Development of a multi-payload 2U CubeSat: the Alba project

Alba CubeSat UniPD is a student team of University of Padova with the aim to participate to the ESA Fly Your Satellite! (FYS!) programme and to launch for the first time at University of Padova a CubeSat made by students. The proposed mission has three independent objectives: (1) to collect in-situ measurements of the sub-mm space debris environment in LEO, (2) to study the micro-vibration environment on the satellite throughout different mission phases, (3) to do precise orbit determination through laser ranging and evaluate procedures for fast satellite Pointing, Acquisition and Tracking (PAT) from ground. The proposed technological experiments aim to obtain data that will enrich the current knowledge of the space environment and will provide precious information useful for the further development of some research projects currently performed at University of Padova. In order to reach the objectives, in these years the activities of the teams aimed to develop a 2U CubeSat equipped with three payloads. The first payload is an impact sensor that will be placed on one of the outer faces of the satellite and will be able to count the number of debris impacting the spacecraft thus being able to measure the energy/momentum transferred to the satellite. The second one is a Commercial Off The Shelf (COTS) sensor that measures the micro-vibrations experienced by payloads in a CubeSat in different mission phases. The third one consists in a number of COTS Corner Cube Retroreflectors that will be placed onboard the satellite. Thanks to this, Satellite Laser Ranging (SLR) will be done to collect data on the satellite range and range rate using a facility currently under development at University. This paper presents the mission objectives and motivations. In addition, the mission phases and the preliminary design of the CubeSat reached during the activities of the project are shown. Particular attention is given to the payloads which are the most challenging aspect of this project

The Effect of Non-lexical Verbal Signals on the Perceived Authenticity, Empathy and Understanding of a Listener

Active listening plays an important role in the relationship between clients and therapists. Here, we investigated whether variations of the confirmatory nonlexical verbal communication signal "mmh" influenced perceived authenticity, empathy and understanding of a listener. Eighty-one participants were in a conversation with an interviewer and reported about a difficult work experience. They were randomly assigned to one of three groups: The control group did not receive any verbal feedback from the interviewer; In one experimental group (1x-mmh), the interviewer uttered several monosyllabic confirmatory nonlexical verbal signals ("mmh") during the presentation; In a second experimental group (3x-mmh) the interviewer voiced several three syllable "mmh-mmh-mmh" while listening. All participants were then asked to rate the perceived authenticity, empathy and understanding of the interviewer. Participants in the 3x-mmh condition rated the interviewer to be significantly less authentic than those in the other two groups. No differences in reported empathy and understanding were found. The use of consecutive confirmatory nonlexical verbal signals ("mmh") - at least as currently implemented - may influence the perceived authenticity of a listener

Patient satisfaction with calcipotriol/betamethasone dipropionate cutaneous foam for the treatment of plaque psoriasis: The LION real-life multicenter prospective observational cohort study

Topical treatment is the mainstay for mild or moderate psoriasis, but patients are generally little satisfied. Calcipotriol/betamethasone dipropionate (Cal/BD) cutaneous foam has shown to improve signs and symptoms in plaque psoriasis patients. This study assessed patient's satisfaction with Cal/BD foam in a real-life Italian dermatological clinical practice. A multicenter, 4-week observational prospective cohort study enrolled, in 17 Italian dermatology clinics, adult patients with plaque psoriasis on the body and/or scalp. Treatment satisfaction was assessed by 9-item Treatment Satisfaction Questionnaire for Medication (TSQM-9), preference over previous treatments by Patient Preference Questionnaire (PPQ), and change in disease state by Psoriasis Area Severity Index (PASI). Overall 256 patients were eligible, with a mean (SD) age of 55.6 (15.4) years, 59.4% were males. Psoriasis severity was mild in 52.0% of patients, moderate in 43.3%, and severe in 4.7%. Scalp involvement was present in 36.7% of patients. Previous antipsoriatic treatments had been received by 80.5% of patients. TSQM-9 median (25th-75th percentile) scores were 83.3 (66.7-88.9) for effectiveness, 77.8 (66.7-88.9) for convenience, and 78.6 (64.3-92.9) for global satisfaction. Mean (SD) PASI value decreased from 7.3 (4.8) to 2.1 (2.7) after 4 weeks. More than 90% of patients previously treated for psoriasis evaluated the Cal/BD foam more effective, easier to use and better tolerated compared to previous topical treatments at PPQ. This observational study provides real-life evidence of a high level of satisfaction with effectiveness and convenience of the Cal/BD foam in a cohort of plaque psoriasis patients, with an objective improvement in PASI

