968 research outputs found
Mechanisms of Self-Organization and Finite Size Effects in a Minimal Agent Based Model
We present a detailed analysis of the self-organization phenomenon in which
the stylized facts originate from finite size effects with respect to the
number of agents considered and disappear in the limit of an infinite
population. By introducing the possibility that agents can enter or leave the
market depending on the behavior of the price, it is possible to show that the
system self-organizes in a regime with a finite number of agents which
corresponds to the stylized facts. The mechanism to enter or leave the market
is based on the idea that a too stable market is unappealing for traders while
the presence of price movements attracts agents to enter and speculate on the
market. We show that this mechanism is also compatible with the idea that
agents are scared by a noisy and risky market at shorter time scales. We also
show that the mechanism for self-organization is robust with respect to
variations of the exit/entry rules and that the attempt to trigger the system
to self-organize in a region without stylized facts leads to an unrealistic
dynamics. We study the self-organization in a specific agent based model but we
believe that the basic ideas should be of general validity.Comment: 14 pages, 7 figure
Nonclassical Light in Interferometric Measurements
It is shown that the even and odd coherent light and other nonclassical
states of light like superposition of coherent states with different phases may
replace the squeezed light in interferometric gravitational wave detector to
increase its sensitivity. (Contribution to the Second Workshop on Harmonic
Oscillator, Cocoyoc, Mexico, March 1994)Comment: 8 pages,LATEX,preprint of Naples University,
INFN-NA-IV-94/30,DSF-T-94/3
Photonic Cavity Effects for Enhanced Efficiency in Layered Perovskite-Based Light-Emitting Diodes
Quantification and Dosing of Renal Replacement Therapy in Acute Kidney Injury: A Reappraisal
Background/Aims: Delivered dialysis therapy is routinely measured in the management of patients with end-stage renal disease; yet, the quantification of renal replacement prescription and delivery in acute kidney injury (AKI) is less established. While continuous renal replacement therapy (CRRT) is widely understood to have greater solute clearance capabilities relative to intermittent therapies, neither urea nor any other solute is specifically employed for CRRT dose assessments in clinical practice at present. Instead, the normalized effluent rate is the gold standard for CRRT dosing, although this parameter does not provide an accurate estimation of actual solute clearance for different modalities. Methods: Because this situation has created confusion among clinicians, we reappraise dose prescription and delivery for CRRT. Results: A critical review of RRT quantification in AKI is provided. Conclusion: We propose an adaptation of a maintenance dialysis parameter (standard Kt/V) as a benchmark to supplement effluent-based dosing of CRRT. Video Journal Club "Cappuccino with Claudio Ronco" at http://www.karger.com/?doi=47545
Stacked optical antennas for plasmon propagation in a 5 nm-confined cavity
The sub-wavelength concentration and propagation of electromagnetic energy are two complementary aspects of plasmonics that are not necessarily co-present in a single nanosystem. Here we exploit the strong nanofocusing properties of stacked optical antennas in order to highly concentrate the electromagnetic energy into a 5 nm metal-insulator-metal (MIM) cavity and convert free radiation into guided modes. The proposed nano-architecture combines the concentration properties of optical nanoantennas with the propagation capability of MIM systems, paving the way to highly miniaturized on-chip plasmonic waveguiding
Knowledge representation for culturally competent personal robots: requirements, design principles, implementation, and assessment
Culture, intended as the set of beliefs, values, ideas, language, norms and customs which compose a person’s life, is an essential element to know by any robot for personal assistance. Culture, intended as that person’s background, can be an invaluable source of information to drive and speed up the process of discovering and adapting to the person’s habits, preferences and needs. This article discusses the requirements posed by cultural competence on the knowledge management system of a robot. We propose a framework for cultural knowledge representation that relies on (i) a three layer ontology for storing concepts of relevance, culture specific information and statistics, person-specific information and preferences; (ii) an algorithm for the acquisition of person-specific knowledge, which uses culture specific knowledge to drive the search; (iii) a Bayesian Network for speeding up the adaptation to the person by propagating the effects of acquiring one specific information onto interconnected concepts. We have conducted a preliminary evaluation of the framework involving 159 Italian and German volunteers and considering 122 among habits, attitudes and social norms
Using microbiological sampling to evaluate the efficacy of nasofibroscope disinfection: The tristel trio wipes system in ear–nose–throat (ENT) endoscopy
