Optimization by Quantum Annealing: Lessons from Simple Cases

This paper investigates the basic behavior and performance of simulated quantum annealing (QA) in comparison with classical annealing (CA). Three simple one dimensional case study systems are considered, namely a parabolic well, a double well, and a curved washboard. The time dependent Schr\"odinger evolution in either real or imaginary time describing QA is contrasted with the Fokker Planck evolution of CA. The asymptotic decrease of excess energy with annealing time is studied in each case, and the reasons for differences are examined and discussed. The Huse-Fisher classical power law of double well CA is replaced with a different power law in QA. The multi-well washboard problem studied in CA by Shinomoto and Kabashima and leading classically to a logarithmic annealing even in the absence of disorder, turns to a power law behavior when annealed with QA. The crucial role of disorder and localization is briefly discussed.Comment: 16 pages, 9 figure

Growth patterns of tomato plants subjected to two non-conventional abiotic stresses: UV-C irradiations and electric fields

Ultraviolet-C radiation (UV-C = 100-280 nm) is strongly affected by ozone levels, so that the amount of this radiation reaching the Earth's surface is extremely low. In the future, UV-C radiation is expected to increase as the result of stratospheric ozone depletion due to atmospheric pollution, with strong negative effects on economically important crops. High UV-C doses determine irreversible damages both at plant physiological and morphological levels, leading plants to death. Also electric fields (EFs) can determine changes at morphological and physiological levels in plants. Electro-culture can accelerate growth rates, increase yields, improve crop quality and plant protection against from diseases, insects and frost. This chapter is focused on the effects of the exposition of tomato (Lycopersicon esculentum Mill.), one of the most economically important crop, to UV-C radiation and DC-electric field, able to determine important and significant alterations in plant growth. The protection of tomato plants against UV-C, combined with the growth-promoting effects of electro-culture, could allow farmers to grow bigger and better crops in less time, with less effort, and at a lower cost

Ultrasound IMT measurement on a multi-ethnic and multi-institutional database: Our review and experience using four fully automated and one semi-automated methods

Automated and high performance carotid intima-media thickness (IMT) measurement is gaining increasing importance in clinical practice to assess the cardiovascular risk of patients. In this paper, we compare four fully automated IMT measurement techniques (CALEX, CAMES, CARES and CAUDLES) and one semi-automated technique (FOAM). We present our experience using these algorithms, whose lumen-intima and media-adventitia border estimation use different methods that can be: (a) edge-based; (b) training-based; (c) feature-based; or (d) directional Edge-Flow based. Our database (DB) consisted of 665 images that represented a multi-ethnic group and was acquired using four OEM scanners. The performance evaluation protocol adopted error measures, reproducibility measures, and Figure of Merit (FoM). FOAM showed the best performance, with an IMT bias equal to 0.025 ± 0.225 mm, and a FoM equal to 96.6%. Among the four automated methods, CARES showed the best results with a bias of 0.032 ± 0.279 mm, and a FoM to 95.6%, which was statistically comparable to that of FOAM performance in terms of accuracy and reproducibility. This is the first time that completely automated and user-driven techniques have been compared on a multi-ethnic dataset, acquired using multiple original equipment manufacturer (OEM) machines with different gain settings, representing normal and pathologic case

UV-C irradiation effects on young tomato plants: Preliminary results

Ultraviolet-C radiation (UV-C = 100-280 nm) is strongly affected by ozone levels, so that the amount of this radiation reaching the Earth's surface is extremely low. In the future, UV-C radiation is expected to increase as the result of stratospheric ozone depletion due to atmospheric pollution, with strong negative effects on economically important crops. To assess the effect of UV-C irradiation on young tomato plants (Lycopersicon esculentum Mill.; cv Cuore di bue), an experiment was conducted in controlled conditions, using a black chamber equipped with an UV-C lamp. Tomato plants were divided in four groups on the basis of UV-C irradiation time (10, 30, 60, and 120 min), and non-irradiated plants were kept as controls. Plant gas exchange, leaf color and morphologic traits were recorded before and after UV-C treatments. The photosynthetic apparatus was influenced by UV-C treatment, as shown by the strong increase in intracellular CO2, particularly evident in the 120 min treatment (338 μL L–1). This was due both to the stomatal and non-stomatal inhibition of the assimilation activity due to UV-C exposure. In 10 and 30-min treated plants, leaf color, measured immediately after the irradiation, did not statistically change, whereas the 60 and 120-min treatments were characterized by a deep senescence with a general stem and leaf yellowing. The results demonstrate that high UV-C doses determined irreversible damages, both at physiological and morphological levels, that lead plants to death, whereas lower irradiations (up to 60 min) allowed plants to partially recovery their normal physiological status

