High-precision computation of two-loop Feynman diagrams with Wilson fermions

We apply the coordinate-space method by Luescher and Weisz to the computation of two-loop diagrams in full QCD with Wilson fermions on the lattice. The essential ingredient is the high-precision determination of mixed fermionic-bosonic propagators.Comment: Talk presented at Lattice '97 (Theoretical Developments), Edinburgh (UK), July 1997. LaTeX2e, 3 pages, uses espcrc2. Report DESY 97-18

Pilot study to determine improvements in subjective penile morphology and personal relationships following a Nesbit plication procedure for men with congenital penile curvature

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Deep Inelastic Scattering in Improved Lattice QCD. I. The first moment of structure functions

We present the complete 1-loop perturbative computation of the renormalization constants and mixing coefficients of the operators that measure the first moment of deep inelastic scattering structure functions, employing the nearest neighbor improved lattice QCD action. The interest of using this action in Monte Carlo simulations lies in the fact that all terms which in the continuum limit are effectively of order $a$ ($a$ being the lattice spacing) have been proven to be absent from on-shell hadronic lattice matrix elements. Because of the complexity of the calculations, we have checked the analytical expression of all Feynman diagrams using Schoonschip. To this end we have developed a suitable code designed to automatically carry out all the necessary lattice algebraic manipulations, starting from the elementary building blocks of each diagram. We have found discrepancies with some of the published numbers, but we are in agreement with the known results on the energy-momentum tensor.Comment: 59 pages, plain LaTeX + Feynman.tex (complete postscript file available upon request to [email protected]), Preprint Roma1 978-93 and ROM2F 93/38 (some numerical mistakes have been corrected in Sects. 2.2 and 8

A Multidisciplinary Study of the DPRK Nuclear Tests

The Democratic People Republic of Korea announced two underground nuclear tests carried out in their territory respectively on October 9th, 2006 and May 25th, 2009. The scarce information on the precise location and the size of those explosions has stimulated various kinds of studies, mostly based on seismological observations, by several national agencies concerned with the Nuclear Test Ban Treaty verification. We analysed the available seismological data collected through a global high-quality network for the two tests. After picking up the arrival times at the various stations, a standard location program has been applied to the observed data. If we use all the available data for each single event, due to the different magnitude and different number of available stations, the locations appear quite different. On the contrary, if we use only the common stations, they happen to be only few km apart from each other and within their respective error ellipses. A more accurate relative location has been carried out by the application of algorithms such as double difference joint hypocenter determination (DDJHD) and waveform alignment. The epicentral distance between the two events obtained by these methods is 2 km, with the 2006 event shifted to the ESE with respect to that of 2009. We then used a dataset of VHR TerraSAR-X satellite images to detect possible surface effects of the underground tests. This is the first ever case where these highly performing SAR data have been used to such aim. We applied InSAR processing technique to fully exploit the capabilities of SAR data to measure very short displacements over large areas. Two interferograms have been computed, one co-event and one post-event, to remove possible residual topographic signals. A clear displacement pattern has been highlighted over a mountainous area within the investigated region, measuring a maximum displacement of about 45 mm overall the relief. Hypothesizing that the 2009 nuclear test had been carried out close to the area where the displacement has been observed through the DInSAR technique, its relation with the epicenter location obtained through seismological processing has been discussed as a possible alternative hypothesis with respect to the preferred solutions reported by the nuclear explosion database (NEDB). The distance of about 10 km between the two places can be considered acceptable in light of the possible systematic location shifts commonly observed in the seismological practice over a global scale. The difference between the m b magnitudes of the two tests could reflect differences in geological conditions of the two test sites, even if the yield of the two explosions had been the same

Groundwater Autochthonous Microbial Communities as Tracers of Anthropogenic Pressure Impacts: Example from a Municipal Waste Treatment Plant (Latium, Italy)

