Mutual information as an order parameter for quantum synchronization

Spontaneous synchronization is a fundamental phenomenon, important in many theoretical studies and applications. Recently this effect has been analyzed and observed in a number of physical systems close to the quantum mechanical regime. In this work we propose the mutual information as a useful order parameter which can capture the emergence of synchronization in very different contexts, ranging from semi-classical to intrinsically quantum mechanical systems. Specifically we first study the synchronization of two coupled Van der Pol oscillators in both classical and quantum regimes and later we consider the synchronization of two qubits inside two coupled optical cavities. In all these contexts, we find that mutual information can be used as an appropriate figure of merit for determining the synchronization phases, independently of the specific details of the system

Seismic hazard in the Po Plain and the 2012 Emilia earthquakes

The Emilia earthquakes of May 20, 2012 (ML 5.9, INGV; MW 6.11, http://www.bo.ingv.it/RCMT/) and May 29, 2012 (ML 5.8, INGV; MW 5.96, http://www.bo.ingv.it/RCMT/) struck an area that in the national reference seismic hazard model [MPS04; http://zonesismiche.mi.ingv.it, and Stucchi et al. 2011] is characterized by expected horizontal peak ground acceleration (PGA) with a 10% probability of exceedance in 50 years that ranges between 0.10 g and 0.15 g (Figure 1), which is a medium level of seismic hazard in Italy. The strong impact of the earthquakes on a region that is not included among the most hazardous areas of Italy, and the ground motion data recorded by accelerometric networks, have given the impression to the population and the media that the current seismic hazard map is not correct, and thus needs to be updated. Since the MPS04 seismic hazard model was adopted by the current Italian building code [Norme Tecniche per le Costruzioni 2008, hereafter termed NTC08; http://www.cslp. it/cslp/] as the basis to define seismic action (the design spectra), any modification to the seismic hazard model would also affect the building code. The aim of this paper is to briefly present the data that support the seismic hazard model in the area, and to perform some comparisons between recorded ground motion with seismic hazard estimates and design spectra. All of the comparisons presented in this study are for the horizontal components only, as the Italian hazard model did not perform any estimates for the vertical component

Design of a Base-Board for arrays of closely-packed Multi-Anode Photo-Multipliers

We describe the design of a Base-Board to house Multi-Anode Photo-Multipliers for use in large-area arrays of light sensors. The goals, the design, the results of tests on the prototypes and future developments are presented.Comment: 16 pages, 5 figures, submitted to Nucl. Instrum. and Meth.

Nuclear localization of the mitochondrial factor HIGD1A during metabolic stress.

Cellular stress responses are frequently governed by the subcellular localization of critical effector proteins. Apoptosis-inducing Factor (AIF) or Glyceraldehyde 3-Phosphate Dehydrogenase (GAPDH), for example, can translocate from mitochondria to the nucleus, where they modulate apoptotic death pathways. Hypoxia-inducible gene domain 1A (HIGD1A) is a mitochondrial protein regulated by Hypoxia-inducible Factor-1α (HIF1α). Here we show that while HIGD1A resides in mitochondria during physiological hypoxia, severe metabolic stress, such as glucose starvation coupled with hypoxia, in addition to DNA damage induced by etoposide, triggers its nuclear accumulation. We show that nuclear localization of HIGD1A overlaps with that of AIF, and is dependent on the presence of BAX and BAK. Furthermore, we show that AIF and HIGD1A physically interact. Additionally, we demonstrate that nuclear HIGD1A is a potential marker of metabolic stress in vivo, frequently observed in diverse pathological states such as myocardial infarction, hypoxic-ischemic encephalopathy (HIE), and different types of cancer. In summary, we demonstrate a novel nuclear localization of HIGD1A that is commonly observed in human disease processes in vivo

Contaminación con huevos de Toxocara spp en parques públicos del distrito de La Molina, Lima, y su relación con el programa de vigilancia sanitaria de parques y jardines

