The fully self-consistent quasiparticle random phase approximation and its application to the isobaric analog resonances

A microscopic model aimed at the description of charge-exchange nuclear excitations along isotopic chains which include open-shell systems, is developed. It consists of quasiparticle random phase approximation (QRPA) made on top of Hartree-Fock-Bardeen-Cooper-Schrieffer (HF-BCS). The calculations are performed by using the Skyrme interaction in the particle-hole channel and a zero-range, density-dependent pairing force in the particle-particle channel. At variance with the (many) versions of QRPA which are available in literature, in our work special emphasis is put on the full self-consistency. Its importance, as well as the role played by the charge-breaking terms of the nuclear Hamiltonian, like the Coulomb interaction, the charge symmetry and charge independence breaking (CSB-CIB) forces and the electromagnetic spin-orbit, are elucidated by means of numerical calculations of the isobaric analog resonances (IAR). The theoretical energies of these states along the chain of the Sn isotopes agree well with the experimental data in the stable isotopes. Predictions for unstable systems are presented.Comment: 15 pages, 6 figure

Can the size of the contact area body-ground influence the presence of acute pulmonary emphysema in cases of incomplete hanging?

In a recently published study, we showed that acute pulmonary emphysema (APE) was present in cases of death by incomplete hanging and absent in cases of complete hanging. This result suggested a possible role of the hanging position on the respiratory distress of these victims. To further investigate this hypothesis, in the present study, we compared cases of incomplete hanging with a small contact area between body and ground (group A) to cases of incomplete hanging with a large contact area (group B). As positive and negative control group, we investigated cases of freshwater drowning (group C) and acute external bleeding (group D) respectively. Pulmonary samples were histologically examined, and the mean alveolar area (MAA) for each group was measured by digital morphometric analysis. MAA was 23,485 μm <sup>2</sup> for group A and 31,426 μm <sup>2</sup> for group B (p < 0.05). MAA of group B was similar to MAA of positive control group (33,135 μm <sup>2</sup> ) and MAA of group A was similar to MAA of negative control group (21,991 μm <sup>2</sup> ). These results seem to confirm our hypothesis and suggest that the size of the contact area between body and ground influences the presence of APE. Furthermore, the present study showed that APE can be proposed as a vitality sign in incomplete hanging, but only in cases with a large contact area between body and ground

Can Euroscepticism Contribute to a European Public Sphere? The Europeanization of Media Discourses about Euroscepticism across Six Countries

This study compares the media discourses about Euroscepticism in 2014 across six countries (United Kingdom, Ireland, France, Spain, Sweden, and Denmark). We assess the extent to which the mass media's reporting of Euroscepticism indicates the Europeanization of public spheres. Using a mixed-methods approach combining LDA topic modeling and qualitative coding, we find that approximately 70 per cent of print articles mentioning "Euroscepticism" or "Eurosceptic" are framed in a non-domestic (i.e. European) context. In five of the six cases studied, articles exhibiting a European context are strikingly similar in content, with the British case as the exception. However, coverage of British Euroscepticism drives Europeanization in other Member States. Bivariate logistic regressions further reveal three macro-level structural variables that significantly correlate with a Europeanized media discourse: newspaper type (tabloid or broadsheet), presence of a strong Eurosceptic party, and relationship to the EU budget (net contributor or receiver of EU funds).Comment: 29 pages, 2 figures, 4 tables, 2 appendice

The Behavioral Approach System and Augmenting/Reducing in auditory event-related potentials during emotional visual stimulation

In the recent Reinforcement Sensitivity Theory Personality Questionnaire (RST-PQ, Corr and Cooper, 2016) the behavioral approach system (BAS) has been conceptualized as multidimensional in which facets of reward interest and reactivity, and goal-drive persistence, are separate from impulsivity. Aim of the present work was to highlight the predictive power of BAS and its facets in differentiating electrocortical responses by using an auditory augmenting/reducing event-related potential (ERP) paradigm during emotional visual stimulation. ERPs were recorded for 5 levels of intensity in 39 women. The RST-PQ was used to measure the total BAS (T-BAS) and its four facets of Goal-Drive Persistence (GDP), Reward Interest (RI), Reward Reactivity (RR), and Impulsivity (IMP). T-BAS and RI, and to a less extent GDP and RR, were significantly associated with higher N1/P2 amplitudes at central sites (C3, Cz, C4) across neutral, positive and negative slides. Similar, but less pronounced relations were found for GDP and RR, but this relation was lacking for Imp facet. In addition, N1/P2 slope at central sites was positively correlated with T-BAS, GDP, RI, RR, but not Imp. Indeed, T-BAS facets failed to maintain a significant correlation with N1/P2 slope, after controlling for T-BAS residual scores, indicating that T-BAS drives these significant correlations. LORETA analysis at 219ms (P2 wave) from tone onset revealed a significant activation of the right inferior parietal lobule (IPL, BA40) and left anterior cingulate gyrus (BA32) in high T-BAS compared to low T-BAS participants. Results are discussed within a revised RST framework differentiating reward components from impulsivity

