High-power collective charging of a solid-state quantum battery

Quantum information theorems state that it is possible to exploit collective quantum resources to greatly enhance the charging power of quantum batteries (QBs) made of many identical elementary units. We here present and solve a model of a QB that can be engineered in solid-state architectures. It consists of $N$ two-level systems coupled to a single photonic mode in a cavity. We contrast this collective model ("Dicke QB"), whereby entanglement is genuinely created by the common photonic mode, to the one in which each two-level system is coupled to its own separate cavity mode ("Rabi QB"). By employing exact diagonalization, we demonstrate the emergence of a quantum advantage in the charging power of Dicke QBs, which scales like $\sqrt{N}$ for $N\gg 1$.Comment: 8 pages, 5 figures. Version v2 supersedes version v1 where a technical mistake was done in using the Holstein-Primakoff transformation. The quantum advantage in the maximum charging power discussed in version v1 has been found to be robust. We have also updated the list of author

Health impact of the emissions from a refinery: case-control study on the adult population living in two municipalities in Lomellina, Italy

Background: In the municipalities of Sannazzaro de’ Burgondi and Ferrer Erbognone (District of Lomellina, Pavia, Lombardy, Italy), an oil refinery is operating since 1963. In 2008, the company running the plant (eni S.p.A.) asked the competent bodies the permission for building a new facility (“EST”). The present work is aimed at evaluating the ante-operam health impacts of the existing facility refinery. Methods: A case-control study design was implemented. Cases were subjects admitted to hospital in 2002-2014 due to acute respiratory, cardiovascular or gastrointestinal conditions. Controls were selected among those who had not been hospitalised in that timespan. Cases and controls had to be alive at enrolment, aged 20-64 years, and were frequency-matched by age, gender and municipality. Data were extracted from the health insurance registry and from Hospital Discharge Records (ATS Pavia). Enrolled subjects were asked to complete a mailed survey. Environmental exposure was the fallout of refinery emissions (PM10) at participants’ homes, as predicted by an AERMOD model. Results: 541 respondents (125 cases, 416 controls) were included in the analyses. Response bias was excluded. Individual PM10 exposure was not significantly different between cases and controls, while it was significantly associated with municipality (being higher in Sannazzaro). The crude effect estimate of PM10 over case/control status indicated a not-significant excess of hospitalisation with the increase in PM10 exposure. Multivariate analyses confirmed those results. Conclusion: Findings indicate a possible excess of hospitalisation risk in most exposed people, but the effect is not statistically significant and may be affected by bias

Quantitative Microbial Risk Assessment as support for bathing waters profiling

Profiling bathing waters supported by Quantitative Microbial Risk Assessment (QMRA) is key to the WHO's recommendations for the 2020/2021 revision of the European Bathing Water Directive. We developed an areaspecific QMRA model on four pathogens, using fecal indicator concentrations (E. coil, enterococci) for calculating pathogen loads. The predominance of illness was found to be attributable to Human Adenovirus, followed by Salmonella, Vibrio, and Norovirus. Overall, the cumulative illness risk showed a median of around 1 case/10000 exposures. The risk estimates were strongly influenced by the indicators that were used, suggesting the need for a more detailed investigation of the different sources of fecal contamination. Area-specific threshold values for fecal indicators were estimated on a risk-basis by modelling the cumulative risk against E. coll. and enterococci concentrations. To improve bathing waters assessment, we suggest considering source apportionment locally estimating of pathogen/indicator ratios, and calculating site-specific indicators thresholds based on risk assessment

Management of hepatitis B virus prophylaxis in patients treated with disease-modifying therapies for multiple sclerosis: a multicentric Italian retrospective study

Background: Patients with multiple sclerosis (MS) often receive disease-modifying therapies (DMTs) that can expose them to reactivation of potential occult hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection (pOBI). We aimed to evaluate the MS Centers behavior regarding HBV screening and prophylaxis in a large cohort of MS patients receiving anti-CD20 or cladribine. Methods: Retrospective, multicentric study recruiting Italian MS patients treated with rituximab, ocrelizumab and cladribine. Results: We included 931 MS patients from 15 centers. All but 38 patients performed a complete HBV screening. Patients' age > 50 years was significantly associated with no history of vaccination and HBsAb titres < 100 mIU at baseline (p < 0.001). No significant correlation was found between post-vaccination HBsAb titres and type of treatment (p = 0.5), pre-or post-therapy vaccination (p = 0.2) and number of previous DMTs (p = 0.2). Among pOBI patients (n = 53), 21 received antiviral prophylaxis, while only 13 had HBV DNA monitoring and 19 patients neither monitored HBV DNA nor received prophylaxis. Conclusions: Baseline HBV screening in patients receiving anti-CD20 and cladribine is a consolidated practice. Nonetheless, HBV vaccination coverage is still lacking in such population and age is a significant factor associated with low HBV protection. Rituximab, ocrelizumab and cladribine did not impair HBV vaccine response. Almost 35% of pOBI patients fail to receive HBVr prevention. Management of HBV prophylaxis could be improved in MS patients and further prospective studies are needed to assess the effectiveness of prophylactic strategies in such patients

