Momentum-space analysis of multipartite entanglement at quantum phase transitions

We investigate entanglement properties at quantum phase transitions of an integrable extended Hubbard model in the momentum space representation. Two elementary subsystems are recognized: the single mode of an electron, and the pair of modes (electrons coupled through the eta-pairing mechanism). We first detect the two/multi-partite nature of each quantum phase transition by a comparative study of the singularities of Von Neumann entropy and quantum mutual information. We establish the existing relations between the correlations in the momentum representation and those exhibited in the complementary picture: the direct lattice representation. The presence of multipartite entanglement is then investigated in detail through the Q-measure, namely a generalization of the Meyer-Wallach measure of entanglement. Such a measure becomes increasingly sensitive to correlations of a multipartite nature increasing the size of the reduced density matrix. In momentum space, we succeed in obtaining the latter for our system at arbitrary size and we relate its behaviour to the nature of the various QPTs.Comment: 8 pages, 4 figure

Psychological patterns among Roman Catholic clergy accused of sexual misconduct

A remarkable amount of international attention has focused on the sexual misconduct by Roman Catholic clergy in recent years. While the demographics and risk factor profiles of clergy sex offenders is now fairly well established, the psychological and personality profiles of these men are not. Very few empirical research studies have been published on the psychological and personality functioning of clergy who engage in sexual misconduct in the Catholic Church. The purpose of this study was to investigate the psychological profiles of 21 Roman Catholic clergy who have confronted credible accusations of sexual misconduct. Relative to national norms, MMPI-2 results suggest that these men tend to have profiles that were defensive, repressive, mistrustful, isolative, and irritable. Precautions and limitations of the current study, as well as implications for future research are offered

Precipitation Measurement Instruments: Calibration, Accuracy and Performance

Though ranking high among the relevant environmental variables (due to the well-known significant interactions with the everyday human life and economic activities), atmospheric precipitation is not yet measured operationally with neither the degree of accuracy that would meet the most demanding applications nor any rigorous standardization framework [...

Are successful applicants to the priesthood psychologically healthy?

The current investigation evaluated psychological and personality profiles of successful applicants to a major Roman Catholic religious order. The MMPI-2 and 16PF were administered to 68 applicants between 1990 and 2004 who subsequently entered seminary. Results indicate that these applicants to the priesthood were generally well-adjusted as well as being socially responsible, interpersonally sensitive and sociable. Findings also suggest some tendency for defensiveness and repression. Furthermore, dealing with perceived negative impulses such as anger and hostility may also be a concern for many of these men

Starvation Resistance is Associated with Developmentally Specified Changes in Sleep, Feeding and Metabolic Rate

Food shortage represents a primary challenge to survival, and animals have adapted diverse developmental, physiological and behavioral strategies to survive when food becomes unavailable. Starvation resistance is strongly influenced by ecological and evolutionary history, yet the genetic basis for the evolution of starvation resistance remains poorly understood. The fruit fly Drosophila melanogaster provides a powerful model for leveraging experimental evolution to investigate traits associated with starvation resistance. While control populations only live a few days without food, selection for starvation resistance results in populations that can survive weeks. We have previously shown that selection for starvation resistance results in increased sleep and reduced feeding in adult flies. Here, we investigate the ontogeny of starvation resistance-associated behavioral and metabolic phenotypes in these experimentally selected flies. We found that selection for starvation resistance resulted in delayed development and a reduction in metabolic rate in larvae that persisted into adulthood, suggesting that these traits may allow for the accumulation of energy stores and an increase in body size within these selected populations. In addition, we found that larval sleep was largely unaffected by starvation selection and that feeding increased during the late larval stages, suggesting that experimental evolution for starvation resistance produces developmentally specified changes in behavioral regulation. Together, these findings reveal a critical role for development in the evolution of starvation resistance and indicate that selection can selectively influence behavior during defined developmental time points

Unimpaired Neuropsychological Performance and Enhanced Memory Recall in Patients with Sbma: A Large Sample Comparative Study.

Peculiar cognitive profile of patients with SBMA has been described by fragmented literature. Our retrospective study reports the neuropsychological evaluations of a large cohort of patients in order to contribute towards the understanding of this field. We consider 64 neuropsychological evaluations assessing mnesic, linguistic and executive functions collected from 2013 to 2015 in patients attending at Motor Neuron Disease Centre of University of Padova. The battery consisted in: Digit Span forwards and backwards, Prose Memory test, Phonemic Verbal fluency and Trail making tests. ANCOVA statistics were employed to compare tests scores results with those obtained from a sample of healthy control subjects. Multiple linear regressions were used to study the effect on cognitive performance of CAG-repeat expansion, the degree of androgen insensitivity and their interaction to cognitive performance. Statistical analyses did not reveal altered scores in any neuropsychological tests among those adopted. Interestingly, patients performed significantly better in the Prose Memory test's score. No relevant associations were found with genetic, hormonal or clinical patients' profile. Results inconsistent with previous studies have been interpreted according to the phenomenon of somatic mosaicism. We suggest a testosterone-related and the mood state-dependant perspectives as two possible interpretations of the enhanced performances in the Prose Memory test. Further studies employing more datailed tests batteries are encouraged

Influence of CLA supplementation on the lipid quality of rabbit meat

Lately, animal science researchers are getting more and more interested in natural nutraceuticals in feeds because of their beneficial effect both to the animal and to the consumer. Conjugated Linoleic Acid (CLA) consists of a pool of geometrical and positional isomers, acknowledged as a potent anti-carcinogenic, anti-atherogenic, anti-obesity, anti-diabetes and immune stimulating factor (Parodi, 1999). Food products from ruminant animals,milk in particular, are naturally more or less rich in CLA, depending on feeding. CLA may be increased by dietary means. Aim of the present study was an attempt to upgrade the lipid quality of rabbit meat by supplementing the diet with CLA

Energy recovery and efficiency improvement for an activated sludge, agro-food WWTP upgrade

Abstract Wastewater treatment's primary purpose is to protect surface water quality, aquatic life, beneficial and recreational uses of waterways, and primarily comply with local water emission standards. Lately, additional requirements were added for these facilities, concerning minimization of a series of sidestream environmental impacts (i.e., odours, generated waste by-products, etc.), air emissions, including CO2, methane and nitrogen greenhouse gases (GHGs), and mitigation of various other likely impacts resulting from energy and chemical use in treatment processes. This paper describes a case study in Northern Europe, where critical analysis of an industrial wastewater treatment plant's present conditions, during an evaluation of upgrade possibilities to improve regulatory compliance, led to a sustainable intervention proposal. According to the formulated proposal, process improvement, energy recovery, and overall savings and GHG emissions reduction could be simultaneously achieved with a series of relatively simple interventions