Chronic bacterial prostatitis: efficacy of short-lasting antibiotic therapy with prulifloxacin (Unidrox®) in association with saw palmetto extract, lactobacillus sporogens and arbutin (Lactorepens®)

Bacterial prostatitis (BP) is a common condition accounting responsible for about 5-10% of all prostatitis cases; chronic bacterial prostatitis (CBP) classified as type II, are less common but is a condition that significantly hampers the quality of life, (QoL) because not only is it a physical condition but also a psychological distress. Commonly patients are treated with antibiotics alone, and in particular fluoroquinolones are suggested by the European Urology guidelines. This approach, although recommended, may not be enough. Thus, a multimodal approach to the prolonged antibiotic therapy may be helpful.210 patients affected by chronic bacterial prostatitis were enrolled in the study. All patients were positive to Meares-Stamey test and symptoms duration was > 3 months. The purpose of the study was to evaluate the efficacy of a long lasting therapy with a fluoroquinolone in association with a nutraceutical supplement (prulifloxacin 600 mg for 21 days and an association of Serenoa repens 320 mg, Lactobacillus Sporogens 200 mg, Arbutin 100 mg for 30 days). Patients were randomized in two groups (A and B) receiving respectively antibiotic alone and an association of antibiotic plus supplement.Biological recurrence at 2 months in Group A was observed in 21 patients (27.6%) and in Group B in 6 patients (7.8%). Uropathogens found at the first follow-up were for the majority Gram - (E. coli and Enterobacter spp.). A statistically significant difference was found at the time of the follow-up between Group A and B in the NIH-CPSI questionnaire score, symptoms evidence and serum PSA.Broad band, short-lasting antibiotic therapy in association with a nutritional supplement (serenoa repens, lactobacillus sporogens and arbutin) show better control and recurrence rate on patients affected by chronic bacterial prostatitits in comparison with antibiotic treatment alone.NCT02130713Date of trial Registration: 30/04/2014

Bosonic Memory Channels

We discuss a Bosonic channel model with memory effects. It relies on a multi-mode squeezed (entangled) environment's state. The case of lossy Bosonic channels is analyzed in detail. We show that in the absence of input energy constraints the memory channels are equivalent to their memoryless counterparts. In the case of input energy constraint we provide lower and upper bounds for the memory channel capacity.Comment: 6 pages, 2 figure

A pertubative approach to the Kondo effect in magnetic atoms on nonmagnetic substrates

Recent experimental advances in scanning tunneling microscopy make the measurement of the conductance spectra of isolated and magnetically coupled atoms on nonmagnetic substrates possible. Notably these spectra are characterized by a competition between the Kondo effect and spin-flip inelastic electron tunneling. In particular they include Kondo resonances and a logarithmic enhancement of the conductance at voltages corresponding to magnetic excitations, two features that cannot be captured by second order perturbation theory in the electron-spin coupling. We have now derived a third order analytic expression for the electron-spin self-energy, which can be readily used in combination with the non-equilibrium Green's function scheme for electron transport at finite bias. We demonstrate that our method is capable of quantitative description the competition between Kondo resonances and spin-flip inelastic electron tunneling at a computational cost significantly lower than that of other approaches. The examples of Co and Fe on CuN are discussed in detail

Reversible and Irreversible Spacetime Thermodynamics for General Brans-Dicke Theories

We derive the equations of motion for Palatini F(R) gravity by applying an entropy balance law T dS= \delta Q+\delta N to the local Rindler wedge that can be constructed at each point of spacetime. Unlike previous results for metric F(R), there is no bulk viscosity term in the irreversible flux \delta N. Both theories are equivalent to particular cases of Brans-Dicke scalar-tensor gravity. We show that the thermodynamical approach can be used ab initio also for this class of gravitational theories and it is able to provide both the metric and scalar equations of motion. In this case, the presence of an additional scalar degree of freedom and the requirement for it to be dynamical naturally imply a separate contribution from the scalar field to the heat flux \delta Q. Therefore, the gravitational flux previously associated to a bulk viscosity term in metric F(R) turns out to be actually part of the reversible thermodynamics. Hence we conjecture that only the shear viscosity associated with Hartle-Hawking dissipation should be associated with irreversible thermodynamics.Comment: 12 pages, 1 figure; v2: minor editing to clarify Section III, fixed typos; v3: fixed typo

