NA60 results on phi production in the hadronic and leptonic channels in In-In collisions at 158 GeV

The NA60 experiment at the CERN SPS studied phi meson production in In-In collisions at 158 A GeV via muon and kaon decay channels. Results in the hadronic channel are presented for the first time. These are discussed in the framework of the so-called phi puzzle through the comparison with the previous NA60 measurements in the muon channel. The yield and inverse m_T slopes observed in the two channels are compatible within errors, showing that the large discrepancies seen in Pb-Pb collisions between NA50 (muon pairs) and NA49 (kaon pairs) are not seen in the NA60 In-In data.Comment: 4 pages, 4 figures - To appear in the conference proceedings for Quark Matter 2009, March 30 - April 4, Knoxville, Tennesse

Beauty physics with heavy ions and prospects

Heavy flavours are generally considered one of the fundamental probes of the Quark-Gluon Plasma (QGP), the state of matter in which partons are deconfined, that can be created in relativistic heavy-ion collisions. Due to their large mass, heavy quarks are predominantly produced in hard scattering processes during the early stages of the collision lie Open heavy flavour measurements may probe the energy density of the system by means of the energy loss through elastic scatterings and gluon radiation. The radiative energy loss is predicted by QCD to be larger for gluons than for quarks, and light quark energy loss should be larger than that for heavy quarks due to the dead cone effect. The measurement of the yield of beauty hadrons can therefore shed light on the energy loss mechanism and on the mass hierarchy. Quarkonia are another crucial probe of the QGP. They can melt in the medium due to color screening at a temperature which increases with the binding energy of the system, thus acting as a probe of the QGP temperature. Bottomonia are of particular interest in this respect, since they can provide a clear suppression pattern. Beauty and bottomonia measurements in heavy-ion collisions at the LHC are reviewed. Results based on semi-leptonic decays of charm and beauty hadrons, non-prompt J/y from B decays and b-tagged jets in Pb-Pb collisions are discussed, as well as the measurements of i suppression at mid and forward rapidity provided by the CMS and ALICE experiments. Cold nuclear matter effects are investigated through the measurements in p-Pb collisions

Work addiction among bank employees in Italy: A contribution to validation of the Bergen Work Addiction Scale with a focus on measurement invariance across gender and managerial status

This study contributes to the validation of the Bergen Work Addiction Scale (BWAS) in the Italian context, with a focus on measurement invariance across gender and managerial status. The BWAS is a consolidated measure of work addiction (WA) anchored in general addiction theory that comprises seven items representing the core addiction components. Participants were 8419 bank workers (37.7% women, 12.9% managers) who completed a self-report questionnaire including the Italian version of the BWAS (BWAS-I) and the Dutch Work Addiction Scale, as well as measures of work engagement, perfectionism, workload, psycho-physical symptoms, work–family conflict, and job satisfaction. Results confirmed the single-factor structure of the BWAS-I. Partial scalar invariance held across gender and managerial status, meaning that most—but not all—item intercepts were equivalent across different populations. Furthermore, the BWAS-I showed adequate convergent, discriminant, criterion-related, and incremental validity. This study showed that the BWAS-I is a valuable instrument that can be used by researchers and practitioners to assess WA in the Italian context.publishedVersio

Biogenic sediments from coastal ecosystems to beach-dune systems: implications for the adaptation of mixed and carbonate beaches to future sea level rise