Effects of Isolated Systolic Hypertension and Essential Hypertension on Large and Middle-sized Artery Compliance

Systolic hypertension of the elderly is characterized by a reduction in arterial compliance. Whether and to what extent this involves arteries of various structure and size is not well known.To study carotid and radial artery compliance in systolic hypertension of the elderly, compared to essential hypertension and normotension.We investigated 28 elderly patients with systolic hypertension (age 68.6 +/- 1.4 years, mean +/- SE; systolic blood pressure160 mmHg and diastolic blood pressure90 mmHg) plus 17 age-matched patients with essential hypertension and 15 age-matched healthy normotensive subjects. Radial and carotid artery compliance were evaluated using echotracking techniques. In both arteries compliance was assessed statistically and dynamically, i.e. as compliance values throughout the diasto-systolic pressure range. Measurements included intima-media wall thickness of the radial artery.Compared to normotensive subjects, carotid artery compliance was reduced in essential hypertension and more so in systolic hypertension. However, although in both groups radial artery wall thickness was markedly greater than in the normotensive group, radial artery compliance was markedly reduced in systolic hypertension, but unchanged in essential hypertension.In systolic hypertension of the elderly the reduction of arterial compliance is marked in both muscular and large elastic arteries, while in elderly essential hypertensives changes in arterial compliance are more heterogeneous, i.e. only carotid artery compliance is reduced. The different effects of these two types of hypertension on arterial mechanics are visible throughout the physiological range of blood pressure and probably accounted for by different alterations in vessel wall structure

The BeppoSAX 0.1 - 18 keV Spectrum of the Bright Atoll Source GX 9+1: an Indication of the Source Distance

We report the results of a long, 350 ks, BeppoSAX observation of the bright atoll source GX 9+1 in the 0.12 - 18 keV energy range. During this observation GX 9+1 showed a large count rate variability in its lightcurve. From its color - color diagram we selected six zones and extracted the source energy spectrum from each zone. We find that the model, composed of a blackbody plus a Comptonized component absorbed by an equivalent hydrogen column of similar to 1.4 x 10(22) cm(-2), fits the spectra in the energy range 1 - 18 keV well; however, below 1 keV a soft excess is present. We find that the spectrum of GX 9+1, in the 0.12 - 18 keV energy range, is well fitted by the model above, if we use an equivalent hydrogen column of similar to 0.8 x 10(22) cm(-2), together with several absorption edges from ionized matter ( O VII, O VIII, Ne IX, Ar XVII, and Ca XX) and an absorption line from Si XIV. From the study of these features we deduce that the electron density of the plasma and the equivalent hydrogen column density associated with the ionized matter is similar to 10(12) cm(-3) and similar to 10(23) cm(-2), respectively, at a distance from the central object of r similar to 10(11) cm, while at larger distances the equivalent hydrogen column density associated to the ionized matter decreases down to similar to 10(22) cm(-2)

MICROTREMOR MEASUREMENTS IN PALERMO, ITALY: A COMPARISON WITH MACROSEISMIC INTENSITY AND EARTHQUAKE GROUND MOTION

The city of Palermo is an appropriate test site where the efficiency of microtremors in predicting ground motion properties during earthquakes can be checked. Palermo is a densely populated city with important historical heritage and was object of previous studies. Areas of local amplification of damage were identified in downtown Palermo using historical macroseismic data. Moreover, aftershocks of the September 6, 2002, earthquake (Mw 5.9, 40 km offshore) provided a dataset of seismograms that quantify spatial variations of ground motion. The availability of more than 2000 boreholes in the city allowed a reconstruction of the 3D structure of surface geology, indicating that all the higher damage zones correspond to sediment-filled valleys. The high variability of the surface geology is mostly due to the presence of two filled river-beds of about 150 m width. In the framework of the SESAME project (Seismic EffectS assessment using Ambient Exctations, funded by the European Union), 90 microtremor measurements were performed across several profiles crossing the soft sediment bodies. The measurement points were intensified close to the valley edges (every 20 m), according to our geological reconstruction. H/V spectral ratio on ambient noise (HVSR) show significant variations along each profile: as soon as the transition stiff to soft is crossed, a typical spectral peak exceeding a factor of 3 in amplitude appears in the HVSR. The peak falls between 1 and 2 Hz and, along each profile, the peak disappears as soon as the other edge of the valley is crossed. These results indicate that microtremors are sensitive to the presence of large impedance contrasts of deep soft soil, at least in the Palermo area, with an important implication: the HVSR method seems to be able to recognize conditions potentially favourable to the occurrence of higher damage even when local geological characters are masked by the urban growth. However, we were not able to establish a quantitative correlation between microtremor properties and ground motion (or damage) amplification

