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

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

Thymus richardii subsp. nitidus (Guss.) Jalas Essential Oil: An Ally against Oral Pathogens and Mouth Health

The genus Thymus L., belonging to the Lamiaceae family, contains about 220 species with a distribution that mainly extends in Europe, northwest Africa, Ethiopia, Asia, and southern Greenland. Due to their excellent biological properties, fresh and/or dried leaves and aerial parts of several Thymus ssp. have been utilized in the traditional medicine of many countries. To evaluate not only the chemical aspects but also the biological properties, the essential oils (EOs), obtained from the pre-flowering and flowering aerial parts of Thymus richardii subsp. nitidus (Guss.) Jalas, endemic to Marettimo Island (Sicily, Italy), were investigated. The chemical composition of the EOs, obtained by classical hydrodistillation and GC-MS and GC-FID analyses, showed the occurrence of similar amounts of monoterpene hydrocarbons, oxygenated monoterpenes, and sesquiterpene hydrocarbons. The main constituents of the pre-flowering oil were β-bisabolene (28.54%), p-cymene (24.45%), and thymol methyl ether (15.90%). The EO obtained from the flowering aerial parts showed as principal metabolites β-bisabolene (17.91%), thymol (16.26%), and limonene (15.59%). The EO of the flowering aerial parts, and its main pure constituents, β-bisabolene, thymol, limonene, p-cymene, and thymol methyl ether were investigated for their antimicrobial activity against oral pathogens and for their antibiofilm and antioxidant properties

Surface-Barrier Effects in the Microwave Second-Harmonic Response of Superconductors in the Mixed State

We report on transient effects in the microwave second-order response of different type of superconductors in the mixed state. The samples have contemporarily been exposed to a dc magnetic field, varying with a constant rate of 60 Oe/s, and a pulsed microwave magnetic field. The time evolution of the signal radiated at the second-harmonic frequency of the driving field has been measured for about 500 s from the instant in which the dc-field sweep has been stopped, with sampling time of about 0.3 s. We show that the second-harmonic signal exhibits two relaxation regimes; an initial exponential decay, which endures roughly 10 s, and a logarithmic decay in the time scale of minutes. Evidence is given that the decay in the time scale of minutes is ruled by magnetic relaxation over the surface barrier.Comment: 6 pages, 6 embedded figure

Dihydrophenanthrenes from a sicilian accession of himantoglossum robertianum (Loisel.) P. Delforge showed antioxidant, antimicrobial, and antiproliferative activities

The peculiar aspect that emerges from the study of Orchidaceae is the presence of various molecules, which are particularly interesting for pharmaceutical chemistry due to their wide range of biological resources. The aim of our study was to investigate the properties of two dihydrophenanthrenes, isolated, for the first time, from Himantoglossum robertianum (Loisel.) P. Delforge (Orchidaceae) bulbs and roots. Chemical and spectroscopic study of the bulbs and roots of Himantoglossum robertianum (Loisel.) P. Delforge resulted in the isolation of two known dihydrophenanthrenes—loroglossol and hircinol—never isolated from this plant species. The structures were evaluated based on1H-NMR,13C-NMR, and two-dimensional spectra, and by comparison with the literature. These two molecules have been tested for their possible antioxidant, antimicrobial, antiproliferative, and proapoptotic activities. In particular, it has been shown that these molecules cause an increase in the activity of superoxide dismutase (SOD), catalase (CAT), and glutathione S-transferase (GST) in polymorphonuclear leukocytes (PMN); show antimicrobial activity against Escherichia coli and Staphylococcus aureus, and have anti-proliferative effects on gastric cancer cell lines, inducing apoptosis effects. Therefore, these two molecules could be considered promising candidates for pharmaceutical and nutraceutical preparations

\u201cWeekly docetaxel and gemcitabine as first line treatment for metastatic breast cancer: results of a multicenter phase II study\u201d

