209Bi level calculation

209Bi has recentely observed to α-decay with scintillating bolometer, to the ground state (GS) and to first the excited state (ES). although of the belief it was a stable nuclei. Even previous measurement observed the decay, but only the GS-GS transition. This decay belongs to a special class of decays occurring in odd-A nuclei with an extra nucleon outside a closed shell. 209Bi alpha decay branching ratios (BR) to the ground and to two different excited states were numerically evaluated. While the BR for the ground-state decay is well known, the calculation for the excited states was performed for the first time. Even if the used model is a simplified theory (not strictly correct for deformed nuclei), it gives a good estimate of the decay half life

DepthFake: a depth-based strategy for detecting Deepfake videos

Fake content has grown at an incredible rate over the past few years. The spread of social media and online platforms makes their dissemination on a large scale increasingly accessible by malicious actors. In parallel, due to the growing diffusion of fake image generation methods, many Deep Learning-based detection techniques have been proposed. Most of those methods rely on extracting salient features from RGB images to detect through a binary classifier if the image is fake or real. In this paper, we proposed DepthFake, a study on how to improve classical RGB-based approaches with depth-maps. The depth information is extracted from RGB images with recent monocular depth estimation techniques. Here, we demonstrate the effective contribution of depth-maps to the deepfake detection task on robust pre-trained architectures. The proposed RGBD approach is in fact able to achieve an average improvement of 3.20% and up to 11.7% for some deepfake attacks with respect to standard RGB architectures over the FaceForensic++ dataset.Comment: 2022 ICPR Workshop on Artificial Intelligence for Multimedia Forensics and Disinformation Detectio

PROFILI COMPARATI NELL'EVOLUZIONE DEL SISTEMA BREVETTUALE. LE BIOTECNOLOGIE AGROALIMENTARI.

In un\u2019epoca caratterizzata da un costante progresso della tecnologia e dalla scoperta della manipolazione genetica, come e quanto si sono evolute nell\u2019ultimo decennio le invenzioni oggetto di brevettazione? Considerato ormai superato da una sempre pi\uf9 diffusa ed autorevole dottrina, il potente ed immutabile sistema brevettuale si sta scontrando con frangenti cos\uec singolari da far affiorare le sue pi\uf9 profonde incongruenze con il mondo dell\u2019oggi. A seguito di un\u2019analisi comparata dei requisiti di accesso alla protezione brevettuale nello scenario nordamericano e nazional-europeo, si affronteranno due nuove categorie di invenzioni, i c.d. business methods e le invenzioni biotecnologiche, osservando come i legislatori nazionali e la giurisprudenza hanno reagito di fronte a siffatte nuove sfide. Dopo aver illustrato i campi di applicazione della biotecnologia ci soffermeremo sul combattuto excursus normativo affrontato dall\u2019Europa e dall\u2019Italia per tutelare questa nuova categoria di invenzione, comparandola allo scenario americano. L\u2019attenzione sar\ue0 poi posta sulle innovazioni nel settore vegetale, illustrando il Plant Patent Act americano e la regolamentazione di confine tra il brevetto biotecnologico e la tutela delle nuove variet\ue0 vegetali nello scenario europeo ed italiano. Si tratter\ue0, poi, della potenza economica che oggi occupa l\u2019industria agroalimentare -grazie alla redditizia tutela brevettuale concessa ai semi geneticamente modificati e degli interessi di pochissime elette multinazionali, le quali non si limitano alla ricerca del mero profitto, ma che aspirano al controllo mondiale del mercato dei semi e, quindi, al controllo della disponibilit\ue0 del cibo. Rileveremo, inoltre, come la coltivazione (ormai planetaria ed incontrollata) dei semi geneticamente modificati si leghi indissolubilmente con l\u2019utilizzo del glifosato, sostanza chimica i cui effetti devastanti sulla salute pubblica sono oggi conclamati, anche grazie alla desecretazione dei Monsanto Papers.In an era characterized by a constant progress of technology and by the discovery of genetic manipulation, how and how much have patent-eligible inventions evolved in the last decade? The powerful and immutable patent system is now considered outdated by an increasingly widespread and convincing doctrine, since it is colliding with situations so unique as to bring out its most profound inconsistencies with the world of today. After a comparative analysis of the patent protection\u2019s requirements in the North American and the Italian-European scenario, two new categories will be tackled, the business methods patents and the biotechnological inventions, and it will be observed how national legislators and case-law reacted to such new challenges. After elucidating the fields of application of the biotechnology, we will focus on the difficult legislative excursus faced by Europe and Italy in order to protect this new category of invention, comparing it to the American scenario. The focus will then be placed on innovations in the plant sector, illustrating the differences between the biotechnological patent and the protection of new \u201cplant varieties\u201d under the European, Italian and the American regulation. Afterwards it will be considered the economic power held by the agribusiness industry -thanks to the lucrative patent protection granted to genetically modified seeds- and the interests of very few elected multinationals which, however, do not stop at the mere pursuit of profit, wanting to achieve the world control of the seed market and, therefore, the control of world\u2019s food supply. Moreover, it will be remarked how the cultivation -uncontrolled and worldwide- of genetically modified seeds is intimately linked with the use of glyphosate, a chemical substance whose devastating effects on public health are today validated thanks to the declassification of the Monsanto Papers

Perceived weight-related victimization and physical activity outcomes among adolescents with overweight and obesity: Indirect role of perceived physical abilities and fear of enacted stigma

