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recent studies reported that anti myelin oligodendrocyte glycoprotein (MOG) antibody (ab) related optic neuritis (ON) tend to have characteristics that differ from seronegative ones. The aim of our study was to investigate the clinical characteristics of pediatric anti-MOG ON by comparing anti MOG-ab-seropositive and seronegative patients with ON.in this retrospective Italian multicentre study, participants were identified by chart review of patients evaluated for acquired demyelinating syndromes of the central nervous system (over the period 2009-2019). We selected patients presenting with ON as their first demyelinating event. Inclusion criteria were age 18 years at symptoms onset; presentation consistent with ON; negativity of anti-aquaporin 4 antibodies (AQP4). Only patients who were tested for MOG-IgG1-ab with a live cell-based assay were included.22 patients (10 MOG-ab-positive and 12 MOG-ab-negative) were included. Fundus oculi examination at onset showed disc swelling in 9/10 in the MOG-ab-positive cohort and 2/10 in the seronegative group (P = 0.002). Retinal Fiber Nerve Layer (RFNL) thickness measured by Spectral Domain Optical Coherence Tomography (S-OCT) was increased in the 5/5 MOG-ab-positive patients tested and was normal or reduced in the seronegative patients tested (4/4 patients) (P = 0.024). Visual acuity impairment at onset did not differ significantly between the two groups, but the MOG-ab-positive cohort showed better recovery at follow-up both regarding visual acuity (P = 0.025) and expanded disability status scale (EDSS) (P = 0.013). A final diagnosis of MS was frequent among seronegative patients (6/12, 50%), whereas none of the MOG-ab-positive group received a diagnosis of MS (P = 0.015). Clinical relapse frequency was low in both groups: 2/10 MOG-ab-positive and 2/12 seronegative cases relapsed, with a median follow up of 25 months.optic disc swelling and increased RFNL at baseline are strongly associated with MOG-ab positivity. MOG-ab-positive patients with ON showed better recovery compared to the seronegative ones. The relapse rate was low and did not differ among the two groups.

We show that the dynamical Casimir effect in an optomechanical system can be achieved under incoherent mechanical pumping. We adopt a fully quantum-mechanical approach for both the cavity field and the oscillating mirror. The dynamics is then evaluated using a recently-developed master equation approach in the dressed picture, including both zero and finite temperature photonic reservoirs. This analysis shows that the dynamical Casimir effect can be observed even when the mean value of the mechanical displacement is zero. This opens up new possibilities for the experimental observation of this effect. We also calculate cavity emission spectra both in the resonant and the dispersive regimes, providing useful information on the emission process., Comment: 10 pages, 6 figures

Biotin-thiamine responsive basal ganglia disease (BTRBGD) is an autosomal recessive neurometabolic disorder with poor genotype-phenotype correlation, caused by mutations in the SLC19A3 gene on chromosome 2q36.6. The disease is characterized by three stages: stage 1 is a sub-acute encephalopathy often triggered by febrile illness; stage 2 is an acute encephalopathy with seizures, loss of motor function, developmental regression, dystonia, external ophthalmoplegia, dysphagia, and dysarthria; stage 3 is represented by chronic or slowly progressive encephalopathy. Clinical and biochemical findings, as well as the magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) pattern, resemble those of Leigh's syndrome, so that BTRBGD can be misdiagnosed as a mitochondrial encephalopathy.Here we report the clinical and radiological phenotypes of two siblings diagnosed with BTRBGD in which a novel SLC19A3 mutation (NM_025243.3: c.548C > T; p.Ala183Val) was found by whole exome sequencing (WES) of the family members.

The interaction among the components of a hybrid quantum system is often neglected when considering the coupling of these components to an environment. However, if the interaction strength is large, this approximation leads to unphysical predictions, as has been shown for cavity-QED and optomechanical systems in the ultrastrong-coupling regime. To deal with these cases, master equations with dissipators retaining the interaction between these components have been derived for the quantum Rabi model and for the standard optomechanical Hamiltonian. In this article, we go beyond these previous derivations and present a general master equation approach for arbitrary hybrid quantum systems interacting with thermal reservoirs. Specifically, our approach can be applied to describe the dynamics of open hybrid systems with harmonic, quasi-harmonic, and anharmonic transitions. We apply our approach to study the influence of temperature on multiphoton vacuum Rabi oscillations in circuit QED. We also analyze the influence of temperature on the conversion of mechanical energy into photon pairs in an optomechanical system, which has been recently described at zero temperature. We compare our results with previous approaches, finding that these sometimes overestimate decoherence rates and understimate excited-state populations.

Background West Nile virus (WNV) is a mosquito-borne RNA virus belonging to the Flaviviridae family. Symptomatic infection happens in only about 20% of the cases, while WNV neuroinvasive disease (WNND) is rare and accounts for less than 1%. There is insufficient information about natural history and clinical course in children, because underdiagnosis is common, and reports are scarce. On the other hand, Europe has seen a dramatic increase of WNV infections in the last decades, and the Po valley itself, in Northern Italy, has become an endemic region since 2013. Case presentation We hereby report a case of West-Nile virus neuroinvasive disease in a 12-year-old boy. This is one of the very few cases diagnosed in the Italian pediatric population. The clinical presentation was compatible with acute encephalitis. Diagnosis was made by detection of specific IgM in both serum and cerebrospinal fluid. He finally was discharged with complete recovery, and no neurologic sequelae after a 12-months follow up period. Conclusions Given its non-specific clinical presentation, the diffusion of WNV constitutes a crucial and emerging concern. Even though rare, neuroinvasive WNV infection should always be suspected in pediatric patients, living or traveling in endemic areas, presenting with meningitis, encephalitis or acute flaccid paralysis during the WNV transmission season.

Bickerstaff Brainstem Encephalitis (BBE) is a rare autoimmune encephalitis, characterized by acute ophthalmoplegia, ataxia and altered state of consciousness. Together with Guillan-Barre Syndrome (GBS) and Miller-Fisher Syndrome, it forms a spectrum of post-infectious demyelinating diseases. Overlapping forms between BBE and GBS (BBE/GBS) are described in patients with lower limbs weakness and typical signs of BBE, suggesting a combined involvement of Central and Peripheral Nervous System (PNS), but only few reported cases are focused on pediatric population. We reviewed all cases of pediatric BBE in the literature, to determine if any patient showed features suggestive for BBE/GBS. Data analysis focused on the diagnostic tests performed (e.g. anti-GQ1b antibodies), neuroimaging and nerve conduction studies (NCS). Further attention was given to the therapeutic management and to patients' outcome. We additionally present two previously unreported pediatric cases. Our review retrieved 19 cases of BBE/GBS, only 2 of which were originally and correctly diagnosed by the authors. The prevalence was higher in male subjects (ratio 3:1) and median age at diagnosis was 8 years. Anti-GQ1b were positive in 46% of the patients, while NCS were altered in 64%. Only 25% of the patients that underwent brain MRI showed abnormal findings. The incidence of BBE/GBS has been underrated in the past, mostly due to an underestimation of the PNS involvement. We therefore suggest to investigate all patients with a clinical picture suggestive of BBE/GBS through electroencephalogram, NCS, brain and spine MRI in order to promptly achieve the correct diagnosis.

