The Extended Bloch Representation of Entanglement and Measurement in Quantum Mechanics

The quantum formalism can be completed by assuming that density operators also represent genuine states. An ‘extended Bloch representation’ (EBR) then results, in which not only the states but also the measurement-interactions can be described. Consequently, the Born rule can be obtained as an expression that quantifies the lack of knowledge about the measurement-interaction that is each time actualized, during a measurement. Entanglement can also be consistently described in the EBR, as it remains compatible with the principle according to which a composite entity exists only if its components also exist, and therefore are in well-defined states.     

Metal Coordination Properties of a Chromophoric Desferrioxamine (DFO) Derivative: Insight on the Coordination Stoichiometry and Thermodynamic Stability of Zr4+ Complexes

Desferrioxamine (DFO) is the current “gold standard” chelator for ⁸⁹Zr⁴⁺, which is used to label monoclonal antibodies for applications in immunopositron emission tomography. Recently, controversial data have been reported regarding the speciation and the stability of the complexes formed by DFO with Zr⁴⁺ in solution. To shed some light on this point, we studied the coordination properties in solution ofa chromophoric DFO derivative bearing a substituted pyrimidine residue (DFO–Pm) toward several metal ions (Zr⁴⁺, Cu²⁺, Zn²⁺, Mg²⁺, Ca²⁺, Na⁺, K⁺). Potentiometric titrations showed that DFO–Pm and pristine DFO form complexes with very similar stoichiometry and stability. DFO–Pm, which can consequently be taken as a model system for DFO, provides a photochemical response to metal coordination that can be used to further define the complexes formed. In the critical case of Zr⁴⁺, spectrophotometric measurements allowed the verification of the formation of 1:1 and 2:3 complexes that, together with 2:2 complexes form the coordination model that was obtained through the use of our potentiometric measurements. Additionally, mass spectrometry measurements verified the formation of 1:1 and 2:3 complexes and showed that 1:2 species can be easily generated through the fragmentation of the 2:3 species. In conclusion, the results obtained with DFO–Pm validate the complexation model of Zr⁴⁺/DFO composed of 1:1, 2:2, and 2:3 metal-to-ligand complexes. Convergences and conflicts with other works are addressed.     

Testing Quantum Models of Conjunction Fallacy on the World Wide Web

The ‘conjunction fallacy’ has been extensively debated by scholars in cognitive science and, in recent times, the discussion has been enriched by the proposal of modeling the fallacy using the quantum formalism. Two major quantum approaches have been put forward: the first assumes that respondents use a two-step sequential reasoning and that the fallacy results from the presence of ‘question order effects’; the second assumes that respondents evaluate the cognitive situation as a whole and that the fallacy results from the ‘emergence of new meanings’, as an ‘effect of overextension’ in the conceptual conjunction. Thus, the question arises as to determine whether and to what extent conjunction fallacies would result from ‘order effects’ or, instead, from ‘emergence effects’. To help clarify this situation, we propose to use the World Wide Web as an ‘information space’ that can be interrogated both in a sequential and non-sequential way, to test these two quantum approaches. We find that ‘emergence effects’, and not ‘order effects’, should be considered the main cognitive mechanism producing the observed conjunction fallacies.     

A remark on the role of indeterminism and non-locality in the violation of Bell’s inequalities

Diederik Aerts was the first in the eighties to develop a concrete example of a macroscopic “classical” entity violating Bell’s inequalities (BI). In more recent years, he also developed a macroscopic model in which the amount of non-locality and indeterminism can be continuously varied, and used it to show that by increasing non-locality one increases the degree of violation of BI, whereas by increasing indeterminism one decreases the degree of violation of BI. In this article we introduce and analyze a different macroscopic model in which the amount of non-locality and indeterminism can also be parameterized, and therefore varied, and find that, in accordance with the model of Aerts, an increase of non-locality does produce a stronger violation of BI. However, differently from his model, we also find that, depending on the initial state in which the system is prepared, an increase of indeterminism can either strengthen or weaken the degree of violation of BI.     

An innovative bovine odorant binding protein-based filtering cartridge for the removal of triazine herbicides from water

Odorant binding protein (OBP) is a multi-functional scavenger for small hydrophobic molecules dissolved in the mucus lining the nasal epithelia of mammals, characterized by broad ligand binding specificity towards a large number of structurally unrelated natural and synthetic molecules of different chemical classes. Here, we demonstrate for the first time the application of OBP as the active element of an innovative filtering matrix for the removal of environmental pollutants such as triazine herbicides from water samples. The filtering device, obtained by coupling histidine-tagged bovine OBP to a nickel nitrilotriacetic acid (Ni-NTA) agarose resin, was characterized in terms of retention capacity for the herbicides atrazine, simazine, and propazine. Analysis of these herbicides at trace levels with solid-phase microextraction followed by gas chromatography–mass spectrometry using the selected ion monitoring mode proved the capabilities of the proposed device for the decontamination of surface and groundwater samples in the 0.2–2,300 μg/L concentration range, obtaining a reduction in the triazine content greater than 97 %, thus suggesting its possible use for the potabilization of water.