Sexual Dysfunction in People with Multiple Sclerosis: The Role of Disease Severity, Illness Perception, and Depression

Despite being a common issue in people with multiple sclerosis (pwMS), sexual dysfunction is still underinvestigated. This work aims to assess the potential determinants of sexual dysfunction in pwMS by considering its relationship with disease severity (in terms of global disability), illness perception, and depressive symptoms. In this multicenter study, 1010 pwMS responded to an online survey. A serial mediation model considering negative illness perception and depressive symptoms as mediators of the relationship between disease severity and sexual dysfunction was conducted using the SPSS PROCESS Macro with bias-corrected bootstrapping (5000 samples). Disease severity exerts an indirect effect on sexual dysfunction via illness perception, both independently and through depressive symptoms. However, the results indicated that illness perception plays a more crucial role in sexual dysfunction in pwMS with mild disability than in pwMS with moderate-severe disability. This study suggests that higher disability increases its magnitude by enhancing negative illness perception, that, in turn, affects sexual dysfunction both directly and through depressive symptoms, especially in pwMS with mild disability. Modulating the effect of illness perception by favoring adaptive coping strategies might represent a valid approach to mitigate sexual dysfunction symptoms in MS

SARS-CoV-2 vaccination and multiple sclerosis: a large multicentric study on relapse risk after the third booster dose

Background: COVID-19 vaccines have been recommended to people with multiple sclerosis (pwMS) and, to ensure durable immunity, a third booster dose has been administered in several countries. Data about potential risks associated with the third booster dose in pwMS, such as vaccine-triggered disease exacerbations, are still scarce. Objective: To investigate whether the administration of a third booster dose of mRNA COVID-19 vaccines was associated with an increased risk of short-term disease reactivation in a large cohort of pwMS. Methods: We retrospectively selected 1265 pwMS who received a third booster dose of an mRNA COVID-19 vaccine. Demographic and clinical data were collected, including the presence, number and characteristics of relapses in the 60 days prior to and after the third booster dose. Results: In the selected cohort, the relapse rate in the two months after administration of the third booster dose of mRNA COVID-19 vaccines did not increase when compared with the prior two months. Indeed, the percentage of pwMS experiencing relapses in the 60 days following the administration of the third booster dose was 2.1%, similar to the percentage recorded in 60 days prior to vaccination, which was 1.9%. Conclusions: The third booster dose of mRNA COVID-19 vaccines appeared to be safe for pwMS

Psychological treatments and psychotherapies in the neurorehabilitation of pain. Evidences and recommendations from the italian consensus conference on pain in neurorehabilitation

BACKGROUND: It is increasingly recognized that treating pain is crucial for effective care within neurological rehabilitation in the setting of the neurological rehabilitation. The Italian Consensus Conference on Pain in Neurorehabilitation was constituted with the purpose identifying best practices for us in this context. Along with drug therapies and physical interventions, psychological treatments have been proven to be some of the most valuable tools that can be used within a multidisciplinary approach for fostering a reduction in pain intensity. However, there is a need to elucidate what forms of psychotherapy could be effectively matched with the specific pathologies that are typically addressed by neurorehabilitation teams. OBJECTIVES: To extensively assess the available evidence which supports the use of psychological therapies for pain reduction in neurological diseases. METHODS: A systematic review of the studies evaluating the effect of psychotherapies on pain intensity in neurological disorders was performed through an electronic search using PUBMED, EMBASE, and the Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews. Based on the level of evidence of the included studies, recommendations were outlined separately for the different conditions. RESULTS: The literature search yielded 2352 results and the final database included 400 articles. The overall strength of the recommendations was medium/low. The different forms of psychological interventions, including Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy, cognitive or behavioral techniques, Mindfulness, hypnosis, Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT), Brief Interpersonal Therapy, virtual reality interventions, various forms of biofeedback and mirror therapy were found to be effective for pain reduction in pathologies such as musculoskeletal pain, fibromyalgia, Complex Regional Pain Syndrome, Central Post-Stroke pain, Phantom Limb Pain, pain secondary to Spinal Cord Injury, multiple sclerosis and other debilitating syndromes, diabetic neuropathy, Medically Unexplained Symptoms, migraine and headache. CONCLUSIONS: Psychological interventions and psychotherapies are safe and effective treatments that can be used within an integrated approach for patients undergoing neurological rehabilitation for pain. The different interventions can be specifically selected depending on the disease being treated. A table of evidence and recommendations from the Italian Consensus Conference on Pain in Neurorehabilitation is also provided in the final part of the pape