Coastal ecosystems produce and store carbonate particles, which play a significant role in the carbonate dynamics of coastal areas and may contribute to the sediment budget of adjacent beaches. In the nearshore seabed of temperate zones (e.g. Mediterranean Sea and South Australia), marine biogenic carbonates are mainly produced inside sea-grass meadows. This study quantifies the contribution of biogenic sediments, mainly produced in Posidonia oceanica seagrass meadows and secondarily in photophilic algal communities, to the sediment budget of a Mediterranean beach-dune system (San Giovanni beach, western Sardinia, western Mediterranean Sea). A set of geophysical, petrographic and sedimentological data was used to estimate the sediment volume and composition of the beach-dune system as a whole. The San Giovanni beach-dune system contains 3797000 +/- 404000 t of sediment, 83% (3137000 +/- 404000 t) of which is located in the coastal wedge, 16% (619000 +/- 88000 t) in the dune fields and 1% (41000 +/- 15000 t) in the sub-aerial beach. The sediments are composed of mixed modern bioclastic and relict bioclastic and non-bioclastic grains from various sources. The system receives a large input of modern bioclastic grains, mainly composed of rhodophytes, molluscs and bryozoans, which derive from sediment production of present-day carbonate factories, particularly P. oceanica seagrass meadows. Radiocarbon dating of modern bioclastic grains indicated that they were produced during the last 4.37 kyr. This value was used to estimate the longterm deposition rates of modern bioclastic sediments in the various beach compartments. The total deposition rate of modern bioclastic grains is 46000 +/- 5000 t century 1, mainly deposited in the coastal wedge (39000 +/- 4000 t century(-1)) and dunes (7000 +/- 1000 t century(-1)), and 46 000 t represents similar to 1.2% of the total beach-dune sediment mass. Carbonate production from coastal ecosystems was estimated to be 132000/307000 t century(-1), 28% (15%/34 %) of which is transported to the beach-dune system, thus significantly contributing to the beach sediment budget.The contribution to the beach sediment budget represents a further ecosystem service, which our data can help quantify, provided by P. oceanica. The value of this sediment-supply service is in addition to the other important ecological services provided by seagrass meadows. The dependence of the beach sediment budget on carbonate production associated with coastal ecosystems has several implications for the adaptation of mixed and carbonate beaches to the loss of seagrass meadows due to local impacts and the changes expected to occur over the next few decades in coastal ecosystems following sea level rise

EBV Reactivation and Chromosomal Polysomies: Euphorbia tirucalli as a Possible Cofactor in Endemic Burkitt Lymphoma

Burkitt lymphoma is endemic in the Equatorial Belt of Africa, its molecular hallmark is an activated, MYC gene mostly due to a chromosomal translocation. Especially in its endemic clinical variant, Burkitt lymphoma is associated with the oncogenic Epstein-Barr virus (EBV), and holoendemic malaria acts as an amplifier. Environmental factors may also cooperate in Burkitt lymphomagenesis in the endemic regions, such as plants used as traditional herbal remedies. Euphorbia tirucalli, a plant known to possess EBV-activating substances, has a similar geographical distribution to endemic Burkitt's Lymphoma and is used as a hedge, herbal remedy and toy in the Lymphoma BeltI. In this study we aimed at determining if exposure to Euphorbia tirucalli could contribute to lymphomagenesis, and at which extent. Lymphoblastoid and cord blood-derived cell lines were treated with plant extracts, and the expression of EBV-coded proteins was checked, to assess EBV reactivation. The occurrence of chromosomal translocations was then investigated by FISH. Our preliminary results suggest that E. tirucalli is able to reactivate EBV and determine chromosomal alterations, which leads to c-MYC altered expression. The existence of genomic alterations might determine the accumulation of further genetic alteration, which could eventually lead to a transformed phenotype

Early Denosumab for the prevention of osteoporotic fractures in breast cancer women undergoing aromatase inhibitors: A case-control retrospective study

