Efficient excitation of a two level atom by a single photon in a propagating mode

State mapping between atoms and photons, and photon-photon interactions play an important role in scalable quantum information processing. We consider the interaction of a two-level atom with a quantized \textit{propagating} pulse in free space and study the probability $P_e(t)$ of finding the atom in the excited state at any time $t$. This probability is expected to depend on (i) the quantum state of the pulse field and (ii) the overlap between the pulse and the dipole pattern of the atomic spontaneous emission. We show that the second effect is captured by a single parameter $\Lambda\in[0,8\pi/3]$, obtained by weighting the dipole pattern with the numerical aperture. Then $P_e(t)$ can be obtained by solving time-dependent Heisenberg-Langevin equations. We provide detailed solutions for both single photon Fock state and coherent states and for various temporal shapes of the pulses.Comment: 6 pages, 5 figures, 2 table

From Boom to Bust: a Post-Celtic Tiger analysis of the Norms, Values and Roles of Irish Financial Journalists

The collapse of Ireland\u27s economy into its worst recession in modern history has prompted some professional reflection about the roles and responsibilities of the country’s financial journalists. Conor Brady, a former editor of the Irish Times, asked in a commentary article published in his former paper: ‘Was the forming of this crisis reportable earlier? Were emerging trends apparent? Did they [the news media] do as good a job as they might have in flagging the approaching storm?’ Brady, editor of the paper between 1986 and 2002, the period corresponding to the rise of the Celtic Tiger economy, concluded that criticisms of the systemic problems in the financial system were articulated by some figures in key positions in Irish society, but were not reported in the news media ‘in a form that was sufficiently sustained, coherent and authoritative’

From Boom to Bust: a Post-Celtic Tiger Analysis of the Norms, Values and Roles of Irish Financial Journalists

The collapse of Ireland\u27s economy into its worst recession in modern history has prompted some professional reflection about the roles and responsibilities of the country’s financial journalists. Conor Brady, a former editor of the Irish Times, asked in a commentary article published in his former paper: ‘Was the forming of this crisis reportable earlier? Were emerging trends apparent? Did they [the news media] do as good a job as they might have in flagging the approaching storm?’ Brady, editor of the paper between 1986 and 2002, the period corresponding to the rise of the Celtic Tiger economy, concluded that criticisms of the systemic problems in the financial system were articulated by some figures in key positions in Irish society, but were not reported in the news media ‘in a form that was sufficiently sustained, coherent and authoritative’

“Soccer is a matter of real men?” Sexist and homophobic attitudes in three Italian soccer teams differentiated by sexual orientation and gender identity

During the 1980s and early 1990s, homophobia and sexism were pervasive in sport contexts due to their sex-segregation, male-domination, and heteronormative culture. In the last two decades, a change in attitudes toward gender and sexuality, in particular within typically masculine sports, has been observed. Notwithstanding that, no research assessing if this change also occurred in Italy was conducted. Using semi-structured focus groups and adopting the framework of Inclusive Masculinity Theory, the current study explored sexist and homophobic attitudes in three Italian soccer teams differentiated by gender and sexual orientation. Team 1 comprised openly gay male athletes, Team 2 comprised both lesbian and heterosexual women, and Team 3 comprised heterosexual men. Narratives were analysed through constant comparison analysis. Specific macro-categories were identified in each team, as follows: Team 1: need for affiliation, in/visibility, perceived homophobia, and perceived institutionalised homophobia; Team 2: need for affiliation, masculine dominance, equal opportunities, and crossing gender boundaries; and Team 3: presumption of heterosexuality, female inferiority, and tendency toward a homosocial law. The results suggest that soccer, in Italy, still represents a context organised around men’s dominance over women and the stigmatisation of gay men. Notwithstanding, they suggest also that we are witnessing an interlocutory phase where some heterosexual soccer players are starting to challenge homophobia but, at the same time, women and openly gay players still perceive a homohysteric culture. The discussion is contextualised in the social context where discourses arose

How Many Teams Should We Manage at Once? The Effect of Multiple Team Membership, Collaborative Technologies, and Polychronicity on Team Performance

We explore the relationship between multiple team membership (the extent to which team members are engaged in more than one team and switch between different teams in a work day) and team performance. We argue that the number of MTMs has an inverted U-shaped relationship with team performance while the team average daily MTM is negatively related to performance. We propose that the use of collaborative technologies moderates the above relationships: when MTM is low technology use helps teams attain higher performance, when MTM is high collaborative technology use reduces performance. Conversely, variance in perceptions of technologies’ usefulness negatively moderates the above relationships. Finally, we expect teams whose members are more polychronic to perform better when MTM is high, but teams whose members are very diverse in terms of polychronicity to experience reduced performance. We are exploring these issues through a mixed-methods field study conducted in an IT consulting firm