Few paediatric cases of clinically isolated syndrome (CIS) have been described in literature, even though it has been increasingly recognized also in this age group. Our study retrospectively enrolled seven Italian patients (four males and three females) who met the International Paediatric Multiple Sclerosis Study Group (IPMSSG) 2012 criteria for clinically isolated syndrome over the period 2010–2014; their clinical, laboratory and imaging findings were compared with current literature and with those seen in five patients (three males and two females) with acute disseminated encephalomyelitis, who were followed in our department over the same years (mean follow-up time 2.84 ± 1.8 years). In our CIS sample, male sex was prevalent, 42.8 % of patients had a multifocal presentation, MRI lesions mostly appeared confluent and with poorly defined margins, and CSF oligoclonal bands (OCBs) were identified in 28.6 %. All acute disseminated encephalomyelitis (ADEM) patients had polyfocal presentation and encephalopathy; large MRI subcortical lesions and polyclonal IgG distribution were identified. During the subsequent follow-up assessments, MRI scan revealed new lesions in three CIS patients, while in ADEM children it appeared normal. Paediatric CIS patients often show peculiar epidemiological, clinical and radiological features, which significantly differ from adult ones. The presence of encephalopathy and of extended MRI lesions leads to a diagnosis of ADEM, instead. In CIS patients the presence of multiple asymptomatic MRI lesions and of OCBs revealed to be the most predictive risk factors for progression to clinically definite multiple sclerosis (CDMS), so a regular long-term follow-up is recommended; in ADEM, no suitable risk factors for a relapse could be identified.

Pseudotumor cerebri syndrome (PTCS) is defined by increased pressure of cerebrospinal fluid (CSF), with normal CSF contents and without any intracranial disease found on brain imaging. PTCS is a disease with a predilection for childbearing obese women, but it may also occur in children and in man. The most common symptoms include headache, double vision, transient visual obscuration, and pulsatile tinnitus. The reason for which patients with increased CSF pressure experience tinnitus is not clear, and only a few studies have focused on the etiology of this peculiar clinical feature in the context of PTCS presentation. Besides tinnitus, additional otologic manifestations in children with PTCS include aural fullness, low-frequency hearing loss, and vertigo; these symptoms altogether can easily mimic Meniere disease. We hereby present two girls, who presented tinnitus as the first clinical symptom of PTCS, prior to developing headache and visual anomalies, and speculate on a shared pathophysiologic basis for both PTCS and Meniere disease.

Stickler syndrome is a genetically heterogeneous collagenopathy characterized by auditory, ocular, musculoskeletal, and orofacial abnormalities. Stickler syndrome type 1 typically presents ophthalmologic involvement and is due to heterozygous defects of the COL2A1 gene, that have been also identified as the molecular cause of a continuous spectrum of different disorders mainly affecting the cartilage and bone (i.e., Kniest dysplasia, achondrogenesis type II, Legg-Calvè-Perthes disease). We report three Caucasian children with: (a) ocular, oral, facial, auditory, and musculoskeletal manifestations of Stickler syndrome type 1; (b) history of generalized and/or partial seizures coupled with abnormal electroencephalographic records; and (c) pathogenic heterozygous mutations of the COL2A1 gene. Epilepsy has been never reported so far in literature as a possible feature of Stickler syndrome, although neurological presentations, including epilepsy and brain abnormalities, have been occasionally described in other COL2A1-related phenotypes (e.g., Legg-Calvè-Perthes disease).This report raises the possibility of a potential occurrence of seizures among the clinical manifestations of Stickler syndrome type 1, suggesting the presence of a continuous neurological spectrum in some individuals harboring heterozygous mutations in COL2A1.• Stickler syndrome is a genetically heterogeneous collagenopathy characterized by auditory, ocular, musculoskeletal, and orofacial anomalies. What is New: • Involvement of the nervous central system is not a typical feature of Stickler syndrome and the association with epilepsy has not been reported so far. • This report raises the possibility of a potential occurrence of seizures among the clinical manifestations of Stickler syndrome type 1, suggesting a continuous neurological spectrum in some individuals affected by heterozygous mutations of COL2A1.

Background The purpose of this study was to determine headache characteristics, impact on daily activities and medication attitudes among a large sample of adolescents in Italy. Methods Secondary school classes were randomly selected from a national stratified multistage sampling. Data regarding socio-familial factors, headache characteristics, impact on daily activities and medication use were recorded with an anonymous multiple-choice questionnaire. Results The survey involved 2064 adolescents. 1950 questionnaires were considered for analysis. Study population included 944 males (48.4%) and 1006 females (51.6%), aged between 11 and 16 years (mean 13.5 ± 1.87). Headache prevalence was 65.9%. Mean age at headache onset was 8.33 years. 9.8% suffered from headache > 1/week, 14.3% > 1/month, 24.2% monthly and 17.7% less than monthly. The mean duration of a headache episode was less than 30 min in 32.9%, 1 hour in 28.1%, 2 hours in 19.3% and several hours in 19.5%. Pain intensity was moderate in 52.2% and severe in 9.5%. School represented the main trigger factor (67%). Impact on daily activities was noted in 57.5%. 69.2% of adolescents reported the use of pain relievers. Up to 5.7% declared self-medication, while only 20.6% followed a physician’s prescription. Female adolescents experienced headache more frequently (70.2% vs 60%) and more intensely than male peers. Girls had a higher family history of headache, could more frequently identify a trigger factor, and were more affected into their daily activities than boys. Conclusions Population-based studies of headache disorders are important, as they inform needs assessment and underpin service policy for a disease that is a public-health priority. Headache has a high prevalence among adolescents and carries a significant burden in terms of impact on daily activities and use of medication. Furthermore, underdiagnose is common, while trigger factors are often detectable. Special consideration should be given to female adolescents and self-medication attitudes.

