Detection of GRB signals with Fluorescence Detectors

Gamma Ray Bursts are being searched in many ground based experiments detecting the high energy component (GeV $\div$ TeV energy range) of the photon bursts. In this paper, Fluorescence Detectors are considered as possible candidate devices for these searches. It is shown that the GRB photons induce fluorescence emission of UV photons on a wide range of their spectrum. The induced fluorescence flux is dominated by GRB photons from 0.1 to about 100 MeV and, once the extinction through the atmosphere is taken into account, it is distributed over a wide angular region. This flux can be detected through a monitor of the diffuse photon flux, provided that its maximum value exceeds a threshold value, that is primarily determined by the sky brightness above the detector. The feasibility of this search and the expected rates are discussed on the basis of the current GRB observations and the existing fluorescence detectors.Comment: 16 pages 9 eps figure

Stereo Viewing and Virtual Reality Technologies in Mobile Robot Teleguide

“This material is presented to ensure timely dissemination of scholarly and technical work. Copyright and all rights therein are retained by authors or by other copyright holders. All persons copying this information are expected to adhere to the terms and constraints invoked by each author's copyright. In most cases, these works may not be reposted without the explicit permission of the copyright holder." “Copyright IEEE. Personal use of this material is permitted. However, permission to reprint/republish this material for advertising or promotional purposes or for creating new collective works for resale or redistribution to servers or lists, or to reuse any copyrighted component of this work in other works must be obtained from the IEEE.” DOI: 10.1109/TRO.2009.2028765The use of 3-D stereoscopic visualization may provide a user with higher comprehension of remote environments in teleoperation when compared with 2-D viewing, in particular, a higher perception of environment depth characteristics, spatial localization, remote ambient layout, faster system learning, and decision performance. Works in the paper have demonstrated how stereo vision contributes to the improvement of the perception of some depth cues, often for abstract tasks, while it is hard to find works addressing stereoscopic visualization in mobile robot teleguide applications. This paper intends to contribute to this aspect by investigating the stereoscopic robot teleguide under different conditions, including typical navigation scenarios and the use of synthetic and real images. This paper also investigates how user performance may vary when employing different display technologies. Results from a set of test trials run on seven virtual reality systems, from laptop to large panorama and from head-mounted display to Cave automatic virtual environment (CAVE), emphasized few aspects that represent a base for further investigations as well as a guide when designing specific systems for telepresence.Peer reviewe

The Upper Simeto Valley Project: An Interim Report on the First Season

This paper introduces a new survey project, located on the north-west flank of Etna, and presents the preliminary results of the first season of fieldwork (2006). The project research area includes the territories of the comuni of Bronte, Maletto and Maniace (Catania) in the upper valley of the river Simeto. Many individual archaeological sites and features have been identified in this area in the past, but there has been no systematic survey coverage. The long-term aim of the project is to investigate the transformation of the human and physical landscapes of this upland area from prehistory to modern times. But in contrast to many approaches to Sicily which have conceived of cultural change in terms of a series of external conquests, this project aims to use settlement and material culture to assess the changing human and physical landscapes of Sicily from the 'inside out'

Edge state reconstruction from strong correlations in quantum spin Hall insulators

We study the fate of helical edge states in a quantum spin Hall insulators when the whole system is exposed to strong Coulomb interactions. Using dynamical mean-field theory, we show that the dispersion relation of the edge states is strongly affected by Coulomb interactions. In fact, the formerly gapless edge modes become gapped at a critical interaction strength. Interestingly, this critical interaction strength is significantly smaller at the edge than its counterpart in the bulk. Thus, the bulk remains in a topologically nontrivial state at intermediate interaction strengths where the edge states are already gapped out. This peculiar scenario leads to the reconstruction of gapless helical states at the new boundary between the topological bulk and the trivial (Mott insulating) edge. Further increasing the interaction strength triggers the progressive localization on the new boundary, the shrinking of the quantum spin Hall region, and the migration of the helical edge states towards the center of the system. The edge state reconstruction process is eventually interrupted by the Mott localization of the whole sample. Finally, we characterize the topological properties of the system by means of a local Chern marker