Objectives: We conducted a multicenter phase II study to evaluate the clinical effi cacy, toxicity, and dose intensity of a new weekly schedule of docetaxel and gemcitabine as fi rst-line treatment of metastatic breast cancer patients. Methods: We enrolled 58 patients, 52% of whom had received a previous anthracycline-containing chemotherapy. The treatment schedule was: docetaxel 35 mg/m 2 and gemcitabine 800 mg/m 2 i.v. on days 1, 8,15 every 28 days. Results: All patients were assessable for toxicity and 56 for effi cacy. Overall response rate was 64.3% with 16.1% of complete responses and 48.2% of partial responses. Median survival was 22.10 months (95% CI: 15.53\u201328.67) and median time to tumor progression was 13.6 months (95% CI: 10.71\u201316.49). The most common hematological toxicity was neutropenia (no febrile neutropenia), which occurred in 28 patients (48.3%) but grade 3\u20134 in only 8 patients (14%). Alopecia, the most common nonhematological toxicity, occurred in 20 (34.5%) patients, but only 5 patients (8.6%) experienced grade 3 alopecia. Conclusion: The activity of docetaxel and gemcitabine in metastatic breast cancer is confirmed. The promising results of the employed schedule,in agreement with other published studies, need to be further confirmed within a phase III study

Random matrix approach to the dynamics of stock inventory variations

We study the cross-correlation matrix $C_{ij}$ of inventory variations of the most active individual and institutional investors in an emerging market to understand the dynamics of inventory variations. We find that the distribution of cross-correlation coefficient $C_{ij}$ has a power-law form in the bulk followed by exponential tails and there are more positive coefficients than negative ones. In addition, it is more possible that two individuals or two institutions have stronger inventory variation correlation than one individual and one institution. We find that the largest and the second largest eigenvalues ($\lambda_1$ and $\lambda_2$) of the correlation matrix cannot be explained by the random matrix theory and the projection of inventory variations on the first eigenvector $u(\lambda_1)$ are linearly correlated with stock returns, where individual investors play a dominating role. The investors are classified into three categories based on the cross-correlation coefficients $C_{VR}$ between inventory variations and stock returns. Half individuals are reversing investors who exhibit evident buy and sell herding behaviors, while 6% individuals are trending investors. For institutions, only 10% and 8% investors are trending and reversing investors. A strong Granger causality is unveiled from stock returns to inventory variations, which means that a large proportion of individuals hold the reversing trading strategy and a small part of individuals hold the trending strategy. Comparing with the case of Spanish market, Chinese investors exhibit common and market-specific behaviors. Our empirical findings have scientific significance in the understanding of investors' trading behaviors and in the construction of agent-based models for stock markets.Comment: 10 REVTEX pages including 7 figure

CITES, wild plants, and opportunities for crime

The illegal trade in endangered plants damages both the environment and local communities by threatening and destroying numerous species and important natural resources. There is very little research which systematically addresses this issue by identifying specific opportunities for crime. This article presents the results of an interdisciplinary study which brings together criminological and conservation science expertise to identify criminal opportunities in the illegal wild plant trade and suggest strategies in order to prevent and mitigate the problem. Methodologically, the study adapts a crime proofing of legislation approach to the UN Convention on the International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora and is based on documentary and interview data. Situational crime prevention is used as a framework to provide points for effective intervention

Monitoring internet trade to inform species conservation actions

Specimens, parts and products of threatened species are now commonly traded on the internet. This could threaten the survival of some wild populations if inadequately regulated. We outline two methods to monitor internet sales of threatened species in order to assess potential threats and inform conservation actions. Our first method combines systematic monitoring of online offers of plants for sale over the internet with consultation by experts experienced in identifying plants collected from the wild based on images of the specimens, species identity and details of the trade. Our second method utilises a computational model, trained using Bayesian techniques to records that have been classified by an expert as wild collected or artificially propagated, to predict unknown properties of the traded taxa, such as whether a species being sold is collected from the wild or the identity of an unknown wild collected species. We used these methods to monitor internet trade in five genera of succulent plant species endemic to Madagascar, for which some have recently been listed for trade regulation under the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES). This revealed potential threats to wild populations: for instance, almost all species recorded were of high conservation concern yet most offers for live plants were of apparently wild collected specimens (85%). Moreover, no records of international trade in the official CITES database were from the countries featured in our survey. Our model predicted with 89% accuracy whether the live plants were classified as propagated or wild collected by an expert, although accuracy dropped for data collected in the following summer due to a change in the patterns of sales. Our results highlight potential threats by internet trade to the survival of some CITES and non-CITES listed plant species from Madagascar. These should be addressed by further conservation actions and policy. More generally, our results reveal how standardised internet surveys can provide information on levels of trade in wild collected threatened species that could impact on natural populations and can provide data that can be incorporated into models to facilitate future monitoring and enforcement