The groundwater behavior at a municipal solid waste disposal dump, located in Central Italy, was studied using a multi-parameter monitoring over 1 year consisting of 4 seasonal samples. The hydrological and hydrogeological dynamics of water circulation, microbiological parameters (microbial abundance and cell viability of the autochthonous microbial community), dissolved organic carbon, and several contaminants were evaluated and related to the geological structures in both two and three dimensions and used for geostatistical analysis in order to obtain 3D maps. Close relationships between geological heterogeneity, water circulation, pollutant diffusion, dissolved organic carbon, and cell viability were revealed. The highest cell viability values were found with dissolved organic carbon (DOC) values ≤0.5 mg/L; above this value, DOC negatively affected the microbial community. The highest DOC values were detected in groundwater at some sampling points within the site indicating its probable origin from the waste disposal dump. Although legislation limits for the parameters measured were not exceeded (except for a contaminant in one piezometer), the 1-year multi-parameter monitoring approach made it possible to depict both the dynamics and the complexity of the groundwater flux and, with "non-legislative parameters" such as microbial cell viability and DOC, identify the points with the highest vulnerability and their origin. This approach is useful for identifying the most vulnerable sites in a groundwater body

Farmers in the transition toward sustainability: what is the role of their entrepreneurial identity?

IntroductionThe European Union has recently prompted a shift toward Ecological Intensification (EI) practices, aiming to harmonize agricultural productivity and environmental conservation. Despite the benefits of EI, its implementation has been limited, as farmers face challenges in business reorganization and supply chain adaptation. This paper investigates the role of contract farming (CF) in promoting the adoption of sustainable practices among Italian wheat producers. Specifically, it analyzes the influence of farmers’ entrepreneurial identity on their engagement in such initiatives.MethodsUsing the case study of Barilla Group’s Carta del Mulino initiative, an innovative contract farming scheme incentivizing sustainable EI practices, the study explores the relationship between entrepreneurial identity and participation in CF schemes supporting EI. Data from a sample of 314 soft wheat farmers in four regions of Northern Italy were collected to examine the role of entrepreneurial identity in the adoption of sustainable practices and participation in CF schemes. To evaluate the research hypotheses, two distinct econometric models were developed.Results and discussionThe findings reveal that farmers with a more developed entrepreneurial identity are more likely to adopt more sustainable agricultural practices and engage in contractual schemes involving EI practices. The study highlights the importance of fostering and supporting farmers’ entrepreneurial identity while increasing their knowledge of alternative agricultural techniques to address the challenges of the agricultural sector. This integration of individual perspectives (entrepreneurial identity) with a systems view (contract farming schemes) offers valuable insights for future research, policy, and practice in agri-food systems sustainability

Active and capable fault? The case study of Prata D'Ansidonia (L'Aquila, Central Apennine)

The study deals with the morphogenetic meaning of several linear scarps that carved the paleo-landsurface of Valle Daria, an extended geomorphological feature located between Barisciano (AQ) and Prata D'Ansidonia (AQ). These villages are situated in the southern termination of the L'Aquila intermontane basin (one of the largest basin of the central Apennines), nearby the epicentral area of the 6th April 2009 earthquake (Mw 6.1). These scarps, up to 3 meters high and up to 1.5 km long, define narrow/elongated flat-bottom depressions, filled by colluvial deposits. These depressions are carved into fluvial-deltaical conglomerates, dated back to the lower Pleistocene. Even if different authors have interpreted these shapes as a paleodrainage or secondary faults, a morphometrical study of the Valle Daria paleo-landsurface provided several information which cast doubt on these two interpretations. In order to better understand the nature and the state of activity of these lineaments, geological, geomorphological and geophysical surveys were carried out. A paleoseismological trench pointed out two events of deformation. The curvilinear shape of the shear plane seems to be related to a slow deformation, attributable to collapse-phenomena. Three GPR profiles, two ERT profiles and two microgravimetrical profiles seem to corroborate this interpretation. Therefore, this study permits to attribute the genesis of these scarps to tectono-karstic phenomena, excluding the presence of an active and capable fault.Published346-3494T. Sismologia, geofisica e geologia per l'ingegneria sismicaN/A or not JC