A Combined Ion Implantation/Nanosecond Laser Irradiation Approach towards Si Nanostructures Doping

The exploitation of Si nanostructures for electronic and optoelectronic devices depends on their electronic doping. We investigate a methodology for As doping of Si nanostructures taking advantages of ion beam implantation and nanosecond laser irradiation melting dynamics. We illustrate the behaviour of As when it is confined, by the implantation technique, in a SiO2/Si/SiO2multilayer and its spatial redistribution after annealing processes. As accumulation at the Si/SiO2interfaces was observed by Rutherford backscattering spectrometry in agreement with a model that assumes a traps distribution in the Si in the first 2-3 nm above the SiO2/Si interfaces. A concentration of 1014 traps/cm2has been evaluated. This result opens perspectives for As doping of Si nanoclusters embedded in SiO2since a Si nanocluster of radius 1 nm embedded in SiO2should trap 13 As atoms at the interface. In order to promote the As incorporation in the nanoclusters for an effective doping, an approach based on ion implantation and nanosecond laser irradiation was investigated. Si nanoclusters were produced in SiO2layer. After As ion implantation and nanosecond laser irradiation, spectroscopic ellipsometry measurements show nanoclusters optical properties consistent with their effective doping

Limitations on the principle of stationary phase when it is applied to tunneling analysis

Using a recently developed procedure - multiple wave packet decomposition - here we study the phase time formulation for tunneling/reflecting particles colliding with a potential barrier. To partially overcome the analytical difficulties which frequently arise when the stationary phase method is employed for deriving phase (tunneling) time expressions, we present a theoretical exercise involving a symmetrical collision between two identical wave packets and an one-dimensional rectangular potential barrier. Summing the amplitudes of the reflected and transmitted waves - using a method we call multiple peak decomposition - is shown to allow reconstruction of the scattered wave packets in a way which allows the stationary phase principle to be recovered.Comment: 17 pages, 2 figure

SINPHOS - SINgle PHOton spectrometer for biomedical application

In the last decades several experiments have clearly demonstrated that, once illuminated, all biological systems emit for some time a very weak flux of photons, called Delayed Luminescence (DL). Some recent results have shown the possibility of using the DL as a diagnostic tool in the field of optical biopsy or of multi-dimensional diagnostics. Following such indications we decided to start developing SINPHOS, a monolithic micro-device, capable of measuring simultaneously the time distribution and the spectrum of photons coming from a weak source. Two important innovative aspects will characterize this spectrometer: the optical part, realized by means of the Deep Lithography with Particles (DLP), and SPAD (Single Photon Avalanche Diode) detectors under development along with ST-Microelectronics

Post-graduate medical education in public health: The case of Italy and a call for action

Public health technical expertise is of crucial importance to inform decision makers\u2019 action in the field of health and its broader determinants. Improving education and training of public health professionals for both practice and research is the starting point to strengthen the role of public health so that current health challenges can be efficiently tackled. At the Association of Schools of Public Health in the European Region (ASPHER) Deans\u2019 & Directors\u2019 2017 Annual Retreat, we presented the structure and management of public health training system in Italy, and we reported recent data on Italian public health specialists\u2019 educational experience, employment opportunities and job satisfaction. Public health training in Italy is implemented in the context of the post-graduate medical education residency programme in Hygiene and Preventive Medicine, delivered by 34 University-based Schools of Public Health. We report relatively high employment rates across the county and wide spectrum of career opportunities for young public health specialists. However, job security is low and training expectations only partially met. We call upon other Schools of Public Health to scale up the survey within the broad ASPHER community in a shared and coordinated action of systematically collecting useful data that can inform the development of public health education and training models, their implementation and fruitful interaction with population health, health systems and services