Introduction Shapiro syndrome (SS) is characterized by spontaneous recurrent episodes of hypothermia, hyperhidrosis and corpus callosum (CC) agenesis. Less than 60 cases have been reported to date and the pathogenic mechanism as well as the prognosis of this syndrome are still debated. We describe the clinical features and long-term follow-up of a pediatric cohort of SS patients. Methods We collected 13 (10 novel) pediatric cases of SS and report their long-term follow-up and neurological outcome. Results All patients experienced recurring hypothermia, with body temperature below 35 °C during the episodes, often accompanied by hyperidrosis. CC agenesis was an inconstant structural feature in the present series (2/13 patients). Seven patients received antiepileptic drugs (AEDs) or other drug therapy for a mean period of 12 months. At long-term follow-up (mean = 61 months, range: 60–96), all individuals were free from episodes of paroxysmal hypothermia independently from previous AED use or other drug therapy. Conclusion Paroxysmal hypothermia, the core symptom of SS, behaved as a age-dependent feature in our cohort, supporting a good long-term prognosis for SS. A prompt diagnosis of SS is crucial to avoid unnecessary diagnostic investigations.

Objective: To define the electroclinical phenotype and long-term outcomes in a cohort of patients with inv dup (15) syndrome. Material and Methods: The electroclinical data of 45 patients (25 males) affected by inv dup (15) and seizures were retrospectively analysed, and long-term follow-up of epilepsy was evaluated. Results: Epilepsy onset was marked by generalized seizures in 53% of patients, epileptic spasms in 51%, focal seizures in 26%, atypical absences in 11% and epileptic falls in 9%. The epileptic syndromes defined were: generalized epilepsy (26.7%), focal epilepsy (22.3%), epileptic encephalopathy with epileptic spasms as the only seizure type (17.7%) and Lennox-Gastaut syndrome (33.3%). Drug-resistant epilepsy was detected in 55.5% of patients. There was a significant higher prevalence of seizure-free patients in those with seizure onset after the age of 5 years and with focal epilepsy, with respect to those with earlier epilepsy onset because most of these later developed an epileptic encephalopathy (69.2% vs 34.4%; P = .03), usually Lennox-Gastaut Syndrome in type. In fact, among patients with early-onset epilepsy, those presenting with epileptic spasms as the only seizure type associated with classical hypsarrhythmia achieved seizure freedom (P < .001) compared to patients with spasms and other seizure types associated with modified hypsarrhythmia. Conclusions: Epilepsy in inv dup (15) leads to a more severe burden of disease. Frequently, these patients show drug resistance, in particular when epilepsy onset is before the age of five and features epileptic encephalopathy.

Pediatric Autoimmune Neuropsychiatric Disorder associated with Streptococcal Infection (PANDAS) is characterized with main clinical features including obsessive-compulsive disorders and tics, acute-onset in prepubertal age, relapsing-remitting course, association with neurological abnormalities (mainly choreiform movements and motor hyperactivity), and temporal relationship with group A streptococcal infections. Thirty- four children with a serious- severe grade of PANDAS were enrolled in Italian Institutions with the aim to report clinical manifestations of the patients and their response to the intravenous immunoglobulin (IVIG) treatment. All patients were selected according to the Swedo‘s criteria and specific laboratory investigations as suggested by Chang for the PANS and treated with IVIG at the dosage of 2 g/kg/day for two consecutive days. At the onset, all patients presented with at least, one psychiatric manifestation including anxiety, emotional lability, bedwetting, enuresis, and phobia, and oppositional behavior including temper tantrums, personality changes, and deterioration in math skills and handwriting. At the laboratory investigations, positivity of pharyngeal swab for streptococcal infection in most of the patients and variable titers of anti-DNase B and ASO were found. In 29 patients reduction or disappearing of the motor symptoms were reached after 1 or 2 cycles of IVIG treatment, while in 5 patients the symptoms reappeared after the third cycle of IVIG. PANDAS may present with polymorphic clinical signs involving behavioral and psychiatric manifestations. In this study, IVIG has been shown to be effective in most of the cases and no complications have been reported during the treatment. Since there is no general agreement on PANDAS treatment, further more extensive researches in this topic are to be hoped.

Objectivies Monosomy 1p36 syndrome is a recognized syndrome with multiple congenital anomalies; medical problems of this syndrome include developmental delay, facial dysmorphisms, hearing loss, short stature, brain anomalies, congenital heart defects. Epilepsy can be another feature but there are few data about the types of seizures and long term prognosis. The aim of this work was to analyse the electroclinical phenotype and the long-term outcome in patients with monosomy 1p36 syndrome and epilepsy. Materials and methods Data of 22 patients with monosomy 1p36 syndrome and epilepsy were reconstructed by reviewing medical records. For each patient we analysed age at time of diagnosis, first signs of the syndrome, age at seizure onset, seizure type and its frequency, EEG and neuroimaging findings, the response to antiepileptic drugs treatment and clinical outcome up to the last follow-up assessment. Results Infantile Spasm (IS) represents the most frequent type at epilepsy onset, which occurs in 36.4% of children, and a half of these were associated with hypsarrhythmic electroencephalogram. All patients with IS had persistence of seizures, unlike other patients with different seizures onset. Children with abnormal brain neuroimaging have a greater chance to develop pharmacoresistant epilepsy. Conclusion This syndrome represents a significant cause of IS: these patients, who develop IS, can suffer from pharmacoresistent epilepsy, that is more frequent in children with brain abnormalities.

Photon antibunching in the light scattered by single quantum emitters is one of the hallmarks of quantum optics, providing an unequivocal demonstration of the quantized nature of the electromagnetic field. Antibunching can be intuitively understood by the need for a two-level system lying in its lower state after emitting a photon to be re-excited into the upper one before a second emission can take place. Here we show that such a picture breaks down in the ultrastrong light–matter coupling regime, when the coupling strength becomes comparable to the bare emitter frequency. Specializing to the cases of both a natural and an artificial atom, we thus show that a single emitter coupled to a photonic resonator can emit bunched light. The result presented herein is clear evidence of how the ultrastrong coupling regime is able to change the nature of individual atoms.