The ruminant sorting mechanism protects teeth from abrasives

Dental wear due to ingestion of dust and grit has deleterious consequences. Herbivores that could not wash their food hence had to evolve particularly durable teeth, in parallel to the evolution of dental chewing surface complexity to increase chewing efficacy. The rumen sorting mechanism increases chewing efficacy beyond that reached by any other mammal and has been hypothesized to also offer an internal washing mechanism, which would be an outstanding example of an additional advantage by a physiological adaptation, but in vivo evidence is lacking so far. Here, we investigated four cannulated, live cows that received a diet to which sand was added. Silica in swallowed food and feces reflected experimental dietary sand contamination, whereas the regurgitate submitted to rumination remained close to the silica levels of the basal food. This helps explain how ruminants are able to tolerate high levels of dust or grit in their diet, with less high-crowned teeth than nonruminants in the same habitat. Palaeo-reconstructions based on dental morphology and dental wear traces need to take the ruminants’ wear-protection mechanism into account. The inadvertent advantage likely contributed to the ruminants’ current success in terms of species diversity

An amino acid-defined diet impairs tumour growth in mice by promoting endoplasmic reticulum stress and mTOR inhibition

Objective: Profound metabolic alterations characterize cancer development and, beyond glucose addiction, amino acid (AA) dependency is now recognized as a hallmark of tumour growth. Therefore, targeting the metabolic addiction of tumours by reprogramming their substrate utilization is an attractive therapeutic strategy. We hypothesized that a dietary approach targeted to stimulate oxidative metabolism could reverse the metabolic inflexibility of tumours and represent a proper adjuvant therapy. Methods: We measured tumour development in xenografted mice fed with a designer, casein-deprived diet enriched in free essential amino acids (EAAs; SFA-EAA diet), or two control isocaloric, isolipidic, and isonitrogenous diets, identical to the SFA-EAA diet except for casein presence (SFA diet), or casein replacement by the free AA mixture designed on the AA profile of casein (SFA-CAA diet). Moreover, we investigated the metabolic, biochemical, and molecular effects of two mixtures that reproduce the AA composition of the SFA-EAA diet (i.e., EAAm) and SFA-CAA diet (i.e., CAAm) in diverse cancer and non-cancer cells. Results: The SFA-EAA diet reduced tumour growth in vivo, promoted endoplasmic reticulum (ER) stress, and inhibited mechanistic/mammalian target of rapamycin (mTOR) activity in the tumours. Accordingly, in culture, the EAAm, but not the CAAm, activated apoptotic cell death in cancer cells without affecting the survival and proliferation of non-cancer cells. The EAAm increased branched-chain amino acid (BCAA) oxidation and decreased glycolysis, ATP levels, redox potential, and intracellular content of selective non-essential amino acids (NEAA) in cancer cells. The EAAm-induced NEAA starvation activated the GCN2-ATF4 stress pathway, leading to ER stress, mTOR inactivation, and apoptosis in cancer cells, unlike non-cancer cells. Conclusion: Together, these results confirm the efficacy of specific EAA mixtures in promoting cancer cells’ death and suggest that manipulation of dietary EAA content and profile could be a valuable support to the standard chemotherapy for specific cancers

Danos causados pelo adulto da cigarrinha Zulia entreriana na produção e qualidade de Brachiaria decumbens.

Os danos causados pelas cigarrinhas reduzindo a capacidade de suporte das pastagens, são de grande importância em vários paises centro e sul-americanos. Visando a obtenção de alguns elementos, que pudessem contribuir na tomada de decisão quanto ao controle desses insetos, desenvolveu-se o presente trabalho, onde se procurou avaliar os danos, causados pelo adulto da cigarrinha Zulia entreriana (Berg 1879) (Homoptera: Cercopidade), na produção e qualidade de Brachiaria decumbens Stapf cv. Basilisk. Estabeleceram-se quatro níveis populacionais (zero, 25, 50 e 100 adultos por metro quadrado) utilizando-se gaiolas. As plantas no interior destas, tiveram suas alturas padronizadas em 25 cm. As infestações foram mantidas por dez dias. Apos este período procederam-se os cortes para as avaliações de produção e qualidade. Constataram-se reduções significativas (P<0,05) na produção. Vinte e cinco adultos por metro quadrado reduziram, em 30% a produção de matéria seca de B. decumbens. Sobre a qualidade desta forrageira, estes insetos, diminuíram, significativamente (P<0,05), os teores de proteína bruta, fósforo, cálcio, magnésio e potássio, e aumentaram (P<0,05) os teores de matéria seca e de fibra.Título em inglês: Damage caused by the pasture spittlebug Zulia entreriana on production and quality of Brachiaria decumbens