595 research outputs found
Second random-phase approximation with the Gogny force. First applications
We present the first applications of the second random-phase-approximation
model with the finite-range Gogny interaction. We discuss the advantages of
using such an interaction in this type of calculations where 2 particle-2 hole
configurations are included. The results found in the present work confirm the
well known general features of the second random-phase approximation spectra:
we find a large shift, several MeV, of the response centroids to lower energies
with respect to the corresponding random-phase-approximation values. As known,
these results indicate that the effects of the 1 particle-1 hole/2 particle-2
hole and 2 particle-2 hole/2 particle-2 hole couplings are important. It has
been found that the changes of the strength distributions with respect to the
standard random-phase-approximation results are particularly large in the
present case. This important effect is due to some large neutron-proton matrix
elements of the interaction and indicates that these matrix elements (which do
not contribute in the mean-field calculations employed in the conventional fit
procedures of the force parameters) should be carefully constrained to perform
calculation
Effective tensor forces and neutron rich nuclei
We study the effects of the tensor term of the effective nucleon-nucleon
interaction on nuclear excited states. Our investigation has been conducted by
using a self-consistent Random Phase Approximation approach. We investigate
various nuclei in different regions of the isotopes chart. Results for a set of
calcium isotopes are shown.Comment: 4 pages, 4 figures, 1 table Proc. 10th International Spring Seminar
on Nuclear Physics New Quests in Nuclear Structure, Vietri Sul Mare, May
21-25, 201
04/15/1985 - Weekly Preview Review
Conventional RFID readers combine transmission (to the tag) and reception (from the tag) functions in a single physical device. In this paper we discuss the design and potential applications of a receive-only device, called "RFID listener", that decodes the signals from both the tag and the reader. This enables augmented RFID systems where one transmitter coexists with multiple listeners offering reception redundancy and diversity. We present a Software-Defined Radio (SDR) implementation of an RFID listener compliant with Gen2 standard, which can serve as a research tool for experimenting "on air" novel augmented RFID systems. Moreover, our listener can be used as a flexible and cheap protocol analyzer for conventional reader/tag systems. We present a test-bed setting where our listener and a conventional SDR reader are used in conjunction to measure separately the maximum downlink and uplink range. © 2011 IEEE
Mean-field calculations of exotic nuclei ground states
We study the predictions of three mean-field theoretical approaches in the
description of the ground state properties of some spherical nuclei far from
the stability line. We compare binding energies, single particle spectra,
density distributions, charge and neutron radii obtained with non-relativistic
Hartree-Fock calculations carried out with both zero and finite-range
interactions, and with a relativistic Hartree approach which uses a
finite-range interaction. The agreement between the results obtained with the
three different approaches indicates that these results are more related to the
basic hypotheses of the mean-field approach rather than to its implementation
in actual calculations.Comment: 16 pages, 12 figures, 2 tables, accepted for publication in Physical
Review
Epidemiological and virological assessment of influenza activity in Apulia, Italy, during the seasons 2004 - 2005 and 2005 - 2006.
This study evaluated the impact of influenza and vaccination coverage in Apulia, Italy, during the 2004–2005 and 2005–2006 seasons, using epidemiological and virological surveillance data collected through the Italian Net of Surveillance of Influenza (InfluNet) organized by the Superior Institute of Health (ISS) and the Inter-University Centre of Research on Influenza (CIRI). Vaccination coverage was calculated from the number of doses administered to individuals aged ≤ 65 years. Sentinel physicians reported weekly influenza-like illness (ILI) and acute respiratory illness (ARI) occurrences among patients. Influenza viruses were isolated and identified by cell culture on Madin-Darby Canine Kidney cells and polymerase chain reaction techniques. Vaccination coverage reached 72.7% and 77.0% during the 2004–2005 and 2005–2006 seasons, respectively. Incidence of ILI was higher during the 2004–2005 season compared with the 2005–2006 season, whereas the incidence ARI appeared to show a more constant trend. Incidence rates for ILI and ARI were higher in the 0 − 14-year age group. The increase in vaccination coverage and implementation of a network of epidemiological and virological surveillance are fundamental for the control and prevention of influenza
Stillbirth occurrence during COVID-19 pandemic: A population-based prospective study
