Interactional response during infants’ aquatic sessions

The aim of study was to assess infants’ behaviour during routine swimming sessions using a naturalistic observation method. The study sample included 14 infants (13.7 ± 7.5 months old) with previous aquatic experience. The frequency of occurrences per unit of time (session) in the different dimensions – infant’s motor behaviour and social-affective interaction – was registered over the course of two sessions by two independent experts. The behaviours most frequently observed were accompanied displacement (61.1 %) and interaction with others (41.6 %). Submersions or jumps represented only 8.4 % of the session. Implementing a child-centred methodology leads to positive behaviours during this type of sessions, contributing to the child’s healthy development.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Curvature induced toroidal bound states

Curvature induced bound state (E < 0) eigenvalues and eigenfunctions for a particle constrained to move on the surface of a torus are calculated. A limit on the number of bound states a torus with minor radius a and major radius R can support is obtained. A condition for mapping constrained particle wave functions on the torus into free particle wave functions is established.Comment: 6 pages, no figures, Late

Determinants of frequency and longevity of hospital encounters' data use

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>The identification of clinically relevant information enables improvement in user interfaces and in data management. However, it is difficult to identify what information is important in daily clinical care, and what is used occasionally. This study aims to determine for how long clinical documents are used in a Hospital Information System (HIS).</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>The access logs of 3 years of usage of a HIS were analysed concerning report departmental source, type of hospital encounter, and inpatient encounter ICD-9-CM main diagnosis. Reports median life indicates the median time elapsed between information creation and its usage. The models that better explains report views over time were explored.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>The number of report views in the study period was 656 583. Fifty two percent of the reports viewed by medical doctors in emergency encounters were from previous encounters - 21% at outpatient attendance, 19% in inpatient (wards) and 12% during emergency encounters. In an inpatient setting, 20% of the reports viewed were produced in previous encounters. The median life of information in documents is 1.5 days for emergency, 4.8 days for inpatient and 37.8 days for outpatient encounters. Immune-haemotherapy reports reach their median lives faster (7 days) than clinical pathology (15 days), gastroenterology (80 days) and pathology (118 days). The median life of reports produced in inpatient encounters varied from 36 days for neoplasms as the main diagnosis to 0.7 days for injury and poisoning. The model with the best fit (R²> 0.9) was the exponential.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>The usage of past patient information varied significantly according to patient age, type of information, type of hospital encounter and medical cause (main diagnosis) for the encounter. The exponential model is a good fit to model how the reports are seen over time, so the design of user interfaces and repository management algorithms should take it in consideration.</p

Ultra high energy neutrinos from gamma ray bursts

Protons accelerated to high energies in the relativistic shocks that generate gamma ray bursts photoproduce pions, and then neutrinos in situ. I show that ultra high energy neutrinos (> 10^19 eV) are produced during the burst and the afterglow. A larger flux, also from bursts, is generated via photoproduction off CMBR photons in flight but is not correlated with currently observable bursts, appearing as a bright background. Adiabatic/synchrotron losses from protons/pions/muons are negligible. Temporal and directional coincidences with bursts detected by satellites can separate correlated neutrinos from the background.Comment: Adiabatic/synchrotron losses from protons/pions/muons shown to be negligible. Accepted for publication in Phys. Rev. Letters. RevTe

The Proper Motion of the Large Magellanic Cloud: A Reanalysis

We have determined the proper motion (PM) of the Large Magellanic Cloud (LMC) relative to four background quasi-stellar objects, combining data from two previous studies made by our group, and new observations carried out in four epochs not included the original investigations. The new observations provided a significant increase in the time base and in the number of frames, relative to what was available in our previous studies. We have derived a total LMC PM of $\mu$ = ($+2.0\pm$0.1) mas yr$^{-1}$, with a position angle of $\theta$ = (62.4$\pm$3.1)$^\circ$. Our new values agree well with most results obtained by other authors, and we believe we have clarified the large discrepancy between previous results from our group. Using published values of the radial velocity for the center of the LMC, in combination with the transverse velocity vector derived from our measured PM, we have calculated the absolute space velocity of the LMC. This value, along with some assumptions regarding the mass distribution of the Galaxy, has in turn been used to calculate the mass of the Milky Way. Our measured PM also indicates that the LMC is not a member of a proposed stream of galaxies with similar orbits around our galaxy.Comment: Accepted for publication in A

Controller of a new pulsed source for linac 4 (MEGADISCAP)

This document presents the implementation of a control system for a new multiple-stage pulsed current source converter. A new topology that has been proposed to overcome some limitations inherent to capacitor discharge converter is presented in detail and explained. Its implementation is described and the design considerations adopted are accounted for. Besides, a control strategy is proposed, which has been implemented using an existing control board with some modifications on the acquisition system. A prototype whose current and voltage are scaled down with respect to those required for the converters that will be used for CERN Booster injection with LINAC 4 has been built. This reduced scale system has been simulated taking into account the control system implementation. Finally, the topology operating principle has been validated, the results obtained with the scaled down prototype have been compared with simulations and the need for more hardware resources for the control system implementation has been demonstrated

Impact of Potentially Toxic Compounds in Cow Milk: How Industrial Activities Affect Animal Primary Productions