We show how analogues of a large number of well-known nonlinear-optics phenomena can be realized with one or more two-level atoms coupled to one or more resonator modes. Through higher-order processes, where virtual photons are created and annihilated, an effective deterministic coupling between two states of such a system can be created. In this way, analogues of three-wave mixing, four-wave mixing, higher-harmonic and -subharmonic generation (i.e., up- and downconversion), multiphoton absorption, parametric amplification, Raman and hyper-Raman scattering, the Kerr effect, and other nonlinear processes can be realized. The effective coupling becomes weaker the more intermediate transition steps are needed. However, given the recent experimental progress in ultrastrong light-matter coupling, especially in the field of circuit quantum electrodynamics, we estimate that many of these nonlinear-optics analogues can be realized with currently available technology., Comment: 23 pages, 10 figures, 2 tables

PURPOSE: Mowat-Wilson syndrome (MWS) is a genetic disease characterized by distinctive facial features, moderate to severe intellectual disability, and congenital malformations, including Hirschsprung disease, genital and eye anomalies, and congenital heart defects, caused by haploinsufficiency of the ZEB2 gene. To date, no characteristic pattern of brain dysmorphology in MWS has been defined.METHODS: Through brain magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) analysis, we delineated a neuroimaging phenotype in 54 MWS patients with a proven ZEB2 defect, compared it with the features identified in a thorough review of published cases, and evaluated genotype-phenotype correlations.RESULTS: Ninety-six percent of patients had abnormal MRI results. The most common features were anomalies of corpus callosum (79.6% of cases), hippocampal abnormalities (77.8%), enlargement of cerebral ventricles (68.5%), and white matter abnormalities (reduction of thickness 40.7%, localized signal alterations 22.2%). Other consistent findings were large basal ganglia, cortical, and cerebellar malformations. Most features were underrepresented in the literature. We also found ZEB2 variations leading to synthesis of a defective protein to be favorable for psychomotor development and some epilepsy features but also associated with corpus callosum agenesis.CONCLUSION: This study delineated the spectrum of brain anomalies in MWS and provided new insights into the role of ZEB2 in neurodevelopment.Genet Med advance online publication 10 November 2016Genetics in Medicine (2016); doi:10.1038/gim.2016.176.

A light emitting structure consisting of three coupled microcavities has been realized and studied. All three cavities contain a luminescent organic thin film of tetrakis(4-methoxyphenyl)porphyrin and they are coupled by means of two same LiF/ZnS Distributed Bragg Reflector. The entire structure is enclosed between a bottom and a top Bragg mirror with different layer number. Reflectivity spectra collected at different growing steps allow us to demonstrate the effective strong coupling between the three bare cavity modes. The reflectivity spectrum of the whole structure shows the presence of three well defined cavity dips. At normal incidence, the device emits three, well separated, peaks each one corresponding to a delocalized optical mode of the coupled system, while at higher angles the peaks result blue shift. The experimental reflectivity spectra are in good agreement with a theoretical model based on the transfer matrix method. The model is applicable to any device, therefore, once the materials to employ as emitters are established, the cavity can be designed in order to amplify just the modes that correspond to the peak wavelengths of the emission spectrum and/or to change completely the spectral shape.

Melkersson–Rosenthal syndrome (MRS) in children is a rare condition, clinically characterised by a triad of synchronous or metachronous symptoms: recurrent peripheral facial palsy, relapsing orofacial oedema, and a fissured tongue; the most recent review published on the topic has reported 30 published patients. The aetiology of this disease is still unclear. However, genetic factors, as well as alterations in immune functions, infections, and allergic reactions have been postulated. We report three children suffering from MRS and perform a literature review of paediatric cases. Taking into account that clinical and laboratoristical criteria for the diagnosis of MRS are lacking, this syndrome is probably underestimated, and we suggest increasing awareness of such a rare syndrome. Close multidisciplinary follow-up of these children with a team composed by paediatricians, neurologists, neuro-ophthalmologists, dermatologists, and otolaryngologists is crucial to guarantee exhaustive management and treatment success, while minimising relapses.

Pseudotumor cerebri syndrome (PTCS) is a condition of unclear etiology, characterized by increased intracranial pressure (ICP) with normal cerebrospinal fluid contents and no associated anomalies evident in the brain parenchyma. It may be associated with concomitant risk factors, including obesity, endocrine disorders, chronic medical illness, and medications. Clinical signs and symptoms of PTCS in children are heterogeneous, but they usually include headache, papilledema at the funduscopic examination, and visual disturbances (e.g., diplopia and/or vision loss). Irreversible blindness, due to persistently raised ICP, has been also reported in up to 10% of cases. Treatment goal of PTCS is the relief of symptoms and the preservation of visual function, by reducing ICP. Diuretics (e.g., acetazolamide, furosemide) could be regarded as the first-line treatments in PTCS; however, up to 30% of patients do not have a clinical response, making important the identification of alternative (conservative) treatment's choices to avoid the PTCS-related complications (e.g., permanent visual loss) and the necessity of invasive surgical (cerebrospinal fluid diverting) procedures. In this context, octreotide (i.e., a synthetic somatostatin analog) has been previously proposed in some studies as a potential (etiologically targeted) treatment able to revert to PTCS-related manifestations. We hereby discuss the possible role of octreotide in PTCS and hypothesize the possible mechanism of action of this drug in reducing ICP.

Cavity-QED systems have recently reached a regime where the light-matter interaction strength amounts to a non-negligible fraction of the resonance frequencies of the bare subsystems. In this regime, it is known that the usual normal-order correlation functions for the cavity-photon operators fail to describe both the rate and the statistics of emitted photons. Following Glauber's original approach, we derive a simple and general quantum theory of photodetection, valid for arbitrary light-matter interaction strengths. Our derivation uses Fermi's golden rule, together with an expansion of system operators in the eigenbasis of the interacting light-matter system, to arrive at the correct photodetection probabilities. We consider both narrow- and wide-band photodetectors. Our description is also valid for point-like detectors placed inside the optical cavity. As an application, we propose a gedanken experiment confirming the virtual nature of the bare excitations that enrich the ground state of the quantum Rabi model., Comment: 9 pages, 1 figure

We study the dynamical Casimir effect using a fully quantum-mechanical description of both the cavity field and the oscillating mirror. We do not linearize the dynamics, nor do we adopt any parametric or perturbative approximation. By numerically diagonalizing the full optomechanical Hamiltonian, we show that the resonant generation of photons from the vacuum is determined by a ladder of mirror-field {\em vacuum Rabi splittings}. We find that vacuum emission can originate from the free evolution of an initial pure mechanical excited state, in analogy with the spontaneous emission from excited atoms. By considering a coherent drive of the mirror, using a master-equation approach to take losses into account, we are able to study the dynamical Casimir effect for optomechanical coupling strengths ranging from weak to ultrastrong. We find that a resonant production of photons out of the vacuum can be observed even for mechanical frequencies lower than the cavity-mode frequency. Since high mechanical frequencies, which are hard to achieve experimentally, were thought to be imperative for realizing the dynamical Casimir effect, this result removes one of the major obstacles for the observation of this long-sought effect. We also find that the dynamical Casimir effect can create entanglement between the oscillating mirror and the radiation produced by its motion in the vacuum field, and that vacuum Casimir-Rabi oscillations can occur., Comment: 30 pages, 8 figures

