Comparative investigation of silicon photomultipliers as possible photon detectors for the Cherenkov Telescope Array

One of most interesting improvements in CTA observatory will be the use of silicon photomultipliers (SiPMs) as pho- ton detectors for the telescope cameras. SiPMs have many key advantages compared with photomultiplier tubes, however they have also some drawbacks, such as dark noise, cross-talk and afterpulses. Moreover several companies produce a multitude of different types of SiPMs, since they stand as a very promising technology to replace photomultiplier tube in many applications. A comparative investigation of SiPMs\u2019 properties using a semi-automated test setup is therefore a powerful instrument to identify the best device for CTA telescope cameras

Rate dependence of current and fluctuations in jump models with negative differential mobility

Negative differential mobility is the phenomenon in which the velocity of a particle decreases when the force driving it increases. We study this phenomenon in Markov jump models where a particle moves in the presence of walls that act as traps. We consider transition rates that obey local detailed balance but differ in normalisation, the inclusion of a rate to cross a wall and a load factor. We illustrate the full counting statistics for different choices of the jumping rates. We also show examples of thermodynamic uncertainty relations. The variety of behaviours we encounter highlights that negative differential mobility depends crucially on the chosen rates and points out the necessity that such choices should be based on proper coarse-graining studies of a more microscopic description

Demographic and clinical aspects of an Italian patient population with chronic fatigue syndrome

Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (CFS) is a debilitating syndrome characterized by fatigue which, by exclusion, cannot be ascribed to another illness. Because of the vagueness of the symptoms and signs in patients with CFS, various attempts have been made to define the syndrome and classification criteria have been developed (1- 3), of which the most well-known and used are those of Fukuda et al. (1) This classification includes two major criteria..

Correction to: The Dead-Alive Physicist Experiment: A Case-Study Against the Hypothesis that Consciousness Causes the Wave-Function Collapse in the Quantum Mechanical Measurement Process

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Role of trapping and crowding as sources of negative differential mobility

Increasing the crowding in an environment does not necessarily trigger negative differential mobility of strongly pushed particles. Moreover, the choice of the model, in particular the kind of microscopic jump rates, may be very relevant in determining the mobility. We support these points via simple examples and we therefore address recent claims saying that crowding in an environment is likely to promote negative differential mobility. Trapping of tagged particles enhanced by increasing the force remains the mechanism determining a drift velocity not monotonous in the driving force

Ovarian function during hormonal contraception assessed by endocrine and sonographic markers: a systematic review

This systematic review focuses on the literature evidence for residual ovarian function during treatment with hormonal contraceptives. We reviewed all papers which assessed residual ovarian activity during hormonal contraceptive use, using endocrine markers such as serum anti-Müllerian hormone (AMH) concentrations, FSH, LH, oestradiol, progesterone and sonographic markers such as antral follicle count (AFC), ovarian volume and vascular indices. We considered every type (oestroprogestin or only progestin) and dosage of hormonal contraceptive and every mode of administration (oral, vaginal ring, implant, transdermal patch). We performed an electronic database search for papers published from 1 January 1990 until 30 November 2015 using PubMed and MEDLINE. We pre-selected 113 studies and judged 48 studies suitable for the review. Most studies showed that follicular development continues during treatment with hormonal contraceptives, and that during treatment there is a reduction in serum concentrations of FSH, LH and oestradiol, and also a reduction in endometrial thickness, ovarian volume and the number and size of antral follicles. The ovarian reserve parameters, namely AFC and ovarian volume, are lower among users than among non-users of hormonal contraception; regarding the effect of hormonal contraception on AMH, there are still controversies in the literature

Pagine d'Africa: il primo colonialismo italiano nelle biblioteche dell'universita' da Assab a Massaua 1869-1885

Sono qui raccolti i contributi scritti ed alcune immagini della mostra dello SBA dedicata alla riscoperta e valorizzazione del posseduto delle biblioteche dell’Università di Bologna sul colonialismo italiano in Africa. In esposizione testi di fine ‘800, fotografie e materiale iconografico raro, medaglie, monete, divise delle prime campagne coloniali e dei protagonisti del tempo

Geometry and topology of knotted ring polymers in an array of obstacles

We study knotted polymers in equilibrium with an array of obstacles which models confinement in a gel or immersion in a melt. We find a crossover in both the geometrical and the topological behavior of the polymer. When the polymers' radius of gyration, $R_G$, and that of the region containing the knot, $R_{G,k}$, are small compared to the distance b between the obstacles, the knot is weakly localised and $R_G$ scales as in a good solvent with an amplitude that depends on knot type. In an intermediate regime where $R_G > b > R_{G,k}$, the geometry of the polymer becomes branched. When $R_{G,k}$ exceeds b, the knot delocalises and becomes also branched. In this regime, $R_G$ is independent of knot type. We discuss the implications of this behavior for gel electrophoresis experiments on knotted DNA in weak fields.Comment: 4 pages, 6 figure