1,721,519 research outputs found
Accessing the neural drive to muscle and translation to neurorehabilitation technologies
No full textPopulation coding of neural drive in human motor units during voluntary isometric contractions
Full text linkPhase diagram of Yang-Mills theories in the presence of a θ term
No full textWe study the phase diagram of non-Abelian pure gauge theories in the presence of a topological θ term. The dependence of the deconfinement temperature on θ is determined on the lattice both by analytic continuation and by reweighting, obtaining consistent results. The general structure of the diagram is discussed on the basis of large-N considerations and of the possible analogies and dualities existing with the phase diagram of QCD in the presence of an imaginary baryon chemical potential
Theta-dependence of the deconfinement transition in Yang-Mills theories
No full textWe investigate the dependence of the deconfinement temperature of SU(3) pure gauge theory on
the topological q parameter, finding that, for small values of theta, it decreases linearly in theta^2. The
problem is approached numerically using lattice simulations at imaginary theta, in order to avoid
the sign problem present at real theta, then exploiting analytic continuation. The dependence is also
studied analytically in the limit of a large number of colors N, based on a simple model for the
dependence of the topological susceptibility on T: we find that the critical temperature decreases
linearly with theta^2/N^2; model results are comparable with numerical results obtained for N = 3
Is there anything left of the Italian law governing medically-assisted procreation?
Full text linkMedically-assisted-procreation via in vitro fertilization, an integral part of of the so-called “reproductive revolution”, is a valuable option for couples with sterility or fertility issues. That has however brought about three relevant results: the rift between procreation and sexual intercourse, the opportunity to use heterologous fertilization through donated gametes, and the ensuing increase in the number of “reproductive contributors” (male and/or female gamete donors, surrogate mothers). In Italy, Law n. 40 has put in place several restrictions, stricter than in most other European countries. Before being declared partly unconstitutional, Law 40 used to impose an array of bans and restrictions other than the ones still currently in force, such as the still unchanged prohibition to use human embryos for experimentation purposes and the ban on surrogacy. For same-sex couples who travel abroad to get around the Italian ban on heterologous fertilization, surrogacy, and MAP for homosexual couples. The authors have attempted to lay out a short analysis of how Italian courts have attempted to uphold the best interests of children born abroad in homosexual families, by taking into account the latest decisions on the subject
Wastewater analysis and drug consumption. Useful assessment tool
No full textDrug use in Europe is now more than ever a multifaceted issue involving a broad and ever-changing range of substances. Alarmingly, recent European Monitoring Centre for Drugs and Drug Addiction (EMCDDA) reports show that roughly 83 million adults aged between 15 and 64 years in the European Union have used illicit substances at least once in their lifetime. Polydrug use is rife, and consumption patterns range from experimental/occasional, habitual use all the way to addiction. Traditional epidemiological methods delineating drug abuse specifics (i.e. number of users, age groups, specific characteristics and patterns of use) are questionnaire-based and therefore present the classic biases linked to the selected sample, thus risking an underestimation of the phenomenon. The Mario Negri IRCCS Pharmacological Research Institute has developed a new population screening method based on wastewater-based epidemiology (WBE) which makes it possible to detect drug metabolites in waste water and to estimate which and how many substances are consumed by the entire population belonging to the wastewater treatment plant being monitored. Such a technique has gained great interest at the national and international level, and may be especially valuable as a detection/monitoring tool at a time when novel psychoactive substances have come to trigger a major public health crisis, on account of their elusiveness and potential as substitutes/adulterants of traditional substances of abuse
Theta dependence of the deconfinement temperature in Yang-Mills theories
No full textWe determine the theta dependence of the deconfinement temperature of SU(3)
pure gauge theory, finding that it decreases in presence of a topological theta
term. We do that by performing lattice simulations at imaginary theta, then
exploiting analytic continuation. We also give an estimate of such dependence
in the limit of a large number of colors N, and compare it with our numerical
results
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