Tensor and tensor-isospin terms in the effective Gogny interaction

We discuss the need of including tensor terms in the effective Gogny interaction used in mean-field calculations. We show in one illustrative case that, with the usual tensor term that is employed in the Skyrme interaction (and that allows us to separate the like-nucleon and the neutron-proton tensor contributions), we can describe the evolution of the N=28 neutron gap in calcium isotopes. We propose to include a tensor and a tensor-isospin term in finite-range interactions of Gogny type. The parameters of the two tensor terms allow us to treat separately the like-nucleon and the neutron-proton contributions. Two parameterizations of the tensor terms have been chosen to reproduce different neutron single-particle properties in the 48Ca nucleus and the energy of the first 0- state in the 16O nucleus. By employing these two parameterizations we analyze the evolution of the N=14, 28, and 90 neutron energy gaps in oxygen, calcium and tin isotopes, respectively. We show that the combination of the parameters governing the like-nucleon contribution is crucial to correctly reproduce the experimental (where available) or shell-model trends for the evolution of the three neutron gaps under study.Comment: 20 pages, 6 figures. Accepted for publication in Physical Review

Effective tensor forces and neutron rich nuclei

We study the effects of the tensor term of the effective nucleon-nucleon interaction on nuclear excited states. Our investigation has been conducted by using a self-consistent Random Phase Approximation approach. We investigate various nuclei in different regions of the isotopes chart. Results for a set of calcium isotopes are shown.Comment: 4 pages, 4 figures, 1 table Proc. 10th International Spring Seminar on Nuclear Physics New Quests in Nuclear Structure, Vietri Sul Mare, May 21-25, 201

Cyber-Storms Come from Clouds: Security of Cloud Computing in the IoT Era

The Internet of Things (IoT) is rapidly changing our society to a world where every "thing" is connected to the Internet, making computing pervasive like never before. This tsunami of connectivity and data collection relies more and more on the Cloud, where data analytics and intelligence actually reside. Cloud computing has indeed revolutionized the way computational resources and services can be used and accessed, implementing the concept of utility computing whose advantages are undeniable for every business. However, despite the benefits in terms of flexibility, economic savings, and support of new services, its widespread adoption is hindered by the security issues arising with its usage. From a security perspective, the technological revolution introduced by IoT and Cloud computing can represent a disaster, as each object might become inherently remotely hackable and, as a consequence, controllable by malicious actors. While the literature mostly focuses on security of IoT and Cloud computing as separate entities, in this article we provide an up-to-date and well-structured survey of the security issues of Cloud computing in the IoT era. We give a clear picture of where security issues occur and what their potential impact is. As a result, we claim that it is not enough to secure IoT devices, as cyber-storms come from Clouds

Boosting 5G mm-Wave IAB Reliability with Reconfigurable Intelligent Surfaces

The introduction of the mm-Wave spectrum into 5G NR promises to bring about unprecedented data throughput to future mobile wireless networks but comes with several challenges. Network densification has been proposed as a viable solution to increase RAN resilience, and the newly introduced IAB is considered a key enabling technology with compelling cost-reducing opportunities for such dense deployments. Reconfigurable Intelligent Surfaces (RIS) have recently gained extreme popularity as they can create Smart Radio Environments by EM wave manipulation and behave as inexpensive passive relays. However, it is not yet clear what role this technology can play in a large RAN deployment. With the scope of filling this gap, we study the blockage resilience of realistic mm-Wave RAN deployments that use IAB and RIS. The RAN layouts have been optimised by means of a novel mm-Wave planning tool based on MILP formulation. Numerical results show how adding RISs to IAB deployments can provide high blockage resistance levels while significantly reducing the overall network planning cost

The quality of low lactose milk is affected by the side proteolytic activity of the lactase used in the production process

Lactose intolerance syndrome can be efficiently tackled consuming low lactose products. Lactase is the key tool to manufacture low lactose milk (LLM): its addition during milk processing can be done in batch, i.e. before thermal treatment, or directly in pack after sterilization. In this paper data on sensory properties, Maillard Reaction products (MRPs) and free amino acids formation were obtained on six commercial Italian LLMs over six months storage. They showed that the side proteolytic activity of lactase caused the release of amino acids with a significant higher MRPs and off-flavors formation in four out of five samples produced by adding the enzyme in the pack after thermal treatment. We concluded that the in pack addition of lactase after milk sterilization can have negative sensorial and nutritional consequences mainly related to the enzyme side proteolytic activity especially for prolonged storage time