Semiquantitative RT-PCR analysis to assess the expression levels of multiple transcripts from the same sample

We describe a semiquantitative RT-PCR protocol optimized in our laboratory to extract RNA from as little as 10,000 cells and to measure the expression levels of several target mRNAs from each sample. This procedure was optimized on the human erythroleukemia cell line TF-1 but was successfully used on primary cells and on different cell lines. We describe the detailed procedure for the analysis of Bcl-2 levels. Aldolase A was used as an internal control to normalize for sample to sample variations in total RNA amounts and for reaction efficiency. As for all quantitative techniques, great care must be taken in all optimization steps: the necessary controls to ensure a rough quantitative (semi-quantitative) analysis are described here, together with an example from a study on the effects of TGF-β1 in TF-1 cells

The EU Center of Excellence for Exascale in Solid Earth (ChEESE): Implementation, results, and roadmap for the second phase

publishedVersio

The FLUXNET2015 dataset and the ONEFlux processing pipeline for eddy covariance data

The FLUXNET2015 dataset provides ecosystem-scale data on CO2, water, and energy exchange between the biosphere and the atmosphere, and other meteorological and biological measurements, from 212 sites around the globe (over 1500 site-years, up to and including year 2014). These sites, independently managed and operated, voluntarily contributed their data to create global datasets. Data were quality controlled and processed using uniform methods, to improve consistency and intercomparability across sites. The dataset is already being used in a number of applications, including ecophysiology studies, remote sensing studies, and development of ecosystem and Earth system models. FLUXNET2015 includes derived-data products, such as gap-filled time series, ecosystem respiration and photosynthetic uptake estimates, estimation of uncertainties, and metadata about the measurements, presented for the first time in this paper. In addition, 206 of these sites are for the first time distributed under a Creative Commons (CC-BY 4.0) license. This paper details this enhanced dataset and the processing methods, now made available as open-source codes, making the dataset more accessible, transparent, and reproducible.Peer reviewe

COVID-19 symptoms at hospital admission vary with age and sex: results from the ISARIC prospective multinational observational study

Background: The ISARIC prospective multinational observational study is the largest cohort of hospitalized patients with COVID-19. We present relationships of age, sex, and nationality to presenting symptoms. Methods: International, prospective observational study of 60 109 hospitalized symptomatic patients with laboratory-confirmed COVID-19 recruited from 43 countries between 30 January and 3 August 2020. Logistic regression was performed to evaluate relationships of age and sex to published COVID-19 case definitions and the most commonly reported symptoms. Results: ‘Typical’ symptoms of fever (69%), cough (68%) and shortness of breath (66%) were the most commonly reported. 92% of patients experienced at least one of these. Prevalence of typical symptoms was greatest in 30- to 60-year-olds (respectively 80, 79, 69%; at least one 95%). They were reported less frequently in children (≤ 18 years: 69, 48, 23; 85%), older adults (≥ 70 years: 61, 62, 65; 90%), and women (66, 66, 64; 90%; vs. men 71, 70, 67; 93%, each P < 0.001). The most common atypical presentations under 60 years of age were nausea and vomiting and abdominal pain, and over 60 years was confusion. Regression models showed significant differences in symptoms with sex, age and country. Interpretation: This international collaboration has allowed us to report reliable symptom data from the largest cohort of patients admitted to hospital with COVID-19. Adults over 60 and children admitted to hospital with COVID-19 are less likely to present with typical symptoms. Nausea and vomiting are common atypical presentations under 30 years. Confusion is a frequent atypical presentation of COVID-19 in adults over 60 years. Women are less likely to experience typical symptoms than men