On the Commutative Equivalence of Context-Free Languages

The problem of the commutative equivalence of context-free and regular languages is studied. In particular conditions ensuring that a context-free language of exponential growth is commutatively equivalent with a regular language are investigated

Confining properties of QCD at finite temperature and density

A disorder parameter detecting dual superconductivty of the vacuum is used as a probe to characterize the confining properties of the phase diagram of two color QCD at finite temperature and density. We obtain evidence for the disappearing of dual superconductivity (deconfinement) induced by a finite density of baryonic matter, as well as for a coincidence of this phenomenon with the restoration of chiral symmetry both at zero and finite density. The saturation transition induced by Pauli blocking is studied as well, and a general warning is given about the possible effects that this unphysical transition could have on the study of the QCD phase diagram at strong values of the gauge coupling.Comment: 13 pages, 23 figure

Quantum Control Theory for State Transformations: Dark States and their Enlightenment

For many quantum information protocols such as state transfer, entanglement transfer and entanglement generation, standard notions of controllability for quantum systems are too strong. We introduce the weaker notion of accessible pairs, and prove an upper bound on the achievable fidelity of a transformation between a pair of states based on the symmetries of the system. A large class of spin networks is presented for which this bound can be saturated. In this context, we show how the inaccessible dark states for a given excitation-preserving evolution can be calculated, and illustrate how some of these can be accessed using extra catalytic excitations. This emphasises that it is not sufficient for analyses of state transfer in spin networks to restrict to the single excitation subspace. One class of symmetries in these spin networks is exactly characterised in terms of the underlying graph properties.Comment: 14 pages, 3 figures v3: rewritten for increased clarit

THE EFFECT OF PRODUCTION SYSTEM INFORMATION ON CONSUMER EXPECTATION AND ACCEPTABILITY OF LECCESE LAMB MEAT

Twenty lamb meat’s habitual consumers (eight females and twelve males, from 25 to 62 yrs of age) took part in a centrallocation test, organised to assess consumers’ expectations generated by information on animal feeding system, lambs fedwith maternal milk from mothers reared on grass (T1) versus lambs fed with maternal milk from mothers reared on stall(T2), and to assess the effect of this knowledge on the hedonic ratings of lamb meat from the Leccese breed. Using anone-point hedonic scale, first blind and then informed scores were collected on two types of Leccese meat. The blind testprovided information which was different from informed test; in fact, T2 meat receiving higher hedonic scores than T1 meat. Onthe contrary, with the label information on animal feeding system, meat from T1 lambs was liked more than meat from T2lambs. The lamb meat’s habitual consumers showed a higher interest in extrinsic quality attributes which referred to the origin orproduction system

Earthquake‐induced landslide scenarios for seismic microzonation. Application to the Accumoli area (Rieti, Italy)

Scenarios of earthquake-induced landslides are necessary for seismic microzonation (SM) studies since they must be integrated with the mapping of instability areas. The PARSIFAL (Probabilistic Approach to pRovide Scenarios of earthquake‐Induced slope FAiLures) approach provides extensive analyses, over tens to thousands of square kilometers, and is designed as a fully comprehensive methodology to output expected scenarios which depend on seismic input and saturation conditions. This allows to attribute a rating, in terms of severity level, to the landslide-prone slope areas in view of future engineering studies and designs. PARSIFAL takes into account first-time rock- and earth-slides as well as re-activations of existing landslides performing slope stability analyses of different failure mechanisms. The results consist of mapping earthquake-induced landslide scenarios in terms of exceedance probability of critical threshold values of co-seismic displacements (P[D≥Dc|a(t),ay]). PARSIFAL was applied in the framework of level 3 SM studies over the municipality area of Accumoli (Rieti, Italy), strongly struck by the 2016 seismic sequence of Central Apennines. The use of the PARSIFAL was tested for the first time to screen the Susceptibility Zones (ZSFR) from the Attention Zones (ZAFR) in the category of the unstable areas, according to the guidelines by Italian Civil Protection. The results obtained were in a GIS-based mapping representing the possibility for a landslide to be induced by an earthquake (with a return period of 475 years) in three different saturation scenarios (i.e. dry, average, full). Only 41% of the landslide-prone areas in the Municipality of Accumoli are existing events, while the remaining 59% is characterized by first-time earth- or rock-slides. In dry conditions, unstable conditions or P[D≥Dc|a(t),ay]>0 were for 54% of existing landslides, 17% of first-time rock-slides and 1% of first-time earth- slides. In full saturation conditions, the findings are much more severe since unstable conditions or P[D≥Dc|a(t),ay]>0 were found for 58% of the existing landslides and for more than 80% of first-time rock- and earth-slides. Moreover, comparison of the total area of the ZAFR versus ZSFR, resulted in PARSIFAL screening reducing of 22% of the mapped ZAFR

Agricultural Institutions, Industrialization and Growth: The Case of New Zealand and Uruguay in 1870-1940

In this paper we apply a model of early industrialization to the case of New Zealand and Uruguay in 1870-1940. We show how differences in agricultural institutions may have produced different development paths in two countries which were similar under many respects. While in New Zealand the active role of the Crown in regulating the land market facilitated access to land, in Uruguay land was seized by a small group of large landowners. Our model shows that land concentration may have negatively influenced industrialization and growth by impeding the formation of a large group of middle-income landowners and, as a consequence, the development of a domestic demand for basic manufactures. We support this view with a comparative analysis of agricultural institutions and industrial development in New Zealand and Urugua

Mental, Social and Visual Alienation in D’Alessandro’s Photography

This chapter analyzes the first of several photobooks that illustrated the reform of psychiatric health care in Italy in the 1960s and 1970s: Luciano D’Alessandro’s 1969 Gli esclusi. In 1967, D’Alessandro was invited by the director of the asylum of Nocera Superiore, Sergio Piro, to document through photography the abysmal conditions of the “total institution” that was the pre-reform mental hospital. D’Alessandro first published a small selection of photos, in Popular Photography Italiana (1967), which he then expanded in Gli esclusi. This chapter claims that, in the evolution between the two publications, we can read the complex and multilayered notion of alienation that informed the work of reform, especially that of one of the most famous figures associated with it, Franco Basaglia. By analyzing D’Alessandro’s Gli esclusi through the notion of alienation, this chapter lets what Sekula calls the conditions of “readability” of the photographic message emerge

Quantum measurement of a mesoscopic spin ensemble

We describe a method for precise estimation of the polarization of a mesoscopic spin ensemble by using its coupling to a single two-level system. Our approach requires a minimal number of measurements on the two-level system for a given measurement precision. We consider the application of this method to the case of nuclear spin ensemble defined by a single electron-charged quantum dot: we show that decreasing the electron spin dephasing due to nuclei and increasing the fidelity of nuclear-spin-based quantum memory could be within the reach of present day experiments.Comment: 8 pages, 2 figures; minor changes, published versio