS (6.9 months vs. 14.5 months; p = 0.049). In conclusion, combination of sorafenib + pravastatin was safe and well-tolerated, prolonging the TTP of patients with aHCC but not improving the OS compared to sorafenib + placebo. The absence of PVT and VI and the development of DE are positive prognostic factors of sorafenib response
Copper: Synthesis Techniques in Nanoscale and Powerful Application as an Antimicrobial Agent
Nanosized metal particles show specific physical and chemical properties that allow the creation of new composites materials, which are important for multiple applications in biology and medicine such as infections control. Metal nanoparticles, mainly copper, exhibit excellent inhibitory effect on Gram-positive and Gram-negative bacteria; therefore the exploration about the efficient, economical, and friendly environmental technics to synthesize inorganic nanoparticles is imperative. In this work a brief overview of the several methods is made including the comparison of the methods, mainly between sonochemical, microwave, and chemical routes. It allows determining the optimal parameters and technical conditions to synthesize copper nanoparticles with physical and chemical properties suitable for the oral bacterial inhibition
Quantum correlations and synchronization measures
The phenomenon of spontaneous synchronization is universal and only recently
advances have been made in the quantum domain. Being synchronization a kind of
temporal correlation among systems, it is interesting to understand its
connection with other measures of quantum correlations. We review here what is
known in the field, putting emphasis on measures and indicators of
synchronization which have been proposed in the literature, and comparing their
validity for different dynamical systems, highlighting when they give similar
insights and when they seem to fail.Comment: book chapter, 18 pages, 7 figures, Fanchini F., Soares Pinto D.,
Adesso G. (eds) Lectures on General Quantum Correlations and their
Applications. Quantum Science and Technology. Springer (2017
Peripheral giant cells granuloma as a rare early manifestation of primary hyperparathyroidism
Primary hyperparathyroidism occurs due to parathyroid adenoma, which as initial presentation in most cases includes recurrent nephrolithiasis (10-25%). Giant cell tumors (GDD) also called osteoclastomas or brown tumors affect the second decade of life and are currently a rare manifestation of primary hyperthyroidism. The incidence of lesion appearance in the maxillary bones is 4.5%. We presented the case of a 36 year old female patient with history of hypertension, who developed an increase in volume in the right maxillary region of 4×3 cm, with incapability of complete occlusion of dental arch, solid dysphagia, biopsy was performed with peripheral giant cells granuloma as a result, PTH serum levels were requested, with result of 1175 pg/ml and serum calcium of 13.24 mg/dl. Parathyroid gammagram was performed with hyperfunctioning parathyroid tissue. Patient underwent a selective parathyroidectomy. She had an adequate postoperative evolution and was discharged without complications. The patient had adequate follow up by head and neck surgery in external consultation, serum calcium 7.66 mg/dl, decrease of volume in right maxillary region to 3×3 cm; pathology report with parathyroid adenoma. Surgical treatment of brown tumor is still pending by the maxillofacial surgery department
Composition with Target Constraints
It is known that the composition of schema mappings, each specified by
source-to-target tgds (st-tgds), can be specified by a second-order tgd (SO
tgd). We consider the question of what happens when target constraints are
allowed. Specifically, we consider the question of specifying the composition
of standard schema mappings (those specified by st-tgds, target egds, and a
weakly acyclic set of target tgds). We show that SO tgds, even with the
assistance of arbitrary source constraints and target constraints, cannot
specify in general the composition of two standard schema mappings. Therefore,
we introduce source-to-target second-order dependencies (st-SO dependencies),
which are similar to SO tgds, but allow equations in the conclusion. We show
that st-SO dependencies (along with target egds and target tgds) are sufficient
to express the composition of every finite sequence of standard schema
mappings, and further, every st-SO dependency specifies such a composition. In
addition to this expressive power, we show that st-SO dependencies enjoy other
desirable properties. In particular, they have a polynomial-time chase that
generates a universal solution. This universal solution can be used to find the
certain answers to unions of conjunctive queries in polynomial time. It is easy
to show that the composition of an arbitrary number of standard schema mappings
is equivalent to the composition of only two standard schema mappings. We show
that surprisingly, the analogous result holds also for schema mappings
specified by just st-tgds (no target constraints). This is proven by showing
that every SO tgd is equivalent to an unnested SO tgd (one where there is no
nesting of function symbols). Similarly, we prove unnesting results for st-SO
dependencies, with the same types of consequences.Comment: This paper is an extended version of: M. Arenas, R. Fagin, and A.
Nash. Composition with Target Constraints. In 13th International Conference
on Database Theory (ICDT), pages 129-142, 201
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