Disinfection and sterilization are needed for guaranteeing that medical and surgical instruments do not spread contagious microorganisms to patients. The aim of this study was to evaluate the efficacy of a simple manual technique of high-level disinfection (HLD) of flexible fiberoptic nasofibroscopes (FFNs) with wipes impregnated with a chlorine dioxide solution (Tristel Trio Wipes System—TTW) against a conventional automated washer machine (Soluscope ENT, Cimrex 12—AW). FFNs used in 62 patients undergoing endoscopy at an ENT clinic were sampled according to an aseptic procedure. For each nasoendoscopy, microbiological samples were taken at two times: (1) after a patient’s nasoendoscopy and (2) immediately after high-level disinfection. Ten microliters of each prepared sample were inoculated onto specific culture media for the detection of nasopharyngeal flora microorganisms. The microbiological results obtained from 62 post-disinfection samples revealed bacterial growth on two FFNs disinfected with AW, and five FFNs disinfected with TTW, but this difference is not statistically significant. None of the isolates were pathogenic bacteria. Our results are different than the results obtained by two previously published studies on the TTW system. In both studies, sampling was carried out by swabbing the tip and the handle surface of FFNs. This sampling method was the least effective method means of detecting bacteria on a surface. It can be concluded that the two disinfection systems allow providers to obtain a reduction of the saprophytic and pathogenic microbial load
Multi-scheme approach for efficient surface plasmon polariton generation in metallic conical tips on AFM-based cantilevers
We report on the possibility of realizing adiabatic surface plasmon polaritons compression on metallic conical tips built-in on AFM cantilevers by means of different approaches. The problem is faced considering the role of the source, when linear and radial polarizations are assumed, associated to different fabrication schemes. Nano-patterned devices properly combined with metallic conical tips can affect the adiabatic characteristic of the surface electric field. The results are analyzed in terms of tradeoff between fabrication difficulties and device performances. Suggestions on the best possible scheme are provided
Non-invasive tool to assess heart rhythm in Zebrafish embryos
In the last years the zebrafish (Danio rerio) has emerged as model organism for cardiac research, in spite of the morphological differences with the human heart. In consequence of the similarity to humans in the early function, the zebrafish embryo has been suggested as an ideal model i) to study the molecular mechanism of cardiac development, and ii) to identify genes related to congenital cardiac defects in human [1]. The overall similarity of zebrafish embryos and human, in responses to human cardiotoxic drugs, was demonstrated, for example, in drug-induced cardiac arrhythmia [2]. For this reason, several methods have been developed to assess cardiac functions in zebrafish embryos [3,4]. Unfortunately, all these techniques suffer from drawbacks (time consuming, skillful operator are ended to perform the experiments) which limit their applications for large scale studies. The development in digital imaging has recently made analysis of cardiac functions in genetically modified transparent zebrafish embryos easier. This allowed to assess non-invasively heart rate variability in zebrafish embryos from videos of beating heart, but without measuring heartbeat rhythm, an important indicator of the cardiac function (heartbeat regularity is associated with cardiotoxicity in humans [1]), from power spectrum of heart signal. In the present study, we present a simple, non-invasive method that, by video-recording embryo images using confocal microscopy, and integrating image processing and power spectral analysis, allows to measure the heartbeat rhythm in zebrafish embryos heart chambers (atrium, ventricle, bulb) (Figure 1). The reliability of the herein proposed method was verified. Some embryos undergone treatment by tricaine, a cardiac anaesthetizing drug, in consequence of which a decrease of the heart rate is expected: the heartbeat regularity in tricaine- treated embryos determined from power spectral analysis decreased as compared to no-treated embryos. The results demonstrated that our method is able to assess the cardiac physiology, in term of heart rhythm, in zebrafish embryos
Emergent Chiral Symmetry: Parity and Time Reversal Doubles
There are numerous examples of approximately degenerate states of opposite
parity in molecular physics. Theory indicates that these doubles can occur in
molecules that are reflection-asymmetric. Such parity doubles occur in nuclear
physics as well, among nuclei with odd A 219-229. We have also suggested
elsewhere that such doubles occur in particle physics for baryons made up of
`cbu' and `cbd' quarks. In this article, we discuss the theoretical foundations
of these doubles in detail, demonstrating their emergence as a surprisingly
subtle consequence of the Born-Oppenheimer approximation, and emphasizing their
bundle-theoretic and topological underpinnings. Starting with certain ``low
energy'' effective theories in which classical symmetries like parity and time
reversal are anomalously broken on quantization, we show how these symmetries
can be restored by judicious inclusion of ``high-energy'' degrees of freedom.
This mechanism of restoring the symmetry naturally leads to the aforementioned
doublet structure. A novel by-product of this mechanism is the emergence of an
approximate symmetry (corresponding to the approximate degeneracy of the
doubles) at low energies which is not evident in the full Hamiltonian. We also
discuss the implications of this mechanism for Skyrmion physics, monopoles,
anomalies and quantum gravity.Comment: 32 pages, latex. minor changes in presentation and reference
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