EXTREME EVENT: HEAVY SNOWFALL ON THE TRENTINO REGION ON 11 MARCH 2004

an extreme event of heavy snowfall occurred in the last 11 march 2004 in many regions of the north Italy. It was one of the most important events of snowfall in the winter season 2003-2004 and it was really unusual for the period. The possibility of snowfall at the lower levels was forecasted two days before but the quantity of the precipitation was generally underestimated by the models. This event caused many problems to the civil protection and to the public above all in the traffic and the increasing avalanche risk

Cesium-Telluride Photocathode No. 166

In the CERN photoemission laboratory, a Cs2 Te photocathode has been produced in December 2006. The co-evaporation of Cs and Te onto a copper substrate is observed with two quartz oscillator thickness monitors. The calibration of these monitors and the resulting Cs and Te layer thicknesses are described, and the calculated stoichiometric ratio of the sample is given. The quantum efficiency of cathode No. 166, measured using the cathode in a DC gun, has been found to be 6.2%

Observation of a Spinning Top in a Bose-Einstein Condensate

Boundaries strongly affect the behavior of quantized vortices in Bose-Einstein condensates, a phenomenon particularly evident in elongated cigar-shaped traps where vortices tend to orient along a short direction to minimize energy. Remarkably, contributions to the angular momentum of these vortices are tightly confined to the region surrounding the core, in stark contrast to untrapped condensates where all atoms contribute $\hbar$. We develop a theoretical model and use this, in combination with numerical simulations, to show that such localized vortices precess in an analogous manner to that of a classical spinning top. We experimentally verify this spinning-top behavior with our real-time imaging technique that allows for the tracking of position and orientation of vortices as they dynamically evolve. Finally, we perform an in-depth numerical investigation of our real-time expansion and imaging method, with the aim of guiding future experimental implementation, as well as outlining directions for its improvement.Comment: 10 pages, 7 figure

An Individual's Connection to Nature Can Affect Perceived Restorativeness of Natural Environments : Some Observations about Biophilia

This study investigates the relationship between the level to which a person feels connected to Nature and that person's ability to perceive the restorative value of a natural environment. We assume that perceived restorativeness may depend on an individual's connection to Nature and this relationship may also vary with the biophilic quality of the environment, i.e., the functional and aesthetic value of the natural environment which presumably gave an evolutionary advantage to our species. To this end, the level of connection to Nature and the perceived restorativeness of the environment were assessed in individuals visiting three parks characterized by their high level of "naturalness" and high or low biophilic quality. The results show that the perceived level of restorativeness is associated with the sense of connection to Nature, as well as the biophilic quality of the environment: individuals with different degrees of connection to Nature seek settings with different degrees of restorativeness and biophilic quality. This means that perceived restorativeness can also depend on an individual's "inclination" towards Nature

Analysis of recent meteorological configurations responsible for substantial snowfalls in the Trentine sector of the Adige valley bottom (eastern italian Alps).

Aim of this presentation is to analyse the synoptic conditions favourable to snowfall with more than 10 cm fresh snow cover in the bottom of the Trentine sector of the Adige Valley. Following the abundant and reiterated snowfalls in the study area during the 2005-2006 winter season and the many discomforts to the population and mainly to the road traffic, an accurate study of such events resulted necessary for a reliable forecast. The valley orientation in a NNE-SSW direction lets the Mediterranean warm-humid air masses to get in as far as the main headwater divide (Brenner Pass) and to make its climate relatively mild. Moreover, such humid air inflows bring mean annual precipitation of about 800-1000 mm that gradually decreses from the lower valley mouth to the main divide. The precipitation regime consists of rainfalls in spring and autumn whereas a strong absolute minimum occurs between December and Febraury when snowfalls are more likely on the valley floor. In fact, the vally is annually subjected to warm advection snowfalls, though infrequent and scarce, between November and mid April. The study area is about 80 km long with elevation ranging from 130 and 230 m a.s.l. All the snowfall events observed from 1980 to 2006 were analysed by using the data of the Civil Protection Authority of Trento Province, i.e. Trento Roncafort (194 n a.s.l.), Trento Laste (312 m a.s.l.), Rovereto (203 m a.s.l.) and Ala (197 m a.s.l.) meteo stations. Through the study and analysis of ground and at the 500 hPa geopotential meteo maps, satellite images, thermodynamic diagrams of the nearest sounding stations and the data of the nivometeorological stations, the synoptic types that characterised the snowfalls were studied and classified and a clusterisation was made. For each of the synoptic types defined the conditions for a quantification of the mean characteristic meteo parameters were anlysed in order to obtain a reliable forecast of intense snowfalls on the valley bottom