The aim of this study was to determine the contamination of public parks of La Molina district in Lima with eggs of Toxocara spp and its relationship with the categorization of the parks (unfriendly, friendly and not very friendly) within the Health Surveillance Programme of Parks and Gardens, prepared by the Department of Food Hygiene and Zoonoses of DIGESA - Ministry of Health (MINSA). The study was of descriptive type, evaluating 131 public parks between August 2014 and April 2016. Representative samples of soil and grass (1-2 kg) per park were collected using the double W technique and analysed by the techniques of sedimentation and flotation with supersaturated NaCl solution. The presence of at least one Toxocara spp egg in the sample was considered positive. The categorization of the parks was carried out by La Molina Municipality staff, based on three criteria (adequate infrastructure, environment and sanitary risks) according to the "Environmental Sanitary Assessment Card for Parks and Gardens" of DIGESA-MINSA. Only one park was positive, representing a prevalence of 0.76%. In parallel, five parks were considered unfriendly, 75 as friendly and 51 as not very friendly, where the positive park was a not very friendly one. It was not possible to relate both results due to the small number of positive parks. The low percentage of contaminated parks was probably due to the implementation by the municipality of the Sanitary Vigilance Programme of Parks and Gardens (responsible tenure, excreta collection, etc.), as well as the constant improvements made since 2011 and the frequent deworming campaigns and informative talks to pet owners.El objetivo del estudio fue determinar la contaminación de los parques públicos del distrito de La Molina, Lima, con huevos de Toxocara spp y su relación con la categorización de los parques (no amigables, amigables y poco amigables) dentro del Programa de Vigilancia Sanitaria de Parques y Jardines, elaborado por la Dirección de Higiene Alimentaria y Zoonosis de la DIGESA - Ministerio de Salud (MINSA). El estudio fue de tipo descriptivo, evaluándose 131 parques públicos entre agosto de 2014 y abril de 2016. Muestras representativas de tierra y césped (1-2 kg) por parque fueron colectadas mediante la técnica de la doble W y analizadas mediante las técnicas de sedimentación y flotación con solución sobresaturada de NaCl. Se consideró como parque positivo la presencia de al menos un huevo de Toxocara spp en la muestra. La categorización de los parques fue realizada por personal de La Municipalidad de La Molina, con base a tres criterios (infraestructura adecuada, ambiente y riesgos sanitarios), según la “Ficha de Evaluación Sanitaria Ambiental de Parques y Jardines” del DIGESA-MINSA. Solo un parque resultó positivo, representando una prevalencia de 0.76%. Paralelamente, cinco parques fueron considerados como no amigables, 75 como amigables y 51 como poco amigables; perteneciendo a este último grupo el parque positivo. No se pudo relacionar ambos resultados por el escaso número de parques positivos. El bajo porcentaje de parques contaminados se debe probablemente a la implementación por el municipio del Programa de Vigilancia Sanitaria de Parques y Jardines (tenencia responsable, recojo de excretas, etc.), así como de las constantes mejoras realizadas desde el 2011 y por las frecuentes campañas de desparasitación y charlas informativas a los dueños de las mascotas

DETERMINISTIC SCENARIOS AS INPUT MOTION FOR LOSS ASSESSMENT

A predominantly deterministic viewpoint has been adopted for computing seismic ground motion both for urban areas (SP10) and infrastructures loss modeling (SP11) at three selected areas: the cities of Lisbon (Portugal) and Thessaloniki (Greece), and the metropolis of Istanbul (Turkey). The generation of earthquake ground motion scenarios involves both the particular choice of earthquake sources with associated fault rupture parameters, and the ensuing ground motion field calculated by an appropriate numerical tool, or empirically estimated, at a set of selected points within the urban area of interest. Ground shaking values are predicted for rock conditions and for two distinct frequency bands, i.e. the high frequency range (from 1.0 Hz to 4-5 Hz) in the case of damage evaluation for the vast majority of ordinary building, and the low frequency (≤ 2 Hz) more appropriate for lifeline system damage assessment. The advanced simulation techniques allowed to properly consider the finite fault effects and directivity, which imply extreme expected values, and they are capable of quantifying the spatial variability of the ground motion near the extended fault