Spontaneous parametric down-conversion is a well-known process in quantum nonlinear optics in which a photon incident on a nonlinear crystal spontaneously splits into two photons. Here we propose an analogous physical process where one excited atom directly transfers its excitation to a pair of spatially-separated atoms with probability approaching one. The interaction is mediated by the exchange of virtual rather than real photons. This nonlinear atomic process is coherent and reversible, so the pair of excited atoms can transfer the excitation back to the first one: the atomic analogue of sum-frequency generation of light. The parameters used to investigate this process correspond to experimentally-demonstrated values in ultrastrong circuit quantum electrodynamics. This approach can be extended to realize other nonlinear inter-atomic processes, such as four-atom mixing, and is an attractive architecture for the realization of quantum devices on a chip. We show that four-qubit mixing can efficiently implement quantum repetition codes and, thus, can be used for error-correction codes.

Meier-Gorlin syndrome (MGORS) is a rare disorder characterized by primordial dwarfism, microtia, and patellar aplasia/hypoplasia. Recessive mutations in ORC1, ORC4, ORC6, CDT1, CDC6, and CDC45, encoding members of the pre-replication (pre-RC) and pre-initiation (pre-IC) complexes, and heterozygous mutations in GMNN, a regulator of cell-cycle progression and DNA replication, have already been associated with this condition. We performed whole-exome sequencing (WES) in a patient with a clinical diagnosis of MGORS and identified biallelic variants in MCM5. This gene encodes a subunit of the replicative helicase complex, which represents a component of the pre-RC. Both variants, a missense substitution within a conserved domain critical for the helicase activity, and a single base deletion causing a frameshift and a premature stop codon, were predicted to be detrimental for the MCM5 function. Although variants of MCM5 have never been reported in specific human diseases, defect of this gene in zebrafish causes a phenotype of growth restriction overlapping the one associated with orc1 depletion. Complementation experiments in yeast showed that the plasmid carrying the missense variant was unable to rescue the lethal phenotype caused by mcm5 deletion. Moreover cell-cycle progression was delayed in patient's cells, as already shown for mutations in the ORC1 gene. Altogether our findings support the role of MCM5 as a novel gene involved in MGORS, further emphasizing that this condition is caused by impaired DNA replication.

Light carries both spin and momentum. Spin-orbit interactions of light come into play at the subwavelength scale of nano-optics and nano-photonics, where they determine the behaviour of light. These phenomena, in which the spin affects and controls the spatial degrees of freedom of light, are attracting rapidly growing interest. Here we present results on the spin-momentum locking in the near field of metal nanostructures supporting localized surface resonances. These systems can confine light to very small dimensions below the diffraction limit, leading to a striking near-field enhancement. In contrast to the propagating evanescent waves of surface plasmon-polariton modes, the electromagnetic near-field of localized surface resonances does not exhibit a definite position-independent momentum or polarization. Our results can be useful to investigate the spin-orbit interactions of light for complex evanescent fields. Note that the spin of the incident light can control the rotation direction of the canonical momentum., 23 pages and 7 figures, ACS Photonics - open access

Aim Childhood absence epilepsy (CAE) and benign childhood epilepsy with centrotemporal spikes (BECTS) are the most common forms of childhood epilepsy. Recent studies in animal models suggest that the two phenotypes may represent a neurobiological continuum. Although the coexistence of CAE and BECTS has been reported, this issue remains controversial. The purpose of this study was to analyse the electro-clinical characteristics of a group of children with contemporary or subsequent features of absence seizures and focal seizures consistent with BECTS. Material and methods A systematic record review from 8 epilepsy centres was used to identify 11 subjects, 5 females and 6 males, with electro-clinical documented consecutive or contemporary coexistence of CAE and BECTS. Results Patient's age ranged between 7.8 and 17.3 years. Four out of 11 patients presented concomitant features of both syndromes, whereas the remaining 7 experienced the two syndromes at different times. Conclusions Although CAE and BECTS are clearly defined syndromes and considered very different in terms of their pathophysiology, they share some features (such as similar age of onset, overall good prognosis), and can occur in the same patient. The long term prognosis of these patients seems to be good with an excellent response to anticonvulsant therapy.

Pigmentary mosaicism of the (hypomelanosis of) Ito type is an umbrella term, which includes phenotypes characterized by mosaic hypopigmentation in the form of streaks, whorls, patchy, or more bizarre skin configurations (running along the lines of Blaschko): these cutaneous patterns can manifest as an isolated skin disorder (pigmentary mosaicism of the Ito type) or as a complex malformation syndrome in association with extracutaneous anomalies (most often of the musculoskeletal and/or nervous systems) (hypomelanosis of Ito). Affected individuals are anecdotally reported to have also partial or total body hemi-overgrowth (HOG), which often causes moderate to severe complications. We studied the occurrence and features of HOG in the 114 children and adults with mosaic pigmentary disorders of the Ito type diagnosed and followed up (from 2 to 22 years; average follow-up 16 years) at our Institutions. Eight patients (5 M, 3 F; aged 4 to 25 years; median age 16 years) out of the 114 analyzed (7%) fulfilled the criteria for unilateral HOG, with differences in diameter ranging from 0.4 to 4.0 cm (upper limbs) and 1.0 to 9.0 cm (lower limbs). Moreover, among these 8 patients, 5/8 filled in the 75th to 90th percentile for height; 6/8 had associated kyphoscoliosis; and 5/8 showed cognitive delays. No tumour complications were recorded. Overall, 6/8 HOG patients presented with additional (extracutaneous) syndromic manifestations, apart from the HOG (ie, with a clinical phenotype of hypomelanosis of Ito). The present study, which includes children and adults with the longest follow-up so far recorded, confirms the association between pigmentary mosaicism of the Ito type and HOG lowering previous estimates (7% vs 16%) for HOG in the context of mosaic hypopigmentation. A careful examination, looking at subtle to moderate asymmetries and associated complications within the spectrum of these mosaic pigmentary disorders, is recommended.