Clustered superfluids in the one-dimensional Bose-Hubbard model with extended correlated hopping

Bosonic lattice systems with nontrivial interactions represent an intriguing platform to study exotic phases of matter. Here, we study the effects of extended correlated hopping processes in a system of bosons trapped in a lattice geometry. The interplay between single particle tunneling terms, correlated hopping processes, and onsite repulsion is studied by means of a combination of exact diagonalization, strong coupling expansion, and cluster mean field theory. We identify a rich ground state phase diagram where, apart from the usual Mott and superfluid states, superfluid phases with interesting clustering properties occur

Organic Control Of Dioctahedral And Trioctahedral Clay Formation In An Alkaline Soil System In The Pantanal Wetland Of Nhecolandia, Brazil

Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo (FAPESP)Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq)Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (CAPES)Recent studies have focused on the formation of authigenic clays in an alkaline soil system surrounding lakes of the Nhecolandia region, Pantanal wetland. The presence of trioctahedral Mg-smectites (stevensite and saponite types), which requires low Al and Fe contents in the soil solution for its formation, contrasts with the neoformation of dioctahedral Fe-mica (glauconite, and Fe-illite), which instead requires solutions relatively enriched in Al and Fe. This study aims to understand the conditions of co-existence of both, Mg-smectite and Fe-mica a common clay association in former or modern alkaline soil systems and sediments. The study was carried out along an alkaline soil catena representative of the region. The soil organization revealed that Mg-smectite occur in top soil close to the lake, whereas Fe-mica dominate in the clay fraction of deeper greenish horizons a few meters apart. We propose here that this spatial distribution is controlled by the lateral transfer of Fe and Al with organic ligands. Alkaline organic rich solutions (DOC up to 738 mg L-1) collected in the watertable were centrifuged and filtered through membranes of decreasing pore size (0.45 mu m, 0.2 mu m, 30 KDa, 10 KDa, 3 KDa) to separate colloidal and dissolved fractions. Fe, Al, Si, Mg and K were analysed for each fraction. Although the filtration had no influence on Si and K contents, almost 90% of Fe (up to 2.3 mg L-1) and Al (up to 7 mg L-1) are retained at the first cutoff threshold of 0.45 mu m. The treatment of the same solutions by oxygen peroxide before filtration shows that a large proportion of Fe and Al were bonded to organic colloids in alkaline soil solution at the immediate lake border, allowing Mg-smectite precipitation. The fast mineralization of the organic matter a few meters apart from the lake favors the release of Fe and Al necessary for Fe-mica neoformation. In comparison with chemical and mineralogical characteristics of alkaline environments described in the literature, the study suggests that the co-existence of trioctahedral Mg-smectite and dioctahedral Fe-mica should be regarded as a standard occurrence in alkaline soil systems with organic rich waters.117Sao Paulo State Research Foundation (FAPESP) [2011/12770-0, 2013/09192-0]National Council for Scientific and Technological Development (CNPq) [405898/2012-6, 443030/2015-4]National Institute of Sciences of the Universe (INSU-Ec2co)Federal Agency for the Support and Evaluation of Graduate Education (CAPES)Consulate of France in Sao PauloSao Paulo UniversityCampinas State UniversityFundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo (FAPESP)Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq)Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (CAPES

Prediction of minimum temperatures in an alpine region by linear and non-linear post-processing of meteorological models