Strength properties of nanoporous materials: Molecular Dynamics computations and theoretical analysis

Since the recent arising of advanced nano-technologies, as well as of innovative engineering design approaches, nanoporous materials have been extensively studied in the last two decades, leading to a considerable worldwide research interest in both industrial and academic domains. Generally characterised by high specific surface area, uniform pore size and rich surface chemistry, nanoporous materials have allowed for the development of challenging ultra-high performance devices with tailorable properties, finding widespread application in several technical fields, including civil and environmental engineering, petroleum and chemical industries, biomechanics, molecular sieving and sensoring. In order to fulfil to these promising applications, one of the most fundamental research aspect consists in characterising and predicting the strength properties of these materials, as dependent on the size of voids. Since the current lack of an exhaustive benchmarking evidence, as well as of a comprehensive theoretical modelling, the central purpose of the present paper consists in: -) investigating strength properties of an in-silico nanoporous sample via Molecular Dynamics computations. In detail, a parametric analysis with respect to the void radius and for different porosity levels has been carried out, by considering different loading paths with a wide range of triaxiality scenarios. As a result, the influence of void-size effects on the computed strength properties has been clearly quantified, also highlighting the dependence of the predicted material strength domain on the three stress invariants; -) establishing an engineering-oriented theoretical model able to predict macroscopic strength properties of nanoporous materials, by properly accounting for void-size effects. To this end, a homogenization procedure based on a kinematic limit-analysis is performed addressing a hollow-sphere model comprising a rigid-ideal-plastic solid matrix and undergoing axisymmetric strain-rate boundary conditions. Void-size effects are accounted for by introducing an imperfect-coherent interface at the cavity boundary. Both the interface and the solid matrix are assumed to obey to a simplified form of the general yield function proposed by Bigoni and Piccolroaz [Int J Solids Struct; 41: 2855-2878], thereby allowing for an extreme flexibility in describing triaxiality and Lode-angle effects. A parametric closed-form relationship for the macroscopic strength criterion is obtained as the unique physically-consistent solution of an inequality-constrained minimization problem, the latter being faced via the Lagrangian method combined with Karush-Kuhn-Tucker conditions. Any possible choice of local-yield-function parameters is carefully addressed, by clearly highlighting the effects of a specific local plastic behaviour on the material macroscopic response. Finally, several comparative illustrations are provided, showing the influence of model parameters on the proposed yield function, as well as the model capability to describe the macroscopic strengthening, typical of nanoporous materials, induced by a void-size reduction for a fixed porosity level

NUOVI DERIVATI 2-ACETAMMIDOBENZAMMIDICI: ATTIVITÀ ANTIPROLIFERATIVA E POSSIBILE MECCANISMO DI AZIONE

Le cinnammido benzammidi rappresentano una classe di sostanze biologicamente attive di grande interesse farmaceutico. Nonostante siano state descritte per svariate attività biologiche, nessun dato è stato riportato sulla loro attivita antitumorale. Inizialmente una serie di 2-cinammidobenzammidi variamente sostituite sono state sintetizzate e valutate per la loro attività antiproliferativa. Partendo dal derivato risultato più attivo, il 2-cinnammido-5-iodobenzammide, che ha mostrato una percentuale di inibizione della crescita sulle K562 del 74% a 10μM, sono stati sintetizzati una serie di derivati al fine di approfondirne la SAR.I composti così ottenuti sono risultati attivi nei confronti di numerose linee cellulari tumorali a concentrazioni micromolari e submicromololari inducendo un blocco del ciclo cellulare delle K562 in fase G2M. Inoltre i derivati sintetizzati sono in grado di indurre apoptosi nelle cellule HEP G2