Are You Happy? A Validation Study of a Tool Measuring Happiness

This study aims at evaluating the psychometric properties of a new scale to measure experienced happiness-the Measure of Happiness (MH)-in a nonclinical sample composed of Italian adults from the general population. The MH was developed not only to provide a global measure of happiness, but also and more importantly to identify the specific areas of the individual's life that are related to the experienced happiness. A total of 787 adults filled the MH and other self-report questionnaires, in order to assess the factor structure, reliability and external validity of the measure. The factorial analysis identified the following five dimensions: Psychophysics Status, Financial Status, Relational Private Sphere, Socio-Relational Sphere, and Life Perspective. The scale so defined was administered to a second independent group of 421 participants for the (multigroup) confirmatory factor analysis (CFA). A multigroup factor analysis based on gender confirmed the MH structure. The convergent validity of the MH was assessed by comparing the MH scores with a previously validated test of happiness and quality of life, as well as with dispositional constructs with which happiness is known to be negatively correlated, namely, anxiety and depression. The MH showed satisfactory psychometric properties and a strong significant positive relationship between the two measures of happiness, and a substantial negative association with the measures of anxiety and depression, supporting the validity of the MH to assess the construct of experienced happiness. The implications and possible applications of the MH are then discussed

Quality of life in liver transplant recipients during the Corona virus disease 19 pandemic: A multicentre study

Background: Liver transplant recipients require specific clinical and psychosocial attention given their frailty. Main aim of the study was to assess the quality of life after liver transplant during the current pandemic. Methods: This multicentre study was conducted in clinically stable, liver transplanted patients. Enrollment opened in June and finished in September 2021. Patients completed a survey including lifestyle data, quality of life (Short Form health survey), sport, employment, diet. To examine the correlations, we calculated Pearson coefficients while to compare subgroups, independent samples t-tests and ANOVAs. To detect the predictors of impaired quality of life, we used multivariable logistic regression analysis. Results: We analysed data from 511 patients observing significant associations between quality of life’s physical score and both age and adherence to Mediterranean diet (p <.01). A significant negative correlation was observed between mental score and the sedentary activity (p <.05). Female patients scored significantly lower than males in physical and mental score. At multivariate analysis, females were 1.65 times more likely to report impaired physical score than males. Occupation and physical activity presented significant positive relation with quality of life. Adherence to Mediterranean diet was another relevant predictor. Regarding mental score, female patients were 1.78 times more likely to show impaired mental score in comparison with males. Sedentary activity and adherence to Mediterranean diet were further noteworthy predictors. Conclusions: Females and subjects with sedentary lifestyle or work inactive seem to show the worst quality of life and both physical activity and Mediterranean diet might be helpful to improve it

Search for new Higgs bosons via same-sign top quark pair production in association with a jet in proton-proton collisions at √s = 13 TeV

Data availability: Release and preservation of data used by the CMS Collaboration as the basis for publications is guided by the CMS policy as stated in “CMS data preservation, re-use and open access policy” available online at: https://cms-docdb.cern.ch/cgi-bin/PublicDocDB/RetrieveFile?docid=6032&filename=CMSDataPolicyV1.2.pdf&version=2 .A preprint of this article is available online at arXiv:2311.03261v2 [hep-ex] https://arxiv.org/abs/2311.03261v2 . Comments: Replaced with the published version. Added the journal reference and the DOI. All the figures and tables can be found at https://cms-results.web.cern.ch/cms-results/public-results/publications/TOP-22-010 (CMS Public Pages)A search is presented for new Higgs bosons in proton-proton (pp) collision events in which a same-sign top quark pair is produced in association with a jet, via the pp → tH/A → tt¯c and pp → tH/A → tt¯u processes. Here, H and A represent the extra scalar and pseudoscalar boson, respectively, of the second Higgs doublet in the generalized two-Higgs-doublet model (g2HDM). The search is based on pp collision data collected at a center-of-mass energy of 13 TeV with the CMS detector at the LHC, corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 138 fb−1. Final states with a same-sign lepton pair in association with jets and missing transverse momentum are considered. New Higgs bosons in the 200-1000 GeV mass range and new Yukawa couplings between 0.1 and 1.0 are targeted in the search, for scenarios in which either H or A appear alone, or in which they coexist and interfere. No significant excess above the standard model prediction is observed. Exclusion limits are derived in the context of the g2HDM.SCOAP3

Analisi numeriche e sperimentali per la valutazione degli effetti del terreno e degli elementi non strutturali sui parametri modali di strutture in calcestruzzo armato

In questo articolo, sono stati implementati diversi modelli numerici non lineari di strutture intelaiate in calcestruzzo armato al fine di valutare gli effetti degli elementi non strutturali e dell’interazione terreno-struttura sul comportamento elastico dinamico degli edifici. La presenza di pannelli di tamponamento è generalmente trascurata nel processo di progettazione, nonostante questi elementi possano significativamente incrementare la rigidezza laterale della struttura. In particolare, allo stato limite di danno (quando ci si aspetta un comportamento elastico della struttura), gli effetti dell’interazione terreno-struttura e degli elementi non strutturali possono influenzare ulteriormente il periodo elastico naturale degli edifici modificando, di conseguenza, le accelerazioni spettrali. In questo lavoro è stato svolto uno studio parametrico per valutare il periodo fondamentale di vibrazione degli edifici in funzione della geometria della struttura (altezza, area della pianta, rapporto tra le dimensioni in pianta), della presenza dei pannelli di tamponamento e delle caratteristiche del suolo. Per la modellazione tridimensionale della struttura e degli elementi di tamponamento è stato utilizzato un software basato sugli elementi finiti non lineari (Seismostruct), considerando differenti configurazioni geometriche, numero di piani e tipo di terreno. I risultati numerici sono stati confrontati con i risultati sperimentali ricavati dalle registrazioni in vibrazione ambientale effettuate sulle strutture reali

