Ascaridia galli: a report of erratic migration

This paper describes a case of an unusual recovery of adult Ascaridia galli in hen's egg. Several data are available on this occurrence but it appears to be the first case described in Italy. The worm was identified as an adult female, 6.8 cm in length, with three trilobed lips, cervical narrow alae, oesophagus club-shaped without posterior bulb, vulva near the middle of body, with gravid uteri containing a large number of eggs. The presence of Ascaridia galli in hen's eggs cannot be considered as hazard for public health but may be cause of a potential consumer complaint. Moreover it is a sign of presence of ascaridiosis, parasitosis that still produces economic losses in modern poultry production system

The Left Ventricular Dysfunction Questionnaire: Italian translation and validation.

Patients affected by heart failure have a compromised quality of life (QOL) and in the last few years "health related quality of life" has become an important outcome indicator for the evaluation of heart failure treatment. Methods: Translation into Italian of the Left Ventricular Dysfunction Questionnaire (LVD-36), a new, 36-item, disease-specific health status instrument for patients with congestive heart failure, and its subsequent validation by administration to 50 consecutive patients in our heart failure outpatient clinic. The Italian LVD-36 was compared to the "The Minnesota Living with Heart Failure Questionnaire" (MLHF). Results: The Italian version of the LVD-36 correlates well with MLHF for ejection fraction (EF), NYHA class I and II, etiology and therapy. Since, however, the LVD-36 has only one domain, it may be able to offer more synthetic information than MLHF about patients' status. Conclusions: The Italian version of the LVD-36 appears to be a reliable instrument for assessing patients' QOL and the degree of limitations imposed on them by the disease. It is short, clear and easy to complete. In patients with heart failure the LVD-36 correlates well with the MLHF and may be considered a new disease- specific instrument to estimate changes in health status, and an useful support in optimizing therapeutic options

Is quarantine for covid-19 pandemic associated with psychological burden in primary ciliary dyskinesia?

Background: Information on psychological impact of COVID-19 quarantine in primary ciliary dyskinesia (PCD), a chronic disorder with recurrent pulmonary exacerbations, is lacking. Psychological well-being was prospectively assessed during COVID-19 lockdown in Italy in a PCD population. Methods: we recruited 27 PCD patients and 27 healthy controls. To assess psychological well-being, psychological general well-being index and parenting stress index-short questionnaires were administered to participants ≥15 years-old and to mothers of participants <15 years-old, respectively. The PCD exacerbations since outbreak onset and frequency of quarantine weekly chest physiotherapy were compared to the same period of 2019. Outcomes: 70% of PCD mothers and 90% of PCD patients did not show parental stress levels or distress levels, respectively, and these groups showed no significant difference in stress compared to controls. The PCD pulmonary exacerbations occurred less frequently and weekly chest physiotherapy sessions significantly increased compared to the same period during 2019 (p < 0.05). Interpretation: During COVID-19 quarantine, a PCD population showed psychological well-being. Low exacerbation rate, explained by lower infectious exposure or improved compliance to chest physiotherapy, likely contributed to psychological well-being. Evaluating psychological burden and parental stress is a valuable tool for measuring the emotional impact of PCD and improving PCD medical care

The Severe Heart Failure Questionnaire: Italian translation and linguistic validation

Introduction. The quality of life (QoL) is an important outcome indicator for heart failure management. As the use of a validate questionnaire in a different cultural context can affect data interpretation our main objective is the Italian translation and linguistic validation of the Severe Heart Failure Questionnaire (SHF) and its comparison with the MLHF (Minnesota Living with Heart Failure) Questionnaire. Methods. The SHF and ?The Minnesota Living with Heart Failure Questionnaire? were translated. A consensus involving parallel back-translations was established among a group of cardiologists, psychologists and biostatisticians. SHF and MLHF were both administrated to a sample of 50 patients Results. The patients? median age was 63 years. Ace inhibitors therapy was administered in 88% of cases and betablockers in 56% of cases. Finally the Italian version of SHF correlates well with MLHF for all domains, except life satisfaction SHF domain. Discussion: The Italian version of the SHF correlates well with MLHF for almost all domains and it represents a valid alterna- tive for quality of life assessment in heart failure patients