Aluminum arsenide cleaved-edge overgrown quantum wires

We report conductance measurements in quantum wires made of aluminum arsenide, a heavy-mass, multi-valley one-dimensional (1D) system. Zero-bias conductance steps are observed as the electron density in the wire is lowered, with additional steps observable upon applying a finite dc bias. We attribute these steps to depopulation of successive 1D subbands. The quantum conductance is substantially reduced with respect to the anticipated value for a spin- and valley-degenerate 1D system. This reduction is consistent with disorder-induced, intra-wire backscattering which suppresses the transmission of 1D modes. Calculations are presented to demonstrate the role of strain in the 1D states of this cleaved-edge structure.Comment: Submitted to Applied Physics Letter

Thermodynamics of the self-gravitating ring model

We present the phase diagram, in both the microcanonical and the canonical ensemble, of the Self-Gravitating-Ring (SGR) model, which describes the motion of equal point masses constrained on a ring and subject to 3D gravitational attraction. If the interaction is regularized at short distances by the introduction of a softening parameter, a global entropy maximum always exists, and thermodynamics is well defined in the mean-field limit. However, ensembles are not equivalent and a phase of negative specific heat in the microcanonical ensemble appears in a wide intermediate energy region, if the softening parameter is small enough. The phase transition changes from second to first order at a tricritical point, whose location is not the same in the two ensembles. All these features make of the SGR model the best prototype of a self-gravitating system in one dimension. In order to obtain the stable stationary mass distribution, we apply a new iterative method, inspired by a previous one used in 2D turbulence, which ensures entropy increase and, hence, convergence towards an equilibrium state

Exactly solvable Ising--Heisenberg chain with triangular XXZ-Heisenberg plaquettes

A mixed Ising-Heisenberg spin system consisting of triangular XXZ-Heisenberg spin clusters assembled into a chain by alternating with Ising spins interacting to all three spins in the triangle is considered. The exact solution of the model is given in terms of the generalized decoration--iteration map and within the transfer-matrix technique. Exact expressions for thermodynamic functions are derived. Ground state phase diagrams, thermodynamic and magnetic properties of the system are examined.Comment: 16 pages, 12 figure

The Discovery of a High Redshift X-ray Emitting QSO Very Close to the Nucleus of NGC 7319

A strong X-ray source only 8" from the nucleus of the Sy2 galaxy NGC 7319 in Stephan's Quintet has been discovered by Chandra. We have identified the optical counterpart and show it is a QSO with $z_e = 2.114$. It is also a ULX with $L_x = 1.5 x 10^{40} erg sec^{-1}$. From the optical spectra of the QSO and interstellar gas in the galaxy (z = .022) we show that it is very likely that the QSO and the gas are interacting.Comment: 8 figures, 5 color, minimized ps siz

Rigidly rotating dust solutions depending upon harmonic functions

We write down the relevant field equations for a stationary axially symmetric rigidly rotating dust source in such a way that the general solution depends upon the solution of an elliptic equation and upon harmonic functions. Starting with the dipole Bonnor solution, we built an asymptotically flat solution with two curvature singularities on the rotational axis with diverging mass. Apart from the two point singularities on the axis, the metric is regular everywhere. Finally, we study a non-asymptotically flat solution with NUT charge and a massless ring singularity, but with a well-defined mass-energy expression.Comment: typos corrected, final version published in Class. Quantum Gra

Statistical properties of Lorenz like flows, recent developments and perspectives

We comment on mathematical results about the statistical behavior of Lorenz equations an its attractor, and more generally to the class of singular hyperbolic systems. The mathematical theory of such kind of systems turned out to be surprisingly difficult. It is remarkable that a rigorous proof of the existence of the Lorenz attractor was presented only around the year 2000 with a computer assisted proof together with an extension of the hyperbolic theory developed to encompass attractors robustly containing equilibria. We present some of the main results on the statisitcal behavior of such systems. We show that for attractors of three-dimensional flows, robust chaotic behavior is equivalent to the existence of certain hyperbolic structures, known as singular-hyperbolicity. These structures, in turn, are associated to the existence of physical measures: \emph{in low dimensions, robust chaotic behavior for flows ensures the existence of a physical measure}. We then give more details on recent results on the dynamics of singular-hyperbolic (Lorenz-like) attractors.Comment: 40 pages; 10 figures; Keywords: sensitive dependence on initial conditions, physical measure, singular-hyperbolicity, expansiveness, robust attractor, robust chaotic flow, positive Lyapunov exponent, large deviations, hitting and recurrence times. Minor typos corrected and precise acknowledgments of financial support added. To appear in Int J of Bif and Chaos in App Sciences and Engineerin