Sistemas cuánticos individuales

AbstractThe Nobel Prize in Physics for 2012 was awarded to Serge Haroche and David J. Wineland “for ground-breaking experimental methods that enable measuring and manipulation of individual quantum systems”. The former deals with photons and measures them with atoms and the latter deals with ions and manipulates them with photons. The potential and actual applications of handling quantum systems are on their way to revolutionize not only technology but the way we understand the microscopic world

Can ultrastrong coupling change ground state chemical reactions?

Recent advancements on the fabrication of organic micro- and nanostructures have permitted the strong collective light-matter coupling regime to be reached with molecular materials. Pioneering works in this direction have shown the effects of this regime in the excited state reactivity of molecular systems and at the same time has opened up the question of whether it is possible to introduce any modifications in the electronic ground energy landscape which could affect chemical thermodynamics and/or kinetics. In this work, we use a model system of many molecules coupled to a surface-plasmon field to gain insight on the key parameters which govern the modifications of the ground-state Potential Energy Surface (PES). Our findings confirm that the energetic changes per molecule are determined by single-molecule-light couplings which are essentially local, in contrast with those of the electronically excited states, for which energetic corrections are of a collective nature. Still, we reveal some intriguing quantum-coherent effects associated with pathways of concerted reactions, where two or more molecules undergo reactions simultaneously, and which can be of relevance in low-barrier reactions. Finally, we also explore modifications to nonadiabatic dynamics and conclude that, for this particular model, the presence of a large number of dark states yields negligible changes. Our study reveals new possibilities as well as limitations for the emerging field of polariton chemistry

Thermal performance of a PCM firefighting suit considering transient periods of fire exposure, post - fire exposure and resting phases

Firefighting scenarios may be characterized by various transient periods (i.e. phases), which consist of diverse environmental conditions. Firefighters usually encounter fire exposure, post fire exposure and resting phases. Development of new and improved protective clothing must be able to provide protection throughout all these phases, as burnouts may still occur after fire exposure due to accumulation of heat in the garment. The incorporation of phase change materials (PCMs) in firefighting garments has been shown to minimize the potential of heat hazards only during fire exposure. Thus to get more knowledge on their thermal performance, in the present study, the effect of PCM incorporation in post fire and resting phases were also numerically studied. The numerical code was validated for all phases. Five potential PCM candidates were considered. Exposure phases were characterized by high- medium and low- heat flux intensities (84, 12 and 5 kW.m(-2)) with variable exposure times whilst post -exposure and resting phases where characterized by different wind speeds (i.e. ambient convective coefficients). Optimal PCM masses, times to second and third - degree burns as well as PCM suit cooling times were calculated to reflect thermal protective performance in each respective phase. The data generated allows for PCM short-listing from a set of potential PCM candidates along with its geometrical parameters, considering a wide range of characteristics of the various phases that consist a typical firefighting scenario

Garment design and engineering for hospital use

Garments used in hospitals play an important role in user’s comfort and health. This paper presents the developments of a patented design technology for medical garments aimed at users, caregivers, and health care providers. Traditional gowns lacking comfort and protection affect the patient’s dignity. Similarly, patients often use their own garments, which are not designed to provide the best comfort and protection if sensing capacity is affected. Additionally, they can interfere with caregivers’ daily tasks. The proposed pajamas consider these needs and allow an effective interaction between patient and caregiver without compromising the person’s self-esteem. The selection of functional textile fibers and the use of seamless production processes allow the design of products advantageous in the prevention of wounds and pressure ulcers, as pressure points are reduced and the micro-climate of the skin is managed in a more effective way, enhancing the levels of sensorial, physiological and ergonomic comfort.This work is financed by FEDER funds through the Competitive Factors Operational Program (COMPETE) POCI-01-0145-FEDER-007136 and by national funds through FCT-Portuguese Foundation for Science and Technology, under the project UID/CTM/000264 and SFRH/BD/79762/2011.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Living with dementia: increased level of caregiver stress in times of COVID-19