Enhancement of the formation of ultracold 85^{85}Rb2_2 molecules due to resonant coupling

We have studied the effect of resonant electronic state coupling on the formation of ultracold ground-state $^{85}$Rb$_2$. Ultracold Rb$_2$ molecules are formed by photoassociation (PA) to a coupled pair of $0_u^+$ states, $0_u^+(P_{1/2})$ and $0_u^+(P_{3/2})$, in the region below the $5S+5P_{1/2}$ limit. Subsequent radiative decay produces high vibrational levels of the ground state, $X ^1\Sigma_g^+$. The population distribution of these $X$ state vibrational levels is monitored by resonance-enhanced two-photon ionization through the $2 ^1\Sigma_u^+$ state. We find that the populations of vibrational levels $v''$=112$-$116 are far larger than can be accounted for by the Franck-Condon factors for $0_u^+(P_{1/2}) \to X ^1\Sigma_g^+$ transitions with the $0_u^+(P_{1/2})$ state treated as a single channel. Further, the ground-state molecule population exhibits oscillatory behavior as the PA laser is tuned through a succession of $0_u^+$ state vibrational levels. Both of these effects are explained by a new calculation of transition amplitudes that includes the resonant character of the spin-orbit coupling of the two $0_u^+$ states. The resulting enhancement of more deeply bound ground-state molecule formation will be useful for future experiments on ultracold molecules.Comment: 6 pages, 5 figures; corrected author lis

Formation of ultracold LiCs molecules

We present the first observation of ultracold LiCs molecules. The molecules are formed in a two-species magneto-optical trap and detected by two-photon ionization and time-of-flight mass spectrometry. The production rate coefficient is found to be in the range 10^{-18}\unit{cm^3s^{-1}} to 10^{-16}\unit{cm^3s^{-1}}, at least an order of magnitude smaller than for other heteronuclear diatomic molecules directly formed in a magneto-optical trap.Comment: 8 pages, 2 figure

L\'evy flights of photons in hot atomic vapours

Properties of random and fluctuating systems are often studied through the use of Gaussian distributions. However, in a number of situations, rare events have drastic consequences, which can not be explained by Gaussian statistics. Considerable efforts have thus been devoted to the study of non Gaussian fluctuations such as L\'evy statistics, generalizing the standard description of random walks. Unfortunately only macroscopic signatures, obtained by averaging over many random steps, are usually observed in physical systems. We present experimental results investigating the elementary process of anomalous diffusion of photons in hot atomic vapours. We measure the step size distribution of the random walk and show that it follows a power law characteristic of L\'evy flights.Comment: This final version is identical to the one published in Nature Physic

Collisions of cold magnesium atoms in a weak laser field

We use quantum scattering methods to calculate the light-induced collisional loss of laser-cooled and trapped magnesium atoms for detunings up to 30 atomic linewidths to the red of the 1S_0-1P_1 cooling transition. Magnesium has no hyperfine structure to complicate the theoretical studies. We evaluate both the radiative and nonradiative mechanisms of trap loss. The radiative escape mechanism via allowed 1Sigma_u excitation is dominant for more than about one atomic linewidth detuning. Molecular vibrational structure due to photoassociative transitions to bound states begins to appear beyond about ten linewidths detuning.Comment: 4 pages with 3 embedded figure

A Unique Amphibole- and Magnetite-Rich Carbonaceous Chondrite from Almahata Sitta

Almahata Sitta (AhS) 202 from the UoK collection represents a clast from the polymict breccia asteroid 2008 TC3. AhS 202 was recognized as a unique carbonaceous chondrite (CC) with a high magnetite content. Here we report that it also contains a significant amount of amphibole, a mineral that is very rare in chondrites and has not previously been reported in significant abundance in a CC. We present new petrographic, oxygen isotope, and micro-FTIR data. We discuss petrogenesis and possible relationships to known CC