Summary Sotos syndrome (SS) is an overgrowth syndrome characterized by typical facial appearance, learning disability, and macrocephaly as cardinal diagnostic features. Febrile (FS) and afebrile seizures are reported in 9–50% of cases. There is no evidence that patients with SS and FS later develop epilepsy, and no studies have investigated the electroclinical features and the long-term outcome in epileptic SS patients. The authors report a series of 19 SS patients with FS and/or epilepsy during childhood and a long-term follow-up. More than half of FS evolved to epilepsy. Temporal lobe seizures were recorded in 40% of patients with SS. Seizures were easy to control with common antiepileptic drugs in almost all patients. A careful neurologic evaluation is useful for SS patients, since seizures are an important finding among people with this overgrowth syndrome.

The following changes have been made to the original article: in the lower-right panel of Fig. 1, opoelectrics has been corrected to optoelectronics; in the Box 1 footnote, rotating wave-approximation has been corrected to rotating-wave approximation; in equation B1.3, an operator symbol has been added to the last term; and in the third paragraph of Box 2, |j→|n⟩ was changed to |j⟩→|n⟩. This has been corrected in the HTML and PDF versions of the article.

Aim Cyclin-dependent kinase-like 5 (CDKL5) gene abnormalities cause an early-onset epileptic encephalopathy. We performed video-electroencephalography (video-EEG) monitoring early in the course of CDKL5-related epileptic encephalopathy in order to examine the early electroclinical characteristics of the condition. Method We used video-EEG to monitor six infants (five females, one male) with CDKL5-related epileptic encephalopathy (five mutations; one deletion), at ages 45 days to 12 months and followed them up to the ages of 14 months to 5 years (mean age 23mo). We focused our analysis on the first year of life. The results were evaluated against those of a comparison group of nine infants (aged below 1y) with epileptic encephalography who had tested negative for CDKL5 mutations and deletions. Results One infant exhibited normal background activity, three exhibited moderate slowing, and two exhibited a suppression burst pattern. Two participants had epileptic spasms and four had a stereotyped complex seizure pattern, which we defined as a ‘prolonged’ generalized tonic–clonic event consisting of a tonic–tonic/vibratory contraction, followed by a clonic phase with series of spasms, gradually translating into repetitive distal myoclonic jerks. Seizure duration ranged from 2 to 4 minutes. The EEG correlate of each clinical phase included an initial electrodecremental event (tonic vibratory phase), irregular series of sharp waves and spike slow waves (clonic phase with series of spasms), and bilateral rhythmic sharp waves (time locked with myoclonus). Interpretation Infants with CDKL5-related early epileptic encephalopathy can present in the first year of life with an unusual electroclinical pattern of ‘prolonged’ generalized tonic–clonic seizures.

Genitourinary neurofibromas with clitoral involvement in neurofibromatosis type 1 are rare, and even more infrequent are the neurofibromas involving genitalia in males. The most frequent presenting sign of neurofibroma in females is clitoromegaly with pseudopenis, and enlarged penis is the most common sign in males. Labium majus neurofibroma not associated with clitoral involvement is extremely rare. Magnetic resonance imaging demonstration of the neurofibromas has seldom been reported. We report 4 children, 3 girls and 1 boy, with plexiform neurofibromas involving the external genitalia. Three of the 4 patients had histologic confirmation of neurofibroma. Two girls with clitoral hypertrophy had a neurofibroma that infiltrated the clitoris and extended unilaterally to the lower bladder wall. One girl had a plexiform neurofibroma that affected a labium. One boy with asymmetric penile hypertrophy since 2 years of age and ipsilateral gluteal hypertrophy had plexiform neurofibromas that extended between the left lumbogluteal and penile regions, infiltrating the left rectum wall and bladder with compression of both structures, the left prostate, and the left half of the cavernous corpi with hypertrophy of this part and asymmetry of the penis. Magnetic resonance imaging demonstrated in all patients that external genitalia and plexiform neurofibroma formed images of nondetachable structures. However, hermaphroditism was discarded by chromosomal study in all 3 girls before ratifying the diagnosis of external genitalia neurofibroma.

We present a microscopic theoretical analysis of time and spatially resolved photoluminescence of naturally occurring quantum dots induced by monolayer fluctuations in the thickness of semiconductor quantum wells. The analysis is based on a recently developed theoretical tool for spatially-resolved photoluminescence spectroscopy in semiconductor quantum structures. The theoretical framework here presented allows to study the influence of temperature and spatial resolution on the detected images. We find that the carrier recombination dynamics is significantly affected by thermal populations in optically inactive or poorly active exciton states. The presence of these states slows-down radiative recombination, determining an increase of the photoluminescence decay time as a function of temperature in a wide temperature range, in agreement with recent experimental results. We investigate these effects in symmetric dots displaying dark excited states.

We theoretically study the carrier capture and distribution among the available energy levels of a symmetric semiconductor quantum dot under continuous-wave excitation resonant with the barrier energy levels. We find that at low temperature all the dot level-occupations but one, the second (dark) energy level,decrease monotonically with energy. The second energy level, displays a steady-state carrier density exceeding that of the lowest level more than a factor two (see the figure). This nonequilibrium effect does not origin from radiative recombination before relaxation to lower energy levels, but at the opposite, it is consequence of carrier trapping due to the symmetry-induced suppression of radiative recombination of the second (dark) energy level. While the observation of such effect by means of far-field spectroscopy is prevented, scanning near-field optical microscopy, able to detect the evanescent waves generated by dark-states occupations, can be adopted to inspect such nonequilibrium effects at the nanoscale. Exciton-level occupations of the dot (normalized at the maximum) calculated for two different temperatures. See Sect. 3 for a detailed description of the results here displayed. (© 2008 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim)

Polaritons in semiconductor microcavities are hybrid quasiparticles consisting of a superposition of cavity photons and two-dimensional excitons in embedded quantum wells (QWs), Owing to their exciton content, they have a strong mutual interaction which can be exploited for producing spontaneous parametric scattering of pump polaritons into signal-idler polariton pairs. This process is able to produce polariton states exhibiting quantum correlations, and can thus be exploited for potential applications as well as to study quantum optical processes within a complex many-body system. Here we present an overview of polariton parametric processes within a full quantum description based on the dynamics controlled truncation scheme. We also describe the results of an experiment that proves the existence of polariton pair correlations. This interpretation is confirmed by a microscopic theoretical analysis of the measured in terference visibility. Calculated time-resolved idler polariton number per mode (dashed) originating from parametrie emission; quantum and classical interference visibility when combining two idler bearns sharing a common signal.

