Non Local Effects in the Sznajd Model: Stochastic resonance aspects

The Sznajd model is basically an Ising spin model, widely used in sociophysics studies as a simple mechanismfor predicting decision-making in a closed community through interactions among the nearest neighbors.In the present work we aim to deepen our understanding of this model by analyzing not only local or firstneighbor interactions but also long range ones. Besides, we consider the system as being subjected to twosignals, a stochastically social internal one, mimicking “social temperature”, and an external periodic signalplaying the role of the effects of fashion or propaganda. Under these conditions, we show the occurrence of adouble stochastic resonance phenomenon when depicting signal-to-noise ratio as a function of both, the socialtemperature and the non local interaction parameters.Fil: Gimenez, Maria Cecilia. Universidad Nacional de Córdoba. Facultad de Matemática, Astronomía y Física; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Córdoba; ArgentinaFil: Revelli, Jorge Alberto. Universidad Nacional de Córdoba. Facultad de Matemática, Astronomía y Física; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Córdoba; ArgentinaFil: Wio, Horacio S.. Universidad de Cantabria. Facultad de Ciencias. Departamento de Matemáticas, Estadística y Computación; Españ

Milder is better? advantages and disadvantages of "mild" ovarian stimulation for human in vitro fertilization

In the last decades, several steps have been made aiming at rendering human IVF more successful on one side, more tolerable on the other side. The "mild" ovarian stimulation approach, in which a lower-than-average dose of exogenous gonadotropins is given and gonadotropin treatment is started from day 2 to 7 of the cycle, represents a significant step toward a more patient's friendly IVF. However, a clear view of its virtues and defects is still lacking, because only a few prospective randomized trials comparing "mild" vs. conventional stimulation exist, and they do not consider some important aspects, such as, e.g., thawing cycles. This review gives a complete panorama of the "mild" stimulation philosophy, showing its advantages vs. conventional ovarian stimulation, but also discussing its disadvantages. Both patients with a normal ovarian responsiveness to exogenous gonadotropins and women with a poor ovarian reserve are considered. Overall, we conclude that the level of evidence supporting the use of "mild" stimulation protocols is still rather poor, and further, properly powered prospective studies about "mild" treatment regimens are required

Fluctuation theorems and large-deviation functions in systems not featuring a steady state

Motivated by the time behavior of the functional arising in the variational approach to the KPZ equation, we have adapted a path-integral scheme to deal with unstable systems. In a simple mesoscopic model and under two scenarios, we define a suitable mean value of (the exponential of) the entropy production between arbitrary initial and final states. This definition leads naturally to an integral fluctuation theorem (FT)-and on the way, to detailed and Crooks' FT. We also find the general form of a large-deviation function, as well as its particular form for a particle submitted to a constant force.Fil: Wio, Horacio Sergio. Universitat de les Illes Balears-CSIC; IFISC (Instituto de Física Interdisciplinar y Sistemas Complejos); Palma de Mallorca; España. Comision Nacional de Energia Atomica. Gerencia D/area Invest y Aplicaciones No Nucleares. Gerencia de Física (cab). Div.física Teórica; ArgentinaFil: Deza, Roberto Raul. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Mar del Plata. Instituto de Investigaciones Físicas de Mar del Plata. Universidad Nacional de Mar del Plata. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales. Instituto de Investigaciones Físicas de Mar del Plata; ArgentinaFil: Revelli, Jorge Alberto. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Córdoba. Instituto de Física Enrique Gaviola. Universidad Nacional de Córdoba. Instituto de Física Enrique Gaviola; Argentin