Translational dynamics effects on the non-local correlations between two atoms

A pair of atoms interacting successively with the field of the same cavity and exchanging a single photon, leave the cavity in an entangled state of Einstein-Podolsky-Rosen (EPR) type (see, for example, [S.J.D. Phoenix, and S.M. Barnett, J. Mod. Opt. \textbf{40} (1993) 979]). By implementing the model with the translational degrees of freedom, we show in this letter that the entanglement with the translational atomic variables can lead, under appropriate conditions, towards the separability of the internal variables of the two atoms. This implies that the translational dynamics can lead, in some cases, to difficulties in observing the Bell's inequality violation for massive particles.Comment: 5 pages, 1 figur

On the observability of Bell's inequality violation in the optical Stern-Gerlach model

Using the optical Stern-Gerlach model, we have recently shown that the non-local correlations between the internal variables of two atoms that successively interact with the field of an ideal cavity in proximity of a nodal region are affected by the atomic translational dynamics. As a consequence, there can be some difficulties in observing violation of the Bell's inequality for the atomic internal variables. These difficulties persist even if the atoms travel an antinodal region, except when the spatial wave packets are exactly centered in an antinodal point.Comment: 5 pages, 1 figure, submitted to European Physical Journal

The non dissipative damping of the Rabi oscillations as a "which-path" information

Rabi oscillations may be viewed as an interference phenomenon due to a coherent superposition of different quantum paths, like in the Young's two-slit experiment. The inclusion of the atomic external variables causes a non dissipative damping of the Rabi oscillations. More generally, the atomic translational dynamics induces damping in the correlation functions which describe non classical behaviors of the field and internal atomic variables, leading to the separability of these two subsystems. We discuss on the possibility of interpreting this intrinsic decoherence as a "which-way" information effect and we apply to this case a quantitative analysis of the complementarity relation as introduced by Englert [Phys. Rev. Lett. \textbf{77}, 2154 (1996)].Comment: 5 pages, 2 figure

SpxA1 and SpxA2 act coordinately to fine-tune stress responses and virulence in Streptococcus pyogenes

SpxA is a unique transcriptional regulator highly conserved among members of the phylum Firmicutes that binds RNA polymerase and can act as an antiactivator. Why some Firmicutes members have two highly similar SpxA paralogs is not understood. Here, we show that the SpxA paralogs of the pathogen Streptococcus pyogenes, SpxA1 and SpxA2, act coordinately to regulate virulence by fine-tuning toxin expression and stress resistance. Construction and analysis of mutants revealed that SpxA1− mutants were defective for growth under aerobic conditions, while SpxA2− mutants had severely attenuated responses to multiple stresses, including thermal and oxidative stresses. SpxA1− mutants had enhanced resistance to the cationic antimicrobial molecule polymyxin B, while SpxA2− mutants were more sensitive. In a murine model of soft tissue infection, a SpxA1− mutant was highly attenuated. In contrast, the highly stress-sensitive SpxA2− mutant was hypervirulent, exhibiting more extensive tissue damage and a greater bacterial burden than the wild-type strain. SpxA1− attenuation was associated with reduced expression of several toxins, including the SpeB cysteine protease. In contrast, SpxA2− hypervirulence correlated with toxin overexpression and could be suppressed to wild-type levels by deletion of speB. These data show that SpxA1 and SpxA2 have opposing roles in virulence and stress resistance, suggesting that they act coordinately to fine-tune toxin expression in response to stress. SpxA2− hypervirulence also shows that stress resistance is not always essential for S. pyogenes pathogenesis in soft tissue

Statistically validated networks in bipartite complex systems

Many complex systems present an intrinsic bipartite nature and are often described and modeled in terms of networks [1-5]. Examples include movies and actors [1, 2, 4], authors and scientific papers [6-9], email accounts and emails [10], plants and animals that pollinate them [11, 12]. Bipartite networks are often very heterogeneous in the number of relationships that the elements of one set establish with the elements of the other set. When one constructs a projected network with nodes from only one set, the system heterogeneity makes it very difficult to identify preferential links between the elements. Here we introduce an unsupervised method to statistically validate each link of the projected network against a null hypothesis taking into account the heterogeneity of the system. We apply our method to three different systems, namely the set of clusters of orthologous genes (COG) in completely sequenced genomes [13, 14], a set of daily returns of 500 US financial stocks, and the set of world movies of the IMDb database [15]. In all these systems, both different in size and level of heterogeneity, we find that our method is able to detect network structures which are informative about the system and are not simply expression of its heterogeneity. Specifically, our method (i) identifies the preferential relationships between the elements, (ii) naturally highlights the clustered structure of investigated systems, and (iii) allows to classify links according to the type of statistically validated relationships between the connected nodes.Comment: Main text: 13 pages, 3 figures, and 1 Table. Supplementary information: 15 pages, 3 figures, and 2 Table

Community characterization of heterogeneous complex systems

We introduce an analytical statistical method to characterize the communities detected in heterogeneous complex systems. By posing a suitable null hypothesis, our method makes use of the hypergeometric distribution to assess the probability that a given property is over-expressed in the elements of a community with respect to all the elements of the investigated set. We apply our method to two specific complex networks, namely a network of world movies and a network of physics preprints. The characterization of the elements and of the communities is done in terms of languages and countries for the movie network and of journals and subject categories for papers. We find that our method is able to characterize clearly the identified communities. Moreover our method works well both for large and for small communities.Comment: 8 pages, 1 figure and 2 table

Cathepsin D expression levels in nongynecological solid tumors: Clinical and therapeutic implications

Cathepsin D is a lysosomal acid proteinase which is involved in the malignant progression of breast cancer and other gynecological tumors. Clinical investigations have shown that in breast cancer patients cathepsin D overexpression was significantly correlated with a shorter free-time disease and overall survival, whereas in patients with ovarian or endometrial cancer this phenomenon was associated with tumor aggressiveness and a degree of chemoresistance to various antitumor drugs such as anthracyclines, cis-platinum and vinca alkaloids. Therefore, a lot of research has been undertaken to evaluate the role and the prognostic value of cathepsin D also in other solid neoplasms. However, conflicting results have been generated from these studies. The discrepancies in these results may, in part, be explained with the different methodological approaches used in order to determine the levels of expression of the enzyme in tumor tissues and body fluids. Further investigations using well-standardized techniques may better define the clinical significance of cathepsin D expression in solid tumors. Nevertheless, evidence emerging from these studies indicates that this proteinase seems to facilitate early phases of tumor progression such as cell proliferation and local dissemination. These findings support the concept that cathepsin D may be a useful marker for identifying patients with highly malignant tumor phenotypes who may need more aggressive clinical treatment; this enzyme may also be considered as a potential target for a novel therapeutic approach in the treatment of solid neoplasms

Quantum erasure within the Optical Stern-Gerlach Model

In the optical Stern-Gerlach effect the two branches in which the incoming atomic packet splits up can display interference pattern outside the cavity when a field measurement is made which erases the which-way information on the quantum paths the system can follow. On the contrary, the mere possibility to acquire this information causes a decoherence effect which cancels out the interference pattern. A phase space analysis is also carried out to investigate on the negativity of the Wigner function and on the connection between its covariance matrix and the distinguishability of the quantum paths.Comment: 7 pages, 3 figure

Juvenile idiopathic arthritis-associated uveitis: a retrospective analysis from a centre of South Italy

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