Background The outcome of benign convulsions associated with gastroenteritis (CwG) has generally been reported as being excellent. However, these data need to be confirmed in studies with longer follow-up evaluations. Aim To assess the long-term neurological outcome of a large sample of children presenting with CwG. Methods We reviewed clinical features of 81 subjects presenting with CwG (1994–2010) from three different Italian centers with a follow-up period of at least 3 years. Results Follow-up period ranged from 39 months to 15 years (mean 9.8 years). Neurological examination and cognitive level at the last evaluation were normal in all the patients. A mild attention deficit was detected in three cases (3.7%). Fourteen children (17.3%) received chronic anti-epileptic therapy. Interictal EEG abnormalities detected at onset in 20 patients (24.7%) reverted to normal. Transient EEG epileptiform abnormalities were detected in other three cases (3.7%), and a transient photosensitivity in one (1.2%). No recurrence of CwG was observed. Three patients (3.7%) presented with a febrile seizure and two (2.5%) with an unprovoked seizure, but none developed epilepsy. Conclusions The long-term evaluation of children with CwG confirms the excellent prognosis of this condition, with normal psychomotor development and low risk of relapse and of subsequent epilepsy.

We consider two separate atoms interacting with a single-mode optical or microwave resonator. When the frequency of the resonator field is twice the atomic transition frequency, we show that there exists a resonant coupling between one photon and two atoms, via intermediate virtual states connected by counterrotating processes. If the resonator is prepared in its one-photon state, the photon can be jointly absorbed by the two atoms in their ground state which will both reach their excited state with a probability close to one. Like ordinary quantum Rabi oscillations, this process is coherent and reversible, so that two atoms in their excited state will undergo a downward transition jointly emitting a single cavity photon. This joint absorption and emission process can also occur with three atoms. The parameters used to investigate this process correspond to experimentally demonstrated values in circuit quantum electrodynamics systems.

We propose a protocol for the deterministic preparation of entangled NOON mechanical states. The system is constituted by two identical, optically coupled optomechanical systems. The protocol consists of two steps. In the first, one of the two optical resonators is excited by a resonant external $\ensuremath{\pi}$-like Gaussian optical pulse. When the optical excitation coherently partly transfers to the second cavity, the second step starts. It consists of sending simultaneously two additional $\ensuremath{\pi}$-like Gaussian optical pulses, one at each optical resonator, with specific frequencies. In the optomechanical ultrastrong coupling regime, when the coupling strength becomes a significant fraction of the mechanical frequency, we show that NOON mechanical states with quite high Fock states can be deterministically obtained. The operating range of this protocol is carefully analyzed. Calculations have been carried out taking into account the presence of decoherence, thermal noise, and imperfect cooling.

This paper reports on the clinical aspects, electroencephalographic (EEG) features, and neuroimaging findings in children with full trisomy 18 and associated epilepsy, and compares the evolution and outcome of their neurological phenotype. We retrospectively studied 18 patients (10 males and 8 females; aged 14 months to 9 years) with full trisomy 18 and epilepsy. All patients underwent comprehensive assessment including neuroimaging studies of the brain. We divided patients into two groups according to neuroimaging findings: (Group 1) 10 patients harboring structural brain malformations, and (Group 2) 8 patients with normal brain images. Group 1 had a significantly earlier age at seizure onset (2 months) compared to Group 2 (21 months). The seizure semiology was more severe in Group 1, who presented multiple seizure types, need for polytherapy (80% of patients), multifocal EEG abnormalities and poorer outcome (drug resistant epilepsy in 90% of patients) than Group 2 who presented a single seizure type, generalized or focal, and non-specific EEG pattern; these patients were successfully treated with monotherapy with good outcome. Imaging revealed a wide and complex spectrum of structural brain abnormalities including anomalies of the commissures, cerebellar malformations, cortical abnormalities, and various degrees of cortical atrophy. Epilepsy in full trisomy 18 may develop during the first months of life and can be associated with structural brain malformations. Patients with brain malformations can show multiple seizure types and can frequently be resistant to therapy with antiepileptic drugs. © 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Background and purpose: Our aim was to describe the clinical and electrical features and the long-term evolution of childhood occipital epilepsy of Gastaut (COE-G) in a cohort of patients and to compare long-term prognosis between patients with and without other epileptic syndromes. Methods: This was a retrospective analysis of the long-term outcome of epilepsy in 129 patients with COE-G who were referred to 23 Italian epilepsy centres and one in Austria between 1991 and 2004. Patients were evaluated clinically and with electroencephalograms for 10.1-23.0 years. The following clinical characteristics were evaluated: gender, patient age at seizure onset, history of febrile seizures and migraine, family history of epilepsy, duration and seizure manifestations, circadian distribution and frequency of seizures, history of medications including the number of drugs, therapeutic response and final outcome. Results: Visual hallucinations were the first symptom in 62% and the only manifestation in 38.8% of patients. Patients were subdivided into two groups: group A with isolated COE-G; group B with other epileptic syndromes associated with COE-G. The most significant (P < 0.05) difference concerned antiepileptic therapy: in group A, 45 children responded to monotherapy; in group B only 15 children responded to monotherapy. At the end of follow-up, the percentage of seizure-free patients was significantly higher in group A than in group B. Conclusions: Childhood occipital epilepsy of Gastaut has an overall favourable prognosis and a good response to antiepileptic therapy with resolution of seizures and of electroencephalogram abnormalities. The association of typical COE-G symptoms with other types of seizure could be related to a poor epilepsy outcome.

Holoprosencephaly (HPE) is the most common developmental defect of the forebrain and mid-face in humans. It is a disorder of neural induction in which a genetic programming defect results in noncleavage of the forebrain in the sagittal plane and variable hypoplasia of paramedian structures. It occurs in 5–12/10,000 live births. Clinically, there is a nearly continuous spectrum of malformations consistent with HPE. Endocrinopathies, such as diabetes insipidus, hypothyroidism, hypocorticism, and growth hormone deficiency, are frequently associated with HPE. Seizures may occur. We report a new case of semilobar-HPE complicated by neurogenic hypernatremia and no signs of dehydration in a child with microcephaly, spasticity, mental and psychomotor retardation, frontal bones hypoplasia, and mild facial dysmorphism.