Potentially toxic elements (PTEs) and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) frequently coexist in soils near industrial areas and sometimes in environmental compartments directly linked to feed (forage) and food (milk) production. However, the distribution of these pollutants along the dairy farm production chain is unclear. Here, we analyzed soil, forage, and milk samples from 16 livestock farms in Spain: several PTEs and PAHs were quantified. Farms were compared in terms of whether they were close to (5 km) industrial areas. The results showed that PTEs and PAHs were enriched in the soils and forages from farms close to industrial areas, but not in the milk. In the soil, the maximum concentrations of PTEs reached 141, 46.1, 3.67, 6.11, and 138 mg kg-1 for chromium, arsenic, cadmium, mercury, and lead, respectively, while fluoranthene (172.8 µg kg-1) and benzo(b)fluoranthene (177.4 µg kg-1) were the most abundant PAHs. Principal component analysis of the soil PTEs suggested common pollution sources for iron, arsenic, and lead. In the forage, the maximum contents of chromium, arsenic, cadmium, mercury, and lead were 32.8, 7.87, 1.31, 0.47, and 7.85 mg kg-1, respectively. The PAH found in the highest concentration in the feed forage was pyrene (120 µg kg-1). In the milk, the maximum PTE levels were much lower than in the soil or the feed forages: 74.1, 16.1, 0.12, 0.28, and 2.7 µg kg-1 for chromium, arsenic, cadmium, mercury, and lead, respectively. Neither of the two milk samples exceeded the 20 µg kg-1 limit for lead set in EU 1881/2006. Pyrene was the most abundant PAH found in the milk (39.4 µg kg-1), while high molecular weight PAHs were not detected. For PTEs, the results showed that soil-forage transfer factors were higher than forage-milk ratios. Our results suggest that soils and forages around farms near industries, as well as the milk produced from those farms, have generally low levels of PTE and PAH contaminants.This research was funded by the Spanish Ministry of Science and Innovation (PID2020- 117282RB-I00, MCI-20-PID2019-000081, PID2019-109698GB-I00, PID2021-126010OR-I00), and by Principado de Asturias Regional Government co-financed by the European Union through the European Regional Development Fund (grants IDI/2021/000081 and IDI/2021/000102). S.F. received an FPI fellowship (grant BES-2017-081314) supported by MCIN/AEI/10.13039/501100011033 and the Investments for the Future program of the European Social Fund, “El FSE invierte en tu futuro”

Response of non-motor symptoms to levodopa in late-stage Parkinson's disease: results of a levodopa challenge test

Article under a CC-BY-NC-ND license - https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/"BACKGROUND: Non-motor symptoms (NMS) are extremely common among late-stage Parkinson's disease (LSPD) patients. Levodopa (L-dopa) responsiveness seems to decrease with disease progression but its effect on NMS in LSPD still needs to be investigated. OBJECTIVE: To assess the response of blood pressure (BP), pain, fatigue and anxiety to L-dopa in LSPD patients. METHODS: 20 LSPD patients, defined as Schwab and England ADL Scale 3 (MED ON) and 22 PD patients treated with subthalamic deep brain stimulation (advanced PD group) underwent an L-dopa challenge. BP and orthostatic hypotension (OH) assessment, a visual analogue scale (VAS) for pain and fatigue and the Strait Trait Anxiety (STAI) were evaluated before and after the L-dopa challenge. RESULTS: Systolic BP dropped significantly after L-dopa intake (p < 0.05) in LSPD patients, while there was no change in pain, fatigue or anxiety. L-dopa significantly improved (p < 0.05) pain and anxiety in the advanced PD group, whereas it had no effect on BP or fatigue. L-dopa-related adverse effects (AEs), namely OH and sleepiness, were more common among LSPD patients. 40% and 65% of LSPD patients were not able to fill out the VAS and the STAI, respectively, while measurement of orthostatic BP was not possible in four LSPD patients. CONCLUSIONS: This exploratory study concludes that some non-motor variables in LSPD do not benefit from the acute action of L-dopa while it can still induce disabling AEs. There is a need for assessment tools of NMS adapted to these disabled LSPD patients."info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Compact object mergers: exploring uncertainties from stellar and binary evolution with SEVN

Population-synthesis codes are an unique tool to explore the parameter space of massive binary star evolution and binary compact object (BCO) formation. Most population-synthesis codes are based on the same stellar evolution model, limiting our ability to explore the main uncertainties. Our code SEVN overcomes this issue by interpolating the main stellar properties from a set of pre-computed evolutionary tracks. With SEVN, we evolved $1.2\times10^9$ binaries in the metallicity range $0.0001\leq Z \leq 0.03$, exploring a number of models for electron-capture, core-collapse and pair-instability supernovae, different assumptions for common envelope, stability of mass transfer, quasi-homogeneous evolution and stellar tides. We find that stellar evolution has a dramatic impact on the formation of single and binary compact objects. Just by slightly changing the overshooting parameter ($\lambda_{\rm ov}=0.4,0.5$) and the pair-instability model, the maximum mass of a black hole can vary from $\approx{60}$ to $\approx{100}\ \mathrm{M}_\odot$. Furthermore, the formation channels of BCOs and the merger efficiency we obtain with SEVN show significant differences with respect to the results of other population-synthesis codes, even when the same binary-evolution parameters are used. For example, the main traditional formation channel of BCOs is strongly suppressed in our models: at high metallicity ($Z\gtrsim{0.01}$) only $<20$% of the merging binary black holes and binary neutron stars form via this channel, while other authors found fractions $>70$%. The local BCO merger rate density of our fiducial models is consistent with the most recent estimates by the LIGO--Virgo--KAGRA collaboration.Comment: Submitted to MNRAS, comments welcome! The SEVN code is available at https://gitlab.com/sevncodes/sevn.git. All the data underlying this article are available in Zenodo at the link https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.7260771. All the Jupyter notebooks used to produce the plots in the paper are available in the gitlab repository https://gitlab.com/iogiul/iorio22_plot.gi