Circadian rhythms and hormonal homeostasis: Pathophysiological implications

Over recent years, a deeper comprehension of the molecular mechanisms that control biological clocks and circadian rhythms has been achieved. In fact, many studies have contributed to unravelling the importance of the molecular clock for the regulation of our physiology, including hormonal and metabolic homeostasis. Here we will review the structure, organisation and molecular machinery that make our circadian clock work, and its relevance for the proper functioning of physiological processes. We will also describe the interconnections between circadian rhythms and endocrine homeostasis, as well as the underlying consequences that circadian dysregulations might have in the development of several pathologic affections. Finally, we will discuss how a better knowledge of such relationships might prove helpful in designing new therapeutic approaches for endocrine and metabolic diseases

Ethics in women's health: A pathway to gender equity

The differences between women’s and men’s experiences of health and illness are well known. Gender-specific medicine needs to restore equilibrium in order to understand the different clinical signs, diagnostic procedures, and therapeutic needs of diseases in men and women. This new dimension of medicine needs investment in research and health policy. If health professionals and healthcare organizations do not systematically take gender differences into account, inequities may arise and endure. Most discussions of gender involving an ethical perspective begin with the argument that women and men should be regarded as being of equal moral value. Where there are no relevant differences between them, then fairness and justice dictate that they should be treated equally, but if differences in needs exist, service planning should take this into account. Under these circumstances, equity as well as equality should be a guiding principle. The promotion of greater equality between men and women has also become a crucial issue in the bioethical debate, even if there is some confusion about the meaning of equality in this context, and especially of how this can be obtained. Biological differences cannot be removed, but their potentially harmful effects can be mitigated through social policies that take them properly into account, and through health research, policies and projects that give due attention to gender considerations and promote gender equity between women and men

KLOE searches on dark forces

The existence of a secluded gauge sector could explain at the same time several unexpected astrophysical observations. This hypothesis can be tested at low energy e+e− colliders by searching for a light vector gauge boson, called U, mediating dark forces. At DAΦNE, the Frascati e+e− φ-factory, three different U boson production channels can be studied. Results obtained with KLOE data and perpectives for the KLOE-2 run, where a larger data sample is expected, are discussed

The effects of the Covid-19 pandemic seen through the lens of the Italian university teachers and the comparison with school teachers’ perspective

In this paper, we report one of the first investigations conducted at the National level with university teachers, with the aim to capture their perceptions about the capability of the learning ecosystems to react to the lockdown imposed by the pandemic and the recourse to on-line learning. The study, conducted about two months after the beginning of the lock-down, shows that: a) learning ecosystems reacted promptly and in a satisfactory manner to assure the didactic continuity at both the systemic and individual level; b) the teaching activity were mainly confined to transmissive ex-cathedra lectures in the attempt to reproduce standard university dynamics; c) the working load increased with respect to face-to-face activities; d) the intention to use on-line learning in the future is driven by preconceptions rather than experiences and by the capability to manage one’s own time. The comparison with the outcomes of a similar study conducted with school teachers shows that the latter adopt a broader spectrum of didactic activities (although they still tend to remain in their comfort zone), experienced a heavier increase of the working load, and were more influenced by the situation they experienced. Although both teachers categories recognized the relevance of digital pedagogy, in the case of school teachers - as shown by the causal structure of the variable considered in our studies - it should be considered a must to be included in the Initial Teacher Education (ITE) curricula, while in the case of the university teachers it appears to be a possible route to support integration of on-line activities standard face-to-face ones

A critical approach to ICT to support participatory development of people centered smart learning ecosystems and territories

This contribution aims at fostering a collaborative effort by relevant stakeholders - policy makers, entrepreneurs, researchers, teachers, students, etc. – to critically explore the role of ICT in supporting a participatory development of people-centered "smart" learning ecosystems, able to produce social capital and to drive social innovation and territorial development. All this assuming that: a) it can help in identifying the driving factors that in the past have produced time and space singularities (eg. Renaissance, Belle Epoque, Big Deal, etc.) capable to attract people to experience a collective state of "flow”; b) the smartness of a learning ecosystems is strongly correlated with that of its region of reference; c) smartness is an emergent property of any entity that interacts with ICT infrastructures but is not fully determined by this latter. Unavoidably, all this also implies a reflection on the interplay between globality and locality and, as well, virtuality and physicality.

Nonlocal ultrafast demagnetization dynamics of Co/Pt multilayers by optical field enhancement

The influence on ultrafast demagnetization dynamics of metallic nano-structured gratings deposited on thin films of magnetic Co/Pt multilayers is investigated by the time-resolved optical Kerr effect. Depending on the polarization of the pump pulse, a pronounced enhancement of the demagnetization amplitude is found. Calculation of the inhomogeneous optical field distribution due to plasmon interaction and time-dependent solutions of the coupled electron, lattice, and spin temperatures in two dimensions show good agreement with the experimental data, as well as giving evidence of non-local demagnetization dynamics due to electron diffusion.BMBF, 05K10KTB, Verbundprojekt: FSP 301 - FLASH: Nanoskopische Systeme. Teilprojekt 1.1: Universelle Experimentierkammer für Streuexperimente mit kohärenten Femtosekunden-Röntgenpulsen Multi Purpose Coherent Scattering Chamber for FLASH and XFEL 'MPscatt

The effects of the Covid-19 pandemic on Italian learning ecosystems: the school teachers’ perspective at the steady state

This study is one of the first investigations conducted within the Italian school system to capture teachers’ perspective, experiences and perceptions about the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on school education. It was performed two months after the beginning of lockdown, when online teaching and learning processes were fully in place and had reached a steady state. The paper reports a descriptive analysis together with a network analysis, and the search for causal relationships among the variables that have been investigated. Generally, respondents reported that the reactions of educational institutions and individual teachers were satisfactory, preventing the collapse of the education system in spite of loss of contact with 6-10% of the student population and a significant teacher workload increase that posed individual time management challenges. Although teachers tended to adopt teaching strategies that reproduced standard classroom dynamics, the possibility of operating in this comfort zone generated a positive feeling about using technologies, a perception of increased digital skills mastery and a change in mindset about educational processes. In turn, this led to an increase in the perceived sustainability of online education, with about a third of the teachers expressing the wish to adopt a blended configuration for future teaching activities. Almost all participants recognized the significance of a digital pedagogy and the need to include it in the training curricula to prepare future teachers

Cerebral vasoreactivity in response to a headof-bed position change is altered in patients with moderate and severe obstructive sleep apnea

Obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) can impair cerebral vasoreactivity and is associated with an increased risk of cerebrovascular disease. Unfortunately, an easy-to-use, non-invasive, portable monitor of cerebral vasoreactivity does not exist. Therefore, we have evaluated the use of near-infrared diffuse correlation spectroscopy to measure the microvascular cerebral blood flow (CBF) response to a mild head-of-bed position change as a biomarker for the evaluation of cerebral vasoreactivity alteration due to chronic OSA. Furthermore, we have monitored the effect of two years of continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP) treatment on the cerebral vasoreactivity.Peer ReviewedPostprint (published version