Relativistic spectroscopy of the extreme NLS1 IRAS13224-3809

The narrow line Seyfert 1 (NLS1) IRAS 13224-3809 is the most X-ray variable active galactic nucleus (AGN), exhibiting 0.3-10 keV flux changes of over an order of magnitude within an hour. We report on the results of the 1.5 Ms 2016 XMM-Newton/NuSTAR observing campaign, which revealed the presence of a 0.24c ultra-fast outflow in addition to the well-known strong relativistic reflection. We also summarise other key results of the campaign, such as the first detection of a non-linear RMS-flux relation in an accreting source, correlations between outflow absorption strength/velocity and source flux, and a disconnect between the X-ray and UV emission. Our results are consistent with a scenario where a disk wind is launched close to the black hole, imprinting absorption features into the spectrum and variability.Comment: 6 pages, 7 figures, contributed talk at "Revisiting narrow-line Seyfert 1 galaxies and their place in the Universe" (Padova, April 2018). Accepted for publication in Proceedings of Science, PoS(NLS1-2018)03

Novel Therapeutic Strategies in the Topical Treatment of Atopic Dermatitis

Topical agents that are currently available for the treatment of atopic dermatitis may represent a valid approach in the management of mild or mild–moderate cases, whereas they are often supplemented with systemic therapies for handling more complex or unresponsive cases. The most used compounds include topical corticosteroids and calcineurin inhibitors, although their use might be burdened by side effects, poor response, and low patient compliance. Consequently, new innovative drugs with higher efficacy and safety both in the short and long term need to be integrated into clinical practice. A deeper understanding of the complex pathogenesis of the disease has led to identifying new therapeutic targets and to the development of innovative therapeutics. This narrative review aims to collect data on selected promising topical drugs that are in an advanced stage of development

Quantum Cosmology in Scalar-Tensor Theories With Non Minimal Coupling

Quantization in the minisuperspace of non minimal scalar-tensor theories leads to a partial differential equation which is non separable. Through a conformal transformation we can recast the Wheeler-DeWitt equation in an integrable form, which corresponds to the minimal coupling case, whose general solution is known. Performing the inverse conformal transformation in the solution so found, we can construct the corresponding one in the original frame. This procedure can also be employed with the bohmian trajectories. In this way, we can study the classical limit of some solutions of this quantum model. While the classical limit of these solutions occurs for small scale factors in the Einstein's frame, it happens for small values of the scalar field non minimally coupled to gravity in the Jordan's frame, which includes large scale factors.Comment: latex, 18 page

Deep Neural Networks Rival the Representation of Primate IT Cortex for Core Visual Object Recognition

The primate visual system achieves remarkable visual object recognition performance even in brief presentations and under changes to object exemplar, geometric transformations, and background variation (a.k.a. core visual object recognition). This remarkable performance is mediated by the representation formed in inferior temporal (IT) cortex. In parallel, recent advances in machine learning have led to ever higher performing models of object recognition using artificial deep neural networks (DNNs). It remains unclear, however, whether the representational performance of DNNs rivals that of the brain. To accurately produce such a comparison, a major difficulty has been a unifying metric that accounts for experimental limitations such as the amount of noise, the number of neural recording sites, and the number trials, and computational limitations such as the complexity of the decoding classifier and the number of classifier training examples. In this work we perform a direct comparison that corrects for these experimental limitations and computational considerations. As part of our methodology, we propose an extension of "kernel analysis" that measures the generalization accuracy as a function of representational complexity. Our evaluations show that, unlike previous bio-inspired models, the latest DNNs rival the representational performance of IT cortex on this visual object recognition task. Furthermore, we show that models that perform well on measures of representational performance also perform well on measures of representational similarity to IT and on measures of predicting individual IT multi-unit responses. Whether these DNNs rely on computational mechanisms similar to the primate visual system is yet to be determined, but, unlike all previous bio-inspired models, that possibility cannot be ruled out merely on representational performance grounds.Comment: 35 pages, 12 figures, extends and expands upon arXiv:1301.353

Long term preservation of DNA from honey bees (Apis mellifera) collected in aerial pitfall traps

This study examines the preservation of nuclear and mitochondrial DNA from honey bee (Apis mellifera L.) specimens which were first kept in propylene glycol-based antifreeze under various conditions, and then stored long-term, refrigerated in 95% ethanol. Two sets of bees were subjected to the propylene glycol treatment, then ethanol storage. One set consisted of bees captured in the field in propylene glycol-containing "aerial pitfall traps", where they remained for up to 21 days. A second set consisted of bees taken from a hive and kept in propylene glycol under various temperature and lighting conditions for up to 90 days. Both the field bees and laboratory bees were then stored long-term in ethanol before evaluation of the persistence of nuclear and mitochondrial DNA using the polymerase chain reaction. DNA integrity was preserved for both field and laboratory specimens. The results demonstrate that propylene glycol-captured, ethanol-preserved honey bees retain both nuclear and mitochondrial DNA after capture and long tern preservation. It is suggested that with little or no modification, the techniques described here might he applied to other studies involving trap-collected arthropod specimens

Observações fenológicas e de produção de Bertholletia excelsa Humb. & Bonpl., na comunidade Nossa Senhora do Rosário, Lago Máximo, Parintins, AM.

O objetivo do trabalho foi monitorar, por meio de observações periódicas quinzenais, a fase da fenologia reprodutiva de B. excelsa, e estimar a produção de um castanhal na comunidade de Nossa Senhora do Rosário, Lago do Máximo, Município de Parintins, AM

Tensor Perturbations in Quantum Cosmological Backgrounds

In the description of the dynamics of tensor perturbations on a homogeneous and isotropic background cosmological model, it is well known that a simple Hamiltonian can be obtained if one assumes that the background metric satisfies Einstein classical field equations. This makes it possible to analyze the quantum evolution of the perturbations since their dynamics depends only on this classical background. In this paper, we show that this simple Hamiltonian can also be obtained from the Einstein-Hilbert lagrangian without making use of any assumption about the dynamics of the background metric. In particular, it can be used in situations where the background metric is also quantized, hence providing a substantial simplification over the direct approach originally developed by Halliwell and Hawking.Comment: 24 pages, JHEP forma