Objectives Recently, victimization has been shown to be negatively related to physical activity among adolescents with overweight or obesity. However, research on this relation remains scarce and plagued by multiple limitations. The objectives of this study were twofold. First, we wanted to replicate and extend previous research among adolescents with overweight and obesity by examining the relations between perceived weight-related victimization in school-based physical activity and students’ perceived physical education performance or involvement in physical activity outside school. Second, we wanted to investigate the indirect role of perceived physical abilities and fear of enacted stigma on these relations. Design A cross-sectional design was used. Method A sample of 144 secondary school students with overweight and obesity participated in this study. Results Perceived physical abilities were found to play a significant and negative indirect role in the relations between perceived weight-related victimization and students’ perceived physical education performance or involvement in physical activity outside school. When sex and age were controlled for, these relations remained significant. The mediating role of fear of enacted stigma was non-significant. Conclusions Schools should implement policies that do not tolerate weight-related victimization of students and that promote a safe and positive climate during physical activities. Moreover, a personalized approach providing choices and encouragements would help youth gain confidence in their abilities to perform or engage in physical activities

Searches for axioelectric effect of solar axions with BGO-scintillator and BGO-bolometer detectors

A search for axioelectric absorption of 5.5 MeV solar axions produced in the $p + d \rightarrow {^3\rm{He}}+\gamma~(5.5~ \rm{MeV})$ reaction has been performed with a BGO detectors. A model-independent limit on the product of axion-nucleon $g_{AN}^3$ and axion-electron $g_{Ae}$ coupling constants has been obtained: $| g_{Ae}\times g_{AN}^3|< 1.9\times 10^{-10}$ for 90\% C.L..Comment: 5 pages, 3 figures, Proceedings of the 10th Patras Workshop on Axions, WIMPs and WISP 29 June - 4 July 2014, CERN, Geneva, Switzerlan

Performance analysis of the European X-ray Free Electron Laser 3.9 GHz superconducting cavities

The limits of performance of the European XFEL 3.9 GHz superconducting cavities were investigated. Most cavities exhibited high field Q slope, reaching the breakdown field at approximately $22\text{ }\text{ }\mathrm{MV}/\mathrm{m}$. We hypothesize that this limit is a feature of high frequency cavities and can be explained by a thermal model incorporating field dependent surface resistance. The results obtained from simulations were in good agreement with experimental data obtained at 2 K

Double-beta decay of 130^{130}Te to the first 0+^{+} excited state of 130^{130}Xe with CUORICINO

The CUORICINO experiment was an array of 62 TeO$_{2}$ single-crystal bolometers with a total $^{130}$Te mass of $11.3\,$kg. The experiment finished in 2008 after more than 3 years of active operating time. Searches for both $0\nu$ and $2\nu$ double-beta decay to the first excited $0^{+}$ state in $^{130}$Xe were performed by studying different coincidence scenarios. The analysis was based on data representing a total exposure of N($^{130}$Te)$\cdot$t=$9.5\times10^{25}\,$y. No evidence for a signal was found. The resulting lower limits on the half lives are $T^{2\nu}_{1/2}(^{130} Te\rightarrow^{130} Xe^{*})>1.3\times10^{23}\,$y (90% C.L.), and $T^{0\nu}_{1/2}(^{130} Te\rightarrow^{130} Xe^{*})>9.4\times10^{23}\,$y (90% C.L.).Comment: 6 pages, 4 figure

CUORE and beyond: bolometric techniques to explore inverted neutrino mass hierarchy

The CUORE (Cryogenic Underground Observatory for Rare Events) experiment will search for neutrinoless double beta decay of $^{130}$Te. With 741 kg of TeO$_2$ crystals and an excellent energy resolution of 5 keV (0.2%) at the region of interest, CUORE will be one of the most competitive neutrinoless double beta decay experiments on the horizon. With five years of live time, CUORE projected neutrinoless double beta decay half-life sensitivity is $1.6\times 10^{26}$ y at $1\sigma$ ($9.5\times10^{25}$ y at the 90% confidence level), which corresponds to an upper limit on the effective Majorana mass in the range 40--100 meV (50--130 meV). Further background rejection with auxiliary light detector can significantly improve the search sensitivity and competitiveness of bolometric detectors to fully explore the inverted neutrino mass hierarchy with $^{130}$Te and possibly other double beta decay candidate nuclei.Comment: Submitted to the Proceedings of TAUP 2013 Conferenc

Validation of techniques to mitigate copper surface contamination in CUORE

In this article we describe the background challenges for the CUORE experiment posed by surface contamination of inert detector materials such as copper, and present three techniques explored to mitigate these backgrounds. Using data from a dedicated test apparatus constructed to validate and compare these techniques we demonstrate that copper surface contamination levels better than 10E-07 - 10E-08 Bq/cm2 are achieved for 238U and 232Th. If these levels are reproduced in the final CUORE apparatus the projected 90% C.L. upper limit on the number of background counts in the region of interest is 0.02-0.03 counts/keV/kg/y depending on the adopted mitigation technique.Comment: 10 pages, 6 figures, 6 table

Exploring the Neutrinoless Double Beta Decay in the Inverted Neutrino Hierarchy with Bolometric Detectors

Neutrinoless double beta decay (0nubb) is one of the most sensitive probes for physics beyond the Standard Model, providing unique information on the nature of neutrinos. In this paper we review the status and outlook for bolometric 0nubb decay searches. We summarize recent advances in background suppression demonstrated using bolometers with simultaneous readout of heat and light signals. We simulate several configurations of a future CUORE-like bolometer array which would utilize these improvements and present the sensitivity reach of a hypothetical next-generation bolometric 0nubb experiment. We demonstrate that a bolometric experiment with the isotope mass of about 1 ton is capable of reaching the sensitivity to the effective Majorana neutrino mass (|mee|) of order 10-20 meV, thus completely exploring the so-called inverted neutrino mass hierarchy region. We highlight the main challenges and identify priorities for an R&D program addressing them.Comment: 22 pages, 15 figures, submitted to EPJ