Probing high-redshift galaxies with Lyα\alpha intensity mapping

We present a study of the cosmological Ly$\alpha$ emission signal at $z > 4$. Our goal is to predict the power spectrum of the spatial fluctuations that could be observed by an intensity mapping survey. The model uses the latest data from the HST legacy fields and the abundance matching technique to associate UV emission and dust properties with the halos, computing the emission from the interstellar medium (ISM) of galaxies and the intergalactic medium (IGM), including the effects of reionization, self-consistently. The Ly$\alpha$ intensity from the diffuse IGM emission is 1.3 (2.0) times more intense than the ISM emission at $z = 4(7)$; both components are fair tracers of the star-forming galaxy distribution. However the power spectrum is dominated by ISM emission on small scales ($k > 0.01 h{\rm Mpc}^{-1}$) with shot noise being significant only above $k = 1 h{\rm Mpc}^{-1}$. At very lange scales ($k < 0.01h{\rm Mpc}^{-1}$) diffuse IGM emission becomes important. The comoving Ly$\alpha$ luminosity density from IGM and galaxies, $\dot \rho_{{\rm Ly}\alpha}^{\rm IGM} = 8.73(6.51) \times 10^{40} {\rm erg}{\rm s}^{-1}{\rm Mpc}^{-3}$ and $\dot \rho_{{\rm Ly}\alpha}^{\rm ISM} = 6.62(3.21) \times 10^{40} {\rm erg}{\rm s}^{-1}{\rm Mpc}^{-3}$ at $z = 4(7)$, is consistent with recent SDSS determinations. We predict a power $k^3 P^{{\rm Ly}\alpha}(k, z)/2\pi^2 = 9.76\times 10^{-4}(2.09\times 10^{-5}){\rm nW}^2{\rm m}^{-4}{\rm sr}^{-2}$ at $z = 4(7)$ for $k = 0.1 h {\rm Mpc}^{-1}$.Comment: 14 Pages, 13 figure

Knowledge and Health Care resource allocation: CME/CPD course guidelines-based efficacy

Background: Most Health Care Systems consider Continuing Medical Education a potential tool to improve quality of care and reduce disease management costs. Its efficacy in general practitioners needs to be further explored. Objective: This study assesses the effectiveness of a one-year continuing medical education/continuing professional development course for general practitioners, regarding the improvement in knowledge of ARIA and GINA guidelines and compliance with them in asthma management. Methods: Sixty general practitioners, covering 68,146 inhabitants, were randomly allocated to continuing medical education/continuing professional development (five residential events + four short distance-learning refresher courses over one year) or no training. Participants completed a questionnaire after each continuing medical education event; key questions were repeated at least twice. The Local Health Unit prescription database was used to verify prescription habits (diagnostic investigations and pharmacological therapy) and hospitalizations over one year before and after training. Results: Fourteen general practitioners (46.7%) reached the cut-off of 50% attendance of the training courses. Knowledge improved significantly after training (p&lt;0.001, correct answers to key questions +13%). Training resulted in pharmaceutical cost containment (trained general practitioners +0.5% vs controls +18.8%) and greater attention to diagnosis and monitoring (increase in spirometry +63.4%, p&lt;0.01). Conclusion: This study revealed an encouraging impact of educational events on improvement in general practitioner knowledge of guidelines and daily practice behavioral changes. Long-term studies of large populations are required to assess the effectiveness of education on the behavior of physicians in asthma management, and to establish the best format for educational events

Epidemiological and molecular approaches for management of a measles outbreak in Liguria, Italy

Since March 2010 a measles outbreak has been occurred in Genoa, Liguria, an administrative Region in Northern Italy. Epi- demiological and molecular data on the outbreak, obtained from the passive mandatory notification system, the laboratory surveillance and an innovative syndrome surveillance system, were investigated. Overall 39 cases were reported in the urban area. Information about demography, vaccination status, hospitalization and geographic distribution of measles cases are available. 19 cases (48.7%) were laboratory-confirmed and were characterized by sequence analysis: 18 strains belonged to genotype D8, so identifying a new measles variant within the Liguria population. Adopted control measures seem to have limited viral circulation. The outbreak allowed to test the efficacy of the 3 surveillance systems active in Liguria, highlighting their advantages and some important limitations. More efforts are needed to collect and integrate any epidemiological and virological available data in order to better describe the local measles transmission dynamics

Knowledge and health care resource allocation: CME/CPD course guidelines-based efficacy.

