Negative symptoms as key features of depression among cannabis users: a preliminary report.

OBJECTIVE: Cannabis use is frequent among depressed patients and may lead to the so-called "amotivational syndrome", which combines symptoms of affective flattening and loss of emotional reactivity (i.e. the so-called "negative" symptomatology). The aim of this study was to investigate the negative symptomatology in depressed patients with concomitant cannabis use disorders (CUDs) in comparison with depressed patients without CUDs. PATIENTS AND METHODS: Fifty-one patients with a diagnosis of Major Depressive Disorder (MDD) and concomitant CUD and fifty-one MDD patients were enrolled in the study. The 21-Item Hamilton Depression Rating Scale (HDRS) and the negative symptoms subscales of the Positive and Negative Syndrome Scale (PANSS) were used to assess depressive and negative symptomatology. RESULTS: Patients with cannabis use disorders presented significantly more severe negative symptoms in comparison with patients without cannabis use (15.18 ± 2.25 vs 13.75 ± 2.44; t100 = 3.25 p = 0.002). DISCUSSION: A deeper knowledge of the "negative" psychopathological profile of MDD patients who use cannabis may lead to novel etiopathogenetic models of MDD and to more appropriate treatment approaches

Raman analysis on 18th century painted wooden statues

A micro-Raman investigation on four wooden polychrome sculptures of Jan Geernaert (1704-1777), a Flemish sculptor who worked in Italy in the 18th century, is presented. The statues, representing the Holy Virgin Mary, with the infant Jesus in three of them, were created in the period 1750-1770 and are all made by poplar wood. The purpose of the micro-Raman investigations was to identify the original pigments used in 18th century, after later repainting interventions. In all statues, wood is covered by a groundwork, made by gypsum and animal glue. All pigments were identified, both in the original pictorial cover or in later repainted layers. Pigments were spread on a white lead layer (the so called imprimitura). Attention was particularly focused on the blue colours of the Holy Virgin mantle. In the external repainted layers, Prussian blue (Iron(II,III) hexacyanoferrate(II,III)) was found, together with ultramarine blue, a synthetic pigment, alternative to natural precious lapis lazuli, accessible on or after 1828. In one case, phthalocyanine blue is found, confirming a recent (later than 1930-35) restoration. The original skin colours are obtained by white lead and cinnabar (HgS), while the repainted layers are made by mixing chrome yellow (PbCrO4, synthesized in 1809), zinc yellow (ZnCrO4, 1809), red lead (Pb3O4), ultramarine blue, cinnabar, hematite (Fe2O3), goethite (-FeOOH), calcite (CaCO3) and white lead

Thinking About Emerging Adults and Violent Crime

In response to fears of an unrelenting crime wave, dramatic changes to sentencing policy, particularly for violent offenders, occurred in the 1980s and 1990s. Today, more than half of state prisoners are serving time for a violent offense. Increases in the severity of criminal justice sanctions (e.g., decision to prosecute, reclassification of charges, use of incarceration, and lengthening prison sentences) for those convicted of violent offenses has fueled mass incarceration. Despite major reductions of crime, including violence, over the past two decades, an intense focus on violent offenders as distinct and different endures. This brief summarizes research on violent criminal behavior over the life course. We focus special attention on emerging adults because they have the highest rates of both violent offending and violent victimization. First, drawing on a large body of longitudinal research on crime, we present the known ‘facts’ about violence. Note that this research literature uses criminal justice records of those officially sanctioned as well as self-reports of offending and victimization. Second, we discuss the experiences and consequences of living with violence. Third, we conclude with policy recommendations for responding to violent crime

Tihonov theory and center manifolds for inhibitory mechanisms in enzyme kinetics

Abstract In this paper we study the chemical reaction of inhibition, determine the appropriate parameter ε for the application of Tihonov's Theorem, compute explicitly the equations of the center manifold of the system and find sufficient conditions to guarantee that in the phase space the curves which relate the behavior of the complexes to the substrates by means of the tQSSA are asymptotically equivalent to the center manifold of the system. Some numerical results are discussed

An in-and-out-the-lab Raman spectroscopy study on street art murals from Reggio Emilia in Italy