Cyber-storms come from clouds:Security of cloud computing in the IoT era

The Internet of Things (IoT) is rapidly changing our society to a world where every “thing” is connected to the Internet, making computing pervasive like never before. This tsunami of connectivity and data collection relies more and more on the Cloud, where data analytics and intelligence actually reside. Cloud computing has indeed revolutionized the way computational resources and services can be used and accessed, implementing the concept of utility computing whose advantages are undeniable for every business. However, despite the benefits in terms of flexibility, economic savings, and support of new services, its widespread adoption is hindered by the security issues arising with its usage. From a security perspective, the technological revolution introduced by IoT and Cloud computing can represent a disaster, as each object might become inherently remotely hackable and, as a consequence, controllable by malicious actors. While the literature mostly focuses on the security of IoT and Cloud computing as separate entities, in this article we provide an up-to-date and well-structured survey of the security issues of cloud computing in the IoT era. We give a clear picture of where security issues occur and what their potential impact is. As a result, we claim that it is not enough to secure IoT devices, as cyber-storms come from Clouds

Prevention of COVID-19 transmission from deceased subject: A critical point of view

info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Pro-Environmental Behaviors: Determinants and Obstacles among Italian University Students

The awareness of citizens concerning the health risks caused by environmental pollution is growing, but studies on determinants of pro-environmental behaviors have rarely examined health-related aspects. In this study, we investigated these determinants using data from a large survey among Italian university students (15 Universities: 4778 filled questionnaires). Besides the health-related aspects, represented by environmental health risk perception and functional health literacy, we considered social and demographic characteristics (gender, area of residence, sources of information, trust in institutional and non-institutional subjects, and students' capacity of positive actions, indicated as internal locus of control). The attitudes towards pro-environmental behaviors were positive for more than 70% of students and positively related with health risk perception, internal locus of control, and health literacy. The correspondence between the positive attitudes towards pro-environmental behaviors and the real adoption of such behaviors was approximately 20% for most behaviors, except for the separate collection of waste (60%). Such a discrepancy can be attributable to external obstacles (i.e., lack of time, costs, lack of support). The health-related aspects were linked to the pro-environmental attitudes, but to a lesser extent to pro-environmental behaviors, owing to the complexity of their determinants. However, they should be taken in account in planning education interventions

Extrusion of Endodontic Filling Materials: Medico-Legal Aspects. Two Cases

The Authors describe two cases of alleged malpractice due to overfilling. The aim of this article is to underline some medico-legal aspects regarding the quantity of extruded material which may be considered acceptable and the consequent damage to the patient

Candidate biomarkers from the integration of methylation and gene expression in discordant autistic sibling pairs

While the genetics of autism spectrum disorders (ASD) has been intensively studied, resulting in the identification of over 100 putative risk genes, the epigenetics of ASD has received less attention, and results have been inconsistent across studies. We aimed to investigate the contribution of DNA methylation (DNAm) to the risk of ASD and identify candidate biomarkers arising from the interaction of epigenetic mechanisms with genotype, gene expression, and cellular proportions. We performed DNAm differential analysis using whole blood samples from 75 discordant sibling pairs of the Italian Autism Network collection and estimated their cellular composition. We studied the correlation between DNAm and gene expression accounting for the potential effects of different genotypes on DNAm. We showed that the proportion of NK cells was significantly reduced in ASD siblings suggesting an imbalance in their immune system. We identified differentially methylated regions (DMRs) involved in neurogenesis and synaptic organization. Among candidate loci for ASD, we detected a DMR mapping to CLEC11A (neighboring SHANK1) where DNAm and gene expression were significantly and negatively correlated, independently from genotype effects. As reported in previous studies, we confirmed the involvement of immune functions in the pathophysiology of ASD. Notwithstanding the complexity of the disorder, suitable biomarkers such as CLEC11A and its neighbor SHANK1 can be discovered using integrative analyses even with peripheral tissues