Myelin contrast across lamina at 7T, ex-vivo and in-vivo dataset

In this article we report the complete data obtained in-vivo for the paper: “Lines of Baillarger in vivo and ex-vivo: myelin contrast across lamina at 7T MRI and histology” (Fracasso et al., 2015) 1. Single participant data (4 participants) from the occipital lobe acquisition are reported for axial, coronal and sagittal slices; early visual area functional localization and laminar profiles are reported. Data from whole brain images are reported and described (5 participants), for axial, coronal and sagittal slices. Laminar profiles from occipital, parietal and frontal lobes are reported. The data reported in this manuscript complements the paper (Fracasso et al., 2015) 1 by providing the full set of results from the complete pool of participants, on a single-participant basis. Moreover, we provide histological images from the ex-vivo sample reported in Fracasso et al. (2015) 1

Practical application of synthetic head models in real ballistic cases.

In shooting crimes, ballistics tests are often recommended in order to reproduce the wound characteristics of the involved persons. For this purpose, several "simulants" can be used. However, despite the efforts in the research of "surrogates" in the field of forensic ballistic, the development of synthetic models needs still to be improved through a validation process based on specific real caseworks. This study has been triggered by the findings observed during the autopsy performed on two victims killed in the same shooting incident, with similar wounding characteristics; namely two retained head shots with ricochet against the interior wall of the skull; both projectiles have been recovered during the autopsies after migration in the brain parenchyma. The thickness of the different tissues and structures along the bullets trajectories as well as the incident angles between the bullets paths and the skull walls have been measured and reproduced during the assemblage of the synthetic head models. Two different types of models ("open shape" and "spherical") have been assembled using leather, polyurethane and gelatine to simulate respectively skin, bone and soft tissues. Six shots have been performed in total. The results of the models have been compared to the findings of post-mortem computed tomography (PMCT) and the autopsy findings.Out of the six shots, two perforated the models and four were retained. When the projectile was retained, the use of both models allowed reproducing the wounds characteristics observed on both victims in terms of penetration and ricochet behaviour. However, the projectiles recovered from the models showed less deformation than the bullets collected during the autopsies. The "open shape" model allowed a better controlling on the shooting parameters than the "spherical" model. Finally, the difference in bullet deformation could be caused by the choice of the bone simulant, which might under-represent either the strength or the density of the human bone. In our opinion, it would be worth to develop a new, more representative material for ballistic which simulates the human bone

Immunohistochemical expression of P-selectin, SP-A, HSP70, aquaporin 5, and fibronectin in saltwater drowning and freshwater drowning.

The diagnosis of drowning is one of the most difficult in forensic medicine. The aim of this study was to analyze pulmonary tissue reactions in death by drowning. In particular, we focused on the immunohistochemical expression of P-selectin, SP-A, HSP70, AQP-5, and fibronectin to investigate our expression in drowning and to understand whether there are differences between saltwater drowning (SWD) and freshwater drowning (FWD), which may indicate a different pathophysiology. We retrospectively investigated 10 cases of SWD (Mediterranean Sea) from the Institute of Legal Medicine of Genoa (Italy), and 10 cases of FWD (Lake of Geneva) from the University Center of Legal Medicine of Geneva (Switzerland). As control group, we examined 10 cases of death by acute external bleeding, characterized by minimal respiratory distress. As compared with controls, in SWD cases, the results showed a decrease of SP-A expression with membrane patterns. Furthermore, we observed a greater SP-A expression with granular pattern in drowning cases without statistically significant difference between SWD and FWD. For the markers AQP-5, HSP70, fibronectin, and P-selectin, no statistically significant differences were found between SWD, FWD, and controls

A forensic case of hydranencephaly in a preterm neonate fully documented by postmortem imaging techniques.