The street art murals ‘The Big Mother’ by Gola Hundun, the ‘Big Sacral Bird’ by Kenor, the ‘Oriental Carpet” by H101 and “The Economy Subdues You” by Zosen, belonging to the Cooperative Popular Houses of Mancasale and Coviolo in Reggio Emilia (Italy), were investigated by the use of various mobile Raman spectrometers coupled to different lasers and by micro-Raman spectroscopy on selected samples. The study was made necessary by the evident fading of many colours, despite the young age of the paintings, realized in 2010. The first step of the investigation, realized by the on-site campaign, was the identification of the materials, and in particular of the dyes. The main chromophores were identified as polycyclic, monoazo- and disazo- organic pigments, with inorganic compounds as bismuth vanadate (BiVO4) together with the extensive presence of rutile (TiO2). The second step was devoted to the study of the degradation mechanism affecting the colourful layers of the murals. It required the use of laboratory micro-spectrometers and was carried out on a reduced set of samples, selected during the in-situ campaign. This combination of on-site and laboratory Raman spectroscopy allowed the obtaining of the complete identification of the palette used by the different artists in a single day of measurements, in a complete non-destructive day. In addition, it was possible to minimize the number of samples required for the study of the degradation process. Graphical abstract: [Figure not available: see fulltext.

Verifying big data topologies by-design: a semi-automated approach

Big data architectures have been gaining momentum in recent years. For instance, Twitter uses stream processing frameworks like Apache Storm to analyse billions of tweets per minute and learn the trending topics. However, architectures that process big data involve many different components interconnected via semantically different connectors. Such complex architectures make possible refactoring of the applications a difficult task for software architects, as applications might be very different with respect to the initial designs. As an aid to designers and developers, we developed OSTIA (Ordinary Static Topology Inference Analysis) that allows detecting the occurrence of common anti-patterns across big data architectures and exploiting software verification techniques on the elicited architectural models. This paper illustrates OSTIA and evaluates its uses and benefits on three industrial-scale case-studies

A Logical Characterization of Timed (non-)Regular Languages

CLTLoc (Constraint LTL over clocks) is a quantifier-free extension of LTL allowing variables behaving like clocks over real numbers. CLTLoc is in PSPACE [9] and its satisfiability can polynomially be reduced to a SMT problem, allowing a feasible implementation of a decision procedure. We used CLTLoc to capture the semantics of metric temporal logics over continuous time, such as Metric Interval Temporal Logic (MITL), resulting in the first successful implementation of a tool for checking MITL satisfiability [7]. In this paper, we assess the expressive power of CLTLoc, by comparing it with various temporal formalisms over dense time.When interpreted over timed words, CLTLoc is equivalent to Timed Automata. We also define a monadic theory of orders, extending the one introduced by Kamp, which is expressively equivalent to CLTLoc. We investigate a decidable extension with an arithmetical next operator, which allows the expression of timed non-ω-regular languages

Dopant profiling on ultra shallow junctions in Si with ADF-STEM

The utmost scaling of the electronic devices nowadays attained, requires both ultra shallow junctions and high levels of dopant concentration and activation. In these conditions, the presence of surfaces or interfaces assumes a very important role in the determination of the dopant distribution during post-implantation annealing. In this work, we show how the Z-contrast annular dark field scanning transmission electron microscopy (ADF-STEM) technique, pionereed by Pennycook and coworkers [1], can be optimised to give reliable dopant profiles at a subnanometer scale thus satisfying some of the new needs of the ultra shallow implants characterization

Techno-economic analysis of a solar thermal plant for large-scale water pasteurization

Water pasteurization has the potential to overcome some of the drawbacks of more conventional disinfection techniques such as chlorination, ozonation and ultraviolet radiation treatment. However, the high throughput of community water systems requires energy-intensive processes, and renewable energy sources have the potential to improve the sustainability of water pasteurization plants. In case of water pasteurization by solar thermal treatment, the continuity of operation is limited by the intermittent availability of the solar irradiance. Here we show that this problem can be addressed by a proper design of the plant layout, which includes a thermal energy storage system and an auxiliary gas boiler. Based on a target pasteurization protocol validated by experiments, a complete lumped-component model of the plant is developed and used to determine the operating parameters and size of the components for a given delivery flow rate. Finally, we report an economic analysis of the proposed plant layout, which allows its optimization for different scenarios based on two design variables, namely the solar multiple and the duration of the thermal energy storage. Based on the analyzed cases, it is found that the proposed plant layouts may yield a unit cost of water treatment ranging from ≈32 EUR-cents m−3 to ≈25 EUR-cents m−3