Objectives: Data collected worldwide on stillbirth (SB) rates during the Covid-19 pandemic are contradictory. Variations may be due to methodological differences or population characteristics. The aim of the study is to assess the changes in SB rate, risk factors, causes of death and quality of antenatal care during the pandemic compared to the control periods. Methods: This prospective study is based on the information collected by the Emilia-Romagna Surveillance system database. We conducted a descriptive analysis of SB rate, risk factors, causes of death and quality of cares, comparing data of the pandemic (March 2020-June 2021) with the 16 months before. Results: During the pandemic, the SB rate was 3.45/1,000 births, a value in line with the rates of previous control periods. Neonatal weight >90th centile was the only risk factor for SB that significantly changed during the pandemic (2.2% vs. 8.0%; p-value: 0.024). No significant differences were found in the distribution of the causes of death groups. Concerning quality of antenatal cares, cases evaluated with suboptimal care (5.2%) did not change significantly compared to the control period (12.0%), as well as the cases with less than recommended obstetric (12.6% vs. 14%) and ultrasound evaluations (0% vs. 2.7%). Conclusions: During the COVID-19 pandemic, no significant differences in SB rates were found in an area that maintained an adequate level of antenatal care. Thus, eventual associations between SB rate and the COVID-19 infection are explained by an indirect impact of the virus, rather than its direct effect
ATLAS and CMS applications on the WorldGrid testbed
WorldGrid is an intercontinental testbed spanning Europe and the US
integrating architecturally different Grid implementations based on the Globus
toolkit. It has been developed in the context of the DataTAG and iVDGL
projects, and successfully demonstrated during the WorldGrid demos at IST2002
(Copenhagen) and SC2002 (Baltimore). Two HEP experiments, ATLAS and CMS,
successful exploited the WorldGrid testbed for executing jobs simulating the
response of their detectors to physics eve nts produced by real collisions
expected at the LHC accelerator starting from 2007. This data intensive
activity has been run since many years on local dedicated computing farms
consisting of hundreds of nodes and Terabytes of disk and tape storage. Within
the WorldGrid testbed, for the first time HEP simulation jobs were submitted
and run indifferently on US and European resources, despite of their underlying
different Grid implementations, and produced data which could be retrieved and
further analysed on the submitting machine, or simply stored on the remote
resources and registered on a Replica Catalogue which made them available to
the Grid for further processing. In this contribution we describe the job
submission from Europe for both ATLAS and CMS applications, performed through
the GENIUS portal operating on top of an EDG User Interface submitting to an
EDG Resource Broker, pointing out the chosen interoperability solutions which
made US and European resources equivalent from the applications point of view,
the data management in the WorldGrid environment, and the CMS specific
production tools which were interfaced to the GENIUS portal.Comment: Poster paper from the 2003 Computing in High Energy and Nuclear
Physics (CHEP03), La Jolla, Ca, USA, March 2003, 10 pages, PDF. PSN TUCP004;
added credit to funding agenc
Spatial distribution of fungal microflora in the sediment of a brackish lake (Lake Alimini Grande, Italy) used for fish production and bathing
A study of the distribution of fungal microflora was conducted on the sediment of Lake Alimini Grande in order to contrib- ute to the evaluation of the ecosystem characteristics that can effect the process of decomposition. The isolation and identification of fungal species and ergosterol analysis were performed on sediment samples taken from 33 monitorin stations in autumn and winter .Altogether, 24 strains belong- ing to 8 genera were isolated. Trichoderma spp (41.6%) and Aspergillus spp (20.8%) were the dominant genera: in par- ticular, Trichoderma was present near the Traugnano marsh, whereas Aspergillus was isolated in the area of connection to the sea
Clinical characteristics, neuroimaging findings, and neuropsychological functioning in attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder: Sex differences
Recent clinical studies, in both children/adolescents and adults, have shown the extreme neuropsychological heterogeneity of attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD): specific neuropsychological deficits have been found only in a minority of individuals, with no direct correlation between discrete cognitive performances and the trajectory of clinical symptoms. Deficits in specific neuropsychological functions may be common in ADHD, but nevertheless no cognitive or neuropsychological profile may fully explain the disorder. Sex differences in the ADHD presentation, both at a neuropsychological and clinical level, also contribute to this clinical and neuropsychological heterogeneity. At a neuropsychological level, females with ADHD may show greater working memory problems, poorer vocabulary skills and worse visual spatial reasoning. Structural and functional imaging study also show discrete differences across sex; however, the great majority of clinical studies mainly or exclusively include male participants with insufficient data to draw firm conclusions on sex differences within the disorder. Here, we report the recent literature data, discussing still open research questions about the clinical presentation, neuroimaging findings, and neuropsychological functioning in ADHD with a focus on the impact of sex differences—a deeper insight in these unresolved issues may have relevant clinical and therapeutic implications for tailored, effective, and long-lasting interventions
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