The authors present a medico-legal autopsy case of hydranencephaly in a male preterm newborn, fully documented by postmortem unenhanced and enhanced imaging techniques (postmortem computed tomography and postmortem magnetic resonance imaging). Hydranencephaly is a congenital anomaly of the central nervous system, consisting in almost complete absence of the cerebral hemispheres and replacement of the cerebral parenchyma by cerebrospinal fluid, rarely encountered in forensic medical practice. A premature baby was born during the supposed 22nd and 24th week of pregnancy in the context of a denial of pregnancy without any follow-up. The newborn died a few hours after birth and medico-legal investigations were requested to determine the cause of death and exclude the intervention of a third person in the lethal process. The external examination revealed neither traumatic nor malformative lesions. Postmortem imaging investigations were typical of hydranencephaly, and conventional medico-legal autopsy, neuropathological examination, and histological examination confirmed a massive necrotic-haemorrhagic hydranencephaly. This case represents in itself an association of out-of-the-ordinary elements making it worthy of interest. Postmortem unenhanced and enhanced imaging techniques (computed tomography and magnetic resonance imaging) were performed as complementary examination to conventional medico-legal investigations.Postmortem angiography of a preterm newborn is possible with catheterization of the umbilical blood vessels.Hydranencephaly is a congenital anomaly of the central nervous system, consisting in almost complete absence of the cerebral hemispheres and replacement of the brain by cerebrospinal fluid, for which several aetiologies have been postulated

Characteristics of dairy farms in the North-Eastern part of Italy: rations, milk yield and nutrients excretion

This survey was aimed to evaluate the characteristics of dairy farms in the North- Eastern part of Po valley in terms of ration composition, milk yield and N and P excretions. Eightynine farms, with Italian Holstein Friesian cows, were selected in order to cover different situations in term of farm size and milk yield (MY). MY and quality were obtained from the national database of functional controls. Each farm was visited in order to collect information about ingredients and chemical composition of rations used. Farms were classified in four groups differing for dietary crude protein density (LCP15.3% DM) and for MY (LMY30 kg/d). N and P excretions were quantified by following a mass balance approach. Dietary crude protein content (CP) was not correlated to milk yield (MY) and quality. The estimated amounts of N excreted, discounted for 28% of N losses in atmosphere, were 78.5, 78.2, 87.2 and 89.1 kg/cow/year, and P excreted were 20.2, 18.6, 18.7 and 19.8 kg/cow/year for the LCPLMY, LCPHMY, HCPLMY, HCPHMY groups, respectively. On corn silage and cereals based rations, a dietary CP of 14.3% DM can support 31 kg MY/cow/day

Postmortem coronary artery calcium score in cases of myocardial infarction.

Sudden cardiac death (SCD) related to atherosclerotic coronary artery disease (ACAD) resulting in myocardial infarction is the most prevalent cause of death in western countries. In clinical practice, coronary artery calcium score (CACS) is considered an independent predictor of coronary events, closely related to atherosclerotic burden and is quantified radiologically by the Agatston score being calculated through computed tomography. Postmortem computed tomography (PMCT) allows the visualization and quantification of coronary calcifications before the autopsy. However, it was reported that some patients who died from severe ACAD had a zero CACS in PMCT. In this study, a retrospective evaluation of CACS in adult's myocardial infarction cases related to ACAD, with available CACS and histological slides of coronary arteries, was performed in order to gain a deeper understanding of coronary calcifications and their role in myocardial infarction cases. The CACS was calculated by using the software Smartscore 4.0 after the radiological examination on a 64-row CT unit using a specific cardiac protocol. Thirty-six cases were identified out of 582 autopsies, recorded during a 2-year study period (29 men, 7 women; age 56.3 ± 11.7). CACS was 0-10 in 5 cases (5 men, 44.8 ± 13.7), 11-100 in 8 cases (6 men, 2 women, 53.1 ± 7.7), 101-400 in 13 cases (11 men, 2 women, 57.4 ± 9.6), and > 400 in 10 cases (9 men, 1 woman, 63.1 ± 11.9). Coronary thrombosis was found in 28 cases, histologically identified as plaque erosions in 6 cases and as plaque ruptures in 22 cases. Statistical analyses showed that CACS increases significantly with age (p-value < 0.05) and does not show significant correlation with gender, body weight, body mass index, and heart weight. CACS was significantly higher in plaque ruptures than in plaque erosions (p-value < 0.01). Zero or low CACS on unenhanced PMCT cannot exclude the presence of myocardial infarction related to ACAD. This paradoxical discrepancy between imaging and autopsy findings can be explained considering the histological aspect of fatal coronary plaques