Hercle and Turms on an Etruscan Engraved Mirror

"A new acquisition by the Museum of Art and Archaeology has provided an excellent opportunity for me, after an interval of twenty-five years, to return to the "San Francisco Group" of Etruscan bronze mirrors. This special group of more than thirty mirrors was first brought together on the evidence of two specimens in San Francisco, study of which soon attracted numerous other mirrors that bore a characteristic two-figured composition depicting males-generally nude, and one or both figures young (clean shaven) or old (bearded)-who confront each other (as if conversing) in an awkward half-seated, half-leaning posture. Although the figures may sit on or lean against a shield, club, rock, or the like, such supports are usually omitted or merely implied by the engraver who has unwittingly created a rather precarious pose often present on mirrors of the group, but especially conspicuous on "descendent" mirrors of the group, which show debased representations of the Dioskouroi."--First paragraph.Includes bibliographical reference

Multiplexed dispersive readout of superconducting phase qubits

We introduce a frequency-multiplexed readout scheme for superconducting phase qubits. Using a quantum circuit with four phase qubits, we couple each qubit to a separate lumped-element superconducting readout resonator, with the readout resonators connected in parallel to a single measurement line. The readout resonators and control electronics are designed so that all four qubits can be read out simultaneously using frequency multiplexing on the one measurement line. This technology provides a highly efficient and compact means for reading out multiple qubits, a significant advantage for scaling up to larger numbers of qubits.Comment: 4 pages, 4 figure

Treatment of Vancouver B1 periprosthetic femoral fractures using Intrauma Iron Lady® locking plate: A retrospective study on 32 patients

Introduction: Periprosthetic femoral fractures (PFF) actually represent a serious public health problem. They are reported to occur in 0,1-4.5% of all patients undergoing total hip replacement (THR). PFF are commonly distinguished using the Vancouver classification. This study principal aim is to evaluate results obtained using the Intrauma Iron Lady® Conical Coupling locking plate for the treatment of Vancouver type B1 periprosthetic femoral fractures. Materials and Methods: We enrolled 32 patients affected by Vancouver B1 PFF and treated with the same device. Metal cerclages were additionally used in 12 (38%) patients. A clinical and radiographical post-operative follow-up was then planned at 1, 3 and 6 months after surgery; than the follow-up was annually fixed. Results: Mean age at the moment of trauma was 76,7 years. All involved femoral stem were uncemented and the they were all radiographically and intraoperativelly judged to be stable. Mean post-operative follow-up period was 5,8 years. 29 patients (91%) presented healed fracture at 6 months follow-up. 9% patients developed a superficial surgical site infection. Discussion and Conclusions: Literature highlights that Vancouver B1 PFF should be treated with open reduction and internal fixation (ORIF) using polyaxial locking plates. However, no single technique has gained universal acceptance to be superior that the other. The current reported healing rate ranges from 40 to 100%. Using the Intrauma Iron Lady® Conical Coupling locking plate, we obtained a healing rate of 91%; this data is consistent with recent literature. Moreover, the role of cerclages in addition to femoral plating is actually controversial because they potentially damage the soft callus vascularization. Our results showed no difference in term of healing rate between patients with and without cerclages, according with some of most recent articles. A prospective study with a higher number of patients should be carried out in order to better evaluate the role of cerclages on healing rate but also the complications frequency after PFF surgical treatment

Excitation of superconducting qubits from hot non-equilibrium quasiparticles

Superconducting qubits probe environmental defects such as non-equilibrium quasiparticles, an important source of decoherence. We show that "hot" non-equilibrium quasiparticles, with energies above the superconducting gap, affect qubits differently from quasiparticles at the gap, implying qubits can probe the dynamic quasiparticle energy distribution. For hot quasiparticles, we predict a non-neligable increase in the qubit excited state probability P_e. By injecting hot quasiparticles into a qubit, we experimentally measure an increase of P_e in semi-quantitative agreement with the model and rule out the typically assumed thermal distribution.Comment: Main paper: 5 pages, 5 figures. Supplement: 1 page, 1 figure, 1 table. Updated to user-prepared accepted version. Key changes: Supplement added, Introduction rewritten, Figs.2,3,5 revised, Fig.4 adde

Development of a dissipative controlled rocking system for bridge columns supported on monopiles

In this research, low-damage seismic design detailing is developed for bridge columns supported by monopile foundations. The low-damage system aims to minimise, and potentially eliminate, the repair time and costs to a bridge after an earthquake. The low-damage design uses a dissipative controlled rocking (DCR) connection at the base of the column, which replaces the column plastic hinge. The DCR system combines unbonded post-tensioning and replaceable internal dissipaters to provide selfcentring and energy absorption capabilities for the bridge pier, respectively. Additionally, this research validates the lateral seismic response of a DCR bridge pier with the contribution of soilfoundation-structure interaction. Specifically, this research studies how additional rotations at the head of the pile foundation delay the onset of column yielding, and how the foundation damping influences the behaviour of the DCR system. This paper includes a description of the prototype structure being investigated, an overview of the experimental testing that will occur as part of the experimental campaign, and the results of the numerical modelling that aims to predict the behaviour of the structure during testing