Transcriptomic signatures across human tissues identify functional rare genetic variation

© 2020 American Association for the Advancement of Science. All rights reserved. INTRODUCTION: The human genome contains tens of thousands of rare (minor allele frequency 800 genomes matched with transcriptomes across 49 tissues, we were able to study RVs that underlie extreme changes in the transcriptome. To capture the diversity of these extreme changes, we developed and integrated approaches to identify expression, allele-specific expression, and alternative splicing outliers, and characterized the RV landscape underlying each outlier signal. We demonstrate that personal genome interpretation and RV discovery is enhanced by using these signals. This approach provides a new means to integrate a richer set of functional RVs into models of genetic burden, improve disease gene identification, and enable the delivery of precision genomics

Serum IgG against Simian Virus 40 antigens are hampered by high levels of sHLA-G in patients affected by inflammatory neurological diseases, as multiple sclerosis

Background: Many investigators detected the simian polyomavirus SV40 footprints in human brain tumors and neurologic diseases and recently it has been indicated that SV40 seems to be associated with multiple sclerosis (MS) disease. Interestingly, SV40 interacts with human leukocyte antigen (HLA) class I molecules for cell entry. HLA class I antigens, in particular non-classical HLA-G molecules, characterized by an immune-regulatory function, are involved in MS disease, and the levels of these molecules are modified according with the disease status. Objective: We investigated in serum samples, from Italian patients affected by MS, other inflammatory diseases (OIND), non-inflammatory neurological diseases (NIND) and healthy subjects (HS), SV40-antibody and soluble sHLA-G and the association between SV40-prevalence and sHLA-G levels. Methods: ELISA tests were used for SV40-antibodies detection and sHLA-G quantitation in serum samples. Results: The presence of SV40 antibodies was observed in 6 % of patients affected by MS (N = 4/63), 10 % of OIND (N = 8/77) and 15 % of NIND (N = 9/59), which is suggestive of a lower prevalence in respect to HS (22 %, N = 18/83). MS patients are characterized by higher sHLA-G serum levels (13.9 \ub1 0.9 ng/ml; mean \ub1 St. Error) in comparison with OIND (6.7 \ub1 0.8 ng/ml), NIND (2.9 \ub1 0.4 ng/ml) and HS (2.6 \ub1 0.7 ng/ml) subjects. Interestingly, we observed an inverse correlation between SV40 antibody prevalence and sHLA-G serum levels in MS patients. Conclusion: The data obtained showed a low prevalence of SV40 antibodies in MS patients. These results seems to be due to a generalized status of inability to counteract SV40 infection via antibody production. In particular, we hypothesize that SV40 immune-inhibitory direct effect and the presence of high levels of the immune-inhibitory HLA-G molecules could co-operate in impairing B lymphocyte activation towards SV40 specific peptides

Inter-society consensus for the use of inhaled corticosteroids in infants, children and adolescents with airway diseases

Background: In 2019, a multidisciplinary panel of experts from eight Italian scientific paediatric societies developed a consensus document for the use of inhaled corticosteroids in the management and prevention of the most common paediatric airways disorders. The aim is to provide healthcare providers with a multidisciplinary document including indications useful in the clinical practice. The consensus document was intended to be addressed to paediatricians who work in the Paediatric Divisions, the Primary Care Services and the Emergency Departments, as well as to Residents or PhD students, paediatric nurses and specialists or consultants in paediatric pulmonology, allergy, infectious diseases, and ear, nose, and throat medicine. Methods: Clinical questions identifying Population, Intervention(s), Comparison and Outcome(s) were addressed by methodologists and a general agreement on the topics and the strength of the recommendations (according to the GRADE system) was obtained following the Delphi method. The literature selection included secondary sources such as evidence-based guidelines and systematic reviews and was integrated with primary studies subsequently published. Results: The expert panel provided a number of recommendations on the use of inhaled corticosteroids in preschool wheezing, bronchial asthma, allergic and non-allergic rhinitis, acute and chronic rhinosinusitis, adenoid hypertrophy, laryngitis and laryngospasm. Conclusions: We provided a multidisciplinary update on the current recommendations for the management and prevention of the most common paediatric airways disorders requiring inhaled corticosteroids, in order to share useful indications, identify gaps in knowledge and drive future research