Common atrium/atrioventricular canal defect and postaxial polydactyly: a mild clinical subtype of Ellis-van Creveld syndrome caused by hypomorphic mutations in the EVC gene

Clinical expression of Ellis-van Creveld syndrome (EvC) is variable and mild phenotypes have been described, including patients with mostly cardiac and limb involvement. Whether these cases are part of the EvC phenotypic spectrum or separate conditions is disputed. Herein we describe a family with vertical transmission of atrioventricular canal defect (AVCD), common atrium and postaxial polydactyly. Targeted sequencing of EVC, EVC2, WDR35, DYNC2LI1 and DYNC2H1 identified different compound heterozygosity in EVC genotypes in the two affected members, consisting of a nonsense (p.Arg622Ter) and a missense (p.Arg663Pro) variant in the father, and the same nonsense variant and a non-canonical splice-site in-frame change (c.1316-7A>G) in the daughter. cDNA sequencing, immunoblot and immunofluorescence experiments using patient-derived fibroblasts and Evc-/- mouse embryonic fibroblasts showed that p.Arg622Ter is a loss-of-function mutation, whereas p.Arg663Pro and the splice-site change c.1316-7A>G are hypomorphic variants resulting in proteins that retain, in part, the ability to complex with EVC2. Our molecular and functional data demonstrate that at least in some cases the condition characterized as "common atrium/AVCD with postaxial polydactyly" is a mild form of EvC due to hypomorphic EVC mutations, further supporting the occurrence of genotype-phenotype correlations in this syndrome. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.Clinical expression of Ellis-van Creveld syndrome (EvC) is variable and mild phenotypes have been described, including patients with mostly cardiac and limb involvement. Whether these cases are part of the EvC phenotypic spectrum or separate conditions is disputed. Herein, we describe a family with vertical transmission of atrioventricular canal defect (AVCD), common atrium, and postaxial polydactyly. Targeted sequencing of EVC, EVC2, WDR35, DYNC2LI1, and DYNC2H1 identified different compound heterozygosity in EVC genotypes in the two affected members, consisting of a nonsense (p.Arg622Ter) and a missense (p.Arg663Pro) variant in the father, and the same nonsense variant and a noncanonical splice-site in-frame change (c.1316–7A>G) in the daughter. Complementary DNA sequencing, immunoblot, and immunofluorescence experiments using patient-derived fibroblasts and Evc–/– mouse embryonic fibroblasts showed that p.Arg622Ter is a loss-of-function mutation, whereas p.Arg663Pro and the splice-site change c.1316–7A>G are hypomorphic variants resulting in proteins that retain, in part, the ability to complex with EVC2. Our molecular and functional data demonstrate that at least in some cases the condition characterized as “common atrium/AVCD with postaxial polydactyly” is a mild form of EvC due to hypomorphic EVC mutations, further supporting the occurrence of genotype-phenotype correlations in this syndrome

Particle identification with the cluster counting technique for the IDEA drift chamber

IDEA (Innovative Detector for an Electron-positron Accelerator) is a general-purpose detector concept, designed to study electron-positron collisions in a wide energy range from a very large circular leptonic collider.Its drift chamber is designed to provide an efficient tracking, a high precision momentum measurement, and an excellent particle identification by exploiting the cluster counting technique. The ionization process by charged particles is the primary mechanism used for particle identification (dE/dx). However, the significant uncertainties in the total energy deposition represent a limit to the particle separation capabilities. The cluster counting technique (dN/dx) takes advantage of the Poisson nature of the primary ionization process and offers a more statistically robust method to infer mass information. This paper will describe the simulation campaign and the two beam tests performed at CERN to investigate and prove the potentials of the cluster counting technique

Search for a high-mass dimuon resonance produced in association with b quark jets at 1as=13 TeV

Abstract: A search for high-mass dimuon resonance production in association with one or more b quark jets is presented. The study uses proton-proton collision data collected with the CMS detector at the LHC corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 138 fb(-1) at a center-of-mass energy of 13 TeV. Model-independent limits are derived on the number of signal events with exactly one or more than one b quark jet. Results are also interpreted in a lepton-flavor-universal model with Z boson couplings to a bb quark pair (g(b)), an sb quark pair (g(b)delta(bs)), and any same-flavor charged lepton (g(l)) or neutrino pair (g(nu)), with |g(nu)| = |g(l)|. For a Z ' boson with a mass mZ ' = 350 GeV (2 TeV) and |delta(bs)| sll measurements. In this scenario, most of the allowed parameter space is excluded for a Z ' boson with 350 < mZ ' < 500 GeV, while the constraints are less stringent for higher mZ ' hypotheses. This is the first dedicated search at the LHC for a high-mass dimuon resonance produced in association with multiple b quark jets, and the constraints obtained on models with this signature are the most stringent to date