International audienceModel Output Statistics (MOS) refers to a method of post-processing the direct outputs of numerical weather prediction (NWP) models in order to reduce the biases introduced by a coarse horizontal resolution. This technique is especially useful in orographically complex regions, where large differences can be found between the NWP elevation model and the true orography. This study carries out a comparison of linear and non-linear MOS methods, aimed at the prediction of minimum temperatures in a fruit-growing region of the Italian Alps, based on the output of two different NWPs (ECMWF T511?L60 and LAMI-3). Temperature, of course, is a particularly important NWP output; among other roles it drives the local frost forecast, which is of great interest to agriculture. The mechanisms of cold air drainage, a distinctive aspect of mountain environments, are often unsatisfactorily captured by global circulation models. The simplest post-processing technique applied in this work was a correction for the mean bias, assessed at individual model grid points. We also implemented a multivariate linear regression on the output at the grid points surrounding the target area, and two non-linear models based on machine learning techniques: Neural Networks and Random Forest. We compare the performance of all these techniques on four different NWP data sets. Downscaling the temperatures clearly improved the temperature forecasts with respect to the raw NWP output, and also with respect to the basic mean bias correction. Multivariate methods generally yielded better results, but the advantage of using non-linear algorithms was small if not negligible. RF, the best performing method, was implemented on ECMWF prognostic output at 06:00 UTC over the 9 grid points surrounding the target area. Mean absolute errors in the prediction of 2 m temperature at 06:00 UTC were approximately 1.2°C, close to the natural variability inside the area itself

Frustrated extended Bose-Hubbard model and deconfined quantum critical points with optical lattices at the anti-magic wavelength

The study of geometrically frustrated many-body quantum systems is of central importance to uncover novel quantum mechanical effects. We design a scheme where ultracold bosons trapped in a one-dimensional state-dependent optical lattice are modeled by a frustrated Bose-Hubbard Hamiltonian. A derivation of the Hamiltonian parameters based on Cesium atoms, further show large tunability of contact and nearest-neighbour interactions. For pure contact repulsion, we discover the presence of two phases peculiar to frustrated quantum magnets: the bond-order-wave insulator with broken inversion symmetry and a chiral superfluid. When the nearest-neighbour repulsion becomes sizeable, a further density-wave insulator with broken translational symmetry can appear. We show that the phase transition between the two spontaneously-symmetry-broken phases is continuous, thus representing a one-dimensional deconfined quantum critical point not captured by the Landau-Ginzburg-Wilson symmetry-breaking paradigm. Our results provide a solid ground to unveil the novel quantum physics induced by the interplay of non-local interactions, geometrical frustration, and quantum fluctuations.Comment: 7+3 pages, 3+3 figure

JAK-Inhibitors for the Treatment of Rheumatoid Arthritis : A Focus on the Present and an Outlook on the Future

Janus kinase inhibitors (JAKi) belong to a new class of oral targeted disease-modifying drugs which have recently revolutionized the therapeutic panorama of rheumatoid arthritis (RA) and other immune-mediated diseases, placing alongside or even replacing conventional and biological drugs. JAKi are characterized by a novel mechanism of action, consisting of the intracellular interruption of the JAK-STAT pathway crucially involved in the immune response. The aim of this narrative review is to globally report the most relevant pharmacological features and clinical outcomes of the developed and incoming JAKi for RA, based on the available preclinical and clinical evidence. A total of 219 papers, including narrative and systematic reviews, randomized controlled trials (RCTs), observational studies, case reports, guidelines, and drug factsheets, were selected. The efficacy and safety profile of both the first generation JAKi (baricitinib and tofacitinib) and the second generation JAKi (upadacitinib, filgotinib, peficitinib, decernotinib and itacitinib) were compared and discussed. Results from RCTs and real-life data are encouraging and outline a rapid onset of the pharmacologic effects, which are maintained during the time. Their efficacy and safety profile are comparable or superior to those of biologic agents and JAKi proved to be efficacious when given as monotherapy. Finally, the manufacturing of JAKi is relatively easier and cheaper than that of biologics, thus increasing the number of compounds being formulated and tested for clinical use