A Study on Convergence, Divergence and Maintenance in OCD Patients

The aim of this study was to verify if patients with Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder (OCD) adopted self-referential and non-adherent interactive modalities, during face-to-face conversation, to a higher extent as compared with subjects who did not have a diagnosis of OCD. For this purpose, four subjects with OCD and four age, sex and education matched Normal Controls (NC) underwent a semi-structured interview. The video-taped records have been evaluated and coded by means of the Initiative-Response Analysis system (I-R). The interview allowed us to obtain indexes of interactive strategies, namely, convergence, divergence and maintenance, which have been interpreted in the Communication Accommodation Theory (CAT) framework. Subjects with OCD, as compared with both NC and interviewers, mainly used Maintenance strategy, indicating a non-adherence to turns and an over-reliance on their own turns, thus neglecting the partners' contribution. This kind of strategy exclusively correlated with the scores of the Y-BOCS compulsion subscale. Results are consistent with the hypothesis that communication in subjects with OCD relies on particular strategies and support the view that communication is strongly correlated with "personological" variables. This hypothesis may be incorporated (not being incompatible with) in the CAT framework

Imaging the spontaneous formation of vortex-antivortex pairs in planar superconductor/ferromagnet hybrid structures

Low-temperature magnetic force microscopy has been used to visualize spontaneous formation of vortex-antivortex pairs in hybrid ferromagnet/superconductor systems. Vortex-antivortex pairs are induced by the periodic stray field of the ferromagnet. We find general equilibrium conditions for which spontaneous vortex-antivortex pairs are formed during zero-field cooling of the hybrid ferromagnet/superconductor bilayers. Vortices can be generated by the ferromagnet domains in the absence of an external field and they are thermodynamically stable for values of the stray field and the period of the stripe magnetic domains that exceed a certain threshold

Corporeità digitali e performance virtuali: la danza come dispositivo narrativo dell'emotività cross-covid

La pandemia ha impattato sui 'luoghi' della cultura, imponendo una rimodulazione delle produzioni artistiche in digitale. Tale condizione è risultata un'opportunità per poter rivisitare modelli di composizione coreutica e drammaturgica tra corporeità e digitalità, trovando nella narrazione pandemica un focus tematico dalle potenzialità educative. Tali modelli, applicabilità 'in digitale' o 'in live', sono connotati da un processo di creazione e da un prodotto creativo. Rileggerli in chiave pedagogica permette di creare un 'link' la figura del drammaturg a quella dell'educatore di laboratori espressivo-corporei e artistico-performativi

Bioprospecting of exopolysaccharide-producing bacteria from different natural ecosystems for biopolymer synthesis from vinasse

Abstract Background Exopolysaccharides (EPSs) belong to a family of organic thickeners or alternative hydrocolloids of microbial origin. Because the chemical structure offers beneficial bioactive functions, biocompatibility and biodegradability, EPSs are used in the chemical, food, pharmaceutical, cosmetics, and packaging industries as well as in agriculture and medicine. In this study, new bacterial strains were selected on the basis of their ability to synthesize EPS from substrate containing vinasse as a nutrient source to identify the best candidate for bio-based polymer production. Results Among the 99 newly identified bacterial strains isolated from different natural ecosystem, the strain Azotobacter chroococcum 76A was selected as the best biopolymer producer since it synthesized the highest concentration of EPS in all media containing vinasse. The maximum EPS concentration (44.6 ± 0.63 mg/50 mL) was observed at 24 h, corresponding to its sub-stationary growth phase (7 × 108 ± 0.29 CFU/mL). Chemical characterization of the EPS produced showed that carbohydrates representing the principal component, followed by uronic acids and proteins. Interestingly, comparing the IR spectrum of the EPS with alginate by FTIR-ATR analysis revealed an overlap of a peak identified as guluronic acid, a component of alginate. Conclusions The potential biotechnological capacity of A. chroococcum 76A to synthetize biopolymer from vinasse, inexpensive starting materials, represents a possible alternative to expensive disposal of agri-food waste through its transformation into high value-added products

Superconducting Vortex‐Antivortex Pairs: Nucleation and Confinement in Magnetically Coupled Superconductor‐Ferromagnet Hybrids

Superconducting vortices are a well known class of vortices, each of them carrying a single magnetic flux quantum. In this chapter the authors present the results of low temperature Magnetic Force Microscopy experiments to investigate the nucleation and dynamics of superconducting vortices in magnetically coupled Superconductor/Ferromagnet (S/F) heterostructures made by Nb/Py. It is here shown that by controlling the thicknesses of both S and F layer, the formation of spontaneous vortex-antivortex pairs (V-AV) can be favored and their confinement and mobility can be tuned. The experimental results are compared with two theoretical models dealing with the spontaneous nucleation of V/AV pairs in the limits of S thickness respectively greater and smaller than the London penetration depth. It is shown that vortex nucleation and confinement is regulated by the intensity of the out-of-plane component of the magnetization with respect to a critical magnetization set by the thickness of both S and F layers. Additionally, external field cooling processes were used to probe in-field vortex nucleation and V-AV unbalancing, whereas the sweeping of an external magnetic field when below the superconducting critical temperature was used to force the vortex into motion, probing the vortex mobility/rigidity and the vortex avalanche events

Executive Functions in Overweight and Obese Treatment-Seeking Patients: Cross-Sectional Data and Longitudinal Perspectives

Background: Recent evidence suggests that a higher body weight may be linked to cognitive impairment in different domains involving executive/frontal functioning. However, challenging results are also available. Accordingly, our study was designed to verify whether (i) poor executive functions are related to a higher body weight and (ii) executive functioning could contribute to weight loss in treatment-seeking overweight and obese patients. Methods: We examined general executive functioning, inhibitory control, verbal fluency, and psychomotor speed in a sample including 104 overweight and obese patients. Forty-eight normal-weight subjects participated in the study as controls. Results: Univariate Analysis of Variance showed that obese patients obtained lower scores than overweight and normal-weight subjects in all executive measures, except for errors in the Stroop test. However, when sociodemographic variables entered the model as covariates, no between-group difference was detected. Furthermore, an adjusted multiple linear regression model highlighted no relationship between weight loss and executive scores at baseline. Conclusions: Our results provide further evidence for the lack of association between obesity and the executive domains investigated. Conflicting findings from previous literature may likely be due to the unchecked confounding effects exerted by sociodemographic variables and inclusion/exclusion criteria

Computer-aided cognitive training in patients with neurocognitive vascular impairment: effects on cognition, depression and behavior

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