Equilibrium and out of equilibrium thermodynamics in supercooled liquids and glasses

We review the inherent structure thermodynamical formalism and the formulation of an equation of state for liquids in equilibrium based on the (volume) derivatives of the statistical properties of the potential energy surface. We also show that, under the hypothesis that during aging the system explores states associated to equilibrium configurations, it is possible to generalize the proposed equation of state to out-of-equilibrium conditions. The proposed formulation is based on the introduction of one additional parameter which, in the chosen thermodynamic formalism, can be chosen as the local minima where the slowly relaxing out-of-equilibrium liquid is trapped.Comment: 7 pages, 4 eps figure

Effective temperature of active matter

We follow the dynamics of an ensemble of interacting self-propelled motorized particles in contact with an equilibrated thermal bath. We find that the fluctuation-dissipation relation allows for the definition of an effective temperature that is compatible with the results obtained using a tracer particle as a thermometer. The effective temperature takes a value which is higher than the temperature of the bath and it is continuously controlled by the motor intensity

Memory effects in classical and quantum mean-field disordered models

We apply the Kovacs experimental protocol to classical and quantum p-spin models. We show that these models have memory effects as those observed experimentally in super-cooled polymer melts. We discuss our results in connection to other classical models that capture memory effects. We propose that a similar protocol applied to quantum glassy systems might be useful to understand their dynamics.Comment: 24 pages, 12 figure

A Simple Theory of Condensation

A simple assumption of an emergence in gas of small atomic clusters consisting of $c$ particles each, leads to a phase separation (first order transition). It reveals itself by an emergence of ``forbidden'' density range starting at a certain temperature. Defining this latter value as the critical temperature predicts existence of an interval with anomalous heat capacity behaviour $c_p\propto\Delta T^{-1/c}$. The value $c=13$ suggested in literature yields the heat capacity exponent $\alpha=0.077$.Comment: 9 pages, 1 figur

Scaling exponents and clustering coefficients of a growing random network

The statistical property of a growing scale-free network is studied based on an earlier model proposed by Krapivsky, Rodgers, and Redner [Phys. Rev. Lett. 86, 5401 (2001)], with the additional constraints of forbidden of self-connection and multiple links of the same direction between any two nodes. Scaling exponents in the range of 1-2 are obtained through Monte Carlo simulations and various clustering coefficients are calculated, one of which, $C_{\rm out}$, is of order $10^{-1}$, indicating the network resembles a small-world. The out-degree distribution has an exponential cut-off for large out-degree.Comment: six pages, including 5 figures, RevTex 4 forma

Volume 9, Issue 1, Formation

The editors of the Iraqi Journal of Embryos and Infertility Researches (IJEIR) are thankful to the huge efforts made by the reviewers in peerreviewing the submitted manuscripts. Thanks to their efforts the first issue of the 9th volume is now available online with open access to the articles content. We are looking forward in inclusion in relevant indexing in the near future. We would like to acknowledge the reviewers for their contribution, and we wish them the greatest success. We ensured the anonymity of both reviewers and authors and followed a double-blind peer-review procedure. Our published articles are under the creative common attribution license. We strictly followed the COPE ethical code in the published studies. Our articles are published under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License which permits use, sharing, adaptation, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, as long as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons license, and indicate if changes were made. http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0

A Potential Energy Landscape Study of the Amorphous-Amorphous Transformation in H2_2O

We study the potential energy landscape explored during a compression-decompression cycle for the SPC/E (extended simple point charge) model of water. During the cycle, the system changes from low density amorphous ice (LDA) to high density amorphous ice (HDA). After the cycle, the system does not return to the same region of the landscape, supporting the interesting possibility that more than one significantly different configuration corresponds to LDA. We find that the regions of the landscape explored during this transition have properties remarkably different from those explored in thermal equilibrium in the liquid phase

Experimental Setup and Measuring System to Study SolitaryWave Interaction with Rigid Emergent Vegetation

The aim of this study is to present a peculiar experimental setup, designed to investigate the interaction between solitary waves and rigid emergent vegetation. Flow rate changes due to the opening and closing of a software-controlled electro-valve generate a solitary wave. The complexity of the problem required the combined use of different measurement systems of water level and velocity. Preliminary results of the experimental investigation, which allow us to point out the effect of the vegetation on the propagation of a solitary wave and the effectiveness of the measuring system, are also presented. In particular, water level and velocity field changes due to the interaction of the wave with rigid vegetation are investigated in detail

Local versus Global Knowledge in the Barabasi-Albert scale-free network model

The scale-free model of Barabasi and Albert gave rise to a burst of activity in the field of complex networks. In this paper, we revisit one of the main assumptions of the model, the preferential attachment rule. We study a model in which the PA rule is applied to a neighborhood of newly created nodes and thus no global knowledge of the network is assumed. We numerically show that global properties of the BA model such as the connectivity distribution and the average shortest path length are quite robust when there is some degree of local knowledge. In contrast, other properties such as the clustering coefficient and degree-degree correlations differ and approach the values measured for real-world networks.Comment: Revtex format. Final version appeared in PR

Radiations and female fertility

Hundreds of thousands of young women are diagnosed with cancer each year, and due to recent advances in screening programs, diagnostic methods and treatment options, survival rates have significantly improved. Radiation therapy plays an important role in cancer treatment and in some cases it constitutes the first therapy proposed to the patient. However, ionizing radiations have a gonadotoxic action with long-term effects that include ovarian insufficiency, pubertal arrest and subsequent infertility. Cranial irradiation may lead to disruption of the hypothalamic-pituitary-gonadal axis, with consequent dysregulation of the normal hormonal secretion. The uterus might be damaged by radiotherapy, as well. In fact, exposure to radiation during childhood leads to altered uterine vascularization, decreased uterine volume and elasticity, myometrial fibrosis and necrosis, endometrial atrophy and insufficiency. As radiations have a relevant impact on reproductive potential, fertility preservation procedures should be carried out before and/or during anticancer treatments. Fertility preservation strategies have been employed for some years now and have recently been diversified thanks to advances in reproductive biology. Aim of this paper is to give an overview of the various effects of radiotherapy on female reproductive function and to describe the current fertility preservation options