MICROZONATION STUDY FOR AN INDUSTRIAL SITE IN SOUTHERN ITALY

A microzonation study for an industrial area located in Sicily (southern Italy) has been carried out through anintegrated approach using GIS and modelling tools for subsurface geology, together with procedures for soilresponse estimation. The seismic input was provided by an updated seismic hazard analysis aimed at betterdefining and characterizing the seismogenic sources active in the region. The approach involved thedevelopment of a model of the subsurface geology through the interpretation of several borehole data comingfrom industrial or private wells records. The lithologies described in the borehole logs were reclassified according to main litotechnical units for which seismological properties were available from previous studies.The reclassified logs were then interpreted using the GSI3D software (Geological Surveying and Investigation in3 Dimensions), which allows to draw and cross-correlate geological sections over the whole study area, toproduce 3D surfaces which model the topography of each litotechnical unit at depth. The model was thenimported into a GIS and linked to a customised version of SHAKE91 for the estimation of 1D soil response at a grid of points. Maps of amplification factors for different periods of engineering interest have been produced.The methodology used in this work has produced a dynamic tool which allows an easy update of themicrozonation maps as new data become available, since both the subsurface model and the litotechnical unitsparameters can be quickly updated and new analyses run

Quantum correlations and synchronization measures

The phenomenon of spontaneous synchronization is universal and only recently advances have been made in the quantum domain. Being synchronization a kind of temporal correlation among systems, it is interesting to understand its connection with other measures of quantum correlations. We review here what is known in the field, putting emphasis on measures and indicators of synchronization which have been proposed in the literature, and comparing their validity for different dynamical systems, highlighting when they give similar insights and when they seem to fail.Comment: book chapter, 18 pages, 7 figures, Fanchini F., Soares Pinto D., Adesso G. (eds) Lectures on General Quantum Correlations and their Applications. Quantum Science and Technology. Springer (2017

Task 1 - Scenari di scuotimento - Deliverable D1: Linee guida per il calcolo degli scenari di scuotimento

L'analisi dinamica del livello di sicurezza ingegneristico, in particolare per strutture strategiche in una zona ad elevato potenziale sismogenetico, tiene conto dei parametri di picco e di diverse caratteristiche del moto del suolo, come ad esempio la durata, la “non-stazionarietà” e i “critical-pulse” (McGuire, 1995). Di conseguenza, è richiesta una modellazione dettagliata sia della struttura sia dell’input sismico necessario a verificarne la risposta sismica. I codici per la progettazione in zona sismica richiedono che l’input sismico per le analisi dinamiche sia composto da un set di “time-histories” a cui la struttura deve resistere durante la sua esistenza, e da un livello di pericolosità caratteristico della zona sismogenetica in cui la struttura di interesse è ubicata. A tale scopo l’input sismico e la pericolosità di un’area sono stimati con approcci di tipo deterministico o probabilistico. La scelta dell'approccio da adottare per le valutazioni di pericolosità non è immediata, poiché i due metodi sono molto diversi e presentano entrambi vantaggi e svantaggi. In generale l’approccio deterministico valuta l’entità del moto sismico causato da uno specifico evento di cui si considera nota la localizzazione e la magnitudo; l’approccio probabilistico definisce invece la probabilità che un determinato parametro dello scuotimento sia superato in un particolare intervallo temporale (ad esempio 10% di probabilità di superamento in 50 anni) a partire dallo studio sulla sismicità dell’area. La differenza fondamentale tra l’approccio deterministico e quello probabilistico è che nel primo vengono simulate le serie temporali, ma non si associa alcuna probabilità al parametro di scuotimento valutato, viceversa nel secondo sono descritti solo alcuni parametri del moto e la probabilità è inclusa direttamente nell’analisi

Flexible Microfabricated Parylene Multielectrode Arrays for Retinal Stimulation and Spinal Cord Field Modulation

The first flexible parylene-based multielectrode arrays (MEAs) designed for functional electrical stimulation (FES) in retinal prostheses, and the extension of this technology toward enabling reflex-arc neuromodulation in cases of spinal cord damage or transection, are presented. A single metal layer 16 × 16 retinal electrode array of 125 μm-diameter thin-film Ti/Pt electrodes and lines of 12 μm-pitch has been fabricated as a demonstration of this technology. To allow for even higher density arrays, a novel dual-layer process has also been implemented that enables leads to pass under overlying electrodes without making electrical contact to them. A biomimetic parylene-based electrode array consisting of 1024 electrodes of highly variable spacing, 60 of which have been connected in this manner, has been fabricated according to this paradigm. A parylene-parylene annealing process has also been developed to increase device longevity under accelerated-lifetime saline soak conditions. Surgical tests of novel anatomically-conformal geometries that enable such parylene-based electrode systems to interact with their neuronal targets of interest while causing minimal mechanical damage to tissues or to the implants are also presented. The use of these flexible electrode arrays in spinal cord stimulation experiments in animal models has proven their efficacy in stimulating neurons