COVID-19 pandemic has deeply affected the care that older adults with Alzheimer´s Disease(AD) and related disorders received in Argentina. Even though circulation for familycaregivers of subjects with dementia was one of the few exceptions allowed by thegovernment (Ministerio de la Nación, 2020), we observed that most family members decidedto stop visiting their relatives from fear of spreading the disease.COVID-19 epidemic is causing a radical change in the model of dementia care. Before thispandemic, engaging in social activities, performing cognitive and physical activities, andhaving a productive daily routine has been the mainstay therapy. (Austrom, M. G. et al.,2018). To relief caregiver stress, literature has shown that multicomponent strategies suchas avoiding isolation, attending family and group support meetings, sharing the burden ofcare with other family members were useful (Hughes, T.B. et al., 2014). Now, in times ofCOVID-19, we recommend the most strict social isolation, especially for older patients withdementia and other comorbidities who have the highest risk for severe COVID-19 diseaseand mortality. ( Emami et al., 2020).Previous quarantines in human history had a negative psychological impact on outcomessuch as anger, depression, and loneliness in the general population. (Brooks et al., 2020)but the effects on the wellbeing and standard care of subjects with dementia living in thecommunity is not well studied. The objective of our research was to study to what extendmandatory social isolation affected the stress and burden of care of family members caringfor subjects with dementia after the initial four weeks of quarantine and to study therelationship between the severity of the dementia, measured with the Clinical DementiaRating (CDR) (Hughes, C. et al. 1982) and the impact of the negative effects of quarantinein our setting.Fil: Cohen, Gabriela. Fundación para la Lucha contra las Enfermedades Neurológicas de la Infancia; ArgentinaFil: Russo, María Julieta. Fundación para la Lucha contra las Enfermedades Neurológicas de la Infancia; ArgentinaFil: Campos, Jorge A. Fundación para la Lucha contra las Enfermedades Neurológicas de la Infancia; ArgentinaFil: Allegri, Ricardo Francisco. Fundación para la Lucha contra las Enfermedades Neurológicas de la Infancia; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; Argentin

Distance perception in immersive environments: the role of photorealism

Immersive environments (IE) are being increasingly used in order to perform psychophysical experiments. The versatility in terms of stimuli presentation and control and the less time-consuming procedures are their greatest strengths. However, to ensure that IE results can be generalized to real world scenarios we must first provide evidence that performance in IE is quantitatively indistinguishable from performance in real-world. Our goal was to perceptually validate distance perception for CAVE-like IEs. Participants performed a Frontal Matching Distance Task (Durgin & Li, 2011) in three different conditions: real-world scenario (RWS); photorealistic IE (IEPH) and non-photorealistic IE (IENPH). Underestimation of distance was found across all the conditions, with a significant difference between the three conditions (Wilks’ Lambda = .38, F(2,134)= 110.8, p<.01, significant pairwise differences with p<.01). We found a mean error of 2.3 meters for the RWS, 5 meters for the IEPH, and of 6 meters for the IENPH in a pooled data set of 5 participants. Results indicate that while having a photorealistic IE with perspective and stereoscopic depth cues might not be enough to elicit a real-world performance in distance judgment tasks, nevertheless this type of environment minimizes the discrepancy between simulation and real-world when compared with non-photorealistic IEs

Osteoporosis transitoria de rodilla en el embarazo

La osteoporosis transitoria o síndrome de edema óseo transitorio es una enfermedad poco frecuente y autolimitada que puede afectar a la mujer embarazada. La etiología es desconocida y su localización más frecuente es la cadera. Presentamos un caso de osteoporosis transitoria de rodilla durante el embarazo, con resolución clínica y radiológica completa tras 10 meses de evolución.Transient osteoporosis or transient bone edema syndrome is a rare, self-limiting disease that can affect pregnant women. The etiology is unknown and most common location is the hips. We present a case of tran - sient osteoporosis of the knee during pregnancy, with complete clinical and radiological resolution after 10 months

Real-time auralisation system for virtual microphone positioning

A computer application was developed to simulate the process of microphone positioning in sound recording applications. A dense, regular grid of impulse responses pre-recorded on the region of the room under study allowed the sound captured by a virtual mi- crophone to be auralised through real-time convolution with an anechoic stream representing the sound source. Convolution was performed using a block-based variation on the overlap-add method where the summation of many small sub- convolutions produced each block of output data samples. As the applied RIR filter varied on successive audio output blocks, a short cross fade was applied to avoid glitches in the audio. The maximum possible length of impulse response applied was governed by the size of audio processing block (hence la- tency) employed by the program. Larger blocks allowed a lower processing time per sample. At 23.2ms latency (1024 samples at 44.1kHz), it was possible to apply 9 second impulse responses on a standard laptop computer.Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia (FCT