BACKGROUND:Aromatase inhibitors (AIs) might have a detrimental impact on bone health in breast cancer (BC) women.Denosumab has been shown to reduce the risk of fractures, but the appropriate time for starting is yet to be clearly defined.OBJECTIVE:To evaluate the effects of early treatment with Denosumab (612 months after starting AIs) compared to a delayedtreatment in BC women.METHODS:In this retrospective case-control study, we included medical records of BC post-menopausal women, treated withAIs therapy; they were divided as: study group (starting Denosumab612 months after AIs) and control group (>12 months). Atthe baseline (T0) and at 18 months (T1), we evaluated the lumbar spine (LS) Tscore and femoral neck (FN) Tscore. Furthermore,at T1 we assessed the incident fragility fractures.RESULTS:Fifty-nine BC survivors (mean age: 61.5±11.5 years) were included: 28 with Early Denosumab and 31 with LateDenosumab. At T1, the study group did not show any incident hip or vertebral fragility fracture, whereas the Late Denosumabgroup showed 2 incident hip fractures (6.5%) and 4 (12.9%) vertebral fragility fractures. Early Denosumab showed a significantpositive effect on both LS (p=0.044) and FN (p=0.024) Tscore variations.CONCLUSION:Taken together, our findings suggest that an early start of Denosumab might be considered for the osteoporosismanagement in BC women undergoing AIs

When Does Work Interfere With Teachers’ Private Life? An Application of the Job Demands-Resources Model

The purpose of this study is to examine the relationship between contextual work-related factors on the one hand, in terms of job demands (i.e., risk factors) and job resources (i.e., protective factors), and work-family conflict (WFC) in teachers on the other. Building on the Job Demands-Resources (JD-R) model, we hypothesized that job demands, namely qualitative, and quantitative workload, are positively associated with WFC in teachers. Moreover, in line with the buffer hypothesis of the JD-R, we expected job resources, in terms of support from supervisor (SS), job autonomy (JA), and participation in decision making (PDM), to affect this association, which is expected to be stronger when job resources are low. The study was conducted in an Italian secondary school. Overall, 122 teachers completed a self-report questionnaire aimed at determining WFC, as well as job demands and resources. The hypothesized relationships were tested using moderated multiple regression. The results of this study largely support our predictions. First, both aspects of workload were positively associated with WFC. Secondly, job resources, including SS and PDM, buffered this association, which was stronger when resources were low. On the contrary, JA did not buffer the association between workload and WFC. Overall, the results of this study are consistent with the JD-R model and contribute to the understanding of work–family conflict among teachers. More specifically, our study suggests that teachers with high levels of job resources, namely SS and PDM, can effectively cope with job demands, in terms of both qualitative and quantitative workload, thus preventing negative consequences such as conflict between work and family domains. Interventions aimed at preventing WFC among teachers should encourage organizations to optimize the balance between job demands and resources, as well as the identification and training of the workers at risk of WFC

Serum and supplement optimization for EU GMP-compliance in cardiospheres cell culture

Cardiac progenitor cells (CPCs) isolated as cardiospheres (CSs) and CS-derived cells (CDCs) are a promising tool for cardiac cell therapy in heart failure patients, having CDCs already been used in a phase I/II clinical trial. Culture standardization according to Good Manufacturing Practices (GMPs) is a mandatory step for clinical translation. One of the main issues raised is the use of xenogenic additives (e.g. FBS, foetal bovine serum) in cell culture media, which carries the risk of contamination with infectious viral/prion agents, and the possible induction of immunizing effects in the final recipient. In this study, B27 supplement and sera requirements to comply with European GMPs were investigated in CSs and CDCs cultures, in terms of process yield/efficiency and final cell product gene expression levels, as well as phenotype. B27- free CS cultures produced a significantly reduced yield and a 10-fold drop in c-kit expression levels versus B27+ media. Moreover, autologous human serum (aHS) and two different commercially available GMP AB HSs were compared with standard research-grade FBS. CPCs from all HSs explants had reduced growth rate, assumed a senescent-like morphology with time in culture, and/or displayed a significant shift towards the endothelial phenotype. Among three different GMP gamma-irradiated FBSs (giFBSs) tested, two provided unsatisfactory cell yields, while one performed optimally, in terms of CPCs yield/phenotype. In conclusion, the use of HSs for the isolation and expansion of CSs/CDCs has to be excluded because of altered proliferation and/or commitment, while media supplemented with B27 and the selected giFBS allows successful EU GMP-complying CPCs culture