Investigation on rare nuclear processes in Hf nuclides

In this work, a review of recent studies concerning rare nuclear processes in Hf isotopes is presented. In particular, the investigations using HP-Ge spectrometry and Hf-based crystal scintillators are focused; the potentiality and the results of the "source = detector" approach are underlined. In addition, a short introduction concerning the impact of such kind of research in the context of astroparticle and nuclear physics is pointed out. In particular, the study of α decay and double beta decay of 174Hf, 176Hf, 177Hf, 178Hf, 179Hf, 180Hf isotopes either to the ground state or to the lower bounded levels have been discussed. The observation of α decay of 174Hf isotope to the ground state with a T1/2=7.0(1.2)×1016 y is reported and discussed. No decay was detected for α decay of 174Hf isotope at the first excited level of daughter and of 176Hf, 177Hf, 178Hf, 179Hf, 180Hf isotopes either to the ground state or to the lower bounded levels. The T1/2 lower limits for these decays are at the level of 1016–1020 y. Nevertheless, the T1/2 lower limits for the transitions of 176Hf→172Yb (0+→0+) and 177Hf→173Yb (7/2−→5/2−) are near to the theoretical predictions, giving hope to their observation in the near future. All the other experimental limits (∼1016–1020 y) are absolutely far from the theoretical expectations. The experiments investigating the 2ϵ and ϵβ+ processes in 174Hf are also reported; the obtained half-life limits are set at the level of 1016–1018 y. Moreover, we estimate the T1/2 of 2ν2ϵ of 174Hf decay at the level of (0.3–6) × 1021 y (at now the related measured lower limit is 7.1×1016 y)

Fluorescence lifetime microscopy unveils the supramolecular organization of liposomal Doxorubicin

The supramolecular organization of Doxorubicin (DOX) within the standard Doxoves® liposomal formulation (DOX®) is investigated using visible light and phasor approach to fluorescence lifetime imaging (phasor-FLIM). First, the phasor-FLIM signature of DOX® is resolved into the contribution of three co-existing fluorescent species, each with its characteristic mono-exponential lifetime, namely: crystallized DOX (DOXc, 0.2 ns), free DOX (DOXf, 1.0 ns), and DOX bound to the liposomal membrane (DOXb, 4.5 ns). Then, the exact molar fractions of the three species are determined by combining phasor-FLIM with quantitative absorption/fluorescence spectroscopy on DOXc, DOXf, and DOXb pure standards. The final picture on DOX® comprises most of the drug in the crystallized form (∼98%), with the remaining fractions divided between free (∼1.4%) and membrane-bound drug (∼0.7%). Finally, phasor-FLIM in the presence of a DOX dynamic quencher allows us to suggest that DOXf is both encapsulated and non-encapsulated, and that DOXb is present on both liposome-membrane leaflets. We argue that the present experimental protocol can be applied to the investigation of the supramolecular organization of encapsulated luminescent drugs/molecules all the way from the production phase to their state within living matter

Perturbative renormalization of the first two moments of non-singlet quark distributions with overlap fermions

Using the overlap-Dirac operator proposed by Neuberger, we have computed in lattice QCD the one-loop renormalization factors of ten operators which measure the lowest two moments of unpolarized and polarized non-singlet quark distributions. These factors are necessary to extract physical numbers from Monte Carlo simulations made with overlap fermions. An exact chiral symmetry is maintained in all our results, and the renormalization constants of corresponding unpolarized and polarized operators which differ by a $\gamma_5$ matrix have the same value. We have considered two lattice representations for each continuum operator. The computations have been carried out using the symbolic language FORM, in a general covariant gauge. In some simple cases they have also been checked by hand.Comment: 23 pages, 1 Postscript figure, uses elsevier style. Small corrections made in eqs. (6), (7), (13), (15), (17), (19), (20), (21) and (A.8), with no influence on the result