The basic genomic defect in Wolf–Hirschhorn syndrome (WHS), including isolated 4p deletions and various unbalanced de novo 4p;autosomal translocations and above all t(4p;8p), is heterogeneous. Olfactory receptor gene clusters (ORs) on 4p were demonstrated to mediate a group of WHS-associated t(4p;8p)dn translocations. The breakpoint of a 4-Mb isolated deletion was also recently reported to fall within the most distal OR. However, it is still unknown whether ORs mediate all 4p-autosomal translocations, or whether they are involved in the origin of isolated 4p deletions. Another unanswered question is whether a parental inversion polymorphism on 4p16 can act as predisposing factor in the origin of WHS-associated rearrangements. We investigated the involvement of the ORs in the origin of 73 WHS-associated rearrangements. No hotspots for rearrangements were detected. Breakpoints on 4p occurred within the proximal or the distal olfactory receptor gene cluster in 8 of 73 rearrangements (11%). These were five t(4p;8p) translocations, one t(4p;7p) translocation and two isolated terminal deletions. ORs were not involved in one additional t(4p;8p) translocation, in a total of nine different 4p;autosomal translocations and in the majority of isolated deletions. The presence of a parental inversion polymorphism on 4p was investigated in 30 families in which the 4p rearrangements, all de novo, were tested for parental origin (7 were maternal and 23 paternal). It was detected only in the mothers of 3 t(4p;8p) cases. We conclude that WHS-associated chromosome changes are not usually mediated by low copy repeats. The 4p16.3 inversion polymorphism is not a risk factor for their origin.

We study the squeezing of output quadratures of an electro-magnetic field escaping from a resonator coupled to a general quantum system with arbitrary interaction strengths. The generalized theoretical analysis of output squeezing proposed here is valid for all the interaction regimes of cavity-quantum electrodynamics: from the weak to the strong, ultrastrong, and deep coupling regimes. For coupling rates comparable or larger then the cavity resonance frequency, the standard input–output theory for optical cavities fails to calculate the variance of output field-quadratures and predicts a non-negligible amount of output squeezing, even if the system is in its ground state. Here we show that, for arbitrary interaction strength and for general cavity-embedded quantum systems, no squeezing can be found in the output-field quadratures if the system is in its ground state. We also apply the proposed theoretical approach to study the output squeezing produced by: (i) an artificial two-level atom embedded in a coherently-excited cavity; and (ii) a cascade-type three-level system interacting with a cavity field mode. In the latter case the output squeezing arises from the virtual photons of the atom-cavity dressed states. This work extends the possibility of predicting and analyzing the results of continuous- variable optical quantum-state tomography when optical resonators interact very strongly with other quantum systems.

When an atom is strongly coupled to a cavity, the two systems can exchange a single photon through a coherent Rabi oscillation. This process enables precise quantum-state engineering and manipulation of atoms and photons in a cavity, which play a central role in quantum information and measurement. Recently, a new regime of cavity QED has been reached experimentally where the strength of the interaction between light and artificial atoms (qubits) becomes comparable to the atomic transition frequency or the resonance frequency of the cavity mode. Here we show that this regime can strongly modify the concept of vacuum Rabi oscillations, enabling multiphoton exchanges between the qubit and the resonator. We find that experimental state-of-the-art circuit- QED systems can undergo two- and three-photon vacuum Rabi oscillations. These anomalous Rabi oscillations can be exploited for the realization of efficient Fock-state sources of light and complex entangled states of qubits., 25 pages,7 figures

The recent observation of the dynamical Casimir effect in a modulated superconducting waveguide, coronating thirty years of world-wide research, empowered the quantum technology community with a powerful tool to create entangled photons on-chip. In this work we show how, going beyond the single waveguide paradigm using a scalable array, it is possible to create multipartite nonclassical states, with the possibility to control the long-range quantum correlations of the emitted photons. In particular, our finite-temperature theory shows how maximally entangled $NOON$ states can be engineered in a realistic setup. The results here presented open the way to new kinds of quantum fluids of light, arising from modulated vacuum fluctuations in linear systems.

We present an extension of the previous descriptions based on the Dynamics Controlled Truncation Scheme of light-matter interaction beyond mean-field, including the microscopic description of the exciton-photon interaction. This enables the microscopic analysis of the influence of decoherence and noise on the polariton quantum correlations originating from nonlinear optical processes. We expand the operators involved in the dynamics in terms of exact eigenstates of the electron system, the photon and phonon operators and treat phonon-assisted transitions within the Markov approximation. In particular, we present quantum Heisenberg-Langevin equations describing light-induced excitations in semiconductor systems interacting with the phonon bath. This theoretical framework is applied to study the influence of dephasing and noise due to photoluminescence on polariton quantum correlations generated by parametric emission in microcavities. (© 2006 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim)

We investigate the influence of environmental noise on polariton entangled pairs in the self-stimulated regime. By adopting a recent separability criterion, we show that self-stimulation may suppress the detrimental influence of noise on entanglement, but once effective, a noise-equipped classical model of parametric emission provides the same results of quantum theory with respect to the separability criterion. More generally we show that, in the macroscopic limit, it is not possible to observe violations of local realism with measurements of finite order n -particle correlations only. These results provide a prototypical case of the emergence of macroscopic local realism in the presence of strong entanglement even in the absence of decoherence. (© 2006 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim)

PURPOSE: This multicenter, prospective study investigates the efficacy and safety of lacosamide adjunctive therapy in pediatric and adult patients with uncontrolled epilepsy. METHOD: This study was carried out between September 2010 and December 2011 at 16 Italian and 1 German neurologic centers. Lacosamide was added to the baseline therapy at a starting dose of 1 mg/kg/day in patients aged

We present a theoretical analysis of the effects induced on the high-Q whispering-gallery modes of a microsphere resonator by a small metallic scatterer. We study the near-field tip-microsphere interaction varying the distance between the two spheres, in correspondence of the most perturbed modes of the microsphere. The obtained results show that this kind of interaction can be used to achieve an active control of whispering gallery resonances.

We present an overview of our results concerning the influence of two-pair continuum coherences on the transient nonlinear optical response of semiconductor microcavities. We show that the interplay between these 4-particle coherences and the nonperturbative light-matter interaction produces highly desirable almost decoherence-free exciton-exciton collisions on the lower polariton branch. This effect gives rise to the very different nonlinear absorption rates on the two polariton branches observed in many experiments and make possible to reach a very high degree of amplification in samples with large Rabi splitting. Moreover, we show that the availability of almost decoherence free exciton-exciton collisions can be used for the realization of coherent trapping of polariton emission and amplification. This coherent manipulation and trapping of many-particle polariton states can be performed employing both ultrafast and continuous wave operation.