BACKGROUND: Most health care systems consider continuing medical education a potential tool to improve quality of care and reduce disease management costs. Its efficacy in general practitioners needs to be further explored. OBJECTIVE: This study assesses the effectiveness of a one-year continuing medical education/continuing professional development course for general practitioners, regarding the improvement in knowledge of ARIA and GINA guidelines and compliance with them in asthma management. METHODS: Sixty general practitioners, covering 68,146 inhabitants, were randomly allocated to continuing medical education/continuing professional development (five residential events +four short distance-learning refresher courses over one year) or no training. Participants completed a questionnaire after each continuing medical education event; key questions were repeated at least twice. The Local Health Unit prescription database was used to verify prescription habits (diagnostic investigations and pharmacological therapy) and hospitalizations over one year before and after training. RESULTS: Fourteen general practitioners (46.7%) reached the cut-off of 50% attendance of the training courses. Knowledge improved significantly after training (p < 0.001, correct answers to key questions +13%). Training resulted in pharmaceutical cost containment (trained general practitioners +0.5% vs. controls +18.8%) and greater attention to diagnosis and monitoring (increase in spirometry +63.4%, p < 0.01). CONCLUSION: This study revealed an encouraging impact of educational events on improvement in general practitioner knowledge of guidelines and daily practice behavioral changes. Long-term studies of large populations are required to assess the effectiveness of education on the behavior of physicians in asthma management, and to establish the best format for educational events

Empowering line intensity mapping to study early galaxies

Line intensity mapping is a superb tool to study the collective radiation from early galaxies. However, the method is hampered by the presence of strong foregrounds, mostly produced by low-redshift interloping lines. We present here a general method to overcome this problem which is robust against foreground residual noise and based on the cross-correlation function $\psi_{\alpha L}(r)$ between diffuse line emission and Ly$\alpha$ emitters (LAE). We compute the diffuse line (Ly$\alpha$ is used as an example) emission from galaxies in a $(800{\rm Mpc})^3$ box at $z = 5.7$ and $6.6$. We divide the box in slices and populate them with $14000(5500)$ LAEs at $z = 5.7(6.6)$, considering duty cycles from $10^{-3}$ to $1$. Both the LAE number density and slice volume are consistent with the expected outcome of the Subaru HSC survey. We add gaussian random noise with variance $\sigma_{\rm N}$ up to 100 times the variance of the Ly$\alpha$ emission, $\sigma_\alpha$, to simulate foregrounds and compute $\psi_{\alpha L}(r)$. We find that the signal-to-noise of the observed $\psi_{\alpha L}(r)$ does not change significantly if $\sigma_{\rm N} \le 10 \sigma_\alpha$ and show that in these conditions the mean line intensity, $I_{Ly\alpha}$, can be precisely recovered independently of the LAE duty cycle. Even if $\sigma_{\rm N} = 100 \sigma_\alpha$, $I_\alpha$ can be constrained within a factor $2$. The method works equally well for any other line (e.g. HI 21 cm, [CII], HeII) used for the intensity mapping experiment.Comment: 5 pages, 4 figure

Molecular identification and characterization of phytoplasmas infecting tomato in Oltrep&#242; pavese (northern Italy)

Tomato is affected by economically important phytoplasma diseases, such as stolbur, tomato big bud, tomato yellows, tomato witches\u2019-broom, tomato little leaf, and hojia de perejil. Such diseases, characterized by different geographic distribution patterns, have been associated with eight distinct \u2018Candidatus Phytoplasma\u2019 species in at least 30 countries throughout the world. In Italy, phytoplasma diseases of tomato were associated with infections by \u2018Ca. Phytoplasma solani\u2019, \u2018Ca. Phytoplasma asteris\u2019 and phytoplasmas of taxonomic groups 16SrIII and 16SrV. The present work aimed to investigate the aetiology of a disease affecting tomato in Oltrep\uf2 pavese (Lombardy, North Italy). During field surveys, carried out in a tomato plantation in August 2015, symptoms typically associated with phytoplasma infection (leaf purpling, witches\u2019-broom, flower and fruit alterations, and stunting) were observed on tomato plants. Based on 16S rRNA gene amplification and nucleotide sequence analyses, \u2018Ca. P. solani\u2019 was detected in 82% of symptomatic tomato plants and in bindweed plants. Molecular characterization based on tufB and stamp gene nucleotide sequence analyses revealed the presence of two 'Ca. P. solani' strain types: the type tufB-b/St5, identified respectively in 83% and 100% of tomato and bindweed infected plants, and the type tufB-a/St18 identified in 17% of tomato infected plants. These results suggest that \u2018Ca. P. solani\u2019 ecology in the examined agro-ecosystem is associated mainly with the bindweed-related host system. Based on such evidences, it should be interesting to evaluate the incidence dynamics of the disease and to investigate its epidemiology by tracing the movements of \u2018Ca. P. solani\u2019 throughout neighbouring fields